One realisation that I had over the last 14 years of my work in the field of Marketing - communication - branding - content is that - to be a successful brand, there has to be a story.
The more this story becomes believable - the more successful the Brand becomes.
Often these stories take the form of by-lines and tag-lines - but that, in my view, is not essential. What is essential is, however, to deliver this story every time - each time.
The delivery of the story through different mediums is essential. If this story starts fading, then there is confusion. People's belief in the brand starts waning and over a period of time you will see a loss of franchise for the brand.
Year 2014 is an important year for India and rest of the world because of the upcoming elections in India. Which party wins the elections and who becomes the Prime Minister will become an important milestone for us as well as the World.
As an observer of this election, which in my view is the most important election for India ever, I feel there is some relevance to the 'Story' I mentioned above.
Congress - for the first time has NO STORY.
It looks like a bunch of confused men and women, who are just being reactive to what the other major party, i.e., BJP is doing. Mr. Narendra Modi, the Prime Ministerial candidate for BJP, has a strong story backing him as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the 'apparent' Prime Ministerial candidate of Congress has no story to call his own. In the last 10 years (2004 - 2014 when Congress has been in Power), he has never assumed a serious position of responsibility and delivered any 'story', apart from the fact that he has tried to remove corrupt candidates (but this Congress reign hs seen the unearthing of the biggest scams in India).
Which story will win? That we need to wait & watch. My guess is that the stronger story will outperform in 2014 General Elections.
Now let's focus our attention towards some Corporate Brands. It's not that, every brand has an inherent story. But if as the brand Owner, you can find a strong story, you could even re-align the delivery of the organisation to deliver the story.
Let's take 2 examples. Apple & IBM.
Apple's 1984 commercial announced its entry against the 'Big Blue' IBM. From the beginning, Apple's thinking has been different.
That of a Challenger Brand with a Disruptive Philosophy. Apple's story is inherent. Think Different is truly Apple's story.
Whereas, IBM which came out of a difficult situation by refocusing their business, found Solutions for a Smarter Planet not long back. It fitted them perfectly. They started delivering on this story by re-aligning a few things.
Both stories are strong. Both have their merits. Both are being delivered consistently through the products, solutions and people. But which story will outlive the other? Again we need to wait and watch. If they start diluting their stories, the strength of the brands and the price elasticity that it commands will reduce.
Overall, the biggest point that I wanted to make through these examples is that, its essential for every Brand to have a story and tell it consistently. It does not matter, whether or not the business started with that story.
But as a brand you need to be true to the story that you want your customers to buy into?
(* First published on 17 November, 2013 at randomshades.wordpress.com)
The more this story becomes believable - the more successful the Brand becomes.
Often these stories take the form of by-lines and tag-lines - but that, in my view, is not essential. What is essential is, however, to deliver this story every time - each time.
The delivery of the story through different mediums is essential. If this story starts fading, then there is confusion. People's belief in the brand starts waning and over a period of time you will see a loss of franchise for the brand.
Year 2014 is an important year for India and rest of the world because of the upcoming elections in India. Which party wins the elections and who becomes the Prime Minister will become an important milestone for us as well as the World.
As an observer of this election, which in my view is the most important election for India ever, I feel there is some relevance to the 'Story' I mentioned above.
Congress - for the first time has NO STORY.
It looks like a bunch of confused men and women, who are just being reactive to what the other major party, i.e., BJP is doing. Mr. Narendra Modi, the Prime Ministerial candidate for BJP, has a strong story backing him as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the 'apparent' Prime Ministerial candidate of Congress has no story to call his own. In the last 10 years (2004 - 2014 when Congress has been in Power), he has never assumed a serious position of responsibility and delivered any 'story', apart from the fact that he has tried to remove corrupt candidates (but this Congress reign hs seen the unearthing of the biggest scams in India).
Which story will win? That we need to wait & watch. My guess is that the stronger story will outperform in 2014 General Elections.
Now let's focus our attention towards some Corporate Brands. It's not that, every brand has an inherent story. But if as the brand Owner, you can find a strong story, you could even re-align the delivery of the organisation to deliver the story.
Let's take 2 examples. Apple & IBM.
Apple's 1984 commercial announced its entry against the 'Big Blue' IBM. From the beginning, Apple's thinking has been different.
That of a Challenger Brand with a Disruptive Philosophy. Apple's story is inherent. Think Different is truly Apple's story.
Whereas, IBM which came out of a difficult situation by refocusing their business, found Solutions for a Smarter Planet not long back. It fitted them perfectly. They started delivering on this story by re-aligning a few things.
Both stories are strong. Both have their merits. Both are being delivered consistently through the products, solutions and people. But which story will outlive the other? Again we need to wait and watch. If they start diluting their stories, the strength of the brands and the price elasticity that it commands will reduce.
Overall, the biggest point that I wanted to make through these examples is that, its essential for every Brand to have a story and tell it consistently. It does not matter, whether or not the business started with that story.
But as a brand you need to be true to the story that you want your customers to buy into?
(* First published on 17 November, 2013 at randomshades.wordpress.com)
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