Creating Gods

The theory below tries to explain the following:

1. How do we create a Brand?

2. Is the brand around us?

3. Can we see a brand?

If the literature below can’t explain any of these even vaguely may Brands..oops God send the writer to hell…read Retail.

Brand Manifestation:

They are among us, they are mighty, and they rule our world. Ladies and Gentleman lets vow for them for they are no ordinary human they are Gods ….they are BRANDS. A Mercedes elevates you and a Rado makes time so much more important for us (didn't our parents told us its Precious). Even if some of us shun writing, Mont Blanc is a sure pleasure to have, use and..... Show off.

Lets think it over. What make makes people pay a whooping $137,000.00-$137,000.00 for a Mercedes Benz CL- Class. Is it only the luxury or is it the feeling of success and luxury associated with it. The more intangible you will make your brand the more differentiated it will be from commodity and the more premium you would be able to charge. If Marketer can associate the felling of success and luxury with Maruti 800, consumer will pay a premium for that……may be I am stretching it a bit too far.

The more tangible your brand is the lesser will be its equity. Remember Brands are God. We can’t see them, we can’t touch them. We can only feel, imagine and at the best experience them. The catch words in the sentence is feel, imagine and experience. The brand has to catch the imagination of Consumers and make them fantasize.

Let me explain the whole concept with the metaphoric example of Culture:

1. Is Culture around us?

2. Can we see it?

3. Can you touch it?

The answer to first is yes and the answer to other two are Invariable NO. Because Culture is so intangible that we can never see it, all we see is manifestation of Culture in the cloth people wear, the food people eat, the way they dress etc. Even in organization the organizational culture has its manifestation in its employees’ attitude and behaviour (But wouldn’t that be a separate debate). The point which I want to drive is the Stronger the manifestation stronger will be the culture. Likewise for Brands – The Product, Logo, Colour. Ads are all manifestation of Brand. The Stronger the Brand Manifestation the stronger the brand will be. My point is brand is not only about product, in fact its not about the product…it’s about the aura surrounding the product. And the Photons of this aura include organizational behaviour, suppliers, management (culture by the way drips down from the top management). Believe me to achieve God needs great devotion but to create one needs lot of courage, conviction and devotion indeed.

This article with all my heart is in honour of my friend Manvendra Pratap Singh, who encouraged me to join this band wagon (herd of Band Wagon Effect in Consumer Psychology).

Rituraj Srivastva