Jogging my memory a bit to see how marketing and branding have
changed across the last two decades; I observe an interesting journey which can
be roughly split into three phases:
Phase 1: Era of one way communication
Brands used
the television and the print medium like a megaphone to announce what they had
to say to an audience whose attention was easy to get. Competition was less.
Media was not as fragmented. The environment was not as cluttered. Most
importantly, loyalty was not a dirty word. 95% of the advertising budgets were
allocated for above the line communication. Advertising briefs were simple, revolving
around creatively communicating a single minded proposition. Many of us can hum
most of the jingles on television even till date and quote the slug lines that
we read in magazines, in an era long ago. .
Business objectives were universally simple. Standardize products and scale up production
to make it affordable for a maximum number of people.
Phase 2: Era of relationship marketing
Towards the later part of last century, consumers began to demand more.To best meet the
needs of these demanding consumers, marketers segmented the markets and
developed superior products to best address the functional and emotional needs
of a particular set of target audience. Sometimes, multiple sets of audiences
with multiple brand variants.
Along with
fragmentation of media, consumer’s attention spans became shorter. Brand owners
where challenged in their effort to win the minds and hearts of the audience.
This was the era of relationship marketing. Instead of
maximizing profit from each transaction, relationship marketing focused on
maximizing profit over a lifetime.The visionaries arrived at a solution in the way of devising
ideas which would compel the audience to take part in the brand through a
myriad of engaging platforms. Consequently building a relationship which, would
hopefully, translate to loyalty.
To cut the clutter and catch consumers’ attention wherever
they were, brands adopted a 360 degree approach. Advertising budgets got fragmented. Though television still got the bigger chunk,
it was now being shared with outdoor, events, PR, online brand pages and a many
other channels – all united towards a common cause – engaging the consumer in
various interesting ways to ensure consumers’ participation with the brand.
In 2012 Havas media’s research called Meaningful Brand Study showed up that people would not care if 70% of the brands disappeared. And , they did not care to have a relationship with brands where they play a passive role while brands create and manage relationships. Sentiments such as these necessitated a complete change in the way brands interact with their audience.
Phase 3: Era of collaboration
These sentiments are largely driven by the new wave
technology which consists of three major forces: Low cost internet, Reducing cost and
availability of multiple devices to access the internet and social media.
Social Technology today allows individuals to easy express
themselves through expressive social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, Pinterest , Instagram, Blogger and other social networking sites.
Sites such as Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes and TripAdvisor are collaborative media which help consumers
collaborate with one another.
As the collaboration and expressions expand, consumers are playing
a larger role in influencing perception and purchase. People believe one
another more than they believe brand sponsored communication. This trend is
tending towards brand managers losing control over their brands while consumers
are taking over that role. Consumers are increasingly joining the C- Suite as
the chief stakeholders and are asking tough questions, demanding answers and
letting the world know what they think of a particular brand. No holds bar.
Brands, to regain control, has to rely on the ‘consumer trust system’ which essentially gives them the power to control what consumers say and do about a brand. The three emerging cornerstones of the trust system are:
1. Brand Soul
In the online world, people connect with people. Not plastic
packs, fabulous fragrance or superior dirt removal power. Keeping this in mind,
every brand is creating a 3 dimensional avatar of them which goes beyond describing
its products and services. A human angle of the brand, which forms the basis of
its true differentiation and social identity. It reflects in the consumer’s
social network and provides a reason for consumers to align with them in the
social media space.
A good example which comes to mind is Standard Chartered
Bank.
Objective: Promote
their credit card through facebook
Strategy: After a thorough research of the Indian market,
the bank found that food was the second choice after shopping in terms of
spending through credit cards. They created a community of food lovers on Facebook
called India Food Explorer.
Apart from providing recipes, the page directs its ‘friends’ to restaurants and
also offers exclusive deals to Standard Chartered Credit card users. Started in March
2012, the page currently has 799K friends on facebook. This has provided a platform
for the brand to speak to almost 8 lakh customers everyday, without spending a
lot of money and engaging them in a conversation which they care to have.Being the foodie of the banking world helps Stan Chart
connect with millions of people. This is in contrast to what most banks did
previously. They would rely heavily on direct mailers and send mails which went
largely unopened. It was more like
transmitting information rather than talking to a friend about a common
passion.
2. Building
a community by using technology
A good example that comes to mind is Nike + Fuel band
Instead of putting out just another ad saying ‘buy our shoes’
because a celebrity says so, the brand launched the Nike+ which actually helps people become better
runners. Nike+ Fuel band (click to watch a video about Nike + fuel
band) takes it a step further.
They built a community of sports enthusiasts who put the
action back into words. By comparing and
competing with anyone plus the additional benefit of showing of success – the
band successfully motivates people to get active.
Using technology which helps to measure their every activity
and compete with people in the social media space, Nike has been successful in
functional integration plus an earned media channel in the form of 10 million
users.
3. Creating a sense of ownership through
co-creation
If attention is precious, trust even more so. To ‘buy’ back
loyalty and trust, for about a few years now, several brands have been trying
to involve the customers in their product design just to give them a sense of
ownership.
Among a whole host of others, the one that comes to mind is the Lay’s
campaign where they invited consumers to send their recipes for chips. The top
4 flavours, judged by experts, were rolled out and the final winner was chosen
by popular vote.
