AdMast.jpg (37982 bytes)
 

 

 

"A warm feeling that doesn’t necessarily open up wallets and make you buy. It doesn’t necessarily make you come back again and again."

Lilamani Dias-Benson

 

INTERVIEW WITH HILMY CADER

 

 

 

"The goal of brand leadership is to build brand equities rather than simply manage brand images."

David A Aaker, author of "Brand Leadership"
 

 
"Businesses will need to understand how to connect with their customers, differentiate their brand message, and provide a brand experience that vreates relevancy and greater brand loyalty."

John Elkins, CEO, FutureBrand, a McCann-Erickson affiliate.

WHAT THE PROS SAY 
NEW THINKING ON BRANDING

LMD asked the leading thinkers in Marketing and advertising to speak out on branding. Was it relevant? Were there new models? And who, in their opinion was setting the agenda?

Is the business of advertising still the business of building Brand Image?

Ryan Jayatunga, MINDS ADVERTISING:
"My answer is YES AND NO!
It is true that this business has grown way beyond just 'advertising' to include the entire spectrum of marketing communications and relationship management (be it customer, media or public).

Yet today, as features, benefits and performance, and even delivery systems, increasingly become identical, it is only 'brand Image, identity and perceived value' that truly differentiates between parity products and services.

It is imperative therefore that the primary business of 'Advertising' must be to build and nurture the 'Brand'. However, As we move into the digital /cyber age of the 3rd millennium, where 'Customerization' is the order of the day, building and nurturing the Brand must be seen in the context of relationship management on virtually a one-to-one basis ….'Brand Image' no longer should mean the identical thing to large numbers of people.

Today's 'Brand Image' must have the ability to mean different things to different people at the same time, while retaining the ability to mean the same thing to the same person over a long period of time. And that's a whole new ball game."

 

What's a brand in today's context?

Ranil De Silva, Leo Burnett
"A brand is a living thing. It is something with which a consumer enjoys a relationship. Today, with increased competition a brand becomes an integral part of a consumer's life. He chooses a brand for its functionality, but over time the emotional attachment becomes a critical factor. A brand becomes an extension of one's personality.

When the brand delivers functionally and emotionally, the relationship is strengthened. If it fails, ‘divorce’ is likely. The desire and concept of brands are now extending beyond just products and services. TV Soaps etc, are like brands. They're are an essential part of a consumer's life and their aspirations. The attachments are high and the relationship is very strong."

 

Neelanie Gunatillake, J. Walter Thompson
"Brands aren’t just badges anymore, they are like beacons which need to be illuminated. If they are not distinct, they are bound to get extinct.

The coping strategy for stress is simplification. In consumer terms, this translates to brand loyalty. It’s not just easier to buy a brand you know and trust it also saves you time.

We think of growing a brand as an ongoing conversation. Without conversation, there is no involvement. Without involvement there is no trust. Without trust, there is no conviction. And without conviction, there is no brand."

 

Why is Branding neglected today?

Sandya Salgdo, OGILVY RURAL
"Most companies are so badly caught up in taking care of the bottom line 'at any cost' seem to almost forget to do the sacred task of brand building. It's about 'what we can give more than my competitor' rather than 'what is the consumer looking for?' It's about 'what is my competitor doing' rather than 'what can I do so differently that my brand can own it for a long long time' - a positioning, a promise, a benefit, a proposition that none can match...

But There are those who look at the market with a long term perspective who continuously invest more - both financially and strategically to own the mind share rather than the wallet share of the emerging consumer!

Blame the agency, blame the client, blame the market needs, blame the consumer, blame the war, blame the country... Let's stop blaming! Let's do it! Let's build brands and nurture them.

Why do we still remember Horlicks and Marmite and the elephant house ice-palams? The red and white milk board booths? What did they do that we can take a leaf from now? Some times there's nothing wrong in going back in time to find out some important best practices done for brand building."

 

Where is Branding headed?

Vijith Kannangara, founder of BrandLabs, and MD of Q&E ADVERTISING
"A brand is the perception of a reason for being. Be it a person, a company, a country, a product, a service, an institution or even a politician...With the Internet, brands that are built on false promises are doomed to fail. Why? Consumers rely on information as importantly as image. With the Net, consumers will be able to ask more and more questions and owners of the brand will be compelled to answer them."

 

Is the role of the Ad agency to Nurture Brand Image?

Lilamani Dias Benson, Lintas Amarati-Puris

Nurturing the brand is not a placid gentle academic exercise. It's about being
engagingly aggressive. It's a real challenging, dynamic, fast moving, full-of-nuances pregnant-with-possibilities exercise and the marketer that is switched on to people and people dynamics continuously, who anticipates them cleverly, and can both lead and follow them, is the king.

But ‘nurturing brand image’ is too often equated with generally giving people a warm feeling about the brand. But a warm feeling that doesn’t necessarily open up wallets and make you buy. It doesn’t necessarily make you come back again and again.