Mind your brand

 The brand could be a Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies a good or service and is distinct, this may as well be an apt text book definition but conceptually the definition is much more holistic and broader. It is a sheer value attached by the consumer out of his or her perception towards the product / seller/ the very company or an organization.

On a hindsight brand can even a person, on hearing of the very names like Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, thoughts that gets induced can be attributed to Non-violence movement, leadership, epitome of philosophy.

What is Common between mind and brand? I feel apart from both being abstract and dealing with the psychology, both are living things. Yes, Brand has a life of its own which lives in the minds, so the longer it lives and healthier it is that much better to the stake holders. Of course, there is a correlation between an abstract concept - “Brand” and tangible benefit -“Profit”.

What is important is, to revisit and reinvigorate the Brand every now and then so that it is getting the oxygen it needs to thrive and is not sitting as lump of dead cells.

The above analogy drawn simply implies that Brand is living cell, if not living healthy, will die its natural death. What is worrisome is, like caner the decline of Brand value will not be known till the last movement. It is important to carry out periodical diagnostics through Market research to know the symptoms if any. Many a times, Marketers sit on the laurels and feel that Brand is more fixed than fixed asset with no depreciation.

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Now how do we make a brand vibrant and live long. The easiest way is to bombard with commercials with teaser ads, reminders and follow up ads etc. That apart, the true value of the brand lies in the value for money to the customers and performance exceeding the each time and every time. Easier said than done is it not?

According to me unless the whole organisation meaning each employee associates himself / herself with the customer ecstasy, no brand can live long, irrespective of any amount spent on any media. The domain of each employee could be different but the cause of work is same. It is also important to understand the moment/s of truth and juggernaut effect that word of mouth can have on the destiny of brand in turn the business organisation. Thus the brand is summation of Perceptions of both present and prospective customers.

Let’s now come back to the basics, is ad relevant? Though it is more than relevant like a cherry on the cake, there is more to brand than just an ad. An ad paves the way but the service, sales, R&D need to walk the talk to meet the numbers.

Mind is an ever active intangible part, looks for reasons, busy opining, getting influenced/ influencing and judging either consciously, sub-consciously. Mind looks for opportunities to carry out these activates. These opportunities are moments of truth/ contact points/ (events that occur between the customer and business organisation, sales and marketing team in particular) and shall have a bearing on the perceived value of the target segment. Brand is in the thought flow hence can flow in/ out easily, sales is the resultant of this positive flow, a true perceived value. As long as one is in business/ to be in the business a pertinent dictum to thrust upon self is “mind your brand”