Indeed the New millennium is one that is breaking many established eternal truths that are now no more than mere myths. And who knows, perhaps this period may even qualify to be the period of Branding Renaissance! I believe we are blessed to be witnessing these tectonic shifts in our understanding of Branding and Consumers. I mean isn’t the sheer dynamism of the shifts absolutely amazing?!
We all know that Branding started more as a functional concept and gradually evolved to its Aspirational Avatar that most of us will recognize. A new study by the Havas media Labs throws up a very interesting statistic. It says that the consumers have become so indifferent and less attached to brands that if 80% of the brands were to go away they would not as much as notice.
Most of the marketers would hope that they are a part of the lucky 20%. In fact they would be fairly confident that they are indeed in the top twenty percentile that matters. Funnily, that reminds me of yet another very interesting statistic provided by Dr. Neil Bearden of INSEAD during one of his classes that I had the fortune of attending; 82% of the drivers think that they are in the top 30% safe drivers. At the cost of being accused for overkill, another one from NB; in a study, 86% of the Harvard Students felt that they were better looking than their classmates.
So what’s new now?! From the Aspirational we are moving to Meaningful brands. Dr. Philip Kotler in his recent book Marketing 3.0 talks about Value based marketing and the human spirit that Marketing 3.0 entails. Consumers are increasingly becoming caring about the Communities they live in, the societies they are a part of, the nature that provides them with the bounty. The hitherto clichéd terms such as the human spirit and societal good have attained a realistic dimension. This is perhaps due to increased sharing of everyday lives across communities, countries and continents through social media networks. Consumers tend to understand and empathize with each other. They have realized that mostly humans are same across the national and international divides. Even language has ceased to be a barrier, long live the Google translate feature!
Another interesting fact that comes out of the study conducted by Umair Haque of Havas Labs is the fact that the emerging markets like India, China and Brazil are different from the developed markets like the USA. Contrary to what you may think the study reveals that it’s these emerging markets where the spirit of humanity matters more. Interesting isn’t it? I’m sure that in the coming times USA and Europe should catch up with these emerging nations in their endeavor for the Human good ;)
So from the aspirational, “I’ve arrived!” statements to the more meaningful current avatar, “It matters to me because it matters to my community!” is a major tectonic shift. It will not be enough for Brands or Companies to not harm nature, society and community due to their operations, products or services. Rather the new age consumers expect the companies and Brands to make a positive impact to them if at all they wish to be a part of the top twenty percent of brands that matter.
It’s not as if companies or Brands have not realized this and many may argue that these concepts could be Old wine in a New Bottle. However, I would think these are different from the usual CSR routine dished out by the major corporations during the last few decades. The old CSR initiatives would be limited to a certain area where the companies would operate or would have influence in. However, my understanding of the new concepts is that they are much larger in perspective and influence. Consumers aspire for brands that positively impact and make a difference to the spirit of humanity. This would mean that a consumer in India is likely to make a choice of a brand that is perhaps working towards sustaining the Amazonian rain forests. Although the consumers’ immediate community is not benefited by the Brand or the Company, the fact that the Brand or the Company is working towards the betterment of humanity is a good enough reason to consider the brand a meaningful one. And all this travels faster than you can say Twitter! A point in the case is the latest faux pas by Kenneth Cole, strangely trying to draw mileage from the disturbances in Egypt by saying that the turmoil in Egypt was caused by the excitement generated by his Spring Summer Collection 2011launch. He was criticized across all the media, both traditional and new age. Positioning will acquire a new connotation post this careless and irresponsible tweet and Mr. Cole will have a tough time erasing this blot from his brand’s résumé and the consumer mind. And absolutely no prizes to guess who could be the latest addition to the 80% Club!
You would recall how Tommy Hilfiger was tainted by a malicious campaign across the Internet on his alleged remarks on the usage of his brand by people of Asian and African descent. It caused the corporation significant amount of money, effort and time to stop this baseless and vitriolic rumor. Such is the power of Web 2.0 that the rumor going on for almost two decades was fuelled so much by the web 2.0 that Tommy Hilfiger actually had to appear in the Oprah show and deny the false allegations along with placing the denial in the Company website FAQ section. Interestingly, even though the alleged comments were directed to specific sections, Tommy’s reputation suffered across the world. The following link is an interesting read in the case http://www.snopes.com/racial/business/hilfiger.asp .
So where in the Purchase decision journey does the new thought process fit into? I would think that definitely during the Initial Consideration List and the Active Evaluation phases. Thinking ahead, one could argue that the company’s stance with respect to the communities, societies, countries, environment and nature would definitely constitute to be post purchase experience and should have a significant bearing on the loyalty status- Active or Passive!
I guess the outcome of the above is at least two fold; the companies have to always keep the big picture in mind and brand positioning may be not only be in the minds of the consumers but also in their hearts!
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