SUSTAINING BRANDS: A PRIMER

In the marketing landscape, change is the most potent constant. Change has its own way of pushing the status quo and changing them. More often than not, change is the one dictating things-dictating marketers to keep up, mold and reinvent. As marketers adapt to the changing ecosystem, they must also ensure that their manoeuvres are approached with a rock-solid framework, something which help marketers make a focused push and something that leads to sustainable outcomes. Clearly, all the promise they make, all they innovation bring in, all the advertisement material they bombard us with and all the position statements they create will change with time but the facets dont. By sticking to a certain framework, brands can exceed themselves at their own game.

One such framework can be summarized as follows.

S=CPPN*(MI+PI+PI+EA)

1. S refers to sustainability. Sustainability will give businesses a legacy to build on, give them much needed equity and most importantly let them keep their share of the pie(read market share). While the talk of sustainability has never gotten old, ideas as to how to reach have yet to take off in full flow.
2. CPPN refers to consumer pain points and needs. This is the most important variable of this framework as it underpins the dynamics of the other independent variables. All the other independent variables must work towards addressing the needs and pain-points.The idea resonates with the saying “customer is king”. By putting customer pain points and needs in the limelight, marketers can actually reach the heights of customer centricity and make their brands more relevant.
3. MI refers to marketing innovation- This is one of the four variables that will address the issue of consumer pain points and needs. Marketing innovation will put the brand on top of the consumer’s mind and then activate the think-feel- do process. Marketing innovation must be accompanied by that X-factor which will be manifested along the lines of ATL, BTL and social media. To add further oomph, guerilla marketing and augmented reality should be considered.
4. PI refers to process innovation- The idea of process must be considered in a holistic view.  For the process that pertains to creating the product, a firm must consider the consumer pain points and needs and see which processes contribute to those pain point and needs and how can they be eliminated or modified. Each process in the value chain must be analyzed and the appropriate benchmark must be set against that process. The process flow can be broken down into two segments- direct flow and indirect flow .The direct flow processes affect the consumer directly and any flaw here can lead to negative WOM and a decline in the brand’ sales. Non-direct processes refer to marketing processes, the accounting process or the HR process. These processes complement the direct processes and hence are very pivotal.
5. Another PI refers to product innovation- Innovation in the augmented product is a must to ensure continual customer satisfaction and retention. Marketers must reinvent the functional aspects of the product to address the customer pain points.
6. Emotional Attachment- It is important to cultivate a story behind the brand. The story must evoke emotions; it must be authentic and it must highlight the brand persona, promise and personality. Stories must have a common and unique essence and they must highlight how the product/service address the consumer pain points. The idea of personalization must also be brought in here. Companies must pursue avenues to create a compelling aura across all the consumer touch points that will give customers assurance, confidence and hope.