To be fair to Honda, they did come up with a stylish City whose front was akin to Accord, precisely what the consumers liked to see. But it didn’t work out the way Honda intended to do. There were two major reasons:

One is the pervasive false notion, ‘We have a great product, and it will sell by itself.’ If that were the case, why would celebrity brands like Pepsi and Coke still be spending billions of dollars on marketing? Why would Unilever be spending a fortune on Lux Style Awards? Why would Toyota launch an aggressive campaign for the new Corolla in spite of the fact that the old model was doing good?

‘Marketing is the battle of perceptions, not products’.   Al-Ries

The best Honda did was launch a subdued print campaign and a direct marketing campaign, which by the looks of the sales figures didn’t do much good.

The second equally criminal reason was to do with a number of smaller glitches that combined to create one big negative impact. This included the look of its backlights, the sort of a pentagonal shape that consumers just didn’t like. A consumer survey beforehand would have rectified this problem in the design stage. Another glitch was the quality of the buttons used on the dashboard. A Honda fanatic fan alleged that the quality of the onboard panel was no better than the Chinese SUV brand GoNow.

If you just look at the sales comparison of Honda City and Toyota Corolla for the month of July last year and the one previous to it, you couldn’t help but gape at the yawning gap between the results of the two. In 2008 in the month of July, City sales were 625 when the old model was still there and last July the sales increased to just 686, a mere 10% growth. Even if you include the Civic sales for the sake of equivalent comparison since Corolla is the equivalent of both City and Civic, the total Honda sales went up from 1025 to 1140, a 10% growth.

Automotive brand-wise sales growth comparison

city-civic vs corolla graph

Coming to Corolla, sale was a mere 298 in July 2008, last year July it rocketed to 3,124 units, that’s a staggering 948% increase in sales!  (All sales figures are courtesy PAMA).

honda vs toyota sales comparison

Honda city vs Toyota corolla sales graph

The last two years’ sales have been analyzed because they present a clearer picture of the before-and-after difference between the launch of the new models.

Such stellar sales performance is unprecedented in the history of automobile industry in Pakistan. Do you really think this unbelievable gap is due to the difference in quality and performance of Corolla and City?

Do you really think that Corolla is that much better to drive than City or Civic for that matter? Even if it is (though I doubt it would be), is there a mammoth 948% difference between the two?

No. Not by a long shot. It all lies in the perception in the mind of the consumer. And the brutal truth is that Toyota was better able to influence the consumer with its marketing effort. The amazing thing is, all this happened without the consumer even test-driving the brand, they were that much awed by the branding communication. Honda on the other hand gave ample opportunities to test-drive the new City and yet the sales didn’t pick up as much as was expected. This real-world example again lends credibility to the adage coined by the venerable Al Ries:

‘Marketing is the battle of perceptions, not products’.

And remember that the new Toyota launch campaign is not a great one by any stretch of the imagination. This just goes on to show how poorly its competitors are faring at marketing their cars.

Toyota has communicated its brand positioning in every Tom, Dick and Harry publication. The other day I received a magazine called Slogan I didn’t even know existed – and right at the back cover is the new Corolla in all its glory. To Toyota’s credit, they have inculcated all the three elements of the Brand Value Pyramid (proposed by Scott) – features, benefits and values. And one of the features is that it is ‘Ipod Ready’! Pretty impressive.

On the radio, they targeted the upscale albeit young segment by sponsoring the Evening Drive Show on CityFM89 and offering tickets to the Cold Play concert in Dubai as prize for those answering a couple of audaciously simple questions. It can be said that the sort of people who actually listen to Cold Play are predominantly the youth segment which hardly qualifies as target material for Toyota. It is thus no surprise that the winner was a young bloke who although would be grateful to the Toyota people for giving him such a fantastic experience, doubt would be rushing to the nearest Toyota dealer to get his hands on the new Corolla. He just doesn’t have the wallet for it. It’s basic consumer behavior fallacy- trying to target those who desire your brand but can’t afford it.

Then there’s a positive review of the car by Umair Mohsin published in AutoMark magazine. Whether that positive review about Corolla is independent or sponsored by Corolla is not known, but this much is known that Toyota did provide the car to the reviewer (the Altis Cruisetronic) for testing purpose.

Remember that whatever has been discussed is entirely based on the positioning of the two brands. No stock has been taken of the actual performance of these two brands – the ‘driveability’ of them. Why Toyota is preferred in rural areas. Is it because its body is almost one foot higher from the ground while Honda is much lower, or is it because the off-road grip of Toyota is better than Honda? All this has happened without the consumer taking into account the flat floor of Corolla at the back due to redesign of the torsion beam or the improved ability of Corolla to stabilize after passing over a pot hole or to maneuver around corners.

There’s also the general perception that the Pakistani consumer prefers the aerodynamic shape more than any other feature. While a segment of the market may prefer that, it’s hard to believe that the overwhelming majority values that feature the most. If that were the case, wouldn’t Kia’s Spectra be selling like hot cakes by now? That car had the sleekest aerodynamic design until Civic Reborn came along. Unfortunately for Dewan Motors, that was the only worthwhile similarity Spectra had with Reborn.

Honda City is sleeker than Toyota Corolla and yet Honda has been unable to command a price premium over it. Delving into the intricacies of the design aspect requires another in-depth article.

Coming to the SUV line extension of the two brands, even here Toyota has done much better by aggressively promoting its rather extensive line of sub-brands, from Terios to Prado to Hi-lux to the new Fortuner. Compared to Toyota’s arsenal, Honda has just one SUV in the region – CR-V, and you would be hard pressed to find the car either in the world of advertising or in the real world as far as Pakistan is concerned. Pakistanis can take a leaf out of their Indian counterparts notebook with regard to their shrewd strategy of placing the Honda CRV in the movie ‘Wake Up Sid’. It’s not a new strategy by any stretch of the imagination as Hollywood has been indulging in these sort of tactics since time immemorial, but they are still effective. What was so admirable about this particular instance was that the car was used by the lead character in having the time of his life along with his friends. What’s more, the character is played by the latest heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor. Although the movie wasn’t a phenomenal success at the box office, it did  manage to strike a chord with the youth.

So when you put two and two together, you get one hell of a cool association for the Honda SUV. Whether this was intentional or accidental is not known, but it sure worked.

This is the sort of subtle advertising Honda Pakistan needs to indulge in. This movie which has been well received in Pakistan as well has already shown which segment to target and what ought to be the brand persona of the SUV.

Let’s have a brief look at the effects (or lack thereof) of marketing on the finances of the two brands.

Here are the snapshots of the profit and loss statement taken from the annual report of Honda and Toyota. Just look at the yawning gap between the two. Why has Honda done terribly bad? A Rs.401.8 million loss when your competitor has reaped a whopping net profit of Rs. 1.39 Billion in exactly the same period and circumstances should cause a pandemonium in the Honda dugout.  And this happened in spite of the fact that Toyota pays more royalty than Honda, about Rs.490 million, while Honda pays Rs.287 million.

honda profit loss statement

toyota profit loss statement

Here’s the comparative analysis of the financial statement.

Honda toyota financial war

But misdirected marketing strategy is not the only reason for this state of affairs. The thing is, Honda is focusing a bit too much on the Euro Compliance. All it’s efforts are directed towards making its brand more environmentally friendly by introducing ever new technologies. The problem is, leading a ‘Green’ lifestyle maybe the ‘in’ thing in the First World, in our part of the world the masses don’t give two hoots about the environment. They want cheaper cars with more gadgets and gizmos. Period.

And Toyota is giving them what they want, while Honda is investing its precious capital in something that does not add value in the consumer’s reality.

So what’s the best thing Honda can do under the circumstances? Well, it’s a bit late for an aggressive launch campaign similar to what Toyota did. One thing they can do to good effect is the use of the blogosphere.

Lately, Honda has been focusing on BTL activities more. There was a press stunt where the members of the press were invited for a test drive of the new City. A good idea. Now they need to turn this good idea into a great one. And the internet is the best place for a viral BTL stunt.

How? First they need to find a blogger who is a popular opinion leader. Whatever he says about some brand becomes the voice of his audience. Then they need to give this guy (or girl) a City to test drive, not for a day, week or month but for at least six months, twelve months preferable. Now give this person free reign to write whatever he wants to about his experience with this car. If Honda is confident about the superior quality and performance of their car over Corolla so much so that they didn’t even bother to have a proper launch plan, then they shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

Of course, the tester blogger will have some flaws to report about the car, but then no car is perfect. In fact having the opinion leader reveal the flaws (which ought to be few, if the car is that good as claimed by Honda) would convince the consumers that Honda hasn’t bought the blogger and whatever he’s reporting really is the ground reality.

Believe me, the way news spread on the internet, Honda would have an unprecedented viral campaign reaching every nook and corner of the cyberspace in no time. And at what cost? Just the cost of a single Honda City. This much amount is spent on advertising on a full page in a major newspaper, and that lasts for how long? A single day. And even then, not every possible member of the target market gets to see it.

Of course Honda could argue that even with this BTL Blog campaign, much of the target market would not get targeted. And they’re right, to some extent.  And they aren’t for two reasons.

They are right because not everyone with money in his pockets have jumped onto the internet bandwagon lock, stock and barrel. Their idea of the internet is checking mail and checking the KSE (Karachi Stock Exchange) website. Period.

And they are wrong because of the following two reasons.

One, many accomplished executives have not only  jumped onto the blog bandwagon, they actively scourge the blogosphere to find out what other bloggers are talking about. Whatever is happening in that world, they do get influenced by it.

Second, blogs have taken over Google. For some reason, Google just loves blogs. Whenever you search for something on Google, the top ten result Google returns more often than not lead to blog websites. (This narrows Honda’s search to a blogger who’s  popular in the blogosphere).  Now, which search engine do most Pakistanis use for searching anything on the internet? Google.

This essentially means that anyone looking for some information on Honda City will be directed by Google to this blogger’s website who’s writing about his experience using Honda City. Whatever he says about City would become the talk of town in no time.

Remember, it’s just the cost of a City car. This much amount can be spent on a couple of print ads, or it can be spent for generating goodwill about the car on the internet, where it will remain forever for all to see. What more can you ask for?

At the end of the testing period, Honda can either choose to take away the car from the blogger or it can let him keep the car. Choosing the latter option would again result in lasting goodwill. If the strategy achieves the phenomenal success it is slated to achieve, Honda can go for multiple bloggers.

A twist can be introduced by Honda to the proceedings by giving the blogger incentive for praising the car. If the blogger is able to generate substantial goodwill or even sales for the City, Honda would offer him cash prizes or even let him keep the car. This arrangement may be construed to lie in the grey zone of ethics, but in the world of subtle marketing, much worse has happened.

This innovative and rather daring tactic hasn’t been used as yet, (to the best of my knowledge) and it’s effectiveness will last for only so long. Once every brand starts to make use of bloggers as marketing and publicity tools, consumers will slowly lose confidence in the authenticity of it. But for now, it’s a golden opportunity for any daring brand. Can Honda be that daring brand?

Branding. It has been written off by some as a mere abstract concept devoid of any measurable output while some has exalted it to the status of a deity wasting millions in its name (think Pakistan telecom industry).

But if done correctly keeping in mind the immutable laws of branding, the result is a remarkable boost in the sales for the long haul. Corolla’s sales performance, however dazzling it may be, is short-term after all. If Corolla can deliver this result consistently over a period of 3-5 years, only then can it be deemed a successful branding endeavor.

Chances of that happening are not that bright owing to what has already been discussed – Toyota is trying to be everything to all people with just one branded shape. In the long run, it just doesn’t work..

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There isn’t. What makes one brand stand out from its arch-rival is the perception of it in the mind of the consumer. And what influences the perception of the consumer? Marketing, pure and simple. Without it, one brand just cannot claim superiority over its rival brand. As long as you are hammering the consumer consistently in an unobtrusive way, rest assured that your brand will prevail. Of course the brands being compared need to be equivalent in performance and quality before the marketing effect comes into play. Chinese brands like Geely and Jialing can do all the marketing in the world and still not be able to come at par with the likes of Honda and Toyota.

And what is Honda and Toyota doing about it in Pakistan? These rival brands are following entirely different branding strategies for their sub-brands City and Corolla, based on their brand persona (real or perceived) in this part of the world. While in the rest of the world, Honda and Toyota have the brand essence of ‘the car of the middle-class man’; in Pakistan they both are more of a status symbol for the well-offs. Even between Honda and Toyota, the prestige varies considerably. While Toyota is seen in majority on the roads, and has more of a resale value, it’s the Honda which is considered more prestigious with respect to Toyota. And the launch of the Civic Reborn augmented this perception even more. Even the launch of the new stylish model of Corolla hasn’t been able to unseat the Civic Reborn from its prestigious standing. One major reason for that is that Corolla is trying to be all things to everyone. It is trying to appeal to different segments of the society with just one model. Although the specifications vary greatly from 1.3 XLI to 2.0D to 1.8 Altis, the look and the basic specifications remain essentially the same. Why would someone who can afford an Altis buy it when his lesser counterpart has essentially the same car (1.3 XLI) at a far lesser price? If he’s paying more, it’s not for the superior technical specifications but for the chance to be able to stand out from the lesser mortals who can’t afford an expensive car.

And who would know it better than Toyota who launched the best-selling Lexus but kept the parent brand name Toyota away from it because Lexus was being projected as a luxury car and the makers knew that Toyota name had the brand essence of an economical car. And yet, in spite of knowing this branding principle, they’ve made the cardinal mistake of offering the same car to both the haves and the have-nots. At the moment, they seem to be getting away with it due to even bigger follies of its counterparts. But they are suffering as well as far as Altis is concerned due to this branding strategy. In spite of all the great features –Cruisetronic and all – the models which seem to be riding high are the Xli and the GLi, which don’t have any of the new features. Out of the total Corollas in production, roughly 50% are GLi, 40% are Xli and a mere 10% are Altis. Xli is the least expensive one with the minimum features, and a standard practice amongst the consumers is to buy a Xli, scrap that label and put the GLi label in its place. This is a poignant consumer insight which points to consumer’s aversion to being associated with an Xli as well as the identical look of the two models so much so that you can fool anyone by simply changing the label. Honda on the other hand, has been shrewd at least in the sense of branding according to socio-economic class. They have the City to cater to the middle to upper middle class and the Civic to cater to the executive class. The price of Honda City was traditionally less than the price of the Corolla’s XLI and GLI models. However the new model (the third generation) of City saw prices of this brand soar past its Corolla counterparts. Not a bad move by itself, considering the fact that the new City is many notches above its previous model in terms of style.

Toyota Corolla

Honda Print Ad

Honda City

Honda City

Unfortunately for Honda, the new Corolla model which was launched just a few months prior to the City launch caught the fancy of the target market. This combined with the fact that Toyota really dug into the launch campaign which was aggressive at least by the standards of the Pakistani automobile industry. It encompassed all the media, and most importantly hammered incessantly their USP (Unique Selling Proposition/Point)- the Cruisetronic feature, whereby you could put the car on cruise control at a certain speed without sweating it out yourself.

However, from a consumer point of view, it wasn’t the USP that triggered the chain reaction of sales. It was the similarity of look to that of Camry especially from the front and the fact that the car is designed in such a way that its body appears wider and lower than not only its previous model, but wider than the City and Liana as well, both of whom have focused on stretching the car vertical rather than horizontal.

In reality, the new Corolla is a mere 60mm (6cm) wider than its previous model. Common sense suggests that, considering the nature and width of roads in Pakistan, it is better to make cars that have narrow body but are vertically elongated to create more space within the passenger cabin. This shape unfortunately gives the look of a ‘dabba’ (box) instead of a stylish car. Toyota took a risk with the wider body (or maybe it was based on consumer survey), and the results are for all to see.

The million dollar question is, how did Toyota finally come to grips with the fact that its Corolla is remarkably mediocre in style and all things aesthetic, shaped like a ‘Dabba’ rather than a sedan for the upper class? And how did they know precisely that the consumer wanted a ‘Camry’ look. An educated guess is that they conducted an exhaustive research to gauge the consumer reaction. Although groundbreaking in this part of the world, this is nothing new in the international automobile industry.

Ford conducts (or used to conduct) Style Research Clinics to assess consumer reactions to exterior and interior styling of new automotive designs. What they did was create fibreglass prototype or mock-ups of proposed models. Then by conducting short telephone interviews, they recruited respondents who were then brought to a showroom where the test car mock-up was kept. Personal interviews of the respondents were conducted after they were exposed to the mock-up seeking comments about each and every detail of the mock-up. The results were then sent to the designers in Detroit to streamline the design. Cars such as the Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable and the Jaguar S-type were the direct results of these style clinics. Even Chrysler got in on the act by giving the respondents Gridpad ( a flat 8X10” box, more of a touchscreen) while they were inspecting the new models. MCQs would be flashed on the screen of the Gridpad asking about the aspects of the model and the consumer would answer then and there while observing the new model. One strategy that has become the norm in the West and amazingly missing in this part of the world is CSI- not Crime Scene Investigation mind you, but Customer Satisfaction Index. Although specifically created for the automobile industry by J.David Power III in 1967, it has spawned to include every brand and industry under the sun. And yet in Pakistan, it is applied by not even a single company, not even the MNCs!

That shows the apathy towards consumer interests and rights in this part of the world. But what can CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) do as far as Pakistani autombile industry is concerned? Consider this. Honda Acura dealers in the US festooned the windows of the Integra and Legend with deals reading ‘J.D Power & Associates No.1 Customer Satisfaction Index’ and saw their sales sky-rocket for nearly four years on the basis of just this fact. Nissan was able to compete successfully with its brand Infinity against the might of Lexus just on the basis of its CSI ranking. In short the autombile industry has become obsessed with these ratings because the consumer has taken an avid interest in it. George Borst, the former vice-president of strategic and product planning for Toyota’s sales operations said, ‘Power discovered a niche in the industry many years ago when it wasn’t the top-line issue that it is today, and quantified it. Whether he caused it or caught the wave isn’t important.’ William Pochiluk, CEO Autofacts consulting firm says, ‘ I think Power has changed the auto business forever. There was a time when he was the only guy in the business making these kind of recommendations, and he grabbed the attention of consumers.’

There isn’t a singe CSI in the world right now, but many CSIs depending upon the country. There’s the US version, the UK version , the Japanese version etc, all segmented by industries. However, judging by the Google top results, the US version run by ACSI seems to be the most popular. On that index, Toyota was the reigning champion a couple of years ago with 88 points. Now it has come down considerably to be at par with Honda, somewhere in the early 80s range. The point is, a Pakistani version would go a long way in making brand take stock of their consumers’ satisfaction levels. It would even help those brands who take more care of their customers get ahead of the pack without having to spend a fortune on advertising. Right now, the order of the day in the Pakistani brandscape is that you can get away with murder literally if you have got money to throw on brand communication.

TO BE CONTINUED…………….

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In branding, yes, the ‘brandsman’ still prays like crazy, but he knows his strategy is based on influencing the psyche of the consumer, and if that doesn’t work, maybe something’s seriously wrong with the product itself. One other thing the brandsman knows is that it’s not about the consumer needing the product, but the consumer wanting the product he doesn’t need. To me, 99% of successful brands in the international brandscape subcribe to this truth.

Think about it. Consider me for instance. I’ve got a decent watch by a well-known designer ( At least that’s what I think) which was given to me by a cousin of mine as a gift. I use it only on formal occasions and usually don’t wear a watch, relying on my cellphone for time and alarm. Now why on earth would I want to buy another watch, let alone an expensive one? (Unless I’m a watch freak) It doesn’t make sense. It’s not rational.

Fortunately, for the brandsmen, humans are not rational beings by any stretch of the imagination. So in order for you to make me buy your brand, you’ll have to appeal to my irrational side. That’s what Sigmund Freud’s nephew Edward Burnays, considered to be the father of branding, taught the world, and that’s precisely what has to be done in this case as well instead of reinventing the wheel.

Two important things. First, there has to be a storytelling element embedded into the brand communication.

Do you know the difference between a good speaker and a bad one? Most will say clarity of thought and conviction in what he says. And yet we have come across scores of such speakers who bored us to death, isn’t it? So what gives? It’s the ability to weave stories into the speech to make what is being said relevant and interesting to the audience.

Same goes for branding. If there’s no story behind and around the brand, you might as well be selling fish for all the consumer cared.

Taking the storytelling element to the next level, there also has to be a behind-the-scenes tactic embedded into the strategy. How an event came to be. What insurmountable problems had to be faced and how were they tackled. Who were the people who made it happen. The humane element has to be there if you want brand evangelists and ambassadors being born on their own rather than being grown artificially.

Secondly, word-of-mouth still reigns supreme, no matter how sophisticated and complex the brand game may become. Coming back to myself, did you know what were my motivations for buying each of the watches that I’ve bought in my entire life? Peer pressure.

I would notice a watch on the wrist of a friend and before I know it, I had bought the exact same watch. Although I had bought all of the watches based on the functional features and not the emotive appeal, the underlying reason for buying had been the peers and not some advertisement.

That’s all good, but where to start, you ask? The traditional way – ATL. There’s no way around it – it’s a necessary evil. Without the support from the ATL, the BTL activities will face problems in being effective. So there’ll have to be a TVC and print ad in select channels and magazines/newspapers.

Therefore the start will have to be standard material. But how to determine what in include in the ads? One-half will be foreign ads of the brand, in order to appeal to the foreign-is-authentic mentality of ours, and for the other half, a brand audit will have to be carried out. The aim of the research will be to glean words out of the subjects that they associate with the brand essence of this brand. In fact, what do they associate with a wristwatch? These words will be the basis of the brand communication.

However, the modus operandi will be different from the industry norm. There will be a number of brand audits which would constantly change the strategic plan. In fact, some of these brand researches will be deliberately biased. Why? To subtly influence the consumer. For instance, there will be a special focus group comprising of the brand managers of various brands. Although on the face of it, it would be a genuine research with authentic results, in the background, subliminal messages will be relayed to the participants to influence them.

How? Simply put, invite these people to a focus group and then entertain them in a subtle way that they go back in love with the brand, which of course, would gifted to them at the end of the session. If they’re shrewd enough, they’ll surely recognize the tactic, but even then they couldn’t help warming up to the brand. That’s the magic of the irrational side of our brain. It has the amazing ability to override the rational part, something which has been proven both in mob mentality and consumer behavior.

The same tactic is going to be used with another important but ignored class of professionals: bloggers. They’ve emerged as a potent force and yet brandsmen in this part of the world fail to harness their energy and enthusiasm.

But this tactic won’t end here. All the participants in every focus group conducted will be given a challenging activity. The winner of that activity will be awarded the honor of being sent on a 4/7-day trip to Switzerland to witness the manufacture of the product behind the brand.

The idea behind all this is to ensure the consumer has a great experience and comes back to rave about the brand in front of family and friends. Unfortunately, this is something intangible- not measurable and hence ignored by most of the brandsmen. In reality, activities like these slowly make the difference between a lovable brand and a good brand. You need brand evangelists to create this difference, and the strategy that creates them is difficult for the brandsmen to justify to their bosses. Only a few gutsy souls dare to venture into this territory, but those who do it consistently are richly rewarded.

Service Magic is another vital aspect to focus on. All the sales and customer reps will be considered service magicians. They’ll be given a script to follow in customer handling but will be free to improvise depending upon the situation. Special incentives will be set aside for reps for observing and noting down anything out of the ordinary, gleaning customer insight and suggesting ways to enhance the offering.

Where to get these magicians? The task will be given to Rahila Narejo’s HR firm to find young energetic people with a sunny disposition and the willingness to learn as much as possible about the product.

Advertising is the main tool of Pakistani market for every single brand tactic. With such overuse, it has lost a major chunk of its potency. What needs to be done is to restore some of its potency by making it a bit interactive. The way this is going to work is that people are going to be enticed to send intriguing pictures of swatch in action, accompanied by witty captions. These would be used on the internet as well as print ads in magazines and newspapers. Special incentive will be set aside for capturing a celebrity wearing Swatch.

All the prizes will be in line with the strategy of reinforcing the brand in every conceivable way.

To make the target market further involved in the brand, all the universities would be invited to make a marketing plan for Swatch. Select entries would be required to present in front of a jury, comprising of – and that’s the interesting part – brand managers from  select organizations. The aim is to have a 360 degree involvement – it doesn’t matter how this is achieved.  The event can be telecast on television – it will definitely be uploaded on Youtube. All of the participants would be given Swatches as gifts. Again the aim is to subtly promote the brand. Subliminal advertising will also be done at this event.

Then seminars and workshops sponsored by the brand ought to be organized. But about what? Simply, things that are associated with the brand essence. Keywords that support and enhance the brand essence will determine what sort of events to organize. They won’t be for free, mind you. However, for the selected few it will be, as a reward for some activity or it may be random based on some lucky draw. After each event, the chosen ones will be treated to a wonderful dinner in line with the adage: ‘All’s well that ends well’.  Clichéd? Yes it is. But it’s also an extremely powerful tactic used by none other than the legendary Richard Branson for his Virgin Atlantic Airlines. Unable to compete with other airlines on convenience and comfort, he decided to give gifts to disembarking passengers as a way of offsetting any unpleasant experiences on the flight. And the tactic worked like a charm.

One other strategy which has been utilized to some extent is the brand alliances and cross branding. This strategy needs to be elevated to the next level by creating synergies composed of a number of brands. The aim of this strategy would be two-pronged. One would be to lend all the participating brands an aura of greatness by associating with each other. Remember, the resultant of a synergy is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Secondly, and this one is more important, all these brands would be coming together to serve one purpose: and that is to shock-and-awe the consumer into having the time of his life at this brand junction. That should be the ultimate aim of any alliances of brands. Unfortunately it doesn’t happen this way in this part of the world.

What usually happens is that the leading sponsor or organizer brings all the co-sponsors together just to make some quick buck instead of ensuring a rocking experience for the participants. What actually should happen is that the brand initiating the alliance shouldn’t  charge any sponsorship money from the other brands. The only requirement for the other brands should be to do something great free of cost for the participants. Of course the benefit will be felt mostly by that brand, but brandsman don’t think in intangible terms.

But where to make use of these stupendous brand alliances, you ask?  At the events, workshops and seminars, where else?  Do anything just for the sake of getting people together and ensuring they’ve a rollicking time. Hell, why not go for a Guinness Record Breaking Event by building a huge working replica of the brand? Even if you fail, you’ll still end up making a lot of noise and giving a tremendous time to the target market, provided you don’t mess up the event itself.

What I’ve revealed till now is the essence of the swatch brand strategy and as such is by no means comprehensive. The nitty-gritty of it will be an ever-lasting iterative process based on the ground realities. What works will be diligently incorporated into the plan even if the idea came from a service rep, and what does not will be discarded right away.

However the brand essence once established should not be tinkered with. That’s because brand is a single idea in the mind of the consumer. The moment you try to be all things to everyone, you confuse the consumer and hence throw the brand into brandscape oblivion.

Keeping your brand above the brand clutter in today’s marketplace is a daunting challenge. It requires a strategy which is rigid and yet flexible at the same time. 

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