MAKING AND UNMAKING OF A BRAND

There is something very sinister about brand image. The permanency associated with brand image has just about vanished. Products, services and individuals associated with a brand image have to be consistent as well as persistent at labouring to improve brand value. Status quo spells disaster.

 Branding was initially associated with domesticated herd animals. In order to differentiate an animal owned by one individual from another, early humans initiated the custom of branding. The process, painful to the animal, mostly confined to establishing ownership, was a ritual undertaken with due deliberation. The prominent and permanent marking on the animal, said a lot about the brand owner and his clout in the society.

Modern-day branding is an intricate and costly corporate activity. Initially products were branded, then services were included. We recognised them by the unique brand logos and catchy slogans. Celebrities were paid huge sums to be associated with the brand. Now, with celebrities selling anything and everything, celebrity association for qualities and attributes have somehow been relegated to the background or diluted. Celebrities have now become mere product promotion agents. While animal branding was permanent, branding of product and service is all about imaging. Like images, it could be real or virtual! The strength and longevity of a brand image, eventually will depended on how real the constituent elements are and how truly they meet the promises made. It doesn’t take much time for an established brand that soars the skies to plummet to fathomless depths. Creation of brand value is a long drawn, difficult and time-consuming process, whereas, the fall is easy and can be initiated by the product itself or by any one individual associated with the brand.

The trigger forthis article is my experience with a very famous and trusted brand in Kerala.

Different products ranging from stabilisers, geysers, solar water heaters and inverters are sold under the same brand name. A perfect name for its initial product,backed by excellent quality, the product enjoyed a niche associated with trust and solid performance. The firm grew and successfully diversified its operations. The ptomoter of the product is known and appreciated for his bold stand on various social issues. Sure enough, the entire range of products, though priced above competitors, being adequately backed by quality and associated with progressive outlook attained immense brand value. Satisfied with two stabilisers I purchased, and led by brand image, I became, what corporate gurus call “branded loyalist”. That was till now.

I purchased an inverter of this brand, from a showroom of a reputed retail chain. The showroom provided me with all possible help and choices. My first conversation with the service desk of the brand, while I was trying to install the inverter was a shocker and gave me an indication of the likely decay. When I asked for assistance to install the inverter, I was told that it was the responsibility of the client to hire an electrician to install it. the company had nothing to do with it. It is perfectly okay to be told so, but that doesn’t have to be conveyed in a rude and unprofessional manner. That was the starting point.

It took me two days to get an electrician. Three or four hours into operation, the inverter,started beeping very loudly. By then, the electrician who installed it, had also left. I tried to switch off the inverter, but it did not yield. I had to somehow silence the inverter. I immediately called the service desk for help.What shocked me, was the mere apathy and insensitivity of the service desk. All my efforts and explanation, failed to convince the service desk, of the urgency of sending somebody to immediately cut off the inverter from the mains. It took me four hours of self-help activities to save myself from the situation. Phone calls to the electrician, reference on the web and my persistence at finding an immediate remedy finally yielded result. I learned later that the service provider was located not very far away from me. They did not send a technician because it was a Saturday afternoon. the earliest they could send somebody was Monday.

The response I received that day, from the brand service desk has forced me to shun the brand for ever. I also learned how a brand value can be eroded by weakness in quality and how the fall can be accelerated by individuals associated with the brand.

Since the item was guaranteed and I knew one of the partners of the chain, the showroom sent me a replacement the very next day. Nice of the retail chain, for the next 48 working hours, someone kept taking feedback on the performance of the replacement piece.

Since I was a brand loyalist, I send an email to the company hoping that the issue would be localised and contained. The reply I received confirmed that the erosion had set in irrevocably. To an email with my name and address clearly written, the reply asked me to submit my complaint with my name and address in the specified format. It was clear to me, that those responsible had not read the mail. The promoter might or might not know of this degeneration. Either way, it is his folly.

There is sufficient material and expertise available to create a brand and successfully market it. However, sustaining the image is a different matter altogether.Brand image, is an amalgamation of the perception that exist in the minds of the customers. Celebrities could at best, lend their presence to a brand image through association. Brand value however, comes to stay, purely from first and second-hand experience. It is only through the fine print of customer experience that brand image can sustain its growth. Despite large amounts being pumped into advertising a brand, only real-life experience of customers can cement brand image. Good brand managers would take care to absorb all possible inputs about the performance of the brand, it be product or associated services.

One of the key issues missed out by brand managers, is the need to include the company’s staff in the process of creating and sustaining a brand image. Marketing and blitzkrieg in the glitzy world of advertisements may win few eyeballs and a few first-time trials. Continued use of the brand and developing loyalty amongst the customers can happen only through collective and participative efforts of all individuals associated with the brand. Consider the damage a salesman can inflict on a brand, despite the costliest advertisement campaign, when he at the point of sales tells the consumer that he can neither guarantee the performance nor the after sales service. The brand is just as good as the worst salesman. The entire budget spend on brand imaging is as good as flushed down the drain. This is what is happening to an once famous brand.

Decay and degeneration is inherent to existence. Brand image is no exception. Efforts must be focused to identify and prevent its occurrence. As with brand image,decay and degeneration is inherent to any organisation. Thus, progressive organisations must devise means and establish protocols to arrest organisational decay and degeneration. The organisation must spare no efforts to educate all those individuals coming in contact with customers on how to protect and promote the brand image and the brand value.