'Simplicity is the key to get noticed'
Q&A: STANLEY MOSS, Brand Guru
At a time when companies are testing boundaries to promote their brands with complex statements amid fleeting loyalty of consumers, Stanley Moss, brand guru and CEO & General Secretary of Sweden-based The Medinge Group, tells Chitra Unnithan that brands are best promoted by seeking consumer’s permission to communicate, and leave the decision-making to them. He was in India on an invitation from a business school in Ahmedabad. Excerpts:
What is the latest global trend in promoting brands?
At present everyone has jumped on the social networking bandwagon, deploying group-creation on the internet to promote their brands. But remember that the media world has shorter lifespans, so this is but a trend. Six months from now there will be new tricks.
In today’s times, how are brands created and how is the consumer influenced?
I think you mean how are brands launched. After all, brands need time in the marketplace to establish themselves. Brands still emerge in the conventional and traditional ways, that is somebody has a brilliant idea, a company is launched, a product conceptualised. That has not changed. What has changed is the speed to market, and shorter product life cycles, and the fleeting loyalty of consumers. The prime medium for consumer influence today is still the internet. But ultimately the best influence is word of mouth, consumers talking to consumers, advocating brands.
Has the traditional way of promoting brands been replaced by modern media?
It’s a fairly well-accepted understanding that print and broadcast don’t work so well in stimulating brand performance, and that on-line media is the only way to truly quantify consumer behavior. The problem is that consumers are now confronted with a glut of promotion online, and they are resisting being over marketed in the on-line space. I think the great frontier of future brand promotion is currently handheld devices, at least for the next 5-10 years. All our communication will be migrating there. In the past, we encountered promotion; in the new era, promotion will find us.
What are the common problems that companies face in branding?
The temptation is to make too complex a brand statement which confuses the marketplace. A major error in brand formation is saying too much. Simplicity is key, especially in such a crowded landscape.
Where do India’s brands stand?
From an offshore perspective, there are only two or three highly recognizable Indian brands. Tata’s Nano has captured the world’s imagination, while the world isn’t as aware of any of the other things that Tata provides. It’s ironic that a car, a tiny part of their business, has been the sub-brand that the world is aware of. As far as companies abroad looking at India as a potential destination for good branding business, no. Not yet.
What are the things Indian brands can learn from US brands?
Many things not to do, especially concerning the traditional strong-arm tactics of marketing and advertising. What the brand can do is simplify, and not be so consumed with the sense that a company’s name, logo or strap line is of the utmost importance. What they can learn is that mindful, responsible, ethical conduct is the greatest attribute a brand can have. And that they will be judged by their actions, not their words.