Is scale the enemy of brand essence?

When brands lose their heads to growth, they put their core at risk

Growing too big to fail may be a desirable goal, but if brands end up diluting their core values to get there--well then they are setting themselves up for a bumpy ride. Be it hotels, fast moving consumer goods or telecom, the dangers of scaling up without protecting the essence of the brand are all around us.
 

Take for example, hospitality branding. In his 1933 novel Lost Horizon, James Hilton enchanted us with a fictional valley, a mystical paradise on earth. He called it Shangri-La.

Some scholars believe Hilton’s story finds it origins in Shambhala, a mythical paradise found in ancient Hindu-Buddhist texts, such as the Kalachakra Tantra, that predate Tibetan Buddhism. It is a land where only the pure of heart can live, a place where love and wisdom reign and where people are immune to suffering, want or old age.

The legends of Shangri-La and Shambhala fascinate both East and West, and find use in business. There are references to them in literary fiction and popular movies. More to the topic, they are names used by present-day brands.

Shangri-La is most recognised as a luxury hotel group. It has superlative properties in leading cities; lower-price hotels for the budget traveller, business services, dining incentives and a rewards program: in short, everything a modern traveller would want. Wonderful, but there’s no ignoring the Shangri-La chain today shares little with the idea that inspired its name. On the one hand a mystical valley, a place of silence, a beautiful land hidden from the world. On the other a luxurious hotel in a bustling capital, replete with modern amenities for business travellers to close hard-nosed deals and a loyalty program to keep bringing them back.

While it essential to keep the brand healthy even as businesses grow, when products are developed to take rapid advantage of success, which frequently happens when ‘quick scale’ is the mantra, the first casualty is often the brand essence. It can be death by a thousand cuts, with every seemingly innocuous decision moving the product further from its brand essence and closer to category generics. Johnnie Walker is an example. The iconic brand, with its much-admired Keep Walking campaign associating it with men of extraordinary talent and mettle, was once symbolic of those who knew life and their whiskies through deep personal experience. Now five Johnnie Walker variants bring unprecedented scale to Diageo’s flagship, but the brand talisman, Black Label, may find its appeal vastly reduced to genuine aficionados.

The Patanjali brand faces a similar risk. The wheels could come off this very Indian success story due to brand essence dilution from too rapid scaling. Patanjali is in categories where its origins in yoga adds performance credibility and builds brand essence. But it is now also in categories like biscuits where that connection is nebulous and potentially damaging to brand essence.

Scale undoubtedly has business justification. But why should scale debilitate a brand’s essence? Tourism into Goa is a tragic example of mindless expansion, as waves of unregulated visitors ravage the state’s celebrated core. The Kingdom of Bhutan is a terrific example of the opposite, of accruing the benefits of scale without the downside on brand essence.

The author is founder of brand consultancy, Bharat Bambawale & Associates