Point of View:

Brands, choices and marketing

Rohantha ATHUKORALE

MARKETS: Brands are all about choice. So how do brands compete in today's crowded and noisy environment? A great brand is built on a compelling idea that anchors the consumer's attention and loyalty by filling an unmet or unsatisfied need.

One of the best cases in point to my mind is Axe. It represents the opportunity to connect with real life, real fantasies and real feelings of 18 -year old boys. The core of the brand is 'Successful seduction' and it connects with a target that likes to talk and fantasies about it but are not very good at it in real life.

While they would like to be seen as self -confident and in control, they are actually insecure and quite grateful when a girl makes the first move so they don't have to face the fear of rejection.

Whether they are in Bangkok, Colombo or Boston young boys are socially and sexually diffident. Axe works because it is a rite of passage: from feeling like boys to feeling like young men, Axe helps reinforce masculinity and makes them believe they can seduce women. In doing so Axe takes the universal and makes it personal to the brand.

Nike does the same. Its famous press ad headline "There is no finish line" encapsulates the brand's DNA. Nike symbolises an unreachable destination in pursuit of physical fitness and wellness. The idea is both inspirational to a universal audience seeking personal betterment.

Overtime a great brand idea doesn't change, only its expression does. Renewing and refreshing the expression to ensure continuing relevance is a challenging journey.

Another case in point is Surf. The brand is all about Champion Mother and yesterday's mom believed that bad mothers had dirty kids; modern parenting is all about good mothers who allow their kids to get dirty.

Ensuring that you make the right connection with the right consumer at the right place and at the right time is critical component of keeping the idea compelling and contemporary. New media are gaining currency because of their potential to engage consumers.

It's all about touch points - the variety of ways in which you can connect your brand with your consumers. In today's environment whether it's via mainline media, the internet or out-of-home initiatives like point of sale material you need a combination of vehicles and tactics for multi-dimensional salience and relevance.

So Nike also targets its consumers with outdoor vinyls where joggers can interact with them, in gyms where fitness freaks work out.

At dance studios and in active wear sections of shopping malls. Surf provides a new contact point for mothers with contests for kids at schools, announcing the contests in print and TV, so that the brand experience takes place at two points- at school and at home.

The contest encourages mothers and teachers to unleash the child's potential by allowing them to explore and experience the mesmerising but messy world of colours and crayons.

Axe, hosts the longest dance party in the world in some countries and the result is an event rich in emotional content that creates a continuum of experience for the consumer.

So while the old idea was to give a brand some class and exclusivity, the new way is to give it some buzz and experience. A smart guide to win friends. Forever.

(The writer is a double award winner 'Best Marketer -Sri Lanka' and top business personality, working for a British American multinational company as Country Head whilst working for the Sri Lanka's National Council For Economic Development-NCED as a Director. He was the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board.)