the Fight between a Brand and Product
Google is a brand on Search But its Pixel phone is just another product.
Apple is brand, I phone is brand.
Brand is something you love to flaunt. Its that Simple.
Its not about anything logical , practical, features, measurable.
Brand is created in an abstract mindspace, where millions accept the brand as part of their individual , personal space.
work, Workout, Travelling.
Tata Owns Range Rover, Jaguar. It has Safari, Nexon too. all brands in their own respective segments for thier own audience. But JLR wont wear tata Batch, and Safari will always be tata safari. Tata is a corporate brand, JLR , Range Rover are category/Product brands.
Becoming a brand is a journey that takes consistent investment in product/service, R&D, Customer centricity, a culture of excellence, Personal connect of owners, leaders.
Tesla is Elon Musk
FB is Zucerburg
We have Rata Tata, and Our Tata Scions.
But except for Tata , very few of learnings captured as Case Studies, inhouse knowledge repository to upgrade the organization into knowledge repository.
Ruboff of owners, lifestyle has clear impact on brand, Kingfisher is an example. The Airline went bust, the beer still flows.
You can be a Local brand, In a local community, State, National, International brand. Doesn’t matter. If you have your audience connect right and they engage with your product, services. Your brand stands for a certain quality, consistency experience you are home.
Bharat has many such brands, rising falling, sustaining, Growing.
Tunde ke kebab, Haldiram, Bikaji, MTR , AKASH namkeen , Sagar, are indian regional food brands, and there are 100s of such brands that cities, countries swear by.
Most of these brands have taken the franchise route to scale up and spread the foot print but have not been able to do justice to the service standards the way Dominoes does or Macdonalds does it. The Brands of Bharat Ecosystem have Lots to learn .
Bajaj, TVS, mahindra. Great Product and Corporate brands.
Responsible Family Brands have a different responsibility in Bharat . That of being seen in right light doing the right thing by thier key stake holders, mostly Business communities, Clans that they come from. Reliance, Adani A gujju brand. Birlas the marwari brands, Tata , Godrej, Parsi brands. TVS , Muthoot, kalyan,
Only in Bharat the brands carry a DNA strand of their culture , roots.
The next Challenge the brands face is Scalability. How do you scale city brands into regional and regional into national to global brands.
Do you really want to ? That too is a relevant question. Their are smaller, unique experiences that are curated and are branded experiences, Not be mass produced, like a Rolls Royce, Hermes, Royalty of Rajasthan, Michelin star Restaurants.
All the brands of Bharat mentioned above across categories are developing thier brand DNA as they grow vertically, Horizontally as conglomorates. INdian brand Ecosystem is being build on DNA of Values, Culture first approach. Led by Families, Communities at the Core, With Professionals managing the scale up , Operations, Business.
The DNA of these Brands will always be People driven, based on the values of Founders.
And there is nothing wrong with that. Brands if have to be living breathing, organic growing entities. they need to have a human core. They need to driven by Humanity at thier core. Bharat has no dearth of values across its multiple cultures, value systems.
The Next round of Global brands that will emerge from Bharat will have these at thier core.
Reflecting on the interplay between brands and products, particularly within the context of Indian brands, is quite insightful. Brands indeed carry a significant amount of intangible value, encompassing not only the product or service but also the emotions, perceptions, and connections that consumers associate with them. Here are some key points from discussion:
- Brand vs. Product: Distinguish between a brand and a product, emphasizing that a brand is something people love to flaunt and is not just about logical or practical aspects.
- Creation of a Brand: Building a brand is a journey that involves consistent investment in product/service, research and development, customer-centricity, and a culture of excellence.
- Impact of Ownership: The influence of owners and their lifestyles on a brand’s image is acknowledged. For example, the case of Kingfisher illustrates how the airline went bust, but the beer brand still thrives.
- Local and Regional Brands: You point out that brands can be local, regional, national, or international, depending on audience connection and engagement. Many regional food brands in India are cited as examples.
- Corporate and Family Brands: There is a distinction between corporate brands like Bajaj and Mahindra and family brands like Tata, Godrej, and Birla, with the latter carrying a cultural and traditional legacy.
- Scalability: The challenge of scaling up from a city brand to a global brand,along with the question of whether such expansion is even desired.
- Brand DNA: Indian brands are being built on a foundation of values and culture, with a core that is deeply rooted in families and communities. This cultural DNA is integral to the identity of these brands.
- Human-Centric Approach: Importance of brands having a human core, being driven by humanity, and being rooted in the diverse values and cultures of India.
- Future Global Brands: the next wave of global brands from India will have these human-centric values and cultural elements at their core.
brands are not just about products but about the stories, emotions, and connections they evoke, and how they reflect the cultural and human elements at their core. It’s a reflection on how brands are a manifestation of the values and cultures of their origin, and how this can be a powerful asset in the global marketplace.