The Parable of Branding – Part 2 – Understanding Brand Connect

The explosive entry of a global behemoth like McDonald’s into Indian market, not only changed the fast food perception of Indians but also set a new benchmark of experience for the insatiable appetite of a billion foodies. While a global chain like McDonald’s also had to adapt its global best-selling items to suit the Indian culture, the brand not only became popular amongst kids but got equal acceptance across age-groups, owing to its perception in the market of serving good quality burgers, which were prepared hygienically, priced affordably and packed nicely by a bunch of representatives who seemed visibly passionate and proud of representing the Brand in India. All in all, it was primarily the Brand, followed by the Experience and ultimately, the culmination of both into an extra-ordinary Brand Perception, which helped McD climb to the Top of the League at a certain point in time. The point here being that to get your business/ product/ service noticed distinctly and accepted by your intended target audience, the first, basic yet critical step, is to have your offerings “Branded”.

An apt query here could be that “Will Branding alone ensure my connect and acceptance in the market?”  The answer lies in another example of BTW – Bitto Tikki Waala. A modest person with humble beginnings in West Delhi transformed his traditional business of selling Aloo Tikkis, to a huge business with multiple BTW Outlets across Delhi. But is he known by his product’s name today? No, the noticeable thing in this case being that not only did he work on the quality of products, presentation of products and service innovation, to scale his business, the differentiation came into effect due to the blend of the product, service, culture, expertise and efforts, packaged into a single Brand – BTW – with a definite Identity, Positioning and Communication.

Not only does Branding entail the Art (Creativity) of expressing your philosophy through a Brand, it also encompasses a whole lot of Science (Logical Explanations) and Maths (Business Numbers) as well. Any successful Brand would reflect the persona of the Individual/ People/ Group behind the scenes, which subtly combine to give shape to a Unique Identity, Specific Positioning and Consistent Communication for that Brand. The primary underlying objective for a Company, however small or big, is not just to have a catchy Brand name, but also to resonate the ethos through each touch-point of customer interaction.

While the pitfalls of not getting the right combination of Identity, Positioning & Communication, is that a Brand might end up at the wrong end of the Perception spectrum, the objective of Branding for a business should be to give the most accurate and precise shape to the business’/ businessman’s philosophy, ideas, culture, vision, personality and unify these elements into a Single Shape (refer inset infographic).

Toggle Interactive, with its expertise of weaving compelling stories for businesses across diverse categories, to help them give shape to their Philosophy, Culture, Vision & Personality through a Unique & Memorable Identity – Brand.