24 Brand Mantras

Finding a place in the Minds and Hearts of

Consumers
Synopsis

Written in simple language with home truths and rhyming chimes, 24 Brand Mantras,
presents action-oriented mantras which can help to launch, build, rejuvenate, and grow
successful brands. This book asks the reader to use a consume-focus approach, and attempt
to appeal to both the minds and hearts of consumers.
The book is illustrated with real-life examples of brands - how they used, misused or didn’t
use the mantras and their subsequent success of failure.

The Author

Brand Guru Jagdeep Kapoor is the author of this book. He is the Chairman and Managing
Director of Samiska Marketing Consultants Pvt Ltd, a strategic marketing consultancy. He
has worked on a large number of brands including Navneet, Mother Dairy, Monginis, Frooti,
Cinthol, Nirma, Fevicol, etc.
He is a prolific writer and has authored several best-sellers like 9 Brand Shastras and 18
Brand Astras, etc.

Preface
Today, the marketplace is highly aggressive and cluttered. A properly conceptualised brand
strategy is a must for brands to weather the competition and stand out in the crowd.
A good strategy focuses on building brands by appealing to both the rational and emotional
mind. For a brand to succeed, it has to delight the consumers which can only happen when
the brand finds a place in their hearts and minds.
These two aspects – targeted together– will provide, both, satisfaction to the consumer and
wealth to the marketer.
The 24 action-oriented mantras provide guidelines to build and grow a brand profitably.

Brand Mantras for the Mind

1. To build a big brand , adopt a short brand name
 Brand names come with an oral feel. Tongue-twisters will have trouble rolling
off the shelves whiles brand names with a few syllables will roll off the simplest
consumer. E.g.: IBM, Lux, IIM

 A short brand name gives a competitive and good start to any brand in the
following ways:
1. It cuts across segments. Men, women and children feel at home with it.
2. Easy to pronounce > Easy to ask for > Easy to Spell => Easy acceptance
3. Easy to recall
4. Better for website domains, social media and SEO
5. Helps retain the original essence of the brand
 Example - IBM once stood for International Business Machines. It has
become such an iconic name that it matters no longer what it once
stood for. In fact, the company, I’m sure, would rather not have the
quaint term 'business machines' be widely known, especially as the
company is more into software and services these days.

2. Don't let Jazzy research replace common sense.

 Marketing and brand building is applied common sense.
 Research is an important aspect of brand building but when an instrument
becomes an end in itself, it very often ceases to serve the master it set out to
please in the first place.
 Market research only tells us about today and nothing about tomorrow.
Sometimes, consumer behaviour and patterns show different results from
research and it is important to respect them.
 Example - Market research indicated that consumers would never buy Sony’s
Walkman cassette player that didn’t have the capacity to record and users would
be irritated by the use of earphones. The research also indicated that people
didn't see it as a necessity and analysts predicted that it would be a failure. The
Walkman went on to sell 330 million units.

3. Use benefit segmentation to build brands.

 In marketing, you cannot be everything to everyone or you'll end up meaning
nothing to anyone.
 Segmentation is a must – demographic, psychographic or geographic.
 The most effective is segmentation based on the benefits a group of
consumers seek from your brand i.e. benefit segmentation.
  Example - Krack cream focuses on not only taking care of the cracks on the
soul of your feet but also the aesthetics and comfort.
 If you can identify, segregate, highlight and manifest the need and satisfaction
of the consumer, thus benefiting the consumer then the brand does well.
 Benefit segmentation has the advantage of powerfully attracting customers
who display the relevant need.
 Example – Mutual Funds has something for every type of investor. Some
investors look for safety (low risk) others for liquidity and others for aggressive
growth (high risk). So, Alliance Mutual Funds launched a number of brands
appealing to separate segments - there was one comprising FMCG and blue
chip stocks for safe and low risk investors, another consisting of volatile IT and
media stocks for high risk investors.
 It is important to note that this shouldn't replace, but supplement other
methods of segmentation so as to ensure success of the brand.
 Remember, generalizations fail, specifics succeed.

4. Sample to sell ample

 Sampling is basically building a brand by inducing trials. One a person tries out
a brand, he will, if it satisfies him, come back for more. Thus loyal customers
are won over to a brand
 Test driving a car and trying clothes in trial rooms are ways of sampling. Even
the trailers and teasers of films are sampling promotion material. Consumers
are able to sample the film, and then get motivated to go watch it.
 Sampling can be done for FMCG products, industrial products, financial and
information technology services and other Fast Moving Consumer Services.
 For long, sampling has been used as a launch device.
 Example- Gillette set up, at a mall, four wash basin counters inviting men to
sample and try out their latest Mach3 Turbo brand offering. There was
excitement and participation by large number of men and the sampling
exercise did wonders for the brand.

5. Don't hesitate to communicate

 Communication is essential for marketing. It is not enough to merely have a
good product. People must know that you have a good product.
 Communication is what helps connect the brand and its benefits with the
minds and hearts of consumers.
 There are quite a few fears that make entrepreneurs and companies hesitant
to communicate. 4 of these unfounded fears are:
 If my product is in the public eye and everyone knows how good it is then I'll
have to face more competition
 Your product will not be the sole brand forever. Competition will come and
it will only help the category grow. This will be beneficial as it will expand
the market.
If you don't you communicate then consumers won't know that you exist or
what you stand for and so they may not even consider you.

 Practising communication means the the product is not as good as it claims

to be
Communication (in marketing) is seen (by many) as a language of hyperbole
designed to make claims that has no relevance to the product. This
assumption is completely misplaced. Communication must be truthful. It
should put forth facts, brand’s benefits and support it with evidence to be
effective communication should be ethical.

 Communication is high spending on advertising

Advertising is only a small part of communication. There are other elements
which are cost-effective or could even be free like personal selling, PR,
direct marketing, event management, relationship marketing, perception
management, and sales promotion.
Communication requires expenditure but not necessarily high expenditure.
Time and effort make it effective.

 Communication a and advertising will make the taxman look my way

Good branding is based on integrity with the foundation of truth so that the
consumers have faith in the brand. It is a part of your social obligation to be
a good corporate citizen. If you want your product to evolve onto a brand
then be an honest businessman.

 Throughout out the life of a brand, there should be continuous dialogue

between the entrepreneur/corporation behind the brand and the people who
consume it.
 It establishes a bond between the two parties which, when carefully nurtured,
grows.

6. Like salt, use advertising in the right proportion.

 Using advertising - like salt - in the right proportion is in terms of an absolute
concept which has to be translated into advertising spend.
 The other idea is the proportion of advertising to other elements of
communication.
 Example - Home trade tried to use many celebrities and a very high powered
TV advertising campaign which did not do well at all and wasted lakhs of
rupees. Ultimately, the company closed down.
  A healthy brand has a clearly defined A:S ratio (Ad : Sales). It will always have
sensible and prudent advertising plan and a healthy bottom line.
 The proportion of advertising to all other elements must be emphasized.
 The trick is to find the right proportion.

7. Jo dikhata hai wo bikta hai (What is visible , sells)

 Marketers who make their brands visible are likely to be more prosperous.
 People must know that you are there. A brand is noticed when an effort is
made to grab attention of the consumers.
 Example - Bisleri has a commanding presence whether it’s at a chemist outlet
or a mall or a dhaba or a hotel or a kirana shop or even at the airport. Its
visibility has made it the brand market leader with vibrant sales.
 Visibility is beneficial as it puts the product into consideration and repeated
exposure makes a prospect feel that the product is doing well. And, if it is
successful it means that everyone is buying it.
 Example - Navneet started Navneet dispensers which were put at retail outlets
for display. They were attractive and became a talking point amongst children.
It was fun for kids to dip into a Navneet dispenser and pick out a little book, toy
or writing pad and since the items were priced at low rates, they could be
easily purchased by parents. Gradually, Navneet gained the parents’
confidence and the child's heart.

8. Brand images are fragile , handle with care,

 It takes a lifetime to build a brand but only a few careless moments to destroy
it.

 One of the most ads controversial recent memory, Pepsi’s ad campaign with
Kendall Jenner. In the ad, tensions are mounting between protesters and
police—that is, until Jenner magically solves everything by opening a Pepsi for
a cop. This image is inspired by a photo of a black woman, Leshia Evans,
bravely standing up to police in riot gear at a BLM protest in Baton Rouge.
As a result of this, Pepsi became the subject of mockery and ridicule and the
the ad had to be removed. The brand took a beating for this.

 Even in the service segment, brand images are fragile. A wrong takeoff or a
crash landing could Undo, for an airline in one swift stroke all effort it has
invested in brand building

 Constant monitoring of the brand can help in building a powerful image.

 Even images of several celebrities have to be handled with care.
 Exercise caution, take precaution and handle image of brand with care.
9. Your consumer's needs come first.
 It is important to note that in brand building you must place a consumers
needs above everyone else.

 Example - When plague struck Surat in Western India 1994 due to spread of
contaminated water, Bisleri and Bailey rose to the occasion, acted wisely and
responsibly to make sure that the consumers needs for clean water were met.
They insured equitable distribution without increasing their prices and built
goodwill and positive customer franchise.

 Follow the 4 steps for brand growth:

 Identify specific needs of the customer

Nokia was able to identify the need for flashlight feature in phones and
brought light to the lives of millions.

 Develop and design and appropriate product or service to meet that need
McDonalds recognised Indian consumers’ needs for home delivery and
launched McDelivery. This service was unique to India and was extremely
well accepted.

 Ensure customer satisfaction

Taj Group of hotels and made customer satisfaction their mission. Their
consistency and superior service has met customers handmade leading it to
become one of the best hotels in India.

 Look at making profits.

An excellent example of this would be Pidilite Industries with a wonderful
set of brands including Fevicol, Rangila, Dr Fixit and M-seal the company
has made consumer needs and made process.

10.Don't Underprice Yourself.

 Low prices are not always is solution it is important to have developed and
relevance pricing. Under pricing can be very harmful for the brand. There are
three reasons for this:
 It is perceive to be of lower quality
 People see it as having less credibility
 With lower price realization, it becomes difficult to allow the branch grow and
realize it appropriate and relevant price in the market.
  Pricing must be seen in relation to its target audience. Over-pricing is also not the
answer. Only relevant pricing, keeping in mind the brands perceived value, is the
correct way to go.

11.Brands must make profit, not only noise.

 Creating awareness is a necessity for any brand building exercise but it is not
enough. A truly winning brand is one that makes profit while providing perceived
value of the customer
 For a brand to make profit it must go through the following phases:
Phase 1 - Recover its variable cost
Phase 2 - break even
Phase 3 - make a profit
The gestation period can be as low as 1 to 3 years depending on the product
service category and state of the market.
 Financials must be taken into account and regularly reviewed so that the input-
output ratio is not imbalance
 Brand managers and marketing managers must carefully understand ratios so that
the elements of costs related to advertising and promotion, manpower and
travelling are well budgeted and monitored.
 Brand Accountability Module takes into account six elements:
 Awareness
 Trials
 Repeat
 Volume Growth
 Market Share Growth
 Profit Growth
 Example - Air Deccan suffered a loss of Rs200 crore due to its low prices and
ultimately was bought over by another airline. Air Deccan did create a lot of hype
but no profits.

12.Focus on consumption, rather than purchase.

 A marketing task does not end with purchase it ends with consumption, which if it
satisfies the consumer may result in another sale, and then another. That
completes the marketing cycle.
 Regular consumption builds brands. Purchases are important only when they lead
to consumption.
 Trials are important only when they need to repeat purchases.
 If you decide to buy a book, the purchase is complete but unless you read the
book chances are you would not by another by the same author. Thus, without
consumption your sale is only a transfer of goods.
  Example - Parachute hair oil and its campaign '1 hour champi Kiya?' got the Indian
consumers into the habit of consuming the brand with a certain regularity. This
helped increase consumption of the brand which helped the brand grow.

Brand Mantras for the Heart

1. Be humble or you will tumble.
 Humility goes a long way in building a brand in the heart of the consumer.
 There are instances where large multinational brands have thanked consumers in
a humble manner, using the occasion of their anniversary.
 Consumers like humble brands. They may tolerate ignorance but they will never
tolerate arrogance.
 Example - Colgate was at the top of the toothpaste pack with a 75% market share
in India. It was arrogant and chose to believe that its virtual monopoly would
continue forever. This inevitably lead to complacency towards the consumer. New
brands have since come in and taken away a good 20% of Colgate’s market share
over the last 15 years.
 Lack of competition or monopoly should not be interpreted as high brand loyalty
as the consumer really has no choice. Brand loyalty is only applicable when a
consumer chooses a brand in a multi brand market.
 The hierarchy to follow in order to attain brand humility would be:
 God
 Consumer
 Brand
 Retailer
 All Others - Distributors And Employees

2. Build relationships to build brands.

 The closer the relationship between brand and consumer, the greater the chance
of success.
 Hotel chains like ITC and Marriott build a relationship with consumers by wishing
them on their days of joy. This builds a strong bond between the brand and the
consumer.
 Example - In the service sector Jet Airways, through its Jet Privilege Loyalty
program for frequent flyers, has successfully build relationships with consumers in
order to build itself. Several regular clients are pleasantly surprised to be
addressed by name and served their preferred foods without even being asked.
 When a brand makes such efforts to delight the customers it ensures continued
patronage.
  Relationship building exercise must be honest, genuine and regular to enter the
heart of the consumers.

3. Respect your retailers.

 The retailer is the most misunderstood link in the supply chain. When a retailer
decides to stop a brand is investing his time effort money and shelf space in it.
 The retailer Looks for four key things:
 Knowledge that the brand will continue. He does not want to end up with
unsold goods.
 Regular supplies
 Consistent and regular service
 Profit margins
 The interaction between the retailer and consumer ultimately decides the fate of
the brand.
 So, marketers need to make an effort to understand their retailers and contribute
to increasing their store traffic and increasing their revenue, for they are capable
of retaining the consumer for over a lifetime or even over generations.
 Without Corporation participation and help from the retailer building profitable
and vibrant brands is not possible.
 A healthy collaborative approach between retailers and marketer helps position
the brand better in a marketplace.

4. Avoid generality to give your brand a personality.

 While positioning a brand, it is important to treat it like a human being with
specific characteristics.
 A distinctive personality will help the brand come alive for the consumer and help
the consumers identify with the brand.
 Example - Lux soap has a distinctive brand personality – soft, smooth, tender, and
caring. It is a complete beauty care package - all in a cake of soap. Advertising with
beauty icons like Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, has enhanced its
beauty brand personality and Lux has become one of the top brands in its
category.
 Personality of a brand could be health oriented as well.
Example - Dettol's brand personality highlights hygiene and benefits associated
with that and appeals to anyone that relates to its personality.
 A brand personality enhances the perceived value of the brand.

5. Nurture your brand as you would a child.

 Keep in mind the following while building a brand:
 Never neglect it: Neglect breeds distance. Thumbs up, the number one brand
in India at one time, was neglected by its new parents Coca-Cola leading to the
 brand withering away. Efforts a few years later to revive it were in the right
direction but precious time and market share had been lost.

 Do not let your brand drift: A brand that drifts stagnates. In India, during the
P&G - Godrej Alliance days, the star brand Cinthol was allowed to drift. It was
only later that Godrej soap effectively rejuvenated Cinthol and generated
increase in sales and profit.
If a brand is allowed to drift then you are not paying attention to it like a child.

 Use varied marketing ingredients to develop your brand regularly: Feed it with
communication inputs like ads. Endow it with up-gradation inputs like
new/improved packaging or quality. Seed it with other relevant inputs like
increased perceived value, reach and affordability.
Fevicol has been built with a mix of marketing ingredients like packaging,
advertising, distribution and having carpenter clubs called Fevicol Champions
Club.

 Be passionate about your brand: Fair and Lovely as a brand has continued to
grow because the entire brand building process has been done passionately
with it getting constant from the company. It has strived to connect with the
modern and young consumer. The nurturing of the brand continuous and it
keeps growing despite intense competition and continuing its market
leadership.

6. Service is the first step to a great brand.

 For higher volume growth more profit and greater market share, one must first
win over the customer. It should be ensured that the customer gets the service
he/she desires.
 In the banking industry, service gives a great competitive edge. Banks like HDFC,
ICICI, CitiBank, conduct their customer satisfaction surveys religiously on a regular
basis.
 A pleasant brand experience will lead to a positive word of mouth and therefore
healthy repeats.
 Hotels like The Taj have been moving ahead based on the strength of their high
quality service.
 Good service enhances the brand, expands customer satisfaction, increases sales,
and ensures sustainable growth and profit.
 It is the way to earn customer loyalty.

7. Remember, consumers look for perceived in brands.

 Every brand delivers on two levels:
  Value which is a combination fashion quality this is the tangible while there
is the intangible or value-added part which is the perception of a brand.
Both the tangible and intangible make up the perceived value.
 Look for that individual brand which can provide them a balanced perceived value
in terms of utility and image.
 Consumers prefer a brand with higher perceived value and price rather than lower
price and low perceived value.
 They measure their own consumer welfare based on how much higher the
perceived value of a brand is vis-a-vis its price.
 Here, the consumer is buying the intangible that the brand projects so it
communication and brand experience.
 Example - Jet Airways has built its perceived value on the plank of the most
modern technology meeting quality customer service. Even though it is priced
much higher compared to other domestic airlines it continues to be the market
leader.

8. Don't sell the right product to wrong audience.

 Brands often fail if they are targeted at the wrong audience.
 It is important that an appropriate segmentation is carried out and the right target
market is chosen.
 For marketing to work, one must first target the right audience because if the
person being targeted has no use for it he would just not buy the product.
 Example - The car brand Ceilo was mid size car which was a pillar in other
countries but when launched in India it was a flop since the Indian of audience
wanted a small car at the time.

9. Pay heed to consumer emotions.

 The emotional route is a powerful one in advertising.
 Properly used emotions can move entire countries and brand managers can
capitalise on this power but they must remember to do it sensitively with
adequate respect to the emotions of the consumers.
 Example - The recent Samsung India service campaign ‘We’ll Take Care of You,
Wherever You Are’ evokes many emotions on the part of the consumer. It
narrates a very touching story and highlights Samsung’s vision of creating long-
lasting relationship with its consumers through timely service. The campaign has
been a major success all over the world.
 It is important to pay attention to consumer sentiments, more so in a country as
large and diverse as is India because one man's meat can be another man's
poison. This can make your advertising backfire causing disrepute to your brand.

10.Don't prejudge your consumer.

  India is a diverse country. It is imperative that brand builders segment their
market properly and prepare a market plan for this diverse audience.
 Looking at the whole country as one mark can often result in prejudice and bias is
creeping in.
 It is better to observe communication behaviour and then judge the consumer.
 Prejudging implies that you do not care enough to find out about the likes and
dislikes of people, as if they are not important to please.
 The consequences of this could be disastrous for a brand
 Example - Mercedes-Benz targeted the affluent Indians for their premium price
car but they put an older version in the market. The audience was well travelled
and familiar with the latest models. As a result, the launch was a disaster and the
company was stuck with a large inventory and low sales. No one was going to pay
a premium price for an older version. The brand image to a beating and the Indian
partner decided to withdraw from the alliance.

11.Respect the local consumer.

 A common mistake that multinational companies make is to assume that because
their products work abroad, they must work in India. That is not so.
 Kellogg's had to go through their experience of learning that most Indians drink
their milk hot (not cold) and that they like sweet thing and add sugar to their milk.
Therefore, the launched Chocos and Frosties and thus started succeeding.
 The seller- buyer relationship must be based on equality. If either one assume a
superior position the relationship is doomed and has no marketing future.
 Trust and confidence are very important factors needed for a brand to reign. The
consumer must be able to trust the brand and the company must do all it can to
build consumer confidence.
 Remember, do not look down upon the local consumer, he is world class
customer. He will not buy mediocrity. He will not suffer in silence.
 Example - McDonald's respected the local consumer and instead of bringing in
foreign tastes, it reinvented its food products to suit ethnic tastes of the local
consumers. Today, it owns a great market share in India.

12.Be honest , don't con 

 Credibility is extremely important when building a brand strategy.
 In brand building, honesty refers to putting forth facts in a pleasant manner. You
can add a little icing to the cake to make it look good and taste better but do not
distort reality.
 Repeat purchase is what brand building is all about. Loyal customers are
important as they help the brand grow.
 Example - The Agarbatti segment in India is packed with a plethora of brands and
almost all of them have economy packs that claim to contain 100 sticks when they
 only contain around 60-70. Years ago when a new brand entered the scene,
honest on all counts, it made it mark in the select outlets and is now steadily
winning over customers.
 In the long run honesty is the best brand policy