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Strategic
Marketing Forum
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Brand
Culture and BRAND RITUALS
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In
De Beers, the brand isn’t really a diamond. It is something
as intangible as love.
Culture is something that the brand develops over time.
It comes from the person who starts the brand. And then
it does things that gives the brand a particular culture.
For instance, Tata. . |
In
the service industry, each customer has a different
experience with the brand. Small details need to be
tutored and doctored keeping the culture of the target
audience in mind. And it is also necessary to train
the crew accordingly or else there will be a fight on
the flight. The message is loud and clear—the service
has to suit the culture of the country.
RD: Continuing with how local culture influences
global brands, Mr Parameshwaran, can you give me the
three most important elements of Indian culture and
then relate the same to a foreign brand?
Parmeshwaran: If you talk about the three things,
one is value. As Indians tend to look for value in everything
they buy, if you are a global brand be sure you have
to offer value that fits into the Indian value perceptions.
That explains why Mercedes Benz sells more diesel cars
than petrol cars. Similarly, we tend to recycle everything
and are one of the highest saving economies. The second
element is: take care that you do not hurt anybody’s
religious sentiments. That came into prominence when
we launched an agarbatti brand for A C Johnson. And
the third is about respecting elders. The latest studies
indicate that more than 90 per cent of youngsters who
are willing to select a life partner on their own also
want parental approval before they tie the knot.
RD: Don’t you think that as a result of such
cultural traits, we are also very slow in adapting to
new ideas or products?
Parmeshwaran: I believe that is more because
of the artificial barriers put in. We, perhaps, did
not adopt computers fast because of the heavy excise
duties. Now look at how we are spending.
RD: What about breakfast cereals?
Gayatri: It is a fact that breakfast habits of
Indians die hard. They like hot and savory breakfasts—garam
nashta. And Kellogg’s is cold and sweet. Breakfast cereals
have a lot to do with the local food habit.
RD: Deepa, what is your opinion on this subject?
Deepa: Yes, I handle Kellogg’s and it is very
difficult to break the custom of eating idlis or parathas
in the morning. When an international brand comes to
India, it has to identify itself with the culture and
its people. Pepsi came to India and started talking
the lingo of the youth here. In fact, it started coining
the lingo of the youth here. ‘Yeh dil mange more’ is
about the ideology of the youth in India or anywhere
else in the world where every one wants to juice the
maximum out of life. Youngsters also identify themselves
with Pepsi’s ‘Mera number kab aayega?’. So identification
is very important. You can’t alienate yourself from
the target audience.
RD: I think culture has a very subtle aspect
to it. It is not something that you can really list;
it’s in the background. It is a nuance, an art, a minefield,
depending on how you look at it. But it is a very sensitive
issue. Maybe you can’t write a rational chapter on it,
but you have to know if it fits or not for the sake
of your survival.
Deepa: Yes, the balance, I believe, is very delicate.
For instance, Kelloggs actually tried to say that parathas
are too heavy. It just backfired. Because people just
did not want to hear that Indian food was bad.
Atul: We tend to adopt all new products after
Indianising them a bit. Look at our festivals. Christmas
here is really different from what it is in Europe.
In fact in Calcutta, it is called Jeshu puja or Jesus
puja. And this is, perhaps, true for other countries
of the world also.
Deepa: Indian Chinese food is different from
anywhere else in the world. And so are the pizzas.
Gayatri: I would like to just add one point to
that. There is no such thing as culture in India—cultures
is more appropriate. India is more like a continent
than a country. North India is as different from South
India as France is from Germany. You have to adapt the
product to regional preferences, especially in case
of food. I think the most remarkable achievement for
our country is that we have been able to integrate such
a diversity. If America is a melting pot where a number
of cultures have come in and have formed one khichdi,
India is a thali where everyone retains his or her unique
identity and everyone contributes to the full meal.
So there are all these little katoris, which add their
own flavour, which are unique and distinct but still
are a part of the same meal. It is critical to recognize
that there is a massive regional diversity in India
and your products have to be catered and designed for
regional preferences.
RD: I think we have discussed quite a bit about
local culture. Now, let us go to the second issue viz.
brands emerging from a specific culture and influencing
different societies. Whenever you talk about Coca Cola
it is USA, IBM is Wall Street, Apple Computers in purely
California. How do brands reflect a specific culture?
Would you like to start, Mr Sinha?
Atul Sinha: Apple is a very good example. IBM
stood for black tie, formality and severity. And Apple
positioned itself against IBM. The idea of Apple to
make a breakthrough with new technology threatened the
cold seriousness of IBM. It was the idea of Apple that
really won against IBM in the contemporary world. Similarly,
Nike is defeating Adidas all over the world because
of its idea of winning at all costs. Its ‘Just do it’
teaches you to beat the competition blue and black and
to win.
RD: When I talk about brands coming from a culture
I am talking about those brands that take pride in coming
from a particular culture and market themselves without
trying to dilute that theme. Singapore girls of Singapore
Airlines always remind you that they are from nowhere
else but Singapore. Gucci shoes always strive to project
its Italian origins. Mercedes signifies the precision
of German engineering. Do you know of anything like
that from India?
Gayatri: Yes. For instance, think of Basmati
rice. It reflects India’s 5000-year-long culinary tradition.
Likewise, where does America gets its energy from? By
winning as a brand. Similarly, Ferrari is the pride
of Italy. They call it Larosa, the red one. It is a
source of pride. Deepa: I worked on brands like Red
Label Tea which is very much Indian in its nature. In
India tea is more an emotional drink than anything else.
Like the mother, who plays a pivotal role in India,
tea brings everyone together. We slapped the personality
of a mother on Red Label Tea with its ‘Jiyo mere lal’
slogan. Another brand is Amul. Amul was born in the
villages of India and it went to create `The taste of
India’. It embodies the cultural values that are unique
to India, and no festival can really be complete without
a little
bit of Amul in it.
RD: Amul is doing very well on Indian soil but
how is it doing in the world market?
Parmeshwaran: Amul is not a pure profit-making
company and has a different set of values. If it exports
to the world market, it will make money. But it would
rather sell in India. It is a product for the people,
of the people and by the people. However, Amul is finding
ready acceptance in the Middle East market and is going
all over the world with its Amul shrikhand, Amul gulab
jamun, Amul kala jamun and other milk sweets. Amul has
the potential of going wherever the Indian community
exists. And from the Indian communities, it can spread
to the rest of the world.
RD: Amit, can you tell us how American your McDonald’s
brand in India is? Amit: People come to McDonald’s because
it is McDonald’s. If we become too Indian, it will affect
our sales. But people do not like the bland American
taste. We give them something that has Indian spices
but does not look like a samosa. For instance, we realised
that people like pizzas here. We created a product called
pizza Mcpuff that gives you the taste of pizza but is
also different from it. And you will not see it anywhere
else. But suppose in the case of Aloo tikki, which is
doing very well, we were asked to revise that decision,
we would have never have called it Aloo tikki. As a
matter of fact, in future you will never find a product
that is very Indian in its name. Because the minute
a product sounds Indian, it denotes that the consumer
will get it elsewhere as well. Thus, we cannot be too
American nor too Indian and continue to be where we
are.
RD: While talking about brand identity, I mentioned
brand reflection which highlights what the target customer
expects to be and not what he actually is. If you adjust
the brand to the local culture so much and tamper with
the product attributes or positioning, do you not actually
run the risk of diluting what the consumer might be
asking for? Suppose after a visit to McDonald’s in London
and Singapore, I come to India and want to repeat my
experience—and not only in terms of associated aspects
such as interiors, layout, standard operating procedures
and waiter conduct? Don’t think I’ll be disappointed
if my experience in India is different from my experience
overseas?
Amit: We adapt ourselves to the local scenario
without compromising too much. For example, we never
tamper with our core brand values. We shall never mess
around with QSCV-quality, service, cleanliness and value,
which form our foundation. We do not mess around with
operating procedures but only change them, keeping the
local culture in mind. For instance, our crew in the
USA is generally extrovertish and very friendly. But
when we went to China, they faced a major problem. China
is a communist country and the crew did not know how
to behave and react to things. In China, some short-term
modifications had to be made and the people had to adjust
to their culture. And today we are back to our old selves.
The crew in China does exactly what McDonald’s always
wanted them to do. Hence, some changes are made in the
short term, but the core values are never tampered with.
RD: I’d like to shift to a slightly different
topic. Can a brand create a new culture altogether?
For instance, under the influence of Virginia Slim’s
‘You’ve come a long way Baby’, women started smoking
for the first time, and that became a new culture. Do
you know of any recent example where a brand is contributing
to a new culture?
Deepa: I can cite the example of Body Shop. Body
Shop really started because Anita Rodigue was in a crisis
when her husband decided to go from one part of America
to the other on a donkey. Suddenly left without a husband
and without a job, she decided to start a cosmetics
company. Body Shop was born. Since she really believed
in the animal cause, she set up a cosmetics company
without any testing on animals. Thus Body Shop became
a statement of beauty without all the negativity associated
with cosmetics—and thus created a culture. Look at how
MTV has created an MTV generation.
RD: The Microsoft office is one such example.
Windows 95 was marketed on the same day in USA as it
was in India. It is a good example of how software was
marketed in different countries in spite of cultural
differences. Do you know of any similar experience in
different countries such as in the Middle East or anywhere?
Nabil: To be honest, Dubai itself only emerged
as a leisure and business destination 30 years ago.
Earlier it was a complete desert. Within that span of
time, the whole of Dubai was changed and became a centre
for international trade and commerce. This, in turn,
created tremendous brand value for Dubai. A new market
for the entire country, which the country never had
in the past. In this sense, there was a total cultural
shift.
RD: But has it touched the local people? Nabil:
In a small country like Dubai, the local people get
used to working with expatriates and grow up with a
cosmopolitan outlook. The local culture adapts fast.
In contrast, I find Indian culture to be much more sensitive
to international brands and companies.
Amit: I just want to add something that might
be of interest to you. Since tastes and preferences
differ so drastically between North and South India,
I had expected a lot of controversies over the dishes
served. We selected a dish from the North and, surprisingly,
it did very well even in the South. I feel when a customer
comes to the McDonald’s, they expect a taste that is
basically neutral and American, yet slightly adapted
to the Indian flavour. And they perhaps want a neutral
taste throughout. The other example of brands creating
culture that comes to mind is of Dockers which had the
audacity to change the way corporate America dresses.
Tired of wearing those pin-striped dark blue suits epitomised
by IBM, the Americans, inspired by the San Francisco-born
brand, started wearing smart casuals on all days and
jeans on Fridays. In India, Zodiac and the bearded man
created a tie culture.
RD: Now I will shift to something other than
brand culture. Brand culture, like an organisational
culture, cannot be seen. We see only the rituals. For
example, Vespa owners meet every Sunday in Manhattan
and ride their funky Italian scooters. That is called
a ritual. Do you know an instance of any such ritual?
Atul Sinha: In the US, after Santa Claus, Ronald
McDonald of McDonald’s is a ritual. There is a tremendous
craze for him among kids and youngsters.
RD: Can you think of an Indian example?
Amit: I believe khadi assumed such proportions
during the freedom struggle in India. It symbolised
the entire movement.
Gayatri: Once we had run a contest on the Internet
where we asked consumers to answer a few dummy questions
and write about the Pillsbury dough boy. We got 15,000
entries, and some of them moved me to tears. To make
the brand a living experience, we made the Pillsbury
dough boy meet people. We went to the streets, got people
to taste seviya kheer and engaged at least 35,000 people
in Bombay with live demonstrations during Ganesh Chaturthi.
It is a much richer experience than TV advertising.
And I think you could call it a ritual. Atul: The Times
of India has also been extremely successful in converting
two brands into rituals—Femina Miss India and the Filmfare
Awards. It is amazing how these things have become a
part of Indian culture. Do you recall the commercial
where a baby girl is playing near her parents and somebody
says ‘Yeh hai meri nayi Miss India’, and the grandmother
rectifies that to `Miss India nahin, Miss Universe bolo!’?
Small things associated with brands like popping open
a Coke bottle, noisily munching Frito Lay, slitting,
breaking and eating a KitKat form a ritual. We have
just come up with a new ad for our Fresh Energy Gel.
We are currently running a contest where instead of
saying ‘Hello’ on the phone, you say ‘Talk to me’ and
you could be the lucky winner of a prize. In two days,
we had 200 people saying ‘Talk to me’ in Bombay alone.
I am sure you can call this a ritual.
RD: I think rituals have their pluses and minuses.
Pluses are those that enhance your brand equity further.
And the minuses are a sad story. Take a look at the
Coke story. They conducted research worth $ 4 million
with 200,000 people prior to introducing the new Coke
in 1985. But people wanted the same old taste, and the
entire project failed. Let me come back to the concept
with which we started our discussion i.e. brand identity
and said that while a brand culture is influenced by
local culture, the local culture is also influenced
by the brand. However, at the end of the day, the brand
has to acquire its own unique culture. The people who
drive the brand should have a clear idea of where the
brand is heading or should be heading. Deepa, do you
think some of your clients are thinking along these
lines?
Deepa: I think all of them are striving to come
closer to Indian values, to identify themselves with
our culture in order to get a better foothold. Hence,
we find even brands like Kelloggs talking about iron
shakti.
RD: As we approach the end of this panel discussion,
I must reiterate that there will be a growing need to
consider brand culture as an important component of
overall brand management function. At the beginning
of this discussion. I introduced the concept of culture
as one of the six elements of brand identity, the other
five being physique, personality, relationship, reflection
and self-image. Let us take the example of Lacoste to
explain the six elements. Physique includes the functional
attributes—that is very easy to describe. Next is personality.
The personality of a Lacoste shirt can be discreet and
not too fancy. This is the personality of the brand
and not that of the target group. If there are ten people
standing, I will not be missed. Next comes relationship—a
Lacoste shirt has a social conformity and distinction.
I will conform and yet I will be distinct—that is the
third element. The reflection for a Lacoste shirt is
neither hyper-masculine nor hyper-feminine; please remember
it is the image of the target and not the target itself.
The fifth element is self-image, which can be the desire
to belong to a class. That brings us to the last element
i.e. culture. The culture of Lacoste is individualistic,
aristocratic, and is all about ideals and class. So,
instead of starting with a blank mind, it is useful
to freeze at the outset of the branding process the
six elements of brand identity, keep an eye on the market,
get to know about the changes that should be incorporated
and keep moving without forgetting the core values of
the brand. When one approaches the branding process
in this way, the cultural aspect of the brand gets the
attention it deserves—which, in turn, can have a favourable
impact on the overall brand success in the long run.
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