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Thinking of your business and consumers only in the present is not enough. Brands need to meaningfully innovate and evolve for tomorrow's consumer to be future-proof.
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Making your brand future-proof
A Bharat Bambawale & Associates Perspective
Organic growth may ill-prepare a brand for the future in a rapidly disruptive world
Not just brands but entire categoriescan become irrelevant in a matter of months
Present day relevance is not enough.Brands need to meaningfully innovate and evolve
for tomorrow’s consumers to be future-proof
Brands who do this successfullyremain consistently profitable and unique
and inspire loyalty and advocacy
Bharat Bambawale & AssociatesIs an independent brand and marketing consultancy based in New Delhi, India that works with clients to create immediate, mid-term and long-term brand value.
Among our many services we help companies future-proof their brands.
www.bb-a.co.in I www.twitter.com/bbaspeak I www.youtube.com/bbaspeak www.linkedin.com/company/bharatbambawaleandassociates
We’ll like to start by telling you a story
A story in which a powerful brand, part of the proud heritage of the country it belongs to, was made future-ready and relevant to a new generation of consumers.
This also a story of great belief and audacious execution
It was 1984 and French President Francis Mitterrand had a problem
It concerned a national icon and a symbol of France
His problem was The Louvre
Photo by Christian Pierret CC BY
The Louvre faced the classic problem many a brand faces: a loss of relevance due to generational changes combined with a
need to update access and appeal
1. Declining visitor traffic
2. Different sections functioned independently, inconveniencing visitors
3. Head of each sections acted autonomously
4. Flow of visitor traffic not evenly distributed
5. The Louvre needed an idea to engage and
connect with a new generation of visitors
Photo by Matt Biddulph CC BY
The decision Francois Mitterrand and his team took to make this French icon relevant and appealing to new consumers was audacious.
This is especially inspiring and instructive in the context of future-proofing brands
Photo by Renaud Camus CC BY
The French team hired Chinese American architectI M Pei to deliver the solution.
We at BB&A imagine these are some of the questions he would have asked
Q1. Purpose: What is the structuremeant for?
Q2. Audience: Who must it appeal to and why would they visit not just oncebut often?
Q3. Functionality: What experience must the structure reliably deliver to visitors individually and collectively?
Q4. Aesthetic: How can the past be respected while ushering in the new?
Q5. Enduring Appeal: How will the structure stand the test of time and repeatedly reward the visitor?
Photo by Adrien Selfre CC BY
IM Pei’s bold and striking solution ‘ The Glass Pyramid’
It has not only brought a famous French icon into the present,but has added a fascinating new dimension to an old ‘brand’
that faced the risk of declining appeal and relevance Photo by Max Sat CC BY
Pyramid excites young & old, makes Louvre modern Visitors descend into a central foyer for easy access
There is more efficient distribution of trafficMore time and room to enjoy the exhibitsPictures courtesy Google Images
Photo by Joe Tent CC BY Photo by Victor R Rulz CC BY
Photo by Jean PierreDalbera CC BY
Photo by Juan Pablo Gonzalez CC BY
At BB&A we find this story fascinating and helpful.
It also gives a framework tothink of future-proofing brands
There are some questions that would feature in a conversationwe would have on brand future-proofing
Future Proof #1 Brand Purpose
What business are you in? What is your brand ideal?
“ What business are you in ”
Theodore Levitt
This fundamental question Professor Levitt posed has great value to us when thinking about
brand future-proofing.It invites us to think deeply about
business strategy and the kind of consumers the brand must be relevant to
Levitt’s famous example: The Railroads thought they were in the railroad business
They didn’t realize they were in the transportation business
They failed to focus on customers and customer service
The much discussed ‘Kodak’ story raises many instructive points about‘what business are you in’
Photo by Joe Christian Oterhals CC BY
Kodak believed they were in the image capture and printing
business. This ultimately limited their innovation and led to their decline. Had they defined their
business as “storing and sharing memories” who knows where they
might have been today?
Jim Stengel, former CMO of Procter & Gamble, in his book
“Grow” elaborates how brand ideals must stand for something
compelling to the people they touch
The right ideal, often becoming the mission of the business, has a
profound impact on the future of a brand.
We love how Nike articulates its brand ideal in the company mission statement
Nike Mission
“ To provide inspiration and innovation for every
athlete* in the world ”
* If you have a body, you are an athlete
Mark Zuckerberg articulates Facebook’s ideal beautifully when he says….
“Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”
Photo by Jason McELWeenie CC BY
Future Proof #2 Brand Audience
Whom do you want to appeal to today, tomorrow and in the future?
What attitude do you display towards them?
On the following slides we give examples*of two brands Bharat has personally worked on
in roles prior to founding BB&A
The examples illustrate how a deep and fundamental understanding
of the human relationshipbetween a category and its target audience
profoundly influences a brand’s future success.
* The words in the slides are our own, andmay differ from any official documentation.
Omo/Surf Excel Consumer Understanding
Many a parent looks back at their childhood with nostalgia for the freedom they enjoyed to explore the outdoors. They lament how controlled today’s children are and wonder if this is getting in the way of them growing up well. Getting dirty is part of growing up. It’s a good thing. Kids explore, invent, socialize. Kids who have an active and healthy relationship with dirt grow into better adults Its actually not the dirt that’s the problem, it’s the dirty clothes. Omo/Surf has molecules that remove dirt and stains That’s why Omo says, “Dirt is Good’. It liberates parents and children to discover and unleash their human potential.
Bharti Airtel Consumer Understanding
In the telecom industry, mobile internet is the future. Young people are the largest consumers of mobile internet. And their primary use of the internet is to share their lives with friends.
Youth say, “Friends are not a part of my life,they are my life!”
Airtel connects you to your friends anytime you want anywhere you are and however you like
Airtel’s iconic campaigns ‘Har Friend Zaroori hota hai / Jo mera hai who tera hai’ bring this consumer understanding to life
Future Proof #3 Brand Functionality
What benefits/experiences do you deliver? What uses do you invent?How do you innovate
Strategy Guru Professor Vijay “VG” Govindrajan, Tuck School, Dartmouth is a huge source of inspiration to us
We use three of his concepts to discuss brand functionality
1. Three box business model 2. Annual Priorities 3. Innovation
Manage the present
Selectively forget the past
Create the future
Professor Govindrajan’s three-box model
Competition for the present
Based on clear & linear environment changes
Projects improve efficiency
Competition for the future
Based on non-linear environment changes
Non-traditional competitors & fundamentally different
consumers
If Dick Fosbury hadn’t chosen to forget the past – i.e. going over the bar belly first – he wouldn’t have invented his famous Flop. The high jump as we know and love today wouldn’t have been able to clear the heights we today think of as common
In Horizon 1, companies should focus on their core business
In Horizon 2, companies should develop competencies in spaces adjacent to their core business
In Horizon 3, companies should shift focus on entirely new spaces
Professor Govindrajan’s Annual Priorities
Netflix is an excellent example of a company that is future-proofing its brand by continuously adapted their business model. They went from being a DVD-by-mail company to a streaming service to being a producer of high quality original content
Professor Govindrajan on Reverse Innovation
Historically, companies innovated in rich
countries and sold in poor countries.
Reverse innovation develops products in
poor countries that are for poor countries and
later selectively sold in rich countries.
The artificial leg developed in the USA is made of titanium and costs $ 20,000. Asia simply can’t afford them. A doctor in Thailand invented the $ 30 artificial leg out of recycled plastic yoghurt tubs. It is strong, flexible, affordable and a huge success. Later an artificial leg of the same material was strong enough for Mosha, a baby elephant who lost a leg to a Burmese land-mine. What a delightful example of reverse innovation!
Photo by Kristen Ortwerth-Jewell CC BY
Future Proof #4 Brand Aesthetics
What are your design principles? What ‘brand legend’ are you
creating? What stories will you tell?
Dove’s communication aesthetic is a great example of how the brand’s essence
“Real Beauty”drives the look & feel, casting, language & tone which is clean, unadorned & genuine
Harley Davidson is the stuff of marketing folklore
The story of the brand is timeless – about personal identity,
being your truest self and Freedom
Future Proof #4 Enduring Appeal of the Brand
Is your brand responsible for more than profit?
What is your personal/organizational culture
Nike Reuse-A-Shoe collects and recycles old worn out shoes from consumers to create
‘Nike Grind’ a special material to re-lay tracks, courts and fields.
They have recycled 25 million pairs and counting. This adds a ‘responsible dimension’ to a brands
appeal
The Starbucks College Achievement Plan will pay for employees (partners in Starbucks speak) to earn their bachelor’s degree. The partners have no obligation to stay in the company after graduation. Imagine the waves of brand goodwill and employee advocacy this & other initiatives create
Future-proof brands combine business purpose with brand ideals,
create authentic consumer connections, innovate with design and functionality
and help create a more sustainable world
Future-proof brands are rewarded with extraordinary financial profits,
consumer and stakeholder loyalty and becomea much-loved part of lives and popular culture
We would love to have a conversation on how we can help you future proof your brand.
Do get in touch with us at [email protected] or through our digital channels listed below
www.bb-a.co.in I www.twitter.com/bbaspeak I www.youtube.com/bbaspeak www.linkedin.com/company/bharatbambawaleandassociates
© bba 2014