How “Pocha” Soap Gets Away with It . . .

Pocha soap has an interesting brand name, without a doubt! But how come it keeps a funny name, as if denouncing itself, yet that would actually drive consumers to buy this soap with a wink and a smile?

It is about literal meaning of a brand name versus its extracted meaning. The literal meaning would mean something “rotten”, unlikely for a brand to label itself, whereas we see a flurry of claims by soap brands to be the “best” in the market. However, it is about the target consumers’ experiences that matter at the end of the day. After buying a washing soap with this funny and self-denouncing name, consumers must have a level of satisfaction that had only led to a certain amount of brand loyalty. That experience, when converted to brand knowledge, convinced customers otherwise that it’s merely a funny name to attract customers’ attention and the entrepreneur just wanted to throw a little fun in its brand name. Target customers accepted the brand as a good quality soap that works as it is supposed to work, cleaning cloths, that is.

The history of Pocha soap has some connection to its core raw material (used degraded cooking oil, popularly known as “pocha” oil) that is used in making this soap. However, the extracted or real meaning in the minds of customers has made this soap get away with its apparently self-derided name. An interesting case indeed!

“Distribution” and Brand Management: Part II

How do strong brands negotiate with distribution channels? Strong brands are skilled at using multiple distribution channels effectively. In addition, these brands prioritize consistency across all distribution channels. They ensure that the brand’s message, quality, and values remain uniform, regardless of whether a customer purchases a product in-store or online. This consistency fosters trust and loyalty among consumers, reinforcing the brand’s identity and reliability. Without a strategic partnership, this collaboration is not sustainable. Competing in the distribution process based on commission percentages is not sustainable without relationship management.

We often forget the fact that the first line of collecting consumer data on tastes and preferences may come from the distribution channel. These intermediaries stay informed of market trends, consumer behavior, and emerging technologies to optimize their distribution strategies. They need to survive through their business model as well. As a strategic partner, brands play a crucial role in their distributors’ long term survival.

It appears that the strength of a brand lies not only in its products or services but also in its competence to effectively capitalize on distribution channels. Strong brands strategically utilize win-win partnerships, develop diverse channels, ensure consistency, adapt to changes in order to ensure their products are readily available to consumers. This long term view of distribution partnership helps in catalyzing the customer relationship and loyalty through availability of brands to customers and sustained profitability to intermediaries.

“Distribution” and Brand Management: Part I

In today’s hypercompetitive market, specifically for FMCGs (fast moving consumer goods), developing distribution partnerships probably gets lower priorities compared to promotion campaigns at the consumer end. Spreading the name and fame of a brand through consumers’ adoption gets high priority as is evident from investment in advertising and publicity. However, a brand’s value lies not only in its name, logo, or products but also in the way it strategically leverages distribution channels. Distribution plays a crucial role in the success of a brand, and strong brands knows this very well.

The core function of distribution points to the process of making goods or services available to consumers. Strong brands understand the significance of not just producing unique and differentiated products but also warranting their accessibility to the target market. Brands invest time, effort, and resources in planning resilient distribution strategies that align with their brand identity, differentiation and business objectives.

Strategic partnership with distribution is the key here. Alliances with distributors, retailers, or e-commerce platforms permit these brands to grow their reach and accessibility. These collaborations, when devised in a win-win policy, enhance a brand’s visibility and availability to consumers across diverse demographics and geographies. We often forget the fact that no matter how much loyal our customers are, the final phase in the value exchange process necessarily entails the distribution guys. Strong brands know this well, thus invests in the relationship management with intermediaries.

For Brands, Honesty is Still the Best Policy!

The figure is not surprising when Toyota recalled 1 million vehicles due to a defect that might prevent airbags from being deployed in the case of an emergency situation, that the total number of Toyota’s recall in 2023 stands nearly 2.5 million. Toyota assured that the affected customers will be notified by mid-February, 2024. USA TODAY monitors recalls from Toyota and other car manufacturers in an automotive recall database, which shows the latest car and motor vehicle recalls from the US authorities. It was identified that improper deployment of the front seat airbag contradicts safety regulations. In addition, Toyota issued a recall on June 14, 2023, for certain models of the 2023 Camry and Camry Hybrid as the lug nuts that connect the wheels to the vehicle may not have been tightened properly, which may result in the wheels detaching! If not panicked enough already, the surprising fact that follows indicate ever increasing customer confidence in Toyota, that is.

However, Toyota isn’t the only company recalling their renowned models. Honda recalls 2.5 million vehicles for fuel pump issue in 2023. Tesla recalled 2 million vehicles to receive updates of software as autopilot deemed faulty or insufficient. Ram, Infiniti, Ford among 188,000 vehicles recalled in 2023 alone! However, despite all these publicly available confession of their design and manufacturing problems, sales of these renowned brands are not showing any drastic downfall. The part of the reason could be customers’ long-held confidence in the brand that they earned during a long period of time. Another reason could be the credibility and honesty elaborated by these honest actions from renowned brands. Problems are best solved when first recognized without getting away from it. It seems that honesty is still the best policy to hold on to customers’ confidence.

The Influence of Personal Branding on Product Branding: Part II

As continued from Part I (click here to read), we understand that personal branding oftentimes create a bridge of relevant relationships with endorsed commercial brands. This connection can humanize a product brand with personal stories and relate to the narrative. When consumers see a special connection between an influencer and a product, it becomes inspiring for them to relate, attach, and engage with the brand easily. Based on this premise, a creative and effective connection between a personal brand and a commercial brand can go a long way to achieve the latter’s long-run objectives.

Take the example of this connection in the case of Tesla and Elon Musk. Probably the name Elon Musk was more discussed in the social media than the brand he leads, i.e., Tesla, and probably this is how Tesla becomes a center of discussion connecting the innovative and oftentimes unconventional business moves by Elon Musk. Similar relationships can be seen between the charismatic personality of Steve Jobs and Apple products. Steve Job’s personal brand, portrayed by innovation, design, and a focus on the consumer experience, expressively shaped Apple’s product brand. His vision and charisma were embedded in Apple’s design and delivery of real consumer experience. This connection cannot be purely incidental, but more of a causative factor in creating an authentic and unbeatable brand ambience.

In fact, personal brands thrive on authenticity. They’re built on genuine experiences and expertise. When an influencer endorses a product, their authenticity can extend credibility to the product. Consumers are more likely to care recommendations from people who have fostered their brand on sincerity and trust. How about Nike? It has a long story of collaborating with athletes and sports personalities. These collaborations glues the personal brands of athletes like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Serena Williams to Nike’s product brands, which are presumably built around performance and authentic athleticism. Does it seem to be purely incidental?

How about beauty brands? Fenty Beauty, Redken, Huda Beauty, and Kylie Cosmetics have capitalized on the power of beauty influencers and endorsers. These influencers’ personal brands, oftentimes promoted with pure personal connection to the brand, are embedded in makeup skill and diverse beauty standards.

Personal branding has emerged as an important force in the world of marketing today. It is not only about celebrities anymore, individuals from their respective fields of expertise are building powerful personal brands and connecting to their endorsed product brand so that a symbiotic influence is being seen on consumer behavior and product branding. It appears that the association between personal and product branding is an essential and evolving one, that is gradually shaping our way of perceiving and connecting brands and products we encounter in our daily lives.

The Influence of Personal Branding on Product Branding: Part I

In this age of social media, personal branding has become a force to be counted with due importance. It’s no longer confined to celebrities, fashion icons or public figures– everyday individuals are now cultivating their personal brands for one reason or other. This set of concerted effort towards creating personal brands has had a significant influence on product branding. This interlink is nothing new though, however, the pace and creativity at which this relationship is being projected today have been unique compared to how this influence worked a decade ago.

For example, if personal branding can be viewed as a set of practices of individuals creating a unique and differentiated image of themselves in the minds of others, then social media, vlogs, and other digital media have made it easier than ever for people, specifically who already earned a level of name and fame, to share their thoughts and experiences with a wide range of audience. As a result, personal brands have flourished, with social media influencers and opinion leaders showing up in various niches. They ultimately achieve a significant number of followers who oftentimes create “tribes” in the social space and promote potential for brands to adopt a platform for positioning narratives. Through these narratives among loyal tribes, personal branding can enhance a product’s credibility and trustworthiness not only among tribes, but also among customers who are watching stories on the sidelines.

In addition, personal branding, when connected to commercial brands, oftentimes create a bridge of relevant relationships. This bridge can humanize a product brand with personal stories and connection to the narrative. When consumers see a special connection between an influencer and a product, it becomes inspiring for them to relate, attach, and engage with the brand. (Click here to read Part II).

“It’s a Sony” – Have you ever thought about it?

Only a few names are prominent in the history of consumer electronics, and surely Sony is one of them. Dating back to 1946, Sony Corporation has consistently crossed the boundaries of innovation and excellence in quality. Many popular consumer electronics were from the house of Sony. The consistent quality and innovation gradually merged with the perception of the brand name which created a unique identity whenever consumers heard that brand name.  Not to mention the iconic hit product titled “Walkman” in the early ‘80s, it has consistently put its mark in all major categories of consumer electronics since then.

Eventually, one of the rarest taglines that included the brand name itself, as was once created by Sony, stood at”It’s a Sony”. Consequently, Sony’s voyage from a little electronics shop in Japan to an international brand required a uniting message for customers. In 1982, Sony revealed its iconic slogan, “It’s a Sony.” The phrase, apparently very simple in its construction, was a demonstration of Sony’s overall stories of commitment to quality, consistency, and customer confidence. It served as a powerful declaration to consumers that any product with the Sony logo could be trusted. Even though the latest slogan stands at “make.believe”, it’s still the same story of quality and excellence that Sony is projecting towards customers’ minds. What do you think?

Storytelling: What’s different in the digital age?

Storytelling has been a powerful tool since the inception of human civilization. Starting from the graffiti by cavemen to modern artworks as well as advertising, storytelling essentially focused on conveying a credible and actionable message to the target audience with some sort of emotional attachment.

In the digital age, storytelling has undergone a profound transformation both in terms of forms and shapes, if not in its core objectives. The digital landscape has redefined the strategy and tactics of story creation, sharing and viewer experience, ushering in an age of unprecedented connectivity and engagement via tech innovation.

Due to its changing nature via tech innovation, one of the most prominent aspects of storytelling in the digital age is its “accessibility”. In the pre-digital era, if you are not buying a print newspaper or turn on the cathode-ray tv, you miss out on the story propagated by a brand. These days, owning a smart phone is enough to stay connected, and marketers from another end will reach you via pre-defined segment characteristics identified through “cookies” and find you for the most appropriate message that they are trying to convey. On the other hand, the obstacles to entry have drastically gone down, allowing anyone with an internet connection to become a storyteller. Blogs, social media platforms, and video-sharing websites have empowered individuals to share their narratives, perspectives, and experience with a worldwide audience, resulting in a number of popular social media influencers, singers, actors, comedians, news analysts, what not! This “democratization” of storytelling has enriched the diversity of narratives, ensuring a broader representation of voices that might have been snubbed out by the traditional media.

Interactivity is another characteristic of digital-age storytelling. Unlike passive narration of stories in traditional mediums, digital platforms empower audiences to engage actively with narratives and get connected to the storytellers. Video games, interactive websites, and virtual reality experiences embark users on immersive worlds where their choices influence the plot’s direction. This not only intensifies the audience’s emotional engagement but also smudges the lines between consumer and content creator, as users oftentimes become co-creators of the narrative(s).

In addition, digital tools have altered how stories are told and presented. Mere uniqueness in presentation would make a huge difference in the level of attention and action-intention of the listeners. Multimedia elements such as videos, animations, and interactive graphics enrich the storytelling experience, appealing to numerous senses and learning styles. This convergence of media facilitates creators to express complex ideas more effectively and engage audiences in innovative ways. Audiences can now experience stories through podcasts during commutes, watch animated narratives on streaming sites, and participate in online book clubs with bookworms from around the world.

However, the digital age is not without its own set of challenges. The sheer volume of contents available online can lead to information overload and shortened attention spans. As a result, it turns out to be even more critical to stew a compelling narrative that excites and retains audience interest. On another note, concerns about the truthfulness and credibility of digital stories have already emerged, raising issues about the accuracy of information presented and the potential for misinformation.

Above all, the digital age has reshaped the art and science of storytelling into a multi-dimensional, interactive, and globally accessible phenomenon. Through various digital platforms, it has crossed its traditional boundaries, giving rise to a vibrant set of voices, experiences, and perspectives. As technology continues to advance, storytellers must appreciate both the opportunities and challenges presented by the digital environment. At the end, the challenges narrow down towards creating narratives that reverberate in an ever-evolving digital world, keeping in mind the ever-increasing clutters to cut-through in order to effectively reach customers’- who are probably not willing to give you more than eight seconds!

The importance of the first few seconds!

As the proverb says “well begun is half done”, this could not have been more exaggerated these days as we talk of tiktoks and reels messages for potential customers. Consumers’ attention span has always been on decline, and it has posed a major challenge for marketers to communicate in a focused and clutter-free way. Have you been able to start a conversation that quickly attracts consumer attention in the first few seconds? Every second counts in your marketing communication, and talking here and there won’t work. If you cannot make your consumers get the message in the first few seconds, probably your impression won’t last long to elicit the next level of consumer action. Clarity, focus and shortness, will probably cut through the clutter and communicate spot on to consumers. What did you do about it?

Tesla into Advertising: What’s the take?

Tesla has oftentimes been referred to as an example of how a brand can survive and thrive without advertising. There is no new proposition in it though, since advertising and marketing are in no way synonymous to each other, contrary to popular perception. However, Tesla depended on stories around it, oftentimes created around innovative personality like Elon Musk. So Tesla might not have invested enough in advertising, actually it did not need to, primarily because it was highly compensated by other effective communication tools and stories.

Now it has decided to advertise, coincidentally after taking over Twitter which relies on ads to make money! So why is there such a shift in Elon’s mind? Is that just for creating an eco-system of ad generated revenue by integrating Tesla ads in the system, or there are other motives?

Granted that Tesla’s integration in the eco-system is valuable, but the decision may also be thought of as an attempt to integrate with the mainstream brands that consider advertising an important and effective tool to cut message through the clutter. Gone are the days when brands cannot let customers “think” of a brand, rather a brand creates and propagates stories, often through advertising, about putting forward the cues to thoughts that should be evoked inside customers’ minds. Customers are not left alone these days to exercise their discretion of how a specific brand should be thought of, rather a deliberate and planned image is wittingly installed inside customers’ brains.

In the next move, we will probably see Tesla promoting its affordability and safety aspects through advertising to customers’ minds. This is not, of course, accidentally done.