A Living Being Called “The Brand”

Posted by Madhavi on Oct 26, 2010 in Social Networking | 2 comments

This article is a guest post by Madhur Dharmadhikari.

A thousand hiccups, hundred strategies, tons of midnight oil, multi-million dollar investments …and a brand is born. Thrown open to survive. The Parents? Brand Managers. And the home? The minds of the consumers. It is the mind that shelters the idea of a brand and that is where the brand’s positioning happens. A Brand Manager’s life is dedicated to nourishing the brand, making sure it’s earning its own living and most importantly, it is remembered.

Branding Today

In today’s lifestyle, when a consumer is more aware and more mobile, how do you catch him to read your brand’s message? How do you convince him that he NEEDS some shopping therapy? To reach out to masses, there seems to be no death to print advertising. Yet, it is crucial to keep creating newer means of connecting to the consumer to prevent blind spots. There comes a time in the life of brand, when outdoor / print / TVCs aren’t effective anymore, since every medium has its own shortcomings. Things changed with the advent of internet. A bunch of new marketing strategies came to life. A whole new world of experiencing the brand was introduced.

Branding on the Internet

A major chunk of audience thrives on the internet almost every second of the day. With the advent of smart phones, one can hardly stay disconnected. What a place to catch your target!

Online marketing and advertising has evolved considerably. Today it is an important tool for interaction and consumer engagement. A must for any brand or product these days is the website. Not only is it rich in content but it is also a platform for keeping the consumers updated about the revisions in the product or service. Infinite amount of things can be done online like; having a poll, asking people what they like, posting photographs, writing articles on brand developments, CSR (corporate social responsibility) can be better explained, and so on.

Examples

A good example is Whirlpool tying up with a NGO and asking people to give old clothes to the kids. They created a site called ekjodikapda.com that gave all the information about the initiative. Another award winning example is a blog called sunsilkgangofgirls.com which did phenomenally well.

Internet Branding Essentials

Pepper your marketing plan, with some more online stuff – Catch your target audience on Facebook and have them ‘like’ your page and keep updating it regularly. Or have them follow you on twitter. Or keep blogging and link it to the brand’s website. Another very good tool is e-mailers and e-brochures. Can’t meet your client RIGHT NOW? Send him an e-brochure. The consumer can save it, read it in his own sweet time and digest the matter. People have gone all the way to run a business with the help of a website.

Do take a look at mysunnybalcony.com. It’s amazing the way they keep everyone posted about their new launches and product range. Concise content, animations, colours, interactive games, etc. have made online marketing a lot of fun. And of course, has got the brands more close to the audiences.

In Conclusion…

The real success of a brand is, to become a part of someone’s life. And to achieve this, we need to have more one-on-ones with our customers. In such a clutter of brands, we need to make sure we find the right way to enter the consumer’s mind, right from the time he wakes up till he falls asleep to dream about what shopping is he doing next weekend! A brand is no more “something outside of you”, it thrives very much the way marketers want it to and it lives like a king to rule your mind.

Madhur Dharmadhikari has over 4 years of experience in the advertising industry. She has been involved in servicing brands from various industrial sectors like retail, industrial, real estate and hospitality. Apart from her work, she is very interested in photography, creative writing, reading and art.

Who says ideas don’t travel across mediums? With her unique understanding of how the industry works, Madhur brings in a lot of insights into the concept of Branding and how it can be used in an Internet setting. Watch out for more insights from Madhur on this blog! Meanwhile, you can follow Madhur on Twitter or add her on FaceBook.

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