Stretching without stretch marks

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, co-operate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” And that …is only true for human beings. A Brand can be, cannot be, can do and can cannot do things against its identity. So while extensions are the most popular method of growth, It is really difficult to get it right. To extend wisely without going on an ego trip is a challenge many a marketer today faces. Especially Today when the single most agenda for any business is growth, not just organic growth but leapfrog growth.

Globally Brand extensions and expansions are the most used strategy for growth. Extensions are When a Brand or business extends its equity within the same category and Expansion means When a Brand or Business ventures outside its core category by extending its core values. 58 per cent of UK consumers would be more likely to try a new product from a brand they knew, versus only 3 per cent for a new brand.
Closer home… Brand proliferation and stretching is evident in the numbers.
•More than 1500 New Brands launched in the FMCG space in the last 3 years
•More than 1400 Line Extensions off existing brands in the last 3 years
Significant growth in the FMCG space has been driven by new line extensions and new brands. Why is it so tempting to stretch??
Enablers of Brand stretch
•Extremely expensive to build Brands coupled with high failing rate of new Brand launches
•Research says consumers are more open to the familiar , so versus launching a new unfamiliar brand and spend huge money on familiarizing…a better option to extend the current Brand
•Self construal theory* states that markets where consumers are more interdependent accept extensions better. This is said to be true of east cultures which are high context cultures. Japan, India more ‘open’ to brand extensions
•Convey broader Brand meaning to consumers
•Research tools available to plan and test acceptance of extensions


Extensions are an attractive option but also a double edged sword, A closer look at the dynamics of stretching. Outlined are the moments of temptation when you as a marketer are likely to give into the temptation and what is the caution that one needs to take before giving in.



Tempt appeal # 1 You have created a high brand equity and its Pay back time
•Brands equity is strong and you want to start using it to make money. You want return on the investment that you have made on building the brand. You are Super confident about elasticity of the Brand equity and want to achieve the stretch rapidly.
•The Brand is between its growth and maturity stage in its Life cycle, the brand product relationship has reversed. The Brand’s equity has become more ‘values’ based and that is when most businesses want to make the emotional stretch through a wide variety of extensions!!!

Caution!!!•Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. A strong Brand doesn’t guarantee success, there has to be a significant value addition along with brand fit … extension offer value cannot substituted by equity value
•Even with a high equity, dormant Brands need to roll out extensions in a planned manner.
•Stretch selectively, ensure you have a well defined Product dna and brand dna, Stay true to what made you famous in the first place- the Brand’s core. CASE in point is Dove, the Brand waited 40 years before it started to stretch. It started to stretch with more soap bar options, moved into adjacent personal wash categories and then got into deo’s and hair wash but kept the moisturizing story through its stretch


Tempt appeal #2 Getting an elephant to dance, Your brand growth is stagnant

•You have a large Brand. The economy is showing growth, competition is growing, newer categories are also taking market share from your Brand…the growth curve is flat.
•Everyone says the fastest turnaround is possible if you launch an extensions
Caution!!!
•Don’t assume an extension will solve the problem which stems from a lack of growth of the core product
•The inherent weak links of the core product need to be strengthened before attempting stretch




Tempt appeal #3 Reloaded- you feel the need to revitalize your long standing Brand
•A large share in the market, in most cases the Brand is a market leader, with consistent communication BUT losing sheen. Brand does not have a updated contemporary look and is in danger of fast losing share to new entrants.

Caution !!!
•Before stretching strengthen your Brand, update it and look only at extensions which fill the equity not borrow from it.
•Create a halo effect that gives your Brand width and strength



Tempt appeal #4 To be relevant to changing consumer needs
•You are a market leader and drive the market. You set the rules of the category. You can see consumer needs are changing with times, and challenger Brands hovering around with newer offerings. You strongly feel stretching is the answer.

Caution!!!
•Don’t be reactive …be proactive. Ideally you should have new product development team who thinks ahead.
•And when you do give new offerings, relevance of the Brand’s core to the new extension critical

Examples- Dettol- liquid hand wash- Dettol skincare
Lifebuoy-liquid wash- gold
Baygon , who lost relevance with consumers due to lack of innovation


Tempt appeal # 5 The new opportunities are compelling
•A growing middle class, a young country, rising income levels, changing lifestyles…giving way to new opportunities in products and services… rapidly growing markets.
•Most organizations set ambitious growth targets on Brands which are large but haven’t experimented with extensions. There is usually pressure from top management / holding companies having been very successful at what they do

Caution!!!
•True especially for Corporate Brands…answer honestly if the stretch is within your grasp?
•Do you have the core competency or even if you decide to acquire it, does your Brand equity lend itself to the new business?
•Will the corporate house be able to break the business model? A lot of times , the proposition and fit is good but the company is culturally not geared for the business
•Will you be trying something so different that it will take away your focus from the core business
•Never expect success in one area to guarantee success in another

One such example is Virgin, who went on a Brand ego trip when it stretched into too many offerings, some which were not lending themselves to its philosophy of being an irreverent fighter for value and in some cases like apparel , the company had Poor understanding of the ‘new’ consumer and ‘new’ market and did not play by the rules of engagement relevant to that category.




Tempt appeal # 6 You want to leverage your competency , both backward and forward

•You manufacture the bulk raw materials and have complete handle on the back end supply chain and know value addition will dramatically increase profitability

•You have channel presence with a widely distributed consumer product, you want to juice your distribution muscle. It is one of the most difficult parts of a business to build and you have made years of effort to do so.


•Expanding your mindset and company culture will determine your success.
•Different categories that sit on the same shelf have different rules of engagement, you have to respect the category codes
•Manufacture led thinking to consumer led thinking
An example would be ITC, which has extended into various new businesses that leverage its strengths and has been successful because of a cultural shift in its mindset.



# Tempt appeal 7 Your business definition allows you to
•How does a Brand define the business it is in? determines how much and how easily It can adapt and stretch
•If you have defined wisely, it is very inviting to launch everything that within the business definition

Cation # 7
•Is the Business definition an ego trip?
•Even when the business technically falls in your definition, does your brand
Satisfy a key driver in that category?
Example-One Brand that has done it well is Saffola who is attempting to move from a heart care oil to heart care foods

Ofcourse Extending and expanding can be hugely profitable if done right. Generally when the Rule of affinity is followed , that is when the consumer reacts “Well I thought that they already made it” Consumer’s mental shelf was already set up even before the shelf at the super market displayed the product” then that stretch is likely to be the most successful.

So the next time the management says lets have a new baby, Do give in to the temptation , as long as the approach is like a marathon not a race, you have Preset the goals and path forward clearly, you keep reminding yourself that the stakes are high, and you use Brand relevance as an important filter

References-
Brand extensions as a Band portfolio strategy- PhD submission by Daniel Filipsson
Journal of Marketing research-Vol XLV June 2008 Pg. 337-350
A new Brand world – Scott Bedbury
Elastic brands- Francis martin paper
Building great Brands and businesses – Prophet consulting
Big Families
Stretching the Domain of Brands
Cecília Russo Jaime Troiano Troiano Consultoria de Marca, Brazil
Smelly business: the dollars and scents of brand building
NigelHollis
Millward Brown, United States
Source: Nielsen Retail Index, 26 top FMCG Categories
contributing 75% to total FMCG turnover in India – May 2008

Driving Innovation

Innovate or die is a credo that is truer today than it ever was. But what is innovation really about? Is it about competitive advantage? Is it about reinventing business processes? About Building entirely new markets that meet untapped customer needs? Selecting and executing the right ideas and bringing them to market in record time?
Is it about taking corporate organizations built for efficiency and rewiring them for
Creativity and growth? It is all that and a lot more.

If we briefly look at the history
Of innovation, In the 60’s and 70’s making things cheaper was the way to build
competitive advantage, in the 80’s and 90’s, it was about making things better and as we
ushered into the new millennium it is about making better things.

Innovation today is much more than technology or new products and even more
than just new products, technology or processes, like an orchestra, it is a balanced
interplay of all elements.

How do companies innovate? Let’s see what we can learn from innovative companies. What do innovative companies do differently? Lets take a closer look at some of the world’s top twenty* companies and get a few mantras to successful innovation. (*2005 poll of 940 senior executive in 68 countries by Boston Consulting Group)






Apple is the first name that pops up when we talk innovation. Why? Because it delivers great consumer experiences with outstanding design; works towards a steady flow of new ideas that redefine old categories. Ipod is an excellent example; addition of the iPod to Apple’s lineup essential grew the company’s top-line by 52%!
What’s worked for Apple? To begin with, a focus on "end user experience" - Apple's early music success transcends technology features and is as much about basic human characteristics often overlooked by companies developing new products. What is the measure of success? Clearly people and their feelings. Another key thing is to keep an ear to the ground - How technology was going to change the world of music… Converging technology and how it can entertain. And of course, Organizational culture-Fostering a culture of innovation within the organization is a subject by itself but suffice to say that Apple encourages, supports and rewards new ideas. There are systems and processes to streamline the same and there is tolerance to failure. Apart from the ipod and iphone an interesting innovation from Apple has been The Nike+ bipod Sport Kit, A wireless system where some Nike shoes embedded with a sensor can communicate with Apple's bipod Nan music player to track a runner's performance and help choreograph songs to the moment. The Nike+ bipod Sport Kit, has already won an endorsement from Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who plans to run his first New York marathon later this year. Collaboration and convergence is at its best in Apple.


Another company known for its innovative approach is Gillette. It is known for its constant innovative thinking. They maintain focus to innovate at an aggressive pace, ensuring significant Contribution of new products to the bottom line. 50% of Gillette's sales will soon come from products introduced within the past five years, up from 41% in 1996 and twice the level of innovation at the average consumer-products company

What works for Gillette? Firstly, Investment in R&D-To meet product-development challenges, Gillette religiously devotes 2.2% of its annual sales, or over $200 million, to R&D, roughly twice the average for consumer products. Secondly a rigorous and thorough approach- Gillette develops multiple versions of any innovation. For a particular product, they developed seven different versions…Ultimately the winner incorporated many ideas from the six losers and 22 patentable innovations on top of the original idea

Gillette M3Power -- a MACH3 innovation -- was a groundbreaking, powered wet shaving system for men that delivered a totally new shaving experience. Yet another new product ‘Fusion Power’ is Gillette's breakthrough design that features five blades, a flexible comfort guard, and an enhanced Lubrastrip. The combination of adding more blades and narrowing the inter-blade span creates a "shaving surface" that distributes the force across the blades, resulting in significantly less irritation and more comfort.

With every innovation, be it for men’s grooming or getting into women’s personal grooming space, Gillette keeps setting new benchmarks in comfort and performance, again end user experience being key.
Gillette has been acquired by P&G, who also has a reputation in consistently delivered innovative offerings to consumers.


P&G -The Company focuses on continuous product innovation based on understanding of changing consumer lifestyle. They not just breed a culture of innovation internally but also sensitize and seek outside partners for new expertise, ideas, and even products

What works for P&G? Firstly, Technology that makes a difference- Consumer focus, ensuring that products meet active needs or create new needs. Second and most important is rigor in approach -It took eight years, and 180 researchers, to develop a special polymer that helps prevent diaper rash. The result? Ultra Pampers®, and happier babies. And a collaborative approach-The Company that collaborates - inside and out - better than any other company in the world.
Some examples of innovative products available internationally, Crest Whitestrips™, a revolutionary new way to whiten teeth 10 times better than the leading whitening toothpaste, in just 14 days at home, using the same enamel-safe ingredient dentists use. Another example, Dryel®, the novel way to care for dry-clean-only clothes in the home.


As we study innovative companies and what makes them tick, it is clear that they do have some ‘ways of working’ and a culture that is carefully nurtured. All the examples provided interesting learning’s emerged on driving innovations.
The result? Well eight mantras of driving innovation …
› Rigor
Innovation isn’t Botox—inject it in the right corporate places and improvements are bound to follow.
But too many companies want one massive injection, one huge blockbuster, to last them for the foreseeable future.
Unfortunately, successful innovation is rarely like that….it requires rigour

› End user experience-Consumer focus
The new forms of innovation driving organizations are based on an intimate
Understanding of consumer culture-
The ability to determine what people want even before they can
articulate it,
It’s all about end user experience….

› Inclusive vs exclusive (Bottom up/ grass roots level)
Involvement of all ….employees, partners, channel, stakeholders, consumers…Listen to the said and the unsaid…
A great idea can come form anywhere not just an R&D domain, so collaborate to compete
› Demystifying technology
A time when technology is walking more than half way to achieve ease of understanding and hence higher acceptance among user…
Unlike past where a technological breakthrough was first about technology….leaving people in awe and admiration
Demask the Spiderman
› Innovation culture…constantly seeking newness
The organization has to cultivate a culture that breeds new ideas and encourages creative thinking. There has to be no fear of failure, enough stimulus to give wings to imagination and almost mandatory to be in touch with grass root reality of consumers.
Innovative organizations are wired differently

› Creative economy vs. Knowledge economy
The focus of the economic environment has changed….New economic driver is emerging, the "Creative Economy"….
Creative economy vs. knowledge economy- Increasingly, the new core competence for executives is creativity-the right-brain stuff that smart companies are now harnessing to generate top-line revenue growth
The game has changed. It isn't just about maths and science anymore.
It's about creativity and imagination

› Design mojo
Redefining product designs
Innovation in product design combines what is described as “fanatical care beyond the obvious stuff” with relentless experiments into new tools, materials and production processes, to design ground-breaking products as the iMAC, iBook etc.
The iPod is a good example as it is not only a very new product but it clearly turns users’ previous experience and understanding of storing and listening to music upside down.
Devil’s in the design!
› Continuous process
No luxury to rest on laurels…need to be constantly innovative…forcing companies to disrupt their systems and processes from time to time to be in line with the new world order of the business they are in…
Perseverance AND pace… day after day, EVERYDAY!


To sum it up, innovation is not a process, it’s a way of life for the organization, innovation is about fuelling growth, and doing so in a strategic manner, and in a creative manner…Innovation is about trusting the unpredictability of ideas and surrendering to them with passion and purpose alike.

Its a lovely wintery morning and as i was scanning through the newspaper, i mean the Delhi times (that is if it qualifies as a news paper for you), to me it does...i would rather read fashion and some kohli's and sehgals'and kapoors posing for page 3 for their pet show, rather than read the documentary evidence for the Taj terroist attack. Not that i am indifferent,far from it... just that it just seems like a chase for the holy grail. Anyways that's not what i wanted to write about...i wanted to write about the bollywood buzz that got me thinking. In good old days of younger heroes, the buzz was more about trends, brat behaviour and 'who's sleeping with whom'match the colum and such other xciting things. But the scene is quite different today, as our heroes are ageing the news bytes are ageing too. So you read about Saif's food poisoining, Amir's hurt his foot, and SRK neck is acting up again. Pictures of significant others with hospital backgrounds looking sombre. The heroes themselves saying sensible things like i have quit smoking or that i must take it easy till my neck / knee / shoulder whatever it is , recovers...Hey hrithik, shahid...u guys listening? time to make hay while the sun is not shining on the 40 plus stars...!!!

Soak and Squeeze- A life philosophy
In life you soak some...squeeze some...when you soak some you get and when you squeeze you give. Life to me is all about the balance between soaking and squeezing, because if one needs to grow as a person you need to do both in the right measure at the right time and right place. When faced with a question of whether to do something or not, answer the question through the soak and squeeze philosophy, it is an unbiased filter to make a decision...Go on, try it

Children are our consumers today and in the future, let’s raise our future consumers the right way. While we serenade them today, lets keep an eye on how our communication is impacting them, because it will not only impact Brand strategy but has the potential to raise a generation of cynics who are difficult to talk to and difficult to persuade as consumers

Seven steps to raise them right…
India offers the exuberance and buoyancy of a young nation along with population numbers and a rapidly developing economy. Children in India constitute 18.7 per cent of the world kids’ population and one-third of the country’s population is under the age of 15 years.
An opportunity that marketers can keep mining for a long period of time.

Even in 2020, around 50% of countries population of India will still be under 35.
Getting the idiom right to communicate with the kid consumer is going to determine a lot more than just monetary gains. It entails not only developing the market and reaping its benefits over a long period of time, it also means weaving the social fabric of a nation which will is an emerging force to reckon with…and the real challenge lies in doing so with foresight and responsibility.

Are we reaching out to the kids with adult messages and pushing them to grow up sooner than required? Are we destroying the innocent questioning mind and a sense of awe that is the essence of childhood? Are we doing too much too soon? Are we developing a generation of cynics who we will find a challenge to reach out to?

A closer look at the winds of change in a kid’s life in urban India…..

Seven signs and symptoms of the environment pushing kids to grow up before time …and gradually hanging the very definition of childhood

1. Gone are little smock dresses, pretty frocks or little boys blue shorts or anything that looks childlike
Picture this….you go to shop clothes for a 4 year old girl and all you find is a low waist jeans, tank tops, spaghetti strap dress! Mostly grown up designs in small sizes…in fact a look around the store makes you feel that teen and young adult clothing has shrunk to size 4…

2. Most toys that are popular seem to imagine for the kids rather than encourage imagination;
Boys have play laptops and an array of strange cards which can be traded. The yester years top has given way to the fancy Beyblade...while the humble top required the child to wind it well, the Beyblade is mechanical.

3. It is known that children learn by emulating adult behavior, but are we forgetting that we are propagating occasional adult behavior as routine behavior to young minds?

The soaps that the mom and mom in law watch are being watched in the presence of the kids. Delve deeper and we know that though the kids appear disinterested they are taking in the adultery, con games, vindictive dialogues and all the other convoluted plots that most soaps depict.

4. Weren’t birthday parties about having a great time and the joy of eating pastries and chips?
The number of birthday parties that kids attend makes their social calendar busier than most happening adults that I know. The birthday party is more than just having fun, it’s about winning a game at the party, carrying an expensive gift, getting a cool return gift, getting dropped in a fancy car and all other status, competition driven activities

5. Shouldn’t we be gently exposing children to various dimensions of achievement? And let them choose their field of play?
The super all rounder kid is another message that most media propagate. Each of us has our own strengths and life is all about leveraging these strengths. To make it look as though either you can do it all or you are not a happening child is not only dangerous; we also risk creating unnatural expectations.

6. There is little room for unstructured play which psychologists say is the best way to foster the imagination and creativity of a child.
Childhood memories were made of… Lazy afternoons, Sherbet ice cubes, dolls wedding, skipping rope, playing teacher- teacher, playing with friends in the colony or just simply being….I thought motherhood would let me relive my childhood but I find the story is rather different today… a plethora of activity classes, too many choices, too much competition even in play activities, very little baby talk, far more demanding children who have lesser time on hands to do kid things.

7. The young minds exposed to media are not developed enough to process the information and the call for action that some advertisements, programs and reality shows make.
All advertising seems to talk to kids. It seems to be delivering Brand messages either to kids directly or through kids to adults. A lot has already been said on pester power and the fact that one in every four commercials have a kid as the protagonist or are heavily kid centric is proof enough that marketers are wooing kids like never before.

It seems too much too soon for the kids who are attracted to the entrapment of adulthood but are far from being emotionally ready to handle the responsibility that comes with it.

Sangita Dhir, A teacher in a leading school in India opines that parents are equally responsible for this phenomenon as they want their children to learn too many things too soon and grow up soon... Sangita says “Lifestyle has changed and with income levels rising up and so have the demands and aspirations of parents and children.” She also points out that Parents adjust their children’s routines around their own rather than vice versa, resulting in late nights and dozing off at school, going to adult hangouts and shopping sprees…”
She feels that working parents compensate for lack of time by showering kids with expensive gifts. She narrates an incident where a parent told her that his son’s daily expenditure is a staggering amount, Yet another parent shared that the child calls from a shop asks for a shocking amount to be sent to him to pick up something he liked”! She concludes in a concerned tone, “Values systems and value of things is fast diminishing…”

Psychologists say, when communication at the sensory level addresses toddlers as though they are kids and kids as though they are teenagers it pushes them towards adult behavior. Kids are likely to fill up their minds in age inappropriate thoughts like smoking, alcohol, sex etc… This takes them away from sports, academics and other activities that children would otherwise be involved with. Any failure due to this diversion makes them rebellious.

A few truths about childhood and children put things in perspective…

Firstly, most kids consume messages in black and white and gullible to believing a message without deeper processing. So it’s all or nothing…

Secondly children are not futuristic, they live their life in the present and are the best example of making the most of today and not thinking about tomorrow.

Thirdly, though children need independence, most children feel the need for clear cut guidelines. Especially at a young age since they have not yet developed the skill to logically prioritize activities

Fourthly learned behavior is a reality. Almost all children learn by observing behavior and response to behavior. The influence of a role model in shaping a Childs beliefs and attitudes is quite significant. Role models could be parents, peers, favorite hero or anyone the child looks upto.

And last but not the least, Children learn and experience through all the five senses because their cognitive ability is developing. Overexposure and multiplicity of messages can lead to sensory overload which causes confusion and learning disability.

Clearly we are treading on impressionable ground. While there are other social changes which are impacting children, communication on mass media is by far the biggest influencer of all.

The legal guidelines for advertising to kids only deal with the obvious, i.e. no violence, no denigration of a child, no abusive language and so on and so forth. There is no mention of persuasive language used with selective truth and limited facts that can do more harm than what seems obviously wrong. Let us not forget that just showing the effect and not the means could mislead children.
While the legal criminals are written about, discussed and probably brought to the book, the creative criminals are rarely pulled up.

Unless we become aware sooner than later, we will find it impossible to penetrate the cynicism of the new society, a trap that we would have set for ourselves. I call it the “Pre mature adults” (PMA) syndrome.

What is PMA syndrome?

When kids behave like adults or clearly beyond their age and are not mentally ready to handle the consequences of this behavior or rationalize the experience.

In the context of marketing and brand strategy, it is important to remember that kids form their attitudes and beliefs as they step out in the world and begin the socialization process. Purchase behavior and usage experience forms a part of this socialization process. A purchase occasion either alone or jointly with parents imparts an experience to the growing up child and this experience in a part of his upbringing as a consumer. Positive experiences can make him a positive, happy consumer and negative experiences can make him cynical about Brands and promotional offerings.

Some implications of this “pre mature adults” syndrome trap …
Destroying sense of awe
Life is exciting because it unfolds itself to the many surprises it has to offer. The sense of awe is what keeps minds fresh and open. Knowing too much too soon not only kills the joy of discovering it almost destroys sense of awe and hence our sense of finding joy in simple things.

Role ambiguity
Conflicting messages from parents and society at large can confuse kids and they may not have clarity as to what is their role and how they should conduct themselves. At a deeper level this can create loss of confidence and complexes in a child’s psyche.

Limiting creativity and imagination
If all the thinking is going to be done for them and everything is going to be available on a platter, it is bound to slow down their questioning mind. A lion who doesn’t hunt behaves like a tame dog after a while; it is about conditioning of the mind.

Growing cynicism

One of the biggest implications is that of growing cynicism…

A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past; he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future (Sidney J. Harris)

The accessibility and sensory overload will give rise to cynicism as our children grow up. They will always struggle to find something more meaningful in life. Successful Brands build relationships with consumers…what kind of relationships can one build with cynics?

Affecting sense of self-worth
As they are bombarded with perfect all rounder kids and materialism it could destroy their sense of self worth and may give rise to a generation of disillusioned individuals.

What does this mean to us as BRAND communication experts?
Why should we be concerned? Not only because we are socially responsible but also because our task will become tougher. Pre mature adults could mean …

No iconic Brands
Well ICONIC Brands are created by consumers who are positive, love themselves and find an expression of their identity in a Brand.

Lack of trust and credibility
It’s a bit like the 'tiger has come' story…when the tiger doesn’t turn up a couple of times you stop believing he exists. Brands will find it that much more difficult to build credibility about their proposition.

Lack of commitment towards Brands
It is different for a consumer to exercise choice but it is disturbing if the consumers become indifferent.

Brand communication that addresses compensatory behavior rather than being inspiring…and surely we want to create inspiring Brands.

So, what can we do as communication experts?
There are no easy nice sounding answers but would help to make a beginning. We need to walk the tight rope of being a strategist at times and a counselor at other times. While general tendency is to follow legal guidelines it may be a great idea to self regulate before the legal forces catch up.






Seven steps to raise them right…ensure that we don’t raise premature adults who make for a more cynical consumer…


1-Retain innocence in our messages
We need to resist the temptation to layer our messages with implied meaning and depiction of too many grey areas.

2-Be simple in delivering the message
Well simplicity never really goes out of fashion and more so when we are talking to kids. The simplicity of words and message will go a long way in reducing confusion and increasing effectiveness.

3-Be truthful
While we all need to sell products we also work towards a larger objective, that of providing a better life to the consumer with our products. The day we compromise our product truth, we risk being seen through some time.

4-Be contextual
Kids relate to behavior in a context, when we make claims let us clearly set the context so as to allow the kids to decode the message clearly.


5-Parent test all communication

Parents are closest to kids and, play an important part in shaping kids personalities. It would help to take them through communication messages and listen to their suggestions. We must factor the feedback into our professional judgment.

6-Use symbolic language carefully

Communication needs to ensure that symbolic language doesn’t confuse or doesn’t over sensitize…For example Color, Sound, Dress; Body language etc…will impact how a child decodes the communication. And children learn decoding over time as their socialization process happens.
The color Red could be associated to ‘Santa’ in a child’s mind, but to an adult mind it is associated with danger, passion, valentine’s day etc…It is therefore important to keep the symbolic communication child relevant


7-Help them decide…don’t lure them….

This point is brilliantly put in James .V.McNeal ‘s book about marketing to Children-“Children are consumers – in- training….Anyone can deceive them, cheat them, It takes a mighty good marketer to satisfy child’s needs and wants without doing any of these…”
Let’s attempt to raise balanced and happy consumers just like we attempt to raise our children.


To sum up, while all of us make careers out of encouraging consumerism, we need to exercise caution in hurrying up our children. While it will give short term gains, it will in the long run make for a cynical, bored and burned out society. Probably the signs are already evident with teens and young adults taking to spiritualism way too early in life and a ‘been there done that’ attitude.

When we launch a new Brand we are so careful and nurturing towards helping it grow. We carefully guide it to find its own space.

When we raise our children we ensure we inculcate in them a set of values we believe in and shape their personalities to make them balanced happy and successful individuals.

Let’s do the same for our future consumers, let’s raise consumers the right way…provide them positive Brand and communication experiences. This thoughtful upbringing of little consumers will pay us in the long term by giving us healthy adult consumers both in attitude and deed.

High traffic of experiences

The anatomy of an experience....pre phase of anticipation, during phase of immersion and post phase of savour!!!

Today, we as a ‘people’ seem hungry for newer, better, bigger experiences in life. No matter how transient the experience, nor the time pressure we may feel, we want to ‘not miss out’ on any experience. It’s hardly surprising that our lives seem like a series of short lived experiences. The days of few deep and enriching experiences are numbered. Our hunger for a lot more in a lot little time is changing our value systems faster than we can imagine and more than we would like to believe.
Are we headed towards a shallow superficial people? Are we going to be become ‘More, here and now’ in everything including in our relationships?

Is there enough evidence to say this? Well let me site a few observations…Homes were painted once in 5 years today there is a fresh coat of paint every year. Consumer durables like refrigerator was bought as a ‘will use it for at least 15 years’ to a new fridge every five years or when an exciting model hits the market , things outlive their appeal is much shorter time. Its even more apparent in technology related products a new laptop every year, a new mobile every 8 months, a new car every 15 months, there is no end to our hunger for newer things and we must have them quicker.
Apart from things even our ability to enjoy media at leisure is impacted. We would rather watch T20 cricket and at best one day, 5 day matches seem too tedious. Our movies are getting shorter and there are a few movie launches every month over the 4 weekends. Most of the box office collection of a movie is in one weekend. And news coverage is another area where our hunger for experiences is changing the way news is communicated,lots of news bytes in the first few minutes and then an elaborate coverage, so that you can zone out once you have multiple tidbits of information. Even the books we read and knowledge that we want to gather has to be in quick small doses. There is a term called knowledge snacking that is being used to describe how large amount of knowledge and information can be given in a capsule.

The appeal is not just the ‘instant’ ness but the ‘short lived’ ness that kicks in a quick rush of adrenalin. So while one ‘experience’ high is just about abetting, we feel the need to quickly move on to the next.
Like little frogs we are jumping on from one experience to another at rapid speed. Even before we have juiced out the emotional richness of one experience, we are on to the next. Unlike earlier, we do not toss around the experience in our minds…The pre experience excitement, the high during the experience and the savoring of the feeling post experience happens in such quick succession. So much so, that our memory banks are sure to get confused over which experience to cherish and file away to grow into nostalgia some day.

Are we being pushed into this or is it our choice to behave such?What is this obsession about multiplicity of experiences and getting it all ‘now’? Where and why has this insatiability happened? Every once in a while these questions pop up in my mind…and I am sure in the minds of a lot of 30 somethings. We are the cusp generation, we have lived the shift from color TV to multi media, grocer shops to modern retail and good old alankar talkies to Multiplexes. We had fewer richer experiences in our growing years and we are witness to the tizzy of experiences that are thrown at the generation today. We can see the difference; we can feel it and probably feel both the ‘highs’. The one that comes from richer slower in depth life and the one that comes from a momentary euphoria.

Every breathing moment we have newer better things vying for our attention. Lets look at it like this;
1.) People are constantly looking for newer experiences,
2.) People want to experience everything at one go and early in life
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Together the two create what I call a ‘high traffic of experiences’ in life. The point is where is this taking us? What is this mad rush to live in the moment and creating many more exciting moments so that life seems meaningful, doing to us?

Psychologists say that we are a sum total of the learned behavior that we are exposed to. Will this high traffic of experiences alter our behavior over a period? And slowly but surely change our value systems? And what all will this change impact?

It is a theory that in the long term behavior leads to attitude an attitudes form basis of value system. Whether by choice or by force, if we keep creating high traffic of experiences as a behavior pattern, it is bound to reengineer our value system.

How?

Superficiality and celebration of mediocrity: For one, superficiality will become acceptable in our society. Most people will be happy skimming the surface and delight themselves with the superficial. Most experiences will be like travel package holiday where tourists get a feel of the place but not really an in-depth experience. People will get carried away with brief interactions and form impressions basis the little time spent on any one experience. ’Newness’ will be created for the sake of newness and not be really something new. When was the last time we saw a new improved promise being really new and improved beyond minor packaging or shape tweaks?
Deceitful social fabric- We are setting out to weave a deceitful social fabric .Disillusionment about false promises made and expectations not met. It won’t be long before lack of trust and cynicism will creep into our lives much earlier and much more that it is scheduled to. Brands will have to work much harder to give reasons to believe and deliver accordingly.
Impatience and low tolerance- The second thing that will become obvious is reducing tolerance levels in two ways-
a) As people try and gather the vast number of experiences, their tolerance levels to even the smallest negative experience will go down drastically. So no experience gets a second chance.
b) Rising expectations - In an attempt to offer multiple experiences marketers and media strive to offer more in less time. This raises overall service levels and we all know that it is easy to get used to attention. What a McDonald’s or a financial services company does is not only giving us quick and good service for their products but also getting us used to high service quality levels. So much so that we start expecting the same service levels everywhere else and when our expectations are not met, we don’t have the patience.

Emotionally hollow: Finally, we as a people are lowering our emotional quotient, by crowding our lives. For us to feel strongly about anything or anybody, we need to spend time. While we keep flirting and flitting, it comes hardly as a surprise that we will be emotionally hollow towards things, people and the world around us.


Is the high traffic of experiences man made? Or are there reasons beyond our control? Reasons such as-

Opening doors to the world- India has opened up its economy to global players and we are bound to feel like a kid in the candy store. And it is not surprising that we are greedy for the plethora of new experiences thrown at us. A look at the last 10 years….so much has happened. Coffee shops, malls & Cineplexes, mobile phones, low cost airlines, international brands at our local grocer, multiple choices to ‘go abroad’, lots of information on little pen drives…just to name what comes top of the mind. It is mind numbing.
Technology- Rapid technological development makes it possible to give more in less, less size, less time and less effort. What breakthrough earlier took years takes a few months. The process of research and development is facilitated by technology. Ofcourse even technology resorts to cosmetic changes and launches versions and new models every other day.
The demography of the country- We are a young nation and the young are restless and impatient. What makes it easy is that the young have high income and no responsibilities.
The mood and sentiment of the nation is high speed and hedonistic.

Overall as a young country that has found its place on the global map, riding on optimism and is being spoiled silly by global players who find the country’s staggering numbers an opportunity when compared to the recession in their markets, high traffic of experiences is a natural fall out in the process.

A combination of what’s genuinely new and a lot that’s been there in rest of the world but is new to us is surely keeping us busy. If it is a wave of development that stabilizes soon,we will learn to find our roots sooner than later and still enjoy the multiplicity of experiences. If it is an era of change, it is likely to impact our value systems .


The high traffic impacts not just negatively but may have some good and some interesting fall out as well. To begin with it has made people efficient at multitasking, it has certainly improved service and quality and it has opened up new business opportunities.

Impact of High traffic of experiences on Branding and strategy in the times ahead…


The Opportunities
The new opportunities as we look around are in the area of

Making each experience bigger
New opportunities will have a plethora of choices for convenience goods but Of course time saving convenience products have been there for a while but now the trick will be to making every experience large and doing so quickly. So a ready to cook gourmet meal instead of a 2 minute quick fix average dish, a movie experience in a gold class, an exotic flavor in every chips etc.

Simulating experiences, specific to target audience films, knowledge snacking, creating your own pizza, jeans or stationery , computer simulation of how a haircut or apparel will look. Almost like getting consumer to feel the product experience before buying into it. The good old conventional way was sampling, which will continue but Brand swill have to go beyond just sampling.

Converging experiences. Converging experience of the game and entertainment, T20 is a great example, Converging shopping and movies, coffee and net surfing, formal and semi formal will be the order of the day. Products and services that perform more than one function, example Bank Café by ABN AMRO, Book Café by book store Crossword will appeal to consumers.

Getting recommendation to work for Brands
Since consumers will be time pressed , having recommendations and word of mouth will help their choice.



The Challenges
The truth is that consumers are born out of real people. People’s value systems reflect in what they buy and how they buy. So it will hardly be a surprise when consumers treat exchanges with a brand as transactions and not as long term relationships. Did I hear iconic brands? Did I hear Brand loyalty? Apart from everyday challenges like breaking through the clutter and making your money work harder and having genuine value in your offering, Clearly, the most challenging tasks in the coming years will be to create iconic Brands and to enjoy loyalty of consumers..

The entire offering of ‘Brand experience’ through multiple touch points approach will be the way to go. Brands will not speak from an external medium but will need to weave themselves in consumer’s lives. A whole new area of expertise is opening up and some examples are Axe Click , where the consumers were interacting with an interesting clicker to keep score of how many women stared at them and the activity became a rage and Axe became even more closely associated to its Brand promise. The Brand advertising came in much later and actually borrowed from the clicker promotion. As against earlier when Brand advertising happened and you pulled a thread from it and took across to other media. Another example is Pril academy which trains maids to do house hold chores and dishes more efficiently to improve their consumer’s life. Many more examples of Brands planning parties and dinners or doing errands for consumers are being seen around. Branding will become a lot more holistic than it has been.


As Brands let’s keep the promises we make, not bombard consumers with false ‘new improved’ launches and re-launches. For every time we over claim we are chipping away ‘loyalty creating’ behavior and destroying trust and excitement that consumer’s place in a new product. We as marketers need to guard ourselves from leading consumers to experience fatigue and quicker burn out. This will allow us to Brand ‘stories’ that consumers will grow up with and build Brands that offer a bank of memories to consumers.