understanding branding -- insights for small businesses

Srijan Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Insights into BrandingPrepared by: Rahul Dewan


A Financial evaluators' perspective

Does the company have a “brand” value/name

Brand is a “moat” around the company

There is predictability of a “sales pipeline”

Does the brand have “pricing power”

➔ If costs go up, can the brand sustain to sell at the

same prices?

➔ Companies without brands would either “increase

prices” thus often reducing volumes OR financial

health is put at risk


Managing a “Brand”

The most difficult thing to crack in running a good

company

It is touchy-feely, and an “art” more than a science


What characterizes a brand?

Toyota, Maruti, Tata, Reliance, IKEA, Apple

What is they were a person?

What would they look like? (eg: not fat/ thin; but

attributes like young/ caring/ calming, etc)

What would they be wearing?

What would be their values?

Think of words that come to your mind while you

portray these brands as people!


What characterizes a brand – Maruti

Dependable

Affordable

Safe

Reliable (even if it breaks down there will be a service

center nearby)

Functional

Middle-Aged


What characterizes a brand – Toyota

Quality

Dependable

Functional

Not flamboyant

Safe

Affordable (affordable luxury!)


Insights – Toyota and Maruti

Common value systems? :-)

Globally Toyota struggled launching “luxury” cars; Maruti is

not known for a Sedan/SUV, but for “small cars”

Toyota in India – found brand value systems captured by

Maruti

They, therefore launched with “Qualis”, then “Innova” -- to

target the commercial vehicle systems

Liva, even Etios in the upmarket small-car / sedan – has

been introduced in 2011, after several years in India


Tata vs Reliance

Tata

➔ Trust

➔ Reliable

➔ Mature

➔ High ethics

➔ Solid

➔ Dependable

➔ May not be efficient or

high quality

Reliance

➔ Not trustworthy

➔ Manipulative

➔ Street smart

➔ Will do anything to

make money

➔ Will deliver shareholder

value?


So how do we judge a brand?

How come we think all form such opinions?

Is it from their advertisement alone; the image they project?

Or what we read and judge about them?

By how their employees feel? What is their employees'

conviction in the product / company while selling?

By how their management/ lives and behaves? And by what

they say in media and react to crisis?

Do we judge the “character” of the organization?


Walk the Talk!

External belief in the brand has to be backed by “each

action” of the company

Both “internal” and “external” stories are essential – to

make the story consistent

Take aways!

Internal belief makes the

external come true!


Questions to engage with

What are the branding challenges for your organization?

How would you like to be perceived?

Take aways!

Leaders and Managers

(specifically), employees,

stakeholders, partners – all

should be engaging with

these questions

every 3 months

“Who will cry when you die?”

~ a book by Robin Sharma

Even how we live our lives is a

branding exercise!


Insights and take aways

Marketing starts by telling your own story!

➔ Write your own story

➔ Distill it often; goal is to get to 1-2 lines

Find someone in the company who is going to be telling

this story (CEO / CMO / Brand Manager / other)

Allocate “money” and “time” to enable someone to write

and share your story (spend it; allocation is not enough)

Take aways!

Any good story needs adjectives

Marketing is different

from “Sales”


So what is Srijan's story?


Insights into Branding

Thank you!

www.srijan.in

Prepared by Rahul Dewan

Learnings and insights to based on interactive session led by: Mohit Satyanand, visiting faculty at www.CIAM.in - a learning

program for business owners and entrepreneurs

Twitter: @rahuldewan

http://www.CIAM.in/

understanding branding -- insights for small businesses

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