Arvind Hegde on unlocking growth levers. —Expert Talk in The Economic Times

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pg 04
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2012
Whatarethebigworldwidetrendsinthe
brandingindustry?
I'm tempted to start by saying "we are"! The devel-
opment of world-class brands for and from Asia is
the biggest trend we're seeing right now. Of
course, I may be a bit biased, but it is a fact that
India, China and Southeast Asia have healthy
birthrates for new brands and also a healthy num-
ber of older brands which are reinventing them-
selves as worldwide players.
Part of that trend is the realisation by consumers
that the world is much flatter today. Products are
made around the world. Even on the same store
shelf or display rack you'll see T-shirts from Turkey,
China, Indonesia and India. And I believe what has
been accepted as a norm for products is quickly
becoming a norm for brands.
I remember seeing my first Japanese car in the
UK many years ago -- a small, orange, Honda.
People in the street were actually laughing, patron-
isingly thinking "ah, isn't it sweet that a Japanese
motorbike manufacturer can make a little car..."
Fast forward a couple of decades and the laughter
died away. The world is ready for a world-class
beer brand from China or a world-class finance
brand from Singapore and so on for India,
Indonesia and Thailand.
AsanEnglishmanwhohasspentthelastdecadein
Asia,youareverywellplacedtocomparethe
westernandAsiandesignworlds.Whatarethe
bigdifferences?
I've actually been in Asia for the last three decades,
which gives me a longer term view. In fact, you
could argue that design never went away in Asia,
the quintessential feature of "Asian design" has
been the way tradition for fine finish and excel-
lence of a design concept has been respected. But
that is cheating a little. Worldwide, the trend was
for price and mass production to be given more
significance than fine design, and it is only in the
last five or ten years that the importance of design
has been "rediscovered" in the West. Design now
gets talked about as one of three great new tools --
along with Digital and Data -- the three Ds.
Asia's role as a manufacturing centre for western
products has allowed Asia's entrepreneurs to see
that design has also become a key differentiator
for brands. If a brand is the sum of a consumer's
experiences with a product or service -- which is a
bit clunky, but works as a basic definition -- then
"design" of that experience is paramount. In Asia
there's a very rich, extant, heritage of craftsmanship
and artisanal skill. Of course, it is still something of
a jump to go from handcrafted ceramic tea ware to
the design of the "hand feel" for a mobile phone.
But at least the significance of good design is part
of the cultures of Asia. Someone might say "what
about Apple?" -- and I'd have to go with "exception
that proves the rule", or try to argue that Steve Jobs
and Jonathan Ive's California is part of today's Asia.
Either works equally well.
AsianeconomieslikeChinaandIndiahaveexperi-
encedhugegrowthspurts.Howhasthisimpacted
thebusinessofdesign?
In a world crowded with brand choice, design is
becoming a key differentiator -- as I've alluded
above. If you consider many of the most success-
ful local brands in China and India, they often have
a history of being able to exploit distribution ad-
vantages and early market dominance.
Just getting your product into the hands of con-
sumers across huge markets was a gargantuan
task. That done, big brands owned their markets
for a time. But now competition from abroad,
from new delivery technologies, from new me-
dia, from a growing sense that all brands are
available to all consumers...these changes are
bringing "design of the experience of the brand"
to the fore.
The growth spurts of the India and China
economies have helped create the heat in the
kitchen...and it will be the better designed brand
experiences that cope with that best.
Adagenciesoftenclaimthattheycandoevery-
thingabrandingspecialistcanandmore?How
trueisthis?
Advertising agencies miss a trick if they undervalue
the reach and significance of what a brand consul-
tancy can do, especially at the early, pre-communi-
cation stage. We are often in the boardroom with
the directors discussing the big questions about
what a brand can or should be, how it can step
apart from its competitors, how it should speak
and present itself, even what it should be called.
It's like being present at the naming of a child.
From there, if you get the process and creativity
right, the long, rewarding life of a brand often
needs the expertise of an advertising agency to
bring it alive, make it resonate for consumers,
make it memorable. That's a symbiotic relation-
ship.
HaveyoubeeninteractingwithIndianclients?
Anyobservations?
Yes, I've been spending more and more time in
India and with clients and potential clients. My ob-
servations are still quite fresh and perhaps naive. I
try NOT to go around saying "in China...", or "in
Indonesia...", or "while I was in Thailand...". India is
Asia, but even within itself there are more differ-
ence between clients and corporate cultures than
their are markets in the region. But from the clients
I've met so far in India it's clear that there is a great
appetite for talking about the experience of the
brand. I have found Indian clients instinctively
warm to this idea, it seem to tally with their own
experience of brands and of doing business in
India. I think it's a universal truth -- and I look for-
ward to finding out just how far we can take this
approach in India.
A logo for tomorrow’s
billion dollar enterprise
Arvind Hegde is Director Consulting at Ray+Keshavan /The Brand Union. Arvind has helped clients
of all sizes identify growth levers via corporate branding exercises.
W
e have witnessed an
interesting phe-
nomenon over the
years. Conversations with
mid-size clients begin with
the need for a logo, but
quickly move to discussions
about shareholder value cre-
ation. This switch is prompted
by a single question that con-
tinues to occupy us. Of the
30,000 odd listed and unlist-
ed Indian companies, why
are there only 1,334 that have
more than INR 1000 crore in
total income and assets? Our
experience leads us to be-
lieve that primary causes are
short term vision and the lack
of the ability to define a clear
execution agenda. We say to
these firms – embark on a
corporate branding project.
You may think your destina-
tion is a logo but the journey
will actually unlock your po-
tential to be a billion dollar
firm.
UNLOCK POTENTIAL
TO CREATE VALUE
Any responsible corporate
branding project begins with
intensive stakeholder re-
search as well as in-depth in-
dustry and competitive analy-
sis. This includes leadership
teams, employees across lev-
els and functions, business
partners, suppliers, cus-
tomers, investors and any
other relevant stakeholders.
This exercise can be mined
for rich insights that can help
shape the future of a busi-
ness. These insights could be
market-related like innovative
business models, new com-
petencies, the need for M&A,
etc. They could also be inter-
nal like the need for employ-
ee engagement, culture shifts
or changes in HR practices.
Because the brand is cen-
ter-stage of the exercise, it al-
lows for a critical emotional
dimension that typical corpo-
rate strategy initiatives do not
capture.
REINVIGORATE YOUR
ORGANISATION
One of my favourite quotes is
from the CEO who said: “Our
greatest assets walk out the
door every single night and
walk back in next morning.”
Regardless of whether you
are a product or a service
company, it is finally all about
people. Your people are the
single biggest determinants
of your company’s fortunes. A
corporate branding initiative
reinforces this in many ways.
First, it sends a clear signal
that the company is commit-
ted to growth and not afraid
to change. Second, it gives
everyone a chance to be
heard and to feel like their
opinion counts. Finally, it is an
opportunity to unleash pride
and energy within the organi-
sation. Most corporate brand-
ing exercises pave the way for
further employee engage-
ment and motivation
exercises.
SORT OUT YOUR
PORTFOLIO
Brand architecture – or the
system of linkages between
the elements of your portfolio
– is too often driven by inter-
nal considerations. A brand-
ing exercise exposes the
weak and redundant links
and helps you allocate re-
sources in a way that max-
imises return on your invest-
ment.
GET THE COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE
Branding, by its very defini-
tion, is based on sharp differ-
entiation vis a vis the compe-
tition. With conventional
competitive advantages di-
minishing, corporate reputa-
tion is emerging as a new
strategic advantage that is
hard to copy, not environ-
mentally controlled and not
dependent on external vari-
ables. Corporate reputation is
increasingly influencing the
choices that all stakeholders
make.
Yourpeoplearethesinglebiggest
determinantsofyourcompany’sfortunes
ALAN COULDREY
“In a world crowded with
brand choice, design is
becoming a key differentiator”
Alan Couldrey is Chairman, Asia Pacific, The Brand Union. A WPP
group veteran, Alan has extensive experience in branding,
advertising and marketing across the globe.
Excerpts from the interview...
THE $ SIGN
The origin of the "$" sign has
been variously accounted
for, however, the most wide-
ly accepted explanation is
that the symbol is the result
of evolution, independently
in different places, of the
Mexican or Spanish "P's" for
pesos, or piastres, or pieces
of eight. The theory, derived
from a study of old manu-
scripts, is that the "S" gradu-
ally came to be written over
the "P," developing a close
equivalent of the "$" mark. It
was widely used before the
adoption of the United
States dollar in 1785.
THE @ SYMBOL
Ray Tomlinson first used the
“at” symbol to format an e-
mail address using ARPAnet
in 1971 for a message he
sent to himself from one
computer to another to test
the system, and amusingly,
he's repeatedly been quoted
as saying he doesn't remem-
ber what message said—it
was just some forgettable
test message—because he
didn't think it was a big deal
at the time.
NAZI SWASTIKA
SYMBOL
It was not a nazi symbol.
Hitler adapted it as his own
for its meaning of luck and
prosperity. The symbol dates
back over 3,000 years and
has been seen on Buddhist
temples, ancient India and
Greece and native American
cultures. It was used during
WWI by the boy scouts and
other companies world
round. After Hitler adapted
the symbol others de-
nounced it as he had
tainted it.
THE RED CROSS
SYMBOL
There is more than
a century of tradi-
tion behind the
Red Cross emblem
as a symbol of hu-
manitarian protec-
tion. The idea developed
from an international meet-
ing in Switzerland in 1863
on improving care of the
wounded on battlefields.
One of the recommenda-
tions called for volunteer
medical personnel of all
countries to wear an easily
recognised sign: a white
armlet with a red cross,
sometimes referred to as the
"Geneva cross."
An international treaty
known as the Geneva
Conventions was signed on
August 22, 1864, by the rep-
resentatives of 12 countries. It
established the fundamental
principle that "wounded or
sick combatants, to whatever
nation they may belong, shall
be collected and cared for." It
adopted the Red Cross em-
blem as the international
symbol to identi-
fy personnel,
material, and fa-
cilities used to
care for the sick
and wounded in
times of armed
conflict. By the
terms of the treaty, persons
and facilities bearing the sym-
bol are protected from attack.
Over the years the protection
of the original Geneva
Convention has been extend-
ed beyond the battlefield to
include the shipwrecked, the
prisoners of war, and the civil-
ian populations affected by
armed conflict.
OLYMPIC SYMBOL
According to most accounts,
the rings were adopted by
Baron Pierre de Coubertin
(founder of the modern
Olympic Movement) in 1913
after he saw a similar design
on an artifact from ancient
Greece.
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
SYMBOL
In medical circles, there are
two very similar symbols that
represent healing. One is
known as the Caduceus. The
other is the staff of Asclepius.
The Caduceus symbol,
which has two snakes on a
pole that's topped with
wings, is most closely associ-
ated with the Greek god
Hermes (known to Romans
as Mercury).
Asclepius, however, was a
Greek physician, the son of
Apollo. By the 5th century
BC, he was widely regarded
as the Greek god of healing
and medicine because of
the amazing healing pow-
ers he possessed. In fact, he
was so skilled at surgery
and the use of medicinal
plants that it was believed
he could restore the dead
to life.
It's the staff of Asclepius
that's most commonly used
as the symbol of healing on
medical emergency id
bracelets. Asclepius' staff has
only one snake, and no
wings at the top. It is the em-
blem of the American
Medical Association. The
daughters of Asclepius are
well known to us today as
Hygeia, goddess of health,
and Panacea, goddess of
healing.
THE RUPEE SYMBOL
The new sign is a combina-
tion of the Devanagari letter
Ra and the Latin capital letter
"R" without its vertical bar.
The parallel lines at the top
(with white space between
them) are said to make an
allusion to the tricolour
Indian flag.[2] and also de-
pict an equality sign that
symbolises the nation's de-
sire to reduce economic
disparity.
How did these logos originate?
IN CONVERSATION EXPERTTALK
This issue has been conceptualised by The Resource 24x7 (theresource24x7@gmail.com)
Marketing Coordinators: Vivek Menon, Hitesh Bhartia, Runa Benjamin, Ambika Ganguly
Editorial: R Sridhar, Sheetal Srivastava Reddy
Design: Resp-Art
The copyright and trademarks of the logos referred herein belong to the following companies. We acknowledge their exclusive rights in the same.
This is a special feature for the benefit of our readers to appreciate the spirit, vision and thought behind the creation of these great logos.
*ET1M121212/ /04/K/1*
*ET1M121212/ /04/K/1* ET1M121212/1R1/04/K/1
*ET1M121212/ /04/Y/1*
*ET1M121212/ /04/Y/1* ET1M121212/1R1/04/Y/1
*ET1M121212/ /04/M/1*
*ET1M121212/ /04/M/1* ET1M121212/1R1/04/M/1
*ET1M121212/ /04/C/1*
*ET1M121212/ /04/C/1* ET1M121212/1R1/04/C/1