The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : What goes into making of a brand

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 25, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

What goes into making of a brand

Special Correspondent

"You become a brand... when more people talk about you"

CHENNAI: "In the beginning, people thought that international companies made brands. Then, people thought brand managers and planners made brands. Then, there was a folktale that advertising giants like Alyque Padamsee and their agencies made brands. All this is so silly," said S. Ramachander, Strategy Consultant and Mentor, speaking at the launch of Ramanujam Sridhar's book One Land One Billion Minds on Friday evening. "It is the consumer who builds brands," he said.

"It is the extent to which it makes sense and the role it plays in the consumers' lives that builds the brand," the mentor of the author explained. That should teach advertisers humility, he said.

Mr. Ramachander also said that the idea of asking people what they want and acting upon it was flawed. "If you want to know what they want, then just watch them. Observe how people behave and interact with the brand and out of that will arise the answer on how to build the brand," he noted.

N. Murali, Joint Managing Director of The Hindu , said author Ramanujam "had developed unique insights into the Indian context that brand managers from the West do not understand." "He has always been an insightful, perceptive writer with a wealth of experience born out of consultancy," he said.

"Ramanujam's narrative is very simple, yet eloquent," said Satish Kumar, Managing Director of Henkel, adding that it was the first time that someone tried to comprehensively put insights of branding into one book. "And, he has succeeded," he added.

Earlier, Mr.Sridhar made a presentation on his book, providing insights in branding with case studies, prompting advertising professionals to jot down notes all through.

Here's a sample: "There are two questions which you should ask: How different is your brand? And how is it relevant to your consumer? The action is out there in the market place... You become a brand when you don't talk about the brand but when more people talk about you. Every single thing you do, builds the brand."

The book is available at a discount of Rs.100 for members of the Madras Advertising Club.

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