The Hindu : Business : `Profit as well as leadership must to sustain brand image'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 09, 2007
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`Profit as well as leadership must to sustain brand image'

Special Correspondent

Business Lineseminar on `winning strategies of strong brands' organised

— PHOTO: Vipinchandran

STRATEGY TO BUILD BRAND: K.S. Ramesh, Cavinkare former CEO, delivering a lecture on `winning strategies of strong brands' organised by BL Club, Kochi, on Monday.

KOCHI: K. S. Ramesh, former chief executive officer and executive director of Cavinkare, has said that leadership in the market place alone would not be able to sustain the brand image, but what was equally important and relevant was profit share.

He was delivering a lecture on ` winning strategies of strong brands' at a meeting organised by BL Club, Kochi here at the campus of the School of Communications and Management Studies. He pointed out that over 95 per cent of the brands available in the markets were relevant for the product space that they occupy, but only five per cent of them were able to differentiate their brands from the rest.

It was this aspect that was instrumental in building a strong and sustained brand image, he noted.

Addressing the students at the Business Line seminar, he cited the instances of several brands that have grown from strength to strength over several decades. Large profit share is often required to sustain and build further on the brand. Highlighting the points for building strong brands, Mr. Ramesh emphasised the need of perfecting the brand concept, much before the brand building exercise is initiated.

It is product innovations that would enable a brand recall over long periods of time. Sustained market research at the macro-level is equally important to ascertain how the market is reacting to the brand.

All strong brands need constant interaction with the consumer.

Strong R&D is equally important in launching the brand as well as in sustaining it in the market. The company will have to be pro-active as far product upgrades are concerned. They should be able to conceptualise how the competitors would behave in the market and should be ready with upgrades for the coming three years.

Mr. Ramesh cited the case of 70 upgrades that the product, Tide, had in the market during 41 years, translating to one product upgrade for every seven months.

Such moves will enable the product to sustain its value for the money spent. In the Indian context with its vast agricultural hinterland, Mr. Ramesh highlighted the importance of branding down to the last retail outlet. "Moment of truth for the consumer is when he buys the brand and when he consumes the brand," Mr Ramesh said.

P. Narayanan, Regional General Manager of The Hindu , Kochi, made a brief presentation on the relevance Business Line clubs for academic institutions and how it will help in fostering a new and bright generation of managers and academicians of tomorrow.

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