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February is the month of love. So, if you are into large numbers, towering bar graphs, enticing pie charts and endless enervating debates, you are going to love this month. Because it also coincides with the presentation of the Union Budget. That time, when industry analysts sit crouched in front of screens like third umpires reviewing close calls. Those weeks, when friends turn various shades of a pantone shade card, arguing over the pros and cons of a particular CapEx outlay. Days, when casual acquaintances tax their relationships around heated exchanges regarding proposed tax reliefs. It does give the grey cells a workout to be sure.
But, how could that same spirit intrude rooms where brand futures are being discussed? Usually, brand budget meetings are associated with allocations of the funds brands are likely to spend on marketing and promotions. Discussions typically center on media channel choices, social media spreads, celebrity endorsements, influencer engagements, production costs, numbers of eyeballs reached and such. This often becomes purely a numbers exercise. Frequently escalating into fierce skirmishes of the Excel sheet variety.
The word ‘budget’ has traditionally been saddled with austerity and frugality. It implies the necessity to keep things within limits. Many think this points to a restriction in ambition. But, there’s a way to leverage that same mindset and attitude, in a manner that truly sharpens the brand story. Helping in its differentiation. And that can only be a good thing. Here’s an irreverent look at some pathways which open up along those lines.
1-Budgeting key goals and objectives
It is great to have aspirations to conquer the world even on a shoe-string financial investment. However, such ventures seldom turn out well. I have sat in on several meetings where the brief was to tap into all customer segments, enter multiple markets and significantly boost several brand parameters; only to find out at the end, the funds to be dispersed were lower than those last year. “Less is more” is a fantastic philosophy usually associated with architecture and design thinking. But it surely can find resonance, when it comes to planning things ahead in business. Especially when resource allocations are challenging. There is an inane bias we seem to have, of trying to tick all the boxes. Yet, the greatest brands in the world began small, and stayed small for a while. Facebook started as merely a campus phenomenon. Apple tried to stir an interest in non techies, when dipping its toes in the personal computer market. The movie ‘Hyderabad Blues’ launched with very little fanfare or marketing support. They all went on to perform way beyond budgeted expectations.
2-Budgeting prospective avenues
Today, platforms on which the brand can engage the consumer are multifold. Every day, a new option seems to emerge. But that does not mean, all have to be employed. There’s always the temptation of taking a new media vehicle, or investing in a new distribution possibility-perhaps because it is innovative, or the cost implications aren’t much. But, the dilution in focus which that naturally brings about is rarely worth it. Brand custodians need to exercise a kind of rigor and discipline, sternly abstaining from such new temptations. Admittedly, that’s very difficult in these times, but it is necessary. There are huge subtle implications which are at play, arising from where one’s brand is seen or made available. These add to brand imagery and perception, in ways not fully and accurately quantifiable yet. Part of the allure of the Starbucks brand experience, is the ability to experience its ‘world’ at the outlet. Something, never quite replicable in takeaway scenarios. It’s like thinking every star needs the appropriate stage, and if she performs on a platform not quite right, the applause always is more muted.
3-Budgeting prospective narratives
Perhaps ever since Instagram convinced people into thinking they could have a ‘story’ up every single day-however random it might seem-many brands have begun to experiment with an increased constancy in communication, by having a take on more and more topical events. The thinking being, this seems to make the brand more humane and accessible, whilst also creating more opportunities to see. Maybe there’s something there. However, many brands these days travel towards meme destinations far beyond their slated ‘kingdoms of communication’. All in the quest of a momentary zinger. Often at the cost of the coherence of a brand imagery and persona built over several years. If topicality is inbuilt in the DNA of the brand, like say, Amul Butter, this makes immense sense. But simply riding on a wave of euphoria, just because everyone else is doing that never yields any results. Take for instance, the many brands which got onto the bandwagon, when ISRO managed to land Chandrayaan-3, on the moon’s uncharted South Polar Region. How many pieces of communication rendered around that theme really stuck? How many made any sense in the overarching context of their brand? Just like scientists at space stations do, it is imperative for brand custodians to ensure their efforts land in a focused and limited area, for any mission to be deemed a success.
To conclude, when brand custodians are in the know, they have been known to astutely exercise their option of “No”. Puns aside, this attitude of strongly screening various alternatives, or in a sense, budgeting what gets inputted in the brand mix, might go a long way in improving the outlook of the business balance sheet. And, in this image obsessed era, that’s one picture which should never be cropped out of sight.
Brands that seek to grow and motivate pull purchases must operate within this intricate web of logic and feeling. The author says that rather than obsessively focusing on functional product attributes, they should focus on crafting an identity and experience that taps into a consumer’s evolutionary wiring.
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