Brand building in the churn and chaos of new world: Shubhranshu Singh
Guest Column: Singh takes us through the changes that the business of brand has gone through in the new era

“Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose”-- the more it changes, the more it's the same thing. This is one of French novelist Alphonse Karr’s often quoted epigrams. But is it true for brand building?
It is good to provoke the debate.
Is it right to be starry eyed about the profound change of the new age upon us or is it merely the old making place for the new? What fundamental change, if at all, has occurred? Has pace been confused for alteration? Has the opening up of engagement and information to all made branded businesses grow faster? How will the size of data stack influence the role a brand community plays in the market? Who will factor in ephemeral reputations? Campaigns are forever lost and crushed in the stampede of the many. So on and so forth run the questions and contradictions.
Now What?
It is true that the emergence of this era of brand building is more chaotic and accelerated than ever before. It is beyond doubt that the modality of consumption has changed. The old school brand building had a gatekeeper mentality. Brand capital was to be acquired and hoarded. The world was insular, closed and tightly networked within silos. Media platforms provided guaranteed access to audiences that brand budgets could buy. Attention was available on a rate card.
Today, brand building is fluid. It flows broadly as a current across the consumer community. Any reservoir building means stagnation. Consumption is distributive, open, horizontal and community-based. The model of brands being consumed passively is antiquated. Brand capital is about owning ideas. Value chain can be asset light and dependent on peer-to-peer delivery, for e.g. Airbnb and Wikipedia. Low resource is not a constraint for a brand and brand idea to flourish.
Community and sharing are the new ‘electrons in motion’ to brand charge. Communities are the means by which the involvement of the core and new adherent can be attempted at the same time.
Well managed communities can contribute to product development, content creation and engagement and collaborative problem solving. Democracy has arrived into brand building. Technology underpins this phenomenon. All brands are ‘of the consumers, for the consumers’ and a few are ‘by the consumers’ as well. Brand interactions are informal, unmediated and co-creative. The process is like a country fair not a disciplined meeting or tutorial.
Brand building protocols that nurtured exclusivity, authority, resource concentration and rigid institutionalism have changed or amended in favour of participation, crowd thinking, transparency, shorter term ‘opt in’ affiliation and diffused power.
‘Bastion thinking’ has turned to ‘town square thinking’. The brand heralds have retired and crowd chorus has taken over. The scope of business, its spread, resource allocation and operating environment are all getting impacted. The reputational and business risks to brands are more potent now because risk scenarios are more probable. Business disasters occur and spread more rapidly. Their reach and recall can be crippling in adverse times.
This change in business of brands is harder to measure. In some cases like Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google, the case seems untrue, thanks to business concentration. But this is no evidence that business hasn’t devolved upon the many rather than the few. As affluent populations rise, consumption is a subscription not a transaction. A relationship where hundreds of millions are willing to put their money where their mouth is.
To Recap
• Build town squares not fortresses – engagement is more important than authority
• Get engaged with the community. Brand building is about votes in favour
• Prioritization is critical. Do lesser, bigger things
• A model may need tweaking to do the job. Remember, #1 company Amazon is not a novel idea
• Stay paranoid about losing the community connect and therefore stay with the times
• You have to contend with stakeholder baggage – internal and external.
Those who imbibe the new era brand building will be the ones to survive and then thrive. Therefore, to that extent, those who stretch, excel. And yes, to that extent, the more things change the more they remain the same.
Shubhranshu Singh is a marketing leader who writes on brands and brand building
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com.
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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