<b><font color="#FF0033">O&M Brand Forum</font></b>: Brands need to meet consumer expectations, says Xavier Dreze

Product: Dr Xavier Dreze, Brand: Professor X.

At the Mumbai chapter of the O&M Brand Forum, Xavier Dreze, professor of marketing strategy, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and The Wharton School, Pennsylvania, used this simple analogy to define what a brand actually is.

“A brand is not just a symbol or a sign or a logo that identifies a product and distinguishes it from its competition,” he said. “It is much more than that. It is a promise that a firm makes to its consumers.”

Distinguishing between a product and a brand, Dreze, or let’s say Prof X, explained, “A product is tangible, can be copied, can be outdated and involves transaction. But a brand is intangible, unique, potentially timeless and forms the basis of a relationship.”

Using the case of Pepsi and Coke, Prof X talked about the three dimensions of a brand, at the firm level, at the product level and at the customer level. It is at the last level that the customer makes certain associations with the brand based on points of parity and difference.

So Coke is associated with images of timelessness, and the unchanging. Icons such as James Dean, Mustang, the Union Jack, a pair of blue jeans and McDonald’s, to name a few. Pepsi, on the other hand, is associated with Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, parties and Marilyn in a fluorescent yellow hairdo.

“Whenever we conduct a blindfold test, most people cannot distinguish between the taste of Pepsi and Coke, but all of us have very strong reasons for preferring one over the other. And this explains why,” said Prof X.

The professor enumerated the building blocks of a brand: Logos, symbols, slogans, character, colour, packaging, jingles and personality. “With these building blocks, just about anything can be branded,” he added.

Moving on to brands and the Indian consumer, the professor reaffirmed what all India watchers have been saying so far. The Indian consumer is changing and changing fast. “From purchasers, they are evolving to consumers, they just don’t want a bike any more, but a certain kind of bike. They are replacing functional purchases with expressive ones.” The conclusion: As consumer needs evolve, so does their requirement from the brands.

“The speed of this change is high,” the professor cautioned. “Consumers evolve faster than brands. Old brands need to adapt to this change and new brands have to be created.” He also pointed out that branding needs to move from being “product-oriented” to being “consumer-oriented” and connect to the consumer at an emotional level.

Brands, according to him, are a “bridge” to the consumer. “Brands are an important part of a company’s assets. Companies must adapt to that change,” he concluded.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!