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A successful brand building strategy involves innovative applications which can differentiate even the most mundane of products, ensuring that consumers are willing to pay a premium for it
I was one of the speakers at the Entrepreneurship Summit organised by the Entrepreneurship Development Cell, IIT Delhi. It was so inspiring to see a hall full of young budding entrepreneurs, eagerly waiting to get some tips they could use in their scheme of things.
This is the story of Arjun. He is a fisherman in a small town of West Bengal, who sold (and still sells) fish in the local market in the evenings. He was like any one of the 20 other fish sellers in tattered clothes in the poorly lit fish market, squatting in front of his heap of fishes and shouting at the top of his voice - trying to draw the attention of the circumspect customers to buy Hilsa from him.
One fine evening, all of us discovered a new Arjun. He had stopped squatting. He got a wooden packing box and placed his Hilsa fish on a bamboo tray, covered with green shining plantain leaves. He also arranged a dedicated electric bulb connection to light his propped up stall. He changed into a clean kurta and pyjama. A young teenager, most probably his nephew, was seen by his side, organising the pile of fishes, sprinkling water and cutting and dressing them when a customer had ordered some quantity.
An electronic weighing machine was another conspicuous addition. People were looking at his fishes and also at his weighing machine. Greeting every customer with folded hands, Arjun engaged into an animated conversation with them about the types and varieties of Hilsa, their respective tastes and recipes. The nephew shouted - "Buy the best, buy Arjun's Hilsa". Arjun's Hilsa was demanding a premium of Rs 5 per kg but everybody was buying them!
In a fortnight, Arjun became the best seller in that market. Before we realised, we heard ourselves requesting our guests to please have one more piece of Hilsa - the Hilsa from Arjun's stall! Arjun did not stop there. He went on to do things which only an entrepreneur could have done - but more about it later.
So far, whatever Arjun had done was a perfect brand building exercise from scratch. Here was a man who had put on his thinking cap and had tried to understand his customers, their needs and desires, his category and competition, and the market place; his own strengths and weaknesses, and his core competence. He had identified the value he could add to his commodity, figured out how he could brand his value, communicate it meaningfully to the customers - and charge a premium for it.
Arjun knew that to his consumers, he was just another fish seller and thus, a victim of the perception that his fellow fishermen in that market had already created in the minds of the consumers - all fisher men were thugs - big or small. There was no escape from it. If the price was more, he was a cut throat; if the price was reasonable, then he must have tampered with the scale; if nothing was wrong - there definitely would be something 'fishy' about quality.
Quality was always questioned because for a customer, it was difficult to bend down in that filthy, poorly lit market and select the best fish. Nor was it possible to judge the quality from touch and feel as every piece of fish was stuffed in ice dust. 'Another fishy fish seller' - that's how Arjun was positioned in the minds of his consumers.
Having understood this perception, Arjun refused to stay in that position. He wanted to be the most sought after fish seller. A journey from the position of 'suspicion' to the position of 'pride'. How did he do that?
Arjun had quite a few things to fix. The central one was to change the perception about him. He understood that in this commodity market, he was the brand and not his fish. Therefore, the way he sold his fish had to change. The rituals around his selling needed to change dramatically but in a credible way. This led Arjun to focus on a cluster of activities which involved clearing suspicion from the minds of his consumers; bringing ease and transparency in transaction; and creating an ambience of freshness.
Simultaneously, he started repackaging himself to create customer confidence by showing his core competence. Arjun believed that the combined effect of these changes would create value in the minds of his consumers about him and his product. If people saw value - they would pay for it.
Arjun's brand building
Lifting the fishes from the floor - ease of choice and accessibility of the product.
Light - focus and clarity of perception; nothing is hidden - therefore transparency.
Tray with green leaves - freshness cues; contrast enhancing display of the fish.
Electronic weighing machine - tamperproof.
From squatting to stand up - shift from begging posture to being at par.
Dressing up - respectability, standing on the same platform with the customer.
Educating - tips on how to choose the fresh fish, discussions on different varieties of Hilsa, their relative tastes and qualities, tips about other fishes. Arjun leveraged his core competence. In the context of his customers, only Arjun had the required expertise to talk about fish. Arjun was not just a fish seller but also an expert on fish.
Assistant - signifying that Arjun was not the worker but the owner of his fish stall.
Arjun's Hilsa branding - the assurance of differential quality.
Premium pricing - Polite refusal to go down; Arjun's word of wisdom to customers - sensible people don't bargain on quality.
Arjun went ahead in life. In a year, he moved out of the clutter of the fish market and set up a small shop outside the market place. He started home delivery on phone calls and began supplying marinated fishes. Continuing on his value addition path, he got hold of a team of local cooks and trained them in special fish dishes. A local spice trader found Arjun enterprising and joined hands to promote his spice. A recipe book was printed and distributed to the loyal customers. One morning, Arjun found to his surprise that a microwave brand was interested in a joint promo; a chef hosted a Hilsa cooking show for a local TV channel; Arjun's shop was extensively covered.
The unknown road has a wonderful way of opening up to those who dare to walk on it. Arjun now is dreaming of opening up a chain of Hilsa restaurants a la Only Fish!
© 2010 afaqs!
(The author is vice-president, consumer insight and HFD, McCann Erickson India)