Devina Joshi
Advertising

<FONT COLOR="#FF0033"><B>FICCI Frames ’06:</B></FONT> International brands need to become lovemarks: Ken Chaplin, The Walt Disney Company

Chaplin, who is vice-president, retail sales and marketing and emerging markets, Asia Pacific, explained what it took for an international icon brand to generate loyalty in countries other than the one in which it originated

“Once a brand becomes a lovemark, there is a very thin possibility of the consumer shifting away from it,” said Ken Chaplin, vice-president, retail sales and marketing and emerging markets, Asia Pacific, The Walt Disney Company. He was speaking on the topic, ‘Managing an International Icon Brand’, at FICCI Frames 2006. Chaplin insisted that brands had to achieve the status of a lovemark, particularly international brands that wished to achieve a foothold in other countries.

The term ‘lovemark’ in the brands context was originally coined by Kevin Roberts, CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide. “The lovemark stage arrives when the consumer experiences loyalty beyond reason for a particular brand,” Chaplin said. “In a sense, the brand is owned by the consumer and moves from irresistible to irreplaceable.”

He cited Coca-Cola as a fine example of a brand that has achieved lovemark status in various countries.

Another example of a global brand that has won the hearts of consumers all over the world was Johnson & Johnson, according to Chaplin. “J&J is one brand that represents what being a mother is all about,” he stated. Other examples were Hallmark Cards, Nike and Disney.

Chaplin then came to an important point: the reason why some global brands are unable to become lovemarks. “This happens due to several reasons,” he said. “The brand may have become worn out from overuse, or no longer be mysterious enough. At times, it doesn’t understand the consumer any more.”

Some other probable reasons included the ‘formula’ approach, where a single strategy is dumped on all markets.

“For brands, having a long-term love affair with consumers is much better than a short-term relationship,” Chaplin explained. He pointed out several ways of achieving that, such as getting people to experience the best entertainment value from the brand, like Disney organising the Disney Theme Parks. Another way was to do a good job of branding, by taking occasional risks in order to move with the changing times.

“Thirdly, make local content a part of your brand,” Chaplin said. He cited MTV, which has 80 per cent local content, as a fine example of localising to maximise relevance.

In addition, Chaplin said that it was rather important to ‘keep the right kind of company’. By this, he meant having the right kind of alliances with local companies to help propel the brand.

“A brand mustn’t fall into the trap of too many promotional offers to increase sampling,” Chaplin cautioned. “That can cheapen it and make it lose its aspirational value.”

Lastly, Chaplin pointed out that a good equation with the local press was a perfect sounding board for the brand. “It is important that the local media understand the brand,” he said.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!

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