Dude, where's your b-equity?
1/ Not Using Your Brand's Full Value?
It's insane how many brand managers just don't turn their brand's equity into maximum profits. It's a COMPLETE, DEAD - WEIGHT - LOSS to the economy. The areas not served by these brands are their domains. They remain unserved, creating gaps in the market.
Underdeveloped economies like those of Pakistan particularly suffer from this.
2/ Leverage the Brand Equity!
What, exactly, is leveraging brand equity? The very simple definition, to me, would be to use the core product in a 100 different ways. Bring about variations in:
- price
- points of sales
- add-ons
- packaging
- applications and uses
- markets served
- times served
- a million other things! [Imagination wanted!]
and sell to all the different markets. When you variate, you create a new market. And this age is about creating exciting new markets rapidly. If you don't you are grossly underusing your brand.
I think the Nestlé coffee dispenser is cool: it's got everything from 8 types of coffee, to hot chocolate milk and hot water for tea drinkers. I think Google (the love of my marketing life!) is the prime example. Google uses its PageRank and search technology to create new products everyday: from Froogle, to AdWords, AdSense, and what not. (Google labs are sahksy!)
3/ Wanted: Crazy Lateral Thinkers
Clearly, we need more than folks whose expertise does not range beyond creating ads and "360-degree/ integrated marketing plans." We need product developers. Designers. Category developers.
We need brash, crazy, genius marketers. Smart, self-assured people who can look at the core need they are satisfying (not even the product, unless it's something as godly as PageRank), and ask: Where do I want to go today? And get there.
3 comments:
From what I understand from your post, you are saying that we need more innovators and risk takers. Am I correct? But, purely keen observation has shown me that there is no worth for innovators and idea generators in Pakistan. Local companies just dont have the kind of resources to experiment and the risk of failure is more than enough to send chills down any established organization.
What should be done in such a scenario?
Rafay i understand your point on the lack of resources available to local businessmen, however pakistanis are born entrepreneurs as they take risks on every step regarding their businesses.
The local entrepreneurs may not show us the innovation with regards to technology (which nowadays everyone all cares about!) but that doesnt mean local entrepreneurs do not innovate.
Both views are right. Pakistani people are entrepreneurial, but the society itself does not have a system for nurturing entrepreneurship. The system is important: it brings a method that helps aspirants; it creates a fair playing ground.
Second, there is not a general respect for entrepreneurship in the country. Perhaps that will come only when the educated business graduates enter into entrepreneurship, and create the environment necessary for systematic entry and exit in market, proper laws, proper systems for idea nurturing, testing, failure...
Having the courage to test and fail is important. And it needs commitment, most often financial. Rafay is right on that account.
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