Paradox of language 

Complexity rarely starts from the source, it gets built in over time. Iterative, through interactions through giving up notions of purity, by acceptance. Language is a classic "Human Tool" that reflects this. Most languages started as symbols, sounds, signs made to communicate basic needs or a threat that can destroy them. Over time with the written word, preserved throughts became in vogue. They could save energy as each generation does not have to start afresh. 

In collared professions language also signals some form of closed door acceptance. Medical, legal, engineering - mostly the technical professions have their foundations in civilisations that have ceased to exist or been engulfed into a modern mixed cultures. Yet these professions retain the language that was prevalent at that time. 

Modern communications is not just simplification it is also an acknowledgement that not everyone needs to learn all languages to survive. Patients simply can't be trained in all the salts that they will put into their bodies just to exist, so a marketing person is brought on board to write Burns Cream on a silver nitrate with instructions on use and not to injest. A search engine optimisation (SEO) could be shelf visibility. 

A simple line in Sanskrit Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - translates to World being one family. It can be made relevant in today's cities with simple tagline "Throw waste in the bin" , " Don't overcharge tourists" . One city had made a banner where they showed a picture of a family living room and trash thrown around and tagline you find the bin in your own house, why not try here, its your city. 

Finance, Marketing (Not the digital marketing because here techies have nudged out traditional marketing and communication teams) do not struggle with this as much because that is their job- staying connected to their customers. A bank that can't plain speak will not have people investing in their accounts. The technical professions can either take a leaf from their books or hire a person or two who can help people. Not everyone should need a PhD to understand you or what you build. 

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Customer's always right to Customer's don't know anything 

Market research is a sham. Some and all of things are experienced and said by business managers. Yet, when we expose ourselves to customers there are always things we learn. We may implement or rubbish those individual experiences but every once in a while, when we go to people who are not related to us, who are not held accountable for what we produce, we gain perspective. 

Digital platforms, peer to peer interaction facilitates word of mouth, real time feedback, and a chance for managers to be a part of the moment of life when their product or service is being consumed. This is tough. Diversity of customer defines the diversity of their experiences. 

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1st Mover's Disadvantage

First movers have a significant identity. Learning everything on their own, dropping ideas that don't work building on those that do. High failure rate, huge appetite for risk, negotiating with the unknown. The advantage can be lost very fast especially if the capital costs are low, proprietary technology is easy to imitate or other barriers to entry such as licensing are absent. 

And the 'gaps' start glaring very fast leading to a flurry of second/third/...nth entrants all in the hope to cater to the 'gap' consumers first and coax the loyal at the next stage. Mobile Phone early entrants such as Nokia and Motorola, in the absence of fixed contracts, with telecom providers, were the only significant players in the Indian market, with Nokia commanding 90% market shares across segments.  A European brand, it offered 1) ease of use and 2) high battery life (high power cuts in the Indian market), the two most sought after features in the early 2000's market. It was also preferred for its Torch and FM Radio that helped people navigate deserted roads.  

Brands like Sony, which commands high equity in Indian market as far as electronic products are concerned, was almost invisible in the mobile phone segment. That was also due to a patchy distribution network. The absence of online platforms and Nokia's well entrenched distribution network made it the one and only, in urban, semi-urban & rural markets. 

A decade of this kind of success, paralleled by convergence in telecom sector, digital businesses, single device technology, software driving user friendliness of hardware, highly competitive Chinese brands, all left Nokia vulnerable in less than 5 years. Competitors kept on commissioning studies to understand why consumers clung to Nokia. While the original 1st mover had just stopped listening.

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Market gaps-positioning-target audience 

Identifying the target audience or positioning the product or service is not set in stone. It offers a starting point for teams on the 'try-me' path. Pioneers face several challenges- extremely high risk of failure, compounding insecurities, failure at every turn. But they are cushioned by the promise of novelty. For those who are tempted by the 'new' even a failed pioneer commands respect. 'Dared to walk alone'; 'dared to dance to his own tune'; and so on. 

Once the pioneer has gone a certain distance though gaps begin to appear. They do not offer 'a', 'b' or 'c' they don't serve 'x', y' or 'z' markets. Time for competitors. Their coming late advantage, comes with the responsibility of being clear about what they bring to the table and who they aim to serve. You no longer have the luxuries of the pioneer, you have known, observed and been at a vantage position. 

Hence the case for clear market position and defining target consumer. Most people see positioning purely in the communications or promotion sense. When you design a product, service or even a pricing to address the gaps- that is taking a clear market position. Positioning can extend beyond the target audience. In cases where positioning is more of a promotion strategy- it usually does. These headphones are for the 'gaming' people. All the adverts show gamers vying for top spot using the headphones.  Very soon however the headphones are being used to create a 'me-zone' in offices or public places, to watch television as as not to disturb the household and other use cases. 

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Advertising 

Digital democracy has brought in another interesting dimension to marketing communication. Real time feedback, expert analysis is more than a playground for brand managers trying to see most effective ways to communicate. It is true that Ads alone do not translate into sales. Some of the best advertising campaigns are not the largest revenue generators. Consistently good campaigns such as Fevicol, Amul, Tata are mostly of consumer goods that are not disrupting industries, they have been around and will continue to be. 

Apple at least in India (distributed by Jio-again not known for creative ads) has perhaps the most non-imaginative ads yet it is the most premium sought after brand. Aspiration products do tend to have cut above the rest, speak less, poker faced ads that  are not contenders for great communication. That does not mean that these products do not sell, infact by design many of these products are not advertised or minimally so. 

Many times Brands rely on honesty, as market forces usually weigh more than their closed cabin pride. 'Bata' for one, did a brilliant turn around campaign, after years of being seen as a brand that had grown used to the dust on its products- focusing more on comfort & reliability when the tastes were shifting to fast fashion. 

'Surprisingly Bata' was an admission and a fresh promise. They were not going to compromise on quality but were not going to ignore style. 

Coming back to the digital democracy- the five second campaign mode and heavy number crunching that allows digital to personalise, offers an insight opportunity for brands. Low long-term retention of purely digital campaigns may not shift communication completely yet. Campaigns launched on digital can be looked at for instant feedback.  

Personal bias admission- Lean more towards traditional marketing, understand premium communication but I dance to non-premium cheeky brands. 

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Stand corrected 

When handling different aspects of a role, we sometimes contradict ourselves. The marketing function is full of that. The tagline reads "happiness", "delivery", "cost savings" yet marketing teams are well aware and have to navigate their own internal hurdles in making these words mean the same- every single time. Scale can bail you out, often it will. After all real world dynamics are bigger than all of us put together. When marketing teams that also do the execution themselves talk 'brand' they tend to mix up. In execution terms the brand can mean how the colours are the same across digital- flex-canvas-cloth-ceramic, metal transcending mediums. Managers go to extremes in ensuring that this is made true. Yet they also know that is not what a brand is. 

'Brand' is a perception or is it a personification of what you and your team are bringing to the world. If you were to ask the customers about your product or service the questions would be very specific- are the keyboard buttons responsive to gentle touch or does the customer have to bang every letter in, does the conditioner make your hair smoother than before the wash- very specific questions. After decades of this kind of offering, usually a sense of 'Brand' develops. Questions around brand are rarely specific. They tend to be more about the values and the expectations that the customers start having when they hear the brand name or see the logo. Which is why techniques such as personifications, value association, role model analysis have to be applied to understand what your brand means to the customer. In that sense it is perhaps the 'only human' part of your business. 

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The signboard is clear, yet we are not

Endless debates about coming on top of all digital marketing efforts maybe driving Marcom teams in putting all efforts in quantity. While execution is critical and it is important to be seen and heard, quality of content is a worthy chase. Human beings are motivated enough to decipher and learn new languages in a quest for finding meaning in lost civilisations. That behaviour itself is sign enough that we may need to stay focused on what we are trying to convey, rather than undiluted focus on sheer numbers. 

Inbox Astronomy has been doing a great job of this outreach. It helps that they are not force selling anything. 

Etsy, LUSH and other companies that have made the choice of walking the unbeaten path are also able to hold their own in crowded, noisy marketplaces. 

This is as much a 'note to self' as a blog to the world.      

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Food Communication

Food is a tricky subject to communicate. Communication assets are 80% visual and 20% verbal or written. To appeal to the consumer senses- you either highlight the 1) functional benefits, 2) the aesthetics or 3) the temptation. In communication terms it would mean core proposition, visual appeal or porn (temptation plus instant gratification). Functional benefits are easy to communicate for categories that are dramatically performance based- this bike gives you a mileage of 20 km. You can write it, you can create a song about it, you can shoot it going the distance with the family. This period pad keeps you stain proof for 12 hours, again highly performance based. Other categories are difficult to communicate- however much we do lab testing, a soap is a soap. Functional benefits of soap- medicinal value, reduces infections are few and very specific. Most soaps don’t sell on that. They sell on aroma, lather that leaves the user feeling refreshed. How to show that in a visual medium? Surround the characters with a valley of flowers, get young people in a moment of energy, and the visual appeal is communicated from the screen. While shooting the film the bubble could be synthetic and the soap cardboard painted neon. But the visual appeal does the trick, for now there is no aroma button on the remote.

Then comes food, very tricky category because it falls in all three categories, plus the strongest and a combination of all- emotional appeal. Taste buds, aroma senses, visual appeal plus nostalgia, long-term effects all are strong food buy-ins. Nutrition based food clearly falls in the category of the performance. Digestive biscuits, heart friendly oil are clearly examples of that. Most raw and minimally processed food categories such as fresh fruits, vegetables, masalas rely on the functional benefits of the ingredients- fruits so fresh, they take you to the farm, they stay fresh for 7 days. How about foods that are more chosen for their taste? Like aroma, it is difficult to show taste. Expressions do the trick with tangy twitch or steam coming out hotness. How about sweet? Or something which is a combination of all flavours combined, and specifically in India, how do you show Mom’s cooking. Most ready to eat relies on visual appeal and captures it in moments of life. A Pizza treat after a team’s victory, sip of refreshing drink after a run, a sweet treat stolen from the family ‘s watchful eye by a person with diabetes (the swiggy ad). These are cheeky, sometimes warm, many times nostalgic but communicate the flavour personal to each experience. With the short format advertising on reels or shorts, food is now relying on porn- quick 5-10 second bursts of steaming hot food. While that may work for craving categories like fast food, finger food, high shine food such as thick creamy sauces. Categories such as Indian sweets are not high on visual appeal and have more of an emotional value. A ‘besan ka ladoo (roasted chickpea flour sweet)’ doesn’t pop out of the screen as much as a decadent dark chocolate. So for these categories brands could go back to the drawing board and use the slice of life method rather than food porn 

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Trends and riding the wave

There was time when sugar as concentrated form of energy was dropped in packets, mixed in ORS solutions to heal the under-nourished. There was a time black pepper was more expensive than Gold or Platinum, wars were fought for opium and tobacco farming provided employment to a large part the global economy. Cigarettes were introduced as a version of inhaling tobacco for women smokers. Covid turned immunity into a buzz word- soon it was the tagline for all categories that could somehow rest this latest human worry. 

Trends are not exploitative practices. They indicate a direction that society has taken till it learns something else about itself. Businesses ride the waves, they also pay hefty when the wave falls. Trends also serve to remind us that 'This too shall pass' is a GOTO not just for people, also for businesses.   

PS- This is not an endorsement for sugar, alcohol or cigarettes. 

PPS- Classics are difficult to emulate and tough to produce!

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Take back pack 

You can take back stock. You can recall faulty parts. Practices that are deemed harmful can be stopped. A package that is carrying the wrong order can be taken back. 

Knowledge can not be taken back. What propels people forward is impossible to stop. Ideas serve their time and are replaced as people learn new things about themselves, their systems and the societies they construct. What replaces ideas is something which propels, a forward motion that provides the momentum. There is no take back pack for knowledge. Once people know- Good, Bad, Ugly is another matter. The fact that they know, can't be taken back. 

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