Perpetual branding by its excellence

by Dr. M. Haris Deen

My wife like many of my neighbours in Woolmer Green, UK and our office help, Margaret, always 'hoovers' the carpet while using not a Hoover vacuum cleaner but some other brand such as Electrolux or Dyson and we are as yet 'Hoovering' our carpets.

Ask any housewife who is cleaning her carpets or wants to clean her carpets she is certain to say that she is either 'hoovering' or was going to 'hoover' her carpets.

Similarly there are many people, including me who still 'Xerox' our documents though using a Brother or Lexmark duplicating machine. Many people still think of 'Carrier' for an air conditioner or the Italian 'Otis' elevator although using a Mitsubishi lift. These brands have clearly being brain washed into consumers by originality and their excellent 'clarion call' in their original advertisements. Once embedded in your brain this will not change - housewives will continue to 'hoover' their carpets and office assistants will continue to 'xerox' documents, the terms having being programmed into their brains. This is branding at its best and having remained as long as this will continue to remain perpetual.

I remember when I was a small boy, Sri Lankans' compare the good work or character and conduct of a person with that of the 'white man' - suddhek wage meaning like the white man.

Even today, sixty eight years after Independence, the 'white man's' brand is rampant in the country. Eya hari suddhek wage - 'he is like a white man is an expression often heard in Sri Lanka even today.

This is a culture and this culture will remain perpetual, not because the 'white man' is any better than our Sri Lankan's but because we ourselves have equated any good work or actions to that of the 'white man'. It is a shame though but it is real - Eya Suddhek wage - the phrase that has stuck for good.

In the airline industry, Emirates Airlines had spared no expenses to brand itself as the best airline to fly with. They have supported sports activities - The Emirates stadium in Finsbury Park the home of the Arsenal Football Club, several brand ambassadors from the football and cricketing community wearing 'fly Emirates' emblems on their shirts, has as yet not branded that airline with the desired effect for air travellers to prefer Emirates to other airlines when travelling.

Similarly, Qatar Airways is emulating Emirates with the slogan 'Fly Qatar' while promoting in a prolific manner the State of Qatar as a brand venue for athletics and other sports.

Vacuum cleaners have come a long way from the time Hoover introduced this machine to the market. There are many more advanced and versatile machines produced by Dyson, Electrolux and many others. The excellence with which Hoover is keeping up with the competition is as yet making the Hoover name stick and housewives will continue to 'Hoover' their carpets with a Dyson vacuum cleaner.

Unfortunately Xerox seems to be weaning away to 'photo copying' which has almost taken over. The ghost of a 'brand' of the 'white man' is still lingering in the hearts and minds of the Sri Lankan though.

Every company large or small wants itself known. In other words it wants to 'brand' itself as an excellent provider to be wanted over and again.

Suddhek wage

A manufacturer wants his product or products to be in the 'tip of every one's tongue' and to be sought after. A service provider desires the manner in which he provides his service to be the attraction that would procure him more accounts and for his customers to return.

This does not come by placing 'Brand Managers' in the corridors of busy shopping centres giving out free samples and spraying every Tom, Dick and Harry with perfume some of which they are allergic to or trying to allure people by dishing out free samples of chocolates, ice cream or other sweets that might be good to some but harmful to others.

Although such tactics help promote the product to some extent it will not help branding the product to use the local colloquial - suddhek wage.

Branding products is not as difficult as branding services. An eye catching logo, the shape and style of the product packaging will go some way in branding a product. However, the most important thing that will stick in the hearts and minds of customers is the brand message.

What does it offer the prospective customer, this product that one is offering in the beautiful packaging with an attractive logo and title? Most people are now health freaks, and they all prefer healthy alternatives to the junk mostly offered under attractive packaging.

People who prefer safety to luxury in driving would go for Volvo than for a BMW or Mercedes. While all of them have excellent safety features, one driver told me "the Volvo is built like a tank, with all round crash protection". That is the Volvo brand message.

The latest Ford is a car like any other car but came with the brand message 'that it will park itself'.

Kia followed with the same brand message in the footsteps of Ford. BMW was not to be left behind, its brand message included the 'thinking car' which will automatically slow down and stop when approaching another vehicle in front.

These are very strong brand messages of the moment but never perpetual and failing to maintain this message cost General Motors it's top spot in the motor industry, however, Rolls Royce is still Rolls Royce and when someone compares a good product like the Rolex watch, they always say that it is the 'Rolls Royce' of watches. In the Sri Lankan colloquial - suddhek wage.

So much for products. How about services?

Service providers are most vulnerable to brand 'bashing'. Business Guru Tom Peters advises the service provider "you are your product - develop it" and writes "smiling begets a warmer environment. Thanking begets an environment of mutual appreciation. Enthusiasm begets enthusiasm".

Smile, thank and enthuse, these are three important elements that would lead the service provider towards the brand excellence that he seeks.

Little catchy slogans like Tesco's 'every little helps' or John Lewis Partnerships 'never knowingly undersold' does stick in the minds of people. Combined with these traits is the need for quality and excellence.

Many rely on obtaining an ISO certification. That does not by itself guarantee branding of one's service. ISO certification only tells clients or customers that the certified party is assuring to provide their services in the quality that they would perform to.

Courtesies

True, ISO will perform periodic audits, but purely to ensure that the procedures are in place and being adhered to. Nothing more. It is, therefore, upto the service provider to ensure excellence in quality that would stick in the minds of customers.

Customers can then be a useful platform to advertise and promote the company. American Statesman Henry Clay (1777-1852), is quoted to have said, "Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart".

Such courtesies once struck remains in the heart in perpetuity. It has taken a long time since Rolls Royce built it's masterpiece, although not many of us can afford it we still prefer to call a Rolex watch 'the Rolls Royce of watches' and although Dyson has come up with versatile and revolutionary vacuum cleaners, housewives still 'hoover' their carpets but use the 'Dyson' - no one has as yet 'dysoned' their carpets, they might sometimes vacuum clean it though.

This is branding by excellence in perpetuity - colloquially suddha wage.