NAAM MEIN AAM HAI – WHAT’S IN A BRAND AND BRANDING!

AN AAM SITUATION

A brand is a brand is a brand – William Shakespeare*.
So what is a brand? A brand WAS something that farmers and herders used to identify their livestock from the rest of the cattle, with a hot iron rod. As the definition evolved, it became a lot less violent and a lot more important. Fast forward to 2014, where companies are seeded by the millions, consumer minds are cultivated and monies are harvested by the truckloads. In this case, an aam mango tree; a metaphor from which you will harvest possible truckloads in the foreseeable future. How do you make it happen?
Now, it is a fair assumption that you are not the only mango tree around, after all a mango tree is quite aam. What you need to do is set it apart from the rest of them. Make it unique. Make it memorable. Make it a brand.

Here are a few points to give you a head start.

• Immersion: Not quite the festive dunk in the nearby river that you think. You need to understand and assimilate into your organisational being, the audience, the market, the logistics and the dynamics. Get to know exactly what industry you are in and what you do. Understand who your target audience is and what THEY do. Who are the players who are already in the market and how are they differentiating themselves? Narrow it down as far as possible and create an outline of it.
• Immersion results: You are an organisation which seeds, grows, picks and delivers mangoes to an audience that ranges from 5 year olds to 50 year olds. You have a great product and a good delivery system in place. There is one other player in the market who is almost exactly like you. Its name is The Aam Aam. They have a fast delivery system where machines pick it off from the tree, dump it into containers and distribute it as fast as possible. 
• Naming yourself: If the people you deliver to, like you, they should remember you, right? Your name should be everything you are and everything you want to be. It should be built for the present and the future. 

• Naming Results: With extensive research, careful consideration, workshops, storming brain things, analysis and in the name of the lord of branding, you are now AAM-EN!
• Brand Definition: If you have done it right, you can make accurate deductions about yourself and your competitors and create a set of unique values for your brand. This unique set of values will also imbibe the essence of your brand and what you stand for.
• Brand Definition Results: The results are in and…you will get trounced if you compete with The Aam Aam on the same playing field. You are not catered for a fast delivery system. What you do differently is that you hand-pick the mangoes. You have a group of very talented, passionate mango pickers and packers who, unlike the competition, do not compromise on the quality of mangoes. As an organisation too, you take pride in your work and your workforce, where integrity is your biggest asset and quality your biggest commodity. 
• Creating an identity: An identity in this case, is the LOGO of your brand. You can follow quite a few brand models that can help you define brand values and create a logo. For example, the Kapferer Model of Identity. The model has been used for big brands such as Pepsi, L’Oreal, Carlsberg, etc.The model is in the form of a prism to make it easily understandable and underlines the 6 most important aspects of creating your identity. This includes:
• Physique: This invokes the physical aspects of your brand in the mind of the consumer.
• Personality: The character of your brand. This includes the style of writing, specific design features, colour schemes, ambassadors, etc.
• Culture: Refers to the kind of environment you promote inside your organisation. What are the highlights and the ideals that everyone in your organisation follows? 
• Relationship: What your relationship is with your customer/consumer. It can be a set of beliefs that your customers share about you.
• Reflection: What is your image in the mind of the consumer? What do they think about you? Are you reliable? Value for money? Undefeated in quality?
• Self-Image: What do consumers think about themselves when they buy your product/service? For example, Lacoste users consider themselves as sporty, even though they may not necessarily play a sport.

AAMING FOR THE STARS

You now have a full-fledged brand, up and running. You have to now concentrate on building equity for your organisation. This includes using branding to build reputation, loyalty and trust for your brand. Using traditional branding mediums such as print media and TVCs or the engaging the internet efficiently can leverage you as the most trustable and memorable mango brand in the minds of your consumer. Of course, in the life of your brand you will encounter new players, new markets and newer avenues to expand and branch off. Your brand will have to understand, assimilate, evolve and rejuvenate, time and again.

With a good brand and good branding, you can aam for the stars.
Wishing you only the very best of luck in your business.
* Disclaimer: Don’t believe everything you read on the internet…Except what you read here.

By

Ganesh Subramanian

Copy Writer

DY Works

Crafting an Inimitable Brand - Reliance Greens

DY Works’ intervention crafted this iconic brand from nomenclature to visual identity and shaped their success story.

 

Most iconic brand identities stand the test of time and are relevant over decades. Reliance Greens, at the Jamnagar Township is one such identity.

Crafted in 1999, the identity was crafted to create significance and reflect an evolving organization. After 15 years, this identity is unchanged and has indeed stood the test of time, when many companies have identities that have needed rejuvenation to stay current, and relevant to their audience.

Brand Task:
Reliance Township, a self-contained township, houses over 2,500 of the employees and their families at Jamnagar. Sprawling over 415 acres of land, the township has been designed to provide the best possible residential, educational and recreational facilities to the employees.
The township includes fully furnished housing for the employees, as well as a medical centre, school, playgrounds, temple, community centers, health centers, banks, mall/supermarket, gas station, parks, swimming pool, a golf course, tennis courts etc. DY Works partnered with the Reliance brand team to create nomenclature, brand manifestation and other visual communication for the township.

Bringing Dreams Alive

DY Works & Sobo Films Come Together To Create Magic for the Less Fortunate and Make Their Dreams Come Alive 

DY Works partnered with Sobo Films Pvt Ltd to create a unique platform where reality TV served as the medium to bring optimism and better opportunities to the less fortunate.  Bollywood celebrities will swop roles with the common man to experience what his life is like. The amount earned in this role, through the assistance of celebrity status, will be given to the common man to help him out financially and give him a boost in morale and hope.

DY Works developed the name, something that would evoke the feeling of dreams coming true, of opportunities being made available for a commoner and the feeling of anticipation that comes with the aspiration for a better life. “Mission Sapne” combined this feeling of hope along with determination serving as the appropriate name for the show. The name also reflects the idea of the show’s creators - wanting to go beyond day to day and give back to the community and to use one’ s privilege to make another’s life better.

DY Works also created an identity that would bring this name to life and give it its ideal visual representation. The kite in the identity speaks to forward movement and progress and is apt for the show’s core purpose.  It highlights the feeling of chasing one’s dreams no matter what adversity one has experienced, thus far.

The use of gold, signals aspiration and hope as well as prosperity especially in the Indian content. This against the background of the sky – gestures towards dreams, hopes and desires, coming together to achieve more and go beyond one’s current confines.

Together the name and identity bring the feeling of cheer, development and hope, communicating the essence of the programme. 

DY Works is Brand Strategy & Design Firm based out of Mumbai

NAME, NAME , NAME

The practice of using a brand name is the evolution of the ancient custom of branding one's belongings.

Name is the foundation of your brand. Once in the market, your brand name will greatly determine your position in the fight for consumers.  Far more than just a series of letters, a successful brand name can help your product survive for a long time if it is able to stand the test of time.

Also the historic approach of family names is increasingly taking time before they resonate with consumer for newly launched products, services or companies.

Powerful brand names can fire imagination, trigger an emotion, and be suggestive of an experience or attitude. Though names are only one ingredient, they have significant influence over how a brand is perceived.

It represents a mix of attributes - tangible and intangible - symbolized in a mark

THE RIGHT NAME

• The right name for your brand, does more than just identify.
• It speaks of the personality, the quality, the essence of your company and its products.
• The right name for your brand provides an umbrella under which products and services, divisions and subsidiaries can be a cohesive family.
• Most of all, the right name sets your company, your products and services apart from the rest. 

 

MUST PASS MUSTERS FOR NAMING

Visual : Every word has a visual feel. Even before it is designed to appear in a certain way. It evokes images. It stands for certain pictures. There are visual associations with it, which at times are universal.

Intonation : It means the pitch one uses to speak aloud a word sometimes can change its meaning. Our words must be easy on the tongue.

Phonetic/ Audio : It’s the way a word sounds. Certain words are harsh, some soft. Some sound alien, some have a very next-door feel to it.

Understanding : While preserving a sense of mystery and intrigue, it must not be complicated. It has to have meaning. It must generate curiosity, not debate.

Impact :This is our desired response in a way. It has to have the overall impact in a consumer’s mind, filling it with all the attributes discussed earlier. Design will of course enhance it but just the word must do its job at its own level.


 Article by
Priyanka Shah,
General Manager Strategy,
 DY Works

Brand Namkaran

Namkaran, a traditional ceremony of naming the baby in India is considered auspicious and associated with honor, pride and fate. In India, particularly, all names have a specific meaning and the hopes for the child, of the parents and extended family are symbolized through this name. Often the names are borrowed from role models (Priyanka, Vijay, Rahul – have been influenced by political or film personalities). Names have enormous significance in every society in the world.

 A name is what bestows an identity on a person and we are able to treat the individual as someone with needs, feelings and purpose. Through the name, the individual becomes part of the history of the society, and, because of the name, his or her deeds will exist separate from the deeds of others.

Other than identifying people with a name, the name matters in other scenarios as well. In recent decades, many Indian cities have expunged their pre-existing names to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Thiruvanthapuram and Vadodara. Even Roads and landmark names have acquired a local flavour - from Victoria Terminus to ChhatrapatiShivaji Terminus, Howrah Bridge to RabindraSetu, Dum Dum Airport to NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose International Airport, signifying a symbolic gesture to shrug off our colonial past. (It is another matter altogether that our enthusiastic naming brigade renames a manageable Altamount Road to a Salebhai Karimji Barodawala Marg – and then wonders why it doesn't stick!!!)

Post the industrial revolution, as the first brands were born, the very first form of identification was name. Brand names are what separate generic products and become the identifier for a brand.The ultimate victory for a brand nonetheless, is when the reverse happens: when the brand name becomes a verb and defines the category- Google, Velcro, Fedex and Xerox have all become ‘doing’ words.Not all brands manage that. So we Xerox – but we never Polaroided! We Googled, but never Yahooed!! When brands get used as verbs – they say we are the ONLY way to do something. All ‘verb’ brands are typically market leaders. It is perhaps important for brands to consider how to introduce themselves in popular usage and initiate that practice themselves.

Some brands become iconic and their name can play a great role in that journey. Thums Up launched with thunder in 1977. The year of euphoria after the emergency, this fizzy drink got the chance to capture the spirit of second independence in its name. The mis- spelled name ‘Thums Up’ I believe was formed to address a clear promise to consumers that the refreshing taste of cola was back in their lives, supported by a logo which depicted red thumbs up hand gesture with a slanted white typeface, and what was one of India’s first truly lifestyle oriented campaigns with the line, “Happy days are here again!”. This uplifting name, represented the emerging youth of India came at a time when Indians were beginning to believe they could have a great future. Thums Up got associated with style, international appeal and liberation and remains so robust a brand that international giants such as Pepsi and Coke have grown the market but have not be able to dethrone Thums Up – the only country in the world where they are losing out to a local brand.

The uniqueness of a product’s name can have a game changing effect in its category. Case in point, the name BlackBerry evaded the obvious expectations from a phone or PDA. The name’s friendliness addressed all the negative associations attached to such devices- they vibrate, they buzz and they give stress. There is a resemblance between the handheld’s black keys and a blackberry’s external surface and the ‘network’ metaphor is derived from blackberries growing in clusters on vines, typically covering a large area. BlackBerry broke all conventional rules through its name’s playfulness.

So how does one come up with a name like Thums Up or BlackBerry? Well, the best names are clutter breaking, almost surprising for that category. When we EXPECT a name like FastMoney – we don't remember it. When we see something different – like Apple, we find it harder to forget it. Secondly, names benefit by being ownable crafted words – rather than generic words. So Chocos or Lakme do not mean anything – but become unique. Names are best generated through varied lateral thinking exercises that involve multiple people brainstorming and building on associations. Using different lateral thinking tools and techniques, the naming process can generate over 400-500 ‘root’ words. In a typical naming session you will find a plethora of words that spread out like branches from a central thought.The maps help to stake out linguistic territory, and to bring forth the deeper associations that a particular product evokes—the words underneath the name. The framework encourages lateral thinking through plenty of visual and verbal stimuli, then sieves it through brand and category filters, stimulating both left and right brain to function optimally. After all, it is important for the name to have a Lady Gaga effect on your brand.

From the root words, the word play begins. Adding, subtracting, changing spellings – are all undertaken. Eventually, any name can succeed – we have enough examples of Haldirams, Nirulas and Oberoi in India alone. A sharply defined, differentiated name that cues a category by association, rolls off easily on the tongue, lends itself to a visual design; however, can greatly increase the speed with which a new brand can establish itself.

Article by Priyanka Shah- General Manager Strategy at DY Works