This year the Brand Excellence Programme
has undergone significant changes in terms of its context as
well as its process. The Committee has taken into consideration
the collective and cumulative feedback of the previous jurors
as well as the participants. The positive disposition to feedback
and their passion to change and improve is what made me accept
this role.
It is my ardent hope that the new format will attract the right
level of participation from across the industry to enable the
Brand Excellence Programme to be truly representative and truly
competitive. For an award of this nature to be relevant, one
needs representative participation from the industry. Hitherto,
sadly, industry-wide participation has been lacking.
The new format establishes a premium on the performance of the
brand in the market and the business. Whether it is, volume
growth, profitability impact, share gains or improvements of
brand measurements, performance impact is assumed to be the
fundamental proof of excellence in branding.
We have also been very selective in the selection of the jury
panel to ensure that executives with the right selection are
being entrusted with the responsibility of evaluating your submissions.
This jury will evaluate the brand based on the context and the
hence the strategies that have been adopted.
Today only a handful of brands ascend above commodity status.
One reason is that too few marketers attempt to break through
the surface of the sea of grey. The fact is that much of our
thinking is plainly mediocre. Brand proliferation is running
rampant. Most brands follow rather than lead. There is less
and less unique or compelling propositions being presented to
increasingly demanding consumers. There is a new sense of urgency
for both fresh thinking as well as excellence in execution.
Most new products fail and they deserve to. The majority of
products in a category look alike. Rather than risk being different
or innovative, many products start and end their lives as me-too-brands.
They take the safe route and emulate the characteristics of
the category leader, actually enhancing rather than displacing
the leading brand’s position. This is what Michael Porter
refers to when he states “it is striking how many firms
that were first movers have remained so for decades”.
The arduous task of today’s marketer is explained by Barry
Schwartz, “As the number of choices keeps growing, negative
aspects of having a multitude of options began to appear. As
the number of choices grows further, the negatives escalate
until we become overloaded. At this point, choice no longer
liberates, but debilitates.” This is the moment of truth
for any marketer and his brand. Can you establish real differentiation
and build or grow your franchise in this context?
To meet the needs of the new consumer, it takes a new breed
of company run by people who believe in brands that are exceptionally
differentiated – brands that separate from their competition,
and amaze and delight their consumers.
In their classic book, Al Ries and Jack Trout state that success
“is how it is positioned in the mind of the prospect,
not on the attributes the product may have.” In the modern
world, positioning presents a different kind of challenge. At
a time when consumer desire and demand drives marketing, brand
positioning can determine product adoption and success. One
problem is that too many brands are jockeying to position themselves
just right. Another is that most categories have leaders so
new brands coming into the category must first find a counter
position to succeed. The alternatives are to create a subset
of the category by appealing to a smaller audience segment,
or create an entirely new category. Either way, positioning
takes on an entirely new meaning.
