As we start serving a new generation of consumers, the way we build our brands is fast changing. Traditionally, the brand with the biggest marketing budget and celebrity endorsers had an edge over the competition, but this isn’t the case anymore. With the millennials dictating the purchasing decision in households nowadays, the way they spend money and build perception about brands is quickly changing. Costlier isn’t better anymore and brand names hold water as long as they deliver. Access to the internet has changed the rules of the game that marketers and consumers were accustomed to. With sudden explosion in transparency and the rise of social networking and online reviews on video-sharing portals coming in on a real-time basis, the mass market’s opinion of a product or service becomes immediate and widely known. This means sub-par products can no longer hide behind mammoth marketing budgets. But it also means that excitement about a truly great product can spread virally within minutes or hours.
It is true what everyone says about the internet - it has made the world a smaller place and no one has taken more advantage of this phenomenon and empowered themselves more than consumers out there. This revolution is truly being led by consumers the world over.
New Customers, New MarketingAssuming the Democratisation of Brand is upon us, what does it mean for companies? The most forward-looking ones are going with a ‘product-first’ approach putting products above everything else and shifting their focus from brand marketing to transparent marketing. Being open about your product or business is a much better way to gain consumers’ trust and loyalty. However, for that to happen, the company needs to ensure that the product is fundamentally good.
Take a look at the smartphone industry, which is racing towards commoditization. When an industry becomes commoditised, products are hard to differentiate. Brands stop being a major driving force in consumer decision making, instead price and experience of the product becomes paramount. For example at OnePlus, we believe it is necessary to transparently communicate with our community, share our problems, and keep incentivising them with information and updates. At the same time, we take their feedback and suggestions to improve and make our offerings more meaningful and relevant to them. This approach has helped us build a solid brand reputation, uber products, and a large community of brand advocates.
Is Brand Management Dead? No. Consumers still care about brands - but their definition of what to care has completely changed.
Consumers want to buy products from brands that give a sense of purpose to their products and align with their own core values. They want to buy a product that delivers a compelling overall experience, and they often turn to their friends for recommendations. They are looking for ways to connect with brands in an organic and most authentic manner, which means brands have to take away all of the barriers and instead focus on building relationships with their consumers. The consumers care considerably lesser about who they’re buying from - lines between market leaders and startups have blurred for consumers as long as the product offers a great overall experience.
What can brands do? 1. First and foremost, build products that you are proud of
2. Expertly developed word-of-mouth networks - it's the most effective way to build a brand
3. Continuously gather customer feedback
4. Encourage communities of customers to meet, experience and share
5. Be humble enough to admit a weakness - it will immediately distinguish you from the competition
6. Keep your communication simple and direct
7. Give resources and step back - allow consumers to evaluate and make an intelligent decision
8. Let your community, customers, or reviewers do the bragging
9. Drive conversation, storytelling is dead
To sum it up, all we can say is - access to internet has shifted power from brands to consumers. Brand’s success does not depend on the size of the company or the amount of time it has been around nor the amount of money a company pumps into its marketing tactics. In today’s world, democratization offers a level-playing ground to all types of companies and brands irrespective of their size or age. Don't be surprised if the next big brand is built by a ninth grader from a public school.
Guest Author
Karan Sarin is the Head of Marketing - India at OnePlus. In his role, Karan is responsible for leading the marketing and demand generation aspect for the company.
