Most of the present generation get attracted to the products of the Diors, the Louis Vuittons, the Tommy Hilfigers, the Ralph Laurens and try to own as many as they can. Sometimes, even at the helpless discomfort of their parents for not being able to provide from ?THE MOST DESIRED LIST?.
But, how many have ever paused their longings for this expensive branded stuff and given a serious thought about how these brands were built and the toil and perseverance of those behind creating them.Surely they definitely were not the unthinking, mindless consumers themselves but were the ones who knew the power of branding and the value that brands bring with them. They understood the difference between ?the ordinaries? and ?those with distinctive and differentiating qualities?. Having understood this difference these super intelligent and super innovative people set out to create their own brands. In course of time then reaped and enjoyed the never-ending financial, material and social power that their brands brought to them.
A Brand is nothing but a ?distinctive feature? that distinguishes a person or thing from others, meant to satisfy the same need. Brands can be built around products, services, people and even animals.Remember Paul, the Octopus, became internationally famous for having acquired the expertise for correctly predicting the winner of each of the Germany national football team?s matches in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Its ?uniqueness? lay in the correct prediction of the winning team using its feeding behavior. Other animals have attempted but failed to predict the outcome of football matches. Is it not remarkable that one animal has been more successful than the others (including humans)? Now that is a hell of a distinctive skill !!!
Look at all the big names around, be it an Amitabh Bachchan or an Angelina Jolie or a Chanda Kochhar or an Indira Nooyi. What is the reason they command a premium in their respective fields? It is because they have developed their very own individual brands by acquiring that X-tra edge that others in the same fields and with even better academic qualifications failed to. They took those extra steps which made people think of THEM when they think of their field. They brought value to the movie-producers and the organizations they were attached to.
Hence, whatever field one chooses – medicine, engineering, finance, law, journalism, theatre, music, interior designing or any other, one should develop a unique and original way?which sets one apart from others.If one plans to set up a small factory or something?even better! Innovate, design, develop and create something unique. Take a cue from Baba Ramdev, how he successfully built the brand ?Patanjali? which is giving sleepless nights to the FMCG giants, whose market shares it has eaten. This swadeshi brand is expected to generate a revenue of Rs. 5000 Cr in FY 16.
Tom Peters ( Fast Company, 1997) has aptly stated
“Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”
