Re-branding Revisited

Being truly passionate about branding, I completely believe in the fact that branding does more to a product that anything else.But on the other side, some things also make me ponder on whether there should be a limit to the expenditure made on branding and most importantly RE branding. With the new ‘Airtel’ Logo being the talk of the town and discussions in all B-Schools and otherwise, It really makes me think that has Airtel achieved what it wanted to by rebranding itself?

This brings us to a completely new dimension on how should the success of a branding exercise be measured. Being aware about a couple of these techniques myself, I still feel that branding is too abstract an action to measure on a scale. Right from the definition of branding that says,’ to occupy a space and position in the mind of the consumers ‘ to everything that is known, learnt and written about branding is quite abstract and difficult to measure .

The agency who designed the new logo for Airtel got ’12 crore’ rupees for doing so, How on earth did they come with a price like that, I mean it could have been less or more, How did airtel come to a conclusion that 12 crore would be worth investing which would be then followed by a 300 crore plus campaign to ensure that the ‘NEW IDENTITIY ‘gets registered in the MINDS of the consumers. 

It is justified in some cases when companies need it to reposition themselves and look young and global, re-branding helps them to do so, thus all the past grievances and concerns about the firm is erased and the consumers look at the company in a new light .for e.g.:- Bank of Baroda, union bank, BSNL, Air India and even lifebuoy for that matter that were growing, expanding and moving to new market segments, re-branded themselves. Recently even UTV changed their logo after their new CEO took over.

But what about companies like Airtel who were already doing quite well. They re-branded themselves as a preparation to enter the International Market.  Is it not better if they focus more on their offerings and services in order to make a splash in the International market as they could have shown literature, facts, photos and videos as an evidence of their service quality, customer satisfaction and  likeability to the brand back in India (with the old logo) .

What about companies like Coca cola and Mc Donalds who have been continuing with the same logo and have created a strong affiliation towards it from its consumers. There is some kind of an attachment that goes with it. In fact in some cases people might stop purchasing a brand if its logo is changed as they are so used to it.What about the strong worldwide association of the golden arches (Mc Donalds) , or the swoosh (Nike) or the fonts in which coke and Cadburys is written , can we imagine these things done or presented in some other form , by rebranding a successful product aren’t we losing out on the basic objective of branding. Instead of a quick recall, a consumer would get confused with the brand and it would not in any case be in its top of the mind recall .

So is Re-branding or repositioning important, or is it just one of the measures to either:- 

·         Motivate one’s own workforce by giving them fresh atmosphere and feel at work,

·         Make its consumers forget the grievances and the bad experiences they had with the company,

·         Or most importantly to Satisfy the EGO of the newly joined CEO who wanted to bring a fresh change in the organization.

I say,

Re Branding is important and can put life back into a dead organization but doing it for an organization that is doing well?Think about it :-) 

RGV on FIRE

I am sure the title of this post itself would have made you feel, ‘GOSH, are all the topics in the world exhausted that he is writing on none other than the popularly unpopular ‘RAM GOPAL VARMA’

But this is exactly what my motive is to write this. Why is RGV being criticized so much by both insiders and outsiders of the industry?

Agreed he make some horrible flicks like GO, Agyaat, James, Darna Mana Hai (phir Zaroori bhi tha) and not to forget the historical ‘RGV ki AAG’ that still gives us night mares..

But with Rann and Rakth Charitra he seems to getting back to things he is good at.

How can we forget that he is the same person who has given us movies like, Satya, Company, Rangeela, Shiva, Bhoot, Jungle, Sarkar with some memorable characters like Bhiku matre, kallu mama, The adorable munna of Rangeela and the power full duo of Shubhash Nagre and Shankar Nagre .

He was one of the first directors in the Indian Cinema to try their hands at genres like horror, multi stories rolled into one , psychological thrillers, underworld gang warfare, politician-criminal nexus, and in multiple languages—Telugu and Hindi. The most recent being Rakth Charitra being released simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu and in two parts one after the other (first of its kind in Bollywood)

ATLEAST he still has the balls of trying out new genres and newcomers  unlike big banners and producers like karan Johar , Yash Chopra who still prefer playing safe by collecting big star casts , arranging foot tapping music and larger than life characters speaking dialogues that one would speak in day to day lives .

The genre of film and even music that he has touched with in Rann and Rakht Charitra is commendable and there is no one else who is experimenting in that genre. And then the Indian Cinema boasts to the world about supporting people who experiment and try out new things. 

Though I feel bad for him for the way he is being treated, but with the encouraging response to his last two films I am sure audience would accept him soon again given that he meets the expectations we have from him.

 Best of Luck Ramu ji .Think Hatke but be careful, the Indian audience and their tastes are changing (read improving) more rapidly than the movies in their quality and content.

The 4th Idiot .

While the entire nation was dancing with the ‘3 Idiots’ shouting All is well. We almost forgot the 4^th and the most important Idiot where All is Definitely not well.

That Idiot that affects us irrespective of we liking it or not and is a part of our daily life directly or indirectly. The most important factor is that this Idiot is as powerful as affecting and shaping up our perceptions, attitude and everyone has an opinion about it.

Either this Idiot excites you or irritates you but yes, it definitely affects you to the core. And that my dear friends is our very OWN IDIOT BOX – the television

I realised this during my stay back home during Diwali as I was exposed to it to the maximum.

All I saw was:-

·         A down market discussion (read Verbal Wrestling) with embarrassing swearing and foul language headed by none other than Rakhi Sawant called ‘RAKHI ka Insaaf’ .

·         With Daily soaps either centric towards child marriage, dowry and family problems or loosely (some  directly) based on famous movie plots having names that sounds more like title songs than titles themselves.

·         Even the so called ‘youth channels ‘ like MTV and Bindaas having serials and programmes only related to hook ups , link ups, back stabbing , cheating , bitching etc . I mean, are these the only things our youngistan is made of. Where are the serials like ’Malgudi Days’, 'Bharat ek Khoj', ‘Dekh bhai Delh’, ‘Hum Log’, ‘yeh jo hai Zindagi’, ‘Hip Hip Hurray’, ’Hum Paanch’, ‘Campus’, Bornvita Quiz contest’ and the very recent Sarabhai vs Sarabhai that used to talk more about togetherness, knowledge  and most importantly positivity  and still being hot favourites amongst all .

·         Most disturbing are the news channels where they are busy showcasing bulletins like ‘saas and the city’, ‘Indore ka Iccha dhari Naag’,’Obama ki Udaan ‘and not to forget the re- runs of Laughter shows and Big Boss with titles like ‘Khali ki nahi chali’ .

So aren’t we getting nearer to the answer to the question, ’why is there an increase in negativity, family feuds, crimes, link ups break ups etc like never before.’

Is the media reflecting the changing nature of our society or actually the factor responsible for changing it?

And let us not forget that,’though we criticise them in public, WE DO watch them at home...’

The Big Question is – Who is to be blamed?

Think About it J

Opening Comments

Thank You for taking the pains of clicking on the link and sparing few minutes to read this.

Intro:-

I welcome you to my blogosphere,’Just a Thought (JAT) ‘.

Generally 2 types of people are into blogging, Ones who are good writers (or who like to think they are) and others who have something to comment and discuss about the happenings around them J

I am not sure which category I belong to, but as the name suggests I firmly believe that it’s the thought and the approach of the person that counts and nothing apart from that.

The positivity in the attitude, the strong stands that one takes, decisions made, revolutions  that take place, new businesses start ups , terrorism, media an almost everything began with a thought and nothing but Just a Thought.

What’s in store:-

Majority of the blogs I read are quite well drafted and elaborate.

But you would eventually notice that my blogs would be short, crisp and most importantly to the point as the sole purpose of me getting on this platform is to have healthy discussions on topics close to my heart.

Thus more than appreciations, I wish to see discussions to continue as comments below the blogs.

So all those interested in Media, Entertainment, Human behaviour, Cinema, Branding & Advertising.

Keep visiting and discussing and I can assure you that you will never be disappointed

Hoping to have a good time with some great discussions J

PS – First post coming soon.........

Keep watching this space for more