Brand Integrity

Brand Integrity is not a parameter you have designed as per your marketing principles. This is the basis on which your customer evaluates you. Also, this is not a factor which is emerging now. But it is the primary factor which was existing from the beginning of brand history. You have not noticed it as this is one of the critical factor living on your blind side. The only new thing is the fact that it is articulated here. 

Have you investigated why your sales and brand salience decline drastically at a critical moment? Most of the time you have blamed your competition for being the cause of such cases. Competition gains when you lose, it is just a result of the phenomenon. But it is not the reason for it. The very reason is you broke the belief and trust of your customer by not being your promise and being in-authentic in your business practice. It might sound annoying but this is the truth.

The pride of the brand ownership by the customer is the key decider for your product's sale.

The basic of any brand is the assurance in quality. In customer language, it means that your product will not harm or fail in performance while your customer uses it. The pride of the brand ownership by the customer is the key decider for your product's sale. In such a context when your customer sees unfair trade or brand practices then they are desperate to disown their brand in regret. In reality, nobody wants to deal with a crook. 

This is the reason which causes the erosion of your brand when your brand issue becomes public or when your customers visibly see the difference between you and your direct competitor.

The most influential factors which result in low quality is the management practice of cost-cutting. Cost-cutting should be done organically by increasing volume or by changing your business model. But some na?ve and lazy business managers practice it by choosing low-quality ingredients and service of your brand. This is the reason which causes the erosion of your brand when your brand issue becomes public or when your customers visibly see the difference between you and your direct competitor. They then feel cheated and customer regret becomes the only thing which your brand gains.

Monopoly will perish your business when it becomes an absolute monopoly

Let us first understand the concept called Integrity. In simple words, it means ‘being your word’. And as an equation, it can be articulated as Integrity is the product of Brand Promise = Brand delivery to the customer. In most cases, these do not happen due to the greed of generating more revenue. This greedy thought process of generating more revenue results from the perspective that your sales arena is small as it is filled with competition. But in reality, the arena works on the principle of abundance. In every category, you do not need to gain share or steal your competitor’s customer. Instead, you have many communities who want your service but do not know the scope and means. Let us look at a case study which has radical learning. AXE is the Hindustan Unilever brand which was growing strong in the late 90s. The deodorant category customers were primarily youngsters (male) and according to the brand, their primary job was to woo and earn a girlfriend. So Axe had a promise that it will make you win the flirting game. Now all these were perspective and projection and do not happen in reality but between the ears of your customers. Simply put it’s a mind game. But there was a large group of a youngster who had a dream of girlfriend in the ’90s. Hence Axe started climbing the ladder of market share. In 2007 the brand was nearing monopoly with close to 60% market share. As the fundamental law of economics says ‘Monopoly will perish your business when it becomes an absolute monopoly’.

Beyond the brand narrative of winning the flirting game which became boring and customers evolved by knowing the truth that it is your genuine communication skill which can win relationship and women cannot be won by a mere scent. Also, in reality, there was not even a single case where a man won a girlfriend purely by consuming Axe perfume. And also there was a large group who want to disown the brand as they do not want to identify themselves with the mating game and they respect woman and do not want to consider young woman as a commodity or a stake. There were also a large group of people who have fed up with the single brand option which makes everyone similar and they were looking for alternatives. So in 2008 SetWet became a tight competitor then Park Avenue promised and delivers the matured and unique fragrance which separates them from the rest. Then Fogg created a huge disruption with innovative and authentic product i.e. gasless deodorants. Today Axe is struggling for its existence where there are 10+ competitive brands with a strong brand relationship. What do you think is the blind spot of AXE. 

AXE’s promise was an illusion and has no relevance in reality. Also, Axe was successful not just because of its communication projection but also because of Unilever’s strong distribution strength. But it had no potential to survive the acid test. First, Axe’s strategy of gaining market share by thrashing competition is an in-authentic strategy which blinds the long term view because Monopoly is the suicide mission for any brand. Secondly, it failed to respect that people are evolving with different motives and needs. Thirdly, the scope of growing the category by expanding and penetrating is the duty of the market leader which was negated by Axe. 

The real strength of the brand is not how many people buy you but how many people support and believe you in your lean business cycle. 

People were watching the game of Axe without its notice and switched to other brands at the right moment. Integrity lives in your business behaviour. If you do not have strong ethics then your brand will sink during the market calamity that will confront you. The real strength of the brand is not how many people buy you but how many people support and believe you in your lean business cycle. 

Bata the largest shoe retailer in the country. In late 90s and early 2000 Bata was a brand which faced business turbulence when customer's buying behaviour changed. Malls were the destination to buy shoes and the range of footwear need became larger. And Bata did not have a large palette of choice. But still, people visited Bata showroom on every odd moment. Finally, the brand succeeded when it recreated its identity and experiential showroom model.

Result Based Brand Technology will also have a critical indicator which measures brand integrity.

For the application of this concept, in reality, it is possible to develop a practical model to measure brand integrity. Result Based Brand Technology will also have a critical indicator which measures brand integrity. Also when the consumer forums are united they will publish the brand integrity index based on the dissonance and positive experience a brand creates.