Brand Integrity

Firstly, this is not a parameter you have designed as per your marketing principles. This is the basis on which your customer evaluates you. Secondly, this is not a factor that 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 factors 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 are just as a result of the phenomenon. But it is not the reason for it. The very reason is that you broke the belief and trust of your customer by not being your word or promise and being in-authentic in your business practice. It might sound annoying but this is the truth.

When your customer sees unfair trade or brand practices then they desperately disown their brand.

The basic of any brand is the assurance of quality. In customer language, it means that your product will not harm them or fail in performance while your customer uses it. The other thing is the pride of the brand ownership by the customer is the key decider for your product sale. When your customer sees unfair trade or brand practices then they desperately disown their brand. In reality, nobody wants to deal with a crook. One of 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 logistics of the 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 the conflict arise. They then feel cheated and customer regret becomes the only thing that your brand gains.

Brand Integrity is the product of Brand Promise = Brand delivery to the customer.

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 Brand Integrity is the product of Brand Promise = Brand delivery to the customer. In most cases, these do happen due to the greed of generating more revenue. This greedy thought process of generating more revenue is resulting 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.

‘Monopoly will perish your business when it becomes an absolute monopoly’.

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 that has radical learning. AXE is the Hindustan Unilever brand which was growing strongly in the late 90s. The deodorant category customers were primarily youngsters (male) and their primary job was to woo and earn a girlfriend from the perspective of Axe. So Axe had a promise that it will make you win the flirting game. Now all these were perspective and projection. They do not happen in reality. But is there 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 seen the fundamental law of economics is ‘Monopoly will perish your business when it becomes absolute monopoly’.

Beyond the brand narrative of winning the flirt-game became boring and customers evolved by knowing the truth that it is your genuine communication skill which can win relationship. And also there was a large group that wants to disown the brand as they do not want to identify themselves with the mating game. There was 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 Set Wet became a tight competitor then Park Avenue promised and delivers the matured with unique fragrance which separates you from the rest. Then Fogg created a huge disruption with innovative product i.e. gasless deodorants.

Today Axe is struggling for its existence with 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 to potential to survival in the acid test. The first Axe 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 people were watching the game of Axe without its notice and switched to other brands at the right moment. Integrity lives in is your business behaviour.

The real strength of the brand is not how many people buy you but how many people support and believe you in the lean time of your business cycle. Let’s look at Bata the largest shoe retailer in the country.

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 the lean time of your business cycle. Let’s look at Bata the largest shoe retailer in the country. 1996 to 2006 Bata was a brand which faced business turbulence when people’s buying behaviour change. 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 the Bata showroom on every odd moment. Finally, the brand succeeded when it recreated its identity and experiential model.