A brand needs to tell a story – Dr. Jitendra K. Das, at CII conference.

Speaking at a marketing and branding conference organized by the CII, Dr. Jitendra K. Das, Director, FORE School of Management, New Delhi, said, “For the new age consumers, value of a brand is to a great extent something which is of ‘peer value’. That is if their friends’ value the brand, then the brand resonates with the millennial. Hence, evolving with changing consumer needs, brand today has to have a strong referral system and a story around it to build the value-perception”.

Dr. Das, who was the Chairperson of the session on value creation at the conference on ‘Marketing & Branding Strategy for New Age Consumer’ talked about the shift of marketing paradigm from ‘Selling’ to ‘Influencing’ and mentioned that with online shopping being popular with the millennial and the same product being available at various market places, the decision to buy does not depend anymore just on the price point but more on the value-added services offered by the seller. ‘Reverse Branding’ or this type of value-added branding has become more popular as millennial are familiar with these strategies. Brands will now have to consider these factors in order to have the millennial embrace their product or brand.

Mr. Samit Sinha, MD, Alchemist Brand Consulting, said “Brands add value by increasing what customers get in terms of brand attributes, functional benefits, and commercial benefits.  Segmentation is important for branding and brand has to consist of 3 parts: corporate brand, product brand and hallmark brand”.

Talking about ‘Consumer Centricity and Delight’, Ms. Uma Nidmarty, CEO,  Lectrotek Systems, said that it’s not about knowing the customer, it is about making the customer know the brand and taking them through the decision-making  and shortlisting journey. Building trust is important. “Help them before they buy the product” she said.

Ms. Vinati Moghe, Head Operational Country Marketing – India Cluster, GEA Process Engineering (India) Pvt. Ltd., specified that Building a brand is not just the responsibility of the brand manager, it has be an organizational culture in order to demonstrate the value. It is important for the brand to make the customer understand what the brand stands for. “Brand is about moving out of price points and creating value”, she said.

Citing brands like Apple, Fab India and Netflix, Dr. Das concluded the engaging session affirming the role of the marketer as a key enabler in the process of brand building which has to keep in pace with the new age consumers and emerging market segments.