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The chief guest of the event; the eminent HDFC chairman Deepak
Parekh, said that it was the challenges of today that was going
to change the fortunes of tomorrow .With global branding now sharing
shelf space with home grown ones, competition has never been stiffer.
Which is why he says it time for us to re-analyse our branding endeavours.
Today most companies sacrifice margins to play the volume game.
Product replication is a growing phenomenon in the Indian industry
with a total loss of brand identity.
Parekh reiterated, " A brand is an emotional experience. It's
much more than a logo, a byline, a symbol or a slogan. Branding
ignites people's passion, delivers promises, is not an ad, creates
humanity and communities."
Longevity was another aspect Parekh threw light on and said it
was very crucial to a brand. Trust being the other essential an
ingredient must have. It's not about volumes and marketing gimmicks
he says, it's about trust and emotions. A brand is the sum of all
touch points a product has with a consumer.
Other guests who addressed the summit included BPCL Chairman and
MD S Behuria, Standard Chartered Bank CEO Christopher M Low, P&G
Chairman Bharat Patel, Forbes Gokak MD KC Mehta, Onward technologies
Chairman and MD Harish Mehta and Institiute of Technology and Management
Chairman Professor PV Ramana.
Some key points made at the session are as follows:
" Proliferation of information is resulting in information
overload for the consumer. Innovation is the name of the game.
" The thrust in the brand building exercise has to be trust
and credibility and building relationships.
" Companies that create a compelling branding experience will
be the ones that drive tomorrow.
" Pricing is clearly a part of the branding strategy, but it
is not the focal point that drives the brand. Pricing only drives
volumes and not the brand.
" Pricing is a key element in the whole branding exercise,
but if pricing translates into short-term promotional solutions,
the brand will reach no where and will fail to attract consumer
loyalty.
" Indian branding has not yet come of age. Although a sizeable
amount of brands have managed to stand for integrity, value, credibility
and in the process created some very long lasting brands. An area
that needs attention is delivery.
An insightful session then led on to the 'Daks Awards for Brand
Excellence 2004' applauding personalities and companies who have
proven their forte in the branding arena. The list is as follows:
Life Time Acheivement Award:
1) HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh
2) Hiranandani Group Chairman Dr L H Hiranandani
3) Wipro Corporation Chairman & MD Azim Premji
Brand Builder of the year
1) Foster's India MD Pradeep Gidwani
2) NDTV President Dr. Pranoy Roy
3) HLL Non-executive chairman MS Banga
Marketing Professional of the year
1) Biocon India VP- marketing Rakesh Bamzai
Awards for Brand Excellence
1) Star India COO Sameer Nair
Best Business School
1) IBAT School of Management
Super Brand Builder of the year
1) ITC chairman YC Deveshwar
Innovative Brand Strategies
1) HPCL
2) Cadbury Inida
3) ONGC
4) TVS Motors
5) Dainik Bhaskar
CEO of the year
1) ICICI Bank MD & CEO K V Kamath
Creative Professional of the year
1) McCann- Erickson NCD Prasoon Joshi
Agency of the year
McCann - Erickson
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