Brand Loyal Anyone?

Loyalty is a virtue; no questions asked or doubts raised there. Human bonds are held together by the tender glue of fidelity. What’s a man who is not faithful to his partner or a son not devoted to the family that raised him? But loyalty to brands – is that a virtue? Well, not anymore, I should say.

There was a time when an entire family used the same brand of soap, shampoo, toothpaste, hair oil, & toothbrush. Rexona, Chik, Lifebuoy, Surf, Medicare, Parachute were not brands, they were family! We continued to use them, from the time we learnt to wash ourselves, to the time we got married or got jobs, whichever came first. Once your father made up his mind about a product, the product stayed with you for life.
In fact, if my parents were alive, you’d still find them using Colgate (recommended by the Dental Association). However, jobs opened the world of ‘choice’. It meant we’d try Close-Up or Ultra-Doux or Dabur Almond Oil or whatever else caught our fancy.

Now, when Sathya & I, do our monthly shopping at Spar, we are spoilt for choice. Shall we use Park Avenue this time instead of Lux? Shall I try Dove soap? I find the shampoo is great. No, I’ll pass Dove. Let me try the fancy new tea oil herbal soap.
Can we club 1 trial pack of Adidas deodorant with the 3 regular Axes? Hey what about detergent? Which one this time – the one with 50gm more or the other with a scratch card? The question always is: What’s more VFM (value for money), especially when the quality is same? What’s the harm in trying anyways? It might be good, for all you know. The only thing I am loyal to these days turns out to be the humble coconut. No negotiations there. Pick the one you lay your hands on, shake it near your ears (that’s how generations of humans choose their coconuts!) & get going.

The endearing form of loyalty existing today is the emotional one: the undying connect some brands have with their customers. Maggi Noodles, for instance. I’ve been using it since 2000. TEN years on & I still haven’t switched my loyalties to any other brand. In fact, I’ve added one more loyal consumer to Maggi’s story: my daughter. However, this is an exception.


The fact is there’s no blind loyalty to any brand today. Especially in sectors like FMCG, apparel, broadband, cosmetics & mobile handsets. Look at handsets. They’ve such a short life, thanks to those who want to constantly experiment, experience new features & explore fresh ideas – be it the touch screen or a new version of an operating system or an upgraded model of an existing phone. And whoever is loyal to phone companies & airlines as they are not even loyal to you? With them it’s always “Conditions Apply”.

Interestingly, brands know they cannot expect consumer loyalty anymore. They know they have to relentlessly prove themselves or find themselves replaced. After all, what we think today about a certain product could later be updated, upgraded or revised – whether it’s in the pricing, features, accessories, look, packaging or even the main characteristic of the product on offer. It’s a fascinating new world for the consumer. I am NOT complaining.

All about Ads

I remember my first brush with the world of advertising. I must have been in primary school then. There used to be these ads of Usha fans that were aired on DD 1 (where else!!). It showed all these happy people, in colorful bright clothes, running across a beach. And then the caption would be displayed saying “ghar lao Usha fan” (or something on those lines).

I kept wondering: how can one fan cool the entire beach?!!? Fan in the beach? How does it work? Where do we fix it? Where is the wire? What about current? These ‘major’ doubts kept playing in my head. I know … I know…this isn’t giving a very good picture of my brain. I was stupid, all right. I was so naïve. But, to my credit, I was also, like all children my age & time, incredibly curious about … well, just about everything. Faced with so many mind boggling questions, one day, I finally asked my elder sister, unable to unravel the mystery on my own. She explained that the ad “symbolizes” the effects of the fan, that you’d feel as cool under an Usha fan as you would if you were on a breezy beach.

Aah so that was it – symbolism! What a powerful word! And what a clever way of asking people to buy the fan! My brain was stupid but quick to grasp what was taught. To this day, I remember the explanation she gave & how it cleared my clutter in my mind. It was around this time that my interest in ads grew. Today, I am a sucker for any show on TV that talks of ads (particularly, ‘All About Ads’ and ‘Storyboard’ on CNBC TV 18). I also devour, literally, any article in any magazine that even remotely talks about any ad from any part of the world.

There was a phase in my life, when I idolized Alyque Padamse, the legendary ad man of India & followed his every major achievement. As a teenager, I remember being amused by all the media sound bites he gave (which, by the way, made me once wonder: “Is he really an Indian?”) Even now, whenever he comes on TV, I blush, thinking “oh my god…this man held me under his sway for so long”.

I believe an ad is an audio-visual biography of a brand/product. It traces its colorful journey quite vividly through the years. Look at the Surf ad: from the yesteryear’s Dhoondthe Rah Jaoge to today’s Daag Achche Hai.

Music too has, deservingly, come to define ads today & thereby, the brand recall of very many products. After all, what is Airtel without the jingle composed by Rahman? Or for that matter, what is Bajaj scooter without the “Hamara Bajaj” tune? It was a mini national anthem, especially for the Indian middle class family. And who can ever forget the evergreen jingle of Nirma detergent: “Nirma Nirma, Washing powder nirma , dhoodh ki safai, nirma se aayi”. Those were iconic tunes.

But like in all good love stories, there’s a villain in this one too. The part that depresses me about the ad world is when they use women to sell products that have nothing to do with the female gender in the first place. Like, for example, male vests or banians. Also, why on earth do they have to show women, in barely- there clothes, promoting such totally non-sexy, downright boring products like tea powder, detergents, or even toothpaste? Please give us a break from these gross ads & the crass mindsets behind them.