Author name: Shubranshu Singh

The Vice President, Marketing, Commercial Vehicle business, Tata Motors, talks about how the landscape of influencers is impacting marketing campaigns. [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Image_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] It may seem as a tool for commercialism, but the growth of the “influencer-content creator” is a revolution. What began as blogging, advisory and “aficionado commentary” is now a global, multibillion-dollar industry touching every aspect of our lives and society. Blogs, social media personas, and their associated technologies of self-commercialisation has enabled a repertoire of tools that allows people to monetise their digital presence. It’s profitable self-expression branded by authenticity. The influencer industry is a complex ecosystem. It comprises influencers, intenders, technologists, marketers as brand builders and sponsors, social media corporations and many more. Together they have negotiated the meaning, value, and practical use of digital influence. A commodity has been branded with a personal signature for the social media age. They produce, evaluate, and market “influential” content. It has upended how we interact with our world and make sense of it. It has demolished traditional barriers and empowered millions of individuals. It has created vast new sectors of our economy, while transforming legacy institutions. This is not some energised fad but arguably, the greatest and most disruptive change in modern capitalism. Everyone looks at Big Tech and the power they wield. However, it’s not new tools but new habits that create change. The business of Big Tech is not algorithms and innovations. It’s about being a platform for creation and connection. From the first amateur blog to the newest Insta sensation, it has created rich content and collective attention. Influencers have revolutionised entertainment, advisory, fame, and ambition in the twenty-first century. The internet based influencer dynamics has changed in the twenty-first century and changed the world with it. This transition is accelerating as the online and offline worlds merge. Users change how technology envisages its offerings. Online creators don’t just produce content; they define the norms and dynamics of their medium. As a marketer, I have the chance to create a better system that amplifies independent voices and rejects the flaws of traditional media, conventional advertising and legacy channels and institutions. This story began when the internet lowered the barrier to publishing, allowing independent authors to gain a following directly, and serve communities who were previously overlooked. Social platforms emerged and lured people online, teaching them to post for an audience. As the platforms scaled, they introduced public metrics, rolled out new content formats, and attracted advertisers, laying the groundwork for users to redefine fame and take advantage of significant new economic opportunities. Platforms now partner greedily with their top users — YouTube first and most notably — and have been rewarded handsomely.  The Covid pandemic brought ‘creator economy’ into the mainstream of the business world and rewrote the playbooks. The rise of social media has meant an expansion of opportunity for the creators with the rise of social esteem and material rewards. An industry has emerged out of nowhere, with almost no guardrails or prescribed methods. Content creators are the new media No matter how hard you try to avoid it, you’re in their online world too. The smartphone is a multimedia studio all on its own. The internet has made the world a stage more than ever before. The most powerful online creators build such a bond between themselves and those watching their videos, reading their posts, listening to them talk. They advise, perform, sell, display and build a connection with their audiences. This blog was first published in Autocar Professional’s December 15, 2023 issue. Tags: Tata Motors,influencer marketing Link: https://www-autocarpro-in.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.autocarpro.in/news/tata-motors-shubranshu-singh-on-the-rise-of-influencers-in-marketing-strategies-118429?amp=1

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Image_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] Bharat is on the road to being a great economic, geopolitical and cultural power in the world. This has become possible through a virtuous combination of political will, economic momentum and favourable social factors. While today is better than yesterday, our tomorrow will be better still. But though there are several global Indian businesses, there are only a few, if any, global Indian brands. Cultural power is a strength for Bharat. Thus by promoting our culture, art, and spiritualism, we can help shape a better world. Bharat has brand ownership of ideas, personalities and movements but do we genuinely have powerful, aspirational, global brands? It is not a governmental responsibility alone but needs a vigorous tri-sectoral partnership of the public sector, private sector and the social sector. Bharat is not merely a country in terms of a political state defined by boundaries. It is a civilisational state whose culture, history, and identity must shape its policies and governance. We have a duty to Bharat and all of mankind in preserving and promoting our unique cultural and civilisational heritage as a core part of our national identity. Every global agency, analyst, institution and forum worthy of note has asserted that we are the next great economic power. Goldman Sachs has predicted we will become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075, and Martin Wolf wrote an article in the Financial Times in July 2023 where he suggested that, by 2050, Bharat’s purchasing power will be 30 per cent larger than that of the US based on a population 4.4 times larger and a GDP per head (at Purchasing Power) at 30 per cent of US level (roughly equal to where China is today). So, the momentum predicts our ascent to a great power status. This optimism is credible due to a confluence of demand, supply, and the systemic facilitating factors. Bharat is a civilisation, economic entity and nation state whose time has come. This momentum is greater than any economic cycles, macro shock or policy dependence. The first area for civilisational greatness in a modern economic sense is to make ‘Born in Bharat’ a self-evident power statement. The most fundamental basis for the credibility of Bharat’s economic promise is the vitality, size and ambition of our consumer pool. With more than 1 billion people progressing from nothing to something in consumer terms, our growth is powered by domestic consumption and investments. Real wages have steadily grown and are further expected to grow at 5 per cent levels such that real disposable income will continue to grow more than 15 per cent. Bharat has an eager and responsible consumer pool. There is no mature industry here, rather there is growth for one and all. Almost all verticals and industries that are maturing or trapped on a growth plateau in the West are thriving and growing fast in Bharat. Housing, airlines, consumer durables, steel, automotive, retail, media – you name it and there is galloping growth in excess of double digits across sectors. Bharat is a vast land where fibre optic cables have been laid out even before roads. In our consumption pyramid, every segment is growing but the aggregated value is always higher as you traverse downwards. We deserve brands, local in spirit, local in cultural sensibility but global in performance, quality and technical capability. Bharat must pay close attention to its Intellectual Property in terms of brand image, brand consciousness and brand appeal. Economic Nationalism Replaces Globalisation Across the leading economies of the world, economic nationalism is being resurrected and globalisation is retreating. The sovereign right of a nation state to act, and its conflict with the obligations of various multilateral agreements, is at the top of the agenda for political action. Brexit to ‘Trump Tariffs,’ the world has been in ferment. The topmost economic entities of the world today are corporations- multinational, transnational, multi-local, global – call them by any name but they are dominant in world economic flows. They rule consumer minds and leverage their preference for profits. Bharat, given its current status as a top world economy, with amongst the highest growths in the world, needs to act. Our much respected marketers are amongst the best in the world, but they need to ensure we have truly global homegrown brands. Our marketing talent has mostly served western brands. We need a ‘Born in Bharat’ brand building mission. We must dominate the world of global brands with flair, intuition, charm, creativity, style and taste. There are great examples to study. How did Italian flamboyance, French finesse, German engineering, Japanese technology, Korean Value for Money and American innovation get established? We deserve brands, local in spirit, local in cultural sensibility but global in performance, quality and technical capability. Bharat must pay close attention to its Intellectual Property in terms of brand image, brand consciousness and brand appeal The beauty is that the more we globalise, the more the rootedness and urge to belong becomes stronger. Sadly ‘West is Best’ has meant stifled creative innovation and standardised product -centric or claim-centric communications steamrolled by Western brands into India, just as in 100 other markets. Sameness is a blight upon authenticity. Western brands and their empires came hand in hand. They were the products of a mass production world enabled by the Industrial Revolution and fostered through the rise of affluence, media and literacy in Europe and America. Unilever, Colgate, P&G, Nestle, Coca Cola, Pepsi,Cadbury, Ford, Rolex, Citibank and many more – these were the creators of brands and brand cultures and the flag bearers of the Western way of life. Brands enhanced desirability for their culture. When you opened a bottle of Coca Cola or wore Levis  Jeans – you lived a bit of America. There are several global businesses from Bharat which are ready to be global brands. Economic expansion must meet brand creation, creative focus and domain excellence. What Will it Take to Make a Brand Nurturing Culture Emerge? Looking beyond immediacy of profit: Brand stature or

Brands succeed mainly by inspiring loyalty, but consumers aren’t out there thinking about brands. When they do think about it, how a brand is positioned matters in it being recognised, retrieved. Al Ries and Jack Trout immortalised the word ‘positioning’ for generations of marketers. This week’s column of Brand Matters pays tribute to the marketing legend.     [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Image_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] AI Ries (pronounced Reese), marketing strategist and thinker who, along with partner Jack Trout , created “positioning,” passed away on Oct. 7 2022 at his home in Atlanta. He was 95 years old. His work on positioning was all about owning a bit of the consumer’s mind. For the first time, the business world was told that creative advertising wasn’t enough persuasion; it needed smart positioning. Volvo owns “safety,” Crest “cavities” Sensodyne got ‘Sensitivity’, FedEx brings to mind “overnight,”. It is all about strength of association and cutting past the clutter of advertising messages. In his own words, the task of positioning for brand builders is to “find an open hole in the mind and become the first brand to fill it.” Trout & Ries went on to run an Ad agency, which mutated into a strategic consultancy. It successfully positioned the Trump Plaza Hotel as “Atlantic City’s centrepiece” and Burger King as the place to get “broiled, not fried” hamburgers. The quality of focus on positioning was evident in the brief they handled for Sabena, the Belgian national carrier. In a contra-brief action, they positioned the country instead of the airline. Focused on five Belgian cities (Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, Liège and Tournai) that had each received three stars from the Michelin Guide, whereas only one Dutch city, Amsterdam, had the same. The campaign’s slogan was sheer genius: “In beautiful Belgium, there are five Amsterdams.” They shaped a prized selection of brands, including Paramount Pictures, AT&T, KPMG, Sotheby’s and IBM. Al Ries was inducted into the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Hall of Fame in 2016. Alfred Paul Ries was born on Nov. 14, 1926, in Indianapolis. He graduated in 1950 from DePauw University in Indiana, where he majored in mathematics and began his advertising career with General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y. He later moved on to Needham, Louis & Brorby and Marsteller in Manhattan. With two partners, he started his own advertising firm, Ries Cappiello Colwell, in 1963 and hired Jack Trout four years later. When he first thought of positioning, it was “the rock”, an immovable foundation for the brand. Later, Trout advocated calling it a ‘position’ in the mind and Ries acquiesced. The idea took off in the advertising industry in 1972 after a three-part article in Ad Age magazine. In it, they shone a light on 7Up, the “uncola,” and Avis, the No. 2, which claimed to “try harder.” Ries and Trout also wrote “Marketing Warefare” (1986), “Bottom-Up Marketing” (1989) and “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” (1993). Ries talked about owning a word in the mind but partnering with his daughter in a strategic consultancy that later extended the concept to anchoring in a key visual. Positioning is the most valuable thing that companies as diverse as Apple and McDonald’s own. What’s distinctive is valuable. Brands succeed mainly by inspiring loyalty, but consumers aren’t out there thinking about brands. When they do think about it, how a brand is positioned matters in it being recognised, retrieved.” Brands identify products that are distinctive, like a Burberry scarf. Elsewhere, a logo brands a commodity like cement or wafers or cola. More than advertising, product advantages or customers’ experiences can lend brands a sharp positioning. The idea of positioning gained traction very fast as brand equity became an asset in the late 1970s in a world squeezed by the oil shock and cut-throat discounting by consumer goods companies. Nirvana lay in patiently building brands to become recognised. How to inspire loyalty, increase stickiness, gain new buyers and expand into consumers’ lives. It’s about awareness, associations and loyalty. Brands are the face of a choice heuristic. They serve as a shorthand for choice. Hence, awareness precedes associations, which leads to trial, usage and, eventually, loyalty. A brand must assure consumers about the quality of a product or service. Sony, Mont Blanc, Singapore Airlines and Heineken each do it though in different ways. But now customers can review products on shopping websites, talk to each other through social media and consult review websites. Brands thus have “a reduced role as a quality signal,” write Itamar Simonson and Emanuel Rosen in their book “Absolute Value: What Really Influences Customers in the Age of (Nearly) Perfect Information”. They argue that consumers are becoming more rational and need brands less. People have been predicting the death of the brand since the birth of e-commerce. It has not happened. Brands were fated to collapse in the era of perfect information, and that didn’t happen. If at all, brands have become more precious and pervasive. Indeed, Al Ries’ work on positioning can take some credit for strengthening brands in the latter half of the 20th century. Positioning is not what a brand tells a consumer. It’s what a consumer tells himself about the brand. (The author is the chief marketing officer for the commercial vehicles business unit at Tata Motors.)   Link: https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/marketing/how-al-ries-and-positioning-changed-marketing-forever/105972241?utm_source=linkedin_web&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialsharebuttons

The author explains his perspective on ‘business’ as an ecosystem and ‘brand’ as a platform. In 1960, an article titled ‘Marketing Myopia’ argued that companies and entire industries often misunderstand the business they are in. With a narrow-gauge definition, ideas, innovations and ways of working, all suffer from self-imposed constraints. [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Image_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] Markets, brands, business models, channels and business ecosystems are all tightly linked. Are there growth industries or growth companies? This is a critical question to consider. What an expanding market does is make companies lazy, complacent and set in their own ways. If we have a commanding share of the market, we must be better, is the thinking. Marketing is not about finessing the status quo. Real marketing is tapping into people’s basic wants and needs. The basic core of the industry ought to be questioned from time to time. Long-term alternatives to the industry’s products or services and how it might be surprised by external developments, must be imagined and considered. It is these things that truly determine the fate of industries and companies. So long as marketing remains the optional part of doing business, industries will be surprised when they decline, and companies will get fatal shocks when people no longer want what they are making. Oil companies now see themselves as energy providers. Telecom players reimagine possibilities as communications providers. Media is looking at the world through the consumer’s eyes, agnostic of channels or screens. Logistics is way beyond cargo movement. Financial services are manifold bigger than banking. In 1960, an article titled ‘Marketing Myopia’ appeared in the Harvard Business Review. It was authored by Theodore Levitt, a professor at the Harvard Business School. He argued that companies and entire industries often misunderstand the business they are in. With a narrow-gauge definition, ideas, innovations and ways of working, all suffer from self-imposed constraints. Levitt’s classic example was that of the American railroad industry which declined despite a boom in passenger and freight transportation because these giants saw themselves only as railroad businesses. They were blind to the option to consider themselves more broadly as transportation and cargo businesses via roadlines, shipping or aviation fields. They were fixated on their product-rail-transport and not focused on their customers and their need to transport themselves and their goods. If management takes a broad view of the firm’s purpose instead of being narrowly focused on the product or service it currently provides, it will avoid obsolescence. When in doubt, follow the consumers. Any investment in an industry that has “no competition” is doomed to fail. When all of a sudden, viable alternatives become available, the established player takes a tumble. The Oil industry, for the first 50 years of its existence was in the illumination business. The boom business was kerosene for lanterns. Then Edison’s light bulb came along. Oil was dying till the Internal Combustion Engine came along and the rest is history. Levitt shockingly prescribed that “to survive, any company will have to plot the obsolescence of what now produces their livelihood.” This is what it takes to be a leading-edge market creator. When the big Detroit automobile manufacturers eventually started making smaller cars and selling a lot of them, they naturally saw it as an example of their successful mix. In fact, the small car boom showed that big Detroit firms neglected the market opportunity they ought to have known well. They had been spending millions of dollars on market research but not truly asking what people really wanted, only showing them what was already planned and asking them to choose between iterations. Eventually, American Big Auto lost out to foreign carmakers in every sub-segment. It was a cruel fact that foreigners had a better idea of what Americans needed and wanted than American automobile executives themselves did. The railroads reigned supreme in America in the 19th century; automobile corporations were the best investment in the 20th century and represented the future throughout the 20th century. In due course, both collapsed despite government subsidies and eventually went bankrupt. A brand exists to find and create a customer, and if it can create a platform, it will naturally do it better. Platform-based thinking has transformed many sectors and industries. Thinking of business as an ecosystem is now a prerequisite before brands and businesses can play a larger role in the customer lifecycle by orchestrating platforms. A platform is like a value-producing biosphere. It goes beyond mere backwards/forward integration or brand extensions. The broader the platform, the more it creates value and customer loyalty. Huge data availability and changes in customer expectations are compelling businesses to cater to a finer spectrum of segments. Customers across industries, whether in B2C, B2B, B2B2C or D2C modes, expect brands to know and personalise offerings and experiences. To be able to cater to this means providing for information, boosting customer choice, and allowing configuration with greater speed. If this is done, brands can viably participate in new value pools and yet maintain superior ownership of the customer lifecycle. The name of the game is to create value via customer connect and orchestrate delivery via partners, where needed. No matter what the size, all brands can benefit by defining their business in the broadest terms and then setting up to harvest the value. Doing something may not be enough but nothing is not an option. Is your business a maker of products or the creator of value? Brands as business ecosystems are the future, and the time to act is now. (The author is the chief marketing officer for the commercial vehicles business unit at Tata Motors.) Link: https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/marketing/what-business-is-your-brand-in/105796119