The Medinge Group is a Sweden-based international marketing and branding think-tank that has been espousing the cause of compassionate branding since 2000. The group has also institutionalised ?Brands with Conscience? award under which they felicitate brands that are conscious of their responsibilities to the ecosystem in which they operate. Medinge?s CEO Stanley Moss was in India recently to attend the World Brand Congress held in Mumbai early this month. Moss has been a promoter of humanistic values in the brand discipline. In his marketing and branding career spanning 40 years, he has worked with several top-notch brands such as Coca-Cola, Intel, The New York Times Company and General Atlantic, among others. FE?s Arunima Mishra caught up with him in Delhi to discuss what, according to him, is wrong with contemporary marketing and branding practices and if being ?conscientious? helped brands in anyway. Edited excerpts:

What are your arguments against conventional marketing and branding models?

The contemporary models are skewed towards fobbing consumers, towards cheating them into buying their products in some way or the other. Companies in their conventional branding processes don?t mind lying, or creating misconceptions about themselves. The objective is to get past the rivals by making claims, which may be true or may not be true. They have no scruples and that?s what?s wrong with the current model.

But marketers argue assertiveness and even, aggression are essential for survival in an overly crowded and competitive market?

That?s a lame argument. Aggression or assertiveness may help achieve short-term targets but in the long-term such strategies do more harm than good to brands. We have case studies that show that quiet brands, which do not create much noise and deliver on their brand promise with consistency and honesty, find favour with consumers and with increasing awareness among consumers regarding their communities and environment, such brands will be the winners.

What, according to you, are the attributes of a brand with conscience?

A brand with conscience will ensure its products fulfill the promise on which they are built. This essentially means a conscientious brand?s products are consistent and good.

Such brands make efforts to integrate themselves with the communities or the environment in which they operate. It is accountable for what it does and the values it stands for. It apologises and makes amends when things go wrong. It invests enough resources in building relationships with its consumers.

Do such brands really exist?

Of course, they do. We instituted an award, ?Brands with a Conscience? in 2003 to acknowledge the work done by such brands. We have given the award to around 50 brands in the past years. In fact, one of this year?s (2009) winner is a brand from India, Chhatra Sagar, which is an eco-friendly resort set up in Rajasthan by the descendants of Maharaja of Jodhpur. This resort is spread across around 365 acres and it has been set up in a way that more than 200 varieties of wild life have come to inhabit the place. The resort sources its products and services, beginning with food to furnishings and other services, from the local community and it also provides community services such as supporting education, healthcare etc.

What is the new paradigm of branding?

The ultimate influence is word-of-mouth. Consumers talking to consumers, advocating a brand to a peer is the best way of building a robust brand in the minds of the consumers.