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Wanted: CEOs from India

: in cyber cafes. Home hair colouring has been driven by beauty parlour hair colouring, and so on. But do established, old products and brands need experiential branding efforts? Do such efforts have a measurable return on investment?

Among the most successful such effort in Europe have been the Nestle Nursing Centres. The European food major, Nestle, has a big stake in infant nutrition. They have sponsored the Nestle Nursing Centres all over France’s arterial highways. These centres provide basic, clean facilities for mothers to take care of their infants, to change their nappies, feed them, etc. What world be the measurable ROI for such an effort? What would be the qualitative pay back of these centres? What thoughts should cross through the mothers (some not using Nestle products) when they use these centres?

Another way of creating an experiential branding appeal is through building user groups. One of the most successful such efforts is the HOG or Harley’s Owner’s Group, all owners of Harley Davidson motor cycles. HOG which had a rather modest start, with only a dozen owners attending the first HOG meet is today a roaring success. Thousands of Harley owners drive hundreds of miles to attend the HOG Meets. In India, Tata Motors has meticulously built the Indica Club consisting of Indica owners. They are invited for special musical programmes, film shows, etc. Just imagine Bangalore’s Palace Grounds or Mumbai’s NSE parking lot filled with a thousand Indicas. What thoughts would go through an Indica owner’s mind? How proud would they feel? How strong would their conviction be that they drive the best car money can buy?

Brand service is an internal commitment that the company makes that gets manifested as an external service. Disney stands for fun, family entertainment. This is an internal commitment. The outside world sees Disney as fun. Brand service has many critical differences across products and services. Some brands, like service brands, are nothing but service.

Jet Airways, Taj Hotels, Reliance India mobile are all services. The company cannot succeed with just the best technology or the best infrastructure, unless the service, provided by their employees are of a particular standard. Consumer durable brands like Indica, LG, Whirlpool, LML need service to ensure that their customers get all their problems handled with a phone call. Here, the service is about pre-sales, sales, and post-sales service.