Shivaji Dasgupta
In this hyper-active business environment, brands are changing ownership with greater frequency. As the new takes over from the old, not enough is being done to manage the expectations of customers, old and new.
Air India has moved from state control to Tata management and flyers are expecting an overnight or over-flight difference. ITC and Dabur now own Sunrise and Badshah Masala respectively and Citibank loyalists must compulsorily migrate to Axis Bank. These three cases are mutually exclusive and almost mutually exhaustive.
Air India is being bombarded daily by irate passengers on social media, who expect a miraculous experiential transformation. While cuisine can be swiftly upgraded, an integrated reformation will surely take at least three clear years. Instead of simply flaunting the Tata glory, the brand must communicate the same to its customers. This can be called the Candid Confession strategy.
For the masala category, the situation is ironically less spicy as these entities arrive with proven pedigree. Thus the parenting muscles can be flexed through distribution muscle and communication acumen, demonstrated aptly by ITC via strong regional endorsers and Dabur through the revamp of a classic jingle. Rapid scalability is the common agenda and includes innovations in varianting. This can be the Fast Forward strategy.
The Citibank case represents an alteration of core identity – in culture and perception as well. Customers with well-honed global self-image must be reconciled to a relatively recent Indian entity with overt PSU credentials. The solution must lie in dedicated experiences till confidence is reestablished. I will call this the Slow Food strategy,driven by accuracy.
There are a few other scenarios beyond the scope of these three strategies but where branding has a limited role to play. An obvious one being when a failed or bankrupt entity is taken over by stability. Here, actions must speak louder than intent. Another being the VC takeovers, like 3G taking over Heinz, where an inner looking cultural revamp is in order.
The troika of Candid Confession, Fast Forward and Slow Food will help manage expectations during transitions. Especially post Covid, customers are increasingly insensitive to brand loyalty. Currently most firms indulge in tokenism, usually philosophical, and do not place energies behind a multi-disciplinary transition taskforce.
A humongous amount of management energy is undoubtedly spent on planning and concluding acquisitions. But customers are not interested in the backstory and judge performance on their own terms. Exactly why acquired brands urgently deserve an Experience Transition strategy.
The author is an independent brand consultant and writer