According to Wikipedia, a brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.But, my take on brand is quite different. Earlier ,I had the same notion like as mentioned on Wikipedia with respect to branding.On a sunny day ,while watching KGF : Chapter 1 for the 2nd time ,I realized that branding can be somewhat different from its traditional definition. On that day,I was enlightened like Buddha under the Bodhi Vruksha. While watching the movie ,I was sitting near the window of my room where I could see Atti Vruksha (Ficus racemosa), which was extending its branches towards me(particularly my mind) to attain salvation from half baked ideas regarding branding. In fact ,this magnum opus on Prime Video turned out to be a catalyst for me regarding the perception about brands.
To be frank,since its release, this movie has turned out to be a brand and people are eagerly waiting for its sequel to release.So the movie begins with a famous writer narrating the story of a rise(and maybe fall too) of a brand called Rocky . Going by the description in the narration,I presume that the narrator might have been a content writer at some point in his life.After the death of parent brand ,Rocky lands up in Mumbai as a local brand ,specialized in polishing of shoe .Once ,Rocky comes across a billboard with an ad on Raymond. Fascinated by the brand image of Raymond,Rocky decides to carve a niche in the market by branding itself. Things didn’t seem easy for Rocky .But, Rocky brand was hell bent in expanding its foot-print,which is picturised very well in the movie,where the brand is shown standing near the shore while facing towards the sea. Slowly , Rocky brand starts growing due to the thorough execution of its Business plan. Moreover,the rival brands from foreign countries were planning to enter Mumbai market.But the ease of entry was marred due to the presence of Rocky.Seeing the potential,Shetty acquires it.As years passed, Shetty started gaining higher profits,due to the tremendous growth of Rocky .But the parent company started loosing prominence due to the growth of Rocky ,thereby Rocky brand had to face the ire from the managers of Shetty brand.Moreover,they also felt that Rocky brand didn’t employ many people and never paid heed to the words of board.They tried convincing Shetty by explaining that soon Rocky would overtake Shetty’s business since they were operating in the same niche market.
When,Shetty is on the verge of divesting Rocky; Andrews,an investor in Shetty’s business from Bengaluru threatens Shetty of dire consequences.Fearing Andrews,Shetty decides to license his brand Rocky to Andrews.Rocky enters Bengaluru with a bang and tries to impress people with its brand image. Coming to Andrews and Desai ,they were organizations involved in friendly competition. These were spun off from Garuda’s business ,but remained a subsidiary to it,similar to Realme spun off by Oppo .If Garuda was similiar to Oppo,then their has to be a parent company like BBK Electronics is to Oppo. So in this case ,the parent company was Suryavardhan ,which was renamed and re-branded as Garuda after it was taken over by the scion. Still,Desai and Andrews brand remained loyal to him but were secretly hatching a plot to eliminate Garuda as it was practicing monopoly in KGF due to its resources,skilled labors,unethical business practices etc. That’s when they decide to avail the service of Rocky brand to eliminate Garuda and thereby filling up the void created in the market by sudden exit of Garuda and exploiting it. The reason for hiring Rocky brand was due to it’s core competency in its skills and capabilities.
They secretly siphon off Rocky into the market of KGF without Garuda being aware of it.Rocky starts making a feasibility study on eliminating Garuda brand by reconnaissance and by acquiring information through insiders trading.Slowly,Rocky began gaining the trust of employees within Garuda’s organization .Soon,Rocky brand takes over the market of Garuda ,before Garuda realizes it. The entire global market was stunned by the sudden death of a popular brand.Some of the foreign and local players plan to enter the market.But will they be successful in their quest?Did the former employees of Garuda join Rocky in expanding geographically?Will Rocky gain pan-India presence?Fast-forward,why did the authority decide in scrutinizing Rocky?
All this would be answered only when the sequel is released. The narrative of this movie might be vague to many of us. But,if you consider it from management perspective,it has a huge impact to everyone.Coming back to branding,many people might not agree with me regarding people being branded. I have a question in my mind-when a university can be branded ,why not a person?
If you ask me ? I would say that, imparting of education is not a business and it should not be branded.In India there are people who often mention that he/she is a product of XYZ university,ABC school etc. If that is the case,then I would like to say that a person can also be considered as a brand.During my childhood ,few of my friends use to claim that SG, a popular cricket equipment manufacturer was named after Sunil Gavaskar. But,in reality, its actual name is Sanspareils Greenlands . This is how a person’s charisma has brought about a notion regarding a brand.If you are a gully cricketer,you would have played with tennis balls. Some of the popular tennis balls available are Vicky,Pacer,Wilson etc. But , I am sure that you could have come across a tennis ball known as Sachin, which is named after Sachin Tendulkar. Its popularity can be attributed to Boost,as it is given free when one buys a pack of Boost.If not given for free, this tennis ball is not worth the penny spent because it doesn’t bounce,spin or swing. Moreover,it might not survive even for a day due to the assault made by the bat.Jokes apart, our beloved PM Modi is quite a popular brand in India. Some of us might not agree with it,unless and until we go for a shopping or browse on the internet. Modi mania has reached to a great extent that we can find Narendra Modi App,Modi (Bandhgala) jackets etc.Moreover,the way in which people responded to his call during the lock-down throws a light on his brand image or rather I would say his brand charisma .
Hereby, I conclude that anything can be a brand, provided it has a huge influence on people,irrespective of pecuniary benefits or not.
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