Start “Transparency” in Goods rather than “Branding” of Goods

Branding- the process of canvassing, popularising and creating a mass appeal for your brand name and particularly for the products sold. The final goal of any branding campaign is to create a huge, loyal consumer base. It is basically the process through which companies try to create a connection with the consumer base in order to give a personality to the product. Brand in real life does not exist, it is merely an expression in the minds of the consumer with regards to their experience with the product, company or service. It was once a process that was just a part of the product manufacturing and selling, but now it is a $1000 Billion market worldwide. So, the question posed is that whether branding is even necessary for an organized market? Or is there a way out of it?

Every business requires being in the business of trust for (a) building it among customers; (b) scaling it to capture markets and (c) maintaining it to fuel growth. The most important thing that all brands want to create throughout their survival is an image of their company’s product in the minds of their target customers which is termed as “Positioning” but only some sustain and expand while some are left where they started. The seed for a brand to create a place for itself in the future lies in its approach towards the market and the only correct approach is Transparency, creating a hoax through marketing or not providing absolute Transparency fetches some customers at the initial stage but the real challenge lies in retaining those customers because sooner or later the market place realises if they are being deceived. Being deceived by the marketing of Goods/Services is something we all can relate to, this is why Brand trust is more important than ever, at a time say, when only 34% of the targeted customers are using a product on the other hand, once trust is won, say 62% of consumers will stay loyal. Brand Transparency creates trust.

Transparency shall be adopted by all companies at this stage rather than indulging in false marketing because the customers are aware of the fraud that they have faced as many past frauds are out there in the open which by default gives a customer the first thought before making a purchase of whether “this can be reliable”. So, Transparency here can play a key role for both the parties that is, the buyer and the seller as-

Creating trust will help eliminate any suspicions or anxieties a customer might have about the value of what is being offered which is by laying out the truth about product and services including the limitations of it as well, this will prove that the seller isn’t trying to hide any flaws or defects. Contrary to what one might think, this level of honesty wouldn’t kill the sales in fact customers respond well to straightforward talk which is a study by Forbes.

Adopting the approach of Transparency will also serve the brands well as once a customer realises that he has an available option to switch to a much reliable product, he does it. Tapping on this approach can also set out great opportunities for Indian brands too.

This is why Transparency shall be the future as it will ultimately favour both sides of the coin. By adopting unethical means, one might achieve success but it would only be short-lived to support this statement some examples are given below.

Case Study 1: 

As witnessed in the past, misrepresentation by brands for their products has proved to be the reason for their downfall, for instance, the facial beauty product “FAIR & LOVELY” promoted the narrative that applying their cream will make you fair as it goes within the layers of the skin and makes it light. Which was a misleading scheme of marketing by taking the approach of misrepresentation as it is scientifically impossible to change one’s skin colour by any external or internal usage of any product because there is a pigment in our skin called melanin which is responsible for our skin colour which stays unaffected by any beauty cream it will only and only stay as it inherently is unless someone is opting for a chemical surgery.

By this approach, they have not only misled their customers but also promoted racism through their advertisements by telling us that there is something wrong with our colour, that we have to be light coloured in order to feel beautiful, in order to feel worthy. They even portrayed in their ad that a girl would only get a job if she’s fair thus they built-in security for the public, and hence now “GLOW AND LOVELY” is facing backlash even after rebranding. This is what people have to say about it – “Renaming the products doesn’t mean anything – that’s still just colourism by another word”. This is why Transparency plays a key role in Positioning a brand in the dynamic market place.

Case Study 2:

In many forms of advertising, women are frequently portrayed in erotic, stereotypical ways to sell products. They show women as mere sex objects and reinforce images of women being mere pleasure source. They potray women in revealing clothing, often with sexual facial expressions and body positions, to sell their goods by capitalizing on viewers’ desires. 

While some of these marketing campaigns have been attacked as unethical. The Government took strong objection to the promotional campaign of a deodorant brand, “Axe Chocolate” terming it indecent, vulgar and repulsive. 

And yet, Axe continues to innovate without any improvement. In 2018, Axe launched a pocket-sized perfume called ‘Axe Ticket’. It’s their saying that this time they have not sexualised the ad but merely showed a girl and a boy forming a connection – “The codes of attraction have evolved. Earlier, attraction was depicted in a uni-dimensional way and it was about conquest – a man winning over a woman. Today, attraction is more sophisticated and is all about forming a connection,” said Shailendra Singh, general manager – deodorants, Hindustan Unilever Limited.

Upon viewing this advertisement, it is clear that they have lowered in the hierarchy of stereotypical and sexist attitude however, it is not completely discarded, they are still depicting the same old narrative of a guy using a deodorant to woo a girl, which is clearly abnormal and problematic to portray because it is not only misrepresenting their product into a medium of luring women but also reinforces patriarchal stereotypical behaviour in our society for which women are already battling against, these concepts that too over national T.V makes it further more difficult. 

Currently the market of “Axe” is fading, had it chosen an approach to sell its product on the basis of its actual qualities, it wouldn’t have had faced the backlash.

Nowadays all MNC, Big Brands and Brand Creators follow this Doctrine “Once a Lie, always the truth”

Commercial Firms majorly rely on fiction and fake news. Branding often involves retelling the same fictional story again and again, until people become convinced it is the truth. What images come to mind? When did you think about Coca-Cola? Do you think about young healthy people engaged in sports and having fun together? Or Do you think about overweight diabetes patients lying in the hospital bed? Drinking lots of Coca-Cola will not make you young, will not make you healthy and will not make you athletic – rather it increases your chances of suffering from obesity and diabetes. Yet for decades Coca Cola has invested billions of dollars in linking itself to youth, health and sports – and billions of humans subconsciously believe in the linkage.

Shrinkflation – No Transparency but purely survives on Branding, thereby no Trust of any kind being developed

The biggest unethical done by the Big Brands is Shrinkflation which one can see on each and every product and especially now post COVID19. Rs. 10/- Dairy Milk was premium to eat and they have been also selling Rs. 5/- but now Rs. 5/- is Rs. 10/- and with much smaller size and in fact they are the most shrinking size dealing company. I hope they will atleast allow one tooth to eat Rs. 10/- chocolate. The same is the case of Choco Bar, Rs. 5/- size became Rs. 10/- and Rs. 10/- became Rs. 20/-. Shrinkflation occurs when companies reduce the size or quantity of a good and keep prices the same. Shrinkflation is an alternative to increasing prices, and you could argue it is a disguised form of inflation because if you wanted to buy exactly the same quantity of the good, you would have to spend relatively more. Shrinkflation is almost the norm these days, but consumers are beginning to find it irritating. It is true that they are not doing anything illegal but they are aware that hardly the public while purchase the branded avoid seeing the Weight and volume information and hence they have been successfully doing this. Habits make us believe we are purchasing the same thing as we zoom in on the one constant that motivates our behaviour when shopping. So legally there is no wrong unless you find that weight and value information is something else and the real size is else which you will find not easily.

How does Transparency work?

The success story of DECEIM is exemplary. DECEIM is the company that came up with the brand ‘The Original’, a cosmetic brand that produced products for skin care at a minimal price and zero brandings. Yet, their products were always sold out and their loyal consumer base is not reverting to their previous products anytime soon. So how is it that they made a big name without spending huge sums on celebrity endorsements and advertisement campaigns?

The Original followed a very simple strategy of selling a low-cost product but with completely transparent labelling. Their products come with no-nonsense names like ‘Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%’, which clearly communicates the ingredients of the serum bottle with a very crisp target of ‘reducing sebum and minimising pores’ written on the bottle itself. The product is no way promises any fake outcomes or unachievable targets of fairy-like skin, it simply tells what outcomes can the consumer expectations. Such transparency is showcased in every product of The Original and this is what made the consumer get educated about the product very quickly. This in turn leads to a huge consumer base getting created for the products and the Instagram Beauty Guru’s sharing their experiences with the product online, and spreading the word on social media. The trend of ‘The Original’ products has now spread like a wildfire with every next Beauty Guru using their products, such as the effectiveness of transparent advertising and educating the consumer base.

When the company is transparent with the customers, they are more likely to put their trust in the company. For a company that uses the line of ‘magic potion of revitalising your skin’, the consumer is already filled with a fake imaginary expectation in their mind, that if not achieved will make the company lose its consumers. Had the line been crisp and true about the actual effect of the product on the skin, the customer satisfaction would have been far better.

It is essential for brands to recognize the fact that misrepresentation doesn’t only exploits and violates the rights of the individuals but it also deprives them of forming a strong market base. Once a Brand faces backlash the bets for it to survive becomes dicey as the market place starts to recognize it with a negative perspective which is fair as it is basic human psychology. Moreover, this also causes monetary losses to the brands as the money they invest in their advertisement campaign goes in vain due to ASCI or the government imposing a ban on it. Not to mention the business itself could cease to survive since its demand would go negatively steep due to the consumers losing trust and moreover the competitive brands do not miss a chance to tap on opportunities to use the downfall of a competitor brand in their own favour. Thus, it is important for brands to adopt a transparent approach since the beginning to establish their empire and create and maintain faith in the market.