Branding the Hype and Hoopla!

Hype and Hoopla Branding


By Harish Bijoor


In the current advertising era of hype and hoopla, precipitated to the fore by brands screaming absurdities into your brand de-sensitized ears, the big question in my mind: What next?

How is the future of branding to shape up? What would be an excellent trend-line to follow and implement for the future? What would really distinguish brands and catapult them to the fore of consumer acceptance in the future? What must all this hype and hoopla lead to? More of it? Less of it? Or completely no hype at all?

Last week, at Indore, I met the Mayor of Indore. The first citizen of Indore, and indeed the current "first brand of Indore" (as I referred to him much to his delight) is an interesting guy. Mr.Vijayavargi had an interesting tale to narrate to me.

It is a typical Indian village story. There had been a spate of robberies in an innocent village that did not believe in locks on the doors. This went on for a while, terrorizing the villagers , till the robber in question was ultimately caught. The village Panchayat then went into the details of how to punish the errant robber.

A bright idea dawned on the bright guys around the Peepul tree. It was decided that the robber's nose would be chopped off! This would identify the perpetrator of the crime and would warn all concerned. Further, it would be an excellent deterrent for any other entity of the village with such criminal intent in mind!

The robber's nose was chopped off. The poor chap spent a couple of days in the village, and then fed up with the taunts he had to face day in and day out, the robber fled to the nearby forest and lived there a lonely life.

Many years went by. One fine day, a group of village women were picking twigs in the forest and came across a Sadhu sitting in a posture that was truly meditative. The Sadhu had tattered clothes on him, had a gaunt look about him, had a flowing beard and long hair. The women-folk immediately prostrated before the Sadhu and sought his blessings. As 'dakshina', the women-folk left all the food and water they had.

What distinguished the Sadhu was the fact that he had cut off his nose. The legend spread that this was indeed a supreme sacrifice to appease the gods. The story spread far and wide and village-folk from far and near came to worship the Sadhu Maharaj they called Moni Baba by now! The Sadhu without a nose!

The robber of yore and Sadhu of the current rage did not complain for sure. The 'dakshina' kept mounting. In the beginning it had been food and water. Now it was more of clothes and gold and money to boot. The Sadhu Maharaj became more and more prosperous and lived a happy life!

Success always breeds imitation. Many a young man with aspirations to make an easy buck watched the growing appeal of the Sadhu. What distinguished this Sadhu from all of them worshippers out there was his nose-less form. Inspired by the charm of wealth, many a young-man cut off his nose and opened up territories in the nearby forests, attracting the attention of the pious. This was indeed a business model that seemed to work.



Till one day, when there were too many nose-less Sadhus in the market! And then presumably began a process of further distinction. In came the Sadhu without a nose and a right arm for one! A Sadhu without a nose and an ear to boot, maybe! Till Sadhu-dom became a terrain of the have-nots in terms of body parts altogether!

How far could one go in this game of distinction? How long then till a wholesome body with all parts intact could once again aspire to be called a Sadhu? When really will all the hype and hoopla of current day branding and advertising lead to the day and age of the real brand with real advertising and real branding emerge?

The quest is indeed for the real! A movement that will distinguish the imaginary and the incredulous from the real. A movement that seeks to move branding, which has traveled a trajectory that started with the sublime and has well night ended up in the ridiculous appeal that smacks of hyperbole!

If one peeks at a universal truth that speaks of everything in life being cyclical, it is time then for the ridiculous to give way to the sublime once again! I forecast the re-entry of the real appeal in our branding and advertising lives in the medium-term future.

Look out then, and hopefully be the first of these pioneer-marketers who will do one or all of the following.

1.Junk all those models that look so unreal in the real context of the brand and the market it swims in. Check out the real market and its needs for once. Bring in that realism in it all. Candid-cam advertising, real-life cameo branding, establishing consumer touch occasions that cause for a real-interface of the brand with the real consumer in the marketplace…….are all movements not to ignore. Remember, the first ones to do it will really stand out with their appeal and will indeed reap the best benefits of this new, improved, real branding!

2.Who will then be the first marketer to occupy the high ground of Integrity? Who will do this first piece of advertising that will speak about the positives of the brand appeal at hand for a start……to be followed by a comparative evaluation of the other players in the market?

Who will make this piece of advertising that will highlight the company brand with all the hype and hoopla? Everyone will! But who will be the first guy who will add on a ten second billboard that will highlight the pros and cons of competing brands as well……with a tagline at the end that says, "Dear Consumer, there is choice in the market. These are the choices.The choice is yours to make!"



Let's remember that if none of the above are attempted in the medium-term, a day will surely dawn when forced legislation might want to make an appearance. Consumer-friendly legislation that will allow advertisers to use all the hype and hoopla, but will demand that all brand advertising pass through a certification board that will give a credibility and integrity certification.
Imagine the plight of the savvy marketer of the day, forced to add a certificate-flash at the beginning of every ad that declares: "This advertisement contains 11 per cent fact and 89 per cent hype"!

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The author is a brand-domain specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. with a presence in London, Hong Kong and Bangalore.
Email: harishbijoor@hotmail.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------