A brand’s journey today needs to move beyond the transactional relationship: Kapil Pillai

The exchange4media group hosted the 5th edition of its flagship event India Brand Conclave on Wednesday 15th December 2021. The power-packed agenda of the conference saw market leaders from across sectors take the virtual stage to share insights on Brands: Capitalizing On Change. Aligning with the broader theme of the conclave, Kapil Pillai, Regional Marketing Director, South Asia - Hygiene, Reckitt, delivered an insightful session on ‘Finding Constancy In Variability’.

Pillai opened his session by addressing the question of how to find some amount of constancy to build a marketing platform. Pillai asked, “Versus three years ago, do you find your consumers less likely to confuse your message with your competitors? Are they clearer about your brand proposition? The chances are that for most established brands, the answers are mostly ‘no’, and that is exactly what we need to address today. The crux is that there is a whole lot of clutter and other brands are saying pretty much what you say. There is a lower trust today in brands and institutions than a year ago.”

According to Pillai, a brand’s journey today needs to move beyond the transactional relationship in this environment of lacking trust. “Simple definition of marketing is that there is value creation at both ends. To the consumer in terms of enhanced proposition, and in terms of higher realization to the entity. Therefore, the value build-up has to move on from a product/function superiority to actually moving to create a solution to then building an experience,” he said.

He further shared the importance of holding true to the brand purpose and added, “Consumers today prefer a brand led by purpose and stay loyal to these brands. People do believe that their actions make the company stand, the activism among consumers is actually driving the landscape today. You have to always start with what you believe in and then explore what your brand is good at as there is no meaning if you don’t deliver what your purpose maps out. The final part is to think about what will actually make a difference to the consumers’ lives. These actions lead to business outcomes like clearer articulation, brand loyalty and a higher willingness to pay.”

Pillai then shared Reckitt’s approach to finding constancy in variability and added, “Our purpose at Reckitt is ‘to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world’. And our fight is also very clear and we do it every day to ensure our purpose, which is to make access to the highest quality hygiene wellness and nourishment a right and not a privilege. There are parameters like access, quality and making sure that only a few people can afford it, this is how we define our products through the Reckitt lens.”

Concluding his session, Pillai put a lot of emphasis on doing brand purpose right. He said “Purpose is like the 5th P: Product, Price, Place and Promotion are equally important. Brand purpose doesn’t refresh, they evolve, therefore, the entire brand needs to build upon purpose, making coherence and consistency key.  Next, context is everything - you have to find a way to be relevant to those in need of your product or service. The fourth aspect is that the value has to be tangible and should solve real problems for real people. Finally, brands of today need to be choiceful between distinctiveness and polarisation.”