Every time a brand is introduced, there’s a lot of research that is done around logos, creatives, market, competition, positioning etc. — but, but how many times has a brand manager actually gone and checked on the ground to check
a. the vowels and sounds
b. the fit/suitability of it in an Indian context
c. How much the “sounds” resonate with the intended positioning
For eg.., I have for long been fascinated with how the “ mass india” which is those who are familiar with engllish but speak in their local dialect — those who watch cricket with commentary in their mother tongue perceive brand sounds and what type of images they evoke unprompted when used for the first time with a lay consumer
Winkin’ cow — one of the brand name I am fascinated by is Britannia’s winkin’ cow — possibly because its one of the few brand names I can think of :
a. with an apostrophe (quite a rarity)
b. ith an extremely anglicized, “phoren” sounding pormanteux word as a brand name. I have seem pormanteux’s get used in the luxury/aspirational category but never in a mass market FMCG brand.
c. has a verb that probably won’t get understood by 95 %+ of the population — winkin’ ? really ? I wonder how many people even know how to use an apostrophe in writing leave alone spelling it off a name. Are we in south texas in a coen brother’s movie or in “pushpa” land ? Ende saare, I used to pronounce San Jose as Saaan Jose until recently and getting me to say winkin’ with a roll of the tongue is as tough as it is to leave out lime pickle with sauteed curd rice on a hot summer day. And I always wonder by the same analogy, if Amazon would have the same cache if it was called Amazin’ selection store or some such.
Are there brands that you think have got the indian cultural, phonetic fit bang on at their launch ? I can think of “ Ching’s secret” (we all know how chinese food is called out on the ground near a push cart noodles vendor).
And which brands have been able to create intrigue around a common noun that we’ve all heard of — apple, amazon, king fisher ?
