ACCESSIBLE EXCELLENCE

In one of my pieces, titled “The blessing of being ordinary”, I don’t know if you noticed, but it almost seemed to end in dotted lines. To recap, let us just revisit a couple of statements that were made.

“For any brand to find mass takers, the individuality must be suppressed; the statement must be subdued; the personality should not be threatening. Only when these happen, the brand becomes ‘accessible’. Such brands then become ‘commonplace’. They then swallow market share by the strength of their ordinariness, by the slouch of their posture. Their identity is now understood. They are nothing to write home about in the good looks department. Their stammering is more audible than even the oratorical advertising of iconic brands. That’s because the day they‘ rise above’ they would lose their ability to massify, for they would become inaccessible and distant. One would have to now ‘look up to them’. They would then acquire a distinctive colour, a clear identity. And then they would become like a strong personality about whom there will always be strong opinions - liked by some, disliked by others. Thus it becomes necessary for a mass brand to not look intimidating by intentionally looking and feeling ordinary. The language must be common place and clutter must be welcome. It’s no wonder these are the easiest brands to build.”

Well all this is almost like any good ‘rule’. And good rules have exceptions that prove the rule! It is the exceptions that this particular article is about.

It’s about “Accessible Excellence” that characterizes brands which are excellent and lofty and yet carry themselves easily, radiating such an easy appeal that disguises forbidding excellence, thereby creating access. They collapse distance with a winning smile. They draw ordinary people with the warmth of their handshake, not by the glitter of their ornamentation. They invite all and sundry with the twinkle in their eyes. They are so lofty that effortlessly, they crinkle the hierarchy on which pretentious brands are placed. They are like the millionaire in scruffy jeans, devoid of vanity, bereft of arrogance. They are like the country home in a thousand acres of land and not like a castle with high walls, guards and butlers. So while they have a lot, they threaten no one. They are like mountains that people congregate to despite the most difficult terrain, for the welcoming weather, for the ‘natural’ appeal, for the warmth of the people who play host.

These brands have an additional layer(s) to soften their exactitude, their precision, their lofty quality standards, their painstakingly developed value systems. They have no faultlines. And this layer is consciously nurtured with the objective of creating a human appeal, which is loosely called ‘emotional appeal’ but runs much deeper than the rudimentary nomenclature. Emotions are two broad based and when seen in paid-for-advertising, are as credible as theater! On the contrary, emotions of these super iconic brands are internalized in their very construct, in their DNA, in their blood, in their veins. It is not a communication trick or a tactical gimmick, for those actually work against brands. See, brands are like people, we must never tire of remembering. Just as it takes no time to see through a cosmetic person and condemn him for his artifice, so does the same hold true for brands. To use a somewhat political analogy, what these brands have is 'charisma', not emotional melodrama. When you close your eyes and reflect on their persona, you actually see them smiling. To take it further, it is the ‘chacha’ in the layer of ‘Chacha Nehru’ that sensationalizes their popularity, while retaining the highest level of universal respect.

But all is not rosy till. Such brands demand very high standards of customer service, because that is what one gets to expect from them – quality along with sincerity. One breach of faith and they wilt like sunflowers in the rain. At such times, more than what happens to them in the eyes of the world, they lose confidence internally and it takes a herculean effort from them to stand stand straight again. They then become like a matinee idol who once was. So as a matter of revival, they turn nostalgic and try to recreate the past by imitating themselves - all the motions that once made them what they were. But sometimes it is in vain.

They are really high on brand experience by their very construct (incidentally their birth was conceived as 'brands', not products, in the first place), but also by their service, the standards of which go to such levels of personalization and customization, that automation can never support, given its essential character of standardizing. As a result, these brands, thrive on human interaction. Their mantra can never be ‘untouched by hand’. They are the gourmet cuisine. So while they may automate back end processing and manufacturing to achieve quality, but they will never ever automate customer interaction, which for them, cannot be without the vital human touch.