Small entrepreneurs think that it is very expensive to build a big brand. They believe that a reputed brand cannot be built without a popular brand ambassador like Amitabh Bachchan. Mr. R.S. Sodhi, Managing Director of Amul, shares info on how small businessmen can build a strong and trusted brand without investing too much money and without hiring any celebrity. # Why a businessman should build his own brand? A brand is built so that a customer can recognize that: - It is a good product - It provides him all the services he has promised - It will never cheat him - It will charge him a reasonable price While explaining brand, Mr. R.S. Sodhi says: Brand is not just about advertising through TV ads or billboards, it is an experience, faith and loyalty. He further adds: Today, the world’s biggest brands are Coca Cola, PepsiCo, etc. But, Earlier, ‘Om’, ‘Ek Onkar’ and ‘Red Cross’ are brands because they have logos, positioning, jingles, consistent colour schemes and they convey messages. They do not spend money on advertising but they are still brands because people have faith and trust on them. On brand building, the Founder of Amul, Dr. Verghese Kurien said: “The Brand of Amul should be developed in a manner that housewives have blind faith on it.” You should develop your brand in a manner that your customers have blind faith on it. A blind faith as people has on their religion. They do not question their religion because they have faith on it. So, According to Mr. R.S. Sodhi, “Brand means Blind Faith.” Customers will have blind faith on your brand when they think that: - This brand is for them - This brand is for their benefit - This brand will never cheat or harm me - This brand will remain with me in future as well - This brand will be used by my kids as well Amul take care of all the above things and that is why, customers have blind faith on it. Mistakes done by businessmen that can harm their brand To save cost and gain high margin, some companies cheat with customers in following ways: - Using cheap or fewer ingredients to save cost on expensive materials - Increasing price when there is shortage of supply - Reducing the quantity of product while keeping the container big - Packing only 950 gm in a container of 1 kg capacity When a customer uses any of such products mentioned above, then he will develop a perception that the brand is cheating him and he will switch to another brand. For developing a strong brand, you need to build a long-term relationship with your customers. # How to build a brand at low investment? In food sector, most of the listed companies spend around 8%-15% of their sales turnover for brand building while Amul spent only 0.8% on branding in the last 5 years. Amul has adopted the following strategies to build a strong brand at low investment: It used umbrella branding technique and nurture it properly Only one brand name for all products. Creative should be such that people remember it for years For example: In 1996, Amul had hired advertising agency of Mr. Sylvester daCunha. The Founder of Amul, Dr. Verghese Kurien asked Mr. Sylvester daCunha to suggest a creative and a media to position the brand on top of the mind of customer at minimum investment. As a result, Sylvester daCunha had come up with the iconic topical ad campaign, “Utterly Butterly Delicious” with the famous character, “Amul Girl.” This is the longest-ad campaign ever as it is running from last 54 years. It keeps on commenting on everything from politics, sports to entertainment and social issues in creative and funny ways.  Some of the famous examples of this topical ad campaign are: - Butterangi Bhaijaan - Buttermeez Dil Mane Ma - United States of Amulica - Other successful ad campaigns of Amul are- ‘Amul Doodh Peeta hai India’ launched in 2000 and ‘The Taste of India” launched in 1990s. So, for building your brand, you do not need deep pockets; you just need: - Creative ideas - Best media selection - Consistency # How to Build Long-term Relationship with your Customers? Building relationship with customer should not be for one or two years rather it should be for lifetime like a marriage. A good relationship with customers can be developed by providing them: - Best quality product - Best service - Best/affordable pricing - Best packaging - Keeping Brand Promises You should have a brand promise and you should keep your brand promise every time you deliver your products or services. For example: Amul brand’s promise to the villagers that they will get good price of their milk from Amul for 365 days. Amul is value for money for villagers. On the other hand, Amul brand’s promise to the consumers is that the Amul brand will use best ingredient and best technology to provide them a healthy, tasty and good product at affordable prices. So, Amul has maintained his brand promises in both backward and forward integration by providing: >“Value for money and value for many” Thus, try to position your brand on top of the mind of your customer at minimum investment. Brand does not mean advertisement; it means trust. It means to create recall value among your customers. In management terms, it is called discrete choice conjoint, which means that if 10 products of different brands are kept in front of a person, which product he will pick up first. The first brand he has chosen has the maximum recall value. So, by adopting the techniques discussed in this video, you can build your brand, create recall value for your brand, and easily become the top Regional brand. ## Key Learnings - Try to position your brand on top of the mind of your customers at minimum cost - Use only one brand name for branding of all products - Build your brand in a manner that customers develop blind faith on it - Create recall value among customers through creative ad campaign - Make best selection of media that reaches your target audience - Maintain consistency in ad campaign - Do not cheat your customers by adulteration, cheap ingredients, and reducing the quantity - Use best technology for production, processing and distribution