Today’s world sails and steers through the twin power of branding and marketing. Because my passion & purpose lies in this field, I always see the world with my marketing lenses donned. Creating identity and differentiating oneself has always been important in the marketing area. But there is a clear-cut canyon like divide between the world of yesteryear and the current digital world. Has covid bridged this divide a little or widened it further in the new-normal? Yet to be seen.
Not just a winner, but what is seen today is an urge among marketers to be a pioneer. As a result, we see the branding space ever-expansive with new opportunities. I feel exhilarated as I get more to explore, draw insights & enhance myself.
Beyond goods & services, today we see branding casting its spell on such non-obvious aspects of life, which bring sheer amazement. But consciously and subconsciously we are getting influenced and enjoying being ruled by it all.
Relations are not just about feelings and emotions, but the whole lot is digitalized. Friends are not just plain-simple friends. But have got branded as FB friend, LinkedIn connect, Insta follower, WhatsApp friend. Or a 3 a.m. friend, a tribe very rare to find today!
At one time, knots tied through newspaper matrimonial were kept hush-hush as those were looked down upon. But today’s generation have no qualms about having their nuptials tied through a matrimony site. They are the trendy Shaadi.com, Jeevansathi.com couples and boast about the same.
And very soon we will see metaverse couples! Many brands of event firms are exploring and experimenting to get on the bandwagon and capture the hype surrounding it.
Abhijeet and Sansrati became India’s first couple to get married on a 3D Metaverse, in Feb. 2022. The couple created a scenic beach side wedding environment on a made-in-India metaverse platform, Yug metaverse, which was accessed by more than 500 guests. Super tech generation growing up today will find this completely natural and super cool in coming future. And brands will get an exciting ground to play the new game.
As I look into food, health, fitness and other routine but important aspects of life, I find the scene completely changed therein as well, when compared to my childhood years. Meals today are no more just into those banal categories of veg & non-veg, or on the basis of taste & emotions as ‘Ma ke haath ka’ and otherwise. But today diets are with fancy names like Keto, Atkins and then low carb, low fat, protein rich, vegan, so many more, composed in all amazing ways. These describe not just the health-set, but also the mind-set and even class-set of individuals.
Further, we have always associated nutrition & energy with dairy products, green vegetables, fruits, juices and the like, where brands have existence. But in today’s world, energy itself is bottled up, packaged and branded. Energetic athletes, professionals, young students, travellers display their energy with names like Red Bull, Monster and others from the big line of energy drinks. Then there are nutrition bars positioned on being convenient, a quick supply of food energy and multi-grain. While writing this article, as I researched, I came across Yoga Bar!
There was a time when fitness and strength for Indians was associated with a wrestler – Dara Singh. And now, the entire definition has completely changed. Abs are the new scale for the youth – 6 pack, 8 pack bodies and strong association to Bollywood fit icons like John Abraham, Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty, Tiger Shroff, Sonu Sood and the likes. Wherever they go, their fitness regimen, workout schedule, strict lifestyle is discussed to inspire many. And of course, their abs, yoga asanas, gym postures are most in demand to be displayed and are followed by fans’ hooting – Once More! Once More! At gyms & yoga centres, packages built around these celebrity brands sell.
Fashion is another industry where celebrities and their styles have a big role to play. Yes, fashion labels are the brands that matter, but which celebrity wears them, on which occasion and attracts how many eyeballs, matters big time.
Now, in the end let me touch upon the most amazing aspect of life, where branding has made its entry, begun to evolve and strengthen its hold. It is the aspect where virtues – that of positivity, motivation, relaxation, spiritualism, hope, happiness – intrinsic & valuable to human existence, lie. After Covid, this aspect has become all the more prominent. People are seeking benefits that can act as a shield against such catastrophes which pose unimaginable danger to health & life. And for marketers, new window of opportunities has opened up, to develop valued offerings, that are most sought after.
Products & services around sleep solutions has become a big industry today. Fitness solutions company Fitbit has reported India as the second-most sleep-deprived country after Japan, with Indians getting an average night sleep of just seven hours. It’s a wake-up call for marketers, definitely! A big number of start-ups are now cashing in on this segment. Traditionally, the focus of the segment was just on mattress, which has now shifted to experience of sleep, focussing on sleep solutions as a whole. Like Indian sleep solutions brand, SleepyCat lays down its value-proposition as, delivering the joy of rest in each of its products.
Within this industry, all around the globe, brands of pillows, mattresses, sleep oils, sleep music, sleep yoga, sleep gummies and many more exist. Then there are global playlists on Spotify - Sleep, Deep Sleep, Night Rain, Baby Sleep, Sleepy Piano.
As per Arizton Advisory & Intelligence report, Sleep Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026, published in July 2021, Sleep market size will reach USD 137.16 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 6.11% during the period 2021-2026.
Sleep is here to stay, which is easily explained by the fact that we now have a ‘World Sleep Day’ being observed in March every year.
With life getting hectic and stressful, the wellness market is witnessing a surge, more so in the Covid affected world. Balanced lifestyle has become a buzzword these days. People are realising quality of sleep is a strong indicator of healthy life. Hence, they are willing to invest in products that help not just on the physical aspects of wellbeing but mental aspects too.
Positivity, spiritualism, meditation, mindfulness are some of the life elements most spoken & sought for in the current world. We are seeing the trend of people from all age groups, including millennials following different Spiritual Gurus. Many are learning & practising mind-skills to stay positive, happy, motivated by joining courses that have mushroomed all around.
From India, Sadguru of Esha Foundation, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev, Sister Shivani from Brahma Kumaris and many other have always had a big clan of loyal & loving followers, that saw a major expansion as a new wave of Hope Health Happiness is around. All these Spiritual Gurus, Motivational speakers, their Foundation & cause are the brands touching people’s Mind, Body, Spirit, through all different platforms.
Then there are Vipassana centres which are rising high in numbers & popularity charts as de-addiction, detoxification, de-stressing venues, providing relief from the extremity of digital life and enabling the slow-down in the pace of life. Here again niches have been created, with valued offerings catering specifically to certain segments, with exclusive services at premium pricing.
The entire account of the Brand Painted World, that I have presented in this article is based on my own experience, exploration, observation. There are so many other aspects which I may not have touched. My readers’ comments and expressions are most awaited to add further richness to the topic.
I am of the firm belief, that there is no escape from the world of branding and it is going to grow leaps and bounds. All these developments send across great exhilaration down my spine, as my passion rests in here.
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