Wow factor, higher purpose key to connect with the young: David Aaker, Marketing expert

David Aaker, hailed as the ‘Father of Modern Branding’, says today’s young consumers are not interested in brands or their offerings. Hence, it’s important to have signature stories with a ‘wow’ factor and create a “higher purpose” to catch their attention, he says in an email interview with ET. The marketing guru, who has authored more than a dozen books on branding and marketing and was inducted into the American Marketing Association Hall of Fame in 2015, will speak at the country’s first marketing festival, Star FLOW — The Change Festival. An initiative by The Times of India, the festival will be held in New Delhi on March 14-15. Edited excerpts:

How do you think should traditional companies connect with young consumers who are embracing OTT platforms?
The reality is that the target audience is not interested in descriptions of you, your brand or your offering. Tragically, they just are not. And, because they have choice, they tune you out. They do not even counter-argue, they just ignore. The assumption that the audience is rationale when it comes to your offering and interested is just wrong. So, what to do? Three suggestions.


First, what does work are ‘signature’ stories that have a ‘wow’ factor, stories that are so funny, so interesting, so unusual, or so emotional that they attract attention, change perceptions, and get remembered. Second, create a social or environmental ‘higher purpose’ that will spawn stories. Third, develop a branded community around a topic or activity that the target market is interested in or even passionate about.

While social media is a boon for marketers, it also has proved to be a nightmare at times. A single tweet can destroy reputations in minutes. How do marketers deal with such situations?

First, have a record of delivering against your brand promise to build up confidence in your brand.

Second, have a loyal core of customers that will be ready to hear your side of the story and give you a second chance if you do make a mistake. Third, provide a vehicle to change the conversation away from the nightmare tweet.

Better yet, develop that vehicle before the bad tweet emerges. Walmart was always attacked because of its employee policies, its reliance on foreign manufactures, and its treatment of suppliers. When they became a leader in environmental programmes, it became harder to hate Walmart.

Consumers in India have been spoiled by deep discounting by ecommerce companies. How do marketers entice consumers to buy products on full prices?
The classic response to discount players is innovation. They hate innovation because their model is to just make more and more of the same thing. Another is to develop loyalty that goes beyond functional benefits which often lead to sameness and the elevation of price. Rather look toward social, emotional, or self-expressive benefits so that price has less of a role.

What can Indian marketers teach the world? Can you think of an Indian branding innovation that has impressed you, or from which global marketers have benefited?
The Lifebuoy ‘Help a Child Reach 5’ was an exemplary programme with not only the videos that reach and touch, but also creative programmes, involvement of many, and a push by a movie star. Their hand washing programme was needed; made a dramatic difference, and was closely linked to the Lifebuoy brand because of the hand-washing theme and the use of the brand as an endorser. Other brands could learn a lot from that case study.