The CEO of restaurant chain Wagamama tells us: "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."
He should know. He has built Wagamama into a global empire. Today the company has 86 restaurants in 11 countries, and is worth US$1bn.
The essence of brand is about what you value. Values represent the key differentiator and rallying cry for effective positioning in a crowded market place. Not only does this value (or set of values) inspire your workforce, it also resonates with people’s desire for self-expression, validation and justification. “This is who I am, or who I want to be” – your brand or product is part of a multi-layered shorthand for people to express their personality, attributes, sense of place and belonging. The greatest gift that commerce has ever given culture and the fundamental DNA, or essence, is the brand; stripped of all permutations and adornments and representing a story, a brand story that is believable, campaignable and above all compelling in its authenticity.
The individual seeks identity and a sense of belonging; hence families, tribes, nations and regions instill an enormous sense of pride and self-belief. Just watch the winning football team’s fans as they leave the stadium or when their player scores that winning goal.
The Olympics, now the rallying cry for many nations’ athletes remains an exemplary opportunity for companies to link their values with those of the premier sporting events this planet produces.
On a more realistic note, routes to market, price, distribution, quality control and all the elements that form the engine of a company’s offer, pale into insignificance if they don’t stand for something which resonates with people, naturally. The brand represents your real route to market, everything else is process. Mass production has succeeded. We are over-serviced with 120,000 product lines on the shelves in our supermarkets when 30 years ago there were only 30,000.
Rising to the new consciousness
Fast forward to 2010. We’re looking at a world moving faster at every turn. The convergence of technologies, internet as the great leveller, fragmentation of media, podcasts, social networking - where an amateur songwriter can hold a rock concert from her living room and over 200,000 people tune in - where anyone can be an instant star for 15 minutes and where you are “always on”, everywhere, the traditional rules of ‘pile ‘em high and sell it cheap’ are not valid anymore. There is a new consciousness and awareness permeating the nether regions of society.
The effects of climate change, increasing middle classes, clamouring for more – more meat, oil and steel, more luxury products, more consumption - from India to China and from the Middle East to Russia, we are at the precipice of a quantum leap in consciousness and behaviour. The planet can’t go on like this and the combination of more is less and less is more will meet at noon at the OK corral of life for a showdown for the future of mankind as we know it.
These emerging nations that happen to be centres of some of the largest population groupings in the world are striving harder and working longer to achieve the sense of ‘satisfaction’ and ‘success’ that the promise of mass consumerism can offer.
The extent of their longing is now limited only by the day of reckoning, when the planet, sick of all this abuse of resources and environment, reacts violently and decimates a large swathe of our population, or forces us to re-adjust radically as we face the heating up of our environment, to the point where the very basics of food, water and clean air become scarce.
The death knell is sounding and many companies are rallying behind the flag that saving the environment is more productive (and profitable) than abusing it.
The West looks East – Middle East!
I don’t profess to be an expert, but it occurs to me that the preponderance of sun in this region lends massively to the notion that the Middle East could become the centre of solar energy production.
We are moving forward with education as one of the key pillars of diversification away from an oil economy. It is important that entrepreneurship linked to the well-being of our planet should provide a rallying cry for the development of complete industries from business incubators, knowledge parks, greenhouses, hydroponic agriculture and water production – in effect safeguarding the future for our children and theirs and fostering the entrepreneurs and scientists that this region has lost as the pendulum of history swung West and East.
‘Back to basics’ is a philosophy based on simplicity, a value that is rare in this over-complicated world as brand after brand seeks to take centre stage by adding more bells and whistles. But don’t mistake naivety for simplicity. There are many brands in Qatar and throughout the GCC verging on the naïve. Why, pray, would you not learn from the basic error that a price-led philosophy loses out over a value-led philosophy not often, but always.
Why do tenders invariably go to the cheapest bidder and not to the one who offers the most value? The Chinese are very clever at this – they insist on knowledge and information transfer, effectively providing the breeding ground for an employment strategy based on a skills-based economy.
Why do local organisations enact this strange dance of change-step programme: wait, hold, go, quick-quick, slow? Why do companies not invest in people? Instead relying on constant cheap sources of labour against the experience of tried and trusted employees whose knowledge go with them when their NOC is refused and they head home.
To pitch or not to pitch
I am really not one for criticism, nor do I have the solutions, at least not all of them, but sometimes a little common sense goes a long way. In my business of branding, design and advertising, it is clear to me that the constant round of free pitches doesn’t do anyone any good. It only adds to the cost of doing business and doesn’t allow us to build strong relationships and yes, partnerships, with clients to build effective brands and communication programmes. Note that some of the world’s most famous campaigns and strongest brands were built on a long-term relationship between client and agency. Going out to pitch every single time is not only a waste of time and resources for all concerned but is not expedient, nor does it deliver the best campaign as the agency will not have discovered the DNA, the soul, the essence or brand story that should permeate every communication, both internal and external. And so a brand is not built; rather a temporary flag-waving exercise is undertaken that may be pretty and may do the job, but only that job. And the client can prove that they have not wasted the company’s money – well, sort of.
Organic branding. Back to basics – the new way to grow
‘Back to basics’ is the key to build sustainable, powerful brands based on your values. And if you value what we value, then we can build you a powerful brand based on trust, authenticity, partnership and a lot of creativity. Creativity is like grass growing; effectively perceived as effortless in the right surroundings, i.e. fresh air, lots of sun, water and good earth, but there’s a lot of work going on under the surface. An agency is a living organism of people, and hey, so is your company! We all want to be safe, to belong. We all want to work hard, contribute and succeed (well, some do!). And what better way to build a powerful partnership to champion the growth and sustainability of a powerful brand? Simple really. ‘Back to basics’. A formula for growth and development of global brands. And who knows? We might work on something that is actually good for the planet, from reduction of packaging, to streamlining work processes, to energy-efficiency, to instilling worthy values into our community and the list goes on and on.
A strong brand galvanises your workforce. It informs your clients, partners and suppliers. It reduces your customer acquisition costs, thereby increasing your profits and your market share, allowing you to extend the brand into new areas and new territories. It’s business and it’s basic. So seek partnerships not suppliers, seek collaborators who reflect and can communicate your values, who see the bigger picture and not just a short-term fix.
Like an orchestra coming together to create an opera, your agency and you can build a brand that is powerful and valuable.
You hum it, we’ll play it.
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