E-Paper
‘A brand is a promise delivered,’ says Chitale
Prachi Bari
Prachi Bari
PUNE: A gathering of entrepreneurs, startup explorers and business leaders in the city recently discussed the meaning and ideas around the term ‘brand’ and ‘branding’ which are critical to the growth of an enterprise.
Three well-known business leaders from the city- Kailash Katkar, founder Quick Heal Technologies, Abhay Gadgil, partner, PN Gadgil & Sons and Indraneel Chitale, partner and chief executive officer Chitale Group, presented their ideas at the 21st edition of the Senate Talk Show. They were interacting at a public interview moderated by Vikrant Vartak, founder of Mavens, a chief executive officers’ peer group.
“A brand is a ‘promise delivered’. You make a promise to customers and other stakeholders with everything you do and you must deliver on that promise every single time,” said Chitale, presenting his thoughts.
Katkar described brand as “the sum total of the experiences your customers have with your business. It is much more than your logo, merchandising or product.”
The panel helped the audience understand the difference between branding, marketing, and advertising and shared as to how their organizations ensure justice to each of these three areas. Each panelist shared the journey of their organization’s brand building over the years and explained how their organisations worked on the three dimensions of brand equity: brand awareness, brand associations, and brand loyalty.
Gadgil explained how his brand stood for ‘trust’ and went on to mean a lot more than just the functional benefits that their product offers.
“Great brands are built once they move beyond functional benefits. What grabs people’s attention are emotional, self-expressive and social benefits though we as business owners spend most of our time being hung up about functional benefits,” he said.
