What is the ‘Soul Reason’ for Marketing Success?

Technology has an overpowering hand over us. Marketers assume that math and algorithms are sufficient to analyse and predict the future behaviour of customers and their needs. The combination of marketing tech and automation is a reality today and we see it all around us-the digitalised world surrounded by Alexa, Cortana and Siri who are integral of our social, professional and family circles. Brands today have steered from the traditional approach of marketing which focused on product attributes to appeal to their consumers. IT and digital marketing revolutionised branding which involved society and customers to participate directly in shaping and personifying brands. Today the focus is on ‘brand spirituality’.

The combination of marketing tech and automation is a reality today and we see it all around us-the digitalised world surrounded by Alexa, Cortana and Siri who are integral of our social, professional and family circles.

The need of the hour for marketers is to embrace the meaning of business beyond branding. The brand being the macrocosm of a larger entity should be viewed as a living breathing ecosystem of value creation as they influence and impact societies.  Therefore, they need to indulge and organise themselves as organisations engaged to maximise value in the lives of people and humanity. True brands must continue to sustain this vision, conviction and integrity and ensure that the ‘soul of their business is not just to maximise their revenues. Fast-paced lives, insecurity, uncertainty and people vying to outrun the other have created hollowness and emptiness in society. This is often reflected in the activities of the corporate world too. Brands and companies need to understand and sensitise these changes when creating and delivering value and products and relate to their customers emotionally. After all the inner value of the brand should be omnipresent in the culture they exuberate and must connect to the fabric of human behaviour and mindsets of society at large.

21st-century marketing is not only about catering the right products paired with technology and correct pricing, but it should also connect with audiences emotionally and through personality focussed campaigns.  A distinction can be created in brand personalities via values through actions resulting in brand authenticity. As branding is a nebulous concept distinction is vital. This creates an edge and creates a visual identity with the customers. Visuality acts as road signs that direct brands to their target audiences and more the brand resonates in thought, deed and action to live beyond their brand identity, connect for life with them.

True brands must continue to sustain this vision, conviction and integrity and ensure that the ‘soul of their business is not just to maximise their revenues. Fast-paced lives, insecurity, uncertainty and people vying to outrun the other have created hollowness and emptiness in society.

 Brands need to revamp and perhaps rethink how they want to be positioned. The footprints they create would be embedded in the future of things to come. How they want to structure their processes, value, treat and nurture their employees who would speak volumes and they would be remembered for that. The ‘soft matter’ also is important, and it connects the soul of the enterprise with the heart of the community and society and gives the brand a unique glow of divinity in the minds of its consumers if it achieves this kind of communication and relationship.

On a closing thought as quoted by Warren Buffet the American philanthropist, business tycoon and investor, it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently. Brands wake up and decipher the reason why your audience must remember you? and realise that discovering and reinventing the ‘heart and soul’ of your purpose will lead your organisation to integrity and success.

About the author:

Dr Kamini Dhruva is a true academician at heart with the ultimate goal is to foster equality in education to students across the world. She has over 20 years of postgraduate teaching experience, having held positions at business schools in India and overseas. Dr Dhruva is presently working as a Professor ABBS School of Management.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha