Is Your Brand 'Hot' Enough?

Kartic wakes up Whatsapp-ing for his college homework. Then, of course, he consumes breaking news, on Twitter and Facebook. He then Ubers to college while humming Galway Girl with Ed Sheeran, munching his breakfast and Snapchatting with his girlfriend. During the day, a few hours are devoted to watching PewDiePie, winning FIFA 17, getting Buzz from feed, Netflix-ing, sometimes one after another while most times, all jumbled up.

This is a regular day in the life of our 'new age consumers' who have low attention spans, changing interests, hunger for the new and a chilled out tech soul. They don't care about the age old norms. Well, one could say, every new generation doesn't.

But the difference now is the explosion of technology that is re-writing the rules of existence. Socialising happens on Facebook; Google has become the God of all things; and hook-ups are from Tinder (let's ignore how Tinder is bit more sanskari in India, that's for another day, another article); and a two-year-old learns to
operate an iPad before talking.

How can brands connect with this customer? By the time a two-month market research is conducted by the company, s/he has moved on to new interests and products.

In last few months, we have spoken to over 20 C-suite executives, who are all interested in connecting with this elusive new age beast. Some have had success; others are taking early steps. The unanimous view is that the world has changed. The power was always in the consumer's hand but now the weapons are sharper. They are no longer only decision makers for themselves but influencers for the world. Influencer marketing is not a new concept but here are a few things that we found particularly interesting:

o      Loyalty is dead! It is a world moving towards 'gigs' rather than job security. Brands are/will re-orient themselves from trying to chase customer loyalty to becoming all-time relevant.
o      'The Big Idea' that 'Mad Men' agencies have been chasing is not relevant anymore.
o      It is about keeping the brand 'hot' by constantly engaging the customer. There should be regular peaks rather than pumping money in the 'big idea' of the year.

Take one look at the companies, products or people that are currently 'hot' brands. Brands in all three categories have done well when they have had continuous engagement, for instance, Apple, Google, Amul, Justin Trudeau etc.

Let's look at Justin Trudeau - besides from being hot, he is one of the 'Hottest Brands' today. In the last few days, he has spoken about gender issues with 'Girls who Code', clicked selfies at a Puja, videochatted with young diplomats to make their voices heard on international summit, announced initiatives for Syrian refugees, to name a few.

There is a continuous surge of interest in these brands because they keep providing newness to their audience, and stay all-time relevant and 'hot'. Be it the launch of new technologies that are changing lives, playful activations, impactful initiatives and emotive stories, there is a sustained relationship with a lot of excitement.

For instance, Facebook has defined and continues to own the space of 'bringing joy' to people's life through e-socialising. Be it new apps such as Talk, hitting jackpot with Instagram stories, winning mobile medium (more than 184 million Indians access daily; 98 per cent through mobile), helping African women entrepreneurs as part of their global 'Boost your Business' programme, moving towards video content and recently, even changing mission statement by taking a more community oriented approach.

Needless to say, they also understand the most important aspect - what is my purpose in the lives of my audience? Why should they stay interested in me? What are the values, emotions, behaviour and of course, my existential purpose that would interest them?

These are the companies that create strong connections with consumers and become 'Hot Brands'.