The Origin of a Brand!
Published November 22nd, 2004 in Branding.If you are new to Marketing and dazed by dozens of terms that many writers use interchangeably, read my story below. I have created this story just for you!
The Story…
Imagine a world where no brands existed. Everything was a commodity. From rice grains to wheat; from leather shoes to salt everything was nameless. There were makers and sellers you could go to buy whatever they manufactured or grew. The shops of these sellers were nameless. It was a Nameless world.
In this nameless world lived a 60 year old wise wheat merchant, Satnam Singh. He grew good quality wheat. Satnam used to sell this wheat and make money to cover his costs and get some small profits. He had tried flour of the wheat from many other shops but none tasted as good as the flour made from his wheat.
Unfortunately no one knew Satnam or his carefully grown wheat. Often he would see that a buyer who had visited him 2 months ago went to another place to buy his/her supply of wheat.
Satnam had an idea…
So, Satnam Singh put his name on his shop. He also sealed sacks of wheat each weighing 5 Kilograms (so these were easy to carry). His shop and his wheat sacks were called Satnam’s Wheat Shop and Satnam’s Wheat respectively. His was the only shop and the only wheat in the market and that had a name. All other wheat shops and wheats were nameless.
Suddenly things changed. His buyers visited him again and again. They called him by name and asked for his shop when they didn’t remember the route to it after 2 weeks or 2 months. It was easy for the buyers to remember “Satnam” in a Nameless marketplace. A Brand was Born!
The Brand Satnam…
Satnam was a warm gentle person, good to converse with. Whenever a buyer visited Satnam’s wheat shop he/she would feel welcome. Buyers also found the 5 Kilogram sack easy to handle and take home. They could come back if they needed more, as they now knew how to reach Satnam’s Wheat shop in the nameless marketplace. Moreover it was a pleasure to meet Satnam. Buyers who bought from Satnam told about his good manners to others. Soon Satnam’s shop was visited by new customers who had heard about Satnam from his current customers. The Brand Satnam had gained “equity”. The name “Satnam” had gained financial traction. It had gained respect, approval, and reference from wheat buyers who previously went to a nameless marketplace! Buyers associated Satnam with friendliness in transactions and comfort in buying. They also liked the taste of the flour that was made out of Satnam’s wheat.
Competition emerges…
Ranveer Singh got worried. All buyers were now going to Satnam’s Wheat Shop. So Ranveer put his own name on his shop and called his wheat Ranveer’s Wheat. This ensured that those who at least visited his shop would remember it once. But the problem was the “Brand” Satnam was already established in the minds of wheat customers. Everyone wanted to buy Satnam Wheat. It wasn’t just the wheat. Satnam treated his customers nicely and the 5kg sacks were so convenient!
Brand Differentiation…
Ranveer had to “differentiate” his wheat from Satnam’s. He found out that finally people had to go to another place to make flour out of the wheat they bought from Satnam. So Ranveer changed his Wheat shop to a Flour Shop.
Ranveer Wheat Flour was what he pasted on the top of his shop. He sold Wheat Flour in 5 Kg sacks that had handles. These sacks were even easier to carry than Satnam’s sacks!
Ranveer was also nice to his customers. But to those who revisited his shop Ranveer offered a lower price. Word spread. The Brand Ranveer was competing successfully. Why would you buy wheat if you eventually wanted Wheat Flour!
Moral of the Story…
I hope that after reading this story, you will never look at a Brand as simply a mark or a name or an advertisement. You will realize that a Brand is a collection of many “associations” — physical, mental, emotional — even spiritual. You are on your way to understand Branding better now and cut through the jargon that confuses many new-comers to the field of Marketing or Management studies. And as you finish this article ask this question to yourself: Is Krishna a Brand? Is Jesus Christ a Brand? I won’ t answer these questions here. Think about it. And wait for my next article on Branding… 
Meanwhile I would recommend that you read:
1) The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout.
2) Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout.
3) Strategic Brand Management by Jean Noel Kapferer
I read these during my Mangement studies at IMT Ghaziabad (http://www.imt.edu/). And don’t hesitate to write an email to me if you have comments, ideas, questions about this article.
About me:
I have 8+ years of international Hi-Tech Marketing and Product Management experience. Am currently working as a Product Manager at Macromedia Inc. (http://www.macromedia.com/).
Great story, probably the best way to understand what branding is all about for beginners and great story to quote for other experts.