Day 23 - When you find inspiration in most unusual places

I am returning from a short 1 day official trip to Bangalore. I was there to attend a focused group discussion. The objective of this group discussion was to help us outline a marketing strategy for one of our organization's project management certifications. It was an intense and fruitful discussion and we are hoping it will throw some light on our future course of action.
I am sitting in the plane at this moment, heading back to Mumbai. But what is consuming my thoughts right now is not what should be my next course of action (read, marketing strategy). Its the cab driver who has just dropped me off at the airport. Iqbal is the cab driver and this is not the first time he has dropped me off at the airport.
Every time my Bangalore visit gets confirmed, the next call goes to Iqbal for confirming the airport pick up. Its not just me, but all my colleagues traveling to Bangalore make use of his taxi services. I have been with PMI now for the last 3 and half years and every time me or my colleagues have flown to Bangalore, its always Iqbal's taxi. So much so that even Ashish (my hubby) and Aparna (my sis) have used his services for their local travels in Bangalore. They have also been happy with his services and further referred him to their peers and colleagues.
Now you may wonder, what's so special about this Iqbal? Why is he so popular and sought after? Let me answer that for you.
First, he is always punctual and reliable - he will always shows up on time, come hell or high water. Second, he is very resourceful - he will always find a way out of the maddening Bangalore traffic and drop you at the airport in time, even when you expected to miss your flight. Never have I or my colleagues missed a flight from Bangalore. Last but not least, he is extremely courteous and respectful. He always has a kind word to say. All these 3 characteristics have not only made him popular with with us but also helped his business grow through referrals as you can see.

Three years back, he used to work as a driver with Meru, the taxi fleet service. The next time when I met him, he had quit Meru and had started his own Taxi service with a brand new Logan. Later, the following year he had purchased a second Logan, which was being driven by his brother.
And this time when I met him, he had even better news. I heard him express that he was getting tired and stressed driving around the busy roads of Bangalore. He had plans to give up the taxi business in the next 3-4 years.
Cooking had been his life long passion and so he had plans to start a catering business soon after that. He said he was just waiting for his children to complete their education so he could then hang up his driver's boots forever and proudly don the chef's hat. A scene he had been dreaming off for very long.

Having seen him on all my intermittent visits to Bangalore, he had truly come a long way in a short span of time. His future plans did impress me and I am sure that just like his taxi business has gone places, his catering business would also sell like hot cakes. I can only imagine his mouth watering signature dishes getting word of mouth publicity all across the Silicon valley of India and beyond.

So, here I am sitting in the flight and thinking about Iqbal, who has been not just our typical 'go to' cab driver in Bangalore but a very successful marketeer too. He has through referrals and word of mouth marketing, not just built a successful business for himself but successfully planned for an early retirement to follow his lifelong passion.
All I can say is, one doesn't always need focused group discussions, market surveys and reams of research material to provide you key insights. We can indeed find them in the most unusual places.

Thank you Iqbal and wishing you Godspeed for your future plans!!!

Day 18 - The Brand 'YOU'

During a casual talk with my husband post dinner, he mentioned about a dissertation topic which he presented during his MBA school days. It was on the subject of 'The Brand - You'. I almost pressured him to tell me more but he just brushed me off saying that it was too long back to even remember. It may not have been such a fresh topic for him, but it still got me interested to pen it down as an inspiring thought for the day.

We had learned way back in school about branding and marketing but still I googled to check if there was any new theory to it. More so, because back then we didn't have Google. What I found was an interesting piece of history which some may already know.

The word “brand” is derived from the Old Norse word brandr, which means “to burn by fire.” ..... recalling the practice of producers burning their mark (or brand) onto their products. In 1876, after the United Kingdom passed the Trade Mark Registration Act, Bass Ale became the first trademarked brand in the world after submitting its now-quintessential red triangle for trademark status. The act gave businesses the ability to register and protect a brand marker so that a similar icon couldn’t be used by any other company. - Source www.brainpickings.org
Initially, branding was adopted to differentiate one person's cattle from another's by means of a distinctive symbol burned into the animal's skin with a hot iron stamp and was subsequently used in business, marketing, and advertising.

Today, we all have affinity for specific brands, especially the one's which evoke either trust, warmth, fun, class, sophistication, strength, dependability, tradition, excellence, style, earthiness, or many such attributes. So everything that we see and which has a potential to be bought or whose services we can use, stands for something unique and special. Unfortunately, only a few are successful over a period of time as they consistently reinforce those qualities and deliver the promise for which they are bought.

Given that there are around 100 brands of bottled water in USA or closer home, the gamut of e-commerce websites that have been been launched, it has become imperative today that each of them elicit a specific and unique quality, attribute or character.


But hey, its not just important for inanimate objects, organizations and their services, countries and their tourism boards to have a brand persona, we too are brands in our own right. Every day and every minute, every action that you do, every word that you say and every thought that you convey has been building the brand - YOU.
We may not be conscious of this fact but by repeatedly expressing in certain ways and behaving in certain manner we have built perceptions in the minds of our stake holders and created our very unique brand personalities. It would be interesting for each of us to dive into our world and do a quick dipstick survey with those who matter, to understand what we stand for in their eyes and is it what we really are deep inside.
If there is no gap between the REAL you and the BRAND you, its good news. You have been a fantastic marketer of brand 'YOU'. But if there is a gap, then definitely there is something which you are not doing correctly. You may need to understand how the REAL you can be represented correctly.
And then there is another set of people who consciously portray what they are really not. You will  find these mostly in the political arena. Unfortunately, they don't understand that by doing so, it will surely not help them in the long run and they will soon lose their so-called followers. The biggest and successful brands have survived across many decades only because they were transparent, evoked trust and consistently delivered on their brand promise.

In a nutshell.
As a person, as a brand YOU, its important that:
When you give your word, keep it. (Even if it is to yourself)
If you make a commitment, honor it. 
If you take on an obligation, fulfill it.

And doing this consistently is what makes a very powerful, trusted and successful brand 'YOU'.