The power of the brand

In his e-book, The Diamond Invention, the American investigative journalist Edward Jay Epstein says that for over a hundred years, a single company, De Beers, has been artificially propping up the price of diamonds, by creating an illusion of scarcity, when in fact, plentiful supplies are available. He writes

“…. The aura of the diamond has survived for over a century because two critical conditions were satisfied: the production of diamonds from the world's mines was kept in balance with world consumption; and the public restrained from attempting to sell its inventory back onto the market…. De Beers ensured the first of these conditions by owning and controlling the major sources of diamonds and the second of these conditions by fostering the illusion in the public's mind that diamonds are forever, even though diamonds can be shattered, chipped, discolored or incinerated to an ash.”

In other words, what De Beers has been doing successfully is creating and sustaining the brand of the diamond.

Marketers say ‘a brand image is a perception created in the mind of the target audience. A brand also stands for the immediate image, emotions, or perceptions people experience when they think of a company or product. A brand represents all the tangible and intangible qualities and aspects of a product or service. A brand represents a collection of feelings and perceptions about quality, image, lifestyle, and status. It is precisely because brands represent intangible qualities that the term is often hard to define. Intangible qualities, perceptions, and feelings are often hard to grasp and clearly describe.’

So what De Beers set out to do was to create a mass mentality in which men and women would perceive diamonds, not as precious stones that could be bought or sold according to economic conditions or fashions, but as an inseparable part of courtship and married life.

What Nike, Coca Cola, Starbucks and others do is founded on same principles- create a differentiated brand image that is perceived by the customer as something much larger than the cold functionality of the product.

I was somehow reminded of this when I read Atanu Dey’s recent posts on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and his Art of Living (AOL) movement. Atanu concedes that the AOL is doing useful work, but is critical of the personality cult that it promotes in its gullible followers.

I have been quite disapproving of the methods followed by the likes of Sai Baba, Sri Ravishankar and, Mata Amritanandamayi, though, admittedly, they have channelised their resources into useful projects that serve the public cause. But, I now realize that they are no different from and no more guilty of manipulation than the aforementioned corporate brand-builders.

If Sai Baba had to draw attention and create a mass following, he naturally had to differentiate himself from other mortals and create a brand identity of his own. The flowing saffron-coloured robes, his distinctive hairstyle, the hype and the hoopla over his ‘magical’ powers to pull out watches and gold rings out of thin hair, his Bhajan sessions which would send his followers into a trance- all went into the creation of the unique Sai Baba brand . Without this brand pull, he wouldn’t have enticed his followers to come into his fold seeking mental peace and serenity.

So, how is this any different from an advertiser luring you into a make-believe world and leading you to imagine that by procuring a certain type of talcum powder, you would be transported to a sanitized world of blue skies and green grass , where you would have a wonderful spouse, a lovely home, a cute little dog and a smile on all the time ?

For several decades, De Beers and their advertising agency N.W.Ayer carefully cultivated the romantic image in the public's mind that a diamond was a unique manifestation of nature and the rarest of all precious objects in the world. What Sai Baba and Ravi Shankar do is to carefully create the spiritual image in the public mind that they are specially chosen by God to lead them out of their miseries and to deliver happiness and joy.

Same difference.