The first step in developing your brand strategy is to ask yourself, "What problem does my product solve?", according to Atika Malik, Strategic Advisory Partner; Former COO and CSO, Cheil India, South West Asia. Speaking at Ïsha Leadership Academy’s second Brand Insight — Decoding Branding, an online interactive workshop for entrepreneurs, C-suite, business executives, and marketers, she went on to say that “brands with a purpose outperform those without.
Under the guidance of Sadhguru, as many as 121 business leaders from 13 countries came together online at BrandInsight— Decoding Branding to learn how to harness the power of branding to build a profitable business. Leading strategists discussing branding strategies on the day included Alpana Parida, Founder and CEO, Tiivra Ventures; Babita Baruah, Managing Partner, Global Team Blue India; Dheeraj Sinha, CEO and CSO, Leo Burnett, South Asia; Subramanian Krishnan, Ex-Chief Strategy Officer, TBWA India; and Sourabh Mishra, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Branding, Azendor Consulting.
Continuing the session on the topic “The Power of Purpose”, Sourabh Mishra took the participants through the process of defining a brand. “Brand purpose is not just about brand communication, it should be at the core of everything that your business does, including the product, marketing, and culture,” he said.
Sadhguru, founder of Isha Foundation, shared his insights with the many participants and business leaders present, emphasising the importance of having a purpose before setting out a branding strategy. "Instead of a plan, have a purpose. If your heart is invested in purpose, head will generate enough plans, there will be no shortage of plans… Plan is a limited way to handle life, if you have a strong purpose for a fulfilled life," Sadhguru said at the event.
During the session on the topic “The Power of Positioning”, Babita Baruah, Managing Partner, Global Team Blue India, talked about the importance of applying rigour to understanding one's brand positioning and culture before rushing to draft a brand positioning and culture statement.
Presenting ad films of brands such as Amazon, Starbucks India, State Bank of India and others as case studies, Baruah along with Subramanian Krishnan, Ex-Chief Strategy Officer, TBWA India; demonstrated to the participants how positioning is about communicating to customers the benefits of engaging with a brand.
The event was hosted by Anisha Motwani, Brand and Innovation Expert, STORM the NORM Ventures; Independent Board Director. “As people we have a soul, brand is that soul of a business,” she said.
Isha Leadership Academy was founded to provide the finest quality leadership education by combining external skill sets with well-being tools. Beyond methods or techniques, ILA focuses on cultivating leadership as an innate and intuitive process. ILA’s guiding principle is the importance of managing one's own mind, body, and energy first, before dealing with external situations and people.
