Following-up on the promise from episode 10, Sharan invites Sudeep to further the case of the ‘Healthy Chocolate’ proposition.

Sudeep reframes the concept of a brief to something that marketers must pitch to the different stakeholders to get their buy-in and seek their support.

He walks us through a step-by-step approach to get the target consumers to try the new ‘Healthy Treat’. He insists on marketers taking their time with putting the document together primarily to internalise it and convert it into a story for the various stakeholders.

We recommend you download the document from the show notes, to follow along for this episode is loaded very practical and useful advice for all Brand Builders.

SHOW NOTES

WEBSITE: www.CoBBcast.net

CREDITS

Sudeep interviews Sharan on his dramatic title for the episode, but both quickly settle in, to ally a concern that haunts a lot of the business owners and custodians. Emerging businesses spend a lot of time on their product differentiation or the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), only to have it replicated by competition.

They speak about how emerging brands must dare to be different and pursue niches before focussing on the masses. Sharan proposes that Brand distinctiveness, driven by the various brand assets / collateral is a better way to connect with consumers and seep into their subconscious. Differentiation, he says, is far too logical to drive any emotional connection.

SHOW NOTES

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CREDITS

Sharan puts Sudeep on the spot to get him to create a brand proposition from scratch for a ‘Healthy Chocolate’ brand. Sudeep is more than upto the challenge with all the frameworks from his armour.

He systematically walks us through the different decision stages and considerations in creating a new brand, ladders up the benefits and summarises it all in the form of a pseudo concept narrative.

On the way, Sudeep lauds their R&D counterparts for working hand in hand and even championing most innovations, confident that none of them would ever listen to this episode.

They sign-off with a promise to build on this brand proposition, in the coming episodes, to creating a marketing brief.

Make sure you have downloaded the document in the show notes and follow along as you listen to this very educational episode.

SHOW NOTES

CREDITS

Sudeep and Sharan break away from mould of interviewing each other, to go on an investigative journey to solve the mystery of the vanishing marketing briefs.

It is often said that the role of a marketing manager is not to solve problems, but to frame the right ones. While it seems like a dying art, writing an execution brief is the discipline this problem framing muscle. The hosts go into the importance of writing one and give the listeners a check-list on the elements that make up a good brief.

Sudeep then walks listeners through a real case of he wrote the creative brief for the launch communication of Dairy Milk Silk, and fills it with anecdotes of happy accidents that led to the creative output that continues to be in use today.

SHOW NOTES

CREDITS

Sudeep attempts to reveal the person behind the name by digging into Sharan’s past to reveal a few dark secrets and gets him to describe the work he does today. Sharan teases a few episodes that might come up in the future and also discusses his passion for the business of brands.

LINKS

CREDITS

This week's episode begins with Sudeep trying to provoke Sharan by asking him if digital first brands are a fad and they go into detail on what brands need to consider before taking the digital dive. 

They set the context for where digital can serve its rightful purpose and ask brand owners and custodians to first frame their brand strategy and understand the consumer journey before getting into digital execution.

They also look at a few examples of how a few ‘digital first’ brands have embraced offline marketing tactics to better serve their brands.

SHOW NOTES

CREDITS

Sharan implores Sudeep to roll back the years and speak about a time wen he actually put to use all that they speak about on the show.

Sudeep shares his experience of rebranding a ₹300cr. brand, Dairy Milk Eclairs, to Cadbury Choclairs in 2012. He tells us how a Global corporate mandate initiated a brand transformation that took a WHOLE YEAR of testing with consumers.

He ties it back to the earlier episode of ‘Measure Whatever you Treasure’ and explains the intent behind every kind of test he and his team under took, and how startup brand owners and custodians can run the same tests in a cost effective and efficient manner.

Sudeep also gives us a window into some of the errors that tend to escape even the most stringent systems and how one can watch out for the same.

LINKED EPISODES

SHOW NOTES

CREDITS

Sharan Interviews Sudeep to uncover the origin story of the fitness enthusiast and poet within the marketer cum educator to get to know the person behind the immaculate voice.

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CREDITS

Sudeep touches upon Sharan’s pet peeve a.k.a Brand Personality. He tables the different types of Brand Purpose used by different brands. Sharan accuses Brand Purpose of triggering marketing malpractice with young marketers who are misled by the purpose pandering of the mega Brands. Sudeep insists that all things remaining equal, Purpose give a brand the fillip at the point of purchase. A few sparks fly, but they soon settle down on an agreement how purpose ought and ought not to be used by brand owners and custodians before signing off.

SHOW NOTES: Sharan's Previous Blogs on the topic:

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