Saturday, October 27, 2012

God as Brand


The thought of writing this blog came when I went to Shirdi in July 2012, when I reached Shirdi, I saw huge following in queues dying to meet Sai Baba, Also when I went to Mallikarjun ( one of the Jyotirlinga of Shiva near Hyderabad), I saw tons of crowd, it made me think people really follow Gods.

GODS ARE BRANDS, different gods serve different purpose/needs in people’s lives. I started looking at Gods as brands as under

Shiva


I find him a very strong brand when it comes to specific needs of a consumer, he is like Amitabh Bachchan in real world, that stature, persona, connect with people. He is a national brand, if you observe in temples, all Gods are given due pampering by flowers, shingar, aarti but when it comes to Shiva, he stands apart, he is not pampered n the same proportion yet he stands apart.  Shiva brand is exclusive too, people travel all kinds of mountains to meet him (see locations of all 12 Jyotirlinga, except Somanth and Vishwanath, he is not easily accessible, maybe that’s the reason he is respected more.
You will find a strong sub brand in Nandi who is always connected to main core.

Key attributes of Shiva brand: Exclusivity yet approachability, non interfering, commands a premium, strength in distribution, perceived assurance in fulfillment of promise made to him.

 Hanuman

As a brand promise, he is a problem solver, no matter whatever comes; he will find a solution, so for customers he is most loved. A total solution provider, his strength lies in go getter attitude, he is friendly, and if you see you will find him in all temples accompanying almost all Gods like Ganesh, Ram, Shani, Sherawali mata. He is playful. His major markets are northern and western India.

Key attributes of Hanuman brand: problem solver, friendly


Ganesh

Though he is available in all parts of country but his major sales come from Western India (Lord Shiva divided the territories between Ganesh and Kartikeya (strong brand equity in south). He is a welcome brand in all Indian houses; he serves two purposes for consumers

1.       He fulfills wishes of people,
2.       He is a problem solver

If you see trunk on side where Ganesh‘s heart is he is the one who fulfills wishes, but if you see his trunk on his right side, he is a problem solver (Siddivinayak comes under this category)

Key attributes of Ganesh brand: friendly, no intrusive, brings smiles


Krishna

A mastermind, cheerful and a politically correct brand, he is preferred in all parts of country, his claims are tall that he is everything, he is perceived to play a role of a brand which guides people, a guiding brand, he suggests only and then moves on, with huge female brand loyalists, he is not cunning, he doesn’t speak his promises loud and clear. His strong markets are UP and Gujarat. He makes his consumers think, he installs questions in their minds and making them powerful.

Key attributes: Experiential brand, politically correct, adviser, cheerful

Ram

He is the most spoken brand name in entire country, huge top of the mind recall, he is known for sacrifices thus perceived to be old brand. He is generic name, thus not exclusive. One thing that comes to my mind is inspite of huge brand recall, he is not perceived to be big, a big preferred name. He is a majorly north India brand.

Key attributes: huge recall, known for sacrifice



The intent is not to hurt anybody’s sentiments, I just see God as a brand.

Vikas Sachdeva


2 comments:

Aman Sachdeva said...

I truly agree with you and i don't think it is bad because many people and their family survives on these brands (GOD)only.
but here i would request to people that if you want to donate something in temple or any other holy place then donate half and give at least half to person who really need this.

with due respect the feelings of humanity.

and thanks bro for sharing such feeling.

Vikas Sachdeva said...

by the way this blog was not inspired by OMG movie ;)