Brands of steel

Faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap over buildings in a single bound, and now adept at inspiring the minds of brand custodians to truly take flight – in truth, all those things have been said about Superman. Strictly speaking, though, the last claim hasn’t yet been made in any comic book or movie. But as incisive thinking on the brand front proves to be tantalisingly elusive, surely it is an assignment which demands the attention of earth’s greatest superhero.

Here are but a few thought-starters triggered by his saga …

Dress to stand apart

Superman is widely regarded as the first superhero ever created. And when the decision needed to be taken, as to how would the world view him as such, surely that was a cause for a lot of contemplation amongst the creators. He had to stand apart as not any other man. Even if the landmark choice to have him sport his briefs on top was to show that he had no vested interests, it would be safe to say that the costume of Superman unequivocally signalled him as an extremely distinctive entity. The blue suit, the red cape and the immensely iconic ‘S’ sign all worked together to adorn a brave new concept.

In these days of the crowded marketplace, going that extra mile to create one’s own unique identity is well worth the effort. This aspect can render itself across a host of facets – from conscious thought being invested during inception to facilitate the creation of tangible differentiators, to tinkering with some specific aspects of the brand sensorial experience. Over the last few years, a few public sector banks have completely revitalised their brand identities. To be fair, these exercises have resulted in some dynamism in their dealings with customers. They have also helped signal a break from the archaic perceptions of the past. After all, to paraphrase Shakespeare, in these days of rampant similarity, ‘the apparel oft does proclaim the brand’.

Take on truly great challenges

In the recently released movie Man of Steel , Superman creates his first impression on the world by taking on a planet-threatening posse of supervillains. For someone with his awesome gifts, dealing with the occasional mugging or bank robbery would have been almost a criminal waste. In fact, just as he made us all feel that human flight was a possibility, Superman has always been associated with setting really high benchmarks of what can be expected of the human body.

Superbrands are in the same genre of setting themselves – and rising to meet – truly great expectations. There is nothing quite as inspiring for a brand than being set a challenge which is going to truly stretch all its faculties.

The Grameen Bank’s awe-inspiring ambition, of trying to tackle global poverty, has resulted in not just a Nobel Prize for its visionary founder Muhammad Yunus but has also resulted in it lifting millions of people out of lives of absolute squalor.

Eventually, as Superman would probably testify, normal brands are satisfied with the ground-level skirmishes, it is only the extraordinary ones that are at home in the clouds.

Step away from the spotlight

One really fascinating aspect of the Superman epic is his ‘normal person’ identity of the news reporter Clark Kent. In many ways Clark Kent gives Superman an escape from the constant scrutiny of the world. Clark Kent is Superman’s lifeline to sanity and ordinariness. This concept emphatically proves that even if one is the world’s greatest superhero, one still needs time away from the spotlight. The clamour for a quiet moment is almost deafening.

This dual identity of the man of steel ignites quite a few ideas relevant to the domain of branding. At one level it informs media strategy, about the importance of lying low for a while. Such that when the brand eventually returns, it does so with the same eyeball-capturing manner, of Superman bursting through the Metropolis skies. Constant exposure reduces even the great to the realms of the ordinary. And just like Clark Kent is always a reminder of fallibility, likewise brands these days also need to adopt a more humility-laden approach. There are some things any brand will be very good at, but there are numerous others where it might be found wanting. An internalisation of these can always help the brand stay rooted in reality rather than soar in hyperbole.

Leave the comfort zone

Though he was born Kal-El on a distant planet Krypton, as an average resident of that world, Superman finds greatness when he is sent to earth by his father, in order to survive a massive catastrophe. Our world’s less dense yellow sun and lighter gravity endow him with superpowers. But this legend would never have been born had his father Jor-El not taken the decision to look for other worlds where his son might make a mark.

Finally this precept is fundamental to the Superman legacy. In many ways it is the quintessential American story. And it is applicable to the brand world as well. Leaving behind familiar shores is never easy for a brand. It requires vision, courage and a comfort of dealing with the unknown. But sometimes when one embarks on this journey, great horizons present themselves. When Rajat Paharia founded Bunchball, it quickly rose to be one of the top providers of social games on platforms such as Facebook, a destination which was a lucrative one in itself. But Paharia saw a greater opportunity – to use the learning accumulated from their gaming experience to work on creating a new brand of loyalty for organisations amongst its partners, its customers and its employees (as mentioned in his book Loyalty 3.0 ). With that decision, Bunchball truly shed its Clark Kent garb in the proverbial phone booth, and the future of the company assumed super proportions.

To conclude, for several decades now, the magical charisma of Superman has thrilled young and old alike. In having the longevity and universal appeal across the planet that he has enjoyed, Superman certainly enlightens the world of brand building at several levels. And in bringing his massive persona to bear on the branding challenges at hand, marketing managers might just find those issues being relegated to the abject nothingness of the phantom zone.

Vinay Kanchan is a creative thinking trainer and an independent brand consultant.