Over time brands have grown to do more with identity than identification. We have integrated brands in our personal lives in terms of status indicators and trust in quality. Even still it is almost ironic how we claim to love or be loyal to a brand without having any clues about those who introduced the brand and created its image as we see it.
Taking my own case; as soon as I started having a say in what I wanted to wear, I was obsessed with buying my clothes from Pantaloons. The Brands like Allen Solly and Van Heusen started taking premium position in my wardrobe when I started working and the shopping destination for my father’s gifts became Peter England and Louis Philippe.
There is one particular story that played out in my family almost like an advertisement. Along with being a Civil Contractor, my father is also a perfectionist. It was sometime during the summer of 2010, an eventful time for my family owing to the ruckus of the ongoing construction of our new and first house. My father who was overlooking the work one day came home looking a little stressed and as he sat in the living room with his eyes closed, my mother inquired if everything was alright. He opened his eyes and said that we might have to halt the construction for a couple of days, the reason being, Ultra Tech Cement was to be ordered and it was going to take two to three days to reach the site. When my mother asked if any other cement would do, my father just looked at her in a way that said how compromise on that was out of question. I, a mute observer of the exchange was perplexed by the kind of Brand loyalty that Ultra Tech had created.
When we take a step back to look at the whole picture it becomes glaringly clear how my preferences, choices and essentially lifestyle was being modeled by one Business group; Aditya Birla Group. Aditya Birla Group has been present in all the basic essential commodity market;
“ Roti,Kapda,Makaan” as so crisply coined by the Indian cinema.
Working for Self improvement
I was always that kid in the class who had the answers but would not give them unless they were enticed from me. More frequently than not you’d find me sitting alone in the lectures and breaks. Socializing, making friends was a challenge whose importance and seriousness I realized in later stages of life. Having answers is never enough when nobody has the time of the day to elicit it from you in this excessively competitive world. Being able to present them convincingly was a more desired skill.
I knew I had methodical thinking and planning in my strengths and I put all that into working towards gathering confidence, being expressive and forging friendships. I planned to take one tiny step at a time like looking people in the eyes, smiling and waving instead of ducking and rushing past people. I gradually set tougher targets from initiating conversations to volunteering to give answers in front of an audience. I also worked on the external factors that induced confidence like smart dressing and communication skills.
Initially it was difficult to push the boundaries of my comfort zone but once I started feeling confident that I had acquired people who care about me and I traversed the journey from a quiet backbencher to IIFT, these changes started working as incentives to stay motivated and connected to the people surrounding me.
Challenges are a never ending part of life but overcoming one gives the confidence of facing the next.
“Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.”
– E.B. White