Brand should have a soul and purpose: Isha Academy experts

Bengaluru: Every brand should have a purpose than having a plan as it helps in higher consumer adoption and greater acceptance among consumers, various speakers opined at the 'Brand Insight' workshop held by Isha Leadership Academy recently.

Isha Leadership Academy is the wing of Isha Foundation and is at the forefront of inducting the human element in business operations for betterment of the society.

"Instead of a plan, have a purpose. If your heart is invested in purpose, your head will generate enough plans…. Plan is a limited way to handle life, if you have a strong purpose for a fulfilled life," said Sadguru.

The workshop saw participation of around 121 business leaders from different countries, along with a few leading brand strategists in India, on brand purpose, brand positioning and branding through creative communications.

Leading strategists discussing branding strategies on the workshop 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.

The event was hosted by Anisha Motwani, brand and innovation expert, STORM the NORM Ventures. "As people, we have a soul, brand is that soul of a business," she said.

Presenting ad films of brands such as Amazon, Starbucks India, State Bank of India and others as case studies, Baruah along with Subramanian Krishnan, former Strategy Officer, TBWA India; demonstrated to the participants how positioning is about communicating to customers the benefits of engaging with a brand.

Babita Baruah, managing partner at 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.