Story is the product:Why brands lose momentum despite good initial traction?

Authored by Aditi Johari, Account Director, Value360 Communications India.

In 2017, as a keynote speaker in a gathering of marketers and PR professionals from across the country, Arunachalam Muruganantham, known as India’s Padman, boldly claimed that the entire profession of PR and marketing was superfluous. Why? Because he believed that good products do not need marketing. His product had stood out, after all, and was performing quite well without any marketing spending. To him, the product was the story, and that was that.

I think he had it the wrong way around.

The PR Effect: Why start-ups need an unrelenting focus on their brand stories

It is easy to see how Mr. Muruganantham mistook correlation for causation. Yes, his product did well, as it should have, given that it addressed a major need-gap: affordable, easily accessible menstrual hygiene products for rural and semi-urban woman. But the reason it received widespread recognition was because of the story.

And, if we look closely enough, we will realize that Padman story has grown and evolved over time. The narrative has shifted; it is no longer about the struggles of a man looking to provide his wife with healthier feminine hygiene alternatives. Instead, Mr. Muruganantham’s project has turned into a visionary initiative that, in his own words, is enabling millions of Indian women to live with dignity while also providing them with a source of employment.

Many start-ups tend to forget the latter part that they need to consistently put in the graft to build and control their brand narrative. As a result, despite good initial traction, they fail to sustain the traction and struggle to control how the organization and its products/ services are perceived in public.

But sustaining traction is easier said than done. A recent IBM report revealed that 90% of Indian start-ups fail within the first five years. While the reasons often range from weak management to poor product strategy to a lack of investor support, it cannot be denied that an inadequate focus on brand narrative can also play a role. After all, unless a company manages to create a community of people who care about the brand and its mission, how can it expect to sustain the momentum beyond the initial growth spurt?

This is precisely where PR steps into the picture by helping start-ups think beyond the product launch and initial market response. As the product becomes more and more popular, the story becomes the brand. Interest in it can only be sustained by creating and managing a positive brand narrative. PR works on creating strong ties between the company and its various stakeholders – in the public domain, in the media, within the investor community, among industry experts, or the end-consumers – by using different channels and tactics to infuse meaning into the life of a brand.

The case of Elon Musk is a great example of PR done well. Hailed as a visionary innovator, Elon Musk falls into the archetype of a mad genius as the founder of cutting-edge companies such as Tesla Motors and PayPal. However, what most people fail to realise is that he was not the founder at either; he acquired Tesla from its founders in 2008 while he joined the famed PayPal Mafia after X.com was merged with Confinity. Each time he does an interview or posts on social media, the ‘Musk’ narrative becomes even more firmly entrenched in the public’s eye. His story becomes more compelling and aspirational for his fans, establishing him as an icon within the global business community.

The lesson for start-ups, here, is clear. In an increasingly connected world, consumer communities have become more vocal and participative. They want to engage with brands they trust and have an emotional connect with. Founders and executives, therefore, need to focus on telling their customer why they are making the product besides the product itself. How? By regularly engaging with the communities through media, and not just during or around product launches. Your brand’s story is an active process. As Dr Who reminds us, “We are all stories in the end. Make it a good one.”