Rely More On Symbols

Possessed with an inquisitive mind, and a penchant for colourful shirts and ties, Shombit R. Sengupta comes through as a thinker-designer. After his studies at Calcutta's Art College, 23-year old Sengupta left for Paris on a tourist visa, with eight dollars in his pocket. 24 years later, Sengupta's Shining Strategic Design has dazzled the West his clients include Danone, Cadbury Schweppes, Nestle, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Nivea and Henkel among others.

The Strategist spoke to this spiritual strategist, designer and artist, who has returned to his roots and counts Britannia, Marico, and Lakme among his clients.

Q: You have been instrumental in selecting brand names. How do consumers tend to perceive names even the ones which do not seem to mean anything apparently like Compaq?

 

A: The name selection is done through extensive market research and by analysing consumer behaviour. The selection of name depends upon the type of product. It depends totally on the reaction in the consumer market and the competitive pressures in the market.

Take for example, IBM. International Business Machines stood for big computers. Then came Apple. Now Apple, unlike International Business Machines, does not associate well with computers. But as you think more and more about the name Apple, it communicates genius. The discovery of gravitational force being associated with it. So there is a small correlation somewhere which becomes big as the brand does too.

Coming to Compaq. Superfically, it means very little. But it does denote something compact, something which holds various things together. So in that sense it is something meaningful.

Q: In the Indian context, is the name selection more intricate, given that there a multitude of languages?

A: Why do you always need the name. One can also use a symbol. Go back to the Apple example. The symbol of Apple says everything. Symbol also is a language. Look at Michelin, the tyre manufacturer. They have just a symbol. And it does not matter which part of the world you are from, a consumer can recognise the brand from that symbol and know that Michelin is present in India. In a country like India brands should rely more on symbols.

Q: Are you saying that in India, companies should use the visual element more?

A: Yes. There is a condition though, visual should talk all the benefits and values of the brand. This can act as a compensator for the language problem.

Q: There is another issue with the visuals. It is easy to own a graphic rather than a colour. How do you own a colour?

A: It is definitely tough. You have to find out how the consumers decode graphics. It is not so much about colour. You also have to find out what the consumers need in the market and what is the new idea that you will bring. If your idea, the consumers need and the products value combined together talks to the consumer then colour becomes very powerful. But it is not the colour itself which is powerful.

Q: But if you see a red and white, it almost automatically means coke...

A: No. Not necessarily. The red and white also represents Cartier. The way red is utilised in Cartier is totally different though. In the aerated drinks market red may stand for Coke, but still they are suffering. Coke is suffering. So that is why they are coming out with a new campaign based on the symbol the Coke bottle.

And even if one goes for a colour-based strategy, one colour is not enough. You have to mix it with one or two colours for some graphic solution to achieve visual identity. So it really depends on how you are able to understand the alchemy and combine colour and graphics together.

Q: If you were to select a brand where the alchemy has worked, which would be it?

A: Lifebuoy is good example. But they dont explore fully what the value of the brand is. They do not explore fully the value of the excellence. When you think about Lifebuoy there could be lots of benefit there the symbol, the value etc. Lifebuoy is a very basic product and is value for money. And the graphic to some extent does communicate that.

Q: One of tasks of a package design, in the west, would be make the brand stand out in the supermarket shelves. In India the purchase experience is quite different. What modifications then, need to be made in the design task?

A: It is very simple. You just have to find out what kind of shops are in India and then from there how one can make the shelf impact according to Indian values. I can speak about Britttanias Tiger brand which has just been launched. And one can see from a distance that a new biscuit has been launched.

I think the problem in India is that there are too many products on the limited shelf space which are not very unique products. Too many soaps with the same repetitive theme. I think in times to come, this trend will be destroyed. And you will see more and more products with strong values.

This is also a matter of how you organise the markets. Another example of shelf impact that can be achieved is through the redesigned Parachute which is out in the market now.

Q: As someone who has studied consumer behaviour, what would you say about the Indian consumer?

A: The issue here is that India was a protected market for the last fifty years. Therefore, the consumers mind has not developed in the way as it is in the West. Lack of choices did not allow this to happen.

After a couple of years, the Indian consumer too will think the same way. But till then the consumers need will have to be understood and what will bring value to him.

Q: For eaxmple, it is said that the Indian consumer is price sensitive. Quite a few MNCs like Reebok, Kellogs have had an uphill battle to wage...

A: Well nobody understood why the Indian consumers should patronise Reebok. In India if you walk on the streets with a good sandal, it is fantasyland. And why they should pay for a pair of Reebok. In any case, what is the meaning of Reebok? For example, in Europe you have different types of gardens, so one needs different kinds of shoes. This is too sophisticated for the Indian consumer.

In contrast, take Ariel. It is working. While Ariel costs Rs 55 per kg, Nirma costs Rs 20 per kg. Still Ariel is doing well. It has been able to communicate that value.

It is not necessary for all the brands in the world to be present in India. What will Reebok do in Indi.a? In fact if they can make good shoes for the farmers, that will perhaps work better. Afterall Reebok may do well in the four metros. Beyond these cities, even if the consumers get a locally made shoe in which they can run and walk they will be happy.

That Reebok value has to be brought in. The problem with the international companies is that they think that if a thing worked elsewhere, it will work in India. It will not.

If they could understand the need of the Indian consumers and provide some products, perhaps they would be more successful.

Same thing happened with Kellogs. They thought wherever people speak English, the concept of breakfast would hold. India is all about nashta. And nashta is chai and roti.

Q: But you said a while ago that the Indian consumer is developing and in a few years should achieve western levels?

A: Yes, but they are developing in their own context. Why should they move towards the European context? When they are developing in their own context, they will say, I want a better soap, I want a good shampoo with an Indian fragrance. Their choices will reflect their Indianness. But out of this if you ask them about why they want a better shampoo, they will say, because of vitamins. The medium may change but the end-result that they want is the same thing.

Q: The brand stands for a promise which is consistent overtime. What is the role of design there?

A: I will illustrate that through an example Brittania. First we came up with a corporate statement: Eat healthy, think better. So the whole company should be centred around this statement.

Brittania has launched Tiger, a glucose biscuit for Rs 3. Now such a biscuit has to connote the presence of calcium. The red colour on the package communicates many things. One is strength and the other is energy.

Q: You have mentioned quite often about the need for spirituality in design. What do you mean by this and how is this different across regions?

A: It is very difficult to talk about this. See, when ever you consume something for your body, it is a spiritual act. You are nurturing yourself. For Indians the significance of anna is quite self-explanatory.

If you put the food in a package you are giving respect to your food. You are honouring it. But in Europe food has become a part of everyday life and in that sense a marketeable commodity. But I tried to clarify to them that food in itself may be a commodity, but the end point is not a commodity.

When you eat a product you put away the packet in a bin, but if you cant keep in mind some of the value of the food that you ate to bring you prosperity in the future then the product has not done its job.

So with the idea of Eat healthy, think better, you trying to liberate your body to think better with hunger you cannot. Therefore, I think that the spiritual value of a consumer product is more important than just pleasure.

The products that I created fifteen years ago, are still outstanding. This is because the product contained the future value even at its inception. I was not just talking yoghurt and biscuit.

But in Brittanias case the task was to communicate the whole force of calcium for children better through a tiger. If the design shows a real tiger then it is meaningless. It will just scare the children away. But in this interpretation the child himself becomes the tiger. In this way one builds a communication strategy where perception has some more value.

Q: When it comes to food, the spirituality can be understood. You have done work for Total motor oil, is there a spirituality in the design even there?

A: Spirituality is not a marketing method. I am not even saying that a motor oil has spirituality. But yes there are some values. I can point out that ergonomically, there is a spiritual value in the package design of the motor oil.

(Referring to the picture of Total motor oil). When you pour oil in your vehicle it tends to drip down the nozzle and possibly even on your clothes. In this package when you pour out the oil, it does not run down the nozzle sides. This ergonomic design is then giving some mental benefit to the consumer. The consumer avoids spilling oil on his own body.

We tried to communicate something from going ahead, instead of technology talks which the company was trying to bring out. So we tried to communicate progressiveness, trying to go ahead, or movement, because when you drive a car you think about proceeding ahead at least in the European context.

If I was to do the design in India, I would probably take a different angle based on economy and other such criterion, but in Europe the purpose of the motor oil is to move fast.

Q: There is a problem of counterfeits and fakes in the Indian market. How can design be used to tackle that?

A: When the marketer who is working towards building a brand, or a corporate identity does not put all the ingredients to make it unique that is always a problem. For example, in India you find ten different products in the same category you will not find any value of uniqueness. If you can combine quality, value and image together then nobody can copy you.

You have to create the authentic value from the original. Value does not mean nice design, or beautiful packaging. If the value is communicated properly, then slowly the consumer starts associating with the colour and the symbols and then the brand can start destroying the generic competition.

Then the unroganised market will start thinking how they can bring value to the market. Otherwise they wont be able to stay in the market.

Q: Can you treat the corporation as a brand while doing a corporate identity campaign?

A: It depends on the kind of corporation you are talking about. If the corporation is linked to an institution like Brittania then it is not the same. It will depend upon the kind of audience. If the audience is large then you have to consider it (the corporation) as a product. If the audience is small the you have to work with a different angle. One is a consumer focused approach and the other is customer-focused. Here the definition of consumer and customer come into play. While consumer means large, customer denotes small.

Brittania is an example. It is an institution and also listed on the stock markets. So you have what I call, consumer-oriented brand corporation.

Q: You talk about consumer-oriented brand corporation. What about finance companies like IDBI or ICICI?

A: Well, in the India, the finance companies work more for the mass market rather than the institution. If a finance company is helping middle income groups purchase automobiles then it has to develop its identity for the mass market. It cannot develop its identity conservatively to appeal to a small market.

But all the work that we do as a design company comes to nought if the corporation does not have long-term vision.

Q: Would you comment on LGs current corporate campaign?

A; I do not know about LGs presence in India but I believe they are very consumer-oriented. Even if you look at LGs logo, it looks like a human face. This I believe is the right way because today you cannot build an institution without paying proper attention to the human factor.

This is really a reflection on changing times. The corporation with its institutional style, very black and white, is going away. Today it has become much more friendly. This is because the corporations have to communicate to a vareity of audiences. And to talk, you need language. And as far as language as a communication tool is concerned, symbols are far more easy to relate to.

I can tell you that by 2020 nobody will talk about money, they are going to talk about the value that can be created.

Q: Do think in any particular part of the world, these human elements are being incorpofrated into the corporation more rapidly?

A: It is happening all over the world. Even if you see the Coca Cola Companys brochure, you will see how they call themselves an international rather than an American company and that they love the world people.

The companies which have a good vision will always think about the people and the human element of their enterprise.

In terms of geographical spread, the German companies have not done much but the Japanese companies have taken a humanistic view. For example the Toyota companys T symbol which looks like a planet. It denotes their desire to travel throughout the world.

Q: Does the perception of symbol vary across gender?

A: In product categories like food it does not vary, but in personal care products it does. If you want to communicate more calcium, the symbol has to be more masculine than feminine no doubt.

But on the other hand if the brand has to communicate softness, then design is obvious. Men are definitely not considered soft. But again there are no formulae. Let us say you have to do the design on a shaving cream. The design has to be masculine. But if the company wants to communicate some softness in the shaving cream then may be you need 20 per cent feminine element too.

I think we are going to see more and more feminine elements in package design. Even in products. I think we have become more feminine over time.

Q: Why is this?

A: I think after the last Great War, the association of power with aggression has disappeared. Today, women have become an inseparable part of mens lives. In fact if you look at the last half century women power has become very strong.

Q: As designer do you think the rise of feminity makes your job more intricate?

A: I think we are treading on dangerous ground here. Men have a very statistical knowledge and pragmatic approach. But womens knowledge is more symbolic and more value for money. And women are more spiritual. I think that men are physical and women are more mental.

The contrast really comes in sharply because women can become very physical if they want to, but men cannot become mental in the way women are. It is impossible. As a result design work has become more subtle and intricate.n

(Turn to Page 6 for an insight into Senguptas Indian assignments).

The companies which have a good vision will always think about the people and the human element of their enterprise.