MullenLowe Lintas Group has launched the ‘State of States’ thought-leadership initiative in collaboration with Quantum Consumer Solutions. Through the initiative, the group aims to partner with their clients in helping create deeper meanings for brands at a local/ethnic/cultural/sub-cultural level and win in the marketplace.
India is one of the most diverse nations in the world and boasts a rich tapestry of cultures, traditions, and languages across its vast expanse. The dynamic nature of Indian society necessitates a comprehensive understanding of regional nuances to effectively engage with consumers.
Through ‘State of States’, MullenLowe Lintas Group intends to deconstruct the 30 different cultures in India to have a far deeper understanding of the respective culture codes, tensions, and shifts that are happening, to craft brands of the future. Storyboard18 caught up with S.Subramanyeswar, Group CEO – India and Chief Strategy Officer – APAC of MullenLowe Group to break down the initiative and understand its intricacies and how it will benefit India and its brands in the long run.
Edited excerpts.
State of States is an interesting initiative. Where did the idea for it come from?
‘State of States’ is an ambitious, one-of-a-kind thought-leadership initiative undertaken by MullenLowe Lintas Group with Quantum Consumer Solutions as a partner. There is a rise in ethnic nationalism or localism or even ultra localism in Indian culture (and in fact, it’s a global phenomenon too), in which identity is defined by perceived genetic, historic, religious, sub-culture or linguistic heritage beyond the democratic ideals or principles.
The heterogenous ethnic fabric of our people as consuming audience is evolving at a frenetic pace today aided by technology and new media. We felt, it’s a phenomenal opportunity that calls for a granular understanding of the shifting codes to unlock and yield real, meaningful growth for brands/businesses.
How will brands benefit from this initiative and how will it enable brand building in India?
At MullenLowe Lintas Group, we believe, brands are a phenomenon of society, culture, history, and politics, and not mere marketing constructs. Brands are magnets of meaning, and they get built with deeper meanings when they are fuelled by the historical changes and innovations at a cultural/sub-cultural level than by better mousetraps of claims or degrees of comparative propositions.
Through ‘State of States’, we are deconstructing the 30 different cultures in India to have a far deeper understanding of the respective culture codes, tensions, and shifts that are happening to craft brands of the future. There are profound identitarian ideas on every single culture, stories that will change the way brands can connect, the way they can lead, and the impact they can have on the world.
If Subbu was building a brand today, how would he leverage this initiative in his brand building process?
It’ll be a brand with flexible identity. Anchored in a timeless truth, but expressions that are timely and of terrain.
Storytelling seems to be a big part of this initiative. How important has storytelling become for a brand today and how does the State of States initiative enforce it?
Stories always have a huge value in business because they look in the right direction. At people. Brands are at their best or strongest when they serve up the story their audience expects. They delight beyond belief when the story delivers a new surprise, a touch of the familiar with a pinch of novelty. A deep and fundamental understanding of the cultures and their changing fabric in a contemporary world through ‘State of States’ will help us think in the language of a storyteller, living the proof of a culturally relevant or innovative idea, and the conversion of that idea into action – brand myths or narratives instead of or beyond strategic plans, story arcs for different forms and formats/platforms/surfaces instead of campaigns, thinking of audiences instead of consumers, thinking of characters instead of products and spokespeople or influencers, and thinking of narrative settings instead of offline/online retail environments or domains for brands. Each serves a slightly different purpose, but all of the methods or ways of thinking will help us define and memorialise our brand narratives.
What does it mean when you say, ‘winning in many India’s’? And how do you look at this?
As one of the most diverse nations in the world, India boasts a rich tapestry of cultures, traditions, and languages across its vast expanse. The country, as we know, is home to several communities, each of whom has their own distinct culture, traditions, and identity. This dynamic nature of Indian society, that makes it unique and beautiful, necessitates a comprehensive understanding of regional/local nuances to effectively engage with consumers.
The one size fits all approach to marketing or brand building does not seem to work anymore in the context of angularly rising ‘many India’s.’ We believe that at the root of every culture exists cultural gene codes and understanding the interplay between these codes and how they collide with events and narratives of today, present transformative opportunities for creating winning strategies or inspiring meaning systems for brands/businesses.
Is winning in many Indias essential for a brand to build a strong name for itself in the country today?
I believe it’s an idea whose time has come long back. It’s only getting more pronounced now as every part of the country is proudly wearing on sleeve its own culture, values, customs, and their way of leading life. This truth is here to stay and decisively shape the future of marketing and brand building in India. We are all joined together by an idea called India, but we are very different from state to state. While we are proud Indians first, we are also proud Mumbaikars, Bengalis, Punjabis, Delhiites, or Tamilians on the same plane at the same time.
In a richly diversified market such as India, a culture/sub-culture led strategy to win in many Indias offers a powerful tool for anyone – from an established brand marketer to an entrepreneur seeking mainstream success. Localising products and brand appeal, connecting with the audience in their societal context and responding with a particular cultural expression takes a brand closer to that region and pays a huge dividend.
This ideology has long been understood better outside the business world. For politicians, artists, and social activists, this way of doing things is the name of the game. It’s time brands take a leaf out of them.
And the new world of digital and personalised media aided by technology can only be an indispensable catalyst for this kind of work, in advancing the way consumers confer local cultural values on the brands they use or brand experiences they engage with.
How is Lowe benefitting from the State of States initiative?
We find our fruits in our roots. Lintas has always been known for Thought Leadership. Over the decades, we took deep sense of pride in our ability to inspire and galvanize our own people and the clients we partner to think new thoughts, modify the way they have always done things, and embark on new behaviours, new paths, and new actions to drive change and transform the brands that we serve and the world at large, through deeply resonant conversations.
A seminal study like ‘State of States’ is an original and genuine understanding that uses the expertise, insight, and experience of several deep thinkers, cultural experts, sociologists, anthropologists and reputed thought leaders. The wisdom gained out of this groundbreaking work has changed the conversations internally and with our clients. This thought leadership initiative is all about us creating lasting value for our brands and the clients that we partner, building deep-seated knowledge, and taking a stand.
We have finished 20 states so far and the rest will be done by the end of current quarter. Eventually, we envisage ourselves to becoming the ‘Cultural Portal’ of India that brands can tap into to power their growth.
Why now? Why is it the right time to launch this initiative now and why wasn’t it done before?
There is nothing like right time, in life or in business. There is just time and what you choose to do with it. As I had said, the axis of marketing and brand building is decisively shifting more and more towards regional/local. The new media fuels it further. By giving brands a creedal identity based on local/regional/ethnic creed or ideas, businesses can effectively engage with their audience and foster loyalty beyond reason.
If we could go back in time, this is where it all began. Therefore, the question of ‘why now’ actually is a quest for ‘how now’ for us. So ‘State of States’ is not a study or understanding with an end, but one that prompts a beginning.
How do you plan to popularise this initiative? What are the marketing strategies?
Our clients are aware of this pointed work and are highly receptive to the learnings and application of those on the brands. We are already seeing the positive results of the work on some of our brands. Without getting into too many details, all I can say at this point of time is that this study will be our GPS to design a multi-India strategy for brands (and not just one-India strategy). For the brand’s destination in the market place and its destiny in the world, with the new culture maps of meaning.