Culture-Coding Brands For The Future

Sushma Rao Aug 26, 2021

Since early 2020, Tata Tea brands have been disrupting category codes with their culture-first approach. A series of customized regional campaigns have been released on brands including Tata Tea Premium in the North, Tata Tea Gold in the East, and Chakra Gold, Gemini and Kanan Devan in the South. Primarily, this is to celebrate the astounding diversity in our country. Additionally, the standard 'one size fits all' approach of multi-market tea brands is no longer sufficient to defend brand equity. In the face of aggressive regional competition, it’s necessary to think national, but act local. For today's leading brands to maintain memorability and affinity, balancing stature and regional resonance is vital. This pivotal strategic shift is demonstrated by Tata Tea's culture-first positioning on its marquee brands.

After more than a year of this journey, with ten regional campaigns released, it feels like a good time to pause and reflect on some of the key learnings.

One cannot just pay lip service to culture. The marketing mix must be authentic at all levels

Being a culture brand goes beyond using local celebrities or regional packaging. That trivializes culture. Product categories are shaped by non-material culture, so, a culture brand has to stay present in relevant habits, rituals, customs, etc. The same holds for insights. It’s critical to go beyond generic insights and execution devices and represent unique cultural aspects in an authentic way. Tata Tea Premium didn't just say, "India’s Tea, The Taste of Your Region" in different languages, or simply change the packaging. It curated an entire marketing mix including state-specific packaging, distinct blends to suit the taste preference of each state, communication-based on insights unique to each region, and hyper-local media choices to connect with the local audience. At every level, there is cultural authenticity in action. This is what helped amplify meaningful impact in each market.

Culture is ordinary, but ordinary needn’t mean trivial

Raymond Williams famously said, 'Culture is ordinary,' but that doesn't mean it's insignificant. It's quite the opposite. Only significant cultural nuances have the power to manifest in our ordinary daily lives. Thus, it's only when brands flourish in the ordinary that they become iconic. Tata Tea brands have tapped into the ‘extraordinary’ for regionally customized packaging to evoke regional pride and own the new positioning at a recognizable symbolic level. The positioning and messaging themselves focus on the ‘ordinary’ aspects. Tata Tea Premium took on the most common stereotypes associated with each region and Tata Tea Gold’s insight is anchored in the culture of culinary perfectionism that Bengalis strive for in their daily lives. Similarly, Chakra Gold leveraged the Tamilians’ need for celebrating traditional authenticity in daily life and Kanan Devan paid homage to Kerala’s secular fabric as demonstrated in the vibrant yet harmonious world of language and dialects.

So, it’s certainly worth looking into the arts, architecture, crafts, etc. However, the real focus should be the ordinary cultural aspects. That’s where we strive to represent our most treasured aspirations, deepest beliefs, and identities.

Cultures can’t be focus-group discussed or direct-interviewed

Consumers will draw a blank when asked, "Tell me about your culture." Because it's all so subliminal and complex, we rarely notice how we interact with cultures. Understanding it requires observation and immersion. In addition to the conventional research, it helps to empanel cultural experts. Sociologists, travel writers, regional cinema professionals, regional influencers, theatre artists, regional writers, etc.

Ironically, the need for culture brands lies within the biggest cultural shift in recent history; the shift from material consumption to information consumption. In the face of an ever-increasing abundance of messages, meaning has become increasingly elusive. Today, the only thing that can disrupt the messaging clutter is meaning. Culture-first brands have an advantage over their competitors because they're inherently hard-coded with meaning. As a result, not only will they thrive in memories and conversations, but also dominant experiences both, personal and shared.

The author is Sushma Rao, Senior Vice President, Planning, Mullen Lintas