"Advertising is to build recognition and brand building
is to create reputation."-Raghu B Vishwanath, MD, Vertebrand.
He is young and innovative. The sky is his limit. Meet entrepreneur
Raghu B Vishwanath, India's innovative brand consultant.
His consultancy company Vertebrand aims at getting clients'
brands to scale greater heights.
Raghu finds it challenging building brands in the advertisement
driven world. He has a clear vision of his brand building strategies
and future expansion plans.
· Is brand consulting a new concept in India? Why did you
choose this field?
I think brand consultancy is not a new concept in India.
But the concept is not handled the way it should be. Earlier,
Indian corporate giants like Bajaj and others thought that they
could create brand awareness through advertisements. But with
the advent of MNCs, brand equity gained more attention, as small
players were driven out of the market. In that sense, brand
building is not just spending money. Instead, it lies in the
way the business is done. It emphasizes the scientific way of
running a business with focus on process orientation.
· Why the name Vertebrand?
The vertebral column is important for any 'body' to stand erect.
Similarly, brand equity is essential for a business to stand
erect. That's how the name Vertebrand was born. My wife suggested
it.
· How does your company differ from other brand consultants?
What are the risks involved in venturing into new concepts?
According to me, giving a repacked thing to clients as a product
is not brand consulting. Most consultants do that by mixing
the concepts of various front-end companies like research companies,
communication and advertising agencies. But brand consulting
is more than that for me. My focus lies in integrating the activities
of those front-end agencies. Put together, I act as a bridge
in merging the vision of the top management with the actual
implementation of these multiple partners. Risks are certain
when first-timers start operating.
· How do you visualize your own role as CEO of the company?
This company is my ten-month-old baby. And I'm clear that I
cannot expect returns from it right now. It should grow; grow
in the direction that I dreamt of. In the process, I'm sure
money won't come in large quantities (in the short term). As
a CEO, I expect every Vertebrand employee to understand my concepts
and vision, and move accordingly.
· It took six years for Vertebrand to be born. Till then,
how did you manage to conceptualise brand building?
I worked with blue chip companies Titan and SmithKline Beecham.
During my tenure in those companies, I learnt how a brand should
be built. I'm indebted to those companies, which taught me a
lot about the pros and cons of brand building. These lessons
made me zero in on Vertebrand.
· What is the advantage of brand building over advertising?
Advertising is a short-term phenomenon to build recognition;
whereas, brand building is to create reputation.
· How does Vertebrand manage to cater to various clients
who run entirely different kinds of businesses?
It's like clapping with one's hands, one hand being the vision
of my client and the second being mine, coupled with those front-end
agencies.
· What should Indian brand managers/brand
consultancy firms do in order to establish themselves on par
with international branding consultancy firms?
I feel that they have to be true to the cause. They should be
prepared to stay for long without expecting short-term returns.
For this, integrity coupled with commitment is the most important
criterion. Next, they should change the attitude of the people.
Finally, Indian consultants should realize that they know the
pulse of Indian consumers better than the MNCs who have come
in to offer consultancy in this country.
· Vertebrand's kind of work needs a team that synergises
core-competencies of the entire business. How does the company
go about building such a team?
It is very critical to build a team that works on the same wavelength
as that of the team leader. Building such a team is very difficult
and it has been a nightmare for me. I would much rather people
remember the name Vertebrand, instead of the name of the founder
of Vertebrand.
· Within a year of its launch in Bangalore, Vertebrand had
established branches in Delhi and Mumbai. What are your future
expansion strategies?
Many queries came our way after the launch of our Bangalore
office. So, we thought of branching out in those two metros.
Vertebrand's Delhi and Mumbai offices are not full-fledged offices.
They are shared with some other companies since the entry cost
of these cities is comparatively higher. But after seeing the
vast business potential there and even in Hyderabad and Seattle
in US, I'm confident of establishing branch offices independently
in each of those cities in the near future.
Raghu dreams of making his company synonymous with brand consulting
and bringing it on par with the internationally acclaimed consultancy
firm McKinsey, which is famous for organizational restructuring.
Not too difficult for someone as enterprising as Raghu. After
all, nothing is impossible for those who dare to walk towards
their dreams. As the saying goes, dreams are born in the heart
and mind... and only there can they ever die, because while
the difficult takes time, the impossible just takes a little
longer.
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