uo;, I have referred to the counterfeit market in India which is estimated to be worth more than $2billion and is almost growing at a rate of over 20% per annum. A majority of this counterfeit market comprises of those small businesses that produce quality products but are unable to brand and market themselves on their own. However, before we start labelling such businesses as ‘cheaters’ or ‘counterfeiters’ it is important to understand the reasons why most small players resort to such activities. I don’t deny that there must be a portion of this community which resorts to such activities only because they can make some big bucks, but by and large small businesses are usually victims of the market forces and lack oIt has been often noted than small businesses are the driving force behind the large number of innovations that contribute to growth of a national economy through employment creation, investments and export. But the fact that they don’t have the money or the bandwidth to carry out strong marketing programmes has always kept them in the dark corner of an economic society. Comprising nearly two thirds of the enterprises in India, small businesses have never been given the opportunity to come into the limelight. As India becomes the playground for the world, these small businesses across various industries now seem to be ignored much more than ever before. Suddenly with the liberalisation of trade and the opening up of our economy we all seem to have started talking the ‘brand language’. The Guccis and the Sonys of the world is all what we hear and read across the media. Why don’t we talk about the millions of small businesses that form the backbone of the bustling Indian economy? Is it because they are still considered as back-end workhorses, manufacturing goods cheaply for the large corporations or is it because they have not been able to establish a brand presence on their own?

In a situation like this, the only way in which smaller businesses can scale up and face the growing challenges in the market today is by coming together in the form of what I call as a ‘branded community’.

Professor Al Muniz has been documenting hundreds of examples of brand communities, from rock bands (Tom Petty and Lifehouse), TV shows (Star Trek and Xena Warrior Princess), cars (Ford Broncos and Saab) and artists (Van Gogh and Jackson Pollock) to authors (Shakespeare and Jack Kerouac), computers (Apple Macintosh), movies (Star Wars) and beverages (Coca-Cola), in order to study the phenomenon. However, his study is about understanding branded communities from a consumers’ perspective rather than that of a seller or a manufacturer. In this article, I aim to throw some light on the later by discussing how small businesses operating in the same industry, manufacturing and selling similar products can come together and form an alliance to ultimately brand themselves as a community. This will not only develop a strong reputational value but also maximise their returns and enhance profitability.

I conceived the concept of a branded community in the light of the fact that small businesses are often being judged against larger brands. Unlike large corporations, small businesses do not have the financial resources to carry out strong marketing activities. Hence, most of these businesses often seem to approach the route of ‘brand imitation’. This is usually in the form of using names or marks which are similar to the already well known brands or an incorporation of some well known signs in their own brand names. In my article “Counterfeit Branding – Representing True Globalisation”, I have referred to the counterfeit market in India which is estimated to be worth more than $2billion and is almost growing at a rate of over 20% per annum. A majority of this counterfeit market comprises of those small businesses that produce quality products but are unable to brand and market themselves on their own. However, before we start labelling such businesses as ‘cheaters’ or ‘counterfeiters’ it is important to understand the reasons why most small players resort to such activities. I don’t deny that there must be a portion of this community which resorts to such activities only because they can make some big bucks, but by and large small businesses are usually victims of the market forces and lack o

have started talking the ‘brand language’. The Guccis and the Sonys of the world is all what we hear and read across the media. Why don’t we talk about the millions of small businesses that form the backbone of the bustling Indian economy? Is it because they are still considered as back-end workhorses, manufacturing goods cheaply for the large corporations or is it because they have not been able to establish a brand presence on their own?

In a situation like this, the only way in which smaller businesses can scale up and face the growing challenges in the market today is by coming together in the form of what I call as a ‘branded community’.

Professor Al Muniz has been documenting hundreds of examples of brand communities, from rock bands (Tom Petty and Lifehouse), TV shows (Star Trek and Xena Warrior Princess), cars (Ford Broncos and Saab) and artists (Van Gogh and Jackson Pollock) to authors (Shakespeare and Jack Kerouac), computers (Apple Macintosh), movies (Star Wars) and beverages (Coca-Cola), in order to study the phenomenon. However, his study is about understanding branded communities from a consumers’ perspective rather than that of a seller or a manufacturer. In this article, I aim to throw some light on the later by discussing how small businesses operating in the same industry, manufacturing and selling similar products can come together and form an alliance to ultimately brand themselves as a community. This will not only develop a strong reputational value but also maximise their returns and enhance profitability.

I conceived the concept of a branded community in the light of the fact that small businesses are often being judged against larger brands. Unlike large corporations, small businesses do not have the financial resources to carry out strong marketing activities. Hence, most of these businesses often seem to approach the route of ‘brand imitation’. This is usually in the form of using names or marks which are similar to the already well known brands or an incorporation of some well known signs in their own brand names. In my article “Counterfeit Branding – Representing True Globalisation”, I have referred to the counterfeit market in India which is estimated to be worth more than $2billion and is almost growing at a rate of over 20% per annum. A majority of this counterfeit market comprises of those small businesses that produce quality products but are unable to brand and market themselves on their own. However, before we start labelling such businesses as ‘cheaters’ or ‘counterfeiters’ it is important to understand the reasons why most small players resort to such activities. I don’t deny that there must be a portion of this community which resorts to such activities only because they can make some big bucks, but by and large small businesses are usually victims of the market forces and lack o

of examples of brand communities, from rock bands (Tom Petty and Lifehouse), TV shows (Star Trek and Xena Warrior Princess), cars (Ford Broncos and Saab) and artists (Van Gogh and Jackson Pollock) to authors (Shakespeare and Jack Kerouac), computers (Apple Macintosh), movies (Star Wars) and beverages (Coca-Cola), in order to study the phenomenon. However, his study is about understanding branded communities from a consumers’ perspective rather than that of a seller or a manufacturer. In this article, I aim to throw some light on the later by discussing how small businesses operating in the same industry, manufacturing and selling similar products can come together and form an alliance to ultimately brand themselves as a community. This will not only develop a strong reputational value but also maximise their returns and enhance profitability.

I conceived the concept of a branded community in the light of the fact that small businesses are often being judged against larger brands. Unlike large corporations, small businesses do not have the financial resources to carry out strong marketing activities. Hence, most of these businesses often seem to approach the route of ‘brand imitation’. This is usually in the form of using names or marks which are similar to the already well known brands or an incorporation of some well known signs in their own brand names. In my article “Counterfeit Branding – Representing True Globalisation”, I have referred to the counterfeit market in India which is estimated to be worth more than $2billion and is almost growing at a rate of over 20% per annum. A majority of this counterfeit market comprises of those small businesses that produce quality products but are unable to brand and market themselves on their own. However, before we start labelling such businesses as ‘cheaters’ or ‘counterfeiters’ it is important to understand the reasons why most small players resort to such activities. I don’t deny that there must be a portion of this community which resorts to such activities only because they can make some big bucks, but by and large small businesses are usually victims of the market forces and lack o

s a community. This will not only develop a strong reputational value but also maximise their returns and enhance profitability.

I conceived the concept of a branded community in the light of the fact that small businesses are often being judged against larger brands. Unlike large corporations, small businesses do not have the financial resources to carry out strong marketing activities. Hence, most of these businesses often seem to approach the route of ‘brand imitation’. This is usually in the form of using names or marks which are similar to the already well known brands or an incorporation of some well known signs in their own brand names. In my article “Counterfeit Branding – Representing True Globalisation”, I have referred to the counterfeit market in India which is estimated to be worth more than $2billion and is almost growing at a rate of over 20% per annum. A majority of this counterfeit market comprises of those small businesses that produce quality products but are unable to brand and market themselves on their own. However, before we start labelling such businesses as ‘cheaters’ or ‘counterfeiters’ it is important to understand the reasons why most small players resort to such activities. I don’t deny that there must be a portion of this community which resorts to such activities only because they can make some big bucks, but by and large small businesses are usually victims of the market forces and lack o

uo;, I have referred to the counterfeit market in India which is estimated to be worth more than $2billion and is almost growing at a rate of over 20% per annum. A majority of this counterfeit market comprises of those small businesses that produce quality products but are unable to brand and market themselves on their own. However, before we start labelling such businesses as ‘cheaters’ or ‘counterfeiters’ it is important to understand the reasons why most small players resort to such activities. I don’t deny that there must be a portion of this community which resorts to such activities only because they can make some big bucks, but by and large small businesses are usually victims of the market forces and lack of financial resources. Hence, resorting to counterfeiting seems the only hope of survival. If these small players can be given the right guidance to understand how to create and develop their own brands, my guess is that over a period of time the value of the counterfeit market in India would go down by a half.

So what’s stopping marketing and brand experts to help small businesses establish innovative and commercially viable brand names for their products and services? Is it because experts either don’t want to waste their time working with smaller companies or is it because there is no attractive financial return at the end of a consulting project? Well, whatever the reason I’ll leave it for the marketing experts to decide for themselves. The point I am trying to make here is that if small businesses in India can be educated about the importance of brand and image building in enhancing competitiveness, be introduced to strategies for developing brand names and be provided with an opportunity to learn from those who have been successful in this aspect, we might well find some of these small businesses churning our global brands much faster than the large established organisations in the market.

A branded community can be defined as a “group of specialised non-geographically bound manufacturers which share a strong sense of unity and a common vision for establishing a robust brand presence in the market”. Each and every member of the community at first must believe that creating a strong brand is the only way in which it can compete with the big daddys in the market. Having said that, the group members must then roll out a plan to create a well defined brand proposition strategy which is aligned with the key objectives of the community as a whole. The next step would then be to identify the key process initiatives that need to be undertaken and develop metrics to assess the successful implementation of each. Finally, what this will result into is a strong brand driven community which can independently operate in the form of an organisation.

A final note of caution. It is possible that small businesses can also fail to develop branded communities by forcing them to happen. As each branded community will be unique and specialised in the way they manifest, each member will also differ in terms of the way it functions on a day-to-day basis. In such a situation conflicts may arise. To avoid this, group members must compromise, be willing to overcome their personal interests and look at the bigger picture. In sum, I’d like to quote what Mr Henry Ford once very rightly said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”

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