Snake charmers talk of engagements, successful companies talk of gratifying customers

Only a few buzzwords tend to make sense in long run, such as brand equity and balanced scorecard, and the rest tend to get popular because they create some noise in the mind. Brand engagement is one such word. Engagement tend to limit the focus only on communication and you feel satisfied that you have moved ahead from getting attention to your communication to engaging the customers with it. However, when the moment of engagement passes away, the customer will walk away, the same way as the crowd gathered to see a dancing snake does. However, the customer won’t forget if they get real value from the company because this is what compensates the pain of parting with the money. I love the slogan of Interbrand, which is Creating and managing brand value. It is because the core motive of the business is to build ‘value’ of the brand in tangible and intangible means, and this can only be achieved by adding value to the lives of customers. In the absence of the value addition through product innovation, design, pricing, experience, associations, the brand engagement becomes only a trickster’s job.