An evening with Ms Shazia Khan
Introduction
On Friday, January 10, 2025, we had the 178th ICFAI Wise Views Leadership conversation. The speaker was Ms Shazia Khan, a brand communication strategy specialist. She spoke about the various nuances involved in building integrated brands.
Ms Shazia Khan
Ms Shaziya Khan’s career has spanned luxury, grooming, wealth, and wellbeing brands such as De Beers, The Leela, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Zydus, Godrej, Kellogg's and industry bodies like Association of Mutual Funds of India. She is the first Indian to win the Jay Chiat Grand Prix. She has won multiple Effie and Midas awards as well as the IPA, APG award for strategy and four WPP Global Atticus Awards for 'original thinking on issues and trends shaping our industry, business and society'. Ms Khan is a guest lecturer at ISB, MICA and The Emerging India Camp organised by CII-JICA. She has been a resident Pearson Chevening Scholar at the Stirling Media Research Institute, Scotland and at Financial Times, London.
What is integration?
All successful cultural products have a number of cultural ideas working for them. A credible fit of these different ideas forms the core of integration. The following are the key elements of integration:
Ms Khan provided two examples to illustrate integration. The Harry Potter phenomenon represented the coming together of different themes: reading, magic, late night releases. Starbucks wove together different themes to create a new experience: calling out the name of the customer, sizes, blends, sample packs, seasonal innovations, etc.
By viewing the brand as a molecule, we can appreciate its dynamic, evolving nature. Individual brands make up the atoms of the molecule. They come together in ways that reflect how consumers see them.
Integration involves adaptation and interpretation for different touchpoints in the customer’s journey. It overlays objective data with subjective judgment. A good lens from which we can look at integration is as a combination of thinking, doing and feeling.
The mindset is important. If we have the right mindset, integration will follow. The integration mindset is about making the brand much bigger by being a part of something else.
To sum up, Integration involves:
- Interpretation
- Application
- Uniting
- Intermixing
- Not duplicating
- Not segregating
Case Studies
McDonald’s use of Shane Wane for celebrity endorsement
Shane Warne was the most influential cricketer in the world then. In this integrated campaign via DDB New Zealand, McDonald’s new limited edition chicken range was projected as so tasty that it sold itself. So, they didn’t really need a spokesman. The campaign became a big hit.
Dove
Integration can build empathy, chemistry and connection between the brand and the consumer. Consider how Dove soap built a strong connection with consumers. Many beauty products used super models in their ads. But these super models didn’t resemble ordinary women and made them uncomfortable about their own looks. Dove launched a billboard campaign featuring “real” women of all types, big and small, brown and black, skinny and non-skinny. The campaign helped women feel confident about their own bodies. Nowhere did the ad refer to the soap or its cleansing properties. But the soap became No 1 in its category.
Nike and Colin Kaepernick
In 2018, Nike launched a new ad campaign at a time when the nation was polarized due to increased racism, police brutality, and social injustice. Nike drew a great deal of attention with its new campaign strategy that showed support for black communities, athletes, and civil liberties proponents. The ad featured professional football player and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick, best known for taking a knee during an NFL game’s national anthem to protest social injustice and police brutality. The advertisement began with a quote that stated “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” When Nike released the 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign, it was taking a calculated risk. Nike execs knew how Kaepernick’s high profile protest might rub some of its consumers the wrong way. Yet they moved forward.
Crisis: HSBC and Brexit
During Brexit, HSBC launched an advertising campaign that claimed the UK "is not an island". Thousands of people reacted on social media, with some claiming the adverts were anti-Brexit. However, HSBC maintained the campaign was "not about Brexit". The agency, JWT, explained that the work was in response to the current "atmosphere" and to remind people that we are all global citizens "whatever the political climate"
Agenda: Mutual Funds Sahi Hai campaign for wealth creation
“Mutual Fund Sahi Hai” is a campaign by the AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India) to position mutual funds as a preferred investment option for potential investors. With everyday situations as a backdrop, the campaign promotes mutual funds as the right investment option for prospective investors. The campaign has attempted to educate the common public about mutual funds and dismisses the myths around them. In multiple languages, the campaign was launched in 2017 in different media such as TV, digital, radio, print, outdoor, and cinema. Within one year of the campaign launch, 50 lakh new investors started investing in mutual funds.
DIY solutions: TOI
In the early days of the pandemic, there was a shortage of masks in the country. The Times of India explained to people how to make masks using clothes at home. This kind of integration can create a sense of participation among the audience.
Technology: Paints
The ad shows a customer speaking about her preferred colour, e.g. crystal colour Caribbean Sea. AI generates the shade which can be customized further.
Q&A
Low attention span: The message must be simple for people to understand quickly in a world where people are distracted by multiple gadgets.
Nuanced: The message should be something nuanced with depth and meaning that resonates with people in a world where awareness levels are high.
Entertainment value: The message must be delivered cheerfully in a light-hearted way. Gamification and other forms of engagement can be useful here.
Each of these drivers is demanding. The challenge is to bring them together.
Ultimately, this is dictated by the customer. It is not the brand’s history or best practices which matter. What matters is what the customer thinks.
Ms Khan once developed a campaign for De Beers in a wedding context: diamonds to be worn by brides during weddings. After the solution was developed, Ms Khan was in for a rude shock. A young bride from North India made it clear that she would not wear diamond jewellery even if she were given lakhs of rupees. Her logic was that all the outfits and accessories had gold embroidery. The white colour of diamonds would just not go with them.
Ms Khan was forced to change track. She realized that it was important to go to the garment designers and design outfits that would support diamond jewellery. That is how a new genre of wedding dresses was created and the campaign succeeded.
Ms Khan summed up that the enemy of success is not failure but past success. Every situation is different. There is no perfect analogy. We cannot go blindly by precedent. We must listen to the customer, understand the situation and allow this understanding to help us move forward.
Actions speak louder than words. More than intent or polices, if we do something, people will notice it. We will be able to inspire trust.
In a hospitality company, a security guard was promoted to waiter because of his obliging attitude and smile. He did not speak much as he did not know the local language. But the management felt that with his great attitude, he could be trained.
While talking to the waiters, Ms Khan saw that this particular waiter was quiet. But the others around him were very happy. They felt good that the management was watching them, evaluating their strengths and thinking of their career advancement.
It is all fine to talk of inclusion and draft policies. But employees are looking for more than policies. They want to be part of informal discussions.
About 70% of customers expect brands to address problems. For example, during floods, guidance can be provided to people. There is trust in words and trust in actions. By stepping up and taking action, even if small, brands can gain a competitive edge. Young people are constantly checking what is being said. Doing something good is a sure way of getting noticed.
Financial services can impact lives. India is well positioned for such an impact. Senior citizens, women and young people are all taking interest in investing. We are seeing changing attitudes. These days, all the family members are taking responsibility for managing the finances. This is where “Mutual Funds Sahi Hai” (as opposed to “Mutual funds are subject to market risk” slogan.) has proved to be a landmark campaign.
Paperwork in the form of brand documents can be used to create the guard rails. People will become clear on what the brand is about, its core, etc. But even more important, it is a good practice to bring together all the people on Day 1. This builds a sense of ownership and ensures that hearts and minds are aligned in one direction. We should keep the communication channels open, build bridges across teams and go the extra mile to include people in such meetings. We should give them the space to express their views. Eventually, they will come on board.
One is to separate the signals from the noise. Often the best way to do this is by keeping our ear close to the customer. Ms Khan gave the examples of two campaigns, where she made a strong recommendation to change the target audience. Normally, this is never done. Initially, there was resistance from the client. But as Ms Khan presented her arguments, people realized they had made a mistake.
Past success is the enemy of future success. As leaders, for at least 5-10% of our time, we should do things we have not done before. This will keep us learning oriented and curious and generate new energy. We tend to flex what has worked for us. Occasionally, we must try something new, stumble and fumble and learn the ropes.
Ms Khan gave the example of the book ( Have Biscut: An ode to sweet everyday moments ) she wrote. She did not fancy herself as a writer. She began writing a few articles. And over time, the book emerged. Most of us do not know ourselves well. In the Johari window, this is referred to as the unknown unknown. When we pursue a secondary interest, our core skills also get strengthened. This is what creativity gurus teach us. We must immerse ourselves in a problem but then move away and do something else. This boosts our creativity and should not be considered a waste of time.