Business is all about Branding. That may not sound the most obvious statement, but all that businesses try to do is to create a brand for themselves – numbers and profitability follow branding on their own. That precisely is why branding is at the centre of business operations. But brands do not reside in the company – brands reside in the consumers’ minds – and that precisely is why it is so tough and a tricky affair to create a brand that rocks on.

Many upstarts and of quite a few organisations that have been out there in the middle for a while dream of creating a brand as big as McDonald’s or Cadbury’s or BMW or the Rolls Royce. But brand building is no straight path to walk on. Consumer behaviour is the most unpredictable aspect in business and finding out what would click with the consumer and what could put him off is an art bordering on stuff magical.

For instance, consumers love some brands while consumers hate some brands. However, it is difficult to have the same brand being loved by all. There is practically no way that companies can hope to be in the good books of all sections of the society. It may be surprising that the most hated brand by a vast section of the population studied in a survey in the UK was McDonald’s, closely followed by TESCO, the supermarket chain that leads the show in Britain. Incidentally, another set of consumers loved the brands too!

Consumers sited that they hated coca-cola for their advertising campaigns that put them off; on the other hand, another set of consumers held that they loved the brand for their advertising campaigns! Interestingly, while one set of consumers said they hated TESCO for their shoddy customer service, another set of people said they loved TESCO for, you guessed it, their outstanding customer service!

It is clear that there are tastes and preferences that are unique to consumer traits. And consumers are all unique. Companies would score if they realise that it is futile to try to appeal to each and every possible consumer and hold themselves back to focus on what they know best and do best. To target just one section of the society or a group of people with similar traits and preferences would make businesses reap the most rewards for their marketing strategies, rather than spending business energy and efforts on trying to be all things to all people.