Opinion: Brand salience defines success, not market share

The means are as important as the end. We were taught this in school. Social scientists and strategists have espoused the same for sustainable structures, societies or businesses. Yet, why do leaders in the automobile world always obsess about the end rather than the means? Why do they only talk about market shares at motor shows?

In more than two decades of being associated with the automobile industry and following motor shows, I have never come across any automaker saying, “We wish to be the most respected brand in this / that market.” Or, “We wish to focus on advocacy as the core mantra for our brand.”

Why this continuing obsession with the end. A few bosses have justified it as the only way for the general world to judge intent and for the analysts to measure performance. If you announce a market share target or the number of new vehicles on the anvil, it is easy to comprehend. Also, the network gets motivated by numbers. Sure, but do goals like customer delight, advocacy, respect and repeat visits not make sense? No, according to them. They are too “airy”. The highest-selling vehicle need not be the best in customer service, highest in advocacy, or even be from the most aspirational brand. 

As a marketer, I beg to totally differ. This is about a larger experiential ecosystem that includes aspiration, service, satisfaction, delight and advocacy. The product cannot win your battles in isolation. Overall brand salience does. And that is an outcome of factors and measures much more and beyond ‘product performance’. Market share is the outcome of what was done yesterday and not an indicator of what it will do tomorrow. 

Brands like Toyota, TVS and Maruti Suzuki have proven that obsessing with the means pays big dividends in the long run across markets. Focusing on core aspects like satisfaction, delight and overall brand salience has brought them to where they are today.   

This is true more so in tomorrow’s world, where the consumer of the brand is not necessarily the customer. One need not buy a product to have an opinion on it and share the same. Omni-channel consumption outstrips transaction. Consumption creates advocacy, which fuels aspiration and, finally, adoption. 

That is the means which will lead to a certain share. Your best advocate need not be your customer at all. So, change focus. Aim to be India’s most respected brand, or the most aspirational, or the most advocated. Focus on salience. Share will naturally follow.