Volume 15, Number 3 Article by Shombit Sengupta September, 2003
Connecting With the Customer :
Artist, designer and brand guru Shombit Sengupta talks of the importance of innovation in the fil conducteur or unique driving nerve of an organisation, the thread that links the organisation’s core expertise with the rational and functional deliverables of its products, leading to an emotional surplus, a value beyond the customer’s expectation
But before innovating, an organisation must renovate its vital bread-and-butter products, matching their product character and mystique with contemporary socio-cultural taste. With customer relevant innovation, the cycle of short term and long-term vision will be complete. In order for customers to make the essential leap from price to quality sensitivity, products must differentiate themselves to be in the aspirational zone; organisations must also work at projecting their products to an ‘orgasmic’ platform rather than a routine consumption platform
A customer’s purchase decision always comes from the synthesis of his or her senses with respect to the psychological, sociological and historical aspects and organisations must get a foot in through the door to this private space. This will help them energise the dead cells of their brands with added functional and rational substance – locate the fil conducteur and thus establish the new identity which transcends heritage and blends it with the latent potentral.
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