Gaddafi lessons for brand building

I still remember the thoughts that crossed my mind on the day that Harvard University announced the top 50 candidates for the 2011 Global Leaders in Development forum. The excitement was high, but then again the commitment to me personally in Sri Lanka made it a catch 22 decision.

The decision was tougher, given that I had gone through the mill of working in the field as a sales rep and then working on brand marketing into general management which had this multitude of global training that sure made one wonder why one has to spend such long periods away in a place such as Harvard University.

The lesson

But today, when I look back at the Harvard experience, it was life-changing. One of the key reasons being that I learned that past experience and some of the studies I have gone through had very little relevance to today’s world. The focus today had to be on developing new theories and new business models from living realities of life. This was very interesting.

If I am to highlight, the honorary doctrine this year – 2011 for Law – was awarded to Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirlef who spent most of her life in prison or in exile in her struggle to make Liberia a better place to do business and live. In this same spirit I would like to spotlight a man that the world loved to hate – Muammar Gaddafi – and capture some of the pick-picks for brand marketers.

1) Strong decisions

When he was just 27 years he led the coup that overthrew the monarchy in Libya. He then went on to ban gambling and alcohol and declared the country ‘Islamic socialism’ that created a new ethos of leadership and governance in Libya, which were revolutionary decisions he made that made him a very strong brand.

Gaddafi lesson 1: To make a brand stand out in the market place, it’s important to create a revolution in the market place just like what Apple did with its iPad that broke all records even though consumers were struggling to make ends meet in the US and EU.

In Sri Lanka my pick is the Cargills Food City supermarket chain that positions itself on the platform of value for money. The focus is so ruthless that it has discontinued the sale of the number one brand of milk powder in Sri Lanka, Anchor, as the brand had not agreed to be on a promotional campaign of the supermarket chain.

The wall pennant explaining the logic of this decision inside the supermarket sure surprised me last evening, but I guess it’s these ruthless decisions that make Cargills as a brand stand out in the crowd and a power brand in Sri Lanka. Gaddafi style marketing at its best, though I personally found it a bit too ruthless.

2) Contemporary

Gaddafi was known for his decorative military uniforms and affluent lifestyle, that includes living in luxury tents rather than in five star hotels during his visits to other countries. He carved out a niche globally for the female bodyguards that he surrounds himself with, which made him look modern and contemporary.

Gaddafi lesson 2: Sometimes I wonder how a beauty soap brand like Lux keeps itself on trend given that the woman of today is going through radical change in the clothes she wears, the music she listens to and changing interests.

The trick we see is that Lux keeps changing the variants it offers to the woman of today so that she feels pampered and interested in the brand. The other is that the continuous change of the celebrity that endorses the brand is reflective of the lifestyle change a consumer is moving through.

We see this similar Gaddafi-style flamboyancy in the advertising carried out by Mobitel, be it the large hoardings, press ads or the TV advertising that outsmarts competitor Dialog. Incidentally Mobitel won the ‘Brand Excellence Gold’ at the SLIM Awards 2011.

3) First million

Apart from the high quality oil that Libya sold to the world, the country was known for the supply of weapons to the global market, especially when the five tonne ship was intercepted by the British authorities in 1973. Then again another ship carrying 120 tonnes of weapons and ammunition was stopped in 1987 but by that time Gaddafi is said to have been a billionaire.

Gaddafi lesson 3: When it comes to a brand, this same objective holds ground. We have to get the scoreboard ticking to cross a milestone mark. Airtel in Sri Lanka used the price element as the weapon coupled with some poaching, which made them cross the one million users mark. It was revolutionary, but sure created an upset in the mobile phone industry of Sri Lanka.

Even though it generated some unfavourable word of mouth, the winner was the Sri Lankan consumer who got a mobile bill slashed by 50%. So getting that first million is important and unconventional Gaddafi style brand marketing sure helps.

4) Mad dog

President Ronald Regan once branded Colonel Muammar Gaddafi a ‘mad dog’ due to his erratic behaviour and outlandish antics, which included his self-styled leadership of a ‘Brother Leader’. In 1984, a diplomat at the Libyan Embassy in London shot a demonstrator outside, which led to the killing of Policewoman Tnvonne Fletcher.

Gaddafi lesson 4: In Sri Lanka I see this in the brand marketing practices of the insurance industry. Its Gaddafi-style cutthroat competition is coupled with outlandish antics that exist at its best, be it above or below the line. The icing on the cake was when a particular insurance company valued in the stock market at Rs. 3.5 billion recently jumped to an erratic 14.3 billion value in just one month when revenue or profits did not demonstrate any fundamental changes to business. I guess what Ronald Regan said was true.

5) Design

To celebrate Gaddafi’s 30th anniversary of the revolution he showcased to the world a car that was designed by him. One government official classified the vehicle as the safest car in the world due to the specific features it contained.

Gaddafi lesson 5: Sometimes to get attention from the public you have to design in a totally different manner, just like what Gaddafi did. My pick is the brand Daily FT. It was the first newspaper to go entirely pink and the first business newspaper that clearly differentiates itself from the rest of the newspapers in content and design. Within just two years the brand is leveraging readers, which other newspapers have taken a decade to achieve. So I guess Gaddafi style marketing sure helps in today’s world.

6) Hit man

There are eight recorded attempts of unsuccessful assassination operations to eliminate the Libyan leader. In 1993, intelligence reported that almost 2,000 soldiers from the Warfalla tribe were plotting to kill Gaddafi.

Gaddafi lesson 6: When I look back at the strategies adopted by the brand Ninja mosquito coil on the trusted brand Mortein, it’s similar to the eight assassination attempts made on the Libyan dictator, starting with the launch of the first 10 hour mosquito coil to the cutting edge dealer incentives that have made this brand a power brand today, close on the heels of Mortien. The essence is that in today’s world hit man behaviour sometimes works.

7) White glove

After the Lockerbie bombing, Gaddafi started wearing a white glove to avoid coming in contact with ‘bloodstained hands’ of fellow Arab leaders at the conference in June 1988. Then he went on to cover himself with a sheet when Jordan’s King Hussein was addressing the gathering.

Gaddafi lesson 7: The white glove to me was more of a mnemonic that made the brand Gaddafi stand out just like the famous glove of Michael Jackson. I still remember the days when I managed the power brand Dettol. One diktat that I got from the global office was that ‘Dettol Green’ had to be all over a piece of communication and that the cloud break(when a drop of Dettol is dropped to water) is a non negotiable visual that has to be there. I guess the challenge is to decide what that glove is going to showcase on a brand. For the brand Dulux it is the dog whilst for Nike it’s the swoosh.

8) Philosophy

An independent political analyst who has interviewed the Libyan leader many times describes Gaddafi as a philosophical personality with a reflective temperament. He once offered to stop the influx of Africans into various European countries so that Europe could be white and civilised.

Gaddafi lesson 8: Any brand/company must have its philosophical side to business. Last week we saw the announcement by Unilever’s Senior Vice President Marketing Marc Mathieu who said that in the next 10 years the business ethos was ‘More Magic and Less Logic’. It is a clear indication of the entrepreneurial attitude to business that is required in today’s world. The world needs new theories, which is just like what Harvard taught us earlier this year.

Gaddafi’s mistake

From the news reports coming in last week, we see some noteworthy projects that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has done for the people of Libya. Apart from the areas of education, health care and social welfare, the project on water security will hold the people of the country in good stead in the future.

However, the issue was that the negatives outweighed the positives of the man. This made the people and world revolt against him. Maybe with some strong marketing on the positives and some check and balances, history may have been written in different ways. But to me these are the eight pick-ups to the new world.

(The author has a double degree in marketing and an MBA and is reading for a doctoral degree in business administration. The thoughts expressed are his own and do not reflect on the offices he holds in Sri Lanka or internationally. He is a Rotary GSE scholar and an alumnus of Harvard University – Boston.)