● <B>Presumably the people you will be speaking to are already versed in marketing and branding. What are you going to tell them that they don?t already know ? </B>

Maybe I should start by dispelling the confusion that people often make about branding and marketing ? they don?t mean the same. Marketing is customer-oriented. Branding is about a company?s plan, its project. Big brands weren?t built by marketing; brands are built on an innovator?s expertise, on the development of that expertise and on finding a market to sell this know-how. Marketing comes into the picture once this has been done. One then needs marketing to sell the product to the market that has been identified; one does not create a brand just with marketing.

● <B>Then how would you define marketing ? </B>

Marketing is about asking oneself what the consumer expects from a product or a service. But one doesn?t build a brand just to suit consumer expectations. One builds a brand because one has an idea, a technology and a vision.

<I>?The consumer is being manipulated left, right and centre. And this is not as bad as it sounds ? today we live in an economy that is manipulated by brands and before that, we were living in an economy that was manipulated by religion.?</I>

● <B> And then the marketing strategy will be to try and convince the consumer that he needs this product even if in reality, he does not ? </B>

Exactly. It could be a product or an experience. Starbucks for instance is an experience and is a very good example of what branding is. Starbucks doesn?t just sell coffee, they sell the place where you go to listen to music, read newspapers, spend the whole day and drink coffee. This is called experiential branding. And the further one goes from the product ? as in Starbucks, which doesn?t just market its coffee ? the more value the brand has.

● <B> In what sense ? </B>

Look at the Ipod for instance. Had Apple decided to launch an MP3, the Apple MP3 wouldn?t have cost as much and I?m sure, it wouldn?t have sold that much. What Apple has done is not just sell an MP3 but sell an Ipod. Now, we know that an Ipod is an MP3. But what we know really doesn?t matter ? it?s what the consumer thinks that matters; And Apple has managed to create the image of the Ipod as a fashion accessory with an array of services like Itube so nobody sees the Ipod just as an MP3.

● <B> So good branding is clever lies ? </B>

Lying means that one has a very clear notion of what?s true and what?s not and that we know what?s real and what?s not. Otherwise, reality to the consumer can mean quite something else. And the role of brands is to build or rebuild a certain reality.

● <B>And it?s up to consumers to choose whatever reality they please ? </B>

The consumer is being manipulated left right and centre. And this is not as bad as it sounds ? today we live in an economy that is manipulated by brands and before that, we were living in an economy that was manipulated by religion.

● <B> And which is better ? </B>

It depends on our preferences, I guess! You see, we live in a world that?s dominated by consumerism. People look for happiness in the goods and services that are on sale because there is a void somewhere. To many people, using branded products gives them a sense of identity. And in the absence of political projects, of societal projects ? and that?s another reality by the way ? branded goods and services give a sense of comfort and of well-being.

● <B>A sense of comfort and well-being available to people only if they pay for it! </B>

That?s what the capitalist system is all about. The individual only exists in the eye of a company as a source of profit for the company. If I am a car company, my relationship to you will be defined only in terms of how many cars I think you will buy in your lifetime. You, as an individual, don?t matter to the company. But before you act scandalized, let me remind you that the Catholic Church invented in the Middle Ages, something that is known as indulgence. Indulgence meant that you paid the Church so that they booked you a place in paradise! Brands have not invented this; religion did. The only difference is that today, it?s brands that rule the economy and no longer religion or politics.

● <B>And that makes it right ? </B>

I agree that it?s wrong but it will have to do until we find an alternative to this system. In France, there has been an attempt to encourage people to cut down on consumerism by introducing the consumerism free week; it didn?t work. Nobody?s interested in not consuming. So if we want to change that, it will have to start by a change in people?s behaviour, by them being more responsible for their choices.

● <B>This reminds me of the documentary ?Supersize me? about the impact of MacDonald?s intense marketing; I suppose MacDonald?s a good example of good branding, huh ? </B>

Yes. I?m glad you brought up Supersize me. Many people ask what impact the financial crisis will have on the economy. I think we are going towards a serious economic crisis and the answer is in Supersize me. We have been living for the past 20 years in a society based on over-consumerism ? because brands haven?t been able to create some kind of added value to their products; their only option has been to try and sell as many of the same products to people- as illustrated in Supersize me by MacDonald?s trying to get people to go ?supersize? rather than have a normal-sized meal. So you get obese people but over and above that, the market has its limits. There are only so many pizzas one can eat, only so many cars one can buy and only so many mobile phones one can use. So unless brands are able to create new markets like Apple did with Ipod, like Nike did by transforming normal trainers into a fashion statement, the market will soon reach its limits and we?ll be heading towards an economic crisis.

● <B>I?ll like to end by getting some free advice from you. We?re engaged in a process of rebranding Mauritius. How would you go about it ? </B>

I don?t know Mauritius very well but to my limited knowledge, Mauritius is a very attractive island with many assets ? the most important one, I?d say, is hospitality. You need to play on this. I don?t think there is a need to rebrand as such because already ?Mauritius? evokes those feelings. I would say you need to build on the current perceptions. You need to answer the question that the consumer will ask ? what do I get out of visiting Mauritius? Find out the answer and you have your brand! Keep in mind that some people who live far away don?t know the difference between Seychelles and Mauritius for instance because both are beautiful and are found in the Indian Ocean. There is something unique about Mauritius and that?s what you need to find.