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Definitions of brands often seem as abundant as the brands themselves. In the solemn treatises on what attributes a brand should embody, soul has been absent… until Sanjay Khosla dove in.

Khosla is a senior fellow at Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. He addressed brands with soul in a contribution to the book Kellogg on Branding in a Hyper-Connected World.

I recently asked Professor Khosla to share some his thoughts on the concept of brands with soul.

Paul Talbot: You’ve suggested that “marketing needs to be always on at both the global and local levels.” What’s a good litmus test to use to make sure this objective is being met?

Sanjay Khosla: In the end, what really matters is profitable growth and scale, a clear purpose and a strong reason “why.”

Take the case of Oreo, which was spectacularly unsuccessful outside the United States for more than 95 years.  It was clear that what worked in the United States was not necessarily relevant in other markets.

For instance, a “copy and paste” approach clearly did not work. What worked was a model of “copy - adapt - paste.”

 While the brand’s core essence of a parent-child emotional connection was leveraged across borders, products were adapted to delight local consumers. This ranged from introducing new forms like wafers and cookie straws to various products like green tea Oreo.

Then, a lot of products failed. The approach was to fail fast, learn, move on.  If something tested well, it was adapted to delight local consumers and scaled.

Following this practical “Glocal” approach, Oreo went from a $200 million brand outside the United States to a billion-dollar business in five years (with healthy margins) outside the United States.  

In today's “always on” world, agility in execution is critical. During a massive power outage at the 2013 Super Bowl, Oreo tweeted a darkened photo that read “you can still dunk in the dark.” The tweet instantly went viral. This was a good example of acting quickly and being “always on.”

Talbot: If we consider the two objectives of addressing local and global markets as serving two masters, is this notion flawed? 

Khosla: A powerful way to approach this is by aligning behind a clear sense of purpose which goes beyond borders.  Take Lifebuoy soap, which is more than 100 years old.

The Lifebuoy team started a program to teach healthy handwashing habits in many markets to help prevent disease. This powerful program to help a child reach the age of 5 years through healthy handwashing habits has reached over 458 million people in 29 countries.  It is always exciting when there is impact at scale and not just a good story.

A clear sense of purpose is also hugely motivating and inspiring for various stakeholders, including employees.  

 Talbot: What about the creative? How should messaging be developed when common threads and similarities between markets are difficult to find?

Khosla: Emotional connections go across borders. In the case of Oreo, the parent-child relationship moved extremely effectively across borders. A major change was to localize creative execution to resonate in individual markets.

So, a difficult decision was whether we take the highly successful “Twist, Lick, and Dunk” ritual used by Oreo in the U.S. for many years to markets outside the United States. Market research was going to be of absolutely no help in this decision. Many local leaders refused to believe that ‘Twist, Lick, and Dunk’ linked with milk would work in their markets.

At the end, a decision was taken to use the “Twist, Lick, and Dunk” ritual across markets. This was a risky decision which paid off. The ritual helped significantly distinguish Oreo.

A key lesson is to take risks but have the courage to course correct. Fail fast, learn, and move on if things do not work. Test and learn helps, so that you do not fail at scale.

Talbot: Any other insights you’d like to share?

Khosla: In today’s “GloDig” (Global, Digital) world, entry barriers have come down dramatically. It’s fantastic to see many “Davids” emerge victorious against Goliath by creating new business models, being agile and scaling fast.

At the same time, brands with a clear sense of purpose endure over generations. Doing good while doing well.