Discover the secrets to creating a winning brand with 9 Brand Shaastras by Jagdeep Kapoor. Learn how to identify market needs, build strong brand awareness, increase customer loyalty, and drive profitability with time-tested strategies. Featuring case studies from leading brands, this book is an essential resource for anyone looking to scale their brand, improve trust, and outshine competitors in today’s fast-paced business landscape.

Brand Category Growth Strategy

The first Brand Shaastra I would recommend is the Need Shaastra. A need is something that is necessary or wanted. This implies that the brand marketeer must identify needs of and create needs for consumers based on what is necessary or wanted. This helps develop or expand the category, thus leading to what I call Brand Category Growth.

The first Brand Shaastra, The Need Shaastra, is the starting point for building winning, profitable brands. A young Indian entrepreneur successfully identified a need and went on to establish a very successful brand, opening up in the process an entirely new brand category. Today, multinational majors also participate in this vibrant brand category.

Because looking good relates to feeling good, the young entrepreneur focused on the face. His product came with the brand promise of No Marks. Little blemishes, he said, would be banished forever, and users of No Marks would no longer have to tolerate marks on the face. He knew this would act as a confidence booster for his target audience because if the consumer believed that the facial marks would disappear, his/her self-esteem would inevitably rise.

This need to look good by removing facial marks led to the creation and development of a new category of anti-mark creams. This brand category growth, fueled by an appropriate Brand Naamkaran (No Marks) and an apt brand positioning (From Marks to No Marks), has now attracted other players into the field, most notably the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) giant Hindustan Lever, which sought participation through its Fair & Lovely brand.

Understanding Consumer Needs

Identifying or creating a consumer need is the first step in the journey toward building winning brands.

In my opinion, there are various types of needs that a brand must satisfy. These could be:

1. Existing Needs – Identify and meet these.
2. Latent Needs – Manifest these (bring them out).
3. Opportunity Needs – Create these.
4. Changing Needs – Address these.
5. No Needs – Ignore these.

1. Existing Needs

An existing need is the most basic and is inherently present in everyone. It is perhaps the most common need that a brand sets out to satisfy since it already exists. This need must be identified and met. Consumers are conscious of their existing needs, but it is up to the brand marketeer to recognize them.

Often, there are many players in the category, and the only points of differentiation relate to the features and benefits of one brand against another.

Examples of existing needs:

• Food (Amul butter, Everest masalas).
• Water (Tap water, filter water).
• Clothing (Lee, Levi’s, Wrangler, Peter England).
• Housing (Hiranandani, Raheja, Nirmal, Ansal).

2. Latent Needs

A latent need is something that society has not fully acknowledged, but needs anyway. In this case, the need is not part of the consumer’s conscious mind, but it exists in the subconscious. If a brand is to address a latent need, it must first bring it to the surface. Once the need is recognized, the brand has successfully created a market.

For example, health insurance has existed as a category for a long time but was not very popular in India. Now, after the category opened up for foreign players, brands like Mediclaim and other health insurance providers are seeing brisk business.

Another example is the recent rise of coffee shop chains such as Barista, Café Coffee Day, and Mocha. The need for social hangout spaces has always existed, but these brands successfully tapped into it.

3. Opportunity Needs

These are needs that do not yet exist, but a brand can create them by shaping consumer aspirations and desires. Many new product categories have emerged through opportunity needs, such as:

• Branded bottled water (Bisleri, Bailey, Kinley, Aquafina).
• Branded organic food (24 Mantra Organic, Conscious Food).
• Electric Vehicles (Tesla, Tata Nexon EV).

4. Changing Needs

As society evolves, so do consumer needs. Successful brands are those that identify these changes early and adapt quickly.

For instance, the evolution of mobile phones has been driven by changing needs:

• Basic landline phones → Mobile phones for convenience.
• Voice calls only → Text messaging (SMS).
• SMS → MMS & Mobile Internet.
• 4G networks → 5G, Video Calling & AI-powered devices.

Brands that stay ahead of these changing needs will always lead the market.

5. No Needs

Sometimes, a marketeer misidentifies a need, thinking that consumers require something they actually don’t. These products fail quickly.

For example, a brand launched vacuum-sealed food containers that kept food fresh longer. While it sounded innovative, Indian consumers prefer fresh-cooked meals daily, and the brand failed to take off.

This highlights why brands must distinguish real needs from imaginary ones.

Key Takeaways from The Need Shaastra

• The first step in brand success is identifying or creating a consumer need.
• There are five types of needs, and brands must understand which category their product belongs to.
• Some brands grow entire categories by recognizing latent or opportunity needs (e.g., No Marks, Fair & Lovely, Bisleri).
• Needs are constantly evolving, and market leaders stay ahead by adapting early.

Conclusion

The Need Shaastra is the foundation of brand-building success. If a brand can identify, create, or adapt to consumer needs, it will always remain relevant and continue to grow.

Understanding consumer psychology and behavior is the key to brand longevity. The journey from Need to Brand Success begins with understanding what consumers truly want—and delivering it better than anyone else.

Get your copy of 9 Brand Shaastras by Jagdeep Kapoor and learn to identify market needs effectively and drive profitability.