While on a visit to Lonavala one cannot miss the multitude of shops announcing their brand of Chikki – a local sweet delicacy. One specific brand of Chikki’s name (let’s call it Famous Chikki) is visible across the tourist place. It is visible almost everywhere there, with more than 50 outlets selling Famous Chikki. On many signboards of Famous Chikki, it is mentioned as “World famous”. So, one may think that Famous Chikki must be the most selling Chikki in Lonavala.
A little investigation revealed that the top selling Chikki in Lonavala is the one which has a nondescript shop, tucked away in the interior of the town, away from the market place where a majority of tourists stay and hang out. This is the Original Chikki. Daily, this shop does a roaring business, selling many times more than the cumulative sales of those 50+ outlets of the ‘Famous’ brand.
Curious, I asked the owner of this bestselling Original Chikki. “Why you are not advertising your Chikki the way that other one does? You can do even better.” His answer was revealing : “Every town and village has a Halwai which is famous for his Halwa, Peda , Laddoo, Barfi or any such local delicacy. He becomes successful because of his product quality. Seeing his success, other wannabe look-alike Halwais spring up and make a lot of noise, touting to be The best in the world. Instead of focusing on the product, the Halwa, they focus on the hollow messages. In the end, the product fails to live up to the the promise created by the message and the hype. They lose steam on the way. Still, the original, completely focused on his Halwa, remains the best and the bestselling, without making any unnecessary noise. To answer your question, I focus on my Chikki, not on the noise…. I don’t have to worry about sales.”
If our product is not good, any type of ideas or strategy or tactic or ‘BIG’ thinking or hype or ‘Branding’ (!!!) will not cut the ice. If you wish to be the best Halwai, focus on the Halwa, not on the hollow hype.
