While many senior executives continue to talk about the "voice of the customer," few demonstrate their commitment to this concept by spending time with customers. Many continue to use their intuition or `golden gut' in their attempt to provide superior customer value. Unfortunately, `senior executive intuition' is rarely attuned to the needs of their customers. While the competitive environment continues to intensify, executives have cut back on the time devoted to customers just when it should be increasing. This article discusses the need for senior executives to spend time with customers and provides examples of the benefits that this approach will provide.

Duggal joined Dabur India in 1995, as General Manager (Sales and Marketing), of the Family Products Division, with brands such as Dabur Amla, Lal Dant Manjan and Vatika in his portfolio. Under his direction, this division recorded a spectacular growth. He soon became Vice-President and SBU-Head of the Family Products Division and was appointed Director Sales and Marketing of the company in July 2000. He was appointed as CEO of the company in June 2002 with overall responsibilities of spearheading the growth of Dabur India. He got his Engineering Degree (Electrical & Electronics) from BITS, Pilani, and Business Management from IIM, Calcutta. Spanning a career of over 20 years, Duggal has traveled widely across India and abroad and handled diverse portfolios that have helped him understand the dynamics of FMCG businesses and market trends.

A heritage brand has to sustain its previous attributes and still adapt to evolving market needs. As the consumer mindset changes, a brand grows, transforming itself to suit different market environments, locally and globally. At the same time, like a family tree, it draws key characteristics from its predecessors, creating a link to all the brand attributes that it has stood for in the past. It is this very attribute that makes or breaks a heritage brand, as the consumer looks for the inherent qualities of the brand combined with the brand's ability to satisfy the developing consumer needs in today's markets.

It is impossible to stop worrying about a brand. A brand can be compared to one's child. Then the comparison ends soona child grows into an independent person but a brand needs constant nurturing, because a brand grows to belong as much to the customers as to the producer. The older a brand gets, the more it inherits and it is important for the custodians of the brand to realize that the heritage of the brand can be leveraged to maintain it over the years.

All customers recognize and encounter brands which have a great heritage - Mercedes, Disney, Dabur, Tata, and many others. What makes these brands great and what they all have in common, is a meaningful and relevant pasta heritagea brand that not only has rich past associations with quality, but continues to be significantly so in the present. Heritage is not nostalgia; it is a living value inherited from the past.

Advertising Express Magazine, Heritage Brand, Business Management, FMCG Businesses, Market Environments, Heritage Brand Management, FMCG Companies, Advertising Campaigns, Global Brands, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, FMCG, Brand Equity, Brand Architecture.