Dinesh Karthik & the ‘Memorable’ Lesson on Entrenching a Brand in Consumer Minds

Tell you what; I am happy for Dinesh Karthik. Though my interest in cricket has hit rock bottom, I still catch up on the scores when I feel like it. From all my years of following cricket, I for one can’t remember anything Dinesh has done on the pitch that’s caught my eye, and one that I can remember him for. Now that’s changed. By ensuring that last ball cleared the boundary cleanly and won India the final game, Dinesh has essayed what I term the ‘memorable’.

The word memorable comes from the Latin term ‘memorabilis’ which means to ‘bring to mind’. With that match winning six runs, Dinesh Karthik has stepped into memorable territory for countless Indians including me. Over time when Indians remember match winning knocks from the past, Dinesh Karthik’s efforts will be among the lot. Just like when Indians try and shake off memories of their country losing at the game of cricket, they won’t ever get Chetan Sharma off their mind. Both Dinesh and Chetan via their winning and losing feats have firmly implanted themselves in our long term cricketing memory. When the time for remembrance arrives, they will pop to the surface evoking a delightful and gloomy recall respectively.

Seth Godin has in the past talked about brands needing to be remarkable, i.e., worth making a remark about. I say brands must first turn 'memorable' before they turn 'remarkable'. Remarkable is when consumers talk about brands to others. Memorable is when brands do the magic to stay lodged firmly in consumer memory for retrieval when a purchase opportunity arrives. A brand will possibly only get the few opportunities from all those times of customer contact (or what are called ‘moments of truth’) to turn memorable. If they grab the opportunity presented they may even stay for a lifetime in the minds of their buyers.

Here’s an example of how the amazing Ritz Carlton took the memorable road!