What Joginder Singh can teach you about building lasting brand

My affair with Joginder Singh began as a child, ogling at my brother’s tin cars. You see, we grew up in Olympic, Kibra constituency. I was pretty poor at the craft of making cars out of used Kimbo and Blue Band tins. But I could run super-fast.

My brother on the other hand was the neighbourhood’s chief design engineer. But the guy could not outrun a sloth. So fate destined that we needed each other. He made the cars and I zoomed past everyone else. And you can guess what my ‘rally’ name was- Joginder Singh!

Famously known as ‘Simba wa Kenya’, Mr Singh entered the annals of history as the first Kenyan Sikh driver ever to win an international rally and also the first man to win the gruelling Safari Rally three times.

Fifty years after his exploits, even for children who never witnessed his exploits on the road, Mr Singh is still synonymous with speed—breakneck speed.

Such is the power of an enduring brand. So what lessons can we learn from this daredevil rally driver? What can a business learn from his brand that has no equal decades after he hung his driving gloves?

Consistency

Brand messaging must be consistent throughout all communication. Not only does this drive home the message, but an appropriate promise is inspiring and motivating for your entire business.

I still have my childhood memories of shouting myself hoarse as the cars revved and took off from the podium. Forget that by then ‘The Flying Sikh’ had retired almost 20 years earlier. It didn’t matter. To me, any fast car that I saw, be it at the podium or from a hill or roadside, was Joginder Singh’s.

The white colour of Apple products is a great example of brand consistency. All MP3 players offer the same promise of functionality and freedom of movement and choice. Yet iPod is the clear market winner as Apple’s biggest money maker.

It proudly dominates 73 per cent of the market and is capable of commanding a premium price. Why? When you see anyone with an iPod on the street, you feel as if you and the owner are part of the same tribe. But of course, not every company has the means to build products like Apple.

Commitment to the quality of a product or service must always come first. You can market, advertise, and aggrandise until the cows come home. If the first priority is not the consistency of the quality of the product and the promise it delivers, creating an enduring brand will be all the more challenging.

Brand support

Mr Singh was outstanding as one of “the unsinkable seven” finishers of the 1968 event in which 74 crews started but only seven finished. The victors were also hailed as “The Magnificent Seven” after the Hollywood cowboy film released around this time.

From then onwards, they got plenty of sponsorships and Joginder went on to win the world rally event in 1974 and 1976. As a result, he set a record of 19 finishes in 22 attempts. This was an unprecedented feat for the Safari Rally in which finishing the event was once considered a greater achievement than winning other world rally events.

The key to keep any brand alive for the long run is consistent support. Resources will be needed to ensure that the delicate balance of remaining true to the sacred promise while reinventing the product and messaging to address customers’ ever-evolving needs is maintained.

My son turned six this year. He still remembers when and where he was when he received the present that I got for him. How excited he was when opening the box, and how the colours and designs made him feel. “Joginder Singh!” he shouted as he immediately took the remote controlled car to the corridor. In my own small way, I’m passing the pieces on. I hope he embeds those experiences into his personal narrative.

That is the enduring power of an exceptional brand.

Mr Waswa is the managing director of OutdoorsAfrica.