Google is the New Coke!
It’s 15 years since my first ever international trip. Straight out of college, a friend and I were able to convince our families for a 2 week South East Asia trip. And of course Thailand was one of the countries we visited :). Once there and after check in to the hotel, we realized eating at the hotel would cost us a lot, so we ended up in a store called Seven Eleven to buy some quick eatables. Thai language was all Greek to us (it still is), so no assistance could help us and to our surprise even the packaged food had Thai written over it. At the age of 20 and with limited money, serendipity is not your game, so we were in no mood to experiment and were looking for something familiar and predictable to consume. Soon, we were out of the store buying Coke bottles and Lays Chips. And No, the names of these two products were not mentioned in English on their packs but it was the font and color combination which assured that we were buying our favorite cola and chips brands only.
Cut to India, I often see foreigners carrying Coke or Pepsi or Avian in their hands. Many of my international colleagues visiting India often prefer a Starbucks for coffee, Burger King for a light meal or Avis for Car rental etc, basically products they use in their country or are familiar with.
Wait…. Wait…Isn’t this going towards a travel and food blog? No. Let me come to the point.
No one likes uncertainty. Familiarity and Predictability always score when it comes to food or say travel. And that’s where brands play an important role and give you the same experience across the world. Until few years ago, this familiarity was primarily confined to FMCG products, Food chains, Car Rentals, Hotels but not anymore. So, what has changed now? Perhaps nothing, perhaps many things!
During my recent visit to Singapore, the first thing I did after settling in my room was to check the distance and time taken to reach Universal studios. Then, I searched for the nearest convenience store to buy my stock of Coke and Lays (at Seven Eleven again). I did both the things on Google. Once I planned my day, I needed a cab to get out of the hotel. I had the option of using Grab or Uber but since I am a regular Uber user in India, I preferred to go for Uber. It continued to be my local vehicle for the rest of the trip, multiple times in a day. Uber uses Google Maps, as we all know.
So, while our consumption habits have changed little over the years but what has changed is the way we consume these things. And that’s where I believe, Google has become an omnipresent brand being used by all of us for multiple things — search, dine, shop, travel, reviews and much more. (read Baidu for China). It’s interesting how technology brands have replaced FMCG and consumer durable brands in the last 10 years when it comes to mind share and heart share of the consumers.
Ask yourself, if given a situation of surviving a week without Coke or without Google, what would you sacrifice?Coke or Google. I will lap up Google because for me Google is the new Coke.
VC
