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Q: The killing of two youth in Pune by a drunk teen is being called the Pune Porsche case? In your view, what does this labelling do to Brand Porsche and Brand Pune?
A: My first response is “not necessarily”. We need to first segment the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’. For high identifiers with the brand and if their affinity with the brand is strong, surely the brand identifier/ affinity index won’t go down. Also, for those who are not in the catchment area of the brand, their affinity going up or down would be inconsequential for the salience of the brand.
So far as the brand value of a city is concerned, it is in effect absolutely inconsequential. By that logic, the whole of India would be unattractive for investors or tourists. A war or some black swan events like Covid can dissuade travel to a destination due to uncertainties associated with each eventuality, but an accident can’t erode the confidence of the city as a brand user.