04/06/2026
When I was in college, I came from a small village in India and later got the opportunity to study at Aligarh Muslim University — one of India’s top central universities.
There, I met students from different metro cities across the country. One day, during an outing together, someone asked me:
“What drink do you want?”
Interestingly, even when I actually wanted Limca, 7UP, Coke, or any other soft drink… my answer was always the same:
“Pepsi.”
That moment taught me something powerful about branding.
The strongest brands don’t just sell products.
They become the first word people remember.
That is category ownership.
People don’t say:
❌ “Search it online”
They say:
✅ “Google it”
❌ “Book a cab”
✅ “Get an Uber”
❌ “Photocopy this”
✅ “Xerox this”
The real battle in marketing is not for shelf space.
It’s for mind space.
Because the brand that owns the customer’s mind…
eventually owns the market.
“Mindshare creates market share.”
