First let me talk about of branding in the education sector. IIT, IIM's would come to mind initially and then other institutions who have earned name and fame, mostly for right reasons and through sheer hard work. Why it mattered getting into a branded educational institution is, quality of teaching, supporting infrastructure and most importantly separating the top student talent through entrance test and grouping them so they come out well. This ensured the success of those passing out. But internet is changing it all, slowly and surely. Now education is going digital and taking roots deeply. Staring from private tution from primary school children (my son takes math private tution classes online through Cuemath). After the covid, all schools, colleges adopted digital platform because it was ready for such use. You don't have the right tutor your college? Ditch them, learn from the best teachers this world has to offer. Take online classes from the likes of MIT on YouTube and get certified through Coursera. All the good things are free. Thanks to internet for providing access. Now for an eager student, it does not matter where he physically is located or which college he is studying at. He can acquire knowledge and get ready to compete with those only the branded colleges produced in the past. Though it would be not an easy competition, but not entirely difficult either. Branding in education (through physical campus) is in a strangle and will die a slow death.
Let me come to the next phase of life. Here the change is not driven by technology but through social maturity. I am talking about marriages now, the grand one's. Not those grand marriages hosted by rich families, which they could afford. But those middle classes who went out of the way, who destroyed their savings or took debt for a grand marriage. Why they did so in the first place would be a discussion topic but I think it is mostly for social pressure or thinking that life after marriage is not worrisome at all, so let us spend what we can at marriage. This assumption is wrong, at least for the middle-class family backgrounds. There would be need for housing for the new family and other demands would crop up. Those who are wise would plan for it and reduce the marriage budget to accommodate for such needs. There are few cases, due to incompatibility, marriage ends in a divorce. And those who hosted a grand marriage which failed learn the futility of their efforts. I know of a recent incident of two divorcees getting married at a temple with simple arrangements and doing well now. It is clear that it does not matter how much you spend for a marriage but what matters is how you live afterwards. This learning is coming through a painful process and spreading in a very slow but gradual way. Once the broader society gets the message, grand marriages would slow down and become rare for those who cannot afford it. It will be a good development for the society too.
In the investment world, I have not seen the grandest IPO other than Reliance Power. There were page long advertisements on the news papers, very frequent ads on TV shows. Many learnt about stock markets and opened their demat accounts to bid for this IPO. And a decade later, this company is facing insolvency. And those who had dreams of becoming wealthy with this stock realized that it is not an easy process as they watched in disbelief how their investment is evaporated. Charlie Munger had said "It is not supposed to be easy. Anyone who finds it easy is stupid." Well, knowledge comes at a price and we have our own saying that "A fool and his wealth are parted soon ". After this IPO, there have been many IPOs, lots of successful one's which really did well and made investors rich but the kind of euphoria we had seen earlier is absent now. General public have become cautious. They question before they commit money. They have understood that taking the route of Mutual Funds through SIP's works well for them. What a transformation the society made in this decade.
Grand and Brand does not ensure success or quality. But knowing the underlying value will. It is a matter of time this becomes of the opinion of the majority.
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