Fueling
Thoughts
editor’s desk
The Editors
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the Dec 08 edition of markezine.. With each
new edition, we try to raise the benchmark set for ourselves
and strive to provide you with insights into newer realms of
marketing.
This time we have come up with a new column “Mark-OMeter” that, we hope, would make this magazine an even
more enriching experience for our readers. We have also
tried to make this magazine a blend of information and trivia
by introducing nuggets to effectively disseminate marketing
information in an easy to read and remember manner.Along
with it, we have our regular columns like the ad review,
interview and faculty writeup. We continue in our
endeavour to provide you with an experience equalled by
none.
We are overwhlemed by the appreciation and adulation that
we received for our last edition and hope to live up to your
expectations and continue bringing out such editions in the
months to come.
(Siddharth Saxena and Vaishali Bajaj)
Siddharth Saxsena
Vaishali Bajaj
Designers
Ankur Mishra
Sanchit Dhingra
Anshul Gaur
Content Developers
MeghnaWethekar
Ramya Dadana
Ravi Shankar J.P.
We will appreciate your feedback, suggestions and queries.
Do mail us at markup@imt.edu
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Event Corner
ADOHOLIC !!! a look back...
MarkUp was fortunate to have Jitender Dabas, the Vice
President - Strategic Planning at JWT India and alumnus of IMT
Ghaziabad, as the judge for final round of Ad-o-holic. Mr.Jitender
Dabas shared his insightful obser vations on the participating teams
and he also took the moment to share some excerpts from his award
winning article, 'Consumer is not the King in India'.
Mr.Dabas had thoroughly judged and adjudicated each of the
advertisements & presentations made by the competing teams and
complimented their quality. He also emphasized on the consumer
insights, which are essential ingredients of an advertisement, found
missing in certain ads.
Finally, the winners were declared on the basis of
Mr. Jitender Dabas
specific objectivity, creativity and strategy carried by
Vice President & Strategic
their advertisements.
Planning Director, JWT
“Marketing is primarily a business of persuasion,
addressing students during
hence it is important to understand the culture of the
ADOHOLIC
consumer market well. It is just not enough to look at
the data; you should learn to observe the market.” said
the Marketing Guru marking the
end of an enlightening evening of Adoholic.
“Wow, what an evening it was,
for the participants, audience
a n d t h e o r g a n i z e r s. T h e
charismatic thoughts and insights
shared on this opportune day
would definitely be incorporated
in t h e up c o min g e ven t s o f
MarkUp” said an onlooker.
For the organizers three cheers
wouldn't be enough to celebrate
the success.
Glimpse of print ads
presented during ADOHOLIC
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Faculty Corner
Marketing in the Twenty
First Century
Rajat Gera
Associate Professor
Marketing Management
rgera@imt.edu
The twenty first century started 8 years ago but
marketing as a value exchange activity is facing seismic
challenges which could change the context and concept of
transactional and relational marketing as its practiced
today. The current article identifies and evaluates three of
the contextual factors which are likely to influence the
evolution of marketing thought and practice in the next
few years.
The digital medium as we all know is redefining
the way value is communicated and delivered (youtube)
and would require innovative frameworks and tools to
understand what is value to customer and how customer
perceptions are formed and influenced. The digital
medium would require radical changes in the way
marketing is understood and practiced today. For example,
most of advertising is controlled by the marketer as to
what is said, how its said and is supported by intensive
research into when, where and how the consumer is likely
to be exposed and influenced by it. The same is also
backed by extensive understanding and insight into
consumer cognitive processes and emotional responses.
However, communication on a web 2.0 medium like a
youtube site on the net would shift control of these
attributes to the consumer or a community which would
require a fundamental change in the role of the marketer
and an understanding of how consumer perceptions are
formed and how consumers create meaning in an
interactive community context. Thus advertising could
transform into real time dialogue based on the evolving
perspective of a group of interested or uninterested
consumers (community). This would eliminate the
advantages of the most used media like TV and print as
cost per mille would become redundant and message
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- The contextual factors
and their challenges
effectiveness would require relevant customization and
personalization. The role of the currently extensively used
media like TV and print would need to be reviewed and
could change from brand building through associations to
relationship building through experience. Thus
advertising in traditional media could be used to create
expectations while the focus of building associations and
relationships with customers could shift to the interactive
media. Further how customers interact and derive
meaning from these forms of new media would require
new ways of learning about customers which may not be
addressable by current methods of market research.
Companies would also need to learn how to leverage
consumer knowledge creatively while positioning
themselves as partners in the value creation and delivery
process.
A second contextual phenomenon which is likely
to influence marketing thought and practice is increasing
accountability of marketing programs. Company boards
are increasingly becoming concerned about the
effectiveness of money spent on marketing which could
consist of 10-50% of cost of the product excluding
distribution margins. Further, most of the results of these
expenses cannot be easily linked to profitability and
shareholder value. This had led to the emergence of
marketing metrics as one of the most researched and
discussed issues in recent times. As stated by Donald
Lehmann, a marketing professor at Columbia Business
School and executive director of MSI, a Massachusettsbased non-profit organization that acts as a bridge
between companies and academia. “Customer awareness,
customer satisfaction and market share are metrics, and
they are nice to know about. But the CEO [is more
concerned with] shareholder value, market capitalization,
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return on assets and return on investment. In
marketing, people don't talk that way.” Experts from
Wharton, McKinsey & Company and the Marketing
Science Institute (MSI) say that the search for better
marketing metrics is underway throughout Corporate
America. Marketing executives are devoting more
attention than ever to ways in which they can link
traditional marketing variables, such as market share and
customer awareness, to hard-core financial concepts, such
as a company's stock price or return on investment. The
shift in focus from just market share and brand equity to
identifying and learning how to measure the effect of say
increased brand awareness would result in better resource
allocation and more effective planning, evaluation,
measurement and implementation of
marketing
programs. For example, if a company knows that x%
increase in awareness of the brand in its target audience
would result in a y% increase in gross margin, the
company can take the decision on whether to go ahead or
to allocate the resources to some other marketing tool.
Further, it would also enhance its marketing planning
capabilities as it would be able to better define the market
in a way that improves its financial performance directly
rather than assuming that an increase in market share
would automatically create shareholder value. This shift in
focus could change the way we plan and execute marketing
programs in many ways.
A third contextual factor that is likely to radically
influence marketing is technology. The effect of
technology could be disruptive as in the way music is
produced and distributed and could fundamentally shift
power to the consumer or other intermediaries ie TiVo. It
also creates new platfor ms of delivery and
communication ie Mobile Phone thus leading to new
terms in the marketing lexicon like M-Marketing and open
source innovation. Technology creates techtonic shifts in
power (power has shifted to the retailer in FMCG; time
and place shifting in when and where TV is consumed
due to TiVo) which could require new learning of how to
create, communicate and deliver value profitability (the
marketing process). This creates additional challenges of
developing pricing models (for exp how to price e books
and generate revenue) and understanding of how to
generate revenue and profitability from a frictionless
context ie where customer loyalty is a myth.
Thus marketing in the 21st century is likely to
become more challenging and rewarding both for
companies and marketers which could require out of the
box thinking for researchers and practitioners as they learn
to tackle these contextual changes and their effects.
IBM:
The company IBM is named after the computer, HAL, from the Stanley Kubrick's
film 2001: A Space Oddysey (I is one letter after the H, B is one after the A and
M is one after L in the alphabet).
T. J. Watson, Sr., IBM's 1st president, insisted upon a rah-rah atmosphere at
IBM, particularly at sales meetings. Watson chose "Think" as the company slogan,
and IBM gatherings included company fight songs.
Microsoft:
The name Microsoft was first used in a letter from Gates to Allen on November
29, 1975. 10 MILLON USD: Thats the amount of money Microsoft spent on free
drinks fo r employees last year!!!
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Insurance is basically an instrument for making the
benefit of 'making good the financial loss' towards the
insured entity. Needing insurance is often compared with
needing a parachute. If that parachute or the insurance
does not exist for the very first time, then chances are that
you won't need it ever again. There exists lots of potential
in various insurance segments of Indian market. Since
India is exposed to natural calamities, insurance as an
industry to mitigate the negative financial consequences
is undeveloped. Major changes in the economic policies,
rising household wealth and improvements in regulatory
framework existing in the industry are the governing
factors that determine the segment's further growth.
Earlier, insurance sector was regulated tightly and was
concentrated in the hands of a few public sector insurers.
Now with the Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority Act (IRDA) in the year 1999, the country has
abandoned the public sector exclusivity in favour of
market driven competition. This change led to entry of
international insurers, proliferation of newer
innovative products and thus helped raise standards.
Earlier, LIC dominated the insurance market with the
help of its sales force and margins were reasonably high.
But the coming of private companies has lead to a lot of
innovations in this sector. Some of them are:
a) Introduction of unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs)
has been, possibly, the single-largest innovation in the
field of life insurance in India. The design of the product
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addresses and overcomes several concerns that
customers have had in the past like liquidity, flexibility
and transparency.
b) One of the most significant outcomes of the
enhanced competition has been the reduction in the rates
for pure protection plans. Over the last seven years, the
rates have been revised downwards, and are significantly
lower than those prevailing prior to opening up of the
sector.
c) Life insurance companies have also been quick to
recognize the huge need for structured retirement plans
and have leveraged their abilities for long-term fund
management towards building this segment.
d) The growth in group insurance business has also been
impressive. The superannuation and gratuity business
has grown on the strength of professional fund
management and a host of value-added services.
e) They have also changed the style of insurance
intermediation i.e. the mode of distribution of insurance
products. Concepts like Bancassurance (selling insurance
through banks), Mallassurance (selling insurance through
malls), selling by corporate brokers and e-marketing are
complementing the efforts of individual agents.
f) In today's world, focus is on selling more products to
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existing customers through various
touch points be it event based
marketing or tracking. Customer
Relationship Management helps in
acquiring new customers. Also
Sucharit Narang
PGDM(Marketing)
granular details about the customers
help companies design better products, improve service
level and reduce operational cost. Lastly Business
Intelligence tools help the firm to monitor customer
behaviour
Another distinct feature of the sector is that the industry
is prone to easy replication and hence the products lose
their 'exclusivity' no sooner than they are introduced in
the market. In a market where a new product can be very
easily replicated, what would be a differentiating factor?
The need for brand differentiation and the need for life
insurers to reach out to consumers has led to huge
investments by life insurance companies on promotions,
advertisements etc. For an industry where the perception
is that a “product can only be sold, never bought”, these efforts
are creating a “pull” factor for the first time in Life
Insurance in India.
India's insurance sector, like many other sectors, is set to
boom given the unprecedented growth of the economy.
Indians seek insurance products in the absence of social
security and because of tax benefits due to such
investments; it is ranked favourably compared to any
other investment. The huge potential lies in the growing
and aging Indian population which throws open huge
potential to be targeted by the businesses. Also education
is another segment where Indians like to invest a lot of
their money. Thus, products which seek to lay emphasis
on a child's future are popular. For the female child the
focus lies on higher education as well marriage
expenditures.
According to census of 2001, rural sector
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comprises 72% of population and generates 26% of
GDP. Hence rural sector forms a vital part both
economically and politically. However rural sector
products have certain specific needs that need to be
taken into picture before entering into the segment.
Income pattern in rural sector is different in urban
sector, in the sense that income follows crop cycles.
There are mainly two crops in a year. Incorporating this
would lead to a semi annual payment of premium in rural
India. Therefore policies have to region specific.
Another stark feature of rural sector is that buying
pattern is lower in rural sector. Take the example of
FMCG products, which have been successful in rural
markets by lowering “unit sizes”. Taking cue from this
sector, insurance products need to be sold with a lower
face value. Also, the level of education in rural area is
lower as compared the urban areas. Thus, simplified
products would be preferred by most customers. Lastly,
verification would be cumbersome in such areas. Thus
using wide age groups for policies would simplify the
procedure. Despite penetration efforts by government,
rural insurance remains a small part of the market.
Companies see rural business as an obligation rather
than opportunity. Need for spreading insurance
throughout the country is a necessity. Growing
purchasing power parity of the rural population must be
targeted. There is a need to understand the psyche of
rural population, since they have a strong habit of saving.
India is among the most promising emerging
insurance markets in the world. To unleash this huge
potential, insurance companies need to have a long term
commitment in to the sector and should design products
keeping in mind the above said factors and utilise the
distribution mechanisms. India needs to liberalise
further in order to maintain a proper balance
between insurance solvency and investment
flexibility.
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Brand Management
REBRANDING EFFORTS OF
PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS
I
n India, the
“Surprisingly SBI” theme. Let me list the same –
perception about
· Chiman Lal Charlie: Angry Mohan did not know that SBI
public sector
has the maximum number of ATMs in the country and so
banks is not that good.
lost the bet in office and got named Chiman Lal Charlie.
Banking giant SBI (read
He proclaims his disgrace by yelling on top of his voice.
any public bank) was
· Executive in Shorts: The executive was unaware that SBI
viewed as “my dad's
gives car loans on road price. He lost the bet and had to
bank. Due to such a poor
come to office wearing colorful shorts. He narrates this to
image the Public Sector Banks were heavily losing their
the lift operator.
market share to Private Banks who invested heavily on
· Pappad rolling hubby: The Husband rolls out pappad
technology (like ATMs, high-end servers, internet etc.) and
under the watchful eye of the wife. He complains to his
customer service. It was a welcome change for people who
friend, the result of not knowing that SBI housing loans
haven't experienced such a customer oriented approach
include the cost of the house + furniture etc. because of
from any Public sector Bank earlier.
which he lost the bet.
To add on, the newly born workforce of various BPO's and
All the above ads focused on the whole range of 'services'
Call centres form a major chunk of the service sector today
(not just better service!) and employed young guys. These
and have changed the demographics of Indian workforce.
were undoubtedly targeted towards young, educated, tech-
According to trade sources, the employed population in
savvy people.
India increased from 397 million to 431 million between
This campaign, (spearheaded by Naveen Talreja, Rensil
2001 and 2006, with the bulk of new employees being
D'Silva and Anup Chitnis at Ogilvy & Mather) was successful
younger. Thus the banks, under the pinch of the
in two ways-
competition, felt the thrust to identify themselves amongst
the youth.
I. They were successful in breaking the clutter. While other
banks had celebrities as brand ambassadors and jingles
that tug at emotional chords, the SBI TVCs were in a
THE CAMPAIGNS
Some of the famous campaigns that SBI has recently come
lighter vein
ii. SBI was successful in communicating its set of offerings
up are mentioned below
to the young people and gave the message that they are
“Which bank has more customers than the population of
trying to change
Australia?” asked publicity hoardings in all major cities. The
Undoubtedly, SBI deserves the credit for being the first
answer: “Surprisingly SBI”.
public sector bank to move away from traditional prints
Not just hoardings, SBI came up with a range of TVCs on
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ads and undertake such an endeavor. However these
advertisements have attracted their share of criticism too.
As per the Rivals, SBI has concentrated more on
presenting its might rather than appealing to the youth
and the customer orientation that SBI projected in its ads
were in no means a comparison to the actual scenario.
SBI also tried to bring in new services and schemes. SBI
Card launched 'Fuel Freedom', an extension of its “FILLIT-UP” (FIU) program. 'Fuel Freedom' was a special
feature which enabled all SBI Card holders to enjoy
Zero% surcharge on purchase of fuel across any petrol
pump in any city, i.e. they will not be required to pay the
2.5 % surcharge that is charged by all petrol pumps which
accept credit cards for purchase of fuel.
SBI also tried to rebrand itself in the rural areas and the
responsibility was again with Ogilvy & Mather. During
their research, they found that
· 55 per cent of rural India has no form of formal
savings
· Those who had savings deposited it either at the
post office or dug a pit in their house to hide it
there
· 55.87 per cent village people approached the local
'lala' or 'munshi' (money lenders) for loans and the
rest borrowed it from relatives and landlord
· The villagers did not use any banking service
because it involved too much paper work that is
difficult to understand and the less educated had a
fear of being fooled
Here again O&M tried targeting the farmers of India who
are above 18 age bracket and tried reaching them through
street plays and demonstrations, performed by artists
from the National School of Drama. The street plays
concentrated more on the local content and local
problems and depicted the benefits of using banking
services.
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SBI's campaign inspired other PSBs to go for rebranding.
This time it was Bank of India (BOI). They too chose
O&M as their advertising agency. While SBI's campaign
was more of an informative and educating one, BOI
chose to tread the path of 'trust and tradition'. A series of
TVCs were launched which portrayed the trust that
loyalists enjoy with the bank, with the core idea – “Rishton
ki Jamapoonji”. A notable change was that all of them
tried to identify themselves with the youth.
In late 2007, it was the turn of yet another PSB to go for
image makeover. This time it was Canara Bank, and the
advertising agency it trusted with was again O&M! The
Bank was trying to depict an atmosphere of change and
freshness in its services to its target section. First a new
logo was designed, which comprises of two entwined
triangles in blue (for stability, scale and depth), and bright
yellow (for optimism, warmth and energy). TVCs were
released to portray their theme “Hum Badle Aapke Liye”
– i.e. Canara Bank has changed for its customers. The
tagline goes, 'Together We Can.’
EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS
The campaigns cannot be judged to be merely 'successful'
or 'unsuccessful'. For a giant like SBI, it is not possible to
make the elephant dance at one single go. What is
important is that these attempts indicate the changing
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mindset of the management of PSBs. This itself is a big
achievement. Let us analyze this.
Due to Govt. control, the bank suffers from slow decision
making and operational issues (for example, in April 2006,
more than 200,000 employees of SBI went on a nationwide week-long strike.) For winning banking customers,
advertisements alone are not ough. What is important is
how they treat customers, how soothing enough. What is
important is how they treat customers, how soothing (or
at least, how less painful) the customer-experience is. Why
the advertisements (read 'changing mindset') are
meaningful is that this campaign was accompanied by
internal business process re-engineering and training
programmes for internal employees – with the entire
focus being 'customer satisfaction'. In a recently
concluded mass internal communication programme
termed 'Parivartan' the Bank conducted more than 3300
two day workshops across the country and covered over
1,30,000 employees in a period of 100 days, to emphasize
the message of Change and inclusiveness. The Bank is
changing outdated front and back end processes to
modern customer friendly processes to help improve the
total customer experience. Recognizing this momentous
transformation attempt, CNN IBN, Network 18 has
awarded the prestigious 'Indian of the Year – Business', to
its Chairman, Mr. O. P. Bhatt in January 2008.
To quote some figures, Indica Research has carried out
some research for the effectiveness of the rebranding
tactics carried out by SBI in rural areas. For a sample of
3,000 individuals in the three states –
· About 70 per cent individuals understood the
benefits of banking
· About 65 per cent believed that the paper work
involved was simple
· About 60 per cent were convinced that obtaining
loans from SBI was easy and simple
· 588,968 response forms were collected and
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passed onto the relevant branches as a database of
leads
The advertisements of BOI and Canara Bank were also
well received. A note of caution in case of rebranding of
PSBs is that the bank should take enough care so that it
does not end up alienating its present customers in a blind
attempt to appeal to a different set of customers (read
young customers.) The transition has to be smooth.
Another solution to this problem is suggested by Mr.
Kiran Khalap, co-founder of brand consultancy
Chlorophyll Brand and Communications - "alienation
happens when more than one target group is exposed to
the same strategy.” His view is that a company should
attract different customers by · Using different media to target different customer
profiles
· Communicating different selected features of the
same product through each channel to appeal to
the target audience of that channel
However the overall service levels in banking have huge
scope of being improved. The same holds true for
branding opportunities of banks. A research carried out
by IIMS Dataworks showed that Indian consumers rarely
distinguish between banks in their decisions to opt for the
one over the other and not many people can distinguish
between banks in terms of brand recall. It also showed
that there is not much branding awareness or brand recall
among the 144 million paid workers who have banking
relationships. This is perhaps because there is not much
difference in the quality of service and the look and feel of
the PSBs. It is yet to be seen which PSB makes a concerted
effort towards actually improving (and not mere
promising) its service offerings and quality. For now, we
can safely conclude that the wheels of change have been
set rolling!
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Brand Management
BRAND EXTENSIONS –
CONVERGING DIVERSIFICATIONS
B
rand extension is a very common marketing
phenomenon that we may observe as a new
product launch by an established brand, release
of new flavours or variants of an existing product brand,
diversification into a new product category or into an
unexploited business area by a corporate brand. Thus, it is
the extension of the pre established brand equity to a new
product type or category. Brand extension by a company
may also be a source brand extension with the
introduction and creation of new brands into an already
tapped product category.
Thus all the brand extension activities undertaken appear
to be diversification of a business into new areas or into
new product categories or into related products through
complementary offerings. The very word 'diversification'
connotes extension, expansion, an indication of moving
away from the original product category, or the original
offering, or the basic idea with which the brand came into
existence. But a realistic check of such range, line or
product extensions undertaken by some of the leading
brands in the world in the past would reveal that this so
called brand extension and diversification is indeed a
convergence!
Every brand initiates with a brand promise to be delivered
or to fulfil an objective and over the years the steps taken
to diversify and extend the brand constitute a process. A
process of convergence could be towards the fulfilment
of a larger objective or to develop a holistic product
portfolio, or to completely deliver a brand promise. There
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are numerous examples to support this concept such as
line and range extensions undertaken by 'Maggi', 'Dettol',
'Dove', brand extensions of 'Dabur' under an umbrella
branding strategy, line extensions by 'Nivea' and many
more.
Nivea as a brand came into existence with the
breakthrough launch of a skin crème. It was a mild, sweet
smelling, first ever water-in-oil emulsifier, introduced by
the German company Beiersdorf with the product name
'Nivea'. The skin crème in its properties, look and feel
conveyed the meaning of its name 'Nivea' – snow white.
Though at the time of its launch 'Nivea' was targeted at
female grooming but over the years Nivea has successfully
offered face care, skin care, body care, sun protection, hair
care – shampoos, deodorants, baby care and cosmetics for
children, men, women of all age groups. Thus
convergence is there from a standalone niche brand into a
holistic family brand. Also in process 'Nivea' has
successfully remained committed to its promise of
offering a mild soothing natural base skin care product.
The brand personality of 'Nivea' conveys sympathy,
harmony, friendship, loyalty, cleanliness and inner purity;
and makes strong association with children, addresses
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skin care needs of women, and has succeeded in offering
skin friendly solutions to men with the launch of 'Nivea'
for Men' aftershave. Thus despite a vast product
portfolio, there is a convergence of Nivea brand towards
its initial brand promise and also towards the image of a
holistic brand for the whole family.
Similarly, line extensions adopted by almost all the brands
indeed lead to convergence in offering a more holistic
solution or a complete basket of related and
complementary products. A perfect example could be
'Maggi' the product brand from the house of 'Nestle'
which at its launch was a noodles brand offering the
solution of a quick meal. Over the years 'Maggi' has come
out with ketchup (sauce) that is a complementary product
to the noodles, thus making a basket of related products.
Along with its line extension 'Maggi' has also gone into
range extensions both for the noodles as well as the
sauces. Thus, the brand extension converges into a
complementary product basket instead of a stand alone
product – noodles.
On similar lines, 'Dettol' fits into the concept of a
converging extension. 'Dettol' as a brand came into
existence with the promise of providing a medical
solution to bruises etc that apparently is a daily
phenomenon with kids. It was a disinfectant and a germ
fighter. Over the years along with a concentrate medicinal
orange colored liquid, 'Dettol' has diversified into a
disinfectant hand soap, followed by the concept of a
bathing soap, a skin friendly moisturiser based soap, gentle
gel based soap and so on. In this process of extension
'Dettol' has constantly delivered its central promise of an
effective germ fighter and disinfectant. Also, 'Dettol' has
offered these line extensions in convenient packaging like
liquid soap and bar soap thus meeting the needs of hand
wash or body wash as per the user convenience. Here
again these product extensions of 'Dettol' brand appear to
be quite diversified but they have a convergence towards
the concept of offering a daily protective and preventive
medical solution.
The continuous innovations and introductions
undertaken by a number of well established and
successful brands are either an adoption of product
branding strategy or source branding strategy or
corporate branding strategy. In process these innovations
result into various line, range and company's product
portfolio extension. The success of such extensions is
ensured by the compatibility and match between the new
product concept and existing offerings. And this match
can be best achieved by the defined convergence of the
new concept into the original brand promise or towards
the formation a complete basket of complementary
products.
Google:
Google has a mantra of aiming to give back each page with in 500ms, rendered.
Quotes: "Give Users What They Want When They Want It"
"Integrate Sensibly"
Google believes in giving surprises. Thats why they keep things closed until the Dday!
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Marketing Concepts
Stealth Marketing:
- A Perspective
Marketing is generally seen as a creative industry. It is fundamental to
any business growth. Organizations are hiring best agencies to market their
product by all means. These agencies design advertisements for the target
group of that product and advertise it through various channels. This
advertising through various channels tries to connect with the consumer at
every possible point of contact. The consumer is bombarded with
advertisements through various modes. New methods are being invented on
how to reach the consumer in a more effective manner.
It is a well known fact that word of mouth is the best way to advertise
a product. So, organizations have started doing that also. But it is a general
psyche of the target audience that since it is for the purpose of advertising so
the person will tell only the good parts and not the complete details. But, while
walking if you overhear someone talking about features of the mobile phone
which you find attractive you tend to believe. The same
thing happens when you are waiting for your girl friend
in a restaurant and on the table next to you someone is
talking about the new technology of a camera. Then, you
are more prone to believe it. I hope you have got what I
am talking about….. Yes…. I am talking about a new, but
not so new, concept called stealth marketing or buzz
marketing.
As the name suggests it is a type of marketing in which
the target is unaware of the fact that he is being marketed
to. I will cite an example in the form of a story….
On your way back to your home from office you find a
couple requesting you……“Excuse me sir,” the young
man asks politely. “Would you mind taking a picture for
us?” He smiles that same little smile that everyone does
when making that particular request and holds out a
shiny new camera phone. “Just one pic? We're on our
honeymoon.” You agree. “Thanks man, I really
appreciate this,” he says as he shoves the phone into your
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hands. “Have you ever used one of these before?” he
asks, but before you get a chance to answer, he
launches into a lengthy description of the device's
various impressive features. “Wow, ” you think as the
device snaps a clean, crisp little picture of the
newlyweds. “This thing is pretty cool.” He thanks you
again as you hand him back the phone.
Now this was a Sony Ericsson mobile. Yes I am talking
about the campaign launched by Sony Ericsson in the
month of July in 2002. The company hired more than 50
models, trained them about the features of the device
and the features to be marketed and also the way in which
they were supposed to communicate with the target
audience. These models were asked to travel to various
cities posing as tourists. They were trained in such a way
that the situation completely looked natural whether they
were in a restaurant or in a park. The success of the
campaign is not known but these models in the form of
tourists did reach a huge mass.
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The motive sounds like as if
the company wanted the
people to use the device,
lear n more about it and
believe the advertiser. The
objective here is to help the
audience pick and chose what
Sailesh Aggarwal
infor mation they find
O7 - Marketing
relevant to them. This approach of undercover
marketing might not be able to compete with the TV or
radio advertisements, but because the company
Nike’s marketing campaign creates a buzz in a local
shopping mall: stealth marketing as its best!
representatives talk to the end users as individuals, it will
help in building a good relationship between the
product and the target audience. This relationship
building will create a multiplier effect in future.
DiamlerChrysler is another example of it. The re-launch
of its SUV Dodge Durango was done in a different
manner. Five new models were given to five sports
celebrities and at the end of three month campaign the
vehicles were auctioned for charity.
Some other forms of stealth marketing or under cover
marketing can be spam mails or to be more precise
“personalized” mails with personalization used in the
subject lines, salutation or in the body of the mail itself.
Press releases which pose as if they were infor mation
leaks. Statements like “We have special offers just for
people who write in” written on your website for a
product.
But the younger generation which does not want to be
advertised or prefers staying away from it prefers equally
not to be fooled. So sometimes this practice might not
give the expected results but get the organization in
trouble. Experts also say that Stealth Marketing is not
some thing that can be used for any product any where.
As Sam Ewen, CEO of Interface Inc., a guerilla
marketing firm also says, “I advise my clients
overwhelmingly not to do covert marketing; it takes a
certain kind of company, a certain kind of product to
utilize it in the right way.”`
Marlboro:
Marlboro was originally branded as a woman’s cigarette as reflected by Marlboro’s
original slogan "Mild as May."
Later, ad genius Leo Burnett used the image of a cowboy and thus "The Marlboro
Man" was born.
Wal-Mart:
At Wal-Mart, Americans spend $36,000,000 every hour of every day.This works
out to $20,928 profit every minute!
90% of Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart.
This year, 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at a Wal-Mart
store. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 billion).
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Marketing Concepts
Urban Luxury Segment Vs Rural Luxury
Segment on
FUTURE SPENDING TRENDS
Sudeep Dabas 07FT-102
Urban Luxury Segment
There are about 1.6 million households in India with
annual earning of more than US$100,000 and their
spending is about US$9,000 per year on luxury/ very
premium goods and services, this segment is expected to
increase by about 14% every year.
To understand their spending and consumption behavior
of the urban luxury segment it is necessary to learn more
about their values.
The Luxury Households can be clustered into the
following Attitudinal
Segments
1) The Arrived
This is the most affluent group. Within this group there is
the first generation affluent –the Celebrity, the
New Rich and the Used To luxury -Addict. They
are the largest segment comprising 49% of the
target group.
2) The Actualized Ascetic
This group largely comprises
of self made men, whether
professionals or business
people, who are in their late
40s and early 50s. Though
they have the purchasing
power, they shun all kinds of
ostentation. They are the
smallest group comprising
just 15%.
3) The Climbers
These are really the learners. They comprise of Climbers
–who want to project a lifestyle which will give them
admission into the “inner circle”, but lack the discernment
that comes from grooming and exposure. They comprise
19% of the universe.
4) The Laggards
They are the most non chalant to luxury consumption.
This group would typically have the highest proportion of
college drop outs and plain graduates who are in business
and a very few who have done well as office executives.
They comprise 17% of the total consuming base.
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After having an insight of the consumer let us look at
spending pattern, in which sectors is this consumer going
to spend.
1) Automobiles
Companies such as Daimler Chrysler, Hyundai Motor,
Toyota and General Motors have launched the very latest
generation luxury models from their international
portfolio of cars. This shows how fast the luxury segment
car market is increasing in India. This is fuelled by growth
in urban luxury segment and with development in road
infrastructure. Number of luxury cars being imported is
also going to increase by 300% by 2015. This shows the
rate at which luxury segment is growing and the spending
pattern of the luxury segment.
This segment would not be satisfied by just owing luxury
cars but would be going
for their private
aircrafts, helicopters and
y a t ch . T h i s wo u l d
represent a niche
segment but for the ultra
rich urban luxur y
segments the next big
thing to show off their
wealth and to reduce
their traveling time is to go for their private
aircrafts and yatchs.
2) Jewelry
Women who are the main consumers of
jewelry are earning and spending more than before.
Increasing fashion, lifestyle awareness and aspirations are
the various factors accelerating the consumption in this
sector. Urban luxury segment is estimated to spend 27%
(of their spend on luxury products) in jewelry. This means
that with increasing urban luxury segment, spending on
jewelry are definitely going to increase.
3)Tourism and Hospitality International Travel/
Cruises
With the growth of urban luxury segment the number of
Indians going abroad for the purpose of studies or as
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According to a recent survey, Indians going abroad spent
more than $900 each last year. The outgoing tourism
expenditure from India is poised to reach a value of $21
billion by 2011, according to a recent travel industry
report.
Emergence of 7 star hotels
After 5 star hotels the next thing in the hotel industry is the
emergence of 7 star hotels with their personal runways
etc. This sector hasn't developed in India but with 14%
increase in ultra rich segment this sector would definitely
open up by 2015
Space Travel
Virgin Airlines has already started booking for space
flights to be held in 2009 at a price of 2 lakh US$, which is
not too high for affluent class of India. Therefore after
international travel there comes space travel. This would
not be only be adventures but will also help new rich to
show their wealth and to build upon their social status.
4) Elite club memberships
Club membership is one of the best ways to display status.
With economic liberalization making it easy to flaunt fast
cars, big houses and physical displays of wealth, becoming
a member of one of the capital's half a dozen or so most
established institutions is a key part of attaining social
acceptance at the top.
Therefore the urban luxury class has reached a stage in life
when money is no longer enough and a person wants to
get social recognition.
One of the easiest ways to display social status and to get
recognition is through getting membership of elite clubs.
5) International Brands
As disposable income increases, people prefer more of
branded goods, shift to processed foods, and the
expenditure on food, beverages, tobacco, and transport
and communication also increases. A comparison of
consumer spending habits in 2002 with those in 2007
revealed that expenditure on food, clothing and personal
care has remained more or less constant, but expenditure
on entertainment has increased.
Therefore with the growth in luxury segment and with
more disposable incomes consumers are expected to
spend more on international brands especially for
entertainment, followed by clothing, personal care and
food.
There would be a number of international brands coming
to India in fashion, clothing and lifestyle products. This
sector is expected to be double by 2011.
6) Home location/ Farm houses / Beach houses
New members of the luxury consumer segment will go
for houses in posh location to show off their wealth.
There has been a substantial amount of increase in
property rates at posh locations. Posh locations in
Mumbai cost consumers more than anywhere in the
world, even the rental rates have gone up by as much as
400%. With increase in the urban luxury segment these
rates are further expected to go up.
For the established consumers in this segment who
already have properties in posh area, subsequent
purchases will be of farm houses, beach houses equipped
with home gyms, swimming pools, massage centers. This
would not only be a good way to show off their wealth but
also for more comfortable luxurious life.
Rural Luxury Segment
In rural India (People getting rich, or the potential market
of research)…
1. People getting rich recently, mainly by the sale of
rural agricultural lands to the infrastructure
developers.
2. Rich zamindars having good land banks with
them and earning lots with agricultural and the
non-agricultural goods.
Potential Market
(The number of people in the rural rich category, the
agricultural and the non-agricultural way, and the places
where they are concentrated)
More lifestyle products
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If you go by the estimates of the National Council for
Applied Economic Research (NCAER), there are 3,000
households in rural India that earn over Rs 50 lakh
annually. Pradeep Kashyap, the CEO of rural marketing
consultancy MART, has been railing against this number
for a while now. It ignores the higher purchasing power of
rural Indians, he says. As they pay no taxes, electricity is
free and they don't live in rented accommodation, unlike
urban Indians, there is lot of money lying with them as
disposable income. According to him, the NCAER should
define the rural rich differently---classifying anyone
earning over Rs 20 lakh as super rich. Do that, and the
number jumps six-fold to 18,000 households. Moreover,
there is every likelihood that the actual number might be
higher-seeing that the NCAER
survey is based on little more than
self declared income. For about
five years now, people are moving
from agriculture to the non-farm
sector. Many rural Indians are clear
that their future is no longer in
agriculture. People are moving into
new businesses like carpet
weaving, handicrafts, food
processing, and so on. Today, while
75% of all people in rural India are
engaged in agriculture, only 53% of income
comes from there. The rest comes from these
nonagricultural businesses.
In the towns with the populations of 50,000
and below, where the rural rich stay, indeed,
wealth in rural India is concentrated in a few
clusters. There is the agricultural belt in
Punjab-essentially, around Ludhiana,
Jalandhar and Amritsar. There is the sugar belt in
Maharashtra-around Nagpur, Sangli and Kanpur, and
there is western UP-around Meerut, Bulandshahr and
Muzaffarnagar.
Spending Pattern of rural rich
Spending isn't just an India story. It is also a Bharat story.
The rural market, says Pradeep Kashyap, CEO of
marketing consultancy firm MART, is growing faster than
the urban market. The NCAER survey shows that the
demand for two-wheelers, refrigerators, colour televisions
and washing machines in rural areas is quite high. There's
also a huge demand for cell phone handsets in rural areas.
That's probably why firms such as Godrej, ITC and
Shriram Fertilisers have got into rural retailing in a big way,
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with stores that started selling agricultural inputs,
including seeds, fertilisers and equipment, now dealing in
consumer goods and textiles.
However, spending patterns are more uneven in rural
areas, with small and marginal farmers and agricultural
labourers not quite in the picture. Half of the rural income
is with 75 per cent of the population dependent on
agriculture, Kashyap notes, while the other half is with 25
per cent of the population engaged in non-farm
occupations. The spending skew is tilted towards this
group and that of the big farmers who constitute only 2
per cent of the agriculturists, admits Kashyap
The rural rich are 1,000 times more likely than rural poor
to own a motorbike, 100 times more likely to own a color
television and 25 times more likely to own
a pressure cooker.
Today, especially in the south, the
penetration of satellite television is very
high, which is around 50 per cent
The rural rich go for their esteem needs.
They have all the basic needs and look for
entertainment as their need in the luxury
segment.
LG's marketing head Ganesh
Mahalingam, there are very
we a l t hy p e o p l e i n t h e
hinterland, but, for people like
him, they are not addressable.
T he market for these,
however, is confined to 1.6
million households (around 7
million individuals) earning
over Rs 45 lakh a year and
spending about Rs 4 lakh on
luxury and very premium goods and services, according to
India Luxury Trends 2006 brought out by The Knowledge
Company from the KSA Technopak stable.
FUTURE
According to the McKinsey survey, the sale of Personal
products and services, transportation, communication
and healthcare products will see a major rise. The Personal
products and services include legal, beauty related,
laundry and other services and the items of adornment
include jewelery, watches and their accessories.According
to their forecast, they expect the market to grow by 10.4
percent and 9 percent respectively, among the people.
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Marketing Concepts
Branding Indian Software Incorporations
Rajeev Kanakatte Vishwanath 08FT-034
“Who would buy from them, impressed by the ad of Tiger
Woods?” This was the thought which crossed my mind the
first time I saw Accenture ad on TV. Other MNCs like
IBM, EDS are not far behind. Television commercials are
used to reach the mass, which is very unlikely used in large
scale B2B marketing. Why are they aggressive on
marketing when our Indian IT companies stand regarding
branding is totally opposite?
Indian companies are by far known for cheap outsourcing.
Major branding initiative till now has been that of
NASSCOM with their Brand India initiative. Lately there
were some initiatives from companies like HCL which
tried to assert their expertise in software development,
which otherwise was largely perceived as a hardware
company. No serious attempt was made by other Indian
companies in branding.
What advantages do these MNCs gain, spending so much
on branding? Should Indian companies do the same to
remain in competition? Let's try to analyse. Here are some
of the reasons why I advocate, it's high time that Indian
companies get into the business of branding and change
their marketing strategies.
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Firstly, cheap outsourcing image does not work for too
long. Philippines and china with increasing English talking
population would easily overtake us in terms of price.
Moreover the advantage with low rupee value does not
exist anymore. Anti offshoring lobby in US is creeping up
due to high unemployment rate. With US economy
looking unstable the companies are looking to diversify
their geographical base.
Given all this, how would branding help and where should
our companies try to position themselves? Above all,
Indian companies should realise that outsourcing
contracts offer low margins. It's the high-end
expertise/consultancy related work, where the major
chunk of the pie lies. Big daddies like IBM and Accenture
walk away with major share in consulting work most of the
times. They have always been trying to portray an image of
a high end expertise company.
Good brand image will always help in two ways. It helps in
order to get deeper with engagement - both with
customers and with employees. Indian companies face
stiff competition in talent acquisition, from other MNCs
both in India and overseas. They should try to
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differentiate themselves from others in the eyes of the
employees. They should invest time and efforts to see
what prospective employees would like to see from them
and communicate it. Television and outdoor
advertisements would help them to reach out for the
mass.
Europe and other developing countries like china, Brazil,
South Africa make future market for IT. “It's better to be
first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace”, the
saying goes. Indian companies should enter these
markets with an aggressive marketing strategy as they are
likely to face strict competition. Good brand image
would help to build a good perception and attitude
towards the company.
In business models like 'software as service', security and
vendor credibility is the main concern. With SAS model
being looked up as the product of tomorrow, Indian
companies should build their credibility through
investing in high end technologies and branding.
Its good to see that some of them have started the story
by hitting international headlines and even ad spaces. It is
quite surprising to know that, in today's competitive
market, Indian software giants spend less than 4% of
their revenue on marketing and branding. With changing
business requirements, the companies are trying to
change their positioning and offerings. It's the time that
they communicate the same through proper branding.
GE:
GE was incorporated in 1892, combining Thomas Edison's company with other
electrical firms. The rest of GE's history consists of worldwide expansion-the
acquisition of countless foreign and domestic manufacturing corporations,
electronic services, broadcasting stations, etc.
Over $1 billion in tax dollars goes to GE each year for military and related work!
Coca Cola:
On May 15, 1950, Coca Cola became the first product ever to appear on the cover
of Time Magazine.
Coca-Cola was the first independent operator in the Soviet Union.
In 1995, Coke was consumed aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery-- marking the
third trip into space for Coca-Cola and the first for Diet Coke
The advertising campaign that revived the Coca-Cola in the 80s used the theme
song of the early 1970s, "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke”
McDonald's:
More than 50,000 students from all over the world have graduated with
"Bachelor of Hamburgerology" degrees from McDonald's "Hamburger University.
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AD Insights
FIAMA DI WILLS : The Winning Review :
Fiama Di Wills is the new range of personal care products
introduced by ITC. It is positioned as a premium segment
product.
ITHE INTENTION OF THE
ADVERTISEMENT
The range of shampoos is basically
targeted at the urban, working class
women. The company has sought the
benefits of benefit-based positioning
on the basis of the following features,
namely gentle, mild, everyday use, and
organic yet scientific.
In our opinion, the advertisement
brings out the following features:
Creative perspective:
This is an AD review contest. The
three print ads chosen for the contest
are from three different sectors. The
first is ITC's new offering in the
personal care segment, which is the
Fiama Di Wills Shampoo. The
second is by Maruti for their new car,
SX4. Finally, the last one is a
corporate ad which is part of a new
campaign launched by Marico.
The overall look of the advertisement is international. Although it
is feminine touch, the ad is not glamorous. The softness and
harmlessness of the product stands out majorly. It is appearing to
be a scientific, yet a natural product. This is being highlighted by a
couple of points. Firstly, the colors in the background are very soft
and mild. Next, we talk about the model. The model is not wearing
much makeup, which indicates natural beauty and a safe and mild
product. Also, a soft smile and simple clothes (not glamorous)
make it a product for everyday use. Thirdly, the shampoo bottle in
the print ad is splashing softly in perfectly clean water, and herbs
are emanating from it. This gives an organic feel to the product.
The captions also support the same. Softness and gentleness is
emphasized, along with organic ingredients, by captions like “Soft,
tangle-free hair”, “Goodness of extracts of Thyme and Juniper”,
“Gentle and effective care”, and “Nature and science”. Also,
words like “Beautiful you, today, tomorrow” enhance the everyday
use aspect of it.
These points highlight the basic utilities and features of the
product in a very subtle, yet effective manner.
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EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PRINT
ADVERTISEMENT
I The parameters on which we intend to evaluate the
effectiveness of this print ad are as follows:
Amrita Damani 07FT-011
Guneet Kohli 07FT-047
II Marketing perspective:
The marketing perspective of the advertisement takes
into account the targeting and positioning of the product
that can be inferred from the print ad, and whether it
matches the actual target audience. It also studies the
packaging of the bottle in the ad.
The target audience of the product is the urban, modern
woman. The English name of the product and urban,
chic look of the model gives an international appeal to
the product. It directly catches the attention of today's
modern, confident, intelligent and aware woman. Also,
since the name is similar sounding to the super premium
ITC product range – Essenza Di Wills, it'll also be an
aspirational product.
The positioning of the product is that of a gentle,
organic shampoo with superior fragrance for everyday
use.
As far as the packaging is concerned (as shown in the ad ),
its guiding design principle including the cap closure
highlights the brand by combining round and organic
natural form with a clean and scientific look.
The first parameter is whether it is a two-second hooker or
not. On this front we rate it average since it has a subtle
impression and is not very eye-catching. Rather, it is a simple
ad.
Secondly, we discuss whether it captures attention with
high-impact visuals. It is again average at this. The scarf-like
hair is the main attention-grabber, others being the simple,
everyday look of the model and the splash created by the
bottle.
In a print ad, the visuals should do double duty and
reinforce the main message. We rate it good here since the
soft, simple and natural look given by the theme is symbolic
of the components used in the product. The ad, however,
does not capture the superior fragrance inherent to the
product.
An ad should also not have any unintended associations, but
this one looks a tinge similar to Pantene's “long and strong”
campaign. It can actually be mistaken for a Pantene
campaign on the first look. Thus, there are considerable
unintended associations, which can have a negative effect.
There are no user-image clashes in this print advertisement.
The target user is shown distinctly as what she would look
like on a routine day.
A strong positive about this ad is that it features the brand
name distinctly, and also spells out the target audience
clearly. The background is similar to the look of the bottle
and it captures the look of the upper-end client. It also has
an international appeal.
II SCOPE FOR IMPROVEMENTS:
The model can have the expression on her face as though
she is really sensitized by the supreme and pleasant smell of
the shampoo thus highlighting its important feature.
Also, the concept of long hair tied around the neck can be
replaced with thick, shiny and lustrous mane of a very
simple, urban working girl. This will give it a distinct look,
and not appear to be following the concept of Pantene.
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Indian Strategy
V
irgin Mobile has launched its mobile service in one of the biggest and
most competitive mobile markets in the world India. It has announced
a 'brand franchisee' agreement with Tata Teleservices in India. VirginTTSL joint venture is called Virgin Mobile India.
Globally, Virgin Mobile's business strategy is to act as a MVNO (Mobile
Virtual Network Operator) which buys bulk space from an existing wireless company and resell it under the Virgin
brand. However, this model is not yet allowed in India. Thus, Virgin has planned to become an exclusive franchisee of
Tata Teleservices which is permitted in India. The products and services are bundled under Virgin name, supported by
the services provided by Tata Teleservices.
Review of Current Strategy
The front page of The Times of India carried
the print ad of the newest entry into the mobile industry
in India on March 10, 2008. The ad leapt out at the
reader, with its sensational claim, Get Paid for
Incoming. What's more, the headlines of all the news
stories on the front page of the TOI were red. And this
is only one part of the campaign Virgin has planned for
India after its announcement of the joint venture with
Tata TeleServices. The same innovation was also carried
in Dainik Jagran and Sandesh.
Virgin Mobile is here to give CDMA a revamp. The UK
based service provider is clearly targeting the youth and
it shows. If one visits the site, you'll be mesmerised.
Believe us, you will think of changing over to this
operator. The website is lively and shouts out “it's time
to think Hatke”. The lingo and the appearance used is
appealing to the youth, with the content being straight
forward. It communicates two things simultaneously, to
think different think CDMA (it's necessary in a GSM
dominated market) and think Virgin. By paying for
receiving calls they again show that they are Hatke not
to mention that they will add loads of new customers by
this offering.Why should you choose CDMA? Why do I
change over to Virgin? What are the benefits? All these
questions answered by just one click. The content
challenges the users to demand more from their service
providers and tags them to be “unexciting” and
“crappy”. No Nonsense is the theme, that the operator
focuses on and the website can keep you busy for quite
some time.
Besides the website, Virgin Mobile has also rolled out
an online campaign which includes both display and
search marketing.
In present form Virgin's strategy is quite clear that is
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to target youth and they have done well with the site
and ads. But in a huge market like India in long term
they will have to innovate continuously and cover
more than the youth of this country. Based on our
understanding of the Indian Telecom market we
suggest some add-ons to the strategy of Virgin.
Chetan Jain
(07FT-038)
Punit Kumar Jain
(07FT-077)
Our Proposed Strategy
Tata Indicom should remain a mass market
brand, while Virgin should be positioned as a stylish
brand providing psychological benefits of being stylish
and trendy not only to youth but to other segments also.
Presently Tata Indicom does not appeal to everyone in
terms of popularity and appeal and has established
itself in the mass market category (A-B-C-D Aai-BaiCarpenter-Driver). We expect Richard Branson's touch
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We propose a Virgin to be present in 'A' and 'B' category
circles by flooding the market with innovative
advertisements through newspapers, hoardings, street
shows, TVC etc which they are already doing for
grabbing the market share from mighty competitors
like Airtel and Reliance.
Product/Service Strategy
We propose following common benefits to be
provided to all the market segments for faster market
penetration: · The More The Merrier: - Customers making more
than 60 calls would be given 25% cash back on all the
calls made above those 60 calls. This would trigger
more usage of the service and would attract high end
users and would improve
our ARPU.
· Forget Me Not: - Remembering numbers of your
beloved ones would not be a problem anymore. We
would give numbers in a group of 10 (only last digit
changes for ex. 9971231880 - 9971231889) to promote
bulk buying.
· Tera Mera Saath Rahe: - We would allow one
subscriber to be a member of more than one group (ex.
friends circle, office circle etc.) which is presently not
provided by any other service provided.
We also propose to have some different bouquets of
benefits for different market segments based on their
preferences like –
FOR Youth –
· Stylish handsets because this segment is particularly
conscious about the looks of the handset.
· Cheaper call rates while calling in friend circles.
· SMS benefits as this segment is particularly attracted
towards these.
· Free night calling.
FOR Women –
· Handset with various colored skins that can be
changed to match the color of their dresses.
· On demand shopping and available discount hints.
With this service we will inform the interested
customers about top five available discounts in the city
for the demanded category.
· Cheaper day time calls.
FOR Working professionals –
· Mobile recharging and bill payments using Mcommerce. Because this segment seeks ease of
operations, time saving options in their cellular service.
· Cheaper STD calls.
Pricing Strategy
Price of a cellular service can be divided into two parts:
· Acquisition Cost: - Cost of acquiring a new handset.
· Operating Cost: - Cost of making calls.
We plan to make both the costs to be a value preposition
for the customers. The operating cost to the customer
should be competitive (with more VAS) and even
cheaper in some cases as mentioned in Product
Strategy.
Place
We propose a launch in 'A' and 'B' category circles. The
reason for opting out from 'C' category is to avoid
brand cannibalization and to allow Indicom to cater to
those circles. Further subscribers in 'C' circles would
not be interested in various VAS that is Virgin's core
competency. Also in rural India brand TATA
overweighs brand Virgin.
Promotion
As mentioned above we suggest Virgin to flood the
market with its Ads at strategic locations of visibility
like MTV Roadies, Action movies (for youth), news
channels, internet (for professionals) and TV Soaps,
reality shows (for women).
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Marketing Concepts
ell! Before I start... I am not any sex guru;
neither am I cajoled by that bug nor do such
thoughts haunt me. I won't pen my thoughts
on sex therapy, sexual books, media, equipments and a
gamut of all other necessities which you can think of. I am
no hypocrite. And I am not on a high!
So what makes me choose the topic as 'Marketing Sex'?
Well again! It is the same cause which makes you read this
article before any other article in this magazine. That is
marketing for you!
W
deodorants are the mantra of the day.
Without loitering around the subject any further, lets us
recapitulate the advertisement campaign of virgin mobiles
(candy foxxx). An obscene advertisement by any Indian
Joint Family Standard! Yet the purpose of reaching the
entire household is accomplished. Similarly, Amul Macho
advertisement campaign speaks for itself while breaching
the modesty of an orangutan.
Belligerence in marketing (hard selling) in a cut-throat
competitive world is one of the reasons why sex is
Marketing
SEX
Sarat Kirlampalli
08FT-109
But my title is not vicegerent in nature and neither does it
stand to deceive you readers. This is a write up on how
marketers use sublime yet fervently sexual strategies to
reach their target audience. Let it stand-out as a perverted
beginning to start with. We shall keep the ethos and ethics
for some other day.
A latent theme behind many advertisements is to hit a cord
with the audience. Such media advertisements become
grape-vines and a person articulates more personally with
them. Hence, we do not buy a bathing soap unless an
actress scrubs the soap in a bath-tub; and never recognize
a men's shaving cream whose veracity for clean shave is
not approved by a scantily clad glam model. Top-less
models promoting jeans and Casanovas imbibing
Institute of Management Technology
Ghaziabad
marketed. Page-3 of major newspapers, internet pop-ups
on various sites, and ask-me columns on numerous
magazines are all a pedagogy of innovative marketing; an
effort to get that extra readership.
Another reason is the vulnerability of young population to
off-beat promotions. The papa to pop wafting generation
needs a familiar tranquil medium that appeases their
fraternity.
Impulse Selling also contributes and facilitates the sale of
most products that are marketed through the subtle usage
of sex. A look at any retail outlet would suggest the
exponential largesse at which such products are being
marketed. Moreover impulse marketing eases the
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customers, customers across age and gender, from the
age-over custom of asking for the products they intend to
buy.
One more reason, before I become predictable, is the
westernization of society and introduction of sex
education as a part of academics. I shudder at the volume
of information this generation possesses right in their text
books, a commodity, which at our times was pertinent but
considered as additional information.
Sex is not just pushed through clothes, shoes, books and
magazines. Music videos play a receptive host. A whole
industry promotes sex in music videos to increase the sales
of their albums. Remixes of old songs have given a genteel
meaning to the lyrics through its' enamoured costumes
and choreography. Some albums cash on mini-skirts and
some others on strings- the same notorious strings where
a prefixed 'g' would demeanour an article on marketing.
Today sex is perceived with a positive attitude. It is treated
more of as a physical need, devoid of any extravagance of
lust. As time progresses, the society becomes more
cognitive, practical and responsible. Marketers are well
aware of it. I do not profess growing infidelity in
relationships and society at large as a new maturity is quite
evident in the fore-coming dawn.
Well, I leave this here over to you... This topic has no
boundaries, unlike the word-limit of this article, and is
steered by millions of perverted agile marketers. If this
article escapes the scissors of the editors and sees the light
of the day, I would presume that the dawn of maturity has
surpassed in IMT. For other reasons I do not intend to
play the sexitized IMTian or portray Markezine as an inhouse Playboy. Stay perverted and happy reading!
Nokia:
The “Special” tone available to users of Nokia phones when receiving SMS
(text messages) is actually Morse code for “SMS”.
And the famous Nokia ringtone is actually a 13 note rendering of 19th-century
Spanish musician Francisco Tarrega's masterpiece, Gran Vals.
Nokia plays a very large role in the economy of Finland: In 2006, Nokia
generated revenue that for the first time exceeded the state budget of
Finland!
Toyota :
From Toyoda it was changed to Toyota to simplify the pronunciation and to give
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the company a luckier name. The
Toyota when written in Katakana takes eight
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strokes and according to Japanese, eight is a lucky number.
Although it is a leading automobile maker, Toyota Motor Corporation also
produces Looms and sewing machines.
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Ghaziabad
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Mark-O-Meter
"
'Every bubble's passed its fizzical' was the marketing slogan of which soft drink?
"
Which American president gave the Maxwell House coffee slogan?
"
What did Anheuser and Busch name Budweiser beer after?
"
Microsoft, recently used the Mumbai 'dabbawalas' to promote its Windows
package. What was the campaign called?
"
When it was invented in late 19th century this popular soft drink brand, originally
intended as a patent medicine. Name the brand.
"
'Everyone lives by selling something'. Who said this more than a century ago?
"
Which famous Indian beauty brand was named after an opera by the same name
running in Paris with the story set in India?
"
The Big Indian Wedding Hunt is a service provided by which Mobile phone
Manufacturer?
"
This brand's name was suggested by Dhirajben Ruparel in a contest for Rs 5 in 1962.
Name the brand.
"
The Indian post office in Kerala, has collaborated with which car company, to have a
red coloured car to distribute posts?
"
The founder of which brand, now a part of P&G, once said, ''I have done more than
anyone else to change the face of mankind''?
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