Markathon November 2013

Marketing Magazine of IIM Shillong

Volume 5 | Issue 5

November 2013

MARKATHON

Its a Colorful World

Importance of Color in Branding

Vartalaap with Mr. David Aaker Marketing Consultant and Author

From The Editor Change is the only constant they say. What does not change, perishes. What changes, flourishes. As we enter the winter season by bidding farewell to those fallen leaves from Autumn, let us again take some time to contemplate on whether what we are doing is indeed what we want to be doing. Last month has been eventful. Everything seems to be rising. Right from our Sensex to India’s Mangalyaan mission and people’s belief in Narendra Modi to price of onion. And as you are reading this, one of the biggest brands in the world of sports is playing his last test match in the Wankhede.

We all have always been fascinated by colors. While blue is regarded as the color of men, pink has for long been associated with women. From a very Marketing perspective, does color have anything at all with the buying behavior of a consumer? In the back of our mind, we know that Red is the color of Coca Cola, we know that Apple symbolizes white, we know that our favorite fast food outlets are under “golden arches” of McDonalds and we know our favorite confectionery comes in purple wraps of Cadbury. Marketers have for long used the power of colors to establish a connect with the customers. Does color really matter in branding? Our cover story seeks to explore this.

Our first perspective in this edition would scare the biggest beverage companies in the world. Widely regarded as super brands for having relentlessly defied the conventional product life cycles, Coca Cola and Pepsi need to shift to better “greener” pastures if they want to survive and maintain their “fizz”. As said earlier, change will and must always happen. Our second perspective highlights the importance of emotions in Marketing. Emotional Marketing, as it is called, has been explained with examples ranging from FMCG sector to politics. At the end of

it, the most loyal customer is the one who feels emotionally connected to brand, not superficially coaxed to be attached to one.

There are some who evoke a strong feeling of admiration from people around. We feel like listening to them over and over again. David Aaker shares his knowledge about the nitty-gritty of branding with us in this edition. Even though we had him before on “Vartalaap”, we believe you will indeed benefit from the wise words of this marketing guru. Always high on entertainment, this month’s “Fun Corner” will nudge your grey cells with a crossword on various Marketing strategies which brands adopt. Explore “Har Ghar Kya Kehta Hai” in our Brand Story section on Asian Paints.

Team Markathon heartily congratulates the winners and all the participants.

We take this opportunity to welcome new members into our club.

With a host of exciting stuff lined up for you, waste no time in taking on this delightful journey as you flip through the pages of the latest edition of Markathon. As always, do send in your feedback/suggestions to markathon.iims@ gmail.com.

Put on some warm clothes, switch on your heaters, sip a cup of soup and welcome aboard this entertaining & educating reading experience that is Markathon Happy Reading !!

The Markathon Team Editors

Ashok A | Kamalpreet Singh Saluja | Pallavi | Prateek Gaurav | Shashank S Tomar | Swikruti Panda

Creative Designers

Sushree Tripathy | Vaibhav Annam

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Contents Perspectives Losing the Fizz V.Jyotsna | Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy

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Marketing: From Function to Emotion Anurag Kumar | IIFT

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Its a Colorful World Chandrasekhar Susarla and Vaibhav Annam | IIM Shillong

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Vartalaap Mr David Aaker Marketing Consultant and Author

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Eye 2 Eye Yahoo’s new logo: Technical glitch or Matching the brand identity Nitisha Reddy | BIM Trichy & Harit Uchil | SIBM

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Silent Voice Victoria’s Secret Vivek Unnikrishnan | National Institute of Agricultural Marketing

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Specials Addicted Sushree Tripathy and Swikruti Panda | IIM Shillong

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Brand Story Asian Paints Shashank Singh Tomar | IIM Shillong

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Fun Corner Kamalpreet Singh Saluja | IIM Shillong

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Updates Prateek Gaurav | IIM Shillong

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Marketing Club 2013 - 2015

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Losing the fizz?

Analyzing the trends in beverage industry

By V. jyotsna BIM, Trichy

heralded as the next big thing after Coke & Pepsi with a CAGR of around 113% over the past 5 years despite its size being nearly just 1/10th of Coke. The question is, if Coke and Pepsi have been invincible for so many years, does it mean that they will remain to be so forever? And does that mean the soda – carbonated soft drink industry will continue to thrive like how it is now ?

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his article will discuss the age old Cola War, where companies fight for .5% of market share with the same fervor as a World War. The leading brands - Coca Cola and Pepsi are in a constant battle to woo customers with strong distribution channels, constant interpretations of taste tests in their favor and promotional/advertisement campaigns with catchy jingles and charm of celebrity endorsers. A Forbes Magazine report in Jun 2013 says that Coca Cola has also strengthened its grip on emerging markets such as China and India. With Coke & Pepsi spending close to $5.5 Billion put together on marketing, the question is whether all that investment will bear fruit? To me and to so many other analysts, the Cola War seems to be nearing its end. With increasing focus on obesity and other health issues, the balance seems to be tilting in favor of non carbonated healthier options. This article will discuss the possible end of the cola war and other alternatives taking centre stage. Some of the best brands to watch out for and the ways to market these have also been suggested.

Doomsday

Both the Cola bigwigs have used popular celebrities, sticky jingles and great marketing campaigns to lure the customers. However, in Jul 2013, Coca Cola reported its growth to be the slowest in 5 years. This can be attributed to the early onset of monsoon that instigated it to reduce the price of its product. It is also the opinion of industry analysts that Pepsi’s Rs.160 crore spending on ILP 6 was futile since its market share dipped in April 2013 vis a vis Coca Cola’s. i.e. its market share dipped to 29.7% from 32.1%. It

Cola War

The World’s biggest players in soda industry are Coca Cola and Pepsi. There are other players like Dr. Pepper and Cott which have market share that is significantly lesser than these biggies. But these are important because even if one of them sells off, the potential market share could reflect in billions of dollars for either Coke or Pepsi. From time to time, soft drinks have been creating the buzz with different flavors, attractive promos etc. From time to time, some new comer is heralded as the conqueror but ultimately it loses steam and the industry hails Coke & Pepsi as the leaders once again. Of late, Soda Stream is

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november 2013 the Retail juice sales in the U.S. shrank 7.2 percent from 2007, to 9 billion liters last year and sale of orange juice has been the lowest ever in 15 years.

Top Contenders

Anything natural sells effortlessly these days. As Coke & Pepsi are being dethroned, a potential king exists amongst tender coconut products, tea, variants of caffeine or even plain water. Over a period of 10 years from 2001 to 2011, annual bottled-water consumption soared 56% to 26 gallons per person according to The Beverage Information Group and the U.S. Census. Similarly, the consumption of tea across continents shows an increase over the past three years with many countries reporting 5% growth. In our very own HUL’s portfolio, Lipton brand has continued to lead the category with 21% retail value share. When

is safe to assume that both Pepsi and Coca Cola have not gained much with marginal dip or hike in market share. It is important to discuss who is exactly giving Coke & Pepsi a run for their money.

Amongst other reasons, health issues are a major concern. Artificial sweeteners included in the diet beverages, such as aspartame and high-fructose corn syrup, as lowcalorie replacements for traditional sugar are increasingly frowned upon by consumers due to perceived health risks. As a response to this trend, Coke is shifting its focus to emerging economies which is not as health conscious as the mature markets, while Pepsi is looking at leveraging its Frito Lays brand to slowly offset the slowdown in carbonated drinks segment.

Soda sales have been witnessing a downward trend according to a Bloomberg report.

it comes to bottled coconut water, the premium charged is surely an indication of its demand. The current cost of Zico costs nearly 26$ on Amazon for a pack of twelve, 14 ounces bottle. With respect to Caffeine, 74% of millennials said they have consumed a gourmet coffee beverage within the last year, compared with 72% of Generation Xers, 59% of baby boomers, and 53% of the more mature consumers. All these statistics stand testimony to the potential of the substitutes to Cola and how that potential is on the upswing.

It is interesting to know that France has imposed a ‘Fat Tax’ on sugary beverages as well and it is a bone of contention in New York with most decision makers favoring the Fat Tax. Coca Cola is working to integrate stevia, which is the all-natural zero calorie sweetener, into its carbonated drinks. But the brand stickiness associated with Diet Coke that is inherently not calorie free and healthy could have rub off effect on Stevia.

Marketing Strategies for the Alternatives

Some of the following strategies can be adopted in terms of product development or marketing of these substitutes is as follows:

It is time for brands such as Zico coconut water, Vitamin water, Tata Gluco Plus, Snapple Ice Tea to use this to their advantage and trample the Cola companies that have long dominated the beverage industry. It is also important to note that it’s not just soda that is losing the fizz, but the juice market is also tumbling down. Euromonitor International which is a market intelligence firm observed that

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• Sweet is a sin: Many drinks advertise it, but its credibility can be questioned. Anything sweet is bound to have sugar content. Be it artificial or natural. So if your drink tastes only mildly sweet, with probably more of a whacky, unique taste, then the customers could probably believe that it is indeed low on calories. That is the perceived notion of the

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sugar content in customer’s minds. For instance, the taste of tender coconut is pleasant on the taste buds. It is not whacky, not sweet. Its plain different.

• Power of packaging: Everyone is tired of the same old glass bottles, cans, tetra packs. Try some innovative packaging style. Such as see through jelly like wrappers, inbuilt straw in containers, painted matka bottles as a special edition etc.. Even if you want to stick to the regular glass bottles for the sake of Supply chain simplicity, innovate in terms of labelling such as what Dom Perignon does from time to time. Coca Cola’s WE8 edition was one such initiative in this space.

• Exciting variants of tea & coffee: On the go consumption of tea or coffee is usually catered to by cafes. There is a relatively empty space for packaged tea or coffee that can be consumed immediately. Some interesting variations of tea that can be explored for the ‘on the go consumption’ are fruit tea, tea punch, matcha, kombucha etc. These are essentially a mix of tea with fruit flavour, with herbs or with mild alcoholic/non alcoholic mixes that give it a fresh new flavour. Similar such product innovations can be explored in the coffee segment as well.

• Relate to a cause, once in a while: In the first week of October this year, Idaho-based Sockeye Brewing partnered with CROWN Beverage Packaging, to launch its flagship Dagger Falls IPA brand in limitededition pink cans. By associating a fun brand with a cause, does not undermines the brand essence. The youngsters who are generally the targeted group will appreciate the initiative and that could provide great PR Mileage.

Besides, adding a human face to your brand, does wonders to your credibility

Beginning of the End

Throughout the article; Coke’s, Pepsi’s and other similar players’ end has been prophesized. This is stated by making a fair assumption that these companies have a brand essence that is too strong to be tweaked. The core of the brand itself would have to be altered if they have to compete with new entrants like tender coconut water. But if these companies go about brand extensions in a way that leverages its legacy and innovates in the substitute’s product category, it will sustain and even after 100 years, B-School grads will hail it as a dream company, will learn all about its strategies and write articles on it. Till then, all we can do is to wait and watch.. With a sip of the soda of course!

• Crowd source not just on the web: Crowd sourcing is great way to engage the customers. But it should not just be restricted to online content or posters or marketing material. Kingfisher’s rise to fame can be attributed to its Kingfisher Calendar girl Contest.

Lots of glamour and glitz gave it the much needed visibility. Similar such strategies could be used to create the labels with the photos of the winners or to release limited merchandise with the design being crowd sourced. Not only will it be an alternative revenue stream but will also enhance customer engagement.

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Marketing

From Function to Emotion The power of emotional marketing

by anurag kumar iift delhi

In “22 Immutable laws of Marketing”, Al Ries and Jack Trout suggest that Marketing is about perceptions (Law of perception). What we perceive is what we believe. Marketer’s job is creating that perception. But what if instead of focusing on our brand, we focus on what our customers experience in their lives and how our brand reflects it. This gives rise to the thought of creating an emotional connect with our customers where in a brand transcends the products and the timelines and becomes the part of a customer’s life. It is at this stage that the customer owns the brand and is connected to it.

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n a recent marketing analysis conducted by a leading Marketing and communications company, an astounding fact came to the fore: 73% of the brands could disappear and consumers wouldn’t care. People believe that just 20% of worldwide brands meaningfully affect their lives in positive ways. How did this state of affairs come about? Overtime products have become less differentiated and have begun collapsing into each other. Year after year, variance in product functionality has decreased within most categories, which has made it much harder to retain customer loyalty and market share. To combat this, companies have shifted their focus from the realm of functional attributes to the realm of emotional attributes.

CREATING AN EMOTIONAL CONNECT Customer choices are dynamic. In a scenario where every customer has a host of choices, it is even more difficult for a marketer to retain a customer. Companies today compete on mind share and heart share rather than just market share. With the concepts like Customer Lifetime Value taking prominence, companies are increasingly realising how important it is to concentrate on long term retention of the customers rather than short term selling.

In the realm of consumer product marketing, there is an established and well-documented relationship between the emotional impact of a company’s messaging and the demand for its products. While functional, fact-based cri-

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teria clearly influence decision-making, it is equally true that the difference in sales between competing products, whether they be Coke and Pepsi, Adidas and Nike, or Toyota and Ford, is heavily influenced by highly subjective and personal impulses that might best be described as feelings, affects or biases for one brand over another.

In addition to the rational evaluation of costs and benefits that goes into most purchase decisions, our preferences for products are subject to a complex amalgamation of inputs that include personal experience, cultural standards and values, and even hard-wired physiological responses that may or may not be apparent to us, combining to form the mental and physical dispositions we commonly label as emotions.

journal”. This statement aptly summarises the psyche of a customer for a love mark It is essentially a part of person’s life. When a brand becomes the part of a customer’s life it becomes a love mark.

Creating a love mark is a continuous exercise. It is after continuous efforts of quality service that a love mark can be achieved. Marketers have been working on various strategies to achieve that state. In the effort to achieve this state, marketing has undergone many innovations.

There are campaigns and channels to reach out to the people. Some of the ways are: PR Campaigns, Social Media Marketing, Customer loyalty programs, CSR activities, and Sponsoring events. Let us look at some campaigns which have leveraged the power of emotion to create a lovemark

Emotional marketing is not limited to companies selling commodities or packaged goods. The U.S. Government, for example, relies heavily on emotional appeal in its efforts to entice new recruits to its armed forces, imploring young people to Be All You Can be. Major colleges and universities regularly employ aspirational advertising campaigns to draw new students, and in the political arena emotion reigns supreme, with candidates carefully crafting their messages to tap deeply into our personal and collective hopes, aspirations, and even fears. Whether it is for packaged goods or a political candidate, the common denominator in consumer marketing is the consumer herself. This individual is a complex and highly impressionable target that companies can reliably engage, entertain, move, and ultimately persuade with the right emotional levers. The marketers should aim to create a “Lovemark”.

It is a stage of brand where it is loved by the customers and at the same time is able to command their respect.

“Thank You, Mom”!

“Behind every athlete is a loving mom”, “Mombassador”, “Every day is Mother’s Day”, “Moms do so much, and sometimes don’t hear how much they’re truly appreciated”, “The time to raise future Olympians is NOW!”, “She held you close, held your hand, held her breath, held you together. Thank you, Mom” The simple message communicated through the campaign was that behind every successful athlete there is an amazing mother. P&G thanks these moms and all the

The matrix below gives an idea how a “Love Mark” transcends a Brand. Marketers have continuously been working to create their brands into a Love Mark. Stephanie Barron the mystery fiction writer once said “I never feel that I have comprehended an emotion or fully lived even the smallest events until I have reflected upon it in my other moms worldwide for the immense amount of effort they put in to ensure that their kids have a healthy and happy childhood. The company strategy stated- “P&G is not in the business of helping athletes P&G is in the business of helping Moms”.

There was no particular target audience- it was a sentimental campaign to which everyone could connect. It wasn’t “brand -centric” and wasn’t used to show the superiority of its products over other brands. Two concepts that came into focus were “Brand prominenece” and “Brand self-connection”. The consumer could identify to the commercials not only as a kid or a mother but it was also made meaningful in light of motherhood. The ads

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reminded the audience of their own childhoods when which goes beyond the image of a product. their mothers acted as the invisible hand of force to help them stand tall.

It will be no surprise if Dove goes for product line extension and increase the basket of products under the umDove Campaign for Real Beauty brella of dove the brand and that is exactly what it is now The Dove Campaign for doing with its Pro-Age advertising. The name itself—”Pro Real Beauty is a worldAge”—is a wonderful touché to all of those “anti-wrinwide marketing camkle” creams and “age-defying” potions that trade on paign launched by Unilethe negative stereotypes of aging. All in all Dove has crever in 2004 that includes ated a phenomena in the marketing sphere by successfully advertisements, video, harnessing the collective power of social media and emoworkshops, sleepover tion marketing and created an iconic standing for itself. events and the publication of a book and the Nike “BLEED BLUE” production of a play. The In 2010 Nike launched the ‘Bleed Blue’ campaign expressaim of the campaign is ing the support of the cricket mad nation for its beto celebrate the natural physical variation embodied by loved team. Nike firmly believed that if there was one fixall women and inspire them to have the confidence to be ation that captured the spirit of an entire nation drenched comfortable with themselves. The campaign’s mission is in a million emotions and that united every Indian, it was to “to create a world where beauty is a source of confi- cricket. Bleed Blue reflects the truth that cricket has trandence and not anxiety.” The campaign started a global conversation about the need for a wider definition of beauty. Since 2004, Dove has employed various communication vehicles to challenge beauty stereotypes and invite women to join a discussion about beauty.

Dove has gone the counterintuitive way of marketing in the sphere of skincare products. While most skincare companies tend to create and then exploit insecurity in the mind of women (with the new breed of men’s fairness products the insecurity creation seems to be unisex). Dove went the reverse way of telling women they were beautiful the way they were. Such trust based marketing campaign fetches Dove rich dividends and positions it as a friendly, trustworthy brand. Dove has successfully tapped into the emotions of the diaspora of scended the status of a sport, and has become a reliwomen across the globe and is trying to build an image gion in India, with players being accorded the status of gods. There is tremendous passion involved in the game, and the campaign gave an expression to that passion.

While ‘blood’ and ‘sweat’ represented the hard work, grit and firm determination of the players, ‘Blue’ was an obvious take on the blue jerseys that Team India sports. As a concept, Bleed Blue can be interpreted by three sets of people: the first are aspiring cricket players from all walks of life and different parts of the country who are passionate about the game. The second lot comprises those who may not play cricket, but support the Indian team and cheer for their heroes. And, the third lot would be the 11 players themselves, whose passion for the game can

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be seen on the field, when they play for their country.

This campaign has enabled Nike to create an emotional connect with the Indian fans who live and breathe cricket. It has inspired millions of others to pursue their dreams of donning the India jersey and play in front of packed stadiums.

“Yes We Can” – 2008 Presidential campaign by Barrack Obama These 3 simple words changed the fortunes of an African American and propelled him to the most powerful position in world.

A number of factors contributed to the unprecedented victory of Barrack Obama in 2008 presidential elections.

But one feature that stood out from the rest is the ability of Barrack Obama to reach out to the people through his words and connect to them. More than anything else, the whole presidential campaign of Barrack Obama can be termed as a marketing success. The extent, breadth and reach of the whole campaign are nothing short of a marketing marvel.

“Hope and Change” - It was the central theme around which the whole campaign revolved. It was clearly projected that the way things are running are not good and change is required. Obama by means of the campaign clearly emphasised on this. He gauged the mood of the people very well and correctly tapped the feeling of discomfort among people. It had a logical and emotional appeal.

capabilities. Obama effectively combined the traditional methods of campaigning and fund raising with the new emerging ways of marketing. He involved people, made them part of his brand and they in turn advertised for him.

That resulted in a landslide victory over John McCain.

The best kind of marketing is the one which creates an emotional response in the audience, and that only when the audience connects with the advertisement.

This not only gives rise to laughter, tears, smiles, etc, but also leads to sharing, liking and tweeting. Thus, when the campaigns and advertisements reach the point of becoming a “love -mark” they not only promote themselves they also crowd-source from the general public.

The above were only a few examples of campaigns with emotional connect, more and more such campaigns are being launched nowadays. Companies have started consulting psychologists to develop messages with the potential to touch people’s hearts and generate more engagement and trust. It’s not just about winning more market share, but as Kotler has put it its’ also about winning the “customer mind share and heart share” Thus marketers nowadays concentrate more on creating emotional appeal rather than logical arguments about the superiority of their products over their competitors’. It is now understood that if the consumers’ marketing choices were completely logical then there wouldn’t be any need of creating a “brand” The consumer is led by emotions and his/her choices are justified post- purchase.

This is why it is important that customers become brandloyal. And what better of creating loyalty among customers than by reaching their hearts!

“Yes We Can”- Translated to Si se peude in Spanish, these three words revolutionlized the way people spoke about Obama. Obama in his campaign spoke at length what people of USA deserved what change they can bring about in their own systems. One thing which touched everyone was that there was never an “I” in the whole campaign. The whole campaign was about “WE”. Everywhere Obama stressed out on the change that can be collectively brought together. It was something that set him apart from others. The collective responsibility of change immediately connected with the masses. While most of his competitors focussed on what they can do as an individual, Obama focussed on the collective

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Its a Colorful World

Cover Story

Chandrasekhar Susarla

Vaibhav Annam

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magine if you happen to go to a McDonald’s store to grab your favourite burger and on reaching there you are greeted by something like this figure instead of the familiar golden arches.

Or that you grab a bottle of Coke or Pepsi to find one of these on the label.

If you are wondering what we are getting at, then yes, it is the power of colors in branding that we are talking about. Coca-Cola owns the color red. When we think of blue, we think of Ford or GE on an international level and Tata in India. Yellow reminds us of McDonald’s. There are numerous examples we are going to keep coming back to. But what is it about a color that it affects our behaviour as a consumer at a psychological level? Do we prefer certain brands because of the visual appeal they create? Is there a fit between color and the perception of the brand? Are colors influenced by the culture of a region? Should a marketer adopt a pan-cultural or a culture-specific approach? We shall seek to answer these questions in the article.

Color of a logo has always played a very crucial part in striking the right chord with the consumer. It influences moods and emotions, shapes consumers’ perception and behaviour and helps companies position or differentiate from the competition. Thus it has been an integral element of corporate and marketing communications. However, we usually do not find a lot of information available on public domain. A large section of the color research on products, packages and advertisements remains unpublished because of competitive concerns. Inappropriate choice of product or package colors may also lead to strategic failure. Although vague business anecdotes are available, many of the questions related to color remain unanswered. Assuming a narrow Western perspective of colors as ‘universal’ and applying it to alien markets has often led to cultural faux pas.

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The significance of various colors has been shaped from traditions and beliefs. In the early fifth century BC, the Greeks referred to the antithesis of black as white and introduced a scheme of primary colors (white, black and red) and a range of mixes from red through yellow to green. Aristotle proposed that the intermediate colors were a mixture of light and dark and later Hippocrates put forward his four-color theory: that of white, black, red and yellow. The medieval and Renaissance usage of color denoted religious symbolism. It related the four elements of nature with four colors: scarlet (later red) with fire, white (later black) with earth, blue with air (and sky) and purple (later white) with water. Mystical interpretation was given to these colors, as blue represented heaven, scarlet denoted charity, purple a symbol of martyrdom and white denoted chastity. Because the colors gold, crimson, scarlet and purple were extracted from precious pigments and minerals in ancient times, they indicated power, authority and opulence. In Western Europe, imperial purple (sometimes ultramarine) was the color of the robe worn by Madonna. Cardinals could only dress in purple robes with a red hat until the mid-fifteenth century, when they were allowed to wear scarlet or crimson red robes with a vermilion hat. In The Netherlands, the Virgin was clothed in scarlet. The senators in Rome would a l s o w e a r scarlet/ crimson violet.

New to n in 1730 was the first to establish a color wheel and describe a prismatic spectrum of seven colors linked in a circular arrangement. With some revision of the

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number and area of the component hues, this circular arrangement has remained standard in the color theory till today. However, it is also argued that a

color’s tone or hue can be a deceptive predictor and that the variation in brightness and saturation play a more important role in a color’s perception and association with behaviour.

Today’s interpretation of color has evolved from what it used to be in the past. But there are some basic associations which always hold true. These are what any person would try to make on looking at a particular color. Broadly, there are seven types of such associations.

Firstly, we have basic physiological and perceptual responses (i.e., heart rate, visual acuity, etc.). Secondly, we have environmental correlations (i.e., blue sky or sea, green grass or forest, etc.). Next, there are affective response associations. (i.e., anger, love, etc.). Fourthly, there are affective metaphors (i.e., green with envy, yellow as cowardice, etc.). Then there are national symbols which we associate colors with (i.e., Irish green, Denmark Orange, Scottish blue, etc.). Sixthly, there are specific cultural associations (i.e., “blue” laws as religious influence, “green” as a political party, etc.). And finally, there are some general evaluative responses which arise out of interaction with peers (i.e., “blue is my favourite color”).

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Now, it is quintessential for a marketer to understand what kind of response is generated within a consumer to particular color stimuli. Color forms a part of what is known as the corporate visual identity of a brand. It acts at a very subliminal level.

A consumer, at the back of his mind, almost always seeks to match the significance of a color and a brand’s personality (characteristics of the brand). For example, you simply cannot imagine a black or a white logo for Coca Cola. Coke has always stood for joy, energy, excitement, dynamism and happiness. These qualities are best represented by the red color. According to psychologist Jennifer Aaker, there are roughly five core dimensions that play a role in a brand’s personality. These are sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness. Take any brand and you will find that it can be classified under one of these heads.

Let us now consider various colors and see if brands which use that particular color in their identity are right in doing so or no. White, as we know, is all colors in the spectrum taken together. In most of the western cultures, white has been associated with a

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sense of purity, hygiene, clarity, simplicity, chastity and happiness. A western brand would thus not mind adopting the color white in its corporate visual identity. But trouble might occur when we try to interpret the color in Asia. In majority of the Asian nations like China, Japan, India, Korea and ASEAN countries, the color is associated with death and mourning. For instance, in India, we observe widows wearing primarily white clothes. Now, shouldn’t a western brand be cautious while trying to enter Asia?

aims to connect with all its stakeholders, right from investors and suppliers to its consumers and customers. Another characteristic attribute of the blue color is leadership - DELL, HP, LinkedIn have been able to bank upon this attribute of the color for building up the brand image. Ford’s blue color logo is in close harmony with the company’s ideals. Ford which was responsible for the automobile democratization in 1930’s has changed the demographics of automobile sector and led it to a different business frontier.

The blue color not only One of the few brands helped IBM, which is also which have successfully known as the “Big Blue”, integrated the color white re-affirm the brand idenin its branding activities tity but also gain an addiis Apple. Be it its logo, be tional branding opportuit its tablets, be it its earnity. Walmart, a leader in phones, Apple has moved consumer retail domain, away from the convenchanged its logo in 2008, tional black color which introducing a new font was predominantly asand iconic spark along sociated with digital dewith the logo. Unilever, a vices. Apple, as a brand, global leader in the FMCG has always been known segment has affirmed its for pioneering steps in inleadership and trust in novation. While the brand the business by the innois seen as a prestigious vative use of color blue one to be associated with, encompassing the differessentially it has made ent businesses Unilever the whole concept of smartphones ad tablets very caters to. The global telecom provider Ericsson is ofsimple. Steve Jobs once stated that the so called ten recognized by the iconic blue stripes which repsmartphones which existed back then in the market resent the letter “E”. Pepsi’s “Bleed blue” campaign is (around 2007) were not so smart. And thus came another characteristic portrayal of blue’s significance the revolutionary iPhone. This was followed by iPad. in capturing consumer’s attention. However, some Our digital life thus became quite convenient. From a broad point of view, if we try to compare characteristics of Brand Apple and our perception of color white, we find an excellent fit among the two. And it thus makes immense sense that Apple has chosen to paint itself in white.

The color blue stands for high quality and integrity.

TATA in India with its blue colored logo symbolizes trust and

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anomalies do exist like the usage of blue color for BSNL logo doesn’t create a required impact on the scale of brand recall.

the fact that its fruit juice offering is straight from nature’s lap. Similarly, Subway’s green color logo signifies the fresh vegetables used in its sandOrange is a color which wiches and salads. represents cheerfulGreen also signifies ness, warmth and congrowth, BP’s new logo fidence. Because of its of BP launched in 2000 longer wavelength, the aims to convey this color is often associaspect of color to the ated with playfulness, global stakeholders. some excitement and The sunburst of green, passion. In some reliyellow and white signigions, orange is a very fies all forms of energy sacred color. Many and their synergies for Hindu and Buddhist a sustainable future of monks are often seen wearing orange robes. In Neth- the firm. The international agriculture equipment erlands, the monarchy is called as House of Orange. manufacturer John Deere This explains why the Dutch people are so fond of aptly chose the green color the color. Their national soccer team is in fact called to drive its point home with as “Oranje”. While orange is loved by many nations, the customers. Nested in there are others like Zambia which do not even ac- the pristine lap of nature knowledge the existence of the color. Orange has and aiming to be a sustainmostly been associated with brands which sell bev- able house of management erages which are related to education IIM Shillong logo the Orange fruit. Think of has green as a dominant Fanta or Mirinda or Crush. color.

If you think about it, as brands Mirinda or Fanta has When we think of qualities always stood for something like masculinity, love, intencheerful. Those “Pagalpanti sity, boldness and youthfulbhi zaroori hain” TVCs by ness, it won’t be very hard Mirinda or the “Animated to guess which color we Skategirl” TVC of Fanta serve are talking about. Red has been the favorite color of as testimonials for their brand identity. Nickelodeon, marketers from the very beginning. The color leaves the very famous kid’s brand, which is in the business a lasting impression in the mind of the person lookof making video games, TV shows, greeting cards and ing at it and gives a very confident outlook for the fun videos, has successfully adopted the color orange brand. We find red in football clubs like Liverpool as a part of its corporate-visual identity. Indeed, the and Manchester United; in childhood icons like Santa choice is apt as the brand does stand for playfulness. Claus, Spiderman or Superman; in telecom operators like Vodafone, Airtel or Virgin; in food industry as Since times unknown, Nature has in KFC, Kellogg’s or Lays; in soft been an inspiration for humans drinks like Coca Cola or Dr Pepand the color of green has been per and so on. The color red has synonymous with nature and its own appeal and must be used health. Animal Planet’s green with a brand which can live up to logo resonates the business ofthe expectations the color brings fering of the channel. Tropicana’s along with itself. We observe green color logo tacitly conveys that the color is best suited with

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cover story

november 2013 brands which are market leaders in their respective industries. A clas-

sic example of a brand having to switch from red is Pepsi. In the 50s, when Pepsi was trying hard to grab market share of Coca Cola, it realized that using red solely in their logo will not help them carve a different identity in the minds of consumers. It switched to using blue as well in its logo.

Shell has retained the usage of color yellow and red in its logo since 1948. Shell company of California which first built service stations, had to compete against other companies. Shell felt that using bright colors is the solution for the problem. These bright colors had to blend with the customer’s emotions. Shell at that time operated out of California and taking into account Californian’s strong Spanish connections, red and yellow of Spain were selected for the brand logo. The actual colors have been modified over the years, most notably in 1995 when a bright, fresh and very consumer friendly new Shell Red and Shell Yellow were introduced to launch Shell’s new retail visual identity making it the greatest brand symbols in 21st century. Bright colors attract the human eyeballs and create a lasting impression in mindspace. The color yellow signifies friendliness, optimism and warmth. The firms which are into service sector wherein the final deliverable is not a tangible entity prefer to choose bright consumer friendly colors to have desired brand recall. Flipkart, Meru Cabs, Homeshop18,IMDB, Bestbuy are some of the examples to support this argument.

The characteristic yellow color of Mc Donalds is for the same reason of striking a chord with the consumer’s recognition and long lasting retention.

or a combination of two colors in its logo, there are some which have more than two. To an observer, this would only be an indication of diversity in the brand.

Take Google for example. Be it the search results, be it the apps it provides or be it the work culture; Google promotes diversity and innovation in every way possible. The meaning behind the color scheme of Google’s logo highlights that “Google does not follow the rules” in an interview with Ruth Kedar he explained “We ended up with the primary colors, but instead of having the pattern go in order, we put a secondary color on the L, which brought back the idea that Google does not follow the rules”. Ebay and Microsoft are two other brands which have a multi-colored logo. This makes perfect sense as both the brands provide diverse options for the consumer.

There are also instances when choice of inappropriate colors has led to negative consequences. It is important not to ignore culture-specific color associations. Use of adverse colors in alien cultures can cause strategic failure. For instance, use of purple and black colors by Samsonite in Mexico , ice blue color by Pepsi in Southeast Asia and wearing white carnations by concierges of United Airlines on its Pacific routes, where these colors symbolized death and mourning in the target markets, underscores the need for using the right product color.

It can thus be established that color does play a pivotal role in asserting brand image in a consumer’s mind. Brands which aim to strengthen their corporate visual identity in different geographies must not neglect the importance of choice of colors lest this “silent salesperson” will lead to an embarrassing faux pas

While most of the brands opt for a single color

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vartalaap from archives

november 2013

An interview with Mr David Aaker Marketing Consultant and Author

D

avid Allen Aaker (born 1938) is a consultant and author on the field of marketing, particularly in the area of brand strategy. He is currently the Vice Chairman of Prophet, a global brand and marketing consultancy firm, Professor Emeritus at the Haas School of Business of the University of California, Berkeley and an advisor to Dentsu, a major Japanese advertising agency. He has been called the ‘father of branding’ and blogs on ‘Aaker on Brands’.

He received his B.S. in Management from the MIT Sloan School of Management and subsequently attended Stanford University where he received his M.A. in Statistics and Ph.D in Business Administration.

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vartalaap from archives

november 2013

Markathon: Tell us a little about your college years in MIT Sloan School of Management and then at Mr. David: The book ‘Brand Relevance: Making ComStanford. How were they influential in shaping your petitors Irrelevant’ discusses two ways to compete.

The first, to win the brand preference competition career? with “my brand is better than your brand” marketing Mr. David: A complete story is in my biography ‘From in an established category or subcategory. IncremenFargo the World of Brands’. At MIT I was in the Sloan tal innovation is a basis for competing and resources School where I was exposed to the quantitative side are expended on communicating more effectively of marketing. At Stanford I studied statistics and mar- with cleverer advertising, more impactful promoketing and began my career as a quantitative model tions, more visible sponsorships, and involving social builder. media programs but such efforts rarely break out of the clutter. The problem is Markathon: You have that incremental innovation been called the “Father and investments in marketof Branding”. When did ing rarely change the market you first get interested in share structure because cusBrands? How did you retomers are just not inclined alise that branding and or motivated to change brand strategy was the career for loyalties in established maryou? kets.

Mr. David: After doing research and writing books in strategy I came to the conclusion that firms are too focused on short-term financials and needed to instead build assets. Given my background in advertising and marketing research in addition to strategy, I decided to focus on brand assets. My goal for the last two decades has been to advance the knowledge and practice of branding with a strategic perspective.

Markathon: What would you say is the single biggest and oft repeated mistake most companies make with respect to Brands/Branding?

Mr. David: A perception that branding is tactical, something that can be delegated to an advertising manager or logo creator. The challenge is to get people to recognize that a brand and a brand portfolio is the enabler of a business strategy.

Markathon: Your latest book is, ‘Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant”.

What is the essence of the book and who do you think should read this book?

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The second, to win the brand relevance competition by creating new categories or subcategories for which competitors are irrelevant, is a route to growth and profitability. This route to competitive success is about developing offerings that contain ‘must haves’ that define new categories or subcategories. Winning under the brand relevance model, now very different, is based on being selected because competitors were not relevant rather than not preferred, a qualitatively different reason. The result can be a market in which there is no competition at all for an extended time or one in which the competition is reduced or weakened the ticket to ongoing financial success. The brand relevance strategy involves transformational or substantial innovation and an organizational ability to sense changes in the marketplace and its customers, an ability to commit to a new concept and bring it to market. It also requires a willingness to take risks by going outside the comfort zone represented by the existing target market, value proposition, and business model.

I think that brand relevance explains market dynamics because new categories and

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vartalaap from archives

november 2013

subcategories are what drive market dynamics. Any manager facing a dynamic market will benefit from Mr. David: In all capacities I like the idea of providing this book. rigorous thinking and research to the major practical issues facing business executives. ‘Managing Brand Markathon: What causes brands to lose relevancy? Equity’ was very influential because it defined brand equity and explained why a brand had value.

Mr. David: One way to lose relevance is when brands remain strong but customers start buying another Markathon: What is your advice for graduates in Bcategory or subcategory. If customers are in the mar- schools looking to make a career in branding and ket for a hybrid brand strategies? sedan, it does not matter Mr. David: I think people should follow their pashow loved your sion whatever it is. I would learn as much as possible minivan brand about brands from different perspectives and then is. Your brand is try to get an entry level job where you are exposed not relevant, it to great brand efforts will not be considered. The challenge is to recognize the emergence of new subcategories and find a way to either be relevant to or defeat the new subcategory.

Markathon: Which has been your favorite book among the 15 bestsellers, and why?

Mr. David: ‘Building Strong Brands’ had the most impact with some 150,000 books sold around the world.

There are many firms that use the model to manage their brands. I wish more of them had bought ‘Brand Leadership’ in which the model was expanded and elaborated. The portfolio book was the only one to really address the portfolio question. I think the relevance book probably has the most original single idea.

Markathon: You have juggled the roles of an author, a consultant and a B-School Professor. Which role is the one you enjoy the most or has been the most satisfying for you personally?

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eye2eye

november 2013

Yahoo’s new logo: Technical glitch or Matching the brand identity? niteesha reddy

harit uchil

bim, trichy

sibm, pune

Yahoo unveiled the suspense finally by rolling out its new logo on 5th September, 2013. But why this change?

There comes a time in every brand’s life when it has to change its logo to appeal to a new set of users. Yahoo!’s new logo, which does exactly the same, has got mixed reviews, with some reviewers calling it boring and some comparing it to a cosmetics company logo.

I beg to differ.

According to Yahoo CMO Kathy Savitt the new logo reflects the ‘renewed sense of purpose and progress’ and ‘the spirit of innovation’ at Yahoo.

The performance of Yahoo is either slightly on the decline or stagnant accompanied by troubling financial numbers and compared to counterpart (Google), it has a long way to go.

Will this new logo signify the brand revolution or is it just a marketing stunt to gather attention and improve traffic on their website? In the process of logo re-designing, Yahoo apparently retained three things: iconic exclamation point, color purple and the yodel. All the 30 iterations looked more like the ones created by dickering around the font types and the font sizes with very little variations.

Is this sufficient enough to communicate about renewed sense of purpose and innovation of the brand? Certainly not!

A company which wishes to rebrand itself should look way beyond just changing the corporate logo. Yahoo still follows its own old fashioned way of making money by selling the ad space and the new logo doesn’t convey anything about how the company’s business is different than it was before the campaign.

Moreover, Yahoo CEO Mayer hailed that the new logo carried a human touch but in contrast experts around the globe felt that Yahoo missed the opportunity to create customer engagement. Had Yahoo gone for an implementation of voting system for people to choose the final logo it would have resulted in sense of ownership among the customers. Did Yahoo miss this trick? Probably yes!

The official logo looked nothing more than 31st iteration – a technical glitch, far away from how the company wants to identify itself as a brand.

Yahoo!’s new logo design is very contemporary and in sync with the evolving style. Today’s style is more about being uncluttered and crisp, and Yahoo!’s logo portrays exactly the same element. It gives you a sense of professionalism, but at the same time the reclined exclamation mark shows you the informal side of the brand— which we all relate to. The two-toned typeface and the deeper hues reflect similar themes.

The new logo also sends out a message to the Internet giant Google that Yahoo! is catching up on its lost bastion. With a redesigned mailbox and a fresh homepage, it is clear that Yahoo! is planning to focus on regaining supremacy in the e-mail sector and appeal to new users.

The new logo is the perfect accompaniment to the new strategy— a cool blend of professionalism and fun!

The redefined logo gives Yahoo! a “masstige” (mass + prestige) identity, with which it can relate to the masses that Yahoo! traditionally has catered to, giving the users a sense of belonging to a superior brand. It so appeals to the new users who would want to come onboard for a superior mail and web experience.

The new logo with its simplicity and starkness will also help Yahoo! to stand out in a galaxy of tech brands as the brand that focuses on superior quality of products. So, all in all, it is a good move by Yahoo! to have the logo redesigned.

Topic for the next issue: “Celebrity Branding by Micromax: Sensible Strategy or Over the Top Advertising?”

Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is 1st December, 2013. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry.

Winning entries will receive a prize money of Rs. 500 each!

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silent voice

november 2013

Theme: Victoria’s Secret Last month’s results Winner vivek unnikrishnan | niam

Congratulations!!! Vivek receives a cash prize of Rs 1000!

honorary mention

TEam brahmastra | sydenham institute of management zafeer rais | abhijeet prabhu

NEXT THEME FOR SILENT VOICE: IRCTC LAST DATE OF SENDING THE PRINT AD: 1st December, 2013 EMAIL ID: markathon.iims@gmail.com Send your entry in JPEG format named as SilentVoice_<Your Name>_<Institute>only.

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AD-dicted

november 2013

BY Sushree tripathy IIM SHILLONG

BY SWIKRUTI PANDA IIM SHILLONG

PRODUCT: Tanishq Gold Jewellery

PRODUCT: Snapdeal.com

POSITIONING: “A Wedding to remember”

POSITIONING: “Keep saving.”

CREATIVE AGENCY: Lowe Lintas & Partners

CREATIVE AGENCY: Draftfcb-Ulka

YouTube Link:

YouTube Link:

http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=P76E6b7SQs8

http://www.youtube. com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Iyszb85UwTM

CONCEPT:

CONCEPT:

CATCH

Tanishq, known for its emotional communication, unfolded the second commercial for its bridal collection this season.

Woven around the tabooed concept of remarriage, the ad promoted its contemporary range of wedding jewellery targeted at the new-age woman. It opens with a dusky Indian bride getting ready for her wedding, when a little girl walks up to her engaging in playful chatter. They then walk up to the mandap together. As the vows are taken, the girl gets impatient and wants to join them in the pheras. She calls the bride ‘mama’ revealing their relationship, who shushes her plea. Seeing her disappointment, the groom asks the little girl to join them and lifts her in his arms. It tugs the emotional chords of viewers when the girl asks the groom if she could call him daddy now.

The series of 30 second commercials are intended to show how the today’s bargain hunting aspirational customers go out of their way in the most unconventional ways to save an extra penny. First ad features a desperate salesman flooding a prospect with freebies worth Rs. 5000 on Rs. 25000 worth of mobile handset. Least flattered by the bunch of offers, the prospect snaps by asking the salesman to sell the set for Rs. 20,000 instead leaving him gaping with mouth wide open. The second ad in the sequence shows a couple stealthily taking a picture of a designer jewelry and asking a local artisan to replicate it at reasonable rates. The ads end with a voice-over saying, “Paise bachane ke liye hum kya kya nahin karte, isse se better log on to Snapdeal.com, Bachatey raho.”

R

MISS

VERDICT: Catch

VERDICT: Miss

The ad is in line with Tanishq’s strategy to target young women looking for differentiated designs and statement pieces. Remarriage is a reality which the brand has humbly mirrored it to its advantage. From the casting of a dusky bride to the bravado of embracing second marriages, the ad has succeeded at breaking stereotypes with a confident elegance. As a society gradually shedding the stigma of divorce and opening up to the topic of remarriages, it is a progressive idea to endorse and a strong statement to make. The execution kept it at best natural with a subtle focus on the key emotional moments at any wedding.

Although its impact on sales is under contention, it has definitely managed to create a buzz, cut right through the clutter and evoke strong reactions from viewers.

When today in India, e-commerce and online shopping is fast picking up, where deals and online discounts are no more considered differentiators, rather have become category points of parity, the Snapdeal.com ads talk only about good deals. The target are the bargain hunters, no doubt. But of course even a bargain hunter would not like to be identified as one so explicitly if Snapdeal associates itself with a bunch of people who do not hesitate to demean themselves to get a better deal. All the customers believe that their behavior earns them the seller’s respect and provides a sense of belongingness to the group they aspire to be in. The campaign fails miserably to stand out of the clutter and show some pride that a prospect will find in the association.

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brand story

november 2013

Brand Story : ASIAN PAINTS Shashank Singh Tomar | IIM Shillong

possibilities.

Building an over Rs. 1000 Crore brand with over 45% market share in a product category characterized by discretionary consumption is nothing less than a herculean task to accomplish. Asian Paints has accomplished this feat by turning out to be the market and price leader in the Rs. 13,200 crore worth decorative paints segment in India.

With recognitions such as Forbes ‘Best under a Billion’ and being among 200 best small countries in the world for two consecutive years, the story of Asian Paints is a must read for every marketer.

In its initial years, Asian Paints managed to differentiate at the trade and consumer levels through its trademark, the common man’s mascot, Gattu.

The company struck with this mascot designed by RK Laxman for almost five decades. Moving away from its mass segmentation strategy, the brand aimed to reposition itself in the early 80’s through the ‘Spectrum of Excellence’ campaign to establish the brand salience as a market leader. Further, the brand associated itself with festivities using its ‘Celebrate with Asian Paints’ campaign.

However, this positioning was short-lived as imitation by competitors was inevitable.

Among a plethora of engaging communication ranging from ‘Mera wala’ campaign to ‘Waah! Sunil babu’ and ‘Show your true colours’, the most recalled Asian Paints’ communication continues to be the ‘Har ghar kuch kehta hai’ campaign, which distinguished homes from houses for the consumer. This has been re-emphasized in its latest commercial featuring an Army Captain who welcomes his new bride into his home, while ensuring a decor resemblance of her room to that in her parents’ home. While strengthening its emotional connect with the consumers, it also managed to turn the tables by making the husband in-charge of the home décor.

Asian Paints went under a brand over-haul through change in its logo into a contemporary logo comprised of flowing ribbons emphasizing smoothness, dynamism and

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Asian Paints has used its dominant market share to great effect in leveraging its position in procurement and distribution, thus enabling it to participate in the entire spectrum of decorative paints, which offer varying profit margins.

Royale, Tractor, Apex and Ace constitute the wide portfolio of brands under the umbrella of Asian Paints at different price points in the exterior, interior emulsion and distemper segment.

Royale, which knocked off ICI’s Velvet Touch from the top spot in the premium space, has been Asian Paints’ passport to success.

It has been positioned as a lifestyle brand and it occupies an aspirational image, with no mention of Asian Paints in the narratives of the celebrated promotions featuring Saif Ali Khan.

The brand managed to grow in tough times of market slowdown by leveraging its distribution network in Tier I and II cities; and intelligently spreading the price increase over six phases to prevent volumes from suffering.

It capitalized on consumer engagement through experiential marketing via its signature concept stores, ‘Color World’ outlets and ‘Asian Paints Home Solutions’. These initiatives aimed at creating a seamless one-stop solution for color and décor guidance to provide and manage the consumer’s inspirations. A range of enterprising solutions such as the interactive website, samplers and tinting machines at dealer outlets have helped it in surpassing the intermediaries in decision making, such as the painters and retailers, to empower the end-consumer resulting in consumer’s stickiness towards the brand.

The brand has not been a lethargic leader in any case as it has grown the market and innovated with products and delivery mechanisms. The evolved positioning of the company from being a mere paints brand to a complete home décor and design solutions provider shall continue to insulate it from market slowdown and seasonal purchase cycles in the years to come

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fun corner

november 2013

Fun Corner Kamalpreet Singh Saluja | IIM Shillong

Identify various types of Marketing from the Crossword

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fun corner

november 2013

Across

6. The intentional spreading of marketing messages using preexisting social networks, with an emphasis on the casual, non-intentional and low cost

2. Type of marketing involving the creation and sharing of media and publishing content, eg. news, video, white papers, e-books, infographics, case studies, how-to guides, question and answer articles, photos, etc in order to acquire customers 5. marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the sales of the other salespeople that they recruit

9. Type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a for profit business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit. For example, marketing of Tata Swach 11. Using software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications for marketing

7. Unexpected marketing outside the control of the marketing department 8. An advertising strategy in which low-cost unconventional means are utilized, often in a localized fashion or large network of individual cells, to convey or promote a product or an idea 10. A targeted way of marketing products and services by linking complementary brands. For example, a supermarket can add value to its existing customers by offering bank accounts or insurance policies bearing the supermarket brand 12. Marketing practice of engaging the public in the development of a marketing campaign Down 1. Marketing to many niche segments that aggregate to a huge audience. Businesses successfully applying this strategy allow them to realize significant profit out of selling small volumes of hard-to-find items to many customers 3. A marketing strategy wherein the advertisers associate themselves with, and therefore capitalize on, a particular event without paying any sponsorship fee 4. An advanced form of word-of-mouth marketing in which companies develop customers who become voluntary advocates, actively spreading the word on behalf of the company

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updates

november 2013

By Prateek Gaurav

Toyota pips Tata Motors on Social Media

Brand Launch Ashok Leyland’s new avatar

Hinduja Group’s money spinner Ashok Leyland is all set to enthrall customer’s with its venture into LCV and MPV domain. The consumer vehicle major has plans to launch 13 seater Dost Express which is built on same lines as Dost which was an LCV built by Ashok Leyland in collaboration with Nissan Motor Company. The announcement comes after company launched STILE, an MPV priced between 7.49 lakhs to 9.29 lakhs.

Blackberry: Fighting a lost battle?

The company which revolutionized push emails and instant messaging might be breathing its last but the flame refuses to die. In an attempt to woo customers, the company launched Blackberry Z30, a smartphone boasting of engaging customer experience, powerful Blackberry Hub and a host of other features.

Priced at around Rs.40000, it will be interesting to see whether the brand loyalists still go for the new offering or the buyout and bankruptcy news alter their buying decision.

BMW ups luxury quotient with new 5 series sedan

The ultimate driving machine is set to take on the recovering auto market with launch of 5 series sedan, a major revenue earner for the German auto giant. The model is powered with features like active protection with attention assist, active head rests and a gamut of attention drawing, jaw dropping offerings which will pleasure your senses limitlessly.

Brand Watch ‘Made in India’ tag for Harley Davidson

The name which is synonymous with biking the world over, is all set to come up with a production facility in Bawal, Haryana for its new variants: Street 750 and Street 500. The new bikes will be a variation from the regular models as it will be a low displacement model and the production will be moving out of the United States for the first time. The bikes manufactured in India will mainly be for local consumption and also for Europe.

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Digital presence is getting prominence day by day as companies try to stay relevant to consumers. In a similar move, Toyota came out victorious in a research finding by Blogworks India Auto Social Index and was declared the most mentioned automobile company on social media pushing Tata Motors to second place while Hyundai managed to land a position in top five. The index echoes the efforts made by the auto giants to promote themselves on social media.

ESPN running its final lap

In an effort to promote sports viewership beyond cricket and add local flavor to sports, Star Sport plans to retire ESPN and Star Cricket in the coming times. The sports channel plans to focus on cricket beyond international matches and wishes to include telecast of domestic and University matches.

Moreover, the channel plans to move beyond cricket and include other sports under its umbrella.

Media ‘Koffee Machine’ looks for resurrection

Star world looks to leverage the power of celebrities as brands and is planning to roll out the fourth season of its hugely popular celebrity chat show hosted by noted director Karan Johar. The new season dons the tagline “Behind the Scenes and Beneath the Sheets”. The show has helped the channel rake in moolah and the huge impact that celebrities as brands have on our lives.

Garnier en route to Cause Based Marketing

Personal Care major Garnier has come up with a rural electrification program to connect with consumers online.

The latest initiative encourages people to like, share and comment on the Garnier Light Social Media platform and

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updates

november 2013

unit of energy proportional to the activity is donated to villages across the country helping to lighten up the lives of the poor.

Ad Watch Tanishq Remarriage Splendor

The ad has created a lot of buzz in the media and lives true to the connection of Tanishq with celebrations. Breaking the traditional barriers, this master piece by Lowe Lintas celebrates remarriage with a gusto and picks on the selection of dark skinned girl having a daughter for marriage as opposed to typical Indian mentality of preferring a lighter toned girl. Overall, a refreshing piece of work forcing the viewers to think.

Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=P76E6b7SQs8

Mantastic Massacre by Old Spice

A debacle is what happens when a brand tries to fit in an international campaign to Indian perspective without much planning and thinking. The ad tries to achieve the same sense of humor and sarcasm as its global counterpart but fails miserably. The end product is a horrible piece of storytelling and apart from featuring Milind Soman which might attract female eyeballs, the ad does nothing to promote the brand.

Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4bvjQAp0q_8

Bharat Matrimony Creating Right Connectios

The ad delivers a simple yet powerful message of connecting you to the right person in life. Set in an average household, the ad depicts how the brand brings together like minded people and binds them in this bond of marriage. All in all, a nice message delivered effortlessly with an effective voice over concluding the ad.

Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/BharatMatrimonyTV

Articles are invited

“Best Article”: V Jyotsna | BIM Trichy He receives a cash prize of Rs.1000 & a letter of appreciation We are inviting articles from all the B-schools of India. The articles can be specific to the regular sections of Markathon which includes: • Perspective: Articles related to development of latest trends in marketing arena.

• Productolysis: Analysis of a product from the point of view of marketing.

• Strategic Analysis: A complete analysis of marketing strategy of any company or an event.

Apart from above, out of the box views related to marketing are also welcome. The best entry will receive a letter of appreciation and a cash prize of Rs 1000/-. The format of the file should be MS Word doc/docx.

We’re inviting photographs of interesting promotional events/advertisements/hoardings/banners etc. you might have come across in your daily life for our new section “The 4th P”.

Send your self-clicked photographs in JPEG format only.

The last date of receiving all entries is 1st December, 2013. Please send your entries marked as <ARTICLE NAME>_<SENDERS’ NAMES>_<INSTITUTE> to markathon.iims@gmail.com.

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Marketing Club 2013 - 2015

november 2013

Presenting to you, the newly inducted members to the Marketing Club, IIM Shillong.

Amit Sonwani

B Ushashree

Malini Aishwarya

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Nishanth Prakash

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Marketing Club 2013 - 2015

november 2013

Ramanathan K

Swati Pamnani

Yash Bhambhwani

Varsha Poddar

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We would love to hear from you: markathon.iims@gmail.com www.issuu.com/markathon

Š

Markathon, IIM Shillong