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From the editors’ desk
Write to us at mercuri@iimidr.ac.in
September 2012
What’s on the menu?
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Turning Bands into Brands! Marketing in the Music Industry It‘s difficult for a garage band to break out of its local fame and really succeed in the global or even national scale. Bands are plentiful, though true talent isn‘t always quite so. Almost every bored college guy/girl drums away class time on his notebook, dreams of playing the guitar or the sleek keyboard. He/she gets a couple other likeminded friends together, they dream big, do a few gigs in college and gain local popularity. But when they try to reach out to a larger scale reality finally sweep by and leave the dreams behind in the evaporating dust. Is it because they weren‘t good enough? Perhaps. However, more often than not the reason is that they weren‘t able to market themselves to the right audience. So how does a band turn itself into a brand? What is the best way to showcase its talent and promote its potential? Sure viral marketing is probably the easiest and least expensive way to go about it. What better place to reach out to your target group than on Youtube? Our very own ―Why this Kolaveri di‖ is a great example. And who can forget the continually growing popular ―Open Gangnam Style‖... But then again you don‘t always have to be unorthodox to capture eyeballs. Music bands like ‗Ok Go‘ with their trampoline video and musicians like Tay Zonday with his famous ―Chocolate Rain‖ and Boyce Avenue with his famous covers have also successfully gone viral. Yes talent does pay off!! Then again with every music video which successfully goes viral there are around hundreds which don‘t and are lost in the crows. I mean who hasn‘t seen the comments “Hi, i’m a 16 year old guitarist... It means the world to me if you check out my channel and music.....” In the end the fact of the matter is that while the advantage of going viral is immense the success rate is pretty slim. It is difficult to decipher whether there is a clear cut formula of gaining popularity... There probably isn‘t. However, certain bands have used basic marketing concepts to differentiate and promote themselves. On December 11 2007, the website for the band - Panic at the Disco turned completely white, with no explanation. Before long, curious fans noticed that the source code for the page contained a clue that hinted at the release of the band‘s new album, ―Pretty.
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-Deepak Sudhakar p11deepaks@iimidr.ac.in
Odd.‖ Over the next few weeks, other puzzles appeared that led to samples of songs, a blog entry from the band, and finally — through clues scattered around various Web sites — the cover of the album and the names of the songs on it. This idea of suspense marketing not only excited the fans but also led to WOM promotions. The album sold 235,280 copies since its release, the total is respectable for an alternative rock group that appeals to fans who tend to find music online rather than buy it. Word of Mouth and Buzz marketing is probably the best way to promote a band and its music. In more ways than one, popular music bands are almost like cult brands. Once fans are hooked to a band they take ownership of the band and become community members. They are willing to pay a premium to get the latest album or visit concerts and are vocal about their opinions of new songs/albums. The ―Grateful Dead‖, an American rock band realized this and modelled its marketing strategy around this. The Dead pioneered a "freemium" business model now used by many. Most bands forbid fans from recording concerts. The Dead not only encouraged it, they carved out space where "tapers" could set up sophisticated recording equipment. That built a trading network among fans, creating a powerful word-ofmouth momentum that only whet the appetite for more. Their business model was the exact opposite of most rock bands. Instead of focusing on selling albums, they created an "experience" centered around live performances. That created a passionate fan base that lasted and grew for years – a true cult following. They put their customers-their fans first. The Dead bypassed ticket-selling giants and sold tickets directly. Hardcore fans got the first news about tours and first crack at the best seats, again driving loyalty. So many organizations do precisely the opposite, instead of putting loyal customers first, they ignore them while they try to get new ones. Their model grew so popular that now it is being used as a case study to teach strategy to MBA aspirants. No industry has crashed headfirst into the digital age faster or more painfully than the music business. With the prevalence of piracy the only way to make profits is by empowering the fans, making them feel like a part of the community and the music as opposed to just customers. These key lessons can be learned by marketers in other industries too.
September 2012
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Showrooming Varun recently bought a smart phone; he‘s smart enough to use it as well. This has adversely affected the business at the Crossword bookstore that Varun was a loyal customer of. It‘s not that he does not visit the store anymore. As a matter of fact, he visits the store more often than before. Only, he just doesn‘t seem to be interested in buying the book off the shelves of Crossword. Armed with his smart phone, Varun goes to the bookstore to examine and evaluate the books— and then buys the book he wants online, often while he‘s still in the store, to get a better deal. This trend is worrisome, not just for Crossword, but for a host of other retailing businesses that are soon going to lose market share to online companies like Flipkart, which has recently repositioned itself into an online megastore. This practice is called ―showrooming‖, aptly so because it effectively transforms retail outlets into showrooms for their online competitors. Can the brick-and-mortar companies handle this phenomenon? Or is it just the beginning of Doomsday for them? A few suggestions have been offered by marketers to resolve this issue – like closing the price gap, awarding bonus points and free accessories, pushing coupons, making unique offerings and so on. But these steps will mostly fall flat because of the following reasons. Closing the price gap: Try as you might, but a brick-and-mortar retailer can NEVER match the price of an online player. The cost savings are massive for the online player. He doesn't have to run a shop. He has to just maintain warehouses in places that have cheap rentals. The aggregation achieved by a single online player like Amazon is so massive that the company has tremendous amount of bargaining power with the suppliers, which cannot be managed by brick-and-mortar players again. Bonus points, unique accessories, coupons, bounceback offers: All these are financial incentives in some form. Financial bonds are the EASIEST to break. All these things can be offered in a much better fashion by an online player. These are not going to affect customer loyalty positively for a brick-and-
-Rahul Jagannathan p11rahulj@iimidr.ac.in
mortar player. Unique offerings: Again, the aggregation of online players is much more significant when compared to brick-and-mortar formats. This puts them in a position to strike better deals with suppliers and deliver better 'unique' offerings. Moreover, with the kind of CRM systems in place, online players have access to a wealth of data about their customers which helps them position these unique offerings better. It is imperative to realize that some products and service categories are natural fits for web commerce, and no amount of ingenuity or effort can reverse the migration from brick-andmortar business to the internet. If that‘s the future a company faces, the earlier it thinks through its options and formulates a plan, the more likely it is to thrive by managing the modernization of its business on its own schedule, not that dictated by its competitors. What can help brick-and-mortar companies differentiate however is, to provide a great in-store experience that helps them build a social bond with the customer. You need to create a bond that makes the customer want to come back – similar to what Starbucks has done. The customer must develop an association with the store and its personnel and not just the product. Therein lies the real challenge for brick-and-mortar stores. If they run on franchise models, it becomes difficult to build that kind of a relationship. What a company like Flipkart can CLEARLY replace is a WalMart-like pricing, but not a Nordstrom-like experience. So, it‘s time for brick-and-mortar companies to start transforming into something more experiential for customers. They need to target people who seek expertise in purchase and a certain degree of customization in terms of treatment. This has to start from housing products that such customers find relevant. It‘s only a matter of time before some products are ‗owned‘ by online models and some by brick-and-mortar models. The sooner such companies identify and clearly demarcate boundaries, the better they will evolve. Otherwise, it‘s goodbye to a host of brickand-mortar companies for there are millions of Varuns out there brewing a big storm.
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The Sexiness of Statistical Significance! I just witnessed a round of verbal duet between two of my friends, debating on whose cell-phone is truly the leader in the industry on sheer numbers! People love numbers. Given a brand, how many brands can you and I recall? In words of Jack Trout and Al-Ries, either you are number one or two, or you are nowhere on what is called the mind-map. People recall the #1 brand or the #2 brand, but beyond that you are just not positioned well. We respect #1 brand. We believe in a product if four out of five dentists like it. In today‘s world, numbers are used to prove anything to anybody. Why make an argument, when you can find a number to do it for you? So if a picture is a 1000 words, the right number seems to be worth a thousand pictures
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-Vaibhav Goel p12vaibhavg@iimidr.ac.in
2012, and within an hour of making his ‗debut‘, he got as many as a 800000 followers. Now THAT is significant! The battle of number‘s, has always been used to position the brand and make yourself noticed. An interesting advertisement campaign was of ‗Avis Rent a Car‘.
But, how important is this game of numbers. Brands spend extensively in proving their worth, but how relevant is the
data. Take this billboard for example, In a country of 1.2 Billion, with millions of men, the pitch of being the best among thousands, doesn‘t fit the bill, right? On the other extreme another example which perhaps is more statistically sound is that of ‗Brand Amitabh Bachchan‘. The superstar made his Facebook debut in
Now, why did they advertise themselves of being in the second position. It was then, that the message of ‗We TRY harder‘ shouts out loud. At the time ‗Hertz‘ was the market leader, the numero-UNO. However, Consumers responded to the ‗Avis‘ ad as they were able to relate Avis to Hertz which was Number One in their minds and customers rented Avis‘s cars. The result was they boomed and took some huge portion of Hertz‘s business and it is a brilliant example of the correct use of the technology of ―positioning‖. Keeping the long story short, in order to move up the ladder of mind it is imperative to be connected to the leaders in the game. As for the consumers, as more and more numbers become readily available from apps that tell us how many calories we burned while walking down two flights of stairs to deep analytics on every click you make while using the Internet - the challenge we all face is finding the significance in numbers.
September 2012
Battle of the Brands! The Football Experience
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-Syed Eraj Hassan p12syede@iimidr.ac.in
―Last minute of added time. Nani to take the corner. Van Per- it offers to its football-loving customers. It is banking on the brand loyalty of 35 million Manchester United fans in India to sie scores…‖ retain and add more customThe hitherto anxious and nervous milieu at the Manchester ers. United Bar & Café in Bangalore is now one of jubilation as Factoid #2: On a big match day, the Lowfans dressed in their red jerseys jump with joy. The scene is er Parel Man Utd Café in Mumbai has a not too different at other Manchester United cafés in South footfall of 300 to 350 and turnover of Rs. Delhi, Mumbai and Goa. 4-5 lakh India has become the next big stop for football marketers who The fight want to cash in on the craze of a 300 million strong captive to be the biggest brand in audience. Bayern football has also led these clubs to set up their football academies in India - FC Barcelona started the FCBEscola in Delhi Factoid #1: Indian Sportswear market earlier this year. Incidentally, Manchester United was first to grew from Rs.764 crore in 2006 to establish its soccer school in Mumbai. For any talent they might Rs.1259 crore in 2010, and is growing find, their efforts are focused on influencing the clubs these at 15% YoY children might grow up to support and the pushing power they Munich, would have in their peer groups. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Arsenal have all made forays and are looking to build However, the Indian football-experience consumer is still not ready for the lesser brands. Notwithstanding their inability to their presence through various channels. run a football Merchandising is doing good business with increased familiar- club, Venky‘s Why support a football club? ity of brands of these established clubs. Sportswear giant realized with Nike sells Manchester United, Barcelona and Arsenal jerseys their Players/Managers BlackWins trophies whereas its German rival Adidas sells Chelsea and Real Ma- burn Rovers Style of Play drid merchandise. Adidas claims that Delhi and Mumbai are misadventure History of the club the largest markets and Chelsea fans in the 14 to 19 year old that brand Social Factors bracket are strongest segment for them. perception plays a big role Big corporations are also riding on this wave of popularity that and the lack of European club football has evoked. Airtel tied up with Man- synonymity with that exhilarating football experience will just chester United and has exclusive rights to video content that not cut it in the Indian market.
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Time to move on? Or is there still hope? 2 Situations. 1. The match is truly on. Virat Kohli is on 98 off 65 balls. Ravi Shastri and Rameez Raja are at their blaring best. *BOOM* No, Kohli did not smack the bowler for a flat six over the square boundary. Ms. Recent-Pakistani-Spy shows up on screen informing us of the ―Raseelaness‖ of a certain ‗sensuous‘ drink. Now, there would be a few among us who‘d get their kicks out of watching the ad, but I bet 90% Indians would have
some of the most commonly spoken words of the language being belted out. 2. Bade-Foofaaji is about to discover the truth about the new bride‘s past. So is the viewer. Everyone knows a 3xSlap is on the way (A triple slap sequence for those uninitiated in the world of Saas-Bahu soaps). Guess who shows up. Dabangg himself! And he‘s asking us to purchase $$$$$$ brand of undergarments. I bet housewives the world over would like to pour a bucketful of boiling water over our BHAIJAAN. Do I have a point? Yes. 1. Don‘t you dare interrupt our cricket matches, or daily soaps. 2. Traditional methods of advertising do you no good. 3. If you‘re still going to interrupt, give us something worthwhile! My cricket-loving friends and saas-bahu-soap lovers across the world would agree. :)
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-Parth Kapoor p12parths@iimidr.ac.in -Bharath Gangadharan p12bharathg@iimidr.ac.in
So, how‘d we end up here? What changed? What‘s killing t r a d i t i o n a l a d v e r t i s i n g ? It‘s us! It‘s this generation that we belong to! We‘re the people asking marketers and advertisers to come up with novel ways of leaving imprints on our mind. The iPod-flashing-memereading-pizza-gobbling junta is asking some serious questions, and marketers have had to adapt lately! Sure, there would be those who‘d say that traditional advertising on televisions, radio, newspapers and all makes brands popular for years. Let‘s have a look at a few recent developments. Television : Who are some of the biggest advertisers on TV? One wouldn‘t have to think twice before listing down the FMCG folks up here. Here‘s some numbers to give you some perspective. HUL spent 700 crores in the last year on marketing and advertising on Hindi GECs, P&G, 250 crores. And now I tell you that HUL‘s backed out of the deal with the Star Network, which runs Star Plus, the leader in Hindi GEC space. P&G hasn‘t shown a single advertisement on the Sony Entertainment Television network for the past 8 months. Sure, there might be plenty of reasons, but deep down, when the analysts at HUL and P&G would‘ve sat down to evaluate the cost-benefit of the deal, they must‘ve had some pretty strong reasons to make such suggestions! Radio : Ah, the good old radio. Brands have been made on the radio. How can one forget ―Hamaara Bajaj‖ and ―Zor lagaake haiyyaa‖? Cut to today. Show of hands. Do you, or do you not get irritated when there‘s a gap of more than 10 seconds between 2 consecutive songs on the radio? Or, OR, when was the last time you really cared about anything but the songs on the radio? What percentage of the advertising content that‘s broadcasted over the radio medium, is of any true impact to the listeners? I could sit and list down the rest, but I believe that the reader would‘ve begun to see the point already. Since trad-marketing is not the way to go anymore, not in an urban context anymore at least, here‘s a few : 1. Talk to the consumer, don‘t talk at him. Dear Advertiser, One of these days, stand in front of a billboard, and try reading out all the One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety Six benefits that your brand of Coloured Drink has to provide. ASK ME what I want. Your life shall be easier! If you talked to people the way conventional advertising talks to people at times, they‘d punch you in the face.
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Thanks to the Internet, the current generation is a lot more accessible than any other generation was. If you ask us, we will tell you what we want. Don‘t show us Ads about products we don‘t want!
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This went viral on the net. Simple Message. No expensive moviestars. No long-running campaign. Plain, and simple.
2. Let the consumer do the work for you! I wonder if advertisers live in human societies. If they did, they‘d know that the consumer is the biggest promoter in his own group! Do we not have these tech-friends that we might barely know, but when we decide to shell out sizeable amounts for S2s and Notes and Iphones, their opinions matter the most? Essentially, companies today can NOT convince customers that they need a product. They need to design their products based on what the junta wants, and hope and pray that they‘ve done a good job with it. If it‘s really good, track Facebook and Twitter updates, you‘ll know you‘ve hit the jackpot.
Speaking of Plain & Simple, check out the one below! 4. What can you do to reach the consumer?
3. The power of creativity We had this under control! There was Fevicol! There‘s still Amul! There‘re Zoozoos! Whatever happened to the rest of the ads? How did we come up with dry ads that do no good to none! Creativity counts today. It has, always. TV, Radio, Newspaper, Billboards, they all worked not because of the power of the medium, but because true creativity flowed. Gen Y looks elsewhere. Hint for advertisers. Change the medium, keep the message. Brilliance in any form will be appreciated. All you need to do is think. You all must have seen this one. Where? I‘ll tell you where.
I‘ll answer this in 2 parts. First, for reference, look at the pic below. You‘ve reached a whole lot more consumers than you probably would by a billboard, EFFECTIVELY. IMPACTFULLY. Go meme-fy your product, use the power of social media, INTERNET, entry-door signs, designer bags that force you to pay attention, steam vents, go guerrilla, chuck the marketing budget and put your thinking caps on! Quite frankly, from anything as small as a pill to as large as a bridge, if there‘s space, ultaa socho, and you shall have your answer. Second, customize. Get someone who is actually a part of this generation to look up things. Get a second, third opinion. Ad campaigns created by daddy-uncle-log that are absolutely outof-touch with this generation are pure cringe-worthy material.
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Get perspectives from kids and mummas and grandpas and who not! I re-iterate, ask and the consumer shall speak. And thou shall find untold treasures there. 5. Why care about Gen Y? Don‘t. Your rival brand will. In case it doesn‘t, going by the theory of Mr. Al Ries, the number 3 will shoot up to 1. In any case, in these economic times, the one who catches the consumer‘s attention, without effectively irritating them, wins. Not just ―battle of the brands‖, but the battle for the hearts and minds as well. Rohit Jawa, Unilever‘s senior VP of global marketing, says that while the principles of marketing have changed very little since then, consumers now have a lot more choice and are now more in charge; choosing brands they trust and love and providing instant feedback. All said and done, there‘s a revolution happening as we speak in the world of advertising. You either sit up and take notice, or you become ancient history. As Prof. Kotler says it, what choice do you have? Not innovate, and wither away, OR, Innovate, and hope and pray to the mighty lord that it works! But, does that mean conventional advertising has entirely gone down the drains? Let‘s play devil‘s advocate and give the TVs, radios and all, another chance. Research has proven that even today, people are indeed very much influenced by conventional advertising media like the television, radio, newspapers, etc. In the Indian marketing scene, ―Go Rural‖ is the new mantra. With more and more corporates entering the rural segment, the trend is definitely building. And there‘s no doubting the impact of conventional advertising in the rural market. Advertising over radio channels and local newspapers would be quite cost efficient in these areas, and small promotion campaigns attract wide attention. Contrary to public opinion, typical conventional advertising methods are still used extensively today, whether in the rural or urban segment. Let‘s take a look at how they fare in the market. Outdoor Advertising If financially feasible, billboards and flexes are very effective methods of advertising. If considerable thought is put into the positioning of billboards and flexes, it can demand remarkable visibility. Regardless of technological advancement, people will always need to be outdoors for a large part of their waking life. Strategic locations frequented by target crowds like local Banks are always good places to advertise. These advertisements are also cost effective, have repeated exposure to customers and provide quick communication, with local boards in banks if they are busy banks you may need to go there twice a month to renew your ad.
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A piece I stumbled upon the other day, made for an interesting read, as regards outdoor advertising Traditional Method: Imagine a static billboard along a highway, for McDonald‘s breakfast sandwiches. During morning rush hour, this sort of ad could potentially be relevant. I may be enroute to the office, and not yet grabbed my breakfast. How about at 1:00pm though? When breakfast sandwiches are no longer being served, nor am I likely interesting in learning about a new breakfast offering when I‘m thinking about lunch. By definition, this type of traditional outdoor advertising is about the least targeted you can get. New Methods: Dynamic billboards that not only change depending on the time of day, but also on the weather, day of the week, current promotion, etc. Now imagine the same McDonalds billboard, however, this time around, it showcases the Big Mac lunch special from 11:00am – 2:00pm, the Nuggets family pack for dinner, from 4:00pm – 8:00pm, and then the late night menu options from 9:00pm onwards. In short, McDonalds is now serving a more relevant ad, to a more relevant audience. How about a car company that changes its ad to showcase its convertibles when it‘s sunny outside? Showcase its slick resistant tires when it‘s raining, or speak to its breakthrough headlight technology during evening hours. These are some of the most basic examples, but they help highlight the advantages of the new and improved digital & dynamic layers being added to traditional is means of advertising. Newspaper advertising Newspapers and magazines have a mass reach across the world, and therefore are a good means to reach many customers by a single ad. The attention of target customers is captured by strategically choosing the section and location of the ad. The biggest advantage of using newspapers and magazines is the mass reach among the already classified audience which means you can target your customers easily. Unfortunately, though, newspaper ads are many in number and have a short life span. This means they need to be attractive and creative enough to capture and sustain the attention of the reader. Although the advertising industry has been fragmented, with
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the emergence of more effective advertising methods to put your message out there, conventional advertising will never be taken out of the picture. Traditional advertising will remain a viable means to promote products and services and it is unlikely t h a t online marketing would be able to overshadow it completely.
customers is still captured. You can also organize PR events where you can involve the public. But you need publicity for such an event to be successful. Such PR activities are better than mass advertising as you get on the spot feedback for your campaign.
‗Word Of Mouth‘ advertising The first form of advertising will forever be the best form of advertising – Word of Mouth. Consumers trust brands that people known to them trust. Every marketer must remember that customers become their best promoters if they like their products or their worst critics if they do not.
The medium of TV is still as visible as possible, but it is not being used efficiently enough. Slight tweaks using technological advancements can do wonders to the advertising world. A first step could be to develop a system that stores basic demographic information about a consumer, like age and gender. This could help direct the right ads at the right audience, and it
Televised Advertising Although time spent watching TV is dropping at a rapid rate, people still spend more time engaged with this medium, than any other. The average adult still spends about twenty-six hours a week tuning on their television sets. So television continues to be among the most effective marketing media known to man. But as often stated, advertising on TV is quite inefficient, in terms of relevance to target. More often than not, viewers are pretty much ‗forced‘ to watch ads of products that do not relate to them at all.
Direct interaction with customers Every consumer likes to be made to feel special. In a B2C environment, door-to-door distribution delivers better than online advertising campaigns. A pamphlet catches effect in
could lead to a much more interactive and personal experience for the consumer. Unconventional methods, be it any, are certainly here to stay. They are the ones that will make your brand stand out. They are the ones that will create the lasting impressions in the minds of the consumer.
the whole minute the consumer takes to walk back, giving him ample time to capture salient points. On the other hand, online advertisements are easily avoidable, as a simple scroll moves you completely away from the ad. One of the ways is ‗direct mailing‘ which is, sending a sales letter to a list of customers by mailing or by inserting them in newspapers or magazines. You can also distribute CDs containing an audio or visual message. Though the responses are not always one hundred percent, a fraction of
But conventional advertising is far from dead. In some businesses, it continues to gather better appeal than online marketing. With the added advantage of physicality, people continue to associate with it far easier than with virtual advertising. But as times change, conventional advertising would need to be tweaked to exploit it to the best extent. This tension between constancy on the one hand and evolution and flexibility on the other, we, as marketers and advertisers, need to have the ability to live that conflict.
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The Future of Marketing Marketing is too massive a field to sum up in just one article, hence I opt to talk about the most dynamic and interesting aspect of marketing- Mobile Marketing: future innovations and possibilities. If I had to sum up the mobile marketing landscape of the coming future, I would call it personal, interactive and entertaining. But first lets trace our journey in terms of advertising. Remember those long forgotten days when advertising was about being spoon-fed tasteless, humourless, boring, messages? If you're lucky enough you'll still find these ads if you make a brave albeit foolhardy attempt at watching Doordarshan, these ads were boring to the point of being mind numbing and massively ineffective and seemed more like messages issued in public interest! After that came the age of the evangelists, these ads advocated their products and sold you the concept as though your life depended on it, remember the "aaya naya ujala... char boondon wala" ad? this ad convinced mothers that everything from their child's academic success to their self image depended hopelessly on the brightness and cleanliness of their blue hued uniforms. Then came the age of the outrageously over the top and the witty ads, like the bingo's mad angles or the Virgin mobile ads, such ads spoke to the unavoidable youth segment in a manner they connected with. Such shift in advertising had been solely influenced by the receptivity of the audience that the marketers/advertisers were trying to engage. But none of these ever exploited the opportunity that was paved by the phenomenal development in emerging technologies and the increase in modes of communication. Until now‌ India has currently 121 million internet users who access the web. This leaves a massive scope for advertisement using this medium, internet is already being used by organizations such as DLF to organise viral campaigns to attract and engage the audiences. This is a field which has massive potential, many companies abroad have had enormous success with it, such as Burger King. Burger King's Subservient Chicken video is that of a man dancing in a living room, dressed in a chicken suit... somehow that caught the imagination of the masses, and went viral. It had a million hits the day it was released, and 20 million hits within its first week, and went onto inspire its own website! Marketers have historically recognised individuals as consumers, potential consumers and non consumer. However with viral marketing marketers are now increasingly looking at a new distinction, the audience itself as a medium to reach out to a larger mass. This is the present that we live in, and our future only looks brighter‌
Mark Avenue
-Saloni Mehta p12salonim@iimidr.ac.in
According to a recent survey there are currently 27 million smartphone users in India, out of which 56% users access the internet daily. And while this number grows steadily, can you imagine what scope it leaves marketers with in the coming future? Mobile advertising has its origins deeply rooted in the conventional world of internet marketing, however, with newer technologies this medium has branched off from internet marketing and is booming in ways no one could've previously predicted. Enter Mr. Brian Wong; the founder of a 'mobile app rewards' company called "Kiip", the man(well actually a 21 year old, founded his company when he was a 19 year old) who is being touted by Forbes magazine as one of the "30 under 30" to look out for. His example brings me to future innovations, Brian's success lies in a simple yet brilliant approach to marketing, don't chase the consumer, let them chase you instead! By making the user feel appreciated for their achievement, you can reward them and hence make them strive to achieve more. Sounds easy and profound enough, but how do you do that!? Well, Kiip offers people who use applications on their mobile devices, real world tangible rewards for virtual achievements, Example. For every eight miles run while using the Mapmyfitness app, Kiip offers a free bottle of Propel Fitness Water to the user! Using the app reward module Kiip has bagged high profile clients such as Pepsi Co. and Disney ever since its inception in 2010. Kiip is not the only company bent on innovating and exploring opportunities in mobile marketing by leveraging modern technology. The latest trend in mobile advertising seems to exploit a fusion of geo-tagging and focussed local advertising. Google adwords already provides advertisers with the option of displaying their ads to a focussed consumer segment based on their location, right now this filters down ads to your city. But imagine getting ads from you own locality on your smartphone or tablet! Such is the potential of geo-tagging. Applications such as Foursquare and Groupon are already using it, and have created a sizeable consumer base. Elsewhere, applications such as 'Google Now'(Google's voice assistant app) use data analytics to actually tell you how much time your journey from point A to point B would take(based on historical data, traffic situation etc). Now imagine a future where you are a cafe owner, a consumer needs to go to office and asks his voice assistant app whether there is enough time for him to pick up coffee on his way... thereby giving your cafe(which is on the way) the opportunity to market your 'On The Go Coffee' using focussed geotagging! In addition to which he could rate your cafe so that you receive a 'thumbs up' for other app users to view! The possibilities are endless, the future is personal, interactive and entertaining... and the best part is... it's up for grabs.
September 2012
Dr. Verghese Kurien Arguably the Best The other day, after a hectic schedule and monotonous classes, I went to enjoy the delicious Amul ice-cream in our mess. While chit-chatting with friends and breaking our heads discussing the newly learned marketing concepts of 4Ps, STPs and Brand building of the worlds, someone announced that Dr. Verghese Kurien is dead. I, who has always been fond of the little Amul girl and the Taste of India campaign, was transferred back to my childhood trying to recollect the ads of Amul I watched on television. All of us, the budding marketers who crave all our life to get into big FMCG names were wondering how on earth did he develop the iconic brand and famous ‗Utterly Butterly Delicious‘ tagline. The marketer in me was intrigued to the core and was getting restless to dive deep into history and learn from him; what it takes to take on your competitors. Dr. Verghese Kurien, the name says it all. Arguably, the greatest marketer of all times, the man who singlehandedly took on the most skilled, tie-clad, sophisticated marketing managers of mighty FMCG majors like HUL, Nestle, Britannia and gave them a run for their money had left for heavenly abode. The man who gave us the most rhyming line, ‗Amul: The Taste of India‘ was better known as the Amul man alias the Milkman of India. He gave India the famous Amul girl, a little cute girl who made her way into millions of hearts and still remains a household name even after decades. This was a perfect example of Timeless marketing.
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- Siddharth Singhal p12siiddharths@iimidr.ac.in
ing fundas & jargons and Indian companies barely knew about these hi-fi concepts. His approach was rather simple. He worked on the fundamental concepts of quality, value, availability and service. He embedded these values very much into the DNA of Amul and that is the reason Amul continues to enjoy significant share of mind and heart of Indian people. He believed that a transaction between a seller and a buyer is a contract of trust and meeting expectations. A contract that requires renewal everyday assuring the buyer that he‘s getting the best quality at fair price. The man not just earned the trust of his consumers, but also of hundreds of thousands of farmers who believed in his idea and came under his aegis. He created value for them. He built one of the most complex yet finest distribution networks ensuring same quality even in the remotest parts of the country. This gave Amul unbeatable competitive advantage over its rivals. As a manager, he was perfect at delegating work. He was known for giving free hand to subordinates believing in their ability to deliver, a quality that very few possess. Dr. Kurien introduced the integrated marketing model and adopted the unique idea of involving the farmers in film making. In order to raise money for documentaries and ad films, the farmers were asked to contribute Rs. 2 each and become the producers of the film. Amul is an excellent example of a company making the best use of media to promote its products. This is particularly amusing that Amul did not have to change their marketing campaign and it has made a mark in Guinness Book of world records as the longest ad campaign ever.
So how did it all s t a r t a n d what did he do to make Gujarat Co-Operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), a meagre cooperation founded in a Gujarat village to turnaround it into India‘s largest food product organisation with annual turnover of over $2.5 billion, producing 13 million litres milk daily and close to 3 million farmers under its umbrella. And particularly in those days when only multinational companies knew the market-
In short, without getting too much into marketing hoopla per say, this man ensured every single action to serve and satisfy his consumers. To us, he gives us an important lesson; work for your consumer and the product will sell by itself. He implicitly suggests that a marketer must act as a strategist who thinks long-term and develops timeless relations with the consumer. And rest everything will fall into place. It is the trust of the consumer what it takes to take on your competitor and this man earned it.
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Mark Avenue
Whom to Target? Bottom Or Top of The Pyramid? Yes, we have decided to come up with a new product. But, whom do we target? What does our market research reveal? Do we really get success if we concentrate only on one layer of the pyramid? - These are some of those unvarying questions which prevail in the mind of any brand manager during a new product launch. Bottom of the Pyramid This phrase, ―bottom of the pyramid‖ was first used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. president in 1932 in a radio address stating that the economic power lies in the forgotten or ignored set of people. But, in recent times it is referred to those people who live on less than $2 per day. To be precise it refers to the poorest socioeconomic group. Top of the Pyramid Top of the pyramid refers to the ultrawealthy households. In India, the ultrawealthy households were 62,000 according to Crisil research 2010-11 statistics. This is estimated to reach 2, 19,000 by 2015-16. The research also reveals that: Net worth of India‘s ultra-wealthy households to increase by more than 5 times (from 45 trillion to 235 trillion) over the next 5 years. Ultra HNI (High Net worth Individual) spends more on Exclusive holiday packages, luxury watches, jewellery/ precious stones and household electronics. UNI invests one-fifth of his income in growing his wealth where around 37.2% investments takes place in real estates. Why target the ―Bottom of the Pyramid‖? Though the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid has always been a topic of debate, the scope of business at the bottom of the pyramid is increasing day by day. All one needs to do is, create a right product and ensure brand (or product) awareness as there is huge untapped market in this segment. Also, most of the companies can have a priv-
-Puppala Mounika p11puppalam@iimidr.ac.in Winner - Article Writing Compeition
ilege of being the first mover and conquering this segment. For example, the microcredit market is serving the poor in the regions of South Asia (Bangladesh in particular) and at the same time is immensely increasing the business of the banks there. We have Chik shampoo sachets in India ruling the shampoo category in the bottom of the pyramid. We have many other landmark innovations at the Bottom of the Pyramid which include: Tata Chemical‘s Tata Swach range of Water Purifiers. This product is not only making good business but is also meeting the basic need of purified water for the Bottom of Pyramid by providing it to the people at Rs.499; Godrej and Boyce‘s refrigerator called Chotukool which is more or less the same as a normal refrigerator but doesn‘t need continuous power supply as it works on battery unlike the need of power in traditional refrigerators; Narayana Hrudayalaya, the world renowned Heart Institute, is also putting efforts in upgrading the medical facilities for the people at the Bottom of the Pyramid. It is setting up a hospital with ultra -low cost but at the same time with all the amenities that a super-specialty hospital provides; Vortex is one of those few banks who have come up which has come up with the lost cost ATM as an effort to make rural banking a reality. All the innovations stated above clearly indicate the growing interest of all the segments in the Bottom of the Pyramid. These not only make the lives of the people in that segment better but also provide a market for the companies. Why target the ―Top of the Pyramid‖? The phenomenal growth of number of people in this layer of the pyramid is driving the entry of luxury brands. These luxury brands have now become the centre of economy due to the exceptional technological innovations and also due to the rapid shift in economic climate. Today‘s customer is looking more for an experience and this is what is driving the companies to focus on the top of the pyramid. This includes companies/products like Prada, Gucci, Ducati, Harley Davidson, Mont Blanc etc. These brands cater to the exclusive tastes of these ultra-high net worth individuals. But the major hurdles in targeting this segment are the risks involved in investment and effective functioning. So, a clear understanding of the social strengths and ability to maintain them is what is required. Also, the time taken to attain success in this segment is large. It took a long time for a Bulgari watch to attain success. Though targeting this segment is a tedious job, the customers remain loyal for a long time. The final decision of targeting any segment depends on the market research outcomes, product developing capabilities of an organization, the extent to which the company is ready to stretch itself to multiple layers of the pyramid and many more.
September 2012
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Marketing India’s Wildlife to the World India is a wide tapestry of cultures each of which has attractions and unique selling propositions of its own. This richness and variety of our culture also becomes a problem to position on a few key attributes for the marketer who is up against single product destinations such as Kenya and South Africa. Outside of Africa, India has the greatest game variety on offer, with well preserved habitats for the largest cats and mammals, biodiversity hotspots such as the Western Ghats, mangrove forests; alpine zones which offer if not a glimpse, the paw prints of the elusive Snow Leopard. India‘s wildlife parks are in fact as diverse as the natives and terrain within. Why then have we failed to market it abroad as successfully as other cultural and leisure destinations such as Goa or the Golden Triangle? The question begets questions and leads down familiar tales of apathy. Poor connectivity, red-tapism and a lack of awareness. The fact for the marketer is however that Indian parks, though well positioned to attract wildlife enthusiasts with their game variety, jungle quality and sightings of majestic species like the tiger are not attracting tourists. India is not a top of the mind safari destination like Africa. Addressing the target segment – is the wildlife enthusiast different from the backpacker and culture tourist? Yes, and no. It is primarily the degree of a psychographic variable that sets them apart from the general mass of tourists: an enthusiasm for wildlife. This is the tourist who is drawn even to the poorly connected circuit of Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Pench in Madhya Pradesh because they offer a superior chance of sightings. The larger portion of this segment is still untapped, unaware of the treasures of the Indian wilderness and flies to parks in Kenya. The other target is the general tourist. He lands in Jaipur for his venture through the Golden Triangle and glimpses through Ranthambore on the way or lands in Delhi and makes the short trip to Corbett. These tourists generally come with a short fixed plan in mind, or their itinerary is fixed by their tour operators who keep Corbett and Ranthambore in the loop for their proximity, while avoiding locations like M.P, Assam and the Sunderbans for falling out of the circuit and their poor connectivity. Below the line promotion may not help push up the conversion rates in this type of tourist as he is either not aware or is disinterested, or the travel agent has a vested interest. The result is the unaware tourist goes back with tales of spotting nothing but sambhar deer in Corbett or with memories of the five hour drive through the shrub of Ranthambore. The brand equity of Indian wildlife suffers as a result. Another issue is administrative apathy and regulation. As seen in Corbett and Ranthambore, connectivity is a critical success factors for wildlife tourism. Roads leading to several parks in the interior are uneven, riddled with potholes,
-Ankit Bhardwaj ankitbhardwaj.p11@imi.edu Winner - Article Writing Compeition
intimidating for tourists from a different world. It also puts off the agent who cares about his customer‘s comfort. Regulation like the ‗sunrise to sunset‘ rule reduces the value offered to the customer. Night Safaris like Africa cannot be used to draw tourists. There are restrictions on venturing into core-areas, use of mobile phones as well as the number of vehicles that can enter at a time. Some of these may be justified for conservation reasons but they have become significant points of difference between the Indian and African wildlife experience. Given the constraints, increasing wildlife tourism and building the brand equity of Indian wildlife will require an integrated marketing strategy with above the line focus and government partnership. The campaign should aim to enhance positive points of difference vis-a-vis African safaris and maintain the points of parity. The big advantage of the Indian wildlife experience is the variety of jungles and topographies – from dry to rainforest to mangroves to alpine. This is something not offered by the uniformity of the African Savanna (though it offers superior sightings). The Indian jungle also has greater mythological and spiritual appeal. An instance is Pench which served as the setting for Rudyard Kipling‘s Jungle Book. The experience thus needs to be branded as a ‗retreat‘ rather than just a game drive. Having defined the augmented product and value proposition, the state governments should enhance the connectivity to the nearest offload points and other nearby tourist locations. For instance Khajuraho can serve as a hub for the M.P parks with direct highway connectivity. On the pan-India level the Tourism Ministry should create a brand extension exclusively to promote the Wildlife tourism experience, under the umbrella Incredible India campaign. The ‗Incredibly Wild India‘ experience or its namesake should be harmonized along all Incredible India campaign touch-points. The brand extension will look at market penetration by promoting compelling points of difference along these touch-points. In-flight entertainment and travel and lifestyle magazines should be targeted for advertisements and product placements. Engagements with NGOs and conservation groups should be deepened, especially those with funding from US and UK, considering these two countries provide the maximum number of inbound wildlife tourists. Below the line activities should also happen by engaging private players. Hospitality chains such as the Taj (Taj Safaris) and Pugdundee Safaris must be encouraged to expand their franchise of lodges across parks. This helps create a private circuit as the chains are then incentivized to promote the parks as a part of their own packages and become stakeholders in development of the pan-India circuits. Additionally, their employees will serve as touch points also raising customer awareness to the relevant target segment with high impact. A blueprint on these lines should help India develop into a wildlife tourist destination and help our rich flora and fauna capture the popular imagination of the world. Who knows the next Disney ‗Tiger King‘ might have India as a backdrop!
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AD-ALERT
Mark Avenue
September 2012
Marketing MAR-Quiz India’s Wildlife to the World
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