Mark Avenue
A M ONTHLY M AGAZINE F ROM MERCUR i
August 2012
Content Matters
Going The WOM way
Suspense Marketing Underdog Branding Story Branding
Jaa(r)go(n) re Accessing Rural India Fresh on TV
i
From the Editor Dear Reader, Mercur-I, the marketing club of IIM Indore, strives to bring contemporary articles which we hope you’ll enjoy perusing. These articles are novel and relevant to marketers. With increasing levels of awareness amongst customers, it wouldn’t be wise of any marketer to continuously buzz customers about their offering. How about startling them by providing information, which they want? This innovative way of providing customers with ‘content’ would be the main focus of our first story ‘Content Marketing’; can WOM be created? Probably Yes, and the article ‘Going the WOM way’ deals with factors that could be pre-requisites for positive WOM.
Learn about how companies capitalize on their underdog status in ‘Underdog Branding’. Do consumers actually believe in whatever a brand promises? Does this belief bring a brand into the consideration set or is it the correlation between the brand’s promise and their personalities? The article ‘Story Branding’ brings you a sneak peak into the latter. Jaa(r)go(n) re provides you some worthwhile jargons in marketing. Happy Reading.
Ashish & Ashok
INSIDE 04 ARTICLE
Content Marketing By Deepak Sudhakar
06 ARTICLE
Goin the WOM way By A.K.Ashish
08 PERSPECTIVE
Story Branding By Nandini Ramani
10 ARTICLE
Underdog Branding By Ashok Kumar
11 COVER STORY
Suspense Marketing By Rahul J
13 PERSPECTIVE
The Rural Marketing By Akanksha Pandey
16 PERSPECTIVE
A Consumer’s Diary! By Buchalli Varun
17 TVCS
Fresh on Tv 16 JARGON
Jaa(r)go(n) re By A.K.Ashish
By A.K.Ashish
Article Content Marketing by Deepak Sudhakar
It is known by many names: branded content, custom publishing or branded media to name a few. However, content marketing is probably the most appropriate jargon. So what really is content marketing? An official definition of content marketing would go something like this:
This is where content marketing comes in. Content Marketing works on the principle that if you spread great content and information, customers will come to you. It is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. Instead of pitching your products or services,
“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience - with the objective of driving profitable customer action.” Lets face it... People are tired of looking at the same old meaningless ads/promotional campaigns done by companies aimed at creating brand awareness and brand recall. These days customers are adept at ignoring print advertisements, tv ads and even online advertising.
you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent. The essence of this content strategy is the belief that if we, as businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty. Content marketing is very much different from traditional “interruption” marketing such as television commercials or direct mail. Instead it uses medium like blogs, video tutorials, email newsletters, white papers, free reports etc to spread quality and trustworthy information.
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This type of marketing is especially popular in online advertising and B2B marketing. Start-ups, small companies and even MNC’s like P&G, Microsoft, Cisco and John Deere use this method to market themselves. Mint.com, a personal finance start-up was launched in 2006 and had to compete with established companies like Quicken. However, three years since it became the market leader in online personal finance and was bought by Intuit for $170 million. The key reason for Mint’s success was its aggressively intelligent content strategy. Unlike the half-hearted, months-between-updates blogs that most businesses keep, Mint’s blog “MintLife” was a core part of the company’s operation. Mint dedicated significant resources to its blog, including a full time editorial staff and a slew of freelance contributors.
It invested time in social news sites like Reddit and Digg, and after months of seeing consistent, quality Mint content, readers in those communities began trusting Mint as high quality, reliable, and cool to share. Eventually, those users turned into Mint customers, even advocating Mint in their personal networks. Another example of a company which effectively used content marketing is American Express. Amex launched OpenForum.com focussed on targeting budding entrepreneurs. Open Forum offers tools for small businesses, many of which have tie-ins with Amex products The site is also dedicated to hosting insightful and engaging content about the many facets of running a business. It’s a hybrid advertising/guest blogging/inhouse editorial operation, and it’s fostering a community around the topic of running a business. All of the conversations and content in the community live under the American Express flag.
Its high time companies start realizing that customers are more interested in quality content through marketing. Besides if you think about it, marketing is not just about attracting customers, but really about attracting the right customers. Content marketing is definitely one way to go about it. The author is a PGP2 participant at IIM Indore. You can reach him at p11deepaks@iimidr.ac.in Aug 2012
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Article Going the WOM way By A.K.Ashish
“You
know Mrs.Parvati, we have bought an Onida DVD player; me and my family are having a great time watching movies on it”. These words uttered by her neighbour Mrs.Tulsi during their regular afternoon chat did not let Mrs.Parvathi sleep for the entire night. Next day she went to the shop dragging her husband along and purchased an Onida DVD player, while even neglecting Mr.Shahrukh Khan’s two month-long ‘advice’ that the products of Samsung are the best of all. Such is the power of “Word of Mouth”, popularly known as WOM. According to a McKinsey report, word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions. Its influence is greatest when consumers are buying a product for the first time or when products are relatively expensive, factors that tend to make people conduct more research, seek more opinions, and deliberate longer than they otherwise would.
Can “Word of Mouth” actually be created? The answer is a perfect “Yes”. This is what most of the major companies are focusing on. The marketers are striving to create an advocacy for their products via their customers.
Customers would advocate our products only when their experiences are high in saliency and meaning, which would enable them to enter the realm of emotions and personal significance. Now, this calls for a necessity for the marketers to not only deliver the intended meaning of their product but also actualize that meaning at as many touch points as possible. While there have been several “easy” ways suggested to create WOM, it has been found that there are primarily 8 factors which make the customers talk about our product offline.
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Consumer experiences marked by rituals have an everlasting impact as they make their experiences more meaningful. With the changing lifestyle, Exclusivity is one of the major factors which consumers are looking for in their purchases. The past activities which demonstrate the concern of the Company towards its customers, like special offers catering to specific needs of the customer will lead to idolizing of the company. These experiences would eventually become a part of folklore tales which tell the consumers about what the Company stands for.
Customers often associate themselves with the icons represented by the brands. They start looking at these signs and symbols from being mere product identifiers to components of identity. It is of human tendency to become a part of a tribe. Companies capitalize on this nature of Tribalism to create a loyal and vocally supportive group for their brand. Apple has done this for Mac users and hence has gained one of the most supportive groups for its brand. A proper person speaking about a product at a proper time will have a significant impact on consumers than that of the Endorsement done by a celebrity. This confirms the relevance of the consumer experience. Finally, the connection between “What we are”, “What we think we are” and “what people think we are” should be as close as possible. The larger is the Continuity and Integrity of these 3 factors the greater is the probability to enjoy WOM.
Appealing to relevant inner senses of Consumers makes their experience special and increases their inclination to talk about it. This is particularly significant in hotel industries where ambience plays a significant role in customer satisfaction.
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Reference: “Conversation Capital” – By Bertrand Cesvet The author is a PGP2 participant at IIM Indore. You can reach him at p11akashish@iimidr.ac.in
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Perspective Storybranding By Nandini Ramani
The purpose of every advertiser has always been to cut through all the clutter in order to garner the attention of his/her audience. However, studies have shown that amongst the claims of doctors, teachers, lawyers, journalists, stockbrokers and advertisers, those of advertisers are least likely to be believed by people. This is primarily because advertising is seen as an activity that is primarily driven by self-interest, which seeks to sell a product by making certain claims about it no matter what the actuality of the product is. This eventually results in companies spending a great deal on advertising, but the corresponding advertising not being successful as people have tuned themselves to ignoring or disbelieving everything they hear about a product in its ads. Enter Storybranding. Storybranding is an approach to creating powerful brands which involves selling a story that deeply resonates with people such as “Think Different”, “Umeed wali asha, sunshine wali dhoop” or “Don’t be evil” in contrast to selling the product itself. When you learn to tell a story that the audience deeply identifies with, there is no need to sell the product. Says Scott Bedbury, Chief Marketing Officer, Nike and Starbucks, “A brand is a story that connects with something very deep. Aug 2012
Companies that manifest this sensibility invoke something very powerful.” A story has been defined as a character attempting to overcome an obstacle, by Jim Signorelli, author of Storybranding: Creating stand out brands by the Power of Story. Research has shown that our brains are hard wired to better accept messages delivered through stories as opposed to other mediums of delivering a message. Most marketing consists of telling the end consumer what the product is all about and how it can affect their lives in a positive manner. But look into the greatest success stories of all times, and you see that people don’t really buy in to what you do or how you do it, but into why you do it. When an organization builds a brand, it builds a thread of integrity and consistency which is reflected in each and every one of its actions. Take for example Apple, which is renowned for its culture of innovation. People buy into this idea of innovation, of thinking different, which is why Apple is the organization with the largest market cap today. There were computers, MP3 players and tablets before Apple came into the picture, but these never attained mass appeal.
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In the classic marketing theory of the diffusion of innovation, the early adopters are the ones who initially try out a product but for it to attain mass appeal the early majority (34%) and late majority (34%) need to buy in to the product. And in order for the product to attain mass appeal, people need to buy in to its brand. A brand story is the fundamental expression of what your brand is all about, it is the reason behind the company’s various actions. The buy in to a brand story extends beyond customers buying the product of an organization. It also engenders employee loyalty, with employees genuinely being engaged with the company. As a result of this, they are far more motivated and productive. This is something clearly manifested in the example of Google, which has built a brand of powerful ethics with its “Don’t be Evil” story. When it was faced with the option of continuing in China (which represented a huge market) and giving in to the censorship demands of the government, it chose instead to stick to its ideals and withdraw from China. This is an example of remarkable consistency in the actions of an organization, by which it adheres to its brand values. The buy in to a brand story extends beyond customers buying the product of an organization. It also engenders employee loyalty, with employees genuinely being engaged with the company. As a result of this, they are far more motivated and productive. This is something clearly manifested in the example of Google, which has built a brand of powerful ethics with its “Don’t be Evil” story. When it was faced Aug 2012
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with the option of continuing in China (which represented a huge market) and giving in to the censorship demands of the government, it chose instead to stick to its ideals and withdraw from China. This is an example of remarkable consistency in the actions of an organization, by which it adheres to its brand values. Of course, the brand story need not necessarily be one of exemplary virtue or radical innovation either. It can be anything your audience identifies with. For example, Kraft has launched its granola bar MilkBite with a mascot named Mel, who suffers from low self-esteem. The mascot has an identity crisis as to whether he is a milk bar or a granola bar. And through the journey of Mel, the product story is told. An emotional connect is developed by the compassion that onlookers feel for Mel. Storybranding is also perhaps the reason why more companies than ever before indulge in Corporate Social Responsibility today. As competition increases, it becomes more and more important for organizations to have positive associations in the minds of people. And a positive association such as contributing to environmental sustainability by recycling old phones can send out a better message than several spots of ad spend.
References: Marketing Management: A South Asian perspective by Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller, Abraham Joshi, Mithileshwar The author is a PGP2 participant at IIM Indore. You can reach him at p11nandinir@iimidr.ac.in
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Article Underdog Branding By K. Ashok Kumar Underdog brands are brands that have started from humble beginnings and have fought their way up. People are inspired by underdog biographies. They want to see the disadvantaged winning. This belief may be because of the passion and determination many of us share to win. But the question is “Whether it is sellable proposition?” Some of the top brands like Apple and HP constantly talk about their garage beginnings. Hewlett-Packard recently bought, and has a whole section on its Web site dedicated to, the garage in which it started. It is now a historical landmark. Adidas's "Impossible Is Nothing" campaign emphasized the underdog stories of famous athletes. This trend first caught the attention of researchers in 2008 presidential elections in U.S. Both Obama and McCain portrayed themselves as the underdogs. As HBS professor Anat Keinan explains, "Today, underdog brand biographies are being used by both large and small companies and across categories, including food and beverages, technology, airlines, and automobiles. Even large corporations, such as Apple and Google, are careful to retain their underdog roots in their brand biographies."
The concept of underdog branding becomes all the more powerful during tough times. They give hope to people. It is particularly relevant in the present scenario when people face adversaries in the form of inflation, weak economy and possible downgrade from the investment cadre. However, the concept does not seem to work when underdog brands are bought by large corporations as in the case of Snapple. The connection with the consumer is gone. Apart from this, there are certain categories in which product/service quality can’t be compromised. Pharma industry, hospitals are examples of this exception Andrew Namiccolo, founder of Seven Story Learning, gives organizations a 3step guide to develop the underdog brand story. First is to begin with founder’s story or origin story as many a times people buy a product not because of its attributes but because of the person behind the product. Second it to frame the current underdog status against powerful adversaries. Third is to share stories about the organizations continued dedication and enthusiasm. Underdog branding, as a new form of branding, is gaining wide acceptance. It is ideal for small companies having the will to make it big. The author is a PGP2 participant at IIM Indore. You can reach him at p11kashok@iimidr.ac.in
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Cover Story Suspense/Mystery marketing By Rahul J What is most annoying before you go for a movie? A friend coming up to you and saying, “Dude! I heard that Hrithik Roshan dies in the movie”. What a spoiler! But does that destroy your suspense? Maybe not! Maybe you want to know how Hrithik would die in the movie. And, to your pleasant surprise, you find out that he comes back from a near death experience to lift a monster villain and hang him to death before succumbing to injuries! His aatma will now live on... If you think you’ll have tears in your eyes when a movie ends like this, please don’t read any further. Otherwise, read on! How often have you heard Marketing Gurus tell that flow of information is key to the field of Marketing? Making what the customer wants by taking his opinion and demands into consideration is one crude way of looking at marketing. But there are these organizations that thrive on marketing plans that make Information Asymmetry, the name of the game. And they call this Information Asymmetry – Suspense! That brings us to a new model – The Pyramid of Expectation! Not providing the complete picture is what keeps you hooked. Discovering a product, and unravelling its mysteries, is such a rich experience that it ties you Aug 2012
emotionally into it for years to come.
Anticipation is tied into expectation Suspense begins with expectation. If I don’t expect anything, then I have nothing to anticipate. But if I expect something, then I anticipate it, and woes betide anyone who fails at delivering on expectations. So it is required then that my expectations are correctly managed, motivated or manipulated, in order to increase my levels of anticipation, and therefore, my experience. So, is it good to build expectation? That depends on how awesome you think your product is. If you set the bar high and end up doing the high jump below the bar, you will land on concrete and not the sand! Expectation is best when the end is not known As we know, a few times a year when Apple is getting ready with a product launch, they leak a little bit of information which subsequently gets the rumour mill going.
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The rumour mill creates mockups, ideas and conspiracy theories all around this stuff, and stock begins to rise like an eagle as the world braces itself for the latest Apple innovation. Yet no one knows what this latest innovation is. They’re all caught up in suspense. What do you do when you don’t know the story? You build the story! This is what’s happening with Apple – people don’t know the end (the product) so they go off in 100 directions and create all new and wonderful ideas which in turn keep the buzz up and the shares rising. The beauty of a campaign driven by customers is that, they know they could be wrong. They are acknowledging that “I was expecting something that you didn’t promise.” So if Apple doesn’t do exactly what they had in their mind, they are emotionally prepared for it, and don’t feel disappointed because Apple when broke a promise – the promise didn’t exist. The only promise Apple inherently makes is Innovation. This is Apple’s core offering; it doesn’t matter what it makes, but the day Apple fails to innovate, the fruit will start tasting sour. The trick of mystery is all in what you don’t see How much can companies play with this concept? Can they tell very little to their audience and expect them to buy their product? Let us consider an Indian example - Mahindra’s XUV5oo. The company kick started its campaign calling it India’s first Global SUV. No one knew what that was – Aug 2012
people were ignorant of an Indian Global SUV. But the company started leaking bits and pieces of information online. With some hype here and there, a PR campaign kicked off with fan sites trying to imagine what the product would be like. And with increasing amount of information, it became intelligence when teaser snaps came online and interviews to Auto magazines started setting expectations high. The PR had gathered so much momentum that with increasing delay, the expectations and mystery around the product grew. And when they did launch the car, intelligence became intent. The challenge lies in sustaining this intent. And sustain it will, only if your core offering – the product – is good. Otherwise, the buzz that was created will quickly change direction and attack you; the fall will be doubly quick than the rise. The industry that pioneered suspense marketing actually is the movie industry. The eye-popping trailers and video leaks give enough fodder for people to believe that a special product awaits them. But for far too long, Indian cinema has been following up good trailers, off-screen controversies and online video leaks with a blatantly stupid movie. The suspense has been destroyed far too often for the consumer to bear. Companies have found the hard way that suspense/mystery campaigns are double-edged swords unless your core offering is really good. Hopefully, Indian cinema will take a cue and shift their energy towards what they’re really supposed to be doing – make good movies.
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The author is a PGP2 participant at IIM Indore. You can reach him at p11rahulj@iimidr.ac.in MARK AVENUE
Perspective The Opportunities and challenges in accessing Rural India By Akanksha Pandey Introduction to the Rural market The 742 million strong rural segment, which was not willing to spend much barring a few necessities has finally loosened its purse-strings for discretionary items too. The buying capacity of this segment of population (rural community) has been estimated to be a whopping $25 billion, a large part coming from the overall growth in economy. This huge figure will catch by surprise anyone who has not kept pace with the development, the way India’s rural market has done. The other factors for this boom in rural economy are a marked increase in the rural income due to agrarian prosperity, large inflow of investments for rural development programs and increase in demand due to forever increasing population. Also, increase in literacy and education level and increased contact with urban counterparts due to development of a wide communication network are some of the factors attributable to the growing demand of this segment of population. Be it increased awareness, buying capacity, technology or telephonic penetration, change in spending habit has definitely been for the good for companies who were facing stagnation in so called developed urban markets. The saturation level may not be absolute but Aug 2012
tapping the urban market with a high profit margin has certainly become difficult. The difficulty comes not only from the increased competition there but also from the higher awareness level of consumer who wants his product to be continuously upgraded. Fulfilling this forever growing demand for product enhancement and upgradation needs a lot of investment which for lack of increased margins will have a negative impact of profitability.
Interestingly, this scenario in urban market has made Brand managers and creative agencies more thoughtful of how to catch the rural segment’s fancy and market the product among these 742 million people. Consumers may be consumers at the end of day but the aspirations, beliefs, attitudes and needs of India’s dichotomous rural and urban markets are vastly different. This difference calls for separate marketing strategies to be developed to suit these two completely different segment behaviours. Coming on to the other aspects of this segment besides its size and huge buying capacity, we find a number of interesting facts.
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Rural segment has emerged as the fastest growing segment in Mobile sector. While the subscriber base is set to grow by 35%, sale of handsets is expected to increase by 19%. LIC sold more than 50% policies last year to this segment. The segment gives the FMCG industry a business of almost Rs. 65,000 Cr being the largest consumers of smaller SKUs (on price points of 5, 10), sachets and most economy brand products. 60% Rediffmail sign-ups last year belonged to the smaller towns. Lastly, 42 million rural households avail banking services as compared to 27 million urban households. The list may not be exhaustive but gives a very clear indication of the growth this segment is witnessing. Needless to say , these factors make rural market immensely attractive for FMCGs, durables, mobile operators , services and every other kind of industry. The different strategies which have emerged as a result of this rural boom are location specific promotions and activations, 'Bundling of inputs' a marketing strategy, in which several related items are sold to the consumer , including arrangements of credit, after-sales service, and so on , Management of demand i.e. continuous market research of buyer's needs and problems at various levels for continuous product improvements for a sustainable market performance, developmental marketing, presenting USPs framed as catchy phrases and selection of sales force from the educated unemployed villagers.
It should be recognised here that though the potential exists, there are a number of challenges a typical marketer will has to
come across while trying to gain access to the rural mind space. Rural marketing can particularly be an expensive, timeconsuming affair because of several listed problems. The Barter system – exchange of goods for goods which is still quite prevalent in rural India, is a major obstacle to rural marketing. Underdeveloped people and underdeveloped markets (the rapid development has been restricted to a small area) have left vast areas still untouched. Lack of proper physical communication facilities is a major problem. Although mobile penetration figures look promising, an all–season physical connectivity is very much a necessity for sales and marketing to function well. Many villages are still facing the problem of well connected roads; villages become inaccessible during monsoon etc. Inadequate Media coverage for rural communication- a TV still does not form a part of their daily routine, although they may own it – is again an issue. Many language and Dialects mean that the language may vary from village to village and therefore, a communication strategy to reach maximum number of diverse people is a big challenge. Other factors include Natural calamities and Market conditions (demand, supply and price). Drought or too much rains, lack of proper storage facilities, transport, Long chain of middlemen etc are some of the issues which have to be tackled by anyone entering these markets. Apart from lifestyle and infrastructural challenges, there are a number of other challenges a marketer has to face in his bid to reach rural consumers.
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The Traditional mind of rural India is not open to accepting and reacting to new ideas. Agricultural income is still mostly invested in gold ornaments and weddings. 75% rural consumers are still illiterate or semi-literate and therefore do not persuade new thinking. Still, there is no denying of the potentially huge purchasing power of this segment, the segment which comprises of 742 million individuals. 742 million people, whose usage of FMCG products or durables does not amount to even 10 % of their urban counterparts. Connectivity has resulted in awareness, a raging interest in brands, and a latent desire to consume and possess what the urban consumer has. The key is for brands to realize that the aspiration levels are going higher in the rural segment. The new emerging rural consumer will be more brands conscious and also cost conscious. It will be a task for brands to overcome challenges and reach out to this new age rural consumer. Also, rural markets are laggards in picking up new products. This will also help companies to phase their marketing efforts to reach maximum number of people. This will also help to sell inventories of products already tried and tested in urban markets. The author is a PGP2 participant at IIM Indore. You can reach him at p11akankshap@iimidr.ac.in
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Perspective A Consumer’s Diary!
I
By Buchalli Varun
t’s 8: 30 AM in the morning; I get up to brush my teeth and use toothpaste, which is recommended by dentists worldwide. The point of disparity being it’s ‘clinically proven and offers daily protection for sensitive teeth’. I don’t have sensitive teeth but it’s the most technically advanced toothpaste available, so it must be the best. What if I did have sensitive teeth? My toothbrush comes from a company, which is again ‘recommended by dentists worldwide’. It’s got zigzag bristles and the packaging says it can rotate 360 degrees. More the degrees the better it must be! Oh! I wonder why I had to get my cavities filled?
I rush for my breakfast and want to get a packaged drink even though there’s fresh fruit available at the mess counter for free. It comes from a company which sponsors our neighbor’s national cricket team so it must obviously be better than the real thing. I can’t start my morning routine without my cup of ‘oats’. I don’t know what’s in it but the brand behind is huge and all my friends who are extremely fit have it so it must be really good. The packaging does say that ‘it reduces cholesterol’, I’m pretty sure that I don’t have any cholesterol problems but, what the heck better to be safe than sorry. I love telling my friends that I have oats in the morning. With all the talk about obesity, it must be a solid decision.
dandruff problem but Bipasha uses it. I like Bips. I have my bath and use my Spiderman towel. It cost me a bomb but it’s an original Marvel special. I am confused whether to believe Shahid or John. Both of them say that their cream works like magic. Does it really work? John is providing me a scale to measure my ‘gorapan’. The packaging looks better and I like John more than Shahid. I put on my Tifosi ‘T’ and admire the prancing horse. I could have bought 10 shirts for the price of this one ‘memorabilia’. Who am I kidding, it’s a piece of history and I wouldn’t want to miss it. I love vintage wine and so couldn’t stop myself from purchasing a timepiece, which says ‘Long live vintage’. My housekeeping boy is a Dhoni fan and has a watch endorsed by him, which does the exact same thing as my ‘vintage watch’. My ‘vintage piece’ cost me 10 times as much as Mr. Dhoni’s watch. Mine matches my personality (at least that’s what I want my friends to believe). I have a need to be wanted, appreciated. I unsheathe my 30 grand Android phone. My brother had given me special private lessons on how to avoid looking like an idiot. I have never used the 8-megapixel camera, the barcode reader or the whole gamut of the things that my phone could pull off. ‘Geeky’ is the new cool. I have cavities, my shirt’s lost color, watch’s stuck, phone heats up every hour but I used the best brands. Somebody out there please help!
I go back and get ready for my bath. I pick up my soap, why? It’s because Hrithik endorses it. Does The author is a PGP2 participant at IIM Indore. he really use it? Any idiot could answer that. I pick You can reach him at p11bvarun@iimidr.ac.in up an anti- dandruff shampoo. I don’t have a Aug 2012 MARK AVENUE
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Jargon Jaa(r)go(n) Re
Brand Chain :
The brand chain begins
where the classic supply chain ends. While the supply chain is made up of value-adding inputs leading to the product, the brand chain begins with product development and heads toward the customer. Through brand platforms and programs, it delivers multiple forms of downstream value. The brand chain consists of creative brand interactions between customer and company, customer and product, and between customers themselves.
Ambient Marketing :
Signs, posters
and other promotional material, often in unusual and unexpected places, inside a shopping centre or retail outlet to generate customer interest and stimulate purchasing.
Peer-to-Peer
Brands:
Brands
powered by users that arise, grow and mutate within a shared product or brand context. Peer-to-peer brands generate layers of meaning through common focus and/or
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passion. They serve customer agendas, but may open doors for new product and brand platforms. Market spaces of P2P brands include open source software, product customizations, automobile aftermarkets, modding, and software extensions. Peer-topeer brands are brand additive. Brands designed to be extensible via peer-to-peer architectures can gain market advantage over traditional top-down, close-end brands.
Bait
and
Switch
Pricing
:
Advertising an item at an unrealistically low price as ""bait"" to lure customers to a store or selling place and then attempting to steer them to a higher-priced item
Brand Hacks :
Customers hack brands.
It’s their way of pumping meaning into a brand that doesn’t measure up. In this process, customers add content and context that the brand originator overlooked. They effectively redirect a brand in this manner, migrating it into new value domains, sometimes far beyond the original brand vision. New brand strategies encourage(and thrive upon) brand hacks. For these reasons, a primary mission of the brand is to cultivate brand hacks.
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Fresh on TV Kitna Deti Hai Maruti Suzuki as a part of its campaign ‘Kitna deti hai’ launched a TVC. In this TVC, Maruti Suzuki has focused on one of its USPs, its mileage. Amelia Johnson, an aviation pioneer, lands in Mumbai, she's interviewed and asked about her aircraft. She says, 'It's a super marine, with 300 horsepower radial engine and the a 1000-mile range... A member of the audience interrupts her to ask, 'Kitna deti hai'. The question is then translated to Johnson, who's left stunned - she doesn't have an answer. The film ends with a voiceover that says, "For a country obsessed with mileage, Maruti Suzuki makes India's most fuel efficient cars."
Vodafone’s Delight Vodafone came up with a new TVC bringing back its ‘Delights’ Campaign “The TVC communicates that any customer who visits the Vodafone stores would get a gift for sure. It shows a boy nervously ringing the bell of an old man's house to hand over a few mails. The old man presents an apple to the boy after receiving the mails. The boy looks happy and confused all at once. His curiosity rises and he visits the old man's house repeatedly. Each time, the old man gives him something to take home, be it a pen or a mouth organ. The story ends with a smile on the old man's face, born of bringing the young man joy with each gift. The last frame of the film announces that a Vodafone customer will get a gift on visiting its stores.”
Britannia’s Bourbon Britannia Bourbon has come out with a television campaign to promote its latest offering. “The TVC opens with a motorcycle pulling up outside a house, late in the evening. A guy drops a girl off after a date, and the young man is hoping for more. The girl, reading his mind, invites him over for ‘coffee’. Seated inside the house awaiting the girl, he checks his breath and his hair. He is stumped when an old lady approaches him with a tray. She introduces herself as the girl’s grandmother, and offers him Bourbon Cappuccino biscuits. The voice over says, “Bitter cappuccino on the inside; sweet, sugary biscuit on the outside”. Reference: Campaignindia.com Aug 2012
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competition The best two articles will win a cash prize of 500
each
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Indian Institute of Management Indore