Brandscape vol 1 ed 1 (January 2017) by Brandwagon IIFT DELHI

Foreword The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as "a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action." This content could be in the form of blogs, eBooks, videos, pictures, infographics, white papers etc. In this era of communication overreach and customer cynicism, relevance to the customer is of utmost importance. Content marketing can only work if its gives the customer what they want, when they want and in a manner that appeals to them. It’s not about what the marketer wants to say but about what the customer wants to hear. For content marketing to work it has to be much focused and should be based on a deep understanding of the customer and their information/entertainment needs and preferences. The content has to be presented in the right context and should be designed to cater to the stage of decision process or response hierarchy the customer is in. A useful tool is to look at the customer activity cycle- pre-purchase, during purchase and post purchase and design content which can help solve specific issues in terms of information needs or expert advice or help in completing the processes required for purchase or use. Some very successful examples of content marketing include Kaan Khajura Tesan (HUL) and Permanent Roommates (Commonfloor.com and Ola) which have gained a lot of popularity. Both these initiatives are based on a clear customer need and use entertainment as a means to engage with the target customers by beautifully juxtaposing the category context. An information based initiative is Fliptech which was launched by Flipkart to help visitors make informed decisions about gadget purchase. In the B2B space a good example is that of the Network Effect documentary series by Cisco which feature inspiring stories of innovators who contributed to Cisco’s success. Content marketing is here to stay and is in fact expected to play a bigger role in the marketer’s communication arsenal. ‘Content is King and Context is Queen’, holds true in today’s digital world more so than ever before. Therefore this issue of Brandscape comes at an opportune time highlighting key trends and aspects of content marketing. Dr. Ruppal W Sharma Associate Professor Indian Institute of Foreign Trade New Delhi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD……………………………………………………………………………………….. 2 RISE OF CONTENT COMMERCIAL FILMS OVER TRADITIONAL TVCS………………………….. 4 DHRUV SAXENA CONTENT CURATING TRENDS TO WATCH OUT FOR IN 2017………………………………......... 6 SUMANA PAUL FAKE NEWS AND IMPLICATIONS ON CONTENT MARKETING …………………………………..10 MANTHAN JOSHI WHAT GOES BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY ………………. 13 SWARNIMA RISE OF CONTENT COMMERCIAL FILMS OVER TRADITIONAL TVCS………………………… 15 AGRANI PUNJ USING WEB ANALYTICS TO IMPROVE CONTENT MARKETING………………………………… 16 RAMNEEK SINGH AND ADITYA SAGAR GAMIFICATION IN CONTENT MARKETING……………………………………………………... 21 MAYANK TEWARI AND RUCHIR SAHAI MY STINT AS A BRAND MANAGER………………………………………………………………. 25 THE POWER OF STORIES………………………………………………………………………... 27 ARCHITA MITRA MARKETING IN THE TIME OF CRISIS…………………………………………………………… 29 ABHIPSA MISHRA SUMMER INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE AT ITC…………………………………………………… 32 LAKSHMI PRIYA RAMANI

#LANKADIARIES………………………………………………………………………………… 33 ABHIRUP LAHIRI SUMMER INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE AT MAHINDRA…………………………………………… 34 ANUJ SHAH

Rise of Content Commercial Short Films over Traditional TVCs

Dhruv Saxena They usually appear when you seldom expect them or least want them to be there, often at a crucial junction of time, spoiling your experience along the way. Regular in their appearances, they come and go at will and are extremely hard to avoid. No, I am not talking of nosey neighbours but of Advertisement or Television Commercials, which over the years have become synonymous with our television viewing experience.

it for me rather than being swayed by their favourite celebrity endorsing a product. All of this has led to marketers move towards new forms of advertisement which are content driven and look to connect emotionally with potential customers. Digital content is now easily available online and the Hotstars and the Netflixes of the world are becoming more of a norm than a tech lover’s way of watching shows and movies. In 2015, YouTube India had more than 60 million unique users in India with them spending an average of 48 hours a month, while Hotstar claims to have more than 50 million app downloads since its rollout. With the rise of such mediums, marketers too have realised the immense potential internet holds as a way of reconnecting with the audience who now have started using it to launch brand promotions online to gain a greater traction with potential customers.

We have had advertisements pushed our way for such a long time that we hardly take an affront when they appear at the unlikeliest of moments whether before the announcement of season winner of your favourite reality show or just before the protagonist foiling the lead villain’s plans for the umpteenth time in a daily soap. But as we are moving forward and with the air time coming at a premium, the case in point being the cost for a 10 second advertisement going as high as ?550000 during the last Indian Premier League, a 10 second television commercial has been becoming more of a forced option than choice for organizations. This has led to problems for both organizations and advertisers as their ad campaigns have been reduced to a celebrity thrusting the product upon customers without developing any connect with the brand or conveying what the brand stands for in a short 10 second window. Modern consumer too has evolved, looking more towards forming a connect with the brand and asking what’s in

“The scene is set in a regular Indian living room with the son discussing post retirement plans of his father with his mother while trying to convince her to come to Mumbai with him. The next few scenes shows the mother telling why they won’t come to Mumbai as her husband had once been there in an unsuccessful attempt to be a part of the industry while auditioning for the epic Bollywood movie Sholay. This makes the son take his father on a road trip to places where Sholay was shot, asking his father to recreate the famous dialogs and

finally compiles them to form a movie, thus fulfilling his father’s dream while forming a deeper relation with him.” This was the Google’s new short film released in India which since its launch has garnered more than six million views while conveying the users of the ideology of Google as a brand trying to make world a more connected place. A similar ad campaign was run by Paper Boat from Hector Beverages which tried to bring users the nostalgia and memories of their childhood and the drinks they had when they were kids. Today long format advertisements have become popular with brands and advertisers looking to make a stronger and longer connect with the customers as with a film the brands now have an opportunity to convey the viewers of what brand stands for and that too at a fraction of a cost of regular television commercials. The Google film for instance with its length of over five minutes never ran on air but could garner so many views. The emergence of long form started because of the length of time people are spending on the Internet along with the reduced cost of delivery and their ability to target the intended target audience and has now made them the next big thing in advertisement. The fact that these narratives allow the brand to slowly grow over the viewers rather than being thrust on them as in the case of TVCs allows them to have a far more favourable reception and a willing audience. This wouldn’t have been possible had these narratives been broadcasted as apart from the cost they would also have been the television viewing experience of potential customers. One of the factors behind the rise of these content commercials is the fact that digital has now become the most preferred media

when one is looking to tell a story which the curators want to be further told and retold by the viewers. It also allows the brands to first test the waters by releasing the ad film online and then depending on the response it gets, a shorter version of it could be launched for television viewing audiences. This was the case with Snapdeal who first launched their campaign with Amir Khan describing the role e-commerce plays in the life of Indians whose shortened version were later launched for television audience before Snapdeal’s Annual Sale. Moreover, a long format advertisement could also be used for brand building and raising awareness about a new product before its launch wherein a consumer generated conversation goes a long way in helping develop a brand and is far more valuable than the content being pushed down consumer’s throat. Another advantage which digital enjoys over traditional TVC’s is that these digital advertisements are measurable with the brands and organizations being able to gauge the eyeballs their campaign has grabbed, as opposed to traditional TVC’s where such a metric is hard to develop and execute. Digital also allows the brands to launch the campaigns through specific websites or launch a campaign which is better suited for a region thus allowing them to grab desired target audiences with personalised content as compared to the mass rollout through television. This ability to have personalised campaigns which could furthered be measured with respect to the eyeballs grabbed gives the content commercial short films a distinct edge over regular TVC’s. While there are talks of Long Form Advertisements slowly taking edge over

Content Curating Trends To Watch Out For In 2017 Sumana Paul

smaller TVC’s in long term but this would be akin to tail wagging the dog. Though the popularity of digital content has been continuously increasing, chances are that future would see brands opting for both the formats with the Long Form being shortened for TVC’s like in the case of Snapdeal. A crucial indicator of this is the advertisement agencies now having an attached digital arm to push their contents through both the mediums, an example of which could be Pepsi’s Crash the IPL campaign which seamlessly integrated both the mediums allowing the traditional and digital to be the twin pillars on which a brand would rest while giving a peek into the future of TVC’s and Long Form advertisements.

Before diving into the most exciting content curation trends in the upcoming year, I would like us all to notice some key content curation strategies that are often neglected by brands but can only add value and relevance to your curated content in the future if you follow. A. ‘Underground’ content: There is a vast array of content that readers have never seen or heard of. Instead of offering the same content that readers have been reading from the most obvious places, it is important to give them something that is fresh and untouched. In order to be the go-to place to find best content, one has to be a trend finder/trend analyst. Companies using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) find unique content more often. RSS sends interested content marketers alerts when their articles go live often before the businesses promote the content themselves. Content that is most loved and accepted and the one having the most engagement is not found in the most popular sites. True value comes from frequenting locations that are abstract and publish content strongly relevant to the audience 10 to 20% of the time. This content sourced from abstract locations would resonate because it is fresh,

new, and otherwise unseen by those in the marketersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; space. 20% of these locations will drive almost 80% of the results. Some lesser known places are

Now it is time I listed down the content curation trends that would come in handy to the content marketers in 2017.

Trend 1: Influencer Marketing:

Hacker news: https://news.ycombinator.com/ Product hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/search ?q=content+marketing Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/ So the real game is to dig deep. Source: Forbes

A. Framing the curated content: How the first sentence sounds in any blog post, Tweet, Facebook post, or ad has the ability to make or break effective curation. Marketers often make the mistake of autoposting from RSS feeds or auto-scheduling content from their own feeds. This does not make their content as compelling. So instead of just auto-tweeting the headline of an article in less time than it takes to read, one should add his own context. The content can be presented better by highlighting it in a new way or adding a new element to make it more interesting and shareable. One can increase visibility with a twist of words, or add value with his own commentary, or add a little sparkle with design or development.

Influencer marketing has skyrocketed in the past one year. Influencers can help you reach greater audience and what is even better is a trusted influencer who can lend credibility to a brand and make it easier for the marketer to build trust with his followers. An influencer will help you only if you have something valuable to her. You have to offer her something of value to gain access to her audience. So if a marketer builds his own influence first and brings that to the table, he can offer the influencer something very valuable; helping her tap into a new network, grow her influence and fuelling her own brand. Just as important niche and trade sites are for content because they tend to attract more engaged audiences, the same applies to influencer marketing. More than 80% of people would rather follow a microinfluencerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recommendation rather than mega-influencers that marketers hire to advocate their brands. Marketers most often tend to write off micro-influencers and try seeking out the most influential people in

their areas but that does not work always. As long as a marketer works with a variety of people and put emphasis on brand advocacy, micro-influencers can be more valuable than people think it can.

Trend 3: Print is back:

A major turn-around in the world of influencer marketing is its shift from partnering with content creators to flat-out purchasing them. Today we can safely say that print is nontraditional marketing whereas blogging, social media, web articles are all traditional marketing channels. Following are some reasons why print is not dying and would probably never die:

Source: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/

Trend 2: Email Renaissance:

a) It is attention grabbingAs newsletters and print magazines are becoming fewer in number, people would pay more attention to print mail and so 2017 is the right time.

Out of all the ways to grow an audience, email has emerged as one of the most critical ways. Brands are increasingly using email newsletters. For example, The Washington Post now has more than 75 e-newsletters and The New York Times has a team of 12 people dedicated to newsletters.

b) There are very little development costs-

audience

Publishers usually have to spend huge amounts of money, time and energy to send out print magazines. They have to spend multiple dollars for auditing purposes (direct mail, follow-up calls). If a publisherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cost per subscriber per year is $3, and their distribution is 100,000, then the total cost would come up to $300,000. Whereas if marketers want to distribute a magazine to their customers, they can just use the customer mailing list.

Automated emails get 152% higher clicks than broadcast emails these emails create a more personalized relationship with subscribers. Example: a) welcome emails when new users join the service or create an account b) anniversary emails to mark their time as a subscriber or customer c) engagement-driven emails depending on what the subscriber had previously clicked on

c) Print still develops excitement among peopleA journalist has stated in Forbes that it is hard to get people to agree to an interview if they

Source: http://copypress.com/

come to know that it is an online story. But if it for a printed story they make sure they find time because printed word is still perceived as more credible than anything they people read online.

most popular ones), a common situation of babies crying on flights and turned it into a positive message, giving its customers flight credits for whenever a baby cried during the flight.

Online marketplace Airbnb and publishing partner Hearst have launched a new magazine called Airbnbmag to be distributed to Airbnb homes and include content curated from people who provide and use the service. Also School of Doodle has launched a print magazine and so did VFiles. Marketers are constantly trying to cut through the digital clutter with print content. Print marketers as a tactic for content marketers and curators have been surprisingly steady in the past one year.

Trend 5: Real Time Content:

Brands can complement their online efforts with some niche print publications. A magazine is a good collision of attractive designs and provocative information. Trader audience is anticipating this kind of content. Since traders are always connected online, they look forward to disconnect and discover.

Instagram has released stories, Facebook has released live stream and Snapchat has become a thriving platform for all businesses. Thus it is highly likely that marketers will jump into the mix and use these creative outlets as long as they are new and attractive. Older strategies like webinars will get a makeover by recording them using Facebook live so that there is more encouragement among viewers to engage.

Trend 4: Stories vs. Articles: Storytelling is far more engaging than an ordinary article or listicle. Same old blog posts fill up the daily queue and readers are tired of them. People are more attentive towards work from marketers who have adopted storytelling as the main essence of their work. For example, JetBlue (an American low-cost airline) have created videos of real life situations that they have experienced with their customers on their own flights. These included the Fly Babies video (a series of YouTube videos like â&#x20AC;&#x153;HOW TO FLY WITH A BABYâ&#x20AC;? among the

Snapchat stories, Instagram stories, geofilters, video testimonials, live tweet sessions and anything that you can do real time and is shareworthy will grab attention and increase lead flow. In a nutshell, ungated and unedited content is expected to sell like hot cakes in 2017.

Conclusion: All in all a much more differentiated content is expected to come up in 2017. This differentiated content tries to humanize

brands making them look more likeable. The rise of real time video, behind the scenes content and true brand journalism will give a paradigm shift to storytelling balance from glossy to documentary style realism. In 2016 one saw innovations in searchable podcast, virtual reality, interactive video, text message blog posts. In 2017 we are going to see more creativity and innovation along these lines. Maybe Smellovision?

Fake News and Implications on Content Marketing Manthan Joshi Ever heard of a country called Macedonia? The most significant contribution of this small, war-torn and landlocked Balkan country to the world was that it was the birth place of Mother Teresa, up until recently, when the so called “netizens” of Macedonia created a huge upheaval in the runup to the elections of the oldest democracy of the world. In the aftermath of the Trump victory and with everyone ranging from News Pundits like Bill Maher to comedy show hosts Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah analysing how the tables literally turned, one very important statistic emerged, out of nowhere, that the Fake News related to the Presidential Elections was more commented, liked and shared than actual, real news during the election time. And the major source for this fake news and the sites providing came from the small city of Veles in Macedonia. Hideously genuinely looking sites like Trump365Vision.com, WorldPoliticus.com, DonaldTrumpNews.co and as many as 140 such American sounding domain names were believed to have been hosted from this small city of Veles. The fake news phenomenon may also have indirectly influenced the Oxford Press to christen “Post-Truth” as the Word of the Year 2016. Just observe the kind of false news that was circulated during the elections. The sites seemed very genuine with even the “Verified by Facebook” blue tick on them. Any ordinary Facebook user, interested even remotely in the political affairs of his country, would have found the news sensational enough to be shared across his social circle. The most surprising thing about this whole media-frenzy is that the Macedonian teenagers, in their early 17s, who are believed to be the main perpetrators, don’t even know who Trump or even for that matter, their main target, Hillary Clinton is. What they saw was just an opportunity to make quick money, which to everyone’s surprise, ranged anywhere between $3000 per day to $5000 per month.

When this news broke out, Mark Zuckerberg immediately clarified that it was “bizarre” to even think that his website was in any way responsible for changing the result of an election and it was a very far-fetched idea to conclude anything. But then as the statistics came out (shown in the figure below), Facebook had no other option but to accept the reality in some proportions and start to develop means and ways to stop the spreading of such fake news any further. What they should ideally look at is the model that Google has followed, which is to give Adranks to the websites. Google has developed an algorithm which goes through every website and confirms whether the information displayed inside matches the displayed titles of the website. It also looks for credible sources of information for giving a higher Adrank to the websites.

But then, naturally, Facebook faces a dilemma. Unlike Google, it is a social networking site, which allows people to express their ideas freely, and if it starts to scrutinize what people are posting, that freedom would itself be snatched away.

Additionally, Facebook works on the algorithm of making popular posts with the most engagement and doesn’t look at the credibility aspect of the posts. But recently, after a lot of furore, Facebook came out with a very detailed plan on how it is planning to tackle the spread of fake news across its website. Facebook is trying to counter this menace by not getting involved into fact-checking groups to identify the bogus stories, because that would mean defying the freedom of speech and expression for its users. It is also planning to warn users that the stories they are reading have been flagged as fake by a certain section on the social media. It is completely going the self-policing way. People would be able to report the story as a hoax by reporting it as abuse and selecting one of the four reasons that Facebook would provide. And if the story is flagged, the readers would receive a message saying that the story has been flagged by third party fact-checkers and they needn’t open this news as it was fake. And this is where the concept of content marketing comes in. Many brands have slowly and gradually understood the importance of social media for the purpose of content marketing. It is one of the most easy-to-use platforms, is relatively cheap and ensures the reach to a large audience. But now with all the fact-checking and self policing controls put on by Facebook, it is going to be an interesting case for the brands. It has both its positives and its negatives.

Brands which would have realized the importance of content marketing late and are presently trying to make a foray into this field would certainly find it hard to establish themselves among the social media users. It would live under the constant threat of being labelled as a noncredible news source, just because people don’t know much about it and just report it as fake news.

groups of people on Facebook; first are the vigilantes who are disturbed by the fake news and would quickly flag or report it. These people are sensitive and strive for a utopian social media platform with perfect harmony among everyone. Second are the ones who don’t give much attention to these details. They read the posts and though they know that what they are reading is completely fake, they don’t care to address this issue. Maximum of Facebook users fall under this category. So what essentially would happen that the power to flag or report fake news posts would just lie on these few individuals from the first category. This would be equal to power in the hands of few and can lead to a power abuse with these people basing their judgements on already formed biases and their allegiances to various groups in the society. So down the line, Facebook needs to keep third part editors who can monitor this activity and ensure the smooth functioning of the website.

Another important implication would be that if the company starts publishing or posting news from its industry, it may face a backlash from its competitors who would just need to click on the “Report as Fake News” button to damage the image and reputation of the company. That would be tantamount to a greater abuse of the system that has been put in place. And that’s what brings us to think about other options that Facebook might want to consider over the self policing tool. It is known as Third party Inspection and it involves third party editors checking the flagged posts on the platform and ensuring that the system is not being gamed by individuals, companies or a specific group. This is of the utmost importance and must be put up in place should Facebook decide to apply its self policing tool worldwide. Though it would certainly involve high costs, it becomes very pertinent since it could lead to a huge chaos on the social media platform and a flight back to safety by the brands pursuing content marketing to the traditional methods, thus leading to a huge drop in Facebook’s revenue.

The flip side of the whole story can be thought of as a great opportunity for the brands to be relevant and become credible sources of news for their industry among the users. There are rankings published in the US which ranks the news outlets against the trust people have on them. And this provides an opportune window for brands to cement their place somewhere in this spectrum and become a credible source of information thus improving the brand image as well as visibility among its user base. One very important lesson that content marketers could learn from the whole saga is that with more power, comes a greater responsibility. Marketers have the power to sway their audiences and manipulate them by giving out false information. But

There also seems to be a very interesting point that comes out in support for the third party inspection in order to allow brands to continue growing their presence among the users through content marketing. There are generally 2 succinct

itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highly unethical and if revealed, the repercussions for a big brand could prove disastrous. Thus, the responsibility lies with the company to persuade their customers more ethically and to double check the sources which are being referred to. Today, there are still gaping loopholes in the rapidly growing digital system of brand communication and people are gaming it. These things would take time to become seamless and flawless and a major step has been taken by Facebook after the fake news fiasco. Content Marketing as a domain on social media is going to be affected by the changes in the system and it now depends fully on the brands, whether they would take a bit of risk and sneak through the small window of opportunity to become relevant or just sit back and face flak from their competitors who would certainly try to abuse the system to gain competitive advantage.

What Goes Behind Every Successful Content Marketing Strategy Swarnima In the past years content marketing has emerged as one of the key strategies to engage customers. Many firms are leaving behind their traditional methodologies and embracing the new techniques to get more consumers on board. From live videos, cloud-based platforms to dynamic web pages, all social media platforms are being explored. Constant innovations in the digital field are helping them scale their efforts. Too many organizations are trying to generate returns by using as many channels as possible. While such an approach may be yield short term goals, they have the capacity of achieving higher targets if the content marketing strategy is optimized efficiently. The purpose of content marketing is not how fast or how much information is disseminated but rather asking what content describes the brand and will help connect best with buyers and customers. The fundamental goal of content marketing is not just to convey brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s information to the target audience but to drive business outcomes. If an investment in content promotion fails to achieve measurable growth in sales, revenues and profits, something along the way is going wrong. IT ALL STARTS WITH DEMAND The effectiveness of the demand generating programs is the key to marketing performance of an organization. Demand is fueled by the content served to

the consumers and so to increase the demand for the products and services offered by a company, full potential of content marketing must be achieved. Documenting, maintaining the content inventory, auditing and analyzing what trends are driving up the demand can be of great help in the long run.

THE ACCESS PLATFORM The content consumption patterns of consumers are of prime importance to keep delivering results consistently. Analyzing what consumers prefer to watch, read or share, what channels they are using can help in generating reliable content. This will also help in deciding what content needs to be kept, updated or removed as per the trends. Making sure the experience of consumers while accessing the content is good is also important. Marketers might create great content, but if there is no ease of accessibility to the user while looking for particular information, the purpose of the process is lost.

MAKE IT ABOUT THE CUSTOMERS There are three core components to effective marketing: consumer insights, content consumption pattern and the content architecture. These components need to be integrated to achieve a functioning demand generation program. Focusing on the consumers will help create richer user experiences on a platform leading to demand growth.

FOLLOWING THE PURCHASE PATH The art of organizing and labelling various platforms as per consumer needs to support findability and initiate usability is key to content marketing. A consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purchase path aids to that. It can be understood by combining content consumption analysis with consumer insights concentrating on the purchase trigger and pain points. A content architecture then based on that can be formulated to convert and engage more customers. Mass communicating content that does not resonate with consumers will just end up increasing costs rather than bringing value.

BUYER MOTIVATION Conventionally every marketing class at a business school starts with analyzing buyer motivation. Various models have formulated over the time. But understanding the behavior of a consumer gives a whole new dimension to those techniques. While demographic distinction might give all the information of the buyer on the outside, the thought process that drives the consumer to buy needs to be examined to understand what message should be conveyed to motivate them to make the purchase. Understanding the consumers, who they are, why they are making the purchase, what are the pain points in the process, the purchase triggers, how they are behaving individually and in groups is key to designing and delivering effective content.

GIVE DEMAND A FURTHER PUSH Integrating all the aforementioned strategies bringing together people, process and technology will ensure that the organization gains maximum benefit from the augmented initiative and delivers true value to the content marketing investments.

Rise of content commercial short films over traditional TVCs Agrani Punj What makes people connect? What compels them to stick to a brand? The answer is simple- a well written and engaging story. The answer may seem simple to people seeking complexity but the fact is, it is just that. Right from the era of black and white television, traditional two minute commercials were the prominent way in which brands would communicate and tell their story. But with the advent of social media, companies have an altogether new platform for advertisement and this platform is not just new- it is better, faster and definitely here to stay. According to Kristen Purcell of the Pew Research Internet Project, “The percent of online adults who watch or download videos has grown over the past four years, from 69% of adult Internet users in 2009 to 78% today.” This poses a huge opportunity for brands and what better way than content commercial short films. Short films are also called long term ads. This is because unlike regular TV commercials, short films tend to stick in the mind for a long period and the message goes deep into the subconscious. Contrast this with regular TV ads where you have to thrust your idea into the psyche of the consumer and constantly battle the fact that people switch channels during ad breaks. A beautifully executed short film will automatically draw crowd and people willingly listen to what the company has to say.Another major advantage of content commercial short films is that unlike TV commercials, where you are charged for every minute and it takes a lot of money to

air your ad on prime time, short films have absolutely no limit on what you want to show and how long you want your video to be. Of course the money then goes into seeding the content into websites like Facebook and the like, but overall the brand definitely stands to gain. Companies have actually used this fact to their advantage. Take for instance, Blendtec. The company came up with their ‘will it blend??? ’ videos wherein they used their blender to blend Apple IPhones in one video and various other products in the others. The concept was unusual and the videos went viral. It helped the company gain worldwide recognition almost instantaneously. The company’s message was loud and clear- We sell the most powerful blenders ever. It is said that product afterthought is bad for advertising. An example which shows how this can be avoided through smartly managing your content in short films is the video series “Cornetto cupidity love stories.” The video series is about unusual love stories and the stages two people go through before finally falling in love. The most famous of them all is ’40 Love’ starring Lilly Allen, which shows two lesbian partners coming together in the most unusual way.

The most interesting thing about these series is that there is very little, almost nil actual advertisement of the brand Cornetto. However, the company was successful in drilling it into the minds of the consumers, albeit subliminally, that Cornetto ice creams stand for love. Lastly, it is important to understand that there is a very clear shift in consumer viewing, from one screen to multi screens and the rise of social media will further give a boost to this phenomena. So it’s high time that companies let their creative juices flow and create short films so engaging and entertaining that they have a lasting impact on the consumer. As Peter Drucker very famously said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Using Web Analytics to Improve Content Marketing Ramneek Singh and Aditya Sagar

INTRODUCTION Content marketing, as defined by the “Content Marketing Institute”, is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience – and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action. For years, many believed that the value of content marketing couldn’t be measured. It was only after the revolution in digital technology and the rise of analytics that the power of content marketing came to be known. Digital analytics when mixed with content marketing paved way for something that has now become omnipresent – Web Analytics. So how do we use web analytics to improve content marketing? What are the metrics that we should be looking for? And what insights can be generated using web analytics? Let’s dive deeper into web analytics to answer these questions.

WEB ANALYTICS METRICS Success of content marketing can be measured using a myriad of metrics, from share and retweets to time spent on a page, bounce rate, conversion rate, number of visitors and so on, but only a few of these will give an insight worth a marketer’s time. Mentioned below are some of the most widely used metrics: 1. Follow-on engagement – Number of viewers/readers who started a conversation, converted to a lead or bought something. It is good for a piece of content to get shares and retweets, but these are not the reasons for its existence. Marketing content exists so that it can produce leads and get people interested in the company’s products and services. So, a piece of content is good only if people who consume it get interested in what you’re selling.

1. Reach and Shares/Referrals – The goal of content marketing is to create content that is amazing and engaging. If you’re able to get people to engage with your website using the content you created, the traffic and the sales will automatically grow. 2. Bounce Rate, Visit Duration and Next Page Destination – Each of these metrics helps you measure the relevancy of your content. Bounce rate implies the percentage of visitors to your website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page. The other two metrics also help in gauging the same. A high bounce rate/low visit duration implies that your website is not relevant to the subject your website claims to address and therefore it is irrelevant to the customers visiting the website. The ‘Next Page Destination’ metric helps in determining the content which is relevant to the customer. 3. Call-to-action Click-throughs – Call-toaction is an instruction to the audience to provoke an immediate response, usually using an imperative verb such as “Call now” or “Find out more”. On a website, they are in the form of a “Call” button or an “Inquiry” form. If the purpose of a content marketing campaign is to ultimately move consumers through a marketing funnel and eventually educate consumers, then each piece of content should have a well-planned call to action. A high call-to-action clickthrough rate implies that you’re targeting the right consumers. 4. Conversion rate and Return on Investment – If the consumers engaging with the content aren’t converting to customers then it is a major problem which needs to be fixed. High engagement in the form of high number of shares or comments

means nothing if the conversion rate is poor. So, when you make ROI the focus of your campaign you can dissect other metrics and analyze them in a way which improves your ROI. 5. PageRank - Content marketing holds the key to modern ‘Search Engine Optimization’. The quality of the content on your website, the quality of content on sites linking to your site and the quality of the content being shared on social media linking to your website determine and impact your website’s ranking in the search engine results pages. So, if you have a low page rank it means that there is an issue with your content marketing campaign and your page might not appear in the beginning of a search. 6. Organic Discovery Points – These points are generated every time new content is published on the website. This way by tracking the organic (not paid) discovery points we are able to identify the customers who visited the website for the first time after that particular content got published. This helps in differentiating relevant content from irrelevant content. 7. Percentage of Returning Visitors – This helps in identifying the type of content that is making visitors come back to the website. This also indicates that a strategy is not just generating visits but is generating loyalty. 8. Comments – These demonstrate that

visitors to your website are willing to invest their time in offering feedback or asking questions. Comments can be analyzed using a variety of text analytics techniques and later be used to conduct a sentiment analysis to understand if the visitors have a

positive, negative or a neutral sentiment towards the content on your website. These prove to be invaluable as they reflect the real feeling of a visitor.

your website. Inquiry forms can be used to understand the user demographic and help in creating appropriate content for your target demographic.

9. Inquiry Form – These are not just one of the easiest ways to capture user information but are also indicative of how much, what type of and to what extent are the customers willing to engage with

These metrics, if measured correctly, will help you create relevant and targeted content which will not just ensure increased traffic but will also ensure increased conversions.

1. Facebook Insights: If you’re using Facebook for any part of your business, this is the simplest free offering in terms of analytics. It provides a detailed information about your follower counts, likes, shares, number of people reached and number of people engaged with your content.

WEB ANALYTICS TOOLS There are a plethora of tools available to measure the above metrics but before choosing a tool one must consider the business requirements. The quest for a single tool/source to answer all questions will ensure that your business ends up in a ditch and your career as a marketer is shortlived. In short, multiplicity of tools is of extreme importance.

2. Facebook Tracking Pixel: The Facebook pixel is a piece of JavaScript code for your website that enables you to measure, optimize and build audiences for your ad campaigns. Using the Facebook pixel, you can leverage the actions people take on your website across devices to inform more effective Facebook advertising campaigns. Facebook pixel can help you measure crossdevice conversions, optimize delivery to people likely to take action and build audiences.

Social media is one of the best ways to help marketers share their content and according to 2016 research from Content Marketing Institute, B2B marketers distribute content on an average of six social media channels, and B2C marketers use seven. So, let’s have a look at some of the tools which help you analyse visitor behaviour on two of the most popular social media websites – Facebook and Twitter.

3. Twitalyzer: It provides the most comprehensive set of insights available using Twitter data. Twitalyzer gives a higher view of

1. your account’s impact on customers, based on followers, retweet level, geographic details of visitors and level of engagement of customers with your tweets. You can just lookup a twitter username and get detailed information.

marketing version of Google AdWords.) So, when somebody visits their website/blog and consumes the content present on it, the Taboola widget inserts a row of article previews recommending additional sponsored content it believes the visitor will find interesting. Articles are recommended according to an algorithm that takes into account the following metrics:

CONTENT MARKETING CASE STUDY: INCREASING TRAFFIC USING TABOOLA FOR A MAJOR U.S. FINANCIAL INSTITUTION

1. The content the visitor just read; 2. The type of articles the visitor clicked on; 3. The engagement of the visitor with the sponsored content; and 4. The amount of shares the sponsored content has generated Problem Statement Increase traffic on ‘Financial Advice and Tips’ blog of the client from 150,000 views per month to at least 300,000 views per month. Execution

This case study aims to consolidate everything mentioned earlier in this article and thereby further elucidating the use of web analytics for better content marketing. Background Taboola is a widget which is embedded on websites of publishers like Bloomberg, Business Insider, CNN Money, Washington Times and so on. The Taboola widget allows these publishers to allocate and sell space near each of the articles on their website/blog where brands can promote their own sponsored content— ideally something that’s related to the main article. (In a sense, it’s the content

Using more than 40 existing pieces of content focused on basic financial advice and tips, a three-month Taboola campaign was designed for the client. In order to optimize click-through rates for each article, headlines were rewritten and optimized with the goal of activating the reader’s curiosity gap. The curiosity gap is the space between what the reader knows and what the reader wants—or even needs—to know. This writing style piques the reader’s curiosity and promises to satisfy it. Insights generated using Taboola widget were used to identify the type of headlines that visitors would want to click on. It was

found that visitors were more likely to click on headlines and read articles which could help them save some extra bucks. So, the headlines were re-written in a way which highlighted easy tips that promise the reader a clear reward. For example: 1. 2. 3. 4.

"1 Simple Change to Save Money Every Month" "4 Tips to Never Pay an ATM Fee Again" "Slice Through Debt with the Snowball Method" "Everyone’s 5 Worst Money Habits and How to Fix Them"

With the help of optimized article headlines, custom thumbnail images to attract attention, and aggressive and prudent bid management, the financial services client netted over 300 million impressions, 328,000 clicks and a 0.11% click-through rate. Whereas traffic delivered through popular pay-per-click platforms such as Google AdWords routinely costs $1-$2 per click, this campaign delivered almost one-third of a million clicks at a cost of $0.09 per click.

CONCLUSION Content marketing and web analytics may not seem to be integrated at first but the truth is that web analytics and content marketing overlap. In fact, in today’s digital era, the only way to a successful content marketing campaign is to have robust a web analytics set up. It should be now clear that web analytics is essential for understanding customers – their needs, wants, and behavior. Web analytics, we can say, is what is the demand side of the equation. Content marketing, on the other hand, is the supply. An equilibrium or optimum position exists only when demand equals supply. This means content must be modified and supplied according to what is being demanded by the target audience. And demand can only be understood by web analytics. Web analytics and Content Marketing must be brought together. Individually, they are futile. But together they are dynamite.

Gamification in Content Marketing Mayank Tewari and Ruchir Sahai

Introduction “The process of employing game mechanics and game techniques to non-game environments in order to engage and motivate people in order to complete their tasks is called gamification.” The term Gamification was coined by Nick Pelling in 2003, but gained popularity around 2010 when companies like Zynga and Badgeville started to use it describe their behavior platforms. This technique leverages people’s innate need for competition, achievement, status, altruism and community collaborations. But gamification does not necessarily mean creating a new game. It is about gamifying core touch points between the organization, its customers and partners, which ultimately helps in driving sales, building loyalty and higher customer satisfaction. The results of gamifying a process can be measured by using certain tangible metrics, by keeping an eye these metrics organizations can analyse and fine tune their offerings and the gamification process itself to gain maximum positive results out of the entire process. The major question that arises is what are the main metrics that need to be

analysed to gain maximum insight into the process of gamification. A few important metrics are: · Engagement If the engagement metric is high, then other metrics will also be naturally high. Some standard engagement metrics are: o Unique Visitors o Time spent per user o Frequency of visits o Depth of visit o Conversion · Influence Over a period of time gamification can give the organizations influence over the action of the users. This could include user generated content for your product on other platforms. This could also include your content going viral due a large sphere of influence through social media, direct online contact and word of mouth. · Loyalty This means users are more likely to choose your brand over other

competitors and is not open to a sales pitch to switch to another brand.

Gamification in Marketing Today consumers are spending unexpectedly on games in the form of in-app purchases. For instance, in 2015, one of the most popular mobile game ever, Candy Crush had revenues totalling $1.8 billion from mobile devices in the form of in-app purchases. To put this in perspective, Nestle India’s 2015 revenue totalled around $1.2 billion. Advent of smartphones has made sure that gaming is no longer a deed of a group of enthusiastic group of nerds shouting away in their headphones at people sitting across the internet. Gone are the days when gaming was restricted specifically to bulky PCs or laptops.

(Fig 1: A brief history of Gamification being used in various forms by marketers) Gamification is being increasingly used as a form of content marketing today. Why? Because gamification incorporates fun and an element of competition to a marketing strategy. As a marketer ·

Gamification is not a new concept or a recent tool in the arsenal of marketers. We all have in our childhood, collected cold drink bottle caps with our favorite cricketers on them or packets of various items with coupon codes to redeem them ‘lucky draw’ prize. And how can we forget Tazos, once found in every packet of chips made by Frito-Lays. It has always been used by marketers to increase consumer engagement. It is an age old but quite a subtle way to push more sales than what the demand demarcates.

Gamification makes your customers Feel Good and Gain Approval from other participants. Communities give your customers a sense of Belonging.

Gamification + Communities = 150% Increased Engagement. According to an academic study done by Richard Bartle in 1980s, there are four kind of players (For marketers, it translates to personality types) v Achievers – These are those player types who play games to win. They thrive on achievement and are very result-oriented. The like to compare themselves with others and track their progress. Almost 105 of the populations fall under this category. v Socializers- These are the lightweight, non-confrontational, easy to reciprocate social interactions, type of people. 80% of populations fall under this category

v Explorers- These are the players who are looking after some sort of social credit for having discovered something in the game v Killers- They are very similar to achievers but they are not just satisfied with winning- they want others to lose. They comprise of less than 1% of population Marketers currently focus primarily on the first two categories as they encompass most of the population and are easy to be targeted and engaged. It becomes imperative to understand what type of player their target consumers fall in as depending on that the game (here the marketing strategy) needs to be devised- You cannot expect a group of achievers to just play a game with no reward or progress report to track their play. Similarly, a group of socializers are more content with interacting with others, play the game for entertainment purposes- having specific rewards or progress report wouldn’t be the best utilization of company’s resources at hand. Examples of successful application of Gamification Nike + One of the most popular and successful applications of gamification, is the Nike + app. The app was launched in 2012 to engage with the running community and create a better brand connect. With the Nike+, users can track, share, challenge and interact with friends and running buddies across the world. There is a

leaderboard which displays the ranks of users. People can share their results on social media and earn badges and trophies. It helps Nike in two ways1. Whenever people share their results it increases their brand presence and visibility on various platforms 2. It helps them collect invaluable data about users which will increase R&D productivity and marketing Coke Zero’s Advertisement’

‘Drinkable

One of the most innovative and most creative application of gamification for a product can be seen in this Coca Cola ad. The problem for Coca Cola was that 80% of millennials had not tried Coke Zero, but 60% go on to re-purchase it once they have tasted it.

To get more people to try out Coke Zero, Coca Cola partnered with Shazam to come up with a drinkable campaign. Coca Cola came up with an ad which had Coke being poured in the TV sets. People could Shazam (app) the spot which would pour the coke right on to the people’s phones. Every interaction ended with a free Coke Zero efforts It left Nike with endless possibilities and Nike used them to further their consumer engagement better than before. They came out with an activity tracker, FuelBand to complement their Nike + app. They also came out with another app

the people’s phones. Every interaction ended with a free Coke Zero that could be redeemed at major retail stores across the US. The campaign wasn’t restricted to just the screens- it was also aired on radio and the same process was followed. Print ads ran all across which could be made into cups, flyers into straws. The campaign ran across social media also- people had to pour Coke Zero in 140 characters. There were even drinkable digital posters which and Shazam turned phones into digital straws. It resulted in 25% redemption rate (which is very high for coupon redemption). (The ‘drinkable commercial’ can be watched here) (The concept of the campaign and its summary can be watched here) Bar Stock Exchange This one is much closer home than the previous examples. It is a chain of bar & restaurants which made the usual way of drinking (although not mundane to start with) a bit more fun and engaging for the consumers. They use real-time pricing to drive demand. The prices of various alcoholic beverages keep on increasing with demand. The constant increase in price creates a sense of urgency and leads consumers to buy more and drive up the sales. They even have an app to check the prices and book the drinks beforehand. It is an example of how even small local businesses can differentiate themselves in such a crowded category by sensibly applying gaming concepts in their businesses.

Endless Possibilities Brands today have just scratched the surface when it comes to using gamification as a tactic in their marketing strategies. As we have seen above, gamification is a process which is being refined from time-to-time, uncovering many important insights about human behaviour. For instance, loyalty programs brought a very important behavioural insight to light- Status and not cash is the biggest motivator for people. Talking about current approach, marketers today are not much focussed on the ‘Killer’ players. On the contrary, they should be focussed more upon as they are the most active and engaged with the brand. Marketers should look upon them as an opportunity and turn their behaviour from negative to positive and the same bad press would be singing praises about them. Or the leader board system. Not every user when starting out, gets motivated by top players at levels seemingly impossible for him/her to approach. One thing is evident, like most things in marketing, Gamification too isn’t an exact science. There are no absolutes to it. With correct application of Gamification, anything can be made exciting- fun and theme are uncorrelated (as shown by Nike +). And with Gamification being rapidly being brought into the marketing fold, exciting time lie ahead for everyone involved, especially the consumers.

My Stint as the Brand Manager Ananya Sharma, Aryan Juggernauts What a crazy, crazy ride! The entire experience of being a part of UWL would have been incomplete had I not been a brand manager. The grueling nights, the constant fervor - a mini course in itself in strategy and marketing. Every day brought something new; some unexpected lows, some exciting wins. Each day we would sit with the "owners" and plan out the events to push the team forward. From arranging a foodathon to planning out a fullfledged Diwali fete in collaboration with other teams, each day was fun filled. The sledging and the bantering was always in good humor and never took a turn for the worse. Each day the BMs struggled to sift through the activities of other teams, looking hard for follies which could be exaggerated on their Facebook pages. AJ was probably the only team that planned and delivered the opening ceremony act under two hours (which including a lot of begging and pleading from the BMs end to the players). As each day went by, we saw the team grow together from strength to strength. There was never a dull moment, right from the bidding to the very last match. I am glad I could be a part of the AJs! Aayush David, Southern Stallions Working as the Brand Manager for Southern Stallions was an enriching experience. My co-brand manager and I had to look after end to end branding for a team. We were in charge of branding using banners, stickers, and other promotional materials and also conducted on-ground promotional activities to entice the college crowd be it tug-of-rope, the Stallion Mela, Bonfire night,etc. This stint also allowed us to partner with nearby restaurants. We provided them incentives such as customized menu and increased sales in lieu of discounts to our patrons. But this was not it, we also had to develop and engage our followers over social media through our Facebook page. This stint as the brand manager of Southern Stallions gave me an idea of how to develop a marketing strategy and use the limited resources and channels we have to full use. It was an important lesson in ambush marketing too with us cutting out other team's marketing efforts and vice versa which contributed all the more to the fun we had in this role. Mekhala Kar, Aryan Juggernauts Being a Brand Manager of Aryan Juggernauts was an extremely roller coaster ride for us. From extending support to our team during the matches to carry out activities to engage people was an all-round amazing time we had. Every team came up with innovative ideation to gauge the attention we decided that the right way was to make their tummy feel good because that's what a happy person at the end of the day is. So we carried the first ever hogathon on the campus and it was an instant hit with everybody hogging like anything. It was really a fun filled event for us. Along with this we also organized the Diwali fair with the team Eastern Gladiators and it was also a very happy and joyous moment for all of us. In short this journey from being a member to a brand manager has been quite an eventful for me and my partner and given a chance we would always hop in to do it again. Shreya Chhabra, Eastern Gladiators Being a Brand Manager of Eastern Gladiators was amazing. Earlier, marketing was a term that was restricted mostly to our textbooks, but this, was a hands-on experience. This was the time when both the seniors and juniors huddled together to think of strategies to attract the maximum crowd as well as do major publicity for our team. All those times running around, clicking pictures to post on the FB page to organizing a Diwali Mela to a Karaoke Night as well as running a full-fledged Facebook campaign were the few highlights that made the second trimester worthwhile. Winning the best BM award with my co-brand manager was a cherry on the cake. The bond we all shared as a team grew by leaps and bounds as UWL came to an end. If given a chance, I would love to enter the madness again!

Scenes from UWL!

The Power of Stories Archita Mitra

transform marketing as we know it, using clickbaits, hashtags, and YouTube videos. But stories still continue to pull consumers’ heart strings. After all, what is a brand but a compelling story built around a product. In the noisy clutter of thousands of ads that bombard consumers daily, a simple method to gain consumers’ attention is storytelling. Stories capture consumers’ imagination and keeps them engaged. Every year dozens of Christmas-themed adverts are released but everyone remembers the John Lewis 2012 advert that narrated the simple story of the snowman who went shopping at Christmas, and told viewers to ‘give a little more love this Christmas’. Good stories linger on.

In 2009, Rob Walker, a contributor to the New York Times Magazine, along with Joshua Glenn, launched a unique project — they purchased a ton of insignificant objects from flea markets and garage sales, and sold them online at more than double the original price, using nothing but fictions woven out of thin air to ramp up the price. The duo paid no more than 1.50 dollars per piece, and then contacted short story writers like Meg Cabot, William Gibson and Ben Greenman to write stories around the object. The object was then put up for auction on the online ecommerce portal, eBay, along with the fictional story written in the item description. The experiment was an immense success, and the objects originally purchased for a total of $128.74, sold for a whopping total of $3,612.51 — a 2,700% mark-up! The profits were divided among the writers and non-profit organisations. The duo later went on to publish 100 of the best stories in a book titled ‘Significant Objects’. Marketing has changed a lot over the decades, and currently we are living in the epoch of digitalization that promises to

Stories are a timeless form of communication. In ancient times, social norms, traditions and rituals were passed from one generation to another in the form of myths and legends. A lot of these stories survive till date. If the Greek gods were to hire a marketing manager, they couldn’t have hired anyone better than Homer! Stories engage our right brain, and consumers imagine themselves in the shoes of the protagonist. It connects consumers to the brand philosophy and essence. Think of the short commercial films promoted by Nescafe that takes us on a cinematic journey, following the footsteps of a struggling comic artist and stand-up comedian. Anouk, an in-house ethnic wear brand of Myntra, gained traction on social media by starting online conversations on the choices made by the modern Indian woman through their ‘Bold is Beautiful’ campaign. They broke socially established taboos about single mothers and lesbians through their short commercial films, and within a short while had become a popular brand name among the millennials. The films were released on YouTube and promoted

brand of oil to consumers is the story of an elderly grandmother who is resolved her ailing, hospitalised grandson two spoons of her home-cooked ‘dal’ (lentils) in the ‘Ghar ka khana’ campaign. Stories require an emotional investment from the viewers, and the viewers shares the old lady’s grief every time she is refused by the nurse and the hospital rule that prohibits any form of food from outside. Effective content marketing therefore requires mastering the skill of storytelling.

the consumers’ heart and Dove sales skyrocketed. An Indian brand that has mastered the art of storytelling and content marketing is Amul. There are funny and witty puns on contemporary issues, in form of colourful comics, have found their way from the billboards to even the internet now. With content that is regularly updated, Amul ensures that consumers stay engaged and brand recall remains high. Indeed it is a household name that we have all grown up with, and still manages to stay relevant among millennials. After all stories are universal, and a brand that has a hold on consumers’ imagination and heart strings, has a hold on their purse strings as well.

Human brains crave stories. On an average, humans spend a third of their lives daydreaming. Stories are also a good way to ‘show, not tell’, i.e. don’t tell customers why they should select your brand over competitors – show them! Think of Apple’s ad that highlighted the benefits of iPhone 6 through the humorous story of Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster baking cookies. Not only did it refresh our childhood memories of the show, but kept us hooked till the end with an engaging storyline. You’re transported from the couch in front of the TV to the small white-tiled kitchen, impatiently waiting for the cookies to be baked. Stories are all around us. When Dove’s marketing director Stacie Bright realised that images of beautiful models in mainstream media was affecting her daughter’s self-esteem, she was faced with a moral conundrum. Instead of quitting, Bright created mock adverts with photos of the daughters’ of the company’s directors. The accompanying text announced how these girls felt that they weren’t beautiful as per the body image standards set by the beauty and cosmetics industry. The directors were overwhelmed and the brand changed the marketing strategy, recruiting ordinary women instead of professional models for their ads and promoting ‘real beauty’. The stories shown were close to

Marketing in the Time of Crisis

expenditure and rein in all possible expenses anticipating lesser sales; or in other words

Abhipsa

curling up in a corner and waiting for the doom cloud to pass. But is that the way to go? Rather than add to the gloom all around, companies would definitely benefit if they realigned their products to spread hope and happiness. In a market with relatively less noise and much cutting back, recessions might just provide the breakthrough opportunities, if they are seized right. Instances from the Great Depression in the 1930s are testimony to the fact that downturns can have lucrative openings for success. In 1930, General Motors (GM) decided to tailor its cars such that they fit the need of their customers, who

It is a fact universally acknowledged that businesses wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be businesses for long if customers quit spending. Marketability of brands is vulnerable to sudden changes caused by several externalities beyond the managerial control of companies. Crises tend to negatively affect the market perception of many brands and business sectors. Be it during an economic meltdown or a war or a natural disaster, enabling people so that they have a sense of empowerment is of paramount importance. The natural reaction to a recession is to reduce marketing

were in no mood to splurge on automobiles. They went ahead with their â&#x20AC;&#x153;a car for every purseâ&#x20AC;? movement and aggressively expanded into the low priced car market. GM made Chevrolet its high volume discount brand and spiked up advertising expenses for the same. Despite Chevrolet being more expensive than the Ford, customers preferred the former as GM went and offered them extended credit at a time when banks had stopped lending. GM took another bold step and reduced the prices of its expensive cars by 70%. All these moves kept GM at the top of the automobile industry and helped reap in revenue even during the

1930s. GE introduced a whole new range of

June 29 this year due to cash and payment issues

products like vacuum cleaners, food mixers, air

at agencies and media owners. While such macro

conditioners during the Great Depression. To

factors brings down a whole sector, some

empower the consumers who were unable to

companies have leveraged the situation to position

obtain finances from the banks, GE opened the

themselves

General Electric Credit Corporation in 1932 to

supermarket chain in Greek won over its

provide credit.

consumers by providing free water bottles to

uniquely.

Sklaventis,

major

retirees standing in long ATM queues to withdraw

In more recent times, during the recession of

cash from their pensions. In a second move, they

2008, Hyundai happily increased its market share.

offered their employees payment in cash for their

All because of a recession inspired marketing

convenience. Such moves led to Sklacentis

program titled Hyundai Assurance. It allowed

enjoying a pretty popular standing in Greek.

buyers to return loaned and leased cars with no penalty in case they lost their jobs. The program

According to Quelsh (2009), the factors that affect

played right into the heart and moods of the

buying decisions include their disposable income,

consumers and brand awareness went up by 25%.

the confidence they have in their futures, trust in

Says A. G. Lafley, CEO of Procter & Gamble,

the companies and in the economy and values that

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have a philosophy and strategy. When times

drive the purchase. During recession, the

are tough, you build shareâ&#x20AC;?. An economic

confidence and the trust level plunges, which

downturn is the time when a brand should play out

leads to reduced consumption of products.

its functional advantages and remind its customers

Customers otherwise willing to burn multiple

why it is worth its money.

holes in their pockets, tighten their purse strings and look for economical options. Retailers which

Amid political tension, record unemployment rate

thrive on discounts, like Walmart, successfully

and severe cash crunch, the Greek arm of several

use economies of scale to provide cheaper goods

MNCs has performed poorly in the Greek debt

and services to consumers. Consumers are more

crisis. Vodafone admitted to worsening revenues

likely to repair what they own rather than go out

in the last quarter due to the worsening macroeconomic

conditions

and splurge on something new and shiny. This

Greece.

leads to happy times for companies that specialize

Uncertainty has led many companies to refrain

in maintenance and upgradation of existing

from starting any marketing campaign. Most

products and equipment. Also, goods serving

companies have suspended ad campaigns since

multiple purposes sell better than specialized

The market is riddled with brand names that have

this only aggravated the issue. In the effort to put

found it difficult to bounce back into the game after

forward a calculated move, they displayed only

the credibility of their product has been questioned.

reluctance and guilt. Such scenarios demand bold

A simple incompliance to food safety regulations is

and creative moves that restore the trustworthiness

enough to collapse any successful food label. It has

of the brand. Studies have shown that companies

put giants like Nestle’s Maggi, Coca Cola or TATA

that invested more aggressively in marketing

Starbucks off the market and under the threat of

gained market share three times as quickly after a

tainting its image beyond the possibility of

downturn.

recovery. There is a steep decline in sales and consumers are on high alert to avoid association with the brand name, and more often than not, the company name too. Most firms succumb under pressure in its desperate times, barely staying out of solvency. However, the marketing team’s creativity is truly tested in its ability to rise out of such apocalyptic situations. Many have redefined marketing strategies and communication, emerging as the winners in the market even during difficult times.

Popular reaction to regain the market share includes changing a product according to the customers’ new needs. However, a company’s budget is the first pressure point any crisis creates. Budget cuts invariably dictates the company’s inability to explore such fund heavy propositions. It comes down to changing their brand positioning or perceptions of the brand in the market. Recession is the time for intelligent strategies, not blind gambles – trying to spend just because others aren’t is not going to do any good to anyone. The market shouts

In 2006, two of the biggest names in the beverage

out to the companies to pay keen attention to

industry, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola struggled to

changing consumer behaviours during an economic

regain the Indian market approval after a Centre for

slowdown. Blind cost cutting strategies resulting in

Science and the Environment report stated that

reduced market spend might push the company

these drinks contain 24 times the acceptable

back in competition when the economy recovers.

pesticide limit. It erupted a wave of consumer

Uncertainty looms, but quick decisions and

disapproval, partial bans and legal battles. They

thoughtful strategies might do more than just save

chose to go with the more traditional approach of

the brand name.

crisis handling of creation of committees to deal effectively with the media and lawsuits. Only after a series of tests in their laboratories did they make a public statement addressing the issue. However,

Summer Internship Experience at ITC Lakshmi Priya Ramani Entering B-school with my mind fixated on Finance and eventually becoming nebulous when it came to applying for companies, I ended up debating over the risk of a wrong decision to the terror of indecision. And before I knew it, I had secured myself a Summer Internship at ITC Ltd. Filled with an amalgamation of thoughts, anxiousness and exhilaration, I told myself that it was going to be an overwhelming experience to work at one of the best FMCG’s in India as a Sales & Marketing Intern, if nothing more. The Project details were finally ascertained after an overwrought wait of over six months. I got Chennai (home) as my location and my project was a “Go-To-Market Strategy” for two new category products. Sounds exciting?! The KITES (Knowledge, Initiative and Talent Excellence Series) programme is a very structured one that is enriching and challenging. We were given accommodation at ITC Windsor, Bangalore. A 2-day long induction programme ensued and true to our expectations, it really had us overindulging in comfort, food and fun. In a nutshell, we were enthralled by the informative sessions, informal interactions with previous interns and seniors, elaborate food preparations, goodies and a gala party that drew the induction programme to a close. Much aware that it was just a lull before the storm, I geared up for the two months that awaited. Greeted by a placard upon arrival at Chennai airport, I was really looking forward to meeting my project guide and mentor. I quickly got introduced to all the relevant stakeholders. Following a brief discussion with my mentor regarding my project, I spent a couple of days familiarising myself with ITC’s distribution model and its products. The best part of my

internship was that I had complete freedom to shape my project the way I wanted to. I was driven by my intuition and went about getting my hands dirty with market visits. The go-tomarket strategy involved understanding the market potential, the customers, the industry trends and the demographics of the area. I had to essentially benchmark against competitor’s products on various parameters such trade incentives, schemes, promotions, credit period, seasonality, servicing mode & frequency, margins, in store visibility, stocking practices and damages. I knew that it was important to give the project a structured approach. My first leg constituted appointments and interactions with various distributors, wholesalers and stockists dealing with the concerned products. I was astounded by the enterprising people I met with on the field and by the myriads of insights that I managed to garner from them. I tried establishing a connection with many of them with the hope that I could get more information on subsequent visits. A couple of them agreed to take me along on their beat and next thing I know, I was riding on a bike with a stranger in the sweltering Chennai heat exacerbating my tan. It included visits that were across channels-covering General Trade, Modern Trade and Institutional channel. Amidst juggling between a GTM strategy for two completely different products, I received an interim project to look into “The business model and operations” of another company. I had a smooth mid-review with my guide and mentor who were happy to see that I had set the context right and they asked to me to continue in the same direction and dish out some specifics that they were looking for. Some days I felt like I was on top

of my game, and the rest I felt lost, but keeping the scope of the project intact was on priority for me. Having exhausted the endless gate-crash attempts with distributors, I decided to chalk my own beat plan for the areas that were yet to be covered. Opinions of shopkeepers, customers and salespersons varied largely and the consumption pattern changed from area to area. It was truly an eye-opener to the diversity that persisted in the market. I was also working on my secondary research to gain a good insight about the industry along with a questionnaire to strengthen and ratify my findings. The project demanded me to pose as an entrepreneur, a research student, a distributor etc. I learnt that there was no better way to understand the intricacies and ground realities of sales and distribution than the opportunity in hand. The two long months left me with memories to cherish, unparalleled learnings that I’ll always carry with me and a sneak peak of what it is like to work at a FMCG conglomerate. My work was meaningful and appreciated. It kept me on my toes and the satisfaction in knowing that the products will hit the markets soon is immense.

#LankaDiaries Abhirup Lahiri

Palms, beaches, blue skies, tea gardens and an exotic holiday experience – the first thoughts of being a summer intern in Sri Lanka were nothing short of mesmerizing. More so, the thought of being a part of Godrej Consumer Products Limited, the best FMCG company to work for (Economic Times survey, 2016) added a flavor to an eagerly awaited learning experience in Marketing. After an overwhelming orientation, where we interacted with top business leaders, I landed in Colombo airport to the warm aroma of fresh tea. To my delight, I was accommodated in a sea-facing bungalow with a Sri Lankan family and it took absolutely no time for me to feel at home. Congenial, friendly and welcoming, the Sri Lankan people were already having an impact. Having got a brand management project for a newly launched mosquito repellent, it was obligatory to get right into the lives of the people, into their homes, and out with a bunch of dead mosquitoes. The beauty of my project lay in the amount of freedom I got to chart my course. With ‘Product’ in place, I set out to prioritize the other P’s in formulating short and long term marketing strategy as the key deliverables for my project.

marketing strategy as the key deliverables for my project.

inaction and an uber-strong affinity for rice in every meal, it was challenging to prevent procrastination. It really is challenging to devise path-breaking business level strategies in a beach-facing bungalow with beautiful sunsets and the aroma of fresh sea food tingling your senses.

General Trade visits with local reps communicating more with smiles than words in a comprehensible language, to Modern Trade visits in the 4 ultra-powerful key accounts that dominate a supermarket-heavy buying pattern, every single cue was important as I had to get into the mind of the consumer. With close to 500 visits in place, I had identified the opportunities in wholesale, trade promotions and BTL communication.

With a new distribution strategy, a nation-wide BTL activation campaign backed by PoSM and digital media, and a detailed short-term and long-term marketing strategy, my project came to a conclusive end by winning the Best Project award among 44 interns nation-wide. Brand management, a great mentor, great peers, a great company and of course exotic weekend getaways in Sri Lanka, that is all I could have asked for, and got, from my summer internship.

The second leg was to read the consumer’s minds. Health conscious, luxury-loving, peaceful yet value-sensitive, topped with a high affinity for quality, meant that product positioning had to be spot on. Discounts and margins play a humungous role in purchases in Sri Lanka, yet, if a product is inexpensive it is assumed to be inferior. Celebrities are not ‘celebrated’ as much as in India and digital presence is limited primarily to Facebook. Add to that, myriad Government regulations on promotions that made life tougher than ever for marketers. With communication priorities, regulations and brand objectives in place, I went on to set forth strategies for a revamped communication plan. The most challenging consumers were those who actually preferred getting bitten rather than suffering from the harms of a repellent!

My Internship Experience Anuj Shah I believe there are 3 types of people who enter the gates of an MBA college. Firstly, People who are entirely certain on what they want to do, secondly, those who are entirely certain on what they DON’T want to do and lastly, those who come in with an open mind to explore and then eventually narrow-in to their preferred domain. To be totally honest, I was a little bit of a mixture of the first two. I came with an inclination to Marketing and a fear of Finance. The first few months passed by in a jiffy but the only noticeable thing was that the inclination had evolved into a firm decision while the fear only grew stronger.

I also got the opportunity to work closely with 3 top media and creative agencies, spending hours in comic-book themed ‘thinking rooms’ and ‘design studios’ where being crazy and out-ofthe-box was the very Job Description!

One fine fortunate day, after a rigorous and meticulous process, I got placed with the Mahindra Group in their coveted Group Management Cadre (GMC) program. It took a little bit of time to sink in and for me to realise the gravity of the opportunity that I had just received. The animated reaction that other

However, on a personal level, there was a lot of adjustment required. With shops closing down at 8 pm, ‘compensatory holidays’ when Government holidays fall on weekends, every mid-week holiday translating to a week of

people gave when they got to know was the first sign. As few days passed by in celebration, something was brought to my attention by a friend in a casual conversation. “It is a general management profile, what if you get a FINANCE Project?” he said. Although I was never bad in financial subjects, I was just not fond of it and so a new FEAR crept up and it stayed with me till the day I got my project details. Finally, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the Domain field in the project document say “Marketing” and the vertical that I was allotted was Mahindra FINANCE. Mason Cooley said that “Irony regards every simple truth as a challenge” and so the irony presented me with a challenge and I was ready. The internship started on 5th April 2016 at the Mahindra Towers, Worli with a 3-day schedule of induction sessions from all major verticals of the group mixed with some fun activities and fantastic food. All through the week, Mahindra welcomed us with open arms and spared no expense in our hospitality including an once-ina-lifetime opportunity to interact with Mr. Anand Mahindra. Come Monday, I stepped in the office of Mahindra Finance ready to work and make a sincere attempt to make it a more permanent situation. My mentor’s strong belief that “Any enthusiast wanting to pursue a career in marketing has to definitely do a marketing research project in his early years” took me to 3 states & 6 districts in the span of 3 weeks, exposed me to the varied yet so valid opinions of 172 individuals and gave me the pleasure of specialized meetings with premier advertising and BTL agencies like Dentsu-Aegis, RW Promotions, etc. Sir made us follow a very methodical and structured approach to the entire process and it’s every step like approach note, secondary research, questionnaire making and then finally, primary research, all of which resulted in the

recommendations that I provided as my final deliverable. Before this long research trip that took me to remote areas of Gujarat, Haryana and Karnataka, some of us were sent to Pune for a one-day trip to understand the business model of the organization and to realise how this company was growing at such a pace. We accompanied the loan recovery agents and the business development executives on motorcycles meeting the existing and the potential customers. It was the single most extreme learning experience that I have had in one day. It gave us a chance to see the heart of the organization and feel its pulse directly from the source. The same trend of travelling on motorcycles continued in all the states that I visited. I can even proudly proclaim that I have now traveled to the remotest villages around the cities which I had previously never been to. It was a steep learning curve starting in Gujarat where I could fluently recite the questions in the local language and even change the way I asked them as I pleased, to Haryana where it was really difficult to get them to listen to what I am saying let alone making them respond and finally to Karnataka where I used every tool at my disposal like part-English, part-Hindi, gestures and the rare luxury of a translator just to get my question across. Mahindra Finance doesn’t sell a physical product. All it sells is a story, a story of ambition, self-sufficiency and a brighter future for every so-called or so-believed “unfortunate” person of this country. During working for this magnificent and unique business model I made a small story of my own, more of a memory but a story nonetheless. Thus, those 2 months were not only a customary corporate exposure part of the curriculum at every premier B-School but it was an experience in importance of following procedure, market

research, rural marketing, working of an enormous business behemoth, the thrill of travel and an eye-opening encounter with the varied opinions of the people across the length and breadth of our gigantic country.