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Flaunte' March 2014
Editor’s Desk Dear Readers, The month of March is not only known for its roots attached to the Roman god of war ‘Mars’. In fact, it is known as the month of vibrancy and vivacity as the festival of Holi is celebrated across the country with ardor and zeal. To pump up the beat, we unfurl the March edition with joyousness and pride. This time around, we welcome you all to the uncanny world of ‘Direct Marketing’ splashed as the Cover Story. The Special Story will further add colors in the form of ‘The Power Puff Bankers’ and of course ‘Nestlé’s-Share your Goodness’ campaign swashed as the First- Cut. Adding to the zing, a ‘Reader’s Digest’ classic and snippets.The palette extends as we unravel the ‘Marketing Corporate Conference’ and ‘Spardha-The Sports Extravaganza’. Our heartfelt congratulations to Monami Bagchi(IIM-Indore) for bagging the top prize as her article has been selected as “Best Article of the Month”. Also, we are very pleased to share that New Delhi Institute of Management has been ranked amongst the Fastest Growing B-Schools of Asia, 2014. Share your thoughts on how we can improve and be sure to visit us at www.facebook.com/FlauntNDIM and www.twitter.com/FlauntNDIM for more of the latest updates and knowhow of the world of marketing. Keep Reading! Keep Liking! Team – Flaunte' Markomania – The Marketing Club New Delhi Institute of Management
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Contents
Cover Story
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The Power Puff Bankers
Special Story
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First Cut
Snippets 22 Articles(10)
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Chanakya Niti (18) Biz Quiz(17)
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Cover Story
D
irect marketing is a fairly simple marketing concept, and as the name suggests, it’s nothing but delivering the customized marketing communication directly to the consumer. It’s a staple for businesses all over the world, especially for non-profits. Many of us have often been subjected to the annoying breach of peace by awkward telemarketers, disturbing us at the oddest of hours with their proposals, well even though its pestering, it is still one of the most apt examples of direct marketing. In other words, “Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofit organizations to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques that can include cell phone text messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, database marketing, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional letters, targeted television commercials, response-generating newspaper/magazine advertisements, and outdoor advertising. Amongst its practitioners, it is also referred to as Direct Response Advertising.”
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The term channel agnostic is of utter importance in this form of marketing as via direct marketing tactics, the brand/company completely removes the middle man from the picture thus the message goes directly to the consumers and not via a chain of distributors, retailers, etc. One more noteworthy feature of this sort of
marketing remains the fact that it’s a highly aggressive marketing strategy and to most people, they are very annoying and intrusive. The previous example of the telemarketing calls would aptly elucidate the prior statement.
Why Direct Marketing?
If businesses already know that it annoys the customers then why use it at all? The answer again is a simple one: to create brand recall and recognition and reach the consumers on a personal level. This day and age of bombarding the consumer with numerous advertising messages has created an unavoidable clutter of unwanted marketing communication in the minds of the consumer and thus the brand message seems diluted to them. Direct marketing attempts to breach that clutter and deliver the message to the consumer whether they are new or existing. Let’s take an example to understand this concept better, say there’s plumber out of the many plumbers in your locality, but this one keeps on saying “I’m a good plumber” whenever someone meets him, be that anywhere. Now even though it’s very annoying and it irritates people, but when they need plumbing done and don’t have sufficient information about other plumbers who do you think will they remember first. The answer is, the same old irritating, self-bragging plumber. That is how brand recall beats out the plumber’s competitors. One more very essential reason why direct marketing
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is beneficial is because of its cost effectiveness. Most of the times, it’s a lot cheaper to use direct marketing to reach prospective consumers and existing ones rather than spending a fortune on mass media advertisements which might not even be seen by the most part of the target group.
Types of Direct Marketing
Whether it’s online or offline, if the marketing communication is directly targeted towards the consumer and has a ‘call to action’ then it is considered Direct Marketing. The most widely used ones are as follows:
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Email marketing:
One of the most commonly used direct marketing tactics,
which is fairly cheap, success rate can be measured easily based on clicks and/or purchases/replies generated and is easy to design as well. This message from Zovi.com states the offer that one can buy 3 tees for ₹649 or less trying to induce the customer to buy.
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Online tools:
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Display ads and banners:
Banners can be found all over the internet, they can be fairly simple ones like this Toyota ad which has a simple body copy which catches attention. More elaborate banners are also seen which are costly to make and can
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have games, videos, etc. or can take over the entire page with innovative graphics. • Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, etc. is the modern day virtual world and personal level marketing communication cannot elude these. L u ft h a n s a India runs various online campaigns like the Student Specials and other discount offers and promotions on their Facebook page and via Facebook ads. • One more important aspect remains online, i.e. targeting the consumers via search engines by using SEO and SEM, by placing sponsored ads on search engines. o Mobile: In app ads, offer information via SMS/ MMS or mobile based specialised apps or games for promotion, the choices are ample. o Telemarketing: One of the most irritating and annoying but also one of the cheapest forms of direct marketing. By directly calling up the customers, there remains a chance of a human conversation which can yield fruitful results. o Coupons:
Coupons can be found online and in print but the target remains the same, giving the consumers a limited period offer to boost sales. One of the most common examples is the Dominos Buy 1 get 1 free coupons in India. o Direct Mail: It’s the offline version of the email
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marketing so to say. New customers can receive anything from a product catalogue to a simple post card or coupon or leaflet, etc. containing product information and offers, but there are more elaborate mailers prepared for frequent buyers or special customers like this SIEMENS
margin between utterly irritating the customer and getting a favourable outcome is very less so errors can mobile mailer for esteemed clients during the European be fatal for a brand’s image in general and that would be an utter disaster. It is imperative to choose a proper Football Championships One more worthwhile creative example is this record database of target customers otherwise the whole player in a direct mailer by the British Sound and Studio campaign will be fruitless. Leads can be purchased/ rented from database providers or can be accumulated through various other previous campaigns. Companies should also try to make the communication as creative as possible which boosts the success rate by at least 1.2% depending upon how creative the mailers both online and offline. And last but not the least is the fact that results should be measured on a regular basis and thus standards set for future campaigns to improve success rate. If all these are taken care of, then direct marketing can create more brand recognition than most high budget ad campaigns, while producing profitable results in the process. Company: GGRP
Infomercials: These are not the regular o television commercials but are the more targeted ones like those of TeleBrands and Homeshop18 etc. which tell people to buy their products providing information and testimonials and have call to action messages like “lose weight now� Things to remember
The success or failure of a Direct marketing Campaign completely relies on its proper implementation. The
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First-cut
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Share Your Goodness
ll of us agree that mum’s food tastes the best. The reason our mums give is because it is made with love. Simply putting, food tastes better when made with love and served with goodness and purity. In India, as in several other collectivism-savvy, food holds a very special place in our culture that goes way beyond mere survival and nutrition; food and the occasions around it is a platform to establish and nurture healthy relationships with family and sharing food is the best way to manifest one's emotional bond with loved ones. Nestlé India, believes 'Good Food' equals 'Good Life', has come up with a unique initiative to pass on a simple message 'Share Your Goodness'. The campaign showcased two touching films that have become the talk of the town. The first film depicts the story of two little children, one of whom is adopted. The film peeks into the insecurities of the biological child and how eventually, he bonds with his new adopted sibling over the goodness of food. From the ride back home from the adoption centre, the film shows the little boy’s insecurities unfolding. He finds it difficult to accept this new member of his family. At every point he tries to cling onto his mother. He goes through a turmoil of emotions trying to figure out why the new addition was made. But, over time and the goodness of sharing food, the warmth in their relationship grows. He looks on fascinated, as she bottles worms from their garden. As she climbs atop the kitchen shelf to fetch a jar of sweets, he smiles. The wall between them breaks as she shares one with him. The film concludes with the kids huddling in a corner to enjoy their treat, with a message playing in the background: ‘When goodness is shared over food, life smiles’. Ending with Nestlé’s promise of ‘Good Food, Good Life’. The second film showcases the lives of the famed dabbawalas of Mumbai. Through this film, Nestlé India reaches out to them, showing its appreciation and heartfelt gratitude for these precious professionals who deliver hot, home-made food to Mumbaikars every-day on time.
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Each of the 5,000 dabbawalas was given a 'Goodness Box' filled with Nestlé products. The film brings forth conversations with some dabbawalas who have shared their experiences. The story lights a candle of hope in the viewer’s mind to being able to trust people in this world despite tough times. The mind behind this beautiful campaign is McCann Erickson India. On YouTube, the adoption film, uploaded on March 7,
has already crossed one lakh views, as has the dabbawala film, which was uploaded a day earlier. Nestlé India has also activated #ShareYourGoodness on Twitter to facilitate conversations around the campaign and urge people to share personal stories about sharing. The company has also created special online platform for the campaign, www.shareyourgoodness.in. According to Nestlé, “this campaign originates from the belief that each one of us harbours an inherent sense of goodness that we're capable of sharing’’ says Himanshu Manglik, head, corporate communications, Nestlé India, "We have all grown up in family environments. We have sat together over meals, shared stories and experiences, learnt of joy and pain, developed our values and created our dreams. Our lives became richer in those moments of preparing, serving and eating together, and experiencing the goodness that everyone shared. Today unfortunately, we are so involved with the routine and stress in our lives that we are forgetting this simple act of sharing our goodness." In the existing fast paced life, the small things often go unnoticed and unappreciated. Let us stop to take a breather and thank the ones who contribute to our lives in their own way by sharing your goodness with them. Please visit at https://www.facebook.com/ FlauntNDIM to view ads.
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Special Story
The Power Puff Bankers
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women, 6 stories, 6 role models. They manage their homes, just like they manage their positions at India’s leading financial bodies. These six ladies are a source of inspiration to both men and women.
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Kalpana Morparia is the CEO of JP Morgan India, the organization which is a dream destination for millions in this country and abroad. She underlines that she was lucky to have too many strong people in her vicinity who motivated her to step up and strive. Morparia lost her father when she was 6 and grew up in a female dominated family. Her mother was many years ahead of her time. She had a dream in 1960s that her daughters should be financially independent before they tied the knot.
Morparia went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in science from Mumbai’s Sophia College. She was inducted in ICICI’s legal team in 1975 when she was just 26. Her journey with ICICI ended in 2008 when she retired as joint managing director. Her next assignment came in 2009 when the Indian arm of JP Morgan hired her services for the top post of CEO. She has done a commendable job of steering the organization through the global turmoil. Chanda Kochhhar CEO of ICICI, India’s largest private bank is a well-organized yet calm lady. She has been consistently named amongst the most powerful women by various bodies since a decade. Education have always been given h i g h e s t priority in her family ever since she was a child. Her focus is
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what she is well known for. Interestingly, when she was aspiring to be an IAS officer while living in Mumbai, she (thankfully) lost her focus to the state of the city’s economy and chose a career path in finance instead. Alumnus of the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Kochhar started her life with ICICI in 1984 as ‘management trainee’. Steadily she worked her way up and was eventually given the top job in 2009. The journey to the summit was far from easy. She had to miss a lot of family moments as work kept her occupied. So many clients would not feel at ease with a 25 year old lady auditing their books. 2009 was of course the year when the global economies were in bad shape. Nerves of steel and long sightedness. She chose to play not for today but tomorrow and concentrated on getting the strategies right. Shikha Sharma had to make quite an adjustment when she shifted to Mumbai after MBA and marriage. As an army child, she was used to plush greenery and openness in her big bungalows. In Mumbai she had to be confined to smaller spaces. A balcony proved to be a luxury in the metropolis. A product of Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, Sharma is now at the helm of Axis bank as MD and CEO where she joined in 2009. It was the time when it was called as the UTI bank and was christening to the new brand. She was a dominant force in making Axis one of the largest private banks in India as she dealt with red tape while instilling a corporate work culture. In the earlier days in her banking career, she was entrusted to establish ICICI prudential, India’s first private insurance company. Her two children are now settled and she seeks to find time to relax in her much cherished balcony.
name in foreign investment. Her stint at Harvard invigorated the go-getter in her. When corporate came calling, so did the pressure. People kept waiting for her to commit a mistake so that they could pounce on her. But Kidwai was not flinched. She had a tough time juggling professional and personal lives but kudos to her husband for his support. The story of Vijayalakshmi Iyer, CMD of Bank of India on how she became a banker is intriguing. She hurriedly applied for a post in the nationalized banking services with just one day left. A series of events ensured that she reached the venue 90 minutes late and was destined to miss the exam. Fate however had a different plan as the question papers arrived late that day and she was able to give her shot. Neither her marriage nor the responsibilities towards her children could deter her from striving forward in her career. Her husband and mother in law were supportive as Iyer didn’t have to worry about the kids as she climbed up the ladder. Her world fell apart when she lost her husband to cancer in 1997. Her mother in law, whom she considers as her greatest friend gave her the support to raise two daughters aged 12 and 9 After almost 4 decades at Union bank of India, Iyer was given a new job at Central Bank of India before being assigned with the top position at Bank of India.
A product of the prestigious NMIMS Mumbai, Kaku Nakhate today holds the position of country head at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. It was not at all rosy for her when she had joined and had a tough time making her voice heard in the midst of all the men. But she refused to surrender and applied what knowledge she had gained in her MBA and what her father, a businessman taught her. The people who had earlier rejected her notion started consulting her as she proved her mettle. Her passion for work is evident from the fact Naina Lal Kidwai can boast of being the first Indian that putting in 12 hours per day at office is normal. She woman to go to Harvard had to quit DSP Business School. A Merrill Lynch product of Shri Ram in 2009 when College of Commerce, it got merged she is now group general with Bank of manager and country America. Just head of HSBC India. one year later She was also the first she returned, woman to lead ANZ this time as the Grindays, a prominent country head.
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Nokia - 'X'citing the tech world Monami Bagchi, IIM Indore
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f pop-culture references are to be believed, the sturdy Nokia hardware can withstand a nuclear explosion, but the OS has hardly been fleshy enough to excite the tech-savvy. While the iPhone’s exorbitant price tag ensured that both players were at opposite ends of the spectrum, the Finnish mobile manufacturer was found struggling with their dated Symbian-based OS when the market burst wide open with Open-Source Android smartphones.
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Best Article of this month
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The gimmick-value of the phones appealed to the mass market because of the availability of thousands of free/ paid apps on the Google Play-Store to customize their experience as well as rapid OS-updates which kept their devices agile. The platform also created entrepreneurial opportunities for developers who went ahead and created customized flavors of Android programmed for high, no-frills performance. Therefore, in no time incumbent companies viz. Sony, LG, HTC etc. and new entrants like Micromax, Karbonn, Lava etc. adopted Android as the darling of the masses.
The Nokia X, X+ and XL series of phones is a step in the right direction when it comes to migrating Android users onto the Nokia hardware. Product-wise, it borrows specs heavily from the well-received Nokia Asha range. It runs a forked version of Android, with an access to a curated list of Android apps while access to the Play Store is curtailed. The price tag of the basic model is also attractive, recently dropping to a sub-8k range in India.
How does the phone win?
Three leaders decided to ride this crisis out based on their firm’s internal competencies. While Apple responded by rapidly innovating through proprietary resources, RIM fell back upon repositioning the BBM and E-mail for the new age jet-setters to stay connected on the move. Despite missing an early response window, Nokia’s strategy was the most radical by far. Nokia aimed at providing the convenient experience of your desktop on your smartphone. Enter the Nokia Lumia range with the Windows 8 Mobile OS. The devices were promoted using effective ATL and BTL activities and sported models in most price ranges. Wildly popular because of the refreshing, tile-based UI, the phones were sturdy and attractive. The common complaint, however, was the lack of well-developed apps one can use with the phones. Popular applications for the Windows platform were available after a considerable delay and the OVI store lacked the assortment available with iOS and Android.
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The phone is well poised to capture buyers who mostly want a rugged handset with access to a few popular Android apps, i.e. users switching from featurephones to smartphones. By creating a familiar yet fresh environment, the phone smartly replaces a few Android applications with Microsoft variants in a move that establishes equal credibility for the latter, examples
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include SkyDrive, Bing-Search and Skype. As long as they deliver, the pedigree of the app will not matter much. Equally exciting are the opportunities for Nokia to mix and match the best of both worlds! Consider the introduction of Cortana, Windows’ 8.1 and Lumia’s answer to Apple’s Siri and Google’s Now. It combines the niftiness of the former with the superior voice-recognition of the latter to create an elevated experience of the Personal Assistant. Microsoft aims at using ‘the convenience of Android’ wrapped in the Nokia experience to flank the Lumia series and bring indecisive customers in its fold. The company’s move to finally embrace open-source has definitely thrilled the Tech community so far and more proprietary developments are expected on the X series. Much of it was evident when Nokia stole the limelight from the Samsung Galaxy S5 launch in the recent MobileWorldCongress 2014.
ground-breaking. Nokia is yet to reverse the shrinking of its distribution footprint that was witnessed before Lumia’s success. While the iPhone 5C has already usurped some of the ‘colorful-vibe’ of the Nokia phones, the latter is yet to position itself firmly in the smartphone industry. For the gamble to pay off, Nokia has to attract more developers to the NokiaX platform 1.0 to match the flexibility and vastness of its contemporaries and innovate to establish a point-of-differentiation. With competitive challenges on fronts like design, innovation, OS, user-friendliness, cost and distribution from both established and new players, it remains to be seen whether Nokia can successfully rise to the challenge and re-establish itself with the X series.
Is there any catch?
At the current price of Nokia X, one can buy a Samsung Galaxy S Duos in India. A swift comparison of the specs reveal that they are similar, with the X edging out the S in terms of ‘gorgeous looks’. Although Nokia claims that 75% of Android apps are compatible with the X series, it will take some shrewd marketing to prevent future releases from being relegated to a shrinking segment in an emerging market.
Pitting Nokia X v/s Samsung Galaxy S Duos
From a marketing standpoint, with Google having a major hand in launching Motorola handsets like MotoG, the days of Google staying an OS major only are passé. In a rapidly changing technology industry, companies have to keep creating competitive differentiators. Microsoft’s decision to release an Android device while pursuing a £4.6bn takeover of Nokia’s handset business is therefore
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Digital Advertising - The new fIsh in town Allu Reshma, IMT Ghaziabad
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ith increase in internet access to people, the marketers are concentrating on digital advertising rather than on traditional modes of advertising like TV and print, which is otherwise costly. Also modes of online advertising like search have become saturated giving pace to digital advertising. Though it is an extension of online advertising, with increase in usage of mobile phones and tablets, it has become a compulsion to put few forms in a category and hence coin the term.
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A report by comScore identified India as one among the world’s top internet markets. There are approximately 22.7 crore internet users in the country out of which 50% use on mobile devices. Last year, Google India had announced that half of its revenue i.e. around INR 1000 crore was from digital advertising. Other popular websites like hungama.com, gaana.com are also making huge revenues through advertising online. Many factors involved in this advertising form have made it popular in the present days. In this article, various components involved in digital advertising are first discussed to get a brief idea. Later the advantages are penned, which eventually are the reasons for the above mentioned statistics. Other factors which made this popular in the recent time are also discussed. COMPONENTS: Digital advertising takes many forms. A few of which are listed below: • Display Ads: They display various objects in web banner forms. Depending on the size of advertisement they are categorized as Banners & Leader boards, Buttons, Rectangles & Boxes, and Skyscrapers. • Search Ads: They are of textual type and generally lead to company’s website. They are simple, cheap and hence widely accepted. • Mobile Ads: As the no. of mobile users have gone up to 80 million, advertisements on these platforms have become a necessity. Also as people browsing on mobile belong to higher economic class, targeting ads specific to them may gain results.WAP / Browser Based Ads, InApp Advertisements, Short Messaging Services (SMS) are typical types.
of advertising due to the advantages it offers: • Reach: This medium targets niche segments based on demographics and have wide geographical reach at least cost. It has grown hugely that every advertiser knows optimal ways of investment. • Measurement: As the payment terms are based on the reach, advertisers know how and where to invest. Also as measuring ROI is possible with this, the effectiveness can be measured and any subsequent changes can be made. • Interactive and Engaging: Among all other advertising medium, digital form has more interaction with the audience. By engaging with the end users, brands are able to communicate better. • Creative: Various multimedia tools available can be used for creative designs. These make them more powerful and effective. • Time: Large audience can be reached in a very short span of time. In making ambush marketing and campaigns, this is effective. • Cost: This is a cheaper mode with various payment models available depending on the reach and conversion. Also as unimportant groups are left out, cost of reach is reduced. Also by personalizing messages, the advertisers are able to increase user experience and sell their product. Researchers have termed this manipulation as “nudging for profit”. In this the companies collect data about customers in various forms and understand their psychology to make prices, create offers and reduce any perceptions of risk. Also various payment models have matured making it easy to pay based on performance. With all these dynamics, it is now a popular form of advertising among the marketers as well as people. By identifying proper metrics suitable for their campaign and having flexible approaches, managers can make effective use of this and continue to grow in the future.
ADVANTAGES: Many organizations have a budget allocated for this form Attribution Method CTR Last Click
Description It is the no. of clicks per impressions seen. Full credit is given to the ad that is clicked just before conversion.
Last Impression or Full credit is given to the ad that is seen just before conversion. Viewthrough
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Weighted
Weightage is given to all ads that are seen before the conversion with more importance to first and last seen ones.
Panel
Various experiments are done with known audience and results are measures accordingly.
Regression
This uses some algorithm in which various factors that have lead to conversion are considered and regression is done accordingly.
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Biz Quiz
1) DoCoMo is exiting out of Tata Teleservices by selling its stake at a loss. Name the parent company of DoCoMo. Ans. NTT 2) Which model has become the largest selling two wheeler in Indian market ? Ans. Honda Activa 3) A WSJ headline says ‘Otis finds ‘Re-shoring’ is not easy ‘ . What is re-shoring ? Ans. Bringing back the manufacturing facility back to the home country after off shoring it earlier. 4) What popular programming language was invented by Thomas E Kurtz and John G Kemeny of Dartmouth college , 50 years ago ? Ans. BASIC 5) At a time when many companies are entering wearable devices market, which major company has decided to move out of it ? Ans. Nike Fuelband 6) In US 2013, rank the advertising spend in various media in descending order a) newspaper. b) broadcast TV c) Internet d) radio Ans. c,b.a,d 7) For excellence in what are the Mirchi KAAN awards given away every year ? Ans. Radio advertising 8) Google has acquired Titan Aerospace. In what business is Titan in ? Ans. Solar powered drones 9) Which US company is paying up to 5000 $ for disgruntled employees to quit ? Ans. Amazon 10) This car became the base for a very famous car later. What did this car become ? Ans. Batmobile
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Chanakya Niti
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his case study focuses upon the growth and development of the bestselling consumer magazine title in the world, Reader’s Digest, a magazine which has developed in a unique way to become a publishing phenomenon which has set itself apart from other magazines. The development of the Reader's Digest began in 1909 with a young man called DeWitt Wallace in Minnesota. He read widely a range of publications and kept a card index of the best articles. Wallace practised condensing articles from general-interest magazines. His first real publication, a booklet called 'Getting the Most Out of Farming,’ was published in 1916 and in 1920 he assembled 31 of his condensations into a sample 'pocket-sized' magazine and had several hundred copies printed. Wallace now had to decide what to do with his 'pocket-sized' magazine. He approached many different publishers but they all turned him down. Instead of giving up, Wallace decided to print it himself and to sell his Reader's Digest by direct mail.
Direct mail
Direct mail involved cutting out other publishers and distributors by communicating and selling directly to the public. Its great benefit in this situation was that it was a personalised approach which created awareness of
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Wallace's Reader's Digest by communicating directly with potential readers and appealing to their beliefs and lifestyle. In 1921 Wallace wrote to teachers, nurses and other professional people, soliciting three-dollar subscriptions for 12 issues of the magazine to be refunded if the first issue did not meet with approval. Fifteen hundred trusting members of the public responded by risking subscriptions to a magazine that didn't yet exist. In February 1922 the wrapped and addressed copies of Volume One, Number One, of Readers' Digest were taken to the Post Office. Reader's Digest was launched. The magazine was well received. Wallace had not only created a magazine, he had also invented a method of selling it. The postal relationship that he established with each of his customers raised a direct-mail operation to the level of a personal service. Within a few years Reader's Digest had become America's leading monthly magazine. A British operation began in 1938 and the first foreign language edition was published in Spanish in 1940. Today the global readership is more than 100 million, a circulation of 27 million, with 48 editors, published in 19 languages
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available throughout the world and has become the in 1938, a company was formed in London to market world's best-selling magazine. the United States edition. It was sold both by direct mail and through retail outlets and circulation soon increased to 250,000 copies a month. This figure The Magazine industry In the magazine industry there is a traditional distinction warranted printing the magazine in Britain and the broadly identifying two types of magazines. This divides first such issue appeared in December 1939, compiled magazines into 'consumer titles' which provide readers from articles in the United States edition. with leisure-time information and entertainment or Because of a paper shortage during the Second World 'business and professional titles' providing readers with War, the size and circulation of the British magazine was pegged to pre-war figures, but when controls were information relating to their working lives. lifted in 1950 and with the emergence of a thirst for information at a time of change in society, circulation soon rose, passing the million mark only four years later. As Reader's Digest became more and more part of the national scene, it expanded its coverage of British social trends and controversial issues of the day. On the lighter side, the magazine began to reflect the British way of life and sense of humour in its popular endof-page "fillers" and amusing anecdotes contributed by readers. Today more than 80% of adults within the UK regularly As the readership of Reader’s Digest developed the read a consumer magazine. Consumers expect magazine set itself apart as something that could be communications from around the globe which help them read and believed. As the magazine informed, enriched, to be aware of and understand opportunity and choice as entertained and inspired, it developed a unique reader well as current affairs, which helps them to all be put into relationship reflected through a bond of trust. Today, a large number of the articles in British Reader’s perspective. Over the last decade the whole magazine industry has Digest originate in this country. All the major national gone through a period of rapid growth. In fact over concerns – nuclear defence, local government, this period the total number of magazines published education, the EU and expanding technology are within the UK has increased by 33%, characterising a dealt with, often by leading figures invited to air regenerative process with new titles launched as others their views in the magazine. Every article is written close down and since 1991 consumer spending on in straightforward and lively prose and every fact is magazines has increased by 43%. British Rate and Data meticulously checked by the research department. (BRAD), a marketing and publishing agency which The standard set by the words is also matched by the provides comprehensive information about the media, quality of the illustrations. lists more than 6500 titles which take advertising. Over recent years a characteristic of magazine publishing Readership profile has been to develop more than one ‘revenue stream.’ Most An important part of the process of marketing is to magazines derive their income not just from the sale of undertake market research in order to build a profile copies but also from the sale of advertising space. To be of groups of customers. To do this requires accurate able to do this, magazine publishers need to know about information. By looking at the groups of people who and understand who reads their publications so that they subscribe to Reader’s Digest, it is possible to make the can provide advertisers with not just the opportunity to most of the direct mail process and develop a cycle build coverage and target specific audiences, but also of improvement by feeding this information through the advantage of being associated with a unique reader- planning and decision-making processes. The circulation of Reader’s Digest in Britain is today magazine relationship. more than 1.5 million, with a readership of more than 6 million. It is enjoyed equally by men and women and Setting itself apart The essence of Reader's Digest today is to appeal to the read by all ages and social groups. 52% of subscribers sort of people whom DeWitt Wallace back in the 1920s are women and 48% men. Our median reader age is envisaged as the readers of his new magazine; busy men 49.7 compared with the median for all adults in the and women who welcome an easy-to-read collection UK of 42.6. Marks & Spencer enjoy an average shopper of articles to keep them well informed about the world age of 48 (Source TGI). 11.9% of subscribers are aged between 25-34 compared to 33.6% aged over 65. 26.3% around them. When Reader's Digest magazine first came to Britain of subscribers fall into the AB socio-economic grouping
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compared to 21.7% in Class DE. 11.4% of subscribers are in Scotland, compared to 9.9% in the North of England, 9.9% in Greater London and 21.8% in the South East. 22% of revenues from Reader’s Digest magazine come from advertising, while 78% comes directly from circulation.
Annual subscription
The Reader’s Digest is bought almost entirely through annual subscriptions which account for 96% of circulation. The magazine inspires lasting loyalty. Every year, very nearly three-quarters of subscriptions are renewed; half a million people have been subscribers for three years or more and 250,000 for more than seven years. Reader’s Digest magazine is considered to be the ’front door’ of the company. As the most widely read magazine in the world, it is an invaluable brand name with considerable heritage, representing quality and value around the world. Recent research showed that readers have greater confidence in Reader’s Digest than in other mass circulation magazines. They see it as dealing with serious subjects and treating them in depth, while also containing much humour. The way in which Reader’s Digest magazine is read suggests not just a way of life but also a way of looking at life. Digest readers spend some 80 minutes reading their magazine, nearly four times longer than readers devote to magazines which arrive with some Sunday broadsheets. On average, every single page is looked at twice, at least. 71% of readers give as their most important reason for liking the Digest as "It is well written and easy to read." So given all of this evidence how did Reader’s Digest become the world’s best-selling magazine and why has it remained at the forefront of an intensely competitive and expanding industry? There are two reasons:
1. 2.
editorial direction the use of marketing
Marketing
Marketing is a process of planning which involves identifying, anticipating and satisfying consumer needs. The process starts with an understanding of what people want, upon which an ‘idea’ can be developed. Many people have ideas but few make them ‘happen.’ From the idea comes a plan and then a process of production and market research, from which will come the product which consumers want, at a price they are willing to pay. This is not the end of the process. When an organisation develops products, it has to reach its customers not just to inform them about the product and persuade them to buy one, but also to create a way of distributing the product to them. For an organisation to succeed it must be able to do this better than any other competing organisations. But this is not the end of the process. Consumers have choice and who is to guarantee that
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they will continue to buy your products? There must be an understanding of changing consumer needs and feedback into this process so that a business can become better and better at satisfying these needs. The beauty of Reader’s Digest, is that it covers a high quality mass market with a broadly-based general appeal, providing something for everybody. To do this involves talking to customers to find out what they want more or less of. A variety of market research techniques are often used.
Feedback
Questionnaires have been developed to elicit information from customers. One-to-one interviews help to discover consumer motives and focus groups and group discussions provide a wealth of qualitative information which often uncover subconscious consumer motives. This type of research enables Reader’s Digest to cater for changes in consumer tastes, while at the same time reflecting a broad spectrum of interests and the ability to develop products with enduring values which inform, enrich, entertain and inspire. Direct mail involves selling goods or providing services outside the confines of a retail outlet and with no faceto-face contact. Reader’s Digest is a subscription based business. Developing personal relationships with readers through the mail is a hugely important part of Reader’s Digest’s business strategy. The effective use of databases helps Reader’s Digest to develop a good understanding of consumers from whom their mail shots elicit a remarkably high response rate. When customers receive mail from Reader’s Digest they tend to read it and because the products are what customers want and have massive appeal, many respond. Reader’s Digest’s response rate is an important factor, not just for Reader’s Digest but also for its advertisers. For a recent competition in the magazine, 100,000 envelopes were returned in less than a month. Subscribers react promptly to the Digest’s arrival - 36% will read it the day the post delivers it, 62% within 3 days and 82% by day 8. Reader’s Digest offers advertisers a variety of response options – a range they can not get from television - from cover gatefolds and loose inserts to a bound-in business reply card. For Reader’s Digest to appeal to the mass market, it has to be priced carefully in a way which provides value for customers and satisfies their expectations so that they continue to subscribe and yet at the same time provides financial returns for the business. Post magazine research carried out on each issue of the magazine, helps Reader’s Digest to build upon its strengths in a way which enables it to touch the lives of its readers, not just through the magazine, but also through families of products such as books, CDs and videos, which help to underpin its success. The
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essential feature of Reader’s Digest is that, given its many competitors in a fast-growing magazine industry, it has a unique position, with no direct competition in a mass market and with the capability to deliver a high-quality product which no other business can match.
message, with a conversational and informational style in articles of real interest for all groups of people who enjoy reading. Reader’s Digest is a remarkable story of the development of a magazine to become a world leader. Its success in marketing products has led to many more business opportunities in books, tapes, CDs and videos, special Conclusion Wherever Reader’s Digest magazine is published, it has interest magazines and many other areas, becoming the same values and dedication to editorial excellence, a publishing phenomenon delivering products to providing high standards for readers by condensing consumers across the globe. articles which appeal to their hearts and minds. The magazine covers every type of scenario in a way which readers can readily understand. Technical issues are dealt with in a simple and clear way. Though the magazine is largely topical and adds value to Reader’s understanding of current issues, its articles have a lasting interest which are worth keeping and reading again at some time in the future. Though the articles in each magazine differ, there are a number of common ingredients: FACTS - Digest articles are definitive. They include, somewhere in the text, every fact that readers need to know, and why. ANECDOTES - Readers are not simply told the facts, they are shown them, through anecdotes and examples. Reader’s Digest authors have an expertise in story-telling and the printed pages are as visual as a television screen. DETAIL - Articles are pared to the minimum, but retain enough detail to provide the reader with a clear picture. THRUST - A Digest article sticks to the point. From the start readers know exactly what it is about. Straight away they: • meet the character
• • • •
hear the music see the place understand the terminology catch the enthusiasm.
STYLE - Whether articles are explaining a complex industrial process, a knotty political controversy or a rescue at sea, they do it in everyday language with clarity and brevity. ACCURACY - Reader’s Digest articles obtain their facts from a wide range of the highest and most knowledgeable sources available. The Digest has an enviable reputation to protect - “It must be true. It says so in Reader’s Digest.” Developing the creative parts of a product which has constant appeal for a mass market, where standards and expectations are high, is not an easy process. It can take three or four months to write and develop an article and even longer to check that the facts are correct. Each Digest provides a mix of articles with no repeats, which help to create positive perceptions and do not leave the reader helpless. The Digest communicates stories that are uplifting and optimistic, but without a political
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Snippets Gionee Elife S5.5
Gionee has launched Elife S5.5 which is claimed as the ‘world’s slimmest smartphone’ on 31 march in India. The smartphone is 5.5mm thin and flaunts a metal frame chassis. Elife S5.5 is a single-SIM smartphone with Gionee’s AMIGO UI on top of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It is crafted with a 5-inch Super AMOLED display with 441ppi pixel density and has a 1.7GHz octa-core CPU with 2GB of RAM. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front camera. The memory options are limited as it comes with a 16GB internal memory with no further expandability option via microSD card. It packs a 2300 mAh battery and weighs 130 grams. It will hit the stores in April end and will be priced at Rs. 22,999.
Google Glass
Google with the mission of producing a mass market ubiquitous computer has come up with Google Glass which is a wearable computer with an optical headmounted display (OHMD). Google Glass displays information in a smartphone like hands-free format where the person wearing the gadget can communicate with the internet through natural voice commands. This product comes under augmented reality products. This is being developed by Google X, which also worked on the projects like driverless cars. The Explore Edition of this product was available to testers and Google I/O developers in US for $1500 in April 2013. The Developer version has Android 4.0.4 & higher, a 5-megapixel camera with 720p video recording, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 16GB storage from which 12GB is usable, 682MB RAM and sensors. The consumer version will be available in 2014 and is expected to cost less than the Explorer Edition. The Google Glass manufacturing is outsourced to electronic giant Foxconn.
India becomes largest market for WhatsApp
WhatsApp has been recently acquired by Facebook for 19 billion dollars. The latest news is that India is the largest market for WhatsApp with 48 million active users and about 4 million new users adding each month as there were 40 million active users in February. The app has seen fastest growth in countries like India, Brazil, Russia and Mexico.
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Facebook starts free calls in India
Got an iPhone or an Android phone? Your Facebook account just got more useful –you can make free phone calls now using its Messenger app that lets you make voice calls to anyone on the friend list. These are just like Skype calls – free once you subscribe to a data (Internet) plan with a telecom service provider. Facebook has made a quiet upgrade to its Messenger app that now carries a small “Free Call” button in the app that is now available for smartphones based on the Android or iOS platforms.
Microsoft shows off Windows Phone 8.1
Cortana
for
Microsoft has introduced its long-awaited answer to Siri and Google Now and it is indeed called Cortana, named after the airtificial intelligence character from the company's flagship video game franchise Halo. Microsoft's Joe Belfiore, head of Windows Phone product and design, unveiled the personal assistant software for windows Phone onstage at the company's annual Build conference in San Francisco. Cortana is powered by Bing, and can perform many of the functions one has come to expect from artificial intelligence-style assistants, such as setting reminders and powering vocal updates to one's calendar.
Jim Beam acquired by Japan’s Suntory
Suntory Holdings Ltd of Japan acquired American bourbon whisky Jim Beam $13.6 billion in cash. This deal will make the Japanese spirits giant world’s thirdlargest spirit maker and the fifth-largest malt whisky company by volume. This deal is also an example that Japanese beverage companies are focusing outside the country because of the shrinking local market. The acquisition is also country’s third-largest outbound deal of all time. This deal is valued at $16 billion including the assumption of Beam’s net debt. The deal boosts Suntory market share to less than 1% to 11% in U.S.
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Visitor's Opine
T
he Corporate Conference, 2014 Markomania - The Marketing club of NDIM organized the national level Corporate Conference, 2014 on 22nd February, 2014 in the Tughlakabad campus. The theme for the conference was "Growing and Sustaining Brand Equity in Turbulent Times" and all the participants were expected to submit their entries in form of article/research paper and a presentation on the final day. The event witnessed a number of eminent personalities from the corporate world gracing the stage and gave their valuable insights on a highly relevant issue. Among the participants -Dr. Harish Handa (Associate Professor - Bhagat Singh College) and Mr. Manish Nangia (Assistant Professor-FMS) were declared winners of the event.
Anubhav Chaturvedi ,Senior Manager Marketing Mapmyindia
Jyoti kamaal , VP Panasia Marketing Solutions
Ms. Eunja ,Former Advisor,Hanslun Restaraunt co. ,.ltd
Ho Young, President Korea winners Health Producy co. Ltd
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Dr. Avijit Ganguly,VP Sales & Marketing Bata
Guest Speakers with NDIM faculty
Skand Tayal, Ambassador DU
Mudurishi Lamba,GM Mktng, Batra Hospital
Mr. Harish Handa , Winner Corporate Conference 2014
Jihyeon sec.,Koina
Rabinder Gill,IMAG India Justice Bhayana
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Namit Agarwal, Senior Marketing & Alliances Executive South East & North East Asia HCL Technologies Ltd.
Jai Seong ,Former Vice Health Minister Korea Subhrangeshu Neogi , Director & Head Brand and Corporate Communication, Religare
S
PARDHA 2014 - The Sports Extravaganza The event was inaugurated by Mr. Pramod Kumar, International athlete & Mr. Akash Chauhan, Ranji Cricket player who later on encouraged the participants with their motivational words!! NDIM extends its gratitude to all the students and athletes from over 20 colleges from Delhi/NCR namely Kirorimal college, Khalsa college, Shaheed Bhagat Singh college, Dayal Singh College, Gargi college, Amity Business School, Jamia Hamdard University, Asian Business School, JIMS & many more who turned up to participate in various categories and competitions of Badminton, Basketball, Pool, Cricket, Table Tennis, Volleyball and made this sports festival such a huge success. Spardha as always will continue to foster team spirit and sportsmanship spirit in the future business leaders of the country.
Naveen Luthara
Pramod Kumar , International Athelete
Pankaj Du0bey ,Polaris India Pvt. Ltd., M.D and Country Head
Rashmi Chauhan, Hellotrade.com- Head Hr & Indiamart.comManager HR
Winners of Spardha
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Team Abhishek Mehta Anurag Verma Gurvinder Singh Adarsh Chandra Prakash Senapati
Suvajit Biswas
Shreemanti Basu
Bharat Tyagi
Asad Azam
Arnab Karmakar
Yashraj Mishra
Geetika Sachdeva
For feedback, suggestions and queries, kindly follow us at: https://www.facebook.com/FlauntNDIM http://issuu.com/flauntndim https://twitter.com/FlauntNDIM Or send it to: markomania.newsletters@gmail.com Or you can contact: Anurag Verma Abhishek Mehta
+919953630106 +919958589900
NEW DELHI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, 60 & 50(B&C),Tughlakabad, Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062, Phones: +91-11-29956566/67/68/69, 40111000 Fax : +91-11-29965136 Toll Free : 1800419-0606, E-mail : info@ndimdelhi.org, Website : www.ndimdelhi.org
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