MarkMantra-August 2012 by IIFT MarkMantra

TEAM MARKMANTRA Editor-in-Chief Sidharth Nanda

Managing Editor Prashant Sishodia

Associate Editor Ankit Shah

Support Team

Apurva Joshi

Rakesh Ku. Patnaik

Sachet Ahuja

Online Coordinator Divyang Thakur

FOREWORD Markmantra is the brain-child of IIFT, encompassing various dimensions of marketing and exploring horizons of this integral business function. To bring out the best in the marketing domain from the trivial to the bizarre things that really matter which is aimed at enlightening the marketers is the onus of the team. We have a legacy of producing one of the best marketing magazines across all B-Schools. Trend analysis and innovation in the market are two prime focus areas of the magazine. These, we think, will make you ponder upon how a company proactively or reactively markets its offerings. Customer value is of paramount importance to every marketer and we as IIFTians strive to provide maximum value proposition to our customers, that is, you. Innovation is a word oft used in marketing. The old days of merely showing ads to the public are gone. Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marketers have to deal with an ever changing environment, filled with potential customers with n even more fleeting attention span, customers who lack in loyalty and will hop off to greener pastures at the slightest pretext. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no more abut merely attracting eyeballs or making your mark in the crowd, but about engaging your customer in the most cost-effective way so that he stays on with you a while longer, if not forever. For this reason, marketers must conjure up their grey cells and constantly come up with ideas to engage the customer. Whether it be reliving something traditional, with a hint of modernity (like HP Rasoi Ghar), using modern technology for boosting the customer experience (like Augmented Reality), or something truly wacky (like the Blender ads), marketers are truly going all out. This issue celebrates the same spirit of innovation that has sustained, and will sustain marketers for ages to come. The theme is thus, Innovative Marketing.

CONTENTS

Cover Story: Innovate or Die

ii.

Tech Marketing Innovations: Augmented Reality

iii.

Analytics in Marketing

iv.

Innovations in Bollywood Marketing

Innovations in Rral Marketing

vi.

Corporate Speak: :

vii.

Mr. Rishi Pardal, VP & MD-South Asia, Avery Dennison

Mr. Sandeep Komaravelly, VP-Marketing, Snapdeal.com

War of Brands: Makemytrip.com vs Yatra.com

viii. Innovations in Services Marketing

ix.

Tech Marketing Innovations: QR Codes

Focus FMCG Dabur

Marico

Kellogs

xi.

Subliminal Marketing

xii.

Marketing Failures: LEGO Universe

xiii. Out of the World Marketing Ideas

xiv. Marketing Lingos

xiv. Product Launchpad

xv.

Summer Internship Experience

xvi. Ad Making Competition: Piaggio Vespa

xvii. IIFT National Marketing Conclave 2012

xviii. Light Headed Corner

? ? ? Are You Game ? Hello There !!! Keeping in line with our theme this issue i.e. Innovative Marketing, we have decided to introduce something new this time to tickle your brains rather than the same old crossword. So what exactly is this new thing? Simple, in certain pages of this magazine we’ve put up some riddles for you (10 to be precise). Each riddle has an answer (Duh!). So here’s all you have to do: * Solve each riddle to get a word. The word might be a brand name, a company name, a person’s name, a marketing jargon...whatever, it could be anything at all. * Take out the first character (alphabet/number) from each answer you found. * Join those characters in the exact sequence as the riddles to get the first 10 letters of a secret 15character password. * Use that 10-character password on riddler_1@gmail.com (starting from 25th August) to unlock the clue leading to the final answer. That will give you the clue for the final 5 characters of the password and the account ID where you should use the complete password. * Unlock the final account and leave a message in it (your name, college name and photo) to be crowned as “RiddleMaster”. Easy, isn’t it?? Heh heh....we’ll see.....

P.S.—Answers will be published on our Facebook page as soon as we have a winner or on 31st August, whichever comes first. Also, visit our Facebook page for interacting with other players and maybe even for getting hints.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane. How many of modernity (like HP Rasoi Ghar), using modern technology times have you seen a famous movie star like Amir Khan minfor boosting the customer experience (like Augmented Realgle with commoners in disguise to promote his movies; or how ity), or something truly wacky (like the Blender ads), marketers many times have you seen a cheetah sitting on an XUV5OO are really going all out. Things have come to such an extent being petted by Anand Mahindra; or how many banks have that they now have to differentiate based on innovative wordyou seen with a cafe and a small playground inside for waiting play on innovation, like Nissan changing its tagline from customers and their kids “Innovation For All” to (Jyske Bank); or how “Innovation That Exmany cites”. times.......aaahh, you get the idea, don’t you? And what is Innovations are no the one word that more some fancy binds them all? You gimmicks some firm WORK HARD guessed it – INNOpulls off in order to BUT VATION !!! garner customers, THINK DIFFERENT but they have beInnovacome integrated into tion is a word oft the DNA of the used in marketing. firm itself. Be it a The old days of roadside vendor in merely showing ads Punjab using a to the public are washing-machine to gone. Today's marmake lassi, or your keters have to deal friendly 800 pound with an ever changing gorilla (read Microsoft) environment, filled with potential customers with a highly morphing the game-console Xbox into a complete homefleeting attention span, customers who lack in loyalty and will entertainment system with its Kinect technology. Innovation is hop off to greener pastures at the slightest pretext. It’s no no more about just creating new products, services, or even more about merely grabbing eyeballs or making your mark in experiences, but about creating new customers. They form a the crowd, but about engaging your customer in the most costpart of both the short and long term strategy of an organizaeffective way that he/she stays on with you a while longer, if tion, like Google constantly innovating and experimenting with not for ever. new ideas, venturing into uncharted territories, spreading its arms, creating new doodles even. For this reason, marketers must conjure up their grey Like it or hate it, an innovative approach towards cells and consistently come up with ideas to engage the cusbusiness is something a firm must embrace sooner or later (the tomer. Whether it be reliving something traditional with a hint sooner the better), or risk losing out in the race. History

is replete with examples of firms that chose to take it easy, especially in the technology domain. For bigger firms with deep pockets, it’s not about the inability to innovate, but more about the inability to recognize that innovation is needed (like Nokia about touch-screens and smartphones or Kodak about digital photography), or the direction in which innovative practices should be directed (like Kodak’s expansion into pharmaceuticals). Heck, even Apple was once on the brink of disaster, if it were not for the magical (read innovative) touch of Steve Jobs. Face it, it’s truly “Innovate or Die”. However, the term has been used so much nowadays, that maybe it is sometimes also good to sit back, relax, and think for a while, whether we are losing focus of our core organizational goal, whether we are moving TMobile Advertising using too fast for the customer Live Angry Birds to keep pace, whether our innovation is for real or just new icing on a stale cake. Innovation must not be made merely for innovation’s sake, but must blend in with the organization’s values and offering itself. To quote an a statement from an article on “The Truth About Innovation” that appeared in BusinessWeek, “It’s a big word, but it’s a dirty, messy business. While it may conjure up visions of Steve Jobs wowing the crowds at Macworld, the reality is confusion, late nights and petty squabbles over minutiae. We glamorize the 1% inspiration, but forget about the 99% perspiration. After all, perspiration stinks.”

Microsoft Kinect: A tech innovation for full home entertainment

Even a fish market can be a fun place. Pike Place Fish Market shows you how.

Still, best not to be pessimistic about this word. Innovation is here to stay, as a friend to marketing and as a worthy ally for the organization’s strategic manoeuvres. This issue celebrates the same spirit of innovation of marketers that had, is and will sustain marketing for ages to come.

Happy Reading !!!

Sidharth Nanda MBA(IB) 2011-13 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

The whole Web2.0 wave has already had a huge impact on how business is done today and web2.0 marketing is essential to most current businesses, from fashion to education and even government. For example, in the tourism industry, the ‘review features’ have dramatically changed how hotels and hospitality related services and products are perceived. Hotel chains like Sheraton have spearheaded this change, displaying the social feedback component dominantly on their homepage.

directly into every tourist’s palm and he or she can experience the city at their own pace, with their own specific level of interest and most of all exactly when and where they need it. It is the perfect enhancement of a physical experience with the digital overlay of information, visuals and other sensory triggers. It will never compete with the life experience and the “being there” but it can make this specific presence so much more intriguing and fun. Where one person wants to know more about the historic background of a specific building (http://goo.gl/IsI29 for example the Berlin Wall or the World Trade Center), the other would love to see scenes from all movies which have been played there (http://goo.gl/XeioD - you tube movie) and the third simply wants guidance to the next tube (http://goo.gl/lL1It New York AR tube finder).

Web2.0 has helped to create “Tribes.” (Godin, 2008). Godin’s “Tribes” idea is a simple one, as well as an old one, where people are turned into a “tribe” by a shared interest. The rise and acceptance of social networks has done its share to make “Tribe” initiation and leading easier. If the interest is in an off-mainstream Marvel superhero like the “Silversurfer”, one will find it much easier to locate a virtual community and experts, who are willing to share and to network about this topic. None of our students at IMI University Centre will plan their term break travel without a visit to ‘tripadvisor’ and on the website for the City of Luzern, the only external logo to be carried forward from the old website to the new one in August 2011, was their traveller choice award from the users of ‘tripadvisor’. The very social and emotional nature of tourism seems to be ideal for all social media.

Augmented Reality is much more than just a new technology, it leads to a more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent internet experience. AR is simply the tool that allows us to achieve this. Fundamentally, AR can actually lead to a better understanding of the world through experiences and overlay of digital information to the real world. Is there any tourist who would not want to profit from such a new experience?

All this leads to a totally new way of using the collaborative web, making it more interactive, transparent and accessible to an ever growing user community. Recent technologies once again have added a totally new level to the data gathered in the social web with geospatial and NOW (http:// now.netapp.com/) as added dimensions. The technology hype or buzz word of 2012, which has replaced Twitter, is Augmented Reality or AR. AR, this author believes, will be conceived as one of the key drivers leading to a more “sensory” or more natural Internet and may one day be known as Web3.0. Specifically, tourism seems to be an ideal partner for the development of AR. Augmented Reality (AR) is when technology recognises what you are doing, and then enhances it. Specially Augmented Reality is where the digital world enhances the real world, and Augmented Virtuality is where the real world enhances digital worlds. These technologies, with ever evolving applications, are presented at almost every technology fair today. But soon we will see AR moving into other industries and support marketing, PR or even workflows and client interactions.

But such new potential, leads once again, to change and a rethinking of factors such as digital content, socio-cultural trends and the new importance of mobile computing (the world in your hand). Today, the examples of AR are abundant. See here a compilation mix done by the

Mr. Anand Mahindra petting a virtual cheetah on the new XUV500 using Augmented Reality

Augmented city guides give a totally new experience delivered

author http://goo.gl/5onZZ which will give you a good impression of what AR can achieve.

its development" towards a 'Post-digital' one, in which the ‘power of the technologies’ arises in the act of their colonisation, or appropriation, by people into their lives … when they cease to be technology and become simply "stuff that works" (52 Group).

The Economist Technology Quarterly newspaper in September 2009 stated that “Trying to imagine how AR will be used is like trying to forecast the future of the web in 1994”. Use a QR decoder to In November 2009, Juniper Rewatch this video search made the following forecast for 2014 “AR on the mobile will generate $732 million. 350 million handsets are expected to be AR enabled” (Juniper Research, 2009). The hope is that AR will not just add even more of an information load to the existing cyberspace, but will actually help make the world more understandable. AR allows a person to look at a range of mountains during a walk, through a mobile device equipped with a camera and receive additional information. This is only possible if the user

So why is AR important? This question was raised during the first European Augmented Reality Business Conference in April, 2010 in Berlin (Arbcon, 2010). The conclusions were that the world itself is becoming the universal and intuitive interface with mobile AR. This explosion of the interface into ambient space means an explosion of opportunities to interact, communicate, collaborate, and make transactions. The author believes that by now businesses do have a pretty good idea of the opportunity for change brought about by the cybernetic revolution. Decision makers can analyse what is happening today and, after distancing themselves a little, may be able to estimate what will probably stay and what will need to be adjusted. Leaders now really have to wonder how to bring economic organisations from where they are (basically industrially-minded communities that use modern technologies without integration) to where they should be. Some serious scenario building must be done. So far, it has been so important just to convince people of the reality of change that we have been content with just the vaguest descriptions of what the organisation of tomorrow could look like. The problem is, now that people are convinced of the reality of change, they want more, and they want solid scenarios and guidelines. The digestion of social media and what we call today the Web2.0, is largely a “fait accompli”. Web3.0, where technology becomes more human through Augmented Reality, Augmented Virtuality, and the semantic internet, is happening right now. Web3.0 will, for once, not just add more to the existing palette of technologies and applications, but, once the hype has calmed down, will Use a QR decoder to result in value- added applications watch this video which lead to a better understanding of a more and more complex world. The key message one should draw is that technology recently has become much more user friendly and allows a totally new audience to participate online and for once really

GE Augmented Reality for Smart Grid can then connect to real-time information, for example, facts through Wikipedia or social media content including feedback, reviews and opinions and layer it over the real time image. In this way users may achieve greater clarity and be more informed as they experience our complex world. This transition comes naturally since it bridges those two worlds, the world we live in and the abstract world of digital information available online. During a live demonstration at ETH University in Zurich, different AR applications were shown to a mixed audience, some Net natives and some more mature, less technical members. The results were surprising. A high percentage of nontechnical people not only had great fun, but also demonstrated great ease in grasping those new applications almost instantly. No words needed to be exchanged to experience and to agree on the added value and the ‘edutainment’ benefit of applications such as Junaio, SwissPeaks, Mobilizy and AR games like Gbanga. We will most probably experience the same positive user feedback once AR has found its way into every airport, to guide and support stressed and tired travellers, with information delivered directly to their smart phones. The need for simplified, more natural technology, which performs as it should, has recently been the subject of a research study carried out by Oxford University students. This research investigates the post-digital era and the current transition from an early phase 'Co-digital' - in which "a technology goes through as the user community appropriates it and influences

The Future is Virtual !!!

and offline in a way that has never been possible. Watch the author talking at a recent TEDx event in Zug, Switzerland on the topic of the sensory Internet http://goo.gl/sAmVb The emergence of AR will significantly change many activities and will cause a series of far reaching changes to how business is done, in a similar way to how Web2.0 and social networks have already affected many industries and in some cases have almost reinvented them (tourism, movie, automotive and music industries to name just some). We are still at the very beginning of AR and nobody now can say what effect it will have on our future lives. It would be the same as expecting Wales, Zuckerberg or Berners Lee to know in advance what impact their applications and technologies would have. But there are certainly enough indicators to know that a lot more is to come and that businesses better get ready to board the AR train. We can be sure that tourism and hospitality will benefit from many more apps which will enhance the whole travel experience. (http://goo.gl/ PzGh4 some more videos from youTube showing the latest and best of AR collected by the author and his students at IMI-Luzern) The question now is Intel using AR in itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s who will be the major exhibition players in the AR market? Will it, once again, be the big ones; Microsoft, Adobe and Apple? Right now it is a jungle out there. No standards and no killer AR application are visible. The problem is that for every AR application, the user will have to install a specific widget, add on or application to their device. But this may well be a chance for many more creative products to emerge before the big three flex their corporate muscle and wade in to try to manage it. After the fatal start of the Facebook stocks, perhaps it shows the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. From social media to augmented reality.

To view the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s profile, just use a QR decoder

There are good companies which make a website and update it. There are better companies which make a website and promote it. While there are successful companies which use Web Analytics and monitor, regulate and optimize the net traffic on their online platforms. If not successfully managed, the amount of time, money and energy spent in developing a website falls by the wayside. Eventually, the website loses its potential to generate more awareness, more business and transactions. Herein lays the importance of Web Analytics- it is the study of how your site’s visitors behave such that it enables you to modify, enhance and introduce new features and content on your website so as to keep producing consistent results. Just as it is possible to measure Advertisement Effectiveness by various models like BBDO’s emotional measurement system, ASI Theatre testing, Skin Galvanometer, etc, Website Effectiveness can be measured by Analytics. There are two categories of web analytics; off-site and onsite web analytics.

- If they came from search engines, which words did they use in the search? - Which pages do they view the most? - Where do they drop off your site? - How much time average user spends on your website? - How many were unique visitors and how many were visiting again? - How many visited your website from mobile? Why this information is important? In today’s digital and techno-savvy world, it is a must for most companies to maintain websites and online interactive forums. Even, non-service companies have ventured into maintaining websites. Hence, it is imperative to know whether the site is attracting visitors and if the online marketing efforts are paying off. If the company cannot attract traffic to its site, it indicates a flaw in management’s strategy to engage people. There can be zillions of reason for this and analytics can help to comprehend them better. It helps companies monitor and know whether its marketing campaigns are actually improving the business and ROI of the site or not. Web analytics can be leveraged in a number of ways, even if the company isn’t actively running any online marketing campaigns. Web analytics can provide valuable business intelligence that can be used to better evaluate how exactly your company’s website contributes to business goals, how are visitors finding your website? Are they spending a significant amount of time onsite? Viewing multiple pages? Downloading coupons? Signing up for a newsletter? Filling out a contact form? Making a purchase? These are just some of the valuable business insights that can be obtained through web analytics.

Off-site web analytics refers to web measurement and analysis regardless of whether you own or maintain a website. It includes the measurement of a website's potential audience (opportunity), share of voice (visibility), and buzz (comments) that is happening on the Internet as a whole. On-site web analytics measure a visitor's journey once on your website. This includes its drivers and conversions; for example, which landing pages encourage people to make a purchase. On-site web analytics measures the performance of your website in a commercial context. This data is typically compared against key performance indicators for performance, and used to improve a web site or marketing campaign's audience response.

In Digital Marketing in particular, knowledge comes in the form of keywords. Keywords tell you exactly what is on the mind of your current and potential customers. In fact, the

Web Analytics on a basic level helps companies in answering questions like:- How many visitors come to your site? - Where do the visitors come from? Are they from affiliates, search engines or some other sources?

most valuable long-term benefit of engaging in paid and natural search marketing isn't incremental traffic to your website, it's the keyword data contained within each click which can be utilized to inform and optimize other business processes.  Product Design: Keywords can reveal exactly what features or solutions your customers are looking for.  Customer Surveys: By examining keyword frequency data you can infer the relative priorities of competing interests.  Industry Trends: By monitoring the relative change in keyword frequencies you can identify and predict trends in customer behavior. Customer Support: Understand where customers are struggling the most and how support resources should be deployed. Customer Intelligence (CI) professionals turn to web ana-

lytics platforms to help track campaigns and complex customer interactions across digital touch-points, attribute the impact of activities on the business, and continuously optimize tactics and strategies.

ments and Advanced Segments to isolate visitors from each region. Results: PUMA increased its order rate by 7.1 percent using Google Analytics. It was able to double the time spent by visitors on the PUMA brand content and observed nearly 50 percent growth in the overall engagement and visits among users from key regions. “Google Analytics lets us help our customers. We’ve seen some spectacular results working with Viget, and we’re thrilled with GA as a tool. For every decision we’ve faced, GA’s been there to answer the call.” — Jay Basnight, Head of Digital Strategy, PUMA Where to begin? There are many online tools available online that helps you gather this information, one of the best free tool available is Google Analytics. Most of the Internet Marketers use Google Analytics to understand the user behavior because it is free, easy to use and provides almost all the data one may want. To begin using Google Analytics, you will have to sign up at www.google.com/analytics, you will be asked to install a tracking code on your website so that Google Analytics can start tracking your data. Within 24 hours you can view your reports. Google Analytics is a simple tool which on login will show you all the basic information you want to know like- number of visits, number of unique visits, average time spend per visit, average pages viewed per visit and bounce rate.

Web Analytics is used by almost every brand available online. Take any company online, they will have an analytics team, to study and understand their online users. Case of PUMA: PUMA’s online presence functions as a branding tool and e-commerce gateway. Its web site needed to fully showcase the breadth of its brand categories, plus display content and products in an international – yet regionally-tailored – way. With the help of Viget, a Google Analytics Certified Partner, PUMA redesigned its web site and centralized the performance of its web measurement with Google Analytics. It was important to PUMA was that each product category – such as PUMA Running, Golf, and Football – had a distinctive look and feel on PUMA.com, while still remaining connected as a unified web site. PUMA needed to compare performance within each category in isolation, as well as understand visitor behavior during their entire PUMA experience. These challenges were addressed with the expertise of Viget’s analytics team and the flexibility of the Google Analytics platform. While performing web site tests, PUMA used Custom Variables in Google Analytics to segment visitors based on which test variation they saw. This allowed PUMA to compare how each test variation affected visitor ability to complete a variety of goals and the microconversions along the way. PUMA used profiles and custom filters in Google Analytics to create a holistic view of all of PUMA.com and a separate, targeted view of each PUMA category site. It also used advanced features such as Event Tracking to measure interactions with dynamic page ele-

Other than Google Analytics, Statcounter (www.statcounter.com) is also a good analytics tool. Statcounter can be set-up in the same manner as Google Analytics. Other premium tools include KISS Metrics/KISS Insights, Clicky, CrazyEgg, UserFly, Optimizely, Pingdom, Chartbeat, ShrimpTest, Google Website Optimizer & Split Test Dynamo (plugin). 5 Ways to Leverage Web Analytics to Become a Better Marketer 1) Measure Offline Data – All offline marketing campaigns should be tracked and measured as well as online campaigns. An example would be if your founders just wrote a book that promoted the website. As a result, there could be an increase in traffic to that specific page. Without marking this book as a campaign within your analytics, what would you attribute the increase in traffic too? Having clear tracking for offline marketing like tradeshows is an important way to compare the results of your entire marketing strategy. 2) Measure Traffic Sources– Find out how your visitors are finding you. Finding out which sources are driving the most traffic to the website will allow you to determine how well the search engines index the content on your website. Additionally it will give you the information to know if social media is actually working and which email campaigns are driving traffic. With the sources data, you can drill down further to strategize on what types of calls-to-actions you place on specific pages. 3) Measure Conversion Rates- Getting visitors to the website is the first step, getting them to convert into a lead or business is the next. Offering compelling content and clear calls-to-action will help to convert more of this traffic into leads for the business. Variant or A/B testing with Landing pages and calls-to-action allow you to test which are converting at a higher average. Determine which keywords are giving you the best top, middle, and bottom of the funnel leads. 4) Ensure the data is clear- Don’t focus on one metric. For example you notice an increase in traffic one week, what was the cause of this increase? First you notice there was a large increase of traffic from the blog, then after drilling down further you find that it was a specific

article. This shows you that this specific content is compelling to your audience, and it would be a great idea to create more content on this topic. 5) Close the Loop – Most marketers are concerned about their marketing ROI, knowing where to devote more time, energy, and resources are important. Closed loop marketing or finding out which campaigns are driving the most traffic, leads, and most importantly customers. You want to devote your valued resources on marketing campaigns that are driving actual customers and business. The following 2x2 matrix indicates performance of some of the leading technology driven companies in terms of

Analytics. Can you guess what do the companies above have in common? All of these companies use Google Analytics to regularly monitor, analyze and make Strategic Decisions related to their Digital presence. An easy guess, wasn’t it? Mobile Analytics: An emerging trend in Analytics is use of mobile analytics. Mobile analytics measure the success of mobile campaigns, let companies find out which content has been viewed, how many times a certain piece of content has been viewed, calculate ROI and much more to help them guarantee the success of their future campaigns. An application’s success is not only measured by the number of times it has been downloaded but rather according to the analysis which focuses on how the application is used. As a result, m-Commerce will develop considerably over future. E.g. iPhone Applications using Web Analytics:

Some Common Mistakes while using Web Analytics: 1. Improper Implementation 2. No Goals Setup 3. No Segmentation 4. Paying Attention to Irrelevant Data 5. Not Setting up Milestone Events Documentation 6. Not Combining Quantitative Data with Qualitative Data 7. Not Taking Action on the Data What is interesting is the number of web sites that use multiple tools and there appears to be a pattern â&#x20AC;&#x201C; US companies tend to be the ones with multiple vendor tags on their pages, while European organisations tend to only have one. - The above data was extracted using Web Analytics

? Boni Satani Online Marketing Consultant

Ankit Shah MBA(IB) 2011-13 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

‘Bollywood’ or Hindi Cinema, as some of the ideologues would want to put it, churns out over 100 big and small budget films every year, which hit the screens with the hopes of becoming the next blockbuster. Based out of the tinsel town of Mumbai, Hindi cinema completed 100 years of its journey in 2012. It has come a long way from the days of running around trees song numbers, to the present day superior visual effects and absolute stunning locations which are a treat for the viewers.

promotional strategies to connect with the target audience. Taking these aspects into account, marketing budgets have increased to almost 40-45% of the total cost of a movie. The two Khans, Shahrukh and Aamir have been the pioneers of marketing in Bollywood. From SRK and Kajol ringing the opening bell of the NASDAQ stock market in the US for My Name is Khan to Aamir giving enthusiasts a Ghajini cut; the stars have found the most unusual ways for film promotions.

Over the period of 100 years, Hindi Cinema has not only evolved technically but also the art of storytelling has matured, especially in the last decade or so. It has become realistic and closer to the lives of the viewers. Many a times it takes inspiration from the lives of the common man and hence more and more people can relate with the characters on the big screen. One more thing that has taken giant strides from the black & white era to the current Technicolor format is the role of Marketing in the process of making a film. Gone are those days when movies used to release solely on the basis of star power. Nowadays, producers and filmmakers have realized that the lifespan of movies at multiplexes is getting shorter and they need to break even at a faster pace. Hence, they are spending more on the pre-release marketing and also devising newer

The usual practices of posters, public appearances etc. seemed ordinary when SRK launched a full-fledged video game version of Ra-One, to be played on the Sony Play station. The official website also had exciting merchandise on sale, which included the Ra-One action figure, exclusively signed by SRK. With 10 month long promotions and association with over 30 brands, Shahrukh all of a sudden was everywhere, be it on the small screen or on local trains. However, the strategy of ubiquitous marketing adopted by SRK backfired as it created high expectations and curiosity among Bollywood circles and critics. As a result, the critics and audiences rejected the movie without a second thought when it didn’t meet the expectations. This experience came as a learning not only for SRK, but the entire industry that widespread marketing, ensemble cast etc. might give you a good opening, but for sustained earnings it is quality which is important. The recent success of low budget, good films like Vicky Donor and Paan Singh Tomar have reinforced this fact which was starting to wither a bit, in the blitz of extensive promotions. 3-Idiots which went on to become the highest grossing Bollywood film ever with earnings of Rs375 crore, had Aamir Khan on a promotion spree. The actor went to different places in disguise which was in line with the movie’s underlying theme and gathered a lot of eyeballs for all his antics. Another innovative marketing strategy adopted was pasti ng stickers

Rowdy Rathore promoting itself on popular thriller CID

reading “Capacity: 3 Idiots” on the back of 10,000 auto rickshaws in Mumbai. In this entire scramble to get a piece of the pie were insurance companies too, as Reliance Life Insurance tied up with Three Idiots to promote its “All Izz Well” Insurance Plans. They were one of the first to join the movie marketing bandwagon and opened a new vista of opportunities for other companies to follow suit. Recent releases like “Agneepath” indulged in extensive promotions. Calling the India v/s Australia series down under as the Agneepath series was a smart move and helped create the initial euphoria for the movie. Even Sujoy Ghosh’s surprise hit “Kahaani” which starred Vidya Balan in the lead adopted a very unique promotional tactic. In line with the film’s plot where a wife is in search of her missing husband, pictures of ‘Arnab Bagchi Missing’ were put up on various stations in Mumbai. If this was not enough, Vidya Balan in her complete character as a pregnant woman visited the stations with a photograph of her husband and made enquiries to the public.

Amir Khan moving about in disguise films coming to the small screen reality shows as judges or special guests when their movie is about to be released. They seem to be on a reality show hopping spree and makes appearances on multiple shows in the run up to their big day, gaining visibility and wanting the audiences to hit the nearest theatre to catch up on a show of their upcoming release. The stars of Bol Bachchan were seen on the sets of Jhalak Dikhla Jaa and Dance India Dance: Lil’ Masters. Sharman Joshi and Boman Irani made an appearance on the popular family show: Taarak Mehta ka ulta Chashma and as a celebrity judge on Lux: the chosen one. Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha played a small part in an action sequence in the very popular show CID. Both the actors were in their character and the performance was in accordance with the role that they are essaying in the movie, giving the audience a brief insight as to what to expect from the movie.

For DON 2, witty one liner(s) were released one by one till the release of the movie. Also, a DON 2 comic strip was sold on railway stations all over Maharashtra to give an in depth knowledge about the origin of DON. Producer Ekta Kapoor got personal in promoting her small budget film Raginin MMS by pasting the stickers of the teaser on her personal cars. Her Jaguar was spotted with a 'Ragini Yahan Baithi Thi' sticker, while her BMW had another sticker that read 'Ragini Ka MMS dekha kya'. She also put the same sticker on 3,000 auto rickshaws across Mumbai. This helps small films to come into the notice of the public, and gives them some sort of a level playing field. Earlier these films would get lost into oblivion as had been the case with movies with some cult films like ‘Jaane bhi do yaaro’ or ‘Andaz apna apna’ which were not huge hits at the box office, but gradually gained popularity over the years.

All these examples clarify one important aspect that successful marketing techniques may bring the public to the theatre but whether a movie is accepted or not and goes on to become a success depends on the movie itself. The latest and by far the most innovative way of marketing till date is Viral Marketing. It involves using social networks to achieve popularity and brand awareness. This was seen when the song Chammak Challo and Kolaveri Di were leaked on the net and went on to become a rage in the cyber world.. Kolaveri Di received more than 3.5 million views on YouTube in less than a week and landed the singer Dhanush in IIM-A, conducting a special class on the marketing techniques behind the stupendous success of Why this Kolaveri di…From then on

A recent trend that has developed is, the entire cast of the

Some Films and their Marketing Budgets

Name Ra-One My Name is Khan Dabang Ghajini 3 Idiots Peepli Live Jaane tu ya Jaane na

Movie Budget (in crores) 125 55 30 50-60 35 10 8

Marketing Budget (in crores) 40 25 12 14 15 4 4 11

% spends 32% 45% 40% 42% 40% 50%

digital media is a very important medium for promotions and finds a special position in the marketing plans of upcoming movies. The sheer number of people that you can reach out on a YouTube or a Facebook is immense. Facebook has more than 500 million active users and half of them are logged in on any given day. This has been acknowledged to be the future of film marketing and has gained immense popularity in the recent days. Some of the promotional methods have also been criticized as those which build up false controversies among the people involved in the star cast to gather some cheap mileage for the film. Showing sleaze and cheesy dialogues have also found their fair share of opposition. But as some of the marketers would have it, be it good or bad, its publicity that matters in the end. Even if it leaves a bad taste with the audience, the curiosity that it arouses is what brings the masses to the theatres and sets the cash registers ringing. Marketing at present is an inherent part of movie making. The producers and PR Teams are on the job as soon as the film goes on floor. With the recent innovations and the unprecedented success that has come along, it has made everyone in the industry to stand up and take notice. Although a strong script, acting and direction are very critical to a filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success, no one can afford to neglect this aspect of film making. This is something that gives you the edge and makes you stand apart from your contemporaries. A successful campaign can give you the required air-time & eyeballs that eventually get people to the theatres on a Friday. The future of Bollywood Marketing has a lot more in store for us, and we as always are ready and waiting to be blown over by the next storm in Bollywood Marketing.

Reliance says ALL IS WELL

Amir Khan giving the Ghajini cut

? Kartik Parmeshwar MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

Our great leader, Mahatma Gandhi, had once said, “The heart of India lies in its villages”. How conglomerates have finally paid heed to the father of the nation is a study in itself. With 70% of Indian population residing in the rural areas, the markets of these areas are presumable goldmines for industries to bank upon. To establish the credibility of this fact, we can take a look at some figures. Mckinsey Global Institute predicts that by 2017, spending capability of rural India will be equivalent to that of urban India in 2008. The total market size in rural India for goods including automobiles, FMCG goods and others is estimated to be around Rs. 12,300 billion. With nearly 50% population less or equal to the age of 20, it automatically turns into a vast future potential for companies to invest upon. Government of India has also done its part by focusing on development of rural areas, especially in areas of poverty and infrastructure. This has also led to a rise in the literacy level in rural population and increased demand for goods and durables. With so many positive factors luring the manufacturers to increase their customer base, substantial growth has not yet been achieved in rural markets. This is on account of many excruciating reasons, primarily the three Ds specified by Mr. Bose, Vice-President, O&M India – Distance, Diversity and Dispersion. The characteristics and the impact points of rural consumers are considerably different from urban populace. The economic prowess of rural consumers comes mainly from primary activities like agriculture, limiting their buying power when compared to the services and manufacturing industry thriving urban consumers. Apart from this, infrastructural and service issues deeply affect the rural markets. For example,

limited amount of electricity supply act as blockades for manufacturers of electrical equipments. Unavailability of basic infrastructure such as roads, poor credit facilitation and improper storage facilities also act as hindrances for marketers. But as the saying goes, challenges give birth to innovation. And with each challenge, new solutions are being thought of to find the fortune at the base (rural markets) of the pyramid (Indian consumers) [from Mr. C.K.Prahlad’s paper, Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, published in 2007] To tap the markets of rural India, marketers might need to break from the local conventions of marketing and look towards newer methodologies of understanding the rural consumer patterns and creating a bond with them. One such technique has been suggested by Dr. Dixit in his paper in the journal Zenith, titled “Competitive and Innovative Marketing Strategies for tapping vast rural potential in India”. In his paper, Dr. Dixit has talked about replacing the 4Ps of marketing with 4As – Acceptability, Affordability, Awareness and Availability. His paper talks about the innovations of companies to bring out products that cater the needs of the rural population in various aspects. If one takes a closer look, one can see various innovative

strategies that were designed by firms and enterprises to specifically target the consumers of rural markets. Philips created the Power Free Radio, run through mechanical twitching of coil instead of battery or electricity. The product saved the monthly cost of batteries incurred by households and garnered popularity amongst the rural consumers. Pharmaceutical companies have taken initiatives to provide services to rural India, source of 21% revenue generated in pharmaceutical sector in India.

TATA Ace is a hit in rural areas

A few mentionable services are ‘Prayas’ by Sanofi and ‘Arogya Parivar’ by Novartis, trying to teach the people about health care and providing medicines at subsidised rates. ITC’s eChoupal, though in the market for some time now, was a pioneer innovation. By removing middlemen from the supply distribution, it helped the farmers procure their rightful profits and gain more knowledge about the consumers and keep up with the latest in agricultural developments. Sometime ago, CavinKare Pvt. Ltd. came out with a shampoo ‘Chik’, priced at HP Rasoi Ghar—where Rs 0.50 per 8 ml sachet rural women cook, and against the normal price of Rs. 2.50 per 8 ml sachet. socialize The affordability quotient alone helped Chik lead the shampoo market in rural markets. This year, a new VAS which helps people in rural areas create resumes and allow firms to search for required personnel, revolutionized the rural market. Tata Ace was modelled to provide effective transportation in rural markets as well. Advertising in regional languages also allows for better communication with people of the rural parts. Another problem which many companies are tackling with innovation is the distribution model. With villages dispersed throughout the country, firms like HUL and CocaCola have created new models to reach the rural markets. HUL joined hands various banks and financial institutions

for joint distribution. It constantly makes the use of mobile vans and using local entertainment plays like Lavani in Maharashtra to promote its products in villages. Coca-Cola fortnightly distributes to large distributors who in turn distribute Coke to small distributors weekly, additionally providing ice-boxes to compensate for unavailability of refrigeration. SBI and Bharti Airtel are also collaborating to achieve more distribution. These are but a few examples of the improvements in marketing approach by companies to reach out to the rural consumers. And the innovations will continue on because these enterprises have understood the importance of rural markets. With stagnant markets in urban population, already marred by degrading economy, the continuous rise of standards in rural India, accounting for 56% of nation’s income, has attracted firms towards its market capabilities. But to really tap the potential of rural India, corporations need deeper understanding of the nature and behaviour of the rural consumer. The rural and urban people of India are like chalk and cheese. Marketers will have to go Solar Lanterns have great deep and bring out fortifying potential in rural areas changes in order to capture markets in rural India. The huge competition makes it all the more tougher and interesting. With such potential at stake, the companies that comprehend the mindsets of rural people will claim the profits along with the faith of rural India. The times and innovations-they-are-a-changing!!

Gaurav Bajaj MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

Avery Dennison is a global manufacturer and distributor of pressure sensitive adhesive materials (display graphics, retail graphics, embellishments, RFID tags etc.), office products and other paper products. Mr. Rishi Pardal currently leads and manages the results for Avery Dennisonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Retail Brand and Information Solutions Division across India, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka and Pakistan. Prior to this, he has headed top positions at Hindustan Unilever and Marico and brings a very rich and diverse experience to the table. He has a lot of experience in leading teams and managing business results across countries in South Asia. He has spent a lot of time in creating new businesses and managing existing ones.

Throughout your career you have been in different places, from South India to even Bangladesh. Do the same management principles apply to all these regions or do you need to tweak them region-wise? In my opinion, the principles always remain the same, but how they manifest themselves and how you apply them may change. For example, the fact that you need to lead your team with a certain degree of empathy remains the same, but what that empathy actually means in South India as compared to Bangladesh changes. In South India when you want to talk to people and build consensus, there is a very strong need to use much of your left-brain for thinking, to use logic and data. But in Bangladesh, it is more important about how you maintain relationships, patting people on their back, leading them through passion and all that. So basically the principle remains the same, but the manifestation is very different. And I guess when you walk across cities and states and cultures, you realize that as a leader, how many different styles you need to bring to the party to actually deliver the same basic thing. So in my mind, going back to your question, I don’t think the principles ever change.

You have worked in many important positions, earlier you were managing brands, then exports, and now you are an MD, so how important is “ethical compliance” in the running of the different conglomerates you worked with? I am very fortunate to have worked with companies and businesses that are 100% ethical. And when I say 100%, I have, through personal experience, arrived at the conclusion, that the only way to run a large business over a long period in a sustainable fashion is by being ethical. The moment you slip up even once, that is when you end up being in a position where there is no looking back, because you slip up, then your subordinate slips up, and then his subordinate slip up, and you are unable to draw the line anywhere. And once you slip up on an easy way to solve a problem, you would never ever be able to take the hard road ever again. We unfortunately live in environments that are extremely susceptible to being unethical, and where everybody expects everyone else to slip up just a little. If you really want to send the right message to others, you yourself have to be compliant 100% of the time, because the person who saw that slippage of yours will never take it for granted that you are ethical. It’s no longer a choice and more and more companies are discovering that. For example, you have the Bribery Act in the UK, the Foreign Corruption Prevention Act in the USA. So it’s become more of a compliance need. For others, it’s a way of doing business. They sometimes have to bear losses that are many times over the cost of being ethical. Then there are some who would not make a false claim in the market even for gaining a large market share. I’ve seen companies take millions of dollars in losses rather than pay a few hundred dollar as bribe. But those are choices that you have to make and somewhere down the line it spurs the entire organization to work harder, smarter and really take care of being ethical. It gets especially hard to work ethically in South Asia. But the best thing is that ethical guys can go home, look anyone in the eye and still feel great.

Can you cite a few instances or experiences in your career that shaped your management mindset and gave you a better view of the world. From a management standpoint, I have always believed in unleashing the power of teams. Wherever I go, I always spend a lot of time building the team I would like to work with. That is never easy, because you have to find the right talent, retain them and you also have to learn to work with different operating styles of different people. So, I feel that putting people first and building that team spirit is absolutely critical. It allows me to run different businesses that I may not have had any experience of running, especially the technical knowledge of running it. Acquiring and working with people who are experts in their own domain and by building that as a cohesive and unidirectional effort, I think that has provided rich dividends in my career. The other thing I truly believe in is the ethical way of doing business, because I don’t think there is any other way if you wish to be sustainable in the long run and earn the respect of society. The third thing, in the entire dichotomy of the world today between whether an organization needs to be functional or business oriented, I’ve always made choices that have taken me more on the general management business part rather than keeping me on the functional part. But that’s more of a personal choice.

The final thing from my experience is that I like to be in places where I can have fun while learning, in places where my passion lies, because otherwise it is not really worth it. That’s a fundamental principle in any company. Do you think there are any fundamental differences between innovative practices and strategies between B2B and B2C companies? I feel there is a different level of innovation, whichever company you are in. There is a different level of innovation in a consumer focussed company along-with a different route to market that you follow. That is very different in a B2B company. However, the fundamentals are still all the same. In a consumer focussed company, you see a combination of innovation, advertising and distribution reach to make innovative products and communicate the same to customers. In a B2B organization, you see a similar level of innovation towards moving customer up the value chain, but the ingredients of the combination are in different levels. From an operational standpoint, it’s about manufacturing products at lower costs for both, distributing them at maximum efficiency, managing working capital in the best way. So the fundamentals are the same to a good extent and that is what allows professionals to migrate between companies. In general management, it’s all about how you assess the organization, assess the problem and then create a response. Finally it’s all about execution. One of my key learnings is that nowadays a lot of firms talk about “strategy” in a general sense. But the difference that they produce in their results is because of the quality of their execution. I once did an experiment in which I took the strategy presentations of some of the world’s leading companies, removed their brand logos and specific nomenclature, and I found that the core content is very similar. Everybody would talk of developing markets, supply chain efficiency, moving consumers up the value chain, BOP, innovations etc. So in the end, what differentiates these companies is their execution.

You are an MBA grad from IIFT. So what, in your view, are the key takeaways for any MBA grad from his two-year course? I don’t know how it is now on campus, but in my time the pressure on academics was not that high. There was great emphasis on project work. Now you could view that as an opportunity to chill out, or an opportunity to learn. For me, the best thing IIFT gave me was the space to be as entrepreneurial as I wanted. Projects gave me a chance to connect with embassies, companies, and people and through that network I was able to run projects for people outside the campus, do business research, conduct small training deals. This opened up an entire new world. All this was possible due to the low academic pressure. The power of IIFT was in the space given to its students. Another thing was that with the diversity of students, we expected a lot of back-biting during placement season, but surprisingly we maintained a good code of conduct, helping each other out in distress. After so many years we managed to carry forward a lot of connections and relationships. The way we helped each other out was very revealing and I cherish that a lot. You were always on a mission to prove that you are as worthy as the others and that energized us all. So no you have a lot of IIFTians reaching senior positions in firms like Unilever. The raw material is there and so, again, everything depends on the execution. Any other fond memories from IIFT that you still remember? There are a lot of fond memories. As a campus it offers you the space and time to choose what you want to do. It’s just like life where you can choose your pace, whether you wish to run a treadmill or walk in a park. IIFT has got a great reputation and enough clout. So, my take is to enjoy yourself while you are there, use whatever is available to you rather than crib about what is not. Trust me, at the end of the day, after all my experience of working with teams from other big institutes of the world, I honestly didn’t see much difference.

Raman Arora MBA(IB) 2011-13 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

Nitin Krishna Menon MBA(IB) 2011-13 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

Do you see Flipkart as competition as they are also venturing into mobile phones and accessories etc and you said that in tier2/3 cities a lot of people purchase mobile phones etc off the net? So is Flipkart a threat for you? Everyone is competition for us, yet no one is competition for us, the way we look at it. What we worry about most is not who the competitor is but what you as a customer, when you come on the website, want; and our end goal is to try and ensure that we showcase what you want. So in the process we are showcasing something that other websites are also showcasing then it is certainly competition. Do you face issues when you feature competing merchants on your site, for example you have schemes for both Pizza hut and Dominos who are competitors, and do you face any problems from the merchant side in this regard? When you go to a mall there is a food court, there you see a Dominos and Pizza Hut. At the end of the day it is the customer who wins. If I show only one brand that the consumers do not like then it is not that the consumers are going to pick you since no one else is showcased. If you are good with your services you will in any case win. Snapdeal is a company with a very young workforce. So in the process does it happen that you end up offering products and services that cater majorly to the youth, people who are net friendly? In our consumer profiling people who are 45+ constitute about 8-10% of our customer base. While we are a very young company we try and ensure we offer products that all age groups would want, a mobile phone is used by a 24 year old and a 45 year old, while there are specific packages that attract older age groups there are also specific packages which attract younger age groups. For example if there is a trip to Bhutan for five days then people who are slightly older tend to buy that package but if it is a tattoo offer than younger people will opt for it. Is Snapdeal looking at venturing into the real estate space say some scheme where if 30-40 people opt for a promotion in real estate space they get a discount? We are not a group buying website. We were never a group buying website. We always said that even if one guy buys it, the offer is valid. We are just a platform facilitating demands to supply. If we realize that consumers are looking for real estate discovery on the web and if we can line up supply of some particular thing then we might venture into it. It will never be like if 30 people will buy only then will we offer it. IPL is starting up in a couple of days, do you have any activations lined up for it? (Laughs) That is interesting, but we havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t thought about anything yet. IPL has become very expensive, so totally not worth it. Activations around IPL might not be there. But we might have a lot of offers for a lot of places that do IPL screening etc. Any guidance for aspiring marketers? If you ask me there is no one simple formula that works for everyone. What worked for us might not work for someone else. Also speed is very important so if there is an intention or idea to do something then now is the time whether you are forty or eighteen. Interview taken by Brandwagon â&#x20AC;&#x201D;The Marketing Club of IIFT.

MakeMyTrip.com and Yatra.com are two popular Travel websites in India who offer comfort of booking railway, airline, bus & hotel tickets with just a click of mouse from your home. Both have adapted to changing needs of market and have taken some innovative steps in offering their product and services. Let's have a look at both these companies vis-Ă -vis their strategies, promotions etc. Indian aviation sector has been hitting air pockets for quite some time; thanks to 30-40% rise in air fares and low inventory of aircraft. As a result; growth of Air ticket booking dipped from 70% last year to mere 9% this year. Both these companies offer Rail and Bus booking services; but their main revenue component comes from aviation sector. With aviation sector in big turmoil; both these companies have no option but to diversify in new product lines. This might be a decision taken under compulsion but could prove to be a blessing in disguise; since crisis too have a life cycle. With focus on Hotels; Makemytrip has adopted innovative

strategy and now offering some very interesting products like International Car Rentals, Self Drive cars, Beach Fest, Trip Along etc besides connecting travelers to various

NGOs under Social Responsibility program. 'Trip Along' indeed is a unique product wherein a traveler is informed about his/her Facebook or Linkedin friend traveling in the same flight and if traveler wishes he/she can choose a seat next to him. This feature is further extended to meet to your friend at airport or even in the city you are visiting. MakeMyTrip has also launched a Carbon Footprint green initiative, which allows. - air passengers booking tickets on the website to offset their carbon footprint for the journey by contributing towards an aforestation program run under the aegis of GiveIndia by Seva Mandir in Rajasthan. Yatra on the other hand is set on an acquisition. Yatra has so far acquired 4 companies. After the acquisition of Travel Services International (TSI) in

October 2010 and Buzzintown in Early 2011, Yatra has acquired Travelguru recently. As a result Yatra has access to Travelguru's hotel partners and agents. The other acquisition of MagicRooms by Yatra further adds to its inventory of over 3,000 hotels across India. As such Yatra provides reservation facility for more than 3,800 hotels across 336 cities in India and over 90,000 hotels around the world. With such a good back up; Yatra.com has launched various holiday packages such as Explore India, Monsoon Mania, Book now & pay in 3 EMI etc. Yatrais also offering end-to -end travel services for groups traveling to any domestic or International destination for corporate meetings, conferences, exhibitions, team building off-sites. In fact there is an impressive list of product under the heading Corporate, Deals. Despite so many variants of good product to offer; both these Makemytrip Memories Unlimited Ads companies shall have to brace themselves for challenges from various new comers like 'Mast Holiday', 'JoGuru' etc. The water; no doubt; is going to be more turbulent and interesting. As a proactive measure; Yatra and Makemytrip both have escalated their marketing a level high to TV ads. Yatra has roped in film star Salman khan offering cheapest deal, and added a new feature 'Low Fare Alert' on their website. Makemytrip on the other hand has roped in Draftfcb+Ulka to create their latest ad "Jo dikhega wohi Milega" for promoting Hotel Booking Services. The film shot in Singapore

with lead character played by Manoj Pahwa has been quite successful in conveying the message about dubious deal v/s fair and transparent deals in Hotel Booking, which Makemytrip promise to offer. However it's too early to see how much territory it can carve out from the kingdom of Sterling holidays, Club Mahindra, Cox and kings, Ezee Go1, Culture Holidays, .Kingfisher Holidays, Travel Masti, Kesari etc. Let us now take a look at website interface of both these companies. Yatra opens with default month wise Air Fare calendar that gives entire month's fares at one glance; the same feature in Makemytrip comes on screen after clicking a link. Similarly Yatra have two very distinct and well demarcated platform for Domestic and International Bookings, the same feature in Makemytrip comes after clicking a link. Makemytrip website is quite clumsy and locating a required Salman Khan promoting link is not instant. Why highYatra.com light '100% Money back guarantee' five times on a small space. The website really deserves some rework as regard to accessibility of features is concerned. Last but not the least, if both these companies wish to maintain lead; they have to introduce a suitable customer feedback system which is linked to MIS of the Top Management for their monitoring. This would help management understand quality level of their services and make them understand the areas of improvement. They may introduce a suitable award for best suggestion and feedback.

Nivedita Singh Great Lakes Institute of Management

Imagine you are walking down the street after a long day of work, in an unfamiliar city and suddenly take out your phone ,read something ,take a left turn to enter a café ,give some more attention to phone, choose what you going to order, get a notification, a big smile on lips , place the order and get a discount. This may look familiar to some in this exponentially growing age of mobile applications and their increased penetration in our way of life. Restaurants remain the good old restaurants but in this case aided by Foursquare – a location based social networking tool. If one is unfamiliar about the place, wants a dine-in or cafe recommended by friends or see the tips on a particular meal in that restaurant ,get a newbie or a loyalty bonus ,then this whole issue has been addressed by Foursquare enabling restaurants market themselves based on the ‘word of mouth’ or ‘tweet from phone’ in this case. This mode of marketing where repeated check-ins to a restaurant are awarded by automatic discounts and badges is becoming popular to give an edge to restaurants availing this. ‘Zomato’ based in India has also emerged as a platform which helps restaurants set up a more concrete brand value as good restaurants. Restaurants names are established through customer reviews on its portal as these are generally exhaustive spread the good or bad word about that restaurant. It facilitates a detailed updated menu with special discount coupons for Zomato users .Recently, it has also tapped into the market of mobile applications to target the ‘on-the-go’ customers.

Walking further down the lane of restaurant marketing, being innovative has become the need of the hour to not get lost in the crowd of just another café or fine dining. Theme restaurants are recently seen to be sprouting out in an exponential

Coffin themed restaurant in Ukraine

curve. In Taiwan, some have gone all the way extreme to be a coffin restaurant where the environment is similar to hell and furniture is in the shape of coffins or demon island which uses prison as a theme. Though being innovative in how you position yourself in market does not guarantee increased sales but it does drive others to think beyond ordinary. Coffin themed food in Taiwan

the good or bad word about that restaurant. It facilitates a detailed updated menu with special discount coupons for Zomato users .Recently, it has also tapped into the market of mobile applications to target the ‘on-the-go’ customers. Innovation in services marketing in food and restaurants can be seen in case of Starbucks - one of the most successful and admired companies. Starbucks has never resorted to the classical approach of marketing like on a billboard or newspaper. It employs the unconventional word of mouth via social media strategies. It has developed its marketing strategies around its target customer rather than its products. It has strived to make Starbucks like a third place after home and office offering them the relaxing experience. Viral marketing strategy has also been used via pervasive social media presence, connecting with people and urging them to share their experiences. ’Word of mouth’ is very

Apple offers not just great products, but also a great experience in it’s Apple Stores mart has reinvented marketing by blowing up the myth that company needs to do good works and giving out money to be considered as socially responsible one. Walmart has woven its good social intentions with an aim to maximize revenue and profit. It decided to sell 100 million compact fluorescent bulbs and held a ‘light bulb’ summit for manufactures and challenged them to increase production. With such increased production, price of environment friendly fluorescent bulbs decreased to match the conventional; hence people were motivated to replace theirs. . In case of fluorescent bulbs, when it did the calculations, it was not based on the emotions of people that were attached but related to the tangible costs and operations. This emphasized the point that CSR is more about following good business practices rather than just giving out the alms. Innovation is more effective when it can relate to the service it is marketing .It may focus on the core strength or

Airtel has a plethora of VAS for it’s customers strong tool which when tapped at apt time can strengthen the brand value immensely. In this age of technology, incorporating it in any industry has become indispensable. Even in restaurant industry use of technology has come as an innovative strategy. In Chicago , Chicago Cut steakhouse started using I-pads for wine -selection by customers .It has partnered with a technology firm to customize an application that looks like a virtual wine cellar. The application lists the restaurant's wines, shows photographs of bottles on wooden shelves and gives option for searches based on variety, price or region of origin. Customers can also access information about a wine's taste, composition and a Google map of the vineyard. Though incorporating technology resulted in increased expenses but this restaurant has seen 20% increase of wine intake per customer. In today’s world, companies indulge in marketing their services in the disguise of corporate social responsibility. Wal-

An airline well known for it’s fun way of working

any value add to the core. These days, innovation has become the norm to stand out in the crowd .Hence, main focus has now shifted on how well that can be implemented and how the customer connects with it or how relevant it is to them. There have been infusions of green marketing and social marketing in the main stream giving the whole idea of innovation a new meaningful purpose. But the purpose remains the same: to do something different to remain on top of the minds of company loyalists as well as prospects. As in the flight from Helsinki to Delhi, the Finnish aircrew broke into an impromptu act of Bollywood song and dance on the occasion of India’s 63rd Republic day, it added the spice in the flight experience and established a recall value.

It’s a Bank !! It’s a Café !! No, Wait… It’s Both !!!

Akanksha Garg MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

You all must have noticed some unusual-looking square

era equipped Smartphone with a QR code reader applica-

boxes appearing in print publications and advertisements.

tion like QR droid and an internet connection. Just keep

These 2D matrix barcodes are called QR Codes, or Quick

the device pointing on the QR code by using the app

Response Codes that contain a lot of information in a

which scans the QR code, decodes it and translates it.

small graphic. QR Codes are similar to the standard bar

Once the code has been scanned then it takes you to the

codes that currently appear on all types of consumer

desired location where the QR code wants you to go.

products, except QR codes can contain much more infor-

That is why people say it the mode of fun and fast infor-

mation than traditional barcodes. QR codes can be practi-

mation.

cally placed anywhere. They are now visible in magazines,

In recent years, QR codes have slipped into the marketing

billboards, moving vehicles, websites and even on TV.

mainstream. For marketers, they have been used to bridge

The new trend has been use of QR codes on your visiting

the gap between the online and the offline worlds. It also

cards and even on CVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Some placements obviously

acts as one of the touch points to measure the visibility of

work better than others. These codes have been widely

the campaigns and analyze the user interactions Accord-

used in Japan and Europe in recent years, but are only

ing to a survey done by Forrester, a research firm, more than three-quarters of American online retailers are using them. As it could be seen in chart 1 that Smartphone users who have at least scanned a QR code once is on the rise and Japan is the destination where most of the people are using this technology, thanks to a lot of discount promotions being given by companies in the form of QR codes. The various uses for which the QR codes have been used for the target audiences have been given in chart2.Majority of the people have been using them for

now starting to gain use with marketers in the United

the product information.

States and even in India. By 2015, smartphones will be the

Advantages of Using QR Codes - User Convenience â&#x20AC;&#x201C; QR Codes provide a convenient one-step process for directing users to a

primary enabler for consumer shopping (Nielsen2011). In 2016, about 90 percent of all mobiles will be smartphones. Just about any type of organization can use QR Codes in their marketing materials. Whether youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a retail business, a nonprofit organization, a membership association or educational institution, if a portion of your target audiences use smartphones then a QR Code can be a great way to differentiate yourself and reach people in new ways. How it works? The basic thing that you need to scan a QR code is a cam-

QR Usage Charts from The Economist

website, phone number, directions, promotions or other information

QR codes in Olympics McDonald’s has put QR codes on all food packaging items that are being sold at its Olympics Park venue during the London Olympics which allows the customers to have the nutritional information about its products

- Environmentally-Friendly – No trees were cut while making a QR code - Cost-Effective – QR codes can be created online for free - Versatile – QR Codes can be integrated with a wide range of marketing materials for just about any purpose, including print collateral, outdoor display and direct mail - Device Independent – QR code scanners are easily available on all platforms like I-phone and android - Measurable – easily the reach and the campaign awareness levels can be measured - Competitive Differentiation –they are still at a very nascent stage in India, could be one of the most

Turkish Airlines has transformed 73 national country flags into QR codes and placed them on 94 digital bus shelters in London. The fans are encouraged to scan these QR codes as they wait to catch a bus and the one with maximum check-ins wins a round trip for two among one of the destinations

important factors in strategic marketing in future. Example of QR codes usage in marketing In South Korea, where Tesco has installed interactive billboards at subways and bus stops. The billboards display a range of groceries, which commuters can buy and have delivered to their home later by scanning the QR codes pictured beneath them Volkswagen launched a campaign to promote its line of commercial vans- Crafter. In the campaign a huge structure with a QR code was made with actual boxes of oranges. When people scanned it, they would be directed to a video of how these boxes would fit inside a Crafter. After this promotion, Crafter increased brand awareness by 224% and sales by 70% Car-maker Ford deployed QR codes for its hatchback model Ford Figo when it was launched in India in which all the leading newspapers had the QR code along with the print ad of the car The QR codes for the applications like Instagram and Angry Birds takes you directly to download the app which shows ad creativity and self-explanatory promotion of the apps themselves

Divyang Thakur MBA(IB) 2011-13 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

When a banyan tree’s branches reach the ground, they start to function as its roots as well, all acting as its source for nutrition. Dabur exemplifies it perfectly, ironically just as the logo suggests. Its five master brands: Dabur - Ayurvedic healthcare products, Vatika - Premium hair care, Hajmola - Tasty digestives, Réal - Fruit juices & beverages, Fem - Fairness bleaches & skin care products are its pillars of success. Built on a legacy of quality, commitment and experience of over 125 years, Dabur is one of the leading FMCG companies of the world. One of the pivotal reasons for its glory lies in the trust it shares with its customers. A classic example of a family owned business being handed over to professionals, Dabur, with its timely strategic decision making to adapt to the business environment has held strong brand equity over the years. It has infact, expanded its international market and has a growing presence in over 50 countries. It also had subsidiaries established in Nepal, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Pakistan. DIL, earlier known to the public as an Ayurvedic company repositioned itself as a herbal FMCG company. This helped them to tap the youth segment which covers 70% of the market. Additionally, the herbal market was booming, and showed huge potential. In fact, in 2004-05, the old banyan tree was replaced with the new one which suggested a unique combination of growth, energy, freshness and even stability depicted in its strong trunk. ‘Celebrating Life’- truly captured its essence. DIL is present across market segments with a diversified product portfolio and has grown at a CAGR of 14.6%. There is a school of thought which believed that a few champion brands leads to sustainable margins in comparison to a line of products. But Dabur’s strategy has always been different from the very beginning. Their functioning doesn’t depend on the size of the individual product but rather the brands. And thus they shifted from an umbrella strategy to a Key Brand strategy dividing their products

under their five master brands. In fact in order to reach out to different target segments, they had introduced product extensions such as Coolers, Real Activ and Real Juniors. Moreover, one litre of cooler was priced at Rs. 50 and this was 15% cheaper that it’s other premium product Real which targets higher income people. Thus, they had a differentiating pricing policy which aided them to survive with the slew of competitors in the market. Hajmola, one of the strongest brands in Dabur’s portfolio, was launched in 1978. Its tag line for years - Chatpata swad, jhatpat aaram, (tastes good, provides instant relief) describes the product’s utility succinctly. Over the years, the brand moved away from its ayurvedic role to that of a mild digestive product carrying a younger image. The brand has slowly evolved as well, now being available in pouches other than glass bottles and has extended itself to candy and other forms of digestives. DIL also unleashed a marketing blitz across the country through beauty pageants, singing contests and model hunts in order to penetrate the rural market. Since its strength has always been in Northern India, it aimed to capture the rural markets by focusing on five core North Indian states, namely UP, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan and MP for promotion. An extremely different strategy adopted by the company includes its unique mix of organic and inorganic routes in order to fuel growth. Organically, it started catering to the southern parts of the country which were untapped earlier. An innovative way to drive their sales ahead was by rechristening brands in local languages like Tamil and creating special customized products for them. On the inorganic growth front, the company acquired the Balsara group of companies in 2005. The acquired toothpaste business balanced the oral care products port

folio as Dabur's sales came from the northern and the eastern parts of the country while Balsara's were from the southern and the western parts of the country. Dabur India also bought US-based hair care company Namaste Laboratories and its three subsidiaries for $100 million. It enjoys significant market positions in many countries in Africa, Middle East, Europe and USA. Dabur was able to get easy access to all these markets which worked out extremely beneficial for them. In 2010, it acquired three personal care products firms of Turkey's Hobi Kozmetik Group (which is a market leader in the hair gel category) for $69 million, boosting its presence in the international markets. The organization strongly believes in IT acting as an important business enabler. Infact, with 350 users on the network, Daburâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IT has India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Dubai, Egypt, Nigeria, Turkey and the United States, on the cloud. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the few companies that leverage the benefits of not one, but two ERP systems, by streamlining its primary distribution system and logistics. What sets Dabur apart is its ability to adapt to change and be upfront to take up new initiatives. Having held a strong position for the past 125 years, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s known for its trustworthiness, quality and its herbal platform, in which lies its true essence.

Amanpreet Kalra MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

It started in April 1990 as the consumer products division of the Bombay Oil Industries Limited and today it reaches over 25 countries across India, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa through more than 3.3 million outlets. It was once a mere coconut oil manufacturer and today is one of the leading Indian Consumer Products & Services Company, in the Beauty and Wellness space. Marico Industries Limited, over the past two years, has captured inorganic growth opportunities to spread its base across geographies. The company follows a strategy of developing localized products, entering new categories, and growing through acquisitions. It has acquired two hair care brands in Egypt, Fiancee and Haircode, thereby gaining control of 50% of the country’s hair care market. Further, it has acquired three soap brands in Bangladesh and Derma Rx in Singapore to expand its presence abroad. Its acquisition of Paras personal care business from England’s Reckitt Benckiser Group would give it access to brands like Set Wet, Livon and Zatak, ranked amongst top three in respective categories, allowing it to address the grooming needs of the youth. Marico has positioned itself on the beauty and wellness platform and caters to hair care, health care, and skin care. Its brands include Parachute, Nihar, Hair & Care, and Fiancee in hair care, Saffola, and Ingwe in health care and Kaya in skin care. Marico has maintained its dominant market position through strong product and brand portfolio. Here’s a look at the product mix and the strategies behind them:

The Saffola range of refined oils operates in premium niche of the refined edible oil market with a market share of about 58.2% during the FY12. Saffola oils and its 4 variants - Gold, Active, Tasty and New, are expected to reach about 2.5 million households of the 21.4 million SEC A/B people across India. Lately, it has emerged as a healthy lifestyle brand with food options for all meals, and not just oils, from the ‘Cholestrol management Atta’ to the bran rich ‘Arise’. Encouraged by the reception Saffola oats got last year (14% market value) it launched savory variants of oats in Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well. Parachute is the world's largest coconut oil brand and enjoys strong customer loyalty in urban, semi-urban and rural sectors. The Advansed Starz* with vitamin shakti is a favourite amongst children. The Advansed Hot Oil’s deep conditioning before shampoo caters to the young audience who like to wash the oil off. The New Advanced Scalp Therapy with Active Protein Complex appeals to the middle aged, and the Advansed Cooling oil gives relief from headaches and stress. All these have grown the overall hair oil franchise by bringing specificity and creating more occasions for use. Parachute was extended to various new generation hair care products such as Parachute Advansed Body lotion hair creams like Parachute Aftershower Hair Cream followed by Parachute Aftershower Anti-Dandruff hair cream provided the experience of a new age grooming product and were very well received.

Kaya offers skin care solutions, technology-led cosmetic dermatological services and products through 107 clinics worldwide. Its turnover of INR 279 Crore in FY13 can be attributed to the strategy of introducing regular skin care services at affordable price points to serve as traffic generators. Kaya has consciously made a shift in its positioning from “cure” to “cure care”, moving from expert solution provider for skincare problems to personal guide for total skin care, and women surely ‘love what they see’. Nihar Naturals is the market leader of East India offering perfumed coconut, almond and cooling oils. Nihar Shanti Amla continues to gain on the back of disruptive pricing and has achieved a volume market share of about 18.6% in the Amla hair oils category for the 12 months ended March 2012. Revive powder when launched in 1993, created a market of its own to be replaced by a more versatile revive liquid in 2007. Mediker, acquired by Marico in 1999 from Procter & Gamble, has transformed lice removal into a painless activity with a wash-off or oil format. Manjal is a regional soap brand acquired in 2006 with a specific set of loyal consumers in Kerala. Adapting to the changing markets across countries, Marico has continued to leverage local consumer insights. Here are some examples of its Strategies in the last one year: In the Middle East, Marico just launched a new range of hair oils and Hammam Zait under Parachute Secrets. Playing on age old tradition and the belief amongst Arab women about the hair nourishingproperties of certain ingredients. To counter the challenges of inflation and cost push in power and fuel in South East Asia, a 360-degree surround PR, including a digital campaign, outdoor visibility and merchandising for the new 4-Step X-Men campaign saw increase in its market share to 47%. Code 10 responded well to the brand re-stage in Malaysia and to leverage on the potential for male hair styling products, range extensions lave been launched. Inspite of the inflationary situation in South Africa, Marico’s representation in the VFM segment through Black Chic capitalized on down-trading with Caivil-Just for Kids consolidating its leadership, the turnover for FY12 crossed the INR 100 crore mark. Marico has been doing remarkably well in this intensely competitive and highly fragmented industry, but there are certain risks that must be kept at bay. These include: vulnerability to the hardening copra prices, Appreciation of rupee against Egyptian pound, Bangladeshi taka and other international currencies, greater than expected inflation and competition from key competitors like Agro Tech Foods Limited, Dabur India Limited, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, United-Guardian, Inc., and Amar Remedies Ltd etc. However, if the company manages to keep the risks under check, the scenario is

an optimistic one. The Indian FMCG market size exceeds USD 33.4 billion and has grown at ~17% in the last 5 years. It is poised to grow 3.6 times between 2010 and 2020. Growing GDP, evolving customer life styles, growing urbanization and increasing level of incomes are opening up opportunities for the FMCG sector both in rural and urban areas. With modernization, exposure to beauty and fashion trends, favorable demographics, increase in the number of retail chains and supermarkets coming up, the demand for the Marico products and services is bound t o i n c r e a s e . In such a scenario, Marico should explore the options of online retail, thereby share the cost advantage with end customers by eliminating the middlemen and continuing to focus on new product innovations which help the company create competitive advantage and build brand equity.

Divya Kalsi MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

Kellogg India is a 100 percent subsidiary of Kellogg Company USA, and is the largest player in the Indian breakfast cereal market. The brand name Kellogg's is synonymous with the Cornflakes category in India. Kellogg's forayed into India in 1995 trying to change the breakfast habit of the Indian consumer and initially didn’t have as much success as it had hoped for. The basic reason being its competitors - a very low-priced and traditional breakfast Industry competition which included Hot milk, Idli, Dosa, Parantha etc. In fact, Kellogg's found a place in the book 'Brand Failures'. However, Kellogg’s took on the “Think globally, Act locally” strategy to customize its products the Indian way.

brand names such as Iron Shakti and Calcium Shakti. To expand their customer base, Kpaks (Rs.10 packs) were launched in 2010. Recently Kellogg has come out with a campaign that says that its corn flakes are very good for people who want to lose weight and has repositioned corn flakes as diet food. Kellogg's is targeting everyone in the family (except elders) with a special offering with breakfast options for different target segments. A notable example would be the Special K which is targeted at women. The very use of the word “Special” gives that extra appeal and connects with the female gender. And Kellogg’s has kept its promise by making the product personalised and special. Their dedicated website www.specialk.com, gives each woman a specialised goal, plan and challenge under the “My Special K” section besides signing Lara Dutta as brand ambassador.

Transforming the Indian breakfast cereal market: When Kellogg Company entered India, the per capita consumption of breakfast cereals was a low 2 gm per annum against 5 kg per annum globally. In a market not used to processed foods and low awareness on calorie requirements, Kellogg India has contributed to the rapid growth of the breakfast cereal market in the country. Taking a leaf out of Maggi’s “2-minute noodles”, Kellogg’s came out with a supplement positioning campaign which stated that Kellogg corn flakes come in where the Indian breakfast stops. Over time Kellogg India has widened its product portfolio and expanded its range to include Frosties, chocolate-flavoured scoops and taste variants of Corn Flakes. Kellogg India also customized and adapted its products to address the local need gaps and took localized

The Competition: Cornflakes is 80% of the breakfast cereals market and Kellogg's rules the roost here. The other major player in the market is Mohan Meakin. Big super markets have their private labels as well. The competition is priced half of Kellogg's and still is unable to dent the consumers of Kellogg's. This is purely because of the superior quality of Kellogg's.. However, the Oats segment has much more competition though it is much smaller than cornflakes. Pepsi has quaker oats and no presence in

? 31

cornflakes. Marico has Saffola Oats but no cornflakes. Britannia also has Oats and Muesli but no cornflakes and cornflakes is a 400 crore market compared to 80-100 crore of Oats. This reflects the strategy of competitor companies to gain a foothold in new segments rather than taking Kellogg's head on in the cornflakes market. Kellogg's today:

material for India etc. Localising production through its Taloja factory has placed it strategically close to the largest market for breakfast cereals in the country - Mumbai. It has optimised its supply chain by adopting a single sourcing strategy for scale efficiencies and setting up a distribution network with storage hubs in all the key states serving over 200 distributors nationwide. Oracle 11i based ERP has also been deployed to enhance supply chain transparency. India is viewed as a source for managerial and leadership talent. Kelloggâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plans to continue its investment drive to grow the Indian breakfast cereal market.

Strengths of the brand - Kellogg's biggest strength is its brand and quality. It has a wide range where it caters to everyone in the family. Muesli or Oats whatever becomes big tomorrow; Kellogg's will be there to share the spoils. However price may be an issue to watch out for - the price of Kellogg's cornflakes is 100% more than Mohan Meakin. With strong support from its parent, Kellogg India has been able to move forward with brand repositioning, customising products, developing packing

Neeraj S MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

Surely you are familiar with this ring…it is the famed “One Ring to Rule them All” in Lord of the Rings…Do you see “Coca Cola” etched on the side? Not apparent at first. But once you’ve seen it, you’ll probably be thirsty for a coke. That’s exactly what Coke wants ….this is a sample of their subliminal advertising. Coke has been using subliminal advertising for decades. In the 1980s Coca-Cola reintroduced its contour bottle in South Australia with the slogan “Feel the Curves”! The poster ad was recalled after the company discovered the artist had hidden some rather obvious sexual imagery in one of the ice cubes surrounding the bottle of Coke. In yet another episode, Coke featured the silhouette of a naked woman lying on top of its cans. This imagery is not overt, it is meant to touch an individual’s subconscious. The term “subliminal” is derived from the Latin words sub, meaning under, and limen, meaning threshold. A subliminal message is not delivered directly. It is typically embedded in some medium that is not perceptible by the conscious mind. The extent to which these messages influence buying behavior has not yet been established. However, research has shown that on certain occasions signals delivered below the conscious threshold of an individual may have an effect on his later thoughts and actions. Marketers have not let this opportunity go waste. Subliminal marketing practices were experimented with as early as 1957 when a market researcher named James Vicary inserted the

words "Eat Popcorn" and "Drink Coca-Cola" into a movie. The words appeared for a single frame, long enough for the subconscious to pick up, but too short for the viewers to be aware of it. The subliminal ads supposedly increased Coke sales by 18.1% and popcorn sales by 57.8%. It was later proved that these results were probably faked. But what is it that may make subliminal marketing work? One is the mere exposure effect. Simply by exposing a person to certain stimuli for long breeds familiarity and subsequent liking for the stimuli. This is a common strategy for all marketing campaigns that strive to enhance visibility to customers. But in today’s world where we build our defenses against the 10,000 ads we are exposed to everyday, fighting for consumer mind space is a challenge. This is when attacking at a subliminal level emerges as an option. Perhaps the most visible element of a brand is its logo. So why not design logos in such a way that they communicate more than what’s apparently visible? Some companies such as Amazon and FedEx have achieved great success with this strategy. The yellow arrow on Amazon’s logo may not look much more than just a smile on the customer’s face. But there’s also a deeper message embedded in the clever positioning of the arrow running precisely from the letters “a” to “z”.This positioning conveys Amazon’s message that it sells everything from A to Z on its online store. A lesser obvious but brilliant message is hidden in the logo of FedEx. An arrow forms between the letters “E” and “x” that conveys the speed and reliability provided by the courier service.

Apart from logos, advertisements also form a tool for delivering subliminal messages to consumers. Consider the 2000 US presidential race, where TV commercial created by George Bush's campaign team, used this type of subliminal messaging to deride opponent Al Gore. When the phrase 'BUREAUCRATS DECIDE' appeared just after Gore's name was mentioned -- 'RATS' flashed up for a fraction of a second. At such a speed, the bold lettering was scarcely perceptible except to the subconscious mind. In a similar incident in 2007, a Mc Donalds logo, complete with the slogan “I’m loving it” had appeared in a single frame at the end of the show called Food Network's Iron Chef. Similar is the case with Disney, which attempted to use subliminal imagery by making the silhouette of Captain Jack Sparrow in posters closely resemble that of the iconic Mickey Mouse. The idea here was to evoke an emotion for Pirates of the Caribbean, similar to the one for Mickey Mouse.

frames of the word "thirsty" or of a picture of Coke can. In another case, 80% of participants displayed a preference for a particular brand of rum when subliminally primed by the name placed in an ad backwards. On the contrary, research conducted elsewhere has shown that subliminal messages produce only one-tenth of the effects of detected messages. Marketers seem to have given the benefit of doubt to consumers in their attempt to try anything to woo them. In fact, subliminal messaging has not remained confined to visual stimuli. Auditory stimuli have also been used – the best example being self-help audio tapes that claim to have a placebo effect on people with self-esteem and memory disorders. Another evolving domain is Scent Marketing, where firms like food shops use synthetic fragrances to make customers’ mouths water. Few know that new cars do not smell like plastic and metal – they are sprayed with oil or leather fragrance. In fact, fragrances are also used to build brand identification and strong sensory association by hotels like Sheraton and Hyatt. It is on these lines that products like scented socks, CDs, USB sticks and papers have been introduced into the market. Whether or not these hidden messages truly make us crave for stuff, as long as marketers persist in their efforts, having strawberry scented socks is a delightful prospect indeed!

Apart from repeated exposure, what may make subliminal advertising work is their invariable link with sex and power. An unchallenged marketing belief is that “sex sells”. Advertisers use this aspect of human psychology by associating their products with sexy imagery hoping that it appeals to the consumer’s subconscious minds. Ads with sexual implications have been used by many companies, including Burger King and Heineken. Perhaps the best example of subliminal advertising in recent times has been done by Marlboro. Following the ban on advertising tobacco at international sporting events, Marlboro released the Scuderia Marlboro F1 single-seater Ferrari racecar with a barcode on it. The barcode looks a lot like its logo…particularly when it whizzes by at 200 mph! As is evident, marketers spend significant time, energy and money pursuing this path. But do these subconscious messages really work? Scientific research in this domain is still at a nascent stage to provide a concrete answer. The studies conducted so far are ambiguous and contradictory. In a study, participants’ ratings of thirst were higher after viewing an episode of "The Simpsons” that contained single

Ahana Chakraborty Rubayet Chakraborty National institute of Industrial Engineering

A product with stable service, awesome opinion amongst the consumers, with over 2 million strong and increasing user base and a financially strong parent group creates an impression that one has got the ‘Key to the mint’ especially when the product is a Massively Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Game (MMORPG). But then what made LEGO Universe, a flagship online product of around 80 years old LEGO Group to shut down only 15 months after servers first went live. When one focuses on over $50 million failure of LEGO Universe, the haze starts to disperse pretty soon and reveals the loose plastic bricks behind this fall. Key marketing blunders which led to the fizzling out of the product were-

sustainable revenue modelWith a strong brand reputation of creating products that are safe for children, LEGO could have easily attracted parents (most of which were themselves consumer of Lego products in their childhood) to shell out some bucks for the game. Despite the brand value and cuteness inherent in satisfactory revenue model to keep it going even when it had 2 million active users. The company was too reluctant to try Free 2 Play (F2P) model which unsurprisingly was used by ‘Minecraft’ (the MMO which gave LEGO Universe a tough time). Experts felt that owing to so much brand equity invested in an uncompromising reputation for child safety, it should have been successful if LEGO opted to use either a true F2P model with a cash shop (places where virtual items can be bought) or even a proper hybrid model with F2P and subscription benefits. They could have even used Steam- a digital distribution platform

Highly restrictive Target marketingTargeted marketing is the current buzzword amongst the marketing fraternity. Hence, LEGO advertised LEGO Universe just by putting a big advertisement on the side of a LEGO set, advertisements on the back of instruction booklets, and loads of advertising in the official LEGO magazine. This led to the omission of other potential customers and hence the existence of game never crossed the current users. Too much reliance on extensive market researchAn extensive research conducted by LEGO had shown that kids prefer a tangible product that they can touch and feel before they start using it. Based on this result, Lego required people to buy a DVD in a store before they could start playing the online game. Though it complied with the research and gave children a physical product to feel, it created a barrier for its usage. In contrast to this, to show that blindly following market research could be dangerous, Henry Ford famously said “If I asked my customers what they want, they simply would have said a faster horse”. Though, company was correct in every sense to perform a market research, but over-reliant on the results that too when the survey respondents were kids (who are often not sure about their demands) proved fatal.

Inability to capitalize the brand image to create a

whose sales constituted 50 to 70% of the $4 billion market for downloaded PC games in 2011 and had a much larger active user base of around 40 million.

THE WAY AHEADThis one time failure for the MMO doesn’t seem to be the end of hopping digital LEGO Minifigures. As stated by Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas, "The market for family-friendly online experiences intended for children and youngsters is brimming with potential," and thus Funcom announced in June, 2012 that it has licensed the rights to make a LEGO MMO of its own, based on the cute and wonderful LEGO Minifigures franchise. With the expertise LEGO has acquired in the digital market, the new MMO developed in coordination could provide a broader and enhanced experience for the product line.

Focus on the ‘character’ of the brand rather than the ‘fun’ element of the gameWhile Minecraft’s success comprehensively proved that all anyone really wanted to do was build stuff, LEGO kept on focusing on the ‘characters’ of their brand-the Minifigures that were created over the last decade, rather than the fun true reason of buildingwhy people have used LEGOs for the past 80 years. Batman, Harry Potter and other games are popular, but those are nothing when compared to the infinite scope of endless imaginative rebuilding inherent to Lego products. This deviation from the core value in addition to the artificially inflated Game-play possessing insanely progressive achievements made it monotonous. There weren’t enough challenging enemies and bosses that required innovative, team-based combat planning. This created an identity crisis that whether the game was combat-focused or construction-focused.

Neglected Social MediaAt the time when several big organizations like Toyota, Nike, Ford (through its much liked spokespuppet Doug) were advertising their brands on social media, LEGO Universe never resorted to any such advertising strategy. Also, LEGO didn’t ever deliberate over the option of launching an App integrated with Facebook. The extent of its failure to utilize the ubiquitous social media can be determined by the fact that- Several MMO users didn’t even get to know that it was launched till the time they heard that the servers had to be closed. The whole ‘Universe’ existed in obliviousness.

After all, collecting the scattered pieces of earlier models and building them into something more imaginative is what LEGO is all about. 36

Sarth Rastogi MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

OUT-OF-THE-WORLD MARKETING IDEAS What do you do when you are tired after roaming in the hot sun? Simple, chances are, you head into a shop and ask for a Coke, a Thums-Up, a Pepsi, or anything else that comes into your mind. Wait....did I say “anything”? How about if you ask for “anything” and the shopkeeper hands you “anything”, literally!!! For those of us who think that beverages and softdrinks sell in the market because of their brand name, such a thought might come across as anathema. But keeping in line with what someone (Mr. Kaushik Mukherjee, MD & CEO, Bhoomi Crop, ex-COO of Hungama TV) once taught me, “You don’t sell a chicken, you sell the sizzle”, that is just what a company named Out Of The Box Pte Ltd. (pretty apt name, wouldn’t you agree?) chose to do. They went ahead and launched two soft drinks in the Singapore market. One of them was Anything – a carbonated drink available in six flavours, and the other was called Whatever – a non-carbonated drink, also in six flavours. So what was the unique thing about these brands, apart from their names? Well, they were packaged in such a similar manner that no one could tell which flavour was present in which can, except for guessing by a close examination of the ingredients written on the can. This prevented the consumers from being aware of what flavour they were drinking until it actually touched their taste-buds. These drinks became so immensely popular in Singapore, that they were lapped up from shops immediately, especially by school-kids and college-going youth. The man behind the concept was Mr. Johnson Tan. During big gatherings at home, there was always a common reply when he asked his guests what they would like to drink and the replies were usually "Anything” or “Whatever". The same questions were asked over and over again, thus he came

up with this unique concept. Initially, his concept was laughed at and his friends didn't believe him either. So what really made such a concept so popular? Well, here are a few reasons: You don’t sell a soft-drink, you sell the experience: And what experience is that? The experience of mystery, of-course. The feeling of the surprise-in-the-can is what drove people to try it out, in the hope of finding a new flavour each time. Get your research right: Since no one has any idea of the flavour in each can, there are chances that one drinking it for the first time might not like the flavour and reject the brand forever. So the company conducted market research to find out the most commonly liked and accepted flavours among Singaporeans and implemented the same in the drink. This increased their chances of grabbing a customer the first time itself. Lock onto your target: The target audience for these drinks were the youth. And why not? Who better a choice than those who are open to experimenting, to trying out new flavours, to sapping in the full experience of the mystery and surprise associated with the brand. The brand-name itself: An odd brand name like Anything and Whatever is enough to heighten public curiosity about what the brand is all about. It encouraged people to try it for once at-least. This resulted in a lot of people trying out the new drink and increased brand-awareness and recall. Once the concept was known, people thronged in larger numbers. Effective advertising: Their major advertising channel was through display ads. Between the 10 and 21 May 2007, Anything & Whatever ran a 'teaser cam paign' at 450 bus shelters in which empty Anything &

Whatever cans were attached to the displays, framing the advertisements. All the Clear Channel bus stop adverts were carrying messages like "Ask for Anything on May 18!", "Grab Whatever you see on May 18!" etc. They even ran such ads on websites. These ads managed to grab many eye-balls, induced curiosity about the brand and as a result had managed to make customers in advance. Although a very unique and novel concept, the brands became unavailable since January 2010. Some say it was due to the fact that this concept was only a fad and so could only last so long. Soon the initial enthusiasm and curiosity would be lost and so would the brand. There are also rumours that big players Coke and Pepsi were responsible in taking down the brand. Whatever be the case (pun intended), the fact remains that this truly was a very novel and unique lesson in brand-building if not brand-sustenance.

? Sidharth Nanda MBA(IB) 2011-13 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

MARKETING TERMS EXPOSED Companies launch a variety of products to satisfy the various needs of consumers and to reach out to them, they launch many different campaigns to acquaint the consumer with the new products, also the amount of research that goes into making a new product also gets. When some of them go on to achieve the success that is reserved for only a few brands, they are associated with a new initiative that was a part of the marketing or research that went in the creation of a new product. Let’s have a look at some:

Indovation: This term is used to refer to the process of altering a particular product or service to

suit the Indian market. Examples include the special items introduced my fast food major McDonald’s to introduce McAloo Tikki and other dishes which cater to the Indian palate. Other examples include products like Tata Swach that provides potable water to the rural populace at affordable prices.

Viral Marketing: This is a new term that entered the lexicon of marketers all around the world with the advent of social

networking in recent times. It refers to the spreading of a buzz or vibe around a product, essentially good old word-of -mouth publicity, only that it is occurring in the virtual world with websites like twitter,facebook being at the forefront of this type of marketing. Examples include the song “Why this Kolaveri di ?” from the tamil movie “3”, which created such a hype around it that it went on to be voted as the “Song of the Year” on a global scale, which was unheard of for an Indian song.

AdSense: Anybody closely associated with e-commerce and website designing would tell you that AdSense is the most defining facet of revenue generation today for websites. Google has spent years to perfect algorithms to help them predict user behavior with a far greater amount of accuracy than their predecessors can, which has helped Google post great revenue growth year on year from it advertising business.

Guerilla Marketing: As the name suggests, this form marketing attempts to reach out to consumers in the most uncon-

ventional of ways so as to increase their brand recall value and help them carve out a niche in the minds of prospective buyers. Off the beaten path is the prime motive of this form of marketing like guerilla warfare that doesn’t adhere to established practices of warfare. But this type of marketing also has to take care that it does not send out the wrong message to the consumers and put them off from buying the product. Guerilla Marketing need not be restricted to the manner in which the product is marketed it can also be showcased in the packaging of goods, good examples of this being the Nike Stadium shoe-box, Dino Gum.

Surrogate Advertising: Simply put this term is used to refer to the process of adver-

tising a product implicitly as it cannot be done explicitly due to provisions under law which prevent explicit advertising of a certain product. We find many examples of this kind in our daily life, Bacardi Music CD’s, Royal Stag Cricket gear are just some of the examples that come to mind, when one thinks of them. As it is common knowledge that the advertisement are implying liquor brands which cannot be endorsed in the public domain under Indian Law.

Forehead Advertising: This is a relatively unknown concept, it was created by an individual

called Justin Kapust, through his organization Headvertise. Here people are encouraged to rent out their foreheads to be used as a medium for advertising products. There have been instances of people putting up their foreheads for consideration on e-bay and other e-commerce websites.

Undercover Marketing: This form of marketing is used to promote products in a very subtle manner without making it

known to the consumer that they are being marketed a product, this is usually done at public places where there is a high concentration of people like shopping malls. This type of marketing involves a new product which is not known to the customer and involves skits that have the product as their theme.

USP: Unique Selling Proposition is defined in marketing parlance as a strong factor that is present in a product that forces

consumers to switch allegiance to it from existing product, generally companies do a lot of work on the USP’s of a product before it is launched, this holds true for an extremely competitive segment like foodstuffs and FMCG products. Examples of USP that were incorporated as part of their slogans include Maggi Noodles, which said “Fast to Cook, Good to Eat”, their tomato ketchup went with “It’s Different !!!”

PoP: Points of Parity is a term used by marketers to classify the similarities between two or more competing products in the

same segment. Products like cleaning agents would be having the ability to clean, pleasant smell and a strong fungicidal action as their PoP’s, similarly soft drinks would be having the taste and the promise of a thrill associated with them as their parity points.

PoD: Points of Difference is used to distinguish two products that are competing with each other in the same area. What separates one product from another is decided on the basis of their PoD. Examples for this would include Nirma when it was launched initially had low cost as it’s PoD with multinational products like Surf apart from having the swadeshi tag attached to it. FabIndia fabrics are made by artisans who are supported by the proceeds of the sale of these fabrics which sets it apart from other retailers like Levi’s etc.

? Amar Budati MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

Nokia released 200 units of its special edition Dark Knight Rises Lumia 800 phones in India In a bid to cash in on The Dark Knight fever, priced Rs. 24,999. The limited edition Nokia Lumia 800 Dark Knight Rises phone had a laser etched Batman logo and also included an exclusive app. The phone was available by ordering on Nokia's India website. Nokia had also announced other Dark Knight Rises promotional activities which included free merchandise on purchasing Nokia Lumia devices at authorised Nokia stores. On offer were exclusive collectibles like bags, caps and projector pens, all bearing the DKR branding with the phone, along with the chance to win a movie theater screening with their friends.

Leading beer marketer SabMiller India launched a new drink with spicy taste under the label of Indus Pride. Indus Pride is the first beer with Indian spices and is initially available in four variants Citrusy, Coriander, Citrusy Cardamom, Spicy Fennel and Fiery Cinnamon. The product is priced at Rs 85 for a 330 ml bottle and is a premium offering focused on the metros. The launch stemmed from the fact that the beer intake is on a rise with the legal drinking age consumers more open to experimentation today and With the changing lifestyle and rise in disposable income, more people are looking for innovative and interesting products in every segment including beer.

Tata Chemicals launched Tata Salt Plus â&#x20AC;&#x201C; iron fortified iodised salt . India's first national brand of packaged salt with iodine plus iron is aimed at addressing and eradicating the prevalence of iron deficiency through one of the most widely consumed food essentials â&#x20AC;&#x201D; salt. Since Iron deficiency is commonly known as the biggest cause of anaemia, the product is aimed at eradicating this disease. Tata Salt Plus is the long-awaited result of a 20-year research journey on double fortification technology and premix led by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad.

Prashant Sishodia MBA(IB) 2011-13 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

“This is the last time that you would be working in a company as a student, so you are allowed to commit mistakes and have a second chance. Make the maximum out of it-it’s time for action!” These were the words from my mentor with which my summer internship kick-started. It was at Madura fashion and Lifestyle, a division of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd, one of India’s fastest growing branded apparel companies and a premium lifestyle player in the retail sector. Madura Fashion & Lifestyle is defined by its brands — Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England and People — that personify style, attitude, luxury and comfort. So after the initial two day orientation program, all the interns were assigned their respective projects. It was partly based on a form that they had made us fill a few weeks before the internship commenced; it had questions about any previous projects which we had done and a write-up about ourselves. There were 19 interns in total from 6 different B-schools. The whole program was very well organized, with each intern being allotted a separate mentor in addition to an HR person who was available for any other assistance. To tell you briefly about my project, it was based on Market Mapping to increase the presence and penetration of the company’s brands by looking at opportunities in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. It included- Drawing a clear map for relevant markets across potential cities in a state - Mapping the company’s presence in each of these markets vis a vis the competition - Suggesting presence/penetration strategy viz consignment, Buy n sell or MBO(Multi Brand Outlet),brands and sub brands - Collection of the data of relevant stores which should be targeted. The data should say which brands they carry along with the margin structure, size of store and the annual business of the store - Suggesting a strategy to crack each of the targeted stores along with the current pain points with competition and where the company can score - Finding the key markets which drive each of the targeted stores (separate for each store) The project involved travelling-insane amount of travelling! My first stint was in the states of MP and Chhattisgarh. As it was the first time I was actually working for a company, I was a bit apprehensive in the beginning regarding how should I go about this assigned task. I used the following approach, some part of which was suggested by my mentor and rest was out of brainstorming with myselfSTEP 1: Identifying the potential cities after discussing with the area manager and creating a plan of visit to each of them STEP 2: Identifying the major dealers(mostly MBOs) by exploring the relevant markets and classifying them as- Currently doing MFL brands - Doing only competitor’s brands

STEP 3: Talk to them about their business, brand performances, types of customers etc and gauge their interest and potential STEP 4: List out the dealers who have a potential tostart/increase the present MFL business, start a new brand, willing to lease some space etc STEP 5: Suggesting strategies for growth in each of these markets After finalising my itinerary, I set out on my tour starting from Indore. Subsequently I visited 9 more cities in MP followed by 5 in Chhattisgarh. The journeys were amazing and it included almost all modes of transport and of all levels- from flight journeys to crammed local buses, from clean AC 2-tier bogies to dirty, jam-packed local trains. And the work within the city involved walking- in the markets, malls, high streets and any other relevant place. The working hours had to be between 11 am in the morning to 6 in the evening because that is the time when

My next assignment was in the states of AP and Kerala where I visited 12 more cities. The work was the same but the market was very different as compared to the previous ones. Language was a barrier at times but a mixture of the known words and the evergreen sign language saw me through at all times. Finally towards the end of the internship, all the interns had to present their project before a panel of managers from different domains. To my satisfaction, they appreciated my efforts- the ultimate aim for which I had worked through the previous 2 months. Overall, it was a great learning experience, a good beginning to bank upon.

the dealers are free and available for discussions. But working in those hours in scorching sun, that too in the month of April and May was arduous. Regular intake of water and glucose was imperative to avoid myself from withering away. But the zeal to do something productive kept me going. The best part was the Birla groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s travel policy. Even though I was just an intern, the expenditure limits were such that I was eligible to spend almost any amount on food and travelling (save 5 star hotels, business class and AC 1-tier- that would be like asking too much!!). I was asked to report through mail every 2-3 days about my activities and findings. For that, I prepared two different formats- one containing all the details about the dealers and the second one having other information based out of my observations. From the very beginning I was aware that the one thing they expected from me was sincerity and the well formatted reporting reflected that part. Initially it was difficult to get the retailers talking since I did not have any fixed agenda for them. But as the days progressed, I developed that art of striking a conversation and leading them into a healthy discussion from which I was able to gather all the required information. After I had covered all the markets in MP and Chhattisgarh, I was asked to make a presentation to the manager in charge for Western India in Mumbai. At the end of it, he was fairly content with the overall analysis and the strategies that I suggested based on the findings. He also pointed out the little fallacies out of my inexperience and made some valuable suggestions which helped me later.

Shakul Choudhary MBA(IB) 2011-13 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

PIAGGIO VESPA

Kishore Kumar

Krishnan Chidamabran

Great Lakes Institute of Management

Notable Entries:

Gaurav Bajaj FORE School of Management

Mansi Patil K.J.Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research

National Marketing Conclave 2012 New Waves in Marketing

On August 14 2012, the National Marketing Conclave was held at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi. The conclave was organized by Brandwagon, the Marketing Club at IIFT. The Conclave was centred on the theme ‘New waves in Marketing’. The objective was to throw light on the pertinent issue of whether or not Marketing, as we know it today, is going through a major fundamental change. Is it time to unlearn the theories that form the foundations of Marketing Management and make way for the ‘new waves’ that are likely to shape the future? From the Indian perspective, how challenging/exciting is the road ahead for marketers in these times of unprecedented change and opportunities? Eminent marketing veterans across industries including FMCG, Automobiles, Telecom, Media, Sports marketing - to name a few - shared their ideas with a wide audience comprising of eager Management students, illustrious academicians and Industry stalwarts. Mr. V.M. Rajasekharan, Chief Executive, Matches and Agarbatti Business Unit, ITC graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Mr. N.Rajaram, Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti Airtel Consumer Business, delivered the Key note address. The conclave comprised of three sessions, each designed to deliberate on important issues being faced by marketers in these changing times:

Session 1: FUTURE TRENDS AND FOCUS AREAS The speakers shared their views and experiences on the following issues: What are the ‘big ideas’ which are likely to keep the marketers occupied in the months to come? With the global economic scenario likely to remain gloomy, will the consumers continue to uptrade as per the marketers’ expectations? How will the ‘new waves’ change the global marketplace in the future? The illustrious speakers included: Mr.Amit Nanda, Head - Marketing, Retail Bank and Cards, Citibank India Mr. Vineet Durani, Director, Windows Phone Business Group, Microsoft India Mr. Sriram Padmanabhan, General Manager - Consumer Marketing, Ford India.

Session 2: INNOVATIONS IN MARKETING STRATEGY The speakers deliberated on the following issues: How innovation will continue to be the guiding force in the years to come? How do companies implement the theoretical notion of ‘innovation’ into a practical reality? What are the factors which drive the new product development cycle? Will the digital medium continue to remain a ‘mystery’ or is there a solution in store in the immediate future? The panel of speakers comprised of: Mr. Anuj Kapur, Head of Business Development, India Region at Ericsson; Country Manager - India, Telcordia Technologies Mr. Sandeep Bhushan, Vice President - Digital, HT Media Mr. Hemant Dua, Chief Executive Officer, Inspiranti Sports; Head - Marketing, Delhi Daredevils Mr. Kartik Raina, Consultant and Sales & Marketing Trainer; ex-CEO, Dabur Foods & Excelcia.

Session3: SHORTENING PRODUCT LIFE CYCLES AND INSTANT OBSOLESCENCE This session dealt with the following issues: How do marketers really tackle the conundrum of constantly churning out new products, which is neither cheap nor easy? Should marketers accept that ‘instant obsolescence’ here to stay and prepare themselves accordingly? Is it fair to say that evolving technology in products is assuming greater importance over marketing skills in generating sales these days? The distinguished speakers were: Mr. Pawan Arora, Director - South Asia, Spinal and Biologics, Medtronic Mr. Anurag Prasad, Senior Vice President - Brand Planning, Lowe Lintas Mr. Amit Agnihotri, Chairman, MBA Universe Editor, Pitch Co-Founder, exchange4media Group

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Concept Notes... Inaugural Session Mr. V. M. Rajasekharan, the Chief Executive Officer of the Matches and Agarbatti Strategic Business Unit at ITC, graced the event as the Chief Guest. He enlightened us on how innovations in non-conventional media channels play a major role in marketing products such as Agarbatti which have a limited budget. When an ad on Kyun ki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi gets beyond reach then comes the need to innovate in form of out of home (such as railway station train schedule display boards) and strategic tie-ups (such as with TTD). Mr. N. Rajaram, Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti Airtel Consumer Business, delivered the key note address at the Marketing Conclave. ‘’Look as consumers, not as business practitioners’’ said Mr. Rajaram emphasizing that customer is still the king, and each customer has become a segment. He gave structure to the conclave effectively, highlighting 9 essential points which would lead the new waves of marketing. These included the challenge of diversity, from interruption to engagement, SoLoMo (Social, Local, Mobile), the need for quality targeting, the importance of the ecosystem and that every brand is a result of passion.

Session 1: Future Trends and Focus Areas Amit Nanda, Head marketing, Citibank India talked about how the strategy to gain from the new emerging trends was though Instant gratification; targeting the young and restless population and offering EMIs for homes, durables like cars, fridges etc. He discussed innovations like integration with newspapers, wherein their ads could be synchronized with those of L.G on a 3 hours notice. He elaborated on how tying up with over 1000 stores of Hitachi, Panasonic, Sony during festivals like Diwali and Navratri and POS promotions for big ticket items and increased the EMI spends by 105%. Vineet Durani, Director of Windows Business Phone Group from Microsoft believed that the driving force in the case of Microsoft was the passion for technology and making that technology affordable to people. He spoke about commercialization of IT, rise of the cloud services and new monetization models like Skype that bill only for the services delivered. He laid special emphasis on the concept of ‘Social Search’, where the search options will have the recommendations of the those in your social network for validation of data. According to Mr.Durani, the idea was to create consumer connect and content because for every 1$ profit that Microsoft made, the world made 8$. Sriram Padmanabhan, General Manager in Consumer Marketing from Ford elaborated on Marketing through internet (47% look into internet to buy, and 54% of that change consideration after online research, 96 % are connected to Google through purchase process. He said Ford believed in faster, quicker and cheaper. The changes in business have to take place in a predefined direction by a guided approach. Citing examples He spoke about the New Ford fiesta’s campaign where 4 active bloggers were given the car to ride from Delhi to various places and they shared their experiences through social media leading to a 4 times increase in traffic on the website.

Session 2: Innovations in Marketing Strategy Mr. Hemant Dua, Head of Marketing, Delhi Daredevils focussed on the importance of creating value with innovation. He explained about the show ‘Devil’s Advocate’ where a person would get the opportunity to travel with the team as part of the Delhi DareDevil Crew and upload an online journal where Gamification was started with an attempt of converting the audience to DD fans. The took India’s only Iron Man athlete Anuradha Vaidyanathan, the youngest Indian to summit Mount Everest, Arjun Vajpai, India’s only ultra marathon runner Arun Bhardwaj and the only Indian woman to ski her way to South Pole, Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu as the face of the campaign. Mr. Kartik Raina, Consultant and Sales & Marketing Trainer, Ex- CEO Dabur Foods and Excelcia ,quoted ‘Innovation’ as ‘the ability to create and capture economic value from invention’, and touched on Peter Druckers’s Areas of Opportunity for Innovation; unexpected occurrences, incongruities, process needs, and industry & market changes (within the company) and demographic changes, changes in perception, and new knowledge (outside the company).

He gave examples like GSK’s introduction of Sensodyne’s in a non receptive market, bending the law by using NRI dentists, and finally growing the market from 5 Crores to 35 Crores. He also talked about the innovations on product placement strategies by Sephora’s chain of cosmetics in Paris, Subway’s concept of building on the experience of process by offering varieties in each of the ingredients, the changes in market structure from the 16rs /call outgoing & 9rs/call incoming, Demographic changes that have lead to 70% of the DTH users to be from Rural India now and lastly, application of new knowledge by Flipkart, selling 4000 products every hour. Mr Sandeep Bhushan, Vice president of Digital from HT Media spoke about how innovation shouldn’t be for innovation’s sake and how it needed to reach the consumer as well as increase revenue. He cited the example of Mint and how it ended ET’ s 50 year monopoly in only 4 years by thinking outside the naming convention of the words “Standard”, “Business” or “Finance” and colour conventions of white or salmon pink. He also emphasized on how Innovation should be from the company point of view, needed nurturing, metrics, teams, & investment, required Consumer insights, was pushed by “Why Nots?” and was a part of the growth process. Session 3: Shortening product lifecycles and instant obsolence. Mr. Amit Agnihotri – Chairman, MBA Universe brought forward a fresh perspective to the discussion. He emphasized on the importance of following your dream while citing examples. He also talked about the need for marketing to reinvent itself, to come up with new thoughts and ideas in order to differentiate themselves from the rest. Mr. Anurag Prasad, Senior Vice President – Brand Planning at Lowe Lintas stressed on the need for technology firms to focus on building brands and not just focus on technology in face of shorter product life spans. He explained how brands should sell products (coke) and not products selling brands (apple). His speech can be summed up in one phrase, "You never ever look at the specs of a ford mustang to buy it." Mr. Pawan Arora – Head, Spinal Business Unit, South Asia, Medtronics, highlighted the technology wonders in the medical field. He shed light upon some unique innovations by Medtronics, including bone and spinal therapies for curing diseases such as scoliosis and hemiplegia which were earlier incurable. Another interesting device is development of small pacemakers, such that they can be implanted without a surgery. Such intriguing examples described how innovative medical technology solutions can change the lives of the consumer and improve healthcare all over the world.

Creativity at it â&#x20AC;&#x2122; s Best !!!

Laugh Till You Pop !!!