Issue
MarkMantra
A Quarterly Insight into the Current Marketing Advances in the Indus-
Corporate Speak >>>
May
Promote to Prosper
Mr. Ashok Thakur CEO M&M South Africa
Who’s Behind It??
Is Social Media Marketing over hyped?
Cover Stories >>>
Events and all that!!!
Mahakumbh: Marketing Nirvana
Something BIG is Coming
FOREWORD
Team MarkMantra
Amar Budati Edtor-in-Chief
Palnika Hemnani Managing Editor
Prachi Singh
MarkMantra is the marketing magazine brought out by the students of IIFT, encompassing various dimensions of marketing and exploring horizons of this integral business function. Bringing 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 this team. This issue being brought out during the summer promises to be as refreshing a cool lemonade with a host of articles covering areas ranging from marketing of big-ticket events to major marketing blunders, from the cultural aspects which a firm should keep in mind before entering a new market to debating whether the power of social media is overhyped; you will find it all here in this issue of MarkMantra. This being the season of the IPL, understand how mega events like these are looked upon to launch new brands and promote existing ones. In an increasingly globalised economy, how big a role does keeping the cultural sensibilities of people play. In today’s world where we are constantly on the move and yet connected to our social networks, do they have it in them to be the next big thing? To read about them, wait no long..Just flip over !!!! Happy Reading !!
Co-Editor
This is the first issue to be brought out by the new team at MarkMantra, we continuously strive to provide informative and relevant content to you. We would like to wish the outgoing team the very best in their future endeavors and leave them with a commitment that we would carry forward this magazine in a manner befitting its reputation. Navdeep Verma
Online Co-ordinator
Sidharth Nanda
Prashant Sishodia
Ankit Shah
Divyang Thakur
Outgoing Team
We would also like to thank the departing MarkMantra team for putting their faith on us and the support they provided. We congratulate them for their successful placements in reputed companies and also wish them luck in their future endeavors.
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I
Events and all that……………………………………………….………………...……..…….…..…...…….………..4
II
Catch it with culture……………………………………………………………………..………..…………….. …….7
III
Obverse: Digital Media: The Real Deal…………………………………………...…………………..………...…….10
IV
Reverse: Is social media marketing over hyped?………………..…………………..………………..……….……….11
V
From Whoops to Oops !!!!!! .……………………………………...…..…………………………..…........…………...12
VI
Something BIG is coming……………...…………………………………….……………………..…..……………16
VII
Convergence of Culture…..…………….……………….…………………………………………………………..19
VIII Now that's an Entry………………..……………………..………..……………………….………...……………..21 IX X
Corporate Speak: Mr. Ashok Thakur, Mahindra & Mahindra South Africa (PYT) Ltd…….……………….………………………….23 Maha Kumbh: Marketing Nirvana...24
XI Who’s Behind it: Ogilvy & Mather……..………………..………..........................................................................................26 . XII Promote to Prosper…………………….………………………….………………..…...…………………….……29 XIII Greening of Indian Automobile Industry: Opportunities and Challenges……..…..………………………………..32 XIV POSTERO: Poster Making Competition Results...…………………………….……..……………………………..33 XV
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50 Year Golden Jubilee Celebrations at IIFT……………………………...……..………..…..…………………….34
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Events and all that... !!!
Man as a social being is exposed to a lot of events. Right from the time one is born and until the one leaves for the higher abode, our lives are interspersed with occasions that celebrate various seasons, feelings and happenings. And this celebration is what the marketer of today has set his eyes on; it makes even more business sense in the present economic scenario that he does so. When people have tightened their purse strings during these austere times, its events that people celebrate together which are a silver lining to the dark clouds of this period. Before we explore the events which happen on a larger scale, let us take a peek of the ones that a person experiences first hand. In India, the birth of a child is welcomed with great fervor. The celebrations start right even before the unborn child has entered the
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world, a series of events precede the birth of the child, where the to-be mother is wished luck to have a healthy offspring. Once the baby is born he’s welcomed with great pomp and gaiety, these days that would mean personalized photo-shoots with the new born and lots of toys; all of which have ample scope for being tapped into. As a matter of fact they are alr e a d y b e i n g used by marketers w h o m a k e products that cater to this segment; it would be worthwhile to remember that Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie sold the rights for the first images of their twins Knox and Vivienne to People and Hello! for a reported $14 million—the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken. The proceeds were donated to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation. This clearly spells out that events like these are a gold mine waiting to be tapped. Websites like babyoye, firstcry, hushbabies and players like Nestle which makes Cerelac, Johnson & Johnson have initiatives that keep
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parents engaged with the brand like charts to map the growth of children and sending greeting cards, goodies on the child’s birthday and so on. The next big event that would count as significant is one’s wedding, nowadays people are spoilt for choice when it comes to this event.
Wedding planners offer everything right from the choicest of venues to celebrities who’d perform at your wedding, a nine course meal to exotic locales for honeymooning; all this for a premium and people don’t mind splurging as it is a once in a lifetime moment for them. We also have birthdays that come every year which need to be celebrated as a consequence of which are targeted by marketers as one just doesn’t celebrate one’s birthday but also that of friends and family. McDonalds, Pizza Hut and other players in the QSR category offer special packages for birthdays which include return gifts to all the attendees.
As one grows older it was said that the time to sit back and look at the photographs of the time gone by was the thing that one
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ought to do, but no longer is that true; marketers are targeting the 60+ age bracket even more aggressively with products like customized travel packages to diamonds and special foods like diabetic atta etc. Now that we have seen the different events that one gets to experience in one’s lifetime, let’s move on to have a closer look at some of the big-ticket events that take place on earth. With the Summer Games in London just concluded, it might seem that the Olympic brand is bigger than that of any other sporting event worldwide. Think again. In the multibillion-dollar sports industry, athletes, businesses, teams and events jostle for name recognition in hopes of capturing a bigger share of the entertainment pie. According to the Forbes magazine nothing compares to the Super Bowl brand, which is worth $470 million. The championship game in which the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots, raked in an esti-
mated $245 million in media revenue, $140 million in NFL-licensed revenue, $72 million from ticket and concession sales, and $15 million in game sponsorship revenue. It is the second most watched annual sporting event next to the UEFA Champions League final, with an average of 80 to 90 million from the United States alone tuned into the program at any given time. Ad-spots shoot through the roof during this event with a 30 second spot going for as much as $3.5 million; famous ad campaigns include the Budweiser “Bud Bowl”. A promotional campaign run by Nintendo during the London Olympic games The next big event is the summer Olympics worth $348 million. Over the course of 17 days the London Games pulled in an esti-
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Launching W a
the v
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Samsung e :
Samsung and marketing agency Jack Morton developed a live and digital event to take place at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress in February 2010. For the live portion, a massive room was created, surrounded by a 360 -degree digital cube. Thirtytwo HD projectors illuminated the walls to demonstrate the graphics available on the new smart phones, and live entertainers also participated to help engage the crowd and build excitement. (Ref pic below)
mated $5.9 billion in revenue. For the fouryear cycle ending with London, the Olympics generated more than $8 billion in revenue. The media rights fees for the 2010 winter and 2012 summer games included $2 billion for the U.S. rights from NBC, $703 million from the European Broadcasting Union for the rights in Europe. The event also saw the launch of the "Thank you mom" campaign by P&G which was one of the sponsors. Other sponsors included Acer, Atos, Coca-Cola, Dow, General Electric, McDonald's, Omega SA, Panasonic, Samsung, Visa all of whom came up with special themes to engage their users to associate themselves with the Olympics. Though the event is held once in four years it goes without saying that it wields considerable clout among brands, which explains the figures that are invested on this event.
official song.
In the Indian context IPL and the world cup held in 2011 are good examples of big-ticket events marketing from the area of sports. Though naysayers believe that the IPL is on the wane, such beliefs were quashed when Pepsico bought the title rights for a whopping Rs.396.8 crore for five years, ending with the 2017 season. The world cup will also be remembered for the “change the game” campaign run by pepsi, which was also one of the sponsors of the event. It is events like these which provide the marketers a platform to reach out to newer audiences and grab eyeballs as these events are watched by millions of viewers across the globe. Advertisers also use times like these to introduce new products and promotions to keep the consumers involved and in effect retain them. Though it’s not a proven fact that events like these actually help in ploughing back the investments made in them, the fact that these events are growing in valuation with every edition suggest that is indeed the case.
1. WHAT DWELING DID DAN AND FRANK CARNEY START ? Page 6
Rounding of the top three is the FIFA world cup which is also a quadrennial event and boasts of a net worth of $147 million. The World Cup is the world's most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup held in Germany. The event in 2010 is most famously remembered for its official song “Waka Waka” by Colombian singer Shakira and there was an equally popular theme song by coca cola sung by the singer K’naan called "waving flag" which was often mistaken to be the
Amar Budati MBA(IB) 12-14 IIFT
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Catch it with culture Being a young progressive Indian with good taste, Naresh always enjoyed having a glass of scotch feeling like a king. This is mainly due to the pampering in advertisements by good scotch brands to make you feel like one savoring the finest perfect blend. But when his job took him to various countries, he could not find the same scotch experience anywhere. Drinking scotch had different meanings atdifferent places. In USA it reflected the individualistic culture while in Italy ads always showed man with a woman flaunting the status of the drinker. In Japan, he hoped to find some similarity but was surprised to find that people there preferred going with majority than being individualistic. Perhaps he may savor the taste of scotch everywhere but will still like to feel like king while consuming scotch as the aspiration is well captured in his home country.
ahaaa ‘Open Happiness’ prototype targeted towards the younger target audience. And in the pacific version (in center) bottles can be observed to depict a breezy manner to bring out the full flavor of the ‘Open Happiness’ campaign. This is without overt coke branding. Such localization is global in its essence. Contrary to global advertising, multinational advertising messages and/or their creative implementation is modified to the demands of certain markets. Let us delve into the interesting shift that was
This instance may not pertain to the same brand but it certainly captures the difference in attitude of the people living in different countries towards the same product. This perception actually forms the driving force behind the companies’ decisions to form local promotional and advertising strategies to touch upon the nerve of people. This is just in sync with the saying that ‘Touch the heart of your customer and it will just be yours’. In today’s world, firms aspire to act upon the dearly loved concepts of ‘globalization and standardization' which would result in low marginal costs on designs, advertisements etc. Global advertising, which more or less standardizes promotions, is achieved by companies like United Colors of Benetton with its same advertisements running across various countries. But most companies do resort to some degree of local adaptation. A few firms strive to possess global prototypes in which audio and visual effects can be used to avoid language and cultural barriers. Coca Cola, for instance, often uses prototype advertisements followed by acceptable changes in accordance with the region. It launched ‘Open Happiness’ campaign with perceptible differences across globe. Its Indian print ad displays a firecracker (rocket) inside the Coke bottle to signify happiness during the festival of Diwali in order to create a connect with the local culture whereas the standardized global version depicts a more subtle version of actual burrp/ Page 7
undertaken by the Parker Pen Company. Initially Parker Pens followed global advertising and sold pens under the same name on all markets. But when met with downfall of sales in the mid 1980s, it had to resort to multinational advertising strategy i.e. to meet demands of individual markets. So, adhering to such strategy, Parker’s printed commercials in Germany showed a hand with Parker pen writing, "This is how you write with precision" which catered to German love for technology and precision. In Great Britain, where this brand is a leader, exotic scenes prevailed in commercials while status and image depiction ruled in USA. Easiest form of such is to translate ads appropriately according to the country. Pepsi followed global approach in advertisements featuring Tina
2. Which restaurant chain has launched a chain of restaurants serving North Indian food called "Shraman" ?
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Coke ad in global format, pacific region and India( top to bottom)
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Turner. In local commercials, her voice was synchronized by local stars in local tongues. But for effective translation one should have good knowledge of both the original as well as the translated language and technical aspects of the product. There have been instances where simple translation has gone wrong .Chevrolet’s car ‘Nova’ was not accepted in the Mexican market since when translated in the local language, “No Va” meant “Doesn’t Go” which in essence was comic death for the advertising automobile maker. Also, some of the brand names might resemble abusive words in certain languages which might force the firms to tweak their brand names to suit the local culture. Translation advertisement is like just painting tip of the iceberg and hoping that whole will be transformed. As with different language being spoken there are different symbols of culture like myths, stories, traditions which are not captured in the mere translation.
use of touch in campaign may hurt sentiments of people. So, advertising agency toned down the sensuality in the Arab advertisements. Similar toned down version of catalogues in Saudi Arabia were introduced by IKEA, Swedish furniture giant in which it airbrushed women in the Saudi Arabia version of catalogue. Generally, IKEA ships global catalogue but it has been tailoring it according to local tastes and customs. It has perceived from the restrictive Arabian culture that using woman photograph in promotions will hurt the sentiments. But this move wentwrong, leading to controversy and resulting in an apology issuance by the organization. In global version of catalogue, a woman is featured standing in pajamas with her sons and husband in bathroom. In Saudi Arabic version, along with language translation the woman is removed and only father and the sons are depicted.
In commercial of men's perfume "Drakkar Noir", the version used in Middle East showed a woman's hand stroking dark suited man's hand holding the perfume with only a fingertip whereas in USA the same hand was depicted
Localization happens because of the anticipation of the companies that using globalized version may be unacceptable to particular culture. For instance in France, using cheese with glass of beer is unacceptable to show in commercials as
seizing the bare wrist of the man holding perfume. Such difference has been because of non verbal language messages. Saudi Arabia has been big market for perfume so Arabic morals were adhered to in the campaigns. Normally Saudi Arabia is high –touch culture but inappropriate
there is acceptability towards combination of wine and cheese. Cheese with beer may touch the pulse of Germans but not everywhere. Keeping an eye on Hofstede’s cultural dimension of Individualism/Collectivism is also a tantamount contributor to the success of firms.
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IKEA catalogue global (left) and in Saudi Arabia (right)
This approach has been used to good effect by Goodyear Tire &Rubber which uses the same slogan "Goodyear, take me home" in 39 countries. However, the other aspects in its advertisements are built upon with society features in mind. For instance, in Philippines they stressed on certain emotional family scenes which highlight the collectivism based culture while in Brazil they ended these with a visual joke pointing it out to the characteristics of Brazilians. Sometimes the adaptation occurs because of varied positioning of the brand across different countries. Levi’s jeans may be considered a premium brand in developing country like India and is positioned as macho stylish people choice. But in USA, it is a regular brand which people of all age and work groups wear. Such differences can be seen in its advertisements also. Different product usage also forces companies to target local audiences differently. If consumers in different markets buy similar products (for different reasons) then the strategy must respect these differences. One thing that also defines promotion strategy design is the choice of brand personalities.Brand personality denotes the phenomenon that a brand is frequently related to various human personality characteristics, such as fashion-consciousness, prestige, and being down-to-earth. It has been found out that the advertisements of each country ideally display a certain degree of sensitivity to the brand personality characteristics of the specific local market. Marketers’ main aim is to engage customers through all the forms of communication and stimulate sales. Nowadays, formation of a common culture platform because of globalization Page 9
powered by technology and mobility has led to convergence of similar user preferences .Hence, the possibility of using common promotions and advertisements is increasing with the growth of such culture. But it’s a long way to achieve complete globalization andtill then marketers will continue to lure customers by being local in their flavor, following that famous saying ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’.
Akanksha Garg MBA (IB) 12-14 IIFT
Gaurav Bajaj MBA (IB) 12-14 IIFT
Levis ad in USA (top) and in India (bottom)
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OBVERSE Digital
Media Answer to Question 1 is Sagar Ratna
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The markets across the continents are currently undergoing a dramatic relevance and influence of digital across the communication landscape. One noticeable influence is the increasingly digitally enabled media landscape - from outdoor billboards to the mobile phone, which in its own peculiar way is redefining the way people communicate with each other. Convergence of business and technology is no more a term we are unaware of, but it's taking place faster than our realization and is giving tremendous opportunities to businesses across the globe to deliver the real value.
The digital media revolution is flourishing and gathering momentum. The transition from analog to digital was a revolution in itself, but today the entire value chain of our communication is in the process of transformation with the Internet being the prime drive. According to experts, the market for digital media will more than double, growing from US$309 billion in 2008 (23% of the entire media market) to US$727 billion by 2015 (35% of the market). The emergence of web as a preferred channel for consuming media has changed the whole face of communication. A recent survey indicated that consumers in developed countries like the United States, the U.K, Japan, and Australia spend up to 40% more of their personal time using the web than watching TV. Advertising through Digital media: A revolution in motion Advertising is a significant source of web income, which can go as high as 80% of the revenues. Google is taking advantage of the innate ability of the Internet to capture user response and thus enabling its advertisers to measure campaign results instantaneously. It is a win-win proposition for both advertisers and Google. Advertisers can readily measure campaign effectiveness, while Google extracts benefits by projecting itself as the most preferred Internet ad
network. As Figure shows, putting available content (and ads) on the mobile platform further combats decay in revenue per user by introducing yet another medium for ad placement. Key players such as Google and Yahoo! have been rendering their service offerings to the mobile platform for several years. Besides this is the growth of cheaper, faster and advanced technology from 3G connectivity to advanced smart phone applications and mobile websites that book movie tickets. There's also the basic purchasing of electricity via SMS, paying bills online and transferring money via ATMs. Banks are also gradually moving away from the traditional methods of banking to the alternate channels like m-commerce and ecommerce that provides them fantastic cost propositions. There are numerous case studies which demonstrate how the utilization of digital media has done wonders for organizations. For example grocery chain Tesco wanted to expand their market share in South Korea. Because the people in South Korea work long hours they thought of an efficient way to sell their products. The Korean subsidiary Home Plus put up billboards in subway stations with their range of products, accompanied by QR, or Quick Response codes. All people had to do now was to scan the QR codes with their cell phone and the groceries were delivered to their doorsteps. Keeping in mind the way digital media has changed our lifestyles and thought processes, it would be extremely harsh if we term it as an “over hyped� phenomenon. It has enormous potential of bringing about radical changes in social, economical and political spheres of life. Adapting to change has become a pre requisite to survive and digital media is the very change I am talking about!
Avneet Bhulania MBA (IB) 12-14 IIFT
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REVERSE "Social media" is just the adjective, “Marketing" is the noun. The rapid growth of social networking sites and their use in high-profile marketing and communication campaigns has been explosive and has surpassed all estimates. The multitude increase in the popularity of social media sites has been phenomenal with an average user spending one-third of his day on these platforms, needless to mention the constant connectivity and updates. Nothing in this world comes “free” Cost conscious managers feel that social media is a “free” resource and thus put their “marketing experts” to engage potential customers. What they fail to realize is that though it is cost effective, it takes a considerable amount of investment in terms of time and expertise to finally see any demonstrable impact. There is no denying that companies are able to create a buzz about their products, sure it is terribly effective but that doesn’t mean it’s not overhyped. There is no definitive data to support that the number of followers on Facebook/Twitter translates into revenues as there are no credible ways to find out ROI. Spending more on something that one cannot measure is a precarious position for any marketer and yet it typifies the current corporate approach to social media. “Social tactics are not meaningful sales drivers” Social media has not only been a hype driver but also served as a marketing budget disrupter for big and small businesses alike. Most businesses entered into social media marketing as a defensive strategy because of the fear of loss of competitiveness. There is no debate whether or not social media is productive enough in generating buzz but in terms of tangible benefits, it accounts to less than 1% of the total revenues. The key drivers Page 11
behind the success of social media marketing actually depends on the kind of business, potential customers and a whole host of other things which the marketers simply ignore.
Majority of well-established players in this domain have started retiring this media to being a small part of the marketing mix. A series of arbitrary estimates emerge that variously value a Facebook fan at anything from 2¢ to $138.50. The marketers have started questioning the huge investments for so little apparent return. Coke and Unilever, both in the vanguard of big socialmedia spending have realized that the returns are indeed disappointing and are switching back to traditional ways like sales promotions. According to a recent research by Gartner, over 75% of Fortune 1000 companies have joined the social networking ranks and that over half of these will be classified as failures. Social media marketing hype has hit epic proportions but its effectiveness is becoming increasingly unattractive owing to other emerging and tested means like SEO,SEM, social analytics, etc. The clear underlining of marketing concepts, purpose and strategies to enhance social media properties is vital. Brand building is no different. It still relates to the kindergarten lessons of networking: being engaging, reaching out to target customers, make a lasting impression.
Aditi Sharma MBA (IB) 12-14 IIFT
Is social media marketing overhyped?
Well YES!!
3. Which Indian state that advertises itself as full of surprises?
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FROM WHOOPS to OOPS !!!!!!
It’s hardly a secret that going global tops the list of great business opportunities today. The next several decades will see one billion people in Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries) become part of the middle class. These one billion consumers will have tremendous spending power and a deep hunger for labels, tastes and concepts. For businesses, it provides a solution to one of their most pressing needs. It delivers growth. For government, it addresses what lies at the heart of our economic recovery. It creates jobs. So it seems like going beyond boundaries of country of origin is the choice companies have to make to stay alive. Or as they say either you go forward and grow or you perish, there is no third way of stagnation for long. As a result, the quantum of companies operating internationally is growing constantly. The world is opening up for foreign firms and new destinations of business are on a rise. Because of high competition, the companies operating abroad are faced with a much bigger task than ever before. When going international the challenges the company must handle are new and unfamiliar. Obstacles the firm never faced before are becoming crucial in the everyday work. Culture is one of these obstacles and can affect the entire co-operation. Most international firms began their foreign business in countries that are similar psychologically and culturally to their own home country. The cultural distance effect explains this fact. If the company starts doing business in a country similar to its own, previous experience becomes relevant. If the firm is successful in one foreign country, it can also make
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profits by doing the same thing in another, similar country. Japan, for example, started trading with the South East Asian countries before entering South America. This pattern has a reason behind. Going far away from home increases transaction costs and the chance that the home market skills will be useful are decreasing. If the company gradually enter more countries in an expanding circle away from its own market, the firm develops new resources in form of for example learning and understanding (Johansson, 2000). These are some very important elements of culture which if ignored can prove to be disastrous. Culture can influence the business in different ways. Language problems, pricing difficulties and culture collisions are not uncommon, especially in the early stages. The company must be able to handle these difficulties in a such a way that satisfies the other part too. Mistakes can be difficult to correct and any disrespect for the foreign culture can destroy the entire operation. Each society has its own elements of culture. These elements of culture are manifested through: Language Religion Values and attitudes Manners and customs Material elements Aesthetics Education Social institutions
`
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History is full of hundreds of marketing blunders which were made primarily due to cultural differences and lesser understanding of foreign lands culture. We would try to bring some most interesting ones to you which impacted fortunes of companies ranging from Pepsi to……… 1.
In one incident concerning Camay soap, P&G having had much success with a particular ad in Europe decided to run the same campaign in Japan. The ad shows a man walking in to bathroom while his wife is taking a bath. The company later found out that Japanese consider it bad manners for a man to intrude upon his wife. Later company ran ads showing Japanese men walking to women and telling them how beautiful they looked. But in Japan men simply avoid such things and these ads flopped as well. P&G then conducted market research and quickly redesigned the ads resulting in, long sought after, success. P&G also fumbled with its Pampers launch in Japan. The conventional diapers used in American markets were very thick and usually took a lot of storage space. In Japan the frequency of changing diapers is twice that of United States and houses are much smaller. This caused storage space problem for Japanese housewives. Later P&G redesigned thinner diapers for Japanese market.
2.
Sometimes they are mildly amusing and other times they are laugh out loud funny, here are some to tickle your funny bone:
The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-kou-ke-la. Unfortunately, the Coke company did not discover until after thousands of signs had been printed that the phrase means "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax" depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 Chinese characters and found a close phonetic equivalent, "ko-kou-ko-le," which can be loosely translated as "happiness in the mouth."
In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" came out as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead." So this slogan created a
In this case involving Heineken, promotional campaign hurt religious sentiments and became cause of major embarrassment for the company. Heineken engaged in a special promotional campaign during the 1994 soccer World Cup. Among other activities, the company had the flags of all of the countries qualifying for World Cup Finals imprinted under the bottle cap of their leading brand of beer. Among the numerous flags portrayed was that of Saudi Arabia, which depicts a holy verse. In response to this, Muslims from all over the world reacted angrily to the fact that holy verse was associated with alcoholic beverage. Subsequently, the brewer had to recall all bottles and discontinue its promotion. A simple cultural oversight led to considerable embarrassment and customer disappointment. 3.
Pepsodent tried to sell its toothpaste in Southeast Asia by emphasizing that it "whitens your teeth."They found out that the local natives chew betel nuts to blacken their teeth which they find attractive. 4. A company advertised eye glasses in Thailand by featuring a variety of cute animals wearing glasses. The ad was a poor choice since animals are considered to be a form of low life and no self respecting Thai would wear anything worn by animals. Many times these mistakes are due to language barriers.
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Answer to Question 2 is Pizza Hut
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Taiwan and as a result leading to decline in sales of Pepsi there.
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Also in Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan "finger- lickin' good" came out as "eat your fingers off." This was not received well by the Chinese leading to a decline in sales of KFC.
The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem - Feeling Free," got translated in the Japanese market into "When smoking Salem, you feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty."
When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware that "no va" means "it won't go." After the company figured out why it wasn't selling any cars, it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to Caribe. Latin American car buyers shunned the car, forcing Chevrolet to embarrassedly pull the car out of the market.
Ford had a similar problem in Brazil when the Pinto flopped. The company found out that Pinto was Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals". Ford pried all the nameplates off and substituted Corcel, which means horse.
When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to say "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." However, the company mistakenly thought the spanish word "embarazar" meant embarrass. Instead the ads said that "It wont leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."
Suggestion to avoid Blunders (1) Don't Be Over-Confident or Over-Optimistic about the Potential of Your Product- Being overoptimistic or over confident about the product is the biggest mistake a marketer can commit. A market is ruled by customers who make the product a success and are a cause of its failure. So, one must always study the culture before designing the marketing campaign for any product. An example for such a mistake would be of American Motors. They had always marketed their new car, the Matador, based on the image of courage and strength. But in Puerto Rico the name means killer so the car was not popular there. (2) Don't Overlook the Importance of Learning in International Markets- whenever a firm ventures out in the international market it must always be learning. If learning stops at any stage, it is very likely that the product will fail drastically. An example is of Umbro, the UK sports manufacturer had to withdraw its sneakers called Zyklon. Zyklon is the name of the gas used by Nazis in concentration camps. (3) Avoid Ethnocentrism- Ethnocentrism, that is, the notion that one’s own culture or company knows best how to do things. Ethnocentrism comes with doing business domestically and internationally. As a business owner, we must understand how the ethnocentric views of consumers can affect operations. Although failing to understand ethnocentrism can alienate the company from consumers, if we recognize the reality of ethnocentrism you can develop a strategy to benefit from it. a good example would be of the Electolux campaign. (4) Avoid the Self-Reference Criterion- The primary obstacles to success in international marketing are a person’s self reference criterion (SRC). SRC is an unconscious reference to one’s own cultural values, experiences, and Knowledge as a basis for decisions. Esso, the brand name of a gasoline, was a successful name in the United States and would seem harmless enough for foreign countries; however in Japan the name phonetically means stalled car an undesirable image for gasoline.
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Do Your Homework Properly- researching properly prior to advertising in foreign markets is essential if a firm wants its promotional campaign to be successful. Another example for this will be of Honda. They introduced their new car Fitta into Nordic countries before realizing that fitta was a vulgar word which referred to a woman’s genitals in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. (6) Seek Relationships, Not Transactions, in International Marketing- Whenever working in International markets we must seek relationships, not transactions. The simple fact being that relationships last longer and transactions are just for once. Moreover, relationships create an emotional connect with the customer which is not possible just by pure transactions. Thus, the firms must make a serious effort in researching the culture of the nation it plans to target and introduce its product as at the end it is not the product that suffers but the Brand and its image suffers a lot in the long run. Even great companies make mistakes and fall, but Wisdom lies not in never falling but striking back whenever (5)
Rohit Shukla MBA(IB)2012-14 IIFT
you fall. Learning from your own mistakes makes you wise but learning from other’s mistakes makes you successful in Marketing.
Vikul Tyagi MBA(IB)2012-14 IIFT
Did you know? The “I’m feeling lucky” button on Google homepage is almost never used. But in research trials it was found that removing the button would somehow lessen the Google experience. Maybe people just want to see the button to feel comfortable with Google.
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So how do you define an Event? Is it your birthday or anniversary, which is personal? Or is it an event like Kumbhmela or IPL? Or is it a once in a lifetime event like Doomsday! Yes, marketers today do not leave any opportunity for marketing. DOOMSDAY was a big ticket (not literally) event for those marketers who knew just how to milk it. Mayans surely were the highlight of the year, as they made this year the most over hyped year after 1984. The D-Date of 21/12/12 had everyone on the edge. There were people who believed in it and there were people who knew it was just another gimmick but still liked all the fun surrounding it. All over the world, right from hotels and restaurants to vacation packages, one could get special offer this doomsday. Axe jumped right into the game by releasing Axe-2012 Final Edition. With the motto of “No man can walk alone” Axe wanted all its bro to go with a bang.
cleaning with a Mayan shaman priest along with a private helicopter ride to a tour of architectural sites led by an archaeologist. for $79,000 per couple at the Rosewood Mayakoba in Riviera Maya. This was called "The Ultimate New Beginning" package. At the J.W. Marriott resort in Cancun, guests can visit the ancient ruins of Chichen Itza and indulge in Mayan-inspired spa treatments. TGI’s Friday went all out, from its website
“Go out with bang” was also the motto of print ads by Durex, the famous condom brand. There were faux-Durex ads designed by advertising creative Daniel James Evans all over the Internet as the end was coming. Some say they were official ads released by a French branch of Durex and some say they were faux. Well, who's to know! If that’s not enough tapping onto the opportunity, then you could also go for a spiritual
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eating Twinkies at a meet-up where he asks “Where’s Dave?” “Dave drove a Ford,” says a saddened fellow Chevy driver.
featuring a countdown timer which showed the hours, minutes and seconds until “the last Friday” to apocalypse-inspired menu items to holding End of the World parties with games, prizes and more at six TGI Friday’s locations in the US. It encouraged customers to “Party like there’s no tomorrow”. Everyone in their right minds knew that world wasn’t going to end but who
doesn’t need a reason to party and have good food. Even History Channel capitalized this event by running programs that showcased various doomsday scenarios. Chevy’s Apocalypse ad was another one that was much talked about. Chevy’s ad plays on the Mayan-predicted apocalypse. Over the smooth voice of Barry Manilow singing “Looks Like We Made It,” the ad shows a Chevy Silverado driven by a man with dog emerging from the rubble of a post-apocalyptic city. At the commercial’s climax, the man greets other Chevy drivers
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So be it a Happy Ending or the Final Supper or Survival Post Apocalypse, marketers successfully made a mark on an event which most of us knew wouldn’t happen. Well that’s some marketing. Hopefully, there is such an opportunity again or else well, the marketers will make it anyway. But we still have events, that are well quite literally, Big Ticket!! Lets talk about one of India’s much speculated and large scale events, THE INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE. To a country of cricket fanatics, a 3hr cricket match easily catchable on a weekend or even weekday evenings with your favorite cricketers, film stars, cheerleaders, music, dance and lots of excitement at each ball, what better could have BCCI come up with. The revenue sources of the IPL included broadcasting rights, title sponsorships, team sponsorship, gate receipts, and in-stadium advertising. And well with so many eyes stuck to the field, marketers get such an immense opportunity to market! IPL in its first season registered a cumulative number of 101.77 million for the first six games. Right from 10-second slots being auctioned for ads to sponsors’ logos stamped on the jerseys, your brand can be made visible anywhere and everywhere. Who hasn’t seen the minimalist nail cutter advertisement IPL released for its season 6. PepsiCo, which bagged the title sponsorship of the Indian Prem i e r League (IPL) for the next five years, has gone all out this time. From colorful Holi-themed TVCs to “Dil Jumping Japang” dances in collaboration with Max to online quizzes giving you privilege to the special Pepsi VIP Box mounted at every stadium.
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Can you count the no. of ads on a player of any team, from cap to jersey to gloves to shoes to bat?
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And then you have team sponsors; Be it Indian Cements, owner of Chennai Super Kings or Hyderabad-headquartered GMR Group, owner of Delhi Daredevils, or Kochi-based Muthoot Finance, a gold financing company that has been the main sponsor of Delhi Daredevils since 2011; all of them have been successful in grabbing visibility for them. And why only the owners! In a match of Rajasthan Royals vs. Pune warriors, one couldn’t help but notice Lux Cozi bowling to Rupa, instead of PWI to RR, while a Dollar Boss ad displays on screen. Isn’t it too much cluttering, but who is to say. It is becoming tougher and tougher to make your brands visible in today’s competitive world. Every place is ad-able now. On ground, off ground, on players, off players, on screen, commentary, online – everything sells for a price (well lately the players too!) The league did see a drop in ad rates in the 5th season to Rs. 5.5 lakh for 10seconds TVC from Rs.10 lakh in season 1. But broadcaster Multi-Screen Media (MSM) was smart this season to quote at Rs 4.5 lakh per 10 seconds for the sponsors and 5 lakh per 10 seconds for spot buys. And well, all inventories were successfully sold. There is no fixed formula for even them; they learn with every season; their revenue model changes every season. TVCs, On-field and online marketing are the most sought after. Previous advertisers such as Samsung and Godrej are back this season, while new ones such as Panasonic, Honda cars, Asian Paints and Usha have jumped on board as well. Spot buys were made by brands such as Coca Cola India, Airtel and Parle Agro (Frooti and Appy). While there are IPL loyalists such as Vodafone and PepsiCo (the presenting sponsors), other big spenders such as Hyundai have decided to stay away from the tournament
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despite associating with cricketing properties such as the ICC (International Cricket Council) and the Woman’s World Cup recently. Is it marketing that these big ticket events crave for or is the marketing piggybacking on success of these events. Who feeds who in such a scenario? In case of Doomsday, we see that marketers create an event to celebrate out of nothing; On the other hand, IPL, which is such a huge scale event, is also becoming more dependent on marketing to create excitement and get a kick-start. Is it the lack of content to watch on IPL or too much dependency on marketing? What is the exact formula for marketing such an event? How does one know? Well, in today’s dynamic world you have to be smart and tap in the exact consumer behavior and leave no opportunity to be visible in their eyes.
Palnika Hemnani MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
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Convergence of
CULTUrE ‘The marketer has an easier job nowadays.’ This is one statement that has sparked debate amongst the best of the minds in the Indian context. Those that are marketers are staunchly against the statement whereas the observers or ex-marketers feel that the ball game in the retro era was something to be reckoned with & today, it is just a cakewalk. Now, we need to look at the current situation from two viewpoints. Culture & practices are dynamic in nature. So, as the world
shrinks, our culture is westernized & the western culture is Indianized. This means
that unlike twenty odd years ago, I find it socially acceptable, nowadays, to walk into a McDonalds’ outlet & eat a burger when I am hungry. Pizzas (Domino’s, Slice of Italy, Pizza Hut) have become part and parcel for us. Washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators have succeeded in replacing traditional solutions like maids & matkas. This is what is referred to as culture convergence. Now let’s analyse if this really does make the job of the marketer easy. We know as marketing enthusiasts that the number of customers that a brand entices is almost directly proportional to the number of varieties that a brand offers (in perfect competition). So, we need to understand the consumer’s growing need of choice. The phrase ‘The Consumer is King’ has come in to the limelight in a huge way in consumerist markets like the US & Austra-
US McDonalds’ Menu
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Dunkin Donuts launched two special items for diwali in India namely motichoor, kesar pista delight, petal jamun, coconut burst and nuts n stars. A few are shown in the pic above.
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Australia McDonalds’ Menu
lia. Uniformity, mind you, is good for the organization. It helps them achieve economies of scale & reduces operational costs to a great degree. Henry Ford realized the hard way that you can’t force the customers to buy your variant because it is giving you economies of scale. Ford said, famously, ‘I can deliver the car in any colour as long as it is black!’ Needless to say the strategy backfired. Let us look at the McDonalds menu which is now the universally acceptable standard for comparing two nations’ characteristics (economic & social). Except for the signature BigMac, Quarter-pounder Cheeseburger & Chicken McNuggets, there is absolutely no similarity in the menus of the two most consumer friendly cultures in the world, US & Australia. This indicates sheer need for varities in this world & very low possibility of standardization.
4. Name the competing brand for Amazon's kindle developed by Indian CompanyInfibeam.com?
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This indicates that consumers nowadays are choice crazy. Marketers, smart as they are,
mobile phone for over a decade. The above advertisement shows their Nokia 1100, Made For India phone that again did the trick for them. So, in our humble opinion, the marketer has a tougher job at hand in today’s world. I am an aspiring marketer & therefore, my opinion may be biased. But, I think that coming up with the right variants of things for the consumer to consume is a much tougher job than just coming up with products. As Henry Ford learned the hard way, consumer is King & his will is supreme. You need to incorporate features in variants of the cars. IT’S EASY TO BUILD A CAR FOR A MAN BUT DIFFICULT TO MAKE A CAR FOR RIGHT FOR EVERY MAN!
Anshul Khandelwal MBA(IB) 12-14 IIFT
Swati Pathak MBA(IB) 12-14 IIFT have realized this need and are already fuelling it. At the same time, we need to realize that there are certain inherent features that will always be characteristic of the culture or geography that you are in & Nokia exploited this image thoroughly by being India’s number one selling
Answer to Question 3 is Chhattisgarh
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Now, That’s an ENTRY!! Picture this- You just landed a dream role in the marketing department of a Cola or FMCG company. Goosebumps? We put a rider to it- the company is neither a Pepsi nor a Coke nor is it a Unilever or P&G. Your task is cut out- develop and execute an entry strategy for a highly saturated and competitive market. What would you do? Perhaps these examples would help. Volkswagen entered India at a time when the market was saturated with low-end hatchback and mid-sized sedan manufacturers. Although, consistently in the top two among the world’s largest automobile companies, Volkswagen’s Brand recall was a lowly 4% at the time of its launch in India. To rake up its Brand awareness, VW undertook a massive promotional and advertising campaign within a tight budget. It started with the roadblock in The Times of India- buying all advertising space in all editions and pages of the newspaper and a clever mix of out of home advertisements to drive home the ‘innovation’ aspect which VW stands for. It followed it up with a ‘Newspaper with a hole’ advt., in which a hole in the shape of the VW Polo was cut out in 4.2 million copies of The Times of India. The German car maker then came up with the ‘Talking newspaper’ advertisement wherein an audio advertisement played out as soon as a reader opened a copy of The Hindu or The Times of India of the Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Page 21
Bangalore & Pune editions. VW is also the first company to use the LinkedIn Recommendation ads & Company page on LinkedIn and put it for promotional use. The result was a sharp increase in brand awareness, which rose to 50% and sales that climbed up 1000% in less than two years. DDB Madura & Mediacom handle the creative and media planning operations respectively for Volkswagen India. Lutz Kothe, Head of Marketing, Volkswagen India claims that the company is not even among the top ten spenders in automobile advertising in India, although they look like they are. This ‘targeted’ and ‘selective’ advertising, he says, makes sure that the impact of the brand is made on the right people at the right times. U.S. fast food giant, SUBWAY has an interesting story too. With its advent in US in 1965, it expanded through its unique offerings and 6”, foot-longs and ‘Eat Fresh’ to 35000+ stores in 100 countries. Subway Restaurants has identified its target segments as adults between the ages 18-49. This is demographic segmentation. This age group is heavy fast food user and eat quick meals (behavioral) and seek good-tasting options (psychographic and benefits sought). When Subway enters a new market, the first issues it faces
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are building brand awareness and learning about potential customers' eating preferences and customs. Rather than second-guessing cultural differences, Subway attempts to adapt quickly to a new restaurant's immediate service area.
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Brands, Inc. Corporation. According to the then Country Head and Director of SLAIPL, the products had been designed specifically for the Indian market, based on in-depth research and consumer "fit tests" done in association with the National Institute of Fashion Technology. The Hanes range was made available in a phased manner across metros and mini metros. The brands communications carried “Original Tagless Comfort”, with a popular TV commercial in which a man cuts off using a pair of scissors to which the wife gives a gasp, only to later find out the tag of the innerwear.
In Israel, for example, the company omits pork items from its menu to avoid violating religious dietary customs. In countries where people are not used to eating sandwiches, Subway has had to educate consumers about this uniquely American product. Most Subway restaurants in Muslim countries offer a halal menu. Its restaurants in India do not serve beef and pork products, and sell an extended vegetarian range. In 2000, S u bway came to know about Jared Fogle who lost 245 lbs. with his own Subway diet for almost a year: he had a 6 inch SUBWAY turkey sub for lunch and a foot-long Veggie Delite sub for dinner. He became “The Subway Guy” doubling the Subway sales, hence began the positioning of its menu as a more healthconscious alternative to fast food. Subway has translated the Jared Fogle commercials into other languages for some international markets too. 2004 saw Hanes men’s innerwear in the Indian market, launched by Sara Lee Apparel (India) Pvt. Ltd. Hanes is a 114 year old global brand currently owned by the HanesPage 22
The emphasis on "Tagless" came from their global research which showed that 2 out of 3 men are irritated by the tags in the innerwear. The company had adopted a "crawl, walk, run" strategy for the Indian market. Hanes also cached on in the strong perception among Indian consumers that anything foreign is premium. At that time, the men’s innerwear market valued at around Rs. 2500 crore was dominated by VIP, Maxwell Industries. The premium segment which was estimated at Rs 600 crore was dominated by Jockey. Tapping the Indian consumer’s need for comfort with “Tagless” innerwear, Hanes was able to capture a large part of the men’s innerwear segment and currently stands at no. 4 in the Indian innerwear sector.
Vartika Goel MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Akash Relan MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
Answer to Question 4 is Pi
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CORPORATE SPEAK: In this issue we do a little chit-chat with CEO of most high rising company of the nation
Mr. Ashok Thakur
CEO, Mahindra & Mahindra South Africa (PYT) Ltd. He is one of the most respected and esteemed alumnus of IIFT He is acknowledged for setting up of Mahindra and Mahindra’s operations in South Africa from a scratch
Q> M & M has the strategy of offering value-formoney products and services to the customers in India. What is it that the SA subsidiary focuses on with consumers at SA having different lifestyles and demography than India? A> Our products are also Value for money to customers in South Africa. South Africa is a unique market with first world infrastructure and 10% of the population having first world lifestyle. Our products are well equipped with all safety features, match performance of established brands, are more rugged than other brands and most importantly have equivalent after sales backup. Q> With the addition of Ssang Yong products and expansion of dealership network in SA, Mahindra SA has seen a tremendous growth. What are your strategies for Mahindra SA to become a significant player in Southern African region? A> Brand building is key to the growth strategy. Established brands have long been in the country and have manufacturing operations. As new entrants, we have to build confidence among consumers that we are here to stay and not fly by night operators. Q> What are the important things one should keep in mind while selecting partners for automotive distribution in foreign market. A> Distribution options must be evaluated based on many parameters e.g. size of the market, CBU/CKD, market opportunity etc. Selection of distribution partners would depend upon many parameters e.g. market opportunity, need of brand building, stakes in the market – you cannot ignore all other basic parameters on partner selection.
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Q> What was the most challenging situation in your career of 15 years with M & M and how did you overcome it? A> Senior management’s consideration of investing in distribution in an evolved overseas market. We succeeded in getting approval by going back to basics – techno commercial feasibility, field testing of products, consumer clinic. All these indicated that the project was feasible. Q> What words of wisdom would you like to share with the aspiring marketers? A> Always reckon that : Export business cannot be a short term operation and appropriate strategies needs to be worked out. Detailed systems and processes need to be deployed as one would deploy in domestic market. High level of involvement in a market can guarantee long term success. Q> If you look in retrospect, how has IIFT left you a different person than you would have been had you not been a part of this institute? A> I believe looking at starting a business from start to finish is something which I had learnt very well at IIFT. Q> IIFT has completed its 50 years of existence and as an esteemed alumnus of IIFT, what message would you like to give to the fellow IIFTians? A> IIFT is a unique Institution which transforms students into global entrepreneurs. Business development is an important part, however, it is also important to focus on general management subjects as eventually one has to run a business for long term growth.
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MAHA Kumbh: Marketing Nirvana
“It is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining,” - Mark Twain Mark Twain, a keen observer of humanity and a famous author had recorded his experience of Kumbh Mela of 1894 in Allahabad in his travelogue ‘Following the Equator’. “It is done in love, or it is done in fear; I do not know which it is. No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination, marvelous to our kind of people, the cold whites.” Even now after 119 years of Mark Twain’s Kumbh this power of faith has continued attracting people to join the world’s largest congregation of pilgrims on the banks of the Sangam, a confluence of the holy rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. The 2013 Maha Kumbh saw a record 120 million pilgrims washing away their sins with plunges in the holy waters. But the tent city of Allahabad spread across 5000 acres had much more to offer than spiritual and religious comforts. This time big brands like Dabur, Emami, Coca-cola, HUL , Amul and many more have also come to the confluence in Allahabad, to get the nectar of immortality in the minds of pilgrims and consumers (The Kumbh Mela has its origins in mythology, which describes how a few drops of the nectar of immortality fell on the four places that host the festival -- Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar.) The Maha Kumbh Mela, no longer had merely rickety stalls selling everyday products to pilgrims but it was also a place for companies such as construction
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and agricultural equipment manufacturer JCB India to show their high prices products to the pilgrims belonging to the rural India whose per-capita spending for the past two years, has grown faster than that of urban dwellers for the first time in two and a half decades, according to ratings agency Crisil. Television is essentially a one-way medium, and for rural communities it is a totally inappropriate, inadequate way to communicate. Rural advertising has to be a twoway communication where people can clarify their doubts and understand what the product is capable of doing. Unlike TV commercials, outdoor marketing campaigns at events like the Maha Kumbh can be done in multiple dialects or languages and allow visitors to “touch and feel” products. About 52 companies belonging to different sectors as banking, telecom, fmcg, farm equipments, tourism and travel have participated in the big business opportunity offered by Maha Kumbh Mela and of these 42 companies were first time entrants. Travel & Tourism - Hospitality: Never before has the travel and tourism sector seen it as an opportunity to promote deluxe pilgrimages. With the mantra of ‘Pilgrimages needn’t be painful to the pilpilgrim’ these companies have offered various packages to serve the needs of the upper and middle class pilgrims who wish to wash away their sins with all the modern amenities and comforts available at the city of sangam. The package covers accommodation, all meals (vegetarian; made from organic produce); 24-hour tea lounge loaded with baked breads, cookies and pies; evening and morning aarti at the camp; and viewing terrace with a telescope for panoramic views of the Mela. The tents have modern toilets, refrigerators, bath
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amenities and towels. There’s an in-house astrologer, just in case you wish to know how sin-free you’ve become; a spiritual teacher, who doubles as guide — she’s been guiding pilgrims to the Kumbh Mela for the last 22 years; and you get access to an ayurvedic spa as well as demonstrations of cooking sattvik food. Pilgrimages no longer are about jostling your way through milling crowds. The time has come for comfortable, nothing-to-worry pilgrimages, where a secure living environment is guaranteed. The industrial body’s paper — ‘Maha Kumbh Mela 2013- Possible Revenue Generation Resources for Uttar Pradesh’ — says that the pilgrimage would generate additional employment opportunities for over six lakh workers in sectors spanning airlines and airports, hotels, tours, infrastructure and also trigger a surge in medical and ecotourism.
and low cost medium was very effective as it not only made the company reach a larger audience but the campaign was also appreciated by t he marketing world. A heat stamp was specially made to make an impression on the chapattis. The agency tied up with over 100 dhaba owners in the vicinity and handed out more than 2.5 million chapattis stamped with the Lifebuoy message. Also the wash basins of these dhabas were stocked with the Lifebuoy soaps.
Telecom Sector:
The Maha Kumbh was not just a religious mela but it was the perfect opportunity for the marketers to connect to a lager mass of all the classes and lifestyles by riding over a common wave of faith and religion that connected each one of them. From the Nagas popping the Revital to the pilgrims listening to bhajans and branded rotis, it was more than a confluence of faith, devotion and religion. Talent hunts, free samples and gadgets to freebies, marketers came up with every possible out of the box ideas to connect with the pilgrims and potential consumers and praying for the space in their minds. The power of Maha Kumbh is the power of faith and loyalty which was recognized by the marketers who were successful to tap a large market in a world which had no business with the business.
The big challenge that companies had to face was to adhere to the co-branding clause which was enforced by the administration. The clause states that all media displays within the designated mela area, which is close to 40 square kilometers, have to incorporate the Kumbh Mela branding and messages in ratio of 30 : 70. Hence they came up with the strategy of turning the clause into a customized opportunity to get associated with the services of Kumbh Mela. For example mobile service provider Vodafone India, reached out to consumers by screening films and providing musical ear-muffs, wired with in-built speakers that play devotiona songs’. Airtel and other network providerscame up with special tariff plans covering live audio coverage of Kumbh and canopies at sangam selling products and services. FMCG: FMCG major Coca -Cola had kiosks around the area, and it sold 150milliliter glasses of soda for 5 rupees or less along with bottles for 25 rupees. It also provided Wi-Fi services at its stalls where people can download free music. Ads for Hindustan Unilever’s Close Up toothpaste were seen all over the tent city. But the most remarkable and most eye catching advertising was done by Unilever for its Lifebuoy brand. 'Did you wash your hands with Lifebuoy?' That was the message, in Hindi, stamped on over 2.5 million chapattis at the Maha Kumbh Mela.This unique
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Prachi Singh MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
5. Who are the "good people to bank with" ?
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Whose Behind it??
In this edition we take a look at one of the India's oldest and most prestigious advertising company: Ogilvy and Mather
O&M has been played a major role in building big brands across the globe American Express, BP, Ford, Barbie, Maxwell House, IBM, Kodak, Nestlé, Cadbury & Unilever b r a n d s Pond's and Dove.
The list of Indian Companies managed by O&M(India) is also endless including Vodafone, Cadbury, Parle G, Ceat, Pidlite, KFC, Allen Solly, Tata Sky, The Hindu, Center Fruit, Unilever, Blackberry, Lenovo, Bajaj, Titan Raga, IDBI Federal Life, SBI Life, MIRC Electronics, Siemens (Bosch), Vedanta, Fortis Hospitals , Asian Paints, Ponds, Sprite. The list is truly endless...
Ogilvy and Mather (O&M) India, a subsidiary of WPP group is one of the leading advertising agencies in India having a presence since 1928. The group operates 450 offices in 120 countries with approximately 18,000 employees. In India Q&M has 6 Offices at Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. The Economic Times Brand Equity Agency Reckoner named Ogilvy & Mather India as the number one agency in creative, client servicing, account planning and 360-degree capabilities for the ninth successive year and since the survey began. And for the ninth consecutive year, Piyush Pandey(Executive Chairman and Creative Director, South AsiaOgilvy & Mather India) has been ranked the Most Influential Person in the industry as well as the No. 1 Hottest Creative Person of the Year. Piyush Pandey also cemented his reputation as one of India’s finest creatives when he was named among the top 50 most influential industry leaders by DNA, a leading Indian English daily, and was also rated No. 1 by agencies and clients in an R3/GC India Agency Image study. What’s more, he was awarded the Creative Achievement Award by the New York Festival in Shanghai in July 2009. At the EFFIES, Ogilvy India scored 3 Golds, 5 Silvers and 1 Bronze. More significantly, the wins showcased the network’s strength in depth, as they were spread across seven clients, eight brands, 10 campaigns, five categories and three cities of the Ogilvy India network. The network also swept the awards with a total of 120 points, 70 points more than our nearest competitor. The icing on the cake came when Vodafone won the Client of the Year award, Brand Equity the Bravery Award and also the Uncommon Sense Award. 2009 also marked the year Ogilvy Mumbai was named one of Asia’s top 10 agency offices by the Cannes Report, the only Indian agency to be featured on the list. Now let’s discuss some O&M India’s campaigns:
Lifebuoy at Maha Kumbh Mela Lifebuoy along with its key activation partner Page 26
OgilvyAction decided to create a special heat stamp with the message, ‘Did you wash your hands with Lifebuoy?’ OgilvyAction then hired promoters, to stand in many of the kitchens/ dhabas/hotels spread across the Maha Kumbh Mela area and instructed them to impression 2.5 million fresh rotis with the message. As millions of people settle down to have their meal, they are greeted by a Roti that reminds them to wash their hands before they start eating. Lifebuoy has also put up hoardings and banners across these hotels, and over Allahabad and the Kumbh area to spread awareness regarding hand washing, and to reinforce the fact that Lifebuoy can help prevent serious infections. Moreover, free soaps were provided in hotels to further encourage the habit of hand washing with soap before eating. The Impact: The approx. number of fresh rotis, which were served to pilgrims at the Maha Kumbh was 2.5 million but the reach is estimated to be much higher. In effect, this simple, clutter breaking idea helped then to reach out to a massive audience, with Lifebuoy’s simple but important message.
Hot Wheel’s don’t drink and drive Mattel Toys India launches a CSR initiative created by O&M Mumbai. When car owners arriving at the The Little Door pub, handed over their car keys for the valet to park, they attached specially designed key chains to the owners’ car keys. The key chain they attached had a damaged Hot Wheels car (depicting a car that’s recently been in an accident) with a message that read, “Even a Small Drink Is Enough”. Attached with the keychain was a tag
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that had the phone numbers of the Party Club Drivers. When the car owners were exiting, they were handed out their keys with the attached Hot Wheels key chain that carried the social message. This shocked and alarmed the drivers as the visual impact was powerful. But most importantly, the reaction was positive. Many decided to call the driver service to drive them home and some called friends and family to pick them up.
The Hot Wheels message was driven right home: Drinking, no matter how less, should never be mixed with driving. Having this keychain attached to their car keys was a constant reminder of the risks of driving under the influence of alcohol, reiterating the message: Even a small drink is enough. Don’t drink and drive.
Campaigns for Coca Cola: CokeHands Outdoor Execution in China The Coca-Cola Company and Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Shanghai teamed up to create a new outdoor execution to celebrate the spirit and happiness that comes with sharing a bottle of Coke. The imagery was a part of The Coca-Cola Company’s ongoing global marketing campaign, “Open Happiness,” which brings smiles and happiness to the lives of people all over the world. The iconic imagery conveys sharing in a manner that is uniquely own-able as the only two elements in the entire visual are both trademarks of Coke, as well as worldwide icons: the “Dynamic Ribbon” and the “Contour Bottle.” In a market like China where clutter is the norm, the simple lines and hyper-minimalistic design, which even leaves out Coke’s logo, are a showstopping example of ‘less is more,’ Knowing that Coca-Cola wanted to communicate the spirit of sharing a Coke in an iconic and distinctive way, Ogilvy tracked down and reached out to Jonathan Mak Long, a young student-artist who had previously gained Page 27
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internet acclaim for his Steve Jobs tribute which went viral around the world soon after the Apple founders’ passing. The resulting effort for CocaCola yielded this design, which conveys in the simplest way imaginable the spirit of sharing, friendship and happiness that is sparked each time a bottle of Coke is passed from one hand to another. Share a coke Campaign in Australia The primary campaign objective was simple: increase consumption of Coca-Cola over the summer period in Australia. The secondary objective was to get people talking about Coke again. Coca-Cola wanted a core idea that would reunite Australians with the idea of getting together and sharing a good time over a Coca-Cola. Australians are known for calling each other by their first name, or ‘mate’ for that matter. And, in order to bring people together, Coca-Cola needed to encourage this on a more personal level… and what better way to spark conversation than by using a first name! So in 2011, Coca-Cola initiated these conversations by putting Australians front and centre and encouraging them to connect and ‘Share a Coke’. Coca-Cola printed 150 of the country’s most popular names on labels of Coke bottles for the first time in the
brand’s history, to remind Aussies not only of those people currently in their lives, but also people they may have lost touch with, giving them a reason to connect. Prior to campaign launch, Coke bottles with names on them began appearing in fridges across Australia, allowing consumers to discover the names on-pack themselves, sparking online conversations and media interest. The campaign then launched with a big bang across multiple channels. First, the campaign story broke on page three of The Australian newspaper, followed by a flow of marketing
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trade coverage. The TVCs, which featured a montage of volunteered photos of real people who shared that name, first aired across the biggest weekend in Australian sport. Key media and celebrity influencers with a large social media footprint were identified and sent personalised seeding kits with a Coke product bearing their name, including campaign messaging to share with their network of fans. Through a partnership with Austereo, 150 name songs were created and broadcast on-air nationally. Consumers then used these songs as inspiration to connect via Facebook. Consumers were invited to SMS a friend’s name, which was projected live onto the iconic ‘Coca-Cola’ sign at Sydney’s King’s Cross. They then received an MMS enabling them to share their friend’s name up in lights, via Facebook and email. The campaign exceeded expectations with millions of Australians getting together and ‘Sharing a Coke’ either virtually or literally. Young adult consumption increased significantly during the campaign, up by 7%, making 2011 the most successful summer ever. The campaign earned a total of 18,300,000-plus media impressions. The campaign also changed attitudes: over the campaign, teens claimed it gave them a ‘very positive’ impression of Coke. Scores on ‘always doing new things’,‘is a brand I
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love’ and ‘for someone like me’ all improved with the young adult audience. Ogilvy & Mather China’s outdoor execution, ‘#CokeHands’, has been ranked the top global campaign of 2012 in the outdoor category while Ogilvy & Mather’s Sydney campaign, ‘Share a Coke’, was ranked the world’s 11th best campaign across all media channels in 2012 by The Big Won Report.
Coke Hands is already being exhibited at the Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, USA.
Navdeep Verma MBA(IB) 2012-14 Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
Answer to Question 5 is Union Bank of India
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PROMOTE TO PROSPER Among other entities, people, institutions, ideas and information are marketed. The sole purpose of politics is to come to power so as to serve the nation according to one’s vision and beliefs. To this end, political parties and their leaders, in particular, run campaigns to try and convince their countrymen why they should be voted to power. This article discusses the various marketing strategies that politicians employ to win hearts – and votes. It brings to light the various political circumstances that crop up frequently and the marketing approaches used in these situations. Marketing has always played a huge role in politics. In his 1922 book ‘Public Opinion’ Walter Lippmann wrote that society needed intelligence bureaus which would dispense disinterested information to journalists, governments, businesses and the society at large, for the manufacture of consent. In his 1928 book ‘Propaganda’, Edward Bernays, also the founder of the public relations industry, wrote, “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. It remains a fact that in almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world.” In 1992, after Bill Clinton beat George Bush, Dan Quayle quipped, "If he governs as well as he campaigned, the country will be all right." Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign is a perfect lesson in political marketing. His
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charisma, public speaking skills and enthralling biography caught the imagination of the entire nation. He pursued all voters, not just avowed Democrats. His organization encouraged early voting by Democrats to reduce the chances of supporters being discouraged from voting by long queues on Election Day. Throughout, he displayed respect for his opponent John McCain while successfully labelling a McCain administration as Bush’s third term and thwarting negative advertising against him. He chose a non-controversial, experienced Senator as his running mate.
Source: www.globalvoicesonline.org According to marketing guru Philip Kotler, two reasons were the cornerstone of Obama’s successful campaign:
High touch – Obama sold hope authentically. He adopted a simple slogan of ‘change’ that never varied throughout his campaign. A
6. What term is used to highlight the highest management overview ?
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big chunk of his funds came from thousands of small donors, who thus felt more personally connected to him. At a time of economic mayhem, his family – accomplished wife and beautiful kids – displayed a scene of equanimity and reassurance.
High tech – Obama made exceptional use of the internet,
social media in particular, to send across his message. His communications were professional without being slick, attractive without being in-your-face. His supporters would call up people and ask them who their preferred presidential candidate was. If they were Republican supporters, they were thanked for their patience. If they evinced interest in Obama, they were asked if they would like to become volunteers. When Obama won, his office sent emails to all his volunteers thanking them for their marvellous support. At the peak of the economic crisis, Obama managed to raise maximum volunteered time and money in the history of US elections. Erroneous marketing, however, can lead to the downfall of political parties, as evidenced by BJP’s illfated ‘India Shining’ campaign in 2004 wherein they were penalized by the vast majority of the poor and lost what seemed like a certain victory only a few months ago. Let us consider the various scenarios in politics and the consequent use of marketing:
Transcendental leadership
The ideal politician believes in serving people and not usurping their wealth. He (she) is patriotic, honest, trustworthy, charismatic, sincere, humble, knowledgeable, fair, level-headed, ambitious, passionate and disciplined. His integrity is beyond reproach. He accepts responsibility for his actions and words. He leads from the front. He is loyal and committed to his party. He thinks globally and acts locally. He is thirsty for factual, expert-oriented and unbiased knowledge. He does not seek personal fame or attention. He represents the hopes and aspirations of his citizens. He has high goals, but is realistic about them, and is frank with his people about it. He has a clear vision for his country and his people. He knows where he wants to take them and what it will take to get there. He has the ability to build consensus to achieve that vision.
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He possesses the technical skills required to handle challenging assignments, fiscal matters, policies, plans, projects and ideas. Such leaders as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi do not need expensive campaigns or marketing gimmicks to win support of their people – their actions speak for themselves.
Socio-economic environment
Hitler’s rise According to Theodore Roosevelt, “The most successful politician is he who says what the people are thinking most often in the loudest voice.” Post WWI, and especially after the Treaty of Versailles, there was deep anger and bitterness in Germany. Further, when the US called in its loans to Germany amidst the Great Depression, the German economy collapsed. Unemployment and hunger became rampant. The democratic government seemed incompetent. Germany was emotionally as well as physically incapacitated. It was in this desperate situation that Germany turned to the extremist policies of Hitler. Hitler promised to restore German pride - it was exactly what people wanted to hear. He called the Germans the ‘master race’. He was a brilliant speaker, and it is said that ‘his eyes had a peculiar power over people.’ He promised most groups in Germany what they wanted. He persuaded them to blame the Jews for their woes. He branded himself as their last hope. Silvio Berlusconi v/s Nandan Nilekani Berlusconi was a billionaire much before he became a 4time Prime Minister of Italy. His roguish charm, gift for demagoguery, wealth and influence, extravagant lifestyle and love of soccer appealed to the many working-class Italians. Amid huge bribery scandals in the early 1990s, they saw him as a self-made man who could not be bought. On the other hand, there is Nandan Nilekani who, in his autobiography ‘Imagining India’, says that he is ‘quite unelectable’ in India and that being an entrepreneur makes him an easy target for populist rhetoric. Ivy League politicians One-third of US Presidents possess an Ivy League certificate. 41 of 55 British Prime Ministers to date have graduated either from Oxford or Cambridge. In such developed countries, elite education of a politician itself becomes a selling point for him.
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Identity politics
There are two forms of identity politics - the first is the politics based on who a candidate is rather than on what he believes or argues for; the other is based on the assumption, resting on history and observation, that because of his race/ ethnicity/gender a candidate might pursue an agenda that would advance the interests a voter is committed to. Obama got 93% of the black votes in the 2012 election. Leaders like Lalu Yadav, K.C.Rao and Mayawati have consistently branded themselves as champions of the downtrodden. Hate politics is a form of identity politics.
Narendra Modi’s popularity The demand for more accountability and transparency, China’s progress where its authoritarian government can take swift decisions and the possibility of Islamic anarchy in India’s neighbourhood have all enabled Narendra Modi’s stupendous rise. Modi has branded himself as a development icon, a role model for strong leadership and a symbol of efficient and honest governance. He is so honest that gifts for him are deposited in the state treasury—a far cry from the corruption and nepotism that are customary elsewhere. His machine-like efficiency, financial probity and phenomenal management abilities have made Gujarat a mecca for development. Modi, in many ways, embodies his state’s history: his character symbolizes Gujarat’s energetic, outward-looking entrepreneurial spirit and its hard-edged communalism. He represents a new kind of Indian politician — democratically elected but authoritarian in style and spirit.
Dynastic politics
Dynastic politics are practiced globally. There are many reasons for this – limited political access due to want of money, time, resources and requisite connections; respect for those who rendered service to their country during crucial periods such as an independence struggle; absence of large-scale voter mobilization through independent civil society bodies; ‘brand name’ identification; and charismatic leadership that finds an automatic connect with the masses. In India, dynasts seem able to hold parties together. Further, India's strong family traditions, where it is widely acceptable for children to follow their parents’ footsteps, justify dynasts in the eyes of voters. Hence, Balasaheb Thackeray’s impassioned appeal to his followers to support his son and grandson.
Politicians having criminal records Studies show that identity politics enhances the appeal of criminals in politics. In places where social divisions are particularly dominant, candidates use their criminal background as a sign of their credibility to protect their allies’ interests. First, it serves as a clear indication of his willingness to bend the rules to suit his group's own interests. Second, it shows
his capacity to flex muscles to deliver benefits and keep rivals at bay by force and intimidation. Source: www.ellentordesillas.com CONCLUSION Marketing has always had a key role to play in politics. The type of marketing tactics used depends on the leadership style, the socio-economic environment and ideology of the particular political party. In future, its role will only get enhanced as information becomes ubiquitous and technology becomes more advanced.
Rushab M Parikh MBA(2012-14) SIBM, Pune
Answer to Question 6 is 50,000 feet view Page 31
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Greening of Automobile Industry The Indian automobile industry is one of the most promising and booming auto industries across the world but at this juncture with the rising concerns regarding climate change and the pollution levels, “Going Green” is the future of this industry. Automobiles cause pollution in the air through the emission of hazardous gases. In order to com-bat environmental issues the industry is adopting green initiatives in terms of “Green Cars”. The need to have a space where electric vehicles can be flaunted is a need of the hour. Today more companies are focusing on cleaner solutions to vehicles used in everyday life from autos, bikes to cars. The electric car market is whirring up and now major giants like Toyota, General Motors, Chevrolet, Nissan, Ford, Honda, Hyundai and Volkswagen etc are leading their way with the green vehicles in India. Hybrid cars which used to seem the stuff of science fiction have not only become more common but also more efficient, powerful & attractive too in recent years. A green car is a vehicle that is considered to be environmentally safe and have less of a damaging impact on the environment than conventional cars as it consumes less petroleum or uses renewable energy sources to fuel its engine. There are a number of green cars available today such as Electric Cars, Hybrid Cars, and Hydrogen Cars. Alternative fuel vehicles, or green cars, can potentially make an important contribution to greening the economy. Electric cars can produce much lower emissions than burning fuel in mobile engines, but it all depends on how the electricity is generated. Burning petrol or diesel in a small, mobile engine can be inefficient compared to the most efficient coal-fired power generators. When petrol is used to power a vehicle, only 15-20% of the energy is usually captured to drive the car forward, compared to 40% in making electricity in an efficient coal power station. The inherent ad-vantages of these vehicles are low emissions, high fuel efficiency, and quietness of electric motor and great performance. India’s largest car producer Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., as a part of its corporate social responsibility has delivered the eco-friendly hybrid Page 32
cars. Reva Motors has also promoted REVA- India first electric car, Honda Civic-India’s First Hybrid Car, Chevrolet’s Electric Spark, Electric Tata Indica, The Oreva Electric car from Ajanta, Mahindra & Mahindra’s Scorpio Hybrid, E - Bikes from Hero, Yo Bikes- India’s first electric two wheeler, Sloeckshaw (the solar rickshaw), Mahindra’s Hydrogen Rickshaw, the Hy-alfa & Auroville’s Electric Vehicle Rally are few examples of green initiatives in India. Although green cars are generating increasing interest among policy makers, businesses and consumers, their economic and environmental benefits are still uncertain. India is ready for fuel efficiency but for hybrid vehicles, it will take some time as it is facing some challenges which are related to fuel technology and nurturing talented manpower. Technology is significant and needed to ignite the growth of auto industry. Whether it’s a two-wheeler or a car, technology drives the growth. The industry is struggling hard to come up with a holistic approach to reduce CO2 and to attract customers. Experts are of the view that this technology is still a far-fetched idea for India as these cars may not fit into the affordability of Indians. The initial challenge include high price, restricted driving range, perceived distance needs being not achieved & much longer refueling time. In addition, high entry barriers favor incumbent firms and technologies over newcomers and consumer’s unawareness towards green car are barriers for shifting to greener transport. Nonetheless, innovative business models are emerging, and play a fundamental role in determining the success of green vehicles. A revolution on the roads has become necessary in India as Greening the world automobiles is happening rapidly. It’s no wonder that the cars we will see on the road in the next decade will change dramatically. Several auto giants have showcased a plethora of electric and hybrid cars. A smarter way to lower auto emissions in India would be to promote the use of more fuel efficient diesel engines, set strict emission standards and phase out old car by adopting Green vehicles.
Namrata Maheshwari Program Associate IIFT
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And the WINNERS are 1st Prize: Xombies (XIMB) Ankur Goel
Harshpreet Singh
2nd Prize: Naandaan Parinde (IIM-K) Kritee Shankar
D K Deepak
Special Mention: Ting! (DMS, IIT D) Gaurav Bundel Pravin Kumar P Page 33
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At the initiative of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) was set up on 2nd of May 1963 as in Institution with a focus on foreign trade related research and training. Since inception, the Institute has evolved and undergone major transformations and has, over the years, broadened the scope and dimensions of its academic activity that now encompasses the full spectrum of international business. Today, the Institute, in its 50th year of existence, is widely recognized for its knowledge and resource base, its rich heritage and strong alumni network both in India and abroad. The honorable President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the celebrations of 50 years of IIFT at the Golden Jubilee Function. Shri Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles and Dr. D. Purandeswari, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry were the Guests of Honor.
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Team MarkMantra Amar Budati: "The chief saheb". A good combination of fun and strictness. An articulate and light-hearted person and does well in every field he gets into. He loves quizzing and plans to take up Brand & event management as a profession after he passes out.
Palnika Hemnani: This engineer from Delhi is a true example of 'Jack of all Trades'. She wants to do everything at once but is currently settled with interests in marketing and finance and looks forward to own a business of hers.
Prachi Singh: The only editor with a prior experience of editing a magazine . A go-and-get-it person and a tough human; knows how to get her work done. She is one hell of a marketer and wants to be a management consultant.
Navdeep Verma: Officially ,"The Online Coordinator" of the magazine, but part time designer and a full time marketer. He has a great sense of humor and an even better sense of responsibility. He wants to explore all possible opportunities and realize his true love.