Hello readers! Hope everyone had an amazing holiday season, and while it’s time to change the calendars and finalise your plans for the coming year, we here at Markathon send you all a very hearty New Year’s wishes. 2018 has just begun, and you all must have set various goals and targets for this year. Some of you might have a really promising nucleus in place for a budding startup, but what is it that is holding you back from your dream of making it big? The biggest obstacle for most startups in their infancy stage is marketing, and therefore for all you budding entrepreneurs out there, we talk about the “Marketing Strategies for Start-ups” in this month’s cover story. In the catch and miss section, we bring to you the Master Card, “Khul Gayi Life” advertisement highlighting that card payment method is now accepted everywhere and is a must in today’s digital world. On the other hand, the Thums Up, “Take Charge” advertisement failed to live up to its previous advertisements standards and is far from reality. In our Vartalaap for this edition, we have interviewed Mrs Anuradha Narasimhan, former CMO of Britannia Industries Limited. Mrs Anuradha has about 25 years of experience in diverse categories like fast moving consumer goods, lifestyle and telecom, and is currently a PhD student at Singapore
Management University. The marketing world saw major apprises this month, with Haldirams regaining the top spot as country’s largest snack company, Bloomberg and Twitter launching a global news network TicToc, and Patanjali being ranked as India’s most trusted FMCG brand. The Eye to Eye section involves a debate on whether new companies should go for niche marketing, with Ms Monisha Dikshit from DoMS, IIT Madras taking a for stand on the topic, while Mr Abhinav Pandey from MICA Ahmedabad writing why new companies should refrain from targeting niche markets. This month’s perspective has “Rural Markets: A Stone Left Unturned” by Deepak Jain from SIBM, Pune which talks about how rural markets can act as a catalyst for the sustained growth of the country. Another article is a strategic analysis on “Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade” by Nikhil Singh from NMIMS, Mumbai, which is an analysis of the marketing campaign followed by any company or an event. Our digital marketing section ‘Digigyaan’ talks about the “Future of Digital Marketing in 2018”. This month’s Logoistic shows the evolution of the Nike logo since its inception. Also, the five mustreads and updates are back for readers to enjoy. We would like to thank all the entries of perspective and eye2eye. We would also like to thank our readers as they are the ones who push us to do better in every edition. We also look forward to your feedback and suggestions. Happy Reading!! Team Markathon
Markathon
december 2017
Andar Ki Baat Perspective
01 04 Cover Story
Rural Markets:
A Stone Left Unturned Deepak Jain | SIBM, Pune
Strategic Analysis: Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
Nikhil Singh | NMIMS, Mumbai
Marketing Strategies for Start Ups
06
Yash Agrawal IIM Shillong
|
Eye 2 Eye
14
Should new companies go for niche marketing?
Vartalaap
10 Monisha Dikshit
DoMS IIT Madras
Mrs. Anuradha Narasimhan Former CMO, Britannia Industries Ltd.
Abhinav Pandey Interviewed By:
MICA Ahmedabad
MARKATHON
Mansi Khandelwal | IIM Shillong IIM Shillong
Markathon
december 2017
Andar Ki Baat Specials
15 16
Logoistic: Nike
Mansi Khandelwal | IIM Shillong
AD-dicted
Catch & Miss advertisements of the month Anurag Pandey & Aishwarya Tiwari | IIM Shillong
Digi - Gyaan
19
Future of Digital Marketing in 2018 Nitin Nathani | IIM Shillong
Marketing Gyan
Brand Story OYO: A Home Away 17 From Home Apoorv Gupta | IIM Shillong
MARKATHON
21 23
Top 5 Reads
To get the brain tickling Aishwarya Tiwari | IIM Shillong
Updates
Fresh from the Marketing World Aishwarya Tiwari | IIM Shillong
IIM Shillong
december 2017
perspective
RURAL MARKETS :
A STONE LEFT UNTURNED
By Deepak Jain SIBM Pune
Rural markets can act as a catalyst for the expansion and sustained growth of the country. What it will require is the inclusive strategy to engage both the rural as well as urban consumers by the firms.
I
ntroduction
A few years ago there was a short ad film by Sonata portraying a young man in the village, in the interiors of Tamil Nadu, telling time by the arrival of the town bus, to go about his daily chores. One fine day the bus got delayed, and his son was late for the school. The idea was clear- “it is a bus, not a watch�. Enter Sonata.
MARKATHON
1
IIM Shillong
december 2017
perspective
The idea might not work for the urban population but still appeals to the sentiments of the emerging rural market. A villager wears a watch occasionally and considers a watch with gold-plated strap more esteemed than the leather ones. This is one of the many sentiments that a marketer continues to discover while understanding the evolving rural Indian consumer. According to the World Bank collection of development indicators, over 802 million persons (66.86 percent of the total population) live in about 650,000 villages, contributing around 50% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The remaining 399 million persons (33.14 percent of the total population) live in around 7,900 cities and towns . Also, the per capita income of urban households is 2.2 times as compared to that of the rural households (Bhanot, 2017). The tragedy here is the inability of the marketers to tap this huge lucrative rural market at its full potential. In fact still, over 80% of it remains untapped. The two major reasons that make it more difficult are low population density and inaccessibility to service the villages individually.
Challenges in hand a)Nature of the Rural Market Non-homogenous nature of demand within
MARKATHON
the market leads to further market fragmentation; there exist cultural, geographical and demographical diversities. Everything that sells in the urban markets may not necessarily sell equally well in the rural markets hence, just by extending urban marketing strategies will not help penetrate the rural market. Even in the harsh times of recession faced during
the sub-prime crisis of 2008, the rural economy stayed fairly unaffected and showed reasonable growth numbers. IT, real-estate and financial services, all faced the repercussions of this in the urban part of the country, but rural markets showed resilience towards the phenomenon.
b)Understanding the Customer Sentiment In a country having 16 major languages and 1650 different dialects (Aithal, 2012), it becomes a te-
2
IIM Shillong
december 2017
perspective
dious task to speak each consumer in his own lan- a)Restructuring the rural consumer patguage, and it is not advisable to paint entire rural tern India in a single colour. In order to increase the consumption in rural Due to their set beliefs, it is very hard to alter the markets, the companies need to first enhance traditional consumption pattern followed by a the ability of the customer to buy the products/ services offered by them. Unless the customers have the disposable income to spend on these products, any marketing strategy may take a huge hit. There is much needed to be done in the area of enhancing supply chain efficiency to compensate for the inability to change the consumers’ income level. Hindustan Lever (Unilever’s subsidiary in India) launched a project named ‘Shakti’ in 2002, to work upon its distribution channel in rural India, aiming at villages with population more than 2,000. In spite of being the market leader in India, it could manage to touch base upon around 16% of the entire Indian rural market.
b)Prospective Growth of Rural Market The aspirations of the rural middle class are skyrocketing, and now they have started thinking like its urban counterpart. Television in the rural household is not a distant dream. Mobiles rural customer. There are villages where people have become indispensable for a large section prefer to brush their teeth using their fingers even of the rural population. though they use toothpaste – they believe that finger is a better tool than the toothbrush. Some con- It is of utmost importance to distinguish those sumers use soap instead of shampoo and that too rural consumers who account for narrowing only on special occasions. This poses a great chal- the gap between an urban and a rural consumlenge in front of today’s marketer and also acts as er and treat their needs in a manner that leaves them fully satisfied. an unattended opportunity.
c)Complex Distribution system
Conclusion
One of the primary, as well as the hardest objectives of an organisation, is to understand the working of the distribution channel of the rural segment (Craig and Douglas, 2011).
In the era of Internet, Mobiles and Satellite Communications, it’s high time that a developing country like India leapfrogs and breaks the digital divide. Leveraging the government’s initiatives in the area of promoting Digital India, a large segment of the rural market, which has been overlooked in the past, can be tapped with a stronger thrust.
Even for most of the organisations with a considerable presence in rural markets, the distribution channel structure after the wholesaler at the district or the taluka level is unknown. The details of how the product reaches the retailers in the villages, the linkages, and some intermediaries and whether it is received directly or through the wholesale channel is quite vague. This shows the scarcity of good quality work done in this area.
The way forward MARKATHON
3
Rural markets can act as a catalyst for the expansion and sustained growth of the country. What it will require is the inclusive strategy to engage both the rural as well as urban consumers by the firms. IIM Shillong
december 2017
perspective
Strategic Analysis: Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade A Marketing Campaign that Keeps on Giving! By Nikhil Singh NMIMS, Mumbai
If a New Yorker were to be asked to name three things he’d associate with the holidays, he’d most probably say, “Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, Central Park all lit-up, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade”. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, celebrating its 89th anniversary this year continues to be the official kick-off of the holiday season. Every year, the Parade is seen by more than 3 million people who line the streets of New York and another 50 million people who tune into the telly to watch the giant balloons, oneof-a-kind floats, the nation’s best marching bands, hundreds of cheering clowns and a host of celebrities! In 1924, in order to draw attention to the world’s largest department store, Macy’s held their first parade in New York
MARKATHON
4
City. Even though it was held on the morning of Thanksgiving, it was presented as a Christmas parade with floats featuring favourite nursery-rhyme characters, matching the theme of their window display that year. Over time, enormous helium balloons have become a signature of the parade and each year a different character is revealed, from Pikachu to The Grinch (yes, even The Grinch loves himself some Macy’s holidays spirit!). The Macy’s parade is a b re at hta king spectacle enjoyed by all. But hidden behind this wonder is a marketing campaign targeted at children, who are amused by the gi-
IIM Shillong
december 2017
perspective
sent to Macy’s. This campaign has been a great success and has raised upwards of $11 million to date.
ant animals and familiar cartoon characters leading them (and, you’re catching up now aren’t you, their parents) to Macy’s flagship store. After all, if you were a kid, wouldn’t you want to own some brandnew toys after being teased by their 50 feet big versions all day?
Macy’s even produced an original musical, ‘Yes, Virginia’ about the true story of a young girl who wrote to the New York Sun in 1897 to ask if Santa was real and has gone on to launch an app focused on teaching children about being generous and kind, and from which $1 per purchase is donated. Children can also use the app to click photos with Santa and the characters of the play using augmented reality. It’s an excellent marketing campaign which attempts to draw in customers through philanthropic programs. Macy’s targets children who are drawn to the store to engage with the campaign by sending letters to the Good Ol’ Santa Clause while parents, who are brought to the store by their children, end up spending to support the charitable campaign.
And it is an example of cross-promotion as well. Each year hundreds of brands bid to sponsor the parade, earning them a spot in the minds of millions of viewers. Some of the staples of the Parade are Ronald McDonald, Pillsbury Doughboy, SpongeBob SquarePants and Charlie Brown, all trying to subliminally entice you towards their own brand offerings. This year Verizon made a deal allowing it to host a 360-degree live stream of the parade on its YouTube page. Although the Parade is the mainstay of Macy’s holidays’ marketing campaign, it isn’t their only big gun! In 2007, Macy’s partnered with Make-A-Wish foundation (a charity which aims at granting wishes to seriously ill children) in their ‘Believe’ campaign, donating $1 per letter or email to Santa that was
MARKATHON
The campaigns therefore not only operate on an emotional level but encourage direct engagement from consumers, be it through seeing the parade, writing letters, seeing the musical, visiting the store or purchasing the app. Ho Ho Ho, indeed!
5
IIM Shillong
cover story
december 2017
Marketing Strategies for Start-ups
Cover Story
H
aving an extraordinary product is fundamental, however, that MARKETING by itself isn’t sufficient to make your start-up fruitful. Besides your awesome product, you’ll additionally require a BUDGET stellar marketing strategy to develop your start-up. Budget is always a constraint for early-stage start-ups, always facing the dilemma whether to allocate budget for expansion (backend) or marketing (front end). Be that as it may, for some business visionaries, it’s not sensible to spend a great deal of cash to obtain new business. So, how can start-ups market their product/ service with the little budget? These are few marketing strategies that start-ups can use and grow.
Affiliate Marketing Affiliate marketing is the most practical and cost-effective advertising methodology that works. I trust all organisations paying little heed to measure - ought to receive a referral, or subsidiary, promoting. It can be given something to do in every single online business. Here’s the way it works: Encourage individuals to prescribe your product to others, and pay a commission just when somebody buys your products through those referrals. Affiliate marketing is a standout amongst the most mainstream methods for making some additional wage on the web and telling individuals about your business/items. To
MARKATHON
6
IIM Shillong
cover story
december 2017
make partner advertising prevail for you, the transformation is vital, which is the reason you should draw in effectively with your guests to buy items from your affiliate links.
tomers
Content Marketing
Is it true that you are creating overwhelming The procuring potential is enormous as long as substance for your gathering of people? I trust you will put in the hard yards to hone your af- in this way because, in all actuality, there is by filiate marketing strateall accounts no other way. gies. While it can be a vexIt doesn’t make a difference ing errand to deal with whether you’re doing paid your partner program promotions or remaining alongside your consison the shoulders of influtent exercises, you have to encers, content is as yet track its development and the way to progress on the break down the insights to web. shield your wage from decreasing. Be that as it may, incidentally, content lost its allure You will be able to recall in the purchaser’s voyage how different mobile apps are using this to in- however, the dynamic idea of the web and client crease the number of downloads of their appli- conduct have indeed made it a suitable instrucation. ment for inducing prospects and clients. You can begin by setting up an affiliate program however systems, for example, ShareASale or ImpactRadius can be used. You at that point can advance your affiliate program by including it on your site and welcoming clients to join the program. Moreover, you can pick the correct reward structure - one that is sufficiently convincing for your system’s individuals to lock in.
Content marketing is an incredible strategy that you can use to help increase manifold your sales conversion rate. A current report by Forrester demonstrates that 82 percent of purchasers see no less than five bits of substance from a seller before they turn into a paying client.
In spite of the notion that substance showcasing works just at the highest Email exceed addipoint of your busitionally can fill in ness pipe, it can as an effective debe utilised at each vice when speaking phase of the busiwith influencers: ness channel to build transforma•Create a rundown tion rate. As per of influencers and HubSpot, “68 perspecialists in your cent of shoppers industry feel more positive about a brand sub•Send an effort email asking for they try your sequent to expending content from them.” Afproduct/service for free of cost, and ter devouring substance from your image in the main stage, clients may not purchase from you •Explain them the benefits they can earn by re- instantly. They may even change to your rivals. ferring your product/ service to potential cus- So in the event that you need to move your pros-
MARKATHON
8
IIM Shillong
cover story
december 2017
pects from one phase of the business pipe to another and change over them to paying clients quickly, you’re required to create applicable substance in each phase of the channel.
you make your pitch as you expect them to react. You can improve the chanced of getting attention by separating your pitch and the tone or edge such that each is elite to the columnist and her or his distribution. Do some exploration As per the Content Marketing Institute, about to find which authors or videographers cover 90 percent of brands utilise content marketing which parts of your industry. At that point, taito develop their organisations. It’s the ideal ad- lor your official statement, mystery, or pitch-byvertising method for start-ups and independent telephone to fit those separate beats. Free appaventures since it works within the bounds of ratuses, for example, Help a Reporter Out can limited assets. aid your mission to access email delivers that have a place with columnists searching for inEven though content marketing is extremely terviews in your space. popular, not everyone finds success with this tactic. Lack of a documented content strategy is Piggyback a popular platform one of the primary causes. Without this crucial piece, your efforts will be less effective. As a re- When you’re propelling a bootstrapped startup, sult, you could face significant challenges when the genuine test is thinking of an advertising you attempt to implement content-marketing procedure that expects practically no subsidistactics. ing. Piggybacking another well-developed stage Streamline your process by making a publication is an awesome technique to get your item bedate-book. fore potential Distinguish clients. Airbany bottlenb’s mix with necks and Craigslist is assess your an ideal case substance of the specialarranging. ly appointed Measure mix for client your methprocurement. odology’s advance, folCraigslist lowing how doesn’t perwell your mit combisubstance is nation with performing any outsider to pull in the group of onlookers. administrations that cross-present postings on the site. To manufacture a backlink and pull in Do-it-yourself PR clients, the group at Airbnb figured out how Craigslist’s structures functioned - then made More than 540,000 new ventures come into ex- Airbnb’s site good with that work process. Only istence every month. That implies you’ll expe- a couple of snaps enable clients to effortlessly rience some genuine rivalry to snatch your ob- cross-present a posting on Craigslist while likejective market’s consideration. In the event that wise putting a backlink that focuses on their you need to produce ideal and regular advertis- particular site. ing notices, come up with quality associations with the columnists and bloggers in your indus- The dependable general guideline: Find the correct stage you can use to develop your startup try. and make a technique that attempts to secure Be ready, that you may not get a reaction when clients.
MARKATHON
9
IIM Shillong
vartalaap
december 2017
VARTALAAP An Interview with Mrs. Anuradha Narasimhan Mrs. Anuradha Narasimhan is a marketing professional with about 25 years of experience in diverse categories like fast moving consumer goods, lifestyle and telecom. Currently, she is a PhD student at Singapore Management University. Through her career, she has led marketing and innovation for marquee brands in India - including India’s favourite food brand Britannia and the leading lifestyle brand Titan. As the CMO of Britannia Industries, India’s oldest food company, she helped build health credentials for the organization. Prior to Britannia, she worked with the Unilever Group, Hutchison Telecom and the Tata group.
Britannia Industries Limited
MARKATHON
10
Former Chief Marketing Officer IIM Shillong
“
december 2017
Brands need to be authentic, meaning they are so well-defined that they are who they say are – in thought and deeds.
Markathon: Ma’am, you’re known as the marketing brains behind Britannia’s health foods brand Nutrichoice, one of the few successful products it launched in recent years. What elements of the marketing strategy did you develop for Nutrichoice which made it see the success it did?
“
vartalaap
build this brand. Markathon: How is GST bringing a sea of change in the FMCG sector?
In My Humble Opinion, GST will bring about streamlining to the supply chain and logistics system in FMCG companies. Instead of the primary criterion for The Nutrichoice brand has come to rep- stock locations to be taxation-led, they resent Proactive Health to Indian con- will now be truly market and consumersumers, and it owes its success to a com- led. It will bring economic advantages bination of factors. At a fundamental to companies, and right availability and level, Nutrichoice enjoyed an early mov- fresher stock to consumers. er advantage with an insightful proposition. The products were developed to be Markathon: Predominately, before the healthy while not needing the consumer year 2000, biscuits were seen as plain to give up their taste buds – the prod- and simple items. The evolving taste uct texture ensured a grainy feel on the of people made the industry to evolve, tongue and this communicated ‘good- post which biscuits have emerged into ness’. With Nutrichoice, Britannia fol- innovative products such as cream bislowed a distribution strategy of “First cuits, nutritious biscuits, etc. How are Moment of Truth” – the sales team did the biscuit companies going through the an outstanding job of placing the packs ‘Makeover’ exercise to increase the marto make an impact in the store, and con- ket share? sumers noticed in them even if they GST will bring about streamlining to Historically India, biscuits hadn’t seen the the supply chain and logistics system were an epitome advertising. of ‘humble food’. in FMCG companies. They were staple, Communication regular, everyday played a very key food and extremerole by using humour “Bhook se Bhaukla gaye” which was one of the early cam- ly democratic – consumed by Malabar paigns wherein it featured a conference Hill residents and daily wage earners room with a hungry employee seeing the in rural and semi-urban India. This is heads of other people in the room turn to clear just by what the category is called unhealthy snacks. Britannia has since – Biscuits. In the Western world, the catleveraged the right celebrities like Far- egory is referred to as Cookies which han Akhtar, Rahul Dravid etc. to help signifies Indulgence. Over time the bis-
MARKATHON
11
IIM Shillong
vartalaap
december 2017
cuit category in India has edged into as a competitive advantage, and not a the Health space and the Indulgence smaller market to play in. A well-defined, space. These are routes to grow the cat- authentic brand can be ‘managed’ by the egory knowing that bigger players will brand team and by consumers. Very ofgain share in an enlarged marketplace. ten consumers of such brands are their What biscuits enjoy are the familiarity biggest ambassadors. I would, therefore, of the format, as well as the ubiquity say that the role of marketing teams is of distribution, and a well-established in creating and building such brands, set of occasions where they can be con- and working with consumers in magnisumed – breakfast, tea time, snack box- fying and bringing alive these brands to es, for serving to guests, on-the-go en- larger audiences. ergy needs, midnight snacking, etc. etc. To build credentials in the Indulgence Markathon: There are upcoming trends space, biscuit brands are shifting some in healthy snacking with the advent of category codes. Chocolate is a big ingre- superfoods and other healthy ingredidient of indulgence – and we now have ents, but somehow there is no single chocolate cream player in this catebiscuits, chocoin India. What Over time the biscuit category in In- gory late chip cookies, do you think is the molten chocolate dia has edged into the Health space reason behind this inside a cookie, and any insight and the Indulgence space. cookies enrobed that make this catwith chocolate, egory so difficult chocolate wafers, and what have you. to conquer? The ‘makeover’ comes through ingredients, through the right technology and The Food Evolution journey for a marprocesses, and with a lot of imagina- ket goes from Food for survival – Food tion from its creators. for sustenance – Food for Delight --- Food for Health. The Indian market started Markathon: There are two schools of its delight journey with liberalisation in thoughts for branding: one says that the early 90’s, and we are still enjoying the corporate should control the brand that phase. A small part of metro India and manoeuvre it the way they want, is moving into the Food for Health phase and the other says that give a brand – as is evident from their purchase and in the hands of the consumers and let consumption of oats, multigrain cereals, them make association and personality juices and in a more recent time Organic of it according to them. What is your vegetables and fruits. Healthy snacking view, how should a brand manager con- is finding its way into these consumtrol his/her brand? er homes – the challenges for Healthy snacking are to do with finding the right At a fundamental level, brands need to product formats, of perhaps giving it the be Authentic. Meaning they are so well- right trigger of healthy inbetweeners indefined that they are who they say are stead of contextualising them with fried – in thought and deeds. A great exam- snacks, of building the awareness around ple of this is Dove which is about “Real” unhealthy foods and their consequences. beauty in a category that is based on We need all this coming together for the ‘make-up’, ‘look a new you’, ‘see an in- healthy inbetweeners to grow to a critistant transformation’ etc. This makes cal mass, but that day is not far away. the product strategy for Dove very clear, maybe even narrow – but Dove sees this Markathon: What would you advise the
MARKATHON
12
IIM Shillong
vartalaap
december 2017
be managing teams of 100 plus people as Area Sales Managers, could be managing multi-crore brands, could be the HR business partner in a manufacturing FMCG has always been considered the location responsible for 500 employees and so on. My per‘learning’ ground for sonal belief is that most freshers joinMy personal belief is that Attitude Attitude surpasses ing. It is a great surpasses any skill that can be any skill that can place to learn both be learnt. The Atby observing syslearnt. titude of rolling up tems and processone’s sleeve and getes, and by doing with one’s own hands. I would, therefore, ting hands dirty, the Attitude of putting recommend it as a great place to start up a hand and volunteering, the Attitude one’s career from. The classical roles of going the extra mile, the Attitude of within FMCG are in Sales, Marketing, reaching out and making friends, the AtSupply Chain, Commercial / Finance, titude of learning and striving to be betHR – the entire spectrum. The hands- ter than one was yesterday. These are on nature of these roles means that what differentiate between work and a young Business school graduates could career. All the best – Go, Shine! students aiming to settle in FMCG? What roles can they hope for and what preparations are required?
MARKATHON
13
IIM Shillong
eye2eye
december 2017
Should new companies go for niche marketing?
MONISHA DIKHSHIT DOMS, IIT MADRAS
ABHINAV PANDEY MICA AHMEDABAD
The old adage, “you can’t be all things to all people” applies well to business. The fundamental dilemma that a new company faces is its choice of customers it can best serve- developing product or services to cater to a general market or going for niche marketing? The answer lies in “the riches are in niches.”
“The problem with you is that you fish in the pond and I fish in the ocean.”
Venturing into a niche segment allows a new company to operate in an atmosphere of a near total absence of cutthroat competition from already successful businesses. With limited resources at its disposal, channelling all the marketing efforts to cater to the needs of a particular segment can catalyse its growth to being the market leader and enjoying price monopoly.A specialised offering for a well-defined segment offers an added advantage for a novice to increase the clarity on its offering and hence foster a better connect with the target market. Sports shoes for sportswomen provides a more vivid picture of the product on offer compared to women’s footwear. As a consequence, the visibility of the company increases which would have otherwise lost in the by-lanes of anonymity amidst a plethora of advertisements from big, well-established companies for general products. Despite the reduced number of potential customers, there is an increased likelihood of boost in sales because the customers are usually on the verge of making a purchase decision.
Firstly, in today’s world competition catches up really fast. Even if the company launches a new product, it is replicated by competitors within a few months. If the company plans to operate in a niche market which is inherently small, any increase in competition can cause damage to the organization. Secondly, niches have a tendency of being fickle. In a world where disruption is the norm, there are chances that a new company might capture your niche market using a disruptive technology. Thus, firms which cater to the niche are often in danger of losing it all to new players.Thirdly niche targeting often is overdependent on marketing. Selling to a niche involves a lot of marketing efforts and for a new company which is new to the business, it is very difficult to get their marketing efforts right on the first try.
Finally, operating in a specific segment forges a strong relationship between the customers and the brand. This relationship can be leveraged upon to build a brand loyalty. Focusing on only the viable customers can make a novel business save on its marketing dollars. A narrower focus enables a new company to carve a growth trajectory in accordance with its resources and capabilities, improve its scalability and mint more profits in the long run.
The idea of niche marketing for new companies is to become the big fish in the small pond. The idea might make sense intuitively, but there are certain problems in following this approach.
Lastly, new companies might get their target segment wrong and it happens very often. There are a number of examples where a company started with a target segment in mind but eventually ended up selling to different segments. You want to be the big fish in a small pond, but you don’t want to be a big fish in the wrong pond. There is no marketer that can identify the right niche with absolute accuracy. Selling to the wrong niche can lead to high service costs, high churn rates and damage to reputation. This can be suicidal for new companies. A better approach might be to market your product to the masses or at least to multiple segments and let the markets figure out the right segment for your product.
Topic for the next issue: “What is more efficient today, advertisements in newspapers and magazine in physical or digital form?” Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is 25th January, 2018. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry. Winners will receive a prize money of Rs. 500 each!
MARKATHON
14
IIM Shillong
eye2eye
july 2015
By mansi khandelwal IIM Shillong
Nike, a leading manufacturer and retailer of athletic shoes, sports equipment and apparel, was founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports. In 1971, the company changed its name to Nike after the Greek goddess of victory. That same year “Swoosh”, the logo of Nike came to being. Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan was named as one of the best taglines of the 20th century.
was also another small, red square where the word Nike and the swoosh were captured and placed. This square helped to better capture the viewers’ attention because now, in addition to the bright colour white, there was also bright red.
The Nike logo was abstracted in 1971 by a graphic design student named Carolyn Davidson who was paid merely $35 for the rights to use it. The original logo had “Nike” written in a cursive font over the Swoosh. The logo and the word “Nike” were written in white and placed at the centre of a navy blue square to capture the By 1995, the Swoosh itself became adequate audiences’ attention. to provide brand recognition to Nike. Therefore, the text disappeared, all in all, giving By 1978, the word “Nike” was placed above the the Nike logo a stronger impact and power. sign in a slightly slanted, all-caps Futura Bold In addition to the new solo swoosh logo, Nike font, to symbolise the development and growth also began to use a simple black colour palof Nike. In 1988, Dan Wieden created the slo- ette for the swoosh. Through this final shape gan, “Just Do It”. of the logo, one could conclude that the folks The first “Just Do who wear the Nike brand are always on the It” advertisement move, watching for every opportunity to featured an 80-year move forward in life. old San Francisco marathon, and ul- The Nike logo is a simple design but so well tra-marathon run- used by the brand that it became instantly ner, who, even at the age of 80, was running r e c o g n i more marathons than most of his peers. sable by the pubIn 1985, the Nike logo was again modified, where lic. In fact, Nike had begun now it is using the colours a near red and white. synonym Red exemplified with the message that the brand wants to energy, passion, convey, which is athletics and energy. It is and joy, while one of the most successful logos of all time, white signified marking its place in history, and without any nobility, charm, doubt, it has helped Nike become a global and purity. There success.
MARKATHON
14
IIM Shillong
AD-dicted AD-dicted
PRODUCT: MasterCard
december december 2013 2017 By Aishwarya Tiwari IIM Shillong PRODUCT: Thums Up
POSITIONING: Khul gayi life CREATIVE AGENCY: Carat
POSITIONING: #TakeCharge CREATIVE AGENCY: Bang In The Middle YouTube Link: https://goo.gl/95nPCf
CATCH
R
CONCEPT:
YouTube Link: https://goo.gl/weZmEZ CONCEPT:
The basic premise of the advertisement is to highlight how card payments are making everyone’s life easier and have become a part of a common man’s life. The ad starts with the protagonist using the card for online payment and then using the same for a variety of payments at both local shops and some large shops – showcasing the acceptability of this payment mode. VERDICT: Catch What has been highlighted beautifully is how card payments are becoming a part and parcel of people’s life in rather smaller cities. It highlights that this payment method is now being accepted at small shops (and even roadside vendors – which seem to be a little hard to believe at present), and showing Mastercard at all such locations has helped the company make a connection with its customer base. The advertisement has also successfully highlighted all the ways in which a card can be used to make payment – online transaction, swipe or dip, tapping the card on the machine, scanning the QR code and through apps and e-wallets. Another interesting aspect of the advertisement is the way using card payments is related to development and improvements in the standard of living. Throughout the advertisement we see the protagonist commenting on the changes he sees in the small town – and how card payment is a part of these changes. Roping in Irrfan Khan and utilising his brilliant expressions and skills prove to be icing on the cake. Overall this advertisement has a very positive vibe to it, subtly highlighting card payment method.
MARKATHON
By Anurag Pandey IIM Shillong
The ad begins with the start of the final race of the season and the “Team Charged”, its main driver being Ranvir Singh, has the opportunity to win the championship by winning the final race. Ranvir Singh gets ready for the race and keeps the Thums Up Charged in his car. Halfway into the race, his car meets with a horrific accident. However, Ranvir looks untouched after the crash and resumes with the race after drinking the thums up charged. After a few minutes into the race, the gearbox stops working, and his car turns backward (or it is intentionally turned backwards) and Ranvir Singh manages to win the race with his car running on reverse gear.
MISS
VERDICT: Miss Markathon believes that the ad fails for multiple reasons. Firstly, the plot of the ad is difficult to believe and over the top. The ad is far from reality. The car after the accident would have been destroyed beyond repair yet Ranvir manages to continue with the race. He keeps a thums up even though there was a chance that it would harm him if kept inside the car in such a race. Even then the ad could be forgiven for such illogical plot as the previous ads have had unreasonable plots. The ad fails to incorporate thums up as it had done in the previous ads where the protagonist performs multiple stunts to get the thums up. However here the thums up only plays a minor role. The thums up only appears twice in the ad. Lastly, the charm of the old thums up ad was because of Salman Khan whose personality was in tandem with the stunts and the plot. Even though Ranvir acts well but in the end, Ranvir’s personality does not match with the overall theme that Thums Up wants to portray.
16
IIM Shillong
brand story
december 2017
Brand Story a home away from home apoorv gupta | IIM Shillong
I
t started with a partnership with a single property in January 2013 which moved up marginally to 3 properties in the next six months. The year after that wasn’t any great either. But by December 2017, OYO Rooms has grown exponentially and now boasts a staggering 8,500+ partners in over 230 cities across India. OYO has been recognized as India’s largest budget hotel chain. The story of its 24 years old founder, Ritesh Agarwal, is as inspirational as the business itself.
Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to offer its budget rooms inventory to train travellers. Next, OYO signed a pact with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) to standardise homestays and hotels in the hill state in July 2016. OYO is also in talks with other state governments, including Telangana and Maharashtra, for developing better tourism ecosystems in the country.
Unmarried Couples
Ritesh had travelled throughout the country and was able to identify the problem with budget hotels during his travels. To pursue his dream of becoming an entrepreneur, he dropped out midway from the Indian School of Business and Finance, Delhi to launch Oravel Travels modelled on Airbnb. It was later branched out to create OYO Rooms.
However, no law in the country denies an unmarried couple from staying in a hotel, the final decision lies at the discretion of the hotel manager/owner. OYO identified the need of this section and came up with the ‘Relationship Mode’ in August 2016 to allow unmarried couples, even those staying in the same city, to be able to book hotel rooms. The fact that the online demand for hotels that allow couples has grown nearly With its simple and intuitive app interface for making ten times in the past five years and that above 60% of and managing bookings, OYO has changed the way couples looking for hotels belong to the same city of people stay away from home. By promising features their stay is a testament to the success of the move. such as free Wi-Fi, clean washrooms, complimentary breakfast etc. throughout all its properties, OYO prom- Sunrise Check-In ises to deliver unquestionable quality every time. In September 2016, OYO Rooms took another step towards disrupting the prevalent industry norms across the country where each hotel has its own arbitrary After focusing on expanding the number of proper- check-in time leading to guests being helpless and ties it partners with during the period 2013-2016, stranded. To solve this, OYO launched sunrise check-in OYO Rooms tied up with Indian Railway Catering and from 6 am across all its properties. With this feature,
Tie-ups
MARKATHON
17
IIM Shillong
brand story
december 2017
OYO has become the first hotel brand in the world to Asset Management offer guaranteed early check-in to guests. To further bolster its growth, budget hotel booking marketplace OYO started OYO Asset Management in Booking via chat August 2017. The service intends to build a nationIn October 2016, OYO entered into a partnership with wide network of hotels through a partnership with niki.ai to enable users to book an OYO room through real estate owners. As part of OYO Asset Management niki.ai’s bot which is a unique personal assistant ap- service, the platform will turn all types of properties plication powered by artificial intelligence. With this, into fully-furnished, modern hotels under its brand users can easily search and book hotel rooms using OYO Rooms, OYO Townhouse and OYO Flagship. Niki chat interface.
Home Management
OYO Captain Realizing that the customer’s biggest woe was ‘service’, OYO launched a concierge service called OYO Captain in December 2016. The captain is like an area manager who would be present in the city to meet customers and build a personal relationship. This would also act as a quick complaint resolution mechanism.
The home management service aims to utilise the company’s existing on-ground operations to deliver a solution to second-hand homeowners. The team will focus on unused homes across top holiday destinations across the country. It is already managing over 300 private homes including bungalows, villas, apartments and farmhouses in five cities.
WhatsApp Integration
Starting November 2017, users have been provided with an option to receive their booking confirmation along with cancelTownhouse lation & navigation After disrupting the budget hotels category, OYO details for locatmoved towards a more premium stay with the intro- ing a hotel using duction of OYO Townhouse in January 2017. Trendy WhatsApp. looking townhouses having hyper-local addresses is re-engineering the concept of hospitality by offering Funding smart multi-purpose spaces, Netflix in rooms and a bundle of other interesting offerings including cre- Back in September 2017, OYO raised $250 million in ative menus. After the launch of the first townhouse funds from Softbank Vision Fund, Hero Enterprise. in Hyderabad, OYO has moved on to several locations Later, OYO also raised $10 million from hospitality across India. major China Lodging Group.
Going International
OYO has already disrupted the budget hotel segment in India and is now moving towards the premium In April’17, OYO announced its foray into Nepal with segment. It is undoubtedly among the most popular the launch of its debut hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal. hotel booking apps among their target group, i.e. milOYO has also entered Malaysia since then to provide lennials and has started to leave its mark on all age groups. a consistent quality experience to Indian travellers.
MARKATHON
18
IIM Shillong
december 2017
digi-gyaan
Future of Digital Marketing in 2018 By Nitin Nathani IIM Shillong Mobile Marketing
•Introduction •Increase reach With respect to consumer usage, smartphone •Promotion adoption and mobile apps including messaging •Optimize search ranking are again going to be the topmost trends of digi- •Boost customer engagement tal marketing. We have seen that the customers are more focused on communicating directly Different kinds of Trending Video Content arethrough mobiles using Facebook’s Mobile Mes- •Social Media Videos like Facebook Videos, senger, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc. compared to YouTube Videos, etc. public social network pages. This year will come •Use of GIF videos on different social media with some of the new options for paid media channels on apps that will further be boosted by artificial •Product Description/Demo Videos intelligence, which is another trend that will go •Live streaming videos hand in hand with mobile marketing. Facebook’s •Use of Videos in Email Marketing Bot Engine for Messenger and Google’s new as-
sistance service introduced in Google I/O indi- Email Marketing cated towards the rise of Artificial Intelligence to provide more personalized and interactive assis- Email marketing is effective in lead generation, tance to consumers through mobile marketing. nurturing and ensuring conversions. Well-targeted email marketing will be one of the most effective ways of ensuring them in 2018. Email Video Marketing marketing is the most important part of business Modern customers nowadays prefer to view a branding and emails should reflect quality. video content on company promos. Video marketing has become one of the most appealing Using professional email templates could be the base of Email marketing campaigns in 2018. trends of digital marketing in 2018. Some of the top trends in email marketing areOnline marketers are taking advantage of the •Use of Email automation tools for sending and power of video content to tempt more customers tracking of targeted and personalized emails in the quickest time. Video marketing is the most which will help in understanding more and more about the customer base like demograph powerful way that companies use for –
MARKATHON
19
IIM Shillong
december 2017
digi-gyaan
ics, age, loyalty, etc. •Integration of social media content in email marketing strategy is an increasing trend as well. References can be provided to social content within emails •There can be a decrease in email blast, as this year would be of customized mails. Mobilefriendly email marketing will be quite popular in digital marketing
Social Media Marketing Social media changes quickly as new platforms arrive each year. 2018 will also be a host for the variety of new social media trends, and social media marketing will for sure be one of the most popular digital marketing channels for branding, lead generations and conversions. It has a massive power to channelize marketing campaigns in innovative and effective ways. Social media is a medium to new tech innovations, but also exceeds customer’s expectations. Knowing future trends of social media strategy would really help ensure success for companies. Some of the key social media trends in 2018 are – •Live video streaming will see a great rise in next year. Different platforms like Facebook live, Snap Chat, Twitter, and Instagram all are blending live streaming videos that will let them be a top pick for marketers •Live videos also ensure 10 times more comments than pre-recorded videos, and such quali
MARKATHON
ties will let them dominate social media marketing
SEO Marketing Some of the SEO trends that can turn out successful in 2018 are•Link building will stay as a powerful SEO technique and mobile marketing along with Google will play significant role in ensuring great search results •Use of keyword search tools like Google’s Keyword Planner, Moz’s keyword Planner are going to be the most effective trends to know right keywords that your audiences search. •Quality content marketing would be another practice with a great future in the domain of digital marketing in 2018 •Personalizing SEO campaigns as per target audiences, being creative, use of natural links and moving site to HTTPS will help in internet marketing campaigns in 2018
Conclusion Digital Marketing scope in future of marketing will not only let businesses survive but also thrive in the most result-oriented fashion. Including new techniques, following latest updates of Google and incorporating future trends of digital marketing will let your inbound marketing reap great benefits for you in 2018. Digital Marketing will for sure remain as the most effective way of marketing in the future too.
20
IIM Shillong
What’s in store for 2018?
1)
Brand Purpose will grow up, eSports will become a big sponsorship opportunity, and data use will evolve. We can expect to see continued growth in retail e-commerce – and the associated need for more convenience and choice in delivery and return options. Link:- https://goo.gl/snvxYQ
2)
2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences is a nudge for marketers to learn about behavioural economics.
“You have to study it and have a point of view about it,” he says. “You have to be able to say that these ideas are somehow embedded in the rationale of your marketing program.” Link:- https://goo.gl/Pc6cp6
3)
How To Make Influencer Marketing A Global Experience In 2018 And Beyond
The global influencer market is now worth over $1 billion and is rewarding top influencers with cross-border opportunities to expand cultures and personal brands. Link :- https://goo.gl/312Xjo
4)
How the mall business can reinvent itself for the digital age
Malls of the future will be less about in-store shopping and more about giving people novel in-person experiences they can’t get on their smartphones—what some call retail-tainment. Link :- https://goo.gl/AxQk2y
5)
When brands go for pot-shot advertising
Comparative advertisements are a yo-yo phenomenon in marketing. They happen in the beginning, then people get tired of it, and then they vanish, only to reappear once again when the market is just right to accept it. Link :- https://goo.gl/YBLrnp
By aishwarya tiwari | IIM Shillong
Haldiram topples PepsiCo; regains top spot as country’s largest snack company This change has been seen thanks to increasing consumer preference for packaged namkeen over western snacks such as potato chips. Haldiram posted sales of Rs 4,224.8 crore in the year ended September, compared with PepsiCo’s Rs 3,990.7 crore from brands such as Lay’s, Kurkure and Uncle Chipps, according to the latest Nielsen data sourced from executives. While the overall market grew 17% in the year, Haldiram’s pace was faster at nearly 30%, in contrast with 10-12% during 2012-16.
Focus is to keep growing in India; Xiaomi India’s revenue in 2017 will be more than $2 bn: MD Manu Kumar Jain Chinese smartphone major Xiaomi today said India is the biggest market for the company outside China and the aim is to sustain its growth in the country. “We are closing our books now, but pretty sure to exceed $2-billion this year. As far as market share’s concerned, we have 50% share in online sales and 23.5% in the overall market, and we became number one last quarter. We are looking at a leadership position in India in the long run,” said Jain.
MARKATHON
23
IIM Shillong
Bloomberg, Twitter launch global news network TicToc Targeting mobile-first news consumers, Bloomberg Media and Twitter today launched a global news network TicToc with the coverage focusing on general interest news worldwide. The 24-hour news network has got seven sponsors on board including Goldman Sachs, AT&T Business, CA Technologies, CME Group, INFINITI, SAS, and TD Ameritrade and will feature branded native content and unique integrations woven into the video programming, created by Bloomberg in partnership with each sponsor.
Patanjali ranked India’s most trusted FMCG Brand Patanjali has been ranked as India’s most trusted FMCG Brand in a study covering 11,000 brands by The Brand Trust Report India Study 2017. A month ago, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) of Rs 10, 000 Crore was signed between the Government of India (GoI) and Patanjali at the World Food India 2017. Earlier in October, Patanjali climbed from 45th place last year to 19th this year, in the Forbes magazine’s Annual India Rich List 2017.
MARKATHON
24
IIM Shillong
digi-tally
december 2017
https://www.facebook.com/markathon.iims/
https://twitter.com/Markathon
https://in.linkedin.com/in/markathon
http://iims-markathon.blogspot.in/
www.issuu.com/markathon
Articles are invited
“Best Article”: Deepak Jain | SIBM Pune He receives a cash prize of Rs.1000 & a letter of appreciation We are inviting articles from all the B-schools of India. The articles can be absolutely anything related to the world of marketing but it should be an original work that is not published elsewhere. The articles can be specific to the regular sections of Markathon which includes: •Perspective: Articles related to development of latest trends in marketing arena. •Productolysis: Analysis of a product from the point of view of marketing. •Strategic Analysis: A complete analysis of marketing strategy of any company or an event. Apart from above, out of the box views related to marketing are also welcome. The best entry will receive a letter of appreciation and a cash prize of Rs 1000/-. The format of the file should be MS Word doc/docx. The last date of receiving all entries is 25th January, 2018. Please send your entries marked as <ARTICLE NAME>_<SENDERS’ NAME(S)>_<INSTITUTE> to markathon.iims@gmail.com.
MARKATHON
25
IIM Shillong