Hello readers! February and March is usually a more relaxed time in the life of a B-School student. This period boosts a line of events, fests, competitions and of course the farewell. The Marketing Club recently completed another edition of its Social Media Competition “Jingstad” hosting two intriguing events “Ulta Pulta” and “War of Brands”. Check out our social media corner for more info. As students anticipate the start of their internship or their new jobs fresh out of B-School we bring to you another edition of our magazine full of wonderful insights from the marketing world. In this edition we look into the impact of emotions on consumer behavior. The magazine also illustrates an interesting form of marketing in an article by Mr Akshay Sharma from IIFT on “Nostalgia Marketing”. Big data is being used in every field and marketing is not far behind. Mrs Debangana talks about the use of big data in marketing in the article “Big Data Analytics for taking marketing decisions”. In our Vartalaap for this edition, we have interviewed Mr Deepak Chhabra, CEO and MD of Crocs India Pvt. Ltd. A veteran of the footwear and sportswear industry, he has been associated in various roles with marquee brands like Reliance, Skechers, Asics, Nike, Tag Heuer and Sprandi, where he is best noted for his business channel development exper-
tise, customer insights and team-building skills.
In the catch and miss section, we bring to you the CEAT, “Things that happen at work” advertisement highlighting the issues that people face at work. On the other hand, the Layer’r Shot’s advertisement failed to live up to its previous advertisements standards and is far from reality. Millennials have become important target group for most companies but are they easy to pursue. The eye2eye section debates on this issue with Mr Lakshya Kukreja taking a stand that Millenials are indeed the most difficult market to target while Mr Naman Pandey stating otherwise. Our digital marketing section ‘Digigyaan’ talks about the “Making an online advertisement”. This month’s Logoistic shows the evolution of the IBM logo since its inception. Also, the five must-reads 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
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Andar Ki Baat Perspective
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Nostalgia Marketing
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Big Data Analytics for Taking Marketing Decisions
Debangana Das | Tapmi, Manipal
Cover Story
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Akshay Sharma | IIFT
Impact of Emotions on Consumer Behaviour Nitin Nathani | IIM Shillong
Eye 2 Eye
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Are Millennials the hardest market to target?
Vartalaap
13 Lakshya Kukreja IIM Shillong
Naman Pandey IIM Rohtak
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Mr. Deepak Chhabra
CEO and MD, Crocs India Pvt. Ltd.
Interviewed By:
Mansi Khandelwal | IIM Shillong IIM Shillong
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Andar Ki Baat Specials
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Logoistic: IBM
Anurag Pandey | IIM Shillong
AD-dicted
Catch & Miss advertisements of the month Aishwarya Tiwari & Anurag Pandey | IIM Shillong
Digi - Gyaan
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Making an Online Advertisement Nitin Nathani | IIM Shillong
Marketing Gyan
Brand Story
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Harley-Davidson Apoorv Gupta | IIM Shillong
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Top 5 Reads
To get the brain tickling Aishwarya Tiwari | IIM Shillong
Updates
Fresh from the Marketing World Aishwarya Tiwari | IIM Shillong
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NOSTALGIA MARKETING
By Akshay Sharma IIFT
If your content makes people feel nostalgic, it will help them feel warm and good by extension. This will be best position for a company to be in as it will have a loyal base who loves your business.
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ntroduction
Nothing on this planet has the power to pull on the heartstrings like a trip down the memory lane. Nothing can stir up fuzzy and warm feelings quite like the time spent in one’s childhood. Today in this competitive world, brands resort to innovative ways of marketing in order to rise above the rest. Nostalgic advertising induces positive emotions and takes the consumers to happier times in the past. For a few good moments, consumers are taken to the past ensuring a strong good connection with the brand. And this is something
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that marketers all round the planet have tried to exploit in order to win over consumers.
1) Participants were willing to pay more for products (Experiment 1)
Nostalgic marketing requires creativity as consumers have a tendency to shut off advertising. It can be done in many ways from keeping the packaging of certain products unchanged to introducing a certain product of the past. Even social websites like Facebook (Facebook Memories – ‘On This Day’ posts) and Instagram have cashed in on this particular opportunity to further strengthen the bond with the end user. Instagram uses various filters that project profile pictures to be taken decades ago. Lastly, popular hashtags like #FlashBackFriday(#fbf) and #ThrowBackThursday(#tbt) have only added to the nostalgia amongst the users.
2) Participants parted with more money but not more time (Experiment 2) 3) Participants valued money less (Experiments 3 & 4) 4) Participants were willing to put less effort into obtaining money (Experiment 5) 5) Drew smaller coins – Participants drew pictures of coins 10% smaller after writing about a historic event (Experiment 6) Thus, the desire for money is reduced after reminding consumers about a nostalgic event. Marketers can exploit this particular observed trend and align their marketing strategies accordingly. Another study shows that reminding about certain nostalgic events can make consumers more patient. Marketers can thus seek to decrease the negative emotions associated with long waiting times (e.g. in restaurants) by finding out ways to evoke nostalgia among consumers (e.g. nostalgia-inducing background music).
Studies favoring Nostalgia Marketing: A study which was published by the ‘Journal of Consumer Research’ stated that people are more willing to part with their money if reminded of the past. The study titled ‘Nostalgia weakens the desire for money’ conducted 6 experiments in order to come to the conclusion. Following were the findings of the study:
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Mechanism of Nostalgia Marketing: The following 3 stages depict the mechanism of nostalgia marketing. In essence, nostalgia marketing will first will give rise to nostalgic emotional reaction, which will then be transformed into nostalgic cognitive reaction. Finally, nostalgic cognitive reaction will give rise to nostalgic behavioral reaction.
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Paper Boat Success Story:
lieves in itself and rightly sums up this drink by stating - ‘If you could make people taste memories, you Perhaps one of the best recent examples of using should.’ nostalgia marketing to its benefits in India has been employed by Hector Beverages, a company based in What better than directing nostalgic marketing to Bangalore. With the launch of Paper Boat – a non-car- the ones who are already feeling nostalgic? Marketbonated drinks brand, it tried to evoke happier past- ers have identified this opportunity and are coming memories by coming up with traditional Indian drinks up with attractive schemes directed to attract cuslike Aamras, Jaljeera, Kokum, Aampanna, Kala Khatta, tomers on holidays. A holiday season being a time when a person meets his old friends and family Chilli Guava and so on. members, provides a big opportunity for marketers Even the name ‘Paper Boat’ was thought off taking into to further offer their nostalgic-products to the ones consideration the fact that many children simply enjoy who are already reminiscing about their past. An making paper important thing boats during to remember is monsoons in that the defining childhood. For the target audithe makers, ence is a crucial the boats imaspect. An ad plied a lot of cannot have the firsts; say the same effect on first lesson of a 20 and a 50flowing afloat year old. Probunder harsh ably, the targetcircumstancing can be done es. The brand for people born strongly conin the same denected with cade. the consumers and Paper Boat packages are found to adorn the Target Group for Nostalgic Marketing: shelves of many a retail store and local kiranas. The brand has been quite successful since its launch in 1) Experienced old people 2013. However, 2015 was the year when it recorded a 2) Groups sharing a certain special experience high, notching triple digit growth! The company, which 3) Groups away from previous environment is valued at over $100 million, has its major share of 4) People born in the same decade revenues (95% approx) from Paper Boat which simply underlines the success it has garnered over the past Is Nostalgia Marketing ‘THE’ Strategy? couple of years. Well, talking about how well Hector Beverages has managed to use nostalgia to create a An important question is whether nostalgia marsuccessful brand, another thing which should not be keting the way out for brands who have past their missed is the use of Malgudi Days tune that was em- prime? Microsoft’s Internet Explorer came up with ployed in the ads launched in 2015 to further etch the a commercial named ‘Child of the 90’s’, an advert brand in the minds of the consumers. The brand be- which created a storm on Youtube for some weeks
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perspective at the start of the year 2013, generating more than 7 million views in nearly 6 days. This commercial highlighted the fads of the children of the 90’s and was launched which the aim of trying to reconnect them to the new Internet Explorer and winning back people who had become loyal to Google Chrome and Firefox. It made an effort to explore all possible things that many millennials would remember fondly. The narrator guided through the decade with the words – ‘You might not remember us. But we met in the 90’s. We are members of Generation Y. Life moved a slower then. Discs were square…’ Images of toys and fads like snap bracelets, Hungry Hippos, bowl haircuts, ‘Oregon Trail’ game flashed on the screen as the narrator guided through words that evoked strong memories of the past. Microsoft conveyed the fact that IE was also among the things born in the 90’s and was probably the first browser that many did use. It used nostalgia effectively to the core to remind people of the browser’s legacy generating a lot of appreciation from people in social media websites. However the ad, despite going viral and creating a buzz in the market, failed to revive IE in a world dominated by browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome which reinstates that the core product features are of utmost importance in today’s world. As far as IE is concerned, it can be easily said that it is going to take a lot more than a trip down the memory lane in order to attract people to the very first browser that they used.
Target Group for Nostalgic Marketing: Well, there are plethora of other examples that can be cited. Some other examples are mentioned below: 1) Nike likes to create old models of its shoes which are a big hit amongst its users. The Jordan series, originally created in the 1980’s, has vowed many a Nike fan. Not only this, an Instagram account name ‘jumpman23’ has been solely dedicated for this purpose. 2) Nestle used nostalgia as a strategy while relaunching Maggi in the year 2016 (read: #NothingLikeMaggi, #WeMissYouToo). As a brand which had been in the
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february-march 2018 market for decades, the strategy by Nestle seemed to be quite relevant as they were working on recovery management. 3) In the year 2014, Calvin Klein revived items from its unforgettable 1994 collection. This collection had presented supermodel Kate Moss to the world. The clothes, despite being new, were made of the same fabrics which were used in the original collection two decades back. Lottie Moss, Kate Moss’ younger sister, showcase`d the new collection. 4) Websites like BuzzFeed often generate lists commemorating trends from the past decade. To add to this, the media company has an entire section dedicated to nostalgic lists, called Rewind. 5) Pepsi brought back a clear-colored soda from the 90’s for a limited 8-week trial named Crystal Pepsi. The soda was promoted with even more throwbacks to the past by pairing up its re-release up with a game ‘The Crystal Pepsi Trail’. The game, a nostalgia mashup, paid tribute to the 70’s computer game – The Oregon Trail and was updated with the references of the 90’s – Furbies and Tamagotchis.
Conclusion These examples simply illustrate that nostalgia marketing can be a boon for a company, if employed properly. Of course, when a company tries to indulge in this type of a marketing strategy, its sole aim is to bond with the customer which will generate revenues for the company. From the perspective of a marketer, leveraging nostalgia does make a lot of sense. A brand before being in the consideration set of a prospective buyer has to be in his awareness set. And the efforts that go in creating an innovative campaign/ad that remind customers of the past, are steps in the correct direction to push the brand in their awareness set. If your content makes people feel nostalgic, it will help them feel warm and good by extension. This will be best position for a company to be in as it will have a loyal base who loves your business.
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Big Data Analytics for taking marketing decisions in the near future By Debangana Das TAPMI
Introduction: Big Data Analytics blended with Marketing enables marketers to measure and analyse the performance of their marketing strategy in order to maximize its effectiveness and at the same time optimize the return on investment. Traditional marketing tools are mostly survey based and probabilistic so it is quite difficult to measure the incremental impact of any marketing campaign and the relative contribution of different media to daily traffic/sales. Marketers can use analytics across the different stages of the marketing funnel as well for designing CRM programs and strategies for customer retention. Following is an overview of the different applications of Big Data Analytics across the different domains of marketing.
Segmentation and Targeting: There are different Analytical techniques and tools that can be used for segmentation and targeting. •Google Analytics: GA provides a detailed insight about the demographics of the audience visiting the company website. Understanding their age group, gender and geographic location is the best way to tailor the
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content of the website to suit their interest and preferences. It provides a comprehensive break up in terms of different demographic parameters the proportion of people who are visiting the website. •K means Clustering: This technique is useful when the marketer is interested to divide the customers into segments based on their purchasing habits. After the algorithm is executed analysis can be done on the factors used for segmentation. This would facilitate an understanding of customer preferences within each segment and personalized marketing campaigns can be designed. •Recency Frequency Monetary Analysis: This technique is used to rank customers based on three parameters. Recency refers to the freshness of customer activity, Frequency is the total number of customer transactions and Monetary refers to the willingness of customers to pay measured against the average transaction value of the orders placed. Following is an example of different customer segments created through RFM model, their segmentation criteria as well as how they can be targeted by marketers. •Logistic Regression: This technique is used when marketers are planning to launch a campaign and
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want to know the customers whom he can target. The different factors that affects the customer behaviour can be listed and a regression model can be developed. This model can estimate the probability of each customer to respond to the campaign. Marketers can utilize the results to build cost-effective campaigns.
the performance of their SEM strategy by tracking the proportion of customers who visit the company website through paid advertisements.
Product Enhancement: Google Analytics can be used to identify keywords that can give a direction to marketers about the preferences of their target audience. Keywords can reveal important insights regarding features or solutions that customers are looking for. Monitoring relative change in keyword frequency marketers can identify and predict trends in customer behaviour.
5) Social: This section indicates the proportion of traffic from different social media websites. This data can be utilized by marketers to revamp the social media strategy of the brand.
Media Planning for Promotion:
•Marketing Mix Modelling: MMM technique is used to measure the effectiveness of marketing elements in terms of contribution to sales-value. It is possible to examine how the different promotion channels like TV, Radio, Trade Promotions, and Internet etc. have been utilized to generate incremental sales volume. A regression model can be developed by taking sales as the dependent variable and a list of explanatory variacso take into account seasonality and different macro-economic factors.
4) Referral: Marketers can increase the number of backlinks to their company website to increase the proportion of referral traffic.
6 )Email: Marketers can analyse the performance of their email marketing campaigns through this section.
•Google Analytics: GA provides a detailed analysis on the proportion of customers visiting the company website through different channels. 1) Direct Traffic: It refers to the proportion of customers who came directly to the company website. It is a good indicator of the strength of the brand. 2) Organic Search: Organic search visitors are those who got directed to the company website through popular search engines like Google, Bing. If the proportion of organic search visitors are low marketers would need to revamp the SEO strategy of the brand.
Customer Relationship Management Programs: Research shows that around 80% of the sales volume of an organization comes from 20% of their customers. So it becomes a necessity for marketers to identify their loyal customers and design more com-
3) Paid Search: Marketers can keep track about
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pelling ways to engage with them.
Customer Churn Prediction:
•Frequent Shopper Programs: Analytics can be used to keep a track on loyal customers. As customers have become increasingly tech savvy and quality conscious their preferences tend to change time to time. So marketers should make sure that their loyal customers are provided with the most attractive offers. A predictive regression model can be developed that can capture the different promotional offers as explanatory variables and customer purchase intentions as dependent variable. This model can help marketers decide the promotional offer that had the maximum influence on their loyal customers.
Retaining an existing customer is much more cost efficient than acquiring a new one. So it is important for marketers to identify unhappy customers. A logistic regression model can be developed that can indicate the probability of customers to churn. Marketers can design different incentive schemes for them before they turn to other competitor brands.
•Market Basket Analysis: In this technique marketers can analyse different transactions of customers and identify the products that are frequently purchased together. The transactions that have the maximum support and confidence can be utilized to design personalized recommendations to customers. Customers can also be given suggestions based on what people of their same age group or people with similar preferences frequently shop.
Conclusion: Analytics provides a plethora of opportunities for marketers. In today’s world marketers would need to think ahead of their customers, as customer preferences tend to evolve in a very fast pace. Analytics helps to minimize the manual tasks involved for handling cross channel marketing campaigns and promises a better ROI. It is also effective for designing personalized experiences for customers who can generate higher revenue streams. So in order retain customers and grab market share, marketers would need to continuously evolve their business models and design innovative and compelling ways to engage with their customers
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!
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Impact of Cover Story Emotions on Consumer Behaviour D
espite many years of advancement and improvement of the MARKETINGdynamic idea and basic reasoning, people still depend vigorously on feelings when deciding. Paying little heed to BUDGET your information analysis and those pros and cons you made, your choice to purchase is impacted by one of the more primal mind regions and less about by what makes us so smart. Thus, the marketers should be experts of having an emotional connection with clients and customers. According to Douglas Van Praet, “The most startling truth is we don’t think our approach to logic. We feel our approach to reason. Feelings are the substrate, the base layer of neural hardware supporting even rational consideration. Feelings don’t hinder choices. They constitute the establishment of which they’re made!” The part our feelings play when settling on choices can’t be overlooked. What does this mean for marketers attempting to impact a buying choice or pick up a lead? They need to speak to their purchaser persona. Individuals see what they need, and they make a move.
Buying Antonio Damasio contends that feeling is required in all choices. He has researched on individuals with an emotional disability, however whose “thinking” zones of the brain are unaffected. These subjects could process data and think, however, were not able to settle on choices since they did not have any feeling of how they felt about their alternatives.
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Even when it came to basic choices like what to eat, they would portray what they ought to do and have explanations behind doing as such, however, were yet unfit to come at a final decision.
how you’re feeling. However, when you share a story with your family and friends, you mind more how they respond. You don’t need them to consider you a Debbie Downer.” Berger’s investigations with what content is shared demonstrated that positive articles are significantly It’s been studied over and over; fMRI tests have more liable to be shared than articles about misdemonstrated that when erable points. As an adversubjects assess items or tiser, this implies you could brands, their limbic frameprofit by featuring positive works (where our emonews, advantages, or headtions, memory, and judgways identified with your ments begin) light up, business/industry. while investigation focuses and analysis of their Pitiful = More Clicks brains are left unstimulated. Apart from shares, there is some incentive to the “if it bleeds, it leads” theory. The most effective Research indicates words with negative implimethod to use emotions in marketing cations tend to draw in more snaps and opens. We want to play up how complex our brains Outbrain discovered that negative superlatives are. However, research from the University work 30% preferred at standing out enough to of Glasgow recommends that most of our ad- be noticed over a headline without a superlative vanced feelings originate from 4 center emo- by any means. tions; happy, sad, afraid and angry. These are the feelings that empowered us to get by against What about positives like “dependable” misfortune. They are hard-wired into our brains, or “best?” and shouldn’t be disregarded when publishing content. This is They did much demonstrated with more awful than what offers in the headlines without media. a superlative. As far as the CTR for Positive content the two groups, the headlines with versus negative negative superlacontent tives had an amazing 63% higher Cheerful = More CTR than that of Shares their positive partners. It’s a well-known fact, the classic rule “If it bleeds, it leads” rules. But, this is broken when connected with social media, as indicated by University of Pennsylvania social therapist Jonah Berger: “The ‘if it bleeds’ works for mass communications that simply need you to tune in, they need your eyeballs and care less about
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Primary concern: Negative news gets clicked and read, however cheerful news is shared more. By what means Can Marketers Use This to Their Advantage? Headlines BuzzSumo investigated many viral articles in
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2016 and found that including “love” in a feature can affect social engagement and offers. Along these lines, share the adoration and your substance will be shared as well. For example, in case you’re making a post about wonderful cases of Facebook advertisements, run with the title “13 Facebook Ads that Your Prospects Will Love”. To expand engagement and views of your content, according to the Outbrain study, use negative superlatives rather than positive ones. Change that title from “Most ideal Ways to Improve Your Short Game” into “7 Worst Mistakes You Can Make Trying to Putt”.
Humour content Individuals like to share entertaining content. Influence individuals to giggle with your substance, and watch the shares increase.
Play the WOW factor Appeal to an individuals’ feeling of interest with something that influences them to state “Wow” Something not seen before brings out a feeling of amazement and motivate individuals to need to click your content.
What About Conversions?
terest the right half, seemingly the more persuasive half? The correct mind isn’t just accountable for feelings; it is likewise visually inclined.
Feelings in Imagery How are pictures so firmly associated with feeling? Regardless of how smartly people progress, we are a slave to our impulses first. For example, when we get eager, we eat. Tired? We rest. We see a minimal creature? We need to crush it, or in any event “gobble them up.” That hardly appears to be legitimate - But certainly, most of you can relate. An investigation done by UCLA and George Washington University followed the brain action of customers while looking at commercials. Some utilized the numbers and figures behind an item to offer, for instance, “This Computer has 16 Gigabytes of RAM,” while others were more obscure, highlighting fun or attractive scenes that appeared to have nothing to do with the item. The outcomes returned as you would think: The advertisements with statistical data points caused higher action in the decision- making regions of the brain. But, it turns out those same territories of the mind associated with decision marketing are engaged with behavioral hindrance. The statistical data points fortify the zones of the brain that keep an impulse purchase. So it is better to nearly ignore the decisions by and large, and go appropriate for the feeling focuses on the limbic framework. You can demonstrate your prospects something fun and summon a passionate reaction in their heads, making them more inclined to purchase.
You can likewise interest individuals’ feelings to expand converts and sales, not simply shares and clicks. While facts can help demonstrate the estimation of an item, the left half of the mind that analyses this data has no part in emotional handling, which we know plays a key factor in basic leadership. The left brain is all words and numbers, while the right one imparts in emotions and pictures. All in all, how would you in- Step by step instructions to use imagesto
increase conversions
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The right picture can do wonders for expanding conversion rates by playing on human feelings. If you influence them to feel perfect, they’ll make a move. Remember that while picking pictures for your site or article. Positive pictures bring out positive feelings, and negative ones evoke negative. Regardless of whether it’s a glad face and a grin or a dream of a fulfilled customer, using pictures you can get your viewers in the correct mindset for converting. Although all the science discuss how we succumb to our feelings, your consumers aren’t dumb. They realize that each move you make is with expectations of them going through their cash with your organization, so grasp it! Influence them to rest easy, glad, pleased, needed - and if they associate with the message you’re passing on, they will associate with your brand better. Moreover, a study by Smith company found different emotional mindsets that influence how consumers make decisions. They are as follows:
ers, and they positively are the influencers that’ll enable you to get the message out and develop your client base.
1) Validation Required Such customers are driven by a need to approve their decisions. They are suspicious and prevented by the thought of missing the point, which influences them to battle to make up their brains.
These individuals get effectively disappointed when they shop and can likewise feel the impacts of decision over-burden. In this state, customers need to invest as less energy as possible with shopping and dislike the experience. It’s a pain for them to look and investigate the right product at the right location.
2) Anxiety of Choice
Conclusion
They are overpowered while shopping. They encounter the impacts of decision over-burden and set aside their opportunity to think about their alternatives. They choose not to choose at all or choose over-quickly.
of a ringing bell in the expectation of food, we are still slaves to our feelings and our primal brains. By understanding how much our brain depends on feelings when deciding, marketers can engage the sentiments of consumers to help their leads and even deals. We need to perceive the value that cognitive research has in advertising and utilize it to target hearts, not heads. Make it an objective to make a feeling of motivation in the mind that looks for an association and a feeling of having a place, and assemble a system that emphasizes it.
3) Feeling Special These customers love to feel exceptional and remarkable. They long for uncommon shopping encounters that fit right in with their shopping inclinations. They could be your initial adopt
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4) Opportunity To Be First These customers are driven by their need to feel predominant, emerge and create an impression on their companions. They have solid assessments about brands and are the ones that would camp outside a store to be first and get their experience. 5) They Know It All They appreciate doing their examination and are driven by their want to be the pioneer and master that companions, associates, and partners can approach for guidance and proposals. They need to know everything. 6) Done and dusted
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VARTALAAP An Interview with Mr Deepak Chhabra Deepak Chhabra is the CEO, Crocs India since September 2016 and has won the CEO of the Year Award at the Retail Excellence Summit. A veteran of the footwear and sportswear industry, Deepak has been associated in various roles with marquee brands like Reliance, Skechers, Asics, Nike, Tag Heuer and Sprandi, where he is best noted for his business channel development expertise, customer insights and team-building skills.
Crocs India Pvt. Ltd.
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CEO and Managing Director
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This is how we do it because if you don’t listen to the consumer, very soon you’ll be out of the business.
Markathon: Crocs India targets to quadruple the number of retail stores by 2020, currently from 58 to more than 250 stores. What strategies is Crocs adopting to grow so much in just two years in an emerging country, given that it is a premium brand? What happens is, especially when you are a premium brand, you have to sell it through an exclusive store format because if anybody is investing a large amount on my footwear, he/she would like to have a wider collection of merchandise as well as amazing service to shop. So normally we have 4-5 distribution networks, we sell online, through retail stores, regional stores and shopping destination stores like shoppers stop, lifestyle, etc. and the exclusive stores. So, all these channels always have challenges of having the correct product assortment. When it comes to exclusive stores, you can have a wider catalogue available, and footwear as a category is normally bought after the trial because it has fitting issues ( you need a particular fit for your feet). So, people like to buy once they’ve tried it on themselves and hence, stores become very relevant for a premium brand. Now, the question is how you are going to do it. In last two months we’ve opened about 17 stores, so the 58 has gone up to 75 already, so we are growing at a much faster pace, and the strategy is very simple. One is the franchise model which gives you the liberty of opening multiple stores quite far because if you’re opening company-operated stores, then it takes a lot of time to identify the stores’ locality, set them up, operate them and do everything yourself as com-
pared to a set up franchise. So, we have franchise deal which makes opening of stores faster as compared to company doing it themselves. Second strategy is you know for premium brands, whether its apparel or footwear or accessories, about 50% of the business comes from the six cities which are the metros plus Bangalore and Hyderabad. So, focus is largely on these six cities and all of these cities can take about 15-20 stores each, so say about 100-110 stores can be opened only in these 6 cities. And then we move to the state capitals or say second city in every state, like Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, etc. and even North East which is quite relevant for us. So, the franchise model, opening physical stores for the premium brand, catering to the larger market in those six cities and around 25 tier 2 cities is what we are following. Markathon: How do you think the implication of GST affected the sales of shoes (which attract 18% rate under the tax reform) in India? GST is good for the industry and for the business, no doubt about that. Now why it is good, one it makes doing business simpler, the movement of goods across the entire country becomes easier, and there is the same taxation in all parts of India. So, GST is good for the country, it is good for the trade, and it is good for our industry also. Earlier every state used to have their own tax regime which created a difference in every state. Some state had a VAT of 18%, some state had 15%, some state had 12%. Then we used to have a central sales tax (CST) for moving goods from one state
So, we have franchise deal which makes opening of stores faster as compared to company doing it themselves.
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to another where you had to pay 2% sales tax. Then you also had Countervailing Duty (CVD) for importing, excise duty when you are manufacturing in India, you had service tax, local body tax in Maharashtra, and then there was a value-added tax in few of the states. So, all that has gone, and it has become so simple that you only have to pay one tax which is GST. The impact on business has definitely been there. It impacted the business negatively in the first 4-5 months because the industry was not prepared, they were confused, they didn’t know how to file returns, they didn’t know about the registrations and how will it work. But after those initial months, the business picked up and is stabilised now, and in the long run, it will be a big boost to the business and the ease of doing business. It can also have one more impact, so before GST there used to be a lot of small players who were not in the tax shield. So now everybody has come under the tax shield which will bring a lot of stability in the business and a lot of parity because people who used to not pay taxes have to pay GST now. Therefore, GST in the mid to long run is a very bold step, and it is going to help the business, and we are really happy about it.
branded to branded and from branded to premium, and our growth will come from that itself rather than we diluting our brand and seeking the common masses. Markathon: The continuously changing lifestyle and fashion are resulting in the shorter lifecycle of products, be it apparel or footwear. How is Crocs responding to this? For us, we are a very innovative company. We are near about 15 years old, established in 2002. So, we keep on innovating a lot of new products as per the trends. We bring about 500 options for consumers. We are a sort of fashion brand ourselves, and we end up in the ‘consumer looking for new things every season’ category. We address to this by bringing in a wide product assortment every season and innovating a lot on the product. For example, our core product used to be clog which has been revamped now and then to serve the changing fashion trends. The clog which we used to wear five years back and the clog now is very different. So, the key is to keep on innovating products to give excitement to the consumers and serve their fashion needs.
So, people are moving from unbranded to branded and from branded to premium.
Markathon: Currently, Crocs is a premium brand, mostly sought after by a niche buyer. Does the company have any plans to make it affordable for the common masses? I must say it is affordable already but not for everyone and we are a premium brand, and we want to hold on to that positioning. So not shortly, not in the next 3-5 years, we are going to target the common masses. Having said that, believe you me, considering the kind of population we have and say even if 5% of them can afford Crocs, which they can, we have a large customer base. So, we don’t want to deviate much and confuse the consumer, we want to play in the premium segment. Also, nowadays the disposable income is increasing, family size is becoming smaller, globalisation is happening, people are becoming more brand conscious. So, people are moving from un-
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Markathon: What do you think are the factors that affect buying behaviour and draw customers to the shopping centres? See I’ll tell you the different basis of the research which our industry did. Number one factor for a consumer now is brand, so they don’t want to buy unbranded stuff anymore. The second factor for the footwear is comfort. There are consumers for whom the first preference is style of the footwear, but for a large majority, the first factor is brand, followed by comfort, third being fashion and fourth being the price. These are the four factors which affect the buying behaviour of the consumers directly or indirectly. Now, if we talk about the stores, one is that it has to be acceptable and, in a location where it is easy to reach such as the main market or centre of the city. The second factor which impacts the buying behaviour is the service, so the sales staff you have, how are they serving
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the customers, are they solving all the que- any forms. Many of us have also tried sendries, do they attend to the consumers well, ing a feedback form of the purchase but the etc. Thirdly it is the product range, i.e., how responses are only 1% because people don’t many options do you carry. So, these three have time and they don’t care. So, people factors mainly affect the buying behaviour give it only when they are not happy with and bring consumers to the stores. Espe- the product or they generally don’t give any feedback which is a cially today when online is going so fast, So, the offline stores are doing great challenge that we are facing. So, what the offline stores are because of the “touch and feel” as we we do is, we conduct still doing well besurveys which are cause consumers becall it. paid surveys. These fore buying want to can be like giving get an experience of the product rather than directly buying it incentives to the people giving surveys on online because online you can’t try the prod- their next purchase, for example a 20% disuct and see how it will look on you. So, the count. Second way is doing surveys by coloffline stores are doing great because of the lege students. So, we float certain contests on our social media pages where we ask “touch and feel” as we call it. some very basic multiple-choice questions Markathon: What are the challenges faced which do not take much time and we keep by a strong product-centric company like them excited by giving some promotions to Crocs when it comes to listening and imple- them. Through this we get some feedback on the brand. That is how we generate cermenting the Voice of Customer? tain feedback from the customers. That is See the challenge if you really ask is to get how we collect data which is very difficult the feedback from the customers. If you give nowadays, especially the qualitative data, them a form to fill, it is very difficult to get but how we use it is more important. We the actual feedback. Sometimes they give take each and every feedback seriously, put absolutely negative feedback, in cases when them into various buckets of highest prithey are not happy with the product or the ority, mediocre priority and priority, and service and they just want to vent out the feel- address their concerns be it anything in a ing of anger and dissatisfaction. So, getting time-bound manner. This is how we do it bethe voice of customer is very difficult now cause if you don’t listen to the consumer, because nowadays nobody wants to fill up very soon you’ll be out of the business.
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eye2eye
february-march 2018
ARE MILLENNIALS THE HARDEST MARKET TO TARGET? naman pandey IIM rohtak
lakshya kukreja iim shillong
Call them arrogant, lazy, over-opinionated, over-enthusiast, choosy or sophisticated, today’s reality is when it comes to marketing, millennials are “the” target audience for all recognized/non-recognized brands. But they are a tough nut to crack. The tech-savvy and brand-savvy generation challenges every form of traditional form of marketing. They use ad blockers while using search engines, block commercials when streaming their entertainment and not pay attention to the biggest of the billboards. But millennials are not entirely at fault here. In a world where one is bombarded with the massive amount of information every second, it becomes tough to filter the good from the bad. This calls for the brands to up their game and reduces the amount of poor quality advertising. For Millennials, Speed, instant gratification, ease of purchase and efficiency are important aspects when it comes to shopping and the brands that are able to provide fresh- relevant content are able to impact their purchasing decisions. So how do you market them? As per recent reports, 72% of millennials would choose experience over a material item. 87% believed it was necessary for the brands to act with integrity at all times with authenticity more important than product uniqueness, utility, popularity etc. Also, millennials are always ready to share their feelings about brands on social media. So, invite them to branded events, give them something to associate with the brand and they will be happy to share it online! Besides, learning to cater them would help the brand be better prepared for the next generation who at the age of one has already started using iPads and iPhones!
Millennials, if we define in terms of marketing, are the most desired customer segment for which each and every organization is spending billions. The question here to ponder over is, are they actually that hard to engage with? Although the answer to this question is not that simple but one can say that it majorly depends on the techniques a company is using. Millennials can be engaged if connected on a more personal level. They are living the ‘Digital’ life and hence the best way to connect with them is to appear at the touchscreen which is at their fingertips. Although they have got numerous choices at their fingertips, the differentiation factor is the quality that a company provides and it converts customer to buy products and services. Millennial have the knowledge and competency to use technology and find out and fulfil their exact needs and this is a challenge. The best way to engage them is by being honest and authentic, just like Adidas did by authentically asking the feedback from the customers about new design and performance changes in the new sneakers. Another way of doing it is by promoting your brand in a context that they enjoy, in this way a brand will be recognized by them. One should also keep in mind the frequency of content (It should not appear as bombardment), being less ‘Infomercial’ and pitching your product like story and constant updates in your product and services. Thus it is not the hardest target market to engage if you are using a correct strategy. Millennials are smart so company needs to be smarter in order convince and persuade them in buying the product.
Topic for the next issue: “Is Green Marketing a myth?” Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is 31st May 2018. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry. Winners will receive a prize money of Rs. 500 each!
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eye2eye
IBM or International Business Machines is an American multi-national organization. It is headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States and operates in more than 170 countries. During the 1880s there were certain technologies that were developed, and these ultimately became the core for IBM. Since the beginning, IBM has been known by multiple names and has used many different logos. In the 1880s a company named ITR (International Time Recording Company) started manufacturing mechanical time recorders. In 1911 ITR merged into Computer-tabulating-recording-company (the predecessor to IBM). ITR’s logo was a simple black image representing the
letters I, T and R. Simultaneously in the 1880s another company named Computing Scale Company was formed and started producing computer scales or commercial purposes. The logo of this company included the initials of the company in a curved manner with one letter encapsulating the other. Later these two companies merged, and the name of the merged company was Computing Tabulating Recording Company (CTR). The logo of this company was a fusion of the logos of the original. It included elements from both the companies. In 1924, CTR changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation. The logo was changed to represent the new more businessfriendly name. The modern Sans Serif font was used to illuminate the change, and the words
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july 2015
business machine and international illustrated the heart of the company. The logo was in the shape of a globe.
By Anurag Pandey IIM Shillong
In 1947 IBM changed its logo without much fanfare. The globe was replaced with the letters “IBM” in a typeface called Beton Bold. The logo reflected simplicity and professionalism and was more suited for IBM considering its business orientation. In 1956 changes at the helm of the company were reflected in its logo. The company made few subtle changes which reflected the beginning of a new era. The first change was the change in font type to “City Medium.” The small changes reflected continuity and transformation with time. The letters became more solid and signified a balanced approach. In 1972 the company made its logo more dynamic. The logo was designed by Paul Rand and is considered as one of the best and the most recognized logo in the world. The font type of the logo was changed by replacing the solid with horizontal stripes. The stripes represented “speed and dynamism.” This logo has stood the test of times, and the font type has been imitated by many companies from around the world. Today the logo is recognized around the world, and it is indeed a piece of art.
IIM Shillong
AD-dicted AD-dicted
PRODUCT: CEAT tyres
december 2013 february-march 2018 By Aishwarya Tiwari IIM Shillong PRODUCT: Layer’r
POSITIONING: #ThingsThatHappenAtWork CREATIVE AGENCY: Ogilvy YouTube Link: https://goo.gl/ FR5ViS
By Anurag Pandey IIM Shillong
POSITIONING: #Swag
CATCH
CREATIVE AGENCY: The Co. Integrated
R
YouTube Link: https://goo.gl/UzG2ix
CONCEPT: There might not be much that can be done while making a recruitment advertisement. However, this one stands out because it successfully portrays the culture of Ceat – by emphasizing what it doesn’t do. The advertisement starts with a discussion at coffee machine, where an employee proposes an idea to her superior, but is laughed at. However, this senior proposes the same idea to his superior in the next shot, and is ignored just like he ignored his junior. This series of proposal and rejection continues throughout the hierarchy, and even though the top management also rejects it, in the end, they implement the same idea as well as take credit for it.
CONCEPT:
The ad starts with Akshay Kumar entering the dance floor and a girl comes close to him and starts pawing at him like a cat. To this Akshay Kumar replies “Kategi Kya?”. Now another man finds Layer’r Shot and he uses the product. A girl gets attracted to him and then again, the same phrase “Kategi Kya” is used. In the end Akshay Kumar asks the viewers to apply layer’r shot for clear fragrance. The implication being if you apply Layer’r shot you will become a chick magnet.
MISS
VERDICT: Catch
VERDICT: Miss
Markathon believes that this advertisement stands out form the crowd by emphasizing on the values of the company and the working environment there, without explicitly mentioning either. This advertisement forms a part of the campaign #ThingsThatHappenAtWork which subtlety deals with some issues that people face at their workplace. These include gender bias and stereotyping women, closed doors, rigid hierarchy and no assess to top management, and stealing credit from juniors. There are also some other details in the advertisement – like each employee holding different type of cup, and as we go up the hierarchy the cup quality increases– with the senior most one holding a cup which says “Boss is always right.” Through these advertisements, Ceat highlights that it is a better place to work simple because the attitude of the people is better there. It tries to portray more of its work culture and employee ethics, rather than highlighting the monetary benefits– an attempt which differentiates it.
In 2014 when layer’r started its advertising campaign with Imran Khan as its ambassador it was trying to separate itself from the deodorant companies. It never used the “Girls will get attracted if you apply deodorant” nor did it convey itself as a non-gas deodorant. In fact, it specifically stated in its advertisement to forget gas or no-gas deodorants and apply layer’r shot. Those commercials were fresh and separated the company from the herd. However, we saw the company move from that theme to the age old deodorant commercial ideas. With such moves there are chances that the company will lose its differentiation that it created with so much work. The commercials still mention the focus on fragrance that differentiates layer’r from its competitors, but the storyline of the ads focuses on something different. The ad is focussed on a theme which almost reminds you of the Axe ads. Markathon believes that this ad is just another “Me too” commercial and thus it is a miss.
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brand story
february-march 2018
Brand Story harley-davidson Apoorv Gupta | IIM Shillong
W
hether you are a die-hard fan with a Harley Davidson logo tattooed on your arm or you simply admire the design efforts of these unforgettable hogs, there’s no denying the fact that only a handful of motorcycle ventures have achieved the success and fame of this 114-year-old giant. As perhaps the most wellknown motorcycle brand, Harley Davidson has battled its way through turmoil and challenges to create a cult following of customers who would go anywhere and do anything for their favorite company.
matically, with a whopping 16,284 units recorded in 1914. For a while, Harley Davidson brand thrived. It was definitely not the biggest company in the world, but not the smallest either. By 1981, the business history took a turn for the worse, and quality levels began to drop. Japanese companies started delivering smaller prices to customers on better hardware.
The Harley Davidson boys had to make a However, when it decision: they could comes to brands that invest everything deserve a place in hisin improving prodtory through personuct quality, or they ality, grit, and deterwould have lost their mination, there are business. The comfew journeys more pany quickly started iconic and impactful copying quality conthan that of Harley trol measures & proDavidson. Grab your duction techniques helmet – the ride is learned from the as bumpy as it is fun: Japanese — something which allowed More than a centurythem to design a old Harley Davidson new engine, that was story began in 1901, capable of overcoming many common problems the with a design for a small engine which could be attached to a standard bicycle frame. William Harley bikes had been facing. refined this design over the years with help from his friends Arthur and William Davidson, to develop the Since it wasn’t possible for the company to use trafirst Harley Davidson bike in 1903. Unfortunately, the ditional advertising at the time, it decided to take a first model was rejected for being too weak to handle unique approach to reconnect with its customers in the roads of Milwaukee. However, this didn’t stop the 1983. This was done through the launch of “Harley Owners Group,” or H.O.G. Though not instantly sucteam from investing in their first factory in 1906. cessful, H.O.G gradually began to gain power and deBy 1907, Harley had achieved an engineering degree, veloped the essential brand loyalty that the company and the factory had begun to develop 150 motorcycles continues to rely on today. a year. This was when the signature V-Twin engine was born. The coming years saw production increase dra- Developments in logo
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brand story
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Alongside their brand values, Harley Davidson has continuously worked to build a distinct identity as the world’s most compelling motorcycle company. They have accomplished this in several ways, both from a visual and verbal perspective. Today, Harley Davidson isn’t just a name – it’s a legend that evokes images of long highways & freedom in the eyes of its customers. Part of what makes the Harley Davidson brand identity so compelling is the company logo. Harley Davidson spent close to $40 million of the marketing budget on logo design in 2010 alone, but the truth remains that the image used to represent the business hasn’t changed much over the years. The first logo was assembled in 1903, which spawned the “Bar and Shield” logo idea.
Harley Davidson brand image needed to start changing along with it. Harley understood that if they wanted to appeal to millennials, middle-class customers and more than just a single user persona, they needed to start softening their rough edges & repositioning their products. Although much of the “outlaw” biker image around the brand personality remains the same, Harley’s customers have now expanded. The company is now the top seller of motorcycles to everyone ranging from young adults to baby boomers, women, and much more. The company’s approach to a diversified customer base is what inspired the “#StereotypicalHarley” campaign. According to the head of the Harley Davidson marketing group, many of the brand’s main creative ideas are now sourced from their social media pages. This allows the brand to adapt to the needs of a new & growing audience while maintaining their heritage & their position as a historical motorcycle brand.
In 1953, the Harley Davidson logo evolved with an elaborate new “V” intended to honor the new engine style that made the company so famous. Eventually, the most recent logo was introduced with a combination of unique typography & bold lines. The logo is confident & masculine just like the brand, and the use of the bright orange To capture younger audiences without completely coloring in the latest version speaks to the company’s alienating their original fanbase, Harley recently fierce creativity. started adopting the principles of retro branding through key elements: “Allegory, Arcadia, and Aura.” Probably the fascinating thing to remember about With these principles, the Harley Davidson brand has the Harley Davidson logo is that every genuine Har- managed to hold onto its position as the gold stanley dealership has its own version. This helps in high- dard company for brand loyalty. lighting the brand’s focus on community & the fact that encourages every person with a Harley Davidson A story like no other to use their motorcycle when creating their own adventures. While today, the Harley Davidson image is one of the most iconic in both America and the world, it has Breaking the stereotypes struggled to achieve sustainable success over the years. Harley has been through periods of diminishHarley spent a lot of time building an identity for it- ing profits and damaged brand reputation, but they self which focused on traits like masculinity, power, have always found a way to get back on track, even & freedom. Unfortunately, that rebellious image stronger than ever before. brought some baggage with itself. Some customers continued to associate Harley bikes with outlaw When it’s about building your own brand, companies gangs from the past, and the company found itself today can use the Harley brand story as an incredible example of a company that has built & sustained one struggling to earn the attention of new customers. As the marketplace changed over the decades, the of the most recognizable identities in the world.
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digi-gyaan
Making an Online Advertisement By Nitin Nathani IIM Shillong Introduction
online advertisement and publish your ads. The focus will be on the Quality-price ratio which is In the previous edition of Digigyaan, we had one of the most important factors. discussed the framework, the thought process, and content required for making an online ad- Online Display Ad Builders vertisement. In this edition, we’ll be talking about the technical aspects of it and the various Online ad builders have helped in improving steps required for making an online advertise- and streamlining the production of advertisement. There exist various websites and applica- ments with the help of online drag and drop editions to transform your ideas into professional tors. Their usage is similar to that of the profescontent and various templates to give them a sional tools, but the difference is the time taken creative look. Some of them would be discussed, to understand and use them. You are given a and various factors such as your ideal ad size or variety of templates to choose from, add many ad placement would be discussed. types of transition effects and animations without any designing skills required. There are various online advertisement builders available, and the following are amongst the best:
Fotor Banner Maker: It is a very simple ad maker and free of cost. It lets you customize from existing banner templates or start new ads as well. You begin by entering the estimations of your notice. Change shading, content and foundation and transfer pictures and more to make your own special promotion. What you get is a straightforward and simple ad in PNG or JPEG that can be shared over the web. If you need another size, you simply begin once more. They additionally include new ads made by their specialists always to the site for you to alter from. Though we are aware or different easy-to-use apps, we end up in Photoshop and try to make something out of it but later realize it’s too troublesome without a prior tutorial. Another way is to find out websites who could publish your ads which requires a tracking app to know whether your campaign is successful or not. But, do we really want to be so dependent on others for marketing our own business? We’ll be talking about the step-by-step process of making the
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BannerFlow HTML5 Ad Builder It is one of the most popular and famous HTML5 ad builders. It gives you a chance to fabricate, enhance and streamline your whole ad promotion with negligible design help. Just by using the basics you can make amazing advertisements that keep running on all gadgets and screens. It is one of the most automated websites. You simply make the main size of the ad and after that sim-
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digi-gyaan
combined with content.
Ad Publishing Publishing an ad in the right place at the right time is equally important to make an ad.
Ad Hosting There are third-party websites which save and deliver your advertisements. Most ad builders want you to outsource your ads to these websites. Some of the websites are Amazon and AdButler. BannerFlow is a website which hosts your ads for free. If you book it on a popular site, you may need to wait for half a month until the ply include new sizes or varieties to your advertisement within no time at all. Also, if you have any improvements to be made, all your diverse sizes and varieties get refreshed continuously. You can even integrate videos or dynamic information like item costs.
Ad Sizes As we have discussed the ad builders, let us now move ahead with choosing the appropriate size for your advertisement. There are a variety of sizes available to choose from. According to Google AdSense, the most successful sizes are: Medium Rectangle: 300*250 Leaderboard: 720*90 Wide Skyscraper: 160*600
point when you get a spot. At times you should have your ads sent one week before your camAd Placement paign with the goal that they can book it into their framework and run a pre-flight test. BuyGenerally, people buy spots on a website where SellAds is a very easy way to advertise. You can the ad will be placed close to the main content go through their categories of pages that belong as we assume that there are more chances of the to their network and book an ad placement for a visibility of the ad to the viewer. But, according certain period to Infolinks usability study, it turned out that around 156 % more people recognized the top Testing is an important factor while creating ads. area of a page. According to eye tracking maps, You will need to test if your ad design works viewers tend to look on to the upper left side. well or not. Test some different variations and Thus, as shown in the ad sizes above, Leader try to find out if a different background picture, Boards and Skyscrapers are one of the most suc- a different color for your buttons or a different cessful sizes. Medium rectangle ads are gener- text copy is improving your click-rate on your ally placed within an article and work very well ads.
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Still a name you can bank on?
1)
PNB is in damage control mode, leveraging its social media feed to not just reassure customers but head off rumours. They’ve built distinct ad campaigns and visual identities but that’s not the same as the lived experience of a bank customer. Link:- https://goo.gl/eyu58G
2)
Four Ways For Luxury Brands To Stay Relevant Online
The millennial generation is a quickly-growing segment of the luxury market. Brands can no longer hide behind traditional. They must have more in-depth knowledge of their consumers to create more value and to differentiate themselves from their peers. Link:- https://goo.gl/Kkerc1
3)
Thinking inside the subscription box: New research on e-commerce consumers
Churn rates in subscription e-commerce services are high, however, and consumers quickly cancel services that don’t deliver superior end-to-end experiences. Link :-https://goo.gl/N44oGD
4)
Death of TV as we know it
With mobile data growth spearheaded by telcos in India, the forefront of which is Jio, the ability to consume video has grown exponentially Link :- https://goo.gl/hVVAyL
5)
Why Google and Facebook should heed Unilever’s warning
The concerns over fake news and toxic content are rising up the agenda for advertisers, as well as consumers, politicians and policy makers. It may not be Unilever that proves to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, but it is just the latest sign that all is not right in the digital world. Link :- https://goo.gl/Xgyjzw
By aishwarya tiwari | IIM Shillong
Aftermath of PNB Scam: Priyanka Chopra to terminate contract with Nirav Modi Jewels, Virat Kohli still ambassador for PNB Punjab National Bank was hit by a scam of Rs 11,400 crore that had been happening in connivance with a few bank officials since 2011 to issue fake letters of undertakings (LOUs) to diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his associates for loans from foreign branches of other banks. Priyanka Chopra was the global brand ambassador of Nirav Modi Jewels. She terminated her three-year contract with the company which was signed January last year. Virat Kohli, however stays with PNB as the brand ambassador for the bank.
Airtel, Google partner for low-cost 4G Android Go smartphones As part of the collaboration, entry-level 4G smartphones under Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ programme will be shipped with Android Oreo (Go edition) as standard operating system starting March this year, Airtel said in a statement. Under its ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ programme launched in October last year, Airtel has partnered multiple handset makers to bring in affordable 4G smartphones with cash back offers and bundled plans.These smartphones with basic specifications will also come pre-loaded with compatible apps, including MyAirtel App, Airtel TV and Wynk Music, the statement added.
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MakeMyTrip and OYO rekindle partnership MakeMyTrip, India’s largest online travel operator, will, once again, list SoftBankbacked OYO’s chain of hotels across its two primary platforms, more than two years after it removed the online budget hotel aggregator from the same, citing strategic overlaps. Such confrontations with online operators aren’t limited to OYO. In 2017, Ruptub Solutions, which owns and operates budget hotel chain Treebo and competes with MakeMyTrip, had also delisted all its properties from the MakeMyTrip and Ibibo platforms, citing higher commissions being charged by India’s largest online travel operator.
E-wallets India: Google partners with SBI for Tez, Paytm to launch own scoring product Paytm is launching a credit scoring product, Paytm Score, on its platform, based on customer transactions and behaviour. It is part of the online payments firm’s entry into the credit segment, after it took a stake in online lending startup CreditMate and launched a virtual credit card with ICICI Bank. Google on Tuesday announced a deeper integration with State Bank of India for its mobile payments app Tez. The integration will allow Tez users to now create a SBI UPI Id - @oksbi and get access to exclusive offers for SBI customers.
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digi-tally
february-march 2018
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”: Akshay Sharma | IIFT 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 31st May, 2018. Please send your entries marked as <ARTICLE NAME>_<SENDERS’ NAME(S)>_<INSTITUTE> to markathon.iims@gmail.com.
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