February, the month of love and of Budget, brings out the best Marketeer in us to show our love to that special person and at the same time with the Budget tells the Marketeer what challenge/opportunity stands in front of us. Markathon brings to its readers another fresh issue focusing on legal issues in marketing. This month’s cover story would talk about various legal and ethical issues which a firm needs to address while deciding the marketing strategy. This paper also talks about how these practices should not be followed and marketer’s should not mislead or misuse the trust of the public. Also the new column that we had added last month named ‘Digi-Tally’ will keep you updated with marketing across the world and with Markathon. This section will focus on our social media activity during the month and will definitely keep you updated in case you missed out on the latest Marketing gossip. February, was an event filled one where we saw a lot happening be it in terms of new product launch like Freedom 251( the cheapest smartphone), Fanta green or Facebook’s Like button options and events like the infamous speech by HRD minister Smriti Irani, Vijay Mallaya being shown the gate of his own company or be it the JNU row and Jat protest. There were some brilliant ad campaigns that we saw this month along with Domino’s new pizza
delivery car that ruled the streets. We also talk about brands like Parle-G and Rajniganda to give the readers a fun filled and informational read. In the Vartalaap section, we have for you an interacting interview with Mr. Sridhar Laksmanan, Founder and CEO ecoLogin Travels and Treks, who will be sharing with us his varied experience and knowledge that he has had both in multi-nationals and in NGO’s and will share with us about marketing in the rural sector. We believe you will indeed benefit from the wise words of the marketing guru who aptly captures the difference between marketing in the urban and marketing in the rural. And how can the magazine end without a bit of fun, this month’s Fun Corner will surely make you puzzled. Lastly, we are extremely thankful to all our readers for the involvement throughout the year. You inspire us to continue to do what we love. So, thank you for being a part of Markathon and we hope you will continue to enjoy our magazine. Enjoy this New Year with your loved ones, and make sure to reflect on all the things that make you thankful. Happy New Year! Cheers, Team Markathon
The Markathon Team Editors
Harsha Daga | Piyush Jain | Daksh Bhagat | Sharad Srinivasan | Shubham Shukla
Creative Designers Astha Kabra | Akshay Seth
Markathon
february 2016
Contents Perspective Sustainable Marketing Saurabh Pandey | XLRI Jamshedpur
1
Customer Service Brilliance: The Forgotten Marketing Heroics Wasim Akhtar | Chandragupt Institute of Management, Patna
5
Specials 18 19
Legal & Ethical Issues in Marketing Shubham Shukla | IIM Shillong
9
Vartalaap
13
Mr. Sridhar Lakshmanan Founder & CEO | ecoLogin Travel & Treks
Interviewed by Harsha Daga & Piyush Jain | IIM Shillong
Eye 2 Eye
Does Netflix’s entry into the Indian Market spell disaster for the Indian Blockbuster business? Shreya Singh | NMIMS Mumbai & Abir Nandi | IIM Shillong
AD-dicted Astha Kabra & Sharad Srinivasan | IIM Shillong Brand Story Daksh Bhagat | IIM Shillong
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Fun Corner Akshay Seth | IIM Shillong
21
Radical Thoughts Shubham Shukla | IIM Shillong
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Updates Harsha Daga & Piyush Jain | IIM Shillong
26
Digi-Tally
16
21
Silent Voice
Indian Cricket Team’s performance in the recently concluded series Parul Garg | IIM Shillong
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perspective
Sustainable Marketing By Saurabh pandey XLRI JAMSHEDPUR
W
hat is Sustainable Marketing?
We are very well aware of the term sustainability. We also know what the definition of marketing is. But what exactly is Sustainable Marketing? What exactly does this term signify? The truth is, Sustainable Marketing has not been precisely defined. However, both academicians and practitioners have provided us with various interpretations. Thus it becomes imperative to first of all define what Sustainable Marketing is as we understand it before we move any further. Sustainable Marketing can be defined as an all-inclusive approach that not only satisfies the needs and demands of customers, as done in traditional marketing, but also puts an equal emphasis on environmental and social issues, thus generating profit in a sustainable way. Recently, there has been a profound increase in the value that consumers place on eco-friendly products and hence there is a rise in the commitment of the companies to deliver environment friendly products and services. Sustainable Marketing seeks to capitalize on this increased customer preference and company’s commitment towards eco-friendly products. This cannot be done through age old marketing mix and strategies alone. There is a need for new strategies and concepts which align with the goal of sustainability.
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This article will majorly focus on following three areas:a) How to revise strategies of marketing to incorporate an ecologically balanced approach b) Modification of 4Ps for alignment of the organisation with the objectives of sustainability c) Benefits that an organisation will receive by adopting a sustainable approach
Sustainable Marketing Strategy
Traditionally marketing has been driven by economic objectives like profit and market share. The situation may not be the same in near future. Companies will have to change their behaviour, forced by climate change or shortage of raw materials. This change of behaviour can also be triggered due to shift of consumer preferences to the environment friendly products or due to adoption of sustainable practices by a competitor. In any case sustainable marketing will have to be a part of strategies of the companies in order to succeed in the market. One of the most important decision would be to decide whom to target and how. Segmentation of the customers and positioning of the product needs to be remodelled from the angle of sustainability in order to adapt to the changing circumstances. Segmentation Currently segmentation is done on the basis of demographics, psychographic or behavioural characteristics of the customers. These parameters will however not truly reflect an individual’s environmental attitude or his consumption habit of ecological products. Sustainable marketing requires a thorough understanding of consumer’s current behaviour and his willingness to act sustainably. This will help a marketer understand the level of involvement a consumer has when it comes to ecological products, their reasons for using an environment friendly product or their reasons for opposing it. Insights provided by this understanding will help marketers choose their target group effectively and meet their demands in a suitable way. Numerous attempts have been made to segment custom-
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ers on the basis of their environment friendly practises. Segmentation done by British government’s department for Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs is a good example. They divided the population into seven segments on the basis of their engagement in sustainable practices. These seven segments are as follows: Positive greens, Waste Watchers, Concerned Consumers, Sideline Supporters, Cautious Participants, Stalled Starters and Honestly Disengaged (Reeves, 2007). First three comprise of customers who care about the environment and have adopted sustainability whole heartedly. Next three are those in which sustainable behaviour is low to non-existent and last one have no interest in environment whatsoever. This sort of segmentation gives a clear picture as to which segment needs to be targeted and how a product needs to be positioned in the mind of the consumers. Positioning Positioning is defined as how the product is perceived by the customers and what position does it take compared to the competitor’s product. With increase in the use of sustainable practices right from the production process to distribution, it is important for the company to convey this message to the end users. The final consumers should be well aware of the initiatives taken by the company in order to be more environment friendly. This requires modification of the way the positioning of the product is being done. A very good example of this would be Coca-Cola which proudly declares itself as ‘water neutral’. This positioning helps Coca-Cola gain a positive attitude from consumers who perceive Coca-Cola as an environment friendly company.
Sustainable Marketing Mix
We are aware of the 4Ps of marketing: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. However, effective utilization of 4Ps in order to achieve the objective of sustainability is not well known. Most of the sustainable initiativeS taken by the company are focused on the operational issues and any marketing effort undertaken is focused on a single ‘P’- Promotion. However, 4Ps present an opportunity to the organisation, if wisely used, to work effectively to achieve the sustainability agenda. Let’s look at each ‘P’ of the marketing mix and understand how we can effectively use them. Product Product is a tangible good (soap, automobile, etc.) or an intangible service (hotel, airline, etc.) which is marketed to consumers to meet their specific demand. It can also be defined as anything that can be offered to satisfy a need or want. When talking from the perspective of product, there are various stages where the concept of sustainability can
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perspective be applied. Starting point is procurement of raw materials in an environment friendly manner. Going further, use of renewable energy resources in the production process and increasing the energy efficiency of the entire production process. Generation and disposal of waste is another area which can be improved upon by using sustainable practices. Conducting a Life Cycle Assessment of the product and following a cradle to cradle approach can help the company reduce its carbon footprint. For example, most mobile companies now take the responsibility for disposal/recycle of e-waste and battery, following cradle to
conscious. This would help companies to get a market for products which have a premium pricing due to their environment friendly nature. Place Place can be a physical store or a virtual store where products are sold and it also includes how the product is distributed. The issue of sustainability can be looked from various perspectives here. Right from building of energy efficient stores, green buildings that handle waste disposal efficiently to effective usage of fuel in transportation and using green vehicles for distribution purpose can all be effective measures to reduce the carbon footprint. With the increasing focus on sustainability some of the brick and mortar stores are moving toward more environment friendly practices. Stores like Walmart are building more energy efficient stores, using environment friendly fuel in the trucks and green packaging material. There are examples of retail stores using solar panels for their daily
cradle approach. However all of this comes at a price, which forms a major factor in the consumer purchase decision. Price Sustainable products have always been perceived to be more costly than their conventional counterparts. This has severely impeded their growth and acceptance on a large scale. However, this is not a true representation. Environmental cost, social cost, cost of biodiversity lost are seldom included in the production cost of any product. Instead they are treated as externalities, which are costs that are shifted to the society and hence providing customers with a skewed picture of the actual cost they bear for any product. Marketers need to reduce this pricing barrier either by increasing the perceived value of the product or through reducing the price gap through innovation. Products such as organic food brands, Starbucks, LED bulbs have done a commendable job of increasing the perceived value in the mind of customers and charging a premium for their products. Another approach could to be target people who are financially better off or people who are environmentally
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energy needs. Some of the retail stores have even adopted a policy of buying goods only from companies which adopt environment friendly practices. These practices not only increase customer base of the retailers by appealing to environment friendly consumers but it also helps them earn a premium by generating value for which customers are willing to pay. Moreover it reduces cost for retailers in the long run and hence increases profitability. Promotion The biggest task of the marketers is to convey the environment friendly practices adopted by the organisation to the end consumers. Consumers must be made aware of the sustainable practices undertaken by the organisation. The objectives of promotion can be listed out as follows:-
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perspective • Raising awareness regarding the use of sustainable products • Conveying the sustainable practices implemented by the company and use it as a differentiating factor • Informing consumers regarding the sustainable use of the product or how can consumers be eco-friendly by using the product
• Persuading consumer to use the product • Awarding consumers for using an eco-friendly product To achieve these objectives a mix of direct promotion, social and print marketing, personal selling and advertisements are to be used. These methods of marketing can be used in different ways to promote a particular product. What is more important though is to convey the value a product will deliver if bought by the customer. True, customers do care about environment and sustainability, but the value they receive from the product remains most important. It is the task of marketers to make customers realize the value of the product without any harm to the environment. This can be done by conveying benefit through efficiency, cost saving, environment protection, safety, health benefits, symbolism, status and convenience. For example home appliances like LED/CFL bulbs or CFC free refrigerators promise cost saving along with environment protection. Hybrid cars promise fuel efficiency whereas organic food promises health and safety along with their ecofriendly nature. The potential of effectively using marketing strategies for sustainability is huge. However, one major question that remains for all the companies is ‘What’s in it for me?’ The following section tries to answer this particular question.
Benefits of Sustainable Marketing
Most of the aforementioned text focuses on the benefits received by the end consumer due to the sustainable practices followed by the companies. Let us now list down the benefits an organization derives from eco-friendly practices. • Competitive advantage: Organization adopting sustainable practices early will have the first mover’s advantage. Early adoption of eco-friendly practices will not only help
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company move towards a greener ecosystem but will also help gain a leadership position in the market. It will help the organisation gain the market share and reputation as a green company. • Cost Saving: Profit is the main objective of any commercial organization. Companies continuously strive to increase their profit by reducing costs associated with production, distribution, promotion etc. Adoption of sustainable practises helps company to save costs in the long run. ITC’s classmate is a good example. By refusing to import pulp and developing in-house technology to develop sustainable ecosystem helped ITC to reduce production cost and gain leadership position in the market.
• Reduced Risk: With changing climate conditions there is a big question mark on availability of raw materials and fulfilments of energy requirements in the future. Mitigation of these risks can only be done by moving to cleaner forms of energy and adopting sustainable practices in order to increase efficiency. Moreover, due to impending changes in the environment, government across countries will impose strict environmental measures in order to control the changes. Waiting for these restrictions to be applied and then conforming to them makes no sense. Proactive approach helps companies to avoid problems of compliances in the future. • Increased market share: Involvement of eco-friendly practices help the companies to appeal to environment conscious people. It will help the company increase its customer base. Also gain in reputation due to use of sustainable practices will attract more customers. All of this will results in increased revenue and hence increased profits.
Conclusion
Sustainable marketing is undoubtedly an important concept which when integrated with the daily operations of a firm has the potential to yield huge benefits. Effective implementation of sustainable practices coupled with effective use of sustainable marketing strategy and marketing mix can prove to be a boon for a company in today’s scenario of global warming and climate change.
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perspective
Customer Service Brilliance:
The Forgotten Marketing Heroics By Wasim Akhtar CHANDRAGUPT INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, PATNA
company with 24/7 box and some“ Aonetypical who will answer the phone is not smart
“
The focus of my article is to look at the customer service from the perspective of start ups. For all those who are looking for start ups or advising start ups, the article may come in handy. And how the customer service can not only give you a competitive advantage but will also edge out the competition in the early going itself. There is an ample of amount of studies that says fifty percent of the businesses fail. A large of that is because they haven’t given a thought about differentiating themselves and they haven’t included customer service in that equation. Let’s just talk about customer service and why should people really pay attention and have a enterprise system for managing customer service today. A typical company with 24/7 box and the moment you clicked and you have someone who will answer the phone is not smart. What smarter companies doing these days are quite different things at customer service front. They are actually valuing service level agreement. They are pro-
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ducing pretty much the same products like any other but it’s the service they provide around the product and way they engage with it is actually what helps them differentiate. So, we think about small companies and let’s take an example like ZENPAYROLL and it is an awesome company that is disrupting the industry. They are using their support to differentiate. They are allowing themselves to engage with the customers in a deeper way. They take it to a level deeper and leveraging it with product innovation as well. They have their product managers engaged in desk and looking at the tickets to get that information straight from the source. So, when somebody is complaining about something or they frustrated, there might actually be a product idea or product feature painted into that. Having that direct line to see that the customers actually took the time to write or say gives product managers a little bit of edge when they are innovating and that’s what
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people need. So let’s shift our focus on what is the best practice when customers are so empowered because of social media. Let’s give a thought when such customer gets pissed off or something goes wrong, what best practices has to be diffused because it is not personal experiences any more it can get public and it may affect your brand at large. Research has shown that 89 percent of the customer won’t do business with you again if they had a bad initial support experience and yes, they would be vocal about it. So it is like you call up customer service desk and it doesn’t work and you’re like, ‘I am not going to buy’ and that is substantial business when the figures grow at some pace. Because there are other alternatives available and lot of other products that people are approaching to in different ways. Issues come up in every compa-
nies and there is very little one can do about it. So if we talk about how can companies deal with it, the best way for a support team to address and address it head on and if you have a tool or desk to deal with it. It becomes an east going process. You can reply to it and reply it at multiple places and owning the experiences from the good to the bad. Companies have tried to shy away from anything bad but that doesn’t really work either. They got to accept the fact that it is not going to go that great
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and when it doesn’t own it, fix it and be proactive and rapid response is critical. I will share my experience with OLACABS. I was in ola cab in Bangalore last month and I got mischarged and it was accidental. So they drop me an email stating that it double charged you and the next ride you get is free. Now that
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perspective is the kind of customer service that keeps the people engaged. Like, think about the companies like ZAPPOS, when they started many people thought this is a crazy idea. Who is going to buy shoes online? Now every time a season people go online to buy shoes from Zappos. The
important as product road map. And companies that do not do that won’t do well. Look at some of the best customer support oriented companies, they have big customer desk and start ups are handling things like 24 hours. Start ups in the west have used the best practices and able to bring the support within an hour and they did it by thinking about how can they optimize the engagement experience. They had a plan for the support. It is very imperative to optimize the support. Consider start ups like OYOROOMS and STAYZILLA. It is critical for them specially. Suppose you are booking the room after midnight. So let’s say you booked it at 1.30 PM and you thinking of getting a room at 4o’clock. There is a very little time. If something goes wrong the customer would have no clue and retaliation would be instant. They are businesses based on making sure that actually happens. Many people have talked about it is “the handling time”. How long is it taking to pick up a case? In their situation they are supposed to do it at a lightning fast speed but in some bad practices people touches a poor case just to touch it and meet the service level agreement. And that’s wrong. Putting all the emphasis on the support team to get a certain number of hours done without telling them how to do it a constructive way. It is more about their engagement. It is more about willing to pay more for shoes at ZAPPOS because you like them. There is a “like factor” that a consumer takes into account.
customer service is so easy there. And what is surprising to me is that they are not giving deals on shoes. They are not competing on prices rather they are competing on
Well we all make mistakes and in service industries like most start ups are it is inevitable to avoid mistakes. How do you deal with it and having plan about it? It really is. Having a roadmap, a plan and an eye where you want to take in the future. A plan for today is one thing but don’t plan a product roadmap and say, “Hey, this is what I am going to build this month”? You do but you have 6-12 months plan and they may change but I think that
service. Lot of reviews says that they don’t really bother paying extra to the company they’re constantly engaged and they keep advocating about it as well. Why would a customer care about saving 100 bugs when he has got great relationship with the company going? BOOM! Honesty is the best policy when it comes to support. People don’t like being jerked around. When it comes to the idea of best practices of things, you need to think about the support road map. Support road map is equally
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perspective the companies that don’t think about what’s my support system look like now and what’s it going to look like in 10 years when it is big, I think that is where the focus on managerial outlook of an organization be like. People are looking at support as a different vehicle than to see if you computer is on or off. It is a loyalty program in a way and a brand building process. At the end of the day the fact of the matter is there is a lot of competition out there. People can knock off your product very easily. It is very easy to copy stuffs but you cannot copy the love
and the concern that a company has for actually customers and that is an intangible advantage a start up should focus upon. It is very imperative for start ups to think about creating and delivering values not only in terms of products but also in terms of support that will help them to build loyalty, affection and brand over a period of time.
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cover story
february 2016
Cover Story Legal & Ethical Issues in Marketing I
By
Shubham Shukla
IIM Shillong
n the highly competitive scenario of today, the will to compete psychology has been firmly embedded in the minds of the society and even marketers have not been unaffected. With the increasing number of products across all categories and the rising competition across different geographies marketers have come under significant pressures to come up with innovative means and ways to market their products. In this highly competitive environment the demarcation between what is ethical and legal and what is not, can become blurred. We also need to understand that just fulfilling the legal obligations by the marketing companies does not mean that ethical justice has been accomplished. Moreover the advent of community brandings, website advertising, blog writings, twitter groups and instant messaging has given rise to multitude of legal issues in the Indian context. As these are very new forms of communication, the legal and ethical practices in this zone have still to be defined clearly and code of conduct needs to be developed. There are several legal and ethical issues in varied domains which a firm needs to address while deciding on their marketing strategy:
A) Misleading the customer 1. Product Endorsements: Product endorsements need to be truthful and in cases of celebrity endorsements the celebrities should have actually used the product. This is a major hurdle in front of marketing firms as they need to ensure that any advertisement does not highlight things about a product which cannot be fulfilled. Advertising false information about any product can even lead to imprisonment.
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2. Advertising to Children: regulated in recent times is telemarketing. TelemarThere have been special rules established which keting is a form of marketing in which a salesperson stipulate that advertisements which are meant for a tries to convince customers to buy certain products over the phone. According to laws stipulated by the government if a person registers himself on the “Do not call” registry no telemarketer is allowed to place a call to him. In fact, if such a situation arises not just the telemarketing firm but the telecom service provider is also liable to be punished by the law. Furthermore, the law also protects people against any misinterpretation of facts that would have happened over the phone and a consumer in this case can visit the consumer courts. young audience need to be especially true in their C) Email SPAM message and even the slightest amount of exaggeration about the product or showing something inap- With the advent of e-mail, now there is a new type of propriate in the advertisement is frowned upon. marketing technique which has become very prominent-marketing through e-mail. But as we have all 3. “Made in the ” labels: seen, apart from the handful of mails that may turn Many a times companies advertise their products of out to be of some use, most of the unsolicited mails being made in a certain place or country in order to put their product in a more favorable light and also in order to sell their products at a higher price. For ExPethas made in Agra are very famous and so in many shops in Delhi selling Pethas you would find them advertising that it belongs to Agra which would not be true. This is against the law and such a practice should not be followed by the firms. 4. Health Claims: There are various ads for medicines and cosmetics which claim a lot of things but do not deliver on their claims. Such type of claims are not just legally wrong but can also turn out to be harmful for the health of the customers consuming that medicine.
B) Telemarketing Another significant area which has been now heavily
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that we receive are irritating and an infringement on our privacy. The IT Act enacted in the year 2000 does not have any specific section in this regards but under section 79 of the IT Act, internet intermediaries must take care and diligence with regard to the services they provide. If we couple this with section 43A of the IT Act (compensation for failure to protect personal data from theft) we can invoke our right to data privacy. The problem of spamming has been long objected. In 2004, Tata Son’s subsidiary company in India, Panatone Finwest Limited, filed a law suit against
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cover story McCoy Infosystems Private Limited for transmission of spam. The matter was heard in the court where it was held that in the absence of statutory protection to check spam mails on the Internet, the traditional tort law principles of trespass to goods as well as law of nuisance would have to be used. This means that sending spam mails is trespassing your life to privacy and is thus an offence. However, the law in this area is still either very nascent or non-existent and work needs to be done in order to protect the right of the citizens to decide which advertisements and mails they want to receive.
D) Restrictions of marketing of certain products According to the Cable TV Regulation Act of the Indian Constitution a company cannot advertise alco-
hol or tobacco products in televised media. But not one to be cowed marketers came up with the concept of surrogate marketing. Surrogate marketing is a form of advertising which is used to promote banned products in the disguise of another product. So to counter this law companies came up with products related to drinking and tobacco use like music CD’s, Soda Water and mouth refreshments in order to popularize their brand so that whenever there is mention of that brand, people start associating it with its main product. Examples include Bacardi Blast Music CD’s, Rajnigandha pearls and many more.
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february 2016 Now let us look at some of the instances when the Indian legal system and its affiliated entities stepped in to regulate the marketing strategy of a company. 1. In May, 2011 the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India issued a statement warning television channels not to broadcast deodorant television commercials following a rash of ads featuring voracious women and “libidinous” men as they felt that plot lines for deodorant ads aimed at young men were very racy which may not sit well with a certain section of the Indian society. 2. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had directed the state food safety commissioner to scrutinize and initiate stringent actions against those advertisements which raised misleading claims on the quality of food and beverages. As per the directions, companies were not allowed to use edible oil named ‘Super Refined’, ‘Extra Refined’, ‘Micro Refined’, ‘Double Refined’, ‘Ultra Refined’ and ‘Cholesterol Friendly’ unless the claims were substantiated by a research report. Also they stipulated that the research findings being produced would have to be published in a respected international journal or should be verifiable by the FSSAI. 3. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had issued a notification in May 2012 limiting television advertisement duration to 12 minutes in an hour taking note of viewer irritation and had come up with a proposal to regulate the duration, frequency, timings and audio level of advertisement. The industry claimed that this could impact advertising revenues of the broadcaster by 15% to 40%. This move was challenged by the channels in front of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal and results of the case are awaited. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has also pointed out that news
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cover story story cover
february 2016
and current affair channels cannot run more than two scrolls at the bottom of the screen, occupying a maxi-
mum of 10 per cent screen. All these steps are very important from a marketing perspective because now we need to make ads in such a way that they can grab the attention of the audience in a very small time as the time as well as space available for marketers to get their message across is decreasing. 4. Advertising Industry Watchdog Advertising Standards Council of India(ASCI) upheld complaints against Brooke Bond Red Label Natural Care, Tata Sky, Nikon Camera etc. In case of Tata Sky, ASCI said it had received a complaint against the company stating that “Cable is just a Dabba� in a print advertisement which could harm the reputation and business of existing cable TV service providers. Similarly, it had also upheld a complaint against Nikon camera’s TV commercial for
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violation of The Performing Animals Registration Rules 2001 as the complainant had claimed that the animals used in the advertisement were not taken care of in accordance of the law. As marketers we have a responsibility to not mislead the public or misuse the trust that they show in us and our brands and we have seen that the government and legal systems take a m p l e measures to prevent this from happening. Moreover companies need to tailor their advertisements according to the culture and values of the audience as what may be acceptable for one section may be derogatory or disrespectful for the other section. In our bid to win we must keep in mind that following the marketing and advertising related laws of the country in which we are selling our product is very important not just from a business but also from an ethical point of view.
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vartalaap
february 2016
VARTALAAP An Interview with Mr. Sridhar Lakshmanan An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and also a Duke of Edinburgh award holder, he has previously worked with United Nations Development Programme, Mahindra Satyam and Philips amongst others. He started working in a remote community of 1000 people in Malaiyur between Madurai and Dindugal. He has Undertaken programmes on distribution Energy efficient stoves and LED lights to tribal communities in Javadhu hills.. Sridhar aims to endlessly strive to strike a balance between commercial and social development interests and also between the academic and practical issues for the stake holders in all his endeavours.
CEO & Founder
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ecoLogin Travel & Treks
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vartalaap
february 2016
Markathon: What are a few key factors that a rural the times it is the donor as he is the one who pays marketer needs to pay heed to in order to be the money and that is why the people who are supsuccessful? posed to be serviced get a raw deal. This is a classical problem in any NGO sector. In my previous organiI personally feel that the context plays a very im- zation I used to part of some marketing campaigns portant role in different situations. Even though you and in both the context, the function was completely might be speaking the same language say Hindi, or different. There was one campaign wherein there say any other language, understanding the context used to be someone amongst us called the Green of the customers and their background is very im- Swamy Ji who would be dressed in green robe and portant. Sometimes even though you may speak the all that and when approached by locals with probsame language, I feel many a times what he tries to lems related to crops and farming, a solution would say or what you understand is very differently inter- be provided in the style of a mantra which basically preted and unless you are very sure or share a very promoted the brand. Other campaigns were like consimilar context you may completely misread the tests in the form of who can eat the most number of whole stuff. One should be accurately aware of the ‘idlis’. Whereas we all know what shape marketing context from which one comes from and the context is taking in the urban set-up. Hence there is a lot of in which you are trying to provide service. difference in the two. Markathon: Sir given your varied experience both in Markathon: What catches the attention of the tarbig companies and in NGOs how different is market- gets most? Emotion based or fact based promotion ing in the urban vs the rural? strategy?
These are two different questions. When we take an NGO they are not really catering to a market cause for example NGO face a lot of difficulty in understanding who their customer is or what their market is because money is paid by someone and they are supposed to serve someone else. So they have this inherent confusion whether they should do a great job for the donor or for the recipients. And most of
Emotion works much better than fact based in the rural area. Also if it is fact based then it has to be very direct. The strategy and the nuances of the product has to be taken into consideration and portrayed to the target. Markathon: We see a lot of startups coming up these days, what is your suggestion to them when it
“When we take
the example of an NGO, they are not really catering to a market.” MARKATHON
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Emotion works much better than fact based in the rural are. Also the fact has to be very direct.
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february 2016
comes to targeting the right audience; rural, urban or both?
money unless they really ought to. I myself have experienced a lot of situations where people have blatantly approached me to use my orYou should first decide what is your comfort area and ganization and position to get workarounds related in which area will you be able to convey your mes- to CSR activities without being involved in any of it. sage better. There cannot be a theoretical distinction. Having said that, there are also various NGOs who are genuinely working and they were doing this even Markathon: Given the increased penetration of in- prior to CSR being made mandatory. And then there ternet, is it time that rural sector be exposed to digi- is a third set of people who just view this as an obtal marketing? ligation and don’t have a professional approach to it as they consider it as a random spending. Whereas, Digital marketing in rural area is still a far cry as the CSR is much more beyond spending. There has to be penetration is not very efficient yet. What is yet to be a purpose behind it. Everybody thinks that building seen is how mobile commerce and ecommerce will explore the opportunity of entering the rural market.
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Fundamentally you should look at your client’s view point.
Fundamentally you should look at your client’s view point and then try to do something. On the other hand you can look at it from the view point of the environment and then come up with your business model. With regards to comfort and other facilities you will have to pick and choose your clientele which will vary according to them. And according to your clientele there are a lot of very sophisticated options available. For example, like in Jaipur or South Africa, they do a very phenomenal job of something as basic as camping. It also involves a lot of direct costs to the environment but also some hidden costs. Another very important criteria is how do you regulate the demand with respect to the low carrying capacity of such natural options. So I believe that it has to be a holistic approach and cannot be separated from each other.
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Markathon: Sir, according to you what are some essential points you need to keep in mind to increase consumer satisfaction as tourists look for maximum comfort and convenience whereas eco-tourism implies keeping the natural environment intact?
toilets, building schools will do but there is more to it as we are handling a lot of people during the process and just paying more wages and I don’t think everybody’s intention is good and the cost to the environment is never accounted for. I personally feel that CSR still miles ahead and unless we crease a social infrastructure it is very likely to fall flat and there will be a lot of blame games. Markathon: What advice would you give to budding managers who have interest in marketing but want to explore the opportunities in the social welfare domain?
One can’t have both. You will have to choose between one or the other. There is no clear connection between them unless we are looking at some community based enterprise. And in order to do that you should be willing to do a lot more of ground work and Markathon: How do you think are corporates react- willing to accept a lot of salary cuts. So you make an ing to CSR mandates? Are they being sensitized to informed decision of what you seek and then move the communities or are they just eyeing this as a forward. Otherwise you will create a lot of problems marketing opportunity? both for yourself and for the enterprise you are in. I would say that they are eyeing it as a marketing opportunity as no one wants to share their hard earned
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eye2eye
february 2016
Does Netflix’s entry into the Indian Market spell disaster for the Indian Blockbuster business?
ABIR NANDI IIM SHILLONG
SHREYA SINGH NMIMS, MUMBAI Frank Underwood’s ruthless cold demeanor, Narcos’ hypnotic theme song Tuyo, Badass Detective Jessica Jones, Netflix, with its diverse globalized content will make it all available to Indian viewers without us resorting to torrents and proxies. Not only that, it will put India on the global map of over the top (OTT) and content distribution market forging better telecom infrastructure. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Netflix’s stronghold lies in its ability to create original content and India has been promised local stories to cater to the eclectic taste of watchers. Its subscription only business model ensures that ads don’t pop up when you are engrossed in a show. Content devoid of censorship, dynamic library with constant addition of content, suggestions based on mood by creating multiple profiles provide an extra ‘oomph’ to the popularity of Netflix as well as a reason for the Indian Blockbuster Business to hit the panic button. The rickety infrastructure in India does pose a threat to Netflix’s grandiose schemes. Netflix, however, uses clever algorithms that predict the drop in the connection speed and accordingly changes the streaming quality so that the episode runs for as long as possible. Data usage settings as Low (0.3GB/hr), Medium (0.7GB/hr), High (3GB/ hr for HD and 7 GB/hr for Ultra HD) and Auto provide a judicious data cap and the monthly subscription rates have been designed keeping the niche market of Independent Cinema lovers and English TV show binge watchers in mind and therefore rates starting from Rs. 500 are not bothersome. Henceforth, the offerings Netflix provides are enough to create a gradual shift in the blockbuster business. With such a vast array of video on demand available on the interface of your choice, anytime, anywhere, why would any TV series aficionado want to go anywhere else?
Netflix has arrived from the western shores, armed with a catalogue of movies and shows, and is looking to cash in on the demand for high-quality content among the Indians with a proclivity for premium entertainment services. Most of these would be young, working and with money to spare. Even if we ignore, for now, their penchant for “taking to the high seas”, a habit they would have picked up in their college days or earlier, we have to take note that they form a minuscule minority of the movie-going public in India. Even if these people decide to replace their visits to the multiplexes with “Netflix and Chill”, they would barely make a dent to the box-office numbers of our “Bollywood Blockbusters”. The much-maligned “Bollywood Blockbuster” is the lovechild of the masses’ nigh unquenchable thirst for entertainment and the Indian film industry’s stubborn knack of sticking to the proven formula. Their consumers come from diverse places of origin and social strata- be it the 30 year old auto-rickshaw driver looking to end the week with light-hearted entertainment or the 18 year old engineering student indulging in a guilty pleasure. The Chennai Expresses and the Happy New Years of India are here to stay, bolstered by the 13000 odd single screen theatres in India that cater to the “Big Billion”, the 1500 odd multiplexes notwithstanding. Unless Netflix acquires rights to or decides to produce local content with mass-appeal, Bollywood would not be bothered about it. Even if Netflix does come out with such content in the future, the design of the service itself would restrict it to those with access to computer screens. It can thus be safely said that Netflix will fit into a very distinct niche of the entertainment market without causing the Bollywood honchos too much headache.
Topic for the next issue: “With reference to Freedom 251, is marketing a product majorly on its cost the correct marketing strategy??” Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is 10th March, 2016. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry. Winners will receive a prize money of Rs. 500 each!
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silent voice
december february 2016 2013
Last Month’s Results
Congratulations!!! Vivek receives a cash prize of Rs 1000!
THEME FOR NEXT SILENT VOICE: Vijay Mallya shown the door in his own company LAST DATE OF SENDING THE PRINT AD: 10th March, 2016 Upload your submissions on https://www.facebook.com/markathon.iims/. The most creative entry will be the winner ( Number of likes will also be a judging criterion) Drop in a message to Markathon once you have uploaded your entry. Mention your Name and Institute’s name in the description of the entry uploaded.
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Theme: Indian Cricket Team’s performance in the recently concluded series
WINNER PARUL GARG | IIM SHILLONG
IIM Shillong
AD-dicted AD-dicted
PRODUCT: Ariel: Share the Load
december february 2013 2016 By Astha Kabra IIM Shillong
POSITIONING: Let goodness flow in your heart.
POSITIONING: Share the household work load CREATIVE AGENCY: BBDO, Mumbai
CATCH
CREATIVE AGENCY: Dentsu Marcom
R
YouTube Link:: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATNw9V iQT2Q
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJuk f4ifuKs
CONCEPT: The advertisment opens with a daughter reading out her father’s letter, as he is headed back to his home after visiting her for a few days. The advertisement shows how the daughter, who is also working in a corporate firm, finishes all the household work while her husband relaxes after a hectic day and watches TV. The father, watching all this quietly, regrets having not brought the girl up by teaching her that only girls do the household work. As he goes home, he realises that he himself has never helped his wife in the household chores and decides on changing this attitude. On reaching his house, he surprises his wife by unpacking his clothes on his own and putting them to wash. This brings tears of joy to the eyes of the daughter. The ad closes with the caption #ShareTheLoad. VERDICT: Catch Markathon believes that BBDO has again flawlessly managed to capture the hearts of the customers with this emotional advertisment. With the ongoing buzz about social marketing, Ariel positions itself very clearly with this advertisement. Also, while competitors engage in price and quality wars, Ariel has set itself apart by bringing out yet another one of a kind advertisement. The flow, the idea and the execution, all of them were spot on. All in all, Markathon believes this heart touching advertisements has, with over 5 lakh views in just 10 days of its release, won more than a million hearts.
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By Sharad Srinivasan IIM Shillong PRODUCT: Rajnigandha Silver Pearls - Mouth freshener
CONCEPT: The ad begins with Priyanka Chopra climbing down a flight of stairs in the hotel. She is dressed in a flamboyant manner, complementing the posh hotel interiors. While she walks down the flight of stairs, she thinks about all the negative things that are said about her in the general public, lacking emotional depth, being an arrogant person. She doesn’t let these thoughts affect her and the scene ends with a small, spontaneous gesture she makes to help a hotel staff member. With this she reaches the conclusion that what matters is ‘What your actions are, not what people think about you’. The advertisement ends with Priyanka Chopra having a handful of the product. The tagline flashes on the screen, ‘Achchai ki ek alag chamak hoti hai’.
MISS
VERDICT: Miss Markathon believes that the advertisement fails to establish a connection between the product offering and the visuals presented. A first time viewer may misconstrue the product as a jewelry item rather than a premium mouth freshener due to the classy, upscale set up. The entire ad campaign has been made successful only because of the videos that followed up the initial one, which make it clear what the ‘achchai’ in the mouth freshener is and how does it make one shine. To sum up, Markathon believes neglecting basics such as product description & clarity of idea flow, let the advertisement down.
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brand story
february 2016
Brand Story DAKSH BHAGAT | IIM Shillong
C
ertain brands truly live up to the age old saying ‘Old is Gold’ owing to their wide popularity amongst the masses. While travelling in a Mumbai local train enroute Andheri and further north, one might encounter the warm aroma of fresh baking. This comes across as a result of the busy ovens at the first factory of Parle Products baking a batch of the world’s largest biscuit brand, Parle G. Ever thought of the fact, how is it, that, generation after generation the biscuit that dips in your tea every morning only to give you a refreshing start to the day, has been able to maintain the same standards? Let’s dig a bit deeper into the matter. Born in 1939, as Parle Gluco and covered with a cream-coloured, yellow stripped, wax-paper wrapper with the photo of a cute girl on it, it was launched as an affordable source of nourishment to counter expensive, imported biscuits in the British Raj such as Jacob’s and Huntly & Palmers. Britannia, based out of Calcutta emerged as a market leader in the East, while, Glaxo glucose biscuits dominated the market in the South. The war between the brands began only in 1960, when, Britannia launched its first Glucose biscuit brand, Glucose D, which was later endorsed by Amjad Khan’s Sholay Avatar Gabbar Singh in the 1970’s. Similarly, smaller players began to enter the market by just imitating the pack and adding the suffix ‘Glucose’ to their name. Thus, the positioning as a Glucose biscuit started to put Parle in trouble, because the majority would just ask for Glucose biscuits and many businesses began eating into Parle’s market share, using the product’s name. This was the time when people started getting confused by similar brand names, each with its own set of promotional strategies. Glucose biscuits no longer remained an exclusive offering of Parle in the market. It was high time for Parle to differentiate itself from the competitors and rise above all. Hence, in 1982 Parle Gluco was repackaged as Parle G. The plump girl on the packet appropriately clicked with the target audience, kids and their mothers. In order to create a large potential market, Parle employed mass marketing for Parle G. Mass-production, mass-distribution and mass-promotion allowed Parle to maintain low-price for Parle G, while targeting all segments of the market. Owing to its nutrition-rich and value-for-money positioning, it has been able to generate large volume-sales. Parle G faced severe competition from Hide & Seek, which came out of the same company many years after Parle G, and employed niche marketing strategy to sell its premium biscuits. Other competitors such as Tiger, and Sunfeast also employed the mass marketing technique. Since the Glucose-biscuit market has reached its maturity stage,
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Parle changes its conventional marketing strategies and now uses penetrative strategy to cater to this market. It provides low-price and high-quality Parle-G to its price-sensitive customers, using value pricing method. Whereas for Hide & Seek, a premium chocolate-cream biscuit, it follows a market premium strategy and charges high price for its high innovative and quality biscuits. Parle-G, being the flagship product of Parle, is meant for all markets whereas other premium sweet-savoury biscuits, such as Monaco and Hide & Seek, are targeted at specific markets and market segments, especially the price-insensitive high-income class. Parle has always believed in branding. In times of trouble, Parle-G came up with the tagline, ‘Often imitated, never equalled’, to create a difference in the minds of the customers and claim its superiority over its competitors. It brought about a revolution in the advertising industry in trying to get the first mover advantage. With this ideology, Parle partnered with the Indian Railways and painted Mumbai’s train compartments with Parle Gluco ads, becoming the first brand to do so after the Indian government allowed it. It was only the belief in branding that made Parle G’s makers selfreliant, build scale and maintain pricing. Parle G has always kept pricing in check. Even when the prices of the key ingredients (Vanaspati, sugar and wheat) went up, its price hovered at around Rs 4 for a pack. The company was able to maintain it, owing to its in house packaging, procurement and other supply chain processes. Thus, it has been able to retain its position as the market leader in the Glucose biscuit industry. Glucose is now 22 per cent of Rs 24,000 crore and Parle G is around 80 per cent of it, reaching 6 million outlets. With the advent of the new decade, the company now faces a different concern. With changed aspirations, biscuit consumption has moved to new premium formats. Even with increased penetration, Glucose market’s share has declined. Parle Products revamped Parle G with the help of O&M, positioning it as a supplement to the curiosity, which is characteristic of the new generation kids, with the tagline, G for Genius. But it is more important to rejuvenate Parle G to appeal to the new generation. The newer generation needs to be told about the stories that the brand has been able to create with the older generations by including newer perspectives into their stride including their motto: ‘Old is not always Gold’.
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fun corner
february 2016
AKSHAY SETH IIM Shillong
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radical thoughts
february aug 2014 2016
Radical Thoughts SHUBHAM SHUKLA | IIM Shillong
St. Valentine, Love & Marketing “According to a plethora of studies men spend almost twice as much as women on Valentine’s Day.” Valentine’s Week- The week of love and affection, the week of chocolates, cards, hugs and whatnot, but is it also a week for marketers. There are many controversies which say that the Valentine’s Week is a corporate creation in order to boost sales of cards, flowers, chocolates and gifts in general, after all Valentine’s Day is the second busiest shopping day in the world. But since there are so many companies who claim to be worthy enough to provide that perfect gift for your loved ones, as a marketer you have to be creative to get noticed amidst all of the competitors’ commotion. In fact with the right marketing approach even companies which do not sell the traditional Valentine’s gifts can come up with a market-
ing campaign centered on Valentine’s Day. Uber for example came up with Romance on Demand campaign this Valentine’s Day which would allow you to send roses to your loved ones through the Uber app. The drivers are already on the road, so this campaign did not even turn out to be very expensive for the car company. Other examples include firms like Megared which sell krill oil supplements which are basically fish oil supplements. As we know fish oil is very good for the heart and so they came up with the “Protect the heart of someone you love” campaign which allowed users to send free samples of Megared oil to
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their loved ones. Even financial consulting firms are not far behind. One such firm came up with a campaign on Facebook saying “Do you know how much this Valentine’s would cost you. We can help you plan not just for this but all your future valentine’s. Research shows that people don’t just spend money on their significant others but also on their classmates, parents and pets. Hence, even firms like Pedigree can come up with innovative marketing campaigns to boost their sales. All this shows that with the right amount of creativity even products not traditionally related to love and Valentine’s Day can use this opportunity to come up with an effective campaign. Another important thing to take into account is the market that you plan to target. According to a plethora of studies men spend almost twice as much as women on Valentine’s Day. So most of the campaigns that you design should be targeted towards making men buy gifts for their loved ones. Not just gender, your marketing campaigns also depends on the age group that you are trying to target as a 55- year old person would buy a very different gift from a 20-year old. A phenomenon that has come up in recent times is targeting single men and women on Valentine’s Day. A lot of dating sites and even restaurants and bars are trying to target men and women who are not in a relationship by offering them good company and food on Valentine’s Day. After all, you don’t need a partner to have fun, right. Hence with the right marketing campaigns we can easily make our consumers fall in love with us irrespective of our products, the consumer’s age or relationship status. This makes us wonder, is Valentine’s week really a marketing gimmick. We leave the decision to you guys.
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updates
december february 2016 2013
Updates HARSHA DAGA | IIM Shillong
New Product Launch Freedom 251, the world’s cheapest smartphone unveiled With the announcement of this product, it is seen not only as a new product but as a catalyst to the dream of taking digitization to the corners of the country. World’s cheapest smartphone - the $4 Freedom 251 is set to be made in India. The company behind the project - Ringing Bells - received a huge coverage in the media and received beyond positive backup from users around the world. Well, only time will tell how efficiently the consumer needs are met.
Domino’s radical pizza delivery car is ruling the streets Though it is not for consumers to purchase, the idea behind this state-of-the-art pizza delivery car with a built-in warming oven is to enhance customer experience. Domino’s has been a leader in pizza delivery since years and they could maintain this stature only because of the innovative processes of pizza making and delivery, be it its Heatwave bags or the pizza lovers’ Batmobile. A J.P. Morgan restaurant analyst quoted “Dominos is a technology company disguised as a marketing company disguised as a pizza company”. Brand up, Domino’s!
Brand Extension Bisleri challenges the industry with Pop With the launch of four variants of carbonated soft-drinks under the brand name Bisleri Pop, the 50 year old giant is set to re-enter this segment. After more than 20 years of Parle selling off their soft-drink business to Coca Cola, here it is..back with a bang. How well do they compete with the well-established-deep-pocketed MNCs is what we are eager to see. While we enjoy this show-down of the interesting cola flavors, do you want to know who will make it happen? It’s advertising agency Soho Square, a unit of Ogilvy & Mather India. Green Mango Fanta has an answer to that Interestingly, with the arrival of Bisleri Pop, Coca-Cola has also launched a Green Mango flavored carbonated drink under its Fanta brand. Now, this is war! But the fact that launch of India specific Green Mango Flavored Fanta was done in line with the Make in India summit deserves some kudos on being right on time. Cocacola plans to add more variants such as litchi and strawberry by sourcing the raw materials from lakhs of local farmers. This is what we call a truly ‘Glocal Approach’.
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updates
february 2016
Market Development Garmin launches Vivosmart HR Activity Tracker Here is the latest addition to the extremely handy and sophisticated fitness gear by Garmin, and guess what? It is available in India; thanks to Snapdeal. With its activity tracking features, additional workout support including timed activities, and smart notifications vívosmart is like having a personal coach and assistant right on your wrist. Further exploring this opportunity, Garmin plans to invest close to Rs. 900 crores in India by the end of 2016. Go Run!! Coach is coming to India Coach, a leading New York design house of modern luxury accessories is all set to enter India through its exclusive partnership with Genesis Luxury Fashion. The brand is looking at not only providing modern store environment but also showcasing its commitment to craftsmanship and rich heritage by targeting the fashionable Indian consumer.
AD Watch Official 2015 FIAT 500X Super Bowl Commercial This tongue-in-cheek humorous depiction of how FIAT’s 500X got Bigger, More Powerful and Ready for Action with a “Blue-Pill” meant for an old man that he accidentally dumps out of his bedroom window. And it’s wonderful to see how without the use of any sports gear, FIAT made its ad relevant to Super Bowl through the tag line and garnered more than 14 million views on YouTube.
Brand Watch BrewDog spills its secrets to engage communities In order to involve the home-brewing communities, BrewDog made recipes of all its 216 beers publically available. They say it is their way of “giving back” to the community as their name has also grown from the same place. By doing this, the brand has very swiftly made a space for itself in the hearts of the people. At the same time, it is a subtle scar on the face of their competitors as they believe the strength of their brand is derived from unique brewing abilities and not just the ingredients. Now this is some confidence which not just appeals to the target but also establishes a better recall probability. Xerox announces its split Reflecting industry dynamics, we will now see Xerox as two separate listed companies, one carrying its legacy printer and documentation solutions while the other will focus on its business process outsourcing unit. Whether the two separate entities will carry the same brand name or decide to deviate will determine the valuation of this mammoth brand that has seen the highs and lows like no other.
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updates
december 2013 february 2016
PepsiMojis explores the language of Emojis A picture is worth a thousand words, but hey, Emojis are no less. This summer, the “Say It With Pepsi” campaign is all set to boost consumers in getting their point across through their internally designed emoticons. The designs don’t only have a global appeal but some are also customized for local markets. Emojis deliver marketing messages “graphically, quickly and in a relatable way,” Toronto-based branding consultant Jeff Swystun said in an interview. We can’t wait to share one ;-)
Special Feature Brand Forum, Sydney 2017 Australia’s biggest event dedicated purely to brand strategy & management saw participation by more than 350 executives hooked on to over 35 experts from the domain of branding. Take a look at the highlights here:
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updates
february 2016
Articles are invited
“Best Article”: Saurabh Pandey | XLRI Jamshedpur 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 10th March, 2016. Please send your entries marked as <ARTICLE NAME>_<SENDERS’ NAME(S)>_<INSTITUTE> to markathon.iims@gmail.com.
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digi-tally
february 2016
Our Facebook page has been buzzing all month. Check out some of our posts here!
To keep up your Marketing Quotient do follow us on: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markathon.iims/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Markathon MARKATHON
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digi-tally
february 2016
Check out
our
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War Of Brands entries here..!!!
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digi-tally
february 2016
Check out
our
MARKATHON
War Of Brands entries here..!!!
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