While most of us are still getting accustomed to the rude shock of getting back to work after the vacation, we enter the new year with a renewed sense of hope and optimism and wish our readers a very happy new year. So, a lot has happened around the world in the past year, from currency being banned to a new POTUS being sworn in, the world has changed, for good or bad, only time will tell. So, amidst all this, we bring to you the January edition of the magazine. While we’ve covered in detail about everything that has taken place in the last year, we felt its time to discuss the possible trends that could be followed in the marketing world for the upcoming year and have made that our cover story. We discuss about chatbots, AI and their impact. Also in the discussion is omni channel communication and the role it will play. A big development in the past year has been live video and we look at its impact in the upcoming year. We also analyze the rise of snapchat and the movement from mobile friendly to mobile only. Virtual Reality has played a major role in the past year and a prime example is Pokemon Go and we discuss its possible applications.
nostalgia marketing and chatbot marketing in the fray this month for perspective. For these articles, we would like to congratulate Shirohi Govil from SRCC and Akshay Sharma from IIFT respectively. With the sphere of entertainment changing everyday, we discuss whether India can be the next big thing for over the top content players like Netflix and Amazon prime and would like to congratulate Bharat Chadha from Amity Business School and Ashwin Mehta from IMT Ghaziabad for the same. In the Vartalaap section, we bring to you Dr. Jacob Vakkayil, Assistant Professor at IESEG School of management, Paris. He has given some scintillating insights into the market in Europe and its comparison with India. We have also added a new section this time around, bringing to you the five must read articles of the month. This month also bring to you the story of Vanilla Coke and its failure. As always, we have the catch and miss advertisements of the month and the fun corner to mind boggle you. We hope you enjoy the read and do write to us.
Speaking of Pokemon Go and chatbots, we have Cheers! Team Markathon
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He is our FLASH
E D I T O R
Of The Month
Ravitej Vadlamani AND HIS TEAM..!!
Aditya
Arnav
Suman
Himanshu
Archita
Raghav
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Andar Ki Baat Perspective Chatbot Marketing:
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Cover Story
Development of latest trends Akshay Sharma | IIFT
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Marketing Trends IN 2017
Nostalgia Marketing: Shirohi Govil|SRCC GBO
RAGHAV DHANUKA | IIM Shillong
Eye 2 Eye
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Can India be the next big thing for Over The Top content players like Netfilx, Amazon?
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Vartalaap Dr. Jacob Vakkayil Asistant Professor
IESEG School of Mangement
Bharat Chadha
Ashwin Mehta
Amity Business School
IMT Ghaziabad
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Interviewed By: Raghav Dhanuka | IIM Shillong IIM Shillong
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Andar Ki Baat SpeciaLs
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Logoistic
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Mercedes Benz Arnav Khanna | IIM Shillong
Digi - Tally Let’s look at our social media marketing
AD-dicted
Catch & Miss advertisements of the month Ravitej Vadlamani & Suman Sourav | IIM Shillong
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Must Reads Articles you just cannot afford to miss Marketing Gyan
21 Jab They Failed 22 Vanilla Coke: The Wakaw Fad Raghav Dhanuka | IIM Shillong MARKATHON
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Fun Corner
To get the brain tickling Aditya Gaur | IIM Shillong
Updates
Fresh from the Marketing World Suman Sourav | IIM Shillong IIM Shillong
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Chatbot Marketing Development of latest trends!
By akshay sharma iift
“Have you ever asked Apple’s Siri about the weather forecast for the weekend?”
B
ackground
Imagine opening a group chat and inviting a chatbot to join the conversation to assist in group booking. The bot will understand each person’s preference and would suggest travel options accordingly. Well, this would make our lives a lot simpler and thus leveraging such type of a technology is a top priority for brands. Pioneers in the field of technology – Microsoft and Facebook are both throwing their multibil-
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perspective lion hats into the chatbot ring. Looking at the behavior of these heavyweights, it can be safe to say that the dawn of the bot is upon us. With this, a new type of marketing has entered the fray – Chatbot marketing.
What are Chatbots? Simply put, chatbots are AI powered robots within a messaging app that can converse with humans to answer questions. The conversation is ensured using natural language i.e. text or voice rather than using traditional websites or app user interfaces. The scope of a chatbot is always determined by the creator’s algorithmic aptitude. With a blend of both pre-set scripts and deep learning neural networks, these chatbots can predict an accurate response to a question posed by the user. This gives rise to a form of conversation that greatly mimics the regular chat. A general shift in the consumer behavior towards messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, Apple iMessage, WeChat, SMS etc. has been observed in the recent past. With messaging apps becoming ubiquitous and the common man’s growing desire for efficient online services, it can be fair to assume that these bots are not disappearing in the near future and may actually go on to become the next ‘BIG’ thing.
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Not many marketers are skeptical about the usage of chatbots in marketing. From the point of view of a customer, sending a text to the bot of their choice is by no means a big feat. In addition, when this text produces results like purchasing
of a cinema ticket, booking of a taxi, ordering a take-away or getting updates about the cricket score, it does amaze him to a certain extent. Let us now have a look at some of the other ways using which this technology can be leveraged by marketers: •Turning boring emails into a fun proactive communication from the brand •Improving surveys and uncovering better insights which can be leveraged for evolution of the product, providing better customer service and reaching to new buyers •The collected data would help the company to decide on which product is to be marketed differently or which product is to be relaunched and so on. •Given the versatility of chatbot tools, it is possible to program them in a manner so as to ensure that they retain data, respond to specific keywords and offer an additional product to the customer. And this would greatly make an impact in the life of a customer. Facebook’s foray into the world of chatbots: On 12th April, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zucker-
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perspective berg remarked that he will allow developers to build chatbots inside the Facebook Messenger app. This simply underlined Facebook’s quest to become the go-to place for its users to contact businesses, rather than contacting through thirdparty websites. With the words – “You will never have to call 1-800-Flowers again”, Facebook CEO wants the bots to perform acts like answering questions, processing orders, send shipping updates etc. which would revolutionize the way marketing is done. The Facebook Messenger app allowed retailers and information outlets to integrate bots capable of responding to users’ queries instantly which provides a real opportunity to all the marketers to unleash their innovative marketing strategies so as to better market their brand. Christmas – An exciting time to interact with prospective consumers? Christmas is usually the time when businesses are inundated with special requests from the time-starved customer requiring more and more suggestions. During the recent Christmas season, one brands did dip a cautious toe into the water when it comes to chatbots. Online marketplace Notonthehighstreet built up a Facebook Messenger chatbot which advised users on what gifts are to be brought on for their loved ones. An innovative concept like this has a high chance of increasing the brand awareness and drive customers towards the brand particularly during the festive season when the customer tends to be quite upbeat. Another similar effort was made by the sandwich chain – ‘Pret a Manager’ – a chain which focuses on offering high quality fresh food to its customers. They used chatbots so as to ensure that customers can find out more about the menu on offer in the midst of ambiguity and chaos. A drinks giant however, followed
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a different path altogether. Pernod Ricard employed chatbots not just to inform customers about the alcohol types on offer. The chatbot ‘Cocktail Couch’ offered recipes and mixing instructions for all the people who wanted to get creative with their drinks during the festive period.
Going the Digital way: The data collected by chatbots can be leveraged after a certain point of time. With internet and mobile penetration on the rise, a massive amount of data is generated day in and day out. This is where analytics joins the party. With the number of marketing channels on the rise, it is imperative for marketers to keep all of those upto-date. Chatbots will simplify this issue a great deal. The chatbots can be programmed to carry out tasks like scheduling content, monitoring ads, addressing the issues faced by the general public etc. on the go. Keeping a tab on the performance metrics of a campaign is an important attribute that a marketer possesses. The above figure gives insights on how customers react to say, a certain ad or a campaign. Chatbots will help to fetch data instantly, avoiding the tiring process of going through vast data sets in Excel, Google Analytics etc. This will help marketers to optimize its revenue and also align their strategies properly. Today, customers have become more and more impatient. The impatient customer wants instant answers to its questions. Again, this can be overcome by chatbots, thereby maintaining a healthy rela-
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perspective tionship with the customer. Chatbots and marketing efforts: (I)Engagement beyond clicks: The traditional method of defining engagement as a click of an ad or play of a video is not as much valued as an active conversation with a user. The Officer Judy Hops – a creation of Disney was launched in Facebook Messenger to spur the interest of users in Disney’s Zootopia movie. What followed was a high level of engagement where users joined
which was filled based on the details of the conversation. The only thing the user had to do was click on the ‘Submit’ button. This campaign tripled the voter registration sign up rates. Rather than attracting potential users to the landing pages, using bots as a medium to fetch user information turned out to be an innovative idea. (III) Sephora’s chatbot on Kik is a tool that shares beauty tips with teenagers. After ask-
Judy on a detective hunt and experienced her story firsthand. The engagement was enormous, with users spending more than 10 minutes on an average conversing with the character.
ing a series of questions to the user, the chatbox finally comes out with suggestions about the products she/he may use, beauty tips and tutorials.
Flip side:
(II) Marketing is full of innovations. And these innovations inspire companies to come out of their shell and think the otherwise. A voter registration organization partnered with Facebook ads to drive users to a specific chatbot in Facebook messenger. The chatbot posted a series of questions – name, address etc. which the users happily answered. Finally, the user was directed to a ‘Rock The Vote’ form
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Well, chatbots seemed to negatively impact Microsoft when it launched its AI powered chatbot named Tay. The mere fact that the bot ‘learns’ from whom it interacts proved to be the game changer as it started getting offensive and racist. Tay was programmed to share jokes, offer a comment on a picture you send to her and so on. However, one thing that users noticed was that she would reply to racist and offensive tweets with her own commentary.
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perspective This was probably the last thing in Microsoft’s
mind as their intention was to build a bot capable of interacting with millenials via social media. Finally, the chatbot was taken offline as the situation had gone out of hands. At the end of the day, this certainly showed that a human intervention is probably required unless of course, the technology is a fool proof one.
Final Word: The prospect of communicating with the customer and at the same time ensuring that the communication is lively, interesting and at the same time specific is something that would interest any customer. After all, who would not love a 24*7 service that connects with the users on a much deeper level? There is a reason why bots are seen to be ruling the foreseeable future which is why marketers are always looking out to cash in on using their services to market their brands.
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However, one thing that has to be ensured is that they are used sparingly in a way that benefits both the customer and the business. Human intervention should be at the helm at least some decisions or else plans could backfire as seen in the case of Microsoft’s Tay chatbot. Companies which employ chatbots and humans simultaneously may end up winning the ultimate battle by marketing new products, sneaking in promotional materials and upselling customers.
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nostalgia marketing
By Shirohi Govil shri Ram College of Commerce Post Graduate Diploma in Global Business Operations
The phrase ‘Good Old Days’ describes nostalgia in a
befitting way. From the marketing perspective, nostalgia is what strikes when one uses the ‘On this Day’ or the ‘Year in Review’ features of Facebook. When the marketing strategies tap into the emotions evoked
elections by harping on the ‘Make America Great Again’ proposition which triggered an emotional yearning for the perfect past. In the UK, isolationism and protectionism formed the basis for the exit from the European Union, which marked another return to the old world order. This political whirlwind exemplifies the potent force of nostalgia marketing. Pokémon GO: The Uber of Mobile Gaming In marketing parlance, the most compelling case for Nostalgia marketing is presented by Pokémon GO, a location - based mobile gaming app which merges the physical and the digital world through Augmented Reality and involves catching digital Pokémon characters overlaid on top of the physical world.
due to the recollection or reconstruction of the past, it is Nostalgia Marketing. In 2016, nostalgia marketing took an astronomical political hue when Donald trump won the US presidential
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The New York Times called it millennials’ “first mass-consumption nostalgia product”. According to Google’s global trends, Pokémon GO was the most-searched item online in 2016. Its astounding success saw it catapulting to the top of downloads rankings in every region where it was launched since July; with players clocking 8.7 billion kilometers by walking around to catch an average of 533 million digital Pokémon characters each day.
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perspective Games on the Augmented Reality platform have existed before, but what led Pokémon GO to become unsurpassed? It was the pull of the Pokémon that the players grew up watching which snowballed into a collective yearning for the past memories of unfettered happiness. To get off the ground, the game needed enough players available for interaction and the use of nostalgia as an emotional hook delivered just that.
can consist of Character, Event and Collective nostalgia. There are various ways in which brands engineer the nostalgia marketing strategy. Keeping old brands relevant: When an established brand like Kellogg’s promotes Cornflakes as “The Original and Best” since 1906, nostalgia scores goals and consumers kick the ball.
Significance of Nostalgia Marketing A. Experimental Studies: People, especially millennial are more willing to part with their money if reminded of the past, according to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research. This is attributed to social connectedness and the shift towards digital culture which allows cataloguing themes and events. According to Deloitte, there is an incredible business opportunity to market to millennials, which will form 50% of the global workforce by 2020 and will control between $19 trillion and $24 trillion globally. B. Psychological Perspective: The holy grail of marketing is to reach customers on an emotional level. As consumers tend to hark back with rose-tinted glasses, particularly during periods of socio-economic or political uncertainty, brands can capitalize on the cushion of this nostalgia. Besides, brands which use ‘retro’ or ‘throwback’ have an element of charm in it.
Bringing back an old, beloved product: Mountain Dew and Pepsi released “throwback” bottles with the retro packaging and labels, which had real cane sugar, a sweetener that has been absent from the soda since the 1980’s. Brand back story: Brands use their origin stories as ‘heritage content’ to gain traction. In 2015, KFC brought back its mascot Colonel Sanders after a 14-year gap, which reminded consumers of the brand’s authentic Southern roots and its “secret recipe.” Retro marketing or flashback branding which includes the use of logos, images, songs and jingles, to create vintage feel: Traditional Indian drinks brand Paper Boat launched an advertisement around Malgudi Days, narrated by Gulzar, which reinforced the brand’s philosophy of “Drinks and Memories”. Impact of Nostalgia Marketing The evocation of past to connect with the consumers can tug at the heartstrings and as the consumers take a trip down the memory lane, it can win a lasting connection for the brand. Connecting Generations: As nostalgia paints broad universal strokes, it generates cross-generational appeal which can sway consumers of various age groups. Shareable Content: The resurrection of past generates transferable emotions which are shared along as one remarks, “Oh, do you remember that?” and this drives business.
Strategy and Approach of Nostalgia Marketing Brands use nostalgia in marketing either as a cornerstone or a fringe component. Marketing strategies
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perspective Positive Brand Associations: The positive emotions evoked by the marketing generate positive resonance for the brand. Cost – effective: By using the pre-existing content from the past, costs are minimized as new content has not been created. Builds Familiarity: The use of past connections serves to reduce the time it takes to convert leads. At times, nostalgia marketing may work to grab eyeballs but may not change the consumer perception towards the product. Microsoft’s video for the Internet Explorer the ‘Child of the ‘90s’ was labeled the definitive nostalgia video, which started with “You might not remember us, but we met in the ‘90s” and ends with “You grew up ... so did we. Reconnect with the new Internet Explorer.” Despite enormous positive reviews for the nostalgia,
paign (Exhibit). It allowed users to design an illustration of their first car and describe the fond memories associated with it. The brand then transformed the information into an animated video. Combining nostalgia with SoLoMo (Social Local Mobile) marketing is the kernel of this strategy.
Use of new technology: The advent of Virtual reality, augmented reality and Internet of things has opened avenues for a digital goldmine which can drive the nostalgia marketing strategies. As an example, retailers have been using Beacon technology to track customer movements to learn more about shopping patterns. These beacons, which are small Bluetooth devices installed across the shopping areas, communicate with apps installed on customers’ phones as they walk around the shopping areas to guide the shopper in real time to those sections of the store which they may have visited before.
the abhorrence for Internet Explorer did not go away.
The Way Ahead Nostalgia marketing is an effective strategy as long as it is synchronized with the current needs of the consumers and reaches them in a positive context. Consumer Research and Data Visualization: Before creating the nostalgia marketing strategy, it is imperative to understand target consumers and the various factors which affect their purchase decisions. Techniques like A/B testing can be used to learn about their preferences to couple nostalgia with the right product or service context. Personalization and co-creation: When nostalgia is about social and social is all about storytelling, brand should leverage the storytelling approach to deliver personalized content. This can be done by letting the consumers influence the social currency. This can be described by Subaru’s 2012 “First Car Story” cam-
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Conclusively, creating an authentic narrative which weaves nostalgia with a forward-looking offering is the essence of Nostalgia marketing. As long as consumers are willing to trade all their tomorrow for a single yesterday, nostalgia marketing will show the way.
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Marketing Trends in 2017
Cover Story
Last year, we discussed some of the trends to watch out for
in 2016. While some of them are yet to make it big in terms of adaptability, others have been increasingly popular and MARKETING many may even sustain through 2017. Here we have a look at BUDGET the new ones as well as the popular ones from 2016. The times of 2016 introduced advanced showcasing characterized by quick web-based social networking changes and quickened noticeable quality of video. We commence the new year with new trends to move forward in the forthcoming year. 1.
Marketing Automation, Chatbots & AI
Machine learning is utilizing manmade brainpower (AI) to learn client patterns and practices. This can appear as mechanization to streamline client devotion, or utilizing visit bots to help clients better interface with an organization’s support resources. We’ve likewise observed platforms include more AI components to help get cliBy ents all the Raghav Dhanuka more immediately familiar with a specific item or administration, taking instructional exercises and wizards to the next level. At the point when utilized astutely, mechanization devices can deal with a portion of the humbler assignments so you can invest your energy in associating specifically with your intended interest group. Giving positive client experience and administration implies utiliz-
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ing the force of innovation. Approaching local people for exhortation on where to eat is great, yet they don’t know whether you like hot sustenance or have a gluten narrow mindedness. Envision a chatbot who knows your preferences, aversions, and needs and can manage you on where to eat, how to travel, or where to shop. Chatbots can use AI, profound learning, and information pieces from over the web to understand and direct shopper conduct. In 2017, chatbots will finish a resurgence that has been taking shape since years. At the point when Google Allo propelled in September 2016, it was anticipated to wind up “the most noteworthy chatbot informing stage ever” with its capacity to peruse and translate messages. Be that as it may, chatbots aren’t only for Google. Taco Bell and Dominos are both as of now utilizing chatbots to empower hungry clients to effectively arrange supper. Bedding retailer Casper propelled a chatbot for restless people and night owls that is just accessible daily from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Forwardlooking advertisers will search out chances to band together with the creators of well-known chatbots, or notwithstanding executing their own.
ing to a recent survey data, omni-channel campaigns received 83% more views than campaigns published only to Facebook. Also, while Facebook hosted content received less interactions, the CTR for content posted on Facebook had substantially increased. Numerous advertisers will make this a stride further this year and consider advancements that are only versatile, thinking past the desktop encounter, and making efforts and greeting pages made in light of the portable experience. This implies campaigns that are coherent, and simple to use on cell phones. 3. Welcome: Live Video & More surrealistic experiences
Live video truly took off on account of applications like Facebook Live in 2016. 2017 will be the year that advertisers truly get inventive with it. We’re hoping to see live video turn into a dynamic piece of numerous limited time endeavors around the world. Starting at now, it’s still hard for advertisers to catch information from live video to use for further use, yet you can try creating a landing page to take advantage of the live video viewers. As per a late article on Social Media Examiner, mar2. Omni-channel continues.. keters are taking advantage of live video instruments like Snapchat and Periscope to boost engagement but In the past we’ve writlive video is still relatively ten and talked extennew for most entrepreneurs. sively about the advanLowe’s Black Friday offers tages of omni-channel life stream, which comadvancements, which municated on Facebook alludes to advanceLive to 32,000 individuals. ments that are made to From the positive response be open from multiple generated by this activity, stages, for example, a we foresee that live video Campaign distributed can be used by all types of to Facebook, implantbusinesses as an approach ed on a site, added to to building exposure. Instaan Instagram bio, and gram simply reported their shared as a point of arlive video highlight, and rival. We foresee this is advertisers can likewise the year we’ll see more explore different avenues advertisers adopt this strategy, expanding outside of regarding Facebook Live and Periscope. Facebook only one web-based social networking stage. Subse- Live even incorporates a live sound component now, quently, advertisers will probably observe an expan- so it shall also be another dimension to watch out for. sion in leads gathered from different sources. Accord-
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Entrepreneurs and advertisers can exploit these free apparatuses. It makes some buzz about your live stream, particularly in case you’re communicating surprisingly. This is a decent initial step for building a viewership. Furthermore, recall: your live video doesn’t need to be great! It’s a shot for individuals to find out about the general population behind the brand. However, while Lowe’s made a special effort to advance and convey on the occasion, the retailer’s utilization of the stage demonstrates that brands of all sizes can receive the benefits of live video within social networking. Individuals are additionally beginning to look up to web-based social networking as an avenue for more vicarious encounters. It’s not sufficient to post your reactions around an occasion; you need to demonstrate to your clients what it resembles to be there. You can do this with things like live video, 360 images and video, and even simply more realtime posting. The thought is to make your customers feel like they’re an authentic part of the experience, as it’s unfurling. Beauty brands, for example, Birchbox and Benefit Cosmetics have used Facebook Live to stream week after week fragments that offer cosmetics tips and answer questions postured amid the session, with an end goal to specifically interact with shoppers. While advertising can be a costly affair, Facebook Live empowers retailers to spend on their crusades at their own pace, since a great part of the emphasis is on engagement. As ongoing inquiries fly in from the group of onlookers, giving a more conversational feel to a communication, retailers can utilize this profitable time to present more up to date advancements or thoughts and quickly measure feedback. Live streaming will develop in prominence. Obviously recorded video will easy access for facilitating live item briefings, visits, instructional exercises,
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launches. 4. Instagram outweighs Twitter & the Snap era begins Individuals have been predicting the demise of Twitter for the previous couple of years. Twitter developed itself on quick updates, yet this prompts to a flood of tweets in both directions. This was novel and energizing in the first place, but now clients are beginning to hunger for something else—bigger and more fascinating bits of substance that take off slower, like once a day. You can see this pattern grabbing hold as of now in Instagram. Snapchat—now called Snap—has experienced a colossal development and as of now, Snap has changed client desires and significant patterns in the social advertising world. It’s brought back a more minute centered perspective of communication, prompting to additional inthe-moment and live substance, it’s encouraged more versatile driven application advancements, and it’s brought vertical recordings into the standard media. However, now, it’s hoping to create items outside its principle stronghold for trading messages, introducing true glasses to help clients catch first-person visual data. Expect enormous things from Snap in 2017, and tremendous advertising chances that they may bring about. ate online with the help of assistants such as Siri and Cortana which are mostly mobile only. 6. Content and Story-telling Storytelling will turn into a key portion of substance showcasing. Great narrating in business is more than only a contextual study. It also showcases a shift in the mindset of audiences who are doing away with content just for the sake of it. Essentially blogging or social networking for the sake of it won’t work
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anymore. You have to indulge your audience with fine storytelling and enchant them with interesting narratives. Push publicizing will blur away and be supplemented with local advertising. Ad-blockers and general disdain for internet advertising are making it harder to target buyers with banners, and other push advertisements. 2016 was the year when users had had enough and took matters into their own hands. Be that as it may, publicizing and promotions aren’t leaving, they’ll only develop and evolve. Yes, content is still king, yet the sort of content that rules the web is evolving into newer avatars. Social contents, surveys, sites are all still essential parts of showcasing, but video will be the fury pushing ahead. Considering the achievement of recreations like Pokémon Go, expect virtual and enlarged reality to take us into what’s to come. Brands that neglect to consolidate visuals and recordings will face a hard time. With the introMARKETING duction of genuine 4G in the nation, this will present BUDGET video as the de-facto frame of communication. Narrating through video has been discussed for some time now and 2017 is the year where we see an exponential increment in the same. This substance will be made
with the assistance of logical information. This will offer provide opportunities to particular new media agencies revolving around content creation. 7.
Real Virtuality
A few organizations have started utilizing VR to introduce premium items. The North Face, the outdoor attire organization, has utilized VR innovation to highlight its products. This can be a good approach to promote products and services. While this pattern most likely won’t be accessible to small and medium
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organizations in 2017, once the innovation gets to be distinctly less expensive we’ll see it multiply. Digital will move from information and data to multi-
sensory communication and imitate human activities to a degree that in under three years the difference between virtual and real will be practically nil. Tangible association will slowly replace physical connection and bring forth the digital-sense. For this, we should re-imagine our connections with our gadgets today as they will begin conveying touch-free interaction through vision, voice and motion acknowledgments and the sky is the limit from there. Just as you can think about someone’s thoughts and emotions their outward appearances, machines, as well, will have the capacity to perceive eyes, voice and breath for more honed prompts. Much shall also depend upon how the banking policy arrangements and encounters take off (and neither is block chain too far). If it endures long, some exceptionally intriguing advancements might come our direction. The dependence on the BFSI segment will continue disintegrating and a durable money crunch will get shoppers used to new patterns of spending less, celebrating less, tipping less and gifting less while sparing all the more, sharing progressively and maximizing more will dominate. Advertisers and innovators should become aware of this new mentality with regards to both positioning and offering.
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VARTALAAP An Interview with Dr. Jacob Vakkayil Jacob is the co-director of the IMBA program and a full-time faculty at IESEG France and teaches courses on organizational design, change management, inter-cultural management. Before joining IESEG, Jacob was a full-time visiting faculty at IIM Calcutta. His research interest focuses on knowledge sharing, learning in organizations, and the interface of business and society from an institutional perspective. Apart from publications in international journals he also has experience as a consultant with a number of corporates across different sectors.
IÉSEG School of Management
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Assistant Professor IIM Shillong
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“In India, flexibility has positive con“
notations, in Europe there is more sanctity attached to schedules
Markathon: You have had a long academic experience both in India and France. What are the differences in the perspectives of students and teaching methodology in both the regions? There is a big difference in the diversity of the student body at the MBA level. Unlike in India, the typical MBA class in Europe has students from multiple countries. They tend to be more experienced and come from diverse academic backgrounds. In India, engineers typically dominate the classroom and bring with them associated qualities such as numeric capabilities. Student comments in the classroom reflect these differences. As teachers, we need to adopt different methodologies to bring out the best in these situations.
but need to be more disciplined in sticking to the point and being accurate. Markathon: What are the notable differences that you could perceive in the organizational lifestyle of the people in France and India?
There are a number of differences in meetings, hierarchical interaction etc. Appointments are planned and fixed before meetings and the idea “walking in” is much less observable than in India. Completing a work in a thorough manner is also something that you would notice easily in Europe. One of the notable differences seem to be in the way flexibility of plans and processes are perceived. In India flexibility most often has positive connotations and changing plans multiple times is not always considered I also teach classes here in France with a negatively. In Europe (even with reginal number of Indian students. It is really in- variations) there is more sanctity attached teresting to note the difference when they to schedules, plans and processes. are in an international class. This is a broad generalization, but my observation is that Markathon: How has your experience typically Indian students are proactive in been with regards to the multi-brand expressing their opinions and perspectives outlets and retail shopping in France?
“The market is well developed, but is also dynamic. Brands are undergoing changes such as Aldi” MARKATHON
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I am not a big shopper, but look for a good quality-price equation when I do. There are a number of different formats and segmented offerings. The market is well-developed, but is also dynamic. Some brands are undergoing changes such as the case of Aldi that is transforming from a low-cost image to a good-quality image. It is also highly competitive. The large chains employ periodic discounts and other offerings to attract customers.
The French retail sector is much differentiated in its offerings. There are various formats, target groups, experiences offered. In fact, there is much scope in India for differentiated offerings. Specialized retail is another area. For example, in sporting goods retail, the French company Decathlon is fast expanding in India. Also, take the case of the vast sub-urban retail centers that you find commonly in Europe. I think India has great development potential here.
Markathon: What were some of the notable products and communication that caught your attention in the retail outlets in France?
There is much scope for differentiated offerings and specialized retail in India
In terms of communication, there seems to be a dominance of celebrity advertising in India, but in Europe, it seems to be more focused on the product and the inherent values that the product represents. While shopping in France, the store front displays especially in stores such as Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. During this winter, you must have noticed intricately designed displays that have become tourist attractions in themselves. On a more functional note, Apple Stores have caught my attention in many cities. I am not a user of apple products, but the location of the stores, their décor, and the way in which products displayed communicate their values very well.
Markathon: With so many offline retail outlets and chains sprawled along the entire city, how have the Parisians reacted to the online shopping wave?
Online shopping has been on the rise especially for FMCG products. There are chains such as “Chronodrive” that have become successful on the basis of a mixed onlineoffline mode. However, for clothes and fashion products, I think people enjoy “crawling the stores”. The experience of shopping itself is very important especially in cities such as Paris which offer a large variety of shopping Markathon: What were some of the im- experiences. portant features of the French retail outlets that were missing in India and Markathon: Many luxury outlets in that could be implemented in India? France avoid attaching a price label to their products. It’s said that businesses in France pander to taste not to wealth unlike the luxury businesses in India. What is your perspective on that?
Advertisement is focused on the product and the inherent values that the product represents
I do not know enough about this sector in both countries to make a fair comparison. However, it is interesting to note the international luxury customers in France. While Chinese, Russian or Japanese speaking How can similar Indian retail channels sales people are hired in luxury departmenbenefit from recreating the French re- tal stores in France, unfortunately, as far as I know, Hindi still has not been featured. So tail channel experience?
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vartalaap
january 2017
at least for this market, the typical Indian customer is not yet as predominant as others. Markathon: How should global businesses deal with the dilemma of “whether to retain their cultural identity or absorb the local cultural values� in their effort to market their brands across different geographies to become global?
pean investment decisions in India? India is a large market that is fast-growing. There is also great deal of government investment in infrastructural projects. These factors make it very interesting for large European companies to invest in India. We already have collaborations such as transportation, energy etc. In terms of barriers, the lack of highly developed infrastructure in India is a major problem. Transportation is still time consuming and there are significant uncertainties that have to be dealt with. People are aware that they need to have much more patience in India to get things done. Moreover, being a democratic country our decisions need to consider the interests of many stakeholders.
The challenge for the western person is to develop a finegrained understanding of the market realities in India
There is no one-best formula. In some cultures, adaptation is absolutely necessary. I think, India is a good example of this. There needs to be great degree of adaption when global brands come in. Not just adaptation to the country as whole but also to its sub regions and states. However, in other large markets such as China or Japan, such adaptation of the brand is not always necessary to survive. American products for example can be valued precisely for their authentic Americanness and thus product adaptation might work against success. In France, you can see this difference in the approaches adopted by McDonald and Burger King both of which have become successful. Markathon: How is the socio-cultural image of the Indian society evolving in the western world as a business destination? There is a lot of interest in India as a business destination. However, the images do not do justice to the diversity within India. Usually when people speak of India they have visions of cities such as Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore in mind. I think the challenge for the Western person is to deveop a finegrained understanding of market realities in India.
Markathon: Many French entrepreneurs have been starting up ventures in India. What are your views on this recent spike in interest of young western entrepreneurs towards India as a destination? Also, what are the opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs in collaborating with them or in setting up businesses catering to the foreign visitors to India? Honestly, I think there is a great potential here. Some of the entrepreneurs I know, realize the high growth potential of India. While they do learn about India, they can also be a source for important learnings for Indian partners. If you look at many sectors, there can be important synergies. There is potential for a synergetic combination of Indian resources and European know-how. Though it varies across regions or communities, Indians generally have deeply ingrained entrepreneurial mind-set. This is a big advantage when collaborating with others.
Markathon: What are some of the key motivations and barriers towards Euro-
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eye2eye
january 2017
Can India be the next big thing for Over The Top content players like Netflix, Amazon Prime etc ? bharat chadha amity business school noida
ashwin mehta Imt ghaziabad
Over the top digital content system has developed a new market in India. Gone those days when we have to wait eagerly for our favorite movie or serials to be broadcast in TV. Media has evolved tremendously from cable to DTH and now we can also watch, download any movies or shows by just paying a subscription charges online. The target segment for this market are the people who love to watch online and can’t restrict themselves to what is shown on television. This segment in particular is getting inclined to the digital culture. Development in network and connectivity, growing internet penetration and a huge market potential has told big players like Netflix and Amazon Prime that country like India can be the best place to expand their business. Today the major domestic player in this sphere is hotstar. The competition is getting intense in this industry. Optimum revenue model, quality content and cost efficient computer technologies are the key metrics that evaluate the performance of any company in this industry. Companies like Netflix and Amazon Prime who are already operating successfully in western countries have a bright future for this in India. They needed to design a right product and service strategy, which cater to people with multiple cultures, different languages and different mindsets as India is a diverse country. It can be the next big revolution in future if there is equilibrium between value offered and cost incurred. Netflix, which offer huge variety of content has to revise the pricing strategy for country like India where people are price sensitive and can easily shift. Today youth population of India which is found of watching movies online is digitally literate and want to explore more and more tells that there is bright future for these companies.
According to Frost & Sullivan (2016), India has about 66 million unique connected video viewers. Video over IP is seeing high growth but it is low in absolute numbers when compared at a global level. The top drivers for Over-the-top (OTT) content, in India, are the young demographic, demand for multi-screen viewing and strong international audience. But India has the slowest average internet speeds in Asia Pacific (Akamai, 2015). There are over 225 million internet users and only about one-third of them have access to high speed internet, a pre-requisite for seamless video consumption. Therefore, many consumers are preferring short-duration videos. Also down the line, most OTT players will be moving on the lines of Subscription Video-on-Demand. Maybe change is on the horizon, but alternative payment modes still lack penetration and a sense of comfort/ security in India. India is a diverse country so hosting a rich portfolio of content across languages/ genres, content rights and ascribing value to content will be hurdles to dominance in the market. Some multi-lingual companies, owning YouTube channels, are currently catering to these segments. The market lacks infrastructure and is price sensitive. With 90% households having a TV set, traditional TV services are well accepted. The OTT is at a nascent stage in the country and regulations ought to play an important role. Will Reliance Jio and its services be a game changer? Will OTT players come up with a cost benefit proposition to counter low cost cable? Consumption, content and challenges will decide if India is good a choice or China among emerging markets or Japan among developed markets offers a more attractive opportunity. ilever was founded in 1930 by the merger of Dutch Margarine producer Margarine Unie and British soap maker Lever Brothers. From that moment on Unilever has gone on to become one of the largest producers and marketers of fast moving consumer goods. It is present in 190 coun-
Topic for the next issue: “Are social issues like feminism, LGBT rights etc being exploited by brands for marketing?� Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is 15th February 2017. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry. Winners will receive a prize money of Rs. 500 each!
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eye2eye
july 2015
By arnav khanna IIM Shillong Mercedes is a brand which stands for style, comfort and class. What we know today as the luxury car brand, is the hard work of 130 years and the culmination of two different companies. Before Mercedes became Mercedes, it went by the name Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. Gottlieb Daimler founded the company in 1890, and passed away in 1900. Emil Jellinek, a racing enthusiast, was made a partner. The company is named after his daughter Mercedes Jellinek. It moved to the three pointed star in 1909. The three pointed star depicts the company’s domination over all three mediums of transportation. Benz AG was founded in 1886, by Karl Benz who holds the credit for making the planet’s first ever automobile making it the oldest car maker of the world. The company has a long and fascinating history which makes its logo evolution a bit complicated.
Initially, Mercedes and Benz were two different companies with their own different logos. The Mercedes logo started off as a simple ellipse around the word “Mercedes. The ellipse was filled in black, while the text was all silver-gray. Meanwhile, the Benz logo featured the word Benz inside a circle, with a laurel wreath around it. It also featured what would eventually become the most iconic Mercedes symbol – the Mercedes star logo. Due to financial pressure during World War 2, the two companies decided to merge in 1926. This led to the first official Mercedes-Benz logo, which was silver and blue in color, featuring the prominent Mercedes symbol in the center of a double rimmed circle with the outer rim featuring words Mercedes and Benz along with laurel wreaths.
In 1933 the emblem was simplified to a great extent. Getting rid of the paurel wreaths and the rim of the circle and the entire company logo consisted of a simple black circle with the Mercedes tri-pointed start in the middle.
In 1989, the company changed their logo again. They replaced black with silver, giving it a more 3-dimensional look. The main reason behind this is that silver usually depicts creativity, sophistication, sleekness, and high-tech, while black tends to stand for elegance, purity, and integrity. And these are the exact characteristics for which the automaker wants to be known.
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AD-dicted AD-dicted
PRODUCT: Titan Raga
december january 2013 2017 By ravitej vadlamani IIM Shillong PRODUCT: Thums Up
POSITIONING: Khud se naya rishta #MomByChoice
POSITIONING: Main hoon toofani
CREATIVE AGECY: Ogilvy & Mather
CREATIVE AGENCY: Leo Burnett
CATCH
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=TfYyAnJRkh0
R
YouTube Link: : https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=8MJmlr1MNHU
CONCEPT: The film opens at a family gathering. A man raises a toast and urges a mother-to-be to deliver a speech at the gathering. She resists to begin with, but after a glance at her Titan Raga watch she smiles and agrees, as she receives a large cheer from those gathered. She says that she believes she’ll be that type of a mother who wouldn’t be able to cook chapatis for her child, nor would she wait late at night for the child to be back home. She points towards her mother, and thanks her for the unconventional way she brought her up. She thanks her for her travel tales, for doing her PHD at the age of 45, and finally for loving her own life, as much as she loved her. She signs off that motherhood shouldn’t be a sacrifice, but should be a choice. VERDICT: Catch Markathon believes that the advertisement is positioned very well and brings to light an important issue being faced by many working women in the urban areas. The advertisement stands up for women who choose to live their life on their own terms and not by being bound to family constraints. In doing so, the advertisement has managed to strike the right chords with its target segment (Urban Women) and serves as a good example of social marketing.
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By Suman sourav IIM Shillong
CONCEPT: Taking the toofani spirit to another level, the new campaign starring Ranveer Singh draws on the core idea of Main Hum Bhi Hoon, Aur Khaas Bhi. The Toofani Thums Up drinker shines in the face of danger as he saves school-going children from a bus accident. The ad starts from Ranveer Singh saving the lives of school-going children as their bus topples and dangles off the edge of a road. The Good Samaritan approach of the film hopes to tug at heartstrings.
MISS
VERDICT: Miss Markathon believes that In the latest commercial featuring the new brand ambassador Ranveer Singh, Thums Up has started its slide down in terms of creativity. Usually, Thums Up ads are nicely made and succeeded in creating that adrenaline pumping effect. This ad is a big let down both in terms of idea and execution. We have seen this plot of hero saving the bus in many films and ads; It is nothing new. Secondly, there is also a change in the narrative of the brand. In the earlier ad, the hero used to do big stunts for Thums Up and the brand was projected as something which even a big hero would do anything to get. Here in the new narrative, the hero and the brand are totally disconnected. Probably the argument is that the brand and the hero are one which is reflected in the new tagline “ Main Hoon Toofani “. However, the execution fails to project the narrative properly.
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fun corner
january 2017
AKSHAY SETH IIM Shillong
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jab they failed
january 2017
Jab They Failed Raghav Dhanuka IIM Shillong
Vanilla Coke: The Wakaw fad
Coca Cola has some variants (Cherry, Vanilla) in select markets and Vanilla is one of those rare ones that found a way to India, but only to be removed off the shelves soon enough. Cherry mixed with Coke was a courtship ritual abroad much like the Indians have their Masala ThumsUp (although not a courtship ritual.) But it was only in 1985 that Coke finally gave a green signal to the official introduction of Cherry Coke. Vanilla Coke, much like Cherry was unofficially being produced by the fountain soda sellers who kept on innovating with different recipes, and it was usually provided by shopkeepers who also sold icecream and therefore had the vanilla syrup. Vanilla Coke finally entered mainstream production in 2002 and its launch was the biggest since Coke Cherry and New Coke (which was withdrawn soon) in 1985. The advertising couldn’t bring about the real essence and significance of the flavor. Sales in 2004 were 35 million compared to 90 million in the inaugural year. It was re-introduced in 2007 in the States but as Coca-Cola Vanilla and this time with a different marketing mix to the launch. But it wasn’t until 2013 that it was reintroduced in Britain where it was sacrificed in favor of healthier variants such as Diet Coke with Cherry and Diet Coke with Lemon luring health conscious customers. In India, VC was launched in 2004 and it was Coke’s first line extension in India. It targeted the high and middle income groups in the age of 15-30. The concept of ice-cream (flavour) in cola was appreciated in other parts of eastern Asia which led the company to eventually launch it in India, where topping cola with vanilla ice cream wasn’t unusual in the urban localities. It was priced at a slight premium, which was perhaps one of the reasons behind the failure but not the main one. The taste was on the lighter side and was not meant for the target group it aimed to
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appeal to. Ladies and children weren’t targeted selectively and would have formed the bulk of the loyalists. But during the market testing and blind tests, the taste was approved and appreciated by the focus groups. Wakaw, finally coming to the retro-ad starring Vivek Oberoi. The ice-creamy thanda tagline couldn’t have been better. The channels used for the communication were inline with the strategy of targeting the youth. Apart from ads in MTV and HBO, malls and colleges were used for activation. Using the 70s make-up and themes was perhaps too drastic a shift in the positioning. The targeting and positioning of the product was just not proper in 2004 especially in India. The ad was portrayed as a bold move in the UK and USA unlike in India, where it was on the funnier side. Moreover, as the teenagers hadn’t seen the old stars, they could not absorb the true meaning of the advertisement and therefore Vivek Oberoi’s mock-Elvis avatar with bell-bottoms and thick side-burns was considered irrelevant. It also had a cult following within a couple of years of its launch in the west, and perhaps cues weren’t taken from them before the India launch. In HongKong and Thailand it was launched with a hip-hop theme and that was a huge success. But then the initial craze among the youth, of trying something new and different, “Wakaw”, died down soon as is the case with many soft-drink extensions which are strictly a fad. Perhaps the Indian palate is (or atleast used to be) too inelastic when it comes to drastically new products, even if it is plain cola with a hint of vanilla. How marketers should factor in the death of the fad after the initial hype and craze are gone, is a key consumer behavior research topic today. We feel that Coca Cola could try launching the product again in India as Coca Cola Vanilla, for the times, they are a-changing.
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1)
How Customers Perceive a Price is as important as the price itself
Companies are reducing prices because they believe that will boost their perceived value to consumers. But when managers reduce prices, a fundamental question sometimes goes unasked: Will customers notice and respond as expected? Link: https://hbr.org/2017/01/how-customers-perceive-a-price-is-as-important-asthe-price-itself
2)
The Consumer Decision Journey
Consumers are moving outside the marketing funnel by changing the way they research and buy products. The article explains how marketers should respond to the new customer journey. Link:-http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-consumer-decisionjourney
3)
Mobile Wallets Branding Problem
An immediate positive ROI, can be found in mobile wallet solutions. Still, they have been overlooked and not received the traction they deserve? Because mobile wallet has a branding problem. Link:- http://www.adageindia.in/digital/digitalnext/mobile-wallets-branding-problem/articleshow/56519694. cms?from=mdr
4)
Three reasons why marketers not losing sleep about demonetisation
The rural economy has not been affected as much the urban poor. Three reasons why marketers not losing sleep about demonetisation, Link:- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/brand-equity/three-reasons-why-marketing-expertsare-not-losing-sleep-about-demonetisation/articleshow/55833542.cms the-price-itself
5)
Will the surge in Digital Payment sustain?
The wave unleashed by demonetization and the Central government’s determination to drive the country towards a cashless society benefited the fintech space, but will the surge in Digital Payment sustain? Link:- http://www.adageindia.in/marketing/news/will-the-surge-in-digital-payments-sustain/articleshow/56281458.cms
By Suman Sourav | IIM Shillong Sstorm launches e-commerce platform for Indian market Sstorm, an Indian e-commerce platform that offers innovation, technology, and trend driven international products, today announced the launch of its platform for the Indian market.The brand plans to redefine the international shopping experience and allow Indian consumers to purchase innovative products at the same cost they are sold internationally (i.e. at their MRP), inclusive of all customs duties, taxes, and shipping costs. It is not just another Amazon or Flipkart – it brings in products that haven’t hit the Indian market ever before. Therefore, the positioning strategy of this ecommerce is unique.
UberEATS to launch food delivery service in India Uber is all set to launch its food-delivery app, UberEATS very soon in India, as per the announcement on 23rd January. The company ahead of the India launch wants feedback from consumers and is also opening the floor to restaurant and delivery partners. The company will be facing major competition from the likes of Swiggy and Zomato. Ola also tried this service with Ola CafĂŠ but failed miserably but Uber plans to use the same technology that it uses for the transport app, and hopes to make food delivery as easy as ordering a cab.
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Amway India enters into consumer durables segment Amway, the country’s leading direct selling company, has expanded its product portfolio and entered into the domain of consumer durables with the launch of Amway Queen, a premium cookware range. The five piece Amway Queen Cookware set has been created especially for the Indian market keeping into the consideration the culinary palate & food habits of Indians. Amway is targeting to take a leadership position in the premium cookware segment.
BBC Worldwide Signs Licensing Deal with Amazon India BBC announced a deal with Amazon that will give Amazon Prime members in India access to more than 600 hours of award-winning and popular factual and pre-school content from the BBC. Subscribers will also be able to watch award-winning and highly-rated BBC factual programs including Gandhi. This deal is done to compete with the growing popularity of the Netflix in India. Netflix does not hold much of content in this category, therefore Amazon Prime is hoping to get a large number of the subscriber through this
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digi-tally
january 2017
Our Social Media Pages have been buzzing all month. Check out some of our posts here!
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digi-tally
january 2017
https://www.facebook.com/markathon.iims/
https://twitter.com/Markathon
https://in.linkedin.com/in/markathon
http://iims-markathon.blogspot.in/
www.issuu.com/markathon
Articles are invited
“Best Article”: Shirohi Govil | SRCC She 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 15th February, 2017. Please send your entries marked as <ARTICLE NAME>_<SENDERS’ NAME(S)>_<INSTITUTE> to markathon.iims@gmail.com.
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