With a month into the B-School calendar for 2016-17, students across India have a fair idea of what is expected of them if they want to land their ‘Dream Jobs’. With increasing competition, there is a need for every individual to analyse exactly what they are best at and differentiate themselves by developing & highlighting those qualities that make them unique. This is not much different from the state of the Retail market in India. Over the past 7-8 years, the increasing penetration of internet & arrival of the E-commerce industry has totally altered the buying behaviour of customers. It has led to a very dynamic market with many gaps which are being exploited by innovative strategies. One such development has been the growth of Private Label brands which currently contribute to 10-12% of organised retail in the country. Retailers have responded to the E-commerce boom by promoting private labels, which gives them greater pricing autonomy. This has made it an interesting prospect for the middle class Indian who is both brand & price conscious. Our cover story for the month features this reinvention of the offline retail market and analyses the niche its carved for itself. The article also highlights the categories which are being targeted by private brands & studies the reasons behind it. We congratulate Suhail Ghosh, the winner of our Perspective section for his article, ‘When Innovation Is Not Just In The Product’. In the Var-
talaap Section this month, we have Mrs. Piyul Mukherjee, CEO & Co-Founder of Quipper Research, a Market Research firm which specialises in conducting Qualitative Research. She shares with us some great insights on the importance of ‘seemingly subjective’ areas of study like anthropology, psychology and sociology in Market Research. To all those aiming to land a Consulting job, this article delivers a fresh perspective. Further, while the Logoistic section for the month covers the logo-evolution of that 800-pound gorilla in the Retail industry - Walmart, the story of the recently discontinued Tata Sumo Grande is elaborated upon in Jab They Failed. Apart from this, we also have fun activities lined up for you to put your marketing knowledge to test, in the Fun Corner section. Lastly, we would like to thank everyone who sent in their valuable contributions for the magazine. The response that we receive month after month keeps us motivated to keep doing what we love. So what are you waiting for? Take the plunge, flip through the pages of the July edition of Markathon & soak up all the excitement & knowledge lined up. Also please feel free to write to us at markathon.iims@gmail.com regarding any suggestions or feedback. Happy Reading!!! Team Markathon
Because he is Bald & Beautiful
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E D I T O R
Of The Month
Sharad Srinivasan
AND HIS TEAM..!!
Akshay
Astha
Daksh
Harsha
Piyush
Shubham
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Andar Ki Baat Perspective
01 06 Cover Story The Rise & Rise 10 Of Private Labels Daksh Bhagat | IIM Shillong
Innovations:
When they Go Beyond the Product Suhail Ghosh | FMS Delhi
Brand Integration:
What’s Happening in the Entertainment Industry Mohit Gosain | KidZania Ministry of Industry
Eye 2 Eye
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Is Social Media Marketing a necessary ingredient today in the recipe of success?:
15 Mekhala
Saurabh Goyal
IIM Raipur
IIM Raipur
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Vartalaap Mrs Piyul Mukherjee CEO & Founder Quipper Research
Interviewed By: Harsha Daga & Piyush Jain | IIM Shillong IIM Shillong
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Andar Ki Baat SpeciaLs
21 22
Logoistic
The Story of Walmart’s Logo Shubham Shukla | IIM Shillong
AD-dicted
Catch & Miss advertisements of the month Sharad Srinivasan & Astha Kabra | IIM Shillong
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Digi - Tally Let’s look at our social media marketing
Marketing Gyan
23 Jab They Failed What went wrong with 24 Tata Sumo Grande Abir Nandi | IIM Shillong MARKATHON
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Fun Corner
To get the brain tickling Akshay Seth | IIM Shillong
Updates
Fresh from the Marketing World Harsha Daga | IIM Shillong IIM Shillong
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perspective
Innovations:
When they go beyond the product
By SUHAIL GHOSH FMS Delhi
The strategic question has turned from “What else can we make?” to “What else can we do for the customers?”
B
ackground and Motivation
In today’s industry, upstream activities, such as sourcing, production, logistics, etc. are nowadays being outsourced, while companies prefer to focus more on downstream activities which focus on the customer and creating product value or brand equity. Most spending of modern day companies is now focussed on brand building, as compared to product innovation. The strategic question has turned from “What else can we make?” to “What else can we do for the customers?”
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perspective since the markets and the consumers, and not the product or factory floor, is the locus of competitive advantage of today’s businesses. If a company can successfully have a say in how the market perceives their products, then they would definitely know how they can successfully position their offering to the advantage of the customer. Therefore, thinking as a marketer does involve a fair share of judging one’s own offering from the vantage point of the customer as well.
the product on the shop floor. If a product is not visible, rarely do people look for it elsewhere. All they do is find a suitable replacement without
Brand Equity Builders A classic experiment in the world of branding is to ask people what would happen if hypothetically suddenly Coca-Cola loses all its physical assets and would require to suddenly start afresh with the task of rebuilding everything it had. Most reasonable businessmen concluded that it would not be difficult for Coca-Cola at all to rebuild its empire or even raise fund for the same. On the other hand, the next question asked was what would happen if all its consumers in the 206 countries suddenly wake up to forget everything about Coca-Cola, including the name, the taste, or even the promotion campaigns. The answer was simple. The company would be doomed. It would have to restructure the 135-year-old business from the scratch despite having all physical assets intact. What do we find from this? It is obvious that the major thing that Coca-Cola has built over the last 135 years is its brand equity. Spreading across 206 countries in the world is not the result of a strong product offering. The product, in fact, is the same for the whole period. What has got it growing is the advertising and promotional outlays which position the brand in such a way as to ensure the core benefit is no more the 300 ml drink which the customer is having. But it is the whole feeling that can be attached to it. Companies have long focussed on the importance of building a strong brand equity and the products sell mainly on how the brand is perceived by the customers. The major driving force is the fact that selling, and not product designing, is the touch point for the customer for most products. For a soap, unless the customer is looking for some particular composition, the most common driving force is the visibility of
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even batting an eye. At this moment, if a particular brand comes up with something to suit one’s requirements so specifically that they cannot replace it, we have a successful brand. Redefining a customer’s purchasing criteria is also a way of getting the customer to consider your brand. Rather than going for a “me too” approach and trying to compete with the biggies of the market by just lowering the price, one can offer a completely different benefit for the product which might address the unmet needs, which have been overlooked by the market leaders. A classic example of the same is ITC’s Sunfeast Yippie noodles, which showed courage to enter a
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perspective market dominated by the Nestle Maggi noodles. After a few months of initial struggle, Yippie redefined its positioning as non-sticky noodles, which was a great hit among mothers. Maggi had the habit of sticking and forming a cake like a shape when cooled, and hence, children hated to eat it during lunch breaks. Yippie also revolutionized the shape of instant noodles by introducing a pan shaped cakes instead of the traditional square form, which meant that it was no longer needed to break it before putting into the pan. Hence, they ensured that the noodles were not broken when prepared and were long like regular noodles. This positioning has ensured that Yippie survived the strong domination from Maggi and has made a place of its own. While we look at how Cialis defeated Viagra in the pharmaceutical market, we can find how newcomers can actually take the “David vs Goliath� route and defeat market leaders in their own game.
Cialis. Over the next decade, Cialis gained popularity over Viagra and recorded sales of $1.9 billion in 2012. Also, in terms of market perception, duration, which had only 10% value in 2003, surpassed efficacy and safety - which had 70% combined value - in terms of importance. Brand building through advertisements can be seen in the structure of the brand ladder. The brand ladder consists of the attribute level, the functional level and the emotional level of communication with the audience through promotion. In a market research on brand-centric transformation across the globe by seven partners of the Boston Consulting Group, they found that most managers were aware of the brand ladder but the key to a successful brand building was how the marketers linked the various steps of the brand ladder. They came up with the suggestion to look beyond the emotional level of the brand ladder. Rather than going with the gut feeling approach to brand perception, one needs to look at the financial value of every trade-off so as to ensure the scientific approach to the brand ladder.
Viagra was well established and by 2001, had reached $1.5 billion worth of sales. It didn’t have a competitor until 20, when Lilly Icos launched Cialis, which positioned itself slightly in a different way than the former, to customers with erectile dysfunction. Products can stay on a particular level throughout and extract maximum benefits from that It gave a long lasting experience of up to 36 hours, too. If we look at how Gillette comes up with as compared to the mere 4-5 hours as offered by innovation, it is known to provide the next levViagra. The marketing team focussed on this and el of innovation in terms of razor specifications. promoted the idea of romance, a work of longer At a technological level, it is well known what periods, instead of just sex which could be related the next innovation can be. to shorter periods. This campaign became popular and couples decided to give more emphasis to More often than not, they add a new layer of a romance, and hence going for the longer lasting blade to the existing product thereby offering
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perspective a cleaner and less painful shave. But if any other company comes up with this technology, people don’t accept it. Hence, in the world of shaving technology, a new change is only accepted if Gillette comes up with it. As Niraj Dawar puts it in his article for the Harvard Business Review, “four blades are better than three. But only if Gillette says so”. Hence, brand building is a very careful exercise a n d there a r e various dos and don’ts as far as branding exercise is concerned. While D a s Narayandas, in his H B R article s a y s that brand building and customer loyalty should be the focus of all businesses worldwide, we have Alexander Zutkowitz writing for the same magazine that Marketing today is dead because of Brand Loyalty. Narayandas takes the example of Apple, saying how people who have used the I Phone are the major target audience of the next versions, and hence I Phone is so successful in maintaining its loyal base of customers. Zutkowitz however, takes the same example and says that this perception of people has killed the desire of other companies to come up with new and improved marketing techniques to beat Apple. Hence, we see that a strong brand equity does come from different ways of targeting the right audience and coming up with something to suite everyone in their own unique way. While iPhone targets the Indian customers, they focus on a bride showing how the good things in life can come in small instalments, thus letting the customers know that they need not shell out the whole sum at one go to get their I-Phone. The
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target is to ensure that every customer feels special with a minimum number of strategy differentiation, and who has done it better than Coca Cola!
Coca-Cola: A Living Example What do you feel when a truck arrives on the busy streets and distributes toys, balloons, and beverages among people just for free? Or, when a cert a i n brand tries to unite people working in a far off nation, to their families? Let us consider ourselves in the spot of these protagonists. What is the one common thing that will strike us, when we come across such treatment, or should we say, pamper? Only one thing: Happiness! T h e above anecdotes w e r e some of the major innovations in buildi n g brand equity p e r formed by the giants of the beverage industry: Coca-Cola.
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perspective The same old beverage, for the past 135 years, has always managed to ensure that the brand lives up to the expectation of more and more modern consumers around the world, thus keeping itself alive.
happiness throughout their campaigns. Even in its current campaign in Belgium, they have a person laughing really loud on the tube, and looking at his hysterical behavior, people start laughing around him. Hence, spread happiness! Looking at most of their Through the Line camHow Coke comes up with different ways of paigns - some of which have been mentioned brand building is best above - we get the shown through their same, common mesbottle. The legendary sage all through. Coke bottle has completed a hundred years The long-term perin May 2015, and the spective of the way it was celebrated company, its vision by the company shows 2020, as mentioned how much brand equity in 2012, by the CEO can be earned through a Muhtar Kent, insimple element of packcludes addressing aging. There were snipsome of the very sepets of different parts of rious issues, such as the bottle, the contours, water neutrality, are the curve and how the all biased towards way out of the bottle building the brand feels from the vantage through consumer point of a simple bubble benefits and philanin the bottle. When the thropic activities. company was marred by competitors and copyConclusion cats across the world, they needed an element All in all, we have of consistency in their ofobserved that the fering. Hence, scooping companies that up $500 from the compahave succeeded in ny coffers, Coca-Cola isbuilding a strong sued the following brief: brand have ensured “We need a bottle which a person will recognize that they focus on the promotional activities as a Cola-Cola bottle even when he feels it in the equally, if not more than its technological indark. The Coca-Cola bottle should be so shaped novation. Also, in the case of razors, we saw that, even if broken, a person could tell at a glance how the technological advantage was neglectwhat it was.� This was the smash-able element ed by consumers unless mentioned by Gillette and the cult figure in the brand Coke: the bottle. through promotional outlays. Thus, the world is moving towards innovation in promotions, The company carries on the tradition of offering more than that in products.
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perspective
Brand Integration What’s happening in Entertainment Industry? By MOHIT GOSAIN Assistant MANAGER KIDZANIA MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY
History Marketing and advertising have been relevant since ages. It is a simple concept i.e. anything that is to be sold in the market has to be advertised/marketed to the relevant set of people so that they trust the com-
led transport and shipping companies to lobby to be mentioned in the story. Whether Verne was actually paid to do so, however, remains unknown. In movies, prominent brands started showing up as early as 1922 which featured the logo of Red Crown gasoline in several scenes (although there is no definitive proof that this was paid for).
Concept of Brand Integration
pany/brand and buy the respective product. But, like everything marketing/advertising has evolved a lot. Like in every other field, in order to be more effective, there was a need for innovation in this segment as well. This led to the evolution of the concept of brand integration which has been majorly practiced in the entertainment industry. The traces of this phenomenon was seen way back in the 19th century. By the time Jules Verne published the adventure novel, Around the World in Eighty Days (1873), his fame had
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A simple definition would be the use of commercial products in the story line of a television show, film, etc. for the development of specific objectives, strategies, plans, and tactics to drive the business. The brands today need much more visibility and credibility than a 30-second spot on television or the OOH in malls and roads. Brand integration thus comes into play as an innovative marketing technique to provide the brand the requisite amount of credibility that it deserves and generates trust in the eyes of the customer. Whether it’s within a dramatic series, competition show or reality program, brand integration allows advertisers to reach the consumer when they are completely engaged with the content. Integration provides an uncluttered & unsuspecting environment with content that can help to establish
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perspective 2. MOVIE- MERE DAD KI MARUTI BRAND- MARUTI SUZUKI
moods or emotions for your brand. Once a product is placed within content, it is embedded in it forever– especially if the storyline involves the product. Plus, there is implied product endorsement by the characters. The kind of effect, brand integration has on the minds of the audience is unparalleled. The audience registers the brand message, absorbs it and thus, the recall value of the brand increases up to a phenomenal level.
This movie is the best example of brand integration; in fact, the title of the name has the brand name i.e. Maruti. In the movie, characters keep talking about the brand and their love for it in such a seamless way that it does not seem forced at all. As the brand
Product placement is a little different than brand integration, in that placement gets your product into a film (a case of Pepsi or bags of Doritos). Brand integration entails the company name or the product being openly discussed within the story. To further differentiate the two, Product Placement is the process through which an advertiser integrates a product into selected media for clear visibility. Although the product is visible, it is often not the focus, since it needs to fit almost seamlessly into the context of a scene or story.
is loved by the Indian families, the characteristics talked about in the movie resonates well with the audience. Also, the movie served as a platform for the brand to launch its new car in the MUV segment. Songs and dances galore, it’s the brand which is a complete winner in this deal.
Examples 1. MOVIE- CHENNAI EXPRESS (2013) BRAND - NOKIA LUMIA
3. TV SHOW- MASTERCHEF BRAND- COLES
Being a big budget Shah Rukh Khan film releasing on a holiday, it was bound to get a lot of eyeballs. Nokia made full use of this opportunity and integrated its newly launched model Lumia 920 in one of the biggest blockbusters of all time. Being a comic flick, Nokia also makes a joke of its product when
Coles, Australia’s biggest retailer scored a massive brand integration (rumored to be $3 million) deal with Master Chef Australia. Coles had its name displayed on the studio storeroom and other in-show promotions. Coles also hosted in-store challenges, promoted recipes used in the show and had sponsored links on the official website. With such positive branding and that too with a show which has its
Deepika Padukone after listening to its magnificent features remarks sarcastically “yeh call kar sakta hai na?”.
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heart and soul at the right place, Coles definitely has nothing to regret in this deal.
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perspective
With branded entertainment, the advertiser is acknowledging the increasing value of consumer attention and is attempting to reduce the upfront “fee.” In fact, well-executed brand integration adds value to the content and no longer becomes a “cost” to the consumer at all. This is all a rational response to the increased leverage consumers have been gaining in these transactions. But simply reducing attention costs is not going to be sufficient over time.
4. MOVIE- THE INTERNSHIP BRAND- GOOGLE Another movie which is a great example of this niche area of innovative marketing is the movie ‘The Internship’. The movie not only is cantered on google but also provides employer branding of top notch. It is clear that ‘The Internship’ shows Google in a positive light. The actual work that the employees and interns do in the movie is vague. What really shines instead is the culture, the community atmosphere, and the really cool technology. The nap pods, slide, and free food all highlight the company’s unique and slightly ridiculous work atmosphere. Google’s success is in its acceptance of its own quirks. Google embraces its nerdy employees, making the employ-
Future looks really bright where brand integration in the entertainment industry concerned. Apart from the routine practices, there can be a whole new dimension that can be added to this form which will elevate the consumer experience to a level where it will actually be able to feel the brand rather than have an audio visual experience.
er more desirable. They not only talked positive but made fun of themselves, altogether coming out as a brand which can take a joke or more. One of the best international examples of brand integration in the recent times. Whether its Hrithik Roshan drinking and praising Bournvita in Koi Mil Gaya or Vin Diesel flashing Corona while speed driving his cars, the entertainment industry is currently full of such examples of brand integration. Next, we will talk about the future prospects of the brilliant concept of brand integration.
Future Prospects Brand integration is here to stay. With the number of movies increasing every year both internationally and nationally, brands today are looking forward to associating themselves with big productions and communicating their brand message in an entertaining as well as effective way.
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Examples 1. In the 4dx format of cinema which involves a lot of play with smell, major brands with unique odour
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perspective can actually integrate their smell when the product is actually on screen. Imagine Vin Diesel drinking a corona and the users being able to experience the aroma of the same while sitting in the auditorium. This will be an experience to reckon. 2. Sony Six promoting their UFC i.e. Ultimate Fighting Championship with the help of a hammer arcade machine as a part of experiential marketing and using Century Ply Wood to make that particular hammer. Sub consciously the message delivered by Century will be that of a tough brand to its potential customers. The future also involves a lot of screens as the average screen per person by 2020 is going to be 4.3. Thus, content that is being watched has to be well integrated with the brands as this will ably support both the brand as well as the entertainment industry.
Why I Preferred Writing About This? Personally, I prefer audio-visual form of entertainment rather than reading stuff. Also, a major chunk of people worldwide enjoy it much more than the usually written content. Also, as a budding marketer, I have a keen eye on the trends that are relevant to the current times.
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“Mere Dad Ki Maruti” & “The Internship” actually generated enough curiosity about this concept when I watched them for the first time. This was the perfect opportunity to dig deep into a topic which actually excites me the most. Brands have actually gone far to reach their consumers and catch their attention at a subconscious level where they might not know but they are actually consuming brand messages. That is the reason a lot of money is being pumped in neurology for marketing. When Shah Rukh Khan advertises for Lumia during a commercial, the message may be easily skipped as no one is interested in the commercial but when played during an ongoing movie, sitting in a theatre the same message is integrated within the story, the audience not only pays full attention to the message but also records at a much more non commercial level. Also, it helps generates new customers as the message is being received by people who are not the part of the actual TG of the brand. Thus, it is one of the most fascinating and practical concepts under innovating marketing which is only bound to grow multiple times in the near future.
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The Rise Cover Story & Rise of Private Brands P
rivate brands vs National brands – Does this question bother MARKETING you, when you enter a multi-brand retail store for your daily, weekly or monthly purchases? India has evolved BUDGET to be one of those countries which has faced a drastic shift in the demographics of its population, with more than 65% of the people below 35 years of age. Another important factor is the birth and rise of an entire new influential segment – the Middle class. These considerations have greatly affected customer’s tastes and preferences, leading to a consequential impact on their buying behaviour. Foreseeing pressures from the consumers owing to rapid technological and socio-economic changes over the last decade, retailers were forced to innovate and build new brands (Private labels) across various price points in order to attract more buyers to their stores. Not only has this been successful in establishing new brands, but it has also influenced the incumbent ones to customize according to Indian tastes. Also with the increased growth of the organized retail sector and global economies recovering from recession, private brands have gained momentum in the market.
Daksh Bhagat IIM Shillong
The $3 billion e-commerce industry in India is getting highly competitive and is dominated by threats in the form of imi-
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tation from copycat models. With a rising maturity of the online ecosystem, private labels are expected to create their own competitive advantage. Hence, the traditional definition of Private brands – a product sold by retailers, exclusively in own stores, no longer holds true. Moreover, business models are getting reinvented at rapid rates to accommodate this investor-friendly category. Many popular M&A deals such as Flipkart–Myntra, Zovi–Inkfruit and recently concluded Snapdeal–Exclusively.in have won investor’s confidence only on the basis of the high gross margins that are offered by the private labels.
of Trent’s, 80% of Reliance’s and 75% of Pantaloons’ overall sales. Aditya Birla Retail plans to increase the share of own brands in sales from the present 3% to 10% in the next 2-3 years. Currently, Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle derive 1525% of sales from private labels and this percentage is as high as 70-80% for Trent and Landmark.
E-tailers on the other hand have been able to leverage this segment much more effectively than their offline counterparts. Leading ‘horizontal’ players such as Snapdeal, Flipkart as well as ‘vertical/ niche’ players such as Big Basket, Urban Ladder and many more are deriving at least 20% In fact, Nielsen has estimated that India’s pri- sales contribution from in-house labels. Also, vate-label market will grow fivefold to reach while we are discussing the retail sector of India, the USD half billion mark by 2015. With such a we surely can’t miss the growth potential in the positive projection, India’s private-label sector is form of unorganized sector which still constidefinitely better poised than its counterparts in tutes more than 90% of the Indian retail market. other emerging economies such as China, South Africa, etc. Let us look at the various aspects that Product categories have or have been impacted by the entry and growth of private labels in the country. Private brands have been introduced in many categories across various diverse segments. Market share Most major retailers have introduced private labels not only in food and grocery products, but Currently estimatalso in apparels and aced at $250 million, cessories, consumer duthe private label rables, toys, healthcare, market in India acand home furnishings. counts for about 10The Future group plans 12% of organized to increase its private laretail. Brick and bel portfolio by adding mortar modern remore than 60 products to tailers have always its private label range. put their bet on private labels and As Walmart (with a rohence, this segment bust 5,000+ private lahas been successbels portfolio globally) fully able to meet plans to ramp up its own targets owing to brands in India, we can its ability to satisfy value conscious customers. see many other categories such as pet foods, Retailers such as Pantaloons, Trent, Shoppers household electronics, and baby products to Stop and Spencer’s have increased focus on pri- gain traction. Globally, private label brands are vate label retailing. Private labels constitute 90% strong in commodity-driven product categories
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such as food & apparel where the manufacturers have attempted a lot of experimentation and generic results have reflected customers’ overall indifferent behaviour while purchases of such products However, research indicates that there is ample room for many more including generic medical products and paper products in the market.
and customers. While for retailers, better bargaining power with their vendors, in turn better margins and control over their merchandise mix, is what is in the store, customers get a wider range, better quality and good prices for the products. For private labels, margins can range from 30-50 per cent (more than the usual 20-25 per cent), according to market experts.
Online lingerie is one such niche segment where most e-tailers started as aggregators of established brands but subsequently faced difficult feasibility tests. Private labels can identify such gaps and solve these situation as ‘category fillers’ to cater to Indian shoppers across price points. More and more foreign collaborations have proved that MNCs too are showing confidence in the growth trajectory of this sector. The recent Mibelle– Future d e a l highlights the entrance i n t o m o r e c o m p l e x c a t egories such as personal care. The scope of private label is expected to become more broad-based in coming years.
The retailers offering private labels are also able to fill gaps in their product range which may not be able to be currently addressed by branded suppliers; including but not restricted to a product variant or a size option in that category. In order to differentiate their store’s product range from competitors, the retailers use distinctive private labels, creating a competitive advantage. This further causes an improvement in profitability and loyalty to the retailer.
Why choose private brands? What works in favour of Private brands is that Indian customers are less brand conscious and more quality and trends conscious. They prefer to buy private brands over national brands due to both availability and price benefits in that category. Not only this, consumers prefer to buy such products from large chained retailers, which also offers them a wide variety of private label products with better quality. In the current retail market structure, private labels are a win-win solution for both retailers
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E-commerce has s u r e l y captured a huge chunk of the sales of multibrand brick and mortar retailers. Quoting a retailer, “Private labels afford us exclusivity. Now, there is the other avenue of online sales for other brands. Hence, our leverage with outside brands, especially in apparels, has gone down. With our own brands, we can ensure profitability as there is no middle-man, control the price-points and decide whether to discount or not, unlike the others brands with whom we have to follow suit when all other outlets for those slash rates.” Not only this, the private brands also make room for innovative products. A movable air-conditioner is one of our innovative products, for example.
Marketing strategies Enough of Gyaan (facts) I believe! Let us now
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delve deeper into the marketing aspect of private labels. Private label brands are often positioned as lower cost alternatives to regional, national or international brands. Although, in few recent cases, some of the private brands have been positioned in the premium category matching the existing “name� brands. The psyche of the Indian customer is such that it establishes a direct relationship between price and quality, thus downgrading the private labels at times. Industry standards estimate private label margins for electronics goods to be around 20% higher compared with average national brands. This increases to 30-50% when it comes to clothing. When it comes to pricing, department stores tend to price their prodMARKETING ucts at par with standard-priced products of BUDGET some leading brands in India, while electronics and appliance specialist retailers with volume sales at focus, and generally price their products lower than the respective leading brands. The private brands are following the footsteps
The best part about in-house brands is the level of flexibility which they offer to retailers in terms of controlling price-points, retaining margins
and of course, experimenting even when the consumer turns stingy. Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle, two national anchor store chains are sprucing up their marketing efforts. Lifestyle, belonging to Dubai-based retail and hospitality conglomerate Landmark Group, recently signed up the actor Deepika Padukone to model for the print ad campaign of its apparel brand Melange. Shoppers Stop had earlier signed up actors Soha Ali Khan for its ethnic wear Kashish, and recently signed up Shruti Haasan for its fusion wear Haute Curry.
How do customers perceive private brands?
of national brands with regards to the marketing efforts. From signing on Bollywood A-listers to investing more in the supply chain, the retailers are ensuring that their in-house brands come handy when it matters the most. Shoppers, are turning towards malls only when there are rampant discounts. This is leading to a hit on margins of the private labels, much lower than what they would otherwise get. Thus brand awareness and brand image becomes a relevant concept for consideration.
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To identify what drives the private-label market, it’s crucial to understand the characteristics of the modern shopper. With growing levels of disposable income, shoppers are far more open to experimentation than ever before. With the rising modern trade, grocery shopping is revamping. Rather than viewing shopping as a chore, more and more Indians are finding it to be a more pleasurable experience. It is hitting on to the aspirational aspect of the Indian population. The format has also triggered the transformation of the shopping experience from being a ne-
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cessity to becoming a sensorial experience with less dependence on planning and a fixed list of brands. Interestingly, we find that consumers sometimes choose private labels in certain categories because of the assurance they get from knowing that they can interact directly with the retailer during their shopping trip.
whopping 53 percent of total sales. Retailers feel that though there is a huge scope in selling private label products, organized retail is still at a nascent stage and constitutes just six per cent of the total Indian retail market. With rapid urbanization and an upsurge in the number of malls, a lot more value conscious customers have been attracted towards value for money private labels.
It has been reported that middle to higher income consumers in developing countries are often the first to try and accept private label as low-income Conclusion shoppers are more and the way cautious in their ahead purchase and need higher levels of A Nielsen study trust in a product. in 2013 estimates Though the lower the private laincome households bel market to purchase more prireach $500,000 vate label goods by 2015, conin both edible and cluding that the non-edible categonew generation ries than the other two income brackets, it is also shopper is less brand conscious and more open true that national brands still constitute the bulk to experimentation with private labels. Retailers of their market baskets. (Nielsen Homescan, can help overcome the challenges that certain 2012) product categories face by enhancing in-store awareness, increasing visibility and providing What’s in store for the retailers? value for money options. Retailers are playing strategically with the private labels. They are not any more offering low quality products for a lesser price, but are creating a new level of differentiation, better pricing for a good quality product and new merchandising and promotion strategies. Any which way, the Indian mind-set would choose quality over price. Another important observation is that food, rather than fashion and durables, dominate store brand sales. The food category alone accounts for 76 percent of the total sales in private label, and within this, some areas are making bigger waves than others. Packaged grocery, for example, has a particularly dominant position, as it pulls in a
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As private labels gain traction, national brands need to focus more on differentiating their products to prevent shoppers from switching. Considering the steady growth rate of private labels through modern trade, it looks as though India’s fast-moving consumer goods market will continue to diversify with increasing levels of private label and national brand products on offer. With 5-7 million internet users added monthly, we are expected to cross 500 million users by 2017 from 350 million users today. As the e-commerce story unfolds in India and offline only models are reinvented in the next few years, the private label market will be a key enabler in India’s retail movement.
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VARTALAAP An Interview with Mrs. Piyul Mukherjee With over 20 years of experience in the field of Market Research, she has been able to carve out a with Quipper specializing in Cross-Cultural Qualitative research assisting the international players to set foot in India with localized consumer insights. She is also on the international panel of Unilever to develop the best of qualitative abilities. She has tremendous passion for teaching and is a visiting faculty at Northpoint, Khandala.
Quipper Research
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CEO & Co-Founder IIM Shillong
vartalaap
july 2016
“The
need to understand what makes the customers tick is today more than ever in India
“
Markathon: India has been and always be a very diverse country. What cultural insights have been observed while conducting research in India? A sub-continent continually peopled over millennia, is rich with the influence of culture in all aspects of life – in how we think of senior citizens, to what parenting is all about, to the value we give on education, how we accommodate different perspectives to how status is important in the hierarchical world that we take for granted. Perhaps, the biggest insight is that amongst the diversity of languages and food habits, how alike are we all are, across religions and regions!
think qualitative research is ‘in the developing phase’ in India! In Quipper, we have always had our hands more than full with projects from a gamut of blue-chip clients, both national and international - who understand the need to make sense of the consumer, and the role played by ‘quali’ as it is referred to. With India poised to grow faster than the rest of the world, the need to understand what makes its consumers tick, will be even more than ever before. Markathon: With increasing importance given to data and hard facts, how do you see corporations moving towards qualitative research, especially in India?
Again, a puzzling question. All those who go Markathon: Qualitative market research for hard facts alone, can never be successful is still in the developing phase in India. in the world of real consumers, who live and How do you see it taking shape in the breathe and dream and decide on brands on the basis of all sorts of soft beliefs. Corfuture? porations that want to deal ultimately with Would be very interested to know why you selling products to consumers, cannot af-
“All those who go for hard facts alone, can never be successful in the world of real consumers” MARKATHON
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ford to stay away from making sense of consumer attitudes, and attitudes can never be ‘measured’ as data. Think terrorism, or our response to poverty or the need for ostentatious weddings, and tell me that everyone’s beliefs regarding each of these can be precisely measured in your own class of students!
The problem with us Indians is that we believe only subjects like Math and Science are ‘real’ and ‘objective’, whereas in the world we all live in, we live with our own subjective ways. Do all engineers marry only on the basis of IQ, or do they still look for looks? Are they all equal? Do all mathematicians make excellent spouses – after all, they should know precisely what is right or what Markathon: What are some of the tech- is wrong. Is every student who scored nearly niques of conducting qualitative research? Which are the most prominent ones?
Any method in which we ‘meet’ end-consumers directly or observe them directly comes under the aegis of quali.
Any method in which we ‘meet’ endconsumers directly or observe them directly comes under the aegis of quali. So whether we are observing their responses on twitter or FB, or observing them work at something within their home, or talking to them one-onone, or in a focus group – these are all part 800 in GMAT then as successful in his or her of our toolkit. personal life? What we do not realize is that globally, the Markathon: Qualitative market research liberal arts as disciplines have evolved so involves a lot of subjective analysis. How much that there is lots to imbibe and learn do you ensure that personal biases are from. So many thinkers, social scientists kept at bay throughout the process? have studied the macro and micro structures of society, and built theories and hyIn fact, quali is not at all about subjective pothesis. Some of my favorites are Bakhtin analysis. This is the typical belief of folks and Buadrillard. As important to the underwho use it without knowing how to use it. standing of the world, as any scientist, yet It is a precise discipline, wherein the setting not many would have heard of them. The up of any project is crafted with care, and problem with us is that we believe the only so is the later analysis, where trained pro- worthwhile subjects are technological - math fessionals – in the field of anthropology or and science, and anything else is with persociology or psychology, or those who have sonal bias, cause it cannot be measured and marked in numbers!
The problem with us is that we Markathon: Which is one of the recent advertisements or promotional believe the only worthwhile sub- campaign which according to you has captured the cultural insights jects are technological - math and of India in the most beautiful manner? science That’s a great question. I recently saw the Axis Bank ads on twitter that are all studied these subjects post their MBA – can less than 2 minutes each and make use of glean the most. the hashtag #foodventures, with the celebri-
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ond class compartments, take the public road transport, be sure to go to the homes of the blue collar and unorganized staff who help you at home or at the workplace, and sometimes, their native places wherever it may be. Talk to everyone you meet, get to know them - not superficially, but by a deep listening. I guarantee, you will appreciate the same MBA that was taught as theory in fanMarkathon: Who do you consider as the cy institutes, better, and make you a better closest competitor to Quipper and how team player at your workplace, and a more do you think you differentiate from harmonious person overall. them? ty chef Vikas Khanna. It is a fabulous amalgam of multiple insights – our local profusion of amazing foods as well as our global social networking on twitter; our need to know recipes while at the same time, our low attention spans; our need to relate to someone homely while also wanting the larger than life nature of celebs. It has captured the sense of the globalized youth comfy in their Indian skin well.
Our closest competitor to Quipper is complacence. The day we feel we can let go of our alertness to detail, we are done.
Our closest competitor to Quipper is complacence. The day we feel we can let go of our alertness to detail, we are done. Markathon: Any advice to our budding entrepreneurs & marketers? If your readers are MBAs, I request you all to go out and meet life head on. Travel in sec-
Interviewed by: Harsha Daga & Piyush Jain | IIM Shillong
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INTERNSHIP FUNDAS
Here’s what summer interns at Quipper Research have to say Qualitative market research is often not given the attention it deserves in the Indian market, which is strange considering the rich diversity and strong cultural codes which prevail here. An internship with Quipper Research showed us just how effective an instrument it can be in getting to know your consumer and in being able to tap into their emotions and desires in a way that binds them to your brand. We saw familiar actions and “facts” which are so ordinary and obvious that you almost turn a blind eye to them, give rise to fascinating insights which have the power to transform key strategies employed by brands. Not just that – to help certain brands shed away their old garb and don a new avatar – the feeling of being able to be a part of this transformational process is indescribable. It is a job that absorbs you. The world of semiotics, of consumer behaviour, is one which is so layered that there is always something more around the corner, and is the ride fun!! Specially, with the two wonderful and supremely talented ladies at Quipper guiding us at every step of the way, breaking down complex problems into simple questions of everyday behaviour.
It was a lifetime of experience. Workings on projects varying from Sports & IT start ups to detergents brands was a roller coaster ride and kept me on my toes all the time. Every project was a great learning experience and it was quite interesting to observe how the company’s beliefs of the consumer’s thought process, the consumers’ beliefs about the way they would think in a certain context and the way they actually ended up thinking and behaving, often drastically differed. Making a report for a 150-year-old foreign brand sitting in an office in Mumbai was as exciting as it sounds. Both the founders directly undertook all the projects and working under their rich experience helped me enhance my perspective towards the Indian market. I conclude by saying Market Research only helps companies to position themselves according to the cultural insights shared by the customers but what the customers think they want (good answers vs. real answers) & what they actually want is the catch that most companies struggle with in a cut throat Indian market & this is where a company like Quipper comes in.
Aditya Saxena IIM Shillong
Meghna Thapliyal IIM Shillong MARKATHON
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Is Social Media Marketing a necessary ingredient today in the recipe of success? MEKHALA IIM RAIPUR
SAURABH GOYAL IIM RAIPUR
Seth Godin- an American author quotes, “MARKETING IS NO LONGER THE STUFF YOU MAKE, BUT ABOUT THE STORIES YOU TELL”. The method is all about understanding the chemistry needed to create great results. And in the age of social media, it’s important to ensure you’re on top of emerging issues and to resolve the existing ones, it’s the magic formula and the special recipe that delivers results time and again for marketing success. It is said that you can’t expect to take a fishing boat out and just watch the fish jump into the boat. In today’s marketplace, businesses who want to stay competitive should stay on Cutting edge, Face book, LinkedIn, Twitter. People spend more time on social media than on any other activity, making it the perfect advertising venue. Social ads and promoted content are ideal ways to achieve your marketing goals. If you can’t thoroughly demo your product, you’ll die on the vine. Social media is an Investment. Its success isn’t met overnight; but with time, social media presence can become a valuable asset to help achieve goals! With few things like real commitment which says we lead you till the end, consistency- to show audience reliability and trustworthiness without having to say it stands as a foundational recipe for true success in social media that can be stretched and pulled to fit industry, business goals or ideals. To conclude Erik Qualman-an American author rightly says,’’We don’t have a choice on whether we Do social media, the question is how well we Do it”, because it’s the ultimate platform to build audience, engage, develop relationships and ultimately sell the products/services.
One way of characterizing today’s market dynamics is, perceiving it as an “Attention-Economy”. That is, customer’s attention is the most precious asset companies compete for. Fast life-style, shifting customer-focus and plethora of choices are few market-trends that make companys’ job difficult. It is against this backdrop that the role of social media marketing should be seen. There are two sides of the argument. First, take a look at the following facts. Social media is no longer only a recreational platform. People socialize on it (facebook). They build professional networks on it (LinkedIn). They follow world leaders and celebrities on it (Twitter). And they promote their fashion designs on it (Instagram). A study argues that the typical internet user in India spends 25% of his online-time on social media. So the first conclusion is that no company can discard social media from its marketing strategy. No wonder, social media was an important medium that shaped public mandate during 16th LokSabha election in 2014. However, there is another sobering side to the above argument. Internet penetration is still just 15% in India. Active social media users still hover around 1.35% of the total population. Digital divide limits rural-India’s reach to social media. Hence, companies need to be more prudent while selecting social media in their marketing strategy. It should be specific to product and target-consumers. Take car-repairing service, for instance. There is no point promoting it on a platform like LinkedIn. However, promoting career consulting firms on it makes marketing sense. To conclude, social media is no doubt an evolving yet important marketing platform. Companies should, by all means, gear themselves for it. But as it goes with most situations in life, companies should not apply lazy generalizations to complex market situation. Hence the cuisine of success does require Social media marketing, but with a pinch of salt. ilever was founded in 1930 by the merger of Dutch Mar-
Topic for the next issue: “Does strong brand associations make brand extentions easy or difficult for the company?” Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is 15th August 2016. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry. Winners will receive a prize money of Rs. 500 each!
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By Shubham Shukla IIM Shillong Whenever you think about retail, the first company that pops into your mind is Walmart. It’s concept of everyday low pricing has bought a revolution to the retail sector all around the world. Although the suppliers to Walmart might not be very happy on account of the squeezing margins being levied by Walmart but the end-consumer is surely having a great time, and this confidence shown by the end-user has led to Walmart acquiring the first position in the Fortune 500 list of the year 2015. It is indeed one of the most famous companies in the world and so it would be a crime not to discuss the logo of Walmart and how it has evolved over the centuries.
by Walmart.
however were not very happy with the logo as although they wanted to shop at a lower price they did not want this signal to be so aggressively communicated
1981-92: Walmart again changed its logo in the year 1981 and went back to the idea of not communicating their “We sell for less” philosophy in the logo. The font of the logo was changed but the boldness of characters retained. The color was changed from Black to Blue. Later another Brown variant of the logo was also introduced.
1950-62: Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart named his first store as Walton’s after his franchise lease with a retail store called Ben Franklin expired and he decided to start a retail store of his own. Not much attention was paid on the logo as a symbol of the company and he named the store thus probably 1992-2008: because he wanted to leverage his name and reputa- Between 1992 and 2008 the Walmart logo wastion in the surrounding areas of the store. changed and the hyphen replaced with a star in order 1962-64: to proThis was the first official logo of Walmart. The foundvide a ers were quirkier not very image to the brand rather than just the functional focused on aspect that people associated with Walmart. The the font or font and colors remained the same. size of the logo and the printer was thus instructed to use any font/size that he had available. 2008-Present: Walmart changed its logo significantly in the year 1964-68: 2008. The company wanted to project a much more The main features of the logo remained the same but humane image in the aftermath of the controverthere was a hyphen added between Wal and Mart in or- sies that it was squeezing suppliers and destroying der to draw businesses. more focus The star t o w a r d s was reWalmart as placed by a a retail store. The bold letters of the logo were retained burst in orand its color was changed to black in order to signify der to indicate a freshness in the brand. This was an aggressive image. in line with the change in company’s vision: From offering everyday low prices to helping people 1968-81: save money so that they could lead a better life. In this period Walmart started including more informa- Only the W in Walmart was capitalized in order to tion in its logo like “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “We reduce the aggressiveness of the logo and project sell for less”. This they did in order to build a stronger a much friendlier image of the brand in the image for the brand as a low cost seller. Some people minds of the consumer.
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AD-dicted AD-dicted
december july 2013 2016
By ASTHA KABRA IIM Shillong PRODUCT: TATA Salt: #NamakKeWaastey
By SHARAD SRINIVASAN IIM Shillong PRODUCT: Airtel – India’s First Open Network
POSITIONING: Show your support to the real superstars POSITIONING: Transparency makes Airtel India’s best moof your country at the RIO Olympics bile network CREATIVE AGECY: Ogilvy & Mather
CATCH
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube. watch?v=OIjRWPPv6EQ
CREATIVE AGENCY: Taproot Dentsu
R
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=1ya83LjUHJ4
com/
CONCEPT: Airtel recently launched Airtel-Open Network, a first-of-its kind initiative through which customers can view its entire network coverage data. The ad campaign demonstrates how Airtel has tried to address the problems its customers face by increasing feedback. A group of customers are shown complaining about all the network service providers in the country. After a long rant by them, a voiceover responds by demonstrating how Airtel in response to the demands of transparency by its customers, has launched its own Open Network. VERDICT: Catch The scene ends with people reacting positively to this initiative & the voiceover, “Kyunki sahi galat saamne Markathon believes that This ad was a hit because it was aane se hi banta hai, Sabse Best Network”. successful in invoking the spirit of nationalism in its viewers. In a country like India where no sport apart from VERDICT: Miss Cricket has huge following, this ad made an impact which proves our point. The music used in the ads is very in- Although Airtel’s effort in terms of strategy & advertising spiring and hence adds emotions to the ad. The athletes is surely unique in the context of Indian Telecom Service share the situations where they overcame all odds to train providers, the expected outcome of its ad-campaign is for their sport and claim that the physical pain that they overstated in our opinion. The main problem Airtel has endure is nothing when compared to the joy that winning been facing of late is the high number of call drops & it’s a medal for their country would bring. This makes viewers Open Network, for all the transparency that it brings to realise that these sportspersons also deserve the same the table, is not going to solve it. The ad goes on to state kind of love and support that they give to the cricketers. that Airtel’s focus on ensuring transparency makes it InThe ad very smartly uses the line “namak ke waastey” dia’s best mobile network. Markathon believes the advert which it connects to its product and also makes a deep would have been more logical if Airtel – Open Network statement. Markathon, inspired by the ad will give its full was positioned as an additional development to emsupport to the Indian Athletes at the RIO Olympics and power its customers rather than a panacea for all of their wish them success in making India proud. problems. CONCEPT: The campaign has three ads which spread the same message which is to support The Indian Contingent at RIO Olympics. The ad starts with an athlete’s introduction who will be representing India at the RIO Olympics. The athlete speaks a little about his background and talks a little about the sport that he/she plays. Towards the end the athlete asks for the support of Indians with which he/she will be able to make the country proud by winning at the RIO Olympics. The ad uses the hashtag ‘Namakkewaastey’ which means repaying your debt to your country.
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fun corner
july 2016
AKSHAY SETH IIM Shillong
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jab they failed
july 2016
Jab They Failed ABIR NANDI IIM Shillong
Tata Sumo Grande
As the Royal Rumble for the MUV market in India reaches a fever pitch, with Mahindra, Hyundai, Renault, Ford, Nissan, Maruti Suzuki and others in the fray, one is reminded of the tortured existence of the Tata Sumo Grande. Tata Sumo Grande was part of Tata Motors’ attempt to move into the Family MUV/SUV segment until its demise in 2015. Since its launch in 1994, Tata Sumo redefined the commercial vehicle segment in India at a time when Mahindra Jeeps ruled the roost. It was an instant hit as it delivered on the promise of a rugged, sturdy, spacious and costeffective car built for the Indian heartland. It became a favourite of those people who ran tour operator and taxi businesses and established an enduring brand. Soon, in the early 2000s, competitors swooped in- the Mahindra Bolero and Toyota Qualis. The Qualis, offering everything that the Sumo did and the added benefits of luxury and styling, wrested the tag of the market leader away from the Sumo. However, the Sumo brand stood the test of time in terms of volume. Meanwhile, the new category of the luxury MUV/SUV emerged and Toyota capitalised on this segment with the Innova. Tata wanted a piece of the same, and they wanted it bad. In late 2007, Tata Motors launched the Sumo Victa. It was clear that Tata Motors wanted to create a foothold in the family MUV segment as it was supported by an ad campaign wherein Victa drivers were characterized as self-made successes who dared to venture off the beaten track. This now iconic campaign featured the slogan, “Kuchh Log Sumo Chalate Hain”, and sought to cater to those ambitious Indians in ways more than commercial, signifying the Victa as an extension of their bold and confident selves. It was the first Sumo campaign wherein they had engaged in a brand building exercise rather than a features-based campaign. However it failed to gain acceptance as the family MUV. It did, on the other hand, appeal to a band of people who ran one-man show businesses and offered them the twin benefit of a commercial and personal vehicle. In the end, the Victa managed to widen the base of Sumo buyers, encompassing the purely commercial segment and this narrow band of ‘Kuchh Log’, to emerge as a winner. On January 10th, 2008, Tata Motors launched the Tata
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Sumo Grande. In a dramatic departure from the traditional Sumo aesthetics, this new car featured looks that fit the bill of a car for personal use rather than commercial. With smooth curves and stylish design, almost futuristic, it proclaimed loudly that it was an SUV. It was supported by an ad campaign that was truly a paradigm shift for the Sumo brand. Set in a foreign locale, it featured a beautiful woman in a swanky sports car exchanging looks with a man in a Sumo Grande and playing a game of cat and mouse as a catchy little number played in the background. As the dance of the meaningful glances continues, the man’s son is revealed while the man drives away, leaving the woman exasperated and embarrassed. The message ‘More Than Meets the Eye’ is communicated to the viewer, based on the premise that the Sumo Grande will deliver more than what one might think it would. Yet, despite all of this, the Sumo Grande failed. In retrospect, it is clear that the malefactor was the brand name itself- Sumo. A name that commanded instant respect in the Indian Tier-II/III heartland was also a name that signified a rustic to the people this campaign was targeting. Tata missed out on a simple consumer truth to their target market- they did not want to be seen getting out of a Sumo. They did not want to be associated with a brand of passenger carriers. To them, Sumo was for plebs. The value-for-money proposition went out of the window once they sought the SUV market where class was everything. And they had priced it high enough so that the cushion of its traditional customer base was not there as it had been for the Victa. One might wonder why Tata Motors stuck with the Sumo brand name. The story for the Grande could have been very different had it been launched as an independent brand. Did Tata lack the courage to do so for fear of cannibalizing the Safari? Even the Sumo Grande MKII, despite fixing a lot of the features-related issues, carried the Sumo name and the same fiasco was repeated. They finally shed the ‘Sumo’ in 2011 and went on to rechristen it as the Movus in 2014, but the war was lost long before the first battle began.
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By Harsha Daga | IIM Shillong
No Kiddin! Domino’s is now making burgers Do you think of ringing Domino’s at any time other than meal time? Well, now they are giving you a reason to do so for all those evening snacktime cravings for a powerpacked burger. And more so, even before people could question their ability to make burgers, they come out in the open and accept it. What they promise is wholesomeness and full ‘Pizzaness’ wrapped in buns. We’re drooling already!
LG’s new TV helps you get rid of those irritating mosquitoes Yes it’s true. You can now watch your favorite movies and shows in complete peace without the constant buzzing of mosquitoes. Equipped with an ultrasonic device which uses high frequency sound waves to shoo away the mosquitoes, when the device is switched on, without the emission of any harmful radiations. Now this is quite an interesting product we say, but how much value do the customers see in this is yet to be unveiled.
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Because before you stagnate, you gotta transform A complete makeover of its image is being aimed at with the aim of refreshing the brand and creating a stronger impact. The purpose is to create a single brand architecture and identity system so that regardless of where someone is geographically or what business they interact with or what device they use to reach us, they have a consistent and meaningful Deloitte experience. For greater impact on smallest of the devices, the logo has been further shortened as only D with the green dot.
From Bleed Blue to True Blue Sachin Tendulkar, in collaboration with Arvind Fashion Brands, launched his premium line of menswear. We are very much accustomed to seeing them cricketers sell various products. But hey! Featuring in an advertisement and actually partnering with a brand are not the same game. The first store is all set to come up in Mumbai with another 25-30 in the pipeline in the coming 5 years. Class, sophistication and luxury is dripping from the brand identity. Let us see how much justice this new innings does to Sachin’s
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updates Flipkart acquires Jabong
march 2016
through its fashion arm Myntra On a natural journey towards becoming India’s largest fashion platform, Flipkart eyes this step as a big milestone. With a combined base of Myntra and Jabong, the Flipkart Group has more than 15 million active monthly users and offering the best of the best brands
Dove is all set to extend into Baby Care After establishing a connect with all the mothers, Dove is not prepping to enter the Baby Care segment in India, which is currently dominated by Johnson & Johnsons with petty shares gained by Dabur and Himalaya. Dove is one of the fastest growing brand in HUL’s portfolio and brand extension seems to be the easiest way to enter into new segments. But, as the Marketing Gurus say, ‘”how much is too much?” is the most difficult question to answer.’
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The same brand, but a different feel FMCG major CavinKare launches ready to serve fruit milkshakes. The only competitor in fruit based shakes is the Amul Kool with glass-bottled or canned offerings and Danone’s smoothies. However, Cavin promises to deliver much more than what their competitors do in terms of product quality (taste and thickness) along with distribution to remote areas. And well, the price point is no different than competitors. So we see a good mix of Product, Price and Place. We can’t wait to see how Cavin will beat Amul in its Promotions! Because no fruit can ever replace coffee! Nescafe is no behind when it comes to tapping into the ‘Ready-To-Serve’ category. With the launch of 3 new flavors in trendy tetra-packs, Nescafe is expecting to further increase its foothold in the coldcoffee space currently dominated by Amul Kool.
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digi-tally
july 2016
Our Social Media Pages have been buzzing all month. Check out some of our posts here!
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digi-tally
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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”: Suhail Ghosh | FMS Delhi 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 15th August, 2016. Please send your entries marked as <ARTICLE NAME>_<SENDERS’ NAME(S)>_<INSTITUTE> to markathon.iims@gmail.com.
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