Marque- The Marketing Club
BRANDS: THE VOICE OF NEW AGE CONSUMERS Introduction
Shireen Ambardekar, Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce
derstand consumer sentiments and psychology so With the advent of Industry and Marketing 4.0 the that they can be aligned with the company’s values, social issues across the world have also risen. Every beliefs, work culture, vision and mission, etc. country is facing their own issues and people are trusting brands instead of governments to create a 4. It makes the company credible and authentic. eg. quick impact against social problems. A marketer’s L’Oreal’s latest ad campaign for make up for men mere objective is not to sell or market products but focuses on breaking the norms about make up just to also touch a consumer’s spirit, make long lasting being a woman’s domain. Similar is the case with and deep emotional connections with them. Every Nykaa as they recently launched male model Faisal consumer these days is a purpose driven consumer Khan for a Los Angeles based make up brand called as they want their favourite brands to take a stand Wet n Wild. against social issues like climate crisis, racism, gender inequality, sexual harassment, immigration, men- 5. By taking a stand against social issues, a brand tal health, education and poverty. Every consumer can be a key differentiator. eg. After US President wants their branded products to be as sustainable as Donald Trump’s ban on refugees Airbnb’s ‘We possible. A new concept called brand activism is the Accept’ Super Bowl campaign aimed to accept all buzz word these days which means to take a stand the people inspite of cultural differences which was for your consumers, to let them know that “your quite an impactful ad. opinions and problems matter to us, we care for you and we’ve always got your back.” A modern day 6. Excellent Public Relations can be maintained by brand should not just aim at making profits but also taking initiatives that make your brand talk of the take initiatives and be a part of social movements. town. eg. Dove campaigns empower women by A modern consumer makes a purchase deci- encouraging them to embrace and celebrate all sion based on brand engagement and their as- women and to shatter the beauty norms. sociations with social issues as well as CSR activities. Every consumer feels happy to be con- Disadvantages of Brand Activism: tributing to a cause and has a sense of belongingness when he/ she buys the product or avails a 1. A disaster like Pepsi’s Campaign featuring Kendall service. Brand activism has its own pros and cons: Jenner may affect the brand image and reputation. Advantages of Brand Activism:
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTivpgMkGKA
1. It makes the brands reliable, trustworthy, relatable and relevant especially for millennials and centennials who are more vocal about the ongoing issues. eg. Starbucks and Zomato supporting the Indian LGBTQ community after the verdict on Section 377 was passed in September 2018.
2. If the initiatives turn out to be culturally unethical, it may result in backlash and in the worst case, the company may lose its hard earned market share. eg. Nike’s Colin Kaepernick campaign.
2. It helps in attracting customers, forming a loyal customer base and building trust.
Link: https://www.vox.com/2018/9/4/17818148/ nike-boycott-kaepernick
3. It becomes easier for market researchers to un-
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3. Sometimes, competition gets so cut throat and dirty that brands focus more on being better than competitors rather than focusing on the needs of their consumers.
Link:https://www.marketingmind.in/kumbh-mela-turning-biggest-marketing-ground-indian-brands/
Examples of Brand Activism:
In this new age it has become very important for companies to go out of their comfort zones and be supportive of social movements. Apart from being socially active, every company should atleast be associated with one social initiative. Marketers also need to understand that not everyone can be pleased or be happy by the company’s social campaigns but staying neutral or silent is not a choice. For years to come, Brands are going to be the voice of the new age consumers! Please find some attached links and images with some more examples:
1. P&G’s Always (sanitary pads) Like A Girl: campaign aims to empower girls by making them feel strong and self confident about their bodies, be comfortable in their skin and to never let anyone underestimate girls. Video link: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs 2. Ben and Jerry’s: ice cream brand talked about climate change by showing melting ice cream in their ad campaign just like polar ice caps are melting due to global warming. They also give hope by encouraging people to give innovative solutions to reverse the damage and believe in a promising future. Video link: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=80NLPNHpm0k 3. Heineken’s Generations Apart: campaign aims at embracing differences between generations and to open up about career choices with your parents through honest communication. Video link: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=82cPgU_D15s 4. Kumbh Mela: with over 150 million visitors, 5,000 camps, 2,000 changing rooms and 1,22,000 washrooms, thousands of mobile charging zones, hand washing zones and selfie zones in a span of 7 weeks, the holy Kumbh Mela is the best hub for marketers (of mostly FMCGs) to showcase the most innovative initiatives. a. HUL Red Label: doubled up dustbins with built in sensors after which vending machines give a cup of tea encouraged people to dispose waste properly. b. HUL Lifebuoy: rotis in thalis were printed with edible ink with messages like “‘Kripaya Pehle Sabun se Haath Dhoyein” encouraging people to take care of personal hygiene. c. Dabur Red Dant Snaan: had set up free toothpaste dispensers that promoted oral hygiene and overall cleanliness. d. Patanjali Chillum Daan: famous guru Baba Ramdev encouraged people to quit smoking.
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Conclusion
Marque - The Marketing club, IIM Rohtak
NEURO MARKETING ANEEK MANDAL, XIMB Remember at times when you wanted to do something but an inner voice defied it, something you wanted to utter but the same voice said something contrasting, well that’s nothing but the subconscious part of the brain controlling you and it often influences your actions and deviates you from what you want to do and what you do. This has led to a branch of study called the Neuroscience and off late this study has been incorporated by marketeers to study the market from a varied angle, known Neuromarketing So, what is neuromarketing? Well, it tracks the neurological impulses that are created inside the brain in response to stimuli such as a commercial, image in a product’s package, brand taglines, etc. Is it mind-reading then? Not exactly but it reveals a lot about consumer decision-making processes, and sometimes may give hints about the future trends as well. It banks on the interplay between brain, emotions, and behaviour. It relies on a process known as priming—an electrochemical reaction set off whenever a topic is first introduced. Considered an extravagant “frontier science,” neuromarketing has been bolstered over the last five years by several ground-breaking studies that demonstrated the potential to create value for marketers. But how did it suddenly emerge in the market when traditional marketing methods like cluster analysis, FGD, questionnaires were so prevalent. The exact timeline for its commencement is not known but enthusiasm in consumer neuroscience initiated in the mid-2000s when researchers started to demonstrate that advertising, branding, and other marketing tactics can have measurable impacts on the brain. A notable demonstration was in 2004 when researchers at Emory University served Coca-Cola and Pepsi to participants and exposed them to an fMRI machine. When the drinks weren’t labelled, the researchers noted a consistent neural response. But when the brands were revealed, the limbic structures of the subjects showed increased activity, exhibiting how a familiar brand altered the brain’s perception of the beverage INSEAD’s Hilke Plassmann took brain scans of test subjects as they tasted three wines with distinct price labels: their brains registered the wines differently, with neural signatures indicating a
preference for the most expensive wine whereas, in reality, all three wines were the same. In another instance it was obtained from fMRI scans that when the price was displayed before exposure to the product, the neural data differed from when it was displayed after exposure, suggesting two different mental calculations regarding if the product was worth the price? Branding consultant Martin Lindstrom pointed based on fMRI data, that the way iPhone users felt about their phones was akin to romantic love and was a primary reason for their clinging onto the brand. A ton of examples follows and this is where this method of marketing became popular. Few ammunitions were devised to collect and record such data 1. fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) uses strong magnetic fields to detect changes in blood flow across the brain and is administered while a person lies inside a machine that takes continuous measurements over time. It reveals the level of engagement and emotional responses that a person has with a particular product and it helps companies to price their product and improve branding 2. EEG (electroencephalogram) reads brain-cell activity using sensors placed on the scalp and captures changes in action over fractions of a second. It gives the companies an idea about how effective their ad campaign is. 3. Eye-tracking through sensors and recorders captures on which portion of the add or product label does the customer mostly gaze which reveals the parts which grab attention, parts which might make the customer think before going for the particular product. Also, dilation of the pupil provides information about how much a person connects to the product. FMCG companies use this to design their websites and packaging. 4. Facial coding measures emotional responses like happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust through facial expressions. It helps companies to improve on their content 5. Biometrics measure heart rate skin conductance and provides information on whether a particular initiative has a positive effect or otherwise.
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The list is endless and more and more technologies accentuate the study. Data is the new oil and using all these information the companies draw insights about the effectiveness of packaging, colour, the efficiency of advertisements, varieties of products, loss aversion, price correction, speed of launching a product and determining the shelf life, creating memorable headlines. All these attributes cumulatively answer the questions “How do we make decisions as consumers? What do we pay attention to, and how do our initial responses predict our final choices?” Although neuro marketers influence the visible part of marketing, their work is mostly back-end. So, with all these advanced weaponries, this new form of marketing should eradicate all the other forms, but surprisingly that’s not the case. Rather it has filled in the gaps that were still there in the former ones. Respondents aren’t always forthcoming about their memories, feelings, and preferences and often tend to make-up things when they are embarrassed or trying to please others and thus what they speak is not the rendition of what is going on in their mind: One of the major shortcomings of the traditional approach. Also, the sample size selected in such an approach may not be a true representation of the original population. Neuromarketing solves the problem by being person intensive and subjects are usually no more than a few dozen, and over an extended period But even a silver moon is not spotless. Neuromarketing, though is the new black, it is very cost-intensive (fMRI machines typically costing about $5 million) and there is a risk of competitors taking advantage of the research. There have been questions about ethics and privacy issues and the effectiveness of the study since it is estimated that nearly 80% of our brain activity is used to sustain a critical state called “rest time” or “the default mode”, it is hardly possible to claim that the brainwaves generated by specific advertising stimuli are entirely produced by the same stimuli. As Victor Hugo stated “Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come” and hence it is something that needs to be studied more and more. Even though it is still in its nascent stage, it has come a long way in just a few years and another five to ten years could make all the difference. The prohibitive cost will come down as technology improves and will dole out more reliable, valuable, and attainable results, saving millions of dollars of companies and adding more value to products and rightly catering to the human needs.
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Marque - The Marketing club, IIM Rohtak
MARKETING SUCCESS OF ENGLISH PREMIUM LEAGUE SHREYAS BIRAJDAR, JBIMS The suspension of Premier League due to the outbreak of COVID – 19 has made us all football fanatics realize what an integral part of our lives Premier League now is. Star Sports last year bagged the rights to broadcast the Premier League last year for a whopping $99 million for a 3 year deal (2019-2022). So what goes on to making a sports league into such an enormous success and what are the marketing strategies Premier League has adopted to achieve the same? The Premier League, often referred to as the English Pre-
) for the next three seasons. Despite a drop in the value of domestic rights, interim chief executive Richard Masters says foreign broadcasters are paying about 30% more for games. Masters says overseas compa-
mier League or the EPL outside England, is the top level of the English football league system. The competition was founded as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from the Football League, founded in 1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. The deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with Sky and BT Group securing the domestic rights to broadcast 116 and 38 games respectively. The Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million
nies who can show all 380 games live each season are paying 4.2 billion pounds in the 2019-2022 cycle, up from 3.1 billion pounds. Since its inception in the 1992/93 season, the Premier League and its Clubs (the ‘League’) have achieved considerable success, establishing a strong global reputation for high quality and entertaining football. This is evidenced by the Premier League consistently achieving the highest stadium utilisation figures of any major European League, along with substantial growth
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This continued increase in the rise of deal prices of from a sports league? I surveyed a small sample English Premier League’s broadcast rights for the past 20 of my footballing peers and given below are the odd years is down to the marketing strategies used by the results for the same. Premier League. This shows the inclination of the Indian fans Football is of considerable social, cultural and economic towards the Premier League among the various significance to the UK — football has often been seen as football leagues across the world. a ‘universal language’ which has the ability to inspire and engage communities. During the football season, hunMore than 90% of the fans prefer the league due dreds of thousands of fans travel the country to follow to its “Unpredictable Nature of the Matches”. This their team whilst millions more watch live games and is achieved by the Premier League due to its equihighlights on television and, increasingly, online. At the table distribution of its earnings which the other pinnacle of the English football pyramid, the activities of leagues lack. This has helped the League achieve the Premier League affect all aspects of the game; from its leadership position due to the excellent develsupporting the ability of Premier League teams to comopment of their product since inception in 1992. pete with the best in Europe, to encouraging participaThe success of Premier League so analysed can be tion in school and community football. boiled down to one single fact that is the focus of the league on making its service that is the sports Delivering high quality football is crucial to the success entertainment industry an irresistible service. of the League and is at the core of its activities. This The immense focus on improving the game has drives engagement with fans, and therefore supports created this success growth cycle which can be commercial performance. In turn, this allows the League called a virtuous cycle which keeps feeding itself to invest in the future of the game to ensure competiand running. tive and engaging football is delivered to fans for years to come. The cycle of growth (below) summarises this The focus of Premier League to also focus on process. building the entertainment around this sport is something which is part of their marketing For any business to achieve market leadership for its strategy to engage a wider community and not product or service it can do so using the following 3 just restrict it to football fans. It has come up marketing strategieswith an online fantasy league called as the Fantasy Premier League wherein you can build your 1) By reducing costs and hence prices own team and compete with fans all round the 2) Achieving personalization and increasing customer world. This engages the fans and also gets them to intimacy research about the various teams and its players 3) Excelling in the product or service features to make it in the league. This engagement has created and the best out there generated a lot of non-football players into Premier League fans and get them attracted towards So, what do sports or more specifically football fans want football.
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The campaign will not only resonate with commuters in big cities where bikes help navigate through narrow lanes and conges an affordable and more readily-available alternative to cars and autos. f
#BUZZFEED
Nike says ‘Don’t Do It’ on racism Nike has taken a stand against racism with a “Don’t do it” campaign, a twist on its famous catch phrase, as protests against police brutality spread across the United States. “For once, Don’t Do It... Don’t pretend there’s not a problem in America,” the US sports apparel giant said in a video posted to Twitter late Friday. The message came as protesters across the United States took to the streets against the treatment of George Floyd, an African American who died in the hands of police in Minneapolis earlier this week. In a rare sign of solidarity, competitor Adidas retweeted the video, with a message stating: “Together is how we move forward. Together is how we make change.”
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sted roads but also find special relevance across small towns and cities in India where two-wheelers are ubiquitous and are TGBL has approached key shareholders of Hector Beverages with a proposal to buy out the company along with its popular brand Paper Boat to spice up its portfolio. Even though a formal approach has been made, the talks around Paper Boat are still at an exploratory stage and there is still no guarantee that it will lead to a transaction. However, Kakkar has categorically denied any discussion with Tata Global Beverages or a possible sale. Paper Boat, if the Tatas buy it, will be a big break in the long narrative of western cultural dominance when tea and coffee were trendier than desi drinks which were confined mostly to kitchens except a few such Rooh Afza. If Paper Boat is deemed fit to sit with Starbucks and Tetley in the Tata Global Beverages’ portfolio, it sure is a signal that ethnic drinks have become upmarket—thanks to the stupendous success of Patanjali Ayurved
Reliance Industry releases ‘Naye India Ka Naya Josh’ campaign
Reliance Industry has released a new TVC named ‘Naye India Ka Naya Josh’ in collaboration with McCann India. The campaign is written by Prasoon Joshi and Music by A.R. Rehman. The campaign talks about the future of India after this global pandemic. The video has an optimistic vibe which is presented by the visuals and music. The video’s title ‘Naye India Ka Naya Josh’ means the new passion of new India. The film is directed by Ravi Udyawar in consultation with teams from Reliance and McCann. This is another piece of work from McCann India, which has produced with all the talent working seamlessly out of the home.
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With ‘Salaam Namaste’ Pepsi encourages people to follow social distancing
As people in India and globally, are gearing up to embrace the new normal, traditional greetings like salaam/namaste have never been more relevant. In an endeavour to make these contactless Indian greetings a part of pop culture, Pepsi, along with brand ambassador and Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, has introduced a digital forward campaign. The video campaign aims at inspiring the world that greeting each other with salaam/namaste is a perfect way to ensure social distancing and yet maintain connections responsibly. According to the company, the video is an extension of a youth centric campaign – ‘Swag se solo’ and is based on three relevant insights. The cultural insight which recognises salaam and namaste as an inherent part of the nation’s culture; the social insight which recognises the importance of social distancing in the new world; and the consumer insight which recognises the people’s need to express themselves in a fun and engaging manner. It encourages behavioural change through adherence to social distancing norms through a simple act of doing salaam/ namaste in an entertaining manner.
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#BUZZFEED
Karan Johar partners with Godrej Expert Rich Crème Hair Colour
Crème hair colour from the house of Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Godrej Expert Rich Crème, has partnered with the Bollywood personality Karan Johar. Recently, Karan posted an image of himself in a new grey hair lockdown look and said he is available for father roles now. Tired of being referred to as old, Karan finally coloured his hair at home with Godrej Expert Rich Crème. He shared a video on his Instagram profile in a new coloured hair look, the core messaging being the ease of using at-home hair colours to look good. Through this association, the brand aims to highlight how easy it is to colour your hair at home and that you need not look dull just because you are indoors. Sunil Kataria, CEO - India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, said, “Salon are shut in many cities and the one’s allowed to operate are seeing reduced customer footfalls due to their concerns of safety and hygiene parameters. Increased grey hair can cause anxiety to many. This calls for an immediate solution critical for their overall well-being. Godrej Expert Rich Crème.
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Marque - The Marketing club, IIM Rohtak
INFLUENCER MARKETING RISE & FALL SREERUPA SUKHARI SIMS Pune According to Forbes, the kind of marketing in which the specific key of individuals is focussed, rather than diluting the focus by targeting the whole market as a whole is called Influencer Marketing. Following the conventional school of thoughts, influencer marketing has always been thought of to be in reference to the celebrities or known and recognised personas, who pose on billboards across the highways. This kind of marketing purposes to use key leaders who can potentially drive the brand’s message to the focussed target market. These role influencers are hired/ paid or inspired to propagate a positive word of mouth in the market. Companies believe that, presenting people of interest to the target markets, the audience will be more inclined and influenced to try the product or services that is in the offer. Presently influencer marketing, goes hand-in-hand with content-marketing and social-media. Getting with the trend, most of the influencer campaign try designing their campaigns, based on some social-media component, wherein the influencers are believed to spread the WoM, leveraging their personal social channels. Business Insider Reports says, influencer marketing is more likely to become $ 15 billion industries by 2022, supported by the impressive customer acquisition rate and ROI. Brands calculate their ROI differently but they all are in agreement of impact of Influencer marketing. History of Influencer marketing: The Pope and the queen: The earliest Influencers The earliest of history says, for the benefit of common people, the Queen and the pope used to endorse medicine, for the people who weren’t believers then. Long back in 1890, Davis Milling Company hired Nancy Green to represent as the face of pancake mix names “ Aunt Jemima”. She played the character of Aunt Jemima in a local minstrel show. 1890: Nancy Green Becomes the Face of Aunt Jemi-
ma Considered to be one of the pioneers of Influencer marketing, Aunt Jemima gave a unique identity to the product and made it exceptionally famous. 1905: Fatty Arbuckle and Murad Cigarettes Following it, another significant node in the field of Influencer marketing, in 1905 Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle endorsed Murad, which was a Turkish Cigarette brand. It was the time, when people started accepting the Celebrity endorsements and recommendations. Following it, In 1931, Coca-Cola got promoted by Santa as the influencer marketer. It was believed that, if people love the person who promotes the product then, they will love the product also. As per Experticity, 92% of the consumers believe on the recommendation of the people they admire or follow on the social media. Further, In 1950, The Marlboro Man was the symbol of Macho, who was the biggest influencers and the cigarette brand was endorsed till 1999. It was the time, when the sales of Marlboro skyrocketed, because of people’s association with rugged and macho attributes. Rise of Influencer Marketing on social media in 2010 2010 was the year, by when, social media had already made a breakthrough with platforms like Facebook, that everyone was captivated by. Following the trend, the idea of getting Facebook connected with their brand, by Amazon was on the table. It expanded the scope of purchase, being influenced by influencers. Around this time, Amazon came up with the idea of connecting Facebook with their brand – so consum-
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ers could see what their friends and family members were buying. With use of Artificial Intelligence, recommendations from friends and family is always at top. Amazon also shows notification about the birthdays of friends and thus, this proved to be a significant factor to drive other platforms and brands to take influencer marketing more seriously. Collaboration of Khloe Kardashian with FabFitFun: 2019 Beauty Brand FabFitFun, following the impact of influencer marketing, collaborated with famous, Khloe Kardashian for promotion of their monthly subscribed beauty boxes on social media. These collaborations have resulted in immense success of the brand in the recent years. Fall of Influencers Marketing: In present time, consumers are getting jaded due to endless endorsements and celebrity-influencers selling everything from dubious island music boxes to laxative teas. Audience is suspicious of Influencer’s artifice. Historically, brands have streamed millions of money into influencer outreach. However, it has been realized that the Return On Investment is not up to the expectations. Alternate marketing efforts are being researched for to obtain optimized results. This environment is a clear indication of collapse of influencer market as the strategist are streamlining their spends to selected influencers only. Middle-line influencers who fail to produce significant ROI will disappear in near future. Brands now recognize the importance of aligning with selected big influencers, which successfully reflect their core values. The trajectory for these influencers is expected to grow steeper as more number of companies turn to a select few representers. Very recent research by Rauken Marketing have found that marketers would pay an amount up to Rs. 75,000 to an influencer marketer with more than 1 million followers. However, over the past few years, the validity of influencers marketing has been questioned by the marketers. In an interaction with Kieth Weed, CMCO, Unilever said unethical practices like fake followers, dishonest business models and fraud have significantly contributed to declining trust of the audience. He stated few words as a suggestion for ad industry, “Urgent action now to Rebuild trust before it’s gone forever”. The major issues faced by the brands would include the misleading engagement statements and lack of transparent justification from the influencer marketing platforms. It has been recently brought down to the notice that 15% of the total TWITTERS’ users
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Marque - The Marketing club, IIM Rohtak are suspected to be fake, whereas around 60 million Facebook accounts might be automated or bot accounts. Inaccurate reports of customer engagement are been reported by the influencer marketing platforms and consequentially, reality of campaign performance are being altered. Conclusion: As per the reports generated by Talkwalker, social media analysis firm and Hubsopt, Software company, from 2018, the market of influencer marketing has dropped drastically. To analyse and define the coming year’s marketing trends, the reports finds that there is a decline of social mentions around the influencer marketing, dropping 42% across the media channel, on comparison with the past year. Fake influencer mentions is also on a rise as per the reports and were reported to be responsible for more than 9,000 engagements in the early 2019. Further, a lack of a well-defined framework for measurement of success of these influencers lead them to no particular peak. Hubspot/ Talkwalker reports that the year 2020 can prove it to be a potential turning point to see how marketers manage their campaigns, with adequate use of micro and Nano influencers, who generally have 500 to 10,000 followers, while the audience can help to mitigate the most probable risk of losing out the niche market of influencer marketing. It is further, expected that 2020 will be the evidence to see the network of smaller influencers being made, with groups arising to manage them more efficiently and effectively.
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Marque - The Marketing club, IIM Rohtak
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MARQUE - THE MARKETING CLUB INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT ROHTAK
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