Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
PATANJLI CODE
CRACKING THE
By: Rohit Kumar IIM Indore
Patanjali! A brand which rose and took over the Indian Market. What could not be done by major companies in decades was done by one man “Baba Ramdev”. Surely one would like to know how a brand emerged from a small pharmacy in Haridwar in 1997 to one of the fastest growing FMCG companies in India. The success of Patanjali is not as simple as it seems. Though there are factors which have been applied at all stages of its positioning and branding there are complex systems which work in the background and how a given setting can benefit a company is also needed to be looked upon. First things first, the company reported revenue of Rs 9,346 crore from its FMCG business for 2016-17 which proves the point that indeed Patanjali has established as a brand which has surely given a pain to the rival companies. So let’s decode the company’s strategy. Starting with the most simplistic analysis and then moving further, let’s consider the context of India and its population only as the brand has emerged from India.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
1. What is the one thing which customers in India desire? The immediate answer is cheap and best products. While this may seem like a utopia for other companies but this was not for Patanjali. The company’s primary focus was to deliver quality products at rates which are way less than their rivals. And quality not in terms of advance combinations of chemical formulas but more simple yet effective. Something which is more close to human. Nature! Patanjali thus changed the notion of quality and shifted its focus to nature and won the hearts of Indians. 2. How to cut down costs? Bring advanced machinery and skilled labor! Well, this may work but it’s not easy to put into practice. What looks good in economic theories might not
prove to be useful in the market conditions. How will you invest money when you don’t have any? The answer lies in your stance of the market. Do people know you? If yes, then wonderful but how do they know you. Do they know you in the same way in which you see yourself as a brand? These all questions should be analyzed critically
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak before moving further. If people don’t know you then what is one value which you want to project? Mind it; only one can be chosen. Baba Ramdev was already well known around the world through his Yoga Classes and his friend Acharya Balkrishna was famous for his knowledge of Ayurveda. The fusion of these two streams created the feeling of “Swadesi- or being an Indian”. The brand thus emerged with this vision: To instill the pride of a “True Indian”. The long lost lessons of the culture and greatness of India and its philosophies and principles were revived by Patanjali. By choice of names and taglines which reinforced the idea of Yoga and Ayurveda and how human and nature are related to one another, the brand emerged. So, as a brand, it is important to change your approach to the conditions what works in a certain context and with certain people. What works for one may not work for others. It is thus important to understand the culture to understand the people better and thus it will help in strategic positioning of your brand/product.
The people thus were connected on an emotional level with the Patanjali brand. There was ‘Empathy” rather than “Sympathy” for this brand. People believed that by using the products, they could attain what is like to be an Indian. Although this may sound weird but believe me if as a company you want to sell your product, then you have to make people feel that your products could help unleash much more than what they are today. Humans always try to push themselves beyond their limits and if your brand can capture that essence then as a company you are safe
in the long run. Try to make your brand more like a human. Give it the characteristics of a human so that it can interact more effectively. What traits will work? Love, care, belongingness and so on. Use whatever works best for you. The company focused on minimal advertisements and wherever this was done (either on YouTube, Yoga Shivirs etc.) only Baba Ramdev used to speak about it. This is important as consistency works in marketing and helps people recognize a brand easily. Minimalism thus helps give a clear idea without occurring costs. So as a company, remember to give only one information at a time. In short, hit the Bullseye. 3. Is there only quality, pricing, positioning and promotion of the product/brand the key to success? For short run we can safely say yes but not in the long one. You have to capture a major chunk of people and in a country like India which shares a mix of all possible cultures is something that
companies find difficult to address. If you can associate people with this, you will be in a better position than the rivals. As with the case of India “Unity in Diversity” is what binds all Indians. What is the one thing India is famous about? Being the largest democracy. The politics is what affects each and Indian whether they are aware or not.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
With the coming of Modi government, the nation has seen a surge of the vision of Hindutva. But what is different here. Hindutva is not shown as a way Hindus follow something but how they have accepted everyone and have given life lessons which are beneficial to all. Ayurveda and Yoga thus are also what Hindutva has given to the world. Patanjali thus got backing from the government and the complex integrated systems of political, religious, economic and so on what worked for Patanjali. Patanjali thus has moved from the stance of being a brand to an influencing force in India. But this does not work for all the companies and one should not try to indulge in political reinforcement but what lesson can be taken is if you want to sustain, try to capture the heart and not only mind. For logic works but empathy can do magic. Try to make cultural connections so that the product would make people feel as if it is a part of their community. To see where the Patanjali stands now one can look at the two articles from the Economic Times which shows how it has taken the market and even leading companies are now fearing from Baba Ramdev.
• Market share of Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali toothpaste trebles in one year (Economic Times Article Updated: Jul 31, 2017 ) •Indian baba steals sleep of MNCs! Branding blitz to disrupt the market (Economic Times Article Updated: Oct 05, 2017)
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
“OLD MONK” IS GOLD
Does gold requires Marketing?
By: Anuj Garg IIM Rohtak
Be it East, West, North or South; Who needs advertising when the only publicity it needs is by word of mouth. Under a name that conformed to the legend of an English friar (religious) who gave brewers a good company while they made quality rum. It has been said that not a single dime has been spent on marketing this brand since it was introduced in India. It found patronage in army canteens, college students, and pretty much every other motley group of rum drinkers. Old Monk, till today, has survived purely through word of mouth. Old Monk has a little bit lighter color but a nice dark color with more of a caramel aroma to it, a very smooth, delicious caramel and vanilla flavor in it. And it is said to be the reason why Indians are the world’s largest biggest rum drinkers, i.e., 400 million litres a year which is twice the amount of rum consumed by the US.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak In 1885, a Scottish entrepreneur named Edward Abraham Dyer established India’s first brewery under the banner of E Dyer & Co. in the foothills of Himalayas at Kasauli to produce cheap beer for the British Indian Army. Nearly a century later, after some mergers and splits, the same brewery under Indian management introduced a brand of dark rum. One that would become India’s best known and most-consumed. It made it be the top-selling rum in India and one of the top-selling rums in the world by selling 8 million bottles annually to hostellers, journalists, and soldiers in earlier days. You might be a bat from Cuba (Bacardi), You might be somebody’s no. 1 (McDowell). This is the monk who won’t sell is Ferrari. This is not just because Indians turned to fancier brands of rum, but rum consumption itself was per se coming down in India. Even as overall alcohol consumption was picking up. Mohan Meakin’s heydays as a maker of beer and whiskey were also well behind. They have prioritized old monk as their flagship product but had not adapted to the modern methods of advertising it. In spite of that, Facebook has many numbers of pages and groups devoted to this rum run by its eccentrics, one of them being COMRADE, an abbreviation for the Council of Old Monk Rum Addicted Drinkers and Eccentrics. While some of the pages describe it as the ‘Scotch’ of Rums, others are more effusive in their praise: for them, Old Monk is the “beautiful brown liquid in a unique square bottle that sets it apart from any other booze in the world”. But Old Monk’s glory days are well behind it if reports are to be believed. It may have well started with the opening up of the Indian economy to the foreign competitors in the 1990s. But competition at home was also picking up. From 2005, it was a free fall for Old Monk regarding overall market share in its category in India. In army canteens, it is Radico Khaitan’s Contessa rum that outsells Old Monk today. And McDowell’s rum which costs 20% more than Old Monk Rum has an annual growth rate of more than 5% and now controls more than 40% of the Indian rum market share. In India, McDowell’s dark rum outsells old monk by a wide margin. McDowells’ success can also be considered because the label belongs to an international giant Diet Geo, the world’s largest producer of spirits. The conservative marketing strategy could not withstand the new wave that
needed bubbly, young and agile brand image. Old Monk slipped to about 3.5 million bottles and lost as a market leader to Bacardi. They have been able to push the sales of iconic Old Monk to 5 million cases. Perhaps Mohan Meakin’s greatest safety net comes from the Public Sector Units such as the Life Insurance Corporation of India, its biggest institutional investor and Punjab National Bank which loaned Rs. 10 crores in 2014. Erstwhile Retired Brigadier Kapil Mohan, a teetotaler who neither drinks nor smokes and is avowedly spirit, was Mohan Meakin’s chairman from the early 1970s was an as adamant stickler to tradition and went on record to say “We do not advertise. I will not, and as long as I am in this chair, we will not (advertise).” He also said “The best way of my advertising is the product: when it comes to you and you taste it, and then you look for the difference and say what it is. That is the best advertisement.” Also, he said, “Our strategy is to launch Old Monk variants in maximum price segments to tap consumers of all income groups.” The problem lies in outsourcing its distribution to third parties. While we can understand that high distribution costs would have supported such decision, but with such outsourcing comes the need to monitor them strictly. Old monk failed to do that. While McDowell has its other brands, and good trade incentives pushed it through the grilled window of the liquor shops. Mohan Meakin Brewery, due to its third-party distribution, has lesser incentives to over and also lesser control over the execution. But that is set to change soon, with Old Monk getting ready for a makeover. The bottles will soon come with a new avatar by flaunting fancy sticker labels meant to enhance their look. The purpose: a shift in positioning from a product targeted just at middle-income group customers to a more premium one. The initial sampling of the new variant has already hit wholesale points and several distributors across the country. Before his death in January 2018, Old Monk has gained a legendary cult status during the last 6 decades and now control being added to fresh blood Old Monk may still have a chance to recover lost ground. But can it? How? When?
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
NEW PRODUCT MERCEDES ECO-FRIENDLY SUPER BIKE Mission: The mission for the product is to capture the market for the superbike segment by giving the customer the convenience in terms of the service scape and an attractive product. Our belief is that the product developed will exceed the expectations of the customer.
By: Ashutosh Bansal IMI, New Delhi
Segmentation: •Geographic: Sales of Mercedes are significant in Germany, Italy, Australia, US & India. Initially these regions will be target with an aim to have global presence of Mercedes Bike •Demographic: Young businessman & Working professionals •Physiographic: Goal oriented customers, customer having inclination towards premium brands •Behavioural: People looking for a bike with high reliability, want to have sense of achievement/social respect, speed lover
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak Targeting: •Target Market will be a premium motorcycle with powerful engine •Target customer for Mercedes motorcycle will be in the age group of 20 to 45yrs people •Target customer will be upper middle class to upper class people Positioning: •Positioning strategy will be a highly reliable, convenient, powerful motorcycle •Stylish motorcycle with well- engineered design which add on to its speed •A motorcycle for the customer who wants to have sense of achievement •Eco- friendly motorcycles 4 P’s of the Bike: Product •Mercedes allows customized accessories design along with highly sophisticated BlueTec Engines for the bikes. •Since Luxury Bike segment is strongest in the product portfolio so Mercedes will offer sports & tour bikes •In next generation segment, it provides C-class and E-class Bikes as well. Place •Mercedes has over 80 dealerships across the major metros and cities with wide availability of its spare parts. •The major markets are China, Asia pacific, Europe, Germany, India, North America etc. A global reach ensures the strong place & distribution strategy in the marketing mix of Mercedes Benz. Promotion •Advertisements by celebrities such as Salman Khan performing a stunt on Mercedes Bike in ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ or an action sequence in ‘Race 3’. •Digital Marketing via bikeadvise.in, bikedekho.com, bankbazaar.com •Social Media Influencer Marketing. Price •Premium priced Luxury Bike Brand catering to a niche segment •Mercedes has myriad of Bikes available with prices ranging from INR 16 Lakhs to 32 Lakhs. •Pricing strategy for each model is Premium pricing based on features and competition.
Promotion Mix Pre-Launch Strategy •Using Predictive analysis and Deep Data Mining on the data obtained from Generation Buzz to create a successful Marketing campaign. •Visually Compelling Promotional videos of Launch event of Mercedes Bike on Facebook, YouTube, and Television •Reinforcing the message by featuring and tagging popular influencers and Bike Racing Experts in trending Content. •Content Marketing by Partnership with Key influencers like Casey Neistat •Advertising via Print Media in Automobile Magazines and Online Portals Like AdWeek Launch Strategy •Live Streaming of Launch Event on Facebook and YouTube •Ad Campaigns representing Lifestyle on YouTube like Mercedes’s Grow Up Campaign •Rewarding Mercedes funded NGOs like ‘Naz Foundation’ and ‘Slum Soccer ‘at the Launch Event along with Inviting Mercedes Benz’s Global Partners like ‘Laureus Sports for Good Foundation’ to spread the social development activities undertaken by Mercedes. •A promotional talk by CEO, Roland S. Folger, to address all potential customers will be bonus point for the event. •Making Salman Khan the Brand Ambassador of Mercedes Benz India. Post Launch Strategy •Advocacy Marketing via Impact Campaign by sharing Customer Experience Videos •Conducting ‘Take the Wheel’ Campaign on Instagram and ‘Luxe Drive’ Campaign for Mercedes Bike. •Expanding ‘Mercedes Me’ Outlets to enhance the services provided. •Rewarding Winners of ‘Mercedes Trophy’ with its Bike. •‘In Movie’ Promotions like Salman Khan’s Entry on Mercedes Bike in Race3 also sponsoring its online Game. •Sponsoring Fashion week and promoting Lifestyle Products. Consumer Promotions: Consumer Promotion is a short-term marketing approach to indulge customers to purchase a specific product. The promotions are tools to achieve sales target and last for a short period. It is important to decide
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak on the promotional strategy to attract customers especially for a new product launch and advertisement. In case of Mercedes, the company has a large pool of customers and enthusiast who are aware of the brand value of the Mercedes cars. This can be leveraged to promote bikes to the premium segment of customers. A basket of promotional techniques is used by product manufacturers and sellers. Free Gifts and Value-added services: Gifts and number of value-added services entice customers to make a purchase decision. For a limited period, gifts can be added to product offerings. To compete in a market where Harley Davidson, BMW and Ducati are having fair share of market, Mercedes bikes need to stand out and lure customers. Being a luxurious brand, it cannot give huge amount of gifts. It will affect the brand value and may lead to loss of potential customers. For a limited time, the bike may come with some complimentary offers such as customized helmets, premium riding jackets. Customized skins for the bike will also be made available for customers at a substantially lower price. It may offer certain percentage discount (5-10%) on fuel (partnering with any fuel company) to attract potential customers. Customers will be given a fuel recharge card which will have virtual money on it which will be valid for a year or half. After Sales: Post-purchase services can be extended to two to three years of purchasing. Special Pricing: •Special price for loyal and privileged customers for a limited period to avail the bike before launch. Credit Policy: •Bikes can be availed at 5-10% down payment. •Easy loans Exchange Policy Any premium bike can be exchanged with Mercedes bike. Customers may get a brand-new bike with an exchange of his/her premium bike. The adjustment of price will be dependent on the resale value of the bike that customer owns. Star Rally 4.0: Mercedes host an exclusive rally to assure an enduring adrenaline rush. Customer Services Provided •Highly Trained Staff - Mercedes-Benz exclusively
works with highly qualified service employees. •Transparent pricing - After every service an invoice is explained in detail to customers, giving a clear overview of what service they are paying for. •Pre-service check - Either Customer drop-off their Bike or get it collected by Mercedes-Benz, Employees will carry out a pre-service check to diagnose any problems you may have experienced. •AI-Based Alerts- Mercedes uses an AI-based System to send alerts to the customer regarding the need for Servicing the Bike and ask Customer to fix the date and time •Mercedes Service Centre employees then pick the Bike on the specified date, take it to the service center, complete the servicing process and send then drop the Bike at customer’s residence. •If during an accident, the Bike gets damaged then during the time, the Bike gets ready for use; the customer is provided a new Bike by Mercedes for use. High Mileage Award The Mercedes-Benz High Mileage Award program has been developed to recognize and reward brand loyalty and vehicle durability. The High Mileage Award is available free to Mercedes-Benz owners who have surpassed the 250,000 km, 500,000 km or 1,000,000 km milestone(s). After completing the award application, owners must take the bike to a Mercedes-Benz authorized dealer for odometer verification. Mercedes-Benz owners should expect to receive their grille badge along with a presentation folio with a High Mileage Award certificate in 4-6 weeks’ time. Conclusion The business strategy of Mercedes bike is based on its powerful brand image. Its core values are technology, innovation, performance, quality, reliability, exclusivity and customer satisfaction. But one great threat for Mercedes Group is the increasing competition in the luxury vehicle market. It has got fierce competitors like BMW, Harley Davidson etc. One of the key points which make Mercedes a unique brand is its promotions. It has over time established and re-established itself to be a very smart marketer. Majority of the promotional campaigns of Mercedes market the products based on their superior technological advantages, design, and how it is meant to be for the premium class. Exclusivity of the stores is a factor to leverage on for Mercedes; the company had & will continue to invest in the creation of flagship stores, to maximize the consumer experience and at the same time expanding the number of authorized dealers.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
Marquing the moments
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
Story behind a good
Advertisement By: Malvika Paliwal Delhi School of Management
One thing that gets the customer to know your product is a good advertisement. Whether you’re an impulsive, analytical, amiable or a driven-by buyer, a good advertisement is which attracts all. A well-articulated ad presented through any channel can do wonders. It may attract you while you walk past the street through a bill board or may appeal to you by trending on social media. A successful Ad campaign brings more revenue over time than the cost of the campaign and improves the financial outlook of a business. We can see this by assessing the most successful campaigns of all time by Nike, which turned out to be the deal breaker. Earlier, Nike’s product catered almost exclusively to marathon runners, but then came the era of fitness craze and the company took the best from it. The people in Nike’s marketing department knew that they needed to take advantage of it to surpass their main competitor, Reebok. Therefore in the late 1980s, Nike created the “Just Do It.” campaign. In 1988, Nike sales were at $800 million; However after the campaign was released, the sales exceeded $9.2 billion in 1998. “Just Do It” encapsulated everything which was in the minds of people when they were exercising, and it’s still relevant today. Don’t want to run a mile? Just Do It. Don’t want to play the game? Just Do It. The slogan is very relatable: which promotes to push ourselves beyond our limits.
Nike continued with the drive since then, further took this forward to social media to push its e-commerce sales. It campaigned heavily on facebook, twitter, google and other mobile social media platforms like snapchat, Instagram, etc., with the help of young celebs and sports person like Bella Hadid and Serena Williams. It also tested what it calls “shock drop,” an unannounced launch of a new shoe to a select group of members via its app, SNKRS, the sneaker-focused app. Such niche marketing along with its famous ‘just do it’ campaign helped it cross 2 billion dollars in online sales in 2017. It is hard to define a good advertisement but there are few give away for creating ads with impact. First of them is to list all the features. A good ad is inclusive of all the features that a product is willing to offer. This is a tactic used by most of the electronic products and automobiles. It can be seen for Apple, which has moved away from the controversy and rival-baiting it used to love, to subtly describing the best of the things it has to offer. The second requirement of a good advertisement is talking about the benefits and making an offer. Features are supplemented with the benefits they offer as people are more interested in what they get from unique features of products and services. On the basis of these benefits, an offer is made keeping
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak in mind the competitors and perceived value by the consumers. Consumers love to bargain, so offer them a good one which will make them come back to you time and time again. It can be easily explained by case studies of giant e-commerce sites such as Amazon and Flipkart in India. These sites hold the date of importance and special occasions like festivals and launch their campaigns. They have also diverted a huge amount of ad spend towards digital in recent years, as per a recent study. This was because about 70% of the respondents surveyed for the study said that they got to know about this year’s sale events through low-cost digital channels such as social media (RedSeer). They attract these customers through making ad campaigns focusing on substantial discounts and affordable prices which are promised to be lowest in the market. These promises and offers make customers come back again.
Earlier it was believed that advertisements should be for informational use only. In the year 1963, advertisement pioneer David Ogilvy, in his book Confessions of Advertising Man, suggested information should be preferred over entertainment. However later he changed his attitude towards advertisement and included creativity in content as one of the helping factors. Creativity adds to the retention power of the ads, and they stay for longer time in the minds of people, it is another most important features of a successful campaign. Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign, which has been turning heads since its inception in 2004, is one of the best examples of creative ads. It touches upon the emotional string of the people and is meaningful as well. It was one of the most well-received campaigns with different videos showing Dove’s sketches that were viewed more than 114 million times, shared 3.74 million times, uploaded in 25 languages, and seen in 110 countries worldwide. The
social media impression was found out to be over 4 billion. Sales increased from 2.5 billion dollars to 4 billion dollars in 2014.
One of another important feature of an advertisement is a call for action or urgency. Potential customers have to be encouraged to buy the product and impulsive buying. This can be done by telling them directly to respond to the ad by calling, clicking, ordering the product, paying for the services, etc. Urgency can be created by including offers valid for a limited time; this helps in attainment of quick response from the consumer’s side for an irresistible offer. The best example of this can be Reliance Jio mobile subscription, which released a limited time offer for free calls and data, heavily advertised it to create urgency among the buyers. The campaign helped it to cross 50 million subscribers within 83 days. The mix of above-stated advertising tactics helps in making the campaign stand out among the others and find a position for itself in the market. However, overusing any of the tactics can intimidate, make consumer lose interest, generate a feeling of mistrust or disengage the consumer. The trick remains the same, to strike a balance between all of them and achieve optimality.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
Catering to the Ghajinis of the consumer world By: Shashank Mehrotra IIFT
Catering to the Ghajinis of the consumer world A study says that the attention span of the human mind has gone down to 8 seconds, even less than a Goldfish’s at 9 seconds. And with every passing moment, it is going to reduce only, what with the plethora of information we receive each passing second. In such a scenario it is becoming more and more challenging for a marketer to capture the attention of the consumers. They need to be consistently creative, think out of the box, be agile and persistent with what they believe in. The challenge lies in standing out in the sea of brand endorsements and the various advertising channels available now while catering to an audience whose attention is more fleeting than ever before.
Deliberating on the same, one of the concepts that had cropped up in the field of marketing was the YouTube’s TrueView in-stream option that gives viewers the option to skip ads after 5 seconds. These came as an alternative to 20-30 seconds unskippable ads. A 30-second unskippable ad on a 45-second clip is a brutal user experience. Keeping this in mind brands are going for content specific, short hard-hitting ads that make their mark in those 5 seconds to intrigue the consumer to further watch their ads. But this has made the job of the marketer all the more grueling and taxing. In today’s timeframe when the internet penetration is improving at such a fast pace with more and more people accessing smart phones using many apps
simultaneously, everyone wants to get the message
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak without any delay. People watching YouTube videos typically don’t want to watch advertisements at all. All they wait for is the five-second skip and then immediately click on the same. As per a study conducted by YouTube, 85 percent of viewers skip the advertisements as a result of which, they never reach its main message thereby defeating the very purpose of its existence. Another area of concern for the marketers is that Youtube will charge them only when the user views their ad for the entire duration, i.e. 100%. Anything less than that and they won’t be charged anything.
What marketers are doing to adapt to this change is that they create a series of vignettes and string them together to come up with a coherent message.
A marketer bids on a Cost Per Click(CPC) basis and gets paid only for complete viewing of the advertisement. Some of the ads that have successfully managed to grab the attention of the viewers in the initial 5 seconds are that of Nivea’s new Body Deodorizer using actress Anushka Sharma as Brand Ambassador and Instant Chocolate Horlicks advertisement. Nivea’s ad campaign plays on the eccentricities of digital content and its consumption habits, especially the impulse of the viewer to skip a film within the initial 5 seconds. It successfully uses humor to engage the audience in the first 5 seconds. It explains the functional use of the product in that time while also connecting with the viewer using the limitation of the media itself as the central communication tool. While the Horlicks advertisement used the first 5 seconds to touch upon the issue that Horlicks does not have a miscibility problem by actually showing consumers in just 5-seconds how soluble the new Horlicks is, and how easily it dissolves in the milk.
techniques like voiceovers, call-to-action, music and emotion in particular comedy, tend to play an important role in bumpers. A perfect blend of these components results in the message becoming clear to the target audience and compelling them to remain glued to the advertisement. For example, Pepsi went super-short in the US with its new emoji-themed commercials, creating 100 five-second spots that aired both on TV and in search-triggered digital media. The 5-seconders showed brief, charming, cartoon vignettes of Pepsi bottles doing summery things like skydiving, sunbathing, eating ice cream and more.
New concept the marketers are introducing
An advertisement that had a number of elements gets broken down into individual components and thereby we have multiple ads each with a component. This concept is introduced as YouTube’s Bumper Ads. Taking a cue from the fact that the average human attention span is eight seconds—it’s more crucial than ever to make an immediate impact with viewers to succeed. To achieve the marketers are using
As future marketers, we can learn from such successful campaigns that were able to grab the attention of their audience and have good brand recall value of their products. The marketers believe the campaigns should have A Brand Perspective which uses creative elements that are unique to the brand, A Creative Perspective where they make the product the focus and celebrate it, and A Media Perspective to test and learn to optimize for your campaign goals.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
#buzzfeed The FIFA World Cup is the mecca of building brands and networking The FIFA World Cup is unofficially the world’s largest sporting event. Featuring 32 national soccer teams, it captivates an estimated billions of people across the globe during its month-long run. Given the global focus on this sporting event, many official sponsors and other companies attempt to capture the attention of those following this event. FIFA has official sponsors in three tiers: FIFA Partners, World Cup sponsors, and National Supporters (which are all Brazilian companies) In addition, the Partners are offered the possibility to tailor their sponsorship according to their marketing strategy and needs. For example, they can individually use the Official logo and create composite logos. This not only allows them to differentiate themselves creatively from uninvolved third parties but also gives them an excellent marketing tool.
Philips India ropes in Virat Kohli as brand ambassador for its male grooming products Philips India has roped in Virat Kohli as the new brand ambassador for its male grooming products. The company expects Virat will be a key influencer to drive the brand among millennials since he is one of the most influential style icons among the youth. Philips Personal Care senior marketing director and business head Dipti Jagdev Shah said association with Virat Kohli is a natural choice. “His beard is the most loved aspect of this stylish youth icon and Virat personifies our brand philosophy of the modern man flawlessly,” he said. Kohli in the interview said, he uses Philips Trimmer. In the build-up to the launch of the latest range of Philips trimmers, the company launched a social media campaign that went viral where Kohli spoke about his love for his beard and whether he needs to insure his beard.
LinkedIn rolls out Carousel Ads to ‘humanise’ B2B marketing In similar fashion to its consumer-facing counterparts, B2B social network LinkedIn has launched Carousel Ads, allowing advertisers to display up to 10 customized, swipeable cards within one ad. The approach seems to be working; of the 300 advertisers that have conducted beta trials so far including Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, RBC and Volvo Canada, some 75% have noted increased engagement and clickthrough rates. For the ROI-driven marketer, meanwhile, metrics of ad performance can be accessed including click-through rates, number of leads generated, and impressions for each individual card, all of which will be integrated to its Campaign Manager tool in the coming months.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
Amazon owns more than 90% market share across 5 different product categories in US A report from Jumpshot, an analytics platform tracking consumer behavior online, released this week, shows Amazon dominates e-commerce sales in several categories. The company owned more than a 90 percent market share for online purchases in home improvement tools, skin care, batteries, golf and kitchen and dining accessories in Q1 2018. Tracking the number of online purchases across 100 million devices from 500 different e-commerce retailers and marketplaces, Jumpshot reports that Amazon took a 97 percent market share of online battery purchases in Q1 of this year, along with a 94 percent share of kitchen and dining product purchases, a 93 percent share of home improvement tool purchases, a 92 percent share of golf-related product purchases and a 91 percent share of skin care product purchases. Electronics played a huge role in Amazon’s lead in private label conversions. Excluding electronics conversions from the private label numbers, Amazon’s share drops from 61 percent to 26 percent, with Walmart, Target and Macy’s taking 74 percent of private label conversions.
Sri Sri Ravishankar’s FMCG brand lines up a Rs 200-crore ad blitz to compete with Patanjali As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s FMCG brand Sri Sri Tattva tries to play catch-up with Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali, it plans to ramp up its marketing spend, earmarking about Rs 200 crore for advertising and promotion, said media buyers. The new entrant in the field of Ayurveda and herbal products will spend this amount on mass media advertising, outdoor campaigns and below-the-line marketing across the country to support its expansion plan of opening 1,000 stores in the country. While the products are currently sold through online marketplace such as Amazon, Flipkart, BigBasket, it has tied up with Nykaa to sell personal care products. It has also teamed up with 1mg and MedLife for the ayurvedic and other healthcare products.
Twitter opens in-stream video ads to advertisers in 12 global markets via its self-serve ad tool Twitter’s in-stream video ads, launched in April 2017, are now available to all advertisers in the US and 11 other global markets. Twitter is opening in-stream video ads to all advertisers via its self-serve ad tool, making the video ad product available in 12 global markets. Twitter’s in-stream video ads, launched in April of 2017, were originally available only to advertisers that had been whitelisted to take advantage of the ad product. With this latest video ad update, Twitter says no community management is needed, as advertisers can start an in-stream video ad campaign via the platform’s self-serve ad tool. Advertisers in the following 12 global markets will have access to the video ad product starting today: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Spain, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
Role of Employer Branding In Nurturing Organizational Effectiveness!
By: Suraj Kamath SIESCOMS
Employer branding and its Importance We are surfing the tides of an agile and disruptive VUCA world wherein organizations have brought about a paradigm shift in the way they do business. Branding in conventional terms is an art of creating a unique and differentiated perception in the minds of customers through an innovative value proposition. Employer branding deals with how organizations showcase themselves not only to external but also internal stakeholders, i.e. employees. It is rightly elucidated by Mr. Philip Kotler that “The art of marketing is the art of brand building. If you are not a brand, you are a commodity. Then the price is everything, and the low-cost producer is the only winner�. Thus, organizations try to foster this feeling as an altar for the price to reap long-term benefits.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
The subtle payoffs of this strategic activity are: •Robust Digital Footprint: A strong digital branding strategy using social media ensures that organizations are abreast with latest offerings and industry practices. It helps in attracting top talent by communicating job opportunities effectively. 62% of job seekers visit social media to evaluate employer information. •Improved Talent Acquisition: Appropriate employer branding attracts top talent from premier institutions. As applicants approach themselves, it reduces the cost of recruitment. Moreover, it helps employers to scout good talent in a shorter span. •Right Talent Engagement and Motivation: Happy employees are motivated to work and feel empowered. Employer branding reflects an organization’s culture and core values. It gives employees an impressive career launch with robust growth by creating opportunities through challenging assignments and
people’s practices. •Reputable Brand Image: Employees feel privileged and proud to be working with a renowned brand as it imbibes a sense of job satisfaction, status in society and trust which is rightly attributed as per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. 75% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand even before applying for a job. •Customer Retention and Brand Loyalty: Customers remain loyal to a brand because they relish a sense of trust, credibility, and value for money for offerings. It holds true for employees who are on the cusp of their career paths to grow with the present employer thus curbing attrition. •Premium Positioning: Successful employer branding helps in better revenue generation through lucrative margins as they become price makers rather than price takers. Example: Apple, BMW, Starbucks.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak Impact of Brand Mantra A short tagline can speak wonders about the core essence of a brand. It creates a strong brand recall and top of mind awareness (TOMA).
A strong brand dwells on the following factors:
Example: •Accenture – High Performance Delivered •Deloitte. – Making an impact that matters •Tata – Leadership with trust These taglines not only explain their powerful mantra to clients but also to employees for meticulously following and nurturing relationships. Strict company standards, corporate governance, and HR policies drive the way employees work as per stipulated guidelines and quality standards thus improving organizational effectiveness. The benefits from the point of view of external stakeholders are:
Employer Branding by Mondelez International Some of the possible techniques to invest in employer branding are:
Investing in Employer Branding “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently”- Mr. Warren Buffet. Considering the fact, it is worth investing in a brand because of the benefits cited above.
•Best places to work for: Companies regularly participate in such competitions and surveys conducted by reputed authorities who rate companies based on certain critical parameters like employee satisfaction, HR policies, compensation and many more. Example: Fortune 500, Great Places to Work, Forbes Rankings, Aon Awards. Hosting Awards, Summits, and Competitions: The reason for hosting competitions is to get fresh ideas and exceptional talent from institutes. Example: Deloitte. Maverick, Mahindra War Room, HUL LIME, CRISIL Young Thought Leader, ET Young Leaders are some of them.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
•Companies host award ceremonies so that employees feel valued and respected when they receive awards for their contribution. It creates a sense of recognition for employees and nurtures team building. Example: Tata Excellence Awards. Summits help in networking and knowledge sharing. Event management in association with sponsors makes people aware about the brands hosting them. Example: Google Cloud Summit 2017. •Social Media Marketing: Employers publicize what their employees think, latest offerings, trends in the industry and potential job opportunities on their website or social media platforms. Example: Big 4s generally publicize their talent, industry reports, awards, success stories, and rankings. •Crafting Research Reports, Thoughtware, and Infographics: Employers do in-depth research within sectors they operate and publish weekly, monthly or quarterly reports or infographics. Example: Randstad Talent Trends Report 2017, PwC BlockChain Infographic. • Revamping HR Policies: Employers continuously invest in making their workplace better so that employees feel satisfied and they become brand ambassadors. The crux is to deliver what is promised! Example: Work from Home, Sabbaticals, Flex Timings, Insurance Policies, Leave Transfers, Family Engagement and many more.
•CSR Activities: Employers show how they give back to society and focus on sustainability. Example: Nanhi Kali by Mahindra & Mahindra. Key Value Drivers and Challenges Let us evaluate how employer branding differs as per industry before moving on to value drivers. Employer branding varies slightly for product and service industries as follows:
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
Challenges faced during employer branding are:
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak Advantages and Disadvantages It is rightly said that “You reap what you sow!” Hence, it is foolish to consider Human Capital merely as a cost center and a liability. In fact, a strong talent base can convert HR from being merely costs to operational assets which is of prime importance in the open talent economy.
Examples of Successful Employer Branding •Google brands itself so innovatively that it is consistently ranked amongst best places to work for. Its success lies in its HR policies, positive employee reviews, and lavish workplace. •L’Oreal has a clear brand message of consistency, thrilling experience and excellence which attracts top talent. • Mckinsey and Co. harvests the cream crop from premier institutes and does consult for Fortune 50 clients. Its exceptional talent pool helps to build credibility and trust thus commanding a premium price from clients. Moreover, it has become a market leader in the consulting space. •Big 4s let employees share success stories on Youtube, Facebook, and LinkedIn which spreads positive word of mouth. •Nestle has a program called “Alma-Connect” which
connects alumni of B-schools who are working with Nestle to share experience and career opportunities with students thus motivating them to join the organization. •Accenture has focused on inclusion and diversity and has opened career options for LGBT individuals, physically challenged people and military veterans. •Unilever, Johnson, and Johnson are some organ-
izations who publicize the competitions they host. Moreover, they also specially mention if their employees have won awards like “Best Innovation of the Year” or “Best CXO of the Year”. The Way Ahead! As competition is intensifying every day with new players chipping in this disruptive environment, employers should invest in their talent and employer branding strategies to sustain. Moreover, it is imperative to innovate and fulfill brand promise ethically through trust and commitment. Employer branding should be looked upon as a long-term investment rather than a cost. It is rightly said by Mr. Richard Branson that “Loyal employees in any company create loyal customers, who in turn create happy shareholders!” Thus employer branding is crucial for leveraging competitive advantage and nurturing organizational effectiveness.
Marque- The Marketing Club, IIM Rohtak
Marque – The Marketing Club Indian Institute of Management Rohtak
Editor: Isha Garg Design: Rahul Maurya Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the stakeholders of IIM Rohtak.