The Marksman - December 2013

It’s all about the AD-ITUDE

The Van Damme Split

Special Story

Google’s Reunion

Faux Pas

Kissan

HALLMARK CAMPAIGN

EDITOR’S NOTE Dear Readers, We welcome you to the December edition of ‘The Marksman’, a month filled with lights snow and feasts. This year has seen some of the most innovative trends catching up pace in the world of marketing, be it the rise of social media as a key ingredient factor of communication or the use of big data analytics for better understanding of consumers.

In this edition, we bring to you “Buzz Marketing”, a viral marketing technique deployed by companies to make each encounter with their consumers unique, spontaneous and personal. Through this article, we shall explore the importance of buzz marketing & how a blockbuster hit movie as well as a Youtube hit song incorporated this concept. The article concludes with a few examples on how negative word of mouth juxtaposed with buzz marketing can derogatorily affect a brand. This month’s Brand Markive comes with a tinge of change! We’ve focussed and explored our very own institute K.J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research. Through this article, we’ll try understanding the elements that have gone into making this institute a premier B-School in India. Apart from these, the Marksman continues to keep you enlightened through Tweets, Bookworm, Buzz, Aditude, SquAreheaD, Hallmark Campaign and Faux Pas. Your overwhelming response for our December’s Call for article was highly appreciated by our team and after a rigorous evaluation, we have Sankeerth Nedunoori, Sahil Khurana and Dhaval Thacker whose articles made it to the top. To all the other entries who didn’t feature this time around, we extend our warm thank you for your efforts and urge you all to keep writing to us.

We’d also like to hear back from our esteemed readers on how you find this issue.

Do mail us on www.interfacesimsr.com/the-marksman and stay connected with us.

Enjoy this journey of our December edition.

Happy Reading!

Team MARKSMAN The Interface-The Marketing Club of SIMSR @marksmansimsr.

DECEMBER 2013

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CONTENTS

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TWEETS IT’S ALL ABOUT ADITUDE BRAND MARKIVE

03 05 06

COVER STORY SPECIAL STORY

08 13

MARKETING FAUX PAS HALLMARK CAMPAIGN BOOKWORM

15 16 17

REWIND Navikaran Nostalgia Comstrat

18 20 21

SQUAREHEAD TETE-E-TETE FEATURED ARTICLES BUZZ

22 23 26 34

THE MARKSMAN

TWEETS “Oreo won the Super Bowl blackout”

Oreo kicked off the year with a superb, spontaneous online ad during the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XLVII is a very famous American football game and this year when there was a quite an infamous power blackout of 34 minutes, the sandwich cookie’s social media team grabbed the moment, tweeting an ad that read “Power Out? No problem” with a starkly-lit image of a solitary Oreo and the caption, “You can still dunk in the dark. The tweet became quite popular and was retweeted very widely.

DECEMBER 2013

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TWEETS

Marks & Spencer Magic-and-Sparkle Campaign

M&S proved that hashtags are one of the most valuable assets in any modern marketing campaign. M&S launched an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed ad featuring the hashtag #magicandsparkle. It not only summed up the heart of the brand’s campaign and flavour of the Christmas period, but provided the jump off point for a competition. In the ad, a model loses her dog down a modernday rabbit hole and gives chase. @marksandspencer launched a competition to name the dog: was it going to be magic or sparkle? It used a variation of its main hashtag (#MagicorSparkle).

This tweet campaign also showed how a hashtag can allow brands to do more: not only to launch their multi-million pound TV ads, but to ensure that they do good once they’re out.

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THE MARKSMAN

IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE Video Ad Client: The Van Damme Split

Deemed to be one of the best advertisements of the modern era, the Van Damme split on top on 2 moving Volvo trucks is nothing short of sensational. The ad was supposed to demonstrate the smoothness of the Volvo busses that showcase extraordinary craftsmanship and dexterity in innovation. But it is Van Damme who steals the thunder. If the sheer audacity of a 53 year old man to even think about attempting such a daredevil stunt doesn't make you gape in shocked disbelief then I'm not sure what will. To add to the awesomeness (as if it were needed), the whole thing was shot in just one take. The pictures below do not do enough justice to what was an unbelievable feat of bravery, strength and flexibility, so here's a link to the video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FIvfx5J10.

Kudos to Volvo, Kudos to the brains behind the ad, Kudos to Van Damme

Print Ad Client: Philips LED Philips has partnered with Ogilvy & Mather to handle its business around the globe. Ogilvy & Mather have come up with a brilliant set of advertisements which simply oozes creativity.

The central theme is an LED torch with its shinning light cutting through the darkness.

Analogous to how the prophet Moses parted the sea to create a path, the light just slices through the darkened surroundings to make a distinct separation. In India, they have chosen to do so by taking and congested alley in Gurgaon and a dark forest in two different pictures.

Since a picture speaks a thousand words, just feast your eyes on these pictures which will surely make you gasp in awe and wonder how some people manage to see beauty and creativity in the simple and mundane things in life.

DECEMBER 2013

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BRAND MARKIVE SIMSR K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research (popularly known as SIMSR) emphasizes on holistic growth of students. The Institute provides a plethora of opportunities outside the classroom - industry interactions, cultural activities, sports competitions, entrepreneurial pursuits, social activities, consultancy for small and medium enterprises.

SIMSR offers world-class infrastructure spread over 1,50,000 square feet built up area that supports the pursuit of knowledge and the exercise of individual interests. Well equipped Gym, Mess, Laundromat, indoor games, large green spaces, jogging track, facilities for Squash, Lawn tennis, Football/Hockey, Cricket, Volleyball, Badminton and Basket ball, open chess board etc. An open amphitheater provides space for cultural and academic activities. Energetic and engaged students organize and participate in a variety of social and interest- or career-oriented activities.

The vibrant residential campus is designed to develop skills, encourage collaboration and build relationships that last a lifetime.

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The institute endeavors to remain at the crest of change and continues to develop management thought that addresses vital business, social and human needs. The institute aspires to be a model of leadership, honor, and integrity. It strives to create an environment of trust, respect, and free expression.

In a world where entrepreneurship, communication, leadership, negotiation, and team building are as important as data analysis, SIMSR builds leaders. And in a world striving on trade, the curriculum is global in perspective. Here, in a post-Enron world, ethics and corporate social responsibility take a center stage.

The curriculum focuses on multidimensional and integrative problem solving rather than the isolated delivery of individual "functional silo" disciplines. It moulds students to face the complexities of the real world, which functions in a multidisciplinary way. The curriculum abandons the traditional "chalk and talk" lectures and embraces more experiential learning. As Confucius wrote centuries ago, "Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand."

THE MARKSMAN

BRAND MARKIVE

K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research, Mumbai, which started in 1981 is today ranked 17th amongst all business schools in India (Outlook 2012).

VISION-To be among the top 100 B-Schools in the World by the year 2025 MISSION  To impart state-of-the-art education in management and allied areas to students and working professionals, enabling them to develop into competent, socially responsible and value driven citizens committed to sustainable development  To undertake research and consultancy for the benefit of industry and society  To continuously innovate and use best practices of governance in all operations  To create an environment for faculty, staff and students to achieve their full potential  It offers Doctoral Programme in Management, Master in Management Studies, Post Graduate Diploma in Management, Post Graduate Diploma in Management-Executive.

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COVER STORY BUZZ MARKETING Buzz marketing is a viral marketing technique that attempts to make each encounter with a consumer appear to be a unique, spontaneous personal exchange of information. The advertiser reveals information about the product or service to only a few people in the target audience. By purposely seeking out one-on-one conversations with those who heavily influence their peers, buzz marketers create a sophisticated word-ofmouth campaign where consumers are flattered to be included in the elite group of those "in the know" and willingly spread the word to their friends and colleagues.

So what exactly is buzz? Buzz means word of mouth marketing, Text messaging, e- mail distribution lists, message boards, web sites, and blogs etc

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Buzz marketing is used to grab the attention of the desired TG by letting them talk or influencing them in such a way that they communicate by giving them a reason to talk.

Marketing communications, particularly advertising, is both expensive and is increasingly weighted down with clutter.

Too many messages are being broadcasted too often. The very fact that the cost of traditional media is rising, ads are cluttered and exaggerated, makes word of mouth very effective. This situation grows even more acute in the case of the Gen X and Gen Y segments. While these groups are still highly susceptible to brand influence, they do show signs of being more cynical in their response to the marketing message. Also, they are pretty eager to acquire brand news and information from less-traditional sources.

Buzz marketing combines a number of influencing factors like word-of-mouth, viral marketing and the current fixation on early trend-setting and spotting. Its growing acceptance is evidenced by the fact that some of the world's most authoritative marketers have now entered the field. Traditional marketing wisdom tries to measure and manipulate the spread of information from business to customer. On the other hand, the buzz marketing method is based upon the flow of information between consumers.

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

Ultimately buzz marketing tries to create a proactive consumer (prosumer) and rather than selling a brand directly from the company to the consumer, it tries to sell from one consumer to another. Buzz marketing is effective among prosumers because it provides them an opportunity to interact with and to a certain extent, control the brands with which they partner. It facilitates them to experience a brand rather than simply use it. Whereas the old system required advertisers to pick their audiences, an important aspect of buzz is that the audience picks itself. Once the buzz gets going, its flow is free and natural. It reaches those who are open to it and by-passes those who are not. In short, buzz marketing gives power to the people. Every individual in a buzz chain has the freedom to accept or reject the message he or she is given. The essence of buzz marketing is the ability to turn consumers into ambassadors for your brands

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Buzz Marketing in Movies: Buzz marketing as we have seen is very similar to Viral Marketing and is a topic that has been done to death. To evaluate this concept from a newer aspect, in this issue we shall see the role of Buzz Marketing in Indian Movies today.

Now when we come on to movies we do realize the importance attached to buzz marketing as it is considered an extremely popular belief that at the end of all it is the word-of-mouth that result in sales. One may come to know about a particular region or country by watching their movies. Some of the catchy words like “aal izz well” quickly becomes the part of the everyday language so it keeps the conversations going and also eventually forms an important part of the culture.

Hence in social circles, especially in India, movies are an important topic to talk about e.g. when the collections for “3 Idiots” smashed the box office there was a lot of hue and cry about the movie and people used to discuss it often at work place or home. It gave people a reason to talk and became a part of the popular culture. This combination makes the buzz marketing a choicest way to market the movies.

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

Why this Kolaveri Di? As per the ET, The soup song has turned an anthem for the future managers in the country. All IIMs have accepted this song as the best examples of viral marketing. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) has included this song in the subject “Contemporary Film Industry: a business perspective” . Kolaveri Di is a perfect case of viral marketing, which has created a huge difference in the world of publicity.”

The institutes have also made videos of the entire class singing to Kolaveri Di and posted them on networking sites.

10 DEC 2013

The song officially released on 18 November. Then it spread like a fire through social networking sites.

Within first week of release, it received 1.3 million views on YouTube, more than 1 million shares on face book. This is the first Tamil song to be premiered on MTV India. On 30th November, Song crossed 10 crore hits on YouTube.

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

Movie is an art form which is experiential in nature. Hence, the evaluation of the same differs from person to person as everybody has his or her own preferences in it. As the evaluation criteria are vague, people depend more on word of mouth. It is important to take into consideration the content of the film and also the expectation before its release to completely understand the word-of-mouth phenomena. The word of mouth generated by the movie released in the first week affects the collection at the box office in the second week, and the word of mouth generated in the second affects the collection of the third and this goes on and on. But the word of mouth generated not only depends on the content of the film, but also the audience which the movie targeted should be in sync with the content of the film. A slight mis-match can create problems and result in bad word of mouth e.g. “Billu Barber� concentrated more on Shahrukh Khan to draw crowds but failed because in the first week people who went to see a typical Shahrukh Khan film were disappointed and the negative word of mouth spread.

Hence a proper positioning of the movie for the desired TG also affects the word of mouth and in turn affects the box office collections.

DEC DECEMBER 2013 2013

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

Although the movie marketing professionals agree that the young adults in the metros with a good amount of disposable income generate a good amount of the revenue for the film, still a lot can be done still to target them specifically because they are the ones to first see the movie, comment on the blogs, virals, are also socially networking to create buzz. As movie is a piece of art and subjective in nature most of the marketing including buzz takes place before the movie is released. After the movie is released word of mouth spreads fast and then it cannot be controlled.

Therefore buzz marketing can be double edged sword – if the movie lacks content on the same virals there would be people commenting not to watch the film

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HAVE A LOOK Lessons Learnt in Buzz Marketing: Broadcast Yourself” It is not Rocket Science….

Sometimes… Its just a simple idea, captured right. Contagious” A good Viral is highly contagious.

You don’t need to promote it. A good viral spreads by itself. You Don’t Have to Spend to Get Noticed To spread the word out, you need not burn a hole in your pocket and promote things like crazy Gaining a good amount of attention on-line Will attract the other traditional media towards your story. The viral was covered in leading News Channels & Newspapers An Online Viral can spill over offline…

Gaining a good amount of attention on-line will attract the other traditional media towards your story

THE MARKSMAN

SPECIAL STORY GOOGLE’S “REUNION” WITH THE USERS The emotional ad campaign by the search engine Google, has touched many hearts since its release. Currently, the commercial crosses 10.5 million views which reached 1.6 million in a day after the launch. It is a sensitive topic to tap but Ogilvy has done a superb job in taking this message to the people in India and Pakistan. It evokes strong feelings in the ones who are watching the video.

Google ad "Reunion" portrays two childhood friends, now elderly men, who haven't seen each other since they were separated by the 1947 partition that created India and Pakistan from the old British empire in South Asia. Partition sparked a mass exodus as millions of Muslims and Hindus fled across the new borders amid religious violence.

In the Google ad, one of the men reminisces to his granddaughter about his happy childhood in Lahore and how he used to steal sweets from a shop with his best friend, who the ad implies is Muslim.

His granddaughter uses the search engine to track down the childhood friend in the Pakistani city. Then, with the help of the Pakistani man's grandson (and naturally, Google), she arranges a journey to New Delhi for a surprise reunion. The ad struck a cultural chord with Indians and Pakistanis.

DECEMBER 2013

Google is probably the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about the internet. The search engine is one of the most loved brands of the current generation. The question is what's the point of making a three and a half-minute film when Google already enjoys 97 per cent search market share in India?

It seems Google wanted to strike up a conversation to showcase the different uses of Google and at the same time, tell magical stories that show why users love the product.

One of the Google’s core philosophies is that their users are smart and intelligent. Hence, the attempt was to have a conversation and tell users that they can do a lot more, and a lot quicker, by showcasing some of the innovations that allow the product to be used in different ways.

The campaign showcased many of the new innovations that Google search has rolled out. Innovations like flight search, theatre timings for movies and language translation help users save time, and get to-the-point answers to their most common queries. This campaign aided in creating the awareness among the masses about the new products.

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SPECIAL STORY As explained on a personal blog

by Himanshu Gupta, a mobile industry expert, Google also sees a future where more searches will happen on mobile devices. As per Statcounter data, mobile is already 62.5 per cent of traffic on Google India as compared to 37.5 per cent from desktop . So, Google knows that more and more of its target users are on mobile and not on desktops.

Hence, the "Reunion" ad starts with a desktop experience of Google and shifts to a mobile only experience and newer integrated services such as flight information and weather. Internet is really changing the way we live and the youth is driving the change. Through the campaign Google has tried to highlight how youth can bring about a change and address it in a way which people across age groups can relate to.

Google has been promoting its products in many ways quite extensively in the recent years. In December 2011, Google India extended its 'The Web is What You Make of It' campaign with a spot about Tanjore paintings, an ancient Indian art form that seems to be fading away from the modern world. In July 2013, Google India launched 'Start Searching India' campaign which was aimed at simplifying the web for the country's internet users. The objective of the campaign was to help simplify the web for Indian users, showing how they can get instant answers to their most common queries.

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All this extensive advertising by Google is mainly aimed at bringing average Indians at par with the new products being rolled out by the company and shifting them towards using mobile internet increasingly.

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MARKETING FAUX PAS Kissan Cheesy Spread Come 2011 Kissan, the leading foods brand of Hindustan Unilever, made its entry into the Rs.1200 crore Indian (non-sweet) spreads market with the national launch of Kissan Creamy Spread across 22 towns in India in three delicious flavours of Classic Creamy, Tomato Twist & Cheesy Garlic. It was endorsed by Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla who portrayed the health conscious housewives of urban India. But it came up in the market with a very basic marketing problem.

The cheesy spread was not positioned correctly. It was neither mayonnaise nor it was a healthy spread. This created a problem for the consumers, a segment that consisted of health conscious mothers. The ineffective positioning confused these mothers. Neither was this product in the mayonnaise category nor was it in the healthy spreads category.

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Kissan Cheesy Spread was priced at Rs 30 for 100gm and Rs 68 for 250gm which was appropriate for a spread but like Amul butter but it couldn’t be consumed every day because of its health issues. Kissan made a very basic mistake while marketing this product. They did not define the positioning of the product and that just confused the consumers.

Sometimes companies need to look into the basics before launching a new products.

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Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN

Coca-Cola has made it a habit of coming out with the most heart touching ads recently. They have become a brand that has made itself synonymous with the thought of connecting people across the world. The recent ads from coca cola have been successful in touching all the right emotional chords ranging from nostalgia to passion and love. But the common feature in all the ads has been the global factor, the message of being one no matter where we are, has been a common theme across all the advertising campaigns from Coca Cola.

Recently, in Europe, Coke is offering customers a chance to write their names on their bottles of Coke. The latest brainwave from the coca cola factory is the idea of having a can of Coke that twists apart into two smaller cans so you can share!

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But the one that probably has the maximum resonance in the subcontinent is the one which connects the two warring countries of Asia, India and Pakistan, with its latest advertising campaign.

It’s called ‘The Small World Machine’ campaign where Coca-Cola decided to unite their fans in India and Pakistan for brief moments of fun and a good time.

On March 20, Small World Machines were simultaneously installed at the Mall of Lahore in Pakistan, and MGF Mall in India. By setting up camera feeds connected in real-time and a touchscreen vending machine that spews out instructions, friends in Lahore, Pakistan and New Delhi, India connect with gestures, waves and dance — in exchange for free Coke. The machines invited mall-goers on either end to interact with one another, for example by touching hands "through" the screen, by tracing peace signs, even by sharing a dance.

According to reports, Coca-Cola plans to bring the high-tech vending machines to other countries in conflict.

Unfortunately, they did not reveal where they're going next, but I would just like to add that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un loves gadgets of all types.

THE MARKSMAN

BOOK WORM The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns in the World -written by Damian Ryan and Calvin Jones

Social network advertising is one of the most recent and the most efficient means of advertising in today’s world. The spending is expected to increase to a staggering $4.3 billion in a bid to attract today's media-savvy consumer, $1.64 billion in the US alone.

The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns in the World written by Damian Ryan and Calvin Jones, brings together an international collection of successful digital marketing campaigns, assessing what they achieved and the business lessons learned. This practical and dynamic book explores how businesses large and small have harnessed social media, blogs, forums, online video and email to boost their brand and attract customers.

Following the success of their first book, Understanding Digital Marketing, Damian Ryan and Calvin Jones present a selection of hand-picked case studies, sharing the knowledge and skill of the world's top creative minds.

DECEMBER 2013

WHY SHOULD YOU READ THIS BOOK? This book covers an interesting set of case studies, ranging from household names such as Pizza Hut and Pepsi to Obama's presidential election campaign. Thus, it gives an insight to all the marketers looking to embrace the new digital landscape and learn from some of the best in the business.

In the traditional marketing field, return on investment is the means of measuring impact. Nobody has been able to figure out ways to capture to ROI of social media until extremely recently. This has been captured to a great extent through the cases mentioned in the book which describe how the social media campaigns of major companies fared.

The authors take several digital ad campaigns and expands on how they worked, why they worked, and what the audience and budget were. The astonishing part of some of these case studies is that the budget was nearly non-existent, and they are still viewed by the authors as some of the most successful digital campaigns in the world.

WHY SHOULDN’T YOU READ THIS BOOK? There is one quirky truth that binds all books about digital and social media together: By the time they are published they are almost obsolete. Same holds true with this book, but that is not to say that there isn’t a place or a need for this book.

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REWIND NAVIKARAN With great enthusiasm and hopes, began the preparations for Navikaran’13, the marketing fest of SIMSR, organized by Team Interface. It was indeed a pleasure to get associated with very reputed brands namely Castrol and Saraswat Bank, on board as our Primary Sponsors. With associate sponsorships from Buckets and Tuckets, 9pea, The Chocolate Room, Lakme Saloon and Desi Connect, Navikaran’13 reached a new Milestone of sponsorship worth Rs. 6 lakh.

The build-up towards Navikaran’13 began way before D-Day with a series of Online Competitions and fun activities . To buzz out the exam stress, ‘Why Exams’- A photography competition was organized.

Chocolaty Moments were cherished with ‘Admataaz’- A Digital Poster making competition and TCR Moments, both in association with The Chocolate Room.

Diwali was made more colourful and bright with the Rang De Diwali- A Photography competition using Instagram! Marketing Acumen of participants was tested through Jigyasa the online marketing quiz.

Navikaran’13 took a giant leap turning as the event this time was a two-day affair with marketing being the buzz word all over SIMSR. 26th and 27th of November 2013 were the days that filled the SIMSR with joy and spirit of Navikaran.

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The first day of Navikaran was marked with the final round of RanNiti- the Flagship Case Study event of Navikaran, in association with Castrol.

The participants had to work on a case that revolved around the Digital Marketing and Monetization strategies of Castrol.

The event was a 3 stage event wherein the participants had to send a write up for initial selection, based on which 30 teams from B-schools across India were shortlisted. These teams then had to submit a presentation with the promotion strategies. For the final round (on-campus), the top 5 teams were shortlisted and these teams had to deliver their strategies which would help Castrol in their endeavour to create a larger footprint in the digital space. Our esteemed panel of judges comprised of Mr. Devendranath Bangui, Brand Manager, Castrol and our very own faculty, Prof. Debraj Ghoshal. While SIMS took the runners-up award, SIMSR was adjudged the winners of RaNiti’13.

An exclusive workshop on SoLoMoSocial, Local and Mobile Marketing and SIMSR’s first ever ‘TWEET UP!!!’ was conducted by Mr. Rahul Avasthy, Business Head at Zapak Digital Entertainment (Reliance Entertainment Digital). The event was a first of its kind and received a fabulous reception from all the participants.

THE MARKSMAN

REWIND The Tweet-up Event was highly interactive, fun-filled and had lots of surprises for the participants. Mr. Avasthy, through the Tweet-up communicated the importance of the social media in today’s competitive context and how brands today were leveraging the same.

Navikaran 2013, also witnessed the launch of another event – fresh and new that was sure to enthral all marketing enthusiasts: MarkYudh- The Marketing Plan Competition in association with Saraswat Bank, where a marketing plan to enhance the customer engagement and visibility of the brand was to be presented. The event witnessed a new level of ideation and entries were received from most of the top B-schools across the country out which the top 5 teams battled it out for the ultimate prize in the final (on-campus) round. Both the winners and runners-up prizes were bagged by SIMSR. Srijan - The Graffiti Design Competition, in association with Buckets and Tuckets marked the culmination of Navikaran’13.

DECEMBER 2013

SIMSR’s Amphitheatre transformed in to a ‘Creative Hub’ witnessing over 35 teams busy blending colours and adding life to their creations. Winners were judged based on their creativity and innovative ideas. The Valedictory Function witnessed all the winners cherishing their awards which concluded the fun filled journey of Navikaran’13. Navikaran’13 thus provided marketing enthusiasts with a plethora of opportunities to display their marketing skills – in line with Team Interface’s mission – as Team Interface always stands for Marketing.

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NOSTALGIA Nostalgia is our institute’s annual alumni homecoming event conducted by the Alumni committee, and facilitated by the college management. The event, which was a great success, happened on the 23rd November. Members of all the committees and other volunteers of this event left no stone unturned, which showed in the overall grandeur and the humongous appreciation from the alumni. The theme for this year was Reflection- Shades of the past.

From decorations to the dance rehearsals, from promotions on the website and FB page to the decked up stalls, the entire campus was all primed up for the D-day. The event, true to its name was indeed a flashback down the memory lane for many of our guests, who couldn’t stop reminiscing of their good old days. We, at team interface too did our best to make this year’s event a memorable one for our alumni. From innovative creatives to photo sessions, we ensured that the visit remained etched in their hearts forever.

The evening comprised of various cultural performances followed by a DJ dance and dinner.

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COMSTRAT DraftFcb+Ulka Comstrat, now in its eighteenth year, was the first ever casestudy competition in the area of communications, to be organized among management students in the country.

DraftFcb+Ulka Advertising along with K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research has pioneered this concept. The uniqueness of Comstrat lies in the fact that unlike other case study competitions, which are in the field of general management/marketing/finance, Comstrat is the only competition conducted in the area of advertising and communications. Past cases like that of Cadbury Schweppes, Marico Parachute, TVS, Philips, Indian Oil Corporation, Asian Paints, Tata Sky, Nokia C3 and Coke Burn, to name a few, have helped DraftFcb+Ulka develop "real-life" communication strategy case studies (based on actual market data) and that has been instrumental in the success and popularity of the competition amongst management circles.

The event this year was organized on the 7th of December, 2013 in the customary host campus, KJ Somaiya, Mumbai.

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The teams that made it to the finale this year were from JBIMS, IIM Bangalore, NL Dalmia, SIMSREE, NMIMS and KJ Somaiya. With live case studies and immense learning experience drawn from, this year the case study provided was on Godrej Hair Color. The aim of the case was to develop innovative communication strategies for a range of products falling under the Godrej Hair Color segment.

Eminent Personalities from the industry such as Mr. Kapil Dev Pillai (Vice PresidentMarketing , Godrej Consumer Products Ltd), Ms. Mahuya Chaturvedi (Managing Partner, Cogito Consulting) and Mr. Nitin Karkare (COO, DraftFcb+Ulka), judged the event. Mr. Kinjal Medh (COO, Cogito Consulting), the brain behind the inception of Comstrat also graced the occasion with his presence.

After an exhilarating round of presentations, the teams that topped the charts are – KJ Somaiya (Winners), IIM Bangalore (First Runners’ Up) and JBIMS (Second Runners’ Up).

The winners won a cash prize of Rs. 25000/while the First Runners’ Up received a cheque of Rs. 15000/-. In addition, the winners as well as the participating teams also received gift hampers from sponsors Nerolac, Zodiac, Tata Docomo, ITC, Wipro and Godrej. The entire evening was covered by Campaign India, the Media Partners for the event.

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SquAreheaD

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THE MARKSMAN

Tete-a-tete Rahul Avasthy is Assistant Vice President, Digital Strategy and Business at Zapak Digital Entertainment (Reliance Digital Entertainment). He interacted with the students of SIMSR, giving them an insight into the digital marketing world. He also conducted Tweet Up, a quiz on Twitter.

Q. With Digital Marketing evolving, how has it revolutionized marketing? Has it diluted personalized face to face marketing?

Ans: The dilution part in India hasn’t arrived yet, in UK it has. There digital has surpassed the print advertising, in India it’s still evolving. The reason is that there are various faces to it, such as population in terms of internet audience which in India is almost 200 million. So the audience is huge, but the problem is that the penetration is less. There are only 22%-25% smartphones in India as of now. Evolution will happen when more people get wired to internet. But yes, digital is now going big beyond social, there is a location factor to it, there is a mobile factor to it. So by 2016, we can see digital reaching to the peak.

Q. Do you think Mobile Marketing will take over Social Media Marketing?

Ans: Mobile is a compliment to Social Media. The best way to define digital is like a pen.

Pen is a tool, with a pen you can create anything. How you use the pen is what is supposed to be taken care of. Digital is such a tool, how you use it for your audience is what matters. Mobile is also a medium, but what is also important is, the message. So, what message you use, how you keep people engaged, how you keep a brand engaged is a very important factor. More than the medium, it is the message which is important.

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Tete-a-tete Q. Which is the untapped segment in social media marketing?

Ans: People in India still think social equals to Facebook. It all depends on how people begin to use that social medium. A large number of audiences are on the social platform, but they aren’t being social. The more you engage with the people is the exact factor.

Q. Does technology act as a barrier at times in context to digital marketing?

Ans: In India it is a much localized context. For example, with HUL we do a lot of missed call campaigns. There are about 700 million active mobile users in India, out of which all may not know how to type a text message, but everyone knows how to dial a number and so they can engage in any kind of activities. In fact a lot of interesting missed call campaigns have been happening. Again, this is just a tool, how you use the tool is what matters the most. Email marketing is another effective way, although many people think it is dead. But everyone uses email.

Q. An increased number of brands are marketing using the digital platform but not all of them are successful. What do you think such brands are missing out on?

Ans: Most brands are missing out on the content calendar. Most brands talk about themselves and think around them. How, when and what to talk is a very important aspect for brands. Amul is a fantastic example, as their messages display the talk of the town. Most brands create content around their brand guidelines, around how they want to be showcased or how their brand ambassador can be used. This is a good practice for ATL but when you come on digital it has to be totally different. Fastrack is a total digital brand. Coca Cola has spread across the same message globally. Such brands have managed to scale the same campaign across the globe. They have created a campaign around one message but it is very interesting to people.

Q. How effective and efficient is the new trend of QR codes and augmented reality?

Ans: McDonalds have a outdoor hoarding, which could only activate the QR code at 2 o clock, because at 2 the sun was at a certain level and the hoarding was done in such a way that a dark space was created inside it. At that time a QR code got generated because of the sun rays and around that time anybody around could scan the QR codes and get discounts immediately. This was effective as 2 pm to 5 pm is usually a bleak hour for McDonalds.

Talking about augmented reality, imagine your car breaking down and you activate and app in your smartphone directed towards the bonnet of your car. The app can tell you what went wrong and guide you to Youtube videos that can help you with the same. Apart from the fun aspects of augmented reality apps there is a lot of sense to it as it is being widely used in medical and healthcare industry. Layer is a fantastic app too.

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THE MARKSMAN 21

Tete-a-tete Q. How does it feel to be back in the Somaiya campus?

Ans: Amazing. It’s always a fun trip, you remember all the naughtiness out here. Good part is to see the college growing ever and ever.

Q. Our seniors have told us about the wonderful experience they had with you last year.

How was your experience here and also with Team Interface?

Ans: Oh it has been fantastic! Interface has done really really well, it has been brilliant. You hear a lot of buzz about Interface. It is very active and the good part is you are a very enthusiastic bunch of people. Starting from a website at very scratch level to now doing something of your own, it’s very nice. You’ve been involved in a very rapid fashion, because you’ve made alumni regain interest into what’s happening at SIMSR and you’ve made marketing fun.

DECEMBER 2013

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FEATURED ARTICLES The Bharti Walmart Breakup Dhaval Thacker MDI Gurgaon The relationship It started in 2007 with the establishment of a Joint Venture ‘Bharti Walmart Pvt Ltd’, a 50:50 stake for each. Each brings to the table its own expertise – local, market knowledge from Bharti Enterprises and international best practices from Walmart. The JV established modern wholesale cash-andcarry stores under the marquee ‘Best Price Modern Wholesale’. At that time, foreign corporations were not allowed in multibrand retail in India and hence Walmart entered India through the wholesale end. At the same time, Bharti Enterprises established a chain of retail stores under the marquee ‘Easyday’. This way Bharti would manage the front end retail outlets, while Walmart would take care of the back end wholesale operations.

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The breakup A mutually beneficial relationship goes good until one party fails to fulfill its share of responsibilities, which leads to a breakup. However, things turned out a bit different here. In October 2013, World’s largest retail chain Walmart and Sunil Mittal-led Bharti group called off their 6-year old partnership. The breakup was not unexpected since the relationship had been going through turbulent times in the recent past.

One of the prime reasons by Walmart for the breakup was to distance itself from the controversy over bribery allegations. It all started in November 2012 when Walmart while disclosing the expenditures to the US senate and the house of representative disclosed spending about $25 million in Indiaspecific lobbying. Unlike in the U.S., lobbying is illegal in India, and there was a significant outcry among the Indian small store owners who were broiling with anger on the just passed law allowing FDI in multi-brand retail.

THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES Opposition leaders in India called for a probe into Walmart to see if money was spent on lobbying in India. Walmart gave a public clarification in the media that day claiming that the allegations were false. Also, it started an internal investigation into potential violations of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It suspended a number of employees including the CFO as part of this internal investigation. Also at the same time CEO of Walmart’s Indian operations quit with immediate effect for reasons Walmart did not explain.

Another major reason is the policy paralysis in India. On September 14, 2012, the Government of India approved 51 percent FDI in multi-brand retail, subject to approvals by individual states.

Yes, the government gave a nod to FDI in multi-brand retail but not without the ‘*’ (terms and conditions). First, foreign players need to source at least 30% from SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) suppliers.

DECEMBER 2013

Secondly, they must invest $100 million and half of it has to be in back-end infrastructure in rural areas. And finally, it’s not like that they can open up a store anywhere, it is only in those states which accept the new law and only in cities with at least a million people. And there was no clarity what ‘back-end’ exactly is. The government did give some relaxation on the rules in the recent times but then it was too late.

Amongst other reasons, Walmart has seen declining sales on a global scale.

Last year, it closed down several stores in China and other regions. The split would give them time to rethink their international expansion plans and to focus right now on the opportunities provided by the recovering U.S. economy.

The Road Ahead Under the agreement reached by the two firms, Walmart will acquire Bharti’s stake in the JV i.e. the cash-and-carry wholesale venture under the name ‘Best Price Modern Wholesale’. Bharti will continue to operate its ‘Easyday’ retail chain, which has 212 stores and also acquire Walmart’s indirect stake in the ‘Easyday’ retail chain through acquisition of CCD (Compulsory Convertible Debentures) of Cedar Support Services, a Bharti group company.

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FEATURED ARTICLES Yes, the Bharti Walmart breakup is a victory for small traders but let’s think about the larger picture. So what is it about India’s FDI in retail that every foreign player finds it difficult to accept?

Organized/Modern retail in India is bound to grow but what haunts the Indian scenario is policy paralysis. In the present scenario, another uncertainty adds on. Elections are due next year and there are concerns as BJP has traditionally been against FDI in retail.

For now, Walmart still has a role in India with its cash-and-carry wholesale stores but I believe it would make a grand comeback in retail in the future when the time is right. However it will now have to find a new partner to meet the present day requirement that a local firm owns 49% of the multi-brand retail business.

Also it will be interesting to see if Bharti continues in retail in the long term without Walmart. After all the retail business is not a cakewalk - cash guzzling, complex and a narrow margin business.

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THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES Marketing Gimmicks in Politics Sankeerth Nedunoori NMIMS, Hyderabad Politics took a cue from marketing, rather unknowingly, although the later became popular in the current century. Politics take place behind the doors and all you see is lambasting others and selling oneself in a politically right manner. Drawing parallels with marketing all you see is the softer part of marketing, in fact one minor part i.e. advertising, on our LCD screens. Behind the screens there are umpteen number of brainstorming meetings and corporate espionages.

Too much of Marketing without a right product … Too much of despondency in the public…..a void in perceptual maps……hit it with the slingshot and you will get the result.

The former statement was deliberately made with respect to current state of Indian Politics. As you can see in the following perceptual maps there are literally voids in quadrants which signify that public are yearning for a change in the political system. So to hit those holes one has to use a proper mix of P’s in marketing.

DECEMBER 2013

The first P in marketing mix which talks about the product is nothing but the ‘Public welfare Programmes’ undertaken by the Polity. As exemptions are granted even here if the product is not good the same can be compensated using other variables in the marketing mix.

The second P talks about the price which in fact is the exchequers money. Hey I pay the money through infinite number of taxes and polity uses the same for subsidising commodities like Petrol. The better the incumbent politicians controls the price of Petrol the better they have used the mix.

The third one is place. These days politics have gone to such an extent that even a single incident of attending a nature call at a particular remote place makes them relate the same incident to the people inhabiting that place by saying that “I am honoured that I have attended a nature call in your place at the age of 6. It is pity that you guys still use a lota even now. Let our party come to power and we LOOT your Lotas and in return we distribute you best possible mugs.”

The fourth one which talks about promotion is very much apt to politics.

Many food companies, thanks to rules and obligations, promote themselves using either green label or a red label in order to attract (target) specific audiences who are green conscious.

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FEATURED ARTICLES Same is applicable to political parties in India. One political party promotes itself as the messiah of a certain community and other says I am a blend of both.

Another community apart from the above says why concern only with former 2 communities? Why don’t you think about others? And you know the implicit reply is…target audience is less in your community so we can’t promote another label. Instead we try and focus on our target audience. As if the above is not sufficient one new political party was floated on a new plank. They said that a new script would be written in the annals of Indian history. I do not know much about scripts but much went into scripting the promotion with a nice blend of marketing mix (gimmicks).If you repeat false statement a thousand times by saying that it is indeed a true statement then it will get entrenched in the minds of public as a true statement. The same helped the former political party and indeed catapulted the party into limelight.

As we know that Politics is never called as an Industry per se but we called as Political service, the Service marketing mix is very much applicable even to Politics. One of the prominent political parties has tied up with JWT an international Ad agency for its promotional campaign in 2014 elections for a whopping 500 crore

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In order to hyperbolize your achievements we need a set of good marketers to fool people. It is like “Mein jo boltha hoon Who atleast karne ki chance hain!!!!Hum joh dikhathe hain woh definitely kiya Nahi hoga!!!!

In fact service part of marketing can be seen from other way around!! It is very much akin to the carrot and stick model where in the cart driver hangs carrot in front of a mule by holding a stick behind it. Here general public can be compared to the mules. Public receives subsidies so that they can just survive a day!! In order to survive the very next day he has to again render his service by electing the polity so that he can sustain. Although in reality this happens every 5 years politicians project themselves as rendering services to general public but in reality it is other way around.

When a politician starts to canvass he would say!! “Hum yaha aaya is liye!!!

After they take their oath of office you could sense an intangible sense of warmth and affection when we go to them with some issues through!! “Aap yaha aaya kis liye???!!”

I just want to end this by saying that Politicks has transformed itself from an era of exchanging unsavoury words to projecting oneself as a visionary leader using all the marketing mix although unknowingly.

THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES “Google Reunion”- Did it result from Competition pressure Sahil Khurana BIMTECH 1,06,44,217 – total number of views for Google reunion advertisement on YouTube while I started writing this and who knows how many till the time I am finished ( 1 more view is guaranteed as I enjoyed watching the advertisement yet again). Ogilvy India hit the bull’s eye yet another time as the advertisement is a huge hit both in India and Pakistan.

One of the prominent reactions to the tear-evoking advertisement was, “Why Google would advertise in a market where it has 97% market share?” To put it simply, the whole concept of searching is changing and it is changing fast.

I will start this article not by the reason I think the Google reunion ad resulted from, but from the reason it has definitely not resulted from. I chose this way so that reader appreciates the point I am trying to make with an open mind. I disagree with the reaction of certain section that Google is just reminding people of its existence.

The rationale this section gives is that a decade ago, Orkut (a Google owned company) was the most widely used social media site and then Facebook came from nowhere and drove Orkut completely out of the scene and this can happen to Google as well.

DECEMBER 2013

My reaction to this is that the Google universe (Android phones, Google 360, Google maps, Google +, Google Photos etc.) is too big to be vanished the way Orkut did.

So when we talk about competition pressure, the threats for Google are not from other direct search engines like Bing! and Yahoo but from the changing habits of consumer for the way they search anything. Let us see how it has changed;

The graph above shows on what medium people uses the internet on, while in 2011 majority of users used PCs for internet, things are changing rapidly and usage of internet from mobile has increased to 62.5%. Large chunk of this usage of internet through mobile are from smart phones and it is increasing with a very high rate.

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FEATURED ARTICLES During 2011, when majority of used internet on desktops, anything we needed, like the name of a capital of a particular country, show timings of movies, stock updates, weather information, information on Taj Mahal for a school project was searched by typing www.google.com on the address bar. But by 2013, a smart phone user has a different application for everything; BookMyShow for movie timings and ticket, Zomato for restaurant information, IMDB for movie information and trivia, Wikipedia for school projects and everything, TripAdvisor for travel information – the list is literally endless!

What is the use for www.google.com now?

These stand alone applications provide faster information as they are concentrating generally on only one arena of information. For example IMDB is ‘one-stop-app’ for all the movie information any movie buff would love to read. These applications also give neat user interface resulting in faster and more satisfactory user experience.

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This makes a perfect case for Google to advertise and “remind” users of its presence. But wait a minute? Won’t it be very naïve of Google to think that people would stop using applications and start searching everything the old way which was neither fast nor exhaustive? Google understands this and that is why the ad was very subtly promoting using Google as a personal assistant rather than reminding people of its presence. The advertisement started with Google experience at desktop then changed to “Google Now” experience on mobile. The advertisement was promoting Google Now which gives competition to the various apps present in virtual market.

Google Now is our personal assistant like app which gives us any information we require or we may require. I am a Nexus 4 user and Google Now has reduced my dependency from weather, flight information, reminder, tripadvisor, news apps successfully. The experience will become more and more relevant as I continue to use Google Now. The screenshot shared is an example of how Google automatically shows me tourist destinations nearby as I travel to a new place, thus kept me from using TripAdvisor

THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES The Google Now and Google reunion advertisement is an attempt by Google for addressing the changing trend in which users are searching information and Google might not be at advantage in this game. The success of Google Now depends on how many times a user keep using it and how many people are there in the whole Google universe so the information provided is relevant.

Finally, to answer directly the question of rationale of Google advertisement in respect to the competition, in my opinion it was not for direct competitors, instead Google kept its image intact of a futuristic company which thought of challenges of future building up and has started fighting with indirect competitors and competitors which can come instantly out of nowhere.

DECEMBER 2013

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BUZZ PUZZLE

ACROSS 1. The Bunny mascot represents which brand?

3. Poppin’ Fresh is the name of which brand’s mascot?

5 .”Truth in Engineering” is the slogan for which brand?

7. Colonael Sanders was the first spokesperson of which fast food chain?

8. Google debuted under the name of ______.com.

9. McDonald's introduced the character of Ronald McDonald in 1963. Who was the first guy to put on the clown suit?

DOWN

CLUES

2. _______ country consumes the most Coca Cola per capita.

4. The flag of Bavaria is represented by which brand’s logo?

6. “Think outside the Bun” – tagline of which brand?

1.

Energizer 2. Iceland3. Pillsbury 4. BMW 5. AudI 6. Tacobell 7.KFC 8. Backrub 9. Willard Scott

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Call for ARTICLES CALL FOR ARTICLES JANUARY 2014 Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:

1. "Tesco-Tata-Trent, The Road ahead! " 2. Samsung Galaxy 11 - what do aliens, football and Samsung have in common?

3. Kejriwal using new marketing tools: Its impact on the audience. *Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all references are clearly mentioned.

1. One article can have only one author.

2. Your article should be approximately 800-850 words and MUST be replete with relevant pictures that can be used to enhance the article.

3. Font Type: Gill Sans MT 4. Font Size: 14.

5. Send your article in .doc/.docx format to marksman.simsr@somaiya.edu 6. Subtitle line: Your name_Institute Name_Course Year 7. Kindly name your file as : Your name_Topic The best adjudged article will be given a Winner’s Certificate.

Deadline for the submission of article will be : 11:59 PM, 20th Janurary 2014

DECEMBER 2013

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The TEAM THE TEAM TWEETS by Kapil Maggo It’s all about AD-itude by Dylan Menezes Brand MARK ive by Ritika Bramhe COVER STORY by Shweta Pannikar SPECIAL STORY by Ishaan Srivastava HALLMARK CAMPAIGN by Asheeb Raina BOOKWORM by Prashanti Kasinathan SquAreheaD by Prashanti Kasinathan BUZZ by Megha Gupta FAUX PAS by Alakh Krishnani REWIND Ritika Brahme Aman Dua Aanchal Loya TETE-E-TETE Niharika Srivatsava DESIGNING by Ishaan Srivastava Meera Thacker PROOF READ by Alakh Krishnani Ritika Brahme PROMOTIONS by Shweta Panikker Aman Dua

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To subscribe to "The Marksman", Follow the link:http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/ the-marksman.html OR drop in a mail/contact us at : interface.newsletter@gmail.com Subject line: Subscribe:Your Name_Institute Name_Course Year Follow us at: http://www.facebook.com/simsr.in terface http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/ the-marksman.htm Website: http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/t he-marksman.html The MARKSMAN is the newsletter of INTERFACE, the Marketing Club at K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai.

Images used in THE MARKSMAN are subject to copyright. THE MARKSMAN does not take any responsibility of any kind of plagiarism in the articles received from students of other colleges.

THE MARKSMAN