Dear Readers, We proudly present to you the March 2020 Edition of our illustrious magazine, The Marksman. For this edition we have put together interesting things on marketing, which every reader will thoroughly enjoy and learn from. Our cover story this month is ‘Pandemic or panic demic’. It gives various information about the COVID -19 situation going on in the world. Our special story is about Brands Honoring International Women’s Day. It talks about various initiative and campaigns which brands have launched for women this women’s day. A very hearty congratulations to the winner and the runner up of this month’s Call for Articles Alistair S.H. Toppo (IIM INDORE) and Bratati Das (IIT Bombay) whose article have been featured in this issue. We are overwhelmed by the response that we have received from all of you and encourage you to write to us with the same enthusiasm. We would also like to hear back from our esteemed readers on how you found our March edition. We value your feedback as it helps us to constantly improve and write better! Enjoy Reading! Stay connected with us on https://theinterfacesimsr.com/magazine/ Follow our Facebook page for more updates.
MARCH EDITION
INDEX Kickstart
01
Tweets
03
Marketing Faux Pas
05
Cover Story
07
Pioneer
12
Special Story
14
Brand Markive
17
More Than Marketing
19
Hall-Mark Campaign
21
It’s All About Ad-itude
23
Bookworm
24
Featured Articles
26
Squarehead
35
KICKSTART -Mohit Nagdev
CURE.FIT Cure.Fit is an integrated health and fitness company offering both online and offline solutions towards health , fitness and nutrition . It was founded in July 2016 by Ankit Nagori and Mukesh Bansal in Bengaluru . The company operates separately in 4 verticals- Cult.Fit , Mind.Fit , Eat.Fit and Care.Fit .Cult.Fit focuses on physical fitness centers , Mind.Fit focuses on mental health and yoga centres , Eat.Fit provides healthy food options for fitness , and , Care.Fit is a medical and diagnostic vertical. Along with an offline presence , they also provide online fitness videos and tutorials.
Cure.Fit operations are greatly driven by technology . For Eat.Fit , they use technology to predict the demand for orders , the items on the menu, etc based on on a variety of data points , trends , health , etc. Their day-today operations are also machine driven such as scheduling of classes and appointing trainers at different locations.
Members of Cult.Fit can train at any of the authorised fitness centers with ease.
1 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
KICKSTART
These days , health and fitness have become a major concern in India and it is driven by inspiration from celebrities and athletes , and social media . Cure.Fit gets these right as it is associated with the fitness icons of India – Hrithik Roshan , K.L.Rahul, Tiger Shroff, and Milind Soman in the form of influencer marketing . Cure.fit is even associated with Hrithik’s apparel brand – HRX and even provides fitness videos of HRX workout . Cure.fit also has a great social media presence with regular and engaging content from educating users to even motivating them.
Cure.Fit aims to create a cult of its user base . Therefore , it has kept its pricing for Cult.Fit such that it is more affordable and reasonable to get a longer subscription plan rather than a daily subscription plan to retain its customers for a longer time . Not only that , at the end of each session all the members get together in a hurdle and shout loudly – “WE ARE CULT” which provides the members a feeling of belongingness to Cult.Fit community and thereby the Cure.Fit community.
Cult.Fit is offering live workouts online for people to exercise at home due to the spreaad of Corona. 2 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
TWEETS TWEETS Awareness over publicity Successful brands today have been known for addressing topics on twitter which are trending globally and banking on opportunities to use these trends as means to hype up their brand awareness. The outbreak of Covid-19 which has taken the world media by storm, led to #Coronavirus becoming the second most popular hashtag of 2020 and there was a Covid-19 tweet every 45 milliseconds. This could have been another topic on which brands could capitalize and create a buzz around them. However, through a blog Twitter emphasized that this situation was not a “Marketing opportunity” to capitalize on and mentioned how they do not recommend brands opportunistically linking themselves to a health scare. In this crisis, twitter, an extremely powerful communication tool, was used by brands to communicate and make awareness among brands’ customers, employees and the broader ecosystem. In this troubling time, the world saw hundreds of brands acting responsibly and used twitter as a platform to reach out to millions of people and prioritized awareness and helping the public over looking to use this tool as just another marketing opportunity.
- Khyat Shah
The outbreak of Covid-19 which has taken the world media by storm, led to #Coronaviru s becoming the second most popular hashtag of 2020 and there was a Covid-19 tweet every 45 milliseconds.
3 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
TWEETS
TWEETS
The outbreak of Coronavirus saw many brands using twitter as a platform for communicating a lot of positive actions taken by them among these troubling times, either by providing necessary services at a reduced/no cost or by simply generating awareness. Have a look at a few of them:
Zoom in to see the message
4 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
FAUX PAS FAUX PAS -SAKSHIT RAVI
Burger King’s Marketing Faux Pas We have seen Burger King digging it's own grave as it has slowly diluted the brand with it's infamous marketing blunders. It lost it's spot to Wendy's in 2012. Today, it’s marginally ahead of Taco Bell. The steep fall can be attributed to the weird marketing that didn't fair well.
We saw, the ad campaign featuring The King, a mascot who was abandoned in the 80s, which didn't go well with the audience. The audience found it weird. Now , not to forget the series of poor marketing campaign failing for now 10 years. In 2008, one ad featured a lewd, degrading innuendo. In 2009 we saw, Burger King featuring a bikini-clad woman singing at 9:30am daily, promoting their new breakfast menu. The move in fact affected the franchises too who felt their business will go for a toss due to the marketing faux pas.
Burger King evaluated weakness in its brand identity.
5 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
FAUX PAS
Marketers showed drab images of outdated interiors at some Burger King locations prior to renovation. They noted that when the brand renovates restaurants, the location’s in-store revenue increases 12 percent. Beyond efforts to enhance customer experience inside their stores, Burger King evaluated weaknesses in the brand’s visual identity. Machado pointed to an unsuccessful ad featuring a WHOPPER on a pillow, and jokingly said, “Who wants to eat a sandwich sitting on a pillow?” Their remodel solution involved imbuing menus, ads and mobile design with the brand’s “raw” tone, which yielded a “made-by-hand look” and even a logo for the WHOPPER, which the item previously lacked.
Burger King started with a great grandeur
Burger King set out to redesign the broiler in an effort to communicate the brand’s “barbecue experience” and generate guest trust. They revealed to the audience neverbefore-seen footage of the redesigned broiler, noting that in stores where it’s been tested, the positive perception of Burger King food increased 11 percent.
but soon got overruled by its competitors.
MARKSMAN
Because of all these things , Burger King as a brand came under a lot of eyes and subsequently lost to local outlets too in some areas and had a low start in many of new areas including countries like - India. 6
MARCH EDITION
COVER STORY -Vyom Bhatnagar
Pandemic or Panic-demic Both sides will give you strong arguments that it is a panic created by the social media or this is a grave concern for all of us but when facts come there is a stellar difference. Coronavirus or COVID-19 or any other name to this virus it creates a terror in a person’s mind, not because it is lethal but because of the rate at which it is spreading. At present while you were finishing this article 20000 patients have been infected and 100 or so will lost their lives. This is the reputation of this virus. So how it all started and how social media and huge connectivity leading to this grave situation?
At present while you were finishing this article 20000 patients have been infected and 100 or so will lost their lives. This is the reputation of this virus.
As per the reports by Chinese Government, the first case came in month of November close to 17th of last year. Doctors in Wuhan a city in Hubei Province claims that there were few cases of Pneumonia due to which 2 to 3 people were dead. They claim it is a new virus and it has transferred from animal to human. The origin of virus is said to be “originated” in Chinese Wet Market. The first few cases stared in December first week which later spread in the province. These cases were not originated or related to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. In these times, whistleblower Li Wenliang warned a group of other doctors about a possible outbreak of an illness resemble to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). He requested them to take brief and protective measures against it. 7 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
COVER STORY
January 14: WHO tweeted the same narrative of Wuhan Municipal Commission January 15: Japan Reported its first case and the patient is not visited to any seafood market in China.Wuhan Municipal Health Commission changed their statement and stated that “limited human-tohuman transmission” cannot be ruled out.
COVER STORY On December 31, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission stated that there is no human-to-human transmission which was later rebutted by WHO in a tweet of 14th Jan 2020. In month of January summons issued to the whistleblower doctor for spreading rumors. On January 3: Dr. Li signed a statement for acknowledging his misdemeanor and an apology. On the same day Hubei Provincial Health Commission ordered to stop testing samples and destroyed all samples. On January 11: China announced its first death. 61-year-old man who died of heart failure. On January 12: Dr. Li Wenliang while treating patients of coronavirus, started coughing and later hospitalized and admitted to Intensive Care Unit on a ventilator. Some reports claimed that he was giving free of cost treatment to these peoples. On January 13: First case of coronavirus reported in Thailand, a woman who has a history of visiting Wuhan. January 14: WHO tweeted the same narrative of Wuhan Municipal Commission January 15: Japan Reported its first case and the patient is not visited to any seafood market in China. Wuhan Municipal Health Commission changed their statement and stated that “limited human-to-human transmission” cannot be ruled out. January 19: Chinese National Health Commission declared the virus “still preventable and controllable” January 20: Two more cases of Guangdong were found because of human-to-human interaction
8 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
COVER STORY
January 21: CDC, USA announced the first case in the country. This is the entry of coronavirus in USA and what is coming for USA and world, no one was able to predict it. January 22: WHO conducted a field visit and conclude that human-to-human transmission is happening. Death toll in China jumped to 17 with 500 plus infections. January 23: Now after all this China started to Quarantine its citizen and by this time a significant number of Chinese visited have travelled abroad with Asymptomatic carriers which will later come to the picture. January 26: Death toll rose to 56 with 2000 infections. New cases confirmed in Taiwan and South Korea. January 30: WHO declared it global pandemic. India and Philippines declared their first cases, one each. January 31: Russia, UK, Spain, Sweden, Italy registered their first cases. February 1: Death toll rose to 259 with 11791 cases in China. Australia, Canada, Germany, Singapore, US, UAE, Japan, Vietnam discovered more cases. February 2: First death outside China in Philippines. Price who was whole In the meantime, Dr. Li Wenliang, the man heartedly working for the treatment and containment of this virus died on February 7.
January 22: WHO conducted a field visit and conclude that human-tohuman transmission is happening. January 30: WHO declared it global pandemic. India and Philippines declared their first cases, one each.
The entire episode is governed by irregularities and deceiving statements but one thing for sure that this is going to be big. Marketing is a powerful tool and when you are selling fear with an anecdote that it is an apocalypse then the results are more than expectations. 9 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
COVER STORY
Countries where this Panic sells at a very fast level are surviving or we would say are at better position than others. In other words, instilling fear is helpful is this crisis. The small virus has put countries into 6-month average lockdown. The markets are crashing, prices are falling, industries like tourism, travel or aviation is almost finished because the fear is grappling in the minds of people.
The whole set of things our lives revolved around i.e. work, gym, movies, travel, society, restaurants have all gone for a toss as we all are learning to live without them. It has taught us that in the ends it’s your own home and family that keeps you safe.
Even if you look at Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy Safety needs is important, and this case physiological needs and safety needs are merged, and people are focusing more on self needs. Everyone in different countries are in lockdown phase and are the self-actualization or realization is there. Because one thing for sure this Corona has proved that everything around us so temporary and unimportant. The whole set of things our lives revolved around i.e. work, gym, movies, travel, society, restaurants have all gone for a toss as we all are learning to live without them. It has taught us that in the ends it’s your own home and family that keeps you safe.
10 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
COVER STORY
Everything was going well two months back and then Corona/Covid came around to spook the world. The situation is and there is lot of fear in the market/ communities /people. The entire world is trying to find a foothold when Covid struck. It is now a global health issue and also a global economic issue. No one knows when it becomes two big, and nobody knows when it will end. Everything in this world is interconnected and all rest on equilibrium. If the equilibrium is broken it creates a pandemonium.We are in that state.
Price
It is now a global health issue and also a global economic issue. No one knows when it becomes two big, and nobody knows when it will end. Everything in this world is interconnected and all rest on equilibrium. If the equilibrium is broken it creates a pandemonium. We are in that state.
But one thing I would like to add when this ends, all football matches will sell out, restaurants will have a long wait, pubs will be rammed and gigs will be plentiful, kids will be glad to in school, adults will love their colleges, everyone who was taking that local/metro/cab with a mundane attitude will break the doors to go their offices. We will hug, kiss and shake hands. That’s my world and that day going to be a good day. Hang in there, folks!!!
11 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
PIONEER ELON MUSK
- Hardik Trivedi
Have you ever bought a product by viewing its advertisement where in one of your favourite celebrity is endorsing that product? Be it a luxurious car or watch or something that is used on a regular basis, like an eatable such as a cookie or a soap, the advertisements and the branding that we see for that particular product makes an impact, and the celebrity involved plays a major role in the customers buying that product.
With a net worth of nearly US $31.8 billion, he is the 28th richest person in the world, and Tesla being 2nd most valuable automaker
Imagine Kaun Banega Crorepati without Amitabh Bachchan; it just doesn’t seem acceptable, right? Even Shahrukh Khan proved that by hosting one season of KBC. At times a personality becomes so strong that it becomes a brand in itself. Be it from having a crazy amount of people following and believing in that personality to making any product sell by just having a simple autograph of that personality is what is called a strong brand personality. Today, I would like to tell you about someone who has created his name on a global level. Even if you are not a follower of science, you just cannot gulp down any single conversation on science, you still would know about this guy.
12 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
PIONEER
Elon Musk is someone who has built an empire with companies that has been powering in their own sectors. When it comes to tech sector, Elon Musk has created such a powerful brand that it overshadows his own companies. Whenever it comes to modern entrepreneurs, Elon Musk is one of the names that will pop right up in your mind. With an umbrella of big companies, he has successfully built an enormous empire. And he built this empire without any heavy support from advertising, but based on sheer passion!
Elon Musk always has had a passion for science. With a net worth this large, he could probably just retire and sit on his porch, write a novel, or invest his time into gardening. But instead he constantly channels investing his brand equity in promoting Tesla, SpaceX, and solar power in general. He is highly passionate on getting to Mars, and with HyperTube shifting to a much lower carbon long-distance travel model. With such a great career so far and such an inspiring journey, Elon Musk tells us a lot about the brand within a personality and how strong could it be.
Elon Musk has been one of the key forces behind many big brands such as PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity
As a brand, a personality should – Show the story of the entire journey through the brand, it creates a long-lasting connection with the audience. This way the audience would also become a part of the story, and the brand would be taken as more personal by the audience. By doing so, the audience gets equally invested in the vision and mission of the company, they too tend to work with the brand in achieving its objectives. Lastly, constant passion for the work by the personality that is shown to the audience is always beneficial, a brownie point in the journey that is set to course.
13 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
SPECIAL STORY - NICHOL G
BRANDS HONOURING INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY Women have been playing a crucial role in various areas of developments. Their contributions in all walks of life cannot be undermined at any cost and at the same time cannot be considered inferior to men. Hence the famous analogy which mentions that man and woman are the wheels of the same carriage. As Napoleon rightly said, “ You give me good mothers and I give you a good nation”. Educated women can do so much in bringing reforms to society. An equal position to all is what is needed and the current years’ women across all fields have proved that they too have what it takes to share equal responsibility, position and status and not be sidelined in the process. In light of the same entrepreneurs, companies, non-profit organizations, and general supporters came together to support International Women’s Day. The day is designated as a time to celebrate the strength and ambition of women while bringing awareness to women’s rights and gender equality. We now look at how the following brands came to honor women this year on International Women’s Day.
An equal position to all is what is needed and in the current years’ women across all fields have proved that they too have what it takes to share equal responsibility , position and status and not be sidelined in the process.
14 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
SPECIAL STORY
Calvin Klein - #MyCalvins Preserving beauty, size and gender diversity, embracing diversity in all the forms there was all across the western world of fashion. However, the issue was it had not got enough publicity particularly in the Asian culture which was known for being conservative and orthodox. However, that trend is changing with changing times. This Year, on International Women’s day, the very famous luxury fashion brand Calvin Klein is on a goal to empower Asians to break traditional norms and stand up for themselves. The campaign by CK would end up igniting a spark in consumers to actually rethink their very popular CK underwear collection thereby pointing out at the diverse collection available with the brand. CK happened to engage ten women from all walks of life across the continent and all of them made an empowering statement. The campaign looks at stereotypes of womanhood in the culture and focused on women making bold statements about their gender identity and the obstacles faced by them in their communities.
The campaign by CK would end up igniting a spark in consumers to actually rethink their very popular CK underwear collection thereby pointing out at the diverse collection available with the brand.
15 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
SPECIAL STORY
Reebok- #BruisesCanBeGood. Reebok celebrated International Women’s Day by releasing the #BruisesCanBeGood Campaign. The campaign that began with a social experiments, looked at the issues that still persist in society and took a bold stance on the same. Looking at a Survey done (National Family Health Survey), every third woman in India happens to have faced domestic violence of different forms right from an early age. Taking this under the purview of breaking tradition norms, the #BruisesCanBeGood campaign brings to light the reality of the behavior and prevalent mindset in the society by including the real audience. The spot that was released for the campaign stresses the need for self-defense education right from an early age.
#BruisesCan BeGood campaign brings to light the reality of the behaviour and prevalent mindset in the society by including the real audience.
16 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
BRAND MARKIVE -Harneet Singh Ghatehora
PRINGLES : You Don’t Just Eat Them Sangeeta Pendurkar, Managing Director of Kelloggs India, After its acquisition from Proactor and Gambler, is fine-tuning the company's marketing strategy for its global snack brand Pringles in India. With this move, the company is now entered the 11,000crore branded snacks sector in India in 2010. Priced at R120 (a can), the brand sold in 15,000 stores in 35 cities. The Pringles consumer is young and fun-loving. The brand will connect with this consumer at key relevant touch-points where they can activate the brand. Since potato wafers is an impulse category in India, they are investing significantly in activating the brand at the point of purchase to ensure that Pringles grabs a disproportionate share of eyeballs.. They have launched the brand in India in two flavours Original and Sour Cream & Onion. Globally, Pringles has sampling, trial generation activities and activation at relevant touch-points at the heart of its advertising approach. We will continue on similar lines in India and bring the brand alive various other key touch-points with the consumer.
The Pringles consumer is young and fun-loving. The brand connects with this consumer at key relevant touchpoints where they can activate the brand.
After acquiring Procter & Gambles Pringles, Kelloggs is now distributing it in India. Why now . What's the rationale behind the move?, Worldwide, Kellogg plays in the two categories of breakfast and snacks. In India, Kelloggs have been in the breakfast cereals business for two decades now. Kelloggs acquired to bolster snacks portfolio globally and are now integrating it with our distribution system in India. Leveraging our strong distribution network in supermarkets, and intended to strengthen the presence of Pringles in top 35 cities. 17 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
BRAND MARKIVE The original “duck lips” began in the form of two chips by the name of Pringles. The popular chip brand has been at the root of tons of fun and crunchy deliciousness since its creation in 1968. Though rather young, the chip became a staple in snack foods very quickly and hasn’t slowed down since. Founder, Alexander Liepa, actually made the chip while working for the U.S. Army. Instead of using peeled and cut potatoes, which was the popular way to create chips 100 years prior to Liepa’s time, he decided to use potato flakes that he reshaped into the shape of a chip. The purpose of this trick was to make it easier and cheaper to transport the product. Pringles was selected by picking names out of a Cincinnati phone book that started with the letter P, before settling on Pringle Drive for its pleasing name. While there are about 29 flavors of the snack on shelves here in the United States (not counting special and limited edition runs), the rest of the world has tasted an entirely different spectrum of Pringles. A few that piqued our interest are Bangkok Grilled Chicken Wing, Blueberry & Hazelnut, Finger Lickin' Braised Pork, Mayo Potato, and Prawn Cocktail. Originally Pringles was called “Pringles Newfangled Potato Chips” before bring changed to just “Pringles” for sale in international markets. It is hard to pin down the exact reason why Pringles was selected as a name. It is said some employees of Procter & Gamble have stated the name for Pringles was selected by picking names out of a Cincinnati phone book that started with the letter P, before settling on Pringle Drive for its pleasing name. Another idea for where Pringles received its name is that it is just an easy name to say. Yet another theory suggests that the product name Pringles comes from Mark Pringle, who made innovations in potato processing methods. As it stands, there are several different ideas for how Pringles got its name, but at the time none of the current theories seem concretely proven, but we can definitely say that, it is one of the most loved snack in India. 18 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
MORE THAN MARKETING -Faiqa Shaikh
Feeding India As the crisis around the Covid-19 pandemic are increasing, a large portion of India’s most vulnerable sections livelihood is on the line. Survival of the families of daily wage earner, families who live on a hand to mouth basis has been shaken up. With a National Lockdown in place the first thing most people did is stock up their food resources at home, but what about those families who did not have enough savings to buy food rations for more than a day or two.
It is only in time of crisis do we see which companies actually care not only about their profits but about the well being of the society they function in and depend upon. Many start-ups & enterprises are coming forward with innovative solutions to solve the new challenges in this pandemic. Zomato is one such company which came forward giving a solution to the food crisis being faced by the people at the bottom of the pyramid. With their Zomato, Feeding India initiative they let people sitting at home in Quarantine help all the hungry families without any resources. With the help of the internet they launched a campaign wherein they will provide food ration to the homes of daily wage earners based on monetary donations collected from the masses. MARKSMAN
19
A simple yet honest intiative. Sometimes brands don’t need to go extravagant to market themselves, simply going down to the basics of their motto is an excellent way to market! MARCH EDITION
MORE THAN MARKETING Their aim for this lockdown is to collect Rs. 25 crore to feed as many families as possible in the form of food ration kits which contain a combination of wheat flour, rice and two types of pulses that can be used to cook meals for a week. The beauty of this campaign is that for a startup like Zomato which is clearly a market leader in it’s industry there is no need to go out of it’s way to conduct a donation drive on such a huge level. It is clearly something that reflects the culture of this young startup.
Corporate Goals aside Zomato has considered those people who form this society, this campaign is not for their target consumer base it’s for the millions of others in this nation
The construction workers, cleaners, contract based workers all of these people are the ones who build a nation from its roots. It’s important for us as human being and for corporations which work in this society to be selfless at such times and come together to ensure that we all survive this global pandemic. How a company treats it’s employees and the people at general in such a time will be a true measure of the companies worth.
20 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
HALL-MARK CAMPAIGN -PIYUSH MUKHERJEE CADBURY x AGE UK : DONATE YOUR WORDS Almost every child, in almost every part of the world, has grown up with a fond and memorable relationship with Cadbury. As a brand, it has played quite a pivotal role in shaping and creating our childhood memories. But, that is not all. Cadbury isn’t just a friend you meet while you grow up. As it turns out, it is also there for you at the other end of the spectrum of life. It is there with you, even when you grow old.
To help understand what extreme loneliness feels like,TV presenter Sue Perkins committed to spend 30 hours in complete isolation
Airbnb is all about the plurality of Cadbury, as a brand, is a huge believer of the fact that there is goodness in everyone.– it choices, both in says, ”there is a glass and a half in everyone.” As per statistical data, there are over life and in 225,000 elderly people across the UK who often go length of time, as long as an entire travel. week, without speaking to anyone, and spend a large chunk of their latter years dealing with this kind of loneliness and depression. Cadbury wanted to help, and it did so wonderfully. Having understood the impact of loneliness, Cadbury turned the packaging of its Dairy Milk bar absolutely blank, without any words, donating 30 pence from every pack sold, to Age UK, which would then be used by them to support the elderly through initiatives like ‘national advice line’ and ‘telephone friendship service’. To further this incredible campaign, Cadbury worked with UK creative agency VCCP on a series of emotional ads designed to raise awareness of the loneliness crisis that the older people in the UK were facing. 21 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
HALL-MARK CAMPAIGN In October of 2019, Cadbury took their partnership with Age UK a notch higher, by launching a ‘Donate Your Words’ shop, where money had no value – “but people’s words did”. Customers could choose any item they wanted in exchange for a pledge to reach out or talk to a lonely older person, instead of paying money for the said item. There were no price tags, instead a tag with an action that the customers would need to carry out., like a quick ‘hello’ to an older person at the bus stop, a chat with an older neighbour, or a phone call to an older relative.
This retail activation has helped trigger conversatio ns by giving people products in exchange for a pledge or a promise promise of a chat.
Various brand tracking data in the UK shows that Cadbury’s ’buzz scores’ increased dramatically among those over 65 years of age, after the airing of the first ad. Awareness of Cadbury’s adverts also increased by 11% among the same age group. Overall, the campaign has had incredible success, and the ever so philanthropic brand, has justifiably lived up to its name.There is good in everybody, after all! 22 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
It’s all about Ad-itude - Amit Gupta
Netflix- Wash Your Hands,You Detty Pig The covid19 pandemic bringing significant shifts in consumer behavior, media consumption and the use of social platforms . That makes the brands to reconsider how they relate to consumers. Many brands has changed marketing media mix and changed the message to maintain the relevant connection.
Netflix is known for its robust interaction with fans, and it’s kept that up, while not explicitly pointing out that there may be a lot more people streaming in the middle of a weekday as this crisis continues. Of course, when it came to the hand-washing lyrics meme, the brand couldn’t help itself. Netflix stuck to its category codes and used popular web series Sex Education screen grab with a subtitle that read ‘You should wash your hands, you detty pig’.
Netflix used popular web series Sex Education
It is impossible to ignore the fact that people are joking about all of this—just witness the memes around the world. Brands need to participate in the levity, however it should not be insulting and is consistent with its voice and tone of the brand.
screen grab. MARKSMAN
23
MARCH EDITION
BOOKWORM - Kritika Sharma
The Effective Executive – Peter F. Drucker Managing oneself for effectiveness? ‘To effect’ & ‘to execute’ are, after all, near synonyms. The measure to the executive, Peter Drucker reminds us, is the ability to ‘ get the right things done’. Usually this involves doing what other people have unnoticed & avoiding the unproductive. He says that effectiveness must be learned just as scales are mastered by a pianist regardless of his natural gifts. Intelligence, imagination & knowledge may all be wasted if one doesn’t learn the acquired habits of mind that convert these into results!
Modern society depends on the effective executive for its functioning. SelfDevelopment is the ONLY integrator for effectiveness
The 5 talents that sound much like regular ones but are inevitable are: 1) Know Thy Time (time management) 2) Know Thy Contribution 3) Apply your Strengths to the best 4) First Things First (setting priorities right) 5) The Art of Decision Making
How these can be developed form the main crux of the book. Drucker ranges widely through the annals of business & government to demonstrate the distinctive ability of a manager. He turns familiar experiences upside down to see it in new perspectives. The book is packed with full surprises with recent insights into old & apparently hackneyed situations!
24 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
BOOKWORM
The knowledge workers as Peter Drucker once coined, are the factors of production. They are the strong pillars on which the developed societies & economies remain competitive & successful. Well said that, let’s have a look at a few anecdotes about what it means for the marketing sector especially for the 1990s & beyond!
Four marketing lessons for the future… Of the top marketing lessons , 1st one is ‘buying customers doesn’t work’ . A Japanese VCR company in 1950s defined the market differently. They did not ask,” What is the market for this machine?” ; Instead they asked, “ What is the market for what it does?” The 2nd lesson relates to “data is the new mine” aiming at the new productivity challenge of salespeople. Salesforce these days are just as splintered spending so much time on computer in & not on customer in the store. 3rd lesson focuses on “Marketing starts with all customers in the market rather than our customers” . The final lesson explores its roots from large pastoral congregations. It tells about exploiting demographic changes as marketing opportunity.
Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s set out to make ham shops by redesigning EVERY SINGLE THING!
The piece of bread that fell wrong side up… The story of a man who always believed that a piece of bread with butter always fall with butter side down to create a mess! One day, the bread fell with butter side up! No Mess?! How come?! The wisest man with all his confidence answered that actually the butter was put on the wrong side of the bread! Give everyone else a new perspective ! Peter F. Drucker
Similarly, the right marketing knowledge won’t be of much help but all it requires is the correct marketing action. 25 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
FEATURED ARTICLE - Alistair Toppo IIM INDORE
Chatbot Trend With the advent of advancement in the field of technology, chatbot trend is emerging as a compulsory device to be present in every household. We’re living in 21st century where homo sapiens are born with a digital-touch right from their childhood where he/she begins to learn digital technology before speaking their initial words. Making its presence in every corner of a human aspect, this artificial intelligence had dominated its interface via its expressive showcase and conducive methodology. Presenting its style, one-liners and boldness had made a tactical marketing executions. AI main user base is business communication with customers and with its own internal mechanism. It also allows itself to new learnings and gathering all-round information for automated technical communications. The highlighted feature of AI is conversation with its customer from basic queries to advanced technical statistical analysis, depending on the level of conversation an individual or group is/are engaged in. Approximately, more than 50% companies across the globe uses chatbot for their customer services and even for virtual assistants. And with increment rate with this percentage the number of firms will reach a mark of 80% and only local firm/startups will continue the trend of human assistants.
90% of our time on mobile is spent on email and messaging platforms.
MARKSMAN
26
MARCH EDITION
FEATURED ARTICLE The first chatbot was developed at MIT by a professor around mid-1900s and was named “ELIZA�. But the business use of chatbot started in the first decade of 21st century by a firm called WeChat. The response to this social media was tremendous as it fixed majority of the customer problems keeping in mind the altitude and pace of a conversation. This chatbot influenced other multinational firms to develop/hire a similar artificial intelligence to provide soothing customer care.
AI made a pillar of advancement within a short span and modified the chatbot version as per the demand.
With technology revolution across the globe it attracted its customers through its remarkable offers and features, AI made a pillar of advancement within a short span and modified the chatbot version as per the demand. However, the trend of chatbot not necessarily had fulfilled every customer problem rather there are cases of default and malfunctioning of it in time of crisis. These AI are also capable of handling professional domains which includes processing , marketing as well as payments. Certain parameters are kept in mind while developing these techno-friendly gadgets and the basic and the most foremost thing which is kept in mind is the consumer base. Adaptable to changing scenario has been a highlighted feature along with managerial qualities. As per IBM, almost 265 billion requests are recorded per year and a firms spends almost 1-2 trillion dollars on such repairments and improvements.
27 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
FEATURED ARTICLE
The negative impact for these bots rely on customers who don’t prefer artificial intelligence and would rather like to hear a human for consulting. For them it gives them a feeling of unnatural interaction. Although the newer generations have no complaints on such stance. However, this advancement had also lead to unemployment as the customer service/feedback contributed for a huge percentage of employment from its sector. Its been observed that human support plays a vital role in the system irrespective of the kind of approach, its intervention is the crux for configuration and optimizing the chatbot chain management system.
Negative impact for the botsCustomers who need a personal touch and do not prefer unnatural interaction.
People in 21st century tend to work as much easier as it could be, and if any product are making their lifestyle more convenient, they would rush to bring that device home. The voice modulation of such device plays a crucial role in marketing this product. Taking perfect example of Google’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri has mesmerized its customers through its deliverables. The best pros about these chatbots are they are available 24x7. Unlike human assistance who are there for a limited span of time. Clustering of apps is a highlighted feature which combines n number of apps and help them function together at any point of time. The main objective to create this functionality was based on an analysis of customers uninstalling apps because of its irrelevant functions or complexity of the app. As a result, these AI developed implications on this particular domain. Adding this, till now no negative consequences have been faced by the introduction of these devices, minute complains are been corrected immediately.
28 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
FEATURED ARTICLE
Chatbots often supplements vague arguments which concludes no successful result. Usually every chatbot has its predefined and contextualized piece of information based on presumptions and stored data. In such cases a disambiguating question helps the device to understand the user’s request. Recently, with the Corona pandemic terrorizing the world with its symptoms, AI related supercomputer and chatbots are utilized in an effective manner. IBM’s supercomputer “Summit” is been used to detect the presence of the virus through multiple parameters and thereby helping people take precaution. Similarly in India, government has taken a smart step to collaborate with WhatsApp and use chatbot to spread factual and genuine information about corona to their people. WhatsApp is been selected because it’s the most used app of our country and thereby effective. The bot has been named as “ Corona Mygov Helpdesk”, a link and a number has been assigned, when a person sends “Hi” or “Namaste” to that assigned number, the conversation starts and related information are been provided. This step would lessen the chance of spreading misinformation about the virus.
IBM’s supercomp uter “Summit” is been used to detect the presence of the virus through multiple parameters . 29 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
FEATURED ARTICLE - Bratati Das SJMSOM, IIT Bombay
Brain Branded P C Mustafa loved Dosa. Only that it took hours for the batter to be ready. So one fine day, he decided to sell readymade batter. Great thinking really, but it never took off. Indian households don't trust store-bought food like they love in-house produce. Mustafa thought long and hard and came up with an idea. He bought refrigerators, loaded them with batter packs and a box to collect money, all in public places. The idea was you would take a packet, pay for it if you want. Mustafa wanted to tell people that he trusted them even before they did. And it was a hit. Today Mustafa's company produces 35000 kg of batter every day.
Marketing stimuli plays an important role in gaining trust from potential customers.
MARKSMAN
What Mustafa did was, understand which marketing stimuli could make his potential customers trust his product. He used his intuition. But today we have techniques and technology that would study the brain's response medically and help marketers come up with the best ad campaign. This branch of market research is called neuromarketing.
30
MARCH EDITION
FEATURED ARTICLE
Neuromarketing, in fluid terms, uses techniques like MRI scans, electroencephalography (EEG), skin conductance measurements, eye tracking apparatuses to extract information that consumers are incapable of articulating into words or are not willing to disclose. “Some critics will say Coca-Cola made a marketing mistake. Some cynics will say that we planned the whole thing. The truth is we are not that dumb, and we are not that smart.” - Donald Keough (President & COO, Coca-Cola, 1985- in the immediate aftermath of the New Coke fiasco) Whether a “planned mistake” or just a diversion in the road, New Coke proved that Pepsi’s blind taste challenge had gotten firmly under Coca-Cola’s skin. The blind taste – perhaps one of the most successful mass experiments in history, made one thing apparent - consumers sometimes don’t know what they want and it can be the job of the marketer to tap into this unknown, subconscious, subliminal pot of gold.
It is the job of the marketer to tap into this unknown, subconscious, subliminal pot of gold.
31 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
FEATURED ARTICLE For example, a diaper company formed a heat map by recording eye gazing patterns to understand which part of their ad garnered the most views. What they realized was that the baby picture, instead of reinforcing the ad, actually ended up being a distraction. More people looked at the baby than at the product. So they then decided to turn the baby's stare in the direction of the ad. The results were surprising. The heat map intensity now shifted from the baby to the advertised product. Just a simple example of how neuroscience was leveraged in marketing to understand the power of directional cues.
Companies are now using neuroscience to tap into customer’s hidden preferences.
Another example was how neuroscience was used to understand the customer's hidden preferences. A snack company showed an ad to a focus group, which featured a revenge prank where a woman put in orange snacks into the washer. Verbal confirmation from the group was that they disliked the ad but MRI scans of their brain activity revealed that they in fact loved the ad. Societal judgment prevents people from giving honest feedback in surveys and this is exactly the gap that neuroscience can bridge.
32 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
FEATURED ARTICLE
For example, in 2012 researchers at Emory found that activity in a specific brain area, measured by fMRI while people were listening to music, significantly correlated with a song’s future popularity as measured by sales data three years later. But when participants were asked how much they liked the songs they heard, their responses did not predict sales. Frito-Lay asked a focus group to stare at various forms of packaging and by analyzing their brain scans figured out that customers were less averse to matte packaging than shiny ones. It then completely scrapped its shiny packaging to move on to the new matte look.
Customers with too many choices in their hand are most likely to be confused, which further leads to reduced sales. Choice Fatigue or Decision Paralysis has been one of marketing’s biggest challenges since before the internet existed. When customers are presented with way too many choices or are required to make a series of decisions, they are most likely to not make any decision at all. And that is not beneficial to marketing situations, leading to reduced sales. Neuroscience has helped marketers understand what is that magic number of choices that wouldn’t overwhelm a customer without cutting down on variety. It has helped them understand how when selling a complex product, most profitable decisions aren’t to be postponed towards the end. Rather, close the deal first.
33 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
FEATURED ARTICLE But here's the tough part. Neuroscience in marketing has raised concerns about ethical violations of consumers’ purchase decisions. It is believed that neuroscience gives marketers the magical "buy button" without the consumer even knowing, thus creating a completely “see-through” customer. Another issue is the possibility of response bias. Consumers know they are being observed and by being overtly conscious, they might actually modify their response. Last but not the least, enormous costs associated with neuromarketing make it a viable option for only large firms with unorthodox marketing budgets. Marketing today is no more about getting your consumer to look at you. It is more about getting found where they are looking. Neuroscience is how we can make that leap.
Neuroscience in marketing has raised concerns about ethical violations of consumers’ purchase decisions.
34 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
SQUARE HEAD -Harpreet Singh
35 MARKSMAN
MARCH EDITION
CALL FOR ARTICLES FOR MARKSMAN APRIL EDITION 2020
“Only when you pen down words, do ideas come to life.” The Marksman provides one and all the opportunity to discover their hidden talents in the literary field through the call for articles. For the upcoming month, the articles can be sent on any of the following topics:
• Conversational Marketing • Emotional Marketing • Brand Marketing on Smartphone : Lockdown version * Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all the references are clearly mentioned. Kindly follow the guidelines given below: 1. One article can have only one author. 2. Your article should be approximately 800 – 850 (strictly adhere to the word limit). 3. The article must have relevant pictures that can be used to enhance the article. 4. Font Type: Gill Sans MT 5. Font Size: 14 6. Send in your articles in .doc/.docx format to marksman.simsr@somaiya.edu 7. Subject Line: Your Name_Institute Name_Course Year. 8. Kindly name your file as: Your Name_ Topic. The best adjudged article will be given a Winner’s certificate. The First Prize Winners will be awarded Rs. 500 Cash Prize. Deadline For Submission Of Article: 25th APRIL 2020
/interface_simsr /interface_simsr /linkedin.com/in/interfacesimsr
www.fb.com/simsr.interfac e www.theinterfacesimsr.com