The Marksman - September '15 by The Marksman

The

MARKSMAN

K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH

VOL. VI | ISSUE IV | Sept’ 15

EDITOR’S NOTE Dear Readers, Thank you so much for embracing our magazine with such enthusiasm and for being a wonderful, encouraging audience. It gives us immense pleasure to present to you the September issue of your very own Marksman. This edition boasts of a range of varied articles lined up just for your reading pleasure. Our cover story this month titled –Brand scaping – deals with the marketing methodology of leveraging content as an asset instead of treating it as an expense. This month’s special story – “Innovation Blowback – the new market mantra” explains how companies are using reverse innovation to meet needs of people and then repackaging their products as cost-effective novelties for Western buyers. With great pride we would like to present to you our latest and hottest section – KickSTART that focuses on the startup – LimeRoad, this month! In addition to that, we even have the usual but exciting sections on: Tweets, Bookworm, Buzz, Ad-itude, Hallmark Campaign, Pioneer and Faux Pas. We would also like to congratulate the winners for this month’s Call For Articles – Ankit Aggarwal from IIM Kashipur and Deepa Yadav, whose articles have been chosen to be featured in this month’s issue. And for all those entries that haven’t been published in this issue, we thank you all for your overwhelming response and request you to keep writing to us with the same fervor. Feedback is always welcome and we would appreciate and acknowledge if our readers keep writing to us. Stay connected with us on www.interfacesimsr.com/the-marksman. Happy Reading! TEAM MARKSMAN The Interface – The Marketing Club of SIMSR @marksmansimsr

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Tweets

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s All About Ad-itude

Brand Markive

Cover Story: Encashing Brandscaping - Leveraging content as an asset for marketing

Special Story: Innovation Blowback The new market mantra!

Marketing Faux Pas

Hall-mark Campaign

Pioneer

Bookworm

Kickstart

Buzz

TWEETS "Now get your refunds within an hour #24HoursIsACrime"

"Make way for #CarpoolByMeru”

Snapdeal announced the launch of its Immediate Payments System or Interbank Mobile Payments Service (IMPS), which would help its customers get refunds within just 60 minutes of Snapdeal receiving a returned product. This instant money transfer service can be accessed on computers as well as mobile devices. Snapdeal has agreed to use the IMPS system for offline (cash on delivery) payments as well. In the rare case that a bank does not support the IMPS system – which most of the Indian banks already do support – the refund will switch over to the NEFT mode, a similar but slower method of money transfer. In a statement, Anand Chandrasekaran, CPO, Snapdeal, said that the firm had noticed close to 100% refunds taking place within an hour and over 85% of the refunds within 30 minutes. The announcement of the IMPS came less than 2 weeks after Flipkart announced the launch of its 24 hrs return system. Snapdeal and Flipkart, two of the largest e-commerce startups in India have had a history of such countering and trolling each other on social media.

"Make way for #CarpoolByMeru – an all new app based service connecting travelers across India“. Meru Cabs has launched a new ride sharing service, ‘CarPool’ for its customers across India. The 'CarPool' service integrated on to the ‘Meru Cabs’ mobile app, offers personal ridesharing option for people travelling in the same direction or area. The service will help personal vehicle owners and city commuters to reduce their daily travel costs and this in turn would also help reduce the congestion and pollution on the city roads. Meru has also partnered with mobile payment service provider Paytm. A registered user can look up other users travelling on his or her route and time and connect with them to share a ride. “The initiative aims to encourage a simple act of reducing the one-person per vehicle issue through a communal effort of sharing a ride with another person headed in the same direction while offering convenience and economy of travel.” said Siddhartha Pahwa, Chief Executive Officer at Meru Cabs. Carpool service is currently available on Android app Meru Cabs.

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TWEETS

"India, more countries now get ads on Instagram #instagram #instagramads“ Facebook's most popular photo-sharing service Instagram has now opened its advertising platform for India and 30 other countries including Mexico, Italy, South Korea and Spain and on September 30 will be launched in remaining markets around the world. Kirthiga Reddy, managing director, Facebook India, said "Instagram will enable any advertiser large or small to run advertisements on the platform. We will offer a new suite of features, including more action-oriented ad formats, landscape images and videos." Haircare brand TRESemmé which is owned by Unilever; traditional Indian drinks brand PaperBoat, Kitkat and men’s razor brand Gillette, owned by P&G are the first four companies to come on board in India. TRESemmé, PaperBoat and Gillete have chosen the still imagery format for their ad campaigns while Kitkat will use the 30second video ad format on Instagram. The ad sales team will be the same for Facebook and Instagram.

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ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

Client: Turtle Agency: J. Walter Thompson

Gandhiji promoted KHADI movement during our freedom movement so as to make Indians self reliant on cotton and be free from high priced cloth provided by British rulers. It worked great during that time but over the time Khadi lost its essence in India. So for bringing back that essence back and also to celebrate the true spirit and struggle of freedom movement, Turtle, leading fashion brand in India started the above print ad campaign. It supports the cause of Indian weavers by adopting their villages and also providing them with the raw materials. The ad created for Turtle by JWT agency depicts a single strand of hand woven thread which shows how we Indians were united by this cloth its now our chance to unite once again and promote the cloth and also the artisans making them.

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IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

Television Ad Client: Coca Cola Agency: Walter Pakistan (JWT) When we see the words “OPEN HAPPINESS” all that strikes our mind is COKE and no other thoughts from our life. This is what COKE has done by bringing happiness to us in different forms, be it by sharing a bottle of coke with friends at a party, or cheering up a sad sibling after a fight. And Coke has managed to strike this cord of happiness again during the National Hispanic Heritage Month. The National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from 15th September to 15th October every year to mark the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans to the United States. Latinos have great pride in their family names and their heritage. And Coke has very cleverly taken this ball into their court by Emblazoning Cans with Transferable Tattoos of Last Names. The “Orgulloso De Ser” (proud to be) film evokes the power of family, culture and community by bringing people together to celebrate their heritage. The pride they feel when they hear or see their last name is very evident. The cans used have common last names printed in a reverse form and on removing the protective covering the name can be transferred on body. The agency DAVID has captured all the essence of the pride, happiness in a felicitous manner.

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BRAND MARKive Vodafone and the story of amazing ads

We all remember Hutch, do we not? Even if the answer to that question is no, the Hutch-pug campaign is definitely frozen in our memory. Hutch made a huge impact in conveying its message “Wherever you go our network follows” to the masses with those adorable ads wherein the dog would follow its owner throughout the ad over a melodious background score (remember, “You and I in this beautiful world”?). In fact, Hutch started a new trend. Most pet lovers started adopting pugs. You could see Hutch had made an impact when a person in the neighbourhood who didn’t know much about dog breeds would address the dog as the ‘Hutch-dog’. With all of these things taken into account, Hutch basically stole our hearts away.

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Our favourite pug failed to fit in to the needs of the Vodafone commercials soon after and was fired. Vodafone started emphasizing on what was their differentiating factor, their value-added services. The theme of these ads shifted away from the cute image that had been set in our minds initially. The audience probably thought the brand had moved in to more serious and informative ads. However, they took everyone by surprise with their new invention, the ZooZoos! The same information was shared, but in a much more comical manner. The zoozoos are popular till date. They’ve moved out of the TV screens and in to the real world-on Tshirts, coffee mugs, key chains and a lot of other merchandize which is available in Vodafone stores.

BRAND MARKive Another famous campaign was the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Made for youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; campaign was about customized services in which Vodafone brought in very real looking characters and put them in day-to-day scenarios like going to the gym or going to a tailor, emphasizing on how different people have different requirements. Some of the characters in the ads were in fact not actors but personal contacts of the ad makers.

Between all these ads, Vodafone did decide to bring back the pug for three commercials to communicate the superior quality of their network. The ads, like all other Hutch-pug ads were adorable and helped maintain the connection with the users that Hutch had established. Vodafone is one of the most used networks in India and it has managed to create this space for itself very beautifully and with a lot of ease.

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COVER STORY Encashing Brandscaping Leveraging content as an asset for marketing

Today marketing is all about creating brand awareness among people, inducing brand consideration and brand preference in the minds of customers. These activities require a lot of money. Apparently every year big companies spend roughly 8 billion dollars on public relation initiatives just to create awareness of their products by showcasing on TV shows, buying some magazine space to showcase its products or take services of bloggers and reporters. Not to mention another whooping 600 billion dollars spent on advertising and creating content. These costs in fact do justify marketing as an expense. The advertising, media industry, social platforms, public relations and publishing processes have undergone a monumental change in the recent years. Internet was not even a tool for marketing 15-20 years back. With the advent of information and technological age, marketing has never been the same. Brandscaping is the first marketing methodology to take advantage of these shifts.

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Brandscaping is a marketing methodology that enables one to leverage content as an asset instead of treating it as an expense. It is built on the base that marketing with ads on TV and media is unsustainable, instead content marketing helps in a better way. Brandscaping can be explained as a content marketing strategy using novel ideas that work.

COVER STORY

To successfully practice brandscaping there are three pre requisites:1. The confidence to invest in the content of others 2. Being humble enough to accept that a customer cares more than just your products and services and 3. The willingness to partner with people and share your audiences.

their content as the customer is going to spend time on the content consuming it.

Today digital customer acquisition channels tend to saturate quickly and hence we need to keep looking for new means. Content marketing is the new trend and so producing the right content is of utmost importance. Also content production requires tons of resources. It is all about using the power of Industries need to keep a check that they partnerships. To make partnerships with are not just mere content publishers Instead they people who are already producing the right unlike other industries. content. It is about partnership with should partner with other companies who companies who have your next customer as have similar target audience as theirs or are closely related to them. This helps to their current customer. cut content costs. It requires partnering Today a lot of content is being produced. As with people who are already producing one of the major functions of marketing is to the right content. Brandscaping is the create brand awareness, the content formation of landscape of brands that produced usually revolves around the brand target the same audience and amplify each itself and consumer comes second. Herein otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s messages. There are three main lies the twist. It is only after your product steps to this process. information has reached the consumer, will the consumer buy and the brand value will 1. Selecting the right partners: Selecting the right partners requires develop. And so when the content is careful observations of what your produced it should not revolve only around current customers are currently the brand but around the consumers. The consuming. Identify authentic content consumer should come first. So producing creators and businesses. Based on content only around the brand is this, partnerships should be made unauthentic and the consumer remains with a view of long term future goals. immune to it. Instead the content produced It is all about creating a win-win should revolve around the consumer as it is situation for both. It goes perfectly by his need that we want to satisfy profitably. the saying â&#x20AC;&#x153;a rising tide lifts all the Branded content is created for a company; a ships.â&#x20AC;? This also significantly cuts content brand is created for a valuable down promotion costs. audience. Companies need to spend time on

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COVER STORY

E.g. you will find soft drinks of The Coco Cola Company only in McDonalds Restaurants. And its iconic Coke Float, Fanta Float and various combos consisting of a burger and soft drinks is available only in McDonald’s outlets. This has been done because the target audience is the same. In this deal as can be seen Coco Cola targets people visiting McDonalds and vice versa a group of people who just come to visit McDonalds for a soft drink may buy a burger thus providing McDonalds an opportunity to sell more. 2. How to exploit content holes: Content opportunities exist even in the most crowded markets. You need to create something to sell something related to it. E.g. the book video club is a website that explains books in short. It explains the key concepts of books in about five minutes through the various videos. These people send a link with “currently trending books, most popular books” most people click the link it directs them to the video. After seeing the video they ask if they would like to sign up and love to see more of such books. It gives them the benefits and the approx. cost of the content which they will offer for free. Now mostly readers would see the video.

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They find it interesting sign up for free and then comes a link who’s behind this. It is a company called board studios. Now Board studios are a B2B video production company which makes videos. Their aim is that CEO’s of various companies will watch it and would see their creativity and probably order one video for their own company. This is how it works, doing a job to get the other job. A subscription helps one build relationship with the customer before they need you. 3. Reach out and join similar brands like you: - There exists a competition between various brands. All companies struggle to maintain their market share and tighten their grip on the market. Maintaining the market share constant doesn’t always help. Especially if the market is a diminishing one. It leads to loss. Companies should collaborate to increase the overall market and then compete for market share. E.g. consider a business of selling pet foods. Companies compete to keep their share constant and at the same time increase it. Suppose if people start losing interest in keeping pets. Increasing share or keeping it constant may not prove to be profitable considering the diminishing interest in pets. So companies might have to consider a need to increase the overall sale of pets and retrieve the interest of people in pets instead of competing first for the share. Thus joining and reaching out to similar brands is needed to increase the overall customer base first and later on competing with one another.

COVER STORY Thus for brandscaping it is important to spend more time in creating the content as people come in contact through the same with the company. Content should be treated as a product itself which needs to be consumed at the fullest by the consumer. Expenditure on content distribution and reach should be more focused rather than its mere creation. Of course content creation and creativity would be different to different kinds of businesses but the queries and answers to content marketing are one and the same. Creativity is the main basis for this. The content should not be what businesses want to publish but what the consumers need and want. Valuable content increases demand for the products or services one sells. It inspires people to buy something they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know they needed. Using brandscaping and the power of partnerships powerful content can be created at an affordable cost.

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Special Story Innovation Blowback The new market mantra! Back in 2008 when TATA Nano was launched to pull India's mushrooming middle classes away from two-wheelers, it received much publicity and did achieve significant success, but little did we know that in near future the same car with a little nip-tuck would find an opportunity in Western markets. Yes that’s correct TATA plans to roll out a revamped version of Nano called ‘TATA Europa’ in the west during the course of next year. Welcome to the world of “Reverse Innovation”; a term coined by Global business strategist Vijay Govindarajan in 2009; reverse innovation or trickle-up innovation refers to the process by which companies in emerging markets or the developing countries produce reasonable and economical goods and services to meet the needs of the poor and then repackage them as cost-effective novelties for Western buyers.

In the past decade or so a number of products that were initially developed for emerging markets have encountered profound success in the West. For instance GE developed a portable, battery-operated electrocardiogram machine that sells for well under $500. Intended as a solution for rural Indian markets where bulky and expensive machines made little sense, the product is now building inroads in the U.S. as a solution for first responders. P&G found similar success with their ‘Vicks Honey Cough’ honey-based low-cost cold remedy which was developed in Mexico as it became prevalent in European and the United States markets as well.

The genesis of this entire phenomenon can be attributed to the difference in income as well as satisfaction level that the consumers expect from the product in the two markets, as buyers in developing countries like Indian, China etc. want new, high-tech solutions at very low costs and good enough quality.

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SPECIAL STORY

Coca-Cola's ‘Minute Maid Pulpy’, was first tested in a region of China, and can now be found in 19 countries across Asia, Africa and South America. Levi's ‘Denizen’ brand is another example, with the company first launching the brand in Asia, targeting Indian and Chinese consumers, Denizen jeans retailed for one-third the cost of a pair of Levi's when they rolled out in the U.S. this summer. Reverse innovation is not just limited to products and services but also in terms of strategy as in case of Amazon which is exploring the idea of rolling out Building Operations Leadership (BOLD), its MBA hiring programme unique to India, to other countries as well.

These are the things that have already been tried and have tasted success in the west, but there remains a multitude of product, services or strategies that have been made for the emerging markets with untapped potential of becoming key attraction in the developed markets. India’s very own ‘Mangalyaan’ that costed less than one tenth of the space missions of other countries has also raised inquisitiveness and has paved way for a more cost-effective frugal design approach. LG – Low-cost Air Conditioners (AC), Godrej Chotukool Refrigerator, Tata ‘Swacch’ (World’s cheapest water purifier), Bharat Forge Maintenance Management Practice and countless additional specimens of reverse innovation are just awaiting their global arrival.

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COZ WE ARE NOT LOVING IT !

MARKETING FAUX PAS COZ WE ARE LOVING IT!

McDonald's Happy Meal mascot named ‘Happy’ officially entered the U.S. market in 2015, being launched in French Market back in 2009. McDonald's designed the anime mascot as an anthropomorphized box that "brings fun and excitement to kids’ meals, while additionally serving as an ambassador for balanced healthy andwholesome eating." Despite purportedly noble sentiments and aspirations,the mascot was trashed and rejected even by the diehard McDonald-ophiles .The prime target market of McDonalds, that being children found the mascot ‘scary’ and ‘creepy’. Happy did garner attention, with tweets flooding online but not the positive one it must have anticipated

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The uproar of this marketing faux pas inspired online marketplace Design Crowd to come up with a marketing plan of their own by challenging its online graphic design communityto a Photoshop contest that would incorporate the much-maligned and detested mascot into some of the most iconic horror movie posters. The public reaction hasn't been that of a positive one to the new McDonald’s mascot, and the company had to lay off with big money on it. Had they gone through a crowdsourcing marketplace, likeDesign Crowd, McDonald's would have received hundreds of original ideas for new designs for a great price. The first place winner received 200 dollars, which should afford the winner something like around 66 Happy Meals.

MARKETING FAUX PAS

Ronald McDonald has been the face of McDonalds for more thanthree decades is loved and adored by all. Though the same cannot be said about Happy which didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t connect with the consumers at all. Was this blunder a big one? Of course it was! , but still not big enough to soil the reputation of a Forbes most powerful brand .McDonalds accepted the rejection by the masses gracefully and admitted their lack of understanding of what clicked with the market and what did not. McDonalds still has not given up on designing a new age mascot,hopefully this time it will be a friendlier one.

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Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN Melbourne Metro Trains # Dumb Ways To Die How do you market the significance of public safety in a way which doesn’t scare your audience away? How do you make sure you receive the attention of your target audience for something as important as rail safety when safety is the last thing people think about while travelling during their routine day to day lives? In November 2012, the Melbourne Metro Train initiated a revolutionary marketing campaign to promote rail safety. The campaign was called ‘Dumb Ways to Die’, a public service announcement campaign to address all commuters to be safe around metro. The aim of this campaign was to engage the crowd that really doesn’t want to hear any kind of safety message.

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‘Dumb Ways to Die’ was a creative video that featured twenty one characters which showcases twenty one stupid ways to die with the last three being to be killed due to unsafe behavior around trains. The campaign was created by advertising agency McCann Melbourne. The client, Melbourne Metro Trains did not want a clichéd public service ad to which nobody gives a second look. McCann decided to take the mode of entertainment and wrote a hilarious song that talks about dumb ways to die – such as setting fire to your hair, poking a grizzly bear, eating a two week old unrefrigerated pie – to get the message across to be safe around trains because one of the dumbest ways to die is to get hit by a train!

HALL-MARK CAMPAIGN

The ad appeared in newspapers, radio, billboards and throughout the metro rail network in Melbourne. It was designed in a way to promote viral marketing via YouTube, Facebook and Tumblr. The ad was an overnight success. It was viewed 2.5 million times within 48 hours of launch and 4.7 million times within 72 hours. Within two weeks the video was viewed 30 million times and as of March 2015 the views are over 100 million. It was cute, contagious and loved by everyone who saw it. The campaign received various international accolades including 5 Grand Prix at Cannes Lions becoming one of the most awarded social campaigns of all time. The campaign got kids and young people to think and talk about the perils of train platforms. To date the campaign has over 90 million pledges from people to be safe around trains. This is from commuters taking photos and pledging to be safe around metro.

According to comparative studies, there has been 21% reduction in accidents and deaths on the Melbourne Metro network, indirectly as a result of the campaign. Though this reduction is not solely attributed to the campaign - the Melbourne Metro took a variety of initiatives to market the idea of safety in entirety which brought significant awareness and behavior change among the commuters while travelling. Critics of the campaign have been skeptical of the effectiveness of the campaign and have also called it insensitive, lacking depth and a viral gimmick. Though the short-term results of the campaign may not give a fair idea of the ad’s effectiveness, it has definitely increased the level of awareness of train safety with those youngsters who are techno-savvy and mobile on the go. Today anyone on the streets of Melbourne knows about ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ and may possibly hum the tune if you’d ask them to. Such was the impact of the campaign that it makes one wonder if we need a similar campaign in India, given the number of accidents that take place each day. Safety being one of the most neglected issues in India, such an initiative would definitely make us more safety conscious and value our lives while we travel.

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PIONEER The Donald

A real estate magnate, celebrity, business author and now a candidate for the 2016 U.S Presidential elections, DONALD JOHN TRUMP with a net worth of whooping USD 4.1 billion (according to Forbes) is this month’s Pioneer. A narcissist, grandiloquent and a straight shooter, the Trump Organization Chairman and President started his journey by sharing office with his father, a real estate developer for five years after which he got involved in larger projects. The Trump tag is now synonymous with grandeur and significant addresses around the world. Some of his works include the world-renowned Fifth Avenue skyscraper, Trump Tower, and the luxury residential buildings, Trump Parc, Trump Palace, Trump Plaza, 610 Park Avenue, The Trump World Tower (tallest building on the East Side of Manhattan), and Trump Park Avenue. He was also responsible for the designation and construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Centreand the exterior restoration of the Grand Central Terminal as part of his conversion of the neighbouring bankrupt Commodore Hotel into the very successful Grand Hyatt Hotel.

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He has developed quite a few golf courses which he now owns like the Trump National Golf Club in NY, LA, NJ, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Hudson Valley in the US and the Trump International Golf Links in Scotland and Puerto Rico, which have been named “the best modern day golf course in the world”. He even has a long association with world’s most prestigious beauty pageant, Miss Universe as the owner of the Miss Universe organization from 1996 which produces the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants. He also became a joint partner with National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in 2003 where he was the executive producer and host of the hit reality show, “The Apprentice”.

PIONEER He is a two time Emmy Award nominee and has made appearances as himself in various TV series and films like, Wall Street: Money never sleeps, Home Alone 2, The Nanny etc.

A successful author with his book ‘Trump: The art of the deal’ (part autobiography, part business advice) held the #1 position on New York Times Bestseller list for a period of 51 weeks! He even has a business game after him called ‘Donald Trump’s Real Estate Tycoon’. Trump has tasted big successes as a businessman but there have also been some not-so-successful ventures like the Trump Airlines, Trump Vodka, Trump Casinos, Trump: the game, Trump magazine, Trump Steaks, Trump University, GoTrump.com and Trump mortgage. He has even filed for bankruptcy in 1991,1992,2004 and 2009.

Trump is known for speaking without filter. He was a strong believer that the US President, Barack Obama wasn’t born in the US. He was /is constantly seen against the US President on various political issues. And the US President is seen taking a dig at “the Donald” at various occasions like the 2011 White House Correspondence Dinner. Trump on various occasions has shown interest to run for President (in 1998, 2004 and 2012). He finally announced his candidacy for the President of United States on June16, 2015 for the 2016 elections with the slogan “Make America Great Again”. A poll conducted by The Economist released on July 9,2015showed Trump to be the Republican Presidential Front-runner for 2016. We’ll have to wait and see whether this pioneer heads the World’s Largest Economy or not.

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Bookworm The Purple Cow Transform your business by being remarkable -Seth Godin

With this book the author has endowed the world with a new Marketing PPURPLE COW. The author states that cows, no matter how perfect or attractive, are still boring and commonplace, but a ‘purple cow’ would be interesting and intriguing. The Purple Cow is something which is remarkable by virtue of being different. The book is premised around the same idea that in this era of hyper marketing wherein the consumers are bombarded with messages from marketers 24*7*365 the consumers tend to get saturated.

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The traditional marketing therefore doesn’t pay. This is where the author reasons in creating a product that is unique, innovative and has a wow factor like a purple cow. A product that is ‘Remarkable’ and has things built in worth noticing. He emphasises that gone are the days of creating a safe product and combining it with mass marketing. Instead he urges businesses to create remarkable products that seek the attention of the right segment or niche that is willing to try out new things. The book is filled with case studies and offers businesses with ideas to discover their own purple cow or better yet create their own purple cow. The examples cited make the theories more understandable and relatable. Godin with the launch of his book itself presented a marvellous example of his concept of remarkable packaging when the first self published edition of the came packaged in milk cartons with title of the book printed sideways on the cover. The book is a must read for people interested in business, marketing or sales as offers an new approach and theory that stimulates thought on how to be remarkable and market in this different time.

FEATURED ARTICLES ALPHABET to include G for Google now

Deepa Yadav - SIMS, Pune Google Inc. is the only company which has risen after the creation of its parent company “ALPHABET Inc.”, which basically separates out the non-core businesses of Google from itself to come under the today’s brandumbrella of “ALPHABET”. Alphabet basically means a collection of words which represents any language, one of the most important innovation by the human beings. In the same way, Alphabet Inc. is mostly a collection a companies in which the largest company is Google as the core-business under the umbrella of brand Alphabet as per the founder Larry Page.

Alphabet is created by founder & CEO Larry Page and co-founder Sergey Brin as President, so that they can remain in the business of starting new things. They also liked the idea of what alpha-bet means, which represents the investment returns above the benchmark when talking in financial terms.

This company also has at least one product for each of the 26 English letters. Also, the reorganisation of its structure will show the transparency of the company with the clear insights of its accounts. Alphabet is not a consumerbrand as Google which is more oriented and connected towards consumers. Its main focus is to help Alphabet companies build their own brand as an independent entity with the help of a strong leader. As per the founder of Alphabet, it will include the X Lab which comprises of their innovative products such as Wing, Google ventures- the venture-capital arm, Google Capital- the large investment arm, self-driving cars, Nest- the smart household devices, Project Loon- the internet delivering balloons, Fiber- the fastest Internet service of Google, health-related technologies and many other.

Although Google has slimmed down a bit with the creation of the holdingcompany Alphabet, but it is not going to affect it that much, as Google is such a strong brand in the minds of its consumers, that it is only going create a new, lighter and better version of Google and its related products which include YouTube, Android, Maps, Gmail, Search and Advertising businesses.

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FEATURED ARTICLES

Old and new logo and search icon of Google Apart from these things, the shares of Google has been transferred into the shares of Alphabet-its parent company, but the ticker symbol of these shares have not been changed yet after the reorganisation of its operating structure. The Top management of Google has been transferred to Mr. Sunder Pichai who was previously the deputy to the former CEO Larry Page. The new CEO Mr. Pichai is handling the internet business of Google worldwide and is working on the continuous innovation of new products and services of the internet business acquired by Google. This will allow Google to focus on what it does best under the guidance of its new and independent CEO. As a result of which, Google now need not worry about the risky investments or riskier products of its parent company and can grow independently. The inclusion of the letter “G” for Google whenever Alphabet’s name is taken shows that Google is the only cash cow for the company Alphabet, talking in the terms of marketing jargons. In the end, I would like to say that Alphabet is a known company in the world now only because of its subsidiary company Google which is the best brand in the entire world as of now. Alphabet knows that it cannot simply replace the brand Google in the minds of the customers that’s why it has considered the inclusion of “G is for Google” in its website and as a marketing strategy to grow bigger. It’s just that even if Alphabet gets bigger, New Google will still be one of the biggest companies in the world.

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FEATURED ARTICLES Public display of emotions - Maggi missed its customers

Ankit Aggarwal - IIM Kashipur The following article illustrates the emotions of the Maggi Noodles in the way it comes across me as consumer of Maggi for a long period of time. (Note: to pen down the emotions of Maggi in the most convincing way, Maggi is personified as a person (woman) and an effort is made to carve out the emotions of Maggi in the best possible way.) One horrible day in the Month of May, 2015 proved to be a crusher of every child’s dreams and even grown up’s emotions (who have been associated with Maggi noodles since they were a child. The reason is Maggi being seen as a sweet childhood memory). A report emerged from the officials of Food Regulator, Uttar Pradesh which had the underlying statement that Maggi was not safe for normal consumption as the two sample test of Maggi revealed that certain substances (monosodium glutamate and lead) were out of the permissible limit to be termed as healthy for consumption. The immediate result of this report impacted the Delhi circle with the government banning the sale of Maggi in New Delhi stores for 15 days in June4, 15. This was followed by other statessuch as Gujarat’s immediate restriction on

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sales and distribution for 30 days, Assam’s ban on sales and even storage of its variants for 30 days. Ultimately it lead to nationwide uproar against Maggi with all the major retail chains and supply houses discarding all Maggi instant Noodles variants. This was a big blow to Nestle (producer company of Maggi noodles worldwide) losing on its most powerful brand. It’s motto of “Good food, Good life” had fallen in between. On this tragic incident, Maggi displays her emotions by the following lines-: I still recall that horrible day, A drought of blame drying all hopes of hay. Whether it’s politically motivated or some jealous competitor’s trap, Or a production lot failure or an understanding gap. I would never indulge into this as I love my children friends, Test my soul - I am full of healthy blends. How a childhood fantasy turning into a nightmare, All running away from me full of negativity and fear. Even my loyalists have popped out their detective eyes, As if I am the only one full of lies. This blow has choked my lungs,

FEATURED ARTICLES My own have hurt- old and young’s. Did you really think I was that evil? For the generations serving you- today or medieval. Lost my repo and my stand in a single blow, All my ripe crops back to plough. Remember me- I was your Favourite Maggi, Trust me- I am not shaggy.

Maggi suffered a dismissal from the Indian market for quite a period of time. During this the company had to recall the packets of Maggi Noodles from all over India suffering about a more than INR 400 crore loss in lost sales, damages and disposal. Maggi was surely missed at the time of her absence. Many competitors tried to take its place but weren’t successful in delighting the taste buds as Maggi had. During the interim period of Maggi’s absence, company tried to keep her alive in the minds of consumers. Some instances being the company released three short videos on its YouTube channel. To gain the momentum these were widely shared on social platforms such as Twitter with the #WeMissYouToo. On the date of August 13, 2015 Bombay High court came up with a decision that the ban be lifted from Maggi and the Maggi could go on sales after a few tests.

This news filled Maggi with delight and her words -: Finally I am going to be back and I can’t wait, I know it was hard for my loyalists but it’s never too late. We are going to be together and have a blast, Approaching nearest outlets running very fast. Your tongue and my soup – the pair of heaven, When tongue seduces me, I on cloud seven. I am sure that you surely had sleepless nights, I am coming to fill those with tasty delights. I hope this pair never breaks again, Can bear all tests not this separation’s pain. At last I am back- Your Favourite Maggi, I told you I was not shaggy. From the above words straight out from Maggi’s mouth, we see that Maggi really cares for its customers. Even the thought of separation from them causes utmost pain to Maggi. At the end I would like say whatever said being said is at its place but Maggi had been the best childhood memory for many like us (Maggi in school tiffin’s, Maggi on picnics, Maggi at house parties, Maggi-Maggi everywhere anywhere). When the first reports of the bad quality of Maggi came, it was like doubting the mother’s milk if it was pure. Maggi has created an irreplaceable position in the hearts of consumer (let alone the dominant position it had created in the market). Now the Maggi is finally back, it is no less coming home to where it really belonged.

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KickStart LimeRoad

What’s in a look? A lot, actually. Especially if you are a woman. There’s the dress. And then there are the accessories. Oh, almost forgot the shoes.. and quite a few other things really! Besides, no woman would be caught dead in last year’s fashion. Finding the right products to construct a “look” is a challenge for women – one met painstakingly trawling through shops in marketplaces and malls. Then there are fashion websites such as Jabong and Myntra. And then there is LimeRoad! “LimeRoad was the inception of an idea that came to me while reading a glossy magazine during one of those rare ‘me time’ moments after the birth of my second child in London. As I flipped the pages of this beautiful magazine, I found a piece of jewellery I really liked, and I felt the urge to reach out, touch it and buy it.” Says Suchi Mukherjee, Founder and CEO of LimeRoad.com.

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It was then that she realized that no consumer technology existed that made discovery of lovely products entertaining and easy, just like reading a beautiful magazine and also there was no place from where one could access the vast array of great products that were being manufactured and shipped out of South – East Asia, the world’s manufacturing hub. It is this though that led to the birth of LimeRoad, with the aim of creating the most extensive lifestyle platform for women’s lifestyle products, combined with a completely new paradigm to enable the discovery of products.

Suchi Mukherjee along with Ankush Mehra, co-founder & VP Supply Chain Operations and Prashant Malik, coFounder & CTO joined hands to start LimeRoad in 2012. Today, LimeRoad is a 200+ member team of multi-dimensional people ranging from IIT-techies to NIFTdesign geeks who bring their vivacious personalities to work each day. The team at LimeRoad works with the sole objective of making the online shopping experience so delightful that it becomes the online destination for women, who like discovering gorgeous, “hatke” products at affordable prices.

Kickstart The company positions itself as a unique discovery platform for lifestyle products and has a number of initiative that drive this differentiation. The company has also gone out and built really strong partnerships with a rich selection of retailers and regional brands across India, who they believe deserve to be in the spotlight. LimeRoad is creating a pipeline for these unique products to be connected with consumers through a new curated way. LimeRoad works on a simple premise. It allows you to create your own look – on a virtual scrapbook, suing products from 1500 small vendors on its site. And share it with others. One can also discover styles by subscribing to LimeRoad’s feed or follow people whose concoctions they like.

Social features are inbuilt into the product – tools for inherent creation of user generated content and direct selling incentives – scrapbook allows users to curate looks. Through this scrapbook tool, LimeRoad has empowered users and created a platform where their target audience is completely engaged, thus generating community-led “freshness” for the brand. Built into the business model itself is the fact that increasingly a large part of the curation is done by the online customer community.

Their supply side model – a tightly managed workplace – makes them extremely capital efficient. In other words, they do not commit working capital to hold / block inventory. They make money when vendors sell i.e a commission revenue (% of sales). The company has announced a series C fund raise of $30 million. Tiger Global Management, an existing investor, leads the new round with participation from existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Matrix Partners India. Previously, LimeRoad raised a $15 million series B round, in May, 2014. The series C round funding takes the total amount to over $50 million. This model works well for everyone – the creator of the look gets a kick out of showing off her creativity, besides getting reward points; the buyer is happy as she gets a full fashion package; the vendors rake in the moolah because when one “look” is sold, more than one product is sold; and LimeRoad cheers on because more products sold equates to more commission!

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BUZZ

SEPTEMBER 2015

Call for ARTICLES CALL FOR ARTICLES October 2015 Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:

1. Volkswagen: Requiem for a dream? 2. Modi’s Digital India – A Long Road 3. Is using Big Data Marketing a Must These Days?

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The TEAM THE TEAM TWEETS by Kashyap Salvi Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about AD-itude by Ishita Shah Brand MARKive by Mansi Mahajani COVER STORY by Priyank Wani SPECIAL STORY by Shikhar Dubey FAUX PAS by Sampada Srivastava HALLMARK CAMPAIGN by Jhanvi Kothari PIONEER by Ashka Mevawala Kickstart by Shruti Mohapatra BOOKWORM by Dipika Soneja SquAreheaD by Samarth Amarnani BUZZ by Vivek Gariba PROOF READ by Dipika Soneja Shruti Mohapatra Neha Sharma DESIGNING by Kashyap Salvi Samarth Amarnani PROMOTIONS by Samarth Amarnani Ishita Shah

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