The Marksman Nov '14

The

MARKSMAN

K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH

Brand Markive: Lamborghini

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Special Story: Net New Territoriality >>pg13 Faux Pas: CocaCola

Pioneer: Oprah Winfrey

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VOL. V | ISSUE VI | NOV’ 14

Dear Readers,

EDITOR’S NOTE

It gives us immense pleasure to present to you the November issue of our very own Marksman. This month we have a range of varied articles lined up for our esteemed readers.

Our cover story this month titled – Comic Books and Graphic Novels: A Rebirth and Ignition of Marketability – talks about the marketing technique that led to the popularity of novels and comic books. It highlights on facts as to how the customers needs were identified and met, elements that complemented the sale of these books and what the future holds for them. This month’s special story – “Net New Territoriality?” explains how changing the status of Telecom companies from that of information services to that of common carriers and explores the idea of net neutrality. Our Brand Markive, illustrates the journey of Lamborghini right from its inception, to its lows and its rise again. In addition to that, we even have our regular yet exciting sections on: Tweets, Bookworm, Buzz, Ad-itude, Squarehead, Hallmark Campaign, Pioneer and Faux Pass.

With immense pleasure, we would like to congratulate our this month’s call for articles winners – Sambhav Khetarpal from K.J. Somaiya Institute for Management Studies and Research, Mumbai and Vishnu Batra from NMIMS, Mumbai 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 response and encourage 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/themarksman.

Enjoy Reading!

TEAM MARKSMAN The Interface – The Marketing Club of SIMSR @marksmansimsr

NOVEMBER 2014

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CONTENTS

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TWEETS

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IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

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BRAND MARKIVE

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COVER STORY: GRAPHIC NOVELS

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SPECIAL STORY: NET NEW TERITORIALIY

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MARKETING FAUX PAS

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HALL-MARK CAMPAIGN

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PIONEER

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REWIND

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BOOKWORM

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BUZZ

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# TWEETS #BlackBerry offers #iPhone users money to switch to #Passport

After losing most of its smartphone market share to iPhone and devices running Google's Android software, BlackBerry is now focusing on selling to business and government users. It has brought back the physical keyboard and is touting on the aspect - ease of working on the Passport's wide screen. Starting in December, customers who trade in an iPhone for the keyboard equipped Passport will get as much as Rs. 25,000 (approx.) back depending on their Apple iPhone's configuration and condition, plus a prepaid gift card worth Rs. 9,000 (approx.), BlackBerry announced in a statement. The promotion is only available in North America, as of now and will last until 13th of February.

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#Microsoft launches first #Lumia phone without the #Nokia branding

Microsoft, which acquired Nokia's phone business earlier this year, doesn't find a place among the top five smartphone vendors on IDC's list. The company is now looking to revitalise the business by taking it all the way down to the grassroots level and make it sustainable over a long period. The softwareto-devices company intends to build the Microsoft Lumia brand alongside the Windows Phone ecosystem, as it pushes price points lower in the smartphone space.

It launched Microsoft Lumia 535 smartphone with a 5-inch screen, 5MP wide-lens camera with five services, including Office Suite, One Drive, Skype and Xbox console titles, inbuilt.

It is priced at Rs. 9,199.

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TWEETS #AppleWatch may be unveiled in India in February

India will be a priority market for Apple's first wearable device, the Apple Watch, which is expected to hit the domestic market by early February. The bullishness of the Cupertino-based company comes from initial market studies that show the Apple Watch has the potential to become a bestseller in India, after the iPhone and the iPad. Apple also proposes to engage Indian developers to create apps for the device and is firming up the launch, according to two senior executives of the company's plans for India.

"Apple is bullish about the success of the Apple Watch in India, as it already has a base of more than 4 million iPhone and iPad users who are initially the potential target," said one of the executives. As per estimates, the price of the Apple Watch will be about Rs. 28,000-35,000, which will be more than the cost of wearable products sold by rivals Samsung and Sony.

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#Flipkart announces the launch of #FlipkartFashionFiles

E-commerce major Flipkart today announced the launch of the 'Flipkart Fashion Files' - an exclusive lifestyle content page on its platform. Flipkart has joined hands with the Conde Nast Group to co-create high-quality fashion content for its young and dynamic customers. Targeted at fashion savvy Indian shoppers, 'Flipkart Fashion Files' will host a range of exclusive fashion diva/celebrity interviews, trend boards, brand and product stories along with lifestyle articles. Mukesh Bansal, Head Fashion (Flipkart), said, "... With this, we aim to enhance the shopping experience of our style savvy shoppers by introducing fashion content curated by experts in this field. This is a true combination of highquality commerce and content that will add new dimensions to our fashion category..."

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IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-TUDE

TELEVISION AD Datsun Go: Sanskar turnaround!

Datsun Go has very cleverly decided to take a dig at its competition head on (read Maruti).

The young and dynamic Ayushmann Khurrana, confidently walks towards his Datsun Go, while the epitome of Sanskaar overload, Mr. Alok Nath (Babuji), looks on. After many more such instances, where he is left staring at the new kid on the block, sitting in his old car (read Alto, WagonR etc.), Babuji finally declares, “Yahi hai nayi parampara (This is the new tradition).” Full points to Datsun for leveraging on this light and humorous Babuji situation!

PRINT AD Ikea: Beautifully subtle Simplicity in execution has always been Ikea’s USP. The Swedish wizards don’t disappoint this time either. Their early Christmas sale has been depicted very simply and effectively in this brilliant ad.

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BRAND MARKive The Bull Run “Look at what others are not doing with their products, then work to perfect it in yours” Ferruccio Lamborghini Founder – Automobili Lamborghini

This brand is synonymous with speed, power and panache. The name, when uttered, sends our adrenaline pumping and us drooling. Its cars are both beautiful and brute at the same time. The brand’s emblem defines its spirit to the letter; the raging golden bull… enough said!!

Automobili Lamborghini founded by Ferruccio Lamborghini in the year 1963 was perhaps the first super car manufacturer in the world. Even though it has had its fair share of hurdles, it has bounced back relentlessly like the Miura bull (the breed of bull on which the logo is based) and the latter half of the 20th century is a proof of that. The following will give us a brief glimpse of this amazing bull run:

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The Bull is born...

The birth story of the company has become as iconic as the brand itself.

Most of us would be aware of how Ferruccio Lamborghini approached the then head of Ferrari with the problems he was facing with his own car of the same brand. On being shunned and branded as only a tractor manufacturer Ferruccio decided to widen his portfolio by manufacturing his own sports cars and go up against giants like Ferrari, Maserati and Jaguar. And, he did so in the grandest way possible.

However, only a few people know that Ferruccio’s initial plan was to start only a parts manufacturing facility and this vision changed when within a span of just seven months, with a hastily put together team of designers the company presented its very first concept car at the Turin Auto Show of 1963. This marked the beginning of an era where the bull would rule.

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BRAND MARKive Second coming Due to the labor unrest in Italy during the early 70s and a major tractor deal gone wrong, Ferruccio stepped down from the helm after a meteoric rise of eight years by selling 51 percent of his share to Swiss industrialist GeorgesHenri Rossetti. The year after that he had to part with his remaining stake too. But, even without the man behind the revolution gone, Lamborghini still did exceptionally well with its flagship model – Countach; sales and production of which continued for 16 years till 1990.

However, this success story couldn’t help the company escape the worsening economic conditions of the 70s. The company changed its owners 3 times from 1974-1978 and ended up filing for bankruptcy in 1978. The company eventually landed in the lap of Chrysler where it continued to sit till 1998 after which its fate dramatically changed.

When the Italian Bull was adopted by the German engineers Poor management and staffing, uncertainty of direction and a general lack of vision brought the company to its knees.

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The last straw was when it’s yet another failed management tried to reintroduce a huge past failure – the Lamborghini Motore Anteriore; a jeep like SUV. When all was lost, Volkswagen AG emerged as the knight in shining armor for the company and revived its fate.

Finally, after getting a strong financial backer, Lamborghini got the platform it needed and soon gave a spree of hits which hasn’t stopped till date.

From Gallardo to Murcielago the company entered the 21st century like the beast incarnate it used to be in the 60s. With every new design Lamborghini has been consistently setting benchmarks for itself; both in terms of performance and sales. Its newest models Aventador and Huracan alongside a flurry of concept cars have brought the company back to the pinnacle of the automotive industry.

From being the underdog to the market leader it has been a roller coaster journey for the prancing Miura and just recently the company celebrated its 50th Anniversary in an awesome style. 50 years worth of unconventional designing has caught the imagination of car enthusiasts around the world but the bull still rages on.

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COVER STORY Comic Books & Graphic novels

A Rebirth & Ignition of Marketability And that’s how Bill Watterson concluded his magical work of all times, the daily comic strip that ran for 10 long years in the US. Calvin and Hobbes parodied the issues of the day, the complexities of the materialistic world and the rampaging egos of people through the innocent eyes of Calvin. It gives us sheer pleasure to read the thoughts and opinions of this precocious and mischievous kid and his stuffed tiger. The strips continue to appear in our newspapers today, leaving us to wonder how easily Calvin and Hobbes could rekindle the joy in people of all ages.

The comic book that still has a prominent teenage fan following is Archie. The arguments whether the spoilt brat Veronica is better or the friendly and loving Betty is, are a never ending one. The Indian editions of Adventures of Tintin and Asterix are popular comic series as well,

The dream product of Anant Pai popularly known as Uncle Pai, revolutionized the Indian comic book industry. The series illustrates the glorious past of India and its culture and it paved way for the old folklores to be taught to children with ease. The monthly magazine Tinkle which was the brand extension of ACK, is needless to say, a runaway hit. And Diamond Comics’ iconic Chacha Chaudhary - “Chacha Chaudhary ka dimaag computer se bhi tez chalta hai”.

One would have noticed that along with comic books, the libraries and book stores now have a vast collection of graphic novels. They light us up with colourful characters, intricate storylines and jaw dropping illustrations to capture the imagination and alleviate our boredom.

which has a fair share in the market even today. They were first published

by Indian Book House Pvt. Ltd(IBH), a Mumbai based company founded in 1952. They launched it at a time when the indigenous comic book industry was at its nascent stage. However, the comic series which got the first mover advantage was Amar Chitra Katha (ACK).

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COVER STORY The recent spurt in the demand for novels of super-heroes such as Batman and Super Man has made the industry lucrative. Though Comic Book and Graphic Novel stores are popular in the US, little are we aware that it is increasingly getting popular in India. Boys flaunt their novel collection of Avengers and Thor, men and now even women, their superhero T-shirts and other merchandise.

So how did the demand for graphic novel rise in the blink of an eye? What marketing technique was used?

IDENTIFYING NEED

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CUSTOMER

The year 2008, saw the release of the much awaited cult movie from the maverick director Christopher Nolan, ‘The Dark Night’.

Unlike the previous works of Batman series (even the TV shows) except Tim Burton’s, this one had huge depth and soul. Heath Ledger’s “Why so serious?” became a quintessential phrase in our daily conversation and his breathtaking performance made him a legend.

A minor chunk of the final part of Batman Trilogy, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ was adapted from the Graphic Novel ‘Batman: The Long Halloween’ written by Jeph Leob and illustrated by Tim Sale. The WOW effect that was created when Nolan praised the cinematic potential of the novel, led to WOM (Word Of Mouth) and further led people to splash out on the 1997 published novel. It is one of the bestselling books on Flipkart.

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Hollywood recreated a flurry of super hero movies such as Spider-Man, Iron Man and Thor, of Marvel Comics successfully in the 6 year span and all were welcomed with open arms in the Indian market. The insatiable desire of the young readers to own the super hero novels, largely due to the influence of Hollywood movies is the main reason for the growth of the comic book industry.

The great marketing minds converted this desire into need which ignited the marketability of Graphic Novels further and capitalized the emerging market.

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COVER STORY This kind of marketing where target customers is the youth population and when industry capitalizes on their buying behaviour is termed as “Youth Marketing” (The cover story of annual edition of “The Marksman” gives a great insight on the same). Due to the absence of exclusive comic book stores in India, technology encourages customers to read the digital version of the books. However, the pleasure one gets in holding the comic book and flipping through the pages back and forth can never be obtained from its digital counterpart.

MEETING THE CUSTOMER NEED One of the major challenges for any product to be a success is Brand Recognition. However, the big guns and the most venerated brands DC Comics and Marvel Comics needed only a good distribution network for their novels to reach the clientele. As the target audiences primarily is the urban youth, online stores catered to their needs and marketed the product further through direct promotions via emails. The major book stores such as Crossword and Landmark in shopping malls stacked up the collection of graphic novels and started to have a greater shelf space for it. The paperback editions of all major novels published in India met the needs of customers albeit with a moderately high price.

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COVER STORY COMPLEMENTING BOOK SALE

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COMIC

Late 1990s and early 2000s saw a slump in the sales of comic books. With the advent of Cable TV, many new private cartoon channels such as Cartoon Network, Disney and Nickelodeon took a share in the pie of children’s leisure activities. The diversified array of options had a dampening effect on the reading habits and Amar Chitra Katha was affected by this shift in the trends. However, under the new management, ACK got rebranded in 2007. They launched their website and online portal and their improved distribution network made them a major player in the Indian Comic Book Industry once again. The popularity of graphic novels complemented the sale of comic books further, thus removing the preconceived notions of people towards the impact of graphic novels. It has created new opportunities for budding artists to showcase their skills and pursue a steady career in the comic book industry. One of the latest characters that have captured the Indian flavour of graphic novel is “Odayan”, the story of an underprivileged child (set in the 15th Century) who takes revenge with his might through a form of martial arts called Kalaripayattu, which originated in Kerala.

The exquisite artwork has received overwhelming appreciation in the comic world.

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PROMOTION One of the main marketing mix to raise customer awareness and generate sales is Promotion. ‘Comic-Con International: San Diego’, a four day comic convention held annually in California showcases different comic books, graphic novels , toys and other merchandise like coffee mugs, sculptures, stationary etc. The incredible success of the event encouraged a couple of Indian entrepreneurs to organize a similar convention. Comic-Con India, ever since its inception in India in 2012, has grown to multiple events across the country in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. They provide a platform for local, national and international talent in India to showcase and promote their work and aims to evoke more interest among fans. The phenomenal success of the event in the past two years is an apparent indication of the high marketability of comics. The recent three day event held in Bangalore in September recorded sales of nearly rupees two crores.

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COVER STORY They had international guests such as Dan Patent, the genius behind Archie Comics and people thronged to buy his personally signed copies. The event to be held in Mumbai in December has already created a buzz through social media and the sales forecast figure is close to rupees three crores.

‘Pocket Sized Humour’, as they are known refers to the Apps available in iOS or Android markets to download the digital version of novels, some of them being ‘ACK Comics’, ‘Comics’ and ‘ComicRack’.

If the key factors for marketability of Graphic Novels are creative brilliance and surreal illustration, then for comic books, it is pure simplicity of characters and excellent literary content.

How often we fantasize ourselves as the Batman or Spaceman Spiff!

More than marketability or anything that is written above; the fact is, no matter how old we are, the child in each one of us craves to read a comic book.

THE FUTURE The Indian Comic Book Industry is at its pinnacle of growth and will maintain this rate in the future. With the help of ingenious and fresh talent, iconic characters can be created with fascinating storylines taking us to a whole new world of excitement and trepidation. Growth will also be with respect to the transition of the book to its digital form.

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SPECIAL STORY Net New Territoriality What if the postal service, instead of dutifully sending your mail to destination on time, scanned or opened mails, sorted them, then slowed down the delivery of some and blocked some others?

Internet activists are up against cable companies in the US (chiefly Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and Time Warner) who stand to gain much should their status as information services (rather than telecom services, in the sense of public utilities) go unopposed, thereby permitting them to establish “fast lanes” that will, to the exclusion of others, pass on the content of a Disney or a Netflix at faster speeds than other content.

The wisdom behind this assignment of status was not entirely dubious – putting ISPs in the ‘common carriers’ category would have brought along a good deal of historical baggage that would have made adaptation very hard. Nevertheless, the ‘hybrid’ solution that Tom Wheeler proposed reduces his credibility for many, considering that he was a lobbyist for the cable and wireless industry prior to being appointed as FCC chairman by the Obama administration.

Net neutrality, considered an essential characteristic of the Internet by many, has been the key driver of innovation – small businesses would not have so blossomed had they been required to cough up cash only big corporations could.

Tom Wheeler, the FCC’s current chairman, has assured that the Internet will remain open and that “behaviour harmful to consumers or competition by limiting the openness of the Internet will not be permitted”.

“Life in the fast lane… surely make you lose your mind.”

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SPECIAL STORY

We’ll help you channel your usage He has been silent, however, on changing the status of these companies from that of information services (which is a nod to the idea that the services are theirs, after all) to that of common carriers.

Of course, it isn’t true that the internet we experience is perfectly neutral (à la ‘dumb pipes’), but if companies are allowed to discriminate based on just speed (and not yet, as some may suppose, to block “unsuitable” content altogether), the entire economy of the internet will be rearranged.

It does not take a cynic to realise that if one lane is the fast one, the other is the slow one – and that nobody wants the slow one.

This explains why citizen activists are pushing for net neutrality. But they also have on their side large corporations like Google, Microsoft and Facebook, because they too stand to lose.

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Other corporations like Visa, Bank of America, UPS and Ford are lining up behind closed doors advocating net neutrality but publicly downplaying any such involvement. Moves against net neutrality will be no good news for marketing itself either. Although a handful of advertisers will come to rule the roost, for all the others it will mean struggling within a system where quality and innovation are not the only things that matter.

The image implied by cable companies of an extra highway lane being created is misleading – as Tim Wu (originator of the term net neutrality), professor at Columbia Law School, wrote in the New Yorker, “With broadband, there is no such thing as accelerating some traffic without degrading other traffic.”

Furthermore, as he points out, the exact consequences are hard to visualise right away: “We take it for granted that bloggers, start-ups, or nonprofits on an open Internet reach their audiences roughly the same way as everyone else.

Now they won’t. They’ll be behind in the queue, watching as companies that can pay tolls to the cable companies speed ahead.”

Consider, simply, how it would come to pass if you had to bid for each letter of yours to be sent in one piece, on time, to the intended recipient.

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MARKETING FAUX PAS New Coke The Biggest Marketing Blunder of the Century It was the year of 1985, when Coca Cola dared to come forward and announce a change in the formula of the world’s most loved soft drink. What made Coca Cola take such a decision? What was the reason behind undertaking this risk?

In spite of being the then undisputed leader of soft drinks in the world, Coca Cola felt that its position was being threatened by Pepsi, majorly when Pepsi came out with its Pepsi Challenge. As per this challenge, Pepsi blindfolded participants and carried out a taste preference test. The result of this challenge was declaring Pepsi as a clear winner not just in US but across many nations throughout the globe. As a result of this, Coca Cola felt that apart from the threat to its position, there was another danger of being associated as an old brand.

As a solution, they finally decided to revamp their image, not only by its looks but also by its taste. The reason which led to the problem was not just based on perception, but mainly on the product relating to their consumers tastes. The challenge was to come up with a new formula of coke and that’s how the work began. After settling on to a new formula 200000 taste tests were conducted on it leading to the launch of “New Coke” and one of the “biggest marketing blunders of the century”.

NOVEMBER 2014

The company launched the New Coke as per the test preferred by the participants of the taste tests. The production and supply of the old coke was halted completely, with the new coke being their only coke product. However, the outcome of this was completely unexpected. A huge number of their consumers were frustrated over the decision of the company. Hate mails and letters started flooding their offices.

Employees and those associated with the company were highly blamed for this change. The company witnessed an all time low sales.

In spite of being successful in the tests conducted, what exactly did the company missed out to perform? The company unfortunately neglected the connection their consumers felt with the drink and the taste of the old coke.

Finally to control the damage, the company sent out a public apology, re launching the old coke as the “Classic Coke”. With the comeback of its original drink, the loyalty towards the old coke increased manifold. Coke gained back its original position and was back to number 1 holding a great market share till today!

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Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN #GharWaliDiwali Diwali is that time of the year when no kind of Indian Shop is left without an increase in its sales. Don’t you agree with it? Give this thought a couple of minutes and try to find out any possible contradictions to it.

Naturally, it is also that time of the year when the stakes are the highest for brands as well as for recording their sales-figures.

With every brand coming up with some lucrative gift boxes for the customers, PepsiCo decided to follow up on its 100-day old sublime genre of pacifying into their audience's hearts with a short-film video clip.

Last time it was the " #backToSchool " campaign, this time it was named as "#gharWaaliDiwali.".

This line of marketing by PepsiCo involves releasing a video clip that not only strikes a chord but also grasps the essence of the moment and helps them delve not only into their customer's mind but also their hearts.

The present hand of the clock, that is, the age of technology leaves no stone unturned in getting the video (and thus the brand image) to hundreds and thousands of people in a couple of ticks.

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Owing to the much talked about gulf between the NRIs and their Indian-residing parents, PepsiCo leverages upon yet another sensitive issue of celebrating theone of the grandest annual Indian festival with your loved ones. The catch lies in the fact that it not only resonates with people away from their native country but also with the people away from their native cities. Anybody who has ever been away from their homeland at the time of any festive season will find these 7-odd minutes worthy of self-introspection and in most of the cases, self-pity.

The film is about an NRI, who has never thought twice before taking the help of her parents in any minute-to-major concern but is now so busy in her professional life that she is unable to visit her home on Diwali and thus upsets her parents to such an extent that they harshly decide to cutoff all communications with her for a while so as to make her realize the reality, without notifying her. She, on finding what she had been missing on, flies back to her home to bring the real joy of festivities i.e. togetherness.

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HALL-MARK CAMPAIGN

The best part about this video is that the PepsiCo products are subtly placed in between but they never interfere with the script and the whole film doesn't directly talk about the product they offer or the utility their product offers. It seems to be indirectly walking on Steve Jobs' idea of marketing not the brand's specifications or advantages but the core values that the brand is trying to associate with its development.

The campaign cashing mainly on the act of the video going viral also included giving 50 daily winners a chance to present their Diwali story and details on their microsite and got a chance to send Diwali hampers to their homes.

However, more than a million views on their YouTube official video is a strong indicator in itself that the campaign turned out to be a success. The word of mouth would have done the rest of the job by taking PepsiCo's name further up on the customer's favorites' list.

PepsiCo seems to continue its spree of touching the emotional nerve, just as it’s arch-rival Coke. In fact, emotional bonding of a (loyal) customer to its preferred brand over a stoneheart melting story seems to be the new fad-turning-to trend and without any doubts, this can lately turn out to be the Marketing World-changing Megatrend.

Get ready to be emotionally fooled and emotionally fuelled with.

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PIONEER Queen of all Media: Oprah Winfrey She started her career as a radio news reader and then went on to co-host several news bulletins and shows. Her big break came when she was flown in to co-host the talk show AM Chicago that later went on to be named The Oprah Winfrey Show. She made her show different from all the others by making it about self-help, social issues, and just day to day problems that people face.

The Wall Street Journal coined a term “Oprahfication,” which explained her way of getting involved into her show, be it talking about her sexual abuse, weight issues, losing her son due to teenage pregnancy, her tumultuous love life, etc. These revelations and vulnerability created an intimate Listed as the 4th richest celebrity by Forbes connection between her and her audience. and labelled as the most influential women The masses followed her every word and it in the world, Oprah Winfrey is a brand like was called the Oprah effect. Her mere no other. From a talk show host to an mention of some product or brand in her actress, from a writer to a magazine editor, show pushed the product towards its biggest Oprah has done it all with flair and charisma. sales ever. In the book club she started, Her show has been ranked number one every book that she picked out became forever and the ratings just don’t budge bestsellers, no matter what genre. Her open from their highest summit. Anything she appeal and support for Barack Obama in the endorses, promotes or even speaks about 2008 Presidential elections converted into go on to become an instant success. The one million votes for him, by an estimate, motto of her show “Live Your Best life” from her followers. A women who can certainly applies to her. change Presidents has to be the most influential women in the world.

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PIONEER She not only created a brand for herself, she also marketed other people. She build successful careers for a whole lot of people who were associated with her in some way or the other. Her personal trainer, dietician, make-up artist, etc., all became leading brands themselves. Any business that she ventured into turned into a huge success.

She is the president of Harpo productions (Oprah spelled backward), she had started a magazine called O, The Oprah Magazine, her own radio channel Oprah Radio, her own television channel OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network), she has several bestselling books under her name, she co-founded the women’s television network Oxygen, etc., the list goes on. One can even say that Oprah’s effect is more potent than the Midas touch.

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She is not just a celebrity but a celebrity with a cause. She is a philanthropist and activist touching the lives millions of people around the globe. She established two schools for girls in South Africa. She created the Oprah Angel Network that helps and support various non-profit organizations. She has been among the 50 most generous Americans list for a decade now and continues to do so. She has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama and has also received an honorary doctorate degree from Harvard University for her philanthropic work.

With such major achievements and a down to earth persona, she is truly the Pioneer for millions of people that follow her every word. A brand beyond all others and ascendency to change Presidents, she is the epitome of celebrity branding. The Oprah effect can sell anything and everything (and anybody for that matter). Although The Oprah Winfrey Show has ended, she still reigns in the hearts of millions asking them to “Live their Best Lives.”

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REWIND FCB ULKA Commstrat 2014 Driving Data Ambitions FCB Ulka Comstrat is a unique case study competition in the area of communications and advertising which is organised every year

by FCB Ulka in association with the K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research. FCB Ulka can trace its lineage in India to Ulka Advertising, which was founded in 1961. Starting out as a creative hot shop FCB Ulka hit the top ten within the first decade. Today 53 of FCB Ulka brands are category leaders. Brands built from scratch and nurtured over 25 years. Brands those of which were non-existent when FCB Ulka was assigned the business, but are today case studies in marketing and advertising. Santoor toilet soap, where research and focused advertising saw sales grow four-fold against stiff competition from Levers and P&G brands.

Not surprisingly, FCB Ulka is seen as a turnaround specialist. A glance around your surroundings is enough to prove that a mobile phone has become a lifeline for all Indians.

Today, mobile phones are flaunted by kids and senior citizens; by labourers and white collar professionals. Such is the story of the Indian telecom industry which has helped to provide mobility to every Indian. Currently worth Rs. 2,34,000 crores, the Indian telecom industry is one the fastest growing industries in the world, growing at a CAGR of 10.4%.

The COMSTRAT, now in its eighteenth year, has again given an opportunity to the students to showcase their talent in the field of advertising and communications and brainstorm on a live case study by AIRTEL.

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The forum also offers an excellent opportunity for the industry to build an interface with budding advertising talent.

The competition is conducted in three phases first being the Submission of the abstract, Presentation in SIMSR followed

by Final presentations on the D-day.

The objective of the COMSTRAT 2014 is to architect a communication strategy for Airtel to derive data usage of mobile internet in the most effective manner to double the penetration of the mobile internet in India. Identification of the target group, challenges faced by the audience, getting the key consumer insights, positioning and communication for the brand were some of the key areas focused in strategy.

The teams used various methods like expert interview, focused group discussion and in-depth interviews to propose the most suitable positioning strategy for Airtel. A large number of entries were received in phase1 out of which 9 teams were shortlisted for phase2 conducted on 10th October’2014. The shortlisted teams presented their strategy in front of the panel of judges at KJ SIMSR. The winner of this round was Team Marketing magic ( Mohit Juneja, Sonakshi Gambhir, Vaibhav Suresh).

This team from SIMSR will present and compete with 5 other teams from some of the top B-Schools in India on 20th December 2014.

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BOOKWORM Hey Whipple, Squeze This.

-Luke Sullivan

After 32 years in the advertising business at elite agencies like Fallon, The Martin Agency, and GSD&M, author and speaker, Luke Sullivan is now chair of the advertising department at the Savannah College of Art and Design.His book is a real-world look at the day-to-day operations of today's ad agencies. Sullivan explores the Whipple phenomenon, examining why bad ads sometimes work, why great ads sometimes fail, and how advertisers can learn to balance creative work with the mandate to sell. Sullivan re-iterates the fact that the pursuit of vacuous awards in the world of art instead of focusing on selling more of the client’s product and services will never be fruitful. Commercial work doesn’t have to be “commercial” alone.

NOVEMBER 2014

It can rise above that. It can effect change. It can do what great art does: move a person to think or act differently. He paraphrases this old chestnut which still applies, “Good advertising builds sales. Great advertising builds factories.”

This new fourth edition explains how to bring brand stories into interactive, dynamic places online, in addition to traditional television, radio, print, and outdoor ads.

Creativity is still king, but this new edition contains new chapters and updates that bring Whipple into the new digital world with new content and examples for using social media and other emerging platforms.

This illustrates what′s changing in the new world of advertising—and what isn′t.

Some great learnings from the book include: “How to do a Volkswagen ad”, the bourbon project, pitch tips, the real value of award shows, types of clients and colleagues and how to work with them, the six phases of an advertising project, and advice for those entering the industry.

‘Hey Whipple, Squeeze This!’ will help sharpen your copywriting skills, unleash your creativity, and help elevate what you do simply, yet effectively. As Sullivan says, “First, say it straight. Then say it great”.

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FEATURED ARTICLES ISL: Opening new avenues for sports marketers

Sambhav Khetarpal - SIMSR

It soon got followed by leagues of hockey, badminton, boxing, kabaddi and now football. The Indian Super League, which is India’s attempted answer to the coveted English Premier League kicked off in October in grand style, and it augers positive signs for Indian football and sports marketers alike.

So how does the ISL work?

If there was ever a best time to be a sports lover in India, it is now! The surge of franchisee based sports league over the last few years has not only provided ample opportunities for fans to fulfil their sporting appetite, but has also opened up new avenues for both the players, who otherwise might not have got a chance to showcase their talent on the world stage, as well as the sports marketers, who till few years back could only rely on International events to earn their bucks.

In a land obsessed with cricket, the Indian Premier League was the ideal game-changer in making India believe that a franchisee based sports league could work.

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Founded by IMG-Reliance with the backing of the All India Football Federation, the ISL is a franchise based football league comprising of 8 clubs designed on lines similar to the Major League Soccer in the United States. The stakeholders of the ISL have chosen the tried and tested mantra of success: combine the money of India’s billionaires/corporate bigwigs with the glitz and glamour of Bollywood celebrities and Indian cricket stars. Add to that the presence of former footballing greats like Nicolas Anelka, Luis Garcia, Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, and David Trezeguet, the ISL stands to make a big impact in the country.

THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES Why ISL is here to stay

League

Season

Total

Bundesliga 2014/15 3, 941, 311

The FIFA President, Sepp Blatter in an address during his a visit to India called India the “sleeping giant of football”. He believed that the 1.3 billion people provide a huge market for football to grow in the country.

The passion for football can be seen from the fact as to how fervently the EPL is followed here. The AIFF once went on record stating, “More people in India watch the EPL than in England.” According to a study by TAM Sports, football had 155 million viewers in India in 2012, second only to cricket’s 176 million.

Even the match attendance figures during the ISL games so far have manifested India’s positive reception towards the league. It’s been more than a month since the ISL started and the attendance during matches has been overwhelming. The stadiums have been jam-packed more often than not, with the smaller venues like Kochi and Guwahati attracting the most crowds. According to a report on Sportskeeda.com, ISL has averaged more supporters on a match day than that of leagues in Italy or France.

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Matches Average 91

43311

EPL

2014/15 3, 605, 012

100

36050

La Liga

2014/15 2, 782, 228

100

27822

2014/14

23

23654

ISL

5,44,740

Serie A

2013/14 8, 886, 213

380

23385

Ligue 1

2014/15 2, 616, 129

120

21801

Source: Sportskeeda.com

Marketing opportunities galore Apart from the well-known footballing hubs like Kolkata and Goa, the ISL has captured the non-traditional football locations like Guwahati, Kerala, Pune and Delhi. This has provided an ideal scenario for sports marketers who wish to enter unexplored territories, and cater to an almost new market. Another way through which marketers have monetised the growing loyalty of the fans is merchandising.

The huge success of football merchandising and retail, during the EPL, can very well be replicated by the ISL in the future.

One of the differentiating factors of the ISL is that the host broadcaster, Star Sports, is also the promoter-owner of the league.

They have been aggressive in promoting the league through digital and electronic platforms, using means such as crossmarketing and disseminating information to every nook and corner of India.

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FEATURED ARTICLES The cross marketing strategy can be seen from the fact that the ISL tied up with the EPL as part of an exchange programme. Also, almost every commercial break during the Champions League T20 showed an ISL advertisement.

The association of Bollywood and cricket celebrities adds another marketing dimension to the ISL. According to an Economic Times report, each franchise is required to induct a celebrity brand ambassador for the promotion of the entire league as well as the home franchise. This is another reason why there is a plethora of advertisements involving these celebrities.

One major cause of concern One major factor which will decide the future of the ISL is the quality of football.

The below-average quality of Indian players puts the entire onus on international stars who are well past their primes.

If the ISL has to sustain itself, it would have to look at roping in more current international stars. As of now, this might seem far-fetched considering India isn’t a prominent name in the footballing map. But with some patience and considering the growing love for football in the country, the ISL can very well succeed in doing so, and might in turn become one of the major football leagues often the world.

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THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES Snapchat Revolutionizing the way events are marketed Vishnu Batra - NMIMS Mumbai

There has always been a race among marketers trying out reach out to their consumers wherever they can and the pace has only increased with the proliferation of the social media. It’s a zealous struggle of trying to find even a moment’s relevance in a world full of Facebook updates, WhatsApp messages, Tweets, Instagram posts, etc.

It has indeed taken considerable time for the brands to get a hang of these social networking sites or applications. In the midst of this scenario, comes a photo-sharing social networking service by the name of ‘Snapchat’, that has its own set of twists. The most prominent twist being its ability to obliterate the content shared in a matter of few seconds. And as with every emerging social platform that offers exciting opportunities to connect with the youth, marketers were faced with challenge of deciphering the manner of engagement to be done via this platform.

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A recent study conducted by Comscore in the US revealed that the penetration of Snapchat was quite high — around 32.9% amongst the 18-34 year olds (less than only Facebook and Instagram), while it was as high as 50% amongst the 18-24 age group. It also has a user base of almost 30 million across the world.

The numbers certainly triggered marketers who found this as a lucrative platform to launch their campaigns. The constraint of time and disappearance played a major role in designing the campaigns. They presented both the challenge of conveying an effective message in a short span of time and numerous opportunities of reaching out to the youth in innovative ways.

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FEATURED ARTICLES Let’s first talk about a few famous advertising The stories stitch together multiple images campaigns on snapchat: or videos that stay alive for 24 hours during • National Basketball Association - which they can be played anytime the user By providing content within a limited wants to. time frame, Snapchat combined the appointment-viewing value of sports with engagement of social media. At the 2014 NBA Draft, the fans had the chance to get glimpse of behind-thescene happenings of the event such as the players arriving on the NBA bus. It worked quite well for the league by • General Electric - The industrial helping them enhance their fan base and giant has been quite active on all become more closely connected with social media platforms, and so it found their already existing fans. ways to communicate through this as well. It celebrated its 45th anniversary of GE’s contribution to the 1969 moon landing and regularly posted content on GE's roster of machines, and also brain teasers, fun fact, puzzles, etc.There have been many more such companies like Taco Bell (launched new products with • McDonalds - McDonalds also joined snapchat stories), Heineken (the beer the race of marketers trying to brand sent cropped snaps as clues to connect via the ephemeral networking users and provided prizes to those service. For launching its new products, who responded with the correct it developed snapchat story to be snap), GrubHub (the online food rolled out by famous personalities such delivery brand used stories to offer as basketball star Lebron James among promo codes to users), etc. others.

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THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES Essentially, the brands have been leveraging on the ability of Snapchat to generate excitement due to limited period availability. They have used it for just the right purposes - launching teasers, preview of upcoming products, discount codes and other contests.

However, the marketers would need to understand the nuances of this medium of communication and whether it would work for them. This primarily depends on the kind of user they are trying to engage with, as this mode will not be fit for all kinds of users. The campaign has to also align with the overall casualness of the application. The idea of using stories helps in this respect by making people connect to the brand on a more human-like level.

There are other lingering issues too, such as the lack of sufficient text space availability and no image-editing options available. The major hurdle is also to deal with the fraudulent snaps sent across to unknown users, which could impair the trust people

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have in using the app for photo sharing and tarnish its reputation for use by marketers.

A recent snap received by users told them that they had won a prize. However, the link redirected them to a fraudulent site.

That said, there are other powerful mediums of communication having consumers on the social media and it is for the brand to find out what it stands for and accordingly decide whether this application would serve their purpose.

Snapchat has undoubtedly brought in a dramatically new way of reaching out to the target consumers, however, it will be early to comment on its revolutionising ability and whether the interest remains in the long term or fizzles out. For now, the marketers have surely benefitted in generating a good deal of excitement around their brands.

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SquAreheaD

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THE MARKSMAN

BUZZ 1)

PUZZLE 3 1

2 5

4 6

5) 7)

7

8)

8

2)

CLUES 3) 4) 6)

ACROSS Microsoft’s File Hosting and Cloud Storage was recently rechristened from SkyDrive to?

Researching data that is already published Which company was founded by Ingvar Kampard in 1943 to allow “people with limited means to furnish their houses like rich people”?

Apparel brand that introduced the concept of ‘Friday Dressing’ almost two decades back in India DOWN What is the name of the mascot on the bonnet of a Rolls Royce – Spirit of _________ ?

CEO & Co-founder of Snapchat (4,7) Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. just bought P&G’s which brand?

Consumer News & Business Channel

DOWN 2) Ecstasy 3) Evan Spiegel 4) Duracell 6) CNBC ACROSS 1)OneDrive 5)Secondary 7)IKEA 8)Allen Solly Answers:

NOVEMBER 2014

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Call for ARTICLES CALL FOR ARTICLES DECEMBER 2014 Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*: 1.

How can Burger King mount a challenge on McDonalds ?

2.

Making way for new players in the energy drinks and non aerated drinks market – what ripples do they bring ?

3.

Addiction to Freemium – Are they really free then?

*Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all references are clearly mentioned.

1. One article can have only one author.

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

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

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

Deadline for the submission of article will be : 20th December, 2014

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THE MARKSMAN

The TEAM THE TEAM TWEETS by Rahul Vangani

It’s all about AD-itude by Sukanya Remesh

Brand MARK ive by Dhruv Maheshwari

COVER STORY by Dilip Anatharaman

SPECIAL STORY by Akshay Peshave

FAUX PAS by Minoli Sheth

To subscribe to "The Marksman", Follow the link:http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/ the-marksman.html OR drop in a mail/contact us at : interface.newsletter@gmail.com Subject line: Subscribe:Your Name_Institute Name_Course Year

HALLMARK CAMPAIGN by Abhijit Sharma

PIONEER Palak Thakkar REWIND by Rishika Saxena BOOKWORM by Disha Shah

SquAreheaD by Vasundhara Tewari BUZZ by Sankalp Thakur

PROOF READ by Vasundhara Tewari Minoli Sheth Disha Shah

DESIGNING by Kavya Dubey Sankalp Thakur

Palak Thakkar PROMOTIONS by Palak Thakkar Dhruv Maheshwari

NOVEMBER 2014

Follow us at: http://www.facebook.com/simsr.in terface http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/ the-marksman.htm

Website: http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/t he-marksman.html The MARKSMAN is the newsletter of INTERFACE, the Marketing Club at K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai.

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

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