The Marksman Dec '11 by The Marksman

The K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH

VOL. 2 | ISSUE VII| DEC 11

EDITOR’S DESK Dear Readers, As we bid adieu to 2011 and welcome 2012, raise a toast to the spirit of humanity which has triumphed over all greed and individual desires across continents! 2011 has been a year of adversities, natural calamities and financial uncertainty but it has also been the year of the Arab Spring, death of Osama bin Laden and the Lokpal movement. We witnessed this year how the common man‟s voice has become a force to reckon with. Today each of the 800million users of Facebook has an opinion or update which they share with friends and acquaintances and influence them and their choices. Marketing efforts in 2012 should recognize and acknowledge the recent developments and the role of social media in determining the success or failure of a product or campaign. So this month, at MARKSMAN, we decode the maniacal popularity of Kolaveri Di as our Special Story. Oo la la la le o! Rings a bell? Kingfisher has used this tune to build its image of being the king of good times. Our Cover Story on Sonic Branding reveals how brands for years have been using sounds to reinforce brand identity. Other must reads in this edition are articles on Regional Brands that Survived and Made It Big , United Colors of Benetton Peace Ad Campaign: Effective OR Disrespectful and Surrogate Marketing. Also do not miss your monthly dose of Its all about Ad-itude, Tweets, Buzz, Bookworm and SquAreheaD. We at Interface bid farewell to 2011 in style by organizing its first ever marketing fest Navikran- at SIMSR. It was a daylong event incorporating marketing events, workshop on social media, quiz and much more. To know more read the Rewind segment! We congratulate Mr. Arun Leo, XIME Bengaluru, for being adjudged the best featured article of December! Team Interface wishes all our readers a Merry X‟mas and a prosperous year ahead! Usher in 2012 with Oprah Winfrey‟s quote“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”

Cheers !! Team – Marksman The Interface – The Marketing Club of SIMSR

DECEMBER 2011

CONTENTS

COVER STORY SONIC BRANDING

SPECIAL STORY WHY THIS KOLAVERI DI?

FEATURED ARTICLES 11 Regional Brands that Survived and Made It Big United Colors of Benetton Peace Ad Campaign: 13 Effective OR Disrespectful?

16 Surrogate Marketing

THE REGULARS SquAreheaD ǀ 919 Its all about Ad-itude ! ǀ 23 23 Tweets ǀ 25

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20 ǀ Rewind 24 ǀ Bookworm 24 26 Buzz 26 ǀ

COVER STORY

Sonic Branding

From non-lyrical sound bites to ways in which music is used in catchy snippets of tunes, these advertising today. sonic brands take advantage of one Brand signature tunes: Some are of the brain‟s most powerful very short, usually not more than five to six notes like the Intel tune. Some memory senses – SOUND. Sonic branding or Acoustic Branding is the use of Sound to reinforce brand identity. Sonic branding is becoming increasingly popular these days among marketers. From non-lyrical sound bites to catchy snippets of tunes, these sonic brands take advantage of one of the brain’s most powerful memory senses – SOUND.

A Sound Logo is a short distinctive melody or a sequence of sound, mostly positioned at the beginning or ending of a commercial. It can be seen as the acoustic equivalent of a visual logo. A combination of both types of logo is used to enforce the recognition of a brand. There are four

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are longer 15-30 second signature tunes which create greater stickiness like the Airtel. Jingles/Songs: These are what consumer brands have used for most part of last century and many of them still echo in our minds. Background track: Its role is to simply accentuate the messaging and no one

is supposed to remember the track. Sign-off track: The play is on the brand name and sometimes the tagline. It is usually used at the end of the ad. Examples are Gillette and Nescafe.

COVER STORY MEMORABILITY A sonic brand captures a mind share that visual branding alone cannot achieve. It is for this reason that although you may not be able to draw the Intel logo or might not even know what a Pentium chip is, you will be able to sing the sound bite or recognize the sound as that belonging to Intel. UNIQUENESS Some brands capitalize in their uniqueness. A classic example of this is Harley Davidson, which in 1994, filed a sound trademark application for its distinctive V-twin engine sound. In this way, it distinguished its brand identity from the clutter at every point of customer interaction. PORTABILITY Development of technology and popularity of the internet and wireless communication allow companies to induce increased brand recognition across a variety of platforms- from the shop floor, to cell phones, to television sets, the consumer is within earshot of a brand.

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FLEXIBILITY Sound transcends barriers of language and culture, allowing easier reception and delivery of the message. This is complemented by the fact that the modern IT world is becoming increasingly border agnostic. So, whether you are an Indian, German or American, if you have access to modern communications you are certain to share commonly recognizable sonic brands with international peers.

ENGAGING THE CUSTOMER Batelco, a telecom brand in Bahrain, adopted an innovative strategy to create its impression using Sonic Branding recently. An audio signature was created and its five different versions were created and distributed. The five versions- House, Hip hop, Lounge, Rock and Sonic created waves with the audience and within a month it was playing in night clubs, car speakers, cell phones, laptops, ipods, etc.

COVER STORY FIND YOUR SOUND It is very important for a brand to select a sound which is in tune with its brand identity. Various parameters such as pitch, tempo, rhythm, pace, genre of music, etc come into consideration when choosing a tune. A brand that uses jazz as a background score gives a very different image compared to a brand which uses blues. It is important that a company finds a tune which embodies the essence of the brand and becomes

Frooti,Kingfishersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; oo la la la leyo and Nirma washing powder, to name a few, have helped create strong brand identities and are still remembered today. In a more contemporary light however, Sonic Branding includes spending money on retail sounds, caller back tunes and signature tunes. These are used extensively on audio and video commercials across various platforms. No Indian brand has as yet gone to such great extent to invest in such amounts over Sonic branding.

synonymous with it. Starbucks uses compilations of soothing jazz tunes to engage the customer not only to stay for a cup of coffee, but also to associate a level of sophistication with the company name.

Sonic branding in India India as a nation is very influenced by sounds, rhythms and melodies. Sound Branding has been a part of our Marketing strategies for ages in the form of ad jingles. Age old jingles of brands like Vicco Tumeric cream,

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Infact, the yearly expenditure on Sonic Branding in India is less than Rs. 30 Crores. Titan watches used the 25th symphony of Mozart as the signature tune during its launch in 1986 and it is now an integral part of the brand identity. Over the years, this tune has been modified to make it more contemporary. A similar example of the same is the signature tune of Washing powder Nirma which has recently been pepped up to suit contemporary tastes.

COVER STORY

Airtel has been one such Indian brand which has had a consistent audio branding strategy through the years. The popular Airtel tune composed by A.R. Rahman has been successfully integrated into ringtones, caller tunes, customer care service tunes and of course in their ads. Vodafone, on the other hand, has had an inconsistent sound logo but has picked music which has made a connect with the audiences over the years, which is why it commands such high brand recall even after a name change. The Concept of Sonic Branding is not new but over the years the understanding of how u can make music work for your brand has grown immensely. Extensive research has been done in measuring brainwaves to see how consumers are responding to different kinds of music and how they can attract these consumers towards their brands by striking the right chord.

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SPECIAL STORY Chhina Surprise! The “Kolaveri Di” has an astounding 26,019,407 views on you tube and counting! A record of sorts! So what is it about this song that’s made it the winner of the YouTube Gold award, which is presented to viral videos from across the world? Is it the simple no fuss “Tanglish” lyrics, the fun and casual element that runs through the song or is it that the world is full of SOUP-BOYS? No straight answers to this one! The song has entire India humming to its tune. It has become the unofficial anthem of the youth. The epidemic has spread to all corners of the country from the IIMs to the IITs, crossing the north –south divide and enchanting people overseas too. There are ample versions and remixes, one for each mood and event, be it the Sharad Pawar slapsong, exam song, the female version, Gujarati version or the milk-song (sung by Sonu Nigam’s toddler).The creators of the song (read phenomenon) probably didn’t imagine their brain child would become such a rage! With no glamour quotient, no exotic locations, a queer and funky blend of two languages, who would have? But stereotypes are boring anyway; it’s the unusual that

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excites! Kolaveri has brought to light a new, game changing trend that shall be a dominant force in deciding the success or failure of projects in future. Thanks to the advent of the burgeoning dominant race of netizens, now the Internet, as a medium, shall play a crucial role like never before! Kolaveri was written in flat 6 minutes for an up-coming movie called ‘3’ which has 3 reverent Tamil acting dynasties featuring in it! And there are rumours of Rajnikant starring in the official Kolaveri video in the movie! So it’s only going to get bigger and better from here! Even though the ingredients or the recipe to an effective viral campaign aka “Kolaveri” may not be know but we sure can take some cues:

SPECIAL STORY Social MediaIn Kolaveri’s case most traffic was driven by Facebook, which accounted for nearly 80% of social media mentions of the song, followed by Twitter and YouTube. The fact is that the likes and dislikes of the youth cannot be ignored. Every kid below the age of 20 has an opinion about Koleveri di, every minute there is an opinion being generated about this song and circulated on the Facebook status bar.

It is fairly impossible to hope to market virally without using social media. That very fact has also made viral marketing far easier than it was before. Ensure you build a strong social network, and then pass your message on to the social sphere through your connection. You can also use it as an avenue to enhance your other efforts too, share your YouTube video on Facebook or retweet a link on Twitter.

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Originality“One theme [of viral marketing] will likely recur: originality. Originality that draws on popular culture or is so brilliant that it becomes popular culture.” The common fibre of all successful viral marketing campaigns has been its originality. Don’t try to manufacture coolness or try to be hip; consumers can see through that. Just be true to who you are, understand your DNA and make it relevant to people today. Kolaveri kept it simple with a no-frills video and repetitive, easy to sing along lyrics. There isn’t any pretence and the song touches on a subject closely identified with by today’s youth. Also the novelty of the word “kolaveri” created a buzz. Twelve percent of all conversations on Kolaveri were about the meaning of the word, generally translated as “murderous rage”.

SPECIAL STORY HumorThe lyrics written by Dhanush are simple, clean and funny and the music is catchy and addictive. They connect with the youth instantly. If you look at the highest-rated videos on YouTube, they‟re not sad dramas, they‟re men getting hit with inflatable balls or animals falling off things. Younger generations love humour, which is why advertising is using increasing quantities of it to sell things. People like it. It works

ImitativeAs can be seen with Kolaveri, a rage spreads like fire through imitations and remixes. It is fashionable to share, like, comment and re-jig a hit! Social voting sites are the media that has best evolved to leverage the imitative nature of social interaction. So to become viral you have got to create memes that can be imitated and copied in real time.

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In conclusion, unless you‟re Paris Hilton, no video is guaranteed to go viral. A guide for creating a successful viral campaign is as effective as a tutorial on how to win the lottery. OK, you‟ll learn the basics like „you don‟t win if you don‟t play,‟ but that‟s about it. Viral work is, for the most part, unpredictable.

FEATURED ARTICLE - Arun Leo , XIME Bengaluru Brands originating from India, often called „desi brands‟, have their task cut out to establish themselves outside the country. But in a country with a multitude of cultures, even regional brands ostensibly face the same challenges. While many have failed, some have successfully transcended the seamless borders and the rest evolved into pan-India brands shedding their regional identities. Pan-India brands like Titan, Britannia, Infosys, Wipro, HDFC bank, etc are not known for their places of origin, but for the attributes they reek of.

Jyothy Laboratories (Kerala), TVS (Tamil Nadu), MTR Foods (Karnataka), V-Guard (Kerala), CavinKare (Tamil Nadu) are some of the brands from the South which made it big in the North. Some brands from the North like Haldiram‟s (Rajasthan), Ghadi detergent (Uttar Pradesh), Wagh Bakri tea (Gujarat), Paras Pharmaceuticals (Gujarat), Bector Foods (Punjab), Fena detergent (Delhi) have been successful down south.

The desire to grow from the regional clout was so big for companies like CavinKare and Jyothy Laboratories that in order to obtain a national footprint, they were headquartered in Mumbai. This strategy seems to have worked since CavinKare‟s Chik shampoo and Jyothy Laboratories‟ Ujala have done reasonably well in the national market. These companies initially targeted migrant workers from their home regions, who were aware of the products, so as to leverage on their familiarity to create a brand name in the market.

The long drawn debate of North versus South India stems from the huge differences in the culture of the two regions. These differences also posed a challenge to brands from the North or South to cross the Vindhyas and establish a foothold in the other region.

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FEATURED ARTICLE All these companies, apart from having got their promotion strategy right, also made sure to hire local agents and distributors to sell their products, so that they can better interface with the new markets. Though these brands might have done well nationally, still a major chunk of their sales is derived from their regional bastions. This is seen in the case of CavinKare‟s Meera hair wash powder which sells mainly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, while there are literally no takers for the same product in other states. Jyothy laboratories still makes it a point to launch all their products first in their home bastion of Kerala.

girlfriend, sings in a drunken stupor, asking why she hurt him. The words, which consist of street humor, are simple and this helped it relate to a national audience. The song was never meant to be a brand in the first place, but soon transformed from a regional brand into a national one as it soon rose to become „the national youth anthem‟. The song became the most searched Youtube video in India with over 23 million hits. Thus even in the midst of so much diversity, there are a lot of common nodes between the regions and their cultures, and it‟s these opportunities that regional brands must exploit to make it big nationally.

Perhaps the biggest example of a regional brand making it big nationally has been „Why this Kolaveri di‟. The song, a mixture of Tamil and English, is from the soundtrack of a Tamil film. The basic theme revolves around an Indian boy, who shunned by his

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FEATURED ARTICLE - Ela Koshal, Welingkar Mumbai UCB has followed Luciano Benetton‟s philosophy “Communication should not be commissioned from outside the company, but conceived from within its heart”. Since its inception, it has addressed many social issues through its ad campaigns which elicit mixed response. But that is how Benetton kept itself out from the league and positioned itself. Let me throw light on some of the most prominent ones. 1) The initial advertising campaigns portrayed the youth of both different gender and races to promote the message of “racial integration”.

2) During the 1991 Gulf War, UCB came up with the print ads to emphasize on the mass destruction of life and property. It was intended to promote the message of peace and harmony in the world.

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3) In 1992, the ad campaigns were so designed to address the social evil of AIDS and promote awareness amongst the masses.

4) In 1994, its campaign against racial discrimination conveyed that every individual is created similar and hence cannot be treated as unequal by others.

FEATURED ARTICLE

5) In 1996, it worked in collaboration with FAO to campaign against the issues of “poverty and hunger” and spread awareness for the “World food summit” held at Rome. Throughout its journey, it has marketed itself by conveying deep social messages to the masses, some of them being applauded, while others met controversies. But, it never deterred the

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brand as it was primarily focused on the message getting the attention rather than there being arguments on a brand resorting to such advertising campaigns. Recently it launched “Unhate” that portrayed eminent personalities kissing. It was focused on promoting tolerance, peace & harmony. The kiss was used as a symbol of love and care.

FEATURED ARTICLE The pictures targeted religious leaders like the Pope Benedict XVI kissing Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, the imam of al-Azhar Mosque, or political leaders like Barack Obama kissing Chinese PM Hu Jintao or German chancellor Angela Merkel kissing the French president Nicolas Sarkozy. While the campaign addressed a very sensitive issue in an outrageous manner, it met with controversies particularly from the Catholics and the ad portraying Pope had to be pulled off. But was the campaign justified? It would be difficult to talk in terms of black and white but a grey analysis can be done through the following arguments:

caricatures of the leaders were used 4) The marketing campaign gives an audacious invitation to its target customers: the ball is now in your court, if you align with the message of Benetton, come and be a part of our proud family but if you don‟t, the choice is all yours. So I would conclude by saying that Benetton has positioned itself not just as a brand, but as a disseminator of the sensitive world issues. “Unhate” has a deep message to convey and it should be left to the customers to decide whether they would like to associate themselves with it or not.

1) It is necessary to understand its underlying message. “Love and hate are not far away from each other, but they are the two opposing emotions that are in delicate balance with each other. Thus, don‟t hate, Unhate”. (http://unhate.benetton.com) 2) The morphing of the pictures of the leaders had been done without any intimation to them. This was unjustified as any individual would find this derogatory and would not approve of this. 3) It is undoubtedly true that the campaign faced repercussions throughout the world.. Well the answer is clearly NO!! Would the impact be the same if, instead of real pictures,

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FEATURED ARTICLE - Prateek Malpani, MICA Ahmedabad Introduction Have you ever bought a Kingfisher soda or Smirnoff cassettes and cds? No, right? But it is almost sure that either you or people around you have bought a kingfisher beer or Smirnoff vodka. Well, this is what surrogate advertising or surrogate marketing does.

Intention Marketing

Surrogate

Intention behind such advertisement is to popularize certain banned for advertisement products such as liquor and cigarettes. Surrogate marketing refers to intentionally utilizing a company, person or object to help convey the message of another party.

In simple words, surrogate marketing means advertising or promoting a particular banned or illegal product or service of a company by using certain acceptable brand extensions of the same company with the same logo and brand name.

History of Surrogacy in Advertising Surrogate advertisements took off not long ago in the UK, where British housewives protested strongly against liquor advertisements "luring" away their husbands.

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FEATURED ARTICLE WHAT THEY ACTUALLY WANT TO SELL Alcoholic Beverages

BRAND

WHAT THEY PROMOTE

Seagrams

Compact discs.

Bagpiper Mc Dowells

Water and Soda, Cassettes Whisky and Compact discs. Whisky Water and Soda

Red and White

Bravery Awards

Cigarettes Rum

Bacardi

Cassettes and Compact discs

Beer

Kingfisher

Mineral Water and Calendars

Four Square White

Water Rafting and Gliding

Cigarettes

Wills lifestyle

Apparels, Accessories

Cigarettes

Pan Parag

Pan Masala

Gutkha

Johnny Walker

Soda

Scotch Whisky

502 Pataka

502 Pataka chai

Bidi

Smirnoff, Aristocrat

Apple Juices

The liquor industry found a way around the ban: Surrogate advertisements for cocktail mixers, fruit juices and soda water using the brand names of the popular liquors. Government Dilemma The government is usually caught up in between revenue and responsibility and the only leeway that they can give the companies is surrogacy to glorify their products. The Government has already imposed a ban on cigarettes and the Union and Health Ministry has decided to impose a ban on surrogate advertisements of Tobacco Industry as

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Vodka well. The health ministry is putting a ban on surrogate advertisements under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco products (Prohibition of advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act.

FEATURED ARTICLE ASCI (Advertising Council of India) Code

Standard

Section 6 of the said code states: â&#x20AC;&#x17E;Advertisements for products whose advertising is prohibited or restricted by law or by this code must not circumvent such restrictions by purporting to be advertisements for other products the advertising of which is not prohibited or restricted by law or by this code. In judging whether or not any particular advertisement is an indirect advertisement for product whose

advertising is restricted or prohibited, due attention shall be paid to the following: (a) Visual content of the advertisement must depict only the product being advertised and not the prohibited or restricted product in any form or manner.

prohibited or restricted products. (c) The advertisement must not create any nuances or phrases promoting prohibited products. Future of Surrogate Advertising A balance between positives and negatives As avenues to advertise and new media are on an increase and there is little reliance on traditional media the methods of surrogate marketing is going to don a new look. With more and more brands coming on the internet and the

exposure to online video advertising increasing the, surrogate marketing departments of all such companies have a new light of the day to see. It is still to be seen how these companies keep in mind their responsibility as well as the uncontrolled and viral nature of the internet.

(b) The advertisement must not make any direct or indirect reference to the

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SqUaReHeAd ! Smartness holds different meaning for different people. But for us, smartness is defined as the ability to leverage oneâ&#x20AC;&#x;s thoughts to achieve oneâ&#x20AC;&#x;s desires. In this issue , Squarehead is dedicated to smartness. Enjoy !

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REWIND DRAFT FCB Ulka presents COMSTRAT:10th Dec 2011 COMSTRAT is a Case study Competition of SIMSR organized by Interface – the Marketing Club of SIMSR in association with DRAFT FCB Ulka for designing Innovative and Effective Communication Strategies. COMSTRAT, now in its 16th year, presented a case study on Bru Café. Over 100 teams from across the country sent in their entries for the preliminary rounds and 6 teams battled it out in the final round held in SIMSR on 10th Dec 2011. The team from Welingkar Mumbai (Raashi Mehra, Karan Bavishi, Aditya Nagavekar) was the second runner up, followed by the team from SIMSR (Shreya Bhattacharji, Aditya Nair, Atul Mirje), which was the runner up. The team from NMIMS, Mumbai (Dinesh Yegireddi, Sapna Kalmadi, Mohita Jajodia) stood first.

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REWIND NaviKaran 2011: 23rd Dec 2011 NaviKaranâ&#x20AC;&#x;11- Renovate through Ideas is the first Marketing Fest of SIMSR organized by Interface, the Marketing Club of SIMSR held on 23rd December 2011. The official sponsors for the event were Godrej Interio, MTS, Uni-Spa, zoomin.com, GyanCentral etc. The event kick started with a Q&A session on New and Emerging Ideas in the field of Marketing and communications with Mr. Aditya Bhat from Business of Ideas. This young but dynamic company has been the brains behind popular shows like "Rakhi ka Swayamwar" and has done promotions for movies like Band Baja Baraat and Aarakshan. This event had a basket of exciting contests under its umbrella: Ranniti 2011 ,the flagship event of Navikaran 2011, sponsored by Godrej Interio was a Case Study Competition to test strategic thinking & branding capabilities in devising a viral marketing strategy for Godrej Interio using social media. It was a three stage event launched on 14th December 2011 and had more than 150 teams registering for the preliminary rounds. Six teams made the cut to the final round which was held in SIMSR on 23rd Dec and was judged by Mr. Bedraj Tripathy, Senior General Manager, Advertising and Communications, Godrej Interio. The winning team was from IIM Lucknow, followed by the team from FMS which came second.

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REWIND

Srijan 2011 was the Graffiti Designing Competition in association with UniSpa. The winning team was Pradumna Swain, Abhishek Das from SIMSR. ChitraRekha 2011 was the Online Photography competition in association with zoomin.com. The theme of the contest is "Happiness in the Simple things of Life". First Prize: Bharat Baswani, EMRC Indore. Second Prize: Gaurav Arora, FORE School of Management. Best Photo and Tagline: by Indrajit Chavan, SCMHRD. Maximum Facebook “likes”: Charanjot Kaur, Government College of Art. Chandigarh. Jigyasa 2011Online Business Quiz on Brands to be held at 10:30 pm on 21st December 2011 . First prize: Suket Gupta - SIMSR Second prize: Sameer Agarwal – IIM Ranchi. The event was concluded with a Workshop on Social Media by Mr. Gregory Fernandes, Sr. Executive, Training at Social Wavelengh. The workshop gave insights on how to leverage Social Media and the power that surmounts it.

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Its all about Ad-itude !

Lay‟s Potato Chip Vending Machine- „100% Natural Potato Chips‟ Advertiser: Lay‟s Baseline: 100% Natural Potato Chips‟ Agency: +Castro Media/ Origin: OOH media (Ambient Advertisement)

feeling that it is a packet of freshly cooked potato chips. Mumbai Mirror- „I am Mumbai‟ ugly Advertiser: Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd Baseline: I am Mumbai Agency: Taproot, India Media/Origin: TVC

Castro, an agency out of Argentina, developed a special vending machine that turns raw potatoes into bags of potato chips right before one‟s eyes. The consumer are handed potato as they enter the store and are directed to the vending machine. Once dropped into the machine (which only accepts potatoes; no coins allowed) a video appears that brings consumers across the six-step process of creating a potato chip and at the end customer gets the chip packet. A very innovative advertisement and stands out from the clutter. It sends the message right across. Surely it creates hold over two elements of AIDAAttention and Interests, Also it did not miss out at minute details like the heater that warms each bag to give the

The TVC portrays how the city newspaper has become the voice of the average Mumbai citizen (Mumbaikar). It is based on four real stories broken by the newspaper in the recent past - the destruction of an author's works, the adulteration of milk, the dreadful conditions of an orphanage, and the unattractiveness of the city created by banners - these depictions show the affected citizens taking to a loudspeaker (that represents Mumbai Mirror) to make their grievances heard. The Ad questions, „Mumbai Speaks Every Morning. Are you listening?‟ The paper empowers the reader and gives him a voice. With the creativity, brand recall, concept and the execution the TVC takes the accolade.

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BOOKWORM Positioning : The battle for your mind By : Al Ries and Jack Trout The book was written in 1980â&#x20AC;&#x;s and is one of the first books to talk about positioning as a marketing tool. It tells us how an advertising budget can all go to waste if it is not positioned properly and how positioning is more about the mind of the consumer rather than the product itself. It talks about terms which we freely use today like first mover advantage and sticking to core competencies and multi product strategies. In a way the book introduced us to these terms. It also talks about different kinds of traps that people get into while trying to position there product like line extensions and giving away freebies.

What will make you buy? Even though it was written long back, itâ&#x20AC;&#x;s still very relevant to the current world and all the concepts it talks about are still very much applied and in use. It can be called a modern classic of marketing. Also the approach followed is very lucid and it explains with a lot of real life examples which gives us a better understanding of the concept and helps us relate better to what the authors are saying.

Rating (courtesy www.goodreads.com)A

Why you may not buy? It focuses more on big businesses and even the examples and cases taken are such and a budding entrepreneur might get inspiration from it but nothing more than that which he can actually apply. Also, internet marketing which is a big thing nowadays is not talked about at all because it was written in pre- internet times.

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TWEETS Samsung Galaxy Nexus popularity levels rising above Apple's iPhone

Samsung's recent advertising campaign for the latest Galaxy Nexus is making the product more popular than Apple's iPhone. The adverts poke fun at Apple fans who camp outside stores for the latest iPhone release, as well as taking a swing at the device's poor battery life and lack of 4G connectivity.

Gillette banking on soldiers as mascots for shaving. Clean-shaven and distinguished looking, soldiers with steely resolve and fastidious manners are perfect pinup boys for Gillette. The message is bang on. The campaign rides on familiarity, aspiration, respect and sympathy for soldiers in a world which is into a fad of keeping stubbles.

Facebook shifts to new headquarters in California Facebook has announced that its final wave of employees have moved into its new headquarters in the one million-square foot Menlo Park city of California.The world's largest social network is now officially headquartered at 1601 Willow Road in Menlo Park.

Coke secret formula gets 1st new home since 1925 The Coca-Cola Co. has made its secret formula the centrepiece of a new exhibit at its corporate museum, ditching the confines of the bank vault where the list of ingredients had been stored since 1925. The world's largest beverage maker said today a new vault containing the formula will be on display for visitors to its World of Coca-Cola museum in downtown Atlanta. However, the formula itself, which dates back to 1886, will remain hidden from view.

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BUZZ ACROSS 1) The picture is the first design made by designer Art Paul for the logo of which company?"Top Hat", "Gentleman", "Sir'", "Satyr", "Pan" and "Bachelor“ were the names suggested for naming the company but were rejected. 2) Identify the company whose logo is shown, which owns brands like "Nature Fresh", "Gemini" and "Sweekar". 8) Chesebrough Manufacturing Company was the company that first sold this product. The name of the product was derived from the German words meaning "Water" and "Oil". 9) “Top Boy” is the mascot of which company? DOWN 3. This is the logo of which web service? 4. DAT Motorcar Co. was the earlier name of which car company? The logo might look familiar. 5. "K cups" are single coffee brewing cups that works on a special filtering mechanism. These are patented by which company. 6. The name of this company is the name of the product itself.

Answers

1..Playboy 4.Nissan 7.LifeOk

2.Cargill 5.Keurig 8.Vaseline

3.Icloud 6.Ajinomoto 9.TopRamen

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7. Name the new channel whose logo is shown and that replaced Star One.

Marketing Unbound “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions”. Albert Einstein. More than ever before, the statement of Albert Einstein is extremely relevant in today‟s business environment, where boundaries of all business functions and consumers are being demolished. Marketing, which is the closest function to customers, is the most impacted area. Technology and changing consumer profile and behavior have provided opportunities for path breaking innovations and hitherto unthought-of possibilities for identifying and serving new & old consumer needs, and developing strategies to strive and thrive in the market place. Classic, pristine marketing is moving from the traditional to the hitherto unchartered areas of the digitalized world. Newer competitors are creeping silently into every area of marketing and taking away the high ground from brands that have held their space before. How will the traditional marketer compete with such New Invaders? What do we understand of strategies that have worked or not worked under these conditions? One-

on-one customized marketing is all around us. Need fragmentation, customer individuality and self-concept have been driving companies to micro segment markets for better brand pullthrough and value migration. How has customer engagement and experiential marketing been spiked using marketing and communication strategies involving the heart, the mind, and the senses of the customers to deliver a compelling brand experience? All elements of marketing are undergoing a paradigm shift, some major changes are:

Product:

Technology has made it possible for the companies to launch greater variety in products and services at very fast speed. They are not only making the product lifecycle very short, almost to a dot, but also the classic pattern of product lifecycle is no longer applicable in most categories. This is especially visible in categories like mobile phones and movies where the lifecycle of the mobile or movie could last between few weekends to a few months. The trend of hybrid products/services is the order of the day. Combination foods like “Chinese Bhel, Chinese Samosa, Paneer Tikka Pizza, Idli Manchurian“are the new items on the menu card of restaurants. Product convergence due to technological advances has become another major challenge for companies in defining their competitors.

with borderless economies, how does a global brand build relevance to the local customers and still maintain its national / global Identity. E.g.: for global banks and companies like HSBC, McDonald‟s and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), how should they create new products, product delivery and communication, within the backdrop of customer needs, culture, and marketing infrastructure and government regulations.

Brand:

Global retail chains are seeing opportunity in emerging markets like India, China, Brazil and others. Are the original country strategies relevant and conducive to success in such markets? What are our key learning‟s and findings? How has international biggies tackled the problems of culture, buying parities, quality of product and services, service delivery, people and their management, nuances of product development and acceptance, private label branding and management, value delivery and retail store brand positioning?

Brands are an important asset and a major source of revenue for companies. They are becoming more ubiquitous nationally and internationally. With an unfettered customer environment and markets

Retail:

Distribution

From a single channel to mandatory presence across different distribution channels including online presence, the function of distribution presents tremendous challenges and opportunities for the companies. With convenience and ease of purchase becoming the biggest requirement for a consumer, what strategies do companies follow to tackle these issues? Is de-intermediation the new mantra?

value creating opportunities are emerging for the new wave marketers. But how should the traditional marketing organizations contend with such changes? What is our understanding of the new wave and the not-so-new wave marketing organizations and their parameters of success in the shifting marketplace? Understanding the implications of the Long Tail has benefitted the new wave marketers through the customers, their specific and diverse needs, effect on retailers, marketersâ&#x20AC;&#x; thinking and strategies, the marketing researchers, the digitalized communication media world, newer and more cost effective distribution channels, etc. What is our understanding of these new frontiers that is going to unfold in the next few years? Pricing:

The Digitalized Customer

With technology becoming a big enabler, not only for communication but for consumer connect, newer and more

Value delivery has always been the capstone of great marketing success. How can the price-value equation be altered, changed, and amended into a strategic thrust by transposing the traditional value chain onto the virtual value chain?

Does such a hybrid value creating system compellingly drive value creation for the customer, the company and the shareholders by value delivering through effective pricing and efficient distribution or both?

Integrated Communication Management:

The digitalized world has had the maximum impact on Marketing Communication and Promotion. Emerging markets such as India are seeing a tremendous surge in the adoption and use of digitalized media. A) How does the digitalized medium help in enhancing the delivery of a holistic communication experience to the customer in emerging markets? B) What are the new strategies and metrics that are evolving to ensure

greater marketing productivity and measurement systems, enabling the marketers to better understand marketing ROI? C) How versatile is the new digital / social media and its effect in brand building /creating long term customer value?

7th SIMSR Asia Marketing Conference The 7th SIMSR Asia Marketing Conference, with its theme for this year – “Marketing Unbound”, looks to elaborate on these aspects and more. It is a conference which gives the best marketing minds to share their work with the world. Participants from US, UK and APAC region convene to deliver their marketing work which changes the marketing landscape. Conference Objectives To offer a platform for marketing practitioners, academicians and researchers to: 1. Analyze and share their knowledge and experience of cutting edge innovations in marketing. 2. Discuss possible strategies and strategic options to overcome the challenges of technology, competition, and changing consumer profile/behavior. 3. Analyze, understand and develop strategies to cope with the ever changing marketing landscape.

Areas Covered  Brand / Product Management  Consumer Behavior / Services  Integrated Marketing Communication  Brand & Product Management  Consumer Behavior & Services  Rural & Social Marketing  E – Marketing  Strategic Marketing And Strategic Management  Retail Management

For Whom 1. Marketing Academicians 2. Marketing Practitioners 3. Doctoral Students 4. Marketing Researchers

Guest Speakers Mr Nitin Paranjpe CEO & MD, Hindustan Unilever Ltd Dr. Bhaskar Das President, The Times Of India Group, Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL) Mr Vidyut Arte Managing Director, Kraft Foods, Thailand Mr Sanjiv Sarin Regional President, Tata Beverages, South Asian Region Mr Kinjal Medh COO at Cogito Consulting

Venue K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research, Vidyavihar (East), Mumbai – 400 077, India Website: http://simsr.somaiya.edu Email: simsrasiamktg@simsr.somaiya.edu / simsrasiamktg@gmail.com Phone: +91 22 6728 3000 / 3050 (Board) Fax: +91 22 2102 7219 For more details http://simsrasiamarketing.weebly.com https://www.facebook.com/asiamarketingconference

CALL FOR ARTICLES JANUARY ISSUE Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*: 1) Employer Branding versus Celebrity endorsements 2) Sensory Branding - creating retail experience 3) 4Ps of Samsung smartphones. What made it possible for Samsung to beat Apple in smartphone sales ? *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 from 500-600 words and MUST be replete with relevant pictures that can be used to enhance your article. 3. Send in your articles in .doc/.docx format with font size 11 (Arial) to: interface.newsletter@gmail.com 4. Subject Line:Your Name_Institute Name_Course Year. 5. Kindly name your file as:Your Name_Topic The best adjudged article will be given a winner's certificate. Deadline for submission of the articles: 11:59 PM , 15 January 2012.

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