The Marksman August 2017 Issue by The Marksman

Dear Readers, It gives us great pleasure to bring to you another interesting issue of our very beloved Marksman. We have curated for you a broad spectrum of interesting articles that should enhance your understanding of marketing. For this edition, our cover story is “Demarketing”. Demarketing is the use of advertisements to reduce the demand of a product that is short in supply. The special story “Social influencers of Instagram” focuses on the marketing done on Instagram through ‘influencers’. We would like to congratulate this month’s call for article winners, KUNAL BHALERAO from IIM Raipur and SHAGUN SAHANI from IMT Ghaziabad, whose articles have been featured in this issue. For the remaining entries, we would like to thank you all for your incredible response and encourage you all to keep writing to us with great enthusiasm. We’d also like to hear back from our esteemed readers on how you find this issue. Your feedback is valuable for us! It helps us to improve our magazine. Enjoy Reading! Stay with us on www.interfacesimsr.com/index.php/marksman Follow our Facebook page for more updates.

AUGUST EDITION

INDEX Tweets

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

Marketing Faux Pas

Cover Story

Pioneer

Special Story

Brand Markive

Bookworm

Hall-Mark Campaign

Kickstart

The Pitchers Sponsor

Featured Article

Square Head

Buzz

FAUX PAS TWEETS - ASHIK KURIAN

#EveryCharacterMatters

It featured more than 24 hours of continuous content from forty artists of which seven are from India.

#EveryCharacterMatters was a Twitter campaign launched by Twitter India showcasing the local artist and their talents to the users in 2016. The campaign was a huge success and was again relaunched in August 10th 2017 to include artists around the world. It was a global video relay beginning from the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, before moving on to Melbourne and Tokyo and finishing in Denver and Vancouver. It featured more than 24 hours of continuous content from forty artists of which seven are from India. It began with artist Tom Jay Williams,Australian

musician, followed by Periscope presentations, performances and audience question sessions from various Sydney and Melbourne based artists and personalities. Twitter provided a platform for the artists to meet up and collaborate with their fans in their own turf. #PartnershipsForLife: #PartnershipsForLife is so strange that whenever we think of MS DHONI we think of how Team India have won different world cups under his leadership, but to see him in the ultimate title “Dad” would melt anyone’s heart. This is what Exide Life Insurance have done through their new

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TWEETS

campaign called #PartnershipsForLife. Exide Life Insurance released the campaign on Father’s day and asked the users to tweet their stories so that they could win autographed merchandises from Dhoni. They have appealed to the Indian viewer’s emotion through the Captain Cool himself. From being the equal partners by feeding, playing or giving a timely hug, parenting is definitely #PartnershipsForLife

#Sister4change: The Nizamabad MP K Kavitha, started a Social media campaign in which she urges the sisters to gift their brothers a helmet along with a Rakhi during Rakshabandan season. The initiative was launched by her to express her concern over the number of increasing deaths due to increase in two wheeler accidents. "This Raksha Bandhan, let all sisters come together and make sure all our brothers wear

helmets," says Nizamabad MP K. Kavitha in a video released during her campaign in twitter. She got support from various sections of society which comprises of Sports personalities such as Saina Nehwal and Gutta Jwala, Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj, Assam MP Gaurav Gogoi, Congress MP Jyotiraditya Schindia and BJP MP Ramesh Pokhriyal.

This Raksha Bandhan, let all sisters come together and make sure all our brothers wear helmets

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IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE -

TELEVISION AD

The ad urges one to ‘Look Up’ from their devices and prioritise people over phones.

Vodafone has always been known for their innovative ads. Ogilvy and Mather chose Friendship Day to unveil their latest offering from the LookUp campaign. Initially conceptualised for Valentine’s Day, the momentum was continued to Father’s Day as well after a rousing reception. Gen X is so engrossed in their phones that they seem to have lost track of how actual conversations take place. Social communication is so rampant that one needs to learn the art

SOHIT UDUPI

of real-life communication. The ad urges one to “Look Up” from their devices and prioritise people over phones. Even though the internet brings the world together, it is also making people grow apart. It is heartening to see that a service provider has taken the onus on themselves to get people back to reality. With over 50 million views, 80,000 conversations and almost 260,000 people engaged, the #LookUp movement is only growing in strength, and makes us love Vodafone more.

Enjoy the ad at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDPEztJMFn4

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AD-ITUDE

PRINT AD Bulgarian designer, Alexander Nedelev has managed to incorporate retro game designs into messages about environmental degradation. Aptly titled as “It’s Not a Game Anymore”, it is a commentary on tendency of people to feel like they have no part in the world’s environmental degradation. The first design is a play on Space Invaders with rows of deer replacing the invading

aliens. Rows of smash able bricks on the popular game Arkanoid are replaced by rows of whales, which sets the tone for the second design. Pac-Man forms the theme for the third design with an empty board on which stands a solitary tree. It is cleverly set to make people stop in their tracks and ponder about the repercussions of global warming and environmental degradation.

Aptly titled as “It’s Not a Game Anymore”, it is a commentary on tendency of people to feel like they have no part in the world’s environmental degradation

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FAUX PAS -

Assigning gender roles, encouraging parents to enforce these roles on their children in the year 2017 is such a big misstep

We all cheered when Justin Trudeau said “because it’s 2015.” In one line, he told the world that gender equality should be the norm and not something that needs questioning. As darling and daring Prime Minister Trudeau was, it’s 2017, and gender equality seems like a distant reality. Even today, casual sexism is something that not only exists but thrives. Men and women around the world battle everyday sexism. This is the world we live in, and this is the world for which advertisements are made. Art imitates life and adverts imitate

VIDITI JAJODIA

society. Produced to compel the majority of a community to invest in their products, adverts are tailor-made to reflect the current scenario. For a company like Co-op, proud to be part of the community, boasting its Fairtrade status comes an ad reeking of casual misogyny. Assigning gender roles, encouraging parents to enforce these roles on their children in the year 2017 is such a big misstep that one must wonder what the ad makers were thinking and what are the vetting processes taken by the company. Ironically, one of the key principles of Fairtrade is gender equality.

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FAUX PAS

And yet, this is a continuous trend. Co-op apologized for the full-page advertisement claiming it’s the daughter’s (and not the son’s) responsibility to do the washing chores. A chocolate egg filled with jelly bean surprises left a bad taste in the mouth of the consumers. With the casual comparison of women with property, Audi releasing an ad in China equating buying a car and getting a wife, or the Coop Easter egg ad, there is one thing common in them all. They generate online backlash and are subsequently taken off the market.

However one has to wonder how these ads are considered in the first place. Ad requires work, time and money. Sex sells – but so does sexism, it seems. Will the Unstereotype Alliance at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity be able to have an effective change is the question of the hour. With names like Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Diageo and AT&T, the hopes are high, but to truly remove casual sexism from the ad world, we’ll need to remove it from the real world. After all, it’s 2017.

Will the Unstereotype Alliance at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity be able to have an effective change is the question of the hour.

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COVER STORY DEMARKETING

As such, the definition is not the opposite of marketing, but an intrinsic aspect within marketing management

- NIVEDITA

For a painting that was meant to last for only a limited period, certainly not 500 years, and was experimental in nature, demarketing is now the principal strategy being used to conserve one of the world’s greatest treasures. Spurning the Fresco technique of applying paint to wet plaster, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece of western civilization was created by the application of the paint or tempera to a dry wall. The result was a painting of enormous subtlety, but it is gradually flaking from the walls. Visitation was open and uncontrolled until 1984 when the state of the painting required extensive conservation efforts. Stabilization and some restoration were commenced in 1984, but the chapel was not reopened until 14 years later in 1998 after much debate, amongst which were voices suggesting that any visitation was irreparably damaging the work and all visitation should be terminated. It is believed that humidity is the primary agent causing the flaking and hence an elaborate air conditioning and humidifying system is now in place. The single demarketing measure that was taken was to institute a reservation system whereby only 25 persons are allowed in the chapel at any one time for a maximum stay of 15 minutes – thereby limiting access. This limit was decided after extensive

humidity testing suggested that 25 was the maximum number of persons, beyond which humidity levels would be excessive. This system is in place seven days a week from 7.00 a.m. until 11.00 p.m. To view the mural, reservations by telephone are required. No other system of gaining access to the product is possible. Casual visitors or visitors without a reservation are accommodated when the 25-person limit has not been reached for the relevant 15

minute viewing period. In peak summer periods, waits of four days are not uncommon. Although management had not acknowledged the concept of demarketing, such a strategy aligns with Kotler and Levy’s demarketing tool of adding to the time and expense of the purchaser. However, other demarketing strategies such as visitor education, discouragement of certain groups or raising prices do not appear to have been considered.

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COVER STORY

DEMARKETING- INCEPTION In their seminal 1971 paper, Demarketing? Yes, Demarketing! Kotler and Levy introduced the term ‘demarketing’. The underlying rationale for this new term was that marketing, up until the 1970s, dealt with an ever-expanding market for which there was an unlimited supply of product. In a complete reversal of this paradigm, Kotler and Levy noted that there were periods of product shortages or scarcity in the marketplace to which marketers (and managers) must respond. They termed this response as ‘demarketing’ which was defined

as ‘ . . . that aspect of marketing that deals with discouraging customers in general or a certain class of customers in particular on a temporary or permanent basis’. As such, the definition is not the opposite of marketing, but an intrinsic aspect within marketing management – a crucial point that many marketers (and others) seem to miss, to their detriment.

Aspect of marketing that deals with discouraging customers in general or a certain class of customers

Many companies off-late are attuning to this marketing strategy. For instance, when demand for Tata Nano increased way ahead of its supply mark, Tata started promoting its other products and completely stopped promoting Nano. 8 MARKSMAN

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COVER STORY

For the promotion of its A-Star model, Maruti started discoursing its customers to buy Maruti Estilo. General Demarketing occurs when a seller shrinks the level of total demand.

Demarketing usually involves the alterations of marketing mix variables to affect lesser demand when it is bigger than an organization can or able to tackle the situation. Oftentimes, de-marketing methods involve raising prices, reducing advertising and promotion expenditures, or deleting product benefits. •Increase Fees •Increase Prices

•Restrict Product Accessories/ Warranties

Price

Product

DEMARKETING TYPES Kotler and Levy identify three types of Demarketing situations-

Price

➢ ➢ Place

Promotion ➢

•Decrease Consumption Space

•Cut Down on Advertising

General Demarketing Selective Demarketing Ostensible Demarketing

GENERAL DEMARKETING -

During periods of excess demand, suppliers of electricity and water use advertisements and publicity campaigns to instigate the consumer to use these resources judiciously. This type of General Demarketing occurs when a seller shrinks the level of total demand. It is generally used when a firm wants to demarket to everyone. 9 MARKSMAN

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COVER STORY

SELECTIVE DEMARKETING OSTENSIBLE - Ever thought producers of goods with a DEMARKETING snob appeal avoid low-image retailers for a reason and not out of social stigmas? Would you believe if told that that landlord who just would not rent his property to you and your friend(s) but is welcoming all those family guys with open arms is actually following a well-planned marketing (or rather demarketing) approach! Selective demarketing occurs when a company discourages demand from certain classes of consumers. It is used to sustain a firm’s loyal customers.

In 1997 BMW announced supply restriction to UK market. Result? The British flooded the BMW showrooms and the BMW sales skyrocketed. Apparently, BMW had made an offer the British just could not refuseOstensible demarketing. Ostensible demarketing occurs when a seller creates an artificial or perceived shortage to whet consumers’ appetites. Limited distribution of goods may induce consumers to stockpile these “hard-to-get" items as was seen in the UK market targeted by BMW.

DEMARKETING – SCENARIOS Although the need for careful research into these phenomena was emphasized, little effort has been devoted to the formal study of demarketing by marketers. This is not surprising, as marketers are trained to build demand rather than destroy it. On the other hand, there has been growing interest in issues that can be construed as Demarketing. This stream of research focuses on the following scenarios-

PRICE DISCRIMINATING DEMARKETING - Some retailers hold “3-hour sales” from 8 to 11 Saturday morning. Consumers who get to the store before 11 o’clock pay lower prices but incur the inconvenience of early morning shopping. Price Discriminating firms may create transaction costs deliberately to discourage customers from seeking the lowest price.

Price Discriminating firms may create transaction costs deliberately to discourage customers from seeking the lowest price.

BAIT AND SWITCH DEMARKETING –The

bait-and-switch demarketing strategy is when a firm advertises one product in such a way that the intention is not that the consumers buy that product, but that they buy a more profitable product in its place. 10 MARKSMAN

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COVER STORY STOCK OUTAGE DEMARKETING -

Passive demarketing strategy involves educating the customer about the negative effects of the product on society at large

Stock outages frustrate consumers, but stores often offer rain checks that guarantee delivery at a future date. Nevertheless, deliberate stock outages help stores charge higher prices and earn higher profits. The possibility of a stock outage in one store makes customers more eager to buy when the other store has the product in stock.

CROWDING

COSTS

DEMARKETING

–

Crowding cost demarketing is a strategy implemented on “Black Friday” when crowds will deter many consumers from purchasing a product at a lower price. Retail stores, hotels, and airlines have limited capacities. A low price usually attracts large numbers of shoppers, so customers must hunt for space in crowded parking lots and stand in long checkout lines. Businesses may deliberately accept capacity constraints, recognizing that some customers would trade the higher prices for reduced crowding.

DEMARKETINGSTRATEGIES Do you want to shoot up your sales or attract your customers to the product range you offer? Want to apply Demarketing to your business? Here’s how you can achieve it! Demarketing implementation and rollout takes one of the following three forms:

✓ ACTIVE DEMAKETING This strategy uses the marketing mix to shift demand in several or every market segment. This involves regulating prices to reduce product consumption.

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✓ PASSIVE DEMARKETING -

This demarketing strategy involves educating the customer about the negative effects of the product on society at large like issuing statutory warnings like smoking is injurious to health on a cigarette packet. The strategy ensures positioning of the product in the consumer minds with a social goodwill image. Hence, it is widely used by firms trying to develop their image as a socially responsible one.

COMPLETE DEMARKETING – Complete Demarketing can be implemented if a marketer feels that the product is no longer necessary or viable. At times firms can regain consumer trust by complete demarketing and can even start thinking of new product development as was seen in the case of Yamaha. After demarketing its existing range of motorcycles working on outdated technology, Yamaha relaunched its product range even strategically using the “Dhoom” movie concept and attracting customer attention by making John Abraham who played a lead role in the movie as its brand

ambassador. This is also one of the finest examples of how competent brands are taking a more customerdriven approach to the hearts of their target audience. Having said that this decision is not always the easy one! But having taken care of a few essential parameters of technological up gradation, price stability, substitute and new product management etc. Yamaha was able to re-establish its dominance in the market; second time is a charm, eh?

Yamaha- AFTER Demarketing

Yamaha relaunched its product range even strategically using the “Dhoom” movie concept and attracting customer attention by making John Abraham who played a lead role in the movie as its brand ambassador.

Yamaha- BEFORE Demarketing 12

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY CONCLUSION

Throughout the article we have explored that Demarketing by and far is a tool required to maintain the demand-supply parallel, maintain product-quality, maximize profits and ensure proper decision-making through planned market segmentation. It ensures customer sustainability and suppliers’ satisfaction. In spite of such support, demarketing has some ethical issues, which Kotler and Levy first recognized in their seminal article on demarketing, acknowledging that some of their proposed strategies ‘ . . . may raise thorny issues in social ethics’. In the healthcare sector, many of the healthcare strategies were controversial, with commentators such as MacStravic (1995) citing a number of what he considers to be demarketing failures in the Canadian health system, such as discouraging inpatient

stays following delivery of a child, requiring consumers to pay part of the costs of their health services, and limiting access to emergency rooms. His criterion for considering the above examples as failures is the dissatisfaction of the consumer, violating one of the most basic marketing tenets – satisfy the customer. Other challenges typically include shifting consumer loyalty to other brands during the period of demarketing, prolonged time and increased cost incurred in making this decision for a firm and for new product development etc. It would seem that such a problem has arisen by segregating demarketing from the marketing strategy itself, rather than integrating demarketing and marketing into the entire management process

Demarketing has some ethical issues, which Kotler and Levy first recognized in their seminal article on demarketing IPCL(Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited) which demarkets its own product saying “Save Oil Save India”. 13 MARKSMAN

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PIONEER INDRA NOOYI

Indra Nooyi played guitar in a band and was a member of an all girls' cricket team

Born in a conservative middle-class family in Madras, Indra Krishnamurthy, now Indra Nooyi, was termed â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wild' even as a young girl. She played guitar in a band and was a member of an all girls' cricket team. Indra attended Madras Christian College, graduating with a bachelor's degree. Using her resolution and determination, she got into the very prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, where she completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Management.

ANUSHA KIDIYUR

Working with Johnson & Johnson was quite a challenging task to her as she was made fully responsible for introducing Stayfree sanitary napkins across India. The whole concept of sanitary napkins was considered taboo in Indian society back then. However, this dynamic young lady with her prowess made it possible by directly interacting with young girls at schools and colleges. After this stint, she decided to pursue further education by moving to the United States to join the Yale School of Management. Working for the world's largest companies for a span of 14 years, after getting her master's degree, Indra Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 as Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development. Known for her hardworking nature and high energy, she played a major role in the diversification and expansion of PepsiCo brands. She focused on

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PIONEER

salubrious snack options which lead to PepsiCo's merger with Tropicana and acquisition of Quaker Oats Company which proved to be highly profitable in the long run.

With her innovative strategies and impressive work, Indra raised to be the CFO, President followed by becoming PepsiCo's 5th CEO - Chief Executive Officer in 2006.

Indra Nooyi was named No. 1 by 'Fortune' magazine on its annual ranking of Most Powerful Women in business for five consecutive years.

Although the responsibilities multiplied enormously after becoming the CEO, Indra Nooyi was named No. 1 by 'Fortune' magazine on its annual ranking of Most Powerful Women in business for five consecutive years from 2006 to 2010. She was honoured with Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award. For a girl from a typical middle-class

Brahmin family to achieve the top position of the world's fourth largest company is indeed SUCCESS! Indra Nooyi is an inspiration to millions of young girls who fight not only their inner battles but also everyday struggles. She has proven that if you are excellent in what you do and if you have the will and determination to achieve your dream, your background hardly matters. 15

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SPECIALSTORY STORY SPECIAL SOCIAL INFLUENCERS OF INSTAGRAM

JHALAK JAIN

"It took the telephone 78 years to get to 100m users. It took Candy Crush one year." It's the age of digital DNA. In a world where popularity is can be anyone from an amateur measured in the number of blogger to a celebrity, who very followers and YouTube artfully endorse a brand or a broadcasting is an actual job product without being vocal thereby becoming the means of about it. They very well know The clock is earning for many, it would be where their credibility and niche turning insane to neglect the ever- lies. An expert influencer works backward! increasing power of social in the narrow space between an The media. One needs to be official testimonial and a subtle marketing constantly different from its product mention, which is done world is competitors in order to be almost in passing. It is somewhat turning from the ahead of the pack. The clock is similar to word-of-mouth mass turning backward! The marketing but doesn't necessarily market marketing world is turning from involve overt recommendations. back into a the mass market back into a The influencer just needs to have niche niche nation, defined now not the ability to sway consumers nation, by our geography but by our and convince them to take action. defined now not by interests. This is exactly what These influencers or fashion our Instagram is aiming at. With the bloggers advertise anything geography soaring popularity of social ranging from clothes, shoes, but by our media, Instagram influencer accessories, cosmetics, interests. marketing has become one of restaurants & pubs, hotel chains, the most popularity of social amusement parks, cars to media, Instagram influencer intangible items like salon marketing has become one of services, spa and doctors as well the most effective tools for as hospitals. And the trend is not marketers in every niche. Who limited to mainstream areas of are these influencers? Brands fashion, entertainment or need them and the followers athletics; there are influencers in want to be them.These people markets centred on everything 16 MARKSMAN

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SPECIAL STORY

from cycling to power yoga to mindfulness and spirituality. There is no domain left untouched. What adds to their fan following is the chord of how people connect themselves to their posts. Generally, people The more important part is that people willingly follow these influencers and are not forced to watch an advertisement as is the case with YouTube or Television, wherein commercials are forced upon the viewer. This is why businesses ranging from wellestablished brands to small boutiques or start-ups are willing to spend money for a social media influencer with a few thousand followers in the market. The brands in return, get a targeted exposure to the right kind of consumer; one who is already interested and one who will likely pay attention. In this age of technology, we have so many social media platforms. Still, Instagram is becoming the most popular marketing platform. It is because there are around 198 million active ad block users, which means that marketers can no longer rely on traditional ads to reach consumers. According to McKinsey's study, in comparison with paid advertising, customers generated through word-of-mouth advertising have a 37 percent higher retention rate. Recently, Instagram confirmed of its reach crossing 400 million active users, which makes it a better marketing place than Twitter

because that's something they can emulate and buy into. That's how these bloggers sell. While fashion magazines show clothes in glamorous shoots, bloggers show how to wear them on the street.

Apart from marketing, looking at the other side of the coin, influencer marketing is becoming a way of earning huge money and adore simplicity.They are looking for reality 17 MARKSMAN

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SPECIAL STORY

and living a celebrity life. Instagram fuels an influencer with a passion for photography, brand ambassadorship, and overall creative escape. The bloggers are mostly Millennials, mostly students who are yet not working and want to earn along with studies. What initially started as a merely photosharing app, has become one of the top social media platforms in less than 7years having more than 700million users. Its growth exploded since it launched the new feature "Instagram stories" in 2016. It proved impressively that visually driven content speaks louder than words. People have responded so well that sometimes, they use Instagram instead of Google to search photographs as they are more real and less

made-up. What I absolutely love about marketers is, they find an opportunity from every possible niche and are always ready to serve their audience. They have created a great visual experience for the consumers and made fortunes in return! Even 15year old children are making their wallets heavier out of this funny game of stories and posting relevant pictures on Instagram. As a result, their father's business is booming with a huge customer footfall. Fashion clothing start-ups like Stalk by Love, Sheen, Lulu & Sky are all relying on Instagram for their major sales.

Even 15year old children are making their wallets heavier out of this funny game of stories and posting relevant pictures on Instagram.

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Now the question arises, why does a business pay to an Instagram user? Initially, these influencers begin mostly by creating an impressive Instagram link-in bio and post persuading pictures, by getting complimentary is one of samples of products or free services of the place/product being the fastestpromoted. And if they influence few thousand followers and these growing followers actually turn out to be potential customers of the brand marketing being promoted, it means the job is done. Now is the time when tools of brands pay these bloggers for each and every post, every promotion this and they are actually earning. generation; All in all, Instagram is one of anyone can the fastest-growing marketing make tools of this generation; money anyone can make money with with some some patience and a few patience simple techniques. And it's just and a few a start; these sort of simple collaborations between big techniques brands and influencers are only going to increase. So much so, that if influencer marketing is the beginning, then what's next is the shift from social media to social marketplaces. The future is going to be very exciting!!

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BRAND MARKIVE - MARIA JENNIFER RAYAN

My Adorable â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Cute Miniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

One of the best ways to connect with people is to give them a piece of themselves.

Life is all about the special memories of the days that we spend with our loved ones and photos are the twodimensional exhibits of those moments. What if we could capture these moments in three dimensions through a cute little replica of ourselves and our loved ones? Along a small lane of Porur in Chennai is where My Cute Mini already answers that curiosity in our minds with their ceramic dolls with customized sculpted faces on options like the Hulk and Barbie figures. A one-of-a-kind Chennaibased establishment which kick-started as a Facebook page creates miniature versions of their clients in the form of fully handmade ceramic and resin dolls. It now has more than 174 k likes on the social networking site.

The artist behind the page, Sri Hari Charan, trained under T.A. Nithyanandam, a well-known artist from the Kumbakonam College of Fine Arts, before he started his sculptural venture in July 2014. He is an engineer turned entrepreneur, who found his calling in the visual arts. He believes that one of the best ways to connect with people is to give them a piece of themselves. He sure was right as his belief was a massive hit. On an average, My Cute Mini receives over 150 orders a month. Sometimes, there are as many as 400 orders a month between December and February. Their clientele includes young men and women from Chennai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, 20 MARKSMAN

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BRAND MARKIVE

Kolkata, and Pune. The figurines also find an overseas market in the U.S, the U.K., and Dubai.

The figurines undergo three phases of approval from the clients before they are finally baked for about five-six days. Firstly, the picture of the head of the statuette without hair is sent to the client for approval, after which the photograph of the body portion and then that of the complete statuette is sent across. The end product is then checked for a match with the clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s photograph using a software. Sculpting the head is considered to be the trickiest part as the right face and expression can be achieved only if the head is sculpted meticulously. These figurines come at an affordable starting price of Rs.3750.

Cute little minis could turn out to be a memorable token of love for auspicious occasions.

So the next time we run out of ideas for the perfect gifts for auspicious occasions, these cute little minis could turn out to be a memorable token of love for all our lovely people. 21 MARKSMAN

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BOOKWORM - ANJALI VERMA

HUG YOUR HATERS Haters are not problem, ignoring them is - Jay Bear Making customer services a spectator sport, but the question is that are we ready for it?

In this interconnected world of business, feedback is something which is instant and public. People mostly think that they are pretty good at customer service. After all, 80% of companies say they deliver superior customer service. However, in reality, merely 8% of their customers agree to their claim. With the pervasive social media platforms, a massive shift has occurred in the entire customer service eco system, now giving and taking a feedback is just matter of seconds. Customers have independence of communicating their feedback openly, and companies have the opportunity of being visible in customer handling. Making customer services a spectator sport, but the question is that are we ready for it?

If we look around then we can find the answer, recollect how many times the customers’ calls, emails and messages have gone unanswered? This automatically points out to our unpreparedness. In modern times when having loyal customers and having a legacy of them is something unachievable we need to take every customer seriously and if not at least every feedback seriously. And it is the negative ones, which can be a COMPLAINT, which are our focus points as, they help us to see the customers’ point of view and know their mindset. In today’s world, the differences between businesses are very low in products or price but it’s in Customer experience. Answering your customer complaints everywhere increases your customer. Likewise, if complaints are unanswered it decreases the advocacy everywhere. 22 MARKSMAN

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BOOKWORM

Only 32 percent of the social media complainers are happy with the speed of response, despite the fact that 63 percent of social media complaints are addressed within 24 hours. This points out to the fact that still the speed is not enough. In fact in future the “chief customer champion” will be more common serving only one purpose – focus on customer service. As per Gartner, by 2020 around 90 percent of companies will be handling customer care by social platforms only. About the Author: Jay Baer is the world’s most retweeted person among digital marketers. He is a business strategist, keynote speaker and a New York Times best-selling author of five books.

In today’s world the differences between businesses are very low in products or price but it’s in Customer experience

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Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN Hotels.com

MONISH SHAH

Muted-Ads Our objective with our silent ad campaign was to increase break through, and ultimately engagement with our audience

Until recently auto played videos on Facebook were muted. It is when you click on such videos you are able to listen. For an advertiser it becomes really difficult to tempt the viewers to click on their video. Hotels.com released two ads back in 2015 and took the help of subtitles. One of the ads is titled ‘Piano’. The company’s humorous mascot, Captain Obvious is ostensibly playing a beautiful

tune on a piano. Unmute the ad and you will find out that he is not at all melodious. In fact he is randomly playing keys. The advertisements were well received and Mike Wolfe, senior director brand marketing at Hotels.com said, “Our objective with our silent ad campaign was to increase break through, and ultimately engagement with our audience, through platformspecific creative.”

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Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN

As we shift towards a digital era, the presence of online marketing campaigns is clearly being felt.

Skippable Ads What do you do when an ad pops up right before you are about to watch a video? You must be doing what I do, click on the skip button. Back in mid-2016, Hotels.com introduced Captain Obvious to UK. To mark this occasion they came up with fun online ads and tied up with Channel 4’s online platform, All 4.The ad has a ‘skip ad’ button as well, but it is unlike any one

has seen before. Whenever you click on it the ad does not disappear, in fact the characters in the ad start actual skipping—with ropes. You can also ‘unskip’ the ad. The transition is seamless and the result is one heck of an ad campaign. In one of the ads Captain Obvious states that he travels a lot and has learnt various languages.

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KICKSTART A Handcrafted Tale of Empowerment

Trapped in the hustle bustle of everyday life in fast moving cities, we tend to turn a blind eye towards the contrasting image of the dusty, tin-roofed shacks and the sparkling skyscrapers that stand juxtaposed next to each other. We fail to notice the immense entrepreneurial capability that lies hidden at the bottom of the pyramid. Nrinam is an enterprise from one such tiny forgotten segment of society, producing beautiful handcrafted products that can entice all, from elites to regular college-going crowd. Founded in mid-2016 by Aishwarya Tandon, a student at DU, it provides skills training to the economically marginalized girls from a jhuggi colony in Gurgaon, who make a range of products comprising of block print sarees, dupattas, applique work sarees, jute bags, capes, jewelry and vegan chocolates. The products of Nrinam are unique and elegant, and stand highly differentiated in the market, making them easy to sell. They use waste cloths collected from boutiques and designers across the city for their applique work and to make products like foot rugs. This recycling not only cuts down their costs, but also adds a tinge of eco-friendliness to their brand.

SHRUTHI S

The products of Nrinam, founded in mid - 2016, are unique and elegant, and stand highly differentiated in the market, making them easy to sell.

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KICKSTART

Nrinam stands as an exemplary example of how contemporary marketing and product design when blended with a social cause can produce a positive rippling impact for the betterment of society.

The intricacies of design and packaging for the products are so finely taken care of, that they light up a smile on the face of buyers. With every product that they buy, the buyers get a little profile of the girl who made it and her wish. Most of their promotions and marketing happen through their social media handles, with their Facebook and Instagram pages sizzling with impactful and relevant posts. Their sales happen majorly through flea markets, their own exhibitions and social media. Nrinam stands as an exemplary example of how contemporary marketing and product design when blended with a social cause can produce a positive rippling impact for the betterment of society.

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THE PITCHERS -

Sponsored by Ever increasing and innovative menu flooded with delicacies, plush ambience and quality service is the perfect take away for many hostellers residing in the Somaiya campus

MARIA JENNIFER RAYAN

REVIEW : HOTEL POOJA Dining at the Hotel Pooja is like offering a puja to our hungry souls. Established in1984, it has been doling out delicious food for over 33 years. Situated at the center of Mumbai on M G Road, Ghatkopar East, this place is a haven for pure vegetarian delicacies. Over the years, the restaurant has undergone an enormous transformation along with an increase in variety in their menu that now offers Chinese, South Indian, and North Indian cuisine amongst delicious desserts and ice creams. Dishes like the Tequila cottage cheese rolls, Tiranga dosa, Paneer Tikka etc. are some of their innovative and tasty varieties.

Their ever increasing and innovative menu flooded with delicacies, plush ambience and quality service is the perfect take away for many hostellers residing in the Somaiya campus as well as many other colleges nearby. Their discounted home delivery service which operates until 12.30 am is another blessing for the families and students looking to get over their midnight hunger pangs. This must visit restaurant, with its aura of taste and quality, is just a ten minute walk away from our sprawling Somaiya campus and is situated very close to Khau Galli. Call them now on 66971122/ 66972233 and avail an attractive 20 percent discount on all orders (inclusive of Home delivery) 28 MARKSMAN

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FEATURED ARTICLE VIRTUAL REALITY MARKETING Virtual Reality is different from a 3-D experience in the sense that virtual reality (VR) immerses the user entirely in its experience, cutting the user off from the entire world, leading him to a world of his own.

- KUNAL BHALERAO IIM Raipur

According to this study, the technology will evoke more human or customer centric approach to the extent to where it establishes a transparent relationship with the people, business, and other key stakeholders. Due to these transparently immersive experiences, the evolution of the technology will be more acceptable and adaptive and will gel without any resistance within The annual Gartner Hype Cycle the workplace, home and with provides an illustration or other people. Disruptive predicts the onslaught of many pathbreakers include 4D Printing, disruptive emerging Brain-Computer Interface, Human technologies which includes an Augmentation, Augmented Reality, insightful perspective on crossVirtual Reality and Gesture industry status, R&D initiatives, Control Devices. global market makers, chief innovation officers. Virtual Reality: Marketing, in the age of technology, is startling us with upcoming applications of shiny new marketing objects. The 21st century, experienced a surge in the usage of tools and tactics such as augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence and drones, by marketers to create an impression in the minds of their audience.

Transcending Gaming This proves the prominence of VR Marketing. VR is different from a 3D experience in the sense that virtual reality (VR) immerses the user entirely in its experience, cutting the user off from the entire world, leading him to a world of his own. The possibilities and opportunities that are opened up by this innovation are limitless for a marketer. Samsung Gear VR and Google 29 MARKSMAN

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FEATURED ARTICLE Cardboard are two devices which have tapped into this amazing concept. Samsung Gear VR has been developed by Samsung in collaboration with Oculus VR. It's a wearable device (can be worn like spectacles), which lets users mount their smartphones on to the device, and play games, watch videos, take tours of cities and soon. The reason why it feels so real is that the content that the user watches can be controlled by the movements of his /her neck! Google Cardboard, takes innovation up a notch, by creating its own wearable VR device using (no, I'm not kidding) cardboard! Using influencers in the field to reinforce your product or technology is a smart way to go.

Samsung went the extra mile by bringing Mark Zuckerberg on board in a surprise appearance at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Zuckerberg spoke about the wonder that is VR, and what the world will look like if this becomes a (virtual) reality. Marketers are also going the VR way to promote other products in the pipeline for launch. Samsung used VR to create the "wow effect" to promote its new range of Galaxy S7 phones, in an attempt to bring back its audience that turned away after its past versions' lackluster launches. Samsung also created virtual reality ski jump to push the Gear V2, as Samsung was the sponsor of the Winter Youth Olympics, and gave its audience a chance to experience a ski jump, in this way.

The key to being effective is to match the content of the experience with the appropriate technical methodology

Marketerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Implications: The marketers have developed new avenues for engaging and interacting with their core market and aspiring zone. The action led experiences can be turned into an innovative way to get them immersed. With all the advent solutions, the key to being effective is to match the content of the experience with the appropriate technical methodology. The task of the day for a marketer will be to utilize this experiential tool to create a user generated content in their segregated different world. Targeting VR users, the move can be to market the product inside their gaming world and as a promotional stunt in the virtual movie.

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