Dear Readers, We proudly present to you the August 2019 Edition of our illustrious magazine, The Marksman. For this edition we have put together a corpus of marketing that every reader will thoroughly enjoy and learn from. Our cover story this month is, “Woke Marketing”. We live in the 21st century, a time of being heard and being open. People define their identity based on what they want and what they believe in and expect nothing less from the brands they buy from. To survive in this ever changing world companies need to ‘WAKE’ up and represent their true beliefs. A very hearty congratulations to the winner and the runner up of this month’s Call for Articles, Parul Mehta (MDI Gurgaon) and Akash Prusty (IIM Lucknow) respectively, whose articles have been featured in this issue. We are overwhelmed by the response that we have received from all of you and encourage you to write to us with the same enthusiasm. We would also like to hear back from our esteemed readers on how you found our Monsoon edition. We value your feedback as it helps us to constantly improve and write better ! Enjoy Reading! Stay connected with us on https://theinterfacesimsr.com/magazine/ Follow our Facebook page for more updates.
AUGUST EDITION
INDEX Kickstart
01
Tweets
03
Marketing Faux Pas
05
Cover Story
07
Pioneer
12
Special Story
14
Brand Markive
16
More Than Marketing
18
Hall-Mark Campaign
20
It’s All About Ad-itude
22
Bookworm
24
Featured Articles
26
Squarehead
36
KICKSTART -ABDUL MANNAN
RAPIDO Rapido is a mobile application where a single commuter can book a bike in place of a taxi to travel a short distance. The availability of two-wheelers on every corner of the city and the terrible traffic of Bangalore city gave Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli and S.R. Rishikesh, the founders of Rapido, an opportunity to build a platform where one can commute in the congested city easily with 50% to 60% cheaper rates than Uber or Ola. Started from the start-up city Bangalore, Rapido is now operating in more than 25 cities across India and is also planning to double their presence to an additional 25 cities in the coming 6 months shifting their focus from south India to all over India.
Rapido has received funding from Advant Edge, Astarc Ventures, Hong Kong-based Integrated Capital and global investment manager Skywatcher Fund . Also according to the recent news, West Bridge Capital is likely to invest $30 million and venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners is also expected to add another $10 million. Summing up the total funds to 60 million.
To ensure road safety and personal hygiene, Rapido offers Helmets and Shower Caps during every ride.
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KICKSTART
To create more awareness about the app, Rapido has conducted many initiatives and campaigns. One of them is the Helmet awareness campaign, which was focused to bring necessary changes in the approach of two-wheeler riders. Also approximately around 100 visually challenged people use Rapido on daily basis to commute, keeping this in mind, Rapido is all set to launch special and simplified features for the visuallychallenged commuters to make their travels safe and more comfortable.
Rapido has already created a milestone by completing 6 million rides in India, making daily commuting easier and affordable. To retain the existing customers, Rapido is going to launch subscription-based model called ‘power pass’ for regular commuters, which will make rides even more affordable.
Acko and Rapido tieup to insure customers and To ward off multitude of risks
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TWEETS TWEETS - Vyom Bhatnagar
Friendship Day:The Best or Nothing #friendshipday #MBfriends These were the tags that were used by Mercedes-Benz India on the 4th of this Month (Friendship day) where they paid tribute to their rivals (i.e. Audi, BMW, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover) or as one would say “Best friends” after watching the video. The process is not only simple but also astonishing for the customers. Mercedes tied a friendship ribbon on their competitor's customer’s cars and when they came, they were gifted with goodies from Mercedes-Benz. The message was clear and impactful .The company is driven by excellence and respect its competition. This is not new ,there are dozens of these thoughtful strategies used by all these brands. Mercedes-Benz once again captured the mind of marketers and heart of its customers and fans. Its values and marketing resonates with its tagline i.e. #The_best_or_nothing
From Competitive Mockery to respecting one another companies learn.This growth helps them stand out. Conclusion: Make competitive Friends who lift you.
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TWEETS
TWEETS Sense of humor is 50% making a joke and 50% taking a joke and in this case a US $3.6 billion valuation company is not mature enough to digest the joke. This start-up needs to Grow-up.
Zomato: The Drama Queen of Start-ups Zomato, a synonym for controversy always makes the headlines and this time again it has, but not for the right reasons. This time it was a ‘tweet’ that created the furore. It all started on 3rd July with Zomato tweeting “Guys, Kabhi kabhi ghar ka khana bhi kha lena chahiye” and then Twitterati became angry and the trolling began.The worst part was when big companies like Dabur, Amazon Prime, YouTube India, Mobikwik, Tvf and many more joined the race and they amplified the Zomato “Guys, Kabhi kabhi” message in their own way by hijacking the platform for their own marketing. However, after 4 days of trolling Zomato responded in a not so cool tweet stating “Guys, kabhi kabhi khud ke ache tweet bhi soch lene chahiye”. The charade ended then and there showcasing the maturity level of Zomato.
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FAUXPAS PAS FAUX
-SHAHRUKH SHAIK
H&M - Coolest Racist ? During January 2018, H&M released a new collection of clothing online and one picture caught the attention of the masses. It was Liam Mango, an African- American boy wearing a green hoodie which read ‘COOLEST MONKEY IN THE JUNGLE’. It offended the entire world as the word ‘monkey’ is generally considered as a racial and ethnic slur towards black community.
This controversy affected H&M in various ways, from celebrities denouncing the brand to collapsing stock price. H&M apologized and said that they agree with those who are upset about the situation and they also regret the actual print therefore they have not only removed the image from all the online channels but also the garment from their product offering globally.
Are we overreacting or are few brands just being insensitive towards our sentiments ? Well, no matter what the truth is, we are able to create a massive impact.
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FAUX PAS
People being more aware has gone against the Brand. Awareness considered to be a basic necessity of marketing has turned the table for brands.
A PR nightmare like this would happen only if they are insensitive towards sentiments or people looking at this are not diverse enough, people who say something which is clearly offensive but until that moment they don’t know that. This has not only affected H&M but, it has also affected Liam’s family to a great extent. Liam’s mother Terry had publicly expressed her concern regarding Liam’s safety. She received photo shopped images of her son which were quite disturbing to her and the entire family. She was also concerned about how this entire issue would affect Liam after he comes to know about this entire situation when he grows up.
One thing was quite clear during this entire controversy, people didn’t hold back and were quite vocal regarding the entire issue. Though there were people who thought that we over-reacted over this issue, we as people stood up for the black community and made sure that mistakes like these would never repeat again.
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COVER STORY Woke Marketing
-Yash Sancheti
There have been major technological advances that have taken place, but the hallmark of the 21st century has to be the rise of social awareness and movements due to this awareness. Marketing too has kept pace with this and Woke Marketing came into existence. The term ‘woke’ has an African American origin and it refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social and racial justice. The various social movements, from animal rights to LGBT and #MeToo movements, they found themselves being associated and promoted by brands.The question that arises is what led to this? Marketing has existed since the time any trade like activity first began. Through the years as markets in many industries were hit by saturation, it was marketing that was looked upon to separate the companies from one another. We have seen marketing evolve and understood better over time.
The term ‘woke’ has an African American origin and it refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social and racial justice.
During the 80’s, quality was an order winning attribute, but just a decade later it became an order qualifying attribute. Marketing in all its essence is about understanding and reaching the people in the most effective way possible. The perspective and mind set of the people will keep on changing in accordance to the social and economic conditions of that era.
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COVER STORY
COVER STORY
We have come a long way ahead in the way we communicate. We have access to news all around the clock about things all around the globe. People, whose voice was once diluted in the noise, are able to rise through that noise. More and more people are associating themselves with social causes in which they believe. As a consumer, when people buy a product they look to associate themselves with the brand. For a brand it becomes imperative to be able to market a product in a way where the target audience can relate to the product being sold. It is often said that you don’t sell a product, you sell a story. The brands ‘WOKE’ up. A very early example of a woke marketing campaign was back in 1989 when Ben & Jerry’s was the first major employer to introduce healthcare insurance to domestic partners of employees, including same sex couples. Recently they banned two scoops of the same flavour in their Australian stores to advocate same sex marriage.
‘Boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow’
From ‘the best a man can get’ to ‘the best men can be’, Gillette changed it’s 30 year old slogan this year. Their ad was about standing up against toxic masculinity and the message Gillette delivered through the campaign was, ‘boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow’.
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COVER STORY Nike too came up with a woke campaign last year featuring NFL player Colin Kaepernick who had taken the knee during the National Anthem before a game as a sign of protest against the oppression and violence faced by minorities in USA. This campaign with the slogan ‘Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything’ added $6 billion into Nike’s accounts.
In India a lot of woke advertisements revolve around themes of festivals. Detergent brands like Surf Excel’s Holi advertisement, where a young girl helps her neighbour go for namaz without getting Holi colours to Ghadi detergent’s
Price #SaareMaelDhoDaalo. Another campaign by Piramal Healthcare’s StopAllerG provided a creative interpretation to an OTC product curing nasal allergy by targeting air pollution. A 2018 survey by Edelman found 69 per cent of millennia's across the world are belief-driven buyers, suggesting that a brand’s product and its principles inspire purchases equally. Today customer loyalty is not just about how they perceive the product, it’s more than that. A customer is not just buying a product; they want to be part of what the brand stands for. The product bought by the customer is a testament to what ideologies the customer represents
69 per cent of millennia's across the world are belief-driven buyers
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COVER STORY
All this should mean ads around the world would be flooded with woke elements, but that is not the case. Woke Marketing comes with it’s Achilles Heel. Companies traditionally resisted campaigning through political or social agendas as to not antagonize anyone through it. Even though we have seen many successful woke campaigns, there have been many failed ones too. The kryptonite for these failed woke campaigns lies in the fact that the brand could not strike the right balance between aligning with customer values and being ‘woke’ in a credible way. Pepsi with its make peace between protestors and police ad starring Kendall Jenner or their using a protest staged by Indian students in 2015 , Hyundai ad’s which involved a joke around suicide to promote their green car, Starbucks campaign for wanting their baristas to start a talk about race, they all failed.
The kryptonite for these failed woke campaigns lies in the fact that the brand could not strike the right balance between aligning with customer values and being ‘woke’ in a credible way.
Even the ones that were successful like Nike faced a lot of criticism too. Woke Marketing demands that brands make a stance which inadvertently will displease some. Another issue that arises is whether brands walk the talk themselves? Nike even after supporting Colin Kaepernick who went unsigned in the NFL following his protests, has agreed on another uniform sponsorship deal with NFL which led to #JustBurnIt trending on social media platforms. Burger King, who talked about mental health awareness in their ad, faced backlash for the wages paid to their staff.
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COVER STORY
Marketing with a purpose may be an essential marketing tool where companies are vying to be more sensitive, more #MeToo, more equal, but when companies try to outdo competition using social causes without retrospection of their own values and culture, the message often falls flat. Advertisements are a platform that can initiate positive change. Brands when initiating purpose driven campaigns but failing to take any real action or putting real force behind the campaign will slowly threaten the advertisement industry.The trust factor will be lost.
Price
Brands want to be people and people want to be brands. A brand believing and acting on a cause is a brand that people will associate the most with.
When companies try to outdo competition using social causes without retrospection of their own values and culture, the message often falls flat.
Change is the only constant and brands need to understand the potential they have in making a real difference. Brands need to ‘Woke up’ and if they choose to accept that mission then they need to ‘woke up right’.
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PIONEER VIRAT KOHLI
- Piyush Mukherjee
A little over a decade ago, a young, brash, passionate and fairly unknown boy from West Delhi lifted the U-19 Cricket World Cup for India, in Malaysia. 11 years, 25,652 runs and 68 centuries later, Virat Kohli has become a pioneer and an extraordinaire both, on the field, as well as off it.
Commandin g a total brand value of $170.9 million Kohli bagged the “numero uno celebrity brand endorser” spot for the second year in a row in 2018.
While, on field, he continues to score centuries after centuries and wins games for the country, Virat has been in equally scintillating form off it. With a brand value of approximately $170 million, he is one of the most marketable personalities in India, at the moment. As of May 2019, he has 23 brands under his belt – Myntra and Google Duo being the 2 latest entrants in the list. In India, the world of brand endorsements is really driven by two spaces – Bollywood and Cricket. Over the last few years, Virat Kohli has truly come up above everybody else in this space and has become a king among the kings, as far as brand endorsements are concerned. So what makes Virat Kohli the king that he is off the field? Quite a few things actually.
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PIONEER
It all starts on the field. Kohli is a champion of the game in an era where cricket is not just a sport, but an entertainment package on its own. It’s become glamour-galore, and the brands can’t keep their hands off of it. As the captain of the cricket team, he attracts more eyes than all others. His personality, his attitude, the aggression he is known for, his fitness and the way he carries himself, all make him the most desirable and eligible persona for the brands to latch on to. While cricket is a national passion, Virat Kohli, as a brand, appeals to every single person in a family watching the game. Kohli’s biographer Vijay Lokpally had said, “The youth of the country – nearly half the population is under 25 – can identify with the man living their dream. He speaks his mind, takes a stand and interacts on social media, all of which go well with his fans”. He is currently the face of Wrogn, Puma, Too Yum, Manyavar, Audi, Ameican Tourister, Uber, Flipkart, among many more. 9 out of 10 of Kohli’s Instagram and twitter posts are brand promotions and endorsements. Good times aside, at times, his sponsors have had to see some rough times as well. Recently, when a cricket fan described Kohli, as 'overrated' and said he would rather watch Australian and English batsmen than 'these Indians', Kohli responded saying, "You should go and live somewhere else. Why are you living in our country and loving other countries”. While an off-day on the field can be easily forgiven, a sudden bust of aggression off it can still go against him.
39 Million Instagram Followers, 31 Million twitter Followers. Rs 6 Cr per day as endorsement fees.
Kohli has the ability to the reap the wind not only in the country, but also abroad. With his game on point, and values stronger than ever, the sky is the limit for Virat Kohli; and by the looks of it he is the only one that has the potential to match the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Roger Federer, Lionel Messi, as far as brand endorsements go. 13 MARKSMAN
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SPECIAL STORY - Mohit Nagdev
UBER EATS Uber Eats uses the “Everyday Moments” marketing campaign that resonates with similar situations customers face on a regular basis where they are stuck in a dilemma to order online or cook themselves.
Uber Eats is an online food delivery platform introduced by Uber for serving the youth population of India who are too busy or too lazy to go out or cook their own meal. Recently, Alia Bhatt, a famous youth icon, featured in their advertisement to depict how the youth of India typically use food ordering apps. Their “Everyday Moments” marketing campaign captured and portrayed young people, especially those who are occupied with jobs or studies and can easily relate with this as most of them don’t get the time to cook a meal for themselves. Uber Eats targets young people directly with this marketing campaign who are the major users of their service. Nowadays, people who are working eight hour shifts a day, would usually not like to go out after their busy and tiring schedule. It's much easier to just order online and get food delivered right on your doorstep.
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SPECIAL STORY
ONE PLUS OnePlus is a smart phone brand which takes pride in its beautifully designed products with premium build quality & packaging. It focuses on innovation, has a plethora of latest features and provides premium quality smart phones at competitive rates. Recently, OnePlus featured Robert Downey Jr. in a product release commercial and also announced him as the new brand ambassador. The company chose him as their face because Iron-Man represents innovation and perfectionism, and if we delve deep into his character we can see that his “SUIT� was designed using the latest technology as depicted in the Marvel movies. The OnePlus brand in itself is very much innovative and technologically advanced. Therefore, Robert Downey Jr. captures the essence of One Plus as a brand as he himself NEVER SETTLES. The customers can easily relate with Robert Downey Jr. as the best Superhero in Marvel Studios to represent the best smartphone in the market.
OnePlus invested on getting Robert Downey Jr. to represent the brand because they wanted to send out a clear message that they not only offer the best features at a reasonable price but also follow great marketing strategies for the brand to capture new market share with an eye on customer perception and satisfaction too.
OnePlus featured Robert Downey Jr. in the new OnePlus 7 PRO advertisement because his Iron Man character was one of the most popular and likeable entity in the whole of Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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BRAND MARKIVE -Yash Poddar
HUAWEI: THE UPCOMING ECOSYSTEM Since its foundation, in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei in Shenzhen, Huawei has been more of a B2B enterprise whose services were used by other companies. So how has this company now entered the B2C list of of top 100 in terms of brand value and become the 2nd largest mobile seller in the world? Huawei started its operations by selling phone switches, which were mostly exported but, its founder sought to manufacture In 2018, switches by reverse-engineering the foreign technology. In 1993, Huawei Huawei launched the most powerful program-controlled became telephone switch available in China. It grew by focusing first on the world's small markets and then it started capturing share in the leading mainstream market slowly. Over time, it gained multiple contracts telecom and support by the Chinese Military and Government to develop equipment their network. Ren Zhengfei convinced the Party General maker. Secretary, explaining how a nation without its switching equipment was like one without its military. In the early 2000’s, they started expanding worldwide and by 2005 they were exporting more than their domestic sales. Huawei had the advantage as it was supported by the government, the population of the country and they also had the clarity of focusing mainly on R&D. Already thriving in telecom services, it leveraged these advantages for its pipeline strategy of creating a portfolio by first providing the network and data carrying equipment, created services to store & analyze the data and then launched presentation products. In 2003, the company entered the smart-phone business from just manufacturing internal components and swarmed the market with cheaper phones. Over time it has changed its strategy to focus on quality products and innovation with a detailed overview on how consumers judge a product on its aesthetic and technical factors and how the camera has become a real differentiator. 16 MARKSMAN
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BRAND MARKIVE
For brand building and awareness, Huawei has focused on public relations, digital and experiential marketing. They have worked with A-list celebrities like Henry Cavill, Scarlett Johansson, and Lionel Messi, and have had great social media engagement with 57 million followers on face-book compared to Apple (11Mn) and Xiaomi (6Mn). They used massive billboards and logos everywhere in Europe and exceeded Samsung in the number of phones in retail stores there. Huawei has worked closely with its customers and embraced local markets by creating ad campaigns with local partners that resonated with the target crowd.
Now perceived as a quality brand, it seeks to overthrow Samsung and has shown the potential by capturing the highest market share in China, the world's most competitive market for smartphones Huawei is a completely employee-owned company and run by a Union of employees which in turn is headed by the Union of Trade which is controlled by the Government. This has created the perception of Huawei being owned by the government. Huawei and China are facing allegations of espionage over the Chinese 5G network equipment. In 2018, the United States has barred the federal government from doing business with Huawei due to security concerns. Google has been asked to revoke licensing of android services to Huawei.
Huawei’s Best Wei theme song campaign in Malaysia won the Marketing Excellence Award in 2016.
It will be interesting to see how Huawei deals with the situation and how China copes up with the aspirations of having a technological ecosystem of its own.
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MORE THAN MARKETING -Siththardhan
Hilton’s luxurious CSR plan Ever wondered what impact a luxury hotel group could make to the world? well, its time to answer this question. Global hotel and hospitality sector which is approximate worth $550bn is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries. Tourism contributes about 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and those are set to grow by 130% by the year 2035, according to the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. By this, one can easily predetermine what impact can one of the leaders in this industry can make. In Hilton promotes 2018, Hilton pledged to deal with water scarcity, social carbon emissions, human rights, and youth responsibilities employment. A strategic goal plan set ahead as part in their of 2030 goals. Its been a year since the pledge took omnipresent place and many initiatives have been taken by this Resorts and hotels all over the world group as part of their CSR activities. These CSR activities change from place to place depending upon different demography. Hawaii, Hilton Waikoloa Village will eliminate the use of a plastic straw. And another 5700 resorts would soon imply the same plan.
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MORE THAN MARKETING
New York city Hilton has designated 16,000 square feet on the fifth-floor to house nearly half a million honey bees. It has also installed a rooftop cogeneration plant that provides clean electricity and heat to the building. This alone reduces the resorts carbon footprint by 30% annually, producing 50% of the electricity needed, and 25% of the steam demand for nearly 2,000 guest rooms.
Taking the global perspective, Hilton has also reduced its waste to landfill by 41% across its global portfolio and expanded its soap and amenity bottle recycling program to over 75% of its hotels. The use of planned methodology and tracking these CSR activities using science-based targets makes its CSR activity a success. With continued efforts, it can reduce its carbon footprints by half, one of its major plan of 2030 goals.
To date the company has reduced landfill by 41% across its global portfolio and 75% of hotels follow recycling programs
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HALL-MARK CAMPAIGN -ARNAV MOHAPATRA
SNAPCHAT - #REALFRIENDS For the first time a global integrated marketing campaign of this sort has been launched by Snapchat. The main focus was to portray the value and importance of friends. With the widespread focus on Instagram’s stories, Snapchat’s plan to win back the trust of social media users with the help of this campaign was a smart move to gain traction in the market.
As the top Social media sites are
receiving a lot of stick from the people, Snapchat wants to provide them with a happy and feel-good
Following the appointment of Snap’s first chief marketing officer, Kenny Mitchell, Snapchat launched this campaign on the 30th of July which is supported and named by the UN as The International day for Friendship. This campaign will highlight the individual stories of friends, which Snap selected from 12 different countries. Moreover, these stories will be posted on Snap's YouTube channel .
platform Snapchat used videos and billboards for this campaign as photos and videos are the main sources to tap into what people are feeling. In this case the billboards did not display any product or advertisement, in fact it featured some famous friendship quotes given by various esteemed personalities in Snapchat’s engaging and signature yellow color. 20 MARKSMAN AUGUST EDITION
HALL-MARK CAMPAIGN
The #RealFriends campaign got a lot of attention from various social media influencers as it was seen as a pure joy-infusing application where one can be genuine and authentic. Snapchat partnered with quote influencers to maximize their campaign penetration through hashtags and friendship quotes. Major influencers such as @poemsporn_ and @sosheslays having around 3 million followers combined played a big role in this campaign. These accounts featured quotes from Jim Morrison and Joan Jett which helped them in accumulating a combined average engagement rate of 2.5 percent. Through campaigns like these, Snapchat will try to build upon the evident growth in its market share and will be looking forward to making more such acquaintances with various up and coming brands and surveys, so as to get information on what and how the people on this planet want to be entertained.
The overload of #realfriend hashtag on Instagram in the signature yellow with famous quotes clarifies the message that Snapchat is where you go to catchup with your close friends.
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It’s all about Ad-itude - Shivani Thakur Boost is the The secret of Marketing energy. Boost is a brand which was initially owned by GSK, but now comes under HUL’s umbrella. It was developed by GSK’s R&D team in 1974 and was launched in the following year. It was the first Malt based drink mix endorsed by celebrities in India. Some notable icons include cricket greats like Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, M. S. Dhoni and now Virat Kohli.Since the target audience was kids, the commercials with these sportsmen became very popular. Endorsements supported by the nutritional benefits were the key booster in ‘Boost’s’ Kapil Dev, Sachin success. The products claim for energising the Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, consumer and providing them with energy to M. S. Dhoni and overcome all obstacles was well received. now Virat Kohli Among kids, its deliciously chocolate taste was as endorsers the key factor which now comes in Choco Eclairs and Choco Nut variants. We live in an era where the younger generation is focused on energy, speed and to make sure that they achieve it, they prefer brands that resonate with their character. A child high on energy, focussed, self-driven, intelligent will consider Boost not a drink but a part of his routine. The other kids who want to like him/her will ask them ‘from where do you get this stamina’. This is very well known by the company so they promote themselves with a tagline ‘Boost is the secret of my energy’. This one tagline is more than 3-decade old. Every 90’s kid will remember this famous catchphrase. It started with Kapil Dev in 1985 MARKSMAN
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The Brand resonates its image with these Energised Icons and so do its sales and profits. The combination of Horlicks and Boost gives GSK a clear cut market share of above 50%. At present, it is owned by HUL but the boost is penetrating the market as usual. The marketing strategy and brand promotion are straight and clear, they focus on the younger generation who has a hunger to deliver. Their segmentation is clear to attract the winners and to-be winners people.
The combination of Horlicks and Boost gives GSK a clear cut market share of above 50%. The company has a distinct distribution policy that helps in providing products to its consumers. Supply chain policy of the company responds to demand and necessity and mostly bulk quantities are used. The pricing policy of the company meets the customer’s expectations in accordance with the product variation. It has decided to maintain competitive pricing. The company also encourages volume pricing policy take, for example, 1 KG pack of Boost ultimately costs lesser than either ½ kg pack or even lesser than a 200g pack.
Its new product includes Boost pick-pop-sip to tap the market share of a niche sector. We have to see with Virat Kohli on board what “boost” does boost get?
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BOOKWORM - Amit Gupta
COMPETITIVE STRATEGY By- Michael E Porter Michael E. Porter, a well-known Consultant, and
Economist is known for his
Porter’s five forces. Porter's five forces is an instrument in strategy management today which he explained in his famous book “competitive strategy”. Competitive strategy is quite a useful tool in the firms to analyze its position and expertise in terms of production, logistic, service, etc. The book is being divided into three parts, Part I describes a technique which is used to analyze competitors, buyers, suppliers, reading market signals and approach/framework to map strategic group in the industry.
“The collective strength of these five forces determines the ultimate profit potential of industry “
Porter’s Five Forces are 1. Buyer, 2.Suppliers, 3. Substitute, 4. Potential entrants 5. Rivalry among existing firms.
The collective strength of these five forces determines the ultimate profit potential of the industry for the short and long-term. These forces range from industry to industry. For example, in the oil industry, the key force is the Buyer, whereas, in the Steel industry, major forces are foreign industry and substitute materials. 24 MARKSMAN
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BOOKWORM
In coping with these five competitive forces, there can be three generic strategic approaches which can be used to outperform other firms, that include – Overall Cost leadership (low-cost manufacturing),Differentiation (uniqueness in the product), Focus. The Industry has to follow at least one of the above. If not, the company will be stuck in the middle where there would be sales but with no or little profit. The Industrial environment also plays a very crucial role in determining strategy. Part II of this book can be used to develop a competitive strategy in a particular type of industrial environment. This part also examines the fragmented industry, emerging industry, the transition to maturity industry and declining industry. When your competitor announces a new product, investment or new feature in the market, it may be a sign of their strategy or it may be to confuse you. Part III can help to review the decision that has already been made in the past and also to review the present strategies of the competitors.
Author -Michael E. Porter A must-read book for managers, advisors, business students, analysts, and Observers who are trying to understand and forecast business success/failure of the company in the market.
A must-read book for Managers, Advisors, Business students, Analysts, and Observers who are trying to understand and forecast business success/failure of the company in the market.
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FEATURED ARTICLE -Parul Mehta # MDI,Gurgaon
Marketing Luxury Items Marketing refers to activities undertaken by any company to communicate with the customers and consumers, to create value, to satisfy their needs and wants, to promote the buying or selling of a product or service. Marketing further includes advertising, branding, market research, new product development, selling, and delivering products to consumers or other businesses. Product, price, place, and promotion are the Four Ps of marketing popularized by the Neil Borden in the 1950s. The Four Ps collectively addresses the critical and essential issues require to plan or execute the different strategies for a product or service by any company.
The Four Ps collectively addresses the critical and essential issues required to plan or execute the different strategies for a product or service by any company. MARKSMAN
Luxury goods are the category of goods that are not very essential to satisfy the basic needs of the consumers but are purchased due to the desires, status quo, and to reflect the association with prosperity. They are bought for several other reasons: to support self-worth and self-esteem, or for the product's quality and craftsmanship. A luxury good is a commodity that consumers demand more disproportionately as their incomes increase.
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FEATURED ARTICLE As per the Maslow's hierarchy of needs which is a motivational theory in psychology and states that every person is capable and has the desire to move up
the hierarchy toward a level of self-actualization. The luxury and premium segment products fall into the category of the esteem needs and self-actualization where most
of
the
economically
priced
products
are
covered
under the physiological needs of living beings.
The greater is the elasticity in the demand, the greater the consumer response following a change in their income. Burberry, Cartier, Chanel, Fendi, Gucci, Hennessy, Hermès, Moët & Chandon, Rolex, & Louis Vuitton are the few examples of the leading companies’ deals into luxury goods. Rarity, Excellence, Expensiveness, Timelessness, Honest, Tailored, Pleasurable and Experience are few attributes of the premium and luxury products. The demand for premium and Luxury goods is very sensitive to change in consumer income level because they have a high-income elasticity of demand. The greater is the elasticity in the demand, the greater the consumer response following a change in their income.
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FEATURED ARTICLE
The premium and Luxury goods are exceptionally perceived with high quality and specifically designed for the target audiences. It is mandatory that Marketing & Brand managers remain conscious and concerned about positioning, corporate reputation, and brand communication not only because it builds brand loyalty and long term trust but also because product features appear more valuable, so consumers are willing to pay more. Usually, the luxury products are launched with the exclusive channels of the company as per the budget allocated. But due to the change in the market structure and emerging of the large scale shopping Malls, the companies are occupying space in the retail sections to get better attention of the target audience. So, due to this, these companies like Apple, and ZARA, still prefer to sell luxury product through exclusive channels but the companies like Longines and Longevity selling their premium watches through Omnichannels.
The premium and Luxury goods are exceptionally perceived with high quality and specifically designed for the target audiences.
The internet and e-commerce era has actually diluted the brick-Motar distribution channels. Most of the Luxury products with limited edition are now launched on their company website with special coupons to make customers feel special.
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The companies who actually deals into the premium and luxury product segments, it is not only difficult for them to acquire the new customers but also difficult to retain the customers. The present surplus options in the market, the competition, sales promotion, discounts, and imitated products usually affect the point of purchase decision of any customer. In fact the marketing plans of premium and luxury products are designed in a different way and with heavy budgets as compared to the economically priced products. Every aspect of the market plan for premium and luxury product segment is operationalized and outlined to outreach the target market.
The Marketing of Luxury items is very sensitive to the crisis raised in the market. So it is important to channelize the communication pattern of the brand and related luxury product line. The customers are attached to the luxury brand as they want their personality and persona to be recognized with the brand.
In fact the marketing plans of premium and luxury products are designed in a different way compared to the economically priced products.
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Marketing, branding and corporate reputation of the luxury
Marketing, branding and corporate reputation of the luxury products are not something that can be readily controlled by Managers or their companies, but it is definitely should be in their command and attention.
products are not something that can be readily controlled by Managers or their companies, but it is definitely should be
in
their
command
and
attention.
Sometimes, the perception related to luxury items resulted into the Price Quality Syndromes wherein the consumers
are willing to pay more for premium and Luxury products with certain specific features and they want to be delivered by businesses with a good reputation. But any small change, decrease or discounts in the price of the premium and Luxury segment products is negatively perceived by the consumers. The consequences are the loss of customers, product value and prestige of the company.
At last, the present consumer is aware of the market and related trends. Subsequently, it is very difficult of the MultiNational Companies to enter into the new markets or sustain their present market share in the premium and luxury product segment.
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FEATURED ARTICLE -Akash Prusty IIM Lucknow
Virtual Reality: A tool for marketing? The digital landscape is changing tremendously and continuously. As a result, marketers are looking for more interactive and engaging personal communication means to communicate with the consumers. Thus, virtual reality has become one of the most powerful marketing tools to provide an immersive experience to the consumers worldwide.
Virtual reality is a computer technology that places the user in an interactive world by simulating an environment. Virtual reality aims to create total immersion which means that the sensory organs feel so real that the user begins to interact with the virtualartificial environment as he would naturally interact in the real world.
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Virtual reality is a computer technology that lets the user interact with a virtual environment.You feel you are in one place when in reality you are somewhere else. AUGUST EDITION
FEATURED ARTICLE
VR allows brand owners to place their brands and services right before the eyes of the consumer providing a massive opportunity for them to create a unique and highly engaging experience among its potential consumers.
As per the Virtual Reality Brand Power Index released by YouVisit, around 75% of Forbes world’s most valuable brands have already implemented some form of virtual reality (VR) experience for their consumers. The major reason being the opportunity that VR allows brand owners to place their brands and services right before the eyes of the consumer providing a massive opportunity for them to create a unique and highly engaging experience among its potential consumers.
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FEATURED ARTICLE To discuss the various advantages that VR offers to the marketing world, we need to look at the factors that make it so effective with a potential to be the next big thing in the world of marketing. It is a well-known fact that emotions drive marketing engagement more than anything and VR is able to contribute on the similar lines. According to a study conducted by YuMe and Nielsen, VR can deliver 27% higher emotional engagement than in a 2D environment and 17% higher emotional engagement than a 360-degree video on a flat-screen. The brands can’t ignore VR technology in marketing not just because of the benefits VR offers but also because of the recent trends in VR. The market research report published by markets and markets predicts the VR industry to hit about $33.90 billion by 2022, 62% of consumers are expected to feel closer to a brand that provides a VR experience and 71% of consumers have a forward-thinking perception towards a brand that uses virtual reality.
VR also allows users to actually experience a situation or test a product even before purchasing the product. Consider North Face which offered its customers to virtually hike through Yosemite National park. This enabled the customer to feel that they were actually exploring and were close to the brand which motivated them to buy the shoes. VR has also strengthened marketing by the expansion of content marketing.
The brands can’t ignore VR technology in marketing not just because of the benefits VR offers but also because the VR industry is about to hit $33.90 billion by 2022
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It allows users to connect with your content in a way which feels real. Destination British Colombia created a virtual reality contest using VR content marketing which allowed users to explore and emotionally connect with more of BC.
McDonald’s has introduced ‘Happy Meal Boxes’ which can be folded into a VR headset which was inspired by Google Cardboards.
Various
businesses
around
the
world
are
implementing VR technology in their marketing campaigns. IKEA has introduced a VR enabled app that allows its customers to place furniture
virtually in their homes to check on the look and feel. McDonald’s has introduced ‘Happy Meal Boxes’ which can be folded into a VR headset which was inspired by Google Cardboards. Star Wars has released a ‘360° Virtual Reality’ which allowed it’s viewers to enjoy the movie as they were present in the movie scene themselves.
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FEATURED ARTICLE VR technology is being actively used by automobile companies to provide test drive experience to their customers from the comfort of their home. ‘Volvo XC90’ is such an example which enabled Volvo’s customers to experience virtual reality test drive on their phone. VR technology can be used both in B2B and B2C marketing which was proved by the ‘Try before you fly’ marketing campaign by Thomas Cook. It allowed certain travelers to experience a trip before they travelled and thus promoting their brand. Also, in the space of marketing analytics virtual reality will enable marketers and advertisers to gain access to consumer data which was never possible. Because there is 100% immersive experience and the brand is placed right before the eyes of the consumer, marketers can track where you’re looking and which of the products you interacted with. This will immensely help marketers to better segment their customers, plan their marketing and brand placement strategies.
VR technology can be used both in B2B and B2C marketing which was proved by the ‘Try before you fly’ marketing campaign by Thomas Cook. As with any new technology, VR technology too has lots of demerits. Even with many firms working on VR technology, VR remains expensive for many customers and is also prone to cyber-attacks. It leads to motion sickness and disorientation. VR can significantly reduce socializing when people will get an immersive experience to interact with virtual worlds. To conclude, virtual reality is still a new form of technology and businesses are critical of its usage in marketing. But VR technology is certain to improve and would limit the current limitations of VR. VR offers the opportunity to get closer and reframe the experiences with a product which has been successfully shown by various brands as discussed. The usage of VR is marketing proves that this innovative marketing strategy involves a unique and immersive experience that touches customer’s lives in a brand-new way. 35 MARKSMAN
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SQUARE HEAD SQUARE HEAD -RUTVI MEHTA
The Prime Minister pays a visit to ManVsWild
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CALL FOR ARTICLES FOR MARKSMAN SEPTEMBER EDITION 2019
“Only when you pen down words, do ideas come to life.” The Marksman provides one and all the opportunity to discover their hidden talents in the literary field through the call for articles. For the upcoming month, the articles can be sent on any of the following topics:
• Marketing : Embracing the Internet of Things • Marketers as Educators : Create your Market • Morbid Ad Campaigns : Do they do the needful? * Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all the references are clearly mentioned. Kindly follow the guidelines given below: 1. One article can have only one author. 2. Your article should be approximately 800 – 850 (strictly adhere to the word limit). 3. The article must have relevant pictures that can be used to enhance the article. 4. Font Type: Gill Sans MT 5. Font Size: 14 6. Send in your articles in .doc/.docx format to marksman.simsr@somaiya.edu 7. Subject Line: Your Name_Institute Name_Course Year. 8. Kindly name your file as: Your Name_ Topic.
The best adjudged article will be given a Winner’s certificate. The First Prize Winners will be awarded Rs. 500 Cash Prize. Deadline For Submission Of Article: 25th September 2019
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