The Markman January 2022 Issue

INTERFACE

The

WHERE MARKETING COMES ALIVE

MARKSMAN Stories. Insights. Knowledge.

VOL XII | ISSUE VI | JAN '22

WHEN BRANDS GOT PLACED!

EDITOR'S NOTE "A Fresh Start, A New Chapter Waiting to be Written!"

Anushka Dalvi

We hope this year has started on a warm note for you. The first month of this new year brings the promise of hope and anticipation. So, hold on tight for an exciting ride ahead as we bring to you a crisp new edition of the Marksman. Product placement in media has become the next big thing for brands to etch their mark in the minds of the audience. With the dynamic nature of consumer behavior, the brands are doing away with traditional marketing techniques and slipping themselves into the scripts of popular movies and tv series. The buzzing anticipation for movies like Spiderman and growing popularity of shows like Shark Tank has paved way for brands to make the most of these marketing opportunities.

Contemporary marketing has transformed like never before and 2022 is surely going to be the year of avant-garde marketing trends. .

CFA WINNERS: You have not failed to surprise us with your brilliant articles. A hearty congratulations to the folks who managed to be the winner and runner-up of November's edition of the call for articles.

1. Winner - Ujjwal Rawat, SRM University 2. Runner up - Mihir Bhatt, SGTB Khalsa College The inspiring pieces of work can be discovered in the “Featured Articles” section. We were overwhelmed with the response, and we wish the same for the future as we believe you would respond with the same gusto portrayed in the past.

Aditya Mulye

THE DESIGNER

MEET THE TEAM

Less is more

Anshul Sheikh

Less is more

Chinmaya Sharma

Aditi Pooja

THE WRITERS

Rayomond Sachinwala

Less is more

THE WRITERS

Less is more

Sanjith Kumar

Hari Shankar Kannan

Mahak Sonkar

Rijul Ghosh

THE WRITERS

Mehek Sethi

Less is more

Amrit Prakash Nair

Abhishek Rathee

TABLE OF CONTENTS 01

Kickstart CRED has become synonymous with quirky ad campaigns. Check out the complete story of CRED to understand marketing strategies of this iconic 4 Billion dollar unicorn startup.

Cover Story Product placement in movies is a highly trending marketing technique where specific brands are "written into" scripts for gaining popularity. Let's find out some of the most effective product placement examples.

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What's Hot on the Gram

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2021 ended on a smashing note, filled with dazzling celebrity marriages and bright Christmas festivities. Check out the brands which have reaped the benefits of this happening month with their innovative marketing techniques.

Brand Markive Take a peek into the luxurious world of Burberry to know more about their signature checked pattern, their association with class and elegance and their fascinating history.

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More than Marketing Adidas has carved a niche for itself in the athletic department but a lesser-known fact about it is its initiative for taking up sustainability as a cause and eco-friendly measures.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 06

Marketing Buzz The world is changing rapidly and the brands are hopping on to this train. From court hearings to the inception of Metaverse, there’s a lot happening in the marketing world.

Hallmark Campaign The magic of Christmas has been incorporated in real life by Coca Cola whose ‘Real Magic’ campaign is a true celebration of community and inclusivity.

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Pioneer

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The highly trending show Shark Tank with one of its most charismatic and enthusiastic sharks Aman Gupta is the talk of the town. Learn about his journey from small start-up to a mega-successful company.

Marketflix and Chill Marvel fan or not, the latest part of Spiderman: No Way Home has not escaped the eyes of anyone on the internet, thanks to the brands making the most of this hype for their marketing strategies.

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Mark-o-pedia From the 80’s to the NFTs, contemporary marketing has always been dynamic in nature and the brands have grabbed every single opportunity to advertise their products.

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KICKSTART Cred

Easy does it!!!

-Abhishek Rathee

Credit as a concept has existed for a long time. Since the beginning of time, people have preferred credit. When our cash flow is insufficient to sustain certain investments, credit is essential, and credit cards have made it simple to obtain. But paying credit card debts, on the other hand, is a top priority and a challenge to manage. This is the reason why Cred came up with the novel concept of creating a platform that would assist Indians in paying their credit card bills on time while also providing them with instant offers and benefits.

Cred is a Bengaluru-based Fintech platform that allows customers to make credit card payments through its app while also receiving special offers and benefits. Cred has also introduced house rent payment choices, short-term credit lines, and Cred Mint, through which lenders can lend their idle money to borrowers with good credit ratings.

CRED was created in 2018 by Kunal Shah, who refers to the company as a TrustTech firm rather than a FinTech firm. This is because his motivation for founding CRED stemmed from his desire to address trust issues in Indian society, which he believes is the key to economic growth.

It was a straightforward goal and sought to establish a framework for making life simpler and more systematic. The founder aimed to provide customers with good credit scores with greater privileges and rewards. As a result, to raise the scores, it was necessary to create a flywheel effect for more people. Everyone has a focus on the masses, from businesses to the government. The company's founder intended to concentrate on people, particularly responsible citizens who pay their taxes on time. He had the impression that no one had previously handled their issues. As a result, Cred was created primarily to help taxpayers address their difficulties while also rewarding them with enticing incentives.

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KICKSTART Kunal graduated from Wilson College with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and went on to study an MBA at the NMIMS, but he left out in the middle of the programme to follow his aspirations of being an entrepreneur. Kunal and Sandeep Tandon co-founded PaisaBack. However, he shut down the company, and in 2010, the two co-founded FreeCharge. In April 2015, Snapdeal bought FreeCharge, although Shah kept the company running as a separate organisation. In the following year, he quit the firm and started Cred in 2018.

CRED's credit card spend tracking and management tool is one of the app's many capabilities. It also has the CRED Protect function, which is an AI-powered system that tracks every detail of a credit card payment trip, including due date reminders, spending trends, and other card usage statistics.

Cred's marketing strategy is majorly responsible for its huge success. Consumable material, intriguing contests and offers, television advertisements, and viral content are all used to keep customers engaged. Cred is a specialist in attracting clients' attention. CRED has negotiated new contracts with the super-famous Indian Premier League, which will support its authority from 2020 to 2022 in order to achieve a greater proportion of customer spirit and trust.

CRED tries to build brand awareness with practically every announcement by selecting the correct promotion at the right moment. An ad featuring Indian Olympic athlete Neeraj Chopra that was recently filed has received a lot of positive feedback. Bollywood actors and singers like Udit Narayan, Bappi Lahiri, and Anil Kapoor, as well as cricketers like Rahul Dravid and, more recently, Kapil Dev, are among the names on the list.

Cred has grown steadily throughout time.

Following the completion of its investment round, the company was valued at $4.01 billion on October 19, 2021. CRED is India's second-fastest unicorn firm, having achieved the unicorn status in just 29 months. They seemed to have struck gold when they targeted the country's high-end credit card consumers.

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Cover Story Spot the brand

Product placement in popular media

-Amrit Nair

Product placement in films has been practised for centuries. This marketing method has recently gained popularity among many firms all around the world. Let's take a look at some of the most effective product placement examples.

It's a marketing strategy used in movies, TV shows, and other media in which references to a certain brand or product are "written into" the script and utilised to promote that brand or product. Companies employ this method of advertising to reach a big audience by inserting their product or service into the script of a film or television show of their choice and compensating production companies in cash, commodities, or services.

The brand will benefit from the film's marketing for the rest of its life, and the film will benefit from some of the expenditures being covered. So the next time you see a brand in a movie or TV show, remember that the marketer paid for that right, and it isn't there "by luck." When companies are aware that an upcoming film is expected to reach millions of people, it's only natural that they want to reach those millions of people in a unique and non-salesy way.

Why is product placement getting more popular in this day and age when there are so many options to market? For starters, why employ traditional advertising when you have a more appealing option like audiovisual product placement to boost awareness of your products and services? Because product integrations on YouTube videos and TV shows are so competitive, product placement in movies and TV series is a terrific choice. When was the last time you actually listened to an ad rather than bypassing it? When was the last time you resisted the urge to check your phone during an ad break while watching your favourite TV show? We are so absorbed that we barely see advertisements.

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Cover Story There are some obvious product placements. While some are highly intelligent. Let’s take a look at some of the smartest ones.

Heineken – James Bond. James Bond has long been one of the most popular movie franchises for product placement, which has ranged from cars to computers and laptops to watches. While Bond has traditionally been associated with martinis (shaken, not stirred), Skyfall opted to shake things up by adding Heineken beer to the mix. According to reports, the corporation paid a whopping $45 million to be a part of it. This is a unique example of product placement. Within the first minute of the film, we see Heineken beers four or five times. It's easy to see why Heineken paid $45 million to be a part of the film, from completing a great stunt with three Heineken drinks to witnessing Bond himself giving out two Heinekens.

FedEx – Cast Away. Despite the fact that the company is mentioned in several sequences, FedEx is not one of the most noticeable product placements in Cast Away.

It's possible that it's not obvious because the placement is so natural that it draws just the proper amount of attention away from the movie. Instead of paying a fee, they offered logistical assistance to the project. That was their payback for the brand's appearance in so many scenes.

Nike – Back To The Future. Anyone who has seen the second movie of Back to the Future knows how important Nike is in establishing the stage for Marty McFly, who buys a pair of self-lacing Nike sneakers.

These types of Nike shoes did not exist in 1989 when the movie was made. It was all done in the style of a low-budget film. You might wonder how you can employ product placement with a fictional product. The fact that those futuristic sneakers are emblazoned with the Nike logo is crucial to the entire scene. When it comes to putting a product into a sciencefiction film, you want it to feel as natural as possible. As a result, Nike's decision to go with futuristic Nike sneakers was a wise one.

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Cover Story Product placement in television shows is similar to that in films. One of the most significant distinctions is that product placement in television shows is limited to a single episode or a series of episodes.

Payment for TV shows varies as well; in some circumstances, it is larger, while in others, it is smaller, depending on the popularity of the show. Now that we've seen some of the most well-known product placements in movies, it's time to look at ten more examples of product placement in television series. Pottery Barn – F.R.I.E.N.D.S. The episode showcasing Pottery Barn is the most successful product placement in Friends.

Rachel, who is obsessed with this brand, visits it after moving in with her roommate Phoebe to look for new furnishings. Rachel lies to Phoebe by stating she bought it from a thrift store as well because she isn't a fan of anything that isn't from a thrift store. Rachel purchases several Pottery Barn pieces as the show develops until Phoebe finds where the furniture is coming from. To top it off, Phoebe falls in love with the brand and goes shopping with Rachel at the end of the episode.

Given how successful Friends was (and continues to be), the episode had a lasting impact on Pottery Barn. A brand official confirmed in a 2004 interview that sales increase every time the show airs.

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Cover Story Organic product placements and sponsored product placements are the two most common ways for a business to have its "debut" in a film or TV show.

Organic Product Placement - As we've seen in the examples above, some films and television shows feature a product of their choice in an organic way. Brands have less control over this form of product placement, and there's no guarantee that the part won't be cut at a later stage of production. A brand may also provide its products and services to a production company in exchange for organic product placement. The FedEx example presented before is an excellent illustration.

Paid Product Placement - For sponsored product placements, the brand will normally work directly with the folks behind the film or TV show. They have more control because they are paying for it. They also get the assurance that any scenes in the film showcasing product placement from their company will not be cut. The screenplay and how the product will be used are agreed upon by both sides. This type of placement might cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to a few million dollars in terms of cash. It's not always easy to spot product placements, even if you're actively looking for them. For starters, don't consider every product you see in a movie or on TV to be a "coincidental occurrence."

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WHAT'S HOT ON THE GRAM Cozy endings and Rocky Beginings For when the year ends and starts

2021 was one hell of a year. Having seen some beautiful celebrity marriages, crazy victories and challenging lows, in the end, most of us came out with a smile.

December, the month of festivities, gave brands a lot to market.

What added to these brands' market strategies and the festivities is the pop culture and grand weddings we all became a part of.

December was also a month highly dominated by brand rewinds and new year resolutions and brands tried to boil down their year in front of their audiences while also giving them a flavor of what they have in store for the audience.

While many brands made rewind using Spotify's template, Brands/pages

-Mahak Sonkar

like Zomato and The Scribbled Stories came up with their version of rewinds.

Brands bagged on the crazy hype created around the release of Money Heist and Spiderman and put creatives using a similar opportunity.

Brands like Durex, Zomato, Swiggyy created some mind-blowing content around the famous Vickat wedding.

Apart from memes and other engaging content, Vickats wedding was a huge Bollywood news that dominated various sites like Pink Villa, Viral Biyani and India Times.

The year ended with Christmas and making predictions of what 2022 would be like.

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WHAT'S HOT ON THE GRAM Amidst all the chaos, Wordle, A word game, had taken the internet by storm. According to predictions, this is supposed to be one of the first biggest trends of 2022. As more and more people became aware of the game, brands took an opportunity to engage with the same Shows like Shark Tank hugely inspired creators to present reels in greater quantity with context around the show.

And in the world of Genz netizens, a new trend of 'shoot your shot, what's the worse they can say' emerged, which has only resulted in all laughter.

While we embrace the new year with these two sides of Instagram, it is known for sure that time spent on Instagram is time worth spending.

With the start of 2022, Covid retook a destructive toll and things started falling apart again. The start wasn't that smooth of a ride either.

The year started with a huge shock and heartbreak for cricket fans as Virat Kohli stepped down from captaincy from all forms of cricket.

While Anushka Sharma, Siraj and many other players and celebrities congratulated and cheered for the amazing captaincy he has done over the years, it definitely was a sad spot on Instagram.

When one side of the netizens were struggling and coping with the sad news of Kohli stepping down and increasing cases every day, there was a side of the internet that was surviving.

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BRAND MARKIVE Burberry: A Classic Rebrand From Gangwear to Luxury clothing

-Mehek Sethi

Be it their trademark check pattern, their history, or their association with elegance and class, Burberry has been the most iconic brand of all time.

But did you know that Burberry wasn’t always a brand synonymous with luxury?

Founded by Thomas Burberry, the brand had humble beginnings, focusing on developing outdoor attire. Burberry revolutionized rainwear in 1879 with the introduction of Gabardine. Earlier rainwear used to be uncomfortable and heavy; with Gabardine, it was breathable and wearable. They successfully made them a popular product across the British shores. Their coats were worn in the trenches of World War I by British soldiers. Before they knew it, Burberry had become a deep-rooted part of the British culture. They were so deeply woven in the British culture that they had received a royal warrant making it an official supplier to the Royal family.

Despite all this, Burberry became linked with the “chav” and football hooligan culture in the early 2000s. Their association with gang wear was an outcome of the lowerpriced products. Not only did the sales start plummeting, people wearing Burberry’s checked garments were banned from entering some venues. The shift in their brand reputation and decrease in their sales called for the rebranding of Burberry.

Damage caused to the brand wasn't untenable. Burberry hired Christopher Bailey from Gucci's womenswear division in their first few steps to reinvent themselves. Bailey successfully infused sex appeal to a conservative brand that suddenly and unexpectedly added a 'cool quotient' to Burberry.

Burberry capitalized on utility clothing and started using celebrity endorsements to improve its brand image. One of the first to endorse the brand was Kate Moss, focusing on younger, aspirational, and cooler moods. This strategy adopted by Burberry helped them on their path to becoming an upmarket, luxurious, and fashion-forward brand.

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BRAND MARKIVE To appeal to the young consumers, Burberry adopted the digital space to communicate with them. They embraced social media and also live-streamed their fashion shows. The redesigning of their stores to reflect their website provided the customers with a seamless experience from digital to retail.

Burberry did not forget its roots and history in the journey to restore its reputation. They tried to balance the old and the new and created goodwill without compromising its 150 years of heritage.

Trench coats and swimwear are still an integral part of the brand.

Today, Burberry is a luxury fashion house and a quintessentially British brand loved by many. The brand embodies high-quality clothing, fragrances, eyewear, cosmetics, and accessories. They are also making increased efforts to ensure sustainability and aim to become a climate-positive company by 2040.

Not all brands can stand back on both their feet after falling so hard. But, Burberry was one of the few brands that could ace it. They leveraged their history to create history by successfully restoring their brand reputation. Today, Burberry stands tall, and a lot can be learned from the brand's journey.

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MORE THAN MARKETING Adidas - Leading through sustainability Reengineering through sustainability

-Rijul Ghosh

Until recently, the fashion industry, on the whole, has lagged behind customers in reacting to their rising need for ecologically friendly, long-lasting clothing.

Sustainable fashion has traditionally been associated with niche fashion labels such as Patagonia, Everlane, Rothy's, Toad & Co, and Eileen Fisher and product-specific categories. It has yet to gain widespread acceptance among the general public and across the product spectrum. That will undoubtedly change, and it will happen quickly, as Adidas announces a daring new plan to eliminate all virgin polyester (i.e., plastic fiber) from its goods by 2024.

Adidas has already started working on the pledge as a considerable section of the products will be made from sustainable products in 2021. In 2021, more than 60% of Adidas goods will be created using sustainable materials such as recycled polyester or sustainable cotton for the first time. According to the corporation, this brings it closer to eliminating plastic waste. It has been utilizing only sustainable cotton since 2018. Adidas has been collaborating with Parley for the Oceans, an environmental organization, since 2015. After producing more than 15 million pairs of shoes from recycled plastic garbage gathered from beaches and coastal regions in 2020, the business hoped to make 17 million pairs last year.

Sustainability is an integral part of Adidas' business philosophy. We have continued to invest in sustainability initiatives during the coronavirus pandemic, and we will significantly expand our range of sustainable products in 2021," according to a press statement from Kasper Rorsted, CEO, Adidas. According to Rorsted, the firm, which has been using ocean plastics in its sports shoes since 2015, has developed and stayed competitive as the prices of using eco-friendly materials have decreased and have been able to adequately scale up manufacturing of the sustainable products that customers desire. The CEO reiterated Adidas' promise to have nine out of ten sustainable goods by 2025.

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MORE THAN MARKETING

The CEO reiterated Adidas' promise to have nine out of ten of its goods be sustainable by 2025, who added that the firm sees itself as the retail sector's sustainability leader. As per Adidas' 2020 annual report, the company aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Adidas, which is rated No. 3 in global sales in the Clothing and accessories category on Forbes' list of the World's Largest Publicly Traded companies, behind only Christian Dior/LVMH and Nike, has now announced that all of its shoes and clothes would be made entirely of recycled plastics by 2024.

The consequences for Adidas and indeed the rest of the fashion business are significant. Polyester accounts for roughly half of the materials used in the over 900 million goods it sells, aiming to replace all of it by 2024.

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Adidas' three Loop Strategy focuses on innovation and being a circular firm, where the things they manufacture may be recycled, rebuilt, or returned to nature.

Choose to Give Back, a resale scheme aimed to extend the life of items is another creative effort. Starting in October 2021, old shoes, apparel, and accessories from any manufacturer, in any shape, can be submitted to Adidas in the United States. thredUp, a partner, will resale any items in decent condition. The notion is that when a piece of gear is in use, it will not end up in a landfill or the water.

Adidas intends to expand the program's offering to additional markets based on the lessons learned in the first phase.

These strategies are remarkable and would also act as an initiative to propel others to take the 'green step' in the right direction.

MARKETING BUZZ Big Brands in the spotlight

Amazon Vs Future Group: The battle continues.

There is some update around the longdrawn legal battle between Amazon and Future Group over the former's objection to selling retail assets later to the Reliance group. The arbitration between Amazon and Future group was put on hold by Delhi High Court on 5th January 2022 in light of an Indian antitrust agency's suspension of a 2019 deal between them.

The US-based company successfully used the terms of their 2019 investment deal to block the selling of retail assets by Future group to Reliance. Recently Amazon challenged the Competition Commission

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-Rayomand Sachinwala

of India’s (CCI’s) suspension of approval to the 2019 transaction with Future Group on February 2.

Last year in December, CCI suspended Amazon's deal worth 1500 crore, citing its deliberate design of the deal to suppress information about the scope and real agenda, and imposed a fine of Rs200 crore. Amazon has challenged this before NCLAT - the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal saying that the fine is much higher than one imposed in a similar previous case. In December 2021, CCI held that Amazon misguided did not make full disclosure, and suspended approval was granted to Amazon.

MARKETING BUZZ Brands join customers in the FOMO game.

Brands like Ferrari and Nike are rushing to build an audience in the metaverse future whose internet version is far from reality.

Brands are doing this partly out of the fear of missing out on the opportunity. Some virtual spaces are already open for business, like Fortnite and Minecraft.

Digital clothing is at the forefront of this, where brands use the digital space for brand promotion. Ferrari launched its 296 GTB model, which is not available in the real world yet, but one can drive it in the game.

Hiccup in the EV Market. While we are talking about court cases, let's throw some light on one more case in the EV market.

Hero Electric has dragged Hero Motocorp to court for using the brand name Hero for their upcoming EV segment.

Latest milestone in Silicon Valley.

Apple became the first publicly-traded company to hit the target of $3 trillion in stock market evaluation. This marked the second-highest surge in its stocks after the company introduced the iPhone in 2007.

Apple's stock has surged 5800% since its iPhone debut. It now accounts for 7% of the S&P 500

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HALLMARK CAMPAIGN Coca-Cola

Real Magic at Christmas

-Chinmaya Sharma

On Christmas, Coca-Cola's 'Real Magic' brand platform, which it launched in September 2021 as part of an effort to improve how it communicates with customers, was used to celebrate community and inclusivity. After 18 months of a worldwide pandemic and multiple periods of loneliness and isolation, the red brand sought to be unifying and inspiring. It designed its global Real Magic platform with this goal in mind: to create a new ecosystem of unique and personalized experiences to interact with customers. For this relaunch, the American behemoth invited the expertise of artists, photographers, and illustrators worldwide to create their interpretation of everyday amazement.

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In this Christmas ad, the Real Magic brand platform aimed to promote a new CocaCola philosophy and a new long-term interaction with customers. "Real Magic at Christmas," aimed to portray a simple message of holiday pleasure and inclusivity, was promoted through a short film and a series of digital activations.

Over a Christmas lunch and a Coke, a young boy's imagination and holiday spirit summon a community's kindness and create a shared moment of magic. The short film was made in partnership with dentsuMB UK. The film was promoted through online medium , on television, and in theatres before it premiered on November 15, 2021.

HALLMARK CAMPAIGN

Shorter versions of the film were made available in over 90 countries. Real Magic, Coca-Cola's global brand philosophy and platform, encourages everyone to experience humanity's genuine magic by reigniting its hallmark promise – to connect and inspire people everywhere in everyday life – with greater relevance for today's world. Since 2016, this has been Coca-Cola's global brand platform, with a new visual design. Inspired by its representation on Coca-Cola's iconic packaging, the "Hug" logo elevates the curving Coca-Cola trademark on the bottle and can labels to offer a visual signature that will embrace and frame moments of magic and excitement throughout CocaCola communications.

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Separately, Coca-Cola recently announced WPP as its global marketing network partner, with WPP playing a key role in implementing a new marketing strategy to promote long-term growth for the company's portfolio of brands across more than 200 countries and territories.

According to Manolo Aroyo, global marketing director, Coca-Cola has always believed in the enchantment of Christmas, and this commercial honored the actual wonder of human interactions. Through a simple and uplifting message of togetherness, inclusion, and happiness, it helped to remind us that all we need for a wonderful Christmas is to spend time with the people we love. The commercial campaign was well-liked and well-received all across the world.

PIONEER Aman Gupta

The Shark in the boAt

-Anshul sheikh

As Shark Tank India made its debut on Sony TV, Aman Gupta's Internet Prize garnered attention. Aman Gupta is undoubtedly one of Shark Tank India's most enthusiastic sharks, impressing viewers with his fantastic ideas and charisma. Aman Gupta is Boat's co-founder and CMO. Sameer Mehta and Aman Gupta founded the firm 'Boat' in 2016 and began selling 'fashionable audio goods.' In the first two years, the company sold earbuds, headphones, speakers, travel chargers, and tough luxury cables and achieved success by making domestic sales of Rs. 100 crores. The transformation of a small Indian startup into a large corporation is intriguing.

Aman Gupta intended to start a lifestyle business specializing in trendy audiofocused products. Boat Company's only purpose was to supply millennials with affordable, durable, and, more importantly, 'fashionable' audio goods and accessories. The unbreakable Apple charging cord and charger was Boat's debut product. Because the original Apple cables tended to bend and break towards the ends, Boat's founder created a robust, braided cable with a 10,000 bend life cycle.

The product was groundbreaking because people required something that would endure a long time and function effectively. The Boat cable cost Rs. 1500, which was considerably cheaper than the cost of Apple products. The most popular item on Amazon was Boat's durable Apple charging cable and charger. In the same year, the company also introduced the Boat BassHeads225. The earbuds were designed to prevent Chinese goods from being sold in India. The organized earphones market was growing at a rate of 20-30% each year. Soundbars and home audio systems were released by Boat in 2018, followed by speakers in 2019. Sales of soundbars are expected to reach 200 million to 300 million units in 2019.

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PIONEER The Boat company's expansion is primarily due to its distribution relationships.

Initially, Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, and Jabong were used to sell the company's products and devices. However, the company has just begun retailing at various Croma locations and on its official website. BoAt was able to achieve the anticipated increase because of the items' excellent performance. Aside from that, the company has been led by Indian celebrities and cricketers. The business is continuously expanding, and it now serves millions of 'Boatheads.' The corporation refers to all of its customers and brand ambassadors as "boatheads." Even though the Boat firm has only been around for five years, it has more than 800,000 satisfied customers.

Instead of selling his products in storefronts, Aman Gupta has focused on online marketing. It purposefully avoided traditional media such as television and print. He mentioned millennials as the rationale for selling the products online.

The company's campaigns are mostly run on Facebook and other social media platforms. It also employs celebrity endorsement as a marketing tool. The business is fully informed of its target market. It offers fashionable and cheap items that appeal to young people.

Keeping this in mind, the boAt firm has appointed all of the industry's youthful faces as brand ambassadors.

The expanding trend of audio sets packaged with smartphones, according to Boat, might be the company's next growth avenue. It has been noticed that practically all leading phone manufacturers have audio businesses as partners. Apple, for example, sells Beats, Samsung sells Harman and JBL, Huawei sells Sennheiser, and so on. As a result, the company intends to attract more new customers with enticing packaged deals, avoiding the need for users to purchase headphones or earphones separately.

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MARKETFLIX AND CHILL Spider-Man: No Way Home Multi-channel Marketing

-Aditi Pooja

Marvel enthusiast or not, Spiderman is known by almost everyone. Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was released on December 16th, 2021, in India, caught the attention of not just Marvel fans but Spider-Man fans everywhere. Sony went all out to promote No Way Home, setting the record for the biggest promotional campaign during the pandemic as of January 2022. The global marketing value touched $202M and reached more than a billion people. Marvel, Sony, and the movie alone have amassed a strong digital identity for its promotions on YouTube and social media platforms, with the star-studded cast adding their gigantic social media footprint.

The trailers and multiple posters were launched from August 2021, revealing the presence of a range of villains from previous franchises and comics of Spiderman, creating a buzz amongst its enthusiasts. This, paired with the appearance of iconic actors and a character from Marvel’s television series, successfully hooked the audience. However, Sony went beyond their creative content marketing, viral marketing, and promotional activities by leveraging partnerships to execute a multichannel marketing strategy.

Spider-Man: No Way Home also partnered with Hyundai for an integrated marketing campaign, including a global TV commercial, digital and social media promotions, and a presence in dealerships and more across 35 international markets.

Hyundai’s all-new IONIQ 5 and Tuscon models were also featured in the movie.

The TV commercial starred Tom Holland and Jacob Batalon, who plays Spiderman and his best friend, Ned. The cars also appeared at the premiere.

There was also a significant push into the online and gaming community. Fortnite, the popular online videogame with over 400M registered accounts, sported MJ, Spiderman’s love interest, two new Spiderman outfits from the movie, and more themed updates. The film also collaborated with Asus for the campaign

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MARKETFLIX AND CHILL “Superpower your gaming experience,” promoted across digital platforms, retail, and print in 20 global markets with several in movie placements of their products like Ned using an Asus laptop. Another gaming partner was PUBG Mobile, which created an immersive integration of Spider-Man with in-game props, avatars, and more. This campaign was supported through online ads, in-app banners, social media, a live stream tournament, and press coverage in 26 global markets.

Xiaomi’s Redmi launched an exclusive No Way Home theme for its smartphone users in China. Liberty Mutual Insurance bought television and digital spots for their advertisement featuring Tom Holland. It transformed a local newsstand into The Daily Bugle in New York City, the home of Spiderman, distributing limited editions of the fictional newspaper. Continental Tyres, a premium German tire maker, leveraged their “Super Hero Grip” proposition through the partnership by showing stills from the movie and the power of the product. Tampico, a juice brand with a strong presence in offshore markets, distributed an on-pack campaign with themed bottles in more than 2,00,000 retail locations for the Latin and Hispanic markets. Other partners in this industry across the world included KFC, Dr. Pepper, 7-Eleven, Pepsi, Papa Johns, and more. To expand their reach further, the movie partnered with TikTok, which did more than hosting the Livestream of the exclusive premiere; there were several in-film placements of the platform and a launch of The Daily Bugle account.

Spider-Man: No Way Home swung into theatres in India on December 16th and broke all box office records since the COVID 19 pandemic began. Despite theatres functioning at half capacity, it became India's biggest opening in 2021 and registered the widest release for any Hollywood movie in India, at 3,264 screens.

The movie has surpassed an electrifying $1.6 Billion worldwide by mid-January itself. Perhaps this had a lot to do with the thrill of getting to see a movie in the theater, especially a Marvel one in the first month, and the nostalgia of all the previous franchises for different segments as well.

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MARK-O-PEDIA From the 80s to NFTs

The Stories of Contemporary Marketing

- Hari Shankar

From traditional Billboards to the vast digital ad space today, Contemporary Marketing has always been dynamic. Some brands have always been agile to grab every single opportunity they get to advertise. And in this fast-moving world with diminishing attention spans and increasing competition, it has become more of a necessity to survive than a strategy to thrive. The strategy behind contemporary marketing is to stay on track with the ever-changing customer trends. A contemporary marketeer, as compared to traditional, should be proactive in knowing what the customers demand or find appealing than what the company requires them to do. And when rightly implemented, it can fetch great results beyond the traditional strategies followed. However, there is a downside to this as well. Basing the marketing strategy only on customer demands and trends could be risky as they sometimes tend to be highly volatile. The ability or inability to adapt to the dynamic trend can be a literal make-or-break situation for a Brand.

In the 80s, when Television was the Next Big Thing, people were fixated on the magic of colourful and attractive moving pictures. The billboards, being one of the most popular advertising modes, were becoming outdated. The consumers were spending and dedicating most of their time playing video games or watching TV. This opened up a whole new market for brands to register their presence. Apple was one of the quickest movers to adapt to this with its mind-blowing “Unification of Thoughts” ad in 1984. The ad shows a bold woman running and throwing a hammer over a screen to signify the fight against a dystopian future and redefine it to a more innovative one. After this commercial, a whopping increase in sales of $155 million was recorded in the next three months as the viewers completely loved it. Apple, an already successful company, went on to become even more influential in the minds of the consumers.

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MARK-O-PEDIA The 90s and early 2000s was the era of booming computers and the internet. And billboards were coming back to action, and this time digitally. The consumers wanted to. The contemporary need of the customers here was to be connected and communicate quickly with other people all over the world. The billboards were also coming back in this era, but they were becoming more digital this time. This was when Brands used ad spaces like the Superbowl, Huge digital billboards like the New York Times Square, and website marketing to the fullest.

The second decade of the 2000s saw a huge shift to the digital ad space by brands.

New terminologies like E-mail marketing, Chatbots. And social media marketing was introduced, and they were gaining huge traction among the consumers. Apple's Siri and Android's Google assistant were developed during this era. Companies like Netflix were also becoming huge, pushing down brands like Blockbuster and Gamestop, which failed to adapt to the new and upcoming digital trends with the rapid boom of Social media. The consumers were spending their time online.

Recently, even more terminologies like Search Engine Optimization, Gamification, and Non-Fungible token are gaining popularity among customers. Amazon introduced its SEO algorithm to give consumers personalized search results based on their likes and preferences.

Nissan introduced Carwings in their electric car models, where drivers can compare their performances to others and earn bronze, silver, and gold levels accordingly. Pepsi in 2021 announced their 'Mic Drop Drop genesis NFT collection' collection with a unique and customizable set of NFTs. The contemporary type of Marketing strategy requires Brands to be updated with the trends with some risk-taking is involved.

However, it can fetch tremendous results when appropriately implemented as it directly gives customers what they want in a product or service.

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CALL FOR ARTICLES EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING Can it make a comeback?

Experiential advertising, additionally referred to as participatory advertising, is an advertising method that engages or deeply engages clients with a product.

Now no longer the most effective purchase for an emblem`s product or service; however, they additionally enjoy it for themselves. The emotional bond between the emblem and the purchaser is created via an unforgettable and specific enjoyment. Experimental advertising is no longer the most effective and entails patron engagement; however, it regularly improves the process. To better describe experiential marketing, think about it for a moment. Why do people buy concert tickets to see live performances instead of

- Ujjwal Rawat

watching YouTube videos of their favorite artists for free? It’s because People want sensory experiences instead of spending free content to watch their favorite artists perform live or take long trips.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING? 1. Personalized engagement - Customers need to sense an actual human reference to your brand.

2. Stronger connection between product and emotion - Experiential advertising needs to enlarge the emotions once they use your product. Strong, high-quality feelings endear clients to brands.

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CALL FOR ARTICLES 3. Creation of a positive touchpoint - It is a proven fact 70% of customers say that strategy is critical to business success.

4. Social shareability - If you have experiences worth sharing, you can find social media to share them with.

THINGS TO AMELIORATE Like ROI, ROE (return on experience) offers manufacturers a manner to calculate the effect an emblem revel in or activation has on a client. Lack of planning or interest in cross-channel marketing between teams and departments (paid advertising, website communications, digital campaigns, mobile, event marketing, or experiences) third-party data. From the company`s point of view, the experience falls short of expectations, resulting in the following campaigns: Consumers, on the other hand, may face confusing messages and the impression that the brand doesn`t know or cares what is essential to them.

Brands have had to learn to explore and embrace virtual and hybrid experiences to keep up with ever-changing consumer demands.

THE HOOK Working to create a positive brand attitude will lead to new customer acquisition and increased customer loyalty. If you give them a special and unique experience, they will want to interact with or promote your brand. A convenient and experiential marketing event will help others remember your brand and be part of your strong mission statement. It is an excellent way to reach and emotionally connect with your current and potential customers.

A brand that fosters networking inspires emotion and creates and retains loyal customers always takes an edge over its competitors. Similarly, Most brands are taking advantage of the digital fatigue of the pandemic to pay more attention to experiential marketing. However, the pandemic outbreak impacted the sector of stay activities and its various transmogrified types, calling it digital or hybrid to hold up with ever-converting client demands. This beyond the year, manufacturers needed to shelve their experiential advertising plans — incharacter promotional stories like activities, product showcases, and pop-up activations — and scramble to create digital ones.

CONCLUSION Finally, Experiential marketing has proven itself well in attracting attention, retaining customers, and achieving excellent market share and reputation. Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Snapchat have successfully used experimental marketing strategies. In the future, these brands and those who aspire to be like these must try to use this strategy to deliver a more holistic and richer experience by directly addressing the likes and preferences of their audience.

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CALL FOR ARTICLES The Flywheel

Excellent services as its marketing strategy

The flywheel model in inbound marketing provides customers with the focus surrounded by the marketing sales and service provided by the company. In the marketing domain, companies initially attract customers with relevant content, build bonds by keeping them engaged and delight them by providing an amazing customer experience that attracts more customers and continues the cycle.

There are two driving factors around the flywheel First, you put a force into the flywheel to get it spinning. This includes any Content that is relevant to the customer. Next, there's friction which slows down the flywheel. This has anything that makes the customer experience

- Mihir Bhatt

difficult or unenjoyable such as poor customer service then there's a weight with more customers the flywheel gets more prominent, and the faster it spins as the force and weight increases, and friction decreases, the wheel accelerates, and your business grows with the customer at the center of it all. The same is valid for business success, and there is no one idea or insight that creates momentum. Instead, it's a result of consistently pushing in one direction over an extended time. And it's this style of momentum that can ultimately cause a business to appear like an overnight success where people outside of the company suddenly see fantastic results.

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CALL FOR ARTICLES So, this is a compelling and essential concept in the industry. Understanding how great businesses use the flywheel concept is based upon building a momentum machine, creating a virtuous cycle that is fed on itself to create better and better results over time. So, for example, let's look at Amazon's flywheel. It starts with lower prices on more offerings, and lower prices increase customer visits.

More customers help to attract third-party sellers, more third-party sellers expand the store and extend distribution, which helps grow revenues relative to fixed costs.

And this greater efficiency then enables Amazon to lower prices even further.

These improvements to any one of the five components lead to better performance in all remaining components. And this creates a virtuous cycle

will turn into loyal subscribers. This is the power of identifying and executing a simple flywheel concept. To build a great flywheel, you need to create a list of significant replicable successes your organization has achieved. This shouldn't include new initiatives and offerings that exceeded expectations. The second component includes compiling a list of failures and disappointments. This should consist of new initiatives and offerings that have failed outright or fell far below expectations and is based upon the following two concepts – 1) What one is deeply passionate about 2) What one can be the best in the world at, and number three, what drives one's economic or resource engine.

COMPONENTS The first component is offering lower-cost mutual funds. Lower-cost funds deliver better long-term results for clients, and superior long-term results help build strong client loyalty. Strong loyalty increases and improves the total assets under management, increase assets under management help to generate economies of scale, and in long run, economies of scale lower the fund's costs.

Therefore, the Flywheel concept is only one of the core ideas covered in the good to the great framework. The complete model includes three stages, disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action, and can emerge as a game-changer in the marketing domain.

The second component is to produce valuable long-form content, cut into short, shareable social clips. Shareable social clips help to attract more first-time listeners. A few of those first-time listeners

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CALL FOR ARTICLES February 2022 Edition The Marksman provides one and all the opportunity to discover their hidden talents in the literary field through our "Call for Articles". For the upcoming month, the articles can be sent on any of the following topics:

Future of Gamification Personalized marketing in the age of data privacy Digital Darwinism – why brands die Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all the references are clearly mentioned.

Kindly follow the guidelines given below: One article can have only one author.

Your article should be approximately 550-600 words (strictly adhere to the word limit) The article must have relevant pictures that can be used to enhance the article.

Send in your articles in .doc/.docx format to marksman.simsr@somaiya.edu Subject Line: Your Name_Institute Name_Course Year.

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: 22nd February, 2022

QUOTE DECK

Identity is cause; brand is effect, and the strength of the former influences the strength of the latter

- Larry Ackerman Author and Consultant

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INTERFACE WHERE MARKETING COMES ALIVE

For any queries, please contact us Email: interface.simsr@somaiya.edu / marksman.simsr@somaiya.edu