The Marksman November 2017 Issue by The Marksman

Dear Readers, It gives us immense pleasure to present to you yet another interesting issue of our beloved Marksman. We have curated for you a broad spectrum of interesting articles that would enhance your understanding of marketing. India has been a land of the villages with agriculture being the backbone of the country’s GDP. It would be impudent of marketers to ignore the rural masses. We look at this unique sphere in our Cover Story “Rural Marketing”. To illustrate rural marketing, we consider the strategies employed by Godrej to bring their latest offering,” Good Knight Fast Card”, to the masses in our Special Story. We go behind the scenes and look at the incredible career of Siddhartha Lal and his peerless achievements in the Pioneer. We would like to congratulate the winners of this month’s Call for Article, Vatsal Gandhi of KJ SIMSR and Karan Phaterpekar of NMIMS, Mumbai, whose articles have been featured in this issue. For the remaining entries, we would like to thank you all for your incredible response and encourage you all to keep writing to us with great enthusiasm. We’d also like to hear back from our esteemed readers on how you find this issue. Your feedback is valuable for it helps us improve our magazine.

Happy Reading! Connect with us on www.interfacesimsr.com/index.php/marksman Follow our Facebook page for more updates.

NOVEMBER EDITION

INDEX Tweets

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

Marketing Faux Pas

Cover Story

Special Story

Pioneer

Hall-Mark Campaign

Brand Markive

Bookworm

Kickstart

Featured Article

Square Head

Buzz

TWEETS -VIDHI MEHTA

#Bemorehuman Reebok has put up its biggest marketing campaign in over a weekend. “Be More Human” is referred to as Reebok’s rally cry to its audience, influencing them to live up to their potential. The campaign is massive because of the significance attached to the campaign by the Reebok executives who believe that it finally reintroduces the brand to its customers. The message of “Be More Human” is different, it is not just encouraging people to run faster for the sake of being faster but it says that you will be able to enjoy life if you take the time to cater to your own Humanity.

“Be More Human” is referred to as Reebok’s rally cry to its audience, influencing them to live up to their potential

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TWEETS #HappyPlace Comedy Central has been a favorite hub for teenagers airing shows like f.r.i.e.n.d.s, mom, no Tomorrowland, The Late-Night Show, Suits and many more. They came up with the #HappyPlace symbolizing the entertaining shows that lighten up your mood. They have recently launched a new show named Young Sheldon, which is an extension of a well-known show The Big Bang Theory.

#ShotonOnePlus OnePlus is known for its camera from the time it was introduced. It launched its phone with one of the best camera quality and came out with the hashtag #ShotonOnePlus. It also came out with an innovation of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Portrait Modeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in the recently launched OnePlus5. Every day, surfing through social media, we go through this hashtag which has captured many beautiful memories in itself. They came up with the #HappyPlace symbolizing the entertaining shows that lighten up your mood.

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IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE -ANUSHA KIDIYUR Television Ad: Yesteryear Bollywood actress Sridevi stole many hearts with her beauty and acting skills back in 90’s, but does her magic still leave people spellbound? This was the risk taken by Ching’s Secret. Ching’s Secret, the one and only Desi Chinese brand that makes people salivate and smile at the same time with their saucy, spicy and schezwani food, casted the versatile actress in their #CoolMom ad. The ad promotes Ching’s Secrets’ snacky oats with two kids singing and dancing along with their mom. The 54 - year old actress danced with ease and her performance as a mom in a 2-minute 15 seconds video can’t get any cooler. She’s undoubtedly the cool mom as the line in the song goes “Coz your mama is your buddy and she’s super-cool.” Ching’s Secret dedicates this ad to God’s best creations – Moms!

Ching’s Secret dedicates this ad to God’s best creations – Moms!

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AD-ITUDE

PRINT AD

Amul, India’s most successful dairy cooperative brand is known for its innovative, satirical print ads and creative marketing campaigns

Amul, India’s most successful dairy cooperative brand is known for its innovative, satirical print ads and creative marketing campaigns since ages. The latest one is about paradise papers. Paradise papers leak is yet another financial data leak containing names of 714 rich and powerful Indians. Actor Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt’s wife Maanyata Dutt are some of the names leaked in the files. The data leak came from a Bermuda-based legal services provider, Appleby and Singaporebased Asiaciti. With the title ‘Tax Haiwan’ in the backdrop of a beach, Amul girl’s expression shows the astonishment as to what and who this person is. The creativity Amul depicts in every ad of its, relating the current affairs to their products acts not only as a source of news but also a mind provoking thought conveying a social message. 4

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FAUX PAS -SHRUTHI S On Oct 6th, 2017, Dove released a 3-sec GIF ad featuring women of different races. Little did it know that the short, seeminglyharmless GIF would almost instantaneously swallow social media in a wildfire of comments and protests against it. The disturbing order of a black woman morphing into a smiling white woman as she removes off her shirt, who morphs into another white brunette sparked a big debate on the intentions of Dove. Was it trying to make a sublime inference that lighter skin is more desirable? Or was it all just a big PR mistake? The very next day, Dove pulled it down and tweeted an apology saying it ‘missed the mark in representing women of color

Was it trying to make a sublime inference that lighter skin is more desirable? Or was it all just a big PR mistake?

thoughtfully'. What hit the nerves of people was probably the pattern of such ads by Dove. A previous campaign by Dove for its Body Wash had women placed in the order of their fairness with a ‘Before’ and ‘After’ written in the background, which showed the moisturized skin after using Dove Body Wash. But nevertheless, the ad definitely ‘missed the mark’ as well and was seen by people as reinforcing the stereotype of fairer skin to be ‘visibly more beautiful’. The ads were pointed out as a déjà vu of some of the similar 5 MARKSMAN

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FAUX PAS

racist soap ads of early 19th century. An old Pears ad showing a black child turning into half-white after bathing with Pears soap was posted on Twitter amidst this buzz, igniting painful memories of the soap industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brutal advertising of their products by equating white race to be cleaner and blacks to be dirtier. The memories of a long era of advertisements leering with oppression and discrimination have left people with a stinging wound. The hurt is too deep and still very blue. As a generation with a progressive mindset, we have the responsibility to ensure forgotten memories of such deplorable discrimination are not awakened and sentiments are not hurt while advertising products. A little thoughtfulness in representing people can go a long way in winning hearts and repairing the damage done in the past. A little thoughtfulness in representing people can go a long way in winning hearts and repairing the damage done in the past. 6 MARKSMAN

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COVER STORY -ABHA SHAH Rural Marketing refers to the activities that are undertaken by marketers to create awareness about their brands amongst the rural population. This awareness would then be converted to an effective demand for goods and services from these rural consumers. The intention of doing rural marketing is to achieve the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s objectives by improving the standard of living. Goods and services like FMCG, automobiles, and fertilizers etc. are all offered from the urban market to the rural market. However, the agricultural supplies like fruits, vegetables, milk etc. are offered by the rural market. This makes Rural marketing a two-way process, i.e. Urban to Rural and Rural to Urban. India being a developing nation, has a massive rural market. There are a total of 638365 villages in India where 70% of our total population resides. Thus the potential of the rural market is immense. It reiterates the fact that a company simply cannot build a presence in India without having a strategy to reach out to the villages. To build such a strategy itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to understand the consumers in the rural market. There is always a perception that rural markets would generally lack in terms of purchasing power as well as awareness; unaware and undemanding of consumable goods. However, it is to be noted that almost 50% of the revenue of the FMCG sector comes from rural sales. Rural market enjoys 76% of market share in washing cakes and 55% in soaps as a percent of its all India market. In case of Automobiles, around 48% of the total motorcycles sold in India are from the rural areas.According This awareness would then be converted to an effective demand for goods and services from these rural consumers

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COVER STORY

In addition, the rural population has now begun using e-commerce and digital connectivity services due to high penetration of smartphones and online banking.

COVER STORY to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), currently, there are almost 499 million mobile subscribers in rural India as of June 2017 of which approximately 109 million users own smartphones. Furthermore, 47 million use mobile internet as per IAMAI and Kantar IMRBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mobile Internet Report 2016. According to MART, a New Delhi based research organisation, rural India buys 59% of cigarettes and 46% of drinks sold in the country. Such buying power is not just restricted to utilitarian products, 11% rural women use lipsticks too. Now when such is the consuming power of rural India, it proves to be a very lucrative and potential market. This shows that in the recent years, the rural masses have shown a trend to slowly move towards a state of gradual urbanization in terms of habits, lifestyles, exposure and lastly, the different patterns of consumption of goods and services. In addition, the rural population has now begun using e-commerce and digital connectivity services due to high penetration of smartphones and online banking. Thus reducing the features to be offered to this population for lowering the prices, is a dangerous game to play. With a diverse population, people of different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds living in the rural areas across all states, rural marketing becomes a great challenge for marketers. The marketers of all leading brands are now following a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Go

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COVER STORY

Ruralâ&#x20AC;? policy. The sheer magnitude of the rural population makes them realise the potential it offers and the marketing strategies to Price develop to penetrate this rural market. The increase in the income and the purchasing power of the farmers motivates them to improve their lifestyle and livelihood. With improved infrastructure facilities and telecom services, the rural villages are now well connected with one another, opening up a new communication channel for the marketers to tap. The urban market has now become saturated with companies offering almost identical products and services. The lack of awareness of competitive brands and brand loyalty, makes the rural market a place to escape the intense competition and generate easy revenues. One cannot talk about Rural Marketing without the mention of Hindustan Unilever. HUL has been a pioneer in successfully reaching out to even the remotest of media dark villages through its campaigns in India. For example, Project Shakti empowered rural women and strategically helped HUL form a strong distributors network in the rural area. They realised that in the rural areas, what people most craved for was entertainment and

HUL has been a pioneer in successfully reaching out to even the remotest of media dark villages through its campaigns in India.

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COVER STORY

the only real source of it were their mobile phones. And thus entered the Kaan Khajura Tesan, a free mobile radio entertainment channel through which they provided entertainment to the rural masses while simultaneously advertising their products. Lifebuoys Jump Pump Activation in rural schools highlighted the importance of washing hands before meals in a fun way and made its place in the rural markets. ITC from starting as a tobacco company to a leader in FMCG products brought out the e-Choupals initiative. These e-Choupal internet kiosks set up near the post offices in villages have educated farmers about the price, weather, and other relevant knowledge which has boosted farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; productivity. ITC from starting as a tobacco company to a leader in FMCG products brought out the e-Choupals initiative 10 MARKSMAN

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY They made use of these 3 main aspects which are of great importance to the rural consumers: Availability, Accessibility, and Affordability

An old but one of the most remarkable entries into the rural markets was made by Coca-Cola. With a bottle priced at Rs.5 and the ‘Thanda matlab Coca-Cola’ tagline, Coca-Cola won over a huge mass of rural consumers. It has still maintained a leader’s position in the cold drinks sector and has the highest brand recall. What is commendable is the fact that despite Coca-Cola being a foreign company, it rightfully understood how to reach out to rural customers to relate to them. They made use of these 3 main aspects which are of great importance to the rural consumers: Availability, Accessibility, and Affordability. Rural consumers value their money and expect good quality products.

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COVER STORY

“Small is Beautiful” A great strategy that makes affordable products accessible is the sachet packaging. Single-use sachets are very popular in rural India. Clinic plus shampoo sachets, Parachute hair oil sachets, low price packaged biscuits by Britannia, unit packs of Dabur Red Toothpaste are specially made for the rural markets. Nestle’s Maggi a household name in India, made its space in the rural markets by introducing an affordable Rs.5 packaging and a heart touching ad. “Small is Beautiful” A great strategy that makes affordable products accessible is the sachet packaging

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COVER STORY

In terms of promotions in the rural areas, there are totally different practices used. An urban market success may not There is also reflect the same results in rural. What works well in rural would a new target be on ground activation like announcements, plays and street consumer demonstrations at the nukkad, communicating with them in potential their regional dialect, setting up of stalls in called their melas and haats thus helping to build a lasting connection “RURBANwith the rural consumers. Melas like the Pushkar mela in Rural Rajasthan or Kumbhmela that is held at four places in the Psychograph country are great places to market products. Brands like living in an Colgate, TATA, Maruti have extensively used this medium. Also Urban the influencers for ‘influencer marketing’ too are different. For Demograph” rural consumers, people whose opinions matter the most are the head of the village or the local baidya (doctor) or even the NGO that works for the village. Once companies gain their trust it is easy to influence the other people of the village. People in rural areas are the greatest followers of herd mentality too. Hence if one person buys a new product or avails a certain service, many others follow suit. We’ve seen the numbers, the live examples, the promotions, the growth and the scope. There lies a huge potential in the rural market for one to tap, but if not done carefully, you may just lose out on something that could take your brand to another level. There is also a new target consumer potential called “RURBAN- Rural psychograph living in an Urban demograph”. A relationship that helps rural consumers identify with the company products and services and trust them, should be developed. Once this bond with the rural dwellers is developed, the relationship becomes a long lasting one.

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SPECIAL STORY -SURAJ CHOUDHARY Good Knight Fast Card GPCL launched Good Knight fast card in the second half of 2013. Good Knight fast card was an innovative new product variant that was easy to use, effective and cheap

To launch a new product in an established market is a daunting task. Product launch marketing has a huge importance and it can make or break the future of the company. Launch is a risky phase, people must be aware of the new product, which is the crux of the whole phase. The customer may already have an idea of what a product should be, and might have compared to the existing products in the market. So, the main action lies in creating a stir. The company ad-bugle must be loud, interesting and clear. This launch phase was fantastically undertaken by the PR team of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. (GPCL). GPCL launched Good Knight fast card in the second half of 2013. Good Knight fast card was an innovative new product variant that was easy to use, effective and cheap. Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s insect repellant market was worth Rs. 3000 crores in 2013, with 80% of the share attributed to mosquito repellants segment. GPCL is still the market leader with SC Johnson, Jyothi Labs and Reckitt Benckiser close on their heels. Despite being the market leader, GPCL faced the inconsistent growth rate in this huge market. Price-conscious consumers tend to buy cheap, low-quality brands which tarnished the reputation of

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SPECIAL STORY

all brands. Good Knight targeted created a new product which was low cost, easy to use and a high-performance ignitable piece of card. It targeted the small towns and rural areas as the scope of growth there was immense. Despite being the leader, the share of Good Knight was a market challenger in rural areas with cheap, local brands having a share of 28% and Good Knight a mere 10%. The major concern was to make repellants affordable. The scope of the growth of Home Insecticides category lay in the unpenetrated market- small towns and rural areas. Considering the facilities available with the people in rural area, Good Knight established a link by personally addressing the consumers in these markets. The consumers there used natural solutions like burning neem leaves, mosquito nets, but all in vain. Their expectation from a product was something that could kill mosquitoes immediately. Coil was one of the options; as it required fire to set it to work. Liquid vaporizers were unpopular as they run on electricity which was not a dependable source in rural areas. Thus, an ideal product fulfilling all the requirements can be presented to the audience which can be the combination of both economy and efficacy.

Good Knight created a new product which was low cost, easy to use and a highperformance ignitable piece of card. It targeted the small towns and rural areas as the scope of growth there was immense.

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SPECIAL STORY The fast card is a small card, coated with mosquito repellant and can be put to use by igniting and blowing it away. It burns off within 3 minutes and the effect lasts for 4-5 hours. It is affordable as 10 fast cards cost Rs 10, providing best ROI (Return on Insecticide). The challenge was to launch fast card as cheap, effective insecticide and not letting it fade away as a low-quality cheap product. The slogan: Fattack se furrr (Gone in a jiffy), became a cornerstone for all creatives across the country. The first phase of the launch targeted four states where Good Knight was not the leader- Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar. These four states are diverse and communicating with them was a challenge. They planned local approach to the states and helping people understand the product in their native language. So the advertisement, campaigns were designed according to their culture and spoken language. Bihar: The female population displayed affinity towards loud, bright colors. This was reflected from their attire, interiors of the house. These features of loud, eye-catching colors were incorporated into the creative for Fast Card. The slogan: Fattack se furrr, became a cornerstone for all creatives across the country

Uttar Pradesh: The most populous state of India, UP is melodious at heart. It is a land of poetry and shaayaris. The company adopted local poetry and flavor of the language into their creative.They also developed muhavres or rhymed proverbs. Maharashtra: The women here display a strong and hardworking nature that is reflected in their homes. They are the centre of power and this feature was conveyed in the creative which gave people the sense of involvement in their campaigns West Bengal: Bengal is a female-dominated state. Along with this people here love art and culture. Good Knight popularized their slogan â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Fattack se furrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in the native language using traditional

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SPECIAL STORY

Bengali art. Grassroots-level activation: India is a land of gods and As it was religions. In Maharashtra, Pandharpur Mela- a huge annual effective, it pilgrimage similar to that of Kumbh Mela is held every year. The gathered crowd visiting Pandharpur majorly consists of villagers and rural immense people, which gave the fast card a massive canvas to convey their popularity product to masses. They assigned sales team who demonstrated among fast cards in their tents, locations of stay. As it was effective, it masses and gathered immense popularity among masses and eventually fast eventually card was a hit due to word of mouth publicity. fast card was Along with rural marketing, they had television commercials a hit due to which displayed the instant effect of fast cards on mosquitoes and word of its simplicity. Advertisements were also screened during intervals mouth of popular Bollywood movies. publicity Such massive level of activation for the launch of the fast card made it a huge success. This is a great learning for other brands to aim to solve a need of the masses rather building their own product. Communication must be face to face as Good Knight instead of being a faceless organization trying to push its products demonstrated the product to the masses which instilled a sense of confidence among them. The sales target tripled at the end of one year, along with many new consumers associated with the product. They gained a majority share in rural areas. The rest as they say is history. 17 MARKSMAN

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PIONEER -MANISH BHATIA

SIDDHARTHA LAL- The LOYAL MAN Siddhartha Lal had recently turned 26 when he became the CEO of Royal Enfield in 2000. If you had spent Rs 55,000 to buy any motorcycle in early 2000, you would now have an old, rusted bike. But if you had bought the shares of Eicher Motor for same Rs 55,000 at Rs 17.50 per share, the company that makes Royal Enfield bikes, your share will be roughly worth Rs 9.75 crore now. The complete attribute for building a durable bike as well as monumental value for shareholders goes to Siddhartha Lal, MD and CEO, Eicher Motors. When Siddhartha finally chose to enter the family business, he did so in a very dramatic manner. He sought a year’s time from his father to resuscitate the ailing Royal Enfield, which management wanted to sell or shut down. He became the CEO of the motorcycle company in 2000 at the age of 26 when people are confused about life ahead. From year 2000 and 2004, he worked out of Chennai, where the Royal Enfield is headquartered, & got to work of reviving ailing Royal Enfield. Royal Enfield was bleeding, at start of this century and was unable to sell even 6000 bikes in a quarter, even when their manufacturing capacity was high. The management at Eicher Motors saw no value in it but Siddhartha saw something which management couldn’t —a distinctive product with a rich history and an infantry of die-hard fans.

He became the CEO of the motorcycle company in 2000 at the age of 26 when people are confused about life ahead

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PIONEER

It was 2004, Siddhatha was 30 and had just taken over as COO of Eicher group which had diverse spread of about 15 plus businesses, but none was a market leader. Lal did an Mr. Lal is acute portfolio analysis & resolved to divest 13 businesses focused driven, and put all money & focus behind Royal Enfield and trucks. but always ready These were the two businesses where he believed the group to embrace had a genuine shot at the leadership. Decision made, Lal put necessary his full weight behind Royal Enfield and the trucks business changes and and a little more than a decade later, Eicher Motors earns does not remain over Rs 7950 crore in revenues and makes a net profit of Rs too hell bent on 1560 crore (FY17). one aspect of The man who pioneered this success story had attained his the business. Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in the year 1994 followed by PGD in Mechanical Engineering from Cranfield University in year 1998. Later Siddhartha went on to take Master of Science in Automotive engineering from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. Mr. Lal is focused driven, but always ready to embrace necessary changes and does not remain too hell bent on one aspect of the business. Siddhartha now has set his eyes on global market: He wants to make Royal Enfield an International brand. 19 MARKSMAN NOVEMBER EDITION

Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN -ANJALI VERMA Celebrity endorsement of a company or a brand has been a perpetual formula for marketing campaigns since ages, right from the endorsement of Cinthol by Vinod Khanna to Akshay Kumar endorsing Ayush

Celebrity endorsement of a company or a brand has been a perpetual formula for marketing campaigns since ages, right from the endorsement of Cinthol by Vinod Khanna to Akshay Kumar endorsing Ayush, the Hindustan Unilever Limited’s answer to Patanjali. Today in the data revolution age, marketing campaign medium spectrum is getting wider. Every campaign today has its own share of online promotion budget which has grown significantly over the years. This has led to the emphasis on creating such content which gets the viewer attention and holds his or her finger from clicking “Skip Ad” in the 15-sec time.

We are sharing here one such campaign by Make My Trip started in around March 20, 2016.

The massive national multimedia 360-degree campaign was heavily promoted on TV, radio, outdoor, social media and digital platforms. Make My Trip roped Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh as brand ambassadors, starring in its campaign, to boost the growth of its online 20

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Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN

hotel booking category. MMT started with the campaign, after realizing the fragmentation in its online hotel booking segment. The relatable character and humorous content along with the wellknit back-end strategy made the campaign an instant hit, garnering 26 million views till now. It became so successful that many variants of the ads came out featuring both the stars. The most recent released in September 2017 promotes free first one night stay on hotels booked through MakeMyTrip. The campaign #BefikarBookKar has re-strengthened market position of the company. As part of this campaign and in a move to further strengthen its brand imagery, the company refreshed its logo as well. We can definitely say that the company, already a category leader, has successfully executed the campaign, escalating its growth further in the online hotel booking category Learning from MMT, many other competitors like Trivago, Ibibo, etc., have come up with campaigns on similar lines. However, Make My Trip will always have the first move advantage for being the initiator of such a massive campaign to tap the online hotel booking category.

However, Make My Trip will always have the first move advantage for being the initiator of such a massive campaign to tap the online hotel booking category

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BRAND MARKIVE -JENNIFER RAYAN

Mandonnaud had revolutionized the way beauty was sold. He took beauty products out from behind the counters and put them in the front.

Weekends have the malls bustling with activity; kids being ferried around by the choo-choo train, moms and dads busy at the wholesale market beneath every mall and lovers cozying around with some warm coffee in the corner. Along with the usualness of the weekend, comes the curiosity of the mall goers, to the pleasant sweet smells that creep out of this mall kiosk that attracts a visit into its sprawling and attractive floor space with a stylish zebra coat look. Welcome to Sephora, a luxurious plethora of fragrance, skincare, body, nail color and hair care. The name is a combination of the Greek word Sephos, meaning beauty, and Zipporah, who was the exceptionally beautiful wife of Moses in the book of Exodus from the Holy Bible. Sephora is a French chain of cosmetics stores featuring nearly 300 brands, along with its own private label.

When Dominique Mandonnaud, the founder, had opened his his first perfumery in the year 1969, perfumes and cosmetics in other stores were hidden behind counters, jealously guarded by the intimidating sales representatives. Their message was clear, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Buy before you try!â&#x20AC;?. Mandonnaud had revolutionized the way beauty was sold. He took beauty products out from behind the counters and put them in the front. He was one of the very first to give customers their freedom to 22 MARKSMAN

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BRAND MARKIVE move around, to try, touch, smell, and freely explore. A USP for Sephora at the time became an instant hit in the retail beauty industry and it has indeed changed the way the industry operates. Step into any Sephora today, and you will plunge into a sensual, exciting and entertaining world. Those old-style sales reps are long gone and are now replaced by beauty advisors; there to offer advice and ideas. The freedom to experiment and learn is left to the customer, giving him/her a place to access oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own unique beauty. Sephora's private label, S+ embodies the entire brand's daring, creativity and excellent products that are as accessible as they are exciting; as sensual as they are superior. An instance is that Sephora's of their 365 lipstick shades - one for every mood and desire. The S+ private products encourage people to come out to play with their senses label, S+ and beauty. The Sephora currently boasts of over 17,000 listed embodies products and 6 million visitors to their Champs-Elysees flagship the entire store which is said to be even more than the Eiffel Tower! brand's They have around 300 stores in France and nearly 1,700 around the daring, world. A part of the clan of the prestigious LVMH family since 1997, creativity today Sephora stores are all over Europe, as well as in North and and South America, the Middle East and Asia. excellent products that are as accessible as they are exciting; as sensual as they are superior 23 MARKSMAN

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BOOKWORM -TEJAS RANE

Don’t Make Me Think By Steve Krug A website is a box of information for users about the organization. It is therefore essential that this box has the right compartments of information which can be accessed easily by the users. “Don’t make me think” by Steve Krug talks about web design for new age designers to make the most effective web pages for getting the optimum results. The book talks about making homepages, website navigation, and accessibility so as to make the websites more user-friendly. It puts light upon important facts of human website usage. Facts like people not reading entire web pages and only scanning the pages depending upon the content and then going ahead with the navigation by clicking on the various tabs have been explained in a very lucid manner. It also talks about the content of a webpage which has to be as concise as possible and at the same time complete so that it is self-explanatory. In this world where digital marketing has taken precedence over traditional channels, this book comes as a welcome gift for most web developers. It is definitely a must read especially if your business is website dependent. So, don’t The book think, start talks about reading. making homepages, website navigation, and accessibility so as to make the websites more userfriendly

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KICKSTART -JHALAK JAIN

BIRA: Raising the Bar It takes much more than brick, mortar and labour hours to build a start-up from the scratch. Ideas are easy, implementation is hard. Every year approximately 19,000 start-ups are born in India and 90% of them are lost in oblivion. Getting hold of the market pulse at the right time and at the right place is very important and this is where Ankur Jain the owner of B9 Beverages has nailed perfectly! Based out of New Delhi and with an expansion throughout the US, this two-year-old beer start-up B9 Beverages, is the company behind Bira 91, a proud Indian start-up bringing revolution in the Indian liquor industry. It has its manufacturing in Belgium but now plans to become totally indigenous by setting its breweries in Indore. This new kid in the beer market has no mass publicity of its own

Based out of New Delhi and with an expansion throughout the US, this two-year-old beer start-up B9 Beverages, is the company behind Bira 91

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It reached the zenith by getting chosen as the “UN Beer of the month” by United Nations in May 2017

as prohibited by the government rules, yet its fan following is increasing, especially among millennials through the word of mouth. It reached the zenith by getting chosen as the “UN Beer of the month” by United Nations in May 2017. An Indian beer in the hands of important UN delegates is not the only reason to feel happy about, it’s also the first time that any foreign beer has been selected for this program. Bira, which has a strong wheat flavour, has its unique funky style of marketing, unlike the traditional Indian liquors, its different taste and a youth-like appeal is well appreciated. Bira again became the first among its peers to launch a health conscious, low-calorie beer named as- “Bira Light”. Bira91, where 91 depicts India’s telephone country code, hopes to close the current fiscal year with Rs.150 crore sales and is keeping an eye on a possible IPO (initial public offering). It’s a time when an Indian beer brand is bringing in the happy hours by planning to surge its sales to 450 crores in next fiscal year. Cheers!

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FEATURED ARTICLE

Simplified, the consumers are inclined to do certain things on certain days or at certain times.

In digital marketing, the “When” aspect is significantly important because it is a time-sensitive marketing activity. The reason being, the attention span of a consumer stays hot only for a “hot minute”. Hence, getting this crucial aspect correct, can be the make or break point in any campaign as it ensures that your campaign is not lost in this vast space of Internet. SimplifIed, the consumers are inclined to do certain things on certain days or at certain times. Understanding these habits, you can ensure that your campaign hits when the consumer is in right frame of mind and thus drive a better ROI. Consider an example of the ‘Hump Day’. You are most likely to receive emails from any flight and tourism brand on Wednesday morning at 10am. This is because people look for a distraction in the middle of the week, thus being the best time to grab the attention of the customers with tourism offers.

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FEATURED ARTICLE

A digital marketer should plan well ahead of time about all the campaigns, ensuring that all its marketing strategies are in line with the activities of the business. These strategies should provide your campaigns enough time to marinate but not giving enough time to stale. For example, Black Friday is a busy period for the ecommerce sites. Thus, if your business is based on such days, the marketing campaigns should be ran to fuel purchases during this time of the year. To add more impetus, you can couple this campaigns with timely tweets, email promotions or display ads. Such time-sensitive campaigns depends on various factors viz. your product, customer base, your competitors and so on.

A digital marketer should plan well ahead of time about all the campaigns, ensuring that all its marketing strategies are in line with the activities of the business.

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FEATURED ARTICLE

Thus, it is important to hit the launch button at the right time for maximum impact of the campaign.

However, sending your campaign out when your target audience is not in the correct frame of mind can result in having limited effect or ignorance. Also, it can go a long way in hampering your brand’s image which was the case with World Wildlife Fund. Its main aim was to draw attention to the devastation caused by the East Asian Tsunami. But outlining the extent of the disaster by re-imagining 9/11 just in time of its 8th anniversary made it unacceptable. The ad featuring numerous jets flying towards World Trade Centre turned out to be an embarrassment for the organisation. They later conceded that the ad “should have never been made.” (10 Promotional Campaigns That Backfired Big Time, 2010) Thus, it is important to hit the launch button at the right time for maximum impact of the campaign. Hitting the right consumer at the right time and in the right frame of mind is the key to success. Just as it goes for comedy, it goes for online marketing too i.e. Timing is Everything.

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FEATURED ARTICLE - KARAN PHATERPEKAR NMIMS, Mumbai

Ethics in marketing research The technological evolution and the ever-growing expanse of social networking sites have revolutionized marketing research. Unlike the old days, it has become way too simple to conduct surveys, reach out to potential respondents, post advertisements for focus groups and a lot of other market research activities. However, with this ease comes added responsibility on the companies to ensure that they are not crossing over any ethical lines in their pursuit of information. Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, client, and public to the marketer through information and ethics in marketing research can be termed as the moral principles that are to be recognized while performing market research. It is a field that is of great strategic importance as a lot of key decisions for a company are based on its findings and engaging in unethical behaviour can cause serious backlash for the companies. Marketing research is subjected even more strenuously to public scrutiny as it involves direct contact with public â&#x20AC;&#x201C; since itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s frequently the public that comprise the respondent base and are the very heart of marketing research.

It is a field that is of great strategic importance as a lot of key decisions for a company are based on its findings and engaging in unethical behaviour can cause serious backlash for the companies

Ethical decision making has always been a dilemma be it any field of study or system. Even though ethical codes can be objective, the subjectivity an individual infuses in it due to his own perception is what makes the 31 MARKSMAN

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FEATURED ARTICLE

The researchers also often engage in ‘Sugging’ which means selling a product under the guise of research and ‘Frugging’ which means fundraising under the guise of research

decision making difficult. A market researcher is no exception, unethical activities research suppliers can engage in are low ball pricing – pricing low to get the business and then adding on costs, allowing subjectivity into their research by using biased samples, selling unnecessary research, abusing respondents and violating client confidentiality. The researchers also often engage in ‘Sugging’ which means selling a product under the guise of research and ‘Frugging’ which means fundraising under the guise of research. These problems generally arise because of a one-time breach of ethics on the part of the researcher and when that activity passes with short term profits, the researcher becomes even more prone to try it again in the future. However, what he ignores are the long-term repercussions his activities might have on the general public. All these activities have led to the perception of research being unethical and respondents becoming averse to engaging in research. It is these practices that mar the reputation of the company, even though it is not directly involved in the same. Hence, it is also the duty of the clients to ensure that it employs credible researchers. Most of the researchers face an ethical dilemma when posed by questions like ‘If I don’t promise confidentiality, can I disclose the respondent information?’, ‘If I don’t get the number of responses I promised, should I alter the data?’, ‘If I find out that the survey wasn’t completed exactly as promised, but the client is happy with the results, should I keep the information silent?’ all these questions require to be answered keeping aside individual emotions. This decision making in market research can be facilitated by first identifying the key stakeholders that might be affected 32 MARKSMAN

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FEATURED ARTICLE

The five distinct entities that are majorly affected by the research process are the general public, the respondents in a specific study, the client, the researcher and the research profession

before engaging in the research. If we can identify who is being affected by market research practices, it enables us to be aware of some readily discernible and easily avoidable ethical pitfalls. The five distinct entities that are majorly affected by the research process are the general public, the respondents in a specific study, the client, the researcher and the research profession and there are three parties that are involved in the research process - the client who sponsors the project, the supplier who designs and executes the research and the respondents who provide the information. After this identification, there need to be specified guidelines relating to all these entities. Some examples are - information or data collected from the participants should not be used for any other purpose, researcher should not force any respondents for answers, protection or confidentiality of data, in case of personal or sensitive questions researcher should give time to respondents to think about it or refuse to participate in the study, proper unbiased and accurate information collection and others. The responsibilities for supporting ethical decision making donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just rest with the researcher. It is also the responsibility of a client to treat the research findings properly and avoid twisting or distorting it for their own benefit. Considering an example if a research project aims at finding out which brands of toothpaste are preferred by most dentists, and arrives at the following results: 80% of the dentists surveyed express no preference, 10% preferred Brand A, 5% Brand B and 2% prefer some other brand than A or B. It would be misleading on part of the client firm to claim that more dentists prefer Brand A than any other toothpaste. Not because it is necessarily untrue, but it would leave the public with the inaccurate conclusion that majority of the dentists prefer Brand A, when in fact they express no preference. In conclusion, market research would always be filled with ethical dilemmas and all that matters is the approach of the researcher and the client towards keeping this profession away from the murkiness of unethicality. 33 MARKSMAN

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SQUARE HEAD SQUARE HEAD -MONISH SHAH

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BUZZ -VIDITI JAJODIA

DOWN 1. Which company is the owner of the prestigious Cannes Lions? 2. Which beer brand introduced the campaign 'The Danish Way"? 4. "Creativity is intelligence having fun" was said by

Down: 1. Ascential, 2.Carlsberg, 4.Albert Einstein Answers Across: 3. Infosys, 5. Berlin, 6.Harry Potter, 7.Indigo, 8.One8, 9.PV Sindhu

ACROSS 3. Panaya Inc was acquired by which of the following company? 5. Kempinski Hotels S.A., Europe's oldest luxury hotel group, originated in which city? 6. Niantic Labs, developer of the once immensely popular PokĂŠmon Go, is now making a X AR game. Identify X 7. Which Indian aviation company got into trouble recently for beating a passenger? 8. Kohli launched his athleisure brand in collaboration with German sports lifestyle brand Puma. Name the brand. 9. Who is Bridgestone India's Brand Ambassador?

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CALL FOR ARTICLES DECEMBER 2017 Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:

1. Marketing techniques used by political parties for elections. 2. Low Budget high effect advertising. 3. Market strategies in Education Sector. *Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all references are clearly mentioned.

1. One article can have only one author. 2. Your article should be approximately 800-850 words and MUST be replete with relevant pictures that can be used to enhance the article. 3. Font Type: Gill Sans MT 4. Font Size: 14. 5. Send your article in .doc/.docx format to marksman.simsr@somaiya.edu 6. Subtitle line:Your name_Institute Name_Course Year 7. Kindly name your file as : Your name_Topic The best adjudged article will be given a Winnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Certificate. The First Prize Winners will be awarded Rs 500 Cash Prize.

Deadline for the submission of article : 20th December, 2017

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