The Marksman October Edition 2021

INTERFACE

The

WHERE MARKETING COMES ALIVE

MARKSMAN Stories. Insights. Knowledge.

VOL XII | ISSUE III | OCT'21

#AdHERtising

EDITOR'S NOTE "Women empowerment to promote selling is still women empowerment."

Mahak Sonkar

In a world where feminism is still a debatable concept, Is femvertising the right way ahead for brands?

We have seen women being objectify by the entertainment industry for the longest time ever now.

Femvertising while may not put a direct stop to such notion, it definitely does inspire people to create advertisements and campaigns that are pro women and focused on women empowerment.

Brands are going with the mindset shift that women are more just a pretty face and bring a lot more to the table than that. Sometimes while these feeble attempts at femvertising proved to be a huge success for a few brands that made every one emotional, some dumb attempts from other brands have also brought them detestation.

Read more about 'Femvertising: Selling women empowerment' in this edition's cover story.

This edition takes you through brand stories of innovation and philanthropy, the happenings on social media, and much more.

CFA WINNERS: A very hearty congratulations to the winner and the runner-up of October Edition's Call For Articles.

1. Winner- Madhurima KVS, K J Somaiya Institute of Management 2. Runner up- Ibrahim Khan, K J Somaiya Institute of Management

Alipriya Ghosh

You can find their brilliant pieces in the ”Featured Articles” section. The response we received was overwhelming and we encourage you to write to us with the same enthusiasm for all further editions as well.

Sunitra Manglani

Yukta Jain

THE WRITERS

THE DESIGNERS

MEET THE TEAM

Anshul Sheikh Chinmaya Sharma Aditya Mulya

THE WRITERS

Anushka Dalvi

Rijul Ghosh

Aditi Pooja

Antarip Biswas

THE WRITERS

Rayomand Sachinwala

Amrit Nair

Vikas Yadav

TABLE OF CONTENTS 01

Kickstart In a country that's crazy about Chai, making room of coffee still feels like a tedious job at times. But this startup will have you craving for a cup of coffee, hot or cold, while sending lots of motivation your way via their inspiring story.

Cover Story From watching women in ads to watching ads that are made for women, we have come a long way. But is using women empowerment to sell products really working out for brands?

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What's Hot on the Gram

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September swooped in a bunch of trends with it. From a sad start to crazy fashion trends to creating a frenzy with Squid games, September looked pretty hot for a month which marks the beginning of winters.

Brand Markive From wooden blocks to cute colorful plastic sets, Lego has stayed around the corner for a century almost. But how did they sustain, evolve and still remain trendy in a industry during all this time? Let's find out.

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More than Marketing Starbucks is always known to mess up their naming game, but this time they decided to turn the tables with their #whatsyourname campaign and how?! Honoring the LGBTQ+ community, this is a beautiful campaign that goes beyond marketing.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 06

Marketing Buzz What is marketing all about If not creating a buzz? If not grabbing the moment and making the most of it?

Hallmark Campaign When we say this campaign by Cadbury will be the best thing you have read about all month, we aren't lying! It's probably sweeter than their chocolates and we aren't compalining.

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Pioneer

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Naomi Osaka went from being a Tennis Player to a social icon, and while this transition may not have so smooth, she definitely made it look effortless. Having worked with brands like Nissan, GoDaddy, Louis Vuitton! She's a treat to watch.

Marketflix and Chill Squid games has taken the internet by a storm and turned many heads to Korean dramas. And while the entertainment industry juggled with it's fame, brands took a dip in the moment and made the best out of it for their marketing.

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Mark-o-pedia As we keep wishing for fictional products to become real, some brands are actually acting on the very idea. The phenomenon of Reverse product placement is also the rage and here's why!

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KICKSTART SLEEPY OWL

Have it hot, have it cold

-Chinmaya Sharma

A lot has happened over coffee for three youth, Ashwajeet Singh, Arman Sood, and Ajai Thandi.

They launched Sleepy Owl Coffee in 2016 from a two-bedroom flat in Delhi. Since then, the three friends have sold cold and hot brew coffee to over 60,000 people in India's predominantly tea-drinking nation through over 1,000 retail shops. Sleepy Owl Coffee received $500,000 in 2018 to extend its operations beyond Delhi and Mumbai to Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Bengaluru.

It's challenging to make a living off coffee in a tea-drinking country like India and weaning consumers away from brands like Bru and Nescafe. However, Thandi, Sood, and Singh want to focus on their strengths: excellent quality and attractive packaging. When they came up with the concept to start a coffee company, none had any F&B or FMCG expertise. It was a personal problem they had and a problem they noticed around them and wanted to remedy, as is the case with most promising ideas.

Serving freshly brewed coffee to customers, Sleepy Owl Coffee has created a niche for itself. Sleepy Owl's first-year revenue at Rs 30 lakh was an early indicator that they were on their way to success. Sleepy Owl relocated to its current premises in Shahpur Jat, Delhi, a start-up hotspot, within six months.

They offered black coffee in a package for the first 18 months and had a 200 % yearly growth. DSG Consumer Partners also contributed Rs 3.50 crore to the project.

They used the money to make ready-todrink coffee with a clean label and packaging. They spent a year on R&D before launching in 2019. People could brew their cold coffee at home, but they also had a new product.

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KICKSTART They established a consumer brand with a catchy name, Drowsy Owl Coffee, an oxymoron in which consumers drink coffee to stay awake or too sleepy.

Sleepy Owl has been consistently evolving as a company that improves the quality of its consumers' coffee every day. This is a challenge for the brand, and it is continuously on the move to meet it. The brand appears to be in for a busy year with new flavors, product varieties, and new markets to pursue. The brand strives to raise awareness and educate customers about what it means to enjoy a real cup of coffee through the content it creates.

Even when not refrigerated, the product has a six-month shelf life. There are two types of brew available: hot and cold.

These single-cup brews are practical and can be used the same way as teabags, making them ideal for travel.

Sleepy Owl has the advantage of being in direct contact with customers, and thus, providing them with a positive, simplified experience is critical. The brand's online presence has been steadily increasing. The firm can see interest in other parts of the country, outside of the metros, based on its online sales, and plans to expand its retail presence in cities and villages with the same focus to make Sleepy Owl Coffee a household name.

In the winter, sales of hot brew increase, whereas in the summer, cold brew is favored. Because it is a category-defining product, raising consumer awareness is the most challenging task. To reach our target demographic, they employed social media and digital media. They had to explain why their coffee tastes better despite being less bitter and acidic.

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Cover Story FEMVERTISING

Selling women empowerment

Ask someone the much-debated question, ”Are you a feminist?” and wait for at least half of them to answer, ”No, I believe in gender equality”. With all the controversial debates regarding feminism being antimen and fixating on issues that allegedly do not exist in the 21st century, this term has become an anathema to many. Like it or not, feminism has become one of the most trending topics and is here to stay.

After decades of objectification of women, the advertising agencies have realized that they have only been catering to one of their consumer groups. At the same time, the other significant segment isn’t too thrilled to watch themselves chasing after chocolate-covered men. Cue: femvertising.

-Anushka Dalvi

This term was first coined after the launch of Dove's Real Beauty campaign by the magazine 'SheKnowsMedia'. It started with the first #femvertising awards for advertising by inculcating pro-female messages and representation to empower women and girls. Many brands have been trying to cash in on this latest trend to appeal to female consumers. Some have nailed the concept by shedding light on taboo topics and social limitations faced by women. Others have made a severe faux pas by lacking the most basic understanding of what feminism stands for. Let us have a look at both these categories.

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Cover Story

SUCCESSFUL FEMVERTISING

Another great example is the Winner of 2020 Femvertising Awards in Inspirational Category: Bumble for its 2019 Super Bowl campaign. This campaign titled ‘The Ball is in Her Court’ starred not only the brand’s global advisor Serena Williams but also had an all-female production and creative team. It portrayed the journey of Serena Williams in her professional life and as a mother, a wife, a friend, and a woman.

Through this campaign, Bumble aimed to make women think about all the times they were told to hold back, be polite and wait for their turn, and urged them to stand up for what they deserve. The Chief Brand Officer of Bumble, Alex Williamson, spoke about how they have been repeatedly told that women wouldn’t or shouldn’t make the first move, and so this campaign was a true testament of femaledriven progress.

One brand that has successfully pulled this concept is feminine care brand Libra, which launched its global award-winning campaign #BloodNormal in Australia and New Zealand. This campaign, created by AMV BBDO London, was one of the first to portray red-coloured menstrual blood instead of the typical blue liquid. The advertisement shows young women going about their daily life scenarios while on their period, thus normalizing periods in all their forms. Caitlin Patterson, the executive general manager of Libra’s parent company Asaleo Care, emphasized that ”Periods are a normal part of life, but mainstream media largely ignore them.

They don’t feature in the representation of female characters that we see every day.”

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Cover Story

THE REDEMPTION ATTEMPTS

Jumping on to these trends, various brands have also attempted to right their past wrong-doings. The beer industry has been notorious for showing ads with women objectification. For decades, their ads revolved around minimally dressed women pouring beer to their husbands until they realized it was no longer working. In 2019, Budweiser released a newer version of their 1962 ad. The initial ad depicted a woman hovering over a large cooking pot and smiling brightly at her husband carrying a beer. The ad contained the slogan ‘Big appetite. Dinner is almost ready, and it sure smells good.

Loosen your tie and enjoy your Budweiser’.

The modernized ad came with a revised version at the side of the old one. It consisted of a woman with a dog, having Chinese takeout pouring out beer for herself.

'Time to unwind', the slogan said. 'It’s Friday, and your favourite takeout just got here. Crack open a cold Bud and enjoy some time to yourself.' These ads came with a risk of reminding people about how Budweiser has been feeding negative stereotypes regarding women in the past.

However, the company defended itself, saying that they were using their past as a launchpad for showing women in a more balanced way.

CONFLICTING MESSAGES

Some of the brands try to attempt femvertising but send conflicting messages with their advertising. For example, Dove’s exemplary campaign for Real Beauty was one of the frontrunners of femvertising. It was this campaign that started the conversation about accepting the non-stereotypical beauty standards

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Cover Story

for many. But at the same time, the parent company of Dove, Unilever, ran ads about the misogynistic Axe deodorant, with women chasing after men wearing this body spray. The same company has contradicted its stance concerning women empowerment. This shows how it is not enough to impart feminist messages in some specific ads. This message needs to be consistently applied across all parent company brands to classify as a successful femvertising attempt.

HOW BRANDS CAN GET IT RIGHT

While a majority of the women’s ads revolve around beauty products and parenting, a Think With Google survey revealed that women are much more likely to search for a how-to video than a beauty video. This survey summed up its research aptly, stating that millennial mothers are prioritizing their personhood,

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not just their parenthood. Accordingly, brands need to venture beyond the traditional ideas sold to women and dig deep into the current female issues.

Financial firm PPS got it right with its campaign ‘Women Acknowledged’, which targets female professionals to highlight the stereotypes women face in workplaces.

Brands also need to practice what they are preaching. Showing inclusivity in their campaigns cannot be genuine until the same practice is inculcated in their own work culture. Their workplaces need to be more gender-inclusive, which can make the brands stand out among the noise and establish a genuine connection with the audience. Femvertising cannot be just a trending topic for PR. Representation and a shift in the mindset can transform it from a mere hashtag to a whole revolution.

WHAT'S HOT ON THE GRAM Memories, Dementors and Deadly Games

-Anshul Sheikh

The Met Gala 2021 took social media by storm. Billie Eilish, the co-chair, channelled her inner starlet in an Oscar de la Renta gown inspired by Grace Kelly's elegant aesthetic. Like Lil' Nas X, others used the element of surprise to shut down the red carpet by removing layers of ornate Versace to expose a sparkling catsuit.

But Kim Kardashian stole the show by enveloping herself in a black outfit from head to toe. While admirers continued to puzzle over how Kim's all-black ensemble justified the theme, they also uploaded humorous memes on social media equating her to the 'dementor' from the Harry Potter series and Batman's Bruce Wayne. She arrived in New York wearing a Balenciaga ensemble that included a balaclava. The ensemble featured a TShirt dress with a curve T-Shirt and a bodysuit, designed by Demma Gvasalia for the label. Kim completed her appearance with Jersey boots and Pantaleggings.

Instagram in September had a shocking start due to the sudden demise of Big Boss 13 winner Siddharth Shukla. The actor passed away on September 2 due to a sudden cardiac arrest. How deeply everyone missed him was quite evident from the fact that within six days of his demise, his follower count on Instagram went from 3.5 million to 4.4 million! Old photos, films, and interviews with Sidharth remembering the late actor swamped Instagram. A number of friends and actors also went on record and spoke out about their beautiful recollections of Sidharth.

This was his last post on Instagram promoting the show Mumbai Diaries.

Mumbai Diaries is a series on how hospitals dealt with the 26/11 terror attack.

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WHAT'S HOT ON THE GRAM

If you haven't been living under a rock, you've seen internet posts from people who are obsessed with the Netflix series 'Squid Game.' The nine-episode Korean drama, which premiered on Netflix on September 17, is expected to become the company's most prominent "non-Englishlanguage show in the world," according to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. According to Flix Patrol, 'Squid Game' is the No. 1 show in dozens of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. This website records streaming statistics for the world's major platforms. The show follows Lee Jungcharacter, Jae's Seong Gi-Hun, as he and hundreds of other desperate and highly indebted contestants compete for $38 million in violent and often obscene competition. One person can only win the prize, and those who lose the series of children's games pay with their lives.

'Squid Game' creator Hwang Dong-hyuk

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wrote the show in 2009 but was rejected by studios for ten years, believing the concept to be "implausible" and "too grotesque." Desi netizens did not disappoint, whether trying to manufacture Dalgona candy or simply discovering resemblances to sequences from renowned Bollywood films. As the hashtag #SquidGame trended on Twitter, several memes emerged. While some speculated on how the series would play out if filmed in India, others provided amusing examples from everyday life in India. Companies also made sure to get their marketing game on point using the trending show's memes. It looks like Kerala Tourism and Dominoes made the most out of this opportunity!

BRAND MARKIVE Lego - The reinvention story

How Lego reinvented itself 'brick by brick'

‘Leg Godt’, meaning ‘play well’, is the Danish word that inspired the famous brand, now commonly known as Lego.

What initially started as wooden toys in 1932, Lego managed to become the largest toy company globally in terms of revenue in 2015. The Lego bricks were created in 1947 and have since inspired other toymakers to manufacture similar products.

Over time, one has seen huge models of Star Wars spaceships or even the famous life-sized model of Bugatti Veyron being built out of Lego blocks, but little does one know that back in 2003, this company was on the verge of going out of business. They tried campaigns that worked well for their competitors.

-Rijul Ghosh

They even went on to open Legoland, theme parks which instantly resulted in losses. The mantra was to give the customers what they loved, but the issue was that Lego’s management did not fully understand what customers actually loved.

Therefore, the end neared and would have consumed them whole if not for their CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp.

The journey from being an inch away from complete shutdown to overtaking Ferrari in 2015 as the most potent brand was astounding, to say the least. In 2016, Lego mini-figures, the 4 cm tall mini people outnumbered humans as Lego had managed to sell 75 billion Lego bricks. It was a huge turnaround considering they were almost bankrupt a decade ago.

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BRAND MARKIVE Lego strategically found success through their movie 'The Lego Movie' and the following marvel named 'The Lego batman' outperformed the original Batman movie.

Lego approached 'Drum' again in 2017 to create an ad break for their upcoming movie 'The Lego Batman' in association with the Warner Brothers. Named 'Continuity Bat', the caped crusader marched in as a self-appointed station announcer for Channel 4 in the UK. Within four days, more than 40 % of the population of the United Kingdom had viewed the advertisement. This resulted in huge pre-bookings for the upcoming movie. Brilliant moves by Knudstorp and team, such as the 'Continuity bat' campaign was enough for Lego to regain its lost fame.

But how did Vig Knudstorp manage to turn the tables for Lego? The brilliance lies in the simplicity of the answer, which is a metamorphosis of the brand. Just as the Lego Millennium Falcon is built brick by brick, Knudstorp did the same with the organisation; he ensured that the voice of the fans was heard. Nonetheless, the success is majorly attributed to the advertising and the marketing campaigns.

Lego's 'Rebuild the World' campaign, which portrayed children to be the masters of creative problem solving, added a three-part mini-series under its belt. The three-part mini-series in 2019 saw Lego highlight the role of creativity when it came to sports stars, musicians and fashionistas. US Olympian Simone Biles talked about how Lego had a major influence on her as she took up choreography and gymnastics.

Through these campaigns, the Danish toymaker aimed to encourage and foster the creative side of children through their signature plastic bricks.

Oscar Cariss of Annex Films limned the message through articulate subtlety, branding a box of Lego bricks as "exciting" and "party in a box" through the voice of the US Olympian.

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MORE THAN MARKETING Starbucks

Beyond #whatsyourname

A person’s name is more than just that- it also speaks for a sense of identity, an association with a personality and beyond.

While names carry a meaning to each of us, they can be said to have a deeper meaning to those in the LGBTQIA+ community, where most are not born with their preferred names.

It doesn’t help that most people continue to call them by their birth names.

Starbucks recognized this problem and came up with the #whatsyourname campaign in February 2020. Inspired by stories shared by members of the transgender community on Youtube, the brand cast transgender people, empowering them to use their preferred

-Aditi Pooja

names at Starbucks, with the signature act of writing names on cups. The campaign started with an advertisement in February around James, who continues to get called by his birth name Jemma, during his transition. He finally gets to embrace his chosen name when a barista at Starbucks asks, “What’s your name?” and beamingly, he responds, “It’s James.”

This heartwarming video was just the beginning of the campaign for Starbucks.

They also partnered with Mermaids, a charity for transgender youth and their families in the UK. Starbucks created a limited edition cookie to help raise over £100k for the meaningful helpline of the charity.

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MORE THAN MARKETING Starbucks has championed its commitment towards inclusivity beyond just marketing.

It announced a mentorship program to diversify its workforce and bring an equal opportunity for employers to connect black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) to senior management and partnership connections. The company aims to employ BIPOC at 30% in corporate roles and 40% in retail and manufacturing roles by 2025. They also pledged to hire 25,000 US military veterans and their spouses by the same deadline, which they completed six years in advance, and now hires 5,000 veterans and military spouses yearly.

Starbucks took this movement one step ahead in Brazil later that year, with the award-winning ‘I am’ campaign. In Brazil, trans people often get harassed when their names on official documents don’t match their identity. Legally changing names can be expensive with much red tape involved, and the registry offices can be intimidating for the community.

VMLY&R Brazil transformed a Starbucks outlet in Sao Paulo to a registry office on the National Day of Trans Visibility to provide meaningful assistance. Trans people, including the employees of the brand, were invited to rectify their names officially, free of charge and with support from diverse NGOs. In the end, the brand gave a new beginning by helping the community unite their mind, body and names. The result? A 7x increase in daily legal name changes for the city than the annual average.

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MARKETING BUZZ Grab the opportunity!

-Aditya Mulye "Dobe mat bano": Professor Dhawal Purohit promotes CoinDCx Professor Dhawal Purohit became a sensation on social media when a video of his online lecture got viral overnight. The professor asked his students about 'a quarter' in the video and received the answer in alcoholic slang instead of financial terms. Professor Dhawal gave an honest reaction to the comment, and it became viral. CoinDCX (A Cryptocurrency trading platform) collaborated with Professor Dhawal to shoot an ad imitating the same scenario and promote CoinDCX on Instagram.

Air India homecoming: JRD’s brainchild now in the hands of Ratan!

Tata group has successfully acquired Air India after 68 years of the airline’s nationalization. Tata sons placed a winning bid of ₹18000 Crores to gain 100% stakes in Air India. They achieved this deal via their unit Talace (A wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons). The deal between Tata and Air India came through after two years of due diligence; kudos to the team of 50 people comprising Tata and Air India liaisons and many consultants. Air India is scheduled to be transferred to Tata Sons by 31st December 2021. Air India was initially known as Tata Airlines, founded by Indian business tycoon - J.R.D. Tata in 1932.

Tata Airlines was later named Air India and was nationalized in 1953 by the Indian Government.

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MARKETING BUZZ Happydent is an Indian chewing gum brand known for its famous 'Palace' ad featured a decade ago. In November 2020, Happydent came up with a new ad campaign, "Dikha Battissi, Kar Bat Acchhi Si".

"Hello literally everyone": One tweet to make the world go Twitterati!

Twitter seized the opportunity to assert dominance on social media after Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram servers went down globally for 6 hours on 5th October 2021. Twitter initiated a tweet stating "Hello Literally Everyone" when the Facebook servers were down.

Other giants in social media marketing such as McDonald's, Tumblr and Alexa (Voice AI at Amazon) had a tête-à-tête with this tweet. Twitter exploded with trends when Adele (English singer-songwriter) replied to the "Hello literally everyone" tweet with "Hiya Babes!". Twitter became people's go-to app after the social media blackout. This entire event captured the attention of millions of people, and twitter flexed its marketing acumen with just one tweet.

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The ad depicts a social message, making a man let go of his seat reserved for women.

Recently, Happydent has launched a 'Make a dent' ad contest where people can submit their creative ads. The ads should contain a view of people using light coming out of their mouths because of Happydent to reveal a social message.

Happydent believes this contest will help create more awareness about social injustice and help make a dent to fight it.

HALLMARK CAMPAIGN Not just a Cadbury ad

A First Ever Hyper personalised ad.

The pandemic has proven itself to be vicious for everyone. People lost their jobs, their lives and their dear ones too. But it has been tough, especially for small-scale businesses, to get back on their feet. Large organizations have the resources to cope with the changing landscape of the economy, but that was not the case with small business owners. However, we had seen some ray of hope when millions of people came together to contribute to the upliftment of the poor, and hundreds of brands tried to reach out to the needy by their marketing campaigns and donations were made to help them overcome the loss of money and livelihood.

-Rayomand Sachinwala

“Not Just A Cadbury Ad” is one such effort in the same direction. The campaign is a joint initiative by Ogilvy, Wavemaker and Cadbury.

What is it about?

The Ad is not just a business campaign for Cadbury but is also a platform of visibility for affected businesses during Covid. Many small businesses do not have a digital presence, making it difficult to run their business, especially when the whole world went digital in the lockdown. With the advent of Artificial intelligence, Cadbury utilized the technology to create a hyperpersonalized Ad for its audience.

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HALLMARK CAMPAIGN Cadbury collected information from hundreds of local businesses and fed that into the database. It contained three things; Store Name, Pincode, and Location.

As the advertisement was served to the Indian consumers, an algorithm located the Pincode and then mapped the various local stores with that Pincode and served the one that is closest to the individual in real-time. The AI-enabled system created thousands of permutations for the localized version of the same advertisement, in fact so many that it was impossible to track.

For example, a person watching the ad in Delhi will see the local affected businesses in Delhi. A person sitting in Mumbai will see the ads featuring affected companies in Mumbai. The advertisement crafts a beautiful story of a woman gifting her family members with gifts from local vendors and stores and urges people to do the same to help the affected small vendors across the country.

This created the first hyper-personalized advertisement, ensuring that every individual who saw the ad-supported the local stores. The heart of this campaign lies in generosity, especially in these trying times. This data-driven, localized and personalized campaign captures generosity experienced at a local community level, where they featured local retailers & urged people to remember them while gifting this Diwali.

How did they do it?

While the idea behind this advertisement was brilliant, the execution was a hurdle for Cadbury to cross.

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PIONEER Naomi Osaka A Japanese Icon!

-Antarip Biswas

Naomi. Who is she?

Born in Japan in 1997, Naomi moved to the USA at a young age with her parents. She currently identifies as a Japanese Haitian American. Her father envisioned Naomi and her older sister as future Tennis players after being inspired by Venus and Serena Williams. She trained hard in Miami and turned pro at the age of 16 and represented Japan. Today, she is a Tennis Champion and an entrepreneur, luminary, and role model for young people across the globe.

A Sporting Powerhouse.

Naomi’s sporting journey began to take off in 2013 when she represented Japan in a tournament. The Women’s Tennis Association named her the “Newcomer of the Year.”

She won the Australian Open the following year, making her the World’s No. 1 and the first Asian player to achieve this feat. She is currently the third person to have won all four of her first Grand Slam Finals.

From a Player to a Social Icon.

Naomi gained instant stardom with her exceptional Tennis in a short time. She now uses this platform to fight and take a stand on Social Issues. In 2020 she also entered the domain of Fashion when she appeared at the New York Fashion Week for the first. time. She has received recognitions such as Times Magazine's '100 Most Influential People', Sports Illustrated's 'Sportsperson of the Year' and appearances in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and many more. She has also been active on social media, with her follower count doubling in 2020, and appeared on shows like CBS This Morning and Good Morning America.

Activism and Support.

Naomi has been very vocal about Social Change, Racism, and Equality. Being a woman of colour, she has stood upon each occasion of brutality against the Black community. She has participated in peaceful protesting in various US cities.

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PIONEER After a racial crime in Kenosha, Naomi backed out of two Semi-final matches and wrote on Twitter – "Before I am an Athlete, I am a Black Woman." The organizers paused the tournament. She teamed up with Nike and Laureus Sports to launch 'Play Academy.' Through this, she hopes to get more girls to be involved in sports and ensure fair play.

Ambassador. Investor. Changemaker.

In her short career, she has worked with various brands. She is currently partnering with big names like Nike, Nissin, Workday, Mastercard, Yonex, Levi's, Nissan, Tag Heuer, Beats, GoDaddy, Morinaga, Panasonic, and Louis Vuitton. Nike and Naomi have partnered for initiatives like Play Academy and have launched apparel lines with unique logos. Nissin is known for instant ramen noodles. Instant ramen and instant stardom brought Nissin and Naomi together. Naomi is one of Mastercard's global brand ambassadors. Naomi uses Yonex tennis rackets to deliver her signature serves.

She is now the Brand Ambassador of Louis Vuitton. Levi's has been associated with a pair of iconic 501 Levi's Classic Jeans. Her campaign – "Beauty of Becoming," has brought classic trends back into the mainstream. Nissan made her the Ambassador for their Ariya Electric Crossover SUV. She teamed with GoDaddy to launch her new skincare brand – Kinlò. She also invests in Body Armor, Hyperice, Sweetgreen, and NC Courage.

In 2021, Naomi spoke publicly about her mental health issues and decided to withdraw from the French Open. She revealed her battle with depression and anxiety on social media. She wrote an essay titled “It’s OK not to be OK”, where she spoke about her actions. Brands like Mastercard and Sweetgreen supported her on Twitter while Mental Health Organisations like NAMI and the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) stood by her. Naomi Osaka is a powerhouse, be it on the court or outside of it. As a brand ambassador and investor, she can bring changes in the corporate social responsibility processes and create better companies that are ethical and sustainable.

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MARKETFLIX AND CHILL Squid Game:

Word of mouth marketing

-Amrit Nair

As Bong Joon Ho (director of 'Parasite') said, "once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films" and looking at the success of Squid Game, his words seem to have come true.

First, let us discuss the ad campaign of Squid Game, simple yet ingenious. The advertisement shows a crowded street with pedestrians crossing the road according to the traffic signal. In the background plays the ominous yet melodious music of Squid Game, and in the center of it all stands the large doll, peering over everyone.

The cameras on the street are looking for anyone not following the traffic signals, and soon enough, a man in green shirt moves when the light is red, the doll turns its head, and the words green shirt eliminated come to the screen.

Then similar footage from episode one of the show plays with the same music and doll but in a different setting. The ad conveys the show's core message, as the name suggests, it is about a game, but the music and how the doll looms over everyone reveals a dark undertone and grabs our attention.

But a simple advertisement, no matter how effective, is not enough to garner such success. So, what marketing lessons can we learn from the success of the squid game? Never underestimate the power of word of mouth. It is an age-old marketing method whose efficacy has exponentially increased since the advent of social media.

The show sparked millions of memes, posts and tweets, which required some inside knowledge to understand and piqued everyone’s interest. But the rate at which word of mouth spread for squid game was unheard of before. The show gained overnight success worldwide. The show itself is very well made and keeps you invested.

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MARKETFLIX AND CHILL To conclude, it was a combination of word of mouth, social media trends and the show itself being binge-worthy that made it an overnight worldwide success.

Standing out in the market requires one to be innovative and bring something fresh to the table. With shorter attention spans of consumers, content should leave an immediate impact that can pique their interest. One reason not talked about enough is how well made the show is. The critics rate it highly, and the setting itself is very intriguing. So, if you’re one of the very few people who haven’t watched the show yet, I highly recommend you give it a watch.

A new form of marketing that has emerged in present times is that of a social media trend. It can often be seen in Instagram reels, Tiktok, etc., where people dance to a small portion of a song with the same dance routine or lines from a movie being lip-synced. The songs used in this trend usually blow up. Squid game was associated with a similar trend using catchy background music, and this expanded its reach by developing intrigue and interest amongst those who hadn’t viewed the show yet.

Tik-Tok trends are a ticket to instant popularity as content creators tend to join in these trends to increase their popularity.

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MARK-O-PEDIA Reverse Product Placement

How Product Placement can be fun again?

-Vikas Yadav

If running a successful advertising campaign is the most sought-after party on the block, then Reverse Product Placement (RPP) might be the perfect backdoor to that party house. In theory, Reverse Product Placement is a marketing strategy wherein instead of placing a product in a popular movie, a show, or any art form that affects pop culture, it brings the fictional products into the real world, the actual market.

This is the perfect solution if people are mostly put off by ads trying to sell them random unknown products. So, instead of fighting for space in our product's memory shelf, we make room in our shelves from their memory.

Product Placements often give the artists or the artform a bad rep for breaking their unspoken artistic bonds with their audiences and submitting to corporate greed. But RPP, on the other hand, is not ruining any customer experience but instead, it's a way to enhance it. We've already seen a few instances of this RPP in the past; Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, the famous candy from the Harry Potter books, was converted into a popular realworld product by Cap Candy, a division of Hasbro. The Candy brand now comes in 50+ flavors and has inspired numerous blogs helping in spreading the word. A similar golden goose opportunity for tobacco brands is the very famous director Quentin Tarantino's "Red Apple" cigarettes.

A fictional cigarette brand is used regularly in all his movies, and interestingly, he started using a fake brand of cigarettes to avoid Product Placement in his films. Imagine a Tobacco company gaining the rights of these counterfeit products and adding this to its portfolio of brands; any company would make a fortune on this strategy with comparatively little investment.

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MARK-O-PEDIA Attracting eyeballs requires high investment; in fact, the more you spend on advertisement, the better your brand's visibility. But for new products, it is often a gamble since even after playing by the books, the fate of any product lies in the hands of the customer and pouring a lot of money and labor on chance is always unadvisable. Hence, this is a win-win situation for firms since they can save a lot on investments and be confident that their product will not get lost in the sea of their competitors. But despite all the benefits of this strategy for unknown reasons, it has not been explored aggressively enough by marketers. The global advertising market reached a value of US$ 647 Billion in 2020, and market experts expect the market to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% during 2021-2026. The pandemic forced the advertising agencies to look for news and more creative ways of marketing their products. But consumers are staying locked in their homes which immensely reduces the places to advertise a product, no more use of paying for billboards, expensive outdoor events, and now firms cannot even rely on giving free samples.

Marketers should realize that people spend more time in front of their screens due to lockdowns, whether working or consuming content. They are getting introduced to new content or are either re-watching their old favorite movies and shows. Hence, now would be the perfect time for marketers to start exploring the RPP strategy aggressively. Consumer goods are showing a rapid recovery in sales, and luckily enough, most of the RPP products can be consumer goods.

So, the firms taking this opportunity seriously and implementing an effective campaign around this marketing trick can quickly gain the first-mover advantage and set the rules for their competitors. Every marketing strategy is more likely to fail than succeed, but both the firms and their consumers can have a little bit of fun.

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CALL FOR ARTICLES Purpose Driven Campaigns to take Center Stage

-MADHURIMA KVS

Irrespective of their size or scale, magic is created to help the business experience continued success when it aligns with customers' beliefs. The products or services a brand is selling are the tools that allow it to achieve its core purpose.

Purpose-driven campaigns are slowly emerging as the hottest marketing strategy. They will soon take centre stage in the marketing and advertising world.

For decades, biologists spurned emotion and feeling as uninteresting. But Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist, demonstrated that they were central to the liferegulating processes of almost all living creatures and played an essential role in all major decision-making.

The essence of marketing is communicating with consumers, who are creatures of emotions rather than logic.

Purpose-driven marketing is a marketing strategy used by an organization to centre its external communication efforts around a social cause that aligns with the very beliefs of its target customer market. Over time, it has been proven that consumers associate with purpose-driven brands more than regular brands.

Purpose-driven campaigns are an excellent marketing strategy because they benefit big brands and small businesses alike.

This is because1.It helps businesses forge a deeper connection with their customers, which goes beyond the regular buyer-seller relationship. It allows brands to form bonds with a target audience based on shared interests, which drives the customer to associate with a brand based on decisions driven by emotions and feelings rather than price.

2.It helps businesses gain more brand loyal customers who are raving fans of your business. They are now keen supporters of your brand.

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CALL FOR ARTICLES 3.It helps a brand obtain a unique position in the market, differentiating it from its competitors and thus making it inimitable.

It helps a brand have sustainable, long-term growth, which will help them reap the benefits of their purpose-driven campaigns for years to come.

While the benefits are aplenty, there are also some challenges that a brand may encounter when designing a purpose-driven campaign1.A business cannot expect short-term, overnight success with a purpose-driven marketing campaign. It is a long-term strategy, and organic results continue to show after a brand has been consistent with its efforts for a while.

2. A business might often be tested for its authenticity regarding its motives. It is because customers have become savvier and smarter in regards to which brands they associate with. Businesses must strive to match their mission statement with their behaviour.

3. A brand should make sure that their business model is as per their mission; they must put money where their mouth is. It is vital to showcase continued efforts in the right direction in alignment with their purpose.

Businesses must endeavour to create a strong brand promise to capitalize on the success of this strategy. When a brand can make a relevant differentiated promise to a specific customer, in line with their worldview and belief system, they could have a robust purpose-driven campaign that gives them a competitive edge over others.

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A brand like TOMS shoes has been able to perfect its brand promise. The CEO and founder of TOMS shoes, Blake Mycoskie, had said that the inspiration for starting his company was his visit to South America. There, he saw many homeless kids without shoes. After which, he decided that the company would donate a pair to kids in need for every pair sold.

The company has since donated over 88 million pairs of shoes to kids.

Thus, it is safe to say that purpose-driven campaigns have gained much momentum and will continue to do so. The world will benefit from purpose-driven campaigns and brands as we move one step towards being a more compassionate society.

CALL FOR ARTICLES Community Marketing

-IBRAHIM KHAN

"Community-powered marketing needs to focus more on relationships than on oneoff purchases and solutions over products."

customer behaviour and branding practices, both community building and social media are now critical in the world of marketing.

Marketing is an essential part of the business. Businesses that execute their marketing strategies correctly can attract new customers, increase brand awareness, and build a strong, engaging corporate identity. However, sometimes businesses can struggle to get the answers they need to thrive. Bad marketing strategies will fail to capture the imagination of customers and drive buyers away from a brand for good. Given the latest innovations and trends in marketing, it is therefore essential for companies that want to connect with their target audience and have a tangible impact on their industry.

One of the most important trends impacting the marketing world today is community. Thanks to changes in

Customers want to feel like they are a part of the brands they buy from and want to be able to trust the companies they interact with on a regular basis. Adapting a marketing strategy to make it more community-centric can help businesses reach a larger and more engaged audience. A great way to build customer loyalty, a community-centric marketing strategy could make a difference for your growing brand. In a world where we are constantly bombarded with advertisements, it is more important than ever to develop meaningful and authentic relationships with consumers who make noise. This engaging and reciprocal brand presence can help interact effectively with existing consumers and foster a loyal

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CALL FOR ARTICLES consumer base. In other words, community marketing values ​building long-lasting relationships with existing and esteemed customers, allowing you to keep conversations going and build customer loyalty. Community marketing differs from other marketing strategies in that it emphasizes retaining existing customers and nurturing relationships with them, rather than just focusing on acquiring new customers. By trying to satisfy the current customer base rather than focusing on a growing audience, one can improve their customer service, increase the likelihood of retaining the customers, and even save money.

While all of these marketing tactics have a place and a purpose, it becomes more and more challenging to steer clear of the constant noise. For consumers who value authenticity and brand interaction, the marketing community will be more appealing to them. It just might be the strategy the company can use to build customer loyalty amid the influx of marketing tactics.

Therefore, community marketing supports customers and saves both the time and effort of the business and the consumer. There are many ways for businesses to approach their marketing strategy from a communitycentred perspective. While community marketing can be organic or sponsored, many consumers who advocate brand loyalty can trust businesses that organically market and communicate with their community.

Consumers are more likely to connect with brands that demonstrate their shared values ​

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and beliefs. Using social media is an effective and easy way to get the brand's message across to the audience. In addition to interacting with existing consumers through social media, brands can develop a community marketing strategy by maintaining contact with existing customers through other outlets.

This can be achieved by sending out explosive newsletters and emails asking for comments or containing exclusive coupons and offers to retain current customers. Community marketing is a huge benefit for brands as it costs less, grows loyalty, maintains authenticity, drives innovation, and supports natural reinvention. Thus, it can be concluded that there is a considerable power of community in marketing.

CALL FOR ARTICLES November 2021 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:

User generated content- ethical or not?

Augmented Reality (AR) & Immersive Technologies in marketing Video vs Image Advertisements 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 November, 2021

QUOTE DECK

The secret to marketing success is no secret at all: Word of mouth is all that matters

Seth Godin

Founder & CEO, Do You Zoom

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