The Marksman Sept '13

The

MARKSMAN

K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH

VOL. IV | ISSUE IV | SEP’ 13

SPECIAL STORY

>>14 FAUX PAS Maruti Suzuki Kizashi

COVER STORY >>17

SEDUCTIVE MARKETING

BOOKWORM

>> 24 REWIND

>> 22

EDITOR’S NOTE Dear Readers, After saying goodbye to the rains, we welcome you to the September edition of ‘The Marksman’.

This month, we start off with a very interesting topic as our cover story ‘Seductive Marketing’. Although it may bring up visuals about the latest ads that were probably censored or eventually banned, Seductive Marketing is much more than that. Next on, we are providing fodder for the sports-inclined when we uncover the secret behind the phenomenal growth of the Premier League club, Manchester United in our Special Story, ‘Rise of the Red Devils’.

With our regular segments such as Tweets, Buzz, Bookworm, Ad-itude, Brand Markive, Hallmark Campaign and Faux Pas, we aim to provide to you an allencompassing view of the world of marketing. With our very own Square head, we take a little hearted look at the realm around us.

From the various articles that we got, we also present to you the best of the lot.

Congratulations and a big thank you to Sufiyan Sarguroh, Dr. Girish Kute and Zeeshan Hassan for the excellently written articles that they sent.

The world of marketing is huge and even with the variety that we have this month, it is, but an iota of it. With this edition, we have tried to push the envelope a little with our cover as well as the special story. Let us know your thoughts on them. Connect with us on www.interfacesimsr.com/the-marksman.

With this, we leave you to enjoy this month’s edition.

Happy Reading!

Team MARKSMAN The Interface-The Marketing Club of SIMSR @marksmansimsr.

SEPTEMBER 2013

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CONTENTS TWEETS

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IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

07

BRAND MARKIVE

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COVER STORY

SEDUCTIVE MARKETING

SPECIAL STORY

RISE OF THE RED DEVILS

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10

14

MARKETING FAUX PAS

17

REWIND

22

BOOKWORM

24

BUZZ

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TWEETS BEER- FINDS A NEW DESTINATION- THE INDIAN HEAD!!

DUMB WAYS TO DIE With its Beer Shampoo, Park Avenue has created a path-breaking category in the hair care segment by launching the first-ever shampoo for men in India. This is primarily because of the main ingredient - Beer - which is associated with fun in mind of the consumer.

Here, it offers a shiny, smooth and bouncy feel to the hair. Park Avenue offers the man, a shampoo created specifically to meet his hair care needs and makes him conscious about personal grooming.

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Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity has announced the recipient of the ‘Advertiser of the Year Award’ for 2013 - Metro, Melbourne’s train system, which has been winning a number of international awards for its public service announcement ‘Dumb Ways to Die’.

The 3 minute clip employs an insanely catchy tune and colorful blobs which die in a variety of ways, including "keeping a rattlesnake as a pet" and "selling both kidneys on the Internet" before culminating in train-related deaths that are described as "the dumbest way to die". Not only has it captured the imagination and engaged the public through multimedia platforms – radio, outdoor, gaming, social media, etc. - but it has also been effective in achieving a change in people’s behavior. In May 2013, Metro released a "Dumb Ways to Die" game as an app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.

SEPTEMBER 2013

TWEETS AMUL GIRL GETS A NEW DIMENSION- GOES 3D!!

Amul's butter girl has been on billboards for almost half a century. Now, Toonz Animation has given the adorable mascot a new threedimensional look in the brand's latest TVC. In the TVC she looks like a regular, well-rounded cartoon character and has been profiled from several angles, not just the front. Moreover, the 60-second version of the ad will be placed in cinemas during 3D movies; and when viewed through special goggles, the ad will be a threedimensional one.

BOURNVILLE'S BITTERSWEET LOVE STORY Bournville has carried out an on-ground activation in a mall in Mumbai as an extension of the brand's “Not So Sweet� TV campaign that was released recently and the video of the same has gone viral on YouTube.

Done by Ogilvy & Mather in a city mall, the activation featured a staged love proposal; a young guy proposes to a young lady, only to get thrashed by her for being too sweet with his words! Enacted by theatre actors, the act absolutely stumped onlookers.

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The video uses a subtle reference to the brand and doesn't look like an ad at all!!

The activation features a train with the message 'Bournville Not So Sweet' written on it, but the action in the background attracts all the attention making the train appear as a mere disturbance rather than an advertising message.

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TWEETS BLACKBERRY CREATES SPECIAL QUEUE AT COLLEGE FEST At the St Xavier's College Fest Malhar 2013, BlackBerry users were given a special entry.

The handset manufacturer put up a larger than life letter, 'Q', at the entry gates of the festival and urged the students to show their BlackBerry devices to pass through the gate, thus by passing the general queue. The idea was to make blackberry users stand out at the event, where BlackBerry was the major sponsor.

The idea behind setting up the Q was to promote the new BlackBerry Q5 in the college zone among the age-group 18-35 years. The brand urged students to participate in the BlackBerry 'My Q5' contest where they had to come up with an ideal price for the

EXTREME EXPLORER!!WOODLAND Leading outdoor adventure wear brand Woodland on Thursday announced a new campaign called ‘Woodland - Adventurer Wanted’ in which the brand is looking for the 'Extreme Explorer' to discover unexplored adventure destinations around the world.

At the launch, Harkirat Singh, Managing Director, Woodland said, “Adventure is when an individual involves himself in an activity that is unusual and has an element of an unknown outcome. Being an adventure gear brand, we have always created a niche area for people who love adventure and have

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handset and walk into the BlackBerry store at Palladium mall in Mumbai sporting a red garment at a specific date and time. Three winners were chosen and awarded the stylish BlackBerry Q5. centered our actions to identify the inner thirst in youngsters who want to wander and explore more."

This opportunity of being the ‘Woodland Extreme Explorer’ rests on the Woodland Facebook page and can be applied by any and every adventurer across the country.

To apply, entrants need to submit an impactful still or an entertaining video (of just 3060 seconds of length), on 'Why You are the Best Person for the Job', showcasing originality and his / her commitment to adventure.

SEPTEMBER 2013

TWEETS

93.5 RED FM VS POTHOLES 93.5 Red FM, Mumbai has launched a 10 day campaign named ‘Pothole Utsav’ and is looking out for the worst potholes in the city. They are planning to perform ‘Puja’ at the most menacing ones. Why puja? To wake up the sleeping authorities!! Red 93.5 FM’s Facebook page which boasts of more than 43K fans has also started updating them about the campaign. The campaign asks for the users to report the worst pothole in their locality.

Also, the initiative urges users to upload the pictures of the potholes on their Facebook page.

#GOODINOURDNA CAMPAIGN Daily News and Analysis, the English Daily is planning out a year-long campaign to bring out the Good stories back to the reader’s morning. With the launch of their latest campaign ‘Good in our DNA’, the newspaper tries to connect with their readers by highlighting stories depicting the ‘good’ in the society. The reader is everyday attacked with news headlines screaming of corruption and murders and the reader feels frustrated.

This is what the campaign aims to tackle by bringing back some feel good stories by their readers to the newspaper.

This Raksha Bandhan, the campaign kick-started by sending rakhis to Mumbai cops on behalf of the readers. Also, it will carry out some offline-online integration to boost it through. DNA’s Twitter handle has started sharing reader’s stories with #GoodInOurDNA hashtag and it would be interesting to see how they carry out this campaign on social media too.

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IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE Television Ad Client: Flipkart Creative Agency: Happy Creative Services Pvt Ltd.

With its latest TVC, Flipkart gives us another reason to love its ads that feature children as adults. This campaign aims to inspire its viewers to shop via Flipkart. They say, “Ab sirf shopping nahi Flipkart karo” in an attempt to position the brand as a synonym to convenient online shopping. It also targets a wider audience this time, giving them several assured reasons to shop online. In the ad, this message is being conveyed on a television debate show which is actually a satire on one hosted by a famous Indian news anchor. The advertisement has been successful in drawing the audiences’ attention and has also hit off well with them as it has gone viral all over social media.

Print Ad Client: Koleston Naturals Creative Agency: Leo Burnett, Lebanon

People usually forget to enjoy the beautiful location as they are busy praising this eyecatching advertisement. The billboard’s strategic position on a promenade elegantly captures Koleston Naturals’ hair colour range. The woman’s hair is cut in the billboard as it utilises the stunning view of the sea and skyline in different phases of day and night. The position of the sun determines the spread of hair dyes available. This ad is designed to highlight the beauty and variety of the shades of hair dye they produce and to emphasize on all the natural ingredients of their products as well. This has definitely proved to be an idea portrayed in a simple yet stylish advertisement that one can never forget.

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SEPTEMBER 2013

BRAND MARKive The Evolution of XEROX HISTORY

Xerox Corporation is an American document management multinational company that manufactures and sells a range of colour and black and white printers, photocopiers, digital printing presses and related ancillaries. The company’s headquarters is in Norwalk, Connecticut. The company acquired Affiliated Computer Services for $6.4 billion in 2010. It holds a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales.

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Xerox was founded in 1906 in Rochester under the name of “The Haloid Photographic Company”, which manufactured photographic paper and equipment. The company came to prominence in 1959 with the introduction of the first ever photocopier machine called the Xerox 914, which was based on the principles of electrophotography.

Chester Carlson and John H. Dessauer are often credited for this innovation. The popularity of this product is well perceived from the fact that by the end of 1961, Xerox had almost $60 million in revenue.

This figure was on a steadfast rise and touched a whooping $500 million by the end of 1965.

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BRAND MARKIVE Before releasing this product, the company tested the market with a developed version of the prototype hand-operated equipment known as the Flat-plate 1385 followed by copyflo in 1955. A scaled down version of the copyflo was to become the basis for the 813 desktop copier. In 1963, Xerox introduced their 813 model, the first desktop plain paper copier, that could fit on anyone’s office desk. Their first foray into duplicating, which is distinct from copying, was with the Xerox 2400.

This machine introduced the industry’s first automatic document feeder, slitter/perforator and collator (sorter).

Product Portfolio Xerox manufactures a large product portfolio including LCD monitors, Phaser printers, multifunctioning printers, large format digital printers, photo copiers as well as workflow softwares under the name of FreeFlow.

FreeFlow efficiently manages the entire workflow of a printing business, right from the prepress, press to the post-press. It ensures a proper coordination, communication and consistency when a printer takes a job from its client for printing on a large scale.

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TRIVIA 1. The first Xerox copier, the 914, was introduced in September, 1959, and put on sale in March, 1960.

2. Cost for Xerox to build 914 was $2000 each.

3. Back then, Xerox only rented the devices, with monthly fee including a set amount of copies, and then overages were 5 cents each.

4. A Xerox 914 weighed roughly around 650 pounds.

5. The inventor of Xerox machine, Chester Carlson was born in America and had Swedish linkage. His father was a barber by profession.

SEPTEMBER 2013

COVER STORY SEDUCTIVE MARKETING We can understand what comes to your mind when you read the title of this article, and most likely the commercials of Wildstone and Axe would have flashed through your minds, but actually Seductive Marketing has a lot more to offer than just that.

In social science, seduction is the process of deliberately enticing a person to engage; seduction being a synonym for the act of charming someone — male or female — by an appeal to the senses aka “The Art of Seduction.”

This art of seduction has also contributed to the marketing world by giving birth to one of the modern marketing method called as Seductive marketing.

What is Seductive Marketing?

Seductive Marketing is a marketing method that leads a potential buyer through a sequence of psychological mind states towards making a buying decision. Seductive marketing follows psychological model of persuasion.

Many psychological studies have proved that a potential buyer goes through a lot of emotional decision points either in favour or against the purchase during the purchasing process and these states contribute to what is known as "buying temperature".

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The knowledge of the buyer's emotional state allows the marketer to target precisely all marketing efforts on moving customers to the next favourable state. This emotional sensitizing approach actually leads to reduced marketing costs and maximized conversion or closing ratios.

What makes Seductive Marketing different?

Old-style marketing is about interrupting people and trying to distract them so you can sell them your stuff. Let’s take an example of a grand party. If you walk around the party, talking about nothing but your job, trying to make a sale, and refusing to show interest in people unless they seem interested in buying, you'll pretty soon find that nobody wants to talk to you, because, not to put too fine a point on it, you're boring.

Seductive marketing is about chatting to them, getting to know them, and letting them buy from you when they're ready. You need to mingle, to socialise, to get to know people, and then, if it's appropriate, offer to help them out.

Effectively, it's about giving the control of the business relationship to the consumer.

Let’s now try to understand how Seductive marketing method actually work and let’s consider an interesting analogy for the same, the parallels of dating world.

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

The Direct Approach, Not a Good Idea!

Walking up to a girl in the street, and asking her out regardless of what she's doing and who she’s with. You might get lucky, but the chances are she calls you a loser and walks away. Some people are, apparently, quite successful with this technique. That's the way a lot of marketing is done, though. But really, it's pretty offensive and pretty ineffective.

Seductive marketing is about establishing a somewhat more mature relationship.

Yes, you're still hoping for the same outcome, but you go about it in a different way. You start out by getting to know her, seeing what you have in common, and then, gradually, seducing her.

It may slowly build into a long-term relationship, or it may just be a short fling, but either way, you go about it with a little bit more charm and elegance than the direct approach.

Let’s look at various stages of Seductive marketing considering the analogy of dating.

All the men should know that you never talk about yourself on a date. You talk about her and her passions. You need to first impress her with your wit, knowledge, and sophistication. Find out what she really likes, and whether you’ll be able to live upto her expectations.

The marketing perspective: You need to show your potential customers that you really are into and very sure about what you are talking about. You understand your customers because you share their passions. For e.g. Nike's seductive marketing focuses squarely on a charismatic athlete or image, rarely even mentioning or showing the shoes.

Stage 2: Romancing

Stage 1: Getting to know your girl

After you have impressed a girl, you need to let her know that you really care, little gifts now and again would do that. And if things are going well, she'll now be telling all her friends how wonderful, kind, gentle and generous you are, and what a great time she's having with you.

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SEPTEMBER 2013

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

In fact, she'll probably invite them to join in.

Nobody would have thought that marketing could be so much fun!!

The marketing perspective: This is the time you make the customer realize what a great decision it would be to choose your product. You start highlighting the amazing features and you start giving free trials, free resources, and attractive offers. Reward your potential customers for bringing you more potential customers .Get them to like you on Facebook, retweet your tweets, and tell others about the free thing(s) you've got. For e.g.

Matrimonial sites like Shaadi.com and other online service providers give free trials, e-commerce sites promote try and buy, replacement offers, speed delivery on request and much more.

Stage 4:The First Kiss Ideally, she'll do this first, She's looked around and, frankly, you're the best there is, for oh so many reasons.

Failing that, however, you may have to arrange a little something special to give her a nudge.

The marketing perspective: Be patient.

Wait for the sale to come to you. It may take customers months, or even years to decide to buy your product.

They can have all sorts of reasons to delay: they may not have the money right now. Don't push too hard.

A chatty message, email, a brief tweet, a mention on FB, a forum post or blog - that's all it takes.

Stage 3: Being Honest Tell her you don't want to pressure her into anything she doesn't want to do.

Maybe go so far as to suggest she sees other guys. Point out your own shortcomings, but in such a way that it doesn't make you look like a loser.

The marketing perspective: This is something that fills most marketers with terror.

Recommend your competitors. Yes, really. But ultimately you got to identify and focus on your target customer group. It proves to your customers that, first of all, you really understand your market.

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Final Stage: Riding off into the sunset Perhaps it's the start of a lifelong relationship, you got to keep the passion up and take care of her throughout.

The marketing perspective: That first sale isn't the end of the story. Keep being nice to that customer, keep being their friend, even if they don't buy a product in the future.

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

Having satisfied ex-customers around can actually be a real benefit to you.

Most of the car companies in India have realized this and so are focussing on increasing the number of service centres and improving quality and time taken to service.

Apple’s Seductive Brand Promise Apple has succeeded at cultivating a brand to which we feel positive emotional attachment. With its iconic logo, sleek aesthetic, and promise of creativity, excitement, and greatness that associate its products with playfulness, sentimentality, and cool youthfulness, Apple promises to be one of the most seductive brand.

Added to this, Apple is known for its quality of after-sales services. If you go to an Apple service store expecting a replacement for iPhone 4, you may as well come out with an iPhone 4s if the previous one was out of stock!

The Intuitive aspect of Seductive Marketing Influence Financial Risk Taking Think about the last time you watched a cricket game. Now think about the all the commercials you had to watch.

Have you ever wondered why certain brands seem to just add attractive models, for what appears no good reason?

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Well, there is a reason -- highly seductive and positive emotions make you take more financial risks.

Why is that? I am glad you asked.

When you are exposed to seductive marketing techniques, a region deep within your brain called the nucleus accumbens becomes activated. This is the part our brain that is "turned on" when we are experiencing positive emotions such as excitement. .

In fact, this basic principle is widely used in casinos. Casino owners want people to make riskier decisions when gambling, so casinos are designed to maximize positive emotions like excitement. Casino floors are full of colourful lights, attractive servers, and appetizing food and drinks all working together to increase your nucleus accumbens activation. The next time you are on an online retail store like Myntra.com or Jabong.com, that cute guy or that hot girl might seduce you into buying a product for which you might have hesitated while buying from Shopper’s Stop.

SEPTEMBER 2013

SPECIAL STORY Rise of the Red Devils

While going through my twitter feeds, I came across an HBR feed called Ferguson’s Formula. Intrigued as I was after reading the name, I couldn’t put a face to this guy Ferguson. As soon as I open the link, there it was, staring right at me, was the image of Manchester United’s recently retired coach and manager Sir Alex Ferguson. I read the article which was written by Anita Elberse, wondering how this guy could be featured in a business article. As I read it, I realized that this man has been responsible for creating a very successful team. Sir Alex has won 28 major honours and 38 in total.

certain skill set and experience which if compared to a company’s hierarchy, would be equivalent to at least the position of the General Manager. The HBR article goes on to relate some management lessons that Sir Alex has followed throughout his career. As I go through these formulas, I get some kind of a picture on how things work for a winning team. But what confuses me is the fact that it’s still an HBR article. So I put on my searching glasses and googled Premier League, Manchester United FC, Liverpool FC and some incidents of hooliganism that took place in the 80’s.

After reading all this and surveying some of my friends who were readily available to give their views on everything related to football, be it their favourite teams, rival teams or just random facts, I realize that the amount of money that goes into these clubs, the fan following and most importantly the brand they have created for themselves is huge.

As the reader, you might be wondering what football is doing in this magazine. I think that managing a football club is quite a task. Managing these big clubs requires a

THE MARKSMAN

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SPECIAL STORY The History

The Brand

Manchester United FC started in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club. The team initially played games against other departments and rail companies. After amassing huge debts, the club was taken up by four businessmen and on 24th April 1902 Manchester United was born.

Manchester United FC has built itself as a global brand in the years after the Munich Disaster. The core strength of Manchester United's global brand is often attributed to Matt Busby's rebuilding of the team and subsequent success following the Munich air disaster, which drew worldwide acclaim. The club is currently ranked third in the Deloitte Football Money League (behind Real Madrid and Barcelona). In January 2013, the club became the first sports team in the world to be valued at $3 billion.

It did not do well in its starting years, it won the league only twice in 50 years of its inception. Matt Busby took over the reins in 1945 who led them to 2nd place league finishes in 1947, 1948, 1949.

The Munich Air Disaster- On the way home from a European Cup quarter-final victory against Red Star Belgrade, the aircraft carrying the Manchester United players, officials and journalists crashed while attempting to take off after refuelling in Munich, Germany on 6th February 1958. The crash claimed 23 lives, including those of 8 players. Matt Busby led the team to 3 more League wins and 1 European Cup win.

The value of Manchester united brand was bolstered by off-the-field media attention to individual players, most notably David Beckham (who quickly developed his own global brand). This attention generated greater interest for on-the-field activities, and that lead to more sponsorship opportunities.

During the years of 1969 and 1986, it saw a flurry of managers and only 3 wins at league level. Alex Ferguson joined the side in 1986 and it has been an upward journey since then. Winning 13 Premier League titles and many others. Under him, the club has thrived in these past 26 years.

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SEPTEMBER 2013

SPECIAL STORY Higher league placements resulted in greater share of television rights, success on-field generated greater income for the club.

United also was willing to sell players who still had good years ahead of them, it made more money from outgoing transfers than most of its rivals did—so the betting on promising talent could continue. Many of those bets were made on very young players on the cusp of superstardom.

Brands are formed over the years and it takes considerable amount of skill, resources and superior quality product/service to make them flourish in the market. Manchester United has created itself as superior brand under the able guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Now that he has retired, let’s see what the new manager David Moyes has in store for the club.

Ferguson did occasionally shell out top money for established superstars, such as the Dutch striker Robin van Persie, bought for $35 million at the start of the 2012–2013 season, when he was 29.

Nike the sportswear company has created a key sponsorship relationship with the club. They manage the club’s merchandising operation as a £303 million 13-year partnership established in 2002.

Through Manchester United Finance and the club’s membership scheme, One United, a large range of branded goods and services are made available to the fans. Additionally, Manchester Unitedbranded media services – such as the club's dedicated television channel, MUTV – have allowed the club to expand its fan base to those beyond the reach of its Old Trafford stadium.

THE MARKSMAN

P.S. This is my first encounter with football, all the above is through research via colleagues and the internet. As of now I am not inclined towards any football club and this in an unbiased opinion. Though during the course of my research for this article, I have started following the Premier League and who knows, by the season end, I might even sing “You’ll never walk alone”, if all you fans out there, know what I mean.

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MARKETING FAUX PAS Maruti Suzuki Kizashi Maruti Suzuki has always been a brand that manufactures cost effective cars mainly catering to its broad middle-class customer base. So, what happens when such a brand decides to launch a luxury model priced at 16.5 lakh rupees?

How do they ensure sales of such a high priced model? The answer - They do not.

Since its launch in February 2011, the Maruti Suzuki Kizashi has been a spectacular failure not only in the Indian markets but it has also been a global disappointment.

Kizashi is Japanese for “something great is coming�. While the greatness of the Kizashi can be put up for debate, there can be no doubt that there was nothing great about its entry into the Indian market. There were two major issues that were the cause of the downfall of the Kizashi - the positioning and branding.

Maruti were skeptical of the response they would receive towards the Kizashi, and decided to import the car from Japan directly as a Completely Built Unit (CBU). Adopting such a safe strategy comes with a serious pitfall - that of taxes. So, a car that should be placed in the 12-13 lakh price segment ends up

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pinching the pocket of the customer by an additional 4-5 lakhs making it a D segment car placed in a price range of 16-18 lakhs.

Thus, the Kizashi, that should have been competing with the likes of the Honda City and Hyundai Verna, suddenly found itself pitted against the models of these companies that were a notch higher i.e. the Honda Accord, Toyota Corolla Altis and Hyundai Elantra.

Maruti tried very hard to mould the image of the Kizashi as a driver oriented car but the general perception was that D segment cars are chauffeur driven and this led to the failure of the marketing campaign.

SEPTEMBER 2013

MARKETING FAUX PAS Maruti Suzuki as a brand is known for production of low to average cost cars i.e. as a mass market car producing company with punchlines like “Kitna Deti Hai” which appeal to the customer’s pocket.

With the introduction of the Kizashi, they planned to tap a niche market of wealthy customers who preferred luxury cars.

Luxury cars are all about pride, power and prestige - not something you would associate with brand Maruti. Most of the people seemed to echo the sentiment “Who would pay 17 lakh for a Maruti?”

Another differentiating point that goes against the Kizashi is the showrooms used

by Maruti in showcasing the Kizashi.

Compared to the elegant and posh showrooms of its competitors, the Maruti showroom does not have the lure to attract potential customers.

Taking the price away from the picture, one will realize that the Kizashi is actually quite a brilliant car in almost every department.

Accompanied by an exquisite finish, stylish interiors and a wide variety of top-class features, the Kizashi surely had the potential to capture the Indian market if priced right.

“ Who would pay 17 lakh for a Maruti? ”

THE MARKSMAN

It could definitely compete with the best of cars in the C segment and also give some of the D segment cars a run for their money.

Had Maruti chosen to manufacture the Kizashi in India, would things have been different? To solve the branding problem, Maruti could have taken a leaf out of Toyota’s book and created a new brand producing only luxury cars.

Toyota’s Lexus and similarly, Volkswagen’s child companies of Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Lamborghini and Bugatti all service the niche luxury car market. Maruti will always be known as the car manufacturer for the common people and it will be a mountain of a task to change the established image and perception of the people.

Perhaps it would be wise to continue with cashing in on the mass market where it has the largest market share and make a steady entry into other niche markets.

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Tete-a-Tete Mr. Kedar Rele semester, I chose Sales and Marketing as an elective instead of any operations subject. So I worked for 2 years and then did a part time MBA, which helped me combine my practical experience with the theory.

On Sept 12th, Mr. Kedar Rele - General Manager (Marketing Services)- handling Birla White- a white cement brand of Ultratech Cement Limited flagship Company of US $40 Billions, Aditya Birla – enlightened the students of SIMSR with his lecture on “Pricing Strategies”.

Here’s a small excerpt from the interview with Mr. Rele prior to the session.

Q. Having pursued your Engineering from KJ Somaiya, how does it feel to be back on the Somaiya Campus?

Ans: Honestly, it feels great. I feel like a student all over again. The professors are amazing, the campus has evolved so well.

You guys are really lucky to be here!

Q. After Production Engineering, what drove you to do an MBA? Ans: Even when I was doing my engineering, I genuinely did not want to get into a factory, but I wanted to market the factory products. In fact even in my final

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Q. You have worked with American Power Corporation (APC Inc), Hindalco, Birla White, across various sectors. So how different is the marketing in each sector?

Ans: I worked with APC in the earliest days of my career, it basically involved entry level sales and cold calls. I was a little upset initially as I felt I got no value being an engineer. But eventually when my sales pitching culminated into orders, I was more than delighted.

When I worked with Hindalco, it was more of B2B marketing. It was huge in terms of exposure. Then via an internal recruiting system, I got a chance to apply to Birla White. A big switch from a B2B sector to a somewhat FMCG product. I got a chance to study in detail about the distribution channel.

It’s been a great journey, so far.

Q. In today’s age, how important is it to make your presence felt in the digital world/social media?

Ans: Oh , it’s extremely important!

Digital is one such medium where you can actually measure your reach and its

SEPTEMBER 2013

Tete-aTete converts easily using Google Analytics and all, unlike print media. Of course other mediums too have a reach, but this is more measurable. Also smartphone users are ever-increasing, which makes it very important for us to be seen digitally. Also, digital medium is more interactive. With the various feedbacks from consumers, we can co-create products.

We have done 2 campaigns on Facebook and twitter. The ‘unsung hero’ campaign was a huge hit, you guys should definitely check it out.

Q. How do seasonal changes affect the sales of cement?

Ans: Normally, Construction happens in a non-monsoon season. But these days the monsoon cycle is also changing, and hence the sales pattern is also changing (laughs). Also these days, there are technologies available so that even if rainfall does occur, there are certain chemicals which quickly cure the cement layering. In fact Birla White Wallcare products do not require curing, which is a great achievement. So yes, there is a season, it does affect sales, and we do plan in advance for it.

Q. Wallcare products in general are not high-involvement products. The decision makers are mainly the contractors / construction heads. How do you deal with this? Do you have activation campaigns?

THE MARKSMAN

Ans : We do. For wallcare products, painters mainly act as the influencers.

Hence we do have activation campaigns for them. We also do activation programs for retailers. We have recently also started consumer activation campaigns.

Q. How has the current economic scenario hit the industry?

Ans: Well, what I personally feel is, since India has a huge population of 1.2 billion comprising of various strata of people, there’s a larger consumer base available, and hence everything will be consumed in India. We are more sentiment-driven. The moment we see something happening globally, or the crude prices going up, our sentiments become low and this is what actually sets the slow down. Having said this, our country will never see a downturn.

Our country has a huge population, young population is so much, we have a lot of festivals around which takes care of various economic activities (laughs). 1.2 billion junta is a huge opportunity and strength . I don’t see any downturn as such. Once we’ve seen the night, we shall see the day as well.

Q. Sir, you’ve worked with Team Interface previously as well, for our Navikaran event. How has your experience been with the team?

Ans: I personally feel Team Interface is great. First time around, I was trying to understand your work and now this time, I am actually feeling like a part of the team.

It’s been quite a learning experience for me as well, I feel like a part of the team. It’s exciting and I am looking forward to working with you guys again.

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Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN IBM’s Clever Billboards steps, providing a useful ramp for bikers and anyone else negotiating wheels.

It feels like God is being too kind to us providing us with alternatives and that too using a billboard. Epic! These people need to be recognised beyond lords for doing that, oh wait; they are already, its IBM and Ogilvy & Mather.

The most stereotypical aspect of our lives are billboard ads. Although billboards afford greatest visibility due not only to their size, but because they allow creative "customizing" through extensions and embellishments, they are visual noise to a common man. Now imagine IBM, which is driven by innovation and who are trying “to build a smarter planet”, trying to put in a novel idea into the concept of billboards.

IBM and Ogilvy have taken billboards to a whole new with this new concept. It probably starts a new era where billboards will be the helpers on the street because if you’re going to stand next to an ad anyway, it might as well be useful.

Yes, IBM’s People for Smarter Cities Project, by Ogilvy & Mather France, made it possible to make these boring billboards not only attractive but also helpful. One sign is simply curved at the bottom to double as a bench and flipped upside down, a similar protrusion creates shelter from the rain. Genius.

In the grand piece they put up, a sign actually folds 90 degrees over concrete

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SEPTEMBER 2013

REWIND Inquizzitive 2013 Education and competitions are very closely related as competitions play a vital role in the development of skills. Indeed, without competitions, we cannot imagine education.

Since its inception, Interface has been organising ‘INQUIZZITIVE’, the biggest Marketing Quiz of SIMSR every year. This year it was held on 2nd September 2013, with a completely new concept of The Brand-O-Man, the Mascot of the event.

People are naturally drawn to visual images and mascots are the visual billboards of any event. Keeping this in mind, The Brand-OMan for the event was created to build instant engagement and embed the image of the event in the minds of the audience.

The event saw an overwhelming response of over 150 teams participating in the online elimination round. Out of these, 70 teams were shortlisted for the round 2 which was a paper-pen round. Each group was given 30 minutes to discuss with their partners and solve a set of questions given to them.

As the saying goes “Survival of the fittest”, top 4 out of these 70 were selected for the final on-stage round, which was a mind boggling session including audio-visuals and rapid fire questions.

The event also boasted of an extremely enthusiastic audience who were kept entertained through interactive questions with special goodies to those who answered them right.

The event ended with a nail biting tie breaker round between the top 2 finalists. Certificates and cash prizes were awarded to the winning teams.

THE MARKSMAN

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REWIND

Corporate Interaction with Mr. Kedar Rele Mr. Rele has rich experience in Key Account Management, Channel Partners, Product Development, Business Strategy and Marketing Management.

Industry interface at Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research happens through Seminars, Conferences, Corporate Interactions and Guest lectures. SIMSR organises such interactions throughout the year for student benefit. These events, besides giving students an opportunity of interacting with the leaders of business, also instill in them a great sense of inspiration and motivation.

Keeping up with this trend, the Marketing Club of SIMSR- “The Interface� -organised a corporate interaction on 12th Sept, 2013.

The speaker for the event was Mr. Kedar Rele, General Manager, Brands, Birla White Unit of Ultratech Cement Ltd. Having completed his engineering from K J Somaiya College of Engineering in the year 2001, he is an alumnus of Welingkar Institute of Management, where he specialised in Marketing. He is currently the Head of Marketing Services, Branding and Advertising for Birla White and its Value Added Product Brands, for India as well as SAARC and Middle Eastern Countries.

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Through his skills, expertise, and firsthand experience, Mr. Rele exemplified on how price is one of the most important business decisions that the management has to make. He spoke about the basic concepts of marketing mix, and explained to the audience about how, unlike the other elements of the marketing mix (product, place & promotion), pricing decisions affect revenues rather than costs. He skilfully blended his views with his proficiency, and ensured that the audience had a clear understanding of how pricing is an important role as a competitive weapon to help a business exploit market opportunities.

The corporate interaction ended on a highly enlightening note, with our zealous students getting a deeper insight of Pricing in Marketing.

SEPTEMBER 2013

BOOK WORM Crossing The Chasm -GEOFFREY A. MOORE

Author

Geoffrey A. Moore

Publisher Harper Business Essentials Published 1991 ISBN

0-06-051712-3

Price

Rs 898 (eBook) Rs 1243

(paperback)

“

Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.

- Groucho Marx

”

THE MARKSMAN

At a time, when even serious market watchers dub the sales of electronics products as the most difficult to predict and when our country is seeing a huge influx of electronics goods, this book published in 1991, still stands out to be ‘the Bible of entrepreneurial marketing.’

The ‘chasm’ that this book talks about is the gap that exists between two markets of technological products; the tech geeks, who are always waiting for new innovative products and the others who are more practical and hesitate or resist the almost every day change or newness in the technical market. The author, who has himself worked in the IT sector, talks from his experience about how after launching a new product and getting ‘early market wins’, one can has to work immensely hard at getting the other group of consumers, the laggards, as the mainstream market. The book starts off by using the Technological Adoption Life Cycle as a marketing model basis and then goes on to explain its flaws along with the corrections one can adopt to make it work for the tech market.

Like an aggressive marketer, the book then rapidly moves on to setting up a strategy which essentially focusses on targeting only a specific segment at a time.

Using an analogy of a war, the author goes on to plan the strategy in four steps; targeting a point of attack, assembling the invasion force, defining the battle and finally, launching the mission.

Although this book focuses primarily on high tech products, it still is a wonderful read for any student of marketing. The simple language along with the various real world examples, makes it a compelling read. Why else would it still be selling for the price of more than 1000 bucks after 21 years of being published?!

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FEATURED ARTICLES Maruti's Stingray - is this the time for 'sporty’ versions of automobiles?

Sufiyan Sarguroh -SIMSREE

The Indian automobile industry has been going through turbulent times recently. The domestic sales have been falling steadily since the past 9 months. Domestic passenger car sales declined by 7.4 percent to 1, 31,163 units in July this year from 1,41,646 units in the same month of 2012.

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The slump in the automobile industry is due to the rising fuel prices, high inflation and lower purchasing power of the consumer because of the precarious situation of the world economy.

In such trying times, the automobile industry has come up with innovative measures for sustainability. The latest trend to have caught on is the ‘Sporty’nisation of automobiles. Maruti’s StingRay is one such attempt. Maruti is a force to reckon with when it comes to hatchback cars. Be it the WagonR, Swift, Ritz or the iconic 800, it has tasted success with each of its hatchback models. Hence, in such difficult times, it is a wise decision by Maruti to fall back to its strength. This time however, there is a new element - that of the StingRay being a sporty version.

SEPTEMBER 2013

FEATURED ARTICLES For all of its success in India, Maruti has never had a Sporty version of its automobile. The closest that it comes to is the Maruti Swift Sports version.

However, that too was a limited edition model.

The two also have the same standard features - Air Conditioning, Power Steering, Power Windows and Central Locking. Needless to say, the pricing too is very similar, with StingRay costing just 20k more than WagonR.

With the recent launches of Ford Ecosport and Renault Duster and their success, it is evident that there is a market to cater to in terms of sports utility vehicles (SUVs). Not just SUVs, even sporty versions of hatchback cars are now in trend. The Chevrolet Beat and Ford Figo have had their fare share of success.

The difference lies in the design. In terms of style, comfort and convenience, Stingray leads with better marks. The Stingray is more stylish and wears a sporty look. Stingray sports some highend-features that are usually associated with premium cars. It also has refreshing packaging in terms of interiors which give the car a very posh look. With the Stingray, Maruti-Suzuki intends to draw young customers into its fold with its flashy looks.

The StingRay has been launched by Maruti with a clear aim of meeting the aspirations of young India. In many ways, the StingRay is an extension of the highly successful model WagonR. The two have almost the same specifications and features. Both have a 1.0-litre 67.1bhp 12V K Series petrol engine with an engine displacement (cc) of 998.

THE MARKSMAN

Tata too have come up with a new strategy to reposition the Nano as a ‘smart city car’. The Nano in its new ad campaign is trying to allure the youth with a peppy song and a riot of colors.

The automobile manufacturers are banking on the young customer and the upcoming festive season to boost car sales in an already shrinking market.

With such sporty versions, the manufacturers are creating a new market for the young, who lay as much importance to looks as on price and specifications. It will be interesting to see whether this ‘sporty’nization of automobiles helps the manufacturers in these trying times or adds additional burden to the already stressed automobile industry.

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FEATURED ARTICLES Colgate Vs Pepsodent brand war – competitive advertisement trending again?

Dr. Girish Kute - IIM Calcutta

The marketing world is replete with examples of competitive advertisements, be it print, TVC (television commercial) or lately digital media. But conservative and culture-bound as we are, such a thing takes time for us to digest. It’s a tug of war of sorts and the teams need not be balanced always! The winner, however, is the one whose product moves off the shelves i.e. increased sales.

There are all sorts of definitions for competitive advertising, those given by enthusiastic marketers and those by the legal authorities forced to define in cases of lawsuits, instead of sitting back and enjoying the tussle.

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“An advertisement in which a particular product, or service, specifically mentions a competitor by name for the express purpose of showing why the competitor is inferior to the product naming it”, defines Barry and Tremblay (Journal of Advertising, 1975.) Whatever be the definition, some examples of competitive ads are real pieces of art.

If you have had a look at the new HUL’s Pepsodent TVC and print blitzkrieg naming Colgate and claiming itself to be 30% better, it has created a stir across social media channels with most people calling it unethical, being stunned by HUL’s direct attack and similar reactions.

However, there are quite a few who have known of this practice being prevalent in the western countries.

To show you glimpses of their comments from YouTube, “This just shows how desperate Pepsodent is to sell its product in the market. This is not smart marketing.

Thumbs down HUL.” “Shame onPepsodent”

“Guys its unethical to promote one’s brand like this.”

“India should allow this type of ad as it is already allowed in US and Europe.”

SEPTEMBER 2013

FEATURED ARTICLES Not surprising, isn’t it? A lot of this has to do with the traditional Indian psyche of avoiding confrontations and unnecessary face-offs. One thing though, Pepsodent has managed to create talkability and hype for themselves and that could be the entire agenda behind it. What do we expect after this? Silence on part of Colgate or wait….are we expecting a ‘karara jawaab’ from Colgate? That should certainly be interesting.

Borrowing from history, you must have heard of the Campbells - Progresso soup war claiming to be free of preservative MSG or BMW-Audi billboards war where witty hits were taken at each other right in front of each other’s billboards or the great Cola war of the 1970s and 80s when Pepsi, then pretty small, took on giant Coca-Cola head on with its not so subtle but funny commercials. It certainly helped inducing trials and create a fan following. Here, Pepsi used competitive advertising to position itself as the cooler Cola drink for the youth. My version of it would be something like pulling a face on a bully behind his back.

THE MARKSMAN

Talking from the customer perspective, what they get is an evaluation of two or more products in the same category putting against each other, the attributes which in turn helps them choose the best product. The attributes can range from scientific information to mere people surveys with a lot of subjectivity involved, whether to believe it or not is the customer’s choice. These also bring in an element of delving into the consumer decision making process especially in categories where product involvement is low.

There was a time when there were too many restrictions and law of land coming into picture in cases of such infringements but with the advent of digital media, boundaries have blurred and the world in terms of information sharing has become borderless. So, we are exposed to all kinds of stuff and have started growing tolerant to such ideas.

It’s not long before something legalized in one major country will be forced to be legal everywhere but there is still time before digital media is brought under one law!

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FEATURED ARTICLES Are Print ads effective in today's context?

Zeeshan Hassan - IIM Kozhikode “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often” –Winston Churchill The essence of this sentence is valid in every walk of life. Change is necessary and inevitable. But does change mean the demise of the old practices? Or does it mean that they can exist and reinforce the new practices?

The ubiquity of internet and the proliferation of the data enabled devices have created novel means to engage people today. They are inseparable from their laptops, smartphones, tabs and notes.

Simultaneously, the world of advertisement has evolved to reach them.

The magnitude of change is so high that

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some may even say that print advertisements have become obsolete as compared to the digital media. Of course, the digital media have numerous notable advantages.

India already has 87 million smart phone users and about 40% of these have already stopped reading a physical newspaper to consume content on their devices. Digital ads are more costeffective. They take lesser time to prepare and subsequently launched, uploaded and spread across to the customers. They can be interactive, allowing users to communicate, message, comment, tweet and wall post. Facilities of search, customization, games and contests to create users engagement are equally viable.

Perhaps, the biggest benefit of digital world is that the advertisements can be monitored and their success measured.

SEPTEMBER 2013

FEATURED ARTICLES Marketers can calculate the return on investment (ROI) from a campaign and subsequently modify their strategy if the return is not adequate. Digital media also help track the behavior of the customer from which valuable consumer insights are drawn and used in making the marketing strategies.

So, is the print media dead? Not yet!

Print media also has some unmatched capabilities which are irreplaceable.

Newspaper and Magazines are tangible, easy to carry and preserved for long time so the brand can be recalled even after months. Their ads have more credibility unlike the countless popups on a website.

Also, print media is easy to use for reaching to a particular niche. A study (Alshaali & Varshney, 2005) said that people have higher engagement when reading print material as compared to online content which they generally skim.

In addition, there are varied distractions present on a web page as the links, animations, videos etc. which makes the users lose their focus.

Different kinds of demography are reached by different media and thus the proportion of one to the other can be decided to reach the entire audience.

For a country like India, there are countless opportunities still waiting to be unveiled. The emerging Tier II and III cities will be the backbone of print advertisements. Thus the bottom of the pyramid is a huge opportunity to grow and has very low penetration of internet enabled devices.

Consequently, more advertising should be done in regional prints and in the vernacular. English newspapers are generally read in Tier I cities and thus would not create much value as the regional ones. A first post article says:

Thus, marketers have realized the power of print media as playing a different role today. Of course, the digital media has revolutionized advertising but where internet can’t reach, the print can. Hence, it should be “Print and Digital” rather than “Print vs Digital” for a robust and exhaustive marketing portfolio.

So, the question remains “Which one is to be used?” The answer –Both! Each one has unique benefits which can be leveraged upon as one complementing the other.

THE MARKSMAN

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SquAreheaD

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SEPTEMBER 2013

BUZZ

PUZZLE ACROSS 1. Which company has launched the beer shampoo?

2. Name Maruti Suzuki’s recently launched car.

9. Which production house has opened a kid’s standalone store to attract children?

DOWN

CLUES

3. Which company celebrated 50 years of credit card service?

4. Which bank launched a ‘Tour France’ themed campaign ?

5. SRK has recently endorsed ____ Deodorant.

6. Which brand of broomsticks was recently featured in a leading Malayalam Weekly?

7. ____ dealt only in diamonds but now has expanded to apparels and lifestyle sector.

8. Which is the first mobile company to launch a device with Urdu language as an option.

Answers 1.Park Avenue 2.Stingray 3. Amex 4.Saxo Bank 5. Cobra 6.Monkey 7. Gitanjali 8.Nokia 9. Warner Bros

THE MARKSMAN

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Call for ARTICLES CALL FOR ARTICLES OCTOBER 2013 Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:

1.

Nokia - Microsoft Deal: How will it impact the two companies?

2.

Crowdsourcing: Is it the new way of consumer engagement for brands?

3.

Tata – Singapore Airlines: Is the airline industry in India suddenly turning attractive?

*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 Winner’s Certificate.

Deadline for the submission of article will be : 11:59 PM, 20th October 2013

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SEPTEMBER 2013

The TEAM THE TEAM TWEETS by Pavanshu Agarwal It’s all about AD-itude by Niharika Srivastava Brand MARK ive by Ritika Brahme COVER STORY by Kapil Maggo SPECIAL STORY by Alakh Krishnani HALLMARK CAMPAIGN by Ishaan Srivastava BOOKWORM by Asheeb Singh Raina SquAreheaD by Prashanti K Ishaan Srivastava BUZZ by Megha Gupta FAUX PAS by Dylan Menezes REWIND by Prashanti K TETE-A-TETE by Shweta Panikker PROOF READ by Asheeb Singh Raina DESIGNING by Ritika Brahme Niharika Srivastava PROMOTIONS by Meera Thacker Ishaan Srivastava

THE MARKSMAN

To subscribe to "The Marksman", Follow the link:http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/ the-marksman.html OR drop in a mail/contact us at : interface.newsletter@gmail.com Subject line: Subscribe:Your Name_Institute Name_Course Year Follow us at: http://www.facebook.com/simsr.in terface http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/ the-marksman.htm Website: http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/t he-marksman.html

The MARKSMAN is the newsletter of INTERFACE, the Marketing Club at K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai.

Images used in THE MARKSMAN are subject to copyright. THE MARKSMAN does not take any responsibility of any kind of plagiarism in the articles receives from students of other colleges.

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