High on marketing...
September 2011, Vol. I, Issue 1
Cover Story
Reincarnation of the
Desi Brands
Inside Bollywood Marketing Viral Marketing Conquering the Chinese Markets Hermes Bags, Cadbury, Amul and much more
BRANDi Contest * The & BRANDi Blogs
From the Editor’s desk And Here we go ! I am right now sitting in a metro train compartment thinking of what to write for the editorial for the first issue of BRAND.i. Just besides me is a man wearing a white Nehru cap on which 'I am Anna' is written. Coming to think of it ,how is 'I am Anna' related to the Jan Lokpal Movement? But the desire of an ordinary person to become like Anna Hazare who himself being just a nobody some months back has become a national icon. This is indeed a brilliant move by the Team Anna , as the media calls them. The real brain, Arvind Kejriwal and others, has designed a brilliant plan to market the movement. They have a huge presence on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, using these media the word spreads really fast. After the Jasmine Revolution of Egypt, I think this is one movement which has really exploited the social media and how! More than 468,000 likes on the facebook page means that the information reaches to these people in an instant. When we say Marketing and Branding is everywhere, this example can be cited to prove this statement.
The Marcom Team Anna Hazare has indeed become a Big Brand in himself, with Merchandise with Anna's name selling everywhere and the sheer capacity of the 74 year old man's name driving crowds. Bringing my focus back to the introduction to the magazine , firstly the much talked about name BRAND.i. Thinking about a wacky ,unique title invited a brainstorming exercise by the MARCOM team , and finally we zeroed in on the title suggested by Arjun Kant Chadha BRAND.i a magazine to give you that 'High on Marketing' and hence the tagline.
Senior Team: Ankit Soni (Convenor) Iti Chaudhary Jaideep Yadav Karabi Kachari Richa Jha
The Magazine will contain original articles by students of MIB, management students from other colleges and also our professors who will share their knowledge with us. In this issue we have Dr. Kavita Sharma , the Course Coordinator of MIB and also a professor in services marketing sharing her wisdom on the 'modern marketing'. Also, Dr. Sumati Varma , Associate professor, shares her views about 'Entering the Chinese Markets'. We are really grateful to both of them for taking time for the magazine.
Junior Team : Himanshu Chauhan Arjun Kant Chadha Sanjay Raturi Sahil Lohra
Also we have Amit Kaundinya from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar contributing his views on 'Marketing in Bollywood'.
Credits : Design & Cover
The Cover Story discusses how recently the Indian Brands are going through a makeover, what drives them and what is their future. Apart from that, the issue also includes stories on Amul , Viral Marketing , Hermes Bags, Cadbury and a special section called BRAND.i Blog in which a student writes himself as a brand. The regulars would be the BRAND.i contest which would be another motivation to read the magazine. Also each page will have a brand trivia to increase your gyaan about Brands. Do write to us with your suggestions , feedback or praises if any to marcom@mibdu.org. We would eagerly look forward to reading your insights on the magazine. So Hoping for a great time ahead (a recession less and full of jobs for all of us) I hereby signoff by saying “Cheers , pass me a BRAND.i !”. Ankit Soni Editorial team BRAND.i The Marketing Magazine of MIB, Delhi School of Economics
Himanshu Chauhan
Editorial Team : Ankit Soni Iti Chaudhry Karabi Kachari Sahil Lohra
Index Bollywood Marketing : By Amit Kaundinya, Pg 01 Marketing - Its New Avatar : By Dr. Kavita Sharma, Pg 04 Viral Marketing : By Sanjay Raturi, Pg 07
Cover Story
Reincarnation Of The Desi Brands : By Ankit Soni, Pg 08 Conquering The Chinese Market : By Dr. Sumati Varma, Pg 09 Innovative Crowdsourcing, the Nissan way, Pg 11 Birkin And Bagwati : By Richa Jha, Pg 12 Google+ Vs Facebook : By Jaideep Yadav, Pg 13
Brand.i Contest, pg 14
Brand.i Blogs
Representative Of The Product : By Ajay Singh Duggal, Pg 15 Brand-a-thon : By Nripanshi Bansiwal, Pg 16 Epic Wins! - Marketing Marvels Of India : By Sahil Lohra, Pg 17 Amul's Story : By Arjun Kant Chadha, Pg 18 Cadbury's Dairy Milk : By Iti Chaudhary, Pg 19
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Bollywood Marketing Amit Kaundinya Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar Introduction One of the largest money churners in India, Bollywood: the business of making movies, for which once marketing meant putting up Eastman Color posters across the streets of Mumbai has evolved dramatically. Bollywood producers and filmmakers have realised that their movies are products
that need to be branded, positioned and targeted at the right audience. The recent Salman Khan starrer, Dabangg which was made on a budget of 30 cr. had a marketing budget of 12 cr. That is a whopping 40% of the movie budget. The high marketing budgets are not just the norm for big budget films, Peepli Live a film made on a budget of Rs. 10 cr. had a marketing budget of Rs. 4 cr. While Bollywood scripts have far from evolved, with the same stale movies being churned out day in and out, the way Bollywood is marketing its movies, would make Kotler proud! The 5 P's of Bollywood Marketing Product: The entire cinema experience is the product that you as a filmmaker are trying to sell. When a middle class worker spends Rs. 200 to watch a movie, he is paying more for the experience than for the movie itself. Bollywood marketers realise that marketing movies means selling the entire experience of watching a movie to its end consumers. Moviemakers need to understand which category their movie belongs to it and which audience it aims at targeting. Hence, the marketing strategy for a Dabangg and a Peepli Live would be poles apart. While Dabangg was targeted at the masses and single theatre screens, Peepli Live was targeted at the multiplex audience. Hence Dabangg's promos reflected the masala experience that the masses will relate too while Peepli Live's promos had sarcasm and black humor which would generate interest among the multiplex audience. UTV Motion Pictures Marketing VP, Shikha Roy says, “Most of the promos were shot separately and not as a part of the movie, to generate a kind of viral campaign and to have the people talking”.
Marketing is all about catering to the needs of the consumers and making profits by satisfying those needs. Who better to know this than filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, most of the recent films made under his banner Vishesh Films revolve around recent controversies. Vishesh Films's latest offering, Crook, is centred around the racial attacks on Indian students in Australia. Such subjects which the public relates to help gather enough interest and curiosity amongst them. Bollywood makers are also giving a lot of thought to the naming of their products (movies). Like other products, movie names too should reflect the spirit, genre and feel of the movie. Gone are the days when a name like “Vijay” would sell, Innovative names are the order of the day. Dibankar Banerjee is one filmmaker who gives a lot of thought and importance to the naming of his films. His last offering “Love, Sex And Dhoka”, made on a shoestring budget of 2 cr. caught the eye balls of the youth just on the power of its unique name. The name of the movie was enough to generate curiosity in the minds of the public and attract them towards the movie screens. Placement: The timing of the launch of a product is a crucial factor in determining its success. Similarly, the release date of a movie is one of the smallest but most significant factor in determining the success of the movie. Observe for the past few years the biggest blockbusters are released during the Diwali season or during the Christmas Eve. What is the common link between Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and Three Idiots? Apart from the fact that all these blockbusters star Aamir Khan, the movies have their release date as 25th December. Filmmakers nowadays invest a lot of time in deciding the right time for releasing a movie. Even a good movie released during the exam season of
students or if it is clashing with a major event such as IPL cricket extravaganza may get a dismal opening. Film makers also watch out if any big banner movies are being
Brand Trivia The name of the cassette and record company TIPS is an acronym for 'To Improve and Promote Singing'.
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released during the same time as theirs and accordingly postpone or pre pone their release. Karan Johar, on his show Coffee With Karan once asked film maker Farah Khan what would she do if she realised that a Himesh Reshammiya movie was releasing at the same time as her's. Farah replied with a smile, “I would postpone my movies release date”. That was the time when Himesh had the Midas touch. Promotion: No longer are promotions restricted to showing trailers and painting the city with posters of the movie. Bollywood movie promotions have come a long way. The small budget movies try to get referential power for their movies by participating in international film festivals. Winning awards in the international circuit helps in increasing the brand equity for the film, and the audience perceives that it will be a good product. Vikramaditya Motwane's debut film Udaan created enough buzz and the multiplex crowd was waiting anxiously for the movie to release long before its promos started appearing. All thanks to the many awards and critical acclaim the movie managed to get in the international film circuit. When it comes to marketing, Aamir Khan is one of the most innovative marketers out there. The way he promotes his movies is a lesson for all budding marketers. During the promotion of Ghajini, Aamir donned the role of a barber, giving Ghajini haircuts to his fans. For Three Idiots Aamir Khan went step further and came out with his own collection of hand drawn Doodle T Shirts, which reflected his own style and the soul of the movie. The T shirts became a rage among the youth. Also the rickshaws in Mumbai, were used as an effective way to market 3 Idiots. Aamir had painted stickers of “Capacity : 3 Idiots only” on the back of the rickshaws. The unique strategy created a lot of buzz for the movie at a very low cost.
Seeing the craze that youth of today have for playing games, Bollywood marketers have taken the route of combining movies and games to help promote their films. Yash Raj Films for their latest offering Lafangey Parindey has come
out with two games : One a boxing game which reflects the spirit of Neil Nitin Mukesh and another a skating game for Deepika Padukone fans. These games help movie fans to relate to the characters of the movie more closely. Bollywood does not want to be myopic in its view, instead of looking at the television industry as a competition; they have taken it as a facilitator to promote their films. Reality TV shows are used by filmmakers to promote their movie. A few weeks before the release of a movie you will have the stars of the movie making appearances as judges, hosts, participants on TV shows. John Abraham will be using the popular youth reality show MTV Roadies to promote his upcoming film, Jhootha Hi Sahi. Similar to the character he plays in the movie, John would lie to contestants but provide them with clues to help them win Roadies
Personalisation: Today's film makers realise that while marketing a film, they cannot follow a particular template for all films, but need to customise the marketing strategies for each, treating each film as a separate brand entity. So you had an Amitabh Bachchan poster telling you in theatres that, “Do not dirty the theatres or I will tell Paa” to “Switch of your mobiles or I will tell Paa” for the promotion of his film Paa where he played a 13 year old progeria patient. While for Anurag Kashyap's Dev D you had customised tattoos being done at select parlors and condom shaped passes being distributed for the premiere of the movie. Ashutosh Gowariker's movie What's Your Rashee which had Priyanka Chopra play 12 different characters had 12 different flavours of popcorn being sold in movie theatres each corresponding to a different Rashee. The marketing team of Aladdin teamed up with Baskin Robbins to launch three delectable flavours on the characters of the movie: Ringmaster's Whip, Princess Delite and Choco Aladdin. In another smart marketing move, ticket counter boys, ushers, and the popcorn boys sported the Ghajini hair cut look during the release of Shah Rukh Khan's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. So although cine-goers went to watch SRK's flick, the anxiety to watch Ghajini, which was releasing two weeks later, increased many fold. People: No longer do filmmakers try to keep away from the general public. They have known that it is the people in the end who can make or break their film. So be it Salman riding a horse in the Mahalaxmi race course to promote his
Brand Trivia Canon derives its name from the Japanese God of Mercy 'Kwanon'.
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action film Veer or Abhishek Bacchan creating a Guinness record by travelling to 5 different cities in a span of 24 hours to promote Delhi 6, the people connect is clearly visible. Bollywood marketers realise that people will feel for the movie and relate to it only when they are able to relate to the stars of the movie. Aamir Khan to promote Three Idiots, went on a disguise marketing trip, in which he went to various parts of India, incognito and understood the people's problems, aspirations and dreams. The entire campaign did not take long to become viral and created a lot of hype for 3 Idiots. Actors have also taken to blogging and tweeting to promote their films and to break barriers that exist between them and their audience. From Shahrukh Khan to Genelia D'Souza, you can find them all present on the social media circuit trying to develop a connect with their audience.
Conclusion The aggressive marketing followed in Bollywood could well be due to the influx of professionals like UTV Motion Pictures and Yash Raj Films which work in true corporate style in branding movies. In today's time, a movie might be great but sans an aggressive marketing campaign, it would be very difficult to have it make an impact at the box office. I would like to end here by quoting a few lines that super star Amitabh Bachchan has written on his blog, “Good marketing has produced good results at the box office. That old belief that the merit of the film shall eventually emerge victorious has long since been overridden. By the time you
Imtiaz Ali, director of the romantic comedy Jab We Met, who has done a course in advertising and marketing from St. Xaviers, believes in the idea of inclusive marketing. He believes that the opinion of the public is very important for a filmmaker, as they are the final consumers. So when he was confused on fixing a title for his Shahid-Kareena starrer, he held an all India poll, asking people to vote from amongst 3 titles (Ishq via Bhatinda, Jab We Met and Punjab Mail). Jab We Met got the most votes and was chosen as the title for the film. YouTube is also being effectively as a medium to connect to movie buffs. Recently the critically acclaimed film, Udaan had the lead actor asking the public to share with him their college moments on Udaan's Facebook fan page. Also, Udaan had a contest in which the audience was asked to share their first adult film experience with the Udaan team on YouTube. Anjaana Anjaani has a promotional campaign on YouTube in which movie fans can directly ask questions to its stars Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra and get them answered. When we are talking about contests as a way of connecting to people, Ram Gopal Verma cannot be left behind. The director who was churning flop after flop came out with a contest for his horror flick Phoonk called the “Dare to watch it alone” contest in which he agreed to offer Rs. 5 lakhs to anyone who would be ready to take on the challenge of watching the entire Phoonk movie alone. This intelligent promotional campaign created a pull effect at instigated people to watch the film. Apart from that Ram Gopal also ran a “It Happened to me” contest wherein participants were asked to share their real life scariest experience and the 10 best entries selected by Ram Gopal Varma will be paid Rs. 25,000 each. Also if a story is good enough to be made into a film, you land a chance to win Rs. 5 lakhs. The promotional campaign of Phoonk managed to develop a connect with the people and Phoonk, a film sans any stars was a huge hit at the box office.
wait for the merit to show its face, five other films have shown their merits.” References http://bollywood.celebden.com/2008/12/ghajini-haircutnow-a-publicity-tool/ http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/interviews/2 009/aamir-khan-interview-241209.html http://movies.sulekha.com/hindi/ghajini/news/aamirkhan-turns-barber-gives-fans-the-ghajini-look.htm http://simplybhangra.com/bollywood-news/53bollywood-news/2627-baskin-robbins-teams-up-witheros-international http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2010/01/1 4/stories/2010011450050100.htm http://www.bharatwaves.com/news/JAB-WE-MET--Kahani-Poori-Filmi-Hai...-8957.html http://www.zimbio.com/Bollywood+Movies/articles/185 40/Aamir+khan+A+Smart+Marketer http://marketingchitchat.wordpress.com/ http://www.realbollywood.com/news/2010/08/johnabraham-promotes-jhoota-sahi-mtv-roadies.html
Brand Trivia IBM , COCA COLA , KODAK AND UPS are known as the BIG BLUE , THE BIG RED , THE BIG YELLOW AND THE BIG BLACK respectively.
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Marketing- In its New ‘Avatar’ Dr. Kavita Sharma Professor , Faculty of Commerce & Business, Delhi University Markets have undergone a change. Originally denoted as physical meeting place for buyer and seller, markets have changed for their processes, systems, institutions, coordination mechanisms, incentives and information systems. Transactions as impersonal, decentralized exchanges segregated in time and space from other transactions are now more planned and administered. Instead of market control mechanism working with the premise of maximization of profits, the intent is now
Changing Role of Marketing Vis-à-vis Markets Once considered as an activity responsible for ensuring flow of goods and services between organizations and its customers marketing has taken new ‘Avatar’. Instead of narrow conceptualization of marketing as transaction or series of transactions based, the focus on relationships has broadened the scope of marketing theory and practices and redefined the role of marketing in attaining borderless organizations. Broadening of both theory and practices of marketing is considered the agents of change in organization structures and their relationships. In focusing on relationships, marketing as a discipline is found capable enough to address the issuesinherent in business relationships and alliances. Transactions as starting point: In pure market form of economic organization all activities are conducted as discrete, market based transactions. Pure transaction is a one-time exchange of value between two parties with no prior or subsequent interaction. Price is the guiding mechanism to achieve maximum profits. Marketing job is simply to find the buyer and is focused on sale - the single event of a transaction.
towards exchange based transactional relationships resulting into mutual satisfaction and growth. More precisely, markets are more administered and operate as domesticated markets. Organizational structures of such domesticated markets are characterized by flexible ‘Wheel type’ structures with spokes as knowledge links between core firm at the hub and strategic partners around the rim.This is unlike the long and divisionalized ‘M-shaped’ structures of traditional organizations with centralized decision making at the top. Wheel type structures are actually N-Form Honeycoomb Structures. Conglomerates, franchising, vertical and horizontal integration, joint ventures, joint product development and marketing controls are the voluntary, long term binding commitments among organizations providing administered and bureaucratic control on exchange processes. While the pyramid hierarchical structures of traditional organizations delineate traditional organization from its external environment, in the changed scenario this clear distinction between firms and markets, between company and its external environment has disappeared. Organizations are now the borderless organizations.
Repeated Transactions: Transactions are repeated for same product or with the same seller to have convenience and to save time and effort. Repetition occurs because of trust and credibility – the foundation of relationship. Marketing role is to guide the product differentiation and to create preference and loyalty to earn higher prices and profits in future. Long Term Relationships: Such relationships are typical of contractual form of relationships, which hold strategic importance too. Here, the price is based on negotiation process recognizing mutual dependence and not solely determined by market forces and quality, delivery and technical support. Marketing revolves around use of various customer relationship management (CRM) techniques which are directed towards customers considered for relatively long term relationships. So, customers are defined as either transaction customers or relationship customers. Partnerships: As against adversarial long term relationships which are usually at the arm’s length, total interdependence results into stability in relationships, which contributes to sharing of information among the companies and promotes aggressive, long term growth policies.Marketing has its emphasis more on long term customer relationships and the formation and management of strategic alliances.
Brand Trivia Sharp Corporation started as a Pencil manufacturing company and hence the name 'Sharp' after the 'Sharp Pencils'.
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Strategic Alliance/ Joint Ventures: Each partner intends to move towards the achievement of some long term strategic goal. There is sharing of objectives and commitment of resources by both the parties to the alliance. There could be multiple alliances and each is the separate entity managed by bureaucratic and administrative controls. The intellectual core of marketing management shifts from conceptual framework of microeconomics to the set of organizational and strategic issues inherent in relationships and alliances. Networks: These are the complex, multifaceted organization structures that result from multiple strategic alliances, usually combined with other forms of organization including divisions, subsidiaries and value added re-sellers. Since, build around strategic partnership the distinctions between firm and its market environments (both suppliers and customers) become blurred. Unit of analysis for marketing decision making shifts from products and firms to people, organizations, and social processes that bind actors together in ongoing relationships. Since, evolved forms of organizational structures require more flexibility in decision making to respond to the changing needs of their customers, marketing as an activity and as a philosophy has assumed new role and responsibility within the organization. Marketing as a distinct management function has disappeared from within the organization. Within the organization marketing actually operates at three distinct levels of
strategy, viz., corporate, business or SBU, and functional or operative level. Marketing has three distinct dimensions, viz., marketing as a culture, marketing as a strategy, and marketing as tactics. Each level of strategy and each dimension flows down from the previous one. As we move down the level of strategy, we move away from strategy formulation to strategy implementation.
Vis-à-vis Society Generalization of the terms ‘profit’ ‘product’ and ‘markets’ has led to extension of marketing theory and practices to non-business area and this has resulted into practicing: •Social Marketing •Cause Related Marketing •Environmental Marketing •Not for Profit Marketing Though, extending of marketing theory and principles beyond markets has done good to the specific area of application, but this has been more like the situation of creating ‘silos of knowledge’. Because, whateveris practiced in market context generally finds no linkage to the benefit of the society at large.For example, spreading of awareness about emission norms is a part of environmental marketing, but if vehicle engines compatible to less polluting fuel are not available, or these are unduly priced, the whole idea of controlling pollution gets defeated.The concept of societal marketing which involves three pronged strategy for triple bottom line: the firm, the customer and
the society, to an extent does take care of establishing the linkage between markets and the society. The orientation of societal marketing is, however, transactional only. It fails to account for importance of other stakeholders, like
Brand Trivia ITC when founded was called the ‘Imperial Tobacco Company' but later changed to ‘Indian Tobacco Company'.
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employees, suppliers, creditors, and distributors in the transaction and its implications for having long term relationships with the customers in the market. Organizations depend upon various stakeholders for supply of needed resources and, therefore, need their continued support by confirming to their norms. Since, all stakeholders participate in an enterprise with legitimate interests; there is no prima facie priority of one set of interests over the other. In fact, there is constellation of relationship between firm and its various stakeholders.
successful management of corporate responsibility by expanding its focus beyond consumers to include other stakeholders (stakeholder orientation) and by bundling various social responsibility initiatives.Stakeholder Orientation is the degree to which a firm understands and addresses stakeholder demands. Stakeholder orientation is the extended view on relationship orientation which requires responsible practicing of marketing activities. Thus, in response to changed market scenario the basic marketing activities are required to be carried out in a more socially responsible manner.Wheeler and Sillanpää (1997) hold the view that, “the long term value of a company rests primarily on: the knowledge, abilities and commitment of its employees; and its relationships with investors, customers and other stakeholders. Loyal relationships are increasingly dependent upon how a company is perceived to create ‘added value’ beyond the commercial transaction. Added value embraces issues like quality, service, care for people and the natural environment and integrity. It is our belief that the future of the development of loyal, inclusive stakeholder relationships will become one of the most important determinants of commercial viability and business successes”. References: •Arndt, John (1979), ‘Toward a Concept of Domesticated Markets’ •Frederick E. Webster. Jr. (1992), ‘The Changing Role of Marketing in the Corporation’
When decisions and actions of a firm account for, and balance, diverse stakeholder interests it implies that a business acts in socially responsible manner.
•Maignan, Isabelle and O. C. Ferrell (2004), ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and Marketing: An Integrative Framework’
Marketing as a discipline is useful as it suggests organizational processes to keep and abreast of, and manage stakeholder relationships. Marketing contribute to
•Wheeler D and Sillanpää M. (1997), The Stakeholder Corporation: a Blueprint for Maximizing Shareholder Value, London
Brand Trivia Apple's Headquarters' address is 1, Infinite loop , California.
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Viral Marketing: It Is Everywhere Sanjay Raturi Master of International Business, Delhi University Do you recall buying your last Cell Phone, now think about it, did you or did you not ask for your friend's suggestion before buying the phone? Yes, you did. In fact not only did you ask for your friends advice, you also referred to plethora of online reviews and compared the features with a dozen phones online. So, eventually your decision ended up getting a little influenced by your peers and by the people you come in contact with. This is one example of viral marketing, thousands of such decisions are being made
every minute. In today's evolving markets where consumers have overwhelming number of choices, the role of the viral marketing has increased immensely. Technically viral marketing is marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message. Viral marketing depends on a high pass-along rate from person to person. If a large percentage of recipients forward something to a large number of friends, the overall growth snowballs very quickly. If the pass-along numbers get too low, the overall growth quickly fizzles. So, if you are getting those floods of messages and emails saying pass the message to next 10 friends, you are being used as a vector. Viral marketing works best when a valuable and tangible incentive is offered, encouraging individuals to forward an email message to their friends. When a customer refers a friend, the referral should not be considered an opt-in. Response rates increase dramatically when users can see that a message is coming from a friend, so it is best to personalize the email message to show that it's coming from a recognizable source. As with any marketing campaign, tracking the results and optimizing performance over time is absolutely necessary. These are the few points that have to be kept in mind while designing any viral campaign.
You go to any website which offers you reviews for the latest phone that has been released in the market recently, it offers you comments from the other users , again this is marketing, because one person is forwarding the message to the next and the cycle continues. Have you ever pondered how some of these comments are too harsh or too flattering for a regardless of the shortcomings and qualities, this is because chances are these comments are being modeled by the people marketing for the product specifically to affect your decision. Go to any popular review site for Iphone and you will find at least one comment which will ridicule the iphone. Go to any popular movie rating site and look for the reviews of Ram Gopal Verma's AAG, and you will find one comment which will praise this movie for being the most astonishing piece of work. This is all being modeled to pass on that message that this product is either good or bad. The definition of viral marketing has changed a lot with the intervention of online social networks, it is no longer a message or email chain activity. Think about it, a study showed that on an average a facebook user has about 110 friends, now if this user likes a page or comments on any page or likes a picture of a product or likes a video of a product or does any activity on facebook it immediately becomes visible to the other 110 friends. Out of those 110 users if even one of them makes any other activity on the same post it will be passed further to 110 friends and so on. Similarly the same argument can be used for the blogging sites like twitter and for other social networking sites like orkut. The kind of exposure these sites offer is the main reason these social sites have become so important for an company. Viral marketing has made it easy to advertise virtually anything that can be sold, in fact now it has become too easy. Anything can be marketed hence a good product has to struggle, change, adapt to look different. Despite all the above arguments it is not fair to say that viral campaigns are only there on internet or on your cell phones, it is more than what meets the eye. Today in the abundance of good products where there is no paucity of quality, where customer has already transformed from a king to a god. It is not possible to for any product to make an impression without viral. If you see properly, viral marketing is everywhere.
This is the most common approach for the traditional method of viral marketing. Do not mistake this as the only means of viral marketing. With time it has evolved so much that consumer becomes part of it without even realizing.
Brand Trivia Aspirin, Cellophane, Corn flakes, Escalator, Kerosene, Nylon, thermos and Zipper are all brand names that have become words in English language.
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Cover Story Reincarnation of the Desi Brands Ankit Soni Master of International Business, Delhi University “The only thing which is permanent is change.� Heraclitus The above saying hits the nail on the head in the case of Indian brands in recent times. Some days ago Hero Honda the champion in 100cc Motorbike segment (and claims to be the best seller in this segment globally) announced its new identity as Hero Motocorp in a
The Electronic Media brands jumped into the rebranding race when Sony ,STAR and ZEE TV exercised rebranding in the above order by changing their logos and the communication. Also noticeable were Ceat, Shoppers Stop, Canara bank, Bank of Baroda among others. Is Rebranding Necessary? In the west Rebranding has been done with big and not so big brands on a regular intervals. Examples being Microsoft, Apple, Xerox among others.
star studded function in London. It has moved on to 'Hum mei hai Hero' from 'Desh ki Dhadkan'. International Agency Wolf Olins was assigned the task of designing the new logo while the new communication is designed by Law & Kenneth. Not so long ago , India's number one mobile telecom services provider changed its brand identity and launched its new logo 'The Wave' (see pic) , the name of which was decided by a national contest. Although it garnered mixed responses on the new logo design but it was indeed successful in creating a buzz. Godrej also underwent a rebranding exercise (see below) in which colours were added to the existing logo to shed the old image and position themselves as youthful and vibrant. The new colours - citrus green is about expression, representing growth, harmony with nature and renewed life,Sky blue embodies progression big ideas, blue sky thinking, technology and innovation. Ruby red reflects cherished experiences passion, indulgence, energy and dynamism.
Before 2008
Since 2008
The chart below shows how big brands have undergone rebranding. There can be and has been different needs and/or causes of rebranding. Some of them can be new entry strategies (in case of Airtel) , strategic (In case of HERO) , damage control or just to revive the brand (like in case of Godrej , Ceat etc.). After-effects Is Rebranding always effective? This is million dollar question, quite literally. In some places it has done wonders for brands like in cases of Xerox , P&G, Fedex etc , rebranding has also proved to be a faux pas for brands like Coke etc. and brand had to return to the old identity which the people identified with.
Before
After
The Sarkari brands are also not behind , the Indian Post did a rebranding exercise by changing the logo and also later started social media marketing by starting tweeting (@postofficeindia) where it has close to 7300 followers.
In India , Brands like Airtel and Godrej have yet to prove the profitability of the rebranding exercise and for HERO MotoCorp , only time can tell. India is one of the fastest growing and a very dynamic market in terms of changing media patterns & spending , in terms of consumer choices and trends , one can be predicted and that is CHANGE.
Brand Trivia The hood ornament on the Rolls Royce cars is in the form of a woman leaning forwards with her arms outstretched behind and above her and is called
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Conquering the Chinese Market Dr. Sumati Varma Associate Professor , Faculty of Commerce & Business, Delhi University “The bourgeoisie has, through its exploitation of the world market, given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country.”-Karl Marx
can have Peking Duck served in the same manner as it is served in Quanjude Peking Duck restaurants in Beijing. Thus, the displacement of McDonald's and other American fast food corporations cause differentiation or localization not only in terms of the menu but in social value and function as well.
The Chinese march towards capitalism has penetrated every nook and corner of social and political space and finds western consumer or mass culture fast penetrating the world's largest market. The images of cultural globalization that are visible in China today indicate a desire for consumerism facilitated by the presence of the MNE. China's engagement with globalization has been marked by a displacement of the Chinese, from their traditional “ethnoscapes, technoscapes, financescapes, mediascapes, and ideoscapes.” Towards the end of the twentieth century, global capital opened the door to the Chinese Kingdom not with cannons but with Canons. It invaded the forbidden mindscape of the central kingdom of China not with troops, fleets, and artillery but with ideas, images, and consumer goods. It customised, modified and renamed itself to make it welcome to the Chinese. For example, when Coca-Cola and Pepsi were first imported to China, few people liked them for they tasted so different from Chinese tea, which had been China's national soft drink for over two thousand years. Then transnational capitalists had Coca-Cola and Pepsi transliterated into “Kekou Kele” and “Baishi Kele,” meaning "good taste and great joy" and "all enjoyable" in Chinese. After that, they quickly became popular in China because the Chinese set great store by sounds and names of things, what is termed by western cultural critics as "symbolic wish-fulfilment." All these adaptations were strategies of globalization invented to open the door of the Chinese market. The McDonald's corporation that has invaded the world market with 25,000 franchises in 115 countries has 1% of the world's population literally eating out of its hand. Its overseas franchises which are locally run and conform to local needs, regularly modify their regional menus to conform to local tastes. McDonald's has about 460 franchised Mcdonald's restaurants in 74 small and big cities of China. The first one started in Shenzhen in 1990 and the second one appeared in Wangfujing, the busiest shopping and commercial district in Beijing, the largest in the world by then. McDonald's in Beijing serves Sichuan spicy chicken, red bean porridge and other local items. Similarly, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Starbucks in Beijing and other cities in China regularly alter or customize their menus to attract local customers. At Pizza Hut in China, for example, one
While McDonald's and KFC in North America are truly working class fast food restaurants; in China, they are now symbolic of urban spaces where ordinary people have their affordable symbolic taste of America. To many Chinese it is a once-in-a-while treatment, the fulfilment of some deepseated desire for the new, the modern and the exotic or signifying access to some kind of social and cultural capital. The Chinese palate does not treat western wines and liquors like their familiar Chinese counterparts. Instead, they are avariciously consumed for the symbolic capital attached to them and served in a Chinese manner. French or Californian red wine, for example, would go with ice cubes in it, something unimaginable in North America. For centuries, chocolate has been the symbol of luxury and decadence, its taste conjuring up images of elegance and wealth, forbidden pleasures and rare delights. Strangely enough chocolate reached Chinese shores only three decades ago - presenting the biggest opportunity and challenge in a long time for the world's foremost chocolatiers Hershey, Nestle, Cadbury, Mars and Ferrero Rocher. Decision issues covered a wide range, beginning with the fundamental “make versus import”, creating familiarity with an unknown product, and coping with poor infrastructure and limited ability to prevent freezing or melting, both of which ruin the taste of this exotic product. Selling during summer in the absence of air-conditioning was an added issue. With billions of dollars of perceived revenue and hundred of millions of new chocolate lovers at
Brand Trivia DIGJAM suitings are named after Maharaja Digvijay Singh of Jamnagar, Gujarat
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stake, the "Big Five" chocolate companies devised a unique strategy for bringing chocolate to Chinese consumers.
Ferrero Rocher, the family-owned Italian company known for Nutella, carved out a niche in China by taking the path of least resistance. Using an independent distribution partner and exploiting the Chinese penchant for giving expensive imported gifts, Ferrero Rocher hooked the Chinese consumer on its delicate, foil-wrapped hazelnut treats. It thus became the first company to establish a strong presence in China. Shipping its chocolates to Hong Kong for packaging, keeping its prices high, and cultivating the image of a foreign and exclusive brand, with exceptional quality have ensured its success. Ensuring that only fresh chocolate makes it into Chinese stores, and despite trouble from Chinese copycats, Ferrero Rocher was, "the global chocolate industry's first ambassador to China." Competing firms Cadbury, Hershey, Nestle and Mars targeted a more elusive but much more potentially profitable segment - the individual consumer through diverse strategies. Looking towards becoming China's leading brand, each one spent a fortune and faced tremendous obstacles in its quest to penetrate the Chinese market. Cadbury, decided on indigenous manufacturing instead of importing from Australia, but failed to anticipate the difficulties in getting a steady supply of quality milk since the Chinese are not milk drinkers, and good dairies are few and far between. The result cheesy substandard chocolate which was difficult to market!! Demand estimation was also way off the mark as Cadbury failed to see that the Chinese have a much smaller sweet tooth than their Western brethren. They were neither inclined to eat an entire candy bar in one sitting nor inclined to buy the half-pound Dairy Milk bars that Cadbury initially tried to sell them. Having suffered enormous financial losses, hindered by internal strife and high turnover, Cadbury China took years to repair the taste problem and to install an alternative production model. In 2008, Cadbury's China branch accounted for only 0.5% of its worldwide sales.
Hershey and Nestle encountered similar difficulties. Hershey began its China conquest with “Hershey's Kisses�, whose appeal lay both in its small size and foil wrapping. Anchored by Kisses, Hershey's first several years in China were marked by steady growth and geographic expansion. Ill-advised changes in management squandered away initial success and in 2004, Hershey's China operations collapsed, and no Hershey products were available in China for the next two years. Hershey has yet to recover from this debacle. Nestle, on the other hand, made an extraordinary tactical error!! Nestle's strong initial advantage was its reputation for producing safe, nutritious products which it leveraged with immense investment and excellent pre-existing relationships with Chinese distributors and retailers. It entered the Chinese chocolate market by building a factory in Tianjin for the production of Kit Kat bars - one of its most popular global brands. As luck would have it, the Chinese did not fall for the taste of Kit Kat and with supply far in excess of demand, the company lost a huge amount of money. Since the Tianjin factory was customized for Kit Kat, so it could not produce an alternative product. To make up for losses, Nestle began using a cheap substitute for cocoa butter hoping that the inexperienced Chinese chocolate palate would not know the difference. It was again proved wrong as the resulting product was no match for the competitors' products. In 2006, Nestle regrouped, introduced a variety of new chocolate bars made with real cocoa butter, but failed to advertise them. Today, chocolate amounts to a mere 6% of Nestle's total China sales. Mars, the first of the so called Big Five to build a chocolate plant in China, was most successful as it made its high-end Dove brand the cornerstone of its efforts to market chocolate to China's everyday consumer and to capture a substantial portion of the gift market. It began manufacturing Dove candies in China, taking special care to maintain the same quality that it employed in the rest of the world. Its prices were high but still affordable. Right-sized for the Chinese palate, Dove chocolate products were genuinely luscious and were also intelligently marketed as an exotic luxury surrounded by foreign mystique. The success of Dove was followed by miniature Snickers bars and by 2004, Mars dominated China's retail chocolate market with a 39% share of the entire market. It never looked back !! Capitalism thus feeds on difference as it grants areas, nation-states, and communities of different races, cultural practices and ethnic traditions uniform memberships of the capitalist club, to subsume them into the global Empire of capital, and to ultimately integrate plural trajectories of modernity into one single route of development.
Brand Trivia Microsoft Kinect has made an entry into the Guinness book of world records as the best selling gadget ever.
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Innovative Crowdsourcing, the Nissan way Remember Outsourcing ? Of course you do! Who doesn't in India and China? If Outsourcing was the buzzword of the last decade, 'Crowdsourcing' is the buzzword of this decade. Let me Explain the word first. Crowdsourcing is similar to outsourcing but here the job is open to all and is accomplished by a very large pool of people. Mostly Crowdsourcing is done for generation of ideas or Intellectual Capital. India like always is not behind in Crowdsourcing too. Big Companies are organizing competitions to generate ideas for their products. One such program is The Nissan Student Brand Manager. Nissan India had launched a competition called 'Nissan Student Brand Manager' a year back. This year it was in the second year of its running. And if numbers were to certify the success of such competitions , here they are. Around 2800 applicants from across the nation, from which some hundreds were shortlisted for Regional finals at the four zones at Delhi , Mumbai , Bangalore and Chennai. These finalists had to present their 2/3 innovative ideas about marketing of Nissan cars in India before eminent Jury consisting of names like Prahlad Kakkar , Harish Bijoor among others. Out of these 33 national finalists were selected. The national final was held at Mumbai in which the selected finalists had to prepare Marketing strategy for the launch of a new
product of Nissan. After a day full of presentations , 18 were selected as the Nissan Student Brand Manager 2011. The next day , these selected NSBMs , as they call themselves underwent sessions of training on Personal image , how to use Media , Product orientation and Advertising. The 18-selected Student Brand Managers will now play a key role in bringing brand Nissan closer to both the student community and the public in general through innovative marketing initiatives. After undergoing training, the students will work closely with company officials on a variety of initiatives.
Addressing the final shortlisted 18 youth, Mr. Dinesh Jain, CEO, Hover Automotive India (HAI) said, “Enthused by the response to the program this year, we are sure that a larger number of institutes and students will vie for NSBM 2012.� Other companies like HUL, Audi etc are also coming up with these kind of competitions. The response to these kind of competitions shows that 'Crowdsourcing ' is indeed the next big THING.
Brand Trivia Mahindra & Mahindra was originally founded as Mahindra & Mohammed, but Co-founder Ghulam Mohammed withdrew after partition of India & Pakistan and the company's name was changed to Mahindra & Mahindra
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Birkin and Bagwati Richa Jha Master of International Business, Delhi University This year is a great year for bags. Yes, you read it right “bags”. Before Anna the most talked about thing in the Indian media was Hina Rabbani Khar's HERMES BIRKIN BAG. More than her foreign policy her bag stole the limelight and newsrooms were filled with fashion designers rather than political experts to discuss the fine nuances of this elusive and expensive bag.
are made from animal skins, such as those of crocodiles and alligators, and that adds a lot to the quantity of time it takes to yield one bag. For order, it takes around 18 man hours to make a Hermes Kelly Bag (our Bagwati), and more than 40
There was another Hermes bag named “Bagwati” that caught attention of the Indian Mango people from the movie Zindagi na Milegi Doobara famously priced at 12,000 Euros. So, I decided to write about Hermes and its pretty ladies in our first edition of Brandi. Hermes is the name of a famous French fashion house which was established in the year 1837. What makes Hermes different from other such houses is that it has a lot of unique and interesting creations to its status. Most of the great masterpieces of the shape house can be seen as handbags that are created by Hermes. The other famous product that Hermes offers is scarves. Like other high fashion houses it has perfumes, apparels and similar luxury goods.
man hours to products a Hermes Birkin Bag( the Hina Rabbani Khar one) which is made of crocodile skin. There are different varieties of the bag, depending on whether you want bags with big scales or small scales, and the kind of animal skin you prefer. The prices of the bags change accordingly. On a typical, a crocodile skin Hermes Birkin Bag would charge where near $9000. Hermes Birkin bags named after the actor and singer, Jane Birkin, and Hermes Kelly bag, named after the actor and Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly, are two of the most famous bags of the fashion house, which are hunted after by women even today. When these bags were launched first, the demand for them was so high, that sometimes there were 6 years of waiting list for them. The bags are shipped out to the diverse Hermes outlets at odd and unpredictable time, and that makes them even more elite and sought after. Other Hermes handbags too are examples of chaste perfection when it comes to the making of handbags. These bags are so highly priced because of their exclusivity, and if you think that your bag has perplexed its charm after using it for some time, then you can even dispatch it for a unique Hermes spa therapy which requires a lot of money but definitely repairs the rider off your bag to make it look new again.
All Hermes handbags are created with a lot of planning and patience. The hard work of the designers and the craftsmen are manifested on the bags. Most of the Hermes handbags
So, ladies if you love these handbags and do not care about endangering some species then go on and splurge your money on these pretty ladies.
Brand Trivia Mahindra & Mahindra was originally founded as Mahindra & Mohammed , but Co-founder Ghulam Mohammed withdrew after partition of India & Pakistan and the company's name was changed to Mahindra & Mahindra
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Vs. Jaideep Yadav Master of International Business, Delhi University Social networking as a business has been evolved from connecting with friends on Friendster, building groups on MySpace to creating communities on Orkut and then to another world like Facebook which has set many social networking standards. Totally crazy and mental social networking future, the two big players when it comes down to social networking is Facebook and Google Plus. Google saw the potential of social networking from Facebook and acted quick and released its new Google Plus network, they've done the right thing because millions and millions of users are now signed up thanks to invites etc. Strategy: I always say Facebook renovates and Google innovates, meaning Facebook has done vertical integration or growth by building various features into single product, but Google is about acquiring new trends and doing a horizontal growth with multiple product lines. But now with the launch of Google Plus, it seems they have built a product which can work on Vertical growth strategy like Facebook. Even though Google has started it as an invite only launch but they surely will use the PUSH Strategy soon to divert the users to the Google Plus. Why Google Plus: Unlike Facebook or twitter where your content is searchable on internet, Google plus will have more secured networking features. Furthermore the Google already have a large user base on the products like Gmail, Orkut, Picasa or Picnik; the integration of it will create ease for users to easily adopt Google Plus as their friends will be some-how connected to it. Will Google Plus Lead to Orkut Minus? Orkut is not dead yet. It still is popular in countries like Brazil. So, what will be the Google strategy for Orkut now?
Will they stop it or will they keep both social networking platforms running simultaneously? It seems awkward to have your two products competing with each other or will they migrate all the Orkut users to Google Plus? May be its feasible as Google Plus offers almost all features of Orkut.
Google-plus-with-Zynga I personally don't think so. I differentiate Orkut (and hence Google Plus) and Facebook by two simple words. Orkut is about 'Social Networking' and Facebook is about 'Social Browsing'. Orkut had a defined purpose of networking whereas the Facebook has changed it to Social Browsing, where the purpose is not defined. To make it simple, let's look at it like this I open facebook and then decide what to do now? To see the pictures, play the games or to try different apps. Like Orkut, Google Plus may also keep the Social networking away from social browsing. Hence they might keep features which are networking relevant only. Effect on Advertising: Google Plus Facebook Adverts Google PPC (pay per click) is one of the most used online advertising platform. The Facebook entered as a Social Media Marketing Tool and introduced Facebook adverts with more targeted advertising based on user interest, age etc. Since engagement of users on Social networking sites are more, the impact of advertising also increase by manifold. With the launch of Google Plus, they will give tough competition to Facebook advertising. Effect on Positioning: Google was known for its search and mailing. Will the launch of Google Plus change the positioning of Google in minds of users? I certainly think it won't affect much. As Facebook started as Social Network and have introduced social search with Bing, and still there is no effect on it's positioning. Google Plus will be an enhancement to Google Image as it is changing with the trends. After the failure of Buzz and Google Wave, Uncertainty lingers about the success of the Google Plus, let's see if they are able to hit the nail on the head.
Will Google Plus also have 'Online Gaming' as Facebook (Mafia Wars, Farm Ville etc)?
Brand Trivia Hasbro has a tie up with Funskool India to market its toys and games in India. Funskool is owned by MRF.
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Brand.i Contest 1.Hero Moto Corp contacted which two agencies for its re branding exercise? 2.What is the name of the system GCMMF employed at the end of its supply chain? 3.In the Article on Bollywood marketing, a movie is said to collaborate with an ice-cream company for its promotion. Name both. 4.According to the article on Viral Marketing , an average facebook user has how many friends? 5.After “Dil ko jab khushi…” and “iss Diwali aap kisko khush…” what is the latest campaign of Cadbury called? 6.After which celebrity is the Hermes Birkin bag named? 7.If Orkut is about 'Social networking' then Facebook is about 'Social ____' ? 8.Aamir Khan had special stickers pasted on the back of rickshaws in Mumbai to promote one of his films. What did the stickers read ? 9.Out of CEAT, Canara Bank , Bank of Baroda & Vodafone, which of the brands is not talked about in the article about 'Reincarnation of Desi Brands' ? 10.In which city of China , McDonalds opened its first restaurant?
Rules: The contest contains 10 question Answers to the questions can be found in the articles of the magazine Send the answers to marcom@mibdu.org along with your full name , address and contact number Last date of sending the answers is 25th September 2011 One lucky winner will get a cash prize of Rs 500/The decision of BRAND.i team will be final and binding
Brand Trivia Tomato Ketchup was patented in 1830 and called 'Dr. Miles compound Tomato extract'.
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Brand.i Blog Representative of the Product Ajay Singh Duggal Master of International Business, Delhi University Boarding a train or bus can be a great experience for those who love marketing and are close observers of the surroundings. We find a number of salesmen selling different products like toothpastes, comb sets, artificial jewelry, medicines, books and food items etc. to the passengers. If a company wants to sell its product; the promotion, advertisement and brand building will take lots of time. But for the salesman of a local product, he has only those few minutes to sell when he boards the train or bus at a stop and leaves at the next stop and he does his work beautifully. He sets a price which he thinks will be best to sell the most of the quantity and at the same time will keep his profit highest. With this Price Standardization, he takes care of the one 'P' of Marketing Pricing.
make online payment for the same. Besides substituting the major tasks of salesman, there are other reasons also why salesmen's importance has declined in a company's Marketing Strategy. Today every company follows Modern Marketing Concepts, wherein it focuses on having long term relationship with customers and building a trustable brand name. But generally, it happens that Sales Representatives of the product provide wrong or distorted information about the product to the customer (whether intentionally to sell more or unintentionally due to lack of proper information), which leads to the deterioration of the brand name and trust on the company. Information provided by the company on internet does not contradict with its long term objective of brand building. This is also one of the reasons why companies prefer internet over salesmen.
Next, he starts promoting the product in his own unique style, which includes attractive words & voice modulation with creative display of the product. He makes lucrative offers to boost his sales by giving N number of complementary goods free with the main product.
Even public sector giant LIC wants to sell its insurance policies through internet but its efforts has not materialized because of the strong opposition by its agents who were fearing the loss in their revenues due to internet option.
These salesmen are different from the one of the branded products. They lack support of the company-no fixed salary, no ad campaign, no brand, no guarantee, no warrantee, no after sales services. Even then they are successful in selling because of their art of selling.
Salesmen are still needed for those products which need customization according to the customer needs. (There are some exceptions to this also, i.e. DELL has number of variants in its each series of laptops like INSPIRON. It provides customization and one can configure his/her laptop online and make his/her order from there.)
Talking about the Salesman of a branded product now, in Marketing Strategies the need of a salesman and his role in selling a product has declined over the years. The rise of internet has changed the situation. Internet has substituted major tasks of a salesman: 造
Providing Product Information
造
Facilitating the Exchange
Consumers are much more literate nowadays and demands instant information about the product. Now, no one waits for the salesman to come and explain about the product. Companies have made all information available at internet in written, pictorial as well as in video mode about product features and its usage. The other task of facilitating exchange or transfer of possession has also been taken care by internet through online order systems. Order for the product can be made online and it is delivered at one's doorstep almost without any charge. And customer can
Along with internet, Organized Retailing has also limited the role of salesman. Customer needs less interference in his decisions due to his awareness and wants the person to assist him only when he desires. Showrooms, Departmental Stores, Shopping Malls etc. these are the examples of places where customer feels less interference from the salesman. Persuading and interference still prevail at the level of small shops. In long term, when more and more people will be literate enough to use internet facilities and there will be an easy access to internet for rural people also, the need and desire to have a salesman for the product will decline further sharply. And the local salesman, selling local products in busses and trains will no longer exist because then even rural consumer will be more brand conscious and brand loyal.
Brand Trivia The Mascot of Michelin Tyre Company is called 'Bibendum'.
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Brand.i Blog Brand-a-thon Nripanshi Bansiwal Master of International Business, Delhi University In today's time and age if you can manage to miss being targeted by the advertising industry, then it is quite an achievement and you deserve to be felicitated! You might not have given much thought to it but yes, the marketing and advertising industry has been spreading its wings across borders, cultures, languages and generations with the effect that now the operations have spread so far and wide that it can reach almost any individual except if you are living in the remotest tribal village or town which is cut-off from the rest of the world by lack of communication network or power supply. Over the years, the modes of advertising and marketing have undergone a sea change, and now it is not just about making your product visible but leaving an impact on the minds of the consumers. All of us get to lay our eyes on a plethora of advertisements consciously or un-consciously, but how many of them actually get etched in the psyche to influence us is the tough question that is making marketers over the World revolve around it! The ads alone may not be instrumental in our decision to own a product but they do
play a major part. Let's consider a regular working person or a college student walks out of the house in the morning for the regular routine. He/she encounters hoardings, billboards, radio ads, display ads on brochures, online ads at the workplace, telemarketing offers and finally when he/she heads back home there is the T.V. to thrust some more advertising campaigns upon them. Some of these ads really work well by either inflating your ego, like “Because you are worth it” and “Yeh hai Youngistan, meri jaan”, while others play up the emotional trick a bit too much, as in, “Jeetey Raho”! But if we look closely, these are not just random taglines, they have been prepared after months of considerations, re-evaluations and editions; and hence they are supposed to produce the
kind of effect upon you that they do. Apart from that they are the bread and butter for millions of people who want you directly or indirectly to buy the products they are associated with. From the art assistant to the creative head
and the marketing manager of an advertising team; everybody has a tough job to do, because changing existing perceptions and making campaigns which cause the intended influence over human decisions is as much a Herculean task as climbing the Everest! Most of us do not like to change our tastes even if we know there is something better which exists. This bias exists for a lot of us and this is what makes the job of some marketers hard while others are just happy that you have the kind of tastes that you do! But if we consider carefully, marketing and brand recognition have always been around us. At schools, colleges, and job interviews, what people are actually doing is trying to market their skills and individuality. Even the roadside 'bhel-puri' vendor tries to market his package the best way he can, and does it quite well even without securing a Masters' in Business! It's all about putting forth your proposition and justifying it. What is interesting to note is how far the definition of a 'brand' has stretched that now it includes products, services, firms, people, activities, places, and even animals!( Octopus Paul was being googled far more than FIFA at a certain point).
So, the next time you come across any form of advertising, try to question your rigid preferences and do venture beyond the punch line and the models!
Brand Trivia Bajaj Auto was once known as the Bachraj trading Company.
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Epic Wins! -Marketing Marvels of India Sahil Lohra Master of International Business, Delhi University With a plethora of products in the market, differentiation becomes an absolute necessity. To ensure success, every brand directs some efforts in this direction- some amount to sheer exercises in futility, some attain moderate success while some “select few” emerge triumphant and achieve unforeseen success something which is colloquially know over the internet as “Epic Win!” So, go grab some coffee! Sit back, relax and sip your time away whilst you read and ruminate about some of the marketing marvels of India (in the late 1990s and early 2000s) which can be touted as Epic Wins that attained successfully sustained sales. Brand- Britannia India Limited
Brand- Lay's(Potato Chips)
Remember the good ol' late 90s, when you were probably a kid. One day, you chanced upon a Lay's bag and found a Tazo in it, reached school and told your friends about it. Then, realized you were not the only one and that you had now become a part of an ongoing fad of Tazo mania that gripped you with its relentlessly fastening clutches that you unwittingly enjoyed like a creepy masochist! What was introduced? - A free Tazo (small circular disklike toy that, for some reason, drove kids crazy) offered by Lay's with its pack of potato chips. Results- The entire competition became irrelevant just because of a small toy in the pack! Kids welcomed the product with open arms, indulging in acts like :”Tazo trades, Tazo bets, Tazo fights et al”. Tazos were also perceived as “collectibles”. This ensured sustained sales. Brand- Reliance Communications
Who doesn't like cricket? In a nation where some of the star cricketers are highly revered and considered tantamount to Gods, the integration of a product promotion strategy directly with the game guarantees sure shot success. And this is exactly what BIL did (under the campaign:”Britannia khao, World Cup jao”). The campaign was strategically launched before the WC 1999. Before and during the World Cup, the consumption of Britannia products skyrocketed! What was introduced?
In 2002, with the introduction of a cell phone priced at INR 500, suddenly everyone wanted to buy one! Owing to the low price and consequently, ease in affordability, the penetration strategy for the product worked effectively. This led to the dawn of a new era wherein cell phones were being perceived as objects of necessity rather than luxury.
Underlying the campaign was the concept of a scratch book that could possibly carry a ticket to the Cricket World Cup 1999. Depending upon the Britannia product purchased, customers would get a specific number of points as stated on the wrapper. Once the points reached 100, the wrappers could be exchanged with a scratch book. It was publicized that this scratch book might be a key to your ticket to the World Cup!
The cheapest mobile phones ever in India- priced at INR 500.
Results- Britannia India Limited (BIL) successfully capitalized on the undying Indian cricket mania to increase its sales by 37% within 5 months. The “Britannia khao, World Cup jao“ campaign was indeed a huge success.
Results- The handsets sold like hot cakes! With strong and steady sales records, Reliance Communications has had a sales figure of ”2.75 lakh units sold in 3 days” to its name. This number is staggering!
What was introduced?
Brand Trivia VOLTAS started as a collaboration between Tata Sons and Volkart Brothers in 1894.
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’s Story Arjun Kant Chadha Master of International Business, Delhi University Amul was formally registered on December 14, 1946. The brand name Amul, sourced from the Sanskrit wordAmoolya, means priceless. Some cite the origin as an acronym to (Anand Milk Union Limited). At the time Amul was formed, consumers had limited purchasing power, and modest consumption levels of milk and other dairy products. Thus Amul adopted a low-cost price strategy to make its products affordable and attractive to consumers by guaranteeing them value for money. Beginning with liquid milk, Amul or Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) enhanced the
Few dairies of the world have the wide variety of products produced by the GCMMF network. Village societies are encouraged through subsidies to install chilling units. Automation in processing and packaging areas is common. Amul actively pursues developments in embryo transfer and cattle breeding in order to improve cattle quality and increases in milk yields. GCMMF were one of the first FMCG firms in India to employ Internet technologies to implement B2C commerce. Today customers can order a variety of products through the Internet and be assured of timely delivery with cash payment upon receipt. Another e-initiative underway is to provide farmer's access to information relating to markets, technology and best practices in the dairy industry through net enabled kiosks in the villages.GCMMF has also implemented a Geographical Information System (GIS) at both ends of the supply chain, i.e. milk collection as well as the marketing process. Farmers now have better access to information on the output as well as support services while providing a better planning tool to marketing personnel. Amul has used the hoardings and advertising to perfection. Taking cues from new films, celebrities, the creative ideas are fun to watch. More over Amul has sticked with the creative messages throughout.
product mix through the progressive addition of higher value products while maintaining the desired growth in existing products.
From the Sixties to the Nineties and till date, the Amul ads have come a long way. While most people agree that the Amul ads were at their peak in the Eighties they still maintain that the Amul ads continue to tease laughter out of them.
Despite competition in the high value dairy product segments from firms such as Hindustan Lever Nestle and Britannia, GCMMF ensures that the product mix and the sequence in which Amul introduces its products is consistent with the core philosophy of providing milk at a basic, affordable price. The network follows an umbrella branding strategy. Amul is the common brand for most product categories produced by various unions: liquid milk, milk powders, butter, ghee, cheese, cocoa products, sweets, ice-cream and condensed milk. Even though the cooperative was formed to bring together farmers, it was recognised that professional managers and technocrats would be required to manage the network effectively and make it commercially viable. GCMMF's technology strategy is characterized by four distinct components: new products, process technology, and complementary assets to enhance milk production and e-commerce.
I believe that the charm lies in the catchy lines. That we laugh because the humour is what anybody would enjoy. They don't bother your nationality or certain sentiments. It is pure and simple, everyday fun. What I like most about the Amul brand is that they have been consistent over the communication campaign and brand strategy. AMUL has positioned itself as “Taste of India� and have ensured that their communication is in line with their positioning strategy. Data by rediff business
Brand Trivia In the mid 80s, the Beatles' song 'revolution' was licensed for a TV commercial for NIKE, the first time ever that a Beatles' song had been licensed for advertising purposes.
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MIB, Delhi University|BRAND.i, Vol. I, Sept 2011
Cadbury's Dairy Milk Iti Chaudhary Master of International Business, Delhi University What is Cadbury's Dairy Milk? Is it just a chocolate or something more than merely a confection? But first we need to answer this question first. What is Chocolate? Is it the bitter sweet extravaganza of taste and aroma? Or is it the excuse we make when we need to get away from our boredom? Or any other reason for that matter. When Cadbury entered the Indian market in 1948, we never had a taste bud frolicking at the sight of chocolate. The obvious strategy was to place it as something special for times of celebrations. Later, it diverged from the obvious by down for they wanted their customers and their market to evolve. Chocolate is no longer sweet, nor just a confectionery. It no longer is for special occasions, neither it is just for big celebrations. It is no more for a happy moment. It is a bar of happiness itself. It is now a celebration, a moment of happiness, an excuse for a smile. It is no longer competing only with traditional Indian Sweets. What has it turned into? calling the chocolaty taste as “the taste of life”. It was about to enjoy any happy moment big or small by chocolate. So, the customer took notice of Cadbury's Dairy Milk. Cadbury understood the sentiment and decided to expand the market later in the 90's by the ads “Khane walo ko…”, “Dil ko jab khushi…” and “iss Diwali aap kisko khush…”. In yester years, they had been professing Dairy Milk as a Confectionery, i.e. something that is sweet, tasty and generally for children. Later on, they portrayed it not only as confectionery but a medium of showing love, support, happiness and other feelings. They previously called it an occasional treat, while later on, they professed chocolate to be called upon whenever be the smallest need for a smile. Chocolate meant Happiness. What Cadbury has been
doing is shattering tradition stereotypes. Some of them even created by it itself. Boundaries of taste, texture, and environment it created for its product had to be broken
With the latest campaign, it has entered the Indian family. It is what they share at the dinner table along with a day's events. It is there with them when they bond with each. It is a husband's “I love you”, and is also a dessert. Not just personal. It's for all. It is no longer a sweet. It is more than a sweet. It's the tasty end to their day. Khane ke baad ka meetha moment. It is the tasty treat they anticipate for and which pulls them through the maybe bland, un-tasteful (healthy food recommended by the mom), even leftovers from the previous night.
So now this bar of chocolate is for every member of the family. A child's treat, a husband's way of expressing his love for his wife, respite after a bland course. It actually is both reason and medium of love and affection of every member of a family for each other. Cadbury continues to enchant and enthrall us thus.
Brand Trivia Starbucks derives its logo from the Novel 'Moby Dick '.
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Brand.i News Social activist Anna Hazare has become our new superhero! The 74-year-old Maharashtrian, who made a buzz with the Jan Lokpal Bill, has not only become the face of anti-corruption crusade but a brand that people, are conforming to. Gandhi caps depicting 'I Am Anna Hazare' have been revived like never before. Same is the case with T-shirts and badges. The FMS is even going to study this phenomenon of Anna turning into brand. Come October, and India will witness F1 in its soil‌ This is the first time that the Formula One racing will be taking place in our country. Bharti Airtel has joined hands with Formula One Group Companies to announce Airtel Grand Prix of India to be held from 28-30 October, 2011. The event which will be held at Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Google announced on 15th August that it will acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in order to "supercharge" its Android mobile operating system and build up its patent portfolio. Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said the company has over 17,000 issued patents worldwide, in addition to 7,500 patent applications awaiting approval. Yahoo! India on Tuesday launched Movieplex , a video destination allowing users to enjoy licensed fulllength movies for free through Internet on demand. Yahoo! India will collaborate with leading movie production houses to bring thousands of local 'Bollywood' movies online to users for a piracy-free, quality entertainment experience. Titan Industries, maker of watches and fashion accessories, said it plans to enter new verticals every other year and gain leadership in that market. The thrust of the company's new corporate strategy is to get into new domains every second year and try and gain leadership in that market.
Composers Shankaar-Ehsaan-Loy have been roped in as the brand ambassadors for Philips Lifestyle Entertainment in India. The brand launched their 'Feel the Music' (FTM) campaign, which will carry forward their Obsessed With Sound philosophy.
Reliance Retail has begun door-to-door direct selling through housewives and housing societies to boost sales of its private brands such as Sudz detergent, Amara soaps and Healthy Life food items.
The Hilton group has opened its Double Tree brand of hotels in India. The first of these hotels has come up in Mayur Vihar, New Delhi. Doubletree by Hilton is a worldwide brand of upscale, full-service hotels and resorts trademarked by Hilton Worldwide.
Dulux paints has opted for a new logo that now features a white human figure holding a colour flourish beside the existing logo in a dark blue background.
NIIT Technologies acquired Spainish software services firm Proyecta Sistemas de Informacion SA for for $7 million on 16th August.
About Us MARCOM the Marketing Cell of MIB(Master of International Business), Faculty of Commerce & Business, Delhi School of Economics is a completely student run cell incorporated to conduct marketing/advertising activities, Guest lectures and publish its monthly magazine- BRAND.i. The Faculty of Commerce & Business, Delhi School of Economics is situated in the picturesque campus of Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi and was set up in 1967. As a response of Market imperatives, two new programmes, MIB and MHROD apart from M.Com were set up in 1995. In a short period of thirteen years these courses have made a huge mark in contemporary management education.
MARCOM - The Marketing Cell of MIB, Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics University of Delhi, New Delhi - 110007 To Subscribe a free online copy, write to : marcom@mibdu.org Like us at facebook.com/marcom.mib