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MARKSMAN

K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH VOL. IV| ISSUE I| SUMMER ‘13

SPECIAL STORY THE IPLKURUKSHETRA OF BRANDS

>> 13

BOOK WORM

>> 20

EXCLUSIVE SECTION

REAL TIME >> 18 HALL MARK CAMPAIGNS

STYLE >> 17

COVER STORY

OPPORTUNISTIC MARKETING

EDITOR’S NOTE Dear Readers, We at Interface proudly welcome all our old and our new readers to the latest summer edition of The Marksman! We know you missed us during our summer break and that’s exactly why, we are back with an exciting, exuberant and enlightening summer issue of The Marksman! This three month special edition has a lot of exciting news waiting for you! ‘Opportunistic Marketing’, our cover story for this issue will show you how marketing can be successful if the right opportunity is tapped at the right time. Many brands these days lose out on their customers because they do not recognise the opportunity at the right time. The Indian Premier League has been the talk of the town recently, for, if not all the right, then atleast, a few right and a few wrong reasons. None the less it has managed to garner maximum popularity and publicity for itself and has brands mulling over associating themselves with this property! Read more about this in our Special Story section. Want to know the story of your favourite chocolate brand Cadbury? Read the full story in our section Brand Markive. The section Bookworm covers a book that is co-authored by one of our very own professors, Prof Isaac Jacob. The book is titled ‘Strategic Brand Management’. The Tweets section will give you all the news from advertising to marketing and much more! Our section Ad-itude includes our take on a number of ads whereas the Campaign section talks about Coca Cola’s latest ‘Ahh Campaign’. And this is not it! Our special issue will give you a little sneak peek into the corporate world as well! Our Alumnus write a special column called Alumni Gyaan, on their experience in the big bad world out there and our fellow batch mates share their Intern experiences in the section Intern Speak. We at Marksman work really hard to make sure our readers enjoy every minute they spend on our magazine. We hope you enjoy our Special Summer Issue! We will be looking forward for suggestions and feedback from our readers on our special issue! So do get in touch with us on Facebook:The Marksman – Marketing Magazine of K J SIMSR and Twitter @marksmansimsr. Happy Reading Folks! Team Marksman

SUMMER 2013

CONTENTS

TWEETS

IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

BRAND MARKIVE

COVER STORY OPPORTUNISTIC MARKETING

SPECIAL STORY IPL – THE KURUKSHETRA OF BRANDS

MARKETING REAL TIME

INTERN SPEAK

BOOKWORM

BUZZ

THE MARKSMAN

TWEETS BOURNVITA CELEBRATES THE MODERN DAY MOTHER WITH ITS LATEST COMMERCIAL. Bournvita’s latest commercial inculcates the ‘habit of winning’ in children. It shows a modern age mother who instils in her son the importance of winning by racing against him and not gifting him a win. The ad has been conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather and it stresses on the fact that a mother should not only tell her children how to win but also show them how to win. Mothers these days are not mere onlookers when it comes to their child’s health and values. They are their equal partners and it is their responsibility to make sure that their child learns the right things in the right manner. The ad brings out a strong message in an effective manner. With the launch of this commercial, Bournvita has surpassed all the other energy drinks in its own category (Complan, Horlicks) and is fast becoming every mother’s number 1 choice for their children.

FLIPKART GETS FASHIONABLE! E-commerce seems to be entering the next level by stepping its foot into the fashion world. Joining the bandwagon is the one - stop shop website Flipkart.com. Flipkart recently announced its entry into the realm of fashion and lifestyle. While we have watched little kids selling mobile phones, laptops, television sets, etc, the latest flipkart campaign shows these children in different situations wearing some fashionable clothes. While the ads definitely appeal to us, Flipkart surely will continue to appeal to us with its latest venture!

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TWEETS LET’S DO THE ZUMI ZUMI! Creating an anthem to build a strong connect with the consumers is a trend that is catching up quickly amongst major brands. When Airtel came up with the ‘Har ek friend zaroori hota hai’ campaign, all of us were humming the tune day in and day out! Idea too launched an anthem for itself and yet again we found ourselves humming to ‘You’re my pumpkin, pumpkin! Hello hunny bunny’! And this time it’s Vodafone that has got us humming their anthem.

Launching the ‘Zumi Zumi’ campaign during the IPL this season, Vodafone managed to get the Indian viewers not only humming but also dancing to their latest commercials in which our beloved Zoo Zoos were back. Only this time they were their mini versions. While the campaign was preceded by a number of Mini Zoo Zoo commercials, this anthem ad was released almost towards the end of the IPL. The music is absolutely catchy, albeit gibberish forms the lyrics of the song. The ad conveys the product benefits of Vodafone internet (ability to share photos, play songs and see videos) through subtitles. While many argue that Zoo Zoos have crossed their expiry date and Vodafone should do away with them, we say that these mini Zoo Zoos have managed to recreate their charm and the anthem is a hit all the way! Let’s hope we get to see a little more of these mini ones around soon! THE TWELVE MINUTE ITCH! Indian television viewers found a reason to rejoice when the TRAI announced the 12 minute cap on television advertising. While the fans can expect a lot less advertising and a lot more programming on television, the advertisers are furious over this decision. Each genre of television will be impacted by this decision in a different way. From June 1 onwards channels have been asked to limit their advertising to 30 minutes per hour following which several major TV channels such as Star Plus, Colours, Zee, etc have hiked their ad rates to make up for the limited advertising time. By October, each channel will have to make sure that they limit their advertising to 10 minutes per hour plus 2 minutes of their own channel promotions. Only time will tell what impact this decision will have on the broadcasters and the advertisers!

THE MARKSMAN

TWEETS BETTING YOUR WAY OUT OF POPULARITY! The Indian Premier League which was one of the biggest properties that garnered maximum Indian fan following has most likely lost the battle! When the news of three Indian cricketers betting, just to earn a few bucks, came to light, IPL lost what was most important to it, its fans’ loyalty! Set Max, the channel that airs the IPL saw a massive drop in its TRP’s by 14% just the day after this news broke out! People in India have seen a lot of dishonesty but when it comes to their favourite game, it seems like they won’t take such actions lightly. It’s not only the fans that have disowned the IPL, even the sponsors are not happy with all the bad air surrounding the series! Allegedly Pepsi, which is the title sponsor for the IPL for 5 seasons, has shown a possibility of pulling out their sponsorship for the forthcoming season. While IPL has certainly lost its brand value, the future too seems uncertain for India’s biggest cricket series!

SEEN A LIFE SIZE SAMOSA HANGING FROM A BILLBOARD??? ITS TATA SKY’S LATEST OOH ADVERTISEMENT! Tata Sky recently launched its new campaign in Maharashtra called ‘Samose se kam daam mein Tata Sky’. The campaign aimed at educating its customers about how inexpensive the services of Tata Sky are. According to the campaign the cost of Tata Sky per day is 6.70Rs which is less than what a Samosa costs. To spread this message across effectively they came up with an innovative OOH campaign, where a life size samosa was put up on billboards across Maharashtra accompanied with the tagline which read,‘Samose se kam daam mein Tata Sky, Sirf Rs6.70 prati din’. Executed by Endeavour Media Management, this campaign has caught the eye of most of its target consumers and Tata Sky has been successful in bringing out the idea of affordability and flexibility of their services in a unique manner.

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TWEETS FACEBOOK BEATS TWITTER AND YOUTUBE ,TO BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT SOCIAL MARKETING PLATFORM IN INDIA According to a recent report produced by Ernst & Young, Facebook emerges as the most popular social marketing platform in India. Many big brands such as Bharti Airtel, Honda Cars India, BMW India, Network 18, Rajasthan Royals, Flipkart, Clear trip, etc were a part of the survey which showed that facebook has more than 61 million users and it is considered to be a platform where brands actively communicate and engage with their target audiences. Facebook has helped these brands establish themselves in the minds of the consumers and grow steadily over the years. However Twitter and You tube are not far behind in this race with the second and third position respectively. With the rise in the number of social marketing platforms, Facebook which is one of the oldest amongst the lot, seems to retain its favourable image not only amongst the fans but amongst the brands as well.

“GET THE PLAY BACK INTO YOUR LIVES!” SAYS FANTA WITH A DIGITAL GRAPHIC NOVEL Coca Cola’s fruit flavoured carbonated drink Fanta has found a new way to immerse its target group – the teens in its playful and colourful little world. Fanta has launched a digital graphic novel which includes the Fanta crew that appears in its commercials. They have created a story where the Fanta crew is out to ‘Save the source’ of play, which has been stolen, in their town. Fanta is trying to connect with their core target group which comprises teens through this graphic novel’s digital storytelling on PlayFanta.com. And this is not it! The novel also has several games embedded in it to engage the consumers and give them a different experience of storytelling! Ogilvy & Mather New York led the Play Fanta creative vision, and Hollywood scriptwriters The Alchemists developed a central narrative for the graphic novel. We tried our hands at this graphic novel and our verdict for Fanta’s latest innovation is that it’s a completely new concept and the graphics and story are so engaging that you would not want to leave it half way! So what are you waiting for? Go and save the play in your town at PlayFanta.com

THE MARKSMAN

It’s all about AD-ITUDE PRINT AD This Print ad is the brainchild of Ogilvy and Mather and it hits the bulls’ eye (no pun intended!). Remember how proud we used to be of our Hot Wheels cars as kids? The happiness of obtaining a new one was surpassed only by the pride of ownership. We would gladly watch our cars collide but would never let our siblings even touch them! The Ogilvy ad focuses on that perception of having a real car and depicts an eye- like Godzilla’speering into the interiors of a car. This is where O&M takes the perception to the next level and connects with consumers of all ages. This eye belongs to a dad who is now jealous of the magnificent vehicle owned by his kid! The brilliance of the ad lies in its sense of awe as it depicts a potentially threatening gigantic dad peering intently into a perfectly designed Hot Wheels car.

TELEVISION AD

This video advertisement was initially seen on Youtube and has now made it to the Indian television. This one impeccably positions Bournville as the dark chocolate that is the unopposed ruler of the “Not so Sweet” domain. The girl in the ad talking about her cat reminds us of many of those uncomfortably sticky-sweet people out there who we would gladly feed to the alligators. It is for the same reason that the conclusion of the advertisement is satisfactory. It must be pointed out that most advertisements evoke emotional responses (Pizza ad creates craving, ‘Save the Tiger’ ad makes us sad and resolved, so on and so forth) but this ad fulfills our craving for proactive action and brings about inner peace. It promotes inaction and in a twisted way- allows “nature” to take its own course. Critics may call it senseless but viewers consider it absolution!

SUMMER 2013

It’s all about AD-ITUDE

PRINT AD This one says it all! To understand this print ad for a radio show in Brazil, one merely needs to understand what the colors mean. The colors remind listeners. Red reminds them of friends, yellow reminds them of Jamaica and black reminds them of nothing. This is the ad for a radio show played between 7 and 8. The ‘pie chart’ depicts what happens during the majority of the day! (Nothing!) Connecting visuals with an audio service perhaps is one of the biggest challenges in communication. This ad, without saying much, manages to say a lot! Creativity has bloomed here and conveyed music without a sound!

TELEVISION AD Recently, Dove launched a six and a half minute long video advertisement titled ‘Real Beauty Sketches’-which can be seen on You tube. This is an unconventional length for an advertisement but this is what Dove has done, it has ventured where no one has gone before. In these times of attention grabbing adverts, Dove has done the unthinkable. It has put across a deep, thought provoking idea that makes us wonder about our perception of beauty. The premise of the ad is simple. It has been depicted as a live interaction between people and an artist drawing face sketches of those same people sitting behind a curtain. These sketches are based on verbal descriptions. Each individual is asked to describe herself and then another person they have met on their way in. Hence, 2 sketches are created for every person- one as per the face owner’s description and the other according to a 3rd party. And surprisingly, the way others see an individual turns out to be more beautiful than the person’s perception of self! This ad strikes at the core of our perception of self and beauty as we know it. If reports are true, this ad has become the most watched video ad of all time!

THE MARKSMAN

Brand MARKive THE WORLD OF CADBURY Ever since, there has been no looking back for Cadbury. It went on to become a pioneer in the chocolate industry by introducing the chocolate and milk chocolate bar.

Had it not been for John Cadbury we would not have had chocolates. Today “Cadbury” is a generic name for chocolates. Absolutely all chocolate lovers would have “felt silk lately”. Cadbury redefines the love for chocolates and welcomes its lovers into the world of JOYVILLE. The rich & dark Cadbury chocolates are an absolute delight to the mouth. Cadbury has established itself as a mouth-watering, luscious & wholesome chocolate. REWIND It was in 1824 that John Cadbury started selling self made tea, coffee & drinking chocolate at a store in Bull’s Street, Birmingham, England. In a few years he opened up his own factory producing cocoa and drinking chocolates, and made it commercial by the year 1831.

FROM ‘ASLI SWAAD ZINDAGI KA’ TO ‘SHUBH AARAMBH’ John Cadbury himself had a knack for innovative and expressive advertisements and promotions, which were well imbibed by the company and that spirit is still visible in their advertisements today. Cadbury is undoubtedly the brand that has quite successfully managed to maintain and carry forward this legacy. The British Confectionary company is one of the global leaders in chocolate market today.

The next eleven years saw a drastic expansion in Cadbury’s product offering and John Cadbury was selling more than eleven different cocoas and a variety of sixteen drinking chocolates.

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Brand MARKive The Cadbury advertisements are a reflection of rich tapestry of human emotions and feelings. Their advertisements are one of a kind and manage to strike the right chord with its consumers. Starting from the early 1900s, Cadbury has always offered fine posters and print advertisements to the audience. Even today it comes out with rare and classic and at times even radical advertisements capturing the essence of human emotions.

EVOLVING AS A FAVORITE Be it Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut or the Crunchie, each one of them has been persistently winning the hearts of millions. Cadbury in true sense has become a real reason for celebrations, “kyunki khush hai zamana aaj pehli tareek hai ”.

THE PRODUCT AND THE BRAND: From Cadbury’s Dairy Milk to Bournville, every single chocolate has been a favorite. Cadbury went purple and gold in the year 1920 and the legacy continues. Their logo first appeared in the year 1921 based on the signature of William Cadbury and it has only been simplified over the years and never changed. Cadbury thus emerges as a brand that has very effortlessly maintained a holding on its original and true essence.

THE MARKSMAN

COVER STORY OPPORTUNISTIC MARKETING

Marketing and Opportunity are the two words not considered to be spaced out. Basically marketing itself is giving right opportunity to the customer to get connected or stay connected with the brand. Advent of social media and digital platforms has not only made finding this right opportunity easier but has also added a lot of competition among the firms as number of firms using these platforms is increasing. This competition makes the term “Opportunistic marketing” more appealing. This means how aware the firm is to find an opportunity in a situation, occasion or event to increase their selling. But being aware is not enough. One needs to have enough resources to seize the moment. So resource planning is an important part of Opportunistic marketing.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE AN OPPORTUNISTIC MARKETER? One way if we observe “Opportunistic marketing” can be analogous to Seasonal marketing. Both take the benefit of “TIME” (mostly good).

The only difference between the two is that season comes regularly and opportunities do not. An opportunistic marketer has to be discreet and careful about future opportunities to reap out maximum benefit. The marketer also should have an accurate estimation about resources available because not giving something promised can be very hazardous to the firm. It makes your image vulnerable. The driving force behind opportunistic marketing is increased sales and profit. Also the goal or target of opportunistic marketing is getting the maximum benefit of a situation that is unlikely to recur.

AMUL Amul ads use the witty one-liners related to the day to day events or the national events which catch the eye of the nation. Also, the humorous and incisive style of drawing makes heads turn towards the ads. Another speciality of Amul ads is that they don’t use any celebrity but a cute, little girl in polka dot dress. This Amul girl has become iconic in Indian advertising. All together, Amul has strategically and successfully been using opportunistic marketing with national breaking news or hyped events.

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COVER STORY HUL Looking at the cut-throat competition in the consumer products segment, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has been very successful in their strategies to be India’s largest consumer products company. HUL’s products include foods, beverages, cleansing agents and many other household commodities. HUL’s goal takes into account sustainability and health. The following example gives us an idea as to the extent a company can imagine to apply its opportunistic marketing methods.

At “Kumbh mela”, the biggest congregation of devotees in India, where many marketers vie, for their presence to be felt, HUL decided to go with innovative marketing rather than regular traditional way. Kumbh Mela is Hindu Pilgrimage held in every three years and attracts 100 million people. HUL partnered with hundreds of restaurants and dhabwalas near the pilgrimage area to serve rotis that are stamped with “Lifebouy se hath dhoye kya?” This campaign got the crowds’ attention exactly when it was required the most.

THE MARKSMAN

Lifebuoy placed soaps at washrooms of various eateries and put Lifebuoy banners at various places so as to reach out to more people. This “Roti reminder” campaign not only helped it stand out but also helped the brand to reach out to a mass crowd without use of too many resources. The perfect example of Guerrilla marketing, isn’t it?

ANNA HAZARE Another example of opportunistic marketing in the Indian political context is of ‘Anna Hazare’s Lokpal movement’. Anna Hazare with his party workers and supporters was fighting for stringent Ombudsman bill that will curb corruption, protect whistle-blowers and answer citizen grievances. Anna Hazare also went on to fast for his demands to be accepted. Whole of India was looking at him and few used this opportunity to sell “Gandhi cap” printed with the words “I am Anna”.

This cap started selling rapidly as it was an indivisible part of Anna’s personality. Also it was most apt but momentous way to show your support to the movement by wearing it. So though for a short span of time, this cap saw its presence in the urban parts of India.

COVER STORY BENEFITS OF BEING OPPORTUNISTIC In the business context some feel that being opportunistic means getting benefited by other people’s misfortune. But it is not always like that. Being opportunistic also shows that the firm finds the right time to get connected with the customers. It is like helping a customer at a time when he needs it the most. Not only does that customer remember you but it also generates the goodwill for the firm. If some situation sets the crowd up, a firm with the help of right solution and strategy can settle the issue down. No doubt the customer will respond positively. The other benefit is that people are forced to choose your product or service. This is mainly because of the few other alternatives or because of condition like “more demand than supply.”

ETHICS OF OPPORTUNISTIC MARKETING The beauty of opportunistic marketing lies in it being ethical. Sometimes firms misuse people’s fear. For example, in 2009-10 few areas of India were affected by swine-flue. Doctors advised people to use sanitary masks in the public places as a first precaution to be taken. These masks do not provide assured guarantee from catching the flu.

But retailers capitalized on increased demand and raised the prices of masks. People purchased masks even in regions considered free from the flu epidemic. All fuss out of the swine-flue fear. Ambush marketing is one form of opportunistic marketing only. Ambush marketing is a marketing practice where firms which are not official sponsors of big events or competitions use them for increasing their brand visibility or raising their brand awareness. A line has to be drawn to allow official sponsor to get the exclusivity that it has heavily invested in. The official sponsor’s right should not be violated by this ambush marketing. One of the wise opportunistic marketing examples is of TATA ACE. ACE also shows the depth of grassroot marketing TATA did before it was launched. Ace is a four-cylinder, fuel efficient, 1 tonne mini-truck that TATA designed looking at the small roads of villages which are not pliable by huge trucks. This truck proposed to increase the number of trips per day with its higher mileage and enhanced driving comfort. So the right opportunity cashed on at the right time with the right efforts can always give its benefits because ultimately opportunity for one is the need for other.

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SPECIAL STORY IPL – THE KURUKSHETRA OF BRANDS

As a toddler I was mesmerised by the showdown between two warriors hurling arrows at each other in ‘Mahabharata’. The arrows clashed somewhere in mid-air and the one with greater meditational powers induced in it by a chanting of verses, persisted while the languid one evanescenced. In this article I am going to take the liberty of drawing a parallel between the ‘Mahabharata’ and the IPL. The cricket ground is the Kurukshetra and the players, the warriors. The brands emblazoned on the team uniforms are the allies. The ball and bat are the arrows with the spell. Every time the bowler chants the ‘Karbonn’ spell we evince the ‘KarbonnKamaalKatche’. The antidote to this spell is the ‘DLF’ mantra which embodies in the form of ‘DLF Maximums’. (IPL 2012- The connection is still ripe in my mind.) The ‘Mahabharata’ was governed by certain rules which often perplexed the small me. In a joust only two people pitted against each other and others even if ‘free’ didn’t interfere. However, the battle of our brands fighting it out in the IPL knows no rules. The bloodshed in the ‘Mahabharata’ had a ‘strategic time out’ at night. The brand YODHAS of the IPL YUHBHUMI know no respite. They keep contriving ways to check mate the opponent.

THE MARKSMAN

Hastinapur was so large that both the ‘Pandavas’ and ‘Kauravas’ could have had a large piece of the pie, but both vied the plenary pie. Similarly our brands are at a tug-of-war, and the IPL is the heavyweight which abets winning the whole pie. The consumer here is ‘Dhritarashtra’, the blind king. He conjures an image of what is delineated by ‘Sanjay’. In our case Sanjay represents the ad agencies which astutely proffer the brand to the consumer. More than 100 brands advertised in IPL this season. Pepsi the title sponsor churned out Rs.396.8 crores to bag the title rights for 5 years. It was also the official drinks partner of 8 out of the 9 teams. Pepsi also launched its ‘fan can’ a 500 ml can especially for the IPL. The ‘strategic timeout’ countdown did not go 3, 2, 1, but went oh, yes, abhi, instead. Indeed an avant-garde way to campaign. Coca-cola was the drinks partner of Mumbai Indians but had to serve their drinks without labels in in-house matches because Pepsi had the in stadium branding rights. It was akin to Pepsi stripping Coca cola of its ‘kavach-kundal’ just like Karan was stripped of his by lord Indira.

SPECIAL STORY But step outside the stadium and you will descry people quaffing on 400 ml coke sold for just Rs. 10. Pepsi as a countercoup sampled ‘Pepsi atom’ outside the stadium. KarbonnKamaalKatche, DLF Maximums and Citi moments of success are uncanny examples of branding at its best. Vodafone also relofted its zoo zoos for the 6th edition of IPL. Vodafone super fan, Pepsi box were other ‘mahayodhas’. Banks like Yes bank also leveraged the IPL to rake in some moolah. Cadbury also made a leading-edge advert limning stadium audience as gems in different colours hurrahing for their favourite teams, cleverly putting across the idea of ‘RahoUmarless’. Star plus sought an ambush marketing strategy by vouchsafing the Naisoch awards for an event being telecast on Sony.

Like the dice king ‘Shakuni mama’ the IPL has its own breed of ‘Shakunis’. They tempt fate and to skew the ensual in their favour, do the ‘vastraharan’ of the spirit of the game. And while this befalls the old fogeys, in our case the champions of the game just remain mute spectators.

Now that the IPL is eclipsed with fixing allegations, will the brands try to shroud their illegitimate concomitance with IPL like Kunti hid her illegitimate association with Karan. But hiding the association cost Kunti her son and could cost the brands an opportunity!!

The IPL has wontedly managed to make headlines the world over. Be it the astronomical amounts dolled out to players (some for their cricketing abilities and some for their manipulating abilities- If you know what I am insinuating at!) or the fixing scandals. This year was no exception. There were deliberations on Pepsi revoking the title sponsorship so that its image was not beclouded with that of IPL. But I beg to differ. Pepsi or any brand for that matter will keep romancing IPL because of the sheer exuberance the brand exudes. The notoriety is ephemeral while the august positioning of the brand is what the enthusiasts summon up. Just to reiterate the brass tacks, our very own ‘Srini’ received the loudest applause during the final presentation ceremony. Advertisement in IPL is unequivocally money well spent. Does IPL deserve the attention it commands from brands?

SUMMER 2013

SPECIAL STORY

For me the answer is yes. The reasons being: You may love it, you may hate it but you can’t live without it. This is what IPL is for an Indian Unlike ad-slots for soaps the ads feature between overs and this being a bantam interlude people don’t switch channels Ad-campaigns featuring a series of ads can create a lasting impact. Brand associations are also tenacious. A 360 degree campaign with commentators endorsing brands, ads, hoardings, branding ensure that the message is delivered to the audiences..

Nevertheless some questions that are perplexing are, even after all the work out Pepsi has failed in making a muscle like Coke and Vodafone is the number 2 after Airtel!! So although IPL does lend some credibility to the brand does it climactically result in sale beyond the IPL? It seems to me like SAMAY is now saying that though the sword has changed hands, the battle is still on.

THE MARKSMAN

Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGNING – COCA COLA STYLE A CAPTIVATING CAMPAIGN GEARED TOWARDS THE TEENS

THE SEEMINGLY ENDLESS AHH EFFECT Coca-Cola is out with yet another marketing strategy appealing to the masses. It is Coca Cola’s 1st only digital marketing strategy basically targeting the youth. The campaign is unique and one of its kind and it is grand too. Coca Cola has employed 61 different URLs which contain interesting snackable content. The campaign is very rightly named as the “Ahh Effect”. The exclusive experience of Ahh works well on smart phones including Android & iOS platforms. The world of Ahh brought to us by Coca Cola includes games, animations, videos etc. The URLs that are employed by Coca Cola are ahh.com, ahhh.com, ahhhh.com and so on continually adding a succeeding H. The URLs get longer and longer and a click on them, unveils a delightful experience. So far 17 URLs are active with invigorating and refreshing experiences available. The surprise element associated with each experience and the multidimensionality of Ahh makes the campaign a hit in itself. With this fresh and new digital media marketing Coca Cola has positioned itself as a brand known for peculiar and distinct marketing strategies.

Coca Cola has also tried to make the campaign even more engaging and interactive for its fans by inviting them to send in their experiences and interpretations of their Ahh world, their Ahh story. Coca Cola plans to go with around 25 user generated experiences. It also plans to run ads on social media platforms, making this campaign truly digital, inviting Coca Cola fans to submit their rejuvenating experiences. It is a campaign for youthful people who have a quest to discover something new all the time. It is engaging and interactive at the same time. Each experience fills the user with a twitter of excitement, be it the ‘Guide the Bubble Game’ or ‘Ice Toss’. This creative and reviving campaign still has a lot to unveil, ushering in new experiences. Coca Cola has launched it as a multi-year campaign with the remaining experiences gushing in with time to come.

EXPLORE THE WORLD OF AHH ! But as of now, it is time to go and discover your favorite experience in the world of Ahh! And, even more, write in your experience to Coca Cola to become an integral part of the Ahh effect.

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Marketing Real TIME

VIBHAV SHUKLA, DOMAIN CONSULTANT Day is hectic to some extent. Lot of tasks to complete each day. Time passes pretty quickly. Day starts at 9 am and ends at 6 pm. The happiest moment so far at work was when a senior from Accenture Management Consulting praised my solution to a certain problem. The job otherwise is Quite challenging, seniors have a lot of expectations with peers giving tough competition. Have to work differently, think out of the box to stay ahead of others. To those looking forward to such a role, I’d like to say- “Work load will be there. You need to be quite apprehensive in your approach. Be patient, be logical and be smart.”

ADITYA DEVIREDDY, BUSINESS PLANNING MANAGER

My Responsibilities include “supply and demand matching". Generally my day is all about Reports and reporting. The proudest moment so far has been rolling out a system across the organization. Getting people to make use of the system has been the most challenging aspect. Understanding the data is key to good future in this field. So get going, fellas!

THE MARKSMAN

Intern SPEAK

ANKIT GUPTA Opening an Executive Business outlet (EBO) for DONEAR in various cities My job was basically to engage retailers for opening an EBO for Donear in their city. This involved convincing them about brand Donear, explaining them the terms and policies and finally clearing their queries. Till lunch I would assess the cloth market in the city. Post lunch I would meet prospective retailers. My day stretched as long as the market was open. In the evening if the city market was covered, I would start for another city; else stay there for another day. My biggest challenge was convincing retailers about the brand Donear, their terms and conditions and to find prospective retailers who may be willing to open an EBO for Donear. My advice to people opting for an internship in sales and marketing is to collect as many details about the market before actually going there.

TAVISHI AGARWAL Social Media Marketing My office did not have very strict work timings. A usual day used to begin at 11 A.M. and end at around 8 P.M though you were free to leave anytime after 6 P.M. Initial few weeks of my internship went in analysing how does one actually use social media to it's advantage. It began with analysing competitors of the brand pages my company handles (Mountain Dew, Tropicana, BigFlix) , study a few campaigns that won awards in Digital Media, get involved in brainstorming sessions and help in preparing pitches for the various clients that the company approached. Initially I was not working on any specific project which made it difficult to plan the day. It's always important to keep yourself open to challenges and have a curiosity to learn. No matter whichever organisation you get into, its your zeal and enthusiasm that directly affects how much you can learn during this period of two months.

SUMMER 2013

Intern SPEAK

PRIYAM PRASAD

Studying and analysing the viability & feasibility of agrochemicals marketing in Sub-Saharan Africa The internship has been a challenging and hectic one including 9 hours of work daily. It is an eclectic mix of desk work as well as field work. As it is a business development project, the field work includes meeting HODs of various institutions, Commercial Attaches in Embassies and MDs / International Business Heads of various companies. The desk work on the other hand includes discussion with colleagues & analysis of the data gathered. Some of the challenges faced were gathering data from secondary sources, as a primary survey in this case was not possible (The market included Africa), getting appointments fixed with top officials and travelling from one part of Mumbai to the other, esp. in Monsoon!! Take your internship seriously. It is those two months of the two years spent in SIMSR, when you would actually get an opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge to practical use.The industry exposure is a paramount.

ANIRUDH SRINIVAS

Identifying and tapping the opportunities for European Products in Retail & Food Service Outlets in Chennai I worked for a food product company that manufactured Mustard pastes, Flavoured Vinegars, jalapenos etc. My job involved meeting the Purchase Heads / Chefs of the Hotels / Cafes - key stakeholders in the decision making process for food products and give the product presentations. So once we have a brief with them, we will then provide them with samples. Continuous follow-up is necessary to generate sample feedback and sales conversions. The day will be spiced up with lots of travelling within the city, visiting the Kitchens & Stores of hotels - the Back Bone of the Hotels! The availability of the Chefs / Purchase Heads is one the key challenges that I faced. Scheduling appointments with them is mandatory at Top Hotels. In the role that I was interning, certain amount of patience was warranted. In the hospitality industry, sales conversions will not happen in a smaller time frame of a week / 10 days. Hence patiently engaging with our target group and developing a good rapport is necessary.

THE MARKSMAN

BOOK WORM STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT Brand Management has been an integral domain for every company be it a 185 billion dollar company called Apple or a 10 billion dollar redBus.in. They are always in this unending conundrum of what their Brand represents, the Brand value, recall and treatment. A Brand progresses from being a slogan, logo, name, symbol, tagline to experience, image, reputation and ideology. Strategy comes into play here, as brands are used to influence consumers thoughtfully and tactfully. Strategic Brand Management as a book provides comprehensive view as to how brands evolve to an in depth knowledge in Marketing terms such as brand equity, strategic brand management to name a few. It is an amalgamation of concepts, theories and practical insights. This book provides an in-depth analysis of how a brand moves on to become a strategic business decision. It helps understand the key issues in planning and implementing brand strategies and provides concepts to make better decisions. The authors have done justice to the book with a good amount of Indian references so that the readers can easily identify and relate well to the Indian Market scenario. They have tried to put together cases of brands that are specific to India, which would help readers better understand the theories enunciated in the book.

The third edition of this book tries to present a Marketing Text Book, which is referred to by over 3000 Indian MBA institutes. The changes made will only make the book more relevant. “The meaning imbued in brands is quiet profound, allowing us to think of the relationship between a brand and consumer as a type of bond or pact”

Excerpts “Marketers should consider money spent on manufacturing and marketing of products as ‘investments’ and not as Expenses”

SUMMER 2013

BOOKWORM AUTHORS M G PARAMESWARAN Executive director & CEO with DraftUlka Advertising, Mumbai; An IIT (Madras) & IIM Calcutta alumni, his career spans over 3 decades in Branding, Advertising & Marketing . He has also served in various Industrial bodies like The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce, Confederation Of Indian Industry to name a few.

ISAAC JACOB Head of marketing at K.J Somaiya institute of Management Studies and Research. With an MBA from the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai his career spans over 30 years. He has seen it all, from Ogilvy & Mather to JWT to Yes Bank, CMO and Tata Mutual Funds (Vice President & Head Marketing)

KEVIN LANE KELLER Marketing Faculty at TUCK School of Business at Dartmouth University. He is renowned as the author of Strategic Brand Management. He has served as an advisor to many International Brands like, P&G, Ford, Accenture. He is considered as a leading figure in study of Brand Management with his work being published in leading journals in the world.

THE MARKSMAN

SquAreheaD

SUMMER 2013

BUZZ PUZZLE

ACROSS 1. Which software products major would be the first major company to discontinue selling license based software and move to software selling by subscription based model totally ? 3. Which car model was the largest selling model worldwide in 2012 ? 4. Which Internet service was started by former Yahoo execs Jan Koum and Brian Acton in 2009. It claims to be bigger than Twitter today? 6. Which social networking site was started by Reid Hoffman and associates 10 years ago on May 5, 2003 ? 9. Samsung had been doing a high decibel campaign “OWN NOW”. Which Indian brand has started a campaign using the slogan “CAN OWN NOW” ?

CLUES

DOWN 2. With which brand has Sachin had the longest association since 1990 ? 5. Lebua Hotels is entering India with 4 properties. To which country does Lebua belong ? 7. Which MNC has a corporate tag line: "Good Food Good Life"? 8. Which airline calls itself India’s most democratic airline, because it has only one class of passengers ?

ANSWERS 1. Adobe 2. Boost 3. Ford Figo 4. WhatsApp 5. Thailand 6. LinkedIn 7. Nestle 8. Indigo 9. Micromax

THE MARKSMAN

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

1. Will Brand Infosys rise after return of NRN? 2. Are social media platforms becoming less social and more advertisement friendly? 3. Is Consumer preference for brands with good cause on the rise?

*Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all references are clearly mentioned. 1. One article can have only one author. 2. Your article should be approximately 800-850 words and MUST be replete with relevant pictures that can be used to enhance the article. 3. Font Type: Gill Sans MT 4. Font Size: 14. 5. Send your article in .doc/.docx format to marksman.simsr@somaiya.edu 6. Subtitle line: Your name_Institute Name_Course Year 7. Kindly name your file as : Your name_Topic

The best adjudged article will be given a Winnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Certificate. Deadline for the submission of article will be : 20th July, 2013

SUMMER 2013

The Team

THE TEAM TWEETS by Meeta Khatri Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about AD-itude by Vivek Mishra Brand MARK ive by Priyam Prasad

COVER STORY by Mandar Dongre SPECIAL STORY by Roma Sehgal HALLMARK CAMPAIGNS by Priyam Prasad MARKETING REAL TIME by Vibhav Shukla Aditya Devireddy INTERNSPEAK by Tavishi Agrawal Aniruddh Srinivas Ankit Gupta Priyambada Mishra BOOKWORM by Smriti Sudhish SquAreheaD by Tavishi Agrawal BUZZ by Nishant Singla PROOF READ by Vivek Mishra Priyam Prasad Roma Sehgal DESIGNING by Divya Damera Richa Garg PROMOTIONS by Nishant Singla Meeta Khatri

THE MARKSMAN

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. To subscribe to "The Marksman", Follow the link:http://interfacesimsr.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.com/ the-marksman.htm Website: http://interfacesimsr.com/themarksman.html