The
MARKSMAN
K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH
VOL. 3| ISSUE IV| NOVEMBER‘12
SHOPPER
Marketing Special Story
The Marksman wishes you
A Very Happy Diwali
EDITOR’S DESK Welcome back Readers! We hope you enjoyed your Diwali vacation to the fullest and came back from your holidays with new zest and vigor! Team Marksman has come out with an issue to match your enthusiasm. Coinciding with Diwali spirit of shopping, our Cover Story takes a look at ‘Shopper Marketing’, tracing its evolution to present day trends. Our Special Story, ‘Marketing Lessons from Obama’, takes a look at the innovative ways Obama used for his re-election campaign. Also we give an insight into the world of Digital Marketing courtesy our Tete-a-Tete with Mr. Rahul Avasthy and Rewind section narrating the corporate interaction with him. And enjoy the rest of the issue with our usual and eclectic mix of Tweets, MARKive, It’s all about Ad-itude, Hall-MARK Campaigns, BookWorm and SquAreheaD. Also, thanks to all the readers who chip in by writing such creative articles for our Featured Articles section. Hearty congratulations to the winners of Featured Articles - Ashish Nirwani and Rohit V Tiwari. Keep writing in Readers, you only add to the esteem of Marksman. Cheers !! Team – Marksman The Interface – The Marketing Club of SIMSR
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CONTENTS TWEETS It’s all about BUZZ SqAreheaD AD-itude! 09 03 30 29 Brand Bookworm Hall-MARK Rewind MARK ive Campaigns 05 28 07 23 SPECIAL STORY
Marketing Lessons from Obama 15
COVER STORY
Shopper Marketing
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FEATURED ARTICLES Brand Repositioning & what effects it can have on Cinthol …21
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Nokia a dying brand : What’s Next? …19
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Hall-MARK Campaigns
‘ Diwali time spells an itinerary which is tantamount to splurging. Be it the superstitious gold buying on Dhanteras, the wardrobe overhaul and house revamping and embellishment to beckon the goddesses of wealth or purchasing gifts and mithais for near and dear ones, money seems to be flying out with its own wings. But should moolah hold one back from soaking in the festivities? This was the question that Citibank India leveraged on this Diwali to upsurge Credit Card habitude.
Had you been in the vicinity of High Street Phoenix Mall in Mumbai or DLF Promenade Mall in Delhi, your eyes could have beheld some magic. Amidst the smoke of crackers something else took shape in the skies. Every time a tweeter tweeted to the hashtag #Dil Vs Bill, depending on the momentum of the tweets, an eco-friendly cloud of heart and money symbols made of helium and air were shaped in the sky. This cloud rocketed its way into the airspace. This novel idea kept the tweeple engaged. The campaign called ‘Tweet a Cloud- Dil Se’ was a confederation between Twitter and Skyvertizing- advertising using clouds in skies.
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Hall-MARK Campaigns It was just a one day activation program which prehended the driving factor behind gifting- sentiment or money. Citibank tried to drill in the message that all one needed to gift others was the sentiment and that the money would be made available by Citibank. (Easy EMI scheme on Credit Cards) The heart clouds outnumbered the money clouds and annihilated after hovering for some time.
The huge number of people, who participated, roared out the success of this campaign. The ambit of the campaign was 1700 merchant partners. The campaign was conceptualized jointly by MEC, media and planning agency and founding partner of GroupM, and advertising agency Publicis.
This is not the first time Citibank India has come up with a novel campaign. Last year during Diwali they made headway with a campaign called ‘Citibank EMI Chasers’ in which they strategically placed their ads juxtaposing products which are more likely to be picked on EMI during Diwali.
Citibank- a financial institute has definitely established the string between finance and marketing.
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It’s all about TWEETS AD-itude! Media:TVC Client: Vodafone Corporation: Ogilvy India The telecom market being in a hypercompetitive state, with nearly 10 major brands vying for customer attention offering different services, Vodafone's latest TVC with the tagline “Made for you� offers, intends to further popularize its IVR based service - 121 - and dial up its credentials as a truly innovative and customer-focused brand. Conceptualised by Ogilvy India, the TVC showcases boys (young and old) briefing a hair-dresser. Each has their own long list of requirements. The combinations of styles, cuts and hair colors, based on their individual and specific requirements, are endless. And yet, the assurance that their needs shall be met seamlessly flow through all the characters in the commercial. It is something all of us have seen so many times yet the execution seems so fresh. There's an engaging simplicity and it does not add to the effluence that Television advertising is normally associated with when it comes to commercial breaks. Seeing the commercial, one remembers the times when they visited their neighbourhood salon to brief him on that special hair style just the way they wanted. With this TVC Vodafone enables us to choose the best options on the basis of the usage on the mobile number, and thereby places the power in the hands of the customer. What more does one need?
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It’s all about TWEETS AD-itude! Media: Print Client: monster.com Corporation: JWT Hong Kong To remind people of the problem of being stuck in the wrong job and to reinforce Monster.com as the best platform for finding the right job, JWT Hong Kong came up with a series of print ads expressing the problem in a crisp and catchy manner. The print ad depicts a ballet dancer in a pack of tiny toy soldiers, taking up the role as a soldier. Evidently, the ballet dancer is out of place, which clearly sends across the message to the masses that they should not get stuck in the wrong job and that Monster.com is the best platform for finding the right job. The print is eye catchy yet simple, all wrapped in one. The advertisement does not explain too much, it leaves enough for the audience to figure out, but there is enough information that the audience can make an educated guess at what the website does, if they've never heard of it before. The difference between green and pink was really important to make an impact. The orange packaging was also well done because it used the company's colors as well as the fonts the company uses. Overall, the JWT managed to score well for this one, the ad being not too flashy, yet at the same time bold enough to make an impact, and definitely one, which shall be remembered.
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Marketing C O V E R S T O R Y
Defining Shopper Marketing Shopper Marketing is a concept that creates a unique shopping experience in a way so as to culminate the shopper’s journey into a purchase. The basic goal of shopper marketing is to convert the shopper into a buyer. It requires a deep understanding of shopper’s behaviour so as to be able to engage the shopper and influence him to buy the product at the time of purchase.
The Evolution
Evolving and expanding, Shopper Marketing can be considered as a raging marketing trend in the marketing world today. It is paramount to apprehend that Shopper Marketing is not just an act that takes place inside the brickand-mortar store but it comprises every facet of the holistic marketing experience that commences from promotions, to displays and packaging to the store layout. It therefore involves every aspect of the holistic shopping experience and aims at delivering the ultimate goal of holistic 360 degree marketing i.e. comprehending a shopper’s path to purchase and leading him/her to make a purchase. It can therefore be inferred that the in-store view of shopper marketing is simply one of the facets of shopper marketing. A more comprehensive picture is that Shopper Marketing necessarily should be shopper centric so as to make the shopper happy by targeting shoppers when they are in the shop floor and creating a unique shopper experience to make him/her feel like a hero. Shopper Marketing’s arrival has helped the existing go-to-market strategy enter the next stage of evolution. Brand Marketing and Category Marketing, the basic marketing concepts which used to define the primary marketing epitome are passé with the advent of shopper marketing. These have taken a back seat since 1970, ever since the conception of Shopper Marketing emerged.
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C O V E R S T O R Y
However, in India, shopper marketing which initiated as an extension of consumer marketing is in its early stages but in developed markets, shopper marketing has reached the maturity stage and is synonymous with organised retail arrangements. According to a study by Deloitte, Company’s expenditure on shopper marketing has grown twice as much in size since 2004. Realizing the importance and potential of shopper marketing, companies today have a separate budget especially allocated for Shopper Marketing. P&G itself makes an investment of around 500 million dollars in shopper marketing. Companies like P&G, Microsoft, Unilever, IBM, Coca-Cola and Nestle – all of them have a dedicated shopper marketing unit. 83% of FMCG have plans to hike up their expenditure in shopper marketing while 55% are considering it as a top priority and anticipate increasing their expenditure on the same by 5 percent annually. Hence over the years, the market is coming to realize that it has become pertinent to understand the shopper’s needs and insights and capabilities for the same need to be developed. The most progressive and developed shopper marketers that have incorporated shopper marketing as an inherent part of their marketing mix are expanding at almost twice the rate of their respective competitors in their respective categories. Almost 90% of manufacturers as well as retailers with developed shopper marketing skills and expertise acclaim that it has helped them in hiking up their top line as well as their bottom line effectively and efficiently.
Shopper Marketing – How Can It Be Put To Work ? It is paramount to be aware that most brands are chosen at the time of purchase and that's where one needs to concentrate their marketing diligence and endeavour. One can invest huge amount of money on promotions, advertisements, and brand awareness, but all would be in vain if the competitor is smart enough to entice the consumer away at the last minute i.e. at the point of purchase with intelligent packaging, labelling, design and cost effective promotional display. Today, if a company/brand wants to get smart about its marketing expenditure and investments, it just cannot ignore the power of shopper marketing tactics and strategies. We are all aware of the four classic response hierarchy models. All these models presume that the buyer goes through a cognitive, affective, and behavioural stage, in that order. Similarly, shopper marketing program tactics also follows a hierarchy model that consists of:
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C O V E R
Aware Attract Engage Motivate Purchase
– – – – –
That happens out of the store That happens across the store That happens near the shelf That happens at the shelf That closes the sale
Let us have a look at a few ways Shopper Marketing can help improve the top line and the bottom line. This can help in leveraging Shopper Marketing in any marketing scenario and help the brand fetch better returns on investment. Shoppers differ – They are not homogeneous! Shopper behaviour differs on the basis of demographic, psychographic and socio-cultural factors. The shopper’s habit is decided by his age, place he comes from, sex and the economic and social strata of the society he belongs to. Hence, shoppers cannot be termed as a homogeneous mass. It is therefore essential to focus on segmentation and provision of tailor made and customized offerings based on segmentation. Simplicity – Is the key!
S T O R Y
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The famous Shakespearean proverb “Brevity is the soul of wit” holds true in any scenario. In today’s marketing scenario of continual change and uncertainty, clarity and lucidity play a very vital role. The value messages used in-store should be lucid, apt and to the point. They should be able to convey what they are meant to. Complexity of messages sometimes takes a toll on the brand and then failing to communicate to the shopper, he/she then resorts to the cheapest product on the shelf. Collaborate-Innovate-Evaluate Shopper marketing not just deals with understanding shopper insights but also necessarily involves collaboration of the manufacturers with their respective retailers. Shopper Marketing also deals with constantly discovering new engagement opportunities that would give them a competitive edge. As change is constant, it is therefore pertinent to keep evaluating to ensure that the products and messages are striking a connect with the shopper.
NOVEMBER 2012
Implementing Shopper Marketing – The Cadbury Way !
C O V E R
Cadbury advertisements have always portrayed a rich tapestry of human emotions and affinity. They are well known for the consumer connect that they create. In this season of Diwali, Cadbury has yet again been successful in sweeping the shoppers of their feet by making a spectacular brand presence and understanding shopper insight by coming up with its Cadbury Celebrations Rich Dry Fruit collection. From successful shopper insight to delicate temptation, the in-store promotion campaign has it all. Understanding the consumer has ever been Cadbury’s forte. Cadbury has been successful in redefining chocolates as the real taste of life from the cliché chocolates were perceived to be. It has successfully created a dramatic shift and completely redefined the meaning of “meetha” in India. Continuing to excel in its forte, Cadbury in collaboration with Saatchi & Saatchi X, this year went a step ahead to celebrate the festival outstandingly in-stores.
S T O R Y The Diwali Campaign aimed at: Making Cadbury Celebrations the most desirable and a premium gifting brand. Launching an effective and efficient in-store campaign to achieve the above objective.
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C O V E R S T O R Y
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Cadbury evangelized and created an in-store promotional campaign to depict and represent the value of the ‘Dry Fruit gift wrapped in chocolate’. On the artistic front, Saatchi & Saatchi X worked on the visual effects and aesthetics in the store to ensure that the visuals clearly conveyed and delivered the basic objective. To enhance the visual cues, standees, stock piles, stadium stands etc were introduced in the store that favourably displayed the spectacular aesthetics and floored the shoppers at the shop floor in the supermarket and at the convenience stores. They created a gifting zone, which was like a shop-inside-a-shop wherein people could come and buy gifts. Cadbury thereby provided shoppers with a great experiential spirit, starting right from the entry to the point/time of purchase to the exit. Apart from the mundane routine, to make a difference, retailers were included in the process and were turned into brand ambassadors. The retailers were provided with wrapping sheets and gift tags, so when a shopper purchases Cadbury Celebrations products from the store the retailer gift wraps them and puts a tag which adds a touch of personalization and customization. Furthermore the brand did a special promotion activity in stores, wherein the shoppers could make their own gift basket. This proved to be a successful motivation for the shoppers to buy as it revealed what all people like to gift and also the whole do-it- yourself exercise with the personalization aspect made the shopper feel special and like a hero. The campaign acquired customers as well as an overwhelming response. Cadbury yet again celebrated Diwali as well as shopper marketing like no one does!
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S P E C I A L S T O R Y
FROM OBAMA Now that the elections are done with and Barack Obama has been awarded with another 4 years we can look back and reflect on his political decisions that led to his victory and reinstated people’s belief in him. Or we can just look back on his astute marketing decisions too, that sublimely led to his campaign being so successful. Obama is considered to be the most connected politician, of his time and his 2012 political campaign was testimony to the fact that the race to the finish was more a social one than political. Here marketing emerges as the underdog along with Barack Obama where it was effectively used. So in an era where better marketing can elect or reject one person, dissecting exactly how Obama went ahead with his campaign should be seen. This being the first political campaign to use social media, it becomes even more interesting to understand the repercussions it had.
Looking ‘Forward’ His official announcement to re-run for president was via an online video which was posted on his website. His decision to announce his extension for his tenure as a president via an online platform raised a few eyebrows but this was the harbinger to the change that was about to befall political campaigning
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SPECIAL STORY The slogan for Obama’s campaign this year was ‘Forward’ which was released as a 7 minute video titled as the former, where Obama’s efforts during the past 4 years were extolled .Here the video was released via an official Obama YouTube ‘BarackObamadotcom’. This wasSo one Now account that named the in of an his era initial where stepselections via socialare media towards a sustained political career. done better marketing with and Barack can elect or reject Obama has been one person, awarded with dissecting exactly another 4 years how Obama went we can look back ahead with his and reflect on his campaign should A vote for social media political decisions be seen. that was led spoilt to for his choices here This being the Obama victory and first political and he reached people through all people’s campaign to the reinstated social marketing tools possible. belief in him. handle, a YouTube use social He had a Twitter Or we can media, it account, a Reddit answer your just look back becomes questions day, where the incumbent on his astute even more president was present online to marketing interesting to answer real time queries from the decisions too, understand citizens. His official Facebook page that sublimely the description reads ‘This page is run led to his repercussions by Obama for America’. campaign it had. so was an altogether new Pandora’s Box, wherein dedicated The being Facebook page pagesuccessful. within page media strategy was used .One was for a donate page which Looking urged American citizens to donate for a brighter American for the next 4 years. Obama is Another one for an online store, which sold Obama 2012 campaign gear. considered to be Theythe were ‘marketingly Histools. Along official with most correct’ to use all of these social media theseconnected TVCs, print ads were used to their core. They left noannouncement stone unturned to market it right. of his re-run for president politician, was via an online time and his 2012 Celebrity endorsements video which was political campaign Celebrities edged sword for posted on his was endorsing testimonya politician figure can always be a double the celebrity asthat wellthe as race the politician. But the celebrity herewebsite. that was marketed to the fact to His decision announce was the Obama andwas not any Hollywood actor. Obama merchandise liketobatches, Tfinish more a extension forhot his cakes! tenure shirtssocial and hats buttons, mugs, and water bottles his were sold like one to than political. as a president an Obama a celebrity in his own right. Obama’s celebrity status wasvia highly Herewas marketing emerges onlinebacked platform raised a depended on,underdog for this year’s campaign. Last year it piggy on his African as the along American roots and simplicity. emotional to him few an eyebrows butappeal this was the with Barack Obama where The campaign had harbinger which was effectively reinforced used. with clear and directed policy details.to the change that was it was about to befall political campaigning.
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SPECIAL STORY And of course he had very vocal supports not only from the entertainment industry but from all field’s like Political activists, Athletes, Nobel laureates, Business people and more. Obama was more than a breakout star here where it Nowthe that Sodrove in anhis erainternet where seemed internetthe stole his thunder but it was his fuel that elections are done better marketing marketing. with toand Barack canhis elect or group reject He tried be the ideal presidential candidate, with this time target Obama hasgrowing been youth. He presented himself as a people’s one person, being the ever person. He awarded with dissecting exactly organized fundraisers, attended fundraising events hosted by celebrities like another 4 years how Obama George Clooney, supported the LGBT community, slow jammed to prime went time look back his newsweoncan television. Wonder how much more intimate andahead personalwith can your and reflect campaign should president get. on his political decisions be seen. Marketing by a president that led to his This being the It wasvictory not only Obama political life . andthat resorted to social media to improve hisfirst political He used all possible ,email reinstated people’s methods of marketing like adaptive marketing campaign to marketing ,ambush marketing etc. He literally tapped into all marketing spheres belief in him. use social possible. Or we can media, it just look back was used when he went touring all of America,becomes Adaptive marketing when he met on his farmers theyastute heard about food policies, any message send out if met more with even marketing positive response earned itself a place on air. interesting to decisions too, understand Email marketing was undertaken with a huge database of close to 300 million that sublimely theIt was an potential voters wherein they were asked to pledge donations. led to his integrated effort where the emails were extremely personalized, repercussions with different campaign it had. subject lines and messages. being so Ambush marketing was inevitably taken up when the potential presidents met or successful. their respective campaign staff took off on each other when theyLooking slander one Obama is another via TVCs. considered to be Obama - the political manager His official the most announcement to Obama’s campaign staff did not shy away from using the entire social media connected re-run forofpresident available to dissipate information. They managed to bring elements political politician, of his via anObama online marketing, brand campaign. time and his Obama 2012 and expanding their TG all in one was was campaign andcampaign supporters spent approximately $400 millionvideo on thewhich campaign. political posted image on and his Political requires careful thinking to build an appropriate wasmarketing testimony develop public relations. Obama has shown that he haswebsite. myriad facets by to the fact that the race to His decision to announce appealing to everyone his personality and the finish was and morehasa built a campaign surrounding his extension for his tenure ideas. social one than political. as a president via an Here marketing emerges online platform raised a as we the ask underdog alongwho would you vote for, So here the question, Obamabut the this president or few eyebrows was the with Barack Obama where Obama the politician? harbinger to the change that was it was effectively used. about to befall political campaigning.
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FEATURED ARTICLES
Nokia a dying brand : ? - Ashish Nirwani, KJSIMSR, Mumbai The Finnish telecommunication giant –“Nokia” is going through trouble times. Few years ago Nokia was the king of the cell phone market and was the premier cell phone maker. Then Apple reinvented the phone and captured the imagination of the cell phone makers and consumers alike. It was the beginning of the very visible end of the pioneer smart phone makers. Earlier this year Samsung surpassed the Finnish Company in cell phone sales, ending Nokia’s 14 year rule. Being a market leader for 14 years and getting knocked off the top spot has come as a bitter blow for Nokia.
Here are some of the possible reasons why Nokia failed and things that went wrong for Nokia. Symbian to Windows The company decided to kill its own operating system and entered into a fateful partnership with Microsoft to bring an end to Apple and Samsung’s dominance. The first windows phone wasn’t up to the expectations of the consumers as the earlier versions of windows operating system were not upgradable to the latest windows 8 version.
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FEATURED ARTICLES Lack of Innovation Samsung has been launching a new phone every year with slight modifications either in its design or features and Nokia has not been able to make a mark with its windows phone because of its unattractive designs. Nokia’s phones were feature ready and not future’s ready. Complacency As a global market leader for over a decade, Nokia seemed to be bit complacent with its cell phones and didn’t really make a roadmap for the future. Even after the launch of I-Phone in 2007, the first touch screen phone, Nokia still took pride in its ESeries phones. I-phone didn’t really damage the market share of Nokia but Samsung managed transition to smart phones much faster than expected. Definitely, Nokia is in the most difficult situation since it was founded in mid 80’s, but in a world where consumers don’t bat an eye when big companies fold, Nokia still has bounty of opportunities to change the game around. Firstly, it’s important for them that they continue to foster the relationship with Microsoft. The company needs to make the user interface intuitive and fun. Secondly, Nokia has to work together with Microsoft to make application market a top priority. The triumph of smart phones seems to be depended upon the success of their respective application market. From here, most likely nothing would be easy for the Finnish company with Apple and Google currently dominating the smart phone market. Often it’s docile for the companies which were once the king of the market to be brought to their knees. But, it was necessary to show Nokia that their company wasn’t immortal. Nokia has some incredible hardware technology and their 808 pure view camera outshines everything else in the market. During late 90’s Apple was going through similar situation, but they were able to reinvent themselves and became more successful than ever. The key behind the success of Apple is innovation and Nokia must focus on innovation before it’s too late.
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FEATURED ARTICLES Brand Repositioning and What Effects It Can Have On Cinthol - Rohit V Tiwari, Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, The quintessential Cinthol alpha male will no longer emphasize the importance of ‘body confidence; he will no longer drive home the point of Cinthol being able to “Susti Mitaye, Chusti Lautaye;” he will no longer jump off the sky-scrapers and mountains to highlight the promise of Cinthol providing “24-hour freshness.” The Reason: Godrej Consumer Products have decided to reposition Cinthol as a unisex, youth-centric brand. The Result: An integrated 360-degree campaign, a revamped product range and a new tag line that says “Alive is Awesome.” The Rs. 50 Crore marketing campaign, conceptualized and executed by Creativeland Asia, has tried to rekindle Cinthol’s brand popularity and ensure that the brand remains relevant to everyone young at heart. In its bid to win over its new target market, Cinthol has also sharpened its extensions in the personal grooming category with talcum powder (available with new fragrances), ‘skin-friendly’ deodorants and ‘non-sticky’ shower gels. The new packaging is relatively more vibrant and eye-catching and gives the Cinthol products a very classy and premium look.
Currently, Cinthol has 2.5% share in the Rs. 6000 Crore soap market; however, it doesn’t yet have a significant presence in categories such as talcums and deodorants. Now, with a rejuvenated positioning strategy Godrej hopes to increase its market share, while maintaining its aspirational appeal
Considering the increasing popularity of shower gels in India, HUL seems to have played its cards right by introducing four variants in this segment. Also, the move to project itself as a premium brand can work for Cinthol, as its loyal consumers- the ones who have been users of the brand since long- would have moved up the income ladder and would be willing to try out the premium products.
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FEATURED ARTICLES Moving away from the core positioning strategy may not always work in favour of a brand. Repositioning of Liril can be considered as a prime example. Launched in the year 1975, Liril right from its inception was positioned on the ‘tingling freshness’ platform. The first ad featuring Karen Lunel became a cult. The combination of waterfall and the Liril girl, coupled with a catchy jingle became a metaphor for freshness. In 2009, HUL changed its positioning and re-launched Liril as Liril 2000, targeting families instead of confident, happy-go-lucky young women who had come to symbolize the brand since the time of its birth. The idea of positioning Liril as a ‘family soap’ did not really cut ice with the customers. Cinthol, however, can derive confidence from the successful repositioning example of another brand in the HUL stable - Lifebuoy. HUL had earlier positioned Lifebuoy on the ‘health and hygiene’ platform. Lifebuoy proclaimed itself to be the soap for the male population and the jingle “Thandurusti Ki Raksha Karta Hai Lifebuoy, Lifebuoy Hai Jahan Thandurusti Hai Vahan” had become hugely popular. The marketing strategy of Lifebuoy remained unchanged for over 100 years until 2002, when HUL decided to change Lifebuoy‘s positioning. From the brand that was once a male-centric, carbolic soap with cresylic perfume and had an individual-oriented ‘success through health’ positioning, Lifebuoy was successfully repositioned as a brand for ‘family health protection.’ Having survived a bold repositioning strategy, Lifebuoy is currently India’s largest selling soap brand (by volume).
With no celebrity vouching for its benefits this time around, Cinthol has definitely made a bold move. Although the jingle has become very popular, whether GCPL’s decision to cater to the ‘well-heeled’ and ‘well-travelled’ young India proves ‘awesome’ and to what extent remains to be seen.
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REWIND TWEETS ‘Secrets of Digital Marketing’ workshop by Rahul Avasthy One of the marketing’s greatest honchos enlightened our students with the mantras on Digital Marketing. Mr. Rahul Avasthy, Director at one of the renowned film production, broadcasting and media venture house, Reliance Entertainment; conducted a workshop on the Secrets of Digital Marketing. He is also the recipient of Star Youth Achiever Award by Star News. The session involved decoding the term Digital and its ever-growing importance and evolution in the stream of marketing. Mr. Avasthy spoke about the growing opportunities in Digital Marketing not only as a medium to market a product but also how it has evolved as a career opportunity. He also had an amazing interactive questionnaire session with students which included questions based on trivia facts in the digital world such as number of Mobile users in India, Web internet users in India and Active web users on mobile and many more. The student with the right facts earned a Cadbury chocolate. Through these facts he helped students believe how huge Digital Marketing is as a medium to communicate with consumers. He also highlighted facts about how the traditional medium of promoting i.e. the television is phasing out and ‘going digital’ is the new medium with the ‘Three Screen Strategy’ due to increase in number or smartphone, tablet and Internet users. He also enlightened the students with viral marketing, zapak.com and web strategy. Mr. Avasthy unveiled the important secrets on Digital Marketing through the session. A day filled with power packed discussions and some very useful insights left the students aware about how digital marketing plays such an important role for any brand these days. The students appreciated this initiative taken up by Interface which added yet another feather in its cap.
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Tete-a-Tete Secrets of Digital Marketing - Rahul Avasthy Rahul Avasthy, an alumnus of SIMSR and now the Director at Reliance Entertainment – Digital was present on our campus last month. He shared with us a lot of his valuable insights and gave us a few secrets of the world of Digital Marketing. Students of K.J. SIMSR were extremely happy to receive some great views and knowledge from the man himself. Having worked with other big names such as Viacom 18, Trinetra Focus, Focus circle Brands Pvt Ltd and now at Reliance Entertainment, he is a stalwart in the world of Digital Marketing and here are a few excerpts from his interview.
What has your journey at SIMSR been like?
Joining SIMSR was wonderful. My first year was excellent. After my first year I got a summer internship with MTV through the campus for two months and I loved the work there. I always worked in digital marketing but never in hardcore digital marketing. So when I joined Mtv that very month they reached around 1 million fans. I absolutely loved it there and so I continued with them after college. During my internship it was more about contributing my ideas and learning. It didn’t matter how many hours I gave them. So joining SIMSR was wonderful. You get to meet so many new people. You have your juniors, your batch mates and your seniors. So when you talk about the journey at SIMSR knowing the network of those 300 odd people was wonderful.
What according to you is the next big step in Digital media marketing?
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Tete-a-Tete Digital is now moving towards mobile. Not a lot people are actually going towards mobile. Still people don’t know how to make money from mobile. Like for e.g. there is the Facebook app but Facebook still doesn’t know how to make money from that app because it’s very tough to generate revenue from mobile through apps. So there’s the need for a new model which has to be drafted. So if you talk about the future of Digital marketing it is absolutely going to be towards mobile with the kind of growth that is happening. The generation of desktop era is there but the evolution of the mobile era is going to be huge.
Does the use of this digital marketing contribute to traditional brand metrics such as brand favourability and intention to purchase?
Yes, it absolutely does. In digital what happens is, it’s actually very organic. Let me explain with an example. So in my first project when I working, I was servicing for one of the companies called Tata and we were putting up a hoarding. So we had done a campaign and there was a hoarding that had to be put up. So the hoarding came and it was decent and my boss approved it and my client approved it so the hoarding went up outside phoenix mills. So this is with print the hoarding goes up everybody sees it and it’s done. Now what happens with Digital marketing is that once you go out there and get in touch with your audience, people give you some kind of feedback. So even if your boss or your client has approved the copy or a certain picture in your ad and if people don’t like if, if they don’t talk about it or retweet it, if they don’t give you a reply on email or through SMS that copy or creative even though approved by your boss is stupid. So digital marketing as you said on the traditional side is all about favourability. So earlier it was all about putting your ad out and waiting with your fingers crossed but now through digital you can actually get instant feedback. So that’s the first metrics relating to brand favourability. The second one is about intention to purchase. So in digital marketing it has evolved very nicely. Earlier there was this model called CPM (cost per thousand) where every 1000 times someone sees your ad you pay ‘x’ amount of money. Then came the model called CPC (Cost per Click) so every time someone clicks on your ad then only you pay money. Now the models are very extreme like CPL (Cost per Lead). So if I am the brand manager for ICICI Bank for e.g. and I want to only pay for the people who are interested in my product so I will pay a digital marketing company only for leads. So they will do whatever marketing they have to on the digital side of it and give me the leads and I will only pay for those leads. It has even gone further. There is a new metric called CPA (Cost per Acquisition) so I will only pay if somebody purchases from me. So a lot of E-commerce companies are working with digital marketing publishers on CPA. So you do whatever marketing you want, until the person doesn’t buy from me, I will not pay you money. So the models are evolving rapidly. So if you have to sum up Digital marketing, apart from the innovations and displays it is becoming a performance based marketing.
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Tete-a-Tete What are the different ways in which a movie uses the medium of digital marketing in order to promote itself? So movies are just like any other product or brand. We have this thing called the ABC. In India only three things sell. A is Adult, B is Bollywood and C is Cricket. So these three contents sell on the digital platform very very well. Bollywood being one of the biggest. So it’s a very good content generator. People love to see it, love to share it, they love to be the first one to talk about it, so if a movie has to launch itself earlier it was all about hoardings and media ads and radio shows but now it’s all about the digital medium. For e.g. I’ve been following this movie called Student of the Year. When they first started shooting for the film, their page was up on Facebook. So you start engaging with the audience even before it has actually been made almost a year before it has been launched. You would see how the build up is happening. So the word ‘Teaser’ has taken a new form after the world has opened up to digital marketing. It happened with the movie Heroine also. So from the post production you would see small teasers. You would probably not see the name or you would know the name but they wouldn’t reveal that. So those things work really well. Then what happens is if suppose I am a distributor and I want most number of people to watch my film, so through the digital medium I can actually calculate the ROI. I can calculate how many people will see it and how many people will want to see it. The amount of likes a page generates, I can actually control that and I can actually drive people to see my movie through a website like bookmyshow or PVRmovies. So this model as a medium has evolved very nicely and radically apart from the other traditional mediums like radio, print which have also evolved drastically. So if I am a brand manager for a particular movie I will choose to market it through the digital medium mainly because of the performance based marketing where I can show some numbers to my team like there are 2 million people who like us, out of which 1.5 million who are talking about us, there are 1000’s of retweet's that are happening everyday which are reaching to around 5 million people. So these are not just any numbers, these are real numbers of our actual audience. So yaa, Movie launches and digital marketing go hand – in – hand.
You said that /digital Marketing is moving towards mobile. So how much does government policy affect digital marketing in light of recent banning of bulk SMS and social media?
SMS is a very small part of it. If you talk about the gamut of digital marketing, it’s huge. I think there should be a small course or a small capsule about digital marketing in the second year of MBA so that people understand how vast digital marketing actually is. People think that digital marketing is email marketing, SMS marketing, ads and maximum Facebook that’s it. But it’s not just that. It’s actually huge. There’s something called online reputation management and other things so it’s huge.
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Tete-a-Tete Now because of these bans and restrictions what may happen is there will be no problem as far as brands talking about it are concerned. Any brand who has tried to use huge amounts of SMS’s per day to market itself will actually collapse because actually that is not the right way. It’s all about how people want to listen to you. It’s not what you want to say but what they want to listen. If you are communicating what they want to listen by choosing the right tools then you can make your way out. So SMS is a really small part of the entire digital marketing process.
Suppose in manufacturing firms, you have resources such as tools, equipments, people, machines, etc. In digital marketing you have people apart from which you have technology which is so fragile and feeble for you to bank on it like a complete resource. For e.g.; now we have Facebook to bank on as a big medium for digital marketing but we do not know how long it will last, whether it is a temporary or a permanent resource. So how would you anticipate that something is going down or what is the new platform to project the future of digital marketing?
So that is correct. Things come and things go. Nobody thought that eBay was a big thing. Orkut initially was this huge, mad thing. We all have lived the Orkut era. But Orkut stands nowhere. Now Facebook, Linked In, Twitter they are all up. Pinterest is kind of kicking in. So when you talk about what is going to be the next big thing, you have to gain the pulse of the audience to understand what they want and what they are looking forward to next. The tolls will keep changing but your communication remains the same. So for e.g. if Pepsi wants to communicate a particular theme, you have to focus on that theme and adapt to the various tools available. As a brand manager, you have to take care that whatever the tool maybe the theme should never be changed. So the brand has to be very clear as to what they want to communicate and then accordingly use the medium.
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NOVEMBER 2012
BOOKWORM TWEETS The Green Marketing Manifesto By John Grant This book focuses on Green marketing as a new marketing paradigm. The author has emphasized on how the current marketing methodology is not effective (or even ethical). In fact the author puts across a broader message saying that the current marketing is not able to involve the consumers appropriately because of the methods adopted. He has tried to point out with numerous examples how some of the most successful marketing strategies today are irresponsible and more flatulent in terms of credibility. The objective of the book is to provide an alternative marketing strategy which is good for the organization, consumers as well as the environment. While focusing on green marketing, the book also is able to explain how “Green” is a better and more credible form of marketing. Numerous best practices of small and medium sized enterprises have been cited to explain the success of the “Green” concept. The author has written in first person and the writing style is similar to that of a personal blog post. One can clearly notice his dissatisfaction with the current forms of marketing. In fact he has written like a cynic who while on one hand understands the current marketing methods but on the other hand, clearly does not subscribe to them.
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SquAreheaD
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NOVEMBER 2012
BUZZ THE CROSSWORD
ACROSS 1. Which company owns the ongoing six million ton greenfield steel project at Kalinga Nagar in Odisha's Jajpur district? 3. What was the earlier name of First Source now acquired by CESC ? 4. Which company has agreed to buy Lucasfilm which owns the Star Wars franchise? 9. Name the international news magazine which has decided to go all digital from 2013 after being 80 years in print?
THE CLUES DOWN
1. TataSteel 4. WaltDisney 7. Pearson
2. ABGShipyard 3. ICICIOneSource 5. TataTazo 6. Videocon 8. Rexton 9. Newsweek
THE MARKSMAN
2. Which Mumbai based company is behind Haldia Bulk Terminals that has decided to leave Bengal because of safety issues ? 5.In the newly opened Starbucks cafe in Mumbai what brand of tea is going to be served ? 6. The old refrigerator brand Kelvinator has been re-launched. Which company owns the brand now ? 7. Which company owns Penguin Publishing House and also is a part owner of the magazine The Economist? 8. What new model has been introduced by Ssangyong - M & M which is priced between XUV 500 and Pajero ?
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CALL FOR ARTICLES December 2012 Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:
1. Pepsi's IPL sponsorship : Is Pepsi looking for a greater footprint in India? 2. Gujarat Elections 2014 : Is 3D Technology bringing in a new age of Virtual Campaigning? 3. James Bond driving Mahindra's Aston Martin : Where does it lead Mahindra to? *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 from 500-600 words and MUST be replete with relevant pictures that can be used to enhance your article. 3. Send in your articles in .doc/.docxformat with font size 11 (Arial) to: interface.newsletter@gmail.com 4. Subject Line: Your Name_InstituteName_CourseYear. 5. Kindly name your file as: Your Name_Topic
The best adjudged article will be given a winner's certificate. Deadline for submission of the articles: 11:59 PM , 16 December 2012.
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To subscribe to "The Marksman", Follow the link:http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/the-marksman.html OR drop in a mail/contact us at : interface.newsletter@gmail.com Subject line: Subscribe: Your Name_Institute Name_Course Year
THE TEAM COVER STORY
SPECIAL STORY
It’s all about AD-itude
Priyam Prasad
Smriti Sudish
Richa Garg
SquAreheaD Tavishi Agrawal
Brand MARK ive Mandar Dongre
BOOKWORM Vivek Misra
TWEETS
BUZZ
PROMOTIONS
Richa Garg
Nishant Singla
Meeta Khatri Nitya Kumar
Hall-MARK Campaigns Roma Sehgal
PROOF READ
DESIGNING
Divya Damera
Nishant Singla Mandar Dongre
TETE-a-TETE Meeta Khatri
REWIND Nitya Kumar
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