The
MARKSMAN
K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH
VOL. 3| ISSUE V| DECEMBER‘12
Cover Story
Pg. 13
Pg. 18
Pepsi's IPL sponsorship : Is Pepsi looking for a greater footprint in India?
Pg. 25
Gujarat Elections 2014 : Is 3D Technology bringing in a new age of Virtual Campaigning?
Pg. 27
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DECEMBER 2012
EDITOR’S DESK Dear Readers, We would first like to thank you all for the constant and persistent support over the years. We are especially thankful to everyone who has shared, read and subscribed to Marksman since it began a little over a year ago. Christmas is done with, the traditional celebration is over – the turkey is eaten and the carols are sung, and now we head into a new year filled with the ever new challenges as well as surprises! We have had some most memorable marketing campaigns in 2012 to remember, Gangnam Style and the viral effect of the video, the launch of Samsung Galaxy S-III, the unveiling of Apple‘s I-phone 5 and I-Pad Mini, the Apple-Samsung battle, the increasing trend of online shopping that the year in specific witnessed, Channel 4‘s ―Meet the Super humans‖, Coca Cola‘s – ―Move to the beat of London 2012‖ and the list is endless. We, as the marketing periodical of SIMSR, have tried to give you sharp & focused insights about the latest happenings in the world of Marketing. Our Cover Story decodes Stealth Marketing and ventures into the techniques of Stealth Marketing, emphasizing on its risks at the same time. Our Special Story on the other hand delves into Showdown in the Gaming Industry and brings out a candid analysis. It covers a gamut of gaming ranging from console gaming to mobile gaming. The issue is packed with MARK-ive, It‘s all about AD-itude, Tweets, HallMARK Campaign, BookWorm, SquAreheaD and Buzz which complete our sumptuous issue in the true sense. The issue also captures a TETE-ATETE with Mr. Mehul Dongre, Key Account Executive, HUL, wherein he provides useful insights about General and Modern Trade, Sales Function and the various strategies that sellers use to attract customers. We at Interface bid farewell to 2012 in style by organizing its successful marketing fest Navikaran- at SIMSR. It was a two day long event incorporating marketing events, workshop on social media, quiz and much more. To know more about the event, grab the issue and get reading! We congratulate Mr. Nishant Jairath and Mr. Vikram Tuli, for being adjudged the best featured article of December! Team Interface also wishes all our readers a Merry X‘mas and a prosperous year ahead! Let us know your thoughts and be sure to come visit us at www.interfacesimsr.weebly.com/the-marksman for more of the latest integrative marketing news and stories.
Cheers !! Team – Marksman The Interface – The Marketing Club of SIMSR
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CONTENTS TWEETS 05
It’s all about AD-itude!
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Bookworm
36
COVER STORY
Brand MARK ive 07
SPECIAL STORY STEALTH MARKETING 13 SHOWDOWN IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY 18 Tete-a-Tete
Rewind
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SqAreheaD
BUZZ
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FEATURED ARTICLES PEPSI'S IPL SPONSORSHIP : IS PEPSI LOOKING FOR A GREATER FOOTPRINT IN INDIA? …25 GUJARAT ELECTIONS 2014 : IS 3D TECHNOLOGY BRINGING IN A NEW AGE OF VIRTUAL CAMPAIGNING? …27
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TWEETS Effies 2012: Ogilvy India wins Agency of the Year fourth time in a row Ogilvy India was adjudged the Agency of the Year for the fourth time in a row. McCann World Group and Lowe Lintas & Partners followed in the tally. Ogilvy India also won the Grand Effie, while Cadbury India was declared Client of the Year.
Brand Wealth Seminar
The Madras Management Association (MMA), in association with Draftfcb-Ulka‘s Cogito Consulting, conducted Brandwealth Seminar 2012, a three-day executive development and continuing education programme on brand building strategies. The program kicked off in Chennai on the 13th of December. This is the first time the Brandwealth Seminar is being hosted in Chennai. In previous editions, it has been witnessed in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. The faculty comprises MG Parameswaran, Niteen Bhagwat & Kinjal Medh.
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DECEMBER 2012
TWEETS KamaSutra steps into the energy drink category; launches KS E Drink KamaSutra, the personal care brand from the house of Raymond, has launched an energy drink called KS E Drink. According to the brand, the energy drink market is valued currently at 200 crores and the brand aims to establish itself through its bold identity and positioning.
Dunkin' Donuts‘ brings in Preeti Arora as head of marketing Jubilant FoodWorks has appointed Preeti Arora as the head of marketing and new product development for Dunkin‘ Donuts‘ India operations. Arora joins Dunkin‘ Donuts‘ from Future Brands, where she worked on two brands - Biba and Secret Temptation. She has worked with Myntra.com, Hyundai and Daimler Chrysler India in past assignments. On Arora's appointment, Dev Amritesh, president and COO, Dunkin‘ Donuts‘ India, said, ―Preeti is a great addition to the Dunkin‘ Donuts‘ India team. She brings the right set of skills and experiences that the brand needs at this important stage of its development. We are confident she will play an important leadership role in building a strong brand and a robust business for Dunkin‘ Donuts‘ in India.‖
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Brand MARK ive
One place where you can vouch for the world‘s best coffee is Starbucks. As the Starbucks phenomenon hits Indian shores, our coffee crazy nation has welcomed it with open arms. Howard Schultz may always be mistaken for the owner of the company instead of the catalyst that helps Starbucks expand from a small regional business into the potent brand it is today.
HISTORY Zev Sieg, Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker initially opened a small shop selling gourmet coffee beans and coffee brewing accessories. Howard Schultz, a former employee brought out Starbucks and spearheaded it to be the brand that coffee making is synonymous with. It expanded from a coffee beans producing company to a coffee making cafe. The Seattle coffee company wouldn‘t stop there and go on to spread its footmark one cup of coffee at a time.
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Brand MARK ive GROWTH ERA Starbucks coffee history started taking shape as it rapidly expanded to cities within US. In 1991 it forayed into mail order, catalogue business and licensed airport stores. It was then that they went public with an IPO under the trade symbol SBUX. Their first international coffee house was opened way back in 1996 in Japan and since then has made its presence felt in 61 countries. The key reason for its expansion can be attributed to word of mouth marketing with differential expansion approaches in those countries. It was now that they started expanding not only their stores but roasting factories. During the 2000‘s they innovated on their product lines. They introduced varieties in their food menu. It went through a corporate change where it positioned itself as a sustainable company. It offered ground coffee remains as compost. It refurbished its menu by offering baked goods to attract the health conscious consumers.
Building A Billion Dollar Brand A glimpse into the company‘s timeline will reveal that it did not take much time for it to evolve into the brand it is, leveraging best quality coffee in Starbucks and figuring out how to put it in a ready to drink forum. The recipe to build a billion dollar brand is understanding what the consumer needs are and cracking on them. In a bold move in 2011, Starbucks changed its logo where it dropped the name of the company in the logo. It may be assumed that they are a huge brand enough that the logo itself speaks for them, with the iconic mermaid in green.
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Brand MARK ive
This signifies that Starbucks has moved on to bigger avenues and is no longer just a coffee company. The corporate culture at Starbucks has always been consumer oriented where they are placed at the heart of every operation.
And as Howard Schultz says ―There is a word that comes to my mind when I think about our company and our people. That word is 'love.' I love Starbucks because everything we've tried to do is steeped in humanity‖.
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Hall-MARK Campaigns
VODAFONE GOES ‘ AND ‘ Vodafone and innovation are closely interlinked, be it the Zoo Zoo ads or ‗Made for you‘ campaign, they have always managed to come up with something unique to promote their brand. Vodafone has recently launched in association with Bates Landscape two separate OOH campaigns down south- one in Mysore and another in Hyderabad.
.A similar OOH campaign was launched in Hyderabad during the festival of ‗Theppoutsavam‘ performed on Dussehra. Theppoutsavam is a boat festival in which deities are taken out in a procession. Vodafone rolled out a festive offer in Hyderabad, wherein it amplified a concept of Theppoutsavam of Vijaywada Kanaka Durga at a prime location to promote the Vodafone pre-paid plan. This campaign included a 80‘x50‘ hoarding depicting a Theppoutsavam boat on a river moving within the OOH site. This campaign has given a great exposure to Vodafone‘s pre-paid offers. Vodafone is truly a genius when it comes to innovation. Instead of depending on intrusive pop-ups or loud voiceovers, it uses outdoor advertising as an impactful medium that is impossible to ignore.
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It’s all about TWEETS AD-itude! Media:Print Client: Teach India Corporation: Taproot India Illegible print ad is all that was needed to generate strong reactions towards this print ad. Taproot created this ad for Teach India, to persuade people to sign up for the Teach India campaign. The print ad comprises of a blank paper with scribbled handwriting, which is almost incomprehensible, ending with a ‗Are you ready to sign up?‘ statement. This ad depicts the client‘s primary purpose of existence, imparting knowledge, and has a letter written in a ‗signature style‘ where they ask people to sign up for their campaign to teach someone to sign or write their name. This ad serves its purpose to target its audience .The simplistic route taken by Taproot was well in theme with Teach India‘s initiative and the creative thought behind the whole campaign, be it the minute details like font ,thought or style, it has helped take forward Teach India‘s initiative.
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It’s all about TWEETS AD-itude! Media: TVC Client: Cafe Coffee day Corporation: Creativeland, Asia It ad marks the foray of CCD in the domain of TVCs .CCD has survived the advertising temptations for the past 16 years. However its foray in the televised ads is a debut for them. The freshly brewed TVC is targeted at the youth. With the basic idea of how standing up, hasn‘t yielded any results and thus a sit down is what is advocated. This ad included close to 70 youngsters singing the ‗sit down anthem‘. They emphasise on problems that are solved with a sit down, and reinforce the power of conversations , which is perfectly in sync with their tagline of ‘A lot can happen over Coffee‘. This is a significant step that CCD took, and it seems to have paid off. CCD has for long survived the market without much advertising, except for a few little BTL activities and tie ups. This step is a step forward towards stepping into peoples‘ home, with no better medium than television.
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C O V E R S T O R Y
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Sounds so much like a paradox! Can Marketing which is christened the most glamorous job, be furtive? Incredulously, the riposte is Yes.
DECODING THE CODE - DEFINITION Marketing a product in such a way that people are not sentient that you are trying to cajole them to buy it. Stealth Marketing is marketing to the consumer‘s subconscious. It is ingraining in a consumer that he/she wants something, without overtly promoting the product. Stealth marketing uses insinuation and subtlety to seed a message in the consumers‘ mind.
CODE NAMES Stealth Marketing is also called Undercover Marketing, Buzz Marketing or Roach bailing by its detractors. It is an emissary of Guerrilla Marketing.
N E E D F O R U N D E R C O V E R AG E N T S WHY STEALTH MARKETING The golden age of advertising which hit the ground in the 1960‘s has had an efficacious run for several years. But the consumer has now developed, what we call, Tolerance to the advertising drug. ‗Marketing Literate‘ is the new sobriquet for this consumer, who is cynical about advertisements. Moreover, the consumer faces a barrage of over 3000 marketing communiqués per day which clutter his memory. In the wake of these certitudes, advertising is proving to be an expensive affair with low return on investment. And it is from these corpses that the phantom of Stealth Marketing has taken shape. In the search for novel methods to get noticed, advertisers discovered Stealth Marketing as an important weapon in their armour. Guerrilla marketing took birth in the 1970‘s to break the dud of traditional marketing techniques. Jay Conrad comprehensively construed many of these techniques in 1984, in his book, Guerrilla Marketing.
DECEMBER 2012
A D VA N T A G E S O F T H E C A M O U F L A G E
C O V E R S T O R Y
The buzz spawned by the undercover campaign traverses from people to people and so is a thrifty way of advertising. Financial risks are pruned as the investment is meagre. It also sieves through channels available to consumers isolated from all other media. Consumers tend to assign to it more credence than they do to conventional media. It incepts a Viral Marketing program in the garb of spontaneity.
P L AY I N G B O N D TECHNIQUES OF STEALTH MARKETING SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS AND ONLINE REVIEWS Stealth Marketing tactics can be deployed online as well as offline. People working for companies may impersonate as consumers, like and recommend a product on various internet forums. This electronic internal marketing encapsulates a large number of audiences and transcends geographical boundaries. It also suffuses more velociously than one-to-one word of mouth does. People are more likely to put their faith in it because they are oblivious to its source of origin and its motive. PROFESSIONAL PLANTS- Offline strategies include actors posing as wonted people in hustling locations, where they then convincingly use certain products and rendezvous with nearby consumers without them realizing that they‘re stooges of stealth marketing. Some start-ups and small businesses recruit professional promoters and paid actors to pitch for their products. New York's Time Square is one of the hubs of such activity. The actors accost the consumers and casually promote their products. They may pose in front of a theater and ask someone to take a picture with their phone to get the ball rolling. After the unsuspecting tourist takes the shot, the actor sets in motion small talk about the phone, its features and what a great buy it was. And if the tourist is lured into making the purchase, he chaperons the tourist to the most approximal outlet and facilitates the purchase.
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C O V E R S T O R Y
It will never dawn upon the tourist that the actor was a plant and he will contend with the fact that he parlayed a great deal for a great price by friendly advice alone. In 2002 Sony Ericsson used Stealth marketing by deploying around 60 men in mask in 10 major cities, asking them to buttonhole strangers and make a request to click their pictures. The actor then bragged about the features of the phone while handing over the device to the stranger. Thus tacitly metamorphosing an act of civility into a branding event. Wikipedia has shaped into a tool for undercover marketing. The creation of WikiScanner, for example, has revealed attempts at manipulating Wikipedia's content by a large number of business, government, and special interest groups. PRODUCT PLACEMENT- This entails placing of branded products in a context sans ads such as movies, music videos, television programs, news programs, books, broadways, music etc. Sony leveraged product placements in the movie Casino Royale (2006). A BDR disc is brandished, all characters flaunt VAIO laptops, Bravia televisions conspicuously occupy some frames and Bond has a cyber shot camera at his disposal to click photographs. Coca-Cola has also used product placements in many Bollywood films. A bottle of Coke plays cupid in the film Taal (1991, ‗Rhythm‘). There are also verbal mentions of Coca-Cola in the film Mohabattein (2001, ‗Loves‘). CHARITY- Good begets good is a new mantra to which marketers are increasingly resorting, to woo their consumers. Many brands interface charity events into their image to concoct a positive buzz. The Standard Charted marathon which is conducted every year in Mumbai is a good example. Nike conjugated with the Lance Armstrong foundation and designed their Livestrong bands.
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C O V E R S T O R Y
PR ACTIVITY- Brands create a hype and hoopla around themselves to find their way into newspapers. This is an effective substitute to publishing expensive ads and whips up considerable buzz about the brand. This subsumes sponsorship of events, for example Airtel Indian grand prix. The brand gets scribe space without having to shell out for it. Many celebrities use PR techniques so that they are a hot topic amongst their fans. Love affairs that surface before movie releases, public appearances, and social acts are all a part of this jigsaw. SPONSORED STUDIES- Companies fund studies involving competitor‘s brands to create repugnant results. These studies are used to conjure an image that a given product is better than the competition. In some cases the results are bonafide but the framework for the study is flawed. For example, the company‘s most stellar product is pitted against the competitor‘s worst model skewing the results in favour of the company‘s product. The validity of such a study is eclipsed. Stealth marketing is employed by a repertoire of businesses ranging from healthcare to politics to real estate. For example when Rahul Gandhi embarks on a local train journey he is trying to entice the people into buying his party at the elections without making an overt appeal for votes.
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YOU ARE SURROUNDED B Y SPI ES REACH OF STEALTH MARKETING 43% of the fortune 500 companies have adopted Stealth marketing this year. It is gradually getting absorbed as a mainstream marketing technique.
POTENTIAL NEMESISRISKS OF STEALTH MARKETING
C O V E R S T O R Y
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Any short-term benefits firms enjoy from reaching consumers using stealth practices may well be outweighed by the more troubling consequences that could surface in the future. Stealth marketing rests on the premise ‗lie but don‘t get caught‘. The repercussions of getting exposed are catastrophic. The consumer will feel betrayed and despise being associated with the product. So the shroud on the secret should never be raised. Stealth marketing may also have legal ramifications.
COMMERCIALIZING SOCIAL INTERACTION THE ETHICS OF STEALTH MARKETING Is Stealth marketing a 21st century con? Deception is the way forward in stealth marketing. The testimony to a product perceived as true is actually a sham. The lines between marketing and real-life are obfuscated disabling the consumer from making an informed choice. Stealth marketing blurs the critical lens through which we all view marketing. Marketers should dodge the ethical dilemma by seeking alternatives to deception and making necessary disclosures. All in all stealth marketing is a cogent marketing technique as long as it remains stealthy. But the consumer has to watch each step before making a buying decision because for all you know a friend or a family member may be a façade of a marketer.
DECEMBER 2012
S P E C I A L S T O R Y
showdown in the gaming industry November of 2012 saw the release of Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. These became two of the most sought after console games in recent times. In fact, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 has become the biggest launch in the entertainment industry, garnering revenues of $500 million in sales within the first 24 hours of launch! But was it enough? Even if we add Assassin‘s Creed III and Borderlands 2 to the list, the previous years‘ statistics do not indicate a happy future for console gaming. (Maybe a little like the dystopian storyline of Mass Effect) Why this observation is crucial is because during the past few years, video game sales have been plummeting consistently. By the end of the 3rd quarter in 2012, the drop in the sales of console video games was as low as three fourths of the previous year. Some blame it on the world economy which also happens to be the universal reason for most things gone wrong under the sun. It must be pointed out that despite the slowdown in world economy, movies and music sales have been consistent and have not dipped. So WHY did console video game sales drop by 25% as compared to the previous year? This fall requires an in depth analysis to identify the reasons. Before we begin (or crack anymore jokes!) let us look at the figures.
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SPECIAL STORY The quarter ending in September saw the sales of console video games, hardware and accessories drop by 25% from $1 billion in 2011 to $755.5 million this year. The consoles sales dropped by 37% to $183.7 million in the quarter ending in September, as compared with the quarter in 2011. Gaming related software sales also saw a fall of 25%, closing at $432 million. Even though Xbox 360 is the best-selling console of all time, it managed to undersell at 270000 units as compared with 393000 units at the same time last year. Take a look at the graph line dipping at the end of December; that is owing to the fact that the big guns in gaming( the names mentioned above) were out in November already and the arsenal was empty by the year end. The same trend is expected this year.
Candid Analysis: This time we discuss the complex interplay of Doomsday, Gaming and Greeks. ď ą The doomsday, well, was a good hoax played by the Mayans. It is not such a bad thing that they are not around to see the end of the world. It was quite underwhelming you know! ď ą Maybe many gaming managers and consultants were waiting for the impending doom on Dec 21 2012 and assumed that no one would blame them for their mistakes after the world ends and the console gaming bubble bursts. Too bad that did not happen.
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SPECIAL STORY Topics like ―ailing economies‖ and the ―doomsday prophecy‖ have been a major focus of discussions among the erudite as well as business communities. There is a school of thought which believes that there is a distinct possibility that the Greeks involved in these discussions got carried away and forgot to perform their regular tasks. And did we mention we are convinced that such discussions tend to take place during a busy day of LAN gaming at office? Why else would a country like Greece (which apparently had a robust economy) go bust? We insist that a world gaming competition should be organized and if Greece does not emerge victorious, we would willingly stomp on our hats!
BUT I WANT A NEW PS3! When the designers and vendors were asked for feedback, one of the first things that came up was the lack of new hardware. The last innovative hardware in gaming was the release of Wii and subsequently, the competitors followed with ―ME TOO‖ devices like Kinect and Move. These devices did not create an impact and hence lacked the impetus to hoist the sinking market share. Mere gaming has not been able to make up for the lack of hardware. When the gaming industry gained popularity in the 80‘s, gaming consoles had a crucial role to play. However the same large immobile gaming consoles were also responsible for the doom of the industry in that era. Even Nintendo today is struggling to capture the market despite having the First Mover‘s Advantage of Wii. They have not been able to diversify their portfolio in time.
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SPECIAL STORY
I WANT TO PLAY RIGHT NOW! A shift in the consumer trend is one of the reasons why gamers are losing interest in console gaming. Most individuals today seek small bite-size gaming sessions in their free time. Console gaming restricts that experience. Not only does one have to physically go to where the console is installed but also that console gaming requires time investment, right from the point of loading to playing a complete session. As a result, such consumers have found solace in mobile gaming which can be done anywhere, anytime.
WHAT WAS THAT GAME AGAIN? Another contributing factor was the lack of innovation in gaming. The sports games like Madden and NFL et al are mere developments over the previous versions and with only a few added effects; they cannot be differentiated considerably from one another. Most of the first person shooters are no different from their counterparts.
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SPECIAL STORY Having said that, it is true that hardcore gamers would appreciate the subtle changes and would remain loyal to consoles!
The ME TOOs
I LOOOVE MY I-PHONE! The masses are shifting towards mobile gaming. It is no longer Snake on black and white background. Consider the following games : Angry Birds Plants Vs. Zombies Fruit Ninja Where‘s My Water Temple Run
All of these have revolutionized mobile gaming by making use of their best features- be it touch sensitivity or graphics drivers. The biggest advantage that these games have over console gaming are their prices. This makes them far more economical than any console game.
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SPECIAL STORY
SO WHAT IF YOU CAN SEE THE NOSE HAIR! Another factor that gave rise to console gaming was the leap in graphics. (Remember the revolutionary slow motion action in the first Max Payne?) Since then there have been leaps and bounds in graphics and in-game characters look more and more realistic! Today, every game can boast of slow motion action sequences and realistic looking entities. But gamers are no longer enthralled by graphics. Even though there is improvement in every subsequent game, the WOW factor that led to the success of Call of Duty, Assassin Creed and Resident Evil franchisees is no longer there! What is required is a quantum leap in graphics design to draw the consumers back in again.
I WANT TO PLAY WITH MY FRIENDS! The amalgamation of gaming and social media has had a huge impact on gaming enthusiasts. No matter how much we hate Farmville and its sheep, it has proven that social media gaming is HUGE. Now consumers can play with family and friends while interacting with them. In fact these games have created an entirely new form of revenue stream which is neither license nor subscription based. If you want more sheep in Farmville you can purchase them then and there! Hence it is a ―FREEMIUM‖ game.
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SPECIAL STORY
IN CONCLUSION Market research and competitive analysis are vital. Mobile gaming does not generate revenues like console games do, but they have usurped a big share of console game market. With the development of mobile technology, the market can see a substantial shift towards mobile platform in the near future. More and more console game developers are focusing on mobile gaming and some even have switched.
The R&D cycles of Play Station and Xbox teams do not match the consumers demand. The basic tenets of marketing have been lost in the quest for technological excellence and this is the reason why console gaming is losing in the face of mobile gaming.
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FEATURED ARTICLES Pepsi's IPL Sponsorship: Is Pepsi looking for a greater footprint in India? - Vikram Tuli , Great Lakes Institute Of Management, Chennai Introduction IPL managed to bring together cricketers from different nationalities, lured them with fat pay cheques, roped in big advertisers who did not think twice before splurging on their brands for prime time eye space, got cheer leaders to shake their hips and bulldozed its way into ICC‘s calendar. Thus, by a judicious mixture of managing the environment nearly perfectly and staging fantastic experiences every time a match was played, value creation was no more, the prerogative of a single entity. Instead, multiple stakeholders came together on a mutually rewarding platform and lavished the cricket loving crowds with some truly memorable fares. Along two dimensions of experiences – customer participation and connection – IPL fits into the quadrant where both active participation and immersion are high. Viewers are completely immersed in the proceedings right from the first over of the first innings. The popularity of the IPL can be gauged from the number of people who routinely wear t-Shirts and jerseys that espouse their support to favourite teams even during non-season times. Pepsi's not changing the game, but it's definitely changing the name. Seasons 6 to 10 of the Indian Premier League will be known as the Pepsi IPL. Pepsi and Coke wars have always been talk of the town. One has to understand that IPL is held in the summer, the best season for Pepsi. Analysing both the sides of the coin we can derive some useful insights. PepsiCo may have brought in 38 % more revenue in 2011 than Coca Cola. But its arch rival sold $28 billion worth of soda while PepsiCo only sold $12 billion. Pepsi is trying to regain lost share by improving its marketing efforts and portraying a ―lifestyle‖ brand image. IPL as a boon for PEPSI I feel that No scale association with cricket is possible in India without a sizeable IPL presence. IPL has now become the new face of Indian cricket. It combines the best of cricket with entertainment, regional club passion and international glamour.
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FEATURED ARTICLES Brand Pepsi is an iconic youth brand and one of the most recalled and trusted brands across categories in the country. Now, with this association, Pepsi‘s hope to catapult its brand to an even higher orbit — that of the most universal, popular and trend-setting youth brand seems a reality. The kind of viewership that the IPL gets in India and across the world is of great interest to Pepsi. The format is very entertaining and all the major international players want to play in it. The format is going to get better and so Pepsi‘s penetration is going to go deeper, reach out more and take it to schools. The IPL is being telecast in over 192 countries. The title association of Pepsi IPL and other benefits would allow brand Pepsi and other PepsiCo brands to gain more than conventional sponsorship benefits and generate immense universality across the country. While PepsiCo may choose to attribute this carping to certain bunch of fruits on a vine gone sour, fact is that the brand has parked a huge sum of money in one single property that is actually played out only for a month in a year.
IPL as a Bane for PEPSI In the last few years, IPL has been plagued by low viewer interest, as controversies, coupled with a predictable format, took the sheen off the tournament. According to a report by Brand Finance, IPL‘s current brand value is $2.92 billion, compared with $4.13 billion in 2010. Television ratings for the tournament have also fallen from an average of 4.81 in the inaugural edition to 3.27 in the fifth season this year. IPL 6 has bagged its title sponsor, but that‘s just the beginning of the story. The BCCI still faces the challenge of sealing fresh associate sponsors as its contracts with existing sponsors Vodafone, Hero Moto Corp, and Citibank also came to an end in July.
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FEATURED ARTICLES Gujarat Elections 2014: Is 3D technology bringing in a new age of Virtual Campaigning? - Nishant Jairath, DoMS, IIT Madras Gone are the days when politicians used to amble from town to town holding election rallies for canvassing votes from people. Gone are the days when people used to wait for hours for their leader to arrive. Holding rallies at multiple places at the same time is a new feat accomplished by the BJP leader who left the opposition gasping for more ideas of reaching out to people. Being a pioneer in using 3D technology, Gujarat elections have once again marked a special event in history of India and no doubt that this event will certainly bring about a revolution in the way election campaigning was done so far. The technology was developed by a UK based company known as Musion Eyeliner which uses age old trick of pepper‘s ghost. It is already being touted as the next big thing in marketing circuits; 3D technology has been used extensively in creating special effects in movies and also live performances across the globe. With advent of this technology, entertainment industry also got a shot in the arm. It is now possible to hold live concerts at multiple places anywhere in the world. It has changed the paradigm of holding global tours. The artists can showcase their talent real time to an audience, oceans away, by performing in a nearby studio itself. The use of technology has contributed in yielding a positive outcome for the incumbent Chief Minister to hold the seat for the third time in a row, which many analysts have stated as a rare event to occur in the country. This unique method of campaigning engrossed every section of the society. The hoopla created around the use of technology attracted adults as well as children equally to its shores.
The verdict for the new campaigning style could very well be adjudged by the lit-up faces of the audience and everyone appeared as though they just saw a movie, that too without ticket!
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FEATURED ARTICLES
The positive poll results corroborated by positive reaction of the attendees give us a clear picture of far-reaching effects of the technology. Showcasing of virtual campaigning in the recent polls has opened up an entirely new sector for the use of this innovation. It has left behind the analytical programs devised by Mr. Obama for his second presidential campaign which essentially dealt with providing a common platform for his supporters to collaborate and to attract young voters. Given the massive voter base in our country accompanied by diversification of the towns across the landscape it will be a boon for the politicians in terms of reaching out to the far flung citizens. Centre elections due in 2014 will see every party looking forward to the best possible use of virtual campaigning. In no time we will witness sprouting up of avenues where regional candidates will deliver their party manifesto in order to lure the voters. This will also help in empowering the people by educating them about all the perspectives in the field and which one will cater to their needs better. Thus, the election campaigning is poised to dawn a new avatar blessed by the scientific revolution brought about by partnership of Musion Eyeliner and its Indian collaborator Nchant 3D. With new emerging prospects ranging from holding public rallies to imparting educational lectures, from holding live performances to addressing a corporate meeting at multiple places at any point of time, Nchant 3D, will maintain a long waiting list of meeting newer commitments.
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REWIND ‗Corporate interaction with Mr. Mehul Dongre‘ : 7th November 2012 Time and again the students at KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies have had the opportunity to interact with some of the big names of various big agencies. Yet again they had this opportunity to interact with and learn about Sales and FMCG marketing from Mr. Mehul Dongre from Hindustan Unilever Limited. Mr Mehul Dongre is the Key Account Executive at HUL. He has earlier worked with FMCG giant ITC and handled sales for their Tobacco and stationary departments. The interaction began with Mr Mehul giving the students some key insights into the sales world. He handled the distribution for the tobacco business at ITC and explained how the distribution system works. He also gave the students a clear differentiation between general trade which he handled at ITC and modern trade which he currently handles at HUL. He spoke about the various challenges a company faces while handling both general and modern trade. He also explained how HUL uses push as well as pull strategies for its various products. This session was an interactive one and he answered several doubts that the students had. He also showed the students a Coco Cola advertisement depicting how coke installed huge vending machines at various malls and how to get a can of coke the people at the mall had to climb on each other and insert the coin into the slot which was approx 10 to 12 feet high. Coke tried to push the message of ‗you need friends to help you get a can of coke‘ and this activity was carried out around the friendship day. This he said was one of the various ways in which companies try and increase their sales. All in all this interaction with Mr. Mehul left the students enlightened with some useful insights of sales functions and the various strategies that companies use to attract customers to ultimately turn them into consumers of their products.
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REWIND ‗NAVIKARAN'12‘: 19th December 2012 Navikaran‘12 is the annual inter-collegiate Marketing Fest of K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research powered by Interface, the Marketing club of K.J. SIMSR. This year, Navikaran‘12 was held on the 19th of December 2012. Navikaran'12 was proudly associated with one of India's most famous corporate houses "Birla White Wallcare". The fest offered a plethora of opportunities to young marketing enthusiasts ranging from Case Studies, Workshops, Corporate interactions to online events. The festival provided an opportunity for aspirants to enhance their skill-sets that will serve as a guiding force throughout their career. The events that took place were as follows:
RanNiti‘12 The flagship event of Navikaran'12, RanNiti was a case study event that focussed on strategic thinking and brand building capabilities of budding marketers. The aspirants had to devise strategies for Birla White Wallcare in this event. The total prize money for this event was worth INR 40,000.
Social Media Workshop A Workshop on Social Media Marketing in association with EVOLUTION Co. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Gregory Fernandes – Sr. Executive – Training and Mr. Arya Patnaik. The workshop gave insights on how to leverage social media as well as the power that surmounts it.
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REWIND Chitrarekha'12 ChitraRekha ‘12- a prestigious Intercollegiate Photography Competition in association with the Chocolate Room where all photography enthusiasts were invited to share their ―Coffee Moments‖. The total prize money for this event was worth INR 7,000.
SRIJAN‘12 The graffiti making competition in association with Uni-Spa. The theme for the event was Foot Spa through Fish Therapy. The total prize money for this event was INR 12,000.
VYAKHYA'12 VYAKHYA'12- a creative ad-mad event in association with SPYKAR where selected teams had to perform an ad based on a given theme. The total prize money for this event was worth INR 15,000.
JIGYASA'12 An online 'BIZ-QUIZ' for all the Brand Savvy Quizzers in association with SPYKAR. The total prize money for this event was INR 3000.
Rachna'12 A creative writing competition in association with The Chocolate Room where the participants had to tell what their ―Chocolate Room‖ would be made up of. The total prize money for this event was worth INR 7,000.
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REWIND ‗DRAFT FCB Ulka presents COMSTRAT‘: 22nd December 2012 COMSTRAT is a communication strategy based case study competition of DRAFT FCB + Ulka which was organized by SIMSR and powered by Interface – the Marketing Club of SIMSR. The event requires designing of innovative and effective communication strategies for a brand on the real life problems that the brands face. DraftFCBUlka Comstrat, now in its seventeenth year, is the first ever casestudy competition in the area of communications to be organized amongst management students of the country. Comstrat is a platform which enables sharp application of academic fundamentals to real life corporate situations for budding managers of tomorrow. A live case study is provided by a business organization to participating teams for which students are required to recommend a communication strategy. Over 100 teams from across the country sent in their entries for the preliminary rounds and 6 teams battled it out in the final round held in SIMSR on 22nd Dec 2012. The final 6 participants were the teams from IIM Indore, MICA Ahmedabad, SIMSR Mumbai, JBIMS Mumbai, SIBM Pune and SIMC Pune. The elite jury for this year included Mr Ajay Kolane, senior manager brands, Coca-Cola India; Mr Kinjal Medh, national head - strategic planning and COO, Cogito Consulting; Mr Vidyadhar Wabgaonkar, senior vice president, head - strategic planning, Draftfcb-Ulka Advertising (West and South); and Mr Dorab Sopariwala, consultant - consumer behaviour, and editorial advisor to NDTV. Based on the quality and depth of analysis and solutions, the team from SIMSR emerged as clear winners. The team from MICA was the first runner up and the team from JBIMS was second runner up.
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Tete-a-Tete
Corporate interaction with Mr. Mehul Dongre Key Account Executive
Hindustan Unilever Limited How has your journey been from ITC to HUL? The journey in ITC was more of general trade business. Of the 3 years I was associated with ITC, I was more into the tobacco business for the initial 6 months, which included primary and secondary distribution and for the next 6 months I was involved in the stationary business which was a new development in ITC. Later on, I moved to HUL wherein I got the opportunity to explore modern trade, which was a completely new territory for me. Although I was not well versed with modern trade, the systems, the processes and the team that HUL has which is a dedicated team for a dedicated profile helped me adapt and succeed in modern trade. What are new upcoming avenues in FMCG? Which trends are going to pick up soon? I think apart from the typical trend in FMCG, the Pharma-Health care profile would be emerging. The second profile that can be looked out for is the logistic and supply chain in FMCG. Third would be customer marketing, wherein management students can look out for consumer insights, FGDs, consumer forums to name a few. So these are the emerging profiles that are coming up in FMCG.
As Walmart is soon going to enter, what would be the impact on general trade?
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Tete-a-Tete I doubt general trade would be affected by the entry of Walmart in India. As such Walmart is currently operating in India under the name Easyday in a joint venture with Bharti. Although 100% FDI has not been permitted, even with a 51% stake, I don‘t think the local ‗kirana‘ stores will be impacted. The reason being the traditional business is still growing at a much more faster rate than modern trade. The only glitch being the share of sales would be taken over by modern trade. However, Walmart and retail would help discover and grow new categories. For instance, washing powder for washing machines and tea bags would grow at a much faster rate in modern trade than in general trade. What are the challenges one faces while dealing with modern trade? The first and foremost challenge one faces while dealing in modern trade is how to make available the products on shelf, with modern trade chains like Future Group, D-Mart, Hypercity and so on. The modern trade chains will not be ready to list or make available each and every product on its store shelf, making availability of shelf space the biggest challenge. As such, vendors generally implement the pull and push strategy. Push strategy would be by giving margins or doing some activity and pull strategy would be through the air, through the media. The second biggest challenge is the margin. The margin factor is a major problem for modern trade since the modern trade retailer always has an inventory of 8-10 crores at any point of time. His major concerns are pilferage and shrinkage, which has to be taken care of. Hence he keeps lower MBQs (Minimum Basic Quantities) i.e. ensures that the inventory is as low as possible and at the same time generates more turnover. As such the three major challenges would be listing of the products, margin and inventory control. Does HUL use a pull strategy or push strategy? It depends on the categories that we are into. All the brands as per my knowledge have their particular advertisement. There are certain products that sell more on push and more on brand equity. For instance, brands like Vim, Wheel or Lifebuoy are 100 years old brands and they sell by their name or brand equity wherein although we advertise and engage in other media activities, the most approachable strategy would be the push strategy to make it simple and available on the shelf or the ‗kirana‘ store or the modern trade
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Tete-a-Tete Whereas highly involved products or emerging products like shampoos, conditioners, hand wash; are more dependent on pull strategy where the product involvement is too large and the work will be more towards media and advertisements rather than the push strategy. How and what is the difference between dealing with general and dealing with modern trade? First and foremost; in general trade, the shopkeeper is the owner and in modern trade, the store manager is the employee. The shopkeeper always thinks from his business point of view as to how much I have invested and how much I would get back in return whereas the store manager how to maintain inventory, grow sales, ensure labor rest, reduce disputes between shopper and the labor and control pilferage. A local ‗kirana‘ store owner‘s work would be to ensure customer loyalty by providing credit facility to build trust, which is not the case in modern trade. They are two different ball games but definitely the shopkeeper wins because he is the owner and the store manager is the employee.
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DECEMBER 2012
BOOKWORM TWEETS Marketing in the Age of Google By Vanessa Fox Marketing in the Age of Google written by Vanessa Fox gives an aggregated insight on the growth and evolution of the search topics. The book is a must read for the ones with background based on SEOs i.e. Search Engine Optimization. The book highlights a plethora of insights on SEO techniques and tactics. If any organization wishes to optimize their search rankings, the book provides good, crisp and clear structure as to how to start and evolve the content strategy and at the same time surpass the top positions in Google. To add further, the book also enlightens the readers on the theory that is based on having a web-strategy in place that bolsters a company‘s business strategy. The book is a must read for any entrepreneur having a consumer approach to understand their needs, desires and provides motivation to understand the reason for consumers going online to analyze products and services. The book also highlights the methods with which people use the search engines and how these methods have evolved since the past few years and at the same time sheds light on how the web has transformed itself into a consumer generated content database. As such, it‘s about what users are looking out for and the content they share and not about how the company wants to spread it. Consumers hear something about a brand, a person, and a campaign and instantly go online and search for information. However the initial initiator to online search is an efficient offline marketing i.e. PR or customer service, TV commercials, print ads to name a few. Therefore, a business that thrives to understand and learn, to connect with its consumers both offline and online, is the one that will succeed in future.
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SquAreheaD
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BUZZ THE CROSSWORD
ACROSS 1. Which brand came up with the original digestive biscuit ? 3. Which Indian company has acquired an FMCG company in Singapore for over $144 Million ? 5. Who is the new face of Revital after Yuvraj Singh ? 7. One of the early brands of Wipro has been sold to Cargill India. Name the brand. 9. The first cola brand from Parle was not Thums Up. What was the name of the first cola launched by them in 1949 ?
THE CLUES DOWN 2. Which bank opened 12 branches in 12 districts of 12 states at 12.12 pm on 12.12.12 ? 4. Which soft drink brand started life as “ideal brain tonic” for headaches and exhaustion, sold exclusively in pharmacies ? 6. Parle G is the world’s largest selling biscuit by volume. In 1929, it was launched as a substitute for an imported brand. Name it. 8. Which Indian business group had planned to launch SHILTON chain of hotels and later abandoned it ?
1. Mc Vities 4.Coca Cola 7. Sunflower
2. ABGShipyard 3. Wipro 5. SalmanKhan 6. Glaxo 8. UBGroup 9. GlucoCola
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CALL FOR ARTICLES January 2013 Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:
1. Tata Group after Ratan Tata 2. Discounts frenzy on 12.12.12 : Marketers looking beyond traditional fests? 3. Brand Tendulkar : Will it sustain post his retirement?
*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 January 2013.
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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
Roma Sehgal
Vivek Misra
Smriti Sudish
SquAreheaD Tavishi Agrawal
Brand MARK ive Smriti Sudish
BOOKWORM Nitya Kumar
TWEETS
BUZZ
PROMOTIONS
Richa Garg
Nishant Singla
Meeta Khatri Mandar Dongre
Hall-MARK Campaigns Divya Damera
PROOF READ
DESIGNING
Priyam Prasad
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REWIND Meeta Khatri Vibhav Shukla Tavishi Agrawal
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TETE-a-TETE Nitya Kumar
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