Media Advertisement of F.M.C.G.products

Media Advertising of F.M.C.
G Products
CHAPTER 1.
INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC
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Media Advertising of F.M.C.G Products
Introduction to the topic
One can always learn from the changes that are happening around him globally
and locally. The world in which we are surviving today is full of cut-throat
competition and “survival of the fittest”. The companies have learnt and
understood that the “customer is the king of the market” which has changed from
the earlier perception that “customer will accept whatever he is given”, this
change in mindset has led to the opening up of the fourth and very important “P”
in the marketing mix called promotion. Companies have to always stay one-up on
their competitors and their promotional strategies helps them in doing that
efficiently. Promotion being a vast topic encompasses many terms and the most
important of them being “ADVERTISING”, though often misunderstood as one
and the same, promotion and advertising are different from each other the former
being a wider term.
The topic of interest, therefore, over here is learning more about this interesting
subject which has emerged as a strong component in the global marketing
environment. To prove this fact we will be taking the fast moving consumer
goods industry or( “FMCG” industry as it is so famously known as) in to
consideration and try to understand their advertising and other media strategies
for overcoming their arch rivals and in the bargain earning profits for themselves.
When we are trying to understand advertising strategies of the FMCG

companies, we have to understand about the following things:
1. What do we understand by FMCG companies?

2. What do we understand by the term “marketing” and “advertising”?
3. Why do companies need to advertise and its implications.
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4. And lastly but the main subject matter of study that is, which media are
available to advertise and understanding their selection, pros, cons and
other aspects.
There are case studies also mentioned in the end to make the points relevant
There are some interesting facts that I’d like to mention before I brief you about
the various aspects which have just been mentioned
 F.M.C.G companies are the largest ad-spenders in terms of percentage of

sales.
 FMCG companies focus more on brand promotion than sales promotion
like the graph below proves.
(Source: - TAM and ADEX INDIA)
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 HULL alone spends roughly Rs. 800crores annually on advertisements.
 In 1996 PepsiCo became the first company to film a commercial in space.

The cosmonauts shot the Pepsi ad in orbit outside MIR space station.
 The Amul butter girl was created as a rival to the “Polson” dairy who used
the same concept.
 The cigarette giant Marlboro spends $3 billion annually on Formula1

racing.
 Sachin Tendulkar is the highest paid cricketer of India in terms of

endorsements.
 Television advertising accounts for nearly 70% of the media advertising

share.
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CHAPTER 2.
AN INSIGHT
 What are FMCG Companies?
 What do you mean by Marketing?
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An Insight
What are F.M.C.G companies?
F.M.C.G companies or fast moving consumer goods companies are those which
are engaged in the production and selling of goods which are required by a
person in his daily course of life. It can be defined as “products that are used at
least once in a month, sold under brand names in consumer packages through a
widespread distribution network and consumed directly by the consumer”. After
the liberalization of the Indian economy many companies opened their
subsidiaries in India. India is emerging as one of the largest markets after china
in terms of percentage of earnings for the companies. Strong demand for a
variety of products and an increase in the purchasing power of the people has
led to many companies making India count among their list of high end markets.
The companies which fall under the F.M.C.G category usually have a large
number of product lines under one umbrella.
F.M.C.G companies cater to the masses and provide a diverse range of products
like chocolates, biscuits, soap, tooth paste, pan masala, cigarettes, milk products
and the list is endless.
The turnover of F.M.C.G companies is usually very large, (Hindustan Lever Ltd.
Had a turnover of more than 12000 crores in the previous year) and they occupy
a significant position in the market of any country. In India the F.M.C.G
companies are mostly the ones who are on a global or international level and can
be termed as “MULTINATIONALS”. These companies include famous names
like P&G, HULL, COLGATE PALMOLIVE, NESTLE, COCA COLA, PEPSI and
many more. The advertising done by F.M.C.G companies differs from those done
by other segments. F.M.C.G. companies have to pay more heed towards
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advertising of their products because they have to create a demand for their
products even before they enter the market and another reason is that each
company has a diverse range of products which it needs to sell to the consumer,
so the consumer needs to be aware of such a product available in the market.
SOME OF THE TOP F.M.C.G COMPANIES IN INDIA:
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HULL)
PROCTER AND GAMBLE INDIA LIMITED (P&G)
GODREJ
BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES
COLGATE PALMOLIVE INDIA LIMITED
NESTLE INDIA LIMITED
ITC
MARICO INDUSTRIES
DABUR INDIA
GODFREY PHILIPS INDIA
The Indian economy has undergone drastic changes over the past decade and
the number of multi-national companies or MNC’S coming in to India is growing
with every single day. There were days when companies only gave a small
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advertisement in the local newspaper on a Sunday and popularize their product

but with increasing competition companies are forced to give prime importance to
the way they advertise and the amount they spend on advertisements. The
increase in the number of advertising agencies in India just goes to show how
vastly the advertising has grown in India.
Indian ad-spend as compared to some of the other countries
Ad Spend to GDP (in %)

1.6
1.4
1.2
1 U.K
% OF AD-
0.8
SPEND U.S.A
0.6
0.4 Brazil
0.2 China
0 India
2001 2002 2003 2004
YEARS
(Source: Business World magazine)

The above graph proves the fact that even though Indian companies are
spending heavily on advertising, they still rank behind other countries around the
world in terms of ad-spend to GDP ratio.
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What does the term “marketing” mean after all?
There have been numerous definitions and various explanations that have been
given by different marketing gurus in their books and other literature but from the
point of view of F.M.C.G companies, the term marketing means quite a lot. This
term has created the future and helped in the evolution of numerous brands in
the world for the consumer. F.M.C.G companies rely solely on marketing for
attracting and retaining their customer base. Marketing is a broad term and
encompasses elements like promotion and advertising.
All the companies have their marketing departments which handle all the
advertising and promotional strategies. Marketing is essential and with every
company having a large number of product lines and a facing stiff competition
from its rivals it becomes all the more essential to study the markets in detail and
devise selling strategies.
According to marketing guru Philip Kotler, companies are today engaging in what
is called as lateral marketing which refers to breaking away from the mould of the
product and taking the product in to new forms like introduction of walkmans.
According to him with increase in costs and media expenditure it is essential that
managers look for customer managed relationships rather than customer relation
ship marketing. With the increase in competition, companies are now devising
new and holistic strategies for marketing. The topic is vast and of significant
importance but since advertising is what we are looking at particular therefore it
is more relevant to study advertising in detail.
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CHAPTER 3.
Advertising –the new mantra
 Implications of advertising on the buyer
 A-I-D-A Model
 Effects of advertising on consumer’s perception
 Difference between Promotion and Advertising
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Advertising – the new age mantra
David Ogilvy of Ogilvy&Mather once famously quoted as “the consumer is not

a moron, he is your wife”. The fact that companies are now realizing that
raising ad spends is no longer a debt burden but rather an investment for the
future, has shown that advertising has become an integral part of every products
success and for that matter its failure as well.
 Sunil Alagh, the ex-managing director and CEO of Britannia industries

pointed out that “the success of a product can be measured in terms
of how effectively it can be communicated to the consumer”
The current lots of F.M.C.G companies use advertising as a fighting tool to upset
their rivals rather than to up bring their product. The coca cola and Pepsi war (so
fondly known as the “cola wars”) has given new dimensions to advertising.
Consider this: HLL spent more than Rs.696.58 crores by the year ending
December 2000 and the ad-spend has further increased by 10% in the next year.
This proves the fact that companies lay a lot of emphasis on advertising of their
products.
The question to be asked here is that why do F.M.C.G companies or for that
matter any other sector companies need to advertise after all?
The important reasons why one should advertise are mentioned below:
 Advertising helps in building a “Brand Name” for the company.

Today when we hear the word “Thanda” we immediately associate it with
Coke. A company has to build up its brand name for its products so that the
consumers do not shift to other rival products. In making a brand name a
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company has to be loud and clear about its products and its qualities, this is
where advertising steps in.
 Advertising helps a consumer to understand about a product:

A consumer gets to know more about the product available in the market
through advertising. In case of F.M.C.G companies it is more important
because the products have to continue over a long run in the market and
have a wider competition compared to the other sectors.
 It acts as a tool to upset the competition:

Advertising is definitely a tool to upset competitors and up bring your product
in place of theirs. Even today people recognize butter with “Amul” brand even
when there are other brands existing in the market because of the infamous
Amul butter girl who has acquired an iconic status.
 “Jo dikhta hai, wahi bikta hai”

This applies to all the companies in every sector. Consumers buy what they
see and neglect what they don’t identify with. They are influenced by the
flashy advertisements which affect their buying motives.
 Persuasion:
Advertising helps in persuading the prospective buyer in taking a decision
regarding the product. In a supermarket the advertising acts as a factor why
the consumer goes straight to the soap of a particular brand or toothpaste of
“x” company.
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 Helpful in introducing new products:

Advertising is a tool which helps in introducing new and innovative products in
to the markets. Companies spend a large chunk of their revenue on research
and development of new products and when such high stakes are involved
companies would not want their products to fail in the market.
Advertising significantly contributes to the creation of top brands and increases

their brand values. Today when one hears the word “Ye dil maange more” or
more recently “youngistan ka wow” then the next person immediately
understands that he/she is talking about Pepsi. This is the impact of advertising.
Gone are the days when one used to sell the products by going door to door or
through salesman or the next door “baniya”, today advertising helps one out if
one has to successfully run a product. Some of the advertising campaigns and
their punchlines are mentioned below:
Slogan Company/product
Thanda matlab Coca cola
Youngistaan ka wow Pepsi
Dentist ka sujhaya hua no 1. brand Colgate
Utterly, butterly delicious Amul
Kit-kat break to banta hai Kit Kat
Kuch meetha ho jaaye Cadbury’s dairy milk
G matlab Genius Parle-G
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Boost is the secret of our energy Boost
Tan ki shakti man ki shakti, Bournvita

bournvita
Lagey raho! Alpenliebe
(lifebuoy hai jahan yandurusti hai wahan----lifebouy)
The Implications of Advertising on the Buyer:
It has been argued from the beginning that “advertising does not add any value
to the product rather it helps in increasing the price of the product. The consumer
is not influenced by the flashy ads and does not respond to them.” These
statements do not hold true in the real sense. When one goes in to the market
one can notice how consumers recognize a particular brand of toothpaste from
the 20 odd brands available and he asks for a particular brand only. This proves
the fact that how much impact has been created by the particular brand through
advertising.
This brings us to the next question which is asked mostly when companies
disclose their advertising budgets, that is, is advertising a waste. Is it a
non-value added activity that is performed by the company?
Well, the answer to this is that advertising is not a waste and companies set
aside huge budgets for advertising just so that they can create an impact in the
minds of the consumer. The consumer also gets valid information through
advertising like in case of social service messages like the polio ad campaign or
the aids awareness campaign, this helps the consumer know what is happening
around him. Also in case of F.M.C.G companies some products which are
complex to use can be well explained and their utility be made known to the
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consumer. Advertising has played a major role in re-establishing and increasing

the shrinking sales of some products
One strong example of this can be the re-launch of the “Frooti” brand of mango
drink a few years back. A fictitious character by the name of “Digen Verma” was
created by the company and his name was flashed all over raising the curiosity of
the people. This curiosity was later removed by introducing the product. This
campaign helped Frooti re-establish its market share and helped in increasing
the sales for the company.
Also recently Dabur had re-launched its chyawanprash brand with a new look
and a new ad-campaign, this has helped Dabur to regain some of its lost share in
the market which has been dominated by it.
There is a defined strategy for advertising known as the A-I-D-A model of

advertising promoted by Mr. Elmo Lewis which emphasizes on how a customer
purchases a product.
The model is followed by companies for formulating advertising strategies.
A – Denotes “attention” which refers to the ability of the advertisement to attract
the attention of the consumer. Often there are products which may be good in
quality but are ignored by the consumer because they are not able to generate
enough attention.
I – Denotes “interest”, once the product draws the attention of the consumer,
there should be an interest created in the minds of the consumer for the product.
It is only when an interest exists that a company will be able to establish the
model successfully.
D – Denotes “desire”, it is the desire to own and possess the product. Often we
see small children forcing their mothers to buy them a particular chocolate or
food because they have seen it with their friends or they are very much
influenced by the advertisements. Once the desire is created it will always get
converted in to ownership of the brand.
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A – Denotes “action”, the final result of all the efforts is the ultimate decision
made by the consumer to purchase the product. The company cannot sit back
and wait for their products to sell automatically. The desired action in terms of
brand building and further increasing the sales should be in the minds of the
company. The company should try and maintain its relations with the customer.
According to Paretos law, 20% of customers give 80% of the business. Therefore
a company should hook the consumers on to the brand and make them “brand
loyal”.
Advertising has the following effects on the consumer perceptions:
It helps the consumer to identify the product
 It is useful to realize which brands are available in the market
 It helps in delivering the importance of the product
 It helps in bridging the gap between the company and the consumer
 A consumer can realize what is good and what is bad for him.
 It influences him to buy a particular product
Overall advertising creates a desire in the minds of the consumer regarding

owning the product. It makes him think about going for a particular company’s
product over his rivals products.
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The mere fact that the “Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola” advertisement increased the
sales of coca-cola by more than 10% proves the fact that consumers are
receptive to advertising.
Also companies advertise their various offers and promotions through the
medium of advertising. The consumer is ignorant to these offers unless he has
been exposed to a healthy dose of commercials or prints showing the offer.
Research has shown that advertised products have more chances of survival in
the long run than the non-advertised products.
A recent study conducted by MCI India took into consideration people from
various sections of the society and is worth mentioning in the report. The study
divided the consumers in to male and female categories and in each category
they divided them in three parts. They were segmented as per their age, status,
location, basic traits. The study revealed the following information:
HOW MEDIA INFLUENCES PURCHASE DECISIONS
Television 77%
Ads in newspapers 40%
Free samples 38%
Word-of-mouth 38%
Ads at purchase points 34%
Shopkeepers 32%
Articles in dailies 30%
Hoardings 26%
Ads in magazines 23%
Fillers/Leaflets in dailies 22%
Also the research has shown that consumers in cities like Delhi, Mumbai and
other metros are likely to get influenced in purchasing the product if it is
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advertised. This simple fact has shown that companies do require advertising to
support the qualities of their product.
Difference between Promotion and Advertising:
Though the words seem to be the same they have a stark difference between
them. Marketers have realized that mere advertising is not enough to push a
brand but promotion acts as a support to advertising. Also unlike ads, promotion
gives measurable results to the company. Promotions are more interactive than
advertising. Promotions are done by companies in different forms and utilizing
different mediums. F.M.C.G companies carry out promotions at different levels
apart from promoting at the consumer level. The companies have to also keep
their distributors, whole sellers and retailers happy so that they will achieve the
sales for the company. As we have seen before the study had showed that
shopkeepers influence 33% of purchase decisions. This means that if the
shopkeepers get adequate incentives from the company they will not propaganda
the products of its rivals. This is a good strategy to overthrow competition. The
promotions are carried out by giving discounts, additional free gifts, prizes
through lucky draws, free samples. Often companies are able to push the stock
of its products which are not in demand through promotional activity, an example
of this is recently Kissan had introduced the offer that on purchase of 1kg of its
sauce one would get two Kissan Greedy Stix chocolates free. Consumers are
attracted to such lucrative offers and often the brand loyalty is diminished.
Recently HULL decided to upset its rivals by giving 1 bottle of shampoo free with
every 1 clinic plus shampoo bottle, this led to a beginning of an intense rivalry
between P&G, which also followed suit later. The shrinking margins and intense
competition forces companies to come out with such promotions regularly to
keep their consumers interested in their products.
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Promotional activity is also necessary when a company wants to introduce new

products in the market. Marico had recently introduced its product called “Silk-n-
Shine” in the market and it kept free sampling outside stores and in various
areas. F.M.C.G companies cannot just rely on advertising because advertising
may bring the customer to the product but promotion will keep him loyal to the
product.
The recent promotional activities carried out by companies are as given below:
HULL had launched a scheme for its product Surf Excell Blue in which the
company is giving away computers, scholarships, dictionaries and other prizes.
Godrej has launched a scheme for its brand Xs juices in which the company
launched an offer of buy 1 and get 1 free.
HULL also had a scheme of buy 3 and get 1 free for some of its soap brands like
Lux, fairglow.
P&G has also reduced the prices of some of its products like Tide, Ariel and
shampoo brands like Pantene.
There are various discounts and freebies on offer by companies to attract the
customer and a customer may get stimulated to buy the products because of
these offers.
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CHAPTER 4.
MEDIA AND AGENCY SELECTION
 Steps for media and agency selection

 Agency selection
 Celebrity endorsement
 Cadbury example
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Media and agency selection for F.M.C.G
products
Merely spending hoards of money in advertisement is not going to help the

product. It should be coupled with the right type of media and the best use of the
possible methods for advertising. The right kind of media selection is done by
utilizing the following strategies:
Budgeting expenditure:
Before selecting the media one must keep in mind ones budget. Companies like
HULL, Coca-Cola, and P&G etc. keep aside a sizeable proportion of their
expenditure for advertising. The advertising budgets of the company are
influenced by the product sales and its popularity. It is essential to understand
that the money spent by these companies will not flow back in but will reflect in
terms of the sales achieved by the company in the annual budget. Since
advertising expenditure has to be deducted from the sales, it is essential to plan
it in advance to avoid wastage of resources.
Selecting the media based on the budget:

Once the budget is set then one can select the media which will be utilized by the
company to commercialize its products. The various medias available will be
discussed in the next chapter. Companies which have a huge ad-spending select
the best possible medium while those working on a tight budget try to find out the
cheapest and most effective medium through research.
Analyzing the media reach:

The media selected should be able to effectively reach a number of people and
should convey the message sent by the company. The following table gives the
consumer demographics relating to the various media available in the urban
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areas and their response Nowadays while selecting the media companies have
to also keep in mind the government rules and regulations. The government of
India has banned the advertisements done by cigarette and liquor companies
and they cannot violate this rule.
From the table given it is clear that the reach of television is the greatest among
all the mediums available and that all classes of society show a similar response
to the television advertisements.
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Defining purpose of advertising:
One should define the goals for which the advertising has been done. Proper
planning of the objectives and goals will lead to successful advertising decisions.
Companies have specific interests and specific target segment in mind when
they want to select the media. Companies who are going to re-launch a brand
have to pay more attention towards the advertising because it can be detrimental
in deciding the fate of the brand in the years to come. Recently Dabur had re-
launched its brand of chyawanprash. The purpose was to make the brand more
contemporary and to make it relatable since the brand was losing its relevance
over a period of time, besides the company had also renewed the packaging and
the look of the brand. The campaign featured Mr. Amitabh Bachhan and the
campaign was a success resulting in growth of the brand and cementing its
market share.
Keeping in mind the demographics and the influence of various media on buyer
behavior (mentioned in earlier part), one should select the most useful media.
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Agency selection:
After the companies finalize their objectives and goals, it is now time to select the
most appropriate agency to fulfill those goals. In India there are more than 100
ad agencies and most of them are pioneers in the global market. There are
agencies, which have a base in foreign countries and have established
themselves in India like Ogilvy&Mather worldwide. Some of the best names in
the industry are given below:
 McCann Erickson (global)

 Lowe India (global, equity participation in enterprise nexus communication
in India)
 Mudra (Indian)
 WPP (global)
 Lintas (global)
 FCB Ulka (global, equity participation of 51% from Foot Cone &Blending,
New York )
 Grey Worldwide (global)
 Ogilvy&Mather (Indian subsidiary)
 Leo Burnett (global, equity participation in Chaitra India )
 J.Walter Thompson (global, acquired Indian subsidiary Hindustan
Thomson Associates)
The A&M magazine survey indicated that the largest 25% of agencies account
for nearly 75% of the top billings. The increase in the ad-expenditure of Indian
companies and the tough competition makes it all the more sense to establish a
subsidiary in India. Most of the ad agencies are from the big apple and have
grabbed the opportunity after liberalization opened the doors to the economy.
Most of the agencies have either acquired or have equity participation in the
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Indian agencies. The agencies have given us names like Piyush Pandey,
Prasoon Joshi, R.K. Ramaswamy, Madhukar Kamath, Prahladh Kakar and many
more.
Some companies have established their own in-house agencies like Dabur has
its own agency called “Adbur” which takes care of all its advertising and media
decisions. Other companies have two or three regular advertising agencies which
are given contracts based on their creativity and name. The agency selection is
done by the marketing and media department of the company and at a given
time more than three to four agencies are vying for the accounts of a big
company. A company may even have different agencies handling its different
product lines, like for example, McCann Erickson handles the advertising of
Coca-Cola while Ogilvy&Mather handles Coke’s brand “Fanta”. Thus the
selection of an agency is essential when companies have to make the most out
of its advertising. It is said that a good advertising agency is one “who is able to
sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo”. The more creative an agency can get, the more
are the chances of the success of the company’s products.
Celebrity endorsements:
The media decisions of a company also include another factor that has come in
to the reckoning that is whether to select a celebrity for endorsing the product or
not. Today the trend is that major players are using the services of celebrities
who are well established and have a mass reach. The following are the
companies and some of the celebrities that they have chosen to promote their
products. Companies like Pepsi, Coke, and HLL have an endless list of
celebrities because of their nature to select a large number of celebrities and also
since they have an extended number of product lines.
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COMPANY CELEBRITY
Dabur Amitabh Bachchan
Pepsi Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Saif ali Khan, Amitabh
Bachchan, Arshad Warsi, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav
Ganguly, ranbir kapoor
Coca-Cola Virender Sehwag, Aishwarya Rai, Amir Khan, Hrithik
Roshan, Akshay Kumar
Cadbury Preity Zinta, Amitabh Bachchan
Britannia Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel, Sachin
Tendulkar.
HULL Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina kaif
Parle products Dino Morea
Kurkure (frito Juhi Chawla
lays-pepsi)
Himani Saurav Ganguly, Amitabh Bachchan, Sunny Deol
Godrej Preity Zinta, Amrita Rao
The above list is endless since every major player has a variety of product lines
and for each product line he has more than three to four celebrities. Nowadays
consumers are getting more influenced by the kind of celebrity that endorses the
product. Celebrity endorsement helps a company to increase the visibility of a
product in the market. The consumer tries to relate the product to the celebrity
when he goes in to the market. Also a celebrity helps in adding value to a brand.
The fact that “Navratna” brand of hair oil had Govinda campaigning for its product
which helped to increase its sale two-fold and also increased brand visibility
shows that a celebrity can be useful in adding that extra point to the product.
Nowadays we find that mostly cricket players are endorsing products because
the consumer is always influenced by them. If not the cricketers then it is the top
running film stars like Shah Rukh Khan or Amitabh Bachchan who are selling the
products. The celebrities are also helpful in revival of the brands as it happened
with Cadbury a few months back. The case is mentioned below
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Cad ‘bury”
Cadbury a worldwide renowned brand for its chocolates suffered a huge setback
a few months ago. There were live insects found inside the Cadbury chocolates
in many parts of the country. The company was set aback by the whole incident
and the years of reputation it had built up in India was at stake. The company
had to withdraw all its stock in the market and re-check it. The company had also
gained a bad repute in the market and within a few weeks the company lost more
than 25% of its market share and while rival firms were gaining an upper edge
from this situation, it seemed obvious that the company had to re-vamp its whole
strategy to counter this problem. This also meant that the company had to
increase its ad-spend and also come up with something creative to bring the
customer back to its brand. The company also took the help of Mr.Amitabh
Bachhan for this purpose. The ad threw light on the company’s manufacturing
process and how it took care to protect the health of the consumer.
The aura of Mr.Bachchan and the concept of the ad proved highly successful.
The company had successfully regained lost ground and introduced the products
with new packaging and subsequently it also continued its contract with
Mr.Bachchan. The commercials helped the company to create a favorable image
in the minds of the consumer and also increased the sales for the company. The
company would have had to otherwise fold up its operations in India and it would
be a major loss for it since the Indian markets account for a large share of
Cadbury’s worldwide revenue.
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(Above: advertisement created for Cadbury Dairy Milk by Ogilvy & Mather,
endorsed Mr. Amitabh Bachchan)
Though the idea might seem worthwhile but there is also a catch to this entire
aspect of celebrity endorsements. Celebrities have to be paid hefty sums to
retain them, a Sachin Tendulkar commands anywhere between Rs.1 to 2cr. per
commercial. Also, if the celebrity is unsuccessful in his profession then it might as
well rub on to the product. But companies are ready to take this risk in a bid to
stay ahead of their rivals.
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CHAPTER 5.
Various media available
 Print media
 Outdoor advertising
 Radio advertising
 Television advertising
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Various media available for advertising
Print media:
The print medium is one of the effective medium to advertise the products. The
print medium includes newspapers, magazines, journals and other written
material printed and published in India. There are over 40000 publications in
India covering more than 256 languages all over India. The level of reach of the
print medium has been growing day by day. The print medium is cheaper than
other forms of advertising.
The rates charged by newspapers and magazines are based on the size of the
advertisement and the number of times it should appear. Some of the leading
newspapers and magazines in the country are:
The Times of India
The Hindu
Business world
Business today
Deccan Chronicle
The Indian Express
Film Fare
The main advantages for the companies in advertising in the print medium are:
 The companies do not have to spend as much as they spend on other
mediums of advertising.
 The print medium can be utilized to convey messages in local languages.
 The print medium has a reach among the masses. Information can
therefore be disseminated to all parts.
 It is useful to start of the advertisements on a small scale.
30
 The print medium plays a big role in promotional activity. Recently both
P&G and HULL had decided to cut the prices of its products. The print
medium was utilized to a great extent to convey these price cuts to the
consumer.
 The print medium has more “Brand Recall” value since advertisements on
television are seen just for 10-15 seconds, whereas a print ad can be
given daily and consumers can take notice.
 In case of F.M.C.G companies the high variety of product lines and new
products coming up every second month makes it essential to tap this
medium.
(Source: -TAM and ADEX INDIA)
31
However each coin has two sides to it. The print medium has its fair share of
disadvantages to it also:
 Companies are reluctant to advertise in print because of the high illiteracy
levels in India.
 The television advertisements have a greater impact on the minds of the
consumer than print advertisements.
 F.M.C.G companies usually have a high budget and therefore they always
try to compete with their rivals.
 The print ads do not carry the same impact that television ads do. After all
a person will believe what he will see live.
 One cannot be creative with a print ad as much as with a television
commercial.
Overall though the print medium is a good medium of advertising but F.M.C.G
companies still prefer to take the expensive route of television advertising and
other mediums. The same can be proven by the fact that in the last month the
top 10 ad-spenders in print consisted of all industries except F.M.C.G
companies. Nowadays mostly telecom companies like reliance, BPL, Orange
utilize this medium. Reliance alone spent around Rs.2.5 million on advertising
through print. F.M.C.G companies do utilize this medium but they do so
occasionally to carry out their promotional schemes and offers.Britannia
spends nearly Rs.22cr. on advertising in print every year. The print
advertisements increase during festival seasons or during events like cricket.
Small regional brands and companies with a low turnover cannot opt for
expensive mediums; therefore they choose print over other forms of
advertising. Though much has been said about this medium it is however to
be noted that the print medium has a 52% impact, second only to the
television medium. Also reputed firms like HLL, P&G, Coca-Cola, Pepsi,
Amul, and Dabur have been using this medium from a number of years, even
before other forms of advertising seized to exist. The advertisements act as a
32
catalyst for the television advertisements and help to increase the impact of
the product in the minds of the consumer. Also companies can explain the
features of their product in detail in the ads because they are unable to do so
in a 10 second television commercial. Though it has its ups and downs the
print medium is here to stay.
Some of the Print campaigns done by various companies
(Right): The print campaign

featuring Bollywood super star
Shah Rukh Khan for Clinic All
Clear.
(Left): The hit campaign of Tata Salt

which carried the tagline “Maine
Desh Ka Namak Khaya Hai”
33
Outdoor advertising:
One of more frequent forms of advertising used by F.M.C.G companies is

“Outdoor Advertising”. This form of advertising comprises of putting up signage,
billboards, posters, and kiosks around the busy areas or strategic locations
around the city. The most frequent user of this form of advertising is “AMUL”
which prominently puts up hoardings of its various humorous ad-linings
throughout the city. Large hoardings and billboards ensure that the product gets
seen by every passerby. This ensures a greater brand recall when a customer
goes to buy the actual product. In metropolitan cities like Mumbai the cost of
putting up billboards is nearly twice than that of other cities. The average rental
for a billboard (10 feet x 20 feet) can be anywhere between Rs.150000-250000
per month, depending upon the location and area. There are other forms of
outdoor advertising done by companies in India. Companies utilize the B.E.S.T
bus stops and even the B.E.S.T busses around the city to put up their
advertisements. Also very recently a trend has started to book railway wagons or
even the entire local train to advertise. The railways puts up tenders and invites
quotations from companies and the highest bidder is given the advertising rights.
An entire train could cost the company anywhere between Rs.12-17 lacs for a
month. The “Digen Verma” campaign was mostly publicized by Parle for its Frooti
brand using local trains. Recently HULL had also done the same to promote its
offers and products. Also a new trend of outdoor advertising has been utilizing
moving trucks to display messages. These trucks carry the advertisement
billboards and move through the city in specific busy and strategic localities.
They are very cost-efficient because a single truck can be utilized to cover three
to four areas rather than putting up hoardings in each area.
34
Radio advertising:
Advertising through radio has been on ever since the All India Radio (AIR) came
in to existence. The AIR has 116 centers in India and broadcasts in 24 different
languages. One can still recollect the popular shows like “Binaca Geetmala” and
hosts like Mr. Ameen Sayani. Today the scenario has changed with private
players entering the market and establishing themselves. As Doordarshan has
lost its touch on television, so is the case with AIR. The radio station has been
overtaken by the likes of Radio Mirchi, Radio City, Red Fm, and GO Fm, BIG Fm,
etc. These stations have not only helped increase the listener ship in urban areas
but also catapulted the success ratio of radio as a medium over television, which
up to now was the leading medium in the market. The radio stations are mostly
backed by media and entertainment companies like the Star group which owns
Radio City 91fm or The Times of India group which runs Radio Mirchi 98.3fm.
The rivalry among the radio stations has been beneficial to the companies
because a better deal is possible in terms of advertising rates and air time.
The radio medium is being heavily utilized by the F.M.C.G companies for
advertising their products. Products which are targeted at the youth like fairness
creams, cold drinks, etc. are especially advertised on radio because it has a
wider reach among teenagers. The radio is an effective medium to convey the
message and with a touch of humor, the advertisement becomes much more
effective. Companies like Cadbury, HLL, P&G, Marico, Dabur and others have
started utilizing this medium more frequently. The ad-spends of companies on
this medium range from Rs.5-10cr. annually and it depends on the amount of air
time that a company purchases to advertise its products.
The Close-up advertisement became more renowned after it was telecast on
radio and the company had more brand recalls after this exercise. Companies
also carry out their promotional activities through radio like sponsoring prizes for
various shows and giving discount coupons, thereby increasing their market
share.
35
(Source-TAM and Adex India)
36
Television advertising:
.By far one of the most dominant and the most used form of advertising is
television advertising. In the early days due to lack of television sets and
inadequate number of people possessing the television, the advertising was
more concentrated through print but as time evolved and with the advent of cable
television a new era of advertising began and television advertising was in its full
flow. There are more than a 100 television channels existing currently and more
channels are getting added to this number every subsequent year. It has been
observed in a survey that an average consumer watches at least 100 minutes of
television everyday. This is quite a lot when one compares the reach of other
mediums of advertising.
The ministry of broadcasting and information technology has laid down the
guidelines which the channels must follow and keeping these guidelines in view
the channels decide on their strategies. The television advertisements have a
number of advantages over the other forms of advertising:
 Television advertising is more attractive than other forms of advertising

because of its live inception and delivering of the message straight to the
consumer.
 Television advertising can be used to realize the impact of the

advertisement; thereby companies can plan their product strategies and
future media requirements.
 It has a wider reach compared to other forms of advertising. Nowadays

even remote locations possess television sets and since it does not
require the people to be literate, it can reach the masses.
37
 The impact of an advertisement is much more on television than in other

forms because the message gets delivered within seconds and it can be
repeated over and over again
 Advertising creativity can be shown more on television and one can create
novel ads to influence the consumer.
 Companies can follow up their rivals and design ads to counter attack
them.
 The advertising medium influences 77% of purchase decisions made by a

consumer. This means that investment made by companies can be
recovered by increase in sales.
 Companies as stated in the earlier part spend millions of rupees on

advertising and when the stakes are high one cannot compromise on
quality of advertising. Therefore companies tend to go in for television
advertising.
 The mere fact that commercial breaks have become a necessity between
television programs shows how much this form of advertising has evolved.
The television advertising can be used as a strong support to gain a favorable

edge over the competitors and increase the visibility of the products. A
product may be available in the market but its sales do not pick up until it is
known to the people. This impact needs to be created and as they say “well
done, is half done”, thus if the promos of a particular product catch the eye of
the audience it becomes easy for the company to capitalize and create a
demand for the product. Even if the product is not better than the rival product
38
but if the communication is better than the product has every chance of doing
well.
Currently there are close to 36000 brands that advertise on the 220 odd
channels throughout the country. The new entrant in the F.M.C.G sector, LG
consumer products, has already started advertising heavily on television and
all its products can be seen in a single advertisement.
The advertising rates are commensurate with the success of the program and
the reach of the television channel. Normally channels charge anywhere
between Rs 2.5-5 lacs for a 10 second slot and the prices go up even further
in case the event or show is a very popular one. In earlier days since the
number of advertisers was limited, so also the number of channels, the
advertisers had limited options but today there is cut-throat competition for
acquiring the airtime for advertising in the top slots of top channels. The rates
for advertising in Ekta Kapoors daily soap operas command the highest price
tag followed by another set of programs slowly catching up and that is reality
T.V. in which the channels promise to make stars out of the consumers. One
of the highest grosser of all time is the hit show “Kaun Banega Crorepati”
which had the highest ad-rates. There is a constant battle among channels to
offer the best rates to the companies and the companies are the beneficiary
in the bargain. Take a look at some of the ad-rates for the top 10 programs on
the leading television channel Star-T.V:
Rank Programme Rate-card Negotiated

1 Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu 7,00,000 6,50,000-5,75,000
Thi
2 Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki 7,00,000 6,50,000-5,75,000
3 Kasauti Zindagi Ki 6,00,000 5,40,000-4,75,000
4 Kayamath 5,00,000 4,50,000
5 Kumkum 4,45,000 3,55,000
6 Meri Awaaz Ko Mil Gayi 4,00,000 3,75,000
Roshni
7 Kasturi 4,00,000 3,40,000-2,75,000
39
8 Saarthi 400000 3,40,000-2,75,000

9 Bhabhi 3,45,000 2,75,000-1,85,000
10 Baa Bahu aur Baby 500000 4,40,000-3,75,000
(Note: the above rates are for a 10 second slot)
The rates mentioned are for the television channel Star T.V. which has a most
number of successful television programs and commands a TVR (television
viewer ship rating) of as high as 15.5 compare this to the hit shows on Sony and
Zee T.V. which have a television rating of only as high as 5.5. This makes star
the undisputed leader in the television channel industry. star also has the
majority of Ekta Kapoor shows and the famous trio of Kyunki.., Kahani and
Kasauti which still command the highest ad-rates even after their third
generation has come in. recently though the tides are changing in favor of zee
and Sony who have launched an array of new shows. Sony has come up with
Thodi Khusi Thodi Gham which helped the TVR ratings of Sony zoom to a new
high and also it has come up with the third season of reality show Indian Idol
which has also caught the fancy of the audience. Zee is also not far behind with
its reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007, a nationwide “Talent hunt for
the Budding singers” which currently has a TVR OF 4.5.
The most important factor which drives the television advertising is cricket. The
match especially those that are played between India and Pakistan command
then highest ratings and the rates for advertising are also high for them. The
World Twenty 20 held in South Africa, saw the maximum number of advertisers
buying the slots.
Another fact that has come out is that small channels are beginning to gain an
upper hand with the advertisers because of their reduced rates and competitive
programs. The observation made by economic times gave the following results.
Also the plethora of news channels that has come up has also eaten away the
share of the big players. Companies are also banking on the success of regional
40
channels like Sun T.V., Surya T.V., MAA T.V... and others. While Sun T.V. has a
15% share in Tamil Nadu, Gemini T.V. has a share of 32% in Andhra Pradesh.
According to Bernard Glock, manager, global media and communication at

P&G, “We like to work a lot with individual channels like MAA TV that may
not be a ratings leader but we are able to orchestrate a project per our
requirements and these have proved to offer very good support in addition
to larger networks”.
The next page contains a list of the niche television channels that cater to the
specific demand of the consumer but they command an equally impressive share
in the market. The rates are equivalent to those of the regular channels.
Channel Duration(seconds Value (000) Duration (%share)

)
Set Max 3502667 2655745 8.62
Star Movies 1291337 776169 3.18
Star Sports 908685 506890 2.24
TNT/Cartoon 873841 420211 2.15
network
HBO 943666 419445 2.32
ESPN 917669 342297 2.26
NDTV (24x7) 1124813 380733 2.77
Star World 677013 226430 1.67
Star News 2284443 737772 5.62
Sahara TV 1753598 300242 4.32
Sab TV 2168151 308190 5.34
ZEE Cinema 2531967 649616 6.23
(Source: brand equity, economic times)
The above list is exhaustive but not comprehensive; there are other channels
which also have an equally commanding share in the market. Recently there
were 4 new channels added to the list that is star one, Sahara One, Star Utsav,
and Zoom.
41
Coming back to the F.M.C.G companies, they advertise on the prominent

channels and mostly occupy the prime slot that is the time between 9 to 10p.m.
also they advertise not only on one channel but on numerous channels
depending on the budget.
Normally the budgets for F.M.C.G companies goes anywhere between Rs.2-4cr.
per product for television advertisements. The top 10 companies on television
surveyed by TAM agency for the economic times are given below and their
corresponding figures of ad-spends are indicated:
(Figures in crores)
Brands Ad-spends(june-06) Brands Ad-spends(june-06)
Close- up 3.4 Rejoice 1.8
Fair and lovely 2.7 Fair and Lovely 1.5
Colgate dental 2.1 Colgate dental 1.5
cream cream
Tide 1.5 Surf Excel 1.4
TVS 1.5 Election 1.3
commission
Pepsi 1.5 Reliance mobile 1.3
Lizol 1.4 Airtel 1.3
Breeze 1.4 Dettol 1.2
Parle-G 1.4 Clinic plus 1.2
Clinic Plus 1.3 BJP 1.1
(Source-TAM and Adex India)
The above report clearly indicates the dominance of F.M.C.G companies on the
television and they are constantly increasing their budgets as per the need of the
hour.
The next question to be asked is how does one measure the popularity of
an advertisement?
42
The answer to the above question is that constant surveys are carried out by
companies or market research agencies to determine the amount of “brand
recall” a consumer has after he has seen a particular advertisement.
The companies that have the highest brand recalls can dub their advertisement
as a success.
A recent survey undertaken by the PITCH magazine reveals the percentage of

brand recalls from among 378 respondents that were surveyed by it. The survey
revealed that among their top 10 brand recalls, 5 were of F.M.C.G companies.
Company /Brand Recall (in terms of %)

Pepsi 9.8%
Idea 5.0%
Pepsodent 3.4%
Airtel 3.2%
Santro Xing 2.9%
Vodafone 2.6%
Kurkure 2.1%
Dabur 2.1%
Ford Icon 1.9%
Close-up 1.9%
Overall television advertisements are here to stay, though recently there has
been an argument that there is a high rate of “avoidance” of advertisements on
television because of the increase in the commercials but one cannot ignore the
fact that they have become a part of the daily television viewer. One just cannot
imagine a serial or a movie without a commercial break. People will avoid ads but
this might just be the reason to spur the ad-agencies and companies to come up
with more creative and sensible ads.
43
CHAPTER 6.
New trends in F.M.C.G advertising
 Films and television serial
 Internet
 Advertising on tickets
 Ambush advertising
 Sms (short messaging service)
44
New trends in F.M.C.G advertising
Films and television serials:

Companies are nowadays using films and television serials as a medium to
advertise their product. Subhash Ghai’s film “TAAL” and “YAADIEN” can be
quoted as examples. While the former had Coca-Cola advertising its soft drink,
the latter had both Coca-Cola and Pass Pass, mouth freshner brand advertising
through it. The advertisements with the association of the film were splashed all
over and the movies might not have made their mark at the box office the brands
were able to generate a lot of interest and consumer attention. Recently other
movies were also used as a medium for advertisements by companies. Coca-
Cola once again came in to the picture when it associated itself with the movie
“KAANTE”. The company advertised its brand Thums-Up through this movie.
Then there is the tooth paste brand Close-Up which also took the filmi route and
advertised through the recently released Vivek-Aishwarya starrer movie
“KYUN...HO GAYA NA”. (vicco bajradanti in wanted)
This trend is fast catching up with the companies who want to constantly stay
ahead of the rising competition. The movie producers do not mind it at all, after
all even they want to have a share of the pie. According to ace filmmaker
Subhash Ghai, “Film industry is becoming commercialized and there is no harm
in using it as a medium to promote the products”. Not far behind in this trend are
the television soap operas which have now assumed a great importance in
everyday life of the people. Ekta Kapoor’s TV-serial “Kahinn to Hoga” was used
by Lux to advertise its brand.
Companies also see this as an opportunity to sell their products and
merchandise through various promotions run along with the films. Thums-up had
organized a contest in which the winner would be flown to Los Angeles where the
movie was shot and see it over there. There were similar promotions carried out
by other companies.
45
However this form of advertising does not yield the required results all the time.
with films flopping with every going Friday and the money involved in such kind of
marketing being very high, it is only restricted to the big players and those who
want to take risks.
Internet
The internet has become a powerful medium in recent years and information
technology has certainly spread its wings. The world has become closer and one
can get any information about any subject through the internet. The western
countries have already been a step ahead in this revolution and e-commerce, as
it is called is already well established in the western countries. However this
concept of using the internet as a tool to advertise the products has not been
developed in India. The reason for this is the poor literacy levels and the
inadequate reach of the internet in all the parts of the country. Also not many
people believe in the advertising done or products sold through the internet.
In spite of this, many companies have come forward and started utilizing this
medium. Companies like HLL use their websites to display their products and
give the customer information. Also companies carry out promotions and various
contests through the internet. Companies also use websites like Rediff, Yahoo,
and other search engines and display their advertisements on their websites.
Advertising on tickets
Another new trend in F.M.C.G advertising can be seen in the form of advertising
on tickets. The tickets of various kinds like airlines, trains, events, and even
recently of B.E.S.T busses are used for advertising. Priyagold biscuit is the first
company to advertise on the back of bus tickets. The event tickets of cricket
matches, shows and other events carry the advertisements of the companies.
46
Ambush advertising:
One of the latest forms of advertising, though not dubbed legal by experts is
“Ambush Advertising”. This form of advertising has cropped up because of the
monopolistic nature of advertising done by companies. During the Olympics in
Athens companies like Coca-Cola, Kodak and others pumped in more than $60
million each to acquire the rights and privileges for the event and to use the
official logo for their products. But in spite of this they were not able to go solo
because other companies started advertising their products using different
routes. Soft drink major Pepsi made advertisements using David Beckham (since
he was their brand ambassador then) and indirectly used the Olympic event and
deflected attention. The result was that Pepsi had more brand recalls than the
official sponsor Coke after the event ended. The International Olympic
Committee makes sure that its sponsors get their due but one cannot prevent
sponsor’s from backing their individually sponsored teams or individuals. The
repetition of this fool proof style of advertising was seen in the 2007, ICC Cricket
World Cup, held in West Indies. Companies like Nokia, Coke, TVS and others
though not being the official sponsors did not hesitate to advertise their products
through their brand ambassadors. Since Coke had Virender Sehwag as its
celebrity, it made ads on him rather than on the world cup, thereby gaining an
indirect entry in to the world cup advertising. This form of advertising is useful for
companies because they do not have to spend hordes of money in sponsoring
the entire event, rather they can just pay for the ad-spots on the television or
other media and utilize the benefits of being noticed in the event. But care has to
be taken in such form of advertising because if companies are found violating the
code of conduct set by the event then they have to pay compensation which
could be more than what they would have actually paid for sponsorship.
Nevertheless, ambush advertising has made companies to become more
creative in their approach and to think of innovative ways to market their
products.
47
SMS (short messaging service):

Another new form of advertising that has evolved is advertising through cell
phones. The Short Messaging Service or SMS is used to send various messages
or offers regarding products to the consumers. In the beginning there was an
uproar created against this form of advertising because consumers had to
unnecessarily bear the cost of receiving messages when they were roaming
outside their city. Therefore cellular companies were under pressure to remove
this service. Nevertheless with an increase in the number of cell phone users in
India and the change in tariff plans over the years this method will fast catch up
with other forms of advertising as well in the coming years. Currently there aren’t
any F.M.C.G companies who make use of this service.
48
CHAPTER 7.
Global scenario of F.M.C.G advertising
49
Global scenario of F.M.C.G advertising:

Globally, F.M.C.G advertising is much more advanced than what it is in India.
Most of the companies outside India advertise their products through the internet
and make the maximum use of technology. In foreign countries like the United
Kingdom and the United States of America, there are separate channels where
these companies sell their products; it is just like tele-shopping which was
launched in India a few years back. Globally, there is a lot of competition among
companies selling F.M.C.G products. In the U.S.A alone there are more than 100
brands of detergent available, this puts added pressure on the companies to
advertise and create a brand name for their products. In countries like Japan the
products are also sold through such channels and the concept of SMS is widely
used since it is a technologically advanced country. Also almost all ad-agencies
that operate in India have their bases in foreign countries. The advertising done
globally is much more creative and mostly abstract form of advertising is used to
convey the message. F.M.C.G companies lay special emphasis on the selection
and execution of their ads.
Overall, the global advertising scenario is much better than that of India but there
is no denial that India is fast catching up to the international standards.
50
CHAPTER 8.
Successes and Failures of advertisements
 Do companies need to spend big?
51
Successes and Failures of advertisements
Since we have already studied about the media advertising of F.M.C.G products
let us now look at some of the successful and not so successful advertisements
of F.M.C.G. companies in the past. A company and agency puts in a lot of effort
to see to it that its ads work out well but it is not always that all the ads work.
Successful ads:
1. Coca-Cola ad featuring Amir Khan: When one is mentioning successful
ads it is a crime not to mention this advertisement. The “Thanda Matlab…”
campaign has been a nationwide hit for Coke and a bitter memory for rival
Pepsi.
2. Close-up campaign (kya aap close-up karte hain): the use of a simple yet
effective concept of boy impressing girl with a smile has brought in a lot of
accolades from critics.
3. Dandi Namak (pehle istemal karein, fir vishwas karein): The ad tried to
create an image for the company in a market where Tata Salt was leading
for the past number of years and its simple tagline did wonders for it.
4. Kurkure (masti bole to… Kurkure): The bubbly Juhi Chawla keeps the
audience glued to watch the ad. The ad is a take on various serials and
frito lays has managed to pull off a winner here.
5. Nirma (sabki pasand nirma): The company has kept using the same
tagline and the same concept from the start and the audience doesn’t
seem to mind at all. The ad will probably never die down.
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6. Axe Deodorant: The ad showing a not-so-hip person displaying cool

dance moves and attracting girls was able to attract the attention of the
audience.
There are other efforts worth mentioning like the pepsodent (dhishoom,
dhishoom) campaign and the Alpenliebe (lagey raho) campaign.
Though the following ad campaigns cannot be dubbed as entire failures but they
were not able to bring their products in the limelight.
1. Vanilla Coke (Vivek Oberoi) campaign: The ad adopted an old meets new
strategy but consumers were unable to notice anything apart from Vivek
Oberoi of course.
2. Mountain Dew campaigns: One cannot understand how a person can

snatch a can from a Cheetahs mouth nor do wild things without getting
hurt. Lack of imagination and creativity is what the campaigns suffered
from.
3. Fair and Lovely ads: The ads have stirred a controversy ever since they
started showing that only fair girls get good jobs. The ads were pulled off
air and currently new ones are on which portray a different story
4. Close – up campaign (featuring Nethra Raghuraman): Remember the ad

where a prisoner asks to kiss the female jailor as his last wish? The ad
was pulled down immediately after its launch as the AAI was under
pressure from various NGO.
53
As Leo Burnett once pointed out that “it is far easier to write a speech
than to write an ad”. The fact is that even the companies do not know what
might interest the consumer so every company gets to taste success and
sometimes failure as well.
Do companies need to spend big “Moolah” to attract consumers?
As the previous pages have already mentioned regarding the various

spending done by companies on the media and for creating advertisements,
the very potent question here is whether only a company spending crores of
rupees is entitled to have its product being sold big time over its rivals. Can
the company create an impact with a simple message?
This was the very essence of an article published in the Business World
magazine. The answer to this is that a company need not spend a lot of
money on creating flashy advertisements and hiring expensive celebrities for
its ads but it can deliver the message with a simple ad also. Creativity is what
is required rather than being flashy and magnified. Take for instance the
Ghadi Detergent ad, it just carried a simple tagline, “Pehle Istemal Karein, Fir
Vishwas Karein”, the ad became a hit and pushed the sales of the company.
Similar examples can be quoted of Dandi Namak, Ujala Supreme, whose ads
were not at all big but yet effective.
That does not mean at all that companies spending hoards of money and
getting celebrities to do their ad are wasting their money but the above words
act just like a silver lining for those who thought that ads can be made only
when you have a budget of Rs.3 - 4cr.
Just like getting big stars for a movie does not guarantee its success, similarly
just spending money and not being creative will not ensure success as we
have seen in the latter part of the report wherein the “failures” were
mentioned, which suffered from lack of creativity rather than lack of money.
54
The moral of the whole story is that companies can achieve success in a limited
budget and by making sure that they concentrate on content rather than big
bucks.
55
CHAPTER 9.
Examples of advertising
 PEPSI
 COCA COLA
 AMUL
56
Examples of advertising
Thanda matlab ???
Centuries ago there was world war – II. The war ended but today companies fight
the “marketing war” and the tool is none other than advertising.
Pepsi versus Coke, more popularly known as the cola wars has evolved between
these two beverage giants and there exists a bitter rivalry among them to occupy
the first place in the market, as a result each one tries to outshine the other by
way of advertisements and promotions. So much intense is their rivalry that a
book has been published on this aptly named “the cola wars”.
According to industry experts, the cola rivalry has helped both these companies
to offer the consumers new and improved products at competitive rates, which
ultimately the consumer will cherish. Let us look at their specific advertising
strategies:
Pepsi:
Pepsi ads have always been larger than life and have a sense of magnificence in
them. The company mostly uses television and to some extent print and
hoardings to advertise its products. The various products that come under the
Pepsi label are Mirinda, Aquafina (mineral water) Pepsi, Citra, mountain dew and
the up coming energy drink Gatrode. Pepsi is also the official sponsor of major
events like cricket world cup and other cricket tournaments. The recently
concluded India versus Australia series also had Pepsi as its official beverage.
Pepsi had started in India with the punch line “Ye Dil Maange More” which
became an instant hit with the masses. The Pepsi advertisements have always
tried to associate themselves with youth and energy and hence it has celebrities
like Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor from the filmi
57
side while it has stars like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan
Pathan and others from the cricketers side adding zing to the ads.
The Mirinda orange ad which was a spoof of an insurance ad showed a mother
getting separated and lost from her son and while she is waiting a watchman
offers her Mirinda. The son returns to take his mother but she refuses to
recognize him because she does not want to let go of Mirinda. This ad did quite
well and helped pepsi to create a brand out of Mirinda orange which is pitted
against Fanta from the coke stable.
The more recent ads from Pepsi feature Arshad Warsi and Amitabh Bachchan.
(Above: A still from the Pepsi ad featuring the duo of Amitabh and Arshad, the
former getting the better of the latter person)
The concept goes as follows: Arshad plays a Pepsi dealer who has to cross a
river on boat which is rowed by Amitabh. A tired Amitabh asks Arshad for a Pepsi
who refuses to give and says “paani pee, paani”. The next time Amitabh makes
holes in the boat and purposely removes the bolts from the holes with a sling
shot. He makes Arshad cover the holes with both his hands and his legs.
Amitabh then on his own, then grabs a Pepsi and mockingly tells Arshad “pyaas
lagi hai? To paani pe, paani”.
The above ad from Pepsi has been running currently and is a part of a series of
ads between these two which will continue over the next few months. The ad has
been fairly successful with a recall of more than 45%. The previous Pepsi ads
also have been quite interesting.
58
Another interesting facet of Pepsi is its logo which is unique and registered by it.
The logo is a circle which has blue, red and white colors. A consumer is able to
decipher the brand from its logo even if the name is missing. Pepsi uses this logo
around the world on all its bottles.
Pepsi also has utilized many punch lines in India which include, “ye dil maange
more”, “nothing official about it”, “drink Pepsi, have fun”, “Pepsi- aha” and the
current one “ye pyaas hai badi”. The company has always tried to associate itself
with youth and teenagers and has been successful in creating a name for itself
since its entry in India.
Now let us look at the other giant Coke:
Coca-Cola:
Coke has been the more original of the two and it is termed as the original cola
because it was the one which evolved even before Pepsi. The company has
advertised its products throughout the world with more simplicity and the
objective has always been to deliver the message intended rather than
concentrating on the looks of the ad. The company has the brands Sprite, Coca-
cola, Fanta, Thums-up and more recent Sunfill concentrate under its label. Coke
has always been simple and more creative among the two. The company has
always tried to deliver its intended message through its ads rather than
concentrating on the show-biz part of it. The company also has a long list of
celebrities which include Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Amir Khan, Rani
Mukherji, from the paparazzi and Virender Sehwag from the sports side. The ad
which featured Amir Khan for the launch of the Rs.5 bottle of coke has been one
of the all time hits and has scooped up most of the awards in its category. The ad
also saw the volumes of coke show a massive jump over its rivals and the rural
penetration of the company increased two fold. This ad also led to the fame of
Prasoon Joshi of McCann Erickson who is managing the account of coke
59
currently. The advertisement also led to a series of ads being made with Amir
Khan which included ther Hyderabadi, Bengali, and the Tapori ads.
Coke also rolled out its ads with Rani Mukherji for Fanta (genelia dsouza), the ad
featured a tagline of Dil Khol Ke, which was also appreciated by the audience.
The objective according to Shripad Nadkarni – VP marketing in coke was to
reposition the brand and to leverage the teens connect with the brand.
Coke has also changed several taglines in India which include “the real thing”,
“always, coca-cola” and the current favourite “thanda matlab – coca-cola”
The real twist in the tale came when both of these companies tried to blacken
each others image through its ads
This had also led to both the companies to court, the matter being resolved after
a great conflict, each company trying to manipulate the others advertisements
through its own way, sometimes showing a lanky looking Hrithik or sometimes
commenting on the punch line. Both of them have ultimately suffered the
consequences and for a moment it looked as if the television had become a
battlefield.
But the conflict has died down today due to the deliberation of the government
authorities and a code of conduct has been set, the violator of which will be
punished severely. This has been a tough lesson for both of them and wisely
enough now both these giants try to win the consumers through their creative
ads and not through mockery of each other.
60
Amul: the taste of India
Amul, the brand recognized worldwide as a vision of the 2 million dairy farmers in
India was formed and established by the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing
Federation (GCMMF) and the brand evolved its name from the Sanskrit word
“Amulya” which means precious. The godfather of Amul, Dr.Verghese Kurien has
taken the brand from being local to being global. Amul has also established a
unique advertising strategy for its prime product that is Amul butter. The
company like other companies does advertise on television and other media but
the most unique advertisements from Amul are the large hoardings that the
company puts up around the city. The hoardings contain humorous messages
reflecting the current social, political, cultural on goings in the society. May it be
commenting on Sachin Tendulkar’s Ferrari or the elections or Salman Khan
threatening Aishwarya Rai, if it is famous then it has to be on an Amul hoarding.
The company has achieved tremendous response for its hoardings which have
been on since Amul’s inception. The company also duplicates the same on its
butter packs. According to Gerson Da Cunha who has worked on these ads, it is
a humorous way to drive home the message. Amul also has its mascot the Amul
butter girl being featured in all its ads. Some of the ads are given below:
61
Box-office debacle of Ram Gopal Verma's Bollywood movie "AAG" - Arrival of

evil, a remake of yesteryear classic favourite entertainer Sholay. Below is the
picture depicting the incident in a humorous way and as always it was a hit with
the masses. The print people were also equally impressed with the
advertisement.
62
CHAPTER 10.
COMPANY VISIT
 MARICO INDUSTRIES
 COLGATE
63
Marico interview
The following is the interview taken by myself by visiting Marico industries office
located at Bandra (W) in Mumbai. The questions were asked to Mr. Nilesh Vartak
who heads the SCM department.
1. Which are the products that Marico has under its umbrella?
Basically, the products that we have include oils, cooking oil, and food products.
The products are Parachute Hair Oil (it has several product line extensions
including perfumed parachute oil), Saffola Cooking Oil, Sil range of products like
jams, sauces, baked beans, Revive, Mediker, Mealmaker, Shanti Hair Oil,
Sweekar Cooking Oil, and another product that we have recently added is
Silk-n-Shine, which is a hair lotion rather than hair oil.
2. Which are the media that your company uses for advertising its
products?
The company uses a variety of media depending upon the product that is being
marketed. We utilize the television, print, hoardings, and we have different media
for the rural market.
3. What is the annual spend of Marico and is it justified?

The company spends roughly 7-8% of its sales on advertising of the products.
Since advertising is necessary to build a brand it is highly justified to spend the
amount on advertising.
4. Are there any promotional strategies followed by the company?

The company organizes various promotional campaigns in the urban and rural
areas as well. There are events organized by the company and there are various
types of schemes which are directed towards the consumer and the wholesalers
and distributors because they are the ones who are going to ultimately carry the
64
sales forward. There are cross-promotional activities like giving away a free
parachute bottle with every can of Sweekar oil that one purchases or giving away
free bottles to distributors to encourage them to purchase more. There are also
various incentives given to the distributors so that they will promote Marico
products over other products. Recently we had also organized free sampling
outside stores to promote our product Silk-n-Shine since it is a new product and
consumers need to be aware of what it is.
5. What has been the response to the advertisements of the products?

The response has been good. We also take regular feedbacks from our
consumers to assess their views about the products.
6. According to you, is advertising necessary or is it a waste?

Advertising is definitely not a waste, it is necessary for a product to be known to
the consumer. If a company does not advertise then how will the consumer know
whether the product is available in the market or not. We, at Marico believe in
Brand Building and for that it is necessary that we advertise. The company
follows a MAP process that is Marico Action Plan which at building relations with
the consumer. Advertising helps in creating a demand for the product which
ultimately gets translated in to sales for the company.
7. What is the approach adopted by the company in designing the

advertising for the products?
The approach is different depending on the products. Recently we launched the
ads for our new product Silk-n-Shine. The ad showed a princess kissing a frog
who turns in to a prince but he again turns in to a frog after seeing the knots in
her hair. After applying Silk-n-Shine the knots disappear and the prince frog
again comes to meet her. The main task was to deliver the message and the ad
did just that. It highlighted the use of the product as well its effects. Our other ad
campaigns including Saffola, Parachute and others have been similar in nature
65
and the main focus is to deliver the message to the segmented target audience.
The company appointed ad agency takes care about all this.
8. Has there been any marketing strategy that has misfired?

No, there hasn’t been any strategy that has misfired.
9. Does the company have a separate media department?

The company has a separate department that takes care of all its promotional
and advertising activities.
10. Does an increase in ad-spend mean lower margins and lower

profitability?
Advertising is necessary and every company has to set aside a portion of its
sales for advertising expenditure and it has to be shown in the income statement
of the company. Profits will only arise out of sales and sales will be possible only
through advertising so everything is connected. A company cannot expect to
have bigger profits by having small or no advertising budget.
11. What are the future plans of your company?

The company keeps introducing new products from time to time and we have
introduced three new products one after another which no other company has
done recently. So we will keep on introducing new products and innovations in
our existing products.
66
Colgate interview
The following are answers to the questions posed to the media department of
Colgate-Palmolive India limited who were kind enough to reply via the internet.
1. How is the organization faring in terms of profits and success of its

products?
Please refer to the annual report on

http://investor.colgate.com/Annual/annual.cfm
2. What kind of approach is adopted while designing the advertising and

promotional activities for your products?
The product being advertised and the target audience determine our
approach to advertising and promotional activity. Take for e.g. our 'Talk to
Me' advertising campaign for Colgate Fresh Energy Gel, which was specially
designed to appeal to the youth, the key target audience for the brand. The
ad opened with the start of a new day in the life of a teenager who
experiences a dramatic transformation after brushing his teeth with Colgate
Fresh Energy Gel. His breath is so fresh that everybody pleads 'Talk to Me'.
Needless to say the youngster’s day is made.
The ad effectively captured the twin propositions of Colgate Fresh Energy Gel
-- ‘long lasting fresh breath’ and ‘energy’ – that are relevant to the high-energy
lifestyles of today’s youth. The pacy ad was carried along by a catchy rock
beat, while the sound of waves lashing in the background again reinforced the
key attributes of Colgate Fresh Energy Gel – Freshness and Energy. Poorab
Kohli of Channel V fame featured in the ad.
67
To promote Colgate Fresh Energy Gel, Colgate adopted a powerful 360

marketing approach focused on the youth. The 'Talk to Me' mantra was
advertised through a synergistic, multi-media campaign using TV, Outdoor
and Online media. Colgate Fresh Energy Gel visibility was high in metros
with 'Talk to Me' posters, dispensers, window displays and other point-of-
purchase material.
To capitalize on the mantra “Talk to Me”, Colgate launched a fun phone

contest – “Talk to Me” Bol – which captured the imagination of youth across
the country. In fact, the 'Talk to Me' wave swept across the country as people
eagerly grabbed their ringing phones and blurted out 'Talk to Me' in the hope
of winning prizes like a Hyundai Accent, Nokia Phones or Esprit watches!
3. Does the organization have any kind of media department? If yes, then
what are its functions?
Colgate has a person focused on media, working closely with the Company’s
advertising agency, to finalize and implement Colgate’s media strategy.
4. What are the kind of media that the company uses for advertising and
promotion of its products?
As mentioned earlier, the kind of media used for advertising and promotion
will depend on the product being advertised.
5. How much are the media spending of the group and does it allocate a
special budget for the same?
The Company sets aside a budget for advertising and promotions.
68
6. What kind of media strategy does the group follow in the rural areas?
In rural areas, Colgate has followed a focused strategy of creating oral

hygiene awareness to promote good oral hygiene awareness as well as
marketing and packaging initiatives.
Since 1976 Colgate has been conducting its path breaking “Rural Promotion
Van” Programme. Under this programme, video-equipped vans carry the
message of oral hygiene to rural areas. The focus is on conversion of
traditional dentifrice users to the use of value-for-money, modern oral hygiene
products. Each day a van visits about three villages and screens a 22-minute
infomercial that explains the effectiveness of using modern teeth cleaning
agents such as toothpastes, toothpowder and toothbrushes. After the
screening, the villagers are encouraged to sample / buy the products and
even taught how to use them.
Colgate has also launched “Operation Jagruti” a door-to-door village

consumer contact programme to increase rural penetration. This is a three
pronged programme designed to increase oral health care awareness,
generate product trials and seed products in village outlets. While this
programme targets villages with a population of over 2000, it also reaches
villages with a population of less than 2000 through haats or weekly markets.
Colgate also conducts a unique schools programme in partnership with the

Indian Dental Association (IDA) -- “Bright Smiles Bright Futures” schools’
dental education programme – covering both urban and rural schools.
Designed to help educate children about the benefits of oral hygiene and
good oral care habits, the focus here is on children since the message of
good oral hygiene is carried to families and the community at large.
69
Through these initiatives Colgate has been expanding the oral care market
over the years.
Given that the key to penetration in rural markets is affordability, Colgate has
supported these initiatives with marketing and packaging innovations that
have made modern dentifrice more affordable to widen coverage and
frequency of use.
- It pioneered the use of economy sachet packs for toothpaste and

toothpowder, as part of its overall strategy to provide quality oral care
products that are more affordable and to encourage first time users.
- Colgate further innovated by launching sachets with nozzles and re-

closeable caps.
- Colgate Toothpowder with Super Shakti was launched in economical

pouch packets a 40% discount to the usual toothpowder cans, thus making
toothpowder even more affordable. In rural India, modern dentifrices are
perceived to be expensive while traditional or cheaper products are
considered more affordable. By offering Colgate Toothpowder with Super
Shakti in a more affordable pouch pack which costs 40% less for the same
quality that is the hallmark of Colgate products, the Company has encouraged
the conversion of the entire family to modern dentifrices.
- It pioneered combi-packs which consist of a 30g toothpaste tube with a

toothbrush. Specially developed for rural India, combi-packs encourage
toothbrush usage with toothpowders and toothpastes.
70
7. How much do you think is the contribution of the media important to the
success of the products?
Media is one of many important elements of the marketing mix.
8. What has been the consumer’s response to the advertising strategies

used by your company?
Consumer response to our advertising has been good.
9. Since it is a big organization, therefore has there been any kind of

publicity that has misfired?
No.
10. Does an increase in ad-spend mean lower margins and decreasing

profit base for the company?
Every company sets aside an advertising budget taking other factors into
consideration.
11. And lastly, what are the future plans of the company? How are you
going to consolidate your position in the existing market?
Future plans cannot be shared due to competitive reasons.
71
Analysis
Analyzing both the interviews it can be inferred that both the companies use
advertising to the largest possible extent. Both the companies have huge
advertising expenditure (though it is not disclosed but one can surely find it from
journals and reports in magazines)
Marico has been a company concentrating on building long term relationship with
the consumer and same goes with Colgate as well. Both the companies have a
big share in the F.M.C.G sector and have some of the top 100 products under
their name.
Overall it can be inferred that both of them have a positive attitude towards
advertising and this is going to continue in future as well.
72
Below is an interview of Mr. Gerson Da Cunha which appeared in the

financial express on the 04th of November, 2004
“The profession (advertising) is like playing a continuous set of bridge rubbers.

Every day, you are dealt with a new hand and have to come up with new
answers.... Or else you end up being a dummy,” says Gerson Da Cunha, the
advertising guru.
He should know. With over 26 years in this field, he has played a key role in
launching many power brands, such as Surf, Liril, Fair & Lovely and MRF Tyres,
during his tenur at Lintas India. Mr Da Cunha was the brain behind the famous
Dalda ad campaign which ruled the roost for many years. It was in 2001 that he
bagged the coveted AAAI Premnarayen Award for his contribution to the Indian
ad industry.
One of the founder members of the Advertising Club of Bombay, Mr Da Cunha

believes that teamwork plays a crucial role in promoting a product. “No one
person can be credited with the authorship of any good idea,” he says. In an
interview with Lalitha Srinivasan of FE, Mr Da Cunha airs his views on various
aspects of advertising.
73
Conclusion and recommendation
Going by the trends in the market F.M.C.G companies are dominating the entire
advertisement industry. They occupy the highest position in terms of ad-spends
and the figure is going to swell even further with new products and new
companies entering the market. The findings on this project have led me to
conclude that the F.M.C.G companies will not be able to survive without the help
of advertisements. The findings also show how much emphasis companies are
showing towards advertisements of their products. To conclude this project I will
like to say that advertising is in no way a waste of money but it is an investment
towards the future prospects of the company. Every company should advertise
wittingly and considering all the prospects of advertising. In future we might be
able to see companies coming up with more innovative methods to advertise and
hopefully this will help them in creating a name for their products in the mind of
the Indian consumer.
I strongly recommend that companies should be more thoughtful towards their

advertising. The money invested should be utilized diligently and not just for the
sake of investing. The cola war is a strong example where both the companies
were guilty of misusing their funds. Innumerable amounts were spent to counter
each other but to no effect. Similar case lies with HLL and P&G. It should not
happen that one should lose focus of ones objectives in rivalry but should be
tactful in approach. As mentioned in the project, high spending does not
necessarily mean higher sales but it is smart spending that will be able to attract
consumers.
Overall it has been a learning experience to know in detail about this interesting
topic and in future hopefully consumers will get to see more ads featuring the
F.M.C.G industry.
74
Bibliography
The following sources were utilized for collection of data for this project:
The internet medium was used for collecting the ads:

www.exchange4media.com
www.agencyfaqs.com
The following books have been used for reference:

Advertising management by Mr. Mahendra Mohan
Advertising management by Mr. R.S Rathore
Uncommon sense of advertising by Mr. Sanjay Tiwari
Fundamentals of Advertising by Mr. John Wilmshurst and Mr. Adrian Mackay
The following dailies and magazines were used:

Pitch magazine
The Economic Times of India
Business World
Financial Express
75

Media Advertisement of F.M.C.G.products

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Media Advertising of F.M.C.

Introduction to the topic

When we are trying to understand advertising strategies of the FMCG

1. What do we understand by FMCG companies?

 F.M.C.G companies are the largest ad-spenders in terms of percentage of

(Source: - TAM and ADEX INDIA)

 HULL alone spends roughly Rs. 800crores annually on advertisements.

 In 1996 PepsiCo became the first company to film a commercial in space.

 The cigarette giant Marlboro spends $3 billion annually on Formula1

 Sachin Tendulkar is the highest paid cricketer of India in terms of

 Television advertising accounts for nearly 70% of the media advertising

What are F.M.C.G companies?

SOME OF THE TOP F.M.C.G COMPANIES IN INDIA:

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED (HULL)

PROCTER AND GAMBLE INDIA LIMITED (P&G)

COLGATE PALMOLIVE INDIA LIMITED

NESTLE INDIA LIMITED

GODFREY PHILIPS INDIA

advertisement in the local newspaper on a Sunday and popularize their product

Indian ad-spend as compared to some of the other countries

Ad Spend to GDP (in %)

(Source: Business World magazine)

What does the term “marketing” mean after all?

Advertising – the new age mantra

David Ogilvy of Ogilvy&Mather once famously quoted as “the consumer is not

 Sunil Alagh, the ex-managing director and CEO of Britannia industries

 Advertising helps in building a “Brand Name” for the company.

 Advertising helps a consumer to understand about a product:

 It acts as a tool to upset the competition:

 “Jo dikhta hai, wahi bikta hai”

 Helpful in introducing new products:

Advertising significantly contributes to the creation of top brands and increases

Thanda matlab Coca cola

Youngistaan ka wow Pepsi

Dentist ka sujhaya hua no 1. brand Colgate

Utterly, butterly delicious Amul

Kit-kat break to banta hai Kit Kat

Kuch meetha ho jaaye Cadbury’s dairy milk

G matlab Genius Parle-G

Boost is the secret of our energy Boost

Tan ki shakti man ki shakti, Bournvita

(lifebuoy hai jahan yandurusti hai wahan----lifebouy)

The Implications of Advertising on the Buyer:

consumer. Advertising has played a major role in re-establishing and increasing

There is a defined strategy for advertising known as the A-I-D-A model of

Advertising has the following effects on the consumer perceptions:

It helps the consumer to identify the product

 It is useful to realize which brands are available in the market

 It helps in delivering the importance of the product

 It influences him to buy a particular product

Overall advertising creates a desire in the minds of the consumer regarding

HOW MEDIA INFLUENCES PURCHASE DECISIONS

Difference between Promotion and Advertising:

Promotional activity is also necessary when a company wants to introduce new

 Steps for media and agency selection

Media and agency selection for F.M.C.G

Merely spending hoards of money in advertisement is not going to help the

Selecting the media based on the budget:

Analyzing the media reach:

Defining purpose of advertising:

 McCann Erickson (global)

Various media available for advertising

(Source: -TAM and ADEX INDIA)