The

MARKSMAN

K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH

RED BULL HOW IT GOT

>>07
WINGS

BEST FRIEND, ON SALE. >>13

SUNFILL

AAMIR KAN

>> 16

>> 20

VOL. V | ISSUE III | AUG 14

EDITORS NOTE
Dear Readers,
We welcome you to another exciting edition of The Marksman. This months issue
welcomes new members in the Marskman team to take our legacy forward. This also
happens to be our third anniversary issue and will feature a fun-filled new section,
which will be featured as our new regular article in the following issues.
In this edition, our cover story features Youth Marketing, which focuses on what it
takes to connect with the youth and how marketers are striving to make their
marketing efforts youth centric. In our special story, we cover the challenges faced by
books with the increase in the popularity of e-books. Also in our Brand Markive, we
look at RedBull and how the brand has successfully connected with its customers.
Apart from these, the Marksman continues with its other thrilling regulars: Tweets,
Bookworm, Buzz, Ad-itude, SquAreheaD, Hallmark Campaign and Faux Pas. The new
regular introduced is called Pioneer and it features celebrities who market themselves
to build their own brand which people relate to due to which they are extremely
successful in endorsing different products/services.
Your overwhelming response for our Augusts Call for articles was highly appreciated
by our team and after a rigorous evaluation, we have Ratul Chakraborty from IMT
Ghaziabad, Vishalatha Bhamidipaty from XLRI, Jamshedpur and Aakanksha
Tanwar from GIM Goa whose fabulous articles have been selected to be featured in
this edition. To all the other entries who didnt feature this time around, we thank you
for this commendable response and urge you all to keep writing to us with the same
enthusiasm.
Feedback from our readers is something that we always appreciate and look out for.
Do mail us on www.interfacesimsr.com/the-marksman and stay connected with us.
Enjoy!
Happy Reading!
Team MARKSMAN
The Interface-The Marketing Club of SIMSR
@marksmansimsr.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

01

SPECIAL STORY

TWEETS

03

ITS ALL ABOUT

AD-ITUDE

05

BRAND MARKIVE
COVER STORY

YOUTH MARKETING

02

07

Best Friend, On Sale.

13

MARKETING FAUX PAS

16

Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN

18

PIONEER

20

BOOKWORM

22

BUZZ

34

09

THE MARKSMAN

TWEETS
#TescoBansSweetsFromCheckouts
In a move that should gladden many a worried
parent, Tesco has agreed to ban sweets and
chocolates from its checkout sections from over
3100 of its stores across the UK, after
discovering that over two-thirds of its
customers said they would make healthier
eating choices should such objects of allure not
be positioned at so tempting a place. How well
a marketing campaign works is determined, after
all, by how well the customer is treated.

N-Advertising: should ring

only mundane bells

#TacoBellNativeAds

Out of sight,
out of mind

ANNIVERSARY 2014

Conventional wisdom dictated that

ads have catchy slogans and neatly
Photoshopped illustrations. But
when everyone is doing just that,
standing out takes on a very
different meaning.
Enter Native Advertising. Ordinary
and quotidian images to illustrate
extraordinary and rare pleasures.
Taco Bell is the first (and so far,
only) restaurant to see the trees as
clearly as the forest so that the
native ad really seems to not be
one at all.
Then again, how can you be sure
this right here isnt one?

03

TWEETS
#IceBucketChallenge
With participants ranging from Mark
Zuckerberg to Martha Stewart, the
Ice Bucket Challenge has risen from
July 29 to having 176k twitterers
abuzz, all in just two weeks.
The rules are deceptively simple: once
challenged, the participant has to
either dump a bucket of ice water
over their head, or donate $100 to an
ALS charity. (Not to forget that said
ALS is short for Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis.)

Wasnt exactly on his

bucket list before.

Most celebrities have done both and

it has brought in more funds than
without the campaign. The Guardian
hailed it as a gimmick, [but] good.

#WeAreDavidBailey!
To prove that their NX1000 was an
intuitive
high-performing
camera,
Samsung summoned all but the
original David Bailey. Photos clicked
by these 143 men were put up in
Underground
escalator
galleries,
newspapers and digital outdoor
displays. The campaign ended up
garnering 11 million impressions on
Facebook in a span of less than a year
and also a market share that went
from 2.8% to 55%. It now has requests
of 13k applications for becoming an
Honorary David Bailey.

04

The real David Bailey

has stood up.

THE MARKSMAN

ITS ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

TELEVISION AD
Their eyes light up and they get all
perked up at the mere mention of
cars. For all such automobile
enthusiasts the new Mercedes Benz
CLA45 AMG ad campaign is a visual
delight. Mercedes first ever India
specific TVC gets adrenaline pumping
and triggers the sentiments of auto
and
motoring
aficionados.
Throughout the video the demon is
shown in action and the inexplicable
feeling its ride evokes eludes what
words can describe. The AMG engine,
synonymous with high performance
motoring
and
cutting
edge
technological innovations, is also its
unique selling proposition. The
abbreviation has very cleverly been
expanded to Ah My God -- an
expression for the feeling. The
infectious energy of the background
score, which is a modified version of
Awolnations Sail, adds to the thrill.
Its not about selling just a car
anymore, its all about the experience.
With this campaign Mercedes
promises to provide the owners of
this beautiful beast an experience
that leaves one gasping for more and
then all one can say is Ah My God!

ANNIVERSARY 2014

INEXPLICABLE
Client: Mercedes Benz India
Ad Agency: CreativeLand Asia

05

ITS ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

PRINT AD
MORNING PERSON
CLIENT: McDonald's Austria
AD AGENCY: DDB Tribal, Wien,
Austria

BLEND IN
CLIENT: Zoo Safari
AD AGENCY: DDB Brazil

Feeling fragile, explosive or prickly?

Leave your morning mood behind,
says the McDonalds Austrias print
campaign.
The
illustrations
communicate the moods very
creatively. The ad campaign is not
specific to a single category, be it
gender or class and has covered
different walks of life, all needing a
simple easy morning at McDonalds
to have a consequent easy day ahead.
Mornings at McDonalds here have
been brought forward as a one stop
solution for all those who are
suffering from sullen mornings.

This series of three pictures of a print

ad campaign for Zoo Safari bespeaks
humour, sophistication and illustrative
expertise of its creators. Living up to its
tagline blend in, the print ad effectively
conveys the proximity with the wild,
the safari goers at zoo safari are
promised they would experience. The
colour
scheme
and
concept
complement each other and are
enticing enough to lure the viewers for
a first-hand experience.

06

THE MARKSMAN

BRAND MARKive
Red Bull How It Got Wings
With operations in 166 countries
worldwide and an employee base of close
to 10,000 personnel, this brand sold
more than 5.3 billion cans in 2013. Having
the most innovative and original
marketing strategies and communication
techniques this brand decided not to
enter any product line; on the contrary, it
established a totally new product line in a
direct face-off with Coca Cola and Pepsi.
The maverick under consideration is
none other than Red Bull. Over the
years its brand personality has developed
along the lines of being non-conformist,
unpredictable, adventurous, tireless and
sporty. Very few brands can attain a
position in the customers mind wherein,
the customer defines the whole product
line through that brand. Red Bull has
been successful in doing just that. Brand
expert David Aaker wrote, I know of no
other brand that has connected with
customers in so many ways.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

History:
In 1976, Chaleo Yoovidhya introduced a
drink called Krating Daeng (literally
translates into the English language as Red
Bull), in Thailand which was popular with
the truck drivers and laborers there. In
1982, an Austrian toothpaste salesman,
Dietrich Mateschitz stumbled upon this
drink and found that it was successful in
curing his jet-lag to some extent.
Identifying an opportunity, Mateschitz
partnered with Yoovidhya, to transform
this obscure local remedy for sluggishness
into a more universal concept.
This joint effort resulted in Red Bull
GmbH which launched the product for
the first time in Austria in the year 1987.
By 1992, the brand took its first steps in
the international market with its
operation expanding into Hungary and
Slovenia. By 1997 the brand had gained
presence in the United States and Canada.
Red Bull also made its foray into the Asian
market through the Middle East in the
year 2000. In 2008, Forbes Magazine
named Mateschitz and Yoovidhya as the
250th richest people in the world with an
estimated net worth of $4 billion. Red
Bulls headquarters is located in a small
village called Fuschl am See, near Salzburg.
The building sports no logo or has any
indication of being a RedBull office and is
very heavily guarded. To further heighten
this enigmatic image the company does
not grant any interviews.

07

BRAND MARKive
Marketing Strategy:
Red Bull has been a pioneer in the
world of marketing for some time
now. Every
budding
marketer
fantasizes about being a part of Red
Bulls marketing team. When we stop
to consider we realize that we have
hardly ever seen Red Bulls ads on
billboards, magazines, television or
YouTube. Hence, the question now
arises that how think tanks at Red Bull
have been so successful in impacting
each consumer globally. The answer
lies in its unconventional take on
marketing. Rather than targeting
prospective consumers on the basis of
demographics, the brand targets them
according to their state of mind.
Rule No. 1: Never talk about
The most remarkable aspect of Red
Bulls social media presence is that we
never hear them talk about their
product. There might be an occasional
shot of the can with the tagline Red
Bull gives you wings. But, apart from
that we are mostly mesmerized by
people doing remarkable things in an
extreme manner. Red Bull is
omnipresent in that sense; we can see
their logo appearing on F1 cars,
daredevils, automobiles, rock bands
and many such entities. Seeing this
over and over again permanently sears
an image in our minds that the
consumption of this drink makes us
cool and fashionable.

08

Content as an engine
The idea central to content marketing is that a
brand must give something valuable in order to
get something valuable in return. Red Bull
exemplified this concept. Rather than being
just another commercial, they believe in being
the entire show. Breath-taking footage and
awe-inspiring acts seamlessly communicate the
whole idea behind the idea of the brand.
Events and Associations
Red Bull covers the whole spectrum in this
regards. It has covered all the bases including
team ownerships, sponsorships, events, etc. The
brand believes in owning the team and not
merely being a sponsor.
Guerilla Marketing
This might be seen as an extension to the
content strategy of Red Bull, but requires
special mention because very few brands can
execute its guerilla strategies like them.
RedBull has revolutionized the simplest
concept of free samples through its out-of-thebox campaigns.
Flight to Infinity:
Red Bull has continued to amaze us over the
years and it has created a very high benchmark
for itself. Irrespective of our nationality we
wait for the next big thing that Red Bull is
going to come out with. The brand has faced
numerous allegations and petty rumors but
each time it has bounced back stronger. In
nearly a quarter of a century this brand has
conquered the world but as far as we as
individuals are concerned: it simply gave us
wings

THE MARKSMAN

COVER STORY
YOUTH MARKETING
It used to be that people needed
products to survive. Now products need
people, to survive.
Nicholas Johnson.
Youth advertising is any marketing effort
directed towards young people. This group
includes tweens, teenagers, college
students, and young adults aged 23-34.
Young people make such valuable
consumers because they influence the
purchasing decisions of their friends and
family, starting from the clothes that they
wear, choice of vacations and a new car a
family choses to buy.
Being young is associated with being free,
happy, and culturally relevant. If a product
or brand is popular with young people, it
gains an image of being cool. This is an
image that every brand aspires to attain,
even if they market to older consumers.
Companies who want to seem vital, new,
and forward in their thinking adopt
strategies to influence the youths product
preferences. Youth advertising strategy is
not limited to any one marketing channel
or technique. It takes place on TV, radio, in
print and in dozens of forms online.
Companies often sponsor athletes,
musicians, and high school sports teams as
a way to include them into youth culture.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

Todays millennial, the 18-30 generation,

live in a world where technology is the
great unifier, creating a truly global
generation. With social media and
technology uniting the generation,
global youth share similar motivations,
such as - a desire for community,
authenticity and justice. They always
hunt for content or experiences they
can share with their audience that
make them look cool, clever or worldly,
without appearing to try too hard.
Increased curiosity and self-confidence
make them dream bigger and bolder.
They want the brands they support to
reflect their values and tastes. Brands
are tapping into this curious generation
and have realized that being passive will
no longer help them connect with the
youth.

MTV undertakes a massive research

every year to understand what makes
its core audience - the youth - make
the choices that they do.

09

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

(Survey content includes: How Happy and

Curious you are, Truths of Life, How digital
technologies changed your life, What does
the internet mean to you, How you spent
your time daily, Most important reason for
using social media, What do you spent
money on?)
Another excellent example is of
Voxburner, an independent brand with a
dedicated team of editorial, research and
development staff that gives information,
ideas and inspiration to marketing
professionals across the world to
connect with young people. The brands
focus is on quality and a creative flavor.
Promise, large promise, is the
Its youth consumer insight helps brands
soul of an advertisement.
and agencies shape strategy, product
- Samuel Johnson.
development and communications. It
provides critical updates every day on
the mindset of 16 to 24 year-olds and the
advice of experts. It organizes
events
like
Youth
It was conducted by the team over a period inspirational
of six months after interviewing more than Marketing Strategy and the Youth 100.
11,000 young people in the age bracket of Youth Marketing Strategy is the
13-25 years, across more than 40 cities in industry summit that brings together the
India to find out exactly what makes them best minds, top brands and edgiest
tick. The study found that these young agencies involved in the fast-moving
people are hardworking, open-minded, world of youth marketing. Latest insights
happy and confident ~ the four primary and experiences are shared, fresh ideas
values that define this generation. With only are discussed and invaluable new
9 per cent stating that they are unhappy connections are made. Excitingly, this
with their current state of life, this year the YMS series has grown with the
generation is the happiest and most addition of Youth Tech; an optional half
optimistic lot. Aditya Swamy, EVP and day dedicated to exploring the way in
business head of MTV India adds that the which young people interact with
study will help the channel and business technology, what the future looks like
partners build a strong connect with young and what it means for brands.
people through cutting-edge content
The findings gathered from this research are
presented through interactive seminars and
presentations every year at the MTV Youth
Marketing Forum (MTVs flagship forum),
thus making it the "ultimate word" on the
youth. The 9th edition of this forum
organized this August unveiled The Curious
Minds study, that generates some
interesting insights on how today's young
people are evolving by using their curiosity
to curate their lives.

10

THE MARKSMAN

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

The Youth 100 reveals the most loved

brands of the current year based on a
survey of thousands of young people. It is
an exciting one day conference packed
with workshops, interviews, and panel
discussions, giving you the tools you need
to understand to be a top youth brand.
YouTube tops this years Youth 100 list,
followed by Amazon, Google, BBC and
Ben & Jerrys. According to a new report
of Voxburner, brands that make life easier
and help save money are rated highly by
young people. The third characteristic
that stands out is fun. Brands such as
YouTube (ranking 1), BBC (ranking 4), Ben
& Jerrys (ranking fifth), and Channel 4
(ranking 10) all use a combination of
entertainment and function to appeal
to 18 to 24 year-olds. Having good
content and sharing ability can also make
a brand desirable, contributing to why
YouTube comes at the top. Every time
you go to YouTube its for something
brilliant, something funny, inspiring or
creative, unlike Facebook where you
might log in, scroll about and sometimes
find nothing of interest. Having great
content has helped the BBC take fourth
place as a trusted brand overall.
Starbucks has fallen nearly 40 places from
31 in 2012 to number 70. The coffee
chains issues around tax avoidance,
means that young people judge the brand
according to their own morals.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

Costa Coffee, by contrast, ranks at

number 35, (down from its ranking at
number 14 last year), helped by the
fact that it has more outlets so it is
easy to access. Apple tops the list of
companies young people would most
prefer to work for, owing to its
leadership in market and risk taking
abilities, making it hugely exciting to
this age group.

The Young crowd feels passionate

about brands that, after playing a
functional role, strive to be socially
and digitally connected in day-to-day
life. Media brands like Google and the
BBC, tech brands like Samsung and
lifestyle brands like Coca-Cola have
evolved and are creating exciting
products and entertaining content
that this age group can relate to.
Undoubtedly, Google has secured a lot
of love among millennials, and is a
clear winner, ahead of social brands
like Facebook, gaming brands like
Nintendo, and adventure brands like
Red Bull.

11

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

The main reason is that Google best

embodies
the
qualities
that
youngsters have reported to seek in
their friends and in their own
behavior:
truthfulness, genuine
behavior, sociability, maturity and
humility. The Google Doodle is one
feature through which the company
manages to demonstrate authenticity,
both by showcasing a true fact about
history, and by staying true to its own
brand. Google chooses to represent
or honor a person or event, by
adapting it through its logo on the
homepage, on certain days or
occasions of the year.
Today the youth are audacious,
completely in control, take on
convention, and do things not done
before. Pepsis Youngistaan campaign
was one such attempt that talked
about a confident youth populace of
India, the country with the largest
youth population in the world. The
idea was to connect with the youth
and bring forth their audacity,
provoke and encourage this attitude,
but do it in a fun, entertaining way.
Pepsi continued its legacy of youth
association and their irreverence and
impatience to get everything, with its
recent campaign Oh Yes Abhi!. It
planned to get a bigger and better
place in the market by leveraging on
the IPL fever and by celebrating and
promoting Young Talent.

12

You can tell the ideals of a nation

by its advertisements.
- Norman Douglas, South Wind.

A youth's audience is critical as they are

seeking to assert their individuality and
leave their mark on the world in the
21st century. In a world where the goal
is to amass admiration without
necessarily having the trappings of
power and fame, real value for youth is
now found not just in the products
owned or experiences had, but in what
is shared with one's audience. But even
more difficult than building a strong
association with youth for a brand story
is, actually getting youth to spend
money on a brand. Notoriously fickle,
geographically diverse, and nowadays
financially strapped as a result of the
ongoing economic turmoil, youth has
become even harder to effectively
target.

THE MARKSMAN

SPECIAL STORY
Best Friend, On Sale
He took the book from the lot, read its
back cover and felt a sudden urge to read
the book. This is not something I usually
follow but this can be a new field of
interest, he thought. He had never read
anything on that topic, never heard from
anyone, never even known of the existence
of such a thing, but just in a moment, he
was ready to devote his worthy
consideration to that field of work for the
next few days.
Welcome to today's world of words,
welcome to today's world of books. Not so
long ago, a book was marketed with an
influential photograph of the writer and a
brief about his epitomic achievements.
Today, it is designed to catch everyone's eye
for a second and their thoughts for a
minute, and the content of the book is a
different story all together. While this is a
scenario which still prevails in some stores,
what's shaping up for the coming time is a
completely different scenario: technology
influencing and invading the world of books.
In fact, if traditional printed books are taken
into consideration, digitization has already
eaten significantly into its market: 30% of all
the books today are e-books.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

However, the not-so-enormous-butstill-significant increase in the share of

readers can still make up for some of
the losses but if one believes in the
old-school style of reading, one needs
to take some innovative steps; else a
bright display will eat up the solid
pages.

The market is quickly shifting from physical

copies to soft copies.
So what has changed over the years?
What is changing now? What are the
expected changes in the future? Like
every other product, books need to
be marketed well. And like every
other product, every other market,
the competition is fierce. Subtle, but
fierce. From the way the cover is
designed to the way the book is
launched, everything is arranged and
executed so as to catch the
consumers attention for a while and
then elongate that connection's lifetime.

13

SPECIAL STORY
A book today need not wait for years to
get itself into the best-seller's list thus
everything has to be fast. From what is
happening these days, it is clear that the
two factors impacting this section are:
boom of technological advancements
during the last decade or so and the
change in behaviour of consumer-market
conversation from a declamation to a
discussion.
The reader knows about the book even
before he sees it for the first time: he has
read critics reviews, reader reviews,
ratings and sales figures from multiple
sources.
Publishers have realized that nobody
today would be willing to travel miles
just to buy a book. They have therefore
laid considerable emphasis on bringing
the book to the customer. The delivery
itself is just a phone call or a click away.
And most importantly, one does not
need to buy a hard-copy of the text one
wishes to read: its available at your
fingertips in a flash.

To take a quick peak into the future, the ebook market share is surely going to grow
at an exponential rate and the reader is
going to have a lot of information about the
book, sometimes more than the book itself.
But the big question that still remains is:
how does one market ones book?
Firstly, it is evident that in order to design a
campaign for a book, one needs to rely
heavily on technology. Much of the action
takes place online. There has to be an
element of social networking in it. Create
online forums, keep the audience
connected with relevant and related topics,
conduct events, and host guest bloggers.
The second important word is 'buzz'. One
needs to create that buzz: launch a teaser,
preferably a video clip, organize events,
connect with the target audience, hold
discussions related to the theme of the
book, give away free excerpts of the book.
Next, set up collaborations.
People invariably trust big names and
getting into the audience's mind becomes
easy when a known name is attached to a
product. This may be judged to be a bit too
flashy for books and for people such as
writers but this works, as most of the ugly
things do in today's world.

Amazon.com has changed the rules of the

book-world and continues to do so.

14

THE MARKSMAN

SPECIAL STORY
Otherwise, one can opt for street-smart
tricks as well such as: opening the sales
of your book for a specific time on a
specific date, which can move your name
in the bestselling charts and create
public curiosity as well. The perfect
example to understand this world is the
resurgence of Amazon and, to
complement, that of Amish Tripathi.
Amazon is a company that fetches $5.25
billion annual revenue from books.
Amish is an author who struck a 5-crore
deal for stuff he has not yet written. The
way these two have worked their way
up the ladder is the perfect example of
how to deal with both perspectives of
this situation. In the end, effective
marketing for an effective book is a deal
profitable for all, the writer, the
publisher, as well the reader. Only a few
deals work that way.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

Amish Tripathi is hugely successful with his

books. Thanks to his marketing skills that
he learnt at IIM-C.

15

MARKETING FAUX PAS

Sunfill
Sunfill came in three variants Regular,
Anand & Tarang. The brand came in single
serve and multi-serve pillow packs. Sunfill
Regular was priced at Rs 2.50 per serve
and was available in single serve (23gms)
and multi serve (200gms). While Sunfill
Anand was launched in rural markets,
Tarang, with lemon, orange, pineapple &
mango variants was targeted at
housewives in the high-end grocery
segment keeping in mind the age-old
Indian custom of making squashes at
home.
Sunfill was Coca Colas first and perhaps
the last step in the soft drink concentrate
market. Globally as well, this was Cokes
maiden venture out of its comfort zone of
aerated drinks to new turf, namely the
powder concentrate segment. The brand
was out of sight within 4 years mainly due
to poor quality and faulty marketing.
Launched in 2001, this was Coca Colas
direct attack on Rasna, the market leader
with a lions share of 85%, in the then Rs.
180 crore soft drink concentrate market.
The only differentiation it offered was a
meagre convenience of not adding sugar
to the concentrated drink as opposed to
Rasna.

16

Coke even thought of an innovative

technique to reach out to the market.
The brand had its own channel as well as
a third party alliance with other FMCG
firms. It roped in large distributors of
Hindustan Lever, ITC, Britannia & Marico
to promote Sunfill all over the country
making it available across grocery shops,
paan shops & departmental stores.

THE MARKSMAN

MARKETING FAUX PAS

Yet somehow, the powder concentrate
drink proved to be a disaster following the
footsteps of Vanilla Coke, another product
gone wrong by the parent company. The
reason being simply that as soon as Sunfill
came into the market, Rasna had countered
it with its own range of powder
concentrate with added sugar thereby
nullifying the differentiation.
Despite such a huge distribution network, it
had to deal with lack of availability at stores.
Add to this a negative word of mouth
regarding its quality and you have a recipe
to turn a sweet drink sour.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

Later, Coke tried to re-launch the

product in sachets of Re. 1 each to
take on Rasnas Ek ka Do scheme on
the critical price front. In 2003 it even
came up with a promotional offer that
went Taste Sunfill ka, Ghar Saje
Aapka wherein with every 200 gm
pack the consumer was offered a
chance to scratch and win various
Videocon home appliances.
All this resulted in Rasna expanding its
market share from 85 to 93.5%, which
led to the effect that in 2005, Sunfill
had its sundown and was reduced to
all but diluted in the powder
concentrate market.

17

Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN
COCA COLA
Coca Cola has succeeded in connecting
with people and communicating with
them by embodying the brand promise
of happiness and sharing. Coca Cola
decided to spread a little happiness
amongst the workers in the UAE by
launching a Hello Happiness phone
booth for them. The campaign
normalises and even glorifies the
hardships faced by a migrant worker -at least some of whom may be working
against their will. It highlights the
emotional connect with their families
and how much effort they take to earn
their daily bread, all the while being
away from their loved ones. Calling
home is the only way the workers keep
in touch with their families. But with the
call rates being as high as $0.91 per
minute it wasnt viable for them to stay
in touch on a regular basis. This is when
Coca Cola came to the forefront and
gained publicity by turning their bottle
caps into currency which can be used in
their Hello Happiness Phone Booth -a phone booth specially created by
Coca Cola that accepts bottle caps
instead of coins to make a free three
minute international call.

18

The booths were installed at labour

camps making it easier for them to call
home any day any time. Every time a
worker opened a coke they were able to
share a few minutes of happiness with
their families back home. If that isnt
happiness, what is?

On the other hand, campaign feasibility

remains an issue. The idea is a hit but
gauging the effectiveness of the campaign
could be a dicey affair, especially in terms
of sale. The only saving grace then could
be word of mouth, which might spread
and generate curiosity among the
audiences thus pushing sales forward.

THE MARKSMAN

HALL-MARK CAMPAIGN
Coca Cola has brought out another
campaign with a twist. The campaign
features a first day at college. Theres a
refrigerator the red paint acting as a
subliminal invocation of the brand. A
youngster walks up to it and fetches a
bottle of Coke. But it doesnt open the
cap is screwed on too tight. So tight, it
wont twist And here comes the twist:
the caps are specially manufactured to not
open unless paired with another identical
cap. Now, the youngster is forced to
interact with the nearest person, just to
take a sip from the bottle. Slowly but
surely, the awkwardness dissipates. Soon,
everyone is taking selfies, tweeting, and
exchanging phone numbers. What Coca
Cola has done here, is that it has helped
break the ice. This is a targeted exercise
and the stroke of genius is in the fact that
Coca Cola almost completely shifted focus
away from itself and onto the students, the
youth of today. The success of the
campaign lay in the execution. Two words:
Guerrilla Marketing.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

There is no prompting, no camera crew

running around embarrassing passersby. Just a fridge stocked with seemingly
normal bottles a brilliant no-brainer.
This is called experiential marketing. It
means to invite the customer on a
journey and give them an experience
theyre completely unprepared for,
instead of just trying to sell them
something they dont want. With the
twist campaign, this has gone a long
way. The teenagers take away a lot
more in tangibles as compared to Coca
Cola. All coke gets is visibility, while the
students get a drink, a friend and a fun
first day of college, which trumps all the
above mentioned.
Now it may seem completely
unnecessary to go so far, spend so
much money on designing something
new, all for one single day and a few
teenagers. But, if done right, the effects
and results are immeasurably beneficial.
Every successful campaign has three
main components: (i) Experience; (ii)
Sentiment; and (iii) Content. This is how
any outreach program must be. Do it
because you want to, not because you
think you must. And most importantly,
do it right and have a blast.

19

PIONEER
AAMIR KAN
Mr. Perfectionist has over the years proved
himself as a master strategist in marketing
with his grit and ingenuity. We have seen him
as the flamboyant Aakash of Dil Chahta Hai,
ingenuous Bhuwan of Lagaan, an inspiring
painting teacher in Taare Zameen Par , a
charming Phunsukh Wangdu in 3 Idiots, and
as the sensitive host of the TV show
Satyamev Jayate. He is Aamir Khan- one of
the most popular and influential actors of
our Indian film industry.
Every time before the release of his movies,
Aamir creates an enigma that pushes movie
buffs to be on the edge of their seats and
wait in eager anticipation to witness what he
is coming up with next. Anyone remembers
how the Oscar nominated Lagaan was
promoted? Thinking hard, right? Well, yes
because Aamir had used a subdued approach
for the promotions. Low promotion created
less expectation in the audience, who was
later bowled over by the fantastic plot and a
truly convincing performance by the actors.

20

Lesson learnt: Keep the classy acts low

key for the big day.

Aamir created a stir in the marketing

arena by co-branding with a soft drink
brand and an apparel brand, for his
movie Rang De Basanti, which was a
first ever experience for the marketers
to witness in India. Another new out-ofthe-box act was seen for the promotion
of 3 Idiots, which was later telecasted.
Aamir dressed up in different avatars and
travelled across various nooks and
corners of the country, to surprise
people and create a buzz for the movie.
People who recognized him were
rewarded with prizes.
He toys with all sorts of controversies
to work in his favor. The latest teasers
for his upcoming movie PK are creating
waves in both the film industry and the
marketing world.

THE MARKSMAN

PIONEER
Similar kind of negative marketing was
used for his movie Delhi Belly, which
came up with a warning stating that the
movie was not suitable for everything.
This was enough to raise the curiosity
of the audience. Delhi Belly and 3 Idiots
were taken up as case study topics on
marketing and promotion by some
esteemed B schools of India, thereby
adding glory to the actors achievement
list.
This fact cannot be ignored that he has
redefined the way movies are marketed
in our country, however long this
transition has taken to occur.
From a guy who used to give the
longest possible replies as an actor to a
media person to the one who doesn't
entertain any interviews to one who is
loved by the media for his social
activities, every time this chameleon has
changed colors, either it suited him
even more or the world changed itself
for him.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

He lives by the true definition of the word

'brand image', what he is, is what he does
and what he does is what he sells. His refusal
to attend any award function to protesting
for an issue involving the problems faced by
people due to the construction of dams, to
making a satirical movie a success to
awakening people through a TV show, all
have the Aamir Khan Stamp over them. And
this stamp sells.
Get ready for another undressed truth,
Christmas curiosity is rising.

21

BOOK WORM
The Firm:
The Story of McKinsey
And Its Secret Influence on
American Business
-Duff McDonald

A Good Housekeeping seal

of approval. Its political, so if you
make a decision, you can say, Its
not my fault, its their fault. . . . I
think consultants can become a
disease for corporations.

Excerpt
22

If you want to be taken seriously, you hire

McKinsey and Company. The sheer confidence
reflected in this statement is enough to impress
upon anybody the respect that McKinsey
commands. Duff McDonald, in his own personal
style, analyses the company known for its
analysis. You are taken through a timeline,
wherein you traverse different phases of the
consulting giants story. How the vision of an
Ozark farm boy eventually led to the
conception of The Firm. The one thing that
you invariably notice is that McKinsey doesnt
really sell anything except the only thing that it
needs to sell, McKinsey. The way the company
is run, the strategies used and the methods in
implementing them may have varied over the
years and from leader to leader, but the
underlying principle is always that they advise
you; the option of and the accountability for
taking that advice is solely upon the company.
Instances of how McKinsey almost always
comes out of some of the most scandalous
situations unscathed, display, how following the
core values of the company has worked in its
favour. There are unbelievable success stories
to remember and utterly shameful instances
that the Firm would definitely rather are
forgotten. But in spite of all this, they still boast
of clients like American Express, AT&T,
CitiBank, General Motors and Merrill Lynch.

THE MARKSMAN

BOOKWORM

McKinsey and Company, established in 1925

by James McKinsey was initially driven from
the perspective of an accountant and the
term used for the consultants was
management engineers. From there, you
see the journey of a vision, the journey of
McKinsey. The most influential personality
featured in the book is Marvin Bower who
shapes the company into one that rests
heavily on values rather than note printing
and expansion. He carries forward the idea
of McKinsey as an almost clandestine
solution to the most elusive problems. The
Firm then goes through several changes
because of several leaders: while Ron Daniel
lends it class, Fred Gluck gives it
intellectualism, Rajat Gupta gives it
expansion (and scandals), which leads to Ian
Davis going back to its roots and principles.
The book, in an unbiased way, talks about
how a company right from its formulation
has survived unprecedented booms and
crises, through the years. It is a good read
and is recommended to anyone who wishes
to understand the simplicities that make
consulting a complex profession.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

23

FEATURED ARTICLES
Movie marketing in Reality shows in India

Ratul Chakraborty
- IMT Ghaziabad

Today the objective of marketing is not

only to generate awareness about the
movie but also to engage the target
audience so that the end consumer
switches from being aware to taking the
decision of watching the movie in
cinema theatres. For this purpose movie
marketing
teams
approach
the
customers through the following touch
points.
Above the line(ATL) TV, radio,
theatrical trailers, print media
Below the line(BTL) Direct marketing,
merchandise, event sponsorships
Through the line(TTL) Social media,
blogs, mobile apps

Cinema in India from its incipient days

has used several marketing strategies to
generate awareness about any new
release. In the early days, movie
marketing teams would carry press
books which had information about the
cast, crew and the storyline of the
movie. Posters and magazines were the
only tools they relied upon.
But today things have changed
dramatically. Among the 4Ps of
marketing, two Ps are especially relevant
from the perspective of movie marketing
Place and Promotion.

24

Recently, movie marketing teams have

started advertising movies via reality
shows on television. These reality shows
have taken the television industry by a
storm. It broke the monotonous
television experience and introduced
novel and interesting concepts that
made them stand out from the regular
shows. Reality shows wooed and
attracted audiences of all ages. Right
from the days of shows like Antakshari
and SaReGaMa reality shows have struck
the right chords with the Indian
audience.

THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES
Nowadays movie marketing teams are
trying to leverage this connect of reality
shows with the Indian audience to
promote their movies and gain
widespread recognition and generate
excitement among the audiences about
watching the movie.
Today it is quite common to see big
movie stars promoting their movies in
reality shows in fact, some reality
shows are even being hosted by movie
stars. It is the icing on the cake for the
audience as it increases their exhilaration
manifold as they get to see two movie
stars at the opposite ends of the mic and
they remain captivated to the television
till the last minute.

Who can forget the two icons of Indian

Cinema Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh
Khan performing Gangnam style
alongside the stunningly beautiful
Katrina Kaif on the sets of Kaun Banega
Crorepati? The audience must have
gone head over heels while watching
this performance. What were Shahrukh
Khan and Katrina Kaif doing on the
show? They were promoting their then
upcoming movie Jab Tak Hai Jaan.
Remember Aamir Khan visiting Salman
Khan on Dus Ka Dum show. They both
rode a bicycle on the show. The
audience was mesmerized. Aamir Khan
was sporting the look of the character
he played in his blockbuster movie
Ghajini.

Many popular movie stars host reality

shows and the guest movie stars interact
with them on these shows. Apart from
engaging in playful banter with the hosts
these guest movie starts also promote
their movies by either performing or
coming up dressed like the characters
they are playing in the movie.

Apart from the shows which are hosted

by movie stars, there are other reality
shows where movie stars promote their
movies, some do it at the top of the
their voice and there are those who
believe in subtlety.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

25

FEATURED ARTICLES
Numerous surveys have showed that TRPs
rise by leaps and bounds when good reality
shows are aired. People watch reality shows
more than any fictional drama series or any
other daily soap. Movie marketing teams are
cashing in on this phenomenon as they can
reach wider audience by sending the movie
starcast to these reality shows than
organising any promotional event. This
generates the expected hype and the movie
comes to be talked about in the households
who watch the respective reality shows.
Unlike trailers wherein clips/scenes from the
movie are shown, reality shows help movie
stars to be themselves as they are in their
real life and talk about their movies, so they
can directly connect with the audience not
as the movie character but as a real person.
There is a flip side to this as well. Recently
while promoting Dhoom 3 Aamir Khan
expressed his desire to not promote his
movie in any reality show. He said that
reality shows may not be ideal for publicity.
He stated that the whole Dhoom 3 team
wanted the content of the movie to speak
for itself. Dhoom is a known commodity as a
movie franchise and people already are
aware of it, reality shows only amplify the
awareness of a movie but do not increase
the desire to consume. So they stuck to
trailers and songs to create that desire.
Dhoom 3 is the highest grossing film of all
times in India.

26

But this does not deny the share of

publicity value reality shows bring to
movies if they are promoted in one or
more. It is one of the most popular and
effective ways to generate awareness for
a new release. Movie marketing in reality
shows is arguably the best way to sell a
movie these days.

THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES
ITC ENTERS DAIRY AND PERSONAL CARE

Vishalatha
Bhamidipaty
- XLRI, Jamshedpur

INTRODUCTION
From cigarette to dairy products, ITC has
long employed the strategy of category
extension successfully. ITC extended its
foot hold in FMCG products leveraging
its extensive distribution network, its
expertise in packaging. ITC forayed into
hotel industry in 1975 and promoted the
idea of sustainable luxury. ITC's
Paperboards and Specialty Papers
Division produces ecofriendly paper and
paperboards. It provides packaging
solutions for various industries. ITC
through
farmer
engagement
and
collaboration is one of the largest
exporter of Agri products in the country.
It also started an initiative for farmers
known as e-Choupal which provides
them relevant data for farming.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

PERSONAL CARE
In line with its aim of having a strong
foothold in FMCG sector, ITC entered
personal care segment in 2005. It
launched brands in various price
segments catering to the consumers in
different economic strata. A late entrant
into the personal care category, ITC
undertook
very
aggressive
advertisements and other promotion
programs. Its extensive distribution
strategy also contributed in increasing
visibility. ITC came up with brands like
Fiama de wills, Engage, Superia, and Vivel
in personal care category.
In 2005 ITC entered personal care
segment by launching Essenza Di Wills
in the super premium category. Essenza
Di Wills is launched in soaps, perfumes
and body care for both men and
women.

27

FEATURED ARTICLES
ITC then launched premium brand Fiama
di wills. By extending Fiama di wills
brand it has launched personal care
products for men. It roped in Deepika
Padukone as brand ambassador with a
slogan Beautiful you today, tomorrow.
Advertisements for the lines of soap,
shampoo and conditioner positioned
them as an amalgamation of both science
and technology. The brand proposition of
beautiful you today tomorrow doesnt
feature these days.
Vivel was launched as a brand for midmarket. It was positioned as a brand for
youngsters
with
a
series
of
advertisements featuring college students.
A slightly superior brand Vivel di wills
caters to the upper mid segment. Vivel
soaps were a very affordable alternatives
for people who wished to move from
cheap soaps. The aspirations of the
segment who couldnt afford soaps like
Lux were rightly captured by Vivel brand.
For Vivel, ITC came up with commercials
featuring Kareena Kapoor, Amritha Rao
and regional actors. Down south actors
like Trisha was chosen based on the
popularity so that the viewers could
relate. Vivel was launched in the
categories of Soap, body wash, face wash,
shampoo. Superia range of soaps and
shampoos cater to the mass market.
Superia didnt extensively rope in
celebrities for the promotions.

28

Engage in 2013 launched Engage the

first couple deodorant in the country. The
brand focusses its communication on the
playful chemistry between couples. It is
very tactically positioned as equality of
both genders is concentrated on unlike
other deodorants where man attracts the
woman. The TV commercials that were
released were designed in line with their
proposition and a slew of brand
activation activities followed. They made
their presence felt on social media and
online. Engage brand has seven flavors in
its kitty namely: Rush (Male) & Blush
(Female), Mate (Male) & Spell (Female),
Urge (Male) & Tease (Female), Frost
(Male) & Drizzle (Female) and Jump
(Male) & Trail (Female). The innovative
packaging features silhouettes, each
depicting the proposition of engage.

THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRY
ITC started a program for genetic
development of cattle through artificial
insemination to increase the yield. New
cattle centers were being established. Few
statistics of Cattle development centers
(CDC) from the animal husbandry and dairy
development are:

As an extension to the integrated dairy

management program which
was
launched as part of their corporate social
responsibility initiatives, ITC is foraying
into the field of dairy products to derive
the benefits of forward integration.
Current dairy products market is
dominated by players like Amul, Nestle.
Initially shelf stable products are being
launched by ITC.

Source: ITC sustainability report 2013

As a part of project Gomukh, a pilot

program was started in Munger which
provided animal management services like
feed management, artificial insemination,
veterinary services etc. along with a call
center. This program is aimed at increasing
the milk production. Milk procured from
Munger averaged around 9862 kg per day
according to the companys sustainability
report. An integrated dairy management
program was designed which provided
not just animal management services but
also farm management, collection centers,
chilling centers facilities. These services
were also extended to Saharanpur. Two
other locations have been finalized as part
of their extension programs.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

CONCLUSION
ITC through its expansion into new
categories is leveraging on the advantages
of diversification. ITC is foraying into
FMCG with its aggressive launch of
products in new categories to increase
their revenues from this sector. It is now
foraying into the dairy industry and
beverages. The extensive distribution
network that ITC enjoys would further
its interests.

29

FEATURED ARTICLES
SADVERTISING Brands focusing more on striking
an Emotional Chord

Aakanksha Tanwar
- GIM
I bet my ad can make you cry and buy!
(Twisted story of Sadvertising)

Our life is nothing! My mother said

to me in a feeble voice. Was it really
true?, I thought. All we do is earn money
and spend it on ourselves. Do we ever
think about the people around us who
actually need it? Did you ever notice those
beggars around the corner or their poor
children who do not even have enough
food to eat? And here we are, buying and
shopping all the time, the clothes we do
not require, the food that makes us gain
weight. Thats it! I am going to donate half
of what I earn from now on. And I am
going
to
donate
it
to
NAIK
FOUNDATION.

30

Why? Why only this one? I asked,

gazing at her with my eyes wide open.
Did you not see the ad they just
telecasted? It brought tears to my eyes.
How could an innocent child have the
ability to be selfless and buy an elderly
lady the glasses that were broken by
someone else? Look at the modesty that
child possesses, I should harness at least
some of it.
That such a big impact an advertisement
could have on a person who was highly
educated with great pragmatism, was a
bizarre and amazing experience to me.
Without even verifying if the foundation
was really genuine, its reach, the means
they used to help people, their target
audience, the services and amenities
they provided them, the sponsors and
the people actually involved, my mother
had formed an opinion about the
organization that was rather positive and
the organization had already earned
itself blind faith, from a well-read and
informed person. Had the brands found
their right audience? Or had they found
their right chord to hit on. After all, even
in our robotic fast paced life, we are
HUMANS! But then, how often do we
recognize this fact?

THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES
We value something, only when we
realize that we have lost it. The
advertising companies ought to cash on
this very simple principle. Gone are the
days of funny, awkward and absurd
advertisements. Now, all the brands want
to do, is connect with their audiences
emotions and remind them of a very
important value that they have lost. Care,
love, respect, little acts of kindness,
acceptance have made their way onto
our TV screens. To sum it all up, all they
do by these emotional advertisements, is
ignite a spark of humanity that gets lost
in everyday life. We find these ads
meaningful because we know that we are
definitely lacking in our practice of
humanity. And the final result of these ads
is, that we feel for that specific section
shown in the ad and get inspired to do
something for people around us because
these advertisements make you feel that
you, yes YOU can bring a change in your
and their lives. What a big achievement
that is, for most of us. This way these
brands bond with our personality in
some or the other manner.

ANNIVERSARY 2014

A wife would definitely be able to relate

to a bottle of Saffola, just because its
advertisement shows the concern and
love of a wife towards her husband. You
would prefer to buy Lifebuoy over other
soaps, not just because it is more
economical than others but also because,
it is helping children reach the age of 5.
Not that you would not want to buy
some other brand advertised by
Aishwarya Rai or Kareena Kapoor, but
this one cause, would make you think for
sure.
Similarly, while buying shampoos you
might prefer Head and Shoulders just for
the sake of donating that one rupee to
the needy, that you otherwise could not
donate, due to your hectic life. Why
wouldnt you buy a Honda bike if you
could travel huge distances to finally meet
your mother after a long time or a Hero
bike which tells me that everyone has a
hero in himself/herself in a beautiful
manner? Or, why wouldnt you buy Airtel
connection when you could talk to your
fianc for hours late in the night. Just
when you thought you wouldnt bother
about your complexion came an ad that
suggests that fair complexion would
boost your confidence to an infinite
range and you would be able to achieve
everything you wanted. Surely not all of
us would buy it, but most of us, would.

31

FEATURED ARTICLES
The point is, that all these ads connect to
different elements of our emotions. Some
would connect to our ego while some to
our sacred self, some will cause nostalgia
while some will just bring a tear of
happiness in our eyes. And how
beautifully did our creative marketers
comprehend this fact and come out with
strong, meaningful concepts and ads.
The practice of advertising has been in
existence for many years. And companies
have used it to their utmost discretion to
sell their products. Although, in todays
world they have realised that an
advertisement which bonds better sells
better. Also providing genuine information
by incorporating it into the ads and still
keeping it simple has boosted sales. So
much that leading FMCGs spend about
10% of their shares on advertising. The
business is booming and hopefully will
continue to do so because fashion may
come and go, but emotions and humanity,
although hidden somewhere, would stay.

32

THE MARKSMAN

SquAreheaD

ANNIVERSARY 2014

33

BUZZ
PUZZLE
1

ACROSS

3
4

3. Which washing powder brand by

HUL used an innovative campaign to
tap the rural markets in India?
5. Which pharmaceutical company
recently acquired Ranbaxy?

6. Who is the 'Beer Man' in Park

Avenue's Beer Shampoo campaign?
6

DOWN

CLUES

1. Which companys logo was created

by Frank Robinson?
2. Which spice brand is leveraging actor
Ranveer Singh's popularity through
an exclusive music video to promote
its offerings?
4. Which Indian e-commerce company
is currently valued at 7 billion $ ?

Answers:
Across:
3.Active Wheel 5.Sun 6. Andrew Smith
Down:
1. Coca Cola 2. Chings Secret
4. Flipkart

34

THE MARKSMAN

Call for ARTICLES

CALL FOR ARTICLES SEPTEMBER 2014
Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:
1. The art of making a Viral video: AIB genius
of the year
2. #ALSIcebucketchallenge:
Marketing
lessons for a social cause
3. Airtels The Smartphone Network ad
campaign: Women empowerment?

*Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all references are

clearly mentioned.
1. One article can have only one author.
2. Your article should be approximately 800-850
words and MUST be replete with relevant
pictures that can be used to enhance the
article.
3. Font Type: Gill Sans MT
4. Font Size: 14.
5. Send your article in .doc/.docx format to
marksman.simsr@somaiya.edu
6. Subtitle
line:
Your
name_Institute
Name_Course Year
7. Kindly name your file as : Your name_Topic
The best adjudged article will be given a Winners Certificate.
Deadline for the submission of article will be : 20th September, 2014

ANNIVERSARY 2014

35

The
TEAM
THE TEAM
TWEETS by
Akshay Peshave

Its all about AD-itude by

Kavya Dubey

Brand MARK ive by

Dhruv Maheshwari

COVER STORY by
Vasundhara Tewari

SPECIAL STORY by
Abhijit Sharma

FAUX PAS by
Sankalp Thakur

HALLMARK CAMPAIGN by
Vidhi Agarwal

PIONEER
Vasundhara Tewari
BOOKWORM by
Sukanya Remesh

SquAreheaD by
Kavya Dubey

BUZZ by
Loukik Korada

PROOF READ by
Akshay Peshave
Sukanya Remesh

DESIGNING by
Abhijit Sharma
Kavya Dubey
Sankalp Thakur

PROMOTIONS by
Shweta Panikker
Sukanya Remesh

36

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The
MARKSMAN
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