Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
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The
Looking
Glass
THE LOOKING
Editorial
GLASS In this edition
Dear Readers Measuring the Effectiveness of the Humour Quotient
in Indian Advetising ……3
It gives us immense pleasure to bring out the first ever PAN-IIM marketing digest, with a joint effort by the
marketing clubs of IIMs A, B, C and L. Influencer Marketing ..…..6
If you take time to look around, you would observe the importance of marketing in every sphere of your life. Implicit Positioning and Surrogate Advertising .........9
Starting from the time you get up in the morning, the brush, toothpaste you use, right up to the time you crash on
your bed at night, just think of those countless brands that shape your daily lifestyle. It‟s a continuous tussle Fake IPL Player: Redefining Marketing ..…..11
between those myriad brands laid across the horizon of consumer observation span. In a season where marketers Effective Multi-tiered Promotions:
are leaving no stone unturned trying to grab consumer attention, marketing automatically assumes utmost impor- Lessons From Santoor ..…..13
tance. The world is brutal. It‟s no longer about marketing your product right. It‟s basically a requisite for sur-
vival. If you don‟t do it, your competitors will. And the consumers have plenty of options. So, basically if you 4P's of Indian Theatre Marketing ..…...17
don‟t sell, your competitors will.
Neo-Political Marketing ...….21
We decided to come up with a collection of choicest articles contributed by students and industry personnel, which
would highlight the trends of contemporary marketing. And for the same reason we decided to call the digest, „The
Looking Glass‟, because we feel it will give a true reflection of marketing, and the direction it is taking in today‟s Strategic Marketing for Educational Institutions…..25
scenario. The articles touch a wide array of topics which have assumed importance in the recent past. How has
humour been used effectively by marketers? How do you sell educational institutes? What exactly did the Fake Welcome to Marketing, the third epoch! ........28
IPL Player do for KKR? How do advertisers resort to surrogate advertising? What are the trends in online mar- Sidestepping the Commoditization of
keting? These, and many more articles inside would keep you engrossed as you go through the pages, we hope. Disruptive Innovations …...30
There are those who envision, and then there are those who work to make the vision a reality. We are proud to Sales Role in Fixed Income Securities Market ……32
say that we had a team which did both. We would like to thank all those who were involved taking the digest to
the completion stage. There was a tremendous amount of co-ordination and synchronization put in by the market- Valuation of TV Advertising …….34
ing clubs of the 4 IIMs. At every stage of development we also received immense support from the faculty in the
form of guidance and encouragement. Also, a very special thanks to Mr. Prakash Bagri, Director of Marketing, Ogilvy and Mather Trivia …….36
Intel South Asia, for sharing his insights on the evolution and future of marketing, in the digest.
Is Recession the time to tighten Ad Budget? …….37
In future we plan to evolve by bringing in greater participation from the industry and experts and initiating wider Low Cost Customer Acquisition
distribution. Please do send us your feedback at looking.glass.mag@gmail.com. Strategies for E-businesses …….39
Team
Editors Design Pan IIM Team
Mayank Jain (IIMC) Yatish Misra (IIMC) Piyush Mehta (IIMC) Chayan Mukhopadhyay (IIMB)
Prasad Gopal (IIMB) Prativa Lama (IIMB) Brijesh Unithan (IIMC) Gautam Attravan (IIMB)
Robin Joseph (IIMA) Rajkul Fulzele (IIMA) Mafla Mudgal (IIMC) Shreshth Sharma (IIMB)
Garima Mamgain (IIML) Rishi Varshney (IIML) Nikhil Joshi (IIMC) Meenakshi Prasad (IIML)
Amit Sharma (IIML) Pratik Prakash (IIMC) Saikat Mondal (IIML)
Sanglap Bannerjee (IIMC) Ganesh PR (IIML)
Abhishek Mohan (IIMB) Manoj Kumar Kamble (IIML)
P AGE 3 Measuring the Effectiveness of the Humour
Quotient in Indian Advertising
In this article, we explore the hu- Humour can come in many forms
mour quotient in Indian advertis- and the choice of the appropriate
ing through the lens of certain type is highly dependent on the
television ad campaigns that have target audience, the cultural bias,
tickled the consumer funny bone the choice of advertising medium
in order to evaluate the effective- and the product itself. Some of
ness of such campaigns. We di- the more popularly used forms
verge from the traditionalist body are:
of literature that brackets hu- Personification: This is
mour in advertising as risky and where inanimate objects assume
at best, as effective as other ads. human characteristics and the
Our contention is that an ad inherent humour in observing
campaign based on humour such behaviour is used to high-
stands out from the crowd and light some quality or the desir-
captures the consumer mind- ability of the brand. One such
share. example is Pepsi‟s „Oye Bubbly‟
campaign in which various ob-
Our contention is that INTRODUCTION jects such as the car stereo and
an ad campaign based the garage are shown coveting the
When using humour to advertise Pepsi bottle.
on humour stands out
a product, the main challenge for
from the crowd and Exaggeration: Here certain
marketers is to link the advertise-
captures the consumer attributes of the product are
ment to the underlying brand so
magnified out of proportion like
mindshare. as to translate consumer enjoy-
the Fevikwik ads where the fish-
ment to consumer purchase. This
erman uses Fevikwik on a stick
linkage is questioned by numer-
to catch fish, trumping the so-
ous researchers with the distrac-
phisticated fishing gear of the
tion of the consumer from the
person next to him.
brand quoted as the chief flaw of
such a strategy. We diverge from Slapstick: This particular
this view – our contention is that
brand of humour deals with the
the industry context and basis of
ludicrous/exaggerated and pre-
competition is also critical to the
nature of advertisements used. sents situations where the hu-
Our frame of analysis would be morous aspect of the ad, far from
campaigns that are recognized for being subtle, strikes the viewer in
their innovative use of humour the face, the Chlormint ads being
including Fevicol and Fewikwik, a prime example of this.
Happydent White, Vodafone Zoo-
zoos, Idea Cellular, Frooti, Tata
Other forms include sarcasm,
Indian advertisements, Sky, Sprite.
comparison, pun, understate-
in the past, have
ment and irony. However, there is
mostly derived their TYPES OF HUMOUR a strong cultural context for such
humour from the in- Back in the 1960‟s, a golden rule advertisements. Individualistic
terplay between multi- in advertising, propagated by the cultures like the US and UK typi-
ple characters. founder of Prentice-Hall, was to cally feature advertisements hav-
never mix humour and advertis-
ing one or two dominant charac-
ing. Today, with the proliferation
of product offerings, humour is ters while in more collectivistic
increasingly being looked upon cultures like Thailand, ads re-
not as a distraction that trivial- volve around groups. Similarly,
izes the product, but as an effec- the degree of uncertainty avoid-
tive means of distinguishing the ance and the amount of mascu-
product from the crowd and line dominance in the culture of a
drawing the attention of con-
country are key factors in influ-
sumer.
influencing the type of humour that can be spectrum – be it the group oriented Fevicol
successfully used in advertisements, with truck ad showing people stuffed into a truck,
countries high on these two parameters tend- or the more individual oriented Fevikwik fish-
ing to prefer slapstick or direct humour to erman ad, from the slapstick Akai TV ads of
subtle nuances and double entendres. old to the more subtle Camlin Marker ads, to
the extent that even potentially controversial
Analyzing the Indian advertising scenario ads like the Axe series have found acceptance
keeping this cultural context in mind, certain in India, which is viewed to be conservative.
key trends can be identified. Given the tradi-
tional family oriented culture of India, Indian Case Studies: We examine the following ad-
advertisements, in the past, have mostly de- vertising campaigns with a view towards illus-
rived their humour from the interplay between trating the different types of humour that
multiple characters. Also, in the past, humour works in the Indian context and also to meas-
has tended to be largely slapstick, based on ure the effectiveness of these campaigns
filmy spoofs and ridiculous situations. This is along multiple dimensions: Amaron, Frooti,
part, can be attributed to the diversity of cul- Axe and Max New York Life Insurance. Our
tures and languages found in India. Humor- choice is driven by the different types of hu-
ous ads, therefore, must tread the thin line mour used in each of these campaigns.
between keeping the cultural idioms of their
target audience in mind and taking care not to Amaron (Amara Raja) batteries: The iconic
offend the cultural sensibilities of any group. claymation advertisements with the catchy
Slapstick offers an easy way out with situ- slogan of „Lasts Long Really Long...Ting Tong‟
ational humour having a broader reach while captured the imagination of the public and
also ensuring that the punch line is not lost acted as clutter busters in 2002. The „Hare
on the audience. and Tortoise‟ ad and the „Kumbhakarna ad‟
were aired on Doordarshan and other satellite
channels and brought in tremendous brand
EVOLUTION OF HUMOUR IN INDIAN ADS
awareness for Amaron batteries – a new en-
trant into the automotives battery space in
Over the years, there has been a gradual evo- 2000.
lution in the use of humour in Indian adver-
tisements. The most obvious change has been Interestingly however, the expected spurt in
the increasing use of humour with advertising sales did not materialize. The product was a
agencies increasingly trying to grab the atten- low involvement one with incumbent advertis-
tion of consumers through their funny bone. ing focussing on the toughness and macho
image of the car battery. The dominant player
In 1993, only 28% of commercials were hu-
at that time, Exide, was well entrenched and
mour-based. By 2001, at least 46% tried to Amaron did not manage to make a dent in
incorporate some form of humour. And while their sales. The ad agency – O&M went back
in most countries, funny ads have largely to the same claymation studio in 2004 to
been associated with low-involvement prod- come up with a follow up, the „Pandu Mangal‟
ucts, in India, even high-involvement products ad. The uniqueness of this ad was the univer-
like televisions and insurance have tried their sal nature of the humour – the bumbling cop
in pursuit of a wily thief was instantly recog-
hands at humour.
nized and appreciated across all segments of
A more subtle change that has been taking people. We also theorize that the humour was
place is in the type of humour employed. well received as it relied on simple age-old
From pure slapstick, ads are moving towards themes and had powerful visual imagery. This
more intelligent comedy, with a more individu- ad consolidated Amaron as a powerful brand
alistic bent, be it the Vodafone Zoozoos, which and was a platform for their explosive growth
cleverly depicted a variety situations, each post-2006. In 2006 Amaron reverted to a
with some link to a feature offered by Voda- stereotypical performance based campaign
fone, or the Fasttrack „Move on‟ commercials, using racing stars like Karun Chandok and
which perfectly capture the changing nature Narain Karthikeyan. Our take is that the hu-
of Indian society today. India today is at a mour based advertising helped establish the
crossroads, between its traditional past and a brand awareness but did not add to the top-
more modern future, which perhaps explains line due to the low involvement of the car
the success of ads across the entire cultural owners in the buying decision and the lack of
product differentiation as the „Lasts Long‟
promise held true de-facto in the business.
Frooti: The Digen Verma ad blitz that lasted Axe is by far the naughtiest brand in India
for 15 days in February 2001 catapulted the and is targeted at the male aged 16-25. The
brand into public imagination and generated a ads highlight various situations where the
tremendous buzz across the country. The cam- guy, usually an ordinary next door
paign was centred on a faceless college going neighbour kind of chap rather than a
guy called Digen Verma worshipped by his hunk, gets pursued by different women.
friends, girls and even peons – in general eve- Seduction is the dominant motif here, with
ryone who knew him except for the stodgy old the women making the first move – a bold
college professor. The teaser campaign com- idea for Indian audiences. Yet, it has cap-
bined with the new caption for Frooti – „Just tured the pulse of its target audience per-
Like That‟ was aimed at repositioning Frooti fectly.
from a kids drink to one for the youth. Hence,
a rebellious theme was adopted in the cam- Max New York Life: When Max New York
paign. came out with their advertisement featur-
ing an overzealous dad with his young child
The last series of ads in this campaign show as he exhorts the child to repeat words of
Digen ordering Frooti (of course Digen himself increasing complexity, consumers sat up
is not shown on screen) – this causes pande- and took notice. The advertisement poked
monium across the country and everyone fun at Indians who have a propensity to
switches to Frooti immediately! This campaign push their children into various activities
was unique in the effective use of suspense at a young age. Interestingly, the humour
(watch this space approach) and humour in in the ad was well received – wry humour
engaging consumer attention through various had worked on Indian screens after a long
innovative forms of media (messages telling while! The ad demonstrated two things –
Digen to remove his car from the parking lot one that Indians were willing to laugh at
were flashed in theatres, bus stops had posters themselves and two, high involvement
asking if Digen would be on the next bus and products could be advertised using hu-
so forth). mour.
A look at the sales figures show a marginal in- The sales of new policies shot up from the
crease in the year the campaign was aired fol- slowdown in October – further the weighted
lowed by steady increase in sales – the market new received premiums too shot up. The ad
share decline was halted by this campaign had worked its magic. Max New York fol-
though. Sceptics however claimed that the Di- lowed it up with another humorous ad in
gen Verma persona had become more famous Apr-2009, this time poking fun at the re-
and had marginalized the brand. Later, Frooti tired Indian male.
switched to their old theme of „Fresh and
Juicy‟ which did worse than the Digen Verma CONCLUSION
campaign – hence in comparison the use of a
unique style of humour proved to be more ef-
Thus, the use of humour, in products
fective for Frooti.
where consumer preferences play a vital
Axe: Our inclusion of Axe is a little controver- role in selection, not only helps bring the
sial as its ads have straddled a thin line be- brand into the consumer‟s consideration
tween sexism and naughtiness in terms of the set through increased brand awareness
humour. We study it due to the unique nature and recall, but also appears to translate
of the advertising – the same campaigns are directly to an increase in sales.
aired worldwide and there has been no attempt
to tone down the humour or modify it in any
Kaushik Sriram is a 2nd year PGP student at IIM Banga-
way for India.
lore. He holds a Bachelors degree in Electronics and Communi-
This dispels the notion that Indians are con- cation Engineering from National Institute of Technology (NIT)
servative in their humour – of course the mar- Trichy and can be reached at kaushiksr08@iimb.ernet.in.
keting for Axe was backed up by a great prod-
uct too. The Axe effect in terms of sales and Rohini Ramachandran is a 2nd year PGP student at IIM
market share has been spectacular to say the Bangalore. She holds a Bachelors degree in Electronics and Com-
least. HUL (the parent company)replaced their munication Engineering from National Institute of Technology
old deodorant brand Denim with Axe due to its
(NIT) Trichy and can be reached at rohinira08@iimb.ernet.in.
spectacular success.
Once these influencers become aware of the Top 10 Most Brilliant Marketing Screw Ups
product and accept the effectiveness of the
product, they do not hesitate in giving infor-
mation about the same to their patients. Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it
Saffola today is part of many a diet charts
was read as "Suffer from diarrhoea."
and diet-guides because of such activities. It
is most probably the only edible oil that is
recommended by doctors during consulta- Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the
tion. following in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an
Electrolux."
Another, most common use of influencer Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick", a curling iron, into Ger-
marketing in modern times is engaging tech- man only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not
nology experts during launch of new prod- too many people had use for the "manure stick."
ucts. Most of the cell-phone manufacturers
as well manufacturers of new age software When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used
provide their product to these experts before the same packaging as in the U.S., with the beautiful Cau-
the product is formally launched. The ex- casian baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa,
perts are encouraged to write about the companies routinely put pictures on the label of what's in-
product. The influence these experts com- side, since most people can't read.
mand over the tech savvy target segment
helps in convincing early-buyers of the prod- Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the
uct and thus generating the initial thrust name of a notorious porno magazine.
required for the success of the product.
An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the
Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of
Influencer marketing gives a marketer an
"I saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I saw the po-
opportunity to utilize resources beyond what
tato" (la papa).
is owned by the organization. This necessi-
tates establishing professional and ethical
norms on the marketer‟s part. The power of Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated
influence also comes with great responsibil- into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave", in
ity of using this influence in the right man- Chinese.
ner. It is not uncommon to hear of compa-
nies providing excessive incentives to influ- Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "it takes a strong man to
encers, to ensure that they promote only make a tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "it
their products. The onus is on the marketer takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate."
to define the ethical and professional
boundaries and stay within them. The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Ke-kou-ke-
la", meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse
stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then re-
So, in case you are looking to visit your opti- searched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent
cian anytime soon, at least now you know "ko-kou-ko-le", translating into "happiness in the mouth."
that he might be influenced by Bausch and
Lomb to „influence‟ you into buying contact When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its
lenses.
ads were supposed to have read, "It won't leak in your
pocket and embarrass you". Instead, the company thought
Ammar Tambawal is a 2nd year PGP student at IIM Ah- that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to em-
medabad. He holds a Bachelors degree in Electronics Engineering barrass, so the ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and
fr om VESI T , B ombay and can be r each ed make you pregnant."
at 8ammary@iimahd.ernet.in
“Fake IPL Player” blog did exactly the same Interviews etc. But simulation and controlled
thing. Instead of blowing its own horn, the conversations twist the facts to a certain ex-
author tactically cooked up stories about in- tent thereby affecting the outcome of the data
fighting within the team. This created a sen- analysis as done by market research agen-
sation for the cricket crazy masses which in cies.
turn strengthened the KKR brand. As market-
ers put it “Any publicity is good publicity”.
Uncontrolled conversation would let people
There have been a few examples of successful vent out their emotions without any con-
anti-marketing in the past. One such signifi- straints. This would in turn give marketers
cant example is that of Steven Singer Jewel- better insights into consumer behaviors.
lers. It has successfully executed a marketing
Fake IPL player‟s blog generated a greater
campaign – “I hate Steven Singer”. As a result
buzz for Team KKR by encouraging uncon-
it has become a landmark jeweler in the
trolled conversation. Thousands of comments
Philadelphia region.
were posted in response to each blog post.
This added flavor to the blog and generated
Buzz marketing further interest in the blog as well as in the
KKR team. This in turn resulted in the soar-
Viral marketing describes any strategy that
ing TRPs of the KKR matches.
encourages individuals to pass on a market-
ing message to others, creating the potential
for exponential growth in the message's expo-
The lesson
sure and influence.
Some claimed the Fake IPL player was a real
life cricketer while others, at the same time,
Buzz marketing is a viral marketing technique considered it a marketing gimmick of KKR,
that attempts to make each encounter with a Shahrukh Khan et al. Though he did reveal
consumer appear to be a unique, spontane- his identity in his own cryptic way, the Fake
ous personal exchange of information; instead IPL Player remains anonymous as ever. What-
of a calculated marketing pitch choreo- ever it may be, it has surely taught all estab-
graphed by a professional advertiser. Al- lished and budding marketers a lesson. It‟s
though the concept of Buzz marketing is not not about the big bucks spent on advertising
new, but the way Web 2.0 is used these days, and promotion, but about innovative market-
it has opened up several avenues for the new ing channels and creative strategies. Analyz-
age marketers. Like viruses, such strategies ing the right media channel and the right
take advantage of rapid multiplication to ex- creative message is far more fruitful than
plode the message to thousands, and mil- some elaborate but outdated marketing and
lions. promotion practices.
This was the case with the Fake IPL Player. Welcome to the new „fake‟ world!
The Fake IPL Player didn‟t spend a single
penny. But he reached thousands. Overnight
the blog became the talk of the town. He used Praneet Gourav Mishra is a 2nd Year student at IIM
a simple and free user friendly web resource, Lucknow specializing in Marketing and Finance. He is a
blogs, and spread through word-of-mouth “Mechanical Engineer” from NIT Rourkela and can be reached at
communication. He realized the fact that get- mishra.praneet@gmail.com
ting one interested user (or customer) will
eventually result in several others getting in-
terested in the product. More than 8000 fol-
lowers of the blog stand testimony to this fact.
wholesaler having considerate stocking sales for the company. If there is an appro-
capability and pushing power tends to priate multi tiered promotion mix, the com-
opt more(64.52%) for long term plans pany can effectively achieve its sales targets.
due to extra margins involved. The
same trends follow in various POP To substantiate our proposal, we provide em-
groups. pirical data on the multi tiered promotion
Type of Incentive: It was found that used by Santoor soaps during Jan-March
48.91% of trade prefers assured prizes 2009, in the Andhra Pradesh market
while 51.09% of trade prefers to try
some luck. The similar response was The Santoor Way
from retailers and wholesalers. Looking
at the POP groups, the retailers from Santoor uses multi-tiered trade promotions
lower POP groups (20K-50K) were more with different time duration and promotion
interested (64.70%) in lucky draw. The mix. We will measure the effectiveness by
wholesalers from Metro (62%) and OLP observing the impact of sales. The promotion
(71.42%) were more interested in lucky schemes run by Santoor can be classified as
draw and bumper prizes. in Table 2.
Leanings from the survey –
Secondary Scheme
Preferences of traders for different promo-
tions changes across outlet type and POP
Adding to the regular margins and “primary
groups
schemes” each sales officer has been allotted
Customization of promotion schemes nec- budget of Rs 15 per CFC for the “secondary
essary for effectiveness of the same – a mix of schemes”. The Sales Officer can tailor
price based and gift based promotions to cater schemes on the basis of it. These schemes
to the different needs of different traders are tactical in nature which is used by Sales
officer to meet the sales target. The schemes
Promotion schemes with different time- are QPS (quantity purchased scheme) to give
lines are preferred by different traders due to extra margins and offers for bulk purchase.
their inherent nature (outlet type, planning The trade schemes used during Jan-May
horizon, etc) 2009 were:
Multi tiered promotion refers to promotional Wipro regularly announced long duration (2-
schemes running simultaneously at the same 3 months) trade plan to motivate trade for
time and complementing each other towards bulk purchase. We will discuss Tambola
meeting the sales targets of the company. The scheme (Jan-Mar 2009) for this article, which
different schemes may be price based or gift involved a lucky draw for the prizes (Spark
based, follow different timelines individually Car, Bajaj Motorcycle, Air Conditioner etc).
and complement each other. The offering of
the different schemes is based on the discre- The unique feature, early bird prizes to kick
tion of the Sales Manager – who may focus start the program was valid for a period of
more on a particular kind of scheme for differ- first 21 days. One Early bird Ticket for a
ent traders keeping in mind their preferences. zonal lucky draw was given if the trader ob-
For example – there is a weekly scheme (price tains 50 Tambola tickets. The prizes were
or gift based) running which motivates retail- worth Rs 300 to Rs 6000.
ers to buy higher stocks every week. At the
same time, there is a monthly scheme wherein Effectiveness of the Multi-tiered promotion
the retailer can win a gift on purchases of a mix was reflected in the increased sales dur-
specified number of units or earn a special ing the scheme period of as shown in Table
discount. Now even though initially the re- 4.
tailer may think that the monthly target is be-
yond his reach and may focus on just the
weekly scheme, by the last week of the month
the weekly target achievement would have During the Tambola scheme, the company
brought him within sight of the monthly tar- also ran consumer promotions summarized
get. This position may motivate him to achieve in Table 5.
the monthly target as well, leading to higher
PRICE
The places where the theatre products are Correct segmentation of culture consumer
distributed need good acoustic arrange- for consumption of different forms of art.
ments, lighting facilities and pleasant ambi- Based on the segmentation, the different
ence. Therefore‟ theatre production houses sections of consumers should be targeted
rely heavily on a few select auditoriums. with specific theatre products and posi-
These auditoriums are generally run by gov- tioned in accessible locations.
ernment or small charitable trusts or some
private hospitality organizations. Access to Cultural organizations such as theatre pro-
these places is limited to high end audiences duction houses or Government funded
who have taste for cultural products. The en- theatre schools should diffuse the bound-
during audience for these places is mostly ary between high art and popular art. And
constituted by those who consume high art theatre artist should produce theatre prod-
products and therefore theatre production ucts related to popular art.
houses that produce popular art products ,
stage them in available select places are not Based on the cost of theatrical productions
able to attract mass audience. High art audi- it is quite evident that it will be difficult to
ence does not attend such performances and break even with existing high art audience,
thus creating a losing proposition for theatre therefore theatre production houses shall
production houses. make their products available at accessible
places such as cinema complexes, shop-
ping malls and other community places. Finally, it can be concluded that Indian thea-
Popular art lovers and high art lovers spend tre which exists in various forms in India has
their time in public places such as mall and huge potential. It can be marketed to a mass
cinema complexes. The cultural organiza- audience if proper segmentation of high art
tions should partner with cinema complexes consumers and popular art consumers is
to stage the live performances in such done. Digital marketing strategy coupled
places. The cinema complex owners like Fun with accessible locations for staging live per-
cinemas, PVR, INOX etc should be con- formances will help in attracting large num-
tracted to spare at least one screen for live ber of audience in timely manner and thus
performance and promote theatrical prod- make Indian theatre a commercially viable
ucts in such spaces. business.
Some reasons for Obama‟s success However, Indian politicians too have
were his willingness to experiment not been far behind in their efforts.
with new communication tools and his
understanding of the need for an It was just 5 years back, in the 2004
evolving communication strategy. If general elections, that the internet
President John F. Kennedy pioneered was used for the first time in Indian
the use of speech writers and a shift to politics. It started with the India
television, and President Ronald Shining campaign of the BJP. Nearly
Reagan harnessed the power of televi- 5% of the BJP‟s campaign budget
sion to communicate his messages, was allocated to the e-campaign, for
Barack Obama‟s team can be credited revamping its campaign website,
with pioneering the use of internet, pushing out text messages, pre-
social networking sites and mobile recorded voice clips and emails to its
phones in a political campaign. database of 20 million email users
and 20 million phone users, and offering cam- start the campaign and to register youth
paign-related mobile ringtones for download. party members through the party website.
Though BJP lost the 2004 elections, the ef-
forts can be considered to be successful as it The advantage of these campaigns lies in its
set the stage for the use of advanced technolo- cost-effectiveness. Traditionally, the urban
gies in an election campaign. Since then, the youth have been known to shy away from
demographic profile of India‟s electoral base elections. Now, the politicians have found a
has changed and the usage of technology for way to reach them without stretching their
attracting voters is increasingly being ac- election budgets. Fortunately for them, these
cepted by the masses. methods are slowly finding more acceptances
from people who represent different walks of
This time around, a number of politicians life.
have launched their own websites. The list
includes prominent politicians such as L K The youth leaders can convey their messages
Advani (lkadvani.in) to lesser known names to a larger section of the masses and attract
such as Vijay Kumar Malhotra (http:// more audiences through social networking
vkmalhotra.in/) and Mr. Ananth Kumar sites, internet sites and blogs. In the Indian
(http://ananth.org/). According to the BJP, context, the usage of internet kiosks can be
LK Advani‟s website has become very popular made more effective, by having a vernacular
and receives over 250,000 hits per day. Ad- medium of interaction and training programs
vani is also on Facebook, Orkut and YouTube, can be conducted for the people who haven‟t
while his colleague and Gujarat chief minister accessed the internet before. Sites similar to
Narendra Modi, uses tools such as podcasts, „MyBarackObama.com‟, can be used to main-
Twitter, Google SMS and widgets. Indian Na- tain a rapport with undecided voters. Also,
tional Congress‟ youth wing leader, Rahul given the increase in the number of bloggers
Gandhi, has over 3,000 supporters on Face- in India, the opinion of citizen journalists
book. The Advani@Campus initiative seeks to about the party can help increase the num-
build a grassroots volunteer campaign “to con- ber of volunteers, as more people would read
tact and mobilize young voters in thousands and be influenced by microblogs.
of college campuses across the country”
FUND RAISING
The leftist Communist Party of India (Marxist)
is not too far behind either. Though the politi- Traditionally, fundraising for elections has
cal party does not favor digital technologies majorly relied on industrialists and lobbyists.
(since it replaces human labor), it has shown This applies both in the US and Indian con-
a clear preference for cyberspace-enabled texts. Take for example, George Bush‟s fund
propaganda (vote.cpim.org) for their election raising campaign for the American presiden-
strategy of 2009. The CPI(M) has even admit- tial election in 2000. He successfully created
ted that since 54% of the Indian voters are a muscular network of „bundlers‟ (designated
youngsters, the internet may be the best me- by him as „Pioneers‟ and „Rangers‟), each of
dium for reaching out to them. Parties have whom committed to bring in $100,000,
even gone to the extent of wooing those not $200,000, or more from friends and associ-
residing in India, such as the website created ates. These bundlers were typically high-
by the Telugu Desam Party (http:// powered CEOs and lobbyists.
www.tdpuk.com) for U.K. based non-resident
Indians. The Indian context is not very different. Apart
from the significant portion of funding that
Indian National Congress has taken a step comes through black money, a huge share
ahead of just promoting the party and has comes from formal business funding. In fact,
chosen to project India as one of the most
the recent tax exemption to the corporate sec-
technologically advanced nations. Through its
tor for political funding is expected to signifi-
Jai Ho video campaign, based on a song taken
from the much acclaimed film “Slumdog Mil- cantly raise the contribution from this sector
lionaire”, Congress has shown the way to go and bring about higher transparency. In the
for election campaigns in India. In terms of recent parliamentary elections, the major
using technology as a means of garnering vol- backers of the Congress party were the
unteer support in India, the Congress party, Aditya Birla group and the Tatas, while the
during the most recent election, had set up 50 BJP received substantial funding from the
internet kiosks in the State of Gujarat, to kick Sterlite group of Anil Agarwal and the
Gujarat-based Adanis. In fact during the period Obama could have attacked the incumbent
of 2003-07, the two parties raised close to Rs. government, he did not take up a negative
53 crores through such sources. In this context, campaign dwelling on just the opposition.
Obama‟s fund-raising strategy stands quite Rather, policy details on how to achieve the
unique. Almost half of Obama's unprecedented change he sought to deliver formed the major
$639 million in funds raised from individuals focus of his campaign. However, he did not fall
came from small donors giving $300 or less. shy of attacking the incumbency and the op-
position when it was needed.
The role of internet in Obama‟s fundraising can-
not be overemphasized. The internet provided a
Consistency in message also played an impor-
quick, cheap and far less intimidating way of
tant part in the success of Obama‟s campaign.
fund raising for political novices as compared to
This consistency was manifested across the
getting big cheques written. Notably, some of
various platforms of message delivery –
Obama‟s campaign groups had set up systems
speeches, debates, infomercials, and blogs.
by which donors could have their credit cards
Through this lesson in successful integrated
billed automatically in easy-to-budget monthly
marketing, he was able to achieve coherence
amounts of as little as $20. The significance of
in the minds of the public. In fact, marketing
Obama‟s viral fund raising wasn't just in driving
strategist David Meerman Scott recalls asking
up dollar totals. It is widely accepted that such
a group of 300 people in Riyadh to think about
a personal approach in massive fund-raising
the one word that that they felt the Obama
resulted in millions of donors feeling personally
campaign stood for. The unanimous response
connected to Obama. They later turned into
from everyone was „CHANGE‟. Had that exer-
door knockers and phone bankers to support
cise been repeated for John McCain, Hillary
his campaign.
Clinton, John Edwards, and Mitt Romney, it is
fair to say that people would have had a hard
There are very good lessons for Indian politi-
time figuring out a word, let alone the word
cians in Obama‟s massive viral fund raising.
being the same. Even supposedly smaller as-
There is a huge section of the Indian middle
pects of the campaign such as the logo (shown
class that keeps itself aloof to politics. If our
in Exhibit 1 below) were used to communicate
politicians are able to tap in to this segment,
the same message to the public: the „O‟ stand-
even funds of the order of Rs. 20 - 50 per
ing for Obama, the blue and red colors used to
household would result in a huge fund due to
represent the US flag, the red stripes indicat-
the sheer size of this electorate. But here we
ing farmlands, and the O‟s whitespace symbol-
also need to pay specific attention to the Indian
izing the sun shining over the plains evoking
context. Unlike the US, internet penetration is
sunrise. On the other hand, as can be ob-
quite low in India. So the parties need to think
served, there is very little symbolism present
of other cost-effective means of fund raising.
in the other candidates‟ logos.
Mobile phones, with their rapidly growing pene-
tration among the Indian middle-class, can be a
On the contrary, in India, we find that there is
good option. Political parties can probably enter
both a lack of content and inconsistency in
into agreements with mobile service providers
the messages communicated by most political
and raise funds through premium rate SMSes
parties. However, there is no dearth of vague
(the way reality television programs make peo-
symbolism attempting to bring together citi-
ple send premium rate SMSs to express their
zens and communities of diverse characteris-
support to specific candidates in the show).
tics under a common umbrella. Consider the
example of the BJP, whose purported aim is to
MESSAGE STRATEGY
bring in Ram Rajya (Rule of Ram). While such
a concept draws upon mythology and people‟s
There are two main parts to the success of beliefs bringing to their mind some kind of a
Obama‟s message communication strategy. One vision of an idealist society, it does not really
is the content of the message and the other is say anything about the policies to be adopted
the consistency of its delivery. The content of by the party in any domain such as education
Obama‟s message was one of hope, change, and or foreign policy. On the other hand, the Con-
gress‟ choice of the Aam Admi (Common Man)
inclusion – ideas that resonated with the major-
appears to be more appealing and in tune with
ity of Americans reeling under a crisis of confi- how a vast majority of the voters perceive
dence both in the economy and in the nation‟s themselves. Consistency in the message con-
identity in terms of its foreign policy. In spite of veyed at the national level is something that is
the fact that there were lots of issues where seriously lacking. With the necessities of coali-
tion politics and rise of regional players, a
party‟s message and what it stands for often Thirteen amazing facts about Google
gets lost in the scramble for power. This was
witnessed during the run-up to the 2009 Google receives daily search requests from all over
election results as each party, from small to the world, including Antarctica.
the large, „kept their options open‟. As Shek-
har Gupta puts it, we have entered an age of
Google’s Home Page Has 63 Validation Errors.
ideological fungibility. While it is not fair to
Don’t believe us? Check Google Validation
criticize this and probably irrelevant to com-
pare with the Obama campaign (very differ-
ent political systems and socio-economic The infamous “I’m feeling lucky” button is nearly
structures), it does appear probable that the never used. However, in trials it was found that
confusing messages and inconsistency be- removing it would somehow reduce the Google
tween what is conveyed and what is done to experience. Users wanted it kept. It was a comfort
take advantage of short-term benefits will button.
only result in diluting and alienating the
supporter base of a party and erode its Due to the sparseness of the homepage, in early
brand value. user tests they noted people just sitting looking at
the screen. After a minute of nothingness, the
The marketing story of the Obama campaign tester intervened and asked ‘What’s up?’ to which
as well as those of the other aspiring politi- they replied “We are waiting for the rest of it”. To
cians in India and the United States can be solve that particular problem the Google Copyright
considered to be immensely successful, irre- message was inserted to act as a crude end of page
spective of them winning or losing. This is marker.
because of the increasing application of
technology and marketing concepts in a field The name ‘Google’ was an accident. A spelling mis-
like politics, which has a lower preference take made by the original founders who thought
among the MBA graduates, at least in India. they were going for ‘Googol’.
However, there is still a long way to go be-
fore we can start talking about having
Google has the largest network of translators in the
branded politicians and parties which com-
world.
mand a huge brand value!!
Abhilash Sridharan is a 2nd year PGP student at IIM Ban- Employees are encouraged to use 20% of their time
galore. He holds a Bachelors degree in Metallurgical Engineering working on their own projects. Google News, Orkut
are both examples of projects that grew from this
from IT-BHU Varanasi and can be reached at ab-
working model. Google consists of over 450,000
hilashsr08@iimb.ernet.in.
servers, racked up in clusters located in data cen-
tres around the world.
Arun Manohar is a 2nd year PGP student at IIM Bangalore.
He holds a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Google started in January, 1996 as a research pro-
Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and can be reached at ject at Stanford University, by Ph.D. candidates
arun.manohar08@iimb.ernet.in. Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were 24
years old and 23 years old respectively.
Venkatasubramanian S is a 2nd year PGP student at IIM
Bangalore. He holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from ‘Googol’ is a mathematical term 1 followed by one
CEG, Anna University and can be reached at hundred zeroes. The term was coined by Milton
venkatas08@iimb.ernet.in. Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Ed-
ward Kasne.
Vivek R is a 2nd year PGP student at IIM Bangalore. He holds
a Bachelors degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering Number of languages in which you can have the
from College of Engineering, Anna University and can be reached Google home page set up, including Urdu, Latin and
at vivekr08@iimb.ernet.in. Klingon: 88 (Eighty Eight)
The need to provide students with a cause/ ting by sales representatives and agents,
motivation to join college ABC instead of scholarships & use of alumni. Amidst all
the competitor‟s XYZ was what propelled the this little or no attention was paid to the
education sector to turn towards big time quality of infrastructure inline with the need
advertisement in electronic, print and other of international students in the home uni-
modes of mass media. And now, education versity. However, this approach is now fac-
is a global product with institutions world- ing many problems, some of which include
wide competing for students and finding increased competition from the national (&
ever more creative ways to satisfy student not only international players) and a focus
needs and preferences. With the continuing on the students‟ demands with increasingly
rise in the preference for flexible distance available choices and information. Hence, to
learning, educational institutions are finding change this we require a resource demand-
that when students and faculty have signifi- ing transformation process. The foreign uni-
cantly different cultural backgrounds and versities need to rethink their strategies
learning styles, the expectations of the and invest in quality infrastructure, staff
learning experience can be unfulfilled. and facilities. Also, with an increasing num-
ber of international universities offering
But when you see education as an industry, similar courses at similar prices at multiple
the main questions that come up are: - locations, the threat of commoditization of
education looms large. The pertinent ques-
„How far are educational institutions really tion which the foreign universities must ask
“customer-oriented”? themselves is “can they differentiate them-
selves on the student experience instead of
Do they choose the most appropriate market
qualification?” The answers to all these
segments for their organization‟s strengths?
questions have been found out by the for-
Is there consistency between the segments eign universities in the following ways: -
targeted and their product offerings?
Going alone is becoming increasingly
How far are they aware of the complexities of difficult so renewed focus on partner-
the decision processes of the “buyers”? ships and collaborations
Put another way, if such an initiative is not source comes to the fore, as a point for poten-
backed with the requisite supply chain and tial differentiation: the people in the firm.
sourcing efficiencies, it won‟t be long before Thus, it may be seen, that often it is the firm’s
the firm starts to bleed. And to make mat-
ters worse, other more lean competitors
human resources that form the core of its mar-
could then launch a similar programme, keting strategy, highlighting how the people
only more aggressively and credibly posi- contribute to adding unique value to the
tioned to deliver.
particular firm. Examples of this strategy
To take the previous example one level abound, from Intel‟s “Superstars”, to
higher, there might be a phase where all in- Google‟s famed “20% time” policy. And with
dustry players are more or less in similar this, strategically aligned HR processes en-
phases of maturity and efficiency. In such a ter the fray for sources of sustainable com-
case, a soundly backed discount sale initia- petitive advantage.
tive would be easily replicable, and this
could over time lead to a flood of such offer- Thus, to conclude, one may note that dis-
ings, and even to the consumer growing in- ruptive innovations by themselves, devel-
creasingly indifferent to them. When such a oped on an unsustainable model can never
stage is reached, it is the beginning of the be of use to a firm. On the contrary, such an
end of the value for what had once been a effort shall more often than not end up be-
unique innovation; the commoditization has ing in the firm‟s detriment. Further, such
kicked in. endeavors must be based on fundamentals
that are intrinsically hard to replicate for
others. Finally, the marketing strategies
should be designed in a way that does not
Thus, to counter the forces that lead to a conflict with the image of the firm, and if it
collective exploitation of an idea that an en- is aimed at a repositioning, then it needs to
terprising firm brings to the market, the firm be adequately armed.
in question must ensure that there is more
going for it than just the “first-mover‟s ad-
vantage”. That is, the innovation must be
rooted in something that is quintessential to Anand Justin Cherian is a 2nd year student of IIM Cal-
the firm, like its unique work culture, lead- cutta, specializing in Behavioral Sciences and Systems. He holds a
ership vision or even something more tangi- Bachelors degree in Information Technology Engineering from
Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology. In his free time, he likes
ble like restricted access to sources/
blogging, painting and photography. He can be reached at an-
suppliers. Further, it must be noted that if
andj2010@email.iimcal.ac.in.
such a commoditization were to indeed take
place, then it is not only a loss for the firm
that introduced the concept, but more sig-
nificantly it is an opportunity lost for the Varun is a 2nd year student of IIM Calcutta, specializing in
industry as a whole. And the solution to this Marketing. He holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineer-
problem is not to form a cartel and fleece ing from Delhi college of Engineering. Prior to joining IIM Cal-
the pennies out of a society slowly starting cutta he has worked with IBM and Royal Bank of Scotland, for
to walk on its aspiring, middle class feet; a total of 3 years. He can be reached at va-
rather, firms would need to constantly inno- run2010@email.iimcal.ac.in.
vate in a manner that accords to each one of
them a niche pocket through which to grow,
overlap and compete. With time, consolida-
Sarang Shahane is a 2nd year student of IIM Calcutta, spe-
tion is inevitable in a fragmented industry,
cializing in Marketing and Finance. He holds a Bachelors degree
and in the case of one that is concentrated, in Information Technology Engineering from NIT Durgapur.
one can then look forward to epic marketing Prior to joining IIM Calcutta he has worked with Amdocs Ltd
battles, a la the Cola wars. In either case, for nearly 2 years. He can be reached at
firms would be required to dig deep and sarangs2010@email.iimcal.ac.in.
come up with some one thing that is unique
in them.
coming to know of the deal. Also, by knowing the urgency of the situation and more information
than competing broker, one can get a better deal covenants, spread positive reviews of the clients
and enhance or tarnish their image.
Employing these three strategies can consistently get you deals and clients in this market and
help you become a successful securities salesperson.
Siddharth Chaudhari is a 2nd year PGP student at IIM Ahmedabad. He holds a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT,
Bombay and can be reached at 8chaudharis@iimahd.ernet.in
QUIZ ANYONE??
1. Geophysical Services Incorporated (GSI) a pioneering provider of seismic exploration services to the petroleum
industry during and after World war II, made a foray into electronics and designed products for the US army and
navy. How is the company today better known as?
2. Karl Elsener, the founder, started this company to create work in the sparsely industrialized central Switzerland. In
1897 the product was created and legally registered in the small village of Ibach. Since that time it has become well
-known in more than 100 countries for precision, quality, functionality and versatility. Name the product and com-
pany.
3. Living in the crowded streets of Old Delhi, Davinder Kumar Jain, understood the potential of the pen manufacturing
way back in the early 1960s. At the age of just 19, DK started producing fountain pens, a writing instrument that
deeply fascinated him, thus laying the foundation of the largest manufacturer of writing instruments in India. Iden-
tify the company/brand.
4. Originally called New Lord & Company, this company was born as a small tailoring shop in the year 1947. A couple
of years later, it was bought over by Mr Arjan Daswani. Under the aegis of Daswani, the company transformed it-
self into a mega shirt store. Today, it’s one of the established names in the Indian fashion industry and claims for
bringing international acclaim to Indian tailor craftsmanship. Which brand/company is being talked about?
5. The enterprise could be considered to have started in 1901 when William aged 21,drew up plans for a small engine
that displaced 7.07 cubic inches and had four-inch flywheels. The engine was designed for use in a regular pedal-
bicycle frame. Over the next two years William and his friend Arthur labored on their little bicycle. What company
was founded by William and Arthur?
6. This company, originally known as Standard Oil of California, or Socal, and was formed amid the antitrust breakup
of Standard Oil in 1911. It was one of the "Seven Sisters" that dominated the world oil industry during the early
20th century. It is now one of the world’s six ‘supermajor’ oil companies and the largest producer of geothermal
energy in the world.
7. The way in which Frank Robinson wrote the name of a product was so elegant and original, it was decided to use
his handwriting for the logo of the product. Name the product that even today uses Robinson’s script as its trade-
mark.
8. After serving in the subscription department and as a copywriter for Esquire, he left in January 1952 after being
denied a $5 raise. Took his biggest gamble in 1953 by raising $8,000 to launch his business venture. Made an ap-
pearance on a popular TV series. Has a species of rabbit named after him and is known as one of the world’s best-
known womanizers.
9. Born on June 7, 1975, she did her schooling from Bombay Scottish School and later on joined Mithibai College. She
was not interested in academics and ventured into television at the age of 19. Soon changed the face of Indian tele-
vision industry and completely dominated it. Awarded with Ernst & Young (E&Y) Startup Entrepreneur Of The Year
award in 2001.
Answers
1. Texas Instruments; 2. Victorinox (Original Swiss Knife); 3. Luxar Pens; 4. Chirag Din; 5. Harley Davidson Motor Cycles; 6. Chevron;
7. Coca Cola; 8. Hugh Hefner; 9. Ekta Kapoor
Marketing Gyan!!
Valuation of an ad deal
A television channel has an estimate of the ad Canned beer was first introduced in 1933,
inventory that it wants to sell in a year (or in New Jersey.
more). This ad inventory refers to the total ad
time it can sell, say 10000 hours in a year. The The types of horses that have been utilized
channel sells a portion of this inventory to ad- to name Ford automobile products are
vertisers in long-term deals of 1 year (3 year Bronco, Mustang, Pinto, and Maverick.
deals are less common). The channel promises
the advertiser a specific number of GRPs that it The first supermarket was located on Long
will deliver during that one year and the adver- Island, Jamaica Station, New York. The King
tiser is charged a price for these GRPs. Kullen Store was a product of the Great De-
pression era and supermarkets have evolved
Value of the deal= CPRP X GRPs X total
tremendously. The products were set out on
number of slots
pine boards resting on boxes.
Each of these slots is of 10 seconds. The issues
that form the focus of the negotiations are the McDonald's first restaurant was located in
number of GRPs and the CPRP. If the slots sold Des Plaines, Illinois. It opened on April 15,
by the TV channel fail to provide the promised 1955.
GRPs, the TV channel compensates by giving
the advertiser bonus time, i.e. ad slots free of Drive-through service was initiated in
cost. If instead, more than the promised GRPs McDonald's stores in 1975. Today, it is fea-
are delivered, the advertiser would have to pay tured at almost every unit that also has
some extra for the extra GRPs. These details are parking.
thrashed out in intense negotiations between
channels and advertisers. The first television commercial appeared on
Calculating CPT July 6, 1941. It was a commercial for Bulova
watches.
The cost per thousand impressions is an indi-
cator of the absolute reach of the TV medium. It The Romans had a goddess, Juno Moneta,
is calculated as follows: who was the goddess of Warning. She
CPT= total value of the deal/ number of peo- warned the Romans of dangers. The Romans
ple reached (in thousands) were so appreciative that they set up a mint
in her temple. The name Moneta in the old
Since 1 TRP means that 1% of the target audi- French language was "moneie" which even-
ence is reached, the total number of people tually became our word for money.
reached can be found out using the universe
size. McDonald brothers' names are Maurice and
Number of people reached= TRPs X universe Richard. They owned a drive-in restaurant
size in San Bernardino, California.
What’s the right metric- CPRP or CPT? Nike was the ancient Greek goddess of vic-
It depends on whose point of view we consider. tory.
Most deals today are done using CPRP as the
measurement metric. TV channels claim that Dilated pupils are a good indicator of excite-
this system of valuation is unfair since CPRP is ment. When training salespeople they can
based on rating points, which indicate only per- be taught to use indicators of product inter-
centages of the target audience reached. Con- est by looking at their customers pupils.
sidering that the target audience watching
these channels is increasing in absolute terms, B.M.W stands for "Bayerische Motor Werke”
more people have to be reached by the TV chan-
nels to get the same TRPs. TV channels are
thus demanding a shift to using CPT in negoti- 7 Up was invented by C.L. Grigg and was
ating ad deals with advertisers. named as „7 Up‟ since it contains '7 natural
flavors' and carbonation.
2. Center shock
Before the launch of Center As a result of the campaign, 19
Shock, the confectionery market districts reported over 50% booth
in India was on the road to de- coverage after February round; 2.8
cline. Within the confectionery million children were immunized in
market , the chewing gum seg- January and additional 6 million in
ment was showing a 23 % decline. February, as compared to Novem-
(AC Niel- ber 2002 round. Over 90% respon-
sen Re- dents reported that the Amitabh
port). Un- spots were a major influence in
der these motivating them to come to the
circum- booth.
stances
Perfetti
India Ltd. 4. Sprite
decided to launch a product that The clear lime drink Sprite stands
would "shake up the market". for honesty, confidence and sim-
plicity. They needed to connect
with the teen and make the brand
The most startling facet of the aspirational. This was done by po-
product, Center Shock, is its sour sitioning Sprite as the No Pretence
taste…in fact, sour beyond excep- drink - clear, honest and straight
tional. So much so that it shakes up - what you saw was what you
you up. The creative challenge was got. The tongue-in-cheek campaign
not just to communicate this in a helped the brand grow by 62% dur-
manner that establishes this be- ing the campaign period.
yond doubt for the young audience,
but also to make it memorable.
And above all, shake them up. The
central thought of the campaign,
"shakes you up", was taken for-
ward in on-ground promotions and
media innovations. As a result of
this campaign, Center Shock went
from being a "no brand" to the No.1
brand in the chewing gum category
With over 100 million unique URLs book- that some websites run through email data-
marked and 3 million registered users, sites bases available.
like Delicious are routing substantial number
Rediff.com chose television over inter-
net to advertise its repositioning strategy.
While the wisdom behind ignoring the offline
marketing is debatable; offline advertising is
indispensable for many sites. “Many low cost
untraditional options are now available for
offline marketing. Credit card bills, electricity
bills, bus tickets are being used to reach the
customer. It is important to define your target
customers and target only those who match
your target spending and age levels” says
Prashanth, Ogilvy. Redbus.in struck a win-
win deal when it started advertising on credit
card bills. Advertising space is also available
on buses, auto rickshaws, subway stations
etc. For a company like Inkfruit, which gets
most of its revenues through offline sales, ad-
vertising offline is extremely important. 45% of
traffic to Inkfruit is direct (users type the URL
of the website) and majority of this is contrib-
uted by offline marketing. The offline options
include promoting in malls or shopping com-
plexes where Inkfruit products are sold. If the
Figure 1: Contest of Inkfruit featured in a blog (Jain) segmentation is geographical in nature one
can take advantage of the Direct Post facility
of users to different websites. However, the of India Post that allows businesses to send
traffic from these sites to the Indian websites mails to a certain pin code location at Rs 1.50
is negligible. Manu Avinash of Careers-
India.com says “The social bookmarking sites
have huge potential and of late we are getting
some traffic from these sites”.
The extent that the media covers you also of importance” says Noel Manoj of BankBa-
depends on who you have for backing. zaar.
“Selecting the right seed fund to promote
and finance your company is a vital task. While all the strategies discussed so far are
Right people can get you good PR and give facilitators for directing the customer to the
you invaluable mentorship. That‟s what site, at the heart of the acquisition process
TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) did for Red- is the product. Conversion of a casual visit
Bus” according to Prashanth from Ogilvy. to a desired action (sale, registration,
Sasikanth Chemalamudi, founder of Hab- spending quality time etc) happens only if
its.in says “Having a very strong and close the product that you offer is likeable and
knit alumni network (of his Alma matter creates value to the customer. Customer
BITS Pilani) has helped Habits to increase loyalty on the other hand depends largely
its awareness”. Technology intensive B2C on the service component. Nothing drives
or B2B products require lot of offline mar- your customer off to the competitors like
keting in India, whereas in the US, the us- bad service does. Bad service coupled with
ers being aware of such products, online good advertising may help build the cate-
marketing works effectively. For example, gory and help the competitor prosper at
ISchnell is using only offline marketing to your advertising expense.
sell its product in India but for US & China
they are relying on online marketing.
Pradeep P N is a 2nd year student of IIM Lucknow, spe-
cializing in Marketing and Finance. He holds a Bachelors
Mobile marketing, which is in a nascent degree in Computer Science from BITS Pilani. Prior to joining
stage now, can drive the future of advertis- IIM Lucknow he has worked with Juniper Networks India for
ing. BSNL has already started wooing cus- around two years. He can be reached at pradeeppn@iiml.ac.in
tomers to opt in for promotional messages
on their mobile in return for free call time.
With the advent of Blyk, the UK based Sarat Chand is a 2nd year student of IIM Lucknow, spe-
company which has pioneered the model, cializing in Marketing and Finance. He holds a Bachelors
in India it only means more advertising degree in Computer Science & Engineering from Osmania
over the phone. “Mobile is a major channel University. Prior to joining IIM Lucknow he has worked with
in India as more users go online on a mo- Cognizant Technology Solutions & Satyam Computer Services
bile than a computer for the first time. Ltd. for around six years. He can be reached at
Hence mobile applications will add of a lot pgp24058@iiml.ac.in
As India Inc expressed investment plans in Ra- These are not mere facts but simply highlight the
jasthan, the state registered a major jump by advantage and competitive edge Gujarat had over
245.84 per cent during October-December 2008- its rivals being a “first mover”. The idea has lived
09 as compared to the corresponding period of since Gujarat with all states ready to shell out
the last year (2007-08). The next big investment millions even at times of global economic slow-
destinations also witnessed major shift as sec- down to gain a facelift which would showcase
ond place was occupied by Madhya Pradesh as themselves to the world. Adman Prahlad Kakkar
compared to the sixth place last year. Orissa acknowledges the fact as he underlines the fact
maintained its place at the top slot carving third that quite a few advertising agencies and Brand
position. The secret of the success was not to be management companies have been making big
found in JK Rowling‟s quiver but in simple mar- bucks owing to this “branding-boom” in India.
keting logic, innovation is the key to survival.
“Branding of states and nurturing and positioning
Brand positioning has been important as every of the brands is here to stay and is more than a
state has hired the best corporate houses to sell passing fad,” says business baron Vijay Mallya
their state to the world as an investor‟s dream. who himself has been an active player in the re-
The state of Gujarat was perhaps the first to hit branding of Karnataka as a state which was more
the ground running as they launched than India‟s silicon valley.
www.supportgujarat .com a website featuring a The stage has been set, the world is now watching
plethora of advertisements and support data ………………………. And the states of India are
highlighting the advantages of investing in Guja- ready to stand up and be “AD”ed
rat.
Sanglap Banerjee is a first year PGDM student in IIM Calcutta,he
Over 60 Accolades and Awards for Gujarat under holds a Btech degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from
Narender Modi from International and National National Institute of Technology Bhopal, and can be reached at
Organizations for Best Investment Environment sanglapb2011@email.iimcal.ac.in
to Best Sanitation, for Innovations in Govern-
Mega Investment Proposed ( Source: IPICOL, Government of Orissa )
Proposed Pro-
Company Location Cost(Rs Million)
ject
Consolidated Electric Power Power Jharsuguda 160000
Larsen & Toubro Ltd Steel Gopalpur 70000
TATA Steel Steel Gopalpur 65000
Ganapati Exports Ltd Steel Duburi 60000
Hindalco Industries Ltd Aluminium Kalahandi 50000
Indian Oil Company Oil Refinery Paradeep 50000
Nippon Oil Company Oil Refinery Paradeep 50000
MESCO Steel Duburi 42690
Oswal Agro Ltd Fertilizer Paradeep 42200
Utkal Alumina Aluminium Rayagada 30000
Ashok Leyland Oil Refinery Haridaspur 24000
Consolidated Electric Power Power Ib Valley 20750
Neeleachal IspatNigam Limited Steel Duburi 15250
Indian Seamless And Alloys Limited Steel Duburi 13770
Orind Steels Ltd Cold Rolled Steel Duburi 11500
When Philips came up with CFL mental impact of products they buy.
(Compact Fluorescent Lights) Of these 50% of the respondents are
“Marathon” in 2000, the product was willing to pay premium for eco-
immediately a hit even though it was friendly goods. Organizations in de-
charged at a price of $20 against veloped countries have widely
$0.75 for regular incandescent adopted Green Marketing practices,
bulbs. While many media reports while consumer trends show that
accredited the eco-friendliness of this developing nations such as India and
product (“Green Marketing”) as the Brazil are not far behind. A study by
reason behind its success, we believe Jain and Kaur (2004) has shown
that the benefits offered by the prod- that though consumers are not fully
uct in terms of saving power in the aware of environmental issues, they
long run, capability of lasting for 5 are willing to prefer and pay more for
Dwindling natural resources years and the trust in the brand products that are certified to be envi-
and global warming have Phillips were the reasons for its suc- ronmentally friendly. So how have
led many companies to cess. The article attempts to explain organizations exploited this wave of
innovate products that are consumer‟s behavior in terms of pref- environmental concern amongst con-
eco-friendly. Marketers erence and willingness to pay more sumers?
have mixed results about for green products.
the success of such green
products. We referred to Going Green
several books, online
Often green strategies are de-
articles and research papers
signed not only for environmental
to understand the mistakes
made by marketers and to benefits but also for the benefit of
understand the consumer’s the organization. We believe that
attitude towards green strategies which benefit the environ-
products. We concluded ment as well as the organization may
that eco-friendliness has in fact help the cause, since they
varying influence on the would be more sustainable when
consumer’s preference for compared to pure philanthropic ini-
green products. While eco- tiatives, otherwise termed as Corpo-
friendliness can influence
rate Social Responsibility (CSR). The
consumer’s purchase
benefits of environmentally friendly
decision for a low
During our research, we strategies for the organization can be
involvement product, it
won’t be sufficient to found that consumers behave differ- broadly classified as:
persuade consumer to buy a ently for the products that require
Increasing profitability by com-
high involvement product. different levels of involvement. Before
we explain this further, we must in- manding a higher price for envi-
Understanding consumer ronmentally friendly products
behavior towards different troduce the term “Green Marketing”.
categories of green products American Marketing Association de- Differentiating products based on
can help marketers innovate fines Green Marketing as the mar- environmentally-friendly attrib-
the right products and keting of products that are presumed utes
develop effective to be environmentally safe. Green
communication strategies. Marketing incorporates a broad Increasing market share by de-
range of activities including product veloping preference for environ-
modification, changes to the produc- ment friendly products through
tion process, packaging changes as advertising
well as modifying advertising. Other Building corporate brand image
terms for green marketing are eco- by associating with environment
logical marketing and environmental friendly practices and products
marketing.
Marketers have had mixed results
while implementing eco-friendly
Studies in the US (Cramer, strategies. While there have been
1991) show that over 90% Americans huge successes such as the Toyota
are concerned about the environ- Prius and Philps CFL, there have
also been innumerable failures that
have disappeared into the oblivion. tural and personality variables. The most use-
ful classification in the Indian context was
found to be based on three parameters: con-
Green Marketing Myopia cern for the environment, awareness of envi-
ronmental issues and environmentally-
Many marketers get obsessed to de-
friendly behavior (Jain and Kaur, 2004). The
velop number of product features rather than
key findings of this study show that though
meeting customer needs, the condition
Indians lack sufficient knowledge about envi-
termed as “Marketing Myopia” by Theodere
ronmental issues, there is a generally high
Levitt(1960). Jacquelyn and Edwin(2006)
concern for the environment and most sur-
build on this further to explain “Green Mar-
prisingly, Indian consumers score very high
keting Myopia”. They suggest that Green Mar-
on environmentally friendly behavior, espe-
keting must focus on two objectives: improved
cially with respect to conservation of re-
environmental quality and customer satisfac-
sources (saving water, oil, etc.) and purchase
tion. Misjudging or overemphasizing one at
decisions (buying greener products).
the cost of the other can lead to Green Mar-
keting Myopia. Such myopia can occur when
products fail to provide credible environ-
The most important benefit that indi-
mental benefits. Introduced in 1989, pack-
viduals seek from environmentally responsi-
ages for Mobil's Hefty photodegradable trash
ble behavior is the desire to act in an environ-
bags prominently displayed the term
mentally responsible manner. The attitudes
"degradable" with the explanation that a spe-
that drive this need, resulting in purchase
cial ingredient promoted its decomposition
behavior can be broadly classified as cognitive
into harmless particles in landfills "activated
and emotional. “Environmental conscious-
by exposure to the elements" such as sun and
ness” corresponds to the cognitive dimension
rain. Because most garbage is buried in land-
of environmental attitudes, and
fills, allowing limited exposure to the ele-
“Environmental Concern” refers to the emo-
ments, the claim enraged environmentalists.
tional dispositions as individual indignation
Ultimately, seven state attorneys general sued
about the destruction of nature (Hartmann
Mobil on charges of deceptive advertising and
and Ibanez, 2006). Based on these needs and
consumer fraud, and the company withdrew
segmentation, we analyze how green market-
the product from the market.
ing can be effectively used to influence the
purchase behavior of consumers for different
types of products.
To help marketers maximize the effec-
tiveness of green marketing strategies, we ex-
plain below how consumer behavior theories
Products (and services) can be broadly
can be utilized.
classified as high and low involvement for
Understanding the Consumer Behavior of analyzing the consumer purchase behavior.
Green Marketing Since the purchase behavior is totally differ-
ent for these two types of products, the impli-
Though there are a lot of esoteric mod-
cations of green marketing can be different for
els explaining why or why not does green
these two types of products, which we bring
marketing work for different products and
out in the following sections.
consumers, we found that basic consumer
behavior theories can be easily applied to ex-
plain the effectiveness of green marketing in
High Involvement Products
different scenarios.
Any product that is perceived as ex-
pensive, risky or has emotional value at-
Before getting into theory, a primary tached to it is considered as high involvement
question that arises is how do consumers product. The benefits sought from high in-
benefit from purchasing and using environ- volvement products such as TV, cars, etc. are
mentally-friendly products? Do all people very different from that of low involvement
have the same attitude towards the environ- products such as toothpaste, soap or paper
ment? napkins. While customers may purchase a
eco-friendly low involvement product for the
benefit of environment even if the price is
In the field of green marketing, differ- marginally higher, they will not purchase high
ent studies have classified consumers based involvement green product for it just being
on different demographic, psychographic, cul- eco-friendly. They will weigh attributes such
them through the door, they are very loyal. has taken place in the market. HUL‟s Fair &
Far more loyal than women.” So much for Lovely, launched in 1975 and initially tar-
men being unfaithful. Though the Fair & geted at women, also came up with Fair &
Handsome ad evoked more than its fair share Lovely Menz Activ. And why not? The Indian
of snide remarks and jokes, it seems that male grooming segment is valued at Rs 750
Emami had done their homework. A study crore and growing at a pace of 20%, faster
conducted by Emami Industries in the early than the global cosmetics market which is
2000s showed that 29% of the users of fair- hopping along at 18%. Shahrukh sure knew
ness creams were men! I wonder how those what he was getting into when..well..when he
29% men managed to buy Fair & Lovely. got into that bath tub in the Lux ad.
Probably they took as much courage as buy-
ing that, than any other only-for-men latex
products. Companies nowadays have gone Men have come of age. And know which
beyond mere re-branding of their products. As creams to buy to beat it as well. We might
it turns out, we have different skin than stand confused in the cosmetics segment of
women. Hence, new products exclusively for malls trying to decide which cream to buy.
men are hitting the shelves. But the fact that we are standing there, ac-
tively deciding for ourselves and not pretend-
ing that the moisturizer is for our better
In fact, biggies like Nivea, L‟Oreal and Dabur halves is a sign of the changing times. But
are all expanding their businesses in the why did we decide to take all that pain in the
men‟s cosmetics segment. Nivea is focusing first place? Well, I believe Garnier said it best
on its „Nivea for men‟ and L‟Oreal has the – „Because I am worth it.‟
„Powerlight‟ range of cosmetics to pamper
men.
Ayan Ghosh is a 2nd year student at IIM Lucknow. He holds a
Bachelors Degree from National Institute of Technology, Surat and
The fact that L‟Oreal used John Abraham, can be reached at pgp24125@iiml.ac.in
who no one in their right mind would term
feminine, shows the transformation which