Amazon @ Seamless Innovation

Amazon’s Octocopter project swept many people e off their feet. It looked like future had arrived. Whether the project and idea is safe and more importantly legal in countries where Amazon would want to take this concept is a topic for a different day, but how revolutionary the idea is in terms of exceeding customer expectations in terms of delivery and service, we will take that into consideration for now. 

   

Marketing is not just about building a brand. It is also about creating a brand promise, communicating this promise to customers and most importantly, fulfilling that promise, time and over again.At a time when there is intense competition between companies to grab a share of consumer consumption, arriving at a brand promise and consistently delivering it is a critical factor for success of any brand and company.

Reliable, quick and hassle-free home-delivery is one such promise that is being made by a lot of companies these days. These companies are from sectors like e-commerce, food-chains, courier & logistics and many more.

With benchmarks for customer service and satisfaction rising due to the availability of alternatives and higher purchasing power, run of the mill ideas for marketing and customer services have started to feel the heat. Whether a company wants to grab its TG's attention or want to delight its customers through its service, innovation has become a game changer.Innovation has become a major factor to differentiate between ordinary and brilliant companies and brand.

Amazon is one such company which has always been know for its innovative approach towards its business.  The recent initiatives taken by Amazon testifies this. One is the much hyped experiment about using drones to deliver products to customers. But the other one is much local and much more viable option which many of us would not have imagined.

When a company demonstrates its futuristic delivery idea, how many of us would imagine that the same company is also roping in an organization tagged as old and slow – India Post, for the same objective- delivery! .  This is a classic example of seamless innovation. This is also something, which most of the organizations have not been able to achieve. When a company goes for all-tech futuristic innovations, it is almost impossible to have eyes open to more traditional avenues to innovate. Amazon did that.

The end objective in both the cases is same but the TG of course changes. The drone delivery would be for achieving quick delivery times and the India post collaboration is to achieve high penetration for the company in terms of customer reach. Not to forget the drone experiment was not done in India or for Indian market though, but the extent of pro-activeness and the efforts to achieve customer delight  is remarkable in the Jeff Bezos led company.

Also, one should note that Amazon's drone delivery experiment is not the first one since Dominoz has done this experiment in June this year already.

   

 But what makes Amazon special is the bandwidth of innovation it allows its employees and teams across globe to create value for their customer. This organizational culture not just enriches its employees with learning but also benefits its customers. Truly inspiring!

Cheers, 

Google Search Films - Business sense with Marketing 3.0

So what was the need for Google, already enjoying more than 95% of market share to make a series of ad films (Google search) promoting its presence and products?

When you are 95%+, it means it is just you!

The campaign is called Google search and was launched on 13^th November for netizens.  It has five films with the first film setting the tone for the other 4 films. The first film(Reunion) is 3:03 minutes long while the other ones are between 40-60 seconds each. We will stick this post to the first film which is the introduction and highest viewed film among the set of five.

With a view count of more than 6 million in less than 2 weeks and 66000+ likes, it is clear that viewers have accepted the ad and the concept whole heartedly.  Some of the comments on the film on youtube will make Google guys very proud of themselves.  The ad is going to be broadcasted on television from 25^th November. TVC space is expensive and the unique set of audience these ads will encounter on TV, will be the one which is not internet savvy, unlike the ones which have embraced the ad so strongly on net-space. Hence the question becomes even more critical. Does Google need this?

Before we answer this question, let us understand why this ad made such a furore on internet. Most have already figured out multiple emotional touch points these ads titillate, which have connected very well with the audience.

These are emotion of a generation who witnessed partition, friendship, affection, care etc.

Apart from this, Google has adopted an intelligent strategy of passive pitching in these ads. Nowhere in any of the film or voice over, the word ‘Google’  has been used. Hence, Google didn’t try to intrude the emotions and place its sales pitch into the films. Audience is intelligent and it always appreciates such gesture. A hard-sell approach would have killed the emotions!

Technically, this worked for Google since it is well-known by the viewers as a brand and hence it could afford to sit quietly as a product/service placed at multiple spots in the film but not announcing its presence. It worked better for Google because the films were released only on internet which means that it went to an audience who already knew what Google is.

Now coming to the ‘why?’

Shift towards  Marketing 3.0 –  With this campaign Google has promoted itself to Marketing 3.0 which as per Kotler is –

“...companies practicing Marketing 3.0 have bigger missions, visions, and values to contribute to the world; they aim to provide solutions to address problems in the society. Marketing 3.0 lifts the concept of marketing into the arena of human aspirations, values, and spirit”

This gives an edge and recall to the brand in audience’s mind as the brand is shown to celebrate human spirit and emotion.

The ad unlike believed however, is not a social or emotional build-up for nothing. There are subtle placements of the product/service which will make space in consumer’s consideration set without he/she being aware of it. These points are doing multiple things with multiple users –

• It is educating the unaware about the product
• It is bringing the product into consideration set for the fence-sitters
• It is making itself as the preferred choice for hopping consumers and win their loyalty

Here are these points which without being loud, registers in audience’s mind sub-consciously –

•  The first search shown in the film does not only show that Google is used for search, But it shows itself as the natural destination for search related services. It also shows Google to be the homepage which makes a lot of difference in the usage for a search engine
• Google autocomplete is shown to help the user with their searches hence pitching this small but clever innovation that adds to customer ease in internet search
• The very fact that the ad film seamlessly goes from a small mention of an old friend to them actually meeting shows the effectiveness of Google as a search engine. It basically suggests that Google search results are accurate and relevant to the search queries made
• In a very clever way, all the offerings were bundled together seamlessly in the film – Google maps, Google plus, weather app, flight information app. The one-stop shop idea was smoothly integrated with the script which educated the audience about other services

Apart from the above mentioned, there are three communication points that stand out in terms of the bigger strategy that Google might have in mind. While the above mentioned are subtle insertions to promote the product and service the next three are more important in terms of adding users who have not been to internet yet and those who are going advanced in terms of mobile technology.

The idea of the two young people being very comfortable with Google applications goes on to show the connect the brand has with youth. It shows that the youth has invariably accepted Google as their “know it all” friend. It positions the brand itself as a young brand. A trait very important for a brand to posses in a country where two-third of its population is under 35 years of age.

Another interesting aspect was the young boy in Pakistan in his sweet-shop using internet and Google applications with ease. It shows that the tech savvy tag is not exclusive to corporates and students any more. Google shows that it has breached these boundaries to go to people and have brought them in a bigger pool of “tech-aware” consumers if not tech-savvy.

The most important point is the demonstration by Google on its seamless and logical integration of mobile devices for using its applications. The share of mobile devices in internet usage has been increasing rapidly. The mobile devices account for 62.5% of internet usage now as compared to 37.5% from desktops. Google has acknowledge this fact and showed its applications being used as comfortably on tabs and smart phones as on laptops. This is a master stroke where, without going away from the concept of the film, the mobile adaptability of the product and service is communicated.

Put together, the subtle insertions of various communication points in the films is brilliant marketing. How are these ads taken by TV audience which is a different set form internet audience on many parameters, will be interesting to see.

Cheers,

  

Pranks are good - So says Prankvertisers !

Prankvertising is a hot debate these days in advertising world. The idea to capture your audience with a visceral reaction and emboss an idea/brand/set-up in their mind has always been tempting for the marketers. However, what makes this form of advertising an art and a science both is - how much creativity you can employ into these at one hand and how precise and calculated you should be on the other hand to keep the whole experience interesting and relevant. Most importantly, how clearly and effectively the experience can communicate the intended message to the targeted audience effectively.

     
                                  Prankertising for the movie CARRIE - 500,000 + views in 1 month 

 
Prankvertising is a high-profit-high-loss chip. Right from the point where the idea of creating a prankvertisement is conceived till the point it is in public domain, there are multiple points that can make or break the whole experience for the marketers and audience.

                                    TNT Belgium Launch - 46 million views since Apr 2012

These ideas are top-of-the-roofs idea which are (and should be for the right buzz!) loud and subtle at the same time. They are largely clutter-breaking ads. This is also the sign of a good prankvertisment. It should be loud in the content but subtle in intent. Hence, it should be able to generate top-of-the-mind recall due to its content and must also be able to pass on the message to the audience in a simple yet effective way.

The cost associated with prankvertising is less since these are generally created to be aired on social media or fan page and not on expensive TVC slots.  Generally, these are created with the idea to promote a concept or a product in the public domain and rarely warrants for an action from consumer there and then. Hence once the ad is created it is released in social media which is the most common platform for such initiatives. These campaigns largely rely on social sharing and creating a buzz on the online communities. Word-of-mouth and social sharing hence are the strongest medium for propagating the same.

                           LG IPS Monitors - So Real, Its Scary - 20 million views since Oct 2012

Challenging part in this is the fact that since the reliance on taking the ad and hence the message forward is on audience prerogative. This means that if the content is interesting, the sharing and buzz-creation will work on its own. In case the content is not strong enough, it will be killed at very early stage by the TG and netizens. Hence, the first measure of success for prankvertisers will be the penetration (rate and absolute numbers) for the ad put in public domain.

However, as mentioned earlier, prankvertising is a dual-edged sword. These ads usually catch people out of prior information hence there always is a risk of events taking a turn which was unaccounted for. Sometimes the prank may not go down well with the audience who might feel offended. Such unwarranted events lead to bad publicity which is difficult to shed off.  The more practical problem with such events is that they sometimes become too loud and ignores/misses the second important part of the campaign – pass a message to the audience. Hence, one should be extra cautious while bring in a plan for prankvertising to the table.

Not to forget, sometimes questions are raised on prankvertising about its credibility and authenticity. Many argue that the people who are presented as ignorant passers-by and unsuspecting audience, are usually actors. This takes away the appreciation of the surprise element that the audience is shown to have gone through in the whole experience.Ethical behaviour is another factor that is invoked whenever such ads make rounds. Critics questions the rightfulness of involving people into a video making or campaign/ad without taking their prior permission.

However, on a pure advertisement perspective, It is clear that a well-thought of prankvertising campaign which manages all the macros and micros of planning and execution is a strong clutter-breaking method which also come out as cost-optimized and effective. Keep the prank mode on!

Cheers,

Brand Building Series #1

CPM – Three Pillars of Brand Building 

Branding is everywhere. And hence, it has gone through what everything that is everywhere has – for ever and ever. Overburdened! Cliched!Confused!

Unfortunately, definitions and explanations sought on branding are more likely to confuse the seeker than clarify. The reason is the vicious mumbo jumbo everyone chooses to rattle rather than KISS-ing (Keep-ing it simple!)

This short piece is to make things really simple for everyone.

Brand is not the name of a company or a logo or a colour its mnemonics carry. Instead, these are part of the brand identity.

Brand, simply put is – What people perceive in their mind about 

• A person
• A company
• A product/service

Obviously when we perceive something good about apple or amazon – It means that these companies have been successful in creating an effective and beneficial brand image for themselves. In broader terms they have been able to create a brand for themselves.

But how have they been able to do that while others either failed or were not so successful?

It takes more than just pumping money in campaigns and promotions to create a brand. It is generally a slower process and hence demands utmost discipline and patience.

In this piece, we only invoke the three pillars of brand building while keeping details on how a brand is built, for the next parts of the series. These pillars must be closely analyzed in order to move in the right direction to build a brand that lasts!

The three pillars of Brand Building are, CPM –

·    

• Customer
• Who is my customer 
• Target Group and traits
• What delights him
• Know what they expect and exceed it
• What influences him 
• Decision-making and influencers 
• Product
• What is my product type
• High/Low Involvement              
• Mass/Niche catering
• Innovative/Me-too
• Where does it fit in
• Need
• Comfort
• Aspiration
• What is its UVP  
• Unique Value Proposition
• Market
• Competition
• Acknowledge
• Observe
• Study
• PoSs and PoDs
• Points of Similarities
• Points of Differences within products available in the market
• Industry trends/Norms
• Fundamentals of the Industry
• Influencing factors

These pillars must be thoroughly understood by every marketer who wishes to build a brand.  Each parameter/question/factor mentioned under the pillar and sections under the pillar requires deep analysis which leads to certain answers.

Based upon these answers, a strategy is devised to help in building a brand. More on this, in the sequel to the series.

Cheers,

Mantastic may not always be Fantastic - Milind Soman Old Spice Ad

The latest ad from Old spice india is already creating buzz. With more than one and a half million views already, this ad has sure grabbed enough eye-balls. Stats have been disabled for the video for now.
There are multiple facets to the theme, execution and brand proposition offered by this ad.

For starters, Old spice India, with this ad, brings on television - Milind Soman, the first and probably the only super male model of the country to the small screen after a long time and more importantly, in an avatar which accentuate his presence.

The underlying theme for men's deodorants have largely been same across all brands. Fog and Nivea, very recently did something on different lines but still the underlying proposition largely remains same. Unfortunately, this ad, though with a peculiar set up and execution theme, does not strike a very different chord than the chore.

Firstly, this ad is heavily inspired by the Old spice ad on the theme - "The man your man can smell like" which was a wildfire in online ad trade. The ad starring Isaiah Mustafa was thronged by monologues which made it difficult to break attention for the viewers. The underlying proposition was - Old spice does wonder to its consumer and makes him uber-attractive to his female counterparts

In the latest Indian version, Milind Soman is seen to be undertaking the similar task. The ad starts with him donning just a towel and a pair of sunglasses(and of course a gold chain shouting out loud -'MAN') to add to the "kewl" quotient. He later talks about his realization on how being a macho is not about gelled hair. One can't miss a cue dropped when while being uber-cool he is sipping tea in a silverware (trying to break more myths on "kewlness"). He then invokes the lady-luck of all deodorant brands, the 'sweetheart'(How did fairer skin become an inevitable part of men hygiene?) to hand him over a bottle of old-spice deodorant. The ad ends with the 'sweetheart' sitting in his lap but not before he has pushed hastily a brief and desperately timed sales-pitch where he insipidly asks people to buy Old-spice to become 'mantastic'. The newly coined word 'mantastic' just seems to be a substitute for "macho-ism". Ans all this is happening when the background music is being played on sitar.

   
There are highs and lows for this advertisement and i'm sure marketeers were betting more on highs than they were worried about lows. For example, Milind Soman seems to be a great choice for the product and brand considering his reputation of being bold and due to the fact that he has been a male super-model, a coveted profession for many. Bringing him onscreen with a low 'apparel budget' was also a way to strengthen his
'desirable' rapport with women. The set-up easily breaks out off the clutter from run-of-the-mill deodorant ads where audience at the start of ad itself can zero down the ad to be for either a condom brand or a deodorant(sadly yes!). Background music is intelligently chosen to aid the set-up.

Alas! The highs ends here, and i have not even touched the product and the brand proposition. The biggest problem as mostly with clutter-breaking ads is, when the ad takes over the supposedly central figure of the whole idea- the product or brand.

The 'Mantastic' theme seems to be halfhearted one. How Old spice builds it from here, will be important. The flat speech on do's and dont's of macho-ism looks more like an interview which audience didn't ask for. The "Sweetheart" ends up adding the same 'old spice' to the ad only bringing it closer to the other deoderant ads by emphasizing the 'Use deo to get girls' theme.Informing the audience about ingredients which are largely chemicals (or at least sound so) doesn't help the cause either.

Overall, the ad gives some new and intelligent avenues while falls flat miserably at some points. How it helps P&G in terms of top-line, that is yet to be seen. But for sure, this ad is a great learning for marketing students on what to do and what not to do while conceiving an ad concept.

Cheers,

Indian Badminton League - Net Lagao, Pyar Badhao

Cricket has been the cynosure of Indian sports and the success of IPL seasons one after other manifests how insatiable is Indians’ hunger for cricket.

A slight change in this stance where other sports like Tennis, Football, Hockey and Badminton are getting some attention as well, hence, is quite refreshing. We have had competitions on the line of IPL in other sports and Indian Badminton League is latest one to register. Indian Badminton League was kicked off with player auctions and now we are seeing the promotional advertisement of IBL on major TV channels.

                           

The ad scores well in all aspects.

It moves from one frame to another while keeping its theme and message intact. Starting with a couple at home who gets into an argument to a courthouse with lawyers fighting with each other to the tension at Line of control, the context and communication is succinct.

Context – The IBL is promoting its maiden season and attempts at garnering a bigger audience for the event by building interest and curiosity around the league event

Theme – Various set-ups suggesting a contest between two parties and a badminton net that interestingly finds its way in such chaos. The background score propagates the intended message of bringing people together with the help of net and badminton (& hence, IBL)

Message –The ad cleverly use some serious situations and place a badminton (net!) in the middle of the scenes. The message propagated by the score emphasizes on building love and trust and how badminton can do that. Hence it suggests the audience to fasten a badminton net and build lovely relationships.

“..Ky rakha hai anban me, pyar hai bas badminton me…Ye khel dilo ko jodta hai..Net lagao Pyar badhao..”

Ad Promise – Badminton brings people closer (Hence embrace it and watch the coming IBL)

TG – All sports enthusiasts (Especially badminton)

Response requested – The ad clearly notifies the audience of the starting date of IBL and channels on which it will be telecasted. Hence, the requested response is the audience viewership for the event.

The ad puts forth the message in a cleverly packaged theme which is funny as well as serious at the same time. It does a wonderful job as a promotional tool but how will this cricket-crazy country respond to the maiden season of Indian Badminton League, only time will tell!

Cheers,

Learnings from famous marketing failures - 'New Coke' Blunder by Coca-Cola

In the 1970s, Coke’s chief rival, Pepsi-cola which had very recently positioned itself as a youth brand successfully, introduced the Pepsi Challenge.This challenge tested consumers' taste preference while being blindfolded.To utter dismay of Coca-Cola, most of those who participated in this challenge preferred Pepsi’s sweeter formula over Coca-cola's longstanding taste.  

  
                               


When Roberto Goizueta became chairman in 1981, Coke’s numero uno status was being seriously threatened, not just by the rival Pepsi-Cola but also by its owned brands like Fanta and Sprite. Americans had started to view coca-cola as a stout but slow and historic company and this was not doing any favour to the company. This opinion was largely created by the youth branding which Pepsi assumed and a seemingly feeble response from coca-cola to the pepsi's rising popularity.

Under tremendous pressure to act and stop this landslide, Coca-Cola committed the first mistake.Coca-Cola concluded that the problem was primarily due to the product and not product's perception. They started to believe that consumer preferences have changed and now sweeter is better.

Coca-Cola worked on a new formula and based on 200,000 taste tests which largely favoured the new formula over the old coke as well as the rival drink Pepsi-cola, Executives at Coca-cola were sure that it was time to turn the tides in their favour by introducing the new formula for coke. Thus, New coke was introduced.

Second mistake was to shut the production of the old coke altogether and hence the only coke offering from Coca-cola was the new coke.

When its customer found out that the new coke is a changed formula and hence a different taste and the legendary Coca-cola which by then had found its association with american culture and history was killed by the Coca-cola executives, things went berserk. A large population of US boycotted the new coke. Large number of hate messages and letters were received by the company. This decision since then is known as 'the biggest marketing blunder of all time'.

Coca-Cola went into damage control mode. Starting with a public apology and the famous "We have heard you" comment by the the Chairman, Roberto Goizueta. Eventually, Coca-cola had to bring back the old formula while the drink was branded as the "Classic coke".

As a result of this, the loyalty to the old coke (Now, classic coke) increased even more than the old coke and Coke was back to number one with reasonable lead.

Learnings from the marketing failure of New Coke -

• Product perception is as important as product itself
• Never underestimate the emotions attached to a brand
• Imitating your competitors can never be a long-term strategy
• Save your market research from any possible biases
• Have courage to accept your mistake and correct it

Cheers,

Battle of Health drinks in India

  Indian consumers now are more conscious than ever about their health and dietary requirements. Various

reasons behind this growing inclination of Indian consumers towards healthier food and beverages are as follows

• High level of consumerism backed by risingincome levels (~$400 in 2001 to ~$1100 currently (Health accounted for ~10% of household expense & is rising)
• Exposure to wide product offerings in developed markets
• Higher rate of urbanization (27% in 2001 to 31% in 2011)
• Rising health issues owing to changing lifestyles
• Aggressive marketing by health food and beverages brands
• Rising concerns among Indian consumers about the efficacy of traditional foods in terms of quality, purity and benefits
• Two faced nutritional problems – one due to excess of nutrition and other from deficiency of nutrition

Health-food drinks form a major part of the health food industry. Below are certain points with respect to the HFD (health-food drinks) industry in India.

• HFDs are divided into two categories – White powders (Horlicks, Complan etc) and Brown powders (Bournvita, Boost etc) with a share of 65% and 35% respectively. Some other facts are –
• Health drink powders consumed as milk substitute & nutrient boosters
• India’s Health-drinks market pegged at around 4000 crores (90000 tonnes) and expected to reach approximately 8000 crores by 2016
• India is world’s largest malt-based drinks market with a share of almost 22% in the world’s total retail volume(Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as malting)

Major players in the HFD segment in India are as follows -

• GlaxoSmithKline
• Horlicks (With variants)
• Boost
• Maltova
• Viva
• Kraft-Cadbury (Mondelez International)
• Bournivita (With variants)
• Heinz
• Complan (With variants)
• Amul
• Nutramul
• Pro

Market Share in Indian HFDs Industry

Target Group and Positioning

Horlicks  - ‘The great family nourisher’ that offers pleasurable nourishment with a delicious range of flavors

All Health Food Drink’s generic TG : Middle income group and above, Metro/Urban/Semi-urban.

• Junior Horlicks 1-2-3
• Target Group : Toddlers (Consumption) Mothers (Communication)
• Positioning : An easy-to-digest drink for fussy toddlers providing them with essential nutrition value
• Junior Horlicks 4-5-6 with growth boosters
• Target Group : Preschoolers (Consumption) Mothers(Communication)
• Positioning – A nutrition packed health food for active preschoolers with who have a busy schedule and need to remain charged
• Mother’s Horlicks
• Tagline : Healthy mothers for healthy and smart babies!
• Target Group : Pregnant and Breast-feeding women
• Positioning : A superior nutritional supplement for pregnant and breast-feeding women to meet their daily nutritional requirements
• USP : DHA as ingredient and ability to provide 100% RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) for the TG
• Horlicks Lite
• Target Group :  Adults
• Positioning – Especially designed to provide nutrition to adults and provide them with strength and stamina to keep going
• USP : Only HFD to be endorsed and certified by Diabetes India
• Horlicks
• Tagline : Proven for making kids taller, stronger and sharper
• Target Group : Kids aged 5-15 years and Mothers (Communication)
• Positioning : A nutritional supplement that positively enhances      physical and mental growth of kids
• USP : Huge emphasis on the “proven” efficacy for child’s mental & physical growth on the basis of results from a series of researches
• Boost
• Tagline : Boost is the secret of winning energy
• Target Group :  Children and adults looking for  an energy drink
• Positioning : Always  positioned as an energy drink hence the tagline. It is promoted as being the only HFD proven to increase stamina by  three times
• USP : Strong Sportsmen endorsements(Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni) leading to brand following by kids
• Bournvita
• Tagline : Tayyari  jeet ki (preparing to win)
• Target Group :  Children aged 5-15 years  & Mothers ( For Communication)
• Positioning : Help kids to grow faster and enhances goodness of milk(Calcium)
• USP : Strong advertising and taste appeals most in the category  to the TG
• Bournvita Li’l champs
• Target Group : Children aged 2-5 years & Mothers(For Communication)
• Positioning : Most effective for kids due to DHA and whey protein content
• USP : Packaging to attract kids and attached offers/gifts for kids
• o   Complan (COMplete PLANned)
• Tagline : Extra growing power with Complan
• Target Group :  Children aged 5-15 years  & Mothers ( For Communication)
• Positioning : Help kids to grow taller at twice the rate
• USP : Backs its ‘tall’ claims by multiple researches
• Complan with Memory Chargers
• Target Group : Children aged 5-15 years  & Mothers ( For Communication)
• Positioning : Improves memory and cognitive abilities in kids
• USP : First HFD to target memory and cognitive benefits. Backs claims by results of an independent research

Prospects of Indian HFD market

o   Indian HFD market is a growth market with 

tremendous opportunities (Check graph)

o   India has one of the youngest population in the 

world making it a long-term HFD market (TG)

o   Still considered as one of the growth markets in 

terms of rising income reinforcing the long-term 

prospects

o   Rising awareness among consumers due to 

exposure to developed markets (More people than 

ever travelling abroad, foreign TV channels, global

offerings) adds to TG everyday

o   Due to foreign origin of most of the HFD products

(mostly developed markets) which have stricter

laws related to food safety, the products don’t need much

tweaking(& expenses) in that aspect

Consumer Behaviour(HFD purchase)

• Consumers attitudes regarding HFD purchase is largely influenced by quality attributes of the product
• 
  

• No direct relation between brands and their sensory perception

• 
  
• Price, quality attributes and sensory perceptions are three major factors that makes a brand in the eyes of consumer better than other         

• 
  
• Value for money(Nourishment vs price), price and packaging are ranked in the same order for influencing purchase decision         

• Brand loyalty stands out as a very significant factor in HFD purchase

Age segment

• Biggest TG is the age group of 5-15 years in terms of products offered to each TG 
• Other segments have exactly same number of products offered for them (Of the  brands considered in this analysis).
• Horlicks is present in four out of five segments while Bournivita covers three segments by its offering. 
• Complan, Boost and Maltova covers one segment each.

Brand Benefits Segments

• HFD as Energy drinks and source of essential nutrients (specific to TG, eg. Toddlers, Mothers etc) is most common positioning adopted by brands(25%). 
• Equal number of products offer benefits related to physical and mental growth (19% each).
• Recently Horlciks and Bournivita in particular have also adopted a new proposition where they promise to enrich and strengthen the nutrient value of milk. With only 12% of considered brands adopting this positioning it holds the last position.

Key Success Factors in HFD Market

• Strong market and consumer behaviour understanding to gauge consumer expectations and market offerings ( Gap Analysis)
• Unique, clear and relevant brand proposition to the consumers
• Sensory appeal is very significant since end-consumers are kids who are fussy about taste and flavours
• Clear distinction between communication for kids and mothers since both are significant players in purchase decision and require different satisfaction points to finalize on a product and purchase
• Competitive pricing since price and value for money are important attributes in purchase decision for HFDs and it is very important to remain affordable yet attractive to consumers
• Backed by strong distributions system and feedback mechanism to ensure availability and a connect between brand and consumers

Cheers,

PS : For details regarding each brand's claims and their tryst with reality, TVC analysis and some more informaiton on this topic, you  can have a look at the presentation on slide share.- Link

Cadbury's Perk - The energy run gone wrong?

Cadbury’s India(Mondelez International) recently aired its latest commercial on perk which is being called – ‘ Bhag ke shadi’. The ad is in continuation with the other ads offering the same brand promise. The ad is supposed to reinforce the benefit of high energy as is showcased by its previous commercials and how it makes life fun. But have they been able to do that successfully this time around?

No doubt that this ad is probably the most interesting, funny and eye-catching among the series of ads aired with the same brand promise of perk being a quick source of glucose energy and creating fun moments. This has made the ‘shadi’ ad one of the more talked about ads in the industry circles and has also generated quite a few positive responses on the theme and execution of the ad and how it has attracted and made its audience laugh.

My personal take is that the ‘shadi’ ad is a diversion in the theme from its earlier ads, doesn’t manifest the brand promise as succinctly and most importantly, which we fail to recognize – is too funny for a message to piggyback.

The two most significant reasons why emotions like humour and fear are incorporated in an advertisement are –

• Get the audience’s attention on the go
• Allow the brand message/communication/promise to piggyback on this emotion

Unfortunately, the ‘Shadi’ ad does a wonderful job on the first point but fails miserably on the second account. This is because the ad is too funny for the audience to give notice to the message tried to be communicated by the brand and a surprising irrelevance between the message and the theme chosen.

Some might argue that the idea of running while getting married reinforces the idea of high energy due to consumption of glucose rich perk and well, it’s a fun way of living life. Really?  

The other ads on the ‘glucose energy’ platform were interesting as well as funny and did demonstrate the ‘energy’ and ‘fun’ aspect quite clearly.

Jogging Ad (Click to watch video)– Very clearly the ad shows that the man is up for another set of workout (jogging) after having the glucose rich perk and the lighter moment of daughter tricking her father to meet her friend makes the ad naughty and funny.

Chase Ad (Click to watch video) – A college chase of a boy by three girls to tie rakhi on his hand and how he outruns them easily, thanks to the glucose rich perk, puts the message in broad daylight for its audience. The theme of the advertisement also emphasize on the “life ke mazey lo” aspect.

Doors Ad (Click to watch video)- A boy who is too tired to fight a burglar in his building due to a tiring 'collection day', finds the energy to fight him with the help of perk. The ad clearly shows how perk with its rich glucose ingredients makes it a quick and effective source of energy.

 Shadi Ad (Click to watch video) - This ad is all about a fun theme but with no relevant context. How could a running-wedding ever be fun to anyone? The idea of characters in the ad to think of having a running-wedding because they just ate perk is even more absurd. Unlike the other two ads, this ad through its execution doesn’t tell its audience that perk is a rich of glucose and there can be real-life fun moments by consuming it.

To add, the advertisement without a strong and clear message is too funny for people to remember if it was an ad for perk or jogging shoes or a matrimony site.

In the opening scene, the female actor says that her father started crying on hearing about wedding and the next thing she come up with is to run away and get married. A little insensitive, isn’t it?

This ad sure must have given laughs to its audience but I’m not sure if perk can expect any perks from this one.

Cheers,

Local brands at 'Fair' advertising - Literally fair !

India’s obsession with white skin doesn’t seem to be fading any sooner. Watching foreign models and actors dominating the beauty segment ads and promotions for products being offered to Indian consumers (who have a very different skin complexion and skin type) has always been a little perplexing to me. Perplexing not due to ‘exploitation’ of this trend by the cosmetics companies but because I wonder for how many more decades we will be coaxed by the myth- more fair is more beautiful. Nevertheless, as far as beauty products are concerned the white-skin obsession was always a legitimate excuse for empowering this trend, but do the same “rationale” works for segments outside beauty and cosmetics? Looks like it does!

It is hard to miss the wave of home-grown Indian companies in segments like automobile, apparel, consumer durable using foreign models as part of their brand communication through advertisements.

Which companies' use of foreign models and location is baffling

Before we go any further we must distinguish between the companies on the basis of whether or not they are home-grown and where do they ‘extensively’ generate their revenues from, Indian market or foreign market (where is the major consumer base?). 

We must also differentiate between the use of foreign models (not-known to the audience to whom ads are exposed) and foreign celebrities (Hollywood actors & actresses, sportsmen & sportswomen and other famous personalities).

How having a celebrity in the ad a different ballgame than
having just a 'foreign' face and exotic location instead?

There are multiple reasons for foreign MNCs with target market as India as well as Indian MNCs with target markets in foreign countries to employ foreign models and locations in their brand communication and promotion through advertisements. Also using foreign celebrities as the face of certain brands in India is also backed with some sound and logical arguments. Very briefly put, these could be -

• When an international brand creates a single ad for multiple markets and hence saves on the cost of creating multiple ads for multiple markets
• When an international brand aims at a globalized marketing strategy which has to ensure the right and exact communication spread into multiple markets across the globe
• A foreign brand specifically wanting its genesis to be exposed, portrayed and made to be talked about in the target market, thus helping its cause. Example – ‘German engineering’ for automobiles, ‘From the coffee bowl of the world’,"Premium English chocolates" etc.
• Signing one very famous celebrity helps the company to cut costs on signing multiple celebrities from target markets thus saving cost and adding credibility and brand following to the brand and the product
• Legal reasons to avoid controversies in target markets. Eg. Ads from Jockey and Triumph in India

There are many other reasons which can be looked into detail to understand how using foreign models or celebrities by international brands help them build a credible image in a market like India. 

However, what is to be seen is why are home-grown companies who mostly sell their products in India and hence have to largely communicate with Indian audience are giving more importance than ever to foreign models and locations in their ads.

Apparel segment –

Madura Textile and Raymonds are two major homegrown companies that have built their apparel brand around relevant communication and effective advertisements that are based largely around foreign models and exotic lines. Some of Madura’s famous brands are – Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England etc. On the other hand, Raymond created Park Avenue, Parx and Color Plus etc. Have a look at the flyers of these brands which boasts foreign models showcasing the desi brands. Interestingly, even the locations picked are alien to the Indian consumers.

Van Heusen by Madura Garments

 Allen Solly by Madura Garments

Peter Englnd by Madura Garments

Parx by Raymonds

Mobile segment –

Some home-grown mobile phone players are Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, Spice etc

When we look at some of the recent advertisements by these companies for promoting their products and brand as a whole, it’s difficult to miss an overall exotic and foreign feel that is tried to be served to the audience watching these ads. It starts from the actors in the ads who are mostly foreign models, the locations which look exotic and even the central theme which tries hard to seal it as an exotic affair. Below are links to some video ads for these companies which are peculiar with their foreign cast and locations.

Micromax Canvas 2 

Micromax Canvas HD

Karbonn Titanium

Spice Cappuccino 

Spice Pinnacle Series 

Why this trend?

There are many arguments to justify this ever-growing trend. Indians are considered to be having a chronic hang-up with the white skin syndrome which many blame on the British colonial rule. Britishers ruled India for more than 200 years and that did something more than just nurturing servitude as an acceptable behaviour evident in our political and bureaucratic mechanism. India grew older under the sense of how the white-skin was always more smart, more successful and dominating over the dark-skin.

White is Might?

This ill-gotten belief automatically brewed some more erratic behavioural changes in Indians who started to believe that everything that has a white-skin endorser is a quality proposition. However, it might not be completely inaccurate to say that local products due to substandard production techniques and lack of consumer-focused marketing have let down Indian consumers over and over again and hence strengthened their belief about the superiority of foreign products over their national counterparts.

Hence, international brands and products promoted by foreign models became aspirational and soon consumers wanted to be associated with these products and brands, not necessarily due to functional (& technical) but emotional attributes.

How is this consumer behavior trait utilized by marketers? 

With these starting points, it has become an easy approach for local companies to add an international touch in their communication which in turn heightens the brand image in eyes of its consumers, as the product will be seen accepted and endorsed by ‘smarter’ and ‘better-looking’ brigade of foreign models. Behaviourally, a consumer starts looking himself or herself in place of the model of the ad who is shown to be the center of attraction, and is ‘coincidentally’, also white-skinned.

What does it actually do for the brand or the product?

Is the color prejudice typical with Indians only?

• Automatically induces a ‘quality product’ belief in the consumer
• Make the product look being accepted by higher evolved markets and more informed consumers hence rendering credibility to the product and brand promise
• Increases the acceptability of the brand and the product due to an international touch
• Makes the brand aspirational by strengthening brand image
• Place the brand above some other local brands helping it climb the value ladder without much real technical innovation
• Such communications add a premium-ness to the product allowing the manufacturers to command higher price which can be invested to product improvement leading to actual ascent in the segment against competitors (instead of difference in communication level only)
• Changing fence-sitters into consumers
• Reducing cognitive dissonance

The last point mentioned is important in many senses. A marketing tactic for promotion can only take the product so far. Beyond a point a product should speak for itself. Such a strategy if systematically implemented may give a higher end to the brand at the start but eventually a superior product is what is needed to take the brand further. An ordinary product will soon be recognized and the gross mismatch between the appeal created through brand promise for the product and actual product will leave no option for revival. Koutons’ debacle is an example of such a mistake though there were other major loopholes in its marketing strategy as well.

How long – Can & Will marketers use this erratic and stereotypical behaviour of Indian consumers, answer to that question lies in another question - How long the whit-skin syndrome will keep its hold on Indian consumers?

Cheers,

IndusInd Bank - Hitting lucky number just right!

Riding on its central theme of “Responsive Innovation” and superior customer-centric approach, IndusInd Bank has been unveiling a string of services for its existing customers. These services reinforce its commitment to identify and bridge need-gaps for its customers.

 Latest feather in its ‘responsive innovation’ service-cap is the – ‘My Account, My Number’ scheme. Just like other services introduces earlier this year like – ‘Direct connect’, ‘Quick redeem’ and ‘Cash on Mobile”, MAMN too is a result of extensive consumer and market research undertaken by the bank and it seems that the bank has gotten it right this time too.

My Account, My Number – This service allows a customer to choose 10 of the 12 digits of his or her bank account number. The other 2 digits are fixed to identify the type of bank account. The move is a unique one and will benefit the bank in multiple ways.

This proposition specifically aligns with the preference and sometimes obsession Indians have with numbers due to emotional, rational and even superstitious reasons. Preferred vehicles registration numbers and mobile phones number commanding exorbitant premium in this country justifies the assumption and research results.

A well-planned (Business approach), extensively researched (Consumer preference), efficiently implemented (Operationally) and effectively communicated (Business proposition or offering) marketing approach has given the IndusInd bank the credibility in the eyes of its customers (existing and prospective) in terms of it customer-centric culture. This will help IndusInd bank in attracting new customers not just due to existing unique services but also because it will keep the customers anticipating further propositions due to a well-managed marketing offering and communication plan in the past. It also helps in retaining existing customers by reducing the cognitive dissonance as the customers feel that the bank care about their needs and comes out with consumer-centric propositions regularly.

The bank’s earlier service offerings were also based upon extensive research and were meant to solve some specific pain points which customers pointed out during the research. Direct connect is one service which is longed by almost all the consumers. It is a well-known fact that in the era of ‘customer-service’, reaching actually to a customer service executive through your phone is nothing less than solving a jigsaw puzzle. This maze of selections on phone before reaching to the executive was cut short by ‘Direct connect’.

Other services like Quick Redeem and Cash on Mobile too were launched in response to pain points, ‘must-haves’ and ‘good-to-haves’ identified through consumer research.

The campaigns to communicate these services adopted a 360-degree integrated marketing approach to propagate the service message. Print, Television, OOH, Radio and  Digital mediums have been brought to use.

The ad campaigns have a subtle humor which manages to draw in customers’ attention and ensure higher brand recall. Message clarity is the key in all the campaigns as the service message is the central character of all the ads. Be it the ‘calling web or kabaddi’ for Direct connect or the number-obsession for the MAMN offering. An intelligent choice of the celebrity does the trick as well. The celebrities (Sharman Joshi, Jimmy Shergil and Neetu Singh) though are well-known but not that big of stars which may risk taking the attention away from the central message and the value offering. Also, you don’t see these celebrities endorsing too many products which avoid the risk of the product and message getting lost in too many endorsements undertaken by the celebrity hence diluting the credibility.

Overall, IndusInd bank has used extensive consumer research and put across its innovative service offerings effectively to its customers. How this approximately 20 crores marketing expenditure pays back in terms of top-line and bottom-line addition? We have to wait to see that. 

My Account, My Number - video

Call Kabaddi - Direct Connect Service - video

Cash on Mobile - video