marksman jan2014
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The
JANUARY 2014 01
EDITOR’S NOTE
Dear Readers,First of all, a very happy new year to each and every one of you and welcome to thisNew Year edition of The Marksman.
In this edition, we bring to you “Gender Marketing”, a marketing technique that isnot new to us. But what we seek to clarify with this article is how it can be usedmuch more efficiently and the pitfalls associated with it.. With our Faux Pas, we tryto decipher where the Tata Nano marketing went wrong. Our special story focusseson a very niche aspect of advertising- Instagram. This month’s Brand Markiveexplores what we all must have discussed amongst our peers, Micromax and howafter roping Hugh Jackman, they are ready to explode on the international stage. Ourregular articles like Bookworm, Buzz, Ad-itude, SquAreheaD, and Hallmark Campaignwill definitely raise your interest. And what would be our sanskars like if we forgotabout the internet phenomenon called Alok Nath! Our tweets section makes surethat he is here to stay. In our Rewind section, we take a look back at the GlobalMarketing conference held on the SIMSR campus by Prof A Parasuraman from theUniversity of Miami on “Ubiquitous Marketing Unwiring
Consumers….Rewriting rulebooks”.
As always, we are indebted to everyone who send in their entries every month.Unfortunately, we can choose only a few. So, for this month, we went through eachand every one of the articles and have selected the ones sent by Snigdha Kondat andAkhil Suresh. To all the other entries who didn’t feature this time around, we extendour warm thank you for your efforts and urge you all to keep writing to us.
We’d also like to hear back from our esteemed readers on how you find this issue.Do mail us on www.interfacesimsr.com/the-marksman and stay connected with us.So, sit tight and happy reading for this year’s first issue ofThe Marksman.
Team MARKSMAN
The Interface-The Marketing Club of SIMSR
@marksmansimsr.
CONTENTS
02 THE MARKSMAN
TWEETS
BRAND MARKive
FEATURED ARTICLES
COVER STORY
“GENDER MARKETING”
BOOKWORM
SPECIAL STORY
“ADVENT OF INSTAGRAM ADS”
18
Hallmark Campaign – P&G
IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE
MARKETING FAUX PAS
“TATA NANO”16
13
10
09
07
03
25
SquAreheaD 28
BUZZ 29
06
ReWIND 26
TWEETS
Ford EcoSport
v/s
Renault Duster
Renault launched its Indian SUV, the
Duster amid a lot of hype and
excitement among the people.
Never before was an SUV available
at such a cheap price. However, it
has steadily been losing ground to
its competitor the Ford EcoSport.
This may be largely down to the
fact that we Indians are a highly
price sensitive lot and the EcoSport
is available at a cheaper base rate
than the Duster. While many debate
on other factors like after sales
service, look and finish, engine
power and the all important -
mileage, it only remains to be seen
which of these two mini-monsters
go on to dominate the Indian
roads.
Charge your phone through air
Researchers of Dukes University, USA have
been granted a fat budget to explore the
area of wireless cell phone charging
through low-frequency magnetic fields.
With the reducing battery life of emerging
cell phones, this research if proved
successful will certainly get the big mobile
manufacturing brands clamouring to be the
first to incorporate the technology into the
cellular device.
JANUARY 2014 03
TWEETS
Coke Secret Out
As the picture rightly depicts, the
secret of 125 years is now out in the
open. The seemingly well guarded
recipe was found in one of the local
newspapers of Atlanta, USA.And that's
not the best part. The recipe contains
alcohol albeit in small traces. So for all
you teetotallers, Brahmins and God
fearing Muslims who consume the
particular beverage, this may be a
worrying discovery. It is time to find
out the repercussions of the
unconscious sin. Start reading up your
respective holy books.
Big Boss 7 comes to a close
The 7th Season of Indian TV reality
show Big Boss came to a close on
December 28th, 2013. Hosted by
renowned Bollywood actor, Salman
Khan, Gaurhar Khan was crowned this
season's winner. Big Boss apart from
being a medium of entertainment, was
also used to promote a number of
Bollywood films that were scheduled
to be released in the duration it was
on air. Film producers will have to look
elsewhere to promote their upcoming
releases, but given the sheer number
of reality shows and TV channels that
reach the average Indian consumer,
that should not be too insurmountable
a task.
04 THE MARKSMAN
TWEETS
JANUARY 2014 05
#AlokNath trending on
Gone are the eras in which jokes on
Rajnikanth and ACP Pradhyuman
tickled the bellies of the Indian
internet surfer. A new 'bakra' seems
to have emerged in the form of Alok
Nath. Alok Nath, a very conservative
Indian TV soap actor is known for
his 'Sanskar' both on and off camera
and is now the butt of many jokes
on social media sites especially
Twitter. Most of the jokes revolve
around long term relationships,
marriage and commitment. Some of
the tweets are :
• Alok Nath is so sanskari,
kiuskagharka pressure cooker
bhiseetinahi Marta #aloknath
• Alok Nath walks slowly. Because
Babuji dheere chalna.....
• Many wud.. Party all night Party
all night We do party all night!
Alok Nath wud..Aarti all night
Aarti all night We do Aarti all
night!
• When you type #Aloknath on
Google search, "I'm feeling
Lucky" changes to "I'm feeling
Sanskari" :D
Just check #aloknath to get a
glimpse of some of the witty tweets
posted by people.
Virgin America's new Sexed
up Safety Video
It was noticed that most travellers
dozed off during the traditional in-
flight safety video. So, Virgin America
decided to sex up their safety video
and came up with a novel idea for it.
They partnered with So You Think You
Can Dance, a famous on-screen
reality dance contest show in America
to produce one of the most engaging
and innovative safety video. All Star
Twitch takes the lead role with
cameos from some of the other
famous contestants on the show.
Watch and enjoy
:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt
yfiPIHsIg
PepsiCo Foods gets associated with the actor Ranbir Kapoor to endorse its Lay's potato
wafers in an attempt to reposition itself as a more youthful brand. The theme of this new ad
is based on a group of best buddies, and is more youthful than the earlier positioning.
It is still not sure if the eight years of association with actor Saif Ali Khan will continue or
not as company hasn’t yet renewed its contract with him. The advertisement is spot on as it
revolves around the nervousness and the fun that awaits every fresher in any college. The
freshers soon go ahead and form great bonding with their buddies. Lay’s is shown as the
perfect catalyst for this mischievously fun relation. Check out the ad on:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDT64C24rx4
IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE
Video AdThe new face of
Lays!!!
Print Ad
The Politicians,
The Economics Times
Playing on their satirical best and choosing one of the most controversial topic in India,
Politics, The Economic Times has come up with a new print ad that with minimum
expression, says it all. With the competitive political scenario in India, this print ad indicates
that the entire coverage will captured in just three pages. With a very strong Irony on how
the “always increasing on ambition” political world is well confined in minimal space and yet
makes its impact, is surely worth of a praise. The use of Car’s Red light allotted only to a
statesman in a growing pattern defines the simplicity and uniqueness of this print ad.
06 THE MARKSMAN
BRAND MARKiveMicromax: Its origin & The ‘Chinese’ Advantage
Micromax (2011-12 revenue: Rs 1,978
crores), ventured into the mobile phone
market in 2008 and is one of the most
fascinating success stories in the Indian
consumer electronics industry. Micromax
started as an IT software company in the
year 2000 working on embedded
platforms.
This transformation was steered by four
friends who divided responsibilities on
functional lines, which haven’t changed
since: Rajesh Agarwal, 47, Managing
Director, Rahul Sharma, 37, Executive
Director, Vikas Jain, 37, Business Director,
and Sumeet Arora, 37, Chief Technology
Officer.
In barely five years, the company has
come to occupy the third position (by
volume) in the mobile handset market in
India and is at No. 12 globally. It leads the
Indian tablet market with a share of 18.4
per cent, ahead of veterans Samsung and
Apple.
Today, Micromax has presence across
India and global presence in
Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri-Lanka, Maldives,
UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,
Qatar, Oman,Afghanistan and Brazil.
The Gurgaon-headquartered company
owes its success not just to the speed
with which it puts new designs on the
shelves but to how it has managed the
crucial inputs (labor cost advantage
and the production flexibility) by
leveraging China.
This might not seem a big deal, given
that almost every other handset brand
in the world manufactures its
products in China. Right from the
Apples to the Samsungs to many of
our home-grown brands like Karbonn,
a whole host of players reaped China's
arbitrage advantage.
Micromax sells around 1.3 million mobiles handsets every month, with a presence in more than 500 districts through 100,000
retail outlets in India.’
JANUARY 2014 07
08 THE MARKSMAN
BRAND MARKive
The Big Daddys of Bollywood ,
Hollywood & Cricket as Brand
Ambassadors….You might choose to believe that a
star can never influence a buyer.
However, for Micromax, star
endorsement is required because a
lot of people still believe that
Micromax is a modified version of
Chinese handsets. Pricing was one of
its key features and by signing Akshay
Kumar, Micromax initially targeted
the rural phone users who looked up
to bollywood stars.
The 'Khiladi' is majorly responsible for the
fanfare that Micromax enjoys in India.
In 2012, by bringing MS Dhoni on board,
Micromax mainly aimed at targeting the
urban youth.
And now, by signing on the ‘Wolverine’
Hugh Jackman the brand wants to make its
presence in the international market. The
fans of Hugh Jackman, or the people who
watch his films, are from a strata where
Micromax, at the moment, has negligible
presence. Jackman, will promote all
products released over the next one year
under Canvas, Micromax's flagship sub-
brand. Will the strategy work to make the
brand a household name? Only time will
tell.
Exploring the Unexplored!Through its emphasis on adapting to
the changing market dynamics,
introducing feature-rich phones and
smart phones that are innovative and
unique, Micromax has today become a
brand to reckon with. Some of the
first devices launched by Micromax
since inception are X1i Marathon
Battery(First Long Battery Life Phone
with 30 days battery back up & 17
days Talk time), Micromax GC700(first
GSM + CDMA Mobile phone), G4
Gamolution phone with motion
sensor gaming like Wi-fi, First women’s
phone with a swivel form and
Swarovski navigation keys, and the list
goes on . .
The Road ahead…The strategy which offered Micromax its
biggest advantage in its first five years
(taking crucial inputs from China) is under
threat and it will require a re-examination
by the company of their overall supply-chain
strategies. Also, as a part of its expansion
strategy the brand is rolling out operations
in Russia and Romania, an Eastern European
market. Micromax is also venturing into
other products and has announced its foray
into the home entertainment segment with
the launch of new range of LED TVs, home
theatres, 3D Blue Ray and Smart Stick and
an Android dongle.
BOOK WORMBrandwashed
JANUARY 2014 09
The Long Tail is a book written by Chris
Anderson and is on its way to becoming a
classic. The book has abundant examples to
clearly the concept of The Long tail. The
concept is fairly new in the convoluted world of
business wherein it was tacitly understood that
an organization’s sales are because of the
products that are top sellers but when seen
closely and analytically, it was seen that an
organization’s actual revenue comes from the
small number of products that are not top
sellers and bought by consumers in small
volumes.
Chris Anderson states the example of Amazon
which has 100,000 top titles but around 25 to
30 percent of their sales come from titles which
are not part of the top titles. According to
Anderson, these millions of "fringe sales" are
cost-effective, as online retailers do not have
shelf-space to pay for. It also mentions that the
brick n mortar stores are also a part of this
concept as things which are part of The Long
tail are mostly sold online and peak demand
products are sold on the shelf which helps
retailers save shelf space too. All together the
book beautifully links culture and commerce by
stating examples and bringing to the forefront
that online stores, specially rake in a lot of their
moollah from the long tail. It is a concept which
is gaining importance as it gives businesses a
new perspective by telling them to analyze sales
and realize that fringe sales are actually revenue
raking products.
“
”
Excerpt
Up until now, the focus has been on dozens of markets of millions, instead of millions of markets of dozens.
COVER STORYGENDER MARKETING
10 THE MARKSMAN
It is long said that men and women are
wired differently and well, it is true.
Neuroscience over the years has proved
that women think very differently as
compared to men. But how does this
affect the marketing of a product? Is it
even an issue?
Before we proceed any further, let’s first
find out what exactly is gender marketing.
SutJhally, a well-known media scholar,
defines gender marketing as ‘the images in
advertising that depict stereotypical
gender roles and displays made to appeal
to a specific gender.’ Gender displays are
used heavily in advertising in order to
establish the role of one gender in relation
with the other. Advertisers prefer
advertising by using gender stereotypes
because it is easy for the consumer to
differentiate between the products as
people basically identify themselves with
their gender. It gives a readymade template
for the advertisers to use. Everyone
knows the stereotypes. All one has to do
is to make an advertisement to appeal to
them.
HOW DO WE USE IT?
So, what are those templates? How do
we find one-size-that-fits-all? The
answer to these questions lies in the
very first line of the article. Men and
women are wired differently. There are
some key structural differences, such as
a larger hippocampus in women, as well
as a heavier reliance on brain areas that
contain mirror neurons, which enable a
person to feel what they see another
person is feeling.
The practical implications are clear:
women have better memory for
detailed information than do men,
while men tend to have better spatial
ability and the ability to build
systems. For marketers who want to
appeal to women as effectively as
possible, this means that they need to
get product design, packaging, pricing,
branding, messaging and more in sync
with how the female subconscious
mind receives and processes
information, and directs behaviour,
greatly increasing the chances of
marketplace success. So, for an
advertisement to be appealing to men,
all the ‘manly’ traits such as Standing
upright, eyes open and looking around,
bravery, adventurousness, being strong
need to be shown while for women,
emphasis is laid more on the looks,
sensuality, effectiveness and product
details.
Traditionally, gender neutral products or
every day usage products are advertised in
a way which is more appealing to the
ladies because it is the opinion of the lady
of the house that influences the buying
decisions. So, products like a dish washing
bar, a washing powder, etc. are always
advertised from the female point of view.
This recent campaign by Dove is a great
example for gender based marketing. The
main consumers of the dove products are
women, so it makes sense for Dove to
target the women in their campaigns. Yes,
men are a lucrative section nowadays for
beauty products as well, but it is women
and women alone that drive the sales of
such a product.
BUT WHY DO WE NEED IT NOW?
Let’s answer this question point wise.
More and more men are getting conscious
about daily home expenditure. This means
that they are having a say in the products
being purchased. So the target base for
advertisers has changed. And that is why
we see the presence of men in such ads
nowadays.
COVER STORY
JANUARY 2014 11
COVER STORY
Example for the case in point- the
easy to use washing machine ads. A
bumbling man washes his clothes
while his wife meditates. Yes, ultimately
he doesn't know how to do it
properly, but it emphasises, in a very
subtle way, that now it’s so simple that
even this 30 second spot teaches you
how to.
Things have always been
stereotyped. Men wear pants, women
wear skirts. Men don't wear pink.
Now with the onset of ambiguous
sexuality and metro sexuality, it will be
stupid on the part of marketers to
ignore this. It is definitely a part of our
present and doesn't look like it's going
anywhere.
Marketers would have found a new
way to appeal to their consumers by
making a product or a service
exclusively made for a specific gender.
Gender-based marketing offers new
possibilities in terms of targeting-
segmentation-positioning, as well as
many new opportunities for product
development and product extension
for specific gender segments. In
particular, this would mean more
effective marketing of products or
product lines for both women and
men.
COVER STORY
12 THE MARKSMAN
COVER STORY
While women have long since come
to expect to be well understood by
brands, men are just starting to
make the same brand demands.
Marketers serving this next
generation, in the right brain era, will
need to broaden their gender
perspective to include the male
consumer. They are becoming more
informed about health, beauty and fashion
categories, which is likely only the start.
The more men see other men caring
more about such things, the more
acceptable it becomes for other men to
follow suit. This cultural acceptability gives
male consumers a whole new level of
freedom, which leads to a significant
opportunity for marketers.
GREAT, WHAT'S THE PROBLEM
THEN?
“Parents petition Toys 'R' Us to do
away with gender-specific marketing”
“Girls, boys and toys: call to end
'stereotyping' - Sydney Morning
Herald”
“Why Most Marketers (Continue to)
Get Gender So Wrong”
A quick google search using the words
“gender marketing” will tell you that not
everything is right with the world of
marketing by gender.
Media and advertisements hold huge
sway over the opinions of the public
and as a wise man once said, “With
great power, comes great
responsibility”. So these marketing
techniques are should be handled with
care. The recent ads by Pantene and
GoldieBloxx have put the stereotyping
battle in the middle. Sometimes in the
race to reach out to the target
markets and to get those numbers up
and quick, marketers forget that
marketing to a specific gender does
not mean that you decide what men
and women are supposed to do. Pink
is now not just a girlie colour. Girls
can play with action figures and dolls
as well. “Marketing to women” is by
no means dead, but the reason for, and
results of, tending to it have changed.
Understanding how women buy in the
twenty first century should now be
considered but the launching pad for
better serving the less linear, more
relational, and non-gendered human
being. Welcome to the next
generation consumer.
SPECIAL STORYADVENT OF INSTAGRAM ADS
Until a few months ago we knew Instagram
as an online photo sharing, video
sharing and social networking service that
enables its users to take pictures and
videos, and share them on a variety of
social networking sites , such
as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.
Things changed, when in October last year,
Instagram announced its plan to introduce
ads on Instagram.
Many Instagram lovers were dejected to
learn that their beloved photo-sharing
application would also be bungled with ads.
Although the company assured its users
that the ads wouldn't be annoying,
interfering pop-ups but rather beautiful,
high-quality photos and videos.
Instagram ads are photos published by the
brand's account that will now be shown to
people who don't follow that brand. They
are differentiated with the word
"Sponsored" at the top of the image.
Although users won’t be able to choose
not to see ads on Instagram, which is free,
they can hide ads by tapping the “…” below
it they do not like and tell Instagram why
they did not like them. “This will help us
come out with more interesting ads in the
future,” Instagram wrote in a blog post that
actually announced the ads. Here is how an
Instagram ad look likes. Relevant ads are
shown to specific users based on what
users do on Instagram and Facebook (their
parent company).
For example, this might include the
people users follow and the photos
and videos you like on Instagram,
Facebook and other basic info on
Facebook.
Advertising on Instagram has very
quickly moved from a new and
surprising to a near-daily event, and
they're bringing in a lot of "likes" and
user comments. The very first
Instagram ad made its debut in
November 2013 and it was an ad for
Michael Kors , a famous American
fashion designer , the pic was a pretty
close-up on a gold watch with a
caption: "5:15 PM: Pampered in Paris
#MKTimeless".
JANUARY 2014 13
SPECIAL STORY
After the ad Michael Kors gained about
34,000 new followers on Instagram 18
hours after the first of four ads were
published, according to Instagram
analytics firm Nitrogram. (It posted
bigger follower gains for the subsequent
three ads and currently it has about 1.4
million followers.)
The Ben & Jerry's picture of a man's
hand holding a pint of "Scotchy Scotch
Scotch," a limited time duration offering
inspired by the character Ron Burgundy
in a movie Anchorman currently has
reached 250,000 likes along with
upwards of 6500 comments.
14 THE MARKSMAN
Other early advertisers include Adidas,
General Electric , Ben & Jerry’s,
Burberry, , Levi’s, Lexus, Macy’s, Michael
Kors, PayPal.
But just like its parent company
Facebook once faced, Instagram will
now be charged with explaining what
value those likes and follows actually
generate. There are already surveys on
behalf of advertisers to a group of users
who have seen the ad, as well as a group
of people that hasn't for gauging metrics
like ad recall and brand visibility,
according to an Instagram
spokesman. Instagram won't disclose the
reach of its ads a bit unlike we see in
Facebook now, where for a post by a
Facebook Page, the admin of that page
can actually see the reach in terms of
number of users who saw that particular
post, but for Instagram the reach would
considerably be based on the number of
likes the ads rack up. Ads on Instagram
are designed to support brands focused
on reaching large audiences with
memorable, high quality content. This
aligns with the way people and brands
already use Instagram – sharing photos
and videos that capture moments,
inspire others, make or shift
perceptions.
SPECIAL STORY
To keep up with the app's aesthetic, high
image quality is assured high and
Instagram has put in place a review
process where every ad is evaluated
before it becomes eligible to be put in
front of users. In order to lure other
clients, Instagram also published case
studies of the initial campaigns it did for
the like of Levi’s, Ben & Jerry’s explaining
how the campaigns were a massive
success in creating brand awareness.
Certainly the reach claimed for
Instagram’s initial ads is quite impressive.
Of the two brands for which Instagram
shared initial data the company says:
Levi’s reached 7.4 million over a nine-
day campaign that targeted users
between ages 18 & 34, while
Ben & Jerry’s reached 9.8 million over an
eight-day campaign targeting users
between 18 and 35
From these results, advertising with
Instagram does seem to be very
effective, but it would be too early to
say that it is going to be a hot trend in
the future as well because the concept is
nascent .They say that a picture is worth
a thousand words, Instagram and the
brands look forward to capitalize on this
very fact but they will have to make sure
that they don’t spoil the users overall
experience of their beloved application.
JANUARY 2014 15
MARKETING FAUX PASTata Nano
16 THE MARKSMAN
“A man buys a car for what he wants to
be”. If I asked you, what’s the first thing that
comes to your mind when you think of a
Tata Nano, you are most likely to say, ‘the
cheapest car’. And most definitely one
doesn’t want to be ‘cheap’. This is the
biggest error made by the Tata group in its
positioning due to which they couldn’t
achieve their sales projections.
Tata Nano was a revolutionary concept and
an engineering marvel. It was being widely
discussed amongst people, even on national
TV much before its launch. This magnificent
creation’s future scope in the Auto industry
was eagerly looked forward to as people
believed it would bring in a great
transformation.
Tata Nano vis-a-vis Volkswagen Beetle was
unable to live up to the intended image of
‘an adorable family car’ due to the
loopholes in its marketing strategy. Beetle
on the other hand like Tata Nano priced at
the rate of a small motorcycle was
successful in positioning itself as intended.
The nexus of the price and positioning of
Nano was a precursor to a fizzled market
presence. Their target market, Indian
middle class look for cheap cars but not
cars that seem cheap and they are willing
to pay slightly more for a car that has an
upmarket image. This is the biggest
reason why they couldn’t lucidly put forth
the concept of ‘people’s car’.
Several consumer research surveys
conclude that for Indians, cars are luxury
items, hence, they would not like to
compromise on them. Cars are also
considered to be a testament of one’s
status symbol and Nano doesn’t stand to
be a status symbol if its USP is being the
cheapest car. Nano was considered as an
upgrade on a two wheeler for a family of
four. On the contrary, such households
aspired to move to something better and
not cheaper.
Also known as, the One Lakh car, it didn’t
quite cost that much for a very long time.
Due to an increase in the input costs, the
cost of the car also increased. The company
did attempt to give an explanation for the
same. However, it didn’t work out well with
the consumers. As a result, it continued to
be referred to as a One Lakh car.
Contributing to the flaw of price fixation of
Tata Nano, was the spread of drawbacks of
such a cheap car. The Tata group was unable
to control the widespread talks about the
car such as it lacked safety. Just then fuel
was added to the fire quite literally as few
cars actually caught fire. The company didn’t
make much effort to gain back the
confidence of the consumers.
After the disappointing sales, Tata Nano is
now trying to transform the ‘people’s car’
into ‘cool people’s car’ by adding a sound
system with four speakers, dual glove boxes
and improved interiors and a refurbished
exterior. Also the powerful AC and the
colors along with the classic adage of better
fuel efficiency are being positioned as the
differentiators that have helped its sales.
They also raised the price of the cars and
kick started a new marketing campaign to
cover up for all the mess. The campaign has
hit television spots and they show young
people dancing, ‘celebrating awesomeness’
as the tagline states. Now, the Tata group is
also considering to launch Nano in a whole
avatar in other South Asian countries like
Indonesia, where no stigma of being the
cheapest car exists. The whole idea is to
bring it back in India with an entirely new
image altogether.
Tata Nano tried to capture bottom of
the pyramid because of its promise of a
massive potential consuming mass
having low expectations and little
competition. But this concept went
awry due to its failure in consumer
behavior assessment. Let’s look ahead
as to how Tata Nano plans to surprise
us with a new and effective marketing
strategy this time.
MARKETING FAUX PAS
JANUARY 2014 17
KEJRIWAL USING NEW MARKETING TOOLS: ITS IMPACT ON THE AUDIENCE
FEATURED ARTICLES
18 THE MARKSMAN
Mounts & heaps of articles have been
written on Arvind Kejriwal and his
phenomenal rise to power riding on an
infant political party capturing India’s
capital with brilliant and well executed
set of tasks and tools. It would
certainly not be an exaggeration to
suggest that Delhi’s new Chief Minister
has come to power by sensing the
rising social media platform and
effectively utilizing it to spread
ideologies and core strengths to the
masses. Gone are the days when
political parties can afford to ignore or
belittle the power of the social media
as well as well-planned PR stunts to
capture the imagination of the
increasingly knowledgeable and well-
informed voters. The IIT tag and a stint
in the Revenue department would
certainly suggest that Mr Kejriwal was
academically gifted as well as
reasonably exposed to the working of
a Government organisation. In
hindsight this would certainly would a
stepping stone towards embracing a
life of a social activist and a political
leader.
There have been numerous fringe
parties across the nation consisting
of renowned personalities & social
activists contesting in elections as
well as putting forward demands
for a ‘cleaner more efficient
Government’, but Mr Kejriwal’s
Aam Aadmi Party certainly was the
first to gain prominence in national
media as well as win enough seats
in an election to be able to
leverage formation of a
Government in Delhi, with the
support of the decades old
established Congress party who
had ruled Delhi for the previous
three consecutive terms. Apart
from the limelight he had received
from associating himself with Anna
Hazare in the Lokpal Movement,
Kejriwal had also initiated various
ways to involve the common in all
activities as well as policy making
decisions once he had decided to
start a political party
FEATURED ARTICLES
Some people might say that the steps
which were thereby taken might seem
excessive or unnecessary, but to a keen
eye it is all a well thought out marketing
strategy akin to a company raising the
brand value of its products in the eyes of
the customers thereby achieving desired
targets.
Marketing tool wizards –
Kejriwal & Modi
Years from now, Narendra Modi & Arvind
Kejriwal would be known as the pioneers
in amalgamating social media and political
rallying to great effect. It wouldn’t be
surprising to find Harvard case studies in
their names and the various marketing
tools they had used. The one aspect they
had backed upon was the increased level
of involvement with the public as well as
an image of easy accessibility which
would be bought about by being active
on the web.
Mr Modi’s website can be said to be one
of the most interactive political websites
in the world with blogs, regional
networks, online discussions, debates as
well as a provision to make
appointments with the Chief Minister
himself. Mr Kejriwal had also taken a leaf
from the Modi book of digital
interaction and took it a step further by
organising rallies, taking extensive
feedbacks in cases of minor as well as
JANUARY 2014 19
major party decisions as well as replying
to almost all the feedbacks and
suggestions received, which is no easy
feat. Asking for the public opinion about
formation of Government in Delhi was a
brilliant move which served two
purpose. One was to offset statements
made earlier regarding no possibility of
taking or giving support to any political
party, least of all the Congress; and
secondly to give a sense of
empowerment to the people and make
FEATURED ARTICLES
20 THE MARKSMAN
FEATURED ARTICLES
them feel as if it was their personal
opinion taken into consideration in
making such a huge decision. Call it a
sure-shot PR stunt whose result was not
in much doubt, or call it a stroke of
genius, it worked. Mr Kejriwal currently
warms the seat of the Delhi Chief
Minister’s office. Mr Modi has his sights
set on the top seat.
Future of Social ChangeIt would be interesting to imagine how
the future of social change would be.
Needless to say, the digital world has
bought about a revolution which has
changed the world political & social
landscape. From the Arab spring to the
multitudes of scandals which have put
mighty powers to shame, the future
undoubtedly would be in favour of those
who manage to ride the social media
wave. This complemented with a host of
ground events, discussion forums,
charitable & social events has worked
wonders for quite a few in our country.
Corruption, injustice, inequality, poverty,
illiteracy – the issues all remain the same,
but the road taken to tackle them have
changed. The press and the World Wide
Web have been for long associated with
character assassination as well as a
medium to spit fire on opponents and
dissidents and spread rumours in jest or
in pure spite, that aspect hasn’t really
changed much.
What has changed is the advent of a fewsmart and adaptable personalities whohave utilised this tremendous resourceto their advantage and in marketingjargon, raised their brand equity.
OCTOBER 2013 21
Author
Akhil Suresh
NMIMS, Mumbai
20 THE MARKSMAN28 THE MARKSMANJANUARY 2014 21
Tesco-Tata-Trent,The Road ahead!
FEATURED ARTICLES
“Our understanding of the Indian market
coupled with Tesco’s unparalleled global
retail expertise will allow us to leverage the
tremendous potential of the market to the
benefit of all stakeholders”
- Noel Tata,Trent’sVice-Chairman
Business Model
Currently Trent operates 16 outlets
across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat,
and Tamil Nadu. The Joint Venture will
operate in India through a chain of
stores under various banners,
including Star Bazaar, Star Daily and Star
Market with a tag line ‘A Tata and Tesco
Enterprise’. Till now, Tesco had sold only
a few FMCG products in Trent's
hypermarket chain. The new
hypermarket model would offer 12
categories of products consisting of
cereals, snacks, textiles, footwear,
crockery, furniture and electronic
equipment etc with substantial discount
offers.
“Small Opportunities are often the
beginning of great enterprises”.
Tata Group’s retail business Trent
Hypermarket Limited runs in a discount
format under the brand name Star Bazaar.
Tesco, the world’s third largest grocery &
general merchandise retailer, has proposed
for a joint venture with existing partner
Trent, and applied for a 50 % stake in the
company’s unit. Tesco would invest $110
million in the India market for front-end
multi-brand retail stores and extend its
back-end and wholesale support franchise
agreement with Trent. On 30th Dec, 2013
Tesco has become the first global retailer to
get approval from the Foreign Investment
Promotion Board after the government
allowed 51% FDI in multi-brand retail. It has
the first mover advantage over global rival
Wal-Mart which split with its local partner
Bharti Enterprises. An investment from a big
brand like Tesco would set an example and
encourage other global companies to invest
in the Indian market.
22 THE MARKSMAN
FEATURED ARTICLES
The joint venture with Tesco would
enable Trent to provide world class
shopping experience to customers, as
they will have an access to Tesco’s retail
expertise and technical know-how. The
FDI policy would require Tesco to invest
in the backend infrastructure like
packaging, storage and warehouses,
logistics etc.
Challenges
The opposition faced by FDI from small
stores and their suppliers is to deter the
rapid expansion of big, modern retailers.
They complain that they cannot compete
with prices of big retailers. The Indian
supply chain and transportation of huge
stock to different stores through Indian
roads is a challenge which would lead to
wastage.
Road ahead
Most of the products sold at Star Bazaar
come from big suppliers. In the future
fresh food and staples will be sourced
from local suppliers (mandatory 30 per
cent sourcing from micro, small and
medium enterprises according to FDI
policy) and Tesco’s international sourcing
team will be tapped for products
whenever required. Supply-chain poses a
major challenge to Trent. The plan is to
develop a business model suiting the
local market using market research and
then scale up the number of stores.
Currently they have a modest plan to
open 5-10 stores a year and 50 stores in
5 years in the long run. It plans to
expand into Andhra Pradesh, Assam,
Haryana, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Daman
& Diu and Dadar & Nager Havelli. At
present, foreign direct investment in
retail stores is allowed in only 11 states
and union territories in India. Tesco has
to handle political uncertainties, as FDI
is not allowed in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu
where Trent stores are located.
Concerns of a reversal in FDI decision
by a change in government at the center
in 2014 could put investments in a huge
risk.
Fig: States in favor or against FDI in
multi Brand retail. Source: Deloitte
JANUARY 2014 23
FEATURED ARTICLES
Despite the political opposition and
ambiguous investment rules, the $500
billion Indian retail sector is a promising
opportunity. According to a report from
A T Kearney the Global retail
development Index of India is ranked
fifth after Brazil, China, Chile and Uruguay.
Investment commission of India has
forecasted a growth of retail sector to
$660 billion by 2015. Only 8% is
organized retail and the remaining 92% is
unorganized retail. The organized retail is
estimated to grow at a rate of 25% over
the next five years. Higher disposable
incomes, technology and lifestyle trends,
rising consumerism are some of the key
drivers for growth in organized retail. The
current major competitors in the
organized retail segment are Future
group, Reliance retail and Aditya Birla
Retail.
“India, one of the fastest growing economies in
the world, presents its own challenges but is an
exciting opportunity. The incomes and
expectations of consumers have changed
dramatically in the last five years and will
continue to do so.”
- Trevor Masters,Tesco's Asia Head
The Benefits of the joint venture will be
seen over a period of time. The initial phase
would be to assess the demand, prepare a
strategy for local market and set up
operational capabilities. In the long run
there would be significant improvement in
the infrastructure, supply chain and product
standards. Transparency in the supply chain
will be established as direct procurement
from farmers will eliminate the middlemen
who restrict competition.
24 THE MARKSMAN
8%
92%
Retail Industry % Share
Organized
Unorganized
Author
Snigdha Kondat
NMIMS, Mumbai
Hallmark Campaign
P&G - #ThankyouMom
The story of Sachin Tendulkar actually began when his elder brother Ajitspotted the talent in the young star and assisted him to the coaching centres. Same is the case with other athletes or any other famous person. The talent, the spark, whatever we call it is mostly discovered by the family. Consumer goods giant P&G took this idea forward with its new instalment of the "Thank You, Mom" campaign.Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi this year. P&G has created a short film which portrays the stories of 4 athletes mom’s from around the world, showing their journeys, their hardships, their dreams and the roles they play along the way. Conceptualised by advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy, the commercial is released as a sequel for February's Sochi Winter Olympics. Published on January 5, the video has received more than one million views before this article was written.
JANUARY 2014 25
As part of the campaign, P&G is sending $1,000 Visa gift cards to each of the 357 Olympic athletes' moms, intended to help them travel to Sochi. P&G did a similar campaign in the London winter Olympics 2012. It constituted a short film called ‘Best Job’ which debuted before London Olympics 2012 and garnered 21 million views.Building on the momentum from that campaign they have created this campaign and titled ‘Pick them Back up’. The film also features music created by the same world-renowned composer from "Best Job," Ludovico Einaudi. Known for his emotive and effortlessly lyrical music, Einaudi's new composition evokes the love, passion and commitment that moms have for their children. In 2012, Olympic Games athletes and hopefuls were shown sharing their stories and how their moms and close ones had shaped their dreams. That ad won the Emmy for Best Primetime Commercial, as well as two Gold Lions and three Silver Lions at Cannes.
The 9th SIMSR Global Marketing
Conference was conducted by SIMSR in
association with College Of Business &
Public Administration, California State
University, San Bernardino, USA & The
Management University of Africa. The
event was sponsored by DRAFTFCB
+ULKA, Godavari Biorefineries and
Euromonitor International.
As a precursor to the event, the college
hosted a CEO Dinner for city’s top
industrialists and marketers at ITC Grand
Central where the 9th SGMC was
inaugurated with much gusto in the
presence of the much eminent service
marketing personality, Prof A Parasuraman.
He is the James W. McLamore Chair in
Marketing, Professor, and Department
Chair, Marketing at University of Miami.
9th SIMSR Global Marketing Conference
ReWIND
This marketing conclave played host to
industry czars and academicians and
research scholars who shared their
papers on diverse subjects ranging from
brand management to rural marketing.
The theme this year was
“Ubiquitous Marketing Unwiring
Consumers….Rewriting
rulebooks”
26 THE MARKSMAN
ReWIND
Our chief guest of honor, Prof.
Parasuraman elucidated the concept of
this year’s theme very effectively to the
audience, emphasizing on the reasons
why service providers should in
particular catch up to this trend. Day 1
saw a workshop being conducted by Prof
Parsu for executives and our SIMSR
professors. Here, he shared his
contribution to the world of service
marketing. The inaugural function also
saw Mr. Sumanta Datta (VP, Company
Bottling Operations-Coca Cola India)
sharing his immense knowledge & insights
of his rich domain knowledge. After a
series of informative and detailed
presentations, the 9th Global conference
came to an end with an intriguing panel
discussion on “Doing business in Africa”.
The panel saw revered industrialists and
businessmen viz. Mr. Satyam Prakash, Dr.
Manendra Sahu and Mr. Anil Balani. They
discussed on the brighter prospects of
setting up business in Africa and the
immense unseen benefits of doing the
same. The panel discussion marked the
end of this 3 days saga with many
recalling the event as a success.
Mr. Sumanta Datta
Mr. Satyam Prakash
Prof. Goetz Greve Marketing Department - SIMSR
28 THE MARKSMANJANUARY 2014 27
SquAreheaD
28 THE MARKSMANJANUARY 2014 2728 THE MARKSMAN
Answers: -
1.Apple 2. Skype 3. The coffee bean 4. Chipotle 5. 7Eleven
2.6. Carrefour.
BUZZ
DOWN:
1. Which logo is made by Ronald Wayen ,
the 3rd co founder of that company?
4. Award winning 2012 ad of this
company was followed by the famous
‘scarecrow’
6. Worlds 2nd largest retail store in
terms revenue and 3rd largest in terms of
profit(after Wal mart and tesco)
4
5
6
1
3
2
Clues: -
ACROSS:
2. In 2005 , Ebay acquired which
company and 6 years later sold it again.
3. This American coffee company
celebrated its 50th anniversary
5. 7am to 11pm, 7 days a week
28 THE MARKSMAN28 THE MARKSMANJANUARY 2014 29
Call for ARTICLES
CALL FOR ARTICLES February 2014
Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:
*Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all references are
clearly mentioned.
The best adjudged article will be given a Winner’s Certificate.
Deadline for the submission of article will be : 20th February, 2014
1. One article can have only one author.
2. Your article should be approximately 800-850
words and MUST be replete with relevant
pictures that can be used to enhance the
article.
3. FontType: Gill Sans MT
4. Font Size: 14.
5. Send your article in .doc/.docx format to
6. Subtitle line: Your name_Institute
Name_CourseYear
7. Kindly name your file as : Your name_Topic
1. Brands like CCD exploring chat apps for
connecting with customers.
2. How personalities create a stir in the digital
space. (read- Alok Nath)
3. Star India's serious entry into Indian sports-
partnering Indian hockey and cricket.
JANUARY 2014 2930 THE MARKSMAN
To subscribe to "The Marksman",
Follow the link:-
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OR drop in a mail/contact us at :
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Name_Institute Name_Course
Year
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he-marksman.html
THE TEAMTWEETS by
Dylan Menezes
It’s all about AD-itude by
Aman Dua
Brand MARK ive by
Shweta Pannikar
COVER STORY by
Asheeb Singh Raina
SPECIAL STORY by
Kapil Maggo
HALLMARK CAMPAIGN by
Alakh Krishnani
BOOKWORM by
Megha Gupta
SquAreheaD by
Prashanti Kasinathan
BUZZ by
MeeraThacker
FAUX PAS by
Niharika Srivastava
ReWind by
Ritika Bramhe
PROOF READ by
Asheeb Singh Raina
Dylan Menezes
DESIGNING by
Parth Shah
Niharika Srivastava
Aman Dua
PROMOTIONS by
Kapil Maggo
Ishaan Srivastava
The MARKSMAN is the
newsletter of INTERFACE, the
Marketing Club at K.J. Somaiya
Institute of Management Studies
and Research, Mumbai.
Images used in THE
MARKSMAN are subject to
copyright. THE MARKSMAN
does not take any responsibility
of any kind of plagiarism in the
articles received from students
of other colleges.
The TEAM
28 THE MARKSMAN28 THE MARKSMANJANUARY 2014 31