K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH VOL. V | ISSUE VII | DEC’ 14

MARKSMANThe

BrandMarkive:

20th Century Fox

Special Story: The

hottest new jobs in

marketing

Faux Pas: Malaysia

Airlines

Pioneer: Amitabh

Bachchan

Wishes You

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

DECEMBER 2014 01

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Readers,

If January has summoned, could December have declined?

Novelty is valuable by itself -- not as proxy, not as alibi. As we march onward into the

new year, we bring you the December edition of The Marksman -- your monthly feed

of the latest buzz in marketing.

This issue's Cover Story beckons ideas that are as it were eternal truths -- Relationship

Marketing, as its name suggests, is about focussing on the relationship between the

buyer and the seller, treating it more than just an instance of trading activity. The Special

Story, for good contrast, is about the hottest new jobs in marketing that we should all

watch out for. Brand Markive digs deep and takes up 20th Century Fox (recall the

dramatic intro jingle?) for a historical tour. The All About Ad-titude brings in two latest

instances of how advertising can work on the theme of an occasion and convey

touching messages.

Dig in to also catch in on the story of how Amitabh Bachchan has evolved as a brand,

to explore how Chipotle Mexican Grill showed the world that good marketing goes

hand in hand with both sensibility and sensitivity, the report on our national level

communications strategy competition and lots more!

We would also like to congratulate this month's CfA winners -- Cristy Dominic from

SIBM, Pune, Urvi Mishra from IIT Roorkee and Shweta Gupta from NMIMS. We thank

you all for your enthusiastic response and hope you enjoy flexing your reading as well

as writing muscles!

As always, we welcome all manner of query and critique. You can find various ways of

connecting with us on our website -- www.interfacesimsr.com/the-marksman

With heartfelt wishes for a happier and more enlightening year to come,

Happy Reading!

Team MARKSMAN

The Interface-The Marketing Club of SIMSR

@marksmansimsr.

CONTENTS

02 THE MARKSMAN

TWEETS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -03

IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -05

BRAND MARKIVE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 06

COVER STORY: RELATIONSHIP MARKETING - - - - - - - - - - - - -08

SPECIAL STORY: THE HOTTEST NEW JOBS IN MARKEING - - 11

MARKETING FAUX PAS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15

HALL-MARK CAMPAIGN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 17

PIONEER - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 19

REWIND - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 21

BOOKWORM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -23

BUZZ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -34

TWEETS

#HerLifeHerChoices –The

Titan Raga Woman of Today

Titan Raga has kicked off a new campaign to

celebrate contemporary women. The

message it wants to put across is that the

Raga woman is independent, strong,

confident and has a right to choose to be

herself rather than conform to expectation.

The ad featuring Nimrat “Lunchbox” Kaur

puts the strong social message in a subtle

manner over a quick conversation between a

divorced couple crashing into each other in

an airport lounge. It is hard-hitting and aims

to inspire young girls and women across the

nation and the world to live life on their own

terms.

The largest selling sore throat lozenge

in the world has ventured into curing

social menaces as well.

#AbMontuBolega is Strepsils’ foray

into digital media which urges people

to voice their opinion, blow the

whistle and speak up for what’s right.

People can indulge by posting

comments and/or images of unwanted

social scenario on the social media

followed by the hashtag. The latest

cause it has associated itself with is

the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. From

clearing throats to cleaning streets,

strepsils has really come a long way.

#AbMontuBolega – Strepsils goes

Social

DECEMBER 2014 03

TWEETS

04 THE MARKSMAN

Microsoft recently launched its Lumia

535 handset in India. It started

promoting the handset through

#PowerOfFive on the social media,

basically highlighting its features of 5

inch screen and 5 MP front & rear

facing camera. In order to boost the

campaign Microsoft came up with a

contest wherein various Twitterati

were asked to guess one of the

services it offers, depicted through a

picture in lieu of a Lumia 535. To add

to it, especially since Republic Day is

just round the corner, Lumia teamed

up with Nargis “Rockstar” Fakhri to

kickstart another campaign named

#RomanceUrCity which requires

people to click selfies at popular

monuments of their city.

#PowerofFive – Microsoft Lumia 535

Santa Claus comes once a year but there

are a bunch of people who can even give

Santa a run for his money. We’re talking

about the unsung heroes of online shopping

who are always at our beck and call to get

us our favourite goodies any time of the

year, the delivery men. In an effort directed

towards appreciating the phenomenal

efforts put in by this army, Google during its

GOSF (Great Online Shopping Festival)

decided to turn the tables and let them be

on the receiving end. Google staff

personally delivered customized helmets,

carrying their names on it to them. The

booming wheels of e-tail industry is in their

hands, the least we could is keep their

heads held high with safety.

#SpecialDelivery –A Google

initiative

IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

TELEVISION AD

Sansbury: Reliving the Christmas spirit!

Sainsbury presents a wonderful story of

peace in the midst of war between

German and French troops, about one

hundred years ago on a Christmas Eve.

The ad shows two soldiers in the

trenches, one on each side of the

border, being nostalgic about their

homes and initiating a peaceful gesture

on the Christmas morning. They put

down their weapons, greet each other

and indulge in a short but fun filled

game, after which they resume their

work dutifully.

PRINT AD

Publicis Singapore:

‘Every good idea begins with a pencil’

The advertising agency scores high

with this festive print ad that suits the

season at its best. The central idea and

the choice of props and colours in the

ad, very well highlight the creativity

quotient of the firm.

DECEMBER 2014 05

BRAND MARKive20th Century Fox

"A major film studio is a production and

distribution company that releases a

substantial number of films annually and

consistently commands a significant share

of box office revenue in a given market."

Give that definition to an average English

movie audience and he might not add a

suitable name as an example to it. Ask them

if they know "20th Century fox" and they

will reply with Epic Movie titles, that too, in

confidence.

A subsidiary of the Fox Entertainment

Group today, 20th Century fox was merger

between Fox Film Corporation and

Twentieth Century Pictures. Located near

Beverly Hills, in the Century City area of

Los Angeles, it is one of the six major

American film studios.

Starting with one of the partners in serious

financial problems the company today stand

with more than 200 titles in development

for now only and more than three

thousand movie titles under its belt, this

company has seen it all-ups as well as

downs. Apart from movie distribution, they

also deal with other modes as Television,

Radio, Music, Home Entertainment and

Movie-processing.

When they started off, it was more of a

death saving move for Fox, who being more

of a strict business man than an artist was

not being able to grasp the audience's

nerves consistently and in that era and for

long, the fate of a movie decided the fate of

not only its stars but all the names

connected to it. The other partner, Twentieth

Century Pictures was quite small in size at

that time but owing to their then financial

conditions, it was still the bigger stakeholder.

It was being headed by Zanuck and Schenck,

who later proved to be the craftsmen for

the company providing it with the much

needed connect with the audience.

The collaboration was waved off by

launching of new actor faces who carried

the studio forward for years to come. This

was indeed a brave move by a business

already not in a strong position. However, it

paid off well. Maybe that was the only reason

they were not afraid of taking up bold steps

and moving on to first of its kind film-making

in the years to come, the years which saw

the studio being associated with actors like

Henry Fonda, Don Ameche, Marilyn Monroe,

Betty Grable etc.

06 THE MARKSMAN

BRAND MARKive

What today stands as an integral part of

the movie experience- the music and

audio effects were adopted the first by

the then named as "Twentieth Century-

Fox Film Corporation". And the valor of

decision does not lie only in the

restricted technology exposure at that

time but also at taking up the initiative

to invest in an innovation. Later, the

cinemascope Technology was also

adopted first by them only and in

addition to the list are the acts of early

adoption of 3-D technology and the

intangible quality of adding a unique

flavor to the studio's creations and

associations.

Majorly, apart from the Monroe tragedy,

they were able deal with the varying

personal requirements of the creators

during the era which saw a lateral shift in

the way the World see an artist and how

an artist looks at the World.

In the 21st century, they started taking their

reach to a global platform. Launching of an

Asian subsidiary, strengthening in the

Australian market are examples of the same

only and today, they stand out as a trusted

name in each of the fields they deal with-

from the television screen to the big screen

to the Smartphone screen, they have been

able to cover all the platforms in a convincing

way.

It can thus be clearly concluded that it is the

perfect blend of artistic credo and in-time

proper financial decisions that they have been

able to not only sustain their presence for

decades and decades but also achieve static

growth in an ever-dynamic industry.

DECEMBER 2014 07

COVER STORYRELATIONSHIP MARKETING

We often see companies which go an extra

mile trying to meet their monthly, quarterly

and yearly sales targets. But how many

companies have you seen which actually go

even further to create and maintain

relationships with their customers. That’s

what this month’s cover story is about,

‘Relationship Marketing’.

There are many definitions of relationship

marketing given by management gurus from

different parts of the globe. But putting it in

simple words and a broad sense,

‘Relationship Marketing’ is the brand’s ability

to create an emotional connection with the

consumer.

One of the most expensive and difficult

tasks facing any business firm, especially

multi national corporations is acquiring new

customers. Earning a potential customer's

attention, creating interest in them for a

product or a service, making a convincing

pitch and then facilitating the final sale can

leads to huge expenses when every step

has to be accomplished. According to a few

management experts, acquiring a new

customer can cost five times as much as

retaining an existing customer.

08 THE MARKSMAN

The activities are aimed at developing and

managing trusting and long-term

relationships with larger number of

customers. Companies maintain the

customer profile, buying patterns, and

history of contacts in a sales database, and

an account executive is assigned to one or

more major customers to fulfill their needs

and maintain the relationship. This presents a serious dilemma for many

companies. With finite resources, is it

better to attract new customers or try to

hold onto the ones they already have?

According to those same experts, a 2%

increase in customer retention can

decrease costs by as much as 10%. No

company can survive and grow if they are

not constantly adding to their customer

base.

COVER STORY COVER STORY

“Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement. “

- Samuel Johnson.

We saw how important and at the same

time, how difficult it is to implement this

concept properly. Looking at the conceptual

framework of relationship marketing, it

views marketing as an exchange where both

the buyers and the sellers help to shape up

the direction and outcome of the product

that will be offered to the market. Instead of

treating marketing as merely selling a

product to passive potential buyers,

relationship marketing argues that you need

to encompass many more activities and

parties in the marketing process, including

consumers.

Marketing doesn't end after the customer

purchases the product; rather, you attempt

to obtain important feedback from your

customers and build a continuous

relationship through related products and

services.

For example, after you sell a customer a car,

you try to continue the customer

relationship with a customer satisfaction

survey for important feedback, customer

service departments, maintenance plans and

promotions, installment payment plans, and

extended warranties.

Some examples of relationship marketing

are sending birthday cards to clients,

offering reward plans to customers and

creating web pages and forums for clients

to find the answers to their questions and

to become better informed. Making a

change based on customer requests is also

a relationship marketing technique.

Relationship marketing is the approach

businesses take to keep their customers

happy and feeling like they are important. A

common example of customer appreciation

is the frequent flier reward plans some

airlines use to keep their customers

returning. Listening to the consumer is key

in relationship marketing. When a number

of customers request a particular change in

a policy, product or procedure and a

company listens and responds, that business

shows it is interested in its clients and their

welfare.

Actually, relationship marketing is more

than just sending out a survey to receive

feedback, it is about truly engaging clients

and customers so that they feel a part of

something special and feel they have a

deeper connection with the brand. Loyal

customers are the life of an organization,

and relationship building leads to loyalty

and trust.

DECEMBER 2014 09

COVER STORY COVER STORY

Recognize - The email quickly

communicates this is an offer that is

exclusive for members. The black and gold

highlight colors are consistent with the

rewards program brand. There is a lot of

information in a very small space and the

fact that it is free is always compelling.

Relevant offer – Most of us have friends

we would like to take to lunch. This is a

clever offer that potentially introduces

new people to the Starbucks experience.

Oh, and there is a good chance that a

friend will want something else like a drink

or other food item, so there is incremental

revenue potential for Starbucks.

Starbucks is a prime example of a

company which engages in relationship

marketing. Many of us like the premium

coffee that they offer in the few outlets

they have opened in the posh areas of the

city. In order to keep up with their

existing set of customers, the company

usually sends out mails and uses the 5 R’s

approach for its relationship marketing. Let

us have a look:

Reveal – The creative uses imagery and text

to communicate the value proposition of the

offer, and important details of the offer are

in close proximity.

Redeem – Customers can choose to print

out the email or can show the email on their

device. What is really important is the

attention to detail. The offer code is

embedded so they don’t have to educate the

barista; the email is instructive for Starbuck’s

staff. This attention to detail increases the

odds that the experience in the store will be

a pleasant one.

Reward – The gold card members can

redeem the gold stars for free drinks. They

are earning stars and they can take

advantage of this offer, sign in and check on

the status of their rewards.

We can see from this example that multi-

channel marketing doesn’t have to be

complex, attention to detail is important,

thinking of all stakeholders can improve the

customer experience, there is more than

one way to get customers to share and

focusing on the consumer experience can

increase a marketer’s options.

10 THE MARKSMAN

SPECIAL STORYThe hottest new jobs in marketing

When we talk of taking up a job in the field

of marketing, some very usual and cliché job

titles spring up in our minds. Chief Marketing

Officer, Brand Managers and Brand

Developers, Creative Designers are few of

the typical job titles one comes across.

However, as the modern marketing era

ushers in, it is high time that these orthodox

job titles also witness a major overhaul. So

move over conventional, ‘cuz contemporary

is here.

With the emergence of newer and more

diverse marketing tools and channels, ever

increasing customer buying power and lesser

brand loyalty amongst patrons, there is a

totally new roster of creative job roles with

even cooler titles that have come into

marketing departments. What’s more, having

identified this need, firms are looking to fill

these spaces up in earnest.

These job titles require a very high

degree of specialization and probable

candidates would have to be the most

reliable subject matter experts to be

able to fulfill the requirements of these

job opportunities. The urgency for

immediate action is further heightened

by the fact that such candidates are

very senior, come at a very high cost to

the firm and therefore are very rare.

Hence these new job titles are

becoming the hottest topic in the

market.

DECEMBER 2014 11

SPECIAL STORY

12 THE MARKSMAN

Such a revision in the structure of firms is

considered by many as progressive and

comes across as a bold decision by firms to

align their operations with the modern

marketing scenario. On the flip side, some

also believe that such a move is nothing

more than a gimmick and in the long run it

is not going to alter the way marketing is

conducted. Whichever side one is on, they

can’t overlook the fact that big firms like

P&G, Diageo, SABMiller, TESCO amongst

others are riding this new wave in order to

simplify their structures and bring in higher

magnitudes of specialization. Some such

new job titles include Data Translator or

Data Scientist, Master Storyteller, Values

Evangelist, etc. This article looks at some of

these positions in a little detail.

With the ever increasing popularity of Big

Data Analytics it has become necessary for

the firms to look for people who can

analyze and not just summarize, who

possess the ability to implement this

knowledge in the context of strategic

decisions. Firms always face the issue of

meeting this insight challenge and end up

hiring large numbers of analysts on

temporary contracts but seldom find

permanent candidates with such analytical

abilities. This is where the Job of Data

Translator or Data Scientist arises.

Firms define this position as the one who

can “both understand the world of new

data and demonstrate a sufficient level of

strategic understanding to actually be able

to guide decisions rather than just share

facts”. Recognizing this need firms are

creating board level executive positions to

supplement the requisite manpower with

appropriate skills. The challenge is to retain

customers by understanding not only the

needs of a segment but also through

knowledge of what drives each individual

towards buying behavior. Hence,

understanding data and using it to support

the company’s growth strategy remains the

crux behind this job role.

Another, very contemporary role that has

arisen, sounds more like an author’s

position than a marketer’s: that of a

Master Storyteller. No, this is neither a

job position at Warner Brothers nor are we

referring to Steven Spielberg or

Christopher Nolan. Content has become a

central marketing tool and firms are

looking to hire people who can engage

their customers by telling stories that

inspire.

SPECIAL STORY

Different platforms and mediums require

different stories and the Master

Storyteller’s work includes balancing all

these channels and tailor-making content

for each, consistent with the overall

picture and theme of the campaign. This

position is very important because these

hires become the voice of the company

and messages designed by them stand to

make or break the image of the firm.

Hence these people are not just content

creators but content strategists.

Communicating the content is important,

but what is equally important is

communicating the overall values of the

organization. This is where a Values

Evangelist comes in. The role of this

position is similar to a country’s External

Affairs Ministry. It is the liaison between

the firm and the outside world. This might

seem as a more reactive job role but it

requires a good measure of proactiveness.

It involves making each individual employee

the advocate of their brands and engages

more deeply with external stakeholders,

including consumers. It looks beyond

simply communicating the product to

communicating the overall values that the

organization stands by.

Modern marketing has witnessed the

growing importance of digital marketing as

a medium. Experts believe that within the

next five years a company in its

promotional budget would have to assign

more than 75% toward digital

communication. This is where a Digital

All-rounder comes in. Analytics, digital and

mobile platforms are increasingly driving all

marketing efforts and digital platforms have

augmented the touch -points that affect

each consumer.

Digital media also allows a firm to create a

dialogue with each consumer on an

individual basis. Hence a Digital All-

rounder’s job is to facilitate these one-to-

one interactions across social and mobile

media. As digital media has grown brand

marketers have simply not been able to

keep up with the necessary digital skills.

This is therefore an attractive opportunity

for younger aspirants who feel at home

with the nuances of digital marketing.

DECEMBER 2014 13

SPECIAL STORY

All of us have heard of a Chief Executive

Officer, Chief Operating Officer, or a Chief

Financial Officer, but the latest CCO title is

that of a Chief Customer Officer.

Customer centricity is important for all

businesses and the role that this job plays

is that of aligning each and every business

operation with the customer at its heart.

Understanding the process of how a

consumer is affected at each stage of

his/her buying process and capitalizing on

all touch points, has become mandatory.

Such a job role elevates customer

centricity from being just another instance

of marketing jargon to being a matter of

practice among all firms.

These job titles are just a few examples of

what the modern marketing scenario has

been generating. North American and

European firms have more readily accepted

these changes. However, the more

conventionally-inclined Asian companies are

yet to adopt such drastic structural changes,

although every organization has identified

the need to inject newer and fresher blood

in their wings. Research and polls have

shown that there is rising confidence

amongst top companies to bring in younger

and culturally diverse human resource so as

to make operations more modernistic,

adaptive to global operations and more

receptive of differences across markets.

Hence, even though these are relatively

newer concepts there is always scope for

budding marketers to make their marks as

they have their thumbs on the pulse of our

modern markets.

14 THE MARKSMAN

MARKETING FAUX PASMalaysian Airlines: Wrong Timing, Wrong Choice of Words

Skydive, snowboard, bathe an elephant,

chase a tornado, meet a world leader,

master a new language- all these and

many more feature on our ‘once in this

life’ to-do-lists. We all have our own lists

and the quicker things get struck off it,

the more the thrill. Keeping that in

perspective the Malaysian airlines came

up with a marketing ploy “My ultimate

bucket-list” contest. Launched only for

customers who had already booked

flights in Australia and New-Zealand, the

contestants had to submit an entry

about destinations on their bucket list

for a chance to win an economy class

return ticket to Malaysia or an I-pad.

For the airlines it was an effort to win

back customers but not every

marketing campaign can be a success.

So, what went wrong? It seemed like

such a good idea...but, not at that time.

The Malaysian airlines was already

recuperating from financial woes when

the twin tragedies of MH370 and

MH17 happened. The lives of 537

passengers on-board the flights were

lost that very year. Going by what a

bucket list is –it is a list of the things

you want to do before you kick the

bucket or simply put… Before you die!

DECEMBER 2014 15

MARKETING FAUX PAS

The promotional campaign turned into a PR

disaster and served as the final nail in the coffin. The

little nuances that we overlook are the ones that

prick the most. In a similar instance in 2003 the

Hong Kong tourism board ran an ad promising that

“Hong-Kong will take your breath away.” This was

the time when SARS had killed about 100 people

mostly in Hong Kong and China. Such online gaffes

capture attention for all the wrong reasons. These

are the times when we realize the importance of

timing and right choice of words. The airlines was

acidly criticised for their choice of words. People

found it highly insensitive and detrimental to their

sentiments in view of the recent misfortunes apart

from the title being construed as macabre.

References to the contest have been pulled off its

website and the links now direct to an error page.

The competition however still exists only now

asking customers for their “ultimate to-do-list”.

16 THE MARKSMAN

Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN

Chipotle Mexican Grill –Awareness with a touch of

entertainment

Not so long ago, the hoax photo of

KFC’s Mutant Chicken with extra limbs

went viral on the internet. Rumours

were spread about how the chickens

were kept alive by pumping in blood and

nutrients and how their bone structure

was dramatically shrunk to get more

meat. Although people are aware of the

effects of such inorganic food used in fast

food outlets, consumption continues to

grow. Chipotle Mexican Grill’s campaign

is exactly against this practice. They

cultivate organic crops and raise chicken

and pork au naturel and encourage

people to eat healthy burritos.

How did Chipotle do this? By social media

campaigns. Not every video uploaded on

YouTube gets massive reach. It must evoke

emotion which can drive people to share

or pass along on social media. Chipotle’s

campaign “Food with Integrity” contains all

the essential ingredients and has therefore

become a huge success.

Take a look at the same below… ‘The

Scarecrow’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUtnas5

ScSE

DECEMBER 2014 17

HALL-MARK CAMPAIGN

This animated short film depicts the story of a demoralized scarecrow working in a fast

food factory. Tired of its horrendous days at work it decides to quit and to instead open

a burrito outlet which uses fresh vegetables. The film attained 6.5 million YouTube views

less than two weeks. As of now, it has passed 12 million. The iOS game reportedly topped

half a million downloads within about six weeks of landing in Apple's App Store.

It increased consumer awareness of animal confinement, synthetic growth hormones,

toxic pesticides and other fixtures of industrial food production.

The campaign was well received by marketing pundits and people for its minimalistic

approach. Chipotle's logo appears only briefly at the end of the video and in the game's

introduction which was the core of what many assess to be a brilliant, ground-breaking

example of content or "narrative" marketing. Needless to say, the revenue increased by

25.8%, sales by 12.7%, and net income soared 34.9%. The exposure and engagement

yielded by these videos and clever marketing prove to be successful methods for doing

great business indeed.

18 THE MARKSMAN

PIONEERBuilding Brand AB – Mr. Amitabh Bachchan

Presenting to you, the Don, the

Shehenshah, the most favorite quiz master

of all times – he surely needs no

introduction. The one and only – this is a

man who turned his fortune around, a man

with the Midas Touch, a man who can

multi-task even at the age of 70, surely the

proverbial complete man!

It is, of course, none other than Mr.

Amitabh Bachchan! These were just a few

words to describe this great personality

and writing about him today in Pioneer, is

no big surprise. This section would be

incomplete without an article on him – so

here’s a small peek into the building of

brand AB.

Born in Allahabad to one of India’s

renowned poets Late Mr. Harivansh Rai

Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan was earlier

named Inquilaab taking inspiration from

the phrase “Inquilab Zindabad” (“Long

Live the Revolution!”). However, later on

his name was changed to Amitabh which

meant a light that never dies, proving to

be the most appropriate name for this

young boy. Amitabh completed his

education from Kirori Mal College in

Delhi.

He commenced his career in films with a

voice-over in the award winning film

Bhuvan Shome. His career as an actor

started with the movie Saaf Hindustani,

bagging his first Filmfare Award as a

supporting actor in the movie Anand. His

career took a kick start with the movie

Zanjeer, after which there was no looking

back. He went on to be a part of and

create a number of hits such as Roti

Kapda aur Makaan, Silsila, Laawaris, Kabhie

Kabhie, Don, Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony,

and Deewar to name a few.

This multifariously talented actor

however has not restricted himself to

movies. He is known also for his signing

talent. Songs such as Rang Barse, Mere

Angne Mein and My Name is Anthony

Gonsalves are remembered and sung

even today. In addition, he has even had a

short career in politics as well.

DECEMBER 2014 19

PIONEER

An event of great importance and

concern in his life was in the year 1982

when shooting for the film Coolie. While

shooting for this movie with co–star

Puneet Issar, Amitabh Bachhan underwent

an almost fatal intestinal injury. It so

happened that Big B himself wanted to

enact a stunt sequence rather than using

a duplicate wherein he was supposed to

fall on a table and roll to the ground.

Unfortunately as he jumped towards the

table, the corner of the table hit his

abdomen, leading to a rupture in his

spleen causing a lot of blood loss. Having

collapsed on the stage, he had to be

operated immediately.

The love and support he received from

his fan-following was phenomenal. People

flocked to temples to pray for him. Large

crowds of people gathered outside the

hospital where he was admitted.

Not letting his well-wishers down, he

bounced back to complete the movie

which turned out to be a hit adding

another blockbuster movie to his kitty.

He was even diagnosed with Myesthania

Gravis. However, despite all these

challenges, he remained unfettered and

faced them by pulling up his bootstraps.

Brand Amitabh continues to showcasethe true spirit despite these ups anddowns.

Amitabh Bachhan entered the production

business with ABCL (Amitabh Bachhan Corp.

Ltd.). It marked its commencement with the

1996 Beauty Pageant. It produced a number of

unsuccessful films such as Gulabi and Saat Rang

Ke Sapne. However, with its relaunch in the

future it added hits like Paa and Buddha Hoga

Tera Baap.

With the television industry growing by leaps

and bounds, how could Brand AB have not

been a part of it and contributed to its

success! The beginning of the 21st century has

seen households glued to their TV sets in the

evenings to witness one of the best quiz

masters of all times – Mr Amitabh Bachhan. He

has won a million hearts and made great

contributions to the Indian television industry.

He has hosted a few seasons of this TV shows

and continues to host more even today,

despite an interim gap due to health issues.

Today at the age of 72, Brand AB has been a

driver of some 200 films, has endorsed brands

ranging from hair oils, chocolates and pens to

state tourism. He has done a variety of roles

right from the angry young man in Zanjeer to

the innocent Progeria affected 13 year old boy

in Paa. Brand AB has it all, right from politics to

singing to production. And even after all this,

he stays as humble as ever continuing to

strengthen brand AB more than ever.

20 THE MARKSMAN

REWINDFCB ULKA Comstrat 2014

COMSTRAT 2014 was the 19th edition of

the prestigious National BSchool

Communication Strategy competition

organized annually by FCBUlka -- India's

3rd largest marketing communication

group (part of the Interpublic Group) – in

partnership with SIMSR.

This year the contestants had to devise a

communication strategy that outlines the

way forward for Airtel to drive usage of

mobile internet in the most effective

manner to achieve its objective of

increasing the reach in terms of both the

existing as well as new consumer base. The

primary objective of the task was to

identify the right audience and key

challenges for the adoption of mobile

internet through a consumer lens.

Subsequent to the analysis, participants

were required to outline a strategy to

drive the image of Airtel as the preferred

mobile internet provider and consequently

drive adoption.

The competition was tough as the

finalists comprised teams from premier

MBA institutes across India. The top 6

teams were from IIMIndore, SOM-

IITKharagpur, JBIMS, SIMCPune, MICA-

Ahmedabad and SIMSR. The final

presentations were held at SIMSR on

the 20th of December’14.

DECEMBER 2014 21

22 THE MARKSMAN

The event was presided over by the

institute director, Dr. Satish Ailawadi, and

Prof Isaac Jacob. The judges included Mr.

Dorab Sopariwala, the Founding

Managing Director of MARG, one of the

most prestigious market research

companies in India and Mr. Vidyadhar

Wabgaonkar, Senior Vice President --

Strategic Planning, Interface

Communications.

There were online and offline pre buzz

events conducted for promoting

COMSTRAT on campus. The events

included Buddy Connect,

#HarEkFriendZarooriHotaHai and Airtel

Jingle Contest. The winners of the buzz

events were felicitated on the

concluding day of the event by the

esteemed guests.

REWIND

The winners of COMSTRAT’14 were

the team from K J Somaiya Institute of

Management Studies and Research who

completed a hattrick. The 1st runnerup

was the team from VGSOM, IIT

Kharagpur and the 2nd runnerup was

the team from JBIMS.

The event concluded with a note from

the judges who spoke about the quality

of the presentations and the implications

of the strategies in the real life scenario.

It was a very good experience for

students who not only got an

opportunity to witness quality

presentation but also learn from

industry stalwarts.

BOOK WORMCode Halos: How the Digital Lives of

People, Things, and Organizations are

Changing the Rules of Business

-Malcolm Frank, Paul Roehrig and Ben Pring

22 THE MARKSMAN

With everything moving on to the digital

platform and more and more companies

relying on digital and social media

marketing to enhance their sales and brand

awareness, the authors of this book wanted

to deliver an inside story that could explain

this changing phenomenon and also

provide certain models to help companies

upgrade themselves to the virtual world of

codes. Everyone has heard about the term

the ‘Digital Footprint,’ Halos is just another

metaphor used by the authors to describe

the same thing. Rather than adding digital

or online to it, they added Codes because

they felt that decoding the information will

help the businesses thrive.

The book covers interesting facts about

the different ways one can make it big in

this digital era. One of the ways that they

have proposed is the crossroads model.

This helps one understand how to grow a

business through several stages like the

ionisation, spark, and enrichment. This is a

step by step technique that can be very

useful and rewarding for any enterprise.

They have illustrated excellent examples

like Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, Pandora,

Google, etc. How they reached such

great heights is decoded through Halos

Codes. The second half of the book is

completely dedicated to explaining how

applying those principles would benefit

the company. Even the small miniscule

steps help. It also emphasises that it is not

just useful for any company but can also

be used to create a personal brand.

People with blogs and video tutorials and

other internet businesses can greatly

benefit from the book as well. It provides

a complete know how of turning towards

digital media. With times changing greatly

and e-commerce sites mushrooming all

over the web, this book helps in

understanding the tricks of the trade that

led to their success. So if you want to

understand how the Halos Codes world

can completely change a business, this is a

must read.

DECEMBER 2014 23

Burger King has come a long way since

the day of its birth. David Edgeton had

opened the very first store in Miami in

1954 to provide customers the heavenly

taste of hamburger and milkshakes. Since

then BK has been subject to acquisitions

and mergers but none powerful enough to

help it take head on its biggest enemy,

McDonalds. Although both of them have

been competing in the same field for a

good 60 years, the self-described king lags

far behind what is arguably the God of the

fast-food industry. Yes, it’s definitely

possible to stand tall -- but the stature is

missing from the throne of king since

many decades in spite of tremendous

efforts. As BK goes for a deal with Tim

Horton we see a ray of hope as it marks

its presence in the breakfast menu

becoming the third largest in the food-

industry and declaring its strong hold on

Canadian market.

There are big challenges on the way of

Burger King; a wise selection of plans can

make it the winner of the game:

How can burger king mount a challenge on

McDonalds ?

FEATURED ARTICLES

Urvi Mishra

- IIT Roorkee

24 THE MARKSMAN

A burning flame will keep them

away

BK has been built upon the idea of

flame-broiling and it was able to give the

competitors a hard day by it. A key

market advantage that has insured its

growth in the past. BK should leverage

the differentiating factor and should

design its ad campaign to reinforce this

image in the minds of consumers. As

they have already been saying, “exciting

things are happening at Burger King.”

FEATURED ARTICLES

Say ‘Hi’ to the young ladies

Since 1980 the various ad campaigns

used by BK are focused on targeting a

specific market segment, young male

diners from the age group of 18-35.

The major campaigns "Sometimes

you've gotta break the rules" (1989-

91), "Your way right away" (1991), and

"BK Tee Vee" have kept them away

from a large section of consumer

group. Also several lawsuits have been

filed against them for behaving in a

negligent way with kids while

distributing the toys. Certainly an

empathetic image is the need of time.

Make it more happening

Based on the study done by National

Restaurant News and WD Partners

McDonald’s (McD) topped Burger King in

menu variety, though it ranked lower in

food quality. Today we see fast-paced, more

affluent, dual-income urban households

preferring higher valued food. In menu

design, it is important to keep in mind that

as income levels increase and consumers

migrate from the ‘middle-income’ category,

they appear most likely to change their

food basket by consuming a more diverse

and higher valued diet. A new menu should

be designed while not losing the steady

traffic.

DECEMBER 2014 25

FEATURED ARTICLES

26 THE MARKSMAN

Strengthen the bond

A major factor which is affecting the growth

rate of Burger King is inconsistency in its

product from one store to another. In

building a long lasting relationship with its

customer it’s essential that one should

perform as per the preconceived image. BK

should learn from McDonald’s in that the

latter has embodied the formula to run

franchisee businesses in a smooth manner, be

it in providing the training to the employees,

marinating the logistics in the right amount,

checking on every franchisee and never

allowing deviation from the standard image.

Old is gold

As per the old playbook faithful employees

takes you through the hardest times. Burger

King parent 3G, the Brazilian private-equity

firm has fired 3/4 of the staff with the

acquisition deal. A cost optimizing move to

replace the experienced staff with younger

professionals has not been fruitful as

expected. Experienced, old staff always

cultivates the feeling of trust throughout the

organisation. Make most of their industry

experience and give them the various health

benefits to revamp the social image.

InnovationToday competitors are splurging from

every nook and corner. Virginia’s FiveGuys is writing a lucrative sales growthstory, West Coast icon In-N-OutBurgers are opening new store in Texas.Burger joints are mushrooming in everymetropolitan city. It’s very hard to be stayput in the second/third place, a positionthat Burger King has enjoyed since 1972.From past few years BK had seen shutdown of many research labs, traininginstitute while the competitors are relyingmore on innovation. Put on the creativeglasses and try to recreate the magic ofwhoppers.

Explore the newmarketsThe biggest players of fast food are goingthrough a rough time in the local market.The sales has slipped 0.2 percent in lastyear in the US at McDonalds and 0.9percent at Burger King. It’s time to dorefranchising in the old market andexplore the new markets of Asia, SouthAfrica which have rising middle class ,ready to adopt American style eatinghabits.An optimistic future is waiting for BurgerKing!

“I need to condense

my adrenaline,

carbonate it, sweeten

it, and sell it as an

energy drink.”

- Jarod Kintz

Making way for new players in the energy drinks and non

aerated drinks market – what ripples do they bring?

FEATURED ARTICLES

Shweta Gupta

- NMIMS, Mumbai

And this is just the current

phenomenon in the energy drinks or

non-aerated market in India. According

to a previous industry report by

Euromonitor International, the size of

the energy drinks market is pegged at

Rs 500 crore (excluding sports drinks)

and is growing at a juicy rate of 45 per

cent. Increased urbanization, growing

disposable incomes and rising health

consciousness among the Indian youth

has fortified the demand for non-

carbonated drinks market such as

energy drinks. This has proven to be a

money-spinning opportunity for

manufacturers of energy drinks.

Innovative packaging, clutter-breaking

advertising and scientific formulations

are causing the proliferation of

companies selling energy drinks.

Energy drinks compete with other

non-alcoholic beverages such as soda

and brewed coffee. Soda is the most

consumed non-alcoholic beverage

while ready-to-drink tea also offers

tough competition as it provides not

only anti-oxidants but also a boost of

caffeine. But there seems to be a

growing acceptance for the

consumption of energy drinks in India.

Affordability and visibility are likely to

boost impulse purchases and swell the

frequency of consumption. Energy

drinks are one of the most expensive

beverages available in that market

hence consumers consider price as a

key attribute for its purchase. Red Bull,

the world's largest energy drink

company, is the market leader. Having

entered 13 years ago, it currently

enjoys a 69 per cent share. It had the

first mover advantage and its long

established presence across the

country has earned customer loyalty.

Also, it has significant presence in on-

trade channels including pubs and

clubs that further ameliorates its

popularity amongst youngsters.

Although the brand remained the

leader for quite some time, it has been

losing share to other late entrants

including Monster, Tzinga, Cloud 9,

KamaSutra, Restless and Burn.

DECEMBER 2014 27

FEATURED ARTICLES

All these newcomers had to differentiate

themselves from Red Bull to create an

impact. A 250 ml can of Red bull sells for

Rs. 95 and thus Tzinga, created by Hector

Beverages, has chosen the economy

route, selling at Rs 25 a pack. They claim

to have a clear proposition – Tzinga has

functional value, not an aspirational one.

So colleges, IT companies and BPOs are

their main markets. Monster, however, has

clearly focused on the premium category,

competing head-to-head with Red Bull.

Both of them focus on sporting events

for engagement. Burn by CocaCola and

Red Bull are entering into exclusive

associations with music and fashion

events for sponsorship and product

sampling to attract consumer attention.

In the non-aerated drink market, Hector

Beverages has taken a leap with

Paperboat with aamras, aam panna and

jaljeera drinks selling like hot cakes in

local airlines such as Indigo and Jet

Airways (India) Ltd. It also has a few more

traditional, zero-calorie drinks in the

pipeline including sattu, a traditional drink

from Bihar, tulsi tea, ginger tea and kaanji,

a black carrot drink originally from

northern India. It sells close to 1.2 million

packs a month.

28 THE MARKSMAN

On the other hand, KamaSutra energy

drink is banking on taste. Its drinks come

in different flavours such as mixed fruit

and mixed berry fruit while Tzinga has

Tropical Trip, Mango Strawberry, Apple,

Mango and Lemon Mint flavours.

However, despite their massive marketing

mechanisms, both PepsiCo's SoBe exited

shop shelves and Coca-Cola’s Burn had

to go in for a re-launch. Thumbs-Up fame

Ramesh Chauhan has exploited all his

resources to launch Urzza, it will be a

game changer in this market and could be

a force to reckon with. The new players

need to get everything right - their taste,

price, accessibility and visibility.

FEATURED ARTICLES

The non-aerated drinks segment is

more of an urban phenomenon. The

distribution largely takes place through

organized channels which is relatively

easy. However, bagging a place for their

product on retail shelves can be

challenging for the new entrants.

Nevertheless, there is scope for a new

entrant given the huge potential in the

market. The biggest challenge for this

segment will be to ensure that its

distribution system is flexible enough

to cater to spikes in demand and

encourage consumption through

marketing. Promotional strategies

could be built around areas such as

fashion, lifestyle and other

consumption occasions to boost sales.

Largely, the energy and non-aerated

drinks market is an exciting segment

that will continue to grow on the

strength of innovations and changing

lifestyle in India.

The juices market in India is dominated

by Dabur's Real fruit juices and PepsiCo's

Tropicana, having a 45% market share. A

segment that is growing at incredibly high

rates, the juice market is seeing an

explosion of sorts with the entry of new

brands, variants and innovations in

packaging, flavours and healthy formulae.

With Yakult’s pro-biotic drink already

there in the niche market, Hershey has

leveraged John Abraham’s brand value to

promote its Sofit Soya Milk. It has zero

preservatives, no artificial flavours, comes

in five delicious flavours and above all is

power-packed with nutrient and calcium.

All these cater to the health conscious

consumers especially women who want

the best for their kids.

DECEMBER 2014 29

Freemium is one of the many models of

business used mainly by service providers

like Skype, LinkedIn and other games like

Farmville, Temple Run and a host of others

on various platforms. In this model the

core service is offered for free with a

provision to make additional purchases for

a premium amount to speed up the game

or buy special items which enhance

features of the app or game and ostensibly

create a better experience.

At first glance, freemium service often

comes across as very different from what

it actually turns out to be. Most people

would start on a game because of its

novelty factor, recommendation or simply

because it is the current trend or fad.

Little do they realize that these fun-

looking games can be as addictive as

cigarettes and alcohol!

Addiction to Freemium – Is it really free?

FEATURED ARTICLES

In fact sometimes the damage is so

severe that it has even resulted in

death. Last year a Taiwanese person

died after 23hrs of continuous playing

of Riot's MOBA (Multi-player Online

Battle Arena), League of Legends.

Addiction mostly occurs in the case of

games based on the freemium model

and not for services based on

communication.

The reasons for addiction are

definitely worth looking at. Most

games, especially in the RPG (Role

Playing Game) genre, where you get

rewarded for collecting a certain

number of objects become very

addictive. It is because this establishes

in you a very fast sense of positive

reinforcement; essentially it turns you

into a Pavlov’s Dogs type of creature.

Here the gamer’s response will be

more and more positive in spite of the

decreasing reward and longer time. In

short, one gets hooked even before

one knows it. Successful freemium

apps exploit this particular aspect of

human behaviour using classical

conditioning and examples around the

digital world bear testimony to this

fact.

Christy Dominic

- SIBM, PUNE

30 THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES

The effect of this addiction can be

demonstrated as follows. Most often

there would be two options to proceed,

either to wait it out or simply purchase

that special power. Initially, spending $2

for an additional character seems like a

trivial thing to do for the player. However,

a plethora of similar situations keep

cropping up and players end up making

these small purchases which cumulates

into a large amount. Despite knowing

this, a large number of players still can’t

stop as they have gone way too far in

terms of involvement and commitment

and can’t even think of leaving it mid-way,

not knowing that the end is nowhere

near.

In Farmville, a very popular freemium

game, a specific plot of land is given to

the player where he or she can grow

crops, plough land etc. which rewards the

player with a certain number of points

and taking the player to the next level. A

market is made available for the player to

make purchases either using the farm

coins provided at the beginning of the

game or using farm cash which can be

acquired using real currency. It now

becomes a question of whether you have

the patience to wait, which you were not

used to doing earlier, as rewards used to

come faster then, or do you simply make

a small purchase to get the virtual farm

cash. In short, real money is shelled out

to buy something that doesn’t exist in

reality, and if the game has caught your

fancy, it happens not just once but almost

every single time a progress is made.

DECEMBER 2014 31

FEATURED ARTICLES

The answer to whether freemium really

means free depends solely on which

segment makes use of the service. Is it

the group who sees the game as merely a

game and opts out when there is an

option to trade real currency for virtual

items or is it the group that falls for the

gimmicks of the game and ends up failing

to see the difference between the real

and virtual worlds? For the former group,

freemium means free, but for the latter

group freemium means free only at the

beginning. As time passes, the game

becomes less and less free, eventually

burning a hole in the pocket of the gamer.

The irony of it all is that the money, in

addition to the time and energy spent,

yields absolutely nothing in the real

world. The hard earned money that is

made goes to those game designers while

the players are trapped in a virtual world

where they achieve rewards and

accomplishments, which too are

unfortunately virtual.

32 THE MARKSMAN

In fact, it is those who have the capability

of making such in-app purchases that

these game-makers target. Returns are

realised from those who get hooked

onto it, compensating for those who use

only the core product without any

additional payments. In other words,

every freemium product has been

designed with the potential addict in

mind so that maximum profits can be

made in the lure of some basic services

being available for free to rope them in.

SquAreheaD

DECEMBER 2014 33

BUZZ

CLUES

PUZZLE

ACROSS

Top political hashtag of 2014, for a

campaign by the Aam Aadmi Party

#(10)

Co-founder of Xiaomi (3,3)

Microsoft’s new operating system,

expected to be launched towards

the middle of 2015 (7,2) [Hint: may

include a number]

DOWN

Algorithm used by Google so that

the search focuses not just on the

words of the query but also on its

context (11)

This low cost airline has been in the

news recently, not for the right

reasons! (7)

Tata is set to roll out this car in the

compact SUV category in 2015 (5)

2.

4.

6.

1.

3.

5.

Answers:

Across:

2.MufflerMan 4.Lei Jun 6. Windows 10

Down:

1. Hummingbird 3.AirAsia 5.Nexon

34 THE MARKSMAN

1

2 3

4 5

6

Call for ARTICLES

CALL FOR ARTICLES JANUARY 2015

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 January, 2015

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

marksman.simsr@somaiya.edu

6. Subtitle line: Your name_Institute

Name_CourseYear

7. Kindly name your file as : Your name_Topic

1. Selfie-Mania: How brands are using selfies

to enrich their promotional activities.

2. The Hashtag Revolution: Hits and Misses

of 2014

3. Forecast 2015: The brands that will

reinvent marketing trends.

DECEMBER 2014 35

To subscribe to "The Marksman",

Follow the link:-

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the-marksman.html

OR drop in a mail/contact us at :

interface.newsletter@gmail.com

Subject line: Subscribe: Your

Name_Institute Name_Course

Year

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he-marksman.html

THE TEAMTWEETS bySankalp Thakur

It’s all about AD-itude byVasundhara Tewari

Brand MARK ive by

Abhijit Sharma

COVER STORY byRahul Vangani

SPECIAL STORY byDhruv Maheshwari

FAUX PAS byKavya Dubey

HALLMARK CAMPAIGN byDilip Anantharaman

PIONEER

Minoli Sheth

BOOKWORM byPalakThakkar

SquAreheaD byVasundhara Tewari

BUZZ bySukanya Remesh

PROOF READ byAkshay Peshave

Disha Shah

DESIGNING byPalakThakkar

Kavya Dubey

Sukanya Remesh

PROMOTIONS by

Sukanya Remesh

Akshay Peshave

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

36 THE MARKSMAN