CURRENCY

BRANDING GREEN

BRANDING

MOBILE

MARKETING

COMSTRAT

WINNERS 2010

4

JULY 2011 01

EDITOR’S DESK

JUNE 2011

Greetings from Team Marksman!

It’s that time of the year when the campus is teeming with fresh energy. En-

ergy that is seeking direction, that is continuously on the lookout for quality

information. With that in mind, Interface-the Marketing Club of SIMSR

would like to proudly present to you the 2nd issue of “The Marksman”. For

the uninitiated, a Marksman stands for a sharp shooter. And that is exactly

what we are, sharp, crisp and to the point.

At Marksman, we endeavour to bring to you not only the latest happenings

from the world of marketing, but also bring forth subjects which still are

nascent like our cover story, Neuromarketing. It’s a technology so powerful

that if used intelligently, has the capacity to change the way consumer be-

haviour is studied.

Other than the cover story, this issue is replete with articles you can draw a

wealth of knowledge from. It delves into the rebranding of our currency and

green branding. Our bookworm section, tweets and Buzz will appeal to all.

We would also like to congratulate the winners of our featured articles.

Signing off, we would like to dedicate this issue to all the victims of the 13/7

Mumbai blasts. In our own little way, we pledge our solidarity to the victims

and their families.

Hope you enjoy this issue as much as we did making this for you.

NEUROMARKETING ……………………………………………………………………………...03

RE-BRANDING THE INDIAN CURRENCY ……………………………………………………….05

(Re)BRANDING GONE WRONG ………………………………………………………………..07

GREEN BRANDING ……………………………………………………………………………….11

MOBILE MARKETING ……………………………………………………………………………..12

SUBLIMINAL MARKETING...……………………………………………………………………….14

NEW VIRTUAL MARKETING BATTLEFIELDS ……………………………………………………15

BOOKWORM ……………………………………………………………………………………..17

NUKED ……………………………………………………………………………………………...18

REWIND ……………………………………………………………………………………………19

TWEETS ……………………………………………………………………………………………..22

BUZZ ………………………………………………………………………………………………..24

THE MARKSMAN 02

NEUROMARKETING– Unravelling a Customer’s mysterious Buy-ology

With the progress of science, it is now possible to tap into a consumer’s mind and understand how exactly

does the brain respond to the various marketing activities. This new and more accurate form of market

research is known as Neuromarketing. Read on to find out more about this new compelling field of Mar-

keting

What is Neuromarketing?

Neuromarketing is where science meets marketing.

It is a union of Neuro Science and marketing, a un-

ion that sheds new light on why we make some of

the buying decisions that we make i.e right from

food, to cell phones, to soaps, & shampoos.

A research discipline which is still in its infancy,

Neuro Marketing uses high tech brain scanning

techniques such as fMRI (Functional MRI, explained

l a t e r i n t h e a r t i c l e ) a n d E E G

(Electroencephalogram) to investigate brain activity.

This neuro-imaging hardware helps us examine

what really drives our behaviour, our opinions, our

preferences for a McDonald‘s over a KFC, Chinese

food over Italian food, or one shampoo brand over

another.

fMRI (Functional MRI)

fMRI is similar to an MRI,

except that that instead of

trying to detect injuries in

the brain it scans the brain

for any specific areas of the

brain (such as perception,

language and memory) that may be active at that

moment in time, hence the name ―functional MRI‖.

It involves very rapid scanning of the brain to see

which areas of the brain become activated while

the subject is being put through various tests (such

as viewing an object, hearing the name of a brand,

etc).

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

It is a technique for measuring the electrical activi-

ties that take place within the brain using special

sensors (electrodes) attached to the head of the

brain to see which areas of the brain become acti-

vated while the subject is being put through various

tests (such as viewing an object, hearing the name

of a brand, etc).

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

It is a technique for measuring the electrical activi-

ties that take place within the brain using special

sensors (electrodes) attached to the head

Understanding our buy-ology

Up until now, most marketing, branding and adver-

tising strategies have been based on research, both

qualitative and quantitative. But the fact is, roughly

90% of the of the consumer buying decisions are

unconscious, and we can‘t explain our preferences,

or likely buying decisions with substantial accuracy.

So the marketing surveys and customer question-

naires are questionable. As organisations pour in

Millions and millions of rupees into advertising that

may or may not hit the spot, the marketing frater-

nity realises that the time has come for a paradigm

shift. Advertisers need to know what exactly

JULY 2011 03

directs our buying decisions, NeuroMarketing

helps us make the transition towards the real facts

of why we buy.

The advent of NeuroMarketing helps us bypass

the need for the traditional question and answer

mode of research and straight goes to the source

of the information -the buyer‘s brain, rather than

asking them questions and depending on their re-

sponses, responses which many a times even the

respondents aren‘t quite sure of.

Today we know very little about the brain, and

how tapping directly into the buyers‘ brain will

help the marketeers. But in times to come, as we

will learn more and more about the functions of

the brain and decipher the information regarding

the brain activities, we will have a much larger

framework within which to interpret the data.

You could compare what we know of the brain

today to what Christopher Columbus knew of the

globe in the 15th century. His charts sure repre-

sented a great leap forward for the human civilisa-

tion in terms of the knowledge of the world, but

in hindsight, we realise there was so much yet to

be discovered. Our current knowledge of the

brain, and its impact on marketing, is similarly

primitive.

NeuroMarketing being put to through the

test

“The Pepsi Paradox”

P. Read Montague, a neuroscientist at Baylor Col-

lege of Medicine performed his own version of the

famous Pepsi Taste challenge of the 80‘s, with the

help of Neuroscience. He gave 67 people a blind

taste test of both Coke and Pepsi, then placed his

subjects in the fMRI scanner to detect the brain

cell activities of each of the 67 volunteers.

After tasting each drink, all the volunteers showed

strong activation of the reward areas of the brain-

-which are associated with pleasure and satisfac-

tion--and they were almost evenly split in their

preferences for the two brands. But when Monta-

gue repeated the test and told them what they

were drinking, 75% of the people said they pre-

ferred Coke, and their brains showed why: not

only were the reward systems active, but memory

regions also lit up, indicating a higher thought

process. This showed that the subjects were asso-

ciating the drink with positive images and branding

messages from Coke‘s commercials, clearly show-

ing that the brand has a certain value in the brain

system above and beyond the content of the can.

I n o t h e r

words, all the

Coke com-

mercials did

exactly what

they were sup-

posed to do:

seep into the

brain and leave

associations so

powerful they could even override a preference

for the taste of Pepsi, leading Montague into nam-

ing his taste test ―The Pepsi paradox‖.

.

Signing off, it is clear that Neuromarketing is the

next leap forward in Market research. Something

which will give us apt and accurate data in terms

of customer buying decisions and patterns and

those who embrace it the earliest, stand to gain

maximum from this technology

THE MARKSMAN 04

The search for a new Indian rupee symbol had

started in February 2009. The union finance

ministry announced a nationwide contest for

the design of the symbol. The eventual winner

was D. Udaya Kumar, a student from the Indian

Institute of Technology. After more than one

year, finally new rupee sym-

bol was unveiled by the jury

panel headed by Deputy

Governor of the Reserve

Bank of India in July,2010

What does it mean for

India?

It will help Indian currency in

re branding itself and to

prove its stability in the fluc-

tuating market of global cur-

rencies. The currency of a

nation is its ambassador

across countries,‖ says Harish Bijoor, brand-

strategy specialist & CEO of Harish Bijoor Con-

sults Inc. ―The currency of a country is also a

symbol of its status. Its value and its exchange

rate is a symbol of its strength and stability as a

nation, both political and economic .

[It is] therefore much more than what it seems

to be.‖ Bijoor, who is also a visiting professor at

the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business

(ISB), adds that the symbol for the rupee is yet

another stepping stone to future greatness for

the country. This generates high possibility for

the Indian currency to establish itself as a cur-

rency of choice for the international commu-

nity. It is not just about the currency, it also

provides a branding opportunity for the wider

Indian economy. It may not affect the strength

of the brand but will definitely enhance the im-

age.

In marketing, we call it rebranding. Rebranding

should reflect what the underlying brand is

about; in this case it‘s a

growing economy, a confi-

dent economy, a large econ-

omy. Brands are a promise

of performance which peo-

ple associate with in their

minds. Here, we need to see

that what India wants to

convey and what is the basis

behind it. We cannot make

promises which we cannot

deliver, is India ready to be

called a First world country?

It is an exercise to say that if we want to be-

come a superpower, then we should have a

symbolic code which is reflective of our culture.

We have always been known more for our cul-

ture than other countries. India has used its soft

power to Brand India-its dance, music, movies

etc.

The rupee symbol reflects the ambition of India

to position its currency among the top four

currencies of the world. To make the world

realize its ability to survive even through a melt-

down .To project India as a growing economy

with full confidence on its resources and capa-

bilities .

RE-BRANDING THE INDIAN CURRENCY

Indian rupee got a new unique symbol — a blend of the Devanagri 'Ra' and Roman 'R' — joining elite cur-

rencies like the US dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen in having a distinct identity . This historic land-

mark in Indian economy was a rebranding of the Indian currency, a symbol of the high ambitions of modern

India. Below is an attempt to analyse impact of re-branding strategy of Indian currency in global arena.

JULY 2011 05

Just like any other brand needs to be promoted,

efforts should be made to promote the brand.

First within India, using multimedia ads, where

TV would be the dominant media. Then, across

financial centers all over the world. There could

be global road shows at major financial centers

all over the world.

Future of the symbol

New series of coins will be unveiled soon carry-

ing the Rupee symbol, finance minister Pranab

Mukherjee announced in the Budget

The new Indian rupee symbol is becoming a

fashion statement for the consumer electronics

manufacturer in the country. TVS recently

launched a new keyboard model which features

this symbol (though without any apparently uni-

versal support). Lava Mobiles has launched a

new special edition mobile phone with the ru-

pee symbol accessible from one of the keys.

The symbol will definitely receive a huge fanfare

in India. But the success of this move will be

determined by its acceptance in the Global

arena.

THE MARKSMAN 06

For most big companies today, their logo has

become an integral part of their identity, more

so as the customers, whether purchasing the

product or not, are likely to come into contact

with the logo on a rather more regular basis.

Therefore, the companies today are leaving no

stone unturned to make sure that their logos

connect with the audiences. Even if they have to

undergo a makeover to seemingly stay con-

nected with the audiences, so be it.

There are many reasons why a company would

change their logo or re-brand themselves. Some

do it to refresh their image (Tropicana), some

because they wish to diversify the business of

the brand (Airtel, Starbucks), while some to In-

fuse youthfulness and vivacity into their brands

(Godrej).

But Re-branding has always invited reactions,

both positive as well as negative, from all cor-

ners of the market. The ones most vocal are

usually the customers, as most of them have

decades of connection with the brand, and they

themselves would not like the heritage of the

brand to crumble right in front of them. On

other occasions, it‘s plain unnecessary changes

that the company brings about.

Here we look at some of the Re-branding exer-

cises that have back fired for the brand

GAP

The Epitome of Re-

branding having gone bad,

legendary American

clothing company Gap,

changed from their tradi-

tional blue box logo to a

more modern logo. Or

so the company thought, but its die hard customers

disagreed. They were unhappy with the new logo, and

wanted the old logo, the blue rectangular box with

GAP written in white in it back. Critics attacked the

re-branding on social networks and online forums.

More than 2,000 comments were posted on the com-

pany‘s Facebook page on the issue, with many de-

manding the return of the traditional logo. Following

the public uproar, GAP decided to do away with the

new logo within days

of its launch. As

quoted by one of the

company officials

―At Gap brand, our

customers have al-

ways come first.

We‘ve been listening

to and watching all of the comments this past week.

We heard them say over and over again they are pas-

sionate about our blue box logo, and they want it

back. So we‘ve made the decision to do just that – we

will bring it back across all channels.‖

JULY 2011 07

(Re)BRANDING GONE WRONG

TROPICANA

For a product like Tropicana,

its carton design is as good as

its logo, as that is what grabs

the customers‘ eyeballs on an

everyday basis. Now, why the

beverage giant decided to do

away with a logo that conveyed

the message of the product

extremely efficiently, we will never know.

The new packaging depicts a glass full of juice

(presumably, orange juice). What does not work in

this packaging is that the juice is not distinctive

from anything else available in the market. How

does a glass full of pale yellow juice tell me that it is

natural? Why would i want to buy it, when there

are several others makng the same offering?

Why would i want to buy it, when

there are several others making

the same offering?

The earlier logo, with the straw

straight out of the orange, con-

veyed just the right kind of mean-

ing the company wanted to con-

vey, that is, it is as good as

―drinking‖ an orange. Tropicana probably forget the

golden rule of marketing, sell benefits-the product

will sell itself. With the new logo, it concentrated

on the product itself, rather than the benefits of

100% Natural Juice.

The result, Tropicana‘s sales took a 20% dive after

the launch of the packaging, forcing the company to

revert back to the old packaging within 2 months of

the launch of the new design

THE MARKSMAN 08

Green brands are those brands which are eco- friendly and cause minimal detrimental impact on the envi-

ronment by the way of design, manufacturing, distribution or promotion so as to satisfy all the stake-

holders and benefit the society.

Green branding is used as a potent tool by organization to develop brand equity. This may be due to vari-

ous advantages of green branding:-

Differentiator

Block competition

Good Will

Satisfy the NGO pressures

Builds customer loyalty

To understand how organizations use this potent tool at their advantage let us have a look at this case.

Earthship Biotecture

A company that uses recycled material like beer cans, tyres etc for building houses caught the atten-

tion of environmentalist and many others after a few years of its inception. The organization is now

building houses that are cheaper than their modern counterparts not only to purchase but also to main-

tain. Some of the features in the Earthship homes are-

1. Generates electricity from sun and wind: Electrical energy is "harvested" from the sun and the

wind. A photovoltaic panel converts the sun‘s energy into DC current

electricity and is stored in "golf-cart" type batteries.

2. Water from rain and snow melt: The roof is insulated to R70 and sloped to harvesting rain water

for the inhabitants for drinking and cooking purposes.

3. Sewage: Treated onsite in botanical planters.

With the re-use systems employed in the earthships, every drop of water is used four times.

Rain water is used for drinking, washing, cooking etc.

Grey water (used once for bathing/cooking) to feed a garden bed in the front greenhouse which

doubles as a grey water cleaning system.

The cleaned grey water is then pumped to the toilets which then become black water.

JULY 2011 09

The Black water is used to feed perennial trees which cleans the water and grows food.

4. Heating and cooling from sun and the earth: Earthships maintain comfortable temperatures in any

climate. The planet Earth is a thermally stabilizing mass that delivers temperature without wires or

pipes. The sun is a nuclear power plant that also delivers without wires or pipes.

5. Food grows inside and outside: Having plants that produce food within this environment makes

sense and takes sustainable and independent living to another level.

Projects: Earthships are now found around the globe as it can be made in any climate in any part of

the world. Some of the locations are Normandy-France; Bonaire-Caribbean; Andaman Islands-India;

Fife-Scotland; Brighton-England; Hilo-Hawaii; L‘Alcudia-Spain.

The company creates Brand awareness about the various initiatives and projects undertaken by them

by various mediums. It has a very exhaustive website (http://earthship.com) with information about

the houses, seminars, intern sessions, books and many other things. They carry out seminars and edu-

cation programs around the world to spread the importance of environment and also provide consul-

tation to build an Earthship. They have an extensive

presence on social networking websites like facebook,

twitter, LinkedIn, Newsvine, MySpace, StumbleUpon,

YouTube etc. YouTube for example has hundred of

videos of Earthship houses and initiatives watched by

millions of people and commented by thousands. There

are written books on green housing that are also avail-

able on the websites. The ultimate eco friendly green

building can also provide with carbon credits and tax

incentives along with a higher resale value.

They communicate various benefits provided by their unique real estate community and bank their

trust on sustainability. They have a product that differentiates itself from the rest, they don‘t charge a

premium for their product, and are doing a great community service by providing eco friendly living

for the society. They have created an emotional connect with every individual having a concern for

the environment and this forms an important source for brand equity. They market functional benefit

of the product, low maintenance cost and its relative importance to Mother Nature.

Green branding, a cause related branding could be a very potent tool for a company to prosper and

make brand loyal customers. If they can develop trust in the minds of their customer and create an

emotional connect to resonate with customers a very strong brand equity would be created.

THE MARKSMAN 10

MOBILE MARKETING-The Game Changer -Akshay Dikshit and Nupur Arora, NITIE- Mum-

With the mobile phone segment seeing an exponential growth, it presents an opportunity for the market-

ers to use this medium to connect with their customers better. Yet less than 1% of marketing budgets are

allocated to leverage this powerful medium. Read on to see how this medium could bring about a para-

digm shift in new age marketing and also how some marketers have successfully leveraged this medium

The incredible reach of mobile marketing cannot be

debated. The power to leverage the mobile device

for marketing purposes is huge. Marketing on a mo-

bile phone has become increasingly popular ever

since the rise of SMS. There has been a steady in-

crease in the use of mobile marketing over the past

year or two.

Scope of Mobile Marketing in India

752 million was the count of mobile subscribers

in India by end of

2010. This mammoth

figure displays the

huge potential of mo-

bile marketing to

reach the audience in

a personalized man-

ner.

Currently mobile marketing is nascent in India with

most marketers allocating less than 1% of budget to

mobile. But in the last one year we have seen the

market grow to more than double. Mobile market-

ing is all set to increase with the arrival of 3G. It

can cover a full spectrum from outbound SMS to

Bluetooth marketing, from in-game to location

based services.

Outbound SMS ads have a high reach in India with

more than 4 billion ads sent to Indian audience in

Q42010 alone. But these kinds of ads are spamming

and they intrude into consumers private space.

Invertising is a new mobile marketing platforms

created to satisfy the needs of both advertisers and

consumers. Eg. The Economist magazine- Even

those people who do not subscribe to the magazine

prefer to receive content from The Economist.

They invite information from The Economist. This

way, the magazine gets to create a direct relation-

ship with its potential subscribers

Interactive Mobile Marketing Campaigns

“Pappu Pass Ho Gaya” by Cadbury

This was an innovative and interactive campaign by

Cadbury which involved a tie-up with Reliance India

Mobile service. It allowed students to check their

exam results using this mobile service. If the stu-

dent passed, he got a sms congratulating him saying

―Pappu pass ho gaya‖ along with the exam result

and hence encouraged him to celebrate the mo-

ment with a Cadbury Dairy Milk. What worked

here? It has to be Creativity, great execution and an

association with key moment in consumers‘ life.

Nike -Nike erected a large, interactive billboard in

Times Square. Passers-by could use their cell

phones to design

a sneaker that will

be displayed for

all the world to

see and then they

could download

the masterpiece

to their mobile

device as wallpa-

per. Individuals

went nuts when

they saw their

own shoes

JULY 2011 11

posted live on the jumbotron in front of them.

Nike gave away 3000 pairs of shoes in this promo-

tion, but users were just as excited by their design

on the billboard as they were by the free foot-

wear

Unilever Turkey and Cornetto ice cream

The campaign was designed to engage young ice-

cream eaters and included interactive SMSmarket-

ing. Using a wall projection system, Cornetto

took over the outside of a building in Taksim, Tur-

key. Anyone with any phone could play a game in

which people texted to move the protagonist of

the game into collecting cornetto cones. Winners

got a free ice cream, redeemable on the spot.

Why are these campaigns worth notice?

They integrated all or most of the key success fac-

tors:

1. Relevant to the consumer

2. Welcome invitation to participate

3. Entertaining

4. Drives a specific action

5. Simplicity

Mobile Marketing using Bluetooth

The rise of Bluetooth

started around 2003 and

companies have started

establishing successful

marketing using this

technology. This tech-

nology has the advan-

tages that it is permis-

sion-based, has higher

transfer speeds and is

also a radio-based tech-

nology and can there-

fore not be billed. But

since people tend to

keep their Bluetooth off due to the fear of trans-

mission of spams and viruses, it can't become a

mass marketing instrument.

Chevy Spark LPG Bluetooth Campaign

The cars were exhibited in the Forum Mall that

were enabled with Bluetooth transmitters Post-

ers, banners

all around

the mall and

stickers on

the car

were used

to educate

consumers

about the

a c t i v i t y .

Customers

who switched on their mobile Bluetooth could

download wallpapers, car details, specifications in

animated format and details about dealers. Also

consumers in other parts of the mall who had

activated the Bluetooth feature on their handset

received a message about the car prompting

them to check it out in the exhibition area.

There were around 10,500 downloads in total.

Also companies like Cafe Coffee Day, Pantaloon,

Levis, Adidas and Pepsi have offered mobile con-

tent free of cost and dis-

counts via Bluetooth in In-

dia. Currently Bluetooth

marketing is used at events,

malls, multiplex and cafes.

Location-based services

LBS are offered by cell

phone networks as a way to

send custom advertising and

other information to cell-

phone subscribers based on

their current location. The

mobile-optimized location based applications like

Foursquare, Gowalla or Brightkite cater to a

THE MARKSMAN 12

larger audience by incorporating location

sharing to customer feeds and test out their

geo-location features. Foursquare is small in

India with about 80,000 users but it is grow-

ing fast. Soon consumers will be able to re-

ceive offers near their resi-

dence or when they are out

shopping in the malls.

With 3G coming in, it is possi-

ble to view videos, photos and

menus of restaurants before

they decide to pull their cou-

pon. People in emerging mar-

kets always take their mobile

phones when going shopping and use it to

make calls to discuss purchases, to compare

prices and to use mobile coupons, thus there

is a huge scope of mobile marketing in this

way.

Conclusion

Mobile marketing features some of the lowest

cost per impression of any marketing medium.

Combine that with the ability of mobile market-

ing messages to be well-branded, a goal for

every mobile marketing initiative

and mobile marketing becomes

an indispensable tool for compa-

nies trying to define or

strengthen their brand. The ma-

jor challenge is to build an eco-

system with constructive part-

nership to communicate with

highly targeted and profiled us-

ers for mobile marketing. Mobile

marketing is, and will remain, a consistent reality

for all businesses.

JULY 2011 13

The crux of subliminal marketing is to place an

idea in your subconscious mind. It makes you

want or think about something without even

you realizing. It plays on your senses. It is about

planting an idea in the customer‘s subconscious

mind and letting it grow till the point of pur-

chase.

The concept of subliminal marketing, if imple-

mented properly will definitely be very profit-

able. For example, a popular grocery chain in

USA used subliminal

marketing very effec-

tively to boost its res-

taurant sales. They fit

a huge electric fan hid-

den inside a billboard

on a highway turn

which wafted the

smell of delicious

steaks towards drivers

which made them

hungry. Just around

the corner was the

grocery store which invited people to enjoy the

most delicious steak ever.

In India, people haven‘t really noticed subliminal

marketing. But it happens. How many times

have we bought popcorn just because it smelt

so good? Consider ‗Gold Flake Honey Dew‘

cigarettes. It‘s not just a random brand name.

When you repeat ‗Honey Dew‘ twice or

thrice continuously, it begins to sound like

―I need you‖, which proves the effectiveness

of the brand in planting its need right in the

customer‘s head!

Forget these established brands. Even our

local ―halwai‖ sends you a subliminal mes-

sage when he fries "samosas‖ and ―kachoris‖

on the roadside. Such kind of marketing

plays on your urges.

However, it works

only if the subliminal

message is goal rele-

vant. Thus, it more

effective in making the

customer choose a

particular brand over

the other, rather than

in creating a real need.

The Darker Side

It is all about manipu-

lating the customer‘s

mind. Advertising

should only invite and not impose you to

buy. The very idea of making someone do

something without them realizing it sounds

wrong. The use of subliminal marketing is

controversial, because it is thought control-

ling in nature. There has been a lot of criti-

cism on the use of this kind of a marketing

gimmick to earn money.

When you buy a magazine with a pretty airbrushed woman

on the cover, that's subliminal marketing.

THE MARKSMAN 14

SUBLIMINAL MARKETING

- Neeti Bedekar, SIMSR, Mumbai

What is the objective of marketing? The most common answers are – advertising, selling, cus-

tomer satisfaction etc. A very important aspect of marketing is creating the need itself. And that

is what subliminal marketing is all about..

With media habits changing, the impact of ‗new

media‘ is challenging the traditional sources of me-

dia and advertising. The ‗web-lifestyle‘ that Micro-

soft chairman, Bill Gates talked about in his book

‗Business @ The Speed of Thought‘ in 1999 is no

more a prognostication but a reality for many.

People are accessing internet from home, spend-

ing more time on the online medium compared to

television. With the home user base already

touching 18 million odd, internet has already be-

come a mass medium.

The success of Blogger.com, YouTube, Wikipedia,

MySpace and Orkut is hardly news. In the new

‗virtual play grounds‘ that brands like these have

helped to create ‗Consumers‘ seems a redundant

term as they perform roles of active producers of

media content. In fact even the traditional media is

facing new challenges. TV has become an infotain-

ment medium beyond just entertainment. The re-

lationship of audiences with TV has undergone a

sea-change. They love the plethora of choices they

get when it comes to TV channels, but their atten-

tion spans have dipped when it comes to commer-

cial messages. They no more just ‗watch‘ TV, they

dream with TV- lest they become the nation‘s

next sensation, they express their rage by SMSing

their favorite TV channel- The marketers respond

by creating engaging ways to get ‗eyeballs‘- Crea-

tive programming content is developed around

specific brands. Bollywood and Cricket have

forged an interesting triad with TV where we wit-

ness product placements, launches and promo-

tions revolving around the new nexus.

With the entry of private players and a revised

license regime in 1999, even Radio- the Cinderella

of the communications story- experienced resur-

gence in the 2000s. With rapid advancements in

technology and growth of a ‗seamless world‘-

convergence is deemed to play a very crucial role

in the development of the entertainment and me-

dia industry where consumers will increasingly be

calling the shots in a converged media world.

Opportunities for consumers to access and ma-

nipulate content and services will not only be

abundant, but overflowing. However, consumer

time and attention will be limited. Thus, estab-

lished approaches of pushing exclusive content

through non-linear-channels or networks to mass

or segmented audiences will no longer guarantee

competitive advantage.

Implications for Marketers

“The future is already here. It is just unevenly distrib-

uted”

-William Gibson, Science fiction novelist

A changing media landscape and rapid changes in

consumer lifestyles necessitates the marketer to

take different approaches to managing brands.

Furthermore, marketers are Increasingly being

distanced from the physical marketplace In the

transition of the global economy from an era of

competitive advantage based on information to

one based on knowledge creation, more and

more corporations invest in gathering consumer

insights.

Savvy marketers recognize that their customers

spend significant time and energy in virtual play-

grounds like social networking websites. Astute

marketers go one step beyond and realize that

these are also important virtual battlegrounds for

their brand. Ace marketers are actively tuning in

NEW VIRTUAL MARKETING BATTLEFIELDS Yavnika Khanna ,Alumnus SIMSR (PGDM 09-11)

JULY 2011 15

to their consumers‘ conversations, capturing their

attention to direct it at both self and environment

at the same time, aiding consumers to acquire

skills, gain recognition among peers with the over-

all objective to create a loyal consumer base and a

positive brand image for their brand. Firstly, Mar-

keters need to find such ways to redirect atten-

tion of consumers away from the clutter to their

brand. Secondly, we observe a shift from ‗Volume-

based‘ marketing into ‗value-based‘ marketing and

marketers increasingly scout for opportunities for

higher value extraction from customers willing to

pay more for higher order features and benefits.

Astute marketers realize the need to segment

markets and go for targeted communication strat-

egy. In view of these decisions, they invest re-

sources to figure out:

What is the right amount to spend?

What is the right balance between positively

impacting vs. turning off consumers?

How to handle the question of invasion of pri-

vacy?

How to measure effectiveness?

Marketers must seamlessly integrate multiple

channels of communication- which implies

creatively managing above-the-line communi-

cation, On-line and Mobile marketing, reach-

ing out at the point of purchase and even en-

tering consumers‘ lives in ways currently un-

known!

With compounding environmental changes,

organizations need to be outward looking.

Peter Drucker has both argued and shown,

that in general understanding the present en-

ables you to dispense with futurology. A deep

understanding of future trends most likely to

be resonant with the relevant set consumers

is required to optimize future resource alloca-

tion and identify opportunities for innovation.

As we sit in 2011 and try to look ahead, we

can only imagine the possibilities and pitfalls

that next few years will have in store for us.

Almost one thing is certain- we need to wake

up to a new world with a new set of rules be-

THE MARKSMAN 16

Quote UnquoteQuote Unquote

"What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its

form." David Ogilvy

"Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the

brand image." David Ogilvy

"The sole purpose of marketing is to sell more to more people, more often and at higher prices.

There is no other reason to do it." Sergio Zyman

"The best way to predict the future is to create it." Peter Drucker

No Money Marketing by Jessie Paul

No Money Marketing is the acclaimed book by Jessie Paul which tells

about new marketing techniques and how new firms can benefit

from the phenomena of globalization to build their brands and

compete in the market place in a cost-effective way.

What will make you buy?

Three things make this book a worthwhile investment

Written in a conversational style, and with many personal

anecdotes, the author makes the brand building journey

come alive

As traditional marketing tools are losing their advantage to

new techniques like social networking, individual targeting

and ecosystem marketing No Money Marketing shows how

an emerging brand can spot and tap into its marketing eco-

system of all stakeholders, and compete successfully with

the best

Studies global branding successes of Indian brands abroad

and international brands in India across diverse sectors like

IT, automobiles and banking.

Why wouldn’t you want to buy?

While sharing snippets from insightful interviews with

thought leaders like Narayan Murthy and Nandan Nilekani,

she has also included Vijay Mallya- there‘s no doubting his

marketing prowess, but his means are far from frugal. This

is perhaps a rare lapse on the author‘s part.

Examples delve into unimportant details which bore the

reader.

About the author:

Jessie Paul has worked as Chief

Marketing Officer of Wipro’s IT

business and as Global Brand

Manager at Infosys. She has been

recognized for her contribution

towards putting the Indian IT in-

dustry on the global map. She has

used innovations such as award

programs with academic institu-

tions, mindsports, and non-

traditional media to reposition and

communicate brand values in a

frugal, yet effective manner.

Know more about the book

at:

http://nomoneymarketing.org

The book is also available at the

college library

OUR RATING

JULY 2011 17

BOOKWORM

MARKETING TOOLS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Pareto Analysis for Problem Solving

The main objective of this approach to problem solving is to identify the chief causes and respond to

them immediately, so as to improve the overall output of a project. Although Pareto charts can be easily

created in several different project management applications, not everyone has access to software of this

type. Fortunately, Pareto charts can also be created in Microsoft Excel.

Problem that requires investigation like- ―Determining the causes for delay in the

project.‖

Identify all the possible causes, for e.g. ―shortage of resources‖, ―technical failures‖,

―environmental factors‖, ―inefficiency or shortage of workforce‖ or ―government approvals‖.

Assign a frequency of occurrence to each cause based on historical data.

Make a list of all the probable causes in one column and in the adjacent column fill in the fre-

quency of occurrence, in percentage form, for each of the causes. Reorganize the frequencies in

descending order.

Make a bar graph using the data, plotting the frequency along the y-axis and the causes along the x

-axis. The cumulative frequency can be represented as a line. The resulting bar chart will make

it clear what are the key causes resulting in 80% of the problem related to the project. This is a

graphical Pareto chart.

1

2

3

4

5

Pareto analysis can be effec-

tively used to solve problems

of any type and has thus

gained immense acceptance

in the field of project manage-

ment. DECEMBER 2010 THE MARKSMAN 18

JULY 2011 19

A RECAP OF INTERFACE EVENTS

THE MARKSMAN 20

A RECAP OF INTERFACE EVENTS

JULY 2011 21

DraftFCB+Ulka COMSTRAT offers a platform for

marketing students from all over the country to show-

case their abilities and hone their skills on live case

studies. This year it was conducted for the 16th time

on 11th December 2010. After two grueling elimina-

tion rounds, six teams entered the finals this year. The

finalists included teams from eminent B-schools like

NMIMS, MICA, SCMHRD, Wel-ingkar, N.L. Dalmia and

SIMSR. The teams, especially the home team, brought

forward a number of interesting insights not only about

Nokia C3, but the en-tire mobile handset market in

India that is currently being dominated by Nokia. The

home team SIMSR was the unanimous choice of the

panel for the 1st place after delivering the most com-

prehensive and in-depth analysis of the case coupled

with an aesthetically appealing presentation.

A RECAP OF INTERFACE EVENTS

01

OTC Market visOTC Market vis--aa--vis FMCGvis FMCG

Dabangg‘s Munni catapulted Emami‘s Zandu balm to instant fame. The sting of los-

ing the acquisition of Paras Pharmaceuticals to Reckitt Benckiser was somewhat

placated. But there is something more in it.

OTC (over-the-counter) products have always been a market for FMCG

and pharmaceutical companies. While FMCG companies find that growth in the

conventional markets is slowing down, traditional pharma companies are looking at new ways of growing.

For instance, FMCG companies such as HUL, Reckitt and Himalaya seized upon the opportunity that the

advent of H1N1 presented in India by launching hand sanitizers. On the other side, emergency contracep-

tive pills like i-Pill and Unwanted-72 went on air talking about the safe option. The OTC market in India is

highly under-penetrated & growing consciousness towards health & wellness products presents a unique

opportunity in front of both FMCG & pharmaceutical companies. The next few years shall witness the

foray into the OTC market by FMCG & the pharma companies. This is just the beginning...

Ambush Marketing Is Ambushed!!!Ambush Marketing Is Ambushed!!!

Burger King, Barclaycard, Unilever and many other global brands will find their

marketing activity facing unprecedented levels of scrutiny around the London

2012 Olympic Games, as the organizers seek to stamp out ambush marketing. The

International Olympic Committee‘s (IOC) ‗Brand Protection‘ guidelines were

made public last month; the 136-page document sets out a strict set of measures

to combat non-sponsors capitalizing on the Games through ambush marketing

tactics. This is a significant step from ambush marketer point of view. The consequences can be seen only

in the coming days. But one thing is clear that Ambush Marketing may not always be a good idea.

Lesson on Brand Building from PerfettiLesson on Brand Building from Perfetti

A Nielsen survey pegs the per capita consumption of sugar confectionery for every

Indian at close to 200 grams per year, translating to about 50 pieces of candies and

gums per Indian, per year. A country of a billion consuming 50 pieces of confection-

aries like candies and gums may be small, but it presents both opportunities as well

as challenges.

Recently Perfetti India (PVMI) has touched an Rs 1,200 crore turnover, not an insig-

nificant achievement given the segment. PVMI according to market estimates commands over 25% with

the rest divided between ITC, Parle, Wrigley and Cadbury among others. Superior brand building initia-

tives taken by PVMI have made this feat possible. As management students the lessons are:

Perfetti‘s marketing and advertising comprises of edgy communication not only on television but also

virals like ‗Daddu ki amanaat‘ for Perfetti Protex

To create a seamless bridge between in-house marketing team and external partners, PVMI has re-

cently created a media manager role within the company

The company is renowned for extending creative freedom to its partners. The company shows tre-

mendous respect towards the inputs from the partner media agencies & often acts upon their sugges-

tions

THE MARKSMAN 22

Starbucks logo change: Another GAP fiasco? Starbucks logo change: Another GAP fiasco?

For the third time the brand has changed its logo since its launch in 1971 in Seattle. Schultz, the Star-

bucks chairman, president and chief executive gave indications of Starbucks getting involved in products

remotely related to coffee. Clothing chain GAP launched a new

logo last year and returned to the original one after widespread

criticism. Keeping this in mind Starbucks tested the new logo with

loyal customers and thus is confident about the success.

KOTA: A Successful BrandKOTA: A Successful Brand

Out of the total number of students who made it to the IITs last year, nearly

2,500 of the selected ones were coached in Kota, which makes the success rate

of Kota a double-digit 10% as against the national success rate of just about 3%.

In the late 80s a major employment provider in Kota announced a lock-

out of its factory. It brought the township to a grinding halt, with no other em-

ployment alternatives as Kota in Rajasthan was neither a manufacturing hub, nor a

tourist destination. Necessity, as they say is the mother of invention and some

enterprising locals decided that teaching, specifically coaching for competitive exams like IIT could be a good

source of earning a living. Thus, Bansal Classes was formally born in 1991, a pioneer brand that has made Kota

what it is today — the highest producer of IIT successes from a single city. Bansal's success spawned a slew of

other coaching classes, Career Point , Resonance, Allen's, Vibrant to name a few.

The coaching classes deploy print, outdoors and are also trying to create online buzz through search en-

gine optimization and social media. They also do below-the-line in a large way through school seminars, events and

ground events. Some of the coaching classes are looking for IPO as well. For example, Resonance recently re-

ceived a PE infusion through Milestone-Religare and is looking at an IPO in the near future.

Today, nearly 80,000 students at Kota have created an eco-system that supports an entire city. It's not

only the coaching classes, but ancillaries like accommodation, canteens, cybercafés, stationery shops etc., that earn

revenues from students. Wal-Mart has opened its fourth best-price brand outlet in Kota, the first outlet outside of

Punjab, where it has three outlets. Thus, Kota proves to be a best example of destination branding for its core

competency in education business.

JULY 2011 23

Across:

2. Identify the makers of original Swiss Knives.

5.‖Every man has a darker side‖. Identify the beer

brand.

8. Identify the Business Management Guru.

9. Link the personalities to arrive at the company.

Down:

1. ―The magic is in the mix‖. Identify the bever-

age brand.

3. ―Because stains love your clothes‖. Identify

the brand

4. Identify the lemon drink.

6. He is known as the father of Advertising.

7. Name the chocolate bar made by Mars.

Map the crossword with the visual and textual clues.

THE MARKSMAN 24

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.

Contact us at: interface.newsletter@gmail.com

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THE A-TEAM

COVER STORY Rishi M

SECONDARY STORIES Shelani A

ALL ABOUT BRANDS Bhavesh P(Alumnus)

Rishi M

BOOKWORM Namita S

NUKED Divya S

REWIND Rajat P

TWEETS Rik C

BUZZ Martin A

Rajat P

DESIGN Namita S Rajat P Shelani S