K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH VOL. IV | ISSUE IV | SEP’ 13

MARKSMAN

REWIND

The

COVER STORY

SEDUCTIVE

MARKETING

>> 22

>> 24

SPECIAL STORY

BOOKWORM

>>14

FAUX PAS Maruti Suzuki Kizashi

>>17

SEPTEMBER 2013 01

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Readers,

After saying goodbye to the rains, we welcome you to the September edition of

‘The Marksman’.

This month, we start off with a very interesting topic as our cover story

‘Seductive Marketing’. Although it may bring up visuals about the latest ads

that were probably censored or eventually banned, Seductive Marketing is much

more than that. Next on, we are providing fodder for the sports-inclined when

we uncover the secret behind the phenomenal growth of the Premier League

club, Manchester United in our Special Story, ‘Rise of the Red Devils’.

With our regular segments such as Tweets, Buzz, Bookworm, Ad-itude, Brand

Markive, Hallmark Campaign and Faux Pas, we aim to provide to you an all-

encompassing view of the world of marketing. With our very own Square head,

we take a little hearted look at the realm around us.

From the various articles that we got, we also present to you the best of the lot.

Congratulations and a big thank you to Sufiyan Sarguroh, Dr. Girish Kute

and Zeeshan Hassan for the excellently written articles that they sent.

The world of marketing is huge and even with the variety that we have this

month, it is, but an iota of it. With this edition, we have tried to push the

envelope a little with our cover as well as the special story. Let us know your

thoughts on them. Connect with us on www.interfacesimsr.com/the-marksman.

With this, we leave you to enjoy this month’s edition.

Happy Reading!

Team MARKSMAN

The Interface-The Marketing Club of SIMSR

@marksmansimsr.

CONTENTS

07

08

TWEETS

BRAND MARKIVE

BOOKWORM

10

14 SPECIAL STORY

RISE OF THE RED DEVILS

COVER STORY

SEDUCTIVE MARKETING

MARKETING FAUX PAS

REWIND

17

22

24

32 BUZZ

03

IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

02 THE MARKSMAN

BEER- FINDS A NEW

DESTINATION- THE INDIAN

HEAD!!

With its Beer Shampoo, Park Avenue has

created a path-breaking category in the hair

care segment by launching the first-ever

shampoo for men in India. This is primarily

because of the main ingredient - Beer - which

is associated with fun in mind of the consumer.

Here, it offers a shiny, smooth and bouncy feel

to the hair. Park Avenue offers the man, a

shampoo created specifically to meet his hair

care needs and makes him conscious about

personal grooming.

DUMB WAYS TO DIE

Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity has

announced the recipient of the

‘Advertiser of the Year Award’

for 2013 - Metro, Melbourne’s

train system, which has been

winning a number of international

awards for its public service

announcement ‘Dumb Ways to Die’.

The 3 minute clip employs an

insanely catchy tune and colorful

blobs which die in a variety of ways,

including "keeping a rattlesnake as a

pet" and "selling both kidneys on

the Internet" before culminating in

train-related deaths that are

described as "the dumbest way to

die". Not only has it captured the

imagination and engaged the public

through multimedia platforms –

radio, outdoor, gaming, social media,

etc. - but it has also been effective in

achieving a change in people’s

behavior. In May 2013, Metro

released a "Dumb Ways to Die"

game as an app for iPhone, iPod

touch and iPad devices.

TWEETS

03 SEPTEMBER 2013

AMUL GIRL GETS A NEW

DIMENSION- GOES 3D!!

Amul's butter girl has been on billboards for

almost half a century. Now, Toonz Animation has

given the adorable mascot a new three-

dimensional look in the brand's latest TVC.

In the TVC she looks like a regular, well-rounded

cartoon character and has been profiled from

several angles, not just the front. Moreover, the

60-second version of the ad will be placed in

cinemas during 3D movies; and when viewed

through special goggles, the ad will be a three-

dimensional one.

TWEETS

THE MARKSMAN 04

BOURNVILLE'S BITTERSWEET

LOVE STORY

Bournville has carried out an on-ground

activation in a mall in Mumbai as an extension

of the brand's “Not So Sweet” TV campaign

that was released recently and the video of

the same has gone viral on YouTube.

Done by Ogilvy & Mather in a city mall, the

activation featured a staged love proposal; a

young guy proposes to a young lady, only to

get thrashed by her for being too sweet with

his words! Enacted by theatre actors, the act

absolutely stumped onlookers.

The video uses a subtle

reference to the brand and

doesn't look like an ad at all!!

The activation features a train

with the message 'Bournville -

Not So Sweet' written on it, but

the action in the background

attracts all the attention making

the train appear as a mere

disturbance rather than an

advertising message.

TWEETS

At the St Xavier's College Fest Malhar 2013,

BlackBerry users were given a special entry.

The handset manufacturer put up a larger

than life letter, 'Q', at the entry gates of the

festival and urged the students to show their

BlackBerry devices to pass through the gate,

thus by passing the general queue. The idea

was to make blackberry users stand out at

the event, where BlackBerry was the major

sponsor.

The idea behind setting up the Q was to

promote the new BlackBerry Q5 in the

college zone among the age-group 18-35

years. The brand urged students to participate

in the BlackBerry 'My Q5' contest where they

had to come up with an ideal price for the

handset and walk into the

BlackBerry store at Palladium mall

in Mumbai sporting a red garment

at a specific date and time. Three

winners were chosen and

awarded the stylish BlackBerry

Q5.

BLACKBERRY CREATES SPECIAL

QUEUE AT COLLEGE FEST

05 SEPTEMBER 2013

EXTREME EXPLORER!!-

WOODLAND

Leading outdoor adventure wear brand

Woodland on Thursday announced a new

campaign called ‘Woodland - Adventurer

Wanted’ in which the brand is looking for

the 'Extreme Explorer' to discover

unexplored adventure destinations around

the world.

At the launch, Harkirat Singh, Managing

Director, Woodland said, “Adventure is when

an individual involves himself in an activity

that is unusual and has an element of an

unknown outcome. Being an adventure gear

brand, we have always created a niche area

for people who love adventure and have

centered our actions to

identify the inner thirst in

youngsters who want to

wander and explore more."

This opportunity of being the

‘Woodland Extreme Explorer’

rests on the Woodland

Facebook page and can be

applied by any and every

adventurer across the country.

To apply, entrants need to

submit an impactful still or an

entertaining video (of just 30-

60 seconds of length), on 'Why

You are the Best Person for

the Job', showcasing originality

and his / her commitment to

adventure.

TWEETS

THE MARKSMAN 06

93.5 RED FM VS POTHOLES

93.5 Red FM, Mumbai has launched a 10

day campaign named ‘Pothole Utsav’ and is

looking out for the worst potholes in the

city. They are planning to perform ‘Puja’ at

the most menacing ones. Why puja? To

wake up the sleeping authorities!! Red

93.5 FM’s Facebook page which boasts of

more than 43K fans has also started

updating them about the campaign. The

campaign asks for the users to report the

worst pothole in their locality.

Also, the initiative urges

users to upload the pictures

of the potholes on their

Facebook page.

#GOODINOURDNA CAMPAIGN

Daily News and Analysis, the English Daily is

planning out a year-long campaign to bring

out the Good stories back to the reader’s

morning. With the launch of their latest

campaign ‘Good in our DNA’, the newspaper

tries to connect with their readers by

highlighting stories depicting the ‘good’ in

the society. The reader is everyday attacked

with news headlines screaming of corruption

and murders and the reader feels frustrated.

This is what the campaign aims to tackle by

bringing back some feel good stories by their

readers to the newspaper.

This Raksha Bandhan, the campaign kick-started by sending rakhis to Mumbai cops

on behalf of the readers. Also, it will carry out some offline-online integration to

boost it through. DNA’s Twitter handle has started sharing reader’s stories with

#GoodInOurDNA hashtag and it would be interesting to see how they carry out

this campaign on social media too.

With its latest TVC, Flipkart gives us another reason to love its ads that feature children as

adults. This campaign aims to inspire its viewers to shop via Flipkart. They say, “Ab sirf

shopping nahi Flipkart karo” in an attempt to position the brand as a synonym to convenient

online shopping. It also targets a wider audience this time, giving them several assured

reasons to shop online. In the ad, this message is being conveyed on a television debate

show which is actually a satire on one hosted by a famous Indian news anchor. The

advertisement has been successful in drawing the audiences’ attention and has also hit off

well with them as it has gone viral all over social media.

IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

Television Ad

Print Ad

Client: Koleston Naturals

Creative Agency: Leo Burnett, Lebanon

07 SEPTEMBER 2013

Client: Flipkart

Creative Agency: Happy Creative

Services Pvt Ltd.

People usually forget to enjoy the beautiful location as they are busy praising this eye-

catching advertisement. The billboard’s strategic position on a promenade elegantly captures

Koleston Naturals’ hair colour range. The woman’s hair is cut in the billboard as it utilises

the stunning view of the sea and skyline in different phases of day and night. The position of

the sun determines the spread of hair dyes available. This ad is designed to highlight the

beauty and variety of the shades of hair dye they produce and to emphasize on all the

natural ingredients of their products as well. This has definitely proved to be an idea

portrayed in a simple yet stylish advertisement that one can never forget.

BRAND MARKive The Evolution of XEROX

THE MARKSMAN 08

Xerox Corporation is an American

document management multinational

company that manufactures and sells a

range of colour and black and white

printers, photocopiers, digital printing

presses and related ancillaries. The

company’s headquarters is in Norwalk,

Connecticut. The company acquired

Affiliated Computer Services for $6.4

billion in 2010. It holds a Royal

Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II and

the Prince of Wales.

HISTORY

Xerox was founded in 1906 in

Rochester under the name of “The

Haloid Photographic Company”,

which manufactured photographic

paper and equipment. The company

came to prominence in 1959 with

the introduction of the first ever

photocopier machine called the

Xerox 914, which was based on the

principles of electrophotography.

Chester Carlson and John H.

Dessauer are often credited for this

innovation. The popularity of this

product is well perceived from the

fact that by the end of 1961, Xerox

had almost $60 million in revenue.

This figure was on a steadfast rise

and touched a whooping $500

million by the end of 1965.

09 SEPTEMBER 2013

BRAND MARKIVE

Product Portfolio

Xerox manufactures a large product

portfolio including LCD monitors,

Phaser printers, multifunctioning

printers, large format digital printers,

photo copiers as well as workflow

softwares under the name of

FreeFlow. FreeFlow efficiently

manages the entire workflow of a

printing business, right from the pre-

press, press to the post-press. It

ensures a proper coordination,

communication and consistency

when a printer takes a job from its

client for printing on a large scale.

Before releasing this product, the

company tested the market with a

developed version of the prototype

hand-operated equipment known

as the Flat-plate 1385 followed by

copyflo in 1955. A scaled down

version of the copyflo was to

become the basis for the 813

desktop copier. In 1963, Xerox

introduced their 813 model, the

first desktop plain paper copier,

that could fit on anyone’s office

desk. Their first foray into

duplicating, which is distinct from

copying, was with the Xerox 2400.

This machine introduced the

industry’s first automatic document

feeder, slitter/perforator and

collator (sorter).

TRIVIA

1. The first Xerox copier, the 914,

was introduced in September, 1959,

and put on sale in March, 1960.

2. Cost for Xerox to build 914 was

$2000 each.

3. Back then, Xerox only rented the

devices, with monthly fee including a

set amount of copies, and then

overages were 5 cents each.

4. A Xerox 914 weighed roughly

around 650 pounds.

5. The inventor of Xerox machine,

Chester Carlson was born in

America and had Swedish linkage. His

father was a barber by profession.

COVER STORY SEDUCTIVE MARKETING

THE MARKSMAN 10

We can understand what comes to

your mind when you read the title of

this article, and most likely the

commercials of Wildstone and Axe

would have flashed through your minds,

but actually Seductive Marketing has a

lot more to offer than just that.

In social science, seduction is the

process of deliberately enticing a

person to engage; seduction being a

synonym for the act of charming

someone — male or female — by an

appeal to the senses aka “The Art of

Seduction.”

This art of seduction has also

contributed to the marketing world by

giving birth to one of the modern

marketing method called as Seductive

marketing.

What is Seductive Marketing?

Seductive Marketing is a marketing

method that leads a potential buyer

through a sequence of psychological

mind states towards making a buying

decision. Seductive marketing follows

psychological model of persuasion.

Many psychological studies have proved

that a potential buyer goes through a

lot of emotional decision points either

in favour or against the purchase during

the purchasing process and these states

contribute to what is known as "buying

temperature".

The knowledge of the buyer's

emotional state allows the marketer to

target precisely all marketing efforts on

moving customers to the next

favourable state. This emotional

sensitizing approach actually leads to

reduced marketing costs and

maximized conversion or closing ratios.

What makes Seductive Marketing

different?

Old-style marketing is about

interrupting people and trying to

distract them so you can sell them your

stuff. Let’s take an example of a grand

party. If you walk around the party,

talking about nothing but your job,

trying to make a sale, and refusing to

show interest in people unless they

seem interested in buying, you'll pretty

soon find that nobody wants to talk to

you, because, not to put too fine a

point on it, you're boring.

Seductive marketing is about chatting

to them, getting to know them, and

letting them buy from you when they're

ready. You need to mingle, to socialise,

to get to know people, and then, if it's

appropriate, offer to help them out.

Effectively, it's about giving the control

of the business relationship to the

consumer.

Let’s now try to understand how

Seductive marketing method actually

work and let’s consider an interesting

analogy for the same, the parallels of

dating world.

The Direct Approach, Not a Good

Idea!

Walking up to a girl in the street, and

asking her out regardless of what she's

doing and who she’s with. You might get

lucky, but the chances are she calls you a

loser and walks away. Some people are,

apparently, quite successful with this

technique. That's the way a lot of

marketing is done, though. But really, it's

pretty offensive and pretty ineffective.

Seductive marketing is about establishing

a somewhat more mature relationship.

Yes, you're still hoping for the same

outcome, but you go about it in a

different way. You start out by getting to

know her, seeing what you have in

common, and then, gradually, seducing her.

It may slowly build into a long-term

relationship, or it may just be a short fling,

but either way, you go about it with a

little bit more charm and elegance than

the direct approach.

Let’s look at various stages of Seductive

marketing considering the analogy of

dating.

Stage 1: Getting to know your girl

COVER STORY

11 SEPTEMBER 2013

COVER STORY

All the men should know that you

never talk about yourself on a date. You

talk about her and her passions. You

need to first impress her with your wit,

knowledge, and sophistication. Find out

what she really likes, and whether you’ll

be able to live upto her expectations.

The marketing perspective: You need to

show your potential customers that

you really are into and very sure about

what you are talking about. You

understand your customers because

you share their passions. For e.g. Nike's

seductive marketing focuses squarely

on a charismatic athlete or image,

rarely even mentioning or showing the

shoes.

Stage 2: Romancing

After you have impressed a girl, you

need to let her know that you really

care, little gifts now and again would

do that. And if things are going well,

she'll now be telling all her friends

how wonderful, kind, gentle and

generous you are, and what a great

time she's having with you.

COVER STORY

THE MARKSMAN 12

COVER STORY

In fact, she'll probably invite them to join in.

Nobody would have thought that

marketing could be so much fun!!

The marketing perspective: This is the

time you make the customer realize

what a great decision it would be to

choose your product. You start

highlighting the amazing features and

you start giving free trials, free

resources, and attractive offers. Reward

your potential customers for bringing

you more potential customers .Get

them to like you on Facebook, retweet

your tweets, and tell others about the

free thing(s) you've got. For e.g.

Matrimonial sites like Shaadi.com and

other online service providers give free

trials, e-commerce sites promote try

and buy, replacement offers, speed

delivery on request and much more.

Stage 3: Being Honest

Tell her you don't want to pressure her

into anything she doesn't want to do.

Maybe go so far as to suggest she sees

other guys. Point out your own

shortcomings, but in such a way that it

doesn't make you look like a loser.

The marketing perspective: This is

something that fills most marketers

with terror. Recommend your

competitors. Yes, really. But ultimately

you got to identify and focus on your

target customer group. It proves to

your customers that, first of all, you

really understand your market.

Stage 4: The First Kiss

Ideally, she'll do this first, She's looked

around and, frankly, you're the best

there is, for oh so many reasons.

Failing that, however, you may have to

arrange a little something special to

give her a nudge.

The marketing perspective: Be patient.

Wait for the sale to come to you. It

may take customers months, or even

years to decide to buy your product.

They can have all sorts of reasons to

delay: they may not have the money

right now. Don't push too hard.

A chatty message, email, a brief tweet,

a mention on FB, a forum post or blog

- that's all it takes.

Final Stage: Riding off into the

sunset

Perhaps it's the start of a lifelong

relationship, you got to keep the

passion up and take care of her

throughout.

The marketing perspective: That first

sale isn't the end of the story. Keep

being nice to that customer, keep

being their friend, even if they don't

buy a product in the future.

Having satisfied ex-customers around

can actually be a real benefit to you.

Most of the car companies in India have

realized this and so are focussing on

increasing the number of service centres

and improving quality and time taken to

service.

Apple’s Seductive Brand Promise

Apple has succeeded at cultivating a

brand to which we feel positive

emotional attachment. With its iconic

logo, sleek aesthetic, and promise of

creativity, excitement, and greatness that

associate its products with playfulness,

sentimentality, and cool youthfulness,

Apple promises to be one of the most

seductive brand.

Added to this, Apple is known for its

quality of after-sales services. If you go

to an Apple service store expecting a

replacement for iPhone 4, you may as

well come out with an iPhone 4s if the

previous one was out of stock!

COVER STORY

13 SEPTEMBER 2013

COVER STORY

The Intuitive aspect of

Seductive Marketing

Influence Financial Risk Taking

Well, there is a reason -- highly

seductive and positive emotions

make you take more financial risks.

Why is that? I am glad you asked.

When you are exposed to seductive

marketing techniques, a region deep

within your brain called the nucleus

accumbens becomes activated. This is

the part our brain that is "turned on"

when we are experiencing positive

emotions such as excitement.

.

In fact, this basic principle is widely

used in casinos. Casino owners want

people to make riskier decisions

when gambling, so casinos are

designed to maximize positive

emotions like excitement. Casino

floors are full of colourful lights,

attractive servers, and appetizing

food and drinks all working together

to increase your nucleus accumbens

activation. The next time you are on

an online retail store like Myntra.com

or Jabong.com, that cute guy or that

hot girl might seduce you into buying

a product for which you might have

hesitated while buying from

Shopper’s Stop.

Think about the last time you watched

a cricket game. Now think about the

all the commercials you had to watch.

Have you ever wondered why certain

brands seem to just add attractive

models, for what appears no good

reason?

SPECIAL STORY

THE MARKSMAN 14

Rise of the Red Devils

While going through my twitter feeds, I

came across an HBR feed called Ferguson’s

Formula. Intrigued as I was after reading the

name, I couldn’t put a face to this guy

Ferguson. As soon as I open the link, there

it was, staring right at me, was the image of

Manchester United’s recently retired coach

and manager Sir Alex Ferguson. I read the

article which was written by Anita Elberse,

wondering how this guy could be featured

in a business article. As I read it, I realized

that this man has been responsible for

creating a very successful team. Sir Alex has

won 28 major honours and 38 in total.

As the reader, you might be wondering

what football is doing in this magazine. I

think that managing a football club is quite a

task. Managing these big clubs requires a

certain skill set and experience which if

compared to a company’s hierarchy,

would be equivalent to at least the

position of the General Manager. The

HBR article goes on to relate some

management lessons that Sir Alex has

followed throughout his career. As I go

through these formulas, I get some kind

of a picture on how things work for a

winning team. But what confuses me is

the fact that it’s still an HBR article. So I

put on my searching glasses and

googled Premier League, Manchester

United FC, Liverpool FC and some

incidents of hooliganism that took

place in the 80’s.

After reading all this and surveying

some of my friends who were readily

available to give their views on

everything related to football, be it

their favourite teams, rival teams or

just random facts, I realize that the

amount of money that goes into these

clubs, the fan following and most

importantly the brand they have

created for themselves is huge.

SPECIAL STORY

The History

Manchester United FC started in 1878 as

Newton Heath LYR Football Club. The

team initially played games against other

departments and rail companies. After

amassing huge debts, the club was taken

up by four businessmen and on 24th April

1902 Manchester United was born.

It did not do well in its starting years, it

won the league only twice in 50 years of

its inception. Matt Busby took over the

reins in 1945 who led them to 2nd place

league finishes in 1947, 1948, 1949.

The Munich Air Disaster- On the way

home from a European Cup quarter-final

victory against Red Star Belgrade, the

aircraft carrying the Manchester United

players, officials and journalists crashed

while attempting to take off after

refuelling in Munich, Germany on 6th

February 1958. The crash claimed 23 lives,

including those of 8 players. Matt Busby

led the team to 3 more League wins and

1 European Cup win.

During the years of 1969 and 1986, it saw

a flurry of managers and only 3 wins at

league level. Alex Ferguson joined the

side in 1986 and it has been an upward

journey since then. Winning 13 Premier

League titles and many others. Under

him, the club has thrived in these past 26

years.

15 SEPTEMBER 2013

The Brand

Manchester United FC has built itself as a

global brand in the years after the Munich

Disaster. The core strength of Manchester

United's global brand is often attributed to

Matt Busby's rebuilding of the team and

subsequent success following the Munich

air disaster, which drew worldwide

acclaim. The club is currently ranked third

in the Deloitte Football Money League

(behind Real Madrid and Barcelona). In

January 2013, the club became the first

sports team in the world to be valued at

$3 billion.

The value of Manchester united brand was

bolstered by off-the-field media attention

to individual players, most notably David

Beckham (who quickly developed his own

global brand). This attention generated

greater interest for on-the-field activities,

and that lead to more sponsorship

opportunities.

SPECIAL STORY

Higher league placements resulted in greater share of television rights, success

on-field generated greater income for the

club.

United also was willing to sell players

who still had good years ahead of them, it

made more money from outgoing

transfers than most of its rivals did—so

the betting on promising talent could

continue. Many of those bets were made

on very young players on the cusp of

superstardom.

Ferguson did occasionally shell out top

money for established superstars, such as

the Dutch striker Robin van Persie,

bought for $35 million at the start of the

2012–2013 season, when he was 29.

Nike the sportswear company has

created a key sponsorship relationship

with the club. They manage the club’s

merchandising operation as a

£303 million 13-year partnership

established in 2002.

Through Manchester United Finance and

the club’s membership scheme, One

United, a large range of branded goods

and services are made available to the

fans. Additionally, Manchester United-

branded media services – such as the

club's dedicated television

channel, MUTV – have allowed the club to

expand its fan base to those beyond the

reach of its Old Trafford stadium.

THE MARKSMAN 16

Brands are formed over the years and it

takes considerable amount of skill,

resources and superior quality

product/service to make them flourish

in the market. Manchester United has

created itself as superior brand under

the able guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Now that he has retired, let’s see what

the new manager David Moyes has in

store for the club.

P.S. This is my first encounter with football,

all the above is through research via

colleagues and the internet. As of now I

am not inclined towards any football club

and this in an unbiased opinion. Though

during the course of my research for this

article, I have started following the

Premier League and who knows, by the

season end, I might even sing “You’ll never

walk alone”, if all you fans out there, know

what I mean.

MARKETING FAUX PAS

Maruti Suzuki Kizashi

17 SEPTEMBER 2013

Maruti Suzuki has always been a brand

that manufactures cost effective cars

mainly catering to its broad middle-class

customer base. So, what happens when

such a brand decides to launch a luxury

model priced at 16.5 lakh rupees?

How do they ensure sales of such a high

priced model? The answer - They do not.

Since its launch in February 2011, the

Maruti Suzuki Kizashi has been a

spectacular failure not only in the Indian

markets but it has also been a global

disappointment.

Kizashi is Japanese for “something great

is coming”. While the greatness of the

Kizashi can be put up for debate, there

can be no doubt that there was nothing

great about its entry into the Indian

market. There were two major issues

that were the cause of the downfall of

the Kizashi - the positioning and

branding.

Maruti were skeptical of the response

they would receive towards the Kizashi,

and decided to import the car from

Japan directly as a Completely Built Unit

(CBU). Adopting such a safe strategy

comes with a serious pitfall - that of

taxes. So, a car that should be placed in

the 12-13 lakh price segment ends up

pinching the pocket of the customer

by an additional 4-5 lakhs making it a

D segment car placed in a price range

of 16-18 lakhs.

Thus, the Kizashi, that should have

been competing with the likes of the

Honda City and Hyundai Verna,

suddenly found itself pitted against the

models of these companies that were

a notch higher i.e. the Honda Accord,

Toyota Corolla Altis and Hyundai

Elantra.

Maruti tried very hard to mould the

image of the Kizashi as a driver

oriented car but the general

perception was that D segment cars

are chauffeur driven and this led to

the failure of the marketing campaign.

Maruti Suzuki as a brand is known for

production of low to average cost cars i.e.

as a mass market car producing company

with punchlines like “Kitna Deti Hai” which

appeal to the customer’s pocket.

With the introduction of the Kizashi, they

planned to tap a niche market of wealthy

customers who preferred luxury cars.

Luxury cars are all about pride, power and

prestige - not something you would

associate with brand Maruti. Most of the

people seemed to echo the sentiment -

“Who would pay 17 lakh for a Maruti?”

Another differentiating point that goes

against the Kizashi is the showrooms used

by Maruti in showcasing the Kizashi.

Compared to the elegant and posh

showrooms of its competitors, the Maruti

showroom does not have the lure to

attract potential customers.

Taking the price away from the picture, one

will realize that the Kizashi is actually quite

a brilliant car in almost every department.

Accompanied by an exquisite finish, stylish

interiors and a wide variety of top-class

features, the Kizashi surely had the

potential to capture the Indian market if

priced right.

It could definitely compete with the

best of cars in the C segment and also

give some of the D segment cars a

run for their money.

Had Maruti chosen to manufacture

the Kizashi in India, would things have

been different? To solve the branding

problem, Maruti could have taken a

leaf out of Toyota’s book and created

a new brand producing only luxury

cars.

Toyota’s Lexus and similarly,

Volkswagen’s child companies of Audi,

Bentley, Porsche, Lamborghini and

Bugatti all service the niche luxury car

market. Maruti will always be known

as the car manufacturer for the

common people and it will be a

mountain of a task to change the

established image and perception of

the people.

Perhaps it would be wise to continue

with cashing in on the mass market

where it has the largest market share

and make a steady entry into other

niche markets.

MARKETING FAUX PAS

THE MARKSMAN 18

“ Who would pay

17 lakh for a

Maruti? ”

Tete-a-Tete Mr. Kedar Rele

On Sept 12th, Mr. Kedar Rele - General

Manager (Marketing Services)- handling

Birla White- a white cement brand of

Ultratech Cement Limited flagship

Company of US $40 Billions, Aditya Birla

– enlightened the students of SIMSR

with his lecture on “Pricing Strategies”.

semester, I chose Sales and Marketing

as an elective instead of any operations

subject. So I worked for 2 years and

then did a part time MBA, which

helped me combine my practical

experience with the theory.

Q. You have worked with American

Power Corporation (APC Inc),

Hindalco, Birla White, across

various sectors. So how different is

the marketing in each sector?

Ans: I worked with APC in the earliest

days of my career, it basically involved

entry level sales and cold calls. I was a

little upset initially as I felt I got no

value being an engineer. But eventually

when my sales pitching culminated into

orders, I was more than delighted.

When I worked with Hindalco, it was

more of B2B marketing. It was huge in

terms of exposure. Then via an internal

recruiting system, I got a chance to

apply to Birla White. A big switch from

a B2B sector to a somewhat FMCG

product. I got a chance to study in

detail about the distribution channel.

It’s been a great journey, so far.

Q. In today’s age, how important

is it to make your presence felt in

the digital world/social media?

Ans: Oh , it’s extremely important!

Digital is one such medium where you

can actually measure your reach and its

Here’s a small excerpt from the interview

with Mr. Rele prior to the session.

Q. Having pursued your Engineering

from KJ Somaiya, how does it feel to

be back on the Somaiya Campus?

Ans: Honestly, it feels great. I feel like a

student all over again. The professors are

amazing, the campus has evolved so well.

You guys are really lucky to be here!

Q. After Production Engineering, what

drove you to do an MBA?

Ans: Even when I was doing my

engineering, I genuinely did not want to get

into a factory, but I wanted to market the

factory products. In fact even in my final

19 SEPTEMBER 2013

Tete-aTete

converts easily using Google Analytics

and all, unlike print media. Of course

other mediums too have a reach, but

this is more measurable. Also

smartphone users are ever-increasing,

which makes it very important for us

to be seen digitally. Also, digital

medium is more interactive. With the

various feedbacks from consumers, we

can co-create products.

We have done 2 campaigns on

Facebook and twitter. The ‘unsung

hero’ campaign was a huge hit, you

guys should definitely check it out.

Q. How do seasonal changes

affect the sales of cement?

Ans: Normally, Construction happens

in a non-monsoon season. But these

days the monsoon cycle is also

changing, and hence the sales pattern

is also changing (laughs). Also these

days, there are technologies available

so that even if rainfall does occur,

there are certain chemicals which

quickly cure the cement layering. In

fact Birla White Wallcare products do

not require curing, which is a great

achievement. So yes, there is a season,

it does affect sales, and we do plan in

advance for it.

Q. Wallcare products in general

are not high-involvement

products. The decision makers

are mainly the contractors /

construction heads. How do you

deal with this? Do you have

activation campaigns?

Ans : We do. For wallcare products,

painters mainly act as the influencers.

Hence we do have activation campaigns for

them. We also do activation programs for

retailers. We have recently also started

consumer activation campaigns.

Q. How has the current economic

scenario hit the industry?

Ans: Well, what I personally feel is, since

India has a huge population of 1.2 billion

comprising of various strata of people,

there’s a larger consumer base available,

and hence everything will be consumed in

India. We are more sentiment-driven. The

moment we see something happening

globally, or the crude prices going up, our

sentiments become low and this is what

actually sets the slow down. Having said

this, our country will never see a downturn.

Our country has a huge population, young

population is so much, we have a lot of

festivals around which takes care of various

economic activities (laughs). 1.2 billion junta

is a huge opportunity and strength . I don’t

see any downturn as such. Once we’ve seen

the night, we shall see the day as well.

Q. Sir, you’ve worked with Team

Interface previously as well, for our

Navikaran event. How has your

experience been with the team?

Ans: I personally feel Team Interface is

great. First time around, I was trying to

understand your work and now this time, I

am actually feeling like a part of the team.

It’s been quite a learning experience for me

as well, I feel like a part of the team. It’s

exciting and I am looking forward to

working with you guys again.

THE MARKSMAN 20

The most stereotypical aspect of our lives

are billboard ads. Although billboards afford

greatest visibility due not only to their size,

but because they allow creative

"customizing" through extensions and

embellishments, they are visual noise to a

common man. Now imagine IBM, which is

driven by innovation and who are trying “to

build a smarter planet”, trying to put in a

novel idea into the concept of billboards.

Yes, IBM’s People for Smarter Cities

Project, by Ogilvy & Mather France, made it

possible to make these boring billboards

not only attractive but also helpful. One

sign is simply curved at the bottom to

double as a bench and flipped upside down,

a similar protrusion creates shelter from

the rain. Genius.

In the grand piece they put up, a sign

actually folds 90 degrees over concrete

IBM’s Clever Billboards

Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN

steps, providing a useful ramp for bikers

and anyone else negotiating wheels.

It feels like God is being too kind to us

providing us with alternatives and that

too using a billboard. Epic! These people

need to be recognised beyond lords for

doing that, oh wait; they are already, its

IBM and Ogilvy & Mather.

IBM and Ogilvy have taken billboards to

a whole new with this new concept. It

probably starts a new era where

billboards will be the helpers on the

street because if you’re going to stand

next to an ad anyway, it might as well be

useful.

21 SEPTEMBER 2013

Education and competitions are very

closely related as competitions play a vital

role in the development of skills. Indeed,

without competitions, we cannot imagine

education.

Since its inception, Interface has been

organising ‘INQUIZZITIVE’, the biggest

Marketing Quiz of SIMSR every year. This

year it was held on 2nd September 2013,

with a completely new concept of The

Brand-O-Man, the Mascot of the event.

People are naturally drawn to visual images

and mascots are the visual billboards of any

event. Keeping this in mind, The Brand-O-

Man for the event was created to build

instant engagement and embed the image

of the event in the minds of the audience.

The event saw an overwhelming response

of over 150 teams participating in the

online elimination round. Out of these, 70

teams were shortlisted for the round 2

which was a paper-pen round. Each group

was given 30 minutes to discuss with their

partners and solve a set of questions given

to them.

Inquizzitive 2013

REWIND

As the saying goes “Survival of the

fittest”, top 4 out of these 70 were

selected for the final on-stage round,

which was a mind boggling session

including audio-visuals and rapid fire

questions.

The event also boasted of an extremely

enthusiastic audience who were kept

entertained through interactive

questions with special goodies to those

who answered them right.

The event ended with a nail biting tie

breaker round between the top 2

finalists. Certificates and cash prizes

were awarded to the winning teams.

THE MARKSMAN 22

Industry interface at Somaiya Institute of

Management Studies and Research happens

through Seminars, Conferences, Corporate

Interactions and Guest lectures. SIMSR

organises such interactions throughout the

year for student benefit. These events,

besides giving students an opportunity of

interacting with the leaders of business,

also instill in them a great sense of

inspiration and motivation.

Keeping up with this trend, the Marketing

Club of SIMSR- “The Interface” -organised

a corporate interaction on 12th Sept, 2013.

The speaker for the event was Mr. Kedar

Rele, General Manager, Brands, Birla White

Unit of Ultratech Cement Ltd. Having

completed his engineering from K J

Somaiya College of Engineering in the year

2001, he is an alumnus of Welingkar

Institute of Management, where he

specialised in Marketing. He is currently the

Head of Marketing Services, Branding and

Advertising for Birla White and its Value

Added Product Brands, for India as well as

SAARC and Middle Eastern Countries.

Corporate Interaction with

Mr. Kedar Rele

REWIND

Mr. Rele has rich experience in Key

Account Management, Channel Partners,

Product Development, Business Strategy

and Marketing Management.

Through his skills, expertise, and first-

hand experience, Mr. Rele exemplified

on how price is one of the most

important business decisions that the

management has to make. He spoke

about the basic concepts of marketing

mix, and explained to the audience

about how, unlike the other elements of

the marketing mix (product, place &

promotion), pricing decisions affect

revenues rather than costs. He skilfully

blended his views with his proficiency,

and ensured that the audience had a

clear understanding of how pricing is an

important role as a competitive weapon

to help a business exploit market

opportunities.

The corporate interaction ended on a

highly enlightening note, with our

zealous students getting a deeper insight

of Pricing in Marketing.

23 SEPTEMBER 2013

BOOK WORM Crossing The Chasm

-GEOFFREY A. MOORE

THE MARKSMAN 24

Author Geoffrey A. Moore

Publisher Harper Business Essentials

Published 1991

ISBN 0-06-051712-3

Price Rs 898 (eBook)

Rs 1243 (paperback)

At a time, when even serious market watchers dub the

sales of electronics products as the most difficult to

predict and when our country is seeing a huge influx of

electronics goods, this book published in 1991, still

stands out to be ‘the Bible of entrepreneurial

marketing.’

The ‘chasm’ that this book talks about is the gap that

exists between two markets of technological products;

the tech geeks, who are always waiting for new

innovative products and the others who are more

practical and hesitate or resist the almost every day

change or newness in the technical market. The author,

who has himself worked in the IT sector, talks from his

experience about how after launching a new product

and getting ‘early market wins’, one can has to work

immensely hard at getting the other group of

consumers, the laggards, as the mainstream market. The

book starts off by using the Technological Adoption Life

Cycle as a marketing model basis and then goes on to

explain its flaws along with the corrections one can

adopt to make it work for the tech market.

Like an aggressive marketer, the book then rapidly

moves on to setting up a strategy which essentially

focusses on targeting only a specific segment at a time.

Using an analogy of a war, the author goes on to plan

the strategy in four steps; targeting a point of attack,

assembling the invasion force, defining the battle and finally,

launching the mission.

Although this book focuses primarily on high tech

products, it still is a wonderful read for any student of

marketing. The simple language along with the various

real world examples, makes it a compelling read. Why

else would it still be selling for the price of more than

1000 bucks after 21 years of being published?!

Outside of a dog, a book is a

man’s best friend. Inside of a

dog, it’s too dark to read.

- Groucho Marx

“

”

Maruti's Stingray - is this the time for 'sporty’

versions of automobiles?

FEATURED ARTICLES

The slump in the automobile industry is

due to the rising fuel prices, high

inflation and lower purchasing power of

the consumer because of the precarious

situation of the world economy.

In such trying times, the automobile

industry has come up with innovative

measures for sustainability. The latest

trend to have caught on is the

‘Sporty’nisation of automobiles. Maruti’s

StingRay is one such attempt. Maruti is a

force to reckon with when it comes to

hatchback cars. Be it the WagonR, Swift,

Ritz or the iconic 800, it has tasted

success with each of its hatchback

models. Hence, in such difficult times, it

is a wise decision by Maruti to fall back

to its strength. This time however, there

is a new element - that of the StingRay

being a sporty version.

The Indian automobile industry has been

going through turbulent times recently. The

domestic sales have been falling steadily

since the past 9 months. Domestic passenger

car sales declined by 7.4 percent to 1, 31,163

units in July this year from 1,41,646 units in

the same month of 2012.

Sufiyan Sarguroh

-SIMSREE

25 SEPTEMBER 2013

FEATURED ARTICLES

For all of its success in India, Maruti has

never had a Sporty version of its

automobile. The closest that it comes to

is the Maruti Swift Sports version.

However, that too was a limited edition

model.

With the recent launches of Ford

Ecosport and Renault Duster and their

success, it is evident that there is a

market to cater to in terms of sports

utility vehicles (SUVs). Not just SUVs,

even sporty versions of hatchback cars

are now in trend. The Chevrolet Beat and

Ford Figo have had their fare share of

success.

The StingRay has been launched by

Maruti with a clear aim of meeting the

aspirations of young India. In many ways,

the StingRay is an extension of the highly

successful model WagonR. The two have

almost the same specifications and

features. Both have a 1.0-litre 67.1bhp

12V K Series petrol engine with an

engine displacement (cc) of 998.

The two also have the same standard

features - Air Conditioning, Power

Steering, Power Windows and Central

Locking. Needless to say, the pricing too

is very similar, with StingRay costing just

20k more than WagonR.

The difference lies in the design. In

terms of style, comfort and convenience,

Stingray leads with better marks. The

Stingray is more stylish and wears a

sporty look. Stingray sports some high-

end-features that are usually associated

with premium cars. It also has refreshing

packaging in terms of interiors which

give the car a very posh look. With the

Stingray, Maruti-Suzuki intends to draw

young customers into its fold with its

flashy looks.

Tata too have come up with a new

strategy to reposition the Nano as a

‘smart city car’. The Nano in its new ad

campaign is trying to allure the youth

with a peppy song and a riot of colors. The automobile manufacturers are

banking on the young customer and the

upcoming festive season to boost car

sales in an already shrinking market.

With such sporty versions, the

manufacturers are creating a new

market for the young, who lay as much

importance to looks as on price and

specifications. It will be interesting to

see whether this ‘sporty’nization of

automobiles helps the manufacturers in

these trying times or adds additional

burden to the already stressed

automobile industry.

THE MARKSMAN 26

The marketing world is replete with

examples of competitive advertisements, be

it print, TVC (television commercial) or

lately digital media. But conservative and

culture-bound as we are, such a thing takes

time for us to digest. It’s a tug of war of

sorts and the teams need not be balanced

always! The winner, however, is the one

whose product moves off the shelves i.e.

increased sales.

There are all sorts of definitions for

competitive advertising, those given by

enthusiastic marketers and those by the

legal authorities forced to define in cases of

lawsuits, instead of sitting back and enjoying

the tussle.

Colgate Vs Pepsodent brand war – competitive

advertisement trending again?

FEATURED ARTICLES

“An advertisement in which a particular

product, or service, specifically mentions

a competitor by name for the express

purpose of showing why the competitor

is inferior to the product naming it”,

defines Barry and Tremblay (Journal of

Advertising, 1975.) Whatever be the

definition, some examples of competitive

ads are real pieces of art.

If you have had a look at the new HUL’s

Pepsodent TVC and print blitzkrieg

naming Colgate and claiming itself to be

30% better, it has created a stir across

social media channels with most people

calling it unethical, being stunned by

HUL’s direct attack and similar reactions.

However, there are quite a few who

have known of this practice being

prevalent in the western countries.

To show you glimpses of their

comments from YouTube,

“This just shows how desperate

Pepsodent is to sell its product in the

market. This is not smart marketing.

Thumbs down HUL.”

“Shame on Pepsodent”

“Guys its unethical to promote one’s

brand like this.”

“India should allow this type of ad as it is

already allowed in US and Europe.”

Dr. Girish Kute

- IIM Calcutta

27 SEPTEMBER 2013

FEATURED ARTICLES

Not surprising, isn’t it? A lot of this has to

do with the traditional Indian psyche of

avoiding confrontations and unnecessary

face-offs. One thing though, Pepsodent

has managed to create talkability and

hype for themselves and that could be

the entire agenda behind it. What do we

expect after this? Silence on part of

Colgate or wait….are we expecting a

‘karara jawaab’ from Colgate? That should

certainly be interesting.

Borrowing from history, you must have

heard of the Campbells - Progresso soup

war claiming to be free of preservative

MSG or BMW-Audi billboards war where

witty hits were taken at each other right

in front of each other’s billboards or the

great Cola war of the 1970s and 80s

when Pepsi, then pretty small, took on

giant Coca-Cola head on with its not so

subtle but funny commercials. It certainly

helped inducing trials and create a fan

following. Here, Pepsi used competitive

advertising to position itself as the cooler

Cola drink for the youth. My version of it

would be something like pulling a face on

a bully behind his back.

Talking from the customer perspective,

what they get is an evaluation of two or

more products in the same category

putting against each other, the attributes

which in turn helps them choose the

best product. The attributes can range

from scientific information to mere

people surveys with a lot of subjectivity

involved, whether to believe it or not is

the customer’s choice. These also bring

in an element of delving into the

consumer decision making process

especially in categories where product

involvement is low.

There was a time when there were too

many restrictions and law of land

coming into picture in cases of such

infringements but with the advent of

digital media, boundaries have blurred

and the world in terms of information

sharing has become borderless. So, we

are exposed to all kinds of stuff and have

started growing tolerant to such ideas.

It’s not long before something legalized

in one major country will be forced to

be legal everywhere but there is still

time before digital media is brought

under one law!

THE MARKSMAN 28

The essence of this sentence is valid in

every walk of life. Change is necessary and

inevitable. But does change mean the

demise of the old practices? Or does it

mean that they can exist and reinforce the

new practices?

The ubiquity of internet and the

proliferation of the data enabled devices

have created novel means to engage

people today. They are inseparable from

their laptops, smartphones, tabs and notes. Simultaneously, the world of

advertisement has evolved to reach them.

The magnitude of change is so high that

Are Print ads effective in today's context?

FEATURED ARTICLES

some may even say that print

advertisements have become obsolete as

compared to the digital media. Of

course, the digital media have numerous

notable advantages.

India already has 87 million smart phone

users and about 40% of these have

already stopped reading a physical

newspaper to consume content on their

devices. Digital ads are more cost-

effective. They take lesser time to

prepare and subsequently launched,

uploaded and spread across to the

customers. They can be interactive,

allowing users to communicate, message,

comment, tweet and wall post. Facilities

of search, customization, games and

contests to create users engagement are

equally viable.

Perhaps, the biggest benefit of digital

world is that the advertisements can be

monitored and their success measured.

Zeeshan Hassan

- IIM Kozhikode

“To improve is to change; to

be perfect is to change often”

–Winston Churchill

29 SEPTEMBER 2013

FEATURED ARTICLES

Marketers can calculate the return on

investment (ROI) from a campaign and

subsequently modify their strategy if the

return is not adequate. Digital media also

help track the behavior of the customer

from which valuable consumer insights

are drawn and used in making the

marketing strategies.

Different kinds of demography are

reached by different media and thus the

proportion of one to the other can be

decided to reach the entire audience.

For a country like India, there are

countless opportunities still waiting to be

unveiled. The emerging Tier II and III

cities will be the backbone of print

advertisements. Thus the bottom of the

pyramid is a huge opportunity to grow

and has very low penetration of internet

enabled devices.

Consequently, more advertising should be

done in regional prints and in the

vernacular. English newspapers are

generally read in Tier I cities and thus

would not create much value as the

regional ones. A first post article says:

So, is the print media dead? Not yet!

Print media also has some unmatched

capabilities which are irreplaceable.

Newspaper and Magazines are tangible,

easy to carry and preserved for long time

so the brand can be recalled even after

months. Their ads have more credibility

unlike the countless popups on a website.

Also, print media is easy to use for

reaching to a particular niche. A study

(Alshaali & Varshney, 2005) said that

people have higher engagement when

reading print material as compared to

online content which they generally skim.

In addition, there are varied distractions

present on a web page as the links,

animations, videos etc. which makes the

users lose their focus.

So, the question remains “Which one is

to be used?” The answer –Both! Each one

has unique benefits which can be

leveraged upon as one complementing

the other.

Thus, marketers have realized the power

of print media as playing a different role

today. Of course, the digital media has

revolutionized advertising but where

internet can’t reach, the print can. Hence,

it should be “Print and Digital” rather

than “Print vs Digital” for a robust and

exhaustive marketing portfolio.

THE MARKSMAN 30

SquAreheaD

31 SEPTEMBER 2013

BUZZ

CLUES

PUZZLE

Answers

1.Park Avenue 2.Stingray 3. Amex 4.Saxo Bank 5. Cobra

6.Monkey 7. Gitanjali 8.Nokia 9. Warner Bros

THE MARKSMAN 32

ACROSS

1. Which company has launched

the beer shampoo?

2. Name Maruti Suzuki’s recently

launched car.

9. Which production house has

opened a kid’s standalone store to

attract children?

DOWN

3. Which company celebrated 50

years of credit card service?

4. Which bank launched a ‘Tour

France’ themed campaign ?

5. SRK has recently endorsed ____

Deodorant.

6. Which brand of broomsticks was

recently featured in a leading

Malayalam Weekly?

7. ____ dealt only in diamonds but

now has expanded to apparels and

lifestyle sector.

8. Which is the first mobile

company to launch a device with

Urdu language as an option.

Call for ARTICLES

CALL FOR ARTICLES OCTOBER 2013

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 : 11:59 PM, 20th October

2013

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. Font Type: 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_Course Year

7. Kindly name your file as : Your name_Topic

33 SEPTEMBER 2013

1. Nokia - Microsoft Deal: How will it impact the two

companies?

2. Crowdsourcing: Is it the new way of consumer

engagement for brands?

3. Tata – Singapore Airlines: Is the airline industry in

India suddenly turning attractive?

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

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THE TEAM

TWEETS by

Pavanshu Agarwal

It’s all about AD-itude by

Niharika Srivastava

Brand MARK ive by

Ritika Brahme

COVER STORY by

Kapil Maggo

SPECIAL STORY by

Alakh Krishnani

HALLMARK CAMPAIGN by

Ishaan Srivastava

BOOKWORM by

Asheeb Singh Raina

SquAreheaD by

Prashanti K

Ishaan Srivastava

BUZZ by

Megha Gupta

FAUX PAS by Dylan Menezes

REWIND by Prashanti K

TETE-A-TETE by Shweta Panikker

PROOF READ by Asheeb Singh Raina

DESIGNING by

Ritika Brahme

Niharika Srivastava

PROMOTIONS by

Meera Thacker

Ishaan Srivastava

The MARKSMAN is the

newsletter of INTERFACE, the

Marketing Club at K.J. Somaiya

Institute of Management Studies

and Research, Mumbai.

Images used in THE

MARKSMAN are subject to

copyright. THE MARKSMAN

does not take any responsibility

of any kind of plagiarism in the

articles receives from students

of other colleges.

The TEAM

THE MARKSMAN 34