Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CURRENCY BRANDING
GREEN BRANDING
MOBILE MARKETING
EDITORS DESK
JUNE 2011
Greetings from Team Marksman! Its that time of the year when the campus is teeming with fresh energy. Energy 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. Its a technology so powerful that if used intelligently, has the capacity to change the way consumer behaviour 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.
JULY 2011
01
NEUROMARKETING ...03
THE MARKSMAN
02
Up until now, most marketing, branding and advertising 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 cant explain our preferences, or likely buying decisions with substantial accuracy. So the marketing surveys and customer questionnaires are questionable. As organisations pour in Millions and millions of rupees into advertising that may or may not hit the spot, the marketing fraternity 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 buyers brain, rather than asking them questions and depending on their responses, responses which many a times even the respondents arent 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 represented a great leap forward for the human civilisation 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
famous Pepsi Taste challenge of the 80s, 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 satisfaction--and they were almost evenly split in their preferences for the two brands. But when Montague repeated the test and told them what they were drinking, 75% of the people said they preferred 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 associating the drink with positive images and branding messages from Cokes commercials, clearly showing that the brand has a certain value in the brain system above and beyond the content of the can. In other words, all the Coke commercials did exactly what they were supposed 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 naming 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 Pepsi Paradox P. Read Montague, a neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine performed his own version of the
THE MARKSMAN
04
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.
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 universal support). Lava Mobiles has launched a new special edition mobile phone with the rupee 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 connected 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 Infuse youthfulness and vivacity into their brands (Godrej). But Re-branding has always invited reactions, both positive as well as negative, from all corners 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, its plain unnecessary changes that the company brings about. Here we look at some of the Re-branding exercises that have back fired for the brand
GAP
The Epitome of Rebranding having gone bad, legendary American clothing company Gap, changed from their traditional 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 companys Facebook page on the issue, with many demanding 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 always come first. Weve been listening to and watching all of the comments this past week. We heard them say over and over again they are passionate about our blue box logo, and they want it back. So weve made the decision to do just that we will bring it back across all channels.
JULY 2011
07
TROPICANA
For a product like Tropicana, its carton design is as good as its logo, as that is what grabs The earlier logo, with the straw the customers eyeballs on an straight out of the orange, coneveryday basis. Now, why the veyed just the right kind of meanbeverage giant decided to do ing the company wanted to conaway with a logo that conveyed vey, that is, it is as good as the message of the product drinking an orange. Tropicana probably forget the extremely efficiently, we will never know. golden rule of marketing, sell benefits-the product The new packaging depicts a glass full of juice will sell itself. With the new logo, it concentrated (presumably, orange juice). What does not work in on the product itself, rather than the benefits of this packaging is that the juice is not distinctive 100% Natural Juice. from anything else available in the market. How The result, Tropicanas sales took a 20% dive after does a glass full of pale yellow juice tell me that it is the launch of the packaging, forcing the company to natural? Why would i want to buy it, when there revert back to the old packaging within 2 months of the launch of the new design are several others makng the same offering?
Why would i want to buy it, when there are several others making the same offering?
THE MARKSMAN
08
Green brands are those brands which are eco- friendly and cause minimal detrimental impact on the environment by the way of design, manufacturing, distribution or promotion so as to satisfy all the stakeholders and benefit the society. Green branding is used as a potent tool by organization to develop brand equity. This may be due to various 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 attention 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 maintain. Some of the features in the Earthship homes are1. Generates electricity from sun and wind: Electrical energy is "harvested" from the sun and the wind. A photovoltaic panel converts the suns 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. 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. 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; LAlcudia-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 education programs around the world to spread the importance of environment and also provide consultation 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 available 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 dont 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.
4.
5.
THE MARKSMAN
10
Currently mobile marketing is nascent in India with Nike -Nike erected a large, interactive billboard in most marketers allocating less than 1% of budget to Times Square. Passers-by could use their cell phones to design mobile. But in the last one year we have seen the a sneaker that will market grow to more than double. Mobile marketbe displayed for ing is all set to increase with the arrival of 3G. It all the world to can cover a full spectrum from outbound SMS to see and then they Bluetooth marketing, from in-game to location could download based services. the masterpiece to their mobile Outbound SMS ads have a high reach in India with device as wallpamore than 4 billion ads sent to Indian audience in per. Individuals Q42010 alone. But these kinds of ads are spamming went nuts when and they intrude into consumers private space. they saw their Invertising is a new mobile marketing platforms own shoes created to satisfy the needs of both advertisers and consumers. Eg. The Economist magazine- Even
JULY 2011
11
posted live on the jumbotron in front of them. Nike gave away 3000 pairs of shoes in this promotion, but users were just as excited by their design on the billboard as they were by the free footwear Unilever Turkey and Cornetto ice cream The campaign was designed to engage young icecream eaters and included interactive SMSmarketing. Using a wall projection system, Cornetto took over the outside of a building in Taksim, Turkey. 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 factors: 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 technology has the advantages that it is permission-based, has higher transfer speeds and is also a radio-based technology and can therefore not be billed. But since people tend to keep their Bluetooth off due to the fear of transmission 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 Posters, banners all around the mall and stickers on the car were used to educate consumers about the activity. 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 content free of cost and discounts via Bluetooth in India. 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 cellphone 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 growing fast. Soon consumers will be able to receive offers near their residence or when they are out shopping in the malls. With 3G coming in, it is possible to view videos, photos and menus of restaurants before they decide to pull their coupon. People in emerging markets 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 marketing messages to be well-branded, a goal for every mobile marketing initiative and mobile marketing becomes an indispensable tool for companies trying to define or strengthen their brand. The major challenge is to build an ecosystem with constructive partnership to communicate with highly targeted and profiled users for mobile marketing. Mobile marketing is, and will remain, a consistent reality for all businesses.
JULY 2011
13
SUBLIMINAL MARKETING
- Neeti Bedekar, SIMSR, Mumbai What is the objective of marketing? The most common answers are advertising, selling, customer satisfaction etc. A very important aspect of marketing is creating the need itself. And that is what subliminal marketing is all about.. 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 customers subconscious mind and letting it grow till the point of purchase. 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 customers head! Forget these established brands. Even our local halwai sends you a subliminal message 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 relevant. Thus, it more effective in making the customer choose a particular brand over the other, rather than in creating a real need.
The concept of subliminal marketing, if implemented properly will definitely be very profitable. For example, a popular grocery chain in USA used subliminal marketing very effectively to boost its restaurant sales. They fit a huge electric fan hidden inside a billboard on a highway turn which wafted the smell of delicious steaks towards drivers The Darker Side which made them When you buy a magazine with a pretty airbrushed woman It is all about manipuhungry. Just around on the cover, that's subliminal marketing. lating the customers the corner was the mind. Advertising grocery store which invited people to enjoy the should only invite and not impose you to most delicious steak ever. buy. The very idea of making someone do something without them realizing it sounds In India, people havent really noticed subliminal wrong. The use of subliminal marketing is marketing. But it happens. How many times controversial, because it is thought controlhave we bought popcorn just because it smelt ling in nature. There has been a lot of critiso good? Consider Gold Flake Honey Dew cism on the use of this kind of a marketing cigarettes. Its not just a random brand name. gimmick to earn money.
THE MARKSMAN
14
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 overall objective to create a loyal consumer base and a positive brand image for their brand. Firstly, Marketers need to find such ways to redirect attention of consumers away from the clutter to their brand. Secondly, we observe a shift from Volumebased 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 strategy. In view of these decisions, they invest resources 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 privacy?
How to measure effectiveness? Marketers must seamlessly integrate multiple channels of communication- which implies creatively managing above-the-line communication, On-line and Mobile marketing, reaching out at the point of purchase and even entering consumers lives in ways currently unknown! With compounding environmental changes, organizations need to be outward looking. Peter Drucker has both argued and shown, that in general understanding the present enables 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 allocation 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-
Quote 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
THE MARKSMAN
16
BOOKWORM
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.
OUR RATING
What will make you buy? Three things make this book a worthwhile investment
About the author: Jessie Paul has worked as Chief Marketing Officer of Wipros IT business and as Global Brand Manager at Infosys. She has been recognized for her contribution towards putting the Indian IT industry on the global map. She has used innovations such as award programs with academic institutions, mindsports, and nontraditional media to reposition and communicate brand values in a frugal, yet effective manner.
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 ecosystem 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.
Know more about the book at: http://nomoneymarketing.org The book is also available at the college library
While sharing snippets from insightful interviews with thought leaders like Narayan Murthy and Nandan Nilekani, she has also included Vijay Mallya- theres no doubting his marketing prowess, but his means are far from frugal. This is perhaps a rare lapse on the authors part. Examples delve into unimportant details which bore the reader.
JULY 2011
17
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.
Pareto analysis can be effectively used to solve problems of any type and has thus gained immense acceptance in the field of project management.
18
JULY 2011
19
THE MARKSMAN
20
JULY 2011
21
THE MARKSMAN
01 22
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 beverage 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.
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.
THE A-TEAM
BOOKWORM Namita S
NUKED Divya S
TWEETS Rik C
Contact us at: interface.newsletter@gmail.com Send in your articles! Feedback/Suggestions Contest(s) Answers Subj: NL/Article Subj: NL/F&S Subj: NL/Contest