MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

58
Faculty Speak Summer Diaries Brandwagon WarS MM Legacy In this Edition

description

Marketing Magazine by Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, KolkataIssue - August 2015

Transcript of MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Page 1: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Faculty Speak

Summer Diaries

Brandwagon WarS

MM Legacy

In this Edition

Page 2: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

2

Page 3: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

From the editors’ desks:

“W hile the wanton zephyr sings,

and in the vale perfumes his

wings”- these words by John

Dyer pave way for the balmy TradeWinds, bringing

along the evolving trends in the world of mar-

keting. With TradeWinds, the August issue of

MarkMantra, the family embraces its readers.

Known for its innovative and blue-sky ideas, the

house of MarkMantra has yet again come up with

two new sections along with its usual fare. Ser-

mons from the Guru, an informative rendezvous

with Dr. Saikat Banerjee, where he enlightens the

readers with the inside out of brand consulting,

debuts in the August issue. From our arsenal, we

roll out Brandwagon Wars where BrandWagon,

the marketing club of IIFT battles it out over burn-

ing topics in the marketing world. The theme of

this edition is Evolution of Marketing and true to

its words, it has touched upon marketing tech-

niques of different decades. The advent of tech-

nology has ushered in innovative channels of

reaching out to the consumers and this edition dis-

cusses them with equal passion. We are back with

Summer Diaries - to give a glimpse of the corpo-

rate world to the first years. To conclude, this edi-

tion hopes to re-instate its position in the hearts of

its readers while celebrating the numerous

achievements in the marketing domain!

The Team:

Ipsita

Gochhayat

Shatabdi

Banerjee

Supratik

Chakroborty

Inking an Indelible Mark!!

Harshit

Vyas

Shruti Thakre Deepesh

Sehrawat

Suchetana Pal Juhi Arya

Senior Editors

Junior Editors

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

3

Page 4: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

4

Personalized

Retail

Experience

How Brands

were Born

Sermons

from the

Guru

Market Entry

Strategies

Marketing in the

Time of Crisis

The Olden Days

and Olden Ways

Multichannel

Transformation

of Marketing

Brandwagon Wars

MarkMantra

Legacy

The Tipping Point

in Market Research

5

9

13

16

21

26

30

35

54 44

Summer Diaries

Page 5: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Personalized Retail Experience

T he marketing by the e-commerce

giants in India like “Aur dikhao”

and “nahin kharida, acha kiya”,

(Amazon and Flipkart respectively) was a huge suc-

cess in India. This was one of the ways to pull the

customers to buy products from their site and lure

them by discounted deals. The deep discount

model adopted by them may not be a long term

solution to increase profits, but it surely increased

volume of products sold.

With online shopping through e-commerce

sites gaining traction among the consumers in to-

day’s digital world, the Brick and Mortar stores are

finding it extremely difficult to hold their consumer

base. Consumers now-a-days have a plethora of

options for the prices as well as selections. The

reason they turn up to the Brick and Mortar stores

is the personalized experience that they leverage.

Penetration of e-commerce in India:

E-commerce has emerged as India's new

sun-rise industry and is set to cross business worth

$16 billion by the end of 2015, a joint study by AS-

SOCHAM-Deloitte said. The 'Future of e-

commerce: Uncovering Innovation' study reveals

that the digital commerce market in India has

grown steadily from $4.4 billion in 2010 to $13.6

billion in 2014 and likely to touch $16 billion by the

end of 2015 on the back of growing internet popu-

lation and increased online shoppers. It said online

travel accounts for nearly 61% of e-commerce

business while e-tailing contributes about 29%.

This may be a matter of concern for the e-tailers.

The study also states that the e-commerce compa-

nies are concentrating their efforts on increasing

the penetration of their mobile apps for higher

growth, adding that big players in this space claim

to have more than 50% of their revenue coming

from mobile apps.

Future scope of market:

E-Commerce is becoming a part and parcel of to-

day’s lifestyle. In India e-commerce has grown by a

whopping 34% (CAGR) since 2009 to touch 16.4

billion USD in 2014 and is expected to be in

the range of 22 billion USD in 2015.

With the increasing use of

smartphones, tablets and internet

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

5

Page 6: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

broadband and 3G, a strong consumer base is be-

ing formed which is likely to increase further. This,

combined with a larger number of homegrown e-

tail companies, with their innovative business

models, has led to a robust e-Tail market in India

rearing to expand at high speed.

There is a twist:

The post liberalization (Liberalization, Privatization

and Globalization) generation of India which is

tech savvy is using e-commerce as a ‘need’. As per

the analysis of PwC around 75% of the e-

commerce users in India are in the age group of 15

-34 years. However, a major chunk of people still

prefer to visit a shop, touch and feel the product,

bargain with the shopkeeper before finally pur-

chasing it and thus get the feeling of “Customer is

King”

Attribute Brick and Mortar Online retail Pros Quick delivery

Advice from Sales staff

Tangible experience with

product before purchase.

Lower overhead cost

Greater selection

User reviews

Customization possibilities

Less regional market inefficien-

cies.

Cons Lower selection

Higher overhead costs.

Shipping cost

Shipping time

Less benefit from Sales staff

Successful

examples

Groceries/Apples

Jewelry stores

Apparel

Cars

Amazon

Flipkart

Snapdeal

Pros and Cons of the Brick & Mortar stores:

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

6

Page 7: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Personalized retail experience:

Shopkeepers have to be innovative so that

they do not lose their customers to the e-

commerce websites. For this they first need to un-

derstand the diverse outlook of the customers vis-

iting their stores, an illustration of which is shown

below.

The above image shows the choices made

by different people while shopping. It is important

that the retailer is able to meet the needs of few, if

not all, types of customers. The success of the re-

tailing business largely depends on this. In order to

nudge the consumers to buy in-store, offline retail-

ers are using tactics like knowledgeable sales staff,

in-store pick-up of online orders, in-store Wi-Fi,

same employee for same customer etc.

Personalized retail experience is more than

just knowing the name of your regular customer,

though it is the first step. Although ecommerce

websites have the data of every shopper that visits

them, retailers are not behind. Let’s take the ex-

ample of Tesco Clubcard. They have a unique way

of analyzing the data. They look at the lifestyle be-

hind shopping habits and respond to changes. For

instance, when a shopper first buys nappies, they

send coupons for toys – but surprisingly, also for

beer. Their research has shown that new fathers

tend to buy more beer at the supermarket as

they’re going to the pub less. And it works. Tesco

achieved coupon redemption rates ranging from 8-

14% – far higher that the grocery industry average.

Some vital stats:

7.5X Customers who shop ex-

clusively in-store visit an average

of 7.5 times a year vs those who

shop online and browse a retailer

an average of 3 times a year. (5)

80% of customers prefer to be

acknowledged in-store rather

than via digital channels.

46% of shoppers will buy more

from a retailer that personalizes

the shopping experience.

75% of retailers believe that

developing a more engaging in-

store customer experience will

be critical to their business.

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

7

Page 8: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

The 8 step approaches to build as

well as retain the relationship with a

customer :

Conclusion:

Consumers today want something that’s unique

and reflects their personality. Retailers understand

this and we are seeing more companies offer per-

sonalized products. There is plenty of data availa-

ble but the trick lies in efficiently using it. Used in-

telligently, this insight will not only shape what

products retailers stock but also how they market

and sell them. There are some more examples

which show that personalized retail experience has

been successful. Raymond Linen suits, Airtel’s one-

family-one-plan, Pantaloons loyalty points, Big Ba-

zaars festive discounts and many more convey the

message that, in spite of having an online player,

they have been fairly successful.

The iron is hot and competition between e-tailing

and retailing is at its peak, it’s up to the players to

Preyas Jain

&

Milan Modi

MMS 2015-17

SIMSR Mumbai

Omni Channel Retailing Omni-channel retailing is the use of a variety

of channels in a customer's shopping experience in-

cluding research before a purchase.

Such channels include: retail stores, online stores,

mobile stores, mobile app stores, telephone sales

and any other method of transacting with a custom-

er. Read More...

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

8

Page 9: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

A Brand is a name, term, packaging de-

sign, symbol or a combination of all of it.

A brand is one which helps to identify

one seller’s goods and services from another and

differentiate those goods and services from those

of its competitors. Brands have been around for

many years. The concept dates back to 2000 BC,

when hot iron rods were used to “Brand” or burn

marks or symbols into cattle, crockery, slaves or

any property of value to identify ownership. When

homogeneity dilutes identity, branding steps in as

a differentiating tool. From the ancient Greeks and

Romans who inscribed messages on their pots,

metals wines etc. to advertise and sell them, to the

distillers of the eighteenth century who burned

their names on the wooden casks to identify their

whiskey from one another, to the eighteenth cen-

tury when the brand name used to be the name of

the creators of the product, the brand concept has

seen a gradual incremental evolution. The signifi-

cance of branding was limited since the products

were mostly craft-based, few in number and hence

already differentiated.

The real push came in the latter half of the nine-

teenth century, when with the dawn of industries,

markets assumed a bigger scale. With the advent

of technology, manufacturing plants shifted to

mass production of similar products with con-

sistent quality. Consumer goods like detergents,

soaps, biscuits, teas etc. were affected the most by

this homogeneity, thus giving rise to the need for

branding. Several facilitators contributed to the

growth of manufacturer branded products. Im-

provement in transportation and communication,

attributed mainly to expansion of railroads and

postal service, connected people and helped build

distribution networks across the nation. Urbaniza-

tion and prosperity led to increasing purchasing

power, a change in attitude towards products and

purchase. A middle class of people emerged who

had disposable income and a want to participate in

the consumption of all novel products leading to a

retail revolution. Departmental and variety stores

opened up, giving the middle class a chance to

come and see for themselves what is available for

sale, thus making shopping a more intriguing expe-

rience. Advertising, specifically the print media,

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

9

Page 10: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

was turning into a major industry in the period.

Newspapers, magazines and outdoor signboards

were used to reach people and convey brand sto-

ries. Some of the national brands of the time were

Kodak camera, Coca Cola, Heinz, Gillette safety ra-

zor.

1915-1929 was the era which witnessed new

methods of brand management. Few firms like Le-

vi’s Strauss and PepsiCo employed functionally

specialized management structures to manage

their brands. Brand managers coordinated all mar-

keting activities for the brand, focused on product

quality and consistency, advertising and distribu-

tion channels. In coordination with advertising

agencies, they worked out promotional strategies

for the brand. The brand management system was

born in 1931, when Richard Dupree, President of

P&G, approved of P&G having its own formal

brand managers and assistants dedicated to the

advertising and other marketing activities of P&G.

1950s was the era in which brands finally started

making sense to consumers. Branded products

were associated with good quality and were recog-

nized easily since they were rigorously promoted

through advertisements and sales promotions.

Manufacturer-branded products had distinct iden-

tities and consumers started forming their brand

preferences based on their experiences with the

products.

Till the 1960s, companies did not focus on adver-

tising their products. The reason was simple, they

didn’t feel the need for it; for as far as the quality

of your product remained better than that of the

competitors, people will buy your products for

sure. Companies like Coca-Cola, Levi’s and Strauss

co., American Express were enjoying the monopoly

of providing the best quality products to the con-

sumers. However, things started changing when

competitors also started providing quality at par

with the earlier market leaders. Hence, consumers

now had the option of choosing between products,

giving rise to the need for differentiation.

Large corporates started analyzing strategies to

distinguish themselves from the competitors and

thus began the “Brand War”. Be it the automobile

sector, consumer durable or retail sector, compa-

nies started building their distinct identities. This

led to the emergence of the “Mad Men” era during

1960s. The smart-marketing activities of 1960s

have stood the test of time and laid the foundation

and standards for all brands today. Successful mar-

keting was suddenly all about understanding the

consumers and designing the appropriate brand-

mix, which encompassed the brand logo, product

price, packaging, advertising and promotional ac-

tivities. Hence, brands became more than just

products. Corporates came up with their value

propositions in the form of “Brand Mantras” to win

over customers. If the message was properly con-

veyed, people would start connecting with the

brand.

It is clearly said, “In advertising, reason informs,

but emotion persuades.” Let us see some of the

major brands’ slogans in that era. Volkswagen

(1969) said “It’s ugly, but it gets you there.” John-

nie Walker (1968), one of the major brand in pro-

duction of whisky came up with “Just smooth, very

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

10

Page 11: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

smooth,” whereas another whisky manufacturer

brand named Pinch (1968) said “An inch of Pinch,

Please.” Kellogg’s corn flakes (1965) had one of the

most connecting slogans ever, which said, “The

happiest people you meet in the morning get their

sunshine out of a box. And the box is Kellogg's.” It

was necessary for companies to build an emotional

connect with their consumers to win over their

trust and ensure they refrain from purchasing

competitors’ products. Gradually companies like

Coca-Cola, Unilever, PepsiCo, General Mills, and

Proctor & Gamble made a place for themselves in

the minds of the consumers through aggressive

branding.

(Exhibit 1).1960s, the decade of “creative revolu-

tion”, saw traditional ways of advertising paving

the way for innovative methods of engraving the

face value of brands into the minds of the consum-

ers. The decade experienced many social and cul-

tural changes that led to erudition, modernization

and the growth of youth culture. The period wit-

nessed aggressive marketing campaigns by several

companies that actually laid the foundation of

modern marketing techniques. How can one forget

the “Think Small” campaign by Volkswagen? The

campaign was featured for its car, the Beetle

(Exhibit 2).

When every other car manufacturing company

started producing and marketing large cars,

Volkswagen came with its small size car Beetle and

marketed it as “Think Small”. It even came up with

a witty statement, “It makes your house look big-

ger”, which caught the attention of one and all

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

11

Page 12: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

The campaign was ranked as the best advertising

campaign of the 20th century by Ad Age.

In the 1980s brand management systems wit-

nessed several ups and downs. Johnson & John-

son’s Tylenol crisis put the brand’s image at stake.

However, J&J successfully rebranded themselves

and gained the trust of the consumers in a short

time. This is a significant event in the history of

branding. There were allegations on McDonald’s

too and it was seen as an unhealthy and a detri-

mental fast food restaurant. This forced them to

redesign themselves with the usage of greens and

yellows in their ads to position them as a part of

healthy lifestyle.

Today, a decade into the 21st century, marketing

activities have molded to accommodate changes in

consumer behaviors over the ages as well as im-

provements in business technologies. An average

customer is exposed to thousands of brand mes-

sages daily, thus making it a cut-throat competi-

tion for companies to make their brands stand out.

With the advent of digital media, marketers are

trying to keep their audiences engaged and de-

lighted through compelling brand experiences.

Customers today are more informed and selective

than ever. Hence, the need of the hour is not just

brand building and promotion, but to bring one’s

brand to life.

Sanchari Majumdar

&

Tirth Jani

PGDM 2014-16

TAPMI

Lights Camera

&

Rewind!!

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

12

Page 13: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Q. Nestle has seen ups and downs, where do you

see Maggi now?

In my opinion consumers still have a very soft cor-

ner for Maggi. Consumers are hoping for Maggi to

make a comeback and emerge clean from this con-

troversy because as you know the controversy has

different dimensions. Consumers are getting differ-

ent news from different ends. Media report is also

not consistent. We as consumers are in dilemma

and become skeptical about the claim since the

brand is very close to our heart. In addition, many

other noodles brands are still doing roaring busi-

ness in the market. The challenge for Nestle is to

clear Maggi as quickly as possible to get the

ground back. If the ban continues, it may be detri-

mental for noodles market as a whole as consum-

ers may stop buying noodles slowly and may

switch to other options. I think Indian consumers

are still hoping for some positive news about Mag-

gi as both Maggi and Nestle have a long positive

association with Indian consumers.

Q. When Indian brands desire to enter foreign

markets, how do they position themselves?

Depends on which route they are following. Going

from the South East Asian route should not be a

problem as there is no perception issue as such. In

developed market, the major problem is low trust

on Indian brands. If brands are planning to ven-

ture in a developed country they may fall into

‘Asian Brand: inferior quality’ perception trap. To

the developed world, our service sector is some-

how well known. Our intellectual capital is getting

accepted. However, a major portion is still offering

low end jobs where the price you quote is surpas-

Rendezvous with Dr Saikat Banerjee

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

13

Page 14: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

sing the brand. To handle this negative perception,

first we have to develop brand ‘India’ as a whole.

As part of nation branding of India, positive brand

association need to be developed about India and

any brand from Indian terrain may piggyback on it.

So, need of the hour is to make India as a brand.

‘Make Brand India’ will automatically lead to suc-

cess of the philosophy called ‘Make in India’,

‘Made in India’, ‘Made for India’ and so on.

Q. Commodities like basmati and sugar, how is the

branding done?

Commodity branding is a very old phenomenon.

They are of two types: for domestic markets and

for international markets. Branding means identifi-

cation is clear, differentiation is clear and proposi-

tion is well defined. We have to create an aura

around the brand through investment in brand

building. Whenever you buy a brand, first we set

some expectations from the brand and during our

association with the brand we simply match the

same with our brand experience. When your expe-

rience is better than your expectation then you are

a delighted consumer. We expect that experience

should be better than expectation, If not better

then at least at par to make you a satisfied con-

sumer. Suppose you are taking rice and keeping it

in an attractive package, giving it a name and a

catchy tagline; basically you are proposing some

sort of expectation from the brand. But the chal-

lenge is that your competitors are also doing the

same. In international market, task is stiffer as you

are facing cross-border competition. So, your task

is to prove your brand ‘the best’ among equals. As

a result, you need to have more weapons in your

arsenal. In case of Basmati rice, Indian Govt en-

sures ‘Geographical Indication’ to protect produc-

ers. You have to protect your trademarks also. In

addition, you need to attach intangibles like val-

ues, association and promises around your brand.

If we take the example of branded sugar, what are

my expectations from that Brand? Quality? Purity?

Hygiene? and so on . Then what next? What type

of intangibles to make it less vulnerable to compe-

tition? These are the issues that a brand marketer

should explore. Like Tata Chemicals tried to mix

salt with ‘Desh ka Apna’ sentiment. ITC is trying to

play with the brand name of dal, rice etc. However,

we are still waiting for some serious branding ac-

tivities in commodities like sugar, rice, dal etc.

Q. We have heard that P&G is going to divest its

beauty products section, so we want to ask why

do big brands want to divest entire divisions

while making profits?

First of all there might be many internal and exter-

nal reasons. From internal part, it sometimes hap-

pen that you get into a business sensing growth

opportunity and later realize that either the verti-

cal is not gelling with your core competency or you

don’t have skill to manage the type of business.

External reasons might be competition, lukewarm

response from consumers, market turbulence, de-

motivating category growth etc. On a positive

note, sometimes, it is part of your strategy. You

launch something and once it gets bigger, you di-

vest it and earn handful to explore other avenues,

it is not really negative, and it’s a strategy. So, it is

a part of your plan and you are proactive in your

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

14

Page 15: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

approach, you may gain. In other cases, divest-

ment may be a proposition where you are trying to

minimize the current loss for a better balance

sheet. For a company, it shouldn’t become a com-

pulsion to divest.

Q. The brand Chings is an Indian brand but it posi-

tioned itself as a Chinese brand. So what is the

rationale behind such kind of branding?

The trend is very common. Marketers try to piggy-

back on country of origin perception. Marketers

often pick brand names, packaging in line of com-

mon perception of the consumers. As we perceive

luxury with Italian names, fragrance with French

connection etc, many brands follow the same

route to play with your perception. Idea is to cre-

ate a positive brand image and ensure a quick ac-

ceptance. If you go by research findings, very few

of us really go through whatever there is on labels.

Majority of us normally look through MRP, date of

manufacturing and date of expiry; for food prod-

ucts, may be glancing through ingredients quickly.

We develop our perception based on brand ele-

ments and marketing communication. For Chings

also, It’s their strategy because popular perception

is that noodles is originated from China. As Chings

sound Chinese, it indicates a quick Chinese connec-

tion and that doubly ensure authenticity of the

brand. Another such example is Da Milano Italia

leather products. Being an Indian brand, they

picked Italian name to leverage the same percep-

tion and signaling premiumness of the brand. Fun-

ny part with branding is that until you use the

brand, you cannot develop a feeling about that

brand but with such kind of brand naming, it is

easy to create perception and that may hook your

customers.

Q. What is the scope of brand consulting in present

market scenario?

Brand consulting is a serious and mature thing.

Brand consulting means that you are out of your

functional domain and you should have knowledge

about different functional areas of management.

Normally you specialize in marketing but as brand

consultant you should have exposure to other re-

lated disciplines. Two years of MBA is not sufficient

to have knowledge of brand consulting as you do a

2 credit elective course on brand management. It

takes time to become a brand consultant as brand-

ing world is vast and dynamic. You should start as

an Assistant Brand Manager nurturing one brand

of your own and slowly understand the dynamic

world called brand management. You should expe-

rience brand planning, launch, communication,

equity plan, value understanding, big data etc. This

will slowly make you mature to be custodian of a

bouquet of brands. Flip side is that one may be a

good brand manager but every brand manager

can’t be a brand consultant because you should

have inclination to understand different categories

also. So, be an avid reader, develop good data

crunching skills, keep stimulating your creative side

and be analytical. Welcome to the world of Brand

Consultancy. Good wishes from my side.

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

15

Page 16: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Introduction

T he famous French Philosopher Michel de

Montagne once remarked that marriage is

“a market which has nothing free but the

entrance”. Indeed, in today’s world, as more and

more organizations are extending their presence

beyond borders, they need to be careful in the

mode and manner of entry into a

new market for a sustainable benefit.

The motivation for movement

abroad can be proactive whereby a firm has higher

profit & growth goals, technology competence,

need for economies of scale by venturing into for-

eign markets where they see demand for their

products. It can also be reactive as in, when there

is considerable competitive pressure in the domes-

tic market. Once the decision to venture out is

made selection of target market and correspond-

ing entry mode needs to be decided where envi-

ronmental knowledge about target market espe-

cially cultural sensitiveness is most crucial. E.g. Tea

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

16

Page 17: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

is the standard drink of Chinese dinner while low

alcohol content beer is common for the Swedish

dinner while drinking beer with food is a strange

thing for the French people. In Japan “Quality”

means ‘perfection’; it is ‘according to standard’ in

Germany; ‘luxury’ in France; ‘it works’ in US.

Here in this article we will see examples of how

some of the big MNC’s today have successfully

ventured into new markets while several others

have failed miserably. The entry modes can be

broadly classified into the following types:

Export

Exporting is the most traditional and well estab-

lished form of operating markets wherein goods

produced in one country are transferred cross bor-

der and sold in the foreign market. This method

requires least amount of investment and opera-

tional indulgence and hence is the least risky op-

tion. A firm can export directly or indirectly

through an intermediary depending upon its

knowledge of foreign market, logistic capabilities,

volume & frequency of trade. Indirect export is

particularly suitable for companies with little inter-

national experience, since almost all international

operating functions are borne by the agent, includ-

ing the costly and time-consuming requirements

such as bills-of-lading, customs clearance, and in-

voice and collection. The intermediate agencies

have their own expertise on a type of good or mar-

ket. Prominent examples of some notable export

agencies from India are Jyoti Trading Corporation,

Bhabha Exports, NKD Logistics Private Ltd etc

Licensing

Licensing is a business arrangement which involves

allowing another company to use patents, trade-

marks, copyrights, designs, and other intellectual

property in exchange for a percentage of revenue

or a fee. For companies having a distinctive and

legally protected asset this is the desired mode of

entering a foreign market and generating income,

as the efforts involved in sales & distribution be-

comes the responsibility of the licensee. Licenses

are usually taken up by well established businesses

and terms of 16-20 years are common. This meth-

od is common in case of pharmaceutical compa-

nies whose innovative molecules come under pa-

tent protection. One of the more notable examples

is Disney which earns billions in revenue by licens-

ing its characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck,

Batman among others to manufacturers and mar-

keters in categories such as toys and apparel even

in its domestic market. This gives Disney the luxury

to focus its own efforts on its core competencies of

media production and distribution. Mattel, Lego,

Hot Wheels, Under Armour, Mad Engine are some

of the licensing partners Disney has. Even Kellogg’s

has paired up with Disney to produce food prod-

ucts, while Johnson & Johnson is working on

health care and other products. It has many licens-

ing arrangements in China which allow its charac-

ters to adorn apparel or toys suited to local taste in

terms of color, styling, or materials. Disney Brand

generated a record $40.9 billion

from licensed merchandize in 2013.

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

17

Page 18: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Joint Venture

Joint ventures are defined as an enterprise in

which two or more than two investors share con-

trol and ownership over operation and rights to

property. Joint ventures are a more all-

encompassing form of participation than either

licensing or exporting.

Joint ventures make it easier to share risk and

combine the local comprehensive knowledge with

a foreign partner with expertise in process or tech-

nology. It also provides joint financial strength. But

in case of a JV partners do not have full control of

management and it might be impossible to recov-

er capital if need be. If the partners can carefully

map out in advance what they expect to achieve

and how, then many hurdles can be overcome.

Sony-Ericsson is one of the most famous joint ven-

tures in recent history. It was between the Japa-

nese consumer electronics company Sony Corpo-

ration and the Swedish telecommunications com-

pany Ericsson to make mobile phones. The most

vital reason behind this venture was to combine

Ericsson's technological leadership with Sony's

consumer electronics expertise in the communica-

tions sector.

The company employed a "liquid identity" logo. It

embraced the "make.believe" tagline in the year

2009. As part of its rebranding effort, the company

positioned its logo in seven color variations.

The company's aims were to attract

consumer emotions and promote

itself more effectively on digital me-

dia. Saatchi & Saatchi, Dare and Iris put together

its campaign. The other constituent of the compa-

ny's campaign was a viral marketing campaign

known as "spark something." In this endeavor the

company launched an exciting interactive piece of

activity which enabled consumers to pump up

space hoppers using Twitter.

Anyone on Twitter or on the site could tweet

#pumpt and see a hopper being inflated. At the

same time Sony Ericsson were asking customers to

tell them what they would like to do with the

space hoppers, the best proposal received was

made real, filmed and posted online. This was one

of the most unique advertisement campaigns run

by the firm.

Franchising

Franchising can be termed as an arrangement in

which one party (the franchiser) allows another

party (the franchisee) the authority to use its trade

-name or trademark as well as some business sys-

tems and processes, to manufacture and market a

service or good according to certain agreed upon

specifications. Franchising is a good way to start

overseas operations. It opens the door to low risk

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

18

Page 19: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

business relationships as the capital does not get

tied up in remote operations and there remains

possibilities to buy into existing partner or provi-

sions to take royalties in store. However, the big-

gest downside of franchising is that the partner

garners know-how of the business and so franchis-

ing is mostly a short term arrangement.

Some of the biggest names using franchising mod-

el are Starbucks, Subway and Pizza Hut. Ingenious

marketing and robust brand management have

permitted these firms to make their foodstuffs

available ubiquitously. The Subway and Pizza Hut

franchisee are chief examples of the security

afforded by a well-known brand while launching

own franchise business.

The lower capital costs required for franchisees are

one of the most important aspects of the mar-

keting strategy of Subway. The unique

brand equity of lower levels of fat content in the

food products offered by Subway is promoted by

advertising the weight loss of its customers. Health

equity of the brand was given an impetus with a

national promotion featuring a range of low fat

(97% fat free) subs. It also developed high levels of

consumer attraction to the delicacies offered by

Subway. Moreover, the franchisees are trained to

provide excellent customer service which has been

advertised extensively.

Subway’s unique “Franchisee Advertising Fund

Trust” or SFAFT governs its advertising campaigns.

SFAFT manages funds contributed by SUBWAY

franchisees. It was established to create advertis-

ing and marketing plans that are designed to grow

restaurant sales and promote the system’s image.

Keeping the price sensitive Indian market in mind

Subway launched branded affordability campaign

with its Everyday Value Program in 2010 whereby

menus were offered @50rs. In 2013, McCann

Worldgroup created the TVC “Throw your treats at

Subway” for Subway’s newly launched egg & Mayo

sandwich at a price of Rs 50.The commercial fo-

cused on the affordability of the sandwich and

urged people to settle all their treats at Subway.

Local flavors were added to the national menu like

Tandoori Chicken Sub and Achari Chicken Sub to

cater to local taste. Such strategies have helped

Subway grow tremendously in India from its incep-

tion in 2001 to 500+ stores in 2015.

Wholly owned Subsidiary

A wholly owned subsidiary in foreign country is

when the parent company has 100% controlling

stake. It can either be through Greenfield invest-

ment or through acquisitions. It involves the great-

est commitment in capital and managerial effort.

The ability to communicate and control 100% may

outweigh any of the disadvantages of joint ven-

tures and licensing but it possesses maximum risk.

In 1994, after India had opened its economy, the

US giant Kellogg’s decided to enter into the market

as a wholly owned subsidiary. The twin reason of

increasing domestic competition and stagnating

demand at home as well as the massive opportuni-

ty in the untapped Indian market encouraged Kel-

logg’s to invest around 30 million

USD in launching its flagship brand,

Corn Flakes. The Indian Consumer

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

19

Page 20: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

was habituated in traditional tradition breakfast

composed of paranthas, idli-sambar, poha, milk

etc. varying from region to region. Concept of

cornflakes was novel and hence it was a mammoth

task for Kellogg’s to generate a paradigm shift in

the breakfast behavior. They promoted their prod-

uct as healthy food and in their advertisement

campaigns hinted the traditional food as unhealthy

and not nutritious. This hurt the sentiments of

homemakers who were accustomed to the hearty

and full traditional breakfast and they psychologi-

cally rejected the concept of Cornflakes. Also, the

Indians drank hot milk which made the crispy corn-

flakes soggy. The pricing was also on the higher

side. It was much later in 1996 that the company

repositioned itself as fun-filled nutritious product,

resorted to competitive pricing, attracted schools

and housewives through free sample distribution.

In 1997 they organized “Kellogg’s Breakfast Week”,

a community-oriented initiative to generate

awareness about the importance of breakfast.

“Jaago jaise bhi, lo Kellogg’s hi” TVC, “Iron Shakti”

TVC, “Special-K” TVC were hits. Kellogg’s recog-

nized that in order to succeed in India they would

have to adapt to local conditions

both in their products and promo-

tional campaigns. It was a matter of

changing the eating habit of the natives which

could not be done overnight. Such small steps pro-

vided them with a strong foundation and today

Kellogg’s is the market leader with 60% market

share in the 700cr Indian organized breakfast cere-

al market.

Conclusion

The choice of entry mode in a market by a firm de-

pends on several factors including its risk appetite,

controlling competencies, entry barriers, economy

of operation etc. As we have seen from various

examples that the key to successful operation in

foreign country is adaptation to local environmen-

tal factors. The Uppsala model, developed by a set

of notable Nordic researchers, puts forward the

theory that companies normally start their expan-

sion in a psychic nearby market. There, they have

enhanced knowledge of the market and more con-

trol of resources, thereafter gradually when the

companies become more experienced and acquire

better resources, they expand to the more dis-

tance market, where distance is a combination of

cultural, geographical, political and language fac-

tors.

Dwaipayan

Mukherjee

&

Atish Mukherjee

MBA(IB)2014-16

IIFT

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

20

Page 21: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

B e it World Wars or Recession: a time of

crisis has always been challenging for the

marketers. When a country or region

goes through a rapid economic downturn, there is

a significant change in consumer spending power,

buying patterns and demand, for which well-

crafted and planned marketing strategies are re-

quired. Historically, the Great Recession of 2008

had led to reduced demand, immense pressure on

suppliers to reduce prices and decreased spending

power throughout the world.

This kind of an economic slowdown is a very chal-

lenging and crucial time for companies to retain

their customer base. By carefully studying the envi-

ronment and customer requirements, companies

can adapt their marketing strategies to meet mar-

ket place challenges and turn them into opportuni-

ties.

Success lies in adapting

The most profitable companies in a recession are

typically those that adapt their marketing strate-

gies in order to retain existing customers and win

new ones, and be profitable at the same time. As

Harvard Business School Professor John Quelch

recently stated, “Successful companies do not

abandon their marketing strategies in a recession;

they adapt them.” (Harvard Business School Work-

ing Knowledge, 3rd March

2008). This is because there

is no unique marketing

strategy for any economical

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

21

Page 22: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

condition, but it is how a company can adapt/ cus-

tomize the existing one. Ensuring implementation

becomes challenging in crisis. There are cases

when well planned

strategies are not implemented in the desired way

due to pressure created by economic turmoil. Thus

it is really important to ensure that a planned

strategy is executed effectively, leading to signifi-

cant return on investment. The most common re-

actions at such times are:

Not proactive: Some firms are not reactive and

do not realize that there is a downturn lingering

on. And till the time they realize it, it gets too late.

Mass layoffs: Slashing odd manpower (human

resources) without realizing their value.

Cost cutting: Companies usually cut costs on pro-

motion, sales etc, in a panic situation

Only ~2% firms globally have not been affected by

pressures of recession

Results from an online survey

conducted in 2009, after the

Great Recession (sample size-

~300 global MNCs)

More than half the firms

have been severely affected by recession histori-

cally.

What have these 2% firms done right

to survive?

This is the key question that comes to mind: How

did these firms adapt to the pressure and turmoil?

What were their marketing strategies? What did

they change? How did they adapt?

Well, the answers lie in the most fundamental con-

cept of marketing: The 4Ps Model or the Marketing

Mix. It is the marketing mix that these companies

customized in order to fit in the existing situation.

There are other strategies as well, that have been

followed, but the marketing mix theory is the most

relevant, which can be substantiated with numer-

ous case examples if we look back in time.

The 4Ps revolution

In times of economic turmoil, going down to the

basics becomes too important. It is the foundation

for survival. And it is the fittest that survives. Com-

panies have customized/ adapted their marketing

mix in order to remain profitable, when the times

have been tough.

Let us take the case example of McDonald’s, and

understand how this helped them become

“recession resistant’.

The First P: Product

The products were customized in order to meet

the consumer demands in a better way. The com-

pany removed its double cheeseburger from its US

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

22

Page 23: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Dollar Menu, to replace it with a double burger

with one slice of cheese in response to the in-

crease in dairy prices. A plethora of healthier op-

tions were introduced as “McHealthy” strategy, as

the consumers wanted quality diet and value for

money.

The Second P: Price

Providing customers with products they wanted at

prices they can afford, even during hard times,

contributed significantly to the stock market per-

formance and financial results of the company.

They introduced an affordable range of coffee

shakes- McCafe, which was a cheaper alternative

for Starbucks coffee.

The Third P: Place

McDonald’s upgraded their outlets, in order to

reflect positivity during tough times. It polished its

image by adding upscale touches such as leather

sofas and wall paintings to its European stores

To draw younger and more sophisticated clientele,

it began selling latte and espresso coffees and

offering Internet access and rental iPods. This for-

mula allows franchisees to reinvest in the brand

and stores, which drives more sales. Brand loyalty

keeps customers coming back, and expanded

product lines and physical upgrades to stores bring

new customers.

The Fourth P: Promotion

McDonald’s continued their aggressive marketing.

They tried their best to retain their loyal customers

through quality food, convenient stores and cus-

tomer service. They not only has refrained from

laying off workers, but announced plans to enlarge

its worldwide work force by 6 percent. This incul-

cated confidence in people. The McDonalds case is

a classic example of how a company adapted its

marketing mix in order to be profitable and retain

their customers, and at the same time winning

new clientele. The downturn can be a blessing in

disguise, if the right strategies are created and exe-

cuted.

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

23

Page 24: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Value based marketing: The future of

marketing in crisis

A value marketing strategy is one which will sow

the seeds to success leading to prosperity after the

recession. This is in stark contrast to the least popu-

lar low price and low cost strategies, which are like-

ly to position the firm as non-competitive, once re-

cession ends. A survey after the

Great Recession showed that the companies have

now been focusing on value-based marketing.

Common strategies that have been employed in

past and during recession (Results from a B2B mar-

keting survey conducted during the Great Reces-

sion)

From Recession to

Recovery

Forward thinkers like Unile-

ver and Hyundai have always been a step ahead.

These players think ahead of the crisis situation,

and spend efforts in forging and cementing rela-

tionships with customers and marketing & product

innovation. This way they can be more competitive

once the situation is normalized.

Hyundai’s Assurance Program: A win

-win situation for consumers

Hyundai’s Assurance Program was initiated during

economic slowdown in US in 2008. It promoted as-

surance to car buyers that they could return the

cars if they got laid off, or in life-altering circum-

stances. It was the first vehicle return program of

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

24

Page 25: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

its kind. In the words of Joel Ewanick, VP-marketing

at Hyundai - "We're saying, 'Things are better, but

not great -- so we're going to hold onto this

[Assurance program] until it's over”.

These kind of strategies pave way for lasting rela-

tionships with the consumers during and after cri-

sis situations.

Planning for a post-recession future

It's been said over and over: There's no time like

recession, when competitors are retreating, to

ramp up innovation and marketing to grab share.

This was the strategy that Unilever followed by de-

veloping innovative products even during the Great

Recession. Unilever ramped up support behind

products like Dove hair-minimizing deodorant. The

company also invested in a host of new innovation

approaches, such as a global project for Axe in

which the consulting firm Face Co-Creation helped

assemble a group of 16 target consumers to help

vet a new scent and develop the marketing plan

behind it. The plan was to develop products and

market to position Unilever for a post-recession

future.

Market/customer segmentation and customer

satisfaction and loyalty are the second and third

most popular strategies in recession. Alongside val-

ue marketing, they can be considered customer-

focused strategies, for they all seek to better meet

the needs of customers and extract more value

from them.

Thus, shifting thinking to long term by value based

marketing has become one of the key strategies in

times of economic slowdown

Conclusion: Stay Hungry, Stay Fool-

ish

Companies should keep on exploring new and im-

proved strategies because- “one size does not fit

all”. An effective marketing strategy during crisis is

the one where-

Customer requirements are met effectively

Quality is not compromised

Core proposition is supported and sustained-

Loyal customers are satisfied

Firm stays competitive after crisis

Kunal Gupta

MBA(IB) 2015-17

IIFT

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

25

Page 26: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

I got an opportunity to intern

with Raymond Limited as a part

of the Summer Internship pro-

cess at IIFT. I interned with the Retail

team of the Sales and Marketing de-

partment under the lifestyle business

there. I worked on two live projects in

close cooperation with the Opera-

tions and Merchandising teams of

Raymond.

The work environment at Raymond is

extremely dynamic. The exposure to

different facets of a business is im-

mense. During the 8 weeks stint, I

could gain an understanding of a lot

of things that happen behind the

scenes before a product reaches the

market such as store operations, in-

ventory management, promotional

marketing campaigns, sales tech-

niques etc. Though my projects were

linked to ops and merchandising

teams, I was able to interact with a

lot of other teams who are actively

working in the field of E-commerce,

M-commerce, Omni channel retail,

Digital marketing, Product launch,

Campaign management etc. The work

environment at Raymond promotes

inter-team interaction, something I

had not seen at places I had worked

before. The thing that I liked the most

about the company was that it gave

the interns an opportunity to work on

Name:

Akshay Kumar

Gupta

Company:

Raymond

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

26

Page 27: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

projects which are really contempo-

rary and have a lot of bearing on the

current goals and objectives of the

company.

The internship turned out to be a

great learning experience for me. I

have had prior work experience in

small size companies before joining

IIFT. Raymond is the first of the large

size company exposure I got. The

team I worked with, gave me a lot of

freedom in whatever I wanted to do.

This really helped me to come up with

creative solutions to the problems be-

ing faced by my team. My experience

in the field of data analytics came in

extremely handy. I devised a BI tool

which will prove useful to improve

upon existing store operations across

the retail network of Raymond. In the

other part of the project, I worked on

an analysis on the POS data and came

up with recommendations related to

cross selling of products.

For those who aspire for a career in

S&M, Raymond is an ideal place to

work for! IIFT’s curriculum is exhaus-

tive enough to cover the prerequisites

for joining the company. I would sug-

gest to focus on Marketing domain

specific subjects and develop an in

depth understanding of concepts to

become ready for any stint in the do-

main.

Kolkata Campus: Foundation Day

Centre Head Dr. K Rangarajan

with Chief Guest Shri Basudev

Banerjee- Additional Chief Secre-

tary, Home Department, Govt. of

West Bengal who graced us with

his presence on the occasion

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

27

Page 28: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

P ursuing your Summer Intern-

ship in Sales isn’t an easy

task – at least not in Voda-

fone! One finds herself in the midst of

project charters, surveys, analysis

tools, meetings and reviews. I look

back at the two months’ exhilarating

frenzy called “Summers” as an enrich-

ing experience in a familiar yet unfa-

miliar atmosphere. I call it familiar

because my “Territory” (like a typical

salesperson!) was near my home; and

also unfamiliar as I wasn’t acquainted

with the business dynamics of the ev-

er changing telecom industry.

The journey started with the two day

induction in Mumbai where I learnt

the basics of the industry and the or-

ganization. I made quite a few friends

from other B-schools during those

two days thanks to Vodafone’s exer-

cises and fun activities. I had my initial

bouts of nervousness when I was allo-

cated a project in the Bihar circle.

When I met my mentor, the Assistant

Vice President – Sales at the circle, I

knew I was in for serious business. As

with everyone else at Vodafone, he

was always ‘happy to help’; however,

he never compromised on quality or

discipline.

The project assigned to me was about

distribution strategy and information

gathering about the competition. I

had to design questionnaires and in-

terview customers, retailers and dis-

tributors through field visits in the

market. I visited a total of 200+

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

28

Page 29: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

shops all over Dhanbad including ur-

ban and semi-urban areas. The task

required a lot of patience and perse-

verance- at times one faces fatigue

after asking the same set of questions

to over a hundred people! Further-

more, it required a lot of local travel-

ling in the scorching heat of the coal

capital. I recall my disappointment at

the peace I observed in Wasseypur

(darn, these crazy Bollywood movies!)

My take away from the internship was

the application of marketing and con-

sumer behaviour concepts in real life

scenarios. Also, I learnt how to inter-

act with people with different back-

grounds, education and upbringing. I

would suggest my readers of the jun-

ior batch to be open minded and take

up the challenging tasks offered by

Sales. Be patient and enjoy the travel-

ling involved; and yes, being talkative

always helps!

Kolkata Campus: Foundation Day

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

29

Page 30: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

I n 1895, John Deere started a quarterly pub-

lished magazine by the name of “The Furrow”

for educating the American farmers on how

they can better manage their crops. He never in-

tended to use the journal for promoting the brand.

But a century later, this magazine is now one of

the leading agricultural journals promoting the

brand of John Deere GmbH & Company and is pub-

lished in fourteen languages with mass readership

around the world. This is the effect of time which

has changed the course of this journal.

Going off with that notion, it would be fair to put

forward that what might be useful today might not

be tomorrow. The advent of time will bring new

advancements that will point the tipping scale in

the favor of future.

Vintage Advertisements:

The Legacy

Whether it is the ‘Doodh ki safedi Nirma se aaye’

or ‘Vico Turmeric Ayurvedic cream’, each of these

products has created an everlasting impact on our

minds and is in fact an

epitome of how well a

product can be positioned

in the mind of the custom-

er and the consumers to

ensure top of the mind re-

call.

Facing the constraints of restricted marketing

channels (print and electronic media), the mar-

keting minds had to formulate strategies to grasp

the attention of the consumer upon a single view.

Since it was a single page framework, all the essen-

tial characteristics of the product had to be dis-

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

30

Page 31: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

played within the boundaries of the exhibit to de-

fine the uniqueness of the product. This made

these single page advertisement’s text dense and

processing of all the infor-

mation- a strenuous task.

But as time passed, a lot of

different factors contributed

to the opening of the market

which led to an increase in

competition which further

lead to developments in the field of marketing

strategies and marketing platforms. Some of those

factors contributing towards change in consumer

trends are:

1. Liberalization of the Indian Economy

The change in the policy framework of 1991

opened up the Indian market for private and for-

eign investments. This made the economy much

more market oriented and a lot of different players

flocked towards it. Time was witness to such never

seen before levels of competition which compelled

the marketers to look out for more effective routes

for information dissemination.

2. Rapid Urbanization

Urbanization has taken place at a very rapid rate in

India and this has resulted in the genesis of a new

breed of population called ‘urbanites’.

The working urbanites depend more on fast and

ready-to-serve food with preferences towards

bulk purchases from hyper stores rather than fre-

quent visits to the neighborhood “Mom n Pop”

stores.

This lifestyle has led to the creation of new mar-

kets like those of frozen and packaged goods and

quick-and-easy-to-make foods.

3. Increase in Personal Income

With the growing economy, the per

capita income has risen significantly

which has paved way for an in-

crease in the disposable income of a

large section of the society.

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

31

Page 32: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

This increase has given consumers a lot of op-

tions in terms of the wide range of products that

come within their purchasing power. This is the

reason that consumption of luxury goods and

consumer durables has increased to such an ex-

tent that some of the products of this segment

like watches and cellphones etc. have shifted to

the FMCG category.

4. Shift in Areas of Expenditure

There has been a shift in the spending pattern of

the consumers. This can be evidenced on one

hand - with the falling shares of Food, Beverages

and Tobacco Industries (from 40% in 2005 to

22.3% in 2020) , whereas on the other- a rise

seen in the segments of Miscellaneous Goods

and Services (from 8.9% to 25.1%) along with

Recreation, Education and Services (from 3% to

4.2%). This shows that our consumer’s interest in

luxury items has increased due to the increased

disposable income and has resulted in greater

circulation of money in the market.

5. Increase in Credit Card usage

The growth of various organized sec-

tors has been aided by the penetration of credit

cards in India. The number of transactions has

increased from about 80 million in 2004 to about

260 million in 2009. The data for the value of

those transactions for the same period stands at

almost INR 250 billion in 2004 and INR 600 billion

in 2009.

The Youngistan’s liking for plastic money has al-

so made their purchasing power strong and out -

of-reach consumables more accessible to the tar-

get audience. The increase has been a steep one

till 2009 and this curve is expected to maintain its

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

32

Page 33: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

direction in the time to come.

Change in time: Increase in expo-

sure to the Internet

With the advent of the 21st century, there has

been a tremendous upsurge in the use of the

World Wide Web. The number of people using

the Internet has increased to around 3 billion in

2014.

If the data of top ten countries in terms of inter-

net users is analyzed then the year-on-year

growth of the users ranges from 3% to 16%.

With such a large number of people using the In-

ternet around the globe, this platform has tran-

spired into a new segment for which different

marketing strategies have to be devised.

This has helped marketers go leaps and bound to

promote their products across borders with

greater ease and has considerably changed the

marketing scenarios.

In India alone, the number of people using the

internet has increased from about 5.5 million in

2000 to about 243 million in 2014. This number is

predicted to reach half a billion by 2018.

The country’s share is about 8.33% in terms of

world Internet users and thus presents itself as a

huge market. This has been achieved by wide

spread penetration of the Internet into the rural

areas and digitizing policies of the government.

E-commerce and Social Network-

ing: The Pandora’s Box

The birth of zillions of e-commerce startups has

given the consumers a lot of choices to choose

from and when a consumer is empowered to

choose from such a wide range of products that

also falls within the desired price range, then

brand loyalty takes a hit. Moreover the heavy dis-

counts that are offered, allow the consumers to

upgrade to the price range from which they earli-

er shied away, by spending a little extra money.

With the high penetration of the Internet, using

the online platform provides greater coverage at

a very considerable drop in the cost.

Marketers have found a very proficient tool that

promotes in the form of social media platforms.

The number of social media users was 86.7 mil-

lion in 2013 and it is anticipated to increase to

around 225 million in 2018.

The consumer engagement through

social media helps in positioning the

product in the mind of the consumer

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

33

Page 34: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

by repetitive and specific targeting over a period of

time. Engagement activities include usage of vari-

ous interactive channels such as online ads, videos,

mobile apps, etc.

Conclusion:

The effect that the vintage advertisements had on

our minds can never be downplayed and mar-

keting strategies kept in place were phenomenal in

getting attention of the target audience in that

time but it is important to understand that what is

constant is CHANGE. And with change in time,

novel factors emerge that play an extremely cru-

cial role in deciding the fate of the

products.

This is the reason that because of

advancements in technology, a new

and more informed generation of consumers have

evolved who possess the power to shift products

from one segment to another or create a new seg-

ment altogether. Therefore, catering to the needs

of such a target audience requires intelligent and

smart utilization of all the tools at one’s disposal

with maximum efficiency thereby rendering the

earlier used ways and methods ineffective. Yes,

inspiration on consumer engagement can be taken

but presenting the same thoughts will vary consid-

erably in those two time periods.

Tanuj Maheshwari

MBA(IB) 2015-17

IIFT

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

34

Page 35: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Y ou happily book your vacation ticket and

when you log off your IRCTC account, a

joyride automatically takes you to Ama-

zon.in to add to your happiness. In today's highly

networked economy, building and strengthening

relationships requires that you interact with cus-

tomers via multiple channels. Developing and

maintaining long-term customer relationships can

“Marketing isn’t magic. There is a science to it.” -DAN ZARRELLA, Social Media Scientist, HubSpot

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

35

Page 36: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

be the lifeline of a business.

Today, the customer expectations are driving mul-

tichannel integration. Customers are more varied

and selective with their expenditures and are sig-

nificantly less loyal to any one brand in particular.

Gone are those opportunistic days, when a physi-

cal store or a catalog could be relied upon to pro-

mote a business and reach out to customers.

Let’s take you out on a date with the by-gone era

where print marketing via newspa-

pers, magazines and direct mail marketing through

postcards, brochures, letters, catalogs, and fliers

were used to attract consumers through postal

mail. One of the earliest and most well-known ex-

amples of it is the Sears Catalog, which was first

mailed to consumers in 1888.

Broadcast marketing by dint of television and radio

advertisements have been around since the 1900s

and television advertising was quicker to adopt,

with less than ten years between its inception and

the first television commercial in 1941.

Traditional marketing campaigns often have the

advantage of staying powerful. They can become

iconic, and instantly familiar to millions round the

globe. Some of the memorable campaigns of the

20th century, according to NBC have been -

McDonalds: “You deserve a break today”, Marlbor-

o's “Marlboro Man”, and the most revolutionary of

all, Volkswagen’s “Think Small”.

Along with these extensive above-the-line chan-

nels of communication to catch the hungry fish in

the net, the businesses are now focusing coequally

on below-the-line channels of ‘business to con-

sumer’ communication. Nowadays consumers

have different cognitive learning styles, which

mean that brands need to communicate with them

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

36

Page 37: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

through different ways- which means using multi-

ple communication channels and disciplines. From

magazines and newspapers to e-mails and web-

linked kiosks (82% used), pop-ups to in-store smart

TV’s, all have seen a mammoth change. To quote

Julian Saunders of the Joined-Up Company,

“Nowadays everything communicates, or tries to”.

The conventional classification of channels in-

volved communication at personal and non-

personal levels. But today, though the ends are the

same, but the means have undergone stupendous

changes. The increased pressure to maximize the

shareholder’s value on businesses has driven con-

tinuous improvements in communication effective-

ness as well as devising technically contemporary

ways to reach out to the potential targets. With a

free sign-up and result oriented cost incurred,

Google ads is one of the biggest facets of all mar-

keting channels. It offers higher customer out-

reach, global advertising and a right target at right

time approach with a meagre starting budget of

1000 bucks a day. That means, of the 3.3 billion

users accessing Google search engine, your ad

could be seen by a significant number of people.

Another most cost effective and revenue gener-

ating channels being widely used today to connect

with current, past and potential customers is E-

mail marketing. It increases brand awareness, re-

inforces and strengthens Company-Consumer

bond, announce sales, share latest company de-

velopments and lastly disburse articles, promotion-

al material and whitepapers. Giant corporates or-

ganize annual Tradeshows where they divulge eve-

rything from newsletters to display working mod-

els of their key product. An intrinsic truth that can-

not be neglected today is that- Content is king and

you don’t get the crown without winning content

marketing program. Thus the content we dissi-

pate is as much important as the varied channels

we communicate it through.

How can we forget our social media and the indis-

pensable role it plays as one of the largest and

most widely used mediums of present day mar-

keting? From Twitter to LinkedIn and from Face-

book to Blogs, everyone from corporates to sole-

proprietors find it the most lucrative and viable

option to strike a cupid at the target consumers

heart. Directory sites like Thom-

asNet, MacRAE’s Blue Book and

GlobalSpec are an icing on the

cake. Almost every business fea-

tures a company video on its web-

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

37

Page 38: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

site as well as other video platforms like YouTube,

Vimeo etc.

A relatively strategic concept which is being exten-

sively used by numerous businesses worldwide is

that of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) (29%

used). All you need to do is feed Google, Yahoo et

al with the most valuable keywords and phrases.

Another approach known as Pay per Click (PPC)

also leverages industrial keyword research, im-

proves on-site conversions and controls cost. What

if you are in dire need of a house loan and an angel

in disguise calls you to inform about their most

borrower friendly loan scheme. Well, Telemar-

keting (17% used) is no less popular a tool when it

comes to some of the most widely used and exten-

sively followed channels of business communica-

tion.

Today, most of the brands have come up with an

option of customized shopping where-in the cus-

tomers can search, match, virtually try and hence-

forth finalize a perfect fit for them. Another en-

trant into the et al market is the ‘gift card’, which is

a convenient, portable, easy-to-use, rechargeable

card that comes with a life-time validity.

It is rightly said that You must be where your cus-

tomers are. And they are everywhere. There’s no

doubt that customers today have much more con-

trol over the buying process than marketers do.

Thanks to the proliferation of available channels,

customers have more choices than ever when it

comes to how they want to get information. Today

there are more ways to reach customers – both in

terms of number and variety of channels – than we

could have imagined not so long ago. And as the

number of channels continues to rise – and it will –

the need to embrace multichannel marketing will

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

38

Page 39: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

become not only a good idea, but a critical one.

The road of marketing channels is not as smooth

as it appears to us, sitting on a comfortable couch

at our homes. Thanks to the plethora of channels

and choices facing customers, delivering the right

message to the right audience isn’t enough. Not

today, most of the brands have only must your

customers receive your message, but they also

must be attentive, receptive and willing to act –

regardless of the channel. Expecting customers to

change channel or devise preferences is unrealis-

tic. As a result, marketers must constantly develop

and coordinate highly orchestrated touch points

and micro-campaigns that span multiple channels

fluidly, in a way that the customer finds meaning-

ful and trustworthy.

The right mix of traditional and contemporary mar-

keting, instead of the lone star act is the need of

the hour. By combining the two, you put the right

form of communication in front of the right people

and give them a reason to visit both your website

and your physical store. Both the strategies com-

plement each other to meet the unique goals of

today’s business houses. While the new-age mar-

keting is more cost-effective, measurable and ter-

rific for brand development with a tremendous

potential for exposure, the time-honored mediums

have proven to be effective, more impactful and

Mohit Mahajan

&

Ishan Gupta

MBA(IB)2015-17

IIFT

Man of Steel or Man of

Brands??

Man Of Steel Holds the record for

maximum

Product Placement

2013

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

39

Page 40: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

P roject – To enhance Go-To-

Market capability of RB in

Delhi and 50 Lakh plus

towns in North India.

The project was centred on identifying

gaps and opportunities in the current

sales & distribution network of RB (All

SKUs), benchmarking itself against its

competitors. The territories for the

same were Delhi, Lucknow and Kan-

pur.

The scope of project demanded dili-

gent & extensive field work. It en-

sured that as an intern I am exposed

to the challenges of the “World of

Sales”. I was expected to reach Dis-

tributor Point before sales opening (to

understand dispatch of goods) and be

there before closing (to observe billing

of orders) daily for the 1st week. The

visits ensured that I learn about the

intricacies of distribution channel &

selling process at distributor level.

The next 3 weeks were dedicated to

market visits to interact with whole-

salers & retailers, both large & small.

During the stint I covered 300 stores

in and around Delhi. The visits not on-

ly helped me identify the gaps & op-

portunities in the S&D network but

also to collect data for benchmarking.

Surveys with wholesalers & retailer

and interaction with them can provide

some really useful information regard-

ing the competitors as they know the

tricks of the trade & are eye and ears

of the company. It ensured that I learn

the art off networking & execute the

Name:

Ankur Suri

Company:

Reckitt

Benckiser

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

40

Page 41: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

humongous task of obtaining competi-

tor’s data successfully for efficient

sales benchmarking.

The other data points for the same

was competitor’s sales force. I spent 2

weeks in gathering the same. This re-

quired diligent recordkeeping and a

knack to identify which stakeholder

can provide what type of information.

Be it the Regional Sales Managers or

the front end Sales Representatives all

were potential sources of data; how-

ever to get most relevant data was a

challenging task and required asking

of right set of questions at the right

time to the right stake holders.

Following weeks were spent in analys-

ing the data which included brain-

storming sessions with my Project

Guide Sponsor and the sales team.

These sessions helped me to under-

stand that though data analysis can be

executed through excel crunching;

however it is meaningless if not

viewed from right perspective. The

meetings helped me to learn the art of

looking the results from the right per-

spective and make it speak volumes.

It is essential to understand the objec-

tives of the project and the expected

deliverables. Timelines should be

strictly adhered to as any glitches

would be difficult to cover up. Spend

adequate time in brainstorming with

your guide & mentor to ensure the

project is on track and correction if

any can be made in time. Also ensure

giving them a weekly status report

regular reports regarding your pro-

gress. Since a sales stint requires a lot

of networking and travelling, adhering

to timelines & dependence on perfor-

mance of large number of external

stakeholders; keeping oneself moti-

vated till the end might be challeng-

ing. However never give up & give

your best shot till the end!

Besides being one of India’s

oldest FMCG Firm , Dabur

has the Oldest Supply Chain

In India

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

41

Page 42: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Name:

Murtaza Ali

Company:

Flipkart

Before joining a B-School, some of you

may have worked with well-

established companies, some of you

may have been associated with start-

ups and some of you may have joined

straight from college. All of you may

be having various experiences at your

end but I assure you, interning with

Flipkart is a game changer. Flipkart,

true to its image, gives a unique expe-

rience to its employees at its work-

place. The whole atmosphere is lively

and vibrant. The culture is so open and

accommodating that from the time

you step into the office you are treat-

ed as a Flipster and no less.

I was working in Retail – Marketplace

Division in Flipkart which involved

some part of marketing and some part

of operations. I had the opportunity to

work with various teams and wit-

nessed the conceptualization and im-

plementation of ATL and BTL activities

across India. I was also involved in the

branding of the program and could

relate it to the concepts and frame-

works taught at IIFT. It was more or

less the same steps (though custom-

ized) that were being followed and

classrooms lessons helped me a lot in

that project.

Working at Flipkart is fun. No matter

how many hours you toil during work

hours, you come out refreshed. Never

will you feel tired after a good day’s

work. Flipkart gives an unmatchable

opportunity to work with

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

42

Page 43: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

industry leaders sharing the same

work space. It promotes interaction

and every day you keep on learning

from your managers.

Flipkart is a one of the best places to

intern in, but getting selected is a her-

culean task. You will be tested with

unconventional questions that will

test your creativity and awareness.

You should not only be apprised about

Flipkart and E-commerce sector in

general but should also be updated

about various marketing and catalogu-

ing techniques used in E-commerce

industry. People eyeing for operations

profile should prepare well about vari-

ous models already in place to provide

hassle free delivery experiences to

customers. You should treat this infor-

mation as a reference and should not

limit your preparation to this. Wishing

you all the best for summers!!

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

43

Success Mantras from E-commerce Gurus. Read More..

Page 44: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Internet of Things

I oT or Internet of things is defined as an eco-

system where devices interact with each

other over the network. Devices include

sensors, monitoring instruments as well as

the smart phones we use, TV’s, refrigerators; es-

sentially every gadget that surrounds us today is a

potential candidate to be a part of this system.

Do not take this to be just another fad on the hori-

zon. Salesforce.com puts it very nicely “…it may

sound like a business buzzword,

but in reality, it’s a real techno-

logical revolution that will im-

pact everything we do. It's a gigantic wave of new

possibility that is destined to change the face of

technology as we know it.”

The term “Internet of Things” was coined

by British entrepreneur Kevin Ashton almost a dec-

ade and a half back in 1999, he feels that he should

have coined it as “Internet FOR Things” instead of

what he eventually named it.

Marketing, in the last half a decade has seen a

whole lot of disruption and IoT is another step in

the same direction. It will for one change the dy-

namics on a scale that has never been seen or

About the Author

Amar Budati

Business Analyst at ITC Infotech (2014 till present)

Editor-in-Chief, Mark Mantra (2012-14)

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

44

Page 45: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

heard before. Just to give you the scale of IoT,

Gartner says there would be 75 billion connected

devices by 2020. Now that you’ve been exposed to

the scale of it, let’s get down to the mechanics of

how marketing would be affected in reality.

Localization of content is already a reality, thanks

to the location sharing facility on our phones. We

now are used to getting offers, as we cross a coffee

shop, QSR. Now imagine that you are out shopping

with family and your phone vibrates with a mes-

sage from your refrigerator to pick up some veg-

gies as you have none back at home and you have

guests coming over. How does this happen, of

course with the devices “talking” to each other as

well as scanning our gadgets for information which

could be used for making decisions that aim to im-

prove the overall quality of life.

Think of digital marketing in the future, wherein

devices start giving out tweets, posts on what is

trending based on the current events in the sur-

roundings. Engaging with customers at an even

more personal level than ever before. Devices will

be able to tell you when they need a refill, repair.

So here is a system that has gadgets which are

learning all the while, becoming smart in the pro-

cess; so much so that the advertisers will have a

tugh task getting people to go ahead and make a

purchase, as there are multile factors at work. Only

when a product manages to satisfy all existential

criteria would it be displayed to the customer on

his device, essentially what we are looking at is a

100% CTR.

That is both amazing as well as challenging to an

advertiser’s ears now.

IoT: The future is yours ;)

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

45

Page 46: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Social Media Marketing IS an invasion of privacy?

W ith the advent of digital age, the world is changing fast and the marketing ways are

changing with it. In the last decade we have seen the rise of two of the biggest mar-

keting tools the world has ever seen namely social media and big data analytics. Social

media provides the marketer a platform where

they can interact with billions of customer and big

data analytics tells them how to do it. However

this nexus between social media and marketers

raises a big question about the invasion of privacy

of the customers. In the recent times we have

seen numerous cases where the privacy of the

customers was not only invaded; their personal

information was sold for a handsome profit.

In today’s world the producer has to realize that to promote their product and bump up their sales they

need to understand the buying behaviour of the customers and find out about their likes and habits. This

Because A Truce is not Amicable !

ANMOL GARG

SENIOR CLUB COORDINATOR

BRANDWAGON KOLKATA

SHASHANK GARG

JUNIOR CLUB COORDINATOR

BRANDWAGON KOLKATA

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

46

Page 47: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Social Media Marketing IS NOT an invasion of privacy?

S ocial media is a digital space for interaction between people across all boundaries. They meet,

discuss and exchange ideas over a wide range of topics in the form of group discussions, blogs,

articles, images, videos, audio etc.

That means when you log into social media you do that to in-

teract with the entire world. You accept its ‘Terms of Use’ and

willingly give up your privacy. You are very well aware that it’s

a ‘public domain’ and not a ‘personal space’. You go to social

media to share your thoughts, not to write a personal diary

page. Whenever we post something on social media it gets

added as a new virtual book in the public library we have creat-

ed in the name of the Internet.

Advertising on social media involves advertisement through

your own pages or blogs and targeted advertisement on users’ home page. This can be compared to tra-

ditional ways of marketing like pamphlets in Newspapers. Both social media and newspapers are sources

PIYUSH SOOD

SENIOR CLUB COORDINATOR

BRANDWAGON KOLKATA

ISHAN GUPTA

JUNIOR CLUB COORDINATOR

BRANDWAGON KOLKATA

Because A Truce is not Amicable !

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

47

Page 48: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

had led them on the ominous path where breaking your online privacy is no longer off limits. This in-

volves tracking people’s online activities and harvesting personal data and conversations from different

social media platforms. Usually research companies harvest this data and later sell this compiled data to

companies who in turn uses this data to design targeted marketing campaigns for their products.

There have been several cases in the recent past where com-

panies have been alleged of serious online privacy violations.

In May 2011, a media research company named Nielson Co.

was caught scraping every message off PatientsLikeMe’s

online forums. A forum where in the delusion of safe and pri-

vate environment people talk about their emotional prob-

lems. Similarly , in probably the biggest and the most famous

case of online privacy violation Facebook in 2012 experiment

on about 700,000 of its users’ by manipulating their users’

news feeds to show them content that was either predominantly negative or positive and later analysing

their emotional responses to their feed. In addition to this , Facebook keeps and stores all information

pertaining to users such as IP (intellectual property), photos etc. that have been deleted by the users.

This information can be shared with marketers who bid the highest for it. It has been reported several

times about certain apps that leak information

about their users to advertising and internet track-

ing companies, without the users having clue.

This blatant encroachment of your private profile is

equivalent to a stranger going through your ward-

robe without your permission to find out your per-

sonal preferences while promising better services

and convenient shopping in the future.

Surveys conducted across the world have time-and-again showed that the consumer is worried about

this breach of their online privacy. The TRUSTEE Consumer Confidence Index 2014 conducted in US

showed that 90% of users in America are concerned about privacy in social media.

The proponents of social media claim that by its very nature, a social media platform is a public platform

and one where users should have the weakest expectation of privacy however they forget that the even

when we go to social media we choose who we share this information with. This is the basic right to free-

dom that every citizen of world should not be deprived of.

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

48

Page 49: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

of information. Pamphlets in newspaper and advertisements on social media are targeted on a particular

section of people reading or searching for a type of information, for example, business news. If the for-

mer has never been considered as invasion of privacy, why should the latter be?

While advertising on social media in itself does not account

for violation of privacy, conduct of marketers can lead com-

pany into lawsuits claiming invasion of users’ privacy. For

example Public disclosure of private facts that involves

posting embarrassing, privileged, or confidential infor-

mation about another person on its social media page. The

violation happens if a marketer uses his/her customer’s

name for an advertisement but does not have their con-

sent. The famous case of Lane Vs Facebook case where

plaintiff Sean Lane bought a ring for his wife on Over-

stock.com , the purchase was broadcasted on his network

of 700+ friends without his consent, showed what greater harm can be caused with breach of privacy.

Hence, marketers need to be wary as they walk on a very thin line when it comes to social media mar-

keting.

Marketers of today have a lot to gain when it comes to marketing through social media. Social media not

only provides them the reach to their target audience but is the most cost effective method to market

their products. Be it the Durex Naked Box

Challenge or Maybelline Baby Lips cam-

paign, companies have tasted the sweet

taste of success with an increase in

crowdsourcing activities through social

media. Looking from the viewpoint of the

customer, getting customizable advertise-

ments for themselves makes the process of

search for information of products even simpler.

In todays’ tech-savvy generation’s time, where people stay connected through Social media for almost

the whole time, potential of Social media marketing cannot be ignored. Concept itself does not involve

any violations of Privacy but marketers need to restrict themselves while fighting to achieve their targets.

Social Media can be the most powerful tool any company can have to market their product in the coming

days.

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

49

Page 50: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Name:

Samarth Kothari

Company:

Britannia

I knew that working in sales de-

partment of an FMCG company

would never have been an easy

task but landing up with a project per-

taining to rural sales in Rajasthan in

the month of April came as a bit of

surprise. My project revolved around

creating a road map for the expansion

of the rural distribution network. My

first step was to understand all the

deliverables from my mentor i.e. basi-

cally what Britannia expected me to

do in the coming 8 weeks and what

would the ideal outcome be. And then

I took to the streets and obtained in-

sights from all the stakeholders whom

I would be dealing with. In sales, it is

not just the end consumer who

matters but the retailers, salesmen,

distributors also matter equally. Thus

having understood the challenges that

lay ahead, I prepared a timeline for

the 8 weeks and stuck to it (in most

cases!). And then came the time of

Strategy Formulation. One thing I

learnt was that no matter how fanci-

ful your strategy is, it of no use if you

cannot implement it . It is always

better to start working on the crux of

the project in the early stages, be-

cause if something is not working you

have a chance to go shops all over

Dhanbad including urban and semi-

urban areas. The task required a lot of

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

50

Page 51: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

patience and perseverance- at times

one faces fatigue after asking the same

set of questions to over a hundred

people! Furthermore, it required a lot

of local travelling in the scorching heat

of the coal capital. I recall my disap-

pointment at the peace I observed in

Wasseypur (darn, these crazy Bolly-

wood movies!)

My take away from the internship was

the application of marketing and con-

sumer behaviour concepts in real life

scenarios. Also, I learnt how to interact

with people with different back-

grounds, education and upbringing. I

would suggest my readers of the junior

batch to be open minded and take up

the challenging tasks offered by Sales.

Be patient and enjoy the travelling in-

volved; and yes, being talkative always

helps!

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

51

Achievers’ At IIFT

Sai Bharath & Vishwajeet Singh won the

Airtel Quiz-o-Mania Title 2015

Page 52: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

I t begins on the first evening of

your B-school life and lasts at

least until your first final place-

ment interview. And for it to end

sooner, the route still shall pass

through it. Hence, each one of you is

to say the least, intrigued as to what a

summer placement is. You are practi-

cally chanting ‘summers’ until you

cross the threshold of your reporting

office in the first week of April.

For me, it began on April 6 with my

assigned project under the mass mar-

kets team of Janssen, the pharmaceu-

tical company of J&J. The project re-

volved around identifying and engag-

ing a specialty of doctors for almost a

30-year old brand in India. It required

familiarizing oneself with the patho-

physiology of the disease it cured, car-

rying out secondary and primary mar-

ket research and building an engage-

ment strategy for the identified spe-

cialty. From the office premises to the

project outline, from the scheduled

travel itinerary to the execution of

every project detail, things were suc-

cinctly and effortlessly in place. Owing

to the project pre-work assigned, all

interns were perfectly capable of

starting off with their projects in no

time.

During secondary research, I found

myself juggling with research data

from external agencies to identify tar-

get group and target locations for pri-

mary research. Moving on to what

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

52 52

Page 53: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

fieldwork had in store: well, it made

the expression “cruel and beautiful

world” come alive for me. It isn’t just

inevitable but indispensable, for you

cannot possibly know how until you

know what to fix. During this patch of

my internship, I gained insights on cus-

tomer (physicians) expectations & in-

hibitions and glimpses of how the field

force strives to deliver on the same. A

striking contrast that pharma mar-

keting offers is that in addition to ca-

tering to whims and fancies of the cus-

tomer you need to satiate the ra-

tionale/reason of those who have

been in practice longer than you have

been in existence. And as my project

guide aptly put it, “You get to see the

human side of the Gods on earth”

I was plain lucky to end up with a pro-

ject, guide and team that enabled an

increased clarity of tasks ahead with

every passing day. Initiatives were en-

couraged, suggestions were well re-

ceived and progress was tracked at

appropriate intervals. Sadly, this may

not be the case for every intern even

in the same organization. This should-

n’t dishearten the aspirants in the

least. Yet again, it isn’t even impera-

tive to come from a biology back-

ground to perform in pharmaceutical

marketing. Keep abreast with the de-

velopments in the industry and in the

organization; set goals for yourself

both before and during your intern-

ship; hone your analytical skills and

excel adeptness, in particular while

there is still time. Lastly, needless to

say, in pharma marketing, like any oth-

er sector diligence and confidence

goes a long way in having a splendid

learning internship experience to

write about!

Logo Recall

Identify the Logo in the picture

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

53

Page 54: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

T he most basic dictionary definition states

that- ‘Market Research is an activity of

gathering information about consumer’s

needs and preferences’. But in today’s world, with

the market flooded with a zillion products and a

gazillion choices, does this very definition encom-

pass the entire gist of what market research is all

about?

The 21st century is no longer restricted to a physi-

cal market place where a buyer and seller meet in

person to carry

out their transac-

tions. The mar-

ket has now up-

graded itself to

smartphones; or

we can say that it has digitalized itself into the lives

of the people. Today, we have got the option of

buying any amenity, right from a safety pin to an

electric appliance, from food supplies to apparels;

and what not with the click of just a few buttons.

Looking at the other side of the coin, even

though having such luxuries available at

one’s hand, people still prefer to take a stroll down

the good old lanes which are crammed up with

food stalls and street vendors (both organized and

disorganized); enjoying the view and relishing a

delicacy here and there, whilst keeping an eye out

for something that might be worth their penny.

And sometimes they take a ride to the uptown

lounge and enjoy a delicious meal in a good ambi-

ence.

These varied and dynamic trends are making it

quite difficult

for a marketer

to analyse the

market. Apart

from going with

the primary re-

search, and keeping track of the latest trends of

people’s buying behaviour, the marketer now has

to resort to the new high-tech advances like ERP,

SAP, Big Data, Hadoop, Cloud and more.

This change in the market trends has become the

Tipping Point for market research.

The tipping point is that magic moment when an

idea, trend, or social behaviour crosses a threshold,

tips, and spreads like wildfire.”

― Malcolm Gladwell

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big

Difference

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

54

Page 55: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Let’s have a look on the journey of market re-

search, before and after the Tipping Point.

Flashback

In yester years, the marketer used to talk to both,

the sellers and the consumers in person. Initially,

the market research was majorly based on data

collection and creating methodologies for under-

standing that data. Multiple techniques were

bought in place for collating and researching data-

starting with punch cards

(early 19th Century, used in

US polling process). Couple

of decades later, the

“commercial research”

came into picture- data

crunching and analysis pav-

ing its way into the market, justifying the

‘Research’. “The Likert Scale”, “Sampling”,

“Focused Groups”- used for analysing data; and

data collection techniques such as

“Crowdsourcing” involved recruiting hundreds of

citizens to collect the ethnographic data used for

PAPI: Paper-And-Pencil-Interview.

The advances in analysing the modified data

brought a change in the approach of market re-

search, dividing it into Qualitative and Quantitative

methodologies. These approaches do go hand-in-

hand and bring in the paradigm shift with continu-

ous evolvement in both the practices.

The Tipping Point

Now that we know what tipping point is all about,

let’s see how this has changed the picture of mar-

ket research. Over the time, the market has shifted

its focus to making smart decisions. Companies

have become more customer centric- they are try-

ing to launch products with features that the cus-

tomers look for. They have put their products in

the hands of the customers, by means of the e-

commerce industry. Moreover, various forms of

advertising have come into effect which appeal the

customers to buy a product. For example, the Fevi-

col promotion, wherein a stall is put in the middle

of the mall, and people are asked to take any prod-

uct of their choice free of cost. The trick here was

that when people tried to take those products,

they found that the items were glued to the shelf

with Fevicol. The intent of the act was very clear-

to make people test the product themselves and

say “Majbut jod hai, Tootega nahi”. All these inno-

vative changes in marketing are the by-product of

intensive market research. The present day scenar-

io of market research has taken a really high road.

Present Day

Google, to the rescue!! One of the tools that the

marketers can use is Google’s ‘Survey-Wall’, a

place where a short survey is floated on the web-

site, the one where you don’t have easy access to,

unless you pay for it. These survey forms consists

of crisp, sharp questions keeping in mind that most

of the youngsters or users won’t spend an addi-

tional second on reading and answering those long

questions. But the incentive to get to read or use

these ‘walled apps’ would make users answer a

question or two on the form. All you have to do is

take out few seconds, fill the survey and voila! You

can use the data, free of cost.

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

55

Page 56: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Other technique widely used for the purpose of

analysis is ‘Google AdWords’. Marketers make use

of this functionality by keeping track of what all

keywords the user is typing to refine his search,

and makes use of this data to finish their analysis.

Moreover, with the advent of time, the market has

become more sensitive to the customer’s needs.

The marketer’s job thus becomes a notch difficult

as he now has to analyse the buying characteristics

of a huge number of customers with a variety of

buying characteristics. In today’s tech-savvy world,

the answer to this is sentiment analysis, social net-

work analysis, association rule learning and more.

The core of all these algorithms is the data gath-

ered by all the information sensing devices and

software on mobile phones or laptops. When the

data collected is too diverse, fast-paced or massive

for conventional analysis approaches, Big Data

comes in.

Consider a typical day-to-day situation– we were

off doing online window shopping, and after some

casual ramble, we go to check our FB timeline for

any updates. That is when, the PRODUCT we were

just stalking, unsure whether to buy or not, sud-

denly pops up in the Ad section of Facebook. What

just happened is the ‘cookie-based ad targeting’

working its way into finding our shopping patterns

based on past searches. Just imagine if big data

also comes into this picture.

First off, what’s this shout around BIG DATA? How

big is this BIG DATA? In today’s world, emphasis

lies on storing each and every ounce of data gener-

ated, anywhere and everywhere, on the

web of the web. This large amount of da-

ta, both structured and unstructured is the BIG DA-

TA. And this massively huge data is measured in

the terms of Exabyte, which is bigger than

petabytes, and much bigger than terabyte. For

number-crunchers, 1 Exabyte is equival-ent to 250

million DVDs, i.e. approx. equivalent to 1 Billion

movies. And that’s just NOT it, as of today, every-

day almost 2.5 Exabyte of data is created.

Most of this data is generated by analysing (or

snooping on) our buying trends. More accurate

analyses may lead to more confident decision mak-

ing processes. And better decisions can mean

greater operational efficiencies, cost reductions

and reduced risk for the marketers. Thus, we can

safely assume that the time is not far away when

as soon as you enter in a shopping complex, the

new “Intelligent” devices will automatically predict

and guide you to your shopping destination.

Conclusion

All in all, a lot has changed with the advent of tech-

nology and the marketer’s job is becoming more

challenging and interesting. Not only he has to an-

alyse what is going on around, but he too has to

keep himself upgraded and updated with various

research tools and environments. We can safely

say that the tipping point has managed to keep the

marketers on the tips of their toes.

Juhi Arya

&

Tushar Saklecha

MBA(IB)2015-17

IIFT

MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015

56

Page 58: MarkMantra TradeWinds 2015 Final

Upcoming Events at IIFT