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MARKSMANThe
K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH VOL. 3| ISSUE VI| JANUARY‘13
CROSS- SWITCH
Word ofMouth
hdsjdy Page 10
Page 17
Page 23Page 21
EDITOR’S DESK
Happy Reading !! Team – Marksman The Interface – The Marketing Club of SIMSR
Welcome back to yet another exciting issue of your monthly dose
of marketing, ‘The Marksman’! We would like to thank all our
readers for the overwhelming response we receive time and again!
We promise to keep you all entertained and well read for the whole
of 2013!
To begin with, reaching out to the consumers in spite of the
numerous barriers they put up is the most difficult challenge for a
brand. So how do they cross those barriers and market
themselves successfully? Find out in our Cover Story on ‘Cross
Switch’ marketing.
Ever wondered why you instantly tend to use a brand
recommended by your friend? It’s called the power of ‘Word-of-
Mouth’ marketing which is our Special Story for this issue.
Did you miss the most exciting marketing conference of the year?
Catch a glimpse on what happened in the 8th SIMSR Global
Marketing Conference in our rewind section!
Go ahead and read some super stories in our regular section
Tweets, a super review on ‘All Marketers Tell Stories’ by Seth
Godin in our Bookworm section and many more interesting
sections to look forward to!
Read articles written by our very own readers! We would like to
congratulate the winners of our article writing competition Deepa
Sastry and Ghanendra Singh.
We look forward to some suggestions from all our readers! Get in
touch with us on Facebook and Twitter @marksmansimsr.
So don’t wait! Flip this page NOW!
Dear Readers,
01 JANUARY 2013
05 AUGUST 2012
CONTENTS
COVER STORY
CROSS - SWITCH MARKETING
10
SPECIAL STORY
WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING
17
TETE-A-TETE
27
REWIND
25
FEATURED ARTICLES
Tata Group after Ratan Tata …21
Brand Tendulkar : Will it sustain post his
retirement? …23
SquAreheaD
32BOOKWORM
31
BUZZ
33
TWEETS
03
It’s all about AD-itude!
09Brand MARK ive
05
THE MARKSMAN 02
Hall-MARK Campaigns
07
TWEETS
03 JANUARY 2013
In year 2008 Puma started its initiative named ‘Urban stampede’ which is
a running platform where various corporate teams compete against each
other. This is a relay format which awards the fastest running corporate
team which also acts as a team building exercise.
Rajiv Mehta, MD, says “it is the only national running property in India”. He
also adds that it is not a cut-throat competition but participants enjoy the
race. The registrations for this event have started and PUMA expects some
of the best companies on board.
R e a d y f o r i t s C o r p o r a t e F u n R u n
TWEETS
Photography equipment maker Fujifilm India has appointed Ignitee Digital
for its social media and digital communication.
Fujifilm hopes to get connected with the tech-savvy youth of India by
providing them with more opportunities to get connected with the brand.
Let’s see what value proposition will Fujifilm put forward to its customers
with its ideas and Ignitee’s approach.
India appoints Ignitee Digital for its social media campaign
Life OK recently completed a year in December 2012 and holds around
10 percent share in Hindi GEC market. Life Ok, which tried to have
shows which are not only entertaining but also relevant with a social
message, is intending to utilise outdoor marketing in year 2013’s
strategies.
Ajit Thakur, GM of Life OK said 'his biggest ambition is to rival Star
Plus‘.
L i f e O K d r e a m s t o r i v a l a g a i n s t S t a r p l u s
THE MARKSMAN 04
Brand MARK ive
ThinkGeek is the eponymous
reminder of all the brave souls
who waged a war against thick,
big books and stood out victorious.
It is a name that shows the word
‘Geek’ in a completely new light.
Let us think back and remember
that the modern heroes are not the
personalities for whom we brim
with adulation as they stand facing
the setting sun, their muscular
silhouettes giving them the aura of
Titans. The real heroes that we
admire today are the
The idea to come up with
something like this was
hatched by individuals who
were at the helm of the internet
revolution in the 90s. The
objective was to create a shop
selling those products which
would appeal to individuals
whose imagination spawned
great ideas and who had the
guts to put their ideas to test.
In short, it was meant for all
those people who have helped
create THIS oh-so-convenient
technology. (Which includes
this unscrupulously detailed
program code that makes your
screen look like it is showing
text in English language!)
and Batman scurry
back in the JLA
Tower and start
testing themselves
for abnormalities. We are talking
‘chaps-next-door’ with killer
determination and gritty
perseverance; the kindwhich would make Superman
about the likes of Mark
Zuckerberg, Bill Gates et
al. ThinkGeek is a brand
name that represents that
very innovative intellect.
05 JANUARY 2013
Brand MARK ive
operating system in 1995
transformed into this unique
online shop 4 years later after
implementing a multitude of
ideas and brainstorming
sessions.
Today ThinkGeek remains a
niche organization which
employs 26 people and-
believe it or not- 2 dogs named
Cisco and Rangely. The
makers of ThinkGeek assert
that these 2 “employees” are a
backup plan to ward off
solicitors and also provide
emotional release during
“puppy play sessions”.
ThinkGeek in an online shop
serving the needs of people who
are passionate about technology.
What do you buy there? Well, here
goes! Their shop includes
Chocolate Flavored envelopes
with Note Cards, The Legend of
Zelda Mints, Squirming Tentacle
USB, Electronic Guitar T-Shirt
(Which can actually be
strummed!), Assassin Creed’s
Tomahawk, Da Vinci Wood
Catapult … and the list goes on.
This amazing online store is a
subsidiary of VA Research, a
company found in 1993 by 2
Stanford Graduates Larry Augustin
and James Vera. The ThinkGeek
site however became public way
later in 1999. VA Research today
is called Geeknet and is based in
Fairfax, Virginia. What started as
an experiment in an Open sourceUNIX like
THE MARKSMAN 06
Hall-MARK Campaigns
A promotional campaign done by WALMART and MARS has come to highlight
because of its innovative style. This campaign put together a good cause with
promotional campaign and managed to connect with consumers effectively. The
interesting fact was that the target consumers influence the buyers only by
wagging their tails.
Yes, this campaign focused on dogs!
It served as an “edutainment” opportunity for pet owners and brought to light the
plight of stray dogs. The idea for the campaign was generated after an analysis
revealed that there were 90 million pet owners who shopped in Walmart but only
60% purchased pet food and 40% purchased pet supplies there. This presented
as a huge opportunity for both Walmart and Mars.
Mars Pet care is a Brussels based conglomerate which is most popular for its
dog food Pedigree. In fact Mars is the biggest pet care provider in the world with
presence in 50 countries and employing 33000 employees worldwide.
&
07 JANUARY 2013
Walmart decided to come up with a campaign
that not only highlighted Mars’ pet care
business but also promoted both the brands
as ‘Caring’.
As a result, a shopper marketing campaign
called ‘Pets Love Walmart’ was initiated
whose core objective was to raise money to
create shelters for stray pets.
The campaign utilized print as well as digital
media to reach out to consumers.
Hall-MARK Campaigns
In the first leg of the campaign, Walmart hosted a weekly event that educated
shoppers about proper health care. In addition, all Pedigree packages
comprised of a QR code that directly donated a bowl of food to a shelter. The
code allowed shoppers to find ways of donating food to different pet shelters.
This promotion enhanced Mars pet care sales by 25% and a survey also
revealed that Walmart was indeed adjudged as a ‘caring brand’ and created
a recall value when it came to pet care food.
THE MARKSMAN 08
It’s all about AD-itude
Fever 104 FM has come up with this vibrant and colourful print ad which sends
across a very useful message, “wherever you go, reach happy”. It has come up
with three print ads which aim to target the college going teen, the home maker
and the office going executive. The print ad is full of colours which makes it
extremely catchy. The message is that the 40 minutes of non-stop music help
you reach college, make breakfast or reach office taking the monotony away,
replacing it with a sense of refreshing vivacity and making the journey more
interesting.
MEDIA: PRINT
CLIENT: FEVER 104 FM
CREATIVE AGENCY: BRANDS ON E
MEDIA: TVC
CLIENT: KURKURE
CREATIVE AGENCY: JWT
Kurkure, known to be the perfect Indian namkeen snack was launched in 1999,
and is today identified as a new age crunchy snack, with the very well known
and funny tag line “Tedha hai par mera hai”. Its brand ambassadors so far have
been Juhi Chawla as well as Kareena Kapoor who are full of beans and they, in
the true sense, embody the vibrant and electrifying essence of Kurkure. The
journey now continues with Kurkure launching a brand new TV Commercial
introducing the new age Kurkure family that is dynamic, alive and energetic
and would connect with the youth of today. Parineeti Chopra, Kunal Kapoor,
Farida Jalal, Boman Irani, Ramya Krishnan, and Shivansh have been
introduced individually in teaser ad commercials which are currently on air.
This all new family kurkure ad commercial is
considered to be its biggest ad campaign till
date. The advertisement hopes to break
new ground by targeting multiple age
segments simultaneously; cementingKurkure’s standing as the “universal snack”.
09 JANUARY 2013
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CROSS SWITCH
DECIPHERING THE CODE
“Cross-switch” is an approach- including strategies, tactics and tools to get
through the barriers put up by the consumers and maximize the results of a
marketing campaign.
FLIPPING THE SWITCH
In this day and age, businesses are struggling to get consumers to pay
attention to their brands. It’s no longer enough to simply use multiple forms of
media to deliver the same message or campaign over and over. It’s easy for
consumers to sift that out and likewise it fails to take advantage of the power
of some other forms of media especially digital media.
THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF CROSS COMMUNICATION
In this era of over flowing information consumers detach themselves from
information if they feel it has nothing to do with them. Then , they put up what
we call an INFORMATION BARRIER.
And to ensure that the message reaches the consumers “The Drawing Out
Approach” is used by presenting information that is intriguing, with which the
consumer wants to become involved, unlike the traditional breaking in
approach
The consumer who has put up Information barrier
The “Drawing out” approach
which forces consumers to pay attention to their marketing messages.
Cross switch approach is a way to provide added value and create
engagement with consumers and that’s a big part of where cross switch
communication fits into today’s and tomorrow’s environment. It gives
marketers powerful new ways to draw consumers out and make the more
involved.
THE MARKSMAN 10
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The key to drawing consumers out
from within their barriers is to
create SCENARIOS that move the
target.
In this way the consumers take
interest and actively seek out for
information, and before they know
it they are fans of the brand
enjoying an active brand
experience leading to a purchase.
WHAT MAKES IT WORK
PUTTING CROSS SWITCH INTO PLAY: Real Cases
In 2006, Nissin, which sells a staggering 25 billion packs of noodles a year,
had something special to do to celebrate Cup Noodles’ 35th Anniversary.
Hence, the Freedom Project where Nissin tried to position the humble Cup
as a symbol of freedom, since the pour-and-eat meal had "brought about a
worldwide revolution in food culture."
Nissin Food Products Ltd: CUP NOODLES ‘FREEDOM PROJECT’ PRODUCT PLACEMENT
11 JANUARY 2013
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Using campaigns which included a
series of commercials and longer films,
as well as posters and a range of
multimedia elements, all based on an
animated tale created by Katsuhiro
Otomo, the legendary manga artist and
anime director.
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION:“HARMONY FOR TOMORROW” CAMPAIGN
The project was able to fulfill its
objective of changing impression of
young people about CUP
NOODLES.
Their image of actual ‘CUP
NOODLES’ product became both
active and empathetic which was
indicated by consumers comments
such as “feels lively”, “energetic” and
“always new”.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Cross switch approach is not just a sales
promotion method to build short-term sales. It
can also be used for brand communication
when the theme at first glance may be difficult
to follow.
This strategy was used by Toyota’s CSR
campaign to achieve greater proliferation of
their activities.
An integration of television commercials, the web magazine &
advertisements, train station advertisements was incorporated to form
paths along with distribution of digest versions of web magazines which
led to the company establishing its goodwill and empathy with broader
range of consumers.
Cross switch goes to AmericaThe scion XD “Little Deviant” campaign
Cross communication tactics were deployed for “Little Deviant” campaign
where an array of innovative elements conveyed a sensational narrative to
underscore the xD’s non-conformist personality.
THE MARKSMAN 12
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xD was the aggressive five-door urban vehicle, the newest model from
Scion. Through a series of outdoor spectaculars, print ads and TV spots
the xD was personified using little deviants monsters. The story brought
the audiences along for the ride on their website where they could
navigate old school style games.
Manga Magazines“Don’t Search !” – Jump Square Inaugural Issue campaign
For many years, sales of Manga magazines had been driven by the
strength of their stories. This example of jump square however
demonstrates that even in the case of a magazine that always had
particularly strong content, sales volume could still be increased drastically
by creating an advertising device to attract readers’ attention and draw
them out.
Challenging Environment
In recent years the sales of Magazines have faded somewhat probably in
part due to the growth of internet, mobile phones and electronic gaming.
This case is about a comic style magazine, which succeeded in gaining
extremely high sales in this age where magazines don’t sell as they used
to. A totally innovative plan was sought for the advertising of Jump
Square’s Inaugural Issue.
The ‘Stay Away’ Message
About three weeks before the release of the
magazine, a rather dramatic and startling TVC
was broadcasted where the words “Jump Square”
appeared in an Internet Screen window, crossed
out by an “X”, with an accompanying voice-over
as follows: “This is a request. The inaugural issue
of Jump Square will be released shortly , but
please don’t search for “Jump Square” over the
internet.
13 JANUARY 2013
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It is human nature to want to do what you are told not to do. Right?
The commercial caught interest of people and they began searching for the
words “Jump Square”.
At first, all they saw was a text page with a “Request from the Editorial
Division”. Seeing this the reaction of non-core members was predictable,
however the core readers , their reactions were opposite.
When they saw the message they became even more convinced that there
is something wrong. They searched for the same words not once, twice but
three times in a row. Finally, those readers were led to a hidden site that
began with the message –
“We give Up”. We are just no match to your determination and enthusiasm.
Building the Buzz
Core readers quickly posted comments on blogs and other sites describing
how they discovered the “hidden information”. In no time the discussions of
the hidden site spread like wildfire by the WOM on internet!
Further WOM Tie-ins were created using mobiles phone sites and
advertisements in Tokyo train stations. It didn’t stop there. The hidden site
provided open access to mobile site, where the readers could view the
entire manga story before the publication date, which said “Read one story
from the Inaugural issue for free and pass it on to your friends ”Connecting
all the pieces of promotions with their very unique TRAIN CAMPAIGN
created a buzz which was irresistible.
The readers could participate in the Manga Relay, where they could read
every segment of the serial only by getting off the train at each station.
THE MARKSMAN 14
Once the campaign was underway, the information about the new Jump
Square traveled by WOM from non core readers to prospective readers and
further to friends and acquaintances.
“Sold Out”
The inaugural issue of Jump Square was released in November 2007. The
original printing was set at 500,000 copies but the analogy was sold out and
a second printing of 100,000 copies was released later.
As a result of this campaign, we can say that it is safe to say that
consumers actively and independently access information about
advertisements that catch their interest.
Cross communication in this case was very innovatively deployed, The
consumers were drawn out from their information barriers by making
special tips and “ insider information” available person-to-person from core
to manga fans, first by concealing the information and later rigging up its
demand which corroborated the belief that there's nothing better than
searching hidden information. Another idea was also confirmed that the
“information gap” between core and non core readers would lead to ripples
and the information would pass from core to less interested readers.
The CROSS in Cross Switching- Is what makes it different
On the basis of four elements, it is easy to solidify the contrast between the
traditional media mix and Cross switching namely; Contact Point planning,
breadth and depth , scenarios and Media insight.
The Crucial difference between the two approaches of Integrated Marketing
Communication and Cross Switching is that in cross switching the entire idea
or the message is essentially a jigsaw which has to be pieced from different
sources to complete the communication which the brand is trying to do.
Results were evident with the comments-
“I read them all”
“I read it on Platform 4 at Shibuya Station”
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15 JANUARY 2013
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WHEN SHOULD IT BE PUT TO USE
This approach works for brands with little news, for instance Brands that
have undergone minor renovations, Brands in categories where differentiation
is difficult.
When it’s difficult to attract consumers interest in the brand, it becomes
important to draw out a clear path that draws consumers out and this strategy
is apt to achieve that goal which uses Core Idea as a key to create a scenario
for effectively moving the target to action.
This core idea is a campaign’s Central Theme, designed to capture
consumer’s hearts, which expresses the allure, novelty and the power of the
campaign in simple terms.
Thus by using the same media , we can have a standard Push based
communication plan which is the IMC or we can have the Cross Switch
which will aim purely at creating a pull based impact .
It’s effective when level of involvement is high as compared to low
involvement , as then, the consumer would be straight away put to point of
purchase.
IMC purely aims at using different media to communicate the same
message in order to drive reinforcement of the key message in the minds of
the consumer.
THE MARKSMAN 16
Her friend Anita from work came up
to her one day and asked her,
“Why do you look so stressed
Lalitha. What’s the matter?” She
explained the anxiety she was
feeling because of moving away
from home and her family and
living in such a big city all by
herself. Anita told her, “Hey, it’s
alright! This city can make anyone
feel lonely. I and a couple of friends
are going to spend our day off
tomorrow at the Sva Spa andSalon. It’s the best spa in this city
and a day spent there will get you
all relaxed. You should join us.”
Lalitha instantly agreed since she
needed some time off to pamper
herself. The day after the visit to
the Salon, Lalitha felt like a new
person. She thanked Anita for this
wonderful recommendation.
+ 5 Points for Sva Spa and Salon
Why Brands love those “Big Mouths”
Lalitha, a 27 year old recently got
recruited in one of the biggest
MNCs as the HR Head in the
financial capital of India, Mumbai.
Born and brought up in Darjeeling,
Lalitha was going through a bit of
a culture shock when she came to
live in Mumbai. The extremely fast
paced life of this city was
beginning to give Lalitha the
Heebie - jeebies. Being an
introvert and it being her first time
in a big city like Mumbai, Lalithastarted feeling a little left out.
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17 JANUARY 2013
THE MARKSMAN 18
SPECIAL STORY
Months passed by and Lalitha was now getting in tune with the hustle and bustle
of this city. Over the months, she had become good friends with her neighbours,
all of them within the same age group. Preeti, one of her neighbours, once came
over to her house and told Lalitha, “I went to see the movie Life of Pi yesterday. It
was a brilliantly made film and you should definitely not miss this one. But don’t
go to Cinemax in Wadala. The sound and the 3D effects of the theatre spoiled
my movie experience completely.”
+ 5 Points for Life of Pi -5 Points for CineMax
Being relatively new to this city, every time Lalitha was confused about
something like a good restaurant to eat at or a good place to shop from or a good
coffee place to go to and spend time alone at, she would turn to her friends,
colleagues or neighbours for a recommendation since she knew they would tell
her the right place to be at and the places to avoid. +5’s for all those good
recommendations and -5’s to all the bad ones!
So why exactly are we rating these places and giving them these points? It’s
nothing but what the marketers proudly call ‘Word-of-Mouth marketing’.
The oldest and the most precious form
of marketing for any company, Word-
of-Mouth (WOM) marketing has grown
to become an important part of the
marketing plan of a brand. Since its
inception in the form of Storytelling,
WOM marketing has become more
than just that. With the digital platform
becoming the ‘next big thing’,
consumers now have the power to
voice their opinions about the brands
that they use on various social
networking websites, over the
telephone, via emails and various
other ways.
Brands are becoming increasingly
aware of this Empowered Consumerand have therefore become very
cautious in every marketing move they
make. One bad thing said about
their brand in any part of the country
could hamper their brand and affect their sales.
SPECIAL STORY
19 JANUARY 2013
So why is Word of Mouth marketing becoming so important especially in a country like India?
Indians are known to live in a very closely knit society. All the people living in one
locality may belong to different cultures yet when it comes to choosing a product
or a particular brand they listen closely to what the others living around them
have to say about those brands. Trust plays a very important role while choosing
any particular brand.
A ‘Brand’ for an Indian consumer represents a trust mark and guarantee for value
for money. Hence if recommended by a close friend, peer, colleague (word of
mouth), the consumer is more likely to choose that brand over others. A recent
survey showed that more than 70% of the consumers in India tend to consider
recommendations from their friends and colleagues before buying any brand.
Brands recognise the importance of the use of Social Media as a tool for Word-of-Mouth marketing
We have come into a great era where a
brand has moved from an intangible
thing to a tangible and measurable
entity as we enter into the digital age
and the smart phones age. Increase in
the use of the digital platforms and the
use of smart phones has literally given
the future of all the brands in the hands
of the consumer. Hence, every brand
recognises the importance of keeping
their consumers happy and satisfied.
Getting the feedback from their
consumers has become as important
as planning the right market strategy.
And this is where social media plays a
very important role. As rightly quoted
by the famous Author Andy Sernovitz,
‘A happy customer is the greatestadvertisement’
SPECIAL STORY
Here’s how Word-of-mouth marketing has evolved over the years
Word of mouth 1.0
Word of mouth used to revolve
around the idea that one
satisfied customer goes and
tells friends and family about the
service that he has received.
Word of mouth 2.0
Brands then capitalised on the
potential of word of mouth
marketing by developing strategies
to actively gain brand advocates
and set up affiliate models of
selling, rather than simply using
paid-for advertising. The rise of
online shopping, comparison and
review sites, social media, and
experiential marketing all helped
the spread of word of mouth.
Word of mouth 3.0
More recently, brands have started to
put their business in the hands of the
consumer. Affiliate selling has moved
from agencies pushing out links to
drive sales to consumers becoming
the curators of their own websites.
They recommend and share
products on a variety of platforms,
whether that is through virtual stores,
apps or online store fronts, and earn
rewards, points and cash.
Also making use of the full potential
of Social media, a brand can become
a consumer’s favourite in a matter of
a few months. Even though newer
and better ways of marketing have
been found a marketer should not
forget the effectiveness of something
as basic as Word-of-Mouth
marketing. After all life is all about
going back to your roots and this
form of marketing is nothing but the
roots or as we like to call it the
beginning of marketing.
So what is the future of Word-of-Mouth marketing
in India?
As long as the Indian consumers
continue to trust the opinions of
their friends and family for making
their purchase decisions, brands
will have to ensure that they keep
working hard towards gaining all
those +5 points from every singleconsumer that they come across.
THE MARKSMAN 20
FEATURED ARTICLES
When Ratan Tata took over the reins of group, he had the challenges of fire-
fighting the group’s satraps, coordinating and streamlining the diverse activities
of over hundred diverse holdings into a cohesive group in the turbulent times of
1991 economic liberalization and most importantly, reasserting the Tata
alchemy of values like trust and commitment. Though the succession was
fraught with various issues, his stellar performance as a leader and visionary
made the Group’s fortune grow over 20 times in his 20 years at the helm.
While the successor is the first in
the lineage to not have a Tata
surname, it’s all still in the family.
With the Jewel (Read: Ratan)
passing on the crown of the salt-to-
software conglomerate to his
successor Cyrus Mistry, the latter
sure has his task cut out for him.
Ratan Tata transformed the
respected, predominantly domestic
Tata Group into an internationally
recognized House of Brands. The
enterprising chairman picked up the
iconic Jaguar and Land Rover
marques on one hand, while
launching the world’s cheapest car,
Nano on the other. With the leadership
now changed, Mistry needs to
strategize on holding firm the $100
billion business empire, the big getting
bigger on account of over $20 billion ofdeals in 2000s by Ratan.
If one was to relate these verses of Nishkam Karma Yoga from Bhagwad Gita to
contemporary corporate landscape, there would sure be a mention of Mr. Ratan
Tata, the doyen of Indian Business. Things were different when Ratan Tata was
handed down the baton of the Tata Group by JRD from what they are now when
he goes on to do the same to Cyrus Mistry. One thing that hasn’t changed – Tata
stepped into the shoes of a giant in 1991. His successor will do likewise.
21 JANUARY 2013
FEATURED ARTICLES
25 January 2013
While the brand Tata is a
force to reckon with, there
is a need to read into the
numbers of the graphs
The ill-timed purchase of Corus, capital
locked up in a mega power project facing
coal supply issues, the telecom arm mired in
telecom industry’s regulation and price wars
of competitors and the ambitious cheapest
car project yet to strike the chord for revenue
realization will keep Mistry busy in
strengthening the top line. While the Corus
and JLR deal led to a $14 billion debt
burden, Corus is financially a separate entity
from Tata Steel and hence the impact could
be arrested. However, there is a need to
discipline flirting with ambitious takeovers in
times of volatile economic environment. The
slowdown in the West can have an
undesirable impact on Tata's revenues. In
this background, Tata Group may be seen
having lesser radical moves in the coming
decade than it did in the previous stint of
chairmanship.
Nevertheless, once the
scene recovers in the long
term, there are various
spheres where the new
Chairman could think of
taking the Tata brand bigger
like the Retail (Trent Ltd.,
Croma, Tata Starbucks and
Star Bazaar) and the
Aviation (there was a
previous unsuccessful
attempt of tie-up with
Singapore airlines) with FDI
being opened up.
Meanwhile, there is a need
to hold up the core values of trust, integrity
and commitment to community service. In the
harsh world of international competition, the
group may face increased pressures to
relook the community aspect since
businesses are there to generate profits for
its charitable trusts (Tata Sons) to distribute,
rather than to be charities themselves.
The task the new leadership faces is every
bit as great as that faced by Ratan Tata
when he first took office; he will have to
perform a delicate balancing act by building
on the values and reputation bequeathed,
while at the same time translating those
values into a tangible economic form of
business competitiveness. One can sure
hope for the Tatas to keep going strong as
ever, even without a Tata at the helm.
THE MARKSMAN 22
FEATURED ARTICLES
Brand Tendulkar: Will it sustain post his retirement
Sachin Tendulkar the name which does
not require any further introduction and
that has gone beyond cricket to such a
level that cricket has become religion in
India and Sachin is the only god of that
religion. His iconic personality and
splendid performances took cricket to a
whole new level and he was one of the
reasons for a huge follower base for
cricket in India. To be like him is the
aspiration of many players and dream
of many youngsters.
Every brand has its own core identity
and in Brand Tendulkar determination,
perseverance, durability, confidence,
maturity, excellence are the
attributes which have made this
brand one of the most trusted brand
in the country and all over the world.
His unquestionable ability and
remarkable longevity has made him
the face of more than 25 brands in
his 23 years career. He charges
between 9-10 crores for one
endorsement, is currently earning
around Rs. 200 crores annually
through these endorsements and is
holding around 17 endorsements
products
So what will happen to Brand Tendulkar, after his retirement?
In short term, definitely there will be
some impact on the brand
Tendulkar as brand will pass
through the repositioning phase.
Earlier, brands which targeted
youth and used attributes like
energy and agility to attract the
target group will lose their interest
in brand Tendulkar and will go away
but brands which stand for
- Ghanendra Singh, IIM Indore
23 JANUARY 2013
FEATURED ARTICLES
durability, tradition, excellence and are
required to be trusted by consumers
will rope in Tendulkar as their
endorser. To associate with Brand
Tendulkar, Companies will focus more
on his personal attributes and interests
and his past performances will no
longer attract the marketers. For
example, Sachin’s fondness for trendy
cars, stylish watches and apparels is
well known and companies based on
these kind of products will try to cash
in on the opportunity.
endorsed brands and will get
converted into a niche brand. It will
develop the attributes of elegance,
style, sophistication and great trust.
It will be the perfect choice for
companies which are perceived as
premium and enjoy a high brand
value and strong brand equity in
market. Although the number of
endorsement per year will surely
decrease but Tendulkar as a brand
will strengthen its place in the
market.
One more dimension which is also
interesting and will impact the Brand
Tendulkar in the long run is the
stance he will take, after retiring from
all formats of cricket. Will he remain
attached to cricket by way of other
roles like commentator, umpire or
coach or will we see him in the
parliament as our leader or will we
see him as a social worker or does
he have other plans. So Brand
Tendulkar still depends on him and
his future steps will decide his brand
position in a better way.
Definitely with time Brand Tendulkar
will sustain and will maintain the
aura around it. And with time it will
be able to convert itself into a
premium personality brand.
In long term the brand will pass
through the transition phase from
young, energetic brand to credible,
reliable and classy brand. As his fans
and followers will not be able to see
him regularly as he would not be
accessible to the public as he was
earlier, the only way people can
consume this brand will be through
interviews, guest appearances in
cricket matches and brand
endorsements. This will create a huge
opportunity for different brands to use
this iconic brand.
With time Tendulkar as a brand willstand out from rest of the sportsman
THE MARKSMAN 24
REWIND
The 8th SIMSR Global Marketing Conference was conducted by SIMSR, in
collaboration with its academic partners- College Of Business & Public
Administration California State University San Bernardino, USA; Xiamen University
China; The Management University of Africa.
It was a two day marketing fiesta held on the 4th and 5th of January 2013.This
marketing conclave played host to industry czars and academicians and research
scholars who shared their papers on diverse subjects. The theme this year was
“Marketing Metamorphosis Transforming Lives … Nurturing Lifestyles”, equating
marketing to the butterfly effect, where an insignificant action may actually
snowball into great extraordinary results.
A dance video from Korea reached millions of viewers and turn into an
incomprehensible hit, social networking media emerged from just being networking
sites. All these changes were what we need to adapt to with an evolving change in
the dynamic marketing arena.
DAY I – Day one began with the Keynote Speaker Shri Sameer Satpathy, Vice
President, Marketing, Marico India and Shri Tarun Chauhan, Managing Partner,
JWT, Mumbai, who shared inaugurated the events and their worldly insights. Soon
we moved onto our tracks which consisted of various themes like Social Media, E-
Commerce, Retail Management, Consumer Behavior, Integrated Marketing
Communications and many more. The researcher presenters ranged from
professors, to students to academicians.
8TH SIMSR
Global Marketing Conference
25 JANUARY 2013
DAY II - The second day was abuzz with a few more tracks to go and the much
awaited panel discussion.
The panel discussion was graced by revered panelist from across diverse fields
like
Mr Sanjay Arun Kawale - Marketing Group,
Senior Expert, Director of ZTE India Wire line
Mrs. Feng Yuan - ICBC Bank, Mumbai Branch
Mr Shui Bo - China Shipping India Pvt Ltd
Dr Satyendra Upadhyay - Consultant ( India China Trade Relations ) &
Professor of Chinese Language
Mr Sanjiv Sarin : Regional President of South Asia, Tata Global Beverages
Limited, Bengaluru, India
Mr Sudhakar Desai : Vice President – Risk Management & Director Bunge
International.
The main theme for the Panel Discussion was Doing Business in Asia, where our
respected guests shared their opinions on the future of marketing the contrast
and as well the similarities between the Asian markets.
It highlighted various changes that marketing will witness and how we need to
adapt ourselves to it.
These two days were packed with learning’s and wisdom shared by all a part ofthis event. There was never a dull moment with panel discussions, presentations,lectures and think tanks help our gain meaningful vision.
REWIND
THE MARKSMAN 26
TETE-A-TETE
How has your professional journey been so far?
That is a very interesting question to answer from where I am today. I started
my career in sales in 90s. It was by sheer serendipity that I landed into a sales
assignment at Lupin Laboratories
Corporate Interaction With
Mr. Ajay Rawal
National Marketing Head,
JK Ansell , a Raymonds Group Venture
Mr. Ajay Rawal has a unique combination of
Rx, OTC and FMCG experience helpful in
fostering implementation of customer-centric
and growth-driven brand development
initiatives to fortify business He is recognized
for boosting sales and bottom-lines. He has
been awarded several times for creative
thinking and superior results. He has launched
well known brands with FMCG orientation. His
prior experience includes working with
companies like Paras Pharma, Novartis, IPCA
Laboratories, Lupin Laboratories etc.
He is currently the national marketing head with J K Ansell, a
Raymonds Group Venture. He recently visited K.J.Somaiya Institute of
Management Studies and Research and gave us his useful insights
into the world of Marketing. Here are a few excerpts from his interview:
27 JANUARY 2013
It was then, when I happened to see the brand managers coming in for
meetings, that I realized that I could do something more than mere sales
and I inquired my chances of enteringinto a marketing assignment as it
looked very glamorous to me then; which it isn’t now.
Today I would say that it is extremely essential for each one of us to
realize what one is passionate about, it is important to understand your
SWOT analysis before venturing into a new arena. Perhaps this one thing
is not really taught in the institutes. Following my passion, I pursued my
MBA and then my 1st assignment was with IPCA Laboratories in
prescription marketing. Marketing after sales helped me appreciate better,
while making strategies how would you actually implement it in the market
through the sales force. You need to have a proper understanding about
how all the partners in the channel work.
I then delved into consumer marketing (OTC). Then a major tenure of my
career was at Novartis wherein I had an opportunity to launch Calcium
Sandoz woman right from the scratch, right from the idea of the brand to
the packaging. After which I launched Calcium Sandoz soft chew, wherein
the challenge was to enable kids to consume the tablets. For all practical
purposes there are two factors which work, how do you enhance the
penetration and the number of people who consume your brand multiplied
by consumption.
I then had an interesting stint with PARAS pharmaceuticals which has
brands like moov, itchguard, setwet, livon, krack etc. And in just three
years and a half we really enhanced the business value by almost 200%
returns in 30 months wherein moov was one of the brands to touch a value
of 100 crores in 2 years from a value of 68 crores which I had taken up as
a personal objective. According to me, this would be an interesting case
study. I then moved to Mumbai with J K Ansellwhich is into the medical as
well as consumer business, the entity being a 50-50 JV between
Raymonds and Ansell of Australia, a leader in barrier protection globally.
The major brand that we have is Kamasutra Condom and KS Deodorants.
What is surprising to note is that our business of deodorants is actually
larger than the condom business, the way the line has grown. We have
grown our products with a belief “experiencing is believing”. Apart from
this, I teach courses like Brand Management, OTC, CRM in various B-
schools. Well, that is about my journey.
TETE-A-TETE
THE MARKSMAN 28
TETE-A-TETE
What are the factors that you look into before diversifying into a totally new
arena?
The 1st and most important research perspective is whether the category
would be received well by the consumers or not. However the other
perspective is that research is always under test conditions. So, many a
times research might not be the perfect solution. For instance, when the
concept of ATM machine was checked with consumers, it was an outright
failure! So, research is not the only solution, customer understanding is
paramount.
I would say that there are five basic pillars herein. The 1st being product
formulation, you should be able to give the consumer what they really desire.
2nd would be understanding the consumer psychology, whether the brand of
the product would be received well by them. 3rd and the most critical pillar
would be distribution ability. For instance, India has 85 lac FMCG outlets out
of which there are 42 lac grocers, 19 lac pan plus outlets and 5 lac chemists.
So, the challenge is how far can you effectively reach and distribute.
The 4th pillar is the sales force as there is a cost for everything. And last but
not the least is the level of advertisement as everything starts with
awareness. Keeping the mentioned points in mind and given the differences
between Raymonds and K S Energy Drinks, what unites us are our core
values. We believe that anything that encompasses our core values can be
launched. Keeping this in mind we have recently launched K S Energy Drinks
currently available in four cities i.e. Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and
Bangalore.
I would say that it is not a competition to Red Bull and the others but is
instead creating a niche segment. We have got a good understanding and
have developed a very good product. According to me it is the best
packaging available as far as any energy drink is concerned globally.
According to you, is sales a pre requisite to marketing?
In marketing you have to devise a strategy and then implement the strategy. An
interesting analogy that I would like to quote is that you read a book and jump
into the swimming pool.
29 JANUARY 2013
TETE-A-TETE
There are two basic factors I would like to stress on. 1st and foremost being
what is it that you really want to do. What is the nature of work that you
would be very keen to do? As glamorous as marketing seems to be, actually
it might not be so. Secondly, marketing is actually a left brain and right brain
opportunity. Hence you need to be both, analytical as well as creative. It is
important that you do a SWOT analysis of yourself that would help you
appreciate your strengths and weaknesses.
What is the message that you would like to convey to the marketing
aspirants in college?
How much of the marketing concepts that we are taught in the class room
actually used in the industry?
They are definitely used however it depends on the endeavour of the people
in the industry to use those concepts. For instance the BDI / CDI analysis,
PLC, BCG Matrix etc. enable you to appreciate various marketing
parameters. So, there is definitely some relevance. However what is
unfortunate is that a lot of people do not really devote their time and effort as
they take these concepts for granted. Though the executive judgement
method would still be the sole determinant but the concepts always play a
vital role in any organization.
Or, you go through a process of learning how to float, moving your legs and
learning over a couple of days. So, getting into marketing right away is the 1st
one and getting into marketing after sales is the 2nd one. The reason is simple.
You 1st need to understand how the sales force works, what is the type of
market, what are the retailer’s norms and demands and what is the manner in
which the distributor works. Without this basic information the chances of
success are bleak.
THE MARKSMAN 30
TWEETSBOOKWORM
All Marketers Tell StoriesBy Seth Godin
This book which comes from the marketing guru and entrepreneur, Seth
Godin,was a 2005 release, in which he says how all marketers lie and the more
believable ones are those who actually sell their product. The author has been
a regular blogger and has popular insights about marketing.
The idea for this book came to him during the 2004 US presidential elections.
He states that both the sides spun lies, however, the more believable ones
won. His holistic view on marketing is that if you want to promote your product
or service in this environment where television marketing radio marketing if
there are not working since it’s a amass media marketing tools. Seth talks
about the idea that in order to differentiate your product, you need to weave a
great story to sell your product.
Here you don’t need to focus on the product features and benefits. Some of the
examples that he uses are 80,000 Porsche, it’s the same exact car as a 30000
Volkswagen , but the reason people buy it is because of the story frame
surrounding it. Great stories and not ideas, features and benefits are what
spread from person to person, people like to tell stories and not product and
features.
The next idea is of a world view. When you think of mass marketing they are
not focusing on individual world view, and that’s why today in this environment
when we have so many choices, we need to focus on individuals. Then
ironically he talks about authenticity, where he says that if you are going to tell
a great story marketers need to stick to it, thereby moving from a fib to fraud.
This book will help you and will impart a lot of information. This 210 pages book
is a quick read to impact a business and will help in this eclectic marketing
environment. It has a persuasive story with vivid examples .This is for a
marketer looking to differentiate his story and understand his customers better.
31 JANUARY 2013
SquAreheaD
THE MARKSMAN 32
BUZZ
THE CROSSWORD
THE CLUES
ACROSS
DOWN
1A. Wikivoyage1D. Wegelin2. Edelman3.Lenovo4.HMV5.CoalIndia6.EIDParry7.PulpFiction8.Colgate
1. Name the oldest Swiss bank shutdown recently.2. Which is the worlds largest PRfirm, headquartered in London ?5. Which Indian company has beennominated for the notorious PublicEye Awards for worst companyworldwide for protection of humanrights and environment ?6. India’s first sugar plant was set upin 1842 in Nellikuppam, Tamil Nadu.Which company owns this plant now?8. From which company has Soft andGentle brand been acquired byGodrej in UK ?
1. What is the name of the travelguide, anyone can edit, started byWikipedia ?3. Which brand has become theworld’s largest selling PC brand bybeating HP ?4. Name this legendary music retailbrand which was opened on London’sOxford Street by Edward Elgar in1921. It is about to be closed down.7. Dialogues from which Tarantinomovie have inspired the words of theIdea jingle “u r my pumpkin,pumpkin, hunny bunny” ?
33 JANUARY 2013
CALL FOR ARTICLESFebruary 2013
Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:
*Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and allreferences are clearly mentioned
The best adjudged article will be given a winner'scertificate. Deadline for submission of the articles: 11:59PM , 20 January 2013.
1. RIM rebrands to BlackBerry with launch of BlackBerry 10 : How does the future look?
2. The Graph search - Facebook's intelligent step3. Is creativity losing its edge on the data driven
marketing today?
1. One article can have only one author.2. Your article should be from 500-600 words and
MUST be replete with relevant pictures that can be used to enhance your article.
3. Send in your articles in .doc/.docxformat with font size 11 (Arial) to: [email protected]
4. Subject Line: Your Name_InstituteName_CourseYear.
5. Kindly name your file as: Your Name_Topic
THE MARKSMAN 34
To subscribe to "The Marksman", Follow the link:-http://interfacesimsr.com/the-marksman.html
OR drop in a mail/contact us at : [email protected] line: Subscribe: Your Name_Institute Name_Course Year
COVER STORYRicha Garg
SPECIAL STORYMeeta Khatri
It’s all about AD-itudePriyam Prasad
SquAreheaDTavishi Agrawal
Brand MARK iveVivek Misra
BOOKWORMSmriti Sudish
TWEETSMandar Dongre
BUZZNishant Singla
PROMOTIONSNishant Singla
Mandar Dongre
Hall-MARK Campaigns
Vivek Misra
PROOF READRoma Sehgal
REWINDSmriti Sudish
DESIGNINGRicha Garg
Divya DameraNishant Singla
TETE-a-TETEPriyam Prasad
THE TEAM
Website:http://interfacesimsr.com/the-
marksman.html
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35 JANUARY 2013