MARKSMANThe

K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH VOL. IV| ISSUE I| SUMMER ‘13

BOOK WORM

>> 20

EXCLUSIVE

SECTION

REAL TIME

>> 18

SPECIAL STORY

THE IPL-

KURUKSHETRA

OF BRANDS

>> 13

HALL MARK

CAMPAIGNS

STYLE

>> 17

CO V ER S T ORY

OPPORTUNISTIC

MARKETING

01 SUMMER 2013

Dear Readers,

We at Interface proudly welcome all our old and our new readers to the latest

summer edition of The Marksman!

We know you missed us during our summer break and that’s exactly why, we are back

with an exciting, exuberant and enlightening summer issue of The Marksman! This

three month special edition has a lot of exciting news waiting for you!

‘Opportunistic Marketing’, our cover story for this issue will show you how

marketing can be successful if the right opportunity is tapped at the right time. Many

brands these days lose out on their customers because they do not recognise the

opportunity at the right time.

The Indian Premier League has been the talk of the town recently, for, if not all

the right, then atleast, a few right and a few wrong reasons. None the less it has

managed to garner maximum popularity and publicity for itself and has brands mulling

over associating themselves with this property! Read more about this in our Special

Story section.

Want to know the story of your favourite chocolate brand Cadbury? Read the full

story in our section Brand Markive. The section Bookworm covers a book that is

co-authored by one of our very own professors, Prof Isaac Jacob. The book is titled

‘Strategic Brand Management’. The Tweets section will give you all the news

from advertising to marketing and much more! Our section Ad-itude includes our

take on a number of ads whereas the Campaign section talks about Coca Cola’s

latest ‘Ahh Campaign’. And this is not it! Our special issue will give you a little

sneak peek into the corporate world as well! Our Alumnus write a special column

called Alumni Gyaan, on their experience in the big bad world out there and our

fellow batch mates share their Intern experiences in the section Intern Speak.

We at Marksman work really hard to make sure our readers enjoy every minute they

spend on our magazine. We hope you enjoy our Special Summer Issue! We will be

looking forward for suggestions and feedback from our readers on our special issue!

So do get in touch with us on Facebook:The Marksman – Marketing Magazine of K J

SIMSR and Twitter @marksmansimsr.

Happy Reading Folks!

Team Marksman

EDITOR’S NOTE

07

09

TWEETS

BRAND MARKIVE

BOOKWORM

10

14SPECIAL STORY

IPL –THE KURUKSHETRA OF BRANDS

COVER STORY

OPPORTUNISTIC MARKETING

MARKETING REAL TIME

INTERN SPEAK

18

19

21

24BUZZ

03

IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

THE MARKSMAN 02

CONTENTS

BOURNVITA CELEBRATES THE

MODERN DAY MOTHER WITH ITS

LATEST COMMERCIAL.

Bournvita’s latest commercial inculcates the

‘habit of winning’ in children. It shows a modern

age mother who instils in her son the

importance of winning by racing against him and

not gifting him a win. The ad has been

conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather and it

stresses on the fact that a mother should not

only tell her children how to win but also show

them how to win. Mothers these days are not

mere onlookers when it comes to their child’s

health and values. They are their equal partners

and it is their responsibility to make sure that

their child learns the right things in the right

manner. The ad brings out a strong message in

an effective manner. With the launch of this

commercial, Bournvita has surpassed all the

other energy drinks in its own category

(Complan, Horlicks) and is fast becoming every

mother’s number 1 choice for their children.

FLIPKART GETS

FASHIONABLE!

E-commerce seems to be entering

the next level by stepping its foot

into the fashion world. Joining the

bandwagon is the one - stop shop

website Flipkart.com. Flipkart

recently announced its entry into

the realm of fashion and lifestyle.

While we have watched little kids

selling mobile phones, laptops,

television sets, etc, the latest flipkart

campaign shows these children in

different situations wearing some

fashionable clothes. While the ads

definitely appeal to us, Flipkart

surely will continue to appeal to us

with its latest venture!

03 SUMMER 2013

TWEETS

LET’S DO THE ZUMI ZUMI!

Creating an anthem to build a strong connect

with the consumers is a trend that is catching up

quickly amongst major brands. When Airtel came

up with the ‘Har ek friend zaroori hota hai’

campaign, all of us were humming the tune day in

and day out! Idea too launched an anthem for

itself and yet again we found ourselves humming

to ‘You’re my pumpkin, pumpkin! Hello hunny

bunny’! And this time it’s Vodafone that has got

us humming their anthem.

THE TWELVE MINUTE ITCH!

Indian television viewers found a reason to

rejoice when the TRAI announced the 12

minute cap on television advertising. While the

fans can expect a lot less advertising and a lot

more programming on television, the

advertisers are furious over this decision.

TWEETS

Launching the ‘Zumi Zumi’ campaign during the IPL this season, Vodafone managed to

get the Indian viewers not only humming but also dancing to their latest commercials

in which our beloved Zoo Zoos were back. Only this time they were their mini

versions. While the campaign was preceded by a number of Mini Zoo Zoo

commercials, this anthem ad was released almost towards the end of the IPL. The

music is absolutely catchy, albeit gibberish forms the lyrics of the song. The ad conveys

the product benefits of Vodafone internet (ability to share photos, play songs and see

videos) through subtitles. While many argue that Zoo Zoos have crossed their expiry

date and Vodafone should do away with them, we say that these mini Zoo Zoos have

managed to recreate their charm and the anthem is a hit all the way! Let’s hope we

get to see a little more of these mini ones around soon!

Each genre of television will be impacted by this decision in a different way. From June 1

onwards channels have been asked to limit their advertising to 30 minutes per hour

following which several major TV channels such as Star Plus, Colours, Zee, etc have

hiked their ad rates to make up for the limited advertising time. By October, each

channel will have to make sure that they limit their advertising to 10 minutes per hour

plus 2 minutes of their own channel promotions. Only time will tell what impact this

decision will have on the broadcasters and the advertisers!

THE MARKSMAN 04

BETTING YOUR WAY OUT OF

POPULARITY!

The Indian Premier League which was one of the

biggest properties that garnered maximum Indian

fan following has most likely lost the battle!

When the news of three Indian cricketers

betting, just to earn a few bucks, came to light,

IPL lost what was most important to it, its fans’

loyalty! Set Max, the channel that airs the IPL

saw a massive drop in its TRP’s by 14% just the

day after this news broke out!

TWEETS

People in India have seen a lot of dishonesty but when it comes to their favourite

game, it seems like they won’t take such actions lightly. It’s not only the fans that have

disowned the IPL, even the sponsors are not happy with all the bad air surrounding

the series! Allegedly Pepsi, which is the title sponsor for the IPL for 5 seasons, has

shown a possibility of pulling out their sponsorship for the forthcoming season. While

IPL has certainly lost its brand value, the future too seems uncertain for India’s biggest

cricket series!

SEEN A LIFE SIZE SAMOSA

HANGING FROM A BILLBOARD???

ITS TATA SKY’S LATEST OOH

ADVERTISEMENT!

Tata Sky recently launched its new campaign

in Maharashtra called ‘Samose se kam daam

mein Tata Sky’. The campaign aimed at

educating its customers about how

inexpensive the services of Tata Sky are. According to the campaign the cost of Tata

Sky per day is 6.70Rs which is less than what a Samosa costs.

To spread this message across effectively they came up with an innovative OOH

campaign, where a life size samosa was put up on billboards across Maharashtra

accompanied with the tagline which read, ‘Samose se kam daam mein Tata Sky,

Sirf Rs6.70 prati din’. Executed by Endeavour Media Management, this campaign has

caught the eye of most of its target consumers and Tata Sky has been successful in

bringing out the idea of affordability and flexibility of their services in a unique manner.

05 SUMMER 2013

FACEBOOK BEATS TWITTER AND

YOUTUBE ,TO BECOME THE MOST

IMPORTANT SOCIAL MARKETING

PLATFORM IN INDIA

According to a recent report produced by Ernst &

Young, Facebook emerges as the most popular

social marketing platform in India.

TWEETS

Many big brands such as Bharti Airtel, Honda Cars India, BMW India, Network 18,

Rajasthan Royals, Flipkart, Clear trip, etc were a part of the survey which showed that

facebook has more than 61 million users and it is considered to be a platform where

brands actively communicate and engage with their target audiences. Facebook has

helped these brands establish themselves in the minds of the consumers and grow

steadily over the years. However Twitter and You tube are not far behind in this race

with the second and third position respectively. With the rise in the number of social

marketing platforms, Facebook which is one of the oldest amongst the lot, seems to

retain its favourable image not only amongst the fans but amongst the brands as well.

“GET THE PLAY BACK INTO

YOUR LIVES!” SAYS FANTA WITH

A DIGITAL GRAPHIC NOVEL

Coca Cola’s fruit flavoured carbonated

drink Fanta has found a new way to

immerse its target group – the teens in its

playful and colourful little world.

Fanta has launched a digital graphic novel which includes the Fanta crew that

appears in its commercials. They have created a story where the Fanta crew is out

to ‘Save the source’ of play, which has been stolen, in their town. Fanta is trying to

connect with their core target group which comprises teens through this graphic

novel’s digital storytelling on PlayFanta.com. And this is not it! The novel also has

several games embedded in it to engage the consumers and give them a different

experience of storytelling! Ogilvy & Mather New York led the Play Fanta creative

vision, and Hollywood scriptwriters The Alchemists developed a central narrative

for the graphic novel. We tried our hands at this graphic novel and our verdict for

Fanta’s latest innovation is that it’s a completely new concept and the graphics and

story are so engaging that you would not want to leave it half way! So what are you

waiting for? Go and save the play in your town at PlayFanta.com

THE MARKSMAN 06

PRINT AD

This Print ad is the brainchild of Ogilvy and Mather and it hits the bulls’ eye (no pun

intended!).

Remember how proud we used to be of our Hot Wheels cars as kids? The happiness of

obtaining a new one was surpassed only by the pride of ownership. We would gladly

watch our cars collide but would never let our siblings even touch them! The Ogilvy ad

focuses on that perception of having a real car and depicts an eye- like Godzilla’s-

peering into the interiors of a car. This is where O&M takes the perception to the next

level and connects with consumers of all ages. This eye belongs to a dad who is now

jealous of the magnificent vehicle owned by his kid! The brilliance of the ad lies in its

sense of awe as it depicts a potentially threatening gigantic dad peering intently into a

perfectly designed Hot Wheels car.

This video advertisement was initially seen on Youtube and has now made it to the

Indian television. This one impeccably positions Bournville as the dark chocolate that is

the unopposed ruler of the “Not so Sweet” domain. The girl in the ad talking about her

cat reminds us of many of those uncomfortably sticky-sweet people out there who we

would gladly feed to the alligators. It is for the same reason that the conclusion of the

advertisement is satisfactory. It must be pointed out that most advertisements evoke

emotional responses (Pizza ad creates craving, ‘Save the Tiger’ ad makes us sad and

resolved, so on and so forth) but this ad fulfills our craving for proactive action and

brings about inner peace. It promotes inaction and in a twisted way- allows “nature” to

take its own course. Critics may call it senseless but viewers consider it absolution!

TELEVISION AD

07 SUMMER 2013

It’s all about

AD-ITUDE

PRINT AD

TELEVISION AD

This one says it all! To understand this print ad for a radio show in Brazil, one merelyneeds to understand what the colors mean. The colors remind listeners. Red remindsthem of friends, yellow reminds them of Jamaica and black reminds them of nothing.

This is the ad for a radio show played between 7 and 8. The ‘pie chart’ depicts whathappens during the majority of the day! (Nothing!)

Connecting visuals with an audio service perhaps is one of the biggest challenges incommunication. This ad, without saying much, manages to say a lot! Creativity hasbloomed here and conveyed music without a sound!

Recently, Dove launched a six and a half minute long video advertisement titled ‘RealBeauty Sketches’-which can be seen on You tube. This is an unconventional length for anadvertisement but this is what Dove has done, it has ventured where no one has gonebefore. In these times of attention grabbing adverts, Dove has done the unthinkable. Ithas put across a deep, thought provoking idea that makes us wonder about ourperception of beauty.

The premise of the ad is simple. It has been depicted as a live interaction betweenpeople and an artist drawing face sketches of those same people sitting behind a curtain.These sketches are based on verbal descriptions. Each individual is asked to describeherself and then another person they have met on their way in.

Hence, 2 sketches are created for every person- one as per the face owner’s descriptionand the other according to a 3rd party. And surprisingly, the way others see an individualturns out to be more beautiful than the person’s perception of self! This ad strikes at thecore of our perception of self and beauty as we know it.If reports are true, this ad has become the most watched video ad of all time!

It’s all about AD-ITUDE

THE MARKSMAN 08

Brand MARKive

Had it not been for John Cadbury we would

not have had chocolates. Today “Cadbury” is

a generic name for chocolates. Absolutely all

chocolate lovers would have “felt silk lately”.

Cadbury redefines the love for chocolates

and welcomes its lovers into the world of

JOYVILLE. The rich & dark Cadbury

chocolates are an absolute delight to the

mouth. Cadbury has established itself as a

mouth-watering, luscious & wholesome

chocolate.

REWIND

It was in 1824 that John Cadbury started

selling self made tea, coffee & drinking

chocolate at a store in Bull’s Street,

Birmingham, England. In a few years he

opened up his own factory producing cocoa

and drinking chocolates, and made it

commercial by the year 1831.

The next eleven years saw a drastic

expansion in Cadbury’s product offering and

John Cadbury was selling more than eleven

different cocoas and a variety of sixteen

drinking chocolates.

Ever since, there has been no looking

back for Cadbury. It went on to

become a pioneer in the chocolate

industry by introducing the chocolate

and milk chocolate bar.

FROM ‘ASLI SWAAD

ZINDAGI KA’ TO ‘SHUBH

AARAMBH’

John Cadbury himself had a knack for

innovative and expressive

advertisements and promotions, which

were well imbibed by the company and

that spirit is still visible in their

advertisements today.

Cadbury is undoubtedly the brand that

has quite successfully managed to

maintain and carry forward this legacy.

The British Confectionary company is

one of the global leaders in chocolate

market today.

THE WORLD OF CADBURY

09 SUMMER 2013

The Cadbury advertisements are a

reflection of rich tapestry of human

emotions and feelings.

Their advertisements are one of a kind

and manage to strike the right chord

with its consumers. Starting from the

early 1900s, Cadbury has always

offered fine posters and print

advertisements to the audience. Even

today it comes out with rare and

classic and at times even radical

advertisements capturing the essence

of human emotions.

EVOLVING AS A

FAVORITE

Be it Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut or

the Crunchie, each one of them

has been persistently winning the

hearts of millions. Cadbury in true

sense has become a real reason for

celebrations, “kyunki khush hai

zamana aaj pehli tareek hai ”.

THE PRODUCT AND THE

BRAND:

From Cadbury’s Dairy Milk to

Bournville, every single chocolate has

been a favorite. Cadbury went purple

and gold in the year 1920 and the

legacy continues. Their logo first

appeared in the year 1921 based on the

signature of William Cadbury and it has

only been simplified over the years and

never changed. Cadbury thus emerges

as a brand that has very effortlessly

maintained a holding on its original and

true essence.

Brand MARKive

THE MARKSMAN 10

COVER STORYOPPORTUNISTIC MARKETING

Marketing and Opportunity are the two

words not considered to be spaced out.

Basically marketing itself is giving right

opportunity to the customer to get

connected or stay connected with the brand.

Advent of social media and digital platforms

has not only made finding this right

opportunity easier but has also added a lot of

competition among the firms as number of

firms using these platforms is increasing. This

competition makes the term “Opportunistic

marketing” more appealing. This means how

aware the firm is to find an opportunity in a

situation, occasion or event to increase their

selling. But being aware is not enough. One

needs to have enough resources to seize the

moment. So resource planning is an important

part of Opportunistic marketing.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE AN

OPPORTUNISTIC MARKETER?

One way if we observe “Opportunistic

marketing” can be analogous to Seasonal

marketing. Both take the benefit of “TIME”

(mostly good).

The only difference between the two

is that season comes regularly and

opportunities do not. An

opportunistic marketer has to be

discreet and careful about future

opportunities to reap out maximum

benefit. The marketer also should

have an accurate estimation about

resources available because not

giving something promised can be

very hazardous to the firm. It makes

your image vulnerable. The driving

force behind opportunistic marketing

is increased sales and profit. Also the

goal or target of opportunistic

marketing is getting the maximum

benefit of a situation that is unlikely

to recur.

AMUL

Amul ads use the witty one-liners

related to the day to day events or

the national events which catch the

eye of the nation. Also, the humorous

and incisive style of drawing makes

heads turn towards the ads. Another

speciality of Amul ads is that they

don’t use any celebrity but a cute,

little girl in polka dot dress.

This Amul girl has become iconic in

Indian advertising. All together, Amul

has strategically and successfully been

using opportunistic marketing with

national breaking news or hyped

events.

11 SUMMER 2013

COVER STORY

HUL

Looking at the cut-throat competition in

the consumer products segment,

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has

been very successful in their strategies to

be India’s largest consumer products

company. HUL’s products include foods,

beverages, cleansing agents and many

other household commodities.HUL’s goal

takes into account sustainability and

health. The following example gives us an

idea as to the extent a company can

imagine to apply its opportunistic

marketing methods.

At “Kumbh mela”, the biggest

congregation of devotees in India, where

many marketers vie, for their presence to

be felt, HUL decided to go with

innovative marketing rather than regular

traditional way. Kumbh Mela is Hindu

Pilgrimage held in every three years and

attracts 100 million people.

HUL partnered with hundreds of

restaurants and dhabwalas near the

pilgrimage area to serve rotis that are

stamped with “Lifebouy se hath dhoye

kya?” This campaign got the crowds’

attention exactly when it was required

the most.

Lifebuoy placed soaps at washrooms of

various eateries and put Lifebuoy banners

at various places so as to reach out to

more people. This “Roti reminder”

campaign not only helped it stand out but

also helped the brand to reach out to a

mass crowd without use of too many

resources. The perfect example of

Guerrilla marketing, isn’t it?

ANNA HAZARE

Another example of opportunistic

marketing in the Indian political context is

of ‘Anna Hazare’s Lokpal movement’. Anna

Hazare with his party workers and

supporters was fighting for stringent

Ombudsman bill that will curb corruption,

protect whistle-blowers and answer

citizen grievances. Anna Hazare also went

on to fast for his demands to be accepted.

Whole of India was looking at him and few

used this opportunity to sell “Gandhi cap”

printed with the words “I amAnna”.

This cap started selling rapidly as it was an

indivisible part ofAnna’s personality.

Also it was most apt but momentous way

to show your support to the movement

by wearing it. So though for a short span

of time, this cap saw its presence in the

urban parts of India.

THE MARKSMAN 12

BENEFITS OF BEING

OPPORTUNISTIC

In the business context some feel that being

opportunistic means getting benefited by

other people’s misfortune. But it is not always

like that. Being opportunistic also shows that

the firm finds the right time to get connected

with the customers. It is like helping a

customer at a time when he needs it the

most.

Not only does that customer remember you

but it also generates the goodwill for the firm.

If some situation sets the crowd up, a firm

with the help of right solution and strategy

can settle the issue down. No doubt the

customer will respond positively.

The other benefit is that people are forced to

choose your product or service. This is mainly

because of the few other alternatives or

because of condition like “more demand than

supply.”

ETHICS OF OPPORTUNISTIC

MARKETING

The beauty of opportunistic marketing lies in

it being ethical. Sometimes firms misuse

people’s fear.

For example, in 2009-10 few areas of India

were affected by swine-flue. Doctors advised

people to use sanitary masks in the public

places as a first precaution to be taken. These

masks do not provide assured guarantee from

catching the flu.

But retailers capitalized on increased

demand and raised the prices of

masks. People purchased masks even

in regions considered free from the

flu epidemic. All fuss out of the

swine-flue fear.

Ambush marketing is one form of

opportunistic marketing only.

Ambush marketing is a marketing

practice where firms which are not

official sponsors of big events or

competitions use them for increasing

their brand visibility or raising their

brand awareness. A line has to be

drawn to allow official sponsor to get

the exclusivity that it has heavily

invested in. The official sponsor’s

right should not be violated by this

ambush marketing.

One of the wise opportunistic

marketing examples is of TATA ACE.

ACE also shows the depth of grass-

root marketing TATA did before it

was launched. Ace is a four-cylinder,

fuel efficient, 1 tonne mini-truck that

TATA designed looking at the small

roads of villages which are not pliable

by huge trucks. This truck proposed

to increase the number of trips per

day with its higher mileage and

enhanced driving comfort.

So the right opportunity cashed on

at the right time with the right

efforts can always give its benefits

because ultimately opportunity for

one is the need for other.

COVER STORY

13 SUMMER 2013

As a toddler I was mesmerised by the

showdown between two warriors hurling

arrows at each other in ‘Mahabharata’. The

arrows clashed somewhere in mid-air and the

one with greater meditational powers induced

in it by a chanting of verses, persisted while

the languid one evanescenced. In this article I

am going to take the liberty of drawing a

parallel between the ‘Mahabharata’ and the IPL.

The cricket ground is the Kurukshetra and the

players, the warriors. The brands emblazoned

on the team uniforms are the allies. The ball

and bat are the arrows with the spell. Every

time the bowler chants the ‘Karbonn’ spell we

evince the ‘KarbonnKamaalKatche’. The

antidote to this spell is the ‘DLF’ mantra which

embodies in the form of ‘DLF Maximums’. (IPL

2012-The connection is still ripe in my mind.)

The ‘Mahabharata’ was governed by certain

rules which often perplexed the small me. In a

joust only two people pitted against each

other and others even if ‘free’ didn’t interfere.

However, the battle of our brands fighting it

out in the IPL knows no rules. The bloodshed

in the ‘Mahabharata’ had a ‘strategic time out’

at night. The brand YODHAS of the IPL

YUHBHUMI know no respite. They keep

contriving ways to check mate the opponent.

SPECIAL STORY

IPL –THE KURUKSHETRA OF BRANDS

Hastinapur was so large that both

the ‘Pandavas’ and ‘Kauravas’ could

have had a large piece of the pie, but

both vied the plenary pie. Similarly

our brands are at a tug-of-war, and

the IPL is the heavyweight which

abets winning the whole pie. The

consumer here is ‘Dhritarashtra’, the

blind king. He conjures an image of

what is delineated by ‘Sanjay’. In our

case Sanjay represents the ad

agencies which astutely proffer the

brand to the consumer.

More than 100 brands advertised in

IPL this season. Pepsi the title

sponsor churned out Rs.396.8 crores

to bag the title rights for 5 years. It

was also the official drinks partner of

8 out of the 9 teams. Pepsi also

launched its ‘fan can’ a 500 ml can

especially for the IPL.

The ‘strategic timeout’ countdown

did not go 3, 2, 1, but went oh, yes,

abhi, instead. Indeed an avant-garde

way to campaign. Coca-cola was the

drinks partner of Mumbai Indians but

had to serve their drinks without

labels in in-house matches because

Pepsi had the in stadium branding

rights. It was akin to Pepsi stripping

Coca cola of its ‘kavach-kundal’ just

like Karan was stripped of his by lord

Indira.

THE MARKSMAN 14

SPECIAL STORY

But step outside the stadium and you

will descry people quaffing on 400 ml

coke sold for just Rs. 10. Pepsi as a

countercoup sampled ‘Pepsi atom’

outside the stadium.

KarbonnKamaalKatche, DLF

Maximums and Citi moments of

success are uncanny examples of

branding at its best. Vodafone also

relofted its zoo zoos for the 6th

edition of IPL.

Vodafone super fan, Pepsi box were

other ‘mahayodhas’. Banks like Yes

bank also leveraged the IPL to rake in

some moolah. Cadbury also made a

leading-edge advert limning stadium

audience as gems in different colours

hurrahing for their favourite teams,

cleverly putting across the idea of

‘RahoUmarless’. Star plus sought an

ambush marketing strategy by

vouchsafing the Naisoch awards for

an event being telecast on Sony.

Like the dice king ‘Shakuni mama’ the

IPL has its own breed of ‘Shakunis’.

They tempt fate and to skew the

ensual in their favour, do the

‘vastraharan’ of the spirit of the

game. And while this befalls the old

fogeys, in our case the champions of

the game just remain mute

spectators.

Now that the IPL is eclipsed with fixing

allegations, will the brands try to shroud

their illegitimate concomitance with IPL like

Kunti hid her illegitimate association with

Karan. But hiding the association cost Kunti

her son and could cost the brands an

opportunity!!

The IPL has wontedly managed to make

headlines the world over. Be it the

astronomical amounts dolled out to players

(some for their cricketing abilities and

some for their manipulating abilities- If you

know what I am insinuating at!) or the

fixing scandals. This year was no exception.

There were deliberations on Pepsi revoking

the title sponsorship so that its image was

not beclouded with that of IPL. But I beg to

differ. Pepsi or any brand for that matter

will keep romancing IPL because of the

sheer exuberance the brand exudes.

The notoriety is ephemeral while the

august positioning of the brand is what the

enthusiasts summon up. Just to reiterate

the brass tacks, our very own ‘Srini’

received the loudest applause during the

final presentation ceremony. Advertisement

in IPL is unequivocally money well spent.

Does IPL deserve the attention it

commands from brands?

15 SUMMER 2013

SPECIAL STORY

For me the answer is yes. The reasons

being:

You may love it, you may hate it but

you can’t live without it. This is what

IPL is for an Indian

Unlike ad-slots for soaps the ads

feature between overs and this being

a bantam interlude people don’t

switch channels

Ad-campaigns featuring a series of ads

can create a lasting impact.

Brand associations are also tenacious.

A 360 degree campaign with

commentators endorsing brands, ads,

hoardings, branding ensure that the

message is delivered to the

audiences..

Nevertheless some questions that are

perplexing are, even after all the work

out Pepsi has failed in making a muscle

like Coke and Vodafone is the number

2 after Airtel!!

So although IPL does lend some

credibility to the brand does it

climactically result in sale beyond the

IPL? It seems to me like SAMAY is

now saying that though the sword has

changed hands, the battle is still on.

THE MARKSMAN 16

THE SEEMINGLY ENDLESS

AHH EFFECT

Coca-Cola is out with yet another marketing

strategy appealing to the masses. It is Coca

Cola’s 1st only digital marketing strategy

basically targeting the youth. The campaign is

unique and one of its kind and it is grand too.

Coca Cola has employed 61 different URLs

which contain interesting snackable content.

The campaign is very rightly named as the

“Ahh Effect”. The exclusive experience of

Ahh works well on smart phones including

Android & iOS platforms. The world of Ahh

brought to us by Coca Cola includes games,

animations, videos etc. The URLs that are

employed by Coca Cola are ahh.com,

ahhh.com, ahhhh.com and so on continually

adding a succeeding H.

The URLs get longer and longer and a click

on them, unveils a delightful experience. So

far 17 URLs are active with invigorating and

refreshing experiences available. The surprise

element associated with each experience and

the multidimensionality of Ahh makes the

campaign a hit in itself. With this fresh and

new digital media marketing Coca Cola has

positioned itself as a brand known for

peculiar and distinct marketing strategies.

Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN

A CAPTIVATING

CAMPAIGN GEARED

TOWARDS THE TEENS

Coca Cola has also tried to make the

campaign even more engaging and

interactive for its fans by inviting them

to send in their experiences and

interpretations of their Ahh world,

their Ahh story. Coca Cola plans to go

with around 25 user generated

experiences. It also plans to run ads

on social media platforms, making this

campaign truly digital, inviting Coca

Cola fans to submit their rejuvenating

experiences. It is a campaign for

youthful people who have a quest to

discover something new all the time. It

is engaging and interactive at the same

time. Each experience fills the user

with a twitter of excitement, be it the

‘Guide the Bubble Game’ or ‘Ice Toss’.

This creative and reviving campaign

still has a lot to unveil, ushering in new

experiences. Coca Cola has launched

it as a multi-year campaign with the

remaining experiences gushing in with

time to come.

EXPLORE THE WORLD

OF AHH !But as of now, it is time to go and

discover your favorite experience in

the world of Ahh! And, even more,

write in your experience to Coca

Cola to become an integral part of

the Ahh effect.

CAMPAIGNING – COCA COLA STYLE

17 SUMMER 2013

Day is hectic to some extent. Lot of tasks to complete each day. Time passes pretty

quickly. Day starts at 9 am and ends at 6 pm. The happiest moment so far at work was

when a senior from Accenture Management Consulting praised my solution to a

certain problem. The job otherwise is Quite challenging, seniors have a lot of

expectations with peers giving tough competition. Have to work differently, think out

of the box to stay ahead of others. To those looking forward to such a role, I’d like to

say- “Work load will be there. You need to be quite apprehensive in your approach. Be

patient, be logical and be smart.”

ADITYA DEVIREDDY, BUSINESS PLANNING MANAGER

VIBHAV SHUKLA, DOMAIN CONSULTANT

My Responsibilities include “supply and demand matching". Generally my day is all

about Reports and reporting. The proudest moment so far has been rolling out a

system across the organization. Getting people to make use of the system has

been the most challenging aspect.

Understanding the data is key to good future in this field. So get going, fellas!

Marketing Real TIME

THE MARKSMAN 18

My job was basically to engage retailers for opening an EBO for Donear in their city.

This involved convincing them about brand Donear, explaining them the terms and

policies and finally clearing their queries. Till lunch I would assess the cloth market in

the city. Post lunch I would meet prospective retailers. My day stretched as long as

the market was open. In the evening if the city market was covered, I would start for

another city; else stay there for another day. My biggest challenge was convincing

retailers about the brand Donear, their terms and conditions and to find prospective

retailers who may be willing to open an EBO for Donear. My advice to people opting

for an internship in sales and marketing is to collect as many details about the

market before actually going there.

My office did not have very strict work timings. A usual day used to begin at 11 A.M.

and end at around 8 P.M though you were free to leave anytime after 6 P.M. Initial few

weeks of my internship went in analysing how does one actually use social media to

it's advantage. It began with analysing competitors of the brand pages my company

handles (Mountain Dew, Tropicana, BigFlix) , study a few campaigns that won awards

in Digital Media, get involved in brainstorming sessions and help in preparing pitches

for the various clients that the company approached. Initially I was not working on

any specific project which made it difficult to plan the day. It's always important to

keep yourself open to challenges and have a curiosity to learn. No matter whichever

organisation you get into, its your zeal and enthusiasm that directly affects how much

you can learn during this period of two months.

TAVISHI AGARWAL

Social Media Marketing

ANKIT GUPTA

Opening an Executive Business outlet (EBO) for DONEAR in

various cities

Intern SPEAK

19 SUMMER 2013

The internship has been a challenging and hectic one including 9 hours of work daily. It

is an eclectic mix of desk work as well as field work. As it is a business development

project, the field work includes meeting HODs of various institutions, Commercial

Attaches in Embassies and MDs / International Business Heads of various companies.

The desk work on the other hand includes discussion with colleagues & analysis of

the data gathered. Some of the challenges faced were gathering data from secondary

sources, as a primary survey in this case was not possible (The market included

Africa), getting appointments fixed with top officials and travelling from one part of

Mumbai to the other, esp. in Monsoon!! Take your internship seriously. It is those two

months of the two years spent in SIMSR, when you would actually get an opportunity

to apply theoretical knowledge to practical use.The industry exposure is a paramount.

PRIYAM PRASAD

Studying and analysing the viability & feasibility of agro-

chemicals marketing in Sub-Saharan Africa

I worked for a food product company that manufactured Mustard pastes, Flavoured

Vinegars, jalapenos etc. My job involved meeting the Purchase Heads / Chefs of the

Hotels / Cafes - key stakeholders in the decision making process for food products

and give the product presentations. So once we have a brief with them, we will then

provide them with samples. Continuous follow-up is necessary to generate sample

feedback and sales conversions. The day will be spiced up with lots of travelling within

the city, visiting the Kitchens & Stores of hotels - the Back Bone of the Hotels! The

availability of the Chefs / Purchase Heads is one the key challenges that I faced.

Scheduling appointments with them is mandatory at Top Hotels. In the role that I was

interning, certain amount of patience was warranted. In the hospitality industry, sales

conversions will not happen in a smaller time frame of a week / 10 days. Hence

patiently engaging with our target group and developing a good rapport is necessary.

ANIRUDH SRINIVAS

Identifying and tapping the opportunities for European

Products in Retail & Food Service Outlets in Chennai

Intern SPEAK

THE MARKSMAN 20

Brand Management has been an integral

domain for every company be it a 185 billion

dollar company called Apple or a 10 billion

dollar redBus.in. They are always in this

unending conundrum of what their Brand

represents, the Brand value, recall and

treatment.

A Brand progresses from being a slogan, logo,

name, symbol, tagline to experience, image,

reputation and ideology. Strategy comes into

play here, as brands are used to influence

consumers thoughtfully and tactfully. Strategic

Brand Management as a book provides

comprehensive view as to how brands evolve

to an in depth knowledge in Marketing terms

such as brand equity, strategic brand

management to name a few.

It is an amalgamation of concepts, theories

and practical insights. This book provides an

in-depth analysis of how a brand moves on to

become a strategic business decision. It helps

understand the key issues in planning and

implementing brand strategies and provides

concepts to make better decisions. The

authors have done justice to the book with a

good amount of Indian references so that the

readers can easily identify and relate well to

the Indian Market scenario.

They have tried to put together cases of

brands that are specific to India, which would

help readers better understand the theories

enunciated in the book.

“The meaning imbued in brands

is quiet profound, allowing us to

think of the relationship between

a brand and consumer as a type

of bond or pact”

“Marketers should consider

money spent on manufacturing

and marketing of products as

‘investments’ and not as

Expenses”

Excerpts

BOOK WORMSTRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT

21 SUMMER 2013

The third edition of this book tries

to present a Marketing Text Book,

which is referred to by over 3000

Indian MBA institutes. The changes

made will only make the book

more relevant.

BOOKWORM

M G PARAMESWARAN

Executive director & CEO with DraftUlka

Advertising, Mumbai; An IIT (Madras) & IIM Calcutta

alumni, his career spans over 3 decades in Branding,

Advertising & Marketing .

He has also served in various Industrial bodies like

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce,

Confederation Of Indian Industry to name a few.

KEVIN LANE KELLER

Marketing Faculty at TUCK School of Business at

Dartmouth University. He is renowned as the author of

Strategic Brand Management.

He has served as an advisor to many International

Brands like, P&G, Ford, Accenture. He is considered as

a leading figure in study of Brand Management with his

work being published in leading journals in the world.

ISAAC JACOB

Head of marketing at K.J Somaiya institute of

Management Studies and Research.

With an MBA from the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj

Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai his career

spans over 30 years. He has seen it all, from Ogilvy &

Mather to JWT to Yes Bank, CMO and Tata Mutual

Funds (Vice President & Head Marketing)

AUTHORS

THE MARKSMAN 22

23 SUMMER 2013

SquAreheaD

BUZZ

ACROSS

1. Which software products major would be

the first major company to discontinue

selling license based software and move to

software selling by subscription based

model totally ?

3. Which car model was the largest selling

model worldwide in 2012 ?

4. Which Internet service was started by

former Yahoo execs Jan Koum and Brian

Acton in 2009. It claims to be bigger than

Twitter today?

6. Which social networking site was started

by Reid Hoffman and associates 10 years

ago on May 5, 2003 ?

9. Samsung had been doing a high decibel

campaign “OWN NOW”. Which Indian

brand has started a campaign using the

slogan “CAN OWN NOW” ?

DOWN

2. With which brand has Sachin had the

longest association since 1990 ?

5. Lebua Hotels is entering India with 4

properties. To which country does Lebua

belong ?

7. Which MNC has a corporate tag line:

"Good Food Good Life"?

8. Which airline calls itself India’s most

democratic airline, because it has only one

class of passengers ?

CLUES

PUZZLE

ANSWERS

1.Adobe 2. Boost 3. Ford Figo 4. WhatsApp

5. Thailand 6. LinkedIn 7. Nestle 8. Indigo 9. Micromax

THE MARKSMAN 24

Call for ARTICLES

CALL FOR ARTICLES JULY 2013

Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:

*Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all references are

clearly mentioned.

The best adjudged article will be given a Winner’s Certificate.

Deadline for the submission of article will be : 20th July, 2013

1. One article can have only one author.

2. Your article should be approximately 800-850

words and MUST be replete with relevant

pictures that can be used to enhance the

article.

3. FontType: Gill Sans MT

4. Font Size: 14.

5. Send your article in .doc/.docx format to

marksman.simsr@somaiya.edu

6. Subtitle line: Your name_Institute

Name_CourseYear

7. Kindly name your file as : Your name_Topic

1. Will Brand Infosys rise after return of

NRN?

2. Are social media platforms becoming less

social and more advertisement friendly?

3. Is Consumer preference for brands with

good cause on the rise?

25 SUMMER 2013

To subscribe to "The Marksman",

Follow the link:-

http://interfacesimsr.com/

the-marksman.html

OR drop in a mail/contact us at :

interface.newsletter@gmail.com

Subject line: Subscribe: Your

Name_Institute Name_Course

Year

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marksman.html

THE TEAM

TWEETS by Meeta Khatri

It’s all about AD-itude by Vivek Mishra

Brand MARK ive by Priyam Prasad

COVER STORY by Mandar Dongre

SPECIAL STORY by Roma Sehgal

HALLMARK CAMPAIGNS by Priyam Prasad

MARKETING REAL TIME by

Vibhav Shukla

Aditya Devireddy

INTERNSPEAK by

Tavishi Agrawal

Aniruddh Srinivas

Ankit Gupta

Priyambada Mishra

BOOKWORM by Smriti Sudhish

SquAreheaD by Tavishi Agrawal

BUZZ by Nishant Singla

PROOF READ by

Vivek Mishra

Priyam Prasad

Roma Sehgal

DESIGNING by

Divya Damera

Richa Garg

PROMOTIONS by

Nishant Singla

Meeta Khatri

The MARKSMAN is the

newsletter of INTERFACE, the

Marketing Club at K.J. Somaiya

Institute of Management Studies

and Research, Mumbai.

Images used in THE

MARKSMAN are subject to

copyright. THE MARKSMAN

does not take any responsibility

of any kind of plagiarism in the

articles receives from students

of other colleges.

The Team

THE MARKSMAN 26