Mobile number portability (MNP) communication- Vodafone and the rest

There's always some more friends to make
There's always a space at the table
There's always a new game to play

And it's changing everyday
So many new faces
We're dreaming while we're awake
No time to waste today.

The world is our playground

These fabulous lyrics from the Vodafone Mobile number portability TVC clearly show the difference between Vodafone and the other service providers. Idea was the first mover when it launched its series of ‘no idea, get idea’ campaign. It would surely help them get customers. It was raved amongst the marketing and advertising pundits for thinking ahead if time.

Until Vodafone came up with this TVC. Idea seemed nowhere in the min recall. The thought is so awesome. Clearly a consumer insight to maintain continuity. They are not talking about others being good or bad. Just that we are good and you can come join us. Idea was talking about tangible aspects such as network, connectivity, etc etc. Vodafone took the leap and talked about the emotional connect.

I don’t remember if Reliance or Airtel or Aircel have come up with a MNP ad. Tata Docomo has come up with a ridiculous ad. Sorry to be so harsh but its really nonsense. Does it not remind you of the Vodafone Zoozoos ad during IPL talking about making you a star of the match? This Docomo ad also talks of making you a hero in a similar creative output. The ad goes on to say that relieve your friends of their network and show the freedom Docomo users enjoy. I really do not understand what they are talking about.

Vodafone is surely going to be a winner. Hats off to the guys at Ogilvy. They just seem to raise the benchmark with each passing creative. Competition is nowhere in sight and doesn’t even seem if they ever would be.

Share Khan and Rajni Sir

Dont know whether using Rajni to talk about the impossible would work for Share Khan.

It would surely grab eyeballs and make people read the ad.

Rajni is the centre of jokes as far as doing the impossible is concerned and thus would you want to be considered as a joke, i really do not think so.... but a good way of putting the point through.. a la the Amul ads, done with theme of current affairs

The un-mystery of low Nano sales

Ratan Tata stayed true to his word of giving India the ‘1 lakh’ car and showing the world that India is not all about cost advantage but can talk and walk innovativeness. The whole world converged in India when Tata Nano was launched. Tata Nano was an embodiment of catering to the ‘bottom-of-the-pyramid’ customer. It was supposed to show that given a value proposition, no product will fail irrespective of the target segment. Technically, it isn’t a bottom-of-the-pyramid product but in the context of the car market and sub USD3000 price tag can be considered as one such product.

Nano was considered to be so much in demand even prior to its launch because it gave an India, the possibility of a four-wheeler at a price unthinkable before. However it did not result in the forecasted sales. There were many reasons for it. As obvious, consumer behaviour was the critical reason. Nano failed on this count. Nano does not, and will never be able to give the consumer the aura of buying a car. In India, when a family buys a car, it signals their arrival on the richness scale. It signifies a certain standard of living. Nano, unfortunately, does not have the snob value generally associated with buying car in India.

One of the other reasons is the negative publicity it received due to the fire mishaps in its rear engine. Rear engines are generally considered unsafe. Although a perception, it added to the frenzy with people staying away from the Nano. For Nano, publicity turned out to be a double edged sword. It got free publicity during, prior and after its launch due to its ridiculously low price tag but the same publicity turned up on its head in a negative way after the mishaps. News of some customers suing the Tatas for compromising on their safety did not do much good to the Tata brand as well.

Things though are changing now. With production volumes up and better distribution in place, we can now see the Nano TVCs running. Although not quite an outstanding ad, it is decently good. I am not sure if I am reading the minds of the Tata Brand Managers but it seems that they are targeting the Tier 1 or 2 and rural towns who have disposable incomes. The second TVC is quite obvious in tis attempt at targeting the couple to move on from two-wheelers to the four-wheeler. Here too I am slightly unhappy with the casting of the actors in the ad. The urban couple would wait till they buy a bigger car rather than a Nano. They have double incomes with both husband-wife earning and easy financing options. A middle aged couple conservative in their buying would have been a more apt audience.

The Nano indeed is picking up volumes now but the mystery behind sluggish sales isn’t a mystery anymore or is it?

The ignominy of being ‘Dada’

IPL has always been in the news. Good or bad. The 4th edition of the IPL is scheduled just after the world cup but the auction took place a couple of days back. It was expected to create news since the team owners were going to go all guns blazing to buy the best players at astronomical prices. It did create news but more than the players, it was Dada who created the news. It hurt the real Indian fan that India’s greatest and best ever captain was not considered worthy enough to play when 20 somethings were paid millions of dollars

It begs the question that what could have been the reason for not considering him even when 2 teams more were included taking the number of players being able to play to 160 (16*10)? Was money a deterrent? Sourav’s base price was set at USD 400,000 (Rs. 1.8 crores). Or was it a captaincy issue? Sourav though had said that he would not mind playing under any other captain of any team. Was Dada considered too big than the team he would play for? It seemed that the team that took Dada in the team would have to face public wrath if he was dropped after a spate of bad performances. The pressure on team owners to keep Dada playing irrespective of whether he performed or not is immense. Greg Chappel, Rahul Dravid, Kiran More and SRK would testify to that.

This though has bought a cultural point to the fore. Indian business has moved quite a long way from the Hindu Rate of growth. They now do not consider any growth less than double digits as an achievement. Emotional quotient was a big factor during the first auctions. It was necessary since the clubs were at a nascent stage and the local players were essential if you needed to make a team. Not any more. The individual franchisees have been successful enough now to go it alone without the stars but a fan following based on performance. The Indian business houses too are taking on their international counterparts and so we have seen a spate of mergers and acquisitions involving Indian business. Indians are regularly seen on the list of richest people in the world.

The bottomline though is that Indians never respect their sportspeople once they are past their prime. Heroes are made and broken in a span of matches. You may love SOurav or hate him but you cannot stop respecting him and the contribution he has made to Indian cricket. The Dhonis, Yuvrajs. Rainas, Kohlis, Harbhajans and many others have been brought up on a dose of Dada’s aggression and would blindly vouch for dada’s contribution to their career. He is a national hero and did not deserve to be treated with such disdain. But as always, Dada will emerge from it stronger and be prepared for a bigger fight.

‘Carpet bombing’ by Airtel for their new logo

Can you spot the difference in the red colour?? Guess Brand managers of Airtel would not be too happy with this image. (An example of a real situation in suburban Mumbai)

The new logo by Airtel has been panned by marketing and advertising gurus. The rationale by Airtel of wanting a new logo for an international feel as Airtel goes to international markets with the Zain Acquisition and wanting to take on Vodafone in other markets hasn’t impressed the pundits one bit. According to them, the old logo was good enough for international markets as well. The new logo did not have any national colours or markers suggesting Indian origin. It has a clear difference in red and colour with a prominent font.

This new logo so closely resembles the red colour of Vodafone known all over the world. With their wide range of celebrity endorsers starting from AR Rahman composing the tune to Sachin Tendulkar, Vidya Balan, Madhavan and the last one, Sharman Joshi, Airtel was firmed ensconced in the hearts of Indian public. Its wider reach gave it a cross-country brand from the rich to the poor. Ironically, there has been a paradigm shift in the communication from Airtel post the logo launch. For one, it has not gone with a celebrity endorser. Only time will tell whether they will continue or get someone one board soon. Second, the signature AR Rahman tune which was so synonymous with Airtel has been done away with. Instead a more peppy and English tune is being used in TVCs.

Airtel, however, it seems in a hurry to make its logo remind people of Airtel again. It being visible from the carpet bombing that they are resorting to with people being targeted through all forms of communications namely the traditional print, TV, Radio to the tech savvy Internet and the mass places such as bus stops, railway stations, roads (hoardings). No place has been left vacant. Thus as time passes, with the incessant bombarding of the logo, it will become prominent in the minds of the Indian public as well.

Looking back, it was said that Airtel needed to have a mnemonic logo since it just had the name. I do not completely argue to this argument. Major brands the world over such as Coca Cola, Nokia, Bata, IBM, Canon, Oracle, SAP, or even the Indian brands such as Raymond, Onida do not have a mnemonic. Thus having it doesn’t make a brand big and not having it doesn’t make it any less known.

The main purpose of a logo is to strike an awareness of the brand and what it stands for through a logo. It the same is possible through a typographic logo, a mnemonic isn’t essential.

Coming back to the Airtel logo, with time, it will get registered in the minds of Indian consumers. But it will not serve ay additional purpose for the brand Airtel except for an exorbitant cost to design the logo and to promote the logo.

The ‘Elusive’ Indian premium brand:

Can you think of an Indian brand which commands a ‘premium’ tag? Let me define a premium brand first. A brand which commands a price higher than its immediate competition and is bought more for its intangible benefits than attributes. Agreed. There are some brands. But would it stand the test when confronted with international competition? At least I could not find any such Indian brand.

A similar problem with all the emerging nations. Less said about the under developed nations, the better. China and India have always fought international competition based on price. They have been few times, if any, when they have talked of quality or snob value. India or China has never had the technological wherewithal or resources in terms of money. Let’s talk of India.

The Indian consumer after independence through to the nineties was bought up on self-sufficiency and socialism of the Nehruvian era and then the Indira Gandhi era of nationalization. Conspicuous consumption was frowned upon and would attract the eye of the taxman. No wonder India has the highest savings rate along with China. It is only after the liberalization process started in 1992 that Indian masses got the resources and options to spend. 2000s saw the start of the consumption cycle. With easily available financing options and plastic money to fuel demand, consumerism had finally arrived in India, much to the satisfaction of MNCs. The urban middle class soon found surplus money with increasing salaries of IT, pharma, services industry employees finding their way into the mushrooming malls. With an urge to show their arrival on the ‘richness’ scale, people splurged as if there was no tomorrow.

Thus we saw major international brands such as Tissot, Rolex for watches, designer apparels, bags, shoes from renowned designers such as Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, hospitality giants such as Marriotts, Hyatts among others. Indian domestic brands obviously could not fight these acclaimed international labels on snob value. The only option remaining was to fight on price to drive volumes and be profitable. We saw Videocon taking on the Sony, Samsung, LG in consumer electronics; Maruti Suzuki taking on Hyundai, Ford, Fiat, and lately Skoda, GM among others in cars. Even now we have Tata Nano as the world’s cheapest car fighting on price. Although it has been touted as an innovation to cater to the bottom of the pyramid consumer, it still fights on price.

Moving from consumer goods, even the commodities such as steel, cement, food (sugar, rice, wheat, meat) are exported based on price difference rather than its high quality or rare sweetness and exquisite taste or looks (specific to flowers). I am not questioning the quality here but just the business appeal for a prospective customer.

India’s real tryst with a premium brand came when Tatas took over iconic and marquee brands Jaguar and Land Rover. They have retained the names and not added Tata to the newest family member because the primary market of these brands is Europe and Americas, and Tata isn’t even a renowned name in cars, let alone a premium name. Woodland is an Indian brand which can be considered as a premium Indian brand but not compared to its international counterparts such as Adidas, Nike, and Reebok. It should be given its due though because it has all the makings to take the brand global. I doubt how many Indians know that it is an Indian brand. Credit should be given to its international type of communication in TVCs, print and online media where it has international models as its ambassadors.

Indian motorbike companies such as Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda, TVS, it would take a lot of effort to become a premium brand since majority of their offerings are for the mass markets in India and abroad. Same is the case with the car maker Maruti Suzuki, and Tata motors. Maruti Suzuki has been successful in the last decade or so in scaling up till only the 8 lakh car. Ditto Tata Motors. It has yet to take on the 10 lakh plus luxury car segment comprising of the Skodas, Volkswagens, Toyotas and the super luxurious Mercedeses or BMWs.

The IT sector is famous the world over yet Infosys or TCS or Wipro isn’t considered as an innovative brand. Google, Oracle, Microsoft, Yahoo, SAP are brands due to their innovation. The Indian brands are still fighting on price. But now we hear talk of Infosys trying to move beyond just the IT solutions and get into consultancy which would make them in direct competition with heavy weight such as Accenture, BCG, Booz, Allen Hamilton, and other. Of course, competing with them would need another decade of experience but at least there is a start.

There have been a spate of acquisitions in the last decade by Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis, Mallyas and others which would hold us in good stead to get an Indian premium brand. Till then that premium Indian brand remains elusive.

Should Hero go for a new logo?

Last couple of years has seen a lot of rebranding exercise. Godrej, Shoppers Stop, India Post, CEAT Tyres, Essar, Bajaj, Videocon and the latest being Airtel. Some have been praised, some not. But that is not the topic of discussion here. The 26 years relationship between the Hero Group and the Honda Group has been finally ended with the announcement of the Munjals buying the 26% stake from the Honda group. Tensions had been simmering and it was inevitable after Honda could no longer be happy with the 26% stake and started their own set up in India with Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd.

This opens up the market for other Indian motorcycle players since Hero Honda was the largest player in terms of volume of sales. Now with both breaking up, Hero can enter segments where Honda was present and Honda can enter segments where Hero was present. Increase competition could lead to price wars in the immediate future with both brands wanting to gain market share and build an individual brand identity. Here is the catch.

Honda has an individual identity in India. Hero does not. It has always been in the company of Honda and has leveraged the Honda name for Japanese technology in the minds of the Indian consumers, directly or indirectly. Thus should Hero go for a corporate rebranding exercise with its logo if not the name? Hero can now also export its motorbikes to the developing nations which are such a big market. Baja Auto would testify to that with its huge exports. Changing name would not be a good idea but creating a new logo would seem to be good.

With the Honda name gone, Hero would need to tell the consumer about its technological expertise and R&D facilities as well. It would need to spend on increasing its product mix with only the hero name with the individual brand name. a factor which would hinder Hero also would be its existing products which are strong names such as CBZ, Splendor, Karizma in the urban markets whereas the other good names such as Passion, CD 100 which are strong in the rural markets. They would bear the Hero Honda name. Hero would need to launch new bikes to not just take on market competition but also the competition within. Not in the short term but in the long term where it would slowly need to take away these big brands and move its own brands ahead without losing on the cash inflow which these current brands would bring. A sort of catch 22 situation.

The same problem doesn’t arise for Honda since it doesn’t mind taking on these brands since the name is only attached and the earning they get is only through royalty which isn’t much high compared to what Hero would be getting form Hero Honda

It could also lead to dealer poaching by Honda from the Hero Honda’s intensive penetration although it is said that it’s a mutual understanding that it should not happen. Price would be an advantage to Hero vis-à-vis Honda. The spare part availability and its lower price would be of a greater advantage to Hero than Honda.

Speaking from a broader perspective with long term focus, it’s a good thing for both Hero and Honda with opening up of newer markets for both. A new logo by Hero would seem to be a natural step ahead with its own identity creation. Just some food for thought would be, can Hero think on the lines of what Bajaj is thinking i.e. change over to a house of brands with individual brand names. Bajaj has strong brand equity with Bajaj name with lot of hindrance from the other Bajaj players in the family. It would take a lot of gumption to do that. Hero on the other hand would do well to go ahead with it this and take a head start over its immediate competitor.

Creative Inspiration- any one??

Religare ad- ET- 24th Dec 2010

BNP Paribas ad- Mumbai Mirror- Dec 2009

Do we see any similarities??

Focus- Size of the fund

Creative depiction- Sumo wrestler

Quite an inspiration, i must say. Sumo wrestling is surely not a sport for the Indians as yet but Sumo wrestlers sure do influence them if one goes by the ads!!

A pleasant marketing problem

Mergers and acquisitions were the order of the day during the pre 2008 days. It took a break after the fall of Lehman Bros and the ensuing recession. They are back again in town with the buying out of Paras Pharma by FMCG giant Reckitt Benckiser. Paras Pharma owns over-the-counter brands (OTC) such as Moov which is a pain relief ointment, Krack, a heel care lotion, and D'Cold, a cold remedy among others. RB adds these brands to its already established brands such as Dettol, Disprin, Clearasil, Veet and Durex.

This acquisition would leave RB marketers in a bit of a quandary. What sould they do about Dispirin and D’cold which almost are used for similar purposes. Headache, cold, clear throat. Although not a direct competitor with each others, it begs the question that what would be the solution when two competitor brands merge or are taken over for inorganic growth. Should they continue with the existing own brand and the newly taken over brand or should the new brand be killed to make way for a stronger home brand. To make it clear, consider this very hypothetical example. What if P&G takes over HUL? Or visa versa. Would P&G kill the powerful brand Surf Excel to further its own Ariel brand? Would it kill the powerful Sunsilk and Clinic for making Pantene and Head & Shoulders the favourite?

In this uncertain world with flexibility being the buzzword, can there be an obvious way for this problem to be solved. I know that the answer for this cannot be an absolute one but would depend on the type of companies involved and the power of brands taken over. For Arcelor steel merging with Mittal Steel or Tata with Corus, there isn’t much to think. Commodity market as such doesn’t give marketers sleepless nights as does consumer goods. But what about a Ranbaxy which is so ingrained in the Indian mind after it being bought out by Daiichi Sankyo? Would they kill the Ranbaxy brand to make DS a global brand?

A bigger dilemma would be when a ‘House of Brands’ takes over a ‘Branded House or a ‘Branded House’ taking over a ‘House of Brands’. What if Tatas take over P&G or HUL? Would we have Tata Pantene and Tata Clinic or would the brands retain their identity? What if P&G takes over Mahindra & Mahindra? Would Mahindra Tractors be replaced by an individual brand name without the family brand?

One thing is certain that creating a brand and an appeal requires a lot of resources. Maintaining requires even more resources and is difficult as well. Thus it seems at least that when two power brands come together under one roof, its better to pursue both separately and let them cannibalize the market as it would be a win-win situation even then.

Management graduates for the Indian economy?

An article in the Times of India, Mumbai edition on 6^th December 2010 drew my attention. It even made me think. And this article is a result of that thinking. Two pieces of opinion in the article were so contradictory that it made me smile. One, ‘a fancy MBA’ degree and two, ‘it accelerates growth’. It is agreed that MBA is a fancy degree yet head hunters are appreciative of the degree and find it a differentiating factor.

Having myself being a management graduate and working for more than a year now, I have a slightly different opinion on the management degree in the Indian context for an Indian professional. The Indian economy requires technical people more than management people. Engineers, commerce graduates, arts graduates, lawyers and other graduate streams. What is the reason for this erudite opinion of mine?

Lets look at the major streams in MBA. Marketing, finance, Human Resources and Operations. Of these 4, I will leave out HR and operations since the number of students opting for it are less compared to the more preferred marketing and finance. What is the use of a marketing degree? To increase sales in an ultra competitive marketplace and strategize to be one-up on competitors.

In India, apart from FMCG, telecom and white good companies, hardly marketing is required. The Indian consumer market is so big that even without marketing acumen, there would be sales. In the industrial goods sector, India’s cost competitiveness is going to hold it in good stead at least for the next couple of decades. The Indian PSUs such as ONGC or SAIL or NTPC are run by people who have tons of experience in the technical filed but not in marketing. Why can’t an ONGC be the next Chevron or BP? Why can’t a SAIL be the Arcelor or Severstal or Corus? Companies which inspite of being commodity producing companies are big brands.

The top managements of all companies barring a few who have the vision give the management graduates an opportunity to explore and work in a way which is transformation to the company. The other managements are very much resistant to change and like the comfort zone which management graduates try to break free from. The MBA graduates too are partly to blame for. They consider themselves equipped to change the company without understanding first the basics of the business. Their arrogance sometimes can be annoying.

The MBA degree has been seen as a magic wand which transforms the career of students. Students believe that the MBA degree should give them six figure salaries. They don’t think of whether the skill sets they have are applicable in the industry. Theory knowledge can take you only past the interview round. But the actual industry skill sets are to its extremes making it difficult to survive. The mushrooming of management colleges without affiliations and proper B-school teachers has resulted in students lacking the basic skills expecting to be in strategy teams of the corporate world.

Thus I think, a management degree is not essential to the Indian economy. Functional skill sets are more important except in certain industries and markets.

Google’s Product (P) focus- Other Ps, ‘set to zero’

There has always been a debate among marketers and strategists of which P among the 4Ps of marketing mix is more important. And the answer has always been that it depended on the industry and the market scenario. The answer will remain the same until marketing remains in the corporate world.

Yes, circumstances decide the importance of the individual element in the marketing mix. Looking at the Indian marketplace specifically with an example of the telecom industry, price has become the differentiation factor. There isn’t any attribute or benefit that one service provider offers which the other doesn’t. Thus the customer decides the operator on the basis of the least costly and nearest available.

With white goods and, to a certain extent automobiles, promotional spend has been the major driver. Although there is a product differentiation, it isn’t a compelling reason enough for the product sale. ‘Place’ continues to be the dark and unsung with an exception of FMCG where it is given its due.

Few times, if at all, is the product the focus. In a country like India which is very price-sensitive, marketers have always been focusing on the price, and rightly so. The case isn’t the same in the developed markets. R&D isn’t seen as a off-shoot of strategy. Rather it is thought of as a cost centre with intangible consequences resulting in lack of its effect measured on the P&L. thus the urge to spend isn’t always compelling enough for the marketer. It is seen as a luxury rather than a necessity and the axe always falls first on R&D when the going gets tough in the economy.

Thus we see an Intel, IBM, Oracle or a Google R&D centre in India but not a R&D centre for a Tata or Reliance or a Bajaj. Cost reduction resulting in low-priced products always seems the easier option.

Internationally speaking, Google with its phenomenal growth has always thought of Product development as the focus. Its first product offering i.e. the search engine was free with no promotional spend (all was word-of-mouth). Then came the email service, Gmail. Again it was free with no promotional spend. Other products such as Google Maps, Blogger, Orkut, Youtube followed. All free with only word-of-mouth publicity. It is imbibed in the Google culture where the engineers are given 20% time from among their working hours to pursue their own product for the company. The result is for everyone to see. A gamut of services, all free for the end user.

In an interview, the number 4 in the Company after its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin and CEO Eric Schimdt, Mr. Nikesh Arora said that Google was working on Google TV which was the future of TV and internet in a seamless network. The new philosophy for Google is to ‘set to zero’ the 3 Ps-price, promotion and place with entire concentration on product development. Currently if you have a look at the number of services on offer, its quite staggering. A testimony to the Google’s endeavor of spotlight on product.

Consulting companies- how can they predict the unpredictable?

Consulting companies such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Booz and Company, Bain and Company to name a few have built they reputation among the industry for their foresight and solutions. There is no question or credibility crisis as far as the solutions that have helped companies tide over their problems is concerned but I have a slight problem when it is related to research and prediction. The prediction can be of demand, supply, trends, consumer behaviour, market share et al.

A recent report by research firm Booz & Company, shared exclusively with Economic Times talks of the change in consumer behaviour. A marked change from thrifty behaviour during and post the 2008 recession to increased conspicuous consumption in the third quarter of 2010 on the back of increased salaries and better economic prospects. No problem with the consulting companies for me. It starts when they predict that the “India’s upper middle class —those with an annual income between 5 lakh and 10 lakh — will grow to 30 million people by 2020 as the economy keeps growing at a healthy rate”. My doubt is that how is it possible to predict a ‘probable number’ 10 years hence when economic fundamentals are so intricately linked to the world markets that there are constant changes. Analysts might say that it is just indicative rather than absolute. Agreed.

But what is the point of such a prediction when the world changes every quarter.

The report goes on to mention about the “FMCG industry could grow at a base rate of about 17% annually to become a 6,20,000-crore industry by 2020”. GDP figures on growth vary per quarter. How can an industry grow constantly in such a scenario? The FMCG industry depends on so many external factors namely the consumer sentiment, income levels, demand supply gap, increased competition from foreign as well as low cost local players (in the Indian context). FDI in retail acts as an indirect factor which bears significant weight due to behemoths such as Carrefour, Wal-Mart and Metro standing in queue to enter India. It bears so much on government policies. FDI, competition law, monopolies act etc. which is so much unpredictable

The concern which I share here is not about the veracity of the report or the credibility of the consulting company. It is about the relevance of such a prediction in volatile markets. Based on such estimates, whatever is the probable value, companies investing or strategizing with the information in mind would take a risk which would have the highest risk factor. As some one famously said “the only constant is change”. And predict at your own peril.

Bajaj- only automobiles or more than that?

Taking on the establishment or taking risks, runs in the Bajaj family. From Rahul Bajaj championing the cause of Indian industry to stop foreign players into India to his son shifting focus from the cash cow scooters to motorbikes to take on the Japanese players in motorbikes to the radical thought of making Bajaj Auto from a ‘Branded House’ to a ‘House of Brands’, surely they are a family who think to out-maneuver competition.

Rahul Bajaj was initially averse to the idea the bikes sporting individual brand names and Bajaj Auto will be a house of independent brands like FMCG giants Unilever and P&G. The focus was to be on four brands – Pulsar, Boxer, Discover and KTM. It would not use the parent name on its identity. But with the success of Bajaj Auto as one of the leading motorbikes manufacturers and stopping the scooters with Rajiv Bajaj at the helm, the senior Bajaj has to accept it.

Now with the help of one of the leading Marketing gurus and management consultants Jack Trout of Trout and Partners who has given the positioning bible to us, Rajiv has taken an enormous step. An attempt to associate the Bajaj brand name exclusively with the motorcycles made by his company and the removal of Bajaj name from other products/ services ranging from hair oil, home appliances, insurance to financial services.

The strategy to do this is based on Trout’s thoughts that a particular brand must stand for only one thing in the mind of the consumer. Line extension is the gravest mistake any brand can do. This though not a line extension has similar areas. According to them, Bajaj should stand only for motorbikes in the consumer’s mind. All other Bajaj brands such as Bajaj-Allianz, Bajaj Electricals, and Bajaj Finserv among others should remove the brand name and try to get an individual identity. This would not only help them stand on their own accord based on brand qualities and brand values but also act as a differentiation from competition.

I tend to differ with the thought because the principle which applies to brands in the developed world is being applied to the developing world that have emerged and evolved in a different way. The consumer behavior is starkly diverse and the emotional quotient among brands in the eastern world is far more pronounced than in the west. In India, line extension has worked till now because of the trust that has been instilled in the brand. Tatas, Birlas, Godrejs, Ambanis and a host of other family have run businesses have ventured into diverse fields with using the same brand name. And they have done well and continue to do so.

These brands have evolved since the pre-liberalization days and have a trust and understanding among Indian consumers. New brands have emerged since then but these old brands have stood the test of time. The Tatas cannot even think of removing the name from their diverse offerings to make Tata a ‘House of Brands’.

Changing the automotive business and marketing it individually is one thing but doing it across industries is slightly off target I would presume. One of the biggest brands in the world GE, which has a product offering which no company, can boast of. There are into all products and services ranging from consumer goods to aviation. They have not changed their GE lineage inspite of being in the most competitive and diverse market as the US. Bajaj name is even more important in the rural and semi-rural areas of the country which are yet to be tapped. Bajaj name would give the company a head start over other foreign brands.

All said and done, this is even more difficult since some of the Bajaj businesses are run by other family members who are strictly against the name change. So such a thing happening would be highly improbable if not impossible.

The boring DTH TV ads

Ever since the cable operators have troubled the Indian consumer with his whimsical ways and held the consumer to ransom during events such as the cricket world cup which are high in public interest, DTH providers have come up to do away with the ubiquitous cablewallah. Dish TV from Zee Entertainment & Enterprises Ltd. was the first DTH service provider in India. And it maintains its lead in the number of subscriptions.

Currently the industry is going through a price war with as many as 7 players in the fray. Dish TV, TataSky DTH, BIG TV, Airtel DTH, Sun TV and the latest to join the bandwagon Videocon DTH. 5 of them have used brand ambassadors. Shah Rukh Khan for Dish TV, Aamir Khan for TataSky, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor for Airtel DTH and the junior Bachchan Abhishek for Videocon TV. But seriouisly, none of them have had any impact. All promotions done by these players in the TV space have been average. Only Tata Sky’s Aamirs ads have been a bit memorable. No one remembers SRKs Dish TV ads or Saifeena’s Airtel TV ads whereas BIG TV and Sun TV have not used any celebrities with below average ads.

The latest Videocon TVC starring Abhishek Bachchan is one of the most senseless ads ever seen. The ad, simply put, doesn’t have an objective. Are they trying to convey the fast service in installing the DTH after getting an enquiry? Is it a fast food service or something? Its understandable if the thought was to show quick after-sales service or repair service but what is the point in showing such boring people jumping. When the parameters to convey of clarity or convenience or cost is a requirement, this comes off as unrelated. Its earlier ad telecast during IPL 3 was also boringly talking of technology.

Abhishek Bachchan as a brand ambassador of Videocon doesn’t fit any attribute of Videocon. Not that the other celebrities are any better among its peers. It’s difficult to understand the rationale that the ad agency making this ad would have put before the client. And to top it, the client bought the idea. I would surely have loved to be a part of this presentation.

Diwali- A Marketer’s Delight

Diwali- the festival of light is celebrated with much fervour across the length and breadth of the country. Diwali is equivalent to Christmas in the North America and Europe, Id in Middle East, Boxing Day & New Year celebrations in Australia and the carnivals in South America. The whole of India is on a a shopping spree during the Diwali week beginning with Dhanteras to the Diwali puja day and ending with Bhau Beej (brother-sister bonding).

Two sets of people wait for Diwali. One, the common people looking forward to a lot of festivities, meeting friends and relatives expecting a lot of joy and happiness. Two, the marketers (you cannot keep the marketer away, they pounce on any given small opportunity and this being the biggest of them all). All product/ services have an exponential jump in sales during this time. Looking at the current Diwali, you will not miss the ‘discount’ ads screaming at you through the newspapers from apparel and white goods brands. Car manufacturers too are giving attractive financing options, low EMIs, and other host of car accessories as freebies to increase sales.

Cadbury is a classic example of a brand which has entered the Indian tradition mould through its replacement of the Indian homemade sweets with Cadbury chocolate packs. The communication of ‘kuch meetha ho jaye’ earlier to the current of ‘kuch meethas ho jaye’ and the ‘shubh arambh’ campaign have really worked wonders for the brand. It has cut across the socio-economic parameters and is gifted by the middle class, the upper middle and the rich alike. May be only the filthy rich use more expensive sweets. Coming back to the market, brands from home appliances, upholstery, home decor, home colour, FMCG products such as scented soaps, scented oils and a ensemble of packaged sweets.

Gold being expensive due to the economic scenario in the world has not dampened the spirits from spending on the yellow metal with Dhanteras recording high sales year on year. Although a commodity, brands such as Tanishq, TBZ, Gili, Geetanjali and a host of others have gone on spending big busks on full from page ads on leading dailies just to the customer attention in the clutter.

Conspicuous consumption is back among the public after the lull last year due to the economic slowdown on the back of good growth of companies. Travel and tourism industry also grows due to people travelling to meet their near and dear ones and extended families. Road, rail and air are all booked pre and post Diwali. Some people take an extended off and have their vacations at tourist hot spots away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.

All brands go on a promotion spree to get the most of the consumers’ wallet. Plans are firmed up months in advance with no stone left unturned to reap in the profits from increased sales. Vodafone has launched a new campaign, and so has Tata Sky DTH. White good majors such as Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, LG, and Videocon are more visible in the mainstream media launching new products and displaying their wide range of product mix. Airtel, Aircel, DoCoMo, MTS, Idea are spending even more. Tata Nano is making a lot of noise and the usual ad spenders FMCG giants have spiked up for the festive season. A very busy week for all marketers but a very happy indeed.

Volkswagen Vento- the emotional car

Consumer involvement in a purchase decision is highest when it comes to buying a house be it in India or anywhere around the world. This is not only important from a marketing point of view but also from an economic scenario. We have a live example of how the urge for buying a house i.e. the US housing bubble created an economic crisis. Closer home, we have HDFC which has one of the highest recalls amongst home buyers and general public alike because it helped the Indian consumer buy a house during the pre-liberalization era.

After a house, the car becomes the second most important decision concerning a family. A car is as much as practical decision on price and features as it is an emotional one. Don’t we all remember our first cycle in childhood or bike in during college days. How we took care of it. Similarly there is an emotional bonding we have with our car. Not just for the husband but also for the wife and kids. The family has been used in umpteen numbers of ads on television to sell cars.

The Volkswagen Vento TVC currently running on GECs on prime time takes this emotional quotient a step further. The communication route adopted for the TVC is ‘tears of perfection’ by car engineers. It shows the various stages that the car goes through during manufacturing with so much emotional involvement that it is difficult for them to let go off the car from the plant. It indirectly also refers too its old communication of German engineering. The plant snaps show the sophisticated equipment and the fabulously clean set-up.

Volkswagen had to build an emotional connect with the Indian consumer for whom Tata, Bajaj and Maruti are natural preferences in terms of sentimental value. A wonderfully executed ad which brings out the emotions which surely will ad to the already high brand equity which Volkswagen enjoys. Not an ad which breaks the clutter but certainly will make the male of the house and young professionals take notice.

Marico ad- one of the best headlines i have seen

AWESOME headline.. took me a couple of readings to interpret it... please comment if u understood it...

Reality show TRPs- farce of one-upmanship

Television Rating Points (TRP) wars have been started in India from the time the K serials took centre stage and General Entertainment channels became a business of big bucks. Advertisers flocked to these channels to get a handsome return on investment, at least based on the eyeballs these serials and channels attracted. Only cricket could over power the TRPs of these serials which had religious followings. TRPs became a part of general lexicon only after people came to know about it from newspapers.

With the launch of a slew of reality shows, and with celebrities riding the shows with huge budgets and sponsors, naturally the TRPs are going to play a role in deciding the winner. It being the only way to determine the ad rates which have reached exorbitant levels with Bollywood star power at the helm of affairs of these shows. Every week we have TRPs of shows stating the celebrity winner of the week. Just the way fate of each of these Bollywood stars change every Friday and you are as good as your last hit, similarly your television show is also as god as your last TRP.

The latest example of this is the ad in national dailies by Sony TV about KBC getting higher TRPs than Big Boss 4. It is understandable that Sony would use these ratings as a barometer to get higher ad rates from advertisers. But what is the use of saying it in print. Does the audience going to change its viewing just because KBC has higher ratings? The customer is too smart to fall for such self congratulatory messages.

The only rationale that seems from this communication is to bring about a perception among the general viewers and advertisers that our channel garners higher ratings because of this show which will have a spill over effect on its other shows. Quite wishful thinking I must say.

The new ‘pull & push’ marketing

It should not come as a surprise that the company called ‘the CEO factory’ and which aspiring marketer would give an arm or leg to work for has come up with a new theory. Not in research or a white paper but in implementation and thought-process. The new ‘push’ marketing concept which takes marketing application one step further. HUL- the house of brands.

Consumer engagement has been the buzz word of late in marketing circles. To break away from the clutter, companies have been engaging customers through different and unique touch points, more so with the acceptance of social networking sites amongst the young who are at a impressionable age. Read this from one of the GMs of HUL “The push is through traditional, one-way messaging to consumers through TV and other traditional ad media. The pull is through inviting consumers to engage with the brand and experience the Axe effect. Digital is the new focus as it offers brilliant scope of engaging with the consumers and having great conversations.” This is regarding the competition in the deodorant category where all the brands are following the ‘girl getting seduced by the fragrance’ theme.

This can be interpreted in different ways. One- HUL is going beyond the price competition. In the short term, obviously there would be sales promotions but in the long run, the brands which engage the customer will benefit and give long term opportunities for profits. I think HUL has read the Indian market and consumer very well. They have realized that in the growing economy, there will be growth but growth can be sustained and with profitability with strong brand building, not through the traditional ways but in different ways making the consumer feel the brand through experiential marketing.

There is so much competition that the pull effect seems negligible with no special difference between products/ services. So the objective of ad is to push the product, in your face, to win over the competition. A zero sum game.

Thus with the push undergoing a change, pull has become even more customer-centric and a two way process compared to the earlier passive one way. The new pull, rather than just saying good things about you, lets users experience it first hand and then buy the product/ service. As mentioned earlier, customer engagement would be easier with social networking sites for the young target audience but reaching the un-tech savvy customers would be the real marketing challenge.

Channels need celebrities or celebrities need channels?

This question does not have any absolute answers. Television may never be as glamorous as the 72mm silver screen. The television stars may never be as comparable to the recognition that a movie star gets. Be it in terms of money or adulation or success. But one thing is for sure, the current movie superstars may like or not, they cannot ignore the potential of their presence on television.

The pioneer for this scenario is the eternal Indian megastar Amitabh Bachchan who transformed the way movie stars look at television. Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) though a desi version of the American hit show ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’, back Amitabh Bachchan back in the reckoning and also started a genre of reality shows on Indian television where there’s no looking back. The success of Amitab Bachchan sparked off a slew of shows involving movie celebrities such as Anupam Kher and Manisha Koirala in ‘Sawaal Dus Crore ka’ and Govinda in ‘Jeeto Chappar phad ke’. Though not even half as successful as KBC, it did not deter television producers from trying out new formats and shows involving celebrities.

Gone were the days when movie celebrities lead a secret personal life with information coming through on a handful of gossip magazines. With no blogs, facebook, twitter or news channels, the only way people got to see their favourite superstars was in movies. Thus to maintain the aura and inquisitiveness, movie stars desisted from TV, and rightly so. From the present generation, I guess only Aamir Khan has that interest among viewers since he does only movies.

Times are changing and so should people. With so much information society, actors have to be in the public domain to build a fan following. Now if Amitabh Bachchan can be on TV, why not the others. Thus we had bollywood badshah Shah Ruch Khan hosting the second season of KBC. It was also successful in its own right. ‘kya aap paanchvi pass se tez hai’ followed it, again hosted by SRK. People openly accepted the movie stars giving channels better TRPs. Akshay Kumar jumped on the bandwagon with the desi version of Fear Factor, Khatron Ke Khiladi (KKK)’. Shilpa Shetty hosted the Big Boss followed by Arshad Warsi in its second season. Amitabh Bachchan returned after a gap in television with the season three of Big Boss. Salma hosted Dus Ka Dum for Sony last year and now hosts the fourth season of Big Boss. And Priyanka Chopra taking over from Akshay Kumar in KKK3. In the interim, Abhishek Bachchan too unsuccessfully tried his hand at reality TV with Bingo Nite

Channels say that the stars attract viewers, which is right but I beg to differ on the pint that it increases viewer ship of its other shows since viewers want to know more about the channels. It bring sup a question that ‘people watch channels or do they watch the show’? for examples, KBC 4 is being telecast now on Sony compared to Star Plus earlier. And it has got a great opening. Thus it proves that people watch the show rather than the channel.

The other question is the amount of money the celebrities charge. AB, SRK and Salman Khan are rumoured to be charging an eight figure amount per episode. Analysts wonder if the channels even manage to break-even with those kinds of expenses. Not matter the amounts of ad time they spend with premium ad rates, it is difficult to recover the costs. The need of the hour according to channels is to differentiate the content with a celebrity show to add to the product mix. For the celebrities though, it’s a win-win situation. Not only do they get phenomenal compensation but also increase their popularity among viewers and acting as a springboard to promote their upcoming movies.

From the current scenario, it seems that channels need celebrities more than the other way round with celebrities laughing all the way to the bank.