Copywriters' Brief before making an Ad

Brief about the product to the copywriter before writing the Advertisement:

 Product: Bajaj-Renault-Nissan low cost car:

 Price: Rs. 1.4-1.5 lakhs

 Launch: assumed to be launched in January 2010 (six months after Tata Nano starts selling in showrooms)

 Name: undecided as yet

 While branding the car, Bajaj Name should not be present since customer’s recall Bajaj brand name as the company which manufactures 2 and 3 Wheelers and it cannot manufacture 4 wheelers. So it has to be a new brand. It should include Nissan or Renault since both of them do not have a presence in India (although Renault has with Logan but the car hasn’t been successful)

 Also it would be a better idea if this car does not compete with Nano directly since Nano has got the first mover advantage and positioned itself as a low cost car. Thus Nano has been permanently etched in the prospects’ mind. Trying to change that doesn’t seem to be a good idea as its almost impossible to ‘De-position’ it from that low cost attribute.

 Since it shouldn’t compete with Nano and cannot with Maruti 800 (because it is 2 Lakhs +), it has to create a new category in the prospects’ mind.

 Target market: Nuclear families of 4 people (husband, wife and 2 children)

 Segmentation: families who are looking to buy their first car (people who own a bike and want to move over to a car isn’t the target market here)

 Purchasing power of these families is important as the car is going to be purchased on loan and paid through EMIs. So the family having annual income of 3-3.5 Lakhs (conservatively speaking, it can also be Rs. 2.5 Lakhs +) will have to be targeted since their monthly income would be around Rs. 20000-25000. Considering their expenses, about Rs. 10000 would be saved. Thus they can pay an EMI of about Rs. 3000- 4000 per month.

 Positioning: Economical (mileage) i.e. Value for money

 Before preparing the Ad (for any of the media vehicles, the most important thing is to decide the objective of the ad)

 Objective: Inform or Persuade or Remind

 In this case, it is Inform

 Now other factors to be decided are:

 --Budget: this depends on the objective. Since it is informing the prospect about the product, the budget has to be high initially till awareness is made and knowledge about the products attributes and features are given to the prospect.

 --Communication mix: Advertising and Public Relations are the methods of promotion.

 Direct marketing, personal selling, and Sales promotion are not to be considered.

 --Integrated Communications Process i.e. Types of media vehicles:

 Television, Radio, Internet, Outdoor

 --Copy platform:

 Ad Subject: Bajaj-Renault-Nissan low cost car

•    Ad Problem: This new model needs to gain some identity and find its place in the market.

 •   Product Characteristics: Best mileage amongst the 4 wheelers

  •  Advertising Objective: Help model establish itself by building on brand names of Renault  and Nissan in India

  •  Target Market: mentioned above

  •  Competition: low cost cars

  •  Supportive Selling Points: Renault engineering and Nissans Quality consciousness since its Japanese

  Advertising appeal: Profit

  Execution style: Practical and Slice-of-life

  Media Scheduling: Continuous for the initial 3 months in all types of media