The Marksman - August 2014 Issue

K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH VOL. V | ISSUE III | AUG ’14

MARKSMAN The

>> 16

>>07

>> 20

RED BULL – HOW IT GOT

WINGS

SUNFILL

AAMIR ‘KAN’

>>13 BEST FRIEND, ON SALE.

ANNIVERSARY 2014 01

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Readers,

We welcome you to another exciting edition of ‘The Marksman’. This month’s issue

welcomes new members in the Marskman team to take our legacy forward. This also

happens to be our third anniversary issue and will feature a fun-filled new section,

which will be featured as our new regular article in the following issues.

In this edition, our cover story features “Youth Marketing”, which focuses on what it

takes to connect with the youth and how marketers are striving to make their

marketing efforts youth centric. In our special story, we cover the challenges faced by

books with the increase in the popularity of e-books. Also in our Brand Markive, we

look at RedBull and how the brand has successfully connected with its customers.

Apart from these, the Marksman continues with its other thrilling regulars: Tweets,

Bookworm, Buzz, Ad-itude, SquAreheaD, Hallmark Campaign and Faux Pas. The new

regular introduced is called ‘Pioneer’ and it features celebrities who market themselves

to build their own brand which people relate to due to which they are extremely

successful in endorsing different products/services.

Your overwhelming response for our August’s Call for articles was highly appreciated

by our team and after a rigorous evaluation, we have Ratul Chakraborty from IMT

Ghaziabad, Vishalatha Bhamidipaty from XLRI, Jamshedpur and Aakanksha

Tanwar from GIM Goa whose fabulous articles have been selected to be featured in

this edition. To all the other entries who didn’t feature this time around, we thank you

for this commendable response and urge you all to keep writing to us with the same

enthusiasm.

Feedback from our readers is something that we always appreciate and look out for.

Do mail us on www.interfacesimsr.com/the-marksman and stay connected with us.

Enjoy!

Happy Reading!

Team MARKSMAN

The Interface-The Marketing Club of SIMSR

@marksmansimsr.

TWEETS

BRAND MARKIVE BOOKWORM

SPECIAL STORY

Best Friend, On Sale.

COVER STORY

YOUTH MARKETING

MARKETING FAUX PAS

20 PIONEER IT’S ALL ABOUT

AD-ITUDE

Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN 18

16

13

09

07

05

03

22

BUZZ 34

02 THE MARKSMAN

TWEETS

#TacoBellNativeAds

Conventional wisdom dictated that

ads have catchy slogans and neatly

Photoshopped illustrations. But

when everyone is doing just that,

“standing out” takes on a very

different meaning.

Enter Native Advertising. Ordinary

and quotidian images to illustrate

extraordinary and rare pleasures.

Taco Bell is the first (and so far,

only) restaurant to see the trees as

clearly as the forest – so that the

native ad really seems to not be

one at all.

Then again, how can you be sure

this right here isn’t one?

#TescoBansSweetsFromCheckouts

In a move that should gladden many a worried

parent, Tesco has agreed to ban sweets and

chocolates from its checkout sections from over

3100 of its stores across the UK, after

discovering that over two-thirds of its

customers said they would make healthier

eating choices should such objects of allure not

be positioned at so tempting a place. How well

a marketing campaign works is determined, after

all, by how well the customer is treated.

N-Advertising: should ring

only mundane bells

Out of sight,

out of mind

ANNIVERSARY 2014 03

TWEETS

#IceBucketChallenge

With participants ranging from Mark

Zuckerberg to Martha Stewart, the

Ice Bucket Challenge has risen from

July 29 to having 176k twitterers

abuzz, all in just two weeks.

The rules are deceptively simple: once

challenged, the participant has to

either dump a bucket of ice water

over their head, or donate $100 to an

ALS charity. (Not to forget that said

ALS is short for Amyotrophic Lateral

Sclerosis.)

Most celebrities have done both and

it has brought in more funds than

without the campaign. The Guardian

hailed it as a “gimmick, [but] good”.

Wasn’t exactly on his

bucket list before.

#WeAreDavidBailey!

To prove that their NX1000 was an

intuitive high-performing camera,

Samsung summoned all but the

‘original’ David Bailey. Photos clicked

by these 143 men were put up in

Underground escalator galleries,

newspapers and digital outdoor

displays. The campaign ended up

garnering 11 million impressions on

Facebook in a span of less than a year

– and also a market share that went

from 2.8% to 55%. It now has requests

of 13k applications for becoming an

Honorary David Bailey.

The real David Bailey

has stood up.

04 THE MARKSMAN

Their eyes light up and they get all

perked up at the mere mention of

cars. For all such automobile

enthusiasts the new Mercedes Benz

CLA45 AMG ad campaign is a visual

delight. Mercedes’ first ever India

specific TVC gets adrenaline pumping

and triggers the sentiments of auto

and motoring aficionados.

Throughout the video the demon is

shown in action and the inexplicable

feeling its ride evokes eludes what

words can describe. The AMG engine,

synonymous with high performance

motoring and cutting edge

technological innovations, is also its

unique selling proposition. The

abbreviation has very cleverly been

expanded to “Ah My God” -- an

expression for the feeling. The

infectious energy of the background

score, which is a modified version of

Awolnations’ Sail, adds to the thrill.

It’s not about selling just a car

anymore, it’s all about the experience.

With this campaign Mercedes

promises to provide the owners of

this beautiful beast an experience

that leaves one gasping for more and

then all one can say is – Ah My God!

IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

TELEVISION AD

Client: Mercedes Benz India Ad Agency: CreativeLand Asia

INEXPLICABLE

ANNIVERSARY 2014 05

This series of three pictures of a print

ad campaign for Zoo Safari bespeaks

humour, sophistication and illustrative

expertise of its creators. Living up to its

tagline ‘blend in‘, the print ad effectively

conveys the proximity with the wild,

the safari goers at zoo safari are

promised they would experience. The

colour scheme and concept

complement each other and are

enticing enough to lure the viewers for

a first-hand experience.

Feeling fragile, explosive or prickly?

Leave your morning mood behind,

says the McDonald’s Austria’s print

campaign. The illustrations

communicate the moods very

creatively. The ad campaign is not

specific to a single category, be it

gender or class and has covered

different walks of life, all needing a

simple easy morning at McDonald’s

to have a consequent easy day ahead.

Mornings at McDonald’s here have

been brought forward as a one stop

solution for all those who are

suffering from sullen mornings.

CLIENT: McDonald's Austria

AD AGENCY: DDB Tribal, Wien,

Austria

MORNING PERSON

BLEND IN

PRINT AD

CLIENT: Zoo Safari

AD AGENCY: DDB Brazil

IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

06 THE MARKSMAN

History:

In 1976, Chaleo Yoovidhya introduced a

drink called Krating Daeng (literally

translates into the English language as Red

Bull), in Thailand which was popular with

the truck drivers and laborers there. In

1982, an Austrian toothpaste salesman,

Dietrich Mateschitz stumbled upon this

drink and found that it was successful in

curing his jet-lag to some extent.

Identifying an opportunity, Mateschitz

partnered with Yoovidhya, to transform

this obscure local remedy for sluggishness

into a more universal concept.

This joint effort resulted in Red Bull

GmbH which launched the product for

the first time in Austria in the year 1987.

By 1992, the brand took its first steps in

the international market with its

operation expanding into Hungary and

Slovenia. By 1997 the brand had gained

presence in the United States and Canada.

Red Bull also made its foray into the Asian

market through the Middle East in the

year 2000. In 2008, Forbes Magazine

named Mateschitz and Yoovidhya as the

250th richest people in the world with an

estimated net worth of $4 billion. Red

Bull’s headquarters is located in a small

village called Fuschl am See, near Salzburg.

The building sports no logo or has any

indication of being a RedBull office and is

very heavily guarded. To further heighten

this enigmatic image the company does

not grant any interviews.

BRAND MARKive Red Bull – How It Got Wings

With operations in 166 countries

worldwide and an employee base of close

to 10,000 personnel, this brand sold

more than 5.3 billion cans in 2013. Having

the most innovative and original

marketing strategies and communication

techniques this brand decided not to

enter any product line; on the contrary, it

established a totally new product line in a

direct face-off with Coca Cola and Pepsi.

The maverick under consideration is

none other than Red Bull. Over the

years its brand personality has developed

along the lines of being non-conformist,

unpredictable, adventurous, tireless and

sporty. Very few brands can attain a

position in the customer’s mind wherein,

the customer defines the whole product

line through that brand. Red Bull has

been successful in doing just that. Brand

expert David Aaker wrote, ”I know of no

other brand that has connected with

customers in so many ways.”

ANNIVERSARY 2014 07

BRAND MARKive

Content as an engine

The idea central to content marketing is that a

brand must give something valuable in order to

get something valuable in return. Red Bull

exemplified this concept. Rather than being

just another commercial, they believe in being

the entire show. Breath-taking footage and

awe-inspiring acts seamlessly communicate the

whole idea behind the idea of the brand.

Events and Associations

Red Bull covers the whole spectrum in this

regards. It has covered all the bases including

team ownerships, sponsorships, events, etc. The

brand believes in owning the team and not

merely being a sponsor.

Guerilla Marketing

This might be seen as an extension to the

content strategy of Red Bull, but requires

special mention because very few brands can

execute its guerilla strategies like them.

RedBull has revolutionized the simplest

concept of free samples through its out-of-the-

box campaigns.

Flight to Infinity:

Red Bull has continued to amaze us over the

years and it has created a very high benchmark

for itself. Irrespective of our nationality we

wait for the next big thing that Red Bull is

going to come out with. The brand has faced

numerous allegations and petty rumors but

each time it has bounced back stronger. In

nearly a quarter of a century this brand has

conquered the world but as far as we as

individuals are concerned: it simply gave us

wings…

Marketing Strategy:

Red Bull has been a pioneer in the

world of marketing for some time

now. Every budding marketer

fantasizes about being a part of Red

Bull’s marketing team. When we stop

to consider we realize that we have

hardly ever seen Red Bull’s ads on

billboards, magazines, television or

YouTube. Hence, the question now

arises that how think tanks at Red Bull

have been so successful in impacting

each consumer globally. The answer

lies in its unconventional take on

marketing. Rather than targeting

prospective consumers on the basis of

demographics, the brand targets them

according to their “state of mind”.

Rule No. 1: Never talk about…

The most remarkable aspect of Red

Bull’s social media presence is that we

never hear them talk about their

product. There might be an occasional

shot of the can with the tagline “Red

Bull gives you wings”. But, apart from

that we are mostly mesmerized by

people doing remarkable things in an

‘extreme’ manner. Red Bull is

omnipresent in that sense; we can see

their logo appearing on F1 cars,

daredevils, automobiles, rock bands

and many such entities. Seeing this

over and over again permanently sears

an image in our minds that the

consumption of this drink makes us

‘cool’ and fashionable.

08 THE MARKSMAN

COVER STORY YOUTH MARKETING

“Youth advertising is any marketing effort

directed towards young people. This group

includes tweens, teenagers, college

students, and young adults aged 23-34.

Young people make such valuable

consumers because they influence the

purchasing decisions of their friends and

family, starting from the clothes that they

wear, choice of vacations and a new car a

family choses to buy.

Being young is associated with being free,

happy, and culturally relevant. If a product

or brand is popular with young people, it

gains an image of being “cool.” This is an

image that every brand aspires to attain,

even if they market to older consumers.

Companies who want to seem vital, new,

and forward in their thinking adopt

strategies to influence the youth’s product

preferences. Youth advertising strategy is

not limited to any one marketing channel

or technique. It takes place on TV, radio, in

print and in dozens of forms online.

Companies often sponsor athletes,

musicians, and high school sports teams as

a way to include them into youth culture.

Today’s millennial, the 18-30 generation,

live in a world where technology is the

great unifier, creating a truly global

generation. With social media and

technology uniting the generation,

global youth share similar motivations,

such as - a desire for community,

authenticity and justice. They always

hunt for content or experiences they

can share with their audience that

make them look cool, clever or worldly,

without appearing to try too hard.

Increased curiosity and self-confidence

make them dream bigger and bolder.

They want the brands they support to

reflect their values and tastes. Brands

are tapping into this curious generation

and have realized that being passive will

no longer help them connect with the

youth.

MTV undertakes a massive research

every year to understand what makes

its core audience - the youth - make

the choices that they do.

“It used to be that people needed

products to survive. Now products need

people, to survive.”

– Nicholas Johnson.

ANNIVERSARY 2014 09

The findings gathered from this research are

presented through interactive seminars and

presentations every year at the MTV Youth

Marketing Forum (MTV’s flagship forum),

thus making it the "ultimate word" on the

youth. The 9th edition of this forum

organized this August unveiled ‘The Curious

Minds’ study, that generates some

interesting insights on how today's young

people are evolving by using their “curiosity

to curate” their lives.

It was conducted by the team over a period

of six months after interviewing more than

11,000 young people in the age bracket of

13-25 years, across more than 40 cities in

India to find out exactly what makes them

tick. The study found that these young

people are hardworking, open-minded,

happy and confident ~ the four primary

values that define this generation. With only

9 per cent stating that they are unhappy

with their current state of life, this

generation is the happiest and most

optimistic lot. Aditya Swamy, EVP and

business head of MTV India adds that the

study will help the channel and business

partners build a strong connect with young

people through cutting-edge content

COVER STORY COVER STORY

(Survey content includes: How Happy and

Curious you are, Truths of Life, How digital

technologies changed your life, What does

the internet mean to you, How you spent

your time daily, Most important reason for

using social media, What do you spent

money on?)

Another excellent example is of

Voxburner, an independent brand with a

dedicated team of editorial, research and

development staff that gives information,

ideas and inspiration to marketing

professionals across the world to

connect with young people. The brand’s

focus is on quality and a creative flavor.

Its youth consumer insight helps brands

and agencies shape strategy, product

development and communications. It

provides critical updates every day on

the mindset of 16 to 24 year-olds and the

advice of experts. It organizes

inspirational events like Youth

Marketing Strategy and the Youth 100.

Youth Marketing Strategy is the

industry summit that brings together the

best minds, top brands and edgiest

agencies involved in the fast-moving

world of youth marketing. Latest insights

and experiences are shared, fresh ideas

are discussed and invaluable new

connections are made. Excitingly, this

year the YMS series has grown with the

addition of Youth Tech; an optional half

day dedicated to exploring the way in

which young people interact with

technology, what the future looks like

and what it means for brands.

“Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement. “

- Samuel Johnson.

10 THE MARKSMAN

COVER STORY COVER STORY

The Youth 100 reveals the most loved

brands of the current year based on a

survey of thousands of young people. It is

an exciting one day conference packed

with workshops, interviews, and panel

discussions, giving you the tools you need

to understand to be a top youth brand.

YouTube tops this year’s Youth 100 list,

followed by Amazon, Google, BBC and

Ben & Jerry’s. According to a new report

of Voxburner, brands that make life easier

and help save money are rated highly by

young people. The third characteristic

that stands out is fun. Brands such as

YouTube (ranking 1), BBC (ranking 4), Ben

& Jerry’s (ranking fifth), and Channel 4

(ranking 10) all use a combination of

entertainment and function to appeal

to 18 to 24 year-olds. Having good

content and sharing ability can also make

a brand desirable, contributing to why

YouTube comes at the top. Every time

you go to YouTube it’s for something

brilliant, something funny, inspiring or

creative, unlike Facebook where you

might log in, scroll about and sometimes

find nothing of interest. Having great

content has helped the BBC take fourth

place as a trusted brand overall.

Starbucks has fallen nearly 40 places from

31 in 2012 to number 70. The coffee

chain’s issues around tax avoidance,

means that young people judge the brand

according to their own morals.

Costa Coffee, by contrast, ranks at

number 35, (down from its ranking at

number 14 last year), helped by the

fact that it has more outlets so it is

easy to access. Apple tops the list of

companies young people would most

prefer to work for, owing to its

leadership in market and risk taking

abilities, making it hugely exciting to

this age group.

The Young crowd feels passionate

about brands that, after playing a

functional role, strive to be socially

and digitally connected in day-to-day

life. Media brands like Google and the

BBC, tech brands like Samsung and

lifestyle brands like Coca-Cola have

evolved and are creating exciting

products and entertaining content

that this age group can relate to.

Undoubtedly, Google has secured a lot

of love among millennials, and is a

clear winner, ahead of social brands

like Facebook, gaming brands like

Nintendo, and adventure brands like

Red Bull.

ANNIVERSARY 2014 11

COVER STORY COVER STORY

The main reason is that Google best

embodies the qualities that

youngsters have reported to seek in

their friends and in their own

behavior: truthfulness, genuine

behavior, sociability, maturity and

humility. The Google Doodle is one

feature through which the company

manages to demonstrate authenticity,

both by showcasing a true fact about

history, and by staying true to its own

brand. Google chooses to represent

or honor a person or event, by

adapting it through its logo on the

homepage, on certain days or

occasions of the year.

Today the youth are audacious,

completely in control, take on

convention, and do things not done

before. Pepsi’s ‘Youngistaan’ campaign

was one such attempt that talked

about a confident youth populace of

India, the country with the largest

youth population in the world. The

idea was to connect with the youth

and bring forth their audacity,

provoke and encourage this attitude,

but do it in a fun, entertaining way.

Pepsi continued its legacy of ‘youth

association’ and their irreverence and

impatience to get everything, with its

recent campaign “Oh Yes Abhi!”. It

planned to get a bigger and better

place in the market by leveraging on

the IPL fever and by celebrating and

promoting ‘Young Talent’.

A youth's audience is critical as they are

seeking to assert their individuality and

leave their mark on the world in the

21st century. In a world where the goal

is to amass admiration without

necessarily having the trappings of

power and fame, real value for youth is

now found not just in the products

owned or experiences had, but in what

is shared with one's audience. But even

more difficult than building a strong

association with youth for a brand story

is, actually getting youth to spend

money on a brand. Notoriously fickle,

geographically diverse, and nowadays

financially strapped as a result of the

ongoing economic turmoil, youth has

become even harder to effectively

target.

“You can tell the ideals of a nation

by its advertisements.”

- Norman Douglas, South Wind.

12 THE MARKSMAN

SPECIAL STORY

Best Friend, On Sale

He took the book from the lot, read its

back cover and felt a sudden urge to read

the book. “This is not something I usually

follow but this can be a new field of

interest”, he thought. He had never read

anything on that topic, never heard from

anyone, never even known of the existence

of such a thing, but just in a moment, he

was ready to devote his worthy

consideration to that field of work for the

next few days.

Welcome to today's world of words,

welcome to today's world of books. Not so

long ago, a book was marketed with an

influential photograph of the writer and a

brief about his epitomic achievements.

Today, it is designed to catch everyone's eye

for a second and their thoughts for a

minute, and the content of the book is a

different story all together. While this is a

scenario which still prevails in some stores,

what's shaping up for the coming time is a

completely different scenario: technology

influencing and invading the world of books.

In fact, if traditional printed books are taken

into consideration, digitization has already

eaten significantly into its market: 30% of all

the books today are e-books.

However, the not-so-enormous-but-

still-significant increase in the share of

readers can still make up for some of

the losses but if one believes in the

old-school style of reading, one needs

to take some innovative steps; else a

bright display will eat up the solid

pages.

So what has changed over the years?

What is changing now? What are the

expected changes in the future? Like

every other product, books need to

be marketed well. And like every

other product, every other market,

the competition is fierce. Subtle, but

fierce. From the way the cover is

designed to the way the book is

launched, everything is arranged and

executed so as to catch the

consumer’s attention for a while and

then elongate that connection's life-

time.

The market is quickly shifting from physical

copies to soft copies.

ANNIVERSARY 2014 13

SPECIAL STORY

A book today need not wait for years to

get itself into the best-seller's list thus

everything has to be fast. From what is

happening these days, it is clear that the

two factors impacting this section are:

boom of technological advancements

during the last decade or so and the

change in behaviour of consumer-market

conversation from a declamation to a

discussion.

The reader knows about the book even before he sees it for the first time: he has read critics’ reviews, reader reviews, ratings and sales figures from multiple sources. Publishers have realized that nobody today would be willing to travel miles just to buy a book. They have therefore laid considerable emphasis on bringing the book to the customer. The delivery itself is just a phone call or a click away. And most importantly, one does not

need to buy a hard-copy of the text one

wishes to read: it’s available at your

fingertips in a flash.

To take a quick peak into the future, the e-

book market share is surely going to grow

at an exponential rate and the reader is

going to have a lot of information about the

book, sometimes more than the book itself.

But the big question that still remains is:

how does one market one’s book?

Firstly, it is evident that in order to design a

campaign for a book, one needs to rely

heavily on technology. Much of the action

takes place online. There has to be an

element of social networking in it. Create

online forums, keep the audience

connected with relevant and related topics,

conduct events, and host guest bloggers.

The second important word is 'buzz'. One

needs to create that buzz: launch a teaser,

preferably a video clip, organize events,

connect with the target audience, hold

discussions related to the theme of the

book, give away free excerpts of the book.

Next, set up collaborations.

People invariably trust big names and

getting into the audience's mind becomes

easy when a known name is attached to a

product. This may be judged to be a bit too

flashy for books and for people such as

writers but this works, as most of the “ugly

things” do in today's world.

Amazon.com has changed the rules of the

book-world and continues to do so.

14 THE MARKSMAN

SPECIAL STORY

Otherwise, one can opt for street-smart

tricks as well such as: opening the sales

of your book for a specific time on a

specific date, which can move your name

in the bestselling charts and create

public curiosity as well. The perfect

example to understand this world is the

resurgence of Amazon and, to

complement, that of Amish Tripathi.

Amazon is a company that fetches $5.25

billion annual revenue from books.

Amish is an author who struck a 5-crore

deal for stuff he has not yet written. The

way these two have worked their way

up the ladder is the perfect example of

how to deal with both perspectives of

this situation. In the end, effective

marketing for an effective book is a deal

profitable for all, the writer, the

publisher, as well the reader. Only a few

deals work that way.

Amish Tripathi is hugely successful with his

books. Thanks to his marketing skills that

he learnt at IIM-C.

ANNIVERSARY 2014 15

MARKETING FAUX PAS Sunfill

Sunfill was Coca Cola’s first and perhaps

the last step in the soft drink concentrate

market. Globally as well, this was Coke’s

maiden venture out of its comfort zone of

aerated drinks to new turf, namely the

powder concentrate segment. The brand

was out of sight within 4 years mainly due

to poor quality and faulty marketing.

Launched in 2001, this was Coca Cola’s

direct attack on Rasna, the market leader

with a lion’s share of 85%, in the then Rs.

180 crore soft drink concentrate market.

The only differentiation it offered was a

meagre convenience of not adding sugar

to the concentrated drink as opposed to

Rasna.

Sunfill came in three variants – Regular,

Anand & Tarang. The brand came in single

serve and multi-serve pillow packs. Sunfill

Regular was priced at Rs 2.50 per serve

and was available in single serve (23gms)

and multi serve (200gms). While Sunfill

Anand was launched in rural markets,

Tarang, with lemon, orange, pineapple &

mango variants was targeted at

housewives in the high-end grocery

segment keeping in mind the age-old

Indian custom of making squashes at

home.

Coke even thought of an innovative

technique to reach out to the market.

The brand had its own channel as well as

a third party alliance with other FMCG

firms. It roped in large distributors of

Hindustan Lever, ITC, Britannia & Marico

to promote Sunfill all over the country

making it available across grocery shops,

paan shops & departmental stores.

16 THE MARKSMAN

Yet somehow, the powder concentrate

drink proved to be a disaster following the

footsteps of Vanilla Coke, another product

gone wrong by the parent company. The

reason being simply that as soon as Sunfill

came into the market, Rasna had countered

it with its own range of powder

concentrate with added sugar thereby

nullifying the differentiation.

Despite such a huge distribution network, it

had to deal with lack of availability at stores.

Add to this a negative word of mouth

regarding its quality and you have a recipe

to turn a sweet drink sour.

MARKETING FAUX PAS

Later, Coke tried to re-launch the

product in sachets of Re. 1 each to

take on Rasna’s ‘Ek ka Do’ scheme on

the critical price front. In 2003 it even

came up with a promotional offer that

went “Taste Sunfill ka, Ghar Saje

Aapka” wherein with every 200 gm

pack the consumer was offered a

chance to scratch and win various

Videocon home appliances.

All this resulted in Rasna expanding its

market share from 85 to 93.5%, which

led to the effect that in 2005, Sunfill

had its sundown and was reduced to

all but diluted in the powder

concentrate market.

ANNIVERSARY 2014 17

Coca Cola has succeeded in connecting

with people and communicating with

them by embodying the brand promise

of happiness and sharing. Coca Cola

decided to spread a little happiness

amongst the workers in the UAE by

launching a Hello Happiness phone

booth for them. The campaign

normalises and even glorifies the

hardships faced by a migrant worker --

at least some of whom may be working

against their will. It highlights the

emotional connect with their families

and how much effort they take to earn

their daily bread, all the while being

away from their loved ones. Calling

home is the only way the workers keep

in touch with their families. But with the

call rates being as high as $0.91 per

minute it wasn’t viable for them to stay

in touch on a regular basis. This is when

Coca Cola came to the forefront and

gained publicity by turning their bottle

caps into currency which can be used in

their “Hello Happiness Phone Booth” --

a phone booth specially created by

Coca Cola that accepts bottle caps

instead of coins to make a free three

minute international call.

Hall-MARK CAMPAIGN

The booths were installed at labour

camps making it easier for them to call

home any day any time. Every time a

worker opened a coke they were able to

share a few minutes of happiness with

their families back home. If that isn’t

happiness, what is?

On the other hand, campaign feasibility

remains an issue. The idea is a hit but

gauging the effectiveness of the campaign

could be a dicey affair, especially in terms

of sale. The only saving grace then could

be word of mouth, which might spread

and generate curiosity among the

audiences thus pushing sales forward.

COCA COLA

18 THE MARKSMAN

Coca Cola has brought out another

campaign with a “twist”. The campaign

features a first day at college. There’s a

refrigerator – the red paint acting as a

subliminal invocation of the brand. A

youngster walks up to it and fetches a

bottle of Coke. But it doesn’t open – the

cap is screwed on too tight. So tight, it

won’t twist… And here comes the “twist”:

the caps are specially manufactured to not

open unless paired with another identical

cap. Now, the youngster is forced to

interact with the nearest person, just to

take a sip from the bottle. Slowly but

surely, the awkwardness dissipates. Soon,

everyone is taking selfies, tweeting, and

exchanging phone numbers. What Coca

Cola has done here, is that it has helped

break the ice. This is a targeted exercise

and the stroke of genius is in the fact that

Coca Cola almost completely shifted focus

away from itself and onto the students, the

youth of today. The success of the

campaign lay in the execution. Two words:

Guerrilla Marketing.

There is no prompting, no camera crew

running around embarrassing passers-

by. Just a fridge stocked with seemingly

normal bottles – a brilliant no-brainer.

This is called experiential marketing. It

means to invite the customer on a

journey and give them an experience

they’re completely unprepared for,

instead of just trying to sell them

something they don’t want. With the

twist campaign, this has gone a long

way. The teenagers take away a lot

more in tangibles as compared to Coca

Cola. All coke gets is visibility, while the

students get a drink, a friend and a fun

first day of college, which trumps all the

above mentioned.

Now it may seem completely

unnecessary to go so far, spend so

much money on designing something

new, all for one single day and a few

teenagers. But, if done right, the effects

and results are immeasurably beneficial.

Every successful campaign has three

main components: (i) Experience; (ii)

Sentiment; and (iii) Content. This is how

any outreach program must be. Do it

because you want to, not because you

think you must. And most importantly,

do it right and have a blast.

HALL-MARK CAMPAIGN

ANNIVERSARY 2014 19

Mr. Perfectionist has over the years proved

himself as a master strategist in marketing

with his grit and ingenuity. We have seen him

as the flamboyant ‘Aakash’ of Dil Chahta Hai,

ingenuous ‘Bhuwan’ of Lagaan, an inspiring

painting teacher in Taare Zameen Par , a

charming Phunsukh Wangdu’ in 3 Idiots, and

as the sensitive host of the TV show

Satyamev Jayate. He is Aamir Khan- one of

the most popular and influential actors of

our Indian film industry.

Every time before the release of his movies,

Aamir creates an enigma that pushes movie

buffs to be on the edge of their seats and

wait in eager anticipation to witness what he

is coming up with next. Anyone remembers

how the Oscar nominated ‘Lagaan’ was

promoted? Thinking hard, right? Well, yes

because Aamir had used a subdued approach

for the promotions. Low promotion created

less expectation in the audience, who was

later bowled over by the fantastic plot and a

truly convincing performance by the actors.

Lesson learnt: Keep the classy acts low

key for the big day.

Aamir created a stir in the marketing

arena by co-branding with a soft drink

brand and an apparel brand, for his

movie’ Rang De Basanti’, which was a

first ever experience for the marketers

to witness in India. Another new ‘out-of-

the-box’ act was seen for the promotion

of ‘3 Idiots’, which was later telecasted.

Aamir dressed up in different avatars and

travelled across various nooks and

corners of the country, to surprise

people and create a buzz for the movie.

People who recognized him were

rewarded with prizes.

He toys with all sorts of controversies

to work in his favor. The latest teasers

for his upcoming movie PK are creating

waves in both the film industry and the

marketing world.

PIONEER

AAMIR ‘KAN’

20 THE MARKSMAN

PIONEER

Similar kind of negative marketing was

used for his movie ‘Delhi Belly’, which

came up with a warning stating that the

movie was not suitable for everything.

This was enough to raise the curiosity

of the audience. Delhi Belly and 3 Idiots

were taken up as case study topics on

marketing and promotion by some

esteemed B schools of India, thereby

adding glory to the actor’s achievement

list.

This fact cannot be ignored that he has

redefined the way movies are marketed

in our country, however long this

transition has taken to occur.

From a guy who used to give the

longest possible replies as an actor to a

media person to the one who doesn't

entertain any interviews to one who is

loved by the media for his social

activities, every time this chameleon has

changed colors, either it suited him

even more or the world changed itself

for him.

He lives by the true definition of the word

'brand image', what he is, is what he does

and what he does is what he sells. His refusal

to attend any award function to protesting

for an issue involving the problems faced by

people due to the construction of dams, to

making a satirical movie a success to

awakening people through a TV show, all

have the Aamir Khan Stamp over them. And

this stamp sells.

Get ready for another undressed truth,

Christmas curiosity is rising.

ANNIVERSARY 2014 21

BOOK WORM The Firm:

The Story of McKinsey

And Its Secret Influence on

American Business -Duff McDonald

“A Good Housekeeping seal

of approval. It’s political, so if you

make a decision, you can say, ‘It’s

not my fault, it’s their fault.’ . . . I

think consultants can become a

disease for corporations.”

Excerpt

“If you want to be taken seriously, you hire

McKinsey and Company.” The sheer confidence

reflected in this statement is enough to impress

upon anybody the respect that McKinsey

commands. Duff McDonald, in his own personal

style, analyses the company known for its

analysis. You are taken through a timeline,

wherein you traverse different phases of the

consulting giant’s story. How the vision of an

Ozark farm boy eventually led to the

conception of ‘The Firm’. The one thing that

you invariably notice is that McKinsey doesn’t

really sell anything except the only thing that it

needs to sell, McKinsey. The way the company

is run, the strategies used and the methods in

implementing them may have varied over the

years and from leader to leader, but the

underlying principle is always that they advise

you; the option of and the accountability for

taking that advice is solely upon the company.

Instances of how McKinsey almost always

comes out of some of the most scandalous

situations unscathed, display, how following the

core values of the company has worked in its

favour. There are unbelievable success stories

to remember and utterly shameful instances

that the Firm would definitely rather are

forgotten. But in spite of all this, they still boast

of clients like American Express, AT&T,

CitiBank, General Motors and Merrill Lynch.

22 THE MARKSMAN

McKinsey and Company, established in 1925

by James McKinsey was initially driven from

the perspective of an accountant and the

term used for the consultants was

“management engineers”. From there, you

see the journey of a vision, the journey of

McKinsey. The most influential personality

featured in the book is Marvin Bower who

shapes the company into one that rests

heavily on values rather than note printing

and expansion. He carries forward the idea

of McKinsey as an almost clandestine

solution to the most elusive problems. The

Firm then goes through several changes

because of several leaders: while Ron Daniel

lends it class, Fred Gluck gives it

intellectualism, Rajat Gupta gives it

expansion (and scandals), which leads to Ian

Davis going back to its roots and principles.

The book, in an unbiased way, talks about

how a company right from its formulation

has survived unprecedented booms and

crises, through the years. It is a good read

and is recommended to anyone who wishes

to understand the simplicities that make

consulting a complex profession.

BOOKWORM

ANNIVERSARY 2014 23

Cinema in India from its incipient days

has used several marketing strategies to

generate awareness about any new

release. In the early days, movie

marketing teams would carry press

books which had information about the

cast, crew and the storyline of the

movie. Posters and magazines were the

only tools they relied upon.

But today things have changed

dramatically. Among the 4Ps of

marketing, two P’s are especially relevant

from the perspective of movie marketing

– Place and Promotion.

Movie marketing in Reality shows in India

FEATURED ARTICLES

Today the objective of marketing is not

only to generate awareness about the

movie but also to engage the target

audience so that the end consumer

switches from being aware to taking the

decision of watching the movie in

cinema theatres. For this purpose movie

marketing teams approach the

customers through the following touch

points.

Above the line(ATL) – TV, radio,

theatrical trailers, print media

Below the line(BTL) – Direct marketing,

merchandise, event sponsorships

Through the line(TTL) – Social media,

blogs, mobile apps

Recently, movie marketing teams have

started advertising movies via reality

shows on television. These reality shows

have taken the television industry by a

storm. It broke the monotonous

television experience and introduced

novel and interesting concepts that

made them stand out from the regular

shows. Reality shows wooed and

attracted audiences of all ages. Right

from the days of shows like Antakshari

and SaReGaMa reality shows have struck

the right chords with the Indian

audience.

Ratul Chakraborty

- IMT Ghaziabad

24 THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES

Nowadays movie marketing teams are

trying to leverage this connect of reality

shows with the Indian audience to

promote their movies and gain

widespread recognition and generate

excitement among the audiences about

watching the movie.

Today it is quite common to see big

movie stars promoting their movies in

reality shows – in fact, some reality

shows are even being hosted by movie

stars. It is the icing on the cake for the

audience as it increases their exhilaration

manifold as they get to see two movie

stars at the opposite ends of the mic and

they remain captivated to the television

till the last minute.

Many popular movie stars host reality

shows and the guest movie stars interact

with them on these shows. Apart from

engaging in playful banter with the hosts

these guest movie starts also promote

their movies by either performing or

coming up dressed like the characters

they are playing in the movie.

Who can forget the two icons of Indian

Cinema Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh

Khan performing Gangnam style

alongside the stunningly beautiful

Katrina Kaif on the sets of ‘Kaun Banega

Crorepati’? The audience must have

gone head over heels while watching

this performance. What were Shahrukh

Khan and Katrina Kaif doing on the

show? They were promoting their then

upcoming movie ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’.

Remember Aamir Khan visiting Salman

Khan on ‘Dus Ka Dum’ show. They both

rode a bicycle on the show. The

audience was mesmerized. Aamir Khan

was sporting the look of the character

he played in his blockbuster movie

‘Ghajini’.

Apart from the shows which are hosted

by movie stars, there are other reality

shows where movie stars promote their

movies, some do it at the top of the

their voice and there are those who

believe in subtlety.

ANNIVERSARY 2014 25

But this does not deny the share of

publicity value reality shows bring to

movies if they are promoted in one or

more. It is one of the most popular and

effective ways to generate awareness for

a new release. Movie marketing in reality

shows is arguably the best way to sell a

movie these days.

Numerous surveys have showed that TRPs

rise by leaps and bounds when good reality

shows are aired. People watch reality shows

more than any fictional drama series or any

other daily soap. Movie marketing teams are

cashing in on this phenomenon as they can

reach wider audience by sending the movie

starcast to these reality shows than

organising any promotional event. This

generates the expected hype and the movie

comes to be talked about in the households

who watch the respective reality shows.

Unlike trailers wherein clips/scenes from the

movie are shown, reality shows help movie

stars to be themselves as they are in their

real life and talk about their movies, so they

can directly connect with the audience not

as the movie character but as a real person.

There is a flip side to this as well. Recently

while promoting ‘Dhoom 3’ Aamir Khan

expressed his desire to not promote his

movie in any reality show. He said that

reality shows may not be ideal for publicity.

He stated that the whole Dhoom 3 team

wanted the content of the movie to speak

for itself. Dhoom is a known commodity as a

movie franchise and people already are

aware of it, reality shows only amplify the

awareness of a movie but do not increase

the desire to consume. So they stuck to

trailers and songs to create that desire.

Dhoom 3 is the highest grossing film of all

times in India.

FEATURED ARTICLES

26 THE MARKSMAN

INTRODUCTION

From cigarette to dairy products, ITC has

long employed the strategy of category

extension successfully. ITC extended its

foot hold in FMCG products leveraging

its extensive distribution network, its

expertise in packaging. ITC forayed into

hotel industry in 1975 and promoted the

idea of sustainable luxury. ITC's

Paperboards and Specialty Papers

Division produces ecofriendly paper and

paperboards. It provides packaging

solutions for various industries. ITC

through farmer engagement and

collaboration is one of the largest

exporter of Agri products in the country.

It also started an initiative for farmers

known as e-Choupal which provides

them relevant data for farming.

PERSONAL CARE

In line with its aim of having a strong

foothold in FMCG sector, ITC entered

personal care segment in 2005. It

launched brands in various price

segments catering to the consumers in

different economic strata. A late entrant

into the personal care category, ITC

undertook very aggressive

advertisements and other promotion

programs. Its extensive distribution

strategy also contributed in increasing

visibility. ITC came up with brands like

Fiama de wills, Engage, Superia, and Vivel

in personal care category.

In 2005 ITC entered personal care

segment by launching “Essenza Di Wills”

in the super premium category. “Essenza

Di Wills” is launched in soaps, perfumes

and body care for both men and

women.

ITC ENTERS DAIRY AND PERSONAL CARE

FEATURED ARTICLES

Vishalatha

Bhamidipaty

- XLRI, Jamshedpur

ANNIVERSARY 2014 27

FEATURED ARTICLES

ITC then launched premium brand “Fiama

di wills”. By extending Fiama di wills

brand it has launched personal care

products for men. It roped in Deepika

Padukone as brand ambassador with a

slogan “Beautiful you today, tomorrow”.

Advertisements for the lines of soap,

shampoo and conditioner positioned

them as an amalgamation of both science

and technology. The brand proposition of

“beautiful you today tomorrow” doesn’t

feature these days.

“Vivel” was launched as a brand for mid-

market. It was positioned as a brand for

youngsters with a series of

advertisements featuring college students.

A slightly superior brand Vivel di wills

caters to the upper mid segment. Vivel

soaps were a very affordable alternatives

for people who wished to move from

cheap soaps. The aspirations of the

segment who couldn’t afford soaps like

Lux were rightly captured by Vivel brand.

For Vivel, ITC came up with commercials

featuring Kareena Kapoor, Amritha Rao

and regional actors. Down south actors

like Trisha was chosen based on the

popularity so that the viewers could

relate. Vivel was launched in the

categories of Soap, body wash, face wash,

shampoo. “Superia” range of soaps and

shampoos cater to the mass market.

Superia didn’t extensively rope in

celebrities for the promotions.

Engage in 2013 launched “Engage” the

first couple deodorant in the country. The

brand focusses its communication on the

playful chemistry between couples. It is

very tactically positioned as equality of

both genders is concentrated on unlike

other deodorants where man attracts the

woman. The TV commercials that were

released were designed in line with their

proposition and a slew of brand

activation activities followed. They made

their presence felt on social media and

online. Engage brand has seven flavors in

its kitty namely: Rush (Male) & Blush

(Female), Mate (Male) & Spell (Female),

Urge (Male) & Tease (Female), Frost

(Male) & Drizzle (Female) and Jump

(Male) & Trail (Female). The innovative

packaging features silhouettes, each

depicting the proposition of engage.

28 THE MARKSMAN

As an extension to the integrated dairy

management program which was

launched as part of their corporate social

responsibility initiatives, ITC is foraying

into the field of dairy products to derive

the benefits of forward integration.

Current dairy products market is

dominated by players like Amul, Nestle.

Initially shelf stable products are being

launched by ITC.

CONCLUSION

ITC through its expansion into new

categories is leveraging on the advantages

of diversification. ITC is foraying into

FMCG with its aggressive launch of

products in new categories to increase

their revenues from this sector. It is now

foraying into the dairy industry and

beverages. The extensive distribution

network that ITC enjoys would further

its interests.

FEATURED ARTICLES

Source: ITC sustainability report 2013

As a part of project Gomukh, a pilot

program was started in Munger which

provided animal management services like

feed management, artificial insemination,

veterinary services etc. along with a call

center. This program is aimed at increasing

the milk production. Milk procured from

Munger averaged around 9862 kg per day

according to the company’s sustainability

report. An integrated dairy management

program was designed which provided

not just animal management services but

also farm management, collection centers,

chilling centers facilities. These services

were also extended to Saharanpur. Two

other locations have been finalized as part

of their extension programs.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRY

ITC started a program for genetic

development of cattle through artificial

insemination to increase the yield. New

cattle centers were being established. Few

statistics of Cattle development centers

(CDC) from the animal husbandry and dairy

development are:

ANNIVERSARY 2014 29

“Our life is nothing!” My mother said

to me in a feeble voice. “Was it really

true?”, I thought. “All we do is earn money

and spend it on ourselves. Do we ever

think about the people around us who

actually need it? Did you ever notice those

beggars around the corner or their poor

children who do not even have enough

food to eat? And here we are, buying and

shopping all the time, the clothes we do

not require, the food that makes us gain

weight. That’s it! I am going to donate half

of what I earn from now on. And I am

going to donate it to NAIK

FOUNDATION.”

SADVERTISING – Brands focusing more on striking

an ‘Emotional Chord’

FEATURED ARTICLES

“Why? Why only this one?” I asked,

gazing at her with my eyes wide open.

“Did you not see the ad they just

telecasted? It brought tears to my eyes.

How could an innocent child have the

ability to be selfless and buy an elderly

lady the glasses that were broken by

someone else? Look at the modesty that

child possesses, I should harness at least

some of it. ”

That such a big impact an advertisement

could have on a person who was highly

educated with great pragmatism, was a

bizarre and amazing experience to me.

Without even verifying if the foundation

was really genuine, its reach, the means

they used to help people, their target

audience, the services and amenities

they provided them, the sponsors and

the people actually involved, my mother

had formed an opinion about the

organization that was rather positive and

the organization had already earned

itself blind faith, from a well-read and

informed person. Had the brands found

their right audience? Or had they found

their right chord to hit on. After all, even

in our robotic fast paced life, we are

HUMANS! But then, how often do we

recognize this fact?

Aakanksha Tanwar

- GIM

“I bet my ad can make you cry and buy!”

(Twisted story of Sadvertising)

30 THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES

We value something, only when we

realize that we have lost it. The

advertising companies ought to cash on

this very simple principle. Gone are the

days of funny, awkward and absurd

advertisements. Now, all the brands want

to do, is connect with their audience’s

emotions and remind them of a very

important value that they have lost. Care,

love, respect, little acts of kindness,

acceptance have made their way onto

our TV screens. To sum it all up, all they

do by these emotional advertisements, is

ignite a spark of humanity that gets lost

in everyday life. We find these ads

meaningful because we know that we are

definitely lacking in our practice of

humanity. And the final result of these ads

is, that we feel for that specific section

shown in the ad and get inspired to do

something for people around us because

these advertisements make you feel that

you, yes YOU can bring a change in your

and their lives. What a big achievement

that is, for most of us. This way these

brands bond with our personality in

some or the other manner.

A wife would definitely be able to relate

to a bottle of Saffola, just because its

advertisement shows the concern and

love of a wife towards her husband. You

would prefer to buy Lifebuoy over other

soaps, not just because it is more

economical than others but also because,

it is helping children reach the age of 5.

Not that you would not want to buy

some other brand advertised by

Aishwarya Rai or Kareena Kapoor, but

this one cause, would make you think for

sure.

Similarly, while buying shampoos you

might prefer Head and Shoulders just for

the sake of donating that one rupee to

the needy, that you otherwise could not

donate, due to your hectic life. Why

wouldn’t you buy a Honda bike if you

could travel huge distances to finally meet

your mother after a long time or a Hero

bike which tells me that everyone has a

hero in himself/herself in a beautiful

manner? Or, why wouldn’t you buy Airtel

connection when you could talk to your

fiancé for hours late in the night. Just

when you thought you wouldn’t bother

about your complexion came an ad that

suggests that fair complexion would

boost your confidence to an infinite

range and you would be able to achieve

everything you wanted. Surely not all of

us would buy it, but most of us, would.

ANNIVERSARY 2014 31

FEATURED ARTICLES

The point is, that all these ads connect to

different elements of our emotions. Some

would connect to our ego while some to

our sacred self, some will cause nostalgia

while some will just bring a tear of

happiness in our eyes. And how

beautifully did our creative marketers

comprehend this fact and come out with

strong, meaningful concepts and ads.

The practice of advertising has been in

existence for many years. And companies

have used it to their utmost discretion to

sell their products. Although, in today’s

world they have realised that an

advertisement which bonds better sells

better. Also providing genuine information

by incorporating it into the ads and still

keeping it simple has boosted sales. So

much that leading FMCGs spend about

10% of their shares on advertising. The

business is booming and hopefully will

continue to do so because fashion may

come and go, but emotions and humanity,

although hidden somewhere, would stay.

32 THE MARKSMAN

SquAreheaD

ANNIVERSARY 2014 33

BUZZ

CLUES

PUZZLE

ACROSS

Which washing powder brand by

HUL used an innovative campaign to

tap the rural markets in India?

Which pharmaceutical company

recently acquired Ranbaxy?

Who is the 'Beer Man' in Park

Avenue's Beer Shampoo campaign?

DOWN

Which company’s logo was created

by Frank Robinson?

Which spice brand is leveraging actor

Ranveer Singh's popularity through

an exclusive music video to promote

its offerings?

Which Indian e-commerce company

is currently valued at 7 billion $ ?

3.

5.

6.

1.

2.

4.

Answers:

Across:

3.Active Wheel 5.Sun 6. Andrew Smith

Down:

1. Coca Cola 2. Ching’s Secret 4. Flipkart

1 2

3

4

5

6

34 THE MARKSMAN

Call for ARTICLES

CALL FOR ARTICLES SEPTEMBER 2014

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 September, 2014

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. Font Type: Gill Sans MT

4. Font Size: 14.

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

[email protected]

6. Subtitle line: Your name_Institute

Name_Course Year

7. Kindly name your file as : Your name_Topic

1. The art of making a Viral video: AIB genius

of the year

2. #ALSIcebucketchallenge: Marketing

lessons for a social cause

3. Airtel’s ‘The Smartphone Network’ ad

campaign: Women empowerment?

ANNIVERSARY 2014 35

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he-marksman.html

THE TEAM TWEETS by Akshay Peshave

It’s all about AD-itude by Kavya Dubey

Brand MARK ive by

Dhruv Maheshwari

COVER STORY by Vasundhara Tewari

SPECIAL STORY by Abhijit Sharma

FAUX PAS by Sankalp Thakur

HALLMARK CAMPAIGN by Vidhi Agarwal

PIONEER

Vasundhara Tewari

BOOKWORM by Sukanya Remesh

SquAreheaD by Kavya Dubey

BUZZ by Loukik Korada

PROOF READ by Akshay Peshave

Sukanya Remesh

DESIGNING by Abhijit Sharma

Kavya Dubey

Sankalp Thakur

PROMOTIONS by

Shweta Panikker

Sukanya Remesh

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 received from students

of other colleges.

The TEAM

36 THE MARKSMAN