MARKETING MAGAZINE OF IIM SHILLONG

MARKATHON
BEST ENTRIES FROM VOL 1 UNDER

VOL 2, ISSUE 1

MAR 2010

PERSPECTIVE STRATEGIC ANALYSIS PRODUCTOLYSIS PANDORAS BOX SILENT VOICE

COVER STORY

TOTAL RECALL

Anniversary Issue

FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Readers,
As I sit down to write my First Editorial, a million emotions gush through me. A feeling of joy & ecstasy, a sense of responsibility, a sense of gratitude, a sense of ownership, a sense of having achieved something. I could go on & on, but just because Im the Editor I dont get to exceed the word limit given by the designer. He still is the boss!! A special feeling in the midst of all these emotions: this is the Anniversary Issue of Markathon and the timing couldnt have been better for the new team to take over the baton passed on by our illustrious seniors. From the humble beginnings it had, to the present status Markathon has achieved, the journey has been a story of sheer determination and willpower. To come out with a monthly magazine, that too on a pan-India level, with quality content, Our February 2010 Cover is easier said than done. The list of people interviewed by Markathon includes the cream of the academia & the whos who of the corporate world. This stands testimony to the quality and credibility of our magazine, and this goes to show that our seniors have done their job with utmost dedication and devotion. With the new team comes a fresh set of ideas, new perspectives on various issues & a variety of innovative initiatives to take the magazine to greater heights. You can be rest assured that this new team will strive hard to not only satisfy your expectations, but also exceed them. This being the Anniversary Issue, we thought it would be ideal to give a snapshot of the year that went by. Our Cover Story Total Recall presents to you what according to Team Markathon were the Best Brands or Practices in those fields which we felt were the most happening areas of Marketing, namely, Advertising, Green Marketing, Event Marketing, Product Launches, Consumer Trends & Packaging. We have also selected and published the Best of the Articles and Ads published in the past year, for Strategic Analysis, Pandoras Box, Perspective, Productolysis & Silent Voice.

In the Vartalaap section, we have a conversation with Prof. Jagmohan S.Raju, Chairperson of the Marketing Department at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. A man of little words, but those little words pack a punch and are truly inspirational. To conclude, I, on behalf of the whole team, would like to thank our senior team for all that they have done for us and giving us the opportunity to carry forward and realise their dream. Last but not the least I shall request, YOU, the readers & subscribers of Markathon to bless us and shower on us the same love and affection you had shown to our seniors and help us in our endeavour to make Markathon an iconic brand. Happy Reading

Kaushik Subramanian

THE MARKATHON TEAM

EDITOR Kaushik Subramanian SUB EDITORS Debanjana Sinha Samita Patnaik Samrat Singh Yadav Saurabh Kumar Sinha Varshik Nimmagadda CREATIVE DESIGNERS Keshav Sahani Priyanka Pandit

Markathon | March 2010

CONTENTS
PERSPECTIVE Celebrity Endorsement Model
ABHISHEK JAIN | MDI GURGAON - Markathon, July 2009

4 6 8 10

STRATEGIC ANALYSIS Bajaj - Brand Identity Evolution

AVINASH SHARMA, MEDHAVI SINGH | NMIMS - Markathon, December 2009

VARTALAAP Professor Jagmohan S. Raju

JOSEPH J. ARESTY PROFESSOR, MARKETING DEPARTMENT CHAIRPERSON, WHARTON, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

COVER STORY Total Recall

TEAM MARKATHON | IIM S

PRANAB TALUKDAR | IIM S - Markathon, May 2009

PANDORAS BOX Measuring the Effectiveness of Humour Quotient in Indian Advertising

KAUSHIK SRIRAM, ROHINI RAMACHANDRAN | IIM B - Markathon, Aug-Sept 2009

19 23 26

COMPETITION Silent Voice

BEST OF SILENT VOICE

UPDATES
SAMRAT SINGH YADAV | IIM S

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PRODUCTOLYSIS Bingo with an Unconventional Attitude

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Perspective

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CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT MODEL

ABHISHEK JAIN | MDI Gurgaon The purpose of this model is to find out the return on a celebrity endorsement for the chocolate industry so that we are in a better position to decide about using a celebrity for endorsing the product. The company we have taken here is Cadbury and have tried to find out the return for Cadbury Perk. Design: Based on secondary research the model has taken into account the top of mind recall (TOM) of the product with and without use of celebrity as the variable. Further it uses certain given facts about the target audience of perk from the McKinsey report. Introduction: We have used NPV method to estimate the return on expense of celebrity endorsement deal. For this we needed to estimate the values of cash outflow, discounting factor and cash inflow. Herein we have tried to estimate the NPV for the deal of Genelia endorsing Perk to showcase as to how our model works. In an impulse purchase category TOM = purchase. So our models objective is to quantify TOM into increased profit. Estimation of Cash outflow: Genelia would be endorsing Cadbury Perk very soon. She charges somewhere between 1-1.3crore*. So we estimated the cash outflow, i.e., amount paid to Genelia to be Rs 1.15 crore/-. *Source:http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/features/2009/gener
ation-x-fee-rise-250209.html

TOM Month Perk wi thout celebri ty advertisement(%) 4 3 4 4 6.5 7.5 7.5 6 Perk wi th celebri ty advertisement(%) 17 16 17 13.5 13.5 15.5 15.25 17.5 Cha nge in TOM(%) 13 13 13 9.5 7 8 7.75 11.5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Source: Nestle Case Study, Munch@MDI

Target Population We have assumed Aspirers and Seekers of the age group 8-17 years as the target population for Cadbury Perk. As per McKinsey Report (The bird of gold: rise of Indias consumer market, May 2007), Aspirers (income of Rs90000 Rs200000) and Seekers (income of Rs 200000- Rs 500000) form 45% of the total population of 1billion. Out of them around 42% of the people are in the age group of 8-17 years. The category penetration of chocolate in India is about 7% (as per Nestle Case study). We took a conservative estimate and assumed the category penetration of chocolate within our target population to be 7% and also its growth rate to be nil. Thus our target population = 1billion*42%*7% = 13,230,000*. *Note: Herein we are not considering category expansion. Per capita consumption
Total 1 consumption 41000000 Total 2 Population 200000000 Per Capita consumption (in kgs) 0.205

Estimation of discounting factor: We have assumed the discounting factor to be WACC. For calculating WACC, we took cost of debt (which is 10.84%) as WACC since Cadbury is an unlisted company. Estimation of Cash Inflow: Cash inflow = (%TOM)*(Target Population)* (average consumption)*(margin)+ Fixed factor Change in TOM The initial data of perk has been taken from the case study Munch@MDI conducted by Nestle. It gave data of the percentage TOM recall of Perk with and without celebrity. Now it was a general estimation of TOM with and without celebrity for Perk. But practically, we can always estimate TOM celebrity specific.

1. As per munch case study shown in the table 2. We assumed that the maximum category penetration of chocolate to be 200 million and so it became our total population. Now since 50% of the consumption happens at the price point of Rs 5 so for convenience we assumed it to be the average price and calculated: Value of monthly consumption = (.205/12)*(5/.0161) = Rs 5.34 1. Weight of Perk = .016 kgs Margin = 4

Perspective

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Margin for Cadbury India was 16%. So using the above mentioned values we estimate the cash inflow with the help of the formula mentioned earlier
Change Month in TOM (%) 13 13 13 9.5 7 8 7.75 11.5 Target Populatio n (in 000s) 1,32,30 1,32,30 1,32,30 1,32,30 1,32,30 1,32,30 1,32,30 1,32,30 5.33854167 5.33854167 5.33854167 5.33854167 5.33854167 5.33854167 5.33854167 5.33854167 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 1469081 1469081 1469081 1073559 791044 904050 875799 1299572 1168908 Avg. consumptio n Margin (%) Est. Cash inflow

Conclusion: Thus we conclude that hiring Genelia will be beneficial for Perk and will result in an NPV of Rs 4750966 in the next 5 years (taking into consideration the assumptions made in the model). Limitation of the model: 1) Estimation of TOM is required this would be celebrity brand mix specific. Calculating a future estimated value of TOM would be difficult. 2) The method for calculating TOM for new celebrity not mentioned. Limitation of our estimation: 1) For estimating TOM we used the data from a past estimate of TOM of perk with and without celebrity which was done for the time frame of 2006-2007. At that time Preity Zinta was endorsing Perk so the figure could have been calculated taking her as the celebrity. 2) We have taken a conservative approach while calculating the target audience for our product. Also we have ignored the change in the population while calculating NPV of 5 years. 3) The endorsement fee is also assumed to be constant of the celebrity. 4) We are neglecting the risk associated with the image of the celebrity. 5) We are also taking the change in TOM to be constant over the time (5 years) while calculating the change in sales. 6) Market penetration assumed to be 7% throughout the time period. Results- The model gives the net present value of the expenses made on celebrity endorsement. By comparing the NPV of different celebrities the company can take the appropriate decision. Practical Implication and scope- The model suggests that depending on the TOM of different celebrity the NPV of the expense made by the company varies. Thus it gives a rough idea to the marketer to decide which celebrity to use. This can be used by other industry (which are in impulse purchase category) also to find out the return on expense.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Average Monthly Cash Inflow

Fixed Factor: We took a conservative approach and assumed the fixed factor to be zero. It includes those customers who would start consuming a particular product primarily because a particular celebrity is endorsing that product. These factors are fixed subject to a particular celebrity and their value would change with a change in the celebrity. Estimating NPV: Now having calculated all the required values we estimated the NPV to be
Cash inflow (yearly) 2 (in 000s) Cash outflow (in 000s) 1,15,00 14027 14027 14027 14027 14027 1,15,00 1,15,00 1,15,00 1,15,00 -1,15,00,000 25,26,901 25,26,901 25,26,901 25,26,901 1,40,26,901 Net Cash flow Present Value factor Net Present Value

Year1 0 1 2 3 4 5

1 0.9022 0.8139 0.7343 0.6625 0.5977

-11500000 2279773.4 2056814.6 1855660.9 1674179.9 8384538.0 Rs 4750966

Sum of net present value

1. No. of years = 5 (we have assumed this figure as it is generally seen that the average time for a celebrity endorsement contract is 5 years) 2. Cash inflow (yrly) = Avg. monthly cash inflow * 12

Strategic Analysis

Markathon | March 2010

BAJAJ - BRAND IDENTITY EVOLUTION

AVINASH SHARMA, MEDHAVI SINGH | NMIMS
Bajaj owes its birth, beginning in 1945-59 as M/s Bachraj Trading Corporation, to importing two and three wheelers and reselling them in India. It was in early 1970s when Bajaj Chetak was introduced, which until 1998-99 was literally THE mode of private transport, especially for the middle and the upper middle class segments of India. Everything was fine until the Indian market was flooded with Hero Honda Splendor motorcycles. It stemmed from a changing business environment with increased consumer focus on fuel efficiency, comfort, purchasing power and lifestyle. Hence by the time Bajaj realized Splendor had eaten into its market share. Bajaj did introduce bikes like Boxer, Kawasaki Bajaj 4S champion, Caliber etc but none of these could add to the distinct Brand Identity that could define Bajaj as did the Chetak. It was then in 2001 when Bajaj introduced the Pulsar bike. This was in direct competition to Hero Hondas CBZ (both in 150cc segment). The introduction of Pulsar was executed with a completely different approach with the Definitely Male positioning. The Pulsar worked wonders for Bajaj and created a super dent in Hero Hondas market. Yet there was something lagging in their strategy. Until Chetak ruled, Bajaj had a clearly identifiable Brand Recall of being Humara Bajaj. This was not carried forward with every new variant since each was being introduced with a different positioning. True, that each product has its own merits and should have its own positioning. But it should have also added or supplemented to the overall Bajajs position statement. Until Chetak, Bajaj had various brands under its umbrella like Bajaj M-80, Bajaj Sunny etc and yet the Brand Identity remained Humara Bajaj. Bajaj kept coming up with better products like the Pulsar 180cc, then the Pulsar DTSi followed by the 200 and 220cc Pulsars. It is then that they realized the need for a clear positioning, what Bajaj stood for, and also the fact that it was a mistake discarding or ignoring the Humara Bajaj which was such a strong and successful statement. It was critical especially when Hero Honda kept its Desh ki Dhadkan positioning intact. Thus, Bajaj finally came up with the famous, new and revamped Humara Bajaj communication where in they showed the rendition of the Humara Bajaj jingle in a very Next Generation style by doing a fusion of the classical jingle with rock music , showing that Bajaj was now new and advanced and more Gen X but still communicated the value of Humara Bajaj to India. Thus Bajaj came a full circle by coming back to its successful Humara Bajaj brand identity. Yet Bajaj was now synonymous only with powerful bikes ( 150cc and above segment ) whereas Hero Honda still had its presence both in the 150cc category with CBZ as well as the 100+cc category with the Splendor and Passion. This gap Bajaj sought to explore by coming up with bikes like the Bajaj XCD and Platina which fell in the 125 135cc category. This helped Bajaj regain some lost ground in the market leadership it had during the Chetak days. It was in 2004 when Bajaj completely revamped its identity, gave up the Humara Bajaj umbrella and

Strategic Analysis
came up with a completely new enhanced positioning focusing more on the technology and experience. With a new, sharp brand logo, Bajaj pressed itself as Digital Biking and Distinctly Ahead.

Markathon | March 2010

reveals the traits as shown in the figures.

Conclusion:
Hence, as can be seen from the above analysis, the name Bajaj, which was once well known, famous and sold as a family vehicle, gradually has evolved into a two wheeler which offers excitement, experience and enhanced technological excellence etc. In all this, Bajaj went through cycles of using a positioning, abandoning it, going back to it and then phasing it out completely to give way to a new distinct positioning to the Brand Bajaj. We believe that shunning the Humara Bajaj positioning should have been carefully thought through, as it was a legacy that Bajaj had carefully built through all these years with hard work and was almost synonymous with instant brand recall, something that every brand aspires to get. This is crucial since the new positioning of Bajaj, though modern and more focussed on the technological superiority of Bajaj, does not IDENTIFY Bajaj as distinctly as Humara Bajaj did.

Kapferers Prism:
Kapferers Prism is a tool that can be used to analyze and understand brands. It basically looks at a brands analysis from 6 key parameters: 1. Physique: Key product and brand attributes. 2. Personality: The lifestyle and traits of the brand. 3. Relationship: What type of relationship does a brand signify with its consumers? 4. Culture: The core values that the brand portrays. 5. Reflection: What image of itself does the brand reflect? 6. Self-Image: What does the brand think of the self? This is a powerful tool to analyze any brand and also, more importantly, to compare brands. Applying this analysis to the old and new Bajaj Brand Identities Old Bajaj:

New Bajaj:

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Vartalaap

Markathon | March 2010

The Price is Right

An interview with the renowned Marketing professor Jagmohan s. Raju

Professor Jagmohan S. Raju is the Joseph J. Aresty Professor; Marketing Department Chairperson, Wharton, University of Pennsylvania & Executive Director, Wharton Co-Sponsorship of Indian School of Business. Besides being a wonderful teacher, he is a renowned researcher as well. His research interests include issues regarding pricing, retailing, sales, promotions and coupons, private labels, optimizing channel contracts & competitive strategy. Markathon: Engineering from IITD, MBA from IIMA, Ph.D. from Stanford University, Assistant Professor at UCLA and now the Chairperson of the Marketing Department at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. This journey would be the ultimate dream of many youngsters of today. Please share with us the experience of this wonderful journey. Prof. Raju: My father was a professor and my mother taught in a school. We were not rich but my parents gave me values that were priceless the importance of education, working hard, and helping others who were not as fortunate. I left home to study in a boarding school, Punjab Public School Nabha, at the age of 10, from there to IITD, IIMA, and Stanford. At each of these institutions, I formed friendships that have lasted a life time. Even today, I am in close touch with friends from

my boarding school and we are like brothers. Markathon: The cost pressures are very high in emerging markets like India and there is increasing pressure to compete on cost. Companies have garnered market share by pursuing a low pricing. Do you think such pricing methods are sustainable in the long run? Prof. Raju: Independent of what prices you charge, it is extremely important to be cost competitive. Some companies use their lower costs to charge a lower price, and others use the extra margins that lower costs give to build a brand and build market share. Hero Honda is a good example of this. Markathon: With the booming middle class in India, purchasing power has been increasing manifold. What do you think will be the most important factor in capturing maximum market share: Advertising, competitive pricing or quality? Prof. Raju: Despite the rise in incomes, the Indian middle class consumer is extremely value conscious and is one of the best at making price-quality trade-offs. To some extent, the consumer has no choice. We spend

Vartalaap

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Independent of what prices you charge, it is extremely important to be cost competitive.

more on food as a percentage of our income than say a consumer in the US. Therefore the Indian consumer spends more time in making decisions and evaluates products carefully. When buying a consumer durable such as a TV, the Indian middle-class consumer thinks of it as a purchase for a lifetime. But the consumer also has limited income. Therefore, the need for being value conscious. Markathon: With the rise of the Internet, there is no information arbitrage for companies to leverage. In this context how difficult do you think it is to pursue pricing of products and services? Prof. Raju: Actually, one could argue exactly the opposite. With the ability to disseminate information inexpensively, companies that truly have a better product or service can communicate the benefits more easily to the customer; the customer can compare one product with the, and be willing to pay a higher price for a better product. You are right - it is now harder to fool the customer, but then it never paid to do that any way in the long run. Markathon: With your extensive experience in both industry and academia, do you perceive any gaps between the marketing course curriculum and the corporate world? Prof. Raju: There are a few areas where the academic curriculums lag practice, and there are some areas where the practice is far behind. However, the good news is that at least at Wharton, there is a very close interaction between the two. We learn from each other. Formal mechanisms have been put in place for the two to interact and we do interact sincerely. I work

with many companies to improve their pricing decisions, and during that process, learn what their challenges are. Then we develop models and methods to help them make better decisions. Markathon: Finally, what are the most important skill sets and qualities that management graduates need to develop which will prove critical to their success in global business environment? Prof. Raju: I would list the following: 1. Use your MBA course time as a gift to learn but do not assume that the learning process will be over when you graduate. It has just begun. One of the roles of good education is to give people the power and aptitude the teach themselves. 2. Maintain the friendships that you build at your school. These friends will be your best guides as you all grow together. 3. Think of life as a marathon and not a sprint. Most of you will work for over 50 years after you graduate think of what the world was like 50 years ago. The world in 50 years will see more change than what we saw in the last 50 years. These changes will bring opportunities that we cannot even visualize today. To take advantage of this: a. Be there. Take care of your health. Have a happy family life. b. Be open to change adapt and develop new skills c. Hire people who are better than you and learn from them. d. Maintain a positive attitude e. Try to help one person every day.

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Total Recall
-Team Markathon | IIM S

As Markathon celebrates one year of existence, we thought it would be fitting for us to come out with a Roll of Honour for the world of marketing in the past year. For this we identified 6 fields which we thought were significant and listed out the Top 3 in that particular field. So, here we go
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advertising
2009 The year after recession! The word which spells doom for an industry like Advertising. Predictably the first half of 2009 saw tight ad budgets, since most of the companies were still reeling from the after effects of the recession and were cautious and watchful of their ad spends. But as time wore on, and the latter half of 2009 descended on us, companies were much more liberal with their spending and we got to see a number of path breaking & innovative ads. Lets have a look at the 3 most popular ads of the year according to the experts:

1vodafone zoo zoos

The very mention of the name lights up a smile on your face and brings to your mind the image of extremely cute egg shaped creatures goofing around, talking funnily and constantly driving home the message of Vodafones various value added services. Undoubtedly, these set of commercials have been the most popular and successful series of ads, helping Vodafone climb the charts like never before.

2ideas walk when you talk

This is next in Ideas series of socially relevant ads. Here it drives home the message of being hale and hearty. Abhishek Bachchan plays the role of a doctor and is asked whether technology is the cause of all health problems. And then he comes up with the answer no its not. He asks people to walk when they talk on the phone. It has a dedicated website Walkwhenyoutalk.in, a Facebook application called Walk when you talk and a virtual character Zac portrayed as young , cool and lethargic person who chats on his mobile and wants to stay fit.

3Jaago reaaj se khilana bandh, pilana shuru

Everyone is more than aware of Tata Teas Jaago Re campaign and this time theyve come up with the message of removing corruption from the system. They go about conveying the message that people take bribes because we give them in the first place. And this TVC ends with the tagline - AAJ SE KHILANA BANDH, PILANA SHURU. This ad was extremely popular and successful since 2009 was the year of elections.

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green marketing
With the market just recovering from the turbulent recessionary times, 2009 gave marketers a lot to experiment with innovative green campaigns. Changing consumer preferences have definitely compelled industry leaders to relook their marketing strategies and offer unique solutions. Some of the success stories of green marketing in 2009 are described below.

1Frito Lays Sun Chips

Frito Lays Sun Chips was one of the efficiently managed sustainable brands of 2009. Launched in 1991, Sun Chips is a healthy snacks brand composed of mainly whole grains and fiber. Their marketing campaigns highlight the green practices throughout the value chain of the product. It uses solar energy instead of fossil fuels for production. Even their packages use renewable materials and are compostable. They have a website called GrennEffect.com that encourages consumers to share ideas to save the planet. This way the marketing strategy emphasizes on the green aspect of the product possessed throughout its lifecycle.

2Cloroxs Greenworks
Cloroxs Greenworks provides a diverse portfolio of natural cleaners made with natural plant and mineral-based biodegradable cleaning ingredients. It reinforces credibility through labeling and third party seals which includes EPAs Energy Star, Design for Environment and the Sierra club. In spite of proprietary considerations, it has all the ingredients listed in the website; this ensured transparency. Other than this, Green Works involves in causemarketing relationships. Its association with the Sierra club gives a common ground for corporations and environmental organizations to work towards protecting the planet and communities.

3Kaiser Permanente
Even service sector have realized importance of green marketing. Kaiser Permanente is one of the leading managed health care providers in US. It is taking its health mission seriously by eliminating mercury and other toxic products in hospitals. In 2009 its ad campaigns focused on its paperless procedures and online systems and wellness-based green building designs. All the above examples show the need of a holistic application of green branding. Only when the entire value chain is involved in the strategy, green marketing gives the maximum payoffs.

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event marketing
When everyone keeps talking about how the Television and Internet have revolutionized the way we communicate, it is easy to underestimate the importance of direct contact in marketing. Event marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing and still continues to be in vogue.

1International Trade Fair

When talking about event marketing it is hard to miss out The India international trade fair, which has only become bigger and better since its inception in 1980? The fair attracts general and business visitors along with delegations from over 50 countries. With hundreds of stalls displaying a wide range of products, the trade opportunities in this fair are immense. The platform it gives to new and established marketers to interact with potential customers is hard to match with other conventional forms of marketing.

2Auto Expo
The one event which invariably becomes the focal point for automobile industry is the Auto Expo held at New Delhi. The significance of the event is reinforced when almost every automaker tries to come up with the next big thing during the Expo. New players in the automobile industry use this event to gain maximum exposure while entering the Indian market. The presence of Movie stars like Shahrukh Khan and john Abraham in the expo points to how companies are using an integrating marketing strategy of which event marketing is an indispensable part.

3India Fashion Week

When talking about movie stars its fashion that crosses all of our minds. The India Fashion Week is the biggest fashion event of the country with creations from more than 100 designers. The five day event is the dream platform for Indian designers to market themselves to the world. A large number of business deals are made during the event which is an ideal setting for designers, fashion houses and vendors to meet. Event marketing is increasingly becoming a prominent component in the overall marketing strategy of most companies. The field has ample room for creativity, which can be leveraged by companies to differentiate themselves in a rather competitive marketplace.

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product launches
Product has always been at the heart of marketing across various sectors. Excellence of product and its ability to meet consumer expectations was all the more important in last year when consumers were thinking twice before spending owing to economic slowdown. This led to higher degree of differentiation and innovation in the product and services.

1TATA Nano
No product was more awaited by millions of Indians than Tata Nano. Termed as the Peoples car, Nano was commercially launched on 23rd March 2009. The excitement and eagerness of Indian public to own a Nano can be imagined by the fact that it recorded 200,000 bookings in just twenty five days. The fulfilment of Mr Ratan Tatas promise to deliver a car at one lakh rupees initiated the race for small car launches by many foreign players in India.

2TATA Docomo
With its pay-per-use per second concept, the launch of Tata Docomo second large scale CDMA service created rip ples in the Indian Telecomm space. It not only captured the attention of half a billion mobile subscribers but also forced major players like Airtel and Vodafone to re-design their tariff plans. Huge investments in marketing coupled with deep penetration through sound distribution channels have increased its total subscriber base to 60 million. Today, in less than a year from its launch, Tata Docomo is countrys fifth largest telecomm brand.

3Microsoft Bing
Considered to be one of the most potential attacks by Microsoft on Google in recent years, Bing captured 9.3% US search engine market share in less than six months of its launch in June 2009. The attractive background and better image search helped Bing gain popularity among net users. Microsoft tie up with Yahoo is already positioned to gain around 30% market share. But what remains to be seen is that whether Bing eats up into Googles 63% share or it leads to cannibalization by capturing on Yahoos share.

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consumer trends
In this very special edition of Markathon, the lists we are compiling for you would be incomplete without the mention of what the consumer was thinking about in the year that has gone by. It was a year that started off in the worst manner possible with much of the world reeling from the impact of what was perhaps the worst financial crisis to hit us since the Great Depression but the underlying message of this year was not of despair but of hope and the choices made by the consumers reflected this. We have attempted to capture a snippet of this.

1Movies and Entertainment

By all conventional marketing wisdom, in times of crisis industries like this suffer the most as consumers cut their discretionary spending. But this year turned all this on its head as the box office set record numbers all over the world as people turned up in droves to escape the despair that was prevailing in the world. For example the US Box office totaled more than $11 billion in receipts and the biggest movie ever made in Hollywood released this year. Even Bollywood had its biggest blockbuster in the form of 3 Idiots this year.

2Go Green GO!

The recession was supposed to take away the focus from the environment but this year defied that. Even as the world leaders shied away from taking big decisions, this year will always be remembered as a year in which the consumer realized that Green does matter.

3The Twitterati
This year gave rise to a new term for the lexicon, the Twitterati. They were inescapable and simply everywhere. The first place to get the news was no longer Google or facebook but its cousin that had everyone and his uncle tweeting about matters that ranged from the mundane to the earth shaking. And for this phenomenon the Twitter and its millions of users are the biggest trend that we have observed in the world today.

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packaging 1Coca-Cola
Green is the new black in packaging!! Coca-Cola, whose stint with pesticides has still not faded from consumers mind, took a major step in their sustainable packaging journey with selective global roll-out of its new PET bottle which is made from up to 30% plant materials such as sugar and molasses. The container is believed to be 100% recyclable and has a smaller carbon foot print than conventional PET bottles. Coca-cola is now looking ahead to spearhead global strategy with packaging. In an attempt to consolidate its position in juice segment, worldwide rebranding is being undertaken - beginning the process with homogeneous packing design for their extensive family of fruit beverage. The new look planned is based on the logo and colour scheme of the Cokes flagship juice brand Minute Maid would include the black rectangle and white background logotype.

2Absolut Vodka
On the contrary to this, the impact of absence of packaging was very well demonstrated by the Absolut Company which believes that in an absolute world there are no labels. Absolut Vodka with its Absolut No Label limited edition launched on May 22, 2009 created ripples in the market. The bottle sports a removable sticker with website address for more information and feedback.

3Kissan Jam
Recession did not have much effect on packaging sector as industry segments like FMCG, Food & Beverages and Pharma were also not adversely affected. With packaging becoming a new differentiating factor for FMCG, the sector looks forward to brighter times. For instance, Kissan Jams, used tube packages with catchy graphics to appeal to the kids & BRU Coffee's aroma-lock packaging was designed to appeal to staunch coffee lovers. With increasing popularity of the Ready to Eat products, innovation in food packaging was witnessed. This section will now see the use of microwaveable steel. With the India Packaging Show 2010 coming up, one can expect to see more of such efforts!!

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Bingo with an Unconventional Attitude

Pranab talukdar | iim s Scientists at Bingo Mad Labs have come up with a simple substitute for the conventional clinical preg-check card. All you have to do is nibble at a Bingo Mad Angle Achaari Masti snack to find if your tummy is going to bulge more. According to David Ogilvy, the new Bingo Mad Angle Achaari Masti ad both entertains and true to its spirit. It is "no confusion," only "great combination" of taste and fun.

Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Running time: 35 seconds TV rating: * * * * *

I hope this reminds you the famous bingo ad that was screened during the 2007 world cup.

The Bingo brand of chips was launched by ITC on 14th March 2007. During the time, the market was dominated by the Frito Lay group (owned by Pepsi Co) with a slew of brands like Lays, Kurkure and Uncle Chipps holding 50 per cent of the market share. The other was the Haldiram group with 25 percent of the market share. Segmentation Snacks category is divided into the Traditional segment (Bhujia, Chana etc) and the Western segment (potato chips, cheese balls, puffs etc) and the Finger snacks segment dominated by the Frito Lay group. The total market size could be to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore, of which Rs 2,000 would be organised, growing at 25 percent per annum. The unorganised sector could be growing faster than the organised sector. You can always see a chaat-papriwala doing brisk business every time you walk down the road.

Promotion ITC spent nearly 40% of their media budget on digital media, because they felt this would be the best way to connect with the market. Bingo brand building was through the digital media, something unheard of, for Indian companies. According to Ravi Naware, divisional chief executive (foods), ITC, two things were important. First was consumer insight and for that ITC invested heavily finding out what tickled the Indian consumers taste bud, what turned him on. ITC put a whole team of chefs in place to craft new flavours for this category. Idea was to tempt the consumer with flavours that are exotic, but not strange, somewhat different from what is available in the market. The second is the manner in which you launch your product, the communication/execution part and the distribution strategy. ITC evolved a completely new and modern merchandising solution for the launch which included attractive stands and other display material for Bingo at the retailer ends. The communication strategy with a heavy dose of humour has also been different and daring. Bingo launch was around the 07 World Cup. A Happy Coincidence, according to Mr. Naware. The innovative ad was telecasted on almost all channels- national, regional, sports, news and kids channel. The sudden media blitzkrieg left a mark on the audience mind. The objective was achieved as Bingo was in the pure impulse purchase category. In certain areas market share touched 50% and not less than 15% in other areas. ITC launched website www.bingeonbingo.com to target the youth and then www.petkapaap.com for

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Markathon | March 2010

its Bingo mad Angles- Aachari Masti. Viral marketing was used to create brand awareness. It also sponsored various events at colleges and a lot of happenings of channel V- targeting the youth. On the negative side, some reaction to the Bingo advertisements has not been very encouraging. The advertisements are sometimes classified as irritatingly humorous. Customization and SKUs Bingo has 16 variants (priced at Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 a pack). A good majority of these are region-inspired. Like the mustard for eastern parts and paneer tikka for North Indian market. But there are some generic national flavours, such as premium salt, tomato and chilly formats. The potato chips are available in many flavours Masala Chaas, Chatpata Nimbu and Paneer Tikka. In addition to these 4 flavours, the classic flavours of Masala, Tomato and Salted are also available. In the finger snacks segment pakoda inspired chips like Live Wires, Khakra inspired Mad Angles, and corn based chips like Tedhe Medhe. On the other hand, several SKUs caused problems in forecasting and stocking. Retailers were taking a small variety of each variant leading to frequent stock out situation for popular ones. Packaging and Production The packaging of the product has been slick and eye catching. Bingo is available in packets in myriad colours like orange, blue, red, yellow, green and purple. Not only do bright colours attract the attention of little children but also of adults. Snack food is an impulse buy. The bright coloured stands with the Bingo label on top make it more visible in a shop. Bingo is the most seen brand in snacks and thus increasing its chances of being bought.

On the production front, the strong farm linkages of ITC (e-Choupal) ensure that only the selected grades of raw materials are used for Bingo. Distribution The large, country wide distribution network of ITC built up over the years was a key factor in Bingos ubiquitous availability. In small towns villages, one wont find a Lays or a Haldiram but a Bingo along with the local unbranded snacks. It has also entered into an agreement with the Food Bazaar chain of outlets for retailing of Bingo which is not there for Frito Lays and Haldiram. Bingo was also offering a 4% to 5% higher margin than that of for Frito Lays. Overall, ITC is fast catching up Frito Lays national reach of 8 lacs outlets. Pricing Bingo learnt from a failed pricing strategy of Frito Lays. Lays increased its price from Rs 10 for 35 grams to Rs 15 for 45 grams. This affected the sales of Lays and it finally went back to the Rs 10 formula. Bingo priced its 16 SKUs at Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 a pack and had a consistent pricing strategy. Combing this pricing with the innovation of the product won the heart of the Indian consumer and also higher margin for channel members made them happy. Having written all this, I would like to mention a quote of Mr Ravi Naware during an interview with Financial Express, With Bingo nothing was planned, we went wherever and whenever there was a good opportunity.

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Markathon | March 2010

Measuring the effectiveness of humour quotient in Indian Advertising

Kaushik Sriram, Rohini Ramachandran | IIM Bangalore
In this article, we explore the humour quotient in Indian advertising through the lens of certain television ad campaigns that have tickled the consumer funny bone in order to evaluate the effectiveness of such campaigns. We diverge from the traditionalist body of literature that brackets humour in advertising as risky and at best, as effective as other ads. Our contention is that an ad campaign built on humour stands out from the crowd and captures the consumer mindshare. brand. One such example is Pepsis Oye Bubbly campaign in which various objects such as the car stereo and the garage are shown coveting the Pepsi bottle. Exaggeration: Here certain attributes of the product are magnified out of proportion like the Fevikwik ads where the fisherman uses Fevikwik on a stick to catch fish, trumping the sophisticated fishing gear of the person next to him. Slapstick: This particular brand of humour deals with the ludicrous/exaggerated and presents situations where the humorous aspect of the ad, far from being subtle, strikes the viewer in the face, the Chlormint ads being a prime example of this.

Introduction: When using humour to advertise a

product, the main challenge for marketers is to link the advertisement to the underlying brand so as to translate consumer enjoyment to consumer purchase. This linkage is questioned by numerous researchers, they quoted the chief flaw of such a strategy is the distraction of the consumer from the brand. We diverge from this view our contention is that the industry context and basis of competition is also critical to the nature of advertisements used. Our frame of analysis includes campaigns that are recognized for their innovative use of humour including Fevicol and Fewikwik, Happydent White, Vodafone Zoozoos, Idea Cellular, Frooti, Amaron and Axe.

Types of Humour:
Back in the 1960s, a golden rule in advertising, propagated by the founder of Prentice-Hall, was to never mix humour and advertising.i Today, with the proliferation of product offerings, humour is increasingly being looked upon not as a distraction that trivializes the product, but as an effective means of distinguishing the product from the crowd and drawing the attention of consumer. Humour can come in many forms and the choice of the appropriate type is highly dependent on the target audience, the cultural bias, the choice of advertising medium and the product itself. Some of the more popularly used forms are: Personification: This is where inanimate objects assume human characteristics and the inherent humour in observing such behaviour is used to highlight some quality or the desirability of the

Other forms include sarcasm, comparison, pun, understatement and irony. However, there is a strong cultural context for such advertisements. Individualistic cultures like the US and UK typically feature advertisements having one or two dominant characters while in more collectivistic cultures like Thailand, ads revolve around groups. Similarly, the degree of uncertainty avoidance and the amount of masculine dominance in the culture of a country are key factors in influencing the type of humour that can be successfully used in advertisements, with countries high on these two parameters tending to prefer slapstick or direct humour to subtle nuances and double entendres. Analyzing the Indian advertising scenario keeping this cultural context in mind, certain key trends can be identified. Given the traditional family oriented culture of India, Indian advertisements, in the past, have mostly derived their humour from the interplay between multiple characters. Also humour has tended to be largely slapstic, based on filmy spoofs and ridiculous situations. This part can be attributed to the diversity of cultures and languages found in India. Humorous ads, therefore, must tread the thin line between keeping the cultural idioms of their target audience in mind and taking care not to offend the cultural sensibilities of any group. Slapstick offers an easy way out with situational

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Markathon | March 2010

1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0 Mar 00(12)

Figure 1: Sales and Advertising spend by Amaron (Source: Capitaline)

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

Mar 01(12)

Mar 02(12)

Mar 03(12)

Mar 04(12)

Mar 05(12)

Mar 06(12)

Mar 07(12)

Mar 08(12)

Mar 09(12)

Net Sales (INR cr.)

Advertisement (INR cr.)

humour having a broader reach while also ensuring that the punch line is not lost on the audience.

Evolution of Indian Humour:

Over the years, there has been a gradual evolution in the use of humour in Indian advertisements. The most obvious change has been the increasing use of humour with advertising agencies increasingly trying to grab the attention of consumers through their funny bone. In 1993, only 28% of commercials were humour-based. By 2001, at least 46% tried to incorporate some form of humour. And while in most countries, funny ads have largely been associated with low-involvement products, in India, even high-involvement products like televisions and insurance have tried their hands at humour. A more subtle change that has been taking place is in the type of humour employed. From pure slapstick, ads are moving towards more intelligent comedyii, with a more individualistic bent, be it the Vodafone Zoozoos, which cleverly depicted a variety of situations, each with some link to a feature offered by Vodafone, or the Fasttrack Move on commercials, which perfectly captures the changing nature of Indian society today. India today is at a crossroads, between its traditional past and a more modern future, which perhaps explains the success of ads across the entire cultural spectrum be it the group oriented Fevicol truck ad showing people stuffed into a truck, or the more individual oriented Fevikwik fisherman ad, from the slapstick Akai TV ads of old to the

more subtle Camlin Marker ads, to the extent that even potentially controversial ads like the Axe series have found acceptance in India, which is viewed to be conservative.

Right from the Market:

Here we are illustrating the different types of humour that work in the Indian advertising context and also to measure the effectiveness of these campaigns along multiple dimensions: Amaron, Frooti, Axe and Max New York Life Insurance. Amaron (Amara Raja) batteries: The iconic claymation advertisements with the catchy slogan of Lasts Long Really Long...Ting Tong captured the imagination of the public and acted as clutter busters in 2002. The Hare and Tortoise ad and the Kumbhakarna ad were aired on Doordarshan and other satellite channelsand brought in tremendous brand awareness for Amaron batteries a late entrant into the automotives battery space in 2000. Interestingly however, the expected spurt in sales did not materialize. The product was a low involvement one with incumbent advertising focussing on the toughness and macho image of the car battery. The dominant player at that time, Exide, was well entrenched and Amaron did not manage to make a dent in their sales. The ad agency O&M went back to the same claymation studio in 2004 to come up with a follow up, the Pandu Mangal ad. The uniqueness of this ad was the universal 20

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Markathon | March 2010

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 2000

Figure 2: Performance of Frooti in the fruit juice segment in India (Source:

Euromonitor)

36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26

2001

2002

2003 Market Share (%)

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Sales (mn litres)

nature of the humour the bumbling cop in pursuit of a wily thief was instantly recognized and appreciated across all segments of people. We also theorize that the humour was well received as it relied on simple age-old themes and had powerful visual imagery. This ad consolidated Amaron as a powerful brand and was a platform for their explosive growth post-2006. In 2006 Amaron reverted to a stereotypical performance based campaignusing racing stars like Karun Chandok and Narain Karthikeyan. Our take is that the humour based advertising helped establish the brand awareness but did not add to the top line due to the low involvement of the car owners in the buying decision and the lack of product differentiation as the Lasts Long promise held true de-facto in the business. Frooti: The Digen Verma ad blitz that lasted for 15 days in February 2001 catapulted the brand into public imagination and generated a tremendous buzz across the country. The campaign was centred on a faceless college going guy called Digen Verma who is idolised by his friends, girls and even peons in general everyone who knows him except for the stodgy old college professor. The teaser campaign combined with the new caption for Frooti Just Like That was aimed at repositioning Frooti from a kids drink to one for the youth. Hence, a rebellious theme was adopted in the campaign.

The last series of ads in this campaign show Digen ordering Frooti (of course Digen himself is not shown on screen) this causes pandemonium across the country and everyone switches to Frooti immediately! This campaign was unique in the effective use of suspense(watch this space approach) and humour in engaging consumer attention through various innovative forms of media (messages telling Digen to remove his car from the parking lot were flashed in theatres, bus stops had posters asking if Digen would be on the next bus and so forth). A look at the sales figures show a marginal increase in the year the campaign was aired followed by steady increase in sales the market share decline was halted by thiscampaign though. Sceptics however claimed that the Digen Verma persona had become more famous and had marginalized the brand. Later, Frooti switched to their old theme of Fresh and Juicy which did worse than the Digen Verma campaign hence in comparison the use of a unique style of humour proved to be more effective for Frooti. Axe: Our inclusion of Axe is a little controversial as its ads have straddled a thin line between sexism and naughtiness in terms of the humour. Its analysis is due to the unique nature of the advertising the same campaigns are aired worldwide and there has been no attempt to tone down the humour or modify it in any way for India.

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Markathon | March 2010

900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Retail value RSP (%)

Retail value RSP (INR mn)

This dispels the notion that Indians are conservative in their humour of course the marketing for Axe was backed up by a great product too. The Axe effect in terms of sales and market share has been spectacular to say the least. HUL (the parent company) replaced their old deodorant brand Denim with Axe due to its spectacular success. Axe is by far the naughtiest brand in India and is targeted at the male aged 16-25. The ads highlight various situations where the guy, usually an ordinary next door neighbour kind of chap rather than a hunk, gets pursued by different women. Seduction is the dominant motif here, with the women making the first move a bold idea for Indian audiences. Yet, it has captured the pulse of its target audience perfectly. Max New York Life: When Max New York came out with their advertising featuring an overzealous dad with his young child as he exhorts the child to repeat words of increasing complexity, consumers sat up and took notice. The advertisement poked fun at Indians who have a propensity to push their children into various activities at a young age. Interestingly, the humour in the ad was well received wry humour had worked on Indian screens after a long while! The ad demonstrated two things one that Indians were willing to laugh at themselves and two, high involvement products could be advertised using humour.

The sales of new policies shot up from the slowdown in October further the weighted new received premiums too shot up. The ad had worked its magic. Max New York followed it up with another humorous ad in Apr-2009, this time poking fun at the retired Indian male. Thus, the use of humour, in products where consumer preferences play a vital role in selection, not only helps bring the brand into the consumers consideration set through increased brand awareness and recall but also appears to translate directly to an increase in sales.

Figure 4: Performance of Max New York

250,000 200,000 150,000 200 100,000 50,000 0 100 0 (Source: IRDAIndia) 400 300

No. of policies

wnrp (INR cr)

Retrieved Aug 02, 2009, from India-Server: http://www.i ndia-server.com/news/indian-advertising-indus try-using-more-7904.html Retrieved Aug 12, 2009, from Ad Club Bomba y: http://www.adclubbomba y.com/index.php?opti on=com_content&view=a rti cle&i d=1718:theintelligent-evolution-of-funny-in-advertising&ca tid=34:indus try-news &Itemid=34
ii

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Competition

Markathon | March 2010

Best of Silent Voice

WINNER: TANVI GUPTA | MICA, Ahmedabad Congratulations!!! THEME: Nokia Green (July 2009)

HONORARY MENTION

KUNAL |NITIE Ray Ban (Aug-Sep 2009)

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Competition

Markathon | March 2010

TRIPURARI & SARVESH |IIMS DLF (February 2010)

SHIFFY C |SIMC, PUNE Bullet Bikes (June 2009)

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Competition

Markathon | March 2010

NEXT THEME FOR SILENT VOICE: Nintendo Wii

PRITAM & AYAN|SIIB, PUNE Volkswagen (January 2010)

LAST DATE OF SENDING THE PRINT AD: 10th April, 2010 EMAIL ID: markathon.iims@gmail.com

TANVI GUPTA |MICA, AHMEDABAD Minute Maid (December 2009)

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Specials
BRAND LAUNCH
Emami enters cooking oil market
Emami group, a major player in the Indian beauty products industry, has entered the edible oil market with the launch of six variants of its Healthy and Tasty brand of oil. The company plans to become one of the top two players in the Rs 10,000 crore industry within the next two to five years. Emami has signed in Bollywood actress Preity Zinta and the Indian cricket team captain M.S. Dhoni to promote its oil. The Television commercials for healthy and tasty are shot by Prahlad Kakkar. The oil would be available in convenient packages of 500 ml pouch packs, 1-litre bottles and 5-litre jars.

Markathon | March 2010

the segment is already stiff with players like Garnier, Emami, and Nivea etc. vying for a greater share of the Rs. 500 crore market. The company is looking to target the urban youth in the age group 18-30 with it products which have the tagline Be Prepared. Interestingly, after Garnier roped in John Abraham and Emami signed ShahRukh Khan to endorse their products, Vaseline has got Shahid Kapoor to be its brand ambassador.

BRAND WATCH
Apple i-Pad creating waves
Following the late-January unveiling, Apples revolutionary i-Pad is supposed to be released next month in USA and some select countries. Rumoured as iPhone on steroids, the web tablet can run on WiFi and 3G. You can watch movies; hear music, browse photos, run games, download and read eBooks. Multi-touch and accelerometer sensor enables the smooth operation of device features. iPad offers battery backup of around 10 hours, and a price of $499 for the basic model, seems like Apple has another winner at hand. Indians can look forward to a legit i-Pad only after June when the international carrier deals are ready.

Renault-Nissan to launch Micra in India this July

Japanese carmaker Nissan has announced the launch of its small car Micra. The company plans to produce 80,000 units of the car in the first year beginning this may, from the plant co- owned by its French partner Renault. Given the challenges in its Indian distribution network, Nissan initially plans to focus on exporting Micra. Nissan, which sold about 300 imported cars in India last year, plans to sell five locally produced models in India by 2012. Interestingly, the Renault Nissan investment in the Chennai plant is expected to exceed $600 million by May this year.

IPL-3 Gets Bigger Than Ever

According to the FICCI-KMG report on the Indian media and entertainment industry, the third season of the Indian premier league is set to generate Rs. 650 Crore, a 44% increase, in broadcasting revenues for SET Max the official broadcaster for IPL. The change of venue for the second season to South Africa lead to a dip in TV ratings to 5.6 points compared to 6.6 points in the opening season. But, with revenues set to raise to an all time high, this season promises to be the biggest ever till date for IPL.

COMPANY WATCH
Walt Disney targets South India
Walt Disney has announced the launch of a locally developed project aimed at the South Indian audiences. India is one of the biggest markets where Disney is investing in local production. The unnamed fantasy adventure is scheduled to be released in January 2011 and features big names like Siddhrath and Shruti Hasan.

AD WATCH
ZOOZOOS are back with a bang!
Last Year, during the second edition of the Indian Premier League, the advertising industry witnessed the launch of the hugely successful Vodafone ad campaign featuring the adorable Zoozoos. Now, with IPL 3, Vodafone and Ogilvy India have planned to release 29 new Zoozoo ads. 26

Vaseline: Now, For Men too

Hindustan Unilevers Vaseline has launched a new range of skin care products for Men. The competition in

Specials
Much like last year, new films would be aired everyday during the tournament, concentrating on the Value added services of Vodafone. What remains to be seen is whether the campaign would be able to generate the same response from viewers or not!

Markathon | March 2010

the controversial Rin advertisement which allegedly took a potshot at P&Gs Tide Naturals. The controversial advertisement is also believed to have references to the phrase Chaunk Gaye? which has been used by Tide for years. The court has also ordered HUL not to air such advertisements in the future.

Rins advertisement banned by court

The ad war between FMCG majors HUL and P&G ended in the Kolkata high court. The High court has banned

~ Samrat Singh Yadav | IIM Shillong

Articles Are invited

All the Entries of Volume I published in this issue will be awarded exciting prizes. We are inviting articles from all the B-schools of India. The articles can be specific to the regular sections of Markathon which includes: Perspective: Articles related to development of latest trends in marketing arena. Productolysis: Analysis of a product from the point of view of marketing. Strategic Analysis: A complete analysis of the marketing strategy of any company or an event. Apart from above, out of the box views related to marketing are also welcome. The best entry will receive a letter of appreciation and a cash prize of Rs 1000/ Eye-to-Eye: Can Gaming in India move beyond the metros to become a major entertainment media? Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. The format of the file should be word doc/docx. As the next issue of Markathon, is the Summer Special, the last date of receiving the entries is 10th April 2010. Please send your entries to markathon.iims@gmail.com.

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Please send in your comments/feedback to: markathon.iims@gmail.com visit: www.iims-markathon.in

Team Markathon, IIM Shillong