What Allures You ?

Marketers follow various approaches to allure the consumers to their offerings, as the ultimate goal of a marketer is to sell and attain profits. He may lure customers by approach object or avoidance object.

Approach object refers to focus on promotion, wherein marketers try to promote a product on its benefits. On contrary, avoidance approach focuses on prevention, that is, marketers pitch a product on the harms of not using it.

If we see the category of life insurance, this is a category where these conversely different appeals are used by major players. If we see HDFC commercials, they are more based on prevention focus. They highlight the grave consequences of not buying the insurance plan. On the other hand, ICICI uses promotion focus. It pitches the product on benefits (like a tension free life) of buying its plan.

There are brands which even change their focus, as they want to reinforce the consumers over and over again, with a differential stimulus and the difference in these two approaches serve to go beyond what is called Just Noticeable Difference (jnd) .

How about this Promotional Mix ?

Tata has come up with the cheapest car (in terms of price) of India. There has been a lot of hype surrounding the car, Tata Nano. What can be the possible reasons for such great awareness level for the product, with nil advertsising expense.

Well, Tata's have taken up a great promotional strategy for the product. As the product is cheap, advertising expenses cannot be borne by the company. Company has solely relied on publicity to promote the product.

Now, for an innovative product like Tata Nano, publicity is a great idea as publicity is supposed to come from neutral sources like media which give reviews free form any bias or prejudice. as such, it gives credibility to the product and promotion. Also, company didn't have to make any effort to build awareness to the product and at the same time, need not expend for the purpose. As such, Tata's strategy to promote the product, rather not to promote it (and let media do that) is a smart move.

Also, Tata Nano has been engaged in PR actitivies during unveiling of the product, adressal by the top executives of the company. The product has also been displayed at Tata's retail outlets like Croma and Westside.

In a nutshell, promotion is the least expended area for Nano, with great awareness and visibility to the product.

Relavance of Appeals

I have been writing a lot on marketing appeals, but often these appeals aren't used appropriately. When it comes to sex appeal, it is used without its relevance to the product. The greatest example in this context is that of latest commercial of mango drink, Slice featuring Katrina Kaif. In this ad, sex appeal is used to allure the customers, which is totally irrelevant to a product like mango drink.

On the other hand, the recent commercial of Sony Vaio (pocket style) uses the sex appeal which is apt for the product. As it is a pocket laptop, the use of this kind of appeal is sensible.

Well, marketers should understand the essence of marketing concept and then apply it to market the product. Not too many marketers are smart enough to do this. 

A Brilliant Product Placement

I wrote a post on product placement quite a few days back. I came across a great work on product placement a few days back.

As we all know, MTV flagship Roadies is sponsered by Hero Honda. Now how to place a product in such a programme which is already associated with a brand. Well, marketers do have  away to tackle this unique problem and that is placing the product at relavent positions.

The recent task for the contenders of Roadies was to collect coins tied around the lower part of crocodiles body. The task was really scary and contestants were panicking a lot. And here comes a product that says, "Darr ke aage jeet hai", which means that there is victory beyond fear. Well, I guess you have surmised the respective product, which is Mountain dew (from the umbrella of Pepsico).

I think product placement is a great way to breakthrough the advertising clutter and to manage to place a product in a programme that is associated with some other brand (though in different category) is a brilliant marketing effort. 

A Good Selling proposition

A great quote by Leo Burnett, "A good basic selling idea, involvement and relevancy, of course, are as important as ever, but in the advertising din of today, unless you make yourself noticed and believed, you ain't got nothing".

Emotional Appeal

Here is a brilliant advertisement that taps the emotional need of Indian masses.

Can you think of this thinking ?

I came across a very interesting concept today. Before presenting that concept to you, I will specify the backdrop for the later.

When it comes to consumers’ purchase behavior, the first step in the process of purchase is the recognition of a need. If we go the psychological aspect of it, there lays a motivation to fulfill the needs. The key to motivation is a goal, wherein a prospective buyer decides the objective of his/her behavior or response to a need.

The prospect may succeed in achieving a goal in terms of getting the desired result or may fail. To elaborate on this concept, let me give an example. Suppose, a middle-aged woman recognizes the need to look younger. So, the need is to counter the effects of ageing and the goal is to look younger. The prospect may not be able to attain the goal because of constraints like financial constraints as the product is supposedly a high-end product. This leads to an unfulfilled goal that in turn leads to frustration.

Now, people do have several defense mechanisms to counter their frustration. Among others, one such way is daydreaming. Though the exemplified woman may not be able to attain her goal to look younger, she can be involved in daydreaming, thinking of great applause and appreciation on her looks in the society. This dimension of defense mechanism is referred to as Autistic Thinking. Autistic thinking doesn’t fulfill the unsatisfied need, but it fends off the affect of failure in terms of goal attainment, may be for a short while.

Well, marketers capitalize on this thinking too. For example, in a Lux TVC, a girl aspires to look like the celebrity and there lies a hint of autistic thinking in the content of the advertisement. Click here to see the advertisement.

What's your APPEAL ?

 I have mentioned in one of my previous posts about the kinds of advertising appeals used to appeal to the consumers. One such appeal is Favourable Price Appeal. This appeal is used for price conscious segments. The demand is highly elastic in such segments for not-so essential products like McDonald’s happy meal. As such, demand is strictly a function of price.

With regard to Indian consumers, the middle class segment is highly responsive to price-based promotions. McDonald’s realized this trait of the respective segment, and responded accordingly. It used the so-called favourable pricing appeal. The USP of McDonald’s offerings is Happy Price Menu.

McDonald’s is well catering to the requirements of its consumer segment. According to Financial Express data, the compound annual growth rate for McDonald’s is 40%. Company has expansion plans in tier two cities too on account of its great sucess in tier one cities.

The essence od its great appeal can't be ignored and lessons must be taken on strategic positioning in various markets.

Attitude is what sells

There are some products sold solely on account of the attitude the product carries. This attitude lies in product positioning.

The best example that comes to my mind in this context is Sprite. It’s is clear drink, that bears an image of being straight-forward and direct, leaving no space for roundabout talks.

Just watch the commercial of Sprite to get a feel of its attitude.

I am no more a Solitary Sole

As we all know, markets are extremely competitive and highly fierce in terms of competition. There is a contemporary example to this fact.

Frooti is a brand from the stable of Parle Agro, which was launched in1985. It is the largest selling mango drink in Indian market with 75% market share. To maintain a brand portfolio and also to differentiate, Parle agro came up with Appy which is an apple drink. The brand didn’t do very well, as Indian consumers are still not very receptive to the taste of Apple juice as compared to that of other juices like mango, orange, etc. The brand being a market leader with a bomb share in the category became more or less stagnant.

Parle then launched Appy Fizz in 2005. The brand was said to have created a category in itself as it was a mix of juice and carbonated drink. So, this was quite an innovative product for Indian markets. The product was liked by youngsters. But then competitors do watch each and every new move in the markets. We believed that Appy Fizz is the only one in the category, but competition has crept in.

Fanta has launched its apple variant, which is a version of Appy Fizz. So, now Appy Fizz is not the only one in category as competitors have stepped in the category created by them.

Let’s see what strategies are employed by Parle to beat and outshine the competitors.

 

Competion, Comparison & ....

Advertising uses various kinds of appeals to appear appealing to customers. One such appeal is Comparative Appeal.

Comparative appeal usually highlights the competitive frame of reference and then highlights the POD (Point Of Difference) of the brand. This kind of appeal is generally used for recent launches as it’s mandatory for a new brand to register in the minds of customers, which can be through POD. Hence, Comparative appeals work for new brands.

A peculiar case of comparative appeals seen on Indian screen these days is a TV commercial of Complan health drink that degrades its major competitor Horlicks by calling it cheap and fake (in terms of brand promise to provide required nutritional content). Complan is an established brand and it need not go for such comparisons. It’s more of an Anti-Branding campaign though Horlicks too tried the same tactic some time back .

If we look from consumers’ perspective, the brand has degraded in terms of brand image and thereby brand equity. It is clearly a strategy to beat competition. Well, nothing wrong in that and in fact, it is the need of the game. However, your intensions should not be visible to consumers. They should see what you want them to see and you definitely don’t want them to see your cut-throat rivalry.

I feel that the ad campaign is a disaster that will dampen the brand image.

Who is Your Competitor ???

There are many ways to brand development. One such way is brand extension wherein a company extends its brand to various categories.

One such brand in league of brand development is Horlicks. Horlicks was introduced in market as a health drink. It then extended into biscuit category. Now it has extended to another class of products namely functional foods category with its new Horlicks Nutri-Bar. This energy bar is positioned as a ready-made healthy solution to hunger.

Well, the category extension is fine and rational, but I hope that the marketers don’t get infected by Competition Myopia, wherein the marketers view the competitors too narrowly. In this case, Horlicks Nutri-Bar may see itself as the pioneer in cereal bars category, but they are not the only one in ready-to-eat hunger satisfying food class. In this context or category, we have a major competitor, namely Mars Snickers, which has a positioning similar to Horlicks Nutri-Bar, though it comes in confectionery category.

Horlicks Nutri-Bar is a recently launched product, while Snickers is an established player. Horlicks has to identify its competitors, and strategize accordingly to highlight its POD (Point Of Difference) and gain SCA (Sustainable Competitive Advantage).

 

 

Are You Creative ???

Well, creativity has taken many dimensions, but there are certain things that are a matter of fact and which don’t change in the dynamic market.

Common people feel that if an idea or concept is different and unique, it is creative. This is sheer misconception. Creativity definitely means something unique and original, but its relevance is a big issue.

David Ogilvy says, “If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative”.

Marketers do a lot of experiments with the packaging of products and showcase their creativity. Let me exemplify. Close-up recently launched its product line named Flavalicious with chocolate flavor. The packaging is different with brown graphics on the product. This is a new and innovative packaging, but is relevant as brown color represents chocolate flavor. If such graphics are used for any other flavor, that won’t work.

So, creativity and relevance go hand in hand.

BINGO !!!

The brand that fascinates most marketers is Bingo. It’s because of its tremendous success in short span of time. Bingo currently holds almost 20% of market share nationally, and aims to acquire 50% share of 4000 crore market.

Can you guess the reason behind Bingo’s success? Well, there are many factors that led to Bingo’s triumph in a one-brand dominated category (Frito Lays). The biggest factor has been its extensive marketing communication strategy. The advertisements featured for the product fabricated an aura of mystery (or curiosity) around the product and created a buzz.

Another factor is highly customized flavors like Achari Masti, etc. Bingo launched sixteen variants of the brand. This is the contact point for highly flavor-sensitive Indian market, and Bingo managed to connect well with its target audience.

The most important aspect is its effective and rigorous distribution strategy. It followed a Push Strategy in retail, ensuring great visibility and availability to the product. Distribution had always strength of brand under ITC umbrella.

So, here lies the secret of a commendable marketing plan for a new product.

  

Needle is Pointing towards you...

The basics of marketing involve STP (Segmenting, Targeting & Positioning). Out of these building blocks, positioning is at the heart of any marketing strategy. The best way to communicate your positioning to customers is advertising.

Advertising takes many forms and has a lot of dimensions. One such dimension is Needledrop. Linda Scott describes it as “An occupational term common to advertising agencies and the music industry. It refers to music that is prefabricated, multipurpose, and highly conventional. It is, in that sense, the musical equivalent of stock photos, clip art, or canned copy. It is dropped into a commercial or film when a particular normative effect is desired. ”

The term may appear new to you, but I am sure the meaning is familiar. Let me exemplify the concept. Do you recall any brand that you could relate to a specific tune? I hope you can recollect Airtel advertisement featuring A.R.Rahman and his beautiful composition that is more of secondary brand association for Airtel. 

This is a classic example of needlepoint. I would link needpoint to another great concept in my upcoming posts.

The Recipe to a Great Marketing Strategy

Marketing can take diverse forms. One such form is Ingredient Marketing. As the name suggests, it refers to marketing a product along with its ingredient, so as to make it more credible.

This concept isn’t too popular in India. The best example I can think of in this context is that of HP or Lenovo laptops, that uses the brand of Intel microprocessors to market their products.

There are a lot of advantages of Ingredient Marketing. It generates believability on the product. The brand image of ingredient can be shared by the main product. Also, the cost of branding gets shared between the main product and ingredient. So, in totality, it is a great concept with significant benefits.

The disadvantage could be over-dependence on the ingredient brand. If ingredient brand loses its equity at any point of time, it’s a big loss for the product using the component or ingredient.

Well, marketers get restricted to co-branding or joint branding in India, but they should also attempt to use ingredient marketing in wider categories, especially in current recessionary scenario to minimize branding costs. Let’s hope to see some developments in this regard in near future.   

YOU ARE WORTH IT

I am hereby presenting the semiotic analysis of L’OREAL advertisement in India. I will make the analysis point wise.

1.      L’Oreal had chosen Aishwarya Rai for its product as she is an Indian beauty who is renowned worldwide. As such, any woman would want to match up to her level in terms of beauty and recognition and so they have selected and used this endorsee for the product.

2.      The background and the color of Aishwarya’s attire also symbolize some great positioning strategy. The background is dark and Aishwarya’s outfit is white. This means that L’Oreal products help you shine and gives you great visibility. To put it in a simpler way, it helps you glow in dark, separating you from the clutter.  

3.      L’Oreal isn’t advertising any specific product as it’s only the brand name that is shown in the advertisement. This is just a reminder for the consumers to maintain high level of brand recall.

4.      The advertisement displays the URL of brand on web, instigating the customers for its interactive marketing communication.

Isn't this Fascinating ???

Quite a few days back, I came across a term called “Semiotics” in advertising. Can you guess what it means?

In literal terms, it means study of signs and symbols. In context of advertising, it refers to study of meaning. Well, this sounds pretty interesting.

Can you just guess the implications of semiotics in advertising? If not, you can see the semiotic analysis of an ad in my next post. Till then, have a look at this amazing video on semiotics for a general idea on the topic.

SELF-MARKETING...ESSENCE AND IMPLICATIONS

I have been writing a lot on marketing of products, brands, etc. but now I want to share the importance of Self-Marketing. Self-marketing refers to projection of self in a way that enhances the individual’s worth. Also, it implies marketing of self at the right place, at the right time and among the right people.

Well, the essence of self-marketing among the right people means that you have to prove your worth to those who are worth that proof. You don’t have to justify your talent before anyone and everyone.

Now, there are two kinds of people in this world. The first kind of humans are those who don’t put in efforts to rise. Rather, they want to rise by pulling others down. The other category of people includes those who take inspiration from those who are a higher levels and toil hard to reach up to the desired level.

Now what should you do when you encounter people belonging to first category? What I feel is self-marketing before the right people can prove a setback to such losers. So, just work hard for self-enrichment, and then self-market in a right way. You may commit blunders initially, but always remember golden words of Philip Kotler, “Marketing takes day to learn. Unfortunately it takes a lifetime to master”

HATS OFF !!!

Consumers do not want to get overloaded with a number of advertisements, but then how do companies present their products to the consumers? Well, I have mentioned a way earlier, that is, subliminal advertising. This is not is new concept, though its usage isn’t very rampant.

Coca-Cola India has come up with an entirely new concept with their new Limca advertisement, featuring Sushma Reddy. It‘s a very different sequence compared to any other commercial. It is very direct and really enthralling.

As the competition is very high in the market of carbonated drinks or the entire beverage market, brand recall is the key. The advertisement fulfills the basic essence of a marketing communication, that is, it communicates the product features, its benefits. The marketers have kept the advertisement quite simple, easily comprehendible. The major attraction is communication of intended message through a song, which people could relate to because of its relevance to today’s hectic work life. It may be an experiment, but I feel that marketers have brought out this concept after researching on human psychology to remember and recall a song, which is closer to their life.

I think they have put forth an entirely different form of marketing communication, which has got great reviews in terms of concept and presentation.