Dot Com Burst to Credit Bubble

Today, we had a discussion on ethnocentrism in class. Ethnocentrism refers to degree of preference to goods and services produced in one's own country. India ranks low on ethnocentric scale, while USA ranks very high.

The Bill Clinton government capitalized on this trait of American consumers. In Dot Com burst scenario, American consumers who are shopoholics, became skeptic about buying. As there were lay-offs and credit crunch was on upsurge, these shopoholics abandoned their marked trait of shopping, which was an agony for businesses. At the same time occured the 9/11 incident and that's when businesses built on American ethnocentrism. 

Consumers were encouraged to shop, not for self, but for America. Banks provided easy credit, adding ease to desire for shopping. Well, the idea was great. Marketers majorly aim to sell sentiments than anything else, but the utility of this idea was overestimated.

As consumers kept on buying on credit, we encountered what is called sub-prime crisis, that led to formation of so-called credit bubble. All these led to worst ever economic recession, that has adversely affected almost all businesses in the world.  

Well, nothing is sustainable, neither prosperity nor haplessness. Click here to read more on sustainablity. As such, there are solutions to the contemporary economic crisis by economic gurus. I will elaborate on latter in my next post.

Brand Sense 5

Here comes the last brand sense, which is related to sense of touch. Well, do you know the reason why people do not shop apparels online? The reason is that when it comes to apparel, consumers want touch and feel experience. As such, online shopping isn't rampant for clothing materials.

Have you noticed some perfume bottles with a smooth and appealing texture? This texture is meant to coincide with the sense of touch of consumers and connect the brand to the latter.

Though sense of touch isn't widely used in brand sense, yet it can't be neglected. Marketers must devise ways to capitalise on this sense as well.  

Brand Sense 4

When you pass by a Cafe Coffee Day or Starbucks outlet, what do you sense? It is the rich aroma of exotic coffee from best coffee plantations in the world. Do you know why these outlets make effort to stimulate your olfactory glands?

The answer lies in the fact that marketers attempt to connect their brands to one of your senses. Here, it is the sense of smell. You actually get attracted towards the smell of coffee you sense in and around these outlets. You start associating the pleasent smell with the brand. As such,marketers make an attempt to connect to consumers' sense of smell.

I came across a book called Brand Sense which said that in Europe, the owners of bakeries have put in efforts to install veinlets in malls, etc., wherein they take hold of consumers' touchpoint by exposing them to enticing smell of their confectionery products. It may sound hilarious, but the effort to reach consumers' contact point is immense.

So, sense of smell is as important as any other sense. Marketers are smart enough to use it wherever necessary.

Brand Sense 3

A way to man's (consumers, in this context) heart is through his stomach. 

Well, marketers do realise the importance of having strong association with consumers' taste buds. Here comes the third Brand Sense which is related to sense of taste. This is more relevant to businesses which are into food and beverage industry.

Why do you go to the burger outlet in your lane or to the local idli point? It is because you are highly receptive to taste of their servings and the taste has been consistent throughout. Now, how do businesses capitalise on this sense of consumers?

The answer is quite simple. First, companies have to find the recipe that is well-suited to consumers' taste preferences and which has the potential to become the USP of the product. KFC is the best example to be quoted here. It has created a unique recipe of fried chicken that gives it Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA) and which is liked by customers. Second, they must maintain consitency. When a customer comes to a food outlet, he wants to rejuvenate his previous experience at/with the food outlet. As such, consitency is an important concern.

Once an organisation is successful in connecting with the sense of taste of consumers, it is very difficult for competitors to get the same consumer segment with same offerings. 

Brand Sense 2

Marketers don't rely only on visuals and graphics to connect with the consumers. They use sound and audio too, and that is to link the brands with the sense of hearing of consumers.

Do you remember the audio which Airtel capitalised on for the purpose of brand building? It is a memorable sound track composed by the Indian Mozart, Mr. A. R. Rahman. This audio is an Airtel patent, which actually helped the brand in registering in consumers' minds as audio is a great way to connect to human brain. Click here to listen to the audio.

Similarly, Harley Davidson patented the sound which is supposedly produced while starting the bike. Click here to view the related commercial.

All these efforts are directed to link the brands to a sense of consumers, that is, the hearing sense and therby have a unique brand identity and higher brand equity.

Brand Sense 1

As mentioned in my earlier post, I will now elucidate on integration of each of the five physiological senses to brands. 

Le'ts start with the sense of sight. It is easiest for marketers to connect with consumers' vision. There are n number of examples in this context. Lets us take the example of Coke. When I say Coca Cola, what comes to your mind, rather what association comes to your mind? Probably, it is the red color which Coca Cola is strongly associated with. As such, when a brand has such strong association with vision of consumers', it becomes easier for brands to be on top of minds of consumers.

Marketers need to expend very less marketing or promotional expense. Any bill board with Coke-specific red graphics would serve as reminder for the consumers and that is the essence of brand sense with reference to vision.

Sense the Brands

We have five senses to sense varied stimuli and the sixth sense is the common sense. Well, it is really important for marketers to first connect their brands to consumers' five senses and may then tap in consumers' sixth sense.

I came across a book named Brand Sense by Martin Lindstorm which talks on the same. It says that it is very essential for marketers to connect their brands with various senses of consumers including sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. By doing so, marketers can integrate their brands with the sensory receptors of consumers, leading to penchant towards their brands, compared to those of competitors.

Well, it is really difficult to connect to all senses of consumers, but a few senses can definitely be tapped in under the process called Brand Sense. I feel that once you link your brand with any of these physiological senses, it automatically gets linked to the sixth sense of consumers.

I will write on integration of each of these senses to brands in my subsequent posts.

Why Blogger Beware !!!

I came across a post in one of the blogs. It says about FTC norms to penalize the bloggers who promote products by projecting their fake attributes. The post is rightly titled as "Blogger, Beware". Click here to view the post.

Well, I have a different and contrary take on the issue. I really feel that it's up to a blogger to manage and write on his blog. He may have a different view point on a product's attributes, which don't neccesarily make him a culprit under FTC norms. If there's affirmation on later, I think we should no more consider blog as a platform to express viewpoints. Rather, it should be called a whosover (marketers/blog governing bodies ) dictated area. I just want to ask, "Why Blogger Beware ?"

Indian Ads Fabricated around Cultural Domains

What A Customer Wants ?

Yesterday, I watched a movie named "What a Girl Wants?", Amanda Bynes being the leading lady.

 

In the movie, Amanda as an American teenager learns about her father, who's contesting for office in British political regime and then movie talks about a father and daughter who try to get along and build father-daughter relationship. The movie is touchy, but more than any other thing, I could see how marketers capitalise on human relations.

Coming to Indian cultural fabric, it's in a state of transition from Indian to Western (specifically American) orientation. Indians are somewhere in the midst of these two cultural domains. Well, marketers do have a way to breakthrough this scenario too. As such, they have realized what customers want. They want products/services witha blend of these cultures.

Cadbury has positioned itself brilliantly to tap in the cultural factors of India. They ask the customers to substitute their Deepawali sweets or Rakshbandhan gifts with Cadbury chocolates. As such, they are not asking the customers to shift from or shed their cultural beliefs, but at the same time, they have tried to fit in their products in such a cultural design. I feel it's great strategy for MNCs, dealing with various cultures.

Recession Alters Strategies

I wrote on effects of recession on consumer behavior in one of my previous posts. In this era of great economic depression, customers want value for money and as such, cost based pricing or efficiency pricing are of great concern to customers as well as marketers.

Well, marketers well understand the implications of recession on consumers' purchase behavior. As such, PepsiCo has come up with a great strategy, that positions the brand on cost-based parameters. It says "Plenty in Twenty" (Twenty Mein Plenty), which is for 600ml. On contrary, Coca Cola sells at Rs. 22/600ml. 

I think Pespsi has a real advantage here. Firstly, its positioning clearly indicates its concern towards customers in recessionary times. Secondly, Just Noticeable Difference (JND), in favor of Pepsi may be apparent. Though a difference of Rs. 2 is petty, but I think it is above JND for Coca Cola. This is because the drinks from PepsiCo and Coca Cola hardly have a distinguishing feature. As such, pricing can be a factor in favor of PepsiCo.

Well, sales will ultimately tell the impact of the current pricing strategy of PepsiCo.  

Brute Force Branding

I am reading a book named Brand Harmony by Steve Yastrow. In this book, I came across a term called Brute Force Branding. This form of branding emphasize on a two-fold way to build brands. First, marketers have to break through the clutter to gauge the attention of consumers by being able to make the customers selectively perceive the brand. Second step is to expose the customers to advertisements enough number of times to impart learning about brand and thereby form attitude.

Well, this form of branding must have worked in past, but today's consumers is just not ready to buy on basis of advertisements. The reasons for such a shift can be attributed to reasons like cutomers having more choices than before, customers becoming more savvy and having access to information. As such, relying on ads isn't going to work for brand building.

Rather, customer wants harmony in terms of brand experience, that is, harmony in their experience with ads, brochures, salesforce, etc. and definitely with the product. That's how great brands are built, at least in the current scenario. We have brands like Nike, etc. that followed Brute Force Branding , but that's history now. Today's consumers are unreceptive to bombardment with ads and as such, they have to be convinced some other way. I really feel Brand Harmony is a great way to do so.

Child is the Father of Man

Well, why "Child is the Father of Man"? You must have noticed that as kids, we have a strong urge to quickly reach adulthood and once we are adults, this urge fades away and rather, we want to go back to our childhood again . Well, this is general human tendency beyond human control.

Well, marketers have well capitalised on this facet of human behavior paving way for an otherwise unnoticed pattern of consumption behavior. Let us see the new frooti commercial. Click here to view the commercial.

Here, themarketers are asking the consumers, "Why grow up?" Adults really don't want to grow up, rather they want to get back to their childhood. As a child, you must have slurrped your drinks to the last drop. You still do it, may be subconsciously as you want to be a child again. Now, as an adult, slurrping to the last drop is like repeating the behavior seen in early stages of growth. 

Well, it is a brilliant positioning strategy. Give the consumers what they want. They want to get back to their childhood which is actually a latent or hidden need, and that is what is  being offered to them by Frooti. I think they have managed to break the clutter. 

Who's Worth It ???

Do you know what it takes to build great brands? Technically speaking, products can be branded using several functions which are Credibility, Attractiveness and Power. 

The usage of these forces are a function of nature of product. Suppose you have a food product, it needs credibilty as that is what distinguises it from competing brands. Now when it comes to cosmetics, attractiveness is the pre-requisite and as such, celebrities are best suited to be used to brand such products.

Well, most cosmetics companies have celebrities as endorsers. Taking the case of L'Oreal in India, it has had Aishwarya Rai Bachhan and Diana Hayden as its brand ambassdors, and for past few years, Aishwarya has been the only face of L'Oreal. Well, as a matter of fact, any brand requires a contemporary figure to endorse it and thereby protect it from getting enervated. As such, L'Oreal decided to rope in a fresh face for its brand, while retaining Aishwarya for some of its products. 

This new face is Sonam Kapoor. Well, no doubt she is attractive and can leverage her attractiveness to a cosmetics brand, but I don't think Sonam is the right choice for a brand like L'Oreal. L'Oreal is a brand that is truly international in its appeal. As such, it should have taken an endorsee with international appeal. I think any international beauty peagent winner would have been great, but we don't have any such figure in recent times. The  next best choice would have been Deepika Padukone, but then she has already been roped in by Maybelline and there L'Oreal looses the advantage. 

Let's see how Sonam fares for the brand. We can just speculate but times would confirm the success or failure of this move of L'Oreal. So, let us just wait and watch. 

Click here to see reviews on Sonam's selection as brand ambassador for L'Oreal. 

It's All About Strategy

Today I had a discussion on Nokia's extension strategy with my peers and professor. Nokia wants to go for extension into rural markets. The million dollar question is how to decide on the extension strategy, that is whether to go for market development (getting in to rural market) or product development (and retain its bomb share in urban market).

Well, the answer is pretty simple. It depends on the company's core competencies. If a company wants to extend its markets, it must have a really strong distribution and logistics network. When later is the case, only then it can push its products to these markets with really poor infrastructure and connectivity.

For product development, a company must have hold on R&D and technology. If an organisation has intellectual resources and innovative temperament, only then it should go for the respective extension area.

Well, I personally think that Nokia has competencies in both logistics and innovation. As such, it is wise to go for product and market development simultaneously.

Marketers are Smart

As summers have begun to heat the nature, marketers have come up with ways to combat the latter. This summer witnessed the launch of several brands of lemon drinks including 7UP Nimbooz by PepsiCo and LMN by ParleAgro. 

Let us look at the branding strategy of 7UP Nimbooz. When Pepsico decided to go for line extension, there weren't any players in lime category and  as such, there was an opportunity to get first-mover advantage for this category.

The big question is whether it is apt for Pepsico to extend the brand name of 7UP to Nimbooz. Well, the technicality of issue depicts that it is a right move by Pepsico to leverage the brand image of 7UP to Nimbooz. The reasons attributed to this action are:

1. 7UP is quite close to a lemon drink in terms of taste. 

2. Lime drinks is a not an established category till date. As such, consumers do not discrminate stimuli for the category. Rather, there will be stimulus generalization, wherein consumers would percieve Nimbooz close to 7UP, which has strong brand equity. As such, consumers are expected to form favorable attitude towards Nimbooz, similar to that for 7UP.

This is a smart strategy to keep a sister brand in shadow of master brand (that is 7UP), rather than launching an entirely new brand.  

Flush Out The Common Sensical

You must be wondering as to why "Flush out the common sensical". Well, that is what is apt for the young generation, who wants to break free.

If you see the recent ad of Wild Stone mens' deodorant, a man gets involved with his siter in-law. Now, this is absolutely not acceptable in Indian culture and here lies the great positioning strategy for the product.

Youth of today's era generally doesn't want to comply with societal norms. They are more of rebellious kind, who are averse to established beliefs. This product, by depicting a rebellious attitude, is highlighting the positioning of product as a distinct, daring and individualistic identity.

Common man with high cultural values may not like the concept, but it is a brilliant positioning strategy. It is apt for its set of target group which is that of youngsters. They want something that is audacious and bold, which is exactly what is given to them by the marketers. 

Click here to view the commercial.

Recession and Consumer Behavior

One of my friends went for a job interview and the topic for group discussion was "Effects of recession on Consumer Behavior". My friend is in Finance stream, and so he couldn't speak much on it, but this led me into deep thinking.

Recession has badly hit the world and almost all businesses are striving to atleast survive. How do marketers measure Consumer Behavior (CB) in a recession-hit scenario?

The process of Consumption Behavior is a congregation of four consecutive psychological domains, all backed by a common domain of Personality. These four psychological factors are Motivation, Perception, Learning and Attitude. 

The essence of CB is that consumers of a segment depict more or less uniform behavior and that is what is capitaised on by marketers. Now, as there is recession, the behavior of consumers have changed drastically. For eg: A consumer may have a favorable attitude towards say, Gucci watch, but his attitude towards purchase behavior may be unfavorable. He may like Gucci as a brand, but may not have resources to buy it. As such, marketers can't conclude anything about consumer attitude, if they aren't buying a particular product.

So, how to tackle this situation? Well, in current situation, not only economies, but consumers too are in deep liquidity crunch. As such, consumer attitude is dictated by pricing. Consumers want value for money. So, marketers must give them cost-effective or efficiency pricing, and that's how marketers can mould the attitude of consumers towards their offerings.

Let's just wait and watch the actions of marketers and then draw a conclusion in this context.

Whats So Peculiar ?

Consumer behavior is a highly analytical subject, with great scope of research. There is a scope of research in every aspect of behavior shown by consumers.

Well, consumers do behave in a peculiar fashion quite a number of times. In my last assignment on consumer behavior (CB), we had to take up an irrational behavior depicted by consumers, and then work backwards to relate the behavior to theories of CB. I took up the behavior of obsessed investors as my topic of research.

The interesting part is the speculation of my classmate on the pecularity of the respective behavior. He wasn't convinced with the behavior we took up as being peculiar. Then we came up with discussion on the parameters on which we call a behavior as strange and erratic. One criteria was that a peculiar behavior is uncommon in terms of frequency and number of people doing it.

Other argument was that a behavior though shown by majority, may be called peculiar. For eg: people are fussy about paying ten extra bucks to a cab-driver, while same majority may give money as tips in restaurants. This behavior though depicted by a lot of people, yet is peculiar.

So, the criteria of peculiar behavior can be:

1. A behavior that is shown by few people, that is, a behavior that is uncommon

2. A behavior that shows two converse and contrasting reactions in different situations, or that shows lack of uniformity in different situations.

This is a great area of research. There are no right and wrong here, but there can be multiple answers.  

What's great advertising ?

Do you know what it means by great advertising? As per Leo Burnett, "Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief."

Attitude vs Perception

Can you differentiate between attitude and perception? The two terms seem to mean quite the same thing, but there's a great difference in thier implication.

I will enunciate on the topic as per the principle of consumer behaviour. Perception refers to an opinion formed about a product or brand on reception of a stimulus. Every stimulus (selectively percieved stimulus) leads to formation of perception. Now once perception is formed about a product, consumers tend to learn more about the product or brand. Once learning comes up to the desired level, consumers form attitude.

Now, the difference between these two psychological domains lies in the fact that every single stimuli forms a perception, while attitude is a consequence of learning about a product/brand, which in turn is the outcome of perception(s). Consumers may have different needs for cognition. As such, consumer learning comes from multiple stimuli leading to multiple perceptionm.

In a nutshell, consumers first percieve, learn from perception/s (on account of single or multiple stimuli depending on their need for cognition) and then forn attitudes, which dictate their purchase decisions.