Saturday, August 15, 2009

World of Word of Mouse


Pritesh Jain, Ammar Tambawala, IIM A

When Hotmail inserted “Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com” at the bottom of every message sent out, little did it know that it was pioneering the concept of a new age marketing technique called word-of-mouse that would create a buzz just a few years away.

Hotmail then sat back and let its users promote its product – a “free email account”, a revolutionary concept at that time, to their network of friends and associates. Hotmail’s instant success enticed marketer’s world over to follow the suit, to explore the potential of employing word-of-mouth marketing techniques in the virtual world.

Word-of-Mouth (WOM, also used for word-of-mouse) marketing strategy encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, preferably in their circle of influence. Word-of-mouse is basically an extension of this concept, with the communication being through electronic means, which increase the rapidity with which the message spreads and the number of people communicated to. There is an exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence, especially since as a society we have started moving from vertical trust to horizontal trust, i.e. from trusting authorities to trusting our peers. Due to its similarity to rapid multiplication growth observed in the spread of various viruses, this technique is also termed as viral marketing by some experts.

Various social networks have relied heavily on WOM to get more users hooked onto them. In today’s world, blogs and podcasts have proved to be powerful tools that have assisted marketers in implementing their WOM marketing strategies well. Vodafone’s use of YouTube to promote its Zoozoo campaign showed the rise of a new and effective tool. With so much support of the viral medium at their disposal, a marketer just has to concentrate on some basic elements to make a successful WOM marketing strategy. Here are some guidelines to design a WOM campaign:
  • Give away products or services
‘Free’ is the golden word. It gets people to try your product. You might not reap profits in short terms, but then you know that WOM marketing’s strength relies in its network expansion effect. Even a marginal charge can be a big deterrent.

  • Provide for effortless transfer of message to others
Not everyone is a good salesman. Make sure that your message is simple to transfer and has potential to be self-explanatory. The more the effort required for the user, the lesser are chances of the spread of the ‘virus’.

  • Scale easily from small to very large
Be prepared for a sudden surge in demand. If you are not well equipped to serve the rising customer base, you better not get into WOM. It can work against you if there are unsatisfied customers or the one whom you are unable to serve – as a negative message can spread as quickly, if not more so.

  • Exploit common motivations and behaviours
Nobody wants to miss on a rising trend. There is an innate need to be ‘cool’, to be a part of those ‘in the know’. Identify these motivators and make sure that you are exploiting them.

  • Utilize existing communication networks
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. However irritating those “your friend abc has invited you to join xyz” mails, they have been effective in expanding the user-base for many a social networking site. It is only now that their effectiveness, due to the saturation of these messages has come down. Facebook updates, chat status messages, tweets are all examples of communication networks that carry updates, and links to interesting videos.

  • Take advantage of others' resources
Blogs, podcasts, YouTube, Twitter – all these tools are put in place by someone else and are at your disposal. Engage your customers in every possible way.out of cash and closing stores all over the try. Although they have no hopes of opening these outlets just as yet, they do plan on reworking their format through expansion by way of franchisee units. Many foreign ventures with domestic firms are falling out while previously established foreign retailers are looking for alternate strategies.

Some examples of WOM campaigns used by Indian companies recently are:
1. Makkadman (www.makkadman.com): Produced to promote a new social networking website desimartini.com, this video rose on popularity chart at a rapid pace riding on the email-forward and recommendations through various blogs. Companies like webchutney have a large portfolio of campaigns similar to this and were used to promote various organizations in a creative way.

2. Jaagore.com (www.jaagore.com): An initiative supported by Tata Tea and Janagrah, was aimed to raise awareness of voting rights. It encouraged its users to invite their friends to join the movement and be a responsible citizen.

3. Animated videos have been used by companies to promote their product in funny, offbeat ways. The video usually starts off in a completely different context, with no indication of it being an ad or promotion, but just another spoof. The brand or product is brought in right at the end, along with a humorous twist. Some examples of this are the Rajnikant-Castrol video where he is shown outrunning a bullet on his bike, the McDonalds-Sholay video with the sons of the original stars, and the tagline of ‘Aap ke zamaane mein baap ke
zamaane ke daam’ brought in at the end and the ‘Thakur ka Inteqaam’ video made by Orbit, indicating the advantages of strong teeth.

4. Vodafone used the YouTube channel to not only popularise Zoozoos, but also to show the making of the ads, which got users even more hooked on when they found out it wasn’t animated, but in fact actors in special suits.

5. Seven wonders of the world 2007: Though this campaign was not started in India, it raised huge curiosity. Lacs of Indian users voted to keep Taj in the list of wonders. The mail chains urging users to vote for Taj made multiple rounds for almost a year.

On the other hand, the power of word-of-mouse can also be used by unscrupulous agents to spread erroneous information about the company or its product. The infamous Mentos in Coke emails and videos is the first thing that comes to our mind. In such cases, it is important to react promptly and push a clear rebuttal; otherwise it can get almost impossible to stop the rumour mails.

However, word-of-mouse is not without its sceptics. Paul Martino, the man behind Tribe, an early social network, believes that interpersonal connections on these networks are often of low quality, since few people disconnect former friends, or reject unwanted friend requests from mere casual acquaintances. While this may eventually lead to a lot of clutter and unwanted updates, time would also eventually bring tools to remedy this phenomenon, like ‘mute updates from this person’. While muting updates may limit the spread of many campaigns, it could also make them more powerful, as one would give more importance to the fewer updates he/she did get.

Nadia Chauhan, Joint MD and CMO, Parle Agr0



Ms. Nadia Chauhan is Joint Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer at Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd. In her role, she oversees Product Development, Marketing, Sales and Distribution for all the brands of Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd. She also leads new business ventures. Nadia has played a pivotal role in the phenomenal growth of Parle Agro over the years. She has big plans and expectations for the future of Parle Agro and is constantly driving Parle i Agro towards being India’s number oi one FMCG Company.


Markathon: As multinational cola czars are sharpening their focus on 'non-cola' drinks, how are Indian players like Parle Agro gearing up to fight these multinationals in the Indian fruit-drinks market?
Nadia Chauhan: The fruit drinks market has been seeing rapid growth over the last few years. And that has motivated various F&B players to invest and foray into the non-cola drinks segment.
Besides the multinationals, there are several local players who have sharpened their focus in this segment.
From our point of view, we welcome competition. Since, for one, it helps further expand the market, and additionally, it ensures that the older, more established players in the segment do not lose focus. We enjoy being kept on our toes and are constantly looking for new ways of expanding our business in this segment.
To quote a cliché, nobody remembers the second man on the moon. And fortunately for us, we have the first mover advantage in this segment, and that can take us a long way. It keeps you on top of the mind for a long time. With so many firsts to our name, Parle Agro has the proud sobriquet of being a pioneer in the Indian beverage industry.
With rising competition, Parle Agro does not just bank on its pioneer status. Constant innovation, an open mind and a vision for the future will ensure that we are always ahead in this race.
At Parle Agro, we focus a lot on the kind of products we create. With one of the most advanced R&D facilities, we have developed some of the most path-breaking products, all first of its kind in India.
With an established distribution network, we ensure that no matter where in India one goes, our products are available.
And finally, an aggressive approach to marketing has helped us create and continue creating some of the most iconic brands in India.
Needless to say, our focus on quality is what’s allowed us to garner the trust of the billion in our country.



Markathon: Now bottled water has become more of a commodity. What initiatives are you taking to make yourself different from your competitors?
Nadia Chauhan: Over the last few years, the bottled water market has seen a growth of over 40-45% per annum. This growth has been tapped not just by the existing players in the market, but by various new players as well. Our various initiatives have ensured that Bailley has been growing at the rate of 150% every year.
“Parle Agro has the proud sobriquet of being a pioneer in the Indian beverage industry”
There was a time when most consumers would go into the market and ask for Bisleri, the then generic for packaged drinking water. Even if they were given a brand other than Bisleri, they would have happily taken it. That was the time when bottled water was far more of a commodity.
Today, things are different. You have premium water (such as mineral water brands), you have the premium water brands within the packaged drinking water category and you also have imported water brands. The hospitality segment, which plays a large role in this category, is rather choosy about the brand of water that they serve. They aren’t necessarily serving the cheapest brand. They are serving a brand that fits their requirements. In terms of look and feel (overall image) of the brand. These are signs of the bottled water market becoming more and more of a branded segment and less of a commodity
Today, the bottle of water a consumer carries with him to the gym is a reflection of his lifestyle, his taste. It is almost becoming like a fashion accessory. Having identified this transition over the years, we invested in revamping our bottle design/structure, our branding, our distribution and our communication, to create a specific preference for our brand.
Now, you see Bailley being sold at retail stores, fine dine restaurants, premium star hotels, at airports and various other key locations. Bailley is also sold on many premium airlines as the preferred choice of water.
Every effort invested in the brand Bailley is in line with the fact that the bottled water market is no longer a commodity market.


Markathon: Parle Agro is in an aggressive mood to capture greater market share in the beverages segment. The launch of LMN and Grappo Fizz proves this point. What is your take on this?
Nadia Chauhan: We have a clear vision for Parle Agro. We want it to grow and be a Rs.3500-crore FMCG giant in the industry and every introduction from Parle Agro is in line with this vision.
This year, we’ve introduced more products than in the past. Whether it is LMN, Grappo Fizz, or even Saint juice. Each of these products is an entity within 3 separate beverage categories. And each of these products has different goals to achieve in the market.
We’ve always been aggressive and this year is no exception. We’ve only gotten better. This is because we enjoy responding to the needs of the market, and we have seen a growing need for variation, for innovation, for quality and for aspirational brands. Hence, each of our introductions has been in line to cater to this.


Markathon: “More important than pricing and distribution network, the advertising and communication strategies are the vital determinants in deciding the success of the beverage products”. Your comment.
Nadia Chauhan: Whether it’s a beverage or any other product. Whether it’s your success or mine - as individuals. Whether it’s the success of your institute or the success of my organization. None of these successes is guaranteed on the basis of a single factor. Think back and you may agree.
For the success of any brand, there are multiple factors that are responsible for it.
Firstly, you’ve got to have the right product at the right time. Many a times, sophisticated R&D facilities develop some of the best products that are the most advanced but don’t last too long in the market, because they are introduced at the wrong time. Timing in life is everything.
Sometimes, a product is either too early for its time, or too late. I’d use one of our own examples for this. Many years ago, we launched a product called Jolly Jelly. A jelly drink that was marketed in Tetra Pak packaging in India. When we launched it, most consumers either didn’t know what jelly was or believed that jelly had to be non-vegetarian. Struggling to communicate (though we advertised extensively) we decided to withdraw the product. However, if we were to launch it today, a time when you see Jelly based confectionery all over the market place, even in the smallest of markets and the smallest of outlets, we might taste success. This learning has lasted us a long time, and has ensured with every launch we’ve asked ourselves one question – is this the right time. This doesn’t mean that you stay away from innovation, but you take calculated steps forward to ensure your innovation is introduced at the right time.

Choosing the right packaging, the right branding and the right packaging design is the second most important aspect, before you can see any success for your brand. Remember, that packaging is the first form of advertising. It tells the consumer why he should pick up that product and what the product has for him.
Pricing is a major determinant and is linked to my next point, which is distribution. Whether you have a mass product or you a niche product to market, you have to pay close attention and understand the consumer psyche in detail with regards to pricing. It differs from portion packs to take-home packs. You find that the psyche towards portion packs is far more sensitive than that towards take home packs. Retailers in India understand the importance of pricing to the consumer as much as most marketers do. Hence, a product with a pricing that is not relevant or justified results in the retailer refusing to stock it, hence restricting your distribution tremendously.

Besides price preference of whether it’s priced too high or too low, brands over time have established branded price points, which has created a preference or a convenience factor amongst consumers. Whether it’s Rs. 10 for a pack of Frooti or the Rs. 5, which was established by Maggi. These are magical price points, which most brands strive to have for themselves.
The right pricing can ensure right distribution. But besides the pricing, having a strong distribution infrastructure is key. Focusing on retail distribution rather than wholesale distribution is the key. Ensuring vast product placement is again important. When a consumer sees your product everywhere, he immediately begins to think - “Wow, this product seems to be doing really well, let me try it out.”
Now, after you have done all of this, and you’ve stabilized, your advertising becomes important. How you promote your brand in the market space and how you create need for your brand in the minds of the consumer through an emotional platform on television or other mass media.
Mass communication ensures that your product works itself towards being top of mind. It also ensures that a buzz is created around your brand. But this alone could not do anything for your brand. In fact, if you have fantastic advertising and a bad product, you’re in trouble. If you have fantastic advertising and no distribution, you’re in trouble. And even if you have fantastic advertising but a bad price point, you’re in trouble.
“Frooti was the first beverage in India to be sold in a Tetra Pak”


Markathon: Frooti is your group’s flagship brand and market leader in its segment. What are the new initiatives taken by the company to maintain this position?
Nadia Chauhan: Frooti has achieved this position because from the day it was introduced, it set new standards for the beverage industry. Being the first national mango drink in the country and the first beverage in India to be sold in a Tetra Pak, Frooti raised the standards of innovation, quality and vision to another level for its time in 1985.
Frooti did not stop there. Every few years Frooti ensured that it re-invented itself, to make it relevant to the youth and move with the time. The product never changed, and never will, but everything around it did, ensuring that it was always as aspirational, always trendy and always your favourite brand.
Even today, Frooti continues to innovate. Frooti was the first fruit-based beverage to be introduced in PET not too long ago. We also have just revamped our entire package design. We introduced some path-breaking SKUs, which have made Frooti affordable to all those who’ve heard of Frooti and wanted Frooti, but could never buy one. This was possible with our triangular pack, which was originally launched at Rs.2.50 and maintained the same price for a few years. It is now at Rs. 5.
The communication for Frooti over the years has kept evolving, making it contemporary and relevant to the youth. This year, Frooti has been ranked as not only the number one fruit drink brand in India but also as the 29th most trusted brand in India amongst a 100 FMCG brand survey, by the Economic Times.

Markathon: Parle Agro is the trendsetter with respect to packaging of beverages, whether it is Tetra Pak or PET bottles. And as packaging directly impacts end consumers, how do you take these decisions?
Nadia Chauhan: Parle Agro was the first company to introduce beverages in Tetra Pak in India. Not just that, Parle Agro was also the first to introduce fruit drink in PET bottles. As you’ve rightly mentioned, packaging innovation is an intrinsic part of Parle Agro’s product success philosophy.
Besides working very closely with our packaging companies to create new benchmarks and create innovative packaging options for our brands, we also have a large team of highly experienced packaging specialists who work on achieving the various goals that are set for our brands.
Packaging decisions are based on type of product, the best way to experience it (consumption pattern), the target consumer and most importantly, the pricing.
Besides the above, packaging decisions are also based on shelf life of the product that we’d like to achieve, especially considering the complexity of the distribution system in India.
While the above might highlight most of the functional and technical aspects in the decision making process with regards to packaging, there is a softer side as well.
One major aspect with regards to packaging is the ergonomics. The package design, the aesthetics. We work very closely with our communication partners who are trained on the various forms of packaging that we operate in, so that we can achieve the highest level of output for each brand in terms of the aesthetics. Once again, like I’ve said before, we give a lot of importance to packaging, because we realize that it is the first and most impact generating form of communication.


Markathon: Where do you see Parle Agro in the near future?
Nadia Chauhan: I see Parle Agro achieving its goal of being a Rs.3500 crore company. I see Parle Agro growing further to achieve new heights. We’ve grown already from being a major beverage player to having a dynamic confectionery and recently introduced snack
food range as well. Parle Agro, in the near future, will not only be a
major Food & Beverage player, but will make way into being a major FMCG player in the country.


Markathon: Finally, we would like to hear about the competencies required by the management graduates for making it big in the Indian FMCG industry.
Nadia Chauhan: FMCG is a fiercely competitive and demanding sector to be in. In the current economic scenario, it is amongst the few sectors that have maintained a steady growth rate, braving the global recession and the rough times the country has been through.
For those aspiring to make it big in FMCG, you need to have the zeal to win. You have to be energetic and confident to take on new challenges, be persistent and be prepared to work very hard. These traits will help you develop the right kind of attitude required to fit well in the FMCG industry.
Besides these, you need a fair degree of commitment, a quest to learn, ability to deliver results on time and a great deal of passion for the work you do.
Like the American author John Maxwell once said, “A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”

Commodity Branding





ARUN SALURU, ABHISHEK BAKSHI, MOHIT KHEMKA | IIM SHILLONG
Marketing Guru’s Philip Kotler and Kevin Keller had said that commodity as a product is so basic that it cannot be physically differentiated in the minds of the consumer. Some people are of the opinion that commodity is sold on the basis of price and not on any differentiating factor. But in his classic article titled, ‘Marketing success through differentiation – of anything’, Theodore Levitt begins by saying, “There is no such thing as a commodity. All goods and services are differentiable”.

The biggest pitfall in the branded commodities market is the sense of lethargy prevailing in the commodity industry itself. The corporate culture in these businesses makes the blunder of emphasising only on operations, scale and sales; giving second treatment to marketing. They put less stress on segmentation, positioning, delivery speeds and customer service and in turn lose out on making larger margins on their products by creating consumer demand for their specific products.

On the other hand, we are strongly of the opinion that marketing information would save the company from price wars, margin cuts or over delivery of value. Analysis of branding of commodities consumed at retail level (B2C) shows that manufacturers must effectively differentiate their product offering vis-à-vis competitors as it moves the buying decision away from the price factor and therefore generates long-term profitability and sustainable advantage in a crowded marketplace.

We think that every commodity can be branded if the value proposition fulfils the needs of the target segment. Essential commodities like water, milk, vegetables, food grains, salt, sugar and commodities like gold, all have been branded. Tanishq's 24 carat gold is one of example how even gold can be branded. The huge opportunity has drawn several companies, both domestic and multinational, in the branded commodities arena. But the most difficult task for the marketers is to identify these differentiations and thus create value for the consumers that too results in increased bottom-line.

We will explain the branding of commodities by taking leafs from the industry.

Water
Water has always been available in abundance on earth and also been considered as a vital organ of humanity. It has occupied a pure and a dignified status both in terms of religion and spirituality, in the various civilizations across the world and more so in case of India. Pure and safe drinking water has always been a necessity. Earlier wells and natural sources were used to get drinking water and were stored in earthen pitchers. In the tradition of welcoming the guests and visitors to households, water would be the first thing that was offered. People had the mindset that water is a commodity which nobody would be willing to pay for.

But the tradition of serving and consuming drinking water has changed significantly almost a decade and a half ago, with the introduction of packaged drinking water. It was the institutional consumers like hotels, offices and commercial set-ups that were the first consumers of packaged drinking water. They were the harbingers of change. Then with passage of time, and change in the life style, general public also started embracing safe and convenient packaged drinking water. The need to travel frequently and for longer distances and staying healthy during travel, led travellers to purchase packaged drinking

In the Natural water category, the water is packaged from the source and no processing is done except for disinfection. The ordinary bottled water is chemically processed. Packaged drinking water is derived from any source and has to be treated and disinfected, a process that could involve filtration, UV/ Ozone treatment and reverse osmosis, before it is fit for human consumption.

Himalayan of the TATA’s is the market leader in the Natural water category. In fact it is the only Indian brand of natural bottled water to be internationally accepted in the markets across Europe and US. The USP of Himalayan is the distinctive taste derived from its origin and also commands a premium in the market for this value proposition. It is positioned at the high end of the value segment. Evian is another major international brand of mineral water by Danone water. More over the economic upliftment has
led the society to increasingly value their health and well being. This created demand for premium products like natural water. The inability of Municipal Corporations to provide safe potable drinking water due to tremendous pressure on infrastructure, and adding to it the exorbitant cost of medical treatment and cost of lost time due to illness, has led families to adopt processed drinking water. ‘Safe’ and ‘Pure’ were the two words, on which packaged drinking water marketers led their charge on the tap water, which was available almost free. Earlier even during travel, Indian families used to carry water from home in dispensers, but now as lifestyle has become fast and happening, ‘convenience’ is regarded in high value. Indians have altered their buying preferences on the basis of taste, processing technology, health factors and convenience. It was the time when branding of a commodity – water, was complete and also the moment when companies both national and international lined up to woo them and offer a bottle of water to quench the thirst.

The bottled water market is divided into two categories
1) Natural Water
2) Ordinary/Packaged bottled water.

India Pvt. Limited. Other brands present in this segment are Aava of Sheelpe Enterprises, Fontana-Aquafontana, Catch, life, L-spring, L-supreme, Qua etc.

The leader in the Indian bottled water market is Bisleri with a market share of 16 % followed by Kinley and Aqua Fina with a share of 14%, and the rest of the market is dominated by regional and unorganized products. Bisleri has built its market share on the proposition of freshness, purity, safety and easy availability at affordable price. IRCTC has packaged drinking water with the brand name ‘Rail Neer’ to meet the need of railway passengers. The introduction of cheap water pouches by Rail Neer, is another innovation to bring down the cost for the lower value segment. Companies are also involved in innovative packaging like PET bottles, easy to hold bottles and different colored bottles (pink in case of Himalayan), in a bid to create differentiation. Provision of water dispenser is another differentiating factor being brought by some of the industry players. Some brands project the process of treatment like ozonisation, UV treatment, reverse osmosis etc. as their unique propositions. (Manikchand’s Oxyrich). Ever since bottled water has become a prestige product in India, companies are offering retail margins of 20% to 40% against 8% to 10% on soft drinks and are enticing retailers for more of their refrigerator space.

The single factor deciding the viability of a water brand in the market is the transportation cost. According to a standing committee on railways report (2006-07), in the bottled water segment, raw material charges constitute about 45% of the total cost, while transportation, operation and other overhead makes around 45% of the sales cost.

There are just about eleven natural mineral water licence holders, while there are several hundred packaged drinking water licences approved by BIS. With about 70% of packaged water market still fragmented, the industry provides a good consolidation bid opportunities for the major players. The industry has also paved the way for new product segments such as flavoured, vitamin based and herbal waters.

The organised packaged drinking water is facing severe competition from local packaged drinking water producers, ‘Zero B’ water dispensers of Ion Exchange Limited and Aqua guard and other water treating dispensers, and also from carbonated beverages and fruit juices. The industry is also facing erosion in sales due to rampant prevalence of spurious products.

So the need of the hour is to secure the brand value and continuously move up the value chain to keep the consumer delighted with its unique value proposition.

Steel
In the aftermath of the de licensing process took place in 1991, the steel industry has undergone a dramatic change. There was a metamorphosis, from sellers’ market to purely buyers’ market. From customers’ side, there is a more open outlook towards new ideas, technologies and desire for international quality and these new practices have contributed immensely to the producer’s of steel. The focus of almost all of these producers has moved from steel production to steel branding and also to steel servicing. Companies are promoting their product as a brand using synergic brand name and tag line. SAILMA, SAIL TMT, Tata TISCON, Tata Shakti, Tata Steelium, Vizag TMT, Ispat, Sujana TMT, Ramswarup, Balaji Shakti, Jindal pipes, Rathi Sariya and corrugated sheets to name a few. In 2006-2007 Tata Tiscon became the largest branded Rebar in India. Today the emphasis is on product- specific slogan and advertisements.

Branding and servicing of steel needs a clear-cut assessment of the steel market dynamics. Steel producers cater to two segments of customers; B2B and B2C. B2B customers are more knowledgeable and rational in approach and make better informed purchase decision since they have wide exposure to sources of information. They stress on the technical aspects of the products before making the purchase. Industries like automobiles, white-goods makers, real estate/infrastructures development companies, engineering goods producers, rolling stock manufactures, ship manufacturing units etc. form the major B2B segment. B2C customers on the other hand are more emotional and less rational in their decision making approach, they buy the product because of the manufacture's goodwill and reputation, brand name and reliability it promises and hence making the brand value significant in the final purchase.

Customers have started moving from low to high expectations, from ignorance to full knowledge, from local to global access, from a platform of little or no option to multiple choices, from being submissive to dominating. They have grown more sophisticated, demand global standard of technical and functional quality, tailor-made product, fast delivery, quick response to complaints, reasonable price, payment terms and conditions based on supply milestones achieved, complete satisfaction of their techno-economic requirements etc. Today, before planning of order for special grade of steel, they visit the plant premises of producers to assess their R&D, quality control and testing capabilities. Yesterday’s differential offerings have become today’s essential requirements.

In the changed scenario, steel marketing is defined as the process of identifying and selecting prospects, customers who can be turned sooner or later into a profitable accounts, understanding their changing techno-economic expectations i.e. Customer Value Dimensions (CVDs), suggesting the required product (grade, technical specification), pricing them based on market administered pricing technique (MAPT), making them available at convenient places in required quantity and on time, frequent communication, initiating sales action (on-line and off-line), rendering services with pace, proper order execution and people backed by physical infrastructure to support repeat orders and establish a competitive edge.

To succeed in this marketing warfare, it is essential for steel producers to come out with differentiated offerings. This would require formulating customized 8Ps of the steel marketing mix for various segments. Focused steel marketing would mean harmonizing all elements of the 8Ps of marketing-mix — product, price, place, promotion, process, pace, people and physical evidence to their advantage for mass customization. While it is necessary to offer differentiated steel products and adherence to technical CVDs, it is also necessary to adhere to functional CVDs including packaging, guarantee and warranty and customized services. The distribution strategy should ensure faster delivery of goods to customers. Thus, while direct distribution to be continued, introduction of dealers/stockists in the rural areas and smaller towns should also be expedited. Already companies like Tata Steel are channelizing some of their products through steel service centers (SSC) and conversion agents (CA) which are acting as a linkage between the steel producers and the customer (for example, Tata Ryerson). SSCs and CAs are being considered as an extended arm of steel producers and a critical element of steel supply chain.

In the ‘buyers’ market’, marketing of steel products will not be an easy ball-game. Huge competition is expected even among the integrated steel producers in India. This necessitates proper branding and servicing of steel through well designed supply chain management so as to deliver steel products to the customers with least cost. There is a fundamental shift from one grade / tolerance/size fits all to market of one. There is more room to create brands, with specific benefits for specific market segment, for which customers will be prepared to pay different premium price. Developing new brand and consistently nurturing the existing one and offering customized product will benefit the steel producers in terms of gains either as price premium, customer preference, customer loyalty or market share. The greater the number of brands in the market, the greater will be the degree of customization and better it will be for the industry as well for the customer. Moreover technology is transforming customer choices and techno-economic requirement which in turn, is transforming the market. What Indian steel producers need today more than anything else is a total break from old mindsets. Instead of being held hostage by their past styles, they need to think and act afresh.

EGG : “Eggs”quisite Branding!
Any commodity which has to be converted to a ‘Brand’ has to be positioned differently from the existing products. There has to be some kind of product innovations or differentiation in order to prompt the customer to buy a branded commodity in place of a low-priced, unbranded one. In case of eggs, the differentiation is generally achieved by means of attractive packaging and design. While good packaging can be a good starting point to make the packed box of eggs recognizable in the market place, there should be other differentiating factors that do justice to the price premium of almost 100% that branded eggs command. Innovations at many levels are responsible for successful branding of eggs, right from Poultry scientists to Branding experts to Package Designers.

Branded eggs’ manufacturers have positioned their product in the market with a touch of innovation in terms of additional health advantage. They are being marketed as eggs which have higher nutritional value and added health benefits as compared to regular eggs. The consciousness of consumers for supplementary health advantages from everyday-use products or commodities is continuously on the rise. This changing trend has resulted in development of products like Sugar for diabetic patients, Diet Coke etc. To enhance the health benefits of eggs, the hens are fed on a special diet that enhances the quality of the egg. The diet comprises of fish oils and grains. The resulting egg, though looks and tastes just like the regular egg, possesses the potential to reduce cholesterol levels in the body, decrease the risk of coronary heart diseases, decrease the risk of cancer, and also the risk of age related diseases. Even the shelf life of eggs is claimed to have improved because of its packaging. Moreover, the manufacturers are also providing a leaflet showing all the health benefits the consumer will enjoy after purchasing that particular box of eggs. All these value additions justify the additional price a consumer pays for a nicely packaged box of extra-nutritious eggs!

Brands like Diet Eggs, Mother Hen's Golden Egg, and Suguna can be seen in most Indian supermarkets like Food World, Vitan, Reliance Fresh & Nilgiris. Though most of the branded eggs purchased by a consumer is more of impulse purchase from a supermarket’s shelf, these value- adds do result in tremendous repetition. But in order to be sustainable, the producers have to continuously keep finding ways to differentiate their branded products from unbranded commodities in order to maintain sufficiently reliable price inelasticity. India produces more than 50,000 million eggs per year (Research by: Dr I. Satya Sundaram, 2009), but the per capita consumption of eggs is just about 40 eggs per person per year. Though India is one of the top-most egg producing nations in the world after China, the market for branded eggs in India is only 3% of the total eggs sold in the country, leaving behind a huge untapped market ready to be exploited. With branded egg industry growing at an astounding pace of around 20% per annum, the future of the industry seems to be exciting with an array of players flaunting there designer eggs . Most of the buyers of Branded eggs in India are major Hotels and other bulk buyers. Hence, though there is a considerably stable demand for branded eggs from the B2B market, the potential for growth in B2C is more appealing.

‘An egg a day keeps the doc away’ seems to be the mantra now, after knowing the health benefits that are promised by the makers of this “Egg” citing variant of a commodity!

Word of Mouse



Pritesh Jain, Ammar Tambawala, IIM A

When Hotmail inserted “Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com” at the bottom of every message sent out, little did it know that it was pioneering the concept of a new age marketing technique called word-of-mouse that would create a buzz just a few years away.

Hotmail then sat back and let its users promote its product – a “free email account”, a revolutionary concept at that time, to their network of friends and associates. Hotmail’s instant success enticed marketer’s world over to follow the suit, to explore the potential of employing word-of-mouth marketing techniques in the virtual world.

Word-of-Mouth (WOM, also used for word-of-mouse) marketing strategy encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, preferably in their circle of influence. Word-of-mouse is basically an extension of this concept, with the communication being through electronic means, which increase the rapidity with which the message spreads and the number of people communicated to. There is an exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence, especially since as a society we have started moving from vertical trust to horizontal trust, i.e. from trusting authorities to trusting our peers. Due to its similarity to rapid multiplication growth observed in the spread of various viruses, this technique is also termed as viral marketing by some experts.

Various social networks have relied heavily on WOM to get more users hooked onto them. In today’s world, blogs and podcasts have proved to be powerful tools that have assisted marketers in implementing their WOM marketing strategies well. Vodafone’s use of YouTube to promote its Zoozoo campaign showed the rise of a new and effective tool. With so much support of the viral medium at their disposal, a marketer just has to concentrate on some basic elements to make a successful WOM marketing strategy. Here are some guidelines to design a WOM campaign:

Give away products or services

‘Free’ is the golden word. It gets people to try your product. You might not reap profits in short terms, but then you know that WOM marketing’s strength relies in its network expansion effect. Even a marginal charge can be a big deterrent.

Provide for effortless transfer of message to others

Not everyone is a good salesman. Make sure that your message is simple to transfer and has potential to be self-explanatory. The more the effort required for the user, the lesser are chances of the spread of the ‘virus’.

Scale easily from small to very large

Be prepared for a sudden surge in demand. If you are not well equipped to serve the rising customer base, you better not get into WOM. It can work against you if there are unsatisfied customers or the one whom you are unable to serve – as a negative message can spread as quickly, if not more so.

Exploit common motivations and behaviours

Nobody wants to miss on a rising trend. There is an innate need to be ‘cool’, to be a part of those ‘in the know’. Identify these motivators and make sure that you are exploiting them.

Utilize existing communication networks

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. However irritating those “your friend abc has invited you to join xyz” mails, they have been effective in expanding the user-base for many a social networking site. It is only now that their effectiveness, due to the saturation of these messages has come down. Facebook updates, chat status messages, tweets are all examples of communication networks that carry updates, and links to interesting videos.

Take advantage of others' resources

Blogs, podcasts, YouTube, Twitter – all these tools are put in place by someone else and are at your disposal. Engage your customers in every possible way.out of cash and closing stores all over the try. Although they have no hopes of opening these outlets just as yet, they do plan on reworking their format through expansion by way of franchisee units. Many foreign ventures with domestic firms are falling out while previously established foreign retailers are looking for alternate strategies.

Some examples of WOM campaigns used by Indian companies recently are:

1. Makkadman (www.makkadman.com): Produced to promote a new social networking website desimartini.com, this video rose on popularity chart at a rapid pace riding on the email-forward and recommendations through various blogs. Companies like webchutney have a large portfolio of campaigns similar to this and were used to promote various organizations in a creative way.

2. Jaagore.com (www.jaagore.com): An initiative supported by Tata Tea and Janagrah, was aimed to raise awareness of voting rights. It encouraged its users to invite their friends to join the movement and be a responsible citizen.

3. Animated videos have been used by companies to promote their product in funny, offbeat ways. The video usually starts off in a completely different context, with no indication of it being an ad or promotion, but just another spoof. The brand or product is brought in right at the end, along with a humorous twist. Some examples of this are the Rajnikant-Castrol video where he is shown outrunning a bullet on his bike, the McDonalds-Sholay video with the sons of the original stars, and the tagline of ‘Aap ke zamaane mein baap ke zamaane ke daam’ brought in at the end and the ‘Thakur ka Inteqaam’ video made by Orbit, indicating the advantages of strong teeth.

4. Vodafone used the YouTube channel to not only popularise Zoozoos, but also to show the making of the ads, which got users even more hooked on when they found out it wasn’t animated, but in fact actors in special suits.

5. Seven wonders of the world 2007: Though this campaign was not started in India, it raised huge curiosity. Lacs of Indian users voted to keep Taj in the list of wonders. The mail chains urging users to vote for Taj made multiple rounds for almost a year.

On the other hand, the power of word-of-mouse can also be used by unscrupulous agents to spread erroneous information about the company or its product. The infamous Mentos in Coke emails and videos is the first thing that comes to our mind. In such cases, it is important to react promptly and push a clear rebuttal; otherwise it can get almost impossible to stop the rumour mails.

However, word-of-mouse is not without its sceptics. Paul Martino, the man behind Tribe, an early social network, believes that interpersonal connections on these networks are often of low quality, since few people disconnect former friends, or reject unwanted friend requests from mere casual acquaintances. While this may eventually lead to a lot of clutter and unwanted updates, time would also eventually bring tools to remedy this phenomenon, like ‘mute updates from this person’. While muting updates may limit the spread of many campaigns, it could also make them more powerful, as one would give more importance to the fewer updates he/she did get.


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.

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 1960’s, a golden rule in advertising, propagated by the founder of Prentice-Hall, was to never mix humour and advertising. 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 brand. One such example is Pepsi’s ‘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.

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 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 comedy , 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 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.

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 consumer’s consideration set through increased brand awareness and recall but also appears to translate directly to an increase in sales.