Markathon June 2009

Dear Readers,

Last month we focused on elections and the results have enlightened the spirit of the nation. I will say it’s the home coming of “Gandhi ki Aandhi”. The brand congress has been able to live up to its mark of creating and providing a positive experience. Taking the developments further down to the market, it has been predicted that FMCG, automobile, real estate and agricultural sectors are looking forward to a drastic improvement in their growth trajectory in FY 2009-10. A new growth sector that can be of primary importance to marketers can definitely be the media and fashion industry which has leapt over the recession and growing strong.Rolling down the similar sentiments of great brands, we bring you the greatest of all failures in the cover story, “Valley of Death”. Organizations have faced this ongoing dilemma of product or brand failures with varying degrees owing to the unexpected nature of the market. Some say it’s a result of number game, substandard engineering, design or marketing.But a sneak into these failures gives an impression that the results have been more to do with a broad strategy taking wrong shots, rather than the ingrained DNA of the product. Canada Dry went off the market as a result of the attitude of its step father, “CocaCola”. The cover story goes beyond the existing sets of rule and analyses various failures from a wider perspective. It begins with Kellog’s, westernization of Indian food habits from ‘cholley bhature’ and ‘idly sambar’ to corn flakes cereal. Its failure in India has been symbolized as the beginning of cultural importance in the market place. On the same ground Iphone’s entry lag into the Indian market, price tag, advanced features and flooding of market with similar Chinese products proved disastrous for the company. A glaring example of rationalizing value models and their after effects is depicted in the story of Tommy Hilfiger.
A special session with Mr. Sridharan Ramprasad, CEO, LERROS FASHIONS INDIA has been presented, where he has spoken about the potential of Indian fashion industry as well as the growth strategy of Lerros in India.
The marketing strategies to unfold organizations during the crisis have been exemplified by students of XLRI. I am also pleased to share with you the tremendous response received in the print ad participation with many creative entries.
I hope this issue continues the tradition of Markathon; bringing the marketing world closer to you. Looking forward to your feedback.

Asit Kumar Jain