Dear Readers,
Nira Radia and Raja must be the two most often heard names in the past two months. The telecom industry has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, what with the 2G scam grabbing eyeballs by the dozen. Among all this negativity there was one silver lining that caught the eye of the customers, Mobile Number Portability (MNP). Usually operators train their guns on the 'pre-paid' segment, which accounts for 95% of the 700 million mobile subscribers in India. A majority of this chunk are hardly interested in retaining their numbers and hence the telcos are not too worried about them. It’s the post-paid subscribers who are sending a chill
down the operator’s spine. With 3G coming in, they feel that would be the game-changer. And the with the aid of MNP, people wouldn’t think twice before switching over to those
operators who provide better 3G services.
So the next logical step for operators would be to advertise and attract customers over to their club by dangling the bait of MNP and 3G. And that’s exactly what Idea has done. They have come out with 3 simple but fantastic communications to drive home the usefulness of
MNP. Idea has chosen three major and foremost reasons why a customer gets frustrated with their service providers, namely bad network, poor customer services and faulty billing. When quizzed why they are meted out such a bad treatment, “no idea” is their response. AB is
quick to respond “Get Idea”. This is one of the best ads I have seen in recent times,
communicating the next big thing in town with a simple but powerful catch-line. I think Idea has played a masterstroke by being the first mover and trying to maximise the gains for what could be a potential gamechanger in an industry. Another industry that is going through a lot of changes and upheavals is the automobile industry. It’s said that approximately 50 cars are to be launched in India in 2011. So in this issues Cover Story we bring to you some of the most awaited launches including MarutiKizashi, Tata Aria and the Toyota Etios and also analyse why companies are exploring completely new uncharted territories.
In the Vartalaap section we have Ms. Babita Baruah, VP & Client Services Director, JWT Delhi. In this interesting conversation with her we get to learn the nuances of how the ad industry functions, how useful advertising could be as a training ground for marketers and also a peek into some of her memorable campaigns. Year 2010 has come to an end and we have stepped foot into a brand new decade. A decade where exciting brands would be launched, brands could rise to utopic heights, well established brands could hit new lows and much more.
I, on behalf of the entire team of Markathon, would like to wish all our beloved readers a happy and prosperous and colourful new year. We request for your continued support as we step into this decade so that we grow to become one of those brands which reaches utopic heights!
Happy Reading!
Kaushik Subramanian
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