Bollywood Marketing

Amit Kaundinya | XIM B

BOLLYWOOD MARKETING

Introduction

One of the largest money churners in India is Bollywood: the business of making movies. Marketing for Bollywood once meant putting up Eastman Color posters across the streets of Mumbai, but since then it has evolved dramatically. Bollywood producers and filmmakers have realised that their movies are products that need to be branded, positioned and targeted at the right audience. The recent Salman Khan starrer, Dabangg that was made on a budget of 30 cr. had a marketing budget of 12 cr. That is a whopping 40% of the movie budget. The high marketing budgets are not just the norm for big budget films; Peepli Live a film made on a budget of Rs. 10 cr. had a marketing budget of Rs. 4 cr.
While Bollywood scripts have far from evolved, with the same stale movies being churned out day in and out, the way Bollywood is marketing its movies, would make Kotler proud!

The 5 P’s of Bollywood Marketing

• Product: The entire cinema experience is the product that you as a filmmaker are trying to sell. When a middle class worker spends Rs. 200 to watch a movie, he is paying more for the experience than for the movie itself. Bollywood marketers realise that marketing movies means selling the entire experience of watching a movie to its end consumers. Moviemakers need to understand which category their movie belongs to it and which audience it aims at targeting. Hence, the marketing strategy for a Dabangg and a Peepli Live would be poles apart. While Dabangg was targeted at the masses and single theatre screens, Peepli Live was targeted at the multiplex audience. Hence Dabangg’s promos reflected the masala experience that the masses will relate to while Peepli Live’s promos had sarcasm and black humor which would generate interest among the multiplex audience. UTV Motion Pictures Marketing VP, Shikha Roy says, “Most of the promos were shot separately and not as a part of the movie, to generate a kind of viral campaign and to have the people talking”.
Marketing is all about catering to the needs of the consumers and making profits by satisfying those needs. Who better to know this than filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, most of the recent films made under his banner Vishesh Films revolve around recent controversies. Vishesh Films’s latest offering, Crook, is centred around the racial attacks on Indian students in Australia. Such subjects which the public relates to help gather enough interest and curiosity amongst them.
Bollywood makers are also giving a lot of thought to the naming of their products (movies). Like other products, movie names too should reflect the spirit, genre and feel of the movie. Gone are the days when a name like “Vijay” would sell, Innovative names are the order of the day. Dibankar Banerjee is one filmmaker who gives a lot of thought and importance to the naming of his films. His last offering “Love, Sex And Dhoka”, made on a shoestring budget of 2 cr. caught the eye balls of the youth just on the power of its unique name. The name of the movie was enough to generate curiosity in the minds of the public and attract them towards the movie screens.

• Placement: The timing of the launch of a product is a crucial factor in determining its success. Similarly, the release date of a movie is a significant factor in determining the success of the movie. Over the past few years, the biggest blockbusters released during the Diwali season or during the Christmas. What is the common link between Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and Three Idiots? Apart from the fact that all these blockbusters star Aamir Khan, the movies have their release date as 25th December. Filmmakers nowadays invest a lot of thought in deciding the right time for releasing a movie. Even a good movie released during the exam season of students or if it is clashing with a major event such as IPL cricket extravaganza may get a dismal opening. Film makers also watch out if any big banner movies are being released during the same time as theirs and accordingly postpone or pre pone their release. Karan Johar, on his show Coffee with Karan once asked filmmaker Farah Khan what she would do if she realised that a Himesh Reshammiya movie was releasing at the same time as her’s. Farah replied with a smile, “I would postpone my movies release date”. That was the time when Himesh had the Midas touch.

• Promotion: No longer are promotions restricted to showing trailers and painting the city with posters of the movie. Bollywood movie promotions have come a long way. The small budget movies try to get referential power for their movies by participating in international film festivals. Winning awards in the international circuit helps in increasing the brand equity for the film, and the audience perceives that it will be a good product. Vikramaditya Motwane’s debut film Udaan created enough buzz and the multiplex crowd was waiting anxiously for the movie to release long before its promos started appearing. All thanks to the many awards and critical acclaim the movie managed to get in the international film circuit.
When it comes to marketing, Aamir Khan is one of the most innovative marketers out there. The way he promotes his movies is a lesson for all budding marketers. During the promotion of Ghajini, Aamir donned the role of a barber, giving Ghajini haircuts to his fans. For Three Idiots Aamir Khan went step further and came out with his own collection of hand drawn Doodle T Shirts, which reflected his own style and the soul of the movie. The T-shirts became a rage among the youth. In addition, the rickshaws in Mumbai were used as an effective way to market 3 Idiots. Aamir had painted stickers of “Capacity: 3 Idiots only” on the back of the rickshaws. The unique strategy created a lot of buzz for the movie at a very low cost.
Seeing the craze that youth of today have for playing games, Bollywood marketers have taken the route of combining movies and games to help promote their films. Yash Raj Films for their latest offering Lafangey Parindey has come out with two games: One a boxing game that reflects the spirit of Neil Nitin Mukesh and a skating game for Deepika Padukone fans. These games help movie fans to relate to the characters of the movie more closely.
Bollywood does not want to be myopic in its view, instead of looking at the television industry as a competition; they have taken it as a facilitator to promote their films. Reality TV shows are used by filmmakers to promote their movie. A few weeks before the release of a movie, you will have the stars of the movie making appearances as judges, hosts, participants on TV shows. John Abraham will be using the popular youth reality show MTV Roadies to promote his upcoming film, Jhootha Hi Sahi. Similar to the character he plays in the movie, John would lie to contestants but provide them with clues to help them win Roadies

• Personalisation: Today’s film makers realise that while marketing a film, they cannot follow a particular template for all films, but need to customise the marketing strategies for each, treating each film as a separate brand entity. So you had an Amitabh Bachchan poster telling you in theatres that, “Do not dirty the theatres or I will tell Paa” to “Switch of your mobiles or I will tell Paa” for the promotion of his film Paa where he played a 13 year old progeria patient. While for Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D you had customised tattoos being done at select parlors and condom shaped passes being distributed for the premiere of the movie. Ashutosh Gowariker’s movie What’s Your Rashee which had Priyanka Chopra play 12 different characters had 12 different flavours of popcorn being sold in movie theatres each corresponding to a different Rashee. The marketing team of Aladdin teamed up with Baskin Robbins to launch three delectable flavours on the characters of the movie: Ringmaster’s Whip, Princess Delite and Choco Aladdin. In another smart marketing move, ticket counter boys, ushers, and the popcorn boys sported the Ghajini haircut look during the release of Shah Rukh Khan’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Therefore, although cine-goers went to watch SRK’s flick the anxiety to watch Ghajini, which was releasing two weeks later, increased manifold.

• People: The filmmakers have now begun to use actors for promotion rather than just using trailers and posters. They want the stars to be closer to the people. So be it Salman riding a horse in the Mahalaxmi race course to promote his action film Veer or Abhishek Bacchan creating a Guinness record by travelling to 5 different cities in a span of 24 hours to promote Delhi 6, the people connect is clearly visible. Bollywood marketers realise that people will feel for the movie and relate to it only when they are able to relate to the stars of the movie. Aamir Khan to promote Three Idiots, went on a disguise marketing trip, in which he went to various parts of India, incognito and understood the people’s problems, aspirations and dreams. The entire campaign did not take long to become viral and created a lot of hype for 3 Idiots.
Actors have also taken to blogging and tweeting to promote their films and to break barriers that exist between them and their audience. From Shahrukh Khan to Genelia D’Souza, you can find them all present on the social media circuit trying to develop a connect with their audience.
Imtiaz Ali, director of the romantic comedy Jab We Met, who has done a course in advertising and marketing from St. Xaviers, believes in the idea of inclusive marketing. He believes that the opinion of the public is very important for a filmmaker, as they are the final consumers. So when he was confused on fixing a title for his Shahid-Kareena starrer, he held an all India poll, asking people to vote from amongst 3 titles (Ishq via Bhatinda, Jab We Met and Punjab Mail). Jab We Met got the most votes and was chosen as the title for the film.
YouTube is also being effectively as a medium to connect to movie buffs. Recently the critically acclaimed film, Udaan had the lead actor asking the public to share with him their college moments on Udaan’s Facebook fan page. Also, Udaan had a contest in which the audience was asked to share their first adult film experience with the Udaan team on YouTube.
Anjaana Anjaani has a promotional campaign on YouTube in which movie fans can directly ask questions to its stars Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra and get them answered.

Conclusion
The aggressive marketing followed in Bollywood could well be due to the influx of companies like UTV Motion Pictures and Yash Raj Films that work in true corporate style in branding movies. In today’s time, a movie might be great but sans an aggressive marketing campaign, it would be very difficult to have it make an impact at the box office. I would like to end here by quoting a few lines that super star Amitabh Bachchan has written on his blog, “Good marketing has produced good results at the box office. That old belief that the merit of the film shall eventually emerge victorious has long since been overridden. By the time you wait for the merit to show its face, five other films have shown their merits.”

In-Flight Entertainment

Vidya Rudhiramoorthy | Bharathidasan Institute of Management.

IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

Introduction:
In-Flight entertainment refers to all spheres of entertainment, information and communication available to passengers onboard a commercial aircraft.
Installation of In Flight Entertainment system ranks second in terms of cost, the first being aircraft engine. But majority of airlines perceive it as an investment rather than a cost.
One of the major drivers for the IFE market is the easing of regulatory restrictions on voice and data solutions on board an aircraft. By 2012 the market for in-flight broadband service is estimated to reach $936 million. In-flight live direct broadcast video is forecasted to reach $913 million in 2012. Over 2,500 aircraft in the global commercial fleet are projected to be equipped with in-flight connectivity systems by the end of 2010 and the number is expected to reach 4,500 by 2013.

Competitive Structure:
Competition to achieve market dominance in the booming in-flight internet and e-mail markets is strong. Entertaining passengers during long haul flights is a big challenge for the airliners as it is the basic value proposition for on-board services. If passengers do not perceive any value then the airlines loses out on its customers which acts in the negative considering the huge investment that goes into the IFE services.
Airlines have a wide range of connectivity options to choose from. They can opt for a rudimentary service that allows travellers to send SMS, e-mails through their PEDs or can choose a full fledged service.
Thales has offered a connectivity strategy that allows passengers to use standalone solutions and applications, integrated into the on-board IFE. Panasonic is developing ‘eXConnect’ a Ku-band-based in-flight broadband product. Jetstar is shown its interest in renting out pre-loaded iPads as a kind of in-flight entertainment that contrasts with regular seat back video streaming.
Competition from Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) that offer communication, information and entertainment services pose a threat to IFE. Therefore establishing preferred IFE service provider status is crucial.

Increasing demand for commercial aircrafts in future is likely to spur the demand for IFE system. The below table lists the region wise demand for IFE.


Asia
Low-cost carriers adopt in-flight mobile connectivity. India’s LCC Kingfisher has launched ‘King mobile’ and become the first in the country to offer wide range on services on mobile platform.

USA
Demand for Wi-Fi is on the rise and the airlines are keeping with it. Delta Airlines owns the largest fleet of Wi-Fi equipped aircraft in the world. The current Fleet Wi-Fi count is 495/528 (as of June 9, 2010).

Middle East

Connectivity solutions have emerged as the fastest growing segment. Saudi Arabian Airlines has contracted with Thales to equip its 42 A380 fleet with systems that connects to broadband network.

Europe

Connectivity solutions have emerged as the fastest growing segment. Virgin Atlantic strikes a deal with Panasonic to equip A330 with eX2 systems for connectivity solutions that will allow sending and receiving of texts, phone calls etc


Over the last two years, a majority of the aerospace industry expenditure has been diverted towards IFE and connectivity services. Although IFE is gaining significance, the number of controversies that negate its growth is on the rise. A few of the drawbacks have been discussed below.




Wired Communication Systems:
Entertainment systems contributes to aircraft weight significantly, it consists of more than 2000 parts and increases the aircraft’s weight by almost a thousand pounds. A fully equipped entertainment system uses about four and a half miles of wiring. The aviation industry has been suffering for quite a few years with problems of poor wiring causing instances of fires and emergency landings.
Case: Swiss Air 111 had to face the misfortune of poor wiring. The scenario was caused by a short circuit that occurred in cockpit wiring of the in-flight entertainment system, which eventually led to an electrical fire and breakdown of the airplane's defenses. The death toll was 229 with no survivors.One option that can be explored as an alternate to electric wiring is the use of fibre-optics.

Cell Phone usage:
Cell phones pose a potential problem to the aircraft’s navigation system as the radio signals emitted by them are capable of causing false read-outs.
Case: Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have invented a device that can detect radio signals emitted from cell phones and other personal electronic devices. A total of 37 commercial airplanes were tested and findings have shown that on each airplane number of calls ranging from one to four was placed.

Wireless Communication Systems:
Providing wireless access services on board to passenger owned devices is of particular concern. Reason being that it provides ample opportunity for the terrorists to communicate and devise tactics and to co-ordinate with other members from both within the aircraft and from the ground.
Case: Boeing’s plan to install wireless IFE supply with 60GHz transmissions faced problems with data transfer between transmitters and receivers, where objects moving in front of antennas blocked the signal. Although other techniques have been explored to address this challenge, it leaves little doubt regarding the complications that are possible if wireless communication is offered onboard.


Conclusion:
In the past 20 years airlines and travelers have had relatively fewer and limited options in In-Flight Entertainment category. Over the years several attempts to deliver new in-flight entertainment and communication services have been made.

The present IFE services have helped the airlines capture passenger attention. But these systems require special distribution cabling and related equipment to route the entertainment content to each seat, all of which means extra weight in the aircraft thereby reducing efficiency. Safety and security are serious concerns when it comes to IFE services. The potential threats that the present in-flight entertainment and communication services pose cannot be ignored. Although IFE has added liveliness to air travel the above issues with respect to safety and security are debatable.

The Rising Sun: Bank of Baroda

Arjun Verma, Parul, Anit Roy | IIFT, New Delhi

“I think the Sun is a very respected symbol and calling it the Baroda Sun created a sense of pride in people. In fact, we went to the extent of branding the Sun itself” These words were said by none other than Dr. Anil K Khandelwal, Chairman & Managing Director, Bank of Baroda in 2006. Since then, Bank of Baroda has positioned itself as the “India’s International Bank” with a rising sun as its logo. While, a number of the visible components of the banks promotion strategy can be easily assessed for the targeted segment and the value proposition that it wants to propose to the customer base, its marketing & branding strategies can be analysed on the basis of the following points:

1) Brand Ambassador -

It initially had India’s former cricket team captain- Rahul Dravid as its brand ambassador (2004-07). As an icon, Rahul Dravid epitomized stability, sincerity and substance which in a way complemented to the Bank of Baroda’s brand image.

2) Expansion -

Bank of Baroda has established its operations in Maldives, Sri Lanka, Singapore, UAE, Yemen, Russia, Kenya, China, Malaysia, Thailand and many other countries around the globe. Rapid integration of business with the technologies through core banking solutions, i-banking, and host of other facilities has established Bank of Baroda as the foremost PSU bank in the country.

3) Positioning –

It is the fourth largest bank in India and consists of 2.5 crore customers. Bank’s latest marketing initiatives are aimed at positioning it as a financial service provider with “value proposition” and “market-driven” being the keywords. The bank has rolled out branches far and wide across the country to distribute an impressive assortment of financial products to its heterogeneous customer base.

4) Business Lines -

The bank has divided its operations in 6 distinct business lines- Corporate Financial Services, Personal Financial Services, Business Services, Treasury, International Operations and Rural Banking and is aggressively focusing on becoming No. 1 in each of these segments
A schematic representation of the banks marketing strategy is as follows:





5) Publicity –

To build its brand equity, the bank has organized hosts of seminars nationally and internationally- latest being Basel II. Bank has actively managed its public relations through media.

6) Customer Focus –

The bank has built its brand around superior customer services and international focus which are also the point of differentiation of the bank from other PSU banks.

7) Recent Marketing Initiatives –

• Communication Campaigns : Shukriya Sau Salon Kaa and Baroda Next
• Use of Sybase 365 Marketing Information System
• Launch of Baroda Swarojgar Vikas Sansthan
• Next Gen Branch opened in Ahmedabad
• 50 city sales offices opened

8) Advertisements –

The advertising campaigns in both print and television media emphasize on the bright orange corporate colours of the bank and the ‘rising sun’. The key traits that the bank wants to highlight such as trust, competence and ease of use are reiterated in the numerous advertisements. The targeted consumer segment is clearly visible via the imagery in the advertisements like the middle-class Indian doing every-day chores, who now has numerous financial needs, not just plain and traditional banking. Another striking factor is the focus on the age segment beyond the 35-40 age bracket, people who are able easily identify with the PSU banking sector as a familiar entity. The promotion strategy of utilizing customer awareness sessions with the display of the standard corporate visuals like the bright logo and the tagline with stills from the supporting print and television advertisements is also heavily relied on. The banners around ATMs and bank branches are easily visible entities because of the corporate colors and themes chosen.

9) Promotions Abroad –

In the promotion strategy abroad, the targeted segment is clearly the Indian who is away from home. The promotion campaign for Bank of Baroda in UK centers around the target audience of expatriate Indians. The imagery associated with the campaign has the distinct feel of the Indian bank aiming to replicate the ease and trust of an Indian entity with the efficiency of a modern and global enterprise. The location of the advertisements especially outdoors, is on buses and billboards near stations and bus-stands, typically meant for the average middle-class customer used to travelling in public transport. The tag line of “India’s International Bank” also focus on the core aspect of Bank of Baroda being an Indian bank meant for the Indian community living abroad, looking for the familiarity of a known brand for a personalized service like banking.

In a short summarization, the marketing strategy of the Bank of Baroda focuses on the promotion of the values that the bank wants to portray to its customers (both prospective and current). It wants to be seen as an efficient organization meeting all the needs of the average middle-class customer in a warm and familiar setting. The accessibility of the bank in all corners and the adoption of the latest technology are some of the areas mentioned to create the feel of a bank which despite being national in origin, is up with the times and ready for the new-age customer’s demands.

Temples Go The Corporate Way

Akhil Vinaik, Bijal Dani | NMIMS

India has always been known for its diversity and cultural heritage. It is home to various religions and communities that co-exist in harmony. Hindu temples now have a noticeable presence across the globe and form the cynosure of India’s cultural tradition and spiritual succour.

TEMPLES – TOURIST ATTRACTION
Since time immemorial, temples have been identified as major tourist attractions for India. Not only do they qualify as brand ambassadors of our nation’s heritage, but also contribute to the economy. Therefore, it becomes imperative to view temples and their potential from a different lens. Over the years, temples have evolved from being just centres of pilgrimage and prayers. They are now avenues where people seek knowledge on Hindu philosophy, Spiritual Transcendence, Ayurveda, Yoga and Meditation. Temple Tourism is emerging as a powerful and popular stream of the tourism industry, much ahead of eco-tourism, adventure tourism, heritage tourism, medical tourism “Having temples listed on the stock exchange” A distant reality! Not Really? The tourism industry has huge growth potential due to increased disposable income in the hands of growing middle class population and Government campaigns similar to “Incredible India” to promote tourism.

For instance, in Andhra Pradesh, heritage temples are being spruced up. Under development of heritage tourism circuit, then Tourism Minister and the present Municipal Administration Minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy has sanctioned Rs.23 crore in 2008 for developing heritage temples in the district and lot of development work is under progress.

BULLION VAULT
India is arguably the largest bullion market in the world. It is worth noting that Indian temples own more gold than even the Reserve Bank of India. This is primarily due to the fact that temples receive gold coins and jewellery as donations. The scale is so huge that commercial banks have tie ups with temples to process their gold holdings and big temples have dedicated departments to manage their donations that come in the form of gold and silver ornaments, in addition to coins.

SERVICE BRANDING
Having understood the significance of temples beyond the obvious, it would be worthwhile to study and analyse how they can be moulded in the shape of brands having a distinct image in the minds of the people. In a broad sense, they are service units catering to a mass population of pilgrims and worshippers. Therefore the need for temples to be recognised brands with best-in-class service that reaches out to the common man. Three essentials of a service branding exercise encompass Reach, Recognition and Reputation, the 3 R’s as we popularly call them.
Drawing a parallel with any service industry where operations form an integral part of any business entity’s existence, temples too need a strong operational plan in place. In essence, it would mean formulating a framework and set guidelines to provide service to the visiting pilgrims and make their visit to their place of worship a comfortable and fulfilling one. There is a paradigm shift commensurate to the above reasoning, as can be substantiated by the fact that temples are going in for ISO certifications. An ISO certification essentially signifies a standardization of procedures and processes, practices, monitoring mechanisms and continuous improvement plans. In a nutshell, it is a measure for quality management systems.
A Ram temple in old Bhopal now flaunts an ISO certification for following a quality management system. The certificate was awarded to the trust for standardising the process of worship, for the facilities provided to devotees, for quality management and transparent purchase system, while sticking to their Vedic traditions. The government is also planning to set up an apex body to promote temple tourism and facilitate the modernization of temples in India. In addition, the advent of the internet and its ease has led to revolutionary changes in the way many temples are managed.

THE STATUS QUO

Golden Temple

• Tie up with Financial Institutions: Tied up with HDFC to accept donations online through a secure payment gateway.

Siddhivinayak

• Adoption of technology : Temples now offer convenience of darshan to the devotees through “Online darshan”-Live web casting of the deity
• Dedicated website : The temple officials are in the process of even updating their financial results on the website
• Payment gateways : Provide a mechanism to receive donations, through Credit Card, Online Banking accounts, Cheque, Demand Drafts or Money Orders
• Auction gold and silver ornaments donated by the devotees : Part of the auction money will be given to social causes and the rest will be utilised for activities in temple

Tirumala Tirupathi

• Religious significance : Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirumala has a significant importance in India’s religious milieu
• Service facilities : In the form of sevas, with advance booking
• Online Booking : Sevas constitute special prayers and can now be booked online
• Online donations
• Distribution and marketing : Cassettes and CD’s of Vedas, Sankirtanas and Pravachanams
• Purohita Sangham: Dedicated association known as the ‘Purohita Sangham’ which conducts marriages and other sacred functions like naming ceremony, etc.
• Strategic Tie-ups :Tie-ups with professional marriage agencies and cottages are provided for accommodation

ISKCON

• Spiritually rich culture :Individuals from all over the world visit Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari temple and spend a few days to benefit from and inculcate values from the spiritual culture
• Guesthouses & Travel assistance: The Guesthouse at ISKCON Juhu facilitates guests to attend spiritual program at the temple. Dedicated department to facilitate travel for devotees
• Imparts spiritual education : Versatile Institution actively disseminating spiritual education

THE HIDDEN AGENDA
The above mentioned snapshots of various practices lead us to conclude that temples are indeed more than mere places of worship. The whole concept now encompasses a gamut of activities and services. These make the entire experience an enriching and memorable one for the common man. The brains behind this have appropriately struck the right chord with the Indian populace and tapped the right nerve, namely, the emotional and religious sentiment. Indians, by tradition relate personal goals, joys and sorrows to their religious Gods. Thus, a huge potential to make it a viable and sustainable model.
It is worth noting that many temples are now trying to have a global presence to reach out to the Indian community abroad. In particular, this is of relevance in UK, USA, Canada, Singapore and many such countries where there are a lot of Indian immigrants.
In addition to this, movies are a very strong medium by which Indian temples and tourism can be promoted. In fact many Bollywood movies use exotic temple locales to shoot important sequences. For instance, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, is the most recent example. Considering the massive spread and reach of Indian cinema, it gives a huge exposure to India as a tourist attraction.

If such is the magnitude to which temples impact the economy of the nation, it would not be a Utopian dream or an improbable suggestion to have Corporates engaging themselves in this domain. As an abstract example, if the Tatas tie up with the Siddhivinayak temple or the Isckon temple, to improve upon the operational aspects and other issues pertaining to its management, the whole concept of the ISO certifications and service quality becomes all the more validated. This would also enable Corporates and business honchos to project such activities as CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and enable them to improve and build upon their brand equity. Public-private partnerships to make it a professional set up is also on the cards. However, the core element of any such venture should be to make the entire experience for the devotees a comfortable and fulfilling one.

There has been an instance where Amitabh Bachchan was invited at a temple in South India to offer prayers. Roping in celebrities to endorse a temple can add immensely to the emotional value and connect with the masses. Temples also promote art and culture and provide a platform to veteran and upcoming artists to perform. Sometimes, even commercial shows are held with historical monuments and temples in the backdrop. Such forms of display add to aesthetic beauty around which the event is centered and help pull crowds. In addition, a series of religious festivals are celebrated with fervor. Many of the funded temples are willing to extend necessary financial aid to poor and deserving students.

Strategizing the Road Ahead
Definitely, the marketers and companies would benefit from booming religious tourism, since they would get a platform and discover new territories to sell their products and services. They would also take part in developing these strategic locations along with local development authorities.

• Provide basic sanitary facilities: Along with they could promote their products i.e. if a company sponsors the Free or Paid Rest room facilities, its products would only be sold.
• Constructing rooms : For devotees to stay and promote their products
• Offer free/paid transportation facilities : Promotion of their products/services
• Pharmaceutical companies : Sponsor free medical camps to promote products
• Food products companies : Set up their outlets to sell products with subsidized /actual prices
• Clothing/Garment companies: Set up stalls to promote their products and services

Leveraging Goodwill: Marico's Kaya

BhawnaSajwani | Welingkar,Mumbai

Brand diversification is a curial decision as it can lead to make or kill a brand. Brand dilution is often hazardous for the entire spectrum of products but it seems Marico knows the formula to lead. Marico’s “uncommon sense” shaped into a skin care centre, not into mundane beauty parlours. ‘Kaya Skin Clinic’ aided Marico to diversify from products to services.

Parent Brand
Marico markets well-known brands such as Parachute, Saffola, Hair & Care, Shanti, Mediker and Revive. This completely product oriented company has leveraged its product-led consumer insight into consumer insight for services. In 2002, Marico Industries ventured into skin care services.

Kaya Skin Clinic
For years, Harsh Mariwala, the Chairman and Managing director of Marico Industries, wanted to have a presence in the skincare business where several other FMCG companies were already present. But he was looking for the right product to enter the high-margin skincare segment. In late 2002, a New York-based company asked Mariwala if he would be interested in selling laser hair removal machines. Initially, Mariwala was not very keen because he felt the product could be commoditised easily. But what surfaced was the idea of a service offered around such machines. That was how the skincare business got identified; finally they scaled this idea into a chain of skin care clinics. From incubating the idea till execution, all was done within a year.

Widening the Horizons
Selling a product is like selling a hope but service gives the experience. Marico opted for blue ocean strategy, they took a decision to enter in the novel area of skin care service distinguishing from the overly crowed product market (Red ocean) .Kaya was designed to endow with holistic and customized result-oriented skincare solutions/treatments to its clients. Important facet was that their brand extension from products to skin care services was relevant to their core business. The move marked the FMCG major's foray into the branded services category, entering a nascent market untapped by other players.

Tapping the Trends
Marico had 50% of market share in hair oil segment, which made it a market leader in the category. Marico was trying to capture more market share by providing innovative products like Parachute Therapy, Parachute Lite, and Parachute Jasmine etc. But for their organic growth, they needed to look out of the fish pot .The annual audit report by Ernst & Young (2007 reports), Indian Spa & Wellness, estimated 110,000 Mn INR and growth at 25-30 per cent per annum. Indian markets were flooded with unorganized beauty parlours and few organized players like Lakme and L’Oreal. But, services provided were well-worn methods like painful waxing, threading etc. Sensing the hidden patterns of trends, Marico grabbed the opportunity and got the advantage of being the first movers in the market.

Winning Strategies
Marico just didn’t stop at the concept, but also wanted to make sure that their brand delivers. The biggest challenge for Kaya was to not only ensure customer satisfaction but also provide state of the art services as well as safety.

Training
So, while the clinic's skin practitioners were trained for about 60 days, the 250-odd dermatologists had undergone at least 30 days of training. In fact, "skin practitioners" were required to be trained for a mandatory 500 hours before they were allowed to face a customer.

The next step then was to establish a standardized way of working, which is where the relevance of training, audit, timely solutions all comes in.
What followed later was customer awareness campaign, as a significant number of people were still unaware of cosmetic dermatology. Moreover, there was a taboo associated with using machines on skin.

Kaya came out with a 360 degree advertisement approach; where it heavily emphasized on digital media. It also introduced a digital campaign where key words could be linked from Google to the Kaya website. Moreover, dermatologists in the company responded to Tweets, Yahoo Q&A’s and live chats on the company's website (popularly known as Kaya Interactive). It had also launched a clinic group on social networking site Facebook.
Not just advertisements, Marico created awareness through celebrity endorsements and publicity in health and wellness magazine.

Competition
In India, Kaya faces competition from smaller neighborhood beauty parlors and smaller chains like VLCC. The small parlors have a better reach to local market in tier-1 as well tier-2 cities; which ensure a larger coverage but Kaya has its defined targets. Considering the fact that population they could not access is not their target; Kaya is much ahead of its competition.

Expansion Plans
Given the discretionary nature of consumer spending at Kaya, most of the growth during the quarter has come from new clinic expansion.
Started as a prototype clinic in Mumbai in September 2003, Kaya has grown at an unprecedented pace. Today, Kaya has 85 clinics across 26 cities in India and 13 clinics in the Middle East.
Diversifying and expanding at such a fast pace is making the roads for rivals difficult to enter into the same segment. During the year, Kaya clocked revenues of 1000 Mn INR. But more than its increasing contribution to group revenues, Kaya holds the promise of boosting the company’s bottom lines, thanks to its distinct service model.

Rest is History...
To boost its product revenue stream, Kaya began prototyping its “shop-in-shop” model through kiosks at malls. They are now also present in locations like Shoppers’ Stop, Hypercity and Lifestyle. Typically, kick-starting a Kaya a clinic takes 10-13 Mn INR (including technology investments and interiors) in a metro city.
The clinic breaks even in about nine months in a metro and takes a little bit longer in smaller cities.

Kaya attributes the success of the brand to two key factors. The first is its approach of offering solutions to consumers through the best technology available. It claims to possess over 20 new technologies in the Indian market. The second is its unique selling proposition of the real skin expert working towards making women look their beautiful best every day.
The graph above shows that Kaya contributes significantly to Marico’s Revenue mix. This tells the success story of Kaya!

Renovations and Innovations
Marico is incrementally evolving the Kaya with interesting concepts like “KAYA FOR MEN”. Men had become appearance-conscious and ‘Metro-Sexual’ men make the trends. KAYA FOR MEN has presented the concept that men need “what women want”!!

To capture the various occasions where appearance matters, Kaya has introduced packages like bridal package, hair care package, summer package and many more customized solutions.

Further enjoying the brand Kaya Marico has launched KAYA PRODUCTS in skin care segment. Kaya includes contribution from product sales, which accounts for ~13% of its revenues. Marico has further en-cashed the brand with KAYA LIFE, which provides weight management services.

To renovate itself, Kaya keeps on adding new machines and technology to provide complete solutions to its clients.

Future ahead
Kaya is at right place, in the right time. Marico’s strategy has been shaped into a perfect solution, which is working for well for the brand. But Kaya still has to penetrate in the market. Competitors are far behind but extraordinary customer service is the key as today’s customers are aware and negative ‘word of mouth’ can ruin the brand. However, this market is growing and Kaya has potential to become the cash cow for Marico!

The Brand(Woo)Man

Jigar Parmar & Pranav Goel | IIM B

What comes to your mind when you see a ZooZoo, Ajay Bhatt, Shahrukh Khan or Fido Dido on television?
Well, they are “Brand Ambassadors” who have become synonymous with the product/brand they promote. In today’s world, the company invests heavily on a Brand Ambassador as it can really put them ahead of their competitors. Ambassadors are powerful means to attract the consumers.

Study shows that Hyundai car sales zoomed once Shahrukh Kahn endorsed it. The brand endorsement business is worth about Rs 1,000 crores, including star appearances and events according to Manish Porwal, CEO of celebrity management company, Percept Talent Management.

So, Who is a Brand Ambassador?
According to Wikipedia, A brand ambassador is a well-connected person or a celebrity or a character that is used to promote and advertise a product or service.

Brand Ambassador is more than just a tool for advertisement. They portray the image of a brand. We can broadly classify various brand ambassadors into four types:

• Characters (Zoozoo, Fido Dido) Characters are created on paper by artists who don’t have any connection with the brand/product. They are just images which according to them will catch the imagination of the public. Characters are perhaps the best among all when it comes to imprinting themselves on consumer’s mind. Humorous, catchy characters help a brand to attract the consumers. Few of the examples are Fido Dido (Lehar 7’up), ZooZoo (Vodafone), and Utterly Butterly girl (Amul). These characters have become so famous that they themselves are brand in their own right.
• Celebrity (Shahrukh Khan, SaniaMirza, MSD) Perhaps this category is the most well-known among all. People look up to celebrities for almost everything. What they are wearing, eating, which phone they use etc. So, if a product is promoted by a celebrity then people would be attracted to buy that product to imitate their favourite celebrity. They feel that they are doing some exclusive thing which only celebrity can do. SRK promotes Nokia and all his fans think that Nokia is the coolest mobile available. They relate themselves to SRK and feel proud of it. This category of brand ambassadors are probably the costliest of all, since endorsement fees of a celebrity is very high. In fact, almost 50% of advertising budget may be used to have the celebrity endorsing one brand. (Reportedly, Amitabh Bachchan charges around 10-12 crore for Emami!!).
• Employees themselves (Ajay Bhatt –Intel Fame, Kaka/C Ronaldo when they are promoting Real Madrid) A brand is built with its effectiveness and its meeting the expectations of the consumer. Employee as a part of the development of product has an inherent clarity of what a brand is all about and what it promises to deliver. He/she has the insights about the product which cannot be reproduced with other promotional techniques of using celebrity, characters etc. Also, it shows the sense of efforts put in by the creator for a particular product which consumer wants to trust. Using employees for brand development allows companies to minimise their promotional costs. It promotes the sense of trust and belongingness in the employees towards the company. All in all, it impacts positively both to the external and internal environment of an organization. Take an example of the Intel advertisement, in which co-inventor of USB, Ajay Bhatt is used as a brand ambassador with the tagline “Our rock stars aren’t like yours”. This depicts the culture of innovation in the organization and how it is valued there. It impacts the viewer with the sense of pride, thriving for the constant improvement in technology and wants to be part of it. But it largely depends on the product segment and the customer base the company is targeting. In the above example, the target is the technology conscious consumers market where this strategy is useful.
• Consumers. (Yes, you as a consumer can be the face of the product. Harpic, Ariel uses their customers for promotion)It is rightly said that “consumer is the king of competitive market”, a consumer can make or break a product. It is necessary that he/she is satisfied with the product. The message of the use of a particular product is required to be expresses to her, consumers as brand ambassadors is one of them.This kind shows the consumer using the product in the promotion itself. It reflects the customer satisfaction at the initial stage inducing the target audience to purchase it.Consider an example of Harpic toilet cleaner, in which consumers are shown using it and satisfied with the results of the product. It depicts the sense of reality in the minds of persons viewing the advertisement. They tend to believe what is shown in it and correlate it with their day to day life.

Let’s see what market study has to say about effectiveness and impact of above categories of brand ambassadors.

As apparent from above results of a survey, characters are in vogue when it comes to choosing brand ambassadors. Character can be a cartoon character that gives your company, product, service or brand unique, memorable qualities that resonate in the market place.
When all is said and done, purchasing is still an emotional decision making process, and if you can nudge someone in your direction with an advertising icon that evokes a quality that endears you to prospective customers, then you have a huge advantage.
Characters are best at this. They can easily capture a place in people’s minds due to their intrinsic characteristics. ZooZoo has funny facial expression along with its looks. Fido Dido was famous for his weird look. People were charmed by the Utterly Butterly girl. Characters can become bigger ambassador then celebrities.

Like it or hate it, Zoozoo itself has become a phenomenon. The number of Facebook fans of Zoozoo have swelled to 3,14,611 (as on August 14, 2009) far surpassing the number of fans for cricketing and Bollywood icons like Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan, legendary superheroes like Superman and even comic characters like Asterix.
Now, one has to be careful in their assessment of character. What was the objective behind these character brand ambassador. Utterly girl boosted the sale of Amul product immensely which was the objective behind creating the character.

Yes, data shows that Zoozoos were not able to create the kind of sales figures which analysts were hoping for. But Zoozoos were never meant for increasing sales. Vodafone wanted a new identity post Hutch acquisition. They wanted to come over a “pug” which people associated with only Hutch. So, objective was to create a buzz/awareness about Vodafone. And did Zoozoo succeed?? The answer is resounding yes. People call it a Vodafone Zoozoos. IPL 2 was memorable and Zoozoo played a part in it and Vodafone got a required coverage. Yes, there is a separate theory that brand requires an ambassador during its nascent stage only and once brand becomes popular and recognizable, they require less of endorsement. To some extent this is true for fairly recognizable brand as they already have a place in public psyche.

But in today’s ever changing market scenario, no brand/product can afford to remain stagnant and the business launches new products and new brands daily. Even if they don’t launch a new product, they would like to revamp their existing product mix.
And in such cases, brand ambassador plays a crucial role in creating a market space for new product and making existing consumers aware of a revamp. E.g. Titan roped in Aamir Khan to launch a campaign called “A watch for every occasion”. Though Titan is a very well-known brand, they wanted their customer to know about new range of watches and Aamir Khan played a crucial role in it.

With all the discussion about the types of brand ambassador there comes its relevance with the type of product. The way of promotion and criteria for selection of brand ambassador type depends heavily on the product segment. The ultimate aim is to transfer the “basic message” of the product to the user.
How well this message is conveyed to the consumer depends on the selection of the type of branding and the decision based on the preferences of producer as well as
consumer.

Marketing Strategy to Clinch Defense Deals of India

Ankit Chordia | XLRI Jamshedpur

Marketing strategy to clinch defense deals of India

The purchase of a high involvement product is fairly different from the purchase of a low involvement one. Marketing strategies talk about post purchase dissonance for individual customers but rarely about the dissonance when the customer is a Nation. Incidentally, no government would display any post purchase dissonance due to the fear of facing the nation’s wrath. So a big ticket deal by a developing country does not end up being the dream script of movie writers. In India, defense deals become a topic of mass consumption only when there are stories of kickbacks associated with them. For the billion plus of Indian population, the wedding at a politician’s residence is a more popular read than a multi billion deal concerning the security of the nation. Many defense equipment manufacturers have been lobbying along with their respective governments to persuade Indian government to buy their products.

In a product as sophisticated as a defense equipment and a deal so complex, is it actually possible to influence the decision makers? Well, we cannot comment on other nations but it is possible in India. A media campaign can create enough fury and flurry of responses to ensure that a Jessica Lal murder case is reopened. A Tata Nano can make the nation feel proud and sell without advertisements. The catch lies in connecting with the ordinary citizens of the Indian Democracy-they react, comment. Decide and deliver. India does not take a referendum on defense issues, but once a topic connects emotionally to Indians and comes in media glare, it becomes very difficult for the decision makers to take a decision favoring some Company or nation. Surprising but true, appealing to the emotions of the Indian citizens is the key to strike the defense deals in India.

This brings us to one of the biggest defense deals in the world .The sale of MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) fighter aircrafts to India in a deal which can go up to US $ 10.5 billion. The decision makers in this MMRCA deal are the bureaucrats, Indian Air Force and finally the Government of India. So is it possible to influence them by marketing? I believe if the Aircraft manufacturers want a fair chance, they need to re- think their strategies. India defies conventional wisdom when it comes to many things. So who is the aircraft manufacturer that should be actually worried? The manufacturers like Saab from Sweden which is pitched against the likes of Lockheed Martin, backed by the US government.

The article will present the marketing strategy for Saab which is also in the race for the MMRCA deal. The timing could have never been better for Saab. As the deal gets into the ‘Slog overs’ it is the ideal time to fire the final salvo. But guess what, the likes of Saab have to take the battle to the living rooms of India, something unheard of with defense deals. For an average Indian, a MMRCA is like a commodity, he wouldn’t know much about a twin engine or single engine aircraft. But if the uninterested Indian can be influenced, Saab will definitely have a fair chance in the game.

Among all the competitors, Saab is a small fry which is facing financial difficulties. Among the six types of aircraft in consideration, only a deal with one of the two-Gripen and F-16 IN can leave India with a consumer surplus against the sanctioned budget of US $10.5 Billion. Amongst all countries in the race, Sweden is the least aggressive ones in selling its case. Indian government may be sensitized into diversifying its risk given that Boeing is now being awarded the contract of C-130 aircrafts. No other defense equipment excites Indians the way a fighter aircraft does. Fighter aircrafts stir emotions in the rich and masses alike in India. I recommend the following objectives of the marketing strategy for Saab:-

• The campaign should portray the legacy of European companies which produces the world’s most coveted automobiles even though they may not be the biggest automobile makers in the world. It should depict Saab as a class apart and how it produces legendary brands which have no correlation with its balance sheet size.
• Saab should focus on the fact that it wants to offer its best to India and how a relationship with Saab is for a lifetime (Unlike that with US which is susceptible to future sanctions and arm twisting).
• The campaigns should portray Saab as an underdog amongst the bigger names.

The stepwise plan to implement these objectives:-

• Build up: Saab’s Gripen NG will go on trials in March 2010.A build up with teasers should be showcased in the print media. An excitement wave should be created in Delhi during Defense expo 2010 peaking during the aircraft trials and continuing till the time of allotment of deal. The campaign has to be very subtle, much like the launch of a luxury automobile but still appealing to the entire nation.
• Online presence: A new website should be opened up, which should talk about the highlights of Saab’s offer for the deal without going into great deal of technicalities and financials. It should showcase Saab’s strong lineage and how the present training of pilots in India prepares them for single engine aircrafts. Without mentioning it explicitly, the website should bring out that unlike deals with the US, which can be easily be manipulated by the US and can get into a limbo as a result of US sanctions, Saab offers a partnership for a lifetime. It should also draw attention to the fact that Saab has agreed to transfer of technology with India unlike other players. A contest can be launched, open to students in India. Winners of the contest will be given free ticket to come to Delhi and special passes for the Gripen exhibition.
• Exhibition: Saab should arrange for a month long display of an actual Gripen aircraft in New Delhi in a prominent exhibition ground, starting 15 days before the actual trial and lasting for a total of one month. In case Saab does not get permission to land and display an actual aircraft, it should attempt to transport a real/full size model to India, even if it involves re assembly of an actual aircraft in India. An event management company should be hired. The Gripen should be made available for display to selected public which include all government officers, bureaucrats, media houses and defense personnel. Other than them, students of premier colleges and schools should be allowed to come for the exhibition after selection through a lucky draw. The journey of Saab and its facilities should be displayed by screening of movie/picture corridor. The visitors should be educated about the world class stature of Saab and Saab’s proposal for the deal. All visitors to the exhibition should be given free gifts like posters/key chains. Needless to say, the exhibition should be covered explicitly by tie up with media and most of the publicity should be generated through public relations and not advertisements. All the clippings of the exhibition should be displayed on Saab’s website and actively advertised on internet on Facebook, YouTube etc.
• Public Relations: Ex defense officers of Indian Air Force should be hired to give opinion on the deal on major news channel. These programs are normally automatically aired on the News channel as the day of the deal allocation comes closer. National and regional magazines and newspapers should be selected to ensure that Saab’s case is published in them.
• Competition: There is a strong possibility of the other Aircraft Companies to come up with similar marketing campaigns. Saab should plan the campaign discreetly so that it can have a free run of as many days as possible before other Companies come up with their campaigns. Saab should adequately plan for any negative advertisement campaigns which might come up. Equally important is to ensure that the planned marketing strategy till the exhibition should be successfully implemented lest the government of India comes up with a directive prohibiting advertisements by parties to the defense deals.

All this will entail an expenditure of around US $ 25-50 million which can be justified. The Sweden government cannot match the political might of America in lobbying for Saab. The only way Saab can try to clinch this deal is to establish a rapport with the Indian public especially in New Delhi. The campaign will definitely affect the decision makers of the deal but more importantly, it will provide an equal chance to Gripen to get selected.

In a country like India the defense deals can be influenced by politics and corruption. But this disadvantage can be surmounted by the Companies by using the combination of India’s powerful media and emotional population to ensure that the competition remains fair.

Trent Limited - A Strategic Business Unit of Tata Group

Priyanka Datta | IBS Hyderabad

TATA group’s entry in the retail sector through TRENT has been silent but strong. It was the brain child of Simone Tata, the lady behind the success of Lakme.

The marketing strategy of Trent can be studied in two phases:
• Phase I: the start of the company, its journey to its current status in the market and
• Phase II: the future

The story commenced in 1996 when Simone Tata decided to sell 50% stake in LAKME to HLL and out of its proceeds created TRENT LIMITED by acquiring Littlewoods, a London based retail chain in 1998. Littlewoods was renamed as what we know as “Westside”. Since its inception, Trent Limited has been on the major expansion mode and has targeted metro cities in India.

The “WESTSIDE” Story
Westside is the flagship brand of Trent in apparel and accessories retailing. The value chain was already in place as Littlewoods had expertise in primary activities like designing, producing and delivering the merchandise. They just needed to blend them into the Indian context, which was successfully done by keeping track of the pulse of the market, daily sales figures and the latest trends in vogue. Strategic marketing plan for Trent targeted youth in the metro cities. This was very well reflected when famous cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who was considered the Face of the Youth, was made the brand ambassador of Westside during its launch. Choosing a cricketer for an “apparel” ad led to easy brand recall and rescued the brand from falling into the trap of cluttered advertisements. The shopping experience was enhanced with each Westside store having elegant interiors, sprawling space and courteous store staff, thus making it a much sought after shopping destination.

Major marketing plans focused to improve the reach of the brand by setting in smaller formats of Westside stores like “Westside Girl”, “Westside Woman” in order to make them popular in Tier II, Tier III cities. There are currently 35 Westside stores in 20 cities in India. The reason they are concentrating on the woman’s apparel segment is because they want to tap the new empowered woman’s brand loyalty with their stylized yet pocket friendly offerings.

Other value added and after sales services includes returning of the merchandise within a month’s time if anything goes wrong with the fabric. Also, CLUBWEST membership is offered where customers are given special privileges like 20% discounts during their birthday month, free home delivery of merchandise and Clubwest points on each purchase that can be exchanged for money. Focus is to be extremely sensitive to the needs of the customers and build the brand on their suggestions and opinions. Westside also got into cause-related marketing last Diwali, where it sold diyas prepared by underprivileged kids at its retail stores.

The “STAR BAZAAR” way
Trent further expanded into Hypermarket retailing through “STAR BAZAAR” in 2004. The reason for coming up with such stores was to cash on the limited time the working individuals had to buy groceries.

Quality and convenience is what urban customers are looking for and Star Bazaar satisfies it, making them visit the store again. The stores are also sensitive to the regional requirements and they vary across the length and breadth of India.

The procurement process in Star Bazaar is highly dependent on locals who supply and transport the goods. Since product differentiation is difficult here, the motto “Chota Budget, Lambi Shopping” is hard to achieve considering the bargaining power is on the supply side. To tackle this and to have an edge in providing the goods at the lowest prices Trent has agreed upon supply chain integration with UK based Tesco, world’s third largest retailer. With financial aid of £60m, Trent can enjoy reduction in costs through economies of scale with this agreement. As per india-reports.com retail weekly, Trent Limited is expected to invest close to Rs. 2000 crores for setting up fifty such Hypermarkets.

A “LANDMARK” event
Before Pantaloons could lay hands on it, TRENT captured 76% stakes in the 22 year old Chennai based, India’s largest bookstore chain “LANDMARK” in August 2005.Recession or no recession, books and music would never go out of business and Simone Tata knew it well. Rather to everyone’s surprise, Gen X is more into books than ever before. Landmark was into books, magazines, stationary and greeting cards but later it added on music to its stores. Further it also added gifts, home stores & toys .The USP of its stores is the wide assortment and range of stock.

The “FASHION YATRA”
The latest news from Trent is a complete family fashion store Fashion Yatra. At the launch, Simone Tata said, “The strength of Trent Limited lies in it being able to provide our customers garments that suit their specific needs. Fashion Yatra is our latest venture to provide customers really fashionable choices at great prices.”

Throughout its phase I, TRENT has been a mass-to-mid-market retailer and has targeted its marketing strategies towards the metro population in the age bracket of 20-35. It has acquired businesses that already had all their primary and secondary business activities in place. The only turn Trent gave to all these brands was bringing them under one roof to create a shopping experience like never before. Gurgaon’s Grand Mall is an example where all these brands are brought together.

All these related sectors point towards the highly styled lifestyle requirements of the youth who are able to finance them through their cushy jobs in the booming service sector. The major pull force of the company is the related product assortment. The brands under its umbrella are already popular; Trent would provide them further ground to prove their strength through its financial muscle. Trent posted revenues of Rs 716 crore and net profit of Rs 33.64 crore on a consolidated basis in FY08.

Phase II: What does the future hold for TRENT?
Trent has two-way line stretching in mind, as can be clearly seen (downward stretching) from its entry in the mass merchandize retailing through Fashion Yatra where it offers “Value for Money” clothing and its strategic tie ups with brands like SISLEY, Benetton’s premium apparel brand, and Topshop & Topman, a UK based high-end apparel brand, mark its debut in the premium segment (upward stretching). Moreover, economies of scale and scope can result only when the scale of production and consumption is large. So Trent is concentrating on reaching wider masses and creating value positioning in the minds of its customers.

To wrap it up, TRENT has the potential to bring its competitors down. With its immense financial muscle to undertake any possible venture and the unmatchable guidance and vision of Simone Tata, once called the “Cosmetic Czarina of India”, Trent has all that it takes to become the Best Retail Brand in India.

Bajaj - Brand Identity Evolution

AVINASH SHARMA, MEDHAVI SINGH | NMIMS

Bajaj owes its birth, beginning in 1945-59 as M/s Bachraj Trading Corporation, to importing two and three wheelers and reselling them in India. It was in early 1970s when Bajaj Chetak was introduced, which until 1998-99 was literally THE mode of private transport, especially for the middle and the upper middle class segments of India.

Everything was fine until the Indian market was flooded with Hero Honda Splendor motorcycles. It stemmed from a changing business environment with increased consumer focus on fuel efficiency, comfort, purchasing power and lifestyle. Hence by the time Bajaj realized Splendor had eaten into its market share. Bajaj did introduce bikes like Boxer, Kawasaki Bajaj 4S champion, Caliber etc but none of these could add to the distinct Brand Identity that could “define” Bajaj as did the Chetak.

It was then in 2001 when Bajaj introduced the Pulsar bike. This was in direct competition to Hero Honda’s CBZ (both in 150cc segment). The introduction of Pulsar was executed with a completely different approach with the “Definitely Male” positioning. The Pulsar worked wonders for Bajaj and created a super dent in Hero Honda’s market.

Yet there was something lagging in their strategy. Until Chetak ruled, Bajaj had a clearly identifiable Brand Recall of being “Humara Bajaj”. This was not carried forward with every new variant since each was being introduced with a different positioning. True, that each product has its own merits and should have its own positioning. But it should have also added or supplemented to the overall Bajaj’s position statement. Until Chetak, Bajaj had various brands under its umbrella like Bajaj M-80, Bajaj Sunny etc and yet the “Brand Identity” remained “Humara Bajaj”.

Bajaj kept coming up with better products like the Pulsar 180cc, then the Pulsar DTSi followed by the 200 and 220cc Pulsars. It is then that they realized the need for a clear positioning, what “Bajaj” stood for, and also the fact that it was a mistake discarding or ignoring the “Humara Bajaj” which was such a strong and successful statement. It was critical especially when Hero Honda kept its “Desh ki Dhadkan” positioning intact. Thus, Bajaj finally came up with the famous, new and revamped “Humara Bajaj” communication where in they showed the rendition of the “Humara Bajaj” jingle in a very ‘Next Generation’ style by doing a fusion of the classical jingle with rock music , showing that Bajaj was now new and advanced and more Gen X but still communicated the value of “Humara Bajaj” to India.

Thus Bajaj came a full circle by coming back to its successful “Humara Bajaj” brand identity. Yet Bajaj was now synonymous only with powerful bikes ( 150cc and above segment ) whereas Hero Honda still had its presence both in the 150cc category with CBZ as well as the 100+cc category with the Splendor and Passion. This gap Bajaj sought to explore by coming up with bikes like the Bajaj XCD and Platina which fell in the 125 – 135cc category. This helped Bajaj regain some lost ground in the market leadership it had during the Chetak days.

It was in 2004 when Bajaj completely revamped its identity, gave up the “Humara Bajaj” umbrella and came up with a completely new enhanced positioning focusing more on the technology and experience. With a new, sharp brand logo, Bajaj pressed itself as “Digital Biking” and “Distinctly Ahead”.

Kapferer’s Prism:
Kapferer’s Prism is a tool that can be used to analyze and understand brands. It basically looks at a brand’s analysis from 6 key parameters:

• Physique: Key product and brand attributes.
• Personality: The lifestyle and traits of the brand.
• Relationship: What type of relationship does a brand signify with its consumers?
• Culture: The core values that the brand portrays.
• Reflection: What image of itself does the brand reflect?
• Self-Image: What does the brand think of the self?

This is a powerful tool to analyze any brand and also, more importantly, to compare brands. Applying this analysis to the old and new Bajaj Brand Identities reveals the traits as shown in figures.

Conclusion:
Hence, as can be seen from the above analysis, the name Bajaj, which was once well known, famous and sold as a family vehicle, gradually has evolved into a two wheeler which offers excitement, experience and enhanced technological excellence etc. In all this, Bajaj went through cycles of using a positioning, abandoning it, going back to it and then phasing it out completely to give way to a new distinct positioning to the ‘Brand Bajaj’. We believe that shunning the “Humara Bajaj” positioning should have been carefully thought through, as it was a legacy that Bajaj had carefully built through all these years with hard work and was almost synonymous with instant brand recall, something that every brand aspires to get. This is crucial since the new positioning of Bajaj, though modern and more focussed on the technological superiority of Bajaj, does not IDENTIFY Bajaj as distinctly as “Humara Bajaj” did.

Park Avenue – Brand Extension Strategies in Indian Context

Altaf Fakhrul Mohammed, Thattey Chinmay Sudhir | IIM Ahmedabad

Introduction
Park Avenue is one of the many brands offered by the Raymond Group. It provides stylish and innovative wardrobe solutions and is famous for its good fittings. The brand provides formal clothing for various occasions like regular office wear, high powered corporate meetings and festivals. Park Avenue started off as a men’s wear brand. In 2007 ‘Park Avenue Woman’, a range of business wear for women was launched. It is designed for the working women professionals of today.

Brand Proposition of the original product- Park Avenue Men’s Wear
The rationale for using the name Park Avenue for Raymond India’s ready to wear men’s clothing (premium segment) was to give a western name which was synchronous with great fabric and great fit.
The brand has over the years undergone many changes as it tries to reach out to the urban young corporate consumer. While it started off as a brand that was fashionable and meant for slightly older customers who trusted the Raymond heritage, the brand repositioned itself later to tap the new managers, who wanted to be different, that emerged in the 90s.
In 2000 the brand came up with the new positioning tagline- ‘Start Something New’. The brand launched a new print and television campaign in order to shed its old image and target the young entrepreneurs who were emerging in the booming IT era. It realized that these young consumers wanted to be different and break away from the traditional ways to start something new.
The logic for this new positioning, along with which the company also came out with smarter designs, was the fact that though Park Avenue was seen as a premium brand, young consumers viewed it lower in status and less fashionable as compared to other brands like Arrow, Van Heusen and Allen Solly. The latest tagline that the brand has chosen is “Play the lead” whereby it is once again trying to target the young ambitious consumer who aspires to be a leader.

Analysis of the Brand “Park Avenue”
On the basis of discussion with consumers, analysis of ads, discussion with retailers and information gathered from the website, we have done the following analysis of the brand -

• Target Audience: The brand targets young middle class corporates who are fashion conscious but need to wear formal clothes on a daily basis. The brand also has a secondary audience in the form of older men which is primarily due to the strong heritage that this brand has.
• Brand Personality: Park Avenue symbolizes a person (male) who likes to explore the unknown, do something different. He has an entrepreneurial spirit and wants to be a leader in everything he does. He is a person who wants to express himself and his style through his clothes.
• Key Brand Values: The key brand values are- Smart, innovative, different, exciting, premium, trusted. We also believe that the brand also stood for masculinity before venturing into female clothing.

Brand Extensions
The brand has extended into:

• Accessories: Ties, belts, shoes, cufflinks
• Men’s Toiletries: Soaps, deodorants, aftershave, shaving cream, talcum powder, gels

Analysis on the basis of Criteria for Brand Extensions:-

Fit
The new category into which a brand extends should be in line with the nature of the parent brand and sometimes even the expertise it represents.

• Accessories: While extending into accessories, Park Avenue leveraged its expertise in clothing and the association that consumers make with looking good in a corporate/formal environment. Thus we believe that this is a natural extension for the brand to give consumers the full range of formal dressing-right from clothes to belts and shoes.
• Men’s Toiletries: Men’s toiletries are an extended part of a man’s looks. We believe that there are products in this category which fit in line with the brand Park Avenue. By doing this, they have made an attempt to evolve into a brand that not only cares about your clothing, but rather a brand that stands for complete male grooming. Thus in this category the company is not leveraging its expertise (clothing) but rather is leveraging its image as a classy male grooming brand.

The value perception
A successful brand extension has to ensure that there is consistency in the value perception of the brand in the new category as compared to in the original category

• Accessories: The accessories that Park Avenue sells are premium and elegant due to which they fit in with the values that the brand stands for. The description that we got for their accessories on their website was as follows:
• Shoes: Crafted from fine European leather and finished with a lustrous shine.
• Ties: Complete your ensemble with the perfect tie from Park Avenue. These exquisite woven and printed ties come in various designs. These silk ties give a new meaning to the term power dressing. From these descriptions, it is clear that Park Avenue continues to maintain the premium, classy, new age, youthful image that it has built in clothing.
• Men’s Toiletries: The deodorants and perfumes that they sell have a label which reads as follows-“Genuine French Eau De Parfum” with information on the pulse points which act as mini fragrance pumps. The French fragrance again adds uniqueness to the perfume which is in line with the brand values. The logic behind entering perfumes and deodorants was that research showed that there was no major perfume brand in the men’s market. Also most international brands were too mild for Indian conditions.

On talking to some consumers we felt that the key differentiating aspects for the Park Avenue soap were its good masculine fragrance and its large size, which again strengthens its masculine image.

On analyzing the distribution strategy of Park Avenue’s toiletries, we saw that the company’s distribution strategy is in line with its pricing strategy. Park Avenue soaps and deodorants are available at normal general stores. Perfumes are available at supermarkets unlike big brands which are available only in shopping malls. This is because the perfumes, which are priced at around Rs. 450, need to be made available easily to the middle class consumer. We felt that the pricing strategy in toiletries was in line with the pricing in clothing which is to appeal to the middle class consumer.
On the whole we felt that Park Avenue’s brand extensions maintained the original values of the parent brand.

The Edge
The last criterion we used for analyzing the brand extensions was to see the competitive edge. A great brand in one category need not always offer a competitive difference over other brands in another category. It is necessary for the brand to offer consumers some advantage in order for them to adopt the product in the new category.
We felt that the brand’s strong heritage and its ability to produce the best quality clothing helped it to easily extend into ties. However that is not the case for shoes and toiletries. Here the brand is leveraging on values of the parent brand like the premium and classy feeling that have been created over the years.

How are the extensions helping the brand?
It is interesting to see how these brand extensions have helped ‘Park Avenue’ as a brand.
To study this we will first have a look at how a brand pyramid gets built over the time period & then look how various extensions have strengthened the ‘Park Avenue’ brand.

• Presence: Initially consumers become aware that such a brand exists. It’s very important for a brand to have a solid base as it builds on this (i.e. only those who are aware of the brand are likely to consider it for further evaluation). Success of this stage primarily depends on effective communication & word of mouth (which in turn depends on performance, the third stage of this pyramid).
• Relevance: Out of those who are aware of the brand, some find its proposition relevant to their needs. This is the stage where a brand gets into the consideration set of prospective consumers.
• Performance: If the first two stages of the brand has invoked enough interest in the consumers’ mind then they experiment with the brand. Those who find its performance satisfactory at this stage put the brand into their repeat consideration set.
• Advantage: Those consumers who are satisfied at the 3rd stage of pyramid, start repeating the brand & their interaction with the brand starts. At this stage they start experiencing the ‘extra advantages’ that the brand offers to them.
• Bonding: Out of those who have found extra advantages about the brand, some interact very frequently & intensely with the brand & form an emotional bond with the brand.
• Now let’s have a look at how various extensions have strengthened ‘Park Avenue’ overall as a brand:
• Presence: As ‘Park Avenue’ did advertisement (especially Print ads) of accessories & some toiletries (especially soap), it strengthened base (presence) of the ‘Park Avenue’ brand.
• Relevance: By evolving as a “complete grooming solution”, they have increased their relevance to the consumer.
• Performance & Advantage: Here the brand values of ‘Park Avenue’ which were transferred to extensions, boosted these two levels of the brand pyramid.
• Bonding: Consumers’ bonding with the brand increased as it gave them ‘a complete grooming solution’.
• So, we can infer that the extensions have led to strengthening of the brand pyramid (& hence have been successful).

The Economic Growth of the Mass Market and its Impact on India’s Cosmetic Industry

Tridib Banerjee | NMIMS University, Mumbai

Brands cater to the Indian cosmetics society through its wide range of products, with continuous up gradations and innovations. The basic idea remains that youth and style do not have a substitute. Couple it with foresight, research and constant innovation, the recipe for success is ready on the platter. The strategy of the networks is redefined in line with its vision of empowering modern India by serving superior beauty and healthcare products through customized and professional services. Growing disposable income and changing lifestyles in urban India have led to greater awareness about personal grooming, health and wellness. The emerging trends stand in good stead for Beauty and Wellness services sector, presenting a large and exciting opportunity. Let us take a closer look into the details of the current status of the brands as far as the cosmetics industry in India is concerned.

India with its huge market potential promised to be a major hit as a destination for the various brands across. While the HUL powered LAKME moved for the mass market, brands like L’OREAL tapped the niche customer segment. Down the years, the legacy of these brands has mesmerized the customers through constant innovations and appropriate strategies. But since the new millennium, the customer demographics took a major progressive move up and now came the necessity to take the marketing concepts to a different level to match up to their expectations.
A distinct increase in the educated population along with their web based knowledge enabled them to scrutinize the gory details of a product and this resulted in a more logical, aesthetic and stringent demand. The result was evident. LAKME showed a clear dip in its sales. Being the major marketer to India’s mass market, their reforms form a basic ingredient of our analysis of the Industry for the “Common Man”. Now, the question arises that what does a brand with a legacy of over 50 years have to do to resurrect its position back among the elite and make its balance sheets healthy?

LAKME’s answer was prompt. They came up with some rudimentary concepts to connect to the customer and reincarnate the theories of direct marketing via the web and media. Be it the “Elle 18” or the “LAKME Fashion Week”, the impetus was to reach out to the mass using punch lines like “WOMEN’S NATURAL BEAUTY” and “WOMEN OF ALL AGES”.

The other interesting initiatives included the “Beauty Saloons” and the “Bridal Sutra” concepts which were targeted to the specific genres with optimum vision at the aspect of “value for money”. They tapped the web market with élan as they used facilities like “Ask Lakme” and “Style File”. The very fact that the customer could customize a perceived look for herself gave her incentive enough to hit the saloons and the cash books gradually began to look promising again.

The health sensitive new age customer had to be convinced about the medical consequences of the product and here the nail was hit on the head by a strategic partnership with “AYUSH”. The brand LAKME-LEVER came into existence and the herbal market was catered to with legitimate conviction.

The imperative intent for the cautious approach has been to target the mass market. In order to survive the test of times, it is essential for the cosmetic brands to consciously try and implement/avoid the following fundamental aspects.

IMPLEMENT

• Convince people that cosmetics are an essential part of daily grooming.
• Produce multifunctional products.
• Encourage technological innovations.
• Synchronize with the latest trends of the industry.
• Establish the brand loyalty among its consistent customers (Direct marketing if need be).

AVOID

• Avoid the defectors. In mass market, this is lethal.
• Avoid reactive policies; proactively encourage interactions and dialogues to get connected to the customer.
• Avoid being limited to bigger outlets and enhance accessibility to the customer.

One major drawback in the growth approach of cosmetic honchos has been the lack of consolidation of the web services. A popular customer survey reflects a significantly poor segment having adequate knowledge of its existence and usage (clearly evident in figure 1 shown below). Internet and its proper usage may give the industry leaders and new comers the necessary and sufficient leeway to intrude into the fairly open market segment (refer figure 2 below).

In a nutshell, it has been an eventful revamp on the part of the brand, more reactively than proactively and all this can be attributed to one subtle yet unavoidable factor, the changing demeanor of the customer base, India’s mass market.

Pantaloons Retail (India) Ltd - Strategy in the Face of Economic Downturn

Saishree D | Tapmi, Manipal

When Kishore Biyani started Pantaloons Retail (India) Ltd.(PRIL), he must have hardly expected to hit in such a manner in the short time frame. What started off as India’s first brand for formal trousers back in 1987, transitioned into what is now the country’s largest retail giant with its footfall in every arena the modern-day consumer believes to be part of his/her lifestyle. How has retailing helped shape the needs of the modern-day consumer and direct his/her quest in fulfilling these needs?
PRIL, the flagship company of the Future Group, operates through a large number of formats that target different aspects of consumerism. These largely centre on:-

• Sports and Fashion - Pantaloons, Central, Brand Factory etc.
• Food – Food Bazaar, Fair price etc.
• Home products – e-Zone, Staples, Home Town etc.
• Leisure and Entertainment – F123, Bowling Co. etc.

Assessing the damage
To ascertain the strategic moves PRIL has adopted given the current economic scenario, we must first examine the environment it operates in as a result of this slowdown. We will then be able to understand the necessity for these strategic steps. This has been explained using the Five Forces Model prescribed by Michael Porter.

Threat of Entry – MODERATE
PRIL’s rivals Shopper’s Stop and Vishal Retail only grew by 3.3% and 17.8%, with operating margins falling over last year‘s. This hardly seems a lucrative opportunity to any big names scanning the horizon. In addition to this, the latest budget did nothing to spur growth when it
made no mention of the relaxation in FDI norms for the retail sector – a longstanding demand by the major players in the sector, along with recognition as an industry. However, considering AT Kearney’s predictions of the potential in the Indian retail market, the threat of foreign entrants looms large in the near future with the first Wal-Mart in India opening just a few weeks ago.

Threat of Suppliers – LOW
Market share generally reflects the focal firm’s influence over its consumers, competitors and suppliers. Rather than the traditional ‘Producer-push’ format of supply-chains, large retailers enjoy the advantage of the ‘Consumer-pull’ format. The Pantaloons’ supply-chain is said to be the most cost-effective in the world.

Threat of Substitutes – LOW
Substitutes to this sector may largely come in the form of Internet, wherein direct selling of consumer goods may take place. But considering this phenomenon has not gained momentum in India, its chances of posing a major threat to the sector is fairly low.

Threat of Buyers – HIGH
The retail sector has always faced trouble retaining consumer-loyalty. The gloom of the meltdown has spread rather rapidly in the consumption segment with same-store sales in most retail chains dropping to abysmal numbers. In the current scenario most consumers prefer deferring purchases of retail items, and hence pose the largest threat.

Threat of Rivalry – LOW
PRIL’s immediate competitor, Vishal Retail is running out of cash and closing stores all over the country. 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.

PRIL’s strategic moves
The growth in the retail sector has now dropped to below 7% and consumer spending has tightened. Pantaloons’ sales fell in February, and the company saw dipping consumer demand and rising costs. But despite these conditions, Edelweiss Securities expects Pantaloons Retail (India) Ltd. to survive the carnage pretty well. In fact, PRIL’s shares rose by over 60% come March. This, when PRIL’s competitors are completely pulling out of the sector! How has PRIL managed to do this?

PRICE

• Kishore Biyani’s ability to forecast the future definitely paid off for PRIL. Back in January 2008 the CEO initiated the cost-cutting campaign ‘Garv se kaho hum kanjoos hain’. Through emails to his employees, Biyani made sure to instill awareness of the dim future amongst each of his employees and to devise processes to meet the requirements within 6 months.
• PRIL started converging back-end operations 6 months ago, and plans on continuing in the future. This exercise that primarily involves converging the back-end operations of all similar lines of businesses has proved profitable in terms of cost-saving on resources.
• The company took steps towards strategic realignment and cost-control techniques way back in 2006. Through a series of scenario planning exercises and continuous review of business plans, it was able to bring out the best possible levels of ‘efficiency, productivity and resilience to the external environment’.

PLACE

• As per Fitch Ratings, the company is now concentrating on supply-chain efficiency, high-margin private labels, and reworking lease rentals. PRIL is one company that has always promised value and quality at lower prices.
• Hence maintaining low prices is at the heart of all strategies they will be implementing in the future.
• The company has also succeeded in cutting its 5-level supply-chain structure to a 2-level one.
• A very strategic decision in terms of real estate helped the company gain considerable cost advantage over its competitors. It had acquired land for reasonable rates a few years ago, as it expected the increase in real estate prices.

PROMOTION

• In addition to all the above, PRIL also introduced shopping festivals, end of season sales, exchange fairs and days dedicated to low-price shopping. Through a partnership with McKinsey & Co., they were able to develop a process-driven approach towards discount planning and inventory management.

OTHERS

• Future Group had plans of restructuring its flagship retail company into a holding company (under the name of Future Markets and Consumer Group) early this year, but put these plans are on hold in the hope of the new budget’s FDI norms for the retail sector. Despite the disappointment the budget posed, these plans will not be completely scrapped but pursued in the near future when the situation starts looking up for the sector.
• The new budget has brought out incentives for consumers to get back to their old spending habits, like the abolition of Fringe Benefit Tax and the increase in income tax ceiling. PRIL hopes to exploit these opportunities to motivate consumer spending.

PRIL is currently India’s largest retail chain and continues to dominate the sector while its competitors bite the dust. An insight into this company’s immunity reveals how its restructured strategy worked to its favour.