Updates || Harsha Daga || IIM Shillong || February 2016 edition

New Product Launch

Freedom 251, the world’s cheapest smartphone unveiled

With the announcement of this product, it is seen not only as a new product but as a catalyst to the dream of taking digitization to the corners of the country. World’s cheapest smartphone - the $4 Freedom 251 is set to be made in India. The company behind the project - Ringing Bells - received a huge coverage in the media and received beyond positive backup from users around the world. Well, only time will tell how efficiently the consumer needs are met.

Domino’s radical pizza delivery car is ruling the streets

Though it is not for consumers to purchase, the idea behind this state-of-the-art pizza delivery car

with a built-in warming oven is to enhance customer experience. Domino’s has been a leader in pizza delivery since years and they could maintain this stature only because of the innovative processes of pizza making and delivery, be it its Heatwave bags or the pizza lovers’ Batmobile. A J.P. Morgan restaurant analyst quoted "Dominos is a technology company disguised as a marketing company disguised as a pizza company". Brand up, Domino’s!

Brand Extension

Bisleri challenges the industry with Pop

With the launch of four variants of carbonated soft-drinks under the brand name Bisleri Pop, the 50 year old giant is set to re-enter this segment. After more than 20 years of Parle selling off their soft-drink business to Coca Cola, here it is..back with a bang. How well do they compete with the well-established-deep-pocketed MNCs is what we are eager to see. While we enjoy this show-down of the interesting cola flavors, do you want to know who will make it happen? It’s advertising agency Soho Square, a unit of Ogilvy & Mather India.

Green Mango Fanta has an answer to that

Interestingly, with the arrival of Bisleri Pop, Coca-Cola has also launched a Green Mango flavored carbonated drink under its Fanta brand. Now, this is war! But the fact that launch of India specific Green Mango Flavored Fanta was done in line with the Make in India summit deserves some kudos on being right on time. Coca-cola plans to add more variants such as litchi and strawberry by sourcing the raw materials from lakhs of local farmers. This is what we call a truly ‘Glocal Approach’.

Market Development

Garmin launches Vivosmart HR Activity Tracker

Here is the latest addition to the extremely handy and sophisticated fitness gear by Garmin, and guess what? It is available in India; thanks to SnapDeal. With its activity tracking features, additional workout support including timed activities, and smart notifications vívosmart is like having a personal coach and assistant right on your wrist. Further exploring this opportunity, Garmin plans to invest close to Rs. 900 crores in India by the end of 2016. Go Run!!

Ad Watch

Official 2015 FIAT 500X Super Bowl Commercial

This tongue-in-cheek humorous depiction of how FIAT’s 500X got Bigger, More Powerful and Ready for Action with a “Blue-Pill” meant for an old man that he accidentally dumps out of his bedroom window. And it’s wonderful to see how without the use of any sports gear, FIAT made its ad relevant to Super Bowl through the tag line and garnered more than 14 million views on YouTube.

Brand Watch

BrewDog spills its secrets to engage communities

In order to involve the home-brewing communities, BrewDog made recipes of all its 216

beers publically available. They say it is their way of “giving back” to the community as their name has also grown from the same place. By doing this, the brand has very swiftly made a space for itself in the hearts of the people. At the same time, it is a subtle scar on the face of their competitors as they believe the strength of their brand is derived from unique brewing abilities and not just the ingredients. Now this is some confidence!

PepsiMojis explores the language of Emojis

A picture is worth a thousand words, but hey, Emojis are no less. This summer, the “Say It With Pepsi” campaign is all set to boost consumers in getting their point across through their internally designed emoticons. The designs don’t only have a global appeal but some are also customized for local markets. Emojis deliver marketing messages "graphically, quickly and in a relatable way," Toronto-based branding consultant Jeff Swystun said in an interview. We can’t wait to share one ;-)

Xerox announces its split

Reflecting industry dynamics, we will now see Xerox as two separate listed companies, one carrying its legacy printer and documentation solutions while the other will focus on its business process outsourcing unit. Whether the two separate entities will carry the same brand name or decide to deviate will determine the valuation of this mammoth brand that has seen the highs and lows like no other.

Special Feature

Brand Forum, Sydney 2017

Australia’s biggest event dedicated purely to brand strategy & management saw participation by more than 350 executives hooked on to over 35 experts from the domain of branding. Take a look at the highlights here:

Updates || Harsha Daga || IIM Shillong || December 2015 edition

NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH

TATA to launch hatchback called TATA Kite

TATA with its HorizoNext-the four pronged customer centric approach plans to launch TATA Kite. In a new teaser featuring brand ambassador Lionel Messi, the automaker christened TATA Kite Hatchback as the Zica. TATA motors looks to re-establish its image in the entry-level hatchback segment, where currently it had only Indica eV2, which again has lost its charm as it seems outdated when compared with competitors such as Maruti’s Swift and Hyundai’s Grand i10.

PULSE - latest candy launched by Pass Pass

The entry of this new candy into the market by Noida based DS Group (makers of products like Rajnigandha Paan Masala and Pass Pass) might not be new to people from states like Delhi and Rajasthan, but now the entire nation will be privileged to get a taste of it. A simple Re.1 candy is showing new trends, wherein consumers are making bulk purchases of 8-10 candies at once as against a usual behavior of buying only a single piece at once.

BRAND WATCH

HDFC introduces sonic marketing by developing first ever MoGo

HDFC introduces sonic marketing by developing the first ever Mogo (musical logo). It’s for the first time that music will be used by a large, main stream corporate for purely branding purposes. HDFC plans to use their mogo at various touchpoints at a pan-India level, through ATMs, phone banking, mobile banking app and the website. The company aims at capturing the interests of the youth as use of new age technology and ways of branding not just appeals to the target but also establishes a better recall probability.

HTC & Snapdeal: The newly found friendship

In a very trendy manner, HTC and Snapdeal not just captured the hearts of Delhi-ites but also twitteratis across the network. They announced their partnership in a storyline when executives from both the companies went across NCR clicking pictures of the monuments, streets and people. They tagged each other in every post by eliciting response by the other one. They also used the opportunity to market the fine camera of HTC’s upcoming phone One A9. Looks like this team is here to give others a ride for their buck.

AD WATCH

Happydent makes the world go bonkers!

Though this ad is not a new one, it deserves a mention this time around as it is the only Indian ad to feature on the prestigious list of the Best 20 Commercials of the 21^st Century, as per the Gunn Report. Prasoon Joshi from McCann Worldgroup India, the creator of this ad deserves accolades for capturing the attention of the consumer in the most quirky and innovative way that could be. All we Indians were in love with this ad, and now, the world is going bonkers over it.

Durex calls upon for Unicode Consortium

While all other condom brands are struggling to hold ground and going the usual “pleasure” way to advertise, Durex always has something much more interesting. And this time to on World Aids Day on December 1^st, Durex encouraged its customers to call upon the Unicode Consortium, who oversee the introduction of new emoji, for an emoticon depicting safe sex. Their aim was to make more and more people comfortable to have a conversation about the importance of Safe Sex, and hence a condom. What a way to integrate societal marketing with digital media.

Scrabble’s new ad says more than just playing with words

“Words” is the first thing that strikes you the moment you come across Scrabble, but their new advertisement capturing the same in a set-up that is most expected in the holiday season, is so exceptional that feelings become the more dominant proposition for the board game. Leveraging the festivities and the spirit of joy and celebration to connect with their consumers they ensured to pull their attention towards the game with the use of anagrams.

NEW BRAND LAUNCH

Aeropostale forays into Indian markets with Arvind Lifestyle

The American apparel and accessories retailer plans to foray into the Indian markets in collaboration with the Arvind Group of Arvind Lifestyle. Aeropostale is a mall-based retailer targeting young women and men, hence reaching out to a very large segment of the Indian retail population. The brand aims at having 30 standalone stores along with 25 shop-in-shop (or multi-brand retail store) locations in the next three years.

The Moson’s group announes a new brand by the name of Indian Woman

The Moson’s Group, a Kerala based maker of Indulekha range of personal care products which has been acquired by HUL, has announced a new brand by the name of ‘Indian Woman’ under which it will sell non-personal care products. They plan to do the same through the Self Help Group (SHG) model with the primary objective of providing quality education to the to the Indian girl child.

NEW CHANNEL

Mobile Advertising - Tango Media

Tango media, a subsidiary of Mogae Group, launched a mobile advertising platform helps the companies in connecting with consumers, without the pre-requisite of data connectivity. Its patented technology uses keywords that it sells to various players who can directly communicate to the customer keying in ** followed by the particular keyword. Tango has currently tied up with five telecoms for carrying out the activity, hence reaching out to a humongous consumer base.

Updates || Cheena Pasrija || IIM Shillong || November 2015 edition

BRAND LAUNCH

Brand Medimix to be launched in Sri Lanka 

FMCG player Cholayil Private Ltd today declared dispatch of Medimix cleansers in Sri Lanka. Chennai-headquartered organization’s items are presently accessible in 26 abroad countries, other than the Indian business sector. Pradeep Cholayil, managing director, Cholayil P Ltd said Sri Lanka expansion is part of company’s overall strategy to expand Medimix brand in international markets.

Hyundai to launch Genesis- the new Global luxury brand for the Company

The Hyundai Motor Company has declared an all-new worldwide extravagance brand – Genesis – that will convey ‘human-focused’ extravagance through a scope of new models that element “the most astounding gauges of execution, design and innovation”. Genesis will look to create a new meaning of luxury, that will provide a nuave platform for future mobility centered around people. By anticipating human needs at every touch point, Genesis models will embody four key aspects: human-focused innovation, refined and balanced performance, athletic elegance in design and hassle-free customer experience” says Hyundai.

BRAND WATCH

Study shows Amul as the most meaningful brand in India

According to the study conducted by Havas Media, Amul has emerged as the most meaningful brand in the country. The other players in the race were Cadbury, Google, Britannia, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), Microsoft, Intel, HP, Parle and Samsung. Globally Samsung, Google and
Nestle emerged as the top rankers.

Disney looking forward to building a Brand in India

After a not so great start in the country, Disney India which a part of the American conglomerate Walt Disney Co. has a slew of movies lined up for the year 2016. The films have big names like Aamir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Ashutosh Gowarikar attached to it and it is estimated that these 3 films alone are riding 450 crore on its shoulders. The Walt Disney Co., which set foot in India in 2004, additionally has a vicinity in the Indian market through its auxiliary, UTV Motion Pictures. Disney even has a controlling stake in UTV
Motion Pictures.

MEDIA

Media should be blamed for Modi shaming India in London

Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced some sharp questions at a press conference in London, which were quite different from those he is used to being asked in India. The way our anchors gush over Modi on Social Media, one can’t even point the finger at him for not tending to a solitary question and answer session after expecting office. Both online and offline, our standard media straightforwardly derided those giving back their honors. Most recently, some of the big names of Media have been exposed. Its high time our media stops showing larger than life picture and starts asking pertinent questions to the Prime Minister so that the country does not have to feel the shame ever again.

AD WATCH

HARLEY-DAVIDSON - Inner Child

Harley Davidson has come up with an extremely powerful advertisement that highlights the internal freedom and innocence of a human being. It showcases the journey of a man to meet his inner child. The concluding tagline sums it all: - “Whatever is in you, is out there.”

Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1NYIYd54JQ

Updates || Cheena Pasrija || IIM Shillong || September October 2015 edition

BRAND LAUNCH

Maruti Suzuki is all set to launch hatchback Baleno next week 

Maruti Suzuki will be coming up with the all new Baleno which will be exported to around 100 countries as a made-in-India car. The production of the previous model of Baleno was stopped by Baleno a few years back, now they are extremely upbeat about the new launch. Stating that the premium hatchback segment was growing at a rate of 20 per cent year-on-year, the company would sell Baleno as the second product from Nexa outlet 

Apple launches iPhone 6S, 6S Plus in India

Apple has launched iPhone 6S and 6S plus which have been Apple’s fastest roll out in India. It is the

first time that the phone is available in the Indian markets after just a month passed when it was launched in USA. The iPhone 6S will be available at INR 62,000 for the 16GB version, INR 72,000 for the 64GB version, and INR 82,000 for the 128GB storage variant. The iPhone 6S Plus has been priced at INR 72,000 for the 16GB version, INR 82,000 for the 64GB version, and INR 92,000 for the 128GB variant.

BRAND WATCH

New OOH campaign of Times Card eyes Mumbai Metro’s on-the-go consumers 

What can be better for a marketer than grabbing 32 million unique eye-balls in a month for an advertisement? This is the kind of reach Mumbai metro promises to have which has made all the brands go gaga over the prospects. Times Card has recently launched its “Do more of what you love” OOH campaign with the Mumbai metro. The campaign is in association with HDFC and aims to match up with the demands of the new age urban consumer segment 

Brands of Desire enters into strategic partnership with Brand Dialogue 

Indian brand consultancy firm Brands of Desire has inked into a strategic tie up with the Dutch brand
Consultancy firm Brand Dialogue and have combined their operations and will be together working for a long term to provide end to end branding solutions. Brand Dialogue will act as a separate company and will work towards improving the understanding of creative industries in Europe and India 

MEDIA

Indian media, entertainment can be a $100 billion industry: CII

Indian media and entertainment industry can possibly log $100 billion (Rs.650,000 crore) turn over by 2025 given it gets sufficient base and government bolster, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said recently. “With a growth potential of 13-16 percent year-on-year it has the potential to emerge as one of the largest employment providers, contributing significantly to the gross domestic product,” said the paper titled Vision 2020 Document on Media and Entertainment Sector.


BSE to trawl social media for information on listed companies

Leading bourse BSE will trawl the Social Media giants, including Twitter, for data identified with

recorded organizations as it hopes to venture up observation in the midst of stringent revelation administration. The move is to ensure that the investors can make proper decisions and gauge market sentiment through social media channels. The stringent disclosure regime has been put in place to curb instances of companies selectively leaking information, including through media and without informing the investors first, for illegal gains.

AD WATCH

NESCAFE Cartoonist AD 

The advertisement depicts how sometimes life gives a setback just to give one a chance to make it even bigger. An extremely poignant mood is set in the beginning but the end is really happy when the protagonist makes it big as a cartoonist. In short the advertisement conveys that we all have a dream, an ambition, which we work towards achieving. But life does not always go as planned. What kept the protagonist going was his cup of Nescafe. 

Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP_zdW6sl-k

Iphone 6 new AD

The advertisement depicts how sometimes life gives a setback just to give one a chance to make it

even bigger. An extremely poignant mood is set in the beginning but the end is really happy when the protagonist makes it big as a cartoonist. In short the advertisement conveys that we all have a dream, an ambition, which we work towards achieving. But life does not always go as planned. What kept the protagonist going was his cup of Nescafe. 

Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP_zdW6sl-k

Updates || Cheena Pasrija || IIM Shillong || August 2015 edition

BRAND LAUNCH

Reliance Brands to launch Japanese retailer Muji’s stores all across the country 

Reliance brands have entered a joint venture with Japan’s Ryohin Keikaku Co. Ltd. to enter the rapidly growing Indian market. The leading retailer under the Muji brand will open standalone stores across major cities across the nation. The range of products which will be covered are clothing, furniture, stationary, kitchen tools, beauty items and many more. 

Major liquor giant Constellation Brands to launch a new wine in India 

Prosecco will be the name of the new wine that is all set to hit the Indian market which is

being launched by the Global liquor firm Constellation Brands. The Indian wine market is expected to be one of the biggest wine markets in Asia in the next five years. As per Industry experts, a growing young urban population is definitely going to help reaching good sales in wine which is luring the brand to launch new product in India even though the high taxes are posing challenge.

BRAND WATCH

3 WPP Agencies chosen by Coca Cola for Its Global Ad Campaign 

Coca Cola has finalized the three agencies that will create their next global campaign after a total of 10 shops pitched their ideas earlier in the year. Coke has confirmed the names of three agencies which are Ogilvy New York, Madrid’s SRA Rushmore and Santo in Buenos Aires. The idea of the brand was to capture ideas from across the globe that will have an automatic connect with people from all geographies. 

Aéropostale partners with Arvind Lifestyle to enter the Indian market 

Major US brand Aeropostale is teaming up with Arvind Lifestyle to enter the rapidly growing

Indian market. The brand, popularly known as Aero is planning to come up with its first store in India in March next year. In all, the Company wants to open around 30 stores in India in the next three years and also want to be showcased at the e-commerce platform. India is a truly exciting retail market, driven by its growing economy and vibrant youth culture,” said Julian R Geiger, CEO of Aeropostale.

MEDIA

Unilever faces social media protest 

 Unilever is facing issues on all fronts now. Earlier the battlegrounds were bottom lines and shelf spaces but now they have a new threat, which might pose to be a bigger problem to them than the rest. Unilever was recently a target of social media ambush. The producer of Dove soaps and Surf washing powder – Unilver has been ambushed by a 28-year-old Indian rapper, Sofia Ashraf. She has released a video against Unilever which has gone viral on web. The video “Kodaikanal Won’t” raised the issue of the environment damage done by Unilver in Kodiakanal and calls on Unilever to “clean up your mess”. It has managed to get 2.7 million views online and a response from Paul Polman, Unilever’s chief executive. 

AD WATCH

Not everything needs to be stored digitally- Canon Printers 

Not all moments should be stored digitally, some of them are private and just for you. The

ad emphasizes on maintaining privacy by preferring print-outs over digital storage. It is short, funny and creates an impact which lasts. Canon, with this strategy, is not just promoting its product but the printing industry as a whole. 

YoutubE link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmle8852VZ0