Markathon_July2010

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MARKETING MAGAZINE OF IIM SHILLONG VOL 2, ISSUE 4

COVER STORY

AVIATION: FLIGHT PLAN TOTHE DREAMDESTINATION

MARKATHONJULY2010


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Dear Readers,

In the past month, one major marketing news that caught

my attention was the BIG BIG decision coming from the

house of Bajaj Auto. At least it was quite big according to

my judgement. If your one of them who hasnt yet

realised what am referring to, not to strain your grey cells

too hard. Yes, am talking about their decision to drop the

Bajaj brand name from both their Pulsar & Discover

brands. Henceforth they will be promoted as individual

brands sans the Bajaj family name. And all new models

would be under the umbrella of either of these two

brands.

FROM THE EDITOR profit for the first quarter ending June10. Many of thelow cost carriers like IndiGo, SpiceJet & GoAir are going in

for a major fleet expansion. Air passenger traffic has

increased by 22%. These are just some of the positive

signs visible at first look. In our Cover Story we have taken

a close look at the airline industry in India and also how

Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) techniques could

possibly be the ideal tool that airline companies are

searching for to come out stronger from this lull in

business.

Also for the upcoming issues Eye to Eye section, we have

sought your opinions on this big move of Bajaj that we

have just discussed. Do let us know what you think and

whether you agree or disagree with me!!

And finally do let us know what you think about this issue

and please share your views & suggestions that you think

would help in making Markathon bigger & better.

Happy Reading.

Kaushik SubramanianOur June 2010

Cover

decided to let go of the rich and immense brand value

and trust that had been earned over aeons.

The reasoning given was that the Brand Promise and

Target Group of both these brands were at two extremes

of the spectrum and hence should not be continued to be

looked upon as a part of the same family.

Coming to think of it, it makes sense logically. But as an

end consumer it will take quite some time for me to come

to terms with the fact that they are disassociating the

illustrious and close to heart Bajaj brand name from their

two biggest selling brands. Only time can tell whether this

bold move will pay dividends or otherwise.

Continuing to keep the topic of discussion i.e. means of

transportation, lets get airborne now!! Yes, you guessed

it right. This issues Cover Story focuses on the Indian

airline industry. Off late, the airline industry has been all

glum and sorrowful, what with all the recession, rising oil

prices and ballooning debts. Bankers have proposed

restructuring the debt of major airlines in a bid to help

them out. The scenario looks like it cant get any better.

But all is not lost just yet. Both Spice Jet & Jet Airways

have reported profits and Kingfisher Airlines a narrower

When I first read this news article, I

was shell shocked. To say the truth, I

was clean bowled as to why they

would make such a drastic decision.

This was because as far as I knew,

whenever one heard the name

Pulsar or Discover for that matter,

the first relation that consumers

made was to Bajaj, the age old

brand in the field of two-wheelers.

And now, here they were having

2

THE MARKATHON TEAM

EDITOR

Kaushik Subramanian

SUB EDITORS

Debanjana Sinha

Samita PatnaikSamrat Singh Yadav

Saurabh Kumar Sinha

Varshik Nimmagadda

CREATIVE DESIGNERS

Keshav Sahani

Priyanka Pandit


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CONTENTS

PERSPECTIVE I

Customer, the New MarketerINDU MAHAPATRA, SOUMYASANKHA MAITI | XIMB

PERSPECTIVE II

Who Disrupts the Disruptor?ASIT KUMAR JAIN | VENTURE ANALYST, INNOSIGHT VENTURES

DESIGNED BY: SOMJEET BEHERA | IIM S

PRODUCTOLYSISPepsodent KidsDEBDIPTA MAJUMDAR | BIM TRICHY

COVER STORY

Aviation-Flight Plan to the Dream DestinationSHWETA SRIVASTAVA, DEBANJANA SINHA | IIM S

STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

Temples Go the Corporate WayAKHIL VINAIK, BIJAL DANI | NMIMS

EYE TO EYE

Do you think the brand revamp that Star Plus has

gone in for will be successful?SANDEEPKUMAR A.|WELINGKAR BENGALURU, BHAVESH KOTHARI

WELINGKAR MUMBAI

COMPETITION

Silent VoiceSAMSUNG 3D LED TV

UPDATES

SRIA MAJUMDAR| IIM S

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Markathon | July 2010

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Markathon | July 2010Perspective

Customer, the new MarketerIndu Mahapatra & Soumyasankha Maiti | XIMB

A prize money of Rs. 50 lakh and 1% on the turnover:

this is the new promo campaign for anyone who comesup with a hit new flavour for Lays. This is in essence

the idea of Co-Creation wherein you are involving the

consumer (one of the stake holders) of your product

into its development.

If winter comes can spring be far behind? So almost at

the same time Bingo asked people to create games,

quizzes et al, around the theme Bingo har angle se

mmm... It got the wackiest of responses from someone

suggesting George Bush should say Im sending BingoChilliDhamaka to Iraq, and not bombs; to a blind man

seeing with his minds eye how yummy the chips

were.

The new trend is to use the global brainpower to

develop new products, new commercials, and new

virals whatever a global brainstorming to solve your

problems.Every solution has a reward and big

corporation is asking Innocentive

(Innovation+Incentive) for help.

Customer is the Designer

Customer is the King not only in terms of purchasing

power and negotiation, customers are now contributing

everywhere; starting from creating ad campaigns,

product or service development contests, co-creating

for the corporations by tapping into their intellectual

capital, who in exchange give them a direct say in what

actually gets produced, manufactured, developed,

designed, serviced, or processed. Consumerism will

never be the same.

P&G realised it, when the then CEO, A.G. Lafley, found

that he was running out of ideas and it was getting

impossible to keep up with the demands of consumers.

P&Gs Connect + Develop were launched to ask

customers to help. Its Pringles Prints, where

interesting things were printed directly on the chips was

launched at almost no cost & in no time. Through

Connect, it found a small bakery in Italy which could

do the job for them, proving cheaper & faster than

developing the process in-house.

And the results so far have been amzing, to say the

least: everything, from Swiffer Wet Jet, Olay DailyFacials, Crest Whitestrips & Night Effects, to Mr. Clean

Autodry, Kandoo baby wipes and Lipfinity.

Customer Incentives

Most companies are trying to translate the enthusiasm

of their most highly-engaged customers into valuable

marketing. For the customers it can be any of the

following:

Status: people love to be seen; love to show off their

creative skills and thinking

Bespoke lifestyle: something consumers have been

personally involved in should guarantee goods, services

and experiences that are tailored to their needs

Cold hard cash: getting a well deserved reward or

even a profit cut for helping a company develop The

Next Big Thing is irresistible

Employment: in an almost ironic twist, customer-

made is turning out to be a great vehicle for finding

employment, as it helps companies recruit their next in-

house designer, guerrilla advertising agency or brilliant

strategist

Fun and involvement:there's pleasure and satisfaction

to be derived from making and creating, especially for

brands one loves, likes or at least feels empathy for

How different is it?

Unlike most advertisements which furnish the

consumers with all the information about the products,

mob marketing ensures consumers get involved with

the brand and have a feel of it. Consumers today are

often well informed and selling them ideas extolling

brands may eventually end up pushing the customer

away. It is difficult now to influence consumers purely

by overwhelming them with information and nice

advertisements.

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For Example, At the Apples iTunes store, user-created

playlists enable customers to upload their favorite

music selections and share them with others, who can

then buy the songs if they like. Then there is the open

marriage between customer-made and user-generated

content. The four-year-old South Korean online

newspaper OhMyNews works with 26,000 'citizen

reporters', who send in stories and pictures to make up

80% of its content. OhMyNews pays up to USD 20 per

article, though for many citizen reporters, getting their

name in the paper is the real reward. Fiercely

outspoken, it has successfully challenged the

traditionally conservative press in South Korea.

Effectiveness of the medium

This form of communication with the people makes

them feel involved with the brand. If companies create

enough buzz about such campaigns then the rest of the

promotions can be carried out word of mouth, helping

companies cut down their advertising costs. Thus

brands can register in the Top of the Mind of the

consumers and also drive sales.

The Electrolux Design Lab 2005 saw entries from 3,058design students from 88 countries where they had to

design household appliances for the year 2020. 12

finalists participated in a six-day design event in

Stockholm, including workshops, model building and a

competition for cash-awards, & appliances etc.

Core 77, the industrial design site, teamed up with

Timex for a global design competition called Timex2154:

The Future of Time to celebrate Timex's 150th

anniversary. Designers from more than 72 countries

explored and visualized personal and portable

timekeeping 150 years into the future, with over 640

entries.

New Trend

Crowd sourcing seems to be a

profitable model for businesses.

Innocentive uses

the global brainpower

to develop new

products, new

commercials and new virals; a global brainstorming to

solve your problems can you beat that? Every solution

has a reward and big corporations (P&G used

Innocentive to launch Pringles print) are turning to

Innocentive for help.

Moving past contests and gifts, this is where it gets

really interesting: co-creators receive a cut of profits

from whatever gets developed based on their input,

suggestions, design or ideas.

Danish Vores (Our Beer) claims to be the world's first

open-source beer. The recipe and the entire brand are

published under a Creative Commons license, meaning

anyone can use Vores recipe to brew the beer or to

create a derivative. As long as home brewers publish

the recipe under the same license, theyre free to make

money from their effort, which includes free access to

Vores design and branding elements.

Conclusion

But with the gap between traditional business practices

and truly empowered consumers now reaching

significant proportions, the Customer is Designer trendwill only accelerate, moving from the fringes to

mainstream. In fact, Customer is Designer may turn

out to be one of the most exciting and long term

engines behind change and innovation that the world of

business has seen in years: a way of thinking that has

the power to redefine the relationship between

customer and brand, between consumer and producer,

something that taps into the most awesome reservoir

of intellectual capital ever assembled.

So, what is the future for the Customer is Designer

revolution? Maybe Customer-owned? As the number of

Customer is Designer initiatives grows exponentially,

savvy members of generation will demand serious

compensation; if not a fair percentage of whatever it is

they've co-created. Soon, a simple iPod in exchange for

designing the firm's Next Big Thing just won't do. Also

expect a slew of intermediaries coordinating millions of

knowledge exchanges between producers and

consumers, from talent brokers to project managers.

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Unable to change the

behaviour of Indians,

consequently all major cola

companies began to sell

packaged drinking water.

Who disrupts the disruptor?ASIt Kumar jain | venture analyst, innosight ventures

We can all recall the Aamir Khan Starrer Thanda

Matlab Coca-Cola campaign which was a genuineattempt by Coca-cola to reinforce its leadership in the

cola market. Similarly Pepsi tried hard to match Coca

Cola through its Youngistan and now the My Game

campaign. But can these leaders with their marketing

ploys survive the onslaught of time and virtual

competition!!! In the language of value & volume they

might be the largest, but hang on; we really dont know

the size of the unorganised (beverage) market thriving

at every nook and corner of the country. The article is

nothing about numbers or ranking, but unravelling anew development taking place at the

bottom of the market. Its a fight

between two unorganised disruptors

which ultimately confirms a theory

that a disruptive substitute is always

replaced by another disruptor. Lets

see how it goes

The beverage market at least in India

has gone through lots of ups anddowns. Its simply because it is not yet

the replacement of water as is the

case in the western market. Unable to

change the behaviour of Indians,


companies began to sell packaged

drinking water. As a result they have

begun eating away the market share of Bisleri. Many

liquor manufacturers are also following their footsteps.

(Its better to sell plain water with more profit then the

colored spirit with lots of regulations). But still their

biggest competitor is not just water, but many other

beverages sold locally, by unnamed manufacturer.

Think of their

volume/value

of sales in

Indias tier 2

and tier 3 cities

and you willdefinitely get a

feel of their

presence. I am not advocating that they are as big as

the branded ones, but they have the capacity to disrupt

these incumbents. When packaged water made itsentry into India, people were skeptical about its survival

but now every other manufacturer is making money

and they have also started serving Himalayan glacier

water to us Indians! But do they know how susceptible

they are to disruptors?

After the entry of the packaged drinking water which is

served at around rupees 10 per bottle, there was one

similar entry focused only for the people at the bottom

of the market. These were water pouches, a sachetcousin of shampoos and masalas. Although they are

unfriendly to environment (plastic

pollution), they have followed a

perfect path of disruption and so are

the ones who disrupted them, about

whom I will explain later So these

water pouch manufacturers started in

very small scale, selling only in their

localities. The big brands took a notice

of the development but chose toignore it, since it was not hurting their

customer base. There was only Bisleri

and some other brands which were

available in the road side shops and

railway stations and Bisleri even

became synonymous with bottled

water. But the pouch manufacturer

without bleeding, continuously served the bottom of

the pyramid (1 rupee pouch) and raked in enough

capital to march into the next phase of disruption. They

started manufacturing bottled water and served the

local market. The transportation as well as marketing

cost worked in their

favour as compared to

the branded ones,

eventually which they

passed on to the retailer.

The retailer was happy

enough to sell the localbottle water making

double the profit as

compared to selling a

Unable to change the

behaviour of Indians,


companies began to sell

packaged drinking water

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branded one that too at a low price point. The

consumer too was happy enough to take away thelocal

product in the name of Bisleri (bottle water = Bisleri). So

what I found is nothing but a trail of disruption working

over the years to challenge the incumbents. As

explained by Clayton Christensen, the distinguished

professor of Harvard and the one who coined the term

Disruptive Innovation, disruption works whenever there

are underserved or overshot customers. It works in the

way as explained below:

1) The incumbent ignores the entrant as theircustomer base is not affected

2) Rather it gives space to the entrant to grow, asserving the bottom of the market is less

profitable

3) It moves upward serving more profitablecustomers giving the less profitable ones to the

new entrants

4) In the mean while the entrant with a very costeffective business model makes profit and

passes through a techno-managerial

development

5) It goes up-market and starts serving thecustomer base of incumbent with simplicity,affordability and convenience

6) The customer responds to the call of theentrant and the incumbent does nothing but

again flees up market for better profitability

with very high quality products and the race

continues till the other calls it quit.

We can rightly equate the development of bottled

water industry with the theory explained above. Now

they have started selling mineral water (an expensive

product). Again, the branded players may be growing at

double digits but their local colleagues are not way

behind. Certainly a time will come when they will be left

with no other option but to acquire these local units at

sky rocketing prices to quench their thirst for

profitability.

Similarly for the cola companies there are disruptors as

well, but not working in the right direction. Rather they

have become a disruptor to the water pouch industry.

These are again locally manufactured soda water or

sweet water available at similar price point

to the water pouches.

Recently I found that

water pouches were

being banned in one of

the major city of Orissa

and the biggest

beneficiaries of this

development were not

the bottled water

manufacturer but theselocal made soda/sweet

water companies who were

certainly a weak disruptor to the cola companies, but

finally worked somewhere.

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Markathon | July 2010Productolysis

Pepsodent KidsDebDipta Majumdar | BIM Trichy

Pepsodent has established itself as a strong, reliable

brand commanding the second place in terms ofmarket share next to Colgate from Colgate-Palmolive

Ltd. The product line of Pepsodent is wide spread right

from lower end to the higher end addressing the basic

needs of decay protection & advanced whitening to

specific medical needs with Pepsodent G gum care and

Pepsodent Sensitive. The customer expectations of the

toothpaste market are good taste, fresh breath, clean

teeth, more foam and proper cleaning.

Children are influencing around 41% of the totalpurchases in the total consumer market and children

are permitted to make decisions in 65% of the total

purchases in the toothpaste purchases. In this case

ideally, a product for the children, launched properly

should be a runaway success. Realizing this, Pepsodent

introduced Pepsodent Kids and Pepsodent Junior in

November 2007. Contrary to the expectations,

Pepsodent Kids did not taste success. Colgates Bubble

Fruit is the direct competitor of Pepsodent Kids.

Pepsodent Kids comes with an attractive squeeze downpack in attractive colors with three variants, namely -

1. Barbie (pink color)2. Superman (Blue color)3. Tom & Jerry (Orange color)

Product Strategy

Retailer observations for product improvement mainly

involve two factors:

1. Size of the Pack2. Color Variants

Small sized packsAs against the popular notion of high price of the

Pepsodent Kids, the market can be sustained based on

the exclusivity of the product for the Kids. Indeed the

high pricing of Pepsodent Kids as observed in survey is

not real but a perception created by its Pack Size.

Analyzing the competitor Colgates Bubble Fruit pricing

strategy sheds light on the same as given below.

Product Weight(Gms.) Price(Rs)

Pepsodent Kids 80 45

Colgates Bubble Fruit 40 22

As it can be observed, the pricing is not high but it is the

pack size that gives them that impression. Tooth Paste

Customers (Parents) can be classified into:

1. Informed Customer - the one who looks into the

details deep into the contents of the product

even that is not communicated by the marketer.

2. Un-Informed Customer - An uninformed customer is

one who doesnt look into all the details.

AlternativesTo take the product to the masses, the competitor

reference prices in the minds of the customer must be

made comparable. In other words, Price need not be

reduced but the Pack Size can be reduced. Two inherent

advantages in this approach are:

The uninformed customers views that the productis in the same price as others.

The informed consumer who may be priceconscious will try to use it.

An average Indian family of 3 members uses single 80

grams pack for a month. Introducing 80gms pack in the

child segment might not be well received because there

is only one consumer in place of 3. The size of the family

usually determines the quantity of the toothpaste

bought and in our case the number of kids in the family

forms another important factor.

Hence, reducing the size of the pack may be a viable

and apt option to increase the children toothpaste

market share.

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Color VariantsIts been a proven fact that children are attracted to

bright colors more than the dull dark colors. The

variants available in the market are Tom & Jerry

(Orange Packs), Barbie (Pink Packs) and Superman (Dark

Blue Packs). By the sales figures in the retail outlets, it

was seen that the children respond positively only to

first two variants.

Alternatives Attractive colors can be introduced to keep children

pulled in to try the new variants every time.

Special limited editions during festive seasons &holidays can be sold to increase revenue.

New cartoon characters in the current day channels

(Jetix, Cartoon Network etc.) can be added as new

variants. By the TRP ratings, children are found to watch

Jetix channels Power rangers show more and form a

potentially attractive market for the new variant.

Moreover, each character in the power rangers can

form a pack design adding more income to the sales

figure through the collectors series.

An additional survey conducted among the children ofage 10-14 years indicated that children tend to

remember the swadeshi products more than the

foreign products. They are able to remember Ruf & Tuf

jeans though the kids watch Lee and Wrangler

advertisements more. Creating paste for our own Indian

characters like Krish or Mowgli in Jungle Book may be

more appealing to children.

Marketing StrategyFirst, the child, the consumer watches the

advertisement, urges the mother or father for the

ownership of the same, parents verifies whether it is

safe and purchases for the child.

Alternatively a child can get

impressed by the product

attractiveness, on visiting a retail

outlet or through his friends in

school. The urge may come at firstsight or because of the impact of

the advertisements. But in either case, the stress will be

higher only when the product has established its

footprint in the childs mind.

In the second stage Decider or Ultimate Buyer, the

parent analyzes the products safety and whether it isgood for the childs health. Based on their inferences

and the level of urge by the child they decide to buy the

product.

Retailers strongly feel that the urge from children is

missing in the case of Pepsodent Kids. Hence the

marketing strategy must be targeted in two directions

towards the children and the parent.

Alternatives Colorful television commercials featuring cartoon

characters of interest for current generation

children.

At the same time, Newspaper/Televisioncommercials must convince the parents that the

product is effective and makes brushing fun for

children.

Pepsodent has already established trust in the minds of

customers as a total family toothpaste. The time oftelecast of the two advertisements and the programs

which need to be sponsored should be different for two

sets of

advertisements.

The one which

aims at the

mothers must

be telecasted

during dayhours and

sponsoring the

vernacular TV

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Serial shows will help the product. The message can be

Mummy, my mouth tastes sweet and look my teeth

shines like silver.

The other aimed at the children must be telecasted in

Cartoon Network, Jetix, Animax and others. Thus, themarketing strategy gets tuned to winning the childs

heart and parents trust at the same time.

More than the Survey

In an FMCG industry, any consumer contact with

theproduct/brand initiates a communication between

the product and

consumer/custome

rs.The followingpersonal

suggestions

derived from the

survey, emphasis

on the way the

product is

presented to the

end customers.

Pepsodent Junior and Pepsodent Kids can bebundled together. Pepsodent Junior launched along

with the Pepsodent Kids is moving well in the market.

Pepsodent Junior can be bundled with the Pepsodent

Kids in a small total dental solution kit.

1. The kit can be introduced along with a Kids Standto hold only the Pepsodent Kids toothpaste and

toothbrush in sockets. The sockets must be made to

hold only the Pepsodent products.

2. The Kids Stand can be introduced in variety ofthemes matching different characters. The kit can

also contain a booklet/ sheet depicting a small story

or characters description. The children view these

as their toy and also feel proud of owning it.

3. Children generally use the toothbrush for 3 monthsbut the toothpaste gets over in a month considering

40 gm pack. Hence once the tooth paste gets over,

children refill the socket with Pepsodent Kidstoothpaste in that place.

Promotional Strategy

Every childrens product has to be promoted not only

through TV commercials but also from non-

conventional events. A nation/State wide drawing

competition can be organized for children of classes 1

to 7 standard. The competition can be conducted only

to the children belonging to upper class, upper middle

class and middle class families i.e., in the schools in

which they study. The competition can be conducted in

district levels, state levels and national levels. Prizes can

be characters in the Kids series or the Pepsodent Kids

Kit itself.

This campaign must

be supported with a

newspaper campaign

and the combined

cost will be lesser

than a TV campaigns.

The school

management will

support the initiative

since such initiatives bring out the inborn talents of the

children.

Display pattern

During the personal interviews with the store managers

and the assistants, it is noticed that in some stores that

the product is not actually displayed at a height easily

assessable to the children. In a research for consumer

browsing pattern of the products done with help of eye

cameras fitted in the goggles, it is found that the adults

mainly look at the products at the level between their

chest and hip and the children at their eye level. Adults

do not generally look at the products at their eye level.

HULs sales representative must be informed to ensure

the product placement at a height range of 110cms to

130cms. This enables easy identification of the product

needs by the children and they urge their parent to buy.

CONCLUSION

By following this marketing strategy we can bring up the

sales and market share of Pepsodent Kids in no time.

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Markathon | July 2010Cover Story

The first quarter of 2010 brought some good news to the Indian airlines industry.According to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), domestic air travel in

India has reported growth of 20% in the first quarter of 2010. After the double-

digit fall in traffic in the first quarter of 2009, this means that passenger numbers

are up around 7% in Q1, 2010. Indias domestic traffic slump began in June 2008

and it eroded the bottom line of almost all the carriers and led to industry

consolidation. Battling rising Airline Turbine Fuel costs, excessive low cost carrier

challenge, errant employee unions and political interference, the dream destination

for this sector looks quite far.

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AviAtionFlight Plan to the Dream Destination

Shweta Srivastava, Debanjana Sinha | IIM S

Image courtesy: aschiontry


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The 9th

largest market in the world, the aviation

industry in India is one of those sectors that saw a

constant pace of growth among the other industries in

the world over the past many years. One of the most

dynamic industries, it has witnessed an exponential

growth over the last two decades. Ever since the

governments open sky policy was implemented, the

industry trudged on a growth path registering y-o-y

growth rate as high as 18% resulting in the entrance of

many overseas players. For some time, it seemed that

the fairy tale will never end.

Then the recession came and the aviation sector that

witnessed a double digit growth in recent years began

resorting to rationalisation. Private Indian airlines,

which in the past had experienced massive growth,

started demanding a bailout in the form of reduction

in taxes and airport charges etc from the government

and even threatened to ground their planes if their

demands were not met. A case that needs special

mention in this context is that of Air India. The

Maharaja piled up accumulated losses of over Rs 7,000

crore and debt exceeding Rs 16,000 crore. As a result, it

was forced to cut salaries and cancel order for new jets.

The situation got so grave that it headed for a majorgovernment sponsored restructuring, after being

denied bailout. Joining it, among others, were

Kingfisher Airlines, IndiGo and SpiceJet, with

accumulated losses of Rs 2,444 crore in 2007-08 and

expected to stay in the red in 2008-09 with losses of

over Rs 10,000 crore. The following two figures show

the current condition of the Airlines Industry.

Challenges are many and problems need to be

overcome. The current status speaks high of the sad

plight the industry is in, but we would like to list somereasons as to why I think the industry will revive and be

among the top 5 aviation markets in 5 years.

Standing by the customers

Recession, undoubtedly, took its toll over the aviation

industry but one must stop awhile and look at what

happened in the western airlines. US Airways started

charging for blankets, and they already charge for water

leading to a seeming decline in airline provisions and

the imposition of new fees on almost every service ofvalue to travellers. Ryanair is famous for being the most

hated airline in Europe, since it hardly takes care of its

customers. Interestingly, bad times have not resulted in

a disregard for customer service in Indian aviation.

Surprisingly, this is not the trend in Indian carriers.

Private airlines have ramped up their customer service

even in the Economy Class with special focus on

personalized service. Jet Airways recently won the Best

First Class award, and Kingfisher does everything it can

to uphold its 5-Star Airline status. Indigo started the use

of automated screening systems to validate passenger

names on the boarding passes, a technology used for

the first time by an LCC in India. The airlines also came

up with special deals on all their routes.

Is it that someone forgot to tell these airlines that they

were in a recession? Probably not! But their focus on

keeping the customer happy will definitely pay off in

the long run. It is a known fact that it costs 5 times as

much to bring in a new customer, than to keep an

existing one. And this mantra was religiously followed

by the Indian carriers by utilizing the back to basics of

customer service. The loyal customers will never ditch

Source: Air ort Authorit India, DGCA

Source: DGCA

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them. And when good times return, these same happy

customers will contribute their best to generate enough

brand awareness through word-of-mouth to bring in

new passengers.

Being resilient pays offUnlike airlines in the Middle East, most airlines in India

do not have any special privileges like reduced oil prices

or backing from a government with deep pockets. This

forced them to act on their own to cut costs to remain

afloat in these difficult times. And they successfully did

it. Instead of bothering the customer with frivolous

charges like in US airlines, Indian carriers cut costs

where it mattered.

Kingfisher Airlines swiftly postponed plans for more

overseas route launches like Singapore, Hong Kong etc

since they tend to be resource heavy at the beginning.

Jet Airways did away with glamorous but bleeding

routes like that to San Francisco. Moreover, they both

either delayed the delivery of new aircraft, or leased

them to airlines like Turkish and GulfAir. Most airlines in

India switched to focused marketing efforts, rather than

blanket campaigns to get more bang for the buck. And

Kingfisher and Jet Airways came up with a code-share

alliance to save costs keeping aside their competitive

aspirations. It is this resilience and fast action that will

pay off well in the end.

Indian economy among the fastest growing

even during recession

The word recession has disappeared from the

vocabulary now. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)

has raised its India growth forecast for 2010 to 9.4 per

cent from 8.8 per cent. Despite the fact that India's civil

aviation industry was the second largest loser after the

US due to the recession worldwide, more than anyone

else, its the Indian carriers that will reap the best

rewards of a still-active Indian economy, if they play

their cards right. And till now, they havent let most

people down when it comes to crises handling.

The Indian Aviation sector has the potential of

absorbing up to USD 120 billion of investment by the

year 2020. Its high time that the regulatory and policy

framework is aligned with the needs of the civil aviation

industry to encourage serious investment in the sector

and create a safe, secure, efficient and environment

friendly system conducive to healthy growth.

Kingfisher Airlines- CRM the way

forward

Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) is positioned as Full Frills -True Value Carrier. In order to achieve this, KFA had to

differentiate itself from the then market leader, Jet

Airways. It dedicated itself to Customer Relationship

Management to initiate its customer base and retain its

profitable customers. Some of the initiatives by

Kingfisher Airlines are:

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Roving Agents

KFA combined its IT expertise and customer service to

create the concept of Roving Agents. The Roving

Agent is a Kingfisher staffer carrying a handheld that is

connected to the main reservation and check-in system

wirelessly using Wi-Fi, and a portable thermal printer,

attached to the staffer's belt, that links with the PDA

using Bluetooth. Guests flying with Kingfisher carrying

only hand luggage can be intercepted near the

entrance. Using a ticket's PNR number, a Roving Agent

can help guests choose a seat on their plane, print a

boarding pass from the printer on the Rover's belt and

send passengers straight to security check. On a typical

day, at a busy airport like Mumbai or New Delhi, this

initiative can help save a passenger seven or eightminutes. It might not sound like much, but for a

business traveler pressed for time and catching a flight

at the last moment, eight minutes can come very

handy.

Partner Program

Although frequent fliers program is done by all major

airlines in the world, KFAs partner program tied with

best brands in across industries to provide functional

quality to its loyalty program, the King Club. It teamedwith the stalwarts in various sectors to help its loyalty

program members earn and redeem points. All its

partnering and co-branding efforts are targeted

towards acquiring and retaining its most valuable

customers, i.e., the globe-trotting business traveler.

Some of the examples are:

Passengers can earn miles by travelling in the majorinternational airlines around the world. This

includes Emirates, Air France, KLM Royal Dutch

Airlines, Qatar Airways, Delta Air Lines and

Continental Airlines.

It tied up with the major banks, both national andinternational, such that the each brands star and

premium credit cards can earn mileage to King Club

customers, through each transaction.

Their hospitality partners include The Hilton Family,Oberoi Hotels, Leela Hotels, Ananda, Trident Hotels,Ista Hotels, The Park Hotels, The Paul Hotels and

ITC-Welcomgroup.

They even tied up with publishing partners likeHarvard Business Review and Fortune to expand its

global customer base.

Such diverse portfolio of partnering is unheard in India

and it has provided KFA the competitive advantage over

other carriers with true focus that The right Customer

is the king

Add-On Selling strategies:

Kingfisher Airlines have successfully integrated its

Customer Relationship Management to cross selling

very well.

This includes transaction in Air Boutique ONLINE KFAs

premium online reward shop. It is the first of its kind inthe Indian airline industry. This is a 24 hour service that

is exclusive to King Club members and customers can

redeem reward points merchandise.

The reward points or the King Miles for KFA are

transferable to family and friends at a nominal value

unlike many carriers in India. This flexibility allows KFA

to acquire newer customers and strengthen its

customer base considerably. It has also integrated its

Kingfisher Holidays with its loyalty program. Thiscompletes the full circle of impact of UB group in

hospitality industry.

All the above examples show the superiority of

Kingfisher Airlines in delivering the right mix of

technical and functional quality in its service. Its ability

to manage customer service at the actual touch points

and provide newer avenues of experiencing its superior

pre and post journey is unmatched in the India airlines

industry. Only time will tell if its customer focusedstrategy will help it pass through the difficult times of

negative bottom line and an immensely regulated

airlines industry.

Way Ahead

India is yet to witness a success story like Southwest

Airlines where the integration of marketing, CRM and

technology and route optimization led to record

revenues irrespective of condition of the industry. With

the domestic traffic boosting up, it is high time thatcarriers utilize the best practices in customer service

from around the world and turn the tables for the

Indian aviation industry.

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Markathon | July 2010Strategic Analysis

TEMPLES GO THECORPORATEWAYAkhil Vinaik,Bijal Dani |

NMIMS

India has always

been known for

its diversity and

cultural

heritage. It is

home to

variousreligions

and

communities that

co-exist in harmony. Hindu temples

now have a noticeable

presence across the globe and form

the cynosure of Indias cultural

tradition and spiritual succour.

TEMPLES TOURIST

ATTRACTIONSince time immemorial, temples have been identified

as major tourist attractions for India. Not only do theyqualify as brand ambassadors of our nations 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? Thetourism 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 VA ULTIndia is arguably the

largest bullion

market in the world.

It is worth noting

that Indian

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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 cateringto 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 Rs as we popularly call them.

Drawing a parallel with any service industry where

operations form an integral part of any business entitys

existence, temples too need a strong operational planin 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 offerconvenience of darshan to the devotees through

Online darshan-Live web casting of the deity

Dedicated website : The temple officials are in theprocess of even updating their financial results on

the website

Payment gateways : Provide a mechanism toreceive donations, through Credit Card, Online

Banking accounts, Cheque, Demand Drafts or

Money Orders

Auction gold and silver ornaments donated by thedevotees : 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 inTirumala has a significant importance in Indias

religious milieu

Service facilities : In the form of sevas, withadvance booking

Online Booking : Sevas constitute special prayersand can now be booked online

Online donations Distribution and marketing : Cassettes and CDs of

Vedas, Sankirtanas and Pravachanams

Purohita Sangham: Dedicated association known asthe Purohita Sangham which conducts marriages

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and other sacred functions like naming ceremony,

etc.

Strategic Tie-ups :Tie-ups with professionalmarriage agencies and cottages are provided for

accommodationISKCON

Spiritually rich culture :Individuals from all over theworld 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 Guesthouseat ISKCON Juhu facilitates guests to attend spiritual

program at the temple. Dedicated department tofacilitate travel for devotees

Imparts spiritual education : Versatile Institutionactively 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. Thesemake 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 tohave 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. Consideringthe 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 anysuch 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 heldwith 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.

Stra teg izing the Roa d 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 theycould promote their products i.e. if a company

sponsors the Free or Paid Rest room facilities, its

products would only be sold.

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Constructing rooms : For devotees to stay andpromote their products

Offer free/paid transportation facilities :Promotion of their products/services

Pharmaceutical companies : Sponsor free medicalcamps to promote products

Food products companies : Set up their outlets tosell products with subsidized /actual prices

Clothing/Garment companies: Set up stalls topromote their products and services

It clearly shows that there is a dual benefit of offering

services to the society as well to promote their

products/services. This would definitely provide a

lucrative mind space among the potential target group.

This underlying purpose might not have been achieved

even by spending millions on conventional promotion

tools. Thus, there is a paradigm shift in the

management mechanism to tap the culturally rich

heritage of our nation and develop a sustainable

business model with societal benefits.

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Markathon | July 2010Eye to Eye

Do you think the brand revamp that Star Plus has

gone in for will be successful?

ment segment in multiple slots for the next 10 years.

There are lot of reasons for a company to go in for brand

revamp, in our case with the new tag line Rishtawahi,

SochNayi it appears that the channel wants to keep its

target audience intact and target them with new age,

refreshing content. The challenge for STAR Plus is to

stand out in the heavily crowed entertainment clutter.

After Kaun Banega Crorepati sequence, the content

pipe line has literally dried up in comparison to other

general entertainment channels.

The brand revamp exercise saw STAR Plus spending

around INR 200 million. It has created fantastic

awareness among the target audience, but how much of

it will translate into interest is a wait and watch

proposition.

Not leaving any stone unturned, the channel is in the

process of launching series of new programs, some in

the prime time, a critical slot it lost to Colors few months

back only to regain it later.

Analyzing and anticipating the competition from 200

odd new age general entertainment channels is a

sensible strategy it has adopted. Brand revamp has

provided the channel with a broader visibility. With solid

content and other activities around the brand (STAR TV),

it will help it fly through the turbulence safely for few

more miles.

-in laws.These stories were identifiable, like they

were scenes picked out from their very lives!

This storyteller, none other than Star Plus, had ruled

the Indian GEC segment for 7 years in a row but

Colors, whose shows werent merely household

stories, were so different & contemporary that in 2

years, it displaced Star from the no.1 position!

That was the time when Star started to think

seriously about its positioning. After a yearlong

research, they decided to revamp the brand with anew look, new logo, new tagline and even new

shows. On June 14th

, 2010, their 10th

anniversary,

Star Plus unveiled its new red colour looks and the

new tagline Rishtawahi, SochNayi, clearly

signifying that it will follow the path of Colors. But

they couldnt back this new thinking promise with

its shows. The channel could manage to get only 443

TRPs in the following week, just slightly more than

its previous rating.

Channel revamping has seen a varied degree of

success in the Indian television scenario; SAB TV

revamped itself to success with its light hearted

soaps; Sony tried but failed last year. So far, the Star

Plus revamping has not brought enough points to its

TRP kitty, but it will be interesting to see if the Indian

women accept the old storyteller in the new look!

Topic for the next issues Eye to Eye isDo you think Bajaj Auto's decision to drop the Bajaj namefrom Pulsar & Discover bikes is a wise decision?

Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is

16th

August 2010. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry.

Sandeepkumar A.

Welingkar

Bengaluru

Satellite Television Asia Region

popularly known as STAR is ownedby Rupert Murdochs News

Corporation. In the year 1992, the

then government of India opened

up cable television to private

players. Star Networks leveraged

the situation to its best benefit.

Star Plus (then Star TV) was

dominant in the general entertain-

Bhavesh Kothari

Welingkar

Mumbai

Once upon a time there was a

storyteller, whose storiesbecame a hit among the

women of every household,

women who had grown up

listening to grandmother tales.

These women started to find

themselves in the characters of

the storyteller, as the

modestsister, or son-forsaken

mother-

Challengeistost

andoutintheheavilycrow

edentertainmentclutter

Channelrevampinghasse

enavarieddegreeofsucc

essintheIndianTVscenario

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Silent VoiceLAST MONTHS RESULTS

Theme:Samsung 3D LED TV

WINNER:KARTHIKEYAN T | NITIE, MUMBAI

Congratulations!!! Karthikeyan receives a cash prize of Rs 500!

KAWAL MAHATRE| Welingkar, MUMBAI

HONORARY MENTION

Markathon | July 2010Competition

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NEXT THEME FOR SILENT VOICE: Pepsi Max. Max It!

LAST DATE OF SENDING THE PRINT AD:16thAugust, 2010

EMAIL ID:[email protected]

Send your entries in JPEG format only.

DIMPLE BHARIL |Indian Education Society (IES),MUMBAI

ASHWINI VASUDEVAN |Welingkar,MUMBAI

Markathon | July 2010Competition

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Specials Markathon | July 2010Specials

BRAND LAUNCH

ITC goes the Cuban Way

The countrys largest cigarette maker has teamed up

with La Aurora to unveil a mint-fresh line of premium

hand rolled cigars. These Armenteros cigars from

Dominican Republic will be available in myriad shapes

and sizes. ITC hopes these will differentiate it from the

competition as it competes with other imported brands

in a market where increasingly more Indian consumers

are exploring cigars as a consequence of exposure to

global lifestyle.

Italian Chimneys in India

The world's largest chimney manufacturer, Elica is all

set for an India launch, and plans on setting up a

manufacturing plant in Pune. Apart from meeting

domestic demand, this plant will supply products to the

companys OEM partners globally. In addition, Elica

plans to have distribution outlets in the top 20 cities of

the country in the next few months. In spite of poor

penetration and low consumer adoption of chimneys,

India is viewed as a potential market.

Bose launches new Home Style Systems

Bose introduced four all-in-one music and video

systems, the T-class and V-class home entertainment

systems. They combine 5.1 surround sounds with Bose

Unify Intelligent Integration system. This technology

endeavours to be the easiest program to setup and

control, which can be controlled with practically any

device. There are features like a built-in radio and iPod

dock, and the systems offer automatic video up scalingto 1080p via HDMI.

COMPANY WATCH

Dish TVs new CEO

Dish TV India Ltd has roped in Mr R.C. Venkateish as the

CEO. Mr Venkateish was the MD, India and South Asia

region for ESPN-Star Sports for seven years. He has also

held numerous senior positions with brands like

Smithkline Beecham, Nestle India, Gillette and Kellogg

India.

Godrej acquires Hair Care Company

FMCG major Godrej Consumer Products Ltd completed

the acquisition of Argentinian hair care companyArgencos.

GCPL has been on an aggressive acquisition binge in

recent months. The Indian FMCG had acquired

Indonesia's household-care company, the Megasari

Group and Nigeria's Tura soap brand. It also obtained

Sara Lee's 51 per cent stake in their joint venture,

Godrej Sara Lee.

BRAND WATCH

MS Dhoni beats Tendulkars record

Dhoni broke Tendulkars record, although off the cricket

field this time. Days after he got married to his

childhood sweetheart, Mahendra Singh Dhoni signed a

$42m, 2-yr deal with the sports management firm Rhiti.

Tendulkar's $40m, 3-yr contract with Iconixwhich was

signed in 2006 was previously the highest contract

amount for an Indian sportsperson.

Hidesign Repositions Itself

Leather bag-maker Hidesign is targeting to reposition

itself as a complete lifestyle brand. The company, in

which global luxury brand Louis Vuitton has a 20 per

cent holding, wants to extend its brand name to

watches, sunglasses, jewellery and accessories among

other accessories.

The company has also announced a sub-brand Ayesha'

for the young, fashion-conscious consumers.

Toshibas New Brand Ambassador

Japanese firm Toshiba has signed Sachin Tendulkar as

its brand ambassador for its product categories of

laptops, LCD TV and home appliances for corporate

branding in India. For the last two years, Vidya Balan

has been representative of Toshiba in India.

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Specials Markathon | July 2010Specials

Toshiba believes that Sachins achievements and

constant pursuit for excellence is in line with Toshibas

Leading Innovation tagline.

MEDIANissan ties up with Fever FM

Nissan Micra has launched a unique promotional

campaign in association with Fever 104 FM where in,

famous RJs Anurag Pandey and Karan Singh will conduct

shows from a Micra on the move over a 4 day period.

The idea is to promote Coming to office in style and

comfort and project it as the preferred mobility

solution for city traffic conditions.

The car boasts of category first features such as keylessentry, push button engine start/stop system and

electric foldable mirrors.

AD WATCH

Without ZOOZOOS

Vodafone is back with yet another fresh and innovative

campaign; this time a green animated parrot to

popularise the brand's Rs 4 bonus card offering forprepaid consumers.

The theme of the ad, in which Bomran Irani has

provided the voiceover, is that a paltry sum of Rs 4

provides myriad offerings on the card.

Contrary to the Zoozoos which were created to target

the intelligentsia, this campaign aims to reach out to

the bottom-of-the-pyramid.~ Sria Majumdar | IIM Shillong

Articles Are invitedBest Article: Bijal Dani & Akhil Vinaik |NMIMS

They receive a cash prize of Rs. 1000 & a letter of appreciation.

We are inviting articles from all the B-schools of India. The articles can be specific to the regular

sections of Markathon which includes:

Perspective: Articles related to development of latest trends in marketing arena. Productolysis: Analysis of a product from the point of view of marketing. Strategic Analysis: A complete analysis of the marketing strategy of any company or an

event.

International Column: Articles covering latest marketing trends, innovative practices,branding strategies etc. in the global perspective.

Apart from above, out of the box views related to marketing are also welcome. The best entry

will receive a letter of appreciation and a cash prize of Rs 1000/-. The last date of receiving the

entries is 16th August 2010.

Please send your entries to [email protected]. The format of the file should be word

doc/docx.

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Please send in your comments/feedback to:

[email protected]

visit: www.iims-markathon.in

TeamMarkathon IIM Shillong
mailto:[email protected]://iims-markathon.in/http://iims-markathon.in/mailto:[email protected]

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