MARKSMANThe

K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH VOL. 2 | ISSUE VIII| JAN ‘12

4Ps of Samsung Smartphones

Sensory Branding

Employer Branding vs Celebrity Endorsements for petroleum products at BPCL

INSIDE AND MORE…

EDITOR’S DESK

JANUARY 2012 01

Cheers !! Team – Marksman The Interface – The Marketing Club of SIMSR

Dear Readers, Welcome to a brand new year, brimming with opportunities, hope and fulfillment! Your MARKSMAN, shall continue to strive harder to meet and exceed your expectations in the new year.

This new year and years to come are going to be defined by people power. With the social media and user generated content revolutionizing market trends and dynamics, marketing has just gone a lot more complex! The new complexities are a chance just as much as a challenge that companies need to adapt to or perish! With our cover story on Marketing 3.0 experience the evolution of marketing and the importance of building brand credibility today.

Branding days are an evergreen fad with marketers and a successful one at that! Our special story shall walk you through some successful campaigns that have not only boosted sales but helped increase brand awareness in a sustainable way.

Our heartiest congratulations to Mr. Nikhil Goyal! His entry on 4Ps of Samsung smart phones has been adjudged the best entry for the month of Jan. Our selected featured articles on Sensory Branding and Employer Branding v/s Celebrity Branding also make for delightful reads. We appreciate and thank all our contributors for their entries.

Dedicated sections : Bookworm, Ad-itude, Squarehead, Buzz, Rewind and Tweets have also been laboriously put together and make for interesting reads.Happy reading folks!

With the 63rd Republic day celebrations just culminating we at MARKSMAN take this opportunity to pay our tributes to the sacrifices and efforts made in the past that make us proud Indians today!

Tweets Ad-itude

Cover Story

Special Story-Branding Days

Featured Articles

Book worm SquAreheaD

Rewind Buzz

Marketing 3.0

4 Ps of Samsung Smartphones

Employer Branding versus Celebrity endorsements for Petroleum products at BPCL

Sensory Branding

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CONTENTS

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TWEETSTWEETS

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A website that runs withoutinternet! It’s the power ofRajni!It may sound like anotherRajnikanth joke, but a newwebsite dedicated to thesuperstar runs 'without aninternet connection'. Thewebsitewww.allaboutrajni.com wascreated by Gurbaksh Singhand has gone viral withthousands of hits, shares andmentions across the webevery day.

Wikipedia blacked out for24 hrsWikipedia blacked out itsEnglish-language site on18th Jan, 2012 for 24 hoursto seek support againstthe two legislative bills,Stop Online Piracy Act(SOPA) and the PROTECTIP Act(PIPA) proposed bythe US Congress thatWikipedia founder JimmyWales said threatens thefuture of the internet.

McDonald’s get a brandnew Avatar!Fifteen years after itentered India, Big Mac ischanging colours, literally.The world's largest fast-food chain is shedding itsfamiliar red-and-yellowcolours for more mutedtones as it goes for itsbiggest and costliestrevamp in the country, inline with its globalstrategy of attracting moreadults.

11th Auto-Expo: Glitz blitz of the hot wheels.The largest automotive show in India with around 1500 participantsfrom 23 countries was hosted between 7th and 11th Jan 2012, atthe Pragati Maidan ,New Delhi . It witnessed the unleashing ofsupercars like Maruti Suzuki XA Alpha SUV, pure electric vehicleNissan Leaf, six speed automatic transmission Mini Cooper of BMWand Mercedes- Benz SLS AMG roadster.

No more “Say Cheese” for Kodak. DigitalPhotography era spells end for film photography.Eastman Kodak Co. (EK), the photography pioneerthat introduced the Brownie Camera more than acentury ago, filed for bankruptcy after consumersembraced digital cameras, a technology Kodak invented and failed to commercialize. It listedassets of $5.1 billion and debt of $6.8 billion in Chapter 11 documents filed in U.S.Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. It now aspires to be a specialist in leaner digital printing.

It’s all about AD-itude!

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Here comes another volley from the creativemarketing geniuses that keep taking digs atcontemporary issues, happenings and Amulizeit all, utterly and butterly! So India's dismalperformance against Australia in test cricket isthe latest in the row of Amul print ads thatsince 1966 have been using politics, sports andBollywood to grab attention of every Indian.The billboards with Amul ads keep changingevery week with changing newspaperheadlines! Amul ads are timeless, with themoppet playing everything from the coyMadhuri to sensuous Urmila to Jayalalitha toherself in a polka dots frock. The charm ofAmul ads lies in their simplicity and humour.The strategically placed hoardings displayingAmul ads make every Indian smile whilewaiting at the traffic signal. The English ratherHinglish and sometimes regional languageword play is the source of pun and the crux ofall Amul ads.

The new coca-cola ad campaign, ‘ Believe in ahappier tomorrow’, that was released at theoutset of the New Year tries to evoke optimismand happiness in people. Coke has always triedto associate itself with celebration andhappiness. Its previous campaigns like ‘openhappiness’ and ‘khushiya batne se badti h’tried to associate coca cola with celebrationsand festivities. The new campaign is on thelines of the international campaign ‘Reasons tobelieve’ with the same tune, theme andmotive. The lyrics of the Indian version arewritten by Prasoon Joshi while Bollywoodmusic composer Shantanu Moitra hascomposed the music. The ad strikes the rightchord with the audiences as it comes as hopein a time when there has been a lot ofnegativity around with political scams,scandals, corruption, unrest and the economiccrisis world over. The ad plays the same oldstory of how good always wins over evil butseems to be working wonders with the catchysong!

Brand: AmulCreative Agency: daCunha

Communications

Brand: Coca-ColaCreative Agency: McCann Erickson

PRINT

TVC

COVER

STORY

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Marketing 3.0“Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants as long as it is

black” – Henry Ford

Had Mr. Ford delayed this announcement by around 90 years, most investmentbankers and marketers alike would have promptly carved out Ford Motor Company’stombstone in a split second. Yes, marketing has come a long way.

Consumers now turn to peer feedbackwhile deciding on a purchase. The sourcefor such solicited advise has now movedfrom traditional “water coolerconversations” to social media.Technorati pegs the number of active

blogs around the world at more thana staggering 15.5 million. Close toone-third of blog readers areinfluencers. Twitter, the micro-blogging has been another socialmedia phenomenon that had taken

What led to Marketing 3.0?

MARKETING 2.0The advent of the informationage ushered Marketing 2.0.Consumers are now wellinformed, making it easier forthem to evaluate similarproducts. Marketing is no longersimple. The focus of themarketer, in this era, is to identifyunfulfilled needs and convertthem into profitable avenues.Marketing continues to have abad name in many circlesbecause many marketers aresimply after profit and conduct‘sly’ tricks. This is known as thecustomer-centric era.

MARKETING 1.0Decades ago, in theindustrial age, marketingwas all about sellingproducts to a targetmarket sans theconsideration of needsand wants. Marketing wasconsidered mere selling orpersuasion and also gaveit the negativeconnotation of ‘cheating’.This product- centricmarketing era waschristened Marketing 1.0.

the marketing world by storm. Who wouldimagine how powerful 140 words could be?YouTube and other sites user generatedcontent have also lead this revolution.A good example of this would be the case ofDave Carroll, a disgruntled United Airwayscustomer, who uploaded a self-composedsoundtrack titled “United Breaks Guitars” onYoutube. Within four days of it going online,the bad PR caused the United Airlines stockto plunge 10 percent, costing shareholders$180 million. An alarming example of howsocial media can damage a brand.

Watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zO

qozo&feature=player_embedded

COVER STORY

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Alternately, LEGO instils the positive effect ofsocial media. The company enlists influentialconsumers as online evangelists. Following thelaunch of its new locomotive kit which wasshown to 250 LEGO train fans, their word-of-mouth helped the first 10,000 unit sell out in10 days with no other marketing.This has led companies to stop dead in theirtracks, acknowledge and amalgamateMarketing 3.0 into their marketing DNA.Marketing 3.0 is the stage when companiesshift from consumer-centricity to human-centricity and where profitability is balancedwith corporate responsibility. Companiesadopting it have bigger missions, visions andvalues to contribute to the world while aimingto address problems in society. Humanaspirations, values and spirit are now imbibedinto marketing. Marketing 3.0 gains morerelevance during crisis situations, be iteconomic or environmental. It providesanswers and hope to people faced with suchgrave issues thus touching consumers at a fardeeper level.

Marketing 3.0 is value-centric marketing

The focus has shifted from imposing theproduct on the consumer towards givingimpetus to the rational and emotional needsassociated with the purchase. Hence the shifttowards value based marketing. It focuses onpeople instead of segments. Marketersshould identify the anxieties and desires ofthe consumers to be able to target theirminds, hearts, and spirit. One effective way isto include social responsibility in a corporateculture and maintain commitment, the bestapproach is to embed it into the company’svision, mission, and values so that they

CREDO 1: Love your customers, respect yourcompetitors: Multiple telecommuni-cationscompanies in the United Kingdom such asMotorola, O2, Vodafone, etc., collaboratedwith Bono and Bobby Shriver to introduce anew RED mobile phone designed to help fightAIDS in Africa. Tens of millions of pounds wasraised for the cause.

COVER STORY

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Kottler’s 10 credo’s of Marketing 3.0

CREDO 4: Customers are diverse; go firstto those who can benefit most from youApple has never strived to be a massmarket product developer. They havealways focussed on a unique segment of

early adapters andtechnology lovers.This has led tohigher margins perunit sold. Applecontinues to applythis to the iPad andiPhone devices.

CREDO 2: Be sensitive to change, be ready totransform: Toyota sensed the trends in themarket and realized that it had to introduce ahybrid car quickly before it became obsolete.Thus, in introducing the Prius, it broke manyof its strict Japanese management systemsand acted quickly in product development.

CREDO 3: Guard your name; be clear aboutwho you are: The TATA group has alwaysbeen India’s leading example of a value-driven business. They furthered the TATA

company strives to occupy the minds,hearts and then spirit of current and futurecustomers. The other axis takes intoaccount the company’s mission, vision andvalues.

While delivering satisfaction, a brandought to be seen as realizing aspirationsand practicing compassion in someform. It must not only promiseProfitAbility and ReturnAbility to currentand future shareholders, but alsoSustainAbility. It must also become abrand that is better, different, and thatmakes a difference to current and futureemployees.

are understood and imbibed by theemployees. The company should introducethis new matrix where, on one axis,

Core Value ofIntegrity duringthe rebranding ofTATA tea with the“Jaago re!”campaign.

CREDO 5: Always offer a good package at a fairprice

Candies, a restaurant in Bandra, Mumbai, hasalways been known for providing its TG ofstudents and young professionals a goodambience at affordable prices. In spite of risingoperating costs, they have managed to

maintain their prices constant, albeit with a

minor calculated dent to their margins.

CREDO 6: Always make yourself available,spread the good news Don’t make it hardfor your customers to find you.

Johnson & Johnson uses itswww.babycenter.com to connect with thecustomer while providing expecting andcurrent mothers useful tips and advice oneverything related to their youngoffspring.

CREDO 7: Get your customers, keep and grow them

Amazon.com builds recommendationsbased on past customer purchases anddelivers personal recommendations viacustomized homepage and email.

CREDO 8: Whatever your business, it is a servicebusiness: Imbibe the spirit of wanting to serveyour customers.

Vertu, a British-based manufacturer and retailer ofluxury mobile phones provides its customers witha concierge service called “Vertu Concierge”. Onaccessing it through the "concierge key", one can

avail of its concierge service anywhere in theworld.

CREDO 9: Always refine your business processin terms of quality, cost, and deliveryMaruti works with its local suppliers andancillary industries by sharing technology toimprove their individual productivity.

CREDO 10: Gather relevant information, butuse wisdom in making your final decisionDue to the emergence of a powerfulcompetitor, the Hershey’s Trust decided to sellits stake to Wrigley, a decision that wasfinancially sound. However, a group of angryemployees refused this acquisition andprotested against the sale. They realized thattheir decision was wrong as they hadn’tconsidered the social impact of their decisionand cancelled the sale transaction.

COVER STORY

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SPECIAL

STORY

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Master Chef at home. They have shown their presence on social media,outdoor advertising like the transit ads and hoardings, and theconventional ones- Radio and Television. To invite people outdoors, HThas organized carnivals that include games, magic and dance shows, citytour and various other events around the city. HT is following a goodmarketing strategy, pleasing its readers as well as attracting prospectivereaders. It was a success in 2011, and with its success in 2012 it wouldtake the minds of people away from TV screens.

Hindustan Times – “turning your

TV black”

Calling 29th Jan ‘No TVDay’, the media outletis asking the people totalk to their realF.R.I.E.N.D.S andacknowledge the real

have wisely commissioned researchteams to come up with more specialdays, so that no day passes by withoutdrawing people’s attention to someperson, cause or issues. Nowadayscorporates are :•Promoting brands around specialdays- For instance the Big Bazaarcampaign of ‘Sabse saste teen din’around 26th Jan and 15th August .•Creating special days around brand-Like Hindustan Times’ latest campaignof ‘No TV Day’

Particular dates honoring a particularissue or person come and go withclockwork regularity, year after year. Itcould be national days, days of festival,days to celebrate the birth of nationalleaders, days dedicated forenvironmental concerns or daysdedicated to show family and friend’slove and affection.These special days provide foropportunities for corporates to runcampaigns, articles, events, talk shows,competitions. Infact, the greeting cards(like Archise) and website businesses

Big Bazaar- Celebrating Republic and Independence Day

maintaining their home budget. Continuing its efforts, this year Big Bazaar aims toprovide customers ‘value’ with rock bottom prices, best possible discounts and megaoffers. Apart from the flagship Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar stores, other FutureGroup retail formats, like Furniture Bazaar, Electronic Bazaar and Home Bazaarstores, are also a part of this mega campaign.Visual merchandise used at various Big Bazaar outlets remain in sync. Aggressiveadvertisement via radio, television, flyers, and newspapers is conducted. It’s not justthe consumers making the most of this shopping fiesta; the retail behind the event,Pantaloon Retail India also makes moolah from the endeavor.

SPECIAL STORY

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These days that mark independenceand freedom are also now beingcelebrated as the days of shoppingfestival. Thanks to Big Bazaar forredefining these occasions in India.Big Bazaar started campaign ‘SabseSaste Din’ on January 26, 2006 with 24stores.Big Bazaar has very well understoodhow to attract customers. A verysimple strategy it followed wasunderstanding customers needs while

Lifebuoy- Marking the Global Hand Washing Day

Having a dedicated day for a cause or an issue really helps you talk about the same andincrease its visibility besides increasing brand awareness. To promote the understandingof the importance of hand washing, Lifebuoy marked October 15 as the first ever‘Global Hand washing Day’ in 2008, together with the United Nations and otherpartners. under the auspices of a public-private partnership for hand washing (PPPHW).

SPECIAL STORY

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Colgate- not just a day but 30 dedicated days of Oral Hygiene!

The generic brand and the world leader in Oral Care, Colgate has always been atthe forefront of initiatives that improve the oral health condition in India. In 2004,the month of October was earmarked as the Oral Health Month. Colgate hascontinued to build on this initiative year on year.During this month series of events are planned. Just to highlight a few of them: aunique event wherein Colgate got children from across India to pen down lyrics onthe theme of 'Spread a Smile' which was the base for ‘Spread a Smile concert’.

It coordinated the efforts with morethan 50 organizations in 19 countries. In2010, more than 80 countriescelebrated Global Hand washing Day.Lifebuoy has spread the message morewidely using Facebook and Twitter.

Millions of school children have taken part inawareness-raising activities and were encouraged to make hand washing

pledges.

Also ‘Spread a Smile Quiz’ was conducted totest the knowledge on recommended oral carepractices of the participants and ‘Free dentalcheck-ups’ were organized on a mass scale insix cities. Colgate also targeted the untappedsegment such as rural areas, orphanages andslum areas to spread awareness on oralhygiene.

The only trouble of coming out with campaigns on special days is that the status of it beingso ‘special’ that its ‘message’ should be put away carefully in order to bring it out again onthe same day, the following year. Corporate world that loses no time in cashing on specialdays to print banners, merchandise t-shirts and other products. Corporatization of specialdays is a good thing because it spreads the message in a more consumer- friendly fashion,generates business and makes it an economically viable endeavor.

Samsung has emerged as a preferred brandfocusing on affordability and availability. Andit has instant hits like Galaxy range. Withsuperb marketing and wide range ofproducts, neither of which Apple has beenable to provide, the company has earnedbrand loyalty.Let us now take a look at the 4Ps of Samsungsmartphones so as to understand what madeit possible for Samsung to beat Apple inSmartphone sales.

4 Ps of Samsung Smartphones-Nikhil Goyal, BITS-Pilani

PRODUCTSamsung offers innovative smart mobile devices across different operatingsystems and different price points, giving the customers more choice. It has aportfolio of 13 smartphone models. It has offerings on different platformsincluding highly popular Android, Microsoft Windows and Bada. Apple uses thestandard iOS in its iPhones. Samsung Galaxy Note has a unique offering of botha tablet and a smartphone becoming the first hybrid phone in the country. Foryounger generation “who wants to be expressive, socially active, wants to stayconnected” Samsung recently launched Wave Y. The highly successful SamsungGalaxy Ace was a middle end handset that delivered in every way. Applehowever has highly standardised smartphones which are high end and it fails totarget a large audience. The next big thing from Samsung for India will be thedual sim smartphone Galaxy Y Duos, another feature that mesmerizes Indians.

FEATURED ARTICLES

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PRICEWhile Apple carries a hefty price range of Rs.30,500 to Rs.44,500 Samsung offers awide range of Rs.6000 to Rs.34,990. Pricing seems to have played a significant role inSamsung’s success. Initially iPhone was sold at same price in India as in US. But lateriPhone 4S was being sold at 35% less than the price in India. This pricingcommunication was one of the reasons for the iPhone comedown. On the contrarySamsung claims of selling smartphones at a relatively cheaper price than othercountries. An executive justified Apple's pricing in India on three counts: Local taxesand import duties, depreciation of the rupee against the dollar and the fact that theunbundled phone accounts for a minuscule share of total sales in the developedmarkets. The manufacturing facilities at Noida and Chennai have given Samsung anadded advantage of localisation and a good price position. The different price pointsin Samsung give consumers more choice and extra options than any other brand.

PLACESamsung has 18 state-level distribution offices and a direct dealer interface. Thedirect dealer interface helped the company get quick feedback from dealers andenabled it to launch products according to customer needs. The rigorous marketingstrategy enabled Samsung to reach 70,000 outlets in 2011, and managed tostrengthen the distributor infrastructure in both tier-1 and tier-2 markets. At thetime of the launch, Apple’s license holders in India Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essarsold the handsets only at their outlets thereby limiting their availability. Thus Applefailed to strike the right entry strategy. The distribution model was a failure.

PROMOTIONSamsung launched a new television commercial drive for its Galaxy Y and Wave Ysmartphones “Desh smart ban raha hai, aap kab ban rahe ho?”. This is one of themost aggressive campaign by any smartphone player in the country. Samsung hasalways established itself in Indian consumers’ mind with its corporateadvertisements. On the other hand Airtel, Aircel and Vodafone ran commercialsoutsourced from Apple and the company didn’t run its own campaign thereby failingto leave an impression in Indians’ minds.

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Branding is not only about getting a preference over your competitor by the buyer but alsoabout leaving an impression in the minds of the customers that you are the sole providerof the solution to their problems. Thus Sensory Branding. Sensory Branding involves theuse of the senses in creating this relationship with the product. The science behind theeffectiveness of Sensory Branding is that our basic understanding of environment isthrough our senses, which are linked to our memory. We store our memories in the cells ofbrains (called as Memory Banks).The stimulation by senses however has to do very littlewith the quality and performance of the product, yet it creates an impression in the mindsof the people. The stimulation offered by the senses:

1. Influence our choices.2. Create a connect with the brand.3. Distinguish one product from the other.4. Part of our decision making process.

Sensory Branding have an effect on all the five senses of the human. The various forms ofsensory brands cater to each and every sense.

What They See:Marketers mostly cater to this sense, as this is themost effective tool to establish your mark. In his book“Brand Sense – Build Powerful Brands through Touch,Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound”, Martin Lindstromemphasizes on identifying the brand even if the logowasn’t there. He wants to establish a connect even thecolor with the brand so strongly that in the absence ofthe brand logo the color alone should be sufficient toidentify the brand.E.g. Vodafone, the red color and also the pug campaign leave a strong impression in theminds of the people that every time when the pug campaign is in the air the audience willautomatically understand that it’s Vodafone.

What They Hear:This is the second most favorite senses targeted by the marketers. A distinctive ring tonetells surrounding theatergoers that the offender is a customer of Nokia or Motorola. Anda startup bong lets nearby latte sippers know whether the writer huddled over thelaptop in the corner bought her operating system from Microsoft or Apple. Such is thestrong connect of the auditory senses to the brand proposition. Also we all know musichelps in creating an ambience. So auditory connect with the brand is the best way toidentify your brand.

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What They Smell:Olfactory sense is the most responsive sense of thefive senses. Smell invokes memories and the customercan visualize the memories associated with the smellimmediately. This is due to the fact that there is nofiltration or analysis by the brain. Next time a personsmells the same fragrance he/she is reminded of theambience of the store. 75% of our emotions aregenerated by what we smell, this is sufficient to provethat how important olfactory senses are to the Brands.E.g. Victoria's Secret, have long used fragrance as partof the sensory environment in their stores.

What They Taste:Taste helps a lot particularly in the food industry toleave a mark of its brand name. I mean if you tasteMcDonald’s burger either in Delhi or Mumbai orKolkata or Chennai, they all taste the same and theirunique taste helps in establishing the foothold in theminds of the people.

What They Touch:Feel of a product is the major driver of its sale. Apparel industry runs on this fact. Most peopledon’t shop online and the major reason for the fact is that they can’t feel the product or Iwould say touching the product. For a product to survive we have to touch it to have a feel ofwhat the product is all about. We all remember our parents touching the stuff of cloth beforebuying it. Whenever we buy anything we like to take in the hand.Sensory Branding is important in today’s time as:1. So many advertisements, so much information leaves customers indifferent towards brands,so we need something extra to create the impression.2. Nowadays none compromises on the quality so we cannot compromise on the quality itself.3. A physical connection always serves best in promoting the brand.Sensory perceptions are unique to each of us, as memories are. We experience powerfulstimulations from them. The opportunity of brand building by leveraging the five senses is wideopen. But only few companies have integrated their brand-building strategies to appeal to allthe senses. This is probably the case for two reasons:1. Not all media channels are able to connect with each of the five senses, and2. We really don't know how to handle the phenomenon of total sensory appeal.The challenge of sensory branding is to think more broadly about how people experienceproducts in the real world and find ways to enhance these experiences. In India, the advent ofmodern trade provides an opportunity of creating a sensorial experience.

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EMPLOYER BRANDING VS CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS FOR PETROLEUM PRODUCTS AT BPCL

-Sameer Bhambhani, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Executive MBA Oil & Gas

BPCL understands that it is essential to own dominant brands in the gung ho scenarioprevalent in the petro retail sector. The Marketing team continuously strives to build a strongbrand image reflecting Bharat Petroleum's core values of being 'INCARE', viz. INnovative,CAring and REliable & emulating the same in their product characteristics. The Brandmanagement team relentlessly works to understand the customer changing needs,behaviour, expectations & focuses to gratify these needs in the most cost-effective manner.Pure for sure signage is a commitment made to the customers for the pure quality & properquantity of fuel for their vehicles.Over & above fostering loyalty by giving Petrocards, pioneering the concept of conveniencestores & providing V-care (Vehicle care) facilities in the urban network only enhance its brandvaluePeople above oil has been the success mantra for BPCL. The management firmly believes thatemployee empowerment is the way to innovations which could help sustain growth in thecompetitive global scenario. The firm fosters the best HR practices through continuousPerformance management, Competency modeling, identifying & bridging such gaps &encouraging multi-tasking through various initiatives

Employer Branding:The management of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limitedhas always been fervent in the pursuit of qualitativebrilliance for maximization of all the stakeholderscontentment. The organizational design of BPCL comprisingof 5 different SBU’s i.e. Aviation, Industrial & Commercial,LPG, lubricants & retail, refinery is a testimony of greatercustomer focus.

Celebrity endorsements:Celebrity endorsement is the trendy modusoperandi followed by marketers for theirproduct promotion & to follow competition inthe market. But celebrity endorsement is a highrisk, high gain event as there is always apresence of human element involved. Hence itis essential that the characteristics of theproduct should

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match with the celebrity brand values. MAK brand of BPCL signed up MS Dhoni as it’sBrand ambassador in the year 2006 to promote it among the youth & improve thevisibility of the brand. Rise of MAK brand coincided with the rise of MS Dhoni, who withhis all round performance delivered his best, in all the forms of the game for India. Hewas made the Indian captain in the smaller as well as the longer version. Synopsisderived was that MAK would deliver under all conditions much like MS Dhoni.

Employer brand Celebrity endorsement Product sales & value

Summing up, employer branding is the base on which the future strategic decisions of thecompany are based. When celebrity endorsement works, it is an ideal combination ofbrand & product. This is known as the halo effect as the aim is for some of celebrity’sglamour to rub off on the product. Celebrity endorsements act as boosters enhancing theoverall effectiveness of the brand. When they go wrong they have to be completelydetached from the product, whereas the employer branding co-exists with the product asit is based more on the basic values. When the Indian team does well, the ad campaignsof the cricketers are incessant. As the player & team performance goes down, the ads arerarely shown as they might have a direct effect on the product sales. Thus when thecelebrity image compliments the product characteristics, it’s a win-win situation as far asthe product sales & the product brand value are concerned. However, with the decline inperformance, the celebrity endorsements may backfire.

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Bookseller: Nemona Collectables (San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.) Bookseller Rating : ( Courtesy: http://www.abebooks.com)

THE BIG IDEA by Robert JonesIn this world, people are continuously looking for more, forchange and for excitement. People want the future to be verydifferent from the past. What will make the future from thepast is the Big Idea. `The big idea', is a need for everycompany, to find and manage in order to create adifferentiation for themselves and survive in this world. Theway this world is going forward ‘The Big Idea’ will givesomething which any company wants most – a scope to grow

In this book, Jones questions the common understanding about three familiar businessconcepts- strategy, benchmarking, and customer segments. His first target is strategywhere according to him, the whole idea of strategy is starting to feel wrong. How can youhave a five-year strategy, a path mapped out into the future, when the over whelmingmood is to leave every possibility open?

Next comes the concept of benchmarking where Jones asserts that: `No longer is ``bestpractice'' any kind of guide to the future. The best way to do things hasn't yet beeninvented. And more to the point, the best way for you to do things is your way, notsomeone else's.'

The third concept which is questioned by Jones is that of customer segments. According tothe author, this idea is very redundant because of the fact that in today's world, theorganizations are transforming into a larger, constantly changing confluence of people,interacting with each other. As organisations become more and more customer-centric,‘customer segment’ becomes an irrational idea.

Some of the book is written in new age style, with chapter titles such as `Starting thejourney' and` Crossing the shadows'; however, it would be wrong to underestimate thebusiness nous which informs this contentious but stimulating and enlightened book. HansSnook of Orange, Sir John Browne of BP Amoco, and Ingvar Kamprad of IKEA,among many others, have been interviewed, as their companies are deemed to have foundand nurtured a big idea in exemplary fashion.

(Courtesy – Dr.Keith Dinnie)

BOOKWORM

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SquAreheaD

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REWIND

JANUARY 2012 20

The 7th SIMSR Asia Marketing Conference wasconducted by SIMSR in collaboration with itsacademic partners – School of Management, AsianInstitute of Technology, Bangkok; Deakin University,Australia and College of Business and PublicAdministration, California State University, SanBernardino, USA.

This two day long conference had scholars comingtogether to share their research papers on new andemerging trends in the field of Marketing. This yearsaw participation of scholars from the U.S. , the U.K.and the Asia Pacific regions.

The theme for this year’s conference was “MarketingUnbound”. There were presentations on diverse fieldsranging from Brand Management, ConsumerBehaviour, Integrated Marketing Communication,Rural and Social Media Marketing, e-Marketing,Strategic Marketing and Management, and RetailManagement.

Day one of SIMSR Asia Marketing began with Mr.Nitin Paranjpe, CEO and MD of Hindustan UnileverLimited, inaugurating the conference, followed by anengaging discussion on the “Changing paradigms ofMarketing”. What will be the future of Social Media?How will on demand television change our lives? Isthe end near for television advertising? These weresome of the thoughts he shared with us. Mr. Paranjpealso unveiled the book of selected research papersfrom the 6th SIMSR Asia Marketing Conference whichwas based on the theme “Marketing in Transition”.

Mr. Nitin Paranjpe, CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

Seventh SIMSR Asia Marketing Conference

6th and 7th of January 2012

REWIND

The second day was opened by Mr. Bhaskar Das, President, The Times of India Group,Bennett Colman & Co. Ltd. Mr Das, a voracious speaker, took us through the impact of thechanging world of marketing and communications on the different forms of media. Theconference ended on a high note, with an addressal by Mr Sanjiv Sarin, Regional President ofSouth Asia, Tata Global Beverages Limited.

In all, it was two days of power packed discussions, presentations and lectures filled withinsightful knowledge and ideas, compelling us to ponder over the possible changes that wewill witness in the coming few years and how we, as marketers should address such changes.

Mr. Bhaskar Das, President, The Times of India

Group, Bennett Colman & Co. Ltd.

Mr Sanjiv Sarin, Regional President of South Asia,

Tata Global Beverages Ltd.

JANUARY 2012 21

BUZZ

DOWN7. This software developed by Intel

was recently ditched by Nokia infavor of Windows, name thesoftware.

8. An Indian pharmaceuticalcompany whose logo is providedacquired this GermanPharmaceutical company for2250 Crore. Identify the Germancompany.

9. What does “T” in the lateGulshan Kumar founded T-seriesstand for?

1 2 3

4 56

7 8 9

2

9

ACROSS1. In 1985, which company first

launched the concept of storagecontainers in India?

2. Identify the logo of this Italiancar manufacturer

3. A recent 11000 Cr. court rulingwent in favor of a companypresent in India in a case of taxevasion when it was buying itsminority stake from CGPinvestments in Cayman Islands.Name the Company.

4. This revolutionary service ispresent in a recent Appleproduct.

5. “Adbur” is the in house brandagency of which Indiancompany?

6. With the help of the logo,Identify the country in which amajor event will happen in2012.

ANSWERS: 1. Pearlpet2. Alfa Romeo 3. Hutch Essar4. Siri5. Adbur6. London 7. Meego8. Betapharm9. TrishulTHE CROSSWORD

THE CLUES

JANUARY 2012 22

JANUARY 2012 23

2011Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:

*Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all references areclearly mentioned

The best adjudged article will be given a winner's certificate.Deadline for submission of the articles: 11:59 PM , 16 February2012.

1. One article can have only one author.2. Your article should be from 500-600 words and MUST

be replete with relevant pictures that can be used to enhance your article.

3. Send in your articles in .doc/.docxformat with font size 11 (Arial) to: interface.newsletter@gmail.com

4. Subject Line: Your Name_InstituteName_CourseYear. 5. Kindly name your file as: Your Name_Topic

1) Is branding the way to enter Rural markets2) Newspaper Brands on War!3) Marketing Strategy adopted by Nokia for its new Nokia

Lumia to break the clutter in the smartphones segment.

CALL FOR ARTICLES

JANUARY 2012 24

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OR drop in a mail/contact us at : interface.newsletter@gmail.comSubject line: Subscribe: Your Name_Institute Name_Course Year

COVER STORYKeith Mascarenhas

SPECIAL STORYHinal Shah

It’s all about AD-itudeNiyati Chamyal

SquAreheaDPallavi Srivastava

REWINDTilottama Sanyal

COVER PAGEYash Chamaria

TWEETSSujit Mishra

BUZZUpveen Tameri

DESIGNTilottama Sanyal

Yash Chamaria

BOOKWORMVibhav Shukla

PROMOTIONSKeith Mascarenhas

THE TEAM

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Team MARKSMAN wishes all its readers a

Very Happy Republic Day!