> Page 10

> Page 10

> Page 13

> Page 16

> Page 25

The

JANUARY 2014 01

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Readers,First of all, a very happy new year to each and every one of you and welcome to thisNew Year edition of The Marksman.

In this edition, we bring to you “Gender Marketing”, a marketing technique that isnot new to us. But what we seek to clarify with this article is how it can be usedmuch more efficiently and the pitfalls associated with it.. With our Faux Pas, we tryto decipher where the Tata Nano marketing went wrong. Our special story focusseson a very niche aspect of advertising- Instagram. This month’s Brand Markiveexplores what we all must have discussed amongst our peers, Micromax and howafter roping Hugh Jackman, they are ready to explode on the international stage. Ourregular articles like Bookworm, Buzz, Ad-itude, SquAreheaD, and Hallmark Campaignwill definitely raise your interest. And what would be our sanskars like if we forgotabout the internet phenomenon called Alok Nath! Our tweets section makes surethat he is here to stay. In our Rewind section, we take a look back at the GlobalMarketing conference held on the SIMSR campus by Prof A Parasuraman from theUniversity of Miami on “Ubiquitous Marketing Unwiring

Consumers….Rewriting rulebooks”.

As always, we are indebted to everyone who send in their entries every month.Unfortunately, we can choose only a few. So, for this month, we went through eachand every one of the articles and have selected the ones sent by Snigdha Kondat andAkhil Suresh. To all the other entries who didn’t feature this time around, we extendour warm thank you for your efforts and urge you all to keep writing to us.

We’d also like to hear back from our esteemed readers on how you find this issue.Do mail us on www.interfacesimsr.com/the-marksman and stay connected with us.So, sit tight and happy reading for this year’s first issue ofThe Marksman.

Team MARKSMAN

The Interface-The Marketing Club of SIMSR

@marksmansimsr.

CONTENTS

02 THE MARKSMAN

TWEETS

BRAND MARKive

FEATURED ARTICLES

COVER STORY

“GENDER MARKETING”

BOOKWORM

SPECIAL STORY

“ADVENT OF INSTAGRAM ADS”

18

Hallmark Campaign – P&G

IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

MARKETING FAUX PAS

“TATA NANO”16

13

10

09

07

03

25

SquAreheaD 28

BUZZ 29

06

ReWIND 26

TWEETS

Ford EcoSport

v/s

Renault Duster

Renault launched its Indian SUV, the

Duster amid a lot of hype and

excitement among the people.

Never before was an SUV available

at such a cheap price. However, it

has steadily been losing ground to

its competitor the Ford EcoSport.

This may be largely down to the

fact that we Indians are a highly

price sensitive lot and the EcoSport

is available at a cheaper base rate

than the Duster. While many debate

on other factors like after sales

service, look and finish, engine

power and the all important -

mileage, it only remains to be seen

which of these two mini-monsters

go on to dominate the Indian

roads.

Charge your phone through air

Researchers of Dukes University, USA have

been granted a fat budget to explore the

area of wireless cell phone charging

through low-frequency magnetic fields.

With the reducing battery life of emerging

cell phones, this research if proved

successful will certainly get the big mobile

manufacturing brands clamouring to be the

first to incorporate the technology into the

cellular device.

JANUARY 2014 03

TWEETS

Coke Secret Out

As the picture rightly depicts, the

secret of 125 years is now out in the

open. The seemingly well guarded

recipe was found in one of the local

newspapers of Atlanta, USA.And that's

not the best part. The recipe contains

alcohol albeit in small traces. So for all

you teetotallers, Brahmins and God

fearing Muslims who consume the

particular beverage, this may be a

worrying discovery. It is time to find

out the repercussions of the

unconscious sin. Start reading up your

respective holy books.

Big Boss 7 comes to a close

The 7th Season of Indian TV reality

show Big Boss came to a close on

December 28th, 2013. Hosted by

renowned Bollywood actor, Salman

Khan, Gaurhar Khan was crowned this

season's winner. Big Boss apart from

being a medium of entertainment, was

also used to promote a number of

Bollywood films that were scheduled

to be released in the duration it was

on air. Film producers will have to look

elsewhere to promote their upcoming

releases, but given the sheer number

of reality shows and TV channels that

reach the average Indian consumer,

that should not be too insurmountable

a task.

04 THE MARKSMAN

TWEETS

JANUARY 2014 05

#AlokNath trending on

Twitter

Gone are the eras in which jokes on

Rajnikanth and ACP Pradhyuman

tickled the bellies of the Indian

internet surfer. A new 'bakra' seems

to have emerged in the form of Alok

Nath. Alok Nath, a very conservative

Indian TV soap actor is known for

his 'Sanskar' both on and off camera

and is now the butt of many jokes

on social media sites especially

Twitter. Most of the jokes revolve

around long term relationships,

marriage and commitment. Some of

the tweets are :

• Alok Nath is so sanskari,

kiuskagharka pressure cooker

bhiseetinahi Marta #aloknath

• Alok Nath walks slowly. Because

Babuji dheere chalna.....

• Many wud.. Party all night Party

all night We do party all night!

Alok Nath wud..Aarti all night

Aarti all night We do Aarti all

night!

• When you type #Aloknath on

Google search, "I'm feeling

Lucky" changes to "I'm feeling

Sanskari" :D

Just check #aloknath to get a

glimpse of some of the witty tweets

posted by people.

Virgin America's new Sexed

up Safety Video

It was noticed that most travellers

dozed off during the traditional in-

flight safety video. So, Virgin America

decided to sex up their safety video

and came up with a novel idea for it.

They partnered with So You Think You

Can Dance, a famous on-screen

reality dance contest show in America

to produce one of the most engaging

and innovative safety video. All Star

Twitch takes the lead role with

cameos from some of the other

famous contestants on the show.

Watch and enjoy

:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt

yfiPIHsIg

PepsiCo Foods gets associated with the actor Ranbir Kapoor to endorse its Lay's potato

wafers in an attempt to reposition itself as a more youthful brand. The theme of this new ad

is based on a group of best buddies, and is more youthful than the earlier positioning.

It is still not sure if the eight years of association with actor Saif Ali Khan will continue or

not as company hasn’t yet renewed its contract with him. The advertisement is spot on as it

revolves around the nervousness and the fun that awaits every fresher in any college. The

freshers soon go ahead and form great bonding with their buddies. Lay’s is shown as the

perfect catalyst for this mischievously fun relation. Check out the ad on:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDT64C24rx4

IT’S ALL ABOUT AD-ITUDE

Video AdThe new face of

Lays!!!

Print Ad

The Politicians,

The Economics Times

Playing on their satirical best and choosing one of the most controversial topic in India,

Politics, The Economic Times has come up with a new print ad that with minimum

expression, says it all. With the competitive political scenario in India, this print ad indicates

that the entire coverage will captured in just three pages. With a very strong Irony on how

the “always increasing on ambition” political world is well confined in minimal space and yet

makes its impact, is surely worth of a praise. The use of Car’s Red light allotted only to a

statesman in a growing pattern defines the simplicity and uniqueness of this print ad.

06 THE MARKSMAN

BRAND MARKiveMicromax: Its origin & The ‘Chinese’ Advantage

Micromax (2011-12 revenue: Rs 1,978

crores), ventured into the mobile phone

market in 2008 and is one of the most

fascinating success stories in the Indian

consumer electronics industry. Micromax

started as an IT software company in the

year 2000 working on embedded

platforms.

This transformation was steered by four

friends who divided responsibilities on

functional lines, which haven’t changed

since: Rajesh Agarwal, 47, Managing

Director, Rahul Sharma, 37, Executive

Director, Vikas Jain, 37, Business Director,

and Sumeet Arora, 37, Chief Technology

Officer.

In barely five years, the company has

come to occupy the third position (by

volume) in the mobile handset market in

India and is at No. 12 globally. It leads the

Indian tablet market with a share of 18.4

per cent, ahead of veterans Samsung and

Apple.

Today, Micromax has presence across

India and global presence in

Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri-Lanka, Maldives,

UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,

Qatar, Oman,Afghanistan and Brazil.

The Gurgaon-headquartered company

owes its success not just to the speed

with which it puts new designs on the

shelves but to how it has managed the

crucial inputs (labor cost advantage

and the production flexibility) by

leveraging China.

This might not seem a big deal, given

that almost every other handset brand

in the world manufactures its

products in China. Right from the

Apples to the Samsungs to many of

our home-grown brands like Karbonn,

a whole host of players reaped China's

arbitrage advantage.

Micromax sells around 1.3 million mobiles handsets every month, with a presence in more than 500 districts through 100,000

retail outlets in India.’

JANUARY 2014 07

08 THE MARKSMAN

BRAND MARKive

The Big Daddys of Bollywood ,

Hollywood & Cricket as Brand

Ambassadors….You might choose to believe that a

star can never influence a buyer.

However, for Micromax, star

endorsement is required because a

lot of people still believe that

Micromax is a modified version of

Chinese handsets. Pricing was one of

its key features and by signing Akshay

Kumar, Micromax initially targeted

the rural phone users who looked up

to bollywood stars.

The 'Khiladi' is majorly responsible for the

fanfare that Micromax enjoys in India.

In 2012, by bringing MS Dhoni on board,

Micromax mainly aimed at targeting the

urban youth.

And now, by signing on the ‘Wolverine’

Hugh Jackman the brand wants to make its

presence in the international market. The

fans of Hugh Jackman, or the people who

watch his films, are from a strata where

Micromax, at the moment, has negligible

presence. Jackman, will promote all

products released over the next one year

under Canvas, Micromax's flagship sub-

brand. Will the strategy work to make the

brand a household name? Only time will

tell.

Exploring the Unexplored!Through its emphasis on adapting to

the changing market dynamics,

introducing feature-rich phones and

smart phones that are innovative and

unique, Micromax has today become a

brand to reckon with. Some of the

first devices launched by Micromax

since inception are X1i Marathon

Battery(First Long Battery Life Phone

with 30 days battery back up & 17

days Talk time), Micromax GC700(first

GSM + CDMA Mobile phone), G4

Gamolution phone with motion

sensor gaming like Wi-fi, First women’s

phone with a swivel form and

Swarovski navigation keys, and the list

goes on . .

The Road ahead…The strategy which offered Micromax its

biggest advantage in its first five years

(taking crucial inputs from China) is under

threat and it will require a re-examination

by the company of their overall supply-chain

strategies. Also, as a part of its expansion

strategy the brand is rolling out operations

in Russia and Romania, an Eastern European

market. Micromax is also venturing into

other products and has announced its foray

into the home entertainment segment with

the launch of new range of LED TVs, home

theatres, 3D Blue Ray and Smart Stick and

an Android dongle.

BOOK WORMBrandwashed

JANUARY 2014 09

The Long Tail is a book written by Chris

Anderson and is on its way to becoming a

classic. The book has abundant examples to

clearly the concept of The Long tail. The

concept is fairly new in the convoluted world of

business wherein it was tacitly understood that

an organization’s sales are because of the

products that are top sellers but when seen

closely and analytically, it was seen that an

organization’s actual revenue comes from the

small number of products that are not top

sellers and bought by consumers in small

volumes.

Chris Anderson states the example of Amazon

which has 100,000 top titles but around 25 to

30 percent of their sales come from titles which

are not part of the top titles. According to

Anderson, these millions of "fringe sales" are

cost-effective, as online retailers do not have

shelf-space to pay for. It also mentions that the

brick n mortar stores are also a part of this

concept as things which are part of The Long

tail are mostly sold online and peak demand

products are sold on the shelf which helps

retailers save shelf space too. All together the

book beautifully links culture and commerce by

stating examples and bringing to the forefront

that online stores, specially rake in a lot of their

moollah from the long tail. It is a concept which

is gaining importance as it gives businesses a

new perspective by telling them to analyze sales

and realize that fringe sales are actually revenue

raking products.

“

”

Excerpt

Up until now, the focus has been on dozens of markets of millions, instead of millions of markets of dozens.

COVER STORYGENDER MARKETING

10 THE MARKSMAN

It is long said that men and women are

wired differently and well, it is true.

Neuroscience over the years has proved

that women think very differently as

compared to men. But how does this

affect the marketing of a product? Is it

even an issue?

Before we proceed any further, let’s first

find out what exactly is gender marketing.

SutJhally, a well-known media scholar,

defines gender marketing as ‘the images in

advertising that depict stereotypical

gender roles and displays made to appeal

to a specific gender.’ Gender displays are

used heavily in advertising in order to

establish the role of one gender in relation

with the other. Advertisers prefer

advertising by using gender stereotypes

because it is easy for the consumer to

differentiate between the products as

people basically identify themselves with

their gender. It gives a readymade template

for the advertisers to use. Everyone

knows the stereotypes. All one has to do

is to make an advertisement to appeal to

them.

HOW DO WE USE IT?

So, what are those templates? How do

we find one-size-that-fits-all? The

answer to these questions lies in the

very first line of the article. Men and

women are wired differently. There are

some key structural differences, such as

a larger hippocampus in women, as well

as a heavier reliance on brain areas that

contain mirror neurons, which enable a

person to feel what they see another

person is feeling.

The practical implications are clear:

women have better memory for

detailed information than do men,

while men tend to have better spatial

ability and the ability to build

systems. For marketers who want to

appeal to women as effectively as

possible, this means that they need to

get product design, packaging, pricing,

branding, messaging and more in sync

with how the female subconscious

mind receives and processes

information, and directs behaviour,

greatly increasing the chances of

marketplace success. So, for an

advertisement to be appealing to men,

all the ‘manly’ traits such as Standing

upright, eyes open and looking around,

bravery, adventurousness, being strong

need to be shown while for women,

emphasis is laid more on the looks,

sensuality, effectiveness and product

details.

Traditionally, gender neutral products or

every day usage products are advertised in

a way which is more appealing to the

ladies because it is the opinion of the lady

of the house that influences the buying

decisions. So, products like a dish washing

bar, a washing powder, etc. are always

advertised from the female point of view.

This recent campaign by Dove is a great

example for gender based marketing. The

main consumers of the dove products are

women, so it makes sense for Dove to

target the women in their campaigns. Yes,

men are a lucrative section nowadays for

beauty products as well, but it is women

and women alone that drive the sales of

such a product.

BUT WHY DO WE NEED IT NOW?

Let’s answer this question point wise.

More and more men are getting conscious

about daily home expenditure. This means

that they are having a say in the products

being purchased. So the target base for

advertisers has changed. And that is why

we see the presence of men in such ads

nowadays.

COVER STORY

JANUARY 2014 11

COVER STORY

Example for the case in point- the

easy to use washing machine ads. A

bumbling man washes his clothes

while his wife meditates. Yes, ultimately

he doesn't know how to do it

properly, but it emphasises, in a very

subtle way, that now it’s so simple that

even this 30 second spot teaches you

how to.

Things have always been

stereotyped. Men wear pants, women

wear skirts. Men don't wear pink.

Now with the onset of ambiguous

sexuality and metro sexuality, it will be

stupid on the part of marketers to

ignore this. It is definitely a part of our

present and doesn't look like it's going

anywhere.

Marketers would have found a new

way to appeal to their consumers by

making a product or a service

exclusively made for a specific gender.

Gender-based marketing offers new

possibilities in terms of targeting-

segmentation-positioning, as well as

many new opportunities for product

development and product extension

for specific gender segments. In

particular, this would mean more

effective marketing of products or

product lines for both women and

men.

COVER STORY

12 THE MARKSMAN

COVER STORY

While women have long since come

to expect to be well understood by

brands, men are just starting to

make the same brand demands.

Marketers serving this next

generation, in the right brain era, will

need to broaden their gender

perspective to include the male

consumer. They are becoming more

informed about health, beauty and fashion

categories, which is likely only the start.

The more men see other men caring

more about such things, the more

acceptable it becomes for other men to

follow suit. This cultural acceptability gives

male consumers a whole new level of

freedom, which leads to a significant

opportunity for marketers.

GREAT, WHAT'S THE PROBLEM

THEN?

“Parents petition Toys 'R' Us to do

away with gender-specific marketing”

“Girls, boys and toys: call to end

'stereotyping' - Sydney Morning

Herald”

“Why Most Marketers (Continue to)

Get Gender So Wrong”

A quick google search using the words

“gender marketing” will tell you that not

everything is right with the world of

marketing by gender.

Media and advertisements hold huge

sway over the opinions of the public

and as a wise man once said, “With

great power, comes great

responsibility”. So these marketing

techniques are should be handled with

care. The recent ads by Pantene and

GoldieBloxx have put the stereotyping

battle in the middle. Sometimes in the

race to reach out to the target

markets and to get those numbers up

and quick, marketers forget that

marketing to a specific gender does

not mean that you decide what men

and women are supposed to do. Pink

is now not just a girlie colour. Girls

can play with action figures and dolls

as well. “Marketing to women” is by

no means dead, but the reason for, and

results of, tending to it have changed.

Understanding how women buy in the

twenty first century should now be

considered but the launching pad for

better serving the less linear, more

relational, and non-gendered human

being. Welcome to the next

generation consumer.

SPECIAL STORYADVENT OF INSTAGRAM ADS

Until a few months ago we knew Instagram

as an online photo sharing, video

sharing and social networking service that

enables its users to take pictures and

videos, and share them on a variety of

social networking sites , such

as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr.

Things changed, when in October last year,

Instagram announced its plan to introduce

ads on Instagram.

Many Instagram lovers were dejected to

learn that their beloved photo-sharing

application would also be bungled with ads.

Although the company assured its users

that the ads wouldn't be annoying,

interfering pop-ups but rather beautiful,

high-quality photos and videos.

Instagram ads are photos published by the

brand's account that will now be shown to

people who don't follow that brand. They

are differentiated with the word

"Sponsored" at the top of the image.

Although users won’t be able to choose

not to see ads on Instagram, which is free,

they can hide ads by tapping the “…” below

it they do not like and tell Instagram why

they did not like them. “This will help us

come out with more interesting ads in the

future,” Instagram wrote in a blog post that

actually announced the ads. Here is how an

Instagram ad look likes. Relevant ads are

shown to specific users based on what

users do on Instagram and Facebook (their

parent company).

For example, this might include the

people users follow and the photos

and videos you like on Instagram,

Facebook and other basic info on

Facebook.

Advertising on Instagram has very

quickly moved from a new and

surprising to a near-daily event, and

they're bringing in a lot of "likes" and

user comments. The very first

Instagram ad made its debut in

November 2013 and it was an ad for

Michael Kors , a famous American

fashion designer , the pic was a pretty

close-up on a gold watch with a

caption: "5:15 PM: Pampered in Paris

#MKTimeless".

JANUARY 2014 13

SPECIAL STORY

After the ad Michael Kors gained about

34,000 new followers on Instagram 18

hours after the first of four ads were

published, according to Instagram

analytics firm Nitrogram. (It posted

bigger follower gains for the subsequent

three ads and currently it has about 1.4

million followers.)

The Ben & Jerry's picture of a man's

hand holding a pint of "Scotchy Scotch

Scotch," a limited time duration offering

inspired by the character Ron Burgundy

in a movie Anchorman currently has

reached 250,000 likes along with

upwards of 6500 comments.

14 THE MARKSMAN

Other early advertisers include Adidas,

General Electric , Ben & Jerry’s,

Burberry, , Levi’s, Lexus, Macy’s, Michael

Kors, PayPal.

But just like its parent company

Facebook once faced, Instagram will

now be charged with explaining what

value those likes and follows actually

generate. There are already surveys on

behalf of advertisers to a group of users

who have seen the ad, as well as a group

of people that hasn't for gauging metrics

like ad recall and brand visibility,

according to an Instagram

spokesman. Instagram won't disclose the

reach of its ads a bit unlike we see in

Facebook now, where for a post by a

Facebook Page, the admin of that page

can actually see the reach in terms of

number of users who saw that particular

post, but for Instagram the reach would

considerably be based on the number of

likes the ads rack up. Ads on Instagram

are designed to support brands focused

on reaching large audiences with

memorable, high quality content. This

aligns with the way people and brands

already use Instagram – sharing photos

and videos that capture moments,

inspire others, make or shift

perceptions.

SPECIAL STORY

To keep up with the app's aesthetic, high

image quality is assured high and

Instagram has put in place a review

process where every ad is evaluated

before it becomes eligible to be put in

front of users. In order to lure other

clients, Instagram also published case

studies of the initial campaigns it did for

the like of Levi’s, Ben & Jerry’s explaining

how the campaigns were a massive

success in creating brand awareness.

Certainly the reach claimed for

Instagram’s initial ads is quite impressive.

Of the two brands for which Instagram

shared initial data the company says:

Levi’s reached 7.4 million over a nine-

day campaign that targeted users

between ages 18 & 34, while

Ben & Jerry’s reached 9.8 million over an

eight-day campaign targeting users

between 18 and 35

From these results, advertising with

Instagram does seem to be very

effective, but it would be too early to

say that it is going to be a hot trend in

the future as well because the concept is

nascent .They say that a picture is worth

a thousand words, Instagram and the

brands look forward to capitalize on this

very fact but they will have to make sure

that they don’t spoil the users overall

experience of their beloved application.

JANUARY 2014 15

MARKETING FAUX PASTata Nano

16 THE MARKSMAN

“A man buys a car for what he wants to

be”. If I asked you, what’s the first thing that

comes to your mind when you think of a

Tata Nano, you are most likely to say, ‘the

cheapest car’. And most definitely one

doesn’t want to be ‘cheap’. This is the

biggest error made by the Tata group in its

positioning due to which they couldn’t

achieve their sales projections.

Tata Nano was a revolutionary concept and

an engineering marvel. It was being widely

discussed amongst people, even on national

TV much before its launch. This magnificent

creation’s future scope in the Auto industry

was eagerly looked forward to as people

believed it would bring in a great

transformation.

Tata Nano vis-a-vis Volkswagen Beetle was

unable to live up to the intended image of

‘an adorable family car’ due to the

loopholes in its marketing strategy. Beetle

on the other hand like Tata Nano priced at

the rate of a small motorcycle was

successful in positioning itself as intended.

The nexus of the price and positioning of

Nano was a precursor to a fizzled market

presence. Their target market, Indian

middle class look for cheap cars but not

cars that seem cheap and they are willing

to pay slightly more for a car that has an

upmarket image. This is the biggest

reason why they couldn’t lucidly put forth

the concept of ‘people’s car’.

Several consumer research surveys

conclude that for Indians, cars are luxury

items, hence, they would not like to

compromise on them. Cars are also

considered to be a testament of one’s

status symbol and Nano doesn’t stand to

be a status symbol if its USP is being the

cheapest car. Nano was considered as an

upgrade on a two wheeler for a family of

four. On the contrary, such households

aspired to move to something better and

not cheaper.

Also known as, the One Lakh car, it didn’t

quite cost that much for a very long time.

Due to an increase in the input costs, the

cost of the car also increased. The company

did attempt to give an explanation for the

same. However, it didn’t work out well with

the consumers. As a result, it continued to

be referred to as a One Lakh car.

Contributing to the flaw of price fixation of

Tata Nano, was the spread of drawbacks of

such a cheap car. The Tata group was unable

to control the widespread talks about the

car such as it lacked safety. Just then fuel

was added to the fire quite literally as few

cars actually caught fire. The company didn’t

make much effort to gain back the

confidence of the consumers.

After the disappointing sales, Tata Nano is

now trying to transform the ‘people’s car’

into ‘cool people’s car’ by adding a sound

system with four speakers, dual glove boxes

and improved interiors and a refurbished

exterior. Also the powerful AC and the

colors along with the classic adage of better

fuel efficiency are being positioned as the

differentiators that have helped its sales.

They also raised the price of the cars and

kick started a new marketing campaign to

cover up for all the mess. The campaign has

hit television spots and they show young

people dancing, ‘celebrating awesomeness’

as the tagline states. Now, the Tata group is

also considering to launch Nano in a whole

avatar in other South Asian countries like

Indonesia, where no stigma of being the

cheapest car exists. The whole idea is to

bring it back in India with an entirely new

image altogether.

Tata Nano tried to capture bottom of

the pyramid because of its promise of a

massive potential consuming mass

having low expectations and little

competition. But this concept went

awry due to its failure in consumer

behavior assessment. Let’s look ahead

as to how Tata Nano plans to surprise

us with a new and effective marketing

strategy this time.

MARKETING FAUX PAS

JANUARY 2014 17

KEJRIWAL USING NEW MARKETING TOOLS: ITS IMPACT ON THE AUDIENCE

FEATURED ARTICLES

18 THE MARKSMAN

Mounts & heaps of articles have been

written on Arvind Kejriwal and his

phenomenal rise to power riding on an

infant political party capturing India’s

capital with brilliant and well executed

set of tasks and tools. It would

certainly not be an exaggeration to

suggest that Delhi’s new Chief Minister

has come to power by sensing the

rising social media platform and

effectively utilizing it to spread

ideologies and core strengths to the

masses. Gone are the days when

political parties can afford to ignore or

belittle the power of the social media

as well as well-planned PR stunts to

capture the imagination of the

increasingly knowledgeable and well-

informed voters. The IIT tag and a stint

in the Revenue department would

certainly suggest that Mr Kejriwal was

academically gifted as well as

reasonably exposed to the working of

a Government organisation. In

hindsight this would certainly would a

stepping stone towards embracing a

life of a social activist and a political

leader.

There have been numerous fringe

parties across the nation consisting

of renowned personalities & social

activists contesting in elections as

well as putting forward demands

for a ‘cleaner more efficient

Government’, but Mr Kejriwal’s

Aam Aadmi Party certainly was the

first to gain prominence in national

media as well as win enough seats

in an election to be able to

leverage formation of a

Government in Delhi, with the

support of the decades old

established Congress party who

had ruled Delhi for the previous

three consecutive terms. Apart

from the limelight he had received

from associating himself with Anna

Hazare in the Lokpal Movement,

Kejriwal had also initiated various

ways to involve the common in all

activities as well as policy making

decisions once he had decided to

start a political party

FEATURED ARTICLES

Some people might say that the steps

which were thereby taken might seem

excessive or unnecessary, but to a keen

eye it is all a well thought out marketing

strategy akin to a company raising the

brand value of its products in the eyes of

the customers thereby achieving desired

targets.

Marketing tool wizards –

Kejriwal & Modi

Years from now, Narendra Modi & Arvind

Kejriwal would be known as the pioneers

in amalgamating social media and political

rallying to great effect. It wouldn’t be

surprising to find Harvard case studies in

their names and the various marketing

tools they had used. The one aspect they

had backed upon was the increased level

of involvement with the public as well as

an image of easy accessibility which

would be bought about by being active

on the web.

Mr Modi’s website can be said to be one

of the most interactive political websites

in the world with blogs, regional

networks, online discussions, debates as

well as a provision to make

appointments with the Chief Minister

himself. Mr Kejriwal had also taken a leaf

from the Modi book of digital

interaction and took it a step further by

organising rallies, taking extensive

feedbacks in cases of minor as well as

JANUARY 2014 19

major party decisions as well as replying

to almost all the feedbacks and

suggestions received, which is no easy

feat. Asking for the public opinion about

formation of Government in Delhi was a

brilliant move which served two

purpose. One was to offset statements

made earlier regarding no possibility of

taking or giving support to any political

party, least of all the Congress; and

secondly to give a sense of

empowerment to the people and make

FEATURED ARTICLES

20 THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES

them feel as if it was their personal

opinion taken into consideration in

making such a huge decision. Call it a

sure-shot PR stunt whose result was not

in much doubt, or call it a stroke of

genius, it worked. Mr Kejriwal currently

warms the seat of the Delhi Chief

Minister’s office. Mr Modi has his sights

set on the top seat.

Future of Social ChangeIt would be interesting to imagine how

the future of social change would be.

Needless to say, the digital world has

bought about a revolution which has

changed the world political & social

landscape. From the Arab spring to the

multitudes of scandals which have put

mighty powers to shame, the future

undoubtedly would be in favour of those

who manage to ride the social media

wave. This complemented with a host of

ground events, discussion forums,

charitable & social events has worked

wonders for quite a few in our country.

Corruption, injustice, inequality, poverty,

illiteracy – the issues all remain the same,

but the road taken to tackle them have

changed. The press and the World Wide

Web have been for long associated with

character assassination as well as a

medium to spit fire on opponents and

dissidents and spread rumours in jest or

in pure spite, that aspect hasn’t really

changed much.

What has changed is the advent of a fewsmart and adaptable personalities whohave utilised this tremendous resourceto their advantage and in marketingjargon, raised their brand equity.

OCTOBER 2013 21

Author

Akhil Suresh

NMIMS, Mumbai

20 THE MARKSMAN28 THE MARKSMANJANUARY 2014 21

Tesco-Tata-Trent,The Road ahead!

FEATURED ARTICLES

“Our understanding of the Indian market

coupled with Tesco’s unparalleled global

retail expertise will allow us to leverage the

tremendous potential of the market to the

benefit of all stakeholders”

- Noel Tata,Trent’sVice-Chairman

Business Model

Currently Trent operates 16 outlets

across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat,

and Tamil Nadu. The Joint Venture will

operate in India through a chain of

stores under various banners,

including Star Bazaar, Star Daily and Star

Market with a tag line ‘A Tata and Tesco

Enterprise’. Till now, Tesco had sold only

a few FMCG products in Trent's

hypermarket chain. The new

hypermarket model would offer 12

categories of products consisting of

cereals, snacks, textiles, footwear,

crockery, furniture and electronic

equipment etc with substantial discount

offers.

“Small Opportunities are often the

beginning of great enterprises”.

Tata Group’s retail business Trent

Hypermarket Limited runs in a discount

format under the brand name Star Bazaar.

Tesco, the world’s third largest grocery &

general merchandise retailer, has proposed

for a joint venture with existing partner

Trent, and applied for a 50 % stake in the

company’s unit. Tesco would invest $110

million in the India market for front-end

multi-brand retail stores and extend its

back-end and wholesale support franchise

agreement with Trent. On 30th Dec, 2013

Tesco has become the first global retailer to

get approval from the Foreign Investment

Promotion Board after the government

allowed 51% FDI in multi-brand retail. It has

the first mover advantage over global rival

Wal-Mart which split with its local partner

Bharti Enterprises. An investment from a big

brand like Tesco would set an example and

encourage other global companies to invest

in the Indian market.

22 THE MARKSMAN

FEATURED ARTICLES

The joint venture with Tesco would

enable Trent to provide world class

shopping experience to customers, as

they will have an access to Tesco’s retail

expertise and technical know-how. The

FDI policy would require Tesco to invest

in the backend infrastructure like

packaging, storage and warehouses,

logistics etc.

Challenges

The opposition faced by FDI from small

stores and their suppliers is to deter the

rapid expansion of big, modern retailers.

They complain that they cannot compete

with prices of big retailers. The Indian

supply chain and transportation of huge

stock to different stores through Indian

roads is a challenge which would lead to

wastage.

Road ahead

Most of the products sold at Star Bazaar

come from big suppliers. In the future

fresh food and staples will be sourced

from local suppliers (mandatory 30 per

cent sourcing from micro, small and

medium enterprises according to FDI

policy) and Tesco’s international sourcing

team will be tapped for products

whenever required. Supply-chain poses a

major challenge to Trent. The plan is to

develop a business model suiting the

local market using market research and

then scale up the number of stores.

Currently they have a modest plan to

open 5-10 stores a year and 50 stores in

5 years in the long run. It plans to

expand into Andhra Pradesh, Assam,

Haryana, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Daman

& Diu and Dadar & Nager Havelli. At

present, foreign direct investment in

retail stores is allowed in only 11 states

and union territories in India. Tesco has

to handle political uncertainties, as FDI

is not allowed in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu

where Trent stores are located.

Concerns of a reversal in FDI decision

by a change in government at the center

in 2014 could put investments in a huge

risk.

Fig: States in favor or against FDI in

multi Brand retail. Source: Deloitte

JANUARY 2014 23

FEATURED ARTICLES

Despite the political opposition and

ambiguous investment rules, the $500

billion Indian retail sector is a promising

opportunity. According to a report from

A T Kearney the Global retail

development Index of India is ranked

fifth after Brazil, China, Chile and Uruguay.

Investment commission of India has

forecasted a growth of retail sector to

$660 billion by 2015. Only 8% is

organized retail and the remaining 92% is

unorganized retail. The organized retail is

estimated to grow at a rate of 25% over

the next five years. Higher disposable

incomes, technology and lifestyle trends,

rising consumerism are some of the key

drivers for growth in organized retail. The

current major competitors in the

organized retail segment are Future

group, Reliance retail and Aditya Birla

Retail.

“India, one of the fastest growing economies in

the world, presents its own challenges but is an

exciting opportunity. The incomes and

expectations of consumers have changed

dramatically in the last five years and will

continue to do so.”

- Trevor Masters,Tesco's Asia Head

The Benefits of the joint venture will be

seen over a period of time. The initial phase

would be to assess the demand, prepare a

strategy for local market and set up

operational capabilities. In the long run

there would be significant improvement in

the infrastructure, supply chain and product

standards. Transparency in the supply chain

will be established as direct procurement

from farmers will eliminate the middlemen

who restrict competition.

24 THE MARKSMAN

8%

92%

Retail Industry % Share

Organized

Unorganized

Author

Snigdha Kondat

NMIMS, Mumbai

Hallmark Campaign

P&G - #ThankyouMom

The story of Sachin Tendulkar actually began when his elder brother Ajitspotted the talent in the young star and assisted him to the coaching centres. Same is the case with other athletes or any other famous person. The talent, the spark, whatever we call it is mostly discovered by the family. Consumer goods giant P&G took this idea forward with its new instalment of the "Thank You, Mom" campaign.Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi this year. P&G has created a short film which portrays the stories of 4 athletes mom’s from around the world, showing their journeys, their hardships, their dreams and the roles they play along the way. Conceptualised by advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy, the commercial is released as a sequel for February's Sochi Winter Olympics. Published on January 5, the video has received more than one million views before this article was written.

JANUARY 2014 25

As part of the campaign, P&G is sending $1,000 Visa gift cards to each of the 357 Olympic athletes' moms, intended to help them travel to Sochi. P&G did a similar campaign in the London winter Olympics 2012. It constituted a short film called ‘Best Job’ which debuted before London Olympics 2012 and garnered 21 million views.Building on the momentum from that campaign they have created this campaign and titled ‘Pick them Back up’. The film also features music created by the same world-renowned composer from "Best Job," Ludovico Einaudi. Known for his emotive and effortlessly lyrical music, Einaudi's new composition evokes the love, passion and commitment that moms have for their children. In 2012, Olympic Games athletes and hopefuls were shown sharing their stories and how their moms and close ones had shaped their dreams. That ad won the Emmy for Best Primetime Commercial, as well as two Gold Lions and three Silver Lions at Cannes.

The 9th SIMSR Global Marketing

Conference was conducted by SIMSR in

association with College Of Business &

Public Administration, California State

University, San Bernardino, USA & The

Management University of Africa. The

event was sponsored by DRAFTFCB

+ULKA, Godavari Biorefineries and

Euromonitor International.

As a precursor to the event, the college

hosted a CEO Dinner for city’s top

industrialists and marketers at ITC Grand

Central where the 9th SGMC was

inaugurated with much gusto in the

presence of the much eminent service

marketing personality, Prof A Parasuraman.

He is the James W. McLamore Chair in

Marketing, Professor, and Department

Chair, Marketing at University of Miami.

9th SIMSR Global Marketing Conference

ReWIND

This marketing conclave played host to

industry czars and academicians and

research scholars who shared their

papers on diverse subjects ranging from

brand management to rural marketing.

The theme this year was

“Ubiquitous Marketing Unwiring

Consumers….Rewriting

rulebooks”

26 THE MARKSMAN

ReWIND

Our chief guest of honor, Prof.

Parasuraman elucidated the concept of

this year’s theme very effectively to the

audience, emphasizing on the reasons

why service providers should in

particular catch up to this trend. Day 1

saw a workshop being conducted by Prof

Parsu for executives and our SIMSR

professors. Here, he shared his

contribution to the world of service

marketing. The inaugural function also

saw Mr. Sumanta Datta (VP, Company

Bottling Operations-Coca Cola India)

sharing his immense knowledge & insights

of his rich domain knowledge. After a

series of informative and detailed

presentations, the 9th Global conference

came to an end with an intriguing panel

discussion on “Doing business in Africa”.

The panel saw revered industrialists and

businessmen viz. Mr. Satyam Prakash, Dr.

Manendra Sahu and Mr. Anil Balani. They

discussed on the brighter prospects of

setting up business in Africa and the

immense unseen benefits of doing the

same. The panel discussion marked the

end of this 3 days saga with many

recalling the event as a success.

Mr. Sumanta Datta

Mr. Satyam Prakash

Prof. Goetz Greve Marketing Department - SIMSR

28 THE MARKSMANJANUARY 2014 27

SquAreheaD

28 THE MARKSMANJANUARY 2014 2728 THE MARKSMAN

Answers: -

1.Apple 2. Skype 3. The coffee bean 4. Chipotle 5. 7Eleven

2.6. Carrefour.

BUZZ

DOWN:

1. Which logo is made by Ronald Wayen ,

the 3rd co founder of that company?

4. Award winning 2012 ad of this

company was followed by the famous

‘scarecrow’

6. Worlds 2nd largest retail store in

terms revenue and 3rd largest in terms of

profit(after Wal mart and tesco)

4

5

6

1

3

2

Clues: -

ACROSS:

2. In 2005 , Ebay acquired which

company and 6 years later sold it again.

3. This American coffee company

celebrated its 50th anniversary

5. 7am to 11pm, 7 days a week

28 THE MARKSMAN28 THE MARKSMANJANUARY 2014 29

Call for ARTICLES

CALL FOR ARTICLES February 2014

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

*Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all references are

clearly mentioned.

The best adjudged article will be given a Winner’s Certificate.

Deadline for the submission of article will be : 20th February, 2014

1. One article can have only one author.

2. Your article should be approximately 800-850

words and MUST be replete with relevant

pictures that can be used to enhance the

article.

3. FontType: Gill Sans MT

4. Font Size: 14.

5. Send your article in .doc/.docx format to

marksman.simsr@somaiya.edu

6. Subtitle line: Your name_Institute

Name_CourseYear

7. Kindly name your file as : Your name_Topic

1. Brands like CCD exploring chat apps for

connecting with customers.

2. How personalities create a stir in the digital

space. (read- Alok Nath)

3. Star India's serious entry into Indian sports-

partnering Indian hockey and cricket.

JANUARY 2014 2930 THE MARKSMAN

To subscribe to "The Marksman",

Follow the link:-

http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/

the-marksman.html

OR drop in a mail/contact us at :

interface.newsletter@gmail.com

Subject line: Subscribe: Your

Name_Institute Name_Course

Year

Follow us at:

http://www.facebook.com/simsr.in

terface

http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/

the-marksman.htm

Website:

http://interfacesimsr.weebly.com/t

he-marksman.html

THE TEAMTWEETS by

Dylan Menezes

It’s all about AD-itude by

Aman Dua

Brand MARK ive by

Shweta Pannikar

COVER STORY by

Asheeb Singh Raina

SPECIAL STORY by

Kapil Maggo

HALLMARK CAMPAIGN by

Alakh Krishnani

BOOKWORM by

Megha Gupta

SquAreheaD by

Prashanti Kasinathan

BUZZ by

MeeraThacker

FAUX PAS by

Niharika Srivastava

ReWind by

Ritika Bramhe

PROOF READ by

Asheeb Singh Raina

Dylan Menezes

DESIGNING by

Parth Shah

Niharika Srivastava

Aman Dua

PROMOTIONS by

Kapil Maggo

Ishaan Srivastava

The MARKSMAN is the

newsletter of INTERFACE, the

Marketing Club at K.J. Somaiya

Institute of Management Studies

and Research, Mumbai.

Images used in THE

MARKSMAN are subject to

copyright. THE MARKSMAN

does not take any responsibility

of any kind of plagiarism in the

articles received from students

of other colleges.

The TEAM

28 THE MARKSMAN28 THE MARKSMANJANUARY 2014 31