MARKATHON

APRIL 11
MARKETING MAGAZINE OF IIM SHILLONG VOL 2, ISSUE 12

COVER STORY

SPECIAL: MARTIN LINDSTROM, AUTHOR & BRAND FUTURIST

INTERVIEW: VIVEK MEHRA, MD & CEO, SAGE, SOUTH ASIA

 FROM THE EDITOR
Dear Readers,
It is that time of the year again, when the B-schools
students find themselves undergoing the Summer
Internship, exploring the world of marketing on a first
hand basis for probably the first time. The experience is
surely going to be one filled with learning and
understanding how the ground reality is different from
what we’ve read in our books- Kotler and the likes.
The one question that was on all
Media Buying companies, WC or IPL,
seems to have been answered for
now. The IPL viewership figures have
not been very encouraging
compared to the WC which was a
runaway hit. Maybe the latter part
of the IPL might see some better
Our March 2011
Cover numbers.
Our cover story for this month is on Brand India. Much
has been talked about how India is emerging as a brand
after liberalisation. In our story we explore what Brand
India means and how it is evolving. We dig deep to
identify the meaning of a Country brand and the origin of
the term Brand India. We also look at how the
Government is working for Brand India as well as what it
has done for the ‘Aam Aadmi’ of the country. I am sure
you will find the story a fascinating and informative read.
In this month’s Vartalaap we have a very special guest,
Mr. Vivek Mehra who is the MD and CEO of Sage
Publications India Ltd. He gives us a wonderful interview
running us through the world of publishing and also SAGE
publications’ Legends of Marketing Series.
Happy Reading!
Jitesh
Jitesh Pradeep Patel

One campaign that has caught my eye during the IPL has
been that of Cadbury’s rejuvenated “Kuch Meetha ho
Jaaye” one. It is a very smart move by Cadbury which is THE MARKATHON TEAM
trying to position Dairy Milk as a post mean dessert snack
which might reap rich dividends. This moves away from EDITOR
the normal positioning as a chocolate for special
Jitesh Pradeep Patel
occasions and festivals.

Markathon has always strived to bring you the best SUB EDITORS
analysis and content related to the domain of marketing.
Gaurav Ralhan
In continuation with this singular objective, Markathon is
proud to announce that we are starting a brand new Kaustubh Rawool
feature from this edition. We have Mr. Martin Lindstrom, Rahul Mantri
Bestselling author and premier Brand Consultant, giving Ritika Nagar
us his wonderful insights about Brands and buying Sria Majumdar
behaviour of consumers. In this month’s edition, we
feature his thought provoking article, Smash Your Brand,
which talks about how a brand’s logos should be designed CREATIVE DESIGNERS
to maintain its identity even when smashed into pieces. Yashwanth Reddy Mandipati
We are bringing this feature as syndication in association Sana Parvez Akhtar
with The Martin Lindstrom Company Ltd. Markathon
thanks them for giving us access to the wonderful article
base.

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 markathon | april 2011
CONTENTS

FEATURED ARTICLES

STRATEGIC ANALYSIS
Facebook: An Imminent Threat to Traditional Cinema Halls?
DR. PREETI KRISHNAN |IBS BANGALORE
4
PERSPECTIVE
Social Media Marketing: A new dawn in Marketing Revolution
MANSI GUPTA | DELHI SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
7
SPECIAL
MARTIN LINDSTROM, AUTHOR OF BUYOLOGY AND BRAND SENSE 10
COVER STORY
BRAND INDIA
SANA AKHTAR |SRIA MAJUMDAR|RAHUL MANTRI| IIM S 14
VARTALAAP
VIVEK MEHRA
MD & CEO, SAGE, SOUTH ASIA 18
WAR ZONE
EYE 2 EYE
Amul in increasingly looking beyond Gujarat for procuring its Milk needs. Do you think this
will add to their huge success story or is it taking a wrong step moving out of its core zone?
21
ANEESH DUBEY|IIT DELHI, NEHA GARG| IIM S

22
SILENT VOICE
The Launch of Minute Maid 100% Juice by Coca Cola after success in Minute Maid Nimbu
Fresh and Pulpy Orange

SPECIALS
ADDICTED
GAURAV RALHAN
23
24
RADICAL THOUGHTS
JITESH PRADEEP PATEL

UPDATES
KAUSTUBH
25

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strategic analysis
Facebook: An Imminent Threat to Traditional
Cinema Halls?
Dr. Preeti Krishnan | IBS Bangalore
Did you hear about Warner Brothers’ decision to offer
few of their movies on Facebook? No, not just a few
clips/teasers from their movies – we are discussing
streaming of full-length motion films! We are certainly
living in exciting times – the world’s biggest social
networking site preparing to air movies!
So, Facebook is geared up to serve as a distribution
channel for movies using a rental revenue model.
Though this process will initially witness just a few
movies being aired, it can be expected that, over time,
the economies garnered by using this channel would
woo many other film producers and distributors as
well. Are we, then, standing at the threshold of the
beginning of the end of the
traditional cinema halls as we
know them today?
Facebook as a Formidable
Marketing Channel
Forrester Research has
estimated that $ 716 million
would be spent on social media
in 2011 which would grow to $ 3.1 billion in 2014. At
that juncture, social media is predicted to be a bigger
marketing channel than both email and mobile. And
since Facebook is the biggest and most popular
amongst social networking sites (after all, if Facebook
were a country, with over 600 million users, it would be
the third most populous one after China and India!), all
traditional channels of distribution would perhaps need
to start preparing their survival strategies.
Facebook’s Impact on the Film Distribution Model
Movies are primarily channelized to viewers through
domestic theatres, overseas theatres, home videos, and
cable and satellite rights. For instance, industry
estimates and Price Waterhouse Cooper analyses have
forecasted (for 2011) India’s domestic theatres to
markathon | april 2011
garner Rs. 108.9 billion, overseas theatres Rs. 14 billion,
home videos Rs. 11.3 billion, and cable and satellite
rights Rs. 13 billion. Of these four, clearly, domestic box
office is the biggest earner for the film industry.
However, in terms of the CAGR, home videos segment
is predicted to grow the most (25% CAGR 2009-13)
followed by collections from international theatres
(12.5% CAGR 2009-13). A recent analysis by KPMG too
has also confirmed this by revealing that the Indian film
industry has witnessed positive changes in terms of an
increase in the availability of organized funding, growth
in the number of multiplex screens, and
favor in the international markets
translating to good overseas box office
collections.
While these four channels of
exhibiting movies have brought
in growth for the industry (~ 11%
per annum), these have also
experienced problems in terms of
not-so-infrequent producer-
distributor-exhibitor conflicts
over revenue sharing. Such
conflicts result in delays, extra costs,
and loss for the industry. Therefore, when Facebook
steps forward to offer lower costs of distribution and
(consequently) better revenues for producers, the
industry would go through a certain degree of
disintermediation causing the primary distribution
channel for movies to take a beating.
Figure 1 below highlights the traditional film
distribution model as well as the non-traditional
mediator ‘Facebook’. As can be seen, by circumventing
the channels involving film distributors and exhibitors,
Facebook can lead to a drastic change in the way films
are distributed, especially if producers make a switch to
such online sites.
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strategic analysis
Figure 1: Film Industry Distribution Model
Film Producers
Film Distributors
Film Exhibitors
Domestic Theatres Overseas Theatres
Film Viewers
Indians’ Growing Demand for Movies
The Indian film industry is one of the largest in the
world. Every year, it releases over 1,000 movies and
attracts over 3 billion movie goers to the theatres
(regardless of language of the movies). This indicates
that we Indians not only enjoy and love movies but also
demand them, regardless of which ‘wood’ (Holly, Bolly,
etc.) these originate from.
To address the ever-present demand, the number of
multiplex screens in India has definitely increased over
the few years. In 2005, it was reported that India had
about 340 screens, and by 2010 this has shot up to
1,000.
However, the majority of us still regularly watch movies
on VCDs or DVDs. The Juxt Indian Urbanites 2009 Study
reported that 59% of SEC ‘A’ and SEC ‘B’, 65% of SEC ‘C’,
68% of SEC ‘D’, and a whopping 85% of SEC ‘E’ regularly
watch movies on VCDs/DVDs (of course, the report
does not mention if these are original copies or pirated
ones!). The same study also found that close to 60% of
respondents (SEC ‘A’ to SEC ‘D’) listed cinemas/films
amongst their top 5 hobbies and interests.
The growth in the number of screens as well as the
home videos segment will enable the demand of the
markathon | april 2011
Facebook
Home Videos Cable & Satellite
market for movies viewing and reviewing to be met and
to constantly grow.
Four Issues to Contend With
So, we see that the film industry is growing, social
media marketing channels are becoming main-stream,
there is growing demand for movies, Facebook is the
3rd largest country in terms of users, etc. Nevertheless,
ultimately, it is the ‘content’ of a movie that will pull
audiences to the theatres or encourage them to
buy/rent a home video or watch on cable/satellite TV.
Therefore, one issue – a critical one – to contend with is
that even Facebook cannot help a poorly-crafted movie.
When the content of a movie is weak or uninteresting,
viewers won’t patronize it.
Another issue is that movies have other substitutes
during certain seasons. For instance in India, during the
Cricket World Cup, IPL, etc. movie ticket or home video
sales are found to go through a slump. Similarly, during
the FIFA World Cup or Olympics or other similar widely
viewed shows, the film industry is hit. Using Facebook
as the exhibitor does not guarantee alleviation from the
seasonal slumps.
Studies indicate that piracy is a Rs. 20 billion market in
India alone and its share of the home video market is
only increasing. Online watching of movies through
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strategic analysis markathon | april 2011

Facebook will definitely find newer challenges in terms

of growth of pirates, hackers, torrents, leaks, etc. Unless Warner Bros’ Movies On Facebook
the social media giant puts in solid technical systems in
place, producers might air only those movies which are
old or not very popular – which then begs the question,
why Facebook? Why not air such movies through their
private channels on YouTube or Google Videos?

Are the bonds that exist amongst the producers,

distributors, and exhibitors so weak that a networking
site like Facebook can really disintermediate the deeply-
entrenched traditional channel? Can economies
override relationships? Will the parties allow such a
phenomenon? Only time will reveal.

In Conclusion

Warner Brothers has very recently added five more

popular movies on its streaming rental service on
Facebook. This has further intensified the competition
in the online world of renting out movies. If Facebook
proves to be better than other movie-rental sites on the
Internet, we will see more producers joining in the
disintermediation bandwagon.

CAVEAT (especially for us, marketers): Do not look at

the Internet as merely a new medium… but as a new
economy, as a new paradigm for doing business. The
full potential of the Internet has not been tapped in
terms of profitability. But as Paul A. Samuelson, the
noted economist, said, “Sooner or later it will become
profitable. It's an old story played before by canals,
railroads and automobiles.”

Exciting days ahead…

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perspective
Social Media Marketing: A new dawn in Marketing Revolution?
Mansi Gupta | Delhi School of Economics
In eight months of its grand opening at Gurgaon,
Kingdom of Dreams, a unique cultural hotspot in India,
has garnered a popularity that only a few would have
thought of. A close look at its Facebook page and the
fan numbers bear testimony to the fact. Over 130,000
fans discussing their experiences at the cultural
galleries, making others go gung-ho about visiting the
place.
A similar assessment of Facebook page of Pizza Hut with
over 850,000 fans provides new food for thought.
Latest World Cup Campaigns, and posts flooded with
patrons going gaga over the new
items on the menu, provide a
perfect launch pad for every
marketer’s aspirations of connecting
to millions at a time.
And these are only a few of the
millions of such success stories, marking an onset of a
new dawn in the Marketing Revolution,
to what is now called the “Social
Media Marketing”. It is not a
phoenix that has risen out of the ashes all of a sudden,
but an outcome of diligent efforts of companies
branding in the digital world.
Gone will be the days when marketers would be
worrying about jostling with the competitors in the real
time market arena. Not far will be the times when they
shall be going berserk with anxiety over the dwindling
fan followings at public portals like Facebook and
Twitter. Is it the beginning of what will be known as a
“Social Media War?” Howsoever it may be termed, but
it surely is a trend that is here to stay for times to come,
and shall only delve deeper and deeper in the grounds
of virtual market space.
Broadly defined, Social Media Marketing involves
branding and building customer relations over new
media channels that primarily include advertising over
markathon | april 2011
Internet, through public portals. But, this is only one of
the many facets of it!
Another subset of Social Media Marketing is the
concept of Crowd Sourcing, which revolves around
close consumer engagement, taking inputs from those
who are to be targeted. This is perhaps what Unilever
wanted when it decided to source consumer generated
advertising content in April, last year and decided to
give away 70,000 GBP in prizes. Same is the case with
Starbucks with over 20,000,000 fans at
Facebook, taking public polls and ideas
and in the process retaining a large
pool of loyalists.
So, the question
that arises is that why every marketer is
vying to be ahead of all in this rat race?
The answer lies in the changing trends of
Consumer Decision Model, which
governs the laws of consumer
engagement. It was not many years ago that the
principle of the famous Funnel Metaphor decided the
consumer engagement strategies of firms. Based on the
premise that consumers narrow down from many
brands that they see and get to know to fewer, and
then, eventually final choice, the metaphor was the
holy Bible of the marketers then.
But with the advent of digital age, the metaphor used
traditionally by marketers to build on recall value and
awareness strategies around the visible points at the
periphery of the funnel, failed to realize why consumer
engagement shifts.
Today the internet with 1,966,514,816 users worldwide,
which shows a steady 28.7% penetration (per cent of
world population), as per World Internet Usage and
Population Statistics, cites why the digital success story
is going strong and registering a phenomenal growth.
And this is the reason, why more and more companies
felt the need to mark their presence in this virtual
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perspective
market arena, roaring to be captured and tamed. So,
what are the new rules of the Game? Is it a new kind of
consumer involvement model that is based on the
concept of the loyalty loop? Is it the one that draws
strength from the concept of Buy-enjoy-advocate and
bond? So, are we not looking at a concept which starts
right from the time the consumer buys the product and
keeps them coming back? Well, the answer to all these
questions is an outright YES!
These are essentially the stages in the Model of Social
Media Marketing. Well, now the question arises that
how well this model is able to justify the growing needs
of businesses to go online, where their target audience
is waiting for them to open the doors and embrace the
buzz! Does it not hinting towards the effectiveness of
Social Media Marketing? Well, Yes!
Social Media Marketing is generally not taken up by the
companies as a Standalone Branding Strategy. Often, it
is undertaken as a Complementary medium to the
traditional push marketing approach and advertising,
with intent to catch the customers once they log off
from the traditional media like the TV or the print
media advertisements. To put it simply, the link to
social media in a business’ traditional advertisement is a
way of saying, “See you there”! So, it is right to say that
the job of Social Media Marketing starts from where the
traditional marketing ends, and not only this, it sews
the loose ends left in the traditional campaign.
This is justified with a wholesome experience that we
get when we select the phone model that we wish to
purchase, and the Company website plays the role of a
nearby retail store. Merely advertising the product on
TV and print media does not ensure many eye balls
these days. And that is why, companies take special
care to meet their target audience online, where there
is no dearth of creativity that can be put to work. They
know that the consumer these days spend more time
watching stuff online than remaining glued to their
television screens. According to a study, an average
internet user spends 13 hours a week online, excluding
e-mails. However, this does not necessarily indicate that
Social Media Marketing is the only effective medium.
markathon | april 2011
Generally, it acts like a complement to garner as many
eyeballs as possible.
Now, the question arises that how Social Media
Marketing converts these eyeballs to potential
customers for the businesses? It also leads one to think
that is it not too dangerous a thing, considering it leaves
the business open to criticism and negative publicity?
Well, Social Media Marketing can be considered as a
double edged sword, a tool that opens myriad of
opportunities to businesses, but may also present
unanticipated events in store, that may go off the track.
So, it is up to the marketer how to carefully cut through
the competition, to make himself heard! And not just to
let the products speak, but also to let the customers be
heard. This is what ensures the retaining of the pool of
the loyalists.
So, how to ensure that an online marketing campaign
does not come under the hammer, and thus, protecting
the brand from negative publicity? One way is to
understand why it might be so. Probably, the situation
might not just be that grave, and might be warded off
with a little interference. For instance, have a look at a
hypothetical situation at the social media campaign of a
fast food chain:
Campaign says, “Time to savor sugary delights with our
new exciting range of strawberry mousse topped with
soft coconut gratings” Following are the comments
posted by users:
A: Yummy! I have tasted it and found it really good.
B: I second.
C: Waste of money! The coconut gratings with
strawberry make a poor combination. On top of that,
slow service spoiled my date.
D: I found it terribly good.
E: I second C.
…suppose a hoard of customers now try to bring on
board the criticism, and the product is losing the sheen.
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perspective
In such a situation, a little interference from the brand
saying, “We apologize for the unpleasant experience
that you might have had with our service. Did you try
our new range of dark chocolate mousse? Probably, you
might like it better than the strawberry one”. Such a
response may re-instill confidence in the patrons, and
they feel that they are being heard!
So, the point that is to be considered is that some
times, the customers are only looking for a platform to
be heard, and vent off their frustration that might come
up with an occasional bad experience with the brand or
service! So, instead of reacting immediately, it might be
advisable to wait and watch, for it may happen that the
onset of a storm may be abated by a pleasant cool
breeze of positive poll. However, a timely interference
by the monitoring team shall be made in order to make
the customers feel that they are heard and they matter!
Now, let us analyze the Social Media Marketing Model
with respect to Indian Market to explore the scope of it
in the times to come. India ranks 4 in the world in terms
of number of Internet users, after China, United States
and Japan. India has over 6% of total world’s population
of internet users, and it is only expected to grow, as per
Internet World Stats. China has 21.4%, followed by
United States (12.2%) which is followed by Japan (5%).
This shows that there is a huge scope of Social Media
Market in Indian Market. And the growing number of
brands showing successful social media presence bears
a testimony to this fact. Often businesses try more
innovative customer engagement activities online, as
witnessed by the New ICC World Cup 2011 Campaign
adopted by Pizza Hut at facebook, gauging the craze for
cricket in India. Another success story is of Pantaloons
Group with over 520,000 fans at facebook, giving daily
updates on their new collections and receiving feedback
from the patrons. And same can be observed in
services, with institutions like Career Launcher coming
up with GD/PI tips, B-school updates and quizzes to
keep the MBA aspirants hooked.
To conclude, Social Media Marketing is not only a new
wave in Marketing Revolution, but a metamorphosis of
businesses’ initiatives towards connecting to customers
digitally! It is more of a complementary activity, rather
markathon | april 2011
than a standalone strategy, which is to shine in the
times to come.
The brand’s strategy has moved on from being
production and selling oriented to being consumer
oriented. Bottled Coke improved distribution and better
bottle design improved convenience and appeal–
brought “affordability, availability and acceptability”.
But Coke figured an improvement in the same might
appeal to consumers more - contoured bottle.
The strategy now has shifted its focus to ‘3Ps’-
preference, pervasive penetration and price-related
value. It uses ads and merchandise to build emotional
attachment and has successfully developed an affinity
over a period of time. Coke welcomed astronauts to
‘the home of Coca-Cola’. Such campaigns not only
placed Coke in the ‘winning moment’ but also
emphasized the brands ‘belonging’.
It achieved brand association by playing on the interests
of its consumers– sports, entertainment and music–
hence reinforcing the association with celebration and
happiness. The latest campaign on Facebook, the
‘Expedition 206’ has three brand ambassadors trotting
the globe on a mission to find out ‘what makes people
happy’. With such promotional campaigns it attempts
to create a brand essence of optimism and
independence. The channels of communication may
have changed from a simple billboard or signage to
digital media - the message and the trademark remain
the same.
But Coke realized its biggest strength only after it
committed its biggest mistake. Coca-Cola developed
hybrid brand architecture, the driver brands and sub-
brands, along with Pepsi, ate into Coke’s market. To
make it worse, Pepsi launched a series of youth
campaigns followed by a Pepsi challenge which proved
Pepsi to have a preferred taste. Coke panicked. After an
intense market research it withdrew ‘Coke’ and
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|february
|april 2011

Martin Lindstrom
Author of Buyology and Brand Sense
MARTIN LINDSTROM is among the foremost Brand Consultants in the world today. He is a 2009 recipient of TIME
Magazine’s “World's 100 Most Influential People” and author of Buyology—Truth and Lies About Why We Buy
(Doubleday, New York), a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best–seller. A prolific traveler, Lindstrom is on
the road 300 days annually dispensing his brand of wisdom to top executives of McDonald’s Corporation, Procter &
Gamble, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Microsoft Corporation, The Walt Disney Company and GlaxoSmithKline, amongst others.
His personal global audience is estimated at over a million people. Lindstrom has and continues to feature in the
Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, TIME, The Economist, New York Times, BusinessWeek, The Washington Post, USA
Today, Fast Company, and numerous other publications. His recent book, BRAND Sense, was acclaimed by the Wall
Street Journal as “…one of the five best marketing books ever published.” Lindstrom's latest book, Buyology, has
been translated into more than 30 languages. More at martinlindstrom.com.

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Can your brand survive being smashed? It is an

MARTIN LINDSTROM
interesting exercise, which removes a logo-fixated
Smashing Your mindset and brings you closer to a philosophy valuing
all elements that create the brand that it is. Two black
Brand ears from a well-known mouse are instantly
recognizable as Disney. A Singapore girl suggests
Back in 1915 Earl R. Dean, who was working at the Root Singapore Airlines. These are only components of the
Glass Company, was given a brief to design a bottle, brand, and yet they’re unmistakable.
which firstly could be recognized in the dark. And then,
even if broken, a The trick is to create each element
person could tell at so that it’s so strong, so able to
first glance what it stand alone, yet at the same
was. time so integrated and
synergistic that it can take the
Taking his inspiration brand to a whole new level of
from the pod of the familiarity.
cocoa bean, Dean
produced a bottle To place too great an emphasis
with ridged contours. on a brand’s logo carries risks.
Least of all there is a danger of
He succeeded beyond neglecting all the other
his wildest dreams. potential brand-building
This led to the Coca- opportunities. If paid due
Cola Company’s attention, there are many other
contourization aspects that become
strategy, which used recognizable in their own right.
the shape to Colour, navigation, texture,
emphasize the very sound, shape. Even blindfolded,
brand. The bottle he you’d know you’re holding a
designed was the classic Coke bottle.
classic Coke bottle,
which has become It’s time to kill your logo
one of the most
famous glass icons Remove your logo, and what do
ever. The bottle is still you have left? This is a very
in service, still important question because a
recognizable, and brand is so much bigger than its
been passing the logo. Are the remaining
smash test for every components easily identifiable
generation over the as yours? If not, it’s time to
last 80 years. Smash Your Brand.

The Coke bottle story reveals a fascinating aspect from
a brand-building perspective, because in theory all
brands should be able to pass this sort of test. So if you
removed the logo from your brand, would it still be
recognizable? Would the copy stand up to it? Would
the colours, graphics and images standing alone pass
the text?
The Smash Your Brand philosophy considers every
possible consumer touch point with a view to build or
maintaining the image of the brand. The images, the
sounds, the tactile feelings and the text all need to
become fully integrated components in the branding
platform. Each aspect playing a role as vital as the logo
itself.

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markathon |april 2011

Knowing what you’re known for There are only a few brands that would pass the Smash
Your Brand test today. Take a moment to consider it. If
Advertising messages are increasingly cluttering our you were to remove your logo and any other textual
airwaves and print media. The average consumer is reference to your brand name, would your customers
bombarded with an astonishing 3,000 brand messages a still recognize the product as yours? Chances are that
day. As each brand fights to be heard in this cacophony you will find that without the logo and name, your
of the commercial world, it’s vital that they strike the brand loses its meaning. In order to reverse logo
perfect note to stand out. Our use of media itself has dependency, all other elements – colours, pictures,
become more sporadic. Media plays on in the sound, design and signage – must be fully integrated.
background of our busy lives, we have developed
internal filtering systems Smash Your Brand –
that help us switch off. piece by piece
This fragmentation of Smash Your Brand into 12
attention, requires different pieces. Each piece
advertising develop a totally should work independently of
integrated brand message, one another, although each is
optimising every brand still essential in the process of
signal in such a way that the establishing and maintaining a
brand becomes instantly truly smash-able brand. The
recognizable. This presents synergies created across the
the advertiser with pieces will be essential for
enormous challenges. As your brand’s success.
many as 20 per cent of the
tween generation own their Smash your picture
own cell phone, and there's
every indication that this Everything can be smashed –
number is increasing on an even your picture. Since its
annual basis. A large beginnings in 1965, the United
proportion of these phones Colours of Benetton has
are the basic variety with consistently developed a
non-colour screens, less- consistent brand style
sophisticated graphics and identifiable in any size, in any
minimal visual effects. How country and in any context. It
would your brand fare on was Benetton’s intention to
this match-box- sized develop its own unique
canvas? personality. They consider their clothing to be “An
expression of our time”. Their strategy in maintaining
The situation of media fragmentation is further this integrity has been to generate all their own images.
complicated by brand alliances. A large number – close Luciano Benetton explains, “Communication should
to 56 per cent– of all Fortune 500 companies have never be commissioned from outside the company, but
formed alliances in their communications. This fact conceived from within its heart”. Benetton is a brand
alone requires an even larger need for the that would survive smashing. The image and the design
implementation of a Smash Your Brand strategy, is its own statement and is part and parcel of the
because when two brands share one space, the need to Benetton “heart”.
convey separate values and commercial messages in a
limited 30-second spot, two logos alone simply won’t
do the job.

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Smash your shape
Shape is one of the most overlooked branding
components, even though certain shapes clearly speak
of their particular brand. Think of the bottle shapes of
Coke, Galliano or Chanel No. 5. Particular shapes have
become synonymous with certain brands. The Golden
Arches refer to McDonald’s trademark, and they’re
consistently present at every outlet in every country all
over the world.
only 13 models got through the production line with the
901 insignia, thereafter it became known as the 911.
Peugeot has held the numeric name rights for cars since
1963. The middle zero gives them a distinction that
automatically identifies their models as Peugeot – even
if you’re not able to conjure up a mental picture of a
204, or a 504.
Smashing your language

Since 1981 the shape Disney, Kellogg’s and Gillette are

of the Absolut vodka three completely different brands
bottle has been the with one thing in common. Over
primary component in the past decade they’ve
every aspect of the established a branded language.
brand and its The irony of this is that they may
communication. From not even be aware of it. Whether
fashion showsto ice coincidentally or purposefully,
hotels, footprints on our studies shows that 74 per
the beach or Northern cent of today’s consumers
lights, Absolut’s associate the word “crunch” with
inventive ads are all Kellogg’s. Another 59 per cent
based on the shape of consider the word “masculine”
the bottle. The shape and Gillette one and the same.
of the bottle is the Americans formed the strongest
shape of the brand. associations of masculinity and
Gillette – by an astounding 84 per
Smash your name cent.

Or what about smashing Every component of your brand

your name…? When the can be smashed, your language,
Porsche 911 was colours, shapes, tactile feeling –
introduced in Frankfurt even your sound or pictures.
in 1963 the model was Smashing these leads to much
called 901. The more than a characteristic brand
brochures were printed, – it creates a point of
the marketing material differentiation – impossible to
was all in place but copy by your competitors.
everything had to be Remember branding is everything
urgently changed. Much but a logo – it’s a way to add a
to Porsche’s dismay, they characteristic personality to your
discovered that Peugeot owned the rights to all three- brand including every component creating a true point
digit model numbers of any combination with a zero in of difference.
the middle, and this was non-negotiable. Fortunately
Article has been taken from www.MartinLindstrom.com with prior permission and approval from
the Martin Lindstrom Company Ltd.

13
Cover story markathon |april 2011

BRAND INDIA
Sana Akhtar, Sria Majumdar, Rahul Mantri

14
Cover story
A story that has not been told.
At least not far and wide
enough. At least not loud
enough. Yet it is a magnificent
one. India- twenty eight states,
seven union territories, 1.21
billion people, multiple
languages, widespread cultural
and religious diversity and
countless opinions- can it ever
be a single unified brand? The
story features the evolution of
Brand India, its various
dimensions and then discusses
the future of ‘Brand India’- a
brand for which, we all are
ambassadors.
markathon |april 2011
Country Brand
The strength of a country brand is
measured by the level of awareness,
familiarity, preference, consideration
and perception. However, if one really
wants to know the value of the brand,
one has to look at the attributes and the
associations of the brand. Well-branded
countries are the ones that have a better
chance at almost anything- be it winning
the bid for the World Cup, or attracting
more foreign investment- they always
have a competitive advantage. Countries
use various strategies for branding- they
use global sports to showcase the
nation, they showcase their culture and
heritage or their growth potential
through brilliant campaigns. Whether
marketing is more important, or a solid
foundation of good governance,
infrastructure and resources, in the
building of a brand is difficult to say.
However, we can safely say that both
have a very vital role to play in building a
nation brand. Country branding has
many advantages: it defines how its own
citizens as well as the rest of the world
perceive it, and it is this perception
which helps in achieving all the
economic, social and political objectives.
15
Cover story
Origin of the Term
As a country brand, Brand India existed ever since
management experts started discussing branding. In the
pre-British days, India was known for its natural
resources and wealth. Post-Independence, India was
known as the License Raj in the business world. Strict
rules and regulations made India a local brand, known
only to Indians and eyed with suspicion by the outside
world. We could not reap the full benefits of
Industrialization, but when Globalization came we went
on full throttle. Post 1991, India started growing by
leaps and bounds. More foreigners wanted to visit
India, even more desired to invest in India and the
world was forced to sit up and take notice. India has
been called the ‘BPO country’, the ‘Medical Tourism’
country, the ‘Culturally Rich’ country and recently the
‘Terrorist Attack Prone’ country. The names have
stayed, but if there is something that has stood out in
the crowd- it has been ‘Incredible India’.
Yes indeed, it was the Incredible India campaign
spearheaded by Amitabh Kant, a Kerala-cadre IAS
officer of the 1980 batch who was then a Joint
Secretary in the Tourism Ministry, which changed the
game. They say that crisis is the genesis of innovation,
and the ‘Incredible India’ campaign is a standing
example. Over the past few years, Brand India had
suffered. The world did not react well to the 1999
nuclear test conducted by the BJP-led NDA government,
there was a drastic decline in air travel post 9/11 and
people were associating India with terrorism in the
wake of the Parliament House terrorist attack. From
being a tourist unfriendly nation, Indian tourism
suddenly became the flag bearer of Brand India post
‘Incredible India’. Medical tourism and Rural tourism
grew, building the brand further. Undoubtedly, this
campaign took Brand India to another level. Brand India
was painted again, this time on the canvas of Incredible
India. We discuss more on this campaign under the
section.
Brand India- For the
Government
The Government has backed India’s branding campaign
with significant industry assistance. The opening up of
India’s markets in 1990s brought forth a huge inflow of
markathon |april 2011
investments. The flip side is that these investors looked
at India as a huge consumer base, where they could sell
their products. Branding hopes to change this and
project India as a destination where you can, not just
sell, but also produce. There is a huge need for India to
be seen as a hub for doing complete business and not
just as a market to sell.
There are various initiatives from the Government like
the Indian Brand Equity Foundation(IBEF) which has
been formed in association with the Ministry of
Commerce and the Confederation of Indian
Industry(CII). Besides being a repository of information
about a wide range of industries, it thrusts the positives
about India’s business environment and tries to build a
good perception. IBEF also launched a successful
campaign ‘India Everywhere’ at the World Economic
Forum in 2006. One look at the website and contents of
IBEF shows how seriously the Corporate World and
Government consider India’s Branding.
India – Future of Change is another such initiative which
aims ‘to take India to the world’. It is all about engaging
the world with what is going on in India and create a
bridge to ensure the smooth transition across cultures
and geographies. If one would look at IBEF as a business
oriented initiative, Future of Change encompasses
domains ranging from Education, Creative Arts, Culture,
Social Sector and the Environment. It has tie-ups with
top educational institutes in the country like IIT Bombay
and IIM Ahmedabad as Knowledge Partners.
The State Governments are not behind, they are
branding themselves and in turn helping the cause of
Brand India. A very good example is that of the ‘Vibrant
Gujarat Summit’ which has become a regular feature
attracting business corporations from within the
country and around the world. The summit aims to
bring in huge investments into the state and explore the
business opportunities available. These kinds of
summits bolster India’s case for becoming a premier
investment hub.
Tourism is another major cause being promoted by the
Government. The Incredible India campaign is a
resounding success story. The different states have
caught onto this as well and we can see them seeking to
get a slice of this pie. This branding is showcases the
rious treasures of nature India possesses and seeks to
16
Cover story
Cover story
capitalize on them. There is a still lot to be done though,
if we are to become a bigger tourist hub. The facilities in
most tourist places are far from adequate and the
Government should be working on this too, and without
this ground work, the campaigns feels hollow.
Brand India - For the Aam
Aadmi
We’ve explored how Brand India has worked for India’s
businesses. In the case of the common man, Brand India
has been a double edged sword. Its worked for the
‘aam aadmi’ in some cases and gone horribly wrong in
others. The mad rush to build multi-lane highways,
towering skyscrapers and Special Economic Zones has
put agriculture and environment on the backseat at
times.
In the race to position Indian metros as clean with
affluent environments, there have been incidents
where cities like Mumbai have indulged in removing
slum dwellers without taking effective relocation
measures. This is not a one off case, but it has been
repeated with minor differences in other parts of the
country. The city of Delhi seemed to be under a siege
when the work for Commonwealth Games 2010 was on
going. There was no concern shown for the common
public because the Games were ‘bigger’ than the
common man.
There were also reports of food grains being reserved
for export to keep up India’s image and standing as an
exporter when there wasn’t enough supply available to
meet domestic demand. These sensitive issues need to
be handled in a proper manner and ensure that the
common man benefits from Brand India as well as
contributes to its success. The Branding has to be an
inclusive one and not involve alienating its own citizens.
At the end of the day, it is the common man who is the
true ambassador of Brand India. If he grows, the brand
grows. Else it will just be show without substance, and
Brand India will not sustain its glory for long.
Through the Looking Glass
Predicting the future is always difficult, and we do so
with optimism in our hearts and fire in our bellies. India
today is poised for growth and -with rising consumer
markathon |april 2011
markathon |april 2011
spending, growth of services, Indian manufacturing
trying to establish itself on the global platform, rising
literacy level with large pool of graduates,
infrastructural and communication network growth etc-
experts say that India is in the same state that China
was in 10 years ago.
However, when one talks about China, a picture of a
closed and uninviting country is painted, with an
authoritarian government. This is an effect of country
branding, and it is similar to the case of US after the
cold war. The US wanted to be seen as a leader of free
world, a place where all were treated equally, but it was
overshadowed by the second class treatment of African,
Asians and other racism issues. India seems to be
learning from the past. The Indian Government is trying
to project India’s fringe benefits along with – including
better protection of intellectual property rights,
transparent legislation and high diversity of population.
Yet India has a long way to go. It has a lot to do in field
of education to attract student migrants and retain
them. Branding includes promotion and here India has
to learn from other nations such as China, South Africa
and organize events where people get to know more
about the country. Also, workshops and courses to
study Indian literature, art and culture in cities abroad
are the need of the hour. Indian medical tourism is
booming, should also not be allowed to tarnish.
Above all the positives, a major concern that India faces
is security. Branding India is of now use, till the world
perceives us to be a safe destination to travel to. After
all, we all value our lives more than anything else. Also,
government policies for dealing with foreign investment
are safe at best (after all, we prevented ourselves from
global recession!). This would be a point to highlight ,
enjoying greater FDI inflow, rather than just FII from
stock markets.
At the end of the day, the best brand ambassadors for a
country are its people. Individual greatness and success
of Indian companies will drive home to the world that
India is indeed a superpower and a super brand, ready
to take on the world.
17
vartalaap markathon
markathon |april 2010
|february 2011

An Interview with Vivek Mehra

MD & CEO, SAGE, South Asia

In this month’s Vartalaap we feature Mr Vivek Mehra, Managing Director and CEO at
Sage Publications India. Mr. Mehra has been with SAGE India since 2005. Mr. Mehra
has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of London and Bachelors in
Textile Technology. He also has an MBA from the Columbia University. He shares with
us some wonderful insights about the world of publishing, his interesting career and
also some advice for our readers.

18
vartalaap markathon
markathon |april 2010
|february 2011

Markathon: You have had a diverse educational never forget the day my first pay check arrived it was
background ranging from Textile technology, Chemical for a princely sum of Aus $145 (about Rs.5000 in those
Engineering and an MBA from the Columbia days). I was in Bangalore visiting my parents then and
University. How has the journey been and how did the spoke excitedly about the first real pay-check in a long
transitions come about? time, especially for something I had done completely by
myself. My father laughed and insisted I was still the
Mr. Vivek: I come from a family of textile pioneers. Silk fool who believed this was a career. I have not
Screen printing was first used (commercially) in India by forgotten how I felt that day and it was the feeling of
my great grandfather. I grew up surrounded by printing hurt that ensured I found my calling.
inks and that is all I wanted to ever learn. When I
graduated I Markathon: Sage has been at the forefront of the
worked for publication industry in India for a long time now. How
what is has the landscape of the Indian publishing industry
today a changed over the years?
power brand
in the US. Mr. Vivek: Publishing in India was an off-shoot of
The MBA owning printing presses. The only real books India had,
was in night came from overseas. There were some publishers in
school (4 India (MacMillan, OUP etc.) that catered to the lower
nights a end textbook market. But as Indians became more
week; the literate the demand for books grew. Printing presses
rest spent
doing a
bartender’s
job in an
Indian
restaurant in
New York).
On my
return to India the joint-family as I knew it was in
disarray. I spent a decade trying to find my calling; from
food processing to selling innovative products, I tried a
lot. In 2000 I discovered technical writing and began
seeking jobs for this. My perseverance led me to an
Australian company that first hired me as a freelancer
editor then a writer and eventually a trainer. In 2005
SAGE discovered me and the rest as they say is history.
became publishers; many times reproducing Indian
Markathon: Can you share with our readers an
versions of popular overseas books. Overseas
incident/moment which you’d call a defining moment
publishers looked at India as a market for ‘remaindered’
for you and your career?
books (a term used to describe books that are sold at 80
Mr. Vivek: My career was going nowhere and I was or 95% of their list price; sometime even sold by
even given a moniker by my family: Padha Likha weight). This sort of book availability led to the creation
Bewakoof. When an Indian won the Booker in the late of neighbourhood lending libraries and bookshops. It
90s I was convinced there was a Booker Prize novel in was only in the late 70s that India started reaching
me. I wrote the book in about 4 months, spent a year critical mass in terms of the number of books being
trying to get it published. Nothing happened. I then bought vs. the availability of books to fuel the demand.
discovered I could still write and make money. I will Printing presses began publishing books and in the last

19
vartalaap
decade the retail boom has made overseas publishers
sit-up and take notice of India’s market.
Markathon: Where do you think the future for Sage
South Asia lies? How do you see the company shaping
up say 10 years down the line from now?
Mr. Vivek: SAGE is on track of fulfilling its primary
objective –
becoming a
publisher of
choice for
books and
journals in
the fields it
publishes
in. We
continue to
grow at a
rate of 22%
per annum
and I don't
foresee this
ever falling
below this
level.
Markathon: Sage is coming out with the “Legends of
Marketing” series. Can you throw some light on how it
was conceived and how important the series is to
Sage?
Mr. Vivek: The series has already seen 2 legends
already published. The project is the brain child of Prof
Jagdish Sheth. It began as a gift for his 70th birthday but
has since become a ‘legendary’ product. SAGE gave it
the form you currently see it in and behind the form
came the push to disseminate it as far as possible. SAGE
has long been regarded as one of the top publishers in
reference works. This series marks the entry of SAGE
India into the field on a global scale.
Markathon: Sage mainly deals with books with a
limited circulation (distinguishing itself from the so
called mainstream) , keeping this in mind, what role
does the marketing department play for a Sage
publication?
Mr. Vivek: It is not true to classify our books as those
with limited circulation. They are widely circulated
markathon
markathon |april 2010
|february 2011
within the markets they address! It is true our books are
not as glamorous as fiction ones are but there is hardly
a library in South Asia that doesn't have some of our
content. Marketing as a discipline predates sales. Most
often a sale is the consequence of good marketing.
Given the territory we cover, it is not possible for us to
have physical contact with our potential clients. We can
only reach them through messaging about our
products. And it is in this messaging that marketing
becomes crucial. With the growing proliferation of the
Net and humans relying heavily on it for information,
the role of marketing can only get bigger, better and
faster. SAGE India’s marketing department is at that
turning point in its life cycle. It is moving rapidly
towards both technological and ideological advances.
Markathon: What would your advice be to
youngsters looking to make a career in the publishing
industry?
Mr. Vivek: Publishing is a good career but not for
everyone. In the fast paced environment dominated by
commercialism, it is difficult to take the path of a steady
paced career. Publishing in India is on a faster growth
trajectory than that of the rest of the world, but it is
painfully slower than say financial services or business
consultancies. At
some point in
everyone’s life
comes a time
when the soul
wants more than
just commercial
perks. Publishing
has a lot of
collaterals that no
other career
offers. Names are
often
immortalized by
appearing in print
(mostly books), the crowd that publishers move in are
allows the cream of society, government and or
academia. I can’t think of another career that adds to
job satisfaction the way publishing does; the fruits of
one labour are recorded very effectively.
20
 war zone | eye 2 eye
Amul in increasingly looking beyond Gujarat for
procuring its Milk needs. Do you think this will
add to their huge success story or is it taking a
wrong step moving out of its core zone?
For more than three decades Amul
has been spending considerable
branding effort in establishing itself
as ‘The taste of India’; it never was
the ‘taste of Gujarat’ and hence it is
“Amul is The taste of India and will indeed be successful in its endeavours”
surprising to see that people are
even asking questions about the
rationale of the co-operative
Aneesh Dubey foraying beyond the borders of its
IIT Delhi mother state. The long term
strategy was always right there in the tag-line, it has only
started to pan out now.
Naysayers to growth and expansion have always existed,
and they are usually the metaphorical frogs in the well;
croaking away about the bad bad world outside. It is good
that forward looking corporations like Amul choose to
ignore them. Let us consider those croaks, for argument’s
sake – the sourcing model cannot be transferred to other
locations due to cultural differences. That’s a laugh, in India
the culture changes with every milestone and if Amul has
been able to implement its sourcing model combining the
cultures of Kutch, Saurashtra, Southern Rajasthan and parts
of Madhya Pradesh, it already has enough competency and
confidence that replicating it in other areas won’t be that
difficult. Another prophecy of these Cassandras is that the
consumption patterns are so diverse that the product line
would not be able to match up to the market demands. To
this I would request them to look at the Amul product
strategy over the last fifteen years, with variants in every
sub-category, Amul has not only invested heavily in product
innovation but has learnt considerably about what India
wants to buy.
The brand has always invoked feelings of belonging and
trust and I see no reason why the consumers or suppliers
outside Gujarat would not be supportive and willing to be a
part of what is one of the greatest success stories of the
country. I believe it is time that they lived up to what they
said ‘Amul- The taste of India’.
Topic for the next issue’s Eye to Eye: “The Cadbury's strategy of positioning Dairy Milk as a dessert is a
smart business move or just a smart ad campaign which might not generate much business?”
Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is 10th
May 2011. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry.
markathon | april 2011
We have never heard of farmer
suicides in Gujarat. Some people
“There is disparity in milk prices across states and hence Amul’s strategy will not work”
think that it is because Narendra
Modi is a good Chief Minister.
But, a better explanation might
be related to Amul. The dairy
cooperative procures about 10
million litres of milk daily from its
Neha Garg
2.5 million active farmer-
IIM S
members. The average Amul
farmer supplies 4 litres, thus, receives over Rs. 100 in
cash daily, round the year. The business of milk brings
farmers a steady flow of cash. The procurement of
milk from other states would lead to sharing of their
earnings with other states which would lead to unrest
among farmers. Secondly, Amul adopted a low price
strategy to make their products affordable and to
guarantee value to the consumer. The milk prices in
the Eastern and Western regions are higher
compared to Northern region, whereas the prices in
Southern region are the lowest. Difference in supply
and demand of milk in a state, which causes variation
in milk pricing, would lead to disparity in pricing of
Amul products across states. Also, if same prices are
kept across various states, then costing would be
difficult complications will arise due to difference
between the states. Thirdly, customers have a
perception of Amul as a brand of trust and loyalty
because of the quality of its products. Procurement of
milk from various states would cause difficulty in
maintenance of the quality of milk and hence lead to
dilution of the brand. There would also be business
risk involved in the operational issues for transport of
milk from other states. If factories for conversion of
milk into various products are built in different states
then there would be high initial investment. It is a
double edged sword and Amul should tread carefully.
21
war zone | silent voice markathon | april 2011

Silent Voice
LAST MONTH’S RESULTS
Theme: “The Launch of Minute Maid 100% Juice by Coca Cola after
success in Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh and Pulpy Orange.”

WINNER: Subashree | Icfai Business School, Hyderabad

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

NEXT THEME FOR SILENT VOICE:” Launch of OREO cookies in India.”

LAST DATE OF SENDING THE PRINT AD: 10th May, 2010

EMAIL ID: markathon.iims@gmail.com

Send your entry in JPEG format named as SilentVoice_<Your Name>_<Institute>only.

15
specials | ADdicted
Ad-dicted
Gaurav Ralhan | iim s
PRODUCT #1: Tata Docomo
TARGET AUDIENCE: Youth and mobile customers who
are jostled by the unwanted services of the mobile
operators
POSITIONING: Keep It Simple
AD AGENCY: Footcandles Film Pvt. Ltd.
CONCEPT: The new campaign is developed for the IPL
season and is in the form of a stand-up comedy show
with six different episodes to be aired during the
series. The focus of the campaign is describe how
customers are puzzled with confusing and
complicated products, services and tariff and in the
end Ranbir comes up with the new plans and services
of TATA Docomo which is uncomplicated, dovetailing
with the Tagline “Keep it Simple, Silly !!”
VERDICT:
Catch/Miss – Catch
Refreshing! That’s exactly what one feels after seeing
the latest TVC of Tata Docomo. It’s short, sweet and
sends the message across well without much fuss. It is
different from all other Mobile operator
advertisements and the concept of stand-up comedy
has been used to its best. It surely gets a CATCH from
me for keeping the storyline simple yet effectively
communicating the main theme.
markathon | april 2011
PRODUCT #2: Cadbury Diary Milk
TARGET AUDIENCE: Children and Indian Middle Class
Families
POSITIONING: Khane ke baad meethe mein kuch
meetha ho jaye..!!
AD AGENCY: Ogilvy & Mather, India
CONCEPT: Three advertisements have been launched
till now and all are based on promoting Dairy Milk as
a post dinner dessert.
Out of three, personally I liked ad showing the family
at the dinner table the most. The film opens with a
scene of a joint family sitting together at the dinner
table and a small girl is refusing to have dinner as she
is more interested to have Cadbury’s dairy milk
chocolate. On being asked about the dessert, she
points out towards the cute little girl and says
Cadbury Dairy Milk. Little girl then licks the chocolate
and says “jhoota ho gaya”. The best thing about this
commercial is that it makes you feel good due to its
innocence and sweetness.
VERDICT:
Catch/Miss – 50-50
The concept of the whole campaign is superb.
Cadbury struck the right cord when they positioned
chocolates as something people should share on
special occasions with their “Kuch meetha ho jaye”
campaign. Now moving on that bandwagon they want
to make people have chocolates as a dessert after
dinner. The strategy is good but all the ads don’t meet
the expectations. Personally I feel one out of the
three ads launched connects with the audience well
and with frequent airing the ad looks repetitive and
people will lose interest.
23
specials | radical thoughts markathon | april 2011

Why the World Cup Win is bad for Indian Sports.

jitesh PATEL | IIM S

The title sounds outrageous, ones being Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, Vijender Singh
doesn’t it? Let me explain, I and others. The CWC 2011 win by the Indian team
am as happy as any Indian might hamper this trend and eat into some of the
Cricket fan on the money going into other sports. The prime
tremendous win at the Cricket sportspersons, even at the pinnacle of their sport can
World Cup 2011. It is hardly aim to match the kind of endorsements
undoubtedly a colossal cricketers get. The minuscule pie of these sports might
achievement and Team India get even smaller. This will curtail investments which are
deserves all the laurels it is getting. desperately needed in these sports if India has to make
an International mark in them.
The timing of the win is impeccable for the sport of
cricket. The Cricket World Cup 2011 was touted as “The Another issue is that of youngsters taking up sports. The
Cup that Counts” and it certainly has, in a big way. World Cup win has no doubt inspired many a kid to take
Everyone had rung the death knell for One Day up cricket. The rewards in cricket are humongous
International cricket after the nightmarish 2007 World compared to the paltry sums earned by professionals in
Cup which was wrangled in controversies and boring other sports in India. This is a major put down for any
associate matches (barring a youngster aiming for a career in
few). The most potent factor football, tennis etc. in India. Even if
though was the emergence of money is not an issue, he/she
T20 Cricket and the Indian knows they will neither get the
Premier League. The once slam kind of fame or recognition as their
bang ODI cricket seemed tame cricketing counterparts. The WC
and long compared to its shorter, win will only rub in the feeling of
more entertaining compatriot. being left out for the other sports.
This World Cup has changed all
that, ODI cricket has emerged, I am not trying to say that this is a
almost like a phoenix rising out of new problem. What I’m trying to
its ashes. The matches were say is, though this is an inherent
entertaining and closely fought, problem in Indian sports, the
the viewership ratings were World Cup win might just end up
phenomenal especially where sub-continent matches making it worse by claiming the entire spotlight and
were involved and ESPN has supposedly raked in Rs 800 taking away even the faint glimmers of hope that
Cr of revenues from the advertising spends. ODI Cricket seemed to be on the horizon for other Indian sports.
for now, it seems, is safe and here to stay. And yes, I am a huge cricket fan but I do enjoy it’s not
so lucky counterparts as well.
The timing of the win though, might not be favourable
to the other sports in India – Hockey, Football, Tennis,
Badminton and the likes. Whilst hockey is far past its
golden prime, the others are only now starting to
emerge from the shadows of cricket. There is money
being poured in for the development of these sports by
private companies. There are also quite a few brand
ambassadors from these sports in Indian Media popular
24
specials | updates
BRAND LAUNCH
Regal Hotels to launch Royale brand
Regal Hotels Group is to launch the first property under
its Regal Royale branding, a 300-room five-star
premium and luxury hotel located in Kunshun in eastern
China. The group describes the offering as “the brand of
Regal Hotels Group” providing the most stylish and
plush facilities with exclusivity and personalised
services. The Regal Royale Hotel, Kunshun is scheduled
to open in 2013. Regal currently operates six hotels in
Hong Kong and five in mainland China, with properties
under development in Chengdu, Foshan, Shanghai,
Suzhou and Zhengzhou.
Nissan to launch Infiniti brand
Nissan’s Luxury division Infiniti is all set to come to the
Indian shores. The Infiniti line-up contains the G-series
saloon range that competes with the Mercedes C-Class
and BMW 3-series. Infiniti also has 3 types of SUVs in its
line-up- the compact EX series, the FX series and the
large QX series. With the Indian invasion of the Infiniti
brand, Nissan wants to march ahead with its arch-rival
Toyota which is yet to announce the launch of its Lexus
luxury brand in India.
AD WATCH
Hitachi uses a dancing robot to
demonstrate its new iClean range
Bates141 has created a new TVC for Hitachi India’s new
range of air conditioners. The range of air conditioners
have the unique technology that eliminates dust from
the filter automatically resulting in better cooling and
preventing unhealthy air. The TVC for the air
conditioner shows a robot stepping out of a shower and
dancing while it dries itself illustrating how the Hitachi
air conditioner with the iClean technology cleans the
dust automatically.
markathon | april 2011
Oreo introduces India to the "Twist, lick,
dunk" ritual
Interface Communications has designed the new TVC
for Oreo. The TVC features a little boy taking his dad
through the three steps of enjoying the biscuit -
twisting one side off, licking the cream and dunking it in
a glass of milk, before munching on it. The company
emphasizes that such light moments give families an
opportunity to spend more time together in the times
when carefree, innocent, and slowed-down family
moments are rare. The TVC will be supported by
outdoor activation, on–ground shopper activation in
malls, amusement parks, multiplexes and modern trade
outlets, a digital campaign activated through the
Cadbury India website and Facebook page.
Nike celebrates India World Cup win with
third TVC
Following India's World Cup win, JWT Bangalore
released Nike's third TVC titled 'United by Blue' as a
part of their ‘Bleed Blue’ campaign. The TVC consists of
a collage of celebrations that took place after India
lifted the World Cup to be World Champions after 28
years. The film 'United by Blue' was released after
India's huge win in the finals, marking the fact that “we”
are World Champions now in all three formats of the
game. Different camera teams were being sent on
various streets of India to authentically capture the
emotion of the nation that was bleeding blue on every
Indian street.
Citibank highlights “moments of success”
for customers with new TVC
Citibank India has launched a new corporate TV
campaign focused on the bank’s brand purpose which is
creating “Moments of Success” for customers. This is
the first time that the bank developed a corporate
campaign which focused towards the Indian audience.
Publicis Ambience has created the commercial. The new
campaign focuses on showcasing the brand purpose
which is about working tirelessly to create the best
outcomes for our clients. The new Moments of Success
campaign expresses the emotional connect that
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specials | updates
Citibank has with clients in creating success and
happiness in their everyday lives. A specialist camera
called Phantom that captures high speed shots was
used to shoot the campaign.
BRAND RELAUNCH
BA plans brand re-launch and consumer
campaign
British Airways is working on a re-launch of its brand
later this year following the merger with Iberia. BA’s
merger has led to fears of possible confusion among
consumers - about the new company IAG, whether BA
will be different and which airline a passenger may fly
on. The campaign is focused on putting the great brand
back on the map. The carrier confirmed the retention of
its existing marketing agencies Bartle Bogle Hegarty and
OgilvyOne.
HUL to fill in spaces with re-launches,
brand extensions
FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) is looking at
re-launches to garner the largest pie in the consumer
goods space by filling in white spaces in its product
portfolio. Scenting an opportunity in the prickly heat
talc segment, especially with the summer season on,
HUL launched its Lifebuoy talc in February this year.
Besides this re-launch, the company had early this year
entered the juice segment with Kissan fruit (apple,
mango and orange) and soya drink in Delhi, Mumbai
and Chennai. The brand will take on competitors like
Real, Tropicana and Saint.
BRAND WATCH
Times Television Network increases
advertising rates by over 20 pc
Times Television Network has announced new ad rates
for its bouquet of channels comprising Zoom, Times
Now, ET Now and Movies Now by upwards of 20
markathon | april 2011
percent, effective April, 1, 2011. Besides advertising and
branded content solutions, the Times Television
Network has scaled its subscription business via the
Bennett, Coleman Distribution joint venture, Prime
Connect. The Network is also focusing on generating
revenue from syndication and digital streams.
MediaVest bags media duties for Yahoo
MediaVest, a division of Starcom MediaVest (SMG), will
be the strategic lead and counsel for Yahoo!’s media
planning and buying. MediaVest will work with the
digital media company across eight countries in Asia -
Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, India, Indonesia, Philippines,
Vietnam as well as Singapore which will be the regional
hub for its operations. Last year, MediaVest got the
opportunity to handle its account in the US.
VivaKi Specialist Services launched in
India
VivaKi India has announced the creation of VivaKi
Specialist Services. The new entity will become the hub
of several specialist service units currently part of the
Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG). The creation of
VivaKi Specialist Solutions stemmed from the need to
derive synergies, and capitalize on growth opportunities
across a much-broader canvas. SMG will focus on its
core product and look at scaling up digital, content and
insights verticals. It will increase the ambit of the
offerings and act as a force multiplier for all VivaKi
agencies helping all VivaKi clients achieve their
performance goals more than ever before.
RBNL enters regional entertainment space
with Big Magic
Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd. (RBNL) has announced
its entry in the regional entertainment space with its
latest television channel Big Magic to be launched on
April 4. The channel will be positioned as India’s only
Channel exclusively for the core Hindi heartland,
featuring locally relevant entertainment around Humor,
Music and Bollywood. The company informed that the
channel will derive synergies with RBNL’s radio brand –
Big FM, which operates 11 stations in the region. The
launch will be supported with a high decibel marketing
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specials | updates markathon | april 2011

plan including Outdoor, Mall Activation, play-out same period.

seeding in malls, radio, print and local cable.

Articles are invited

Best Article: Mansi Gupta , MIB, Delhi School of Economics
Mansi receives 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 format of the file should
be MS Word doc/docx.

We’re inviting photographs of interesting promotional

events/advertisements/hoardings/banners etc. you might have come across in your daily life
for our new section “The 4th P”.
Send your self-clicked photographs in JPEG format only.

The last date of receiving all entries is 10th May 2011. Please send your entries marked as
<ARTICLE NAME>_<SENDERS’ NAMES>_<INSTITUTE> to markathon.iims@gmail.com.

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Please send in your comments/feedback to:
markathon.iims@gmail.com
Visit: www.iims-markathon.in

© Team Markathon, IIM Shillong