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 JANUARY ’11
Vol. II Issue llI

The Path Breaking

Ad-MaD
All New Marketing
Funeral Services
Campaigns of

Ghar ka Brand,
Band Bajaaye!!
Private labels are here to stay
and to create a stir into the share
of the market leaders

All New
Churn
Cross-Word
4P’s Quiz

2010
uzz showcases
the Best Marketing
Camapigns that
took the India by
storm in 2010
Dear Readers

Succession planning! That's the buzz word today in corporate India and should we say, a 'problem-
word' for quite a few! Wipro & Patni are the 2 companies that come to mind and the basic problem
with both of them is the absence of Gen-next to carry forward the legacy. And this buzz word isn't
limited just to Corporate India, its percolated to our BuZZ team as well. One more edition to go and
then the editorship baton would move from us to some talented and passionate 'Buzz-er'! And
considering the sacking of Wipro's joint CEOs, we - (Ronak & Vinay) the joint editors of magazine
are praying that we don't get ousted before our term officially ends! While succession planning
would take its course, it's BuZZ- The Markazine that's on course to become a true blue hit in B-
schools all over India. This January edition is 'never-before-seen' BuZZ as it covers not just articles
but also quizzes, crosswords and an entertaining 'Fun-Zone'! It's always been our endeavour to
dish out something new & insightful in every issue that we publish & we say it with utmost
confidence & pride that this particular edition takes the cake! Hope you'll enjoy reading it as much
as we did while designing it.

Happy BuZZing

Editors,
Ronak Shah
Vinay Jayanthi

Designed by
Nishchai Nevrekar

Wishing you a Very Happy New

Year Ahead!!
5
Branding lives and Living Brands
Gaurav Gutka (IIFT)

Ad-MaD
6
(IIFT)

Cult Brands
7
Rachita Behl (NMiMS)

11 The Ultimate Pathbreakers

Krisnakant Jonnalgadda,Kushal Mehta
Nandini Kapoor (NMiMS)

19 Ghar ka Brand, Band Bajaaye!!

Kumudini Manda, Krishnakant Jonnalgadda,
Rahul Gupta (NMIMS)

25 Cross-Word
Team 2010
4P’s Quiz
26 Uday jaipuria
Neelotpal Shukla (NMIMS) Nipun Puri
Mohit Gupta
Rahul Pahwa
Ronak Shah
Vinay Jayanthi
Naman Agrawal
Puneet Chopra
Govind R.
Prateek Singhi
Apurva Nahata
Hafiz Nadirshah
Tushar Jain

Email : njm@nmims.org
Contact : +919833415606

Branding lives and Living Brands
By Gaurav Gudhka
T
oday Brand is not just an identity of a
IIFT
product or a service or anything that
differentiates itself from the competitor
and reaps in profit. A Brand has transformed itself
to become the identity of the consumer. Gone are
the days when a Brand used to highlight a
company's offering. Today a Brand focuses on
consumers, their emotions, their status and their self-
esteem.
Customer equity, along with Brand equity is fast gaining
importance. Valuing customers is as important as
valuing brands as both are said to be mutual
beneficiaries. None can work in isolation. Although, the
focus has moved from the product to the customer,
customer is no more the king, with brands growing
bigger and better than ever. Producers are wor
king towards converting a want into a need. Pro
ducts like a photo copy or a chocolate is
known as Xerox and Cadbury in India.
That's the power of a brand.
TATA is one of the most respected and
trusted Brands of our nation and when
someone uses a TATA product or service,
the person feels dignified; (s)he feels valued.
This is the power of Brand 'TATA'. TATAs
have worked very hard to lay a strong
foundation to the customers' dreams. It
symbolises self-esteem when the “one- l a k h
Nano” is driven by an average middle class who could
not afford a car. TATAs have also been a part of Indian
culture. Whenever a marriage takes place in India, one
of the most common things gifted to the groom is Titan
watch. No other brand has been able to take its place.
This goes on to say that a brand like TATA has found its
place in the hearts of the Indians and has become
a part of the
culture
which in
tur n gives a
sense of complacency and identity to its
users. This is Culture Branding.
A Brand symbolises the ideology of the company that
relates itself to that of the consumers. It also
symbolises benefits and attributes of the products.
Disney is not just a film company or a theme park.
Disney symbolizes children's entertainment – when
you choose Disney, your mind thinks, “If it's Disney, it's
good, safe and right for my kids.” Disney is very careful
about this image. It will not make films or products,
Trends
which are not 100% family oriented.
In this extremely competitive world, for a Brand to
survive and evolve as the consumers' most preferred
choice, it has to fight the cut-throat competition by
creating points of differentiation. A Brand must focus
on something that will provide its
users an identity which is
e a s i l y differentiable if
n o t superior to that of
others. IKEA, one of the
m o s ti n n ovative companies
of the w o r l d , i s
deliv e r i n g
excellenc e in terms of
i t s functional
and well designed furniture line which is absolutely
affordable in order to reach as many customers as
possible rendering a sense of dignity in them. It
symbolises technological superiority with simplicity
so that the users feel more valuable.
Today's consumers use brands to build their own
identities. Some even like to be known by the brands
that they use. If your brand can give
them that, it will survive, and if the
identity takes into account the
cultural aspects of the consumers,
they will love your brand and make
it immortal. Not that it's always a
brand that has to strive. These days customers
eye the most coveted brands like Apple and
Volkswagen to be attached to in order to enjoy a
superior status.
Market Researchers not only gather demographic
information but cultural influences and preferences
are also taken into consideration, so that a Brand
does not remain just a Brand but become a way of life.
Brands need to value the culture, using the
uniqueness of target groups to market themselves
accordingly. Those who have done that have been
very successful like McDonalds. It has proved to be a
truly global brand by adopting the cultural differences
of different regions to merge it into one.
Branding is a dynamic process and everybody is
trying to build an eternal Brand. For one to be
successful it has to learn to be empathetic and make
use of the cultural and emotional aspects and the
values attached with the consumers. Branding,
today, means branding lives (of its users) which in
turn will help a Brand live longer. It's for time to decide
who will rule whom. For the moment Brand and
Customers stand at par.
 39

CAN BE AVAILED WITHIN YOUR LIFETIME

FOR THE REST….
WE'RE THERE
XYZ FUNERAL SERVICES

Mad-Ads
 Cult Branding way they did everything that was in tandem with the
prevailing market needs and trod a path not explored by
by Rachita Behl

others. They created strategies and marketing

“By the power vested in me, I hereby pronounce communications that nudged people towards the view
you m’bike and rider. You shall, through rough that the offering was a fashion statement. The magic
NMiMS

weather and calm, rain and storm be committed to was created here.
each other, till fate do you apart…” They are undoubtedly “wow” products for the
This is a scene enacted loyal “communities” that they create. The
in the association starts with these messiahs who
drea create a buzz around it and it is
the

ms of
millio ns of
Harley- Davidson
owners and aspirers, arguably the most acknowledged
global symbol of a cult brand.
Harley Davidson, Volkswagon Beetle, Apple, Starbucks...
what makes some brands transcend all boundaries and
carve a deep-rooted place in the minds and hearts of ado
people? What makes them a way of life? What makes pted
them stick out from the mainline ones? How do they by a larger
manage to break the rules? group of people
Before we delve into that, let’s reason out why cult (but not mass). Trust soon transforms into devotion. But
brands exist. For the simple reason that people like to be don’t be mistaken, cult brands do not require large
different and at the same time, be part of a group that acts marketing spends. Instead, an incredible
different (read cult). This targeted cult then is willing to amount of money is spent on maintaining
put in extraordinary efforts to acquire and use the brand. the brand. It is estimated that 50% of the
We are talking about unflinching business of a cult brand comes
loyalty over a sustained from its community members and
period of time. And an additional 20% from the buzz
no, it does not created by the proselytiser. Since
stop there. The buzz works for a cult brand, the
cult followers are marketing strategy is shrewdly
willing to publicly aimed at perpetuating the buzz
demonstr ate their among community members who, on their
passion for the own volition, take on the onus of building the
brand in an extraordin brand.
ary manner. A prime example of this is the Harley-Davidson whose
Now, brilliant brands don't community members have come together to form the
happen when one fine Harley Owners Group (HOG), which boasts of over a
morning someone says, "OK, I want million members. HOG organises training courses, rides,
to create a cult brand." So what does it take to create social events and charity fund-raisers resulting in
one? All cult brands began life as products, sometimes stronger loyalty among HOG members besides attracting
even unique like the iPod, with huge potential. Along the newer members to its fold.

Trends
What else does Harley do to maintain road, individualism and empowerment.
its cult status? Harley never HOG that I spoke of earlier spawned
from this very idea.
Harley-Davidson is ultra-cool. It’s a
bike, duh. But is a cult brand born
only in “cool” categories?
Again, don’t be mistaken. Even
seemingly dull
categories like
furniture can boast
of a cult brand,
such as IKEA.
IKEA has
beco me a
cura tor of
people'
s lifestyles,
if not their lives. It is a trusted one-stop
sanctuary for coolness; an environment people
can enter and immediately be part of a like-
minded cost and design global tribe.
Let’s shift our focus to Indian brands now.
Do we or can we have cult brands that
are Indian?
The truth is we cannot boast of a
single, true cult brand. Rasna came
partially close to being one. It was
immensely popular with kids who
even aped the little girl in the ad,
overp copying her style of dressing and her
roduces. It keeps the haircut. But even that was not really a
supply low and the demand cult brand.
high. After all, not everybody Then, why not? Sure, we have the
can buy into the cult. If managerial expertise and marketing
everybody did, it wouldn't brilliance to manage and create brands. Indian
be a cult. brands have the potential, but what
management and marketers
Turn the clock back because the behind that brand lack is
story of the cult that is Harley- the risk-taking mentality and
Davidson is worth telling a understandin
million times over. It has g of the
survived nine recessions, the Great pote
Depression and many wars. It was a symbol ntial
of machismo until the Japanese arrived with pay-
Kawasaki, Yamaha and Honda. Harley
faced a setback but soon got back on its
feet, not just learning total quality
management from them but also taking a off. Since the first and foremost rule cult branding is
giant leap ahead. The strategy of Harley-Davidson was to "dare to be different", companies need to shake things up
sell a complete Harley experience and not just the bike. when everyone at the organisation is feeling most cosy.
And they did this with what can be called the pillars of In addition, the top management should be emotionally
their cult-open rebellion, unbridled love for the open attached to brand building, not just chase top-line and

Trends
bottom-line targets. that could qualify for cult status are usually confined to a
Can the fact that cult brands are not “in” in India be specific region where local socio-cultural, linguistic or
attributed to the Indian consumers too? Arguably, religious factors are the fountainhead of the appeal. India
yes. We, as a society, do not encourage is far too mysterious and varied to let a subculture
rebels, people who stand out from the crowd revolution gain momentum.
while cult brands draw their
cons umers with just the Looking beyond, we may not be aficionados when it
opp osite proposition. True, comes to a particular product but we are a personality-
our soci struck race. In almost all walks of life, we find
al and celebrities that have a cult following. Why, Sachin
cultur al Tendulkar is as good as a cult brand can get. Not to
values are mention Indian Cinema. The one thing in India that cuts
consta ntly across the barriers of its diversity.
under goi With the momentous cultural and demographic shifts
ng an overhaul but the basic tenets are happening in India and the ever-increasing power of the
still intact. Internet, it remains to be seen whether we will get to see
Doe s it also have something to do with Indian consumers actively forming larger communities
Ind ia being a very diverse nation? This around their brands, elevating the status of the brand to a
is another interesting line of thought cult.
propounded by many gurus in the field of marketing. Cult
following typically happens when a country has a large
proportion of people following a common lifestyle.
Diversity goes against this notion. In our country, brands
 39
MARKETING
COMMANDMENTS
The single most wasteful thing you can do in marketing
is try to change a mind.- Al Ries and Jack Trout
"I am one who believes that one of the greatest dangers
of advertising is not that of misleading people, but that
of boring them to death." -Leo Burnett
"Asked about the power of advertising in research
surveys, most agree that it works, but not on them." -
Eric Clark
“Any business enterprise has two, and only two basic
functions – Marketing and Innovation” – Peter F.
Drucker
“No great marketing decisions have ever been made on
qualitative data.” – John Scully (Former CEO of
Apple and former President of PepsiCo
“Competition brings out the best in products and the
worst in men.”- David Sarnoff
Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, and
the problem is I do not know which half
-Lord Leverhulme, British founder of Unilever

“The problem is that once a consumer has bought

someone else's story and believes that lie, persuading the
consumer to switch is the same as persuading him to
admit he was wrong. And people hate admitting that
they're wrong.” -Seth Godin
Don't overlook the importance of worldwide thinking.
A company that keeps its eye on Tom, Dick, and
Harry is going to miss Pierre, Hans, and Yoshio. -Al
Ries
 The Ultimate
Kushal Mehta,Nandini Kapoor
By Krisnakant Jonnalgadda,

Pathbreakers
There come days when you wake up to absorb
from NMiMS

your daily dosage of morning news, and while

you sip your tea intermittently, the cup stops right
before it can pour the tea in because suddenly a
dyna- has exploded in the –mite. It is something
either too good and catchy or something too slip
and shoddy which catches your attention. You
either have the first (and usually the last) smile on
your face, or you sneer (definitely not your last)

now such is their presence that they have made their way
out of the idiot box and into little arms and cradles and as
papers on digital and real walls. Because of this cross-
industry presence, ZooZoos have contributed to
Vodafone's revenues from multiple angles. Revenue in the
three months ended June 30, 2009 rose to 10.7 billion
pounds ($17.7 billion), in line with analyst estimates,
clearly proving that the ad has contributed to this.
Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao said that its total
communications strategy was delivering well, with group
data revenue up 19 per cent and fixed line revenue 7 per
cent higher than last year's comparative period. The
Vodafone CEO further stated that free cash flow generation
was strong at £1.9 billion, up 21 per cent.
and flip the channel to some other. We give 9 you of those Harit Nagpal, chief mark
'smiles' all together, from the 'A' to the 'Z'! e t i n g
offi
First name - ZOO
Last name – ZOO!
What is white, is all about being round, is one of the
most popular 'creatures' in the country, has the
same first and last name, brings a smile on
your weather(read: assignments/work)
beaten faces every time it barges into the
now multi-million pixels filling your
television sets?
Mr. & Ms. Zoo Zoo !
One of the most phenomenal
success stories in the advertising
industry (courtesy Ogilvy),
ZooZoos are almost a rage and
has helped Vodafone strengthen
its position in the industry from
the time they were born during
IPL2. The ZooZoos were
'Happy to Help' Vodafone and
cer for Vodafone India, said that Vodafone has been All of a sudden, beauty alerts were made by ZooZoos with
acquiring customers at a very fast pace, but a large number red polka dotted scarfs on the head, love tips were creeping
of them had been unaware of into inboxes thanks to the
the range of services it appeal generated by the
offered. Since media spends 'cutest couple on the planet'
and visibility for brands 30 second ads, and even your
peaked during the IPL, grandmothers were reading
Vodafone wanted to take bhajans out of inboxes from
advantage of it. The brand smses sent by ZooZoo baba,
was in need of an idea that via the bhakti alert VAS.
would work doubly hard, as Life went beyond the 5_ _ _
it was planning to spend _ numbers now!
some four months' worth of
marketing monies in one
month. Vodafone had SELL-ULAR
briefed its agency, Ogilvy SORCERY
India, to create uncommon characters – a common thread to There was this job interview which was about to take place
link the ads in the campaign together. And thus, the Zoozoo in one of the million educational hubs in the country. As
was born. The oligopolistic market Vodafone was in, was always, somehow, an 'idiot' was shortlisted for the final
stirred and shaken, and the Martini was sweet indeed. round, and surprised himself, sat down in front of the 3
 13
member panel, both sides of the table bemused. train-son's-happy-parents-happy 'soap'y boredoms. The
The first (and last) question – 'And your name is?' messages were lucid and straight. They had a much wider
The answer – '9923123149' outlook than before, and had attained immunity against ads
The job was his! leveraging on the 'soft serve'. IDEA had de-faced the
What an IDEA sirjee! stagnancy and re-faced the future.
The 'sirjee' series of What an IDEA sirjee
advertisements took the !
industry with a different kind
of tempest. Almost all its
The time Aircel kept the city
ads had some k i n d o f 'floating':
m e s s a g e imbibed in The growth of the Telecom sector in India has been
them, and with the kind of delivery phenomenal and so has the communication strategy used
it was put forth, the phenomenon was by its major players. We owe some of the best and clutter
taken to a different floor altogether. Riots were quelled by breaking advertisements to this sector. Airtel with
sarpanchs by prohibiting addressing others by names and “Express Yourself”, Idea with “an idea can change your
instead had to do so by their phone numbers. The message, life” has created exceptional brand recall and loyalty.
both social and corporate, was loud and clear. IDEA was Virgin's “think hatke” is really hatke.
here to stay. Be it television, radio or print media, every medium is
IDEA continued on this path with advertisements flooded with their ads. Cricket matches, reality shows,

emphasizing rural education, greater network coverage
(poor monkey!), and focused even on its women's card
options (women could receive beauty alerts, safety advices
and even the option to call with zero balance in cases of
emergency).
The concept
was taken
beyond cellular
services and
' O o n g l e e
Cricket' was the
frontrunner in this, being a rampage among various
brackets of the masses. Advertisements of a cellular
provider went beyond the ever so stagnant and ever so stale
son-going-away-parents-calling-late-at-night-son's-on-a-
cultural fests at colleges, they are EVERYWHERE!
So what could a new player like Aircel do to get a bite of the
apple that these players are so happily munching on? Well
for starters, they could grab on to any media that is not
currently
ruled by the
kings. And
t h i s i s
exactly what
Aircel did.
Aircel was
launched in Maharashtra in 2009 and came to be known for
its variety of innovations and attractive outdoor
promotions. Be it the live IPL neon scoreboard, or the
projection of logo on Gateway of India, they managed to
 14
get their share of visibility.
Before Aircel, outdoor advertising was known to comprise
of billboards, posters, neon signs and even sky writing, for
those extravagant types! But the 'Out-Of-Home' (OOH)
innovation executed by Aircel in the Mumbai monsoons
2009 surely ranks among the very best innovations. In a 'one
of its kind' campaign, a raft was put up on one of the
billboards which could be used in case of flooding. The
caption read “In case of emergency, CUT ROPE”. When the
raft was put up before the monsoons, it did not make much
sense. But once the 'rope was cut', on July 13, 2009 and the
raft came in handy, the message was clear: Aircel's customer
support had gone beyond cell phone reception. Rather than
selling just a service, Aircel's marketing provided real value
when it mattered the most.
Beyond being an excellent example of using cause
marketing to build customer loyalty, Aircel's novel OOH
marketing idea earned for them viewership (in local and
national dailies) worth millions, all for the price of just one
billboard and a rudimentary raft! The publicity was
spellbinding! For the innovation being functional, well
when have a few extra Brownie points hurt anyone!

Tornado in a teacup – Time to wake
up!
th
9 December - Your first sip in the morning out of a cup
containing a hot concoction of fermented leaves and milk
and sugar. It's all that took up to wake up. You go to work,
settle down in your chair, order another one of those hot
concoctions, turn on the news on a dusty radio at one corner
of the table, and listen to the latest about the local elections.
Your concoction arrives, so does your first client for the day.
You push him around a bit because he's just not getting your
'message'. You feel it's the time to tell him directly. You say
you need some 'chai pani'. A green cup with 'Tata Tea'
written on it is banged on your table, and you realize you're
screwed. 'Jaago re'!
Wrapped in lapels of dark humour
and pin-pointed
delivery, the
Jaago Re
camp
aign was one which stirred all and sundry in this corruption
bitten country of ours. Politicians and babus were open
targets and the directness was the most crucial tool in the
armour for the campaign. All of a sudden the country was
aware of its responsibilities (wonder what it was upto till
then. Had not thou drunk thy tea?). Having secured a
steady and infallible popular support, Tata Tea Limited re-
launched its website with a new project to tackle societal
reform, starting with corruption. 'Jaago Re' launched a
drive against corruption by declaring December 9th as
Anti- Corruption Day. This move aimed to make the
elimination of corruption a national reality. As seen before,
the advertisements were unerringly precise and wholly
identifiable and livened up with quirky slogans that tickled
t h e senses and made room for itself in the viewer's
psyche.
And the campaign was not alone. With the
support of sponsors who strongly
believed in the power of participatory
democracy and various outreach
partners, under the aegis of a stellar
advisory body consisting of Mr. N.
R . Naraya
n a Mur
 15
thy (Chief Mentor, Infosys), Mr. T S Krishnamurthy (Ex
Chief Election Commissioner), Mr. Tariq Ansari (Midday
Group) and Mr. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (Filmmaker
and Director, Rang De Basanti), 'Jaago Re' as a wind of
change was here to stay, permanently rustling away dead
leaves from branches to make way for the new.
The question was very much there in the face. Why tea? The
answer is right there too. Tea is what almost every Indian
laughs, argues, discusses cricket, politics, movies over.
With that kind of an impregnable platform at hand, the
campaign penetrated the lackadaisical attitude of the
average Indian and now has over 22700 people awakened
Almost the same packaging
Catering to the same customer segment
Almost similar prices
Any promotional strategy you employ can be easily
emulated
Then HOW are you different from your competitor?
The secret lies in the way the ever evasive HOW
communicates with the WHERE, and WHEN!
About 40% of the Indian Population constitutes the middle
class -that is about 40% of a billion people! This is the

on its website. For once, this was not an advertisement segment that invariably, and understandably, wants more
whose prime aim was to boost sales. It was a campaign and more value for money.
which was hell bent on fighting corruption and ignorance The task - To tell this segment that Bingo premium salted
head on and that too, in public and with the public. From potato chips was offering 25% extra chips in every Rs.5
various ways people can accept bribes ('koi sharma ke pack, and tell them in a manner that they sit up,
khaata hai to koi chup ke') to sleeping away watching take notice, get that knock on the head, and
movies on election day, ' Jaago re' is say-Bingo, that's the
a campaign determined to make one!
a difference. Amidst all the massive
Hope you've had your cup promotional advertising,
of tea. the task wasn't easy. There
was everyone and anyone
advertising everywhere and
B i n g o - anywhere. From
'BOING' ! departmental stores to the nukkad tea-
Basically the same stall, 'Uncles' were everywhere, getting 'Laid'
product left, right and centre. Not just the whereabouts, but the

how-abouts had to be some example never set. The train of
thought wandered around aimlessly till it made its stop- The
Indian Railways.
On the Public Address System of the Indian Railways, the
following announcement was heard "Yaatrigan kripya
dhyaan de, Mysore se Tirupati jaane waali 116 Temple
Express apne nirdharit samay se 7 ghante ki deri se chal rahi
hai, aur jaise hi gaadi ke engine driver bingo premium salted
ka pack khana khatam karenge waise hi gadi platform
number 8 se rawana hogi. Is asuvidha ke liye hume khed hai
lekin kya karen, bingo p s mein poore 25% zada chips hain
jisko khane mein zada waqt lagta hai. dhanya waad.
BOING!
Bingo premium salted potato chips - No Confusion. Great
Combination."
The announcement seemed to be a regular one till the
signature 'BOING' came up. Along with aro
using over a million hearty laughs, this
also led to a 32% increase in their volume
sales.
Their logic was simple. Around 11
million people travel in the railways
every day and a majority of the trains
are inevitably running late. The peo
ple, inevitably, wait for long hours at the railway
station and the occasional munch is inevitable. The
pakodas and chai have long stopped being favourites
and the impatiently waiting
travelers needed something
16
new. The 'BOING' was exactly what they needed.
The job was done. The train had left the station. BINGO!
We're the BlackBerry boys... and
there are a lot of us !
First there's a blue ocean, then there's a red ocean. Maybe
sometime in the future there will other oceans with all
different colours you can find. Even then, the marketing
strategy to expand will still be the same. Get new
customers and get every commoner to feel exclusive!
That is the difference between Blackberry and Nokia.
Everyone from your parents, your teachers, your boss, to
your chauffeur, even your house help, has Nokia. But
'BlackBerry'- the name was synonymous to 'exclusivity', it
was for a privileged class, not everyone can afford it and it
always had its share of corner-of-the-eye glances on the
bus stop and the 'oohs' and 'aahs' amongst your pals.
As is natural, when a brand is successful, there is
always that temptation to make more
and more by repositioning and
targeting unconventional prospects.
Vodafone's new plan for its Blackberry
users seems to do just that. The campaign
use d is as unique as BB, and as simple, and
as smart as Vodafone's ads have always
been.
The advertisement starts with 5 professionally dressed-up
guys singing (big deal!).
Slowly people of all classes
 17
begin to join in, celebrating BlackBerry with the jingle. The
professionals realize that they are no more exclusive in
ownership and that more and more people can now sing the
same song! The message: RIM services aren't just for the
suits and suitors! But, this new positioning - was it a clearly
thought strategy or was it just an inevitable phenomenon?
Was it a strategy to avoid the conundrum of the ban that
could have been imposed on RIM services- so what if
everyone is crying about banning BB services in India, let's
increase our reach, and then let the people speak for us.
Or was it plain inevitable? Blackberry used to be exclusive!
Today, not just the executives, but a lot of youngsters are
using it too, and cherishing it. A few year
s ago, owning a Blackberry was a
matter of pride, but its fission
from being elite to mass has
already begun. It has already
lost its 'for the elite' status in
the West, and in India, there
are innumerable clones and
look-alikes available.
Blackberry needs to climb
out of its chesterfield, and
looks at 'furniture' beyond
the old oaks and mahogany
trunks. The move is on and it
needs to keep moving. The
Blackberry boys are increasing
in number thick and fast, and the
executives won't be exclusive
anymore. Blackberry is here, and so are the 'not so
exclusive' takers!
Volkswagen Vento - A Vent for
New Age advertising
21st September 2010 wasn't just any other day. It was
special. It was the day that cats learned to bark,
trees learnt to walk, boys learnt to listen and
girls learnt to stay silent. That was taking
it a bit too far it seems. After all we
can't think of getting our hands into
something that even the Almighty
has given up on.
st
But 21 September,2010 was
certainly a special day because it
marked a new beginning in the
way advertising was ever done in
our country. For the first time, we
had a talking print ad of Volkswagen
Vento .This ingenious attempt was
path breaking in many ways as it was the
first of its kind in the entire world.
For those who believe that Ignorance is bliss and missed
seeing the ad, here's a brief recap of it-
Around 2.2 million copies of the national daily The Times
of India carried with them a weapon- not of destruction, but
of advertising revolution. A small light sensitive audio
device that read out the ad of Volkswagen Vento to the
readers. Some were shocked, some amused, some simply
amazed. But one thing was common- it became the topic of
all discussions and got Volkswagen exactly the attention it
was looking out for.
Volkswagen got its share of accolades and brickbats for
this endeavor that took them six months to execute.
Volkswagen who already enjoys the legacy of being an
innovative marketer, took things to a completely new level,
setting a new benchmark for the industry.
They carried forth the movement with some really
interesting advertising of the Vento campaign by exploring
Out of Home Advertising effectively.
Cadbury: sweating it out for the
Sweet Tooth
Picture this- a boy sneaks out of his room to
hide the chocolate so that his father doesn't
finish it up. A grandpa pouncing on the
packet of chocolates once the daughter-
in-law gets it from the kirana store,
two grown up brothers still fighting
over a bar of chocolate in front of their
kids. These pictures were very
difficult to fathom in the salad days
when chocolate was promoted in our
country. The golden rule was-
Chocolate is meant for kids! Well
Ogilvy begged to differ and so did their
esteemed clients Cadbury India who over the

years have positioned chocolates as a product that can be
tempting across all age segments and the craving for it isn't
incarcerated to a particular segment.
They chose a highly popular yet an absolutely
unconventional brand ambassador in the form of Mr.
Amitabh Bachchan. In retrospect one thinks, there couldn't
have been a better person for this mission. With his
charismatic personality and phenomenal acting, he could
mould himself into any character and make people believe
that it's not a cardinal sin to crave for a chocolate. So shed all
guilt.
With themes that ranged from passing of exams to
celebration of festivals, importance of the first day of the
month which brings salary at home to the simple idea of
starting a good work with sweets, Cadbury ensured they
cater to small moments of happiness that form an integral
form of the Indian way of life. They did it with a subtle
undertone of humour and entertainment. This got them
whopping success. After all who can forget classic captions
like “Pappu Paas Ho gaya”, “Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye”,
“Meetha Hai khaana, aaj pehli taarekh hai” and the recent
“Shubh Aarambh”.
Cadbury is slowly but strongly moving towards a space that
has been enjoyed for ages by the traditional sweets. With
constant reports of adulteration of sweets, one wonders if
the day is far enough.
18
Surf Excel- Blessed to have the
blemishes.
It is highly improbable to have thought that Surf, who
made us believe for decades that it is our weapon against
spots or stains, would change its course and tell us right on
our face - “Daag Acche hai”. What a slap on the face. What
a terrible setback for Lalitaji whose credibility had been
put on the burner by her own people. How much her poor
soul would be struggling when she came to know that
people whom she represented themselves did a volte face.
We wonder if she might sue them now.
Well before the anxious few lose out on the humour, let us
categorically state how beautifully has Surf changed the
entire perception of spots and stains. They used to be on the
other end of the spectrum when they used to show
themselves as the nemesis of stains and showed this entire
altercation as nothing less than a war. Things haven't
changed much, except the tone. Now, they simply say that
even the stains are good on occasions and cleaning them
should not be an issue at all as Surf will take care of it.
This simple yet powerful positioning has caught on
tremendous popularity with people. The campaign showed
kids playing freely without any concern of the stains. They
also struck an emotional chord by showing children
helping others without being deterred by the worry of spots
and stains.
They gave a new found image to the perception and gave it
a feel good factor to this product which was otherwise
promoted on similar lines. It is because of this reason that it
won millions of hearts and millions of smiles.
 19
GHAR KA BRAND, BAND favorite brands, and most of the times priced
below the product you want. Isn’t that an
BAJAAYE!! enticing proposition??
Kumudini Manda, Krishnakant Jonnalgadda,Rahul Gupta

You step into any major multi brand retail

T he advent of Foreign Direct

Investment (if approved by the
commerce ministry) in multi brand
retail would certainly be a game changer of
how the retail industry operates in India. The
outlet and you definitely
cannot avoid the
existence of such
products. Let’s explain
this with the help of a
industry has already seen a major transition few examples and then it
in India from the ‘mom and pop’ stores to the would make more sense.
big retail outlets. The products which are
being retailed are in themselves changing
from commodity products to luxury products.
Battle Royale
But the change which even the manufacturers
and its Spartans-
did not see coming was the boom of brands
The Stage-
NMIMS, Mumbai

Every great fighter pilot

which are manufactured (or outsourced) and
needs an equally able wingman to watch his back during
sold by the retailers themselves. To sell these
a combat mission. While the pilot may go for the kill to
products they come with various brands and
obliterate the enemy, it’s the wingman who ensures that
these are called In House brands.
the tables aren’t turned. Imagine if the wingman himself
By -

decides to don the role of a parallel pilot and both focus

If you look at the FMCG industry and the
on the offensive. Retail sector undergoes a similar kind

monthly spend on advertisements, you would realize the
importance of brand recall in the minds of customers
while shopping. And before visiting your favorite retail
outlet you already have few names in your mind and
sometimes one can be sacrificed for other. But just
imagine if you see products which you never heard of but
are of a similar type, kept at a place closer to your
of situation when the retailers(Wingmen) decide to go n
the battle on their own and refuse to play the role of just
watching the back of established brands.
This surely is turning into a Battle Royale and the Indian
Retail Sector is witnessing this great battle for power,
authority and of course market share. With armours of
pricing, quality, distribution and brand recall, these

Gyan
 20
Spartans are certainly leaving no stones unturned to get the bandwagon of Private Labels by introduction of
their space- right from the proper shelf to the consumer’s brands like John Miller, Tasty Treat, Fresh n Pure,
mind and through that to his/her home. With redefinition Koryo, Clean mate etc. They tapped onto the ongoing
of the rules, this Battle Royale seems to be in no mood of change in the perception of the customers. Studies kept
a truce in the near future. showing that most of them did not mind purchasing the
This quest is getting tighter and more exciting than the private labels as it brought their monthly consumption
one for the Holy Grail. bill down by 8-10% depending on the product category.
The marketers who are
coming up with Another smart ploy that they adopted was to ensure that
innovative ways to the product mix was determined as per the local flavors
position themselves and and demand scenario. This customization gave a better
carve a niche in their purview of the target groups in specific regions and
respective segment. hence created a better reception.
Being pupils of this Thus ,with 55 private labels in their kitty and possibly
exciting world, let’s put many more additions in the time to come, Future Group
out pupils to some work looks all set to heat up this battle and not bow down to
by focusing on who are the other warriors.
the major players across segments shaping the Private
Labels phenomenon in the Indian Retail Story.
Reliance Retail-
They had a rough start in the retail space. Everyone
The Warriors- around seemed to be opposing them. They
There is certainly the fundamental question as were looked at as the capitalist major
to sharks who would
swallow all the small
fish of the ocean and
establish their rule. The
outcry raised doubts over their
why do retail majors get into setting up their own future and expert pundits had
brands. The answer to this question lies in the fact that the predicted that Mukesh Ambani
margins in private labels are really high. The margins and his team have burnt their fingers. But, they weren’t
range between 10-15% in the FMCG segment and as high bogged down. They fought and fought gallantly.
as 40-60% in the apparel segment. This fact has clearly Today Reliance Retail, with major arms like Reliance
allured the entry of more and more retailers into breaking Fresh( Reliance Food and
the mould of just being the organizers of the show; they Dair y Life) and
now want to be the distributors of the show “The Great Reliance
Indian Retail Saga”. Trends,
has
Future Group- shaped
“Thou lay the path that the world shall follow, thou into a
unearth the pot of Gold that others shall try to swallow”. major
The flag-bearers of the Indian Retail Story, the Future payer in
Group with Pantaloon Retail and the Big Bazaar chain the
revolutionized the way organized retail spread its roots in Indian
the country. They worked on very effective pricing Retail
models and an effective back end distribution to come up space. They
with the best offers for the customers. This gave them own around 50
instant attention in the retail space. The stores were
astutely designed, without sprinkling drops of
opulence. This facilitated a wider target group and
especially a new one stop junction for the growing Indian private labels across product categories which have
Middle Class. They were in fact the first one to get into improved customer loyalty towards their stores. With the

Gyan
 21
solid backing of the Reliance group, they are certainly a
force to reckon with for both the established players as
well as other retail majors.
Shopper’s Stop
Style never goes out of style and one of the first players
to educate Indians about this was a strong retail chain-
Shopper’s Stop. They housed the best of brands in their
outlets and created a solid positioning among the
increasing fashion conscious population of youngsters.
They joined the momentum themselves when they
launched their in-house brands like STOP, Acropolis,
Kashish , Life, Vettorio Fratini and Elliza Donatein. This
wide range in the apparel segment, not only gave the
customers more options to choose from, but gave
Shoppers’ Stop a major boost in their record books as
well.
There are many other major players such as Aditya Birla
Retail, Koutons, Croma, Spencer’s etc who are leaving no
stones unturned to mark their strong presence in this
segment of private labels. In fact, a study has shown that
the retail majors are planning to use as much as 40-50%
of their store space in positioning their in-house brands.
They work solely on the principle of retail visibility and
thus, would try and gain as much attention as possible of
the customer.
Dissection point-
It is time to take out our scalpels and dissect the entire
concept of private labels in the country and why is the
phenomenon picking up compared to the established
national brands. Let us try by doing a small SWOT on
one of the better performing inhouse brand- Tasty Treat of
the Future Group.
Strengths
- It comes with the strong credibility of the Future
Group who has donned the role of a common man’s
shopping junction very effectively.
- The Group has been using innovative marketing
and promotional techniques to lure people to try out Tasty
Treat. This helped them a lot in the initial positioning
days.
- High retail visibility- Right from the entry point
of the store to the entry point of a particular segment, the
customer is bombarded with the idea of the private labels.
This does have an implication on the purchasing decision.
- Maintenance of quality standards has ensured that
they do not sway on the side of the unorganized retail.
Gyan
They have been very clear on their positioning of having
a quality which is at par with the national brands.
- Competitive Pricing- Since they do not have to
spend much on their advertising and other Above the
Line promotion, they save a lot of capital which is
reinvested in setting highly competitive prices.
- Highly customized product mix is an avenue that
has led to creation of a product basket tailor-made for
specific regions according to local tastes.
Weaknesses
- They do not enjoy the instant “Top of the Mind
Recall” in a consumer’s mind which can be a deterrent to
compete against the market leader.
- The distribution is limited to the retail stores
which led to their inception. Thus, they are yet to cover a
major segment of the target groups.
- They are often perceived as imitations of
national brands which is corroborated with their
packaging style and names( Compare Honey Circles and
Honey Rings, Masti Angles with Mad Angles)
Opportunities-
- The initial signs look highly encouraging and the
future does beckon exciting time for expansion.
- An opportunity to Co—Brand with a national
player can be a strategy that can be forayed into the
future. This could provide the perfect launchpad for them
to mark their presence.
- The higher margins obtained can be reinvested
in coming up with better variants for product mixes and
thus improve on the overall basket that the company
provides.

Threats
- It is difficult to keep up pace with the multiple
variants that the national players come up with. If the
retail majors decide to go ahead with so many variants,
the branding of multitudinous products becomes an
onerous task.
- With the entrant of more and more retail players
and the entry of international players like Wal-Mart, the
battle of private labels is going to become more fierce.
- Any bad instance with the brand can lead to a bad
name for the retail store as well. This co-branding which
works as a strength to establish the brand can lead to a
cascading damage in case of a problem arriving.
- A strong pull advertising strategy by national
players can hamper the growth of the private labels.
Only those who play the game, can
frame the rules-
A kid understands the importance of balance only when
he falls down, learns the importance of people only when
he is alone, learns the power of knowledge only when he
22
experiences it in real life. A marketing student can
certainly understand the concepts and brilliant ideas that
have taken the world by storm by sitting in the class and
googling, but the appreciation of this acumen comes only
when he steps into the field and observes the situation by
himself.
We want to be kings of the jungle in the future, for that
we decided to step into the lion’s den itself to learn the
tricks of the trade. A trip to one of the successful Food
Bazaar outlets in Mumbai gave us insights about why
private labels have been doing really well and how
various strategies are applied to influence the buying
behavior of the customers.
Food Bazaar has three major private labels- ‘Tasty Treat’
and ‘Fresh n Pure’ in the dairy, food and beverages
segment and ‘Clean Mate’ in the household division.
Their main line of focus currently is on gaining more on
the food and beverages segment. A visit to the store
corroborates this hypothesis. The entry point of the store
is adorned with a cutout of the latest offer that the in-
house brands have to offer. This catches instant attention
of the customer as it has been strategically placed near
the bag submission counter. Thus, a small halt or wait
here is sufficient to look at the cutout. Strike One!
Gyan
 23
are very close to the entry point in a particular segment
and which are placed at the eye level. The picture clearly
shows how the Tasty Treat products are stacked at the
entry point of the segment and at the eye level, whereas
the Kellog’s products are kept below the eye level. The
proposition of Tasty Treat is further strengthened by the
price offer display just below it, which is an alluring
factor for bargain hunters and may even lead to switch of
value seekers.

This is further enhanced by the packaging of the brands,

which is on similar lines with the established players.
Fancy this, Tasty Treat has a brand Honey Circles which
comes in a bright yellow package(with a Disney
character’s picture) and is placed at the entry point of
this segment. This is followed by Kellog’s Honey Loops
The floor of the store has labels attached to it which serve which has the exact yellow packaging (with a bee’s
the same purpose of informing the customer about tasty animated character’s picture). Different schools of
treat and its range of products. This is supplemented by a
banner of Tasty Treat clearly elucidating on the discount
options. So within an area of 100 sq. meters around the
entry point only, the store bombards you with its in-house
brands. Strike two!

The retail story has seen tremendous growth for two

primary reasons-one is the customer gets an option to
weigh all the options in hand and then make a decision
accordingly. Second, due to this growing competition,
prices have become highly competitive and even the retail
stores keep coming up with special prices to keep their
own competitive advantage. This has led to great
competition in the aspect of gaining the shelf space in a

Segment Tasty Treat Competitor name and thought would have different contentions over this move,
Brand Price Price but it certainly can’t be a mere coincidence. Strike three!
Corn Flakes 475 Rs 130/- cut Kellog’s cornflakes Rs “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. His specs, in the
gms down to Rs 125/- hands of the marketer.” The phenomenon explained
111/- above couldn’t have been summarized in better words.
Chips (65 gms) Masti Angles Rs Bingo Mad Angles Rs
10/- 10/-(85 gms) A common perception about inhouse brands is the fact
Bhujia Sev(350 Rs 68/- Haldiram’s Rs 65/- that they are not priced as much as the established
gms) brands. This perception was not entirely contradicted,
but got a new dimension on the visit to the store. They
were priced strategically similar to the major brands, and
retail store. This competition has become more intense even more on certain occasions. Fancy the example of
with the entry of private labels on the shelves. Thus, the Kellog’s Cornflakes 475 grams packet being priced at
retail store has to strategically place their own brands Rs.125 and Tasty Treat (similar flavor) is priced at
without disrupting the relations with the behemoths of the Rs.130. This does come across as a big surprise, but the
industry. answer to this unusual scenario was found in the store
itself. They usually have special pricing offers for their
In case of Tasty Treat, it is highly evident that they work a private labels, which is promoted in the shelves. Thus,
lot on their retail visibility by gaining shelf spaces which

Gyan
 24
the final price of Rs. 111 catches immediate attention of Conclusion and Verdict-
the customers and hence certainly improves the chances
of getting purchased. There is no second thought over the fact that private
labels are here to stay and to create a stir into the share
Our team compared the price of three major commodities of the market leaders. This hole in their pocket would
and the results were as follows- certainly ease out the pockets of the customers and we
This was a revelation for us in many ways as there were are sure with the kind of competitive pricing that has
many products like this where the inhouse brands we been introduced, the customers have reasons to
priced higher than the national brands, but the discounting celebrate.
was astutely done with special prices and promotional As a marketer of an FMCG company who has found this
offers. new competitor who is spreading roots quickly, the pull
strategy needs to get a bit more stronger because their
Our chat with the store manager had a lot of interesting unstoppable force is certainly meeting more and more
insights. Few of the excerpts from the interview are given immovable objects. The collision may certainly lead to a
below- BIG BANG!! If Ghar Ka Bhedi led to the demolition of
He very categorically stated that the main intention of the Lanka, here the Ghar ka brand of the retailers is certainly
private labels of Food Bazaar(Tasty Treat, Fresh n Pure moving in the same direction to spell trouble for the
and Clean Mate) was not to dethrone the behemoths who national players.
are ruling the sector, but the intent is to fill the void of a
more cost effective and good quality product. They save a
lot on their advertising costs and hence can invest that
capital into in-store promotion activities. Thus ,Food
Bazaar does get into endeavors like Free Sampling and
Tasting on Wednesdays which gives them the double
benefit of crowd pulling in stores as well as more
exposure for the private labels.
On the choice of manufacturers, he said that they do not
compromise on the quality and go on partnering with the
manufacturers who are working with the market leaders.
Without giving away the obvious fact, he did say that a
similar line of packaging does help in the initial ambush
but over a period of time, people do start taking notice of
their inhouse brands and do ask for it.
As far as managing the shelf space is concerned, they
have been given the decentralized power of installing
additional shelves to accommodate the private brands,
mostly determined by demand of the particular location.
Talking about the future, he said that even though we
have limited distribution network and we don’t outsource
to other stores, it is a proposition that may be looked into
in the future based on the changing trends. Right now, the
idea is to bridge in the gap between the unorganized
sector and the established bellwethers, plus the margins
always keep the smiles flowing.
He elaborated further saying that it is easier to penetrate
in the segments which evokes impulsive buy. Thus, if a
customer is not getting a Lays’ in the store, he wouldn’t
mind picking up Tasty Treat instead. This is how they
choose the product categories across which they are
spreading the roots of private labels.

Gyan
 25
Churn CrossWord

ACROSS
3 4Ps
5 Build,Hold,Harvest,Divest
6 Introduction,Growth,Maturity,Decline
7 Mass production, mass distribution and mass
promotion of one product for all buyers
8 Describe a cluster of complementary products
and services that are closely related in the minds
of
9 Task of creating strong customer loyalty is
______ marketing
11 Similar products or services to the same
customers at similar prices is ___________
competition
12 Geographic, Demographic, Psychographics,
Behavioural
15 Target consumers may be unaware of or
uninterested in the product
DOWN
1Small no. of large firms provide a range of
products or services
2 Difference between Total Customer Value and
Total Customer Cost
4 Railroad overlooking the growing competition
from airlines, busses, trucks
and automobiles
7 Identifying and meeting human and social
needs
10 ____ correspond to 4Ps
13 Walmart is an example for this
14 VLCC is an example of _____ market

Churn
 26
39
launched by which famous pizza chain?
The 4P’s Quiz Pizza Hut Smoking Joe’s
Famous Famiglia Dominos.
1) Sundrop is a brand of?
Marico HUL Agrotech P&G
10) Which of the following companies owns the
2) Which of the following was not a Pepsi brand SAFAL?
Mother Dairy ITC
flavour?
HUL GCMMF(Amul)
Pepsi Blue Pepsi Cappuccino Pepsi Dark
Pepsi Gold

3) Which of the following is not an Inhouse brand

of Food Bazaar?
Fresh and Pure Tasty Treat
Clean mate Fresh Plus

4) What is the full form of the company BPL?

British Physical Laboratories
Bharat Physical Laboratories
Bharat Provision laboratories
British Polarized Laboratories

5) Which of the following is an exclusive

icecream(no other products sold) parlour?
Havmor Happinezz
Amul Mothers’ Dairy

6) Which component did Bournvita extensively

promote as one of its USP?
RDA Balanced Formula
RAD Formula
RD Defence Formula
RAD Protection

7) ‘Rely on us’ is which company’s caption? 10) Mother Dairy

Reliance Industries Limited TATA Photon 9) Dominos
Meru Cabs Videocon DTH 8) Reckitt Benckiser
7) Meru Cabs
6) RDA Balanced Formula
8) Who recently purchased Paras 5) Happinezz
Pharmaceuticals? 4) British Physical Laboratories
HUL Reckitt Benckiser 3) Fresh Plus
ITC Emami 2) Pepsi Dark
1) Agrotech
Answers-
9) ‘Double Burst’ is a new style of pizza crust

Churn