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You should also correlate it with theoretical concepts.
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* It is highly recommended that you read all articles for enhancing your knowledge of the subject.
The rise and rise of the influencer

IPG and their group company FCB Cogito Consulting have released the findings of a global research that
looks at changing consumer behaviour in the context of digital disruption. The research covers 7 countries
-- India, Russia, Brazil, China, South Africa, the USA and the UK. The 600 sample-size per country is equally
split across youth, young adults and baby boomers, with an equal number of males and females in each
age group. This is the fifth wave of the research, findings of which are unveiled every 18 months. India
scored the highest on ‘initiating product conversations and actively advocating brands’ - “giving brand
opinions to friends more often” - the perceived value of this activity in terms of the respect earned.
(Attribute: people value me and my knowledge about certain products) From the buyers’ side, India also
scored the highest among all countries on “I regularly consult blogs (and social media) for finding new
ideas about products” Rapidly growing consumer referrals activity are heavily influencing the consumer
choice. One fall-out of digital disruption is the mountain of information getting beamed at consumers.
Does this overwhelm them? Bore them? Disturb them? Force a disconnection? No. Consumers around the
world (except China) are increasingly claiming that such ‘information availability has made them more
confident in their brand choice’. What’s more? As per consumers, increased information has increased
their satisfaction with the brands. Consumers have given rising ratings to ‘finding information on brands as
a fulfilling activity’. India leads the world in ratings on all these three parameters. Information, therefore, is
probably one of the most cost effective ways of boosting customer satisfaction. Globally, one can witness
rising ratings on ‘My knowledge about brands enhances my self-esteem’ and ‘people value my knowledge
of certain product categories’ tell the story behind. In fact, social value of such information has shown a
dramatic rise in India and Brazil. In all countries (except Russia), consumers are holding brands to a higher
standard. Year after year, India tops the list. The prevalence of “fake” news has increased the focus on
seeking authentic brand information. The rating on ‘I am spending more time evaluating products’ has
gone up rapidly. But not all information on digital media is equally trusted. In 6 out of 7 countries in
survey, including India, consumers are claiming that they always seek out trusted sources of
information. Where is this trusted information to be found? In US, Brazil, China and India, consumers are
admitting to have purchased based on recommendation of someone whose content they follow on social
media. The survey highlights the rise of the influencer and their advocacy in countries like Brazil, China
and India. These countries and the US show high and rising ratings on: - I regularly initiate conversation
with friends about some brands - I feel strongly about some brands and I’m an advocate for them - I
influence friends, family or colleagues on which brands to buy The young Indian consumer segment
strongly supports this behavior: - I feel strongly about some brands and I’m an advocate for them…76%
(against 67% average for other age groups) Interestingly, the key reason for the rise in advocacy is not
fiscal. It is the feeling of being valued and admired for expertise in products and categories.

Read more at: http://www.campaignindia.in/article/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-influencer/441102

Yes Bank partners with Eureka Mobile

Yes Bank has partnered with Eureka Mobile to launch ‘Tap to Shop’, a shopping experience on its digital
wallet. Eureka Mobile will power this m-commerce platform partnering Yes Pay to serve deals from brands
every day to over five lakh users. Every user will be eligible to receive a unique deal when they unlock
their phones at a particular time in the day. If the user wishes to buy the product, they could click on the
deal and place the order through the app. The entire ‘Tap to Shop’ experience takes just 14
seconds. Ritesh Pai, chief digital officer at Yes Bank said, “We are committed to leading the digital
landscape through innovation and creating multiple use cases for customer delight. Through this
collaboration we will enable Yes Pay users with a faster, secure and enjoyable shopping experience. The
solution has been specifically designed considering the needs of millennials whose decision-making
parameters are heavily skewed towards speed and on mobile-enabled platforms.” Rahul Jayawant,
founder and CEO, Eureka Mobile Advertising said, “We are witnessing the dawn of a ‘Mobile First’ era.”
Manoj Padmanabhan, director-Business Eureka Mobile Advertising added that the initiative will, “give
users a cool and easy way to shop from some of the most reputed brands”.

Read more at: http://www.campaignindia.in/article/yes-bank-partners-with-eureka-mobile/438723

Google poses a serious threat to Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Snapchat with launch of nine new
products

Google has just launched two new Google Home products, two smartphones, smart earphones, a smart
pen, a laptop, a new AR device and a camera, all with AI baked in. Google believes that the next big
hardware breakthrough doesn't lie in pure hardware, but in the combination of AI, software and
hardware. It's new products pose a serious threat to premier hardware manufacturer Apple, to Amazon's
voice device lead and it has even pushed out an AR offering that should have Snapchat worried. Google
Home Addressing the popularity of Amazon's Dot, Google has launched the Google Home mini, a soft,
rounded device "as large as a doughnut and lighter than a chipmunk". During the launch event, Google's
senior industrial designer even managed to work in a dig at Amazon. "We really thought the design
through. It's sleek and smooth no edges. You won't find any black plastic with blinking blue lights," Isabelle
Olsson senior industrial designer at Google said. On the other end of the spectrum is Google Home Max,
a mega speaker coupled with the capabilities of Google Home. Both come with new updates to Google
Home such as Broadcast - which lets you literally broadcast a message to every device in the house, and
"Find my phone" which will buzz any Android device and call lost iPhones. Max comes with "AI-based
Smart Sound" which has the ability to adapt its audio to the environment, context and preferences. The
Google Home Max starts shipping in the US in December and will be in the UK next year. Google Home
Mini is selling for a recommended retail price of £49 and is available for pre-order from today and on sale
and in-store starting 19th October. Two new smartphones The camera is far and away the lead attribute
on the new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Google brags that it has the highest rating of any smartphone camera
with a DXOMark of 98. Pixel users also get unlimited storage for photos and videos, an exclusive preview
of Google Lens, which uses AI to recognise images and provide information, and motion photos - Google's
version of Apple's Live Photos. The presentation was littered with subtle slights against Apple. "We
don't reserve our best features for the larger device," Mario Queiroz, vice-president and general manager
for phones, Google said to cheers. He later added that iCloud users hit their free limit in three months of
use and Google Pixel users take twice as many photos as iPhone users. Perhaps the biggest opportunity
for brands though comes with the launch of AR stickers, a direct challenge to Snapchat's 3D World
Lenses. Launching with the pixel phones are stickers from partnerships with Netflix's Stranger Things,
Saturday Night Live, YouTube and NBA. While there are no plans to open this platform up to advertisers,
it remains a future possibility, Alex Lee, programme manager for AR/VR and Google, said. Pixel 2 (5"
screen) will be £629 (64GB) and £729 (128GB) and Pixel 2 XL (6" screen) at £799 (64 GB) and £899
(128GB). Laptop Google's new Pixelbook is a direct challenge to Microsoft's Surface, with a flexible
keyboard and fully functional touchscreen. The 10mm device weights only a kilo and has Google Assistant
built in. Launching with the new Pixelbok is the Pen. Not only does it simulate the experience of writing
with a pen, users can circle images and words and immediately search Google using Assistant. Pixelbook
(128GB) and (256GB) are available to pre-order from the Google Store from today at £999 and £1,199
respectively. Earphones Fascinatingly, Google's new Pixel Buds (that's what they're calling their new
Bluetooth earphones) provide simultaneous translation to the wearer. It translates directly into your ear
and then broadcasts a translation of your words via Pixel phone. Google claims that the Pixel Buds
provides great digital sound, touch controls and Assistant. Google Pixel Buds will be available for £159,
from 22nd November. Updated VR and a camera Google has also launched a new mobile virtual reality
headset and a new camera called Google Clips. Clips uses AI to determine the people that are closest to
the user and to capture the best moments (based on lighting, movement and faces). It seamlessly sends
clips to the phone, and even edits and curates them. Daydream View will cost £99. Daydream View will
be available from 19th October and apps include YouTube, Guardian VR and BBC. Clips debuts in the US
at $249 and will eventually be available in the UK and other markets.

'Will Amazon kill the entire retail universe? Possibly.'

Jez Frampton, the global head of brand consultancy, Interbrand discusses the future of consumer brands,
the impact of technological, cultural and generational transition and the truth about valuation shopping

Jez Frampton is the global CEO of Interbrand Group, the leading global brand consultancy. In his 17 years
with Interbrand, Frampton has partnered with clients from around the world—and in virtually every
sector. He has also been instrumental in driving the growth of Interbrand’s widely respected Best Global
Brands report. Under his leadership, Interbrand was awarded a Gold Design Lions award at the 61st
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France. He is a member of the UK’s Marketing
Society, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the Market Research Society, the Design Business
Association and the Institute of Directors. In an exclusive interview with Campaign India, Frampton speaks
about a host of issues from brands indulging in valuation shopping, to AI impacting the future of the
consumer goods branding. Why is a valuation company dabbling into the business of creativity? As a
business, we started in the world of naming. That was 45 years ago. About 25 years ago, we invented
valuation and that fascinated everyone around the world. It was a genuinely world changing idea that had
a methodology that’s now enshrined in the ISO. But to put it in context, the business is equally split
between strategic thinking (consultancy services) of which valuation is a part and design and execution. A
good strategic approach to market is by definition, creative. How do you see Interbrand being described
a decade later; as a design company that also does valuation? As a platform we want to be known as the
company that understands how brands create value. We grow brands and businesses. At the same time
we also want to be known for bringing that to life creatively. From a competitive perspective, we can beat
the management consultants. They can think in a straight line, but they cannot think around corners. And
we can beat the ad agencies and other design houses because we can also think in a straight line. Our
strategic capabilities and our design calibre is very strong. But aren’t management consultancies now
buying the creative firepower that they lacked? Yes, the big four are buying the capability. But the one
thing that I would like to say is that creating a culture where those two different ways of thinking can
happily co-exist is not easy. In the advertising world, the creatives tend to rule the roost. In management
consulting, the suits rule the roost. A number of people have tried this in a different way. Making it stick
over the long term is a lot harder to do. We welcome it, because it shows that in order to deliver good
strategy, you have to execute. That’s how we feel. It also shows that it’s important for businesses to be
doing this. It makes everybody better and makes brands more important. In India valuation shopping is a
problem. If brand owners do not get the desired valuation from one consultancy, they just go to others
and shop till they get the desired value. What is the business doing to tide over this issue? We have had
this conversation in various parts of the world. For some reason, people want brand valuation
consultancies to come up with the same answer. That’s a little bit like asking three investment bankers to
make the same point of view about the value of a company. They would never be the same. In some cases,
it would be widely different. That’s because of the way you look at the information you have, the
assumptions you make and the skill and judgement. If you are looking at the valuation of a business,
there is only so far that you can go with the calculation. Then you have to take into account other factors.
If you are in the ice cream business and there is global warming, is that a good thing for an ice-cream
maker? These are probably things that you need to factor in. These are probably things that you should
expect. Going by the traditional brands versus the new-age brands, are the new-age brands rising
phenomenally but might also burn out faster? Who knows? Is Apple another Nokia? I don’t know. If Steve
Jobs was alive, he probably would have said, “no chance”. Will Google continue to dominate our lives? Will
Amazon kill the entire retail universe? Possibly. There was an article which recently said that Amazon’s
development spells the death of CPG (consumer products) branding, which is a pretty big statement to
make. In other words, once Alexa is your friend and it decides that you need new milk or new washing
powder, are you ever going to buy branded products again? Brand loyalty disappears. These are not
business changes. They are cultural changes. The rise of the AIs over the next 2-3 years is quite an
interesting challenge. Your primary relationship will no longer be with Apple or with anything else. It will
be with Alexa or Siri and she will do shopping for you. It’s a cultural and a generational threat and it’s
definitely a threat to many, many businesses. Is the combination of a simultaneous shift in culture,
generational and technological, something that the world has never seen before? That’s a big statement
to make. But maybe because of the changes caused by the combination of AI and robots. Look at the car
industry talking about autonomous driving combined with AI inside your car that can negotiate with
restaurants or a cinema or whatever. Is it going to be as fundamental as the industrial revolution? It’s a big
statement. But it could certainly be as big a development as the internet. In positive ways it will enable
us to do things that we were never able to do before as society, consumers and businesses. The downside
is what do we do about people who do not have jobs, how will it affect our communities, what about the
future for our young? All of these are some big fundamental questions that go with it.
Making sense of Vivo's Rs 2,199 crore bid for the IPL

Vivo has been in the news following its staggering Rs 2,199 crore bid to secure the title sponsorship of the
Indian Premier League. The deal is approximately US$ 341 million is for a period of five years, which means
the smart-phone company is shelling out US$ 68.2 million per year (Rs 439.8 crore). Not bad, for a league
that's been hit with 'controversies'? According to reports, the Chinese smart-phone company is paying a
similar amount on a yearly basis for the next six years as sponsor of FIFA. That makes it a total of US$ 137
million a year to sponsor these two tournaments. Then comes the Pro Kabaddi League. According to
sources the five-year deal for the second most viewed sport in India is at Rs 275 crores for 5 years, making
it close to US$ 8.5 million per year. Additionally, Vivo also has sponsorship interests in sports like the NBA.
The brand had also tried to get the sponsorship rights for the Indian cricket team, but had lost out to
competitor Oppo. The brand got its revenge though as reports suggest that Oppo was the only other
bidder for the IPL title sponsorship. To put these investments in perspective, only Coca-Cola (US$ 100
million for London Olympics), PepsiCo (US$ 90 million per year for the NFL) and Heineken (US$ 70 million
upwards for the UEFA Champions League) have paid more to sponsor an individual tournament. We
asked the experts whether this investment makes sense. Hiren Pandit, COO, TransStadia, believes that
the aggressiveness the brand showed was to make sure it got the property (IPL) which would help it get a
strong foothold in the country. He says, “You have to keep in mind from where they are coming. It’s an
unfair comparison to look at it from a POV from last time. If you look at it from a RoI perspective, people
would think it’ doesn't really make sense. But, they’re assuming that Indians don’t know them right now,
and are looking at properties like the IPL to create awareness. They were no known established brands in
the race. They probably won’t need to spend this kind of money in the marketplace after this five-year
deal comes to an end.” Ramanujan Sridhar, founder and CEO, brand-comm, thinks the aggressive bid
made sense. He reasons, “The bid may be staggering when you look at the absolute number. But, when
you see Chinese mobile brands in India, they have a 42 per cent market share. They have clearly made an
impact on the market. If you look at the IPL from a perspective of an outsider in the country, any entrant
would like to take a property that’s big and reasonably risk free even if it’s at a high price.” He adds, “The
range of smart phones they offer make the entire country their target audience and a property like the IPL
helps them reach out to the country. While, Test cricket had a high following during the recent India-
Australia Test series, the grounds were still empty. But, in the IPL that’s not happening.” T Gangadhar,
MD, MEC South Asia, seems to be perplexed by the amount of the bid. “I am a bit surprised. The fact that
were a sitting sponsor (previous title sponsors) of the IPL makes it more interesting. They (Vivo) seem to
know something that we don’t. From the perspective of the brand looking to be a part of popular culture
by associating with sporting properties, assoicating with the IPL does make sense.” Sridhar indicates that
other branding opportunities that may have come with the deal that include the Vivo Box on-ground, and
opportunities for the brand on television may have also been the reason for the higher bid. He surmised,
“They’re also looking to stand out from all the other Chinese brands in India as they’re competing with
them too. They want to out shout their Chinese competitors. So, this deal isn’t only a landmark deal for
cricket and the IPL, but also for Chinese brands in the Indian market.”

Also read: Vivo retains IPL title sponsorship

Read more at: http://www.campaignindia.in/article/making-sense-of-vivos-rs-2-199-crore-bid-for-the-

ipl/437781
Asia's Top 1000 brands: Local versus global brands in India

The local versus global debate with respect to brands has been one that has been in the spotlight even
before prime minster Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ movement began nearly three years ago or before
outspoken yoga preacher Baba Ramdev’s consumer goods brand Patanjali hit the shelves. Patanjali’s
growth has been rapid. The financial year of 2017 saw a reported turnover of 105.6 billion rupees (US$1.6
billion), proving there is demand for locally-made products. But, as McCann’s ‘Truth About Global Brands’
study proves, Patanjali’s success could be attributed to Indians trusting local brands when it came to
categories like food & beverages and healthcare (categories in which the brand operates). The study
revealed that 78 percent of Indian consumers prefer local brands in the F&B category. Move to health, and
the number reduces to 54 percent. What’s interesting to note is that when it comes to technology, even
though the world is outsourcing it to India, only 26 percent prefer local brands. The number increases with
regards to the automotive category, with 40 per cent preferring Indian brands over their global
counterparts. That leaves a lot to ponder for Tata and Mahindra, two local big names in the
industry. Ashish Bhasin, chairman and CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network in South Asia and chairman of
Posterscope and MKTG Asia Pacific, believes there’s a tremendous opportunity for global brands to grow in
India: “There are many categories that are under-penetrated outside the metros. Lot of people are
coming into the consuming class very rapidly in India because the GDP growth is high at 7.5 per cent and
expected to sustain at around 8 per cent for the next few years. So, the discretionary spends are increasing
in the country. Hopefully we will have another good monsoon this year and that should bring in a lot of
money into the hands of people deep down. And that’s always good news for brands.” While Bhasin
believes there are several categories that are underpenetrated and can grow in the coming years, one
that’s earmarked is infrastructure. “India is going to see several 100 billion dollars, if not trillions, to be
spent on infrastructure over the next 15 years. When we talk about brands, we usually talk about only
FMCG brands. But there are lots of large brands who are in infrastructure who could grow. There’s talk of
an equivalent to the bullet train being launched, bridges being built, airports too. There are lots of large
global infrastructure brands that have an opportunity to also come in. As the economy growth happens
and India moves higher up in its development cycle, the opportunities that open are tremendous.” Harish
Bijoor, founder, Harish Bijoor Consults, echoes Bhasin’s sentiments about the potential for growth for
global brands: “Global brands are yet to enter India in a real sense. What we see today is a nano-tip of
the proverbial iceberg that has been explored by foreign shore brands. The opportunity out here is
humongous. As India treads on the path of greater and greater prosperity, and as job-growth becomes a
reality in India, and as incomes rise exponentially the market will open up wide and deep for the global
brand. This will happen in every category of consumption. I see this opportunity for B2B, B2C and C2C
brands in this country of ours.” While there’s tremendous opportunity for growth, with the current Indian
government pushing ‘Make in India’, many believe that policies are a deterrent for global brands entering
the country. Jitender Dabas, chief strategy officer, McCann, disagrees with that notion and thinks the
government’s policies are available for global as well as local brands to utilise. “Government policies
have a large role through tax incentives as well trade policies in promoting local brands and businesses and
making it tougher or easier for global brands to operate in a market. But, they cannot drive consumer
preferences. Something like a 'Make in India' is as much an invitation for local brands as global brands to
make India their manufacturing base. But if political leaderships across the world start stating ‘be local, buy
local’ then that might drive citizen preference as well.” Dentsu’s Bhasin believes that e-commerce has
made it a level playing field with respect to local or global brands that don’t have the scale to match
distribution of bigger companies like Hindustan Unilever and P&G. He says, “It’s no longer that David vs
Goliath situation. No matter local or global, it’s about finding the best possible way of connecting with the
consumer. Whoever has the best insight and has the ability to make a product for that insight will succeed
irrespective of whether they’re local or not. Also, distribution is extremely important in India. Whoever is
able to get the distribution set up right, wins. The game-changer here is e-commerce. In e-commerce, the
brand is not always paramount. It’s the market place (Amazon, Snapdeal etc.) and the barriers for
distribution are taken out. E-commerce opens it up for global and local brands both.” Dabas adds, “Brands
need to get more committed than creative in their approach to cultural integration. There are examples of
global brands that Indian consumers find difficult to correctly identify as global. Those will always do
well.” Bijoor has a word of caution for global brands and the way they market themselves. “Global
brands need to get off the pedestal of thinking that they are the only ones who know marketing. Global
brands need to think local and think ahead of local players. It is time to get off the pedestal of thinking that
they know best, and everything else is a passing fad. The success of Baba Ramdev, (Acharya) Balakrishna
and Patanjali Ayurved is a case study that needs to jolt the living daylights out of MNCs who have believed
that one option fits all.” Bhasin concludes, “One thing to note is that the Indian market is more price
sensitive compared to other global markets. So, the Indian consumer wants quality products at an
affordable price. So, whoever can engineer that better is likely to succeed.”

Read more at: http://www.campaignindia.in/article/asias-top-1000-brands-local-versus-global-brands-in-

india/437169

Asia's top 1000 brands: What’s unique to India’s consumer market

It’s no secret that Indian consumer market is not just large, but also set to grow at a rapid rate. It’s also
well-known that India remains an under-penetrated market in most categories. Hence, there is a large
opportunity for increasing consumption and pushing consumers towards upgradation and premiumisation.
“This provides an opportunity both at the top of the market and the bottom of the pyramid,” says
Madhukar Sabnavis, vice chairman and country head, discovery and planning, O&M India. Festivals, films
and cricket are big marketing opportunities and except for cricket, the other two are not universal. There
are many regional hotspots to use and a large scope to create new events. One example is the shopping
festivals created by both offline and online brands like Big Bazaar and Flipkart. “However scalability will
always remain a challenge and 'glocal' marketers have learnt this and worked around it,” adds
Sabnavis. Further, India is a dual culture. Indians look and behave western, but deep down they are
Indian. “We assimilate but also quietly adapt anything to our tastes, often distorting the original. So classic
global mixes work to a point, but there after one needs to understand local psyche and do things for their
sensitivity to taste success. We don’t become global in mindset as we become global in consumption,”
says Sabnavis. There are also other instances of duality. While the urban sophisticated consumer is
upgrading to better brands slowly, there is a large segment that is moving from unbranded to branded
products. And they need good value and trust. Brands like Patanjali have managed to tap into this trend,
say branding experts. “The consumer is looking for a good rational and emotional package,” says Ambi M
G Parameswaran, brand strategist and founder, Brand-Building.com But there are other cultural traps
that brands should avoid. “Culture is a key element of consumer behavior in India. You cannot sell a brand
that goes against a particular socio-cultural trend,” says Parameswaran. For example, India is a country of
hot breakfasts. So brands cannot sell a cold cereal to this consumer. Similarly, milk is almost worshipped in
our culture. If a brand claims it has real milk, it will score big against someone who may not be made with
milk, as was evident in the recent brand war of Amul’s ice-creams made from milk as opposed to multi-
national Hindustan Unilever’s ice-creams that were made from vegetable fat. “Culture goes deep and
brands need to invest in understanding the changing socio-cultural trends in the country,” says
Parameswaran who recently authored Nawabs Nudes Noodles - India Through 50 Years of
advertising. Sabnavis agrees that the big over riding difference between India and rest of Asia is India's
heterogenity and duality. He explains that India is a “continent of diverse cultures, many languages and
distinct tastes in food, clothing and rituals. “Calling it one India is only a political and marketing
convenience. To succeed one needs to recognise, accept and adapt to this. We are also diverse in both
economic and social development,” he says. On the economic front, the very rich and very poor happily
co-exist – it’s not rare to find a skyscraper or even a five star hotel close to a slum. In social development,
the radical progressives and diehard conservatives also co-exist. There are some pitfalls that advertisers
need to avoid. First, the most obvious one. Advertisers have to avoid thinking of seeing India as just
another country in Asia. “It is a continent and has many differences both with Asia and within itself. They
need to delve deep to understand the market and consumer better before jumping in,” says
Parameswaran. Second, Indian consumers are expressive, but polite. This often means that while
consumers say a lot, they don’t often mean what they say. “It needs great sensitivity to understand
evaluative research as consumers say good things out of politeness,” says Sabnavis. Similarly, Indian
consumers appear rational in a research study, but are highly emotional in behaviour and this needs to be
recognised. “For the most premium products, consumers still expect freebies which escapes rational
explanation,” says Sabnavis. In terms of marketing talent, India is fairly local, but the thinking has
absorbed best global practices. “It’s tough putting some of them into practice in a large country like India,
but it is instructive on how Indian marketers have adapted global tools for their use,” says Sabnavis. In a
nutshell, to paraphrase a saying from Buddha, “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road
to consumer truths; not going all the way, and not starting”.
Asia's Top 1000 brands: India market snapshot: growing demand, rural transformation

“One state, many countries” is a term that is often used to illustrate India’s diversity and complexity. The
world’s second most populated country, India is forecast to expand a further 11 percent to 1.42 billion
people by 2025, just behind China, where forecast population growth is just 3 percent for the same
period. India’s rural population will remain the backbone of the country over the coming years,
accounting for 63 percent in 2025 compared to 67 percent in 2015. Rising rural incomes, improved
education and greater accessibility to services thanks to increased investment in rural infrastructure are
driving consumer demand across a range of categories. Increasingly savvy and informed rural consumers
aspire to own branded products and services used by their urban counterparts. India’s big cities will also
play a crucial role in the consumer landscape – mega cities of 10 million people or more are growing by 57
percent compared to average urban growth of 27 percent. Inter-connectivity between smaller cities will
also improve creating larger corridors of connected urbanized areas or urban agglomerations. India is a
young country with 65 percent of the population aged under 30 years. Connectivity is burgeoning and it is
estimated there will be more than 700 million smartphones in India by 2020. Connectivity allows for
personalisation and mass marketing will be a thing of past. Companies must look at commonalities on a
more personalised level to build future strategies. India’s average GDP growth throughout 2016 was just
behind China, showcasing a strong and resilient economy. Growth dipped in Q4 to 5.7 percent however, as
the government demonetised 500 and 1000 rupee notes on November 8 leading to a temporary cash
crunch with over 80 percent of all currency notes suddenly withdrawn from circulation. Although the
demonetisation fallout was felt broadly across the economy, the FMCG sector managed to buck the trend,
posting solid growth of 11 percent in the fourth quarter on the back of strong consumer confidence, high
agricultural yields and controlled inflation. Growth was largely driven by consumption, which was up 8
percent. It is widely anticipated that the Government’s demonetisation play will push consumers to adopt
and embrace digital payment methods and ease them into cashless transactions. While demonetisation
may create a short term challenge for e-commerce companies currently are heavily dependent on cash-
on-delivery payment terms, in the medium to long term a movement to digital payment methods will spur
the growth of the overall online retail industry. Looking ahead, India’s recently announced 2017 budget
holds some promise for consumers and brands. Tax relief will be welcomed by smaller local brands and the
middle class, and is expected to boost consumption. The government has also indicated it will increase
rural and farm spending by 24%, which will likely have flow-on effects for consumer spending from this
sector. The nationwide rollout of the goods and services tax (GST), scheduled for July, is expected to lead
to increased private investment and infrastructure spending, which in turn is anticipated to stimulate
further economic growth.
GM to exit Indian market (May 2017)

GM India announced today that it will stop selling cars in India and the Chevrolet brand will be phased out
of the market by the end of this year. Citing focus on improving business performance at a global level, GM
intends to concentrate its efforts only on key markets around the world. “As the industry continues to
change, we are transforming our business establishing GM as a more focused and disciplined company,”
said Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO. India is not the only market in which the American auto giant is
consolidating its operations. The company also announced transitioning its East and South Africa
operations to Isuzu Motors and phasing out the Chevrolet brand in those markets too. Having a large
facility in India and seeing good demand for its cars in other markets, the company will now continue to
manufacture from its Talegaon plant for exports only. The plant has an annual production capacity of
1,60,000 units. “In India, our exports have tripled over the past year, and this will remain our focus going
forward,” said Stefan Jacoby, executive vice president and president, GM International. Stefan also
elaborated on the decision to stop local sales in India. “We determined that the increased investment
required for an extensive and flexible product portfolio would not deliver a leadership position or long-
term profitability in the domestic market.” The carmaker had last year put on hold its planned investments
on new models for India as the company wanted to undertake a full review of its future product portfolio
for the country. GM India ceased production at its Halol facility in Gujarat on 28 April which has a capacity
of over 1,30,000 units annually. Plans are afoot to sell the plant to China's SAIC Motor Corporation. The
Halol plant was GM’s first plant in India which was set up in June 1996. It initially assembled Opel cars and
then shifted to Chevrolet-branded vehicles. Recently, it was only producing the Chevrolet Tavera. With
never having an established foothold in India, GM's market share here reduced to below one percent and
with a shaky model line-up, the Indian future of GM always looked bleak. The India arm's sales for April-
March 2017 declined to 25,823 units from 32,540 a year ago and market share contracted to 0.85 percent
from 1.17 for the same period, which indicated that the US-based carmaker had failed to crack the Indian
market. Interestingly, exports surged 89 percent during the same period to 70,969 units. The move to exit
a large and growing market will be a big blow to the company. However, it's a bitter pill it needs to
swallow to stem the losses. Right now not much is know if GM would consider a re-entry into India. With a
functioning plant, it will be an easier task.
India first: Why American Tourister hums an Indian tune

A backpack is a backpack. Not if you are selling it to Indian customers. The size of the Indian backpack is
nearly double the size of what travel gear brand, American Tourister sells anywhere around the
world. Backpacks are used more as an overnighter bag, rather than as a day bag. The bigger the back pack
the more things people put into it. In India the average size of backpacks has been increasing by 15 per
cent every year. The largest back pack that’s made in India is of the same size as a cabin-sized luggage. So
the company also redesigned the shoulder strap. Most of the premium backpacks come with a suspension
strap. When a customer wears the bag, it takes the load off the shoulder. That's also why there is a 6 mm
cushioning at the back, compared to the global average of 3 mm in backpacks designed by the
company. "When we launched the category it was primarily international designs and international
products. Today designers work on a range that’s exclusively for the Indian market. While the graphics and
imprints are similar to what we sell around the world, the product in terms of the features are designed
only for the Indian market," says Anushree Tainwala, executive director, marketing, Samsonite, South
Asia. Even things like the fabric, the stitching and the size of the back pack are Indianised. "The traditional
fabrics used to make backpacks used to get dirty very quickly in Indian conditions," explains Tainwala. As
dust is a big issue in India, that makes cleaning a backpack a cumbersome exercise. This year, the company
has introduced a special coating on the fabric, so that the dust can be just wiped clean and the bag need
not be washed frequently. Then, backpacks are used by many in public transport and there is always the
danger of a pickpocket opening your backpack in a crowded compartment. "Hence, the brand has
introduced a hidden compartment in the lining of the bag. The customer can access it from the outside,
but not anyone can access it, especially when a customer is travelling by public transport, as safety of the
belongings is a big concern for consumers," says Tainwala. Most backpacks sold in India come with a rain
cover today. "That’s done only for the Indian market because of the deluge during the monsoons," says
Tainwala. Even with schoolbags, countries around the world are moving towards slimmer and slimmer
backpacks as regulations are becoming stricter to reduce the size of backpacks. But schoolbags are also
becoming bigger in India. Also most schoolchildren in India carry lunchboxes along with the books. As
most foods in India are gravy based, there is the danger of leakage spoiling the bag and the books. Hence
American Tourister has introduced a special compartment within the backpack to store the lunchbox,
that's insulated from the rest of the pack. Any spillage will be contained within the compartment hence
cleaning the bag also becomes easy. Clearly, somethings come India first. Even Trump could approve of
this.
Goafest 2017: Patanjali, India’s popular Ayurveda brand to take the world by storm

The Nagpur SEZ to make Patanjali products for the global market

“The multinationals look at India as a market. For us India is our home,” said Acharya Balkrishna, MD,
Patanjali Ayurved as he confirmed plans to take the homegrown brand global. In his address to a packed
room at the inaugural session at Goafest 2017, Balkrishna spoke passionately about how Patanjali Ayurved
looks at a new market. “We do not do a market research and find out how big is the market before taking
the plunge,” he said. Balkrishna who turned up on stage in a dhoti and kurta (traditional wear) pricked
the bubble of many ad men by saying that his organization did not make ads with glamourous men and
women but rather focused on making products that were effective. Taking a swipe at Close-up toothpaste,
he said that his toothpaste Dant-Kanti did not make people fall in love. “That’s not the role of a
toothpaste. We only make a toothpaste that cleans your teeth effectively,” he said. He also took a dig at
ITC for its ads on Bingo wafers saying they would not make chips that made consumer faces go crooked,
much to the amusement of ITC executives sitting in the audience. It's unlikely that Balkrishna, a student
of Sanskrit and "not a management graduate" has heard about David Ogilvy. But he brought back
memories of the advertising legend's famous "consumer is not a moron..." quote when he repeatedly
spoke about looking at the consumer as a family member and doing things that would benefit society at
large. He said that the company followed a strategy – if it benefits the consumers and the suppliers, then
the company will definitely benefit from that -- instead of beginning how a new product will benefit the
organization. Giving the example of Amla juice, one of Patanjali Ayurved’s first launches, he said that it
was started because of an unique issue facing the farmer community. The farmers wanted to cut down
amla trees as the crop that was fetching them Rs 3 per kilo in the mid-1990s had not moved up even after
more tha a decade. The cost of labour was more than the realization. Then Baba Ramdev, the yoga guru
and the force behind Patanjali Ayurved decided to buy the entire produce from farmers. Balkrishna recalls
that he was advised to tie-up with Punjab Agro and make juice from the crop. Baba Ramdev then went on
television and told his audience on the benefits of Amla Juice. That endorsement sent sales shooting
through the roof. He says that the price of the crop has now increased to nearly Rs 16 per kilo. The other
example that he gave was of reducing the price of Aloe Vera juice. When imported brands were charging
and exorbitant sum of Rs 1500-1600, Patanjali managed to reduce the cost to as little as Rs 150. Replying
to a question, he said the reduction in cost would not come with a compromise in quality. He said his team
of more than 200 scientists took extreme care to ensure that consumers got the best products. He
exhorted ad agencies and marketers that before making consumers believe that the product was best for
them, they had to internalize the question and ask themselves, “ would they get their family to use the
product. Make conscience your gatekeeper,” he said.
A silent consumer revolution in the smaller metros

Over the next three years, it will reap rich dividends if marketers looked beyond the top ten metros

For years, marketers have pampered the top metros of India by showering all their attention on
consumers in these cities. If a recent report by consulting major EY is to be believed, the focus has to be
enlarged much more quickly than one can anticipate. According to an EY report titled ‘India’s growth
paradigm: How markets beyond metros have transformed’ tapping the next ten high-potential new wave
markets can deliver an incremental reach equivalent to the combined spends of Chennai, Kolkata, Pune
and Ahmedabad – in a short time span of the next three-four years. According to the study, when the
population and per capita incomes are considered together, the purchasing power of these ten cities
(Bhopal, Chandigarh, Indore, Jabalpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Patna, Vadodara, Vizag is nearly INR 4
trillion which is on par with four metros mentioned above. The factors in favour of these cities is their
growing population and increasing investments from the central government. All the cities except Patna in
the next 10 have already won funding from the Smart Cities Mission. “At INR 40-60 billion each the
planned projects of Chandigarh, Indore and Jabalpur are particularly notable and are set to boost
development,” says the report. Key indicators like a leap in air passenger are also favourable to these
cities. Air traffic to these cities increased by as much as 57 per cent in the period 2012-16 as compared to
35 per cent in the case of metros. The media markets of these ten new wave cities are different to that of
metros, in that they skew more towards print and radio compared to television in the major metros. “This
means marketers cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach and must select appropriate media vehicles to
target audience. For instance, Chandigarh despite having a population of just over one million (compared
to Mumbai’s 21 million), serves as a major print hub in North India and has the country’s seventh largest
print ad volume. Meanwhile, markets like Lucknow and Patna have also seen rising print penetration,
recording over 8 per cent annual circulation growth in recent years. “Not coincidentally, these three
literate, print-centric markets are also amongst the top-ranked non-metros in terms of digital
consumption,” says the study. Ashish Pherwani, media and entertainment advisory leader, EY India says,
“Non-metro growth is out-stripping that of metros in India. There are clear cases of unmet demand in
India’s top 50 cities in certain sectors. This provides a huge opportunity for various sectors to both widen
and deepen marketing strategies, and effectively tap into one of the world’s largest earning populations.”
Why India lags in customer experience

Lack of budgets and increasing number of consumer touch points rank high among concerns in managing
customer experience of Indians

Everybody in the marketing profession agrees that customer experience is top on the agenda. But a few
have taken the right steps and are well advanced in the customer experience journey. The recently
released ‘Customer Experience Maturity in India’ report, produced by Econsultancy in association with
Epsilon, is based on a survey of 319 marketing, digital and ecommerce professionals based in India. The
report explores the extent to which organisations in the region focus on the customer, how well they
understand the customer journey, how customer experience (CX) budgets are allocated, how return on
investment is measured and what the future of customer experience initiatives looks like. Among the top
findings of the study, three in five companies have no specifically allocated budget for understanding the
customer journey. When it comes to budget allocation for optimising the customer experience, 59 per
cent of companies admitted that they either siphon off funds from other things, or have no budget at
all. However, the flip side of the story was a little more encouraging. A healthy proportion of survey
respondents say they either have a single dedicated budget assigned to understanding the customer
journey, or a dedicated budget split between various departments. This is the situation for 41 per cent of
companies and 59 per cent of agencies.
There were also some candid confessions. Nearly half of the respondents in this study cited that their
company or clients were not very advanced in terms of the maturity of their customer experience. The
prime reason for this assumption was that most of them had some ad-hoc tactical initiatives but no real CX
strategy or technology capability. Nearly two in five (39 per cent) of the company respondents and more
than half of agencies say that they (or their clients) are at an ‘intermediate’ stage of understanding the
customer journey, meaning that some parts of the journey are joined-up, but there are important pieces
of the jigsaw still missing. Furthermore, 38 per cent of companies define their understanding as being at a
‘beginner’ level, and 30 per cent of agency respondents concur with this view. Only 17 per cent of
companies claim they are at an ‘advanced’ stage of understanding the customer journey, where there is a
coordinated approach across online and offline touchpoints. Among the barriers to improving customer
experience, the complexity of the landscape and the growing number of touchpoints emerge as the
greatest concerns for 28 per cent of company respondents. With the number of digital touchpoints
increasing by 20 per cent annually, the customer journey has become an incredibly complex beast, and
getting to grips with it can be a costly and time-consuming task, says the study. “The challenge for
marketers in joining the dots between their various touchpoints is only likely to increase as consumers opt
for more complete digital and mobile interactions.” The lack of an overall strategy or vision is also
proving to be a significant obstacle for a quarter of company respondents, and 44 per cent of agency-side
respondents (the largest majority) support this view. A further 24 per cent of companies believe
organisational structure is a problem, suggesting that department silos are preventing businesses from
adopting a customer-centric approach and mentality.
Why Manushi Chhillar’s Miss World Crown should mean more to us

Can the latest Miss World title re-ignite sponsor interest in beauty pageants?

India were actually no-hopers and almost non-contenders for years and years at global pageants despite
the Reita Faria victory way back in 1966 at the Miss World. For decades after that, as Sathya Saran, the
famous editor of Femina in the 1990s put it, “We used to send these pretty but short girls out there who
did not stand a chance against the tall, blonde blue-eyed beauties”. Then Madhu Sapre, dark and dusky as
she was, finished third at the Miss Universe pageant in 1992. Namrata Shirodkar ended up a creditable
fourth the next year. Then came 1994. The Times of India, the owners of the Femina Miss India contest,
shifted the venue of the pageant to Goa, the first time outside of Mumbai. Aishwarya Rai, by then a
reasonably well-known model was predicted to be the winner by one and all. She was stunningly beautiful
and was a well-known face because of her “Hi! I am Sanjana” Pepsi ad with Shahrukh Khan. Yet Rai had
competition. As Sathya Saran recounted a couple of years ago, “There was Jesse Randhawa who was tall
and stunning and Komal Rampal who was as beautiful as her brother Arjun is handsome. In the midst of
these beauties, no one noticed Sushmita Sen. Sush had been spotted at a night club by Ranjan Bakshi, then
a senior manager with the Times of India Group. She had appeared in the magazine when she had
modelled for one of JJ Valaya's fashion spreads. But Sush was still gauche; she didn't have what Ash had.
Aishwarya was instant magic before the camera”. After the final Q&A round with the final five
contestants was over, Dalip Tahil the compere sprung a surprise no one was prepared for. For the first
time in the 29 years of history of the Miss India contest there was a tie for No. 1 between Aishwarya Rai
and Sushmita Sen. Both Aishwarya and Sushmita had scored 9.33 after the Q&A round and judges had to
ask another question from each of the top 5 contestants to decide the final winner. The question asked to
Aishwarya Rai during the tie-breaker round at Femina Miss India 1994 was, “If you have to look for
qualities in a husband, would you look for the qualities in Ridge Forrester from Bold & Beautiful or in
Mason Capwell from Santa Barbara?” Aishwarya’s answer, “In Mason. Though they do share a lot in
common, from what we get to see, Mason does have a very caring side to him and a terrific sense of
humour. And that really gels with my character”. Aishwarya scored an average of 9.39 on this
answer. The question asked by the judges to Sushmita Sen during the tie-breaker round at Femina Miss
India 1994 was, “What do you know about the textile heritage of your country and how old has it been?”.
Sushmita answered, “I think it all started with Mahatma Gandhi's Khadi. It has gone a long way since then
but the basics of Indian textile heritage has been from there”. Sushmita scored an average of 9.41 on this
answer and won the crown, relegating the favourite Aishwarya Rai to second place. The run-up to the
tie-breaker actually had had its own ups and downs. Sathya Saran has been on record to say, “Everyone
was fawning over Aishwarya (in the preliminaries). Make-up artistes would shower special attention on
her. The judges were leaning towards her. She won Miss Ten, a title given to someone with the best body
in the competition. Internationally, this is often the decider. Once you win Miss Ten at the Miss Universe,
you are as good as home. But Aishwarya's body wasn't toned; I protested but the other judges shot me
down”. Aishwarya, despite being a trained fashion model, however tripped over her gown on the ramp in
the final round. Some say, that little fall was instrumental in getting her to lose points on poise and getting
bracketed with Sushmita, and eventually was the stroke of fate that put her into the Miss World contest as
the No. 2 winner rather than in the Miss Universe fray as the No. 1. But the bigger excitement was yet to
come. At the Miss Universe contest, Sushmita Sen ranked third overall in the preliminaries, right behind
preliminary winner Miss Colombia Carolina Gómez, and Miss Greece Rea Totounzi. Sen went on to place
second, fifth and third in the forthcoming rounds, and finally won the overall crown. Back home in India,
this victory was received with almost as much excitement and happiness as the cricket team’s World Cup
win in 1983! Aishwarya Rai then made it a glorious double, winning the Miss World contest a few months
later. When Aishwarya returned to India, her homecoming procession in Mumbai along Bandra's Carter
Road had over a million people lined up on both sides chanting, “Ash, Ash, Ash!” catapulting her to instant
super-stardom. My wife Tanya and I were in Pune for the Femina Miss India contest in the year 2000. My
client Palmolive was the title sponsor and we were privileged to have front row seats at the show. Sizzling
beauties Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza ranked Top 3 and were nominated as India’s entries to
Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Asia Pacific. All three returned home proud winners. It has been a
17-years long drought for India at the global beauty pageants since Lara-Priyanka-Dia last brought home a
hat-trick of winners sashes in the year 2000. The Miss World crown has come back to India earlier this
month with a stunning win by the relatively unknown Manushi Chhillar, a 20-years old medico from
Sonepat, Haryana. The 1.75 m (5 feet 9 inches) tall, brown-haired, brown-eyed beauty is the sixth Indian to
win the Miss World tiara after Reita Faria, Aishwarya Rai, Yukta Mookhey, Diana Haydon and Priyanka
Chopra. Chhillar as the Indian entry to the world pageant was almost a non-news till the young lady
actually won the crown, surprising India and the world. The Femina Miss India contest has somehow lost
its sheen over the years and got somewhat degraded even further with a down market sponsor like FBB.
No offence meant, but FBB is not really an aspirational brand, and its imagery has sort of rubbed off on to
the Miss India pageant, rather than the other way around. I am a bit under-whelmed by the lukewarm
response that Chhillar’s win has received in media and in advertising. She is a really pretty looking girl.
Beating over 150 other contestants to the crown globally is not easy. The days when the Times of India
group used to invest a lot of time, energy, effort and money under Pradeep Guha to groom India’s beauty
queens to become world beaters are long past. Manushi Chhillar has therefore won against all odds, and
with very few inputs from her sponsors. 20 years ago when I was at Rediffusion, the title sponsorship of
the Femina Miss India contest was a very very prestigious one to get for any client. When we cornered it
for Colgate-Palmolive, it was a big and coveted achievement. With three global winners in 2000, the
sponsorship paid for itself many times over through the PR and publicity that surrounded the winners and
all the hoopla around their victories. I hope Chhillar’s win re-ignites interest of better quality sponsors in
the contest all over again and Miss India winners start to receive once again the support they used to get
in the days gone by. Beauty is a serious business after all.

(Sandeep Goyal has been privileged to work with most of India’s global pageant winners for his various
clients’ campaigns over the years.)
Government May Ban Words like 'Fresh', 'Natural' in Food Ads

The health ministry has proposed sweeping changes in the law to restrict the use of terms like "fresh",
"natural", "traditional" and "original" in advertisements for food products.

For instance, the draft Food Safety and Standards (Advertisement and Claims) Regulation lays down that
the term "fresh" can only be applied to products which have not been processed in any manner except
washed, peeled, chilled, trimmed and put through other processing necessary for making it safe for
consumption, without altering its basic characteristics.

The draft, prepared by the Food Safety and Security Authority of India (FSSAI), also clearly mentions that
"fresh" or "freshly" shall have no other connotation than the immediacy of the action being described.

"A food containing additives and/or subjected to packaging, storing or any other supply chain processes
that control freshness shall not be termed as "freshly stored" or "freshly packed".

The draft, which is with IANS, also seeks to restrict the use of the word "natural" to only food derived from
a recognised source such as a plant, animal, micro-organism or mineral and to which nothing has been
added.
Such products should only have been subjected to processing that would render it suitable for human
consumption like smoking without chemicals, cooking processes such as roasting, blanching and
dehydration, freezing, concentration, pasteurisation, and sterilisation. The packaging should be done
without chemicals and preservatives.

"Natural" can also not be used for compound food products, which may be described as "made from
natural ingredients".

"Compound foods shall not themselves be described directly or by implication as natural but such foods
may be described as 'made from natural ingredients'. This will also apply to words such as 'real' and
'genuine', when used in place of 'natural' in such a way as to imply similar benefits. Provided however,
claims such as 'natural goodness', 'naturally better' and 'nature's way' shall not be used," says the draft
proposal, which has now called for suggestions from stakeholders before it is finalised.

It says that term "traditional" can only be used to describe a recipe, fundamental formulation or
processing method for a product that has existed for a significant period running over generations and
should have been available substantially unchanged over time.

"The term 'original' shall only be used to describe a food that is made to a formulation, the origin of which
can be traced, and that has remained essentially unchanged over time. It should not contain replacements
for major ingredients. It may similarly be used to describe a process, provided it is the process first used in
the making of the food, and which has remained essentially unchanged over time, although it may be
mass-produced," the draft says.

The draft, which has five schedules clearly mentioning the restrictions, also deals with the health claims of
products.

"Health claims for fortified food articles should be like Vitamin A for helping in preventing night blindness,
Iron for fighting anaemia, Iodine required for normal growth, thyroid and brain function. Thiamine is
required for normal nerve and heart function," says the draft, adding "a statement that in order to obtain
the claimed benefits, the daily intake of the nutrient/ingredient (for example 3g beta-glucan) should be
taken from either the same food or any other food that provides the nutrient/ingredient containing the
beneficial nutrient/ingredient".

The draft says that the claim that a food has certain nutritional or health attributes shall be scientifically
substantiated by validated methods of quantifying the ingredient or substance that is the basis for the
claim.

"All disclaimers related to a claim shall appear in the same field of vision. No claim or promotion of sale,
supply, use and consumption of articles of foods shall be made using FSSAI logo and license number.
Advertisements shall also not undermine the importance of healthy lifestyles," the draft says.

"Advertisements for food or beverages shall not be promoted or portrayed as a meal replacement. Claims
in advertisements shall not be inconsistent with information on the label or packaging of the food or
beverage," the draft says.
As E-Learning Space Heats Up in India, Byju’s Gets Shah Rukh Khan to Endorse Brand

The digital revolution has given rise to many new brand categories in India, some of which have been
heavily contributing to the overall advertising spends in India. For instance, e-commerce has emerged as a
major advertising category and is a top contributor for digital ad spends. Another category which is
growing in significance in the advertising space is the online education or e-learning app category in India.

The e-learning space is growing significantly in India as it has become the second largest markets after the
US. According to a recent KPMG-Google report, the size of the e-learning market in India was $247 million
(Rs, 1,582 crore) in 2016 and comprised of 16 lakh users. By 2021, the market size is expected to grow by
eight times to $1.96 billion (Rs 12,549 crore) and the user base is expected to grow by six times to 96 lakh
users.

With this opportunity in sight, many of these e-learning apps are looking to increase their user base and
reach audiences through their marketing efforts. One of the top contenders in this space is Byju's, that
launched its latest ad campaign across TV and digital mediums with Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan.
GAIL India Attempts to Sensitize People on Effects of Climate Change

In order to sensitise people about the destructive effects of climate change, GAIL (India) Ltd released a
short film titled, 'Kadvi Hawa Badlo'. The film is set in the backdrop of a sunken Mumbai city in the
foreseeable near future, and stars Sanjay Mishra and Ranvir Shorey.

The short film Kadvi Hawa Badlo takes you on an interactive journey to future with witty Sanjay Misra and
sassy Ranvir Shorey with an objective to make each individual accountable and take necessary action,
ensuring a greener and cleaner tomorrow.

GAIL (India) Limited, as an extension of the Hawa Badlo campaign, have also joined hands with upcoming
Bollywood movie, Kadvi Hawa as Clean Energy Partners. Committing support as clean energy partners of
the movie, this association is in line with their commitment to improve the air quality through collective
societal effort under its Swachh Air Mission initiative. While Kadvi Hawa is primarily an entertainer, its
purpose is very clear - creating awareness and changing mind-sets to enable individual to take necessary
action, ensuring a greener and cleaner tomorrow. The Hawa Badlo movement strives to achieve this very
purpose while highlighting the adoption of natural gas as the cleanest fossil fuel. Both aim to achieve the
same thing - propagating the thought of reducing every individual's carbon footprint while empowering
them to take necessary steps in their daily life to combat climate change.

One of the biggest threats of climate change is increase in carbon emissions which is leading to rise in
temperature, further leading to melting of continental ice glaciers, and paving the way for rise in sea levels
owing to the thermal expansion of sea water. A scientific report by Climate Central, a US-based research
group once suggested that if greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, significant parts of cities may
submerge under water in coming time.

Emissions of Air Pollutants, especially CO2, by burning polluting fuels is direct cause of Global Warming.
Global warming is leading to rising sea levels and increasing coastal flooding, endangering 40% of the
world's population. The intention is to sensitize people about air pollution and motivate them to inculcate
eco-friendly habits such as switching to cleaner energy sources like Natural Gas, carpooling, planting trees
and use of public transport.

Protiqe Mojoomdar - Executive Producer on this film from Handyyman - said, "It is rare that an
entertainment brand like Kadvi Hawa and a Public Sector brand like GAIL India are endorsing the exact
same and the most important philosophy of our times! Air Pollution and Climate Change are reciprocal
disasters that have become the reality of today. It was therefore an honour to leverage this association,
and create this short with such talented actors! #Kadvi Hawa and #Hawa Badlo came to become #Kadvi
Hawa Badlo. The bitter truth bullet needs to be bitten now and this our small effort to motivate
everyone."
Innovation as the Key Differentiator in a Cluttered Market

It's always difficult to conceive innovation in business models. There are no set practices and proven tools,
and is quite often ripe to more failure than success. 'The Power of Moments' is an interesting book I read
recently, offering insights into the art of creating powerful moments in customer experiences. Innovation
is quite often set out to create earth shattering transformational models. But quite often it is a blend of
numerous simple touches and in some cases taking an alternate and fresh view of the opportunity at
hand. Have listed some principles one may like to ponder on in the quest for differentiation...
1. Amplify Experiences - There are two dimensions to this. Sustainable product differentiation is hard to
come by and customer choice is increasingly influenced by a combination of feature and experience.
Though several brands and organizations are constantly enhancing the experience suite, there are few
who work diligently on amplifying some experience points in the customer journeys. The Mickey Mouse
handshake at Disneyland or the customary ringing of the bell at Pizza Hut create a lasting impression on
customers and critically influence customer perception. Quite often, simple actions which resonate with
the senses create lasting and compelling 'differentiated' memories.
2. Identify Differentiating Process: Organizations would classify processes into core and support. Core
processes are where the money is made, and support processes are the critical enablers. Focus is
traditionally placed on the core processes, but the key to delivering consistent propositions quite often lie
in the enabling processes. An organization may identify differentiators in their training capabilities:
develop the training process for most important capabilities in-house, train core capabilities through
tailored offerings from best-in-class trainers whereas develop support capabilities by utilizing off-the-shelf
training products. New hires at Disneyland go through a training program that sets them up for success in
the company. They quickly learn a new language - employees are "cast members", customers are "guests",
a crowd is an "audience" and a work shift "performance". The orientation seminars let them join a cult -
not everyone wants to and the company sees a higher-than-average churn in new hires. But those who
decide to continue understand Disney's fanatical focus on self-image and develop a natural inclination to
take this focus to its limits.
3. Don't follow Industry Best-Practice: One can rarely innovate by following the best practices of industry
leaders. Gradual and incremental improvements in best practices are the norms. It's the leaps to new
territories which make for breakthrough practices. The blue ocean is the place to go. Find your niche,
become great at it and then expand. Some insurance companies have created in depth expertise in
assessing and pricing risk in customer segments which are not the most sought after. Wonga went after
the Friday pay day segment, seeking easy loans for short time frames, creating risk models for that
particular market.
4. Differ from the Leader: Don't try and punch above your weight class with the same gloves. A challenger
brand needs to think, breathe and live like a challenger. A challenger has more to gain and less to lose, and
hence the ability to create new value pockets. Changing the rules of engagement is vital for success. Uber
is a brilliant example of transforming the decades old taxi and fleet model of personal transportation.
5. Difficult to Replicate: This of course is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow most organizations wish
to conquer (or create). Successful platform and network business models are the ones which are most
difficult to create and even more replicate. The underlying principle is in creating the skill sets and tools
allowing multiple players to partner with you on a consistent basis. The android app store is an example of
a flourishing network in which the partners are deeply invested. Difficult to build, but a goldmine of sorts.
6. Incentivize Failure: It's the overall organizational culture and acceptance of risk with failure which
serves as the greatest stimulus for innovation. Innovation may not set out necessarily to solve for
differentiation, but solving for the cultural aspect is a certain prerequisite.
Why Brands Need A Larger Purpose?

Why do brands exist? Because they help companies make money? Because consumers’ lives are better by
using them? Because investors want to invest in those companies that have successful brands? While there
is an element of truth in each of these statements, the reality is that many brands and businesses have
existed and even prospered historically because someone had started them in the first place, and the next
generation of entrepreneurs continued to do more of the same, at times improving their processes and
ending up making them more successful. Yes, there are many brands that have been successful and have
been so for years now. But if we look at the really successful brands (some of which have even become
iconic) there is a larger truth about them. They all have a purpose clearly articulated by the founders that
drives the brands, its employees and which impacts the consumers too as they continue to remain loyal to
the brand. Let’s look at some of these brands that we have grown up with, used and admired.

A life without Apple?

No discussion on branding is complete without a fleeting mention at least of Apple. What did Apple do? It’s
not only that they produced superbly-designed products that consumers fell in love with. They challenged
the status quo. They changed the way people looked at computers, the way people listened to music and
later challenged the way consumers looked at mobile phones. Here’s a commercial that best embodies the
philosophy of the brand and its visionary founder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=cFEarBzelBs

This leads me to make a fairly important point, a larger purpose impacting humans can make a big
difference to the long term future of brands and what better example than Apple to demonstrate this.
And where will you go for your cup of coffee?
Another interesting modern day brand is, Starbucks, and the purpose? Schultz being inspired by the coffee
shops in Italy and realising the integral part the coffee shop played in the average Italian’s life thought
about the USA and creating a “third place” in the average American’s life, knowing fully well that the
American merely alternating between work and home. Why not create a “refuge” he thought? And then
went on to create “rewarding everyday moments” in each one of his outlets all over the country and the
world for that matter.

Matha, Pitha, Google, Deivam

An ancient Tamil proverb says: “Father, mother and guru are good.” In today’s world, one might have to
include Google!

Can you think of a life without Google? I for one can’t. Even if I have to travel to far-flung places like
Mayiladuthurai who do I rely on? I rely on the lady with the American accent who reels off tongue-twisting
Tamilian names that have foxed many Punjabis, with great aplomb. And that’s just one app. How can a
student get through college without Google and here we were who studied masters without access to
calculators for exams! And what’s their mission, “to organise the world’s information and make it
universally-accessible and useful”.
So where do we go from here?
While examples are always inspiring and often reassuring, they might not be of much use if one has been
in business for years, making money year-after-year repetitively, often doing more of the same. It’s
perhaps time to step back and ask why we are in business. Very often, in today’s world of preoccupation
with the performance of the quarter, are we missing the bigger picture? It’s perhaps time to think not only
about business, revenue, collections, top line and bottom line but also about the human purpose of
enterprise. How do we impact the lives of the people who ensure that our business has been around? How
do we demonstrate that they matter to us? How do we touch their lives with our products and services in a
more interesting and engaging way than we are currently doing?

So why are you in business?

All of us have answers to questions like “how” to do business. But how often have we thought of “why” we
are in business. Sadly, it is not an easy question to answer. Let’s remember too that all consumers like
stories, even about brands. So what’s your brand’s story? And how is that involving humans? It is in
determining these that will set apart your brand and why should we only discuss brands like Apple,
Starbucks, Google or Nike? Which will be the Indian brand that will be spoken of in the same breath? And
what will be its purpose that will be its point of difference with the competition? I am an optimist and am
waiting for the future for Indian brands to make a difference to the world.

Ramanujam Sridhar is the Founder CEO of brand-comm Public Relations

Kishore Biyani's Roadmap To Make Future Group A Trillion Dollar Biz By 2047

Leading retail chain Future Group has announced the launch of Easyday, a chain of member-only
neighbourhood stores to make it a Rs 1.5-trillion business opportunity by 2022. This is part of Retail 3.0,
the Group’s 30-year plan to become Asia’s largest integrated consumer retailer and a trillion dollar
business by 2047.

Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani plans to blend technology with offline retail to offer an new retail
experience where customers can either walk-in to the brick and mortar store, send texts (including on
Whatsapp), order online using the app, or just call the store. Future Group has also tied up
with Facebook and Google to aid with data analytics and social media engagement. The main philosophy
behind the stores is “You Ask, We Deliver” and the retail format is therefore titled ‘Tathastu’.

“The group will have 1,100 Easyday stores by the end of FY18. Each store will have an investment of
around Rs 15 lakh,” said Biyani. He expects over 10 million consumers to spend up to Rs 1 lakh annually
through the Easyday stores by 2022.

Each of the stores will be equipped to handle 2,000 members and will be spread over 3,500-4,000 sq ft and
offer 3,500 stock keeping units. Members will be charged Rs 999 in annual membership fee, for which
they will get 10 per cent discount on all purchases.

“We will place a store within 2 km of every consumer,” he explained. Technology giant Google has tied up
with Future Group to help identify the locations of these stores and to aid its hyper-local member
acquisition. “We have 300 mn Indians on smartphones spending about 3 hours a day online and we know
exactly where they are and so on and so forth. So we are able to take these signals that we have from all
our products (Android, Maps, Search) put them together and figure out where should that next Easyday
store be,” said Rajan Anandan, MD, Google India.

Future Group has also tied up with social media network Facebook to aid with generating user-behaviour
profiles. The data analytics centre for Tathastu in Kolkata will be led by Sandipan Chattopadhyay, former
chief technology officer at Just Dial Ltd.

Having experimented with e-commerce and burnt his fingers, Biyani said that the cost of doing business
will be cut from 45-55% in the Retail 2.0 format to 7-10% in the Retail 3.0 format.

The brand will first be launched in Punjab. Ogilvy and Mather has conceptualised the brand campaign
which will go live on December 1. The 360 degree campaign will first be unveiled in Punjab and Delhi-NCR.
Social Media Is A Top Priority For Marketers Today: Vivek Patni, Director, Wonder Cement

Wonder Cement is one of the most active social media users in the cement category in India. Vivek Patni,
Director of Wonder Cement, spoke to exchange4media about the current marketing strategies and
challenges that brand owners face and endeavours to earn a place in the premium segment of the market.
Excerpts:

What are your ideas of good marketing?

In today’s scenario, the consumer is very busy so it is important to communicate in a way where we can
make some kind of engagement. Today the ways of communication have increased, earlier it was just
television and radio but today we have mobile phones, social media platforms, OOH. Consumers have
access to multiple locations from where they get the chance to communicate. A brand always tries to
create that interaction to engage customers. As India is one of the fastest countries to adapt to the digital
world, brand owners should first target social media platforms for marketing. Wonder Cement is one the
very few B2B brands to have a presence on Instagram.

What are the key challenges for brand owners today?

In the current situation, everybody is moving at a very fast pace where people can easily forget a brand. In
the earlier stage, a brand had a shelf life of many years. Look at the example of Nokia, around 10 years
back it was the market leader but now it doesn’t exist (anywhere at the top). So the biggest challenge for
brand owners today is to continuously engage customers, create a value proposition and command that
aspect of love and emotion from the consumer. In terms of engagement on social media, we reach out to
more than 18 million users, on Twitter we reach out to around 4 lakh users leaving behind JK Lakshmi
Cement, Ambuja Cement and ACC.

How has the cement market changed over the years with regard to marketing?
Our journey is still very young. When we started, it was very important to us to establish ourselves as a
brand because cement is a very competitive market; moreover there were several big brands in the
market. I don’t think much has changed. The category is still very low involving, the decisions are still not
with the consumer. I would love to change the scenario, to make our category more involved and for that
customer engagement is a must. We have been organising various campaigns on social media. We started
a campaign on Facebook #PeopleOfWonder in which the total engagement was more than 1 lakh and total
reach was more than 9 lakhs.

How has digital media played an essential role in developing your brand name?
As I said earlier, we have been organising a lot of campaigns on social media because today social media is
a top priority for marketers. People are more active and connected. It’s a huge platform to connect with
your consumers where a lot of creativity can be infused. We have been doing a lot of campaigns on
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and that has helped us a lot. Our digital campaign #wonderofcement on
Facebook had total video views of more than 8 lakhs, and that was a big number.

Do you think the emergence of local brands is hampering the trust of consumers?
People believe in customisation so a lot of local brands have local noises where they can give you local
solutions. In terms of cement, as a commodity, there is not much that has happened. Quality still plays a
very important role but in today’s scenario people are ready to experiment with brands where they can get
better service. Local brands don’t carry the heavy baggage of their legacy, they can improvise and they can
take risks.
IPL Will Be As Powerful As FIFA In The Next Five Years: Rajeev Shukla

Rajeev Shukla, Chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has ensured immense success of the
league under his tenure. He has formerly served the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for nine
years. Given his immense experience and vast knowledge of cricket, it was only natural that he be chosen
to helm a cricketing league as prestigious as the IPL where has been Chairman for six years now. In an
exclusive interview, Rajeev Shukla tells us how the love for cricket in India has marketers eyeing
the IPL. Excerpts:

How would you explain the phenomenal success of IPL over the years?

The entire credit for IPL's wonderful success goes to the BCCI. It is such a big organisation that it has
gained prominence among all cricket playing nations. We got the support of cricketing boards of various
countries who made their best players available for IPL. Although it is the BCCI’s domestic league, we
still got worldwide support.

Apart from this, we conceived the model to become a world-class international league. For this, we hired
the services of the IMG. They roped in experts who had extensive experience in managing various leagues
across the world and were also well-versed with the English Premier League. Half of the credit goes to the
franchises who did their level best. For two years, there were 10 franchises. They bled, they supported, and
boosted the morale of all the players.

How did IPL emerge as one of the biggest marketing platforms?

If it attracts eyeballs, then market players will definitely take an interest in it. IPL is telecast in 182
countries. Most of these are non-cricket playing nations, but people there still watch IPL because of the
excitement, the quality of the game, and the players who participate. After football, I think cricket is the
biggest league. Obviously, marketers will take huge interest in it. Also, if you see, the turnout is massive
even when the game is played outside India, for instance in places like South Africa, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi.
All the stadiums are packed. All of this is hugely attractive for marketers. In fact, the impact of IPL is such
that most Bollywood producers do not release their films in the IPL season fearing a low turnout in
theatres.

This year IPL media rights witnessed intense price wars. What does that mean for Indian sports and
viewership?

In India, cricket is doing really well. If you see the ICC ranking, most of the Indian cricket players are at the
top. If you look at cricket in India, it is played in three formats - the test match, T20, and the ODI, and it
is doing well across all the formats. According to a KPMG study, out of every 100 people, 92 watch cricket.
The frequency of other sports being watched is just 8 per cent in India. It is a significant study that caught
our attention.

There have been a number of controversies around the IPL in the past. As the Chairman, did it bother
you to see such a big brand being at the receiving end of such allegations?
As cricket is hugely popular, it attracts media attention. Each and every aspect of cricket is being covered,
including the hairstyles and clothes of players. In the past, there were some controversies and some
allegations were levelled, but the BCCI dealt with those with a firm hand. They took the legal route and
whatever severe action had to be taken, they took that. For IPL too, we take special care of it. Apart from
the anti-corruption agency of the ICC, we also engage the anti-corruption agency of the BCCI. We are
definitely very strict about it and if anyone is found guilty, life ban is imposed on them.

Will IPL make the long format game irrelevant soon?

Our idea is not to curb any other format of cricket. That is why the BCCI is giving a special emphasis on test
cricket. In every series, we are keeping the test matches. Surprisingly, we have noticed that in metropolitan
cities, nobody is interested in watching test matches. That is why we are taking the test cricket to Tier II
and Tier III towns, as people there are still crazy about it. So, our job is to take cricket to each and every
corner of the country.

What is your vision for IPL over the next five years?

IPL is growing and will continue to do so. People who thought that the IPL exists because of them have
been proven wrong. IPL is sustaining itself. This is my sixth year as Chairman of IPL and I have noticed that
this is one brand that grabs more eyeballs with each passing year. The wealth, success, broadcasting rights
and other sponsors rights is increasing every year. I think it is doing really well and in the next five years,
IPL will be as powerful as FIFA.