MARKETING MAGA ZINE OF IIM SHILLONG

MARKATHON
VOL 2 , ISSUE 6

SEPT-OCT 10

COVER STORY:

MARKET RESEARCH INDUSTRY IN INDIA

INTERVIEW: S. RAGHAVAN, SR. VP & HEAD, INDUSTRY PRODUCTS & MACHINERY OPERATING COMPANY, L&T

FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Readers,
Recently marketing enthusiasts at IIM Shillong underwent their IMC and Brand management courses and learnt quite a few jargons. One such term was Consumer Insight. We were told that a consumer insight is nothing but a latent need of a consumer waiting to be unravelled. It sounds so simple and easy to comprehend. But apparently this is what most companies and brands fail to comprehend. They tend to overlook the necessity to find out consumer insights and try and provide products catering to those latent needs. Take a look at some of the latest headlines currently in news. Stallio has been positioned as a stylish bike that comes with the reliability of the Mahindra brand, and therefore, gives complete peace of mind. Videocon Mobile Services new campaign is the end result of a syndicated research, which Our August 2010 established that a majority of Cover prepaid users are worried about running out of talk-time balance when they need it the most. Whats common to both these examples? The fact that the consumer insights have been used wisely to end up at a positioning for the respective products. Mahindra unearthed the insight that Indian women tend to worry, when the men in their lives invest in twowheelers. I personally am of the opinion that Mahindra has been bang on. This insight is so true. Similarly Videocon has stumbled upon the insight that prepaid consumers are always worried about running out of talk time at the most crucial of times. This is very true, because majority of the prepaid users are ones who are short of cash, surviving on pocket money, the one living on daily wages and so on. So providing them with plans that give them peace of mind with simple and easy to use tariff plans makes complete commercial sense. So in this issues cover story we though why not cover this aspect of marketing. So we have decided to feature a write up on an integral but often overlooked process of unravelling a consumer insight and that is MARKET RESEARCH.

We have Mr. Shiladitya Sarkar, Consultant to State Govt. of Tripura for IT Implementation on behalf of the IL&FS EGovernance Team, who is an expert in the field of Market Research and has worked with a variety of industries as a guest writer for this issue. He talks to us about the various tools and techniques that are used in the field of MR, its strategic importance, the challenges and opportunities that the MR industry is confronted with and the variety of career openings this industry provides. In the Vartalaap section we have Mr S Raghvan, Senior Vice President & Head, Machinery & Industrial Products Company, Larsen & Toubro Ltd interacting with us. He tells about the evolution of brand L&T, the concept of B2B marketing, the importance of technology in customer relationship management and much more. Based on readers feedback we have made ADdicted, Bookmark, Brand Story and Radical Thoughts bi-monthly columns. So readers will have two columns each month coming from the editorial team of Markathon. So thats that. . Keep the feedback coming in and help us grow from strength to strength. Happy Reading!

Kaushik Subramanian

THE MARKATHON TEAM

EDITOR Kaushik Subramanian SUB EDITORS Debanjana Sinha Samita Patnaik Samrat Singh Yadav Saurabh Kumar Sinha Varshik Nimmagadda CREATIVE DESIGNERS Keshav Sahani Priyanka Pandit

CONTENTS
FEATURED ARTICLES STRATEGIC ANALYSIS
In-flight Entertainment
VIDYA RUDHIRAMOORTHY| BHARATHIDASAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

markathon | sept-oct 2010

4 6 9 11 14 18 21 22 24 25 27
3

PERSPECTIVE I
Social Media Marketing: The Latest Buzz
SHAILENDRA SINGH BAGHEL| IIM K

PERSPECTIVE II
Sensory Branding: Redefining the way we Market
AMEET PAL SINGH SANDY | IIM I

PANDORAS BOX
The Decoy Effect
NISHANT VORA, MANAN CHOKSI | SIESCOMS

COVER STORY Market Research Industry in India

SHILADITYA SARKAR | CONSULTANT, IL&FS

VARTALAAP S. Raghavan
SR. VP & HEAD, INDUSTRY PRODUCTS & MACHINERY OPERATING COMPANY, L&T

WAR ZONE EYE 2 EYE

Will KBC 4 live up to the expectations or turn out to be a damp squib?
SHUBHANKAR PADHI | IIM S, ASWIN SAMBAMURTHY | IIM B

SILENT VOICE
Common Wealth Games 2010 Delhi

SPECIALS BRAND STORY

Apple
SAMITA S. PATNAIK

BOOKMARK
Purple Cow
PRIYANKA PANDIT

UPDATES
SRIA MAJUMDAR | IIM S

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IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
Vidya Rudhiramoorthy | Bharathidasan Institute of Management
In-Flight entertainment refers to all spheres of entertainment, information and communication available to passengers on board a commercial aircraft. Installation of In Flight Entertainment system ranks second in terms of cost, the first being aircraft engine. But majority of airlines perceive it as an investment rather than a cost. One of the major drivers for the IFE market is the easing of regulatory restrictions on voice and data solutions on board an aircraft. By 2012 the market for in-flight broadband service is estimated to reach $936 million. In-flight live direct broadcast video is forecasted to reach $913 million in 2012. Over 2,500 aircraft in the global commercial fleet are projected to be equipped with in-flight connectivity systems by the end of 2010 and the number is expected to reach 4,500 by 2013. Competitive Structure Competition to achieve market dominance in the booming in-flight internet and e-mail markets is strong. Entertaining passengers during long haul flights is a big challenge for the airliners as it is the basic value proposition for on-board services. If passengers do not perceive any value then the airlines loses out on its customers which acts in the negative considering the huge investment that goes into the IFE services. Airlines have a wide range of connectivity options to choose from. They can opt for a rudimentary service that allows travellers to send SMS, e-mails through their PEDs or can choose a full-fledged service. Thales has offered a connectivity strategy that allows passengers to use standalone solutions and applications, integrated into the on-board IFE. Panasonic is developing eXConnect a Ku-bandbased in-flight broadband product. Jetstar is shown its interest in renting out pre-loaded iPads as a kind of in-flight entertainment that contrasts with regular seat back video streaming. Competition from Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) that offer communication, information and entertainment services pose a threat to IFE. Therefore establishing preferred IFE service provider status is crucial. Increasing demand for commercial aircrafts in future is likely to spur the demand for IFE system. The table on the following page lists the region wise demand for IFE.

strategic analysis

markathon | sept-oct 2010 Low-cost carriers adopt in-flight mobile connectivity. Indias LCC Kingfisher has launched King mobile and become the first in the country to offer wide range of services on mobile platform. Demand for Wi-Fi is on the rise and the airlines are keeping with it. Delta Airlines owns the largest fleet of Wi-Fi equipped aircraft in the world. The current Fleet Wi-Fi count is 495/528 (as of June 9, 2010). Connectivity solutions have emerged as the fastest growing segment. Saudi Arabian Airlines has contracted with Thales to equip its 42 A380 fleet with systems that connects to broadband network.

Asia USA

Middle East

Connectivity solutions have emerged as the fastest growing segment. Virgin Atlantic strikes a deal with Panasonic to equip A330 with eX2 systems for connectivity solutions that will allow sending and receiving of texts, phone calls airplane number of calls ranging from one to four was Over the last two years, a majority of the aerospace placed. industry expenditure has been diverted towards IFE and connectivity services. Although IFE is gaining Wireless Communication Systems significance, the number of controversies that negate its growth is on the rise. A few of the drawbacks have Providing wireless access services on board to been discussed below. passenger owned devices is of particular concern. Europe Wired Communication Systems Entertainment systems contributes to aircraft weight significantly, it consists of more than 2000 parts and increases the aircrafts weight by almost a thousand pounds. A fully equipped entertainment system uses about four and a half miles of wiring. The aviation industry has been suffering for quite a few years with problems of poor wiring causing instances of fires and emergency landings. Case: Swiss Air 111 had to face the misfortune of poor wiring. The scenario was caused by a short circuit that occurred in cockpit wiring of the in-flight entertainment system, which eventually led to an electrical fire and breakdown of the airplane's defences. The death toll was 229 with no survivors. One option that can be explored as an alternate to electric wiring is the use of fiber-optics. Cell Phone usage Cell phones pose a potential problem to the aircrafts navigation system as the radio signals emitted by them are capable of causing false read-outs. Case: Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have invented a device that can detect radio signals emitted from cell phones and other personal electronic devices. A total of 37 commercial airplanes were tested and findings have shown that on each Reason being that it provides ample opportunity for the terrorists to communicate and devise tactics and to co-ordinate with other members from both within the aircraft and from the ground.

Case: Boeings plan to install wireless IFE supply with 60GHz transmissions faced problems with data transfer between transmitters and receivers, where objects moving in front of antennas blocked the signal. Although other techniques have been explored to address this challenge, it leaves little doubt regarding the complications that are possible if wireless communication is offered on board. Conclusion In the past 20 years airlines and travelers have had relatively fewer and limited options in In-Flight Entertainment category. Over the years several attempts to deliver new in-flight entertainment and communication services have been made.

perspective

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Social Media Marketing: The Latest Buzz

Shailendra Singh Baghel| IIM-k
Wikipedia defines social media as a media for social interaction using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media makes use of internet technologies to enable dialogue among the users. Social media marketing has gained relevance over the past few years due to the increasing popularity of social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut and Twitter. Internet penetration over the past few years has enabled social media sites to witness exponential growth. The number of internet users in India is 81 million i.e. 7.1 percent. This is low as compared to the penetration of TV (59%) in India. But the increasing competition in the telecommunications field will ensure that high speed broadband connections are available at low rates. The average amount of time spent on social networking sites is 1 hour per day, a large part of which is spent on Facebook and YouTube. This huge amount of time spent by a consumer presents enormous opportunity for marketers to target them. How is it different from traditional media? There are some basic differences between social media and traditional media: Social media is centered on communities where users share their opinion and gain others perspective unlike traditional media where the company sends unidirectional messages to the audience. Social requires the consent of the user and is more acceptable as compared to traditional media which infiltrates the personal space of a person. Social media is basically shared media where brands can simulate discussions at regular intervals but the final result of the discussion can have either positive or negative impact on the brand. Social media is long term commitment of the brand whereas traditional media like television commercial is short term. Traditional media is preferred because of the reach of the medium. The viewership of television is much higher than internet penetration in India. It can be used to reach a large medium at the same time. The marketers are more familiar with the marketing strategy of traditional media. All of them are not

comfortable with social media like Facebook, Orkut etc. The measurement standards in traditional media are well developed (E.g. TRPs) as compared to social media which is a new field and doesnt have any such standards. Social media scores in targeting the message to the right audience. It enables you to focus on your target segment instead of broadcasting the message to mass audience. The media lays emphasis on engagement with the customer and builds a relationship which is long lasting. The measurement tools are new but sophisticated as compared to traditional media. For e.g. Google analytics can be used to determine web traffic to a site and analyze it to improve the website. The cost involved in social media campaign is low as compared to traditional media. Different Social Media Tools A number of social media tools are available for the marketers to leverage upon. Popular among these are social networking sites, blogs, video sharing websites, discussion boards etc. Social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut and Twitter are gaining popularity among marketers. Facebook can be used for creating fan page of brand or displaying ads according to the interests of the customer. Dell has been using twitter to take order online and listen to complaints of customers. Professional social networking sites like LinkedIn are used by HR professionals to find prospective employees or invite people from different places for meet-ups. Video sharing websites like YouTube are used by companies to start their own dedicated channels to attract audience to a single place. YouTube is also exploring the option of live streaming sports events and 6

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product launches. Sunsilk gangofgirls.com and Nokia planetkerakhwale.com are examples of companies creating discussion forums for members to share and discuss issues which matter the most to them. These are some of the social media tools and their use by brands. Success Stories The key reason for success of social media is that people want to communicate with people not brands. That is the reason why celebrities like GulPanag, ShashiTharoor and businessmen like Anand Mahindra gainedsuch huge popularity in the social media domain. Pepsi has achieved huge success by its Pepsi Refresh Campaign where the company invited ideas to change the world. The ideas belonged to the following categories: health, arts & culture, food & shelter, the planet, neighbourhoods and education. People were asked to vote for the best ideas in each of the categories. Since the ideas were for the benefit of the society in large, the campaign gained huge popularity among the masses and attracted a huge audience. It created a lot of goodwill for the company and can be termed as a success. The campaign is still continuing and is doing wonders for the company. Barrack Obamas online campaign was another success story of social media marketing. An emailing list of 13 million members was formed which helped in communicating the agenda of the campaign and other important information. The mails also urged members to donate nominal money for the campaign if they could. The website MyBarrackObama.com had 8.5 million visitors per month at its peak time. Pictures and videos were regularly posted on the website. The success of the emails was tracked to

ensure proper impact on the members like keeping the subject line appropriate. The campaign was open and transparent and allowed people to express their opinion rather than censor comments. The online campaign was instrumental in ensuring the win of Barrack Obama. Failures Social media can also have negative impact of the brand image. Nestle and Dominos Pizza are perfect examples of how social media can wreak havoc on a brand. Nestle acted offensively to the comments of some fans on its Facebook page. The page administrators ridiculed the customers and ordered them to follow the page rules. This created a bad image of the brand and it took a lot of effort from the company to revamp its image. In case of Dominos Pizza, a video prank by two employees posted on YouTube made the customers to believe that the food prepared there was not hygienic. The company had to apologize in public for the mistake committed by its employees. It opened the kitchens for the customers to visit at any time and see the sandwich making process to regain customer confidence. The Way Ahead The future of social media marketing looks bright. The increasing number of cellphones in the country can act as another platform for social media sites. Cellphones can enable location based services like finding a restaurant in a new city, determining road routes etc. Cellphones can be used for social media websites which provide multiplayer games like ibibo.com. 7

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Social media can be helpful in co-creation. Facebook is a perfect example of how a social networking website can act as a platform for developers to collaborate and create new applications. Brands can invite ideas from the customers for new products and then determine the popularity of these ideas based on voting. The top ideas can be implemented to see the results. Levis jeans did a similar experiment with womens jeans category. The top entries when produced on larger scale were well received by the customers and replaced the traditional designs of the company. Social media can be a powerful medium to implement e-governance. Some organizations are already experimenting with Facebook-like applications on enterprise level to encourage interaction among the

employees and increase productivity. The state and central government departments should provide a platform for citizens to voice their concerns. This will increase the accountability of these departments and increase transparency. Social media is here to stay as marketing shifts from consumer-targeted to consumer-centric. In the future, the spending on social media will increase and brands will make extra effort to engage with their customers. Social media will help in creating products which are more relevant to the customers and are accepted by the masses. It will change the way marketing is done in a positive manner.

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Sensory Branding: Redefining the way we Market

Ameet Pal Singh Sandy | IIM I
Ever wondered why the nearby low priced restaurant plays loud & fast music during the lunch time but the expensive Business class Lounge at the city Airport plays subtle music? Well, Research shows that people tend to eat faster in an environment filled with loud & fast music and the low priced restaurant would get is seeking an opportunity to serve more customers during the peak lunch hour time. In the same way, the subtle music played at the Airport lounges has an invigorating effect on the exhausted and tired traveller waiting for his onward journey. In both these examples, the sense of hearing (sound) has been used to get the desired effect. In the consumer market of today, as more and more new products get launched every year and the shelf space per product decreases, there is a need for marketers to differentiate their products/brands from the competitors on not just price or quality but also on the unique set of functional & emotional benefits that their brands provide. In doing so, the role of traditional channels of advertising such as TV commercials, hoardings etc. is declining & our ability to decipher and retain enormous amount of information provided by myriad number of commercials is diminishing as well. A recent McKinsey report (on the US Market) says that the effect of TV commercials on influencing consumer choices is likely to fall by around 40 % over the coming years. In fact, advertisers rely heavily on the use of visual dimensions to connect with the customers with only a few exceptions where other sensory stimuli are also used. Companies spend huge amounts on these advertising campaigns and Brand Managers need to come up with viable alternatives so that the Brand gets noticed in the complex consumer market. This is where Sensory Branding has come into the limelight over the last few years and is creating a buzz among the brand builders and advertisers. Sensory Branding is the use of one or more sensory stimuli to communicate with the customer on an emotional level and building the brand through memorable customer experiences. In his book Brand Sense, author Martin Lindstrom argues that humans are most receptive, and most likely to form, retain, revisit and reinterpret memory when all five senses are in operation. He further states that in the times ahead, brands that provide multiple sensory stimuli will be more successful than the brands that focus only on one or two senses. In fact, almost all unplanned purchases are results of the shopper experiencing the product through touch, smell, sight, taste or sound. Therefore, the marketing activities need to incorporate as many sensory signals as is possible to reach the consumer. One of the first movers to inculcate sensory branding is the Singapore Airlines, with its patented fragrance Stefan Floridian Waters, becoming its trademark and a standard company scent. As soon as the customer enters a Singapore flight, he is captivated by this fragrance. The hot towels served to the customers & perfume worn by flight attendants is standardized to this aroma to create an enthralling & 9

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memorable in-flight experience. All this acts as reinforcement to the famous Singapore Girls flight crew and excellent in- flight service that the Airline provides. The cosmetics company Lush has epitomized sensory branding by using smell as a stimulus to influence purchase decisions. Pass a Lush store and you will be enslaved by the fragrance that is in sync with the ambience of the store. In fact, Lush cosmetics created a total sensorial experience for the consumer, right from the scents and bright colours to shapes and textures. Cineplexes have been zsing use the aroma of popcorn to arouse the unique feeling of being in a movie hall and a new car has a distinctive smell of freshness & newness. All these supplementary signals have very little to do with the quality or performance of a product. Yet these components have come to play a vital role in our relationships with these products. Another classic case in point from the Indian market is the advertising campaign of Savlon when it entered the Indian market. Its main competitor, Dettol was the market leader at the time and controlled roughly 90% of the market. Dettol is an antiseptic liquid which stings on application & has a peculiar smell. Savlon tried some really nice clutter-breaking advertising which showed a tough looking man waiting with closed eye & bated breath for the sting & smell when Dettol would be applied on injury. He is pleasantly surprised when there is no sting and application is over. Then the Savlon liquid is revealed. However, Savlon didnt work out in Indian market as users associate the antiseptic smell and sting with efficiency. Advertisers from different industries seem to be doing their bit to include sensory stimuli in their campaigns. Remember the Harley Davidson advertisements where the thrust is on the sound that the bike creates rather than the looks? Or the Nokia tune that is installed on all Nokia phones. The breakfast cereal maker, Kelloggs has patented a crunchy sound and feel of eating cornflakes that is unique in its own way. In case of AirTel, the

marketers developed a signature tune composed by A R Rehman and a mobile phone user can instantly recognise the brand upon hearing it without any other stimulus (remember the last scene of the movie 3 Idiots!!!). Other mobile phone operators followed suit and now all Telecom companies have a signature tune of their own. Mercedes-Benz reportedly set up a special department to work on the sound of its car doors to increase the perception of high quality. Sensory pleasures are considered a luxury by many consumers, especially in case of commodities and mass brands. With Quality no longer the differentiating factor among the top brands and influx of the organised retail, it is a challenge for the marketers to create multi-dimensional sensory experiences in the consumers at every moment of truth. With vision and sound being the two most common sensory stimuli used, it remains to be seen how advertisers are going to encompass other senses into their campaigns and redefine the sensory experiences for this new era of consumer markets.

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THE DECOY EFFECT

Nishant Vora & Manan Choksi | SIESCOMS
Need to sell more of a product or service? Heres a counterintuitive idea: offer your customers a similar, but inferior, at about the same price. While its unlikely that they will actually buy the less attractive item, you may see a jump in sales of what you are trying to sell. Thats decoy marketing and the underlying principle effect is called the decoy effect. The decoy effect refers to a possibility that adding a new alternative in the choice set increases the choice for one of the existing alternatives that dominates the new one It is a special case of attraction effect where the binary comparison of 2 objects, contrary to normative theory, is affected by the introduction of an asymmetrically dominated alternative to an existing choice set. An alternative is asymmetric if it is completely dominated by atleast one candidate in the set, but not dominated by atleast one other. For example, if there is a consideration set involving portable hard disk, consumers may generally see higher storage capacity (number of GB) and lower price as positive attributes; while some consumers may want a player that can store more songs, other consumers will want a player that costs less. In Consideration Set 1, two devices are available: Consideration Set 1 Product Price Storage capacity A INR 4000 30 GB B INR 3000 15 GB Now suppose that a new player, C, is added to the market; it is more expensive than both A and B and has more storage than B but less than A: Consideration Set 2 Product Price Storage capacity A INR 4000 30 GB B INR 3000 15 GB C INR4500 25 GB

The addition of Cwhich consumers would presumably avoid, given that a lower price can be paid for a model with more storagecauses A, the non-dominated option, to be chosen more often than if only the two choices in Consideration Set 1 existed; C affects consumer preferences by acting as a basis of comparison for A and B. Because A is better than C in both respects, while B is only partially better than C, more consumers will prefer A now than did before. C is therefore a decoy whose sole purpose is to increase sales of A. Conversely, suppose that instead of C, a player D is introduced that has less storage than both A and B, and that is more expensive than B but not as expensive as A: Consideration Set 3 Product Price Storage capacity A INR 4000 30 GB B INR 3000 15 GB D INR3500 10 GB

In this case, some consumers will prefer A for its greater storage capacity, while others will prefer B for its lower price.

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pandoras box The result here is similar: consumers will not prefer D, because it is not as good as B in any respect.However,whereas C increased preference for A, D has the opposite effect, increasing preference for B. Decoy Effect and Consumer Brand Knowledge Studies have shown that inclusion of a decoy in the choice set significantly increases the relative preference for the target; however identifying alternatives with real brands eliminates the extent of the decoy effect when the customers possess an extensive amount of knowledge about the brands, but this is not the case when participants have relatively less knowledge of the brands. Sometimes the target share might reduce in the decoy condition. This anomaly can be explained by the role of persuasion knowledge in a context effect. This concept elucidates that consumers who are knowledgeable about a product category are also likely to be equipped with the substantial amount of persuasion knowledge and when an inferior decoy product has the same brand as the target product the consumers may infer a negative motive about that brand. Higher Quality Brands Vs. Lower Quality Brands Previous studies have demonstrated the fact that price discounts move customers from lower quality to higher quality brands more than from higher quality to lower quality brands. The consumers comprehension of losses, to be more unpleasant than equivalent gains are pleasant, appears to be greater for quality than price loss aversion effect. Thus decoys may reduce the share of lower quality competitors as compared to their higher quality counterparts. Status Quo Vs Decoy

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People value an object more when they own it than when they dont This is the endowment effect. In one experiment, people demanded a higher price for a coffee mug that had been given to them but put a lower price on another, they did not yet own. It is a specific form, linked to ownership, of status quo bias. The endowment effect can also be seen in case of Real Estate and other similar asset classes. People tend to value a property / real estate more if they own it as compared to when they dont. Studies show that status quo has a stronger impact on individual choice behaviour compared to a decoy choice option and a status quo is a better candidate for reference point even in a choice set containing both status quo and decoy options. Effects of Decoys on Preference Shifts Jongwon Park (Korea University, Seoul) and Kungkeun Kim (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis) carried out a study in 2005 to examine the conditions in which decoy effects occur. They found that when the participants reported their preferences immediately after being exposed to the information about them, the influence of decoys on preferences was attributable to the justification they provided for choosing their target over the competitor. When participants evaluated each product before making their choices, they based their preferences on these evaluations. In this case, decoys exerted their influence through their impact on the values that participants assigned to the attributes on which the evaluations were based. This influence was evident even when the decoy was clearly inferior to both the target and competitor. Moreover, it occurred under conditions in which the target and competitor were in different product categories and also when the decoy was in a completely 12

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different product domain than the target and the competitor. Real Life Examples of the Decoy effect The Decoy Effect explains why Apple Inc. often sells each gadget in a pricing series, such as the new iPod Touch's $229, $299, and $399 price points for different storage capacities. The customer may gladly spend $229 to get a hot media player, thinking it's a deal versus the highest-priced version. He might not even consider that he could instead buy an iPhone 4 at the lower price of $199 with more features. The $399 "decoy" has clouded his judgment. Apple Inc. thus manages to win the best of both worldsstoking demand for products that look like bargains and the higher prices that the company earns by selling the target products by the introduction of decoys and yes, there will be some people who would end up spending $399 for a music player with slightly better technologyand Apple makes even fatter margins. Wal-Marts modus operandi is to offer a price leader which they promote to get shoppers attention. But they dont want them (customers) to buy that item they want them to up-sell themselves to something more expensive (and more profitable for Wal-Mart). Good-Better-Best pricing and one can bet that the Better item has the most attractive profit margin. Dan Ariely, in his book Predictably Irrational describes an experiment using

magazine subscription offers. Two groups of subjects saw one or the other of these offers to subscribe to The Economist. Offer A:$59 - Internet Only Subscription (68 chose) $125 - Internet and Print Subscription (32 chose)Predicted Revenue $8,012 Offer B:$59 - Internet Only Subscription (16 chose) $125 Print Only Subscription (0 chose) $125 - Internet and Print Subscription (84 chose) Predicted $11,444 Revenue -

The above results are startling. Both offers are the same, with the exception of including the print only subscription in Offer A. Despite the fact that not a single person chose that unattractive offer, its impact was dramatic - 62% more subjects chose the combined print and Internet offer, and predicted revenue jumped 43%. The print-only offer was the decoy, and served to make the combined offer look like a better value. Its pretty clear from this experiment that` introducing the decoy made the combined offer look more attractive. Evidence of the Decoy Effect through Neuroimaging MRI scans have shown that, when making a choice between only two, equally preferred options, subjects brain activity tends to display irritation because of the difficulty of the choice process. The presence of a third, less attractive option or decoymakes the choice process easier and relatively more pleasurable.

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MR Industry: Boardroom Moves

Emergence of new age sectors like Telecom, Media (Digital) & Insurance are helping the Market Research Industry to climb to new heights with varied analysis of Consumer Insights. Despite slowdown in the past coupled with talent crunch and dog pricing by agencies, the roughly 900 crore MR Industry (Excludes KPO) is well poised to take a big leap. The Overall Market gets divided into full services MR agencies and the KPO Services clocking around 18% of CAGR (Source: Industry Estimation). During the last couple of years there has been a consolidation between MR agencies in their scale of operations and data management practices. No wonder despite all these, India still becomes the popular destination for the MNC based research agencies since there is untapped potential of new sets of consumers with an opportunity to serve huge population. MR Team (Part of Advertising Agency during 70s) moves from the boardrooms of Consumer Durable or FMCG companies into the boardrooms of every sector of the economy.

syndicated studies etc rather than with a specific problem. Another eaten away factor could be the nature of the industry which is fragmented and largely being driven by price factor worrying clients ranging from products to service industry. As a result, absence of talents due to low price factor has resulted in MR firms having a project to project assignment system where in they do the piecemeal job i.e. data collection and not the analysis which is done at the client side.

Inside MR: Challenges & Opportunities

Market Research is changing and that too from its early days of data collection (Pen n Paper Method) to technically prowess devices like PDAs, mobile phones & in-built cameras which can record exact state of the matter of every interview. At the same time, MR has become more of a commodity rather than delivering differential value to the end consumer. Still MR is being performed in mega cities and towns rather than pushing it to the rural economy which undoubtedly is the next biggest growth opportunity in our country for all the products/services. MR industry is also facing a crunch in having the right kind of people skilled with a good training background to understand the nitty gritty of the clients brief. Moreover, todays most of the research work is being covered with a regular monitoring job like tracking, audience measurement,

Market Research Industry in India

Also adding the factors like communisation of the information and the proliferation of smaller firms have led the industry not being able to get out of the talentprice circle. To get rid of this problem many MR Firms 14

- Shiladitya Sarkar | IL&FS

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like TNS, Synovate or Nielsen is planning to arrange their own sets of training to fresh graduates for the industry. Nielsen has opened up its training centre near Mumbai with two years curriculum in the field of Market Research, similarly TNS is hiring from various backgrounds to notch up its mid-level research function. Another important factor could drive the market in future - data mining or statistical tools which could help the customers to understand the intricacies of the problem in a more simple term rather statistically define it.

As per the Industry approximations, IMRB continues to be the market leader followed by Nielsen, TNS India & Others. Though there is a Society created by the market research professional, MRSI (Market Research Society of India) which has tried their best to get an agglomerative view on market research but has achieved modest success. Meanwhile, in the last couple of years the Industry has also seen the emergence of new sets of players namely Analytics, Data Mining or Warehousing firms like Absolutdata Systems, Annik Systems, and Datamation. Many of these firms earlier were Knowledge Process Organisations (KPOs) who served foreign clients and now turning up to cater the local demand. There is another set of genre which has emerged during the past few years like HP Decision Analytics Firm or IBM Business Decision Centre or McKinsey Strategic Research Division providing their research based services to their parent companies adding values to their strategic teams. In fact what has been observed also in the past that many IT giants like Oracle, Microsoft has started expanding their own research resources within their marketing team for providing critical inputs on consumer behaviour to their strategic group. It is also observed that the consulting firms like PwC or Ernst & Young or KPMG has started advising their clients in giving them the end to end solution from sharing the market insights to conceptualization of ideas to product designing and in turns creating lot of problems for the full service market research agencies to hold their clients.

Traditional Vs New Ones

Every marketer possibly can count numerous number of advertising agencies but unfortunately this is not true for MR industry, as the industry is very fragmented in nature with many small firms on the spectrum and a few firms dominating the scene. Sadly, there is no studies available judging the ranks of the MR firms and left with more of a guestimate than on scientific calculations. The leading domestic firms are IMRB International, TNS India, Nielsen & Milward Brown etc.

New Tools & Techniques

Besides the emergence of the improved data collection technique, there was a major rise towards analytics, data-mining and warehousing agencies during the last couple of years. Data warehousing is a technique to store and maintain the data that can be used for generating information and insights while data mining helps to draw a consumer insights from the large pool of longitudinal data series or a time series data. Many emergent sector like Telecom or Insurance which has 15

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grown phenomenally in the past, need these kinds of data sets to draw strong insights of their consumer behaviour towards the services of the same. There were also emerging opportunities like online research tool or business intelligence or MR outsourcing helping the clients to focus on their core competency by getting the right insights of information from their customers and thus increases the value of MR role in the decision making process. Though traditional players are enjoying a strong one to one relationship with their clients especially in the FMCG and Consumer Durable sector but these new set of genre with varied skill sets are giving lots of competition to the full services MR agencies.

Strategic Importance of MR
In the Early years of 70s, MR was a part of the Advertising (to gauge the advertising campaigns or launch). In the 80s full-fledged agency had come into the landscape of research which contributed to efficient marketing management. Using different research techniques with the availability of varied statistical tools helped the marketing personal to measure the Socio Economic Strata or Ethnographic research. Later on, its scope got envisaged into various other issues like

mapping the need of consumer demand, new product development or the new usages of the existing products, transform the industry from measuring ethnography to behavioural patterns. After the liberalization process in the early 90s market research became even more critical where marketers can evaluate their marketing strategy based on the feedback from various segments of the market. Thus MR became one of the major component in the decision making process. But still there are lots of industries in India where marketing managers are relying on their team assessments rather on the scientific calculation of the market forces. Today, after the introduction of Internet (Social media) the entire landscape of the research has got changed with more and more real time data of the consumers getting tracked and thus further increasing the value of the research work in the minds of the efficient and productive marketing managers.

Emerging MR Applications
It is a fact that research is the only method to discover the latent need and demand of the consumers, suggesting way and means to marketers to serve the potential and targeted consumers in the most

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profitable and economical way. Research includes service marketing, services quality, CRM, relationship marketing or database marketing applications. Applications of market research will help the service firms acquire more information on the new and unmet demands of the consumers, perceived service quality, closing the gaps in the services delivery and thus improving the quality of the services. The new age has immense potential to get real time information about consumers and to service them accordingly. For example, Wal-Mart India is getting the information on every consumer entering their retail shops or Pantaloons gets more critical sets of information about the buying behaviour of their consumers in their stores through observation with the help of videos or high end web cameras. Many automobiles companies are using social media channels to analyse the behaviour of their potential customers.

Career in MR
Even though the industry is small in sales turnover and fragmented in nature, still there are options for one to grow and make a career in the field of market research. Dont forget this is also a part of the service industry which is contributing almost 60% of our nations economy. There are interesting jobs available for people with a background in Statistics, Psychology, and Management in the field of MR. Even graduates who have a flair for doing field work can find a suitable opening in the field of MR. Some of the positions which are available in a full service market research firms are like Research Executives, Statistical Analyst, Field Supervisors, field staff etc. Contrary to sales oriented people belief that this would not be their cup of tea, lots of MR firms are now clinching people from the Sales and Marketing experience to get more clients in their kitty especially in the mid and senior level function. It is also possible for the qualified people to start their own venture as a market research agency.

Driving Value Chain

Though FMCG continues to be the mainstay of the MR business (almost in the tune of 65-70% of the total pie), new sectors like Telecom, Insurance, Retail and Banking are now becoming the high growth areas for most of the research firms. Till few years back, most of the clients do not seek MR advice because they do feel that the guts of their marketing and sales people hold true in most of their transactions. But increasing unpredictability has led many more clients to understand their consumers better and hence there is a change in the attitude towards the MR firms. Also, MR companies are now moving from being a mere data supplier to becoming a partner with the client to build up a long term agency like relationship. MR firms should start looking into building consulting assignments from the existing studies to cater the same client with valuable & critical inputs rather plain vanilla market research. There is a direct competition from the emerging online search options wherein the customers gets every bits of information within seconds, so MR should spruce up its data collection and analysis tools so as to get the confidence of its customers with the MR works. MR firm should also understand that todays CMO doesnt has ample time to sit back and think rather they trust research firms who know their business and deliver the value accordingly.

Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the market research has travelled a long journey from piggybacking advertising job to the mainstay of the decision component of one organization. Market research seeks to align the enterprise with the expectation of its consumers and delivering value with its systematic analysis of the information captured. Although there were lots of changes in the past the way research is being carried but off course the IT enabled market research is a new trend which propounds ways to maximize an enterprises returns in the newly emerging liberalized market in India. Now is the time for the MR agencies to reap the ever growing and burgeoning customers with rapidly changing lifestyles through research work, so that Indian Marketers could be more productive, result oriented and globally the best workforce to cater the demands of their consumers. Finally, 3C strategy namely Convince, Convert and Collaborate as formulated by MRSI (Market Research Society of India) helps to take the industry into to new heights by breaking the barriers and thus increasing its share in the Indian Economy.

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Marketing to the global customer

An Interview with Mr. S. Raghavan, Sr. VP & HEAD, INDUSTRY PRODUCTS & MACHINERY OPERATING COMPANY Larsen & TOubro
In this months Vartalaap we feature Mr. S. Raghavan, Senior Vice President; L&T who has been with the group for the past 38+ years. He joined in one of the group companies that manufactured Exploration drilling Machines and later traversed through a number of other units. Along the way he has been associated in various functions such as Supply Chain, Personnel and IR, Manufacturing, as Head of independent group companies, Projects, Business Planning, Corporate Strategy, Head of Business operations of diverse nature etc.

Markathon: Could you please enlighten us on the experience you have had in the various positions you have held within the company?

Mr. Raghavan: I have been working with Larson and Toubro for the past four years and have headed Machinery Business (Construction and Industrial Machinery) and Industrial Products (Valves, Welding Products and Distribution of Cutting Tools) in the past and currently working as the Head of Industrial Markathon: In B-schools, we often coProducts and Machinery relate marketing with consumer Operating Company goods. Please throw some light on the In capital goods, the which has an annual importance of B2B marketing in the marketing efforts begin turnover of around 2100 business world. much before even the Cr and an employee need recognition as in strength of over 2500. In Mr. Raghavan: In my opinion, there is addition to that I am also the case of any Business not much difference between consumer goods and non-consumer an internal Board member Relationship of L&Ts Construction goods. Whatever goods are consumed Management by our customer are consumer goods Machinery Business with a turnover of around Rs.3000 and whatever services that we offer to Cr and 1500 employees and him are consumer services. Since we are more into Capital Goods and Industrial Goods I L&T Finance Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of L&T. will explain on that front. Markathon: In your opinion, how has L&T evolved as one of the most successful corporate brands in India? In capital goods, the marketing efforts begin much before even the need recognition as in the case of any Business Relationship Management. Our sales staffs reach out to all corners and scout

Looking out for growth opportunities constantly has been a major contributor to L&Ts success. We have always focused on a Build India approach and ventured into core infrastructure services for its manufacture and projects businesses. These elements together have made L&T the excellent brand that it is today.

Mr. Raghavan: Right from L&Ts inception, the founders Mr Henning Holck Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro emphasized on Values in the company. This value centered approach along with its customer-first approach has largely been responsible for L&T evolving as an excellent corporate brand in India. L&T treats its employees with the highest regard and respect. It is this realization that employees create all our values and profits which have helped L&T maintain its excellence.

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for potential entrepreneurs. They educate and advise them on possibilities of commencing an enterprise. The enterprise could be a small contractor kind of activity, a repair shop, an agency to peddle our goods such as welding consumables or cutting tools. On the other hand, if our customer is a large corporation then our task is reduced since the customer can himself decide on buying our product against the multitude of choices. All our sales managers have excellent communication skills and skilled at articulating ideas. They provide professional advice to the customer about the risk and returns on a particular venture on the basis of their excellent analysis of cost-benefits, owning and operating costs of the equipment. Since the products that they market are based more on aesthetics rather than the esteem value, the initial price, quality, reliability, resale-price for the equipment, owning and operating costs, life-cycle costs etc. play an important role in deciding the B2B customer. We tailor our efforts to these ends.

impressed by our approach, manufacturing and project execution processes and word quickly spread that here was a company which could deliver on par with global companies and perhaps at Indian costs. Due

Markathon: Can you throw some light on the current B2B marketing scenario in India and how is it different from what is being practiced in Western countries?

to logistics problems we restricted ourselves mostly to the projects in the Middle- East and other neighboring countries but in case of highly sophisticated equipment we supplied to all discerning users in US or Europe or China. Presently our annual international business accounts for 17% to 20 % of the turnover. In addition we have also set up manufacturing presence in the Middle East, Malaysia and China.

Markathon: L&T represent the success story of India to the world. What factors, in your opinion, drive its growth in the international stage?

Mr. Raghavan: L&T realized that our Indian customers must get the best in class products and services at a global benchmark, thus leading to our plans for growth. Obviously we cannot do this unless we physically export to other countries and this drove us initially to the neighboring countries and later to the discerning West. In some of our products particularly the Heavy Engineering and Projects we had to obtain international certifications. When the certifying agencies and vendors visited us they were highly

Mr. Raghavan: In the first place it is not vastly different except in the customer perception of values that he looks for in products. In the West, in many Industrial Goods, the daily utilization is seldom for more than 8 hours while in India it is at least for 15 hrs. Obviously when a Western customer uses the same item for say 2 years he does not mind for paying for any after sales activities. In India the customers use such goods for the same number of hours in less than a year and hence loathe to pay for any service activity in less than a year! For example an American Ag equipment manufacturer was taken aback when they realized that the equipment would be used for 1000 hours and hence any warranty for 1 year would mean really for a 3000 hour usage; in the USA the same equipment would probably clock 3000 hours in 10 years! They had to take a totally new approach to designs in order to sell in India.

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Another area is the abuse factor in India; in the West they take for granted that goods would not be overloaded or used till destruction; they are used to consigning any equipment that has been used for a reasonable period to the scrap-yard but in India such equipment needs to be supported and serviced for a much longer period. These factors call for a highly customer-focused service organization that caters to after-sales service far superior to what one sees in the west and on top of that, a 24/7 approach as Indian customers tend to use the products 24/7!

apparent running hours (not necessarily a barometer of productive use) helps a long way in making the customer realize the advantage of technology and analyses. These days we are even capable of installing a GPS tracked analytic tool on machines that we supply and often surprise the customer of the benefits of better performance vis-vis the competition. The customer is delighted. So far we have not used much of social media in promoting products and services but maybe we should consider the same. In one of our products Microfinance (as part of our Finance subsidiary) we have already started this in a small way and results have been very satisfying.

Mr. Raghavan: Technology and analytics are extremely useful tools in meeting the exact demands of customers. While the products are often used till destruction, it is no longer the first user that does this; instead the product often changes many hands and the first user quickly replaces the product with the latest state-of-theart product that keeps pace with global technology trends. Analysis of the use of the equipment and tracking of actual utilization vs.

Markathon: In this information age where organizations look forward to building relationship with the partners, how do technology and analytics help in customer relationship management? We would also like to know your opinion on unconventional methods like social media in promotion of products and services?

Markathon: What advice would you give to budding managers specially those who are preparing for a career in the marketing domain?

Mr. Raghavan: There are just two mantras in marketing Customer and Quality First! Building relationships with the customer is a lifetime endeavor and therefore never attempt to deceive or trick them. Customers never forget; wherever they go their memories of our good deeds and ethical and transparent transactions live with them. Wherever you are fight the customer battles within your organization; it pays in the longer run.

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war zone | eye 2 eye

markathon | sept-oct 2010

Will KBC 4 live up to the expectations or turn out to be a damp squib?

Kaunbanegacrorepati unveiled a new era in the history of Indian television with its launch in the year 2000.The prospect of earning one crore, generated a euphoric response among the Indian audience, who had never Subhankar Padhi dreamt that such recognition IIM S could be achieved through 15 questions. Even a person who got a chance to share the hot seat with superstar Amitabh Bacchan was catapulted to a new level of fame. The first edition of KBC ran into 270 episodes and generated a skyrocketing TRP of 14.1.The subsequent series did not perform that well and Shahrukh Khan in KBC 3 could not match upto the standards set by Big B. But things are looking for a turnaround this year. Multi Screen Media has bought the telecast rights of KBC and is quite confident of the TRPs. With over 50 lakh applications within a month and more than half of advertising slots of MSM sold out at a higher premium, KBC 4 has already got the Indian viewers hooked. Further there have been certain changes in the format of the show. The numbers of questions have been reduced to 12 with the first 7 having a time limit of 30 seconds. There will be the option of videoconferencing with experts in place of phone a friend. But the number of channels has increased three times in the last 10 years. After IPL, vanilla talent shows peppered with celebrity judges have captured significant hours on prime time. Hence KBC has to have a differential advantage with improved program quality and should choose a telecast slot wisely. However with a launch amidst Diwali and Dussehera, KBC 4 will create an impact and an education obsessed India will help it sustain the same. Cant wait for the charismatic showman to begin the show! Five crore rupees await the genius gene who is lucky enough to participate in and talented enough to win the fourth season of KBC. As the game begins, many wonder if this can replicate the magic of the seasons of yore.

KBC, over the 3 seasons, have become more star-centric than quiz-centric

KBC 4 has already got the Indian viewers hooked

Aswin Sambamurthy IIM B

KBC3, despite having SRK, was a let-down according to not just me, but also the TRP ratings. The fourth season of KBC, I suspect, will join the league of TV shows that tried too much and failed. Agreed that quizzing is always good! It is, to some people, an addiction. But KBC, over the 3 seasons, have become more star-centric than quiz-centric, with SRKs version topping it all; add to it the seven sets of celebrity participants in the three month season. Season 4 is expected to be no different, with the show organizers reportedly planning to throw in SRK, Abhishek, Ash and many more celebrities to make it a heady cocktail. My personal view is that the shows success and TRPs in the first two seasons were not because of SRK or Amitabh. It was because people saw the chance for a common man to become rich overnight. While that is still the USP of the show, the ability to relate to the guy on screen somehow went down, particularly in the third season. Coming back to Season 4, judging by the fifty lakh SMS registrations so far, there is still hope for Sony Television but unless they realise who the star of the show actually is, theyre not getting anywhere. I am not saying that this season will be a flop (financially or otherwise). I am only saying that KBC4 has a good chance to fail in its attempt.

Topic for the next issues Eye to Eye:Will Mahindra and Mahindra's foray in bikes segment lead to the dilution of its brand equity? Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is 10th November 2010. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry. 21

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Silent Voice
LAST MONTHS RESULTS
Theme:Common Wealth Games 2010 Delhi

WINNER:P NITIN VERMA |BIM, Trichy Congratulations!!!Nitin receives a cash prize of Rs 500!

HONORARY MENTION

Vincent Jyrwa| IIM B 22

war zone | silent voice

markathon | sept-oct 2010

Ashwin Kumar| SJSOM, Mumbai

AshishArya | Welingkar, Mumbai

NEXT THEME FOR SILENT VOICE: HORLICKS The Great Family Nourisher LAST DATE OF SENDING THE PRINT AD:10thNovember, 2010 EMAIL ID: markathon.iims@gmail.com Send your entry in JPEG format named as SilentVoice_<Your Name>_<Institute>only.

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markathon | sept-oct 2010

apple
samita s. patnaik | IIM S
Apple started its journey in 1976 as Apple Computer Inc. by Steve Wozaniak, one of the three founding members. With time it forayed into more competitive markets likemp3 players, phones etc. In line with its modified product portfolio it got renamed as Apple Inc in 1997. Apple started with a Newton logo designed by Robert Wayne and Steve Jobs, two of the founding members. This logo was replaced quickly by the Rainbow bitten Apple which guaranteed better visibility other than humanizing the company. Much later in 1998, it was replaced by its sleek monochromatic version with aqua and glass themes. Through all its endeavours, Apple has always kept to its core values of simplicity and innovation. It celebrates people with passion to bring about change and think differently! Apple comes up with revolutionary products for the stylish, well-educated, affluent customer. Apple products are an absolute favourite, as they make handling technology easier. In line with the digital hub strategy, Mac is the digital hub for various digital devices e.g. iPod, PDAs, cameras, phones etc. Introduction of iPod, the business world saw business model innovation and the consumers loved it! Packaging is well thought out and as appealing as the product. It isnt unusual for an Apple fanatic to proudly display the packaging! This Apple experience begins at the Apple store itself, where customers experience the product & have an Apple Genius to answer queries and fix problems. This experiential branding helps develop a lifelong emotional relationship with the customer. Apple has all along been more of a marketing company than a technology company. Its style of communication is unique - iPod ads for instance are considered art by some. Though criticized time and again for artist credits or false claims, Apple advertising hits the bulls eyes every 24 time! The famous 1984George Orwell flavoured commercial marked the launch of Macintosh PC while introducing consumer marketing to the mainframe world -stark deviation from previous lacklustre marketing efforts. Once the Apple specialities became industry standards, Apple could not control market share. Its limited target of the rebellious free thinker only added to its woes. IBM & Microsoft dominated the industry and incompatibility with such systems further hurt Apples margin! Apple tried to communicate why a Mac was better than a PC in its own distinct elegant style. Hence was launched worlds first infomercial style sitcom named The Martinettis Bring Home a Computer. During this time it entered the mass market stores for the sale of its home targeted PC. Campaigns like Get a Mac & Switch were designed to bring Mac closer to the audience while pointing out reasons to switch to Mac. Apple keeps to its campaign of think Differently in more than one way. Through its supply chain Apple doesnt achieve what Dell has, but instead creates exclusivity by always supplying less than the expected demand. People waiting in front of Apple stores, prior to a product launch, only add to the brands perceived value. Post the hugely successful iPod launch, Apple launched iPhone and iMac to leverage the power of the iPod. Customers love the way Apple speaks to them, the way it makes their life easier and fun-filled basically simple yet different! No wonder for an Apple fan its either Apple or nothing!!

specials | bookmark

markathon | sept-oct 2010

Purple Cow Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable; Seth Godin

Review by Priyanka Pandit Wiley & Sons | Hardcover Edition
examples which are often themselves illustrated in the length of an entire chapter, like the Volkswagen Beetle.

The second in the series of book reviews is by Seth Godin, responsible for best-selling books & phenomenal concepts like Permission Marketing and Ideavirus. An acclaimed blogger, whose simple examples about how Marketing works have invited ire from the academia, he remains to be the one Marketing Guru with his own action figure!

Verdict
The book itself is an example of a Purple Cow with the first edition being packaged in a milk carton!

This bookhas the basic premise that marketing as we know it is broken, and Once you start the book, it would be that the only way now to gain attention difficult to put it down; its that in a market is to not only market a interesting. To read the book product in a remarkable as a textbook on marketing manner, but also to have a Cows, after you've seen them would be a mistake. The remarkable product to simple language with new, for a while, are boring. They market. easy-to-identify-with may be well-bred cows, Six examples & jargons that Sigma cows, cows lit by a Godin comes up with make Summary beautiful light, but they are the book a source of still boring. A Purple Cow, entertainment as well. Godin begins by breaking the though: Now, that would really marketing myth that if you The things to improve upon stand out. have the Ps right, your could probably be an updated product will be a success. He edition with current says that the list of Product, Pricing, Promotion, Place examples. Making the book a tad more serious for etc. is just not enough. Marketing has evolved to students with some information and data about how make space for the new P- the Purple Cow. This new P successful the examples given actually were is also a tells about the why, the what and the how of good way to go. remarkable. Godin wraps the concept up in a Ten Point Checklist that sets out how to create a Purple Cow. Bottom-line

Organization
The book is divided into 16 chapters with short, catchy titles like Boldfaced Words and Gutsy Assertions and The Magic Cycle of the Cow. They are detailed, with clear explanations behind every argument and

With the paperback being available at online stores for a list price of just Rs. 350, the only reason for not having this book in your collection could be that you are trying to stay away from light and entertaining reads on Marketing.

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BRAND LAUNCH
Hero Honda Unveils CWG Limited Edition Bikes
As the Commonwealth Games in Delhi gets into cruise mode, Hero Honda has rolled out the new Passion Pro which is designed as a collectors item to celebrate the games. The all-white body, striking colors inspired by the Games and CWG insignia would appeal to sports enthusiasts across the country. Hero Honda has traditionally positioned itself as a brand that identifies with sports, and is one of the largest corporate promoters of sports and sportspersons in India..

Horlicks to Undergo a Brand Revamp

In line with the shift of Horlicks from Health and Wellness products into the Food and Beverages segment, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) has decided to change the logo and the packaging of the products under the Horlicks brand. Various products that have been introduced as a part of this diversification include Foodles, Nutribars and Lite Horlicks. An aggressive nationwide campaign has been planned to communicate the brand revamp, with television being the key media for propagation.

Karishma joins Kellogg India as a Brand Ambassador

Kellogg India has roped in KarishmaKapoor to endorse their latest Rs. 10 chocos product. This is the first time that Kellogg has adopted a brand ambassador for its products in India.Kellogg, whose primary market is the growing children segment, is trying to position itself as a healthy and nutritious breakfast cereal which is approved by all mothers for their children. They are hoping to leverage on Karishmas popularity to position their product more effectively.

COMPANY WATCH
Nokia Changes CEO
Olli-Pekka is leaving Nokia and he is being replaced by Stephen Elop as the president/CEO. MrElop currently heads Microsoft's business division and has previously held senior executive positions in Juniper Networks, Adobe Systems Inc. and Macromedia Inc. It is hoped that he will be able to better tackle Nokias challenges including the uncompetitive Symbian platform, as user experience is of paramount importance.

MEDIA
Reliance Big Entertainment goes in for a JV
This ADAG firm has made a deal with Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzmans production company Playtone for an animated e-series, online social game and mobile application. The creation of Electric City, a multi-platform digital entertainment project is on the cards. Zapak which is the gaming arm of RBE, will spearhead and manage the project which will offer a clairvoyant view of future civilisation, through themes like energy consumption and freedom of information.

BRAND WATCH
Coca Colas CWG Campaign
The official beverage partner of the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG), Coca Cola, has unveiled its new Visual Identity System (VIS) and logo for the Games. The VIS has been created by Iconologic, a brand design firm in the USA and draws inspiration from the Lotus temple in Delhi, the Indian chakra and the paisley. Their tagline is Go Dilli, Let Sports Win with the aim of propagating sportsmanship over everything else. The VIS will be integrated in packaging, point of sale materials, product delivery trucks, equipment and out of home media.

AD WATCH
TheBlackberry Boys
Vodafones Blackberry is no longer restricted for the men in suits-this is the message that the new advertisement seeks to convey, and it does it in style.

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specials | updates The hummable jingle, the catchy steps and the bewildered expressions of the men in suits make it a very simple but effective ad campaign. The advertisement is an attempt to broaden Blackberrys consumer base which currently comprises of mostly corporates and introduce prepaid options for the Blackberry users.

markathon | sept-oct 2010 As the lead partner for the CWG, we were given about Rs 15 crore worth of free airtime, which we decided to utilize, said a Railways official. At the end of the reel, the Hindi TVCs catch line reads DeshKa Mel Bhartiya Rail, while that of the English version says: Magic of India Indian Railways.

Volkswagen Makes Talking Newspapers

Volkswagen created a buzz in the advertising world by launching the speaking newspaper, the first of its kind in the whole world. The innovation in the audio version of the print commercial for its sedan Vento was made possible by pasting a small light sensitive device on the newspaper. The advertisement definitely grabbed a lot of eyeballs and will go a long way in giving Volkswagen the mileage it needs to gain foothold in the Indian automobile market.

Indian Railways makes its first-ever TVC

A human train of 50-odd people chugging around the backstreets and old buildings of Kolkata to the tune of Ashok Kumars popular yesteryear number Rail Gaadi is what the first ever television commercial for the Indian Railways looks like. A huge hit on various social networks, the TVC was ideated, executed and delivered in just over two weeks and at less than Rs 2 cr by O&M. The advertisement reflects the joy of the journey, one that brings a country together, represented by the human-train travelling through diverse settings within a neighborhood.

~ Sria Majumdar | IIM Shillong

Articles Are invited

Best Article: Ameet Pal Singh Sandy|IIM B He receives a cash prize of Rs. 1000 & a letter of appreciation. We are inviting articles from all the B-schools of India. The articles can be specific to the regular sections of Markathon which includes: Perspective: Articles related to development of latest trends in marketing arena. Productolysis: Analysis of a product from the point of view of marketing. Strategic Analysis: A complete analysis of the marketing strategy of any company or an event. International Column: Articles covering latest marketing trends, innovative practices, branding strategies etc. in the global perspective. Apart from above, out of the box views related to marketing are also welcome. The best entry will receive a letter of appreciation and a cash prize of Rs. 1000/-. The format of the file should be MS Word doc/docx.Last date for entries is 10th November, 2010.
Were inviting photographs of interesting promotional events/advertisements/hoardings/banners etc. you might have come across in your daily life for our new section The 4th P.

Send your self-clicked photographs in JPEG format only.

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

Team Markathon, IIM Shillong