MARKATHON

FEBRUARY11
MARKETING MAGAZINE OF IIM SHILLONG VOL 2, ISSUE 10

Cover Story
Private
vs brand
label

Interview: Special Feature:

DOUGLAS B HOLT,
L’OREAL PROFESSOR
OF MARKETING,
SETH GODIN
Renowned Author
OXFORD
and Marketing Guru
UNIVERSITY
 FROM THE EDITOR
Dear Readers,
The World Cup fever is up and running, now that
slowly and steadily we are moving towards the
business end of it. The minnows, if I may call them
that with due respect, have as expected caused a
few upsets. But as far as I am concerned the match
that has been the ONE of this world cup so far has
been the tie between India & England. No doubt the
match in itself was a roller coaster ride, but what has
left an indelible mark in my mind and many others’
too post that match was the suspense breaking
launch of Vodafone’s Super ZooZoos.
To denote the huge shift in
technology from 2G to 3G,
ZooZoos have become Super
ZooZoos to communicate Faster,
Smarter and Better services with
Vodafone 3G. To launch the
ZooZoos this time around,
Vodafone have taken a different
Our January 2011 approach. It launched four
Cover teasers almost a week before to
create a buzz for the upcoming
ZooZoos.
The teasers left people guessing what Vodafone is
supposed to announce this time. The telecom giant
had used all the mediums for a week long teaser
campaign. Vodafone even had an exclusive tie-up
with NDTV Group to present the teasers in the form
of Breaking News Alert. The inspiration for Super
Zoozoo, apparently is that it’s like ‘Superman meets
Rajinikanth’ – Rajinikanth style with Superman’s
powers. It’s all the clichés of superhero films – like
using the eyes as a laser and so on.
Vodafone, have a got a hands down winner in their
stables, yet again! 
In this month’s Cover Story, we look at and analyse
the Private Labels that are rising from strength to
strength and giving the established players a run for
their money. We were prompted to look at the
strength of the Private Labels after the recent spat
between some of the retail chains and Reckitt
Benckiser. The retails chains countered the
announcement of margins being cut by stocking their
own labels replacing some of Reckitt’s products. We
analyse what makes the labels click and why brands
are increasingly concerned about the labels.
In this month’s Vartalaap we have Mr. Douglas Holt,
who talks to us about Branding in the Socio-Cultural
context. Mr Holt, who is currently Professor of
Marketing at Said Business School, Oxford University
has authored a couple of books on Cultural Branding
and gives us valuable insights on how cultural issues
are necessary to keep a brand ticking.
We also have a special feature talk with Mr. Seth
Godin, one of the most renowned marketers in
present day marketing. He shares with us some
wonderful insights ranging from his favourite book,
his idea for Permission Marketing in India, his views
on the world of blogging and much more.
Moving on, it has been exactly a year since I took
over as the Editor from my illustrious seniors and
these past twelve months have been nothing short
of an exhilarating roller coaster ride. In this period I
have interacted with a number of corporates &
academia, written and read a number of articles
from some of the best minds in the country and also
interacted with them. All this has taught me
innumerable valuable lessons which would stand me
in good stead no matter where I go.
Coming out with a monthly magazine is by no means
an easy task, and to have done this month after
month, without fail, is solely because of the team I
had that was backing me up, behind the scenes.
This bunch of marketing enthusiasts has shown me
what Markathon meant to them, by the sheer effort
and passion they have displayed.
I am forever indebted to my editorial team including
Debanjana Sinha, Samita Srijaya Patnaik, Samrat
Singh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar Sinha & Varshik
Nimmagadda.
I would like to place on record my gratitude to two
of the most patient souls I have worked with, my
designers, Keshav Sahani & Priyanka Pandit, without
whom Markathon would not be complete.
I would also like to thank the faculty and the
administration for their unwavering support through
thick and thin.
Last but not the least me and my team would like to
express our sincere gratitude to YOU, our readers
and contributors without whom this dream called
Markathon wouldn’t have turned into reality.
2
 THE MARKATHON TEAM
Now it is time for us to pass on the baton to our
EDITOR
juniors who we believe will continue to strive and
Kaushik Subramanian
give you the best in marketing and ensure that
Markathon becomes an iconic brand. SUB EDITORS
Debanjana Sinha
It gives me great pleasure to announce that Jitesh SamitaPatnaik
Pradeep Patel would be the next Editor,
Samrat Singh Yadav
Markathon, supported by his able colleagues,
Saurabh Kumar Sinha
Gaurav, Kaustubh, Rahul, Ritika, Sana, Sria&
VarshikNimmagadda
Yashwanth.

We hope that you continue to shower your love CREATIVE DESIGNERS

and blessings on them as much as you did on us KeshavSahani
and more. Priyanka Pandit

Signing off for one last time on behalf of the entire MEMBERS
Markathon team  Gaurav Ralhan
Jitesh Patel
Goodbye! 
Kaustubh Rawool
Love & Regards
Kaushik Rahul Mantri
Ritika Nagar
Happy Reading! Sria Majumdar
Sana Parvez Akhtar
Kaushik Subramanian Yashwanth Reddy Mandipati

3
 markathon | february 2011
CONTENTS
FEATURED ARTICLES

PERSPECTIVE I
Adapting to Cultures – Marketing in Global Environment
ARAVIND BM | NITIE
5
PERSPECTIVE II
Digging into the reality of Reality Shows: A Booming Marketing Platform 7
DEBASMITA PANJA | IIM B

PERSPECTIVE III
Marketing at source: the no-nonsense marketing
9
KUMAR RAUNAK| IIFT DELHI

SPECIAL
Interview with SETH GODIN
12
AUTHOR AND MARKETING EXPERT

COVER STORY
Private Labels
S. SANDHYA | YASHWANTH | JITESH PATEL | IIM S
14
20
VARTALAAP
Douglas B Holt
L’OREAL PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, SAID BUSINESS SCHOOL

WAR ZONE
EYE 2 EYE
Is the launch of six new world cup flavours by lay’s justified or would it confuse the brand loyal?
23
ANSHUL KUMAR | BIT NOIDA, AMRITA BANGA| NMIMS

SILENT VOICE
Cricket World Cup – 2011
24
SPECIALS
ADDICTIVE
GAURAV RALHAN | KAUSHIK SUBRAMANIAN 25
RADICAL THOUGHTS
JITESH PATEL | VARSHIK N 26
UPDATES
KAUSTUBH 28
30
BOOK MARK
SRIA MAJUMDAR | PRIYANKA PANDIT

Brand Story
SANA AKHTAR | SAMITA PATNAIK 31
FOR THOSE WHO TOOK IT FORWARD 32
4
perspective markathon | february 2011

Adapting to Cultures – Marketing in Global Environment

Aravind BM | NITIE

Globalization has not only brought people,

communities, places closer to each other but has also
turned many cities, regions in the world to
cosmopolitan. We should not be surprised to find that
our neighbour or our colleague or a friend in Facebook
comes from a land thousands of miles away and
follows an entirely different lifestyle and culture from
ours. The never before proximity of people of varying As they say “One man’s thrash is another man’s
background in both digital and physical world has treasure”, a promotional strategy which is very
enabled us to know successful in one
about a variety of culture might be an
cultures which utter failure in
seemed arcane a few another culture. One
years ago. This ever- of the classic
widening knowledge examples is the ever
about different famous “Bite the wax
cultures owing to tadpole” translation
growing number of of coca cola in
touch points to Chinese. Coca Cola
experience various had to change its
cultures has helped name in Mandarin to
marketers to comply with the
understand the “language” which
culture and use their forms an integral
understanding to part of any culture.
develop new
marketing strategies Ogilvy and Mather,
based on culture. the ad wizards of the
world have started
Culture can be “Ogilvy Noor” the ad
understood as an agency of the Muslim
integrated pattern of world. Ogilvy Noor is
human knowledge, beliefs and behaviour. Culture the world’s first bespoke Islamic Branding practice,
exerts a considerable influence on day to day activities offering expert practical advice on how to build brands
of life thereby forming an integral and important part of that appeal to Muslim consumers, globally. Muslims
anyone’s life. People pay attention when you identify Consumers occupy a significant part of world consumer
and acknowledge them and they identify themselves base, both in terms of individual purchasing power and
with their culture. People of any given cultural group number of consumers. Ogilvy and Mather recognized
feel more connected to the products/ services when both the uniqueness and importance of this market and
they are advertised keeping the cultural aspect of that by creating Ogilvy Noor it makes ads and offers market
particular group in mind. insights for companies targeting the Muslim market.

5
perspective markathon | february 2011

Back home in India, similar efforts are in progress to

woo consumers on “culture factor”. India is a motley of
cultures with each state boasting of multiple cultures.
We have been seeing different Television ads for a
single product, each ad targeting consumers of a
specific culture /language, some others stressing on the
cultural heritage of various regions of India (e.g “The
taste of India” campaign of AMUL). This is just the tip of
the iceberg, a lot of By virtue of a rich cultural heritage;
India offers huge opportunities as well as challenges in
the field of cultural marketing.

Culture is not only just a way of life for people; it is also

a potential demand generator and a market creator.
For example the traditional Indian wedding which is
celebrated with pomp and gaiety and which is an
integral part of the culture of people is a billion dollar
market. It is the biggest market for various goods (e.g.
Textiles, Gifts, jewellery) and services (Catering, event
management). Similarly the innumerable festivals in
India also provide a good opportunity for “cultural
marketing”. Crackers and sweets attract very high
demand during the festival of Diwali; Greeting cards
and other goodies during Christmas, New year time are
classic examples of demand stimulated by culture.

Thus we see that Culture has become one of the most

important aspects of marketing in today’s world,
offering new avenues for marketing products and even
encouraging development of culture specific offerings
and creation of new markets.

The marketing world seems to have recognized the importance of cultural marketing.
Cultural marketing assumes absolute importance in order to avoid marketing blunders.

6
perspective
Digging into the reality of Reality Shows: A Booming
Marketing Platform
DEbasmita panja | IIMB
Culture Reality shows have become a catchphrase in
the Indian Television industry. Indian viewers’ mind set
seems to have undergone a dramatic change. A
significant fraction of the audience base have become
bored of the never ending saga of family dramas and
soaps and are switching over to reality shows. The
Indian reality television, though in the nascent stage of
its development, is growing at a phenomenal rate.
The international history of reality shows dates back to
1948 with the telecast of the first TV reality show
Candid Camera by Allen Funt. The Granada Television
Series Seven Up in 1964 was among the pioneers of
reality shows that were
broadcast in the United
Kingdom. The industry
earned global popularity
with the revolutionary
success of shows like Big
Brother, Survivor and
American Idol. Similar
journey commenced in India
in the 1990s with the advent
of music reality shows like
Meri Awaz Suno. The show
became highly popular but at
that point of time in the
industry, there were not many players in this segment.
The scenario changed tremendously with the huge
success of Kaun Banega Crorepati. The enigmatic
presence of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan alongside the
differentiated concept of KBC in terms of Indian
viewers’ tastes and perceptions proved to be a
successful venture and opened up opportunities for
such reality shows in future. The rising popularity has
given a new dimension to the business of television
channels in India. It has broken the monotony with
interesting scripts and innovative formats of reality
shows. Perhaps one of the prime reasons for reality
shows dominating the industry is the ability of audience
to be a part of the shows and easily relate themselves
to the characters. However competition in this segment
of the industry is becoming intense due to its continued
success in increasing TRP ratings. Channel executives
markathon | february 2011
have become keen in outdoing others with almost every
channel broadcasting two to three reality shows in the
same season.
In such a high growing, competitive industry, what
strategies are being adopted by the various television
channels to position their shows in the most favorable
manner? How are the production houses trying to set
themselves apart to pull the crowd? What marketing
weapons are these players using? Primarily, the
production houses are negotiating deals with television
channels and launching various categories of reality
shows like game shows, celeb-reality, prank-reality,
talent hunts, adventure based
shows etc. Such a varied offering
keeps the audience hooked to
their television screens without a
feel of monotony. Production
firms like Endemol International
BV, BBC Worldwide Productions
India and FreeMantle India
Television Productions Pvt. Ltd.
are frequently coming up with
innovative concepts ranging from
shows on cooking to biggest
comedian hunt which are
entertaining and are being widely
accepted by Indian audience. The formats and ideas of
the shows are being used by the companies as a
differentiating factor. Endemol, for example, has signed
a joint venture with a sports management firm for
bringing in reality shows on boxing and cricket while
others are conceptualizing reality shows on business for
testing entrepreneurial aptitudes.
Though these reality shows seem to be entirely Indian
products, they are often a result of deals with foreign
networks. For example, the local station Network 18
and the media corporation Viacom collaborated to
produce Big Boss. India is a comparatively new entrant
in the reality show business. So such cooperation with
highly experienced foreign companies adds to the
competence of the programs. The production firms are
also bringing in international formats for adaptation in
India. At the same time, they are focusing on localized
7
perspective
contents to tap the local audience. Deepak Dhar,
managing director, Endemol India says, “We are
planning to get a format
called The Million Pound
Drop for the Hindi audience
and then extend it to south
India and the Bengali-
speaking market.”
Internet is also playing an
important role in its
growth. It has been used as
a cost-effective and
interactive tool for
promotion of reality shows
by several television channels. These companies have
partnered with popular websites like facebook,
YouTube, Orkut, rediff etc. for advertising their shows.
Star Plus, for instance, has made use of
social networking sites for initiating
conversations on its show Master Chef.
These channels have released web
premiers for their shows and are
popularizing them through online
media posts. The channels are using
blogs, launching their own sites and
placing promos of their shows across
video sites. A lot of popular reality
television shows have profiles on well-
accepted social networking sites. They
are also creating websites for getting
regular feedbacks about their shows,
thereby creating awareness and
excitement in the minds of the viewers.
In addition to internet, channels are
also using editorials in print
publications for promoting the shows.
An evolving trend of cross-promotion
of shows and promoting movies through reality shows
have become quite successful. The television channels
are working towards introducing a synergetic relation
between film promotion and reality shows. This is
setting up a win-win situation for all players in the
business. Reality shows provide an efficient platform for
movie promotion with minimum cost being entailed by
the film producer. The appearance of celebrity actors in
the shows captivates more people thereby registering
markathon | february 2011
more TRPs. The viewers are also entertained by the
show and the celebrities.
Among the other tools that are
being employed by the
television channels are
celebrity hosts and judges and
this has been established as a
very effective approach as the
Indian viewers always have had
a special connection with
Bollywood. Anupam Vasudev,
EVP marketing, Star Plus, said,
"Celebrity-based reality shows
attract new viewers. So, more
people are sampling your channel when such shows
come on. A number of them stay with the channel even
after the reality show ends."
The increasing popularity of the reality
shows is making it easier for the
producers to attract higher sponsorship.
Also most of the revenues are generated
from text messaging and mobile
interactions by the audience for voting
purposes. There is effective utilization of
content in a reality show shoot as almost
nothing goes waste. “Even auditions and
behind-the-screen happenings are shot,
and broadcast before the actual show
goes on air...controversies and fights
between participants create frenzy and
the show becomes a talking point in the
press or on social media,” says a
production team member of a show.
However what remains to be seen is
whether this dynamic success of the
reality television industry is sustainable or
not. A lot depends on the ability of the industry to come
up with further interesting concepts. Gavin Wood,
director of production, India Freemantle Media says,
"India has a great potential to produce its own formats.
We may discover some formats that existed earlier and
got sidelined or forgotten. We can work on them as
well. Indian formats have the potential to go global as
the passion and creativity in India grows in the years to
come. This will drive the growth of the television
industry in India."
8
perspective
Marketing at source : the no-nonsense marketing
Kumar raunak | IIft, delhi
Whenever we think of marketing campaign, the two
ubiquitous words across the marketing fraternity, things
that first come to our mind are glitzy television
commercials, giant billboards at posh locations and high
profile celebrity endorsements. These product
promotion tactics have captured much of the creative
bandwidth of most of the marketing managers
associated with companies from diverse sectors. The
underlying philosophy for these marketing and
advertising tactics has been that launching a high
decibel mega campaign on television and other forms of
media creates a pull effect among target consumers
and draws them to the distribution outlets. This
philosophy indeed
worked when we
had lesser number
of competing
brands and
products in every
sector and some of
the communication
media were
relatively new, like
television. Take for
example
Hamarabajaj
campaign by bajaj scooters in the late 80s and early 90s
when the television medium was relatively new and the
two wheeler market was not cluttered with umpteen
brands. This campaign actually established bajaj
scooters as a household name by creating the desired
pull effect. Same holds true for HUL’s lux campaign with
stars like HemaMalini and Madhuri Dixit when celebrity
endorsements had not picked up in a big way.
Cut to present time and we find a plethora of brands
with glitzy and whacky advertisements on television
and in newspaper dailies making use of each and every
spot available. Same holds true for billboards and
hoardings at posh locations. Now the issue is how much
impact do such campaigns have on the minds of target
consumers, especially when we take into account the
fact that in a small span of time, let us say during 3-4
min commercial break on television he is supposed to
markathon | february 2011
watch numerous ads, remember them and recall them
while making purchasing decision. It is also a herculean
task to measure the impact of these ads in quantitative
terms. Also one big issue in this regard is that many a
time when these ads are aired in the midst of any
popular show they act as irritants from the point of
view of consumers and more often than not they nullify
any eye catching effect that was built into them to
attract viewers. To counter this many advertisers
thought of using more and more celebrities so we had
Aamir Khan endorsing Coca Cola and Shahrukh Khan
endorsing Pepsi, HUL roped in former Miss India and
model MehrJessiaRampal for ponds cosmetic products
in response to another former Miss India and Universe
SushmitaSen’s endorsement of P&G’s Olay
cosmetics products. This excessive use of celebrities
by almost all the brands has again robbed this tactic
of any novelty that it promised in the beginning.
So what should be
the way forward?
Marketers and
brand owners
themselves seem
to have come up
with an alternative
which can be
termed as the
concept of
marketing at
source.This is fast
becoming a trend on the marketing and advertising
landscape and is being increasingly used by advertisers
and marketing managers.
What is this concept all about?
This concept entails intercepting the target consumers
at the right location and the right time in a more direct
manner than what traditional forms of advertising
allow. This enables greater impact of marketing and
advertising on consumers while ensuring that they are
engaged in an entertaining way. To illustrate this there
are two examples that really stand out.
9
perspective
HUL’sTHE BAJE KI KNORR
LOCAL CAMPAIGN
Under this campaign
which was launched in
September 2010 the
women commuters in
local trains in suburban
Mumbai were served
delicacies prepared with
Knorr ready to cook spice mixes. This idea of serving hot
and fresh delicacies to women commuters on their way
back home after a day of hard work clicked with the
consumers.
Over here what HUL was trying to do is to influence the
influencers and break the clutter. In India the decision
regarding the purchase of kitchen items is taken
primarily by the women of the house, so by actually
providing them with a memorable experience of Knorr
ready to cook food items, they hoped to create a strong
recall and ensure repeated purchase. It also broke the
clutter in processed food category which has players
like Nestle, Britannia, ITC, Frito Lay etc. Instead of going
ahead with any run off the mill television commercial or
print ad, it made direct contact with the source of its
market and revenue i.e. middle class women
commuters and it did so not by pestering them but by
making the encounter a unique and entertaining one
and this created a favourable image of the product.
NESTLE’s RURAL CAMPAIGN
In its bid to promote Maggi
noodles in the rural markets,
nestle organised a programme
wherein the representatives from Nestle travelled to
rural areas of UP and Bihar and showcased to
inhabitants the process of preparing Maggi and then
they were served piping hot noodles. The entire idea
was to educate the rural consumers about the product
and create a powerful impact by making them taste hot
and delicious noodles. Again over here Nestle chose to
give traditional forms of advertising and marketing a
miss which could have been making use of hoardings,
distributing pamphlets, or advertising on radio. Rather
markathon | february 2011
it sought to educate consumers about a never before
used product in a more direct and engaging way.
In both of the examples the idea worked because
consumers were directly impacted by the campaign and
were made to feel special, so next time around when
they go to retail outlets the memory of this experience
would in all its likelihood make them buy the product
and use it and hopefully trigger repeated purchases.
Prerequisites of a successful marketing at source
There are certain things that marketers need to keep in
mind while implementing this idea-
A large number of dedicated sales forces would be
required to make direct contact with the source i.e. end
consumers. For example in case of HUL’s campaign,
they needed a large number of sales personnel to serve
delicacies to commuters in different local trains and on
different routes.
Good distribution network and product visibility- to
cash in on initial strong recall after the campaign,
visibility and availability of the product in the retail
outlets via strong distribution network is needed
because if consumers ask for the product and do not
find it there is a likelihood that they may switch to some
other product.
Complementary use of traditional forms of advertising-
to say that the traditional forms of advertising are passé
would be naïve. Once the initial recall is created
through marketing at source, at this point traditional
advertising would kick in, in the form of television
commercial and print advertising to reinforce the
positive memories of the product and convert it into a
purchase decision.
Innovative and out of the box thinking is required to
make direct engagement with the consumers an
exciting and memorable experience for them because
this task is quite unlike sales promotion where either
free samples are doled out or hefty discounts are given
which trigger short term sales. Over here the idea is to
build long term association with the consumer by
starting the relationship on a memorable note which
can be used to build upon a strong relationship.
10
Special markathon |february 2011

An Interview with Seth GODIN

Author And marketing expert
Seth Godin, Author and Marketing Expert is someone who does not need
any introduction. He has written thirteen books all of which have been
bestsellers. His blog is perhaps the popular in the world written by a single
individual. As an entrepreneur, he has founded dozens of companies,
including Yoyodyne, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 1998. It pioneered
the use of ethical direct mail online, something Seth calls Permission
Marketing. His latest company, Squidoo.com, is ranked among the top
125 sites in the US (by traffic) by Quantcast.

11
Special
Markathon: Your Driving Force
I like to solve interesting
problems and share the
answers. At the same time, I
find I work best as a soloist,
working on project after
project. Add those up and
there you go.
Markathon: The next big thing in marketing
Permission Marketing and
Social Media Marketing is
the next big thing. Don’t
wait for another
revolution, this is the one.
markathon |february 2011
Markathon: Role of Blogging
I think that blogging has a
bigger role in the world of
life. Blogging makes you
more thoughtful and
probably more generous.
Markathon: Best Medium for Permission
Marketing in India
SMS
12
Special markathon |february 2011

Markathon: On the application of innovation Markathon: The book closest to your heart
and insights

In the book Linchpin I talk about

the role of the individual who
creates generous art. In India, Probably Survival is
there are so many people with so Not Enough. It took the
much to contribute, but the top-
most work, sold the
down imperialistic boss mindset
least copies.
often gets in the way. This needs
to change.

Markathon: You were called ‘The Ultimate Markathon: Last word for our readers
Entrepreneur for the Information Age’ by
BusinessWeek. What’s your motivation to
keep starting new ventures?

Isn’t that the whole point? To

make a ruckus? To see what
GO!
works? Each project has its own
reasons, but it’s always about
the project.

13
cover story markathon | february 2011

There was a giant who was bullying and harassing the children
in the village. One day, a 17-year-old shepherd boy came to visit
his brothers and asked, "Why don't you stand up and fight the
giant?" The brothers were terrified and they replied, "Don't you
see he is too big to hit?" But David said, "No, he is not too big to
hit, he is too big to miss." The rest is history. We all know what
happened. David killed the giant.
Same giant, different perception --- From the Bible

14
cover story
The David vs Goliath story is a
true reflection of the often
unsurprising power of the
underdog when battling a giant.
The Private Labels are becoming
more and more of a powerful
David making a dent into the
markets of existing gigantic
brands (the Goliath).
Reckitt Benckiser recently cut
retailer margins and the retail
chains including Aditya Birla
Retail and Future group stopped
stocking R&B products. The
retailers are countering Reckitt
Benckiser by using Private Labels
and are very confident in their
plans too.
What are Private Labels? What
makes Private Labels a force to
reckon with? What keeps them
ticking? Why are brands getting
wary of the Private Labels? We
explore the answer to these
questions and much more in this
cover story....
markathon |february 2011
Private Labels are brands owned by the retailers
themselves. They are often restricted to individual
stores or to a particular chain of stores operating under
a single company. They are often referred to as store
brands or own labels. These Private Labels are growing
at an ever increasing pace thanks to rapid expansion of
retail chains in India; most of these retail chains have
their own Private Label products which are cheaper
alternatives to branded products. Some studies
estimate that store brands already might be accounting
for up to 40% of the shopping basket in some of the
developing countries and the growth is outstripping the
growth of manufactured brands. They are now the
biggest worry on every brand manager’s mind and in
India it is only now gathering momentum.
Private labels were introduced as a clever marketing
scheme to extend the visibility of the store – when the
customer carries home groceries named after the store,
every time they use the product, they remember the
store too. As the margins set by the store are
significantly lower than those set by popular national
brands, the perception of the consumer towards the
store brand is one of value for money. Soon, the labels
grow into solid brands without large scale advertising or
marketing activities.
This trend is catching on very fast and most corporates
(including the Tatas, RPG Enterprises and the Future
Group among others) who wish to tap into the
organised retail market have private labels as one of
their key strategies. Private labels increase brand loyalty
and tap on the extensive in-store marketing that
retailers can provide and instead of the 10-12% margin
provided by national brands, the retailers gain
anywhere between 20-40% on their own labels.
The watch-word among these private brands is value
addition. The advantage they have over leading brands
is that they have more contact with the customer and
consequentially have better knowledge of local tastes
and can penetrate niche markets with ease. Food
Bazaar’s (part of Future Group) initiative to sell Mustard
Kasundi sauce which is native to east India is one such
effort which became highly popular. Most stores also
have an employee grinding wheat, driving home the
15
cover story markathon |february 2011

point that their flour is “chakki-atta”, freshly packaged provide a balance of price with quality, convenience,
to retain the aroma. consistency, innovation and enhanced in-store
experience. The market penetration of Reliance is 80%,
The secret of the success of private labels lies in the Pantaloons 75% and Shoppers Stop and Spencer’s have
trust the customers place on the parent chain – a penetration of 20% and 10% respectively.
Spencer’s Retail was already a household name when
they introduced their store label. Most players in this At the start of the private label revolution, many
business tend to start off in the un-branded space and manufacturers considered it as an avenue to increase
then branch out to products which are high- revenue. They used excess production capacity to
involvement or high-technology oriented because price- supply to the labels but this only caused a reduction in
conscious consumers are more willing to go for private their brand’s sales, which further increased their excess
labels in the case of daily-use commodities than high- capacity. By the time manufacturers caught up, the
involvement products such as in the personal care labels were very well established. From 13% of food
segment. Simply put, one might take a risk with a dish- products in 2005, they grew to 25% in 2008 in the US
wash than and are now
with their Depth of Private Labels by Retailer here to stay.
brand of body- But this
wash. intense
However, once Ebony competition
the chain Spencers has resulted in
establishes one clear
Subhiksha
their label as winner – the
trust-worthy, Shopper's Stop customer. He
Retailer Name

it is possible to is now spoilt

Food World
break into the for choice,
tougher Indiaiullus/pyramid spends lesser
segments too Nilgiri's and enjoys
as indicated by higher quality
Pantaloon
Univercell and and benefits
Croma. Reliance from the
constant
However, this Trent
innovation in
movement 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% the retail
isn’t one
% share in private labels space.
without
challenges – The reason
there is the flip side that the profusion of the store major brands are wary of private labels is their rapid
brands causes lesser choice among branded items. The growth – nearly 40% of Walmart sales and 50% of
problems in the retail market including effective and Tesco’s are through labels. In India, Stop (of Shopper’s
efficient supply chain management, integrating Stop) and Fresh and Pure (of Food Bazaar) have become
management with technology and high cost of set-up brands of their own right. This has given the retailers
percolate into the private labels business too. Added to greater bargaining power over the manufacturers.
this is the growing awareness that private labels aren’t Private-label only retailers such as Ikea and Zara make
as cheap as they are often made out to be. the market more complex and competitive.
Manufacturers hit back with their own retail stores such
Currently, private labels occupy only 10-12% share in as that of Raymond and online services such as Sangam
the organized retail sector, which by itself make up only of Unilever. The downturn contributed to further
7-8% in the total $400 Billion retail industry. This under- complications such as preference for private labels due
penetration offers great scope for those who manage to to price sensitivity and then efforts towards price

16
cover story markathon |february 2011

discovery as brands brought down their margins while penetrate into the rural segment. Lack of a rural
stores increased theirs. retailing model and infrastructure are often cited as
reasons for the same but is a cause of concern as this
Major brands such as Britannia, Hindustan Unilever and limits the market to urban areas which are already over-
P&G originally utilized third party manufacturers to crowded with brands.
outsource part of their production but this strategy
back fired as these small companies now had the know- Market predictions indicate that there is high potential
how of production and are now competing against the for private labels in food and groceries, medium
major players by tying up with new entrants or major potential in clothing and consumer durables and quite
retailers. Such was the case with Frito Lays which has low potential in segments such as jewellery, watches
trouble due to ITC’s Bingo and Future Group’s Tasty and footwear. But retailers are wary about volumes as
Treat or Britannia against Sunfeast of ITC. spiralling inflation brings price hikes with it, which
adversely affects private labels. For instance, the
Nearly 36 consumer products including breakfast increase in cotton prices by nearly 50% might lead to
cereals, 10-15% hike
detergent, in prices at
fragrance Shopper’s
and Stop and
packaged Pantaloon
tea, Retail.
household
products The food and
like apparels
cleaners segments are
have high of particular
penetration interests
of private when looking
label at private
brands, labels – after
according all the profit
to the margins are
Nielsen generally a lot
study which higher in
puts their these sectors
share at 6% with foods at
of the total retail sales in those stores in late 2010. 20% and apparels at 40%.

The private labels scene in India is still in the nascent
stage and as the focus shifts from low price to product
differentiation and quality, it could shift to the mature
stage as seen in US , UK and the rest of the EU in the
next 5 years. Feature differentiation, free samples and
increase in Advertising budgets have helped these
labels better their perception in the eyes of customers.
However major inhibitors are the lack of sophistication
in business processes such as management of supply
chain and successful implementation of IT as
demonstrated by Walmart as well as reluctance to
It is evident that private brands come with their own
share of issues, especially in retail scenario like India’s
where the market is highly fragmented. The high costs
for initial investment, product establishment,
promotion, and heavy competition from established
brands all paint a bleak picture. Yes, David was small
and young. However, he had a sling. And Private labels
have higher margins and increasing customer loyalty.
The giant was huge, the national brands have higher
market shares, are established and rich. The giant was
also complacent about David.

17
 cover story markathon |february 2011

The private labels of the retailing giant

Big Bazaar include Fresh n Pure,
DreamLine, Jyro, Pure, Premium Harvest,
Tasty Treat, Clean Mate and Care Mate
and account for 30% of their total sales
in FMCG and 25% in personal care
products. From the time Big Bazaar had
the run in with Frito Lay and was denied
stock of their snack brand, what happened
is an indication of the growing power of
Private Labels - the only tangible effect
was the increase in consumption of the
private label Tasty Treat making it the
largest selling snack brand with 16%
market share. It is disputable whether
they might have reached such sales figures if they still stocked Lays... Yes, the power is
shifting slowly from the manufacturer and is increasingly aided by private labels.

Big Bazaar aims at a diversified product portfolio with specific lines of niche goods that
cater to the local taste, identified through the better contact they have with end users
than manufacturers. Thus, apart from cornflakes, cheese, ghee, butter, toothpaste and
even diapers, they have entered the niche markets through their community foods brand
Ektaa.

Their marketing mix offers an interesting insight into the way they have become this
successful - the product is what the customer wants (red rice in Kerala, Basmati in Punjab,
Sona Masoori in Hyderabad under Ektaa, poha, community specific pickles and snacks
such as khakra are some examples), Promotion is mainly in store, Prices are kept low by
lower costs and the distribution includes nearly 300 Stock keeping units and planned
supply chain initiatives.

According to Big Bazaar executives, private labels mean a 15% savings in retailer margin,
7% in distributor margin and 5% in marketing costs – this translates to 27% net savings
which is transferred to the customer thus ensuring higher sales even in categories without
extremely high demand. Marketing efforts involve strategic placement of products next to
the main competitor so that visibility is increased and there is an effort to gauge the
merits of the private label against the major brand. There is high emphasis on the price
aspect, in fact, the labels are distinctly categorised as opening price point labels,
promotional labels, trade-up labels and deep-discount labels. Further, there are ads
placed at eye-level to the customer and products are sold as a bundle, for instance
noodles and sauce in a combined offer – this way it is also easier to get relevant feedback
regarding the suitability of the products.

Big Bazaar is aiming for a 60% increase from last year’s 1000 Crore revenue and it can be
expected that 25% of their bottom line is met by private labels!
18
 cover story markathon |february 2011

The different approaches in managing

ging private labels can be brought
out best by the contrasting styles of Pantaloons (the apparels
division) and Shopper’s Stop.

Pantaloons takes an aggressive approach and nearly 80% of their revenues are
through private labels – in essence, they are looking at creating a chain like Zara,
whose value comes from the unique merchandise, variety and trendiness. They
sell 20 different labels and associate certain labels with popular designers to
accentuate the perception of uniqueness. They adopt a vertically integrated
structure and source from the manufacturer for additional margins.

Expansion plans include upgrading the labels John Miller, Bare, DJ&C, Rig and Ajile
into stand-alone brands with their own stores and even retailing them outside the
company-owned stores. This is possible with labels that have become hugely
popular with the public, have significant volumes and have a distinct identity. It
has become a case of private label established through the retailer and eventually
maturing into a brand of its own. This gives Pantaloons’ segments such as the Star
and Sitara line of beauty products, to be moulded into beauty salons.

Shopper’s stop takes a different route with only 20-25% of their revenues being
generated through private labels. In this case, the emphasis is on leveraging the
private labels for the higher margins that they provide. Their labels include
Kashish, STOP, Life, Mario Zegnoti, Acropolis, Push and Shove, Vettorio Fratini and
Elliza Donatein.

In contrast with Pantaloons which aims at creating its own identity, Shopper’s Stop
aims at providing customers with an international shopping experience. Key to this
is providing a wide variety of brands and ensuring that the visibility is not
predominant only for their own labels. However, in the interest of revenues, they
spend 2-4% of their revenue from private labels, 200 Crores, in marketing efforts –
even 4 Crores of expenditure is generally huge for private labels where usually
marketing is in-store. Shopper’s Stop takes a different line and promotes its labels
through extensive advertising including product placements in movies (such as Om
Shanti Om), television and print ads and stark black and white logos that are
arresting. And this is their strategy to build their “House of Brands”, not increasing
the profusion of private labels but increasing revenue and providing a much wider
variety than competitors.

History tends to repeat itself. And we, we’re betting on David to

put up a good fight and maybe down Goliath once again.

19
vartalaap markathon |february 2010
2011

An Interview with Douglas B Holt

L’Oreal Professor of Marketing, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and
Renowned Author on Cultural Branding

Douglas Holt is the L’Oreal Professor of Marketing at the University of Oxford, and Co-Principal of The Cultural
Strategy Group. Previously he was a Professor of Marketing at the Harvard Business School. He is a leading expert
on brand strategy, having established cultural branding as an important new strategy tool in his best-selling book
How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding. He is also the author of Cultural Strategy: Using
Innovative Ideologies to Build Breakthrough Brands. He has developed cultural strategies for a wide range of
brands, including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Ben & Jerry's, Sprite, Jack Daniel's, MINI, MasterCard, Fat Tire beer,
Qdoba, Georgia Coffee, Planet Green, and Mike's Hard Lemonade, along with a number of non-profit
organizations. He holds degrees from Stanford, the University of Chicago, and North western University, and is the
editor of the Journal of Consumer Culture. He has been invited to give talks at universities and management

20
vartalaap markathon |february 2011
2010

Markathon: How have global brands evolved in scuttled with the first waves of outsourcing in the
the last decade or so; in the context of the 1970s, Budweiser’s extolling of the virtues of the
emerging economies becoming a massive traditional artisan served up a shot of old-fashioned
consumer base? respect with every brew to embattled blue-collar
men. Budweiser understood the socio cultural
Mr. Holt: It is hard to provide any overarching context and used their campaign to capitalize on it.
comments because there are a number of different
types of global brands that succeed (or fail) based Markathon: Do you feel that in a country like
upon different brand mechanics. Generally western India, cultural branding might be difficult, given
companies have viewed developing markets as their that the culture is highly diverse across the
last great hope at double digit growth. But to expand nation (most of the state provinces speak
their brands into such countries, they’ve had to learn different languages, have different customs)
the hard way that creating brand value requires a unlike the United States or United Kingdom?
nuanced understanding of issues like national
identity and global status. Western brands can bring Mr. Holt:
potent cross-cultural value, representing western First I
ideologies that are much valued in developing disagree with
countries. But they can also act as a ball-and-chain, your premise.
carrying symbolic baggage from the west—such as If you’ve ever
connotations of post-colonial domination—that visited
consumers in developing countries resent. London, you
Branding in such would find
situations requires that it is one
considerable of the
cultural nuance. ethnically
Cultural branding works diverse cities
Markathon: You because people are in the world.
have emphasized cultural beings, which Likewise the
on socio-cultural applies to all people in all United States
branding for the countries regardless the is extremely
creation of an configuration. The idea is
Iconic Brand. Can that brands respond to heterogeneous despite that most people speak
you share with us major shifts in society English.
an example of a that create cultural Finally, cultural branding often thrives on political
brand which has tensions, which can only and cultural difference. For instance ben & jerry’s
achieved it in a
be resolved by new ice cream shot to success in the USA by opposing
successful manner
ideologies. Brands can Reagan’s politics in the 1980s, and Apple and
and how it has
provide these ideologies. Starbucks have championed ideologies that the
achieved it?
Iconic brands never work majority of Americans find condescending and
Mr. Holt: There are for everyone in society, elitist. The cultural diversity of the USA was helpful
lots of brands which only a segment. So there for these brands. So India’s diversity likely
have achieved iconic is no reason to exclude produces excellent conditions for cultural branding.
status by using India due to cultural Markathon: What trends in consumer culture
cultural branding diversity. and behaviour do you see emerging in the next
which I have talked
decade and the impact that they make on the
about in my two
way brands are created, marketed?
books. To explain
how they achieved would take a long time. One Mr. Holt: In cultural branding, we avoid looking at
example which comes to mind is that of Budweiser, trends because they are usually characterized in an
when America’s high-wage industrial base was being extremely generic manner. To do cultural strategy,

21
vartalaap
you need to move beyond thinking about social
change in terms of a handful of trends. Rather
society is always changing in myriad ways and only a
small fraction of these changes are important for a
particular category and a segment therein. So the
challenge is always to treat historical changes in a
highly customized manner, studying the particular
changes that are important to the business problem
you are trying to solve rather than buying in to the
generic trends hyped by the media.
Markathon: What, in your opinion, is one
common error (if any) most of the brands commit
which prevents them from becoming an iconic
brand?
Mr. Holt: The
managers of
such brands
follow the
conventional
marketing
handbook. They
believe that the
value of the
brand is derived
from the
distinctiveness
of the brand’s
rational and
emotional
benefits in the
consumer’s
mind and they hammer these benefits across all
marketing efforts and consistently over time. Iconic
brands are created because the brand is dynamic: it
responds decisively to changes in society with new
ideology. And rather than think of value in benefit
terms, iconic brands dominate their categories by
proposing new ideologies that consumers value so
much that they are more than willing to ascribe
rational benefits to the brand—it is the highest
quality, tastes the best, is the most innovative etc
simply because consumers identify with what the
brand stands for.
Markathon: You’ve had an amazing career spanning
from being a brand manager to teaching at Harvard
Business School and now Saïd Business School at
Oxford, could you share with us an incident/moment
which you’d call a ‘great learning experience’?
2011
markathon |february 2010
Mr. Holt: I’m very interested in how branding can be
used to improve the lot of the poor, especially
commodity producers in the global south. At Oxford I
worked with Oxfam to help Ethiopian coffee farmers
make more money by branding their traditional
coffee appellations (like yergecheffe), which are
highly renowned in the West. This is a fresh
branding idea, ripe with huge possibilities to push
value chain rents down to the farmers in the south.
However Starbucks was deeply opposed to this effort
because they made lots of money by using these
Ethiopian appellations for free. As a result, the
leadership of the Saïd Business School stridently
opposed my work, even stripping my essays from
the faculty website, on the rationale that Starbucks
might interview at the school someday and they
might take offense to what i was doing. This is
despite the fact that I testified before the British
parliament, conducted interviews on the BBC, and
so on. This incident shocked me. It taught me that
even supposed liberal bastions like Oxford are
very much captured by economic elites. It is a real
challenge to work within business schools to
advance the interests of common people.
Markathon: Any advice for young marketing
graduates (our readers) stepping out from
college and looking to make a career in the
world of branding?
Get a liberal arts education along
with the nuts-and-bolts analytic
skills needed to do day-to-day
brand management. Marketing as
taught in most MBA programs
strips from students the key
humanistic expertise necessary to
build brands. Studying history,
anthropology, sociology, media,
politics and such provides a much
richer foundation for branding
than what is taught in business
education.
22
 war zone | eye 2 eye
Is the launch of six new world cup flavours by
lay’s justified os would it confuse the brand loyal
customers?
Lay’s, the global leader in the
salty snack industry, enjoys huge
popularity with its customers
and has earned consistently
large profits from its business.
From customer’s perspective,
“Lay’s is right in taking advantage of the world Cup to launch new flavours”
introduction of new flavours
would be a clear positive on the
Anshul Kumar basis of conventional thinking.
BIT Noida The reason being, Lay’s
is a renowned brand and with the introduction of new
flavors, could expect that customers who have
developed trust in the brand would not have hesitation
in not only accepting but welcoming new variants in the
product portfolio. It could also be argued that new
flavors would entice existing customers as well as
possibly gain new ones.From Frito Lay’s perspective,
adding to the existing offering would leverage the
existing brand equity and enable inexpensive market
launch of new products. It could also be viewed as a
competitive thrust to gain advantage over its rivals in
the market place with an enhanced product offering.
The firm would be able to spread the cost of advertising
and promotion over a larger group of variants and
thereby bring down unit marketing cost which should in
turn contribute to improved profits and profitability.
The company should do a thorough study of the sales
performance of its existing variants. Those variants
which show a declining sale trend or have reached a
plateau can be discontinued. Such products can be
replaced by new ones.
It should be the effort of every firm to keep its existing
customers happy and to attract new customers. An
obvious area for this critical marketing requirement
would be new product introduction. So this is a step
towards the same objective, which is taking advantage
of World Cup for its new offering.
Topic for the next issue’s Eye to Eye: After Starbucks with Tata, Dunkin Donuts with Jubilant Food is also
entering Indian market. Will India be a success story for these coffee retail chains or is Indian market not big
enough for all these players.
Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is
17th March 2011. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry.
markathon | february 2011
You go to a store to buy a
packet of chips of your
favourite brand. You know
“The launch of new flavours would create discomfort for the brand loyal customers”
the flavour you want but
what you see on the display
is a number of new flavours
which look almost same as
what you buy ordinarily and
the shopkeeper is trying Amrita Banga
hislevel best to persuade NMIMS
to
youbuy the new flavors that he has just stocked,
wasting your time and his energy.
This is the story behind every shopper who knows
which flavour he likes and wants to buy that. With
the company trying to push new flavours in the
forefront, more often than not, the old flavours are
pushed to the background irritating the customers
who have been company’s regular buyers for a long
time.
Moreover, how many of these flavours would
actually be sustained is another question because
most of these flavours are launched near some
event to grab consumers attention and interest and
are killed after a few months. It’s not for the first
time that Lay’s has launched new flavours or has
held a competition related to it. This technique has
been used by them before also to spike their sales
and is being repeated because of positive result it
generated, not taking into account the discomfort it
causes for the brand and flavour loyal customers.
Adding on to this grievance is launching of new
brands of chips like by Parle etc. which have same
color packaging done as Lay’s to confuse the
customer. In such a scenario, when in a shop the
customer sees a variety of bag of chips he is bound
to get confused and lose faith if the flavor that he
picked out doesn’t please his taste buds!
23
war zone | silent voice markathon | february 2011

Silent Voice
LAST MONTH’S RESULTS
Theme:“Cricket World Cup-2011”

WINNER:SamikshaKalbande&Varun Agarwal | MET-IOM, MUMBAI

Congratulations!!!They receive a cash prize of Rs.500!

Runner Up

RaseshPadia| NMIMS

NEXT THEME FOR SILENT VOICE: “GlaxoSmithKline Healthcare’s launch of toothpaste

brandSensodyne in the Indian market”
LAST DATE OF SENDING THE PRINT AD:17thMarch, 2011
EMAIL ID: markathon.iims@gmail.com

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

28
24
specials | ADdicted
Ad-dicted
Gaurav Ralhan, Kaushik Subramanian | iim s
PRODUCT #1: Reliance Netconnect
TARGET AUDIENCE: Young professionals who aspire
for all time connectivity along with faster internet
speed.
POSITIONING:Because we know you’re always in a
hurry.
AD AGENCY:Grey Mumbai
CONCEPT: The film opens in an aeroplane that has
just landed. It describes a scene that is very common
in the domestic flights, the airhostess is doing
announcement to be seated with mobile phone still in
switch off mode till the plane stops completely. In the
mean while all the passengers get up from their seats,
switch on mobile phone and start opening the
overhead compartments. As the passengers are
jostling a young executive shoves her way to the
front. At this point the narrator kicks in introducing
the Reliance Netconnect with the tagline “‘Because
we know you’re always in a hurry”. This connects the
fast paced life of an executive with the fast internet
service Reliance provides.
VERDICT:
Catch/Miss – Catch
The film is based on a situation that is not very
uncommon in the regular life and the connect
between the incident and the product has been spot
on. The film is very catchy and is able to attract all the
audience attention that it deserves. The concept is
fantabulous and dovetails perfectly with the product.
Nice Work, Grey Mumbai!!
markathon | february 2011
PRODUCT #2: Pepsi
TARGET AUDIENCE: All the cricket lovers, the ad film
is a part of “Change the Game” campaign to cash on
the rising ICC Cricket World Cup fever.
POSITIONING:The official sponsor of “TedhiUngal”
…..Change the Game
AD AGENCY:Taproot India
CONCEPT:The backdrop of the advertisement is a
small village in Haryana. The film opens with Billy
Bowden and a local sitting having a paratha
surrounded by all the villagers. Billy Bowden asks for a
spoon to take out butter from the utensil to which
the local replies “Jab seedhiungal se ghee
nanikaletohungaltedhikal le Bowden” symbolizing a
Hindi idiom to get work done by all means. In the next
scene the local encourages Billy to do the same
“TedhiUngal” in the Match as well. Then the few
spectacular helicopter shots show Billy Bowden
repeating the same, signalling out to the batmen in
the match. The film ends with the tagline the Official
Sponser of TedhiUngal , Pepsi.
VERDICT:
Catch/Miss – Catch
The idea of the commercial is very unique and
innovative. The film has a bit of surprise element as it
uses Umpire rather than the players and adding to
that Billy’s acting has made the commercial more
interesting. The film clearly portrays Pepsi as the
official sponsor of the World Cup and has been able
to create a buzz among the cricket lovers. With the
“Change the Game” campaign Pepsi wants to cash on
the rising cricket fever in the country where cricket is
considered as a second religion.
25
specials | radical thoughts
Railway Budget, Election Campaigns and more …
Jitesh Patel | Varshik N. | IIM S
If there ever was a marketing gimmick going on in the
Indian Parliament, it happened when our very own
Mamata Di was presenting the Railway Budget. There
seemed to be a single minded approach to it, one single
goal, ensure that Trinamool Congress emerges the vote
winner in Bengal. Many dailies sarcastically but rather
accurately termed the budget as “The Voter Express”.
Can there be a more effective marketing campaign than
the railway budget? Let us
look at what elements of a
marketing campaign the
budget encompasses.
An essential element of
any marketing campaign is
the timing. Mamata Di is
immaculate on this front.
With elections scheduled
early in West Bengal this
year, the budget will
garner a lot of attention
and stay in the minds of the people till elections come
up. Though it can be argued that she doesn’t handle the
timing of the budget, but the fact is that she is taking
advantage of it and using it to her benefit. Capitalizing
on the timing opportunity is as important as getting hold
of an opportunity.
The ‘Message’ is another pillar of an efficient campaign.
The one which the railway budget sends out
is loud and clear. West Bengal gets
all the apples in the basket and the
leftovers are distributed among the
other states. There are more trains
for Kolkata(34 new Metro services),
more trains for other areas of
West Bengal, lucrative railway
projects being set up all over
West Bengal. There are projects
given to other states but meager and there
isn’t any justification for these project going to West
Bengal apart from it being the railway
minister’s home state.
The final cornerstone of a successful
marketing agenda is the target audience. The target
markathon | february 2011
audience for any political party is the common man and
they would be thoroughly pleased with the announced
budget. No hike in train fares despite a deficit shows a
pro poor attitude for attracting more votes. There is
actually a reduction in booking charges aiding Mamata
Banerjee’s populist measures. Any marketing company
would love to have a campaign which is so
fundamentally sound. In all probability, this budget will
ensure Trinamool Congress’
victory in the forthcoming
Bengal Elections.
Talking about campaigns, it
reminds me of how much an
Election Campaign has
changed over the years. If
we go back in history and
look at some of the National
elections and how they were
won, there was always one
decisive factor- the election
campaign. The oratory skills of the party candidate could
sway the voters in his/her favor and so could a catchy
election slogan.
Indian National Congress ruled the roost in Indian
politics till 1977, when the first Non-Congress
government was formed by the Janata Party. The two
reasons why Janata Party came into power were
a) The dissatisfaction due to the emergency imposed
b) The countrywide campaign by Janata Party
reaching every nook of the diverse Indian
geography. The campaign was done by
stalwarts like Morarji Desai, JB
Kripalani and Jayprakash Narayan.
The latter two did not want a seat,
but became the leading
campaigners for the amalgamated
mix of parties and drew huge
masses (in some cases 100,000 in a
single gathering) of people across
the country. Not to forget, Atal
Behari Vajpayee, whose oratory
skills were stupendous and could
win over the hearts of any crowd he spoke to. This was a
26
specials | radical thoughts markathon||february
markathon january 2011

massive marketing campaign where there was reach,

there were charismatic spokespeople and there was a
clear cut agenda on what to speak about. The Congress
tried hard to rebutt , but in vain. The result was clear; “Congress kahaath,
Janata Party got a sweeping majority in these elections. Aamaadmikesaath”

Catchy slogans in an election campaign are as important,

if not more than a company tagline. Congress did a
brilliant job with its line“Congress ka haath, Aam aadmi
ke saath”. It was what we’d call a Unique Value
Proposition in marketing terminology, just that it
sounded lot cooler when it rhymed! It caught people’s
attention, held it and boosted Congress’ image
significantly. One of the catchiest slogans I’ve come “Jana Sanghko vote do…
across is one used by Jana Sangh in the 1980s“Jana Bidipeenachhod
Sangh ko vote do… Bidi peena chhod do…Bidi mein do…Bidimeintambakuhai…
tambaku hai…Kangress wala daku hain”. Jana Sangh was Kangresswaladakuhain”
asking the voters to give up two things which they
considered “Evil” - Cigarettes and Congress. This cheeky
campaign is what advertisers call Comparative
advertising.

There are firms now taking up the task for creating a

whole marketing campaign for the elections. These
campaigns are very important for the Parties as the
Ultimately, as every marketing
voting in India will depend on the campaign more than
book will tell you, Customer (the
the party ideals.
voter) is King!

This column has been a tough one to write for me and a bigger headache for my editor. He’s become used to my
column always ending up as the last one submitted. All things said and done, this is the last time I don the hat for
writing this column. The farewell is here, I am going to miss this column a lot even though it was never easy for
me to write it. I pass on the baton to the oncoming team members of Markathon and wish them success.

Goodbye guys!

27
specials | updates
BRAND WATCH
Muthoot Group: Main team sponsors of
Delhi Daredevils
The Muthoot Group has signed as the main team
sponsor of the Delhi Daredevils for the fourth edition of
IPL which is scheduled to start on April 8, 2011.
Marketing and promotion agency Creatigies
Communications played an important role in forging
this partnership. Director of Muthoot Group, Alexander
George Muthoot, said, “IPL is by far the biggest sporting
spectacle in India and has got bigger and better each
year. The Muthoot Group looks at this association with
Delhi Daredevils to grow from strength to strength.”
The Muthoot group believes that investing in the
partnership would reap greater mutual returns.
Strategic alliance- Mint and Bloomberg
UTV
Mint and Bloomberg UTV have entered into a strategic
content alliance under which they will share content
with each other on a daily basis and undertake various
joint editorial initiatives through the year. This
partnership is an attempt to expand their content
footprint to multiple platforms and reach new
audiences. In this partnership, Bloomberg UTV will
feature important news and analyses from Mint every
day and every issue of Mint will carry relevant news
related stories from Bloomberg UTV. In addition to this,
Mint will produce news and lifestyle related weekly
television shows to be aired exclusively on Bloomberg
UTV.
AOL to buy Huffington Post for $315 mn
AOL Inc has agreed to buy The Huffington Post, the
struggling US Internet company, for $315 million. The
move will create a media group that has an enormous
impact reaching a global audience on every imaginable
platform. The deal will combine AOL’s infrastructure
and scale with The Huffington Post’s pioneering
approach to news and innovative community building
markathon | february 2011
BRAND LAUNCH
InterContinental to Launch New Brand in
China
InterContinental Hotels Group will launch an entirely
new brand this year in China to cash in on the booming
economy. The company’s revenues in China went up
more than 25% over 2009. According to the official
reports, the new brand will be positioned between
Crowne Plaza and the luxury InterContinental brand.
The company believes that China will be the biggest
hotel market in the word by 2025 and so launching the
brand now will prove to be strategic advantage for the
company
BMW to launch a new sub-brand
BMW is planning to launch a new sub brand to
manufacture and market electric vehicles. The new sub-
brand will help BMW attain its ambition of becoming
the world’s largest manufacturer of premium electric
vehicles. The new range of Megacity cars will initially be
offered in a two-door, four-seat configuration with
launch of launch the ICV short Intracity Vehicle in 2015.
In 2017 the company will launch a four-door, five seater
vehicle with the name UCV.
Brand Relaunch
Mahindra to relaunch two Logan variants
without Renault brand
After the dissolution of the JV between Mahindra and
Renault on account of poor sales performance of the
Logon, Mahindra plans to roll out two new variants of
the Logan without the Renault tag and its diamond-
shaped logo.
Logan will now be Mahindra's first and solo product in
the passenger car segment. The company is currently
focusing on two aspects- developing a new re-styled
version and developing a new lower-price version of the
model. Mahindra will reduce the length and other
specifications of the car so that it fits into the small car
definition.
28
specials | updates markathon | february 2011

Geneva Motor Show 2011: Skoda unveils
new brand design
Czech automaker Skoda has launched a new direction
for its brand at this year's Geneva Motor Show. The
company is gearing up to intensify its activity in Europe,
China, India and Russia. The brand revamp involves
"above average" interior space and an integrated
tailgate for the rear of the concept. A new logo for the
automaker has also been released, making the winged
arrow design larger and more visible with a brighter
colour.
features. The campaign includes three TVCs and a
digital collaboration with MTV. It involves a contest
where users can upload videos of themselves asking for
Lenovo PCs among other prizes, with the highest-rated
ones to air on MTV. This helps in maintaining connect
with the customers where the youth are the main
target. Lenovo believes that the follow-up campaign
along with MTV collaboration will help strengthen bond
with the audience
Videocon makes ‘zero’ the new ‘hero’ for
new campaign

Ad-Watch Videocon Mobile Phones has launched its new

Honda Accord new campaign-
“performance and comfort”
Honda has unveiled a new campaign to promote the
added features to their flagship car, Accord.
DentsuMarcom has worked on the Ad campaign that
will showcase the features and change points of the
car. TVC, internet film and print ads will be the medium
of communication. The Ad campaign emphasizes that
the car provides a perfect mix of performance and
comfort to deliver an unforgettable driving experience.
advertising campaign promoting the concept of zero
paisa per second tariff plan. The campaign is ideated by
ad agency MWG TAG Ideation under Prasoon Joshi. The
Ad campaign begins with teaser commercials on the
death of one paisa tariff plans, followed by the birth of
Zero character representing the introduction of zero
paisa per second. The visualization of the characters
also gels well with the Videocon Group’s overall
philosophy of being at the source of innovative ideas
and making them accessible to the Indian mass.
New Foodles campaign-"Scientist Bhaskar"

Lenovo’s follow-up campaign to "Please
Daddy Please" campaign
Lenovo has launched a new 360-degree TVC campaign
as a follow-up to its "Please Daddy Please" TVC
launched last year. The new campaign integrates the
entire product story with focusing on the product
Foodles has launched a new TVC for its instant noodles
with JWT as the creative team. It emphasizes on the
nutritional value of the noodles. Main aim of the TVC is
to reinforce the unique balance of taste and science in
Foodles which differentiates it from the instant noodles
category. The Ad is presented from a kid’s point of view
so as to develop connect with the young kids who are
the main target audience.

Articles are invited

“Best Article”:DebasmitaPunja|IIM B
They receive 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.
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.

The last date of receiving all entries is 15th March 2011. Please send your entries marked as
<ARTICLE NAME>_<SENDERS’ NAMES>_<INSTITUTE> to markathon.iims@gmail.com.
29
specials | bookmark
How to drive your competition crazy
Create Disruption For Fun And Profit; Guy Kawasaki
Review by Priyanka Pandit and sriamajumdar
Hyperion Books | Hardcover Edition, Price Rs.1100
approx.
Sitting down to write my last BookMark, I feel more
than confident that this column would continue shining
bright, bringing to you the gist of the books every
Marketing enthusiast must read. The biggest reason
behind this confidence is Sria, an extreme bibliophile
counting “Marketing” as one of her passions, who shall
be taking over the column full-time from next month.
For this special “occasion”, we decided to review one of
the ten bestsellers by the marketing brains behind
Apple’s early successes, Guy Kawasaki.
Known for the enthusiasm he professes, be it in writing,
public speaking, marketing or consulting, Guy Kawasaki
has served as the chief evangelist at Apple and is the co-
founder of the RSS aggregator Alltop.com and Garage
Technology Ventures. His books, including this one, are
famous because they are filled with how-to-do-it steps
along with real life examples which validate his
thoughts.
Summary
The book draws from Guy Kawasaki’s experience in
marketing the Macintosh back in the 1980s when
people could not think beyond IBM and MS DOS. In
order to disrupt the market, customers were turned
into evangelists. According to Guy, clear and shrewd
thinking, guts, hard work and a willingness to think out
of the box are essential to drive the competition nuts
and take on Goliaths.The book begins by asking
fundamental questions about the nature of business
and products and services. ‘Knowing Thyself’ is the key
to understanding customers and competition. Like Sam
Walton, Guy is also an advocate of following the
competitor religiously, playing fair and grabbing a niche
market share. He also advises competition and
cannibalization but strongly believes a nemesis is
essential to drive innovation.
markathon | februaury 2011
Organization
The structure of the book speaks volumes about the
thought process of the author. Guy Kawasaki asks
marketers to first explore within before knowing the
customer or understanding the enemy. The next section
talks about focusing on the customer, concentrating on
the decisive point of the product/service and finally
converting the customers into evangelists. The focus on
the customer is re-emphasied in his section on building
brand loyalty. Guy advises the reader to use ‘molehills’
well, and leverage them to gain the differentiating
advantage. Packaging deserves a special mention in the
book, replete with examples of companies which have
turned this P into a selling point. He ends on the note
that in order to succeed, one must ignore conventions
and grab opportunities with both hands.
Verdict
3/5. Although it seems like common sense at times, it is
a sheer reading pleasure for a marketing enthusiast.
The theory is replete with numerous interesting
examples and the easy flow of language keeps the
reader tuned in. The methodical approach and clear
guidelines make the book useful for a student as well as
for a marketer looking out for ways to rejuvenate his
product.
Bottom-line
The book is easily available in bookstores or online
stores. Priced at Rs.1100, the book does burn a hole in
the pocket for a student. However, it is definitely worth
the visit to a nearby library.
We hope you readers continue to send in your
suggestions for books you would like to have reviewed,
as well as for any special inputs on how we can
improvethis column. Keep Reading!
30
specials | brand story
Brand Story: TITAN
Sana Akhtar, SAMITA S PATNAIK | IIM S
Titan, in the Indian context has become synonymous
with watches. The brand which started as a joint
venture between the TATA Group and Tamil Nadu
Industrial Development Corporation in July 1984 has
grown to become India’s leading watch brands
capturing over 50% of the market share.
Titan brought about a paradigm shift in the Indian
watch market offering quart technology with
international styling at a time when the only technology
prevalent was that of the bulky and reliable mechanical
spring.
Titan brought in the ritual of gifting watches and it
benefitted hugely from the campaign which included a
series of films depicting strong emotional bonds and
moving personal moments. In a time when watches
were considered no more than a time keeping device,
Titan positioned itself as a fashion accessory and
introduced the concept of “Matching Watches To
Clothes”. It roped in Aamir Khan as its brand
ambassador to match with the brands new persona.
Talking of the communication of Titan requires a
mention of the sonic branding done by the brand-
Mozart’s 25th Symphony which is arguably Indian
Advertising’s most memorable track and has seen a
number of innovations ranging from Indian Classical,
Indian Folk, Operatic to Rock and Funk.
In an attempt to increase its volumes Titan introduced
brand Sonata which was a huge success in itself owing
to its cheap prices but it fell heavily on the mother
brand Titan which was perceived as a premium brand.
Realising this mistake Titan took away its brand name
from Sonata which was then endorsed by Tata.
The World Of Titan, another pioneering effort from
Titan, was born to introduce the concept of retailing in
the watch market. This network of exclusive
showrooms helped the brand establish itself as one of
the most prestigious and visible retail brands in the
country.
markathon | february 2011
Titan’s latest tagline, “Be
More”, encompasses all that the
brand stands for-leadership, innovation and pride in the
consumers’ mind and appeals strongly to every
contemporary Indian. The campaign, conceptualised by
O&M, seeks to nurture and maintain the appeal of the
iconic brand and invite consumers to cherish Titan as a
symbol of their own identities. The Titan Aviator
series, the Titan Octane collection, Titan Raga crystals
for women, and Titan Heritage each represent a
different identity. Titan also targeted children and
youth with its brands Dash and “The Cool Watches”-
Fastrack.
Realising that the only way to sustain the fashion
accessory perception is by continuous innovation, Titan
has come up with several sub-brands to connect with
the various facets of deep-rooted human yearnings for
self-expression. The Raga focussed on different roles
that a woman plays, that of a mother, a wife, a
girlfriend and how from 9 to 5, she becomes a
professional after fulfilling her other roles. The target
was the woman in metros from Sec A homes and
former Miss India Gul Panag was roped in as the brand
ambassador.
Xylys, another offering from Titan, brought about a
redefinition of sorts in the premium watch segment. It
was targeted at new generation achievers who go
beyond the obvious who know who they are and set
their own standards and live by their own values. It is a
style statement for those who stand apart from the
crowd.
The most stellar example of Titan’s innovation is the
Edge, positioned as the slimmest watch in the universe.
This technological marvel received the Best Design
Award in the Lifestyle Product category.
Titan has indeed created a market for itself with careful
strategies and constant innovation. Coupled with
passion and energy, the brand Titan has a very
promising future.
31
 For those who took it Forward…

Kaushik Subramanian Samita Srijaya Patnaik

The guy you go to when Is a vivacious and simple

there is an issue with girl who believes in being
anything about the down to earth. She is
magazine. He is immensely known for being calm and
passionate about composed, and Team
Markathon and holds it Markathon has always
very close to his heart. admired her ideas and her
Always pushing for things thought process. We are
to get done on time and sure Samita’s diligent work
always ready to help the and her ethics will be
juniors. He has given a lot admired wherever she goes.
to this magazine and also Here’s wishing you a
loads of guidance to the wonderful career!
incoming team.
Markathon will miss such
a wonderful editor!
Have an awesome life
ahead!

a.k.a Stud, is a girl who A super talented guy with

never shies away from great skills, Samrat is a
speaking her mind and hard working person. His
standing by her principles. knowledge is phenomenal
Practical, smart and ‘cool’, and he is always ready to
Debu has always put help others. Markathon
Markathon on the top of will surely miss someone
her priority list. Her with such great passion as
knowledge in the world of him.
marketing is a force to Wishing you success in all
reckon with. We are sure your endeavours!
that she will excel in every
endeavour and we wish her
all the best for the future.

Debanjana Sinha Samrat Singh Yadav

32
 For those who took it Forward…

Varshik Nimmagadda Saurabh Kumar Sinha

Perhaps, the most talented

and laziest of the bunch. Saurabh is a dedicated
Varshik is a voracious person, the kind of love and
reader with an appetite for effort he puts into his work
almost any book. He is like his commendable. Highly
a walking, talking talented and a humble
encyclopaedia and always personality, he is one guy
comes up with great responsible for many of the
examples to explain things. awesome Vartalaap
His contribution to interviews published in
Markathon has been Markathon.
immense and he has given May success always be
us some wonderful write- with you!
ups in the column Radical
Thoughts.
Wishing you a wonderful
career ahead!

Is a designer par excellence

The creative head of
and a voracious reader.
Markathon, is a critic by You can easily find 4 books
nature and a designer by on marketing at any point
choice. Sharp and ready of time on her table. No
wit, insane amounts of surprises then that she has
knowledge and a die-hard contributed to the
enthusiasm for marketing ‘Bookmark’ section of
Markathon, with critical
make Keshav Sahani. An
appraisals of various books
avid blogger, Keshav has she read. A social media
an awesome sense of freak, she is always found
humour and his jokes have on Facebook and Twitter
brightened many posting and commenting
Markathon meetings. We on contemporary issues.
We are sure that she will
will miss you Keshav!
go a long way in life.
Here’s wishing you all the
best!

Keshav Sahani Priyanka Pandit

33
Please send in your comments/feedback to:
markathon.iims@gmail.com
Visit: www.iims-markathon.in

© Team Markathon, IIM Shillong