Monday, June 30, 2008

"BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM"


When IIPM comes to education, never compromise

It’s being touted as the most lucrative sporting events of all times. If the favourite teams reach the finals, then the final match alone would attract as many as 300 million viewers!

That’s THE UNOFFICIAL

If you can’t use it officially, then use it “unofficially”, for no one can afford to stay away from this event. The world’s most creative advertising agencies are at their seductive best to grab the attention of the viewers. Everyone knows the reach of this event is tremendous. If you want to target young men this year, this is the event for you.

So if Pepsi, Nike and Carlsberg could not make it to the “official sponsors” list, they have a plan up their sleeves to help themselves win the hearts of this huge TV audience. Nike has used the innocent childhood images of Brazilian star, Ronaldino, to waltz straight into your hearts. Carlsberg on the other hand, decided to use the old heroes of the 1996 World Cup, who it showed enjoying a well-earned pint of Carlsberg after winning a game of football.

Once bitten by Pepsi’s “Nothing Official About It” campaign of 1996, Coca-Cola is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that its arch rival stays out of the stadium, the TV and even the minds of the fanatic fans. It has bought the in-stadia rights for the cup. It has tied up with Adidas to distribute soccer memorabilia. Thus, ensuring that Pepsi does not get a chance to pop-out from anywhere. To top it all, Coca-Cola India is an associate sponsor of ESPN-Star. So viewers in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka would only get to see Coca-Cola ads on the TV screens during the matches. Pepsi, the virtual owners of cricketing events in India, are not disappointed. They are glad to stick to cricket, which is “the” sport of India. However, considering 75 million Indians watched the soccer World Cup four years ago, one wonders if Pepsi’s optimism is a wee-bit fake. It sure seems to have lost to Coke this time.

While Addidas paid millions, it’s Nike, the “unofficial sponsor”, which is once again hogging all the limelight. Just the way it did in 2002. Adidas, a German company, is going all out to block Nike ads. It would be too embarrassing for it to lose the advertising battle on its home turf. Not to be deterred, Nike has gone ahead and teamed up with Google to create the first social network for the fanatic football fans called “Joga.com” (joga bonito in Brazil means “play beautifully”), where it expects millions of people to register. Today “online” is the “lifeline” of young people, and thus, they believe, would be more effective than the traditional way of advertising. So while Nike is trying to even out with Adidas, Google is trying to settle scores with Yahoo – one of the official sponsors of the World Cup.

Back in 2002, Elvis, once again gave a hit, all thanks to Nike who used a remix version of his very popular song “A Little Less Conversation” for their ads, where they created a “secret tournament”. The ads were so popular that the Elvis song topped the charts and became the number one hit that year. Nike ads were more popular than Adidas. To top it, that year Brazil (Nike sponsored team) beat Germany (Adidas’ home team). This year, Adidas is taking no chances. It’s spent $200 million on its “+10” campaign, which shows how anyone, plus ten players, makes a football team. Its kid, Ronaldinho (Nike ad), vs. kids, who make their football team (Adidas ad). Let’s see who wins.


Lufthansa has dressed up 40 of its aircrafts by putting football decalls on their nose cones. So, even though Emirates has paid the millions to FIFA, it’s Lufthansa with its football nose that seems to have stolen the spotlight!

Afterall, it pays to be associated with the World Cup. So the Swiss Tourists Board has started luring visitors with an ad, which goes like this “Dear girls, why not escape this summer’s World Cup to a country where men spend less time on football and more time on you?” Well, worth a thought ladies, when you have brawny lumberjacks, and Mr. Switzerland 2005, extending the invitation.

THE OFFICIAL

Old, hackneyed phrases and mundane themes will not work this time. You’ve got to be different to be noticed. It’s estimated that about €2.5 billion would be spent in Germany on advertising. One can just imagine the onslaught of ads, the viewer would be subjected to. According to One Publicis, the media-buying unit of Zenith Optimedia, global ad spending would increase by 6% this year, to $429 billion due to the World Cup. With such an amount of advertising frenzy, it’s obvious, only the good will survive.

So Master Card spent 32 days to shoot its ad, which ends with “football fever. Priceless” 100-odd fans were shown cheering from 30 different countries.

Gillette has a spot, which shows fans wearing the colours of their team and carrying the national flag. Depending on where the ads will be aired, the company plans to digitally alter the colours to match with those of the country where they are being shown. Budweiser has decided to play it safe. It’s an American brand, and Americans have a reputation of having no football knowledge. So very intelligently it’s come out with the slogan “You do the football, we’ll do the beer”. At this point, no one wants to mess with others’ sentiments.

FIFA has signed agreements worth more than $888 million with its various partners and sponsors. For a whole month it would command the viewership in 189 countries, thus making it a very powerful body. It’s laying the rules and everyone is following them. So from June 9 to July 9, the AOL Arena would change its name to FIFA World Cup stadium, Hamburg. It would cost the German authorities half-a-million euros as settlement charges to the stadium sponsor AOL. Twelve German stadiums would lose their official names for the next one month, since they are not the official sponsors and FIFA does not want them anywhere near its game to give them even an iota of publicity. Otherwise, no one would shed those millions to become their official sponsors. Hence, within a kilometer of the 12 stadiums, FIFA forbids the appearance of any logos & advertising of non-sponsors. To complicate matters further, FIFA has demanded that no public events be held on match days


THE UGLY

FIFA needs to take care of its sponsors, for them to take care of it. The 2010 world cup would have only six worldwide partners, unlike 15 this year. One would need $125 million to belong to this elite group. The kind of mega exposure, this event guarantees, it’s not surprising to find sponsors already fighting for that coveted title of “partner 2010”. Not just the 2010, but companies like Budweiser have booked themselves as the official sponsors of the 2014 FIFA world cup, too.

With the rising popularity of sports, it’s the corporate sponsors who have become more powerful than the federations which govern them. These are the companies whose annual revenue is several times the GDP of smaller countries. They are the ones who put millions at stake and want every penny’s worth of return. Sometimes, things take an ugly turn too. Nike sponsors the Brazilian soccer team only because of Ronaldo. It could not afford to allow him to rest, even though he suffered from convulsions the night before the 1998 world cup final. He had to fight it out in the field with Adidas sponsored Zinedine Zidane, else Nike would lose its millions. In order to ensure that the match between Nike and Adidas, oops sorry, between Brazil and France goes as planned, they didn’t hesitate to pump Ronaldo with pain killers and force him to play.

THE MONEY

“Sports” is no more just sports, it’s a merchandise, and the players are peddlers of the goods of their sponsors. When Ronaldo plays, some 2000 jerseys with the number used by him during the game, are sold everyday.

Beckham is a brand to reckon with. Today his hairstyle gives him more media coverage than the number of goals he scores. He has sold sunglasses for Police, clothes for Marks & Spencer, cola for Pepsi, mobiles for Vodafone and now, for $9 million, he would be the face of Gillette for three years. Analysts estimate, he is a brand worth $375 million.

Sports celebrities are demigods today. On the Indian turf, you have sponsors dancing to the tunes of tennis-sensation, Sania Mirza. When she encountered Maria Sharapova, the advertisement rates of that match shot up by 15% in India. She was specially assigned one of the three show courts so that the game could be telecast directly to India, where many were staying up late to catch her on TV.


Cricket is the second religion in India and cricketers are worshipped, by both the fans and the corporates. Sehwag endorsed Dabur tooth powder and stopped the drop in its sales. In fact, the ad recall of the brand increased by 40%.

Sports stars guarantee television exposure of corporate logos when they play their game. That’s what all sponsors are looking for. The rules are straight, if you play well you earn not just fan adulation, but sponsors too, who will ensure that you and your fans wear their brand! The sporting-goods industry is estimated to be over $ 600 billion, which is more than the GDP of many countries. If we do a little more number crunching then consider this, in 1993, $9 billion worth of goods were related to sports, and the top three television networks generated $2.2 billion worth of sports related advertising while the cable networks generated $800 millions.

Every successful star, every and successful sporting event generates millions for the sponsors. When Japanese football games were aired on TV, Fuji Bank got one million new depositors that year! Business houses don’t hesitate to own or purchase sports teams, be it soccer or baseball or basketball. As long as they can be marketed, it’s okay. As long as people remain passionate about the sport, corporates will rake in the moolah. As the D-day nears, you will get to witness some adrenaline pumping action both on-screen and off-screen. Watch out for the sponsors, and see how they bend it better than Beckham!

Copyright © : Rajita Chaudhuri and Planman Media.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!


Honey! I shrunk the consumers


IIPM, GURGAON

“Our families rejoice – a new life’s begun. Our circle is richer with the birth of this one!” A happy couple sent out this card when their precious bundle of joy arrived in this world. Little did they realize that along with them, LG, McDonald’s, Whirlpool, Surf Excel rejoiced too. A consumer was born!

Yes its true; today, the age of the target segment seems to be shrinking. Advertisers are realizing the urgency of targeting children while they are still in their diapers; lest some competitor should snatch them away. Advertisers are making their pitches to younger & younger audiences. Today, the age of the target audience has dropped down to two years. No wonder, recent studies have shown that children as young as 36 months can recognize an average of 100 brand logos. According to the Center for a New American Dream, babies as young as six months of age can form mental images of corporate logos and mascots. So, by the time they are 2 years old, they could very well become your loyal consumers. They are, after all, your future breadwinners, and hence worth investing on today. Going by numbers: from $100 million in 1990, today the spending on advertising to children has increased to more than $2 billion. An early bird catches the worm – and marketers are starting as early as possible.

“No means no...” But actually not for long; and every child knows that. They have to just keep on asking till parents give in and buy them what they so desperately want. This “keep asking strategy” is reaping rich dividends not just for children, but for marketers too. They have, in fact, quantified it too. On an average, kids have to ask nine times till their parents give in. That’s for the ones who are 12-17 year old. The younger ones are even more persistent. They don’t hesitate to ask for the same thing more than fifty times. It takes enormous will power to refuse fifty times... and parents do give in. Marketers apparently had never underestimated the ‘power’ of a whining child; and those who have used this ‘power’ have raked in the moolah too. So all you do is keep the ads coming, and wait for the child to change the “No” to “Yes”.

just for kids

“I love you Rasna,” cooed a cute moppet, and soon every child wanted to drink Rasna. But that was a long time ago when things were simpler and little kids played with little cute toys. Today, it’s the era of ‘Beyblades’. Anyone with a child in the age group of 4 to 14 years knows what I am talking about. Rasna has done it again. It has once again managed to hook its target audience. It has started India’s first Beyblade Championship. As the little ones imitate their favourite Beyblade characters (“Tyson” and “Ray”) and many more, the company is all set to count the money. As the Beyblades start spinning, so do fortunes, and Rasna and the kids shout in unison, “Three, two, one, ho ja shuru!!!” Even ICICI is not far behind Rasna. It started the “Young Stars” account. No marks for guessing their brand ambassadors – Tom & Jerry. They captured the hearts of generations of youngsters & today are capturing their wallets!

The charm of a child is irresistible and no one knows it better than a mother and a marketer... and of course, McDonald’s! From the ambience of their outlet, to their concept of “Happy Meals,” this intelligent firm has made sure that kids drag their parents to McDonald’s outlets every time they want to eat out. The 2 billion dollars that McDonald’s shells out every year sure seems to be effective. So the Indian version of McDonald’s – Nirula’s – is trying to catch up by offering free ice-creams to students who have excelled in their examinations. Novartis decided to go a step further with its best seller Calcium Sandoz. It went directly to schools in Ahmedabad and distributed Calcium Sandoz in doggy packs along with doggie eraser, scale and pencil. After all, it pays to catch them young.

We are the world; We are the children...

The future of mother earth rests on the tiny shoulders of young children. So does the onus of building market shares in today’s business era. Today, competitors are using these tiny people to fight it out with their competitors in the market place. Who would have thought that purchase decisions on products like cars, washing machines and washing powders would be decided by children! But that’s a fact. Today, children decide almost everything, and parents are too stressed and short of time to hold their ground. Today, children are more aware about products and brands available, than even their parents.

Today, those are kids who decide whether they want a stylish car, or a big car, or a fuel efficient one. So while Maruti Suzuki shows an irate father shouting, “Oye Chhote bas kar yaar,” to stop his child from driving his toy car all over the place, the smart Chhote chirps back, “Papa ki karan, petrol khatam hi nahin honda!” The father slaps his forehead in awe and appreciates the lad and calls him a champion. Hyundai Santro knows that the little girl who gives away all her piggy bank saving for a “maroon car” will have her way. So, while the whole house wishes for the black, it’s got to be the maroon which the loving “Chachu” Shah Rukh gets for his loving niece. “Hoga Har Sapna Sakaar” promises a Santro to all the little decision makers.

If that were not enough, it’s not just the colours, but the size of the car which is decided by these lilliputs. So, when the school girl says that Maruti Esteem is a big car, her father feels he’s done well in life and smiles. Not to be outsmarted,

Indica advocates, “If you can’t have it, snatch it.” So the little sweetheart runs away with the bigger car of another boy. After all, it’s only human to want more, and Indica gives more. Be it mileage or comfort or color or style, kids know it all. Marketers are waking up to this fact. So, Surf Excel did not hesitate to give up the hard working, thrifty Lalitaji in favour of the charming brother who fights with the puddle that made his sister cry. Sachin and Shah Rukh were unable to pull it off alone, and Britannia and Sunfeast have to use the charms of two little naughty boys to convince the kids to buy their biscuits. If you have to win a trophy, eat a Sunfeast biscuit. If you want to be naughty, you need the energy of Britannia Tiger. And if you have to outsmart the adults, have a Parle-G. It’s no more just star power, but kid power, which makes ads work today.

While for all these years Horlicks used to talk to mothers about nutritious value of their products, now its “Aipong, Opang, Jhapang” for the smart child who needs no one to convince him what’s good for him. The mother just stands and appreciates the choice her child makes. All these years Colgate had been the market leader with its famous “Ring of Confidence,” which kept the family and the company’s market share safe. When competitor Pepsodent came in, it talked directly to the child and promised him that his mother would allow him all the things which were not good for his teeth, because Pepsodent would fight away all the germs. It was not just the germs, but also now “Dhishum-Dhishum” for Colgate’s market share and it learnt its lesson well. It tried hurriedly to scramble back with the help of a tiny kid’s voice that said “Mera Colgate. Meri big Suraksha.” Kids are a force to reckon with – you can’t ignore them. It’s a fact that kids influence 43% of the brand purchase decisions. Advertisers are pulling out all steps to keep kids surrounded by advertisements. India’s top advertising spenders are those whose products are consumed predominantly by children. Nestle tops the charts, followed by Britannia and Cadbury.

The The New Movie-Goers

Back in 1977, little boys carried “Howdy Doody” lunch boxes to school, after watching “Star Wars.” No one could imagine back then the amount this industry would grow. We all know that the five “Star Wars” films grossed nearly $5.7 billion in box office sales worldwide. However, what skipped the attention of many was another stunning number. Toys and merchandise sales of the movie were a staggering 9 billion dollars. Add to this another $4.3 billion towards video games and DVD sales. Every hit movie spawns a whole new set of toys for children. Toy Story almost spawned a mini industry in Buzz Lightyear merchandise. Months before a Harry Potter film hits the theatres, the sale of its merchandise goes to dizzying heights. Harry Potter is so much of a craze that Bajaj Discover has used a look-alike to promote the sale of its bikes in India.

On the Indian turf too, “Koi Mil Gaya” captured the imagination of thousands of young children as they flocked to the movie hall with their parents and later bought “Jadoo” merchandise. Kids are so important today that movie makers are writing scripts and action directors are directing action scenes so that they can be converted into video games for children. It said that action sequences of Star Wars were tailor-made for video games. Be it Charlie Chaplin, Mickey Mouse, or Laurel & Hardy, all the movies which entertain kids were always very popular. However, George Lucas with his Star Wars showed the world how to build a fortune too! No wonder, instead of a pay rise, he was happy when 20th Century Fox gave him the merchandising and sequel rights of all the Star Wars films!


Hi-tech Boom

No time for parents to buy you a pet? Don’t worry children, all you need to do is log on to neopets.com, and own a virtual pet, all yours to love and to take care of in just a few seconds. This website is loaded with games full of opportunities for brands to tout their logos & ads. Today, this site has around 11 million users. Children prefer it to watching TV. The Neopia food shops sell Nestle sweets, Oreo Cookies et al to name a few. The Disney Theater link on this site shows cereal ads of General Mills. So, as children take care of their pets, they get familiar with various brands without even realizing it.

Postopia.com is another of those gaming sites where brands have linked their names to games so that children don’t forget them. We don’t need no education

Kids are glued to their TV sets. Most have one in their bedrooms. An average child sees 20,000 commercials every year. They are exposed to so much, so soon, that by 3 years, many are demanding products with specific brand names. It’s no surprise that children know more about Ronald McDonald than about their local heroes. Just when you thought you could turn off the TV and switch away your problems, you have Channel One. It offers a 12-minute news broadcast daily to more than seven million teens across American schools. Advertisers are ready to give their right arm to be a part of the commercial break that comes with this 12 minute news broadcast! Channel One does not hesitate to charge $195,000 for a 30 second ad. Where else would you get such a large captive audience!

Marketers are running helter-skelter to find ways to tap this burgeoning market. Kids surely are the new consumers. According to an estimate, 24% of the US population are kids, and the figure is estimated to remain stable till 2020. Clearly, marketers are finding newer ways to reach out to this huge market and communicate to them. So put on your Harry Potter glasses and start thinking-small, for honey, we just shrunk the consumers!

Copyright © : Rajita Chaudhuri and Planman Media.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!



Larger than Life


IIPM - Admission Procedure

Can’t shut ‘em off with a TV remote, can’t flip ‘em away like a mag, can’t change their channel like in a radio...Billboards are the most radical medium for advertisements today

While Madonna cooed, “Don’t cry for me Argentina,” as she played the role of Evita Peron, many on the Indian roads banged their cars into each other as they gazed wide-eyed at the hoardings of Evita soap and gasped, “Who’s that girl?”

So while Madonna’s song notched up to number 2 on the Billboards, a different success story was up on the billboards in India. As Lisa Ray looked down at passers-by from the huge billboards advertising Godrej’s Evita soap, commuters couldn’t take their eyes off her and soon, everyone wanted to know all about her and the soap, making both of them popular overnight.

Clearly, billboards can create a lot of impact if handled properly. They have proved their effectiveness time and again. Be it in UK, where The Economist has been using them for over 14 years, or be it India where Amul has been using them for decades to promote their products.

BILLBOARDS ARE BACK

If the movie “Cars” has once again got the cash registers rolling for Disney-Pixar animation studios, then those are cars that have once again sparked off a huge interest in billboards and the outdoors as a medium of advertising. Billboards are fast becoming a medium irresistible to advertisers and media planners. Definitely, those are the super highways and high speed cars that are responsible for the comeback of good old fashioned outdoor advertising. More and more people are on the roads, making the ‘viewership’ of this medium larger and larger day by day. All this while, billboards and hoardings had been playing second fiddle to the king of media – Television. Now all of a sudden, there is a twist in the tale and outdoors has become a powerful tool to reach out to customers.

“Speak up: It’s in your DNA!”

Hoardings in Mumbai urged people to speak their mind up and also made them curious. People wondered and waited, “What was it all about?” It was the run-up to the launch of the Zee-Bhaskar newspaper named DNA (Daily News and Analysis), which used outdoor advertising almost exclusively for spreading its launch message across Mumbai. People started talking about it. So much so that the Times Group was tempted to copy the ad-campaign to promote their newspaper Maharashtra Times. While the original DNA hoardings showed faces of people with their mouths pasted over by grey tape and below that ran the tagline: “Speak up: It’s in your DNA,” the Maharashtra Times, in its newspaper pages, showed people peeling grey tapes off their mouth, and the tagline went like this: “Speak up, its in your DNA – Maharashtra Times.” Of course, the ads proved a little expensive for Times, as Zee immediately slapped a Rs.100 crore lawsuit. However, our point is proved – billboards work. Billboards are an excellent way to reach a large audience. No wonder Reliance Infocomm, Hutch, Tata Indicom are all fighting it out in the “open,” using outdoors to attract consumers.

When the New Zealand Listener Magazine wanted to attract young readers, it designed an innovative billboard campaign. Using the website www.i-think.co.nz, young readers were encouraged to sort out, arrange and place various news, events and issues under four heads, that is, topical, interesting, tedious or dated. Every week, the magazine showcased the results on billboards. The magazine realised how billboards were a vital medium to make this strategy work. Without doubt, innovation is the key to success, when it comes to outdoor advertising; and Unilever has done it again – this time out in the open – on the streets of New York City! It has made a “Dirty Clothes Bus” that has caught the attention of all. What’s this bus for? It’s an advertisement for a detergent. The caption on the bus reads, “How much can one small bottle clean?” and the bus itself is covered with dirty clothes. For the first time, someone got the desired stares with clothes on, than off!

London has a favorite jumping point for would-be suicide planners. Just opposite this point, a wise guy put up a hording which read, “Before you jump, give us a call.” It was actually an advertisement for a job site! Simply too good, or should I say simple and good? Yes, outdoors is a medium where you have to KISS your way into the hearts of consumers. Keep it short and simple, and it will rock! The outdoors is where all the action lies today. According to a survey done in US, 78% of advertisers thought that today, traditional television commercials had become less effective. In summary, everyone prefers taking their goods outdoors.

An artist, frustrated by the current American President’s administration, made a small painting, which apparently looked like George Bush’s face. But on close inspection, it was actually made of monkey heads in marshes. When the art gallery refused to display it, some anonymous donors picked it up and projected it on a giant billboard in Manhattan. They knew 400,000 car owners daily would see the painting projection and form their opinions about the futile war Bush is fighting in Iraq. The billboard was such a hit that bidding for the painting by the little known artist has already touched $4,000!

Billboards offer endless creative possibilities. No wonder, Coca-Cola is taking on Pepsi full throttle in the outdoors. It’s going all out to promote its new beverage Coca-Cola BlaK with its new slogan – “The Coke side of life”; and hoardings will be its primary medium. Not long before, Pepsi too went outdoors to woo people with a kick and a kiss. While Priyanka Chopra offered the kick of coffee, Kareena Kapoor promised the kiss of cola, as Pepsi launched its Pepsi Cafe Chino flavour. Buses were painted and dressed up and had these two beautiful girls promising a kick and a kiss to youngsters. They did arouse a lot of interest; however, it was more kick than kiss for Pepsi as the product’s taste did not go down well with consumers!

Even the traditional London cab has today turned into a very popular vehicle for outdoor promotion. It has become a medium for reaching mass audiences. New product launches, brand building exercises et al are all being done through taxis! Be it Coca-Cola, or Gillette, or Haagen Dazs, all have used taxis to “drive home” the message to customers.

BILLBOARDS ARE FUN

Technology has been largely responsible for the rebirth of this medium. Billboards are no more those wooden boards that took so long to paint and were so quick to fade. Today, you can download music, play games, watch videos, design your own sneakers, and even purchase them – all directly from the billboard.

In New York City’s Times Square, Walt Disney World has a billboard advertising its theme park. You can send a text message to the number displayed, and within seconds, you receive an SMS supporting your query, and even asking whether you would want to receive further promotional messages. In fact, one of the longest billboards in the world – 100 feet wide – belongs to Coca Cola. It’s placed in London’s Piccadilly Circus. Being amongst the largest is not its only claim to fame. The billboard astoundingly changes with the weather too. So if it’s rainy, the billboard displays rain drops; if it’s windy, it displays ripples; but more than this, if you wave at the billboard, most astoundingly, it waves back! Another product, Absolut Vodka, has rock star Lenny Kravitz on its Manhattan billboard, inviting passers by to turn on the Bluetooth connectivity on their mobiles to download a free four minute MP3 track, while they wait for the street light to turn green!

BILLBOARDS BUILD BRANDS

Supporting the shift, big advertisers and popular brand names are today putting their faith and money on billboards. The Independent used only posters for promoting its newspaper, and sales increased dramatically by 9%. British fashion label FCUK (French Connection United Kingdom) built its brand only with the help of billboards. When Smirnoff wanted to improve its sales in New Zealand, it used the word “OFF” in different innovative ways and plastered it on hoardings all over New Zealand. It used simple one-liners like, ‘Pressure OFF’, ‘Dance your ass OFF’, ‘The half day OFF’. The term “OFF” was from the Smirn”off” bottle, placed in such a way that only the “off” part was visible. So for any kind of an ‘off’, it had to be Smirnoff. Dramatically, the sales of the vodka increased by 35%.

When India wanted to attract tourists, it took its hoardings of “Incredible India” straight into Times Square, New York. They wanted to showcase India as the ideal destination for Yoga, Ayurveda etc., but wanted those tourists who were willing to pay. For this, they had to make India look irresistible. The most effective and fastest way was through billboards.

BILLBOARDS ARE SPECIAL

The rules of the game have changed. It’s a whole new world out there, full of innovations and limitless possibilities. Billboards are far from boring. They can be so much fun today and so creative. The medium itself is so unique. Unlike television ads, one cannot zap billboards into oblivion with one’s remote; unlike in a magazine, one cannot turn pages and miss the ad; unlike radio, one cannot turn a billboard off! If you are on the road, you are bound to notice it. Whether it creates an impact or not depends on its creativity. The billboard is a huge canvass, which gives the company a chance to make a brand look larger than life. The billboard gives that power in your hands. The best part is, all this comes at a fraction of cost. Billboards cost three times less than newspapers, half as much as radio, and seven times less than television. Outdoors, without doubt, is one of the most powerful marketing tools.

BILLBOARDS GO TO FIFA

While you are busy rooting for your favourite team during the FIFA World Cup, don’t forget the billboards lined up alongside the stadium. They are a great way to promote brands and products. After all, all of them did shell out $45 million to $50 million to be present inside the football grounds. Interestingly, the city of Frankfurt is turning itself into a huge billboard for FIFA. The road from the Munich airport to the World Cup stadium has a huge cut-out of the German national football team goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. The city is using billboards to project itself as a hospitable, sport-loving, cosmopolitan city. Be it Leipzig or Munich or Hamburg, all of them together are posting their passions on billboards, welcoming the players, the tourists and the game. Those are the billboards that have turned Germany into a large playground and taken the football fever to dizzying heights. Billboards have been building up the tempo much before the advent of the Cup. Nike was seen rooting for the underdog USA with the help of a giant billboard on 7th Avenue in New York City. First, a hoarding went up which read, “The World No Longer Wants To Play Us.” Then the 70 foot billboard was changed to “BEWARE,” showing the American footballers ready to take on the match. The message was designed to give soccer fans a rallying cry. Even Coca-Cola had dedicated two of its billboards inside the stadium to its fans. Fans of the teams playing a particular match were allowed to create art works – on the billboards – that would convey a sense of national pride and enthusiasm. What was earlier reserved for the sponsor’s name and logo, had now been changed into a work of art by Coca-Cola for the 2006 World Cup. The dazzling billboards, the vibrant colors, the numerous messages emblazoned on numerous billboards – these posters changed the whole environment of the country.

Indisputably, and undeniably, when you want to make it large, you’ve got to take your message to the big stage – the outdoors. If you want to create an impact, beat competitors, you’ve got to make it larger than life!

Copyright © : Rajita Chaudhuri and Planman Media.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!



Saturday, June 28, 2008

To change or not to change


When IIPM comes to education, never compromise

Change is good. It symbolises evolution. Yet a lot of corporations are faced with a dilemma of whether they should change or not. When Asian Paints wanted to get a corporate makeover, they decided it was time to bid goodbye to their mascot of many years-Gattu-the cute little mischievous boy. Little did the company realize that his absence would be surely felt.

HMV instantly brings to mind the image of a dog listening faithfully to his master’s voice coming out from the gramophone. After the company saw its profit dip by 20%, it felt the time had come for a change. So it’s replaced the old dog Nipper with a new one (from the Wallace & Gromit Series) called Gromit. People love the old logo and the company is not taking chances. It says the new logo is only for a few months–its focus being on selling children’s DVDs.

NBC after all burnt its fingers when it changed its logo to a capital ‘N’, way back in the mid 70’s. ‘N’ lacked the charm of the peacock and did not go down well with the public. It was changed back to the peacock, a few years later.

Just changing is not the solution. You need to do so with caution as sometimes sudden changes upset people. Quaker Oats modified the Quaker Man on its package over a 10 year period to avoid undermining customer confidence.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An
IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!



Investors have low cost options available in form of ETFs & index funds


IIPM, ADMISSIONS FOR NEW DELHI & GURGAON BRANCHES

Whatever be the case, the decision is definitely not in favor of the distributors’ fraternity. It may also slowdown the penetration of the fund industry as a whole as distributors/ brokers contribute to a majority of inflows in mutual funds. Without proper incentive to spread their business, the distribution channels may become lax, thereby slackening growth of the sector.

Needless to say, the move will benefit a small population of savvy investors, who have the awareness and wherewithal to invest directly online. But the average investor always goes to a good financial advisor for investment related advice. Agrees Katoch, “Investor’s needs are individualistic as every investor has a different risk-return profile. A distributor’s function is to provide solutions regarding the right asset-mix and product-mix for each investor. As far as a distributor is doing a good job, investor will tend to come to them.” In effect, while this move may be investor friendly, it’s impact may not be as far reaching as desired by SEBI, mainly because in a country where the vast majority are still unaware about the nitty gritties of the financial market and investment options, eliminating the intermediary will certainly be a tough nut to crack

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An
IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM, GURGAON
ARINDAM CHAUDHURI’S 4 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE IIPM...
IIPM Economy Review



Friday, June 27, 2008

Technical acumen

There are drawbacks, I agree, when it comes to harbouring that essential measure of emotional intelligence apart from technical acumen, an enhanced appreciation of employee welfare or the very need for such perseverance as manifested to sustain one’s own in the midst of a hundred formalities required for conducting business in a nation fast cutting inroads into global superpower dom. The number of acquisitions effected by Indian organisations in the last year alone is evidence enough of a trend the international community has not just taken cognisance of, but is increasingly becoming wary of. Yet, both the corporate fraternity & the government need to tighten their acts to further the development of the labour class and the poor through fair and equitable distribution of incomes across the lower socioeconomic strata if India is to be viewed as an economic behemoth in the right perspective. Be that as it may, what’s just as incontrovertible is that we’re well on our way to becoming masters of the game, and as this Independence Day augurs the dawn on a nation emerging as the world’s largest truly democratic superpower blazing its glorious trail on the economic highway, Chak de India Inc!!!

For Complete
IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Relentless pursuit of novel concepts

A relentless pursuit of novel concepts, techniques to better manage information, the latest technology and brainstorming to constantly improvise and masterfully deliver customized offerings to a discerning consumer base is another trait that outlines the majority of India’s head honchos, when placed against the greater priority to intangibles like corporate image and goodwill accorded in America and Europe. Much in distinction to their global contemporaries (and contrary to what television soaps would like us to believe!), the man at the helm in corporate India possesses scant regard for bickering while work, preferring to limit both the rumour mill and conversations pertaining to a personal nature. Finally, and most significantly, is the willingness and propensity of the Indian business leader to not just adapt, but thrive in a regulatory ambience austere and laborious enough (and that’s stating it mildly!) to daunt even the best!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

CEOs functioning in the Indian market

We’re only too familiar with the attributes in general that constitute the fabric of a great leader. On this occasion, however, let’s dwell on the mettle that relegates CEOs functioning in the Indian market space to a formidable league, one that well… you’ll discover in the course of this discussion, is quite their own. So what makes the Indian CEO so special? Foremost, I believe is a characteristic that has proved itself near-inherent to successful corporate leaders in India – ‘innovation’; an ability to consciously encourage creative visualization & deployment of skills to engender products & services equally unique in their value proposition. Far more than ever, today’s fiercely competitive & globalised marketplace milieu compels the existence of innovation not as a mere frill, but as an inescapable necessity! Be it the iconic Narayana Murthy who ensures innovation stays vibrant from the top in Infosys’ bloodstream, the bold Sunil Mittal with his revolutionary operating philosophy that outsources everything except marketing & customer management at Bharti Tele-ventures Ltd., or the perennially-on-the-move Dr. Vijay Mallya who quite aptly brought the ‘good times’ to Indian air travellers, this focus towards innovation as a tool for competitive advantage is truly providing India Inc. an edge over the international pack.


For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Possible outcome

Finally, ‘Grow’ implies ensuring the best possible outcome. We further asked company officials about the strategy adopted by RPG to hire and retain the best of talent from the market and they revealed that the management invested time and efforts to customize each job in accordance with the candidate recruited. Even when RPG entered any B-school campus for recruitments, the scouts do not have a fixed structure in mind when it came to either compensation or portfolio. Hence, the focus clearly was to provide ample opportunity for every candidate to explore the limits, thus making it interesting for the company to have the new recruit on board. Concerning the same, Agarwal elaborates, “The group ethos is to provide exposure across business and functions. To enable it, we encourage people to move and provide them with the necessary opportunities...” Conclusively, the emphasis was on ensuring that everyone got a chance to perform a variety of roles, which was enumerated through numerous examples of people who had moved across its various business or/and functional areas. In short, you could say – maximizing opportunities arising from job rotation! Then again there is the strategy of making each employee an integral part of the RPG family (which as discussed earlier is termed as ‘Perform’).


For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Human resource strategies

Elaborating on RPG’s human resource strategies, Arvind Agarwal, Group President, RPG Enterprise, revealed to 4Ps B&M that, “The first challenge in the whole human capital building process is to get the right kind of people as people play a crucial role when a company is growing as fast as we are.” Agarwal further confessed how bringing talent on board has become all the more difficult by the day as talent market in itself has become so competitive. RPG locks it horns against the best of employers in the industry and is currently earned some repute for hiring maximum count of interns and full time employees in the industry. Talking to company officials, we further understood that the underlying mantra for all the HR activities at RPG revolves around the literal full-form for RPG: ‘R’espond, ‘P’erform & ‘G’row. ‘Respond’ stands for reacting to the opportunities that the business provides. ‘Perform’ on the other hand, is to make use of these opportunities and the challenges by coming together as one team.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Redefining Pure Growth... RPG!

The journey to unveil HR best practices at this titanic entity began decades back... Long since it started, but it has come far!

Some names simply stick to your mind as synonyms for ‘business families’. Think about it – the Tatas, the Birlas, the Ambanis, the Modis, the Thapars, the Dalmias... and of course, you couldn’t miss the Goenkas! Yes, the Goenkas who have now been into business for five long generations have built a strong name for themselves in the Indian Inc.. With a history that can be traced back to the 19th century, RPG Enterprise today has become a global name, recognised as one of India’s largest business conglomerates. Having clocked a turnover of $1.65 billion during FY 2006-07, this conglomerate has diversified over the years and today has a presence in seven sectors (with more than 20 companies). What further makes RPG a more interesting entity is the blend of both mature & emerging businesses in its portfolio. Yes, while you could spot a major presence of power, transmission and tyres in the overall business, it also has retail, IT & communications, entertainment and life sciences to attend to, as its upcoming arms! Despite the long journey through time – a period of constant innovation and change at RPG – it still remains an organisation which breeds rich values and considers human capital sacred. In other words, core values drive RPG.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

BRAND : Fair and Lovely - Total Fairness


When IIPM comes to education, never compromise

BRAND : Fair and Lovely
BASELINE : Total Fairness

4Ps TAKE : Yawn! BRAND : Fair and Lovely - Total FairnessWe may be bored of stale ad concepts, but clearly HUL’s Fair & Lovely is not. It is still continuing with its age-old masala mix to promote the brand. Haven’t the makers of the ad heard the saying ‘The only thing constant in life is change?’ The storyboard is repetitive; the only difference is that the basic theme revolves around a dance competition instead of a beauty-pageant. The communication is weak and fails to create any impact among the viewers. The father asks his daughter to study who is instead busy taking care of her complexion for a forthcoming dance competition. Wonder what’s the relation between dancing & fairness? It’s foolhardy to believe that the judgement of the panel is dependent on the dancer’s complexion rather than on her ability to dance. A warning for the makers of the ad: you can’t take consumers for a ride for long. It’s high time HUL gets a ‘fair’ idea about what good concepts are... or maybe being the dominant player in a niche segment does that to you... we mean, makes you complacent.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2008

An
IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!


Too ‘S’e‘X’y ‘4’ a car!

Guess Too ‘S’e‘X’y ‘4’ a car!SX4’s killer looks have not only left the women agog but the creative minds too. One look at the exterior appearance of the car and one can see how the concept took shape. When the Lowe team first saw the sedan, the first thing that struck them was its imposing presence and its tall and muscular sporty and sexy look. Looks aside the car is packed with great performance coupled with the elegance of ride. Kochhar aptly says, “In sum, the perfect manmasculine car, but not overtly macho, powerful yet full of chivalry & an inherent sense of character.”

Overall, the shoot was a pleasant experience for the team as Kochhar informs, “Once, when somebody asked whether ‘Men are back’ was making it too focused on men, a lady from the production team quipped, ‘Who do you think is going to be happiest if men are back?’” The central idea seems to be wellserved, as the tagline ‘The men amongst cars’ produces instant appeal for the car and places it in the mind of every A3 segment buyer. Kochhar agrees, “It effectively & interestingly captures the imposing presence of the car, especially when juxtaposed with other offerings in the A3 segment.”

With Maruti’s small-segment brands like Wagon R, Swift, Zen & Alto already shaking competitors, now its SX4’s turn to skyrocket Maruti’s market share in the A3 segment, after Esteem’s success. Guess Indians are already renovating their garages to park this imposing car!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An
IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
The Sunday Indian - India's Greatest News weekly
IIPM, GURGAON
ARINDAM CHAUDHURI’S 4 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE IIPM...
IIPM Economy Review



Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Viewpoint justifying

But MD Sudip has a different viewpoint justifying the low pricing,“We are committed to provide cost effective, secured and convenient transaction capabilities, to the clients... However, it is critical to charge the customers the right amount for the efforts and not an arbitrary exorbitant amount!” And now comes the electrifying news that having bludgeoned the MF and brokerage industries, Reliance is also preparing its thundering foray into money transfer, changing services and consumer loans! Marketing warfares can be played on either of the two fronts; one, product differentiation, or the other, cost leadership; but rarely both. Reliance has perhaps been the first Indian company to use both differentiation and cost leadership strategies together to show competitors across industries and geographies how the marketing battlefield canbe won over and competitors comprehensively destroyed. Quit akin to a Spanish bull run! Yes, check the top photographs; we chose it!

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Reliance Money

Reliance Money is even offering prepaid cards ranging from Rs. 500 to Rs.2,500. As an example, an investor with a Rs. 500 card can trade up to Rs.1 million for delivery based trades and 9 million for non-delivery based trades. The industry players perceive it as a move that has the power to even distort the dynamics of the markets. “Since the brokerage industry is also consolidating, the move by Reliance Money may force small brokerage house to shut their shops,” admits a head of brokerage house on the condition of anonymity. At present, Indiabulls is the largest retail brokerage in the country controlling 15% of the retail market and 5.5% of the overall market. Would such massive new competition from Reliance Money affect their shares? Gagan Banga, Executive Director, Indiabulls, shared his views with us, “The stock-broking industry has been consolidating and it will further consolidate. The top 5 today control about 30% of the market, I see this crossing 40% by 2009!” Clearly, Reliance has always been known for predatory pricing; the entry of Reliance Communications in the telecom is a testimony to the above mentioned fact.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Reliance initiative focuses

The new Reliance initiative focuses on the franchising model for their rural initiatives, by hiring agencies and professionals that are active in rural areas to rewrite the rules of the game. Reliance plans to scan over 100,000 people in 5,000 towns and identify 10,000 franchisees (for handling their internet based kiosks) over the next one year, to enable its customers to trade in equity, commodity, MFs and IPOs. But if you believe that rural area is the only area and mutual funds and insurance are the only products that Reliance Money is up to, you are perhaps underestimating the might of the company that has always played on price to conquer market shares. Brokerage is one area where Reliance is fighting with established players of the industry like Indiabulls, Share khan, ICICI Direct, Motilal Oswal et al. Reliance Money took the brokerage industry with storm by announcing an innovative pre-paid system for stock market brokerage. While the industry average of brokerage comes to around 15-25 paise for a Rs.100 deal, Reliance Money is ready to offer the same at 7.4 paise, a massively discounted rate from the rates being currently charged by institutional and individual brokerages.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008