SlideShare ist ein Scribd-Unternehmen logo
1 von 33
Downloaden Sie, um offline zu lesen
march 2007




The Marketing Magazine                           Vol. 1 Issue 1




             The man who combined
               two of our passions


  The four P’s and the big B   Marketing guru: Kevin Keller
  The disruptive marketer      Ad Buzz



ADS ON THE MOVE:
BRANDWAGON


BRANDWAGON:                     It gives us immense pleasure to launch the first ever Marketing Magazine ‘Master
                                 P’s’ of IIFT’s Kolkata campus. Our objective is not only to understand the 4Ps but
                                 to go beyond them. Creativity is everywhere from Dabbawallas to Dell, but a plat-
Coordinators:                  form is needed to unleash creativity and encourage innovativeness. That is where
                                ‘Master P’s’ comes into the picture. It is a platform for all the creative minds to ex-
                                                                                                     press their ideas.
Devesh Bijalwan
Gaurav Sharma                                My special thanks to the Gaurav and Devesh, the co-coordinators of
                                       ‘Brandwagon’: The Marketing club at IIFT, for their invaluable contribution
                                throughout the magazine. I would also like to appreciate the creativity of Wencesl
                                        in designing the magazine to give it such a wonderful and attractive form.
masterP’s:

                               Our issue starts with Ashwini Verma’s analysis of celebrity endorsement by taking
Editor:                         Amitabh Bachchan as an example. Abhishek authors our cover story about Kerry
Suresh Kr. Varisetty              Packer who combined cricket with Marketing. Pankaj explains us how creativity
                                   can make a difference in advertisements through Volkswagen’s ad campaigns.
                                 Prabhash joins the group of people who vehemently opposes the SUVs through
                                 his article ‘Disruptive Marketer’. It has always been an argument on exactly how
Design & Layout:                    many P’s are relevant to Marketing. Gaurav Verma adds 2 more P’s to profes-
Wencesl Khyllep                  sional services in his article: ‘Starting a Professional Services Brand’. Rajat Jain
                               starts his series on the worst ever branding mistakes of all times with the example
                               of ‘Ford Edsel’ in this issue. As a part of our commitment to exploring the different
                               kind of Marketing practices we have ‘Herd Instincts’ from Jitin and ‘Drip Marketing’
                                 from Niharika. Ajay chooses Kevin Keller as the featured Marketing guru for this
                                issue. Without advertisements, Marketing will never be complete in itself. Rishi in
                                  his ‘Ad Analysis’ categorizes 3 ads as good, average and poor. Gaurav Pundlik
                                     argues the relevance of German made automobiles. Finally we felt that some
                                 brands become a part and parcel of our lives. Nike is one such brand. Hence we
                                                     incorporated the periodical events of Nike and its logo history.


                                   We would like to thank all the contributors for their untiring efforts in helping us
                                                                                            come out with this issue.


                                The speciality of our Magazine is the ‘Advertisement Challenge’ where the reader
                                 is given a series of pictures and would be required to make sense out them and
                                  create his/her own advertisement. Apart from all things, we lighten our reader’s
                                                                                hearts with our cartoons and trivia.


                                We believe in constant improvement and continuous learning. We will appreciate
                                    your feedback to be sent to masterps.iift@gmail.com for the improvement of
                                                                                                   ‘Master P’s’.

For internal circulation only. Not for commercial purposes
what’s in:


 the 4 P’s and the big B 4
 (ashwini talks about the man’s market-
 ability)


 herd marketing 6


 made in germany??? 8


 the nike story 11
 (they did it……..and how?)


 starting a professional services
                                           guru of the month: Kevin keller
 brand 13
                                           21
 (from 4 P’s to 6 P’s….the more the mer-
 rier)
                                           interesting re(ad)s       23

 mar(cric)keting 16                        drip marketing 25

 ads on the move         18                ad buzz     27
 (an advertising game)                     (a review of 3 of the latest ads by rishi)


 the disruptive marketer        19         off the mark      29
 (love for SUV’s=disdain for mankind??)    (everything wrong about the Ford Edsel)
The 4 P’s & the big B


                                                                                          Ashwini Verma




Hero-worshipping, whether it be cricket or bolly-      Film stars have been the major sufferers. Latest
wood, has been a trend that the current genera-        example could be the replacement of Virender
tion shares with its grandfather’s generation.         Sehwag by Salman Khan for the endorsement
Successful marketers have always tapped the            of Mayur Suitings.
popularity of such ‘stars’. The basic premise in
                                                       Amitabh Bachchan is an exception to this nor-
getting a celebrity to endorse a product is that the
                                                       mal life cycle of a celebrity in terms of endorse-
instant recognition provided by the celebrity cuts
                                                       ments. An immensely successful actor of more
through the clutter. Amidst an overload of adver-
                                                       than three-and-a-half decades in the Hindi film
tising, this feature guarantees an advertisement's
                                                       industry, a failed politician, a stumbling busi-
ability to stand out and generate awareness. If
                                                       nessman and anchor of just one TV programme
there is a fit between the personality of the celeb-
                                                       KBC- his is a unique combination. It is note-
rity and the brand characteristics, top-of-the-
                                                       worthy that during the first two-and-a-half dec-
mind recall is also ensured. If the endorser en-
                                                       ades of his acting career in more than a 100
joys wide popularity among different geographic
                                                       films, he never endorsed any product.
and demographic segments, so much the better.
                                                       What set him apart from others and drew a host
But a possible drawback of using celebrity en-
                                                       of marketers to leverage his personality was his
dorsements is the attachment of the brand with
                                                       popularity across the length and breadth of In-
their career or even personal life. Cricketers and
                                                       dia, cutting across the barriers of age, income,
                                                       region and language.


                                                       One of his strengths was his unblemished per-
                                                       sonality. As an endorser stakes his reputation
                                                       and credibility in endorsing products, the
                                                       cleaner the track record the greater the trustwor-
                                                       thiness. This aspect was exploited by Cadbury's
                                                       well for a come-back for dairy milk. Nerolac
                                                       Paints was another brand that leveraged his
                                                       credibility by having him assure the audience,
                                                       `Hum keh rahe hain' in its commercials.
                                                       When Eveready's storyboard for its torch-
                                                       light ‘Jeevan Sathi’ revolved around the
PAGE 5                                                                                    BRANDWAGON




product as a dowry item, Ami-         The endorsement value gets          marketers is - how to stretch
tabh put his foot down and re-        eroded and the brands end up as     such a widely leveraged person-
fused to endorse it. Respecting       just another product among the      ality? How does one ensure that
his feelings and recognizing          many endorsed and do not stand      the enormous amounts invested
the advertisement's limita-           apart. The question is, how many    in this expensive brand ambassa-
tions, Eveready shelved it. In-       product categories can his per-     dor are well utilized? There's no
stances such as this reinforce        sonality traits traverse? Market-   stopping his endorsements, how-
his credibility and strengthen        ers now face a dilemma in ex-       ever. He is expected to sign
his brand value.                      ploiting Amitabh's persona fur-     deals worth Rs 30 crore to Rs 50
The campaigns for Pulse Polio,        ther. A wide range of emotions      crore over the next couple of
Unicef and People for the Ethi-       such as humor and anger have        years.
cal Treatment of Animals              been exploited from his acting
(PETA) featured him promi-            repertoire. The challenge for
nently to have a big impact on
the audience.
The critical issues: To ‘B’ or            ‘In this land of Vertically-
not to ‘B’                                 challenged, anyone who
His endorsements cost between           stretches past 6 gets a shot to
Rs 5 crore and Rs 12 crore,                      be the king.’
which is very high and questions
are being raised about the returns

on having him as a celebrity. For multinationals
with deep pockets such as Pepsi, having Amitabh
as a brand ambassador and renewing the contract
may be affordable. But for others, the temptation
to use him as a one-off exercise is strong. For ex-
ample, ICICI did not renew its deal with Amitabh
after it expired in 2002.
Overexposure, however, is the major issue, with
Amitabh endorsing too many products. His face
has promoted a slew of products in categories as
diverse as beverages, paints, financial services,
garments, automobiles, stationery, food supple-
ments, personal care, real estate, batteries, televi-
sions, chocolates and jewellery. Moreover, he has
a `guest appearance' in P&G's commercial for its
detergent brand Tide (shot while filming
Baghban).
However, the enigma of his personality faces the
risk of being unraveled. Exclusivity can no longer
be associated with him. The audience gets con-
fused when the same celebrity plugs many brands.
Herd marketing

                                                                                      Jitin Shanker Bhasin




Heard about “HERD” marketing? No it’s not just       media environment: SMS and internet are built on
some esoteric marketing jargon which would           our species inherent desire and need to interact with
dwindle away with time. It in fact has taken the     others. Recognizing the herd instinct has important
world of marketing by a storm and is changing the    consequences for the marketers. For a start, it ex-
way in which marketers can create need.              plains why mass behaviour is so hard to change.
                                                     Marketers should be expert at changing mass-
                                                     behaviour and putting consumer at the heart should
Over the past 10 years or so cluster of cellophane be the raison d’ettre.
wrapped bunches of flowers seem to have
swamped Britain’s roadsides. It is a phenomenon One of the primary assumptions in herd marketing
that satirical magazine Private Eye has dubbed the is to look at marketing function as C2C rather than
“cellotaph” syndrome-the setting up of floral B2C. This means recognizing that the most impor-
shrines to the victims of traffic accidents. But how tant relationship is not between the company or
did these shrines start?                             brand and any given consumer, but between latter
                                                     and other individuals.
                                                         The acceptance of our herd nature is changing the
One line of explanation is that each flower is the
result of an independent decision based on some
cost benefit trade off or is driven by a desire to ex-
press an individual’s grief. This is what we assume
when we conduct marketing research: we ask indi-
vidual consumers what they do now, why, and
what they might do in future. We also work on the
basis that individuals decide what they do inde-
pendently of others and can tell us about it.


Almost everything of worth in our world including
the power we have over future of the planet comes
from this “herd nature” and our ability and passion
for social interaction and collaboration. The same
is true of the technologies that are reshaping the
PAGE 7                                                                                      BRANDWAGON




 way some media players are evaluating media            match, you would also fail to reap benefits of
 channel options. While most of the media world         word-of-mouth (C2C) marketing in the latter
 is getting excited about moving on from count-         case.
 ing audiences and weighting them according to          We as marketers of tomorrow should focus on
 their wallets, to counting them according to how       the most influential customer, “the prized catch”
 ‘engaged’ they are with the medium. Global             who holds greatest sway over the majority of his/
 agencies such as NAKED have proposed that the          her peer group. One should focus on the types
 real currency of the media world should be the         and sources of influence that shape customer be-
 extent to which an audience passes messages on         haviour both positively and negatively and think
 to others: the “propagation value”. At the same        about their opinions and actions and even more
 time we as marketers of the future should also         importantly your reactions to it!!
 heed attention to the fact that different target au-
 diences would serve as “marketers” to different
 sections of the society. Marketer of a lifestyle
 product would be better off to partner with
 NDTV or STAR TV instead of DD to advertise
 the products. Apart from the target-thrust mis-




         SNIPPETS:
         1. Advertorial
         A journalistic term coined by combining the words advertisements and editorial.
         It denotes articles or features which are paid by advertisers. Usually items of this
         category are commercial in nature and have little news value.


         2. The Difference Between Optimism, Pessimism & Marketing
         The Optimist says, "The glass is half full."
         The Pessimist says, "The glass is half empty."
         The Marketing Consultant says,
         "Your glass needs re-sizing."
MANY????
                      MADE IN GER
                                                                                           Gaurav Pundlik




Our whole society is unimaginable without                1996, and the other surprisingly by deciding
automobiles. They have more become a part of             to move into sport-utility vehicles (SUVs)
our mental culture than our physical culture.            segment under the name of Cayenne. Equally
They carry such an emotional appeal that we              radical was Porsche’s choice of locations to
sometimes do not stop from expressing our                build these SUVs.
personalities through a particular liking of a           While rival carmakers such as Ferrari, Aston
brand .It's true for everyone, and especially for        Martin, Alfa Romeo, and Lamborghini have

those who base their                                                                   been happy to
purchase decision and                                                                  locate where la-
aspirations on choice                                                                  bor costs are
than just price. When                               vs                                 cheaper, Porsche
it’s the question of lux-                                                              erected a small
ury foreign brands we                                                                  facility in Leip-
cannot neglect the likes                                                               zig in eastern
                                                                                       Germany which
of Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, and Bentley.          has much higher wages than Eastern Europe.
Sometimes in their quest for image building,             Moreover, unlike BMW or Daimler-Benz, Por-
dilemma of selecting customer segments and               sche did not move closer to the main U.S. mar-
attaining bottom-line, companies go for risky            ket.
moves.                                                   And this all for keeping it “Made in Germany”.
Porsche is the case in point.                            But because of this “Made in Germany” tag ,
Almost a decade ago, Porsche found itself at             the controversial Cayenne turned out to be Por-
such crossroads. Known for its classy sports             sche's best-selling automobile ever as it really
cars, the firm had taken a hit in 1987 stock             played off the idea of ‘what exactly Porsche
                                                         was and what it stood for‘.
market crash and suffered a great loss due to its
overdependence on the U.S. market.
The firm chose not one but two routes to bring           Does Location really matter in a globalized
revival in sales and recover itself. One, by             world?
launching a new two-seater, the Boxster in               BMW made a decision to locate in Leipzig
PAGE 9                                                                                     BRANDWAGON




                                                      world innovate, improve in competitiveness and
                                                      quality, how long will customers is willing to
                                                      pay brand premium based upon nationality of the
                                                      product. The quality differentials are also shrink-
                                                      ing over time in almost all product categories as
                                                      Japanese luxury car makers like Toyota, Nissan
                                                      have famously shown.
                                                      That's an issue justifiably worrying German
                                                      firms “How are they going to survive as a whole
            Cayenne model launched in 2004            either through the name, quality, or particular
                                                      excellence in its price?" And Porsche is no ex-
                                                      ception.
 BMW made a decision to locate in Leipzig
 rather than go abroad for targeting cash rich cus-
 tomers in eastern Germany and it built a plant       Reinvention
 that employed thousands of people and is a ma-
                                                      Porsche has been accomplishing a tedious task of
 jor manufacturing site, while the Leipzig plant
                                                      reinventing itself between '93 and the present. In
 for Porsche is much smaller and employed
                                                      a sense Porsche is incorporating Japanese pro-
 around only 400 workers.
                                                      duction processes of lean manufacturing while
 Naturally a question arises, Can products just be    still producing German-made cars and maintain-
 manufactured anywhere? One possible answer           ing the German reputation for quality automo-
 can be: Think about relative productivity costs.     biles. For past 6-7 years, German workers have
 In Germany in 2001, the labor costs were about       been moderating their wage demands, allowing
 25-26 Euros per hour. In the Czech Republic          German firms to become more competitive vis-
 they were about 4-6 Euros per hour. So it's quite    à-vis other European countries. Improved pro-
 dramatic and if you still end up producing in        ductivity is helping unit labor costs in Germany
 Germany there have to be huge productivity           decline over time. While these are positive
 level differences between Germany and Czech          trends, the problem is that these “super-
 Republic which actually was the case.                successful luxury” machines are not creating
                                                      new jobs in Germany.
 Appeal of National Products                          Moving its production to Central Europe from
                                                      Germany means paying low wage rates for
 There must be some reason why Opel claims
                                                      skilled workers which in fact was the German
 “The difference is German engineering”. Ger-
                                                      firm’s strategy in early part of 20th century. But
 man companies, known for their craftsmanship,
                                                      the wages in those parts are rising very fast rela-
 generally compete as niche producers, particu-
                                                      tive to rise in productivity levels negating the
 larly those that manufacture high-quality goods
                                                      advantage of facility shift. So that is an issue for
 that demand a premium price. In 2004-2005 Ger-
                                                      Porsche moving abroad. We shouldn't be looking
 many became the number-one exporter of quality
                                                      at a static number (costs), but really should be
 manufactured goods in the world, and its market
                                                      thinking about it more dynamically
 share was around 10 Percent, surpassing that of
                                                      (environmental and social factors) over time.
 the United States. As other firms around the
BRANDWAGON                                                                                   PAGE 10




 Then, it's about brand                           cause of the long supply chains among parts sup-
 If we ask “by moving into SUV market did Por- pliers”.
 sche remain true to its brand”? Is Porsche brand
 too much dependent on its German roots? Is Cay- In many ways, Porsche has unconsciously gone
 enne Made in Germany or not?                     back to its roots. After leaving Mercedes, Ferdi-
 The answer is: The Cayenne is clearly German-      nand Porsche founded his own design firm in
 designed and inspired. Only when you think of it   1931 with his son and his son-in-law, Anton
 in terms of a pure manufacturing product Cay-      Piech (the father of Ferdinand Piech of VW).
 enne has invited some controversies because its    In addition, Ferdinand Porsche also had Central
 components were partially manufactured in          European connection, since he was born in Bohe-
 Volkswagen’s Slovakia plant. To stop these con-    mia (now Vratislavice in the Czech Republic).
 troversies, Porsche’s CEO Wiedeking shocked        What then do we call Porsche, ‘Made in Ger-
 the investment world by purchasing roughly a       many’ or ‘Made in Central Europe’?
 20% stake in VW. To defend himself and “Made
 in Germany” brand, Wiedeking says “It's near
 impossible to maintain 100% national brand be-



    Jest in case
The nike story

                                                                                      Suresh Kr. Varisetty



Nike's Heritage
NIKE, pronounced NI-KEY, is the winged god-
dess of victory according to Greek mythology. She
sat at the side of Zeus, the ruler of the Olympic
pantheon, in Olympus. A mystical presence, sym-
bolizing victorious encounters, NIKE presided         SWOOSH was introduced.....the rest is history!
                                                      (from Nike Consumer Affairs packet, 1996)
over history's earliest battlefields. A Greek would
say, "When we go to battle and win, we say it is
NIKE." Synonymous with honored conquest,              History
NIKE is the twentieth century footwear that lifts
                                                      The Nike athletic machine began as a small dis-
the world's greatest athletes to new levels of mas-   tributing outfit located in the trunk of Phil Knight's
tery and achievement. The NIKE 'swoosh' embod-        car. From these rather inauspicious beginnings,
ies the spirit of the winged goddess who inspired     Knight's brainchild grew to become the shoe and
the most courageous and chivalrous warriors at the    athletic company that would come to define many
dawn of civilization. (from Nike Consumer Affairs     aspects of popular culture and myriad varieties of
packet, 1996)                                         'cool.'
                                                      Nike emanated from two sources: Bill Bowerman's
                                                      quest for lighter, more durable racing shoes for his
                                                      Oregon runners, and Knight's search for a way to
                The SWOOSH logo is a graphic          make a living without having to give up his love of
design created by Caroline Davidson in 1971. It       athletics. Bowerman coached track at the Univer-
represents the wing of the Greek Goddess NIKE.        sity of Oregon where Phil Knight ran in 1959.
Caroline Davidson was a student at Portland State     Bowerman's desire for better quality running shoes
University in advertising. She met Phil Knight        clearly influenced Knight in his search for a mar-
while he was teaching accounting classes and she      keting strategy. Between them, the seed of the
started doing some freelance work for his com-        most influential sporting company grew.
pany. Phil Knight asked Caroline to design a logo
that could be placed on the side of a shoe. She The story goes like this: while getting his MBA at
handed him the SWOOSH, he handed her $35.00. Stanford in the early '60s, Knight took a class with
In spring of 1972, the first shoe with the NIKE Frank Shallenberger. The semester-long project
BRANDWAGON                                                                                            PAGE 12




  was to devise a small business, including a mar-       of this project to discover other generators of
  keting plan. Synthesizing Bowerman's attention         popular attention to health.
  to quality running shoes and the burgeoning
  opinion that high-quality/low cost products could
  be produced in Japan and shipped to the U.S. for       If Nike didn't start the fitness revolution, Knight
  distribution, Knight found his market niche.           says, "We were at least right there. And we sure
  Shallenberger thought the idea interesting, but        rode it for one hell of a ride" (Katz, 66). The 80s
  certainly no business jackpot. Nothing more be-        and 90s would yield greater and greater profits
  came of Knight's project.                              as Nike began to assume the appearance of ath-
                                                         letic juggernaut, rather than the underdog of old.
  Cut to 1963. Phil Knight traveled to Japan on a        "Advertising Age" named Nike the 1996 Mar-
  world-tour, filled with the wanderlust of young        keter of the Year, citing the "ubiquitous
  men seeking a way to delay the inevitable call of      swoosh...was more recognized and coveted by
  professional life. Seemingly on a whim, Knight         consumers than any other sports brand--arguably
  scheduled an interview with a Japanese running         any brand" (Jensen, 12/96). That same year
  shoe manufacturer, Tiger--a subsidiary of the          Nike's revenues were a staggering $6.74 billion.
  Onitsuka Company. Presenting himself as the            Now in the year 2005 Nike’s revenues were
  representative of an American distributor inter-       $13.74 billion and in the year 2006 revenues
  ested in selling Tiger shoes to American runners,      were a staggering $14.95 billion.
  Knight told the businessmen of his interest in
  their product. Blue Ribbon Sports--the name
  Knight thought of moments after being asked
  who he represented--was born. The Tiger execu-
  tives liked what they heard and Knight placed
  his first order for Tigers soon thereafter.
  By 1964, Knight had sold $8,000 worth of Ti-
  gers and placed an order for more. Coach Bow-
  erman and Knight worked together, but ended up
  hiring a full-time salesman, Jeff Johnson. After
  cresting $1 million in sales and riding the wave
  of the success, Knight et. al. devised the Nike
  name and trademark Swoosh in 1971.
  By the late '70s, Blue Ribbon Sports officially
  became Nike and went from $10 million to $270
  million in sales. Katz (1994) describes the suc-
  cess via Nike's placement within the matrix of
  the fitness revolution: 'the idea of exercise and
  game-playing ceased to be something the aver-
  age American did for fun,' instead Americans
  turned to working out as a cultural signifier of
  status. Clearly, the circumstances surrounding
  the shift are not this simple; it is one of the aims
ICES
                                 PROFESS IONAL SERV
                     S TARTING A
                     BRAND


                                                                                             Gaurav Verma




A brand is a promise of benefits that will be         One thing firms must adhere to common norms,
gained. Brand should live up to the promise and       and mass advertising is generally not accepted or
customers should perceive that the service lives up   allowed. Another issue is that consumers of pro-
to its promise.                                       fessional services are very sensitive to quality is-
In the services sector the brand 'promise' is sues - whether real or perceived.
achieved through an ever-shifting dance of action So professional firms have a much smaller oppor-
and reaction between providers and clients. Every tunity to impress each client than general services
single interaction has an impact on the reputation firms. They have to create a far more powerful im-
of the brand. And once consumer perceptions of pact in every single interaction, and thus have to
the reputation are set in the minds of the consumer, employ a larger basket of tools synchronized to
it is very difficult to change them. So each interac- deliver the same message.
tion must deliver on the benefits expected by cus-
tomers.
                                                      Marketing Mix for Professional Services.
Think of certain public-sector companies in the
services sector - say airlines or telecom providers - In addition to classic 'four Ps' of marketing –
who are stuck with a legacy of negative brand per- 'products', 'price', 'place' and 'promotion'. Services
ception because they didn't live up to their brand are marketed through the additional factors of
promise in the past. However effectively they op- 'people', 'processes', 'productivity' and 'physical
erate now, and believe me some of them run as evidence'.
well as or even better than their private-sector For Professional services we can add another 2 Ps,
counterparts, consumers find it difficult to give 'Proof' (proof of expertise and prior experience)
them any credit.                                      and 'Plurality' (the multiple channels through
For services, there are no barriers to competitors which professional services reach end-users).
copying any new service. Yesterday's innovations    When starting a relationship, these two factors are
become today's basic requirements. The banking      the most important, since same delivery standards
and insurance sectors are good examples, as soon    and quality levels provided to different customer
as an idea is introduced by one firm, clone servicesorganizations (or even to the same people in the
are quickly rolled out by competitors.              same organization at different times) get perceived
As a professional services marketer, you'll have to very differently. A customer's purchase decision
face an uphill struggle in developing your brand. therefore starts with a search for explicit proof of
BRANDWAGON                                                                                        PAGE 14




 capability, and that's what the marketer must first By contrast, the older consulting firms don't do
 provide. New firms must therefore attack the prob- this, they always are able to - bring in top guns at
 lem on several fronts.                                the time of pitching for business, but then switch-
 Start with the basics - client attention              ing teams around at the time of executing the
                                                       work.
 New firms find providing Proof' particularly diffi-
 culty since there's no previous track record. At New firms should make sure that top people are
 such a time, the profile of the firm's executives and involved in the work well beyond the extent prom-
 their experience becomes very significant and ised and that the client notices it and appreciates it.
 comes in for a lot of scrutiny. That's why new This can be leveraged in references and testimoni-
 firms hire the 'right' people and publicize it als.
 strongly, since that assures clients of high-quality
 services.




 Everything affects your brand. Even your tie:
 Plurality is another factor. Most products and services communicate with and reach customers through
 a whole host of channels - electronic and print media, online, hoarding and store displays, etc. whereas
 in case of professional services customers draw their opinion from a number of formal and informal
 sources, ranging from past clients to cigar-room chats to comments in blogs and chat-rooms. These
 sources are almost never under the control of the marketer and it’s impossible to control the message
 being received.
 Large firms get around this problem by sponsorship of events and brand ambassadors. Small firms,
 who cannot afford this level of spending, must focus on impressing clients who are directly interacting
 with the members of the firm.
 That’s why; the smaller professional services firm must develop codes of conduct, appearance and be-
PAGE 15                                                                                   BRANDWAGON




 havior, and not just technical methodologies. ployee training, customer interaction processes,
 That's why marketers at professional services report developments, etc. which have a direct im-
 firms have to be involved in Operations like em- pact on client perceptions.


    They are new and
    haven’t done any                            Hey John what
    big projects. I’m                           about Core Con-
    skeptical.                                  sultants?




 Speak the language -- consistently and continu- riod of time.
 ously
 Professional services need a 'quiet' style. Profes- To Conclude
 sional services are by and large sold one-to-one
 and driven by relationships. Consumer-style mass Branding professional services firms is tougher
 marketing is hardly ever used.                      than it looks. The lack of options and the amazing
                                                     variety of ways that clients get information means
 Firms should focus on 'Conversations' rather than that they develop their own notions of what the
 'sales meetings', ‘Low-key and restrained’ rather brand may stand for. Marketers, especially for new
 than ‘loud’, 'Clients' rather than 'customers', firms who must deliver as good a customer experi-
 'Value' rather than ‘Costs’. Firms entering the in- ence as their older rivals, must therefore consider
 dustry from other segments, such as technology issues normally not thought to be in their scope, to
 firms moving into professional services consulting deliver their message.
 must learn a very different mind-set and communi-
 cation style from that used in technology sales.
 The marketing cycle is also usually much longer,
 and so there's a greater need to deliver the same
 message consistently and over a much longer pe-
Mar(c ric)keting

                                                                                           Abhishek Ravichand

                                                                                       v



Watching cricket in a cozy bedroom or dining            But,what probably made packer famous,especially
room(for singles like me) may not be a big deal for     outside australia was the contribution he made to
most of us, but do you know who brought cricket         world cricket.It all started in 1976,frustrated in his
to your house; who got the cricketers who used to       pursuit to acquire the rights to broadcast cricket
look pristine in their white outfits wear those         matches in australia by the coziness of relations
clownish colorful outfits, may be no: the answer is     between the Australian Cricket Board and the Aus-
Kerry Packer. Before you start wondering the rele-      tralian Broadcasting Corporation .
vance of this article in this magazine, I want to as-    Packer decided to introduce world series ricket.He
sure you that this article is more of a discussion of   signed up players of national teams by offering
successful marketing strategy rather than a com-        them exorbitant salaries. WSC was conceptualized
mentary on cricket.                                     as a made-for-TV cricket series. On December 2,
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer AC (17 December           1977 to be precise, Australian cricket lovers turn-
1937 – 26 December 2005), son of Sir Frank              ing on their television sets had for the first time a
Packer, was an Australian publishing, media and         choice in their bill of fare. Live from the Gabba on
gaming tycoon who owned the Nine Network. He            the Australian Broadcasting Corporation came the
was famous for his outspoken nature, wealth, ex-        soothing sights and sounds of a traditional Test,
pansive business empire and clashes with the Aus-       the first of a series against India. Live from Mel-
tralian Taxation Office and the Costigan Commis-        bourne's VFL Park on Channel 9, meanwhile,
sion.At the time of his death, Packer was the rich-     came the unfamiliar images of what purported to
est and one of the most influential men in Austra-      be a revolutionary new variant on the game: a Su-
lia.                                                    pertest, brought to you by World Series Cricket.
                                                        The play itself, between an Australian team led by
                                                        Ian Chappell and a West Indian outfit captained
                                                        by Clive Lloyd, did not actually look all that dif-
                                                        ferent.
       "There is a little bit of the whore in all
       of us, gentlemen. What is your price?"           While some of the ideas brought into WSC were
                                                        intelligent - fielding circles, drop-in pitches and
                                                        batting helmets, for example - some of the market-
                                                        ing ideas were bizarre,to say the least. Sledging
                                                        was encouraged as part of the “excitement” of the


                         v
PAGE 17                                                                                     BRANDWAGON




                                                       ans started off in poofy pink; umpires in brown
                                                       jackets and black shirts; blackened sightscreens.
                                                       And - so that Channel Nine could fit more ads in -
                                                       a shortening of the over from eight balls to
                                                       six.Packer was so passionate about getting the
                                                       crowds into the stadium that in the very first day-
                                                       nighter at the SCG in November 1978. With thou-
                                                       sands of people queuing outside an already seem-
                                                       ingly-packed ground, Packer ordered the gates to
                                                       be opened so that they could get in free.
                                                       It is worth pointing out that packer did not make
                                                       cricket popular, in fact packer coveted cricket’s
                                                       popularity. What he improved was cricket's ability
                                                       to exploit its popularity commercially. This he did
 game, TV ads of West Indian opener Roy                in a variety of fashions, jazzing up television cov-
 Fredericks giving an obscene gesture to Dennis        erage, promoting the players as personalities,
 Lillee were repeatedly shown(or at least trying to,   pitching the game as a product to the public that
 through his batting glove). Kids were encouraged      could be consumed over five days or one, by day
 to run onto the field and thump their heroes on the   or night, in white and colored clothing. This was
 back whenever a batsman reached 50 (and I saw         his biggest achievement he marketed cricket like a
 occasions where they were actually being mar-         product, using the principles that may appear to be
 shaled into position by WSC ground staff, ready to    straight from Kotler’s book.
 leap the fence.) Press releases claimed that the      Packer had his fair share of criticism, he was de-
 WSC supertests were more exciting than the offi-      rided by purists for spoiling the game and bringing
 cial Test matches because more fours were being       the taboo commercial element in the game, he
 struck. Though Packer had more stars than Broad-      could also be held responsible for creating one of
 way: the Chappells, Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh,         the biggest rifts in world cricket, the players who
 Doug Walters, David Hookes versus Lloyd, Viv          signed up for WSC received lengthy international
 Richards, Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Andy          bans, and the series eventually fizzled out, but the
 Roberts. Attendance in this ‘Supertest’ was far       World Series "circus" changed cricket forever. His
 from satisfactory, fewer than 500 were scattered      business sense, his audacity and his belief in the
 round the concrete tiers of VFL Park.                 project gave the support to a bunch of people will-
 Things started to click, however, in WSC’s second     ing to innovate in an attempt to make the game
 season, 1978-79. After NSW Government inter-          more marketable. One can’t deny the fact that his
 vention, WSC was permitted to play on the Syd-        'circus' saved cricket from a slow and painful
 ney Cricket Ground instead of the grungier Sydney     death.
 Showground next door. And to bring the game to
 more mid-week spectators and to prime-time TV
 audiences, night cricket was developed. Flood-
 lights strong enough to safely view the ball, which
 nonetheless had to be painted white; coloured uni-
 forms for the players, even though the West Indi-
ADS ON THE MOVE




CREATIVITY PAYS.
1. SHOWN ABOVE ARE 6 SNAPSHOTS FROM THE LATEST AIRTEL AD.
2. USE THEM AS AN INTRODUCTION TO COME UP WITH YOUR OWN AD.
3. NO RESTRICTION ON THE PRODUCT, BRAND OR COMPANY.
4. ENTRIES SHOULD INCLUDE A BRIEF ON THE PRODUCT.
5. RELEVANCE & CONNECTIVITY TO THE SNAPSHOTS IS A MUST.
6. LATE DATE FOR ENTRIES: 31 MARCH, 2007
7. SUBMISSIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS: masterps.iift@gmail.com
disruptive marketer

                                                                                           Prabhash Trivedi




What would you wear on a bright sunny day for a    to the lives of us lesser men who are sensible
visit to the zoo? A pair of gum boots and raincoat?enough to prefer cars. Perhaps a car owner’s worst
Well, such an analogy is seen everyday on our      on-road nightmare is to somehow miraculously
roads. Go to the cities with their narrow roads anddrive around the city, going about their mundane
heavy traffic and you would see a lot of small cars,
                                                   chores while at the same time perform amazing
big cars and yes, the giants called SUVs.          maneuvers to stay clear of these giants and their
Yes, the SUVs, built to conquer rugged terrains, drivers (who also, quite interestingly seem to ac-
the impossible contours and to boldly go where no quire qualities similar to their steed).
car has gone before. Hey wait! Now what the hell
are these reckless adventurers doing on our docile No, no don’t get me wrong. I do not hate SUVs! I
roads? Mingling with the lowly, minion, servile                                 am a normal human
cars?                                                                           being just like all of
Well the answer is quite                                                            you. I too like to go to
simple. It’s doing a lot of                                                         the zoo on a bright,
things- and none of them                                                            sunny day and watch
are any good! In a sce-                                                             the beautiful wild ani-
nario where the roads are                                                           mals. They are won-
cramped and threatening                                                             derful things, these
to burst with too much                                                              wild animals. Strong,
cars (and SUVs), these                                                              powerful created by
monsters are taking up the                                                          God to conquer the
precious space which                                                                atrocities inflicted on
could accommodate at                                                                them by the wild. I
least two more cars. Not to mention the parking         enjoy very much to admire them through the bars
space, which is at a premium at most shopping           of their cages. I like them even more when I see
hubs of our cities. Plus these juggernauts have an      them in their natural environments. I bet you
appetite that eats up a major chunk of our coun-        would too! But I doubt if any of you would like
tries fuel. Come on people don’t we all appreciate      them as much if they were to escape the zoo and
a little efficiency? Also factor in the fact that the   come prowling on the roads.
sheer size of these behemoths poses serious danger
BRANDWAGON                                                                                        PAGE 20




 So, all you SUV owners out there……..get the hell or maybe “Small Cars Suck!” Haven’t decided
 off the road!                                    yet!


 Next issue: “SUVs: Mankind’s greatest invention”




       Snippets:
       Marketing Two-Upmanship
       A retailer was dismayed when a competitor selling the same type of product opened next-
       door to him, displaying a large sign proclaiming "Best Deals".
       Not long after he was horrified to find yet another competitor move in next-door, on the
       other side if his store. It's large sign was even more disturbing- "Lowest Prices".
       After his initial panic, and concern that he would be driven out of business, he looked for a
       way to turn the situation to his marketing advantage. Finally, an idea came to him. Next
       day, he proudly unveiled a new and huge sign over his front door. It read,
       "Main Entrance"!
Kevi n keller
                                                                                               Ajay Chhabra




We will be soon moving to the second year in           Awards:
which all of us have to opt for some specialization.   Dissertation Awards, 1986
Brand Management is a dream subject for any
marketer because ultimately a person has to de-        American Marketing Association, American Psy-
velop one or other brand. Who better to give com-      chological Association Division 23, Association
ments on Brand Management other than Prof.             for Consumer Research, Marketing Science Insti-
Kevin Keller? Before going to his comment on           tute
Brand Management let’s see his current profile.        Harold H. Maynard Award, Journal of Marketing,
Name:                                    Kevin Keller
Primary Title:                           E.B. Osborn Professor of Marketing
Primary Dept:                            Marketing
Areas of Ex-                             Marketing; branding; brand equity, and brand management;
pertise:                                 integrated marketing communications and advertising.


Professor Keller is acknowledged as one of the         1993; Sheth Foundation/Journal of Marketing
international leaders in the study of brands, brand-   Award, 2003
ing, and strategic brand management. Actively in-      Has been awarded the 2005 ZIBS Distinguished
volved with industry, he has worked on a host of       Theory Award by the Zyman Institute of Brand
different types of marketing projects. He has          Science (ZIBS), a network-based organization lo-
served as brand confidant to marketers for some of     cated at Emory University's Goizueta Business
the world's most successful brands, including Ac-      School. The award is given annually and honors
centure, American Express, Disney, Ford, Intel,        significant contribution to the field of brand sci-
Levi Strauss, Miller Brewing, Procter & Gamble,        ence.
and Starbucks.                                         Kevin Keller on Brand and successful sustaining
Education.                                             the Brand
 Keller has completed his education from AB, Cor- Kevin Lane Keller has helped some of the world's
nell University, 1978; MSIA, Carnegie-Mellon      most recognizable companies create and sustain
University, 1980; PhD, Duke University, 1986.     successful brands. He's also seen many companies
BRANDWAGON                                                                                       PAGE 22




                  fail.                                 line between evolving the brand and destroying the
                  He feels that brand fails because     equity promise.
                  of many reasons but the most im-      Companies need to approach the idea of suggests
                  portant reason for the failure of     that you don't spend 10 years appealing to middle-
                  brand is that people fail to grasp    aged women and then suddenly turn around and
                  the importance of a well-             start trying to connect with 25-year-old women.
                  articulated brand. He feels that      You're almost certainly going to alienate the peo-
                  brand isn't just a name or a logo     ple who have an investment in your brand, and
                  design, it's a relationship between   there's no guarantee you're going to be successful
                  a product and a user. Just as peo-    with the new group.
                  ple have to connect on multiple       Keller feels that brands should not wait for the
 levels, brands have to connect with their audience
                                                        world to change before they evolve. He feels that
 in different dimensions. He feels that for a brand
                                                        the audience is a constantly moving target’s
 to have a successful relationship, it's got to have
 breadth as well as depth.                              changing needs, changing motivations, changing
                                                        hot buttons. If you're not changing with them,
 Keller feels that strong brands are reliable, yet
                                                        you're on your way to becoming irrelevant.
 they're also dynamic by nature and must evolve in
 order to stay relevant. The quest for relevance is
 key, but changing a brand in the wrong way and
 losing its relevance is one of the primary reasons
 successful brands fail. He says that there is a fine




    Jest in case
g Re(ad)s
                       Interestin
                                                                                        Pankaj Kothiyal




 "Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get
                                           money from it."
                                         Stephen Leacock.
Volkswagen Van came up with this brilliant idea to promote its carrying capacity as against many other
cars:
BRANDWAGON                             PAGE 24




Volkswagen comes with yet another winner for its Polo car in this classic advertisement. A little back-
ground may be essential to understand this one. The football rivalry between Germany and Holland is
as big as that between India-Pak in cricket. This ad, which has the headline “Extremely Well Built.”
has a group of german football team supporters travelling in a VW Polo car among a gang of Dutch
fans. And the rest is self-explanatory.




One last piece from Volkswagen for its Nueva Passat car. Here the emphasis on the luxurious back
space available in the car.
Drip m arketing
                                                                                           Niharika Gogineni




Drip marketing:                                         Drip marketing isn’t a new strategy. It’s been used
                                                        time and again in insurance circles. However in
                                                        recent times new web-based technology is making
One of the most valuable assets in any business is      successful drip marketing more affordable and
people who don’t buy from you—today. These are          manageable than ever. If well engineered a drip
the potential customers, and form the majority of       marketing campaign can be extremely effective.
the prospects for the business. Attracting these        Besides the message quality (relevance), the fre-
prospects can be achieved through a marketing           quency and timing of its delivery has a huge im-
strategy like using Drip marketing.                     pact on the effectiveness of any opportunity gen-
                                                        eration campaign.
What is drip marketing? It is a direct marketing
strategy that involves consistent contact, such as
sending out several promotional pieces over a pe-
riod of time to a group of sales leads and existing
prospects.
The trick here in this strategy is to build one’s
brand equity by reinforcing a message, image or
theme. . Every time you put your brand in front of
a customer or potential customer, you create an
impression, which impacts the perception of your
brand. When that perception is consistently re-
peated, you build a brand that becomes easy to rec-
ognize and remember.


The phrase drip marketing comes from the com-           The concept of drip marketing is simple. Instead of
mon phrase used in agriculture and gardening            one big concentrated marketing blitz, you create a
called "drip irrigation. Drip marketing was a re-       long-term campaign that touches prospects repeat-
sponse to the "Law of 29," the belief among some        edly. . An effective way to use drip marketing is to
marketing professionals that it takes 29 "hits" for a   consistently do something each month to keep
marketing message to successfully turn a prospect       your name in front of your current clients and pro-
into a client.                                          spective clients. By doing this, the sales cycle can
BRANDWAGON                                                                                       PAGE 26




 be diminished and a steady amount of business sults:
 produced.                                          1. Pre-transaction Cultivation – Once initial con-
 Specifics methods of drip marketing include:       tact has been made with a prospect drip campaigns
  Postcards                                        can help build rapport and trust with prospective
                                                    customers, which would probably induce them to
  Newsletters                                      buy your product or service.
  Promotional or Sales Brochures                   2. Transaction Support – During the time that the
  Catalogs                                         customers are actually buying the product a drip
                                                    campaign is a great tool to help clients stay abreast
  Brochures                                        of their transaction’s progress.
  FAX broadcast                                    Post-transaction Marketing – After the transaction
 Email Newsletter                                   is closed emails can be used for building referrals.
                                                    Regular e-mails will keep one in the forefront of
 Drip marketing these days is being extensively
                                                    past clients’ minds and increase the likelihood of
 used for online promotions. e-mail drip marketing
                                                    repeat business.
 is a powerful way to stay in contact with previous
 clients and cultivate new prospects who are not However, it must be kept in mind that drip e-mail
 ready to take immediate action. Drip marketing should only be used to work with leads that have
 systems allow you to set up and then automatically already been contacted and from whom permission
 send a series of timed e-mail messages to any has been granted to e-mail them but must never be
 group of people with a common interest—first- used to generate new leads. Otherwise, one might
 time buyers, move-up sellers, etc.                 inadvertently spam prospects and do irreparable
 There are three points in the typical sales cycle damage to the business’ online goodwill.
 where drip e-mail can be used for profitable re-

 Jest in case
Ad buzz
                                                                                    Rishi Kumar Singh




It has always been difficult to analyze the ad of  So what’s the ingredients and the recipe of the ad
various popular brands due to sheer emotions they  which makes it palatable? The ingredient is “a
are able to bring with them. Many ads which I      bunch of small kids” which normally finds more
have tried to evaluate are brands which are centu- emotive connection with the audience. Cleaning,
ries old, very popular and nevertheless trustwor-                                      dancing,
thy. But of course all ad-men are not always right.                                    bathing and
They sometimes do fail, owing to their over-                                           of course go-
banking upon the star power or sheer lack of mate-                                     ing to school
rial or core substance. But some are able to click                                     after    com-
                                                                                       pleting    the
the grey matters leading to an interest towards the
                                                                                       chores (a so-
same. In this article I have tried to do justice to
                                                                                       cial responsi-
some popular brands. I don’t know whether I will                                       bility      of
succeed in the same or not, but of course I will try                                   every kid!!
my level best to pass my verdict as an audience on                                     Kids     learn
these ads.                                         it). The recipe: Kids do create mess and are nor-
                                                   mally exposed to the dirt and dust affecting their
                                                   health. But don’t worry the soap is there to help
                                                   you keep clean. The message is clear: “Live your
Brand: LIFEBUOY SOAP
                                                   age…and yes maintain your health; the soap is
Starring: A group of kids with their mothers.      there with you..koi dar nahin” and of course “Go
Move over to soap. Here is an advertisement, to school daily”..Phew! Many birds killed with a
which speaks volume without any big name at- single stone. A finely executed ad without any
tached with it. Mind well! The customer knows his hunky-dory things and, of course, cleavage show.
pick and of course you cannot fool him to buy And yes of course you don’t require to watch
anything just by showing a bubbly and sexy ac- “Lage raho munnabhai”…Gandhigiri…The kids
tress using it. The message is clear. No brainer. are quite capable of passing the same message
The ad clicks with me (and audience ...of course I “Clean your environment...don’t wait for anybody
am representing them here) and conveys the mes- else”..Munnabhai be careful…This is the uprising
sage directly. The absence of a big name behind of a small battalion, which can cost you your ca-
the brand, in fact helps the advertisement set reer.
afloat.
                                                   Verdict: My showcase in drawing room
BRANDWAGON                                                                                        PAGE 28




                                                       Aishwarya Rai,
                                                       as a nymphoma-
                                                       niac-looking car-
 Brand: TATA SKY
                                                       toon or heroine!!
 Starring: Hrithik Roshan and a confused jocular       That     perhaps
 character                                             creates     more
                                                       confusion. Is she
                                                       returning to her
 D-uh! One more ad without any new thing to con-
                                                       roots, I mean
 vey. Hrithik Roshan looks cool but definitely lacks
                                                       advertisements
 that crucial punch which will hardly hint anybody
                                                       (modeling)? Per-
 to buy “Tata Sky”, not atleast me. Come on,
                                                       haps she is better at the latter. One thing is clear.
 watching the match with the hunk, doesn’t impress
                                                       She knows Frisbee throwing. And what’s more,
 the audience and neither motivates them to look
                                                       she knows! Hmm..Perhaps bathing (of course it is
 into the deal. What’s the deal after all? Watching
                                                       a soap advertisement, pal!). Is she being shown
 the match with Hrithik. Haan! If that would had
                                                       bathing in the ad? No! The crux of the previous
 been conveyed by a sweet and sexy actress (Take
                                                       ads of the legendary soap seems to be missing
 Priyanka for my case) that would had been a deal.
                                                       here. So after all what is the ad about? Is it show-
 Come on everybody knows, the of his chances se-
                                                       ing the curves of a beauty queen, which perhaps
 lection for a treat? Don’t ya! And yes the man with
                                                       everybody knows, or showing that she has become
 a green grass covering doesn’t provide me any cue
                                                       thinner, or perhaps she doesn’t have any movie in
 as to what the advertise wants to convey. The
                                                       line? And where’s the product which she is vouch-
 punch line “zingalala” looks too clichéd to click.
                                                       ing for. D-Uh…. I just kept looking at the better
 The message looks quite obfuscated and hidden
                                                       “filled up’ areas of the actress. And of course, a
 behind the charisma of the actor. A confusing ad,
                                                       girl would rather prefer to show her beauty and
                                     with the talent
                                                       curve in a public place and not a nice, panoramic
                                     and raw power
                                                       and a lonely island. And why only Frisbee throw-
                                     of an actor
                                                       ing? Can the ad-maker explain this?
                                     wasted.
                                                      I would rather prefer to look at some other soap
                                                      where the message is quite clear. Perhaps Pears
                                                      click me over here. Or maybe Hamam or Godrej
                                    Verdict:      My Fair Glow…’Gora bana de’
                                    s t o r e r o o m A totally worthless ad, without any message con-
                                    shelf             veyed, but yes with only one outcome:
                                                      “Aishwarya can now switch between a real and
                                                      cartoon character at the drop of a soap”
                                                       Verdict: My bowl.
 Brand: Lux Soap
 Starring: Aishwarya Rai(double role …a real and a
 cartoon) and three spot boys to call the least.
Of f the mark

                                                                                               Rajat Jain




The process of branding was developed to protect    Ford decided though, to fuel public interest, the
products from failure. Branding dates back to       car itself should not be seen in the ads, and even
1880’s with companies like Campbell, Heinz. It      when Ford dealers started stocking the car in their
was a huge success in that era.                     showrooms, they were told they had to keep the
Fast forward to 21st century and different picture vehicles undercover. If they did not they risked a
emerges. They have become a victim of their own fine and the loss of their franchise with the com-
success. Now if a product fails, it’s the brand pany.
that’s at fault.                                    As Ford hoped, interest was fuelled. The company
 In this series we will look through some of the did not think for one moment that the product
biggest branding mistakes by some of the biggest would not be able to match the hype, and would
giants like Microsoft, coke, Pepsi, ford, etc. and lead to a consumer backlash. After all, more work
analyze what went wrong.                            and research had gone into the development of this
                                                    car than almost any previously.
We will start with the classic example of brand
failure: “Ford Edsel”.                              However, some of the research had already proven
                                                    futile by the time of the launch. For instance, part
                                                    of the market research process had been to find
FORD EDSEL                                          suitable name for the new car. This should have
                                                    been a good idea. After all, the highly popular
                                                    Ford Thunderbird car, which had been launched in
Among many US marketing professors, the story 1954, had gained its evocative name as a result of
of the Edsel car is considered the classic brand market research findings. This time, research
failure of all time. Dubbed ‘the Titanic of auto- teams were sent out to New York, Chicago and
mobiles’, the Edsel is certainly one of the biggest Michigan, where members of the public were
branding disasters to afflict the Ford Motor Com- asked what they thought of certain names and to
pany                                                come up with their own suggestions. There was
The Edsel car was launched amid a vast amount of also a competition among employees to come up
hype. Although the car didn’t appear in show- with the best name, and the company even con-
rooms until September 1957, ads promoting it had tacted the popular poet Marianne Moore. Her brief
begun to appear months previously bearing the was to find a name which would signify a ‘visceral
teaser slogan: ‘The Edsel is Coming".               feeling of elegance, fleetness, advanced features
                                                    and design.’ Her rather eccentric suggestions in-
BRANDWAGON                                                                                          PAGE 30




 cluded Mongoose Civique, Resilient Bullet, Uto- sel’s problems. There was also the design. The
 pian Turtle top and the Varsity Stroke.              first blueprint for the Edsel looked truly impres-
 Altogether, the company now had a pool of 10,000 sive, as Robert Lacey writes in his book on Ford.
 names to choose from. Too many, according to ‘With concealed air scoops below the bumpers,
 company chairman, Ernest Breech, as he scanned this first version of the car was original and dra-
 through the names during a meeting of the Ford matic – a dreamlike, ethereal creation which struck
 Executive Committee in November 1956. ‘Why those who saw it as the very embodiment of the
 don’t we just call it Edsel?’ he asked, exasperated. future.’ However, this magnificent design never
                                                      got to see the light of day. The people who held
                                                      onto the purse strings at Ford decided it would
                                                      simply be too expensive to manufacture
                                                        The design that eventually emerged was certainly
                                                        unique. Edsel’s chief designer, Roy Brown Jr had
                                                        always set out to design a car that would be recog-
                                                        nizable instantly, from any direction. And indeed,
                                                        there is no denying that the first Edsels to emerge
                                                        in 1957 fulfilled this objective. In particular, the
                                                        car’s front-end bonnet and grille commanded the
                                                        most attention. ‘The front end design was the most
                                                        prominent feature,’ confirms Phil Skinner, re-
 Henry Ford II, the grandson of Henry Ford,             spected Edsel historian, ‘If you consider other cars
 agreed. Edsel was the name of his father, and the      from the mid-1950s, they all looked somewhat
 Ford founder’s only son.                               alike. Basically it was two headlights and horizon-
 Not everyone held the same opinion though. The         tal grille. By having the big impact ring in the mid-
 PR director, C Gayle Warnock, knew that Edsel          dle – what we now call a horse collar – it really set
 was not the right name. It had been an early sug-      the Edsel apart.’
 gestion, and had not been liked by those members       Although some members of the automotive press
 of the public who had taken part in the market re-     commended this distinctive look, most were unap-
 search (in word-association tests, it had been asso-   preciative. One reviewer famously remarked that it
 ciated with ‘weasel’ and ‘pretzel’ – hardly the best   looked ‘like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon.’
 associations for a dynamic new car). Warnock had       While another thought the front-end grille was less
 preferred other names on the list, such asPacer,       like a horse collar, and more like a toilet seat. (The
 Ranger, Corsair or Citation. When the decision         customer comments later proved to be even worse
 was made, Warnock made his feelings perfectly          with some saying that the grille looked like a
 clear. According to Robert Lacey in his book Ford:     ‘vagina with teeth’.
 The Men and the Machine, Warnock responded to       However, Ford had good relations with the press
 the new Edsel name by declaring: ‘We have just      and Warnock, the PR director, was determined to
 lost 200,000 sales.’ For Warnock, a rose by any     maximize the media coverage immediately before-
 other name clearly didn’t smell as sweet.           hand after the launch date. Articles subsequently
 As it turned out, the name was the least of the Ed- appeared in both Time and Life magazines herald-
PAGE 31                                                                                          BRANDWAGON




 ing the Edsel as a breakthrough and explaining            However, no-one can excuse Ford of underexpo-
 how it had been planned for over a decade – a bla-        sure. On 13 October 1957the marketing campaign
 tant exaggeration on the part of Warnock as Roy           for Edsel took product promotion to new heights
 Brown had only begun designing the car in 1954.           when Ford joined forces with the CBS television
 The promotional brochure to mark the September            network, to run a one-hour special called The Ed-
 launch of the Edsel also promised a great deal.           sel Show. The show, a parody of 1950s favorite
 ‘There has never been a car like the Edsel,’ it           The EdSullivan Show featured celebrities such as
 promised. This was a big claim, but Ford had              Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. But even with
 equally big ambitions. The company expected to            such prime-time promotion Ford was unable to
 produce 200,000 units in the car’s first year. This       shift anywhere near enough units of the car. Con-
 constituted around five per cent of the entire mar-       sumers didn’t care whether it was ‘revolutionary’
 ket.                                                      or not. All they knew was that it looked ugly and
 Anyway, the pre-publicity had initially seemed to         had a name that sounded like ‘weasel’. Further-
 work. Car showrooms became packed with curious            more, in an age when all the successful cars had
 visitors, desperately seeking their first glance of       tailfins, the Edsel was finless. According to Bob
 the car. In the first week of its launch, almost three    Casey, curator of transportation at the Henry Ford
 million members of thus public visited Edsel              Museum, this fact meant that the Edsel ‘didn’t
 showrooms. The Edsel they saw had a number of             quite fit into people’s vision of a car’.
 distinct features, in addition to the ‘love-it-or-hate-   In addition to misguided advertising, bad looks
 it’ front-end grille. For instance, the car was the       and a stupid name, Edsel faced a further problem –
 first ever to have self-adjusting brakes and an elec-     it was too expensive. As Sheila Mello explains in
 tronic hood release. It also had a very powerful          her informative book, Customer Centric Product
 engine for a medium-range car. However, these             Definition, the launch of the Edsel coincided with
 features weren’t enough                                   a move towards cheaper models:
 In the minds of the public, the car simply didn’t         Ford’s decision to highlight the Edsel’s powerful
 live up to the hype. And unfortunately for Ford,          engine during a period when the buying public
 neither did the sales. Edsel sold only 64,000 units       was gravitating toward smaller, more fuel-efficient
 in its first year, way below the number anticipated.      cars alienated potential customers. The first mod-
 Ford launched 1959 and1960 Edsel models but               els in the showroom were the most expensive, top-
 sales fell even further (to 44,891 and 2,846 respec-
 tively). In November 1959 Ford printed the last
 ever ad for the car and halted production.


 WHAT WENT WRONG?
 The marketing campaign was certainly a key fac-
 tor. In simple terms, Fordhad overstated its case.
 Buoyed by the success of the Thunderbird only a
 few years previously the company must have felt
 invincible, and this was reflected in the rather too
 self-assured advertising material
PAGE 32                                                                                    BRANDWAGON




 of-the-line models, resulting in what we refer to    LESSON FROM EDSEL
 today as sticker shock. Unfortunately, too, while    Hyping an untested product is a mistake. ‘I learned
 some Edsel models were more expensive than           that a company should never allow its spokesper-
 comparable cars, they had an equivalent or greater   sons to build up enthusiasm for an unseen, un-
 number of quality problems. Often parts didn’t fit   proven product,’ confessed C Gayle Warnock, the
 properly or were simply missing, since Ford fre-     PR director responsible for the publicity surround-
 quently built Edsels between Fords and Mercurys      ing the Edsel launch.
 on the same assembly line. Many dealers were ill
 equipped to replace these parts or add accessories   Your name matters. At the most basic level, your
                                                      brand is your name. It doesn’t matter how impor-
 The car ended up looking more expensive than it      tant the brand name is to the company, it’s what it
 actually was because of poor timing. In the 1950s,   means to the public that counts. If the name con-
 US new car models typically appeared in Novem-       jures up images of weasels and pretzels it might be
 ber for the following year. For instance, a 1956     a good time to scrap it.
 Thunderbird would have come out in November
 1955. However, Edsel was launched in September,      Looks count. Visual appearance is a key factor in
 two months before the other new models arrived.      creating a brand identity for most products. It was
 It was therefore a 1958 car competing against        the distinctive shape of Coca-Cola bottles which
 1957 models – and more importantly, 1957 prices.     helped that brand become so big. In the car indus-
                                                      try, looks are particularly important and as Edsel
 In fact, the situation was even worse than that. Not proved, ugly ducklings don’t always become
 only had Edsel decided to push its most expensive swans.
 models first, but the 1957 models it was competing
 with were being offered at a discounted price in Price is important. Products can be too expensive
 order to sell them before next year’s models were or too cheap. When some brands price themselves
 wheeled into the showroom.                           too low, they lose their prestige. However, with a
                                                      car such as the Edsel, the high price couldn’t be
 A high price may have been acceptable if it had justified in the minds of the public
 been worth paying. However, the experience of
 those few early Edsel customers quickly gave the The right research is important. Ford spent time
 car a reputation for mechanical problems. Edsel and money carrying out the wrong kind of market
 now popularly stood for Every Day Something research. Instead of hunting for names, the com-
 Else Leaks.                                          pany should have been concentrating on whether
                                                      there was a market for its new car in the first
 One thing though was completely beyond Ford’s place. As it turned out, the market it spent millions
 control. After a boom period for the US car indus- trying to reach didn’t even exist
 try during the mid-1950s, the end of 1957 saw the
 start of a recession. In 1958 almost all car models Quality is important. Of course, product quality is
 saw a drop in sales, some by as much as 50 per always important but when it comes to cars it is a
 cent. Ironically, one of the very few models to wit- matter of life and death. Bad quality control
 ness an increase in sales that year was the Ford proved an extra nail in Edsel’s coffin.
 Thunderbird.
CSR:

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Mymuze company overview
Mymuze company overviewMymuze company overview
Mymuze company overviewdnalevelc77
 
Dn Brochure Email 4 13 11
Dn Brochure Email 4 13 11Dn Brochure Email 4 13 11
Dn Brochure Email 4 13 11lsucharda
 
The Value of Value
The Value of ValueThe Value of Value
The Value of Valuecmh55
 
Brands By Design
Brands By DesignBrands By Design
Brands By DesignShanti1130
 
NSAC JCP Plansbook
NSAC JCP PlansbookNSAC JCP Plansbook
NSAC JCP Plansbooktaliarapp
 
Anthem Sightings March 2011
Anthem Sightings March 2011Anthem Sightings March 2011
Anthem Sightings March 2011BrandSquare
 
Branding Playbook: Your Company Or Your Agencies
Branding Playbook: Your Company Or Your AgenciesBranding Playbook: Your Company Or Your Agencies
Branding Playbook: Your Company Or Your AgenciesRod Brooks
 
Scott Plamondon Portfolio
Scott Plamondon PortfolioScott Plamondon Portfolio
Scott Plamondon Portfolioreachcustomers
 
TG Rights Studio Jakarta
TG Rights Studio JakartaTG Rights Studio Jakarta
TG Rights Studio Jakartabudisuhendrio
 
Thai Festivities Engagement
Thai Festivities EngagementThai Festivities Engagement
Thai Festivities EngagementNeil Mavichak
 
ALX Sweaters.2009
ALX Sweaters.2009ALX Sweaters.2009
ALX Sweaters.2009Stan Poulos
 
The Friendship Model™
The Friendship Model™The Friendship Model™
The Friendship Model™22squared
 
Terrestrial article the power of design part 2
Terrestrial article the power of design part 2Terrestrial article the power of design part 2
Terrestrial article the power of design part 2Terrestrial
 
The marksman july_2012
The marksman july_2012The marksman july_2012
The marksman july_2012marksmansimsr
 
SSN Instincts 2013 - Brand Identity
SSN Instincts 2013 - Brand IdentitySSN Instincts 2013 - Brand Identity
SSN Instincts 2013 - Brand IdentityGopal Krishnan
 

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Mymuze company overview
Mymuze company overviewMymuze company overview
Mymuze company overview
 
Dn Brochure Email 4 13 11
Dn Brochure Email 4 13 11Dn Brochure Email 4 13 11
Dn Brochure Email 4 13 11
 
The Value of Value
The Value of ValueThe Value of Value
The Value of Value
 
Brands By Design
Brands By DesignBrands By Design
Brands By Design
 
NSAC JCP Plansbook
NSAC JCP PlansbookNSAC JCP Plansbook
NSAC JCP Plansbook
 
Anthem Sightings March 2011
Anthem Sightings March 2011Anthem Sightings March 2011
Anthem Sightings March 2011
 
Brand equity
Brand equityBrand equity
Brand equity
 
Branding Martin 6
Branding Martin 6Branding Martin 6
Branding Martin 6
 
Branding Playbook: Your Company Or Your Agencies
Branding Playbook: Your Company Or Your AgenciesBranding Playbook: Your Company Or Your Agencies
Branding Playbook: Your Company Or Your Agencies
 
Scott Plamondon Portfolio
Scott Plamondon PortfolioScott Plamondon Portfolio
Scott Plamondon Portfolio
 
TG Rights Studio Jakarta
TG Rights Studio JakartaTG Rights Studio Jakarta
TG Rights Studio Jakarta
 
Thai Festivities Engagement
Thai Festivities EngagementThai Festivities Engagement
Thai Festivities Engagement
 
Brand moi(2)
Brand moi(2)Brand moi(2)
Brand moi(2)
 
ALX Sweaters.2009
ALX Sweaters.2009ALX Sweaters.2009
ALX Sweaters.2009
 
Behind Every Brand is A Story
Behind Every Brand is A StoryBehind Every Brand is A Story
Behind Every Brand is A Story
 
The Friendship Model™
The Friendship Model™The Friendship Model™
The Friendship Model™
 
A márka arca
A márka arcaA márka arca
A márka arca
 
Terrestrial article the power of design part 2
Terrestrial article the power of design part 2Terrestrial article the power of design part 2
Terrestrial article the power of design part 2
 
The marksman july_2012
The marksman july_2012The marksman july_2012
The marksman july_2012
 
SSN Instincts 2013 - Brand Identity
SSN Instincts 2013 - Brand IdentitySSN Instincts 2013 - Brand Identity
SSN Instincts 2013 - Brand Identity
 

Andere mochten auch

English School work
English School workEnglish School work
English School workBoseret
 
пытошная бобра. Кратко и с картинками
пытошная бобра. Кратко и с картинкамипытошная бобра. Кратко и с картинками
пытошная бобра. Кратко и с картинкамиOleLukoe
 
Leadership Course Intro Jhu Course
Leadership Course Intro Jhu CourseLeadership Course Intro Jhu Course
Leadership Course Intro Jhu Coursebskillman
 
Leadership Course Intro Jhu Course
Leadership Course Intro Jhu CourseLeadership Course Intro Jhu Course
Leadership Course Intro Jhu Coursebskillman
 
Cardno WRG Marketing Brochure
Cardno WRG Marketing BrochureCardno WRG Marketing Brochure
Cardno WRG Marketing Brochurekellydeaver
 

Andere mochten auch (7)

Meldplicht datalekken
Meldplicht datalekkenMeldplicht datalekken
Meldplicht datalekken
 
English School work
English School workEnglish School work
English School work
 
пытошная бобра. Кратко и с картинками
пытошная бобра. Кратко и с картинкамипытошная бобра. Кратко и с картинками
пытошная бобра. Кратко и с картинками
 
Leadership Course Intro Jhu Course
Leadership Course Intro Jhu CourseLeadership Course Intro Jhu Course
Leadership Course Intro Jhu Course
 
Research Design
Research DesignResearch Design
Research Design
 
Leadership Course Intro Jhu Course
Leadership Course Intro Jhu CourseLeadership Course Intro Jhu Course
Leadership Course Intro Jhu Course
 
Cardno WRG Marketing Brochure
Cardno WRG Marketing BrochureCardno WRG Marketing Brochure
Cardno WRG Marketing Brochure
 

Ähnlich wie Masterps V1 I1

Integrated Digital Campaign Planning for L'Oréal
Integrated Digital Campaign Planning for L'OréalIntegrated Digital Campaign Planning for L'Oréal
Integrated Digital Campaign Planning for L'OréalRonak Soni
 
Intoduction To Brand Equity | Holistic Brand Strategy 2008
Intoduction To Brand Equity | Holistic Brand Strategy 2008Intoduction To Brand Equity | Holistic Brand Strategy 2008
Intoduction To Brand Equity | Holistic Brand Strategy 2008Patrick Collings
 
Celebrity endorsement final group2
Celebrity endorsement final group2Celebrity endorsement final group2
Celebrity endorsement final group2154sikanderkhan
 
Celebrity brand endorsement
Celebrity brand endorsementCelebrity brand endorsement
Celebrity brand endorsementRoneet Kumar
 
Changing trends in Advertisement.
Changing trends in Advertisement.Changing trends in Advertisement.
Changing trends in Advertisement.divya_binu
 
Product Life Cycle (PLC) & Brand existance
Product Life Cycle (PLC) & Brand existanceProduct Life Cycle (PLC) & Brand existance
Product Life Cycle (PLC) & Brand existanceReba Mathew
 
Marketing - Brand Ambassador
Marketing - Brand AmbassadorMarketing - Brand Ambassador
Marketing - Brand Ambassadorams_5686
 
Celebrity endorsements1-1
Celebrity endorsements1-1Celebrity endorsements1-1
Celebrity endorsements1-1Dinesh Bargotra
 
Lemon Scented Tea B2B Prickley Issue 01
Lemon Scented Tea B2B Prickley Issue 01Lemon Scented Tea B2B Prickley Issue 01
Lemon Scented Tea B2B Prickley Issue 01Marjolein Denekamp
 
How to engage the consumers? Cross media formats - Andrew Piller, Fremantleme...
How to engage the consumers? Cross media formats - Andrew Piller, Fremantleme...How to engage the consumers? Cross media formats - Andrew Piller, Fremantleme...
How to engage the consumers? Cross media formats - Andrew Piller, Fremantleme...Filmteractive Festival
 
Building A Premium Palette For Your Brand
Building A Premium Palette For Your BrandBuilding A Premium Palette For Your Brand
Building A Premium Palette For Your BrandKantar
 
Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement By Sohag Sarkar
Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement By Sohag SarkarImpact Of Celebrity Endorsement By Sohag Sarkar
Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement By Sohag SarkarSohag Sarkar
 
Introduction of the topic
Introduction of the topicIntroduction of the topic
Introduction of the topicAnshu Saluja
 
Syndicate Creative Branding Business Plan
Syndicate Creative Branding Business PlanSyndicate Creative Branding Business Plan
Syndicate Creative Branding Business PlanRebecca Ralph
 
Brand mangement main
Brand mangement mainBrand mangement main
Brand mangement mainprashhh
 

Ähnlich wie Masterps V1 I1 (20)

Brand mascot
Brand mascotBrand mascot
Brand mascot
 
Integrated Digital Campaign Planning for L'Oréal
Integrated Digital Campaign Planning for L'OréalIntegrated Digital Campaign Planning for L'Oréal
Integrated Digital Campaign Planning for L'Oréal
 
Intoduction To Brand Equity | Holistic Brand Strategy 2008
Intoduction To Brand Equity | Holistic Brand Strategy 2008Intoduction To Brand Equity | Holistic Brand Strategy 2008
Intoduction To Brand Equity | Holistic Brand Strategy 2008
 
Celebrity endorsement final group2
Celebrity endorsement final group2Celebrity endorsement final group2
Celebrity endorsement final group2
 
Celebrity brand endorsement
Celebrity brand endorsementCelebrity brand endorsement
Celebrity brand endorsement
 
Quizzing and brands
Quizzing and brandsQuizzing and brands
Quizzing and brands
 
Changing trends in Advertisement.
Changing trends in Advertisement.Changing trends in Advertisement.
Changing trends in Advertisement.
 
Group15_Centuryply.pptx.pdf
Group15_Centuryply.pptx.pdfGroup15_Centuryply.pptx.pdf
Group15_Centuryply.pptx.pdf
 
Product Life Cycle (PLC) & Brand existance
Product Life Cycle (PLC) & Brand existanceProduct Life Cycle (PLC) & Brand existance
Product Life Cycle (PLC) & Brand existance
 
Marketing - Brand Ambassador
Marketing - Brand AmbassadorMarketing - Brand Ambassador
Marketing - Brand Ambassador
 
Celebrity endorsements1-1
Celebrity endorsements1-1Celebrity endorsements1-1
Celebrity endorsements1-1
 
Lemon Scented Tea B2B Prickley Issue 01
Lemon Scented Tea B2B Prickley Issue 01Lemon Scented Tea B2B Prickley Issue 01
Lemon Scented Tea B2B Prickley Issue 01
 
How to engage the consumers? Cross media formats - Andrew Piller, Fremantleme...
How to engage the consumers? Cross media formats - Andrew Piller, Fremantleme...How to engage the consumers? Cross media formats - Andrew Piller, Fremantleme...
How to engage the consumers? Cross media formats - Andrew Piller, Fremantleme...
 
Building A Premium Palette For Your Brand
Building A Premium Palette For Your BrandBuilding A Premium Palette For Your Brand
Building A Premium Palette For Your Brand
 
Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement By Sohag Sarkar
Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement By Sohag SarkarImpact Of Celebrity Endorsement By Sohag Sarkar
Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement By Sohag Sarkar
 
ICP Summit - Marketing Keynote
ICP Summit - Marketing KeynoteICP Summit - Marketing Keynote
ICP Summit - Marketing Keynote
 
Prickly Issue #1 - B2B
Prickly Issue #1 - B2BPrickly Issue #1 - B2B
Prickly Issue #1 - B2B
 
Introduction of the topic
Introduction of the topicIntroduction of the topic
Introduction of the topic
 
Syndicate Creative Branding Business Plan
Syndicate Creative Branding Business PlanSyndicate Creative Branding Business Plan
Syndicate Creative Branding Business Plan
 
Brand mangement main
Brand mangement mainBrand mangement main
Brand mangement main
 

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Team B Mind Map for Organizational Chg..
Team B Mind Map for Organizational Chg..Team B Mind Map for Organizational Chg..
Team B Mind Map for Organizational Chg..dlewis191
 
A flour, rice and Suji company in Jhang.
A flour, rice and Suji company in Jhang.A flour, rice and Suji company in Jhang.
A flour, rice and Suji company in Jhang.mcshagufta46
 
Q2 2024 APCO Geopolitical Radar - The Global Operating Environment for Business
Q2 2024 APCO Geopolitical Radar - The Global Operating Environment for BusinessQ2 2024 APCO Geopolitical Radar - The Global Operating Environment for Business
Q2 2024 APCO Geopolitical Radar - The Global Operating Environment for BusinessAPCO
 
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdf
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdfGraham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdf
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdfAnhNguyen97152
 
Introduction to The overview of GAAP LO 1-5.pptx
Introduction to The overview of GAAP LO 1-5.pptxIntroduction to The overview of GAAP LO 1-5.pptx
Introduction to The overview of GAAP LO 1-5.pptxJemalSeid25
 
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking Applications
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking ApplicationsUpgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking Applications
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking ApplicationsIntellect Design Arena Ltd
 
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdf
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdfChicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdf
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdfSourav Sikder
 
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John Meulemans
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John MeulemansBCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John Meulemans
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John MeulemansBBPMedia1
 
Live-Streaming in the Music Industry Webinar
Live-Streaming in the Music Industry WebinarLive-Streaming in the Music Industry Webinar
Live-Streaming in the Music Industry WebinarNathanielSchmuck
 
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access
 
UNLEASHING THE POWER OF PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING
UNLEASHING THE POWER OF PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISINGUNLEASHING THE POWER OF PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING
UNLEASHING THE POWER OF PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISINGlokeshwarmaha
 
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdf
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdfAMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdf
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdfJohnCarloValencia4
 
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access
 
PDT 88 - 4 million seed - Seed - Protecto.pdf
PDT 88 - 4 million seed - Seed - Protecto.pdfPDT 88 - 4 million seed - Seed - Protecto.pdf
PDT 88 - 4 million seed - Seed - Protecto.pdfHajeJanKamps
 
Plano de marketing- inglês em formato ppt
Plano de marketing- inglês  em formato pptPlano de marketing- inglês  em formato ppt
Plano de marketing- inglês em formato pptElizangelaSoaresdaCo
 
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003believeminhh
 
Lecture_6.pptx English speaking easyb to
Lecture_6.pptx English speaking easyb toLecture_6.pptx English speaking easyb to
Lecture_6.pptx English speaking easyb toumarfarooquejamali32
 
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)Lviv Startup Club
 
HELENE HECKROTTE'S PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO.pptx
HELENE HECKROTTE'S PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO.pptxHELENE HECKROTTE'S PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO.pptx
HELENE HECKROTTE'S PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO.pptxHelene Heckrotte
 
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZ
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZMihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZ
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZKanakChauhan5
 

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Team B Mind Map for Organizational Chg..
Team B Mind Map for Organizational Chg..Team B Mind Map for Organizational Chg..
Team B Mind Map for Organizational Chg..
 
A flour, rice and Suji company in Jhang.
A flour, rice and Suji company in Jhang.A flour, rice and Suji company in Jhang.
A flour, rice and Suji company in Jhang.
 
Q2 2024 APCO Geopolitical Radar - The Global Operating Environment for Business
Q2 2024 APCO Geopolitical Radar - The Global Operating Environment for BusinessQ2 2024 APCO Geopolitical Radar - The Global Operating Environment for Business
Q2 2024 APCO Geopolitical Radar - The Global Operating Environment for Business
 
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdf
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdfGraham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdf
Graham and Doddsville - Issue 1 - Winter 2006 (1).pdf
 
Introduction to The overview of GAAP LO 1-5.pptx
Introduction to The overview of GAAP LO 1-5.pptxIntroduction to The overview of GAAP LO 1-5.pptx
Introduction to The overview of GAAP LO 1-5.pptx
 
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking Applications
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking ApplicationsUpgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking Applications
Upgrade Your Banking Experience with Advanced Core Banking Applications
 
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdf
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdfChicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdf
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer.pdf
 
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John Meulemans
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John MeulemansBCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John Meulemans
BCE24 | Virtual Brand Ambassadors: Making Brands Personal - John Meulemans
 
Live-Streaming in the Music Industry Webinar
Live-Streaming in the Music Industry WebinarLive-Streaming in the Music Industry Webinar
Live-Streaming in the Music Industry Webinar
 
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global B2B Panel book-unlock 2024
 
UNLEASHING THE POWER OF PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING
UNLEASHING THE POWER OF PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISINGUNLEASHING THE POWER OF PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING
UNLEASHING THE POWER OF PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING
 
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdf
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdfAMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdf
AMAZON SELLER VIRTUAL ASSISTANT PRODUCT RESEARCH .pdf
 
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024
Borderless Access - Global Panel book-unlock 2024
 
PDT 88 - 4 million seed - Seed - Protecto.pdf
PDT 88 - 4 million seed - Seed - Protecto.pdfPDT 88 - 4 million seed - Seed - Protecto.pdf
PDT 88 - 4 million seed - Seed - Protecto.pdf
 
Plano de marketing- inglês em formato ppt
Plano de marketing- inglês  em formato pptPlano de marketing- inglês  em formato ppt
Plano de marketing- inglês em formato ppt
 
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003
The Vietnam Believer Newsletter_MARCH 25, 2024_EN_Vol. 003
 
Lecture_6.pptx English speaking easyb to
Lecture_6.pptx English speaking easyb toLecture_6.pptx English speaking easyb to
Lecture_6.pptx English speaking easyb to
 
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)
Michael Vidyakin: Introduction to PMO (UA)
 
HELENE HECKROTTE'S PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO.pptx
HELENE HECKROTTE'S PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO.pptxHELENE HECKROTTE'S PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO.pptx
HELENE HECKROTTE'S PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO.pptx
 
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZ
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZMihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZ
Mihir Menda - Member of Supervisory Board at RMZ
 

Masterps V1 I1

  • 1. march 2007 The Marketing Magazine Vol. 1 Issue 1 The man who combined two of our passions The four P’s and the big B Marketing guru: Kevin Keller The disruptive marketer Ad Buzz ADS ON THE MOVE:
  • 2. BRANDWAGON BRANDWAGON: It gives us immense pleasure to launch the first ever Marketing Magazine ‘Master P’s’ of IIFT’s Kolkata campus. Our objective is not only to understand the 4Ps but to go beyond them. Creativity is everywhere from Dabbawallas to Dell, but a plat- Coordinators: form is needed to unleash creativity and encourage innovativeness. That is where ‘Master P’s’ comes into the picture. It is a platform for all the creative minds to ex- press their ideas. Devesh Bijalwan Gaurav Sharma My special thanks to the Gaurav and Devesh, the co-coordinators of ‘Brandwagon’: The Marketing club at IIFT, for their invaluable contribution throughout the magazine. I would also like to appreciate the creativity of Wencesl in designing the magazine to give it such a wonderful and attractive form. masterP’s: Our issue starts with Ashwini Verma’s analysis of celebrity endorsement by taking Editor: Amitabh Bachchan as an example. Abhishek authors our cover story about Kerry Suresh Kr. Varisetty Packer who combined cricket with Marketing. Pankaj explains us how creativity can make a difference in advertisements through Volkswagen’s ad campaigns. Prabhash joins the group of people who vehemently opposes the SUVs through his article ‘Disruptive Marketer’. It has always been an argument on exactly how Design & Layout: many P’s are relevant to Marketing. Gaurav Verma adds 2 more P’s to profes- Wencesl Khyllep sional services in his article: ‘Starting a Professional Services Brand’. Rajat Jain starts his series on the worst ever branding mistakes of all times with the example of ‘Ford Edsel’ in this issue. As a part of our commitment to exploring the different kind of Marketing practices we have ‘Herd Instincts’ from Jitin and ‘Drip Marketing’ from Niharika. Ajay chooses Kevin Keller as the featured Marketing guru for this issue. Without advertisements, Marketing will never be complete in itself. Rishi in his ‘Ad Analysis’ categorizes 3 ads as good, average and poor. Gaurav Pundlik argues the relevance of German made automobiles. Finally we felt that some brands become a part and parcel of our lives. Nike is one such brand. Hence we incorporated the periodical events of Nike and its logo history. We would like to thank all the contributors for their untiring efforts in helping us come out with this issue. The speciality of our Magazine is the ‘Advertisement Challenge’ where the reader is given a series of pictures and would be required to make sense out them and create his/her own advertisement. Apart from all things, we lighten our reader’s hearts with our cartoons and trivia. We believe in constant improvement and continuous learning. We will appreciate your feedback to be sent to masterps.iift@gmail.com for the improvement of ‘Master P’s’. For internal circulation only. Not for commercial purposes
  • 3. what’s in: the 4 P’s and the big B 4 (ashwini talks about the man’s market- ability) herd marketing 6 made in germany??? 8 the nike story 11 (they did it……..and how?) starting a professional services guru of the month: Kevin keller brand 13 21 (from 4 P’s to 6 P’s….the more the mer- rier) interesting re(ad)s 23 mar(cric)keting 16 drip marketing 25 ads on the move 18 ad buzz 27 (an advertising game) (a review of 3 of the latest ads by rishi) the disruptive marketer 19 off the mark 29 (love for SUV’s=disdain for mankind??) (everything wrong about the Ford Edsel)
  • 4. The 4 P’s & the big B Ashwini Verma Hero-worshipping, whether it be cricket or bolly- Film stars have been the major sufferers. Latest wood, has been a trend that the current genera- example could be the replacement of Virender tion shares with its grandfather’s generation. Sehwag by Salman Khan for the endorsement Successful marketers have always tapped the of Mayur Suitings. popularity of such ‘stars’. The basic premise in Amitabh Bachchan is an exception to this nor- getting a celebrity to endorse a product is that the mal life cycle of a celebrity in terms of endorse- instant recognition provided by the celebrity cuts ments. An immensely successful actor of more through the clutter. Amidst an overload of adver- than three-and-a-half decades in the Hindi film tising, this feature guarantees an advertisement's industry, a failed politician, a stumbling busi- ability to stand out and generate awareness. If nessman and anchor of just one TV programme there is a fit between the personality of the celeb- KBC- his is a unique combination. It is note- rity and the brand characteristics, top-of-the- worthy that during the first two-and-a-half dec- mind recall is also ensured. If the endorser en- ades of his acting career in more than a 100 joys wide popularity among different geographic films, he never endorsed any product. and demographic segments, so much the better. What set him apart from others and drew a host But a possible drawback of using celebrity en- of marketers to leverage his personality was his dorsements is the attachment of the brand with popularity across the length and breadth of In- their career or even personal life. Cricketers and dia, cutting across the barriers of age, income, region and language. One of his strengths was his unblemished per- sonality. As an endorser stakes his reputation and credibility in endorsing products, the cleaner the track record the greater the trustwor- thiness. This aspect was exploited by Cadbury's well for a come-back for dairy milk. Nerolac Paints was another brand that leveraged his credibility by having him assure the audience, `Hum keh rahe hain' in its commercials. When Eveready's storyboard for its torch- light ‘Jeevan Sathi’ revolved around the
  • 5. PAGE 5 BRANDWAGON product as a dowry item, Ami- The endorsement value gets marketers is - how to stretch tabh put his foot down and re- eroded and the brands end up as such a widely leveraged person- fused to endorse it. Respecting just another product among the ality? How does one ensure that his feelings and recognizing many endorsed and do not stand the enormous amounts invested the advertisement's limita- apart. The question is, how many in this expensive brand ambassa- tions, Eveready shelved it. In- product categories can his per- dor are well utilized? There's no stances such as this reinforce sonality traits traverse? Market- stopping his endorsements, how- his credibility and strengthen ers now face a dilemma in ex- ever. He is expected to sign his brand value. ploiting Amitabh's persona fur- deals worth Rs 30 crore to Rs 50 The campaigns for Pulse Polio, ther. A wide range of emotions crore over the next couple of Unicef and People for the Ethi- such as humor and anger have years. cal Treatment of Animals been exploited from his acting (PETA) featured him promi- repertoire. The challenge for nently to have a big impact on the audience. The critical issues: To ‘B’ or ‘In this land of Vertically- not to ‘B’ challenged, anyone who His endorsements cost between stretches past 6 gets a shot to Rs 5 crore and Rs 12 crore, be the king.’ which is very high and questions are being raised about the returns on having him as a celebrity. For multinationals with deep pockets such as Pepsi, having Amitabh as a brand ambassador and renewing the contract may be affordable. But for others, the temptation to use him as a one-off exercise is strong. For ex- ample, ICICI did not renew its deal with Amitabh after it expired in 2002. Overexposure, however, is the major issue, with Amitabh endorsing too many products. His face has promoted a slew of products in categories as diverse as beverages, paints, financial services, garments, automobiles, stationery, food supple- ments, personal care, real estate, batteries, televi- sions, chocolates and jewellery. Moreover, he has a `guest appearance' in P&G's commercial for its detergent brand Tide (shot while filming Baghban). However, the enigma of his personality faces the risk of being unraveled. Exclusivity can no longer be associated with him. The audience gets con- fused when the same celebrity plugs many brands.
  • 6. Herd marketing Jitin Shanker Bhasin Heard about “HERD” marketing? No it’s not just media environment: SMS and internet are built on some esoteric marketing jargon which would our species inherent desire and need to interact with dwindle away with time. It in fact has taken the others. Recognizing the herd instinct has important world of marketing by a storm and is changing the consequences for the marketers. For a start, it ex- way in which marketers can create need. plains why mass behaviour is so hard to change. Marketers should be expert at changing mass- behaviour and putting consumer at the heart should Over the past 10 years or so cluster of cellophane be the raison d’ettre. wrapped bunches of flowers seem to have swamped Britain’s roadsides. It is a phenomenon One of the primary assumptions in herd marketing that satirical magazine Private Eye has dubbed the is to look at marketing function as C2C rather than “cellotaph” syndrome-the setting up of floral B2C. This means recognizing that the most impor- shrines to the victims of traffic accidents. But how tant relationship is not between the company or did these shrines start? brand and any given consumer, but between latter and other individuals. The acceptance of our herd nature is changing the One line of explanation is that each flower is the result of an independent decision based on some cost benefit trade off or is driven by a desire to ex- press an individual’s grief. This is what we assume when we conduct marketing research: we ask indi- vidual consumers what they do now, why, and what they might do in future. We also work on the basis that individuals decide what they do inde- pendently of others and can tell us about it. Almost everything of worth in our world including the power we have over future of the planet comes from this “herd nature” and our ability and passion for social interaction and collaboration. The same is true of the technologies that are reshaping the
  • 7. PAGE 7 BRANDWAGON way some media players are evaluating media match, you would also fail to reap benefits of channel options. While most of the media world word-of-mouth (C2C) marketing in the latter is getting excited about moving on from count- case. ing audiences and weighting them according to We as marketers of tomorrow should focus on their wallets, to counting them according to how the most influential customer, “the prized catch” ‘engaged’ they are with the medium. Global who holds greatest sway over the majority of his/ agencies such as NAKED have proposed that the her peer group. One should focus on the types real currency of the media world should be the and sources of influence that shape customer be- extent to which an audience passes messages on haviour both positively and negatively and think to others: the “propagation value”. At the same about their opinions and actions and even more time we as marketers of the future should also importantly your reactions to it!! heed attention to the fact that different target au- diences would serve as “marketers” to different sections of the society. Marketer of a lifestyle product would be better off to partner with NDTV or STAR TV instead of DD to advertise the products. Apart from the target-thrust mis- SNIPPETS: 1. Advertorial A journalistic term coined by combining the words advertisements and editorial. It denotes articles or features which are paid by advertisers. Usually items of this category are commercial in nature and have little news value. 2. The Difference Between Optimism, Pessimism & Marketing The Optimist says, "The glass is half full." The Pessimist says, "The glass is half empty." The Marketing Consultant says, "Your glass needs re-sizing."
  • 8. MANY???? MADE IN GER Gaurav Pundlik Our whole society is unimaginable without 1996, and the other surprisingly by deciding automobiles. They have more become a part of to move into sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) our mental culture than our physical culture. segment under the name of Cayenne. Equally They carry such an emotional appeal that we radical was Porsche’s choice of locations to sometimes do not stop from expressing our build these SUVs. personalities through a particular liking of a While rival carmakers such as Ferrari, Aston brand .It's true for everyone, and especially for Martin, Alfa Romeo, and Lamborghini have those who base their been happy to purchase decision and locate where la- aspirations on choice bor costs are than just price. When vs cheaper, Porsche it’s the question of lux- erected a small ury foreign brands we facility in Leip- cannot neglect the likes zig in eastern Germany which of Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, and Bentley. has much higher wages than Eastern Europe. Sometimes in their quest for image building, Moreover, unlike BMW or Daimler-Benz, Por- dilemma of selecting customer segments and sche did not move closer to the main U.S. mar- attaining bottom-line, companies go for risky ket. moves. And this all for keeping it “Made in Germany”. Porsche is the case in point. But because of this “Made in Germany” tag , Almost a decade ago, Porsche found itself at the controversial Cayenne turned out to be Por- such crossroads. Known for its classy sports sche's best-selling automobile ever as it really cars, the firm had taken a hit in 1987 stock played off the idea of ‘what exactly Porsche was and what it stood for‘. market crash and suffered a great loss due to its overdependence on the U.S. market. The firm chose not one but two routes to bring Does Location really matter in a globalized revival in sales and recover itself. One, by world? launching a new two-seater, the Boxster in BMW made a decision to locate in Leipzig
  • 9. PAGE 9 BRANDWAGON world innovate, improve in competitiveness and quality, how long will customers is willing to pay brand premium based upon nationality of the product. The quality differentials are also shrink- ing over time in almost all product categories as Japanese luxury car makers like Toyota, Nissan have famously shown. That's an issue justifiably worrying German firms “How are they going to survive as a whole Cayenne model launched in 2004 either through the name, quality, or particular excellence in its price?" And Porsche is no ex- ception. BMW made a decision to locate in Leipzig rather than go abroad for targeting cash rich cus- tomers in eastern Germany and it built a plant Reinvention that employed thousands of people and is a ma- Porsche has been accomplishing a tedious task of jor manufacturing site, while the Leipzig plant reinventing itself between '93 and the present. In for Porsche is much smaller and employed a sense Porsche is incorporating Japanese pro- around only 400 workers. duction processes of lean manufacturing while Naturally a question arises, Can products just be still producing German-made cars and maintain- manufactured anywhere? One possible answer ing the German reputation for quality automo- can be: Think about relative productivity costs. biles. For past 6-7 years, German workers have In Germany in 2001, the labor costs were about been moderating their wage demands, allowing 25-26 Euros per hour. In the Czech Republic German firms to become more competitive vis- they were about 4-6 Euros per hour. So it's quite à-vis other European countries. Improved pro- dramatic and if you still end up producing in ductivity is helping unit labor costs in Germany Germany there have to be huge productivity decline over time. While these are positive level differences between Germany and Czech trends, the problem is that these “super- Republic which actually was the case. successful luxury” machines are not creating new jobs in Germany. Appeal of National Products Moving its production to Central Europe from Germany means paying low wage rates for There must be some reason why Opel claims skilled workers which in fact was the German “The difference is German engineering”. Ger- firm’s strategy in early part of 20th century. But man companies, known for their craftsmanship, the wages in those parts are rising very fast rela- generally compete as niche producers, particu- tive to rise in productivity levels negating the larly those that manufacture high-quality goods advantage of facility shift. So that is an issue for that demand a premium price. In 2004-2005 Ger- Porsche moving abroad. We shouldn't be looking many became the number-one exporter of quality at a static number (costs), but really should be manufactured goods in the world, and its market thinking about it more dynamically share was around 10 Percent, surpassing that of (environmental and social factors) over time. the United States. As other firms around the
  • 10. BRANDWAGON PAGE 10 Then, it's about brand cause of the long supply chains among parts sup- If we ask “by moving into SUV market did Por- pliers”. sche remain true to its brand”? Is Porsche brand too much dependent on its German roots? Is Cay- In many ways, Porsche has unconsciously gone enne Made in Germany or not? back to its roots. After leaving Mercedes, Ferdi- The answer is: The Cayenne is clearly German- nand Porsche founded his own design firm in designed and inspired. Only when you think of it 1931 with his son and his son-in-law, Anton in terms of a pure manufacturing product Cay- Piech (the father of Ferdinand Piech of VW). enne has invited some controversies because its In addition, Ferdinand Porsche also had Central components were partially manufactured in European connection, since he was born in Bohe- Volkswagen’s Slovakia plant. To stop these con- mia (now Vratislavice in the Czech Republic). troversies, Porsche’s CEO Wiedeking shocked What then do we call Porsche, ‘Made in Ger- the investment world by purchasing roughly a many’ or ‘Made in Central Europe’? 20% stake in VW. To defend himself and “Made in Germany” brand, Wiedeking says “It's near impossible to maintain 100% national brand be- Jest in case
  • 11. The nike story Suresh Kr. Varisetty Nike's Heritage NIKE, pronounced NI-KEY, is the winged god- dess of victory according to Greek mythology. She sat at the side of Zeus, the ruler of the Olympic pantheon, in Olympus. A mystical presence, sym- bolizing victorious encounters, NIKE presided SWOOSH was introduced.....the rest is history! (from Nike Consumer Affairs packet, 1996) over history's earliest battlefields. A Greek would say, "When we go to battle and win, we say it is NIKE." Synonymous with honored conquest, History NIKE is the twentieth century footwear that lifts The Nike athletic machine began as a small dis- the world's greatest athletes to new levels of mas- tributing outfit located in the trunk of Phil Knight's tery and achievement. The NIKE 'swoosh' embod- car. From these rather inauspicious beginnings, ies the spirit of the winged goddess who inspired Knight's brainchild grew to become the shoe and the most courageous and chivalrous warriors at the athletic company that would come to define many dawn of civilization. (from Nike Consumer Affairs aspects of popular culture and myriad varieties of packet, 1996) 'cool.' Nike emanated from two sources: Bill Bowerman's quest for lighter, more durable racing shoes for his Oregon runners, and Knight's search for a way to The SWOOSH logo is a graphic make a living without having to give up his love of design created by Caroline Davidson in 1971. It athletics. Bowerman coached track at the Univer- represents the wing of the Greek Goddess NIKE. sity of Oregon where Phil Knight ran in 1959. Caroline Davidson was a student at Portland State Bowerman's desire for better quality running shoes University in advertising. She met Phil Knight clearly influenced Knight in his search for a mar- while he was teaching accounting classes and she keting strategy. Between them, the seed of the started doing some freelance work for his com- most influential sporting company grew. pany. Phil Knight asked Caroline to design a logo that could be placed on the side of a shoe. She The story goes like this: while getting his MBA at handed him the SWOOSH, he handed her $35.00. Stanford in the early '60s, Knight took a class with In spring of 1972, the first shoe with the NIKE Frank Shallenberger. The semester-long project
  • 12. BRANDWAGON PAGE 12 was to devise a small business, including a mar- of this project to discover other generators of keting plan. Synthesizing Bowerman's attention popular attention to health. to quality running shoes and the burgeoning opinion that high-quality/low cost products could be produced in Japan and shipped to the U.S. for If Nike didn't start the fitness revolution, Knight distribution, Knight found his market niche. says, "We were at least right there. And we sure Shallenberger thought the idea interesting, but rode it for one hell of a ride" (Katz, 66). The 80s certainly no business jackpot. Nothing more be- and 90s would yield greater and greater profits came of Knight's project. as Nike began to assume the appearance of ath- letic juggernaut, rather than the underdog of old. Cut to 1963. Phil Knight traveled to Japan on a "Advertising Age" named Nike the 1996 Mar- world-tour, filled with the wanderlust of young keter of the Year, citing the "ubiquitous men seeking a way to delay the inevitable call of swoosh...was more recognized and coveted by professional life. Seemingly on a whim, Knight consumers than any other sports brand--arguably scheduled an interview with a Japanese running any brand" (Jensen, 12/96). That same year shoe manufacturer, Tiger--a subsidiary of the Nike's revenues were a staggering $6.74 billion. Onitsuka Company. Presenting himself as the Now in the year 2005 Nike’s revenues were representative of an American distributor inter- $13.74 billion and in the year 2006 revenues ested in selling Tiger shoes to American runners, were a staggering $14.95 billion. Knight told the businessmen of his interest in their product. Blue Ribbon Sports--the name Knight thought of moments after being asked who he represented--was born. The Tiger execu- tives liked what they heard and Knight placed his first order for Tigers soon thereafter. By 1964, Knight had sold $8,000 worth of Ti- gers and placed an order for more. Coach Bow- erman and Knight worked together, but ended up hiring a full-time salesman, Jeff Johnson. After cresting $1 million in sales and riding the wave of the success, Knight et. al. devised the Nike name and trademark Swoosh in 1971. By the late '70s, Blue Ribbon Sports officially became Nike and went from $10 million to $270 million in sales. Katz (1994) describes the suc- cess via Nike's placement within the matrix of the fitness revolution: 'the idea of exercise and game-playing ceased to be something the aver- age American did for fun,' instead Americans turned to working out as a cultural signifier of status. Clearly, the circumstances surrounding the shift are not this simple; it is one of the aims
  • 13. ICES PROFESS IONAL SERV S TARTING A BRAND Gaurav Verma A brand is a promise of benefits that will be One thing firms must adhere to common norms, gained. Brand should live up to the promise and and mass advertising is generally not accepted or customers should perceive that the service lives up allowed. Another issue is that consumers of pro- to its promise. fessional services are very sensitive to quality is- In the services sector the brand 'promise' is sues - whether real or perceived. achieved through an ever-shifting dance of action So professional firms have a much smaller oppor- and reaction between providers and clients. Every tunity to impress each client than general services single interaction has an impact on the reputation firms. They have to create a far more powerful im- of the brand. And once consumer perceptions of pact in every single interaction, and thus have to the reputation are set in the minds of the consumer, employ a larger basket of tools synchronized to it is very difficult to change them. So each interac- deliver the same message. tion must deliver on the benefits expected by cus- tomers. Marketing Mix for Professional Services. Think of certain public-sector companies in the services sector - say airlines or telecom providers - In addition to classic 'four Ps' of marketing – who are stuck with a legacy of negative brand per- 'products', 'price', 'place' and 'promotion'. Services ception because they didn't live up to their brand are marketed through the additional factors of promise in the past. However effectively they op- 'people', 'processes', 'productivity' and 'physical erate now, and believe me some of them run as evidence'. well as or even better than their private-sector For Professional services we can add another 2 Ps, counterparts, consumers find it difficult to give 'Proof' (proof of expertise and prior experience) them any credit. and 'Plurality' (the multiple channels through For services, there are no barriers to competitors which professional services reach end-users). copying any new service. Yesterday's innovations When starting a relationship, these two factors are become today's basic requirements. The banking the most important, since same delivery standards and insurance sectors are good examples, as soon and quality levels provided to different customer as an idea is introduced by one firm, clone servicesorganizations (or even to the same people in the are quickly rolled out by competitors. same organization at different times) get perceived As a professional services marketer, you'll have to very differently. A customer's purchase decision face an uphill struggle in developing your brand. therefore starts with a search for explicit proof of
  • 14. BRANDWAGON PAGE 14 capability, and that's what the marketer must first By contrast, the older consulting firms don't do provide. New firms must therefore attack the prob- this, they always are able to - bring in top guns at lem on several fronts. the time of pitching for business, but then switch- Start with the basics - client attention ing teams around at the time of executing the work. New firms find providing Proof' particularly diffi- culty since there's no previous track record. At New firms should make sure that top people are such a time, the profile of the firm's executives and involved in the work well beyond the extent prom- their experience becomes very significant and ised and that the client notices it and appreciates it. comes in for a lot of scrutiny. That's why new This can be leveraged in references and testimoni- firms hire the 'right' people and publicize it als. strongly, since that assures clients of high-quality services. Everything affects your brand. Even your tie: Plurality is another factor. Most products and services communicate with and reach customers through a whole host of channels - electronic and print media, online, hoarding and store displays, etc. whereas in case of professional services customers draw their opinion from a number of formal and informal sources, ranging from past clients to cigar-room chats to comments in blogs and chat-rooms. These sources are almost never under the control of the marketer and it’s impossible to control the message being received. Large firms get around this problem by sponsorship of events and brand ambassadors. Small firms, who cannot afford this level of spending, must focus on impressing clients who are directly interacting with the members of the firm. That’s why; the smaller professional services firm must develop codes of conduct, appearance and be-
  • 15. PAGE 15 BRANDWAGON havior, and not just technical methodologies. ployee training, customer interaction processes, That's why marketers at professional services report developments, etc. which have a direct im- firms have to be involved in Operations like em- pact on client perceptions. They are new and haven’t done any Hey John what big projects. I’m about Core Con- skeptical. sultants? Speak the language -- consistently and continu- riod of time. ously Professional services need a 'quiet' style. Profes- To Conclude sional services are by and large sold one-to-one and driven by relationships. Consumer-style mass Branding professional services firms is tougher marketing is hardly ever used. than it looks. The lack of options and the amazing variety of ways that clients get information means Firms should focus on 'Conversations' rather than that they develop their own notions of what the 'sales meetings', ‘Low-key and restrained’ rather brand may stand for. Marketers, especially for new than ‘loud’, 'Clients' rather than 'customers', firms who must deliver as good a customer experi- 'Value' rather than ‘Costs’. Firms entering the in- ence as their older rivals, must therefore consider dustry from other segments, such as technology issues normally not thought to be in their scope, to firms moving into professional services consulting deliver their message. must learn a very different mind-set and communi- cation style from that used in technology sales. The marketing cycle is also usually much longer, and so there's a greater need to deliver the same message consistently and over a much longer pe-
  • 16. Mar(c ric)keting Abhishek Ravichand v Watching cricket in a cozy bedroom or dining But,what probably made packer famous,especially room(for singles like me) may not be a big deal for outside australia was the contribution he made to most of us, but do you know who brought cricket world cricket.It all started in 1976,frustrated in his to your house; who got the cricketers who used to pursuit to acquire the rights to broadcast cricket look pristine in their white outfits wear those matches in australia by the coziness of relations clownish colorful outfits, may be no: the answer is between the Australian Cricket Board and the Aus- Kerry Packer. Before you start wondering the rele- tralian Broadcasting Corporation . vance of this article in this magazine, I want to as- Packer decided to introduce world series ricket.He sure you that this article is more of a discussion of signed up players of national teams by offering successful marketing strategy rather than a com- them exorbitant salaries. WSC was conceptualized mentary on cricket. as a made-for-TV cricket series. On December 2, Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer AC (17 December 1977 to be precise, Australian cricket lovers turn- 1937 – 26 December 2005), son of Sir Frank ing on their television sets had for the first time a Packer, was an Australian publishing, media and choice in their bill of fare. Live from the Gabba on gaming tycoon who owned the Nine Network. He the Australian Broadcasting Corporation came the was famous for his outspoken nature, wealth, ex- soothing sights and sounds of a traditional Test, pansive business empire and clashes with the Aus- the first of a series against India. Live from Mel- tralian Taxation Office and the Costigan Commis- bourne's VFL Park on Channel 9, meanwhile, sion.At the time of his death, Packer was the rich- came the unfamiliar images of what purported to est and one of the most influential men in Austra- be a revolutionary new variant on the game: a Su- lia. pertest, brought to you by World Series Cricket. The play itself, between an Australian team led by Ian Chappell and a West Indian outfit captained by Clive Lloyd, did not actually look all that dif- ferent. "There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?" While some of the ideas brought into WSC were intelligent - fielding circles, drop-in pitches and batting helmets, for example - some of the market- ing ideas were bizarre,to say the least. Sledging was encouraged as part of the “excitement” of the v
  • 17. PAGE 17 BRANDWAGON ans started off in poofy pink; umpires in brown jackets and black shirts; blackened sightscreens. And - so that Channel Nine could fit more ads in - a shortening of the over from eight balls to six.Packer was so passionate about getting the crowds into the stadium that in the very first day- nighter at the SCG in November 1978. With thou- sands of people queuing outside an already seem- ingly-packed ground, Packer ordered the gates to be opened so that they could get in free. It is worth pointing out that packer did not make cricket popular, in fact packer coveted cricket’s popularity. What he improved was cricket's ability to exploit its popularity commercially. This he did game, TV ads of West Indian opener Roy in a variety of fashions, jazzing up television cov- Fredericks giving an obscene gesture to Dennis erage, promoting the players as personalities, Lillee were repeatedly shown(or at least trying to, pitching the game as a product to the public that through his batting glove). Kids were encouraged could be consumed over five days or one, by day to run onto the field and thump their heroes on the or night, in white and colored clothing. This was back whenever a batsman reached 50 (and I saw his biggest achievement he marketed cricket like a occasions where they were actually being mar- product, using the principles that may appear to be shaled into position by WSC ground staff, ready to straight from Kotler’s book. leap the fence.) Press releases claimed that the Packer had his fair share of criticism, he was de- WSC supertests were more exciting than the offi- rided by purists for spoiling the game and bringing cial Test matches because more fours were being the taboo commercial element in the game, he struck. Though Packer had more stars than Broad- could also be held responsible for creating one of way: the Chappells, Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh, the biggest rifts in world cricket, the players who Doug Walters, David Hookes versus Lloyd, Viv signed up for WSC received lengthy international Richards, Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Andy bans, and the series eventually fizzled out, but the Roberts. Attendance in this ‘Supertest’ was far World Series "circus" changed cricket forever. His from satisfactory, fewer than 500 were scattered business sense, his audacity and his belief in the round the concrete tiers of VFL Park. project gave the support to a bunch of people will- Things started to click, however, in WSC’s second ing to innovate in an attempt to make the game season, 1978-79. After NSW Government inter- more marketable. One can’t deny the fact that his vention, WSC was permitted to play on the Syd- 'circus' saved cricket from a slow and painful ney Cricket Ground instead of the grungier Sydney death. Showground next door. And to bring the game to more mid-week spectators and to prime-time TV audiences, night cricket was developed. Flood- lights strong enough to safely view the ball, which nonetheless had to be painted white; coloured uni- forms for the players, even though the West Indi-
  • 18. ADS ON THE MOVE CREATIVITY PAYS. 1. SHOWN ABOVE ARE 6 SNAPSHOTS FROM THE LATEST AIRTEL AD. 2. USE THEM AS AN INTRODUCTION TO COME UP WITH YOUR OWN AD. 3. NO RESTRICTION ON THE PRODUCT, BRAND OR COMPANY. 4. ENTRIES SHOULD INCLUDE A BRIEF ON THE PRODUCT. 5. RELEVANCE & CONNECTIVITY TO THE SNAPSHOTS IS A MUST. 6. LATE DATE FOR ENTRIES: 31 MARCH, 2007 7. SUBMISSIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS: masterps.iift@gmail.com
  • 19. disruptive marketer Prabhash Trivedi What would you wear on a bright sunny day for a to the lives of us lesser men who are sensible visit to the zoo? A pair of gum boots and raincoat?enough to prefer cars. Perhaps a car owner’s worst Well, such an analogy is seen everyday on our on-road nightmare is to somehow miraculously roads. Go to the cities with their narrow roads anddrive around the city, going about their mundane heavy traffic and you would see a lot of small cars, chores while at the same time perform amazing big cars and yes, the giants called SUVs. maneuvers to stay clear of these giants and their Yes, the SUVs, built to conquer rugged terrains, drivers (who also, quite interestingly seem to ac- the impossible contours and to boldly go where no quire qualities similar to their steed). car has gone before. Hey wait! Now what the hell are these reckless adventurers doing on our docile No, no don’t get me wrong. I do not hate SUVs! I roads? Mingling with the lowly, minion, servile am a normal human cars? being just like all of Well the answer is quite you. I too like to go to simple. It’s doing a lot of the zoo on a bright, things- and none of them sunny day and watch are any good! In a sce- the beautiful wild ani- nario where the roads are mals. They are won- cramped and threatening derful things, these to burst with too much wild animals. Strong, cars (and SUVs), these powerful created by monsters are taking up the God to conquer the precious space which atrocities inflicted on could accommodate at them by the wild. I least two more cars. Not to mention the parking enjoy very much to admire them through the bars space, which is at a premium at most shopping of their cages. I like them even more when I see hubs of our cities. Plus these juggernauts have an them in their natural environments. I bet you appetite that eats up a major chunk of our coun- would too! But I doubt if any of you would like tries fuel. Come on people don’t we all appreciate them as much if they were to escape the zoo and a little efficiency? Also factor in the fact that the come prowling on the roads. sheer size of these behemoths poses serious danger
  • 20. BRANDWAGON PAGE 20 So, all you SUV owners out there……..get the hell or maybe “Small Cars Suck!” Haven’t decided off the road! yet! Next issue: “SUVs: Mankind’s greatest invention” Snippets: Marketing Two-Upmanship A retailer was dismayed when a competitor selling the same type of product opened next- door to him, displaying a large sign proclaiming "Best Deals". Not long after he was horrified to find yet another competitor move in next-door, on the other side if his store. It's large sign was even more disturbing- "Lowest Prices". After his initial panic, and concern that he would be driven out of business, he looked for a way to turn the situation to his marketing advantage. Finally, an idea came to him. Next day, he proudly unveiled a new and huge sign over his front door. It read, "Main Entrance"!
  • 21. Kevi n keller Ajay Chhabra We will be soon moving to the second year in Awards: which all of us have to opt for some specialization. Dissertation Awards, 1986 Brand Management is a dream subject for any marketer because ultimately a person has to de- American Marketing Association, American Psy- velop one or other brand. Who better to give com- chological Association Division 23, Association ments on Brand Management other than Prof. for Consumer Research, Marketing Science Insti- Kevin Keller? Before going to his comment on tute Brand Management let’s see his current profile. Harold H. Maynard Award, Journal of Marketing, Name: Kevin Keller Primary Title: E.B. Osborn Professor of Marketing Primary Dept: Marketing Areas of Ex- Marketing; branding; brand equity, and brand management; pertise: integrated marketing communications and advertising. Professor Keller is acknowledged as one of the 1993; Sheth Foundation/Journal of Marketing international leaders in the study of brands, brand- Award, 2003 ing, and strategic brand management. Actively in- Has been awarded the 2005 ZIBS Distinguished volved with industry, he has worked on a host of Theory Award by the Zyman Institute of Brand different types of marketing projects. He has Science (ZIBS), a network-based organization lo- served as brand confidant to marketers for some of cated at Emory University's Goizueta Business the world's most successful brands, including Ac- School. The award is given annually and honors centure, American Express, Disney, Ford, Intel, significant contribution to the field of brand sci- Levi Strauss, Miller Brewing, Procter & Gamble, ence. and Starbucks. Kevin Keller on Brand and successful sustaining Education. the Brand Keller has completed his education from AB, Cor- Kevin Lane Keller has helped some of the world's nell University, 1978; MSIA, Carnegie-Mellon most recognizable companies create and sustain University, 1980; PhD, Duke University, 1986. successful brands. He's also seen many companies
  • 22. BRANDWAGON PAGE 22 fail. line between evolving the brand and destroying the He feels that brand fails because equity promise. of many reasons but the most im- Companies need to approach the idea of suggests portant reason for the failure of that you don't spend 10 years appealing to middle- brand is that people fail to grasp aged women and then suddenly turn around and the importance of a well- start trying to connect with 25-year-old women. articulated brand. He feels that You're almost certainly going to alienate the peo- brand isn't just a name or a logo ple who have an investment in your brand, and design, it's a relationship between there's no guarantee you're going to be successful a product and a user. Just as peo- with the new group. ple have to connect on multiple Keller feels that brands should not wait for the levels, brands have to connect with their audience world to change before they evolve. He feels that in different dimensions. He feels that for a brand the audience is a constantly moving target’s to have a successful relationship, it's got to have breadth as well as depth. changing needs, changing motivations, changing hot buttons. If you're not changing with them, Keller feels that strong brands are reliable, yet you're on your way to becoming irrelevant. they're also dynamic by nature and must evolve in order to stay relevant. The quest for relevance is key, but changing a brand in the wrong way and losing its relevance is one of the primary reasons successful brands fail. He says that there is a fine Jest in case
  • 23. g Re(ad)s Interestin Pankaj Kothiyal "Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it." Stephen Leacock. Volkswagen Van came up with this brilliant idea to promote its carrying capacity as against many other cars:
  • 24. BRANDWAGON PAGE 24 Volkswagen comes with yet another winner for its Polo car in this classic advertisement. A little back- ground may be essential to understand this one. The football rivalry between Germany and Holland is as big as that between India-Pak in cricket. This ad, which has the headline “Extremely Well Built.” has a group of german football team supporters travelling in a VW Polo car among a gang of Dutch fans. And the rest is self-explanatory. One last piece from Volkswagen for its Nueva Passat car. Here the emphasis on the luxurious back space available in the car.
  • 25. Drip m arketing Niharika Gogineni Drip marketing: Drip marketing isn’t a new strategy. It’s been used time and again in insurance circles. However in recent times new web-based technology is making One of the most valuable assets in any business is successful drip marketing more affordable and people who don’t buy from you—today. These are manageable than ever. If well engineered a drip the potential customers, and form the majority of marketing campaign can be extremely effective. the prospects for the business. Attracting these Besides the message quality (relevance), the fre- prospects can be achieved through a marketing quency and timing of its delivery has a huge im- strategy like using Drip marketing. pact on the effectiveness of any opportunity gen- eration campaign. What is drip marketing? It is a direct marketing strategy that involves consistent contact, such as sending out several promotional pieces over a pe- riod of time to a group of sales leads and existing prospects. The trick here in this strategy is to build one’s brand equity by reinforcing a message, image or theme. . Every time you put your brand in front of a customer or potential customer, you create an impression, which impacts the perception of your brand. When that perception is consistently re- peated, you build a brand that becomes easy to rec- ognize and remember. The phrase drip marketing comes from the com- The concept of drip marketing is simple. Instead of mon phrase used in agriculture and gardening one big concentrated marketing blitz, you create a called "drip irrigation. Drip marketing was a re- long-term campaign that touches prospects repeat- sponse to the "Law of 29," the belief among some edly. . An effective way to use drip marketing is to marketing professionals that it takes 29 "hits" for a consistently do something each month to keep marketing message to successfully turn a prospect your name in front of your current clients and pro- into a client. spective clients. By doing this, the sales cycle can
  • 26. BRANDWAGON PAGE 26 be diminished and a steady amount of business sults: produced. 1. Pre-transaction Cultivation – Once initial con- Specifics methods of drip marketing include: tact has been made with a prospect drip campaigns  Postcards can help build rapport and trust with prospective customers, which would probably induce them to  Newsletters buy your product or service.  Promotional or Sales Brochures 2. Transaction Support – During the time that the  Catalogs customers are actually buying the product a drip campaign is a great tool to help clients stay abreast  Brochures of their transaction’s progress.  FAX broadcast Post-transaction Marketing – After the transaction Email Newsletter is closed emails can be used for building referrals. Regular e-mails will keep one in the forefront of Drip marketing these days is being extensively past clients’ minds and increase the likelihood of used for online promotions. e-mail drip marketing repeat business. is a powerful way to stay in contact with previous clients and cultivate new prospects who are not However, it must be kept in mind that drip e-mail ready to take immediate action. Drip marketing should only be used to work with leads that have systems allow you to set up and then automatically already been contacted and from whom permission send a series of timed e-mail messages to any has been granted to e-mail them but must never be group of people with a common interest—first- used to generate new leads. Otherwise, one might time buyers, move-up sellers, etc. inadvertently spam prospects and do irreparable There are three points in the typical sales cycle damage to the business’ online goodwill. where drip e-mail can be used for profitable re- Jest in case
  • 27. Ad buzz Rishi Kumar Singh It has always been difficult to analyze the ad of So what’s the ingredients and the recipe of the ad various popular brands due to sheer emotions they which makes it palatable? The ingredient is “a are able to bring with them. Many ads which I bunch of small kids” which normally finds more have tried to evaluate are brands which are centu- emotive connection with the audience. Cleaning, ries old, very popular and nevertheless trustwor- dancing, thy. But of course all ad-men are not always right. bathing and They sometimes do fail, owing to their over- of course go- banking upon the star power or sheer lack of mate- ing to school rial or core substance. But some are able to click after com- pleting the the grey matters leading to an interest towards the chores (a so- same. In this article I have tried to do justice to cial responsi- some popular brands. I don’t know whether I will bility of succeed in the same or not, but of course I will try every kid!! my level best to pass my verdict as an audience on Kids learn these ads. it). The recipe: Kids do create mess and are nor- mally exposed to the dirt and dust affecting their health. But don’t worry the soap is there to help you keep clean. The message is clear: “Live your Brand: LIFEBUOY SOAP age…and yes maintain your health; the soap is Starring: A group of kids with their mothers. there with you..koi dar nahin” and of course “Go Move over to soap. Here is an advertisement, to school daily”..Phew! Many birds killed with a which speaks volume without any big name at- single stone. A finely executed ad without any tached with it. Mind well! The customer knows his hunky-dory things and, of course, cleavage show. pick and of course you cannot fool him to buy And yes of course you don’t require to watch anything just by showing a bubbly and sexy ac- “Lage raho munnabhai”…Gandhigiri…The kids tress using it. The message is clear. No brainer. are quite capable of passing the same message The ad clicks with me (and audience ...of course I “Clean your environment...don’t wait for anybody am representing them here) and conveys the mes- else”..Munnabhai be careful…This is the uprising sage directly. The absence of a big name behind of a small battalion, which can cost you your ca- the brand, in fact helps the advertisement set reer. afloat. Verdict: My showcase in drawing room
  • 28. BRANDWAGON PAGE 28 Aishwarya Rai, as a nymphoma- niac-looking car- Brand: TATA SKY toon or heroine!! Starring: Hrithik Roshan and a confused jocular That perhaps character creates more confusion. Is she returning to her D-uh! One more ad without any new thing to con- roots, I mean vey. Hrithik Roshan looks cool but definitely lacks advertisements that crucial punch which will hardly hint anybody (modeling)? Per- to buy “Tata Sky”, not atleast me. Come on, haps she is better at the latter. One thing is clear. watching the match with the hunk, doesn’t impress She knows Frisbee throwing. And what’s more, the audience and neither motivates them to look she knows! Hmm..Perhaps bathing (of course it is into the deal. What’s the deal after all? Watching a soap advertisement, pal!). Is she being shown the match with Hrithik. Haan! If that would had bathing in the ad? No! The crux of the previous been conveyed by a sweet and sexy actress (Take ads of the legendary soap seems to be missing Priyanka for my case) that would had been a deal. here. So after all what is the ad about? Is it show- Come on everybody knows, the of his chances se- ing the curves of a beauty queen, which perhaps lection for a treat? Don’t ya! And yes the man with everybody knows, or showing that she has become a green grass covering doesn’t provide me any cue thinner, or perhaps she doesn’t have any movie in as to what the advertise wants to convey. The line? And where’s the product which she is vouch- punch line “zingalala” looks too clichéd to click. ing for. D-Uh…. I just kept looking at the better The message looks quite obfuscated and hidden “filled up’ areas of the actress. And of course, a behind the charisma of the actor. A confusing ad, girl would rather prefer to show her beauty and with the talent curve in a public place and not a nice, panoramic and raw power and a lonely island. And why only Frisbee throw- of an actor ing? Can the ad-maker explain this? wasted. I would rather prefer to look at some other soap where the message is quite clear. Perhaps Pears click me over here. Or maybe Hamam or Godrej Verdict: My Fair Glow…’Gora bana de’ s t o r e r o o m A totally worthless ad, without any message con- shelf veyed, but yes with only one outcome: “Aishwarya can now switch between a real and cartoon character at the drop of a soap” Verdict: My bowl. Brand: Lux Soap Starring: Aishwarya Rai(double role …a real and a cartoon) and three spot boys to call the least.
  • 29. Of f the mark Rajat Jain The process of branding was developed to protect Ford decided though, to fuel public interest, the products from failure. Branding dates back to car itself should not be seen in the ads, and even 1880’s with companies like Campbell, Heinz. It when Ford dealers started stocking the car in their was a huge success in that era. showrooms, they were told they had to keep the Fast forward to 21st century and different picture vehicles undercover. If they did not they risked a emerges. They have become a victim of their own fine and the loss of their franchise with the com- success. Now if a product fails, it’s the brand pany. that’s at fault. As Ford hoped, interest was fuelled. The company In this series we will look through some of the did not think for one moment that the product biggest branding mistakes by some of the biggest would not be able to match the hype, and would giants like Microsoft, coke, Pepsi, ford, etc. and lead to a consumer backlash. After all, more work analyze what went wrong. and research had gone into the development of this car than almost any previously. We will start with the classic example of brand failure: “Ford Edsel”. However, some of the research had already proven futile by the time of the launch. For instance, part of the market research process had been to find FORD EDSEL suitable name for the new car. This should have been a good idea. After all, the highly popular Ford Thunderbird car, which had been launched in Among many US marketing professors, the story 1954, had gained its evocative name as a result of of the Edsel car is considered the classic brand market research findings. This time, research failure of all time. Dubbed ‘the Titanic of auto- teams were sent out to New York, Chicago and mobiles’, the Edsel is certainly one of the biggest Michigan, where members of the public were branding disasters to afflict the Ford Motor Com- asked what they thought of certain names and to pany come up with their own suggestions. There was The Edsel car was launched amid a vast amount of also a competition among employees to come up hype. Although the car didn’t appear in show- with the best name, and the company even con- rooms until September 1957, ads promoting it had tacted the popular poet Marianne Moore. Her brief begun to appear months previously bearing the was to find a name which would signify a ‘visceral teaser slogan: ‘The Edsel is Coming". feeling of elegance, fleetness, advanced features and design.’ Her rather eccentric suggestions in-
  • 30. BRANDWAGON PAGE 30 cluded Mongoose Civique, Resilient Bullet, Uto- sel’s problems. There was also the design. The pian Turtle top and the Varsity Stroke. first blueprint for the Edsel looked truly impres- Altogether, the company now had a pool of 10,000 sive, as Robert Lacey writes in his book on Ford. names to choose from. Too many, according to ‘With concealed air scoops below the bumpers, company chairman, Ernest Breech, as he scanned this first version of the car was original and dra- through the names during a meeting of the Ford matic – a dreamlike, ethereal creation which struck Executive Committee in November 1956. ‘Why those who saw it as the very embodiment of the don’t we just call it Edsel?’ he asked, exasperated. future.’ However, this magnificent design never got to see the light of day. The people who held onto the purse strings at Ford decided it would simply be too expensive to manufacture The design that eventually emerged was certainly unique. Edsel’s chief designer, Roy Brown Jr had always set out to design a car that would be recog- nizable instantly, from any direction. And indeed, there is no denying that the first Edsels to emerge in 1957 fulfilled this objective. In particular, the car’s front-end bonnet and grille commanded the most attention. ‘The front end design was the most prominent feature,’ confirms Phil Skinner, re- Henry Ford II, the grandson of Henry Ford, spected Edsel historian, ‘If you consider other cars agreed. Edsel was the name of his father, and the from the mid-1950s, they all looked somewhat Ford founder’s only son. alike. Basically it was two headlights and horizon- Not everyone held the same opinion though. The tal grille. By having the big impact ring in the mid- PR director, C Gayle Warnock, knew that Edsel dle – what we now call a horse collar – it really set was not the right name. It had been an early sug- the Edsel apart.’ gestion, and had not been liked by those members Although some members of the automotive press of the public who had taken part in the market re- commended this distinctive look, most were unap- search (in word-association tests, it had been asso- preciative. One reviewer famously remarked that it ciated with ‘weasel’ and ‘pretzel’ – hardly the best looked ‘like an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon.’ associations for a dynamic new car). Warnock had While another thought the front-end grille was less preferred other names on the list, such asPacer, like a horse collar, and more like a toilet seat. (The Ranger, Corsair or Citation. When the decision customer comments later proved to be even worse was made, Warnock made his feelings perfectly with some saying that the grille looked like a clear. According to Robert Lacey in his book Ford: ‘vagina with teeth’. The Men and the Machine, Warnock responded to However, Ford had good relations with the press the new Edsel name by declaring: ‘We have just and Warnock, the PR director, was determined to lost 200,000 sales.’ For Warnock, a rose by any maximize the media coverage immediately before- other name clearly didn’t smell as sweet. hand after the launch date. Articles subsequently As it turned out, the name was the least of the Ed- appeared in both Time and Life magazines herald-
  • 31. PAGE 31 BRANDWAGON ing the Edsel as a breakthrough and explaining However, no-one can excuse Ford of underexpo- how it had been planned for over a decade – a bla- sure. On 13 October 1957the marketing campaign tant exaggeration on the part of Warnock as Roy for Edsel took product promotion to new heights Brown had only begun designing the car in 1954. when Ford joined forces with the CBS television The promotional brochure to mark the September network, to run a one-hour special called The Ed- launch of the Edsel also promised a great deal. sel Show. The show, a parody of 1950s favorite ‘There has never been a car like the Edsel,’ it The EdSullivan Show featured celebrities such as promised. This was a big claim, but Ford had Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. But even with equally big ambitions. The company expected to such prime-time promotion Ford was unable to produce 200,000 units in the car’s first year. This shift anywhere near enough units of the car. Con- constituted around five per cent of the entire mar- sumers didn’t care whether it was ‘revolutionary’ ket. or not. All they knew was that it looked ugly and Anyway, the pre-publicity had initially seemed to had a name that sounded like ‘weasel’. Further- work. Car showrooms became packed with curious more, in an age when all the successful cars had visitors, desperately seeking their first glance of tailfins, the Edsel was finless. According to Bob the car. In the first week of its launch, almost three Casey, curator of transportation at the Henry Ford million members of thus public visited Edsel Museum, this fact meant that the Edsel ‘didn’t showrooms. The Edsel they saw had a number of quite fit into people’s vision of a car’. distinct features, in addition to the ‘love-it-or-hate- In addition to misguided advertising, bad looks it’ front-end grille. For instance, the car was the and a stupid name, Edsel faced a further problem – first ever to have self-adjusting brakes and an elec- it was too expensive. As Sheila Mello explains in tronic hood release. It also had a very powerful her informative book, Customer Centric Product engine for a medium-range car. However, these Definition, the launch of the Edsel coincided with features weren’t enough a move towards cheaper models: In the minds of the public, the car simply didn’t Ford’s decision to highlight the Edsel’s powerful live up to the hype. And unfortunately for Ford, engine during a period when the buying public neither did the sales. Edsel sold only 64,000 units was gravitating toward smaller, more fuel-efficient in its first year, way below the number anticipated. cars alienated potential customers. The first mod- Ford launched 1959 and1960 Edsel models but els in the showroom were the most expensive, top- sales fell even further (to 44,891 and 2,846 respec- tively). In November 1959 Ford printed the last ever ad for the car and halted production. WHAT WENT WRONG? The marketing campaign was certainly a key fac- tor. In simple terms, Fordhad overstated its case. Buoyed by the success of the Thunderbird only a few years previously the company must have felt invincible, and this was reflected in the rather too self-assured advertising material
  • 32. PAGE 32 BRANDWAGON of-the-line models, resulting in what we refer to LESSON FROM EDSEL today as sticker shock. Unfortunately, too, while Hyping an untested product is a mistake. ‘I learned some Edsel models were more expensive than that a company should never allow its spokesper- comparable cars, they had an equivalent or greater sons to build up enthusiasm for an unseen, un- number of quality problems. Often parts didn’t fit proven product,’ confessed C Gayle Warnock, the properly or were simply missing, since Ford fre- PR director responsible for the publicity surround- quently built Edsels between Fords and Mercurys ing the Edsel launch. on the same assembly line. Many dealers were ill equipped to replace these parts or add accessories Your name matters. At the most basic level, your brand is your name. It doesn’t matter how impor- The car ended up looking more expensive than it tant the brand name is to the company, it’s what it actually was because of poor timing. In the 1950s, means to the public that counts. If the name con- US new car models typically appeared in Novem- jures up images of weasels and pretzels it might be ber for the following year. For instance, a 1956 a good time to scrap it. Thunderbird would have come out in November 1955. However, Edsel was launched in September, Looks count. Visual appearance is a key factor in two months before the other new models arrived. creating a brand identity for most products. It was It was therefore a 1958 car competing against the distinctive shape of Coca-Cola bottles which 1957 models – and more importantly, 1957 prices. helped that brand become so big. In the car indus- try, looks are particularly important and as Edsel In fact, the situation was even worse than that. Not proved, ugly ducklings don’t always become only had Edsel decided to push its most expensive swans. models first, but the 1957 models it was competing with were being offered at a discounted price in Price is important. Products can be too expensive order to sell them before next year’s models were or too cheap. When some brands price themselves wheeled into the showroom. too low, they lose their prestige. However, with a car such as the Edsel, the high price couldn’t be A high price may have been acceptable if it had justified in the minds of the public been worth paying. However, the experience of those few early Edsel customers quickly gave the The right research is important. Ford spent time car a reputation for mechanical problems. Edsel and money carrying out the wrong kind of market now popularly stood for Every Day Something research. Instead of hunting for names, the com- Else Leaks. pany should have been concentrating on whether there was a market for its new car in the first One thing though was completely beyond Ford’s place. As it turned out, the market it spent millions control. After a boom period for the US car indus- trying to reach didn’t even exist try during the mid-1950s, the end of 1957 saw the start of a recession. In 1958 almost all car models Quality is important. Of course, product quality is saw a drop in sales, some by as much as 50 per always important but when it comes to cars it is a cent. Ironically, one of the very few models to wit- matter of life and death. Bad quality control ness an increase in sales that year was the Ford proved an extra nail in Edsel’s coffin. Thunderbird.
  • 33. CSR: