Brand Equity Articles

13th October 2010

All Board

WHEN Italian baby care brand Chicco from the house of Artsana decided to set up shop in India, it planned to devote over 6 crore to brand building just through year one. It researched the market and unearthed some interesting cultural facts. For instance, when it comes to pampering the little ones, only the French do it better than Indian mamas and papas. On the same parameter South Korean parents pamper their offspring the least.

Now add to that the fact that more and more urban Indian parents are evolving into a discerning, sometimes picky,set of consumers with increasing incomes. Just the sort of people who are willing to pay for products from Chiccos stable. Like a baby pillow with a simulated heartbeat. Or clothes that have passed through metal detectors to detect and remove microscopic metal shards, making them absolutely safe before they hit shop shelves. Its the same segment thats lured Japanese company Unicharm that launched its Mamy Poko Pants brand of diapers this year. And it helps that 19% of all babies born in the world are born in India. According to Vineeth Nair,CEO,Artsana India, The baby care market is largely dominated by food.But there are large gaps in this market. For instance, in areas like hard goods strollers, car seats, etc.These need-gaps provide great opportunities for brands like us.

Unicharm,thats working on building its own production plant here,entered Indian waters in 2009.Yukihiro Kimura,MD,Unicharm India,says,The brand has the largest market share in baby diapers in Japan and many Asian countries.In India,we expect to expand the market itself.There are many mothers who still dont know the benefits of diapers.And that makes this one of the most important markets with potential to contribute to our global business. However,the baby care market is not the only category that has caught the fancy of international brands in recent times.

Consumers who are exploring and purchasing car seats, baby travel systems and diaper pants for their children are also expanding the boundaries of what they consider edible. With a vast range of home-grown cuisine, the Indian consumer was long regarded as among the most finicky and averse to anything new. They are experimenting with new cuisines, like Italian the fastest growing foreign cuisine in the country. They want fresher,better,healthier products. hats where new entrants like food and beverage brand Del Monte comes in. Based in the US,it has a global presence and a range of products from packaged prunes and pasta to olives and pineapples canned and juiced. Japanese brand Yakult too is targeting the more health conscious Indian consumer with its probiotic range of products. These are just some of the brands that have been drawn in by the relatively optimistic prospects of markets like India. Take the branded yoghurt and fermented drinks market; the categories are growing at 33% and 14% respectively.According to Shefali Sapra,GM - marketing

communications,Yakult Danone India,the prospects in India are increasing with the health segment growing.But it is a category that takes a long time to grow. For a brand like Yakult it will take 10 years to fully penetrate the Indian market, says Sapra.

However,long established behemoths and legacy brands,particularly in foods,beverages and baby care,have a tight grip on their respective markets.Carving out a piece of the pie is tough.But loosening the grip of unorganised players might be tougher still.For instance,90%-95 % of the childrens apparel market is unorganised.Global brands like Chicco want to be in the belly of the business according to Nair,and that is why some of its products are 30% cheaper than that of competition.The fact that the brand is focused on the entire spectrum of baby care products,except food,for children from 03 years,gives Chicco an edge over the others who have been around for a long time.Typically international and homegrown brands are focused on a specific product category,like toys or clothes or food or nursing or toiletries.The only suitable competition for a brand like Chicco comes from MotherCare. The company is planning to make the country a critical sourcing hub for the long haul.The company has plans for 10 exclusive stores by March 2011.The first of these is in a high-end Delhi shopping mall,and a disproportionate chunk of money has been pumped in television advertising with an international feel.But the Euro 800 million global brand is not positioned as a premium baby care product.Its not about imagery, says Nair.The full range of products is available not only in our exclusive stores but also at pharmacies and retail stores across the country.Most people havent heard of Chicco.They buy products on the value they offer.

For Japanese brand Yakult the challenge of operating in a relatively new and unregulated market of probiotic foods will be great if not greater,despite its lineage.Yakult Danone India is 50:50 joint venture between Yakult Honsha of Japan and Groupe Danone of France.Yakult is currently present in 32 countries and in markets like China they sell a million bottles a day.In India,although theres the presence of established brands like Amul and Mother Diary,there are a number of challenges like a sub-par cold chain.Furthermore,to make Yakult an essential part of the diet was a bit of an issue too.That is when the brand roped in actor Kajol as an ambassador for its television skewed marketing strategy.In addition to the celebrity endorser,Yakult has an army of 150 doorto-door sales women called the Yakult Ladies;they sell the product and create awareness about probiotic food and drinks.On the cards is a sugar free version to draw in diabetic customers who have so far stayed away from the brand.The strategy has worked well for the brand.Today,the global market for probiotic foods is valued at $14 billion.

But the question du jour for all these brands is will it work here

Inception

A static print ad suddenly comes to life with an interactive video of the brand. That’s augmented reality. While sitting in a coffee shop, why would you wait for the server to bring you the menu when you can get it on the mobile phone? That’s Blufi for you.Then,theres holography and 3D wall projectors that promise to change the way we see signages and OOH .At Cannes 2010,Kate Hyewon Oh, creative director,Cheil Worldwide made a presentation on the technologies that brands and agencies will have to look at in the time to come.

Narasimha Suresh realised how the mobile can become a media platform and technology the enabler.But he wasnt at Cannes this year listening to Kate.Suresh founded TeliBrahma six years back and his entrepreneurial journey in mobility,he says,comprises applications using technology like augmented reality for brands in India.Suresh claims a 100 % q-o-q growth without divulging the turnover of the company.The biggest issue was around the hype and expectation.Mobile was predominantly considered as a response generation/lead generation media, says Suresh of the initial challenges.Extremely low SMS charges and lack of results delivered were not helping either,he adds.

Mobile as a communication platform for brands is still largely responsible for lead generation.But TeliBrahmas president,P R Satheesh,says the solutions on offer integrate with traditional media and ensures brand building across touch points like print,television,outdoors,events and retail.Citing the example of WagonR,Satheesh says the campaign reached more than 5 lakh potential consumers through branded games and interactive brochures.Or one can focus on a static print ad to download interactive content like a 3D model of a car along with specifications.So theres rich media experience and sharp targetting, says Satheesh.For a new technology start up,getting brands hooked to applications is a herculean task and Satheesh admits that agencies like GroupM deserve credit in propagating the importance of the mobile platform.Integrated solutions may be an abused phrase in the marketing and communications space today,but Satheesh thinks its these two words that will fuel TeliBrahmas growth in the market place.Both agencies and brands are looking at mobile and digital solutions. Talk to ad professionals in India and overseas,and they will say digital is the next big wave.Some say that we are already in the thick of a new digital revolution.However,with the internet lagging behind mobiles in India,the digital wave will hit us through the little device in our hands.And thats the wave solution providers like TeliBrahma are waiting to ride.

6th October 2010

What’s The Big Idea?

IDEAS are the stronghold of the creative industry. But what are the ideas that really click? “They are ideas people want to spend time with”, says Bob Jeffrey, executive chairman, JWT Worldwide. At Spikes Asia, Jeffrey’s session ‘Ideas that people want to spend time with’ was a compilation of work from all over the world. Work ranging from Times of India’s ‘Lead India’ campaign to Shangri-La Hotels’ ‘It’s in our nature’, highlighted Jeffrey’s thoughts that ideas captivate the audience irrespective of the medium. “We’re creators of content and in the multi-platform media fragmentation that one is witnessing, ideas are defined by content. So it could be anything from a TV show to a piece of entertainment or viral”, he says.

In a creative agency, the creatives are considered custodians of ideas, while planning and account management act as support function for the creative. Jeffrey disagrees, adding that ideating is a part and parcel of the planning function. “Planning is absolutely critical in the twenty-first century, for great creative work. Creatives and clients need a platform to come up with an idea and what planning does is, it provides a forensic understanding of brands and consumers, and it provides navigation for creatives”, he says. Historically, planning was defined specifically in terms of the creative. But now, it’s not just the creative. “It’s defined in different terms such as channel planning — what is the communications context for that particular product or category, what are the touchpoints with the consumer. Planning has actually grown in importance”, he says.

With so much noise about digital, Jeffrey sounds positive when he says that developing markets have a great role to play in the digital evolution. When asked if digital is even relevant in a market like India, where it is still in nascent stage, he says; “Boston Consulting Group has a report that states that by 2014, the BRIC markets plus Indonesia, will have 610 million internet users and by 2015, they’re projecting 1.2 billion. Also, when you think about the concentration of internet among people with buying power (in the demographics of usage), 60% in BRIC markets are below 30 years.”

But, many digital seers are predicting mobile as the next platform. How would such a platform fare in a country like India? “In the West, the entry to internet was through a laptop, but in Asia, particularly in emerging markets, it’s mobile. In India, it’s investment for the future and the future is not that far away. Clients and agencies alike are investing with confidence here”, he says. Digital isn’t going to wipe out conventional media, he feels. “Conventional media is not going to go away. Like how it is in the West, TV is not dead. When you see countries where the internet has progressed, they still watch TV, but they may not watch TV on a traditional TV set. I don’t think it’s an ‘either/or’ situation. I think it’s all these”, he states confidently.

The Asian creative ground is something Jeffrey finds very interesting. “The thing about Asia which I find fascinating is the passion they have for doing the work and the drive and the ambition. This is

also an important event for us as Asia is a fantastic region for us in terms of creative firepower. Our performance here from a creative standpoint has been very strong”, he says.

The Inside Story

Account planning needs to go beyond the traditional and include digital, says Cheil’s Jason Choi

JASON Choi’s designation might read as account planning head at Cheil Worldwide, but his work profile, he says, is more to do with digital planning than traditional account planning. And at Spikes Asia 2010, digital definitely was a critical talking point and not just a footnote at the end of a conversation. No wonder that even within the account planning function, Choi marks social media as the next big thing. “From our standpoint, we’re incorporating the voice of the customer into everything that we do. We’ve brought in social monitoring as part of our core planning process,” says Choi as we sit down for a conversation at the Pan Pacific hotel. “We scour blogs, forums, message boards, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, to see firsthand what people are saying about our brands”, he adds.

For a long time Cheil Worldwide has been synonymous with Samsung. Cheil might have originated from Samsung, but Choi refuses to use the term ‘in-house’. “We’re not an in-house agency. We have several leading clients in South Korea and in Asia.” But Choi admits that some of our most innovative work has been for Samsung. There are advantages as well as some drawbacks of the inhouse agency relationship. One drawback, Choi points out is a certain set style of working that Samsung expects from Cheil which may not necessarily apply to outside agencies. So, other agencies may come and talk about 15 different processes and it will be appreciated by the client. “But the client may expect us to work in a certain pattern,” he says. However, Choi is all praise for Samsung, particularly its emphasis on innovation. “They are an innovative company, they do make great products and we have the ability to develop great marketing and advertising,” he says. He even states this as the reason he came to Korea from Draftfcb California — “to turn what are great products into great brands”.

They’re also revamping their planning powers by supplementing tradional planners with ‘digital strategists’. “I have a team of five digital strategists who get involved at the beginning of any campaign to identify the insights, the campaign framework. These guys understand digital media — social media, how to generate word of mouth. We have traditional account planners, but we also have more digitally focussed planners and they work collaboratively in the beginning”, says Choi. And it seems the strategy is working very well for Choi and his strategists. They used a new camera to film a music video titled ‘Here it goes again’ popularly know as the “treadmill video”. It was done in partnership with OK Go, a US based rock band. The result: 60 million hits on Youtube.

29 th September 2010

Fighting Ad-rition

Talent, as any ad CEO will tell you, is easier lost than retained. Agencies claim to have various programmes in place to draw the best in and keep the best back. But is it too little, too late?

In 2009, at the height of the recession when hiring fresh talent was a privilege few could afford even in this part of the world, an advertising agency went out into the market and hired 30 new recruits. Draftfcb Ulka’s 21-year-old recruitment programme Star One has ensured a steady supply of talent come hail, hell or recession. Draftfcb can be considered an exception. The dearth of talent figures high in the litany of woes and peeves that ad land has been battling for decades. Inability to attract talent, retention, remuneration, inadequate training, the list just goes on and on. But there are solutions, although not as many as the problems, that are slowly trickling in. JWT’s Happiness Action Plan, Madisonites Stock Partnership Scheme (MSPS) and Aspiration Mapping by Starcom are all measures by agencies to fight the tightening loop of attrition.

In many ways, the agencies start at a backfoot considering the fact that remuneration packages have not kept pace with other sectors or industries. Lara Balsara, business development and diversification manager at Madison World attributes the problem of talent to remuneration, “Intense competition within advertising is being exploited by advertisers but enlightened advertisers know that this is not in their interest,” she says. So the industry that has CEOs who passed out from IIMs and IITs today doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to recruit from premier B schools or colleges. Sapna Shrivastava, chief talent officer, JWT – APAC says, “Today an MBA expects salary packet of 6- 7 lakh and we cannot give them that much.” This automatically rules out recruitment drives at top business schools. “

The ad industry for a long time enjoyed a high octane dose of cool quotient which over the years has waned, say industry professionals. “Advertising has lost ground on that front,” says Joseph George, dy CEO, Lowe, “There are a number of places now — music, radio, IT, consultancy, even job at Google is cooler than an ad.” Add to that the increasing pressure on margins from clients and other growing talent hungry industries.” But at places like Lowe, talent retention issues are met with straightforward, sometimes brutally honest answers. “At Lowe the good guys know they are good and the bad guys know they are bad. Promising talent receives disproportionate increments and there will be clear signals for them to know that they are good and appreciated,” says George.

There is no doubt however that advertising agencies must now do for themselves what they do for clients. Sabnavis agrees that being present and active in colleges helps create equity for the agency, “We encourage our senior management to evangelise people at art schools, business schools, industry forums and all places where there is an opportunity to do so.” Savita Mathai, VP-HR,

Despite battle plans and maps, the average industry attrition level is 30-35%. Given the high rate, the men and women at the top will have to work doubly hard to convert advertising into a career from a job status that it currently enjoys.

Branding By The Book

AS PART of promoter family running the business, Shailendra Gala, VP - stationery division, Navneet Publications has been involved in the business for nearly 15 years now. Even as the brand enjoys equity in the market and has a legacy spanning five decades, it’s the future course of the business that has Gala excited. Ditto for Dilip Dandekar, MD, Camlin, who’s has been involved with stationery for the past forty years but is now betting big on the next decade. The books and stationery market is largely fragmented with myriad of small, regional players dominating the market. But there are players like Navneet, Sundaram, Staples Camlin and even ITC who are now looking to grab a larger share from the unorganised segment and create a brand name for themselves.

Global chain Staples present in India via an association with Pantaloons retail focuses more on the office supplies side of the stationery business. According to Shailesh Karwa, co-founder and co-CEO, Staples, “Staples today is the largest organised office products player in the India market, reaching 200 crores in sales in our third year of operation. Both the consumer and the business segment in India have already found great value in the model. And the momentum gives us the confidence to reach our goal of 500 crores in sales by 2012.”

The common thread running between the above mentioned names is that all of them are looking to either reinforce or create a rock solid national brand name in a highly commoditised and fragemented market. Sure, we all have heard about Navneet notebooks and Camlin colour pens and even Classmate, but chances are these brands are the last thing one thinks of while actually making a purchase decision

Market players estimate the growth rate for both segments to rise to around 15% annually in the time to come, fuelled by the interest and investment in the education sector, both from public and private sector. “Education as a whole is getting high priority. The market has expanded and consumption has increased,” says Gala of Navneet. To grab a bigger share, companies realise they no longer can remain non entities on the shelves.

Nabankur Gupta, founder, Nobby brand architects says even though school and college stationery is largely price sensitive, the emergence of smaller markets in the education sector will mean more investment in brand building. “More than the A and B class, it’s the rise of C and D, particularly the tertiary markets that will spur expansion plans of players. So some will emerge as price warriors, while some players will be working on the entire marketing mix to create a brand,” says Gupta.

Sundaram is looking to take its paper business into new markets like MP and Chattisgarh. The brand, informs Shah, has recently launched a digital form of content called e-class that stores syllabus in a pen drive. “The aim is to create a knowledge library and content that can be accessed by students even on TV or laptops,” says Shah. While Sundaram may be content in its turf, Navneet has forayed into non paper stationery and Gala acknowledges that it’s a tough market. “Along with the unorganised market, we have to fight established players like Camlin,” he admits. So a flanker strategy - with two brands operating at different price points - has been initiated by Navneet. “One of the brand operates at a low price point but with better packaging and design. This ensures that competition doesn’t hit the brand operating at the top end,” says Gala. Staples is banking on increasing its private label play on stationery.

Beyond the product and pricing, distribution is playing an important role in pushing the products into unchartered market. With 600 distributors, Chand Das of ITC says applying FMCG principles of expansion, promotions and marketing also works in this segment. “Aspects like trade marketing, merchandising, signages, school and college contact programmes, all this enables us to acquire more and more touch points in the market,” he says. Staples has a Back To School sale every May just before schools re-open after summer vacations.

To counter the entry of players like ITC in non paper segment, brands like Camlin is looking to dive further into the market. Dandekar of Camlin says the company is working on creating separate sales and promotional teams to target schools and large institutions respectively. “By beefing up distribution and creating dedicated teams, the objective is to touch more than 20,000 schools and 250,000 retailers in the next couple of years,” he says.

In some sectors, brands have become commodities, while the reverse is been attempted in the books and stationery segment. The journey of product, price, packaging and distribution is bound to see some interesting chapters ahead.

22nd September 2010

A number of Indian brands which were thought to have been off the radar, have come out with a fresh spurt of marketing activity. BE tracks the trend

It’s yesterday once more at least on the TV screens. Brands

that ruled the roost around the time Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan and BR Chopra’s Mahabharat were the most watched programmes on TV went underground, unnoticed through the 1990s and the 2000s. Except that many of them are back, with fresh commercials and a new, younger attitude. A previously non-mainstream advertiser, Usha fans is trying to get some attention via its Striker commercial. The film opens with a swami in Varanasi buying a samosa hot off the stove, which has cooled down by the time he pops it into his mouth. Surprise, surprise, it is Usha Striker ceiling fan that does the trick. Cut to an ad for LML scooters. The design hasn’t changed one bit, but the ad shows a young urban woman encouraging her friend to give the two wheeler a shot. Dalda, which became a generic name for vanaspati in India, has entered the edible oil space with an ad for its new product line. BSA cycles is trying to get past its iconic ad featuring Kapil Dev pedalling away by focussing on children as the target audience for its Champ and Ladybird brands.

What all these brands have in common is the fact that they were huge in pre-liberalisation India. They are returning to a market where their equity has been eroded by a thousands of seconds of advertising seen across several hundred channels. At best, many of them are a fond but distant memory. At worst, they are completely unknown brands struggling to compete in a cluttered, competitive marketplace.

The reasons for their resurrection are not always the same. Usha Fans for one was very localised in nature but has now decided to reclaim the national mantle via its new TVC. “The reason for increased focus on advertising is manifold, but largely to do with new people and management, new positive attitude, new look and feel, and somewhat strategic in nature”, says Chhaya Shriram, whole time director, Usha International. In the case of Khaitan, it’s because the brand is banking on the upcoming festive season. Says Sunil Khaitan, vice chairman, Khaitan. “This is when a lot of gifting happens — be it from employer to employee, or within family and friends. A lot of employees get bonuses and this is the perfect time for us to advertise and for the consumers to buy home appliances.” Dalda’s relaunch happened last year but it is now trying to appeal to a particular target group. “We re-launched with an expanded portfolio of refined and taste oils. The brand has been given a new identity in the edible oil segment to make it more relevant to the younger housewives”, says Subin Sivan, GM - marketing, Bunge, the company that owns the Dalda brand.

It’s quite simply the best time to promote cycling according to Senthil Kumar, ECD, JWT India, the agency that handles BSA: “Across the world, cycling is gaining huge momentum not just as a sport but more as a daily ritual. More cycles mean less pollution and lesser traffic jams”, he says.

BACK TO THE FUTURE Commercials apart, these brands are no strangers to more contemporary marketing tactics. BSA, for instance, claims to have over 3,000 BTL activites. “We have cyclothons, bikeathons, mountain terrain biking, freedom rides and school contact programmes”, says D Raghuram, president, TI Cycles. “We now don’t sell cycles. We sell cycling.” Usha hasn’t been left behind in the BTL frenzy either. “There have been many OOH and radio (activities), dealer get-togethers, product demonstrations, video-on-wheels to reach rural markets, flagship store

promotions, dealer in-shop branding support, promotions of sports events such as golf tours and our own marathon”, says Shriram.

They are also looking at the market anew. Sivan says “In the refined oil category, we are competing in the mass premium category. There are also many strong local players across all markets” says Sivan. “We are leveraging the trust and taste values of brand Dalda to carve a space for the brand in the edible oil market.” Raghuram of BSA says that they need to keep their products relevant to children. “It is a worldwide concern. Our competition is not only from within the category but from outside it — TV, video games and all other things that keep children from physical activities”, he says.

They have also had large marketing spends. Usha’s marketing budget is currently in excess of 50 crore, while BSA spends about 2.5% to 3% of its turnover with 65% and

35% spends on ATL and BTL activities respectively. The latter also plans to increase their spends by 5 to 10 crore year on year as their turnover goes up.

Going forward, these marketers want to push their brands even further. “We will have to create platforms where different consumer sets can come and experience the joy of cycling, we need to communicate with our consumers with insights which are meaningful and enticing to him/her”, says Raghuram. Not wanting to be left behind, Dalda plans on focussing on the three As — Awareness, Acceptance, Availability. “Bunge’s efforts would be towards driving awareness of Dalda as a refined oil brand with a year round media presence, building acceptance of Dalda through a communication strategy anchored on strong consumer insights and strengthening distribution infrastructure to enhance availability”, says Sivan.

Khaitan plans to introduce new products such as air coolers in the coming year and Usha wants to take their product up the value curve with “product quality, product development, customer oriented design focus, and customer service, along with advertising and brand building.”

Hyper Active

Consumer engagement doesn’t just mean looking at new media. It also involves the good old 30 second television commercial, says MEC’s Charles Courtier

“I was at the Cannes Lions this year and Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook was there. He’s looking for the same answers,” says Charles Courtier, global CEO, MEC. The question is one that has been vexing the entire marketing communications industry. You would be hard pressed to find an ad or media person who is not bullish about the potential of “earned media” — references in the media, blogs or on sites like Twitter and Facebook that are not paid for. And yet, how does one harness the potential of and more importantly earn from earned media? According to Courtier, “The whole world including the people that own it are trying to get to grips with it at the same time.”

MEC is trying to crack the puzzle by changing its approach to the entertainment universe. The agency divides all media into paid, owned and earned. As of now, there are more ‘how not to’ than ‘how to’ lessons. Courtier cautions, “You have to earn your place in there. You cannot go in with all guns blazing and say ‘I am brand X and I am here.’ You’d probably do more damage than good.” One of the keys is possessing liquid content: ideas that lend themselves to being modified and adapted by people. Courtier says, “If you get that right, you don’t have to put it out there; the consumers will do that for you.”

Getting consumers to work for or participate in the marketing process is also one of the objectives built into MEC’s positioning tagline: active engagement. “We were really lucky or really smart to hit on this” says Courtier. While the marketing communications industry is frequently (and justifiably) pilloried for not being able to differentiate itself, MEC has been trying to do just that. Conceived in 2005 when the agency was known by the rather more unwieldy title of Mediaedge:CIA, active engagement was a proposition that was initially very hard to explain or justify. Courtier admits, “Agencies are past masters at saying the right things. But it has to be backed with real evidence. When we started, we didn’t have much.”

At least that is no longer as big a problem. The global buzz around moving from an exposure to an engagement driven model worked well for the agency and it garnered an enviable strike rate at pitches. It’s a positioning line that has helped MEC draw the right sort of talent. Courtier believes “It defines what the ambition is. And it works with clients as well. People who want pure ‘stack it high and sell it cheap’, might look at us and go ‘I don’t know if this is the agency for me.’” Earlier this year, MEC published a book full of case studies in which active engagement was used across geographies for clients as diverse as Sony Digicam, Microsoft Windows and Honda motorcycles. Many of these are what case study dreams are made of — multi-touchpoint programmes with active participation by consumers and with some of the ideas going “viral.” But are these case studies representative of the overall oeuvre of the agency or being highlighted purely because they are exceptional? Courtier pauses a while before replying, “You are of course seeing what we think is some of the best. But does every client we have want or need multi-touchpoint communication plans? Definitely no!” Courtier is at pains to explain that “active engagement” does not have to be a consumer surround initiative, but is dictated more by what’s relevant. He says “It doesn’t mean I won’t end up with a TV plan and 30 second spots because that just might be the active engagement that you need. One is not better than the other” However, there’s a definite shift taking place according to Courtier: “By and large, all our clients are moving in this direction but at different paces in different places and times.”

Besides, active engagement took a beating through the course of the recession from late 2008 through 2009. Courtier says, “This is a big generalisation but last year the focus was on efficiency and cutting costs. Most of our clients and everyone else’s attention was not on engagement or new strategies but on making every dollar go as far as possible.”

One of the markets that’s beaten the recession and is currently the fastest growing country for MEC is India. The local operations bagged one of MEC’s biggest global clients earlier this year when Colgate shifted out of The Media Edge. A thoroughly pleased Courtier says, “There’s a real sense of a coming of age for MEC here. It’s been a stunning run so far.”

15th September 2010

Crowd CONTROL

It’s akin to setting the cat among the pigeons and the effect is everyone’s scattering for cover. The status quo that existed between brands and agencies has been shaken by a phenomenon that has many names — open source, out of the box, liquid content. But the one name that’s stuck as the definition is crowdsourcing. Unilever, for example, for its brand Peperami chose to gather ideas from end users for a print and tv campaign than go to Lowe, the agency on the brand for the past 16 years. With prize money on offer and a dedicated website, the best idea was converted into an ad. Back home, India’s also witnessed its share of crowdsourcing with Frito Lay asking end users to suggest their own flavours for its brand Lay’s. Technology company Intel for its branding initiatives has used crowdsourcing to garner ideas from end users.

Thus the trend of getting end users to come up with ideas for communication and even brand names (as Kraft attempted with its popular spread brand Vegemite) has got even the head honchos at network agencies asking some probing questions. At the Cannes 2010 debate, Sir Martin Sorell, chairman of WPP group asked if crowdsourcing as a concept spells trouble for traditional agencies. He posed this query to Keith Weed, chief marketing officer, Unilever. Weed replied that there won’t be a complete embrace of the concept and agencies will continue to play a crucial role in generation of ideas. “We are looking at ideas from creative agencies. That’s why I will have more agencies than crowdsourcing,” he replied. But he added; “To be a leader, we will have to test and pilot new ideas.”

As a concept, crowdsourcing has been prevalent in different avatars. Advertising that’s inspired by lifestyle and languages is the most common element utilised in communication today. However, the difference is the emergence of owned and earned media along with the existing paid media that brands are increasingly looking into. So, in the area of owned media, brands are already looking at properties owned by them, both in the online as well as offline space. However, it’s the ability to engage with the consumers and create an inclusive approach through technology and rapidly evolving digital platforms that makes crowdsourcing an interesting space. Further the experiments

indicate that brands are looking at ways and means to enlarge the net when it comes to clutter breaking ideas. So, Unilever’s attempt to understand the technology space by taking its category heads to Silicon valley, P&G creating an open source for innovation through connect + develop or the brand agency leader practise, where there’s a pointsman who co-ordinates and leads multiple agencies on the brand. This practise allows P&G to harness the appropriate platform, be it PR, digital or creative, depending on what works best as an idea.

So it would seem that brands have taken pole position when it comes to testing new ideas. But brand marketers expect the agencies to shore up their act. Joseph Tripodi, chief commercial and marketing officer, Coca-Cola doesn’t mince words while assessing the situation. Agencies, he says are like large bureaucracies. “I am not using the word bureaucracy in the prejudice sense but they are working the traditional way,” he says. Citing the example of television networks in the US, Tripodi says they have been clinging onto a model that ensures total domination even as viewers have moved to cable and even the web. “Still they are holding onto a model that’s worked for them for the last 50 years,” he says. So even as old models are in decline, consumption of compelling content is not. “So they are slow to change. Sometimes, the clients lead the change and sometimes even consumers lead the change.” Collective Wisdom

However the charge that traditional agencies haven’t shown dexterity in changing with time doesn’t go well with agencies. Bruce Haines, global COO of Cheil worldwide says that great brands reach a position by consistency and value. “Brand managers work on a brand for an average of 18 months and brand building is a long term relationship between clients and agencies. So it’s very tempting to think that let’s have fun and one ends up with a confusing picture of a brand,” says Haines. Abhijit Avasthi, co-NCD at Ogilvy believes that agencies like brands are always looking at opportunities or fresh ideas to engage with the end users. “For Fevicol, we receive ideas from end users and we do share the really good ones with the clients as work that can be used for the brand. So it’s not a bad idea to do that, but one should remember that agencies have the competencies and the resources to build on the idea,” he says.

So it’s the competencies and resources that agencies say are the trump card against a trend like crowdsourcing. “There are 6 billion people on the planet. Maybe they have some good ideas. But we are the professionals who understand whether the idea works or not. We come in when the question is asked; is it good for the brand?” says Akira Kagami, global creative officer, Dentsu. R Gowthaman, leader, Mindshare South Asia, says the expectations brands have from crowdsourcing is quite different from their agencies. “The very same talent from the agencies will be providing “no-hold-barred” ideas on the crowdsourcing platform as compared to an idea/approach that comes from a brief given to an agency,” he says. Crowdsourcing, adds Gowthaman, is like the ‘swayamvar’ where the idea on the net will be solicited by many brands. “Our agencies are more than geared to get into the crowd and excel.”

Brand managers believe that there’s no question of crowdsourcing taking over the expertise agencies possess. Weed of Unilever says agencies shouldn’t view it as a threat or an alternative, but as a means of accessing enriching content. “When you are on a holiday, you shoot videos of your family. Do you think Bollywood thinks you are competing with them?” he asks. So what you might do is brilliant, but the people who are professionals will have an edge, he adds. Weed says that agencies should realise that there is space for other content today. “So don’t see it as a substitute, but a

separate area all together.” Drawing an analogy to aviation, Prakash Bagri, head - marketing, Intel says brand managers are like air traffic controllers when it comes to crowd sourcing. “Their job is to ensure that the activity is properly planned and all necessary social media checks and balances are in place before the idea is thrown open to the consumers. The agencies work like the ground and support staff that ensures that the on ground, things are working smoothly.”

Haines of Cheil accepts that marketers have been quick to move towards creating an environment. “There’s a degree of truth that agencies are not looking outside for ideas,” he says, adding when he joined the industry, he thought the bright people are in advertising and not so bright are the clients. “Today they are brighter people on the other side.” Deepika Warrier, ED - marketing, Frito-Lay warns that when it comes to capturing ideas, agencies do run the risk of getting a little insular in their thinking. “We are happy if they tap into their experiences across consumers across categories to add rich texture to our creative strategies. Finally I think agencies today should be (and are getting to be) a rich blend of experience and fresh young talent and that helps,” says Warrier.

And it’s not that brands have always tasted success through crowdsourcing. Kraft foods’ experiment with Vegemite brand asking consumers to suggest a brand name back fired forcing the company to call off the idea. Brand marketers say the core idea of crowdsourcing is not so much about asking end users, but taking a media agnostic idea irrespective of platform or functions. “To think simple yet intriguing media agnostic ideas rather than the 30 second TV spot. To learn to collaborate superlatively vs. getting into turf issues,” says Warrier. “In the new environment, the truth is that there will be multiple agencies to which clients will be going towards as each discipline needs/requires specialisation. Clients will also be looking at one lead agency who can act as their “spine” to stitch up various agencies,” adds Gowthaman.

Tablet Wars

WITH Samsung, BlackBerry, Lenovo and Acer among the electronics brands planning to take on Apple’s iPad in the tablet market in the latter half of the year, experts are predicting a marketing war in the sector. The imminent arrival of rival products has prompted Francisco Jeronimo, research manager for European consumer wireless and mobile communications at IDC, to predict that tablets will be the ‘big hit of Christmas 2010’.

Apple sold more than 3 million iPads in the three months after its launch, proving that early adopters would, indeed, be eager to snap them up. However, rivals planning to enter the market will do so without the ‘first mover’ advantage. The question is, then, how to tackle Apple.

BRAND RECOGNITION

In some respects, marketing directors facing this task must feel that the world is an unfair place. They need considerable savvy and deep pockets to gain brand recognition. For Apple, the mere hint of a product launch sparks enormous press coverage and results in legions of the its fans camping outside its stores to ensure they are among the first to get their hands on the latest gadget. For less sexy brands, things are less straightforward.

One approach is to take a leaf out of Microsoft’s book and tackle Apple head on. The technology giant has run a series of high-profile campaigns for its PCs aimed at undermining Apple. Nonetheless it is a high-risk strategy, which has the potential to backfire. Apple did, in fact, respond to the ads with a successful ‘Get a Mac’ campaign.

Another brand that has attempted to take a bite out of Apple is Samsung, with its Galaxy S touchscreen smartphone. It looks similar to the iPhone 3G but runs on Google’s Android platform, which many consider to be superior to iPhone’s operating system.

So, along with a big marketing spend and celebrity-heavy launch strategy, Samsung slipped in a couple of tactical ads taking a pop at the reported reception problems of the iPhone 4. One read: ‘Hello’, using the bars indicating mobile reception strength in the place of the letter L. The other carried the line ‘Samsung Galaxy S has had a great reception’. Although no mention of the iPhone 4 was made, the target was obvious. The ads weren’t used widely, but generated a great deal of buzz for Samsung.

According to Jon Wade, director of digital strategy at direct marketing agency Wunderman, challenger brands looking to take on Apple’s iPad will almost certainly follow a similar strategy. ‘Apple effectively has two Achilles’ heels. In my opinion, its first weakness is its arrogance and its second is the unjustifiable price it charges for its technology,’ he says. ‘Rivals will almost certainly look to exploit these areas.’

This might work for products consumers are already convinced about — MP3 players and smartphones — but there is a fundamental problem with tablets: many people remain uncertain of their uses. In that sense, Apple may have done its rivals a favour in coming out with the first significant hit, backed by a heavyweight ad campaign that shows consumers why they should purchase a touch-screen tablet.

1 st September 2010

LOOKING AT BRANDS AS CITIZENS

A brand is more than a name. It is a relationship based on an assurance, a promise and trust. Successful brands deliver these timeless values, build on them and resonate not just with the

immediate needs of consumers but also their larger aspirations. In doing so, brands deliver on their immediate promise and also build a long-term relationship with consumers.

But this relationship must negotiate a market awash with growing brands and multiple messages, making it that much more difficult to differentiate brands and sustain consumer loyalty. There is, therefore, an increasing need for brands to build a deep and meaningful connect with consumers so that brands rise above market clutter.

Consumers are increasingly becoming aware of the social, economic and environmental impact of the products they buy or services they choose. Their brand preferences and buying decisions are increasingly being driven by their expectations as ‘conscientious citizens’. And the motivations for wanting to do so are the same around the world — concern for the family, the desire to have a cleaner planet and the drive to act to help achieve this.

This is both a challenge and a huge opportunity. While brands need to continue to meet consumer expectations of price, quality and convenience, they will need to address these larger consumer expectations. Brands that embrace such larger expectations and build these concerns into their innovation and branding strategy will clearly earn disproportionate rewards because they will connect at a newer level with consumers.

Companies are increasingly recognising this and many are taking definitive actions to leverage this opportunity. For example, Unilever has embedded the ‘sustainability agenda’ into its brands using a process called Brand Imprint, which integrates social and environmental considerations with the innovation and development plans of our brands.

Thus, the promise of Lifebuoy has evolved from a simple ‘germ kill’ proposition to ‘being free from fear’ of disease and to help build a healthy nation. Lifebuoy has acquired the flavour of a mission to cut diarrhoeal deaths and fight preventable diseases. The brand thus connects at an emotional level and so builds loyalty based on parameters beyond immediate brand use and brand promise.

By being a part of the everyday life of millions of citizens, brands have the leverage to make a big difference through everyday actions. The difference can come from large, innovative disruptions or from small-step changes that together go on to make a big impact on society. Brands thus become an ideal vehicle through which people take action and feel that their collective efforts really do add up to making a big difference.

Think of the marketing power of detergents which wash with less water. The success of our innovation Surf Excel Quick Wash is proof of this. By saving two buckets of water per wash, the brand endeared itself to consumers who were faced with water shortage. Its continued success is proof of the marketing power of such innovations. Toyota’s hybrid car, Prius, traversed a long journey from an idea in 1994 to a successful product that saves fuel, appeals to the discerning consumer and latches on to the aspiration for a greener and more sustainable lifestyle. Toyota is ahead in the hybrid car market because it started well ahead of others with an understanding of the larger concerns and aspirations of its consumers.

As wider social and environmental issues become everyday agenda, consumers will aggressively separate green from greenwash. They will vote with their wallets for brands which address these issues with transparency and authenticity. The business benefits from doing this are not merely the

soft ones about reputation or image. They are hard measures of growth and margin improvement. Brands that believe in this agenda and integrate it into their DNA will not only reap commercial success but be successful in building lasting relationships with consumers.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE AMONG THE MOST TRUSTED BRANDS?

t has been about 20 years since liberalisation and globalisation of the Indian economy and these years have seen a plethora of global brands entering the Indian market. Some to stay on forever and become household names in the country — so much so that today one has to remind oneself that the product or service that one uses has actually come from some other country, with a different culture and catering to a different set of consumers. But one thing is common everywhere, a brand becomes a success story only when it is backed by consumers’ trust, without which no amount of marketing will help.

The Most Trusted Brands survey conducted by The Nielsen Company for Brand Equity is an annual study running for 10 years now. It captures the most trustworthy brands across product categories, geographies and among various consumer segments in India. The research exercise involves continuously tracking the changing market environment by understanding consumer perceptions of brands based on various drivers of trust.

Today, consumers are spoilt for choice and brands are constantly vying for the consumers’ attention in the Indian market. Add to that the growing internet penetration and booming satellite television that has led to an information overdose. The result is a more aware and discerning Indian consumer. The days are past when there was a topdown flow of information from the marketer to the consumer and the consumer had no choice but to believe what the marketer had to say. Things are different today! Today, consumers believe what fellow consumers are posting online and consumers trust what their family and friends are saying about a brand. Trust is more important than ever before in a wired world since consumers are contagious even to people they don’t feel, touch or speak to but definitely influence.

But what is it that makes the consumer put his money on a brand? If we say it is trust, then what is trust? In the ‘Most Trusted Brands’ survey, a brand is defined as ‘most trusted’ if it is endowed with features like phenomenal awareness/familiarity, higher premium/equity, unique proposition, etc. While conducting the survey, we shortlist from a whole host of eligible brands across products and services.

This year, along with products and services, we have also included the ‘Most Trusted Digital Brands’ in the purview of the survey. The features on which the Digital Brands were evaluated are popularity, relevance to the consumers, buzz around the website, safety aspects of using it, etc.

Since digital is the way that most consumers are heading to, it makes logical sense to evaluate the trust factor in that quarter.

We have seen brands evolve over the years but there are some brands that feature every year among the top few and are really close to their consumers. These are the brands that have got the pulse of their consumers and these are the brands that make a difference in the consumers’ lives.

We now live in an era where brands are like “students” who have to learn from teachers (consumers) who will decide whether they trust them or not.

25 th August 2010

Ok Tata

Even after 142 years, Brand Tata continues to grip the consumer psyche with honesty , integrity and purpose

Sruthi Radhakrishnan

IN INDIA, chances are you could spend an entire day using products created by Tata. You could take Tata Indica (or a Tata bus or a truck, if you’re adventurous enough) to the Taj hotel, turn on the Voltas aircon, watch TV bought from the Croma retail store, use TataSky to do so with electricity supplied by Tata Power, wear clothes from apparel retailer Westside, read books while lounging on cushions from multimedia and stationary vendor Landmark, check the time on your Titan watch, surf the internet with Tata Photon and make calls with Docomo, sprinkle Tata Salt on your grub using crockery and cutlery made by Tata Ceramics while sipping Tata Tea and drive out to a Taj beach resort for the weekend on a bridge constructed with Tata Steel. All this while you drink water from their Himalaya brand. In India, brand Tata is a way of life.

For Morgen Witzel, the author of TATA: The Evolution of a Corporate Brand, brands are created by stakeholders—customers and communities—and their experiences. “You have to stand by your word and deliver your promise. Brand owners have a responsibility towards their stakeholders and Tata has kept this in mind very well”, he contends.

In his book, Witzel quotes Ratan Tata as saying, “If you fail to do what you promise, then everything gets thrown away. Your words have no meaning to anyone. We have a reputation of even

playing down the reputation of our products. This is to make sure that we mean what we say and do not over-promise. The consumer gets what they think they are getting.”

Perhaps, that linkage rings true on the premise that the Tata group strives to deliver. Social capital. That’s the value created from investing in good community networks with robust governance policies the same way the company relies on hard assets for sustainable growth. At every nook and cranny of the Tata headquarters, Bombay House, ‘stakeholder management’ sits in the do-gooder pantheon of company objectives. That is, whatever investments the group makes, are based on the needs and interests of all stakeholders—consumers, shareholders, employees and all those who are directly or indirectly impacted by the Tata brands.

Stories of Jamsetji Tata’s unwavering hold on his Parsi principles abound. After all, not many companies have been able to hold a candle to their founding principles for more than a hundred years. Many tried. Most gave up. The Tatas, on the other hand, have been able to stay true to their principles and also not lose their way in the big, bad world of business. “All the brands that we’ve built — Tata Indicom, Docomo, Photon and Walky — were built keeping in mind the core tenets of the company, which are honesty, transparency and clarity”, says Lloyd Mathias, CMO, Tata Teleservices. Tata Indicom was the first in the country to roll out a customer service charter, a measuring stick that its customers can use to determine if the company does its job or not. In this charter, was included five compensation clauses. For example, if its customers faced more than 1.5 per cent call drops, they are compensated for it in their bill. “Again, this was a move drawn from our core values. The customer was put first”, says Mathias. He also emphasises that any deviation from the founding values will make the brand untrue to its customers and itself, echoing Ratan Tata’s observation.

Take Tata Consultancy Services, for instance. The company created a brandrelated trust much faster than its counterparts, thanks to the cult of the personality the IT segment particularly feeds on. For TCS, its vice-chairman S Ramadorai, a strong proponent of ethics and governance, donned the mantle exuding trust and purposefulness. The value of the personality subsequently flowed into the veins of TCS making brand building short, sweet and relatable.

From IT to high tea, Tata brands make the connect all the more alluring with a local approach and a global outlook. The Tatas pulled that off by acquiring the Tetley brand in the dawn of the millennium. But many Tetley users abroad aren’t even aware of the fact that the tea they drink comes from the Tata stable, says Witzel.

A brand’s value keeps changing with every minute into the future. So far, the Tatas have managed to clutch on to their beloved principles as well as take small but significant leaps, as and when required, into the future. “During the 1990s, it became clear that Tata was losing touch with younger Indians, who were tending to regard it as yesterday’s news”, says Witzel. “Since then, Tata has made significant progress in winning back the attention and trust of the younger generation with their Jaago Re! campaign, Tata Crucible quizzes and the Tata Jagriti Yatra youth programme, which takes young Indians by train around the country to see social programmes in action.” The implicit message is that the company is willing to listen when young India speaks.

Azadi Ka Offer

Move over July 4 and Easter Weekend sales — the next big thing, courtesy Kishore Biyani, is August 15th, at least in our neck of the woods

Ravi Balakrishnan

AWEEK before Big Bazaar’s largest annual sale — the Maha Bachat — Kishore Biyani, founder and group CEO, Future Group indulged in a bit of crystal gazing: “This year we are aiming for Rs 180 to 200 crores from Big Bazaar alone and around Rs 300 crores across the group.” He was quick to add that these estimates are typically surpassed. The extent to which they have been surpassed this year has probably left even Future surprised. According to a Future Group insider, on 15th of August, 2010, Big Bazaar with 134 stores in 78 cities “crossed Rs 100 crores in sales in a single day — a record for the franchise.” Biyani witnessed a lot of the mad rush firsthand, at a Big Bazaar outlet in Kandivli in Mumbai on the first day of the sale, flying down to check out the stores in Delhi on Day Two. While Future is being tight-lipped on the specifics, sources claim Big Bazaar managed to equal or even surpass Biyani’s estimates for the entire group through this period.

Big Bazaar may have begun the trend in 2006 with its first Sabse Sasta Din. But India’s national holidays are now among the most important calendar days for Indian modern trade. Consider the timing of these sales: 15th August is typically just before Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi, and the 26th of January, a month after Christmas. These sale dates have added a couple of months to the festive season — already the most lucrative time of the year for retailers and marketers. Management consultant Nabankur Gupta observes, “I am complacent enough to say this has nothing to do with patriotism or a national movement. I think that’s just a trigger point. The basic objective is to get the right price and prepone the buying decision. My guess is it has given a boost of 10% to sales.”

What started as a day-long sale occasion on the 26th of January has become a serious revenue generator for the Future Group. The Maha Bachat around the 15th of August along with the 26th of January sale cycle that’s been branded Sabse Saste Din, generate 4% to 6% of Big Bazaar’s sales (approximate turnover Rs 4,700 crore.) Through the five days of Maha Bachat this year, insiders at Big Bazaar claim to have sold “in excess of one lakh mobile phones, one lakh kilos of detergent, 1.75 lakh pieces of non-stick cookware and 2.5 lakh units of a combination that included five kilo packs each of oil, sugar and rice.” Other categories that picked up traction have been laptops, LCD TVs and

jeans. Biyani says, “You can’t count the footfalls! On these days, it feels India is a consuming country that wants to buy goods.”

Nor is Big Bazaar the only show in town; Reliance Digital and Croma, the electronic goods store from the Tata Group both have independence-themed sales. Reliance offers discounts starting at 15% and going up to 63% (to coincide with the lifespan of independent India) while Croma has branded all of August, Independence Month and has a slew of offers. Ajit Joshi, CEO and managing director, Infiniti Retail, says “There is a 20% to 25% increase in footfalls. Normally for a retailer when footfalls go up, conversions drop. But during August and through our February sale, the conversions go up by 4% to 5%.” Delhi based Vishal Mega Mart claims that its six day long independence sale contributes 2% to its annual turnover. Says founder, RC Agarwal, “There’s a 30% to 40% increase in footfalls and conversions are in the same ratio.”

Retailers have a slightly different take on why this has become such an important sale occasion. Joshi considers it a chance to clear the decks in anticipation of the festive season which sees many new releases and products from durables companies. He adds, “Through the monsoon, shopping becomes a bit challenging in places like Mumbai because of flooding. You need to create activities to draw footfalls. Malls provide relief and a secure environment to take your family to.” Unlike the festive season which is dominated by positive consumer sentiment and a quest for great deals, August is more the month of bargain hunting. Gupta sees in these sales a great opportunity to streamline production: “It has established a more balanced demand pattern. Earlier the only area that wasn’t optimised was the supply chain. It now no longer peaks through one month for Diwali but across six months of a festive season. A single 15 day or one month peak is a major logistic challenge and costs a lot of money. But over five or six months, it is much more manageable.”

It’s also a great time to sell off-season categories. Some of the best deals at the moment are on air conditioners that are typically summer purchases. But as Gupta points out, “People don’t wait for the summer any longer since the offers are very attractive. Similarly, after the monsoon, there will be a lot of offers on washing machines. It’s a great collaboration between customer and manufacturer.”

The focus, at least at Big Bazaar, has been principally on the less affluent segments of the population, dubbed by Biyani as India 2. It is comprised of people who are — or used to be — reluctant adopters of modern trade. The idea when the sale first began, was to draw the masses in with products and prices that attract them. The choice was obvious once the team at Future realised they were looking for a truly secular national holiday; a day off for every potential customer.

Preparation for the sale starts six months in advance, with the team from Future working closely with partners including FMCG players to create special bundled offers. According to Biyani, “The consumer insights team works on what can sell this year, what are the categories where the aspirations are rising and accordingly the team works on creating, buying and sourcing the products. The preparation has to start early since these products can’t come in a day. They have to be prepared and produced specifically.”

The crowds generated on these days at Big Bazaar are a far cry from the relatively comfortable shopping experience offered by modern trade. The first year was, of course, the worst. Big Bazaar severely underestimated demand resulting in small scale rioting, several hundred consumers locked

outside the stores and the police being called in for crowd control. The crowds — estimated to have touched 4.4 million this year — are still intense. Biyani observes, “People come prepared to spend the day here. They wear sports shoes, carry water bottles and maybe even biscuits to get them through. The happiness quotient comes from getting a product that gives them joy and not so much the convenience of shopping.” The crowds at destinations like Big Bazaar have given Croma a positioning idea for its sale this year. Joshi says wryly, “The theme is non violence. Some people have presented their sale to be violent since they have limited stocks. We said ‘no, we have enough merchandise, and why should people fight for last minute bargains?’”

These sale occasions continue to be eagerly anticipated in spite of modern trade slipping into a 365 day sale pattern. Promotions run by either manufacturers or retail outlets ensure there’s always a bargain waiting any time a consumer steps out to shop. Explaining the lasting appeal of these days, Vibha Paul Rishi, director - customer strategy, Future Group says, “There is a truth and honesty to it that drives people. When we say ‘sabse sasta char din’ people are not going to get anything cheaper anywhere else.” According to Joshi, “The offer is to push all the categories and not just a few. And then we throw in bundles which makes sense: like a laptop with a free printer or cartridges.” It’s an ironic inversion of attitudes that drove our socialistic and resolutely uncommercial minded freedom fighters. But there’s ample evidence that indicates the freedom to splurge is the sweetest freedom of all for millions of Indian consumers.

18 th August 2010

The Great Indian Makeover ?

New India’s rebranding efforts and shining new logos won’t go a long way if the ways of life of old Bharat continue to play spoilsport

Amit Sharma

It is ironic. The Ministry of Tourism’s TV commercials starring a beaming Aamir Khan are aired between the very same news bulletins that broadcast the latest updates on the many scams surrounding the Commonwealth Games. In such a milieu, the Ministry of Tourism’s pedantic ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ message ends up looking moronic, because the viewers are disgusted thinking ‘Ye Babu Kab …Kab Sudharenge’. And at the heart of these divergent views lies the battle that Brand India fights everyday: the imagery and perceptions of good old Bharat that refuses to be wished away as the country desperately tries to live up to it’s newly burnished ‘arrived’ image.

In a perception driven world, nation brands are a dual edged sword. They can either deliver a handsome dividend if managed properly or can make an economy a pariah. In that context, the babus of Bharat are taking baby steps to do away with the land of snake charmers legacy, and similar

perceptions of the past that are difficult to shake away. After 2007, when Incredible !ndia became the credo for projecting an India version 2.0 to the world, creating symbols of success has become a new ritual. Recently, the Indian currency — the rupee — got a new symbol, Nandan Nilekani’s Unique Identification Authority’s new logo with the sun over a fingerprint will be unveiled soon, Indian Railways is looking to rebrand itself and get a new logo. And land at the New Delhi airport and Commonwealth Game’s mascot Sheru greets visitors, promising a dekko of a new improved India.

That’s not all, the rebranding fever has really caught on: different Indian states have got into the act too — Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, among others — are all busy carving out a distinct identity in one of the world’s most diverse economies. Union minister of commerce and industry, (MOS) Jyotiraditya Scindia is talking about creating a global brand out of Indian Tea. Some years back, the young minister led the rebranding of the eponymous Indian postal services transforming it into the swish India Post.

Even the corporate world underwent a makeover in the last decade or so to put its best foot forward as it looked westwards for expansion. After the Tata's new logo and rebranding in 1999, a slew of corporates like Godrej's, Avantha group, L&T and SAIL, got an image makeover. To say nothing of the public sector banks. Spurred by competition from private and global banking brands and the very real need to discard a stodgy solid bureaucratic image, many of them have gone in for extensive makeovers. The State Bank of India in particular is trying to bridge the same yawning gulf, morphing people from both Bharat and India into its 'Banker For Every Indian' campaign. Bank of Baroda rebranded itself in 2005. "We wanted to make sure that consumers and employees start identifying with the bank as a partner in their progress," says MD Mallya, chairman and managing director, Bank of Baroda.

With IT and Technology reshaping India's image overseas it was clear the symbols of the past had to be cast aside. In all, it was as if India and many of its iconic government entities and entrepreneurs were eager for a new identity.

But how effective is all of this in leaving people with the impression that the totality of Brand India has changed and is changing? The answer is disheartening. "In its present form, it's just not generating the desired effect," observes Suhel Seth, managing partner at Counselage India, who is also the brand advisor to Indian Railways. "India's branding is by accident and not by design. Different government departments are branding themselves in isolation. In reality, there has to be a lot of coordination to ensure consistency, engagement and strategy behind the exercise," he adds. The reasons for failure are very simple. Often the main agents driving these exercises are politicians and bureaucrats, few of whom have the business and marketing expertise to perform a brand management role. The sad part is that professional marketers and advertisers have the expertise, but lack the mandate and when roped in by the babudom, the red tape stifles creativity and out of the box thinking.

The crux of the problem is that rebranding and a new logo do not mean anything if the overall brand experience doesn't change. A new swanky airport

does not equal a vastly improved brand India, if the moment you step outside, the pothole congested roads, the shaky taxis and in case of Mumbai - the cluster of slums proclaim it all a façade.

Take for example the Commonwealth Games: on paper, an excellent opportunity to showcase India just like South Africa did during the FIFA World Cup. As the land of possibility, Africa's largest economy presented itself as full of diverse opportunity to attract reverence and the monies. But for India the Commonwealth Games might just turn into an international embarrassment rather than a timely opportunity to change the orbit for Brand India. Again the old ways of life of Bharat are tripping new India. VK Malhotra, vice president - organising committee, CWG 2010, admits "At the moment, the Commonwealth Games are giving out a bad image of India." He also smirks at the committee chairman's ambition of hosting the Asiads and later the Olympics. "We might get to host the Asian Games but Olympics are impossible," he signs off.

The overall architecture of Brand India and what it truly stands for is incoherent with different arms saying different things. According to experts, nation and departmental branding have a wide range of stakeholders who use numerous channels to reach a diverse audience. It's thus difficult to encapsulate a multifaceted entity into a distilled brand. The plethora of uncontrollable factors that can affect perceptions make the task all the more complex. "When we talk of branding India, we are really talking about whitewashing certain aspects of the country and promoting some parts of the story," feels Santosh Desai, brand guru and MD and CEO,

Future Brands. "India needs many sub-brands for different purposes," Desai says citing the examples of Kerala (God's Own Country) and Rajasthan (The Incredible State of India) within the tourism piece. Smaller brand stories on the FDI, currency-branding front, he feels, can be similarly conveyed.

Every one of the billion plus citizens is a stakeholder in Brand India. Kieth Dinnie writes in his book Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice, "a nation brand should not only be seen as a complex symbol but rather as a very complex brand identity that is the result of a specific national reality… its perceptions and evaluations by many different internal and external stakeholders." He adds, "It is necessary to explore and understand gaps between national reality, and the internal and external reputation of a country. Arguably, effective nation-branding management hinges on establishing a convincing national reality and reducing the perception gap between reality and its perception as well as between internal and external views."

But does Incredible India as a concept matter enough to the citizens and the government for them to go the distance?

There Is No Alto-native

Maruti Suzuki’s dual model approach at the entry level with Alto K10 invites both bouquets and brickbats

ASECTION of the semi-circular corporate headquarters of Maruti Suzuki (the other semi-circle houses telco giant Bharti) in Delhi’s outlying Vasant Kunj looks like work in progress. Masons chip away wood and fibre-glass fitments lie around every corner with logo boards and the company’s ‘Way of Life’ punchline popping out of nowhere. Work is on at a frenetic pace to provide a launch pad for the brand new Alto K10 within the headquarters, the first of its kind by any homegrown automaker. With just six days to go for the launch, Shashank Srivastava, chief general manager, marketing, sports a worried look. The price. That’s what’s eating him.

The Maruti Alto, India’s largest selling car at about 20,000 units a month (the model sold a record 2,40,000 units in 2009-10) now has a variant—the Alto K10—at a more premium category, albeit in the same A2 segment. But that compounds the woes of Srivastava in terms of pricing. The current Alto is offered at a Rs 2.28 lakh-2.80 lakh price band. “It is a completely new segment as we see it as an extension of Suzuki’s ‘Way of Life’ branding and we have to price it competitively between Rs 2.8 lakh and

Rs 3.2 lakh,” says Srivastava, averring to the still elusive price tag, though the two K10 variants have been priced at Rs 3.03 lakh and Rs 3.16 lakh.

Srivastava cannot be booked for toiling with the numbers. It is rather difficult to find a sweet spot at the entry level, all the more for cars. Though the A1, known as the original entry level for cars, has Nano and Maruti 800, they sell far less nowadays compared to the hyperactive A2 segment comprising a slew of manufacturers with models ranging from Alto, Spark, Indica, Estilo, Santro, Figo, Beat, Wagon-R, i10, AStar, Swift, Ritz, i20, Polo, Fabia and Punto. This segments alone accounts for 65% of the 2 million cars sold in the country every year. And Maruti Suzuki’s new approach of introducing a premium variant of the Alto is seen by many as rocking an already successful brand, a first among equals.

In fact, skeptics even claim that this may be an attempt by the car major to phase out the original Alto. “The company is now trying to rope in the entry level customer at a higher price offering since the brand has worked so well for it….within a year or so, the current Alto may even be phased out,” claims Jatin Chawla, research analyst at IIFL, adding that in April, when the Alto was fitted with a Bharat Stage-IV compliant engine, the car had failed to get a facelift. But Srivastava is unfazed. “Alto is in a segment which is ripe for leveraging the brand for a category of consumers who want more….they are aspirational,” he points out. Maruti Suzuki’s managing director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi elaborates on how offering more than one model in a segment has been beneficial for the company in the past. “This is because the Indian market is maturing and customer preferences are becoming clear and distinct. Consumers look for choice and no longer want to settle for only one model in a category,” he says justifying the launch of the K10.

Over the last four years, the car market in India has doubled to 2 million units. However, the A1 segment and the bottom rung of A2 comprising Alto, Santro Standard and Spark, have seen very little growth. At the same time, first-time buyers are at an all-time high, clearly demonstrating the shifting focus of the entry level into a more-frills zone. In other words, firsttime buyers prefer postponing the purchase for more power, torque and better aesthetics. That may go to explain why the middle (Estilo, Indica, Santro, Figo, Beat, Wagon-R, i10, A-Star) and the higher (Swift, Ritz, i20, Polo, Fabia, Punto) end of the A2 segment sell about 80,000 units a month as against just about 24,000 units in the lower rung of A2.

Even the design team at Suzuki had to be on top gear to broaden the consumer base of the Alto. “The challenge in this case was more complex as the price band in which we were to bring out the car was rather narrow—just above the Alto prices but with performance that matched more expensive mid-A2 segment cars. We were confident that the one-litre K-series engine was the best bet in terms of performance as well as fuel efficiency. In general, our sales trends tell us that the customers have a marked preference for higher-end feature-loaded variants over the basic models,” explains IV Rao, managing executive officer (engineering), Maruti Suzuki. This resulted in not just accommodating the K10 engine and increasing the length of the car by 125 mm, but also redesigning the front and rear of the vehicle and reworking the interiors to give a sporty finish that could appeal to an entry level buyer nowadays.

As a matter of fact, Suzuki’s priority has been to bring in the K10 engine into models like the Zen Estilo and Wagon R. Simultaneously, Suzuki was able to upgrade the old F8D engines to Bharat Stage IV. “The K10 is a universal engine which is now brought into the Alto. Some of Suzuki’s competitors already have a dual engine option and have been successful. This is an ideal time to launch variants is in a buoyant phase which the automotive industry is currently going through,” says Yezdi Nagporewalla, head of automotive practice, KPMG. “And given the price range, this space is generally shared between Santro, Indica and Spark and these automakers are the ones who are

likely to respond to Suzuki’s strategy,” he adds.

While at the new entry-level, Suzuki now has the firstmover advantage with a dual model approach, others seem raring to go. “It allows you to expand your brand coverage by expanding choice of customers and there is a fair amount of choices among every variant these days,” claims Arvind Saxena, director-marketing & sales, Hyundai Motor India Limited. However, he seems skeptical of Suzuki’s sub-brand approach. “The customer will only see the mother brand (ala Maruti or Hyundai and not Alto or Santro), which is the main puller in any auto purchase,” he point out explaining how he had successfully launched i10 in both 1.1 litre and kappa variants, wherein the latter only reinforced the brand with better features and performance, albeit at the middle of the A2 segment.

Even Tata Motors launched the Tata Indigo sedan in 2003 and since then the company has extended the Indigo brand as Tata Indigo Marina, a stationwagon, Tata Indigo XL, a long-wheel base stretched car and Tata Indigo CS, a compact sedan. “Each is successfully meeting needs of target segments and as on date, they have together sold close to 302,000 units,” claims a Tata Motors spokesperson.