Markathon October`11

8/3/2019 Markathon October`11

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MARKETING MAGAZINE OF IIM SHILLONG VOL 3, ISSUE 4

MARKATHONO

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TO

B

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Cover StoryDoes CSR really help

Build Brands?

Interview: Dr. Jagdish Sheth, Gouizeta B-school of Emory University

Interview: Anand Khurana, Business Head, HUL


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Dear Readers,

Customer engagement has become an integral element

of marketing for all companies today. They want to talk

to the customer, listen to the customers feedback and

act on it. The recent course I took on IntegratedMarketing Communications only reinforced the fact that,

brands today are emphasising a lot more on media that

enable a 2 way communication with the customer rather

than just broadcast media. These media, help companies

reach out directly and get first hand insights from their

customersCompanies want to have conversations with

FROM THE EDITOR to have a good relationship with the customer. TeamMarkathon is extremely grateful that Mr.Sheth took out

time from his schedule to give us this exclusive interview.

Our articles section has an article of how companies are

leveraging different media to understand what the

consumer wants and then deliver it to the customer in

exactly the way he desired. The other article about new

Marketing Channels for retailers describes the new

delivery mechanisms which are now being tapped by

retailers thanks to growing use of technology. We are

sure our readers will enjoy both the articles.

As always, do send in your feedback and suggestions at

[email protected]

Sit back and enjoy this edition!

Jitesh Pradeep PatelOur September 2011

Cover

is a way of giving back to the society, but it is also about

creating a good image for the brand. The line between

doing good and doing it for the sake of brand building

seems to be getting blurry. Greenwashing has now

become a common phrase for companies which do green

initiatives just for getting a positive image. In this

months cover story, weve tried to ask a simple question

Does CSR really help in building brands?. In the story, we

look at different companies and what CSR means to them

some of them who have really been successful in

leveraging CSR to their brands advantage and also some

who havent been so successful at it. We hope you enjoy

the story!

In this months Vartalaap we have with us Mr. Anand

Khurana who is the Business head - Out of Home (F&B

Services) & Modern Foods (Bakery) at Hindustan Unilever

Ltd. Mr. Khurana talks to us about how HUL is focussing

on its Out of Home division for increased profitability. We

are thankful to Mr.Khurana for taking time out to talk to

the Markathon team.

In our Vartalaap from the academic world, we have the

renowned Dr.Jagdish Sheth who is widely regarded as the

Father of Relationship Marketing. Dr.Sheth is currently

the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at the

Goizueta Business School of Emory University. He gives us

a wonderful interview about how important it is

their customers and convert these

conversations into actual

transactions. Being in the

customers mind is what everycompany is aiming for and there are

various ways they go about it. One

of the ways companies do this is

Corporate Social Responsibility. CSR

2

THE MARKATHON TEAM

EDITOR

Jitesh Pradeep Patel

SUB EDITORS

Gaurav Ralhan

Kaustubh Rawool

Rahul Mantri

Ritika Nagar

Sria Majumdar

CREATIVE DESIGNERS

Yashwanth Reddy Mandipati

Sana Parvez Akhtar
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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CONTENTS

FEATURED ARTICLES

PERSPECTIVEBuilding Brands - Of the Consumers, By the Consumers, For the Consumers

MAYURESH KANVINDE, ROHIL MITRA |NMIMSNew Marketing Channels Driving The Retailers

ABHEEK TALUKDAR, ASWINI. R | FMS

COVER STORY

Does CSR really build BRANDS?

JITESH PATEL, SRIA MAJUMDAR |IIM S

VARTALAAP

DR. JAGDISH SHETH

CHARLES H. KELLSTADT CHAIR OF MARKETING, GOIZUETA B-SCHOOL OF EMORY UNIVERSITY

ANAND KHURANABUSINESS HEAD, HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD

WAR ZONE

EYE 2 EYE

Willcustomers see Suzlons P.A.L campaign as Greenwashing or can the campaign actually

engage the target segment?

SILENT VOICE

Titan's premium Swiss brand Xylys plans to launch a women's line

SPECIALS

BRAND STORYSANA AKHTAR

BOOKMARKSRIA MAJUMDAR

UPDATES

KAUSTUBH

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perspective markathon | october 2011

Building Brands - Of the Consumers, By the Consumers, Forthe ConsumersMayuresh Kanvinde, Rohil Mitra | nMimS

In July 2006, HUL (then HLL) launched Indias first

community portal exclusively belonging to a brandThe

Sunsilk Gang Of Girls. The initiative was an instant

success with the number of members crossing the half

million mark within six months of launching. It was

HULs attempt to revive the Sunsilk brand. Today with a

member base of 7.5 lakh users (a mere 2.5 lakh users in

four and a half years), the success of Sunsilks brand

building exercise is debatable. But, what cannot be

denied is HULs early recognition of a marketing channel

Conversational Marketing - that is moving towards

becoming the trend for marketing and brand building in

2012.

The launch of Orkut in 2004 (2006 in India) and the rise

of Facebook and its ubiquity, paved the way for a new

kind of a marketing channel which we all know as

Social Media. Today almost each brand has its own

Facebook page which is liked by fans, where the

brand gets promoted

each time the target

segment logs onto

Facebook. But, not all

brands have

sufficiently leveraged

the true value of social

media. Social Media

have been extensively

used for advertising

and sales promotion.So much so that the

value of communities like

Facebook to marketers has been questioned as to

whether it is the right place to reach your consumer.

The regular argument is the fact that Facebook

advertisements have critically low Click-Through-Rates

(CTR), implying that people use Facebook solely to

socialize and not to find out or know about their brands

or products. Compared to this are the high CTRs of

search engines ads like in the case of Google Adwords;

rightly so because a person visits Google to find

something. However true the argument is, what the

perpetuators of this argument fail to realise is that

Facebook or other social media can be used as tools to

converse with the customer, make friends with the

customer, and listen to what the customer has to say

rather than to just tell the customer about their

products. Surely, people use Facebook to express their

views and to be listened to. Unlike traditional media

channels like television and print media, social media

provides this advantage of being a two-way

communication channel - a channel to build brands that

are of the consumers, by the consumers and for the

consumers.

Starbucks is perhaps the best example of how to

leverage everything that social media has to offer. Their

online portal mystarbucksidea.force.com proudly

announced on June 17, 2011that they had launched 150

ideas from a plethora of

ideas submitted by its

customers. My Starbucks

Idea is a simple community

where Starbucks customers

can submit their own ideas

about how Starbucks can

improve in all categories

ranging from their coffee tothe experience and

involvement of the customers.

These ideas are voted by other members of the

community and / or are selected by Starbucks idea

partners for launching. The progress on each idea is

updated regularly and most ideas are replied to. Typical

ideas from the 150 launched were:

An iPhone App to check on the balance on theStarbucks Card (loyalty card)

Opening a new store in El Salvador Reintroducing an old flavour of coffee


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Improvement in a chocolate chunk cookierecipe

Buying a Friend a Beverage Remotely throughFacebook

Critics of Starbucks argue that the entire crowd-

sourcing platform has been a failed project, as of a total

of 116100 ideas submitted so far only 150 have been

launched. But, the question to be asked is whether

Starbucks aimed it to be merely a crowd-sourcing

platform. What

Starbucks

has achieved through its idea

portal is what cannot be

achieved through traditional

advertising and promotions and

that is customer loyalty. Starbucks

customers feel that their favourite coffee chain is

listening to them, is considering their suggestions. By

involving the customers, Starbucks has created a sense

of belonging among them and that is enough for the

customers to keep visiting Starbucks. A long-term brand

loyalty has been established. Whats more? Through

the ideas submitted, Starbucks gets a free access to

customer insights, what consumers expect from them

a market research at zero cost.

Taking social media and

technology to further heights

is Nike. It has created a harmonious combination the

two, by using the runners iPod and technology built

into the Nike running shoe to measure and track

workouts. The workout information gets stored

automatically on NikePlus.com, where users can create

their personal profile, log their workout information

and share it with others, chat with other users, share

content and build relationships. Through NikePlus, Nike

was also able collect user data, without interrupting the

user experience of consumers, which was used to send

targeted communications to users and recommend

newer products based on their individual preferences.

The NikePlus platform is now taking the user experience

to a further level by providing goals and challenges

feature where users can set their training goals

online. Users can compare their running

goals and accomplishments with other users

and challenge them for specific milestones.

The portal also suggests potential running

partners to users based on location and

training intensity. The

platform thus allows

Nike to build a close

relationship with its

consumers by

supporting them to

improve themselves.

Through NikePlus, Nike

has managed to spark a

movement that brings

together people around

the globe united to one

another by a shared passion for running. The shared

passion always existed. But it is Nike that has leveraged

it through its exemplifying use of social media.

Over the past 25 years since its launch, Maggi has

emerged as one of the most

affectionate brands among Indian

consumers. A brand which has

probably grown larger than its

parent company Nestle and for all

the right reasons the emotional bond built over

generations of consumers. But, as Maggi approached its

25th

anniversary, it faced newer challenges with the

entry of strong FMCG players like HUL (Knorr), ITC

(Sunfeast) and Horlicks (Foodles). While the

competitors were aggressively advertising their newly


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launched products, Maggi resorted to taking its

emotional connect to the next level. Through the Me &

Meri Maggi campaign, Maggi urged its consumers to

tell their own story about what Maggi means to them

and where does Maggi picture in their life. These stories

were included in Maggis advertisements and also on

the campaign website meandmeri.in and the Meri

Maggi Facebook page, which has over 540000 fans.

Further, Maggi introduced three flavours which were a

direct outcome of the 30000 stories shared by Maggis

consumers. Though not everyone visited the Maggi

website to share their stories, what the campaign

achieved was that the role of Maggi in everyones life

was reinstated in the minds of all consumers.

Maggi further went on to launch the Guess the Taste

of mystery noodles campaign where limited edition

packs were sold across the country in packets marked

with a distinctive question mark design. More than

45,000 consumers have already contacted Maggi with

their suggested name for the taste.

And Maggi hasnt stopped there. The latest campaign of

Maggi further strengthens the emotional bond by

taking the Meri Maggi campaign further by saying

Kyun Meri Maggi itne saalon se sabke dil me hai?

(Why is My Maggi everyones favourite for so many

years?)

Successful Facebook Campaigns

The Most Popular Facebook Page

With over 34 million fans and

growing, Coca-Colas Facebook page

is the most popular Facebook page

(ranked 11 by number of fans)

among all brands world-wide. With a

product that is minimally

differentiated from its sole global competitor, Pepsi,

Coca-Cola is a brand that needs loyalty like no other. It

has successfully achieved it by differentiating itself by

associating itself with happiness though its global

Open Happiness campaign.

Coca-Colas true commitment to their fans on Facebook

is illustrated in the story of how the page came to be.

The page was originally created by two fans who just

loved Coke. When Coca-Cola came to know about the

page, rather than creating another official page, they

acknowledge the efforts of the creators and worked

with them to continue building the page to represent

the brand. They were able to leverage on the

connections that were already established with fans on

Facebook even before they were involved while also

demonstrating how much they valued customer

involvement and participation.

Today, Coca-Cola acts as any other friend that a

Facebook user has. The discussions initiated by Coca-

Cola are not just about the brand but about what the

brand stands for Fun and Happiness.

The Most Engaging Facebook Page

According to a study

released by Visibli,

wherein fan engagement

on Facebook pages with

more than 1 lakh fans

was analysed, Audi USA surprisingly emerged as having

the most engaged fans on Facebook. With over 3.8million Likes on the page, Audi had an average of 7,487

Likes and 292 Comments on their posts in April, 2011,

which certainly sets an example on how to design a

Facebook Page for a brand.

So then the question arises -What is Audi doing

differently from other brands? For a start, it isnt just

pushing out facts about their latest models, posting

videos from auto shows, and giving away free cars on

their Facebook page. On March 11th, Audi asked fans,Whats the best thing that anyone has ever said about

your Audi at the pump? The question triggered

engaging conversations amongst car enthusiasts and

provided a unique opportunity for Audi owners to share

their stories (capturetheconversation.com) bringing out the true

potential of social media.

When you think of

Harley-Davidson,

what is the firstthing that comes to

your mind? Well,

motorcycles for


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sure. But is it just the motorcycle? Or is it a motorcycle

on an open desert highway, with a rider with leather

boots and gear, and a rumbling exhaust that could

make a jet engine seem all too meek. Harley-Davidson

symbolizes rebellion, youth, freedom, and open

possibilities. Its an image created by the people

(smackinc.com).

Realising the strong cult that was inherently present

among its owners, Harley-Davidson initiated the HOG,

the Harley Owners Group in 1983. Its membership

restricted to owners of Harley-Davidson motorcycles,

along with a hierarchal structure of chapters ensures

that only the purest of loyalists have the most say in the

community thereby inculcating a strong sense of

belonging to the cult which would thrive through future

generations.

In 2001, the HOG community went online making it

easier for newer members to join, for members to stay

connected to their brand even when away from their

motorcycles and to connect with other members across

the world linked through the common thread of the

Harley-Davidson culture. Today the community boasts

of over 1,100 chapters and over 1 million chapter

members. The organisation of chapters allows the

members to meet with local riders through events,

rallies, support causes and road-trips as well as socialize

over the internet with their global counterparts. The

HOG site mentions some of the membership benefits as

road-side assistance, participation in events sponsored

by the company as well as by local dealers and a HOG

magazine consisting of HOG Tales of riding.

Because of HOG, Harley-Davidson has reached

benchmarking levels in consumer loyalty and brand

equity. Today, Harley-Davidson is in full alignment with

the dreams and expectations of the Harley-Davidson

owner because it was the Harley owner that dictated

what the brand stood for - in the true sense, a brand of

the consumers, by the consumers, for the consumers.

Trends of the future

According to a study conducted by TWI Surveys, Inc.,

spending on social media and conversational

marketing - albeit still in their nascent stage - will

surpass traditional marketing spend by the end of 2012.

Currently, 70% of respondents of the survey are

spending 2.5% or less of their communications budgets

on conversational marketing while 81% of survey

respondents said they will spend at least as much on

conversational marketing as traditional marketing by

2012.

A look at the current marketing strategies of prominent

brands in India and abroad suggests the trend is on the

rise. Be it Mahindras Spark the Rise or Airtels Har

Friend Zaroori campaign; the customer has now gained

centre-stage. The efficiency as well as effectiveness of

conversational marketing in building long-term brand

loyalty has been demonstrated successfully. Marketers

have to realise the underlying potential that social

media and conversational marketing provide. If not,

marketers would be tempted to shy away from these

channels in lieu of traditional channels. With social

media, the sky is the limit. But the question still arises

Do you realise it limitlessness?


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New Marketing Channels Driving The RetailersAbheek Talukdar, Aswini. R | FmS

Marketing has transcended a long way from marketing

1.0 to marketing 3.0, from being product centric to

people centric to value centric. So have the various

means and channels of reaching your customer. Earlier

the customer, walked up to buy, now, the retailers reach

out to them, and be present at the right time, right

place and to the right people. This opens door to new

channels of marketing, not disparate from the

traditional methods but new parallel ones to support

the traditional practices and enhance the brand

presence.

Consumer Trends and New Brand Experience

Expectation

Gone are the days when one could sell merely with

convincing TV ads and celebrity endorsements. The

consumers of today present a big challenge to the

business. They lead a fast moving on-the-go life and are

always Time starved. The science has made everything

just a click-away for them, and people are now pro-

technology unlike yesteryears when the society was

resistant to any new technology. The tech-savvy

customers now have access to ample information

everywhere about everything. The web has now

become an interactive platform; people not only get

information but also share their experiences. This has

increased the customers interconnectivity immensely.

The retailers cant hush any bad experiences or flawed

products. The awareness about any product/service is

so high that they are conscious and expect worthwhilevalue. Customers now want the special treatment and

need to be feel like kings and queens. The need of the

hour isnt mass marketing rather a personalized

experience is what is needed.

The New Set of Touch Points

The new channels powered by digital technology

present the retailers with vast array of new touch-

points for engaging with consumers and creating a

differentiated brand experience.

New channels, such as mobile and social media, present

retailers with new ways to connect with and engage the

consumers. These new channels are not necessarily

about driving transactions; instead, they enable

retailers to transform the customer experience and

engage with consumers more directly and in entirely

new ways.

To successfully navigate these new channels requires

retailers to:

Understand their customers and eachsegments cross-channel needs and shopping

habits

Achieve brand alignment and consistencyacross channels to present one view of the

retailer while tailoring experiences by channel

where appropriate

Understand how to leverage the strengths ofeach channel to create a better overall brand

experience

Drive loyalty and deliver a consistent brandexperience by integrating front-end and back-

end systems, data and services across all points

of contact

Retailers, who engage with customers to provide a

seamless, integrated brand experience across channels

and meet customers expectations around

transparency, personalization and collaboration, stand

to reap significant benefits. Not only does the brand

exposure of the retailers improve through customer

touch-points; it helps retailers in increasing their

revenue base due to increased traffic and loyalty of the

retailers product, in turn improving the employee

productivity and satisfaction.

The advantages of reaching customers by the use of

newer channels are summarized.

Revenue Boost: The quintessential element ofany retailer is revenue generation. Through the

use of innovative and customer focused

channels, the increase in the number of

customers will imperatively improve the

balance sheets of any retailer.


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Traffic Opportunity: No retailer can improvetheir revenue without the increase of the

number of customers. By providing

everywhere access and engaging in a 24/7

conversation with customers, traffic in all the

channels in which the retailers performs in will

increase boosting the revenue.

Loyalty Increase: Customer loyalty is a toughthing to attain and by providing a seamless,

personalized experience across all channels,

retailers can maintain that loyalty by providing

focused and value products.

Employee Productivity and CustomerSatisfaction Rise: Operating in different focused

channels will better the employee productivitythrough increase of visibility in case of

inventory, product info, critical tasks, long lines,

business performance, etc. Focused products

will indefinitely improve the customer service

and satisfaction.

Instantly on using the 2D scan on the net, she is able to

view the recipe, watch a cooking video of the chicken

biryani, talks to a live expert about the cholesterol & fat

level of the product and instantly receives a customercare call informing of the stores it is in.

The Changing Retail Experience Example: Mobile

Marketing and Sales Support

The power of reaching the target customer using

innovative channels can be seen from the following

example. A certain housewife, Deepi on her way to the

daily grocery notices a new ready-to-eat chicken biryani

advertisement on the street and photographs the 2D

Barcode attached.

After she is satisfied with the

product and reads about the rave reviews on

Twitter/Facebook and other social media sites, she goes

to the store to buy the product. She scans her digital

loyalty card at the retail store, which gives her discount

schemes running in the store. The discount available

through the advertisement is procured using her m-

commerce mobile wallet, she pays the product and

recieves a gift

coupon from the

store.

View Recipe and save to

MyRecipe

View Streaming Digital Content

Receive a delectable offer

Payment for hergroceries by

scanning her digital

gift card at retail

shop

Deepi scans her

digital loyalty card

at retail shop


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Finally, satisfied with the product, she rates the

product on various social media websites. She also joins

the facebook page and discusses the various recipes

that she had tried. All in all, it is a win-win situation for

both the customer and the retailer.

Unique Examples of Retailers Benefitting from

Innovative Channels

Whole Foods Market

With over 1.8 million followers on its account page and

over 3,000 followers on twitter account, Whole Foods

engage a 2-way dialogue with consumers about topics

that are important to them the environment, organic

products, and product recommendations.

Missions App: The Mission App gives consumers an

opportunity to explore new products, learn about

healthy eating and engage in a conversation in their

social networks. Consumers complete steps of varying

difficulty and earn badges through their Missions.

Users can access over 2,000 recipes, store information,

store specials and a calendar of events for their local

store and advice on cooking, nutrition, green living and

food storage.

Target Corporation

It was the first retailer to offer the ability to scan a bar

code directly from a mobile device at any store

nationwide in the US and also initiated mobile coupons

which let consumers redeem discount offers by

scanning a 2D bar

code at the point

of sale.

Target customers

can access their

Target Mobile Gift

Cards, view online

assortments,

check product

availability and store locations, manage their Target gift

registry and lists and browse the weekly ad all on their

mobile phones. Target also offers mobile payment

through a consumers mobile device.

Addition of the

recipe on various

social media

Rating

Recipes on

Twitter

Whole Foods on

Twitter

Target Retail 2D Barcode POS


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Innovative Channels Indian examples

VOLKSWAGEN INDIA

The innovation in marketing channel hasnt spared

anyone, even the big automobile players likeVolkswagen are introducing campaigns like Innovations

for everyone

and Think Blue to

have a long term

approach to building

loyal community

by being present

across all major

social media

platforms.

Volkswagen has cashed

on the new feature of

Linkedin, the

company page where they have already received a

commendable 2772 recommendations on their 7 listed

car models. This could generate sales and bulk orders

for them.

The Future of Reaching the Customer

Best Buy came up with a unique

channel to give customers the

ultimate experience. Their idea was

of providing Mobile Point of Sale and

Manager Dashboard on iPod Touch.

Employees in nearly 27 Best Buy stores can search for

product information and check out customers using a

mobile point-of-sale system. Every department has an

oversized barcode plastered on the adjacent wall.Customers can scan the barcode by stores mobile app

and download coupons or advertisements on the

handset. It helped in

eliminating paperwork

and cost involved in

buying POS hardware.

Key Challenges to Retailers

Siloed Metrics: Major problem for all retailers is that

customer information is spread across different systems

driving a lack of knowledge on customer engagement

with the brand across segments. The lack of common

customer experience metrics becomes prominent in the

view that many retailers need customer behavior

information to understand market.

New Channels Require New Model:Nowadays, Retailers

make the mistake of using every channel alike like Face

book or YouTube end up being copies of the website.

New channels require connecting with consumers in

new ways and understanding how customers want to

use each channel. Thus, a lack of channel differentiation

demands a new channel model.

Platform Integration: Though technology like CRM and

SAP has made it much easy for retailers to keep track of

all the customer data, companies still face issues in

integration of existing channels with newer channels.

Rapidly Evolving Technology: With advent of changing

technology, adoption of marketing channels isnt

sufficient enough to deliver the one-to-onepersonalized experience which the retailer seeks to

achieve.


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Co ver sto ry ma rkatho n | ap ril 2011

Coming from the founder of Tata

Group, the most sociallyresponsible corporate entity in

the country as per Times

Foundation survey, this quote

helps us put CSR in perspective.

In a world where CSR is no

longer a choice but a necessity

for business; companies seem to

forget that the foundations of

CSR can be strong only when it is

built into the fabric of the

organization. Neither is CSR

altruism, nor is it a fad- a survey

of business leaders in the US

found that 8 out of 10 CEOs

believe that CSR helps their

bottom line and 75% say that

people have a right to expect

CSR from firms. Even the

Economist editors recently

admitted that CSR has moved

from the domain of do-gooders

to mainstream. It is accepted

today that CSR cannot sustain

when it is treated as charity, it

requires modifying business

models to achieve the triple

bottom line of people, planet

and profit.

While Corporate Social Responsibility is the

need of the hour for sustainabledevelopment of the environment and

societies across the globe, it is even more

relevant in our country given the gross

inequalities and the fact that development is

still in the initial stages. CSR in India is marred

by skepticism from intelligentsia and

implementation challenges at the grass roots.

To top it, there is no authentic data availableon the kinds of CSR activities, coverage,

policy etc. While evaluating the success of

the CSR activities itself could be a whole

article, we try to evaluate how CSR is helping

organizations in building their corporate

brands. The consumer empowerment

movement across the globe has made cynics

of all customers, and many fear that CSR is

just window dressing. Through this article,

we have tried to understand what makes CSR

a successful brand campaign.

When we started writing this cover story, the

lines between ethical consumerism,

sustainable marketing, green marketing, CSR,

Business Ethics & Corporate Citizenship

seemed to blur. We were forced to riseabove the jargons and focus on what CSR

really means to companies and to the

stakeholders. We explore definitions of CSR

in our next section, but for the purpose of

our article we have considered all activities of

the company which help society and

environment, and in turn affect the

companys image and the corporate brand.

We do not claim to be more unselfish,

more generous or more philanthropic

than other people. But we think we

started on sound and straightforwardbusiness principles, considering the

interests of the shareholders our own,

and the health and welfare of the

employees, the sure foundation of our

success.


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Defining CSR

The term social responsibility was proposed in the U.S.

by Frank Abrams, Chairman of the Board of Standard Oil

of New Jersey in 1951, in a statement about the duties

of executives to society. It gained a following with the

publication two years later of the Social Responsibilities

of the Businessman by economist Howard Bowen who,

having surveyed the consequences of laissez-faire

economics in the 1920s

through to the Great

Depression, concluded that

business had obligations to

society over and above

creating jobs, paying taxes,

and obeying the law.

Corporate Social

Responsibility started off as

charity with roots in ethics.

Organizations had surplus profits, and some leaders,

who were philanthropists, chose to distribute their

wealth among the not so privileged. Then globalization

happened, and the world became a smaller place with

sourcing, production, consumption of the same

product spread across multiple continents.Businesses realized that the only way to

grow was to help the consumers grow

with them, and a more collaborative

development model was employed. On

the other hand, rapid environmental

degradation led to concerns about

sustainability of our planet- leading to

greater customer consciousness. Also,

various Enrons of the world forced

companies to focus on ethics. Suddenly, it

was not uncommon to see capitalists invest

in social and environmental upliftment

and abide to ethical standards,

even build business models which

led to betterment of society and

environment. While CSR started off as

some leaders looking at the triple bottom

line, today it has become a qualifier.

The World Business Council for Sustainable

Development in its publication Making Good

Business Sense by Lord Holme and Richard Watts, said

Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing

commitment by business to behave ethically and

contribute to economic development while improving

the quality of life of the workforce and their families as

well as of the local community and society at large.

While there is no universally accepted definition, the

key issues in CSR are accepted by all - environmental

management, responsible sourcing, stakeholder

engagement, labour welfare, community relations,

gender equality, good governance and anti-corruption

measures.

We see companies engaging

in Corporate Citizenship for

multiple reasons- reputation

and brand building,

competitiveness, risk

management, enhanced

access to capital and markets,

increased sales and profits,

operational cost savings,

improved productivity and quality, efficient human

resource base and enhanced customer loyalty.

Undoubtedly the greatest motivator for a company to

go in for CSR is reputation and brand building, and

surveys corroborate this conclusion.

In the context of measurement of CSR, the ISO

26000 by the International Organization for

Standardization is interesting. This standard

offers guidance on socially responsible

behaviour and possible actions. However, in

contrast to ISO management system

standards, it is not certifiable. CSR rating

agencies have sprung up across the globe,

and demand for non-financial measures of

value creation has increased. Social accounting,auditing and reporting have emerged as

disciplines of study. Yet, it would be a

mistake to believe that CSR is only about

compliance to standards, laws and

indices.

Some companies have managed to do CSR and

build brands. Some have done CSR only to be

labeled as window dressers and green washers.

And for some, CSR has had no impact on brands. In thenext section, we examine some global as well as Indian

firms which have managed to walk the talk.


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Success StoriesReputation Institute, an International Organization, has

tracked how CSR ratings affect the companys

reputation and brand. In the 08 and 09 studies, they

discovered that the CSR index

predicted 40% of overallreputation. In the Indian context,

the Times Foundation survey

found that TATA Group (67

per cent) was the numero uno

company with active CSR initiatives, distantly followed

by Infosys (13 per cent), ITC (12 per cent), NTPC (11

percent), Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Reliance Group (10 per

cent), Ambuja Cement (9 per cent), Microsoft (7 per

cent), Wipro, BILT and L&T (6 per cent each). The

findings of the survey place education, health andenvironment as three of the most popular areas of

intervention for companies as part of their CSR

initiatives. Globally however, environmental issues

including climate change are the most popular

investment areas for CSR.

Organizations like Body Shop, Ben and Jerrys,

Patagonia have been cases studies in Business Schools,

highlighting the corporate citizenship initiatives of these

firms. These efforts have led to their success, and finallytheir take over (in many cases) by mainstream

companies. The top firms in CSR in US context today

include Walt Disney, Microsoft, Google, Honda, Johnson

& Johnson and Pepsi. However, in this section we focus

more on Indian success stories, as we believe the Indian

socio-cultural context is quite different.

No discussion on CSR in the Indian scenario can be

complete without the Tata Group. A group which has

become synonymous with trust and ethics, and doinggood for the community- the company has achieved

what many firms would kill to get. Consumers trust the

brand and anything which has a TATA to its name must

be honest and true. In this context, it is noteworthy that

even the Tata Group which traditionally never

advertised its CSR, is now doing the same. The Values

Stronger than Steel campaign, highlights how Tata

Steel, a Tata Group company has always focused on

ethical practices and employee and society

development. Then there are brands like Mahindra

Group, which have only recently started with massive

CSR initiatives globally such as the RISE campaign.

This initiative not only aims to tie together all the

Mahindra entities, it also shows that the brand is

becoming more socially conscious. Overall, the FMCG

sector seems to lead CSR initiatives with ITCs E-Choupal

and HULs Project Shakti. From being a cigarette mogul,

ITC is now known for building public privatepartnerships, social and farm forestry, reviving Indian

Classical music and the e-Choupal initiative. Needless to

say, consumers admire the company for its

sustainability efforts. ITC is also one of the few Indian

firms to come up with a dedicated Sustainability Report

year on year, and they are GRI - G3 Compliant

Application Level A+. On the

environmental front, the firm

is carbon positive for five years

in a row, water positive for 8

consecutive years and waste recycling positive for last

three years. ITC, unlike the Tata Group has never shied

away from broadcasting its CSR initiatives. Be it PR or

advertising campaigns such as Responsible Luxury for

ITC Hotels, the claims are always in your face. In the

long run however, we feel that the authenticity of

Tatas CSR cannot be matched by aggressive

advertising.

HULs success in reaching out to women self-help

groups across the country, and giving them a

sustainable livelihood source has been so successful

that the model has been taken to Srilanka and

Bangladesh. Its not surprising then that HULs Small

Actions, Big Difference has been translated to 3 of the

top 10 brands in India being HUL brands. Coca Cola

(another brand which has a dedicated sustainability

report for India) focuses on water stewardship;

sustainable packaging, energy management, climateprotection, solid waste management etc. and this had

led to greater brand recognition and increased brand

equity. Coca Cola India has won the Golden Peacock


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Global CSR Award for 2009 for two consecutive years in

recognition of the companys water

conservation/management practices and community

development initiatives. The facts that such awards

have come to exist, again prove the point that brands

are being built by CSR.

These are some brands that have gained in their

mainstream business due to their CSR focus. Brands

continue to shift towards CSR and CSR spends have

increased. More importantly, CSR discussions are now

imperative in the board room. CSR helps build brands,

but only when brands live up to their promise. Green

washing and window dressing is severely punished in

this connected world, and there are other brands which

havent really been able to cash in on the CSR hype

despite having done good work in this field. We explore

some of these organizations in our next section.

CSR: Not always building brands!

Today, CSR has become the mantra for every

organization in the world. It is next to impossible to find

a company which doesnt do CSR as part of their

activities. Everyone has a Sustainability & CSR tab on

their website, everyone talks about it yet there are

companies which are unable to connect with the

consumers based on their CSR work. These are

companies which have done quite a bit of CSR but it

hasnt contributed in building their brand. These are

companies which customers

dont associate with CSR, but are

yet strong and powerful brands in

themselves.

PepsiCo India is one such company. Their

emphasis on sustainability is evident

from the vast amount of work they have

done in India ranging from community

development, water replenishment, and

waste management and partnering with farmers.

PepsiCo India has spent over $11 Mn in the years 2008-

10 for their CSR activities in India. Despite this, the

Pepsi brand in India is not viewed as one which is

socially responsible. There are instances where PepsiCo

has suffered because of being depicted as a Multi-National Corporation which is exploiting the resources

in India especially water. PepsiCo has come with

labels on their packaging to dispel the myth but to no

avail. It also has an exclusive website which details out

the various steps PepsiCo has taken for water

conservation and how it has emerged a water positive

organization. The Pepsi brand is seen as a youth

oriented one signifying freedom and a slight streak of

rebellion among the younger generation. Over the

years, its communications have been consistent to this

theme and it has therefore emerged as one of the

strongest brands for the 18-25 segments. This could be

one reason that the social responsibility aspect is never

really connected with Pepsi. Their positioning for the

brand doesnt gel with initiatives like water

conservation and it is in cases like these that CSR fails to

propel the brands success. There is one more way of

looking at this; it might turn out i.e. the true CSR

which the company continues to do despite gaining noobvious brand benefits out of it.

The case of Reliance Industries as an organization is

something similar. Their websites lists out a myriad

number of programs through which it has contributed

to different spheres of health, infrastructure, education

development and also environment protection. The

public perception of Reliance though is that of a

ruthless corporate entity which doesnt give back

enough to the society. The question then becomes, isReliance not doing enough CSR? Or is it not marketing

its CSR as well as other companies is? This is a pretty

dicey question and the answer probably lies somewhere

in between. The judging of CSR as already been

discussed before has become a matter of

great debate. Reliance Industries has won

a lot of awards at the corporate level for

their social work but the general public is

more or less unaware of these

developmental actions. Reliance

Industries majorly operates in the Oil and

Gas segment which is itself viewed as a

great threat to the environment and

ecosystems. The CSR reports and work take more

prominence in this industry because companies are

desperate to break the mould of being called a

polluting organization and want to be seen as a green,

socially conscious entity. British Petroleum was ranked

in top 3 in the Sustainability index on Dow before the oil

spill happened and all its work came to nought. These

are problems companies have to deal with because

they work in an inherently risky industry which makes

humungous amounts of money.


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The examples conclusively establish the fact

that CSR does have a significant impact on

brand value of the organization in most of

the cases. The dilemma is that, whether it

was success of the CSR activities themselves

or the marketing of these CSR activities. It

wont be long before the consumer realizes

the difference between CSR and windowdressing, and that will be when the true

impact of CSR on brands will be realized.

Challenges

CSR has evolved to become more of a necessity than an

option. Weve seen how it is being used to build the

brand value for an organization. There are still many

challenges to overcome before it becomes a two way

process. The two way process; actual CSR work being

done rather than just reports and window dressing and

this work benefitting the organisations image in the

long run.

Government Policy:The Government Policy in India with regards to CSR is

pretty lax. The policy could empower private

organizations to work more closely in conjunction with

public ones to reach the grassroots of the rural

communities. For this, the policy first has to address the

working of the public bodies. The Governments policies

have

to move away from the myopic view of CSR being a

donation driven activity and use it more as a

participative tool. The encouraging point to note is that

the policy has ensured that there is enough number of

Public Sector organizations which have come up trumps

in implementing CSR initiatives.

CSR in Small and Medium enterprises: SMEs have

typically not been involved in CSR activities. This has

been seen as the responsibility of the big corporate

houses. The Government can try and incentivize CSR for

the SMEs to set the ball rolling and this in turn will have

a major impact on Indias development since the

number of SMEs and their potential impact would be

significantly high in India.

CSR Metrics:The fact that CSR is part of every companys corporate

agenda has made sceptics out of the normal consumer.

When all companies come out with Sustainability

reports which look more and more similar each year, it

is difficult to pinpoint the ones which are doing the

actual work and other who are just talking about it. The

need to identify metrics which make it easier to pick out

the genuine work is essential but remains an unsolved

issue

Disparate Brand Identities:In some cases, though the companies indulge in CSR,

their brand is such that it is disparate with the whole

concept. The whole idea of socially conscious might not

fit in with how strongly the brand conveys its other

personality traits and CSR doesnt become a significantcontributor. This is more of a marketing problem, for

the company to figure out which activity will fit in with

the brand image and bank on this to propel CSR to

prominence.


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vartalaap ma rkathon | february 2010

AnInterview with Dr. Jagdish SHethCharles H. Kellstadt Chair of Marketing, GoiZueta B-school of emory university

Markathon: You went to the US for an MBA from the

University of Pittsburgh. How did you get interested in

consumer psychology? Could you share some key

insights in this field with our readers?

Mr. Jagdish: In my MBA class, I learned several theories

of motivation, including Maslow's theory of need

hierarchy. This led me to studying what motivates

consumers and why consumers become loyal to a

brand. What I discovered is that consumers, over time,

reduce choices through learning and feedback from the

purchase and usage experience; and eventually become

loyal to a given brand. They buy based on habit often

learned at a very young age for products such as

toothpaste and cereals. Also, they do not consider

more than three brands in any given product category.

This was contrary to prevailing belief in economics that

consumer choose logically and not psychologically by

evaluating difficult choices in a rational manner.

Markathon: Emerging Markets to Define Marketing

read one of your recent interviews. It has been said

that India is a country where value conscious

thriftiness coexists with experiential indulgence. What

is your take on this in the light of your statement?

How can companies better understand consumer India

and in turn bring forth a new definition of Marketing?

Mr. Jagdish: You are very right that Indian consumers

are very value conscious. However, there are three

reasons why the same consumers are also engaging in

experiential indulgence. First, they are more aware of

new experiences such as visiting the seven wonders of

the world including Taj Mahal, going on safari and

cruises as well as attending meditation camps. Social

vartalaap ma rkathon | oc tobe r 2011

Dr. Jagdish Sheth is a renowned

scholar and world authority in the

field of marketing. His insights on

global competition, strategic

thinking and customer

relationship management areconsidered revolutionary. He is

the Charles H. Kellstadt Chair of

Marketing in the Goizueta

Business School at Emory

University. Professor Sheth has

published more than 200 books

and research papers in different

areas of marketing and business

strategy.

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media and cable channels such as Discovery and Animal

Planet have increased public awareness. Also, many of

their friends, classmates and family members who have

settled abroad and their children are in touch with one

another. Second, consumer aspirations are rising to be

more contemporary and they experience foreign

cuisines such as Italian, Chinese and Thai, as well as

Domino's Pizza and McDonald's. This is also true about

fashion, cell phones and consumer electronics. Finally,

there is new affordability. The wages of service workers

and professionals have risen sharply. This enables them

to experience small luxuries in life. Therefore, the new

definition of marketing is "Luxury for the Masses".

Markathon: In the current scenario where loyalty

programs are a dime a dozen, how can companies

ensure customer loyalty and in turn customer

retention? What are the new trends emerging in this

area?

Mr. Jagdish: Loyalty programs work well only if the

product or service experience is exceptional. This is

true across all services ranging from airlines to cell

phones. It is also true for retails stores, hotels,

restaurants and coffee shops. Therefore, the best way

to retain customers is consistent and superior customer

experience. The new trends in loyalty programs are to

use social media and product experience to generate

customer cult. The best examples today are iPhone and

iPad and stores like Apple stores.

Markathon: In your book Chindia Rising, you speak

about the shift of the pivot of businesses from the

Western world to India/ China. How do you think

Indian Managers can train themselves to become

global leaders? Where is the Indian Education System

lacking in this aspect?

Mr. Jagdish: The necessary foundation for Indian

managers to become global leaders is to have a global

mind set. Most managers, all over the world, are

usually ethnocentric. Indian managers are no

exception. The best way to increase global mind set is

to encourage them to manage businesses abroad

especially in non-English speaking countries and

cultures. It is not enough just to visit. You must have

deep immersion in other cultures and customs.

With respect to the education system, there are several

options. First, make study abroad mandatory. This is

almost universal in all Executive MBA Programs which

include one to two weeks of overseas education and

learning. Second, invite foreign students to be part of a

cohort. The ideal proportion is one third of the total

student population; and they must come from different

cultures and countries. However, I believe the most

transformative option is to insist on Indian faculty to

teach and research in foreign countries. In other words,

what we need is a Faculty Abroad program in addition

to student abroad programs.

Markathon: In your illustrious career as an

academician, professor and consultant; what has been

your greatest learning? What continues to drive you in

the field of marketing?

Mr. Jagdish: The greatest learning I have experienced

over five decades as an academician, professor and

consultant is that the best way to learn is to teach.

What continues to drive me after 50 years is passion to

learn about new areas. This has ranged from consumer

behaviour to multivariate statistics to competitive

strategy to relationship marketing. My latest passion is

impact of emerging markets on marketing.

Markathon: What would be your advice to students in

business schools, looking to make a career in

marketing?

Mr. Jagdish: I have three pieces of advice. First,

learning is a lifelong journey. It does not stop with

graduation. Therefore, make sure you are learning new

knowledge while you are working. This will be more

and more critical as the half-life of knowledge declines

sharply. Second, the best way to learn is to teach.

Therefore, find ways to teach at a nearby college or

school. If nothing else, get invited to make

presentations in your organization's training centres.

Finally, learn to give back to the society. Please

remember how fortunate you are to be blessed by your

parents, your teachers and your mentors. They made a

difference in your life. Think of what you can do to

make a difference in the lives of others.


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AnInterview with Anand KhuranaBusiness Head, Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

Markathon: You have had a long and illustrious career

in marketing in the FMCG industry, with stints both in

India and abroad while working for HUL. What are the

key differences in the competitive scenario in the

industry in India and abroad? What are the differences

in terms of marketing?

Mr. Anand: Marketing quite simply is aboutunderstanding the consumer, his/her stated & unstated

needs & developing & deploying a marketing mix

(Brand Proposition, Product, Communication & Go-to-

Market strategy) to fulfil that need. This basic premise

remains the same everywhere in

the world. However, the nuances of

consumer tastes & preferences

demand fulfilment options with

respect to the retail store

landscape, media evolution &

consumption habits could differ by

region/ country as much as they do

between Mumbai &

Muzzafarnagar.

Markathon: You have worked in

many diverse roles in HUL. What

has been the most challenging task

in your career till date?

Mr. Anand: HUL has so many different categories & a

culture of moving people from marketing, sales to

business operations which makes the experience very

broad based & large. Its almost like having worked in 5-

6 different companies.

I have been lucky to have moved across sales,

marketing, business operations in both the India

business & International operations. Each stint has been

very rewarding with different challenges across my tints

in brands, exports & key accounts and business

leadership.

Markathon: HUL has recently opened Bru World Cafs

in Mumbai. What spurred the company to enter direct

retail for coffee? When can we expect the pilot cafes

to spread to other cities?

Mr. Anand: A Caf a logical extension for our coffee

brand as the segment presents a great opportunity for

not just consumption but also building brand

experience & premiumization. It helps us move up the

value chain from product to experience delivery. This is

being done currently on a pilot basis

Markathon: Can you tell us about HULs

plans in the OOH (Out of Home) segment

in the next 5 years? What is the strategy

that you are looking at for Modern

Foods?

Mr. Anand: More & more consumers are

spending more & more time out of home,

at Work (offices, colleges) Wait (at

airports, railways) & Play (Malls, Multiplex,

Leisure). This creates a large consumption

and Brand experience opportunity. We

have built a robust Beverages Out-of-

Home business in the B2B space with our

Lipton & Bru Tea/Coffee vending services,

since 2002 & are look to continuing to scale that up

rapidly. In addition we have entered the consumer OOH

space with the Bru caf and Swirls ice cream parlours.

Modern Foods is a very large player in the Bakery

Category which is very large. Unlike other FMCG, Bread

is a perishable product & requires decentralized

manufacturing & a daily distribution system. Modern as

a brand has a lot of equity & we have driven aggressive

growth by rejuvenating the Brand by making the

packing more contemporary, introducing a lot of new

products like kream rolls, chappatis, cookies etc. Our

strategy is to continue to leverage our strengths in Daily

distribution & Bakery technology to grow the business.


Mr. Anand Khurana is currently the Business Head of Out of Home (Food & Beverage Services) and Modern Foods

(Bakery) at Hindustan Unilever Ltd. He has a rich experience of 14 years with HUL and has worked in Modern Trade

Channel, New Business Development, Key account management etc. He has also been the senior brand manager for

hair care, responsible for brands of Clinic All Clear and Nihar.

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wa r zone | eye 2 eye ma rkathon | oc tober 2011

Will customers see Suzlon's PALS campaign as

greenwashing, or can the campaign actually

engage the target segment?

dark cloud created by the industry. It indicates the

increased awareness among the corporate top honchos

about the rapid environment degradation and their

changed focus towards achieving a strong triple bottom

line performance by targeted efforts to promote business

growth in a sustainable manner.

Quite often, however, these campaigns are just a

marketing gimmick of firms having more important

hidden agendas such as gaining more recognition,

increasing the recall value of the brand. Addressing social

issues remains merely a by-product of these campaigns.

Consider Suzlons latest campaign for example; although

the company is trying to project itself as a firm

committed to ensuring clean air and thereby protecting

the environment and the eco-system, it has recently

been accused of causing potential hazards to

environment and natural resources in Saurashtra. It was

also accused of seizing lands of tribals in Maharashtra at

throwaway prices and subsequently selling it to

celebrities. Even the FMCG giant HUL, whose Surf Excel -Do bucket paani bachana hai campaign is creating buzz

in the country, has been charged with accusation of

causing mercury pollution in South India. Sadly, there are

many more such examples.

Today, customers are becoming increasingly aware about

these deceptive greenwashing campaigns and hence

are unlikely to yield to accept Suzlons claims unless the

firm starts walking their talk.

mindset of an individual and not the age. IdentifyingIndia as one of the emerging markets for wind power,

Suzlon is trying to position itself as a company

providing renewable energy rather than a

manufacturer of turbines. Following the trends of

other companies (Idea, Nokia etc.), Suzlon is

launching this campaign for the betterment of the

society but at the same time, this has a hidden

objective which is purely business in nature.

For an average consumer who had been riddled withso many of these similar campaigns ( Ideas use

mobile save paper campaign, Nokias Planet ke

rakhwaale to name a few) this move would come

across as just another multinational trying to project

themselves as an environment friendly firm. Although

it would not be possible to identify Suzlons motives

behind this campaign, one conclusion would be that

all they require is recognition. Tomorrow when they

move into the fast growing Indian wind energy

market, they should be recognized by the consumers.

Calling this effort a greenwashing marketing

strategy would be going a bit too far as their facilities

at One Earth have been certified with the highest

levels of green building certifications and their

methods of generating power from wind actually

makes the air a bit cleaner. But at the same time,

trying to generate buzz about the company using the

green angle would come across to the consumers

as unappealing due to the clutter of companies taking

this route.

Topic for the next issues Eye to Eye: Is Tata Indicoms being merged into Tata Docomo right for

Tata Teleservices?Your opinion (view/counterview) is invited. Word limit is 250-300. Last date of sending entries is

15th

November 2011. Include your picture (JPEG format) with the entry.

Apoorv Vaidya

IIM S

The recent P.A.L.S. (Pure AirLovers Society) campaign

launched by Suzlon, a leading

wind power company, is one

among a long list of Corporate

Social Responsibility campaigns

initiated by various organizations.

Having such a long list would

normally be a silver lining to the

Suzlon, one of the worldsleaders in the wind energy

sector has come up with a

new brand campaign called

P.A.L.S (Pure Air Lovers

Society). For the first time,

this campaign is targeted at

the youth, especially the

urban youth, although youth

is ust a term to define the

Greenwashingcampa

ignsofcompaniesarenot

hingmorethanmarketing

gimmicks

ThoughSuzlonactu

allyemploysgreenmethods,thecampaignisana

ttempttogainrecognition

Sarat Gopinath

GIM

wa r zone | eye 2 eye ma rkathon | oc tober 2011

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war zone | silent voice markathon | october 2011

22

Silent VoiceLAST MONTHS RESULTS

Theme: Titan's premium Swiss brand Xylys plans to launch a women's line

WINNER: Ritika & Imtiyaz | Welingkar, MUMBAI

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

Articles are invitedBest Article: Abheek Talukdar, Aswini. R | FMS

They receive a cash prize of Rs. 1000 & a letter of appreciation.

We are inviting articles from all the B-schools of India. The articles can be specific to the

regular sections of Markathon which includes:

Perspective: Articles related to development of latest trends in marketing arena.

Productolysis: Analysis of a product from the point of view of marketing.

Strategic Analysis: A complete analysis of the marketing strategy of any company or an

event.

International Column: Articles covering latest marketing trends, innovative practices,branding strategies etc. in the global perspective. Apart from above, out of the box

views related to marketing are also welcome. The best entry will receive a letter of

appreciation and a cash prize of Rs 1000/-. The format of the file should be MS Word

doc/docx.

Were inviting photographs of interesting promotional

events/advertisements/hoardings/banners etc. you might have come across in your daily life

for our new section The 4th P.

Send your self-clicked photographs in JPEG format only.

NEXT THEME FOR SILENT VOICE: Wipro's re-launch of the newly acquired soap Aramusk
mailto:[email protected]


23/27

Brand Story: LaysSana akhtar | IIM S

When salesman Herman W. Lay opened a snack food

operation in Nashville, Tennessee way back in 1938 andstarted making potato chips, little had he imagined it

would go on to become the worlds largest and

favourite snack food brand. The Lays Lay Lingo

Company later merged with the Frito Company to form

Frito-Lay Inc. In 1965, Frito-Lay merged with the Pepsi-

Cola Company to form PepsiCo, Inc.

Lays came to India in 1995 and has since become an

indispensable part of Indias snacking culture. The

international taste blended with Indian flavours appeals

to the Indian youth which Lays primarily targets. Itsfirst campaign No one can eat just one was a huge

success and the brand used it for a long time. Saif Ali

Khan as the face of Lays in India helped in reinforcing

the youth-centric imagery that the brand tried to build

through its campaigns.

Its next campaign

Whats the

programme

shifted the focus of

the positioningfrom taste to usage

occasion making

Lays the the main

food of every

programme. The

brand then roped

in another youth

icon, the captain of the Indian Cricket team, M. S. Dhoni

as its brand ambassador.

Lays decided to give a voice to its consumers opinionand started the Fight for Your Flavour campaign where

the consumers could vote for their favourite flavour.

The TVCs for the campaign ran as a face-off between

Saif Ali Khan and M. S. Dhoni portrayed as netas urging

the consumers to vote for their respective flavours.

Later, with the increased competition and growing

health concerns of the consumer, Lays launched a TVC

claiming that it had

40% less fat.

In 2009, the brandagain went in for a

major repositioning and came

up with the tagline "Be a little

Dillogical". The concept clearly aimed at making a

strong connect with the youth - talking about what one

wishes to do versus what one has to do. The campaign

was launched with a series of ads built around the

universal consumer struggle between what the mind

asks one to do and what the heart desires. The idea was

taken a bit further to launch the 'Give Us Your DilliciousFlavour' campaign encouraging consumers to send in

their recipes.

During the Cricket World

Cup 2011, Lays launched a

new campaign Kaun

Jeetega World Cup and

came out with six new

flavours. It called the

consumers to vote for the

team that would win the

World Cup and get a chance to meet the Indian captain.

Lays has so far managed to get it right with its Indian

consumers. Be it the Indian flavours or the youth-

centric imagery and appeal of the brand, Lays has

always struck the right chord. As the youth brand that it

has carved itself as, it continues to grow in the hearts

and minds of its consumers.

spec ials | b rand story ma rkathon | oc tober 2011

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Brand relevanceMaking Competitors Irrelevant: David A. Aaker

Review by sria majumdar

Jossey - Bass | Hardcover Edition, Price

Rs.1654

This book is David Aakers ninth on branding, and that

itself should be a crowd puller. The essence of the book

is beautifully summed up in the quote David starts his

book with You do not merely want to be considered

just the best of the best. You want to be considered the

only ones who do what you do.- Jerry Garcia

If the authors branding expertise, position as ProfessorEmeritus at the Haas School of Business and being the

Vice Chairman of Prophet, a global brand and marketing

consultancy firm are not reason enough for you to pick

up the book, read on to know why the book is relevant

for you.

Summary

The ground breaking book explains the difference

between brand relevance and brand preference. In the

battle for being relevant, its important that when a

consumer considers a category/subcategory- your

brand is in the consideration set. Brand preference

battle comes in the later stages when one selects a

brand from the consideration set and here

differentiation, loyalty and experience come into play.

The book describes how various brands have won and

failed in the brand preference battle, and in the later

chapters, talks of finding new concepts, evaluating

them and defining and managing a

category/subcategory. Also, the book deals with

sustaining the differentiation, and gaining and

maintaining relevance in the face of market dynamics.

Organization

The book begins with the Japanese Beer Industry, and

illustrates how Asahi became a market leader by

defining a new subcategory and becoming the only

relevant brand in that subcategory. The brand relevance

model is explained, and thereafter the categorization,

framing, consideration and measurement of brand

relevance are dealt with. There are three chapters

completely dedicated to retail, automobile and the food

industry- wherein multiple cases prove the point David

makes about brand relevance.

The book doesnt stop there. The author proceeds to

explain to the reader how the brand relevance battle

can be won, and once again illustrates his theories with

brilliant examples- ranging from Apple to

Salesforce.com to GE.

Verdict: 4/5

The book is a must read for anyone interested in

branding and marketing strategy. The only negative for

an Indian reader would be that most of the examples

are from a US context, and there are times that the

brand examples are unknown. Having said that, the

examples only enrich ones knowledge of brands and

makes the reader appreciate the risky world of brands

even more.

Bottom-line

David Aakers latest book, is a bibliophiles reading

pleasure for a plethora of reasons. First and foremost,

any advice from the branding strategy guru comeswrapped in simplicity and is almost always backed by

examples. Secondly, the book provides an insight into

various brands- Zara, Subway, Toyotas Prius Hybrid,

P&Gs Olestra and many

more. Finally, the book grips

you from beginning to end-

because Aaker is an author

who knows how to entertain

the reader and yet, impart

invaluable branding lessons.

spe c ials | bo okmark ma rkathon | oc tober 2011

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BRAND ADVERTISEMENTS

TVS Apache claims to be scarily fast with a

new TVC

TVS Apache has unveiled a new commercial to highlight

the speed factor of the bike which makes it 'scarily fast'.

The TVC has been created by McCann Erickson. The

objective behind the TVC was to differentiate Apache

RTR 160 from all other bikes especially in the area of

performance emphasizing that Apache RTR is meant for

true bike enthusiasts. The positioning of TVS Apache

was considered while bringing out the TVC and was

effectively amplified through the communication route

taken. The TVC was positioned at bringing out theaspect of super speed in a unique and entertaining

manner.

Vodafone communicates a multitude of

offerings with new campaign

Vodafone India has launched a new campaign to

indulge their consumers in a volley of voice based

services their toll free number 123 claims to offer. The

campaign created by Ogilvy works on the thought thatyour phone is not just meant for talking. The campaign

stars Irrfan Khan and for the Southern market, the

campaign features actor Prakash Raj. The TVC was

based on the idea that there is a huge segment of

consumers with basic phones and a lot of hesitancy in

exploring other services or even data. So the main idea

was to involve and evolve this audience by giving them

information they want without the complications

through voice based 123 service.

TOI asks Chennai readers to wake up to

The Times of India

The Times of India has launched a new campaign for its

Chennai edition. The campaign titled, 'Wake up to The

Times of India' has been created by Taproot India. The

TVC blends in a Tamil lullaby with different scenes in a

satirical way so as to project that the readers of

Chennai have been reading boring papers for a long

time and it's time they switched to TOI's Chennai

edition for their daily dose of news. The idea was to

underline to the consumer that if he's stuck with boring

news, he should switch to TOI Chennai.

Draftfcb Ulka recreates the magic of

Manthan for Amuls new TVC

Nearly a decade after Amul released its 'Mero gaam

kathaparey advertisement, Draftfcb Ulka has recreated

the magic of Manthan for a new TVC. The new film

emphasises on a woman's contribution towards

creating a healthier lifestyle for the society in general

and aims at establishing the bond between the milk

producer and consumer. The idea behind the TVC is

about connecting rural India with urban India. The new

TVC is more about how this independent rural woman'slife has enriched further and now she is walking

shoulder to shoulder with her urban counterpart.

Second TVC out for Myntra.com

Myntra.com has announced its Autumn/Winter 20011

collection with the help of a new TVC created by Happy

Creative Services. The second TVC aims to drive home

the fact that Myntra retails only the most popular in-

season merchandise. The ad features young people,

dressed in apparel and accessories from Myntra, who

treat everyday places like the supermarket, the college

corridor as fashion ramps, and hence, walk like models

down it. The TVC will be supported by print, cinema and

digital campaigns.

BRAND LAUNCH

Lenovo launches tablets with the 'Do'

mindset

Lenovo has launched a host of tablets that will be

available in different markets of India. The launch

involves three types of tablets, IdeaPad K1 and A1 for

consumers, and ThinkPad tablet for business

professionals. For the launch of their first family of

tablets, Lenovo is propagating the 'Do' mind-set

communicating that theirs will be 'The do anything,

anywhere, anytime tablets'. The core proposition

behind the TVC would be to highlight that these are the

'Do' machines that can help do all the amazing things

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that consumers thought weren't feasible so far. The

creative agency at the helm for this launch is Ogilvy &

Mather.

BBC.com launches India edition

BBC.com, the international news website, has unveiled

three new editions for, Asian, Indian and Australia/New

Zealand consumers. All three sites will be tailored to

provide more in-depth analysis, breaking news and

business bulletins for each of the markets as well as a

host of specially commissioned features and reports.

These editions will be supported by BBC.coms

commercial launch partners Finnair, UPS and Prudential

Corporation Asia. According to BBC, these three new

editions across Asia reflect the BBCs commitment to

accurate, high-quality and independent news across

digital platforms.

BMW Group to Launch MINI Brand in India

in Early 2012

BMW Group, the Bavarian automaker, announced on

Monday that it will launch the firm's small premium

models in India starting from 2012. The company plans

to create standalone dealerships for the MINI brandbeginning with two showrooms in Delhi and one in

Mumbai. Over the next few years, the British

automaker will boast a total of 12 dealerships

throughout the country. The company have not yet

finalised the price of the car yet, but the entry price will

be more than Rs 25 lakh. Interestingly, India has been

the only country where Mini has not been introduced.

BRAND NEWS

Unilever outlines 'more magic, less logic'

marketing philosophy

Unilever is to undertake a fundamental change in

approach to its marketing through the implementation

of a fresh 'More magic, less logic' company philosophy.

The FMCG brand-owner wants to shake up its numbers-

led marketing strategy to reward marketers who are

prepared to take risks and back creative ideas. The

company believes this new philosophy would enable

marketers to fail, where previously they have been

scared to take risks. It is understood that Unilever

hopes the change will help move it away from the type

of model used by rival Procter & Gamble.

Star Plus launches iPhone, iPad apps

Star Plus has launched apps for the iPhone and iPad, amove that the channel says has made it the first GEC in

India to do so. The apps are available in India and over

120 countries around the world. The initiative aims to

make entertainment content available on-the-go. The

App store will enable upwardly mobile viewers to watch

their best loved programs on iPhone and iPad wherever

they are and whenever they want to. The app allows

users not just a great video experience, but also gives

details on show schedules, news and updates on their

favorite show characters through daily audio blogs.

CNBC-TV18 launches CNBC-TV18 Prime HD

CNBC-TV18 has launched a new premium business

news service called CNBC-TV18 Prime HD. The new

business channel will be focused on the needs of Indias

rapidly expanding investor and financial services

community. To be available in addition to the existing

CNBC-TV18 channel, CNBC-TV18 PRIME HD will be

broadcast on Indias leading DTH platforms in HD

quality. CNBC-TV18 Prime HD will operate on a

seamless and unique 2 window screen architecture,

that will offer rich and in-depth live video and data

content to viewers simultaneously.

BRAND RELAUNCH

PepsiCo to relaunch Duke's in Mumbai

PepsiCo is all set to re-launch the Duke's range of

beverages in Mumbai. Dukes will now be available in

four flavours raspberry, masala soda, gingerade and

ice cream soda. The marketing promotion will mainly be

through below the line activities, and start-up design

agency Delta Leonis has been appointed for the same.

According to PepsiCo, the new Dukes range represents

Mumbais spirit, which is a strong mix of tradition and

modernity. It celebrates the heritage of Mumbai and

echoes the same values of energy, strength andeffervescence.

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Markathon October`11

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