Marketing in India require drastic change in its focus due to emergence of modern retail and social media By Bhawani Nandan Prasad IIM Calcutta

Change in focus due to Social Media Marketing using Social media focused to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A corporate message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to come from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself. This form of marketing is driven by word-of-mouth, meaning it results in earned media rather than paid media

It is easily accessible to anyone with internet access. Increased communication for organizations fosters brand awareness and often, improved customer service. Social media serves as a relatively inexpensive platform for organizations to implement marketing campaigns.

Digitalization and social media has revolutionized new avenues for advertisers. The internet based advertisements have various advantages over traditional media channel.

Low cost,

Easy to monitor

Analyze and understand customer liking

These channels can be made interactive wherein customer can communicate back to the advertiser which helps in understanding customer better. In India internet and mobile coverage have explosive growth and have shown double, and in some expenditure on these nontraditional and new medium is still very small, they are ready to take off in the big way in the near future. With the introduction of touch phones like Google Android, Apple and Windows Mobile, the social media is now accessible from mobile and tablets. This help the people stay connected on the move and bring closer to marketers with the help of technology. Individuals are notified of any happenings on social networking sites through their cell phones, in real-time. This constant connection to social networking sites means products and companies can constantly remind and update followers about their capabilities, uses, promotional activity and games to attract the followers. Many companies are now putting QR codes along with products for individuals to access the company website or online services with their smart-phones.

Modern Retail

The Indian retail market is the fifth largest retail destination all across the globe. It has been ranked as the most attractive emerging market for investment in the retail sector in 2009. In the

entire GDP of India, the share of retail trade was between 8-10% in 2007, where presently it has touched around 12%. Following are the field of marketing in India require drastic change in its focus due to emergence of modern retail :-

People ( focus on Customer)

Understanding customers evolving aspirations and lifestyles in the underlying key to success for any new form of retail. The primary emphasis should be on access, experience and service and the second emphasis shall be on product and pricing.

The marketers are required to special care in packaging and labeling so that fruit and vegetable remain fresh.

Target the specific customers for example Biz bazaar specifically target working women and home makers who are the primary decision makers.

Marketers should focus on ways to attract the customer using the promotion campaigns. Example Big Bazaar takes all the old house old items and gives vouchers to bring the customer to attract and pull customer the store.

Better trained staff ,better availability of product and convenience like free home delivery, providing carts to the car parking

Support staff to drop the customer to the car parking

Empowered customer with the support staff to show the product with courtesy and touch and feel the product.

India is a unique country compared to the other developed countries; we will see a lot of customized and localized solutions being developed in the said areas by the SME sector. The marketers are required to advertise the product in the local language on regional television channels.

Indian apparel retailers are increasing their brand presence overseas, particularly in developed markets. While most have identified a gap in countries in West Asia and Africa, some majors are also looking at the US and Europe. Arvind Brands, Madura Garments, Spykar Lifestyle and Royal Classic Polo are busy chalking out foreign expansion plans through the distribution route and standalone stores as well. Another denim wear brand, Spykar, which is now moving towards becoming a casualwear lifestyle brand, has launched its store in Melbourne.

Email Marketing: Email is marketing and it takes only minutes to add a signature to every email to constantly promote your business. Every time your customer sees your domain or store name to the right of the “@” symbol, that’s one more time for your name to be imprinted in their memory. If they go back to search through emails, will they remember how to find User.Name@gmail.com or will they remember to search for YourRetailStore.com?

Physical Evidence a. The modern retail is designed so that all the store looks similar in design so that the

customer knows the location of item in one store to another. Example Walmart in US and Westside in India follows the physical evidence as marketing.

b. The marketers could highlight the discounted items using the pamphlet to the customer entering the store. The marketers should focus on giving user flexibility to

choose items from the self after closely examining the item. Attractive label for items that are below MRP could be used to increase the sale.

c. Place: Placement, or distribution, is about delivering your product or service to the customer in the right way, at the right time. This means knowing which customers utilize which types of channels, and when –and automated tracking goes a long way in shaping your placement strategy. For example, do consumers prefer to purchase their gourmet gift baskets pre-packaged in retail markets, gift-wrapped from online catalogs, or custom ordered fresh at retail shops?

Important place considering with marketing the modern retail store:

i. Number of outlet ii. Location at main city

iii. Area iv. Approachable destination

Promotion In many ways, marketing promotion has never been more ubiquitous than it is today. And at the same time, it has never been as confusing and overwhelming for marketers. Email, social media, and mobile devices have opened new doors for communicating with and engaging prospects, all the while generating an overwhelming amount of data.Automated marketing software enables us to create better, more focused, and more personalized marketing programs, using the data we gather on our day-to-day transactions with prospects and customers.

a. Below the line promotion Coupons, discounts, more of the product at normal price, gift with purchase, competition and prizes, money back offers, exchange offers and special occasion For example: Big Bazaar in association with Star India Pvt. Ltd has launched a collection of designer ethnic wear under the brand “Star Privaar” “Your Kabaad Save Extra on everything! “is an example of exchange offers

b. Above the line promotion: Giving advertise in news paper, TV, internet (own website which give online shopping service) Partnership with Bigflix, big FM 92.7

Price : is directly connected to the value of a product or service. Most people wouldn’t spend Rs 10,000 in BigBazaar outlet but for a few consumers, that cost is less important than the store experience, or the convenience buying multiple brand under single roof or site . With the use of web analytics, social media tracking, and other available metrics nowadays, we can closely follow consumer behavior and campaign performance to find the right balance between cost and value. This type of analysis allows us to better forecast customer demand, lay out strategies accordingly, and adjust more quickly and easily to maximize revenue. Some of the important point that modern retail should focus on is :-

a. Value Pricing

b. Promotional Pricing c. Differentiated Pricing (Time Pricing) d. Bundling: We can also look at bundling the multiple items and provide the bundle at

slightly cheaper price. The bill generated and handed over to customer visited the retail store could focus and print the cost saving after purchasing the items from the store. The total saving will give pleasure and attract the customer next time to the modern retail.

Product : In today’s research-driven market, we can no longer employ’s Henry Ford’s tactic of selling his Model T in only one color. Our products and services must cater to people’s different needs, desires, and purposes. Prospects usually have certain criteria in mind when they begin their shopping process. To stay one step ahead of the game, businesses must develop unique selling propositions that capture their customers’ emotion by setting them apart from their competitors, while meeting some, if not all the criteria for conversion.

Building Brand : The marketers today focus and provide reward scheme using the plastic card. These cards act like customer loyalty program. Example Reliance One card, Big Bazaar and Pantaloon Payback Card

Process: In the absence of intermediaries, the consumer will end up paying lower price for a better product. The unorganized sector, consumer has to argue and fight a lot in case he has to return some faulty product to the retailer. The modern retail should focus on standardized the process. This will result in better customer satisfaction.

Payment Methods: Modern Retail along with software technology, have greater role in providing solutions in bringing together the farmers, retailers, vendors and the customers by leveraging the mobile and cloud technology to lower total cost of ownership. This will enable retailers who have adopted these services to gain competitive advantage by process innovations, lowering costs and building scale.” The customer should be tapped using the online store with cheaper prices. The marketers should focus to flexible payment option like credit card, Airtel money,paypal and ezmoney.

Parking is also an important P however it is not a conventional concept to attract customer and it could have huge bearing on individual store performance. The modern retail should focus on this last P so that customer shopping in modern retail get the free parking service

a) Is marketing relevant in a recession condition?

1. During recession, when economic position is tight, the bottom line is dictated by the

sense of value consumers place in your brand, or more precisely, how much they are willing to pay for that value. Both the value perceived by consumers and actual shareholder value are strongly influenced by brand. Brand can drive growth in an up market or protect the company’s value in a down market. One of the most important, but often overlooked aspects of a recession is the insecurity consumer experience. As consumers feel the pinch, they begin to search for change. Companies need to focus on actions that take advantage of the opportunities that change brings. Branding in a recession is all about investing in consumer retention and attraction.

2. During a recession, most companies cut back in every area of the business and start slashing prices to accommodate the shifting demand curve. While this may help in the short term, this strategy can actually damage both the company and its brands.

3. Historically, companies who invested in their brands during hard economic times

retained their core audience, attracted new consumers and emerged stronger in the end.

4. In a poor economic climate, companies must recognize that consumer retention and attraction is the name of the game. You must invest in brand-building to win market share, not just mindshare or margin. Those who fail to see their consumers as an appreciating asset may soon find their brands and business devalued or defunct.