MARKE”TOURING” INDIA

Power of ad campaigns

On one of our short trips to Agra, we happened to visit the Taj Mahal for the third time and to our utter disgust we found the walls of probably the biggest embodiment of love scribbled with meaningless comments and symbols. We immediately recalled our first visit when we were mesmerised with the beauty and purity of the structure. Just when we were discussing about the prevalent vandalism in India, we came across a small child who was trying to rub off the scribbling. 

Out of curiosity and amazement we went near the child and praised him for the initiative he was taking. The child casually remarked, “Aamir ne bola”. Like a flash came the Incredible India ads in front of our eyes. It was one of the ads in the campaign which showed Aamir Khan raising voice against defacement of shrines and monuments which bear testimony to our rich cultural heritage and legacy.

The first marketing initiative of its kind in India–Incredible India was a branding exercise to create a distinctive and improved image for the country by the Tourism Ministry of India. This iconic Incredible India logo with the exclamation mark forming the “I” of India was used to great effect across all communications. Its creators acknowledged the fact that it takes a special bond with a country and its people to give up everything they know and setup roots in a country which is not their homeland. These are the people who have truly embraced our culture and assimilated it into their being as opposed to those who have simply been “bitten by the India bug”. Establishing roots is a huge decision and not a mere whim or adventure.

The earlier ads were successfully able to position India as a lucrative destination in the mind of its target population, the foreign tourists. India was positioned as “premier holiday destination for high-yield tourists”. The campaign successfully established India as a high end tourist destination generating a 16% increase in tourist traffic in the first year of its inception. While the awareness ads of “Athiti Devo Bhava”, created to complement the “Incredible India” ad series, targeted the local Indians which included sections of people interacting frequently with visitors (taxi drivers, guides, immigration officers) urging them to preserve the open-hearted and hospitable image of the country.

Not only the theme but the choice of Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador for the campaign was a tactical and thoughtful strategy aimed at captivating the masses. Aamir Khan is perceived as a thinking and intelligent actor with a strong intellect. A message conveyed by him could not go unnoticed and that is exactly what happened.

The campaign is a typical instance of societal marketing wherein the tourism industry reaped substantial benefits, keeping in mind the long term interests of the society at large. The campaign not only had a telling effect on the country’s GDP but also effectively managed to render a much needed facelift to our global image.

The once Unique selling proposition (USP) of the country (culture, heritage, religion, spirituality etc.) no longer seemed unique. It was time to provide something more. The tourism industry was quick to realise the fact and came up with this campaign with an added hospitality value thus providing an Extra Value Proposition (EVP) for travellers from abroad.

Besides finding new EVPs the new campaign is aiming at a new target market. The earlier ads were made to attract foreign tourists, but the new 2012 ad which showcased the logo in the national language Hindi aims at domestic tourism too. The international campaign has the tagline of “Find what you seek” while “Go Ahead” is clear at addressing the domestic tourists to search their own country to discover themselves. This step by the ministry can be well understood by the fact that the domestic tourism industry accounts for the three-fourth of the total tourism revenue and thus acts as the backbone of the tourism industry in India.

As of today, the promotion has been majorly done through television ads, ads in magazines and video sites like Youtube and Metacafe. It needs to increase its visibility and reach through new media tools such as social media sites, matrimonial sites, blogs and direct mailers.

Social networks provide a one stop platform where audience of all age groups are available and one can cater to all of them at once. Social media are the fastest growing communication channels and messages conveyed through them would reach the target audience faster and even cheaper. Websites which could be used for this purpose include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Indyarocks, Hi5 and Myspace. Travel and tourism websites like Makemytrip, Yatra, Cleartrip, SOTC Holidays and Thomas Cook have become daily companions of many and this could be leveraged to promote the campaign effectively.

We can go for augmenting a product only when the core and expected benefits of a product are visible. In lieu of this we should not ignore the changes and the developments which need to bring about in our tourism industry. Proper transportation facilities, proper accommodation arrangements, food and entertainment and educational importance of heritage sites are the key motivators to success of any tourism industry. The government of India has provided a fund of Rs.1210 crores aside of the marketing, which needs to be utilised in this direction. The child brought fond memories of the campaign in front of us. However we must not forget that campaigns are merely awareness and promotion tools .Until and unless we have a proper ground work in place, these campaigns would be superficial and ineffective.

-Written along with Shauvik Ghosh for the contest "Samvad" by Welingkar Institute of Management, date 26 Sept' 2012

References:

IITTM-ICC Report, Travel and Tourism Industry in India: Looking East, viewed 26 November 2012, http://www.iittm.org/doc/IITTM_ITC_Report-2011-rev.pdf

Business Standard, 16 November, Viewed 26 November 2012, http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/incredible-india-goes-forkillindustry-wants-action/492680/

 http://www.youtube.com/

 http://www.squidoo.com/the-incredible-india-campaign

THE POLITICAL KOTLER-BAL KESHAV THACKERAY

One of the biggest financial capitals in Asia came to a standstill. Lacs of people flooded the city just to have the last glimpse of the man they worshiped to the very core. 20000 policemen including rapid action force were deployed to maintain order. Commercial businesses ranging from corporate houses to pan wallahs chose to shut down voluntarily. It’s not difficult to gauge the might of the person who was the source of this commotion, a person who held the awed emotions of millions. To sections of Maharastra he was a straight forward, spontaneous, large-hearted man, to others he was a Xenophobic Fundamentalist. Some called him a Political Innovator, while for some he was an intimidating, autocratic leader. Such was the charisma of Bal Keshav Thackeray. From a small satirical cartoonist, to a man of godly stature, Thackeray’s journey is illustrative and a lesson for a student of marketing. To trace his history, we have go back to 1 May 1960, which saw the state of Bombay being divided into two new states of Gujarat and Maharastra, which was the result of a very bitter struggle witnessing the loss of 105 lives. Even though the state of Maharastra had mostly Marathi speaking people, they soon realized that there was a crisis of unemployment for them as the Gujaratis and Marwaris ran the businesses while the white collar jobs went to the South Indians. During those days Thackeray used to publish satires in his periodical "Marmik" which were aimed at Non-Marathis. It also published a list of employees in various companies, which revealed that most of them were non-Maharastrian. Thackeray righty targeted the educated unemployed Marathis youths. He made them aware of different issues that stalled their growth like unemployment of youth and loss of self-pride. It appealed to their cognitive senses. Soon he also won the hearts of the embittered unemployed youth through his anti-migrant philosophy which mesmerized them. He was able to identify that the people of Maharastra were suffering from an identity crisis and he addressed their social as well as self-esteem needs by starting the movement of unifying the Marathi-speaking people. He understood the needs for economical as well as social development of these people. In 1966, Thackeray formed the political party of “Shiv Sena”. The popularity of Thackeray was increasing amongst the Marathi speaking people, while at a loss was the South Indian community. They were the targets as they were held responsible for taking up the jobs from the educated Marathi youths. The Shiv Sainiks marched ahead with the anti-South slogan of "Pungi Bajao, Lungi Bhagao" as they referred South Indians as "lungiwallahs". Thackeray used a developmental strategy to address the latent demand thus formed the product of "Marathi Manoos" which catered to their needs, hopes and aspirations. He unified the marathis by providing them with an identity, which asked them to respect themselves and ask for their rights proudly. The concept of "Marathi Manoos" was positioned in the mind of the Marathis as a self dependent clan who worked for their own welfare and upliftment. They have always stood for the cause of “Marathi Manoos” by constantly being a pillar of support for them. They have established good customer relationship by working for them. They claim to have worked for the people of Maharastra by playing central role in rehabilitation of 500000 slum dwellers. They also provided services to their community by cremating older people whose children resided outside the country. This was the calling of the brand “Shiv Sena”. The Shiv Sena was born at a time the Communist party was already the market leader of the segment, Sena was planning to target, i.e. the disgruntled Marathi mass who were unemployed because of the job offers being snatched away by the migrant South Indians or for that matter the Gujarati section who had remained there after partition of Bombay Presidency. Thus it had lost the opportunity of primus entrant. So it had to meet competition as it entered the market. The value proposition Communists offered these youth were of equality but what Shiv Sena had in store for them was much more than the concept of being at par with others. It offered them identity, a sense of pride and superiority in who they were, “Marathi Manoos”. Building on this extra value proposition, Bal Thackeray had two options. He could compete with the communist party bang on with a frontal attack or it could dilute the brand slowly and steadily and adopt the strategy of flanker attack which was actually done by him. Bala Saheb Thackeray with his regular satirical cartoons in Marmik and charged oratory was successful in disseminating anti migratory feelings. With the backup of Congress, which had actually fueled the formation of the Sena, it through a series of violent conflicts with the communists was finally able to rule over the labor politics in Mumbai. Within no time Shiv Sena was the market leader with powers unmatched to any of its contemporary competitors. Shrewd marketer as Bal Thackeray was, identified the need for strategies followed by market leaders. He went on expanding the market for Shiv Sena through geographical expansion when it won the 1995 elections in collaboration with BJP. Bal Thackeray knew that for pan Maharashtra operations it needed to re-positioning and re-orientation of his party being in government. Thus Shiv Sena moved on to the ideology of Hindutva and made controversial moves against Muslims and Pakistan. The Brand Thackeray created was able to extract customer loyalty and engagement. The emotional connect he had with his followers can be made out from the fact that In 1969 when he was arrested for allegedly organizing protests against the then deputy Prime Minister Morarji Desai, the city was thrown into chaos by rioting activists who were silenced only by a statement from their leader. He was arrested on one other occasion but was quickly granted bail before the situation went out of hand in Mumbai. The Ferocious tiger as Shiv Sena’s Party symbol represented the true image Bal Thackeray shared with his followers. He was otherwise called Tiger Thackeray by his fans all over. Taglines such as “Hindu Hridaya Samrat” for Thackeray, “Pungi bajao, Lungi Bhagao”, “Marathi Manoos” were in the language the common man could understand and created an indelible mark on the minds and hearts of people. Balasaheb had been a cartoonist and very clearly knew the art of connecting with people through imagery and presenting his thoughts as clearly and effectively as possible. Though some termed his brand as a “brand of hatred” and “vitriolic comments” but what we can learn from him is the fact that he built a brand with a stature that could be loved or loathed but could not be ignored. His ideas always stood out and against the common notion like anti-bihari, anti muslim, admiration of Adolf Hitler etc. The range of varying obituaries and differentiated opinions about him published after his death is a clear indicator of the place and importance he held in Indian Politics though his actions may be confined to just one state. The astute skills he used for promotion included word of mouth publicity and public relations. Bal Thackeray was one man never short of opinions. Whether it was culture, arts, sports, national politics or any other issue he always had something witty or sarcastic to say. It was his articulation, eloquence and quick-wittiness that moved millions to his side. He based his campaigns on issues centering the middle class Marathi. His other means included rallies and protests sometimes violent, sometimes demonstrative. Doubts are now being raised about the future of Shiv Sena and the brand value Thackeray created. For Shiv Sena, losing Bal Thackeray is same as Apple losing Steve Jobs. The question is that, with Udhav as the party supremo does the party plan to concentrate on the same target group or should they reposition it with the changing behavior of the current generation? Is it better for them to follow the same strategy and politics of hate or move towards a more liberal and relaxed approach, if yes then is it easy for people to forget the Brand Bal Thackeray has created over years, which is the very base of the party? The answer lies in the times to come... -Written along with Naveli Singh for the contest “Conquest” by IIM Shillong, 24 Sept’ 2012

Coca-Cola: Content Management

Strategies

1) Liquid and Linked

Liquid- Liquid means freely flowing, thus plan consistently on creating such contents which go viral and wanders freely around the web. They push out their best content which generates high levels of interest across social networks and other online platforms.

Linked- Whatever they write are linked to their very goals. Simply putting, if it does not add any value to the company by generating revenue or strengthening the brand image, it is useless!

2) The 70/20/10 Plan

70%- 70% of their contents are of low risk. By this they mean content that has consistently
worked well and achieved results in the past. It does not ether mean boring or low quality.

20%- 20% of the content they produce are spin off from what has worked earlier. It means an in depth, detailed and better quality version of the content created earlier for the 70%.

10%- The rest 10% of content are of extremely high risk. Innovative ideas and concepts which often end up by working fantastically well or failing terribly.

Few of the Online-Marketing done by Coke

1) Global toolkit for the London 2012 Olympic Games Move to the Beat campaign:
 activated in more than 110 countries.
 included 60 different types of content.
 60-minute documentary on the making of global anthem with Mark Ronson that were cut into shareable webisodes and mobisodes, to Beat Maker app, which let consumers create their own beats as ringtones and upload them to the Global Beat on Facebook.

2) To re-present the corporate Web site as an online magazine, called Coca-Cola Journey
 The reorganized Web site will offer articles on subjects like entertainment, the environment, health and sports, including longer pieces given prominence in the same way that magazines play up cover pieces.
 Interviews, opinion columns, video and audio clips, photo galleries and blogs also will be featured.

3) Extensive presence for the company and its brands in social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
 Advertising on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter is becoming more used.
 features a site for customers to blog.

4) The Coca-Cola Company will promote the new version of the corporate Web site with
 search engine marketing on Google, Searching a word for example typing in Coca-Cola, a bunch of links would show up related.

5) Engaging customer on Facebook 
Targeting the youth segment
 In Australia, they launched bottle’s with common names. Later the promotion shifted to FB, where the most voted names were to be printed on bottle next.
 Coca-cola company apps on FB.

6) Digital display ads
 Web banner.

7) On mobile 
Targeting the teenagers hooked to their mobiles
 AdMob (Google Advertising) features Coca-Cola advertisements in videos and text format.
 Coca-Cola launched a promotion in Great Britain to give away 50p free mobile credit with every purchase of a Fanta, Dr Pepper and Sprite drink (other brands of Coke). Bottles and cans will carry a code, which entered at www.gimmecredit.co.uk.
 My Coke Rewards: On the caps of bottles carries a code where then consumers go online to enter the code to gain points. With over 500 ways to spend the points like new screen savers for the phone, songs, pictures, ringtones, cheat codes and emotions.

8) “What makes people happy?” 
The whole family as the target segment
This campaign located online at Expedition206.com for viewers to follow and blog, blog posts seen on Tweets, YouTube or on Flickr.

9) Online games
 Polar bear games.
 Coca-cola zero facial App.

Bottomline: They use all the media in an integrated manner to create the fizz!!

Sources:
http://paige1228.angelfire.com/Powerpoint.pdf
http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/social-media-matter-marketing-coca-cola/240444/

Educate, the Sakshum way..

India is a young nation. 65% of the population of the country is employable population whereas 35% of the population is under the age of 15years. What about literacy? Forecast says that by 2020, 50% of the illiterate population will reside in India. The 2011 census also indicated a 2001-2011 decadal literacy growth of 9.2%, which is the slower than the growth seen during the previous decade. For our country to be productive, we need skilled workforce, for which education plays the most important role.

Sakshum, envisions spreading awareness and promote Child Education. The “Ëducate a Child” project of Sakshum is aimed at “Promoting and encouraging child education by supporting needy children who are willing to study.”

Whenever Sakshum visits any school for other projects such as the 'Eye Care I Care', they enquire with the school authorities about the children who are good at studies and need financial support to carry on their education. Based on the information provided to them the screening of the children is done and the authenticity of the case is verified. Those who really are in genuine need of someone to bear educational expenses are uploaded to their 'Children Profile' page.

Team Sakshum then look for people who can adopt these children educationally. Those who are willing to sponsor are introduced to the school and to the children. 13 children are currently being supported and the total numbers of Children sponsored are 15. Schools such as St Isaac School and Shivaji Vidyapeeth School, both in Hyderabad have been covered.

Being responsible citizen of India, we can also help Sakshum in their small endeavour by being volunteer in any of their upcoming project or by monetary support by making donation.

JAI HIND!

Visit the NGO at Sakshum and like them on Facebook.

Adopt an NGO..

According to Wikipedia, a non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any form of government.

There are around 3.3 million NGOs in India as of 2009, which means there is one NGO per 400 people in India. In India NGOs can be established under various Indian laws, and the different legal entities under which civil society organizations can register themselves.There are various organizations for women, children, farmers, artisans etc. Societies Registration Act, 1860 is a central act for registering not-for-profit organizations

Sakshum is one such not for profit organization. It means "being capable". It aims at providing holistic development to children with special needs and help them to integrate with the regular society. "Special needs" includes children suffering from Autism, Down's syndrome etc.

Sakshum has undertaken following initiatives-
*Blood Donor Registration
*Eye Care I Care : Regarding vision problems and treatment
*Light a Life: Eye donation
*Educate a Child
*Adopt a School
*Adopt a NGO

"United we stand, divided we fall."

Sakshum has started this project of "Adopt a NGO". It helps smaller NGOs by strengthening them by providing them with direction and financial assistance.

Sakshum has already taken the following NGOs under its wings.

1) Prekhsa Foundation
2) Organization of Rural Development

It is helping 160 children by providing basic education and by helping them to join a school.

Small steps like this can help many underprivileged citizens of our country. Being responsible citizen of India, we all have duty towards betterment of our country. These initiatives can be a big motivation for us all. Thus I request all those who are reading to make small but effective steps to help our country be a better place.

JAI HIND!

Visit the NGO at Sakshum and like them on Facebook.

Happy Independence Day!

This is an appeal to all of you my friends..

Independence Day has become just another occasion for us to send message n wish each other.. We have overlooked it's significance..

Some people say-"Who says we r independent".. To some extent they are wrong and to some extent they are right.. We have advanced in many fields.. We have nuclear power.. We have a bid IT sector.. 1000s of millionaires.. But then.. Acc to planing commission of India, 27.25% (42% under international poverty line) of our population is below poverty line.. 34% of our population is illiterate.. On one side we have big mall n the other side, we have slums.. Corruption is evrywhere.. And our India needs cleanliness.. in terms of minds n also regarding sanitation..

We, the youth can do a lot for our country.. Learn from the Chinese, they and us, we both started together, but now they are the second largest economy, but we, are going to surpass them as the country with highest population.. Why don't we just promise ourself that we need to do somthing big.. We Indians don't aim higher.. We need to make ourselves proud.. We r not doing this for somebody else but our own motherland.. We youth are very passionate.. But as we grow.. We get power.. We become selfish.. Power corrupts.. But don't let it happen with us.. Don't corrupt yourselves.. Love ur country.. Work for it..

On this Independence day.. Let us take a pledge of making our country better..

Start from small things-

1) Say NO to corruption
2) Maintain cleanliness in our neighbourhood
3) Save electricity n water, reduce pollution
4) Stop distinguishing people as Hindu, Muslim,Bengali, Bihari, Marathi, Bhramhan, Shudra n all.. No religious, regional n sexual biasness.. We r Indian.. n even above that we r human..
5) Study hard, work hard
6) Spread literacy, promote literacy, try to teach at least one person..

And a lot more.. Think friends, think.. Dont lose hope.. Or dont make urself think like.."WHO CARES".. It's ur country.. Ur OWN Identity..

As they say.. Even one man can make a difference.. One man cant change the whole nation.. But if all of us make some difference.. We will surely change our Country..

JAI HIND!

KK fans please join...

KK, the voice of many hearts, is among the best singers of our Indian Music. The path to reach this zenith has been carved by this Keralite himself. If you listen to the songs of this Delhi based singer, you can easily feel how beautifully he emotes. He truly believes in what he says, “Dil se kaam karo is my ‘funda’". Just like his idol Kishore Kumar, KK is self-trained. Yet his singing is so simple and his effortlessness is beyond comparison. He says God has gifted him with his talents. And also says, “I leave everything to God and that helps me select the best songs.”.His has a very wide range of songs, be it soft numbers like “Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai”, “Zara Si”, “Dil Ibadat”, or sad songs “Awarapan Banjarapan”, “Tadap Tadap Ke”, or dance numbers such as, ”Dus Bahane”, “Main tera Dhadkan” and ”Ayashi”. The ease with which he strikes his chords is so remarkable. The best part of this amazing singer is that he is one of the most amazing human being, his humble nature will make you go gaga over him. There is nothing that he craves for, be it awards, fame or publicity. He is always thankful to God for his ability and work. His ultimate focus lies on the kind of work he gets & needless to say, he outdoes himself every time he comes up with a new track.

As a child he wanted to be a doctor, but went on to become a commerce graduate. He even worked as a Market executive for 8 months. But destiny had something else stored for him and us. He soon realized that music was where his heart lies.

In 1994, the year his son was born, he gave his demo tope to Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot, Shiv Mathur and Leslie Lewis to get a break in the music arena. He got the first break in Mumbai from UTV to sing jingles and success followed soon. He grabbed his first bollywood song, “Chod Aye Hum” from the movie “Maachis” with music director Vishal Bhardwaj. Since then he never looked back, he has sang over thousands of jingles and more than 600 songs in 9 languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and many more.

His first album “Pal”, which he came up with his mentor Leslie Lewis, was an instant hit and ignited the youths. For this, he got the prestigious SCREEN award as best singer. His second album,”Humsafar” came after a gap of 8 years, in which he plays the composer too. He says that he has grown as a musician and a human being too over these years.

He also says that he feel lucky to be able to work with music directors such as “Shankar-Ehsan-Loy”, “A R Rahman”, “Illayaraja”. Nevertheless, this man is a genius himself and that is why his fan followings are increasing day by day. He says, “I'm as popular as my last hit song. I'm happy as long as my listeners like my music.”

He loves to sing live as much as playback singing. “There is a certain energy an artiste gets when he or she is on stage. No matter what one’s condition is, once I am on stage, I forget everything and simply perform,” he says.

The kind of performer he is, rightly give us the reason to call him The Mesmerizer. He married his childhood sweetheart Jyothi in 1991. It has been 28 years since they know each other. They know each other from sixth standard. Jyothi is a painter and designer by profession. His eldest son Nakul seems to be following proud father's footsteps. The then 13-year-old sang a song MASTI from his latest album HUMSAFAR with his father. KK has a daughter Taamara. As a family man, KK prefers to spend time with family when he is not working. In an interview he said,” One thing very few people know is that I love to talk. My wife and I chat from morning till evening. Eventually, my 16-year-old son has to come and ask us to break our chatting session!”

He says his family is what gives him the strength to cope with all the pressure of Bollywood, where one has to continuously carve one's niche and hold on to it.

KK appeared on television too. He was invited as jury member for a talent hunt show FAME GURUKUL, but he is clear that he would not like to return to television as the medium restricts him.

www.themesmerizer.com