2. January 2013
CONTENTS
Featured Articles Page No
Reader’s Message 1
The Assault on the Mind 2
Festival Marketing 6
Some Biggest Branding Mistakes 11
Fight for mindshare of customers 17
Old Wine New Bottle 20
Crossword 22

3. January 2013
Reader’s Message
It’s a new brand world.
Behind every great brand is a fundamental core brand message: a compact statement that declares why the
brand matters and what it stands for. A core brand message communicates the values and key differentiators
that define the brand. And above all else, it makes people in a firm’s target audience sit up and care.We place
on record our sincere thanks to all those who worked hard in bringing out this edition on time.
The core brand message will shape all of a firm’s subsequent brand marketing messages. A firm’s tagline or
ad slogan may closely match the words in its core brand message, or they can take a different form. What’s
important is that all of a firm’s brand messages describe aspects of the brand that are relevant to the needs
of customers.
This edition is focused on branding and how various organizations in the past have used Branding as a pow-
erful medium to conquer the market share. Articles also focus on new concept such as “Festival Marketing”,
where festival help Marketers to come up with creative Advertising. The other article you might look in for
would be biggest branding mistakes as most of them love to learn from mistakes.
It’s time for us to take a lesson from the big brands, a lesson that’s true for anyone who’s interested in what it
takes to stand out and prosper in the new world of work.
Happy reading..!!
Team Markezine
Editing and Design-
| Shivaraj | Sheeza Shakeel | Ishwarya Lakshmi | Nikhil Girhotra
1 MARKezine C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

4. January 2013
The Assault on the Mind
of whatever-it-may-be product and drop it in to their
shopping trolley.
Here begins the art of persuasion and fighting it out
for getting that coveted place in the mind of the cus-
tomer.
How do we recall brands?
Do we recall Micromax or Karbonn if we are asked
for the name of a business phone? Obviously not ex-
cept for the case where you own a business and a
Micromax or Karbonn phone. The answer will defi-
The proclivity of a brand to create value reaches its
nitely be Blackberry.
zenith when it gets engraved in the psyche of the
No one remembers or even knows Cibaca or Dabur
mass.
toothpastes in India. It is either Colgate or Close-Up.
Consumers face grave dilemmas of choosing be- If you are an affluent person with sensitive teeth, you
tween brands. The producers actually do capitalize might also have the name Sensodyne at your finger
on it. Getting a recall value in the mind space of cus- tips.
tomers is really an activity that companies need to
It is the way we are conditioned to be. No one re-
work their backs off for. Managers are instrumental
members a brand that comes in with a flashy ad and
in bringing about change in the perceived value in
suddenly disappears off the screen, because along
a brand.
with that it disappears off the mind too. This is due
In fact, it is required to travel that extra mile to reach to the fact that human mind is volatile; our memory
the mind of its customers adding on to the gruelling span gets reloaded every time when we see an ad.
processes involved in creating a product ranging
But how do you convert this into total recall?
from inception of an idea to R&D to production to
Neither hoardings nor ads alone can do this. The
packaging to reaching the shelves of your mom n
product should elicit a response befitting the maxi-
pop store or a hypermarket.
mal quality of the product class it belongs to can of-
But from there on, the journey just gets far more tir- fer.
ing. It takes a great deal of persuasion on the part
“What we have here is a failure to communicate”
of the firm’s marketing communication for, the cus-
communicate is the single most common most uni-
tomer to stretch their hands out and take that pack
versal reason given for problems to develop.
C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP MARKezine 2

5. January 2013
sage was further developed into our theory of “own-
ing a word in people’s mind”. Volvo owns “safety”
BMW owns “driving” FedEx owns “overnight” Crest
owns “cavities”. Once you own a word in the mind,
you have to use it or lose it.
Today communication is itself a problem.
Positioning starts with a product, a piece of mer-
chandise, a company, an institution or even a person
or perhaps even you.
But positioning is not what you do to a product. Posi- Kodak, Xerox, Coca-Cola, IBM, GE
tioning is what you do to the minds of the prospect. What do these brands have in common? They were
To be successful today, we must touch base with real- all the first brands in the mind in their respective cat-
ity. And the reality that really counts is what’s already egory. Today these brands are still leading their cat-
in the prospect’s mind. The basic approach of posi- egories. “It’s better to be first than to be better” is by
tioning is not to create something new and different, far the most powerful positioning idea. The hard way
but to manipulate what’s already up there in mind. to get into a person’s mind is being second. Second
To retie the connections that already exists. is nowhere and hence the fight for mindshare!
The folly of trying to change a human mind becomes The more we studied the human mind, the more we
one of the most important tenets of the positioning saw the relationship between the mind and the mem-
concept. This is one principle which is most often ory bank of a computer. To put a new brand into the
violated by marketing professionals. Millions of dol- mind, you have to delete or reposition the old brand
lars are wasted every day in the futile task, of trying that already occupies this category.
to change the minds of their prospects.
The most important concept of mindshare is that
The best approach to take in our over communicated mind works by ear, not by eye. So, before you can
society is the oversimplified message. In communi- (Think small, Avis is No.2 etc) It’s not that pictures
cation, less is more. You have to sharpen your mes- weren’t used; it’s just that the purpose of the visuals
sage to cut into the mind. was to reinforce the verbal ideas into the mind. Many
The positioning concept of this oversimplified mes- advertising agencies, on the other hand, still worship
3 MARKezine C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

6. January 2013
the visuals. They love creating weird pictures that as basic as making a purchase. Customers tend to
only cause visual distraction. love underdogs but buy from the perceived leaders.
Radio is truly the primary medium and “word of If everyone else is buying, I should be buying it.
mouth” and primary communication vehicle. It’s When the market make up its mind about a product,
ironic that virtually the entire advertising industry there’s no changing the mind.
today is visually oriented. “A picture is worth a thou- Coca-Cola blew both prestige and money in an effort
sand words” is the battle cry used by companies like to convince the market they had a better thing than
Coca-cola which uses polar bears, Budweiser (liz- “the real thing.” No one bought the new Coke. But
ards) and Energizer (bunny). their Classic version sells as well as ever. Faced with
The Fortune 500 and savvy mid market consumer the choice between changing customer’s mind and
products approach the marketing function from a proving that there is no need to do so, everyone gets
different angle from those of small to mid market busy with the proof.
companies. In the fight for mindshare for customers, the well dif-
They start with a marketing research to implement ferentiated specialist tends to be the winner. These
a comprehensive strategy to penetrate their market, specialists tend to make an impression on the mind
build their brand and win mindshare before they en- primarily because they focus on one product, one
ter a market. benefit and one message. This enables the market to
While the mind may still be a mystery, we know one put a sharp point on the message that quickly drives
thing about it that is certain; it’s under attack. Most it into the mind.
Western societies have become totally “over-com- Dominos can focus on home delivery while Pizza
municated”. The explosion of media forms, and the Hut has to talk about its different pizzas, home de-
ensuing increase in the volume of communications, livery and sit-down service. Another strategy of the
has dramatically affected the way people either take specialist is the ability to be perceived as the expert
in or ignore the information offered to them. or the best at what they do. Whatever it is that they
Marketing people, and the minds of people they are are known to do, they must do it well. Finally the spe-
trying to influence, are often in conflict. Customer’s cialist must become the “generic” for the category.
perceptions are selective. And their memory is high- Xerox became the generic word for copying (“Please
ly selective. This means that in a crowded category, Xerox this for me”) Federal Express became the ge-
your difference might not be enough unless it is a neric word for overnight delivery(“I’ll FedEx it to
dramatic difference. you”) Making the brand names a generic is the ul-
timate weapon in fighting the battle of mindshare.
More often than not, people buy what they think they
should have. They’re sort of like sheep, following the Hence to win the battle for mindshare and influence
flock. The main reason for such behaviour is insecu- the market, the following steps must be followed:
rity. One reason is perceived risk in doing something
C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP MARKezine 4

7. January 2013
1. Understand the position you own build a share of mind and to establish a position. It
Position is thinking in reverse. What we must do is also takes money to hold a position once you’ve es-
to find a way into the mind by hooking our product, tablished it. There are just too many me-too products
service or concept to what’s already there. Don’t be and too many me-too companies vying for the mind
narrow minded. As marketers, look at the big pic- of the prospect. Getting noticed is getting tougher.
ture, not the details. 7-Up’s problem is not the pros- 5. Can you stick it out?
pect’s attitude towards lemon/lime drinks, but the Think of our over communicated society as a con-
overwhelming share of mind by the colas. “Get me stant crucible to change. As one idea replaces anoth-
a Soda” to many people, means a Coke or a Pepsi. er in bewildering succession, it’s important to deter-
Looking at the big picture helped Seven-Up develop mine your basic position & then stick to it. With rare
its successful uncola program. exceptions, a company must almost never change
2. Determine the position you want to own its basic positioning strategy. Owning a position in
Sometimes you want too much. You can want to own the mind is like owning a valuable asset. Once you
a position that’s too broad, probably a position that give it up, you might find it impossible to get it back
can’t be established in the prospect’s mind. It is im- again. The line extension trap is a good example. By
portant to establish a unique position as a specialist, line extension, you are actually weakening the mind-
not as a jack of all trades generalist. share. And once that is gone, you are adrift with-
out an anchor. Eg: Levi’s line extension into casual
clothes (And then finding its basic positioning in
“jeans” undermined by “designer label” jeans) The
integral belief that a firm gets the maximum of the
value once it reaches out to the consumers was once
the ultimate height of success of that firm. Gone are
those days. The current market scenario shows a
whooping amount of companies fighting it out, not
alone for sales and gaining market share, but also
for getting that premium rental space in that not-so-
3. Target whom to outrun. easily available mind space of the customer.
Trying to select a position that no one else has a firm ‘Behold a turtle; he makes progress only when he sticks
grip on, is a wise decision. Spend time thinking about his neck out’. The need of the hour is the reverberative
the situation from the point of view of your competi- morphosis of consumer expectations.
tors as you do thinking about it from your own. Submitted by:
4. Check if you have the necessary money. Anand K V
A big obstacle to successful positioning is attempt- Ramyaa Ramesh
ing to achieve the impossible. It takes money to Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai
5 MARKezine C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

8. January 2013
Festival Marketing:
A Strategy no company gives a miss!
Fanta:
HoliHai!! Toh dikhao apne asli rang contest
Engagement is the buzz word for the recent Fanta
Holi campaign. The campaign includes design holi
wacky quotes and the winners were given special t-
shirts which increases the consume involvement.
In India, it is hard to see a month refrained from a
festival. Festivals are generally where people are at
their peak of happiness. They are willing to spend
and buy a lot of things. People mark their calendars
if they want to make an important purchase like a
car, house or something of that scale.
But these days even FMCG companies are invest-
ing heavily in these festivals. They chase the slots to
be noticed be it the traditional media like TV, Radio,
Newspaper or the new entrants Social Media.
Every festival has altogether different relation with
people who are celebrating it. Many companies
these days try to come up with innovative marketing
campaign to leverage on these special occasions. In
this article we have discussed few Indian as well as
foreign examples and finally we have evaluated them
on different parameters.
Indian Festivals
Holi - Engage Customers
C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP MARKezine 6

9. January 2013
Navratri - Be Innovative In Coke’s Diwali Carol, the four musketeers light
Radio’s on-ground push: enough diyas to power an entire city and have fire
Tie-up with major ‘garba’ events in the locality is stations on red alert. But the big question was, were
one of the major trends for the season. For instance, Indian consumers feeling the joy? This advertise-
Big FM has entered into partnerships with temples ment is cashing in on the festive season sentiment.
and major ‘garba’ venues across eight cities. Radio Except that anybody who has grown up in a Diwali-
City has returned with its property ‘Garba Premier celebrating culture knows that this is a -family fes-
League’ and ‘Dandiya Premier League’. Aforemen- tival, not a go-out-celebrate-with-others one. That’s
tioned events are organized in Ahmedabad and Christmas, Holi perhaps (minus the hooliganism &
Mumbai respectively and see various housing socie- harassment) and yes, even Ganesh Chaturti & Puja,
ties competing in Garba competitions. but Diwali? That’s for diyas & rangolis inside the
Innovative on-air shows: house, sweets with family.
Radio Mirchi has initiated Mirchi Musical Navras in Raksha Bandhan - Use of Social Media
its evening slot show Sunset Samosa. It is a nine-day Cadbury Raksha bandhan:
series which will explore Bollywood music on the
lines nine traditional ‘Rasas’.
Oye! (104.9FM) has created a fictional on-air char-
acter named Jignesh Bhai to promote the Navratri
fervor.
Diwali - Be Careful
Coke:
Do diyeaurjalao campaign (http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=o3W1jeyWb-o)
Tell your sister she is special campaign (htt-
ps://www.facebook.com/cadburycelebrations/
app_190322544333196)
Cadbury Celebrations had launched a multimedia
campaign to connect the brand to the Raksha band-
han festival. Web films had been specially created
for Raksha Bandhan, urging brothers to express their
love to their sisters through the innovative Facebook
contest ‘Tell your sister she is special’.
7 MARKezine C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

10. January 2013
A unique app was created on Facebook that showed sored the project. Dove saw a rise in sales by 226%
siblings wishing each other in real time with their re- and 3.3 million impression across all social networks.
spective locations. This app was the focal point of Ma Jin ended up being a search trend in China and
the activity and all the other elements are directed to called as ‘carriage boy’.
this for participation. The critical point of the campaign was that it was
well executed without spending a penny. Social me-
dia does have a power beyond the measurable to
make such campaign a huge success.
Halloween is one festival where people not only get
creative with their costumes but also the marketing
campaigns.
The following is the print advertisement from a pro-
motional campaign of Burger King in Argentina.
Global Festivals The sauce dripping and the light setting give that
Qixi Festival, the Chinese Valentine’s Day on August spooky vampire look. Adjacent to it is McDonald’s
6th (2011), Dove wanted to find a new and innova- advertisement. The resemblance of the same con-
tive way to promote its chocolate gift set in China. So cept does exist but McDonalds has successfully used
they decide to build a story called “The Dove Story” a ‘Burger’ which adds a connection to the consumer
around an artist named Ma Jin. He wanted to build a rather than a person depicted as Vampire. Compar-
heart shaped carriage to surprise his girl friend. The ing the following two print ads, McDonalds surely
strategy was to leverage the Dove’s heart-shaped gift scores high on creativity.
box as a means to do that.
To garner enough money for this task, he sent out
videos on the internet to amass the materials needed.
This was based on insight that young lovers search
online for inspiration to express their love on festive
occasions.
The response was phe-
nomenal and the shar-
ing of videos by the
The concept of Black Friday is the beginning of the
netizens was one of the
Christmas shopping season in USA. All the retailers
reasons why Dove offi-
bombard with promotional offers and kicks off the
cially sponsored why
holiday shopping season. Black Friday is the next day
Dove officially spon-
C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP MARKezine 8

11. January 2013
of Thanksgiving and viewed as an extended holiday
for it.
It is not the re-
tailers who jump
onto this concept
but companies
like Balance Bar
Co. (launching
a new product)
have introduced
the Balance Bar
Dark Line at 50% its actual price who make purchas-
es on Drugstore.com through December 1.
Analysis
9 MARKezine C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

12. January 2013
Submitted by: [2] Halloween at Burger King | The Inspiration
Anand Ingle, Tejas Choudhari Room; http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2009/
PGP2 halloween-at-burger-king/ [3] Black Friday (Shop
IIM Lucknow
ping) – Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia; http://
References en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)
[1] How Dove Created a Successful Valentine’s
Day Campaign Without Spending A Penny | Blog
| Digital Marketing Institute; http://digitalmarket-
inginstitute.ie/blog/campaign/how-dove-created-
a-successful-valentine-s-day-campaign-without-
spending-a-penny#.UKf44of0Mpo
C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP MARKezine 10

13. January 2013
SOME BIGGEST BRANDING MISTAKES
13BB (13 Branding Blunders)
“We learn from failure, not from success!” - they obtain from the product or service
Bram Stoker It is the seller’s promise to deliver the same bundle
of benefits/services consistently to buyers
Yesterday Morning, I woke up at 5 a.m. and search- WHY IS BRANDING REALLY IMPORTANT??
ing for my toothpaste i.e. Pepsodent Germicheck. Jo dikhta h, Vo bikta h..
But I was whispering Where is my Colgate Where is
The image is now everything
my Colgate??
Today, Branding is necessary like a Music Band
We Indians use different-different toothpastes but system in marriage, or Candidate’s speeches before
know them from one name i.e. Colgate. elections without which everything becomes taste-
Here is one more interesting incident- less or even worse. It’s useful to create an image in
My nephew likes Maggi so much as every child the minds of customers and to protect products from
does. One day, my mom bought some noodles (of failure. Gone are the days, when shoppers used to
any domestic local company) from a Kirana shop ask to shopkeepers about the particular product and
packaged in a transparent polybag. As he saw the shopkeeper r used to give them anything available.
bag, my nephew screamed – Maggi …!! Now, customers trust the brands.
This is known as Brands not just the toothpastes Adding Human factor to the product has become es-
or noodles. Every toothpaste reminds us about sential for surviving of brands.
Colgate and every noodle reminds us about Maggi. Earlier, it was a seller’s market. People had to buy
A name becomes a brand when consumers associate which is available in the market. Now due to in-
t with a set of tangible and intangible benefits that creased no. of companies, People have many choices
11 MARKezine C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

14. January 2013
and it has become a buyer’s market. Instead of just don’t truly believe there’s a huge difference between
focusing on what an enterprise selling to its custom- products,’ which means brands have to establish
ers, it must think of what a customer is buying- ‘emotional ties’ with their customers.
What a company sells: LOTION And it’s not a onetime process, once you’ve created a
What people buy: FEELING AND SMELLING necessary tie with customers, you got to take care of
ATTRACTIVE it. People want change and that is why almost every
What a company sells: SHOES AND SNEAKERS good company has changed something in it, either
What people buy: HOPE OF BETTER ATHLETIC advertisements, appearance of products etc.
PERFORMANCE. * Not knowing what exactly branding is –
Many of the brands failed just because they forgot to Branding is not only about creating a beautiful col-
address the two sides every brand has: ourful logo, and Punch line. It is more than simply
What does it stand for and running to have attended. A brand warrants atten-
What it is opposed to. tion on a consistent basis, it must represent some-
If the brand image gets spoiled through any media thing that customers want but they don’t get it from
scandal or a controversial incident or even a baseless competitors. For example, it could be providing the
rumour spread on the internet, then it may create a best customer service in your industry — not just
big trouble for company. Now, Peoples psychological through your tagline or logo — by actually providing
and emotional factors are attached with the brands. the best customer service in your industry.
Brands are everything. Companies live or die on the * Not considering geographical factors-
power of their brands. Every country has different geographical attributes
The purpose of this article is to look at a wide variety like culture, tastes, preferences etc. Company has to
of brand failures, and in order to explore the various make sure that it’s branding campaign supports and
ways in which companies can get branding wrong. according to geography where it’s going to promote
itself.
WHY BRANDS FAIL (SOME BIGGEST BRANDING
E.g. Coca Cola’s Grape drink in chile.
MISTAKES) ??
Let’s first see what the key to create and maintain a When the company attempted to launch a new grape
brand is: flavoured drink, it soon discovered that the Chileans
There’s only one reason why some brands like Coca were not interested. Apparently, Chileans preferred
Cola, Apple, Nike etc. are doing pretty well in the Wine as their grape drink.
business, and it is their emotional and psychological * Not doing the right market search-
tie with customers. And this is the reason why com- A well defined, structured, and implemented market
panies blame brands rather products. research convert the products into brands.
Scott Bedbury, Starbucks’ former vice-president of Domino’s Pizza in Japan:
marketing, controversially admitted that ‘consumers Domino’s Pizza tried to enter the Japanese market
C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP MARKezine 12

15. January 2013
even though Japanese consumers tend not to eat lots Blue-Red logo for years. One rule of thumb rule says
of tomato based foods, many have an allergy to dairy that when you’ve become tired of your logo, tagline,
products, and complex navigation was required to and branding activities, that’s when they begin to
deliver the pizza through the streets of Tokyo. Dom- sink in with consumers.
ino’s should have conducted market research before * Not having the suitable tagline-
entering into Japan. The tagline is the one of the most important identity
of a company. If it doesn’t match with the business
reality, customers will not believe the business any-
more and WOM (Word Of Mouth) will become the
way of spreading negative words.
Wal-Mart’s tag line is “Always low prices. Always”
and it’s true and goes best with their business. They
are telling us you are saving money every time you
* Don’t let them forget your brand (Inconsistency
shopped in our store.
in brand identity) -
* Are you dedicated to marketing plan? -
Today, 21st generation is very fast. An average per-
Earning profit and creating an ideal image are two
son does more than 50 tasks per day. Companies
different things, later is quite good. Many companies
have to put some efforts to make their brands memo-
market themselves and establish a brand identity
rable. When a brand forgets what it is supposed to
but have neither the resources nor a plan as to how
stand for, it goes into trouble e.g. When Coca-Cola
they will reach their audience. The best example is
tried to replace its original formula with New Coke.
KFC. KFC didn’t know about Indian tastes and dif-
The results were disastrous. The company must use
ference. Just brand name is not enough. A company
the same name, logo, and punch line in every com-
must have a well-prepared branding and marketing
munication. Customers must be familiar with com-
before planning any branding strategy .
pany name, logo, tagline, and colours set in their
mind map. * Not having good
CRM-
* Either differentiate or die (Not maintaining the
The WOM (Word Of
brand) -
Mouth) is the best
When a brand faces competition, it has to innovate
way to promote your-
or improve itself. It happens too often in a shaky
self. Customer feed-
economy or competitive market, businesses tend
back is very important for every brand. Ask people
to change or alter their identity. Too much of this
about brands, Do they know about you?, Do they like
changing activity, confuses the steady customers
you ? Having a good customer feedback will work
and creates a reason for lowering down the image.
very well for improvement of brands.
For example, think of PepsiCo , for instance, has used
13 MARKezine C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

16. January 2013
Customers, who give good feedback, company quote E.g. KFC in Hongkong: KFC’s ‘Finger lickin’ good’
them in the brochure and publicize it. tagline has been used in all the world for its tasti-
* Not taking the things analytically- ness. But, It’s Chi-
Branding is not just about creating a logo, and tag nese translation
line for the business. A brand wants attention of peo- says ‘eat your fin-
ple on a consistent basis, not for one month or a year. gers off’, when
Think logically that What the customer wants ? Shall it came to Hong
we change ? Many business while running to create Kong, most con-
brands forgets about smaller and very important sumers opted for
things that is giving the best service to customers fries instead.
that no one can do. Different and satisfactory. One of the most
important fac-
* Are you trying to appease everyone ? Can you ?-
tors to contribute
The key to successful business and branding is
to the success of today’s brands in India is they’ve
knowing your customers, segment them. You can’t
reached the untapped rural market with local ad-
make everyone happy. Choosing the right product
vancements and enrichment.
for the right people at the right time by right mean is
what we say technique of successful brand creation. * Going the opposite of your image-
If Nirma launches Chocolate brand , Would you like
* Not attacking on E.Q.-
to consume it ? May be Yes but the image that Nirma
In their busy schedule, if you can make them laugh,
carries in Indians mind is Soap product. So, when we
people will remember your ad for the entire day. To-
remember the word - Nirma , soap or surf powder
day, most of the successful brands have laughter or
comes in mind.
sentimental way to present their brand and advertise
to appease people. E.g. Cadbury – Kuchh Meetha Ho Every person knows what image a well known and
Jaye. You may not use or like that particular brand famous company has for him/her. Even companies
but you’ll like the advertisement. must also know. If you launch any product that goes
different from your image in customers’ mind then it
* Using typical vocabulary and jargons-
may become a disaster.
How an educated rural person will feel like, if a com-
E.g. Country Time Lemon Drink was launched by
pany promote its product using too much typical
Kraft Food in 1976 as powder mix. It has created a
words. In Villages, Do What Villagers Do – It’s just
good sale and helped company to gain an image. But
a small example. For better communication and well
after this success, the company launched one new
delivery of your brand to people, your promotional
apple drink – “Apple Cider”, which was a failure. Just
campaign and languages should be local and under-
because that brand simply meant lemonade for cus-
standable, so that everyone can attach him/herself
tomers. Another one of the most disastrous failure
to it Because Jargons don’t benefit to business.
was Colgate’s entry in food segments i.e.
C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP MARKezine 14

17. January 2013
Colgate Kitchen Entrees. Most of the people didn’t and among the
find Colgate name familiar with their taste buds. top 50 firms ac-
Conclusion: cording to brand
Today, Every company is fighting in cutthroat com- equity by global
petition to survive and groom. In this perfect compe- consultancy firm
tition, Companies have to promote their brand very ‘Brand Finance’.
carefully and taking care of all above mentioned Considering such
mistakes. Every single mistake can results with dis- numbers has Star-
astrous results that company may not forget for its bucks missed a
life time. trick or two by not branding their Indian version as
just Starbucks and not TATA Starbucks? It definitely
Author:
seems so
Devendra Singh Rathore
Amity Business School Tata as a coffee brand is the single largest corporate
(MBA-General) player in the Indian coffee market and has played a
major role in freeing the coffee economy from the
STARBUCKS AND NOT TATA STARBUCKS –
shackles that had limited its growth since 1952. Also
A BRANDING MISTAKE?
it is the world’s largest integrated coffee plantation
This article delves
company in the world.
into what I be-
lieve is one of the Starbucks as a brand is known for delivering supe-
biggest brand- rior products and services. The image of Starbucks is
ing mistakes of that of a premium brand that offers high quality ser-
recent times. It is vice at a higher price, of course. While this joint ven-
concerned with ture of TATA with Starbucks gives TATA the much
the latest talk of needed global leverage, it gives Starbucks entry into
the town - STAR- the huge Indian coffee market
BUCKS .I am sure you would know that Starbucks Considering these facts, including the brand TATA
India is a joint venture between the global Starbucks in the name of the venture makes a lot of sense. This
brand and India’s TATA. But TATA’s name has been is because only the people who keenly follow the
left out while launching the desi version of the coffee world of business would be
superpower. Is this a good decision or has Starbucks aware that TATA is behind the presence of Starbucks
missed a trick or two? Let’s investigate this case! in India. The others would be in the dark about this
Brand TATA - important fact and thus the huge opportunity due to
One that is more than 100 years old and one that brand TATA is lost.
was rated as the second most trusted brand in India Also, presence of the word ‘TATA’ in the brand name
15 MARKezine C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

18. January 2013
brings that warmth to the whole franchise and makes
it so much more closer to the thousands of middle
class households that look upon TATA as one of the
most reputed brands in the country . Has Starbucks
just missed the opportunity to make its coffee smok-
ing hot? It definitely seems so!
Submitted by:
By-
Deepak.R
Xavier Institute of Management
Bhubaneshwar
C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP MARKezine 16

19. January 2013
Fight for mindshare of customers
One of the prima- the needs of a cus-
ry goals of a com- tomer. Also those
pany is to make products must
customers think be innovative, so-
of their brands cially aware and
more than their well made. The
competitors. Thus recent changes in
mindshare is the the economy have
amount of con- made the process
sumer awareness created by a particular product or of buying decision extremely difficult for consumers,
service. In other words, mindshare is nothing but the and they are no longer always looking for the lowest
consumer’s perception towards a product or service. price as the “breaking point” for purchases. Today,
Companies often talk about market share with great shoppers opt for products that may cost more but de-
honour, treating it as the “San graal or holy grail” in liver a superior quality or experience in return. Now,
measuring the success of an enterprise. Acquiring customers are looking to get access to the latest fea-
more market share keeps a company pushing for- tures of the products that were unavailable previous-
ward, and how much of it they do not possess keeps ly, get something that complies to social ethics that
them awake. But in my point of view, market share they are in, or be sure that the making of the product
is generally for small business firms whom use it for is in such a way that the product will last longer.
the purpose of comparing their financial reports with Hence you can win customer mindshare by con-
that of larger business firms i.e. a comparative way to centrating on the communion between quality and
see how your business looks in the short term. Hence price. The products have to be made of the best ma-
market share cannot be used as an indicator in case terials available and also pricing of the product play
of larger business firms. In those cases, it is wise to an important role.
find out mindshare of customers which is one of the
2. Availability of the product
best assets of a company’s long term health.
Even though if your product is best/superior in the
How to win mindshare of a customer? world, once if it is not available throughout means,
The three essential factors required to win the mind- there is a more chance that, you will quickly lose
share of a customer are discussed here. mindshare of your customers. Availability means
1. Always offer a product superior in quality making sure that your product is available in those
Nowadays, it is important to sell products that meet
17 MARKezine C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

20. January 2013
places that can be accessed by our customers eas- one what you want or what your problem is and then
ily. Availability means running out of your product discovering that, that person did not pay attention to
in some rare occasions. It also means guaranteeing what you said and you are in need to explain it again?
that once your customers know they want your prod- Let your customer talk and realize him that you are
uct, they can get it very quickly and with as little re- listening by making the appropriate responses, such
sistance as possible. as suggesting how to solve the problem.
3. Customer service d) Deal with complaints
Turban, Efraim defines customer service as “a series None of us like hearing complaints, and many of us
of activities designed to enhance the level of custom- have developed a reflex gesture, saying, “You cannot
er satisfaction i.e. the feeling that a product or ser- satisfy all the people all the time”. You may be able
vice has met the customer expectation.” Hence good to please one person at one time if you give attention
customer service is the “Lifeblood” of any business. to his complaint.
The mindshare built up by your great product can be e) Be helpful - even if there is no immediate profit
easily lost once, if you do not get the customer ser- in it
vice component right. Every contact a customer has “You reap what you show”. Accordance with the
with your company is an opportunity to earn more proverb, always show your customers that you are
mindshare. The following 8 rules are essential for good at customer service. Though it may not yield
good customer service. immediate profit, it will help your customers in real-
a) Always answer your phone izing your good customer service.
Always make sure that someone is picking up the f) Give training to your staff to be always helpful,
phone when someone calls your business. Hire staff courteous, and knowledgeable
if you need to. People who call would like to talk to a Training has to be imparted on the employees of
live person and not to a fake “recorded voice”. your organization. They must be taught about good
b) Never make promises unless you keep them customer service and what it is (and is not) regular-
Reliability is one of the keys to any good relationship ly. Most importantly, give enough information and
and it is also applicable to good customer service. If power to all your staffs so that they can make those
you say, “Your household furniture will be delivered small customer-pleasing decisions by themselves.
on Friday”, make sure it is delivered on Friday. Oth- It also helps employees of your organization to feel
erwise, do not say it. The same rule applies to cli- comfortable that they have been given some sort of
ent appointments, deadlines, etc. Think twice before powers to act on their own.
making any promise - because nothing annoys cus- g) Walk an extra mile
tomers more than a broken one. For instance, if someone walks into your store & asks
c) Listen to your customers you to help them find something, do not just say, “It
Is there anything more irritating than telling some- is in row 5”. Take the customer to the item. Also, wait
C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP MARKezine 18

21. January 2013
and see if he has any questions about it, or further involvement of people with a particular and rare set
needs. We can provide good customer service only of social gifts i.e.90% of your present customers are
by walking an extra mile. brought to you by 10% of your contacts (customers.
h) Throw something additionally Friends etc) who like you”.
Whether it is a coupon for a future discount, addi- Conclusion
tional information on how to use the product, or a Mindshare is a marketing term which can be used
genuine smile, people love to get more than they to denote the amount of talk generated by a particu-
thought they were getting. lar product or service within the public or media. For
Thus Customer service not only helps you to retain example, most consumers may think of Maggi when
your existing customers but also helps you in acquir- asked to name a noodles, or Adidas when asked to
name a company that makes running shoes. Hence
mindshare not only helps you to get market share
but also product information, reputation and short
or long term increase in sales
Submitted by:
M.Vivek
Full Time Research Scholar
ing new customers for your business. Department of Banking Technology
Why mindshare matters the most than market share? School of Management
If you are a small business firm, earning mindshare Pondicherry University
matters the most than capturing market share be- Puducherry
cause it offers you a feedback that can help promote
your business, rather than indicates how your busi-
ness has performed in accordance with the industry
standards. It also gives you an instant read on your
progress, and monitoring it helps you to identify
possible problems while they are still small. Once if
you win mindshare battle, market share will follow
automatically. Customers who are happy with you
will become your natural ambassadors or ambassa-
dors of your product i.e. they will start recommend-
ing you to others.
“The Law of the Few” states, “The success of any
kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the
19 MARKezine C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

22. January 2013
Old Wine New Bottle
(Casual Observervations)
Ever imagined a person buying a 25 year old case of tional acclaim by winning the ‘Most Beautiful Au-
ROYAL STAG whisky for a premium, a person buying tomobile’ award at the Milan Auto Show and ‘Best
WAGH BAKRI Earl Grey tea or another one going Small Car’ at the UK Motor show. Winner of 12 inter-
for BRITANNIA’S Parle-G chocolate chip biscuits. national and national
Possible but highly unlikely. Why such a scenario awards, the most ever by any small car, it captured
is so difficult to imagine? Because when a company the entire nation’s imagination upon its launch. Eco-
launches a product in the market it targets a par- nomic recession in the parent country and opera-
ticular segment. After identifying the segment the tions failure dealt a severe blow to the car manufac-
company channels all its energies to that particular turer and the car faded in oblivion. The remains of
segment to reap maximum benefits. With the mar- the company were bought by an American major and
keting campaign the company attaches an identity the car was re-launched all over the world including
to that product. People start identifying the product India. After rebranding and a facelift, the car clocked
from the marketing campaign carefully spun around astonishing sales and helped the new manufacturers
them. They differentiate it from other products avail- of the car to establish a foothold in the fiercely com-
able in the market. petitive auto sector. The name of the car is CHEV-
I would like to ask another question. Would you buy ROLET SPARK. This car changed the fortunes of
an ultra luxury sedan offering all the features of a GENERAL MOTORS in India.
ROLLS ROYCE with the badge of MARUTI SUZU- An iconic scooter brand that captured the imagina-
KI even at half the price? Majority of us would not tion of millions worldwide, darling of the masses in
even blink before answering this. Forget this one. India, had the rug pulled off from beneath in the late
How many would buy a 1000cc superbike if the bike nineties. There was a time when you had to book a
would sport a badge of MAHINDRA? I think we all unit, months in advance. The consumer shift from
know the answer to this question as well. It takes dec- scooters to motorbikes at that time did the maxi-
ades for a company mum damage. Year 2012, this scooter is again avail-
to build the kind able for sale in the Indian market. Re-branding and
of brand value and re-positioning couldn’t revive the fortunes of the
identification Rolls scooter. LML VESPA.
Royce created for
Do we see a pattern emerging? No. But why did a
its cars.
car succeed in re-establishing itself but a scooter did
Let us talk about one of the grandest failures in In-
not? Is the answer simple? Yes.
dian automotive industry. This car gained interna-
C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP MARKezine 20

23. January 2013
When General Motors re-launched the Daewoo Ma- the first scooter rolled out in the market from their
tiz in India, they did a few things right. First and fore- stable. Yes, the brand name of Vespa has instant rec-
most was to position the car in the same segment. ognition in the market. It is a tried and tested brand.
The marketing campaign focussed on the youngsters But it remains to be seen whether people will buy a
and the middle class. No fancy words, just a cool car premium product from a company synonymous with
with a great design and a very attractive price. The affordability and the common man in mind.
car was available in the price range of 3,00,000 Rs. in It is still early days to write off the product. But per-
the year 2000 and 2012 as well. ception is the key in the Indian market. Many a com-
Vespa has launched an entirely different product pany have failed in front of lesser mortals, just be-
with the same brand name. What image comes to cause their perception was not right.
Submitted by:
UTSAV AGARWAL
Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)
your mind when someone says Vespa? I am sure
many would be able to recall that curvaceous model
which looked far better than the scooters available
at that time. We would also recall that the scooter
was affordable and was a routine sight on the Indian
roads. Now Vespa has launched a premium product
in the Indian market. It costs upwards of 65,000 Rs.
You can buy premium bikes for such an exorbitant
sum. The price of a standard LML Vespa used to be
in the vicinity of 35,000 Rs. Can they justify this price
in the psyche of an average Indian with the same
brand name? The brand name which gave this prod-
uct an aura of affordability right from the time when
21 MARKezine C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

24. January 2013
Crossword-
Markezine Challenge..
France. What is it known as in India..?
6. Adolf Hitler was highly influential in creating this
Famous car brand, for making cars more affordable
to his people
Down-
1. San Francisco- is a place where a popular pharma-
ceutical Company was founded. Identify the Com-
pany.
2. Name the Brand associated with “Speedee Service
System”
3. __________________ Claims to be rich in Vita-
min D, and helps one’s body absorb calcium when
sunshine is in short Supply. Identify this malt based
( Answers in the next issue)
drink.
Clues- 4. __________________ had its Logo created in
Across- 1885. It was created by the company’s book keeper.
1._______ ____________ Has its Ad Campaign- “ It is one of the most simplest and recognizable logos
Behave yourself, India, The youth are watching” in the world.
2. Which company had the successful ad campaign
“Where do you want to go today?
3. _________________ is an eBay company, head-
quartered in Luxembourg (with several offices lo-
cated throughout the world)--began in 2003, and was
founded by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis.
4. Which company holds the rights to manufacture
the products under the brand name “Harry Potter af-
ter its success?
5. This brand was launched in the year 1956. It was
known as “omo” in Brazil and “persil’ in UK and
C SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP MARKezine 22

25. January 2013
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