Now loyalty programs in search engine
Thursday, July 24, 2008
With information gaining vital importance in our daily lives, many people have started saying that we have entered an information age since last few years. IT companies are covering the distance between zero and billion in the shortest time for any company. The media has seen a bursting high in last decade as information has never been so easy to interchange, and when information is bombarded in our lives so heavily the next major thing is searching for the right information. So stress has been lately on how to structure the information, index it, make relationships between various information units so as to have a meaningful search. To reach this we need heuristic information, where the 'thumb of rules' are identified from experience.
We have seen search engine in text form changing to clusters and tags. But now a new search engine called Scour has been launched to encourage and reward consumers to vote and comment on search results called up from Google, Yahoo! and MSN. taking clues from popular site Digg, Scour allows its (human) members to evaluate, vote on, and comment on the results they receive from the usual major search engines like Yahoo, Google and MSN. Those votes and comments are then available to others in the Scour.com community to help them decide which results are likely to be most useful or trustworthy.
Scour differentiates itself from other social search, rating and community web sites in that it allows its users vote and comment on search results, provides absolute privacy control, gives weight to each user's preferred search engines, and allows members to redeem their search points for Visa gift cards. By associating itself with Visa, it has entered the well established Loyalty domain.
Points scheme:
* Searching: 1 point;
* Voting: 2 points;
* Commenting: 3 points;
* Friend referral: 25% of each friend's points.
* Searching: 1 point;
* Voting: 2 points;
* Commenting: 3 points;
* Friend referral: 25% of each friend's points.
In a scenario cited by Scour.com, an average of 4.5 searches per day could translate into rewards worth as much as US$25 per year. And, when adding in the value of friend referrals with an average of 3 searches per day for each friend, 25 friends who sign up and use Scour.com regularly could earn the original member up to an additional US$100 or more each year.
"We're not trying to provide users with an alternative income, but the Scour points programme is a good way for us to reward users for helping to build up the community, to refine search results beyond the ordinary algorithms," concluded Yomtobian. Scour.com is owned and operated by ABCSearch, a part of Internext Media Corporation.
You can visit the search engine at http://scour.com
Labels: Loyalty Programs, Marketing Practices, New Trends
posted by Jas @ 1:09 PM,
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Billboards, viewerships and efficacy measurement
Friday, June 06, 2008
Billboards have been one of the most favored and ever green options for the advertisers. Eras have passed, technologies are changed and companies have been made or destroyed but advertisers still hang on to this mode although the technologies on it have changed. Gone are the days when just putting a big billboard was enough, now marketers want to know how much of the viewings have been converted to purchases.
As Puru Gupta put it in his blog, measurement of the efficacy of the traditional media is no longer treated with enthusiasm by the industry professionals and new requirements and expectations are emerging for innovation, insight, experimentation, and measurable returns. There is a need for much more precision in targeting consumers. A whole lot of money is being spent on understanding consumer and making sure the product is a bang on.
Now just look at this publication by BCG, Darwin Pays Visit Advertising. According to it, the traditional value chain has been disintegrated and has led to an evolved framework in the advertising industry with “targeted marketing” as their measurable goal (see BCG Exhibit). A concerted effort is being made towards an integrated, holistic campaign across alternative channels. And this surely needs more investment and budget. Measurement is getting much more attention and investment today—as much as 5 to 10 percent of total initial spending. What is being measured is changing as well. There’s no point in determining how many consumers have seen an ad if you don’t also measure how effectively awareness leads to purchase. Many companies are experimenting with new ways to isolate and test the impact of such key factors as the advertising mix, range of coverage, and message on each targeted segment. The results will go into a knowledge database to help ensure that future campaigns projected to generate high returns get ample funding, while those with lower projected returns get cut.
As Puru Gupta put it in his blog, measurement of the efficacy of the traditional media is no longer treated with enthusiasm by the industry professionals and new requirements and expectations are emerging for innovation, insight, experimentation, and measurable returns. There is a need for much more precision in targeting consumers. A whole lot of money is being spent on understanding consumer and making sure the product is a bang on.
Now just look at this publication by BCG, Darwin Pays Visit Advertising. According to it, the traditional value chain has been disintegrated and has led to an evolved framework in the advertising industry with “targeted marketing” as their measurable goal (see BCG Exhibit). A concerted effort is being made towards an integrated, holistic campaign across alternative channels. And this surely needs more investment and budget. Measurement is getting much more attention and investment today—as much as 5 to 10 percent of total initial spending. What is being measured is changing as well. There’s no point in determining how many consumers have seen an ad if you don’t also measure how effectively awareness leads to purchase. Many companies are experimenting with new ways to isolate and test the impact of such key factors as the advertising mix, range of coverage, and message on each targeted segment. The results will go into a knowledge database to help ensure that future campaigns projected to generate high returns get ample funding, while those with lower projected returns get cut.
And with the cutting edge technology the measurement has taken a totally new dimension. Companies like Xuuk, TruMedia Technologies and Quividi are equipping billboards with tiny cameras that gather details about passers-by — their gender, approximate age and how long they looked at the billboard. These details are transmitted to a central database. The cameras, these companies say, use software to determine that a person is standing in front of a billboard, then analyze facial features (like cheekbone height and the distance between the nose and the chin) to judge the person’s gender and age. So far the companies are not using race as a parameter, but they say that they can and will soon.
Quividi’s technology has been used in Ikea stores in Europe and McDonald’s restaurants in Singapore, but it has just come to the United States. Another Quividi billboard is in a Philadelphia commuter station with an advertisement for the Philadelphia Soul, an indoor football team. The Philadelphia billboard was installed by Motomedia, a London-based company that converts retail and street space into advertisements. It installed the A&E billboard in association with Pearl Media, a Butler, N.J., company.
Meanwhile, privacy concerns about cameras are growing. In Britain, which has an estimated 4.2 million closed-circuit television cameras — one for every 14 people — the matter has become a hot political issue, with some legislators proposing tight restrictions on the use and distribution of the footage. People when told about the camera get uncomfortable about being captured. Billboards anyway have a old problem, it distracts (but thats what it is supposed to do, no?) and that isn't too good a thing on a road! Whatever, these billboards are here to stay, and for long, way long!
Quividi’s technology has been used in Ikea stores in Europe and McDonald’s restaurants in Singapore, but it has just come to the United States. Another Quividi billboard is in a Philadelphia commuter station with an advertisement for the Philadelphia Soul, an indoor football team. The Philadelphia billboard was installed by Motomedia, a London-based company that converts retail and street space into advertisements. It installed the A&E billboard in association with Pearl Media, a Butler, N.J., company.
Meanwhile, privacy concerns about cameras are growing. In Britain, which has an estimated 4.2 million closed-circuit television cameras — one for every 14 people — the matter has become a hot political issue, with some legislators proposing tight restrictions on the use and distribution of the footage. People when told about the camera get uncomfortable about being captured. Billboards anyway have a old problem, it distracts (but thats what it is supposed to do, no?) and that isn't too good a thing on a road! Whatever, these billboards are here to stay, and for long, way long!
Labels: Billboards, Marketing Practices
posted by Jas @ 9:13 AM,
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Understanding Undercutting of prices
Monday, February 25, 2008
Undercutting is defined as offering to sell at lower prices than or to work for lower wages than (a competitor) or as required officially. Undercutting, hence, is done at the cost of one's profit.In short, and as used mostly by field salesmen, undercutting means to sell cheaper than one's competition.
The word would be easily recognized by anyone who has ever gone to dealers and tried raising their sales targets. The moment you do so they will start crying that some dealer is undercutting in the market and that the 'evil guy' is actually selling at almost nil margins, giving discount more than that you give to the dealer himself.
Now lets understand the reason for undercutting; while we admire how well kept the products are in retail stores are we never realize the efforts and pains taken by the salesman there to get them up. And similarly we may see some ad of a new product and we would run to the nearest shop next day to buy it; but takes a lot of persuasion, arm twisting, margins game and target adjustment to get those new and 'unreputed' products on shelf. But every month the targets rise for these dealers, salesmen and zone offices; and then comes the most novel uses of undercutting. A dealer dumps in neighboring place or across border and completes one's targets. Or you may see the large wholesale dealers dealing in volume indulging in undercutting to earn bread and butter. So a big stockist in Delhi can dump stock in Faridabad, or a Rajasthan stockist take benefit of VAT induced difference to dump in Ferozpur (Punjab) etc.
Lets talk maths now, generally FMCG products have about 10% of retailer margin and about 5% of stockist/wholesaler margin (direct supply from company). Now there will be some schemes from time to time which increase this margin by some points, generally 1-2%, lets take 1.5% here. Now there are targets set for these stockists and wholesalers, if they perform full quarter, they will get more percentage as reward. Say this target completion margin is 0.75%. So the final margin of stockist is :| Wholesaler Scheme | 1.50% |
| Extra Margin if target completed | 0.75% |
| Wholesaler/stockist margin | 5.00% |
| -------- | |
| 7.25% | |
| -------- |
Hence instead of having 7.25% and giving other stockist's retailer his 10% margin, the stockist gives 12.25%; and keeps only 5%. Due to this the retailers take supply from him and the stockist of that area suffers.
But if you understood the concept well, you should have got that its not workable for a long time. And if you think a bit further, you will realize it will actually work as a cyclic process. It brings us to an important price cycle called as Edgeworth price cycle. It's an asymmetric price variation that has the following characteristics:
- The good/service is a homogeneous commodity and customers are extremely price-sensitive. If one vendor undercuts another, they will capture all or a very large portion of the market (where "very large" means "as much as they can handle").
- Beginning from an equilibrium, one competitor will initiate a round of undercutting by pricing below the equilibrium. Because of (1), competitors will respond immediately, the same day if possible, with a match or a slight undercut.
- Undercutting will continue until they bid the price down to the wholesale cost.
- One competitor will then restore prices. Everyone will follow as quickly as possible, and the cycle repeats.
Because of (1), smaller competitors have a greater incentive to initiate cutting. Larger competitors will generally be the initiator of restorations. The cycle is asymmetric because restorations happen nearly simultaneously, but undercutting is generally slower. Competitive gasoline markets with a high degree of independent or small retailers typically demonstrate Edgeworth cycling, while markets dominated by majors (vertically integrated firms) will tend toward sticky pricing.
Labels: Concept, Marketing Practices, Salesho
posted by Jas @ 9:00 PM,
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Airtel scores over Kumble gandhigiri
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Today's newspapers were filled with the news of Kumble's "humble" goodwill gesture not to press charge against Hogg. It was splashed on the main page India wide and going by the reaction of public lately, the news was nothing less than a wild fire. More than any fan or sportperson or cricketer himself (except maybe for the main characters of the story) , no one would have bitten more nails than the newspaper wallah's and TV channel people (TRPs scored a high for it).
But if you would have seen the morning newspaper, you'd know one company that left them way behind in branding - Airtel. See the ad below, Airtel came up with the tagline Barriers brake when people talk a month back. There couldn't have been a more apt situation for the ad insert.
But if you would have seen the morning newspaper, you'd know one company that left them way behind in branding - Airtel. See the ad below, Airtel came up with the tagline Barriers brake when people talk a month back. There couldn't have been a more apt situation for the ad insert.
Labels: BTL, Marketing Practices, Print Ad
posted by Jas @ 2:15 AM,
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Customizing credit cards to individuals
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Capital One has launched America's first - "Do-it-yourself" credit card. It has come up with a Web site called Card Lab that gives consumers the opportunity to “build their own” credit card. The customer can choose among various options for introductory and ongoing interest rates, rewards, annual fee (or none), and card design.
The process is essentially comprised of following steps:
The process is essentially comprised of following steps:
- Indicate Credit Level based on past history
- Select Features and Rewards - like if one wants rewards in form of miles/points or cash back; the introductory APR, annual fee etc
- Pick a Design - one can choose from a given set of 9 designs or one can add own image to the card (now thats customization!)
- Review and Apply
The choices are then packaged together to create a card customized to each cardholders' personal preferences. This concept is being used in the USA for the first time whereas this has been tested before in UK and Turkey.
However, there are some trade offs in this venture. Once the applicant makes a choice, a certain number of other choices are closed for him. So, if you want no-frills, no rewards, you can get a lower interest rate. Want points or air miles? The interest rate goes up. Want a 0% interest rate for a year? Expect a higher ongoing rate. Want two points per dollar charged instead of one? Prepare to pay an annual fee.
From a marketing point of view, it does make an impact on consumers for following main reasons:
1. Empowerment
This concept gives the power in the hand of consumer to design what ever they feel like. This brings in more brand loyalty as consumer identifies more with the product.
2. Transparency
The selection process allows consumer to see the trade offs with every selection, hence consumer can know how the APR or annual fee change on selecting the desired cash back for example. The generic way of personalization was to have an online interview approach and make a product recommendation at the end of the process. This is an abstract way as consumer doesn't know what is full platter looking like.
3. Personalization
The site not only allows user to choose the features but also the card image, which can be of a memorable sunny day you enjoyed at Las Vegas. This creates an emotional connect with the consumer, an important building block in marketing.
4. Behavioral data
The data so accumulated from online behavior of consumers will go a long way in helping Capital One to understand consumer and help them design things better to command more loyalty and consumer base.
All said and done, this is one initiative a lot of marketers in cards domain will be watching out for.
Labels: Business, Marketing Practices, New Trends
posted by Jas @ 5:23 PM,
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User generated advertising
Friday, December 07, 2007
From plain (textual) word of mouth advertising, it got refined to viral advertising and now with user generated content being on a steep rise on the internet, it wasn't too far that a firm would come up user generated advertising campaigns. Here below is an example of such a campaign. The project was to make an advertising campaign for a gel pen brand Pentel-EnerGel Deluxe
The video may not give you a well planned, enacted and executed ad campaign, but looking at the mode of medium and target audience; it really strikes aptly. Rather than the stress on its abilities the campaign uses them as a metaphor to associate the word - expression with the product.
The video may not give you a well planned, enacted and executed ad campaign, but looking at the mode of medium and target audience; it really strikes aptly. Rather than the stress on its abilities the campaign uses them as a metaphor to associate the word - expression with the product.
Labels: Launch, Marketing Practices, New Trends
posted by Jas @ 2:48 AM,
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Lufthansa banks on rumors
Friday, November 16, 2007
One of the very novel ways to involve your customer with your brand/ product is to come out with something interesting that most of your intended customers will like to be involved in and then bring yourself in. Many companies do it by way of "Issued in public interest" or "For more information on this (non product) contact us at xyz" which may happen for some awareness or plain virals. Such methods do not call out at the customers showing off their features or benefits, in fact its mainly not about the product at all, it caters to the peripheral persuasion method. Even though you may not be going for the product/service but still you may end up 'consuming' it.
This idea bird has pecked Lufthansa (Airlines) also and as a result it has launched RumorTravels, a campaign which highlights the prevailing stereotypes about countries around the world. We all have such stereotypes for the countries, something that we have been hearing or reading since childhood like many of my friends whom I met during my French exchange program thought that many people in India still travel by elephants! (and I affirmed some, telling them that I have a pet elephant which I got as a gift when I turned eighteen, the age when one gets a driving license in India). Then I have heard a lot about the Italian gentlemen pinching the bottoms of damsels, Paris being a city where people are just lost in romance 24X7! These are the things that "You'll never know if you don't go.", as summed by the tagline of the campaign. In several videos, countries such as Sweden, Germany and France are imagined by would be travelers.
To pep up the viewership and following, there's also a contest which encourages people to submit rumors about a foreign country in the form of a video or a story for chance to win two round trip tickets from the U.S. to anywhere in Europe. I reached a bit too late for the contest, but still the results are coming.
In case you have always thought of Paris as City of Love, thinking romance is everywhere - from metro trains to jail, then here is a video clip for you. Is Paris really the City of Love and Romance?
But what remains to be seen is that how much additional traffic does this kind of campaign bring to Lufthansa, I haven't checked the fares of it much but I have an opinion that whosoever will be pulled up by the campaign and decide to go to that destination will be a common man going for non business reason. This category will be more inclined towards the usage of low cost airlines. But there is no point putting sausages on bar-be-cue without first arranging for coal, so Lufthansa, after taking the low cost route in 2005 does provide a strong reason to fly it with this campaign.
Addendum
Low cost-No frills concept was triggered by Southwest--which actually jumped the gun on deregulation, taking advantage of Texas' enormous size to avoid onerous interstate commerce regulations--ushered in the low-cost revolution with four revolutionary insights:
1) Flying just one type of aircraft will save a company millions on maintenance and bulk purchasing.
2) Point-to-point flights between smaller airports, rather than hub-and-spoke operations centered on a single large airport, allow each airplane to be used for several more flights a day, and more cheaply.
3) Passengers will appreciate the elimination of perks such as business lounges and free meals if the savings are passed on directly to them with a smile.
4) Air travelers will flock to the lowest prices, period.
And the impact? By the late 1990s, Southwest was the world's richest and most profitable major airline, inspiring successful copycats (such as JetBlue) and even forcing money-bleeding behemoths like United Airlines to launch low-cost hopefuls like TED. Lets see how Lufthansa addresses this market now!
Addendum
Low cost-No frills concept was triggered by Southwest--which actually jumped the gun on deregulation, taking advantage of Texas' enormous size to avoid onerous interstate commerce regulations--ushered in the low-cost revolution with four revolutionary insights:
1) Flying just one type of aircraft will save a company millions on maintenance and bulk purchasing.
2) Point-to-point flights between smaller airports, rather than hub-and-spoke operations centered on a single large airport, allow each airplane to be used for several more flights a day, and more cheaply.
3) Passengers will appreciate the elimination of perks such as business lounges and free meals if the savings are passed on directly to them with a smile.
4) Air travelers will flock to the lowest prices, period.
And the impact? By the late 1990s, Southwest was the world's richest and most profitable major airline, inspiring successful copycats (such as JetBlue) and even forcing money-bleeding behemoths like United Airlines to launch low-cost hopefuls like TED. Lets see how Lufthansa addresses this market now!
Labels: Marketing Practices, New Trends, Viral
posted by Jas @ 8:16 PM,
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A mark in marketing - WonderBra
Saturday, October 06, 2007
They are bold, they are funny, they are creative, they are hilarious and most important they are subtle (ok, only some!)... like them or hate them, but you just can't ignore them!
Here I come on the with one of my most awaited posts, the writeup on the adverts of WonderBra. The brand has been criticized by many for the obvious but the sales of the brand has always been successful to make the brand have the last laugh. It comes as a default choice for many for functions and social interactions; while others are still wondering what the hoopla is all about. What ever, the only 'point' am concerned over here is the advertising done by the brand. Its brand are one of the most subtle ones and many times are requires a long perplexed view by people to understand them.
Question is are these adverts targeted at the consumers? A majority feels against it, they say that the ads are made just for the jury of advertising awards. Ask me and my opinion is - Maybe yes, obviously not! Why do you think such a product will be sold? Or lets answer what is being sold by WonderBra? Is it just an inner wear? I register a denial. An inner wear is for a personal use, the use here is for others, the product's money spent will be taken recovered by the consumer when she gets the glances being promised by adverts. So target one is the base consumer here who is wearing the product. Target two is the rest of public, especially men. With these adverts they actually will be recognizing the use of such a product whenever they see one, this builds up the response that the consumer of the product is actually looking for, hence drives the sales in other way. So target two here is the intended evaluator of product (not necessarily the men).
Hence to make it an iconic brand, the marketers have done the best thing : attach it to the behavior, derive the impact of social cognition and consumer behavior. Who doesn't want to be recognized ? and thats where these marketers target. And when we say that intended impact is on social cognition, then it in itself encompasses both the targets, making the mental constructs or schema in consumer as well as the evaluator (society and esp men). Just look at this - there was one print advert which shows just a blonde model wearing a black WB, and only one sentence
Here I come on the with one of my most awaited posts, the writeup on the adverts of WonderBra. The brand has been criticized by many for the obvious but the sales of the brand has always been successful to make the brand have the last laugh. It comes as a default choice for many for functions and social interactions; while others are still wondering what the hoopla is all about. What ever, the only 'point' am concerned over here is the advertising done by the brand. Its brand are one of the most subtle ones and many times are requires a long perplexed view by people to understand them.
Question is are these adverts targeted at the consumers? A majority feels against it, they say that the ads are made just for the jury of advertising awards. Ask me and my opinion is - Maybe yes, obviously not! Why do you think such a product will be sold? Or lets answer what is being sold by WonderBra? Is it just an inner wear? I register a denial. An inner wear is for a personal use, the use here is for others, the product's money spent will be taken recovered by the consumer when she gets the glances being promised by adverts. So target one is the base consumer here who is wearing the product. Target two is the rest of public, especially men. With these adverts they actually will be recognizing the use of such a product whenever they see one, this builds up the response that the consumer of the product is actually looking for, hence drives the sales in other way. So target two here is the intended evaluator of product (not necessarily the men).
Hence to make it an iconic brand, the marketers have done the best thing : attach it to the behavior, derive the impact of social cognition and consumer behavior. Who doesn't want to be recognized ? and thats where these marketers target. And when we say that intended impact is on social cognition, then it in itself encompasses both the targets, making the mental constructs or schema in consumer as well as the evaluator (society and esp men). Just look at this - there was one print advert which shows just a blonde model wearing a black WB, and only one sentence
I can't cook, who cares!But I wont deny that some of these ads are more inclined at awards' jury rather than any of the two targets. And not to mention that even after guessing the meaning you are not very sure in some adverts that if you got the meaning! Here are some of the ads, though I couldn't find some of my favorites coming from WonderBra's stable -
Some video adverts, really interesting -
This ad was launched at the 10th anniversary of WB in 2005:
Now this is one of the ad campaigns for which I appreciate the ad agencies of WB, see if you can understand it :)
And let me know if you can understand this one, I couldn't!
src="http://www.netscape.com/widgets/med_vote_if/http://markconfetti.blogspot.com/2007/10/mark-in-marketing-wonderbra.html">
Labels: Brands, Marketing Practices, TVC
posted by Jas @ 11:05 PM,
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Stress on corporate images
Monday, September 17, 2007
Few years back I read a report detailing how HLL was considering to change its then green colored leaves logo to something that was closer to its mother brand Unilever, which itself was undergoing a plastic surgery for fresh image in consumer mind. Now HLL has changed to HUL, company board deciding to use the word Hindustan (with reports that its probably only occurrence in world that Unilever has allowed a local name). After each advertisement of a Lever's product you can see the new 'vitality' filled sign of Unilever with Hindustan Unilever written below it. This branding fo corporate identity along with the brand makes sense for the obvious. But is it just because of changing corporate image or is due to higher competition in market? Is it that HUL now wants to leverage its larger than life corporate image and add the benefit to its brands?
In case you are ready to negate the argument then have a look at other happenings. Check the FMCG battlefield where the goriest of battles have been fought - soft drink industry. After the Pepsi ads you would now see the branding of PepsiCo. Post liberalization PepsiCo was allowed to use its international brand name in India (earlier it had to use 'Lehar' alongside), but since then it hasnt done any branding. Infact I was surprised to see the name PepsiCo used in US instead of Pepsi as the corporate name 3 years back, and here in India nobody had heard about PepsiCo! PepsiCo India even has its own website now, which I once tried to find helplessly 2 yrs back (for assignment purpose). The impact may have been because of pesticide issue.
Coke too has worked a lot for its corporate image with McCann Erickson, with Prasoon Joshi coming up with new ad line "Boond boond khushi khushi" or "Little drops of joy". He was the one who changed Coca Cola's fortune with hugely popular "Thanda matlab Coca Cola". According to Joshi,
The entire campaign, “Little Drops of Joy”, is based on moments of joy in the daily lives of consumers. The TVC portrays how little drops of Coca-Cola transform drab moments of life to a more cheerful one. One of these commercial opens with the shot of a couple, walking on the road and fighting over daily chores. Suddenly, drops of Coca-Cola engulf them and the boy spots a beautiful dress on a mannequin and decides to buy it for the girl in order to pacify her. The second section of the commercial shows an old Parsi lady in a pensive mood. Again, the bubbles appear and immediately the old lady spots her friend in a car and they go out. In the end the message appears: “Coca Cola India — Boond Boond Khushi Khushi.” If you ask me, my point will be that big things give you excitement but its the small things that make you feel happy and contended, hence crucial for branding.
Also, as part of its re-positioning strategy, Coca-Cola has revealed its five-pillar growth strategy, that of 5 Ps -
In case you are ready to negate the argument then have a look at other happenings. Check the FMCG battlefield where the goriest of battles have been fought - soft drink industry. After the Pepsi ads you would now see the branding of PepsiCo. Post liberalization PepsiCo was allowed to use its international brand name in India (earlier it had to use 'Lehar' alongside), but since then it hasnt done any branding. Infact I was surprised to see the name PepsiCo used in US instead of Pepsi as the corporate name 3 years back, and here in India nobody had heard about PepsiCo! PepsiCo India even has its own website now, which I once tried to find helplessly 2 yrs back (for assignment purpose). The impact may have been because of pesticide issue.
Coke too has worked a lot for its corporate image with McCann Erickson, with Prasoon Joshi coming up with new ad line "Boond boond khushi khushi" or "Little drops of joy". He was the one who changed Coca Cola's fortune with hugely popular "Thanda matlab Coca Cola". According to Joshi,In a growing, constantly changing market like India, a brand needs to have an emotional connect. In small-town India, which is the next big market, marketers are constantly trying to find the right lingo that will guarantee the right connection. Boond Boond Khushi Khushi is their connect with the brand. One isn’t supposed to look at the drops in isolation, but see them as drops of a larger vision, aimed at mutual growth and development. Boond Boond Khushi Khushi will refresh the consumer on an everyday basis. We are not saying that Coca-Cola cause miracles. What is very real about it is that we don’t claim to transform lives but simply envelop a moment with joy.
The entire campaign, “Little Drops of Joy”, is based on moments of joy in the daily lives of consumers. The TVC portrays how little drops of Coca-Cola transform drab moments of life to a more cheerful one. One of these commercial opens with the shot of a couple, walking on the road and fighting over daily chores. Suddenly, drops of Coca-Cola engulf them and the boy spots a beautiful dress on a mannequin and decides to buy it for the girl in order to pacify her. The second section of the commercial shows an old Parsi lady in a pensive mood. Again, the bubbles appear and immediately the old lady spots her friend in a car and they go out. In the end the message appears: “Coca Cola India — Boond Boond Khushi Khushi.” If you ask me, my point will be that big things give you excitement but its the small things that make you feel happy and contended, hence crucial for branding.Also, as part of its re-positioning strategy, Coca-Cola has revealed its five-pillar growth strategy, that of 5 Ps -
- People
- Planet
- Portfolio
- Partners and
- Performance.
The company is testing a foray into dairy-based products as well as introducing in India energy drink major Glaceau’s brands that it recently acquired for $ 4.1 billion. This is in response to shift of Indian consumer towards healthy drinking habits. Pepsi had beaten Coke on this with its Tropicana range of juices. and with report of Pepsico India Holdings Pvt. Ltd., being close to purchasing a juice brand in India, the battle is surely gonna hot up
Labels: Business, Marketing Practices, New Trends
posted by Jas @ 2:37 AM,
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Marketing Practices - JCDecaux
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Focus : JCDecaux
JCDecaux is a strond example of the changes in the marketing industry of Europe and the need for innovation to get higher returns from the saturated market. The moment you enter France, the homecountry of JCDecaux, you can realise that every bus stop, almost every strategic road crossing, and the buses have been taken by JCDecaux.
Idea was simple, in 1964, Jean Claude Decaux invented the now world famous concept of "street furniture" wherein he would maintain the street furniture free of charge to cities and towns in exhange for right to place advertisement on some of these structures. In some cases, later on, he would also contract to build new bus stops aprt from maintainence. The concept was evidently a huge hit as for administration, it would be a healthy outsourcing and to advertisiers it would give the access to advertising space in the city centres where otherwise advertising was very restricted and the returns were quite high. And so it went on as JCDecaux spread from bus shelters to free-standing information panels, automatic public toilets, kiosks for flowers etc, public trash bins, benches, citylight panels, bicycle racks and shelters, interactive computer terminals and so on. The list is a long one.
Another starking project of JCDecaux is Cyclocity. Cyclocity, (registered by JCDecaux) is a self-service bicycle racks. It has presence in Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, and Brusassels. Started just an year back, Cyclocity has become in its own as a true means of “individual mass transit”. With Vienna in Austria, Cordoba and Gijón in Spain and Lyons, Brussels, Aix-en-Provence, Marseilles, and most recently Paris lapping up the concept. Cyclocity is now the number one provider of selfservice bikes in the world. JCDecaux is now pumping up the project with advertising revenues completely or partially paying the cost of making bicycles available to the public. But again the main stress is on the advertisement opportunity and not teh rental. Infact in connection with bid solicitations made by local governments, provision can be made for the franchisee to keep all or part of the proceeds from bike rentals.
Cyclocity - It works like this, the Cyclocity bikes are kept parked in some of the busiest of places with each bike attached to the holder. Just near the parking area a automatic ticket vending machine is installed, one can get a monthly card and can use the bike for 0.5 euro per hour, the first hour is complimentary. In case the parking lot is full, you can check for the closest parking lot and the machine awards you some free time so that you can submit the cycle there. But the system workd hard to save this situation from happening. As soon as the cycles racks start getting exhausted, a signal is sent to the main controls and the trucks replenish the cycles from the part where they are in excess. The idea is a huge hit with people who use it for mid night travel when public transport isnt available or also while going to work.
The whole idea for JCDecaux is to conquer the outdoor advertising market. The competetion is from Clear Channel Outdoor (American) and CBS Corporation (American again). The revenues of Clear channel Outdoor, JCDecaux and CBS Corporation are 2898 , 2432 and 2103 (in millions of $ as in 2006, as given bu JCDecaux Annual Report).
Acording to UN study, people are becoming more and more mobile and are spending more time outside of their homes, whether driving or walking on the street, or in trains, railway stations, or airports. To amplify the effect, the average commute of drivers in the European Union from home to work has also been reported to be high, same study says that it took 37 minutes for these drivers to go from home to work, and that automobile traffic on major
British roads had increased by more than 200% between 1994 and 2004. In lieu of these facts the outdoor market becomes more potential to giver higher returns and the strategy of the future.
Outdoor market can be divided into three segments:
1. Billboards
2. On and in public transportation vehicles, stations, and airports (“Transport”)
3. On street furniture (“Street Furniture”).
JCDecaux derives more than 50% of its revenue from Street Furniture Segments. It has presence in Europe, United States, Asia-Pacific, North & South America. Coming back home, in India, JCDecaux Advertising India Pte Ltd (a wholly-owned subsidiary) won the exclusive 15-year bus shelter advertising contract for central New Delhi, in response to a bid solicitation. It will now handle 197 bus shelters, representing 591 advertising faces in the most prestigious locations in the centre of New Delhi as per the contract.
The success of JCDecaux is yet to be seen in India. India being a not at all a mature market, the local unorganised players are many and are infact willing to work for quite small an amount. Maintainig of bus stations wont be easy. But actions of JCDecaux tell that it has understood well the difference and is open to look Indian market in its own focus. Also with time, the domestic shoal is inevitable to be gulped by big fishes. So watsoever, the future of outdoor advertrising will be anything but passive.
Sources: JCDecaux website and annual report
Another starking project of JCDecaux is Cyclocity. Cyclocity, (registered by JCDecaux) is a self-service bicycle racks. It has presence in Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, and Brusassels. Started just an year back, Cyclocity has become in its own as a true means of “individual mass transit”. With Vienna in Austria, Cordoba and Gijón in Spain and Lyons, Brussels, Aix-en-Provence, Marseilles, and most recently Paris lapping up the concept. Cyclocity is now the number one provider of selfservice bikes in the world. JCDecaux is now pumping up the project with advertising revenues completely or partially paying the cost of making bicycles available to the public. But again the main stress is on the advertisement opportunity and not teh rental. Infact in connection with bid solicitations made by local governments, provision can be made for the franchisee to keep all or part of the proceeds from bike rentals.
Cyclocity - It works like this, the Cyclocity bikes are kept parked in some of the busiest of places with each bike attached to the holder. Just near the parking area a automatic ticket vending machine is installed, one can get a monthly card and can use the bike for 0.5 euro per hour, the first hour is complimentary. In case the parking lot is full, you can check for the closest parking lot and the machine awards you some free time so that you can submit the cycle there. But the system workd hard to save this situation from happening. As soon as the cycles racks start getting exhausted, a signal is sent to the main controls and the trucks replenish the cycles from the part where they are in excess. The idea is a huge hit with people who use it for mid night travel when public transport isnt available or also while going to work.
The whole idea for JCDecaux is to conquer the outdoor advertising market. The competetion is from Clear Channel Outdoor (American) and CBS Corporation (American again). The revenues of Clear channel Outdoor, JCDecaux and CBS Corporation are 2898 , 2432 and 2103 (in millions of $ as in 2006, as given bu JCDecaux Annual Report).
Acording to UN study, people are becoming more and more mobile and are spending more time outside of their homes, whether driving or walking on the street, or in trains, railway stations, or airports. To amplify the effect, the average commute of drivers in the European Union from home to work has also been reported to be high, same study says that it took 37 minutes for these drivers to go from home to work, and that automobile traffic on major
British roads had increased by more than 200% between 1994 and 2004. In lieu of these facts the outdoor market becomes more potential to giver higher returns and the strategy of the future.
Outdoor market can be divided into three segments:
1. Billboards
2. On and in public transportation vehicles, stations, and airports (“Transport”)
3. On street furniture (“Street Furniture”).
JCDecaux derives more than 50% of its revenue from Street Furniture Segments. It has presence in Europe, United States, Asia-Pacific, North & South America. Coming back home, in India, JCDecaux Advertising India Pte Ltd (a wholly-owned subsidiary) won the exclusive 15-year bus shelter advertising contract for central New Delhi, in response to a bid solicitation. It will now handle 197 bus shelters, representing 591 advertising faces in the most prestigious locations in the centre of New Delhi as per the contract.
The success of JCDecaux is yet to be seen in India. India being a not at all a mature market, the local unorganised players are many and are infact willing to work for quite small an amount. Maintainig of bus stations wont be easy. But actions of JCDecaux tell that it has understood well the difference and is open to look Indian market in its own focus. Also with time, the domestic shoal is inevitable to be gulped by big fishes. So watsoever, the future of outdoor advertrising will be anything but passive.
Sources: JCDecaux website and annual report
Labels: Marketing Practices
posted by Jas @ 5:00 PM,
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