Read Between the Ps

The latest edition of Harvard Business Review ( June 2007 ) has a small note on how employees can leverage technology to learn and revisit their company details and how companies, in turn, can leverage the same technology for internal branding . The article, Employees get an Earful , by Anders Gronstedt , talks about how employees, particularly salesmen, can either listen to podcasts or watch vodcasts (video podcasts) to get latest updates on their company, just before their meetings and calls. "At companies that use internal podcasting or vodcasting, employees don’t have to stop working to learn, and they can make productive use of their downtime. People can listen while driving to client meetings or watch while waiting in airports. For those who don’t mind blurring the line between free time and work, podcasts enable constructive intrusions into commuting, walking the dog, or running on the treadmill" According to the article, “ Portable media players, including video-enab

A powerful & provocative ad that reflects upon the condition of the refugees , who are forced out of their homes . According to Spluch , The United Nations refugee agency is running a provocative international advertising campaign that employs shock tactics to raise awareness about its work and drum up public support for those who have been forced to flee their homes. The pro bono TV campaign, launched in Canada earlier this month and also running in about a dozen countries in Europe, South America and Africa, was created by the Toronto office of the BBDO advertising agency, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which hopes the drive will help raise $1.8 million for the agency this year. Using shock tactics , this seemingly animated piece draws an analogy to the process of pulling a snail out its shell - the pain and the cruelty associated with it, and the disturbing site that ensues. Something to reflect upon. Commendable execution of the creative, a fine piece

Found an interesting perspective on what should marketers looking for a long-term marketing career invest in, to ensure that their businesses are sustainable and successful. John Jantsch , author of Duct Tape Marketing , recommends 3 imperatives for Long-term marketing - the 3 essential marketing practices required for producing results - the 3 Cs: Content, Connection and Community . Content - self-growth and increasing self-worth and market credibility. This could be done through blogs, white papers, workshops, articles, etc. Connection - personal relationships need to be reinforced to be leveraged subsequently - through co-creating experiences with them, by way of stories, training and other brand elements Community - a social network, that moves beyond personal relationships and penetrates into the local communities, and social circles. This can be done by way of investing time & money in social projects, get-togethers planned with clients, initiating and maintaining forums,

Found this creative at Brand Synario - a Pakistan-based advertising website. I have rarely come across ads produced in that region, and this one gives a fine sample of the level of creativity presented there. A nice piece for Geo TV, " Innocence under fire! " or " Jeeyo or jeene do " campaign that summarizes the kind of news being produced in the region these days. Through this campaign, it attempts to send out a social message to people to reduce the tensions amongst themselves - using the emotion-drivers...the kids! A nice way to position itself as a channel that does not show violence all the time, and a channel endorsed by kids. A key influencer for parents in recommending channels is the influence of those channels to their children - this ad leverages this pattern and gets the same kids to endorse the channel. Nice piece. Have a look . brandsynario.com is a project of Synergy ; the fastest growing Integrated Marketing & Communications Group in Pakistan

With the changing behavior of the consumers, and newer channels evolving, companies are fighting for consumer mindspace . More than that, and a step before, in fact, is the battle for catching attention and a portion of the eye span of the consumers – of getting attention towards your products, out of the clutter of consumer goods shelved along with you! This is the reason most companies use tactical measures at the final touch point – the retail outlets, to drive sales. They attempt to plant “ traffic stoppers ” in a bid to make the consumers stand up and take notice of their offerings. What would you suggest to introduce such “traffic stoppers” at the POP? Follow the “P”s and you would recommend innovative packaging, advanced product technologies, sales promotions , etc etc. But what if these methods have been tried and tested, and failed , too! What next? A recent research at Mckinsey Quarterly discussed an innovative application of technology in in-store marketing. The article,

Found a nice piece of Ad on this week’s Best Ads for Remember Credit Card . A nice creative, that connects to a unique subtle thought pattern of each one of us – the impulses within us that are beyond the zone of “ Acceptability ” and stay within our heads only! Picture this – (read it slowly)… “ Its not just you – we all have the most bizarre thoughts and impulses constantly flowing through our heads that might have dramatic consequences, if they actually went through with them… ” This is what the Ad is about – how our attitudes are NOT governed by our impulses, but by a sensible controlled thought process – in most of the occasions. A basic apprehension attached to credit cards is that it entails profligacy , and one does not have control of his/her expenses. A nice way to counter this apprehension and invoke a change in behavior…. Have a look A nice phrase to summarize the entire creative… "Remember - Just because you can do something, that doesn’t mean you will… Remember –

Last year, the agency won the Grand Prix at Cannes for their "Honda Grr" Commercial . This year, they have won the 2006 film Epica d'or Award , for their Coca-Cola "Happiness Factory" commercial. Wieden & Kennedy has sort of commanded the advertising through their innovative concepts, and creative animation. Though the diesel engines have been replaced with the Coke bottle this year, the entire advertisement has been conceptualized quite well, and engages the viewer in the entire process presented therein. The same ad won the Gold in the Foods & Drink category for Non-Alcoholic Drinks , too. The entire commercial can be viewed at this link . Incidentally, the piece here seems to be an abridged version. The Ad is also available at the agency's website and has a few more "constructs" in it. Have a look once... I have talked a lot about EPICA ( Europe's Premier Creative Awards ). This year marked the 20th Anniversary of the awards,

I had earlier posted a collated list of the Economist Ads that appeared around 18 months back. To add to that, found this interesting ambient piece ( below ) sometime back. Another Ad ( right ) won the Epica Silver last year in the print category. Wonderful concepts....takes a bit of thinking to understand, though :) [via Ads of the World and Epica Awards ]

A recent article in Adage, P&G Primes Its Pinpoint Marketing discusses how the world’s largest consumer goods marketer has plans to re-orient its marketing investments, and wants to move closer to the consumers through Relationship Marketing . In this article, Elva Lewis , Associate Director, P&G North America Corporate Marketing, provided some key insights into the marketing efforts planned by the world’s biggest advertiser next fiscal year. P&G attempts to move from traditional media to direct marketing, and plans to integrate the marketing efforts across its 86 brands in North America, thereby focusing on one-to-one marketing. “ That idea is targeted scale , a nearly oxymoronic term for the way P&G, so expert at using its enormous clout to buy vast amounts of TV time efficiently, is trying to leverage its heft in relationship marketing, whether through direct mail, online communities, or even content plays ” This concept of targeted scale entails reinforcing a re

Thanks to Adcritic’s latest print issue, found a unique competition aimed at creating something for the environment – One Show College Competition , organized for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) , announced its winners for 2007. The theme was “ Another way to save the world " and asked the entrants to focus on global warming and clean energy; toxic chemicals and human health; and protection of the oceans. The Gold Pencil winner in the Innovative Marketing category was this smoking gun. The brief reads “ Air Pollution kills 60,000 people a year ” and has been excellently executed.(With all credits to Jeseok Yi and Francisco Hui of New York's School of Visual Arts). Deservingly the best! The concept of the Silver winner is also commendable – making water out of Hope ….check the campaign to know more. Entries of other winners of the competition can be browsed here The effort of NRDC is focused on residents of the United States , the global leader of global warmin

Found these nice creative pieces at Ads of the world , for another offering from Wrigley's - “ Hubba Bubba ” The tagline reads “ For Blowers, Hubba Bubba ” Made by Wrigley Jr. Company in 1979 in the US, Hubba Bubba has been positioned primarily as a bubble blowing gum . Since the gum was less sticky, these bubbles were easier to peel from the skin after they burst…a scientific explanation to the pranks intended indirectly hinted at.. As is evident, the company has built localized portals for each region, and most of the advergames to engage children are built around bubble blowing and bursting them. The UK website of Hubba Bubba has built a virtual city with various events and stalls. From the time I spent inside it, it is definitely an interesting tour… The product – not only does the gum come in various flavors, it also comes in various forms…..initially, it was distributed as chunks / pieces , but recently, it has been produced as shredded pieces of baseball , rolls of bu

Greg Verdino predicts six trends in media that would dominate the media mix of companies in the near future… Greg recommends an understanding of these trends for all marketers, and believes that these opportunities would determine the manner in which “ people consume media ”.. These trends include lifeblogging and a much more integrated social network system, with the Gen X getting highly involved with the online space, and sharing perspectives, mobile marketing and moving content advertising/marketing from web to telecom technology 3D internet , with similar versions of second life emerging virtual classrooms and training programs , with modern methods of teaching kids, through games and online courses digital portable customer generated videos Free content distribution to the consumers, and looking for blanket sponsors for this distribution. Am sure, each of these would evolve into a specific tool in itself, and they would become focus areas soon, for marketers around the world.

A recent article from Bain, published in Live mint, discusses the evolution of sales strategies and Sales force Management . The article, Bain Brains: How to enable your sales force to deliver more , reiterates the importance of instituting processes in the sales systems, and illustrates how companies have improved productivity by doing that.. “ …(companies) are reinventing their go-to- market approaches by using data, analysis and systematic selling tools to increase the productivity of reps across the board and help boost the performance of fair-to-middling performers up closer to the top quartile. ” Thus, the effort is to be made in raising the bar for the average performers, making them much more productive and not relying on the top performers to get more business for them. Though most of the strategies and trends discussed in the article – of deciding sales targets through an iterative process , a bottom-up decision-making , redefining sales territories and sales channels and

Mobile Marketing is no longer an emerging concept. It is a buzz word being talked about with a bit of apprehension but a lot of enthusiasm . Every marketer would want to introduce the concept in his peer group, but from what I have read, it has still not been fitted into the marketing planner of companies. A recent article at Marketing Profs “ Marketing Challenge: Is It Time to Move Into Mobile Marketing? ” by Meryl K. Evans and Hank Stroll explores this apprehension and enunciates both sides of the story… those who are doing something about it, and those who are waiting for those who are doing something about it ! Those who want to go for the kill believe that even though there are grey areas , it is a path worth exploring and holds a high potential. Customer behavioral data is an iterative process, and trends & patterns would evolve with usage. On the other hand, some want to wait for a consistent data pattern to emerge and then jump into the water! Though this is something

First, the 4Ps were proved ineffective, and the 4As emerged. Then, ATL activities were replaced with BTL focused media houses. Brand elements changed and Experiential Marketing was the new way to market; Sensory branding became far more significant than before. Then, AIDA was proved ineffective and Engagement Marketing Emerged….now it is the turn of Viral Marketing….and Big Seed Marketing has emerged. Are the New world marketers reinventing the wheel, or is time to change the whole vehicle itself…… Viral marketing , stated simply, is marketing done the viral way – message that spreads like a virus, and need not be provided a channel or a direction – it takes it own direction/course. No planning, no media exercise, no creatives and no briefs… minimal budget, maximum reach…well that’s every marketers dream, and fantasy , so to say! But how exactly does one measure the effectiveness of the campaign? If final conversion is a parameter, who does one attribute it to? Is it the influencers wh

Almost a year back, my article on Advergaming was published in the Advertising Express ( June'06 Cover Story ). The same article features in a new book on the Gaming Industry , published by ICFAI Press. The book covers the various aspects of the gaming industry and its emergence as a separate entity. It explores, through a compilation of articles, the external and internal factors towards the development of the industry. The overview on my article goes as... ..." Emerging Role of Advergaming: A Global and Indian Perspective " by Puru Gupta discusses advergaming, a rising niche segment in promotion, and its two main forms, advergaming and in-game advertising. After presenting an overview of global and Indian markets, it discusses consumer behaviour towards gaming in terms of various parameters like length of exposure, pertinence to lifestyle, involvement levels of customers and their receptivity to advertisements. This article also sets out the challenges facing this nas

Sometime back I had talked about the signifance of Annual Reports and their emerging role in Branding for companies . A recent article by Rajeshwari Sharma , " Making a Statement " gives an insight into the policy framework and the specifics of Annual Report Designing. Design and Development of these tools has emerged as a separate function for some companies, and with the growing economy, it is imperative to have a tool which articulates this growth as well. A nice article to understand the norms of the industry, and trends visible in the market. A good bunch of illustrations substantiate the arguments mentioned therein. As I had mentioned earlier, this is an initiative to establish credibility among the stakeholders and promote the umbrella brand or reiterate the corporate brand image , and the article reinforces this perspective. Another trend predicted in this space - Online Reporting ..Rightly so, with the changing face of corporate branding - lesser Annual Reports,

Social Campaigns and protests might not give a comfortable feeling around, considering that in India, it is reserved for people who dont have much work. More so, the effectiveness of such initiatives is always a question. Therefore, the protests or NGOs instigating such reactions are termed as inconsequential and not really appreciated around, by the common people. However, have a look at a recent campaign successfully closed by Greenpeace activists at Times Square , where Kleenex PR campaign were being shot. An excellent way to spread the message, and undoubtedly, a contrast to typical stereotypes of protests seen around here! The campaign by Kleenex invited people walking around to participate and talk about their stories and experiences. The effort was to make them get emotional and then, demand a tissue ( bang - Kleenex! ). If their experiences were to used for the new online video of Kleenex, then they would be paid $200 for that! The Greenpeace activists interrupted this, si

Found a nice piece of ad in the latest edition of Harvard Business Review . Following the lead, these 2 ads are featured as posters at the website of PI Worldwide. A nice analogy to present and market the need of a behavioral Assessment tool – tools that are required to improve performance and productivity of human assets. Human resources cannot be taken as commodities, and there is a concerted subjective assessment required to make the most of these resources – this is the basic purpose of this tool by PI Worldwide - to hire, develop and retain talented people . A nice way to put across the point in the B2B space for corporates.. As the title of its brochure reads "Uncover the hidden value in your most valuable resource" PI Worldwide is a HR management consulting firm, with its famous tool “Predictive Index” process “ The Predictive Index process improves effectiveness and productivity across all levels of an organization. As a practical, reliable indicator of workplace

China is there in almost every 2nd line of news pieces when it comes to global businesses. Rightly so, with a growing middle class, rising income levels, low costs of production and more than 10% annual growth – the package would lure any investor today. Lately, this attention is being focused on the emerging China, where more than three-quarters of a billion people reside. A recent article published at Mckinsey Quarterly recommends an innovative way of leveraging the hard infrastructure of China’s booming telecom market. The article, titled “ Developing a new rural payments system in China ”, by Jan Bellens, Chris Ip, and Anna Yip , highlights the importance of accessible payment system for the rural regions of China, where more than 750 million Chinese reside currently. Lack of payment gateways , high costs involved in setting up additional ATMs and lack of awareness of cashless payment systems limit the current spending patterns of the consumers, and the entire value chain foll

Found this brilliant piece of work from Martina's Blog This is one from Samsung, rather for Samsung , and emphasizes the compactness and sleakness of their models. The video, shot through microscopic lenses, and titled " Millimetres matter ", does put the point across quite effectively. However, the sad part is, it is not integrated with an online presence, to follow up or leverage the awe created by the ad. Martina has put across the points quite well - the effort of such a brilliant execution gets diluted due to lack of a corresponding comprehensive website , which carries on the high involvement earned through the ad. All it has is a justification of the use of insects, developed out of the fear of social resistance, probably! Having said that, the website of Samsung Electronics Ulta II is no less - it is a wonderful piece and engages the visitors for some time - especially those looking to play some nice online games ....those interested can check them out here !

Talk about India in today’s global economy, and almost every conversation would begin with “ India is doing well ”….well, it is definitely booming, and with an economy growing at more than 9.2% , it isn’t much of a surprise to hear this…in a number of sectors, India is ahead of other countries. However, there are certain other areas as well where India is ahead of other nations, but this lead is not something to really boast about … – the nation with most HIV infected people ! According to an article , more than 5.7 million Indians are living with the potentially fatal HIV virus (end of 2005 figures), making India the nation with the greatest number of HIV carriers. More so, the epidemic is unevenly distributed across India, with just six states accounting for 80 per cent of the estimated cases. The epidemic is no longer restricted to sex workers but has also spread over to the masses. Lack of sex education and reluctance to promote contraception continue to be the biggest impedime