Read Between the Ps

With rising consumer preferences, and emergence of more discerning consumers, marketers are revisiting their marketing and communication strategies. Shaping up a consumer’s mindset no longer seems to be an effective mode. Instead, higher consumer involvement in the early stages of Marketing activities seems to be the mantra in the marketing world of the future. In a recent article at imedia by Jim Nail , titled " The 4 Types of Engagement ", the future of advertising has been mapped to the consumer’s decision making process . The author discusses the various kinds of engagement and their corresponding implications. A proposed model based on a level of engagement suggests disbanding the traditional model of AIDA ( A ttention I nterest D esire A ction ) and incorporating Engagement Marketing instead. The AIDA model prescribes getting attention of the consumer, arousing interest in your brand, creating a desire for it, ultimately leading to Action (purchase) towards the bran...

It’s been a while since I wrote about something. Have a few pending subjects, but need to delve a bit more before I post them here. For now, I read about this interesting campaign at Ad Punch by McCann Ericksson for their client Nestle Romania (Brand Maggi). . This campaign recently got shortlisted for the Golden Drums Awards 2006 . The theme of the campaign reads ‘if only women spent less time cooking’ , and reflects the places women could reach, beyond the kitchen. Undoubtedly, very good execution, but the concept per se does not seem to be too appealing. For one, it reflects a strong gender stereotype. Though the creatives include popular male-dominated reflections like Godfather, Tarzan and Mount Rushmore , the “connect” is missing, somehow. How does spending less time in cooking relate to being Jane, or Godmother, or for that matter, the President of the United States? However, all said and done, it does entail a good recall and has a strong “entertainment” value , and is a we...

A new wave of telemarketing is getting a lot of attention in the Australian Mobile market and annoying a majority of mobile users in Australia. Termed as “Missed Call Marketing” , it is the practice of giving a missed call to mobile owner, who upon seeing the “missed call” notification would perceive it to be a legitimate call and ring back. On ringing the number, he/she would hear a recorded promotional message. Normally, telemarketing is done the other way round. This method, however, passes the cost of the call to the mobile owner, and leaves the choice of calling/hearing the promotional message with the owner itself. Thus, it is a marketing tactic which tries to shift the cost of a telemarketing call to the consumer – whether or not they want to hear about the promotion. There is a debate going on these days at various forums over the classification of ‘Missed Call Marketing’ as Spam . Some relate it to email spam which includes link to an unknown website. Some others believe it ...

Exactly a year ago, I had celebrated the 136th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at this place. Logically, it is his 137th Birth Anniversary today. Last year, I had discussed “Brand Gandhi” and how he has been instrumental in endorsing brands. Elevated to Celebrity status, the use of his name and stature has been instrumental in attaching credibility to a lot of companies. Taking it forward, I intend to discuss one such illustration which highlights incorrect use of “Brand Gandhi”. How ethnic differences impact marketing and what are the implications? Wait for the next entry. For now, a smart application of the legend, by Apple - “Think Different” Could not really understand the one with Hitler and Stalin (I think) . Maybe I will have to wait till I understand some Russian! Incidentally, there is an entire generation of people (mostly Europeans and Africans) who know him as " Ghandi " and not the actual " Gandhi ". Am clueless about the origin of this word, b...