Read Between the Ps

An innovative method of outdoor Advertising in Europe by Schweppes - placing Schweppes bottles in lakes and fountains. Created by Duval Guillaume’s Antwerp , the campaign would include fountains across European countries placing Schweppes Bottles “illustrating the product's sparkling effervescence” Since Europe is well known for its scenic features, such a campaign would definitely get high visibility. More so, the popularity of the “Indian Tonic” brand reflects in its sales in Europe. According to the official website, Schweppes sells enough soft drinks in Europe to fill over 4,000 average sized swimming pools every year! Great idea for a transparent carbonated drink for sure. An idea to chew on definitely…. [via Adrants and Adverblog ] A comprehensive background about the brand is given on the website of Cadbury Schweppes (Schweppes merged with the Cadbury Group Ltd in 1969 ) I specially wanted to mention this, since the inventor of Schweppes, Jacob Schweppe , is considered to ...

I have earlier talked about various segments of Women Consumers: Women in the IT sector , women aged between 35-45 years and " Can you lose sales in two words? " from Women. Let me take it a step further and delve into specific consumer mindsets . I managed to read a few articles on Women Consumers – some dos and don’ts and certain imperatives for Marketing to Women. Let me first talk from a generic perspective for Women and highlight key findings of certain research reports and then subsequently, cite certain peculiarities with respect to the Indian mindset and Consumer attitude. Pre-school days - Relational Aggression [via adweek ] At a time where I hear a lot about " pecking order ”, there is one more aspect I read about, relating to Women psychology – “ Relational aggression ” – something which is very high on their pecking order since childhood days! According to a research conducted at Brigham Young University , pre-schoolers regularly practice what is called a...

A recent series of hoardings led me to delve into a very unique trend specific to Indian advertising – Surrogate advertising … a trend which is fast catching up and has suddenly attracted a lot of innovative and creative brains around the country. Reason? On one hand, the govt cannot allow public advertising of liquor companies. But ironically, liquor and cigarette sales are the biggest revenue generators in terms of taxes and duties on these items. That’s why an overt acceptance of the marketing in these sectors is not legally acceptable. This has led to one of the biggest ironies of the country – Sales of these items are not banned, yet advertising on the same has strictly been prohibited ! Talking about the market size and the different segments would not be pertinent to the discussion (for the records, it is more than 100 million cases in India!). But what is the significance of this trend vis-à-vis the entry points for new players and sustainability of existing ones? Multinati...

My Paper on " Restructuring of Indian Firms for catering to Emerging Markets " recently got published on Brand Channel . Based on Corporate strategy , the paper talks about the strategy that Indian firms need to adopt in the changing business environment and the evolving dynamics of the Indian Markets. Traditionally, the Indian businesses have been family-run businesses and conglomerates . They established the backbone of Indian business and have been the face of India Inc. in the Corporate World. But with modern avenues to exercise, along with globalization , privatization and liberalization - the very definition of conglomerate needs to be redefined. The global markets emphasize value adds, innovation, flexibility, excellence and customized products and services. The big question is whether the conglomerates should diversify into strengthening their internal functions or take a focused approach to establish and consolidate their markets. In the published paper, we (I a...

I have been discussing Smoking and cigarettes quite a bit (2 entries to be precise). I had earlier talked about Jim’s Burnt Offerings and then, a couple of days back, I discussed Chicago’s Smokers’ Lounge . In order to prevent any conscious and sub-conscious criticism , I decided to absolve this blog of any promotional intentions for smoking… Here are some good campaigns I have collated from various sources, all underlying the theme of “ Anti-smoking ”…Have a look.. (Click to view the enlarged version) In fact, there is a particular graph that explains the entire cycle of rejection or abandonment of a previously adopted product or service. This model was put forward by Everett Rogers and has been discussed as an exception to the “Classic” diffusion model An effective anti-smoking campaign would be an example of such a trend, where the habit of smoking is gradually abandoned. Another clichéd example would be the rejection of an older technology to be replaced with a new one. That i...

An insightful research paper by Dr Andrea Wojnicki , Assistant Professor of Marketing at Rotman School of Management, talks about the reasons behind consumer-to-consumer communication , or what is popularly known as “ Word of Mouth ” Marketing. What makes Marketers so confident of this mode of advertising that they actually PLAN for such activities? Does the consumer consciously participate in this marketing activity? How can we find out the consumer psyche behind this complete exercise? If there is ambiguity in the behavioral pattern of my consumers, how can I be sure of the effectiveness of WOM? Can I predict if I will fail or succeed in my WOM campaigns? Dr Andrea attempts to answer most of these apprehensions. The theory she proposes is impression management and it offers insight into why consumers actually engage in WOM. Based in part on motivational theories from social psychology , the theory allows us to predict the relative amount of WOM generated by experts or novices follo...

EPICA-Awards hosts some of the best ads globally. I had earlier talked about Gandhi Ads ( Telecom ) and then Les Echos ( Media ). This time, I found some really fine pieces of Ads – the best of the Finalists in the Epica Awards 2004 under the Public Interest Category . Here are my favorite 3 from the film sub-category – [Click each of them to view the Ads] [1] The first one is for the Home for the Blind, Zurich . With a background score of “ I just called to say I love you ” by Stevie Wonder , the Ad features blind old men and women attempting to sing the song in their own tunes and styles in a recording studio. Wonderfully shot, the Ad ends with the caption “ Not everyone who's blind can earn millions singing. Thank you for your donation. Home for the Blind, Zurich. ” [2] Next, we have a unique message and a definite learning (at leaste for me!). A young boy roams around the streets whiling away his time, gazing at things around him and doing nothing, possibly homeless and w...