Read Between the Ps

Talking of Warfare , marketers in India are predicting that the price wars would move from the cola battlefield to another one …the Battlefield of Fruit and Fruit-based juices – a nascent market which is emerging as one of the most promising markets of the country, and an equally challenging one..!! Have talked a lot about health-conscious Indian consumers and marketable elements for them; right from Fitness centers to fairness creams , from Skin healers to healthy food ; from lotions to drinks - Health has become the buzz word lately. It was only a matter of time that marketers included this flavor in their marketing mix. According to an article at TMCnet , Focus of the marketers has shifted towards health drinks, which is growing at almost 20-25% currently. So much so, that the industry experts are predicting a juice war in the market, based on price and variations. Almost a year back , I had presented an analysis of the Fruit Juice market. Fortunately, most of the assessm...

Wayne E Pollard , at CMO Magazine , has wonderfully articulated the learnings for Marketers from the chapters of history – from the strategies and planning of Military leader Hannibal Barca , when he attacked Rome between 218 B.C. and 202 B.C. Though I am not in complete agreement with relating new markets to Battlefields, and marketing as “ attacking ” and “ warfare ”, one can still identify the key elements of strategizing to be kept in mind, while venturing into a new market, from the article. Right from considering the work force to doing the ground work, understanding the competitor and its market perception to forming alliances, the author has perfectly aligned a marketer’s strategic planning to that of a Military leader. An interesting read for sure! Some of the basic pointers that one should definitely keep in mind are that Marketers need to be aggressive enough before entering the market. This aggression needs to be complemented with dynamism and adeptness to handle the m...

Folger’s coffee has another medium of advertising in New York City – Manholes ! Printed on Vinyl and steam coming out of it, the tagline reads "Hey the City never Sleeps. Wake up" [via Coloribus ] A nice comment was given by David Kiley in “ Brand New Day ” blog of Businessweek. He has commented on the display with a realistic perspective of the “ manhole cover ” – though the picture hits the taste buds sensing a hot cup of steaming soothing coffee , due to the place it is put, the steam is nothing but the odor coming out of the manhole ! So that’s the “ other ” side of Advertising! Talk of Manholes and talk of New York, and a dozen Exporters will be alerted here in India. Most of us might not know this (neither did I, till I read about it) that India is now the world leader in the manufacturing and exporting of manhole covers . According to an article in Indiatime , all of the new 600,000 odd manhole covers in New York come from the low-cost Indian market. Reasons? (Sourc...

I had earlier spoken about Fitness centres using innovative application of traditional media - Billboards. That time , it was about Silberman Fitness Centre. Have a look at 2 more billboards, reinforcing the flexibility this medium offers. Great creatives indeed. (Thanks to Ilya - Billboardroom !) What is the key to marketing this service of Fitness and weight control? In both the billboards, attention is grabbed by building around the same concept - a fat man deforming the shape of a billboard. However, on second thoughts, I believe (I could be wrong though) that the key emotion to be tapped laterally is " embarrassment " - to trigger people into feeling conscious about themselves and start using the products advertised. Crudely put, it does not communicate that " you need to become this from this " but " you better NOT be this ". No Promises, No hopes, No aspiration values picked. Just highlighting the problem and asserting your capability - Simple...

I am amazed at the pace the Indian advertising is going at. The creative juices undoubtedly are flowing throughout the country like never before. Also, it is not just the work of a few select agencies that could pile up all the credit but a pan-India phenomenon. Evidently, now their work is being recognized the world over and different parts of the world are looking up to the Indian sub-continent for "creative inflows" ! Undoubtedly, there is a lot to learn from some of the Creative masters of the country. For instance, this campaign for Childcare - an organization for the betterment of the homeless children in India , talks about the attitude of common Indians towards these children, who are a common sight at the Traffic lights and Shopping Complexes. This Campaign has already done the rounds of most of the Ad Blogs. For the Ad freaks, this would be classic piece now. However, couldn’t resist putting it up here, simply because of its Indian roots! The campaign forces th...

Thanks to a tip from Ilya Vedrashko at Billboard , I found a whole new dimension of Marketing - a tool that acts as a voice of a community - a voice that has the power to move a nation - power to change the perspective of a society . Billboards in Liberia are being used to convey messages to the tortured, abused and hurt sections of the society, who have so far stayed quiet and numb under pressure and fear from the stronger sex. Be it messages on respect for women, sexual abuse or mob violence, billboards have become essential elements of trauma therapy throughout Monrovia. One such billboard talks about Women being a friend and not to beat her. Another one talks about using Condoms for Safer sex - a trend which is virtually absent in the country with men averse to use them at all. You would snub this saying that this is a common site throughout the world. How is this different in Liberia? What has happened in Liberia that makes these messages "that" important? Most ...

Last week , Chief Post Master General of Maharashtra Circle, K Noorjehan, released a special Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna Postal Cover on the occasion of World Health Day . It was the first time that an Indian Brand had been featured on a postal cover, and the fact that the Indian government has recognized the efforts of HLL in health and hygiene in such a manner reinforces the strong Brand Association of Lifebuoy with Health! According to Business Line , the postal cover has been released to recognise Lifebuoy's pioneering rural health and hygiene education initiative, Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna The ED of HLL, Nitin Paranjpe asserted that “ Lifebuoy is the one brand that wants to start that one movement that will change the world ”. To a certain extent, an orientation has already been made to this effect. Said Ms Noorjehan – “I congratulate Lifebuoy and Hindustan Lever for initiating and assiduously implementing this socially beneficial movement”. That’s a perfect Brand Endorsement ...