An approach to have a better understanding of my areas of interests - Marketing & Brands; which are certainly, dynamic of all. An effort to brainstorm with you and discuss the industry trends with a similar focus & wavelength on marketing, retail & Branding.
Recently came across a wonderful & quick read which I think is very useful for any brand assignment. Colors are all good but going for the most approriate is a challenge. At some point of brainstorming, colors become the ultimate factor for any creative decision be it for a designer or a conceptualiser. Cymbolism is an interactive survey of color & word associations. The details of the same could be read here.
A detailed survey on Choosing Colors for your brand provides wonderful inputs. The same could be read at Usabilitypost.com
Now I am sure you are no more wondering what I am talking about here. You must have noticed Kajol on television, where she tells the importance of spending family time with the help of Whirlpool magic and now for the lovely youth we have a surprise from Onida. It’s official now. Onida has finally replaced its very own iconic devil with a lovely couple busy making a good life with the latest Onida consumer durables.
Strategically the step is commendable as the customer insight of young India is not at all that of ‘Neighbor’s Envy, Owner’s Pride’. Young India believes in individualism. Moreover, the affordability has increased manifolds and the era is of individualism. Onida, from Mirc Electronics has almost lived for more then 20 years on the concept of neighbor’s envy but the current day consumer cannot connect with the same. Also, the current ads also bring in the emotional connects that too with respect to the nuclear lifestyle of working couples. The current TVCs for Onida – Slim Washing Machines make sure that they show the husband in the as a metro sexual figure who doesn’t mind taking up the household chores as well.
The devil was bought back in the year 2004 with Ashish Choudhary portraying the devil after the discontinuation in 1998. This time it seems that Mirc Electronics has decided to move on. This move will prove to be an absolute Brand Rejuvenation of Onida. The brand re-birth from devil to a young couple is not only a marketing move but also adds more relevance and would certainly be one of the best examples, depicting India’s new consumerism. Nevertheless, its time to say, 'Goodbye Devil' for Onida.
Yes, with the years of hue & cry about the ozone depletion, mankind has finally realized the importance of going green & keeping green. With the concept getting popular in government as well as private organizations, how can a marketer restrain from that. Green Marketing is an upcoming phenomenon and slowly organizations are adopting this environment friendly way of marketing. Green Marketing is marketing & promotion of those products which are presumably environment friendly and do not have any negative effects to the environment. Though Green is popular, still there is lot of confusion about what exactly is defined as Green marketing. Various social & retail oriented definitions co-exist and it is often also known as Environmental or Ecological marketing.
Apart from manufacturing products which are environment friendly, more & more corporate houses are now entering a phase of Green Premises which is considered as an upcoming CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) fad. In such buildings, they claim that all kinds of waste is recycled hence causing zero environmental loss. Latest being the ITC Green Centre in Gurgaon which is been awarded the Platinum Green Building rating.
Researchers are working on solutions to improve the consumer appeal towards the green marketing & green products. Paper Bags is one of the most accepted environment friendly marketing tool which is accepted by the world. Still the developing countries fight to get rid of polythene. Sustainable Marketing is one such is a unique community of sustainable and green marketing entrepreneurs – making connections to each other — and to customers. Sustainable Marketing is communities of people helping each other get better marketing for their green businesses, using the network effect, and the power of the internet, to share knowledge, connections, and profit.
The concept is still in developing stage, it holds lot of good and people have shown lot of acceptance even if certain products are slightly expensive. The purpose is clear and leads to good environment & good health – directly or indirectly. It’s clearly time to Go Green….
Everyday ambience, Sharp Humor, Single Message, Plain Straight Truth – on face brings lot of relevance in any marketing communication. That’s how the magical communication campaigns are being aired for Tata Tea’s – Jaago Re Campaign. The campaign is straight on Corruption.
The creativity, the communication, the ad copy, the actors all of these just create a dovetail in a truly effective way. This is a purely common man’s campaign and everyone can relate & link to it so conveniently. The problems, issues are so common that everyone could relate it to oneself, someone or the system. They talk about bribes, under the table projects, donation driven admissions etc. Their remains no doubt of authenticity or credibility in the communication because it is coming out of our daily routine lives. Everyone has been a part of that situation and if not they are aware of several such situations.
The message of ‘Jaago Re Campaign’ is a very well integrated communication, meant for all and provoking young & sleepy India. It is an urge, a wake up call against corruption. The TVCs of Jaago Re are not mere entertainment or a brand communication, it is more importantly an alert message touching not only hearts but several minds and telling them to react & respond. Showing them what it takes to see the India they want to see.
Tata Tea is just not into the awareness spree, they are also backing the campaign with the corruption index on their site. They plan to promote the internationally marked Anti Corruption Day on Dec 09 as a national event. The latest TVC titled, ‘Aaj se khilana band, pilana shuru’ caption on air is, Har Subah bas utho mat, jaago re. They are banging on the thin line between getting up & waking up. Online & mobile media is the most popular one when it comes to youth - the campaign is absolutely on track. We, as in the present day generation are more internet friendly and Jaago Re provides an excellent communication on their site. The voter id registration process too is kept very interactive & user friendly.
The impact is phenomenal. The masses are taken aback and with the corruption index the magic should be kept alive. As far as brand strategy is concerned, they are promotions almost all 4 variants through this. But the customer insight seems different here – I the tea should be now interpreted as a youthful drink. Nevertheless, its an excellent Social media campaign.
Colors- have always been a major aspect in brands & branding strategy. Here, I am not talking about the significance of colors in branding but instead I am going to discuss here the brand – Colors (a Viacom 18 initiative), which has not only emerged but is also ruling the entire media & entertainment industry via our own idiot box. Yes, the Indian television industry has recently witnessed and still going through lot of innovation.
Current Channel Leader – Colors is only 1 year & few months old and is a hot favorite of Indian audience of almost all age groups. They did it with a strategy of differentiation & innovation, of course at the right time. When the audience was bored of daily soaps with all family dramas, the high society tantrums etc, colors came with different shades of entertainment. Important as well as critical nodes were touched upon and here they are, ruling the television industry.
Brand Innovation:
Innovation has been a major strategy of Colors to attain maximum audience control. The shift from family dramas to reality shows was still in the introduction phase and colors played the trick. They came with an assorted offering of all; colors gave the audience a break from typical daily soaps and offered critical shows of lot more social importance. The kept the masala instinct alive through various realities shows and they also touched the religious nerves of a particular segment through mythological shows. All in all, Colors came with a complete family package. To list few of the shows:
Daily Soaps & Serials –
Balika Vadhu – Doesn’t need any introduction. Is been the most popular show since one year. With all the good actors & dramatically script, the show is still more of a social awareness campaign with constant innovation in episodes depicting critical social issues. Shri Krishna – Entertained the audience and kept the religious audience served. The strategy was to pull the audience at prime time for this kind of a show. Bhagyavidhata – The show is pulling audience because of a new concept. Bihar and its systems were never a put across to the national audience by any production house. Audience love changes. Utaran / Na Aana Is Des Lado – These are again few serials which have touched purely new & different subjects. It keeps the audience intrigued.
Reality Shows – Serving the same dish on a different platter.
There has been lot of innovation on Colors, in terms of reality shows. The concepts and strategy of each serial is well thought of & very much planned. To list a few:
Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena: One of the initial Dance based show of Colors, which pulled in popular cricket stars to be the partners with television beauties. 100 %: An HUL sponsored show of Indian desi wrestlers with those from the world wrestling federaton. The show is must to spark some sensation with Sharat Saxena & Dara Singh as the team representatives. Khatron ke Khiladi: A show of its kind. Well establishes, very popular and have ruled TRPS last year. Commencing in just 4 days. Chote Miyan: With the immense success of the Great Indian Laughter Challenge, almost all the channels came with some kind of laughter shows, the colors strategy clicked because they initiated with a kids centric show.
To add to the spark of these reality shows, colors always pulled in cult celebrity brands to be the judge on their reality shows. Colors enjoy the TRP of the fan following of the celebrity stars. Few of the popular judges are: Sushmita Sen & Imran Khan, Hema Malini & Jeetendra, Sachin & Raveena Tandon etc.
Colors Marketing (Clever & Fresh)
Colors (Viacom 18 initiative), youngest on the block and the latest channel leader is been into great marketing campaign all over. Last, I remember I was stumped to see the IPL Marketing Campaigns – a complete one. Surely, Colors marketing too is all set for, exceeding the expectations.
Almost all the available media vehicles have been pulled in & utilized to the best of their capabilities. To name a few, channel is into Outdoor Media, BTL promotions - Road shows, corporate tie-ups, and rural media – street plays as well. The audience is reached almost at every aspect of their life, right from the hoarding while traveling to the mobile they carry. If its Mumbai, promotions are there on the local trains and otherwise colors is on the radio taxis, buses and where not. To read more about the kind of media Colors has pulled in read here.
Adidas - The Adidas logo, which was created by founder of the company Adi Dassler, represents mountains, pointing towards the challenges that are seen ahead and goals that can be achieved. The logo first appeared in 1971, and was used for the first time on Adidas products in 1972.
Mercedes Benz - The Mercedes Benz logo, which was originally created by Gottlieb Daimler in 1909, consists of a simple depiction of a three-pointed star that represents its domination of the land, the sea, and the air. The company was founded Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, Mercedes is the name of Maybach’s elder daughter, while the Benz came as a result of a merger with Benz and Cie in 1926.
Apple - There are different stories behind Apple’s logo, the first one is a reference to the religious story of Adam and Eve, in which the apple represents the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. The second version says that Apple’s first logo was designed by Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne, and depicted Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. This logo didn’t stay long and was replaced almost immediately by graphic designer Rob Janoff’s “rainbow Apple,” a rainbow-colored silhouette of an apple with a bite taken out of it, which has been replaced by the monochromatic logo In 1998.
McDonald’s - The logo was designed in 1962 by Jim Schindler to resemble the arch shaped signs on the sides of the company’s then walk-up hamburger stand, later on, the two golden arches were merged together to form the M. The McDonald’s name was added to the logo in 1968.
Nike - In the Greek mythology, Nike is the goddess of victory and the source of inspiration for warriors, this logo represents the wing in the famous statue of the Greek goddess. Nike’s logo was designed by Carolyn Davidson in 1971 for $35, and was registered as a trademark in 1995.
Oh! This one really surprised me. Big Groups being hit by the recession is not a new story but this hard...Well! I had no idea about...!! The Big players are working more on the cost cutting these days then any other things. Budget cuts are normal in the corporate scenario but I never thought that this would mean compromising in the Brand Image. Yes, Big Bazaar is better known as 'Organised Chaos' but that doesn't mean that people will tend to forget that it still is a part of Pantaloon retail.
During a recent store launch, the management played with the budgets and they played so badly that they weren't even able to rectify it. Starting from the standees which weren't able to stand the winds to the banners which were flowing with the wind, not static enough to let the visitor read whats there on the banner. Not only was this enough, even the press meet looked more of a formality, within the store a set-up with 20 chairs and a backdrop with a projector screen, which eventually wasn't required or may be used. I wonder but someone told me that none of the most poplular newspapers catering to the target segment of Big Bazaar were invited.
The BTL campaign also seemed to be suffering from mis-management & ill-execution. That looked as the worst thing, someone could do to the brand. Yes, Big Bazaar claims to be the organised chaos but that doesnt mean it could be compared with a Grocery store! Actually not.
I never thought that Brand owners will be told to cut the costs to that an extent. Nevermind though, the brand keeps the promises. Happy Shopping!!
Jigyasa is a corporate trainer and brand consultant. She is a graduate of ICFAI Business School, Bangalore.
She has delivered trainings at institutions like IIM Shillong and corporates like Gujarat Ambuja Cement.
She loves talking about brands and marketing. Some of her favorite topics are;
· Emerging formats and trends in India retail
· Mall management
· On value added services (VAS) in Telecom, Media and Entertainment and healthcare.
She takes day-long, half-day and customized sessions at corporates and institutions. For further info please write to jlaroiya@gmail.com
