The Onida Story - Individuality rules over Neighbor’s envy

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.

Green Marketing....!

Green is in………

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….

Jaago Re - A way forward in Societal Marketing

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 – Entertainment Innovation & Exclusive Marketing

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.