IIPM ARTICLE AND PUBLICATION

Monday, August 23, 2010

Nutrivita PRESENTS 100 MARKETING BRAINS THAT MOVE AND SHAKE INDIA

Debashish Mitra

Director – Marketing, Mercedes Benz India

It was at the 10th Auto expo which took place in the Capital in January this year that our stall wasn’t only the biggest, air-conditioned and with a bar but also the cars on display were taking people by surprise. The SLS-AMG launched at the Expo price at over Rs.2 crore has already got seven bookings which clearly testifies the amount of trust that the Indian consumer has on the Mercedes brand. In fact, the other cars on display at the expoalso gained a lot of acclaim as we got many enquiries about their India launch.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
The Sunday Indian:-
B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
Business Standard Exposes the Outlook Magazine Money Editor
Don't trust the Indian Media!

IIPM enters into media education
IIPM makes record 10,000 placements in five years
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. - For Complete Sting Operation Video Click Here
Pioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com
IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envy
Prof Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAIN‎

Friday, August 20, 2010

Thematic Houses?

You might love to go to theme based amusement park. Even theme based restaurants could be up there on your preference chart. Better still, you could be the one who could freak out on theme parties. But theme based housing? Well, they’re better known for there malls. So when TDI (Taneja Developers & Infrastructure Ltd) recently announced the launch of a Rs.1200 crore thematic housing project near the national capital (apparently the first of its kind in India), it was sure to raise eyebrows and even interest. Kamal Taneja, MD, TDI Group, says, “The project offers international ambience to residents at economical rates. A judicial mix of mid rise/low rise units offered at such competitive rates would induce customers to own houses in Tuscan City.” By Tuscan, he is referring to the classic Italian theme (known for its architectural grandeur) that the housing project would use. TDI says Tuscan City falls in the category of ‘affordable homes’ with prices starting from Rs.21.5 lakhs and going upto Rs.36 lakhs. Vivek Mittal, CEO, Realty Stocks, commented, “Such a thematic residential project indicates that developers are willing to experiment with new themes and concepts.” The project, spread over 53 acres, is expected to be ready for possession by 2012.

Savreen Gadhoke

Thursday, August 19, 2010

HOW DOES THUMS UP KEEP STEALING THE THUNDER!...

In 1993, when Parle sold off a typically domestic brand to Coca Cola for $60 million, industry watchers thought that the Chauhans had hit an unanticipated jackpot – many had even believed then that the precocious brand would die in the short run... 17 years – and some portentous stymieing attempts – later, the brand Thums Up has not only become prodigiously iconic, but has spawned a staggering legacy that is spoken of with unanticipated awe. In a first of its kind series, 4Ps B&M maps the legacy of the brand Thums Up, with live inputs from the top honchos of Coca Cola and Parle

The year was 1977. Eight years had passed since Parle had purchased brand Bisleri from Italy’s Felice Bisleri and just one year since the launch of an unknown lemony drink called Limca. Ramesh Chauhan, along with brother Prakash and CEO Bhanu Vakil, were counting the days for the launch of their flagship soft drink – a carbonated cola drink. The brothers knew their job was tough. Per capita consumption of cold drinks (then) was worse than expected for an anyway below average market. But Ramesh Chauhan wasn’t that worried. He’d seen tougher times since the day he had started his career as an employee in an Indian post office. He knew he could work it out...

The American soft drink giant Coca Cola’s headquarters had just left India following the introduction of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) whereby it was asked to reduce its equity stake to 40% even in their technical and administrative units (Coca Cola refused, and exited). And as the black cola market was bereaved by the sudden absence of Coca Cola, the Chauhan brothers, taking advantage of this void, launched Thums Up, which was an instant hit in metros (It was later launched on a pan-India basis in 1981). Since then, in 33 years, the brand has dethroned the leaders, outpaced the laggards, walloped the upstarts, horsewhipped the substitutes, and even changed hands (as is perhaps too well known, Ramesh Chauhan sold brand Thums Up to arch rival Coca Cola in 1993 for $60 million – a decision he doesn’t regret till date).

Circa 2010: Thums Up is India’s largest selling carbonated cola drink with a market share of 16.4%. Much has changed in the years that have gone by, but what has remained unchanged is the fiercely competitive battle between the major soft drinks makers. If today the warring factions include PepsiCo and Coca Cola, the late 1970s and early 1980s era saw the combatting battalions of Campa Cola (from the stable of Pure Drinks Ltd., which later also introduced Campa Orange) and Double Cola (a US-based soft drink). Despite that, the brand Thums Up still remains the market leader with Pepsi commanding 13% share and Coke 8.2%. Thus, from 1977 to 2010; from Parle to Coca Cola; from Sunil Gavaskar to Salman Khan to Akshay Kumar – ‘thunder’ has remained a durable proposition, outbeating many product life cycle theories by decades. And that’s the crux of this cover story – how in heavens does Thums Up keep stealing the thunder?

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

MAY THE BEST ‘CAR’ WIN

For the first time ever, BMW India raced ahead of Mercedes India in sales in the luxury cars segment in 2009 – a fact that Wilfried Aulbur, CEO, Mercedes India has ever since denied. However, BMW India is in no mood to remain complacent about its leadership position in the Indian market. Riding high on its success, BMW India has decided to start the leasing programme for individual consumers as one of its strategies in 2010 to stay ahead of its counterparts. As the competition is getting intense by the day in the luxury car segment, the company has decided to lease BMW products to individual consumers for a specified period of time. The company plans to then use the same products to be sold under its used car programme – BMW Selection with the complete warranty and service backup after the consumers return the same to the company after a year or so.

Peter Kronschabl, President, BMW India, who, for most people, is the reason behind BMW’s success in the Indian market explains, “In the last three years of operations (in India), we have realised that a large number of Indian consumers want to own a BMW, but are not willing to buy it at the ex-showroom price. We were already leasing to companies, but this is the first time we have decided to tap individual customers as well.”

Not only will this strategy help the company in building its leasing and used car programme, but will also help this German car marker to establish its brand in the country. However, with Mercedes-Benz now gearing up to get its top slot back, BMW will surely have to think out of the conventional drawing boards to keep its leadership position in the Indian market intact. Moreover, with the third German rival Audi also catching up, the Indian consumer will surely witness cut-throat competition in the Indian luxury car market in the next couple of years to come.

Pawan Chabra

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

ROADBLOCK IS THE NEW WEAPON

What is the jargon used to describe the manner in which your favourite channel on the idiot box is bombarded with ads after ads of the same brand? What is the term used to explain the ads of the same auto brand plastered all across the first few pages of your daily newspaper? 4Ps B&M adds a word to your marketing dictionary. Call it ROADBLOCK! PRONUNCIATION –ROHD-BLOK NOUN – ACTION USING A MEDIA VEHICLE TO OBSTRUCT EXPOSURE TO RIVAL BRANDS

It was one of those usually pleasant mornings; the date by the calendar – November 11, 2009. Abhinav Batra, a 32 year-old Mumbai-based software engineer, welcomes the morning at 7 am, with a hot mug of coffee and the daily newspaper, like he does any other day. But something in a rather abrupt fashion catches his half-drowsy eyes – the main page of the morning paper, featuring a Volkswagen advertisement. The first page is immediately followed by eight pages that have the same auto giant basking on the 55cm x 35 cm platform... In short, it was a 17,325 cm2 morning treat for Abhinav’s eyes, with sedans of the German auto-maker plastered all over the first nine pages of the daily. ‘Madness’ is what you could term it; ‘Roadblock’ is what we call it!

A rather common occurence in recent times, such unforseen advertising whammies have time and again thrown the consumer into a state of disbelief! So what’s this bombshell of an act called ‘Roadblock advertising’ all about? Well, the intention behind the act is quite simple – to ensure that the brand gains a unique registration status in the minds of consumers, like in the case of this young reader, who could not help but appreciate the fact that Volkswagen has arrived in India, all on a fine (though a usual one) November morning!

But before dwelling on the finer details of the act and its effectiveness, it becomes important to define this marketing jargon. To put it simply, Roadblock advertising implies blocking a particular media vehicle (it could be a Television Network, a particular newspaper or magazine, a radio station or even a particular Internet site) for a particular period of time to maximise the outreach and frequency of the communication message. Historical data however suggests that Roadblock advertising is mostly used on TV.

So why does a marketer need Roadblock advertising? “It’s a simple but expensive way of aggregating eyeballs and creating a buzz. In principle they want consumers to talk more about it... even after the roadblock is over,” explains Naresh Gupta, National Planning Head, Dentsu Marcom. To this, Aditya Swamy, Senior VP – Sales & Marketing, MTV India, adds, “Roadblocks do a brilliant job in breaking the clutter as they make your product stand out in the crowd.” Another opinion expressed was that by Times of India’s CMO Rahul Kansal, who strongly feels that the whole concept behind Roadblock advertising (irrespective of which channel of communication is chosen) is to ‘dominate’. The idea is to create high-impact communication, so that repetition can be done away with.