1. MARKSMAN
The
K J SOMAIYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH VOL. 2 | ISSUE VIII| JAN ‘12
4Ps of Samsung Smartphones
Sensory Branding
Employer Branding vs Celebrity
Endorsements for petroleum
products at BPCL
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2. EDITOR’S DESK
JANUARY 2012 01
Cheers !!
Team – Marksman
The Interface – The Marketing Club of SIMSR
Dear Readers,
Welcome to a brand new year, brimming with opportunities, hope and
fulfillment! Your MARKSMAN, shall continue to strive harder to meet and exceed
your expectations in the new year.
This new year and years to come are going to be defined by people power. With
the social media and user generated content revolutionizing market trends and
dynamics, marketing has just gone a lot more complex! The new complexities are
a chance just as much as a challenge that companies need to adapt to or perish!
With our cover story on Marketing 3.0 experience the evolution of marketing and
the importance of building brand credibility today.
Branding days are an evergreen fad with marketers and a successful one at that!
Our special story shall walk you through some successful campaigns that have not
only boosted sales but helped increase brand awareness in a sustainable way.
Our heartiest congratulations to Mr. Nikhil Goyal! His entry on 4Ps of Samsung
smart phones has been adjudged the best entry for the month of Jan. Our
selected featured articles on Sensory Branding and Employer Branding v/s
Celebrity Branding also make for delightful reads. We appreciate and thank all
our contributors for their entries.
Dedicated sections : Bookworm, Ad-itude, Squarehead, Buzz, Rewind and Tweets
have also been laboriously put together and make for interesting reads.
Happy reading folks!
With the 63rd Republic day celebrations just culminating we at MARKSMAN take
this opportunity to pay our tributes to the sacrifices and efforts made in the past
that make us proud Indians today!
3. Tweets Ad-itude
Cover Story
Special Story-Branding Days
Featured
Articles
Book worm SquAreheaD
Rewind Buzz
Marketing 3.0
4 Ps of Samsung Smartphones
Employer Branding versus Celebrity
endorsements for Petroleum products at BPCL
Sensory Branding
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CONTENTS
JANUARY 2012 02
4. TWEETS
TWEETS
JANUARY 2012 03
A website that runs without
internet! It’s the power of
Rajni!
It may sound like another
Rajnikanth joke, but a new
website dedicated to the
superstar runs 'without an
internet connection'. The
website
www.allaboutrajni.com was
created by Gurbaksh Singh
and has gone viral with
thousands of hits, shares and
mentions across the web
every day.
Wikipedia blacked out for
24 hrs
Wikipedia blacked out its
English-language site on
18th Jan, 2012 for 24 hours
to seek support against
the two legislative bills,
Stop Online Piracy Act
(SOPA) and the PROTECT
IP Act(PIPA) proposed by
the US Congress that
Wikipedia founder Jimmy
Wales said threatens the
future of the internet.
McDonald’s get a brand
new Avatar!
Fifteen years after it
entered India, Big Mac is
changing colours, literally.
The world's largest fast-
food chain is shedding its
familiar red-and-yellow
colours for more muted
tones as it goes for its
biggest and costliest
revamp in the country, in
line with its global
strategy of attracting more
adults.
11th Auto-Expo: Glitz blitz of the hot wheels.
The largest automotive show in India with around 1500 participants
from 23 countries was hosted between 7th and 11th Jan 2012, at
the Pragati Maidan ,New Delhi . It witnessed the unleashing of
supercars like Maruti Suzuki XA Alpha SUV, pure electric vehicle
Nissan Leaf, six speed automatic transmission Mini Cooper of BMW
and Mercedes- Benz SLS AMG roadster.
No more “Say Cheese” for Kodak. Digital
Photography era spells end for film photography.
Eastman Kodak Co. (EK), the photography pioneer
that introduced the Brownie Camera more than a
century ago, filed for bankruptcy after consumers
embraced digital cameras, a technology Kodak invented and failed to commercialize. It listed
assets of $5.1 billion and debt of $6.8 billion in Chapter 11 documents filed in U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. It now aspires to be a specialist in leaner digital printing.
5. It’s all about AD-itude!
JANUARY 2012 04
Here comes another volley from the creative
marketing geniuses that keep taking digs at
contemporary issues, happenings and Amulize
it all, utterly and butterly! So India's dismal
performance against Australia in test cricket is
the latest in the row of Amul print ads that
since 1966 have been using politics, sports and
Bollywood to grab attention of every Indian.
The billboards with Amul ads keep changing
every week with changing newspaper
headlines! Amul ads are timeless, with the
moppet playing everything from the coy
Madhuri to sensuous Urmila to Jayalalitha to
herself in a polka dots frock. The charm of
Amul ads lies in their simplicity and humour.
The strategically placed hoardings displaying
Amul ads make every Indian smile while
waiting at the traffic signal. The English rather
Hinglish and sometimes regional language
word play is the source of pun and the crux of
all Amul ads.
The new coca-cola ad campaign, ‘ Believe in a
happier tomorrow’, that was released at the
outset of the New Year tries to evoke optimism
and happiness in people. Coke has always tried
to associate itself with celebration and
happiness. Its previous campaigns like ‘open
happiness’ and ‘khushiya batne se badti h’
tried to associate coca cola with celebrations
and festivities. The new campaign is on the
lines of the international campaign ‘Reasons to
believe’ with the same tune, theme and
motive. The lyrics of the Indian version are
written by Prasoon Joshi while Bollywood
music composer Shantanu Moitra has
composed the music. The ad strikes the right
chord with the audiences as it comes as hope
in a time when there has been a lot of
negativity around with political scams,
scandals, corruption, unrest and the economic
crisis world over. The ad plays the same old
story of how good always wins over evil but
seems to be working wonders with the catchy
song!
Brand: Amul
Creative Agency: daCunha
Communications
Brand: Coca-Cola
Creative Agency: McCann Erickson
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Marketing 3.0
“Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants as long as it is
black” – Henry Ford
Had Mr. Ford delayed this announcement by around 90 years, most investment
bankers and marketers alike would have promptly carved out Ford Motor Company’s
tombstone in a split second. Yes, marketing has come a long way.
Consumers now turn to peer feedback
while deciding on a purchase. The source
for such solicited advise has now moved
from traditional “water cooler
conversations” to social media.
Technorati pegs the number of active
blogs around the world at more than
a staggering 15.5 million. Close to
one-third of blog readers are
influencers. Twitter, the micro-
blogging has been another social
media phenomenon that had taken
What led to Marketing 3.0?
MARKETING 2.0
The advent of the information
age ushered Marketing 2.0.
Consumers are now well
informed, making it easier for
them to evaluate similar
products. Marketing is no longer
simple. The focus of the
marketer, in this era, is to identify
unfulfilled needs and convert
them into profitable avenues.
Marketing continues to have a
bad name in many circles
because many marketers are
simply after profit and conduct
‘sly’ tricks. This is known as the
customer-centric era.
MARKETING 1.0
Decades ago, in the
industrial age, marketing
was all about selling
products to a target
market sans the
consideration of needs
and wants. Marketing was
considered mere selling or
persuasion and also gave
it the negative
connotation of ‘cheating’.
This product- centric
marketing era was
christened Marketing 1.0.
7. the marketing world by storm. Who would
imagine how powerful 140 words could be?
YouTube and other sites user generated
content have also lead this revolution.
A good example of this would be the case of
Dave Carroll, a disgruntled United Airways
customer, who uploaded a self-composed
soundtrack titled “United Breaks Guitars” on
Youtube. Within four days of it going online,
the bad PR caused the United Airlines stock
to plunge 10 percent, costing shareholders
$180 million. An alarming example of how
social media can damage a brand.
Watch the video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zO
qozo&feature=player_embedded
COVER STORY
JANUARY 2012 06
Alternately, LEGO instils the positive effect of
social media. The company enlists influential
consumers as online evangelists. Following the
launch of its new locomotive kit which was
shown to 250 LEGO train fans, their word-of-
mouth helped the first 10,000 unit sell out in
10 days with no other marketing.
This has led companies to stop dead in their
tracks, acknowledge and amalgamate
Marketing 3.0 into their marketing DNA.
Marketing 3.0 is the stage when companies
shift from consumer-centricity to human-
centricity and where profitability is balanced
with corporate responsibility. Companies
adopting it have bigger missions, visions and
values to contribute to the world while aiming
to address problems in society. Human
aspirations, values and spirit are now imbibed
into marketing. Marketing 3.0 gains more
relevance during crisis situations, be it
economic or environmental. It provides
answers and hope to people faced with such
grave issues thus touching consumers at a far
deeper level.
Marketing 3.0 is value-centric marketing
The focus has shifted from imposing the
product on the consumer towards giving
impetus to the rational and emotional needs
associated with the purchase. Hence the shift
towards value based marketing. It focuses on
people instead of segments. Marketers
should identify the anxieties and desires of
the consumers to be able to target their
minds, hearts, and spirit. One effective way is
to include social responsibility in a corporate
culture and maintain commitment, the best
approach is to embed it into the company’s
vision, mission, and values so that they
8. CREDO 1: Love your customers, respect your
competitors: Multiple telecommuni-cations
companies in the United Kingdom such as
Motorola, O2, Vodafone, etc., collaborated
with Bono and Bobby Shriver to introduce a
new RED mobile phone designed to help fight
AIDS in Africa. Tens of millions of pounds was
raised for the cause.
COVER STORY
JANUARY 2012 07
Kottler’s 10 credo’s of Marketing 3.0
CREDO 4: Customers are diverse; go first
to those who can benefit most from you
Apple has never strived to be a mass
market product developer. They have
always focussed on a unique segment of
early adapters and
technology lovers.
This has led to
higher margins per
unit sold. Apple
continues to apply
this to the iPad and
iPhone devices.
CREDO 2: Be sensitive to change, be ready to
transform: Toyota sensed the trends in the
market and realized that it had to introduce a
hybrid car quickly before it became obsolete.
Thus, in introducing the Prius, it broke many
of its strict Japanese management systems
and acted quickly in product development.
CREDO 3: Guard your name; be clear about
who you are: The TATA group has always
been India’s leading example of a value-
driven business. They furthered the TATA
company strives to occupy the minds,
hearts and then spirit of current and future
customers. The other axis takes into
account the company’s mission, vision and
values.
While delivering satisfaction, a brand
ought to be seen as realizing aspirations
and practicing compassion in some
form. It must not only promise
ProfitAbility and ReturnAbility to current
and future shareholders, but also
SustainAbility. It must also become a
brand that is better, different, and that
makes a difference to current and future
employees.
are understood and imbibed by the
employees. The company should introduce
this new matrix where, on one axis,
Core Value of
Integrity during
the rebranding of
TATA tea with the
“Jaago re!”
campaign.
9. CREDO 5: Always offer a good package at a fair
price
Candies, a restaurant in Bandra, Mumbai, has
always been known for providing its TG of
students and young professionals a good
ambience at affordable prices. In spite of rising
operating costs, they have managed to
maintain their prices constant, albeit with a
minor calculated dent to their margins.
CREDO 6: Always make yourself available,
spread the good news Don’t make it hard
for your customers to find you.
Johnson & Johnson uses its
www.babycenter.com to connect with the
customer while providing expecting and
current mothers useful tips and advice on
everything related to their young
offspring.
CREDO 7: Get your customers, keep and
grow them
Amazon.com builds recommendations
based on past customer purchases and
delivers personal recommendations via
customized homepage and email.
CREDO 8: Whatever your business, it is a service
business: Imbibe the spirit of wanting to serve
your customers.
Vertu, a British-based manufacturer and retailer of
luxury mobile phones provides its customers with
a concierge service called “Vertu Concierge”. On
accessing it through the "concierge key", one can
avail of its concierge service anywhere in the
world.
CREDO 9: Always refine your business process
in terms of quality, cost, and delivery
Maruti works with its local suppliers and
ancillary industries by sharing technology to
improve their individual productivity.
CREDO 10: Gather relevant information, but
use wisdom in making your final decision
Due to the emergence of a powerful
competitor, the Hershey’s Trust decided to sell
its stake to Wrigley, a decision that was
financially sound. However, a group of angry
employees refused this acquisition and
protested against the sale. They realized that
their decision was wrong as they hadn’t
considered the social impact of their decision
and cancelled the sale transaction.
COVER STORY
JANUARY 2012 08
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Master Chef at home. They have shown their presence on social media,
outdoor advertising like the transit ads and hoardings, and the
conventional ones- Radio and Television. To invite people outdoors, HT
has organized carnivals that include games, magic and dance shows, city
tour and various other events around the city. HT is following a good
marketing strategy, pleasing its readers as well as attracting prospective
readers. It was a success in 2011, and with its success in 2012 it would
take the minds of people away from TV screens.
Hindustan Times
– “turning your
TV black”
Calling 29th Jan ‘No TV
Day’, the media outlet
is asking the people to
talk to their real
F.R.I.E.N.D.S and
acknowledge the real
have wisely commissioned research
teams to come up with more special
days, so that no day passes by without
drawing people’s attention to some
person, cause or issues. Nowadays
corporates are :
•Promoting brands around special
days- For instance the Big Bazaar
campaign of ‘Sabse saste teen din’
around 26th Jan and 15th August .
•Creating special days around brand-
Like Hindustan Times’ latest campaign
of ‘No TV Day’
Particular dates honoring a particular
issue or person come and go with
clockwork regularity, year after year. It
could be national days, days of festival,
days to celebrate the birth of national
leaders, days dedicated for
environmental concerns or days
dedicated to show family and friend’s
love and affection.
These special days provide for
opportunities for corporates to run
campaigns, articles, events, talk shows,
competitions. Infact, the greeting cards
(like Archise) and website businesses
11. Big Bazaar- Celebrating Republic and Independence Day
maintaining their home budget. Continuing its efforts, this year Big Bazaar aims to
provide customers ‘value’ with rock bottom prices, best possible discounts and mega
offers. Apart from the flagship Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar stores, other Future
Group retail formats, like Furniture Bazaar, Electronic Bazaar and Home Bazaar
stores, are also a part of this mega campaign.
Visual merchandise used at various Big Bazaar outlets remain in sync. Aggressive
advertisement via radio, television, flyers, and newspapers is conducted. It’s not just
the consumers making the most of this shopping fiesta; the retail behind the event,
Pantaloon Retail India also makes moolah from the endeavor.
SPECIAL STORY
JANUARY 2012 10
These days that mark independence
and freedom are also now being
celebrated as the days of shopping
festival. Thanks to Big Bazaar for
redefining these occasions in India.
Big Bazaar started campaign ‘Sabse
Saste Din’ on January 26, 2006 with 24
stores.
Big Bazaar has very well understood
how to attract customers. A very
simple strategy it followed was
understanding customers needs while
Lifebuoy- Marking the Global Hand Washing Day
Having a dedicated day for a cause or an issue really helps you talk about the same and
increase its visibility besides increasing brand awareness. To promote the understanding
of the importance of hand washing, Lifebuoy marked October 15 as the first ever
‘Global Hand washing Day’ in 2008, together with the United Nations and other
partners. under the auspices of a public-private partnership for hand washing (PPPHW).
12. SPECIAL STORY
JANUARY 2012 11
Colgate- not just a day but 30 dedicated days of Oral Hygiene!
The generic brand and the world leader in Oral Care, Colgate has always been at
the forefront of initiatives that improve the oral health condition in India. In 2004,
the month of October was earmarked as the Oral Health Month. Colgate has
continued to build on this initiative year on year.
During this month series of events are planned. Just to highlight a few of them: a
unique event wherein Colgate got children from across India to pen down lyrics on
the theme of 'Spread a Smile' which was the base for ‘Spread a Smile concert’.
It coordinated the efforts with more
than 50 organizations in 19 countries. In
2010, more than 80 countries
celebrated Global Hand washing Day.
Lifebuoy has spread the message more
widely using Facebook and Twitter.
Millions of school children have taken part in
awareness-raising activities and were encouraged to make hand washing
pledges.
Also ‘Spread a Smile Quiz’ was conducted to
test the knowledge on recommended oral care
practices of the participants and ‘Free dental
check-ups’ were organized on a mass scale in
six cities. Colgate also targeted the untapped
segment such as rural areas, orphanages and
slum areas to spread awareness on oral
hygiene.
The only trouble of coming out with campaigns on special days is that the status of it being
so ‘special’ that its ‘message’ should be put away carefully in order to bring it out again on
the same day, the following year. Corporate world that loses no time in cashing on special
days to print banners, merchandise t-shirts and other products. Corporatization of special
days is a good thing because it spreads the message in a more consumer- friendly fashion,
generates business and makes it an economically viable endeavor.
13. Samsung has emerged as a preferred brand
focusing on affordability and availability. And
it has instant hits like Galaxy range. With
superb marketing and wide range of
products, neither of which Apple has been
able to provide, the company has earned
brand loyalty.
Let us now take a look at the 4Ps of Samsung
smartphones so as to understand what made
it possible for Samsung to beat Apple in
Smartphone sales.
4 Ps of Samsung Smartphones
-Nikhil Goyal, BITS-Pilani
PRODUCT
Samsung offers innovative smart mobile devices across different operating
systems and different price points, giving the customers more choice. It has a
portfolio of 13 smartphone models. It has offerings on different platforms
including highly popular Android, Microsoft Windows and Bada. Apple uses the
standard iOS in its iPhones. Samsung Galaxy Note has a unique offering of both
a tablet and a smartphone becoming the first hybrid phone in the country. For
younger generation “who wants to be expressive, socially active, wants to stay
connected” Samsung recently launched Wave Y. The highly successful Samsung
Galaxy Ace was a middle end handset that delivered in every way. Apple
however has highly standardised smartphones which are high end and it fails to
target a large audience. The next big thing from Samsung for India will be the
dual sim smartphone Galaxy Y Duos, another feature that mesmerizes Indians.
FEATURED ARTICLES
JANUARY 2012 12
14. PRICE
While Apple carries a hefty price range of Rs.30,500 to Rs.44,500 Samsung offers a
wide range of Rs.6000 to Rs.34,990. Pricing seems to have played a significant role in
Samsung’s success. Initially iPhone was sold at same price in India as in US. But later
iPhone 4S was being sold at 35% less than the price in India. This pricing
communication was one of the reasons for the iPhone comedown. On the contrary
Samsung claims of selling smartphones at a relatively cheaper price than other
countries. An executive justified Apple's pricing in India on three counts: Local taxes
and import duties, depreciation of the rupee against the dollar and the fact that the
unbundled phone accounts for a minuscule share of total sales in the developed
markets. The manufacturing facilities at Noida and Chennai have given Samsung an
added advantage of localisation and a good price position. The different price points
in Samsung give consumers more choice and extra options than any other brand.
PLACE
Samsung has 18 state-level distribution offices and a direct dealer interface. The
direct dealer interface helped the company get quick feedback from dealers and
enabled it to launch products according to customer needs. The rigorous marketing
strategy enabled Samsung to reach 70,000 outlets in 2011, and managed to
strengthen the distributor infrastructure in both tier-1 and tier-2 markets. At the
time of the launch, Apple’s license holders in India Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar
sold the handsets only at their outlets thereby limiting their availability. Thus Apple
failed to strike the right entry strategy. The distribution model was a failure.
PROMOTION
Samsung launched a new television commercial drive for its Galaxy Y and Wave Y
smartphones “Desh smart ban raha hai, aap kab ban rahe ho?”. This is one of the
most aggressive campaign by any smartphone player in the country. Samsung has
always established itself in Indian consumers’ mind with its corporate
advertisements. On the other hand Airtel, Aircel and Vodafone ran commercials
outsourced from Apple and the company didn’t run its own campaign thereby failing
to leave an impression in Indians’ minds.
FEATURED ARTICLES
JANUARY 2012 13
15. Branding is not only about getting a preference over your competitor by the buyer but also
about leaving an impression in the minds of the customers that you are the sole provider
of the solution to their problems. Thus Sensory Branding. Sensory Branding involves the
use of the senses in creating this relationship with the product. The science behind the
effectiveness of Sensory Branding is that our basic understanding of environment is
through our senses, which are linked to our memory. We store our memories in the cells of
brains (called as Memory Banks).The stimulation by senses however has to do very little
with the quality and performance of the product, yet it creates an impression in the minds
of the people. The stimulation offered by the senses:
1. Influence our choices.
2. Create a connect with the brand.
3. Distinguish one product from the other.
4. Part of our decision making process.
Sensory Branding have an effect on all the five senses of the human. The various forms of
sensory brands cater to each and every sense.
What They See:
Marketers mostly cater to this sense, as this is the
most effective tool to establish your mark. In his book
“Brand Sense – Build Powerful Brands through Touch,
Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound”, Martin Lindstrom
emphasizes on identifying the brand even if the logo
wasn’t there. He wants to establish a connect even the
color with the brand so strongly that in the absence of
the brand logo the color alone should be sufficient to
identify the brand.
E.g. Vodafone, the red color and also the pug campaign leave a strong impression in the
minds of the people that every time when the pug campaign is in the air the audience will
automatically understand that it’s Vodafone.
What They Hear:
This is the second most favorite senses targeted by the marketers. A distinctive ring tone
tells surrounding theatergoers that the offender is a customer of Nokia or Motorola. And
a startup bong lets nearby latte sippers know whether the writer huddled over the
laptop in the corner bought her operating system from Microsoft or Apple. Such is the
strong connect of the auditory senses to the brand proposition. Also we all know music
helps in creating an ambience. So auditory connect with the brand is the best way to
identify your brand.
FEATURED ARTICLES
JANUARY 2012 14
16. What They Smell:
Olfactory sense is the most responsive sense of the
five senses. Smell invokes memories and the customer
can visualize the memories associated with the smell
immediately. This is due to the fact that there is no
filtration or analysis by the brain. Next time a person
smells the same fragrance he/she is reminded of the
ambience of the store. 75% of our emotions are
generated by what we smell, this is sufficient to prove
that how important olfactory senses are to the Brands.
E.g. Victoria's Secret, have long used fragrance as part
of the sensory environment in their stores.
What They Taste:
Taste helps a lot particularly in the food industry to
leave a mark of its brand name. I mean if you taste
McDonald’s burger either in Delhi or Mumbai or
Kolkata or Chennai, they all taste the same and their
unique taste helps in establishing the foothold in the
minds of the people.
What They Touch:
Feel of a product is the major driver of its sale. Apparel industry runs on this fact. Most people
don’t shop online and the major reason for the fact is that they can’t feel the product or I
would say touching the product. For a product to survive we have to touch it to have a feel of
what the product is all about. We all remember our parents touching the stuff of cloth before
buying it. Whenever we buy anything we like to take in the hand.
Sensory Branding is important in today’s time as:
1. So many advertisements, so much information leaves customers indifferent towards brands,
so we need something extra to create the impression.
2. Nowadays none compromises on the quality so we cannot compromise on the quality itself.
3. A physical connection always serves best in promoting the brand.
Sensory perceptions are unique to each of us, as memories are. We experience powerful
stimulations from them. The opportunity of brand building by leveraging the five senses is wide
open. But only few companies have integrated their brand-building strategies to appeal to all
the senses. This is probably the case for two reasons:
1. Not all media channels are able to connect with each of the five senses, and
2. We really don't know how to handle the phenomenon of total sensory appeal.
The challenge of sensory branding is to think more broadly about how people experience
products in the real world and find ways to enhance these experiences. In India, the advent of
modern trade provides an opportunity of creating a sensorial experience.
FEATURED ARTICLES
JANUARY 2012 15
17. EMPLOYER BRANDING VS CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS FOR
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS AT BPCL
-Sameer Bhambhani, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University,
Executive MBA Oil & Gas
BPCL understands that it is essential to own dominant brands in the gung ho scenario
prevalent in the petro retail sector. The Marketing team continuously strives to build a strong
brand image reflecting Bharat Petroleum's core values of being 'INCARE', viz. INnovative,
CAring and REliable & emulating the same in their product characteristics. The Brand
management team relentlessly works to understand the customer changing needs,
behaviour, expectations & focuses to gratify these needs in the most cost-effective manner.
Pure for sure signage is a commitment made to the customers for the pure quality & proper
quantity of fuel for their vehicles.
Over & above fostering loyalty by giving Petrocards, pioneering the concept of convenience
stores & providing V-care (Vehicle care) facilities in the urban network only enhance its brand
value
People above oil has been the success mantra for BPCL. The management firmly believes that
employee empowerment is the way to innovations which could help sustain growth in the
competitive global scenario. The firm fosters the best HR practices through continuous
Performance management, Competency modeling, identifying & bridging such gaps &
encouraging multi-tasking through various initiatives
Employer Branding:
The management of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
has always been fervent in the pursuit of qualitative
brilliance for maximization of all the stakeholders
contentment. The organizational design of BPCL comprising
of 5 different SBU’s i.e. Aviation, Industrial & Commercial,
LPG, lubricants & retail, refinery is a testimony of greater
customer focus.
Celebrity endorsements:
Celebrity endorsement is the trendy modus
operandi followed by marketers for their
product promotion & to follow competition in
the market. But celebrity endorsement is a high
risk, high gain event as there is always a
presence of human element involved. Hence it
is essential that the characteristics of the
product should
FEATURED ARTICLES
JANUARY 2012 16
18. match with the celebrity brand values. MAK brand of BPCL signed up MS Dhoni as it’s
Brand ambassador in the year 2006 to promote it among the youth & improve the
visibility of the brand. Rise of MAK brand coincided with the rise of MS Dhoni, who with
his all round performance delivered his best, in all the forms of the game for India. He
was made the Indian captain in the smaller as well as the longer version. Synopsis
derived was that MAK would deliver under all conditions much like MS Dhoni.
Employer brand Celebrity endorsement Product sales & value
Summing up, employer branding is the base on which the future strategic decisions of the
company are based. When celebrity endorsement works, it is an ideal combination of
brand & product. This is known as the halo effect as the aim is for some of celebrity’s
glamour to rub off on the product. Celebrity endorsements act as boosters enhancing the
overall effectiveness of the brand. When they go wrong they have to be completely
detached from the product, whereas the employer branding co-exists with the product as
it is based more on the basic values. When the Indian team does well, the ad campaigns
of the cricketers are incessant. As the player & team performance goes down, the ads are
rarely shown as they might have a direct effect on the product sales. Thus when the
celebrity image compliments the product characteristics, it’s a win-win situation as far as
the product sales & the product brand value are concerned. However, with the decline in
performance, the celebrity endorsements may backfire.
FEATURED ARTICLES
JANUARY 2012 17
19. Bookseller: Nemona Collectables (San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.)
Bookseller Rating : ( Courtesy: http://www.abebooks.com)
THE BIG IDEA by Robert Jones
In this world, people are continuously looking for more, for
change and for excitement. People want the future to be very
different from the past. What will make the future from the
past is the Big Idea. `The big idea', is a need for every
company, to find and manage in order to create a
differentiation for themselves and survive in this world. The
way this world is going forward ‘The Big Idea’ will give
something which any company wants most – a scope to grow
In this book, Jones questions the common understanding about three familiar business
concepts- strategy, benchmarking, and customer segments. His first target is strategy
where according to him, the whole idea of strategy is starting to feel wrong. How can you
have a five-year strategy, a path mapped out into the future, when the over whelming
mood is to leave every possibility open?
Next comes the concept of benchmarking where Jones asserts that: `No longer is ``best
practice'' any kind of guide to the future. The best way to do things hasn't yet been
invented. And more to the point, the best way for you to do things is your way, not
someone else's.'
The third concept which is questioned by Jones is that of customer segments. According to
the author, this idea is very redundant because of the fact that in today's world, the
organizations are transforming into a larger, constantly changing confluence of people,
interacting with each other. As organisations become more and more customer-centric,
‘customer segment’ becomes an irrational idea.
Some of the book is written in new age style, with chapter titles such as `Starting the
journey' and` Crossing the shadows'; however, it would be wrong to underestimate the
business nous which informs this contentious but stimulating and enlightened book. Hans
Snook of Orange, Sir John Browne of BP Amoco, and Ingvar Kamprad of IKEA,
among many others, have been interviewed, as their companies are deemed to have found
and nurtured a big idea in exemplary fashion.
(Courtesy – Dr.Keith Dinnie)
BOOKWORM
JANUARY 2012 18
21. REWIND
JANUARY 2012 20
The 7th SIMSR Asia Marketing Conference was
conducted by SIMSR in collaboration with its
academic partners – School of Management, Asian
Institute of Technology, Bangkok; Deakin University,
Australia and College of Business and Public
Administration, California State University, San
Bernardino, USA.
This two day long conference had scholars coming
together to share their research papers on new and
emerging trends in the field of Marketing. This year
saw participation of scholars from the U.S. , the U.K.
and the Asia Pacific regions.
The theme for this year’s conference was “Marketing
Unbound”. There were presentations on diverse fields
ranging from Brand Management, Consumer
Behaviour, Integrated Marketing Communication,
Rural and Social Media Marketing, e-Marketing,
Strategic Marketing and Management, and Retail
Management.
Day one of SIMSR Asia Marketing began with Mr.
Nitin Paranjpe, CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever
Limited, inaugurating the conference, followed by an
engaging discussion on the “Changing paradigms of
Marketing”. What will be the future of Social Media?
How will on demand television change our lives? Is
the end near for television advertising? These were
some of the thoughts he shared with us. Mr. Paranjpe
also unveiled the book of selected research papers
from the 6th SIMSR Asia Marketing Conference which
was based on the theme “Marketing in Transition”.
Mr. Nitin Paranjpe, CEO and MD of
Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
Seventh SIMSR Asia
Marketing Conference
6th and 7th of January 2012
22. REWIND
The second day was opened by Mr. Bhaskar Das, President, The Times of India Group,
Bennett Colman & Co. Ltd. Mr Das, a voracious speaker, took us through the impact of the
changing world of marketing and communications on the different forms of media. The
conference ended on a high note, with an addressal by Mr Sanjiv Sarin, Regional President of
South Asia, Tata Global Beverages Limited.
In all, it was two days of power packed discussions, presentations and lectures filled with
insightful knowledge and ideas, compelling us to ponder over the possible changes that we
will witness in the coming few years and how we, as marketers should address such changes.
Mr. Bhaskar Das,
President, The Times of India
Group, Bennett Colman & Co. Ltd.
Mr Sanjiv Sarin,
Regional President of South Asia,
Tata Global Beverages Ltd.
JANUARY 2012 21
23. BUZZ
DOWN
7. This software developed by Intel
was recently ditched by Nokia in
favor of Windows, name the
software.
8. An Indian pharmaceutical
company whose logo is provided
acquired this German
Pharmaceutical company for
2250 Crore. Identify the German
company.
9. What does “T” in the late
Gulshan Kumar founded T-series
stand for?
1 2 3
4 5
6
7 8 9
2
9
ACROSS
1. In 1985, which company first
launched the concept of storage
containers in India?
2. Identify the logo of this Italian
car manufacturer
3. A recent 11000 Cr. court ruling
went in favor of a company
present in India in a case of tax
evasion when it was buying its
minority stake from CGP
investments in Cayman Islands.
Name the Company.
4. This revolutionary service is
present in a recent Apple
product.
5. “Adbur” is the in house brand
agency of which Indian
company?
6. With the help of the logo
,Identify the country in which a
major event will happen in
2012.
ANSWERS:
1.
Pearlpet
2.
Alfa
Romeo
3.
Hutch
Essar
4.
Siri
5.
Adbur
6.
London
7.
Meego
8.
Betapharm
9.
Trishul
THE CROSSWORD
THE CLUES
JANUARY 2012 22
24. JANUARY 2012 23
2011Articles can be sent on any one of the following topics*:
*Please ensure that there is no plagiarism and all references are
clearly mentioned
The best adjudged article will be given a winner's certificate.
Deadline for submission of the articles: 11:59 PM , 16 February
2012.
1. One article can have only one author.
2. Your article should be from 500-600 words and MUST
be replete with relevant pictures that can be used to
enhance your article.
3. Send in your articles in .doc/.docxformat with font
size 11 (Arial) to: interface.newsletter@gmail.com
4. Subject Line: Your Name_InstituteName_CourseYear.
5. Kindly name your file as: Your Name_Topic
1) Is branding the way to enter Rural markets
2) Newspaper Brands on War!
3) Marketing Strategy adopted by Nokia for its new Nokia
Lumia to break the clutter in the smartphones segment.
CALL FOR ARTICLES
25. JANUARY 2012 24
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COVER STORY
Keith Mascarenhas
SPECIAL STORY
Hinal Shah
It’s all about AD-itude
Niyati Chamyal
SquAreheaD
Pallavi Srivastava
REWIND
Tilottama Sanyal
COVER PAGE
Yash Chamaria
TWEETS
Sujit Mishra
BUZZ
Upveen Tameri
DESIGN
Tilottama Sanyal
Yash Chamaria
BOOKWORM
Vibhav Shukla
PROMOTIONS
Keith Mascarenhas
THE TEAM
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