Weird is the new COOL!

To promote the new “weird is cool” attitude proffered by the ParaNorman film (a tale of a young boy who can see ghosts and is shunned by his friends and classmates), Nike has released a special edition of film-inspired Nike Air Foamposite One sneakers.

The Foamposite One shoes, released in a small batch of 800, were up for grabs via a Twitter campaign challenging fans to tweet the @ParaNorman account with pictures of themselves being weird as a kid with the hashtag #weirdwins. Fans who tweeted the weirdest photos won a pair of the limited edition sneaks. The Nike ParaNorman campaign not only represents a great cross-brand promotional strategy (for the film, the shows, and their master companies) but also plays into a bigger cultural movement toward embracing oddities. It’s also important to note the irony of the campaign: a coveted symbol of hyped fashion trends (Nike shoes) are a reward for celebrating those very uncool, awkward, and socially embarrassing moments of childhood.

Take a look at some photos of the campaign.

                    

What do you think of Nike’s spin on weird as the new cool?

Top Print Ads- India '12- 2

Here are some of the print ads in India in this year.

Top Print Ads - 1

These are some latest print ads(September 2012) I found while browsing and every now and then I would bring to your notice such interesting ads.

Be on the lookout for the newest and lovable ads from all over the world. Do share if you get hold of something interesting. :)

"Khali pet se pareshaan?" Parle 20-20.

Parle Products has brought out a new campaign to position Parle 20-20 cookies as a quick time snack. The campaign titled, 'empty stomach' aims at targeting teenagers and young adults. The objective of this ad was to build strong consumer brand franchise for the brand amongst the target group by positioning 20-20 cookies as an ideal quick snack for today’s generation through effective advertising.

The first ad shows a couple sharing heart-shaped offering through the hole in a boy's stomach. Then just as he gobbles up a biscuit, the hole fills up in no time! The second ad, shot in an office, shows colleagues throwing curled up paper in a bin, through a colleague's empty stomach. Their fun ends when the pale-looking man gobbles a Parle 20-20 cookie to fill his empty stomach. I liked the second one more.

20-20 cricket is suggestive of a quick game. Similarly they wanted to communicate that Parle 20-20 is a quick-time snack that fixes hunger in no time. Although the concept of depicting the empty stomach like a hole is good, I feel the execution fell sort of expectations. The ad will be aired for three months, however, I guess the ad will have a lesser recall value.

History of Advertising vs History of Marketing

The world of today has seen more than a trillion ads probably. The clutter has become so much that it is becoming difficult for organizations to take up the challenge in this mess. But think of the days when there were pretty rare ads. Most of the people would answer the "Jalebi" ad of Dhara if we ask you about the first ad that you heard of. But in 1939, Lever’s advertising department launched Dalda – the first major example of a brand and a marketing campaign specifically developed for India.

Did you know that the Egyptians were arguably the first to invent the form of Advertising? Do you know how did they do it? Lets have a look at the Illustrated History of Advertising in this world. Compare the timelines to the History of Marketing side by side. Click on the respective images to view the infographic. (A note of thanks to guys who made these. I got them by browsing.)

                                      

The Age of Customer Engagement is Now!

Before I start off, I want to know how many people still believe that we are in the Information Age, business-wise? I believe that the Information Age has just been overshadowed by the Age of Customer Engagement, more strongly in the Indian market.

Customer engagement in India is fundamentally different from customer engagement in mature markets. Unlike the mature markets that are plagued with stagnant growth rates and a saturated pool of customers, the Indian economy has had healthy growth and a seemingly endless supply of new customers. The expanding middle class and the emerging affluent with higher levels of disposable income have fueled an unprecedented growth curve for Indian businesses.

Yet in our experience, that’s not enough. To truly engage customers for whom push marketing is becoming irrelevant, companies must do more outside the confines of traditional marketing. At the end of the day, customers no longer separate marketing from the product—it is the product. In the era of engagement, marketing is the brand. Digital media was there in the fringes, but the infusion of social media has changed the face of marketing. Every day the cutting edge of marketing is being redefined.

But the question remains the same- What can we do differently to maintain our revenue streams and profit margins in the soon-to-be-new normal?

The answer is not quite simple. The typical Indian consumer is a discount shopper. Bargain hunting is a favorite national sport, second perhaps only to cricket. So it is not surprising that the predominant strategy of customer acquisition and retention has been based on pricing. In mature markets, differentiation based on pricing and product alone is no longer a sustainable strategy. What is to be done then? Well, as much as you would yell at me, it's always going back to basics that helps. Just mold it according to the present, that's all. So here's the CusEngagement theory:-
1. Don't strive to only satisfy your customers. Provide an WOW! experience.
2. Entice customers to stay in touch.
3. Give more responsibilities to the customers whenever possible.
4. Try to generate rich customer insights and use the data as best as possible.
5. Use such content that inspires activity like commenting, or better, sharing.
                   
 One Indian company that has demonstrated that the Indian buyer is willing to pay more for customer experience is Tanishq. Established in 1995 as a high-end branded jewellery retailer, Tanishq has become the most valued jewellery brand in India. Through a differentiated customer experience – well designed exclusive retail showrooms, complementary nation-wide service, and a generous loyalty program – Tanishq has persuaded a lot of Indians to leave their traditional jewellers and go with Tanishq despite higher prices.

Especially in social media, marketers are turning a leaf or two with innovative campaigns. Every medium has its advantages for marketers, but social media has the power to transform a campaign into a religion. Mint reports that social media is being used not just for plain one way advertising but also for customer engagement, marketing events, generating sales, launching product buzz, introducing innovative concepts and even creating new markets for their existing brands.

                     
Hippo, a unique baked wheat snack food brand launched in the Indian snack market in 2010 and successfully deployed an innovative social media brand awareness-cum-customer engagement-cum-advertising campaign with shot many birds with one stone. HT reported that in February 2010, Hippo launched a Twitter campaign asking consumers and retailers to tweet Hippo’s availability on retail shelves on Hippo’s Twitter page, because they were facing difficulties in tracking distribution across India. The company promised to take action on the tweets which stated unavailability in specific stores. Parle Agro claimed that they received such stock related tweets from 25 cities and that the number of people tracking Hippo stocks on Twitter equaled 45 per cent of Parle Agro’s foods sales team. Their sales had jumped by 76 percent after this campaign, reported HT.
 
                 
In 2012, ITC’s leading personal care brand, Fiama Di Wills launched Fiama Di Wills Men – Aqua Pulse range of shower gel and bathing bar. They envisaged their innovative social media advertising campaign to target urban Indian males with active lifestyles, reported TOI. The campaign was called the ‘Mega Aqua Pulse Australian Adventure’. It was essentially a contest to give Indian water sports enthusiasts an opportunity to win a free trip to Australia. The contest received more than 4000 entries and approximately 40,000 friends were invited to participate. The brand made sure that there was continuous customer engagement by offering tools such as Wall Posts, Reviews, Mentions, Discussion Posts, Videos and much more on their Facebook page. According to TOI, The Fiama Di Wills Men community on Facebook registered 1.7 lakh fans, with 3.7 million post views and over 19,000 feedback posts, all within just 30 days of its launch.

Much like their global counterparts, the Indian middle class is well informed, social, and influential. However, traditionally, the Indian customer has been conditioned to be less demanding of the experience delivered. Therein lies the opportunity to surprise and delight prospects and customers.

Offering differentiation through experience will have greater impact on Indian customers compared to their western counterparts, who are accustomed to high levels of service delivery. Certain segments of the customer base might even be willing to pay more for a specialist treatment. The key to sustaining profitability during this period of economic uncertainty will be to identify the right target customers and define the right experiences. I think time has come for such an idea to sprout up more in the Indian markets.

Fevicol Marine!

Fevicol has rolled out a new TV campaign for ‘Fevicol Marine’, its waterproof adhesive. The ad film reiterates Fevicol Marine’s strong bond in water with the tagline ‘Wahi mazboot jod, paani mein bhi’. It is created by Ogilvy & Mather.

The film begins with a boatman ferrying wooden chairs in his boat, with Rabindra Sangeet playing in the background. As he rows, an old man waves out to him to ask for a ride. The boatman points to his loaded boat and refuses. However, when the old man points to a young woman nearby, immediately he halts the boat and throws out a few of the chairs into the water. When the woman points to her goat, he kicks out some more. She then signals to her haystack and the boatman has no option but to empty his boat completely. Finally, the boatman ferries the woman, her goat with the haystack. The chairs have been tied to the boat with a rope, and float along in the water behind it, without getting damaged. The ad ends with the voice over, “Wohi mazboot jod, paani mein bhi.”

The TVC is on air on Hindi as well as regional channels. The campaign will be on air for four weeks. It will be supported by an integrated marketing campaign. The communication will be extended through various below the line (BTL) activities like outdoors, POS and increased visibility at trade outlets besides a number of activation has already been initiated with carpenter programs conveying the core message of the adhesive being able to hold its bond even in wet or most conditions. The ad keeps in line with Fevicol’s communication tone and humour and reinforces the promise of a strong bond that Fevicol Marine provides, even in water.

But there is one dark side to it. Rumors are abound that it has been inspired from one Jivanjor ad. Floating logs of wood—teak especially—is an image redolent of the subcontinent. The Jivanjor ad has been there, and done that- quite well too. Just that Fevicol Marine has a new fresh storytelling to it. See the ad for yourself and decide.
                                  

Silence Speaks Now-a-days! Or, Vibrates?

When we see the Volkswagen 'silent' commercial that says car features speak for itself, what does this ad convey?
Did it chose the timing just before the release of the much acclaimed Bollywood movie 'Barfi', intentionally?

What usually happens before a car purchase or any high involvement product for the matter, is that people compare brand features, so by the time they visit the showroom, they have narrowed down on what they want and know what the features are...in the showroom, all they then finally do
1) is experience those features
2) Check how true those claims have been and if it matches their own expectations as imagined.
So in this ad, I thought it was an affirmation of all the expectations being met and delivered. The target is clearly the young working class and the emerging-to-rich-class people, mostly in Tier-A cities of India.
                         
Innovative press advertising is not new to Volkswagen. From the ‘Talking Newspaper’ campaign in 2010 to the ‘Silver Newspaper’ in 2011, Volkswagen is credited with some of the most innovative marketing initiatives in India. On a Tuesday morning in 2010 (September 22), when the readers of The Times of India and The Hindu opened their newspaper, they were surprised to find their papers talking about Volkswagen cars. The German carmaker had spent close to Rs 5 crore for that much-talked about print innovation.

Volkswagen came up with another similar innovation exactly after two years yesterday, also a Tuesday (September 11). The luxury car brand used a vibrator to create a ‘shiver’ effect. The German automotive giant launched this innovative campaign for the Polo and Vento in The Times of India, Hindustan Times and The Hindu. The opening page simply read: “Feel the shiver of excitement?”

Yesterday’s print ad including the vibrator innovation included four pages talking mainly about different features of Volkswagen’s Vento and Polo. The vibrator was inserted on the last page. The innovation has been implemented nationally with The Times of India editions in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore; The Hindu in the south; and Hindustan Times in Delhi – thereby covering a major part of its target audience.

Volkswagen is learnt to have spent around Rs 7 crore to execute the campaign on this scale. DDB Mudra is to be credited with the innovative campaign.

So, first it talked. Then it shone. Now it shivered, or vibrated. Next what? Would it shake? Lets hope for another innovative campaign!

Guerrilla Marketing and it's rise in India

First of all, I am sure most of the management people must have heard about this term. For the others let me describe it. Guerrilla Marketing is an advertising strategy that focuses on low-cost unconventional marketing tactics that yield maximum results. The term was inspired by guerrilla warfare which is a form of irregular warfare and relates to the small tactic strategies like ambushes, sabotage, raids and elements of surprise used by armed civilians. Much like guerrilla warfare, guerrilla marketing uses the same sort of tactics in the marketing industry. This alternative advertising style relies heavily on unconventional marketing strategy, high energy and imagination. It generally makes relatively higher amount of impression than traditional methods of marketing.

One of the main advantages of guerrilla marketing is that it’s unexpected. It catches us off guard and causes an emotional response: laughter, shock or sadness are great sellers. It’s easy to see why marketers would rather you didn’t know just how they’re using guerrilla marketing to their advantage. If you know their secrets, you may just stop responding.

The prevalent types of Guerrilla Marketing are;

1. Viral marketing is a highly visible form of guerrilla marketing these days. A successful viral campaign uses existing communication networks (you tell two friends, they each tell two friends, and so on), doesn’t require much in terms of resources, and has the potential to be unstoppable.
2. Ambient marketing allows a business to create brand recognition without necessarily pushing their products. It's about placing ads on unusual items or in unusual places you wouldn’t normally see an ad. The key to a successful ambient media campaign is to choose the best media format available and combined with effective message. These kinds of ads often make someone think about a certain place or thing differently.
3. Presence marketing is along the same lines as ambient marketing. It’s about making the business name recognizable and familiar and always there. You know that saying, “out of sight, out of mind?”
4. Wild postings may seem old-fashioned, but they are still wildly popular with indie bands and products that want to portray that indie image. Have you ever walked down a city street and seen a wall plastered with multiple copies of a poster for a movie, concert, or alcoholic beverage? Those would be wild postings, and part of their effectiveness lies in the way that they can make us believe we’re witnessing something momentous.
5. Tissue-pack advertising was made popular in Japan, but today it’s spreading to infiltrate the rest of the world. Knowing that advertising fliers were almost never accepted, much less read, Japanese businesses began to hand out pocket packs of tissues with ads on them. This simple but ingenious marketing method works because, well, who would turn down free stuff? Because the giveaway is a useful item, it stays close to the target consumer until it’s been used up.
6. Astroturfing is widely considered to be the slimiest of all guerrilla marketing practices. It involves creating an artificial buzz about a product or company, and it’s mighty risky in the information age. Postings are created in online forums, singing the praises of a certain product or service – but they aren’t made by the public. They’re made by shills, or people associated with the company who are paid to express a positive opinion.
7. Alternative marketing is low cost ways to target specific neighborhoods, age groups, ethnic communities, and/or low literacy families with special cancer messages. Such strategies include the use of low cost flyers, posters, payroll stuffers, and program announcements scattered throughout a community to deliver a message. Ideally, these alternative strategies can also be used to complement traditional media efforts.
8. Experiential marketing is increasingly embraced by all types of companies and brands today. It aims to give you an experience rather than send you a one-way message. Experiential marketing lets you interact with the product and associate your immediate emotional responses with that brand.
9. Live-in Marketing is a term used to describe a variant of marketing and advertising in which the target consumer is allowed to sample or use a brands product in a relaxed atmosphere over a longer period of time. Much like product placement in film and television LIM was developed as a means to reach select target demographics in a non-invasive and much less garish manner than traditional advertising.

Now, in places like the USA and the Europe, Guerrilla Marketing has been widely used in pretty interesting ways. In India, it's still in it's infancy but pacing well. But traditional OOH is losing sheen quickly and only this form can save it from fading out. Some examples of Guerrilla Marketing in India are:-

               
An ambient exercise to promote Eatalica burgers. A ‘Caution Wet Floor’ board was placed near an Eatalica burger signboard. The copy on the board reads ‘Oogling at the burger may involuntarily cause drooling which may in turn lead to a wet floor. Issued for your safety by the management of Eatalica restaurant’. Eatalica is an American-Italian Food Joint in Chennai, India.

                           
Life-size stickers of people were stuck on automatic sliding doors at a mall in Mumbai, India. When someone approaches the doors move apart and it feels like the people on the door are moving away. The person enters to find the message ‘People Move Away When You Have Body Odour’.

The latest entrant is our very own ‘Future Group’- Big Bazaar, Pantaloons, Future Bazaar, eZone are all part of this group and they are taking on the biggies like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, and Tata’s Westside.
In order to do the same, Future Group have come up with 3 catchy/cocky and cheeky ad campaign which surely does catch your eyes (whether one changes their loyalty or not, only time will tell) and surely one cant resist appreciating the same.

Keep West-aSide. Make a smart choice !
Shoppers! Stop. Make a smart choice !
Change Your Lifestyle. Make a smart choice !


                                               

                             

Don't know whether Big Bazaar will send positive vibes through these because the target market is fairly different. Some more examples follow.

                                          

                                          

                             

Most of these campaigns have taken place at cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, & Bengaluru. Lets hope this marketing practice is provided more support and captures cities like Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai, etc. Though some consider it unethical, but it's healthy for competition and India's businesses need it! Do share some if you have come across such examples.

Stay Raw!

Note: References taken from The Business Standard.
The box office cash register in the recent times has rung with the success of movies like Dabangg, Rowdy Rathore, Ishqzaade and the most recent Gangs of Wasseypur. All the movies have brought to limelight the raw and remote hinterland of shining India, with the protagonist being crude, coarse, rugged and uncivil with a heart of gold and strength of character.
Is the transition of our leading men from being suave and aristocratic in ninety’s to raw and rowdy today, an indication that new generation of the country has come of age from the demure and elegant conduct passed on as British legacy?

Cashing in on this, MTV India, the most iconic youth brand, from November 2010, has entered a re-branding phase with a new philosophy- STAY RAW. Under its new face, the channel has taken a complete bold way to serve the next generation of the country. Their brand ethos still relates to Youth, Relevance, and Trendy. Bold has been swept in since Stay Raw.
Today young people are more confident than they ever were. They write their own rules, they play their own games. They wear their attitude on their sleeve and are proud of their heritage. In short, they are real, they are brash, they are unmixed.
This philosophy is being launched through a truly innovative route. A never seen before channel look with clutter breaking graphics, once you see it, you are guaranteed to love it.

After a slew of reality shows that dominated its prime time slot, MTV India is also returning to its roots- Music. What has prompted MTV to change its much hyped strategy? According to TAM ratings for the Hindi-speaking markets in week 42, 2011, 9XM was the number one music channel with a 15.3 per cent share, followed by Mastiii (14.3%), Channel V (11.6%), B4U Music ( 10.4%) and MTV (9%). This showed that there was increasing boredom among it's viewers. From the previous 70:30 format, MTV will now have a 50:50 format.
MTV India now has four new music blocks -MTV Big Bang Mornings, MTV Music Xprs, MTV Mash Ups and MTV International - to serve Bollywood and international hits and has launched the Indian editions of Coke Studio, MTV Unplugged and Grind. It will also continue to telecast new seasons of popular shows such as Rock On, Splitsvillaa, Roadies and Stunt Mania.

How did it manage to spring back? Apart from intelligent OOH, Social Marketing was one of the main reasons behind it. A Facebook page that boasts of over 3.5 million fans, with at least one video being uploaded every day, and a slew of Twitter and Youtube fans, MTV manages to hold the youths glued to it's page. Every day posts like MTV Splitsvilla HOTTIE of the day, Funny Video of the Day, etc. are streamed. No doubt, the MTV Roadies page is recommended by over 80% of it's fans every week.
Here are some print ads you'll love to see.

Hope you loved these graphic text ads by MTV. Which one did you love the most?