Did You Notice These New Logo(s) in 2012?

Logo is the identity that's fundamental to building a brand and communicating with the target audience. Many well-known corporate brands change their logo to achieve the perfect identification because the identity’s creation is not an occasional activity, but a permanent one.
However, a brand identity has to represent the ongoing trends. That is why a logo has got to change & evolve over a period, keeping with the present context.

Some of the biggest brands in the country ditched their old logos for new ones this year, mostly due to the reasons of evolving, to look younger and more human, and to communicate in a better way about the brand.

As Twitter blogged- “Our new bird grows out of love for ornithology, design within creative constraints, and simple geometry. This bird is crafted purely from three sets of overlapping circles – similar to how your networks, interests and ideas connect and intersect with peers and friends. (…) a bird in flight is the ultimate representation of freedom, hope and limitless possibility.”
And Chris Brandon, a spokesperson of Domino's, tells, "We certainly remain a pizza company first and foremost—but people can now get so much more from Domino’s, (...) As shown by the way we have spoken to consumers in the past couple of years—it’s less about just a pizza and more about a relationship and an experience."
Have a look at these redesigned logos and brands.

                   

Content for You in 2013 & Beyond

Why has the importance of content grown all over these years? With the onset of social media marketing like never before, content has grown in value from a single person working before the curtains to over two hundred of them. I feel it’s critical to set the tone for content marketing, or any marketing for that matter. Marketing professionals from so many small and large businesses get so fixated on channels such as blogs, Facebook or Pinterest that they honestly have no clue of the underlying content strategy. What results is a mess of social marketing strategies that has no co-ordination. So lets set out on a hot trail of content marketing strategies required to strengthen the branding.

First, a content mission statement is a must. It can do wonders for the visitors. the statement should ideally be in the About Us part and it should include the following:-
a. The core audience target
b. the USP of the service
c. the result of the service
Fine Examples can be found here- MISSION STATEMENTS

For a change lets see this video.

This is a fine example of moving from creative excellence to content excellence. Coca-Cola has been a marketing leader for a long time, and here the brand again proves that it is more than qualified to play with the big boys.

Secondly, become the best informational provider for your target audience. Sure, you are creating content in dozens of channels for multiple marketing objectives. But is the mindset focused on being the leading provider of information for your customers? If not, why isn’t that your priority? You can google the strategies of P&G and Dove, and find a lot about how they are providing relevant information on different issues to women, their main target.

Thirdly, the utility to your customers is a key to success. Take a hard look at your content and see if what you are producing is actually useful for your customers. Is it making their lives better or jobs easier in some way?

Next, build relations with your customer. Talk to them, believe as humanly as possible, answer their queries, try to anticipate their expectations even before they ask you. The content opportunities that spring up from customer service and sales alone can support your content marketing strategy. Nike, and Dove are fine examples in this case.

The final and another important factor is co-creation of content. Make loyal customers and allow them to get involved in the company strategies and marketing as much as possible. The Internet has given customers ever-increasing powers to research, compare, and review brands, enabling both good and bad customer experiences to be broadcast to the world. Coca-Cola, Tata Group and MTV are good examples. These are the brands that understand the power of co-creating their brand together with consumers and tapping into the creativity of their biggest fans. For most companies, this also means encouraging--and actively participating in--reviews of their products/services and conversations around them, either on their own, or on third party websites. Reviews are one of the best types of UGC (user-generated content) to encourage, as reviews are closest to the buying process, and directly affect conversion rates and sales numbers.

So go out there and create some touching stories. Engaging stories set out to deliberately draw a conflict — a comparison of morality, or of fundamental change, or of good and evil. Start to feel like the customer. Of starting at a place where we don’t know how it’s going to turn out. This really helps the business to engage more customers. Otherwise, just keep on doing the boring promotions part and wasting your rupees.

Samsung- The Gigantic Leap in 2012

There is no doubt in saying that Samsung has leap-frogged in terms of sales of mobile & tablet handsets in the year 2012. So what has been the backbone behind this surge?

The above graph shows the answer- Marketing.
Samsung spent a ridiculous amount on marketing this year, but you can’t deny that they’ve gotten some truly high-quality ads in return. Not to mention the buzz and viral videos and the print ads that mocked Apple's iPhone.
Case in point: The Korean manufacturer has come up with a way to make near field communication (NFC) a major differentiator between its phones and Apple’s iPhone. I admit that I was skeptic of Samsung’s ability to pull off such a fete but that’s mostly because no one had really come up with a smart way to market NFC until Samsung. Typically, NFC has been billed as a technology that will let you replace your credit card with your smartphone through the use of mobile payment platforms.
Samsung did something completely different with NFC by showing off the technology’s potential as a social tool. So for instance, instead of demonstrating how your phone can help you buy a candy bar (who cares?), Samsung has shown people how their phone can help them quickly zap pictures, playlists and videos over to their friends simply by tapping their two phones together. In other words, the smartphone isn’t something designed to help you perform solitary activities, but something to help you better enjoy your time spent with others.

The manufacturer has rolled out an ad with a bit of a suggestive theme. This time, it's Mrs. Claus getting herself on naughty list.

                                    

Samsung understands that individuals in the urban market are amongst the first adopters to use smart phones and gadgets. Apple for quite some time has had a choke hold on this demograph due to their popularity amongst creatives and pop culture mass appeal.  In an attempt to debase Apple, Samsung has tried to make strides with their ads featuring LeBron James, The Apple Waiting Line Parody and now in their latest Best Face Family Photo commercial.
The “Best Face Family Photo”commercial features the Samsung Galaxy Note II and shows a black family using the device to take a typical family portrait.  However, the ad gives perspective on how to use their latest Galaxy “Best Shot” feature to capture the candid family moment.However, the print and outdoor ads of Samsung created quite a stir, and here are some for your viewing.

There was simply no way that Samsung could resist pouncing on Apple’s latest Maps disaster that left several Australians stranded in the middle of a national park with no access to food or water.

Do these ads have helped Samsung gain in sales? A BIG yes.
In just 37 days of launch Samsung Galaxy Note II topped 3 million units in sales. Also, the Apple Parody Ad(Click here- LINK ) has topped the Most Viral Tech Ads of 2012 List(See this link.) The best thing is, the purchasing intention has grown over 11%, which is far ahead than Apple(See graph below.)

                

Thus, Samsung's fast-mover efforts aided by huge funding in Marketing departments have made sure that the year 2012 was quite special for Samsung. More to watch out, during 2013.

CenturyPly and a Gorilla

CENTURYPLY is undoubtedly one of the major furniture brands in India. Century Plyboard stayed away from TV advertising from the last four years, before it came back on TV with its new TVC on the World Anger Day – 28th Aug, 2012.

Why did suddenly CneturyPly thought of attacking the end consumer? The company had sanctioned a survey two years ago to re-discover its consumers as it prepared to take on a crowded and cut price market.This survey identified a large group of consumers called atmosphere creators — 25-45 year olds looking to build a welcoming pad to chill out with friends and family — which CenturyPly decided to target.

For CenturyPly, getting noticed in the humdrum world of plywood and laminates required it to do something out of the ordinary. Its buyers were typically tradesmen like contractors and carpenters fixated on water and pest resistance. The solution was to swivel away from its typical intermediary focus to target the end consumer, attempting to build an emotional, rather than technical connect.

No doubt that the thrown car and the angry gorilla at the beginning of TVC attracts your attention, and is clutter-breaking among any group of advertisements. 100 out of 100 for the Bates team for such a clearly clutter-breaking start for the TVC.

As the consumer watches attentively, the next scene that attracts attention is that the gorilla is not able to break the door and it enters the house breaking through the roof. As the gorilla lands on a dining-table, the dining table doesn’t break and the gorilla chases the person in the scene to the cupboard. Until this point, the consumer is still attentively wondering “what is the gorilla upto?”.

Now, as it turns out that the gorilla is the husband’s imagination of his wife’s anger, it brings out an element of empathy and fun making the whole commercial very enjoyable. The message in the background also re-emphasizes on the visual communication.

It is a great story with an element of suspense, and clearly communicating the durability of the furniture. 100/100 in the communication of the functional aspect “durability”.

Thus, forgetting your wedding anniversary is never a good thing and for you men out there!

Why Story-telling is not only for kids anymore.

Remember those childhood days when your teacher or your grammy used to tell you a lot of stories? How we wish those golden days never ended! Who's gonna tell us stories now?

But hey! don't forget that the stories never ended actually! Surprised? When you see a lady clad in white saaree say that X detergent helped remove the stains and make this dress glittering white, isn't that a story you are listening to? But yeah, you are pissed off at the content. While other stories tend to indulge your vivid imaginations.

Take the example of Tata Docomo's "Hate Incomplete Stories?" campaign. Isn't it innovative? Or the Volkswagen's Silent Ad. There are many good stories out there.
So why has story telling become so important for businesses after all? What is the meaning of a 'good story' then?

In my view, a good story has the following foundations :-
1. Its Authentic.
2. Its Creative.
3. It makes an Emotional & Personal connection with the target audience.
4. It inspires action/generates a lot of positive word-of-mouth communication.
5. It possibly Engages the audience in a journey with the brand.

Meanwhile lets put up another example to interest you. Remember the "Jaago Re" campaign by Tata Tea?
So why is telling good stories so important after all?

Because, Good Stories COMPEL people to CHANGE, change the Way thet FEEL, change the Way they THINK, change the Way they ACT, and change the Way they BEHAVE. Good stories put their audience at ease and engage them with the "Human Side" of the brand.

So for those who still think that direct ads and/or discounts only can bring in profits for your company, please stop clinging to cliches and start making up a story around your product/brand that's indulging enough.
- Clarify your message.
- Let the audience know the need of change.
- Let them know how and when there could be change.
- Confirm why their action is important.
- Explain how you want your audience to take action.

And, remember an important thing- "Anything that's copied and NOT FOUND is NOT a THEFT!"

So find your inner storyteller. No matter what the industry, product or service; there are stories in every company to help get the message out and acted upon any simple and cost-effective way.

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?

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?

Leveraging from Facebook: What every brand should know.

Note- All statistics are borrowed from http://www.socialbakers.com/

Facebook is one of top social media platforms being used in India. Currently it has 54,755,360 users, which makes it #3. The online population penetration factor is more than 67%, which is pretty good for a social networking site.

The recent per month number of users is also gigantic.

 

One can also see that most people are from the age group 18 - 24(view image below).

Today when social media marketing is starting to be considered a compulsory part of 360 degree campaigns, every brand in India is most definitely on Facebook, but the real question lies in knowing, which of these brands are using the platform in the best possible manner. It’s clearly not about only making a page and just being present out there. The game is changing; nowadays brands are looking at avenues from offline integration to branding campaigns on Facebook.

Now first lets see who are the fastest growing brands in facebook.

So, what do these brands do in order to maintain the brand engagement week on week? Lets find out in a couple of examples.

1. Axe Angels Club.

This page is one of the best examples how one factor can be leveraged to sell the brand. First look on the page and you will get a feel of Axe Angels coming alive to please you. That’s how smartly the brand has positioned itself. Creating branding/awareness and thereby resulting into sales, has been clearly achieved. Bold and beautiful is the way to go and they have understood the crux of the situation perfectly.

Facebook page- Axe Angels Club

2. Tata Docomo

They talk everything on their page. From current topics, bollywood, sports, etc. to promotional offers, contests and campaigns. The first thing you notice on their page is a very warm welcome message that will entice you to “Like” the page. Of course huge monies have been spent for sourcing these “Likes” but as they say, in the end it’s worth it! In my previous post I did say about how well has Docomo used the return of cricketer Yuvraj Singh for it's brand promotion.

Facebook page- Tata Docomo

There are a few things such brands are doing right, and I guess others can follow suit too.

• Invite visitors to “Like” your Page: If you're not, you're missing the chance for future conversations with customers

• Create well-written, “human” status updates: The more conversational, the more likely what you say won't be ignored.

• Create custom offers that visitors find valuable: Think value in terms of the customer, not solely what you think is valuable.

• Share inside information and unique assets: Often you have access to information, photos, videos, or items that customers would love to access. Share!

• Feature user-generated content: Invite your customers to join your campaign.

• Create “sharable” apps that are social by design: Apps created for a social site should be social at the core. Make it easy to include their friends.

• Make sure content maps to brand campaign: Facebook isn't the place to go rogue with your brand. Tie it into your overall marketing for best results.

• Create an emotional connection: People come to Facebook for social, emotional reasons. Tap into that if you can.

• Acknowledge your biggest fans: Highlighting your biggest fans is a low-cost way to super-charge their advocacy.

• Engage across your online properties: Tie into your website, your mobile site, your apps. Be consistent for more powerful impact.

• Link to online and offline events: Events are a way to keep your brand top-of-mind, and keeps a reminder in your customer's Facebook newsfeed.

• Enhance the offline experience online: Offer hints, tips, FAQ's, to make their offline experience better.

There are also two important factors.

1. Most people in India are online on facebook during 8 - 9 pm.
2. Facebook's "highlight" and "pin to top" pointers help gain more visibility for a particular post.

So, whether you have a few fans on your page, or a huge number of them, you can probably do more to keep your cash registers ringing. And if you still don't have a facebook brand page, well, lets just hope for a new dawn.