Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Brand wars may be very common in the corporate sector where marketing and advertising whiz kids pit their brains and guile against each other.

But it is also a reality now in the political arena. The 124-year-old Congress Party has just recently given a demonstration of how to ‘revamp’ a brand and make it connect with old consumers who had lost faith and new consumers who ride on hope. Priyanka Rai, Surbhi Chawla & Neha Saraiya report

Such brainstorming sessions are fairly common in the corporate world where managers get together and pick each other’s brains to evolve a strategy for the future. And when it comes to brand managers, the sessions become even more intense as the war for consumer preference and market share intensifies. Meenakshi Natarajan, Jitendra Singh, Jairam Ramesh, Ashok Tanwar and Salmaan Khursheed cannot be called brand managers by any stretch of imagination. Nor can Pankaj Shankar be called a corporate communications manager. For that matter, you will not know Vishwajeet Prithvi Singh as the Chief Technology Officer.

Most management students and managers will probably not even be familiar with most of these names. And yet, these are the largely unknown names and faces that have scripted one of the most famous brand revamps in contemporary history. The first lot did the brainstorming and fashioned the current brand strategy for the Congress Party in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections. Pankaj Shankar, quietly and unobtrusively, communicated this strategy to media persons willing to listen. And Vishwajeet Singh is the geek, who used computers, spread sheets and data mining to round off the new brand strategy.

This band of men and women met numerous times in 2008 and 2009 to plan a brand strategy for the Lok Sabha elections. The challenge was formidable. The Congress was a really old brand that had seen hitherto loyal customers deserting it in droves during the 1990s. The challenge was to revamp the brand and lure back the old faithful. An even bigger challenge was to connect the more than 100-year-old party with the youth. Now, every Tom, Dick and Pundit knows the team has clicked. For people in the world of advertising, it was a marketing masterstroke. Says Josy Paul, National Creative Director and Chairman of BBDO, “ The Congress ad campaign was more about how it can be relevant to different audiences. The key to their campaign was relevance. It was more about young audiences and telling them the Congress is still relevant.” Even as late as December 2008, no one could have been certain about unknown youth ‘leaders’ like Minakshi Natarajan and Ashok Tanwar winning Lok Sabha elections. But win they did, propelling Congress towards its highest market share in the electoral marketplace in almost two decades!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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Sunday, August 30, 2009

SPIRITUALITY AS FMCG!


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Monojit Lahiri investigates this new phenomenon that is gaining frightening and hysterical dimensions in the ritzy, glitzy and glamorous metros of a nation that continues to look west for self esteem!

It is an astonishing paradox of human life that, with progress, sophistication, modernity and success comes depression, loneliness, alienation and insecurity! Today in year 2009, as we scan the lifescape inhabiting planet earth – with special reference to the so- called advanced and developed western countries – we find startling horror stories of dysfunctional life amidst plenty. Why? Because nothing in this world comes for free and the first world joys offered by the enticing packages called Consumerism and Globalisation come with a sinister price-tag! Family life, social life, cultural life, intellectual life … everything is sold at the altar of moving up in life. So, what’s next? What is the solution? Where is the salvation? Enter the marketers of Spiritualism…!

Declares today’s hot young, controversial film- maker (Dev D, Gulal) Anurag Kashyup, “If you have a Sapnon Ka Saudagar, why can’t you have a guy hawking spirituality?! The con-game is the same, boss!” On a more serious note, Kashyup believes that in today’s troubled and recession-hit times where tension and pressures rule the roost, spirituality is in high demand and low supply. “Hence, the smart, shrewd marketer who has his ear to the ground and is able to think on his feet, can do wonders – for his desperate clients and laughing wallet.” He cites the example of Astha and a host of similar TV channels which enjoy a wide viewership cutting across all stratas of society. He also points to the success of Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, Robin Sharma’s The Monk who sold his Ferrari and most of Deepak Chopra’s best sellers. Sister Yogini of the Brahmakumaris (a spiritual movement like The Art of Living, The oneness university, Isha Yoga) looks at it differently. She admits that a lot of seekers come to them because they are freaked out by life’s pressures and desperately desire peace and happiness. “Our movement is not necessarily about renouncing the world but offering peace and progress within the confines of daily life.” Adds Avanti Birla, high profile businesswoman, “Spirituality for me is as much about fulfilling my responsibilities at a personal level as it is about connecting with it in a societal way.” To Parmeshwar Godrej, Mumbai society’s celebrated diva and social activist, “The real path is about self-discovery.” While she agrees that there is a trendy, hybrid spirituality being marketed, she believes that people are evolving all the time and their personal sense of spirituality doesn’t necessarily depend on what’s written in the instruction manual.

The irrepressible Prahalad Kakkar in typical forthright fashion, provides a cool conclusion. “It’s like selling coals to Newcastle! C’mon guys, we are, historically and traditionally, a spiritual nation with rituals and beliefs embedded in our psyche. Whether it’s the sandhya-deep accompanied by conch-shells at dusk or the vision of what life is about – Karma, Maya – spirituality remains an intrinsic part of our being. Unfortunately, pathetic West-apers that we have become, we seem to be enthusiastically buying - into their hard-selling spirituality to us in the form of a fashion thing; a with-it and uber-cool solution to all worldly problems that blitzes our sense of peace and contentment. Its sold – and bought – (like in the West) as a quick-fix, a fevicol for the battered soul, imagine! But then, at the end of the day I guess it makes sense to remember that we live in an age of Vigyapan not Vigyan, brother… So just about anything goes!”

Monojit Lahiri

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Think Bigger; Think Better: A brand philosophy or a jibe at big brother?


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Brand: ADAG
Agency: Mudra

When Anil Ambani went solo, his challenge was to build a new brand from scratch. Realising that their biggest brand was Anil himself, his key guys coined Brand ADAG (Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group). The resulting Rs.500 crore campaign, with Anil’s old friend Amitabh Bachchan, created new benchmarks in media saturation. ADAG was the buzziest brand of 2006. Anil sure knows a thing or two about ‘people’s biz!’

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


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Friday, July 31, 2009

Thanda matlab? Cool communication!


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Brand:
Coca-Cola
Agency: McCann
It takes two to tango. But what happens when Aamir Khan decides that eight is the way to go? Thanda happens, what else! Coca Cola’s thanda matlab Coca Cola campaign not only swayed millions of Indians, but also bagged an Effie Gold. Post campaign analysis indicates that for the first time Coke was able to beat its old rival Pepsi in a big way, improving the brand’s market share in key markets viz. Punjab, Delhi and UP.

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

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Monday, July 27, 2009

Yeh dil still maange more


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Brand: Pepsi
Agency: JWT
Pepsi established an immediate connect with its audience with the iconic Yeh Dil Maange More campaign, endorsed by a host of personalities ranging from popular film stars to cricketers like Tendulkar, Aamir Khan, Amitabh, Kajol, Rani, SRK, Remo Fernandes and more. The idea was not just to promote Pepsi but also evoke the aspirations of young Indians. The campaign enabled Pepsi to increase its brand value by 6%. Globally too, Pepsi’s brand value touched the phenomenal $11.8 billion mark. The slogan, ‘Yeh dil maange more!’ became such a rage that an Indian army major, after a crucial victory in the 1998 Kargil war famously shouted it while atop a snowy Himalayan tip. Reveals an industry insider, “Following this, Coca Cola, which had never roped in a star, got one for peddling Coke.”

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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