It’s a long drawn story

IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence

Marketers constantly try new gimmicks to attract consumers; the latest being long TV commercials. But will the strategy work? surbhi chawla finds out

A tense stadium anxiously watches an Indian cricketer batting on 99. In this nail biting anxiety comes a new ball and the batsman hits a splendid six! His fiancée, who is sitting in the audience gets up, dodges security personnel to enter the field and breaks into a carefree dance. And with her, the entire nation sings ‘Kya swaad hai zindagi main.’ This long duration ad and the jingle from Cadbury Dairy Milk was etched in the mind of the audience for a very long time. At a time when marketing budgets were not high and marketers had to watch each penny they spent, coming up with long ads was not considered to be sensible. However, over the years, duration of ads has almost tripled and so have their advertising budgets. So, what is the real reason behind marketers ditching short & crispy ads in favour of long & audacious ad campaigns.

Priti Nair, Managing Partner, BBH India, opines, “With so much clutter around, the idea behind these long ads is primarily to break the clutter and get the ad noticed.” Earlier the trend was to rope in big celebs to draw attention, but now with so many celebrities trying to sell everything from a toothbrush to a car, marketers want to try something different to grab the attention of the Indian consuming masses. Hero Honda to celebrate its 25th anniversary in the Indian market has recently come out with a foot thumping 180 seconds commercial. And it is not just the sheer length of the ad that comes as a surprise, but also the presence of as many as eight celebrities swamping all over the television channels that make one wonder that does it makes sense to have such a lavish ad budget? “It is not just the length of the ad that would hook the customer, but the ad should also provide the watchers with entertainment value,” avers Sanjay Sharma, CD, Draft FCB Ulka (the man behind the Hero Honda commercial). Marketers are now working harder on a storyboard that is interesting and hooks the customer till the end of the ad.

“The size and scale of the ad also helps the brand in creating a statement about itself,” informs Rajeev Raja, Ex. CD, Bates David Enterprise. Little wonder that BIG TV, Happy Dent, Bajaj Pulsar, et al, have made ads that are longer than the normal 30-45 seconds ads. There would be ad-men who would be quick to point out that there has never been a cap on the ad length and even in the past there have been ads of various lengths that have been made from time to time. As a matter of fact, it was not so long ago when Nike came out with its gully cricket ad that clocked almost two minutes. What’s more? Although the Nike ad boasts of a few celebrities, the entire show is run by faces that are lesser known.

So does it always pay to make something grand as attempted by these ad gurus? Not really, and the biggest example is the Pepsi Bubbly campaign. The ad had Big B, SRK & Preity Zinta giving company to Sachin, Dravid, Irfan, Yuvraj, Zaheer & Kaif. The company also launched a remix video with Kareena Kapoor. However, the ad campaign did not click with the audiences. The reason was very simply – with so many stars, brand Pepsi got lost somewhere. Although people do remember the bubbly song yet the association with Pepsi is not that easily to make. The trick here is not to create a long ad, but to ensure that each dime that the marketer spends gives him good solid returns.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

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IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence

According to consulting major Deloitte, international tourism expenditure in India in 2006 was about $8.7 billion and is expected to rise to over $10 billion by the end of 2008. According to them, there were an estimated 105,000 hotel rooms in India as of July 2007 and with these new concepts, this is bound to increase. Avers Amol Rao, Hospitality analyst, PINC research, “If players don’t start now, they will lose market share, as discretionary spending in India is increasing at a fast pace.” Market watchers agree that the growing demand for hotels rooms is stimulating innovations. There are innovations like underground resorts, totally cut off from the outside world. There are even restaurant run by housewives, especially designed for NRI clients. Located in Bangalore, the restaurant has housewives from Bijapur and Dharba cook and serve regional food, just as they would in their own homes.

There is even a military resort in Bangalore called ‘The prestige’. It’s a getaway where corporates send their core teams for training in team-building in typical soldier style. “Corporates like change, so we are trying to innovate and explore new opportunities,” asserts Venu Rao, Director, Aabana Hospitality, the brains behind the underground resort. Adds Amol Rao, “Moreover, products or services of any hotel cannot be in a vertical line as they have to be in a pyramid in order to grow. Indeed alternative tourism in India is a big concept, but in a nascent stage.”

Recently, even Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India (MHRIL) launched a new holidaying concept called Mahindra Homestays, wherein the company partners with home owners for accommodating visiting international tourists for a fee. The intention is to give foreign travellers a unique local experience. Justifies Ramesh Ramanathan, MD, MHRIL: “With shortage of hotel rooms in tourist destinations, it was imperative for us to grab the opportunity for authentic hospitality.” Four Seasons is also developing a destination resort in Puthenkayal (Kerala) which will have 75 villas and also 20 branded, luxury private residences. On similar lines, the Leela Group is investing in a property in Gurgaon which will have 90 apartments called ‘The Residence’.

Interestingly, alternative hospitality is luring even non-hoteliers. Real estate player DLF is building India’s first residential hotel in Goa in collaboration with Hilton Group, with an investment of $2 billion. Likewise, even as you read this, Puducherry-based leather accessories maker Hidesign and Bangalore-headquartered liquor firms, Khoday Group and John Distilleries are busy firming up their alternative hospitality plans. A recent Ma Foi report asserts that an estimated $11.41 billion is expected to flow into the Indian hospitality sector over the next two years. We don’t doubt it. Do you?

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...

Now it’s Brand-policing

IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

Zaheer Khan,
Chairman, Enforcers of Intellectual Property Rights

Now it’s Brand-policing

The Indian counterfeit market share has gone up significantly over the last five years due to increasing brand awareness. Large sums of money being spent on advertising and promotional activities is increasing the scope for counterfeiters to cash in on the well-known brands. The mushrooming of counterfeit and gray market is encouraged by the fact that the margins involved in counterfeiting are high and penalty for counterfeiting is not that serious. People find it an easy avenue to make quick money. India and China constitute the largest counterfeiting problem that the world faces. Both have a very large user population as well. Not only do we churn out a lot of counterfeit for exports for use in different countries, we also use a lot of counterfeits that we make.

Actually we are the biggest market for counterfeiting. Though there is no one study which can quantify the amount of counterfeiting yet, it is safe to say that in every industry now the rate of counterfeits are alarming. Counterfeiting always happens in the most popular, most advertised and most publicised brands. They are the easiest brands to cash in on because they are the ones who spend most money in building these brands. The downturn and misgiving are by the buckets of counterfeiting, first being the huge revenue loss.

And of course, then there is loss of customer and brand value. If a customer buys a substandard counterfeit product and has a bad experience, he may not return to the same product thereby causing brand value loss and product loyalty loss.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...