MxMIndia

Category: MARKETING

  • Thank the year 2020 for 16 powerful lessons, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    Not everything was bad about 2020!

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    Life is a school. And 2020 was a harsh taskmaster. There in the life school, you learnt your lessons in two types of experiences. Aapbethi; learning from Self-experience and Jagbeethi; Learning from others experience. Both powerful ways teaching you through Success, Failure, Opportunity, Crisis, Solution and Barriers. The year 2020 ensured the lessons were ingrained for life. However, as usual in schools, the most exacting teacher gets wrongly branded. Ma ybe it never had the chance to defend in the anxiety loaded world. There every experience was shared and amplified in a highly polarised way. Many years later, when the historians look back, they may list it as a narrative that was not wholly right.

     

    When you reflect on the way we all blame the year and call it names, you realise that the year and tie space got nothing to do with it. Any other year would have been fine. The things that were wrong were the virus, which was result of human interreference with nature, the infrastructure and quality check. Poor 2020, it got branded for no fault of it.

     

     

    THE LESSONS OF 2020

     

    LUXURY AND ESSENTIALS

     

    How fast did the year taught us what Luxury is and what are the real essentials? It told us what must be priced and what is priceless. It showed us where our priorities should be centred. We realised the difference between friend and acquaintances to people who may know us. Our definition, approach and attitude towards family, friends and society at large were questioned. I hope we have learnt our lessons.

     

     

    WFH: WORK FOR HOME

     

    Initially, the WFH started as a mere acronym for Working from Home. A mid-year realisation happened. The running of the home is a collective responsibility. We work from home. We Work For Home.

     

     

    SHARE THE LOAD

     

    The age-old myth that the housewife does nothing and the chief wageearner due to his role qualifies for the treatment got busted. The gender and roles merged. Family members realised what all is needed at home, what all the mother, sister, wife, daughter or son in law does. Slowly but in no small extent in the long-drawn lockdown sharing the load gradually became the norm.  

     

     

    TOGETHER

     

    It is not about I v/s you v/s we v/s them. The threat and repercussion were highly secular and did not differentiate based on any caste, creed, race, colour, region, religion, seniority or intellect. The world realised that we are in it together. In fact, hard lessons on interdependence have been delivered time and again.

     

     

    UNPREDICTABILITY

     

    How predictably were we facing the unpredictable? We had every corner covered, and we were in control, or so we thought. We now know, of the unpredictable and probabilistic nature of life means. We know even the best plans can fail. We are better at adapting to changes. We know the importance and have started to incorporate flexibility in every aspect of life.

    We have finally learnt that everything comes at a cost. That our constant playing with nature will cost us. Even with the advancements in technology, perfection is still work in process, and failure is a part of life.

     

     

    COMMUNICATION

     

    Being together is an exciting way of life. The family truly lived together for a long stretch. The guards and mask dropped with time. Questioning the discipline, misunderstanding with ego in the play was a natural outcome. Charged emotions lead to learning to be patience choice of words, actions, reaction and inaction. The importance of communication was demonstrated. Hopefully, we all moved towards a more open, transparent communication style.

     

     

    RISE

    Life goes on. The losses are real, and we must find ways to tackle them on materialistic and emotional levels. There is still a good day or a hope of a good day. Life-death, good-bad, opportunity and crisis are cyclic. When one of them happens, it almost comes with a guarantee of the other to happen, sooner or later. These are polarities with a continuum in place. How you see them and react to them is defined by your mindset. So, you can see opportunity in crisis and crisis in an opportunity.

     

     

    INSURANCE

     

    We all need more than accidental or medical insurance. We need emotional insurance. The insurance that comes with having, family, friends and close ones depends upon, just like we need savings for a lousy day. And the way to plan for the is really when there is no crisis.

     

     

    EVERYONE CAN BE A HERO

    Gone the days when the heroes wore a cape or a uniform at the border. A different set of heroes emerged. The common man, the Covid warriors, the helpers, the solution provider, saw heroes everywhere. Maybe it taught us about real compassion and empathy. Perhaps it planted the seeds of being a hero and helping others in each one of us.

     

    TRUST

     

    At the end of it, what matters is the level of confidence and trust you have. The trust in people, processes and knowledge. How much can people trust you, your decisions, actions, reactions and inaction?

     

    Surprises are fair, and they too are part of life. But trust is how you understand, expect, anticipate and willingly accept even the surprises. Trust need no explanation. We learnt to earn and respect trust.

     

     

    CONSISTENCY

     

    Trust comes from consistent expectation and experiences. We learnt how SOP and precautions need to be adhered to. How the chain is as weak as the weakest link.

     

     

    POSSIBILITIES EXIST

    This is my favourite learning. Everything is possible if you put your heart and soul into it. If the resources could be collaborative if not even centralised. The past performance is not even a yardstick to set an expectation. A vaccine in a short time. A lockdown. Trains stopped, state borders sealed. Last rites disallowed, and people accepted that. Temples, Mosque and churches closed. A common man waking up to help people they don’t even know about. Everything is possible.

     

     

    PAST IS DEAD

    We learnt the solutions may not come from old learnings and knowledge. The past is a rich source of wisdom. That we cannot change anything that has already happened. We may still be able to reduce the impact and effect, but the thing cannot be undone. So watch what we say and do, but don’t carry the baggage of past into future. Make every decision as an open-eyed conscious decision after evaluating every possible known information. And then don’t regret if it turns out to be wrong.

     

     

    EMOTIONAL OWNERSHIP IS BAD

    Materialistic attachments ate fine, you can renew them. You can replace them. However, emotional attachments and ownerships hurt. It prevents you from being flexible and adapts to the changes. Emotional baggage ground you to current status and templates. Ownership makes you resist changes. Let that ownership of an emotional win linger just for that moment and then move ahead with the learnings.

     

     

    CHANGE

     

    The more things change, the more they remain the same. These changes just break the template; the learning and knowledge do not fail. The process does not fail, though it may need slight correction. We need flexibility and a mindset that builds freedom to adapt and react with agility. But, when was that not the truth. 2020 only brought it in focus. There is nothing that is temper proof. Everything is developing and redefining relationships. This is a Re-World, where you have to continually research, re-evaluate, re-think, re-align and in short re-working your plans and implementation processes. We have realised the need for constant monitoring and the criticality of completing a feedback loop.

     

     

    THE FINAL PIECE

     

    The year 2020 got highly polarised reactions. The perception building was fast and ruthless. It got so wrongly branded. And no amount of repainting efforts will change the perception. Humans are not immune to such branding and perception creation.  If you do not take conscious well throughout consistent strategic measures to brand yourself. To get the desired Brand-I perceptions. Don’t worry,  you will be branded by default.

     

    ……………………………………

     

    Try finding time to Pause. Find a space for yourself and try re-living the episodes in your life in 2020. See which dots you can connect? Look at the positive side? You may have a different set of learnings. Do share if you can. I want to know what you learnt and how did the learning come around.

     

     

  • The campaign is titled #PaisonKoRokoMat

    TBWA launches IDFC MF campaign

    By Our Staff

     

    IDFC Mutual Fund just launched its first investor awareness campaign of the year – #PaisonKoRokoMat. The campaign is conceptualised and created by TBWA\India.

     

    Added Gaurab Parija, Head – Sales & Marketing, IDFC AMC: “The central thought of the campaign #PaisonKoRokoMat draws inspiration from our lives where inertia is an impediment to our growth and sometimes reflects in the way we allocate our money. What we are trying to bring out through the campaign is a subtle yet strong message of looking beyond the traditional ways of growing your money and using your goals to allocate your money across asset classes and investment solutions.”

     

    Said Parixit Bhattacharya, Managing Partner – Creative TBWA\India, Parixit Bhattacharya

    “This has been a lot of fun to create. The narrative is distinctive and it needed oodles of craft to bring them to life which Ayappa and his team served delectably. We hope this makes people smile while reconsidering their choice of investments and tilt the conversation in favour of mutual funds. There are many more executions across channels under #PaisoKoRokoMat and we are excited to see what it does in the market.”

     

    Added Govind Pandey, CEO of TBWA\India: “These ads charmingly nudge you to reevaluate your investment choices that you make almost by default.”

     

    Said Sanju Ayappa from Early Man Films: “Really enjoyed working on these films for IDFC Mutual Fund. They are quite bold and unique for the category. Especially, the casting.”

     

     

  • The new logo features ‘symmetry’, ‘rhythm’ and ‘rising’ elements that embody Kia’s confidence and commitment to customers

    Kia unveils new logo and global brand slogan

    By Our Staff

     

    Kia, the automobile company, has revealed its new corporate logo and global brand slogan that signify the automaker’s bold transformation and all-new brand purpose.

     

    Said Ho Sung Song, Kia’s President and CEO: “Kia’s new logo represents the company’s commitment to becoming an icon for change and innovation”, “The automotive industry is experiencing a period of rapid transformation, and Kia is proactively shaping and adapting to these changes. Our new logo represents our desire to inspire customers as their mobility needs evolve, and for our employees to rise to the challenges we face in a fast-changing industry.”

     

     

  • BroBot is the brand mascot

    Enormous launches new Reliance GI campaign

    By Our Staff

     

    It happened a few months back, but we’ve got to know it only now. That Reliance General Insurance (RGI) partnered with Enormous Brands to reposition its brand in the new normal.

     

    Said Rakesh Jain, ED and CEO, Reliance General Insurance: “During Covid-19, majority of customer interactions happened digitally and we brought about a series of tech innovations to simplify and make those interactions seamless. However, we also understood that Technological disruption needs to amalgamate with humane values and focus on being customer-first, always. That is why we decided to have a brand mascot ‘BroBot’ that embodies this ethos and presents insurance with a fresh perspective to our customers in the new normal”

     

    Added Ajay Verma, Managing Partner, Enormous Brands: “It was a bold approach to launch the new brand campaign. We had set daily benchmarks for the pre-launch phase to make sure that the appropriate level of curiosity is achieved. In the end, we were 17% above our ambitious engagement target”

     

     

  • The attempt: showcase how it touches millions of lives, cutting across sectors and geographies

    Kirloskar ad created by Lowe Lintas

    By Our Staff

     

    Engineering major Kirloskar has launched a campaign conceived by Lowe Lintas, to showcase how it touches millions of lives, cutting across sectors and geographies.

     

    Speaking about the campaign, Madhav Chandrachud, President, Kirloskar Proprietary Limited said: “Almost all the Kirloskar products are intermediate and hence one might not ever get to see one working. With its wide range of engineering products, it’s critical that communication is humane enough for a wide cross-section to relate to and emotionally connect with the brand. That too without being burdened with the complex product stories. We are happy to have Lowe Lintas, a like-minded agency partner us shoulder the brand custodianship by handling the brand communication seamlessly since the past many years.”

     

    Added Shantanu Sapre, Executive Director, Lowe Lintas: “The idea was to celebrate the millions of smiles Kirloskar has been garnering and cherishing globally since the last many years. The creative and production challenge was to make it human-centric without compromising on creativity in the new normal. Production logistics of curbs on travel, etc also had to be kept in mind. The creative team led by Prathamesh Gharat, Joshua Thomas and Tejas Dangre, with inputs from Charuvi Lokare, and ably supported by Business Head Aniruddha Oka, came up with a simple and elegant solution of setting the film in a photo studio with changing cast members and backdrops, thereby conveying Kirloskar’s global presence without having to travel the globe.”

  • The current trademark of ATG ceased to exist from January 1, 2021 globally

    New identity for ‘Yokohama Off-Highway Tires’

    By Our Staff

     

    In October 2020, Yokohama Rubber had announced that it will consolidate its various off-highway businesses into one single entity – Yokohama Off-Highway Tires (YOHT). The entity has now released a new corporate identity, a new corporate logo, that draws on the 100-year-plus legacy of Yokohama while underlining its own distinct space in the Off-Highway segment. As a result, the current trademark of ATG ceased to exist from January 1, 2021 globally.

     

    Said Nitin Mantri, Director YOHT America: “The consolidation of OHT businesses announced earlier will be strongly supported by the new identity of YOHT globally. This will result in closer integration of the brand equity and technological expertise of Yokohama with the strengths of companies grouped under ATG; namely – strong sales network, diverse product line up and superior cost competitiveness. This rebranding exercise collectively reflects our successful past while embracing future aspirations. We are excited to showcase this corporate identity to our stakeholders across the globe.”

     

     

  • The India arm of the creative agency network has bagged the creative mandate for Vega, the beauty accessory and personal care appliances brand

    Leo Burnett to help Vega be more ‘atmanirbhar’

    By Our Staff

     

    Leo Burnett India has won the creative mandate for Vega, the beauty accessory and personal care appliances brand. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch and will be handled by the agencies New Delhi office.

     

    Sandeep Jain

    Said Sandeep Jain, Director, Vega Industries: “Vega over the past few years has been steadily revolutionizing the beauty accessory market with best in class, well-priced products. Our mission at Vega in to provide Do-it-yourself ‘Head to Toe’ grooming / styling products to our consumers so they can be atmanirbhar.  We are in a dynamic growth phase and were looking for a partner who not only understands our ambition but can take our brand to the next level. Leo Burnett’s strategic approach, dynamic creativity and the energy that the team brought to pitch aligned with our thinking and we are very excited about working together”. Uff did Jain have to use the word: atmanirbhar? Well, perhaps we know now which side of the political fence he is leaning towards.

     

    Dheeraj Sinha

    Added Dheeraj Sinha, CEO and Chief Strategy Officer – South Asia, Leo Burnett: “Vega is one the few successful homegrown brands in the beauty accessory category. With the past year giving momentum to the DIY culture we see tremendous potential for the brand to grow. We look forward to bringing our new-age creative approach, platform understanding and dynamism to support the brands ambitious growth plans and establish them as the leader in their category.”

     

    Thank heavens, Monsieur Sinha didn’t use the ‘a’ word.

     

     

  • The Womb is the agency

    Sebamed releases campaign titled ‘Filmstars kee nahi, science kee suno’

    By Our Staff

     

    Sebamed, a German personal care brand, has released a campaign titled ‘Filmstars kee nahi, science kee suno’ to demonstrate its superiority over market leaders in the soap category.

     

     

     

    Shashi Ranjan

    Commenting on future plans, Shashi Ranjan, India Head for Sebamed, said: “At Sebamed we stand for truth and transparency. During these unprecedented times, our wide portfolio of Skin & Hair care products with unique pH 5.5 benefit offers the new Gold standard to the consumers. We remain strategically committed to invest in attracting best talent, creating engaging brand stories and driving rapid distribution expansion across channels.”

     

    Added Konark Gaur, India Head of Marketing for Sebamed:  “Consumers today are re-evaluating their brand choices and are looking for brands that deliver on their promise. Sebamed, a brand that stands for honesty & authenticity wants to empower the consumers with the right information so that they can choose the best. We believe that product is always the hero and days of gimmicky advertising are counted.”

     

    Konark Gaur

    Said unnamed creative partner at The Womb: “The personal care industry has always been conditioned to follow standard beauty practices in order to make it appealing to the consumers. However, when we came across Sebamed and what the brand wanted to convey to its consumers, we decided to communicate the product truth through our campaign, without any silver coating. Striking the right balance between the bandwagon fallacy and authenticity, the brand is building a connection with its consumers through demonstration-based advertising with an honest approach.”

     

     

  • The campaign will culminate in a two-day virtual festival

    IDFC First launches CSR campaign on Mental Health

    By Our Staff

     

    IDFC First Bank has launched ‘ReachOutReachWithin’, a digital campaign on mental health awareness, with an objective to mainstream conversations around mental well-being.

     

    The campaign aims to build awareness around the importance of mental health while also driving dialogue on bridging the gap in access to quality healthcare.

     

    As part of the campaign, a dedicated web portal has been set up, which serves as a repository of expert views and discussions related to mental health https://reachoutreachwithin.in . The campaign will culminate in a two-day festival, https://reachoutreachwithin.in/festival-details/

     

    Said Rachana Iyer, Head CSR, IDFC First Bank: “The Covid-induced lockdown and the uncertainity thereafter, has impacted mental health across age groups and sectors. There is a need to go beyond medicine and follow a more holistic approach to mental health. We believe that the campaign will not only solve for some deep-rooted challenges but focus more on community-peer support, inclusion, accessibility and awareness to create significant impact on-ground.”

  • The campaign was conducted in collaboration with Option Designs

    Classplus launches campaign with Sourav Ganguly

    By Our Staff

     

    Classplus, in collaboration with Option Designs, launched its latest campaign starring Sourav Ganguly.

     

    Said Mukul Rustagi, Co-founder, Classplus: “It is very satisfying to see the hard work put in by Option Designs. They were able to capture the emotions perfectly in the earlier ad and we hope this ad proves to be a success too. We look forward to serving more educators in the internet age of today and help them build their online presence with support from our latest campaign.”

     

    Added Japneet Singh, Campaign Head and CEO – Option Designs: “After the success of the emotional route with the previous film where Dada empowers Mrs. Bannerjee with a new identity as a teacher, we decided to go with a comical route. With this film, we showcased the benefits of adopting a remote teaching model through Classplus and how it can unlock limitless growth for the educators. The film explores humor and wit with a Talismanic Avatar, Mentor Dada, who inspires India’s educators to evolve and digitally manage their coaching and tuition setups with ease.”

     

     

  • The self-regulatory body is often called a toothless tiger,  but the recent decisions on some advertising are welcome, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    ASCI Vs Surrogate liquor advertising 1-0. Game On

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    Congratulations, ASCI. I serious sincerely love this. However, I am not fully satisfied. There are mixed emotions. It was waiting to happen for a long time. ASCI banning brands for Surrogate advertising– mainly Surrogate Liquor Advertising is excellent.

     

    ASCI (short for Advertising Standards Council of India) is often compared to be a toothless tiger or a dog that can bark and not bite. Recent changes in the law dealing with Surrogate Advertising gave ASCI a positive momentum. May be this is a result of it.

     

    Blatant Surrogate Advertising

     

    To a layman and public at large, the surrogacy of these liquor advertising was never in doubt. Often, questions on industry turning a blind eye to such rampant surrogacy were raised and not well defended in the classrooms. The law should take its own course used to be the only saving grace. The change in the rules and the framework have added to the ASCI power and intent to act.

     

    ASCI’S Surrogate v/s Genuine Brand Extension

    • For a brand extension of a product (liquor, tobacco, etc.) to be considered genuine, it must be registered with an appropriate government authority such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

    • In-store availability must be at least 10% of that of the leading brand in the category that the product competes, or sales turnover must exceed Rs 5 crore per annum or Rs 1 crore per annum in each state it is distributed in

    • It must have a valid certificate from an independent organisation for such turnover and distribution data.

    • Advertising for such brand extensions cannot feature what is prohibited by law or banned products. Neither can the advertising allude to or hint at products that cannot be advertised.

    • As per the law, advertisements for liquor brand extensions can run on TV if they have a CBFC certificate.

     

     

    Nexus

     

    This blatant use of Surrogate Advertising could not have happened without a substantial nexus between the clients, advertising agency, media houses and Brand Ambassadors. Names like Ranveer Singh, Rohit Sharma, Jaspreet Bumrah, Virat Kohli and Priyanka Chopra have featured in what seems explicit surrogate Liquor advertisements.

     

    Are these celebrities, including sportsperson not sure of what they are doing and how the youth idolises them? It seems they don’t care. I am yet to see icons refrain from the lure of surrogate advertising.

     

    Ethics – Morality V/s Blindness V/s Business

     

    For agencies, media owners it is business as usual. Do we seriously believe they do not know that the brand that they are advertising is a surrogate and may not be a genuine brand extension? How is that possible? These are big Agency brands. What makes them work on such projects? Creative license. Celebrity association. Awards. Maybe awards cannot have a category for best Surrogate Advertising.

     

    Yes, I have also said that I will work on any brand that is legally allowed to be advertised. And I stick to it. But, I will not do misleading advertising.

     

     

    ASCI not on time

     

    It is good to note that ASCI as a self-initiative took some 14 brands under the scanner. Another 12 were taken to ASCI’sASCI’s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC).

     

    In November 2020,  ASCI wrote to brands within 24 to 48 hours of commercials’ airing during the Indian Premier League (IPL). But, once again, the process seems too long.

     

    Inaction by ASCI in the past has been called out by many. This includes the possibility of exposing under Legal Drinking age kids; rightly pointed out by Sandeep Goyal as more toxic and injurious than a mere commercial transaction. In his article in Brand Equity, Sandeep pointed out that ‘surrogates use the logos, colours and graphics of the original liquor parents. Just, the ASCI doesn’t seem to see them. It violates Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, Rule 7(2)(viii). The act prohibits the direct or indirect promotion of cigarettes, tobacco products, wine, alcohol, liquor and other intoxicants. Moreover, it prohibits using particular colours and layout or presentations associated with prohibited products.’ 

     

     

    Surrogate Advertising Wins. Feel Cheated

     

    It pains to see that the industry body has not named the 12 brands that have been banned. I am in with Sandeep Goyal in feeling Cheated by the process and non-transparency. ASCI always called brands – then why is Liquor Category being treated differently. A review petition filed by four of the advertisers is a strong statement to show that many know what they have been doing.

     

     

    LEGALLY ADVERTISING. 

     

    A press note that appeared in 2019– clearly pointed out that the Whisky Brand has signed on the celebrity. In 2018, ICC took Royal Stag as a partner with ”Make It Large” brief – what was Large was obvious. It even had a limited edition world cup pack– and what else do you need to influence and connect with the youngsters. In this case, the sports Governing body, the Brand Royal Stag and the celebrity all maybe legally doing right what is wrong. But then that is not surrogate advertising.

     

    Here is ROYAL STAG – make it large. Trust it is just the PACKAGED MINERAL WATER.

     

     

     

    I enjoy the Imperial Blue Men-will-be-men series. But, I am sure it is an example of surrogate advertising.

     

  • Careers360 is the educational products and services company

    Mirum to provide Salesforce to Careers360

    By Our Staff

     

    Mirum India, the digital marketing solutions agency from the WPP Group, will implement Salesforce Marketing Cloud services for Careers360, the educational products and services company run by Maheshwer Peri.

     

    Mihir Karkare

    Said Mihir Karkare, EVP, Mirum India: “Mirum is a Salesforce go-to partner for Marketing Cloud implementations in India and has a great experience in implementing marketing automation solutions in the EdTech space. We are excited to work with Careers360 and eager to collaborate with them on this project.”