MxMIndia

Category: BTL BAATEIN

  • In BTL, the qualitative feedback is very important, says Bharat Kharbanda, Assistant Vice President and Marketing Head for Fans and Home Comfort Business, Usha International Ltd in this edition of 'BTL Baatein', the series that is powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Bharat Kharbanda, Usha International… Powered by VISCOMM

    Bharat Kharbanda has 17 years of work experience in FMCG, Telecom, IT hardware (PC, Printers & Consumables) and the small domestic appliances industry. He has worked with Hewlett Packard, Shell, Tata Pennzoil and Usha. Currently, he heads marketing for electrical fans and home comfort (air cooler, room heaters and water heaters) business for Usha International Limited.His experience includes marketing, sales and distribution management, product category management, operations and people management. We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Anuka Roy speaking to him on Below The Line (BTL) advertising, the focus of the company and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    BTL becomes a very important component of the overall marketing plan. Although at Usha, we have been running 360-degree campaigns and in that BTL component is very important. If you look at the making of the product which we are selling, I take care of fans and home comfort business – air cooler, water heater etc. These product categories unfortunately do not enjoy that kind of involvement with the consumer directly. And, if you look at the nature of the market, these are being retailed. Electrical shops might be selling fans, heaters, similarly there are destination markets. The stores at the destination markets are much cluttered and in the nature of these retail stores, the point of sell, visibility etc. is very important. So, keeping that in mind BTL becomes almost imperative. Most of the time I have observed, these basically comes from the feedback which I normally take during my interaction with the retailers, sometimes what happens is a consumer changes his brand on the basis of the interaction that takes place at the point of sale. From that perspective, I would say, BTL probably is the most important part in the overall 360 degree campaign but not as a standalone.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    We do multiple activities. If you have to bucket all the activities, there are certain activities linked to channels, there are certain activities in terms of experience and then there are certain activities which are more meet-and-greet. Now, in terms of the channel activities we do both. If there is a new product launch happening, then we do the main product launch at the retail outlet. We identify top retail outlets and then we take our products and unveil it through that channel partner, create some excitement- these are some channel engagement activity. We do a lot of in=store branding and display activities. If you look at all the leading players be it Usha Crompton or Orion, unless you showcase the range, the colours which are available, it becomes very difficult for a consumer to really select. If you really want to showcase you need to be a little different, whether in terms of the showcase or colours or a particular design. We do demo fan installations, meet and greet activities also. Usha has engaged with a lot of big events like IPL with Mumbai Indians. We keep organising meet-and-greets wherein you call certain top players from Mumbai Indians and we call certain top dealers also and provide them a platform wherein they can ask questions to their favourite cricketer, interact with them, click photos etc. We also do experiential activities where we give opportunities to our consumer to experience our product. By which I mean, participating in certain carnival, certain exhibition where you showcase product, then you provide an opportunity for the consumer to engage.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    In terms of percentage, I think BTL would form a good 30-35% of my overall spends on marketing.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    It is a mix of both. Creative agencies are basically involved to create the creative that we want in terms of branding that we want in a particular platform. But in terms of execution there are dedicated BTL agencies which are expert in that. But all the creative support in the branding is provided by the creative agency.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?

    There are no clear answers to this. For a product category like fan and air cooler etc. the job of the ATL is actually to bring in footfall. But in retail shops it might go in the favour of my brand or go in the favour of someone else’s brand. But BTL ensures that whatever you have communicated through your ATL or you are promising to deliver, at the Point of Sale you have to live up to that. These are two complementary activities.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    Sales are the indicator of success or failure. In BTL, the qualitative feedback is very important. Typically, in BTL you are creating a point of visibility and engagement. So, how a channel is seeing you as a brand, basically what kind of store space they are giving to you. It is a good indicator of how your BTL has been. I might produce a costly display fan but is he allocating space to the retail shop or not, that is an indicator. So, qualitative feedback and engagement with the retailer is a strong indicator of how a BTL activity has fared.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    My point of view here is BTL on its own may not hold well across the board. You cannot have a blanket ‘yes’ for that. But there are certain categories, I am not talking about my own product category but certain industries like automobile lubricant or tyre industry, they would largely bank on BTL because the role of the influencers are very important in such product categories. Wherever the role of influencers is very important, there, BTL might be preferred over ATL. But in our industry, I do not see BTL replacing ATL. BTL has to compliment ATL. When we do product launches, we ensure that there is pull being generated through ATL and that is supportive at the retail outlet through BTL.

     

  • BTL plays a pivotal role in our marketing mix, says a spokesperson from Videocon d2h in this edition of the 'BTL Baatein' series that is powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: BTL plays a pivotal role in Videocon d2h’s marketing mix… Powered by VISCOMM

    Videocon d2h is leading DTH service provider which offers over 570 channels and services. It has a pan-India sales and distribution channel, an established service orientation and a track record of introducing technologically innovative product and service offerings. Videocon d2h has over 300 own service centres spread across 7500 top towns in India to attend and resolve the service issues within 4-6 hrs.We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Anuka Roy speaking to a spokesperson from the organisation about Below The Line (BTL) advertising, the focus of the company and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    We are an entertainment eco system player, hence experiential marketing is very critical in converting at the point of sale, that is, the retail outlets. Consequently, BTL plays a pivotal role in our marketing mix. Most retail outlets stock other brands of DTH as well. Starting from reminder at the point of decision making, that is, the retail counter to the utility of the demo set running Videocon d2h channels is essential to win marketshare. The BTL offers targeted consumer connects because it can be tailored to micro geographies. This is what makes BTL programmes very attractive for us. This is especially true as the current phase of digitisation of TV is DAS IV areas i.e., very small towns and the villages.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    There are four types of BTL activities we focus on:

    1. Permanent visibility – on shop and in shop permanent merchandising elements – Lit and non-lit dealer boards, lollipops, lit and non-lit both, brand walls within the shop, glass panel branded one way vision films , and some amount of shutter painting in interior pockets

     

    2. Medium-term outdoor presence linked to market needs

    a. Wall paintings (last year, we did 6.5 Mn sqft) that last roughly 4-6 months

    b. Hoardings (1-23 months) linked to festival linked buying spurts in specific markets

     

    3. Tactical paper-based POS – posters, leaflets, flanges, package stickers

     

    4. On-ground experiential programmes

    a. Exhibitions and Haat/mela activity – caters to deep rural markets and allows direct consumer experience leading to conversion into purchase. There are by our estimate more than 6000 rural haats/melas of various kinds that have sizeable congregations. And rural being the core focus of the DTH market, haats and melas offer a naturally available channel. We also do targeted van activity to supplement the haat/mela programmes.

    b. Consumer connect and activation programmes linked to long-term brand properties like Mumbai Indians, IIFA and the recent in film branding of the Salman Khan block buster – Sultan

     

    The list is endless; there are various innovative ways to reach out to our audience through BTL. We keep experimenting with different ways apart from the list as given above.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    We spend a massive proportion of our budget in BTL, roughly 45% of the budget. Our focus in BTL has been threefold:

    > First is to ensure coverage using data to segment retailers into various importance buckets

    > Second is to ensure outlet dominance and brand cut through

    > Finally, to reinforce the brand DNA of innovation through attractive unique marquee elements

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    We have a well-oiled process where the state-level marketing coordinates with the sales and distribution team to ensure seamless implementation of the BTL programmes.  For specific, specialised BTL programmes, we do use external agencies. For example, for the on-ground programme we did with the movie Sultan, we had briefed the BTL activation arm of our agency Lintas, who did the conceptualisation, the creative, developed IT backbone and did the on-ground implementation. We are open to external agencies if they provide their expertise in specific fields.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?

    BTL allows direct consumer connect with the brand. There are still certain segments of customers who are as yet unfamiliar with the category, where this direct connect becomes very useful. If one were to measure cost per activation, BTL always turns out to be a very cost channel. However, the benefits of the experiential element and the last point reminder effect more than outweigh the investments we make in BTL programmes.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    We evaluate BTL through some time tested metrics:

    :: Exhibitions, haats/melas are measured by two metrics – first the advertising benefit based on the audience reached using footfall data and second by the activations we generated through the presence in the event.

    :: Normal on shop / in shop elements –while we do not do a ROI measure of this, the investment in each retail outlet is a function of its importance bucket which by definition is ROI oriented.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    The use of a particular marketing mix should be entirely linked to the objective and ambition of the product/brand. For example, in our industry,. if an operator feels the biggest market for a new hardware variant like an external recorder (basically a feature that allows an external memory to be connected to the set-top box for recording) is the existing HD set-top box base, they can completely eliminate ATL and BTL and work only on subscriber-based marketing programmes to realise the sales targets. However, if a product like 4K Set-Top Box is being launched, a small focused ATL campaign supported by massive BTL in select high end consumer electronics retail outlets would be more suited. A one formula fits all would not be the right approach.

     

    In our view therefore, it’s the size and location of the market which determines what approach we should take.

     

  • About 30-40 per cent of spends are towards BTL, says Yogesh Shinde, VP Marketing, Wagh Bakri Tea in this edition of the ‘BTL Baatein’ series that is powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Yogesh Shinde, Wagh Bakri Tea… Powered by VISCOMM

    Yogesh Shinde is currently Vice President Marketing, Wagh Bakri Tea. An marketing and communications specialist, he was earlier associated with Saatchi & Saatchi, Mumbai, Triton Communications and R K Swamy BBDO. We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Anuka Roy engaging him him on Below The Line (BTL) advertising, the focus of the company and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    Now a days it really depends on how you treat your marketing mix. Today, we need to look at nothing but a 360-degree view in terms of how you reach your consumers, and of how you remind consumers of your presence and product offering.  BTL is quite important to our overall marketing plan although we use a mix of ATL and BTL activities as we are launching our tea lounges, it is important for us to create location awareness apart from our own offering to the Indian consumer. So it is an important element for us.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    We have a very strong loyalty programme that has been on for the last many years and has given us good dividend. We have Wagh Bakri lounges and they are very unique and are a social place now. All our lounges are operated by the company its self and the lounge is very unique as, besides the numerous teas, we also serve snacks and savouries which enhance the overall experience. These Lounges also get us a lot of direct consumer feedback.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    Putting together, about 30-40 per cent of our spending is towards BTL.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    We use specialist agencies for BTLas these are activities-driven.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?

    Both ATL and BTL have different and specific roles to play. The customers are exposed to a variety of mediums and the shift in brand can happen during any stage in the buying cycle. Therefore, we use both ATL and BTL together to ensure recall, awareness, affinity and experience. In case of our B2B business where all the classes are our audience, we use only BTL strategy.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    There is a lot of volume-value generation as a result of a BTL campaign. We are also able to track other variables like consumers engaged, consumers converted and referrals generated. We also connect our campaigns with digital and social media platforms to ensure that the consumers can connect back to us when they want.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    ATL and BTL complement each other. ATL drives awareness and consideration while BTL takes up the task for conversations. I think for certain objectives and activities, you can survive only on BTL, but as a brand I don’t think one survives on any one particular activity. One won’t be able to get the desired results until the entire circle is completed. There is a different view for brands catering to fragmented markets. To reach the niche and premium segments, BTL works the best with least spillover and media wastages.

     

  • Both ATL and BTL co-exist together with specific roles. Yes, it is an important leg of our brand planning says Malay Dikshit, Chief Communications Officer, Tata Sky in this edition of 'BTL Baatein' series that is powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Malay Dikshit, Tata Sky… Powered by VISCOMM

    Malay Dikshit is the Chief Communications Officer of Tata Sky Ltd. His role comprises being responsible for developing marketing and communication strategies traditional and new age mediums. He brings with him over 15 years of experience spanning across divisions like marketing, sales and operations. We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Anuka Roy speaking to him Below The Line (BTL) advertising, the focus of the company and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    It is an essential and it is not just important. Both ATL and BTL co-exist together with specific roles. Yes, it is an important leg of our brand planning.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    We go to about 12,000 villages below 5,000 population towns to start with. There are many things we do but essentially we want to give a simple message to the consumer who has not seen DTH, to say that Tata Sky in particular takes your family entertainment to a different level. A simple message which says ‘TV banega super TV’ meaning you will get much more value out of your TV, is the message we give. It is a campaign in our BTL activations. We go to villages either in the form of vans, going to about 8,000 villages, displaying our content through huge TV screens, through mailers, showing the depth and quality of content that we have. We got some good results and we extended it to urban areas, seven or eight towns we have targeted right now. People who do not have a DTH connection at home and how can Tata Sky bring a lot of value to the household. So, that is the broad kind of activities that we do.

     

    In terms of BTL, there is usually associated with just going on the field and announcing but taking some learnings from our digital marketing where we see influencer marketing in a very evolved stage. We have an influencer marketing programme even in the rural areas. Our people go there, they talk to a school, take a session with children which introduces Active Education for you, there is Vedic Mathematics, there is English that you can learn, there is classroom tutorial that fits the sixth, seventh or eighth standard syllabus seesions you can have on TV, you use the school Principal as the influencer there or the school teacher. Then you go to a housewife of a particular mohalla and talk to her about cooking, influence her so that she spreads the message that you can learn cooking. We talk to Pandits in the village about Active Darshan or Active Devotion; they become influencer in the town. So, there is an influencer model also in place.

     

    Even our campaign extensions are in the BTL area. Once we ran a Kangana and Dhanushko missed call campaign, it got included in the same activation infrastructure we had. We keep on refreshing our messages also for our BTL activations.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    More important than spends is where do our acquisitions come from and I am very pleased that at least 50% plus of our new acquisitions come from rural areas. That is the sign of our BTL activations working.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/ media agency?

    It is difficult to isolate either or. Everybody has got to work in alignment because there is a brand message, there a brand priority that we need to relay to the rest of the world. The most important thing is you need to offer to the consumer, there has to be uniformity in the messaging irrespective of the medium we are using, whether it is BTL or ATL. Usually, we tie them up together- the BTL and ATL agency- and both of them together come up with ideas.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?

    ATL plays a very specific role of driving consideration. BTL comes in to the loop when the person has got inquisitive; there is a demand, a pull towards the brand, it is the BTL activation which converts to buy a product. For example, if we even consider the rural activation programme that we are doing – TV banega super TV – the consumer gets to see our advertisement, he gets to see our message and here comes an activation team and starts convincing him to buy a conversion action, that is when the magic works. Both of them have to work in tandem and it is not one or the other.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    One is top to bottom consideration, how are they doing. Actual conversions: how are they moving and as I said share of acquisition. So, of my acquisitions in a month or a year coming from a particular geography is an indicator of the entire marketing mix. It is not just BTL which works; it is both of them together that work. It depends on where you want to focus as geography – a region or a particular consumer type- that decides how you want to lay out advertising and sales promotion plans. All of that put together works for us.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    It is a mixture of consideration and conversion. So, many times BTL on its own if it tries to do becomes sub-optimal. Both of them have to co-exist. There has to be a consideration message and conversion message. Sometimes just an outdoor and a digital blitz might do the consideration job and BTL does the conversion job. It depends on who the consumer is, what the particular company is targeting and what it is not. For us, we have a huge range of consumers, right from people who are digital natives to people who have not seen DTH in their house at all. Different kinds of messages work, different kinds of marketing plans work there. When that happens it needs to be a mix of ATL as well as BTL.

     

  • Historically, the BTL part of our business has been an extremely important part, whether it is at Point of Sale or Point of Consumption, or whether it is displays, shop frontage, all consumer activations and promotions, sponsorships, events, associations etc. are very critical to our business, says Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice President – Marketing, United Breweries Limited in this edition of 'BTL Baatein' series that is powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Samar Singh Sheikhawat, United Breweries Ltd… Powered by VISCOMM

    A veteran in building brands, Samar Singh Sheikhawat joined United Breweries Limited, as Senior Vice President – Marketing in November 2009. A post graduate in MBA – Marketing and Finance from Symbiosis, Pune, Sheikhawatstarted his career with Cadbury’s India Ltd in 1989. He is currently theSenior Vice President – Marketing of United Breweries Limited. We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Anuka Roy speaking to him Below The Line (BTL) advertising, the focus of the company and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL

     

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    It is extremely important. We function in a media dark environment. So, historically, the BTL part of our business has been an extremely important part, whether it is at Point of Sale or Point of Consumption, or whether it is displays, shop frontage, all consumer activations and promotions, sponsorships, events, associations etc. are very critical to our business.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    We do everything under the sun from sponsorship to promotions to road shows to events- music, sports, food festivals, fashion gigs, display in stores, posters, danglers, streamers, digital intervention, activations on ground. I mean everything that is possible to be done is literally done in the alcohol business because you technically are not allowed to advertise. Things have changed a lot in the last few years but so far it was that way.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    It typically would be 60% of our total spends will be ATL now and about 40% is BTL. BTL, there is a lower percentage in other consumer product companies.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    We use both. We use agency that specialises in BTL work and we use our ATL agencies also. But largely it is working with agency that specialises in BTL work. A lot of BTL is also executed by our own sales teams but at the end of the day we end up using agency that specialises in this business.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?

    I do not think you can compare the two. It is like cricket, you need both batsmen and bowlers. You cannot have a team of 11 batsmen or 11 bowlers. So, they need to work in conjunction with each other. First of all, you need to have distribution of the brands, you have to have cold stock available, you have to be visible etc. So, those three basic things have to happen. Thereafter, you need ATL to bring consumer pull in to the stores and you need BTL to give them an added incentive once they are there. Sometimes BTL can also play the role of ATL, if it’s associational and desirable property. The two play a complimentary role to each other.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    Depending on the campaign there are several ways of looking at it. Whether it is number of consumer contacts, strike rates or conversions, then you look at how that outlet or that brand or that market how it is doing during the BTL activation period and how it does after the activation period. So, typically if it is executed well, it will do well during the BTL period but we also hope that after the activity is over, it settles at a level higher than the level at which you started. Otherwise, it is not a permanent change.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    Most companies across the world, actually, cannot afford ATL costs. You look at smaller businesses SMEs, startup businesses, local businesses etc. most of them do what traditionally is known as BTL. The number of organisations and brands that are sold only on BTL anywhere in the world is always larger than the number of brands that actually get on to ATL. So, if I run a neighbourhood grocery delivery business, how will I make sure that people know about me? May be in every bill I will have rubber stamp with my phone number, may be I would give a leaflet with every delivery bag that goes. So, the number of people who use BTL in our country is- I am not talking about volume of business and the amount of money that is spent, obviously a far more popular way of communicating to consumers than ATL. ATL requires certain size, a certain funding and also it requires a certain economic threshold to be effective. If I have one crore for instance, it will be suboptimal to put it up to television. Whereas, one crore on BTL could make a big difference depending on what I want to achieve.

     

  • Experiential (BTL) always plays a very key role in any brand's marketing plan, says Lokesh Kataria, Head, Marketing Mattel Toys, India

    BTL Baatein: Lokesh Kataria, Mattel Toys… Powered by VISCOMM

    Experiential (BTL) always plays a very key role in any brand’s marketing plan, says Lokesh Kataria, Head, Marketing Mattel Toys, India. Mattel has a large portfolio of global consumer brands includes Barbie, American Girl, Fisher-Price, Thomas & Friends,  Hot Wheels, Scrabble, Uno and Pictionary among many others. in this edition of ‘BTL Baatein’ series that is powered by VISCOMM. Read Lokesh Kataria’s views on below-the-line marketing and promotions…

     

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    Experiential (BTL) always plays a very key role in any brand’s marketing plan. It’s no different for us. The category that we operate in is much better presented with experiential activities to our consumers and shoppers. Toys bring alive our childhood and are best of the friends to any kid. Seeing them live in action anywhere always puts across a smile to everyone’s face. This is the best any brand can ask for! So yes, Experiential plays a very important part of our plans across all categories we operate in.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

     

    The activities range from interactive demos in store to larger than life activations across mass convergence areas like Malls. There is a huge potential to extend the boundaries of experiential now given the Digital means of interaction with everyone out there with a smartphone.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    Experiential has been gathering steam and given the way traditional media consumption patter is changing, there is always more for experiential initiatives to play their part.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    Mostly, we work directly with the agencies who specialise in experiential and activations.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sure shot avenue than ATL?

    Both mass and experiential activities have got their own pros and cons. It largely depends on type of campaigns and expected results.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    Given the rise of digital and social media, a very good measure is to understand how much of your initiatives were liked and then shared on social media. A true experiential initiative has a huge potential to deliver you a “fan” rather than just a “consumer”. Fans are always loyal. Then there are other classical ways of brand dipstick and NPS measurements.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your views on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    We have seen brands do that in past and deliver success. However, this largely depends on the awareness level and acceptance a brand/product needs before it is called a success. In my view, it is always good to have a balanced approach depending upon the outcome a brand manager is expecting.

     

  • BTL has its own advantage even though reach is limited, says N V Chakravarthi, General Manager, Himalaya BabyCare in BTL Baatein… powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: N V Chakravarthi, Himalaya BabyCare … Powered by VISCOMM

    An MBA in marketing from Karnataka University and over nine years of experience in developing and executing marketing strategies For Himalaya Drug Company where he joined in 2007, N V Chakravarthi, General Manager, Himalaya BabyCare believes BTL has played a crucial part in getting Himalaya brand where it is today.

     

    We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Santosh Jangid speaking to him about Below The Line (BTL) advertising, the focus of the company and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    It is extremely important for us because of a very simple reason that we don’t do ATL activities. We promote the entire range through medical fraternity that is through doctors, nurses, general practitioners, paediatricians and gynaecologist. We are in the state of so-called ethical marketing and because there is no ATL activity for us, we are dependent on BTL very much.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    We do very regular doctors and parents engagement programmes where we call top notch doctors from the city and  we call both the parents, we also do a lot of awareness about health related issues and health related programs, we do nurses education related programmes where we educate them about breast feeding, massage, how to do diapering, what are diaper rashes related health concerns, we do a lot of activities keeping that in mind. We do lots of high visibility campaigns pan-India so if you notice our product’s visibility has improved in the last five to six years and that is because of BTL. We do direct to parents campaign where we distribute the sample, we distribute the information leaflets, we create a lot of buzz around point of purchase activity. We also have sales promoters in our division. The modern trade and stand alone are increasing in a very good number because we have sales promoters there who educate and clarify many things about point of sale and we initiate sample trials. So, these are few important things that we do in BTL – one is doctors-parents meet programmes, second is nurses education programme, third is high visibility campaigns, fourth is sales promoter programme and the fifth is point of sale point of purchase activity and lastly we do direct-to-parents activity.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    We don’t have ATL budget at all because we have consciously not taken that route. So whatever we spend, we spend on BTL and the remaining strategies through medical fraternity, trial packs and bundle packs. So I can say that 90-95% of our spend is on BTL.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    Right now our 70% work happens in house as we have our creative team and design team in house. We also have our registered vendors and so the rest 30% happens with people who help us at BTL activities. Right now we do not work with any creative agency.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sure shot avenue than ATL?

    For us it has worked out well. All of us are aware that segment target group is very important to decide ATL or BTL. We have seen very measurable results in BTL. Both ATL and BTL are important based on the company’s needs. It comes down to the budget, target group, segmentation for the company. Specifically for our brand though BTL has worked great for us.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    We first look at how the sale of the product is moving. For example, there is a particular modern trade or a supermarket where we do the activity. There we measure how the activity is happening, secondly, we take the customer’s feedback and we maintain the database so we come to know about their preferences and suggestions and customer feedback is a very good indicator. A very important attribute for us is word-of-mouth publicity which might be from doctors or parents. Lastly, we always complete the loop. Once we start the activity till the end how it works, what difficulties, impact and what response is given by the channel is also very important. It may be a hospital, a chemist, modern trade, doctor, nurses or shop keepers. These key channel partners give us the feedback that this is the result, this is where you can improve yourself and so on. So these are the measurable parameters for us.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    That is a very sensitive question because two-three parameters play a great role here. One is the company turnover and brand equity in the market and what I am expecting from the brand or what are my expectations for the next five to ten years, what budget do I have, what resources do I have and what target groups I am approaching. For mid-scale or small companies BTL is always preferable because they work with small challenges. BTL has its own advantage even though the reach is limited. It all depends once again on company, expectation, budget, segment and target group. For us, BTL worked out and if BTL is highly creative and reaching to masses effectively, if BTL is well-planned and organised and keeping expectation in mind it definitely works.

     

  • For salience visibility in BTL, we consider the brand's requirements in specific markets and plan campaigns accordingly, says Siddharth Banerjee, National Head – Brand Communication and Insights, Vodafone India in BTL Baatein… powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Siddharth Banerjee, Vodafone India …. Powered by VISCOMM

    An MBA and economics graduate, Siddharth Banerjee is an experienced consumer business leader across Telecom and FMCG for the past 16 years and is currently Senior Vice President (SVP) – Marketing and Head of Brand, Insights, Media, Activation & Digital at Vodafone India.

    In his 15 years of FMCG / CPG experience, including the last 13-odd years in Unilever, Banerjee has worked across country P&L roles and global/ regional brand marketing roles, with exposure across developing and emerging markets. His last role in Unilever was as the Country Marketing Director / CMO and a member of the Management Committee at Unilever Sri Lanka. He has lived & worked across India, Singapore, the UK & Sri Lanka.

    We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Santosh Jangid speaking to Siddharth Banerjee about Below The Line (BTL) advertising, the focus of the company and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    BTL is an integral part of our 360-degree marketing approach. Vodafone as a brand has always been active on the BTL front and indeed has been the one to set benchmarks in terms of creating landmark OOH media properties, creating visibility and stature through the medium. We continuously track awareness created by various mediums and OOH is amongst the biggest sources of creating awareness for our brand as well as product messaging.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    Some of the recent BTL initiatives undertaken by Vodafone:

     

    Durja Puja Pandal-Hopping for Senior Citizens: Vodafone India celebrated this Durga Puja in Kolkata with a difference, by spreading cheer in the lives of senior citizens from the Tollygunge Home and Nabanir Old Age Homes. Legendary danseuse Tanusree Shankar flagged-off a special bus which took the senior citizens pandal-hopping on the auspicious day of Shashti to the five most popular pandals in North Kolkata including Chalta Bagan Durgotsav. For the senior citizens it was an overwhelming experience to meet and interact with Tanusree Shankar.

    Rainwater Harvesting Billboards: To help the drought affected farmers in Maharashtra, Vodafone in association with Kinetic India, had installed 5 Rainwater Harvesting Bill Boards along the New Airport Road in Pune. Rainwater was harvested using the billboards, by creating a U-curved aluminium sheet as a rain water collection funnel on top of the billboards. This funnel was then channeled through a tube to a big tank installed at the bottom of each hoarding, which stored the collected rain water.

    In order to keep a check on the water level in the tank, each tank was installed with a unique Vodafone sim card based water sensor technology. Once the tanks were full, an SMS was automatically sent out to the administration. The water collected in the tanks was then transferred to water tankers and taken to the farmers. We have been able to donate more than 20000 litres of Water to the farmers of Wadebolai Village, Maharashtra.

    Vodafone SuperAlbum – Vodafone SuperAlbum, one of Vodafone’s marquee initiatives for IPL 2016, invited Vodafone customers to click a picture with their favourite mascot – the ZooZoo and become a part of the Guinness World Record.  Cricket lovers and Vodafone customers participated enthusiastically in the Vodafone SuperAlbum by posing with the ZooZoo at IPL cricket stadiums, Vodafone stores, IPL Fan Parks or at nearby malls. Following the stringent parameters set by Guinness World Records, over 75, 000 photographs were uploaded on the specially created portal www.vodafonesuperalbum.com.

    IPL Campaign- Vodafone SuperFan:  Vodafone SuperFan is yet another engaging customer connect initiatives undertaken during IPL.  It has become a platform to fulfill dreams of many cricket enthusiasts to watch the match live from the stadium and meet their sports heroes.

     

    The Vodafone SuperFan contest offers once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Vodafone customers to take centre stage on a global sporting platform like the IPL. The Vodafone SuperFan flies to the Vivo IPL match in style, is driven to the stadium in a luxury car and watches the match live from the Vodafone enclosure in the hospitality box. Getting the match ball autographed by the winning captain on Live TV is a moment Vodafone SuperFan’s cherish for prosperity.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    We allocate spends depending on various factors such as desired reach, importance and relevance, etc.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    Vodafone as a brand works basis an integrated marketing plan and Maxus – our agency works according to the overall plan.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sure shot avenue than ATL?

    The marketing activity depends on the marketing objective to target audiences. Hence, there are some cases where BTL does the job (localised messaging, etc) and some cases where ATL is an absolute necessity (rapid awareness creation)

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    For salience visibility in BTL, we consider the brand’s requirements in specific markets and plan campaigns accordingly. Vodafone does not need customer awareness or brand recall in most markets, which means that extensive visibility for the brand logo is not the criteria. We try and ensure that any OOH visibility can be stretched to include engagement, where possible, and aggregate the presence generated by store signage, retail assets etc as well.

     

    For tactical campaigns, the first thing to consider would be who you are targeting, and what you aim to deliver via the product / service. We then choose media based on available data about consumers’ media consumption patterns for that TG.

     

    For example, Vodafone U, our lifestyle proposition for youth, created the platform of Million Fun Experiences for the youth to engage and enjoy. Under this umbrella, Back to Campus, a month long campaign in 400 leading colleges across top 50 cities was driven through campus engagements and promoted via social media. Vodafone U is also associating with the much awaited musical drama Rock On 2 to offer exciting experiences to its customers and music lovers.

     

    Vodafone marked the launch of Vodafone SuperNet 4G with the return of its iconic mascot-The Pug. Considering the overwhelming response to the campaign, Vodafone in association with Petfed organised a unique Pug- Parade in Delhi and other key markets. The activities included a host of exciting fun engagements like Fashion show, merchandise like customised T-shirts, Leashes, Collars, Bandanas for all our pug friends, Exciting Photo booths, free pet Grooming session, Free Vet check-up, Games, etc.

     

  • There is definitely a change in the media environment going on right now and where that dollars flow we will be the interesting part of the business., says Chris Weil is the Chairman and CEO, Momentum Worldwide in BTL Baatein… powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Chris Weil, Momentum Worldwide … Powered by VISCOMM

    With a degree in Economics from Westminster College, Columbia, Chris Weil is the Chairman and CEO, Momentum Worldwide and believes that experience creates the connections that lead to loyalty, advocacy and sales. He leads Momentum in imagining and creating those memorable moments for brands, as the Total Brand Experience. Weil believes that what a brand does is more important than what it says and that these days people demand more from brands than just products or service – people need these relationships to have meaning.  We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Santosh Jangid speaking to Chris Weil about Below The Line (BTL) advertising and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL

     

    How important is BTL to the overall marketing plan of a brand?

    Just the term BTL to me is really antiquated and does not make sense from a consumer perspective. First, you have to look at what BTL stands for. It is an accounted term. It was Below-The-Line what was not commissionable back in the day when agencies were commissioned. Secondly, the consumer does not distinguish between Above-The-Line or Below-The-Line or Through-The-Line or online or offline. The consumer looks at a brand in totality. What is the total brand experience that I have with a brand is what dictates my love, loyalty, warmth or coldness towards a brand and whether or not I am going to recommend it. If we talk about all the touch-points that I as a consumer have with a brand and one of those could be television which is a tactic, one of those could be experiential, one of those could be print, or online. It doesn’t matter but all of them together is what adds up to what a brand is.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion for your clients?

    We are blessed that we work with some of the best brands in the world. Brands like American Express, Coca-Cola, SAP, Verizon wireless in the United States, Microsoft on a global basis, Procter & Gamble, etc are our clients. The ones that really get it are the ones that understand that experiential marketing is at the core of any brand. Outside of the core product or service that a company has, the experience is the most important thing. We try to look at what is the customer’s overall experience and what is the customer’s total brand experience for our clients.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sure shotavenue than ATL?

    I don’t think you can look at ATL or BTL but you have to look at the total brand experience for a customer because each one of them ads up to what is the important factor of creating brand love and driving sales and you cannot segment  them and say, this is what we are doing Below-The-Line and this is what we are doing Above-The-Line because there is no line in the consumer’s mind. It’s not you as a consumer say, that’s my online experience with the brand but my physical experience with the brand is different or this is my Above-The-Line television experience but if I get a Below-The-Line it’s different. It is all the same. So we as marketers have to look at things that way.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your views on this.

    For every brand, it is going to be different so there is no set formula. Let’s take two different brands of soft drinks for example – Coca-Cola and Red bull. Coca-Cola grew up in the age of modern media and it helped define them in a lot of ways through their iconic classic television advertisements not just in the US but around the world. Red Bull, on the other hand. up until recently had not done any television commercial. They built the entire brand around experiences. Every bit of that brand was built on experiences. They are two very different brands in the consumer’s head. So, is one better than the other, I don’t know about that but they are just two very different approaches but they also grew up in different time. Red Bull had the ability to utilise the extensions of new media.

     

    Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    There is definitely a change in the media environment going on right now and where that dollars flow we will be the interesting part of the business. When we get past looking at things such as, this is the cost of my experience or that is the cost of a television ad but instead look at is as this is how I reach X number of consumers, that’s when we will see the expansion and as we look at it, it is paid, owned and  earned. What is it that we do that can earn media as opposed to just go out there and paying for it and owned is what you have inside your organisation. One of the biggest expansion that we will see in the coming years is around earned media. It doesn’t matter what a brand says, it’s what a brand does that matters.

     

  • It is an integral part because a lot of times especially for the HNI segment and even for B2B spaces you need to build that connect with consumers

    BTL Baatein: Sheran Mehra, DBS Bank… Powered by VISCOMM

    Armed with an experience of over 18 years, Sheran Mehra has spearheaded marketing & communications teams across sectors and has successfully launched and positioned global brands. Sheran Mehra is Head, Group Strategic Marketing & Communications at DBS Bank in India. She has been credited for leading several disruptive and clutter breaking award winning campaigns like Chilli Paneer, Portraits of Purpose (PoP) and Action against Cyber Thefts (ACT). We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Santosh Jangid speaking to Sheran Mehra about Below The Line (BTL) advertising for Banking sector and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL

     

    In the financial sector, banks specifically, how would you say have marketers adopted the concept of experiential marketing to its actual potential?

    Experiential marketing is not new in banking. It’s been on for a while be it for a credit cards or home loans you see a lot of these products using experiential marketing. Many banks have been doing it for a long time. In smaller pockets when you have to reach people then thats the best way you can build connect with the consumers. We call it the neighbourhood marketing or community marketing but now it has taken different forms and shapes. It has gone to malls, multiplexes and societies. It has been there for a long time but this is not something that is new.

     

    What do you use as a measure for judging the success of experiential marketing?

    It depends on what level you are doing. If you are actually amplifying it on digital as well because one leg is that you do an offline and bring it to online. Thats what many brands also do, online to offline or offline to online. So you initiate an idea offline and take it online or the other way round. So depending on what we are doing, then we measure it accordingly. It could be the number of leads, the conversions that you get from there, the interaction that you measure on digital, the engagement that you build, it also has an impact on the brand’s health course that you measure and the word of mouth will also happen. These are the measures that we look at and depending on what is the objective of the particular activity that we are doing.

     

    How important is BTL activity to your overall marketing plan? And overall in the banking sector?

    It is an integral part because a lot of times especially for the HNI segment and even for B2B spaces you need to build that connect with consumers. It may not happen in a very large scale but in smaller forms for HNI customer it is important to build that connect. To that extent it is an important part of the marketing mix. But depends on what level you are doing and what scale do you want to take it to.

     

    We have seen the recent Sachin campaign being very visible on the ground as well? Tell us more on that.

    It was a mix that we did as a part of our campaign. While there was something happening online, we had to have that surround on ground as well because if you see that surround on ground, it is again a reminder medium for people. You see it online and then you see it offline or vice versa. It helps in brand recall and in consideration set as well because when you’ve seen it you build familiarity with the brand. We did a couple of things when we launched the campaign. We were riding on IPL and we had signed up with Pune team. We did a lot of stuff on ground in Pune. We did go to malls, we did go to multiplexes and we leveraged Sachin there. The moment you see any activity around Sachin it helps pull the crowd. So you have something to start conversation with and the you build on it with the kind of activation that you are doing, be it at the stadium or mall, multiplexes or societies. The whole proposition is around, Live More, Bank Less. This is about how you live more and that is actually how we took it forward and embedded it in the activities that we were doing. If it is around shopping than you would have it in malls, when we were doing cricket then it was messaging around cricket.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    We look at a mix of 70-30 in the whole plan but really depends on at that point in time what is the activity that we are doing. So BTL is 70% and ATL is 30%

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?\

    We are present in 12 markets, four metros in Pune, Bangalore and other smaller cities. So for brands like us, it is very important to build connect in smaller cities and also in the cities we are present in. We had done a mix at key malls, multiplexes and because we had tied up with the Pune team we were actually looked at stadium. Wherever the team was travelling, if the team was travelling to Bangalore then we would do an event with them in Bangalore. So wherever we had our footprint, branches we did a BTL activity there.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    We mostly do it with an BTL agency, we do have support from creative agencies because this is something that happens almost every week. We go to corporates as well. Those guys are the best equipped to understand this space very well. So you have to find someone who are more nimble and who have the local city knowledge and also have that network.

     

    In terms of generating results esp from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?

    In the B2B space, yes I would say that especially for SMEs where you have to build a stronger connect, then a one to one interaction helps than doing a one to many. While we will do one to many, it is also important that you follow up with a one on one. There is a limitation of what you can do one to one so it has to be a combination. In B2B the conversions take a little longer, a personal connect does help.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    Depends on what the activity is. If it is alone on ground then you will look at the number of people you’ve touched, then if you take it online or you take it offline. If you take it online it will be the number of interactions, responses that you get, the feedback that you get, the interactions, engagement that you get. On field it will be the number of walk-in and the conversions that happened.

     

    There are many organisations that often do new launches almost entirely on BTL aided with an outdoor and/or digital blitz? Your view on this. Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL?

    All these mediums complement each other. So it’s not about you doing ATL and not doing BTL, you do digital and not do BTL and ATL. Sometimes the ATL works better, sometimes the BTL works better. For brands like us, which have limited network, BTL works brilliantly for us. At various times that you need ATL, then you will do that push. We are present in 12 cities, we have 1 branch per city so we don’t need a national publish but need to secure yourself in the cities that you are present, then BTL works well. But the moment you have a national footprint, like we did for DigiBank, while we are present in only 12 cities that product can be bought by anyone since its available on the app store. However for brands like us who have limited network, BTL and out of home works brilliantly but if you need more eyeballs, then ATL complements.

     

  • Our marketing strategies are usually integrated and BTL is definitely an important part of our activities, says Pulkit Abrol, Head of Marketing, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in in BTL Baatein… powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Pulkit Abrol, ACCA … Powered by VISCOMM

    A 15-year career commencing as a management trainee with ITC limited in India to brand and marketing stints in Reliance Communications, Diageo and brand and luxury marketing strategy consulting with Open D Group, Pulkit Abrol has a deep understanding of consumers in developed and developing economies bringing both executive leadership and real-life practical experience. Pulkit Abrol heads the Marketing and Planning function for ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the global body for professional accountants) for its emerging markets directorate. We present to you the ‘BTL Baatein’ of the week which is powered by VISCOMM with Santosh Jangid speaking to Pulkit Abrol about Below The Line (BTL) advertising and promotions for the educational sector and the balance between ATL (Above The Line) and BTL

     

    How important is BTL to your overall marketing plan?

    ACCA is the leading body for professional chartered accountancy qualification and we have over 110 years of experience in the world of building and creating opportunities for accountancy across the world and we work with approximately 80 global accountancy partnerships across various offices. Our marketing strategies are usually integrated and BTL is definitely an important part of our activities. It is integral to our work and our marketing tasks. Specifically in India, it does feature as an important part of the work that we do with our partners and various stakeholders.

     

    Can you also specify the range of activities that you undertake as part of the below-the-line advertising and promotion?

    The range of activities that we try to integrate in our ATL and BTL activities across our campaigns would be location-based outdoor programmes, which are highly targeted around universities, colleges, employers and our learning provider network across India. We also do tele-marketing which goes in tandem with our digital efforts and digital customer journeys. We also believe in supporting the customer journey with what we believe as a moment of truth in retail visibility programs. We do have a wide range of learning providers and universities where we support them with events, educational fares and we also conduct road shows or information sessions in physical locations.  We regularly conduct finance and accountancy workshops for a wide variety of stakeholders such as teachers who deliver the qualification, corporates who want their finance talent to be globally relevant, CFO’s and finance function leadership who focus on corporate governance, assurance, risk management and so on. We also encourage and regularly hold interactions with student counsellors through roundtable discussions, debate and understand the key trends in the future of education, skills development, work readiness, employment and career opportunities in the finance and accountancy profession in India.

     

    Can you give a broad idea of your spends pie of ATL v/s BTL?

    That really depends on the audiences and the target segments across the various markets that we operate in. It depends on the campaign that we are running. Since we are  building our presence in India, it’s an incremental pattern that we see. Historically, if we look at the figures, we are constantly increasing our BTL funds year-on-year and that will go up.

     

    Do you prefer to do this through BTL agencies directly or via your existing creative/media agency?

    We believe there are components in our marketing work which require specialised BTL agencies. These would be those agencies who work on customer journeys or retain customer journeys. We believe there is a role in our customer journey through specialised agency and there are other agencies such as our media partner Adfactors which supports us on outdoor and various location-based targeted key cities in India.

     

    In terms of generating results especially from consumers and in B2B, do you find BTL a more sureshot avenue than ATL?

    There are two parts to this. We do have a sizeable stakeholder audience in B2B, so we usually have direct response efforts such as programs which are either digital lead generation or event based marketing. We participate with bodies like the Institute of Directors, India and have a working relationship with the Institute of Cost Accountants of India. We do have a B2B-led management programme which is event-based where we do see conversions, we are also in partnership with CFO India Network where we run a series of roundtable discussions with the finance leadership in the country making them aware about this qualification and how it adds value to employers. As far as B2C marketing is concerned, we do believe that to drive salience and to drive awareness we do see an important part of the consideration aspects of the brand coming through with all the work that Adfactors supports us with in outdoor and location based marketing.

     

    While sales and salience are good indicators of its success, what are the attributes you look at to measure the success of a BTL campaign?

    For BTL, there is a broad range of measures that we look at. Some of the tactics that I mentioned are difficult to measure while some have very direct hard key performance indicators (KPI). If we are doing something on telemarketing or digital or road shows or information sessions, we can directly link that to conversations, opportunities, conversions. When we try to drive awareness and our target audience are more fragmented we use outdoor, which would be opportunity to see, locations, investments to support that end.

     

    Given rising media costs, do you see BTL managing on its own, without ATL in educational sector?

    There is a growing trend in India that we are accustomed to that a lot of product launches, especially in the consumer space does tend to have a lot of awareness building, promotion tactics done through the BTL channels. For ACCA, our conversation is slightly different. For us, when we are engaging with our B2B audiences, we have to have conversation about how the qualification supports the employer and how universities and the academic fraternity can engage with the professional qualification because there is difference in academic qualification and a professional qualification. As far as B2C is concerned, there is probably a greater tendency on having in India BTL-aided campaigns, but we believe that given our brand and the evolved marketing strategies today, which are mostly integrated, you need to have different messages, different conversions, considerations drivers across different paths of consumer’s journey. When you are looking at making a choice for an educational qualification, there are various factors into place. If you’re looking at making a career in finance and accounting there are various factors such as what is it that you are considering, what are your sources, what are your friends doing. There is a lot going on in the head of a key target customer for us and the to add to that there is teacher’s role, professor’s role, parent’s role. so all these factors come into place so we not only have to bring appropriate value proposition across the customer journey for all of these audiences but also work on some of the new media which is available to converge the aspect of physical learning as well as the digital environment. So, it is a shifting terrain and there are media costs in BTL which will increase. For our brand it will be difficult to say BTL would 100% help in obtaining the desired results. The task for our organisation is to support the public interest, to talk about our membership , to support students across India and to work with employers and this will not happen just by ATL. It does require some investment in BTL as well.

     

  • Recapping the many interviews with leading marketing heads… MxMIndia has been carrying as part of its BTL Baatein series… powered by VISCOMM

    Celebrating BTL

     

    Over the last many months, we have been featuring interviews of the top marketing captains (and other CxOs leading the marketing function) – all speaking on Below The Line advertising and promotions.

     

    Here’s a recap of the many interviews with leading marketings MxMIndia has been carrying as part of its BTL Baatein series… all powered by VISCOMM​

     

    BTL Baatein: Pulkit Abrol, ACCA … Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Sheran Mehra, DBS Bank… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Chris Weil, Momentum Worldwide … Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Siddharth Banerjee, Vodafone India …. Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: N V Chakravarthi, Himalaya BabyCare … Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Lokesh Kataria, Mattel Toys… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Samar Singh Sheikhawat, United Breweries Ltd… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Malay Dikshit, Tata Sky… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Yogesh Shinde, Wagh Bakri Tea… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: BTL plays a pivotal role in Videocon d2h’s marketing mix… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Bharat Kharbanda, Usha International… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Amit Kumar Gope, CenturyPly… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Shweta Shrivastava, London Dairy… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Sarthak Seth, Panasonic India… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Sevantika Bhandari, DHFL… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Chaitanya Rele, Vice President, Marketing, Havmor Ice Cream… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Sagar Boke, Tata Chemicals Ltd… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Bedraj Tripathy, Godrej Interio… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Sudheer Srinivas, Himalaya Drug Co… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Arun Souza Varma, AAK Kamani Pvt Ltd… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Anil Bhamre, GM-Marketing, Racold Thermo… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Vighnesh Shahane, IDBI Federal Life Insurance… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baateni: Nilesh Parwani, MD and India Head, Vistaprint… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein with Saumitra Prasad, Kokuyo Camlin Ltd… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein with Manish Bhatia HSIL… Powered by VISCOMM

    MxMIndia announces BTL Baatein Live! powered by VISCOMM. Session 1 on Fri, Dec 11 with Sanjay Tripathy of HDFC Life

    BTL Baatein: Neelima Burra, Cargill Foods India…. Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Revant Bhate, Faaso’s… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Mandeep Malhotra, The Social Street… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Vandana Verma, Leo Burnett… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Vidur Patney, Maxus… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Sidharth Ghosh, pSLIVE,…. Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Vineet Jain, Himalaya Drug Company…. Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Amit Arora, Trivitron Healthcare… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Amit Sarda, Soulflower… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Prakash Chari, Apollo White Dental… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Gulbahar Taurani, Philips India… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Deepali Naair, Mahindra Holidays… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Uma Talreja, Burger King India… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: GK Suresh, ITC Limited… Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Swati Rathi, Godrej Appliances

    BTL Baatein: Sachin Dingankar, Zydus Wellness Ltd. Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein: Pravin Kulkarnii, Parle Products. Powered by VISCOMM

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    BTL Baatein:Sumeet Narang,Bajaj Auto Powered by VISCOMM

    BTL Baatein with Sanjay Tripathy of HDFC Life

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