MxMIndia

Tag: Pepsi

  • Volatility is not a part of our life any more, it is our life, says the PepsiCo chief. Hence, make volatility an intrinsic part of the plan.

    AdAsia: Indra Nooyi’s answer to uncertainty, creative adaptability

    By Akash Raha

    In the current times of volatility managing business and brands is no easy task. Yet, we have the example of PepsiCo which has thrived in the New World Order though thick and thin. The final session of AdAsia captured Ms Indra Nooyi’s perspective Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo who stimulated the delegates with her ideas on how to manage business with de-averaged realities.

    She said that it is indeed a difficult task for CEOs to navigate an enterprise when uncertainty is the only certainty. Especially when we have not seen such volatility that one has not seen in the last few decades, what does one do?  At such a framework, prediction is very difficult, especially when it is about the future. But the question is, hasn’t the future always been as such, as unpredictable as it is right now? But no, I do believe, she said, that there is something unnerving about the uncertainty we feel today. Be it financial sphere or the political sphere, these are the times of immense upheaval and turmoil.

    At such times, it was inevitable that creativity gave way to fear and risk. There are several crises that we have faced in the recent times and from which we need to learn a lot. The first challenge she mentioned was the crisis of leadership. “One of the great tasks of leadership is to prepare when the storm comes.” And it won’t be wrong to say that several leaders of reputed companies failed to avert the tension. Hence, one of the most important things for most companies is to build strong leadership base over a long period of time. Another crisis that we faced in the recent times was the crisis of government failure. Governance of several countries around the globe failed so much so, that it has caused a crisis of expectations. Many of us don’t know or have forgotten what success looks like anymore. Financial, social and political failure all at the same time hasn’t helped the cause of anyone.

    Yet there are several positives that has emerged in recent times, one of them is that of emergence of the women force in the emerging market – more than twice the size of India and China together. There are plenty to reasons to give cause to optimism. The only certainty today is, that the world is uncertain. So the question is, how can we survive and thrive in such situation? Darwin’s theory of evolution still holds good and they key in such a scenario is that to adapt. It’s not the strongest that survive, but the fittest.  As a CEO of PepsiCo, said Ms Nooyi, I have seen so much change since I joined. “All of us have to explicitly realize that we are in a new reality… I don’t think that we can plan in the way we used to plan. Volatility is not a part of our life any more, it is our life.” Hence, when you plan, make volatility an intrinsic part of the plan. “We need to plan the next plan while the ink on our first plan is still drying out”, she added.

    Another important thing is that leaders have to lead for today. It’s important that the leaders and institution give something back to the society and stay relevant. Having a vision for the future is essential. Also, leaders should know about the element of uncertainty beforehand and keep it always as a variable in their scheme of things.

    We see how growth is elusive in many parts of the world. This is not a time for small changes; we need big changes in to big things. There must be seamless and borderless innovation to make something big happen. “Disrupt yourselves deliberately, otherwise competition will disrupt you.  The usual way of working will not work anymore.

    Lastly, it is essential to get new talent in the business and nurture them. Experience of the quality people and leaders we have in our company are invaluable. But also essential is training leaders, creating young leaders. In our company, said Ms Nooyi, we are trying to give the knowledge of East and West, about various ethnicity and cultures to all our budding upcoming leaders. Companies across boards need to rethink the whole process of leadership development.

    Leaders of today have to be super visible to the organization and to the outside world. Interaction with the outside world is absolutely necessary at times such as these. One should be transparent, truthful and open. Because, if the leader does not tell them, someone else will and then there will be speculation and rumours which is absolutely detrimental to the cause of any company. Have an open door policy. It is always a good advice always, but now it is imperative. The answer to uncertainty is simple, it is creative adaptability.

  • In no particular order – from the dancing girl on the cricket field to Sehwag’s Ma – there’s something about Indian ads and sports that hits the spot.

    The Anchor: 7 ads that star sports and sportsmen

    By Hemant Kenkre

     

    In no particular order – from the dancing girl on the cricket field to Sehwag’s Ma – there’s something about Indian ads and sports that hits the spot

     

    #1 Palmolive Da Jawaab Nahi:The Haryana Hurricane, as Kapil Dev was known, endeared himself to millions of Indians (not just cricket fans) with the line from the Palmolive Ad – ‘Palmolive Da Jawaab Nahi. ’ Kapil’s earthy personality and toothy smile in the ad will always be remembered as much as the “Kitne Aadmi The” dialogue from Sholay.
    #2 Cadbury – Asli Swaad Zindagi Ka:Can anyone forget the Cadbury TVC where the lady friend of the batsman prances out on the field and dances her way into the arms of her hero, who has just hit a six? Kucch Khaas Hai Is Ad Main!
    #3 Josh Ka Rang – Coca-Cola 1996 World Cup:In 1996 when Coca-Cola won the pouring rights for the ICC World Cup (India. Pakistan & Sri Lanka), they announced their return into India with a super TVC – Josh Ka Rang –that ‘played’ around the colour red, showed youngsters from the Indian sub-continent playing on the streets, on the banks of the Jamuna, with the Taj as the backdrop, running among red-chillies laid out to dry. All peppered with the awesome ‘Dum Mast Kalandar’ track by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
    #4 Nothing Official About It – Pepsi 1996:While Coca-Cola’s TVC and strong PR campaign for the 1996 ICC World Cup was going great guns, rivals Pepsi  pulled the rug from under their feet by launching their campaign ‘Nothing Official About It,’ which featured most Indian and international cricketers who were playing the World Cup and cocked a cheeky snook at Coca-Cola’s ‘Official beverage of the Cup’ status
    #5 Aila Plane – Pepsi  2003 ICC World Cup:This Pepsi campaign, where Shane Warne and Carl Hooper kidnap Sachin Tendulkar – ostensibly to put him out of action from the tournament – is hilarious. Especially Warne and Hooper mouthing Hindi words like ‘Iski Toh Gayee’ and when Sachin sees an aircraft and says ‘Alia Plane’
    #6 Nike 2007 Cricket:The 2007 edition of the ICC World Cup saw Nike, the official apparel sponsor of the Indian team produce a superb TVC where young cricketers atop a bus stuck in a traffic jam, playing the game with passion, smashing tea cups from the hands of innocent bystanders all spiced with the Goan folk song ‘Yo Baile Yo’ playing in the background.
    #7 Karlo Duniyaa Mutthi Main, Sehwag Ki Maa – Reliance Mobile:This TVC was probably inspired by a Bollywood blockbuster where the Najafgarh’s hero (Virendra Sehwag) cannot connect bat to ball and gets a call from his Mother who tells him ‘Karlo Duniyaa Mutthi Main.’ Our hero tosses off his helmet and the ‘villainous’ bowler is promptly whacked out of the park by Viru!


    A communications professional, Hemant Kenkre played cricket for Bombay University and has captained the Cricket Club of India.
  • Experiential marketing is here, it is growing, and marketers and advertisers are embracing it eagerly. How well will it work?

    The X in marketing

     

     

    By Ritu Midha

     

    Experiential marketing, or ExM, is not really a new phenomenon – even way back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was being used by a few savvy marketers. For instance, in 1996 HLL did a children’s connect programme in schools for Pepsodent, which led to high brand recall. In 1999, Reebok got people to try out its high-end DMX shoes – and converted nearly 10 percent of the people who tried the shoe into customers.

    However, back then, examples were far and few, and the growth rate sluggish. No one predicted that in approximately 10 years it would grow to the size it is today. It is no longer being looked at as a futuristic strategy. It is here and now – and growing. Marketers have separate ExM professionals, while agencies, both media and advertising, have experiential marketing arms and divisions.

     

    Understanding ExM

    The USP of ExM obviously is that it enables the brands to connect with consumers, and engage in a two-way interaction, unlike print and television – where it is by and large a one-way street. As is known, it has a right brain bias, and seeks to fulfil certain aspirations and feelings of consumers – it seeks to appeal to consumer’s senses… a rich cup of coffee, a quick drive in a luxury car, hair care by a well-known stylist, two days free stay at a resort – but would it work for a bad brand? Ideally, it should not!

     

    Global insights

    Global Experiential Marketing Research Industry Trend Report 2011 (Experiential Marketing Forum’s Global Research study conducted with IMI) indicates that ExM is getting attention from marketers the world over.

    A few insights from the study are:

    • Clients consider Experiential/Event agencies as ‘innovative, creative and engaging’
    • The client expectation, as per the study, is that experiential marketing agencies would provide better RoI and integration with overall marketing plan and strategy in times to come
    • Clients believe that Social Media, Digital Media and Experiential Marketing would see the largest market spend growth in the next two-years.

    (The study was conducted among marketing professionals across the globe.)

    ExM in India

    If experts are to be believed, the scenario is not very different in India, as far as percentage growth goes. As figures for experiential marketing (which, as per some experts, is no different from BTL) in isolation are not available, here is a quick look at Below the Line market size facilitated by Spatial Access. States Ms Geetanjali Bhattacharjii, CEO, Marketing Services, Spatial Access, “The 2007 annual report of The FICCI-PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated BTL spending in India to be at Rs 900cr, It was expected to grow to Rs 2000cr by 2011. Today’s estimates place BTL spends across events, retail, printing at Rs 9000cr.” She adds, “The ATL: BTL ratio is at 70:30 now with the BTL pie increasing to a 40 percent of marketing budgets.”

    Spatial Access is possibly one of the pioneering developers of The Activation Index.

     

    It is certainly an interesting phenomenon. Even today, while the slowdown is showing its impact on media spends, digital, social and experiential are expected to be the least affected. What is more, digital and ExM are expected to work together – online activities culminating in ground events is the buzz among youth brands.

    Experts believe that tradition media is not going anywhere, considering its reach, CPT and the place it already has in a consumer’s mind and household. But activity on it will increasingly be supplemented with ground activities to engage specific target groups.

     

    Positive outlook

    Mr Sam Balsara, Chairman and Managing Director, Madison World, believes that pace at which EXM is growing is phenomenal, “More and more companies are now focusing on integrated marketing and engagement. So directionally, it is the way forward. Marketers now know that they need to engage their prospective target group in a more meaningful and deeper way in order to convert them into customers and retain them. You need to seduce the customer in variety of different ways. Marketing spends in experiential marketing are substantially increasing.”

    Mr Josy Paul, Chairman & NCD, BBDO India, endorses Balsara’s view wholeheartedly, remarking that a standalone TV commercial might not suffice in most cases now. As he puts it, “You need an action-oriented idea based on behaviour.” He adds, “We have proved the power of the action-oriented idea with campaigns like Women Against Lazy Stubble started on Facebook, Aviva Great Wall of Education that started as a wall on the road, Lemon Patalum in Tamil Nadu, which we did for 7up – a platform to invite kids to play light-hearted, lemony, rubber-ball cricket with their superstar CSK. Today you need to create multiple platforms.”

     

    A few advantages

    Consumer engagement is taking place at various touch points like colleges, housing societies, and events organised with the sole objective of providing customer with a brand experience. However, malls and organised retail outlets are the ones utilised to the maximum – be it sampling of a new tea, a shampoo or even a car. As there is less time between awareness and purchase here, the conversion ratio can be much higher.

    Retailers, of course, are leaving no stone unturned in engaging the customer, in activities co-crafted with brands, or in isolation. States Mr Devendra Chawla, President, FMCG & Food, “We follow a toolkit including a multi-sensorial engagement with the consumer in the retail theatre. In food categories, where taste and palate play an important role in buying decisions, experience in terms of sampling is very effective. In the non-food category, testers are provided to help customers with decision-making. Promoters play an important role as in the case of beauty products through demonstrations.”

    Another interesting fact that has come out in a few global experiential marketing studies is that an experience often leads to a lot of discussion – 90 percent of people, in fact, tell their family and friends about participating in the activity. Word-of-mouth does create a lot of buzz around the brand.

    Direct engagement with a brand leads to emotional engagement, which increases loyalty and brand recall.

     

    A few examples

    Marketers are today generating tools and channels to make an effect on all the senses of the consumer, in 360-degree sight, touch and smell. However, one does wonder whether experiential marketing works for all product categories, or is it not-so-good a bet for low involvement categories. Explains Ms Bhattacharjii, “The types of companies that utilize experiential marketing tactics are typically contemporary consumer brands which are youthful enough to create the experience. However, the potential for such campaigns is currently growing, with a whole host of companies and brands hoping to gain the benefits from engaging with their customer base.” She also gives a few examples of Experiential marketing activity:

    Pepsi organized an inter-school cricket event for 425 schools across 14 cities, which worked wonders for it. This was the exact age group they wanted to target. Mass advertising is more general in its appeal, whereas through BTL you can focus your efforts better, customize better.

    Samsung discovered that BTL activities like product demonstrations and cookery classes helped in making people familiar with the concept of its microwave ovens and eventually helped in sales too. BTL helps you reach the audience on a one-to-one basis.

    Vodafone and Fever 104 planned a “Vodafone Fever” contest where every 104 minutes, one had the chance to win Rs.104,000! Whenever the RJ called, the contestant was supposed to say “Vodafone Fever” instead of “Hello”. This way, both companies reached their target audience in a jiffy.

    Kaya Skin Clinic finds it profitable to organize workshops and events on skincare for its customers. This way it generates more business from its existing customers.

     

    Issues

    Experiential marketing is growing but not without hiccups. Identifying the specific target groups, and the right place and activity to reach them, is one issue. One size fits all is not a workable model. Another issue faced is that consumer usually wants to participate in the activities for the brands they are already familiar with courtesy traditional media. The third and bigger problem is the absence of measurability and metrics. The argument by ExM agencies is that RoI for EXM should not be cost per reach but cost per conversion.

    If current indications are anything to go by, ExM is set to grow. However, it can never be a substitute for traditional media. Brands will continue to build on traditional media, and will use ExM for better customer connect, and better sales – and they will do so more frequently now.

     

    Picture Credit : Fotocorp