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Tag: V Balasubramanium

  • Without a proper and systematic research analytics strategy, brands, irrespective of size, will find the going tough, writes V Balasubramanium

    The Anchor: 7 reasons to never ignore research analytics. Ever

    By V Balasubramanium

     

    The word “dynamism” has left a strong impression in the mind as we, like other consumers, have also embraced “dynamism”.  We experience the pace of this accelerating dynamism on a continuous basis. Dynamism in consumer behaviour as a result of a plethora of factors leads to the dynamism in the market. Given this increased pace, any brand – whether small or big, weak or healthy – needs to monitor its performance not only on a day-to-day basis but practically minute by minute. This monitoring and thus implementing quick course correction as required by changing consumer tastes is the biggest catalyst for any brand’s sustenance and growth. Research analytics come into play at this juncture. Without a proper and systematic research analytics strategy, brands, irrespective of size, will find the going tough. Thus the reasons for not ignoring research analytics are mainly connected with the word “dynamism”.

    #1 Consumer needs are evolving. Thanks to the increased exposure of the consumer to the globe through media, or through increased affluence, the attitudinal shift is the main driver to this ever-changing need. The resultant effect is tuning the mind for more brand messages, increased trial, and reduced loyalty.

    #2 The market is getting filled with more and more brands with varied offerings along with evolving needs. This crowding will lead to a greater effort by brands to gain increased consumer connect. Too many brands thus try to get consumer mindspace through various mechanisms.

    #3 Increasing knowledge of brands for the consumer. Consumers in this dynamic society try to get more knowledge of brands and switch decisions without any lag. This leads to expansion of the consideration set basket and reduction of loyalty.

    #4 Media is proliferating. Increased choice of connect points leads to more information being provided to the consumer, thus expanding the consumer’s knowledge base and aspiration levels. This results in increased brand trials.

    #5 Innovative distribution strategies of brands lead to more consumer brand interactions that influence changing brand choices.

    #6 Given all these complexities in markets and consumer behaviour patterns, marketers are increasingly looking for not only marketing RoI estimation but management of effective marketing RoI, the resultant benefit thus in monitoring the bang for the buck behind brands.

    #7 Static is an old word now. All brands are passing through this dynamic phase. To constantly gear to new challenges and create a proactive strategy for the win, brands need to look into present and past trends. Without proper ongoing marketing research analytics, brands of any size will find it difficult to face a new challenge.

     

    V Balasubramanium is the Director at RainMan Consulting.

  • With so much bad news around the Kingfisher Airlines business, we ask experts in what ways it could impact the brand.

    Brand Kingfisher in the red

     

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    The King of Good Times is battling bad times, and all eyes are waiting to see how much the whole bailout issue will cost Brand Kingfisher. Right now, the airline business of Kingfisher is under deep scrutiny and the media focus has only heightened the negative atmosphere. Public memory, of course, is short and all ‘bailout’, ‘bleeding’ and ‘those who die must die’ phrases will be forgotten once Vijay Mallya is able to arrange the corpus to manage the airline’s functioning. Remember, Jet Airways employees’ protests against job cuts some years ago didn’t do much harm to the brand in the long run.

     

    Kingfisher, known primarily for its beer, is unlikely to be affected. The brand has been there for a long time and people vouch for it. Even in this scenario, it’s the airline business that is under the scanner. The airline business is diversification of the core business, hence the impact on Kingfisher the brand would not be much. But when it comes to Kingfisher Airlines, people – especially frequent flyers and privileged guests wooed with the airline’s promise of an extraordinary experience – would stay away, considering flight cancellations and the consequent inconvenience.

     

    Expressing his view, Harish Bijoor, brand expert and CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, said, “Kingfisher is a dominant brand in the Indian context. The brand for a start is a beer. And from there on has developed the brand equity of brand Kingfisher Airlines. To that extent, the recent sets of issues in aviation tends to hurt the equity of Kingfisher Airlines more than the beer. The airline is a service brand that touches the lives of hundreds of people. The beer is a product brand. To that extent there is less of an issue there.”

     

    “The negative publicity that hits Kingfisher airlines is really about the pains of the traveller more than anything else. A traveller faced with flight cancellations at the last minute is impacted the most. This is where the biggest pain point of Kingfisher Airlines’ brand equity vests,” added Bijoor.

     

    So at one level where the crisis has hit most is the frequent travellers, but that is more of a short-term problem. In fact, the brand has taken a beating but not as much. Even V Balasubramanium, Director at RainMan Consulting, is of the opinion that the brand would have been affected if the issues were that involving ethics or credibility but something like a ‘bailout’ and being cash-strapped will not impact it long-term as people already know that the airline industry is bleeding and the same goes for Kingfisher Airlines. So while the issue has not come as a surprise, it’s true that the rumours about large-scale layoffs or the airline shutting operations don’t exactly help Mr Mallya’s case.

     

    One view that also emerges is that whenever UB has tried to diversify and move away from its core business of alcoholic drinks, they haven’t really succeeded. Ramanujam Sridhar, CEO, Brand-Comm said, “The next two to three months will be critical for Kingfisher, and how they manage to emerge out of this crisis and do damage control. There will be close scrutiny and overcoming this will be a challenge. There is a negative undercurrent especially among those who have raised eyebrows over the extravagant lifestyle and now the financial mess. I think it’s a wait and watch policy and the next couple of months will be make-or-break as far as the Kingfisher Airlines brand goes.”

     

    As it stands, the Kingfisher brand which is primarily associated with liquor will not be impacted in any case, as it will have its loyal followers, but for the airline business, which is actually a brand extension, it’s time to be cautious and move carefully. “Kingfisher needs to get off the pedestal and talk and emote with its users and those sitting on the fence with reference to its usage. It’s important to be transparent and admit folly where folly lies. In reality nothing succeeds like success. I do believe this is a temporary blip in the brand equity fortunes of Kingfisher Airlines. With some degree of fund infusion, it will be business as usual,” concludes Bijoor.

     

    Image: Grab from Kingfisher Airline TVC