Download - MAXUS Newsletter- December'11 Issue Final
f o
r e
w o
r d
I n
s i
d e
From MAXUSites
Best of 2011 - Articles
Best of AHA Work in 2011
What a year has this been! A year full of awards – Cannes again, to leading the pack in Big Bang and Goafest, our first research win in Emvies, to lots of AHA work with our part-ners and current partners, new initiatives in analytics, data monitoring, content specialized communication to activation lead communication, phew… the list is endless. What we present to you this year end is a collection of our best articles and work from our talented and enthusiastic Mx‘ites.
Enjoy this year end read – if you are in office, or do refresh yourself when you join back in new year.
Happy New Year to all and have a blast.
- Priti
Best Articles of 2011
By Saif Shaikh
Kids in Techno Age
By Kartik Sharma
The Case of Missing TVRs
By Bharati Joshi
Generation Clichéd!
By Niel Stewart
But Mum everyone in the school is wearing red
By Victor Britto
Indian Magazine Industry
By Aparajita Virmani
Alternate Screen
By Upendra Acharya
New Terminologies in Digital
By Shailesh Kumar
One Lazy afternoon
By Himadari Garg
The Impotent’s Condom
By Deena Devassy
Brand Bloppers
By Kartik Sharma
Viewing Incidence Model
Best AHA Work of 2011
We Mixed India! A Content Swapping Story! - Tata Sky
Tanishq True Diamonds- AB Interrupting the Radio Programming - Tanishq
Curious Case of Missing Diamonds - Tanishq
Stop The Crime Before It Is Committed! - The Real Time Planning Report
First Readvertorial - Tanishq
Make It Large - Royal Stag
India’s First Cine Brochure - IDBI
Google Chrome Changes The Face Of Media - Google
Angrezi Ki Pathshala - Tata Sky
Fiat Launches Its Brand New Model, TJET - Fiat
Dream Wedding - Tanishq
A Website Powered by True Fans For True Fans- Fiat
World’s First Facebook & Mobile App Powered by Light - Maxus Interaction - Titan
Garnier Color Naturals—New Brand Ambassador & New Communication- L’Oreal
Dual Sim Print Innovation- Nokia
Arrow Hijacks President Obama- Arrow
Wishing Tree - Perfetti Van Melle
Ask Me Radio Activity- Infomedia
Best Articles of
2011
The Indian TV market is going through unimaginable level of fragmentation where it has reached a situation wherein
93% of TV programs get a rating of less than 1 TVR. Advertisers and agencies are forced to buy many more channels
to accumulate reach thereby putting more pressure on the budget. The situation becomes even more complicated
when many of these channels don‘t deliver expected ratings and if the plan is skewed towards niche channels then
don‘t be surprised to encounter many ―zero TVRs‖.
Many advertisers and so called ―media auditors‖ spend too much executive time blaming the
media agency for poor planning and implementation. To my mind they have not understood
how to interpret media research data. The attempt of this paper is to remove many myths sur-
rounding what I call the ―case of missing TVRs‖.
The first question therefore to understand is why do zero TVRs occur? Zero TVRs occur due to any
of the following 3 reasons :
Type 1 - Genuine zero TVRs – for example a spot appearing at 3am has a very high probability of not being viewed
as normally one can expect most people to be sleeping at this time
Type 2 -Rounded zeros – these are zeros due to not enough sample in the Peoplemeter panel hence rounded off as
zeros. One can expect this phenomenon for many special interest channels where there will always be a small set
of people wanting to watch a particular type of content
Type 3 -Zero due to sampling – the last reason for zero ratings is an issue of media research and is due to sampling
errors. This is a common measurement problem and there are no easy fix solutions
While genuine zeros should be acceptable to all stakeholders the issue while plagues everyone everyday is the zeros
due to rounding off and sampling. The question therefore is can we do something about this.
Fortunately the answer is a resounding ―Yes‖
Ratings data can be interpreted in 2 ways. One way is the standard way we interpret it when we say ―a program de-
livered 2.2 TVRs‖. The other way to look at ratings is through the lens of probability theory. The real question to
understand therefore is what is the probability of say a 1% rating program is reported as zero.
By Kartik Sharma
The Case of the Missing TVRs
To understand this we go to elementary school probability theory. The technical term for this is called ―Binomial Theo-
ry‖. Anyone with the help of excel can calculate this. For not so technical readers the formula is simple
Let me illustrate this with a simple example. Let us assume that the sample size is 100 in the measurement panel & the
expected TVR for a time-slot is 1% (i.e. 0.01). Therefore the probability of the reported rating being zero would be
P(0) = (1-0.01)100 = 0.37 or 37%
Conversely for a reported rating being zero we can calculate the likely true rating. The math to do this is mind boggling
and is out of the scope of this paper. For technical readers the method applied to do this called ―integration‖ (many of us
would have studied this in our higher school math's).
Without this understanding often advertisers, agencies and media auditors (who love zero TVRs) come to wrong con-
clusions.
Therefore how do we apply this understanding to our regular use?
Here‘s a live de-branded case study of a brand where this new thinking was applied with dramatic results. Target Group
for this brand is Males, SEC A, 25-44 years, CS
The brand had used 20 niche channels for its campaign. The pre-campaign GRP target was 983 in the All India market.
The post campaign GRP delivered was 741. We re-calibrated the post evaluation by applying the probability method to
type 2 & 3 spots. All spots appearing after 12 am was considered as type 1 and no recalibration done. The results of
recalibration showed additional TVRs of 228. When added back to the reported Post evaluation GRP it meant that the
campaign realistically had delivered around 969 GRPs as against GRP target of 983 (loss of just 14 GRPs as against the
earlier loss of 242 GRPs). The results of this exercise are shown in Fig 1 (Pre) & Fig 2 (Post calibration)
Figure 1 : Plan delivery before calibration
Binomial Theory
P (0) = (1-X)n
Here P (0) means the probability of the measured rating is zero
X is the likely rating (divided by 100) for that time slot & n is the sample size in the measurement panel
Figure 2 : Plan delivery post calibration
Source : TAM
While the above method is useful in estimating approximate campaign GRPs; planners can use ―duplication factor‖ if
need be to re-calibrate reach at a given frequency.
Conclusion
All key stakeholders need to take care in understanding and interpreting ratings data. With increased fragmentation
becoming reality so called ―zero TVRs‖ (with no major change in measurement panel) is likely to not only continue
but become more pronounced.
*******
Source: Understanding zero ratings – Admap, Pete Doe ; Unpublished private papers of the author; Discussion done by the author
with Pete Doe on his seminal work
By Saif Shaikh
Kids in the Techno Age
“It„s was my nephew‟s birthday and I asked my kid what does he plan to give his 10 years old brother and he
casually replied, Papa let‟s give him “Blackberry Bold”, I was thrown out of my chair when I heard a 5 year old kiddo saying this…………..”
WELCOME TO THE AGE OF COMPRESSION
The kids today are different from what we have seen in the past generation. They are growing fast,
more direct in approach and well informed, they are influential, attentive and has power to dictate
their terms. Spending money and time is a casual and carefree attitude for them. This is the first gen-
eration that has grown with economic understanding and plays and talks about stock market as if it is
a computer game.
They don‘t need us to explain what icons on the desktop mean,
they assume they are born with mouse in their hand with com-
puter screen their gateway to the world. They talk technologies
with the same ease as we used to talk about collecting pictures
of our favorite celebrity, collecting coins/stickers etc.
Digital barriers of our generation do not apply for this new generation. For the first time when the
computer entered our lives I still remember that I tentatively typed the first key or touched any of
the parts related to it, but computer with its amazing abilities has become the vehicle for different
activities for this generation apart from work focus has moved to games and the process to move on
to the next level and when will be next version out in the market.
The fact is they like to be online then being offline………..
For us black and white movies are classics but for these kids they are collection
of antiques. I have my doubts when my kid will grow up will he be aware
about national postal service as only mails these generation is aware of is e-
mails.
Avg. Time spent on School Days using the Internet is 0.24 hrs
Avg. Time spent on Weekends using the Internet is 0.25 hrs
Source: IMRB Kidscan
C
a
s
e
o
f
t
h
e
M
i
s
s
i
n
g
T
V
R
s
B
y
K
a
r
t
h
i
k
S
h
a
r
m
a
Mobile phones have gained importance more than a tiffin box, for
all the activities they do they expect quick reply or else they are
ready to do something newer and more engaging.
Let me take you back to early 90‘s when our generation followed
the trends fancied by our favorites stars but trends and fashions has
gone beyond the handful of celebrities and this is majorly due to the
instant global communications that take place between kids which
develops trends and keep them alive for months.
We have seen the evolution of shopping rather retail in India wherein small kiosk has gone to be-
come shopping market and mega markets have transformed into shopping centers and with this
growing transformation new brands are exposed to this generation. Being a sensible consumer is an
irrelevant message to them as message filter is an integral part of the kids world these days. They are
completely under control and understand the intention of the communication directed towards
them.
The internet, video games and mobile phones have changed the
children's entertainment landscape dramatically, and, right now there is
the danger of YOUNG audiences turning away from TV!
And the best part is - the choice is voluntary.
How this convert into a planning implication
Interactivity ——————> is the key!
If you were to promote your brand amongst the little wonders in the country, what‘s the 1st thing that you come to your mind?
Any other kids channels????
DTH – e.g. Active Kids Tata Sky: Where an operator provides games and learning for kids makes it
an interesting platform to advertise on. This is where the kids are most receptive and involved.
Mobile Phones – Nickelodeon pushed a new series through SMS. All the kids received an SMS
from the channel informing them about a new show & timings on the channel. VAS downloads is a
key touch point for the children.
Internet –Almost all the kids TV channels have developed highly interactive websites. You will be
surprised to know that your child has a Facebook account, as kids are now seen visiting gaming sites,
social networking sites and you tube!
There is inevitability about marketers coming to see other options apart from traditional TV,
as great mediums through which you can target growing audiences!
Gone are the days, where youth as a group could be treated as target audience that was defined by combining few state-
ments on 3D & TGI. This was then smartly named with glitzy terms like Generation Next, Gen X, and Gen Y to impress clients
or maybe write some award entries. The question is how far we can bask in the glory of the same inputs… The bad news for
all the planners is… it’s time that we start with our analysis all over again & stop doing a CTRL C, CTRL V wherever we see any-
thing that has to do with youth. We have basked enough in the glory of copy paste job.
So, what has changed?
The answer simply is almost everything…They are a completely new beings. They no longer restrict their “Controls” to them-
selves but want to extend it to others who would form an impression about them. They are going through a major “switch”
not only in the way they talk, but the way they want to be heard… the way they look, but want to be seen… the way they
think, but want to be understood… the way they are, but want to be perceived…
The question now is where is all of this coming from???
All of this is emerging from their newer incipient need to:
1. Co- exist:
The youth today is not a silent observer of what’s happening around, but an active participant too. They want to co- exist with
the fresh cultural capital generated by brands, which also provides a process which gives them “Status” within their cohorts &
“tribes” & social network.
2. Co-Create:
The social web has led to “democratization of creativity”. The youth today no longer consumes idea but actively participates,
plays, collaborates. They now demand to be a part of the brand story.
What can be a better example for this than “New Flavor ideas for Lays campaign”, where they invited everyone to create their
own flavor, through a massive consumer engagement programme – ‘Give Us Your Delicious Flavor’ {Inspired by Walkers’ ‘Do
Us A Flavor’ in UK in 2008 – Walkers is from Frito Lay}. Poised to be a mother-of-all consumer engagement promotion Pro-
grammes in India.
Another example is “Just Do It Yourself” campaign by Nike, where they re- launched a Web site where shoppers design their
own shoes, choosing everything from the color of the famous Nike swoosh to personalizing the tongue with a word or phrase
By Bharati Joshi
Generation Clichéd
3. Constant Connectivity:
The youth today thrives on constant connectivity via social media platforms. Mobile devices have become “social oxygen”
enabling them to connect within their tribes wherever & whenever. When it comes to buying anything…Everything is re-
viewed & rated making a decision process a team sport. Just to exemplify…85 % of the youth relies on peer approvals in
order to complete a buying decision.
Latest, Informate Mobile Intelligence reports claims that in India Mobile Phone users spent on an average 25-30 minutes
(per day) of active time on voice calls and almost 15-20 minutes (per day) of the active time is spent on Messaging (SMS).
However time spent on chat and Mobile Internet shows upward trend and average 40-45 minutes (per day) is spent on this
activity. Time spent on Multimedia activities is almost 5 times as compared to time spent on Games.
4. Constant live streaming:
Can be best explained with the latest example:
It all began with a woman wishing Happy Karvachauth, where some of them shared the joy of their very first Kar-
vachauth. This resulted in sharing the wait & the anticipation, finally concluding with the celebration of the moon
showing up. It wasn’t a surprise to see some retailers who joined in the conversations. The new term was also coined called
the KC moment when the moon was up head. Men too joined the conversation giving live updates. The entire cycle was
brought to an end by the last ritual in a social media i.e. uploading pictures.
So what happened in terms of no's:
5. Gain Credibility:
Credibility in a friends’ world is a very important need for the youth today. & this can be achieved only by expressing opinions,
sharing ideas, observations & thoughts. Their influence depends on what they share, how relevant the information is & how of-
ten they share it.
According to a dipstick (Sample size 100 individuals amongst the age group of 25 – 34 yrs). The following has been their social
networking usage behavior pattern.
This clearly shows the frequency of sharing opinions, views,
thoughts, observations etc.
6. Being a part of Controversial conversations:
Thanks to social media, the youth today mobilizes as one with their tribes like bees around topics of their interest i.e. anything
that involves controversy. There would be controversies created making them interestingly “hype”, something that the youth
today is very good at doing.
This can be best explained by their involvement in the most controversially hyped campaigns like:
Fastrack: 1 Million fans only on the official fan page (X box & the hands campaign, a controversial campaign that actually never
got released on Mass media)
Axe Angels: 1.1 Million fans only on the official fan page
Virgin Mobile: 3 thousand fans only on the official page
Frequency of changing: StatusSharing
Videos
Sharing
Links
Uploading
PicsLike
Comment /
scraps
Once in a day 20 9 14 1 32 37
Up to 3 times in a day 1 3 2 2 12 12
Up to 5 times in a day 2 2 4 1 3 2
5 Times + 0 0 1 0 3 6
Once in a week 22 19 22 8 14 17
Once in a fortnight 13 6 9 19 8 9
Once in a month 10 11 8 25 5 5
Once in 3 months 9 10 5 22 4 5
Never 18 26 20 16 7 4
Sum 95 86 85 94 88 97
No‘s in %
7. Being a part of a Cause:
They are even ready to voice their opinion where it matters the most… like in case of Causes like The Wall Project, Batti Bandh, The Bicycle
Project and The Sapling Project…All of these were the campaigns that have got attention recently for using Twitter and Facebook for promoting
their programs like The Pink Chaddi Campaign, Grassroutes, NGO Post, Bell Bajao and Blank Noise
Social networking sites have clearly given the youth a way forward from frivolous chatter and self-aggrandizement to a worthier cause: they‘ve
become the new age activist‘s handiest tools. From bringing people together to beautify walls in the city (The Wall Project) and encouraging
them to save electricity (Batti Bandh) to getting them to donate their old cycles to rural children (The Bicycle Project) and engaging them in sap-
ling plantation drives (The Sapling Project), these sites have built up successful online movements and then dexterously steered them into real
life.
Like Batti Bandh, the other three movements too were initiated in Mumbai and then went national thanks to the online momentum. Take the
Wall Project—what started as a touch-up for a Bandra home has now become a movement with over 2,000 volunteers to beautify cities across
India. After photographs of paint jobs of walls along Senapati Bapat Marg were uploaded, members from Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata started
discussing their own city walls on the forum. Parag Gandhi, one of the facilitating members, spends a few minutes giving direction to the conver-
sation—the rest of the content, including photos, news and updates are user-generated.
8. Changing identities (Chameleon):
The youth today can be correctly called the ―chameleons‖, which constantly change & morph their identities to simultaneously belong to as many
different tribes as possible. One dimensionality is a passé clearly. This can best be explained by the popularity of shows like Truth, love & Cash,
Big switch, Love Lock up amongst the youth. These shows are all about morphing their identities, contradictory emotions, betrayal, friendship,
love hatred & everything else in contradiction that you can think about.
So to conclude...I guess it‘s time that we give this generation another glitzy name to make our award entries even more impactful i.e.
―GENERATION CLIECHED‖ - the generation which believes in co-existing, co-creating, constant connectivity, constant
live streaming & who seem to be credibility mongers, Controversial conversationalist, Cause concerned & ever changing chameleons!!!
Source: Nielsen study on youth, Facebook Memology.
By Neil Stewart
“But Mum EVERYONE at School is wearing
Red Shoes….”
Many years ago in an effort to convince our Mother to buy a pair of red
shoes, my sister used that most persuasive of arguments …EVERYONE
else at school has them. So not wanting to permanently scar her little
girl, and have her end up in expensive therapy in years to come, my
mother did the easy thing – and bought her a pair of red shoes. Unfor-
tunately for my sister, Mum used to pick us up from school, so very quickly she was found out. Every-
one did not in fact have red shoes – only two or three little girls did. She got in big trouble – but still
had the red shoes!
Last week I sat in a conference at GroupM China that had some very interesting and provocative
speakers. But also a few cases of ―red shoes‖ too. One of the speakers – a famous and often published
author on the topic of digital behavior and social change, was giving us his view of the changing world
of business driven by the power of the Internet.
Now I am no Luddite – and I am one of the most fervent believers in and observers of the massive
change in consumer media consumption, attitudes and behavior driven by technology of all kinds.
However, I was a little alarmed that I was hearing my sister argue passionately about the need for
those red shoes ―because everyone else has them‖ … when a very quick check of what % of the female
population of the school class would suggest otherwise.
User created content was discussed in the context of a shifting ‗trend‘ in the movie business. And one
or two examples were given of this phenomenon to validate the theory. Examples of ―choose your
own ending‖ participation and micro funding of movies by many was shown to illustrate how the ‗old
world‘ has shifted to a new socially driven collective approach. A quick look to Hollywood, Bolly-
wood and Nollywood – the three largest film production hubs in the world would suggest that the
old model produced about 2500 films last year. The old model is still working over 1000 times more
frequently than the new. When does an interesting anomaly become a trend?
Another speaker talked of the role of games in our lives and the im-
portance of Video Games in making the world a better place. Being
an active player of various console games I listened with interest as
to how my ability in shooting zombies or kicking goals made me
‗better‘. I remain un-convinced. Despite the research and studies
quoted. Because just like the red shoes story, I felt that the research-
er had asked all the girls with red shoes to stand next to her – and actively tried to hide all the non
red shoe wearers away from sight.
That is not to say that thinking about how we can add a ‗game layer‘ to a campaign is not a valid ob-
jective. Or that encouraging those people who actively want to participate in the creation of an ad or
movie or whatever is again not a valid strategy – for those who want to participate. But let‘s not for-
get the others. Let‘s not create only for the leading edge consumer with time, money and technolo-
gy, yet exclude the millions (if not Billions) of consumers who may still access their information, en-
tertainment and content in very traditional, slow and old fashioned ways.
And let‘s not abandon the rigour and discipline of properly designed research of an entire universe
of a target group – rather than the self-fulfilling bias of an expedient and poorly thought through ap-
proach ( 85% of people who responded to our online survey are very heavy users of the inter-
net….ohh what a surprise!)
Must get myself an I-Pad – I hear everyone in Maxus has one now.
By Victor Britto
Indian Magazine Industry: The Enchanted
Pool
―Alas! The deer is running away with my fire-kindler. How can I perform the fire sacrifice?‖ shouted the
Brahmana and rushed towards the Pandavas for help. The Pandavas pursued the magic deer which sped
in great leaps and bounds, decoying the Pandavas far into the forest and then disappeared. Nakula
sighed, ―We cannot render even this trifling service to the brahmana. How we have degenerated‖, said
he sadly. Arjuna agreed. ―I bore in silence the vulgar insulting brag of that son of the charioteer, doing
nothing. So we have deservedly fallen into pitiable state.‖
Of the 20 most read magazines in India, there was an increase in average issue readership in only 3
magazines during the IRS 2011 Q1 (Pratiyogita Darpan, GK Today and Champak-Hindi) as compared
with the IRS 2010 Q1. The decline in readership has been sharp as it ranges between 9 to 41%. The loss
of readership amongst top 20 publications is a whopping 35 Lacs (13%).
Decline in subscription and the reduced news-stand sales have been major factors as it is evident from
the increase in the number of unsold news-stand copies being returned to the Press. The declining
trend is not only on account of proliferation of TV, Radio and the emergence of digital medium also,
the new magazine entrants are cannibalizing the readership of established players (that are listed in
IRS). Perhaps readers cut down on the number of magazine subscriptions during the slowdown and
have learnt to live without it. The end of the road?
Yudhishthira said to Nakula: ―Brother, climb that tree and see whether there is any pool or river nearby‖
According to Ernst & Young Survey commissioned by the Association of Indian Magazine, the Indian
magazine segment is expected to record an annual growth rate of 6-10%, driven by market entrants,
new titles and alternate revenue streams. The magazine readership growth will continue to be driven
by the metros and India‘s fifteen largest cities. Alternate revenue streams such as events and digital de-
livery are gaining traction and are expected to account for 20% -50% of the total revenues within the
next three years.
Most of the companies are planning to launch at least two new titles in the next two years. Therefore,
numbers by and large will lessen as options grow, but that is a general view. Specifics will always point
to unique brands across the ambit that sustains themselves, regardless of the researched decline in read-
ership habits. What's consumed is what's relevant and that's the key to any successful publication as
well, those who aim to be relevant will be counted. Big circulations or not!
Nakula climbed the tree, looked around and said: ―At a little distance I see water plants and cranes.
There must certainly be water there.‖ Yudhishthira sent him to fetch some to drink.
Over the last few years the emergence of niche magazines and the resilience of economic growth has
aided the growth of advertising from categories such as agriculture, baby products, banking, finance, in-
vestments and insurance, media, real estate and technology, which figured among the leading growing
ad categories in magazines. With the easing of entry norms for International magazines, foreign publish-
ers have been and will continue to enter the Indian magazine market. There is immense scope for mer-
gers and acquisitions, joint ventures and the licensing of titles in the current scenario, as international
publishers witness declining readership in their home markets. India‘s economic growth, Intellectual
growth, MNC‘s interest in Indian market/operations, Increasing floating population etc have given In-
ternational brands a wider perspective to start their operations in India. And it works both ways: while
the heavy weight MNC brands expand their horizons, Indian publishers get the brand value, experience,
properties (titles), and a bigger space to operate from the day one.
What needs to be changed?
Nakula reached the pool. But no sooner did Nakula dip his hand in the transparent water than he heard a voice
which said: “Do not be rash. This pool belongs to me. Answer my questions and then drink the water.”
Nakula was surprised, but carried away by his intense thirst and heedless of warning, he drank the water. At once,
overcome by irresistible drowsiness he fell down, to all appearance dead. The same fate followed his brothers Sahade-
va, Bhima and Arjuna!
The magazine segment needs to revise strategies and relook at business plans if they were to exploit the
changing habits of the consumer. Some of them could be:
1. How to delight advertisers by evolving into multimedia organizations, offering advertisers multi-
ple options to reach their reader communities: this could be done by moving from vanilla advertising
to database management, one-to-one marketing, experiential marketing etc.
2. How to leverage the shift in consumption of content: profitably monetize the digital space
on the web and mobile where many such niche titles are consumed from – examples could be life-
style magazine versions on smartphones and tablets who gives advertiser premium real estate of rel-
evance.
3. How to charge the evolved and engaged reader the right price for the content not pressurized by
competitive pricing: companies with shrewd business plans from main line media backgrounds like
Network18, India Today and WWM successfully managed this
4. How to reduce the dependency on advertising revenue by resorting to other revenue streams: For
example, large format events like Femina Miss India, Star Screen Awards, Filmfare Awards, Over-
drive Auto Awards, amplified through television and other media, are garnering large sponsorships
for magazine companies.
When Yudhishthira also descended into the pool, the voice without form warned as before, “Your brothers died be-
cause they did not heed my words. Do not follow them. Answer my questions first and then quench your thirst. This
pool is mine.” Yudhishthira knew that these could be none other than the words of a Yaksha and guessed what had
happened to his brothers. He saw a possible way of redeeming the situation. He asked to the bodiless voice:
“Please ask your questions.”
What makes a successful Magazine?
A stronger readership and Circulation base!
What rescues a Magazine in danger?
The Brand Image
By following which medium does magazine grow?
Not by following any medium does magazine grow. It is by innovating and associating itself with
various medium does the magazine grow.
What is more nobly sustaining than content?
Distribution.
What is higher than the circulation?
The engagement environment that a magazine provides.
What is fleeter than the readership?
The quality of the magazine.
What is more blighted than withered straw?
The declining readership of magazines.
What befriends a magazine reader? Explain
The content, quality and distribution. Acceptance and sustenance would highly depend on the quali-
ty of content. Distribution will also play a role.
Who is the friend of the Publisher?
The International Print partner whose circulation in his home country is rapidly reducing! Haha!!
Who accompanies a magazine in death?
A feeling of disconnect with its Audience alone accompanies a magazine in death.
What makes one a niche magazine? Is it content, good quality or circulation? Answer
decisively.
Aside from general interest, the rest of the genres are by nature niche. Magazines in these genres will
continue to be strong because of the engagement they offer the reader. A magazine was just a maga-
zine some time ago. At second level, classification process started – General Interest, Business Mag-
azine, Luxury etc. Now, while we are misusing the terminology – ‗Niche‘, a magazine has even
come to a stage of naming themselves as –In-flight Magazine, Property magazine and Train Maga-
zine the USP of Rail Bandhu the Train Magazine ‗will lie in the fact that it will be India's first
magazine for train passengers. It will be a very engaging read for travelers who can afford
air-conditioned trains.‘ May we call these ―Niche magazines‖ therefore ―Focus Magazines‖?
Your views on the explosion and the number of new arrivals of the Specialized maga-
zines. Are they here to stay?
With so many media options available to consumers (audiences) today - time, need and likeness will
define what readers pick up. Information is a source which we all depend greatly on to fulfill our
aspirations, in a growing or mature market- specialised magazines have become very relevant, as
they cut through generic stuff and get to service a reader specific need and it is this vital quality that
will sustain specialised magazines. The Indian market is top of mind with all international brands -
including media titles. However, we're clearly laggards compared to China and Russia, which are
considered NOW markets - India is very firmly positioned as a market with FUTURE potential.
What way would you evaluate the effectiveness advertising in a magazine given the
dwindling readership/circulation numbers over the years?
The same way an Indian would seek his suitable bride in an arranged marriage. List down the prospec-
tive brides, check the profile, study the compatibility, associate, share, negotiate and marry.
The Yaksha was pleased with Yudhishthira’s answers and granted that all his brothers would
come back to life.
Now catch the running magic deer by its horns!!
By Aprajita Virmani
The Alternate Screen—Narrowcasting the
Mass
In his 2002 Science fiction - Minority Report,
Steven Spielberg predicted, in the year 2054, dig-
ital outdoor advertising will be calling out con-
sumers' names.
In the film, Tom Cruise's character is confronted
with digital signs that call out his name as he
walks through a futuristic shopping mall. “John
Anderton, You could use a Guinness right about now,” a
billboard announces as he walks past.
Another ad scans his retinas, proclaiming: “…
Lexus. The road you're on, John Anderton is the one less
traveled.”
If you are reading this article, it inherently implies that you have some personal gain in exploring the
content mentioned in these few pages or maybe it is captivating enough for you to sit up and take no-
tice. It is this captivity that I intend to talk about; about how a medium can move from being a pas-
sive, mass-targeted one-way communication agent to being an interactive, two way catalyst for a
brand. I will discuss in particular, out-door as a medium.
In all our discussions on Media, if there is any media that is vast in its scope and interpretation, it is
Outdoor. Any consumption of messages that happens outside our home comprises of Outdoor –
from hoardings to pamphlets, posters, activations, digital screens, we are
bombarded with all sorts of messages the moment we step out of home.
A large portion of this sort of advertising becomes passive – We see but
do not look, we hear but do not listen. Then, in such sort of an environ-
ment, when the consumer in all probabilities is not receptive to any
brand communication, how do marketers catch them when they are not
choosing to consume that media.
The reality stated in movies such as Minority report could be a reality much sooner. This merits us to
look at the increasingly interactive mode that Outdoor media is choosing to put itself to; being in-
creasingly enabled by adoption of newer and wider scope of technological innovations. There can one
flipside of unwanted intrusion with such messages leading to a certain sense of aversion but this
problem would answer itself if the communication is targeted and relevant. Otherwise, sure, we al-
ways have the DND option.
The NEW Reality
Three-dimensional outdoor ads that talk to mobile phones, adapt messages to certain situations, ac-
cess social network profiles and combine holograms, mood lighting and smells, could all be on the
streets by 2012 (Source : The Up Front and Personal report) although it will take a while before these
kind of innovations hit the Indian market. But nonetheless, it merits a thought as to how personali-
zation of messages can be the next big thing to revolutionize the outdoor medium.
The digital outdoor sector covers screen-based advertising within five types of out-of-home environ-
ment, categorized as: transport networks, leisure venues (such as: health clubs; multiplexes; restau-
rants and pubs), retail environments, commercial hubs; and finally, niche locations (hospitals and so
on) . About 60% of these digital screens are located in Cafes, pubs, salons and gyms (Source: Digital
agencies – Live Media and OOH Media) where the consumer is present in a relaxed frame of mind and
hence is bound to be receptive to any sort of communication. These arenas provide us not only with
width (longer duration of time) but depth (captivity) as well. This then does give the opportunity to
advertisers to push their communication when it matters and in a manner that results in action. With
over 65% of world‘s population expected to dwell in mega-cities by 2050, technology led outdoor
innovations are going to be driven here. There have been certain trends and emergent technologies
that are trying to enchant the customer with a degree of personalization on a never before- seen
scale.
Gladverts
They are digital-out-of-home ads that react to consumers‘ moods by using emotion recognition soft-
ware (ERS) and cameras to detect patterns on face corresponding to happiness, sadness, anger, fear,
surprise and disgust, tailoring ads to their mood. For example – if they see a sad customer walking
by, they can display ad for a chocolate bar or a spa.
Destination Planning
Contextual targeting never got any more contextual than this.
Gyms
Brands like Gatorade, Burn and other energy drinks; Sports gear and
apparel companies; health foods and so on cash in on the opportunity
to talk to the consumer when it is actually the moment of truth for
her and she is doing her best to keep fit. Apart from the regular digi-
tal screens also have smaller personalized television screens for indi-
vidual consumption mainly in Cardio sections. It is an opportunity
waiting to be explored.
The same goes for pubs and restaurants where the element of fun and loosening up is of utmost
importance. Beyond being the obvious place for liquor advertising; brands like those of travel and
tourism that are a catalyst for the consumer in fun and Let-Go space can use this trigger very well to
their advantage.
In Cinema Advertising
I will still prefer to call this a form of advertising an outdoor form in
the sense that it is consumed when the consumer is not in her own
home. It is a captive environment but the last where advertising should
be mindlessly bombarded as is being done now. In a total mood for en-
tertainment, the last thing a person wants to see is 15 min of useless
advertising that just inadvertently delays and halts the cinema viewing
experience. An interesting answer to this can be to talk about products
and brands a person might think of after watching the film it-
self. An interesting case – in- point here is that of the recently
released Zoya Akhtar‘s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. The Ad break
in the film featured European tourism destinations and an inter-
esting ad by Turkish Airlines, crafted to allure to the audience
who after the glimpses of Spain in the film is already thinking
about such a vacation.
In - Flight and In– train entertainment:
Stuck on the seat for 3-4 hours and no-where to go.
Where else will a marketer find its consumer in such a
state where any form of communication and entertain-
ment would be a welcome relief? Currently brands are
resorting to plain vanilla advertising, sampling and the
regular stuff to cater to this audience. But if we have a
thoroughly bored yet ready-to-pay attention consumer
waiting to be dished out communication that engages,
interesting brand stories can be woven to talk to her.
Business class can have gadgets like smart phones, tablets and others giving users the virtual expe-
rience that otherwise cannot be provided in the hustle-bustle of a retail scenario.
Ne to Morpheus: I thought it wasn’t real.
Morpheus to Neo: Your mind makes it real.
Matrix Trilogy: Part 1
Why can‘t a Matrix like virtual world, then be a reality for that person for the next three hours. And
this can be content rather than advertising led which ultimately is the route that marketers will have
to take if they want to engage rather than talk to the consumers. We can be the reality.
This can also go on to the next level of argument discussing personalization of communication and
content to the screen that is the closest to us all; the mobile but that is for another time and another
occasion. For now, I shall leave you with this thought.
In this age of ‗THE INDIVIDUAL‘, “if you haven‟t personalized… Well, you haven‟t personalized”.
By Upendra Kumar Acharya
New Terminologies in Digital: Beyond Paid
Media
It is rightly said that “Change is the only unchanging phenomenon”. Gone are the days when the rough
guide to marketing success used to be that you got what you paid for. It is no more the case today,
while traditional ―paid‖ media—such as television and radio commercials, print advertisements, and
roadside billboards—still play a major role, companies today can exploit many alternative forms of
media. Consumers of a product today may, for example, create ―earned‖ media by willingly promoting
it to friends, and a company may leverage ―owned‖ media by sending e-mail alerts about products and
sales to customers registered with its website. In fact, the way consumers now approach the process of
making purchase decisions means that marketing‘s impact stems from a broad range of factors beyond
conventional paid media. These expanding media forms reflect dramatic changes in the way consum-
ers perceive and absorb marketing messages. As a result, some strategic-marketing frameworks—such
as the popular ―paid, owned, earned‖ are in serious need of updating. Many marketers use this frame-
work to distinguish different ways of interacting with consumers, forms of financing, and measures of
performance for each contact. Yet the paid, owned, earned framework increasingly looks too limited.
How, for example, should a marketing strategist for a company react to requests from other compa-
nies to purchase advertising space on its product sites? How should a company deal with online activ-
ists when they take hold of a product or campaign to push a negative emotional response against it?
Two media types must therefore be added to the framework: ―sold‖ and ―hijacked.‖ an opportunity
worth grasping, to encourage readers to share content or even create their own.
What is ―Sold‖ Media?
Paid and owned media are controlled by marketers touting their own products. For earned media,
such marketers act as the initial catalyst for users‘ responses. But in some cases, one marketer‘s owned
media become another marketer‘s paid media—for instance, when an e-commerce retailer sells ad
space on its Web site. We define such sold media as owned media whose traffic is so strong that other
organizations place their content or e-commerce engines within that environment. This trend, which
we believe is still in its infancy, effectively began with retailers and travel providers such as airlines and
hotels and will no doubt go further. Johnson & Johnson, for example, has created BabyCenter, a stand-
alone media property that promotes complementary and even competitive products.
Besides generating income, the presence of other marketers makes the site seem objective, gives com-
panies opportunities to learn valuable information about the appeal of other companies‘ marketing, and
may help expand user traffic for all companies concerned.
What is ―Hijacked‖ Media?
The same dramatic technological changes that have provided marketers with more (and more diverse)
communications choices have also increased the risk that passionate con-
sumers will voice their opinions in quicker, more visible and much more
damaging ways. Such hijacked media are the opposite of earned media: an
asset or campaign becomes hostage to consumers, other stakeholders, or
activists who make negative allegations about a brand or product. Mem-
bers of social networks, for instance, are learning that they can hijack me-
dia to apply pressure on the businesses that originally created them. High-
profile examples involve companies ranging from Nestlé (whose Facebook
page was hijacked) to Domino‘s Pizza (a prank online video of two em-
ployees contaminating sandwiches appeared on YouTube). In each case,
passionate consumers tried to persuade others to boycott products, putting the reputation of the target
company at risk. When that happens, the company‘s response may not be sufficiently quick or thought-
ful, and the learning curve has been steep. Toyota Motor, for example, mitigated some of the damage
from its recall crisis earlier this year with a relatively quick and well-orchestrated social-media response
campaign, which included efforts to engage with consumers directly on sites such as Twitter.
So, How Do Marketing Organizations Adapt With This New Scenario?
Usually, marketers offer rich and complex experiences. But the consumer‘s standards for the consisten-cy of information encountered in different venues, the way it is provided in each of them, and its useful-ness are becoming more stringent daily. Likewise, publishing, the brand experience, cultivating advoca-cy among customers, and generating personalized leads are now more important. These realities create following priorities for marketing organizations.
Role of Each Media Should Be Strategically Defined: As companies move more aggressively into, for instance, owned and earned media, the role of paid media should change: it may be used to drive consumers toward a company‘s owned media or, more sparingly, as a ―booster‖ for new-product launches and other promotions. That may require tighter coordination with ad agencies regarding the design and placement of marketing content. To reflect the influx of traffic to owned media, companies may also need to change their budgets and operations.
Rebalancing of Time and Resources: Owned media requires patience, cultivation, and sustained engagement. Like the products of any good online publisher, a marketer‘s owned media need a steady stream of traffic-building programs, fresh content, and optimized design. Focused management, suffi-cient budgets, and appropriate performance metrics are needed to build owned-media platforms, whether they‘re foundational search or social-media efforts, site hubs, alerts, or feedback-gathering communities, to name a few possibilities.
Social Networking Strategy Should Be Clear: Companies need an agreed-upon set of rules and principles for managing and responding to single or coordinated attacks against the brand. It‘s impera-tive to appoint an experienced community or social- networks manager who knows in advance how to coordinate with marketing, public relations, legal, and other relevant units and has the required author-ity and decision-making rights. The cost of failing to respond effectively can be high. One multinational company, for example, responded to accusations about its business practices by arguing with its accusers on its Facebook page, even blocking and deleting posts. That move only heightened public interest in the dispute, in effect hijacking the page until the company apologized.
The investment in hiring staff to answer every social-media posting may be tough to justify at first, but
this approach will probably become critical for mitigating the threat of brand hijacking. And to deny
negative reviews and comments legitimacy, companies must be able to make justifiable design or service
improvements that consumers want. The list of challenges is long, and priorities will vary dramatically,
depending on an organization‘s competitive dynamics, willingness to experiment, and skills. Few of the
necessary changes can be made through mandates from on high; they must happen organically. Ideally,
chief marketing officers and other leaders would put together fresh, well-crafted pilots and get the sup-
port to invest in breakthroughs that can be applied at scale.
Source: McKinsey Quarterly
By Shailesh Kumar
On A Lazy Sunday Afternoon
On a lazy Sunday afternoon, the day when time was
running slow and the eyes were shutting, my wife
walks up to me and says we have to go to Borivili to
her uncles‘ place. Staying in Mulund my instant reac-
tion was a ―NO‖. Her next question was ―What do
you do to get so tired?‖. My reply ―Media Planning
involves a lot of brain work so I need to rest‖. But
knowing my wife‘s nature I knew she would never
give up. Staring at me for couple of minutes she told
me ―Today is England Sri Lanka match in the noon and that‘s why you are not coming right?‖. I told
her ―No one watches a match in which India is not playing. Even I don‘t follow it.‖ Its better to take
her to her uncles‘ place, I thought.
So I got ready and headed to the mall to pick up some toffees. In an electronic store I saw few males
( I guess troubled by their wives) watching the ENG/SL match carrying their kids, while the wives
shopped (as usual). We reached Borivili in good time and could see a big smile on my wife‘s face. I
gave her a half smile in return thinking ―I would have been in deep sleep by this time‖. I had heard
that uncle is a cricket crazy guy and wants his son to play for the Indian cricket team. He was busy
watching cricket with his young cricketer son. My wife (not interested in cricket at all) rushed to the
kitchen to help aunty who was also not all that interested in the game. I was left with nothing but to
enjoy the game with them.
I slowly started liking the way the game was flowing and started supporting the team which I used to
oppose when India is playing i.e. England. England won that game and I had a nice time at his place.
The next day had to rush to work and had deadlines to meet. The series ended that week, England
winning a close tie with Lanka. The next week end, I caught up with some college buddies over a
drink at Bombay High, the topic of discussion was the recently concluded series. I was shocked to see
how closely the series was being followed. I participated in the discussion and thanked my wife with a
big smile.
But on a high (thoughts flow like beer), I wondered why are these games avoided in a media plan. But I
had my own reservations for these games and thought let me check out the performance, I have the re-
quired tools to check the deliveries.
One day at work, I had nothing to do and had exhausted the music library and thought what to do next.
Then came the thought of checking the performance of Non India series. I patted myself for the idea
and I wanted to prove my skeptics right. I hit the button on my brain ―Explore‖. Opened Media Xpress
and started feeding in the details.
The data was huge. Immediately after cleaning the sheet and making a pivot, I saw stars with the
amount of cricket being played in 2010 & 2011 and matches lined up in 2011. There is a huge amount
of cricket being played throughout the world. 2010 saw 10 Test, 26 ODI, 10 T20 International series in
addition to IPL, CLT T20 & T20 World Cup. Out of these India played in 3 Test, 5 ODI & 1 T20 series
along with presence in IPL, CLT T20 & T20 World cup and in 2011 is similar with 14 Tests, 24 ODIs, 15
T20 international series lined up including World cup & excluding IPL & CLT T20 with India playing
only 13 of these series.
This 1st result was itself shocking for me because I only saw India everywhere. There was a saying which
struck me that instant - Cricket and Bollywood are passionately followed by the citizens of our country.
This saying helped me to dig deep into the matter as India is not involved in these games and wanted to
test real passion for cricket. With this thought in my mind, I wondered ―Are all matches being telecast
live?‖. Soon came the answer all of the important games get telecasted live barring few matches com-
prising of Canada, Ireland, and Netherland & Kenya. This looks good to me but the next question com-
ing to my mind is where are these games played? And what are Indian viewers preferring to watch?
Which teams games are being watched? The observations are ....
Ratings of Aus vs SL, Micromax Asia Cup (Non India matches) does marginally better TVR of 0.2 – 0.3 (33% better)
than all other series with TVR ranging in 0.1 – 0.2.
Matches played between strong teams like Aus, SL, SA, Pak, Eng in subcontinent conditions have an avg. rating be-
tween .2 and .3( at times even higher) whereas matches in between lower ranked teams Bang, WI, NZ& played in
these countries have an avg. rating of.1-.2 or lower.
Tri Series in which India participates the avg. TVR hovers between .4 & .7
As is the trend with India cricket also T20 avg. TVR is higher than ODI avg. TVR which is higher than Test avg.
TVR.
T20 avg. TVR : 0.31, ODI avg. TVR : 0.20, Test avg. TVR : 0.11
Who and where are these games being watched? To my mind school kids in Non Metros who get free by
afternoon and have nothing much to do during the day would be the viewers! I am sure about that. But I
was surprised by the outcome and this proved me wrong yet again.
Wowwww!!! This is trashing my skeptics and I guess I am closer to hitting the gold digging digging…..
The curiosity is only increasing. I heard of a saying ―Curiosity kills the cat‖ but for me I would term it as
―Curiosity does not let me go home‖. Then wondered the time band of matches played in Australia,
England, South Africa, West indies and the matches played in the subcontinent except for India varies. It
is spread throughout the globe. I am sure there will be matches which will give zero deliveries.
Let me explore and see how it performs in comparison to Indian matches.
Australian Test Matches the viewership is at peak at the beginning and steadily declines towards the
end of the days play whereas in the ODI s it‘s the reverse
Matches in West Indies garner highest Average TRP during the primetime.
Test matches and ODIs in England the viewership peaks between 1800 and 1900 hrs. and stays
through the game
ODI Matches in the subcontinent peaks during the prime time and stays to the end of the game.
Clearly a Good team (Aus, SA, Pak, and SL) match scheduled between 7 hrs. – 24 hrs. garners rat-
ings
The profile of viewers for Non India are not hard to guess
Yes its predominantly MALES ~ 60 – 70%
Largely belonging to age group of 15yrs & above
Hailing from SEC ABC HHs.
However clubbed with Females the TG of 15+ MF ABC contributes ~70% of the ratings, 15+ M ABC contrib-utes ~60% of the ratings
The response of Markets to Non India cricket is similar to India Cricket
Metros (More HSM & Less South) response is higher than All India average across series & formats
AP & KER as a market respond the least to this cricket
At state level GUJ response/ ratings are the highest to most of series
If we benchmark this performance with India
Profile of viewers are similar , although the quantum is small
Market response is similar as India cricket , although quantum is small
Hour wise viewing trend is also similar to India Cricket, although peaks are
small
Ratings, they are ~1/10th or 1/11th of corresponding format India ratings
Eureka!!!! I can smell gold but yet to see it.
This was sounding as a very interesting observation to me. I felt like working in a gold mine, finding no
gold as of now but as I was going deeper and deeper curiosity and excitement increased. How many ad-
vertisers are present in these matches? How cluttered would it be as in how many ads would be present
in a break? The findings are as below.
40% lesser advertisers on Non India matches
Lesser no of ads in a break leading to lower clutter – 73% of the ad breaks have equal to or less than
3 ads vis a vis 58% in case of India series.
Thus ensuring a better position in break, less avoidance as is seen in the marginal drop in Avg Break
TVR & Avg Program TVR. Similar if not lower than India series.
I think I have become Einstein in this field. Looks really promising and has
trashed my skeptics again!
1 last thing going on my head is -
―How much does it cost to be present in these matches and how
much is it in
comparison to an Indian Match?‖
Since we take a lot of niche channels in the plan is it worth being present in Non-Indian cricket even
though the ratings are small. 1st time I felt my skepticism and reservations were right.
The Rates
Rates for these series are 1/20th or at times even lesser than India Rates
Cost of Investments are hence 1/20th or lesser – investing 3 - 4 Crs over a series vis a vis investing
only Rs. 20 -30 Lacs on an entire series.
CPRPs are better in almost all formats ( for good team matches) in comparison to India series CPRPs
Comparison with Other Genres
In 25+ Males AB TG CPRPs are
English news - ~ 60 K – 80K
English Entertainment – 70 K to 1.5 Lacs
English Business News - 1.5 Lacs – 2.5 Lacs
English Movies – 80 K – 1.5 Lacs
These CPRP numbers remain similar for a 15+ ABC CS TG as well
Typically for a 4 – 5 week plan average spends on these genres ( spends put together) are ~ 1 Crs
(conservative) Non India cricket not only delivers at better CPRP but also minimizes spill over & can
fetch similar visibility as presence on niche channels.
I found a diamond instead, in these answers, and my skepticism was trashed. I thanked my wife for
this. The conclusion I derived is
For now I am on a high with this conclusion. I plan to take my wife out for a nice dinner (for her and
I will hit the bar stool) this week end. A deadly combination of both helped me to find a light at the
end of a dark tunnel.
Cheers!!!
―Considering Non-India matches in a Male Centric Plan
targeting audience of 15+ M ABC or 25+ M AB
definitely makes sense.
It can also be considered equivalent to niche channels
like English Entertainment, English Movies, Lifestyle and Infotainment
as the CPRP looks more promising and the investment in it low as well.‖
How many times have your marketing Profs looked through those round golden-framed glasses and told you, ‗Marketing‘s basic prin-ciple is to give the consumer what he needs!‘? True. After all, if your product doesn‘t find customer, you are non-existent! But, what if your consumer doesn‘t need your product? Or there are people who fall outside your present consumer set but can be a po-tential chunk? Do you leave them out just because they don‘t ‗need‘
your product? Think again, weren‘t you told earlier, ‗A true marketer sells a refrigerator to an Eskimo!‘ So, the real challenge lies in selling a product to a consumer who doesn‘t practically need it.
What are the aspects that drive you towards buying a product? Kotler taught you five types of require-ments – need, want, demand, desire or aspiration? What about fancy? Does it fall in any of the above categories? Why does a child want a toy car that looks just like a Mercedes Benz or a child who has a Mercedes at home wants a Rolls Royce? How does it matter if the toy resembles a Maruti800 or an Ambassador? Well, there is always a demand for things that you can‘t have but gives you a feeling of ‗being un-incomplete‘.
There is sometimes a very strong need for something we practically don‘t need but it still attracts our attention. Because, it has become his/her fancy!! Now, the basic point to be discussed here is the differ-ence between ‗fancy‘ and the other forms of ‗need‘ that Kotler has said!
An item of fancy is not something that fulfils any sort of need or has an in-herent demand. For an item of fancy, you buy it because you would, not because you should! It‘s something far more complicated than a desire and yet far more impulsive. It brings into forefront that aspect of you which is you but not the ‗you‘ people want to know.
The blind wants the shiny pair of glares, the house-wife admires a business suit, the Radio Jockey goes for a facial every week, the sick thinks about ‗ice-cream‘, the toothless wants a chicken tandoori, the history professor asks his/her students to carry a calculator to class (the last one is not true, I just tried to be funny, sorry) etc. Now these are general perceptions – if you ask, ‗Where is the proof?‘ I would say, ‗It‘s an established fact!‘ [Rings bell? Ding! Dong!]
Let‘s take an example for illustration — ‗What do impotents think about most?‘ This includes those who are biologically incapable or have perhaps lost the power. Undoubtedly, it‘s sex! Because they can‘t have it! So, the feeling that they suffer mostly from is that of being ‗incomplete‘. Hence, there is a de-mand that can perhaps bring out of this feeling and make them feel ‗un-incomplete‘, might be a con-dom. A condom in wallet might just not only conceal their dysfunction but keep alive a hope that won‘t come true.
By Himadri Garg
The Impotent’s Condom
Unfortunately, hardly any Kohinoor or Moods CEO keeps this in mind, either during production or promotion.
Now, the point is if you gotta target someone who is not your ‗actual‘ customer, how you go about with it? How do you actually lure someone into buying a prod-uct which he actually doesn‘t need? Or how do you target people who are not your usual targets? There can be different ways:
Fashion Statement
There are items which do not fall into the bracket of necessity for people but their sales get increased manifold after they are projected as deluxe item or something that renders an attitude or gives them a unique style statement. Such instances are not rare. Let‘s take the example of wrist bands. Basically a sports accessory to protect wrists from injury, it started getting projected as a fashion item. And over-night, you could find guys wearing bands anywhere on their arms—from wrists to upper-arm!!! On closely similar lines, came the spiked hair bands—as an accessory and became the prized possession, from AB baby to our Marketing club coordinator! J Even watches had undergone a similar situation – from a mere ‗time keeper‘ to a jewellery! Such examples are galore.
Fortune maker:
„Horoscopical‟ items are one of the biggest recent businesses and can actual-ly be kept in this bracket. Targeting normal households is a major market-ing ploy for such companies selling books to people who can‘t use it to their benefit. Not only such books, tarot cards, wind chimes etc etc, such products flood the market and lure people into buying it! Competition, peer pressure, social image, all of them make people buy such items – you can‘t blame them either; after all, if something can bring a fortune to your household, there is no harm in spending a few bucks on them!
There can be many other forms of this same thing, many more illustrations to quote.
However, non-target consumer marketing does not always act in a favoura-
ble way. Lot depends on how the product is positioned to the people. An-
ecdotal evidence prove that consumers for whom advertisements have not
been designed directly often find them as irritating and distracting. So, care
should be taken so as to project the product in a manner which would not
alienate other consumer sets but create a favourable attitude for them.
Again boys and girls, I would say,
‗The above article was an attempt to infuse a new idea and does not intend to hurt anyone‘s sentiment
— living or dead. Any type of disrespect shown to someone‘s culture or sentiment is strictly co-
incidental.‘
By Deena Devassy
Brand Bloopers - Think Glocalization
Ohhh … again its 6 am have to get up for office, & why this alarm is not going off, I struggled to get my phone and
what I saw was my client calling with 4 Missed called already. His Voice was Tensed and told to check with TOI to
replace the Bangalore material. I was curious to know what was the reason as prior to this 2 ad with same message
have been released. He sounded, as that they didn‘t get incremental Footfalls. Even I thought this can be the reason
why the client wants to change the copy.
I was about to leave for the office and I get one more call this time from cousin
based out of Bangalore and the first words were how can your wishes be so
disrespectful, I will never shop from there. I was amused thinking that he has
dialed a wrong number I politely asked brother this is me, next reply please
check your ad on page 3 of TOI newspaper you will understand what I am talk-
ing.
I reached office, client was waiting for me at the reception and he said you
know what Bangalorians refer‖ Diwali‖ to Bankruptcy and the correct pronun-
ciation was ―Deepawali‖.
I then realized the importance of local communication in our advertisements and how can it go against a brand and the
company.
The whole game of proper usage of words, symbol, music, Culture, economy, technology, should be carefully used
while communicating a product to the end consumer.
Curious to know what had happened around the world; here are some
Brand Bloopers which are funnier, serious, surprising which we have never
thought off…
Kentucky Fried Chicken
In Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan ―finger-lickin‘good‖ came
out as ―eat your fingers off.‖
Traficante Mineral Water
Traficante is an Italian brand of mineral water. In Spanish, it means drug dealer.
Schweppes Tonic Water
In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into Schweppes Toilet Water.
McDonnell Douglas
Douglas tried to enter the Indian market but botched up its chances totally when it distributed a brochure that con-
tained picture of Indians who were all represented turbaned. The company had used old National Geographic pictures &
had overlooked the fact that the men were actually Pakistanis and not Indians.
Pepsi
In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan "Come alive with the
Pepsi Generation" came out as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors
back from the dead."
IFB Bosch
It decided to go ahead with its front loading washing machines ignoring the fact that in India, most of the washing is done in buckets & using the top loading washing machines resembled the act of putting clothes in a bucket.
Result, IFB Bosch lags sales & recently the company has decided to hang up its boots.
Volkswagen Jetta
Volkswagen named the sedan version of Golf the Jetta. However, the letter "J" doesn't exist in the Italian alphabet, so
Jetta is pronounced "Ietta", which means Misfortune... but ironically Jetta has good sales in Italy.
Coca-Cola, Ke-ke-ken-la, Ko-kou-ko-le
The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-ke-ken-la.
Unfortunately, the Coke company did not discover until after
thousands of signs had been printed that the phrase means "bite
the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax" depending
on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 Chinese characters
and found a close phonetic equivalent, "ko-kou-ko-le," which
can be loosely translated as "happiness in the mouth."
Ford Fiera doesn't do well with Spanish-speaking Latin-Americans, since "fiera" means "ugly old woman".
Nike Air
Nike offended Muslims in June, 1997 when the "flaming air" logo for its Nike Air sneakers looked too similar to the Ara-
bic form of God's name, "Allah". Nike pulled more than 38,000 pairs of sneakers from the market.
Parker Pen, Parker Quink Ink
When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to say
"It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." However, the Spanish
word "embarazar" was used by mistake to mean embarras. The ads actually said:
"It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."
Pope T-shirt
An American t-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of the
desired "I saw the Pope" in Spanish, the shirts proclaimed "I saw the Potato."
Rolls Royce Silver Mist, Silver Shadow
Rolls Royce changed the name of its car the Silver Mist to the Silver Shadow before entering Germany. In German,
"Mist" means manure (to put it nicely).
General Motors
Introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware
that ―nova‖ means ―it won‘t go.‖ After the company figured out why it
wasn‘t selling any cars, it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the
Caribe.
Revlon tried to launch a perfume in Brazil that smelt of Camelia flowers.
It overlooked the fact that in Brazil , Camellia flowers are funeral flowers.
Predictably the brand failed
Kothari Foods in India decide to launch the Block Buster American brand, Tang from General Foods, USA, it ran into
rough weather because the breakfast habits of Indian people are rather diverse and the scope of a fruit juice was marginal.
Coors
Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose" into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer
from diarrhea".
Often for the ease of making or perhaps because it would be a global message,
advertisers do language translation without thinking about the country, region
or language they are advertising in.
These give rise to complication and are mistakes in common. A straight trans
lation can turn a strong advertising message into something funny, offen
sive or even plain nonsense and will take the brand to a toss.
In North if you say Diwali the consumer will acknowledge the wishes but down south to consumer one has to wish Happy
Deepawali. Diwali is Deewala in South and for your brand
Read your consumers & market. Think Global but act local
By Kartik Sharma
The Viewing Incidence Model
In the case of missing TVRs we examined the correct interpretation of zero TVRs and possible solutions to address
the probability of TVRs not being genuinely zeros. In this article we examine a simple yet powerful concept of TV
planning called “the viewing incidence model”
While TV viewership can be analyzed in vary many ways, from an ad-
vertiser standpoint they are finally interested in reaching a certain num-
ber of people with a certain frequency. The lowest unit therefore one
can analyze is a ―minute‖. This is the unit typically used by agencies to
plan TV campaigns whereby a planner chooses the ―ad break‖ and selects
spots. The assumption being that the recent weeks of viewership is likely
to continue even in the future period (i.e. the advertised period) for the advertiser.
While this technique of planning is fairly acceptable and can be used for planning reach channels
this assumption is fraught with problems particularly if a planner wants to use many niche/special
interest channels in his plan. The volatility of viewership generally is bound to be high.
So how should we plan for niche/special channels?
If a minute is the lowest unit available for planning let‘s start from there.
The viewership panel allows users to analyze viewership at a minute by mi-
nute level. Each minute therefore has a probability (i.e. TVRs) of being
viewed. Stated differently each minute can be treated as ―an incidence‖ to
be viewed with probability lying between 0 (no viewership) & a theoretical
maximum of 100 (complete viewership). In real life situations the TVRs lie
between zero and a higher number (these days in single digits) depending
on the genre, channel, timeslot etc. For example in a given day if we were
to analyze the time available between say 7 a.m. to 12 Midnight then we
will have a total of 18 hours & 1080 ―incidences to view‖ (18 hours x 60 minutes per hour).
Now planning for this 18 hour time-band means 1080 possibilities
for a channel in a given day.
The first task for the planner is to make the choice of whether the channel under consideration
should be taken as part of the plan or not. Often many planners & advertisers alike use niche/special
interest based on ―qualitative parameters‖/gut feel. While there is nothing wrong with using qualita-
tive parameters/gut feel these are unfortunately not considered when a post evaluation of the cam-
paign is done. When the skew of plan is heavy towards niche/special interest channels then the re-
sultant efficiencies are also bound to be highly volatile. We are therefore forced to make choices pre-
dominantly based on quantitative factors.
The first factor used in the ―viewing incidence model‖ is probability of viewership. This is a simple
metric to calculate. In the above example where we have 1080 possible incidences of viewing we
simply have to count the number of incidences which do not get any viewership. The formula for this
is :
Incidence with zero viewership = Count of incidence within the timeband analyzed with “0” TVRs x 100
Total number of incidences in the timeband analyzed
Higher the incidence with zero reduces the chances of the channel being considered.
Now to factor in volatility we then calculate a second metric for ―level of stability‖. Statistically
speaking we need to calculate the ―standard deviation‖ of the time-band. This can be done easily using
standard excel commands.
What does the standard deviation (S.D.) mean?
S.D. is a measure of variability which shows how much variation or ―dispersion‖ there is from the av-
erage. A low S.D. indicates that the data point (time-band in our case) tend to be very close to the
mean & vice versa if its high S.D. Using the above two metrics we can now construct a simple grid
with one axis having ―incidence of zero viewership‖ and S.D. on the other axis as shown in Fig 1
Low High Low
High
Incidence of zero
Standard
Deviation
Quadrant 1 Quadrant 4
Quadrant 2 Quadrant 3
THE VIEWING INCIDENCE MODEL ©
Implications of the model
Channels in Quadrant 1 will have the highest probability of being considered in the plans subject
to cost efficiencies
Channels in Quadrant 2 can be considered if they boost incremental reach at low cost. Given that
channels in this quadrant have high S.D. their inclusion is bound to be give volatile results (i.e.
over/under delivery)
Channels in Quadrant 3 can be avoided as they offer low viewership and also have high S.D.
Channels in Quadrant 4 can only be considered if they are supremely efficient. Given its high in-
cidence of zero but low S.D. at best they can act as frequency boosters. Serious thought needs to
be given before the inclusion of such channels
Application of the model for a large spender - Debranded
Case Study
The brand under consideration is a large spender and uses a balanced mix
of reach and niche channels. When the model was applied to its current
channel mix it was observed that nearly 8 channels were being used in
the mix which fell into Quadrant 3 and did not pass the test of efficiency.
The removal of these channels improved efficiencies by 12%. The money
saved post this exercise was used to fund other media activity.
The Viewing Incidence Model is a simple yet powerful model of planning
TV in a highly fragmented and inflationary market. In an era where every ru-
pee needs to work harder the application of this model can improve the TV
planning process & bring about more accountability.
Advertisers and channels can use this model not just to align their channel mix
but as a potent tool to benchmark channel pricing by doing “what-if ” scenarios i.e. at what price point does a
channel make sense without compromising other strategic goals.
Final Thoughts
Best AHA Work in
2011
Mining the Complexity: Cable television in India often makes viewers pay for channels they don‘t watch. Tata
Sky introduced Tru choice package allowing ―Bengalis to only pay for Bangla* channels‖, ―Maharashtrians to pay only for
Marathi* channels‖; and similarly for all other Indian languages.
The challenge was to use media to communicate this message effectively.
Engaging Creativity: In a never done before effort, live content from
one regional was mid way changed to another language thereby catching the
viewer by surprise. At the moment of the change Tata Sky message was placed
to communicate the benefit of the Tru choice package . It was executed for
twelve Indian language channels.
Encompassing the audience : We created forty two such situations of
language change. The integration into live content ensured that the impact was
uncompromised. A single idea cut through twelve channels, cultures and de-
mographics. It caught 7.3 Mn viewers unaware!
Results & Effectiveness
Tata Sky‘s ‗cost perception‘ and ‗value for money‘ increased by 10% & 5% respectively.
Tru Choice sold a record 1.4 Mn subscriptions.
Tanishq did an interesting innovation on Radio to
promote gifting of diamonds this Diwali. Along-
side the True Diamonds TV campaign, Amitabh
Bachchan urges all the men to surprise their wife‘s
with diamonds from Tanishq on Radio by inter-
rupting the shows across 15 cities in 25 stations.
“Tanishq True Diamonds- AB Interrupting
the Radio Programming ”
Client: Tanishq
“Curious Case of Missing Diamonds”
Client: Tanishq
“Stop The Crime Before It Is Committed”
The Real Time Planning Report
The Background:
Brand Track Meetings are held monthly or quarterly between client and agency. In these meetings the campaign which
took place 4 to 6 weeks ago are reviewed and their learning‘s analyzed. These learning‘s will be applied to the next
campaign (provided the nature of the campaign is same) but the learning‘s for the next campaign will only be discussed
4 to 6 weeks post the campaign is complete. The Brand Track data cannot be utilized to its best ability as we keep deal-
ing with a lag of 4 to 6 weeks. There can only be reviews of the campaign, but no real-time action can be taken.
Challenge: To make real-time interventions for “on-air” campaigns to achieve the desired sales.
The Methodology:
Our modeling framework was planned across 2 stages –
Stage 1 – Understanding Causality & Lag Effects
Stage 2 – Developing a Simulation Model
The Findings:
1. Out of the 6 variables, only 3 variables led to the un-
derstanding of analysis movement in sales. The rest
were not statistically significant to explain sales.
2. The dependent variable (Sales) was affected by lag val-
ues of the independent variables. However it follows a
path where GRP triggers TOMA, TOMA triggers
Search and ultimately Search Volumes affect Sales.
Applications of the model, for a LIVE campaign of Tata Sky
There were 2 campaigns running simultaneously across 6 weeks with almost equal weightage. We monitored actual
search volumes week on week and found that campaign A was delivering higher search than the benchmark search
volumes. We also found that campaign A was being searched heavily in a regional market. Using this Model…..
1. We immediately withdrew whatever we could of campaign B and used those GRP to boost weights in the rele-
vant regional channels.
2. Since Campaign A was delivering high search volumes, we recommended to Tata Sky that they reduce their
GRPs in the balance 3 weeks in such a way that the overall sales during the campaign are achieved.
3. We cut the GRPs therefore by 18% (Pure planning savings).
It was on air Radio City between 0800hrs -0900hrs & 19:00hrs -20:00hrs, during the peak listener-
ship. Amitabh & Jaya Bacchan spoke about their experience of working together again after 10 yrs in
Tanishq True diamonds TVC. The programming brought out the real candid- slice of life experiences of
Amitabh & Jaya as a couple on Radio which was never done. Amitabh & Jaya flaunted their in-depth
knowledge of Tanishq diamonds on-air which added extra mileage to the brand.
Advertorial was telecast across 7 Mkts, ( Mum, Del, Pune, Luck, Ahm, Surat, Hyd).
The Tanishq radio campaign was spread across leading Radio Stations of 15 Markets with FCT & Non
FCT components which aimed at educating consumers on the technical – essential facts about dia-
monds. The radio spots were recorded in AB‘s baritone voice.
The Readvertorial on Radio City aimed at capturing the AB- JB couple talking
about diamonds in a real life context.
“First Readvertorial”
Client: Tanishq
First advertorial on Radio as a part of programming content - Tanishq True Diamonds
Objective: To enhance brand proposition by creating half an hour episodes based
on the Royal Stag tagline ‗ Its your life, make it large‘
Royal Stag
Ever wondered how the many people we know as „heroes‟ today, went from being nobodies to people you and I aspire to be?
Ever wondered what drove them to push against all odds to get the acclaim that they so rightfully deserve?
Nothing else, but the mere passion to “MAKE IT LARGE”!
Royal Stag with Maxus, ESP and Zoom created a weekly hour an
show specially developed and created for Royal Stag “Royal Stag
Bollywood Make it Large” a show that salutes this very passion in
some key Bollywood celebrities like Ranbir Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan,
Shahid Kapoor, SRK and many more… giving us an insight into their
back stories and journeys to making it large.
Royal Stag Bollywood Make it Large: Every Friday@8pm and Tues-
day@9pm on Zoom TV
Do have a watch and be inspired!!
“Make It Large”
Client: Royal Stag
Objective: Launch & promote IDBI Agri Business offerings to farmers across
rural Maharashtra and increase IDBI Agri Business by 35% in a span of 1 year.
Communication Challenge: Farmers do not take commercial communica-
tion at face value. For high involvement financial transactions, they only look at
familiar resources like money lenders even if they are expensive. Convincing them to deal with a large financial bank
was a big challenge.
INSIGHT: Farmers Trust ―Trusted Advisors‖
Celebrities like movie stars with roots in rural parts are
the biggest influencers. Any advice from these celebrities
act as driving force for farmers.
Media Solution
We created the BROCHURE IN THE FORM OF ENTERTAINING CINEMA and not a
boring 100 page document. Thus giving birth to ―INDIA‘S FIRST CINE BRO-
CHURE.‖ National Award winner Makarand Anaspure, the new age Dada Kondke of Ma-
rathi Cinema and the Movie ―AGADBAM‖ was converted into our product‘s ―Cine Bro-
chure‖. Makarand Anaspure is one of the biggest stars of contemporary Marathi Film Indus-
try. As a protagonist of the movie, he himself was an IDBI bank employee and advised other
characters in the movie to deal with IDBI Bank rather than local money lenders
Scale of Execution: ―AGADBAM‖ released across 120 Theatres in Maharashtra reaching out to over 3.5
Lacs people.
Results: The Agri Banking Vertical of IDBI Bank saw a whopping 45% growth in business within 5 months of
movie release. This till date is the only communication released for the Agri Banking division.
MAHARASHTRA
“India’s First Cine Brochure”
Client: IDBI
“Google Chrome Changes The Face Of Media”
Client: Google
Situation Analysis: Tata Sky launched Active English aimed at providing people with learning and confidence to
speak English in their day-to-day conversations, like Parents-Teacher meeting; in-malls while shopping, banks and other
such interactions.. The service exclusively focused on conversational skills, grammar, pronunciation and providing tips
on the nuances of English.
Challenge: Thus media‘s role was to make the consumer experience
the product without even purchasing it. We had to find a way to make
people familiar with the service.
The challenge was to use media to communicate this message
effectively.
Engaging the audience : We created special classroom ‗Angrezi Ki
Pathshala‘ using popular RJs as English Professors to run a live English
coaching class in the same manner in which Tata Sky‘s Active English
service coached. We opened English coaching classes on 7 radio sta-
tions across 20 cities engaging 51 Lac students.
Result:
Tata Sky sold a record 1.7 Lakh Active English subscriptions.
Threat: The Consumers‘ believed that spending
money on a service that they did not know how to
operate was a big risk.
Pls. help me make a sentence using ‘competence’?
RJ / Professor coaching on the call
Pls. help me with the pronunciation of ‘Cuisine’ Pls. explain the difference between quiet & quit?
“Angrezi Ki Pathshala”
Client: Tata Sky
Fiat, the exclusive automobile partner of the Lakme Fashion Week made a unique style statement by launching
its brand new model, TJET in a royal manner
―The Fiat association at Lakme Fashion Week is an excellent example of how a single idea is leveraged across paid,
owned and earned media, keeping the consumer at core. This is the first time a car partnership has been blended
into an event so perfectly to capture context as well as impact; allowing both the brand and event to benefit
equally from it. We hope to work with Fiat for many more such associations in future.‖
- Swati Mohan, National Head – Entertainment, Sports and Partnerships, MAXUS.
“Fiat Launches Its Brand New Model, TJET”
Client: Fiat
Insights
The idea was to create a sustainable long term property with ROI. Tanishq targeted the brides and grooms, who use
online for various reasons ranging from entertainment, communication and utility driven needs.
Yahoo, the leading portal in India was chosen as the online partner along with two leading radio stations as a support
medium in the India's first wedding webisodes on the Yahoo microsite
Phase 1: Call to entry for the Dream Wedding Contest
Phase 2: Five Shortlisted couples talking about how they met their loved ones in Webisodes
Phase 3: Final winner declared and the Dream Wedding Webisode online.
Phase 2 demanded greater awareness and engagement and hence Radio was chosen as a support medium.
The activity witnessed a total 9 million online users
“Dream Wedding”
Client: Tanishq
“A Website Powered by True Fans For True
Fans”
Client: Fiat
Some brands have cult following. But not necessarily popular among masses. Fiat might be fighting a perception bat-
tle in the market, but the reality is, when it comes to automobile technology and design, true auto enthusiasts know
what Fiat is. And Fiat has a cult following in India as well.
So when Bryan Adams—a brand on his own with a cult following—announced his tour to India,
Fiat Punto, whose positioning is ‗Crafted for a True Fan,‘ decided to ride a wave of people‘s
ebullience for Bryan Adams.
Fiat launched the Punto True Fan contest. There were two parts to the contest. To get passes to the concert, fans
were encouraged to answer a few simple questions. However, to stand a chance to meet Bryan Adams in person, fans
were encouraged to upload a video or a picture that would stand testimony to being a true fan of Bryan Adams or
Punto. Winners were selected based on votes gathered as well as jury‘s assessment.
The highlight of the contest was the website‘s design. The contents, apart from the contest, were all conversations
about Bryan Adams from across the social media. It featured live feeds from social channels such as FaceBook, Twit-
ter, YouTube, and the like, talking about Bryan Adams. Fans lapped this up, spending more time on the website scan-
ning through the contents. The FaceBook channel (Punto True Fan) organically grew to 12,000 fans in
less than a week.
An interesting outcome of this activity was that a good number of consumers who did not participate in the contest
joined the conversations and spoke about their love and passion for their Fiat cars.
“World’s First Facebook & Mobile App Pow-
ered by Light - Maxus Interaction ”
Client: Titan
Titan Unveils Light-powered Facebook App and Website
Titan, in partnership with Maxus Interaction, recently launched a new range of
watches called the HTSE (High Tech Self Energised) collection, which uses digital
medium to let users experience the functionality of the range, which can be
charged by any light source -- be it direct or diffused sunlight, indoor lighting, or
even by candle light.
The company with the help of Maxus Interaction, has created a dedicated website
(TitanHTSE.com) and launched a Facebook application (app) called 'HTSE Wear a
Watch' on its Facebook page (Facebook.com/Titanbemore). For access the web-
site and application, the user will require a source of light. Whenever a user opens TitanHTSE.com or 'HTSE
Wear a Watch' application, a pop-up window will emerge, which will seek the permission of the user to start the
web-camera attached to his computer. Once permitted, the user will be required to bring and hold any source of
light near the web-camera till the time the site or application opens and shows further details related to watch
models.
Augmented Reality will be used to enable users to try out a particular HTSE
watch through the Facebook app, virtually. Once users open the Facebook app,
they will see a tab titled 'Try Now', which when clicked, activates the web cam-
era and shows a watch. The user has to point his wrist in front of the web camera.
As a result of it, he will see the watch overlaid on his wrist on the app screen. If
the web-cam is not attached to the computer, the site will showcase a 'light
switch', which the user will be required to click in order to open/access the web-
site. In the Facebook application, users will see fireflies on their app screen,
which they need to drop on the HTSE watch placed in the dark background of the
Facebook application screen. Once the user drops five fireflies inside the watch, the HTSE watch will be shown
to the user and he will be allowed to access the application and get more details about the watches.
Maxus Interaction has also developed a mobile app, which it will release in the next few days. The mobile app
will also let users experience the functionality of HTSE watches. Users will be required to download the app on
their phones. Once downloaded, the user will have to open the app, which will activate the mobile camera auto-
matically and the app screen will showcase a HTSE watch in the dark background, similar to the Facebook app.
Users will have to hold the mobile camera in front of any light source in order to provide power and illuminate
the virtual watch shown in the app. Once illuminated, the mobile user can focus the mobile camera on his wrist
in order to experience or try the watch (virtually). The app will be available on Android and Apple iPhone plat-
forms.
Objective: TO Launch & establish association with new Celebrity endorsing Garnier Color Naturals
Execution: Created a false cover with Karishma Kapoor on the magazine cov- er
– first time ever Brand Logo presence on the cover of the Gruhashoba magazine –
across 4 languages (Delhi Press group).
Used the same picture (cover) across all 4 magazines
Brand elements on the cover (font colors and background color) to strength-en the association
Results: Increased visibility for the Brand Ambassador & the Brand; with false cover on 4 language magazines &
Double spread in 4+1
Readership for the magazine for all the four languages put together is around 1.7 million
Created brand visibility on the stand (around 70,000 copies are sold on stands)
Challenge: Making ‗Karishma Kapoor‘ association with
Garnier Color Naturals stronger & build recall value
Insight: Consumers need to see the celebrity & the Brand in multiple
environments to register the association
Media Solution: Build Brand visibility even before the magazine is
picked up - Creating a media tool/vehicle out of the on-stand display
“Garnier Color Naturals—New Brand Ambassador
& New Communication”
Client: L’Oreal
“Dual Sim Print Innovation”
Client: Nokia
Dual SIM Print Innovation
The idea was to introduce the dual effect on a single device, therefore, we asked the publication to bring the local
news to sports page. One half of the page was local news and other half was sports news that too in the shape of SIM
with two different background colours to differentiate the dual news on a single page. The launch was on 29th
June‘11. We have done this innovation with the following publications:
Dainik Jagran
Hindustan
Dainik Bhaskar
Lokmat
Vijay Karnataka
Sakshi
The market response was very good as per Nokia sales team.
Challenge
Inspired by the office of importance, Arrow launched its
presidential collection. The launch co-incided with Barack
Obama‘s India visit giving us a unique opportunity to kid-
nap the media frenzy associated with him. Leveraging on a
large scale public event like this required quick thinking and
involved high risks.
Solution
We executed the kidnap through leading newspapers, mag-
azines and internet-sites.
We tied-up with the 15th anniversary issue of India‘s second
largest English magazine Outlook. MAXIM, India‘s leading
lifestyle magazine and Yahoo, India‘s largest online portal were also roped in. With Hindustan Times & DNA, we had 2
of the largest circulated dailies of the country.
Any celebrity association involves huge investments but for Arrow Obama featured as the brand ambassador free of cost.
A brand being promoted by first dignitary of the world was unimaginable task.
Result
A brand got endorsed by the first dignitary of the world free of cost!
The fact that Presidential Collection-2 will be launched in 2011 is a testimony to the huge success.
The collection sold 3000 units against targeted 1500.
“Arrow Hijacks President Obama”
Client: Arrow
“Wishing Tree ”
Client: Perfetti Van Melle
“Ask Me Radio Activity”
Client: Infomedia
A MAXUS Insights Initiative
THANK YOU