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Veteran Ad-Guru Alyque Padamsee is up next with all cylinders firing! He endorses the last point vehemently. “New agencies inducted, immediately get into the act and one of the first things they do is trash the stuff that the previous agency did”. He cites the case of the classic LIRIL campaign where the girl, waterfall and signature tune defined the brand. “Now we have it replaced by this re-play of an old Levers launch of 2000! And, does anyone really care about how many parts of the body … I mean, how ridiculous!” He reminds us that THE MARLBORO MAN remains intact and continues to rule. So does the MRF mascot and the UTTERLY BUTTERLY girl. “Clients must really be very careful before leaping into a zone of changing for the sake of changing”. Hi-Profile Artist Sanjay Bhattacharya is more direct. “I think it’s become a fashion today to demolish anything that is traditional in the name of being contemporary, relevant and consumer-driven. It’s total bullcrap and only reflects their inability to intelligently and creatively blend the time-tested brand value with new-age focus. There is nothing wrong with moving away but, my feeling is that it’s done mostly to be perceived as a product or corporation that is keeping with the times … how defensive, insecure and negative!” Ogilvy’s NCD Abhijit Avasthi winds up this debate with his very own evolved perspective. “For me, a mascot is a property that any brand would have created and built up. The issue is the level and depth of work invested into this mascot over time, to constantly maintain a meaningful connect and relevance with the targeted constituency. That is THE real key”. He feels that the Onida guys must have their reasons to do away with the devil. As for new teams and agencies demolishing all work of the old teams, he believes “only a silly, insecure and immature people would take that course. Smart teams would see the big picture before deciding on the way ahead”.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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The Indian automakers are thinking beyond the run-of-the-mill cash discounts to generate more sales this festive season.

Pawan Chabra finds out what the auto giants are really up to

“Hopefully, this season will prove a lot better, as there was hardly anything to celebrate about in the last festive season. At least for us, business was very dull,” says Sumit Desai, an auto-dealer in the capital. This thought signifies the common sentiment that is currently floating around in the country, for festive seasons are times when you anticipate and expect better tidings. In fact, on the back of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the stranglehold on financial schemes by all national banks, almost all the auto companies have experienced a fall in sales figures during the year gone by, a time frame most dealers would want to wipe out from their memories. However, this festive season, the automotive companies are leaving no stone unturned to ensure a healthy growth rate. Interestingly, they have gone a step beyond, offering cash discounts, maintenance packages and even gold to the consumers and have rather become more innovative in their marketing efforts. In fact, some companies are waiving off taxes up to 40% for the consumers, if their booking date falls on or before September 30, 2009. While in one particular print ad, it is clearly mentioned that Toyota Kirloskar Motors has decided to ‘raise’ prices beyond September 30, 2009, in another one by GM (for the Chevrolet brand), it is announced that the end date of the Navratra Gold Utsav is September 30, 2009. Of course, the reality is that the festival season has just started, but automakers are scuttling to garner as much as they can from the market, in an attempt to exploit all forms of above-the-line marketing vehicles to the hilt.

And the efforts are evidently paying rich returns. In Gujarat, the demand for two-wheelers and four-wheelers has surpassed the supply levels. Similar is the story in other parts of the country. Going forward, the dealers are expecting further growth in the sales units. Notwithstanding that, this time, ‘festive discounts’ have actually not been used as the prime attraction to lure the target audience. There have been a slew of launches in both the two-wheeler (Yamaha’s V-Max & Limited Fazer, Hero Honda’s Karizma ZMR, Bajaj Discover 100cc, et al) and passenger car manufacturers (like Ford’s new Endeavour, Mercedes’ E-Class Sports, Maruti’s Estilo, et al). Then there are some marketers who opt for alternate means to attract minds, instead of the humdrum ‘lowered prices’ bait; one such is the use of aggressive marketing campaigns. To bring one such case to notice, BMW has organised a BMW Expo in its exclusive dealer outlets, for its prospective consumers, wherein all current BMW models have been made available for a test drive. A spokesperson from BMW explains the logic behind such an initiative: “It’s better to offer the consumer a test drive than offer a cash discount. More importantly, in the segment that we are operating in, cash discounts hardly help attract more consumers,” explains BMW’s spokesperson.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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