Thursday, May 28, 2009
Marketing Funda : The art of story telling
My article on the Art of Story Telling published in Adclubbombay.com : Read it here
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Marketing Funda : Creating Brand Experience
My article on Creating brand Experience published in Adclubbombay.com : Read it here
Marketing To Youth : Youth Power or Myth
Economic Times (25/05/09) has a very interesting and enlightening article on Indian youth. Written by Mr Rajesh Shukla, the article throws light into some important data regarding the Indian youth market.
Read the article here : Harnessing Indian Youth Power
Some of the important statistics are reproduced below :
The total youth population (13-34) is 390 million which is 38% of the total population and is expected to rise to 440 million by 2020.
70% of the youth reside in over 600,000 villages.
72% of youth are literate.
41% of these literate youth fall in the age group (13-19 years) , 23% fall in 20-24 and 36% are in 25-34 years.
59% of literate youth are male. 7% are graduates and 12% have passed higher secondary.
The article also presents a clear view about the definition of youth. According to Rajesh Shukla , youth refers to a category rather than a group. The difference between category and group is that category has diverse or heterogeneous elements unlike groups which are similar in its composition. Youth relates to an age group that is transiting between childhood and adulthod and may comprise of a conglomeration of sub-groups with differing social roles, expectations and aspirations.
UN defines youth as those in the age group of 15-24 years. UNICEF defines youth in the age bracket of 15-30 years. Indian National Youth Policy considers all individuals in the agegroup of 13-35 years as youth population. NYP divides the youth population into two groups - 13-19 years as adolescent and 20-35 as Youth.
As far as marketers are concerned, the sheer size of this market is a huge opportunity. But no one so far has been able to rightly understand the Indian Youth's psyche.
As the article points out, the youth market cannot be considered as a group because it is not homogeneous. So does it mean that marketers cannot segment this market on the bases of age alone ? . Segmentation is based on the assumption that the members display homogeneity . So if the members of a specific age group display heterogeneous characteristics, it no longer becomes a segment.
The implication is that marketers should find out variables other than age to segment the Indian youth market.So when age becomes irrelevant, does it mean that the so called Youth Market is a myth just like the much hyped Indian MiddleClass ?
Most of the marketers tend to use Lifestyle as a variable to define segments with in the Youth market. How ever lifestyle segmentation is tricky and highly subjective in nature.
This probably explain the reason why Indian marketers are still finding it difficult to find a formula to tap this huge lucrative market.
What do you think ?
Read the article here : Harnessing Indian Youth Power
Some of the important statistics are reproduced below :
The total youth population (13-34) is 390 million which is 38% of the total population and is expected to rise to 440 million by 2020.
70% of the youth reside in over 600,000 villages.
72% of youth are literate.
41% of these literate youth fall in the age group (13-19 years) , 23% fall in 20-24 and 36% are in 25-34 years.
59% of literate youth are male. 7% are graduates and 12% have passed higher secondary.
The article also presents a clear view about the definition of youth. According to Rajesh Shukla , youth refers to a category rather than a group. The difference between category and group is that category has diverse or heterogeneous elements unlike groups which are similar in its composition. Youth relates to an age group that is transiting between childhood and adulthod and may comprise of a conglomeration of sub-groups with differing social roles, expectations and aspirations.
UN defines youth as those in the age group of 15-24 years. UNICEF defines youth in the age bracket of 15-30 years. Indian National Youth Policy considers all individuals in the agegroup of 13-35 years as youth population. NYP divides the youth population into two groups - 13-19 years as adolescent and 20-35 as Youth.
As far as marketers are concerned, the sheer size of this market is a huge opportunity. But no one so far has been able to rightly understand the Indian Youth's psyche.
As the article points out, the youth market cannot be considered as a group because it is not homogeneous. So does it mean that marketers cannot segment this market on the bases of age alone ? . Segmentation is based on the assumption that the members display homogeneity . So if the members of a specific age group display heterogeneous characteristics, it no longer becomes a segment.
The implication is that marketers should find out variables other than age to segment the Indian youth market.So when age becomes irrelevant, does it mean that the so called Youth Market is a myth just like the much hyped Indian MiddleClass ?
Most of the marketers tend to use Lifestyle as a variable to define segments with in the Youth market. How ever lifestyle segmentation is tricky and highly subjective in nature.
This probably explain the reason why Indian marketers are still finding it difficult to find a formula to tap this huge lucrative market.
What do you think ?
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Marketing Funda : Branding a Commodity
My article on branding a commodity in Adclubbombay.com. Read it here
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Brand Update : Cadbury Eclairs
This year Cadbury Dairy Milk Eclairs has comeout with a new campaign and a new positioning. The brand has identified itself with a sweet chocolate time bomb that will explode in your mouth.
The brand is running an interesting TVC to communicate the postioning.
Watch the ad here : Cadbury sweet bomb
Cadbury's Dairy Milk Eclairs has always been focused on its chocolate inner and as a consumer we get a special feeling when the crispy outer covering of the eclairs give way to the soft chocolate liquid inside. The brand is now trying to capture this feeling through the new campaign.
The brand is equating this experience akin to the blowing up of a chocolate bomb from inside. The ad captures this concept quite beautifully.
Although the ad is quite good, there is a striking resemblence with the recent KitKat ad claiming to be more chocolatey. The only difference is that the chocolate explodes outside the head.
Watch the Kitkat ad here : Kitkat exploding
Competition is not only for market share , it is also for the ad copy.
Related brand
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Brand Update : Popy
Rainy season has started in Kerala and the ad blitz of the umbrella marketers has reached the pinnacle. As usual, the umbrella marketers of Kerala has proved that innovation can be a game changing strategy.
This season is also no different ,where the two major brands in the Kerala umbrella market - Popy and John's vying for consumer attention with mind-blowing new umbrellas.
Popy has come out with a new commercial for its Nano sub-brand. Popy Nano claims to be the smallest folding umbrella which has a hieght of 16 cm when folded. The brand is being promoted as the " World's smallest big umbrella " .
The company claims that the umbrella when opened covers a larger area compared to ordinary umbrellas. The brand also claims to be the lightest and strongest in that category of 3 fold umbrellas. Popy Nano has come out with a decent catchy campaign which superbly communicates the brand promise.
Watch the TVC here : Popy Nano
While Popy Nano is aimed at older customers, it is the kid segment where there is intense comp
etition.
In the kid's umbrella segment, Popy has come out with a new product " Popy Kuppi Kuda ". Kuppi in Malayalam language means bottle. So Kuppi Kuda means umbrella in the shape of a bottle.
The brand has introduced this product using a teaser campaign.
Watch the ad here : Popy Kuppi Kuda
The competition is not sitting idle. The main competitor John's has also come out with two new products . John's Air was launched this year which claims that the umbrella will be able to withstand wind speed upto 50 Kmph.
In Kerala we can see lady pillion riders of two wheelers desperately trying to hold the umbrella during the rain. Most of the time, these umbrellas cannot withstand the wind and will collapse creating an embarrassing situation. John's Air is aiming to fill that need for a stronger umbrella that can withstand wind.
John's also came out with a product for kids branded as John's Macha Mia. This is an umbrella with a bubble maker and bubble breaker. Kids can make bubbles with an attachment fitted with the umbrella handle and then try to break those bubbles using a dart gun fitted along with the umbrella. Sounds complicated isn't it ?
Both Popy and John's are flooding the media with their campaign and kids are a happy lot with lot of options to choose for.
Popy and John's are proving once again that innovation can bring life into a once dull product category like Umbrella.
Related Brand
Popy
This season is also no different ,where the two major brands in the Kerala umbrella market - Popy and John's vying for consumer attention with mind-blowing new umbrellas.
Popy has come out with a new commercial for its Nano sub-brand. Popy Nano claims to be the smallest folding umbrella which has a hieght of 16 cm when folded. The brand is being promoted as the " World's smallest big umbrella " .
The company claims that the umbrella when opened covers a larger area compared to ordinary umbrellas. The brand also claims to be the lightest and strongest in that category of 3 fold umbrellas. Popy Nano has come out with a decent catchy campaign which superbly communicates the brand promise.
Watch the TVC here : Popy Nano
While Popy Nano is aimed at older customers, it is the kid segment where there is intense comp
etition.In the kid's umbrella segment, Popy has come out with a new product " Popy Kuppi Kuda ". Kuppi in Malayalam language means bottle. So Kuppi Kuda means umbrella in the shape of a bottle.
The brand has introduced this product using a teaser campaign.
Watch the ad here : Popy Kuppi Kuda
The competition is not sitting idle. The main competitor John's has also come out with two new products . John's Air was launched this year which claims that the umbrella will be able to withstand wind speed upto 50 Kmph.
In Kerala we can see lady pillion riders of two wheelers desperately trying to hold the umbrella during the rain. Most of the time, these umbrellas cannot withstand the wind and will collapse creating an embarrassing situation. John's Air is aiming to fill that need for a stronger umbrella that can withstand wind.
John's also came out with a product for kids branded as John's Macha Mia. This is an umbrella with a bubble maker and bubble breaker. Kids can make bubbles with an attachment fitted with the umbrella handle and then try to break those bubbles using a dart gun fitted along with the umbrella. Sounds complicated isn't it ?
Both Popy and John's are flooding the media with their campaign and kids are a happy lot with lot of options to choose for.
Popy and John's are proving once again that innovation can bring life into a once dull product category like Umbrella.
Related Brand
Popy
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