League of Shadows-Group A3-Source -4p's business and marketing

CAN MONTE CARLO BEAT THE JHONNNY-COME-LATELYS?

Divya Gupta

Monte Carlo, the Rs.850 crore brand owned by the Ludhiana-based Nahar Group, the pioneer Knitwear brand in the country has moved on to straddle other apparel segments catering to women, youth and kids wear as it seeks to transform itself into a complete solutions provider for all clothing needs.

While winter wear still accounts for 75% of company’s total sales, the company is planning to take its share of non-woolen wear to 50% in the next 5 years.

Acting on its ambition to cater to the market for kids and youth in the non-winter category the group decided to wean away the Monte Carlo brand from Oswal Wollen Mills under which the brand had till now been housed.

Instead of trying to make a forced brand extension by thrusting their signature brand name to the line of kids clothing, it has created a new brand known as “Tween Monte Carlo”

However, Monte Carlo’s latest foray is not going to be easy. Brands like Catmoss, Mom & Me, Liliput, Giny & Jony are some better known players dominating the market.

The company has adopted the strategy of unique pricing and massive market penetration. The company intends to target its TG in the metros and tier 1 cities. With prices easy on the pocket they expect to make a good impact on the market.

It is expected to face major competition from retailers like Pantaloons.

The company plans to unleash 360 degree promotional activities to help it gain visibility. With a good advertising and marketing strategy in place along with strong positioning of the brand, the company appears to be moving along well on the path to becoming a complete solutions provider for meeting the apparel needs of the Indian family.

Can the ‘Yatra Man’ get the job done this time?

Vivek Raj Nair

·         Due to grounding of KFA, paralytic status of Air India, only few aircrafts are capable of carrying elite ‘business flyers’ in India.

·         Huge loss in the Airline industry.

·         As per IAMAI research the growth of online travel booking websites becoming the fastest growing e-commerce business with a whopping 31% rise in online flight bookings which reached Rs 1.58 million in Oct 2012.

·          Post its collective venture capital funding of Rs 2 Billion from Intel Capital, Norwest Venture Partners and Valiant Capital Management, Yatra.com has been on a major acquisition spree for last 15 months.

·         To expand its customer base Yatra.com has even acquired the entertainment portal Buzztown. It’s seen as an attempt from the website to become a one stop solution to its clients.

·         McCann Erickson bagged the creative duties of the travel portal.

·         The portal trying to woo its customers by coming up with humor filled advertisements.

·         Yatra.com has roped the larger than life actor Salman Khan to give its advertisements the right shape and flavor. It mainly focuses on bringing up lucrative and discounted price fares for its clients.

·         Company has allocated nearly 80% of its marketing budget to its TVC with remaining set aside for online promotions.

·         Salman Khan was asked to imitate an action done by the previous brand ambassador Boman Irani for which Salman replied “ Star aur Superstar mein koi farq hota hai!”

·         The question of Yatra.com breaking the clutter in the superstar endorsements will also depend on the attractive offers from the portal.

Traffic Jam

Nikhil Nair

The Indian passenger car market has visibly reached a perpetual state of flux for both sellers and Buyers

·         Maruti’s market share has come down from 52% in 2008-09 to 43%

·         Now there are over 19 passenger vehicle manufacturing companies offering over 135 products

·         Small cars account for about 47% of the total market in 2011

·         As per Adex report for January – September 2011 automobile sector was the largest spender on TV advertising; this reflects the growing competition among industry players in this sector a far cry from the market scene in the 1980’s period where competition was non-existent and Ad spending minimal

·         Experiential marketing has emerged as the top buzz word among industry experts in this sector with automakers trying to engage customers through both old methods such as TV and print media along with new age digital marketing  and social media

·         8-10 % increase in spending expected by marketers in digital media

·         “Indian consumers are looking at design and advance features something unimaginable even a decade back”- ArvindSaxena, Director marketing Hyundai Motors India

·         New entrants willing to price products competitively to gain more market share by hook or crook

·         Special training sessions are being given to the executives in dealerships to better handle new age consumer queries

·         Maruti, Ford, and GM have garner maximum sales from Tier II and lower cities

·         GM -60 % sales, Ford 50% sales and Hyundai about 1/3 sales from non metros.

‘SOUND’ SEDUCERS IN ADLAND:

Pratik Jagtap

Unique sounds that accompany TVCs, often with words flashed that mean nothing to the indian consuming class do make an impact.

It isbelieved that in these fast-moving, impatient, digitally-driven times, words are swiftly being replaced by memorable sounds.

Jhingalala, Toing, Ooolalalalaeo, Waku Doki and Wakow were indeed some sound-driven brand identities that had over the years made waves with their TG, offering large doses of entertainment value, novelty and effectiveness.

But there must be a legitimate brand-fit to add value and connect with the TG in a way that is spontaneous, fun and memorable. Otherwise, it can never work.

Pravin Singh Mann, Head of Creative, R. K. Swamy-BBDO Delhi, is of the opinion that it works only if the brands are “truly iconic and powered with real deep pockets”, otherwise it just can’t click.

There is a risk in remembering the sound and forgetting the brand!”

Bhavna Sood, Senior VP – Communications & PR, DS Group, adds an interesting rider. “In this era of FM Radio, sound can be an extremely effective hero in the ad space offering instant identity. Clutter-busting and novel, it can provide both surprise and delight as a superbly fresh, memorable brand differentiator.”

Veteran Communication Consultant AshaSarin however concludes this debate, such fun-filled remarks by brands may provide entertainment to a brain dead viewership,

It’s indeed an exciting, path breaking route to take, but at the same time a genuinely risky one.

Thai Ad Philosophy And What India Can Learn From It.

Janhavi Satish Patil

·         In Thailand many humorous ads are made this can be related to the Buddhism and the famous laughing Buddha.

·         Human emotions are a powerful motivator for people to buy a product.

·         The brand should help us relieve ourselves of the stress, helping us connect in a better manner.

·         They should be thought out properly, if the joke takes other turn things can turn ugly n damage the reputation.

·         Marketer needs to understand their target group and the socio-economic conditions existing in the environment.

·         People are trying to play safe by not experimenting thus the humour in Indian ads is going down.

Prahlad Kakkar, founder genesis ad film production

Janhavi Satish Patil

·         It is used as a creative punch.

·         Humor helps a longer brand recall especially when such a clutter exists in the market, thus it requires creative thinking by the ad agency.

·         Youth is very unforgiving to bad humor thus may discard the entire ad.

·         Humor cannot be included in each and every ad, it should not be unnecessary and forced.

Pratap Suthan, founder and chief explorer, The Advisory

Janhavi Satish Patil

·         Humor is something that can never be over experienced.

·         Advertising is a mix of life elements and emotions still it cannot be used as a fool proof method.

·         Use of only humor or advertisement cannot ensure higher sales. One has to think about an overall strategy.

·         Sometimes humorous ads may backfire as they may not be properly conceptualised or directed.

·         Ads that provoke a reaction in the minds of consumers to the current issues existing in the society can definitely click to the customer.

Royal enfield Rides Into The Mass Terrain

Ranjani Raguraman

• ROYAL ENFIELD has had a rich history in establishing itself in military operations globally and with Enfield and company being a weapons manufacturer their tagline was “Made like a Gun”.
• The brand has been seen trying to supersede this image in recent times. However, their prices have led them to have a niche target audience for most of the time in Indian biking market.
• Looking at the sales figures.

Royal enfield -> 45,915 units                               April Aug. per -> 51.53yoy

Hero motorcycle corp -> 23,12,551 units

Bajaj -> 10,14,117 units

Honda motorcycles & scooter India -> 459882

TVS motor company -> 218287

Indian Yamaha motor-> 132704

• With the above statistics, it is clear that though the price of ROYAL ENFIELD makes it an unfair comparison, ROYAL ENFIELD has not performed on par compared to its potential.
• Off late leisure riding is quickly gathering steam in India and this change is seen in attitude of the working class who have been confined to offices, malls, pubs and homes. Hence premium bike segment in gathering steam.
• Metros are seeing a steady growth in no. of leisure bikers. It is being viewed as a hobby that revitalises the lives of professionals facing pressures from corporate world.
• Report by them securities

è Economy segment (<125cc) – 15% yoy increase in growth rate

è Executive segment (125cc – 249cc) – 20% yoy increase in growth rate

è Premium segment (>250cc) – 71% yoy increase in growth rate

• Campaign like the ‘Himalayan Odyssey’, ‘Leave Home’, ‘Tour to Bhutan’ have been launched to enhance the brand recall and appeal in the minds. ‘Leave Home’ campaign was initiated to take on advantage. The campaigns reinforce the attributes of masculinity thrill and adventure the core ideology of ROYAL ENFIELD.
• The product also has tried to advertise with a different theme – Handcrafted in Chennai.                    

Which talks about the signature stripes of every Enfield bullet being hand crafted by two brothers Ashok and Jaya Kumar at the thiruvottiyur workshop in Tamil Nadu.

• Even the engine round of ROYAL ENFIELD has been the result of careful engineering and years of practice
• The brand has also been active on racing circuit. Recently concluded Royal enfield Rider Mania 2012 involved range of events like Slow Racing, Figure of 8, Assembly War, The Raghu Dixit project and Lemon & Spoon race.
• Waiting period has gone up to 5 – 15 months as its becoming difficult to meet the sudden spurt of demand.
• Also being referred to as ‘Indian sister of Harley Davidson’ and production shot up by 50%.
• ROYAL ENFIELD’s next milestone is production of 1.5 lakh units per annum.
• By March 2013, new manufacturing facility in Oragadam near Chennai is going to be operational.
• Year 2013 will see ROYAL ENFIELD roll out new models like Café Rider which made its appearance in Auto Expo 2012.
• ROYAL ENFIELD marketing team is in consistent effort to engage the youth. ROYAL ENFIELD Facebook page has 0.24 million likes compared to 4.3 million likes for Harley Davidson.
• ROYAL ENFIELD’s Facebook page does not have a clear positioning segment while Harley Davidson clearly communicates “We fulfil dreams inspired by the many roads of the world by providing extraordinary motorcycles and experiences”.
• The last major hurdle for ROYAL ENFIELD is going to be to sustain momentum with a good bit of mass marketing, however company professionals aren’t keen to brace mass marketing and prefer content base marketing and prefer their product being served to a niche target audience.