Group B7 -Marketing Orion- Source - Pitch

1.     IPL not cost effective for Maruti

Maruti Suzuki one of the biggest automobile players in the country has stayed away from IPL in its initial years. But now the brand is associating itself with the platform though very selectively. In a candid interview with Pitchonnet.com, Shashank Srivastava, CMO, Maruti Suzuki India shares his views about this marketing cocktail named IPL…

IPL as a marketing platform has seen varying interest from marketers over the years. Some of the sponsors who were aggressive on the platform initially are staying away while new brands have come in. Still why Maruti is not??

Initially Maruti did not participate in IPL at all. IPL has a huge reach and thus it makes more sense for brands which are new, new product launches or for marketers that have recently entered the market and looking to establish the mother brand. But that’s not the case with them. Because our mother brand Maruti is an established brand, also, we have a huge portfolio of 15 brands and so we advertise all through the year. Thus we cannot go for spiked advertising (huge advertising spend over a short period of 5-6 weeks to get high impact) and so we never chased IPL either official sponsors or in terms of FCTs.

Maruti Suzuki has not advertised on Television for IPL but you are among the key sponsor with Indiatimes.com which showcases live screening of the IPL matches. What’s the strategy behind that?

Digital platform is an important medium for us to engage our consumers and IPL on the digital platform is much reasonable in terms of costs and has strong deliverable. Unlike television on ground sponsorship, the clutter on IPL digital medium is much less while the reach is still very significant. At the same time it is very measurable and more engaging.

We are also engaging consumers through launching a game on IPL on the digital platform. We think gaming is a very effective way of involving consumers. For marketers like us, IPL is more about engaging consumers.

2.     Kumbh Mela 2013: Of Pilgrims, Products, Promotion and Persuasion                                     

World’s largest religious gathering Kumbh Mela 2013 at Allahabad was attended by 80 million devotees. This year along with devotees, brands and marketers made through attendance. From outdoor advertising, on-ground activation and promotional offers to aggressive campaigning on radio and digital, companies are pursuing a plethora of brand building initiatives to connect with the pilgrims.

1.      Branded roti: FMCG player, HUL along with creative agency Ogilvy tied up with dhabas and hotels at the mela to distribute rotis that were stamped with ‘Lifebuoy se haath dhoye kya?’

2.      Hajmola candies & Odomos: Dabur tied up with hotels to distribute free samples of the same.

3.      Free hanuman chalisas: Revital while sponsoring local boats gave free hanuman chalisas.

4.      Coco-Cola: deployed 15 outlets that sell 150 ml cup at reduce amount of Rs. 5.

5.      Arati books & Gaming zone: along with free arati books, Enami organized talent hunt show for women.

Telecom players are hawking special “Maha Kumbh packs” with free content built in.

1.      Idea Subscribers: ‘Shahi Nav Mein Sangam Snan Ka Idea’ for selective Idea subscribers based upon their value of recharge, in specific period, shall be shortlisted and invited to be part of campaign.

2.      Vodafone Movies: Vodafone has turned a regular stall into a cinema hall and is distributing free passes for a film about the Kumbh.

3.     When the target is volatile, one has to reinvent.

This stands true especially when a brand has to create a market presence in a highly cluttered market. As shared by Sunil Gadgil, Director – Marketing, Nivea India, the initial challenge for Nivea Deo was to enter a cluttered deodorants market that already had more than 400 brands in the segment. Capitalising on the sentiment, Nivea showcased its deodorant range for men. The TV commercial showed men who displayed their tiredness and boredom with a “yawn”, but after using Nivea Deo, they get rejuvenated. The message was to break the perception that deodorants are used and exhibited by the fair gender only.

The next stage was brand differentiation and maintaining the freshness platform where Nivea was using only men in the commercial, while other players continued with using women. Their next action strategy was tying up with the Indian Premier League (IPL). The reasons were that the property was a hot topic amongst men and most of the sweat is generated through playing games hence there positioning was ideal but ran a risk of getting narrowed.

For brand sustainance, Nivea tied with Tata Sky, where Nivea’s ad will be aired for 15 minutes per day in the prime time slot for 60 days.

Nivea also executed a robust digital campaign, wherein using an app called ‘Ah Deo’, one could download music tones and songs. The app ensured the bottom line margin limit was under control by curtailing investments and, therefore, giving a better RoI in terms of brand engagement and entertainment. Lastly, Gadgil said that, “Content is the king”.