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Table of Contents
WHAT IS MARKETING? ........................................................................................................................ 4
SALES VS MARKETING ........................................................................................................................ 4
NEEDS, WANTS, DEMANDS, AND DESIRES ..................................................................................... 5
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ..................................................................................................................... 7
SEGMENTATION, TARGETING & POSITIONING (STP) .................................................................. 7
MARKETING MIX ................................................................................................................................. 13
GENERAL TRADE VS MODERN TRADE .......................................................................................... 15
GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY ............................................................................................................. 18
EXTENDED P’S ..................................................................................................................................... 18
4 A’S ........................................................................................................................................................ 20
PRODUCT MIX – LENGTH & BREADTH .......................................................................................... 22
PUSH V/S PULL MARKET ................................................................................................................... 24
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE ....................................................................................................................... 26
BRAND EXTENSION ............................................................................................................................ 28
ATTACKS ............................................................................................................................................... 29
BCG MATRIX......................................................................................................................................... 32
ANSOFF MATRIX ................................................................................................................................. 35
PORTER’S FIVE FORCES ..................................................................................................................... 37
ABOVE THE LINE MARKETING (ATL) ............................................................................................ 39
BELOW THE LINE MARKETING (BTL) ............................................................................................ 41
THROUGH THE LINE MARKETING (TTL) ....................................................................................... 42
BRAND POSITIONING: MONITORING COMPETITION ................................................................. 44
BRAND EQUITY .................................................................................................................................... 45
MANAGING BRAND EQUITY ............................................................................................................ 46
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE ............................................................................................................. 48
DIGITAL MARKETING ........................................................................................................................ 49
EXPERENTIAL MARKETING ............................................................................................................. 50
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING (SMM) ............................................................................................... 50
GUERRILLA MARKETING .................................................................................................................. 51
IMAGE AND EMOTIONAL MARKETING ......................................................................................... 52
FADS, TRENDS AND MEGATRENDS ................................................................................................ 54
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HOW TO MAKE A MARKETING PLAN............................................................................................. 56
AIDA MODEL ........................................................................................................................................ 57
DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION CURVE .............................................................................................. 62
CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE .......................................................................................................... 63
SURROGATE MARKETING................................................................................................................. 64
BRAND PERSONALITY ....................................................................................................................... 65
MARKETING RESEARCH .................................................................................................................... 66
AD ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................................... 69
QUESTIONS FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR INTERVIEWS: ........................................................... 77
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WHAT IS MARKETING?
“Marketing is the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the
needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and desires. It
defines, measures and quantifies the size of the identified market and the profit potential. It
pinpoints which segments the company is capable of serving best and it designs and
promotes the appropriate products and services.” – Dr. Philip Kotler.
SALES VS MARKETING
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NEEDS, WANTS, DEMANDS, AND DESIRES
Needs
• Generally, the products which fall under the needs category of products do not require apish.
Berger Weather Coat All Guard has positioned its brand to meet the following 5 needs of
consumers:
• Wants are need satisfiers; they are described in terms of objects that will satisfy needs
• Wants are shaped by culture, society and individual personality. Ex: A hungry person in
Australia may want a hamburger, chips and a cola while someone from Singapore may want
noodles and someone from the South Pacific region may want mango, coconuts and beans
• Demands are wants backed by consumer purchasing power i.e. wants for specific products
backed by an ability to pay for them
• Companies must measure not only how many people want their product but how many are
willing and able to buy it
• Customers view products as bundles of benefits and choose products that give them the best
bundle for their money
Desire is the basic difference between wants and demands. A customer may desire
something but he may not be able to fulfil it.
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CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals, groups, and organizations SELECT, BUY,
USE and DISPOSE OFF goods, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants.
A consumer’s buying behaviour is influenced by cultural, social and personal factors with cultural
factors exerting the broadest and deepest influence.
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SEGMENTATION
It is the process of defining and subdividing a large market into clearly identifiable segments
having similar needs, wants, or demand characteristics i.e. dividing a whole into parts based on
various criteria like geography, demography, behavior, gender, personality etc.
Why do we need segmentation?
Not all individuals have similar needs. A male and a female would have varied interests and
liking towards different products. A kid would not require something which an adult needs. A
school kid would have a different requirement than an office goer. Market segmentation helps the
marketers to bring together individuals with similar choices and interests on a common platform.
Segmentation is done along the following factors:
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DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
Based on demographic variables, the firm can decide which group they need to cater to.
INCOME
TATA NANO Market Segmentation
Specially designed & manufactured for middle class & lower middle-class people of
India.
Income
An income group of $220 p.m. (Middle and Lower middle-income class) can
easily purchase the car
GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
Categorizing customers according to the geographic units and customizing group requirements
accordingly. This type of marketing strategy can be explained with some examples:
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PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
The art of marketing is such that the marketer needs to highlight that part of the commodity that
appeals most to a customer and tell him the features of the product and how it will benefit him, as
a part of the advertising process.
For example
Patanjali
Patanjali correctly identified the change in behavioural
trends and shifting towards a healthier lifestyle. It appeals
the most to consumers through its “Ayurvedic, Herbal,
Non-chemical” feature. It advertises to show how the
herbal ingredients would benefit the consumer.
Thums Up
Thums Up is synonymous with power, enthusiasm and energy.
Brand Thums Up has been positioned as a manly drink with a strong
taste.
BEHAVIOURAL SEGMENTATION
For example
DOVE Shampoo
Dove Shampoo comes in a large variety. Hair fall, Anti-dandruff, Soft & silky,
Damage repair, etc. are all examples of different hair problems that are addressed
by DOVE by segmenting the consumers basis their USAGE patterns.
Source: http://dispur.nic.in/sixthpay/sixth-pay-allowances.pdf
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TARGETING
Target Marketing involves breaking a market into segments and then concentrating your marketing
efforts on one or a few key segments consisting of the customers whose needs and desires are first
identified and then attempted to be met by your product or service offerings. It can be the key to
attract new business, increasing your sales or profitability.
For example
Paper Boat
GSKCH has segmented the consumers based on age and targeted each segment with specific
products
POSITIONING
Positioning is defined as the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy
distinctive place in the target market’s mind.
Positioning is all about ‘perception’. As perception differs from person to person, so do the results
of the positioning map e.g. what one perceives as quality, value for money in terms of worth, etc.
will be different to any other person’s perception. However, there will be similarities in certain
cases.
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For example
Elements of positioning:
1. Target Audience: For whom the product is intended
2. Points of Parity (POP): Attributes like other products in the category. Points of parity are
important because customers expect basic offerings from a category. For example, when
purchasing a toothpaste, a customer will expect that it should have freshness as well as it tastes
well.
3. Points of Difference (POD): Attributes that differentiates the products from others in the
category. The more the number of PODs the better the positioning. PODs should satisfy the
following criteria
Apple introduced the fingerprint scanner to unlock device in the iPhone models. This was a
POD until Samsung and all other manufacturers used the same technology to make it into a
POP, thus nullifying Apple’s unique POD
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MARKETING MIX
Its purpose is to make a marketing strategy for a new market or an existing market.
For a product marketing mix has 4 Ps
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GENERAL TRADE VS MODERN TRADE
General Trade
General trade is associated with a spread-out distribution network of small retailers, dealers,
stockists, wholesalers, and distributors. It maintains inter-personal relations between the
customers and the retailers. Erratic demand leads to quick and ad-hoc orders which put a
strain on the schedule planning and last mile delivery for the distributors.
Modern Trade
Modern trade includes the larger players such as supermarket chains, mini -markets (Indonesia),
hypermarkets, etc. The customer-seller interaction is not as personal or regular as that in general
trade. It involves a more planned and organized approach to distribution and logistics management.
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Customer
interaction Personal (retailer hands out the products to Customer can pick and choose the items
the customer) and then proceed to check-out.
Order
placement
Based on current stocks Strategically planned to meet
promotional demands
Product
range
Limited Extravagant
On-time
deliveries
Comparatively lower focus Comparatively higher focus
Order
fulfilmen Must be specific to pre-decided
t time Can be accommodated at different time- slots (missing which might
times raise a penalty on the distributor)
Economies
of scale
Goods traded on MRP Retailers can absorb cost and give
promotional discounts to drive purchases
Credit
cycle
Short Long (customized)
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Price
CPV is the difference between the perceived customer evaluation of all the benefits and costs of
the offering and the perceived alternatives.
Total Customer Benefit is the perceived monetary value of the bundle of economic, functional
and psychological benefits customers expect from a given market offering because of the product,
service, people and image.
Total customer cost is the complete packet or fees a customer expects to pay in the researching,
buying, obtaining and maintaining of a given product or service including monetary, time, energy,
and psychological costs.
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For example
While buying a car, the expected reactions from family and friends also
become a part of benefits or gain. The customer evaluates whether the car
would be able to provide whatever he/she is looking for. Whether the car
would provide the comfort and the usability. Also, for many customers the
perceived value would also include the mileage a car, the opportunity and the
monetary cost as well.
Can you think of the factors that you considered while deciding to buy your last smart phone?
Product – Benefits
Products provide benefits, and it is for these benefits that they are bought by customers. These
benefits may be classified into three types:
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Go-to-Market Strategy
A go-to-market strategy (GTM strategy) is an action plan that specifies how a company will reach
customers and achieve competitive advantage. The purpose of a GTM strategy is to provide a
blueprint for delivering a product or service to the end customer, considering such factors as pricing
and distribution. A GTM strategy is somewhat like a business plan, although the latter is broader
in scope and considers such factors as funding.
EXTENDED P’s
In case of a service 3 more Ps are added to the marketing Mix, together they make 7 Ps for an
extended marketing mix of a service.
1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion
5. People
6. Physical Evidence
7. Process
People
All companies are reliant on the people who run them from front line Sales
staff to the Managing Director. Having the right people is essential because
they are as much a part of your business offering as the products/services you
are offering.
Processes
The delivery of your service is usually done with the customer present so
how the service is delivered is once again part of what the consumer is
paying for.
Physical Evidence
Almost all services include some physical elements even if the bulk of what the
consumer is paying for is intangible. For example, while taking a flight, luggage
tags are put by the airline service providers on the bags that passengers carry.
Here even though the service is intangible, the tags act as physical evidences to
the service.
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4 A’s
Poor management as a consequence of of not knowing what drives consumers is behind the
majority of marketing failures. Consumer knowledge is a much more reliable route to success. This
customer-centric marketing management framework emphasizes on the most important consumer
values – Acceptability, Affordability, Accessibility, and awareness – which is dubbed as the four
As.
This is based on the four distinctive roles that consumers play in the marketplace – seeker, buyer,
payer, and user.
The 4 As can also easily be related to the traditional 4 Ps.
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Acceptability Affordability
Came up with a new product, Colgate Quantity that Colgate offered consumer
Ayurvedic Toothpowder targeting rural rich was much higher than the competitor at
and consuming class. the same price. Price was also set low for
market penetration.
Came up with a sachet of tooth powder for Current Price: 50 gm – Rs. 20
rural population who buy in smaller lots.
Availability Awareness
Tying up with initiatives like E- Choupal and Colgate created awareness by melas, door
Disha to strengthen distribution network. to door selling, haats, sampark campaign,
vans, free dental checkups, free samples.
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Product Mix – Length & Breadth
Product Mix
The complete set of all products that a company offers to the market is called as the product mix
of the company. For example, this is the product mix for Procter & Gamble.
Product Line
A product line is a group of products within the product mix that are closely related, either because
they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the
same types of outlets or fall within given price ranges.
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PUSH V/S PULL MARKET
A push strategy uses the manufacturer’s sales force, trade promotion money, or other means to
induce intermediaries to carry, promote, and sell product to the end users. This strategy is
appropriate when there is low brand loyalty, brand choice is made in the store, the product is
an impulse item and the benefits are well understood.
In a pull strategy the manufacturer uses advertising, promotion and other forms of communication
to persuade consumers to demand the product from intermediaries, thus inducing the intermediaries
to order it. This strategy is appropriate when there is high brand loyalty, high involvement and
the consumers choose the brand before they go to the store.
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PULL PUSH
Advertisements: Radio, TV, Print Ad, Sales promotion: Trade promotions - Buy 1
Online Get 1 free
Consumer Promotion: 30% extra Pricing offers: Get Rs.500 off on purchase
above Rs.2000
PR & Publicity: Non-paid, online blogs, Personal: Face to face sales push
press releases, etc.
Events and Experiences: Mall activations Direct to Consumer: Tele marketing
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PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
PLC describes the various stages that a product goes through from the time it was initially thought
of until it is finally removed from the market.
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Stage 3: Growth
This stage is marked by a sharp increase in sales and the product becomes profitable in this stage.
Company spends on marketing to strengthen market share and capture market share. This stage also
experiences competition from new entrants who now see value in entering the segment. This stage
also experiences the highest profits.
Stage 4: Maturity
This stage sees stagnation in profits and the sales after growing for a certain period start going down.
Companies often spend a lot on innovation and promotions to sustain this stage as long as possible.
This is also a stage that is characterized by strong competition since the segment is now an
established one. A product might be in this stage for months or for decades.
Stage 5: Decline
This is the stage when players start moving out of the segment because it has been replaced by better
and more lucrative alternatives. Companies reduce their marketing spends and do not invest in
innovations and the product sells by itself. The sales in this stage continuously decrease until the
product goes obsolete.
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BRAND EXTENSION
Brand extension is a method used by companies to launch a new product by using an existing brand
name. Brands Extensions fall into general categories:
Benefits:
• Allows company to leverage its existing customer base and brand loyalty to increase profits and
promote new products with reduced promotional costs because the new lines or brands benefit from
being part of an established name
• Achieves success much quicker than it would have as an original brand
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ATTACKS
Attacks are aggressive marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness and respond to
competitors' marketing strategies. Sometimes, meek campaigns and responses don't generate any
buzz and companies need to get aggressive and create unique campaigns that stay in the minds of
consumers to remain competitive.
Frontal Attack
Attacker matches its opponent’s product, advertisement, price and distribution. There are different
types of frontal attacks:
Pure frontal attack: It involves matching the competitors in all aspects of marketing
Limited frontal attack: It involves attacking in specific customer segments
Price based frontal attack: Price attributes are matched by the competitors
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Flank Attack
This type of attack targets weak spots or gaps. They can be geographic gaps (where competition
product or distribution is weak) or product gaps (when competition product is not meeting some
specific needs).
An example would be H&M opening stores across metro cities, tier 1, tier 2 cities in 18 months
compared to Zara’s 16 metro and tier 1 cities since 2010. This led it to more than double its sales
in 2017.
An example for product gap would be Dabur entering the beverage market through its Real fruit
juice and entering a space that hadn’t been occupied by Coca Cola yet.
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Guerrilla Attacks
These consist of small, intermittent attacks, conventional and unconventional attacks to embarrass
competition which includes selective price cuts, intense promotional blitzes and even legal actions.
yltkykk
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BCG Matrix
The BCG matrix (or Growth-Share Matrix), is a planning tool used to evaluate the strategic
position of a business brand portfolio and its potential. It classifies business brand portfolio into
four categories on the basis of industry attractiveness (growth rate of that industry) and
competitive position (relative market share).
The BCG analysis helps the company in deciding which entities in the business portfolio are
actually profitable and which are not. This helps businesses identify what it should concentrate
on and what gives it a competitive advantage over others.
Relative market share: Represented by the horizontal axis. Higher market share results in higher
cash returns. The mid-point is generally set at 1.0.
Market growth rate: Represented by the vertical axis. Higher market growth rate might lead to
higher returns in future, but this requires investment to stimulate further growth. So, this would
lead to higher cash usage.
The four categories are:
1. Dogs (Low market share, Low growth prospects)
• Dogs have low market share and a low growth rate and thus neither generate nor consume
a large amount of cash.
• They are cash traps because of the money tied up in a business that has little potential.
• Such businesses are candidates for divestiture.
Strategies for Dogs:
• The company can either divest the product altogether.
• Product can be revamped through rebranding / innovation / adding features etc.
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• They have the potential to gain market share and become a star, and eventually a cash cow
when the market growths lows.
• If the question mark does not succeed in becoming the market leader, then after perhaps
years of cash consumption it will degenerate into a dog when the market growth
declines.
Strategies for Question marks:
• Question marks must be analyzed carefully in order to determine whether they are worth
the investment required to grow market share.
• Companies are advised to invest in question marks if the product has potential for growth,
or to sell if it does not.
3. Stars (High market share, High growth prospects)
• The business units or products that have the best market share and generate the most cash
are considered stars.
• Monopolies and first-to-market products are frequently termed stars.
• However, because of their high growth rate, stars also consume large amounts of cash.
This generally results in the same amount of money coming in that is going out.
• Stars can eventually become cash cows if they sustain their success until a time when the
market growth rate declines.
• Companies are advised to invest in stars.
Strategies for Stars:
All types of marketing, sales promotion and advertising strategies are used for Stars because of
the high competition and rising market share to increase and retain market share.
4. Cash Cows (High market share, Low growth prospects)
• Cash cows are the leaders in the marketplace and generate more cash than they consume.
• They provide the cash required to turn question marks into market leaders, to cover the
administrative costs of the company, to fund research and development, to service the
corporate debt, and to pay dividends to shareholders.
• Companies are advised to invest in cash cows to maintain the current level of productivity,
or to "milk" the gains passively.
Strategies for Cash Cows:
• Strategy generally includes retention of the market share.
• Thus customer satisfaction programs, loyalty programs and other such promotional
methods form the core of the marketing plan for a cash cow product.
Disadvantages:
• The model uses only two dimensions (i.e. growth and share) to assess competitive
position, others are ignored.
• More emphasis on cost leadership rather than differentiation as a source of competitive
advantage.
• A high market share does not necessarily lead to profitability at all times.
• Assumes that each business unit is independent of the others. In some cases, a business
unit that is a "dog" may be helping other business units gain a competitive advantage.
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Ansoff Matrix
The Ansoff Matrix also known as the Ansoff product and market growth matrix is a marketing
planning tool which usually aids a business in determining its product and market growth. This is
usually determined by focusing on whether the products are new or existing and whether the
market is new or existing.
The matrix shows four strategies you can use to grow and analyse the risks with each.
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• It is slightly riskier, because you're introducing a new product into your existing market.
Example: ITC introduced ready-to-eat gourmet cuisine ‘Kitchens of India’ which specialises in
bringing to life age-old Indian dishes from across the country, especially from the gourmet
cuisines of Dum Pukht, Bukhara and Dakshin. ITC developed this new product for an existing
RTE market.
Market Development
• This strategy entails finding new markets for existing products. Market research
and further segmentation of markets helps to identify new groups of customers.
• This strategy assumes that the existing markets have been fully exploited thus the need to
venture into new markets.
• There are various approaches to this strategy, which include: New geographical markets,
new distribution channels, new product packaging, and different pricing policies.
Example: ITC's Agri Business Division, has conceived e-Choupal, an initiative by ITC to link
directly with rural farmers via the Internet for procurement of agricultural and aquaculture
products. This will help develop the market in the rural sector.
Diversification
• This involves moving new products into new markets at the same time.
• It is the riskiest strategy among the others as it involves two unknowns, new products
being created and the business does not know the development problems that may occur in
the process. Additionally, you're introducing a new, unproven product into an entirely new
market that you may not fully understand.
• There are two types of diversification
- Related diversification: This means that the business remains in the same industry
in which it is familiar with.
- Unrelated diversification: In this, there are usually no previous industry relations or
market experiences. One can diversify from a food industry to a mechanical
industry for instance.
Example: Diversified group ITC Ltd plans to set up multi-speciality hospitals and leverage its
experience in hospitality for tapping into the expanding medical tourism segment in India.
Ansoff matrix for ITC
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Porter’s Five Forces
Porter’s five forces is a tool used to analyse any Industry’s attractiveness and likely profitability.
It helps one answer the following questions:
• Whether or not a business can be profitable, based on the level of competition within a
certain industry.
• How does your competition’s action, changes your current bottom line and future
planning?
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- Number of buyers in the market
- Importance of each individual buyer to the organization
- Cost to the buyer of switching from one supplier to another
• Substitutes are unavailable, buyer purchases product in low volume.
• Buyer is not much informed regarding the product.
Threat of Substitutes
• When close substitute product exists in a market, it increases the likelihood of customers
switching to alternatives in response to price increases.
• In order to discover these alternatives, one should look beyond similar products, which are
branded differently by competitors. Instead, every product that serves a similar need for
customers should be taken into account.
• This reduces both the power of suppliers and market attractiveness.
Rivalry among existing competitors
• The main driver is the number and capability of competitors in the market.
• Many competitors, offering undifferentiated products and services, will reduce the market
attractiveness.
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Above The Line Marketing (ATL)
Billboard Ads
A creative magazine by The Economist was put up where the bulb would light up
whenever any pedestrian would pass by it, creating the brand image of a magazine that
stimulates40thinking.
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Facebook Campaign by Worldwide Breast Cancer
Worldwide Breast Cancer, a global charity focused on early detection of breast cancer, had their
work cut out for them, touching on a very sensitive topic for many women: checking for signs of
cancer. They wanted to find a way to build awareness of the importance of checking while
alleviating some of the anxiety or fear around it.
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Fevicol Inseparables
The Kumbh Mela is one of India’s largest religious gatherings. Unfortunately, many
people get separated from their loved ones during the mela.
Fevicol, India’s ultimate adhesive brand, known for its unbreakable bond, made t-shirts
with 2 and 3 heads. Families, siblings and friends were bound together in one t-shirt and
walked everywhere as one, making them inseparable. The activation took place at the
Kumbh gathering in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, over a period of five days
The advent of social media has blurred the ‘line’ segregating the
marketing techniques
Companies now use an integrated approach involving both ATL and BTL and
it is called Through The Line (TTL)approach
Allows brands to engage with a customer at multiple points
Delivers both a wide reach and a focus on conversions
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Launch of IGTV
The app is designed for users to upload and watch long-form vertical video (up
to 1hr in length). Featuring content from various Instagram 'creators' the app has
been released both as a standalone and embedded Instagram app. Like YouTube,
the app will likely generate revenue for the brand through advertising.
This will offer consumers the opportunity to purchase products straight from the
Stories of their favourite brands, also offering brands and advertisers the
opportunity to conjure up compelling narratives in their Stories to encourage
conversions.
The terms ATL and BTL were first used in 1954 after Proctor and Gamble began paying advertising
firms separately (and at a different rate) from other suppliers who dealt with more direct promotional
efforts. In effect, marketing that was more broad in nature was separated from marketing that was more
direct in nature.
Marketing is NOT JUST advertising - it includes ALL the elements of the marketing mix (4
or 7Ps).
Promotion is NOT JUST advertising - it includes ALL the elements, such as PR and
direct selling.
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BRAND POSITIONING: Monitoring Competition
Brand positioning describes how a brand is different from its competitors and where, or how, it
sits in customers’ minds.
It requires an organizational commitment.
It is not something that is constantly changed.
At the same time, it is important to regularly monitor the desirability, deliverability and
differentiability of the brand’s POPs and PODs in the marketplace to understand how the
positioning might have to evolve or rarely replaced.
When analyzing potential threats posed to the brand positioning by competitors three high
level variables are useful:
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BRAND EQUITY
Brand Equity is the value premium that a company realizes from a product with a recognizable
name as compared to its generic equivalent. Companies can create brand equity for their products
by making them memorable, easily recognizable and superior in quality and reliability. Mass
marketing campaigns can also help to create brand equity.
The additional money that consumers are willing to spend to buy iPhone X rather than a
Moto G5 s plus is an example of brand equity.
Starbucks’ customers choose its brand of coffee over others both because of its quality
and the kind of personalized experience it offers. A customer really likes it when their
name is called out once the order arrives. Starbucks is able to build an emotional connect
with the consumers. Also, it remains the largest roaster and retailer of Arabica coffee beans
and specialty coffees. Therefore, due to the brand equity, consumers are ready to pay a
premium for the coffee
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MANAGING BRAND EQUITY
1. Brand Revitalization
Focus to capture lost sources of brand equity and identify and establish its new sources. This may
include brand modification or brand positioning. In short it is to make a brand comeback.
Cadbury India Ltd now named, Mondelez India Foods Pvt. Ltd, earlier
in 2006 had to fight a lawsuit since its chocolate products were found
plagued with worms. But they came back strongly with an advertisement
casting ‘Big B’ who believed in the brand of Cadbury as he saw the
manufacturing process in the factories himself. The repositioning was
effective as it utilized the high brand equity of Amitabh Bachchan. The
change in packaging reassured the consumer that an extra layer has been
added which protects the chocolate.
In the 1990’s Burberry was widely used by Hooligans who had habit of
instigating violence after the matches. The brand was being associated
with violence and crimes. Burberry revitalized the brand as a fashion
brand.
They discontinued their mass market line especially the caps that were
creating most of the problem. The reduction of this line and their non-
availability to the gangs led to decline in their popularity among this
segment.
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2. Brand Reinforcement
Focus on maintaining the brand equity by keeping the brand alive among both the existing and
new customers.
A brand needs to be carefully managed so its value does not depreciate. Brand leaders of 70 years
ago that remain leaders today — companies such as Amul, Nirma washing powder, Parle-G, Coca
Cola — only do so by constantly striving to improve their products, services, and marketing.
Marketers can reinforce brand equity by consistently conveying the brand’s meaning in terms of:
(1) What products it represents, what core benefits it supplies, and what needs it satisfies
(2) How the brand makes products superior, and which strong, favorable, and unique brand
associations should exist in consumers’ minds.
The Dancing girl of Nirma was created 44 years ago but she is still seen
in Nirma advertisements every day. A little girl in a frilly white dress
twirls her way into a pack of detergent to the tune of a catchy jingle. This
petite mascot that appeared in every commercial back then was none
other than Nirma Group founder Karsanbhai Patel's daughter
The Amul girl was created in 1966. Half a century later, she is still seen
in witty advertisements every day. The ads funnily address pressing issues
yet are able to evoke nostalgia for one of India's most loved mascots.
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
The theory was proposed by Michael Porter in 1985. Competitive advantage occurs when an
organization acquires or develops an attribute or a combination of attributes that allow it to
outperform its competitors. It is the ability to perform at a higher level than others in the same
market or industry. There are four strategies that can be followed to achieve a competitive
advantage.
BROAD NARROW
Cost Leadership: Cost Focus:
• The idea here is to produce goods at the • Companies that use Focus strategies
lowest cost possible, typically by concentrate on particular niche markets
exploiting economies of scale • By understanding the dynamics of that
• Nearly all segments in the market focus on market and the unique needs of customers
minimizing costs within it, develop uniquely low-cost or
• If the seller can achieve the average selling well- specified products for the market
price while having the lowest costs, it can • Because they serve customers in their
gain the greatest profits market uniquely well, they tend to build
COSTS
• Usually followed by companies that have strong brand loyalty amongst their
standard products that have low customers
differentiation and are accepted by a wide • This makes their particular market segment
range of customers less attractive to competitors
McDonald's runs on low margins where it is
difficult to compete. It offers basic fast-food
Southwest Airlines is known for a fun and
meals at low prices. It also relies on few
pleasant flying experience at incredibly lower
Source of Competitive Advantage
attractive than those of your competitors • This strategy involves selecting one or more
• The important issue is to know that the criteria used by buyers in a market - and then
customers in this segment have different positioning the business uniquely to meet
needs and to identify them in order to create those criteria
differentiation • Usually associated with charging a premium
• This is a niche marketing strategy price for the product - often to reflect the
higher production costs and extra value-
added features provided for the consumer
Tesla emphasizes the uniqueness of its products, which gives them a clear reason to purchase
but also focused mainly on early adopters in the them
high-end market for electric vehicles. They
integrate advanced environmentally friendly
technology, considering that the vast majority of Apple is targeting a number of customers who are
automobiles today use internal combustion ready to pay a huge premium for an iPhone. This is
engines. Its consumer base are affluent customers occurring because of the high brand perception of
who have a high tendency to purchase newly the brand and its differentiation leadership.
introduced products.
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
DIGITAL MARKETING
Digital marketing is an umbrella term for the marketing of products or services using digital
technologies, mainly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any
other digital medium that may or may not require the internet. It consists of search engine
optimization, search engine marketing, content marketing, influencer marketing, e-commerce
marketing, social media optimization, email direct marketing, etc.
Viral Viral
Digital
Content
Online
1) Email Marketing: It includes delivering personalized or targeted messages at the correct time.
For example, brands like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. deliver emails that are tailored to meet the
user’s requirement.
2) SEO (search engine optimization): It is used to increase the website’s visibility across the
search engines. For example, the search results on Google with a prefix “Ad” are the example
of this. Companies pay predefined amount per click on this ad to Google.
3) PPC (pay per click): It is better known as Paid Search. In this process paid adverts are typically
placed to the right or above of the ‘organic’ search results. The cost will depend on the
competitiveness of the keyword you’re bidding on.
4) Online Advertising: This involves the process of advertising on others website. For example,
you can buy a banner space on popular website, paying the website owner for the same.
5) Text Messaging: SMS Marketing is sending promotional campaigns or transactional messages
for marketing purposes using text messages (SMS). These messages are mostly meant to
communicate time-sensitive offers, updates, and alerts to people who have consented to receive
these messages from your business. For example, Kraft Foods created an SMS promotion to
highlight a new instant coffee they produced. The campaign offered customers who signed up
for their mobile messages a free sample.
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
EXPERENTIAL MARKETING
Experiential marketing, sometimes used interchangeably with “live marketing” or “event
marketing,” is a marketing strategy that engages consumers using branded experiences. These
experiences could include an event, a part of an event, or a pop-up activation not tied to any event.
Rather than looking at consumers as a passive entity in marketing, this branch believes that
consumers should be involved in the production and co-creation marketing programs, developing
relationship with brand.
Volvo let the word out that you could win a brand
new Volvo for someone you love by simply
tweeting the name of the person you would like to
give the car to and hash tag #VolvoContest during
any car commercial. The idea was to shift the
viewer’s focus from the car commercial on the TV
to tweeting about Volvo instead.
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Guerrilla Marketing is an advertising strategy that focuses on low-cost unconventional marketing
tactics that yield maximum results. The original term was coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his
1984 book ‘Guerrilla Advertising’.
In other words, guerrilla marketing is the act of executing an unusual or unexpected marketing
activity in a common, everyday place in order to generate a buzz for products or services. The main
point of guerrilla marketing is to get your business's name in front of as many people as possible in
an unexpected way. Guerrilla marketing is usually a low or no-cost form of marketing that can reap
substantial profits if implemented correctly.
Thus, it is a marketing tactic in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions
in order to promote a product or service. Guerrilla marketing is different than traditional marketing
in that it often relies on personal interaction, has a smaller budget, and focuses on smaller groups of
promoters that are responsible for getting the word out in a particular location rather than through
widespread media campaigns.
For instance (clockwise from top left), Kitkat came up with a brilliant billboard campaign, trying
to highlight its punch line, but in an unconventional way. Similarly, Netflix, in order to scale up the
viewership of its flagship series- House of Cards in India, celebrated the birthday of Kevin Spacey
in a way birthdays of any typical Indian leaders are celebrated. Ikea re-modelled an entire bus stop
with furniture at Hyderabad, before launching their first store in India. Nike funnily modified a park
bench to encourage running.
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Some other examples:
From top left, clockwise: Zomato (Conscience), Mentos: Dimaag Ki Batti (Humour), Tata Tea:
Jaago Re (Self Awakening), Royal Enfield: Himalayan (Travel Emotion), Ponds: Googly
WooglyWoosh (Happiness) Happydent White (Humour), Indian Army: Live a Life Less Ordinary
(Pride and Motivation), Maggi: Miss You Maggi (Nostalgia), Coca Cola: Ummedon Wali
Dhoop/Reasons to Believe (Trust), Fortune Oil: Maa Ki Haath Ka Khana (Family Emotion), Maruti
Suzuki: India Comes Home (Homecoming Emotion), Fevicol (Humour)
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
FADS, TRENDS AND MEGATRENDS
FADS
A Fad is an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-
lived; a craze.
Fads can be a powerful influence over consumer purchases and can even move entire
industries in a new direction, at least for a time
Riding the wave of a fad can get a company big revenue relatively quickly. It can also
leave the marketers stranded when the fad inevitably ends
Fads can disappear just as quickly as they begun, and having an escape route is one way to
eliminate the dangers of being left with piles of unused inventory
One of the major Fads that arose during the recent times was the Fidget
Spinner- a small toy that could be used by restless people to while away time.
The product rose to popularity and sales increased before dipping as the toy
slowly became less popular.
TRENDS
Trend is a direction of sequence of events with more momentum, predictability and durability as
compared to a fad
Trends don’t skyrocket and then crash in popularity. Trends are in it for the long-haul so
they tend to rise in popularity more slowly
Trends have identifiable and explainable rises that are driven by audience needs and
demonstrated in cultural shifts
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
It has a sense of permanence and place. Trends point to the future as much as they do the
present
Memes are one of the major Trends in the current online space.
Millennials spend over 200 minutes being online every day.
Memes are so prolific that there's a good chance millennials and
Gen Zers are laughing at or sharing memes while online.
MEGATRENDS
Megatrend is a global, sustained and macro-economic forces of development that impact business,
economy, society, cultures and personal lives, defining our future world and its increasing pace of
change.
It is slow to form, and once in place, influences us for some time- between 7 and 10 years
or longer
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Marketing Plan: It is a document that summarizes what the marketer has learned about the
marketplace and indicates how the firm plans to reach its marketing objectives. A marketing plan
focuses on winning and keeping customers; it's strategic and includes numbers, facts and objectives.
A good marketing plan spells out all the tools and tactics you’ll use to achieve your sales goals. It’s
your plan of action—what you’ll sell, who'll want to buy.
Situation Analysis: Gather data on current sales, market share, cost to company. Analyze your
product’s features and decide how they distinguish your product from its competitors. Make your
situation analysis a succinct overview of your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats.
Determine Target Market: List anything and everything about the ideal customer. This includes
basic demographic information, such as gender, age, sex, family composition, earnings and
geographic location—as well as lifestyle. Gather relevant customer traits such as are they
conservative or innovative? Leaders or followers? Timid or aggressive? Traditional or modern?
Introverted or extroverted? How often do they purchase what I offer? In what quantity?
Set Goals: Set measurable goals depending on current situation and ambitions. Goals can range
from lofty and grandiose (such as doubling sales or increasing market share) to smaller, more bite-
sized ambitions (like getting 1000 new Instagram followers on your brand’s account or starting a
blog for your business).
Distribution Plan: Think through different ways in which you might be able to reach customers
and document them in this section of your marketing plan. The distribution plan should provide
details on the buying method preferences. For example, will customers purchase directly from you
on your website? Will they buy from distributors or other retailers?
Develop Marketing Communication Strategies: Define the marketing methods and decide upon
the advertisement method, using Internet marketing, direct marketing, or public relations?
Depending on the target audience, you will need to pick the best marketing methods to explain,
teach, and promote how your product or service stands out above other competitors.
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Set a Budget: Stay focused on marketing related activities. Chalk out a plan and decide the budget
allocation on marketing and promotion throughout the next year, and the cost of the item. Most
importantly, also decide the source of these funds.
All these models assume the buyer passes through cognitive, affective and behavioral stages.
Moving from step to step in these models, one loses some percent of prospects. Analyzing this
structure helps one understand the root cause of an underperforming communication
(advertising/marketing) campaign.
AIDA MODEL
AIDA is an acronym used in marketing and advertising that describes a common list of events
that may occur when a consumer engages with an advertisement.
Attention
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Interest
By demonstrating the advantages and benefits, potential customer interest rises. To boost sales it
may include an advertising campaign, increased PR activity, a free- sample campaign, offering free
gifts or trading stamps, arranging demonstrations or exhibitions, setting up competitions with
attractive prizes, temporary price reductions, door-to-door calling, telemarketing, and personal
letters on other methods. This stage involves short-term incentives to encourage buyers to purchase
a product.
Example: A temporary reduction in the price is given to consumer during some festival session
by Dabur foods. Sometimes there are price pack deals where the packaging offers a consumer a
certain percentage more of the product for the same price (for example, 25 % extra). Dabur also
gives a gift with purchase to increase interest (for example a glass, spoon etc).
Desire
After the potential customers find your product interesting, at some point, there’s a shift in their
mind. It’s about that moment of the shift, from intellectual curiosity to making the decision “I want
that for myself.”
Dabur tries to convince customers that they want and desire the product and that it will satisfy
their needs. If there is a need to stay healthy and fit, the person will desire a Dabur product to
satisfy this need. It has developed a temptation among consumer that they really need these
products, to pursue healthy and carefree life.
Action
Once you’ve stirred up enough desire to get your prospect thinking about taking action, it’s time
to close the deal. This focuses primarily on using a powerful call to action. Calls to action are
simple statements that let readers know what you want them to do next. For example, buy a product,
sign up for a newsletter, watch a video, or share your tweets.
There is a need to make the customer to take action and buy their product. This will reflect in sales.
Because of action, 2.5 crore Hajmola tablets are consumed daily in India, Dabur Amla is the largest
hair oil brand in India with 35 million consumers, one in every three fairness bleach consumers
uses Fem and Dabur Chyawanprash is the largest-selling nutraceutical in the country.
Purchase Funnel
The purchase / purchasing funnel is a model which describes the theoretical customer journey
from the moment of first contact with your brand to the ultimate goal of a purchase.
This model is important when marketing your business as it provides a method of understanding
and tracking the behavior of an average customer throughout the sales process.
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
The traditional marketing funnel revolved around awareness, interest, and desire. Customers had
to be aware that a kind of product existed and had to be interested in obtaining the product. They
also needed desire to actually make the purchase.
There are two major differences between the traditional marketing funnel and the digital
marketing funnel.
The first is that customers experience the funnel in a different way. Before the internet, customers
tended to experience the marketing funnel in the same order. Now, customers can experience stages
of the funnel out of order, or even skip phases entirely. People demand a more customized
experience, and the marketing funnel has adapted to that demand.
The second major difference is an increased focus on the brand/customer relationship. Customers
have become more aware of marketing and being “sold to,” so brands have to work harder to
ensure that their interactions with customers are positive, authentic, and valuable.
The digital marketing funnel goes beyond the purchase state
Engagement
This stage of the digital marketing funnel is concerned with ensuring that customers’ interactions
with your brand are positive and that they’re open to future interactions.
Many brands use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to engage with potential customers.
Education
It is specifically, helping potential customers realize that they have a problem that you can solve
for them.
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Example, potential user might not even know that automation, drones, and robotics could increase
efficiency on a job site; the education stage is about identifying that pain point.
Research
At this point, marketing still isn’t focused on selling a product, but rather on helping customers
identify how they can benefit from solving the problem.
Evaluation
Customers may be looking at multiple competing solutions to their problem, so your focus should
be on showing customers why your product is their best solution.
Justification
The justification stage is about finding ways to overcome objections, obstacles, or inertia. Perhaps
the customer isn’t the one with the ability to make buying decisions. Maybe the customer is simply
fine with the status quo, and solving the problem isn’t a high priority. Provide customers with
reasons why it is a priority or with information they can use to convince those with buying power.
Purchase
The purchase stage is all about the sale. Make sure customers are comfortable with the purchase,
that you’ve answered all their questions, and that they’re confident in the value your product will
provide for them.
Adoption
Adoption, the first post-purchase stage of the digital marketing funnel, necessitates making good
on your promises, so that the customer has a good experience with your product.
Retention
Satisfied customers become repeat customers. To retain customers, give them help when they
need it and provide them with educational materials on how to get the most out of your product.
Expansion
This might mean selling customers additional products or services, upgrading their service, or
getting them interested in a completely different product that solves a different problem. The key
to reaching this stage is helping the customer see your brand as dependable and an authority on
the products you sell and the problems you solve.
Advocacy
Extremely satisfied customers can help you expand your customer base further. They become
brand advocates and do part of the work of selling your product to their peers, colleagues and
friends.
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION CURVE
Innovation diffusion process (Everett Rodgers): spread of new ideas from source of invention or
creation to its ultimate users or adopters.
The curve is the graphical representation illustrating this
concept.
Adoption of a new idea, behaviour or product does not happen simultaneously in a social system,
but rather it is a process whereby some people are more suited to adopt innovation than others.
Research has shown that people who adopt innovation early have different characteristics to those
who adopt innovation later on- they have different motives for adopting or resisting. When selling
an innovation to various target markets, it is important to understand the characteristics of each of
them.
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Form the mainstream
market; adopt before the
average person
With a CLV calculation, you’re learning, in essence, what your average customer is “worth” to your
company. It is useful metric used by marketing managers especially at a time of acquiring a
customer. Ideally, lifetime value should be greater than the cost of acquiring a customer. Some also
call it a break-even point.
For example, let's say you run a Health Club where customers pay Rs 1000 per month and the
average time that a person remains a customer in your club is 3 years. Then the lifetime value of
each customer is (according to the formula above):
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Rs 1,000 per month x 12 months x 3 years = Rs 36,000. This means each customer is worth a
lifetime value of Rs 36,000.
Once we calculate CLTV we know how much the company can spend on paid advertising such as Facebook
ads, YouTube ads, Google Adwords etc. in order to acquire a new customer.
CLV helps you make important business decisions about sales, marketing, product development,
and customer support. For example:
Surrogate Marketing
Surrogate marketing, uses the marketing campaign of a brand or product, to convey a message
which is related to another brand or product. This is done due to various reasons. Primary reason
is to circumvent the ban on advertising for a particular type of product(s).
Example: Kingfisher’s campaign in IPL: “Divided by Team, United by Kingfisher”. Here they say
Kingfisher is the partner of good times. They never talk about the product they intend to market.
Surrogate marketing may also be used in cases where the use of a product is linked to a service. In
such cases, the service is advertised widely, and the service provider uses only the product in
question.
Example: Custom Fitness Tracker Apps of brands like Nike and Under Armour may be advertised.
But, without a Nike Shoe or a UA pad, the app can’t function anyway. So, it would be surrogate
marketing for the products through the app service.
How marketing campaigns of companies changed after ban in India:
Trends before Ban in advertising – Direct Advertising
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
• “Wills” a cigarette brand of ITC, used to sponsor the Indian Cricket Team/Matches
• Tennis Tournaments were sponsored by “Gold Flake”, another cigarette brand
• “Manikchand”, manufacturers of ghutka, sponsored the Filmfare Awards for number of
years
Advertising post imposition of Ban
However, after the imposition of a ban on advertising for liquor/tobacco and related products,
brands are increasingly using surrogates for advertising. Here are a few examples.
BRAND SURROGATE
Seagram’s Music
McDowell’s Water and Soda
Bagpiper Water, Soda, and Music
Bacardi Music
Kingfisher Water and Calendars
Wills Lifestyle Apparels, Accessories
Brand Personality
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Some marketers carefully orchestrate brand experiences to express brand personalities. For
example, Axe, the popular deodorant, caters to consumers who want others to view them as
attractive and appealing.
These traits may vary depending on the socio-economic factors in different geographies with
different people.
For example, Japan lacks ‘Ruggedness’ and has Peacefulness instead. China lacks ‘Ruggedness’
and ‘Sincerity’ and instead has ‘Joyfulness’, ‘Traditionalism’ and ‘Trendiness’.
Marketing Research
Market research consists of systematically gathering data about consumers and then analysing it to
better understand their needs. Market research results are then used to identify and define marketing
opportunities and problems; generate, evaluate, refine marketing actions; monitor marketing
performance and improve understanding of marketing as a process. The Market Research process
includes:
1. Define the problem and research objectives: Understand the root question that needs to be
addressed by market research. For example “Business problems” might be “How should we price
this new widget?” or “Which features should we prioritize?” or “How are customers responding to
our offering?
2. Determine research design: 4 types of research approaches depending on the objectives
• Observational research is used to gather data by observing customers as they shop or
consume products. For Example, Large retail chains use new age technologies to
understand consumer behavior
• Focus group research is a gathering of 6 to 10 people carefully selected to discuss various
topics at length where the questions are based on the marketing research agenda. For
Example: Gathering of women by a cosmetic company to understand how they view the
product and what they expect, etc.
• Survey research is used to assess thoughts, opinions, and feelings of larger set of customers
by standardized questionnaires through online or offline surveys, face to face interviews,
telephonic interviews etc. For Example, Researchers approach people in a mall and ask
them to fill out surveys
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
• Behavioral research is to trace and analyze consumer purchase behavior from customer
database and in-store scanning data to make reliable conclusions For Example, Amazon
analyses consumer preferences based on usage patterns and then shows customized
recommendations.
3. Decide research instrument: The market research instrument to collect the data can be
following
• Qualitative market research data collection ranges from focus group, case study,
participation observation, innovation game and individual depth interview
• Quantitative marketing research involves the construction of questionnaires and scales
which aids in the conduction of surveys and experiments.
4. Sample design: Sampling unit: Whom should we survey? Sample size: How many people
should we survey? Sampling procedure: How should we choose the respondents?
5. Analyze the data: Extract findings by tabulating the data and developing summary measures
6. Visualize & communicate results: Make decisions
Business Models
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
The main feature of the market place model is that the e-commerce firm like Flipkart, Snapdeal,
Amazon etc. will be providing a platform for customers to interact with a selected number of
sellers. When an individual is purchasing a product from Flipkart, he will be actually buying it
from a registered seller in Flipkart. The product is not directly sold by Flipkart. Here, Flipkart is
just a website platform where a consumer meets a seller. Inventory, stock management, logistics
etc. are not supposed to be actively done by the ecommerce firm.
Inventory model of ecommerce means an ecommerce activity where inventory of goods and
services is owned by e-commerce entity and is sold to the consumers directly. The main feature
of inventory model is that the customer buys the product from the ecommerce firm. He manages
an inventory (stock of products), interfaces with customers, runs logistics and involves in every
aspects of the business. Alibaba of China is following the inventory model.
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
AD ANALYSIS
Summary: The campaign shows stories where friends/ families / brothers etc. share a coke bottle
with it mentioning that specific relationship name in regional fonts and English. The sharing of
this bottle gives emphasis on the feeling of that relationship.
Purpose: To take the ‘spreading happiness’ theme forward making it more personalized through
the powers of relationships, illustrating how the brand can play an essential part in the expression
of love. The usage of regional fonts like Devnagari, etc in spelling out words like Bhai, Didi, Ma,
and Papa amplifies the effect.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL1RdstHuHk
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
2. Savlon Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks | ITC (Ad Agency: Ogilvy & Mather India)
Summary: Under the Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks campaign, which is a part of Savlon Swasth
India Mission, soap brand Savlon introduced special chalk sticks infused with soap to young
children in rural India. These can be used like regular chalk sticks, however the chalk dust lathers
up when it comes in contact with water.
Purpose: The programme is designed to encourage behavioral change towards washing hands
among children through various engaging and entertaining educational initiatives in schools. ITC
chose to use Savlon, the brand that has adopted hygiene as one of its core values to push through
the message.
Trivia: The ad won the Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix, one of the toughest and most
prestigious awards at the Cannes Lions.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVWUlWEfJ1k
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
3. VodaFone : The pug Returns (2018) (Ad Agency: Ogilvy & Mather India)
Summary: Stronger Together features a full army of pugs (30 to be precise) running behind a
young boy through different locations, signifying the strong 4G network of Vodafone.
Purpose: The ads of Vodafone have previously depicted that the Vodafone network is
everywhere. This campaign uses the brand’s most loved assets i.e. the pug to retain the brand’s
simplicity and build on it conveying the new network proposition, "we are getting stronger”,
highlighting the continued commitment of Vodafone to providing a world class network.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EIwhPoAdV0
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Summary: Three iconic ads-Dhara's 'Jalebi boy', the Cadbury Dairy Milk girl with her strange
dance on the cricket field, Nirma Super's 'Deepikaji' with her 'paar ki nazar' for 'sasta' options are
being used by UBER to create 90’s nostalgia campaign where they signify that the app is new but
with a 90’s factor i.e. the prices.
Purpose: Recognizing that value for money is one of the key things customers care about while
ordering-in food, Uber communicates that prices are low on their app, as low as the 90’s in order
to get consumers to try the new Uber app.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS9_XczpCGs
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Summary: The ad showcases a storyline where a son tells his father repeatedly to not mark the
walls and furniture as he doesn’t want it to be spoiled. One day the son comes across old childhood
photos and he reminisces the fun times with his father.
Purpose: The commercial shows the real meaning of a ‘home’ as opposed to a dream ‘house’
through these little instances. The ad instills meaning and emotion into décor, creating homes that
are cherished. It strengthens the positioning of Asian Paints’ ‘Har Ghar Kucch Kehta Hai’.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPDY6q_H0c0
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Summary: The film opens in a studio where a Deodorant ad is being shot and a girl is drooling over a
boy as he uses the deodrant. As the director calls for the break, a woodworker appears to put a laminate on
table. He uses Ezeespray to paste the laminate on wooden table with much ease which attracts the girl. The
film concludes with a voiceover – Fevicol Ezeespray – ‘wohi majboot jod spray mein bhi’.
Purpose: It is the first TVC ad for Ezee Spray though the product has been present in the market
for five year. It conveys the innovative format of this spray through humour and exaggeration, a
Fevicol signature.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH3AC0a7uzg
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Summary: The campaign film begins with a famous quote "How old would you be if you didn't
know how old you are?", and then unveils nine inspiring stories of people who have defied age-
related stereotypes and pursued what brings them real joy.
Flipkart conducted engagement activities on almost every social media platform including
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram to spread the core message behind the campaign as
well as partnering with content creators like The Better India and Terribly Tiny Tales.
Purpose: The campaign challenges the notion of age and what one can do at a certain age. It
conveys that age is not the years one has lived but the experiences one has had. The campaign
adds to Flipkart’s positioning of being a partner of progressive India.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WFGHCqC_1c
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
Summary: Amazon India creates a fictional team ‘Chonkpur Cheetahs’ which is a part of the
company’s IPL campaign and it traces the journey of this aspiring team which wants to play the
T20 tournament. Under the campaign multiple films are released, touching upon various
characters and aspects of Chonkpur Cheetahs team.
Taking this further, Amazon released another ad for IPL 2018. The campaign “Ajnabi Shahar
Mein Apni Dukaan”, shows the everyday struggles of an unknown city through this endearing
team, where Amazon helps resolve dilemmas getting in the way of things truly important.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akH-5adtYoA
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
These are some of the questions that were asked during previous years’ marketing interviews at
MDI.
The questions have been classified into three types: Concept-related questions, Industry/Trend
related questions and Application questions.
General Pointers for Marketing Interviews
● Read up about the company and analyses their marketing strategies and campaigns
● See how you can fit marketing concepts to the company and its brands/products
● Prepare convincing answers for questions like ‘Why Sales?’ and ‘Why Marketing?’
● Read up on the latest trends and marketing techniques involved in the company’s industry
Concept-based questions
● These are general marketing concepts found in Kotler and available through other online
sources. Companies test your basic marketing knowledge through these questions.
● What is the difference between Sales and Marketing? (Godrej Consumers Products Ltd)
● Explain STP through examples. (Snapdeal)
● Positioning vs. Proposition. (BCCL)
● 4 Ps of Marketing? (Sony Pictures)
● What is porter's five forces model? (Tata Motors)
● What is Product Lifecycle? (Philips)
● What is Go to Market Strategy? (Snapdeal)
● What are the key characteristics of B2B marketing? (Asian Paints)
● B2B Vs B2C? (Danaher, Lenovo)
● What are ATL, BTL and TTL?(Lenovo)
● What is the distribution channel and role of technology in distribution?(BCCL)
● FMCG vs. FMCD? (Pidilite)
● What is Modern Trade? Challenges in Modern Trade? (Loreal)
● What is Brand management? (DCM Sriram)
● Favorite Marketing Campaign. (BCCL)
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MARKETING COMPENDIUM
These questions were some of the frequently asked ones in the last two years and you can see
that some of them are often repeated. Having unique examples to these questions is strongly
advised, so that one can differentiate their answers from the standard examples others might
choose.
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