Marketing Magazine of VGSoM,IIT Kharagpur

MADAZINEGreen

Marketing

Target Marketin

g & h

yper

targ

eting

BIG D

ATA

Neuro Marketing

Celebrate Womenhood -NYKAA Four fountains SpaDraft FCB ULKA3

Medical Tour ism in Indiaindigenous Indian companiies

Mascot Marketing

September 2013

Dear Readers,It gives us immense pleasure to bring out a fresh issue of MADazine, which marks its third year now.How far has marketing penetrated our lives? For how long in a day are marketers trying to register themselves in our minds? Isn’t it a continuous tussle between innumerable brands laid across the horizonof consumer observation span?MAD club comes up with this edition of MADazine to cap-ture the ongoing and futuristic styles of marketing through choicest articles from marketing enthusiast students and In-dustry professionals.Social media, digital marketing and service marketing no longer differentiate winners. In this edition of MADazine we have tried to bring fresh buds of marketing that will bloom and then become essential tools of tomorrow. Enclosed in this edition are fundas of augmented reality marketing as well as its applications, the holy grail of advertisements as well as big data in marketing and hyper targeting. There are focused and in depth analysis of Medical tourism in India, relevance and trends of green marketing in Indian market and Neuro marketing-how marketers are in quest to change or strengthen our innate likening. In this edition of MADazine we have tried to analyze how indigenous In-dian brands are growing vis-à-vis foreign players.Through present edition of MADazine we have also tried to get a sneak peek in the world of spa Industry by an inter-view with Sunil Rao from four fountains spa exclusively for a MAD club. We also bring to you Nykaa where we have discussed beauty products market and salient features of female products marketing with Falguni Nayar-Founder of Nykaa.Well as any marketing is incomplete without advertisement, so is MADazine: In an exclusive MAD club interview Mr. M.G. Parameswaran,CEO-Draft CB-ULKA, discusses Indian advertisement industry, how advertisements impact prod-ucts with little difference as compared to their competitors and the road ahead for advertisement industry.We sincerely thank the Dean of our School and our respected Facult who have always encouraged us to be pragmatic and yet to explore the possibilities beyond the accepted norms and limitations. We thank the students for their enthusias-tic participation in the articlewriting competition. We also thank the entire MAD Club for all its support in making this edition of MADazine a possibility.

Yours TrulyAbhinav Minalla Mohan,Akhil Sood,Akhil Krishna Gupta

2

In this EditionMADClub Exclusive Interviews :

M.G. Parameswaran 8(Executive Director and CEO of Draft fcb-Ulka Advertising)

Falguni Nayar 20(CEO-Nykaa)

Sunil Rao 30(co-founder of The Four Fountains Spa)

Student Articles:Marketing Brand India through Medical Tourism 4Analyzing rising market of Indigenous India products 11Technology,Innovation & Marketing 14Neuromarketing & Its Trends 24Green Marketing & its relevance in India 28Green Marketing-a Strategy 36

TeamEditor in Chief: Akhil Sood,Abhinav MinnalaAssociate Editor: Akhil Krishna Gupta,Monika SahuDesign & Layout: Anakshi DhamaMadazine Team: Abhinav Vohra,Ranjeet Kumar Singh,Shiva Kumar,Rakesh R.Special Thanks: Vaishnavi Bonala,Siddarth Himakar

C R O S Sw

RD

MASCOTMAR

KETING

MARKETING BRAND INDIA THROUGH MEDICAL TOURISMMonika Sahu VGSOM,IIT KharagpurSanchalak Basu XLRI Jamshedpur

INTRODUCTION

Before going into the intricacies of how the medical tourism industry can help enhance Brand India, let’s start with a more fundamental question; can nations be brands? And if so, what are the parameters on which the performance of such brands can be judged? In the present context of globalization, it’s increasingly evident that nations have to compete against each other for global pools of capital, technology, talent, resources and tourism revenues.Like all efficient marketplaces, success in this one will also stem from the ability of competitors to differentiate. That is where the concept of ‘nation branding’ fits in. Forbes magazine comes up with a ranking of the top 25 ‘nation brands’ every year based on five key attributes; value system, quality of life, Good for Business, heritage and culture, tourism. In this context, in the next section we analyze the current positioning and future prospects of Brand India.

Imagining Brand IndiaIndia is arguably the most ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse society in the world. With over a billion people, hundreds of languages and dialects and a history and culture that spans at least 5 millennia, the country is undoubtedly a wonder of human civilization. But it’s also an emerging economic power and a global leader in industries like IT, engineering services, automobiles and pharmaceuticals. To crystallize all this into a single coherent brand idea is indeed a daunting task. How do you reconcile India’s glorious past with a future that’s full of promise? We attempt to develop a brand positioning for India using the 4Ps framework in the next section.

The 4 PsProductIndia has to position itself as a competitive destination for investments and tourism. In order to attract investments, it should focus on its key strengths; a young demographic, a huge and growing middle class, increasing prosperity and rising aspirations and a vibrant democratic political system. It should also focus on the comparative advantage of different cities and states.

4

MARKETING BRAND INDIA THROUGH MEDICAL TOURISMPriceIndia can position itself as a destination of cheap but high quality goods and services. As the home to the world’s cheapest cars, medical equipment and lowest cost surgeries, India should focus on its unique ability to innovate and achieve tremendous cost efficiencies across industries, without compromising on quality. This is where the medical tourism industry can play an important role.

PlaceIndia is located in a region of immense geostrategic significance. It has easy access to the current engines of global growth: East and South East Asia. Also its proximity to the Gulf countries is important from an energy standpoint. So India should try to remove barriers to trade and investment and get itself integrated with the global manufacturing supply chains.

PromotionIn order to build and sustain an effective brand communication for the country, proper coordination is required among all stakeholders including the government, the media, civil society and industry bodies. The “Incredible India” campaign is a good start in this direction. With improving communication networks and rising outbound tourism, the people can also act as brand ambassadors for the nation.

Medical Tourism in IndiaMedical tourism is one of the success stories of post liberalization India. It is also one of the industries that has mind boggling growth prospects. In 2008, the size of the industry was around Rs 1,500 crores. Also the sector is expected to experience an annual growth rate of 30 percent, making it a Rs.9,500 crore industry by 2015.1 According to a study by Mckinsey-CII, the industry is going to grow to a size of $ 2bn by 2012.

The Typical Medical TouristThe profile of the medical tourist in India is by no means homogenous. Also it’s difficult to estimate an accurate number because a large portion of such patients come from countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and are difficult to classify as ‘medical tourists’. The patients come for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from access to advanced technology to availing low cost care for discretionary procedures. The following charts show the demographic profile of medical tourists as well as their reasons for coming to India.

5

The Cost AdvantageIndia offers tremendous cost advantages compared to other countries for a large number of medical procedures. A comparative list of prices for different procedures across countries is shown in the table below:

Treatment Budget in Destination (US$)

Procedure US/UK India Thailand

Bone Marrow Transplant 250,000 30,000 62,500

Liver Transplant 300,000 40,000 75,000

Open Heart Surgery 150,000 7,000 14,250

Hip Replacement 17,000 4,500 6,900

Knee Surgery 16,000--24,000 4,500 7,000

Cataract 2,000 500 NA

Source: Curing the World: An opportunity for Medical Tourism in India, White Paper, D’Essence Consulting

CompetitionThailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Philippines are the major destinations in the Asian medical tourism market. Western tourists seem to prefer Thailand, which is also a more famous tourist destination, for cosmetic surgeries. Singapore and India specialize in complex procedures with India having a cost advantage and Singapore a technology advantage. A comparative profile of the countries is shown in the table.

6

Country Medical tourists from Revenues ($mn)

Area of Strength

Thailand US,UK 470 Cosmetic Surgery, Organ Transplant, Dental Treatment, Joint Replace-ments

Jordan Middle East 600 Organ Transplant, Fertility Treatment, Cardiac Care

India Middle east, Bangladesh, UK, developing countries

NA Cardiac care, Joint Replacements, Lasik,

Malayasia US, Japan, Developing countries

40 Cosmetic Surgery

South Africa US, UK, Netherlands 40 Cosmetic Surgery, Lasik, Dental Treat-ment

Source: Curing the World: An Opportunity for Medical Tourism in India, White Paper, D’Essence Consulting

Medical Tourism and Brand India: Action AreasIn this section we identify four key areas, where action might in order to effectively market brand India in the medical tourism industry.

Clear PositioningSince the profile of medical tourists is extremely heterogeneous, the brand communication must also be different and customized according to the needs of the tourists. In countries of South Asia and Middle East, India must position itself as a high tech but affordable healthcare destination To western countries with overburdened healthcare systems, India should aim to provide the highest quality of healthcare at a fraction of the cost.

Better Co-ordinationThe different stakeholders in the healthcare and tourism industries l must coordinate more effectively to optimally utilize the massive potential in the industry. Mechanisms should be evolved for cross selling, joint promotions and integrated communication which would ensure better returns on limited marketing resources.

Training and ServiceThough technically qualified, medical staff often lacks the soft skills required to effectively serve people with different cultural backgrounds. This often results in poor post-procedure service quality. Government and industry bodies should come together to provide adequate training to the concerned professionals.

Regulatory IssuesLike most other industries, the medical tourism sector is also plagued by a huge number of regulatory inconsistencies. A glaring example of this is the MVisa which was supposed to speed up the process for medical tourists but ended up doing exactly the opposite. Some of the areas that need urgent attention are creation and adoption of service standards, a non-intrusive tax regime and infrastructure development.

7

An advertising agency is mouthpiece of its clients. These client companies have their own brand attributes and advertising strategy. How do skilled advertisers strike that brilliant balance between what clients want and what agency plans or thinks is beneficial to show?

The advertising agency best serves the needs of a client by acting as the strategic partner. So both the marketing team on the client side and the agency team should work together partnering for the greater good of the brand. We cannot work at cross purposes.

Back in 1960s mass media was an easy task: one knew where 80% of the population was tuned and most of the job was done if you aired at that time repeatedly.

But now, it’s different with 100s of channels and 1000s of different viewer type: How difficult is it to choose when to show, what to show and where to show so as to solve the problem of ad filtering/skipping?

From the days when I started my life in advertising marketing to today the media world has seen a great degree of fragmentation. So now we have to use sophisticated models and tools to work out media plans. In fact the rise of media planning and buying function can be traced to the growth of media in the country.

Challenges are many in our line of business. Sometimes a cam-paign that you think will work perfectly fails to evoke the response you expect. So you go back to the drawing board and work extra hard. No other choice.

8

As a Global organization you have presence almost everywhere in the world. Tell us some stark differences between markets where advertisements vary a lot in design, message and visuals etc. Tell us about some of the challenges faced as well.

Each country has its own cultural ethos and advertising has to reside within this culture. However we also need to understand that great brands are built through consistent advertising across the world. So a large successful global agency often has to find the right balance of the two. We call it the Adopt – Adapt – Create Model. As far as possible global brands need to Adopt advertising positioning across countries; if Adopt is not appropriate then they need to Adapt the message to bring local color; finally if that is not working they need to Create new copy. If you follow this rigidly you can navigate the waters safely.

DraftFcb’s list of awards, prizes runs to pages and that happens consistently. How is DraftFcb consistently coming up with such award winning prizes? How does DraftFcb get a stream of fresh ideas consistently?

Our agency group has won several awards for work done for clients like Naukri.com, Tata Motors, Wipro, Hero Motocorp, Whirlpool, ITC, Amul etc. But more

than the awards we are proud of the BrandWealth we have created for our clients. Our motto is “Making Brands Famous. Making Clients Rich”. If we do that then awards will follow.

In past few years, what is the most promising development in advertisement industry? What kind of work has gained most attention and can define future ad world? We happened to see the water developing billboard campaign for UTEC, Mayo. What would you call that? Advertising,CSR or something else?

The mainstay of advertising in India is still television and print. However we see digital growing from around 3% of all advertisement spends to around 5% in the next two years. In addition areas like activation, customer relationship,analytics are all growing rapidly. Billboard that generates water is more an interesting gimmick than a big brand building idea.

A lot of times products are very similar to their competitor’s products (e.g. FMCG) and in such products same idea is being advertised by all players. How successful is that? How does it vary with inclusion and exclusion of celebrities? What is the way ahead

M.G. Parameswaran is Executive Director and CEO of Draftfcb-Ulka Advertis-ing, Mumbai, a member of India’s third larg-est marketing communication organization, the DraftfcbUlka Group.Ambi as he is known, is a Chemical Engineer from IIT Madras and an Honour Roll Management Graduate from IIM Calcutta .He has had a key role in the transformation of Ulka Advertising into Draft-fcbUlka Group with interests in media, con-sulting, digital, advertising and healthcare. He has helped build numerous brands includ-ing Digene, Brufen, Santoor Soap, Sundrop Cooking Oil, TCS, ICICI Bank, Wipro, Tata Indica Cars, Zee TV, Sun-feast, UTI among others.Ambi now has six books to his credit which find enor-mous use in marketing and advertising education across business schools in India.

9

for Advertisement industry in such product markets?

In today’s world all products are similar, not only FMCG. So the challenge is to look for differences that are not ‘owned’ by a competitor and play that up. So Hero Pleasure became ‘Why should boys have all the fun’. Or Manza became Club Class. So whenever we work on a brand our job is to drill deeper into the product, speak with customers, dealers and others to find out that differentiation benefit that can work for the brand.

In your view, what are the importance, role and future of advertisement mediums available today? TV, Radio, Digital, Print etc. Do you see any other medium coming in near future?

I believe in the next ten years Mobile will become more and more important. While TV will continue to dominate, we will start consuming television content through new devices, be it mobile or tablets.

What is the biggest strength and competitive advantage that DraftFcbUlka has created for it over the years?

We are built on the philosophy of serving as strategic partners to our clients. To this end we invest in hiring quality talent from business schools and art schools, train them in our way of working and endeavor to partner out clients. Our motto is Building BrandWealth. And we have been doing it consistently for the last 50+ years.

Please share some of your best experiences in this industry. Also what were the biggest challenges that you faced?

We got the opportunity of launching India’s first indigenously developed car, the Tata Indica. I think we played a very useful role in not just the advertising positioning and advertising campaigns of the brand, but we also were used by Tata Motors as a sounding board for many of their strategic decisions. You can read all about this in the book DraftfcbUlka Brand Building Advertising Case Book II.Challenges are many in our line of business. Sometimes a campaign that you think will work perfectly fails to evoke the response you expect. So you go back to the drawing board and work extra hard. No other choice.

What is brand IIT to you? What would your advice be to future managers of brand IIT to further strengthen their standing?

I think brand IIT is the foremost technology brand to come out of India. It stands for world class students who can perform shoulder to shoulder with the best the world has to offer. I think efforts like the Pan IIT Alumni movement has played a good role in building the IIT brand. More can be done, but we have made a good start.

10

Analyzing rising market of

indigenous Indian products

In past decade India witnessed higher growth rate than USA or European union and credit goes to rapid growth of Indian service sector and manufacturing sector. These two sectors command a total share of 80% of Indian GDP. The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector or consumer packaged goods sector is fourth largest sector in the economy. While Indian economy was growing at 5% to 8% , FMCG sector in India was growing at a healthy CAGR of 11%.Today FMCG market in

India commands US$ 13.1 billion . After liberalisation, Indian economy showed tremendous growth and FMCG was the One of the major sectors responsible for it. The sector includes a large number of domestic and foreign players like Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd., ITC Limited, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestlé India, Reckitt Benckiser, Procter & Gamble , Coca-cola, and PepsiCo. Home born companies like Marico, Dabar, Emami, Godrej Group, Wipro, Himalaya, AMUL, Parle Agro, Britannia, Nirma, Jyoti Lab are doing increasingly well in today’s competitive market. In past few years domestic Indian companies are have increased there efforts of expanding their global presence by starting operation in SAARC countries and African continent. They are showing higher growth than their multinational counterparts as they know the pulse of the Indian customer well along with using home factors, such as the country’s herbal-ayurvedic heritage. Following factors have been critical in their growth path and have placed some of the indigenous players at par with foreign multinationals

RAHUL MALIVinod Gupta School of Management,

IIT Kharagpur(Batch 2012-14)

11

International FMCG firms seek a larger presence across markets, so their interest in product categories is restricted to those that can allow them to do so. This is advantageous to Indian players , because categories that are local in nature may not interest them, such as coconut oil or mustard oil.

Factors in favour of Indian FGCG market1.Untapped product categories :International FMCG firms seek a larger presence across markets, so their interest in product categories is restricted to those that can allow them to do so. This is advantageous to Indian players , because categories that are local in nature may not interest them, such as coconut oil or mustard oil.

2.Indian unique products :

Foreign companies don’t have much presence in product categories which are unique to India as compared to companies like Amrutanjan, Boroline, Navaratna tel, Safi, rooh afza. Also products in categories like Indian spices, Pickle, Masalas and Idli mixture are dominated by Indian companies due to absence of competition from foreign players. One reason might be the local understanding and need identification which Indian entrepreneurs were able to do and went to establish successful organizations

based on these products

3.Herbal , Ayurvedic and Unani products :Indian companies have great advantage from home factors like Ayurvedic and Unani sciences. These are unique selling points of many a companies like Dabar, Zandu, Himalaya, Marico, Patanjali ,Safi and many more. The entry barrier for foreign players in this segment is very high due to low market intelligence and already established players. Indian brands inherently appeal to Indians in these sectors and hence acceptance of foreign players in same segment cannot be determined with clarity.

4.Only 4% Organized retail and untapped bottom of pyramid :Due to less organized retail sector, retail majors and cash rich players can’t have monopoly over supply

chains and retail outlets which is favourable situation for small FMCG players in India. Also due to urban-rural divide and disparity between incomes of various groups many people are not using FMCG products. So there is tremendous growth potential in cost sensitive user segment. Products like Nirma have used this potential for their growth .

5. Profitable ventures in SAARC Countries:Indian companies like Dabur, Marico, Emami are

Here is a quick insight about market segments and respective market leaders

Product Segment Products

Personal care Segment Hair oil-MaricoHair color- GodrejAyurvedic spa- Kaya clinic/Marico

Food segment Snacks-HaldiramTea-TataCooking oil-Fortune cooking oilChawanprash- DaburBiscuits -Parle and britannia Milk- AmulSpices-MDH

Healthcare segment General health care Zandu,Honey Dabur, Fruit juices (Réal).

12

expanding their operations in neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan which have more or less same social and demographic texture as India have. These markets have high untapped potential and there is low competition from local players. Also few companies are venturing to Middle East and African countries which are fast growing markets. Though Indian FMCG players are doing good following are few hindrances they are facing a gamut of problems. Some of which are:1.Capital constraints:Indian companies are not as cash rich as foreign companies.New product development and promotion require a large front-end investment in R&D, market research, product development, marketing, promotions, iterations and launch. Creating awareness and developing franchise for a new brand requires enormously high initial expenditure on launch advertisements, free samples and product promotions. Launch costs are as high as 50-500% of revenue in the first year. For established brands, advertisement expenditure varies from 5 -12% depending on the categories.2.Brand value: Foreign products have better brand equity that results in high customer loyalty. So while purchasing when customer is impartial about two products it will go with product having better brand value. Foreign players have stressed on early market capitalizations through value additions, supply chains, marketing apart from better products, while Indian players face problems in product development phase itself due to unavailability of cash and skilled labour at affordable costs.

3.Command on supply chains :India is home to six million retail outlets, including 2 million in 5,160 towns and four million in 627,000 villages. Foreign companies have well developed, technologically advanced and more efficient supply chains as compared to their Indian counterparts most of which rely on unstructured organizational structures and departments. Rural connect programs like HUL Shakti and E-chaupal by ITC have only strengthened the foothold of their companies. It is very difficult to counter this advantage in Indian context4.Global product experience: Foreign players bring along with them a large baggage of experience and expertise that spans across borders. They have technical and behavioural know how and have structured procedures and work styles. This gives them a leading edge when compared to Indian players.

ConclusionOver the time and with the help of Indian brains foreign players have tried to decrease problems in local adaptability. In future too, these players would venture in niche segments that are held by Indian players. On the other hand, as Indian players gain expertise, experience and exposure they too would be able to venture in newer categories thereby building a strong brand through brand extensions and new launches. Indian players will also incorporate efficient supply chains and technical solutions to problems to leverage efficiency.

13

14

Ever since people have had something to sell, marketing has been in the scene. Marketing practices arrived,went and their effectiveness waxed,waned with time. Keeping ahead of your competitors is what marketing demands. Ever since the first print ad was rolled out, the quest to be ahead is becoming increasingly competitive and organizations are accelerating fast-not keeping their strategy limited to one direction. Technology and creativity have been 2 pillars of marketing and in this edition of MADazine, we explore how technology is defining the future of marketing. MAD club brings 5 most talked about advancements of technology that are being used in marketing to change the game.

Augmented Marketing

Do you wonder how people shop products like sunglasses online without trying them? Didn’t you ever feel that print ads miss the detail and storytelling? Or just wished that you could have seen a product in the print ad from some other angle or side?Augmented Reality (AR) Marketing is just the technology that is bridging requirements like these.

Concept: In place of a traditional print ad, organizations are now using AR enabled print ad. Withapplications like blippar in smartphone, a user can look inside wardrobes, across the window, around the room into the other room and so on just by focusing his smartphone on your print ad.Ikea- a world known furniture manufacturer printed its live catalogue: with each page holding films, photo galleries, fun stories and much more. Similarly there are softwares that use augmented reality and allow you to interact more with virtual

entities.Rayban’s Virtual mirror allows you to virtually try the shades and decide whether it looks chic on you.

Tissot ran an AR marketing campaign for its watches. One just had to wear a black and white wristband and the AR system behind the LCD showed a video of person wearing virtual watch. Good things don’t stop here, Kinectshop is a

complete virtual shopping store which gives you the option to try different clothes on the screen.Well, if Kinectshop starts collecting individual level data, it can very well greet you with a personalized message

next time: “Hey Sid! You seem to have lost quite some weight, try our new sports collection; you’d look great in it.”With AR marketing you can decide yourexpress delivery box size for USPS or watch Switzerland with Absolut. Audi too has joined the club at ARM for promoting R8.So, now on if you wish to try nail paint, you know what app to use. We can safely assume that future of augmented reality capable newspaper is not far away.

Big Data in Marketing:

Digitization is on the rise as we all are comfortably aware of, as we browse,search,find,click,socialize,purchase,check in,check out, we create a stream of information which holds detailed information about us. Yes it gets personal: the data has details about your choice,your needs,your preferences and everything else that you do over the net. Nothing to get worried about though: there aren’t any camera persons who have cameras in your laptop. “privacy is being compromised” is the biggest misconception in digital world. Your data is just a concept and it goes on to make or miss a trend. The world now has twice as much data as there is water in oceans. The demand to utilize this data for the

Hey Sid! You seem to have

lost quite some weight, try

our new sports collection;

you’d look great in it

15

purpose of more targeted marketing is making a market of softwares that are able to collate data on BIG scale as just owning huge data won’t mean

anything, it is the way in which big data is utilized and interpreted which would lead to insights about various choices-This is Big data marketing. The best use of Big data marketing was seen in US presidential elections: in the final laps of exasperated competition

when political analysts declared the competition to be dead and vowed for a tie, team Obama was busy in data crunching to pinpoint which voters held the key and how to get them on the board. Result as known to all of us wasn’t a tie.

Big data softwares are competent to analyze data from innumerable consumer touch points: emails, website

activity, search, ad-clicks, social media etc. Some of these softwares are Epsilon, Media Math and Merkle. Epsilon for example, handles large volumes of data so easily that it is able to execute seven times more campaigns than traditional campaign designers. With Epsilon, clients can test new ideas to distinguish the working ones with the non working ones.The best part of using it is that one can pinpoint potential customers or favoured audience instead of broadcasting a generic message to mass and this impacts the final results significantly.MediaMath uses its ability of getting transparent view of factors affecting ad impressions that it handles on a daily basis. This helps in optimizing the bids. This, combined with the speed with which it analyzes the data, reduces the cost per ad by over 50 percent .MeidaMath’s technology reduces manpower requirement by 50% to deliver 10 times output with 3 times the number of advertisers.Merkle a known CRM provider underwent a transformation of its analytics to handle millions of transactions. It adopted Big data technology and reduced the run time for eachmarketing campaigns by 50 percent. Merkle’s clients experienced revenue increase of 25 to 90 percent.Global Enterprise Big data trends of 2013 by Microsoft claim 17% of customers surveyed are in early stages of researching big data solutions, while 13 percent have fully deployed them. Among the usage,IT department is heading with 52%,customer care usage is 41%,for sales, marketing and finance it is 26.23 and 23 percentage respectively.

A small humor from us-Big data is so big that there is a complete big data “week” instead of a big data day

Hypertargeting:

The term was coined by Myspace in 2007 when they launched their own advertising service-my ads.Till date hypertargeting occupies major relevance in social media but has infact moved much ahead since its inception. Difference between a generic (paid search ad) and hypertarget ad is while generic ad would target someone who has recently searched for your product, hypertargeting would also target someone who like your category of product.In a nutshell, hypertargeting is the ability to identify specific interest individuals and deliver them relevant and meaningful ads. The level of relevance today has gone upto personalization.Before hypertargeting, agencies relied onregistration data e.g.: name, gender, age, location

In the final laps of exasper-ated competition when political analysts declared the competition to be dead and vowed for a tie, team Obama was busy in data crunching to pinpoint which vot-ers held the key

16

and then slowly moved to profile data e.g. favorite destination, music, hobbies etc.With hypermarketing agencies also study the behavioral aspect of individual.Behavioral marketing can be seen in three different categories namely

1)Remarketing: where ads aim to prompt user to complete his action on a particular website where he left an incomplete transaction..

2)Interest based: Ad networks collect data about user’s activity and then classify them in segments like beauty products,books,cars,travels etc.

3)Private networks: In this concept, a group of websites would share data that would be mutually beneficial. Like basic digital advertising, a cookie that resides at user’s desktop is at center of affairs,but what and how ads are showed to a user is different in hyper targeting.

Hypertargeting in its initial form worked like following example:Suppose you are contemplating purchasing a new apartment and you have browsed through five different property related websites. Assume that one of these five companies is using hyper targeting so he has not only started tracking your activity but also holds your financial information data. While Traditional advertising would start pushing their offers at this moment, hyper targeter would wait. Suppose you have made up your mind to purchase the apartment and start visiting home loan websites. At this very moment hypertargeter would understand your strong intent and would place an ad carrying his special discount or offer.But now Hypertargeting has moved to next levels-it would show offers for you based on your conversation in facebook and credit companies are tracking more than your record-your behavior that can consist of timings you have logged in, number of times in a day that you have logged in, are you purchasing second hand materials or premium furnishings and so on.At this level, hyper targeting wasn’t fully utilized and hence wasn’t producing better results but stories have changed now.What is the current level of hypermarketing? Well companies are able to know whether you need an antivirus based on your pizza ordering activity over the net. Here is what happens-ChoiceStream has an ad platform called CRUNCH

which makes use of predictive intelligence. It uses cross section of audiences with more than one attributes to show meaningful ads.As an example, an antivirus ad is targeted not only at those looking for software but also at those who order edibles or get online legal help.R e a s o n i n g behind this is as these users

spend more time online, they are consuming more online content and have higher chances of getting a virus attack-so they are more likely to need an antivirus.Face and gesture recognition:

Remember that scene in Minority Report where Tom Cruise runs into a clothing store while chasing his target and a computerized salesman asks him whether he would like to have more of what he took last time?Fiction of 2002 is fact of 2013.NEC has developed a marketing service that uses face recognition to estimates the age and gender of customers. This data is useful in a variety of ways like consumer behavior, number of footfalls, gender ratio at given times and average ages of customers.Impressive labs, has developed a similar software for billboards. So billboards would not only record a viewer’s age, gender but also his attention level.

Attention level data would be important in judging the overall success of campaign. So the next time as you pass by and notice a billboard, in high probabilities chances are the billboard is noticing you too.In similar developments Intel has developed face

companies are able to know

whether you need an antivi-

rus based on your pizza or-

dering activity over the net

17

scanning softwares that can be installed in digital kiosks that would estimate your gender and age. Based on that, it would recommend the products as per your demography.(what would happen when a good 25 looking 35 year lady gets recommended for products suitable for her age?)In Taiwan, vending machines with face recognition capabilities are able to offer hair growing medicines to balding people.

Confectionary giant Kraft, installed a face recognition sensor on jello-o-temptations vending machines iSample.This machine measured the distance between your eyes, nose and years and then determined your age to decide whether you are adult or not. If found young, an alarm would ring asking you to move away as the product is meant only for adults.Adidas too is using such interactive machines to suggest shoes for various age groups.

During Cannes’10, Unilever with Sapient nitro installed a smiled activated ice cream vending machine.Using Augmented Reality,passer by were attracted towards it and then prompted to smile.Machine would then rate the smile through smile-o-meter and grinners were given free ice-cream.(This is a must watch campaign. Find it in MAD FB page). Redpepper-a renowned ad agency has developed a facebook check-in system known as facedeals that uses face recognition to let you automatically check-in and out of your destination

NUAds

From print ads to digital ads through radio ads and TV ads, Advertisement spots and methods have come

a long way, but what has not changed all through this time? What is the holy grail that agencies are running after? It is consumer engagement. During those 30 seconds of advertisements, advertisers never know what are you upto while it is b e i n g played on your TV

screen?Is it possible f o r

technology today to involve viewer himself in the advertisement process???Micorsoft’s Natural user-interface ad on its Xbox is what advertisement industry was long looking for-get to see your viewer’s living room.Consumers and Advertisers both benefit with NuAds. Viewers get more in each advertisement and advertisers get more attention and hence response that translates to better RoI.How does it work? As soon as a user sees an ad square in his dashboard,he launches it to play. This ad has an interactive layer with options that the user can select.So if you think product on the ad is interesting, you can say “Xbox, Tweet”and you get a twitter screen with you all set to tweet just by your hand gesture.If you need moreinformation a b o u t a product or some campaign,

all you need to do is say “Xbox more” and you instantly get an option of receiving an email with all information compiled in it.Shall you feel the need of buying a product and need to know the nearest dealer you just have to speak out “Xbox near me” and you get the address, driving instructions to the nearest dealer.First run of ads were rolled recently and advertisers were Toyota, Axe and Subway. Microsoft declared the results for these Ads on January 7,2013. Results showed 37% of viewers engaged with NUads when they were asked to vote.So advertisers get real time feedback that can be used in future.

Say “Xbox, Tweet” and you

get a twitter screen with

you all set to tweet just by

your hand gesture.

Speak “Xbox near me”

and you get the address,

driving instructions to

the nearest dealer.

18

Across

1 Hippo and bailey are two leading products of this brand 4 You know you are the best and so you charge for it 6 According to Kotler two more Ps should be added: Public relation and _____8 Town of Herzogenaurach nicknamed: “the town of bent necks” – people looked down to see strangers wore which brand shoe. This was due to rival between Puma & _____10 Connect to a personality: GoAir + IPL + Mohammad Ali Jinnah ____11 Get the right ___ of the 4P’s 13 One of the leading Marketing strategies consulting firm primarily dominated by its social media and digital marketing programs 14 This giant acquired its drilling rival Smith International in 201015 Small business marketing requires constant____ to ensure its success17 This Multinational consumer goods company was involved in controversies related to promotion of the use of infant formula to mothers across the world

Down 2 Connect with a personality name: WPP Group + SatyamevJayate + IMT Ghaziabad 3 This company initially sold signature blue jeans and white t shirt targeting younger generations 5 PWC was awarded as top brand under ‘professional organisation’ in this East African country 7 This SUV bagged most prestigious awards at most of the award show 9 This type of marketing refers to the marketing of services against tangible product 11 coverage of market with a single marketing strategy12 Type of market which aim its marketing efforts and its merchandise 16_____bound marketing known as the ‘old way’ of doing things includes billboards, TV ads, telemarketing, sales people etc.

19

Look beautiful for

yourself not for others.

~Falguni Nayar

20

Nykaa serves a niche segment of customers. How did you decide about choosing this particular segment in ecommerce and How do you think Nykaa differentiates itself?

It was a carefully considered decision to choose beauty and wellness as I believe these businesses are at a cusp of very high growth with large potential in the future. Nykaa plans to offer advice and products under one roof to be able to guide the customers to choose right products for them. We are the first and only e-commerce site where customers can move from e-magazine to e-store effortlessly.

Due to low internet penetration (about 8%) in India, ecommerce still hasn’t found its true potential yet. What preparations/changes do you think would be required for ecommerce players like Nykaa if penetration grows fast in near future?

With roll out of 4G and greater acceptance of smart phones and tablets e-commerce will extend to mobile and this will give it the next big leg up. Current organic growth in broadband based usage and penetration is also strong. Online users are expected to increase from 125 million in 2012 to 300 million in 2015. Nykaa will offer smartphone version of the web-store including apps.

Apart from online promotion in form of blogs, social media, digital advertising, what forms of offline promotion is Nykaa doing? What and how much is the benefit of each of these?

You are absolutely right! Our main emphasis is digital marketing which includes SEO, SEM, Display A d v e r t i s i n g , Social Media like Facebook and Blogs. In addition we will offer coupons to customers and employees of large corporations after careful consideration of suitability. They would contribute significantly to our customer base over time.

Within a year, Nykaa has over 81000 Facebook likes. We have observed how Nykaa is encouraging women by showcasing other successful women or “celebrate woman power”, as Nykaa terms it. What is the idea behind this shift from products to people?

She quit her successful banking career as an investment banker with Kotak Mahindra Group to chase her dream of setting up Nykaa.com, a one-stop beauty destination that offers beauty and wellness products to women for every stage of their life . MAD club closes in on Falguni Nayar, a name which needs no further introduction

21

Beauty and Wellness is very personal to women and it has to be integrated with their confidence and feeling good about them-selves. Nykaa endeavours to achieve this. Look beautiful for yourself not for others. We are taking beauty to the next platform.

In terms of Age of customers, which segment is Nykaa’s major share of customers? What percentage of sales is attributed to men prod-ucts? Why is there a change from the past where Men were shy to use beauty products?

Nykaa’s customers will most likely be in the age group of 22 to 50. Within this around 30s is likely to be the most important customer segment. Nykaa offers full range of Men’s beauty and personal care products and there are many men who are Nykaa customers.

Men’s grooming is the fastest growing indus-try worldwide with new emphasis on metro sexual men. It’s evident in fashion, beauty and wellness including changing attitude and behaviour of men.

There is a special segment of Herbal products in Nykaa. How strong is the market for these products and what is the marketing mix for selling these products?

Herbal products especially from India offer great performance as well as price points. They are also ‘good for you products’. We are emphasising on these with a view to offer comprehensive range to our customers.

For some of the products in beauty

22

segment, customers prefer to test samples of different options, which is possible only in a brick and mortar store. How do you deal with these segments? How does it affect an online purchase?

We offer a virtual makeover toll that allows customers to upload their photo and try out new products like foundation, eye shadow, lipsticks, eye liners etc on their photo. This also helps them choose the right shades that suit their skin color. Yes, Nykaa would benefit from brick and mortar presence which is necessary for a very small part of our catalogue. We will set these up at carefully chosen locations for customers to touch and feel Nykaa offerings.

For ecommerce players who are mostly resellers and not manufacturers, how important is service marketing in this field and what Nykaa do about it?

Helping customers choose the right product is very important and we offer this through online chat as well as assisted selling helplines.

What are major strengths that you think Nykaa has now?

Nykaa has built brand awareness and acceptance to some extent but it’s a long journey and we need to keep moving forward and adding value to our customers.

If you had to choose one brand ambassador for Nykaa, who would she/he be?

Nykaa has a personality of an ideal woman. Someone who is good at what she does, wants to achieve her place in life, is a great mother and is also a loving muse and companion to her loved ones. Nykaa’s communication is based on this idealisation of a woman.

What crosses your mind when you think about

brand IIT? What would your advice be for IIT MBAs who want to enter this channel?Brand IIT means brain power to me. Some of the best brains on this planet are attracted to IIT. IIT MBAs should consider this industry as they can change the ethos. Nykaa would love to welcome them on the team as brand ambassadors.

23

How do we decide to buy a certain item? What activity influences us in making a buying decision? Answer to these questions lies in the subconscious and non-conscious

drivers of the brain activity which forces us to buy certain things. Among all plethoras of options running in the mind, there is one neuronal activity which runs superior to all and hence pressurizes our mind to buy the

item related to that activity. Brain maps such signals and body acts accordingly. So, it’s all neurons and sensory activities receiving spikes of feedback from outside world and reverting back with the most suited image created in the mind. All this subconscious, non-conscious, cognitive,affective response to market stimuli lies under the domain of buzzword Neuromarketing which refers to understanding of the brain subconscious activity with respect

to outside market stimuli. Many large scale companies such as HUL, P&G, Pepsi, Frito-Lay are constantly trying to read the consumers mind via neuro marketing techniques during advertising or launch of a product.

Roots of Neuromarketing

Neuromarketing has its origin in the late 1990s in the labs of Harvard University where group of psychologists were trying to understand the major thinking part of brain activity including emotions, pains in the subconscious level of brain activity that goes below the level of controlled awareness. In the process, they define the basic unit of brain activity as “meme”. Meme refers to unit of historical information store in the brain. Large

number of meme units of similar kinds refers to remembrance of a particular thing for a long time. The word “Neuromarketing” was coined later by Ale Smidts in 2002.

Neuromarketing and Its Trends

Winner of Article Writing Competition

DIVYANSHU KUMAR SINGH is pursuing MBA from IIM-Lucknow and he loves reading inspirational books and playing table tennis.

Confusion in Buying

24

Neuromarketing- Altering the marketing minds

Brand and product management through consumer behaviour is more of an influencing art rather than a marketing tactics. Neuromarketing finds its importance. Nowadays packaging, messaging, advertisements, marketing themes such as ambush, subliminal, guerrilla are all influenced by the brain waves action of Neuromarketing. Neuromarketing is primarily used nowadays to better understand consumers’ wants and needs

and point consumers in the right direction towards right fit by tapping the ‘pleasure center’ of the consumers and then using marketing science tactics for any product launch.

Recent trends in Neuromarketing

Packaging and Marketing MessagesNeuroscience finds its importance in attracting customers through lucid and lucrative packaging sense and messages conveyed to customers for a particular product. Creating marketing messages to tune accordingly to the mind of customer perception towards product is achieved through Neuromarketing techniques of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) which describes the change in neuronal activity of brain after going through the details of product or the way product is launched in the consumer market.

Societal RelevanceNeuromarketing through various brain

Neuro function of brain during buying

Packaging to Influence Customer

25

mapping functions is helpful in severalkind of consultancy and provide appropriate solution.Neuromarketing provide an object oriented research methodology to track the

problem and then looking for solution on the basis of evidence collected. Such decisions in use of Neuromarketing techniques would be beneficial in public policy decisions related to health and society well being.

Tourism SectorMotivational world of travel agency and package tourists rapidly uses psychology

and neuromarketing methods to attract customers during tourism period, holiday, vacations and during festive seasons. The package tourism and travel agency track the tourist mind in each season and comes up

with various lucrative schemes for homes or stay deals during vacation, food, meals and full day tourist package by offering

several incentives to earn revenue.

Brand equity and managementNeuromarketing techniques have been deployed in pilot testing where group of consumers from local regions are assembled and they are required to specify the characteristics of range of products without letting them knowing the product

name. Similar to Pepsi-Coke blind taste test, neuromarketing methods were used to gain insights on the taste of soft drinks

Neuro Activity Stimulus while going for drive

26

in differentregions and thereby improving upon toenhance the brand value.

Green EcosystemThere are been lots of talks in preservingecosystem and making the environmentpollution free. Emphasis has been given to adopt techniques to change the psychol-ogy of consumers towards use of materi-als which harm our ecosystem such as poly

bags, plastic materials, use of petrol diesel run vehicles, infra wave emission mobile technology and others non bio-degradable materials. Neuromarketing helps in cap-turing the psyche of consumers and tempt-ing them to use the eco friendly materials by developing options which suits the con-sumer needs and provides pollution free surroundings.

Medical Treatment and Prevention Neuromarketing finds its importance in spreading messages related to disease free

nation and several campaigns are promot-ed in rural and semi urban areas to increase vaccination and medical facility in the ar-eas through proper region related popula-tion understanding.

Conclusion

Neuromarketing certainly impels the hu-man mind towards marketing stimulus in terms of buying, taking decisions, brand perception and will surely be driving the future consumer behaviour and attitudes It is a new marketing game which moulds the consumer behaviour, perception and provide new insights about anything which could have spiked in his mind due to neuro activity. Such brain response towards cer-tain mood, personality would surely be helpful for future marketers in better mar-keting research and neuromarketing would be fruitful for companies to create an im-pact in the mind of consumers.

Answers: of CrosswordAcross1 Parle Agro, 4 Premium,6 Power,8 Adidas,10 Ness Wadia,11 Mix,13 Riverside,14 Schlumberger,15Evaluation17 NestleDown2 Prasoon Joshi,3Gap,5 Uganda,7 Renault Duster,9 Service,11 Mass,12 Target,,16 out

27

According to the American Marketing Association, green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus, green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising. Yet defining green marketing

is not a simple task where several meanings intersect and contradict each other; an example of this will be the existence of varying social, environmental and retail definitions attached to this term. Other similar terms used are Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing. Thus, “Green Marketing” refers to holistic marketing concept wherein the production,

marketing consumption and disposal of products and services happen in a manner that is less detrimental to the environment with growing awareness about the implications of global warming, non-biodegradable solid waste, and harmful impact of pollutants etc., both marketers and consumers are becoming increasingly sensitive to the need for switch in to green products and services. While the shift to “green” may appear to be expensive in the

short term, it will definitely prove to be indispensable and advantageous, cost-wise too, in the long run. It is really scary to read these pieces of information as reported in the Times of India recently: “Air pollution fifth leading cause of death in India “. The study also stated that about 620,000 premature deaths occurred due to air pollution-related diseases and the number of premature

deaths due to air pollution had increased six fold over the last 10 years. Close to half of cities are reeling under severe particulate pollution while newer pollutants like nitrogen oxides, ozone and air toxics are worsening the public health. Issues like Global warming and depletion of ozone umbrella are the

determinants for the healthy survival. Every person rich or poor

would be interested in quality life with full of health and vigor

and so would the corporate class. Financial gain and economic profit is the main aim of any corporate business. As the resources are limited and human wants are unlimited, it is utmost important that the marketers utilize the resources efficiently without waste and also fulfill the organization’s objective. So, green marketing is inevitable. The growing interest of the consumers all over the

&Its Relevance in India

28

Article Writing Competition: Second Prize

world also gives green marketers a scope to market their environment friendly products and hence, not only increase the revenues of their companies but also promote a sustainable business environment. Firms use green marketing in an attempt to address cost or profit related issues. In implementing green marketing, consumers, corporate and the government play a very i m p o r t a n t r o l e . B u t there are few constraints in implementing it like lack of c o n s u m e r a w a r e n e s s , f i n a n c i a l constraints, l i m i t e d s c i e n t i f i c knowledge, lack of stringent rules and competitive pressures.Green marketing can be of relevance in India due to following reasons: 1) It being a new concept emerging in India. Indian literate and urban consumer is getting more aware about the merits of Green products. With the increase in consumers who prefer environment-friendly products and those who have become health conscious, there is a vast opportunity for Green Marketing in India. By India’s ayurvedic heritage, Indian consumers do appreciate the importance of using natural and herbal beauty products. Indian consumer is exposed to healthy living lifestyles such as yoga

and natural food consumption. In those aspects the consumer is already aware and will be inclined to accept the green products. 2) The cost conscious consumers of India give green marketers an opportunity to sell environmental friendly products over the normal ones. Frugality is an important element shaping today’s green consumer. The increasing

number of people growing their own food, and reusing things they would have otherwise discarded are the

illustrations of the point. People are increasingly buying only what they need and making purchases that are designed to last. Essentially people are looking for good value for their money. People want more for less. The implication is that people want green products and services that have a smaller footprint, but they do not want to pay more. If the green products boast of high utility with lesser cost than their counterpart substitutes then it will get an edge in the market. Some of the examples existing in the

market today are Wipro’s Green Machines which has a new range of desktops and laptops also called Wipro Greenware, Philips’s “Marathon” CFL light bulb, Lead free paints from Kansai Nerolac, the SURF EXCEL water-saving detergent (with the message…….”do bucket paani roz bachaana”) and LG Consumer durables. 3) Government Pressure: The Government of India has framed and prepared various regulations and legislations to protect the society at large, and reduce the production of harmful goods and by products. For eg: Ban of plastics in Mumbai and prohibition

of smoking in India. 4) Competitive Pressure: Many companies take up green marketing to maintain their competitive edge. The

green marketing initiatives by niche companies such as

Body Shop and Green & Black have prompted many mainline competitors to follow suit.Thus Green Marketing ensures sustained long term growth, profitability, saves money in the long run, helps marketing of products keeping the environment-concern in mind, and helps in breaking through newer markets and enjoying competitive advantages.

SAURAV MOHANTYPursuing MBA from

NITIE in Industrial Saftey and Environmental

Managemengt.Likes Reading, Swimming

and Playing Cricket

29

30

A quality spa experience at affordable prices is what Sunil Rao, Anurag Ke-dia and Saurabh Garg aim to provide through The Four Fountains Spa. While Kedia and Garg shared common ground at IIT-Bombay and IIM-Ahmedabad, Garg and Rao were colleagues at Hindustan Unilever. The three quit their jobs and got together to start the Spa in 2007.Mad club brings anexclusive interview with Sunil Rao, co-founder of The Four Fountains Spa, India’s first chain of ‘affordable health spas .

31

If we rewind India 8-10 years, Spa market was largely unheard of and was a luxury few opted for. Today the industry stands at $ 400million. What in your views are the reasons of this paradigm shift?

The growth of the spa industry has been driven as much by macroeconomic trends that are sweeping through India as well as category-creation efforts made by first movers s u c h a s T h e F o u r F o u n t a i n s S p a .

The 3 main reasons for the growth of the spa industry in India are1.Rising stress levels: People are more stressed today than they were 8-10 years ago2.More awareness of health benefits of spa therapiesEarlierspas were regarded as places for pampering. Today there is greater health consciousness and awareness of the health benefits of spa therapies.3.More availability of spasSheer increase in the number of spas has also driven demand upwards. With more number of spas opening up it has become easier for people to visit a spa in their neighbourhood.

However, a lot more needs to be done in this

space. The spa industry in India can be ten times of what it is today.

Being one of the few indigenous players in the industry, how in your view global players change the industry behaviour and how you keep up to the challenges and customer expectations. What strength or advantage you think you enjoy?

Global players primarily operate spas in resorts and hotels. When working professionals and businessmen travel for work or leisure, they

often have their first spa experience at these resorts or hotels. However, this often leads customers to believe that spas are very expensive and hence a luxury that only the rich can afford. They also end up believing that there is nothing more to spas than the pampering they receive during the one hour of therapy. Our advantage vis-à-vis global spa players are as follows:1.We are closer to our consumers: Since our spas are located in urban neighbourhoods we are closer to our consumers’ homes and available when they need. Our aim is to be present at 300 locations across the top 20 cities of India so that our spas are just a 15 minute drive away from our target consumers’ homes.

32

2.Our prices are far more affordable: Our spa therapies are priced 40-60% lower than what many global spas price themselves at. This means we have wider appeal and more repeat visits from our consumers.3.We focus on the health benefits of spa therapies: Unlike many global spa brands who promote their spas as luxurious places for pampering, we devote a lot of time and energy to educate our consumers about the scientifically proven health benefits of spa therapies.

What is you major customer segment and what makes you to connect with them considering that your core brand attributes are Youth, tranquillity, abundance and joy?

Our major customer segments are: working professionals, businessmen and housewives.

The 3 main reasons why they choose TheFour Fountains Spa is 1.Low prices: Our spa therapies are priced at as low as Rs. 549 in Pune. We pioneered the concept of happy hours in the spa industry. Our membership plans offer 20-50% discounts on our already low prices. All this makes going to a spa regularly very affordable.2.Convenient locations: Our spas are currently at 17 locations in 8 cities and are growing rapidly. This means that ,any of our guests already have The Four Fountains Spa in their neighbourhood which makes it convenient for them to visit us.3.Scientific processes: Every spa has a doctor who conducts a stress test and health check before recommending the ideal spa therapy. The doctor also recommends lifestyle and diet changes that you may need to make to reduce stress. Our spa menu has been scientifically researched and designed as per health benefits. We offer only same-gender therapists who have received over 500 hours of training at our in-house training academy.

We observe that majority of spas are concentrated in Kerala and Karnataka. Four fountains has just entered Gurgaon. Why do you think the

rest of India is still unexplored and what are the opportunities in this regard?

Kerala has been India’s most popular spa destination due to its deep links with traditional Ayurvedic practice, of which massage therapy is an important part.

However, that is rapidly changing. States other than Kerala are now seeing a rapid boom in spas. With spa chains like The Four Fountains Spa drawing up ambitious growth plans, authentic spa services are now available across the country. These services are not just restricted to Ayurvedic spa therapies but are popular spa therapies from around the world.

Our own spa chain has expanded from 2 spas in Pune in 2007 to 17 spas in 8 cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Goa and Aurangabad in 2013.

The scope for expansion even from this point on is very large since the spa market is still in its infancy and will continue to grow 30-40% p.a. for the next decade or so.

In Indian context we find Spa industry has come closer to medical tourism and traditional medications like Ayurveda. In your experience what might be the reason behind this and how does it impact spa industry.

Medical tourism is a much larger concept and spas that are in the curative space are part of this industry.

The medical tourism part of the spa industry has been led by Ayurvedic spas since their therapies are based on the traditional Indian system of medicine as described in ancient Ayurvedic texts. This impacts the spa industry positively as it further increases awareness about the scientifically proven health benefits of spa therapies.

33

Going ahead, do you see spas offering services with spiritual quotients? Or would it be that spas would become integral part of spiritual processes?

Destination spas where guests stay for at least a week to a fortnight usually take a holistic approach towards wellness. In this approach spirituality plays an important role too. Spirituality should not be confused here with religious discourse. Instead it is a philosophical approach to living one’s life simply with reduced clutter in order to remain stress-free. Combined with the right diet, adequate exercise and scientific spa therapies, spirituality completes what is required for good health – physical, mental and emotional.

However, since for most people it is not always possible to go to a destination spa, we at The Four Fountains Spa have been offering the services of a spa doctor who advises guests regarding lifestyle changes, diet and exercises that can complement their spa experience.

From marketing point of view, we see it is imperative to look into very fine details of a spa: special and attractive lightning, a particular style of layout, exotic setting, shining equipment etc. What else is important andwhat are salient features in spa marketing (What is the focus on, what demographic segment is targeted and how? ) The demographic segments targeted by most spas are working professionals, self-employed and housewives in the age group of 25-45 years. They usually have an annual household income in excess of Rs. 10 Lakhs per annum with high disposable income.

Marketing of a spa can be split into 2 parts: bringing in new footfalls and retaining them.

To bring in new footfalls, educating potential consumers through press articles, own literature and sampling is important. This is required

since most people are not aware about the exact benefits offered by spas and the role of spas in their lives. This needs to be followed by creating brand awareness in the immediate neighbourhood since spas are a catchment-driven business. This can be done through localised advertisements and cross promotions. The next step is to incentivise trial.

In order to retain guests several aspects of ambience and service become crucial. Things like lighting, cleanliness, uniforms, aromas etc. help to set the mood and entice a person to come back. In addition, customer service by the front office teams plays an important role in making guests feel like they should come back. However, the most crucial element in retaining guests is the quality of spa therapy offered by the therapist. This is where brands that offer high quality training and follow documented standard operating procedures have an edge over other brands. Equally important in ensuring repeat visits is convincing guests about the effectiveness of regular spa therapies in controlling stress levels. Presently, cost of setting up a spa varies between 60 lakhs to 2 crores. How effective can be management concepts like focus on core functionality, lean process etc would be effective to decrease this figure?

A bulk of the set up cost relates to spa construction. One of the ways in which The Four Fountains Spa keeps its projects cost under control is to use the Pareto principle. We have chosen to provide 20% of therapies that 80% of spa-goers would look for in a spa. We have sacrificed those therapies that the balance 20% of spa-goers want because they require buying fancy and expensive equipments which take up the project cost significantly and increase prices for all customers.

We also use project management concepts during the set up of a spa to identify activities on the critical path in order to reduce cost overruns

34

due to delays. There can be many other ways to reduce the project cost such as •Use of innovative materials such as sound proof, light-weight partitions•Using materials that can help assemble massage beds in a shorter period of time

Other ideas that may be high on capex but which pay back for themselves are•Energy saving devices such as LEDs •Use of solar energy to power equipment such as geysers prices for all customers.

What crosses your mind when you hear of brand IIT? What would you suggest to further strengthen the brand?

The brand IIT to me represents excellence. It is where the best and brightest minds come together to contribute their ideas and learn from

each other. I have seen this from close quarters through 2 of my partners – Anurag Kedia and Saurabh Garg – who are Chemical Engineers from IIT Bombay.

To further strengthen the IIT brand, in my view, the focus can shift from providing undergraduates who power the nation’s economy to becoming well-funded universities that are engaged in cutting edge research to solve many of the country’s urgent problems and harness its vast potential through innovative use of technology.

35

T i n a , a homemaker practices terrace gardening using kitchen compost to cut down the organic veggie bills. Rina drives Toyota Prius to enhance her brand image as a sustainability director of big 4 audit firm. Nina, a solar water heater manufacturer uses cost savings as a competitive advantage. Environmentalist Mina wears and eats organic products. All these four are examples of lean or defensive or shaded or extreme green marketing strategy in their own way.

According to the research report of Indian Organic Food Market Analysis, organic food is consistently establishing its place in the domestic sector. True to this report, the list of Indian players in this domain is expanding every day. The four components of Ginsberg and Bloom’s Green marketing strategy is -Lean green, defensive green, shaded green and extreme green. The successful names in Indian organic food market must have used either one of these strategy.

Lean green are not focused on marketing their greenness. They do not see green market segment as massive money maker. Regardless of all these, they try to be good corporate citizens. Online grocery retailers like zopnow.com or bigbasket.com are perfect examples of lean green strategy. They give a miniscule space for certified organic products among others. Under

the tab of organic staples or kitchen, they list merchandise of organic companies like Pro-nature. These online retailers’ inclusion of organic products may look like defensive green strategy,but they are not. Lean green differ in terms of marketing efforts and calculation of profit giving territories. Defensive greens recognize the profit value of the segment and understand that they cannot afford to alienate that section. They use the green market to elevate their brand image!

This strategy is generally used as a response to competitors or as a precautionary measure. Fabindia is an example of defensive green strategy. It was originally established as a retailer of textile and home furnishing in the year 2006. All of a sudden, organic foods were also added in 2007.The company is a floor for products that are made from traditional techniques and skills.Organic food products started getting attention in early 2000’s. As we all know, any retailer carrying organic food would have sourced it from farmers using natural techniques.Being a place for traditional technique products,

36

Article Writing Competition: Third Prize

Fabindia wanted to foray into this new domain.It is clear that introduction of organic food was a precautionary measure as well as a response to the competitors.Based on their other venture, they realized that organic food will be profitable and cannot afford to alienate. The webpage says “free shipping for all orders including organic foods.” Fact of highlighting the “organic food” is a way of elevating the brand image. Defensive green worked for Fabindia. While Sresta Bio Products succeeded using shaded green strategy. This strategy is generally used by companies who “see green as an opportunity to develop innovative needs-satisfying products and technologies t h a t result in a competitive advantage.” H e n c e , “ t h e y invest in long term environmental processes that require huge financial and non-financial commitment”. Goods are sold through mainstream channels In 2003, Mr. Seelam envisioned “organic food” as an opportunity to develop innovative needs-satisfying products and technologies that result in a competitive advantage. He invested in long term environmental process-Sresta, which required huge financial and non-financial commitment. Roped in 1000 acres of organic farms; have their own processing and packing facilities;hold organic certification of USA and India. Retail and partner stores are sales alley. In addition to domestic sector, Sresta is in the process of exporting the products to Europe. So, Sresta is a complete business model in every dimension. They accomplished their goal of capturing organic food market by using Shaded green strategy. As explained, shaded green is generally used by the ones who like to make “money” using the “green” lingo. On the contrary, there is also a segment of green companies with holistic philosophies and values. Extreme greens are the one with “environmental

issues fully integrated into the business. Greenness is the major driving force behind the company since day one” Products are sold through boutique stores

or specialty

channels. In Bangalore based Navadarshanam health foods, “everything grown at Navadarshanam is purely organic.” The products are sold at Namdhari’s fresh boutique stores as well as at venues of special sales events held every month.Navadarshanam farms are located amidst of eco-friendly homes. The location “does not have a connection from the grid. They depend solely on the solar energy” Let it be Navadarshanam’s eco-friendly homes or solar energy or organic food or boutique stores as sales channel, it is a perfect example of extreme green strategy. The four companies listed here are just a slice of the big pie of the successful organic companies using green marketing strategies. On an ending note, organic product is a gold mine waiting to be explored. So, use the right “green marketing strategy” to make hay while the sun shines. Go green!

Gayatri Shanmugam professionally loves to green the world for which she thinks marketing can be used as a tool. Since last year, she is thankful to the curriculum of The Ohio State University to accomplish her passion.

37

MASCOT MARKETING

A nanosecond is all it takes for the image of the cute,omnipresentAmul girl who is there to express her pleasure when India wins a match or shed tears when a bigwig passes away, to make people think of the Amul brand.Similar is the case with the turban-clad, ever-graceful Maharaja who has has talked with travellers all over the globe since it came into being first in 1946.

Memorable mascots l ike these are visual,

tactile and create lasting impression with target audiences. This has been the case with Ronald McDonald,

Energizer Bunny of Duracell,

Gattu , Sunny and jeez,

the Pillsbury dough boy!In a consumer

culture where we all have shorter and shorter attention spans, media messages have become lightning quick. Having a physical, huggable, meet-and-greet mascot to touch, kiss, high five and take pictures with, will significantly sky rocketpromotional coverage through an increased exposure and will strengthen your brand association.Historically, the use of ‘mascot’ as a concept emerged when an opera series named La Mascotte (1880); written by French philosopher Edmond Audron was screened in England and America. The tale was about a farm girl who brought luck to anyone who employed her. The English translation was titled ‘The Mascot’ and established the concept of a mascot as a person, animal or thing bringing luck.The use of mascots as a marketing tool in India dates back to 1946 with the Maharaja of Air India. His first entry was on an Air India memo pad expressing Air India’s promotional messages to travelers in India. The global appeal has taken him to acquire

38

d i f f e r e n t p e r s o n a l i t i e s in different countries. A pavement artist, a monk, a lover boy in Paris, a sumo wrestler in Tokyo, our Maharajah has played different roles successfully to become an i n t e r n a t i o n a l brand ambassador

for Air India.to his creators Booby Kooka (Erstwhile Director, Air India) and UmeshRao, J. Walter Thompsonthe form symbolizes an epitome of luxurious living, graciousness, hospitality.Gattu of Asian Paints was created by none other than R.K. Laxman in 1954. The cheeky urchin with a paintbrush in his hand and smile on his lips has been the face of Asian Paints till 2002 when the company felt that it lost its relevance: “When they could recall Gattu, most often it was aided recall.”The “Utterly, Butterly – Delicious ”Amul Girl wearing a white frock with red polka dots was created by Eustace Fernandes in 1967 with his black marker pen. Since then, she has been with us through thick and thin. As Anand Halve of Chlorophyll pointed out, “One reason why Amul’s butter girl has been successful as a mascot is the sheer flexibility that it allows. Whether it is a happy moment or a sad one, it is so easy to relate with her as face of Amul because it is not restricted to one particular image.Onida’s devil was introduced as ‘neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride’ , when owning a television was a matter of pride for Indians Post liberisation, with the introduction of international brands like LG and Samsung, this mascot was discontinued in 1998. However it was reintroduced in 2004 in its more friendly,

impish, interactiveavatar .The new brand message for Onida – When the devil beckons, ‘nothing but the truth’ prevails.Chintamani , the worried middle class, middle aged man by ICICI Prudential lasted for a few years but nevertheless enjoyed huge brand recall and connected wonderfully with the anxieties of the middle class. Initially formulated for only radio spots, the popularity of Chintamani took him to face confront the Indian audience through television commercials too.No talk of mascots can be completed without the mention of white, ghost like but curiously funny creatures of Vodafone-ZooZoo. Created by Ogilvy and Mather during the second season

of IPL in 2009 to promote the value added services(VAS), zoo zoo s have gone beyond advertising. Is it hard to believe thatthese semi alien semi-human characters living in an earth-like place are not animated but real human beings? The success of ZooZoo is the success of minimalism and simplicity. Although the production process of ZooZoo ads are not simple

or in expensive, what attracts us is the simplicity of the concept and the execution. ZooZoo also highlights the power of storytelling. Each ads tells a very simple story. Afterall brands are made through story telling.In this age of expensive brand ambassadors, mascots provide a creative, sustainable, l o w -cost model for communicating a brand’s values and personifying the company’s desired image. One more unique feature about mascots is that they accompany a brand throughout its life cycle.

39

A marketeer in true sense.He eats,drinks,talks,walks mar-keting..may be even more. A master of striking relations and making that first right impression which can set work in mo-tion. ~ Abhinav Vohra.

If you want to learn how to make people work,learn it from this lady. Has been an important face of MAD club and has a record of accomplishing tough tasks without any trou-ble ~ Garima Nagar.

Swift in work and polite by nature.A synonym of hard work and dedication.He has carried MAD Club on his shoul-ders and has taken responsibilities of all sorts without hesi-tation ~ Abhinav Minnala Mohan.

THE Stud of VGSoM. Simple and composed is what Rohit is.No Nonsense and straight to work is what his style is. ~ Rohit Sharma.

MADizens- 2011-13

40

An expert in corporate communications and strategy,who has got several laurels for MAD and has added most prolific sponsors to VGSoM. A person who has taken MAD club to new heights along with other coordinators. ~ Akhil Sood.

This guy has 10 hands it seems.Manages MAD club along with some other most happening clubs equally well in VGSoM.As a person he is sharply Resolved and Rationale .Ranjeet can claim starting a number of most talked about activities that have become VGSoM Culture now. Ranjeet Kumar Singh.

Creative genius of MAD club.Believes in working hard,partying harder and then going for rest hardest.Has managed MAD club almost single handed at times. Shiva Kumar.

was last found making funny faces,He is Mr.Cool of MAD.Can solve any serious concerns,deadlocks with his fun always attitude. ~ Konark Joshi.

MADizens- 2011-13

41

For any suggestions ,reach us at www.facebook.com/mad.vgsom

www.madclubvgsom.commad.vgsom.2014@gmail.com