Recently Forrester research came up with a report to look at marketing firms that used methods other than regression analysis to determine marketing budgets and investments. Most firms were specialized marketing consulting and analytics firms and almost all of them had developed techniques to use predictive analytics for marketing budget allocation.

So let me give you an example of how this works. In India, this year a lot of hype was created by the Formula 1 race held at the Buddh International circuit in Greater Noida. As last year this event was never held, regression analysis would not have factored this event as a possible marketing opportunity and hence the budget could not have been allocated for this. So most marketing managers using regression techniques would have lost a good opportunity to showcase their brands.

Also in the era of social media and the internet, things are more dynamic. Let’s look at the 50 odd brands that tied up with the Eros/Red Chili’s production Ra One. Now most marketing managers would have taken into account the release of Rajni starrer Robot and the possible impact that movie had on their brands. If they had used a forward looking model like Predictive analytics instead, they might have been able to factor uncertainties and would have gotten a better deal out of the association. Now we have 50 brands associated with a dud. Not sure how many of those brand managers are getting promoted this year.

Finally the time for predicting the future by looking at the past has come and gone, now it is time to look at the future while allocating marketing investments.

Dr Vikram Venkateswaran is a marketing professional with more than 10 years of experience in Healthcare, Life Sciences and Information technology industries. He blogs at www.doctersoccer.blogspot.com. He can also be followed on Twitter @drvikram. The views expressed here are his personal views and not of his organization.

You need to make it cooler !!

Your service is the worst I have seen !!

Negative but authentic consumer reviews are way more effective than positive made up reviews. The sooner that companies realize this, the better it is for them for they should not fear the consumer to review their products or services but act on their feedback.

With social media playing a critical role in online product/service reviews, it is easy for a customer to distinguish and authenticate genuine reviews from fake ones. A negative product review on a website lends more credibility on the feedback mechanism than just having positive ones.

In my line of business i.e. telecom value added services (VAS),  there ought to be customer grievances and feedback on social media that inculcates learning from mistakes and rectification rather than having all good reviews from their own employees. A negative review that gets corrected gets more buzz than a positive one leading to more brand awareness.

The biggest mistake a brand can make is thinking they could control social media just like they could control an ad campaign; fact of the matter is that you just simply cannot take any of your ad campaigns and migrate it to a social media platform. Social media can’t be a simple problem solver. Like you can’t segregate the rotten tomatoes from the good ones at a Tomatino fest, brands cannot erase the feedback they receive on social media however online criticism and fear should definitely not hold them back.

• Sentiments
• Desires
• Message Placement
• Aspirations
• Guilt
• Belonging

How about a cocktail of all the above mentioned elements?

Marketing efforts have to leave a positive impression on the consumer’s mind on the very first contact. It’s no surprise that the fate of most products or services are written on the very day, they are launched.

I wish to share one of the striking examples with our readers. Each day I use the Metro to commute to office. On my way, I pass by an alley with numerous automobile showrooms with cars from all passenger segments including basic to super luxury. As I pass by one showroom after another, the usual messages shout out at me to get my attention. These would include ’15 Kmpl’, ‘Easy instalments available’, ‘Drive in comfort’, ‘Pocket Friendly’ and so on. However, at the end of the alley, I see something different (See picture below).

With powerful messaging like the one above, a couple of striking features can be observed:

(1) Sentiments: Imagine yourself in the shoes of the person who is travelling the Metro train. He is cramped among a bunch of co-passengers and in a way jostling for space. What’s the only thing in the traveller’s mind? ‘I wish I could ride back home in comfort’

(2) Belonging: The moment a brand places itself alongside such a strong statement, it instantly associates itself with a particular value. The first thing that would rub into the consumer’s mind is that – ‘This product is going to take me into the elite few who can own it. I belong to the group of people who are envied upon by the rest of the world. I have arrived.’

(3) Placement: This message is being read by almost a million commuters who take the metro to work daily. Just by its sheer location – the impact of the advertisement gives an instant connection that turns it into a lead generating engine.

The new age marketer needs to put some thought into; not only how the product or service will be positioned but also where will it be placed and what emotion should it invoke. So ask yourself, ‘How am I going to plant a powerful message?’

What is common between the ICC Cricket World Cup and Pepsi?

Both answers are the same : Nothing.

On the contrary, eating Doritos and drinking Cola paints a picture more of an unhealthy eater than a lean sportsperson. So why is it that the consumer is bombarded with such irrelevant commercials during such events. Its is because these companies want to capture your balls. Eyeballs to be precise.

With such a large eyeball population available, marketers try to twist and turn their messaging to suit the event and what it stands for. They want you to eat and drink unhealthy while you watch physically fit athletes battle it out. This is feeding on the weakness of the consumer to give into their cravings.

On the other hand, there are events where the sponsors are inline with the core messaging of the event. Oktoberfest is a good example where you would have sponsors which add to the Bavarian experience by providing complementing products like beer to celebrate the worlds largest beer festival.

Another example is NASCAR, where Gatorade is among the few sponsors who have got their alignment right. After all that sweaty racing where temperature hit the roof inside the car, a refreshing Gatorade is exactly what the driver needs and so does the consumer.

The right product placement brings in a certain credibility to the brand and builds a strong relationship between the fan and the brand. It is important to understand that today the consumer has the power to turn off his brain whenever he sees irrelevant branding messages. It is recommended that marketers try capturing their fans hearts rather than their eyeballs.

Unfortunately the Indian freedom fighters did not have YouTube, Facebook or Twitter to help them fight their oppressive rulers. In Egypt, the spark that set the nation on fire seems to have come from a YouTube video by a girl called Asma Mahfouz whose 5 minute video helped set into motion a revolution that led to Egypt’s freedom from three decades of Mubharak’s oppressive rule. This video was in support of the We Are All Khaled Saeed group on Facebook which was formed by a Googler who wanted to bring to light the murder of an Egyptian youth Khaled Saeed at the hands of the Egyptian police. In a matter of days, tens of thousands of like minded protestors filled the central square to voice their discontent against a corrupt and oppressive government while the rest of the world followed each moment of this revolution through real-time updates on Twitter. Maybe, this social media campaign was not as significant as the cause itself, however I am sure that given the cause, this may be the most powerful tool to mobilize supporters.

With the rising popularity of the social media platform and its availability on various internet enabled devices, growing and mobilizing your tribe is so much easier. All you need is a cause worth tweeting for !!

The Beijing Olympics in 2008 showcased that China which was an emerging economic super power, could also mesmerize the world by hosting the best Olympics ever- measured by any yardstick. This was one of the major steps in rebranding itself as a major player in the world. Drawing parallels with any other marketing campaign which includes multiple events, it carefully planned its rebranding exercise. Events like Shangai World Expo in early 2010 and the Asian games in November have reinforced the overall exercise. There are other smaller events like Air show 2010 where it launched its first ever commercial aircraft C919 as a rival to the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing. China is a great example to learn how a country/product/service can market or rebrand itself with proper planning and long-term view.

At the same time we can see how India lost the opportunity in showcasing itself to the world. The Common Wealth Games 2010 was the only major international event India hosted after Asian games way back in 1982. India’s growth was one of the best in the world for the past decade and a lot has changed since the Asian games in ’82, but why did it fail to rebrand itself as a country of not just ‘Techno coolies’ but a nation which can organize international events compared to any other developed country. Unfortunately everything went wrong from the stadiums getting delayed to the various corruption scandals that hijacked India’s bid to showcase itself on the world stage. In the end, the bad press left a lasting impression of India’s corruption problem rather than the successful hosting of the games

There are many lessons to be learnt from this set back.Firstly, marketing a country is not an overnight exercise; it takes careful long-term planning. China did not achieve this overnight, it planned and executed its branding strategy for the past two decades with utmost commitment. Secondly, public relations plays a very important part in putting across any message on a global scale.

I feel that countries should be run like large corporations when it comes to branding where there is a proper marketing division which manages the countries brand image on a global level. This would help showcase the good while reducing the damage of the bad.

Welcome to the world of pop-up stores—temporary shops that usually sell goods for a limited period of time. Designed to generate buzz and ensnare shoppers with a get-in-while-you-can appeal, pop-ups allow brands to move quickly, opening up shops to test a new product or market, and closing them without much commotion. The trend involves ‘popping-up’ one day, and disappearing the next. These small and temporary stores have a tendency to pop up unannounced, draw in big crowds, and then disappear or morph into something else the next day. This creates a unique environment of relevance and interactivity that creates a buzz by generating consumer exposure.

Recently Singapore Airlines, in few selected malls across Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai, popped open 400 square feet facilities complete with mock-up seats, flight attendants welcoming you, in-flight amenities and cutlery to announce the launch of its enhanced economy and business class seats in a new way.

It can be called as an evolution of the modern retail environment providing a win-win situation. A comparatively low-overhead option for the brands, pop-up store allows them to step outside their traditional walls and meet a broader audience. It results in a flow of extra rental income and more traffic (footfalls) for the mall owners and it gives an opportunity to shoppers to touch and feel a product, sometimes even before it is available in the market.

Not surprisingly, brands such as Nokia, Singapore Airlines, Sony, Panasonic, Samsung , Canon, Acer and Dell are hopping onto pop-up store bandwagon warming the customers to here-today, gone-tomorrow brand tactic. Japanese major Canon is setting up 100 pop-up stores during the ongoing festive season for promotion of the latest range. NIKE is entering this innovative marketing trend with the Nike Runner’s Lounge, a temporary location where athletes can, among other things, rendezvous for a run, get free massages, drinks and snacks and perhaps most significantly, test-drive Nike’s line of running shoes. Nokia’s focus on pop-up stores in India started since the time the company rolled out its services under the Ovi brand last year. The company had then set up smaller stores to familiarize consumers about its array of services and also download content into compatible handsets. Enthused by the success, Nokia runs numerous pop-up stores across the country in electronics and mobile phone retail chains like The Mobile Store, Reliance Digital, Croma and Spice.

So, just ‘pop-out’ to the nearest mall and experience this emerging, innovative and effective marketing tool.

The Television …. Nope

The Personal Computer …. Nope

The Mobile Phone …. Definite Yes

Over a billion mobile devices are sold every year. Mobile phones outnumber television sets by over 3 to 1, and PC based internet users by over 4 to 1, and the total laptop and desktop PC population by nearly 5 to 1.

As the indispensable mobile has become the most interactive way to communicate, marketers today are capitalising on this ‘hard to ignore’ media. A simple means to use mobile for marketing would be an SMS by which one recipient of an advertisement on  a mobile, will forward that to a friend, leading to a viral communication which lets the customer be a part of advertising.

Apple’s advertising platform iAd is fast being accepted as the combination of interaction and emotion. The demo for iAd – Toy Story 3, showed the ability to not only see information about the movie, but to watch trailers, play games and more — all within the same application. Users were even able to buy products within ads.

Google, with one of its mobile advertising product, allowed marketers to embed ‘maps’ within the ads to target users based on their immediate location. It provided mobile users with more calls to action. And marketers with more options to connect with local advertisers. The ‘maps’ format uses IP to show ads based on geographic location but if users opt-in to use services such as Google’s ‘My Location’, the users exact location can be used.

Google QR, is an exciting way to market products and services through smartphones. The way to use it is simple. A service or product having a QR code needs to be scanned on your smartphone and you will be taken to that business’ web page, or a review page to see what other users think about that service/product. Marketers can incorporate QR codes to complement traditional marketing efforts. The codes could link consumers to product demos, videos, the brand’s Facebook or Twitter page.It allows potential customers to instantly learn more, by visiting a mobile version of the business’ web page on any supported phone. QR codes give shoppers an immediate connection to additional information that can potentially close a sale.

An interesting application of QR would be ‘Mobile ticketing solutions’, which would enable the easy validation of 2D mobile tickets from mobile phone screens – granting consumers immediate access to events without having to search for paper tickets.

Another exciting example of this format mobile ads is that used by HBO. HBO was running ads on a mobile site for a new season of its show ‘Eastbound & Down’. There were QR codes featured in print ads at bus stops that lead users to this page where they could view teasers and trailers for the show.Once users were at the mobile site, they could watch exclusive clips for the new season premiere. The target audience were men aged 18-45 along with pre-existing fans of the show.

Most of TGI Friday’s restaurants are located next to a cinema. So what do you think they can do about it? Maybe broadcast this, ‘A cinema night is not just going out to watch a film, but also indulging in cocktails and a meal for the full premiere experience.’  Through location based apps, TGIF would ‘sign-post’ these messages to users in real time when they are in proximity to a restaurant and cinema and are browsing on the go.

Mobile ads help in connecting with your customers in the right way, at right time and at the right location. Marketers have to use this powerful tool which is now being used only by a few pioneers in innovative trends to reach out to their targets.

PS : You could try creating your own QR Codes @ qrcode.kaywa.com

Even though getting celebrities to endorse brands is nothing new, the impact it has today due to various media outlets has changed the way we look at celebrity endorsements. Accenture, is one of the most respected companies in the consulting space and had roped in Tiger Woods to be their brand ambassador. Their tagline emphasized on ‘High Performance… Delivered’. Unfortunately, other than the golf course, Tiger Woods was delivering high performance elsewhere. And today, Accenture has elephants conveying the same message. We have had numerous instances where the personal lives of celebrities has jeopardized the brands that they endorse.

On the other hand, companies have rode the wave of goodwill brought in by celebrities as well. Titan has changed its entire image after the launch of luxury watches with Aamir Khan as a brand ambassador. Aamir Khan, who is supposed to be a perfectionist in whatever he does has brought this attribute to the Titan Brand and what better attribute to be attached to the range of watches than perfectionism.

Companies are using celebrity rivalry to spice up their own product rivalry as well. For example, Coca Cola has Aamir Khan as a brand ambassador while Shahrukh Khan is the brand ambassador for Pepsi. Similarly, we have these stars endorsing competitive products in other product categories like DTH Cable Television (Aamir endorses Tata Sky while Shahrukh endorses Dish TV) and mobile phones ( Aamir has gone with Samsung while Shahrukh is a Nokia loyalist).

As per a reserach paper by Neha Taleja of Mudra Institute of Communication, celebrity endorsements depends on the following factors

1. Celebrity Credibility
2. Celebrity Profession
3. Celebrity Physical Attractiveness
4. Celebrity Values
5. Celebrity Availability
6. Celebrity Popularity
7. Celebrity – Product Match
8. Celebrity – Target Audience Match
9. Celebrity – Cost of Acquisition
10. Celebrity – Regional Attractiveness
11. Celebrity Controversy Risk
12. Celebrity as a Brand User
13. Celebrity – Advertising Fit

The brand loyalty between the brand and these celebrities may be valid till the contract period however the end user’s loyalty to both the celebrity and their endorsed brand is something new age marketers have to capitalize on until the celebrity’s star power remains intact.

Gone are the days when the only contact you had with a brand was the salesperson who would sell you the merchandise. In the new age, the biggest salesperson is the man or woman sitting at the top of the organization. Today, CEO’s receive the same if not more, media coverage than models or celebrities. The CEO’s are no longer confined to the boardroom chalking out strategy but are selling their brand and building their tribes.

Lets take an example of Apple, Steve Jobs has been the leader of the i-Generation (any one with iPod, iPhone, iPad or anything ‘i’). He has been instrumental in the launch of each and every revolutionary product from Apple. His turtle neck and jeans along with his coolness while demonstrating any of his product has been accepted by consumers as a genuine demonstration of technology evangelism. Imagine having a movie star telling you about the iPhone versus Steve Jobs keynotes.

Another great example would be from Microsoft, where Bill Gates recently had a video created for his (supposedly) last day at work at Microsoft. The video went viral and so did the message that even the GEEK GOD could be cool or at least try to be. Virgin’s Richard Branson is a great example of a leader who has activated his tribe through his daredevil stunts and exuberance.

Like the two sides to the coin, every positive has a negative and leaders may attract a lot of negative publicity as well. For example, the exit of former HP CEO Mark Hurd didn’t go well with investors or consumers. Facebook’s Mark Zukerberg is the best example of a leader who has seen both sides of the coin, with his contradicting appearances on the television serial The Simpsons and the movie The Social Network.

Lets look at some CEO’s and what quality they personify

Steve Jobs – Innovation
Bill Gates – Charity
Richard Branson – Daredevilry
Ratan Tata – Integrity

Finally, faceless companies have a face that the consumer can identify and relate to. These tribes are what most businesses need, and who better to lead this tribe than the man or woman at the top of the organization.