Redemption for the titans!

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Its campaign – Diwali hogi cup wali, rightfully mixes the two biggest celebrated events in the country – Diwali and cricket. The campaign includes television commercials (of varying durations), as well as strategic tie-ups with news channels, radio stations and coffee houses to reach viewers. In fact, after India crashed out early from the T20 tournament, the channel had to ensure that the value of the channel was not eroded. “The efforts went in consoling the viewer that a lot more cricket is coming up and hence we felt a serious need for aggressive marketing,” avers Dayani. When it comes to aggressive marketing, 2009 is being considered a watershed year for ESS; but as Dayani claims, ESS had not been dormant even last year.

“We made huge investments last year also. As far as investments during 2009 is concerned, the efforts are on to make the Champions League a unique property in itself,” claims Dayani. In September last year, ESS had paid $975 million for commercial rights of the T20 Champions League for 10 years – the most expensive deal in the history of the channel. But can it become as big as the IPL, especially considering that the club format has never been tried before in cricket atleast? There is a debate brewing there, but many experts opine that it will take a season or two to reach the IPL platform. “After watching tournaments like IPL and T20 World Cup, people can easily relate to the format. However, it may take some time to get familiar with the international club team format that is not known to the sport. But we are confident that it has the potential to become a unique cricket property for us,” forecasts an optimistic Dayani. While that was the sentiment about the modern shorter version of the game, surprisingly, ESS continues its bullish approach to the 50-over format as well. And this is despite the fact that the recently ended Champions Trophy (which was a 50-over format) wasn’t able to garner as high TRPs as the recently concluded T20 tournament did. Experts also believe that increasing competition from channels like SET Max (which owns rights for IPL) and Neo Sports have been a party spoiler for ESS. Then there is an added threat from BCCI, which plans to launch its captive sports channel. But Dayani chooses to differ as he notes, “Competition is always good for the industry, as it makes you proactive.” And the worries seem to fade further with ESS’ plan to launch a round-the clock sports news channel. So for now, with little differentiation in content, the only salvation for the sports channel gods is marketing, in other words, advertise shamelessly! Remember, it’s always the last over in a competitive market!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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Burning the tracks, in time!

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Then the growth story was jolted to a halt; the smooth run fast becoming a tale of the past. Reason? Although the brand won great recognition amongst youngsters, the price was found to be a significant dampener as research proved how the target group, which consisted of college students could not yet afford this brand. Added to this was its eccentric act to extend its reach from the early jobbers to executive segment. Result – a decline in annual sales by Rs.23 crore for the year ended 2003. The group needed cushion there, to ease the heartache and bounce back. A consumer research followed, which advocated how mobiles/deodorants and sunglasses were the most popular accessories in the purchase list of youngsters. The next cash cow for Fastrack was born in the form of sunglasses. The product fit the bill perfectly as there was no Indian brand presence in this category and Ray-Ban served a relatively premium segment. So as a brand extension strategy, Fastrack ventured into the sunglasses category and again with its time-honoured strategy of economical pricing, it stole the show from unbranded players in this category.

In 2005, the brand went for another repositioning exercise with a new logo. Supported by a new campaign – ‘How many do you have?’, the brand sales increased by Rs.35 crore during 2007. That was another fresh start. Through massive product proliferation & innovative pricing strategy, Fastrack succeeded in maintaining an average y-o-y growth of 30% and has thus become the fastest growing brand under the Titan umbrella in the past four years. With an annual turnover of Rs.300 crore for FY2008-09 and an annual sales of 1.5 million watches, Fastrack is mulling over plans to clock a turnover of Rs.500 crore by FY2011-12; the brand focus shifting from being just a ‘watch’ brand to an ‘accessory’ brand.

So, what is Fastrack exactly doing to facilitate this shift in brand focus? Starting from brand new launches (like bags, wallets and belts) to venturing into new areas (like sports shoes), Fastrack has big plans. “Our mission is to completely envelope the new Indian youth,” announces a beaming Simeran Bhasin, Marketing Head, Fastrack & New Brands.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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“We are doing a lot of BTL activities around the workshop areas.”

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It’s the approach that matters. More so, it’s all about customer interactions when it comes to becoming an auto-service bigwig. A 4Ps B&M exclusive...

4Ps B&M: Two months since you launched Carnation. What’s the distance covered?
JK: By the end of June 2009, we had started operations in nine locations. The 10th came in July. Overall, our rollout has been quite decent, though some people call it aggressive. We are planning to open another 20 workshops by the end of the current fiscal...

4Ps B&M: How has been the initial response in the country?
JK: Till date, we have serviced around 8000 vehicles but our motto is to sustain the initial response.

4Ps B&M: 8,000 alright; but then isn’t your model ‘similar’ to that of the authorised and local workshops?
JK: It’s our approach that is different. The equipment that we use is world-class, which makes us different from the neighborhood workshops. And our approach is to minimise the cost of ownership of a vehicle, i.e. we focus on repairing an accidental part rather than changing it with a new one, unlike the case with the authorised workshops. Our target is very different and we want to be as transparent as water in customer service.

4Ps B&M: What efforts are you making to ensure footfalls? Any great attractive deals for the consumers?
JK: We are doing a lot of BTL activities around the area where the workshop is located as it suits the current needs of the business and is economical too. Till the time the volume doesn’t build up and consumers aren’t aware of an Carnation experience, it’s of no use to offer them any form of deal or contract with the company.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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If RCOM added to ADAG’s overall brand value in a ‘big’ way, BIG TV – the company’s DTH venture – also added its brilliant mite, what with its much hyped launch. Add to that tactics like the launch of the new Reliance Energy bill in Mumbai – which has a very customer friendly and an easy to navigate design – and you have a brilliant positive word of mouth doing the rounds. Having said that, it is a clear fact that the recent gas controversy has taken its toll not only on the current ranking but also on group efforts moving them away from the primary business objectives. What is more critical is the scenario if the dispute and controversy continues further, the same might affect future rankings.

But what is more important is that ADAG does not build its brand only through its customers but also through numerous stakeholders on a daily basis. Shah tells us, “Reliance ADAG stocks are investor favourites. The task at hand has been to invest in micro-marketing initiatives rather than hi-decibel campaigns.” To meet this objective, Reliance Capital brand, for example, initiated an innovative drive to connect with its premium customer base through an association with theatre (in one specific case, Reliance Capital sponsored a musical show titled City of Dreams, which went on to be a complete sell out). ADAG, in the meanwhile, has kept reaping the benefits of being a valued brand for investors. The Reliance Infrastructure Fund, despite the market conditions, saw contrarian participation of over Rs.2,000 crores from retail investors, a figure which went completely beyond the forecasts.

The year 2008-09 also saw ADAG migrate ADLABS to BIG cinemas and heralded the launch of new BIG multiplexes across the globe, including in Malaysia and US. The BIG brand was also in the news for inking a multi billion dollar deal with Steven Spielberg to produce Hollywood movies.

“The BIG TV Brand will become even bigger with well planned & executed BTL & ATL [below the line, above the line] campaigns nationally,” adds Shah. Brand ‘BIG’ is also expected to strengthen ADAG’s play across platforms in the media and entertainment sectors, utilising the group’s education arms, NIS Sparta and NIS Academy. So where to from here on? How does ADAG make the last mile jump from the number three position to number one? With a lot of patience, and a little lesser of, well, controversies...

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

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