Alpenlibe – if Akhbar and Birbal were on FB

Just saw this advertisement of Alpenlibe featuring the most influential characters from our history- AKBAR and BIRBAL. Yes, History intrigues me to an extent of inspiration- Always. That made me wonder what it would be like if Facebook would be present during their era. Naturally, even Akbar would have had an account on Facebook. The question here is- would Akbar be the same ‘King Akbar’ as we all know him? Or he would have had some different personality on FB? Would he have posted his pics of his palaces, and his selfie with a crown on his head and a sword in his hand? Or he would be a common man posting in general like we all do?

In accordance with the above thought, I suddenly realised how different are we all from our real selves to our online selves. Yes, that’s a shocking thing indeed- the way we behave in our real lives may or may not be the same way we behave in our virtual (Social/Online) lives. That makes all of us have two personas. Not indicating that either of your persona is a fake, it simply means we behave and act according to the requirements or atmospheres.

BRANDS communicate through different mediums. But the BRAND PROMISE is the same.

BRANDS too, thus exhibit different personalities on different platforms.

It takes an expert to identify the actual SOCIAL personality of a brand that will offer the same BRAND PROMISE. If your brand has no personality (which gives it a particular identity), then it’s most crucial to have one; only having a Facebook/Twitter/Linkedin/Pintrest page will not help. You need to define a personality. An online presence must be established so that the brand’s existence is not questioned.

This is a gradual process. Personifying a brand is not an overnight process; it cannot and should not be thought so. The audiences must be given sufficient time and space to let it sink into their minds about the SOCIAL PERSONA of the brand. Customers should be able to relate the brand with something, someone, some entity that reminds your brand, and in turn connect to BRAND PROMISE

It is more like moulding and shaping of the pot that a potter does.

SOCIAL personality created for the brand must be engaging and interactive. Both the personalities of the brands (online and offline) must strive towards a mutual objective.

Confusing consumers is not a good idea.

What is the SOCIAL PERSONA of your BRAND?

GOOD IN LANGUAGE; NOT GOOD IN COPYWRITING?

Chanakya was an Indian teacher, philosopher, and royal advisor.

Chanakya managed the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta's rise to power at a young age. 

He is widely credited for having played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire, which was the first empire in archaeologically recorded history to rule most of the Indian subcontinent

I am sure we all have heard of him. Yes, the brain behind the establishment of Maurya Empire. He was the master strategist and upon his guidance and direction, emperor chandragupta maurya ruled.

Why was Chanakya not the emperor then? If his strategy would have failed, the emperor and his empire would have collapsed. But still, he wasn’t the King.

King and King Maker are two different and distinct positions; like Language and Copywriting.

Shakespeare was and will remain a great poet. Wonder if we could really understand if he wrote advertisements.

Understanding the reader (read consumer here) and writing what the reader understands is the only key to a successful copywriting; and in turn a very vital element of advertisements and advertising campaigns.

Copywriting is an art of expressing everything in minimal language.

READER: what is it for me?

COPYWRITER: everything

Readers have many choices and access to more information than they can possibly digest. You have 5 – 10 seconds to capture a reader. If your copy does not engage the reader and communicate well, they move away … forever.

READER: I am time poor … I want an answer and I want it now.

COPYWRITER: invest minimal time and effort. We have made it crisp for you.

There are 4 keys to hook the READER rightly

·         Inverted Triangle – get key points first and the details later

·         Short – short and to the point lines works best

·         Packets – make smaller components of the entire text, small packets

·         Headings – all that it does is engagement. Marriage follows later

Beyond these let’s have few points that will persuade the READER and thus does the doing;

• Understand the reader first (read consumer/customer)
• Talk to the reader
• Grab reader attention
• Do not complicate, keep it simple and straight
• Be casual, be vernacular, build a connect
• Clutter break the competition
• Justify what you write
• Create a sense of urgency, sense of losing 

A copywriter has done his job if the advertisement/campaign has

• URGENCY
• UNIQUENESS
• ULTRA-SPECIFIC PROMISE
• USEFUL INFORMATION

Your brands will rule the market and surely establish Maurya Empire

Brand Extension and Brand Cannibalisation

Sibling Rivalry is a common phenomenon known to one and all. And it is irrespective of the material that they fight for. We are sure that Dhirubhai Ambani might not have brought in both the sons in the same business so that one day the group splits. And we do have many such examples.

What makes this happen? And why actually this happens?

Like the extension of the family in Business, when brand extensions are executed; brand sibling rivalry is born.

We may come across various stories in magazines and journals, quoting the success of brand extensions. J Stories are stories only when things go well…….success stories. But we do not come across the statistics which may guide us about the percentage success in brand extensions.

Brand extension is strongly related to the consumer feelings and emotions. One may find more brand extensions being succeeded without a clear thought as to why be the extension needed. This random phenomenon has given birth to the thought that brand extension is diversification to break the monotony of existing brand and business. Upon which its success is a thumbs up.

But, we are playing with it. We need to investigate brands that have suffered.

We need to look at the siblings, who, after falling apart, have messed the group.

There are two possibilities;

• One brand kills the other brand
• Both the brands are messed

When one brand is not appropriately introduced as a part of brand extension, it either fails or eats up the existing brands business. BRAND CANNIBALIZATION.

No matter what ever may be the consumer emotions, brand extension is a very powerful brand strategy and it has to be thoroughly thought of before springing it into action.

Following are the few points that need to be considered before brand extension strategy;

• The PLC stage of the nearest brand of the same group
• New brand offerings and differentiators from the nearest brand
• Identification of separate market or clear subset and Key energizers
• Right positioning of the two brands

When a brand takes this initiative to launch a new product in the same category, it has to be a thoughtful and well strategized process.

It should not be with the aim of increasing sales

The chief objective of BRAND EXTENSION should be quite strong and unbiased; avoiding BRAND CANNIBALIZATION.

Evolution of healthcare Brands “comprehension, continuity, consistency are the new keys”

The Dinosaurs - ruled the planet for a good 135 long years. Dinosaurs suddenly became extinct. Many theories have been proposed by scientists trying to define this mass extinction. One of the primary explanations of their sudden disappearance is their incapability to adapt the drastic climatic (market) changes occurring in that period.

Some birds that we see today are descendants of dinosaurs. They adapted themselves according to the changes in their surroundings- they survived successfully. ‘Evolve’ is the word.

Any species or entity that is able to evolve itself appropriately will have better chances of survival in the future.

Are you reading Dinosaurs as HEALTHCARE BRANDS?

Healthcare in India has begun evolving as a major segment. Years ago, healthcare services were known by the name of the doctors’ names and their identities. People referred to hospitals and clinics as ‘Dr. Raman’s Clinic’. A doctor’s name was more important than the hospital brand name.

Unfortunately, this trend has changed. Slowly and gradually, evolution has given birth to sudden wave of corporate brands. Apollo, Sterling, Vasan, Fortis, HCG, narayana and many more strong corporate healthcare brands have emerged; like the DINASOUR BIRDS. The makers of these brands perfectly understood the need and worth of correct branding and marketing communications. Many hospitals and equally qualified and famous doctors who did not adapt to the changing market and its needs were left behind.

- What is normally seen for of any healthcare brand, the communication is not in synergy all the way.

- It is not a consistent communication that is done always.

- Also, continuity is needed to maintain while advertising if the objective is to create a lasting impression and positioning of the brand.

- There has to be a strategy designed regarding which media the communication will pass through.

- A list of channels and media need to be identified for better and effective reach to the target audience. It cannot go random.

- Importantly, what is communicated in one media must be in sync with what is being communicated somewhere else.

- Only one message should be dispersed under the particular brand name.

                              ARE YOU EVOLVING?

Brand Wars

The other day, while going through an historical piece of writing of a particular article, I stopped in mid-way when I came across those times when big and powerful warriors used to fight against each other in order to acquire lands from the opposition. A thought suddenly came in my mind- were those warriors really unsatisfied from what they had? Was it really needed that they kept on conquering more and more lands? Or it was merely their big names (emperor brands) that they wanted to establish? They only wanted that more and more lands are associated with their name- thus making them a Bigger BRAND...

This has been a tradition ever since the evolution of human race. The sense of competition and rivalry is an in born entity present in the human race since advancement of civilisation. What happened in the early days, the same is being repeated even in today’s times.  Then, warriors used to fight and attack each other- and today in the real world of marketing, brands continue this convention. These days, more emphasis is laid on opposing what the competition has stated, and attacking it. Not only confusing their consumers, it also means they spend extra energy into contracting what the opponent has said.

But what all fail to notice today is with what purpose and what strategy the warriors those days attacked each other. It takes a great deal of understanding, patience, and knowledge about the competition in order to accurately win over your consumers. Apart from having a thorough understanding of your target audience and its profile- it is of equal importance that you read your competition’s profile as well. Competition audit is a major step in churning out an effective ad campaign.  This will keep you well informed about what your rival is up to and accordingly help you plan your campaign.

Knowing what your customer wants, and knowing what exactly your competition is saying in that category is the key. Instead of getting into the trivial issues of brand and its competition with one another, one should focus on the product and its features, and promote why that particular product is best for your target audience.

Someone who is able to master this art of knowing their consumers as well as their competition thoroughly will succeed in the making of an effective advertising campaign.

Brands, lets fight like the emperors with values and virtues

VIRTUAL IS THE NEW REAL-brand building through social media

Social media marketing today has emerged as an important vertical in the arena of advertising and branding.  

But, it remains to be understood that digital marketing is as important, as tedious and as thoughtful process as the offline advertising. 

It is not merely about few Facebook posts coupled with few tweets every week!

For a social media marketing professional (SMM), social advertising is as real as ‘Real’ marketing. An advertiser will know what ground work and how much it takes to develop an advertising strategy to launch any campaign for its clients. It starts with identifying the target audience, understanding its media vehicles, which tools will work best for the specified target, segmenting the audience, putting the right content in the required media vehicles and at perfect timing. Knowing your target group and knowing where and when you will find them is the key of designing a wonderful advertising campaign. This is the trend followed in offline advertising.

Today, what remains to be assumed is that online advertising is also a pure means of advertising- it also involves same amount of thought provoking ideas and needs equal attention as far as segmentation of the target audience is concerned. Putting the appropriate content online is in the same way essential.  Not only posting on social media, but posting things online keeping in mind the timing of the target audience. Availability of your target audience is of primary importance. There’s no point in randomly posting anything, anywhere, targeting anybody. There has to be a strategic planning for it. All posts should have an appropriate meaning and reason.

To create an online presence of any particular brand, what is most important is to build up an online image and perception of the brand. Any brand has a real persona as well as an online persona.  It is a slow, steady and a well thought- upon process. It takes a great deal of working and deciding appropriate what and an appropriate how about a social campaign.

Advertising done on digital media should not be called ‘campaign’. Nobody likes being fed with a bulk of posts and promotions- that may or may not be useful for them. It should be more of an engaging and interactive activity done to promote the brands. Social media works best on the principle of dialogues and conversation- rather than one way communications.  Until and unless there’s not more of interaction- between the consumer and the seller- advertising won’t serve its purpose. Active participation of the correct audience and obtaining relevant feedback for the same, is the crucial component of social media. After all, what else does getting ‘Social’ mean?!

Lastly, it is the least job of an IT Professional, and it is not at all like managing a personal facebook profile of ours.  It would take a genuine SMM professional who understands advertising and takes this job as seriously as offline advertising.

HAVE YOU ASSIGNED THE RIGHT JOB TO A RIGHT EXPERT?

THE INCREDIBLE TIPS OF ADVERTISING

THE SECRET Es

When it comes to providing advertising solutions to clients, there 

have been many marketing mantras and advertising tips that are 

popular all over the industry.

Here, we present to you, the 5 Es of advertising that are a sure shot success.

The first and foremost E being an ‘Expert’ of the domain-one needs to offer advertising solutions that are originated from an expert mind. An expert is someone who is well aware of his subject and knows how to deal with it and procure wonderful outcomes from the materials provided. And of course, who doesn’t like to be associated with an expert?! The expert will perfectly guide you regarding whats good for you and whats not…

Exclusivity today is a wonderful virtue, especially when it comes to targeting your audience. No wonder clients today ask for exclusive and something new in terms of creativity and content. That’s the second necessary E,’ Exclusive’. Promising the client to provide with a unique campaign that will stand out from competition is in demand.

Third most important E is relevant keeping in mind the new technological era and ‘Electronic’ pace. Delivering at the speed of lightening has become more than a necessity today. This shall also increase one’s credibility in the advertising market. With increasing rivalry among brands-advertising solutions in very less time would be a great welcome.

Being an expert, giving exclusive ideas at electronic pace, one thing that will help the agencies have an upper edge over others is its openness to ideas and its readiness to accept the thoughts of the clients too. This is how the fourth ‘E’, Exchange comes into existence. This will build up a perception that- though being an expert of one’s field, they will also pay attention to what you have to say about your business and its branding ideas.

Money remains a very important attribute of any big business-it is very essential to consider the finances also. An agency that offers solutions to clients which are ‘Economical’- being the last E of advertising is the ultimate need of the hour. All want their work to be done in the most economical way possible.

So here we bring to you the 5 Es of advertising, one that will definitely guide you through your business and facilitate in your branding. After all, advertising is an intellectual process of the mind –where in the 5 important Es combine together with a strategic and creative mind- 

‘eminds’ leading to success. 

URBANIZATION, INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ADVERTISING

Urbanization refers to a process in which an increasing proportion of society lives in cities and the suburbs of cities. Historically, it has been closely connected with industrialization.

Industrialization is a process that extensively uses inanimate sources of energy to enhance human productivity. Following industrialization, surpluses increased in both agriculture and industry.  Larger and larger proportions of a population could live in cities.   Economic forces transform such that cities became the ideal places to locate factories and their workers. 

The main causes of urbanization -

• Industrial Revolution
• Industrialization following the Industrial Revolution
• Emergence of large manufacturing centers
• Job Opportunities
• Availability of easy transportation
• Migration

Ancient India was a civilized society with many urban centers and centers of learning.

Urbanization journey of India

• Ancient India
• Early Urbanization -                Mohenjodaro and Harappa
• Capital -                                             Kanauj and Ujjain
• Religious Centers -                     Bodh Gaya and Varanashi 
• University towns   -                     Takshasila and Nalanda 

 Mughal Cities

• Agra
• Lahore
• Fatehpur Sikri 
• The seven cities of Delhi
• Colonial Cities – Delhi, Pondicherry, Goa
• Cantonment Towns – Bangalore, Secunderabad, Nagpur,Lucknow 
• Hill Resorts – Shimla, Nainital, Darjeeling, Ooty, Kodaikanal 
• Ports – Surat, Mumbai, Calicut, Kolkatta, Vizag, Chennai
• Independent India

 Administrative capitals – Center & State

Industrial Towns - Bhilai, Rourkela, Jamshedpur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Kolar 

With the passage of time, the balance and complimentary working between industry and agriculture loses its flora. More is the focus and more is the need for all ancillary products and services that compliments the industrial development.  The progress develops enormous urge for further growth. Monopoly is stripped and competition grows in. 

Industry has to develop a function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization in the growing competition. Beyond just manufacturing, communicating to the right people at the right time defines sound market player and a participant in the league of being a market leader.

Marketing communications, thus, happens to be a game changer and a lot of thrust is put on developing right marketing communications strategy.

Western India (with cities like Mumbai, Surat, Baroda, Ahmedabad) being the frontrunner in urbanization, the need for various industries to have an appropriate marketing communications strategy is the tipping point.

Industries and Advertising Agencies work in tandem; to plan, develop, execute and evaluate coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand communication programs with consumers, prospects employees and other relevant external and internal audiences.

Creative without strategy is called “art”. Creative with strategy is called “advertising” Jef I. Richards