(This one is by Melvin Durai - he is a Winnipeg-based writer and humorist. Born in India and raised in Zambia, he has lived in North America since 1982. Through the Internet, his column is read by thousands of people in more than 90 countries. This week's column hits the bull's eye...)
In case you missed the news, in case you were sleeping under a rock or just got released from Guantanamo, India won its first-ever individual gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, causing 1.1 billion people to jump up and down with joy, touching off a minor earthquake in California and a major interruption in tech support.
Yes, an Indian man won an Olympic gold medal -- and without all his opponents getting injured. Abhinav Bindra, a 25-year-old from Delhi, won first place in the 10m air rifle event, beating 50 other shooters, including that great Albanian marksman Imer Gudschot.
So excited were members of the Indian Olympic Association, so taken in this moment of high-fives and champagne-popping, that some of them checked the official medal table to see if India had moved past America. No such luck, of course, but that didn't stop Indians from celebrating like it as the greatest Olympic achievement ever. And who can blame them? After all, it was their first individual gold medal since India began competing in the Olympics more than a century ago, back in the days when 'catapulting' was an official sport.
'The drought is over!' screamed one newspaper's headline, causing even more celebration across the land, particularly in the farming community.
It was a shining moment for India on the world's greatest sporting stage. As one Indian politician eloquently put it, 'Abhinav Bindra has shooted us all into glory!'
Almost everyone in India, from the Prime Minister to the church minister, heaped praise on Bindra. Even members of the Indian Astronomers Association, attending a convention in Pune, took a break from the proceedings to applaud the 'shooting star.'
Congratulatory messages poured into India from all over the world. U.S. presidential candidate John McCain, hoping to endear himself to Indian-American voters, sent a congratulatory card that he said was 'from one straight shooter to another.'
Indian legislators debated a motion to celebrate Aug. 11 every year as Gold Medal Day. They voted down a proposal to display Bindra's medal at a national museum in Delhi, amid fears that the building would not be able to handle the millions who would come to view it.
The excitement and celebration may have seemed overblown, but not to Indians. 'People around the world may not know this,' a Chennai man said, 'but we Indians really love gold!'
Bindra's victory, combined with shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, is expected to increase the popularity of shooting in India, drawing thousands of youngsters to shooting competitions and exhibitions during breaks from cricket.
'We want shooting to be more popular in India,' said sports administrator Baljit Singh, 'but not as popular as it is in America.'
Hoping to match the success of TGC (The Golf Channel) in America, media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced that Indian viewers would soon be treated to TSC (The Shooting Channel). It's expected to feature various shooting competitions from around the world, as well as reruns of the American shows 'Gunsmoke' and 'Have Gun Will Travel.'
Rajesh Patel, who has been hired as a TSC analyst, said Bindra's victory will have a lasting impact in India, even on sports announcing. 'We're not going to say that someone's performance is 'simply wonderful' anymore,' he said. 'We're going to say that it's 'simply Bindraful.''
Schoolchildren for years to come will learn about Bindra, thanks partly to an Indian publisher who has already put out a special alphabet book: 'A is for Abhinav. Abhinav is first name of champion. B is for Bindra. Bindra is surname of champion. C is for Chapati. Chapati is food of champion.'
Bindra has not just earned a lifetime of adulation, he has become India's most eligible bachelor, receiving a flood of marriage proposals. Said his proud mother: 'We have received proposals from North Indians, South Indians, even West Indians.'
Indeed, a Trinidad dairy farmer with a 20-year-old daughter offered 1,000 cows in dowry, but Bindra turned down the offer, saying he doesn't want to milk his fame.
That pleased Indian sports fans, who want Bindra to choose his bride carefully, believing that the country's future Olympic glory rests partly on what type of genes his children inherit. Some are even dreaming of a match between Bindra and badminton star Saina Nehwal, an Olympic quarterfinalist. But that would be folly, according to one Indian scientist, who said, 'If we match a badmintoner with a shooter, we might end up with a badshooter.'
Thursday, August 28, 2008
IMC Campaign Dissection | Rang De Basanti
Industry Background: The Indian Film Industry – A Century Old Young Industry
Motion pictures came to India in 1896, when the Lumière Brothers' Chinematographe unveiled six soundless short films in erstwhile Bombay (now Mumbai). This was just a year after the Lumière Brothers (inventors of cinematography) had set up their company in Paris. The first Indian on record to make a movie was Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatvadekar. He made one short film on a wrestling match at the Hanging Gardens in Bombay, and another on the playfulness of monkeys. Both these shorts were made in 1897 and were publicly exhibited for the first time in 1899 using Edison's projecting kinetoscope inside a tent which the film maker had himself erected. India's first feature film was a silent movie named "King Harishchandra" made by the legendary Dhundiraj Govind Phalke and was released in 1913. By 1920, film making had taken the shape of an industry. The first talkie made in India was "Alam Ara" (produced by Imperial Film Company) released in 1931. Until the 1960s, film-making companies, many of whom owned studios, dominated the film industry. Artistes and technicians were either their employees or were contracted on long-term basis. Since the 1960s, however, most performers went the freelance way, resulting in the star system and huge escalations in film production costs.
According to unofficial estimates, in January 2001, the Indian film industry had an annual turnover of Rs. 60 billion (approximately US$1.33 billion) and employed more than 6 million people, most of whom were contract workers. Interestingly, until the late 1990s, it was not even recognised officially as an industry.
In recent years, the Indian Film Industry, especially the Hindi Film Industry based in Mumbai (often referred to as Bollywood) has undergone a wave of corporatization. In 2007 a report by CII-AT Kearney titled 'The new economics of the Indian film industry: creativity and transformation' estimated the Indian film industry was worth around US$1.8 billion in 2006 (around Rs 7,500 crore) and expected to grow at 25% per annum in value terms for the next four years to reach US$4.5 to US$5.1 billion (around Rs 20,000 crore) by 2011.
The CII–AT Kearney Report says, "The Indian film industry is on the threshold of a transformation driven by digitisation and changing customer preferences which will have a significant impact on business models - both within and across the media and entertainment value chains… Technology, changing customer preferences and globalization of Indian content is changing the context, trajectory and imperatives for the Indian creative industry. It is creating new avenues and means of delivering content to India and abroad as well as developing newer and more efficient means of creating them."
It is estimated by experts that a “big budget” Hindi movie can cost in excess of US$30 million (around Rs. 120 Crores) with the 'bigness' of the budget is attributable mainly to the high fees paid to 'stars', celebrated music directors, high-end technologies and expensive travel costs to shoot in exotic locations worldwide. In such a scenario, where the ‘product’ making cost is astronomically high, it becomes imperative that the ‘product’ is marketed well to connect with the target audience. The new millennium injected new scientific marketing techniques into the tinsel town. The industry realized that unless the communication connects with the audience, there was little hope to earn a return on investment.
We chose to dissect the campaign of Rang De Basanti primarily because both of us had immensely enjoyed watching the movie and because even after a good 2 ½ years after the movie was released, we still remember the tagline/message of the movie: “A Generation Awakens”.
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Product Description: Rang De Basanti
Rang De Basanti (Paint It Yellow) is a 2006 Indian drama film written and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. It features an ensemble cast comprising of Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth Narayan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni, British actress Alice Patten and veteran actors - Waheeda Rehman, Om Puri, Kirron Kher and Anupam Kher in supporting roles. Made on a budget of Rs. 25 crores, the filming was completed in and around New Delhi. It was produced by UTV Motion Pictures and was released on 26th January (Republic Day) 2006. The soundtrack of Rang De Basanti, which was released by Sony BMG, featured music composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics penned by Prasoon Joshi and Blaaze, an Indian-based rapper.
The storyline of the film narrates the tale of a British documentary filmmaker who based on accounts taken from diary entries of her grandfather (a former officer of the British Army in India), is determined to make a film on Indian freedom fighters. She requests a group of youngsters, which is indifferent to the state of affairs in India, to act in her film. After they agree and begin filming, the protagonists start living the lives of the freedom fighters that they essay in the documentary. A dear friend's death (a fighter pilot) in a fighter plane crash is attributed to the pilot’s fault rather than the government’s corruption metamorphosizes them into passion-driven individuals who are determined to avenge his death.
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The Market:
1. The Corporation: UTV Software Communications Limited, popularly known as UTV, is amongst India’s foremost Media & Entertainment Company with interest in 4 verticals that include:
• Movies
• Interactive (Animation and Gaming)
• Broadcasting
• Television content & services
UTV ventured into movie making with the launch of UMP Plc in 1995-96. Over time, UMP Plc has emerged as one of the largest movie studios in South Asia. UMP Plc has been a catalyst in corporatising the Indian system of movie making by pioneering the Studio Model. Apart from Rang De Basanti, it has also produced movies such as Lakshya, Swades and Fiza. UMP Plc has also entered into strategic Hollywood co-productions with studios like 20thCentury Fox, Sony and Will Smith’s Overbrook becoming the first Indian company to do so.
UTV’s movie production is complimented by its strong distribution networks spanning a large number of screens across the world. This network endows distribution girth and depth to multilingual movies in global markets like US, UK, Middle East, South Africa, Australia, and Japan. Besides its own productions, movies like Mughal-E-Azam, Parineeta and Bluffmaster are some of the heavyweights distributed by UMP.
Listed on India’s premier stock exchange, The Bombay Stock Exchange, UTV is a diversified media and entertainment company with content creation abilities across platforms and genres. It has subsidiaries with offices across India, Mauritius, UK and USA. Walt Disney Inc. holds a strategic stake in UTV. For the quarter ended June 30, 2008, UTV, as compared with the same period previous fiscal, reported a growth of 154% in Total Revenue to Rs 1,452 million from Rs 571 million, and 176% in Net Profit to Rs 251 million from Rs 91 million.
2. The Customers: Cricket and Cinema are an intrinsic part of the Indian way of life, with cricketers and film stars enjoying demigod status in the country. According to the national readership survey in India for 2006, 39 million Indians go to the movies (at least once a month) and although cinema viewership has declined in recent times, these figures are still staggering for they indicate the importance of cinema in India.
The survey also reveals that cinema viewership among urban Indian audiences is on the increase unlike in rural India. There were also 23 million regular theatre goers in urban Indian in 2005, in comparison to the 25 million in 2006. The audience for mainstream Indian films is comprised not only of Indians in their home country but also diasporic viewers in large parts of the Middle-East and South-East Asia, the UK, US and Europe. Indian diaspora constitutes more than 20 million people, settled in around 70 countries of the world. In 2003, Indian films reached around 3.4 billion viewers in all parts of the world. (A record number of Indian films reached the blockbuster status in the US in 2006 with half of the 14 foreign language films that grossed over US$2 million being in Hindi. No other language came close to contributing so many box office hits to the list.)
Additionally, the onset of satellite television in India during the early 90s also aided the popularization of Indian cinema. This is because Indian television satisfied the demand for films as well as film based programming. Moreover, “Television offered the film industry not just additional viewership but also an additional revenue stream” and this made it profitable for television channels to support the Indian film industry. It is also necessary to note that although 39 million Indians go to the movies, the majority of these audiences are under the age group of 25 , which is why most filmmakers target their films to this demographic group. Industry estimates of the youth market state that Indian youngsters wield US$2.8 billion worth of discretionary income, and their families spend an additional US$3.7 billion on them every year. By 2015, Indians under 20 will make up 55% of the population and wield proportionately higher spending power. The release of Bollywood youth films, especially in the years post 2000 bear testimony to this fact. Apart from sporting a fresh, youthful look, these films also have themes that the youth can identify with as in the case of Rang De Basanti that captured the imagination of the country.
According to observers of the Hindi film industry, Indian filmmakers are increasingly being guided by the choices of this youth brigade which is fast replacing the family audiences of yesteryears. In every market, “white spaces” or niches need to be identified and addressed. As a result, producers are now open to the idea of making films that satisfy the needs of the younger crowds who demand “aesthetic realism”. Young audiences who have grown up watching films from Hollywood are now unwilling to watch excessively dramatic and over the top Hindi films. This change in audience tastes is also a result of globalization and urbanization in the Indian society post 1991. Analyzing the changing economic and social trends during the 1990’s reveals that the Indian society underwent a great deal of transition in this period due to economic liberalization and globalization. The tinsel town is finally realizing the untapped potential of the Indian youth market best captured in the words of leading Indian film producer Pahlaj Nihalani - “The youth are our biggest market.” One such youth movie which broke new grounds in India in terms of its box office success, marketing, as well as audience response was Rang De Basanti.
3. The Competition: During the time that Rang De Basanti was to be released, the Indian Cricket Team was tour archrivals Pakistan (January 2006). This one of the biggest competitions faced by the film given India’s cricket crazy public. More traditional completion was from the other high profile movies to be released in 2006 including Hrithik Roshan starrer Dhoom 2, Omkara, Lage Raho Munna Bhai and the other Aamir Khan starrer Fanaah. Thus Team Rang De Basanti had to ensure that the marketing campaign of the movie connected with the target audience and it translated into financial success.
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The 6 M Model:
1. Mission: As UTV (United Television) spent 40% of the film’s production budget on promotion, UTV’s mission was very clear –launch the film with a bang and ensure maximum collections in the first few weeks. UTV went out of its way to tie-up with numerous brands to promote Rang De Basanti with the dual intention of 360 degree promotion while at the same time recovering its production costs through advertising/promotions if not through the sales of its tickets and music rights. In order to recover its heavy production costs, UTV needed to create a unique brand image for Rang De Basanti and it needed to create a buzz about the film much before its release so that the film could gain from co-branding and advertising revenues. It was this aspect that framed the marketing and communication strategy of Rang De Basanti.
The mission of the campaign changed as the film moved along the PLC (illustrated before):
• Pre-Launch Stage --> Ensure Successful Film Launch [Pioneering Campaign]
• Introduction --> Maximize Box Office Collections [Pioneering Campaign]
• Growth --> DVD Sales + Keep Box Office Collections Going [Competitive Campaign]
• Maturity --> Maximum Viewership of TV Premiere [Retentive Campaign]
2. Message: “Be Socially Relevant”
The brand image of Rang De Basanti was centered on its tagline which read, ‘a generation awakens’ and even the entire marketing campaign of the movie was centered on this theme. Everything from the use of the graffiti wall (shown in the picture below) in the publicity designs reflecting youth, attitude and rebellion; to ensuring a seamless personality fit with the brands associated with the film, the marketing of Rang De Basanti tried to stay true to the theme of the film.
Though Rang De Basanti had patriotic overtones and its protagonists played the roles of freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad, it was initially not promoted as patriotic film. (Introduction Phase) This was especially due to the fact that recent past, four Hindi films made on Shaheed Bhagat Singh had been released and these had subsequently bombed at the box office. However, with the movie being released on Republic Day 26th January 2006, it did have a subliminal patriotic message.
The message that the film sent out was “Be Socially Relevant” and in doing so and by choosing themes that lent themselves to TV discussions (such as MiG-21 deaths in Rang de Basanti), the film garnered valuable free airtime. It also helped that they had tied up with popular news broadcaster NDTV as a media partner – in fact NDTV had substantial in-film advertising. The film connected with the target audience well and by the time it entered the growth phase, i.e. when the Home Video DVD was launched, the film’s message of had firmly hit home as it can be gauged by Rang De Basanti style youth activism for various causes such as Jessica Lall murder case.
Internationally, the message to the audience was that the film captured the pulse of the new, vibrant and young India. The TV premiere (on Star Gold) of the film was on 2 October 2006 (Gandhi Jayanti) had an all out patriotic message and was accompanied by a special program called ‘Rang De Basanti Salaam’ that celebrated India’s’ unsung heroes’ and was hosted by Aamir Khan.
3. Market: Urban Youth: Rang De Basanti focused on the urban and educated youngsters of post – independent India, it conveyed their mindset by portraying their ways and speaking their language. It therefore provided a perfect backdrop for highlighting the issues of changing culture, identities, participation in public sphere of life among others.
Also, Indians love their cinema which is why India is the world’s largest producer of films. India boasts of a thriving film industry that produces more than 1000 feature films annually in almost all Indian languages and these are seen in over 13,000 cinema halls in the country. Also a stunning statistic from The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) reveals that: “Every three months an audience as large as India’s entire population flocks to the cinema halls.” - proving the regular movie watching habit of the masses.
Rang De Basanti was predominantly marketed towards the cinema going urban youth, and it was quite successful in accomplishing that as youngsters connected with the theme of the movie. The film had a distinct North Indian flavour, having been largely shot in New Delhi, but clever co-branding associations ensured that it connected with the intended Pan-Indian Gen X audience.
In fact Rang De Basanti was filmed keeping this particular audience in mind and was in fact scripted by Kamlesh Pandey, the scriptwriter after a focus group interview with 150 youngsters. Intensive research of this kind is highly uncommon for a Hindi film and the director, Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra, used the information from the focus group interviews in order to come up with the true to life story of Rang De Basanti. According to Mehra, the Rang De Basanti strategy owed a lot to one shelved project he had 10 years back. He elaborated, "There was this project Aahuti and the story revolved around the pre-independence patriotism. I had spent five years, researching on the project. However, I was disappointed with feedback I received from youth groups in Mumbai and Delhi. I learnt the bitter truth that, patriotism doesn't appeal today's youth. Those discussions actually revealed the weaknesses of the project. Later, when the Rang De Basanti project came up, I revisited my earlier learnings. Something different was required to provide Rang De Basanti a mass appeal. I thought, I must speak to today's generation. Taking tips from various age-old youth imageries around the world, I decided to promote the film in a totally new light. We pulled off a method that appeals to the youth and make them think about the issues around them. The tagline 'A generation awakens' summed up what we wanted to convey through our promos."
4. Medium: Used 360 degree Integrated Marketing Media
"We have tied up with media partners such as Radio Mirchi, MSN and Channel [V] to ensure a 360-degree surround impact with viewers for Rang De Basanti. Each of these partners comes on board with massive media support, which is a win-win for both parties."
- Mr. Ronnie Screwala, CEO, UTV
1. Co Branding:
a. Rang De Basanti Special Edition Bottles From Coca-Cola: For the very first time in the history of Indian Movie Marketing, the most recognized consumer brand in the World - Coca-Cola launched a special edition bottle - inspired by the ‘spirit of Rang De Basanti'. The bottle was packaged with a wrap-around label featuring the key art of the film - a bunch of friends who decide to accept responsibility for change taking pride in their beliefs, thus propagating Coca-Cola's key message - "Piyo sar utha ke". The unique association was extended across specially produced television commercials , print ads and radio spots.
b. Rang De Basanti Range Of Merchandise In Association With Provogue: In a pioneering first-of-its-kind licensing tie-up in Indian Movie Marketing, wherein the apparel brand Provogue launched a whole new range of clothing ‘inspired by Rang De Basanti'. The merchandise was aimed at giving audiences another 'touch-feel' opportunity to interact with the brand, with the clothing designs reflecting the tone, look and message of the film. 'Rang De Basanti - Provogue' merchandise was launched with a star-studded fashion event in which the cast of the film walked the ramp showcasing the apparel, and vocalists from the film, including Daler Mehndi, performed to hits from the popular soundtrack of the movie. The event was broadcast in primetime on Zee TV, driving incredible reach and visibility for both Rang De Basanti and Provogue. 'Rang De Basanti' merchandise, was made available at key Provogue outlets, was also promoted with full-page print ads across major cities.
c. Rang De Basanti LG Association: The movie also lent its colors and vibrancy to LG when it launched the new LGC2500 mobile, targeted at the youth. LG had packed the phone with exclusive wallpapers and screensavers from the film. This period also saw the launch of the Rang De Basanti game for mobile phones which was all about five friends defeating corrupt politicians in India. This media campaign by LG was very successful and promoted nationwide in print and television. Additionally, LG’s marketing strategy was clever because it induced Indian consumers to purchase the LG mobile as a part of their patriotic duty towards the country. The above is a reason why Rang De Basanti’s brand partnerships were perceived as social, patriotic and evaluated in a positive manner by the Indian public.
d. Rang De Paathshaala Tour In Association With Airtel: In an effort to reach out to Gen Next, the cast and crew of the film visited a Delhi campus to interact with the students, asking each one of them to "Express Yourself!" (the Airtel tagline). The student talked about a range of issues about the current state of the country and our youth - and it was covered by NDTV to be aired in the week before the release. This partnership between Rang De Basanti and Airtel was very profitable for both the parties as it took their campaign directly to schools and colleges and also prevented their partnership from being viewed from the commercial standpoint.
e. Rang De Basanti And Berger Paints: Berger Paints tied up with the film with a multimedia campaign covering Television, Print and Outdoor.
f. Rang De Basanti And Club HP: Hindustan Petroleum tied up with Rang De Basanti in a unique association which involved the film’s branding at 200 key HP petrol stations across the country, including banners, hoardings and standees at prominent spots.
2. Aamir Khan: Aamir Khan is not only known as one of the most versatile and intelligent actors in the Hindi Film Industry but is also recognised to be an uncanny marketer of his films. He is known to be very choosy about his movies and “live his character” for the movie including sporting a new look for each of his releases since “Dil Chahta Hai” (2001) get mass media hype and create a buzz about the film.
Costume Designer Arjun Bhasin described Aamir’s Rang De Basanti youthful look as “Aamir's look came out of the fact that he is slightly older than the other boys. His character is the type who does not go out shopping or look at any fashion magazine. If he is comfortable in a pair of jeans, he will not buy another till this one falls off his body. DJ is a free spirit. He has a paternal feel to his character, because he takes care of the boys. His look is a little sloppy and not refined. A hardcore Punjabi boy, residing in Delhi.”
3. Promotion: The movie was also well promoted through the all ‘conventional’ media vehicles including print, television, radio, OOH and the internet. The music director for the film was A.R. Rahman and this was well publicized right from the very start. The music and television trailer promos started appearing from November 2005 and were well received. The music was launched in December 2005 and was an instant hit - Rahman had worked his magic yet again with superhit chartbusters like “Roobaroo” and “Rang De Basanti” (the latter being the title track of the film sung by Daler Mehendi). These promos created a lot of buzz around the movie. A reviewer described the television trailer as: “As the trailer of Rang De Basanti opens, some color literally flows in as graffiti is spray painted on walls of dilapidated ancient monuments in Delhi. 'This January… a generation awakens' says the tagline as it introduces its lead star cast starting with Aamir Khan who plays the central character. In a wayward youthful hairdo (a pleasant change after the long locks of Mangal Pandey) and clad in jeans and leather jackets, it's a treat to watch Aamir Khan get back into the young-at-heart Dil Chahta Hai mode. Daler Mehendi grabs your attention with his spirited rendition of the title track of Rang De Basanti in the background. A.R.Rehman comes up with one of his most peppy compositions for this number and while his music usually takes time to grow on you, this one is of the instantly catchy varieties. Expect more magic from the maestro in this album.”
In early January 2006, the theatrical promos hit the screens and generated the anticipated curiosity. In the words of a reviewer describing the theatre trailer: “The dialogues that follow clearly imply the theme of the movie. While one might have imagined that Rang De Basanti is a fun comedy flick from the first trailer, this trailer gives the movie a more social look talking about the upliftment of the country and the corrupt systems within. Still it doesn't get conventionally preachy.”
The premiere party for the film received tremendous media coverage and on 26 January the film was released amidst a lot of fanfare with the cast and crew visiting theatres across the country to promote the film.
4. Controversies: Days before the movie was slated to release, in mid-January 2006, reports in the media had the Indian Air Force objected to a computer-generated scene in the movie showing the crash of a MiG-21 fighter aircraft. The controversy was resolved when a special screening was held for senior Government and military officials, who after viewing the movie, commented that it was "open-minded" and believed in freedom of speech and expression and had no objections to the screening of the film.
A day after the Indian Air Force said it had no objections to the movie, it was embroiled in a fresh controversy over its use of animals with Animal rights activists and Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) member Maneka Gandhi alleging the film's producer had used animals without getting the mandatory permission of the board. This controversy was resolved when the “offending scene” deleted from the movie. These controversies were widely covered by the local and international media and the film’s promoters ensured that in their interaction with the media, they extracted maximum mileage out of these controversies to add to the buildup of the movie.
5. Special Screenings: Rakyesh Mehra along with the cast and crew also promoted the screening of Rang De Basanti in another unique manner – they literally took the product to the target audience. The film was screened at various places including, ‘Infosys’ (Hyderabad and Bangalore locations) the leading software company in India, boasting of a workforce predominantly in the age group of 23-35.The movie was also screened at IIT (Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai) the premium institute of technology in India having on its rolls the brightest minds in India. The director Rakyesh Mehra also attended the screening of Rang De Basanti in Ahmedabad, Gujarat which has seen some of the worst Hindu-Muslim riots in recent times. The promotion of Rang De Basanti was therefore unprecedented. The special screenings of Rang De Basanti were also always followed by a discussion which helped spark debates about its theme, the role of citizens while enabling rational discussions about the nation state, national identity and nationalism. This aspect also helped promote citizenship in India as youngsters moved by the realist images and the marketing strategies of Rang De Basanti now felt encouraged take part in public life and debates and discussions about the movie.
6. Media Partners: Media partners of Rang De Basanti included ‘Radio Mirchi’ , ‘Channel [V]’ and MSN website. Rang De Basanti in an exclusive tie-up with MSN “used the power of MSN blogs to generate hype around the movie”. In this unique tie-up, MSN set up blogs for all the six lead actors of Rang De Basanti so as to enable the public to “chat and interact” with them on a regular basis. The premier of the movie was also “web-cast” on MSN on the 26th January, the day the film released in the theatre. The movie also had in-film advertising of news broadcaster NDTV and it stars appeared on many shows on the news channel in the period during which the film released garnering free airtime. Popular website Rediff.com also had a special section on their portal dedicated to the film. Mobile2win, a leading Indian mobile content company, had also launched a mobile game based on the movie in an exclusive tie-up with UTV and Rakyesh Om Prakash Mehra Pictures, the producers of the film.
7. Screening at International film festivals: The film was screened at several international film festivals to promote the film abroad. In 2006, it premiered in France with the Lyon Asiexpo Film Festival, the Wisconsin Film Festival and the Morocco-based International Film Festival of Marrakech
8. Awards: As the film moved from the Growth Stage of its PLC where the DVD was released and entered maturity phase where it was premiered on television on STAR Gold, various reports in the media documented several high profile awards for which the movie was nominated including, the Golden Globe, the Oscars and the BAFTA awards. These awards are an important cog in the marketing campaign of an movie – planetbollywood.com highlights this by saying: “It is a commonly known fact that following the Academy's stamp of "Best Picture" or "Best Director", films' box-office and DVD sales sky-rocket.”
5. Money:
Out of the Rs. 25 Crore Production Budget, UTV spent Rs. 10 Crore – a whopping 40% compared to the usual 5% of a typical Bollywood film on its marketing and promotions alone. Out of the Rs. 10 Crore marketing campaign, Rs. 2 Crore came from the producers while the rest was obtained through brand tie-ups and partnering. The marketing campaign clearly paid off as it had gross revenues of Rs. 30 Crores in India in the first thirteen weeks of its release. According to Saurabh Varma, the erstwhile marketing head of PVR Cinemas, "It got a phenomenal opening and so far it has sustained the success. The total collection till now (after 3 weeks) from the film is approximately Rs.35 million and the occupancy rate is 75 percent in most of the PVR outlets."
6. Measurement:
In a year that was stupendous for the Hindi Film Industry, Rang De Basanti stood out as result of its focused integrated marketing communication campaign which managed to create the desired audience connect and the product lived up to the billing. The Hindu noted: “The year 2006 was unlike any other for the Hindi film industry. Gandhigiri, superheroes, new age patriotism, broken marriages, comedies... almost everything worked. Subhanallah (Fanaa) and Masti ki Paatshala (Rang De Basanti) topped the charts as did Beedi (Omkara) and Rock`n' Roll (Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna)… Not being preachy also worked for new-age patriotism, Rang De Basanti being case in point. RDB became a reference point to a number of protests across the nation.“ The Box Office Collections of the film also reflect the success of the campaign as shown in the following table.
Domestic Box Office Collections:
Week Collections (INR) Avg. Per Print (INR)
1 11,06,83,169 6,74,555
2 5,53,97,698 5,22,620
3 4,92,44,627 4,51,786
4 2,73,80,029 2,68,432
5 1,61,85,394 1,83,925
6 1,29,12,851 1,61,411
7 1,13,00,830 1,59,167
8 89,33,060 1,25,818
10 66,44,996 93,591
11 14,29,876 64,994
12 9,23,303 35,512
13 4,15,957 69,326
Total Gross 30,14,51,790
International Box Office Collections: (all figures in local currency)
Country Date Rank Amount Screens Average Per Screen Total Gross
Australia 26-Feb-06 N.A. 81,367 8 10,171 N.A.
Singapore 26-Feb-06 N.A. 31,000 N.A. N.A. N.A.
United 27-Feb-06 13 2,21,226 38 5,822 N.A.
Kingdom 3-Feb-06 16 1,25,000 37 3,378 4,30,000
10-Feb-06 14 90,814 33 2,752 5,63,142
17-Feb-06 19 63,778 33 1,933 6,90,163
3-Mar-06 34 18,287 20 914 7,78,435
10-Mar-06 38 9,780 10 978 7,94,296
17-Mar-06 41 7,409 6 1,235 8,05,227
24-Mar-06 38 8,316 8 1,040 8,15,951
31-Mar-06 49 2,987 4 747 8,21,275
7-Apr-06 53 1,484 5 297 8,24,148
United 27-Feb-06 23 7,01,666 61 11,503 N.A.
States 3-Feb-06 28 4,25,533 66 6,447 12,07,233
Of America 10-Feb-06 34 2,54,566 65 3,916 15,05,166
17-Feb-06 35 2,82,647 63 4,486 18,39,413
24-Mar-06 46 1,27,775 51 2,505 20,08,301
3-Mar-06 52 72,442 39 1,857 20,95,931
10-Mar-06 59 36,453 30 1,215 21,43,354
17-Mar-06 62 25,138 25 1,006 21,77,949
24-Mar-06 75 10,941 18 608 21,93,052
31-Mar-06 108 2,144 6 357 21,97,331
The international awards for which the film was nominated for as well as the clean sweep of the domestic awards including winning a National Award (as illustrated earlier in the timeline), especially in a year of high profile and huge successful other releases, also bear testimony to the successful campaign. In fact by the time the film led Oscar’s race (January 2007) it had collected Rs 125 crore at the box office till date (Rs 75 crore in the domestic market, Rs 25 crore overseas and Rs 25 crore through auxiliary income) and has had the highest DVD sales of 72,000 units. But perhaps none of these metrics measure the success of the campaign more than the ‘Pepsi & MTV Youth Icon 2007' where the youth of India have voted 'ORKUT' - the biggest youth social networking forum, as the undisputed winner of the 'Pepsi & MTV Youth Icon 2007' with Rang De Basanti coming in a close second. This decisively proved that the message had reached the intended market indeed and how!
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Sunday, August 24, 2008
IMC Journal | Part 4
A lot of my classmates from the IMC class told me that my blog helped them prepare for the midterm... well guys, like the hutch/vodafone pug ad says "Happy to help". (Just a request, if you visit the blog, do leave a comment - would love to hear from y'all!)
Speaking of the mid-term, well, it was not sinister - in fact far from it - it was a test that made u think, ponder, reflect... quite a welcome break from the mug-vomit routine. And the best part - most of think that there cannot be any one correct answer to most questions and I daresay, we are all right from our point of view.
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Yesterday's class was different to say the least... (for a while I thought was back in the gaseous climes of the HR class!!) with class being divided into 4 groups and given drinking straws to build towers that would be judged on 3 criteria - strength, height and beauty. But here was the catch - one chap from each group was meet with
Mirchi while the rest were given the resources (the straws) and could start building. These chaps - deemed as leaders of the groups - rejoined their respective groups and started working with us, though by then some labeled them chamchas or 'spies' (Yes - even at the MBA level, we still have the ripe wisdom and maturity of a montessary student - and you know what, class & life would be grey without it!)
So while our group endevaoured to make a straw tower (something that would tower over even Sid Srinivasan) in the alloted 20 minutes, each one of us came up with the master engineering plan and started building as if blessed by Lord Vishwakarma himself... aamra shobai raja ei rajar rajotte! (We are all kings in this king's kingdom) It was total chaos... and finally with multiple leaders and no singular thought, it was no suprise that we did not really have a straw tower. Next came branding and launching our non-existent tower. (By then some of us including me on the sly started 'fixing' it to salvage some pride)
Creativity has no bounds and this exercise proved it! T first group pitched their tower as the "love nest" for honeymooning couples in Bejing (ala the Bird's Nest stadium?) but methinks no one for the love of God would dare stay there; group two called theirs "the earthquake" - an entertainment centre under construction that would host the world's most thrilling roller coaster ride; the third group's tower was pitched as an old school cigar bar - truth is that it all smoke and mirrors! As for us, we creatively pitched ours as "Burj-e-Qaida": a symbol of revolution built for the "liberators" against the Whiteman's opression! (golper goru gache utheche re! - sorry - when I get emotional I tend to burst out in my mother tongue - that Bengali phrase can be loosely translated as "the cow in the story climbed a tree" - absurdism anyone?)
Then came the points and to no real suprise our score was Zero (hey what's there to be sad abt that - afterall that's India's contribution to the world!)
This entire exercise was an illustration of how organisations and agencies worked in real life - what are the challenges faced by individuals and teams when a brand campaign is launched. It effectively illustrated how the leadership Style was important for achieving a common vision and ensuring productivity - - how there must a certain Structure in the group to get the desired results (too many leaders with no followers or vice versa and we come down like a house of cards) - - that there must a System (chaos theory doesn't quite cut it here) - - the Staff ie the employees can make or break a campaign and everyone must be on board when the campaign is being executed - - Skills of each employee must be optimally utilised - - and finally there must be a Strategy to hold it all together. Indeed Strategy is the glue and blueprint of any campaign (and I daresay for anything one wants to achieve)... all of these would mean that the team is built upon a certain set of Shared Values (and that's an Olympic achievement).
The following diagram captures the essence of the exercise:
---
Yesterday's class was different to say the least... (for a while I thought was back in the gaseous climes of the HR class!!) with class being divided into 4 groups and given drinking straws to build towers that would be judged on 3 criteria - strength, height and beauty. But here was the catch - one chap from each group was meet with
Mirchi while the rest were given the resources (the straws) and could start building. These chaps - deemed as leaders of the groups - rejoined their respective groups and started working with us, though by then some labeled them chamchas or 'spies' (Yes - even at the MBA level, we still have the ripe wisdom and maturity of a montessary student - and you know what, class & life would be grey without it!)So while our group endevaoured to make a straw tower (something that would tower over even Sid Srinivasan) in the alloted 20 minutes, each one of us came up with the master engineering plan and started building as if blessed by Lord Vishwakarma himself... aamra shobai raja ei rajar rajotte! (We are all kings in this king's kingdom) It was total chaos... and finally with multiple leaders and no singular thought, it was no suprise that we did not really have a straw tower. Next came branding and launching our non-existent tower. (By then some of us including me on the sly started 'fixing' it to salvage some pride)
Creativity has no bounds and this exercise proved it! T first group pitched their tower as the "love nest" for honeymooning couples in Bejing (ala the Bird's Nest stadium?) but methinks no one for the love of God would dare stay there; group two called theirs "the earthquake" - an entertainment centre under construction that would host the world's most thrilling roller coaster ride; the third group's tower was pitched as an old school cigar bar - truth is that it all smoke and mirrors! As for us, we creatively pitched ours as "Burj-e-Qaida": a symbol of revolution built for the "liberators" against the Whiteman's opression! (golper goru gache utheche re! - sorry - when I get emotional I tend to burst out in my mother tongue - that Bengali phrase can be loosely translated as "the cow in the story climbed a tree" - absurdism anyone?)
Then came the points and to no real suprise our score was Zero (hey what's there to be sad abt that - afterall that's India's contribution to the world!)
This entire exercise was an illustration of how organisations and agencies worked in real life - what are the challenges faced by individuals and teams when a brand campaign is launched. It effectively illustrated how the leadership Style was important for achieving a common vision and ensuring productivity - - how there must a certain Structure in the group to get the desired results (too many leaders with no followers or vice versa and we come down like a house of cards) - - that there must a System (chaos theory doesn't quite cut it here) - - the Staff ie the employees can make or break a campaign and everyone must be on board when the campaign is being executed - - Skills of each employee must be optimally utilised - - and finally there must be a Strategy to hold it all together. Indeed Strategy is the glue and blueprint of any campaign (and I daresay for anything one wants to achieve)... all of these would mean that the team is built upon a certain set of Shared Values (and that's an Olympic achievement).
The following diagram captures the essence of the exercise:
Friday, August 22, 2008
IMC Journal | Part 3.2
Amazing what deadlines can do to a man! Here I am back with the concluding part of my journal entry... up until now, we have discussed what are the various types of campaigns used. Now it's time to take a look at the various media used in IMC.
I came across an interesting point of view on IMC in a paper by Danny Vargas (president of VARCom Solutions) - "Integrated Marketing Communication is a way of looking at the whole marketing process from the viewpoint of the customer."
According to Danny Vargas, an effective IMC process comprises the following steps which I find this similar to our 6M model.:
• Identify the target audiences—This requires awell thought out market segmentation and targeting process which may include secondary and/or primary market research.
• Determine the communications objectives—As stated previously, this can range from generating awareness to countering the competition.
• Design the messaging content—This is an absolutely critical component. Effective messaging can make or break a promotional effort.
• Select the means for communications.
• Define the mix of media, budget and priorities.
• Measure the effectiveness of the efforts.
With this in mind, we understand it is imperative to ensure that the message is delivered to the customer in a form that he desires - effectively underscoring the importance of the media or vehicle of communication and thus Media Planning is a critical cog in the Marketing Strategy of an organization (of the 4 Ps - Media Planning is a part of Promotion process).
Media Planning can be defined as "Process of designing a scheduling plan that shows how advertising time and space in selected media and vehicles contribute to the achievement of marketing objectives in an advertising campaign". Media planning, in general terms, is a tool that allows the advertiser to select the most appropriate media to communicate the message in sufficient frequency towards the maximum number of potential customers at the lowest cost.
At the onset, we need to be clear about the 2 basic terms used in Media Planning...
--> Medium: A medium is a carrier and deliverer of Advertisements. It is a broad general category of carries such as Newspapers, Television, Radio, Internet, Outdoor, Direct Mail, etc.
--> Vehicle: It is a specific carrier within a Media category. So a Zee TV would be the vehicle in the category of TV. Many a time a specific programs or sections within a medium may be termed as a vehicle. For example, a "Kyunki saas bhi…" on Star Plus would be the vehicle in the Television category.
Choosing which media or type of advertising to use is sometimes tricky, especially for small firms with limited budgets and know-how. Large-market television and newspapers are often too expensive for a company that services only a small area (although local newspapers can be used). Magazines, unless local, usually cover too much territory to be cost-efficient for a small firm, although some national publications offer regional or city editions. Metropolitan radio stations present the same problems as TV and metro newspapers; however, in smaller markets, the local radio station and newspaper may sufficiently cover a small firm's audience. That's why it's important to put together a media plan for an IMC campaign.
The three components of a Media Plan are as follows:
1. Defining the marketing problem. Do we know where our business is coming from and where the potential for increased business lies? Do we know which markets offer the greatest opportunity? Do we need to reach everybody or only a select group of consumers? How often is the product used? How much product loyalty exists?
2. Translating the marketing requirements into attainable media objectives. Do we want to reach a lot of people in a wide area (to get the most out of your advertising spend)? Then mass media, like newspaper and radio, might work for us. If our target market is a select group in a defined geographic area, then direct mail could be our best bet.
3. Defining a media solution by formulating media strategies. Certain schedules work best with different media. For example, the rule of thumb is that a print ad must run three times before it gets noticed. Radio advertising is most effective when run at certain times of the day or around certain programs, depending on what market we're trying to reach.
To determine the media expenditure it is best to classify brands as shown below:
A High Premium Brand need not always be profitable - eg: Kingfisher Airlines where as Low Premium Value - High Profitability Brands include Coke & Pepsi. Hitch Hiker Brands are those that ride on upward growth of sector or category like the brands in a men's formal ready to wear category whereas Dead End Brands are those that have Low Profitability & Premium (in terms of Branding Communication) like Lifebuoy Soap. High Road Brands are usually the first movers in a category and obtain leadership position - thus require a Pioneering Campaign where as Low Road Brands are those that exisit in a cluttered space - thus require Competitive and Retentive Campaigns. Also for the latterm cumulative media spend would be high but individual spend need not be much - eg Telecom Service Providers.
To understand the various media and what type of IMC campaign they are suitable for click on the following link:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pVhHIMzU_yeKKf4IPLldrUw
Hasta La Vista Baby!
I came across an interesting point of view on IMC in a paper by Danny Vargas (president of VARCom Solutions) - "Integrated Marketing Communication is a way of looking at the whole marketing process from the viewpoint of the customer."
According to Danny Vargas, an effective IMC process comprises the following steps which I find this similar to our 6M model.:
• Identify the target audiences—This requires awell thought out market segmentation and targeting process which may include secondary and/or primary market research.
• Determine the communications objectives—As stated previously, this can range from generating awareness to countering the competition.
• Design the messaging content—This is an absolutely critical component. Effective messaging can make or break a promotional effort.
• Select the means for communications.
• Define the mix of media, budget and priorities.
• Measure the effectiveness of the efforts.
With this in mind, we understand it is imperative to ensure that the message is delivered to the customer in a form that he desires - effectively underscoring the importance of the media or vehicle of communication and thus Media Planning is a critical cog in the Marketing Strategy of an organization (of the 4 Ps - Media Planning is a part of Promotion process).
Media Planning can be defined as "Process of designing a scheduling plan that shows how advertising time and space in selected media and vehicles contribute to the achievement of marketing objectives in an advertising campaign". Media planning, in general terms, is a tool that allows the advertiser to select the most appropriate media to communicate the message in sufficient frequency towards the maximum number of potential customers at the lowest cost.
At the onset, we need to be clear about the 2 basic terms used in Media Planning...
--> Medium: A medium is a carrier and deliverer of Advertisements. It is a broad general category of carries such as Newspapers, Television, Radio, Internet, Outdoor, Direct Mail, etc.
--> Vehicle: It is a specific carrier within a Media category. So a Zee TV would be the vehicle in the category of TV. Many a time a specific programs or sections within a medium may be termed as a vehicle. For example, a "Kyunki saas bhi…" on Star Plus would be the vehicle in the Television category.
Choosing which media or type of advertising to use is sometimes tricky, especially for small firms with limited budgets and know-how. Large-market television and newspapers are often too expensive for a company that services only a small area (although local newspapers can be used). Magazines, unless local, usually cover too much territory to be cost-efficient for a small firm, although some national publications offer regional or city editions. Metropolitan radio stations present the same problems as TV and metro newspapers; however, in smaller markets, the local radio station and newspaper may sufficiently cover a small firm's audience. That's why it's important to put together a media plan for an IMC campaign.
The three components of a Media Plan are as follows:
1. Defining the marketing problem. Do we know where our business is coming from and where the potential for increased business lies? Do we know which markets offer the greatest opportunity? Do we need to reach everybody or only a select group of consumers? How often is the product used? How much product loyalty exists?
2. Translating the marketing requirements into attainable media objectives. Do we want to reach a lot of people in a wide area (to get the most out of your advertising spend)? Then mass media, like newspaper and radio, might work for us. If our target market is a select group in a defined geographic area, then direct mail could be our best bet.
3. Defining a media solution by formulating media strategies. Certain schedules work best with different media. For example, the rule of thumb is that a print ad must run three times before it gets noticed. Radio advertising is most effective when run at certain times of the day or around certain programs, depending on what market we're trying to reach.
To determine the media expenditure it is best to classify brands as shown below:
A High Premium Brand need not always be profitable - eg: Kingfisher Airlines where as Low Premium Value - High Profitability Brands include Coke & Pepsi. Hitch Hiker Brands are those that ride on upward growth of sector or category like the brands in a men's formal ready to wear category whereas Dead End Brands are those that have Low Profitability & Premium (in terms of Branding Communication) like Lifebuoy Soap. High Road Brands are usually the first movers in a category and obtain leadership position - thus require a Pioneering Campaign where as Low Road Brands are those that exisit in a cluttered space - thus require Competitive and Retentive Campaigns. Also for the latterm cumulative media spend would be high but individual spend need not be much - eg Telecom Service Providers.
To understand the various media and what type of IMC campaign they are suitable for click on the following link:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p
Hasta La Vista Baby!
IMC Journal | Part 3.1
When the Japanese invented the JIT system, they probably would have never thought of the realms in which the concept could be applied to. And I daresay they could not have possibly known about this good School of Business in Mumbai where the students would adopt it wholeheartedly and adapt it so indigenously that batch after batch it would become the motto of their life here. That said, here I am, with the third instalment of my Journal - Just In Time :)
As this is as good a time as any to recap what the course has been all about, especially since we have a (sinister?) mid term tomorrow, I decided to go back to the very basics - to understand how one can define IMC or Integrated Marketing Communication. Good ol' Wiki to my rescue again - here's what Wikipedia says: Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), according to The American Marketing Association, is “a planning process designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product, service, or organization are relevant to that person and consistent over time.”
According to the Marketing Power Dictionary, Integrated marketing communication can be defined as a holistic approach to promote buying and selling in the digital economy. This concept includes many online and offline marketing channels.
Online marketing channels include any e-marketing campaigns or programs, from search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click, affiliate, email, banner to latest web related channels for webinar, blog, RSS, podcast, and Internet TV.
Offline marketing channels are traditional print (newspaper, magazine), mail order, public relations, industry analyst relations billboard, radio, and television."
Another definition from www.marketing.about.com says IMC is "A management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation."
I think these thoughts are more or less in tune with the thoughts exchanged in class for the past 3 - 4 weeks. The increasing communication options of recent years have contributed to clutter and noise in the market. As I wrote in Part 1.1, a market is a platform for exchange of various things between buyers and sellers. It is but common sense that in a cluttered and noisy environment, an optimal exchange is not feasble. This had made it important for marketers (sellers) to integrate their marketing communication and break through the barrier of noise to reach the buyers.
We had also understood that a market can be defined by the 3 C framework of the famous Japanese Strategy Guru - Kenichi Ohmae (learnt this name ironically from one the article's from the reading Tsunami) i.e. Corporation, Customer and Competition. Indeed with ever growing competition it becomes imperative to have a focussed message communicated to the customer. Any message can be of two types - rational or emotional (however the recent Bingo ads have also shown a third type - humour or absurdism) and the type of message would depend on the nature of communication planned / required. To optimally deliver the message to the target customer, the concept of IMC was introduced in 1993.
The AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) Model has been the traditional process that has determined the flow of marketing communications and direct sales efforts by...
1. Create attention;
2. Generate interest;
3. Develop desire;
4. Initiate action.
The IMC way extends AIDA so to speak. Using the PLC of a product or a service, one can determine the type of IMC campaign required i.e. in the Introduction Stage - Pioneering Campaign is needed, in the Growth Stage - Competitive Campaign, in the Maturity Stage of the PLC - Retentive and finally in the Decline stage a Repositioning / Rebranding Campaign is required.
A Pioneering Campaign seeks to kickstart the 'AI' part of AIDA i.e. to Create Attention and Generate Interest - thus starts the upward 'Pain Curve' of a customer at not having the product. As interest transforms into desire the Pain Curve keeps heading north and it reaches its peak at the Point of Purchase (Action) and hereon it bifurcates into a downward (falling) pain curve and (hopefully) rising Pride curve. Thus the campaign Enlisted the customer. But IMC does not stop here - Post Action, a campaign seeks to also Engage, Empower and eventually Enslave the customer.
Another way to understand what type of campaign is to be used is done by using the Ansoff Matrix:
Now if a New Product is to be introduced in an Existing Market (i.e. in case of a Product Development as we saw in with the BMW M5 ad shown in class) or in the reverse case of Market Development (as Coke did when it came into India) or in case of a Diversification (Reliance Infocomm), then a Pioneering Campaign is needed. Similarly to promote an Existing Product in an Existing Market (Market Penetration), a Competitive Campaign is required.
From the point of view of the Media used and the Market, Campaigns can be classified as:
These above classification may also spawn hybrids such as a Continuous Focussed campaign where a campaign has a singular message delivered over a long period of time - for instance the Pulse Polio Campaign.
As this is as good a time as any to recap what the course has been all about, especially since we have a (sinister?) mid term tomorrow, I decided to go back to the very basics - to understand how one can define IMC or Integrated Marketing Communication. Good ol' Wiki to my rescue again - here's what Wikipedia says: Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), according to The American Marketing Association, is “a planning process designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product, service, or organization are relevant to that person and consistent over time.”
According to the Marketing Power Dictionary, Integrated marketing communication can be defined as a holistic approach to promote buying and selling in the digital economy. This concept includes many online and offline marketing channels.
Online marketing channels include any e-marketing campaigns or programs, from search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click, affiliate, email, banner to latest web related channels for webinar, blog, RSS, podcast, and Internet TV.
Offline marketing channels are traditional print (newspaper, magazine), mail order, public relations, industry analyst relations billboard, radio, and television."
Another definition from www.marketing.about.com says IMC is "A management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation."
I think these thoughts are more or less in tune with the thoughts exchanged in class for the past 3 - 4 weeks. The increasing communication options of recent years have contributed to clutter and noise in the market. As I wrote in Part 1.1, a market is a platform for exchange of various things between buyers and sellers. It is but common sense that in a cluttered and noisy environment, an optimal exchange is not feasble. This had made it important for marketers (sellers) to integrate their marketing communication and break through the barrier of noise to reach the buyers.
We had also understood that a market can be defined by the 3 C framework of the famous Japanese Strategy Guru - Kenichi Ohmae (learnt this name ironically from one the article's from the reading Tsunami) i.e. Corporation, Customer and Competition. Indeed with ever growing competition it becomes imperative to have a focussed message communicated to the customer. Any message can be of two types - rational or emotional (however the recent Bingo ads have also shown a third type - humour or absurdism) and the type of message would depend on the nature of communication planned / required. To optimally deliver the message to the target customer, the concept of IMC was introduced in 1993.
The AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) Model has been the traditional process that has determined the flow of marketing communications and direct sales efforts by...
1. Create attention;
2. Generate interest;
3. Develop desire;
4. Initiate action.
The IMC way extends AIDA so to speak. Using the PLC of a product or a service, one can determine the type of IMC campaign required i.e. in the Introduction Stage - Pioneering Campaign is needed, in the Growth Stage - Competitive Campaign, in the Maturity Stage of the PLC - Retentive and finally in the Decline stage a Repositioning / Rebranding Campaign is required.
A Pioneering Campaign seeks to kickstart the 'AI' part of AIDA i.e. to Create Attention and Generate Interest - thus starts the upward 'Pain Curve' of a customer at not having the product. As interest transforms into desire the Pain Curve keeps heading north and it reaches its peak at the Point of Purchase (Action) and hereon it bifurcates into a downward (falling) pain curve and (hopefully) rising Pride curve. Thus the campaign Enlisted the customer. But IMC does not stop here - Post Action, a campaign seeks to also Engage, Empower and eventually Enslave the customer.
Another way to understand what type of campaign is to be used is done by using the Ansoff Matrix:
Now if a New Product is to be introduced in an Existing Market (i.e. in case of a Product Development as we saw in with the BMW M5 ad shown in class) or in the reverse case of Market Development (as Coke did when it came into India) or in case of a Diversification (Reliance Infocomm), then a Pioneering Campaign is needed. Similarly to promote an Existing Product in an Existing Market (Market Penetration), a Competitive Campaign is required.
From the point of view of the Media used and the Market, Campaigns can be classified as:
These above classification may also spawn hybrids such as a Continuous Focussed campaign where a campaign has a singular message delivered over a long period of time - for instance the Pulse Polio Campaign.
Friday, August 8, 2008
IMC Journal | Part 2
A lot of water has flown in the IMC class since my last journal entry - the topic zeroed in for our campaign is "Incredible India" and our job is to come up with a better one! Enjoying myself as the 'CEO' of my group - coordinating with everyone and brainstorming... hope to give this one a real good shot.
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Our campaign dissection of Rang De Basanti is also done... will post it here as soon as we submit it to Sir.
---
Last class was interesting since we collectively dissected 2 very different campaigns in the class using the framework of the 3Cs and the 6M model.
The first campaign that we dissected was the corporate campaign of Tata Steel circa 2000 titled "A Century of Trust"... the subliminal messages addressing the erstwhile scenario in which the company opened my eyes to a whole new dimension of marketing communication. (You can have a dekko of all the Tata ads over the years at this link: http://www.tata.com/htm/adgallery/Group_Adgallery.htm?sectid=9mUjMpN9N6M=) - bottomline: the message that the ad sent out was "we are a century old young brand" aimed at all the stakeholders of the colossal conglomerate.
I enjoyed the other advertisement even more - it was an ad featuring Madonna and Clive Owen (that's right boys and girls, something for everyone here :P) made by the celebrated British director (and Madonnaji's pati parameshwar), Guy Richie. This advertisement was a part of 7 ad films made to promote the BMW M5 (sexy car). The ad film was quite long and seemed self indulgent at the start but was effective in communicating the message (that this was a "fun" car to drive) to the target audience. The M5 was a new product targetted at an existing market.
(Take some time to see the video of the ad at http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=LVTVYpZ9ivA - I guarentee that you wont regret it).
This week we would be comparing the ad messages of Coke, Pantene and McDonald's in India and Abroad - and the evolution of the messages of these brands in India over the years. Sounds good to me...
---
Our campaign dissection of Rang De Basanti is also done... will post it here as soon as we submit it to Sir.
---
Last class was interesting since we collectively dissected 2 very different campaigns in the class using the framework of the 3Cs and the 6M model.
The first campaign that we dissected was the corporate campaign of Tata Steel circa 2000 titled "A Century of Trust"... the subliminal messages addressing the erstwhile scenario in which the company opened my eyes to a whole new dimension of marketing communication. (You can have a dekko of all the Tata ads over the years at this link: http://www.tata.com/htm/adgallery/Group_Adgallery.htm?sectid=9mUjMpN9N6M=) - bottomline: the message that the ad sent out was "we are a century old young brand" aimed at all the stakeholders of the colossal conglomerate.
I enjoyed the other advertisement even more - it was an ad featuring Madonna and Clive Owen (that's right boys and girls, something for everyone here :P) made by the celebrated British director (and Madonnaji's pati parameshwar), Guy Richie. This advertisement was a part of 7 ad films made to promote the BMW M5 (sexy car). The ad film was quite long and seemed self indulgent at the start but was effective in communicating the message (that this was a "fun" car to drive) to the target audience. The M5 was a new product targetted at an existing market.
(Take some time to see the video of the ad at http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=LVTVYpZ9ivA - I guarentee that you wont regret it).
This week we would be comparing the ad messages of Coke, Pantene and McDonald's in India and Abroad - and the evolution of the messages of these brands in India over the years. Sounds good to me...
Monday, August 4, 2008
Jio Bangali
These are some of my favourite articles on us Bongs! Jio Bangali!---
Home Is Where the Bengali Is - Bachi Karkaria
"There is some corner of a foreign field/ Which is forever Bengali." Ki nonsense kotha. It's not a corner; it's the whole blaady expanse. Ours is an eenbhasion, a coup. From which the attackee will never recoupaarate, I might add. It's true. Suddenly the Bengalis are everywhere. So many, taking over so much, in so many places that I wonder if there are any left in Kolkata. Formerly, you saw Bengalis outside Bengal only when you went on holiday.There they were, the men in Fair Isle sweaters knitted lovingly by their mothers, their wives in blue cardigans, the baachcha in monkey cap. Wherever you went, they were always there, a swagger to their step and boxy camera around their neck along with the matching "maaflar". Whether you were in Kashmir or Kanyakumari, in Nepal or Neyvelli, in Sri Lanka or Sariska, you always found one Bombay Photo Studio, one Madras Café, one Tibetan curio shop, and one Bengali family.
When Hilary and Tenzing climbed Everest, did they find a mysterious mishti syrup stain on the snow, irrefutable evidence that The Bengali Was Here? When Jacques Cousteau plumbed the icy deep, did he find a trace of maastard oil on Antarctic ocean-bed and telltale signs of a neatly-picked rohu skeleton? When Armstrong floated on the lunar surface, had Neel-da already taken one small step for Bongkind in his trusty Bata sandals?
I am prepared to bet on it, whatever may be the conspiracy of silence which has prevented the inveterate Bengali traveller from being given his due (LTA already collected, thank you).
When I began to venture abroad, they would be there not just as tourists, but as NRBs. Keep your motel, Mr. Patel, Shri Banerjee has spread himself wider, higher, deeper across the globe. In the suburban Cardiff of the early 70s, there wasn't anything non-Welsh for miles around. Anything except Mr Palit. He was the husband of one of the secretaries of our Thomson Foundation and, taking pity on us for having to face the bland hostel fare, she invited us for dinner. We expected a tastier version of our usual cod and chips. But what a spread we got: course upon course of authentic Bangla Ranna, whose aromas wafted out of the chintzy windows and unleashed all manner of uncharacteristic urges in the staid neighbourhood of Penarth. Three decades on, I can still recall that we had a chochchori of very English vegetables, ghoogni, chingdi malai curry, even chaatni. True, it wasn't today's beeay-bari favourite, the "plastic" variety. Procuring aamshatto anywhere in Wales in those pre-Curry Colonialism days would have defeated even the enterprising Palit-babu but the tomato version he dished up was properly spiked with raisins and suited us fine. There was a fiery fish which could pass off for rui. And we rounded it off with homemade shandesh. It was amazing. Was it a waking dream, we wondered as we were driven back, gently burping all the way.
Then, of course, came the rising Diaspora, so dominated by brilliant Bengalis that it came to be called the Diaspora. It occasioned no surprise to encounter them all over the States, deep in the mid-West or on the farthest Hawaiian island. Somewhere, somehow, one caught the whiff of begun bhaja in the air. "Is that a narkel bora I see before me, glistening through the Minnesota mist? It is. It is the Mistress of Spices at her magic. And should something go awry, the other Bengali, the Interpreter of Maladies, will Jhumpa up to set it right. Yes, Bengalis are certainly no slouches, either, in all the English-language fiction that has stewed in Indian creative juices. Slouches? They're winning both the marathon and the 100-metre dash in the race to literary glory.
It's the same closer to home. There are so many Bengalis occupying pole positions where I work that, if you don't speak the language, you might as well take the golden handshake. Being an Hon Bong, I scrape into the club by the skin of my teeth. When I left Kolkata - when it was still Calcutta and Jyotibabu was not yet CM - to join The Times of India as a trainee, Sumitbabu, my journalism professor at Cal U gave an introductory call to his in-laws who lived in Mumbai. At least one Sunday a month, I took the bus to their terrace flat in Parel where, to the gentle flap of drying Dhonekhali saris, I would savour posto, papad and payesh and dispel the homesickness.
In later Mumbai years, the Bengali population spread like waterhyacinth in a Beliaghata pukur, so much so that there were almost as many Pujo pandals as Ganapati ones and any market worth the name boasted a sweet-water fishmonger - Anwar, Bishuda, Chanchalbabu - right down the alphabet. The Sunday crowd thronging his stall was there as much for the community camaraderie as for the golda chingri. So it didn't really matter if it was " Bombay bekti" or if the ilish did not come from the Podda, but from the Narmada in nearer Bharuch.
Moving to Delhi , of course, I was in clover and kashundi to my heart's content. Chitto Park is a microcosm - and not a very micro one at that -of para-Kolkata. Oh bliss it was in that den to be eating shinghara,and to be there in Pujo time was very heaven. Boudis in lal-paars, dhakis,bhog,Bijoli Grill's kobiraji caat-let, Nizam's kathi rolls. And crowds to rival Gariahat on Mahashtami night. Bhaba jaye na. If you can't be in Kolkata, Delhi is the next best thing.
Generally speaking, if you want to survive into the future you'd better cross over. Learn the language, buy a Dhakai, get a Bengali son-in-law. Me? I'm changing my name to Bagchi.
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What 'Pujo' means to a Bengali – Vir Sanghvi
Most modern Indian cities strive to rise above ethnicity. Tell anybody who lives in Bombay that he lives in a Maharashtrian city and (unless of course, you are speaking to Bal Thackeray) he will take immediate offence. We are cosmopolitan, he will say indigenously.
Tell a Delhiwalla that his is a Punjabi city (which, in many ways, it is) and he will respond with much self-righteous nonsense about being the nation's capital, about the international composition of the city's elite etc.
And tell a Bangalorean that he lives in a Kannadiga city and you'll get lots of techno-gaff about the internet revolution and about how Bangalore is even more cosmopolitan than Bombay .
But, the only way to understand what Kolkata is about is recognize that the city is essentially Bengali. What's more, no Bengali minds you saying that. Rather, he is proud of the fact.
Kolkata's strengths and weaknesses mirror those of the Bengali character. It has the drawbacks: the sudden passions, the cheerful chaos, the utter contempt for mere commerce, the fiery response to the smallest provocation. And it has the strengths (actually, I think of the drawbacks as strengths in their own way). Kolkata embodies the Bengali love of culture; the triumph of intellectualism over greed; the complete transparency of all emotions, the disdain with which hypocrisy and insincerity are treated; the warmth of genuine humanity; and the supremacy of emotion over all other aspects of human existence.
That's why Kolkata is not for everyone.
You want your cities clean and green; stick to Delhi . You want your cities, rich and impersonal; go to Bombay . You want them high-tech and full of draught beer; Bangalore 's your place. But if you want a city with a soul: come to Kolkata.
When I look back on the years I've spent in Kolkata - and I come back so many times each year that I often feel I've never been away - I don't remember the things that people remember about cities.
When I think of London , I think of the vast open spaces of Hyde Park .
When I think of New York , I think of the frenzy of Times Square .
When I think of Tokyo , I think of the bright lights of Shinjiku.
And when I think of Paris , I think of the Champs Elysee.
But when I think of Kolkata, I never think of any one place. I don't focus on the greenery of the maidan, the beauty of the Victoria Memorial, the bustle of Burra Bazar or the splendour of the new Howrah Bridge .
I think of people. Because, finally, a city is more than bricks and mortars, street lights and tarred roads. A city is the sum of its people. And who can ever forget or replicate - the people of Kolkata?
When I first came to live here, I was told that the city would grow on me. What nobody told me was that the city would change my life. It was in Kolkata that I learn't about true warmth; about simple human decency; about love and friendship; about emotions and caring; about truth and honesty. I learn't other things too. Coming from Bombay as I did, it was a revelation to live in a city where people judged each other on the things that really mattered; where they recognized that being rich did not make you a better person - in fact, it might have the opposite effect. I learn't also that if life is about more than just money, it is about the things that other cities ignore; about culture, about ideas, about art, and about passion.
In Bombay , a man with a relatively low income will salt some of it away for the day when he gets a stock market tip. In Kolkata, a man with exactly the same income will not know the difference between a debenture and a dividend. But he will spend his money on the things that matter. Each morning, he will read at least two newspapers and develop sharply etched views on the state of the world. Each evening, there will be fresh (ideally, fresh-water or river) fish on his table. His children will be encouraged to learn to dance or sing. His family will appreciate the power of poetry And for him, religion and culture will be in inextricably bound together.
Ah religion! Tell outsiders about the importance of Puja in Kolkata and they'll scoff. Don't be silly, they'll say. Puja is a religious festival. And Bengal has voted for the CPM since 1977. How can godless Bengal be so hung up on a religions festival? I never know how to explain them that to a Bengali, religion consists of much more than shouting Jai Shri Ram or pulling down somebody's mosque. It has little to do with meaningless ritual or sinister political activity.
The essence of Puja is that all the passions of Bengal converge: emotion, culture, the love of life, the warmth of being together, the joy of celebration, the pride in artistic expression and yes, the cult of the goddess. It may be about religion. But is about much more than just worship. In which other part of India would small, not particularly well-off localities, vie with each other to produce the best sandals? Where else could puja pandals go beyond religion to draw inspiration from everything else? In the years I lived in Kolkata, the pandals featured Amitabh Bachchan, Princes Diana and even Saddam Hussain! Where else would children cry with the sheer emotional power of Dashimi, upset that the Goddess had left their homes? Where else would the whole city gooseflesh when the dhakis first begin to beat their drums? Which other Indian festival - in any part of the country - is so much about food, about going from one roadside stall to another, following your nose as it trails the smells of cooking?
To understand Puja, you must understand Kolkata. And to understand Kolkata, you must understand the Bengali. It's not easy. Certainly, you can't do it till you come and live here, till you let Kolkata suffuse your being, invade your bloodstream and steal your soul. But once you have, you'll love Kolkata forever.
Wherever you go, a bit of Kolkata will go with you. I know, because it's happened to me. And every Puja, I am overcome by the magic of Bengal .
It's a feeling that'll never go away.
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The Bong Alphabet
A
is for Awpheesh (as in Office). This is where the average Kolkakattan goes and spends a day hard at work. And if he works for the 'West Bengal Gawrment' he will arrive at 10, wipe his forehead till 11, have a tea break at 12, throw around a few files at 12.30, break for lunch at 1, smoke an unfiltered cigarette at 2, break for tea at 3, sleep sitting down at 4 and go home at 4:30. It's a hard life!
B
is for Bhision. For some reason many Bengalis don't have good bhision. In fact in Kolkata most people are wearing spectacles all the time.
C
is for Chappell. Currently, this is the Bengali word for the Devil, for the worst form of evil. In the night mothers put their kids to sleep saying, 'Na ghumaley Chappell eshey dhorey niye jabe.'
D
is for Debashish or any other name starting with Deb. By an ancient law every fourth Bengali Child has to be named Debashish. So you have a Debashish everywhere and trying to get creative they are also called Deb, Debu, Deba with variations like Debanik, Deboprotim, Debojyoti, etc. thrown in at times.
E
is for Eeesh. This is a very common Bengali exclamation made famous by Aishwarya Rai in the movie Devdas. It is estimated that on an average a Bengali, especially Bengali women, use eeesh 10,089 times every year. 'Ei Morechhey' is a close second to Eeesh.
F
is for Feeesh. These are creatures that swim in rivers and seas and are a favourite food of the Bengalis. Despite the fact that a fish market has such strong smells, with one sniff a Bengali knows if a fish is all right. If not he will say 'eeesh what feeesh is theesh!'
G
is for Good name. Every Bengali boy will have a good name like Debashish or Deboprotim and a pet name like Motka, Bhombol, Thobla, etc. While every Bengali girls will have pet names like Tia, Tuktuki, Mishti, Khuku, etc.
H
is for Harmonium. This the Bengali equivalent of a rock guitar. Take four Bengalis and a Harmonium and you have the successors to The Bheatles!
I
is for lleesh. This is a feeesh with 10,000 bones which would kill any ordinary person, but which the Bengalis eat with releeesh!
J
is for Jhola. No self respecting Bengali is complete without his Jhola. It is a shapeless cloth bag where he keeps all his belongings and he fits an amazing number of things in. Even as you read this there are 2 million jholas bobbling around Kolkata - and they all look exactly the same! Note
that 'Jhol' as in Maachher Jhol is a close second.
K
is for Kee Kaando !. It used to be the favourite Bengali exclamation till eeesh took over because of Aishwarya Rai (now Kee Kando's agent is trying to hire Bipasha Basu).
L
is for Lungi - the dress for all occasions. People in Kolkata manage to play football and cricket wearing it not to mention the daily trip in the morning to the local bajaar. Now there is talk of a lungi expedition to Mt. Everest .
M
is for Minibus. These are dangerous half buses whose antics would effortlessly frighten the living daylights out of all James Bond stuntmen as well as Formula 1 race car drivers.
N
is for Nangto. This is the Bengali word for Naked. It is the most interesting naked word in any language!
O
is for Oil. The Bengalis believe that a touch of mustard oil will cure anything from cold (oil in the nose), to earache (oil in the ear), to cough (oil on the throat) to piles (oil you know where!)
P
is for Phootball. This is always a phavourite phassion of the Kolkattan. Every Bengali is born an expert in this game. The two biggest clubs there are Mohunbagan and East Bengal and when they play the city comes to a stop.
Q
is for Queen. This really has nothing to do with the Bengalis or Kolkata, but it's the only Q word I could think of at this moment. There's also Quilt but they never use them in Kolkata.
R
is for Robi Thakur. Many nany years ago Rabindranath got the Nobel Prize. This has given the right to all Bengalis no matter where they are to frame their acceptance speeches as if they were directly related to the great poet and walk with their head held high. This also gives Bengalis the birthright to look down at Delhi and Mumbai and of course 'all non-Bengawlees'! Note that 'Rawshogolla' comes a close second!
S
is for Shourav. Now that they finally produced a genuine cricketer and a captain, Bengalis think that he should be allowed to play until he is 70 years old. Of course they will see to it that he stays in good form by doing a little bit of 'joggo' and 'maanot'.
T
is for Trams. Hundred years later there are still trams in Kolkata. Of course if you are in a hurry it's faster to walk.
U
is for Aambrela. When a Bengali baby is born he is handed one.
V
is for Bhaayolence. Bengalis are the most non-violent violent people around. When an accident happens they will fold up their sleeves, shout and scream and curse and abuse, "Chherey De Bolchhi" but the last time someone actually hit someone was in 1979.
W
is for Water. For three months of the year the city is underwater and every year for the last 200 years the authorities are taken by surprise by this!
X
is for X'mas. It's very big in Kolkata, with Park Street fully lit up and all Bengalis agreeing that they must eat cake that day.
Y
is for Yesshtaarday. Which is always better than today for a Bengali (see R for Robi Thakur).
Z
is for Jebra, Joo, Jipper and Jylophone.
---
A Job Interview
Bill Gates organized an enormous session to recruit a new Chairman for Microsoft Europe. 5000 candidates assembled in a large room. One candidate was Debdas Banerjee an Indian (Bengali) guy.
Bill Gates thanked all the candidates for coming and asking those who do not know JAVA program to leave. 2000 people left the room. Debdas said to himself, 'I do not know JAVA but I have nothing to lose if I stay. I'll give it a try'
Bill Gates asked the candidates who never had experience of managing more than 100 people to leave. 2000 people left the room. Debdas said to himself ' I never managed anybody by myself but I have nothing to lose if I stay. What can happen to me?' So he stayed.
Then Bill Gates asked candidates who did not have management diplomas to leave. 500 people left the room. Debdas said to himself, 'I left school at 15 but what have I got to lose?' So he stayed in the room.
Lastly, Bill Gates asked the candidates who did not speak Serbo – Croat to leave. 498 people left the room.
Debdas said to himself, ' I do not speak one word of Serbo - Croat but what do I have to lose?' So he stayed and found himself with one other candidate. Everyone else had gone.
Bill Gates joined them and said 'Apparently you are the only two candidates who speak Serbo - Croat, so I'd now like to hear you have a conversation together in that language.'
Calmly, Debdas turned to the other candidate and said - 'Ki cholchhe dada. Kemon achho.'
The other candidate answered - 'bhalo achhi bhai.'
---
Love For One's Wife…
Through the jongole I am went
On shooting Tiger I am bent
Boshtaard Tiger has eaten wife
No doubt I will avenge poor darling's life
Too much quiet, snakes and leeches
But I not fear these sons of beeches
Hearing loud noise I am jumping with start
But noise is coming from damn fool's heart
Taking care not to be fright
I am clutching rifle tight with eye to sight
Should Tiger come I will shoot and fall him down
Then like hero return to native town
Then through trees I am espying one cave
I am telling self - "Banerjee be brave"
I am now proceeding with too much care
From far I smell this Tiger's lair
My leg shaking, sweat coming, I start pray
I think I will shoot Tiger some other day
Turning round I am going to flee
But Tiger giving bloody roar spotting Bengalee
He bounding from cave like footballer Pele
I run shouting "Kali Ma tumi kothay gele"
Through the jongole I am running
With Tiger on my tail closer looming
I am a telling that never in life
I will risk again for my damn wife!!!!
---
The Quarter Life Crisis
This is something a friend of mine forwarded to me a few years back... posted it here to share with all my twenty-something friends :)
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"BEING TWENTY - SOMETHING
They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis."It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now. You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.
You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.
You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.
You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.
You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!
What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out."
---
"BEING TWENTY - SOMETHING
They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis."It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now. You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.
You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.
You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.
You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.
You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!
What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out."
Where the mind is without fear...
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action -
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
- Rabindranath Tagore
These words have been stuck in my mind from the very first time I read them in school (St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta - incidentally the only formal school that Tagore attended)... I was in class 5, quite an impressionable age. As Ms. Sarma read out these words in class, I was mesmerized but never really figured out why… till the 9/11 attacks happened. I was in Hyderabad then, in college (St. Joseph’s College, King Kothi) in 2nd Year – and those were very scary times. My college was in the heart of Hyderabad and there were polarized opinions flying around about the attacks. Man kills man and gains what?
Subsequently, every time terror raises its ugly head, Tagore’s words come back to me – I dream of the same uptopia that he did… maybe someday, we’ll be there… I’ll sign off with words of a certain Mr. John Lenon:
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one.
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action -
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
- Rabindranath Tagore
These words have been stuck in my mind from the very first time I read them in school (St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta - incidentally the only formal school that Tagore attended)... I was in class 5, quite an impressionable age. As Ms. Sarma read out these words in class, I was mesmerized but never really figured out why… till the 9/11 attacks happened. I was in Hyderabad then, in college (St. Joseph’s College, King Kothi) in 2nd Year – and those were very scary times. My college was in the heart of Hyderabad and there were polarized opinions flying around about the attacks. Man kills man and gains what?
Subsequently, every time terror raises its ugly head, Tagore’s words come back to me – I dream of the same uptopia that he did… maybe someday, we’ll be there… I’ll sign off with words of a certain Mr. John Lenon:
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
IMC Journal | Part 1.2
Back online, hoping to finish part one of my journal before I attend the 2nd lecture session... :)
The polling for the product category has closed last nite... sad to see that only 34 people in a class of nearly 60 voted - of those who voted: 6% wanted to do it on the media sector and 12% on films and sports teams... we have to finalise the product category today in class! Have thrown my name into the hat to become the "CEO" of group 1's ad agency... I think I am up for it! My group has a lot of talented people: some names that come to mind instantly are Viral, Ajay A, Mahadevan, Anupama, Ajay Rao - infact Maddy and Anupama actually got the "hierarchy" sorted out - kudos to them. Saurabh has made his bid to become the CEO of the other group... ab ayega maza!
---
Last time I ended by mentioning the 6M model of a campaign... the 6M model aims to measure a campaign on:
(i) Mission: what does the campaign intend to do - launch / relaunch / reposition a brand?
(ii) Message: this is drawn directly from the mission and is a function of the stage of PLC that the brand is in...
- Intro Stage of PLC => Pioneering Campaign => Message = "I have arrived, you need me." and it talks of the features of the product
- Growth Stage of PLC => Competitive Campaign => Message = "I am different, buy me" and it talks of the benefits of the product + fights for share of market
- Maturity Stage of PLC => Retentive Campaign => Message = "I am still here" and it talks of additional benefits of the product + aims at recall + fights for share of voice
- In case of rebranding / relaunch, the PLC of the product restarts and the Intro & Growth phases are crunched
Now based on the message and of course the intended recepients of the message - the target audience - the campaign would have to decide the following:
(iii) Media: the vehicles that would be used to take the message to the intended recepients
(iv) Money: the budget in hand to do so
(v) Market: the market for the product
All the above 3 factors are inter-related since if the money is a constraint, then the media used would be contrained - if more media are required, the budget would move north - also, the market would determine the media and thus in turn the money...
(vi) Measurement: the final part of the model that quantifies the success of the campaign and seeks to find out whether the campaign has been effective or not...
Sachin & I were working on our campaign dissection assignment and this model works like a charm... will upload the assignment once we submit it... it should illustrate how well the 6M model works!
Cheerio... I think I can make it in time for class now :)
The polling for the product category has closed last nite... sad to see that only 34 people in a class of nearly 60 voted - of those who voted: 6% wanted to do it on the media sector and 12% on films and sports teams... we have to finalise the product category today in class! Have thrown my name into the hat to become the "CEO" of group 1's ad agency... I think I am up for it! My group has a lot of talented people: some names that come to mind instantly are Viral, Ajay A, Mahadevan, Anupama, Ajay Rao - infact Maddy and Anupama actually got the "hierarchy" sorted out - kudos to them. Saurabh has made his bid to become the CEO of the other group... ab ayega maza!
---
Last time I ended by mentioning the 6M model of a campaign... the 6M model aims to measure a campaign on:
(i) Mission: what does the campaign intend to do - launch / relaunch / reposition a brand?
(ii) Message: this is drawn directly from the mission and is a function of the stage of PLC that the brand is in...
- Intro Stage of PLC => Pioneering Campaign => Message = "I have arrived, you need me." and it talks of the features of the product
- Growth Stage of PLC => Competitive Campaign => Message = "I am different, buy me" and it talks of the benefits of the product + fights for share of market
- Maturity Stage of PLC => Retentive Campaign => Message = "I am still here" and it talks of additional benefits of the product + aims at recall + fights for share of voice
- In case of rebranding / relaunch, the PLC of the product restarts and the Intro & Growth phases are crunched
Now based on the message and of course the intended recepients of the message - the target audience - the campaign would have to decide the following:
(iii) Media: the vehicles that would be used to take the message to the intended recepients
(iv) Money: the budget in hand to do so
(v) Market: the market for the product
All the above 3 factors are inter-related since if the money is a constraint, then the media used would be contrained - if more media are required, the budget would move north - also, the market would determine the media and thus in turn the money...
(vi) Measurement: the final part of the model that quantifies the success of the campaign and seeks to find out whether the campaign has been effective or not...
Sachin & I were working on our campaign dissection assignment and this model works like a charm... will upload the assignment once we submit it... it should illustrate how well the 6M model works!
Cheerio... I think I can make it in time for class now :)