Small films trump star films at the box office

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LG Home Appliances invests Rs. 50 crore during festive season

LG India is on an aggressive marketing spree with Rs. 50 crore chalked out as marketing budget for this festive season; and innovations across its home appliances portfolio. For differentiation, the focus of the brand is on offering longer warranty periods and clearly steering away from discount. The brand is also focusing on a fresh line of communication for potential product categories and a host of experiential marketing activities. Experts opine that it is in fact the right time for LG Home Appliances to gear up to the growing competition and extend offerings that can guarantee a safety on investments. Pitch digs further into the company’s marketing plans.

Mapping their journey from 1997, when LG Home Appliances was introduced in the Indian market, this arm of LG Electronics India (LGEIL), as per company estimates, today stands at the podium with 37.7 per cent, 38 per cent and 39.5 per cent market shares in the washing machine, refrigerator and microwave oven categories, respectively. Logging a sales turnover of Rs. 16,200 crore in 2011, LG Home Appliances has been contributing as much as 45 per cent to the total turnover of LG Electronics in India.

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Tata Tea: A case of ‘social-cause’ marketing

From cartons to polypacks, heritage plantation to a branded beverage company, ‘Gaon Chalo’ to ‘Jaago Re’, Tata tea has come a long way since its inception in 1986 when the packaged tea market was dominated by one large player with over 70 per cent market share. Tata Tea claims to stand for a way of life for its consumers and has transformed the way beverages are marketed through its ‘Jaago Re’ campaigns. Striking a chord with the youth, the tea brand launched a series of campaigns over the last four years that wove in the theme of social issues.

Social stimulation
Tata Tea was launched with a communication on its product functionality of ‘garden fresh.’ From there it has moved to the current campaign since 2007, which is about bringing important social issues to the forefront of societal mindset. “The campaign has worked on two levels: by intertwining the themes of civic consciousness with that of the physical and psychological boost that a cup of tea delivers. The ‘Jaago Re’ campaign drives synergy by providing a common, unique umbrella message of ‘social awakening’ that brings its national brands together,” says Vikram Grover, Vice-President, Marketing, Tata Global Beverages.   He adds that, ‘Jaago Re’ has not just reflected the nation’s mood, in many ways, it has been ahead of the curve and in fact shaped the nations mood. “Causes like corruption etc were taken up far before they became popular topics of discussion,” he says. 

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Sun TV and IPL: A bold step?

The Sun TV Network has won the bid for the Hyderabad franchise of IPL for the next five years, after the erstwhile owner Deccan Chronicle Holdings lost the rights recently. afaqs! explores what the deal brings to the table.

After a bitter battle which resulted in the termination of the Hyderabad franchise Deccan Chargers, owned by Deccan Chronicle Holding Ltd (DCHL), the franchise finally found a new owner, Sun TV Network, on October 25. The media company will have to pay Indian Premier League (IPL) Rs 85.05 crore per year for the next five years. Sun TV Network won the bid against PVP Ventures, which bid for Rs 69.03 crore per year.

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Do "Black Sheep" subs affect parent brands?

What happens to the equity of brands when sub-brands fall on bad days.

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Must Advertising be insensitive?

 

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Ode to a Client

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It can't all be buzz

Aiming to shock and awe: Volkswagen suspended a Vento from a building during its launch in New Delhi. Photo: Kamal Narang

For all its shock value, Volkswagen’s recent vibrating ad may not have people rushing out to buy its cars.

“Half my advertising is wasted, I just don't know which half.” - John Wanaker
In my years in advertising, agencies have been most persecuted by this particular statement which has been usually made out of context by clients. Leading the volley would be accountants (those days there were no chief financial officers but only accountants who continued to attack our business with great relish title or no title). And yet, when I saw the recent Volkswagen “vibrator” ad I wondered whether the great man who spoke about advertising wastage got his numbers wrong and whether the figure should be closer to a total waste. If ever I saw advertising money go down the drain, I think it must have been on Tuesday September 11th 2012. For on that day, the company released a four page ad in one of India’s leading English dailies which had a vibrator in it as the ad spoke about how the new models of Vento and Polo would make you shiver with excitement. Some shiver! And if they thought that it would send shivers down the competition they surely have another guess coming. I am sure the competitors are laughing all the way to the bank!!

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Customer for life?

Take care of your clients and there’s a good chance they won't leave you. - M. VEDHAN

A smart marketer will not alienate existing customers in the quest for newer ones.

As I have often said, I spent six years of my life counting other people’s cash and writing other people’s fixed deposit receipts. Even after leaving the banking industry, I still talk about it as I am still a customer of one bank or the other.

Today, I am not merely a customer but someone who perhaps knows a little more about customers than when I was a callow youth in the banking counter hoping for a typhoon or a flood on Saturday morning so that I could leave in time to catch a movie rather than be flooded by customers! One of the first things I have since realised is something called “lifetime value of the customer”, which I knew nothing about or cared even less for in 1973 when I first started working with Grindlays Bank.

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Picnic with the Tiger

Wooing the press is an exercise roughly akin to picnicking with the tiger. You might enjoy the meal but the tiger always eats last.

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