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COVER
STORY
Experiential
Marketing in the Information Technology Sector
-- A Srikant and Sabyasachi Ghosh
The
marketing environment is getting ethereal with every passing
day. The flooding product and service lines and the nagging
media advertisements are forcing customers to shut their senses
and disregard buying. In order to be visible and audible in
this clutter, marketers are moving towards a new era called
the "Experiential Era". Sellers of everything, from a pen
to a telescope, will have to adopt this methodology. Information
technology firms throughout the world have also realized this
fact and are now working on it. It is always better to be
late than never.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved
MASS
CUSTOMIZATION
Mass
Customization : The Recipe for the Success of Garment Industry
-- Sukesh Kumar BR
Market
and technological forces are dramatically changing today's
competitive environment. Mass production of identical products
and business models followed by industries in the past are
no longer viable in many sectors. Market niches continue to
narrow. Fashions and customer preferences shift literally
overnight. Customers still demand products with lower prices,
higher quality and faster delivery - but want more of those
products customized to match their unique needs. This is a
new paradigm, posing immense challenge to both marketing and
production functions.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved
CAUSE-RELATED
BRANDING
Brand
with a Cause
-- L Jayarangan
With
the rapid proliferation of brands in every product category,
brands are becoming a commodity. The scope for differentiation
has vastly diminished. Marketers are hard-pressed to raise
their brands above the clutter. One such tool, which helps
in creating a distinct position for a brand in the minds of
consumers, is "cause- related branding." No doubt all brands
have to work for a cause, in the sense that they should provide
a discernible solution to consumers, in order to find market
acceptance. As an add on, brands can also associate themselves
with a social cause that is in harmony with the core objectives
and image of the brand so as to provide additional synergy
to the marketing efforts. This will go a long way in meeting
social obligations and commitments towards the society and
at the same time building the brand's image.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved
DATABASE
MARKETING
Attract
and Attack through Database Marketing
-- Srinivas P U, Uma P, and Ramar M
Profitability
was considered as the prime motive of marketers in the early
days. But now, customer value, customer delight and customer
retention are perceived as the main objectives, with profitability
being an outcome of achieving these objectives. Marketers
must, therefore, adopt change, especially technological change,
to attract customers as well as to attack competitors. Database
marketing is the process of building, maintaining and using
customer database and other databases (of products, suppliers,
resellers) for the purpose of contacting, transacting and
building customer relationships. There are different classifications
of databases depending on their nature and content. This article
explains the various reasons for adopting database marketing.
It also discusses the approach and handling of databases by
marketers in the Indian and global contexts.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved
CRM
Customer
Relationship Management : Need of the Hour
-- Anurag Pahuja and Rajesh Verma
In
a highly competitive market place, the company that has the
best understanding of its customers will be able to respond
more quickly to changing circumstances. Today, customers are
increasingly becoming more sophisticated in their buying behavior.
The perspective of customers is changing from a simple notion
of perceived value of a product or service, to the values
provided in the context of business relationship. This article
attempts to explain Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
practices, the framework of CRM and how it is emerging as
a New Age Mantra.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved
PRODUCT
LIFE CYCLE
Understanding
Product Life Cycle on the Lines of Human Life Cycle
-- Manishankar Chakraborty
Product
Life Cycle (PLC) has always caught the fascination of a brand
expert or a marketer formulating strategies for his product.
The concept of PLC can be better understood if one can correlate
the Human Life Cycle (HLC) stages with those of the PLC. It
not only helps the marketer to think about his brand in a
more realistic and lively manner, but also enables him to
formulate policies which can take the product very close to
the customer as the characteristics of a product and a brand
are more or less the same while undergoing various stages
of the cycle. However, the flip side is that one cannot blindly
put HLC and PLC together and start making marketing moves
as HLC is more specific and well-defined which is not the
case with PLC. In spite of the shortcomings, both HLC and
PLC can provide more insights to a marketer, which can help
him reduce errors in strategy formulation and implementation.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved
SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY IN MARKETING
Quality-of-Life
Marketing
-- Bholanath Dutta
Marketers
are responsible to a variety of groups. Certainly their customers
depend on them to get their needs satisfied. Also, their employers
expect them to generate sales and profits, suppliers and distributors
look to them for their continued business, and society expects
them to be responsible citizens. The frequently divergent
interests of these groups create a wide variety of ethical
challenges for marketers. Various methods are in practice
to test ethical responsiveness of marketers. Quality-of-Life
(QOL) marketing is one of the practices to enforce ethics
in marketing. This article discusses various aspects of QOL
marketing.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved
AMBUSH
MARKETING
Ambush
Marketing : Is it a Fair War?
-- Meenal Dhotre
Ambush
marketing has been plaguing the official sponsors of many
sporting and other events. Ambushing itself has become an
art and takes various forms - both direct and indirect. Though
considered somewhat unethical, not all forms of ambush marketing
can be considered illegal, and the affected party may not
have any legal recourse, unless the method adopted violates
any of the other existing laws. However, in some situations,
specific steps are being taken and the legal framework is
being strengthened to protect the official sponsors against
ambushing. Nonetheless, complete elimination of ambushing
is not possible, and ambush marketing thrives as an "unofficial"
marketing tool.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved
INDUSTRY
FOCUS
Customer
Response to ATM Services of Selected Banks : Report of a Survey
Conducted in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh
-- Rudra Saibaba and A Yella Swamy
Commercial
banks in India are rapidly increasing their reach and enhancing
their service levels through the extensive use of Automated
Teller Machines (ATMs). ATMs have now become quite common
and have made inroads even into India's smaller cities and
towns. This report of a survey of ATM customers conducted
in Warangal throws considerable light on the customer satisfaction
level, the problems faced and possible solutions, which will,
in a broad sense, be applicable to the whole of India.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved
COMPANY
FOCUS
Marico
: Creating Winning Brands
-- Kaushik Mukerjee
In
the past few years, Marico Industries has been quite successful
in developing a good market share for its leading brands.
It has been able to fight big companies possessing higher
financial muscle, on the strength of its brands' pull on the
customers. This article explains how Marico has gone about
creating its winning brands. The focus is on three major brands
from the Marico stable: Saffola, Parachute and Kaya Skin Care.
The brands are analyzed on the following issues-Brand Mantra
and Positioning Strategy.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved
BOOK
REVIEW
It
Happened in India : The Story of Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central
and the Great Indian Consumer
- -
Kishore Biyani, Dipayan Baishya
It
Happened In India presents a lucid autobiographic narrative
of the long journey traversed by the lead author (Kishore
Biyani) from being an ordinary middle class boy to becoming
the "Rajah of Retail" in India. It explains how Kishore Biyani
and also his retailing empire have been able to scale great
heights through the former's simple and focused approach.
The book takes the reader through a breezy exposition of Biyani's
insights and experiences, peppered with observations and opinions
of persons closely associated with him.
© 2008 IUP . All Rights Reserved
CASE
STUDY
Smirnoff's
Reunion with Bond
-- Manu Krishna and Arpita Siddhantha
After
a short hiatus, Smirnoff reappeared in the 2006 Bond movie,
Casino Royale. Since the first movie Dr. No in 1962, Smirnoff
had consistently placed itself in all the Bond films, except
Die Another Day in 2002. The reason which analysts cited for
Smirnoff's return to Bond movies was that it was intimidated
by Finlandia, a rival Vodka maker, which placed its Vodka
as Bond's favorite in the movie, Die Another Day. Bond movies
had been a perfect advertising medium for marketers to boost
their product's image, and more than 20 products were placed
in Die Another Day. However, some consumer activists were
opposed to the practice of stealth advertisement in movies
and they termed it dubious and deceptive in nature. But the
marketing fraternity seemed to have a high inclination towards
movie placements, and companies like Ford and BMW reportedly
have paid millions to feature in Bond movies. Unlike movies,
product placements never had any kind of censorship. Hazardous
products like alcohol and cigarettes were advertised indirectly
in almost every movie. Consumer rights activists loudly protested
against this practice, since they said it would influence
children. Underage drinking became an increasing concern among
the Americans and Europeans and alcohol consumption scenes
in movies that too by popular actors, further influenced children
to use alcohol. This case details the comeback of Smirnoff
in Bond movies, product placements in Bond movies, product
placement industry in the US, and the effects of alcohol placements
on under-aged children.
© 2006 IRC, Banglore. All Rights Reserved.
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