Branding India

I have been writing for travel websites for more than a year now and the way I see it, each city is a brand. Each country needs to be placed right, much like a product. Tourism is an industry which needs to be promoted, much like a service.

Often what bothers me is how India is misrepresented time and again. The poverty is highlighted, women are shown as helpless or oppressed and everthing somehow points at some kind of slum tourism. Any trace of luxury or well-being is strictly avoided.

In a recent World Hum article, I came upon the sentence "In all my train rides so far, she was the first Indian woman I’d seen traveling solo; the first who wasn’t dressed in traditional clothing, and herding children around the train." Well, in all my years in India I have had plenty of opportunity to see women travelling solo, mostly for work and obviously not "herding" children.
The only time I saw the true flavor of an Indian city captured was when I caught an episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel.

I believe that the right advertising can make or break a brand so I thank the makers of the Incredible India Ad (see video above). It tries to give the right picture of India and succeeds beautifully. The ad portrays the country's diversity without resorting to visuals of the underbelly. Yes, every country has a seedier side to it but why would anybody want to use that to attact tourists beats me.
If we want to brand India, let's do it right.

"Marketing is not a cost" - John Gerzema

I follow John Gerzema's Brand Bubble so I clicked on this video posted by my friend Saurav on Facebook. Soon I found myself listening intently to John who was talking about "Avoiding the Looming Crisis in Brand Value" in this year's The Economist Marketing Forum. He cites examples of brands who have done the right thing, he warns us of the changing consumer psyche and of the changing marketing principles. He talks about "trust", "value", "values" and "durability" among other things. Yes, we gotta get down to the basics, offer warranties, cherish loyalties etc. Those I have heard before. What I hadn't was what he said at the end - "Marketing is not a cost, but a fiduciary responsibility to share holders." I second that.

During the conference, John also says that this time around more and more brands are getting innovative with their approach. For eg, McDonalds has this website called http://www.unsnobbycoffee.com/ where you can send a letter to your friend and stop him/her from paying for over-priced coffee. On the other hand, Starbucks has their Gold Card Program for people who really love Starbucks. These are just one of many promotional or branding ideas, one of which I had mentioned in a previous post of mine where I had maintained that "Quality Matters". Cause' it does. McDonald's can never ever get my coffee right whereas Starbucks does it everytime! But again, that's just my opinion.

Innovation. Competition. Both spell heaven for the consumer. Also, the economic meltdown has given us a chance to look at ourselves and re-think our choices. Our regulatory bodies have a lot to learn. So do we and the brands we promote or purchase.

John also said that "Trust in brands has declined by 50%" while according to Brand Asset Valuator (BAV), "Trust is the second-most desirable attribute for a brand, right after high quality". It is interesting to note here that "sensuous" is the least desirable attribute.

It makes sense, doesn't it? Consumers want to be able to trust their brands, they don't need them to be sexy! Marketing is definitely a fiduciary responsibility, but we have to make sure we market the right goods or services. Quality matters. As always.

Focus Group vs. Facebook

According to Nielsen NetView, users are spending more and more time on Facebook. The study suggests that the average US user spends more than 4.5 hours a month on Facebook, beating competitors like AOL, Google, Yahoo and Micrsoft hollow. This obviously explains why everything from the Lexus Convertible to a no-calorie Sweetener is nowadays advertised on the said site.

But Splenda Mist has gone one step further by doing away with focus groups altogether. Yes, the dreaded panel of freebie-lured opinionators is slowly on its way out. Because Facebook offers various advantages.

1. Basic information about the target group is already available.

2. According to Adage, "Facebook offered us the opportunity not only to advertise with a brand message and a product message but also the opportunity to solicit feedback and to have our target raise their hand and say, 'I want to sample this product,'" said Ivy Brown, group product director-Splenda. Which probably explains why Splenda gave away more than 16,000 samples in two weeks when it had hoped to distribute 10,000 samples in 12 weeks.

3. Feedback is interactive and sometimes, in real-time.

4. Reach is easily extended to the friends of the target who signs up for a sample or becomes a fan of the product. The fact that he or she has sampled or joined a fan-base immediately shows up on the news-feed of their Facebook homepage.

But what is in it for Facebook in terms of revenue? Makes sense only if it does this for lots and lots of brands. One niche player like Splenda Mist is not going to bring in the moolah.

Have Fun with a Run

Source: www.adsoftheworld.com
Advertising Agency: 72andSunny, USA
Music Artist: Gnarls Barkley
Song: Run (I’m a Natural Disaster)

Nike, the proud owners of one of the world's most popular slogans "Just Do It" and the max-recognized logo, the famous swoosh to match it, has done it again.

At the beginning of this year, http://www.nikeplus.com/ (the world's largest running club) tallied the kilometers of men and women who join an official Men vs. Women online running challenge using the Nike+ system through March 13 to April 20. The website is not new, but the challenge is. Those who think User Generated Content or UGC is a waste of time should think again. This idea was first suggested by a consumer on the Nike+ website, an interactive portal launched by Nike way back in 2006. The website allows Nike+ running shoes to transmit data wirelessly to an iPod nano, an iPod touch or Nike+ SportBand. Information on time, distance, pace and calories burned during a run is stored on www.nikeplus.com. You can stay motivated by setting goals, challenging others to virtual races, reach specific goals or use the tons of other features offered on the website.

As usual, Nike has partnered with Apple...nothing new about that.

But Nike has got many things right with this campaign.

1. Used integrated media. The above TV spot is just one of many promotions.

2. Made good use of humor and great music, both sure-shot winners with the target group.

3. Carried on with their co-branding efforts with a brand well-suited to their own image. Apple and Nike speak to similiar demographics.

4. Tapped on our most basic competitive spirit, I mean, what can be more fun than Men Vs. Women?

5. Given us the whole Nike experience. The gears, the tracking, the camaraderie and the sheer thrill of a sport which is the easiest and the most difficult at the same time.

Check out the video posted above and tell me if you dont feel like putting on those shoes and going for a run.

Advertising Budget in a Slow Economy

Click on image to enlarge

As the cartoon by Tom Fishburne suggests, this is exactly what some premium brands are doing or thinking of doing. My advice: DONT! In times of economic downturn, the last thing you want to do is lose your premium advantage. Instead,

1. Focus on your core brand value and maintain it.

2. Try and avoid advertising budget cuts as much as possible. When the economy revives as we all know it will, you think it will do your brand any good if you had zero consumer contact during the slowdown.? Naah! I didn't think so.

3. No need to get all sappy. Just maintain brand loyalty through presence in multi-media. Nobody likes to be patronized, right?

4. This maybe a good time to go digital. Saves you money, expands your reach. According to Advertising Age, Procter & Gamble slashed U.S. ad buys 18% in the first quarter but more than doubled digital spending. "Our media strategy is pretty simple: Follow the consumer," said Marc Pritchard, global marketing officer. "And the consumer is becoming more and more engaged in the digital world."

5. Brush-up on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SMO (Social Media Optimization). These are the advertising tools which will rule the coming years.

6. While buying media, this is the time to take advantage of the low cost of entry and increase your share of voice across categories.

The points mentioned above are not new to many as is evident from the fact that brands like P&G did not slash their advertising budget even during the Great Depression. According to TNS Media Intelligence (via Media Post), U.S. media spending declined 14.2% in Q1, mainly because of automobile brands. But companies like GE, Sprint, Johnson & Johnson and Verizon increased their media spend during the same period! Apart from financial gain, these companies will be perceived as stable and consistent, both desirable qualities for any brand. Don't you think?

To Bing Or Not To Bing

I assume we all know what Bing is by now. After spending $80 million to $100 million on an advertising campaign which forced JWT to thaw its frozen hiring, I would believe the least Microsoft has done is created a brand presence. Always happy to use a new product or the latest in sevice, I jumped in to find out all about Bing. The words "new" and "latest" spell "improvement" and maybe a certain "cool factor" in my mind.

The first thing that struck me were the Bing ads. Here's one from the seriesNow check out the Bing site. What information overload are they talking about? The Bing site itself is filled with unnecessary trivia. Why would I want to know about the benefits of garlic when I am looking for information on Long Island? The brand promise does not match the goods delivered to our browsers. Also, do a mouseover over the homepage image and you will be bombarded with more and more stuff you had no intention of looking up.

I googled my name and my blog showed up. I tried on Bing...no blog! Only my travel articles or rather, the same article came up multiple times. They have a separate link for blogs you might say, but where is the search box on the Bing blogs page?

Maybe marketers will have to re-think their SEO strategy as Bing throws up sub-categories on a search word. For eg. a search for "Long Island" got me a list of links to Long Island clubs, restaurants, tourism, facts, DMV, softball, economy and even maps. The maps link is kind of redundant when you think of it. I would have clicked on 'maps' at the top like I do for Google if I needed to look at a map.

As for the other players, I have never been able to find what I am looking for in Yahoo so I have stuck to Google for like forever. I was willing to change given a better product. Guess I will have to google words for some time more before I start to "bing" them.