Will Manchester United Actually Stay With AIG ???

With $150 billion of US government support, there has been intense scrutiny on the insurer’s spending habits, including those bonuses, some of which have now been returned. But AIG has to pay somewhere in between $20 million and $28 million to finish its four-year deal it signed with the team Manchester United in 2006.

The Question is not that how is AIG doing this? But the issue is that whether Manchester United and the owner Malcolm Glazer really cool with sporting these jerseys as they continue their quest to win championships? Actually it’s hard to get a quick sponsorship deal in this environment, but you have to think that it’s worth shelving the embarrassment by paying back the money from the rest of the deal and trying to sign a temporary stand-in.

But what about the ‘Nike’ jerseys which are already in production for next year? As explained by the London Telegraph recently, should AIG change the name to AIU (American Insurance United) would be responsible for the jersey change, but obviously if ManU ditches AIG, or whatever they’ll be called, for a blank jersey or another sponsor they would probably have to pay the bill.

How embarrassing would it be then for ManU to wear the AIG logo on their chests as they try to win the Champions League in Rome in May?

Ref.- Reuters

Credits - Manik Gursahani

"YOU” vs. “YOUR BEHAVIOR”...

Why my friends don’t understand me?
Why does everyone don’t like me?
Why I am not getting selected?
Why my product is not selling?

If you get failed in your relationships, in your professional life, or in your business, there is only theory that can bail you out.
The theory of"YOU” vs. “YOUR BEHAVIOR”!

One should understand that it is not "You", who is getting failed; it is "Your Behavior" that is the loser. One needs to understand that, it all about how the world perceives you. It is not about "You". It is all about how you look like, how your behavior is, how do you interact etc. Your friends don’t understand “You”, because the imagery that they have formed about you is not matching with the real “You”. “You” failed to present the right imagery to your friends, the inner “You”! One should not change its inner-self, because there is a risk of losing your own identity. Instead “You” need to change your communication strategy so that the world perceives you exactly in the same way “You” are!

Similarly, in marketing, it is not the product that’s got failed. It is your communication with your customers, it is your imagery in the minds of the consumers, and it is how you are perceived that’s got failed. The brand has failed to present its real qualities to the consumers. Customers form some perception about your product and use their instincts before buying a product. Thus, a brand needs to change its communication strategy and make sure; concerns of its target audience (only) are taken good care.

Hence, it’s not about “You”. It’s all about how the world sees “You”!

OPEN... a weekly mind stimulant...!!!

RPG group is entering into publications by launching its new current affairs magazine named, “OPEN”. It would be launched on 3rd of April. Sandipan Deb is the editor of the magazine, who, in fact, was one of the founder editors of Outlook, more than a decade ago.

The positioning of this magazine is quite interesting. As per the report from afaqs, the target audience would be. 'Individuals who belong to SEC A1, are around 32 years (both male and female) of age, with a monthly household income of Rs 2 lakh, hold senior managerial positions, drive C segment cars, wear branded apparel, use high-end phones or Blackberrys and travel abroad at least once a year.'
It would be available only in top 12 cities of India, with the price of Rs.30. Its competitors India Today, Outlook etc. charges Rs.25 per issue. Open, feels that there is no direct competition with these magazines, which, according to them, are more mass magazines. ‘It will be positioned as an interesting, intelligent and stimulating magazine.’

Open also thought of interesting form of marketing too. Firstly, magazine would be sold only on its merits and not on the basis of freebies. ‘Therefore, the magazine is actively pursuing an alternate model of acquiring readers. They have a database of their target audience that has passed through stringent filters. Open is sending an exclusive and personalized offer to these cherry-picked consumers, giving them an opportunity to experience the product for four issues free of cost.’

Moreover, Open’s size will be more than an inch wider than the standard A4 size of most of the magazines. Thus, when opened, the magazine gives an additional two inches for the content and also maximizes the ad impact.

Open has planned a 360 degree communication strategy, which includes outdoor in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, multiplexes and the Internet. To start with, television isn't part of the media mix. Ad films will be shown in multiplexes, before movies that are frequented by their target audience. Also, there will be buzz-marketing activities at malls to engage them.

It would be interesting to see, how successful is Open's marketing, once it is out in the market.

Ref. - www.afaqs.com

Why India needs a Nano ???

Suhel Seth rightly says, "From a marketing perspective, it has already gone into the lexicon of India's people and the fact that Tata called it a people's car is even more suggestive of the transfer of ownership of the brand from a company to its users: the people. How many brands can claim this? And how many brands have ever used this form of positioning? It is rare in times such as these to avoid paid advertising and yet launch a brand that has a lot riding on it. But then again, Nano is one car that needs no definition. It has been embraced as a vehicle of change but even more critically; as a vehicle of empowerment and it is here that the Tatas have provided that huge leap as it were."

Read More - "Why India needs a Nano?"

Build your own NANO...!!!

Without going to the showroom, now you can decide upon how your Tata Nano should look like. Tata Nano’s website offer’s you to build your own Tata Nano. Customize your Nano as per your preference. The website offers you to customize on colors, wheels, decals, scoop trim etc.

Go and check out yourself!

Visit - Tata Nano

Limca's... “Haseen Lamho Ko” !!!

Saw the new Limca’s advertisement, “Haseen Lamho Ko”? This ad featuring Niketan Madhok and Sushma Reddy (mine favorite) is a huge hit these days. On Orkut, more often you can see this ad featuring in everyone’s favorite videos list. People are making “Haseen Lamho Ko” as its ringtones and caller tune.

Imagine, showing this 2.30 minutes advertisement at the prime time slot, and paying nothing! Reason, “Haseen Lamho Ko” is been played on the top music channels, over and over again, as a song. Coke is not spending a single penny to these music channels to show the advertisement. Moreover, Music channels are bound to play its music video, due to its popularity.

Srinivas Murthy, GM-marketing (Flavours), Coca-Cola India agrees “When the Limca ad was first aired, it was a 40-second TV commercial for which we had to pay the channels,” he says. “But when we started getting innumerable requests on our toll-free number for the song, we thought why not scale it up.” Murthy feels that music channels are only too happy to play “Haseen Lamho Ko” over and over again because it has all the elements of a music video — great visuals and an engaging background score. “And in the video the Limca brand is not too much in your face either,” adds Murthy. “This doesn’t put off the viewer even if he watches it a number of times.”

That’s called intelligent marketing!!! Three cheers to Limca’s “Haseen Lamho Ko”!!!

See the ad here - "Haseen Lamho Ko"

Ref.- Economic Times

A day before its launch... Tata Nano !!!

Just a day is left, when the most eagerly awaited car, Tata Nano would be launched. Tata Nano holds huge importance not just only for Indian consumers, but also for Tata Motors. Tata Nano has the heavy burden of expectations. Tata Motors expects Nano to turn their fortunes. When I was in Tata Motors, dealers used to ask me in every meeting, “When will Nano get launched?” Moreover, Indian consumers were waiting for this 1 lakh car. Nano brings dreams (of buying a car) of the lower class and middle class families into reality. Tata Nano is already been termed as “People’s car”!

Similar was the feeling among Indians, when Tata Indica was launched as the first indigenously made car.
Following are the similarities between Tata Nano’s launch and Tata Indica’s launch.

Read Here - The Economic Times

EMAMI.. Going Britannia’s way !!!

“Tin tin tin tin”… Remember this Britannia signature tune! Britannia used this signature tune successfully to link all its brands in a common thread. Now Emami is going Britannia’s way. Emami has planned to come with a sign-off tune for its brands in advertisements (April onwards).

Emami group of companies’ director Aditya V Agarwal said: "The Company has more than 25 brands under its umbrella, but all of them are not power brands. Since the brand equity of our lesser known brands was getting lost, the sign-off tune will help the smaller brands to ride on the huge acceptance and popularity of our power brands."

As per me, it’s a smart idea, but Emami shouldn’t expect any radical shifts in sales! It’s just a brand building exercise! Yes, the lesser known sub-brands of Emami will get a little push. But does Emami holds enough Brand equity that consumers will buy, just on its name? I have lot of doubts on this aspect.

A Rs 2,000 crore diversified group, Emami owns power brands like Boroplus, Navratna, Fair and Handsome, Sona Chandi Chyawanprash, Mentho Plus, Himani Fast Relief as well as the entire range of Zandu Pharmaceutical products.

Ref.- Economic Times

Tata's "T!ON"...

Tata is planning to enter the Pepsi and Coke's den. Tata Tea, has launched non-carbonated beverages as "T!ON". Due to the strong presence of Pepsi and Coke, the barriers to entry in this industry were really high. Tata's only, with their humongous distribution presence in India, can have dared to enter this monopolized market. Parle Agro (Frooti and Appy) is fighting the battle with the giants of the beverage industry, in India.

As per now, T!ON is under concept testing. The brand has been launched in a small way, only in Chennai region. The product has been launched in three flavors-Mango Rush, Peach Punch and Apple Buzz. If the consumer's reaction is positive, sooner the brand would be made available to every retail store, pan India.
Tata's can gain super-normal profits if they are able to establish their brand T!ON. The journey would be tough, and the toughest challenge would be the Positioning and Price. The 400 ml bottle has been competitively priced at Rs 22. I believe, its smart pricing. Because, consumers don't really differentiate between a 400ml. bottle and a 500 ml. bottle. Moreover, pricing of Pepsi's 600 ml. bottle is Rs. 20 itself. Thus the just negotiable difference is less.

But, positioning still holds the key to success. I guess, we have to wait for few more months to get our answers!

By the way, I am still confused how the brand "T!ON" would be pronounced!

Ref.- Economic Times

High Retail Markups in Beverages...???

Some of our favorite refreshing beverages carry some of the heftiest retail markups.

Bottled water is wildly popular -- Americans spent $16 billion on the ubiquitous drink in 2007 -- and it's wildly overpriced, considering that 40 percent of bottled water is nothing but filtered tap water. In fact, for the price of a single bottle of "Evian" bottled water, you could pay for 1,000 gallons (3,785.4 liters) of municipal tap water. With bottled water, you're not paying for the H2O, but rather the packaging and the convenience.

Coffee is another culprit, especially if you buy it in a coffee shop. If you make coffee at home, it costs between 25 and 50 cents a cup, depending on the quality of your beans. That same cup will cost you well over $3 at "Starbucks" -- the same price that store might pay for an entire pound of beans wholesale. Interestingly, only about 25 cents of a $3.75 latte is profit for Starbucks. The rest pays for importing and roasting the beans, milk, the cup, labor and overhead costs.

But the biggest beverage markup of them all belongs to Wine in restaurants. The average retail markup on a bottle of wine in a restaurant is 300 percent. The best advice: Bring your own bottle and pay the $10 corking fee.


Read More : Howstuffworks

Coke Ke Sath Dost Free...

Coke has come up with a new TVC "Coke ke sath dost free" with Gautam Gambhir. As per me, I really liked the idea as well as the advertisement. Its riveting and refreshing. Its refreshing especially after horrible series of ads, Coke recently had. Earlier ads (Hrithik and Diwali ads) were really boring and unattractive.

People are able to connect with such ads. Cricket season is starting in India with IPL and T20 Worldcup to follow. This ad with Gautam Gambhir and Cricket as background has a great potential to click with the customers. If these "Coke ke sath dost free" ads are extended with the same theme, I believe, it could really help in building strong relationship with the customers.

It seems Coke has tighten its belt to compete with Pepsi's "Youngistan" ads in this advertising space. Hope Coke doesn't falter again in brand building through such ads.

Coke has also roped in Aamir Khan back for a 2 years contract. I still love the Coke ads with Aamir Khan theme. Hope to see these two iconic brands back in action again.

Know your Customer...!!!

A disappointed salesman of Coca Cola returns from his Middle East assignment.
A friend asked, "Why weren't you successful with the Arabs?"

The salesman explained, "When I got posted in the Middle East, I was very confident that I would make a good sales pitch as Cola is virtually unknown there. But, I had a problem I didn't know to speak Arabic. So, I planned to convey the message through three posters...



First poster - A man lying in the hot desert sand...totally exhausted and fainting.
Second poster - man is drinking our Cola.
Third poster- Our man is now totally refreshed.

Then these posters were pasted all over the place"

"That should have worked," said the friend.

The salesman replied "I also didn't realize that Arabs go from right to left" !!!

Saturn is Dying... !!!

In this recession, when General Motors are into tough times, they have decided to give a planned death to one of biggest sub-brands it used to have, "Saturn".

Saturn was a unique car,launched by GM to compete with the japanese cars. But with time,brand Saturn faded. Declining sales and cash crunch have compelled GM to end the brand "Saturn". If the brand would have been managed well, with all the sources upfront, then Saturn could have been the flagship brand of GM.

Saturn, a great product, a great idea, superb positioning, and a great brand.
Just lost its sheen, as GM didn't handled this brands consistently with time, neither provided it with enough marketing resources.

Saturn is Dying... !!!

In this recession, when General Motors are into tough times, they have decided to give a planned death to one of biggest sub-brands it used to have, "Saturn".

Saturn was a unique car,launched by GM to compete with the japanese cars. But with time,brand Saturn faded. Declining sales and cash crunch have compelled GM to end the brand "Saturn". If the brand would have been managed well, with all the sources upfront, then Saturn could have been the flagship brand of GM.

Saturn, a great product, a great idea, superb positioning, and a great brand.
Just lost its sheen, as GM didn't handled this brand consistently with time, neither provided it with enough marketing resources.

After Sky Scrapers... its time for Sky Villas !!!

Mumbai-based Lodha Group is all set to roll out Sky Villas in Hyderabad with an initial investment of Rs 900 crore. Despite recession in the financial markets, the group is developing sky villas, called Lodha Bellezza, which are themed on Californian style living and where the ownership comes by ‘By Invitation Only’.

Imagine about features such as these: a helipad atop the towers, personal elevator whisking you directly into your private lobby, each floor built as an individual villa and it fitted with motion sensors or facilities such as at a touch of screen, the doors lock, curtains part and air-conditioning comes on. Ushering in the concept of Sky Villas, the individual units will be completely autonomous, replete with a private pool, sundeck, home theatre lounge, private office and concierge on call.

And the project also brings to the city for the first time the concept of ownership "By Invitation Only". Priced presently at around Rs.2.27 crore, the units are not available for anyone who walks in. The Group decides who should be occupying the villas and accordingly sends an invitation to them.

The fully loaded club house at Bellezza will have a spa, gymnasium, aerobics/dance studio, indoor games arena, mini-theatre, reading and TV lounge, banquet hall, food store-cum-coffee shop, conference facilities, emergency medical desk and a wi-fi enabled business centre.

To know more, visit "Lodha Bellezza"

I am thrilled to know these endless facilities available but I have my doubts over the concept of "By invitation only"!

After Sky Scrapers... its time for Sky Villas !!!

Mumbai-based Lodha Group is all set to roll out Sky Villas in Hyderabad with an initial investment of Rs 900 crore. Despite recession in the financial markets, the group is developing sky villas, called Lodha Bellezza, which are themed on Californian style living and where the ownership comes by ‘By Invitation Only’.

Imagine about features such as these: a helipad atop the towers, personal elevator whisking you directly into your private lobby, each floor built as an individual villa and it fitted with motion sensors or facilities such as at a touch of screen, the doors lock, curtains part and air-conditioning comes on. Ushering in the concept of Sky Villas, the individual units will be completely autonomous, replete with a private pool, sundeck, home theatre lounge, private office and concierge on call.

And the project also brings to the city for the first time the concept of ownership "By Invitation Only". Priced presently at around Rs.2.27 crore, the units are not available for anyone who walks in. The Group decides who should be occupying the villas and accordingly sends an invitation to them.

The fully loaded club house at Bellezza will have a spa, gymnasium, aerobics/dance studio, indoor games arena, mini-theatre, reading and TV lounge, banquet hall, food store-cum-coffee shop, conference facilities, emergency medical desk and a wi-fi enabled business centre.

To know more, visit "Lodha Bellezza"

I am thrilled to know these endless facilities available but I have my doubts over the concept of "By invitation only"!

Virgin Mobile.... "Honeymoon is over" !!!

Tata's and Virgin Corporation came together in 2008, to launch GSM mobile services in India, as Virgin Mobile. It was launched with heavy fanfare, with new innovating schemes and youthful advertising. It came up with "Hatke" schemes like "Earn 10paise on incoming" and "Free SMS". But it seems, that even after lot of path-breaking marketing efforts, and even being backed by huge corporations, it couldn't find its space in consumer's evoked set. One of major reasons could be huge competition in telecom sector, leaded by brands like Airtel, Reliance and Vodafone. Its been an year after the launch. Let's analyze it shortcomings from the customer's perspective.

1) New Users : Virgin mobile targeted youth, who could be the first time buyers of mobile in urban areas. Consumers enjoyed their fun-filled advertisements, but this liking never turned to purchase. Reason, Virgin being new! Consumers doubted quality and availability of their services, throughout India. Virgin couldn't break this perception of consumers, that even being new, it has good service all over India. Virgin never used brand Tata to promote itself. Brand Tata would have added credibility to its service, as it being already into industry as strong CDMA player.

2) Existing Users : Virgin Mobile failed to convince consumers to switch their services from Airtel, Vodafone, etc. to Virgin Mobile. Even being switching cost not so high, there is some sought of loyalty seen in telecom industry. A Vodafone user usually doesn't switches its service to some other service, until he/she is extremely dissatisfied by the brand. Or some other telecom player gives him/her enough good reasons, to change.

3) New Markets : Players like Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance and Tata Indicom are trying to expand their customer base by entering into rural markets of India, as huge potential is hidden there. But Virgin Mobile, targeted itself to urban youth, which is already been captured by existing players. Moreover, being new, it didn't have infrastructure to support rural market needs, i.e. lower calling rates, low priced handsets, better service.

To grow organically, either Virgin Mobile should add more content to its advertising or use the brand Tata to add its credibility.

What's your take on it???

Virgin Mobile.... "Honeymoon is over" !!!

Tata's and Virgin Corporation came together in 2008, to launch GSM mobile services in India, as Virgin Mobile. It was launched with heavy fanfare, with new innovating schemes and youthful advertising. It came up with "Hatke" schemes like "Earn 10paise on incoming" and "Free SMS". But it seems, that even after lot of path-breaking marketing efforts, and even being backed by huge corporations, it couldn't find its space in consumer's evoked set. One of the major reasons could be huge competition in telecom sector, leaded by brands like Airtel, Reliance and Vodafone. Its been an year after the launch. Let's analyze its shortcomings from the customer's perspective.

1) New Users : Virgin mobile targeted youth, who could be the first time buyers of mobile in urban areas. Consumers enjoyed their fun-filled advertisements, but this liking never turned to purchase. Reason, Virgin being new! Consumers doubted quality and availability of their services, throughout India. Virgin couldn't break this perception of consumers, that even being new, it has good service all over India. Virgin never used brand Tata to promote itself. Brand Tata would have added credibility to its service, as it being already into industry as strong CDMA player.

2) Existing Users : Virgin Mobile failed to convince consumers to switch their services from Airtel, Vodafone, etc. to Virgin Mobile. Even being switching cost not so high, there is some sought of loyalty seen in telecom industry. A Vodafone user usually doesn't switches its service to some other service, until he/she is extremely dissatisfied by the brand. Or some other telecom player gives him/her enough good reasons, to change.

3) New Markets : Players like Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance and Tata Indicom are trying to expand their customer base by entering into rural markets of India, as huge potential is hidden there. But Virgin Mobile, targeted itself to urban youth, which is already been captured by existing players. Moreover, being new, it didn't have infrastructure to support rural market needs, i.e. lower calling rates, low priced handsets, better service.

To grow organically, either Virgin Mobile should add more content to its advertising or use the brand Tata to add its credibility.

What's your take on it???

G for "Greed" or "Generosity"... !!!

Gone are the days when in business, the letter G denoted "Greed". After crisis, people of Europe, Japan and prominently USA are disgusted with these greedy corporations. As if they no more believe in the brands, they trusted before. Now no more, they follow brands blindly. Common man believes that the greediness of these brands and corporations led to downfall of their economy.

So what to do, to win back the trust of the common man!

I guess, corporations need to understand that in today's business arena, there is no room for greed.
To succeed, the letter G should be replaced to "Generosity"!

A corporation need to be more customer responsive, ethical and value driven. Brands need to crush their arrogance and should communicate their "Generosity" through Public Relation (PR)campaigns, Corporate Social Responsible (CSR) Activities and by providing more value to customers through their products and services.

Thus, it introduces new form of marketing, as "Generosity Marketing".

Trendwatching.com discusses this concept and explains how could corporations and brands can have long term success, and can be a step ahead from their greedy competitors.

G for "Greed" or "Generosity"... !!!

Gone are the days when in business, the letter G denoted "Greed". After crisis, people of Europe, Japan and prominently USA are disgusted with these greedy corporations. As if they no more believe in the brands, they trusted before. Now no more, they follow brands blindly. Common man believes that the greediness of these brands and corporations led to downfall of their economy.

So what to do, to win back the trust of the common man!

I guess, corporations need to understand that in today's business arena, there is no room for greed.
To succeed, the letter G should be replaced to "Generosity"!

A corporation need to be more customer responsive, ethical and value driven. Brands need to crush their arrogance and should communicate their "Generosity" through Public Relation (PR)campaigns, Corporate Social Responsible (CSR) Activities and by providing more value to customers through their products and services.

Thus, it introduces new form of marketing, as "Generosity Marketing".

Trendwatching.com discusses this concept and explains how could corporations and brands can have long term success, and can be a step ahead from their greedy competitors.