Dial M for Marketing

What is CSR? Name some CSR activities. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities are a set of practices followed by many organizations in order to contribute towards the wellbeing of society. Some organizations also contribute to these activities as it helps them in promoting their brands. They can easily connect with their audience emotionally through CSR activities. For example, Tata Group is running various CSR programs like Kaushalya for employability, Vidyadhanam for education, Aarogya for health , Vasundhara for the environment among others. P&G has Shiksha as its CSR program. ITC’s e-Choupal and Solid Waste Recycling programs are also the examples of CSR.  

What factors must be considered to launch a new product? We have STP analysis to analyze where to launch a product. We also have 4P analysis to know how to launch a product. But, the most difficult question for a marketer is, “what factors must be considered to launch a new product”? Let’s make the life of a marketer easy by going step by step. ·        Naming convention: Finding a name which has not been preregistered by a company is not very easy. It must not be so cumbersome that people find it difficult to pronounce it. Also, it shouldn’t be similar to an existing product or people get confused with it. On a wide classification, there are 3 kinds of the product name: Names of men and women: like FORD, CAMPBELL, DELL, etc. they are memorable, difficult to copy and suggest that the product is the invention of a human being. Descriptive names: BAND-AID, JANITOR IN A DRUM, NIHAR SHANTI AMLA, etc. start with a sales appeal. But, they are very specific which can be us

Tips for commercials ·        Brand Identification: Several researches have shown that a lot of viewers remember the advertisement but don’t remember the brand name. They often attribute the commercial with a competing brand. So, marketers should use the brand name within the first 10 seconds of the commercial. They can also play games with the brand name or add a tune or jingle to the brand name to make customers remember it. When you advertise a new product, you have to teach people its name. Ex - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgUJP6xGHOs ·        Food in Motion: In food commercials, the more appetizing you make it, more it sells itself. It has been found through research that food in motion looks more appetizing. For example, you can show mango juice swirling and coming out of mangos or chocolate sauce being poured over ice cream or pancakes. Ex - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WDHy6voeng ·       Close ups: If the product is the hero of the commercial (gener

How will you advertise our brand on Television? Above Average Commercials David Ogilvy, the father of advertising, once said “When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it creative. I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product”. In order to change people’s brand preference, marketers need to advertise their product using video commercials. There is a total of 10 different kinds of commercials which are above average in their ability to change people’s mind. These are the following: 1. Humor : “People do buy from clowns”. A factor analysis reveals that Humor can also sell the products. But, the commercials need to be very funny. Ex –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsOikE7ZMYc          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjFDz94OQjQ 2. Slice of Life : In these commercials, one actor argues with another about the merits of a product. Then, in the end, the doubter is converted and agrees that your product is better th

What is sales promotion? Sales promotion refers to the marketing strategy of a product by giving discount offers or free gifts on the purchase. This is done for the promotion of a product which is either a newly launched product or a product which is not getting much attention. Ex – free data for 6 months on Jio network, fidget spinner free with Horlicks, 20% extra in Cadbury 5-star chocolate, “Sone ka sikka jeetne ka mauka” advertisement of Lux soap, etc. While selling is called as a push type strategy, sales promotion is more of a pull type marketing strategy, as customers are attracted towards the product or service when they get heavy discounts or freebies.

What is Social Media marketing? Social Media marketing is the fastest growing marketing trend in the current scenario. It is the process of using social media websites as a platform to gain attention in order to market the products and services. Companies who are not connected with their customers on social media are missing an opportunity (especially the companies who follow B2C models). Some most common examples are Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. Companies use these websites to share the pics and videos of their products and the information about their products and services. Some companies also resolve many queries of the consumers on social media itself. Also, it is a way of marketing in which almost no cost is to be incurred while the conversion rate is also good.

What is the difference between B2B, B2C, C2C and C2B? B2B: Business to Business . In this business model, an organization sells its products or services to another organization, which either uses it or adds value to it to sell further to consumers. These organizations need not advertise to the general public. They generally do their marketing to only specific businesses. Ex – Automobile manufacturing companies like Bosch Ltd, B2C: Business to Consumer . In this business model, companies sell directly to the consumers. These are the companies which advertise themselves to the general public. Ex- Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dell, Amazon, etc. C2C: Consumer to Consumer . Nowadays consumers sell to other consumers directly through multiple platforms such as OLX & Quikr. C2B: Consumer to Business . Nowadays this form is also getting very famous. In this model, consumers sell their products to the companies (generally used products) and these companies either add some value or re

What do you understand by perceptual mapping? Perceptual mapping is a graphical representation of views of a consumer for a particular product or service. Generally, this graph contains two axes which compare any two attributes of a product with its competitors. These two attributes can be anything e.g. quality, price, benefits, effectiveness, etc. A perceptual map can have more than 2 axes. But it becomes difficult to draw and understand it then. Following is an example of my perceptual map of different chocolates in India: It is used by marketers because they get to know the views of consumers about their brand compared to their competitors.

What is the difference between ATL, BTL and TTL? ATL: Above The Line marketing is a marketing targeted towards the mass population. Mass media like TV commercials, radio advertisements, newspaper advertisements, Internet, are used to promote a brand under ATL marketing. As it targets a very large group of people, sometimes it is also called Untargeted Marketing. It has a wider reach and is generally used for brand building. BTL: Below The Line marketing is the kind of marketing wherein marketers target a small group of people. Pamphlet distribution in an area, banners, posters, hoardings, roadshows, are all examples of BTL marketing. It focuses more on customer conversions than brand building. It is comparatively cheaper and has a better ROI. So, if a company has a tight budget, it uses BTL marketing over ATL. TTL: Through The Line marketing is a modern marketing concept. In today’s world, a marketer needs to use both ATL and BTL at the same time for his/her brand’s p

What is a distribution channel? A distribution channel is a path through which goods and services reach to consumers from vendors. There can be several intermediaries between them, like wholesalers, distributors, retailers, etc. Following are some examples of distribution channels: Here, the first one is called direct distribution , as the manufacturer is selling directly to the consumer, e.g. some farmers sell directly to the public. The second one is called one tier distribution as one intermediary (Retailer) is used here, e.g. Walmart. Similarly, the third and the fourth are known as two-tier distribution and three-tier distribution respectively. Following is the flow diagram of the distribution channel of Britannia biscuits:

What are the different types of pricing methods? Pricing is one of the most difficult tasks for a marketer to decide. With a lower price the marketer needs to compromise with profit and with a higher price, he/she has to compromise with sales. There are some common pricing techniques which help in both marketing and selling of the product. These are the following: Premium Pricing: A high price set by companies if their product’s quality is much better than other products in their category, e.g. Raymond, iPhone, 5-star hotels, etc. Economy Pricing: A low price set by marketers when they’re looking to sell the maximum volume of the product. They do so by cutting off the marketing costs and keeping the production cost minimum. Price sensitive people buy these products generally. It works best at the time of recession. Some examples are generic medicines, local food items, un-branded clothes, etc. Penetration Pricing: When the marketers try to sell the product where ma

. What are the different types of marketing? There are several types of marketing in this modern era. There is no particular book or website where all the types are given. Some important types, which we use generally, are following: Emotional Marketing: The most successful type of marketing is Emotional Marketing. It draws out a story which gets connected with the audience in some personal way because of which consumers make buying decisions driven by feelings rather than logic. Emotional marketing creates meaningful relationships that result in brand loyalty, positive PR and long-term connections. Emotional marketing can be Inspirational, Aspirational, expressing love and nostalgic. Following are some examples of Emotional Marketing and Advertisement Emotional Marketing by British Airways Inspirational: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR8i9p3pcPg Aspirational: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnX--tCaHqE Expressing love: https://ww