Missing in Action Maggi’S Comeback Campaign Was Aww-Inspiring
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Product: ETNEWMumbaiBS PubDate: 23-09-2015 Zone: BrandEquity Edition: 1 Page: BEFP User: kailashk0106 Time: 09-17-2015 01:40 Color: CMYK THE ECONOMIC TIMES SEPTEMBER 23-29, 2015 WHEN IS AN SUV NOT A ROADHOG? Sub-4 metre SUVs are getting both Indian consumers and auto manufacturers to think small LIJEE PHILIP ANIRBAN BORA The battlelines are getting drawn in yet another segment of the auto market. The Mini or the sub 4 metre SUVs (sports utility vehicle) is getting on to the want list of an increasing number of Indian auto consum- ers and enthusiasts. Every major car maker has announced plans to enter this highly competitive space by 2016. This segment, technically kickstarted by the Ford EcoSport and now MINI SUV with the recent launch of SALES the Mahindra TUV300, also FORECAST #Epic #Epic has Honda, Maruti Suzuki, VW, Renault and others 2014 Sales T firming up launch plans. answer to meet urban mobility 55500 units OR By 2016 there could be as challenges such as congestion, many as 8 mini SUVs on parking. Since its introduction two 2018 Forecast T sale in the `6- `9 lakh price years back, the core value-for-mon- range, say experts. 06600 units ey proposition of Ford EcoSport To sweeten the deal for continues to be strong for custom- Sale Day Fail Day 2022 Forecast T consumers many of these ers looking for a quality product vehicles come with fea- 374000 units starting `6 lakh. Recently, Ford What can India’s big etailers learn from previous ‘sale’ disasters? And how do they tures that consumers may India celebrated the 200,000 sales have had to pay a lot more 2025 Forecast T milestone for the car. ensure they have the right sort of epic sale this time around? By Ravi Balakrishnan for. Manufacturers are fo- 426000 units The appeal: practicality and cusing on safety features SOURCE: EMMAAA marketing that positions these ow brands and big box retailers last minute bids on Ebay fared well. The ones who the gap in how long a product is available for. It’s like airbags, vehicle sta- as an everyday versatile vehicle. prepare for festive seasons or were disappointed — and it felt like there were at better to have a live clock ticking, counting down bility and anti-lock braking systems as well “The consumer wants to experiment with sales is, by now, an oft-told tale: least a billion — fumed and fretted online till the the duration of the deal rather than people find- as more lifestyle oriented features such as different body-styles and may prefer a mini extra staff come on board for just Flipkart’s Bansals felt compelled to apologise. ing inventory is over.” keyless entry otherwise seen in high end SUV to a hatchback or sedan. The tall stance Ha few days, months are spent ne- So, what are etailers to do as they prepare to Throw mobile-based apps into the mix and sedans. EcoSport for instance offers a new works well for the ego and its road presence, gotiating exclusive deals, there’s serve another big billion? things get a lot more complex. On the one hand, feature SYNC with Ford AppLink, which and better ground clearance serves it well a ‘no-holidays-during-the-holidays’ rule for regu- there’s a walled garden of data to be mined. enables users to access smartphone appli- on potholed roads,” says Deepesh Rathore, lar store hands and the shifts stretch from 6 AM Be Ready For Literally Observes Kumar Subramaniam, co-founder, cations through voice commands. founder & director, Emerging Market to midnight. A Billion Transactions Zero:Zero: “We know if the app’s been used to Ford was the first to identify the evolving Automotive Advisors (EMAA). But what of India’s leading ecommerce play- Etailers cannot make grandiose claims of serv- search for shoes, if the purchase was made, if needs of Indian consumers, looking for an Continued on Page 4 >> ers? Apart from throwing in discounts every ing a billion and then not have the comput- there was an exchange, etc. The ecosystem is day, many of them are remarkably susceptible ing power to deal with even half that number. rich and etailers are just scratching the sur- to isolating one day (or three) a year when they Whether online or offline, infrastructural read- face.” Which brings us to its biggest problem: hope the largest chunk of money spent online by iness counts for a lot. Overseas, the main motiva- complex user interfaces with lots of scope for Indians will be on their sites or apps. tion for such sales is offloading stock. unintended button mashing. Flipkart’s founders were preparing for a bigger, In India, it’s to get a larger number of people Subramaniam admits, “Shoddy UX is a big better ‘big billion day’ as far back as January this shopping online. Their first experience needs issue that is unaddressed. I guess it’s more year. It wouldn’t surprise us if in the last three to be memorable. Error messages and products painstaking than splurging crores on an ad Funny Business months of 2015, there’s a grand orgy of conspicu- disappearing from shopping carts don’t make for campaign.” While still on apps, Harshil Karia, “How many crores can ous consumption, complete with “never before” great memories. Rajdeep Endow, MD, Sapient, MD, Schbang, believes there’s a case to be made you give me for comedy deals on the apps and sites of Amazon, Flipkart observes, “No amount of advertising can bridge for them using data optimally and “compression and Snapdeal. and resizing of images is a must.” every year and how many Online sales have existed for a while: Citibank’s Etailers cannot make grandiose people you want to reach, OMG Sale and the Google Online Shopping Make Shopping Social and I will work towards Festival, for instance. But the one that’s most claims of serving a billion Even online shopping is not a lonesome experi- CHANDA BHARAT recalled for reasons good and bad is Flipkart’s and then not have the ence in India. There are phone calls made, links achieving that with Big Billion Day sale last year. It was online shared, and parallel teams of friends, family and comedy” Darwinism at its finest. Those with fast net con- computing power to deal colleagues tracking prices on other sites. nections, twitchy fingers and instincts honed by with even half that number Continued on Page 4 >> Vir Das on the business of comedy >> Page 2 BrandRevival MISSING IN ACTION MAGGI’S COMEBACK CAMPAIGN WAS AWW-INSPIRING. BUT HOW DID IT COME TO BE AND IS IT RIGHT FOR THE BRAND? RAVI BALAKRISHNAN porate mandate than advertising as Maggi made a comeback a few usual. For his part, Joshi clarifies, weeks ago: if not to the store “We were already their partners. It shelves, at least on the internet was their decision that we partner with a series of ads about a bunch them at this juncture. I think it’s an of Maggi loyalists who shared tales honour. Everybody is around you of their love for the noodle. There in happy times but true partners were socially dysfunctional young stand by you in crisis.” men looking to build bridges with While the ads have been widely their neighbours in the hopes of viewed and shared, are they bang being asked over for a meal in a on strategy? Maggi-less world. Fathers deprived While admitting the ads are warm of the one thing they could cook. and fuzzy, relevance could be the Six ads in all, ending with a miss missing link according to Dheeraj you message. Sinha, chief strategy officer, Grey Interestingly enough, the sugges- Group South & South East Asia, tion that a campaign be done after “Given the intensity of the contro- a High Court order granting the versy some warm fuzzy digital ads brand conditional relief came from won’t solve things in people’s minds. an agency. Not Publicis which has ‘Was there lead or no? What have been handling brand Maggi for a you been feeding us all while now but McCann Worldgroup these years? Are you which works on Nestle’s corpo- or are you not in the rate campaign and Nescafe. Says clear?’ These are Prasoon Joshi, chairman, McCann the questions to Worldgroup Asia Pacific, “Instinct which we need is very important. There’s a huge stark answers. faith and belief behind these ads. Emotions aside, We believed the consumer was dy- it has raised ing to hear from us and we were “They wanted us to partner them at this people’s hackles dying to talk to them. It’s a cam- in terms of what paign that shows respect to the juncture. Everybody is around you in happy is going on, and un- consumer.” Joshi who penned the times. True partners stand by you in crisis” fortunately at the time, ads himself was inspired by com- Prasoon Joshi, McCann Worldgroup there was no conversation from the ments on Twitter and Facebook. He brand.” recalls, “There was a longing; this cording to Joshi. The agency which flaghsip brand. It’s a change attrib- It’s arguable though if Maggi was something people genuinely worked with Ginger Water Films uted to the arrival of new manag- would have been exempt from miss. These are authentic state- was also given unprecedented lev- ing director Suresh Narayanan critique had it started the conversa- ments: things like I never woke els of freedom. The speed at which who replaced Etienne Benet.