The Marketing Mojo

MESSAGE STRATEGIES

2011-11-23T15:30:00.001+05:30

There are three types of message strategies, which are as follows: -

Cognitive Strategies: -( Awareness , Knowledge)

It is a presentation of rational arguments or pieces of information to the consumers. It requires cognitive processing. The cognitive message is about delivering the message about the benefits and attributes of the product. Customers can obtain the benefits by using the product.

Cognitive messages can be categorized into five major categories: -

Generic: - it is direct promotion about the products attributes to the target audience without any claim of superiority. This type of strategy is favourable to those brands who are big in the industry and have to just make their brands synonymous with the product category.

Pre-emptive: - It is to claim superiority based on some unique benefit or attribute. This is to prevent competition from making the same statement.

USP: - It is an explicit testable claim of superiority made by the organization that can be supported in some manner. But in case of Brand parity it is a little difficult.

Hyperbole: - It is an untestable claim based on some attribute or benefit

Comparative:- It is when a competitor compares his goods and services directly or indirectly with the competitor

Affective Message Strategies: - (Liking, Preference , Conviction)

These message strategies are built to elicit emotions of the customer and match them with the emotion of products and services. It is to enhance the likability of the product, recall of the appeal and comprehension of the advertisement.

It will fall into two: -

Resonance- attempt to connect the product with the experience of the customer. Any strongly held memory or emotional attachment is a candidate of resonance

Emotional: - Attempts to elicit powerful emotions for powerful recall and choice of the product

Conative Strategies: - ( Actual Purchase)

They are designed to more directly some type of consumer response. It is basically done for promotional efforts such as coupon redemption, Internet hits, buy one get one. The goal is to elicit behaviour

Action Inducing Co native Advertisements

It is to create situation when the cognitive knowledge of the product occurs during its usage.

Point of Purchase Advertisement for impulse Buys

Promotional Support Conative Advertisements

It is to support the actual purchase where they may show a customer entering a store by filing out a form in a newspaper

THE PRODIGY HAS LEFT US!!!

2011-10-12T00:06:00.003+05:30

The innovation prodigy has left us alienated. He created his own world where he made his employees work, enjoy and made things happen for them, which they have not even dreamt of. He was the regulator of markets. He was the one responsible for making organizations fall in the Brand Image Trap. At an age of 56, he sent a clear message to the world that innovation has no boundaries; you have to just come up with an idea. He had an unacceptable behaviour earlier for, which he was fired. I just want to say, who does not have flaws, but on the other hand you cannot forget what he gave to the society. The revolutionary products to his credit like IPOD, IMAC, Macintosh, IPHONE and IPAD are the souvenirs he left us with to cherish for the coming generations. His accomplishments do not end with Apple, he was also the founder of organizations like NEXT and PIXAR. The movies like Toy Story, Ice Age and Wolley is his creation, the point is, he has created an impact not only demographically but geographically. I just want to end by saying that there will be no “ there is one more thing”, which he always use to quote to surpass everyone’s expectations. We will miss you Sir!!!!!!!!!!

VODAFONE AND FACEBOOK COME TOGETHER

2011-09-30T08:40:00.001+05:30

The new TVCs created by Ogilvy & Mather for Vodafone Essar is creating a buzz all around the town. This is about the new mobile by Vodafone, which is “Vodafone Blue”. So, you might be wondering what this is. Vodafone Essar and the social networking giant Facebook have come together to provide an interface for people who love Facebook. The mobile phone gives an easy access to all the features of the social networking site. The 120 sec long TVCs portrays a young boy describing all the features of Facebook and how imperative is social networking to stay connected and having a life. This advertisement is clear example of Comprehension, Awareness and Conviction. The advertisement tries to create awareness of the new product, comprehending it by explaining the new features , reinforcing the message that Vodafone provides power to you by providing you easy access to the social networking on your mobile phone.

NO GETTING AWAY..”THE NETWORK ALWAYS CONNECTS EVERYWHERE”

2011-09-30T08:36:00.000+05:30

The series of TVCs was created by Draftfc Ulka is for the telecom operator TATA DOCOMO. The advertisement potrays real life situations where there is a problem of network, places like a basement or a Washroom. The advertisement does not promise that network is available at every far fetched corner of earth but the performance on everyday basis. The Advertisement uses a cheeky and unique manner of presentation to be distinctive as there are competitors relying on the same thing that is network. The other aspect that draws attention that it has no celebrity endorsers like Ranbir Kapoor but normal consumers who face the problem of network. This strategy is going to help build high end consumer connect with the brand but the recent controversy with some advertisements may create problems too.

BRAND TRAPS | What are they ?

2011-09-16T19:35:00.004+05:30

We cannot dispute the value of a strong brand image in today's market. Brands like Johnson & Johnson, Marks and Spencer, the Tatas, have proven this theory time and again.
When you are in the process of assessing whether the 'Brand' is perceived by your target audience just as you intended, you should, firstly, have a clear vision of what you want your brand to be perceived as.
The communication strategy, tactics all emerge from this. Also, once you know what way to go, you can easily avoid taking steps that will inevitably lead you to the BRAND TRAP - the major cause of brands losing their credibility and the identity.

David A. Aaker in his book “Building Strong Brands”, identifies four such traps.

PRODUCT FIXATION TRAP

This trap signifies of the brand been defined by only one product. In this case there is a restriction to diversify tangibly and intangibly. The attributes are not the relevant bases for customer decisions and competitive dynamics. In this case when the product attributes are considered as basis of brand identity are subject to certain limitations, which are as follows: -

· Can be easily copied
· They execute a rational customer
· They lack strategic flexibility
· The fail to differentiate

E.G: - XEROX- When they came out with this campaign where they give more priority towards the product rather than the intangible factor(The imagery attached with the product). Their identity as a brand suffered. This is because if a product category dies, the brand dies.

The moral is the brands should extend itself within its defined boundaries.

BRAND IMAGE TRAP

The brand identity is always forward looking. It is always said that image is short-lived but identity is progressive. If you analyze the strengths of the brand, understand what is and try to work on the shortcoming or the threats it may face in the future. There is a very high possibility of you being the one who is not dictated by the market.

E.G: - Tommy Hilfiger once removed the logo of their shirt to introduce some new design in the market. They did not realize that the identity of the brand as perceived by the customer was a shirt with logo on it. The new strategic move did not go so well, that they had to come back to the logo. This is an answer that Image is a subset of brand identity but not the brand identity.

BRAND POSITIONING TRAP

Positioning is a part of the identity. We identify a value proposition for a brand, positioning is done and thus a brand image is being perceived by the target audience.

E.G: - Fevicol is not known as a brand, but by it positioning as “the strong adhesive”.

EXTERNAL PERSPECTIVE TRAP

When you are not taking into consideration the opinion of the internal customers that are employee. If Employees are not bind towards the identity of the brand thus they are able to work for it and pass on to the customer.

E.G:- Gillette, in the organization they encourage the employees to grow beard so that they can test the quality of the product and whether it s attributes are in relation the brand identity.

Freakonomics

2011-09-07T17:05:00.001+05:30

If the thought of a book on economics is about as exciting as sorting your mails, then the bestselling book, Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, just might be the book for you.

Economics is supposed to be about price elasticities and interest rates and not drug dealers and their curious living prefernces. That is what makes it so useful to management graduates like me, seeking relief from insomnia.

With its well-paced and easy reading style, this book shows how the resulting correlation of data impacts our lives and makes us think differently about facts and figures. Many people- including some of his peers- do not recognize Levitt’s work as economics at all!

Levitt is happiest grappling with questions that have the potential to overturn the ''conventional wisdom.'' ''Where did all the criminals go?'' proved to be the perfect instance of such a question.
The sudden and precipitous crime drop in the 1990's took everyone by surprise. Plenty of plausible-sounding hypotheses were put forward to explain it. But when Levitt turned an economist's eye to the data, he found that most of the supposed causes – better law enforcement, a strong economy, the aging of the population, etc. -- had a negligible effect.
And then, Freakonomics arrives at a startling conclusion. The book submits that the highly publicized drop in America's violent crime rate since 1990 is due almost entirely to legalized abortion!!

As Levitt sees it, economics is a science with excellent tools for gaining answers, but a serious shortage of interesting questions.

On the downside however, Freakonomics will give you plenty to talk about, without an in depth analysis of the issues presented.

Also, those of you desiring a smooth flowing book, with numerous concepts building to an ultimate conclusion, might be disappointed. Actually, the book presents six wholly different topics, with no unifying theme.

All in all we say Freakonomics definitely asks some good questions, and it inspires readers to do the same.

Creativity - Sometimes you're just so over rated !

2011-09-05T13:57:00.001+05:30

In our previous post on Creative advertising we discussed that creativity though an effective tool to attract your customer's attention and make an impact, might not eventually lead to a successful campaign.

Infact, it has very little to do with effectiveness when it comes to marketing. (ya. that's right, I said it.)

Pick up any marketing material (newspaper. magazines, pamphlets,etc.) and you will have to agree, we have all come across ads that are good to look at, but leave us wanting for more.
In fact Advertisements, with clear messages, are a rare commodity.

Case in point : The JK cement ad.
A swimsuit clad, coy girl walks through the entire length of the Ad (which I really don't mind, she should have run if you ask me) and then the Ad comes to an abrupt end with the logo of JK your face.

You will find mostly, that adhering to a simple formula that works specifically for your product/ service is more important than finding a catchy slogan.

We sometimes forget that creativity in all its forms, is and should be driven, only to result in
Kaching!! ie. Sales.Your marketing materials are not meant to entertain.

Now before the creative types get touchy or think that it is the Creative team vs. Marketing Team debate all over again, let me remind you that the campaign is solely product driven. So if you're product demands you to be catchy, edgy , out of the box, Do it. But you still need the basic formula in place; and that is :

1. Make painfully obvious what you have to offer

2. Immediately tell the reader how you can solve their pain or offer them some gain

3. Guide them step by step into required action (order, call, write, …)

INNOVATION BASED ADVERTISING

2011-08-29T10:11:00.000+05:30

Volkswagen new print advertisement of Jetta is another masterpiece added to its kitty of innovation based advertisements. The german auto maker has proved that a celeb endorser is not necessary, but the products quality, engineered features and its unique presentation can do the needful. The German brand has tried to create active engagement by starting anything4jetta contest, where one has to tweet #anything4jetta with the answer to what you would do for an All new Jetta??. The campaign is not restricted to Print, it is also running parallel campaigns on Facebook as well. This will help in building a loyal customer base who are looking for high quality, exclusivity and luxury.

I ( can afford this) phone……….

2011-08-24T11:12:00.000+05:30

Seems like the pot-shot advertisements are back with a bang and this time it is Micromax. It is an advertisement that talks about high prices of phones like Apple in the market. The cheeky advertisement is targeting the young customers with its sense of humour. The advertisement portrays the features of the mobile phone, which comes at an affordable price. This a nice way to get customers attention without doing much. In my opinion, it is clear example of smartness and efficiency.

HARRY POTTER IS HERE TO STAY

2011-08-24T10:41:00.000+05:30

They were just kids in 1997 and now these kids have grown up and starting to fading out the limelight and the magical world. The brand Harry Potter has had intrinsic mental associations with its target audience, be it the magical world of Hogwarts, the wand, the breaking walls, good always wins over evil or just a touching story about a boy making big because he was “the chosen one”. This brand like any other is here to stay with its Potter more website to be launched recently. J.K Rowling venture for bringing about profound social engagement and commercial value to the brand will help the fanatics relive Harry Potter. This is a great idea that the writer has come up to maintain Brand Resonance. A new platform demands a lot of work, but if it proves to be successful, a brand community is here to stay like HOG( Harley Owners Group) of Harley Davidson

CREATIVE BRIEF

2011-08-22T23:28:00.000+05:30

It is the discussion with the client side and the agency end. It gives the guideline to what they are looking for in an advertisement. It has the following components. Which are as follows:-

· Objectives: - The objective the organization has in mind behind the whole advertising campaign E.g- To reposition the brand, to convey a certain message for their new product line etc.

· Competition: - Profiling of the competitors in the market having same product portfolio, studying their appeal, message tone, media vehicles used.

· Brand Personality : - It explains the characteristics which the company wants it to be. E.g.- If we talk about Harley Davidson its personality can be defined as rebel, freedom etc.

· Target Audience:- It explains the psychographics and demographics for the target audeince

· Geographic Segment- Catering to the (Tier- 1, 2, 3)

· Media Vehicles: - ( Print , Media, Radio , Outdoor etc)

· Budget: - It is only for creative execution

· Delivery time and line: - It includes the specifications as to how much time will an advertisement be aired.

· Time period: - It is the time period during which the advertisements has to be aired, printed etc

· Message tone: - The appeal of the message can be informational, emotional, humorous or elegance

Based on these components, the account executives brief the creative department and develop a message strategy on that accordingly.

CO BRANDING AND INGREDIENT BRANDING

2011-08-21T09:10:00.001+05:30

Co Branding: - Brand Bundling is when two or more brands are sold together in some fashion. E.g. Gillette India jointly Promote Mach 3 Turbo systems. The main advantage of this is it may be convincingly positioned apart from virtue of multiple brands involved. It may generate great sales and may bring additional opportunities. The disadvantage in this lack of control if alignment of brand in the minds of the customer. A necessary condition both brands should have separate brand equity so that every brand should have their identity.

Ingredient Branding: - It creates brand equities for materials, products which are necessarily contained with the branded products.

PRICING

2011-08-20T18:45:00.001+05:30

Product Line Pricing

The organizations generally develop more than one product under one product line in order to deo step pricing or separate pricing points which helps in having the range covering most of the market segment i.e. A shirt priced at 50, 200 and at500. Etc.

Optional Feature Pricing

Many companies offer optional product with the main product and thus charge for them for e.g. a car being offered with the power window. Steering etc will be charged as additional optional feature of pricing.

Captive Product Pricing: -

It is that some product requires use of captive products and thus a high price is charged for the captive product. E.g. Razors are sold but razor blades are generally expensive that is setting high markups and thus leads to captive product Pricing

SERVICE DIFFERENTIATION

2011-08-18T20:03:00.001+05:30

Ordering Ease:- online delievery
Delivery:- This include speed, Accuracy and care attention. E.g. pizzas, film development, lexis quick response system with the information system of it’s suppliers and it’s clients.
Installation: refers to making the work operational post sale of the equipment to the client.
Customer Training: Training to customers like companies employees training to use new machinery.
Customer Consulting:- Advice services that sellers offer to the buyers.
Maintenance and Repair

INDUSTRIAL GOODS CLASSIFICATION

2011-08-17T11:18:00.001+05:30

Industrial Goods Classification

Materials and parts it can be further classified into Raw materials and Manufactured Material and parts

Raw material are classified into

Farm products:- Marketing intermediaries, transportation, assembly, grading , storage. It should have little advertising and and promotional activity with exceptions. There may be a case wherein the commodity groups might do campaigning
Natural Products:- are limited in supply and is kind of hard on the end of producer to move a greatbulk and low unit resource to the user. Here in the user depends upon the long term supply, materials . Also, price and delievery reliability are the major factors influencing the selection of the supplier.

Manufactured Materials Parts are classified into

Component materials: - the can be further fabricated into quick form . Price and Supplier reliability are the 2 important purchase factors.
Component parts: - they enter into finished products and go through no further ```changes.

Capital Items: - They are the long lasting goods which facilitate developing and managing the finished product. They include 2 items that is Installations and Equipment

Installations:- building , heavy equipment. Advertising is Little, Design for post sale and are usually bought directly from the Producer. Services
Equipement: - Factory Equipment and tools They sell Direct more often there are rarely any intermediaries, market is geographically dispersed, buyers are numerous and orders are small. Quality, Feature and service are the main consideration.

CONSUMER GOODS CLASSIFICATION

2011-08-16T18:26:00.000+05:30

Convenience goods

Staples: Goods bought on Regular Basis
Impulse: Goods bought without planning any search effort e.g. candy bars, potato chips
Emergency goods:- These are the goods bought only when there is emergency.

Shopping goods: - Compared on the basis of suitability, quality, price, style. Homogenous shopping where the feature of the good is the same but the price is different and heterogeneous where services and features both are different and price is not really that important.

Speciality Goods: - Goods which have a unique brand identification where buyers make special effort to buy it.

Unsought Goods: - Goods which people do not generally think of buying. E.g. Smoke Detectors

LEVELS OF THE PRODUCT

2011-08-15T12:11:00.000+05:30

The core or the basic benefit which u get from the actual product .

Basic product:- Core benefit derived from the product

Expected product:- A set of attributes bundled together for a product thinking that customers would be interested in buying the product.

The augmented benefit what all facilities in terms of installations, warranty and after sale services which are provided by the company to be a part of customer triad. But there is a case, that augmented benefit becomes a expected benefit on the part of the customer.

The potential product is the one which organizations keep on trying to satisfy its customers by distinguishing their offerings.

VASELINE USES A STATEMENT TO COMPREHEND

2011-08-11T17:31:00.000+05:30

The latest advertising campaign of HUL via Facebook and print ad has made a mark in being unique and giving a standard reply to the Ex England captain Michael Vaughan. It an opportunity that HUL has capitalized on, they have picked on a controversial statement and used it as a awareness and comprehension quotient for their advertising campaign. The ad gives us a clear indication that advertisement can also be done by relating it to the topics that are of generic importance. This helps us in gathering attention of the target audience and spread awareness too.

NICHE AND MASS MARKETING

2011-08-10T16:53:00.000+05:30

Niche Marketing delas a particular set of Customer groups which means fewer customer and easier application of marketing mix because there are less people to target, and followed by advertisement and less of distribution Channels.

Mass marketing deals with selling products on a large scale before segmenting it into mass or niche you should have a proper knowledge of the market of what customer wants and would seeliing of your product in the market would possibly create demand so thus it includes three major steps knowledge , application and further analysis in terms of competitors because as a new company u need to see whether your competitors are not already following a marketing strategy which relates to proving the products at a discounted rate so the new company should think of some innovative marketing strategy because being a new company they cannot lower down their price.

MARKETING INFORMATION......CONTINUED

2011-08-06T09:52:00.001+05:30

Internal Company records and Marketing Intelligence

Marketing managers basically rely on internal records of orders, sales, cost, inventory levels which thereby helps us is in spotting opportunities and problems.

The Order to payment Cycle

The heart of internal records is order to payment cycle. Sales representatives send orders to customers of the firm. The sales department presents invoices and generates other billing and shipping documents. So, today’s companies in order to improve the accuracy, efficiency and speed use of internet and extranet has increased so that timely delivery is done and customer only favors those who are fast and punctual in this work. E.g. Cisco connection online allowed the computer networking leader to connect with all its suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers which helps in reduction of cycles and thus there is saving of money and faster dissemination of information.

Sales Information System

Sales information system is very important because it not only helps marketers know the current trend of sales. E.g. Wall mart kept an hourly update of every customer, store. It once saw that the east coast store sales were dropping, the marketing dept immediately contacted the store people and they found that the computers and monitors were not displayed so the customer was unaware about the posted price of the good. As, soon as the marketing department got to know about the problem they solved it by restarting the monitors and thus sales soon start to pick up. It means utilizing the information in order to understand the needs of the customer through required market information. The marketers also get the market related information from reliance world and Sify Way.

Databases, Data warehouse, Data Mining

In today scenario companies organize their information into databases like consumer database containing what he has bought, name address, demographics thus helps the company in determining what customer has the highest purchasing power to mail him the new offer and thus marketers are able to generate information and thus market their product.

Market Intelligence System

It is about how the mangers get to know about the recent Devt through newspaper, publications and internet, interaction with customers. Refer book.

It tells us the various sources through which the organization help in generating marketing information about the market and thus benefiting themselves

1 Motivate distributors, intermediaries, suppliers for passing on the intelligence

2 Networks Externally

3 Take advantages of Government Resources

4 Set up a customer advisory planning

5 Possible information from outside suppliers

6 Use online customer feedback for collecting competitive intelligence.

Creative advertisements : What not to do

2011-08-06T09:48:00.001+05:30

Advertisements that will give you a mental workout

What do you think this print ad is trying to convey?

Does it help that the slogan is - The Bite of The Coffee?

This ad by Stella™ suffers from one of the most common mistakes advertisers make:

Decorating without Persuading

Graphic artists generally create a visual style and call it “branding.” This is fine if your product is related to fashion, is a fragrance, an attitude or a lifestyle, but God help you if you sell a service or a product that’s meant to perform.

You might be blown away by the beauty of the design and think that it represents you well. That it is the right mood for your product or service, and will help you generate some sales; But sorry to disappoint you, your bankers disagree.

Check out this advertisement -

Creative genius right?

Still while the viewers greatly commended the ad, they maintained that they would not buy the product unless the technical anomalies were rectified.

So this becomes an example of Involving without Persuading

The best ads cause customers to see themselves taking the action you desire. These ads deliver:
INVOLVEMENT & CLARITY
(A.) delivering a clear message.
(B.) explaining the benefit to the customer.
(C.) substantiating their claims,

All causing the customer to imagine themselves taking the desired action.

Do you believe the public has to like an ad for the ad to be effective?

MARKETING INFORMATION

2011-08-04T12:11:00.000+05:30

Marketing information is all about observing the outside environment in order to know and gather as much information as you want which help us analyzing the fact what we gained during interaction with the customer thereby help in knowing the buying behavior, wants and preferences. Marketers help us in extensive consumption patterns over and across countries. E.g. Swiss consume most chocolates. Another problem arise is that organizations which do not have a marketing department for them Market Information system which consists of people, gather, sort , analyze, evaluate , distribute the need of customer through this information system. It relies on the following aspects: -

Internal Company records

Market Intelligence System

Market Research

NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPEMENT

2011-08-03T19:49:00.000+05:30

It includes the following stages: -

Idea Generation: - it tells us the idea of a particular person about a particular product which may be relating to line filling or line pruning so that focus is made on specific projects or normally an idea to compete with the rivals in the market.

Source:- qsinnovations.com

Idea Screening: - It is all about giving life to the idea in the form of some document or some Information of what it is all about.

Business Analysis: - It is all about whether the idea is feasible after careful marketing research and see whether the customer needs and wants are fulfilling the several aspects like political, economic and technological – can be the required technology needed for the product to be built which is actually being technologically advanced, social- issues relating to csr. It also does the SWOT of the product so to see that after careful evaluation of external factors we can predict the opportunity and threat for the product whereas the internal factor tells us about the strengths and weaknesses. It also focuses also on building strategic alternatives by matching an internal factor with an external factor which helps us in coming up with relative alternatives to support the main strategic objective. E.g. A company can match the internal factor flexibility with an external factor which is govt law which helps us in planning all the business processes according to the new law which would occur in the future time.

HIERARCHY OF EFFECT MODEL

2011-08-02T14:41:00.000+05:30

It helps in defining how advertising works in different stages. There are subsequent objectives attached with each stage and has its own importance. It is said that it is not necessary that an organization has to start from the first stage, it depends on the brand penetration in the minds of the customer.

AWARENESS

“I AM PRESENT IN THE MARKET”

It is the first phase where you make your target audience aware about your brand. It is that step where the company provides the right brand knowledge so that a perception is generated. This helps in generating a requisite brand recall and brand recognition.

E.g.

Ford has been running for 6 years for producing the highest quality American cars, No one can make this statement.

Maruti SX4 (Associating it with men, it states that brand is inducing a relevance and building a strong mental association with the target audience)

COMPREHENSION

In this phase you convey the USP of the brand and define the Point of Parity and Point of Difference for the same.

E.g.

Rolce Royce latest print Ad of the new car “Ghost” is an example for Brand focusing on Comprehension and Awareness

CONVICTION

It is the stage where you reinforce your message to build a conviction for the customer who wants to buy your product.

E.g.

Helpage India, Max New York Life, Vodafone latest advertisement on Sharing Credits ( Banging on the inner desire and building conviction for the final purchase of the product.

ACTION

It is the last stage where advertisers announce a sales promotion campaign to make the target audience reach at the Point of Sale. It is done to increase the footfall and final purchase. Information has to be there to signify that why action is taking place.

E.g.

Wall Mart print Ads for conveying the discounts being put up, Beverly Hills polo Club announcing flat 40% discount on apparels and footwear.

“The major shortcoming is to measure the effectiveness, where the shortage of funds does the damage”

CHALO VIRAL KARTE HAIN!

2011-07-31T23:11:00.000+05:30

Going Viral!, does these keywords sound familiar. This is the sound of the new marketing communication where the digitization has made it place. It accounts for 2% of the 20,000 crore advertising market and soon will be bigger.

The integrated marketing communications campaign by Coca Cola..."Chalo Viral Karte hain" was a hit. The reason was the marketers did some research where they found that today that most of the accounted age groups live their life online. So, why spend more money on other media vehicles. They understood that viral is done by the customer and not marketers. The major benefit of this vehicle is that the learning curve is faster and up-scaling.

The recent example of Toyota Etios, where its integrated digital media campaign including Facebook, Twitter, Direct messaging and blogging helped them make the new car a success amongst the target audience. Why are we forgetting that if customer like the product, he will market it for us. This is going to save cost on using other media vehicles and innovative way of communicating the message.

Developing an interface for the customer is not enough, work has to be done on its presentation, engagement factor and the way its rewarding the customer. This is a normal trait of a human being, he/she needs motivation to do something.

So, remember "Engaging with the customer on-line is a marketers job and the rest is for the consumer to carry it forward".