Biz Dewz

DTH ads - From 20 seconds to 20 minutes

Siva Rajendran — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:04:23 +0000

Nowadays more and more brands are getting promoted in India thru DTH adspace - Ads in the landing/default channel of DTH service. But most of them use the same TV commercials that run for 20 or 30 seconds.

In case of DTH ads companies usually buy the ad slot in the landing channel for 1 or 2 hours. So they end up running the same ad again and again for over 200 times. Of course people won’t switch on the TV to watch the ad on the landing channel. It is understandable that these ads need to convey the message within few seconds so that before the viewers change the channel they can make an impact.

However ad agencies can think different as they now have longer duration available for marketing the brands unlike the time restriction with TVCs. There are people who switch on the TV just to pass time. They won’t mind watching the programme in the landing channel if it’s interesting.

Ad makers can take this as a challenge and try for a longer version of ads, or even try an interesting short story focusing on the brand and keep the audience glued to the brand promotion for longer duration.

Will a 20-minute ad work in this fast paced Twenty20 era? It’s tough. But I know for sure there are people willing to watch a Vodafone Zoozoo story for 20 minutes. Let’s wait and see if brand managers are using this adspace differently in the future.

DTH ads - From 20 seconds to 20 minutes

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Tata TiON - Will the ginseng magic work?

Siva Rajendran — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:41:13 +0000

Carbonated or non-carbonated, soft drink market in India is mostly dominated by the Cola majors - Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Will the Tata Tea’s new soft drink TiON challenge the cola giants?

Packaging:

Tata Tion comes in a 400 ml pet bottle with three different flavors - Apple Buzz, Mango Rush and Peach Punch. Its pet bottle has a unique shape and its elegant chiseled design attracted me at first look.

Price:

Tion’s priced at Rs 22 for 400 ml. Considering 200 ml Tropicana at Rs 15/18, 300 ml Appy Fizz at Rs 20 and 400ml Minute Maid Pulpy Orange at Rs 20 have to say Tion is competitively priced.

Why T!ON?

Now why should you grab a bottle of Tion over other soft drinks? Tion has the answers printed in the bottle itself.

“It is a fact of life. You can’t let go off the new T!ON. Why? It’s delicious. It’s refreshing. It’s absolutely buzzing with active energy. And, best of all, its good. Na, good isn’t good enough. It’s good 3 times over. With 3 good things - tea extracts, fruit juice and ginseng. That’s (count them) 1. health, 2. nutrition, 3. energy. All in one bottle. The new T!ON with 3 good things. So why let go!”

Marketing Promotion:

I’ve seen the Tion’s Outdoor ads, particularly in the bus stops. Also noticed their in-store marketing efforts in some retail outlets in Chennai. But the Tion’s TV commercial is little bit disappointing. Have to say it failed to create the buzz for a new launch like ITC’’s Bingo or Virgin Mobile did. Hope when they launch the cool drink nation-wide, they’ll go for more aggressive brand promotion.

What Next?

I wish for a 330 ml tin variant of Tion to fight against the likes of Diet coke and Pepsi My Can.

Will Tata Tea fight with the Cola majors for the top 2 slot in the soft drink market or will it settle for the third place fighting other big Indian players? Let’s wait and see if Tion’s ginseng magic works.

Focus on usability

Siva Rajendran — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:05:54 +0000

I went to a shop to buy a personal weighing machine. Sales person there showed me two different brands. I haven’t heard about both the brands before. So choosing one just based on the familiarity of the brand name is ruled out.

The next easy way to choose one is based on the looks - Color and design of the m/c. But before I went ahead to select the one with my favorite color, I noticed a difference between the two machines. One weighing machine has a magnifying lens for easy weight readability and the other brand didn’t had that. That did the trick and helped me in selecting the weighing machine.

Adding simple little feature focusing on the product usability in mind will always help brands to a greater extent.

Focus on usability

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Forbes India - What’s the cover story?

Siva Rajendran — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:51:26 +0000

Network18 group in tie-up with Forbes media launched the business magazine, Forbes India recently in India. The cover story in the first issue of Forbes India talks about Lakshmi Mittal and the survival of his steel empire ArcelorMittal. Now what’s the global steel giant ArcelorMittal’s connection to India?

ArcelorMittal is yet to own a steel-making unit in India. And Lakshmi Mittal in his interview to Forbes India said that ArcelorMittal remains committed to its greenfield projects in India but it would not be realistic to expect production to start before 2014.

For a magazine whose first and foremost aim is to be the drama critic of Indian business, wouldn’t it be good to have the main cover story focusing on Indian business, at least in the first issue?

Forbes India - What’s the cover story?

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Brands N Logos - Design your own alphabet

Siva Rajendran — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:21:53 +0000

Logos play an important role in brand communication. Having a designer alphabet gives a distinct image to the text logos and makes the brand easily recognizable with just a single letter.

See how the brands Axis Bank, Arvind mills, Reliance (ADAG) and Areva created their own alphabet A in their logos.

More brands, logos and alphabets to follow later.

Brands N Logos - Design your own alphabet

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From Pocket PC to Pocket AC

Siva Rajendran — Sat, 09 May 2009 06:43:22 +0000

Computers in the 1950’s occupied the whole room, but now we have Pocket PCs. I wish for such advancement in the home air conditioning (AC) technology.

Not all can afford to air condition their whole house. So a plug and cool, portable Pocket AC would be a great gift to beat the Indian summer.

Will Apple think cool?

From Pocket PC to Pocket AC

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IPL T20 Season 2: Brands N Ads in Team Jerseys

Siva Rajendran — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:10:41 +0000

List of brands in the IPL Twenty20 team’s shirts, trousers, caps and helmets.

Chennai Super Kings:
Aircel
India cements
Nivaran 90
Reebok

Deccan Chargers:
Deccan Chronicle
Odyssey
Kingfisher
Puma

Delhi DareDevils:
GMR
Hero Honda
Jetking
Coca cola
RC
Adidas

Kings XI Punjab:
Fly Emirates
Gulf
7up Nimbooz
Netlink
Reebok

Kolkatta Knight Riders:
Nokia
Star Plus
Sprite
Reebok
NEXT

Mumbai Indians:
Idea
MasterCard
Zandu Balm
Pepsi
Adidas

Rajasthan Royals:
UltraTech cement
HDFC Standard Life
7up
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Kingfisher
Puma

Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Royal Challenge
Whyte & Mackay
Kingfisher
Reebok

Umpire sponsor:
Fly Kingfisher

In addition to these brand shows in the dress, there is another list of on-ground sponsor brands in the Indian Premier League.

DLF
Citibank
Vodafone
Hero Honda
Fly Kingfisher

In this big list, which brands do you think generated maximum impact on the viewers?

IPL T20 Season 2: Brands N Ads in Team Jerseys

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Credit card protection plan - Let customers set their maximum limit

Siva Rajendran — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:53:19 +0000

CPP Card Protection, a comprehensive card protection service for use in the event of card loss, theft and related fraud has been launched in India, by Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Kotak Mahindra Bank in partnership with CPP Assistance Services Pvt. Ltd recently. By spending Rs. 995 we can insure our credit and debit cards for the whole year. It’s good to have such insurance for our wallets. But still I believe card companies themselves can provide much simpler protection plan for free.

We’ve maximum limits set by the card providers for credit and cash usage. How about setting our own internal limits within that maximum limit? I’ve never taken cash using my credit card. Also my credit usage never exceeded even one fifth of my maximum credit limit. I believe significant percentage of the credit card users will fall into this category.

So if those customers have the option to set their own internal credit and cash limit, time to time within the allowed maximum limit, then the loss in the event of theft or fraud will be minimum and well within their manageable limits.

Will credit card providers like VISA and MasterCard give such easy card protection option to customers?

Credit card protection plan - Let customers set their maximum limit

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Bharti Airtel, Vodafone - Get ready to fight against MTS & co

Siva Rajendran — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:28:59 +0000

Telecom price war in India has got even fiercer with the introduction of MCard by MTS. So, for those customers who are not that happy with free incoming calls for life, MTS has come up with a plan, 10,00,000 minutes free or simply lifetime free outgoing. Of course conditions apply. Minimum of Rs 200 top-up over a period of 6 months is mandatory. And most importantly free call limit 150 mins/day is applicable only on local calls from MTS to MTS.

With more new players waiting to enter the Indian mobile market, its going to be an uphill task for the established players like Airtel, Reliance and Vodafone to retain their subscribers. They can’t wait and watch the new players like MTS eat into their market share with their aggressive plans. How about launching new brands focused on niche customer segments to tackle the competition.

South India based media giant, Sun TV Network use this strategy to the core to beat the competition. It uses group channels Sun Music, KTV and Sun News to fight the competition and protect the flagship channel Sun TV’s leadership in Tamil Nadu. To counter the TRP of Star Vijay’s popular investigative reporting show at 10 pm, Nadnathathu Enna, Sun News runs a similar show - Nijam at 10 pm. Sun Music has comedy show, Siri Siri at 10:30 pm to counter Kalaignar TV’s Comedy Clips at the same time. And then there is movie channel KTV, to counter any new or popular films from Kalaignar or Vijay TV.

Will a similar multiple brand strategy work in the Indian mobile industry? Well, it’s not a new concept in India. Tata Teleservices is already doing that indirectly with its Virgin Mobile alliance. Reliance communications also has options to differentiate as it provides both GSM and CDMA services in the same circle. That leaves Airtel and Vodafone.

Will Bharti Airtel and Vodafone lauch new brands to fight against the new players in the Indian mobile market?

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone - Get ready to fight against MTS & co

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Brand BJP vs. Brand Congress - Direct to Home Advertising

Siva Rajendran — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:58:53 +0000

India’s leading political parties BJP and Congress, after their massive online advertising campaigns, has now entered another new medium - DTH adspace, to woo the voters. Every time you switch on the Tata Sky DTH, you’ll see ads by these parties in Channel 100, which is the default landing channel in Tata Sky. Dish TV also uses its landing channel 999 for political ads.

This DTH ad space has its own advantages- No ad blindness effect due to familiarization of the layout like in online medium and no escape for the channel surfers too as the ads are telecasted in the default-landing channel.

From film promotions to ads for luxury Swiss watches and Blackberry mobiles, this DTH adspace has grown mainstream to become a part of the marketing game plan for the leading political parties. I’m sure this ad platform is going to be a big revenue earner for DTH providers in India in the coming years.

So what’ll be the next big strategy by the political parties in the Indian Lok sabha election campaign 2009? Are we going to see non-stop political ads in the Out of Home advertising networks in India like OOH and DOOHM?

Brand BJP vs. Brand Congress - Direct to Home Advertising

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