As I sat on the
first row, ready to explore the revolutions which were driving the marketing
industry today, I expected some logical and complex strategies from the
marketing bigwigs. But here I am, completely bewildered, to learn that
marketing is all about touching the customer’s heart. It is all about loving
your customer. Oh my god. The first presentation came from the telecom major
Vodafone. Ms Anuradha Agarwal took us through the journey of transformation of
Hutch to Vodafone. The rationale behind the decision to continue with the pug,
helped making the change quick but subtle. As a marketer one develops an
intuition with time and structures the brand. It is sometimes a big risk. What
if the Zoozoo concept did not connect? Marketing is much more than Kotler’s 4Ps
or 6Ps. One needs to get it right but winning the customer’s heart is most
important.
The decisions
need to come from the heart. Likeable is the new logical. The customer likes us
for what we are. These statements came right from the bag of an experienced
industry marketer. The focus was on heart. The simple rules of revolutionary
marketing according to her are to put the customer in the centre, treat the customer
as an individual, the importance of change, human insights unlock potential, educate
engage and entertain, give respect, give the customer someone to love, being
local , not taking yourself too seriously and empowering the customer.
Concisely, every rule focussed on loving the customer and bonding with him.
Anuradha Agarwal, VP, Vodafone |
Vodafone focuses
on the consumer space which makes us wonder how it would be when one is in a
b2b (business to business) scenario. Mr Raghvendra Shenoy of Johnson and
Johnson (J&J) was there to explain the same. He took care of the department
of medical devices which interacted with hospitals and doctors. J&J is
known for 2 things – quality and care. The marketing strategy revolved around
4As- Access, Adopt, Aware, Afford and 5Ps Provider, Physician, Patient, Policy
maker, Payers. J&J has initiated various innovative activities in rural
healthcare. Although their interaction is limited to doctors, the division’s
passion for doctors, patients and commitment towards quality and social
responsibility bend the rules of business. It established a diabetes checking
counter in thousands of rural health care centres free of charge. It educated
not only the doctor but also the patient through boards written in local
language. This takes marketing beyond the usual definition of knowing what
customer needs. It is about caring for a customer and facilitating modern
technology to rural people. It not only cared for people but many of their
initiatives revolved around the doctor. J&J developed an apron of
international standards priced at 30% of the similar available products. The
philosophy behind how it cared for doctors who were constantly exposed to
dangers is touching. J&J has not only adhered to its mission and vision but
also created an example of marketing through caring.
Post J&J’s
B2B marketing, the engineer in us was delighted to read on the screen “Digital
Marketing”. The audience immediately connected to Mr Shailendra from Lenovo India.
He was here to blow the myths of digital marketing. There is a lot of hoopla in
the marketing industry about digital media revolutionizing the way a product is
marketed. People also feel that digital media is going to replace the medium of
T.V. and other social media. Mr Shailendra explained how the digital media has
become prominent but without T.V., it is incomplete. He busted various myths
like the perception that digital media is free. It is not free for the brands.
Digital marketing is not a targeted medium as intrusion into private space is
limited. Money cannot buy digital success. It can definitely affect the
outcome, but it does not guarantee engagement. The digital medium is not easy
to succeed in. It is a complex ecosystem of search, display, ecommerce and
brand engagement. The medium is not democratic but meritocratic in nature.
Digital medium can be controlled and manipulated. It is open and transparent.
Digital Science is not a science but an art of connecting with people. Your
success still depends on the customer’s heart.
After blowing
the myths of digital marketing, we set ourselves for a journey in the world of
luxury. Ms Manmeet Vohra took us through the journey of evolution of Brand TAG
HEUER. Tag Heuer as a brand comes under the luxury conglomerate LVMH. The start
was challenging with infrastructure problems, government rules, and a lack of
assortment. The passion of perfection has resulted today in 92 point of sales
in 27 cities with each studio equivalent to its peers in London or Paris. The
brand got associated with Shah Rukh Khan. TAG HEUER was always SRK’s favourite
brand and his association has been most fruitful. Tag Heuer used polo matches,
golf tournaments and other innovative events for executives to connect with the
brand. As we see today, Tag Heuer has the highest marketing spend in the luxury
segment and one of the highest market shares in the luxury watch market.
Pawan Sarda, CMO, Future Group |
As we completed
the journey of TAG HEUER, a more consumer centric, especially catering to the
middle class awaited us. Mr Pawan Sarda of the Future Group, who looks after the
marketing of Big Bazaar took us through the journey of modern organized retail
and a revolution known as BIG BAZAAR. The vision of the group was to provide
the facility of modern retail to the middle class of India. It also wanted to
connect to the heart of the customer by going local. ‘Being traditional the
Indian way’ was the motto of Big Bazaar.
Right from 2001 to the present, the marketing for big bazaar has evolved
from educating the customer, thriving to provide the best quality product in
the cheapest way to initiating activities to connect to the customer locally.
The latest initiatives are having special malls which sell products needed by a
particular community of that area. As
the country diversifies and migration increases in cities, it is the new India
that is evolving and with this evolution, the new avatar of Big Bazaar also involves
catering to this New India.
The Big journey
of Big Bazaar was followed by journey of ACG PAM. As a capsule producing major,
it faced the issue of market segmentation. Every time the marketers found the
problem, the company went back to the drawing board, created a revolutionary
product and came back with a bang. Its holistic marketing approach where it
includes the customer in various processes displays how close the bond between
customer and manufacturer has become today. Its stringent quality measures and the
importance of creating seamless communication between the marketing and research
team was stressed by him.
The lessons of
holistic marketing opened a new chapter of customer involvement. Mr Rohit
Parulekar of Schindler group, a major in urban mobility, producing escalators
and lifts, explained how leadership is attained through customer service. It
introduced Schindler Loyalty Factor (SLF) to determine how much the customer
was satisfied with its service. Dynamic surveys helped the company to remain
connected with its customers. It helped in mapping the existing process, finding
gaps and ways to bridge these gaps as quickly as possible. This constant
feedback system has helped Schindler in carving a place for itself in the world
urban mobility market. It is a highly respected player with various clients
forming long associations with the company.
Each journey
above belongs to a different industry, a diverse environment. Yet every
marketing initiative revolved around forming a bond with customer. If the
customer is not satisfied, one has to strive to get his confidence back and
evolve as a continuously improving brand. One cannot be taught this. As rightly
put by Ms Agarwal, it comes with experience.
--
Kavan Shah
Class of 2014
SJMSOM, IIT Bombay
I must confess, I'm not a blog fan. but the standard of presentation and especially the quality of your content makes this blog most enjoyable.
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