Mission Lead Marketing - The Indian way

I came across this article about how Brands can drive across social change in Harvard Business review Marketing meets mission , it talks about how some brands were able to bring in behavioural change among people in the society. This is very vital in this situation of pandemic and fear. India is not new to these types of marketing , especially during festive seasons we can see plenty of brands rushing to give public interest awareness videos.

One great example is the campaign carried out during the Kumbh Mela in India , this was done by heat stamping a simple message in Hindi “Lifebuoy se haath dhoye kya?” (Did you wash your hands with Lifebuoy?).

You can read this at the campaign here Roti Reminder. 

Another such great campaign is by TATA TEA which ran this #JaggoRe campaign . It talks about the various social ills in India. They are also running a campaign website and facebook page JaagoRe FB . It talks about bribery in election , Gender bias , Plastic waste, and it's recent campaign talks about elder care during #Covid19 

Mission Lead Marketing is very useful for most developing countries, as they help people change their behaviour and also contributes to a positive image for the brands among its customers and general public. 

Indian brands do it all the time, there is this one advertisement where a joint family was having dinner, a little boy was angry with his mother for scolding him for taking 10 Rupees from his fathers purse and pushed away his plate, everyone was supporting the little boy, making snide remarks at the daughter-in-law , the Father-In-Law , finally snaps and says "If i was his mother i would have starved him for two days, today he is stealing 10 Rs what will he do tomorrow? " finally the ad ends with the FIL telling his DIL you  did the right thing. This is an Advertisement campaign by All-Out  mosquito repellent  #StandByToughMoms .  

There was a lot of controversy with this advertisement that it promotes patriarchy and how it is toxic, but i believe this advertisement depicts how a typical family  discussion runs , and nothing is wrong. The advertisement made it clear that a mother is right in disciplining a child and it clearly linked the being tough part with its product.

Tata Tanishq is another brand which constantly pushes this idea of a modern society and it positions itself as a modern jewellery for the modern woman. This particular advertisement of Tanishq stands out for its portrayal of a bride who is remarrying with a kid. In India there is a large scrutiny over the skin tone of a bride, and remarrying is a taboo, this advertisement broke all these taboos by showing the bride to be of dusky skin tone and having a small kid. 

These kinds of advertisement are what which will push through social change. And I fully agree that Mission Lead Marketing is a great concept and it will serve both the Brand and the society very much. Do share your thoughts on this in the comment section.

Amazon - Audible - App Review

I came across the Amazon Audible app, when I was searching for some E-book reader apps, so the first time I saw the ad for the app I wanted to try it but left without finishing the installation. So when I saw that we can download one audio book per month for free even in the trial period I immediately jumped at the chance. So how did it go.

The Installation:

You can either click on any banner ads or go the application store and search for the audible app.
Install Audible

•  While installing the app will ask for Credit Card or eligible Debit Card detail for billing
• The first 30 days it is free , afterwards it will bill you 199 Rupees per month.
• While using debit card, you might be billed for 2 rupees for checking the account info.(Refunded within 48 hours)
•  Once you have logged in, you get one credit which can be used to purchase any book of any price
•  After one month if you are not satisfied you can unsubscribe from the service, and also keep any book you have downloaded.

The Layout of the Application

The layout is pretty much straightforward , if you have used the kindle app you will find the audible app familiar.

The three stripes at the top left hand will open up the main tabs as shown in the figure
The home screen will show the last listened book at the top and recommendations at the bottom.
The Library contains all the book you have bought
The news tab gives a link of social media presence of the app
The stats tab has interesting divisions, it has a ranking system, a collection of badges, listening time and the titles in the account.
The Store page  has different filters and also the account details (The page where you can change billing cards and cancel your account)

The Performance of the application:

The App is designed for people who love to read and listen to books

The layout is very simple and clutter free
Once  you open an audio book, it is very intuitive, you have the Play/Pause, Forward, Rewind, buttons.
In addition you have the option of checking the chapters and adding book marks, if you want you can also increase the narration speed. (Which I would recommend you not to)
If you are listening to the book together with friends there is even the option of sharing your progress.
The best feature is the automatic car mode, which turns on when it is connected to car via Bluetooth..

The Verdict:

It is a must have app if you are a book worm, also try it once to feel the effect of stories being narrated to you by great narrators. I got the sherlock holmes collection narrated by Stephen Fry.
It is a very good experience so do try using the app, as you get to keep the book you download during the trial period. Install Audible

Try Audible

Comparative Advertising - AD Wars by Amul

"AMUL"  one of the most loved brands in India is known for its innovative and cheeky advertisements which makes everyone go aww. But a recent comparative advertisement which it released on print and social media caused a small AD war.

So what is this comparative advertising?

According to Investopedia Comparative advertising is a marketing strategy in which a company's product or service is presented as superior when compared to a competitor's. A comparative advertising campaign may involve printing a side-by-side comparison of the features of a company's products next to those of its competitor. 

This advertisement is what caused it all

A simple innocent looking question

 "Does your butter cookie contain butter or vegetable oil?"

You can read the original tweet by clicking on this link.

  This created a lot of interaction online and many started posting their own content of different brands of biscuits and complained.

Every brand of biscuit which claimed as butter cookie was dragged in by the consumers, this was further enhanced by the contest which was titled as #AmulButterCookie challenge which made people tweet out with comparative images.

This is not the first time when Amul has done comparative advertising; it has earlier done it for its ice-cream range, where it asked whether you are having ice-cream or frozen dessert. It was taking advantage of a regulatory rule which listed products made from vegetable oil as frozen dessert. 

Not only Amul but Havmor icecreams also sent out a cheeky ad targeting frozen desserts.

HUL was not humoured and it approached the courts and argued the advertisement was disparaging its product and got an injunction against the advertisement which it prominently displays in its webpage, along with the comparision chart of process of making frozen desserts and ice-creams.

But In this case of butter cookies, Amul has met its match in Britannia , they turned the tables on Amul and put forward to customers how much fat will they consume in this ad.

They ended with this tag saying

 "Too Much Butter may not always be better."

Now this is what we require in a good ad war. Lets see how it progresses....

Ten Differences between Marketing and Selling

Every interview I have attended has some variation of this question “What is the difference between Marketing and Selling” so here is the ten differences from various books.

S. No	Marketing	Selling
1	Marketing starts with the buyer and focuses constantly on the needs of the buyer.	Selling starts with the seller, and is preoccupied with the needs of the seller
2	Emphasises on identification of a market opportunity	Emphasises on saleable surplus available within the corporation.
3	Buyer is the centre of the business universe ; activities follow the buyer and his needs	Seller is the centre of the business universe; activities start with the sellers existing products.
4	Seeks to convert customer needs into products	Seeks to quickly convert products into cash
5	Emphasises on fulfilling the needs of the customers	Concerns itself with the tricks and techniques of getting the customers to part with their cash.
6	Buyer determines the marketing mix	Sellers preference dominates the formulation of the marketing mix.
7	Consumer determines the price	Cost determines the price
8	Emphasis on innovation in every sphere to provide better value to customer by adopting newer technologies	Emphasis on staying with the existing technology and reducing costs.
9	Marketing communication is looked upon as the tool for communicating the benefits provided by the product	Seller’s motives dominate marketing communications.
10	In firms practising marketing, marketing is the central function of the business.	In firms practising selling, production is the central function of the business.