Now that consumers have evolved, it’s getting more and more difficult to sustain a brand. here’s what marketers should be doing Even with the best efforts, brands land up in situations which are not best for them. Airlines did not intend to be in the red. Political ideologies are not formed to be overthrown, movies are not made to fail at the box office, and iconic individuals don’t intent to fall from grace. Most of us believe that our brands are infallible, employee cynicism apart. Some brands tread a seemingly successful path yet fail in the marketplace. In the year 2010, it is estimated that over 67% of the products launched globally in five key industries – consumer electronics, non-durables, banking and IT have failed to achieve the estimated level of financial success. How did this happen? The best of minds coupled with the greatest vintage of people, most effective tools and methodologies seem to fail. When movies expected to be blockbusters fail, everyone seems to ask – did the film-maker not see the obvious? In retrospect, everything is obvious and ‘should’ have been intuitive. Why was this not seen before the event occurred or a campaign launched? Is there a risk mitigation plan which brands can formulate so that they do not paint a dirty picture in the future? Possibly. A study of successful as well as failed brands throws up some patterns that brands could identify and avoid. Being too functional/ tactical: In an effort to up the ante on value delivery, brands can make the mistake of being too tactical or reactive. The messaging could almost be like that of a hammer, which says my brand can strike and strike very hard if you want, at anything. What is wrong with that? Are we not supposed to be selling a benefit anyway. True, but an over-repeated and mindless effort to drive home an attractive but narrow functionality can be counterproductive. Functionalities of a brand should go hand in hand with the emotional benefits it can offer. An emotional connect fortifies a long-term connection with customers. Not just that, but future roadmaps for the product are also established with an emotional connect, serving as a bond even when the current functionality is no more a differentiator. Compare Apple with other hardware brands. Most other brands focus on cost, technological superiority, while Apple focuses on design that dazzles customers. Therefore the market has segmented itself as Apple and Others. Does anyone check iPad 2’s specifications? No. Because in the customers’ minds it is above comparison and scrutiny, reflecting a strong bond of trust that the brand has built with the customers. Keeping the brand caged up for too long: In a typical brand journey, there is a phase of maturity. At this stage, the brand seeks to extend, diversify into variants, acquire other brands etc. There are two crucial questions in the brand managers’ minds at this stage: 1.Should the brand seek further growth? 2.At what stage should the brand expand to seek new horizons? These are tough ones to answer! Some brands seek to stay put, convinced that there is no need for the extra effort to grow or that any such attempt is inherently risky. This move might lock up the brand for a significantly longer period of time beyond what the conscience keepers of the brand envisaged. Consider the Indian Railways. For the last 20 years, the largest employer in the world has not expanded beyond being a brand which transports people and goods. Why can’t the Railways recast itself into a great services brand? The vacation and leisure market in India has expanded 17 times in the last 10 years. Why is Indian Railways not seeking to be the best holidays brand given it’s omnipresence across the country and access to all the tourism development departments? Guess the answer to this is that the brand managers of Indian Railway have caged up the brand and locked it into a corner by saying “we are Indian Railways and we will have metal coaches running on metal tracks.” Trap of mundane products: Great brands grow by earning revenues and profits from newer products which take current footprints to newer opportunities. But some brands, very curiously, seem to prefer launching products in saturated markets. One obvious reason for this is that matured markets offer stability and predictability and the ‘guaranteed’ 3% growth. But this can affect the brand’s body language significantly. For instance, LG, a manufacturer of electronic consumer durables launched a series of products in the consumer goods market, while its competitor Samsung was working on innovating LCD TVs and next generation tablets. Why was LG trying to chase product lines which were facing saturations for more than two decades? Does LG have the brand equity in the Indian market to be able to successfully market these products? Not sure. Not investing in innovation: This is linked to the pitfall mentioned above. When brands cannot or have not invested in innovation, they gravitate to playing the price game, constantly slashing the prices of their products. Discounts, freebies and constant price-led promotions only convey to the consumers – “I am cheap”. A case in point is the Indian mobile telephone market. While brands like Samsung and Nokia were investing in innovating on the product, most domestic brands were focusing on reducing the cost and thereby the price of their offerings. While the temptation to tap into the sub-Rs.3000 market is obvious, a point to ponder will be – where does the brand create a surplus to add new features, new designs? An enhanced feature today is a must-have tomorrow. Touch screen phones are typical examples of this. Following competition: Industry benchmarking is good as long it helps contextualise business performance. But a feature by feature comparison and consequent ‘reverse’ engineering efforts, are nothing but blindly following the competition. Very rarely, can a brand exactly replicate what works for another brand. Each brand has its unique DNA which can rarely be copied. Secondly, even if this is achieved, customers rarely embrace followers. In the Indian IT industry, Infosys always positioned itself as an industry leader, pioneering path breaking corporate governance measures, unique employee engagement activities and purposeful PR. The clear advantage for Infosys was its ability to always command a price premium over the competition. For more articles, Click on IIPM ArticleSource : IIPM Editorial, 2013 An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri ( Renowned Management Guru and Economist). For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned LinksSC slams AICTE's illicit control on MBA coursesMBA, MCA courses no longer under AICTE 2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
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While the 4Ps b&M list of india’s most valuable brands celebrates stardom, there are others who need encouragement for the promise and potential they have. 4Ps b&M handpicks a few of them who have dared to take on the market challenges and may make it big in coming times. here’s a quick look...
ARIHANT SUPERSTRUCTURES LTDA leading realtor from Mumbai, Arihant Group is known for their key role in transforming Navi Mumbai’s skyline. The almost 25-year old company is known for its passion for adhering to promised timelines. The realty major is expanding at a rapid pace today with a slew of projects coming in various parts of the country including the National Capital Region (NCR). Arihant’s ambitions are evident in the fact that it was ranked 161 in 400 small cap companies by Dalal Street last year. The vision of the company is to grow consistently at around 50% over the next five to seven years. PitambariIf you understand the Indian consumer’s mindset, rest assured that your consumer goods brand will grow. That is indeed the case with Pitambari Products Pvt. Ltd., which has been in the business of consumer brands ranging from home care and health care to agri-care and health for over two decades. This home-grown brand has gradually become one of the trusted names among consumer products available at affordable prices in India. Founded by Ravindara Prabhudesai, the ISO 9001:2001 certified company has five manufacturing units across the country and operates in 19 different states boasting a consumer segment comprising nearly three million users. Asian Granito India Ltd.Established in the year 2000, Asian Granito India Ltd. (AGIL) has emerged as a Rs.700 crore giant in the Indian space décor industry and is moving forward as one of the fastest growing ceramic companies in the segment today. AGIL aims to “lead the change” through its first mover advantage. To capitalise on the same, the company last year launched ‘digital polished vitrified tiles’ in India, bringing a revolution to the market segment. The flooring accommodates digital printing and substitute natural marble by providing hassles free installation. Sangam SuitingsIn the present day ultra-competitve market it’s tough for companies to provide quality and maintain it all along. But that has been the core value that drives Sangam Suitings. Since inception in 1985, the company has worked at bringing value to their customers by providing quality products through superior raw material and better finishing of for fabrics and using. Buoyed by its success, the company is now set to enter the ready to wear market later this year and hopes to create the same magic in this segment. It aims to prove that a quality product need not necessarily be expensive. UnIglobe Keshav TravelTechnology is making travellers more informed than ever. They expect the very best wherever they go and whatever they do. Small surprise that the tour & travel industry is becoming more demanding by the day. And there are a few names, including Uniglobe Keshav Travel, which have been living up to these high consumer expectations. The decade old company, affiliated to the world’s largest single brand travel network Uniglobe Travel, boasts of a network comprising more than 700 locations worldwide. Focussed on savings and service, their tech-enabled service efficiencies have given them a slew of happy clients - both corporate & leisure. Kesari toursA lot of emotions are at stake when people travel. In an industry where customer service plays a larger-than-life role, Kesari Tours has ensured that it delivers its best every time. Known for their innovations, the Kesari group, which started operations way back in 1984, is well respected for its ‘hold on’ group tours. This offers something or the other to every traveler in the group depending on budget and preference. Perhaps this is one of the main driving behind high customer loyalty that they enjoy. For more articles, Click on IIPM ArticleSource : IIPM Editorial, 2013 An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri ( Renowned Management Guru and Economist). For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned LinksSC slams AICTE's illicit control on MBA coursesMBA, MCA courses no longer under AICTE 2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th OverallZee Business Best B-School Survey 2012 Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA IndoreIIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 yearIIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman ConsultingProfessor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and ManagementIIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
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The Web 2.0 revolution promises to be just as important a driver of productivity growth as automation was in the 19th and 20th centuries Corporate bureaucracies are on their way to extinction. A new organisational form is emerging that will break down walls and bring people together, and in doing so, capture new opportunities and develop innovative solutions. This statement – repeated often as Web 2.0 evangelists preach that corporate adoption of social media tools will trigger an e-ruption of creativity, innovation and productivity at work – was actually made just over 40 years ago by Alvin Toffler in his groundbreaking book, Future Shock. In the intervening decades, one thought leader after another has made similar predictions. Toffler’s forecasts – about how information technology would soon revolutionise knowledge management in organisation – never lived up to their hype in the 1970s or 80s. That, however, didn’t stop Jim Maxmin, CEO of Thorn EMI, from proclaiming at the end of the 1980s: “In the last decade, excellence in business meant doing one thing well. In the decade to come, you will have to do everything well, and do it everywhere. The image of the corporation as a pyramid is dead. The new corporation will be more like a hologram, with shared information making each person, each part, contain the whole.” The future has finally arrived. What’s different this time around is that a broader consensus seems to be forming. Web technology has crossed a tipping point and is now truly global and on the verge of becoming accessible to all. What’s more, companies are finally beginning to realise this: following initial foot-dragging, many are now actively embracing Web 2.0 tools. In a recent McKinsey survey, more than two-thirds of respondents admitted to using social media tools in their companies. The revolution, it seems, is finally happening. But revolutions can be as disruptive as they are empowering. To quote Tapscott from Wikinomics: “The new participation (brought about by Web 2.0 adoption) will also cause great upheaval, dislocation and danger for societies, corporations and individuals that fail to keep up with the relentless change.” Clearly, if the e-revolution is indeed happening, then executives urgently need to rethink how they structure, organise and manage their companies. Their success in doing so will determine whether their companies ride the crest of the revolution or are swept away by it. Towards the Networked EnterpriseThe broad adoption of social media tools has the potential to unleash a huge transformation in the way companies operate, resulting in a wide range of benefits including enhanced collective knowledge and greater innovation. Following are four key ways in which Web 2.0 tools are transforming organisations. Increased collaboration: In its report, McKinsey found that when companies incorporate social media across the organisation, “information is shared more readily and less hierarchically, collaboration across silos is more common, and tasks are more often tackled in a project-based fashion.” This should not come as a surprise. One of the major benefits of the networked structure is that it increases information sharing within-and-among disparate departments and divisions. A democracy of talents: Deployed across organisations, Web 2.0 software constructs open-ended platforms on which, in theory, everyone is equal. Employees working in such a setting are much more likely to openly share ideas and information exclusively for the benefit of the organisation as a whole – something that is rare in hierarchical organisations. A culture of trust: With the rise of Web 2.0-enabled corporations, workers at all levels of the organisation have a much greater say in the day-to-day running of the company, while also enjoying the benefits of a culture of transparency. This, in turn, engenders stronger feelings of loyalty and trust amongst employees. Sadly, many companies still seem to have an instinctive fear of social media in the workplace. In a 2011 study by Robert Half Technology, more than one out of three CIOs surveyed said that their firms did not allow employees to use social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Some employees are even getting sacked when caught logging onto social networking sites at work. Such blind resistance to social media adoption – while understandable – is not only counterproductive, but also highly risky. For more articles, Click on IIPM ArticleSource : IIPM Editorial, 2013 An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri ( Renowned Management Guru and Economist). For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned Links 2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012 Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society…. IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management IIPM makes business education truly global Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
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Harjot Singh, Narang Branch Head, Dentsu Marcom
What mandate were you given when you joined Dentsu?These were Rohit’s exact words when I met him for this position, “Build an agency, which is solid, sustainable and admirable.” None of this was about profitability. He never gave me a profit or a number target. The objective was to create an agency that is sustainable and charged up so that it automatically delivers better than anyone else that the client could choose. You lay a lot of emphasis on hiring the right people. But how do you put that into action?We don’t hire people who live in a uni-dimensional area or in a clichéd area. You pick and choose what you want and then strengthen the teams to run independently. We allow them to make mistakes but also to learn and to keep the attitude of “I just have to do it”. Moreover we have devised simple brainstorming techniques. For example as a rule, the first ten ideas you put down on a piece of paper are all the clichés coming out of your head, so those get rejected immediately. Between the 11th to 15th idea, something nice can come out. And if you can reach between the 15th and 18th idea, you surely have something great. Nobody has ever been able to fly a plane or run a ship with a single push. You need to keep pushing hard to get the wheels moving. For more articles, Click on IIPM ArticleSource : IIPM Editorial, 2013 An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri ( Renowned Management Guru and Economist). For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned Links 2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012 Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society…. IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management IIPM makes business education truly global Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail IIPM Links IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)IIPM : The B-School with a Human FaceIIPM makes business education truly globalIIPM B-School Facebook Page IIPM Global ExposurePlanman Technologies
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An Ad is a product of painstaking craftsmanship. Various elements, ranging from positioning of the product, clarity of the idea behind the product to visibility of the brand, its persona and the power of communication have to be intelligently weaved together. But while some ads manage to rewrite preset creative benchmarks, some go the wrong way, fall by the side & fail to excite viewers. In this section, we review three Ads that came out tops, for the right and the wrong reasons this fortnight.
smart-asses or cheaters?
Advertiser: Pepsi IndiaBaseline: Mauke Pe ChaukaAgency: JWT4Ps B&M Take: Pepsi has come up with a new twist to its ‘Change the Game’ brand campaign this summer and they are calling it ‘Mauke Pe Chauka’. This time they have introduced a football based TVC for the first time in India. But the cricket is not far behind - with Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh playing ‘stars’ in this film yet again against Chelsea’s Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres and Frank Lampard. So the three footballers enter the grounds and one of them picks up a bottle of Pepsi. Kohli, Bhajji and Raina – who are sitting poised as if to guard every bottle – take back the bottle saying that if the Chelsea guys want Pepsi, they had better play ‘our’ game – obviously cricket. Then ensues some amazing footwork by Drogba, Torres and Lampard – who volley the ball towards the stump and eventually dismiss Kohli. But Dhoni – who plays wicket keeper – suddenly raises his head and says ‘No Ball’. Of course, the footballers are flummoxed and ask him the meaning of the term. Dhoni says: ‘No ball, means no Pepsi’ and the cricketers burst out laughing. Why? Please don’t ask us. The challenge apparently was for the footballers to play the game – and not win it – in order to earn the Pepsi. And if the cricketers were supposed to look smart for tricking the Chelsea players out of their bottle of Pepsi – they didn’t! This is not to say that the ad itself is a washout. It’s not. Leave the cut and paste job that comes out (clearly, Drogba, Torres and Lampard’s scenes were shot somewhere else and pasted on the Indian scenes), it’s a nice attempt at combining two sports (and respective celebrities) that the Indian youth may idolize. In other words, if only brand recall was the objective of Pepsi, then they’ll more or less succeed in their attempt if the ad is repeated ad nauseum. For everything else, there’s Mastercard... Compare at your own risk
Advertiser: Nokia LumiaBaseline: Blown Away by Lumia4Ps B&M Take: Nokia seems to be running out of ideas to promote its new Lumia smartphone. In the latest campaign, an all dolled up Priyanka Chopra throws a challenge to another girl to verify if there is any smartphone which can compete with her Nokia Lumia 800 and win. The race is to update the word ‘challenge’ on both Facebook and Twitter simultaneously to establish which of their smartphones upload faster. But come on. Does it really matter? If you are habituated to your phone, have good connectivity and quality apps – any smartphone can do that job for you. Anyway, the girl obviously comes in second with Piggy Chops beating her to the task on hand. QED: Nokia Lumia 800 is ‘faster’ than any other smartphone in the world. Even the storyboard is a throwback to the ‘Surf ki kharidari mein hi samajdhari hai’ Lalitaji days. Hardly smacks of any ingenious bursts of creativity. Comparative advertising is good. It has also worked well for some brands in the past. Remember Complan and Horlics, Rin and Tide? But wake up guys. This is the 21st century. 24x7 influx of media has made consumers so cynical that they even read ‘’news’ with a pinch of salt. Blatantly comparative ads like this one may get you the temporary eyeballs – perhaps even a few ‘lucky’ trial consumers – but they’re not going to ever get you frenzied sales of the iPhone variety. For more articles, Click on IIPM ArticleSource : IIPM Editorial, 2012 An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri ( Renowned Management Guru and Economist). For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
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 Naved Chaudhary, Head-Marketing Services, WYNN Telecom When was the last time you heard that a mobile handset seller had 300 service centers in place and had sold not even one phone? The answer is here and now. Welcome to Wynn Telecom, which will start retailing mobile handsets very soon, but already has the service network in place. 4Ps B&M meets up with Naved Chaudhary, Head-Marketing Services, to get the inside dope on the play
In the Indian handset manufacturing industry, which is already thriving and heavily cluttered – with 16 branded manufacturers – Wynn Telecom suspiciously seems to be just another player. The company, which will launch the Wynncom brand of mobile handsets in late May 2010, refuses to be christened thus. Naved Chaudhary, Head-Marketing Services for the company, in fact mentions that he now has concrete plans to ensure Wynn Telecom becomes India’s third largest Indian handset manufacturer by the end of this fiscal. In an exclusive interaction with 4Ps B&M, Naved gives us the evidence.
Straight-up, the Indian handset market is cluttered with the emergence of new brands. How do you plan to break the clutter with Wynncom?
I wouldn’t consider the current market scenario as a clutter. Rather, it has more to do with the emergence of Indian handset brands over the last two years. The same trend was also seen during the boom of the television industry when every second company started manufacturing TV sets and there was a plethora of brands trying to bait the customers. But within five years, the market was left with only four or five major MNC brands and three or four Indian brands that survived after the consolidation that took place in the consumer durables sector. Further, one must also understand that the Indian handset market is really huge and you need players to drive this growth. We can be guided by the fact that the air conditioning market is small as compared to the mobile handset market but still has about 20 odd brands. So why can’t there be as many brands in the handset industry? I accept that the shift is bound to happen from boys to men. Moving on to us, there are many firsts to the brand Wynncom, which would help us break the clutter. We are probably the first company to launch pan-India operations on day one itself with seven mobile handsets and more than 400 people on board. To me, the USP of Wynncom would be our 300+ people on ground doing selling and our 300+ strong company-managed service network centres (under a separate entity World Ace). We consider providing the service factor as an imperative for the success of any brand and we are working strongly towards providing that to customers.
But introducing seven handsets at the time of launch?
I can’t comment too much about the portfolio prior to the launch but would like to tell you that yes, we are launching operations with seven mobile handsets in the entry level (utility) and the upgrade level with qwerty keypad (for youth). All these mobile phones will be dual SIM phones and will have features such as large LCD displays, mega-pixel cameras, high quality wireless FM receivers, high efficiency batteries, expandable memory cards, torch lights, et al. But all this would be available at affordable prices only.
Take this seat-of-the-pants brand quiz. Which event has the hallmark brand of five intertwined circles? Which company is represented by a half-bitten apple? If you were to see ‘__Inside’, what name would be the first to hit across your minds? Or if you came across ‘__with a hole’, which mint-product would you remember? Brand names have been key to ensuring that products have gotten converted from simple physical entities into billion dollar spawning businesses. Developing unique brand identities and logos have been key to competitive leadership and market superiority – the reason why customers, say, might choose a Louis Vuitton instead of a Louis Philippe. Now consider this – here is a logo that’s circular in shape with the front shot of a steam engine well-equipped with the signature cow-catcher bovine guard as the centre-piece and the national emblem at the front that aims to convey a sense of national comfort. Obviously, Indian Railways, one of the largest behemoths amongst the government-run units didn’t suffer too many pangs of creativity while creating its original logo, one guesses. Now, give yourself one final test. When was the last time you bought an Indian Railways ticket purely because you were impressed by the brand identity and its logo? We know the answer – never! Not that anybody was too impressed with the logo of Indian Railways earlier, but suddenly, the Railways has decided that it’s time they changed their logo! A nationally released advertisement invited the public by asking them to participate in the competition (of creating a new logo). The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it advertisement (you don’t remember seeing it, right?) also exhorted the participants with a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakhs for the winning entry. But does it really make sense for the Railways to go for a logo change, when customers make no differential about the Railways based on the brand logo (but more by the price, reach and the quality of services offered). Shouldn’t Indian Railways then be working more towards making their strategic processes more efficient than towards branding, especially in a monopoly-like situation where there’s possible no competitor? An Indian Railways source shares with 4Ps B&M, “Railways is going for a logo change because of the competition that it is facing from the low-cost airlines. However, having said that, the kind of connectivity that Railways has vis-à-vis Indian roads is still immaculate.” Jehangir S. Pocha, Co-founder INX News, confirms the viewpoint to 4Ps B&M, “A logo change definitely conveys a very strong change that often an organization might require to convey.” For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010. An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri ( Renowned Management Guru and Economist). For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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 Jean Noel Bironneau, MD, Carrefour India
Precisely one year later since Bentonville Retailer Walmart opened its first wholesale cash-and-carry store in Amritsar (christened as Best Price Modern Wholesale) in a joint venture with Bharti enterprises, the world’s second largest retailer, France-based Carrefour announced that it would launch its first Cash & Carry outlet at Seelampur in Delhi in the next two-three months. With Germany’s Metro already operating in the Indian market since 2001, Carrefour is the third foreign player to set its foot into the C&C space. While Metro is still unable to hold a firm ground in the Indian market and is struggling with its venture, Walmart on the other hand has so far been successful in partnering with resellers, retailers and horecas (hotels, restaurants and catering sector). Eyes are now set on which way Carrefour heads – the Metro way or the Walmart way. Carrefour’s Delhi C&C store will cover an area of 55,000 sq. feet and house close to 30,000 SKUs, 90% of which will be sourced from India. Just like Walmart’s recent announcement of making India its global export hub, Carrefour too is currently sourcing goods worth $150-170 million for its international operations. Metro failed in the Indian market primarily because it could not sustain low prices given the high cost of infrastructure. On the face of it, Carrefour’s strategy is quite similar to that of Walmart’s. With Britain’s Tesco coming in a JV with Tata’s Trent by the year-end, the action has started.
 What is it about the Cannes Film Festival that the entire Indian film and fashion fraternity goes berserk about? Agreed that it is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious film festivals, but unfortunately it has been reduced to an elongated event devoid of major celebrities. Worse, Cannes opening events and showcase screenings have now become the sauntering joints of the had-beens rather than the now and present – leave the likes of Aishwarya Rai, who looks as dazzlingly stunning as possible. Talking about that, even the Indian representation slips in Cannes. Unlike last year, when the entire spotlight was on Slumdog Millionaire (which, anyway, was a Brit-flick), in the ongoing 63rd Cannes Film Festival, the tally of Indian films is less than impressive with Anurag Kashyap’s Udaan being the only ‘Official Selection’ in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ category at Cannes. However, other film festivals like the San Francisco International Film Festival (held in February 2010 with 12 Indian films participating), Belgrade International Film Festival (showcased Gulaal, Dev.D and Delhi 6), the Phuket Film Festival (to be held in June 2010 and will screen Harishchchandrachi Factory, 3 Idiots and Chandni Chowk to China), et al, are stealing the show. It’s time Cannes retrospects on whether the low attendance was because of the volcanic ash syndrome or because people simply have grown weary of the affair. For evidence, compare the high profile attendance at the opening ceremony of the Oscars with what happens here.
 PepsiCo and AB-InBev’s media buying deal in US is said to aim at cost cuts but the threat of others following a similar route might make US media reject it completely
The town of Hoegaarden (pronounced ‘whogarden’) in the Flanders region of Belgium, named much earlier, is virtually a namesake to the iconic spiced wheat or “white” beers produced there since medieval times. The industry, a sacred tradition in Hoegaarden and the biggest employer in town, flourished for over 6 centuries. But in 2005, InBev, the world’s largest brewer and Hoegaarden’s owner since 1985, decided to close down HoeGaarden Brewery forever. But the quick buck bankers had missed the recipe. The beer is made from a rare yeast that is difficult to cultivate and keep alive. The proposed shift of brewing operations to nearby Jupille boomeranged as the desired quality of white beer couldn’t be achieved. The European media lambasted the beer giant for its blunder while brewing resumed in Hoegaarden in 2007. It drew further flak from the media which was at loggerheads with InBev. Since then, the brewer’s camaraderie with the media has remained topsy turvy. The icing on that relationship came recently, when Annheuser Busch–InBev announced a recent deal with PepsiCo to make combined pitches for their media buying – not surprisingly, many in the press police smelled cartelization!
The pact is part of a “joint-purchasing agreement” the two signed in October 2009 aimed to cut costs on items such as travel, computers and office supplies. Barely 3 months had passed and these two – amongst the biggest advertisers in US – tightened their embrace to march in tandem for buying their media for their massive advertising campaigns. A sneak peek into the kind of bucks in the reckoning reveals huge numbers. Apart from the umbrella figure of $1.15 billion as the total media spending of the two entities combined, $490 million was spent on network TV, $182 million on cable, $194 million on magazines and nearly $70 million on outdoors. Importantly, the $1 billion plus media spend number is the highest in the four categories the 2 giants currently collaborate in.
PepsiCo has been among the top 20 advertisers in US for quite some time while AB-InBev holds more than 50% of US beer market and is the biggest advertiser in its category. The single-most significant ad spot that the firms aim to target at a reduced rate is SuperBowl, the most watched telecast on American TV almost every year, which thus commands stratospheric spot rates of $3 million for a 30 second ad spot during the game’s telecast. Although, this year, PepsiCo did not advertise during the Superbowl owing to the aftereffects of recession, its brand Doritos did.
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