Top 10 Marketing Trends of 2012

Like most businesses, you will probably have your marketing plan for 2012 already in place. But have you built your plan so that you’re ready to respond to the latest market trends?

While it’s important to stay focused, it’s equally as important to be prepared for the opportunities and challenges that will come from the latest marketing trends.

Wondering what the future looks like for marketing in the year ahead?

Here are my predictions for the top ten marketing trends of 2012:

1. A broader brand presence across channels

With the range of available marketing channels growing all the time, businesses will start to recognise the value of connecting up their marketing approach across the web, social media and other channels. This will be inspired by the need to better manage business resource in more challenging times – and to create a more streamlined brand presence. Instead of relying on one or two channel marketing approaches, more and more companies will link up their activities to create a truly coherent brand across multiple channels.

2. The rise and rise of user-generated content

User generated content took on momentum in 2011 – and this will continue into the New Year. Whether it is a YouTube video showing a customer using a product or customers sharing their experiences within a selective online community, content that comes direct from the potential or existing customer is likely to grow in value. The key test of this trend will be how successfully companies inspire and facilitate user-generated content. However they do it, it looks like the voice of the user will grow significantly in value in 2012.

3. Mobile marketing reaches critical mass

Mobile is going centre stage. A third of smartphone owners have used their device to buy a product online (Source: EPiServer) and this number is growing. The companies that fully prepare their marketing approach for mobile in 2012 are the ones that will benefit from a potential customer-base that browses – and shops – on the move. This demands targeted, mobile-ready content and a willingness to adapt internal marketing processes. With 59% of UK consumers now in possession of a smartphone and 18% owning a tablet device (Source: EPiServer), mobile marketing is a trend that businesses can’t afford to ignore.

4. The gap closes between business brands and social media

We all know social media is big news for business. But in 2012, it will be even bigger – and even slicker. Companies will start taking social media more seriously as a professional marketing tool. But it won’t just be the big companies using social media to actively connect with customers. Many more companies will start to interact, meaning customer service – and customer interaction – via social media will evolve even further. The gap between social media and the business brand will get ever smaller. Again, the user or the customer will take centre stage with the rise of the brand advocate in recommending, recruiting customers and connecting with companies in 2012.

5. A clearer vision on the value of analytics

Companies will seek to improve their understanding of marketing analytics in 2012. With increased channels and brand presence, businesses will look to clarify and streamline their marketing data. Companies will recognise the value of analytics that allow them to maximise on the flexibility of social media marketing by adapting their content according to live viewer response. Add to this an increasing focus on cost management and online marketing analytics look set to become the vital flipside of business marketing.

6. Up close and personal

Next year is the year that marketing becomes more personalised. Tailored content that is customised to the needs and interests of a specific market or audience will grow in value and popularity. This is for a number of reasons – the increasing growth of content’s role within online marketing and the growing presence of online, niche communities, for example. As people become more and more accustomed to selecting which brands and businesses can join them within their own online community, the value of personalised marketing approaches and content will continue to grow.

7. Content diversifies – again

Content has been big this year – and its role and value is likely to diversify even more in the year ahead. With the increase of personalised marketing, more companies will start to present content that is focused on telling stories about their business and products or services. But this won’t be a top down approach. Companies will need to draw out the stories from within their workforce – and encourage their workforce to share stories. In 2012, carefully crafted, managed and distributed content will play a vital role in successful business marketing.

8. The customer recommendation rules

In 2012, the voice of the user or the customer will get louder. Businesses are becoming smarter at integrating opportunities for customer feedback and response within their marketing approach. Social media word of mouth will keep growing, with people increasingly relying on their own online social circles to advise and comment on their choice of services or products. The companies that actively embrace this shift will be the ones that boost their profile and credibility in 2012.

9. The influence factor takes over

Closely linked to prediction number 9, social media influence will gain critical mass in 2012. Already gaining momentum, a powerful trend in the year to come is the ability for companies to influence, increase and map their influence across the social media channels. The power to inspire users in a real-world, but professional way will make a huge difference to their performance in 2012.

10. Video is centre stage

Anticipated to be big for quite some time, it looks likely that video is set to be one of the leading marketing trends in 2012. The growth of video within business marketing fits naturally with the broadening of social media channels and with increasing customer focus on feedback and recommendations. Expect video to take on some surprising approaches in 2012 – with many companies developing fresher and more user-focused forms of viral marketing.

Cheers,

Amanpreet

Top five current digital marketing trends

The field of digital marketing is one which is in constant flux. As technology and social trends evolve, brands too must alter their strategies in order to adapt to digital environments and platforms. Although marketers will never be able to predict the future, it is vital to keep abreast of trends in order to maintain the connection with their ever-changing trend-savvy consumers.

Location based marketing

Location based marketing has emerged as one of the biggest trends in digital marketing today. But, despite its many advantages, some obstacles have made this a rather tricky medium for brands to leverage. Most of the concerns with location based marketing pertain to privacy issues - in order to utilise location based marketing, marketers need to know where consumers are. Consumers use social media or applications such as Foursquare and their own initiative to check into locations, and marketers are only just beginning to understand the value inherent in this interaction. One of the proponents of this medium has been mobile location based marketing, a triggered system that detects when consumers enter a certain location such as a store or shopping mall and then automatically sends marketing messages or special deals to their mobiles. While marketers are still finding the best way to connect with customers using this technique, it seems fairly certain that this form of marketing will gain popularity as smart devices and social networks become even more prominent.

Mobile email

Despite the ever-increasing popularity of social media, marketers are still seeing the best results from email marketing. However, as with all forms of digital media, email too is undergoing somewhat of a transformation - not in the way it is constructed, but in the way it is consumed. More and more people are now receiving and reading email on their smart phones or tablet devices instead of their desktop computers. In a society that is constantly connected, people are drawn to the idea of taking their email with them everywhere rather merely logging in a couple of times [per day. Marketers need to understand the gravity of this trend and how it will affect their email marketing g campaigns. Issues regarding image display, formatting and deliverability need to be considered and taken into account in order to make sure that subscribers are receiving brands' content via mobile email. 

Integrated marketing

When it comes to digital marketing, brands are increasingly moving away from single-focus campaigns, choosing to implement integrated marketing. Studies have shown that customer recall is greatly improved when brands strategy carried across TV, mobile and online. This allows all aspects of a digital campaign to work together while also helping each other. Brands can expect to see social media boosting SEO and email sign ups, while email and mobile campaigns improve the success of social media and the overall campaign.

User generated curation 

The popularity of apps such as Flipboard and the stellar rise of social networks and blogging platforms such as Pinterest and Tumblr respectively has emphasised the importance of user generated curation. In the information-saturated online world, users are seeking ways in to organise content in order to consume it in a way that suits their needs. This trend is almost certain to continue as the web and online content continually expands, which means brands will have to understand what kind of content to produce, share and how to share it with their followers. 

Adapting advertising to different formats

These are exciting times - new trends and technologies are opening the door to fresh potential projects for marketers, provided that they take the time to understand and make the most of these new mediums. Here smart phones and tablets represent the new frontier for digital marketing as interactive, connected, personal digital spaces where users expect to see cool things. Brands who venture into marketing specifically for these platforms need to think about how campaigns can be altered to cater to its features and strengths specifically. Simply re-hashing the same ads used for display and hoping that consumers will interact with it is not going to cut it. Think about creative ways to utilise the medium in order to appeal to users who are aware of the device's potential.

Rebranding of Bajaj

Rebranding of Bajaj

People should now get used to saying Humara Pulsar’ or ‘Humara Discover’ instead of ‘Humara Bajaj’. The reason Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto, has decided to drop ‘Bajaj’ from the two wheeler brand name.

According to reports, the company has decided to overhaul its distribution set-up and rename all its consumer touch points to just Pulsar or Discover with an estimated total cost of 21 Crores

Is this rebranding exercise makes sense? Does removing the parent company name make sense?

The Rationale

I would rather see this as a product portfolio management exercise which would give a clear vision to the product strategy and helps in streamlining promotional and product launch strategies.

Bajaj and Pulsar contributes more than 70% of Bajaj auto two wheeler sales and broadly these two brands serve the two distinct segments of Indian consumers.

So, instead of adopting product centric segments (like pulsar 150 CC, Discover 135 CC) Mr. Bajaj has created customer centric segments with Discover, a economy class segment with high fuel efficient bike for the families and Pulsar, a sporty bike for the youths.

Again if you look at consumers’ perspective, these brands (Pulsar and Discover) have a better recall due its high brand value rather than the brand equity of name “Bajaj”. Ask someone which bike they have? 8 out of 10 would say Pulsar or discover not Bajaj Pulsar or Bajaj Discover. So removing the brand name from the customer touch points and communications of two bikes would not harm the company.

Coming to the name Bajaj, it is associated with ‘broad’ values such as trust and reliability, especially in the two-wheeler category. While the strength of the Bajaj brand ‘identity’ is undeniable, its ‘equity’ is far from being well focused. The name Bajaj does not stand for any thing (Think of Volvo for safety, Mountain dew and Thumbs up for Adventure).

Ultimately it’s the brand value that drives the revenue not the parent name. It is up to the Bajaj to keep Pulsar and Discover relevant and refreshed.

Amanpreet.

Crowd Sourcing

Crowd Sourcing

Hello World,

We have heard the term “in sourcing” and “outsourcing” but for the last few years the term crowdsourcing is in the news.

According to Wikipedia Crowd sourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call

In simple terms when you know your in sourcing capabilities are not enough to get the desired outcome, Crowd Sourcing is the answer.

An Early Example

How the Crowd sourcing Works

A problem statement is broadcast along with associated incentives, and people with expertise apply their talent to solving the problem

Financial or Nonfinancial Rewards are the Key

The biggest advantage in the crowd sourcing model is availability of large pool of internally motivated global experts working towards a single objective of solving your problem.

A Canadian gold mining company, Goldcorp. had outsourced it talent by offering a 500,000 prize for whoever could find gold in their property. The company had released it’s private mining data which was always keep internal and allowed externals geologists to utilize to find gold. Rob McEwen , Chairman and CEO of Goldcorp had innovated in this industry and the company managed to re-coop more then $3 billion in gold.

The popularity of  face book, orkut and wordpress are due to its  application and themes. These are again developed by enthusiastic folks around the globe with decent web programming knowledge. They downloaded the SDK (Softeare Development Kit) develop the app and hosted it all for free.

After it gets uploaded, the importance of these applications is decided by other users. As more people  add a particular application to their profile, its rating goes up. If the application is not interesting enough for the community, it gets automatically pushed down the stack. From the user’s perspective, they can choose and install applications of interest to them, thereby ‘personalizing’ their profile. This is the real power of crowdsourcing – consumers as creators

Wikipedia is another good example of Crowd Sourcing where the content is added and edited by a large group of experts in their respective fields.

Internet is playing a vital role in bridging the gap between the crowd and solution seeker. A website www2.innocentive.com brings the solution seeker and problem solver together. The seeker lists the problem and award on the website and solver from around the glode with related expertise tries to solve the problem.

Innocentive Provides a Platform Where Seeker and Solver Comes Together

Crowdsourcing in Indian Marketing Context:

Crowd sourcing in Indian marketing arena is just beginning with more and more organizations are acknowledging its importance.

In the field of marketing Crowd Sourcing can be the perfect tool for consumer engagement as well as gaining insights and product development

Take the example of Frito lay which crowd sourced started a contest for new flavor development with a reward of 50 lakh rupee and 1% of sale of that flavor

Another good example is Tata Do Co MO which has created a website http://create.tatadocomo.com/ where consumer can create their own animations and the best animation used for advertising the brand Tata Do Co Mo

In his recent work on ‘New age of Innovation’, renowned management thinker C.K.Prahalad calls this phenomenon as ‘N = 1 R = G’. In order to provide one unique user experience (N = 1) firms need to leverage resources (R) globally (G). It is mainly because every consumer has his unique preferences when using a product, which cannot be satisfied by the firm hiring more people

The potential for crowdsourcing is so huge that It can not be summarized in this post.  The only challenge is to find right experts / communities / consumers who are willing to listen and motivated enough to solve your problem

So the next time you are out to develop / innovate some thing just ask yourself: Am I involving my customers in the process?’

AMUL - The Gentle Giant

AMUL stands for Anand Milk Union Limited. 
AMUL is the umbrella brand for a variety of products like Cheese, Milk, Ghee, butter, ice-cream etc.

The real name behind the 'Amul' brand is Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF). 
Amul has gone from strength to strength with a great fabric of Supply Chain Management and a low budget yet highly effective and aesthetically pleasing Marketing Campaign, and created history in Indian FMCG sector.

Amul has created a very simple, sociable and Indian brand; people identify themselves with the AMUL brand. 
Lets look at the Marketing Mix of Amul:

Product - Dairy Products, Cooking Products
Price -  Low Pricing Strategy
Place -  Rural and Urban Market, International market
Promotion - Advertisements, Show sponsorship's

A point worth noting is that AMUL spends a mere 1% of its turnover on promotions. The simple yet effective print ad campaign which creates adverts on the daily issues has been a MEGA success; and has greatly been able to identify itself with the people. A brand is nothing but a manifestation of trust. The Butter Girl Ad campaign is the longest ever ad campaign and has been running for over 40 years now (the same was launched in 1967) 

Some of the most enticing ads are posted here:

Ad on Shoaib Akhtar's book - Controversially Yours

Zidane's head butt in the WC 06:

 Ad on Lord of the Rings success:

Kumble's 10 wicket hall:

2008 US recession:

Raju's Satyam scandal:

Ad on Joker from Dark Knight:

Please refer to this link for a comprehensive list of the Amul's Billboard ads:
http://www.nofullstop.com/2009/04/30/125-mesmerizing-ads-from-amul-india-marketing-management-at-its-best/

The billboard campaign has indeed done wonders for the Amul brand.

Other than these ads, AMUL also sponsors TV shows like Chef of India Contest, Star Voice of India, Music ka maha muqabla etc. Association with these TV shows helps Amul gain mass media coverage and an opportunity to bind more with the youth. It also organizes competitions like Slogan Likho Disneyland Dekho. 

Amul has its presence in more than 40 countries till date. No doubt, with this so 'Indian' and unique way of advertising and Brand building, Amul will always pose a stiff task for the behemoths like HLL, Nestle, P&G etc.

Way to go AMUL, the taste of India :)

                                                                                                                                                                   - Amanpreet

The power of Internet Marketing

Hello friends,

I am back with an article to discuss the power of Internet as an effective Marketing tool.
The world is about to reach a population count of 7 billion; 27% people in the world use Internet, the same figure stands at around 5% in India. Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. are rapidly increasing their footprint in the Social Media gamut. Hence, it is the age of internet and high time for Marketers to have an online presence to try and reach out the prospective buyers.

How to create our Online Presence?
We can always start with a website, the website is your online identity. It should be a good looking and easy to use and migrate website. The website should clearly illustrate your message or provide the relevant info you seek to communicate to your prospective customers; it should clearly specify your goals and ideology. The website should be hassle free and easy to use.
Customers reviews and feedback; and evaluations by web designers are two parameters which can be used to judge the quality of a website.

Now, after website provides us an online presence; we need to market ourselves on the internet as well. Internet marketing refers to one or more of the following:

1) Communicate the company's message about itself, its product and services.
2) Conduct research on various demographic needs of prospects/customers.
3) Selling products and services online.

Some of the components of internet marketing are as follows:
Setting up a website, Search engine Marketing, Search engine optimization, email marketing, Banner advertising, e-press releases, blog marketing, article marketing, Social Media Marketing

The underlying principle of using these components is to reach out to the prospective buyers. Social Media is increasingly becoming a very effective marketing tool. We can create Facebook pages, YouTube videos, use Twitter etc. to reach out to the people; one can also pay for Google Listings, or pay per click ads; similarly FB also provides you paid advertising space. Usually a mix of free and paid advertising on Google, FB etc. works out really well for firms. Again it all depends on the kind of product/service to be marketed and the marketing mix and marketing budget of the firm.

For example, i got some ads for ISB Application help in my Gmail inbox, i contacted some of the suggested sites and eventually ended up with the services of one of the Vendor; this was a paid Google ad listing delivered right to my inbox based on my mailing activity. A classic online advertising example.

Effective online Marketing is all about the following:

1) Building a list: This is the generation of traffic or rather targeted traffic; these are the people whom you target to sell your stuff. You can use ads, banners, blogs, social media etc. etc. to generate this traffic.
2) Establish relationship with the list: In this step you direct the traffic to your personal capture page, you get their emails and phone numbers; this is the process of Lead Generation. Now you follow up with this list using emails and telephone and build a relationship with them. This is the start of manifestation of TRUST.
3) Market to that list: Now, you can market to that list and drive them to your primary business.

The advantages of this approach is that it increases your credibility and visibility, the customers are more familiar with you, and provides you an opportunity to command premium prices.

On an ending note; As Kotler says, Marketing is a mix of Creativity and Science; Science ensures safety, it proposes marketing approaches which are less risky; on the other hand Creativity can at times lead to wonders. What is needed for successful marketing is a blend of creativity and science. Use ample science but do not drive out creativity!

Happy Marketing! :)

Strategy or Stunt

Micromax enters TV market

Mobile handset maker Micromax announced its foray into the television segment with the launch of a range of LED TVs priced between Rs. 15,990 and Rs. 1,29,990. The company expects a revenue of Rs. 225 crore from this the TV segment in this fiscal.

"Televisions is a natural progression. As consumers evolve, they want their devices and experience to be smart and personal. We aim to partner the growing aspirations of the digital consumers at all levels," says, Rajesh Agarwal, Micromax Managing Director and Co-founder .

The company is targeting 5-8 percent of revenues (Rs. 140-225 crore) this fiscal from the television segment, he added.

The LED TVs will be initially launched in nine states like Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan across 24-inch to 55-inch range. The televisions will be priced between Rs. 15,990 and Rs. 1,29,990.

Micromax, which sells mobile phones and tablet PCs in India, SAARC and the Middle East countries, is aiming to grow overall revenues to Rs 2,800 crore for year ending March 2013.

"In the next one year, we are looking at sales of one lakh units (TVs)...In the next two years, the aim would be to increase the TV segment contribution to 20 percent of the revenues," Agarwal said.

He added that though the overall television market is growing at 15-16 percent, the LED TV segment is witnessing 100 percent. LED and LCD TVs comprise 35 percent of the 17-18 million units market and is a fast growing segment.

The company is targetting 8-10 percent market share of the LED TV market.

Micromax will assemble the LEDs at its new facility in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. It is investing Rs. 100 crore in the plant.

"We have set up an assembly line in Rudrapur, which has a capacity of 2,000 units. This will eventually be ramped up to 5,000 units. The facility will also manufacture tablet PCs and mobile accessories," he said.

A major chunk of the investment has already gone in and in the next 2-3 years, a total of Rs 100 crore would be invested.

For distribution and after sales, the company will use its existing channels. Its also in the process of setting up its own service centres.

Micromax is launching its home theatre range and SMART Stick, using which users can connect to the Internet through their television sets.

"SMART Stick will be priced at Rs. 5000 and will connect to any television with an HDMI port. Its like a dongle and will help users access Internet on their TVs," Micromax Director Mukesh Gupta said.

Amkette and Akai have similar devices available in the market.

Source: NDTV

- Amanpreet.