Marketing Amnesia

Imagine someone walked up to you and said "Psst have you tried this cool brand called Pepsi". Would you laugh, scorn or just walk away?

What if someone told you about the awesome restaurant on the outskirts of town, situated in the middle of the woods with a bonfire individually lit for every table. Would you still walk away? Considering Valentine's Day around the corner, you probably would listen with rapt attention.

Defining Word of Mouth
Let me define Word of Mouth at this stage/ Word of Mouth is an endorsement of a product post usage. No wonder that it is considered the holy grail in marketing. When most of us discuss the big brands it is a result of buzz marketing or viral marketing.

Defining Buzz Marketing
Buzz Marketing is typically something gimmicky that a brand does like making the World's largest pizza. This might get talked about, but actually it is just something news worthy that the brand has done, and not really an endorsement of the product.

Defining Viral Marketing
Viral marketing is a little different and depends on creation of content which gets forwarded from consumer to consumer typically following the route that a virus spreads. Again if the content is interesting and relevant, it might lend a positive disposition towards the brand, but by no means is it an endorsement of the product itself.

Brands that are big spenders on traditional advertising keep launching so called Word of Mouth campaigns which constantly fail. Who wants to talk and endorse a brand which everyone knows about.

Word of Mouth fundamentals
There is a certain joy of discovering a brand or product which others know little about, and a greater joy in sharing your discovery. But the greatest joy is probably getting your friends to love the brand and evangelize it as much as you do.

To keep this discovery and sharing alive is the founding principle of a Word of Mouth campaign. This can only be sustained on a brand when the company is constantly innovating on the product.

But if you innovate and undertake a blitzkrieg marketing campaign, it might result in no Word of Mouth. Everyone already knows about it right. So what will they talk, discuss and share?

WOM has been traditionally seen as a slow but very credible means of getting the communication out. If you wanted to communicate your innovation before competition does, then there was no choice but to undertake a massive big budget advertising campaign.

With the rampant adoption of social media to create & share content, word of mouth has taken on a new dimension from reaching 5 of your friends to 1000's of eager listeners.

Maybe it is time to innovate and resist the temptation to spend big, instead get relevant content creators to try your product, give the product free if you have to. If the product is truly innovative and WOM worthy, these content creators will give a whole new dimension to product endorsement.

Sometimes not advertising is the key, everyone loves an underdog who can't afford to spend and needs you to help them win. Who are you likely to endorse and tould you help sell the underdog?

A difficult question which no marketer wants to really answer unless he suddenly wishes to sell his brand. In which case a brand equity study and a customer lifetime value will be analysed on the brand and a heavily overstated value like 50 times what the brand is worth is stated as the purchase price.

This approach might no longer work in recessionary times, but I wasn't really thinking of discussing this in this post.

Recently I had the opportunity to be a common consumer. Is that cool or what!! I almost thought that I could never be one, I always jump too easily on the other side.

Anyway it has been a really long time since I was a part of a band and I recently got the opportunity. I thought I would pick up a drumkit and having been out of the drumming scene for a cool 5 years was very skeptical on which brand / make etc.

I had heard of Tama and Pearl way back in the days when I had no money to afford either and remember fantasizing about them. The fantasy was very easily revived and they seemed my top 2 choices.

Then I spoke to a contemporary drummer and he suggested Mapex. I had heard very little on the brand. I actually didn't like the sound of the brand name as much as Tama. I almost decided against Mapex basis the fact that I didn't like the sound of the brand name!! This is what high involvement rational decisions are made of you know...

Sanity prevailed at last, and I decided to jump onto some drummer forums and check out older discussions comparing the brands. What struck me in the discussion was a drummer who had been playing the professional circuit for 10 years stated, that Mapex doesn't focus on marketing but spends its money on research, while the other brands spend loads on marketing.

As a marketer for several years, I have no idea why I would buy that argument. But somehow the community of drummers seemed to favour Mapex and it seemed that the newbees under the influence of a clever marketer were talking Pearl and Tama.

Now I might be totally wrong, but that was the impression I got from the forums I visited. This is not an endorsement of any brand but just a reflection of what I went through in a high involvement purchase.

Now if Tama and Pearl tracked drummer conversation sufficiently, they might have been able to influence purchase online too. But that brings me to the discussion for my next post, do overtly advertised brands have a lower probability of being owned and marketed by their consumers?

Stay locked on, we take a break for a couple of days before we come back with something on that one

You have probably heard this statement by a commentator in a cricket match describing the great god Sachin Tendulkar.

Or from a photographer who waits 3 days to catch the exact angle and lighting of a shadow.

What about from a band on stage - I guess it is a wee bit important for them to stick to the same beat?

Need I say something about sky diving as a sport. I haven't personally done this yet. But it looks like I might need a small sense of timing for this.

Xtreme Sports, Jackie Chan with his stunts and probably every field in the world relies on timing as a crucial element for success.

Timing and Viral Marketing

So why should running a company or marketing one be any different? A viral marketing campaign especially, is heavily dependent on timing. The more contextual and relevant the campaign is to our times, the greater the chances of going viral.

Shoes and the Bush Saga

I am sure a number of you would have heard of the Bush shoe throwing game. Made not too long after the actual incident, there have been over 8 million shoes thrown at Bush using that game. I managed 14 and at that average it yields about 0.8 million people who have played the game. Not bad for a crappy game huh! If you want to see the actual video, have attached it below

Ok Tata Bye Bye - Ghajini Viral

But this post is inspired from a viral based on the most hyped movie in Bollywood this year - Ghajini.

For those not from India, Ghajini is inspired from the classic Memento. The movie deals with a man who is incapable of making new memories.

What is Ok Tata Bye Bye.com

A travel portal which captures honest reviews on travel experiences with a strong focus on hotel reviews.

What is the Viral About

Web Chutney developed the animation and the key protagonist was purportedly Aamir Khan. The viral created revolves around a visit to a hotel and since the protagonist is unable to create new memories, he tattoos his experience so that he can leave an honest review on Oktatabyebye.com

What has this got to do with timing?

I saw this viral on the date of the movie release, which means that this viral has been planned for at least a month ahead of its movie release date. Fantastic timing for the most hyped movie of the year, almost guaranteeing success.

This movie is now officially the highest grosser in the history of Indian cinema. With such a fan following for the movie, I am only wondering how many hits this viral has achieved and the positive rub off on Ok Tata Bye Bye. If someone from Web Chutney could help us with stats, it would be great...

I loved the viral, just click the image below to check it out, and don't "forget" to leave your views on this post.

Thinking about it, you are on Marketing Amnesia, discussing a man who is incapable of making new memories. Hmmm can my poor blog page go viral, thanks to this? I wish...

Well, a new job in a new industry certainly puts one in a spot. You have to learn everything about the industry and yet be in a position to do your job.

All in all, tons of work!!.

Now that I have given my excuses, the readers of this blog will hopefully forgive me for my very infrequent posts. But don't give up on me yet. Cause I have a New Year Resolution... cool huh!!

Marketing Amnesia has focused on Social Media Marketing / Marketing 2.0 or whatever else you choose to name the trend. The focus will now move from just social media marketing to cover the entire gamut of marketing & branding. We will try to refrain from advertising since that is a result of marketing strategy, though ads might be sprinkled to make a point.

The trend of 2 way conversation marketing, truly engaging the consumer will arrive undoubtedly, but social media will at best become an integral part marketing strategy and not a substitute for traditional media.

A healthy dose of social media will always exist on this blog, but its time to expand the horizon and discuss more... Don't forget to let me know what you think about the change in focus for this blog - Hate it? Or will you wait it out?

This session on apologies and resolutions concludes. The next episode will be aired same time, next year...

So here was this company with a strong insight. They went onto brief their agency about this insight and develop a new age super fast commercial that weaves in and out of text and visual.

This seemed inspired from a snakes and ladders game where going up and down can be rather dramatic and sudden especially when executed with flair and enthusiasm for the game. Looks great right!!

Small mistake. They got the insight wrong and angered a whole lot of mom's who had enough free time to retaliate against silly ads which are created with absolutely no research.

So poor Motrin who was under the impression that they made a great ad, was in for a rude shock when they saw the effort mother's took to beat down their ad and convey the right message to vulnerable young mom's who might actually believe that wearing a baby would be the wrong thing to do.

So the attempt at creating brand which understands and empathises was shot down by videos from hurt mothers. This turned Motrin into a brand that doesn't do their homework and certainly doesn't empathise. That is as drastic a brand redefinition as possible.

Any others that you know off? Any brands you would like to redefine?

Source: Speak Media Blog

Lets cut the fluff and get straight to the point - Brand redefinition is certainly a significant possibility, considering that marketers are no longer the only people capable of creating communication which reach the masses.

The more difficult question is when can it be termed as dangerous.

The way I see it, ultimately a brand exists in the mind of its consumers. Different segments take away different experiences from your brand and your brand could mean something unique to each of them. It could be positive or negative, but on the whole it is probably different from what you intended.

Social media only amplifies this existing opinion & brings it to light, so in that sense it is free market research.

With social media a crazy fan could end up portraying your brand in a different light. Similarly an angry consumer can really create havoc especially if his post appears on the first page of google.

The key task of a brand manager is to understand when to interfere and when to let your consumers ride you.

It is more than advisable to have a sense of humour as a brand at this stage, learn to laugh at yourself if the social media adventures of your consumers are not blatantly malilcious.

"There is no such thing as bad PR" still applies in the above case.

Of course, when consumers lash out online, you probably don't have a choice but to step in and address the issue to the best of your ability. Resolving issues publicly is better if you are confident that you can actually resolve the issue, otherwise try to take the conversation offline.

What do you think? Should you interfere in the social media adventures of your consumers or should you lie back and let them shout

As the markets tank the world over and the job market gets extremely competitive, it is still probably the best time for you as a brand. The rise of social media only adds several options to shape your brand online.

Your thoughts count more than you will ever know and that is a good thing. If you are looking for career advancement then leveraging social media can truly serve as Personal Branding tools to benefit individuals working in different niches.

So wake up and write some original content, make a video, participate in discussions and contribute to your community.

It is a little crazy for me to suggest that the power of Social Media could be nothing in India. Why crazy? It directly affects my value as a researcher in this space. Nonetheless let us adopt a long term approach on this one and move straight on to why I think so.

These views are a result of the iPhone launch. It was the most hyped product this year, and the product targeted the geeks, the social media users. They were certainly to be amongst the early adopters.

Yet Airtel felt the need to advertise to achieve sales in India. It is understandable if they felt the need to advertise the iPhone – Airtel tie up, but they went on to educate consumers about the product itself, and I wonder if that is not questionable. Either they are wasting good money or some research has shown that awareness is still low.

Though social media alone may not have reached the masses, it combined with Press coverage ensured that the iPhone news reached not just the tech geeks, but the rest of India too. So why advertise the product heavily? Or did they think that was the best route to advertise the tie up too.

Probably price is a deterrent, as the iPhone is priced at around double the price in international markets. Either that or the launch has been timed wrong. The hype is now dead. Those who were desperate for the iphone have picked it up in the grey market. The others have heard about the usability issues of basic mobile features on the iphone and are probably waiting for the next version.

But where did they hear about these issues, yet again review sites, blog posts and word of mouth. So has social media played 2 roles here? Building the brand and yet making people wait for the next version?

As a child, I grew up on Amar Chitra Katha and I must say I was hooked to the fascinating tales they spun. With a number of titles like Tenali Raman, Birbal, Ramayana and Tinkle, I used to eagerly wait for the next edition, and once received, would promptly consume each book within a half hour to one hour period.

At this stage, I have to confess that Diamond Comics was great too with tales like Phantom and Mandrake. Hmmmmmm, I am a little inclined to pick up a copy. Sorry, I stepped a into fantasy world for a moment (JD from scrubs would empathise).

Lets get back to Amar Chitra Katha and children of today

Nothing earth shattering about the fact that entertainment avenues for children are way more than you can ever count. Add to it competition from players like Virgin Comics, who have understood what kids relate to and have come up with a modern avatar of the traditional stories.

They even have an adult version of these stories. No!! Please don't let your mind wander. I didn't mean that

Additionally book libraries are increasingly getting wiped out in Metros and with that their B2B model will undoubtedly diminish in value.

Somewhere along the way I think Amar Chitra Katha relied too much on the content they created in the past and didn't focus on creating more contemporary stuff.

At this stage, they needed to do something contemporary to change perceptions of being the brand of yesterday. AmarChitraKatha.com is certainly a step in that direction. I was super happy to see them launch this site. When you see age old brands like Amar Chitra Katha suddenly wake up to the Internet and leverage Web 2.0, you realise social media might actually be getting bigger in India.

The site has been created for more than just selling their books. It enables their loyalists to participate in story creation and designing their book covers. In addition they are your one stop information on the cultural events in your city, right from photography exhibitions to salsa and jive classes. Not just that ACK wants to become a store house of authentic information on the Indian Culture with the launch of ACK Pedia.

Will ACK succeed in its efforts to become contemporary using the web? Do they need successful virals before they achieve what they have set out to do? What do you think?

I see so many marketers having nightmares about social media and its open coversation mode. Some fear it for the detrimental effect that it can have on their brand and others because they want to leverage Facebook, Orkut, Youtube, Twitter to get the whole world talking about their brand, but have no clue where to start.

Fear it if you must, but if you would like to leverage social media, then remember that a great social media plan will require traditional media. Just depending on social media might get you nowhere once the novelty effect of this world wears away. Eventually this will become an element of the media mix and will coexist with passive advertising.

The interactive nature of the internet and the mobile no doubt require a change in mindset of the tradional marketer, but it in no way should they be seen as a substitute for traditional media and one way conversation.

One way conversation is instrumental in reaching a lot of people and creating awareness about your brand, while social media helps you build a bond with your consumers.

This connect was erstwhile created using ground level consumer connect programs and BTL activities. This no doubt had a huge cost per contact, but the quality of contact left a huge impression on the consumer.

The same huge impression can now be left with Social media at a cost that is more than pocket friendly. So don't fear it but don't depend on it either to take your brand to stardom. Other media still exists and will continue to exist for sometime at least.