Are well run promotions more important than good advertising in building and maintaining Brand's image?

Are well run promotions more important than good advertising in building and maintaining Brand's image?
This is not a debate about whether advertising is good for awareness or whether promotions are good at driving revenue. They both have their place and a complementary  role in the marketing mix as long as it is a part of well defined strategy. The consumer is now more sophisticated and expects gratifications at multiple levels. They value products and pricing but they also seek engagement and experience. The line between brand activity and sales promotion is fatuous. You build and manage brands so people are attracted to your product and are willing to pay a premium for it. If sales promotion activity is not enhancing this, it is counter productive and at cross purposes with the larger marketing agenda. When brands promote within it's meaning, it can be very powerful. Smart brands have a sales promotion at the core of their activity that have become iconic in their own way....and  Max Life  I Genius is one such example....read more.
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Can Social media predict election trends?

I was speaking at Ad Tech conference in Gurgaon yesterday. The place was swarming with anyone who had anything to do with the word ' Digital'.   And no guesses for the new buzzword...Social, Social & Social. That brings me to the power of this medium in context to the upcoming elections. The political leaders have realized that all the consumer action has shifted from the physical world to the web world. People find information and news shared on the social world more authentic. They consider it is an aggregated view of family and friends, as against a monoline view in the offline media. I call this the source credibility phenomena.

 No wonder then,large number of digital experts and content writers have been hired by these political parties to give you minute to minute update on what their  party and leaders are up to. 

The question remains...will they be able to influence voter behavior and can Social media predict election trends....

Here s what some experts and I have to say on the subject in the latest issue of Campaign India.

Link: http://www.campaignindia.in/Article/375497,live-issue-can-social-media-predict-mandate-for-2014.aspx

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Indian advertisers like Creativeland Asia, Ogilvy & Mather and others using babies in ads for brands that have nothing to do with them

Today's article in the Economic Times talks about using babies in advertisements for categories that have little or nothing to do with them. The important thing to understand in this debate is whether 'babies' are a  part of thought through strategy or merely an attention seeking 'cutsie' creative hook. For eg. while  MTS's latest commercial has got a mixed response from the viewers on it's overall appeal, the commercial does showcase a clear brand thought around MTS's strong 3G plus network capturing the multiplicity of digital expression available to a generation 'Born for the internet'.
The same however can't be said for some other brands that use babies is used as an interesting creative device to make a point about the . For such brands it is important to ensure that the communication is in line with the overall brand tone and persona. Over a period of time, strong brands create clear  identities for themselves and if the communication falls out of line, the viewers are left confused even though they might enjoy the particular creative execution.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/advertising/indian-advertisers-like-creativeland-asia-ogilvy-mather-and-others-using-babies-in-ads-for-brands-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-them/articleshow/32035740.cms
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The Past, The Present and The future - The evolving face of digitization. Views as expressed at the 8th India Digital Summit, 2014

The Past

·         The time was mid 90s when mobile and internet were introduced in India. But it wasn’t till the early 2000s that Marketers started to warm up to the idea of adding mobile and web to their arsenal. The use was pretty minimal. Send an SMS for a product/service launch. Take the TVC or Print communication, adapt the banners (as one would adapt for hoardings) and release on the internet. 

This was the time of ‘Web & E-Advertising’.

·         By the end of that decade, however, things changed. Mobile and internet penetration increased multi-fold. One riding on the other. Electronic devices (computers/mobiles) became more and more accessible. One saw OOH screens and digital signages. The horizon for Marketing opportunities expanded to a larger canvas. This was the time of ‘Digital Advertising’. However, this was more of ‘Branding and Visibility’.

·         2010 to 2012 saw a massive upsurge in people adopting technology and new age media. High end mobile technology (iOS, Andoid) became more and more pervasive and consumers went multi-screen. People embraced social platforms and bared their lives online. Search became huge. Data and information helped brands create powerful marketing campaigns which took the baton from conventional media (TV. Print) and carried messaging that was customized to the medium. The time of ‘Digital in  Marketing’ 

The Present

·         2013 till present – The time when technology has made it possible to go beyond Marketing. Words like “Experience”, “Engagement”, “Co-creation/Crowd-sourcing”, “Community Building” are overpowering conventional Marketing metrics like Reach, GRPs, Eyeballs, etc.

·         Technology has enabled one-on-one personalised interactions; brands can slice and dice data and pick up real time insights (through listening) to create powerful communication that not only conveys a message innovatively but also goes on a step further and

-          adds value

-          provides utility

-          connects people

-          stands for a cause

·         Technology has fueled creativity and brands can now communicate in a way that no one could have thought of a decade ago.

· 

S 

  Some examples from the last two years that showcase how technology has changed the way  Brands advertise:

1      Budweiser Lets You Make Facebook Friends With a Clink of Your Pint

Budweiser Brazil, created the "Buddy Cup,"  to change the way we connect with each other. The cups are embedded with a chip -- when clinked with each other, the two people become friends on Facebook. The cups are used during Budweiser events.

http://adage.com/article/creativity-pick-of-the-day/budweiser-lets-make-facebook-friends-a-clink-pint/241175

2       Coke: Dance with the Coke vending machine

By following the dance moves displayed on the machine, people get engaged with the Coke brand and enjoy a good time with audience. As people pass by the vending machine, the virtual characters in the screen calls for people's attention and participation. As people dance in front of the machine, it recognizes the accuracy and dynamics of the moves people make. From little kids to professional dancers, anyone can participate in the campaign to show off their talents, share the fun, and get a bottle of coke.

http://mashable.com/2012/10/22/vending-machine-dance-free-cokes/

The Future

·         Shift from Engagement to Ingratiation: In the past, marketing interrupted customers. Today is the age of engagement. Going forward, marketers will have to ingratiate their brands with customers. When a customer engages with a brand, it will need to know what their preferences are—whether they’ve provided that through the Web or mobile or a contact center—so that it can provide them information how they want it, when they want it, tailored to their unique likes and dislikes, and do it all very quickly.

·         From hunches to simulations: The biggest shift will be that Marketers will move from the famous “hunches” to “simulations”. Technology is enabling a new approach in the form of marketing simulations.  Rather than argue the merits of a new approach in conference rooms, marketers will be able to test them in simulated environments built from real world data. 

·         Change in 4Ps approach: At a recent convention of leading CMOs at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, initial findings from the “Advertising” 2020 project were unveiled in which a checklist of best practices, some already being implemented by innovative leaders, was cited: AGILE CHOPS, for All Touchpoints Orchestration; Glocal; Insights from Data and Privacy/Permission; Live Newsroom Model; Extended (Opened) Innovation; Context; Human Emotion and Story; On-Demand; Prioritize Adaptive Experimentation; and Social Impact.

·         Intelligent Augmented Reality: Technology will be able to sense more than movements and gestures  and deliver content accordingly. It will be able to sense what your mood is, what you’re wearing, what you’re eating, what you’re doing... And then deliver messages accordingly.