Can Marketing afford to be a laggard?

In the fast changing world, could Marketing afford to be a laggard? Here are a few practices that I would certainly like to help transform:

Marketing Department to Marketing Labs

Successful organizations realize that the only way to predict the future is by consistently aiming to create and re-create it. This has to be a continuous and self perpetuating cycle within the organization DNA. Social scientists study lifestyles, emerging trends and product teams “cook” insights in to create breakthrough products and innovations. This would be pretty impossible in conventional organizations where Product R&D develop products for existing markets whereas Google, Apple, 3M & GE create scenarios imagining the future... Future ready brands need to create a “lab environment” for fizzy innovations. Isn’t that how Man created – fire? By accident...!

Customer Mania in the organization

Today every employee and every part of business has the potential to touch the customer at some point along the purchase cycle. From a tweet to a blog to a call center experience, the customer’s expectation of service is just a click away. In such a scenario, the responsibility of owning the customer agenda cannot be with just one function or a handful of employees.

Whilst all organizations claim to keep the customer at the forefront, very few of them actually deep dive and rally every single employee to work for this common cause. Marketing does not own the customer, each employee does and therefore this means a huge transformation in organisations.

What marketing can ensure is that they create a culture and almost a maniacal passion around the subject of customer-centricity. Not just through communication but concrete actions and processes with clear measurable outcomes.

Advertising to Content

If you are a brand that believes in show and tell you are stuck in the 90’s! 
Customers will tend to remember how you made them feel, or how you treated them or the drama that your brand story created in their life. This is where the next dimension of content curation comes in as a golden opportunity to reach across and co-create branded content with customers. 

Research proves that branded content has highest recall and clearly cuts above conventional format advertising. Co-creation is a enriching experience for both – brand and consumer. The give and take results in a potent brand story created by, for and of the consumer, making it easier to accept at not just functional but cognitive and emotional levels, resulting in brand stickiness that is hard to achieve, otherwise.

Content curation is the new holy grail of brands of future. It’s where the sizzle lies.

Social Engagement to Social Business

Digital engagement, just collecting some likes on social platforms, is past. Social networks are today as real as the physical world and marketing department has to view every interaction on social networking as an opportunity for social monetization. The digitally equipped marketers need to understand the socio-commercial behaviour of netizens, collect insights and offer its consumers an opportunity to do business in the social environment they are comfortable in. As Indians latch on to the digital domain communicating, buying, selling and shopping in new ways, it is for brands to lead the way and monetize the user base online progressively.

Brand Buzzar: " I am a life-holic": Brand Wagon's 'After Hours'

Brand Buzzar: " I am a life-holic": Brand Wagon's 'After Hours'

" I am a life-holic": Brand Wagon's 'After Hours'

My Job

As the CMO & Head Direct Sales & Ecommerce at Max Life Insurance, I have direct functional responsibility of varied verticals comprising brand & marketing, media, marketing, direct sales, e Commerce, research, corporate communication and end to end customer value management.

With such a diverse portfolio there is never a dull moment in my day. I am privileged to have a very committed, passionate and a stable team who’s been with me since the time I joined Max Life. Together we have achieved some wonderful milestones including many industry firsts, for e.g.  first of its kind  service to sales model which has become an industry benchmark.

Additionally, as an Executive Committee member at Max Life Insurance I have been part of key strategic decisions that have made Max Life the most admired life insurance company.

The Weekdays

Hectic but exciting. I try and hot the gym at least thrice a week and those days are the most satisfying. I end up feeling light and easy and most guilt free on my gym days. The energy is of a very different order. The habitual relaxed newspaper reading over steaming cup of tea does end up getting compromised on these days. However my hour long commute to work ends up giving me enough time to catch on the news in the car. I have recently started practicing 15 minutes of meditation preferably in the morning itself and this has now become an integral part of my life. It has a very calming effect and when I enter office, I am ready to start the day with positive energy and work without biases or any kind of stress. Except official engagements I prefer to be home with family and avoid any social engagement on weekdays.

The Weekends

Saturday is a day of outings, socialising, shopping, household chores, movies, plays, live shows and what not. Since I plan my Saturdays well in advance, I can pack in a lot. This is the day I live for. After my gym and meditation, I catch up with friends for a relaxed lunch at Delhi Gymkhana. At least once a month my lunch date is with my son and it's great to hear his teenage stories and catch up on all that’s happening in his life. Our gym interests are common and we exchange a lot of notes on fitness. Evening outings are with my husband as he works through the day. We enjoy watching movies, plays and all kinds of musical live shows. A gig in town is booked in advance and at least 3 out of 4 Saturdays we manage to unwind in different ways.

Sunday is exactly the opposite. Except for the morning yoga session, it is all relaxed. Managing kitchen and home, afternoon siesta and a recorded English movie on TV completes the day. I spend at least an hour or so in the evening searching and reading interesting stuff, mostly latest trends on the net. I enjoy writing articles on consumer and business trends and this keeps me abreast of the latest in the world. I am basically a life-aholic and as much as I enjoy my weekends, I do look forward to getting at my desk come Monday morning.

The Toys

My ipad is a constant companion, when I am at home or even when I am travelling on work. I not only do my work on it but watch movies and play around with apps and am active on social networks. Between my Samsung S4 and Apple ipad my communication channels are active all through my waking hours. I research a lot and am also fairly active on Facebook, Twitter and my blog and of course e mails. Having worked in the car industry before joining Max Life (as Director Marketing - General Motors), I enjoy my Audi and all the comfort that it offers. I have the largest collection of Sufi music from around the world and I love to unwind my day by listening to my favourite Sufi music on the Bose AirPlay.

The Logos

I am not very brand conscious and can wear even street fashion but I do like a few  brands. Anita Dongre is my favorite for Indian wear. Her styles are very elegant and very wearable at all kinds of occasions. My favorite casuals brand is the Japanese brand UniGlo. It has yet to enter India but I do manage to stock up from my various visits to Bangkok, KL etc. I also wear a lot of Zara especially jackets and Marks &Spencer.  For accessories, Gucci, Michael Kor and Movado, Calvin Klein  for glasses, bags and watches are some of the brands that I indulge in regularly. When it comes to perfumes there are many but my favourite is Davidoff cool water.

My recent article in Leadership Insights for Leaders. ODALTERNATIVES BY SANTHOSH BABU

A Few Good Women Women Leadership | Women at Workplace | Anisha Motwani -By Anisha Motwani, Director & Chief Marketing Officer, Max Life Insurance Classic fairy tales are intended to teach a ethical lesson to children. They would tell the story of powerful, bold and handsome men who would rescue the damsel in distress. The women would be naive and defenseless while the world around connived to subjugate them. ‘They Happily Lived Ever After’ would mean that these defenseless women would have gallant men come to their rescue and would be married. However, in the modern day fairytales, such as Snow white and the Huntsman, Shrek 3 there is a twist in the tale. In Shrek 3, the character Princess Fiona and characters such as Sleeping Beauty Snow White and Cinderella come together to achieve a goal without the help of men. They are captured by Prince Charming and held prisoner in a castle. When Fiona asks all of them to think of a way out, Sleeping Beauty falls asleep, Snow White lays down and Cinderella keeps sitting. When Fiona asks what they are doing, they say they are “Waiting to be rescued.” This shows that the princesses are prepared to assume their traditional gender roles of being passive and waiting for a male figure to save them. Their gender roles are suddenly shaken and re-evaluated when Fiona’s mother, the Queen, head butts the brick wall and creates an escape route. After this point the princesses feel empowered because they realize they can control their own fate without depending on a male figure. For years women have played by the rules and kept their heads down. As if being ‘rescued’ is a natural phenomena. But today, women take their own decisions about the way they want to live, how they want to carve their career and lead from the front. The reason they are ready to take on the ‘traditional’ role of the man being a ‘bread-winner’ is due to ‘self belief’. Thisbehavioral change is making them leaders. Women who become leaders have the same ‘self belief’ to ‘rescue’ themselves and dealing with the situation head-on – like Queen mother in Shrek 3. There are women leaders across industries, who have triumphed by just following their heart and pushing themselves to the limit because they believed, like men, they too can achieve. Many more are yet to come, but the numbers are increasing every day. And all women leaders have a common trait – in spite of adversity they believed in themselves and had the courage to go ahead to achieve their goal. We are burdened by the history of our past. But then opportunity to create and build a new world is only limited by our inability to enact in the future we seek. There are some unique qualities in women that make them work differently in work places than men. Women are more collaborative in their approach, hence are great team players. Their ability to balance work and personal life makes sure that they do not go overboard with anything. Lastly, women are more intuitive, have better EQ and hence pre-empt a lot of issues. Women should merge these positive qualities with “self-belief”, to be able to leave a legacy behind. I will list down 5 pointers that may help women who are looking to lead in the years to come.  Love what you do, there cannot be more fun in anything else Women who want to grow as leaders should also take ownership of their professional development. Embrace opportunity – women must often take sharp detours and that the risks of unexpected changes that may seem more obvious than the benefits. Becoming self-reliant and confident by accepting opportunities. Expand your horizons and gain the resilience to move ahead even when things do not go the way you want it.

Pink is not a strategy.

What women don't want!

Women like pink. Women are not good with numbers. Women are not good drivers. Women love shopping. Women are…. These stereotypes about women are so common not just amongst men but also marketers. And mind you such perceptions exist even in the developed world. Has the image concerning women remained in a time warp while the whole world around them has changed?  Or is it that, the roles defined by genders do not change so easily, which means men will remain the so called ‘provider and protector’ and women will always be ‘preserver and support’ to the dominant force?

Evidently, there is reason to believe that women today are becoming both decision makers for big ticket items and also importantly consumers of previously male-dominated categories. Data and research evidence the same. 45% of life insurance purchase decisions by working women and one third by housewives have been taken in their sole capacity. (Source: Nielsen Women Syndicated Study).  Similarly, the number of women having a savings bank account has increased by 33% in the last 10 years (from 2002-2012)- and so have women with credit cards - 10% in 2012 vs. 4% in 2001 (Source: IMRB Research study). While 59% women are actively consulted on car brand related decision, 31% aspire to buy their own SUVs. (Source: Nielsen Automotive Syndicated Study)

Expect categories with typical male-dominated consumer base, e.g. automobiles, financial services, telecom, to adapt to the opportunity in the female market - not just as influencers but specialist target groups. Here are a few tips and trends that will shape the success in this 46% of the consumer market.

Desire for responsible consumption

Old stereotype that women are insatiable, impulsive shoppers of frivolous things is giving way to desire for smart management and advanced planning of household budget. Women are only becoming more responsible towards money consumption.  Marketers have realised this and specifically target women e.g. Big Bazaar has created special occasions like Independence Day where women are specifically targeted or their Wednesday shopping which targets non-working women to make the best of the prices for those days. Season end sales even for aspiration brands have become a part of a thought through strategy as more and more women postpone purchase for a great bargain.

Appreciating multi-dimensionality

With 37% increase in graduate women (period 2008-12) women have started contributing to household income, the lines of inequality and role differentiation have diminished. As more and more women are becoming financially independent, cultural norms have steadily started softening and rigid boundaries prevailing in traditional Indian life are beginning to fall. With this convergence of roles women have taken up many such responsibilities which were traditionally the men domain e.g. financial planning, payment of taxes etc. Brands have to leverage this multi-dimensional identity of a women’s role in the household which has moved beyond that of singular identify of a care-giver. Banks with credit cards specifically designed for women, Insurance players launching women specific plans are clear examples. 

From effort-saving to lifestyle assistance

Women tend to lap up products that don’t just help them save effort but enhance their overall well-being, something they are constantly seeking. For the truly time starved women, tech apps that enable consolidation and hyper-tasking such as checking mails, school updates, holiday planners, wealth management, diet charts and overall well-being should ring a bell.  This is also what may be explaining why women buyers of smart phones have increased by 175% in last one year as compared to 100% in case of men (Source: Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights).

More for less guilt

The pursuit of a better life is tinged with a desire to keep the best of the past. There are cultural and personal expectations to fulfil the traditional role of restrained value-conscious homemaker. Brands have to find ways of communicating the negative impacts of discarding the old product and upgrading or replacing the new. Assuaging her guilt is the key to enhanced consumption. Saffola as a brand has done this well to take a commodity cooking medium to high involvement health product. Durable brands like refrigerators and washing machines can do this by bundling service contracts just like automobiles have done successfully. This should work as women are ultimately responsible for the running and maintenance of most of the household goods and also because women’s expectations of customer service are far more than her male counterpart. 

Transparency as a virtue

72% of educated women rate the value of being honest and transparent as an essential guiding principle of life. And this value translates to her as a ‘consumer’ too. For example, food brands that display nutrients and calories clearly and overtly are preferred. Brands should have nothing to hide and should proactively show and prove that they are transparent. More and more brands are now giving product demos, sampling their products to women to build confidence in their products and offering a return if products do not meet expectations – personal care products being a case in point.

True ‘Feminity’

Women want to live their lives on their own terms, explore new possibilities, push boundaries and win admiration of female colleagues more than that of male colleagues. The ultimate barometer of achievement for today’s women is to become a role model for many other women. The new definition of ‘Feminity’ is about personal competency and intellectual depth rather than her external manifestation of beauty. Brands need to take cognisance of this change and portray confident women who will help fight the cultural stereotypes and shape the new future. Nike Voices beautifully captures this new woman through the phrase ‘if somebody’s got to be the best, why not me’.