Last Sunday, I took some time off to visit some of the retail stores including, Reliance Fresh, and Big Bazaar. I just wanted to know what are the key factors which makes or breaks the retail brand. My experience at those stores gives me the following insight:
Lack of Space and lack of knowledge about 3d space branding: In a mission to increase the presence what really missed by the two giants are the space available within the stores. I guess both Reliance Fresh, and Big Bazaar took 3D Branding in the back seat. It was so crowded and to even to move the trolley from one place to other was herculian task for me. It felt like a Mandi to me.
3Dimensional Branding, is one of the most important part of the 360 Degree Brand concept. In the present circumstances I believe that if there is a new player which wants to compete either with Reliance Fresh, or BigBazzar then it should take 3d Space branding as the differentiator.
Retailer's should think if the brand will be their home then what it would look like. STOP THINKING ABOUT WHERE YOUR BRAND SHOULD LIVE. Start thinking about how to get people to live your brand. Marketer's should begin by creating spaces where consumers feel just as happy to stop by as to buy. Where the point of sale has a point of view. Where the purchase path actually gives people a reason to walk in.
I know what I'm writing here contradicts the belief of Mr.Kishore Biyani, who once said Indian customers love to do shopping in an environment which is crowded. A crowded place gives the middle class Indian customer a sense of belongingness .
I really dont think so. I believe that the real brand strategy is to challenge this belief and make the behavior pattern of the middle class customers change.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
New Media for Fashion Marketers:The Down Turn Survival Strategy
What does the capability and skill-set to appropriately embrace "new media" look like in our country; how does it successfully function in the marketing organization and, above all, how can marketers be both practical and efficient about building one?" How can fashion and lifestyle brands/retailers actually go about adopting new media to push their businesses further. What would be the 10-15 fold path for them to successfully enable themselves with new media to grant just that momentum in a sluggish market that is witnessing the emergence of a new breed of 'new media' shoppers........
The capability and skill-set of new media is quite immense in India. This is due to the clutter in the market with an availability of many thousands of communication vehicles significantly overlapping each other makes the marketer opt for the most efficient media vehicle and digital marketing to a large extent helping them. Consider for example an educated middle class young lady as a typical buyer for high-end watch which serves her aspiration to need to look wealthier than she is. A closer study of her life style will reveal that she spends larger span of her daily life with her cell phone or with internet. It also reveals that she spends less time watching TV. Now doesn’t it make sense to engage her through the most appropriate medium that is the new media?
The future is more brighter than ever before as the government is on the verge of allowing 3G in telecommunication. It will open up for branded content and innovation in digital marketing.
There is no doubt that new-media or digital marketing is in the primary stage. But in a marketer’s perspective new media strategy always revolves around converting it to a viral marketing campaign. Buzz is very important. If you are creating a website and still you are unable to drive audience to it then probably the purpose is not solved.
For fashion and life style media the evolution of new media opened up new innovative platforms for communicating the brand message while engaging their target audience. Remember that engaging your target audience is the challenge in the new media platform. Example-fashion shows on the net. Or inviting your target audience to join in second life where you are organizing a fashion show. The more creative you are, the more is the chances of success to create the buzz.
Remember that in a recessionary market when every one goes on spending less on marketing and expecting more in terms of ROI then new-media is possibly the best media where you could quantify your ROI. With tools like google-analytics even small retailers are getting the benefit. They get an idea who are the real customers and how to spend most effectively.
The Indian Fashion Consumer & New Media:
Fashion consumers in India are to a large extent New Media savvy and the figures are growing. But the buying pattern of the fashion consumers are not related with new media, and still experiential marketing is what influences the purchase decision.
Business owners of fashion brands are using new media to use as a vehicle to create.
· Brand Awareness.
· Information sharing.
As already stated new media is on the edge over traditional media in terms of its penetration and it is very useful for targeted marketing effort. In a down-turn market where each penny spent upon marketing matters for its effectiveness and brand managers will be held accountable for the efficacy of their investment plans on media, new media is the only hope to bring accountability in the board room.
Tools for an Interactive Site
There are many tools available for making the site more interactive. A marketer can use any combination of the following for a best use of their website.
Blogs: Blogs are used to make a community speak about the product or brand. But remember to have a blog space in your website with a moderator as chances of spamming and hate males are there.
Pod Cast : A podcast is a series of audio or video digital-media files which is distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers. This is a one way of communication where information can be provided by the marketer to the information seeking customers.
Web Cast: web cast are web-broad casts where streaming media files(audio or video) can be viewed live or on-demand. Fashion marketers can web-cast a fashion shows for users to have a glimpse on it if they missed it..
Webinar: Webinar is a web conference. In a web conference, each participant sits at his or her own computer and is connected to other participants via the internet. This can be either a downloaded application on each of the attendees computers or a web-based application where the attendees will simply enter a URL (website address) to enter the conference.
RSS Feed: RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format..
Example of new media use for brand building activities:
1. Victoria’s Secret: Conducted a webcast of its fashion show.
2. Burger King: Burger king used its mascot on its website which will answer any question that you ask by acting in a comic way.
3. Chevy Tahoe: Chevy Tahoe has made a remarkable campaign which used site visitors to create a TV commercial in its website. This is the first ever advertising in the world that was created on the website.
SEO and PR:
A new way to integrate PR initiative with new media is to SEO the PR. This is evolving in a greater way.....
The capability and skill-set of new media is quite immense in India. This is due to the clutter in the market with an availability of many thousands of communication vehicles significantly overlapping each other makes the marketer opt for the most efficient media vehicle and digital marketing to a large extent helping them. Consider for example an educated middle class young lady as a typical buyer for high-end watch which serves her aspiration to need to look wealthier than she is. A closer study of her life style will reveal that she spends larger span of her daily life with her cell phone or with internet. It also reveals that she spends less time watching TV. Now doesn’t it make sense to engage her through the most appropriate medium that is the new media?
The future is more brighter than ever before as the government is on the verge of allowing 3G in telecommunication. It will open up for branded content and innovation in digital marketing.
There is no doubt that new-media or digital marketing is in the primary stage. But in a marketer’s perspective new media strategy always revolves around converting it to a viral marketing campaign. Buzz is very important. If you are creating a website and still you are unable to drive audience to it then probably the purpose is not solved.
For fashion and life style media the evolution of new media opened up new innovative platforms for communicating the brand message while engaging their target audience. Remember that engaging your target audience is the challenge in the new media platform. Example-fashion shows on the net. Or inviting your target audience to join in second life where you are organizing a fashion show. The more creative you are, the more is the chances of success to create the buzz.
Remember that in a recessionary market when every one goes on spending less on marketing and expecting more in terms of ROI then new-media is possibly the best media where you could quantify your ROI. With tools like google-analytics even small retailers are getting the benefit. They get an idea who are the real customers and how to spend most effectively.
The Indian Fashion Consumer & New Media:
Fashion consumers in India are to a large extent New Media savvy and the figures are growing. But the buying pattern of the fashion consumers are not related with new media, and still experiential marketing is what influences the purchase decision.
Business owners of fashion brands are using new media to use as a vehicle to create.
· Brand Awareness.
· Information sharing.
As already stated new media is on the edge over traditional media in terms of its penetration and it is very useful for targeted marketing effort. In a down-turn market where each penny spent upon marketing matters for its effectiveness and brand managers will be held accountable for the efficacy of their investment plans on media, new media is the only hope to bring accountability in the board room.
Tools for an Interactive Site
There are many tools available for making the site more interactive. A marketer can use any combination of the following for a best use of their website.
Blogs: Blogs are used to make a community speak about the product or brand. But remember to have a blog space in your website with a moderator as chances of spamming and hate males are there.
Pod Cast : A podcast is a series of audio or video digital-media files which is distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers. This is a one way of communication where information can be provided by the marketer to the information seeking customers.
Web Cast: web cast are web-broad casts where streaming media files(audio or video) can be viewed live or on-demand. Fashion marketers can web-cast a fashion shows for users to have a glimpse on it if they missed it..
Webinar: Webinar is a web conference. In a web conference, each participant sits at his or her own computer and is connected to other participants via the internet. This can be either a downloaded application on each of the attendees computers or a web-based application where the attendees will simply enter a URL (website address) to enter the conference.
RSS Feed: RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format..
Example of new media use for brand building activities:
1. Victoria’s Secret: Conducted a webcast of its fashion show.
2. Burger King: Burger king used its mascot on its website which will answer any question that you ask by acting in a comic way.
3. Chevy Tahoe: Chevy Tahoe has made a remarkable campaign which used site visitors to create a TV commercial in its website. This is the first ever advertising in the world that was created on the website.
SEO and PR:
A new way to integrate PR initiative with new media is to SEO the PR. This is evolving in a greater way.....
Branding Insights from BrandAnthem: Multiplex+Sanitary Napkin=Increased Brand Value
Branding Insights from BrandAnthem: Multiplex+Sanitary Napkin=Increased Brand Value: "Today I went to a newly opened Multiplex to watch a bollywood flick. I am surprised to find out the offerings of the Multiplex. In the toile..."
Multiplex+Sanitary Napkin=Increased Brand Value
Today I went to a newly opened Multiplex to watch a bollywood flick. I am surprised to find out the offerings of the Multiplex. In the toilet there is an advertisement by the multiplex claiming that it has all the offerings which some one may require in urgency....which includes sanitary napkin,diapers, band aid etc.
A good strategy by the multiplex to go an extra mile.
A good strategy by the multiplex to go an extra mile.
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