The agenda was social marketing and finding solutions to the world's problems. But, at the recently concluded World Marketing Summit at Dhaka in Bangladesh, there were other takeaways as well. Delegates and speakers shared insights into brands and consumer psychology.
Nano's wrong pitch
Tata Motors' Nano has always been a hotly discussed case study. Why did the concept of a low-priced car not click? Dr Abraham Koshy, Professor of Marketing, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad felt hyping the cost factor worked against the car. It earned the car a negative image as a “poor man's car”, he said.
“The product was designed for the masses who cannot afford a car. But the problem is, if someone buys a Nano, his neighbours will say he was too poor to afford a car,” said Dr Koshy.
Now, to recoup lost ground, Tata Motors is trying to reposition Nano by playing up its engineering design.
To drive home the point that understanding the consumer and his aspirations is necessary to build brands, Dr Koshy used another example from the Tata Motors stable. Where the Nano failed, Tata Ace, launched in 2005, aced it, and the mini-truck is today the single largest commercial vehicle brand in the country.
“It changed people's lives. Suddenly an auto-rickshaw driver became a truck driver leading to major improvement in his status, as a potential bridegroom, in the marriage market,” explained Dr Koshy.
Touching lives
Touching lives pays both ways, said Mr Mitchell Habib, CEO of global information and measurement company Nielsen, describing how it helps not just the populace but the marketer as well.
During his session “Consumer Insights leading to a better world”, gleaned from tracking the rapidly changing preferences of nearly four billion consumers in Africa, China and India, Mr Habib shared case studies from Procter & Gamble and IIT-Kharagpur.
Even as the introduction of sanitary napkins by Procter & Gamble boosted school attendance of young girls in African nations, a simple technological innovation by IIT Kharagpur helped in the financial inclusion of crores of rural Indians.
The researchers from IIT brought down the average cost of ATMs from $18,000 (Rs 9 lakh) to $3,500 (Rs 1.75 lakh) so as to suit the low average daily transaction levels in rural India. They ensured that such machines could dispense soiled notes, and also allayed fears among consumers that the notes were fake.
The country's central bank gained from the move. In addition to achieving its financial inclusion target, the circulation of soiled notes will help it check escalation in printing cost.
Local versus global
A number of experts at the meet felt local players led the race in terms of consumer insights and product innovation.
Dr Koshy, for example, builds his case on the success of Arun Ice Cream in Tamil Nadu (where it has 65 per cent share) beating down competition from national and MNC players. He also cites the example of Kochi-based V-Guard which introduced the concept of voltage-stabilisers — a remedy to protect electrical equipment from voltage fluctuations — way back in 1977.
“First, they brought out a voltage stabiliser. Soon, the consumer was offered specific models to be used for different electrical products like TV, refrigerator and so on,” said Dr Koshy.
Former Britannia Managing Director Mr Sunil Alagh, who is anticipating price competition to increase in the Indian market, in thenext four or five years, endorsed the thought. Mr Alagh, who now runs a consultancy SKA Advisors, gave the example of Kolkata-based biscuit brand BiskFarm and Maharashtra-based Parivar packaged tea, whose rising sales illustrate how well they are in tune with regional market preferences.