The Media Mix - Way ahead
Priya Monga, Business Head, RC&M
Forty-three feet football stadium on move, online games making you win real money, surprised? Don't be as this is just a beginning of the new age marketing. In today's frenzy and hypercompetitive market, marketers and brand managers are on a look out for out of the box ideas creating excitement, lasting impression and widening brand's reach.
Brand managers are going beyond the traditional mediums of brand promotions, print and electronic, to launch or promote their products. Latest word is 'The direct Interaction revolution' which touches heart and head of a consumer.
Recently Budweiser promoted the Budweiser football cup, which was to be held at old Trafford, Manchester, through a medium that was an experience in itself. A 43 feet trailer was transformed into a life like football ground where audience registered themselves for the cup. Audiences were spell bound by the 43 feet "Stadium on wheels", performances, games, football match and a chance to win and play at Manchester.
With increasing exposure to foreign markets and media, consumers have become more demanding; they wish to experience the product or service that is being offered to them. Corporate have understood, it is the brand experience, which drives a consumer to own or be associated with a brand. Hence marketers are ready to provide experiences that create an emotional bond, have strong recall and satisfaction value with their consumers.
Marketers are experimenting with traditional mediums, utilizing them differently to achieve magnificent upshots. Mobile marketing is the latest buzzword, companies are using this medium to advertise and promote themselves through WAP banners, games, downloads etc. aggressively. There are more than 25 million mobile users and the database is still increasing.
Online marketing is another tool that is taking marketing to a higher level. Promotions through networking sites are rising as these sites provide a direct platform to the marketers to associate with their target group. Also companies feel that this medium helps them connect to the TG faster and the contact percentage can be captured. For e.g. Youtube, the leading user-video sharing website, is allowing the brand managers to experiment and interact with the user base, leaving an imprint on TG's mindset, consumers have become much more conversant and wish to.
Nowadays, brand managers are also using a media mix, which means, ATL, BTL, Online and Mobile marketing is used to launch or promote a product. One of the finest examples of today is TVS, Flame; the latest bike launched by TVS was aggressively promoted through radio, Television, on ground and online medium.
On ground activation through a hunt for the hottest flamer was activated in top 51 towns in India. The hunt targeted towards the youth to experience Flame and get direct feedback from. A dedicated Flame website was prepared for audience to register themselves and download free digital calendar. Online networking sites had uploads of pictures and information about the winners during the hunt road show. Scratch card, contests, dance performances, data collection, enquiry generation, response management activities were undertaken through the road show. Web mailers were sent to a huge database and winamp downloadable mailers in the shape of the bike were also a part of the promotion.
Recently we all have experienced that reality TV game shows and movies are using diverse platforms to launch themselves. The mega star shows like
"Kya aap paanchvi paas se tez hai" (KAPPSTH) and
Dus ka dam were promoted through on ground activations as well. KAPPSTH express, life like classroom, covered around 25 cities in six states. Extensive branding was done through hoardings, websites, and web mailers for the game. Audiences were made to play game on the board and win a chance to be on the show. Similarly, the Salman Khan starter show -
Dus ka Dum used mix of ATL and BTL to communicate the launch of their show and let their viewers experience the show.
Corporate have realized it is imperative to use different mediums and innovative ideas to capture consumers. A media mix can help them achieve the desirable outcome, by maximizing their brand presence and influencing consumer's mindset along with creating an impression through an emotional connect.
So, next time when you go out keep, remember it's just the beginning of new-fangled epoch marketing. Brands are allocating budgets for these activities, and to make a significant mark they want ideas that are exclusive and will bring them ahead of others. This is just the beginning, in the coming years we will see these as a part of every marketing plan, the company's makes.
About Priya Monga
Priya Monga is the Business Head of RC&M, an experiential marketing company which has been providing marketing solutions to corporates in India since 1997. She has a clear and focused approach towards deliverables and believes in working towards improvement and development of the organization. She is an efficient crises manager and understands the industry psyche. With her enthusiastic approach she is able to provide different and creative solutions to her clients.
She formulates innovative techniques in presentations, generates new ideas and channelizes every member's capability towards better efficiency. Her aim is to offer customized solutions that bring in quick outflow of products/services for every corporate organization.
'Grameenon Ke Beech' (GKB), a concerted rural communication programme in UP, was the brain child of Priya, that achieved huge success. The mela, focused on family planning and immunization, covered 1,700 villages and 5,000 satellite villages over a period of ten months. RC&M also initiated a project 'Chetna' for Sifpsa (social organization) in which series of 120 melas were organized in Gonda and Shahjahanpur districts of UP (January-March, 2003).
Born on January 16, 1968, Priya has completed her schooling from Sophia, Ajmer. She has topped for 3 consecutive years in BSc. from Rajasthan University followed by Masters in Textiles from Punjab University, Chandigarh standing second in merit.
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