By: Pitch | January 3, 2012 |

Pitch CMO Summit 2011: 10 Learnings

Pitch was on a trek last month across three cities – Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi. We had over 30 CMOs and brand heads at the Pitch CMO Summit 2011 talking about their success strategies, we had other hundreds of marketers sharing with us in person their success stories. While, we bring to you 25-odd Case Studies from the Summit in the following pages, here we present you the ‘10 Learnings’ or take-aways from the Summit

 

Redefining products as experiences
The difference between a successful and not successful brand is no more about the quality of the product. It’s about the experience, and brands are going a step ahead to provide the customer the ‘experience’ before they actually buy it. BMW, Cafe Coffee Day and Croma are some such examples

Creating co-creators and influencers
Brands are marrying customers and are doing the hard work to keep the marriage. For example, Ford has real people and real experiences as part of its TVCs. Similarly, Oriflame is trying to build up a network of distributors and sales-persons on their positive vibes with the brand

Leveraging occasions to create social trends
Brands are becoming a part of not only the customer’s personal life but are trying to be a part of their culture too. Tanishq, Hariyali Bazaar, Vodafone, Blackberry… are all trying to leverage on the local culture and festivals. Tanishq, for example, in rural areas is trying to be an active participant in marriages

The power of the intangible
Brands are no more just intangible. Even a hair cut or a life insurance… the latter has tangible benefits only to the survivors of the deceased are trying to appeal to the emotional senses of the consumer. Jawed Habib Xpreso has brought a styler closer to the masses with a hair-style for as less as Rs 99

Ensuring brand relevance to ever changing consumers
Cult brands are not built overnight. Yet, they cannot afford to become a part of the archaeology department too. They are evolving with the changing consumers. Dettol for example, has evolved from just being an antiseptic to a soap, a hand sanitiser, a shaving cream, without losing on its core promise – safety and health

Building cultural relevance
The Indian consumer no more falls for anything ‘foreign’. He wants it to be localised. Brands realise that. A concept like noodles while largely is Chinese, yet masala is quite Indian. Maggi has built the brand on the local cultural relevance with variants like dal, wheat, etc. Quaker Oats too is trying to get local

Act global act local
It’s no more about ‘think global, act local’. It’s about ‘Act global, act local’. An international brand like Vodafone, while is evoking local sentiments and customised offerings to Indian customers, it is not compromising on its global promise of ‘Power to You’. The same is true for a local brand like Wagh Bakri, which is going international

Hit hard
In a cluttered market, Volkswagen has shown the way with its roadblocks – Hit hard and then go selective. While, it may seem that Volkswagen spends double its competitor, the ‘ROI’ through buzz it gets by roadblocks is far greater than any other media plan. The talking ad is still discussed

Art of distribution push and advertising pull
While ITC has always relied on its distribution strength, and has leveraged that too for its late entry into new categories like snacks, Flipkart has just shown the power of how e-commerce can be successful if the right chord of the consumer is gauged. Pay-on-delivery option, has done the trick for it

Consumer reshaping retail
Retail is no more about being ‘sasta’. The Indian consumer still loves a discount, but he’s ready to pay more, if options are given to him. Big Bazaar is no more about being ‘sasta’. It’s ‘Naye India ka Bazaar’. Meanwhile, Croma too is listening to consumers and has changed the way how one buys consumer durables

Let’s look at what our about 25 speakers said at the Summit:

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