I recently read an interesting piece of news – while Toyota’s sales have plummeted due to the unintended acceleration problems of its cars, its luxury brand Lexus has actually shown an upswing in sales over the last few months.  This is in spite of the fact that, ’according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, one is more likely to suffer unintended acceleration driving a Lexus than a Toyota. Toyota gets all the press because eight million cars have been recalled compared to 50,000 Lexi. But on a per-capita basis, the greater hazard is a Lexus.’  (Adam Fisher, BNET)

Both these cars are manufactured by Toyota, in the same factories.  So the above facts are surprising – and one of the reasons could be that consumers do not know that Toyota and Lexus are for all practical purposes, the same car.  So while we hear a lot about the damage done to Toyota’s brand image by the acceleration problems, with respect to the Lexus, we have to hand it to Toyota - it has built such a distinct and separate brand around the Lexus that it seems unaffected by the parent company’s woes.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Back in the good old days of DD(Doordarshan), one song had captivated the entire nation. Mile Sur Mera Tumhara introduced the concept of National Integration to a generation of people like me. One never tired of watching the song, and it also generated a curiosity within to know more about the musicians who were featured on the song, about whom I was unaware of. It was one of those childhood memories which I warmly recall.

The spell has finally been broken.Kailash Surendranath, take a bow. So what’s wrong with the latest version? Plenty.One gets the distinct feeling that this is a show-case of Bollywood, and the demi-Gods who inhabit it. For heavens sake, India is not only about Bollywood.

There is King Khan, displaying all his passion while the camera slowly reveals the Bandra-Worli sea link. When it comes to Shah Rukh, it seems nothing but something special would do. Even in a song like this. We have Salman Khan in a cute piece involving kids with disabilities. And yes, he is shirtless, showing off his much displayed abs. The Shahid Kapoor part could as well have been taken from any one of his recent movies. And then to top it all, there is Shilpa Shetty. What on earth is she doing here? She would be a great fit in a song about Britain’s national integration. Here she doesn’t fit in at all.

Some of the parts where the Bollywood celebrities are featured, one gets the feeling that the Stars image played a part in how they were portrayed. And it diluted the whole experience of the song.

The sports persons got a real raw deal. There is Abhinav Bindra in a blink-and-you-miss-him appearance. Same with Sushil Kumar. This is how well we treat our few real sporting heroes. Gopichand and Saina Nehwal look like they are lost in the Hyderabad Airport. By the way, Sachin Tendulkar does not feature in this song. One would like to know why?

There are touching moments too. It was wonderful to see all the next generation musicians being featured with their famous Dads. And Bhupen Hazarika singing with so much feeling at such an advanced age was touching indeed. Sadly, he is an exception. The song lacks a Soul, something the original had in plenty. The makers say it is intended for a newer generation with a younger feel. Remains to be seen how long this version will stay in public memory.

Which reminds me of an interesting event. At the height of the Coca Cola- Pepsi battle, when Pepsi was eating away into Coke’s market share, Coke came up with a version of Coca Cola which was more similar to Pepsi than to Coke. There was widespread public condemnation of the new version, and Coke had to withdraw the product. When companies try to revamp or change an existing brand( one that is very successful) they have to be extremely careful that they don’t lose the original customer.
The key challenge lies in retaining your existing set of customers, as well as getting the new generation of youth to follow the brand and become converts.

Popularity: 6% [?]

We don’t have cable in our home. My 4-year old goes to a school which frowns upon the commercialization of childhood, which means that students aren’t allowed to wear or bring any item with cartoon or movie motifs. Talk about superheroes or cartoon characters is similarly discouraged. My son therefore, is singularly and refreshingly unaware of the whole wide world of Ben 10, Power Rangers, Dora, Elmo and so on. But who has time for all these when there is Disney Pixar?

Yes, the Disney movies are ubiquitous. A stroll down the aisle of any large toy or clothing store confirms my initial suspicion that Disney aims to take over the entire universe, or atleast my son’s little world.

I admit – I am an unabashed fan of the Disney marketing juggernaut. For juggernaut it is; they start with their movies. They follow it up with live shows, toys, clothing and other accessories, the Disney theme parks and tons of other merchandise. And the one thing that makes the Disney machine work so beautifully is just great, compelling content.

Disney is the prime example of an effective integrated marketing company. Exposure to one kind of product leads naturally to interest in another. No wonder Hewlett-Packard hired Disney’s marketing whiz to be their Chief Marketing Officer! If there is anything to be known about consumer marketing, you can be sure Disney has it covered.

In early 2009, they even started merchandising on food products! (Alright, I know this is a little too much). They released Disney-branded eggs to two test markets in Florida and New York. These eggs were packaged in a carton that was plastered with Mickey Mouse’s face, and each individual egg was stamped with the face of a different Disney character, ranging from characters from Toy Story to those in Winnie The Pooh. Many marketing experts argue that Disney’s short-term marketing gimmicks dilute the brand in the long run. What’s next? Furniture? Liquor? Oops they beat me to it – they’re there already!

I do worry about Disney over-saturating the market when I have to head off my son who absolutely needs the latest toy from the Disney stable. Thank God for YouTube, atleast we can watch the movies online for free!

Popularity: 8% [?]

Almost the whole world of business is going to sleep mode, with people hurriedly wrapping up tasks on hand.There is a surfeit of messages with the holiday spirit – buy this- get that, shop till you drop, buy a diamond for your loved one.

And the corporate sector also sees a flurry of cards floating around and gifts exchanged.

There is still emotion in spite of cynicism due to marketing overload. And a cleverly designed piece of communication, be it an electronic greeting card or an old fashioned printed one, can stand out from the clutter.

The New Year card and gift are also good ways to empahasize your brand values. I am personally proud of one card I thought of for a company that ran behavioral change and work skill programs (time management, negotiation skills etc.) The key theme of the card was New Year resolutions – which was in sync with the company’s values of making a difference to yourself.

The point is – keep reminding your customers of who you are – every interaction is a potential gold mine.

Popularity: 10% [?]

All the portals and newspapers today were full of Indian School of Business’s newly launched CEO auction program. It works like this- students bid for 1 among 16 CEOs to spend a day at work with them. The money raised through the auction will go to charity, while the budding professionals get to rub shoulders with the likes of Narayana Murthy, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Kumara Mangalam Birla. The idea is interesting and innovative. However, ISB stands to gain the most- through the PR. I do not really know how much the students will learn from the one day- though I am sure they will cherish it for a long time to come. Those interested in the full article can check out http://business.rediff.com/report/2009/sep/08/isb-launches-ceo-auction-for-students.htm

Popularity: 8% [?]

When it comes to online, consumers have been much quicker off the mark than companies. Customers were grousing and complaining, lauding and praising products, brands and efforts long before companies woke up to the importance and power of the keyboard. But for sometime now, corporates have become savvy, learning to build an online presence and brand not just through websites, but also through viral marketing, blogs and social networking sites. Even then, for sometime, leveraging the power of the World Wide web was seen as something ‘extra’, beyond the traditional marketing efforts.

Not anymore – big brands are finally initiating 2-way conversations. Big companies are recruiting for new positions – Chief Blogger, Director of Digital Care, Heads of Social Media and even Corporate Twitterers! Predictably, some of the brands leading this are those seen as ‘hip’ – Starbucks, Easy Jet and Dell, but also some more ‘conservative’ ones like Ford and Bank of America.

Check out this link to see the kind of things these companies are doing – makes for interesting reading! http://www.trendwatching.com/briefing/

Popularity: 6% [?]