Dear Reader
Take a breather…
You’ve been subject to some serious bombarding in the past 24 hours. Relax now.
We’re sure you’d have missed a few articles yesterday. Thus, in the next 12 days, we will be uploading one article per day from the Big Bang series, so that you can absorb it all… at your leisure.
So why did we do Big Bang?
We started this blog in January this year, and used to have an encouraging traffic, and comments. However, in the past 2 months, our frequency of posting articles fell sharply, owing …

Before I begin this article, all credit to Mr. Chandra Deep Mitra, faculty at Indian Institute of Management Calcutta for introducing us to this phenomenon. Most of the following examples have been taken from his lecture.
Back in 1915 Earl R. Dean, who was working at the Root Glass Company, was given a brief to design a bottle, which firstly could be recognized in the dark. And then, even if broken, a person could tell at first glance what it was.
The result was a, today ubiquitous, bottle sporting red & …

The world cup has taken all sports lovers (and even those who are not!) across the globe by storm. Considered by some to be thebiggest sporting spectacle in the world today, the FIFA World Cup is a brand that all sports bodies look up to. Today, we take a look at some of the interesting promotion plans that great sporting spectacles have employed to generate publicity and live up to their image.

The Olympic Torch Relay: The stature of this activity, which becomes grander for every edition of the Olympics, can …

It’s time for Waka Waka. People not even remotely interested in the sport of soccer are debating whether Cappello is responsible for England’s mess or whether the vuvuzela is a boon or an evil. Such is the impact of this gigantic international event on everybody’s mind that marketers would be foolish to not associate themselves with this event and capture some of the mind space. Expectedly, all of them have been feverishly working on it and believe it or not, more than 7 billion USD have been spent on advertising …

Every year, millions of Americans ( and others from around the world) tune in to one event that is every marketers dream  – The Super Bowl. But, like all good things, Super Bowl ad time does not come cheap. In 2010, a 30-second ad slot cost about $3 million. So what is it that makes marketers dish out such an astronomical amount, for 30 seconds of ad space, year after year? Probably because of the hype, and the expectations, surrounding the Super Bowl.
In America, the day on which the Super …

Personality branding is a very nascent field, one which has developed very recently, with the explosion of mass media, and the evolving cultural climate of the world. 50 years ago, a sport star was merely a sports star, but today they have become larger than life personalities, endorsing products, causes, events, and much more. In fact, personality branding has become a vital tool for anyone to differentiate themselves in any given field, and stay ahead of the competition.
David Beckham is a case in point. As a footballer, he has his …

If you think you know a fair bit about marketing, chances are one cursory glance at the topic would have you going – “Oh! Let’s see what this over-smart guy has to tell me about marketing in religion that I don’t know about.” Chances are you are right!! There is maybe nothing new that can be said. But it is this “I have it all figured out” attitude that people have towards religion no matter which side of the river they are on (atheists or “believers”) which makes me eager …

Most of us are aware of the phrase ‘Product Life Cycle (PLC)’. For the uninitiated, I shall give a very brief description before I begin with the main topic. According to the PLC concept, a product’s life is divided into 4 major stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. In the growth stage, since the category is relatively new, promotion is focused on communicating functional benefits, generally to a small consumer segment. In the growth stage, when a decent number of customers are aware of its existence, the promotional focus stays …

For weeks now I have been toying with this idea in my head avoiding writing it. Topics like this are like skeletons best left in the closet. I still am not sure of the repercussions of daring to write an article like this so I start with the disclaimers.
This is one of those articles which occur to you as a completely academic exercise and you start discussing it with friends just for the heck of it. I do not intend to hurt, belittle, upset or glorify anyone by this article. …

Everyone wants to be distinct, everyone wants to be cut above the others and everyone will look to express themselves through the choices they make (and this is all the more true for people who can afford more choices). So yes, the choices offered must be different, right?
When a market has already been established and is packed with players, how can you make your offering different from others? A marketer’s first answer will be – ‘different positioning’.
Of course that’s correct. But it doesn’t end there. A question that needs to …