[This article was contributed by Gokul Badrinarayanan, a second year Post graduate student at IIM Calcutta. Marketing is both his interest and passion and he is especially interested in Social media and movie marketing. Movies have been a life-time indulgence, with interests varying across various genres and eras of English, Tamil and Hindi cinema. He is a fresher from Anna University. You can read more of his posts at casualstrokes.wordpress.com]
Imagine this scene.
Its late at night, so late that its almost the next day. There is a closed gate, and outside …

It’s April 23, 1985. The Coca Cola Company has just announced to the press that there’s going to be a major announcement concerning a change in the products formulation. They’ve built up the hype and the expectations to a nadir, and they’ve even got their upstart rivals, Pepsi, on their toes. The company has been working on “Project Kansas” with the utmost secrecy, to test and perfect the flavour for New Coke. And so, with much fanfare and gusto, the new flavour is finally introduced to the world. Curious consumers …

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 & …

Waka Waka fever has gripped the world and people from across the globe are tuning in every day to see who would go on to raise the FIFA World Cup trophy on the 11th of July, 2010. Given the magnitude of the event and the global reach of every game, it is a marketer’s delight. In any such event, the coveted ‘official tournament sponsors’ position usually draws stiff competition. However, every tournament of this magnitude also draws a number of so-called ‘unofficial’ sponsors – the ‘ambush marketers’. Call them smart …

Colours do matter. Recent studies reveal that colours play a significant role in influencing a consumer’s shopping decisions. Red, orange and other similar hues were found to prompt consumers to go in for the purchase whereas lighter shades of blue and green were found to have a calming effect, thus promoting a sense of safety and security. In this article, I’ll attempt to explore the impact of colours on a brand’s reach and recall and the overall success of the marketing campaign.
Every brand has its own unique identity which is …

Mumbai monsoons 2009: another season of harried people wading through flooded streets. But there was one junction where people were using a raft to ride over their problems. All thanks to Aircel! In its one of a kind campaign, Aircel put up a raft on one of its billboards which could be used in case of flooding. Billboard by itself did not attract anything more than curious looks, but once the raft came into use, it made its way to the front page of a lot of local dailies. Apart …