Sixth Sense of Marketing

Part 1 With the cabinet giving a go-ahead in June 2017 for the government to try and sell Air India, I can't help but feel a sense of closure of a chapter in the long standing relationship between the government & the aviation sector. It is a move that has been debated since 2011 - the year when attempts were made, for the first time, to privatize the airline. With the market in flux and purchasing power low, is it a wise move by the government at this point in time? - Hard to say. But was it a move that was long due? - Probably yes. After multiple attempts by the government to convert the airline into a profit-making unit, it has still been unable to match the private giants that have grown at a rapid pace in the past few years. Air India, currently at the 4th position with 13% market share after Indigo, Jet Airways, and Spice Jet, is the talk of the town. It is up for sale, but the question remains intact - who will buy Air India and all its debt? Will the journey ta...

Everyone who follows marketing or well internet in general, would have probably heard the news by now: COKE IS SELLING MILK. With an "Enjoy Your Life" kind of an image, what prompted coke to take this step? Research suggests that aerated drink sales are dropping.. & dropping at an exponential rate for Coke! But would this "Coke Milk" be of any real help? Diversification in an entirely different category of drinks might fill the gap for users giving up aerated drinks. But this, coming from Coke, a brand that in itself has become synonymous with aerated drinks, might face a challenge in gaining consumer acceptance. So how is Coke trying to make sure you buy it? Let's run a quick  decode  at Coke's Mantra behind this beverage.  COKE's Mantra for selling Milk: Make it sound more healthy- Call it "Fairlife" Add something extra - Add some protein, add some calcium, add some flavor Tell people its better - Sell at a premium cost Mak...

A market may have unlimited definitions. Let’s just get down to the basics and say out loud the first line that comes to our mind. Markets – A place where buyers and sellers meet, a place where goods are being sold to customers, a place where commodities are exchanged for money with the buyers– three answers that top the charts. But, for argument sake, let’s imagine  a market without the buyers . A place where sellers are selling, goods are being sold and commodities are getting exchanged for money – & No sight of customers. Incomplete? Self-implied? Or does it sound familiar? We see markets packed with people. And more often than not, we wish that the crowd around us would just disappear! Won’t that be so easy? No hassle to look for your size and a much needed break from the endless queues outside the trial rooms & billing counters. And snap goes the genie! You wished for it – you got it! Here comes the “e-commerce” boom. Isn't that “trending” these days? W...

Innumerable brands and innumerable products – all shouting at the consumer in  their own ways! Ways, which are different and yet, in essence, are all the same. In  this mayhem, each of these brands is trying to grab attention, trying to do something  “out of the box”. Ironically though, the term itself has become somewhat a cliché.  Appealing to the 5 senses of the consumers seems no longer enough and brands now need to touch that sixth sense which will not only strike “a” chord but, will strike the “right” one.Looking past the 5 levels of differentiation, i.e., technology, price, product, customer service and user experience, seems only a sensible option in this case. But what is the sixth level? To what extent has it been explored? - are the questions that still lay unanswered. India, a nation guided by sentiments, has at its heart the festivals that, in many ways,  define the people residing in it. To touch the chord connecting a brand to a...