Innovative Marketing Strategies in Uncertain Times -Summit Theme

IOVATIVE MARKETIG STRATEGIES I UCERTAI TIMES Abhishek Solanki, Saumil Singh, Shantanu Seth and Subhadip Bagchi Post Graduate Diploma in Management Birla Institute of Management Technology

Uncertainty is the greatest driver of organic growth and innovation but is also the most confounding variable in decision making. Desperate times call for desperate measures. In the midst of today's global economic crisis that organizations are facing, it is not just the largest or the strongest that survive but it is the ones that adapt to the situation at the earliest. When the global giants are perishing in the current economic whirlpool, it has become an imperative for all firms to innovate, adapt, evolve and revolutionize the product, process and re-invent the organization and its brands. Conventional wisdom suggests that professional services are resilient to changes in market conditions. In periods of economic boom, organisations concentrate on growth: introducing new products, building systems and infrastructure, and planning for expansion. In leaner times, the same organisations must shift their focus to cost management and risk mitigation by narrowing product focus, shedding non-core assets, and litigating problems that were previously masked by stronger revenues. Uncertainty: Uncertainty comes at three levels- Company, Sector and Economy. Firstly, Company specific uncertainty deals with the micro-economic decision variables that are in-house to the organizations and relates to its functioning and survival. Secondly, at the higher level of granularity exists the Sector specific uncertainty which is inherent to the various firms catering to similar types of consumer needs. Finally, Economic uncertainties exist at the macro level and fuels growth and innovation at global level. Uncertainty is an inherent variable in the outcome of any decision and it increases greatly in recessionary times. With rising inventories, falling demands and pressurised bottom-line,

when technological innovation is unable to sustain a firm's profitability the only solution lies in looking towards innovations in marketing. Though long term sustainability undoubtedly depends on constant innovations in products, processes, and technology, however, in the short term view intra quarter profitability depends solely on the marketing efforts undertaken by a firm. Repeat business from a satisfied client is almost always easier to acquire and delivers higher margins than that from new clients. Certainly, firms must continually establish new business relationships to expand the client base. However, in recessionary periods when the crux of the organization's strategy boils down to sustaining business while expending minimum capital resources, retaining and enhancing business from existing customers will be a better approach not only from the short term perspective, but, in the long term, the end, result is greater profitability for the firm and facilitation of a higher quality of work performed through deeper understanding of the client's business. Traditionally, there has been a clear demarcation between the marketing of products and services despite the underlying fact that it is the derived services that matter from the customer's perspective regardless of whether it is a product or a service being purchased. The marketers need to understand that a solely product oriented approach to marketing would be extremely myopic unless the underlying services derived from the product are also considered thereby merging the realms of product and service marketing. However, such a transformational change is not possible overnight, and thus we present to you a differential perspective on the marketing of products and services suitable to the current times, although in the long term, it is the marketing of services and derived services that shall be the holy grail of marketing. Innovation: Innovation can be termed as the process of re-writing rules while retaining and creating values thereby paving a way in to the future. Innovation is necessary to evolve and to adapt to the changing circumstances and to cater to the consumers' articulated and unarticulated needs. Incremental Innovation ensures that an organization copes with and adapts to the changing times whereas Radical Innovation places indelible footprints that redefine the times.

Changing consumer habits and solutions: At the end of the day, no matter how innovative a product offering or how competitive its pricing, the product must be purchased by the customer, which is only possible when the offering is perceived to be acceptable by the customer. Thus, it all boils down to the customer being equated with the market that a firm serves, and as has been stated "The market is the customers and the customers are the market", we thus need to understand what the customers desire from the product or service being offered by the organization. On the basis of consumer lifestyles, they can be broadly divided into the following categories: 1). Comfortably Affluent: These are individuals that have high disposable incomes and are heavy credit users. They spend a lot of time managing their money and keep up with the latest financial choices and options available. 2).Life stage immersed: Individuals that are sophisticated and prefer high end products which they buy even if they do not have the money to pay for it at the current time. 3).Diligent buyers: These are the individuals who live within their means and buy what they need not what they want. They are completely in control of their finances and rarely indulge in impulse buying and credit purchases. 4).Finances in transition: These are individuals who are not particularly knowledgeable about finances, budgeting and planning. They often feel overwhelmed and crave control over their lives and worry about accumulating debt. Finances in Transition individuals keep up with technological advances and fashion and have an affinity for entertainment and recreation. Finances in Transition individuals seek a sense of control, exclusivity and flexibility. 5) Paycheck to Paycheck: These are individuals who feel guilty about new spending, but cannot resist the urge; they use credit cards to support their lifestyle. Paycheck to Paycheck individuals use both debit and credit equally and tend to keep a high balance on credit. 6). Getting By: These are individuals who feel financially out of control, are unable to effectively plan and are financially less sophisticated than other segments. Getting By

individuals struggle to make ends meet. They use both credit and debit, are overwhelmingly revolvers and almost 40% fall into the subprime category. In general, Comfortably Affluent, Life-Stage Immersed and Diligent Budgeters are highly empowered to make their own financial choices, possess some control over financial decisions and hold generally positive views about their spending, future financial outlook and financial services. Finances in Transition are a strong growth segment in terms of future prospects. Because they are at a transitional point in their financial lives, they crave products and services that provide them with a semblance of control. Over time, these individuals have the potential to migrate into the Comfortably Affluent and Life-Stage Immersed segments and hence, need to be addressed while designing new products. Combined, these four segments represent significant opportunities for getting sales and increased revenues, even in these turbulent times. In general, most consumers believe that today's economy is unstable, with a majority stating they believe that the economy will be the same or become worse over the next six months. Despite this sentiment, less than half of those surveyed among the consumers believe that the current economy will negatively affect their level of debt, job security, current housing situation or future income potential. Despite overall confidence about their personal finances, consumers plan to be more conservative with their spending. Sixty three percent of all consumers plan to spend less this year than in years past, including consumers in more affluent segments. Additionally, consumers also anticipate changing the types of purchases they make replacing luxury and 'fun' items with more practical items. This brings us to evaluate how we can continue to entice these consumers to make purchases and to keep the revenue flowing. It is the imperative of organizations to be innovative in this time. Keeping this in mind, there are a few solutions. 1)

Tapping ew Markets: This is to be done via, the creation of new offerings, new

segments, like what has been done by the Tatas in the creation of the Nano. What the Nano concept has done is far from ordinary, not just in terms of the 38 patents it has registered in the creation of just one product, but the idea in itself has put a car in the hands of those who

could only dream of owning one. And, more importantly, it has opened the entire industry to the concept of creating such a vehicle. Now that is a true innovation.

2)

Giving the customer what they want: Reverting again to the Nano project, Tata

Motors realised that in order to grow in a market that was pushing in newer and newer products and variants in the market, none of the players were actually responding to consumer demand. In creating the Nano, the Tatas, gave the customer, what they wanted, not just in terms of price, but also in terms of value, which is the key issue in getting consumers to buy into the marketing proposition of the product.

a) Mass Customizations: A la Dell, are the key to meeting the universal customer expectations. These permit the organization to cater to the needs of the customer, in a way that allows the consumer to communicate to the organization. This is the key to building trust. b) Smart Solutions: The customers today look for not just products, they need endto-end solutions, and that to smart solutions. Till a few years back, ATMs were the smart solution for the Indian customer. Today personalized banking solutions are smart. The Indian Railways initiative of spreading e-ticketing services to a larger base, through cyber cafes, is a smart solution, benefitting consumers, the agents and the railways alike. c) Reduction in unnecessary frills & a greater emphasis on core products, with an emphasis on quality: As has already been mentioned, the consumer today is more penny-wise with his purchases, and the emphasis has shifted from 'fun' to practical. So splurges are out and frugality is in. This means that the frills need to be removed from the products. And the cost savings need to be passed onto the customer, to enhance the value perception.

3) Reduction of on-performing products and SKUs: The Indian marketers have always been advocates of more and more SKUs in the product mix so as to be able to have more and more sales. However, in these recessionary times, the maintenance of these is more of an expense than a return. It is necessary, to find newer ways to enhance brand value, and as a first step towards that it is necessary to scrap SKUs and products that are non-performing in terms of providing a return on investment.

This leads us to ways to tackle these issues. One of them is to form alliances. Considering the case of the Automotive industry, the Tata-Fiat alliance in India and the Chrysler-Fiat deal that has just taken place, are examples of how alliances are being formed in the corporate world so as to help each other out and to survive in these uncertain times. Alliances help companies in a 4-fold way, create greater value for customers; leverage new sources of innovation; share the risks and costs associated with any new offering; increase the economies of scale, thus reducing costs.

The previous discussion tells us how simple and innovative measures can be used to change the product environment, and the key directive that arises from all of it, is that all product innovations must essentially be focussed at the aspirations of the consumers and must, at all times, attempt to address and provide solutions to their latent needs.

Avenues of Promotion and Communication

It is said, that after the industrial revolution the world has witnessed another revolution. Some call it the Media Explosion, some refer to it as the Internet Revolution… and a vast multitude of other names, each taken to suit the fancy of the individual making the declaration. While there might not be a strong consensus, on which name is suited for this, there is no doubt that the age of Internet and Electronic Communication with second-by-second options of information, entertainment and connectivity accessible to the planet. And, this has resulted in more and more channels of communication with the consumer. Now, when the television arrived, it was without a doubt, the single greatest mass-communication medium, giving the marketer the ability to address a large number of people with a single piece of communication. And then at the turn of the 90s' things started to change. There was cable TV, then came the mobiles, then direct-to-home-300-channel-satellite-TV, the Internet, and now we have IPTV. And the end result of all this technology is great for the consumer, but not so for the marketer. It resulted in a fragmentation of the communication channel and the message. It is a very confusing time for marketers all around, because they have the means to communicate to 1 billion people, but are not sure how and what to say to them.

Another important trend or phenomenon that was occurring was that, whereas on one hand, traditionally, Indian customers, who were an uneducated lot, suddenly, they were tuned in to global fads and fashions, and had easy access to the best of both worlds; in a few words, they

were spoilt for choice. And the marketers were able to give them the choices, as long as there were sales, no one cared what communication was going out, how it was delivered or who, if anyone at all was receiving it. Ad-spends were ridiculously high, celebrity endorsements used by any and everyone, TV channels were minting money, and all was good.

But then, the bubble burst and suddenly, companies that had no issues with budgets were short of cash, forcing a rethink of how each and every penny was being spent. This brings us to the current scenario, wherein companies are facing problems, and yet they have to communicate to the customer. A customer, who can be communicated to in many ways, but the companies are not sure if he or she will respond to it one way or the other.

This brings us to the second key area, how to use this new media in an innovative fashion best to our advantage.

1) Intelligent use of media: As has been already discussed before, the multitude of communication channels available to the marketer makes it very difficult for him to decide what channel is to be used to convey which message to which target recipient. This not because that every customer or recipient of the message uses a different channel but because each person toady is not dependent on just one channel. So the coherence of the message is lost in the plurality of the media. It is therefore necessary for marketers to use their media intelligently. A few examples that come to mind are Hero Motors endorsing a youth oriented show MTV Roadies, and the endorsement of Indian Cricket team gear by Adidas. Moreover, a radio station like Meow 104.8 is better suited for communications aimed at young, independent women. 2) Exploring the emerging media for focussed promotions & "Participative Promotion": More and more avenues for communicating with the customer and consumer are available to marketers today. Emerging among them is in the social sphere of the internet. Social networking websites (Orkut, MySpace), Blogs (Blogger, Blogspot), Mobiles (especially the 3G variety, which are used by their tech savvy users to perform almost everything under the sun), are a few of these. While it is easier said than done, it is a new phenomenon of "Participative Promotion". This approach allows the users to actively participate in the promotion, by sending in messages (7UP) and connecting on a website (Youngistan–Pepsi).

Another not so new, but underutilized option in India is in-movie product placements. This when done properly, has a subtle, subliminal, yet effective affect on the customer perception of a brand. A slightly dated, yet effective, and somewhat underused tool is that of paid editorials in dailies and magazines (Medianet in The Times of India). 3) Focus on increasing visibility: While a lot of money is spent for promotions, events and advertisements etc. there are very few brands that have the visibility they deserve, or there are others, which go in for an overkill, such that the users get disgusted of it. Therefore, it is important for the marketers to have the communication spread across the various channels available to them. This is something most marketers have studied during their time in Bschools (Integrated Marketing Communications), but somehow tend to overlook when they arrive at the corporate scene. And, it is not just the visibility, it is the delivery that counts as well. So the marketers should bear in mind, that an over-the-top, extremely innovative communication might have high recall amongst the customers, but if they are unable to associate the product or brand with the advertisements, then there is no use of having that communication in the first place.

4) Building Customer Trust and Relationship Marketing: This is a very difficult thing to achieve because, in these fickle times, trust is something that is not achieved easily. It has to be worked for and then only one gets it. The point here is that the communications should feature the proposition that is being promised to the customer, in every communication. This results in a customer perception of commitment by the brand/product. It re-enforces brand image. But, as is the case in life as well, empty promises don't work, they have to be re-enforced by action. So if a Domino’s does not deliver in 30 minutes, or a Woodland shoe wears out in 3 months, the promises of prompt delivery and "Leather That Weathers" respectively are false claims. This leads to loss of trust, erosion of goodwill and decline in sales, market share and bottom line performance.

Referral marketing is a method of Internet marketing that relies on gaining new customers by referrals, usually through word of mouth. Approximately 80% of companies obtain 70% of their business through word of mouth from satisfied customers and contacts. Word of mouth is generally spontaneous and is achieved by businesses without any form of structured strategy. The concept of relationship marketing is not new, yet it hasn't been used to its fullest. While magazines (Readers' Digest) have been using this approach for decades few other firms have

utilized this option. The advantage here is that when a customer’s acquaintance introduces a product/brand/service, the trust is built without a test, which is comparatively easier to maintain, as it is implicit in the Provider-Consumer relationship. 5) Direct Marketing & "The Cockroach Approach": Direct marketing initiatives are known to offer the best conversion ratio. However, the problem with direct marketing is that it has always been very expensive, and too much in your face. The internet and emerging media offer the opportunity to remove this cost barrier and over exposure. However, many consumers feel that direct marketing invades their personal space. Here comes the "Cockroach Approach". Cockroaches, loathsome creatures they might be, have a tough exoskeleton; can withstand any manmade and natural calamity. And they are omnipresent. These are the characteristics that direct marketing has to take on for it to be effective, they should be around the customers but should only surface themselves when the opportunity can be profitably harnessed, part time Direct Selling executives or agents could thus be a profitable proposition. 6) Regional Marketing Initiatives: While it is necessary for brands to have a coherent message for its customers, yet in a country like India, it is necessary to slightly modify the message for delivery to the regional audiences, like the Thums-Up policy of having different celebrities endorsing the brand in different regions. The message remains the same, but it has a flavour of locality in it, making it easier to identify and associate with.

Sacrifices v/s Benefits: The fundamental dilemma of Cost and Price. From the customer’s perspective the two key drivers of indulging into a product are: Sacrifices, i.e., the price paid and Benefits that he reaps. In today’s times a firm should thus predominantly innovate its strategies based on these key factors, namely, costs and the associated benefits. The key to reducing costs for a company lies in the underlying following factors: 1) Milking its star products: Each company has some of its “Star Products” which the customers seem to best buy. The company must concentrate on such products so that it can have a more focussed approach in these times and provide higher value for customers by keenly promoting and pushing these products. Such a strategy would not only reap higher RoI for the company but would also ensure better results while investing in least amount of funds. 2) Temporarily reduce product line depth: Traditionally marketers have had the opinion to increase the product line depth so that they are able to cater to customers in all the segments and ensure that customer when the need arises purchases only its products. Though such a strategy is fruitful but during the currently existing market scenario it is highly recommended that the company focuses primarily only on the high volume products. This would significantly reduce the cost to serve as the company can reduce on the production of nonperforming product variants and focus only on high volume products. Additionally, as the buying power of the consumers is also reducing, the companies should concentrate more on providing the core or basic products with lesser frills and thus, pass on the cost benefits accrued to customers as lower prices. 3) Trust and co-evolve with business partners: Negotiate best deals and effectively manage marketing and sales & distribution channels. The company should bank on the existing partners as the cost of dealing with them is far lesser as compared to building new relations and partners. Negotiating best deals with the suppliers will significantly reduce cost with the dual benefit of keeping them in business as well. Another point worth mentioning here would be to strategically minimize the total number of suppliers and partners while increasing their volumes and scopes. The co-evolution with business partners deals with passing on the technology findings and mutually agreeing on the company’s future plans, this not only

would strengthen the relationship but would also result in long term profitability for the company and its partners. 5) Rework the advertisement budget to optimize consumer exposure at least costs and improvise on the currently existing media channels’ glut. Rather than spending a major chunk of promotion budget on large scale advertisements it is advisable to concentrate on promotion at the point of purchase where the customers spend the most amount of their time. This would also help in triggering impulsive buying behaviour. 6) Temporarily pulling-out from the markets which are currently unfavourable to cater will result in significant cost reduction. 7) The company should also focus on reducing in-house company cost by cutting on salaries, perks and cutting on overheads of non-mandatory or non-productive assets. The Top Management should lead by example and must axe down the costs incurred in shear luxuries. The overall key to success is passing on these cost benefits to consumers by reducing prices which in return would propel the demand curve upwards. When it comes to increasing benefits, to the customers the company can adopt strategies such as product bundling, in order to reduce inventory storage costs and clear existing inventory before the product life expires. This would increase benefits for the consumer, while reducing costs for the company and increasing profitability. When considering the demographic profiles of the consumers, the targeted segments have to be re-oriented to focus at the groups who have been least affected by the recession. At the same time the offerings have to incorporate factors that appeal to these groups. When it comes to the spread of markets in the country, there lies great potential in the semiurban and rural areas. It is important for the marketers to realize this and tap these markets. However, it is very difficult to go to the rural markets overnight. Hence the key here is to exploit the tier-II and tier-III cities on short term whereas the rural markets’ potential should not be overlooked in the longer run.

The effect of Place & Distribution etworks on Marketing

Traditionally marketers have set protocols for dealing with the placing and distributions of various categories of products. For example, an FMCG manufacturer will try and achieve maximum reach for his products, via last mile distribution, while a “luxury” brand will stick to the majorly urban pockets. While there is nothing wrong with this approach, “Segment Hopping” customers and their needs necessitate a re-think.

“Segment Hopping” is a phenomenon that is the result of the typical purchasing behaviour of most of the customers today, wherein a customer from a more affluent segment tries to cutdown on his expenses, keeping in mind the global scenario, where he knows that his income while might not decline, but will also not increase. And, in good times, it refers to the purchases by lower income groups of brands and products with a high aspiration value to increase their social standing.

Hence, marketers need to wake up to this fact, especially to the latter half of the definition of a segment hopper, where we have people in semi-urban & rural India, aiming for brands in which they are not typically segmented. Similarly, the marketers of goods that are generally perceived to sell on the basis of price also need to address the needs of the people who are not their customers, but then, they are buying from them to save costs, like someone who can afford to go to a CCD/Barista/Costa visits an Indian Coffee House. Or someone who can afford to spend Rs. 3000 on a family night out, with a movie, spends Rs. 500, with a rented DVD and delivered meal.

The point that is being made here is that the placing and distribution needs to be re-aligned to the consumer needs, which are evolving with the changes in the economic scenario, and the global exposure that Indian consumers now have.

A few thoughts on how this re-alignment is to be carried out are below.

1) The spread of products needs to be wider: While most FMCGs have last mile reach, it is not the case with the consumer durables market. For any quality consumer durables, customers from semi-urban and rural areas have to visit the closest urban area. This adds to the customer cost, and decreases his value. What can be done here

is to have, alliances between these firms, say an infrastructure and space sharing agreement, like in the case of Cellular Service operators.

2) Organised outlets need to move out of pockets: The organised retail sector has been doing a good job of catering to the consumer needs, but the problem here is that this sector caters to the needs of a select few. Most such outlets are housed in malls, which are again in the tier 1 and 1.5 cities in the country. The benefits of this need to reach the “Bottom of the Pyramid.” It is true that this requires a lot of investment on the part of all the stakeholders, but such investments will only lead to the creation of a better economic environment and the increased revenues and profitability for organised retail, and the marketers alike.

3) Tier II cities and semi-urban markets need to be tapped: The tier II and semiurban areas are the ones where the middle class of the nation resides. These places and people have a lot of purchasing power, which as of now is largely untapped. These areas can be tapped with new formats, and innovations the likes of which “Future Group” has been doing.

4) ew Verticals need to be explored: The private sector is currently experiencing saturation. While growth opportunities are present, yet they are limited in the fact that there is a lot of competition for the purse of the same consumer. A public-privatepartnership needs to be evaluated. Rather than bailing out the sick or the loss making private sector companies, the government should look at options of sub-contracting their large scale projects to these ailing companies. This would not only boost these specific companies but the sector and allied industries at large. For example let us consider the example of the infrastructure sector, currently all the major players in this sector are bearing the brunt of tough times. Burdened by heavy debts these companies either don’t have projects or their existing projects do not have adequate customers further leading to their apathy. The Government on its part has been instrumental in planning out bail outs for these ailing giants. Rather than providing them with virtually a long term bad debt the Government should sub-contract its major infrastructural projects to these companies. The advantage of such a move over a pure bail out would be that these would initiate inventory consumption and in turn would re-start the currently stuck wheel of production. Furthermore if we continue with the

example of an infrastructural company then we notice that if they are given large scale projects it would provide employment to a large number of people, large orders to steel companies and cement companies. So by employing this private-public partnership the government would not only rejuvenate the ailing industries, provide employment but would also ensure that the nation moves ahead on the path of development. This will allow for the organizations in verticals like infrastructure and energy, to retain profitability while contributing to nation building activities. This will also drive growth in the B2B market.

The Service Element in Marketing

The Product, Promotion, Price and Place are the key success factors for the successful marketing of any and every product. However, the service elements of Process, Physical Evidence and People are equally important in the product scenario, and even more so when dealing with services marketing. In keeping with this, it is the imperative of marketers, to address these issues and to incorporate them.

The Process

The process is key along the entire cycle of marketing a product. The emphasis should be on “Lean Manufacturing” and “Lean Marketing” as well. In this era, it is important for the companies to have lower costs and better quality. An emphasis on the product allows for both these. Better processes need to be incorporated into marketing as well to reduce delivery time and overhead costs.

The Physical Evidence

The Servicescape is an elemental feature of the services marketing picture. A lot of thought and effort goes into the designing and maintenance of the service-scape. While it is necessary, but to have the same design all over is acceptable, only where uniformity is required, In other cases it is more of a burden to have a uniform servicescape from both an organizational viewpoint as well as from the customers viewpoint. Here again, the physical

evidence should reflect on the customers geographic location as well as the psychographic expectations.

The People The people of any organization are definitely important. The issue here is that internal marketing is key not only in a service environment, but also in the product environment as only the people who buy into the product, will be able to sell it to the external customers.

Summary In times of economic boom effectiveness plays a key role in determining an organizations success or failure, however, in times of recession, effectiveness takes a back seat to efficiency. In the current scenario, firms must concentrate more on efficiency by achieving operational excellence and thereby reducing costs of production, delivery and marketing. This in return would reduce the cost to customers as well as increase sales volumes and thus maintain profits and ensure sustenance in the market. In recessionary times the Organizations need to realize that Innovative Marketing is the need of the hour coupled with technological and process innovations, because when the horizon extends from quarter to quarter it is better to adapt, minimize cost and be a survivor in the short term to ascertain market sustenance in the long run.

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