INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

Case Study On Promotion:

Our effort has been, and continues to be, to make Idea Cellular a champion brand. Thus, all our campaigns are aimed at demonstrating the power of an idea by looking at mobile telephony and what it can do, in a way that's fresh, imaginative, and elevating."

- Pradeep Shrivastava, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular, in September 2009.

Introduction

In May 2009, India-based leading telecom operator, Idea Cellular's (Idea) advertisement (ad) endorsed by the Indian film star Abhishek Bachchan (Bachchan) won the 'Best celebrity endorsement award' at NDTV Tech Life Awards. On receiving the award, Bachchan said," The IDEA campaign carries a socially relevant message in today's commercial environment and the brilliant concept of encouraging two-way communication between the government and people has connected with millions across India."3

Idea had chosen Bachchan as its brand ambassador in October 2007. Advertising agency Lowe Lintas (Lowe), which had been designing ad campaigns for Idea since the late 1990s, developed new campaigns after Bachchan was signed up.

These campaigns, based on social issues that could be solved using mobile telephony, were acclaimed for their creativity. Idea's ads had focused on its network coverage and promotional packages before Bachchan was appointed as its brand ambassador. The company used its brand name 'Idea' in its ad slogans like 'An Idea can change your life,' 'A good Idea,' and 'What an Idea!'

According to advertising experts, Idea enjoyed very little brand recall in the initial years after its inception. It had gained on that front by using its brand name in creative and meaningful slogans that concluded in its ads making perfect sense.

Analysts felt that using Bachchan, one of the leading movie actors in India who is extremely popular among youngsters, was one of the reasons for the significant improvement in Idea's brand recall.

Analysts also attributed the success of Idea in improving its brand recall and subscriber base to the creative work done by Lowe. Idea's ads were in contrast to that of its competitors like Bharati Airtel and Vodafone which focused on their value added services (VAS) and products.

However, some experts felt that while Idea's ad campaigns were creative and improved its brand recall, there was nothing in the ads that would attract a customer of its competitors or a new subscriber. They felt that Idea should have promoted the unique selling points of its products and services in the ads rather than only projecting the uses of mobile telephony.

Abstract:

The case examines the advertising strategies of Idea Cellular, a leading telecom service provider in India. It explains how Idea promoted its services through several innovative ads via variety of media like TV, print, out-of-home, and radio. Idea had not hired any celebrity to promote its services till late 2007, in contrast to its competitors. 

However, when Idea expanded its geographical presence to cover several telecom circles in India, it hired film star Abhishek Bachchan to endorse its brand in October 2007. Idea's focus in its ads also changed from highlighting its tariff plans and network coverage to using mobile telephony to solve social issues. Idea also developed several websites to support its ads based on social issues.

Excerpts

Background Note

The inception of Idea dates back to 1995 when one of India's leading business conglomerates, the Aditya Birla Group (ABG), ventured into the mobile telecom space by establishing Birla Communications Limited (BCL). BCL started providing GSM services in the Gujarat and Maharashtra circles in India...

Idea's AD Campaigns

Idea had decided not to adopt celebrity endorsements in 2002 while its competitors like Bharti Airtel had been using multiple celebrities to promote its brand. !dea was launched as a brand in April 2002...

'A Good !Dea' Campaign

Idea's promotions in 2006 were based on its tariffs, service quality, and network coverage. For instance, Idea started promoting its Rs.0.5 per local call per minute service aggressively. One of its TVCs featured a bowler and an umpire in a game of cricket...

Idea's Launch in Mumbai

!dea's launch in Mumbai circle was recognized as the world's largest single city launch of telecom services till 2008. Idea spent Rs.8 billion to cover more than 1000 cellular sites in Mumbai. It used extensive out-of-home (OOH) media like bill boards and bus stop shelters for pre-launch teasers. Idea used the then prevailing controversy of natives Vs migrants in Mumbai city...

The Online Initiatives

Idea took its 'What an !dea' campaign further - from TV, print, and radio to the Internet. It launched several websites that complemented its campaigns that championed social causes. In December 2008, Idea launched a website called http://bythepeople.in to take forward its TVCs based on democracy...

dea's Association with IPL

In March 2009, Idea tied up with Mumbai Indians, one of the teams participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL). IPL provided Idea with a good opportunity for its brand building exercise as the competition was closely followed by the entire country. Idea launched a campaign called 'Call the Cricketers' on April 30, 2009...

The 'Out-Of-Home' Campaigns

Idea had been using OOH media like hoardings, public transport systems, and bus shelters since the early 2000s. The company used OOH media innovatively to reflect the message of the ad. One of the most noticed campaigns of Idea's OOH was the one used in the city of Surat in the state of Gujarat in Western India...

The Road Ahead

Advertising experts felt that the campaigns used by Idea to promote its network coverage and tariff plans were creative and would help it to add to its subscriber base. They opined that many of Idea's ads in 'What an !dea' campaign had a rural background and would help Idea in building a strong brand image in rural India. Analysts said that the urban markets were getting saturated for telecom operators and hence expanding into rural India would help them grow significantly...

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

CASE STUDY ON PROMOTIONS

ITC Food's Growth and Future Prospects

"There is no other country in the world than India, which has such a wide variety of food. All over the world people are getting health conscious and India offers them a great choice. Thus, we do not want to export the brand 'Kitchens of India' but want to establish the brand as the brand of the mainstream consumer in the global market."

- Ravi Naware, Chief Executive, Foods Division, ITC Ltd., on April 24, 2006.

"I'm very bullish. Over the next couple of years, we expect it (ITC Foods) to turn profitable."

- Nikhil Vora, Vice President (Research), SSKI Securities, on February 03, 2006.

"Unlike in the ready-to-eat segment which is still small and the onus is more on growing the category than getting share, in the other categories ITC has to contend with entrenched competition. Success will depend on how much patience it has to drive growth over a period of time."

- Ravi Nigam, President, Tasty Bite Eatables Ltd., in 2004.

Introduction

On May 3, 2006, ITC Foods, the foods division of ITC Ltd, a major Indian conglomerate, announced its plan to set up a biscuit manufacturing unit at Haridwar in Uttaranchal with an investment of over Rs.700 million. The proposed plant with a manufacturing capacity of 2,000 tons per month was to become operational by March 2007.In early 2006, ITC Foods, with a

market share of 5.3%, trailed behind Parle Products Ltd. (Parle) and Britannia Industries Ltd. (Britannia), the market leaders in the Indian biscuits market (organized sector).

However, the company was expanding its distribution network aggressively and was set to introduce new biscuit variants to improve its market share.

The ITC Group had entered the branded and packaged food business in August 2001 with the launch of ready-to-cook products under the Kitchens of India (KoI) brand. This was followed up by product launches in the confectionery, staples, and snack food segments within a year.

As of early 2006, it had emerged as a major player in the foods business. Analysts observed that its heavy investment in manufacturing and infrastructure indicated that ITC was bullish on the prospects of its foods business.

ITC developed new product lines in its foods business drawing on its competencies in brand-building, R&D, packaging, and distribution. However, market analysts were not sure whether ITC would achieve success in all the food categories that it had entered. According to a consultant at Quadra Advisory,5 apart from the ready-to-eat category, ITC Foods was likely to face hurdles in every other food category, and especially so in the biscuits and confectionery category, due to intense competition. However, more recent reports suggested that even in the ready-to-eat category, the competition was heating up.

Background Note

ITC was established on August 24, 1910 as the Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited in Kolkata. Initially, the company was involved in the trading of imported cigarettes. In 1925, in a backward integration move, the company started a packaging and printing business. The name of the company was changed to India Tobacco Company Limited (I.T.C. Ltd.) in 1974. In 1975, I.T.C. Ltd., through ITC-Welcomgroup, tied up with the US-based Sheraton Corporation6 to enter the hospitality industry. It acquired its first hotel in Madras (later renamed Chennai) in Tamil Nadu and called it the Welcomgroup Chola Sheraton.

I.T.C. Ltd established ITC Bhadrachalam Paperboards Ltd. (IBPL) in 1975. The company started production at its integrated pulp and paper/board manufacturing facility at Bhadrachalam, Andhra Pradesh, in 1979.7

In 1990, I.T.C. Ltd. set up an International Business Division (IBD) for export of agri-commodities. I.T.C. started a greeting cards business under the brand name Expressions in the year 2000. In the same year, I.T.C. also entered the fashion retailing business by extending its well known cigarette brand Wills. The retail outlets were called Wills Lifestyle and offered premium leisure wear for men and women under the Wills Sport brand.

In September 2001, the company was renamed ITC Ltd (without full stops, and with no meaning attributed to the alphabets). In 2001, ITC made an entry into the foods business, and entered the business of safety matches, where it could use the same distribution network as that of its cigarette brands, in 2002. In 2002, IBPL was amalgamated with ITC to form the Paperboards & Specialty Papers Division of ITC. This was done to "harness strategic and operational synergies." In 2002, the company launched another clothing brand, John Players, which targeted the urban youth.

In 2003, ITC started marketing incense sticks manufactured by small scale and cottage units. In 2004, ITC was one of eight Indian companies to make it to the "Forbes 'A' List"8 which featured 400 of "the world's best big companies". In March 2005, the board of directors of ITC approved the company's five-year business plan (2005-06 to 2009-10) which involved an investment of Rs. 140 billion. The plan included setting up of new plants and upgrading existing ones in its tobacco, foods, apparel, paperboards, packaging, and hotels businesses.

As of early 2006, ITC was one of India's most valued and respected private sector companies with a market capitalization of over US$ 7 billion (Refer Exhibit I for ITC's financials and Exhibit II for more details on ITC's businesses)

Abstract:

ITC Foods, a division of ITC Ltd., a major Indian conglomerate, started operations in 2001. The case traces ITC Foods' entry into several categories like ready-to-eat, confectionery, staples, and biscuits in the branded and packaged food business. It examines the synergies that ITC Foods derived from the other businesses of the group.

The case also describes some of the marketing and promotional campaigns employed by the company, and discusses the challenges that the division faces and its future prospects.

Issues:

» To gain insights into the Indian branded and packaged foods industry.

» To understand the possible sources of synergy between a company's various businesses.

» To understand the challenges of developing a nascent market, and the possible marketing and promotional strategies, challenges, and outcomes.

Excerpts:

ITC Foods: Tasting Success?Entering the foods business was a strategic decision for ITC. While ITC's core business, tobacco, was under pressure owing to several factors like government bans on advertising cigarettes and on smoking in public places (from February 2001), hikes in the excise duty for cigarettes, and anti-tobacco campaigns, the liberalization of the Indian economy had thrown open several opportunities which the company was eager to exploit. Being a cash-rich company, ITC planned to deploy its surplus in the packaged food business where it saw huge business potential...

Ready-To-Eat:In 2001, ITC launched the KoI brand of ready-to-eat gourmet dishes under sub-brands - Bukhara, Dum Pukht, and Dakshin - popular cuisines from specialty restaurants of the same names at ITC Welcomgroup hotels.

With prices ranging from Rs.150 to Rs.200 for a 450g pack, they were positioned as premium products for the food connoisseur, with target groups including tourists, NRIs, etc. Ravi Naware (Naware), CEO, ITC Foods, said, "It's actually ready-to-eat gourmet cuisine from ITC's Bukhara, Dakshin and Dum Pukht restaurants...

Confectionery

ITC entered the confectionery market by acquiring Mint-O, a compressed mint tablets brand, from the Delhi-based Candico India Limited in 2002 and re-launching the brand with new packaging and improved quality. Mint-Os were available in six and twenty mini roll packs and were priced at Rs. 2 and Rs. 5 respectively. They came in mint and orange flavors.

At the end of 2003, ITC launched Candyman in the boiled sugar candy segment in banana, mango, and orange flavors. They were priced at 50 paise per unit. Initially, they were launched in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu...

Staples

ITC entered the staples market in 2002 with wheat flour under the Aashirvaad brand. In the same year, the Government of India's (GoI) proposal to remove restrictions on the movement of agri-commodities across states gave a boost to the trade in wheat flour. In 2003, ITC extended the Aashirvaad brand to edible salt...

Biscuits

ITC entered the biscuits market with Sunfeast in 2003, with three varieties of biscuits - glucose, marie, and cream. While Sunfeast Glucose targeted children in the age group 4-14 years and their mothers, Sunfeast Orange Marie and Marie Light were targeted at housewives/families. Sunfeast Cream (orange, butterscotch, and bourbon) was also targeted at children. The Orange Marie and butterscotch cream variants were introduced after a year long product R&D effort and extensive sampling covering 14,000 consumers. Gradually, the product line was expanded (Refer Table II for the product list in 2006)...

Challenges

Traditionally, the foods business has been a low-margin business in India, while building brands required huge amount of money. As a result it often took several years to earn returns on investments made in the foods business. However, ITC expected to break even in 2007.

The unorganized sector was a formidable force in the foods business. Unorganized players incurred very low marketing and selling costs owing to their limited area coverage. Also, more often than not, they used low quality ingredients and didn't always follow regulations, which helped them to keep their operational costs low...

The Road Ahead

The foods industry was considered the next "sunrise industry" in India. In terms of total output addition (value), foods industry surpassed IT and pharmaceuticals in the period 1993-2000 . The government's high priority on commercialization and value addition to agricultural produce led to liberal reforms and tax benefits in the late 1990s which had a positive impact on the growth of the industry. At the end of 2005, the overall growth rate of the foods industry was estimated to be between 10 and 15%...

ITC's Prospects

ITC was planning to expand its reach over the rural market with the planned opening of over 30 Chaupal Sagars, its rural hypermarket. Fifteen Chaupal Sagars were to be set up by the end of 2006. This was expected to generate revenues of around Rs. 200-300 million annually. Within a span of 10 years, ITC planned to set up 700 Chaupal Sagars. It also intended to extend its e-choupal network to 5,200 installations which would eventually serve 31,000 villages and 3 million farmers. These initiatives were expected to strengthen ITC's distribution and procurement networks and cost-competitiveness...

Coca-Cola’s “Open Happiness” Campaign: A Model for Global Marketing?

On April 21, 2011, US-based beverage giant The Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola) launched its global marketing campaign “Open Happiness” in Tanzania to create awareness and improve the brand’s popularity amongst consumers there. The company kick-started the campaign by organizing a concert in Dar es Salaam2 followed by similar events in other major towns. According to Christina Maina, Senior Brand Manager, Coca-Cola Tanzania, “This campaign brings open happiness to life through radio and television adverts and creates even more inspiration and excitement on the ground through experiential activities which include the dancing mob, regional concerts, sampling Coca-Cola to consumers, and countrywide caravan."3 Earlier, Coca-Cola rolled out the “Open Happiness” campaign in its home country, the US, and other international markets such as Britain, India, China, and the Middle East.

Launched in 2009, the “Open Happiness” campaign was a new brand positioning for its iconic drink Coke. The idea behind the campaign was to invite people around the world to bring positivity, optimism, and fun into their lives by opening a bottle of Coke and sharing a little happiness. Developed by the global advertising agency McCann and Erickson , the campaign was first aired in the US during the American Idol show on January 21, 2009. The campaign, which was rolled out throughout the first half of 2009 in other markets around the world, included outdoor and print advertising, promotions, digital and music components, and new point of sale.

According to some experts, Coca Cola successfully implemented the “Open Happiness” campaign through several unique and engaging platforms. The campaign was built on the brand’s reputation for innovation, integrity, and satisfaction. Analysts were of the view that the success of Coca-Cola’s “Open Happiness” campaign would strengthen the company’s position in the global

beverages market, increase the sales of sparkling beverages, and improve the overall brand health. The company planned to deliver US$500 million in savings by the end of 2011 by increasing the sales of its carbonated beverages. According to Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca-Cola Company, “The campaign is successfully connecting the brand with key target audiences, teens and moms, driving recruitment and retention,”

Excerpts

Background Note

The credit for inventing the Coca-Cola drink goes to John Smith Pemberton (Pemberton), an Atlanta-based pharmacist. He mixed coca leaves and Kola nuts to prepare a new kind of drink.

The ‘Coke Side of Life’ Concept

According to Beverage Digest, the industry-wide sales volume of Coca-Cola Company’s carbonated soft drinks, particularly Coke Classic, slipped by 2% in 2005 in the US for the first time since 1985...

The “Open Happiness” Concept

In 2006, Coke launched the Happiness Factory advertisements as a part of the award winning “Coke Side of Life” campaign, which showed the fantasy world inside a Coke vending machine. The Happiness Factory commercials were designed to promote “optimism” and “positivity”, which...

Global Platform

The “Open Happiness” campaign, considered as the new global platform for all the integrated marketing for brand Coca-Cola, was rolled out across the US and Western Europe, the Middle East, as well as in India in the first half of 2009. In order to drive home the message of the...

The Outcome

The “Open Happiness” campaign evoked a mixed response. While some consumers opined that it was the perfect strategy for connecting with consumers and that the campaign had achieved its...

The Road Ahead

In the year 2011, which marked the 125th anniversary of Coca-Cola, the company planned to launch more ads under the “Open Happiness” campaign. The new ads would continue to seek the legacy of other...