Finally, somebody in the marketing world overtly recognises the fact that tobacco marketeers are perhaps at the cutting edge of Brand Marketing. Necessity has been the mother of Invention/inventiveness in this category. http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=134848
While the article is not an holistic assessment of the industry's marketing practices and just focuses on the "existing customer" bit , those in the know are aware that the sophistication extends to understanding and using non-traditional touch-points to drive brand switching efficiently.
Time for some in the marketing industry to re-assess their view on tobacco marketeers, look beyond 30" TVC /conventional touch-points ( though in certain categories and countries, TV still is perhaps the most efficient and effective media), and connect with people who have been building and growing FMCG brands without mass-media for over a decade now.
If one disregards WHAT is being marketed and purely focus on HOW the marketing is being done, it will be easier to see the light.
Innovation is the buzz word of the decade, and it cuts across all product categories. Within packaged consumer goods the rate of NPD has never been higher, but the success rates of new products is still very low (less than 10% according to a WARC paper based on UK market). The main reason for this low success rate is the absence of a real consumer need. Most NPD is being driven by the need to a. Trade consumers up as margins get squeezed due to retailer power b. Switch consumers to your brand by offering "news", novelty.
Ask any FMCG CMO about where is he focusing and spending more : a. on developing better Brand ideas and insights or b. on developing and researching new product ideas and concepts. Chances are in the majority of the cases it is the latter.
Arguably both are needed for sustainable business growth. However given the recessionary environment and budget cuts, choices will need to be made. I thought it will be useful to highlight some good examples where growth has been delivered largely via a strong communication idea without significant "innovation" investment.
4 recent global campaigns jump to my mind,
1. Dove - Campaign for real beauty Enough has been written about this campaign. It speaks for itself. Olay's "Be comfortable in your own skin" is also playing in the similar territory but DOVE's creative expression and activation is perhaps superior with greater level of emotional engagement
2. Persil - Dirt is Good Brilliantly resolves the creative tension between "Playing is good for child's development" but "When they play they get dirty".
3. HP - Computer is Personal again HP became the no 1 PC seller a couple of years back. While everyone was talking about technology and features, HP tapped into the insight that technology needs to be made more accessible and less intimidating.
4. SONY BRAVIA- Color like no other Till 2005, SONY was nowhere in the plasma and LCD TV category with Panasonic and Sharp way ahead. With the launch of the BRAVIA range supported by the brilliant 'color like no other" campaign, SONY has grown market share faster than anybody else and is now a serious player. Most technical people will perhaps tell you that BRAVIA is not superior to other competitive TV offers, i.e product superiority hasn't driven growth. It's the singular focus on COLOR (a category generic) and owning the high ground on it via a superb creative campaign.
I am sure there are other examples. I would love to hear about them, especially from the China market as the pace of new product introduction is staggering here.
This also highlights the need for brand owners to again start "loving" their original partners in crime - the communication agencies- and not push them down the food chain. Advertising agencies still perhaps know more about the brand than media, research, innovation agencies who work mainly on a project basis. Leveraging this knowledge with the inherent "creativity" in the agency teams to develop big brand ideas to me is the most efficient way to deliver business growth. Agencies also need to get back to the core and not run after extending their offer to areas where they will always struggle vs the specialists i.e media agencies, research agencies and brand consultancies.
Asit Gupta has joined DDB China Group as Head of the
Planning department in Shanghai.
Asit will focus on further strengthening DDB China's planning capability with a
focus on connection planning. He is also charged with exploring a specific
planning consultancy offer around the needs of clients and prospects. Asit has
worked in various client side marketing roles across Asia and Europe
over the last 15 years. His most recent position was as Area Marketing Director
for British American Tobacco (BAT) Greater China. He started his career with
P&G.
Dick van Motman, President & CEO of DDB China Group:
"Asit's addition to our team and his client side background reflects our drive
to lead the way in offering holistic marketing solutions to our clients,
anchored around the core DDB principle of creativity which delivers business
results. His perspective will boost our already impressive planning team, and
will help us better leverage our strong understanding of the Chinese consumer
to provide our clients leading edge communication solutions as well as
potentially strategic marketing advice/solutions. Our planning department is
crucial to our future growth and ambition"
Asit Gupta, Head of Strategic Planning, DDB China Group:
"I'm excited to be part of DDB China Group and the opportunities it presents.
The agency has seen impressive growth in China and made a significant mark
in a relatively short time. DDB globally is where planning as a discipline
started. I find its heritage and reputation of big idea creativity,
intellectual rigor and strong focus on business results i.e effectiveness quite
appealing and unique. Given my passion for the strategic as well as creative
side of marketing, a move to strategic planning within DDB is quite a good fit.
"
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