For most, marketing is a management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably. 

In the pre-modern economies, due to the predominance of small enterprise and monopolies, there was no recognition of marketing as a separate field. However today with the changing needs, wants, preferences, attitudes and behaviour of consumers, as well as globalization and an increase in purchasing power, we see a paradigm shift in marketing techniques and strategies used, including the need to support the local.

 It is evident that companies cannot exist in isolation.  Both society and businesses need each other for support and growth and it is this understanding that has brought about a drastic change in how companies view and treat the communities they live in. What started off as plain philanthropy and sponsorships today as taken many forms, including corporate social responsibility, societal marketing, cause marketing and cause related marketing.

 Today businesses strive to achieve what they call the triple bottom line, which includes financial accountability, social responsibility and environmental responsibility. More over being socially responsible makes perfect business sense for them, due to the heightened consumer and societal expectations, the reach of the media and the demand for greater transparency.

 Also today the market place has got more cluttered, it has reached a point where it is difficult for most to “out innovate” or “out advertise” competition, differentiation based on product quality and benefits is no longer effective, also consumers are more aware and concerned not only about themselves but also the society they live in. It is a result of these factors that has lead to the emergence of social responsibilty which helps companies strike a chord with the consumers aligning business with social commitments.

 However since the final bench mark for a business is revenue and profits, the emergence of cause related marketing programs, have heralded a dramatic shift in non profit and for profit relationships, helping establish a concept that community development and support can be positioned at the intersection of business objectives and societal needs. Wherein this support gives companies identifiable personalities, demonstrating what they stand for and helping them connect with customers, suppliers, investors, employees and the community, at the same time making sure, some of the revenue is donated towards the benefit of society at large. 

Cause Related Marketing (CRM) refers to a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a “for profit” business and a “non-profit” organization for mutual benefit

Brand spirit: Hamish Prigle, Marjorie Thompson                                                                 

 “The firm’s contribution to a designated cause being linked to customers’ engaging in revenue-producing transactions with the firm-essentially an exchange of goods and services for money”

(Varadarajan and Menon, 1988, p.60)

Simply put cause related marketing can be understood as a strategic positioning and marketing tool which links a company or a brand to a relevant social cause or issue for mutual benefit. It is the initiation and funding of deserving causes.

Companies today use cause related marketing as a strategic marketing activity, a way for  them to do well by doing good, distinct from sales promotion, corporate philanthropy, corporate sponsorship and public relations, though it is often an amalgam of such activities.

It acts as a way for companies to build brand loyalty among today’s increasingly hard to please consumers by way of a proven commitment towards a worthy cause. Also other things being equal many consumers prefer to do business with a company that stands for something beyond profits.

Cause Related Marketing and other Corporate Social Initiatives

The beginning

It was Jerry Welsh, the former American Express marketing guru that first coined the term “Cause Related Marketing” in 1983. It was a three-month marketing program around the Statue of Liberty Restoration Project, with the objective to increase card usage and new card applications, at the same time raising money, awareness and support for the non profit Restoration fund.

American Express donated one cent for every card transaction and one dollar for every new card application and backed the program with a $4 million advertising campaign aimed at reaching existing customers and drawing new ones.

 The results were impressive. In just three months, the Restoration fund raised over $1.7 million with American Express Card usage increasing 27% and new card applications increasing by 45% compared to the previous year. A fitting outcome to a well planned strategic effort.

 “The wave of the future, isn’t cheque book philanthropy, it’s a marriage of corporate marketing and social responsibility”.¹

Mr. Welsh

Some truly remarkably examples include the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer awareness, the change campaign by British airways where fliers were encouraged to donate left over change towards a social cause, the P&G Shiksha campaign as well as certain companies that have integrated cause related marketing in their business models, like body shop (no animal testing), or Arvind eye care- providing free medical assistance to the poor.

Some really great ambient and out door ads

Today we live in the world of discounts and offers, we say that the Indian consumer is price sensitive and value conscious but there are so many instances, where due to the sea of clutter within the retail outlet, a lot of products fail to be noticed. More over in today’s everyday low pricing retail scenario with growing emphasis on private labels, where every second product has a discount, there is a need for companies to set their offerings apart.

The idea is to get noticed.

In the past 5 years, the marketing environment has changed dramatically. One of the most important changes is that over 70% of purchase decisions are now made at the point of sale. The challenge is how to influence the decision at that point. It is at these points of purchase that a customer faces the product and a sale is initiated and closed.

With India rising, the outlook of Indians is changing too. They are willing to experiment and try out new products. Capturing this change presents a new opportunity for FMCG players. Having witnessed robust growth over the last couple of years, up gradation from unbranded to branded goods (packaged grocery, household cleaning products), demand of nascent categories (breakfast cereals, hair colors) and health and hygiene products are considered to be the growth drivers.

However there are certain issues most companies need to address, with the rising cost of differentiation and product innovation to keep the consumer happy and with the growth in organized retail it is become that much tougher for FMCG companies to compete with similar products, also as reports suggest, 25-40 per cent of consumers switch brands at the point of sale driven by display or promotion, this new trend has given the FMCG players many sleepless nights trying to find newer ways to hook on to that consumer when he passes by the product.

With the growing strength of the retail sector within India, (estimates suggest there are as many as 5.5 retail outlets per 1000 people), as well as the growing consumer strength it’s only a matter of time where each and every company focuses on spending more and more of its advertising budget within a store, where the final decision of purchase is taken. Today it’s not uncommon for a company to spend anywhere between 20- 50% of its budget in retail activation or point of sale advertising.

Also it is important to note that since a lot of these in-store promotions aid in impulse purchase decisions, it is proven that such activities or in store campaigns not only increase the sales of the product but the category as a whole too, thus essentially adding value to both the company, the retail chain as well as the final consumer, making him aware of the discounts and offerings within each store.

Also with growing media costs, intense competition coupled with straining margins for retailers who are slowly pushing their private labels so as to get potentially higher returns, it is very important for companies to break through the clutter and be proactive in influencing the consumer at the point of purchase. Thus the in store advertising medium is all set to help new brands and product launches who may not have the muscle to go through mass campaigns.

Thus what we see today is a series of customized media vehicles for below the line retail activation (sales promotion) activities and campaigns, to successfully attract and retain the consumer by influencing his purchase decision within the store and adding to the retailer revenue by renting out the retail space for such campaigns.

Gone are the days of using old card board and corrugated box displays and handling out fliers, today we have kiosks that push the sale and plastic stands that help stock the product as well as act as point of sale advertising space. Today we go a step further and speak of a series of products that help us reach the final consumer

The Product offered today include

1.       Senso sheets

 These are strategically placed at the entrances to the stores. This positioning is a powerful promotional platform as all consumers obviously move past this area on entering and leaving the store.

2.       Product displays

 The design of this media is to accentuate the position of the product by placing a display perpendicular to the product facing the consumer.

3.       Info dispensers

The info dispenser attracts shoppers with bold colors and graphics. It adds value to brand purchases by rewarding them with product information, recipes, rebates, premium offers, sweepstake forms and other non-coupon benefits!

4.        Coupon dispensers

 A coupon dispenser should SELL, not just dispense, so we crown ours with a Shelf Ad to showcase brands.

5.       Freezer catchers

The design of this media is to accentuate the position of the product by placing a display perpendicular to the product within the freezer, mainly used to promote frozen foods and beverages.

6.       Area highlighter

The area highlighter aims to frame large product sections, groups of products or an entire brand family so as to highlight a new product launch or special zone. The unit is a combination of two Category Banners, one base and one Header Board.

So the world is changing bit by bit and rules are being rewritten, same is the case with advertising. For what it’s worth advertisers have completely saturated all available spaces and mediums including billboards, displays, standees, building facades etc. to such a great extent that today there are only a few handful messages that a consumer notices cutting thru all the clutter.

But what about the free space up above, to that most would say blips and balloons, well we do use them as advertising mediums but tell me how many of us remember a real cool blip or balloon ha, maybe something in an eye catching colour or maybe even a new shape, well to be honest i haven’t, so being a normal individual on the street, can safely say they haven’t made such a serious impact.

That’s where flogos help,

Now so what are these flogos and how can i use them efficiently in marketing a product……

Well they are made of nothing but a soapy formulation or air and helium and can be made in various sizes and shapes, interesting ha well not only that they can be made to fly at particular heights and have a life ranging from a few min’s to an odd hour, none the less think about it, you look in the sky while waiting for your turn to enter the stadium or movie theatre or just while you are strolling around the street and you see a cloud in the shape of logo, it’s bound to catch your attention isn’t it.

That’s where this medium can be used for advertising, maybe a bat hovering above the next cricket tri series or the next IPL match or maybe a large Ganesha during the upcoming Ganesh Chaturthi festival or say a big M for McDonalds, well the possibilities are endless.

That gets me thinking about another aspect- Ambush marketing

So for all those who don’t quite understand what i  am talking about. Well ambush marketing is simply someone taking credit for an event which they haven’t sponsored or have nothing to do with.

Like the Olympic at Atlanta in 1996, where most people thought that Nike was the official sponsor of the games due to the fact that Nike was plastered on all the billboards around the stadium and had erected towers just outside the stadium to mislead people into believing that there were indeed associated with the games, whereas truth be told the official sponsors of that event were Addidas.

So what do the associations do to prevent such fraud, well they impose rules, such as  blocking all billboard sites near a stadium so that no other company other than the official sponsors get any presence and well not allowing people wearing particular logos on them or consuming particular soft drinks within the stadium premises and the likes. Well all that is understandable but how does an association stop a company from releasing their very own flogos hundreds of feet above.

However coming back to flogos well i think of them as very interesting because they could be used as efficient marketing tools specially targeting children, remember our days as kids where we looked up at the sky searching for a familiar shape within the array of clouds only this time they will see their favourite brand of chocolate or even a superhero promoting the new batman movie hovering above them.

Well truth be told flogos do come across as a very efficient outdoor medium to promote an event or even a festival, due to their short life they may have their limitations none the less in terms of visibility they would def do a swell job.

Well yes to end on a high note, for all the environment friendly people out there flogos are organic and thus non-polluting.

We may not pull off the most mind blowing advertising however from what i see, its not due to the fact that we lack creativity but due to the cultural differences and the technology they have access to, however today we are changing on every count including the kind of content Indian agencies are coming up with.

Today we are making the world sit up and take notice, creating new trends within, offering new mediums and opening up new avenues for reaching the consumers mind. New age advertising in India is no longer boring like it used to be a decade back.

A case in point, billboard advertising in India. Anyone noticed how billboards put up of late in metros like Mumbai are so much more creative. Now all of a sudden companies are paying more attention to the product and selling than showcasing the model, focussing on fads, coming closer to interact with the consumer on a more personal note.

Let’s look at some recent billboards, the all time favourite Amul ad, its been around forever , picking on general issues and portraying their product on those lines, the recent one was IPL cricket wherein the Amul ad said India’s premier lick. Another one would be the recent Shopper’s Stop Billboard at Bandra, Mumbai, stating that they are changing their logo. What essentially came across was the concept. it shows a couple of workmen erasing the old logo and rite next to it is the new logo of Shoppers Stop. Most of all, the hoarding looks real, multi dimensional, Classy, simple and yet so effective.

Somehow most billboards we see are built around the whole television media scene however some still manage to hold their ground and are given as much importance as the more traditional media.

Another change i see is the new form of advertising in local coffee joints and shop, which have replaced the old placards with table stickers, very hard to ignore for youngsters who spend a good hour on an average there and then there are these illusion based graphics which appear on roads and on walls which are so designed to look three dimensional. Thus if we see carefully all those mannequins that appeared outside clothes shops thanks to companies like levis have been replaced by more artistic half bodies jutting off walls or attached to glass doors and now with graphical pictures which give a similar impression. Not only these most of the retail outlets are thronged with 3 dimensional floor stickers that further act as point of purchase decision influencer.

Another smart move to innovatively occupy space is what we see in theatres today, the mirror with a projection of an ad, which goes transparent as soon as we approach it. Smart and effective usage of property ain’t it.

Well, all in all, we have reinvented media for all those consumers who now have DTH and may soon be able to watch disturbance free programs or ad free television. It is this outdoor media that will then take over and be the mode of communication to reach out to the masses.

Outdoor Advertising is a form of advertising that is targeted at people who are, “on the move” and out of their homes. Formerly one of the most popular forms of outdoor advertising consisted of Hoardings, majorly with other spaces not getting an equal amount of weightage.

Today we however don’t restrict ourselves to billboards and hoardings we now have fleet ads (ads on vehicles), or the new form of advertising in local coffee joints and shop, which have replaced the old placards with table stickers, very hard to ignore for youngsters who spend a good hour on an average there and then there are these illusion based graphics which appear on roads as floor graphics and on walls which are so designed to look three dimensional.

Smart and efficient way to occupy space i say.

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Consumers

Well yes there has been a tremendous shift in consumers and their tastes as well as preferences and in all overall purchasing power, based in India i see that happening more closely with all the development happening around and the perception of people changing.

Today a city like Mumbai, which has consumers you more closely associate with, is cluttered with billboards, television advertising to such an extent that more time is spent on watching ads then actual programs. In India we still dont have complete freedom to filter unwanted ads however we are moving closer to that day thus what marketers are doing is to get more creative,

There has thus been a drastic change in the kind of billboards i see today, even the ads are more focussed towards a particular trend or fad thus making consumers take note or associate with it more easily, then we have the start of mobile message advertising, where a person can send a free message to anyone’s phone and attached to that message is a small text ad.

We are also moving towards more creative floor and table graphics which i find in cafes, where every time a person spends a good half an hour he will get a glimpse of the ad.

Then there is the usual viral advertising that again plays with the fact that its sometimes comes across as word of mouth or reference promotion than general advertising, all our gmails, yahoos, flickers and orkuts have used this.
and to mention a few good viral videos on youtube i would suggest the Cadburys gorilla campaign as a reference,

and talking about videos – plz dont miss the goa fest videos on youtube they are brilliant

then of course there are blogs however i don’t personally see their use as an advertising medium due to lack of credibility HOWEVER they are out there and deserve a mention.

None the less the best way to reach out easily is to piggy back on a trend or fad, or a promotion that serves a dual purpose, so that it leads to word of mouth. and as far as a consumer goes tickling the funny bone is always a good way of reaching out

World thru a prism

Left to its faith a system proceeds towards disorder, a simple yet classic rule in physics

You tend to wonder if society at large shares the same faith and by that I do not mean actions following war or environmental damage, it’s basically the moral fiber that binds a rational, forward and liberal society.

A friend once mentioned that media is a reflection of the society we live in and if that were true then are we so blinded by the basic disorder within the system that we are constantly being subjected to news flashes about some kissing controversy or the upcoming wedding dates of Mrs. Rai., Rather than the daily happenings’ around us. Is media just representing and satisfying the sensibilities of society or did they miss the bus this time around.

Are we real ready to teach sex education in schools or do we like always hide behind the banner of culture.

To be honest I disagree that media is a representation of society, a representation of a section of society yes but not the whole, but then it just doesn’t add up, why the same stupid senseless soaps, the same family disputes and generation leaps, where did we go wrong-by we I meant people who share the same line of thought.

They say a vacuum needs filling is that the reason or is it some thing deeper like ignorance, division in society, sex, class divisions, race differences etc..

The answer is rather simple, it’s us not voicing our opinion loud enough and thus are conveniently left unaccounted `for with respect to everything ranging from condemnation of violence to corruption to practices that we may consider archaic.

Has our apathy cost us the loss of what they call the forth pillar of democracy.

That’s brings me to a more interesting piece of news that I happened to chance upon concerning Mohammad Afsal the terrorist convicted in the parliament attack case, while reading up on the case I came across something that stuck me like a sore thumb.

To begin with ill be honest am not really bothered about him being convicted regardless of the fact that the officer who was handling that case was held for bribery charges and that he had no legal counsel, but what was really disturbing was the judgment by the supreme court which said that “despite not finding him directly involved in the crime and accepting that he was not involved with the carrying out of the attack at least in terms of any direct evidence, but keeping in mind the nature of the crime and so as to satisfy the collective conscience of society he should be hanged”

Now am I the only one who finds this weird, all along I thought they needed hard evidence to nail you……..

Collective conscience is a very open ended term to me

Well in that case and in keeping with the fear psychosis the respective governments churn up to keep their electoral ballots ticking it could be justified that the war in Iraq or the extermination of Jews by the Nazis were all to satisfy the collective conscience of a part of society one way or the other isnt it……………………………..

the answer is no,
we would still be divided on the basis on economic standards and what would truly happen now is that the world would be further divided based on the rich choosing designer babies who per say would be tailor made to succeed in life and the poor well lets leave them outta the discussion for now.

but then the question with respect to designer babies is that who decides what normal or standard is.is being white better than being brown or black, is being tall something that guarantees instant success.

honestly colour and certain characteristics are based and adapted on the immediate surroundings we live in, so how does one choose a perfect baby.some say choosing designer babies is bad and against humanity, but to be honest we all somehow follow it, we all choose the schools children go to, the food they eat, the things they learn so truly what is so inhuman or bad about parents choosing a better life for the child by being say cancer free.

the complicated decision here is based on the fact that what then is truly considered good, where does this perfect life choice stops.is cancer bad, am sure we all agree it is and yes, its justified that a child if could, should be born without it, then what about diabetes and obesity – is diabetes bad, what about people who with diabetes still lead a healthy life,choosing against it would just be racist, as people do live a very satisfying life with diabetes.

however it does compromise an individual in someways, and if we target anything that makes a person less compatible so as to simplify our life, then what is the perfect height and weight is the question, that favours human survival.who says having a higher iq makes you more successful.

lets take this discussion a little deeperdisease testingthe common opinion that stems against it is based on the fact that it could lead to a bias during certain stages in life such as jobs, choosing a bride or groom based on the fact that we know the genetic basis of a person and chances of him having a disease or falling ill.

thus potential employers and suitors would choose people who have a more suited genetic makeup. so clearly that should not be mandatory as it would create a Major rift in society which would be much more powerful as compared to the caste and color based differences that exist today.

however if we apply the same scenario in terms of certain other jobs id have my doubts if it is indeed such a bad idea, let me explain, for example, a pilot flying a plane if more prone to a certain condition that could endanger the lives of the other passengers, would you not say that such testing would indeed be justified, now in the same way a person driving a car, working with explosives, leading expeditions all in someway would be a potential harm to others as they are responsible for the lives of people around them. thus we could justify the need for genetic testing to ascertain if a person has a chance of failing during such an event.

well as i said life does throw up some complicated questions at us, the solution is a personal choice i believe, which is what being an individual is all about.

With advances in science and technology, today we find ourselves at new crossroads where at times we are faced with crucial decisions, that may some day give a us a new lease of life, stem cell banking is just another one of those crucial decisions that every person should be aware of.

So what exactly are these STEM CELLS
Stem cells are the master cells responsible for producing all the mature cells in our blood and immune system. Right from the white cells that fight infection, the red cells that carry oxygen, to the platelets that promote clotting.

‘Cord blood banking’ as the name suggests is the harvesting of these stem cells from the residual blood obtained from the umbilical cord following child birth. Research proves that this cord blood is a rich source of stem cells and by far the safest and the best. Once the child is delivered the cord is clamped and then by inserting a needle in the umbilical vein the blood from the cord is collected and preserved, this absolutely safe non invasive procedure takes just five minutes and does not in any way harm either the mother or the child.

More over with advances in stem cell research, there are promising results in terms of therapy with regard to diseases like Parkinson’s, Diabetes, Heart Attacks, Spinal Cord Injuries, Muscular Dystrophy, other then the 70 plus diseases including the Acute and Chronic Cancers, Anemia’s, Thalassemia’s and Immune system disorders that are a proven and well established cure today.

Further more these stem cells could also be seen as a security cover for the entire family as these cells have a 25% chance of matching a sibling and a good chance of matching both the parents since these cells share the same genetic tree.

Another interesting fact is that stem cell research is in no way a new field with stem cell treatment dating back to 1988 where the first treatment with stem cells was carried out, however with the kind of effort and research put into the field today it is evident that the world at large is moving from the primitive drug based therapy to the more natural cell based therapy model as this is absolutely safe and has far less adverse effects.

So from cardiac myopathy and ischemic heart disease to the diseases affecting the nervous system like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s they all fall under the scope of treatment with the help of STEM CELLS.

The next question being why store these stem cells when we have bone marrow?

To answer this question lets look at a few advantages of using or storing stem cells form the umbilical cord Research has shown that survival rates double when a person’s own cord blood or a family member’s cord blood is used, as compared to using an unrelated donor sample from a public stem cell bank. Also since cord blood is a non invasive procedure as compared to bone marrow that has to be aspirated from the person’s body it is much easier to obtain.

These cells also have a greater chance of being a match as compared to cells form the bone marrow as these are naïve and immunologically immature. More over the rate of rejection in transplants with stem cells obtained from the bone marrow are much higher.

These are just a few of the reasons why cord blood stem cell banking has taken such a forefront the world over.