Measuring Brand Performance!

While measuring how a brand or advertising is performing in the marketplace, we use a number of different terms or concept. Though they all look sound so very much alike, each one this is different and measures something different. At times, the way it is measured is also very different. These brand matrices are then compared through longitudinal  market research study to understand how the brand and advertising is performing. Its not this simple, or limited to these measures only, but definitely this can be considered as a "wide angle" bird's eye view. There are some other terms (types of brands) stated here, which may not be of direct relevance in measuring brand performance.

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I am sure you you can do a little search and understand what each of the term means and how it is different yet related to each other. In future course of time, we may explain this here as well.

Marketing Communication Basics: Promotion Mix Elements, Media Type and Medium

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Different Revenue Models for Content (Information/Platform) Providers.

Every business or even not-for-profit organizations have costs associated with activities they do. Businesses having primary focus on providing information, entertainment, or other services, such as, social networking (E.g. Facebook), blogging (Blogger), micro-blogging  (Twitter) also have huge costs. There are generally three ways in which such firms usually cover-up their costs and earn profits. The money can be raised either through advertising (selling ads), or through subscription based fee (Watssapp) or through donations (Wikipedia). Often, many businesses use more than one way to raise their top-line.   Selling ads is however the most widely used method, probably as its most acceptable to users.  How many of us would really be willing to pay even half a dollar (Rs. 30) to watch the latest song of YoYo on Youtube, not many. However, we would not mind if we are shown a 29 second ad, without an option to skip, before the song starts.

Therefore, advertising becomes the backbone of such businesses. These businesses do whatever it takes to get more and more advertisers and more advertising money from every advertiser. This often requires them to target the customer more precisely, and thus they try to enter more and more into our life. This is a very critical topic, so we will talk about it sometime later. Facebook and Google are the biggest companies in this sphere.   

Different Revenue Models for Content/Platform Providers 

WhatsApp, is one such successful* business whose founders, Brian Acton and Jan Koum have however looked down at advertising based revenue model and criticized it. Now that WhatsApp is a facebook property, we may see changes in its revenue model in future.

However, I’d like you read this wonderful note, Brian and Jan motivate you to read, while they ask you to pay $1 for WhatsApp yearly subscription.   

Why we don't sell ads

“Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.”                                                                                        – Tyler Durden, Fight Club

Brian and I spent a combined 20 years at Yahoo!, working hard to keep the site working. And yes, working hard to sell ads, because that's what Yahoo! did. It gathered data and it served pages and it sold ads.

We watched Yahoo! get eclipsed in size and reach by Google... a more efficient and more profitable ad seller. They knew what you were searching for, so they could gather your data more efficiently and sell better ads.

These days companies know literally everything about you, your friends, your interests, and they use it all to sell ads.

When we sat down to start our own thing together three years ago we wanted to make something that wasn't just another ad clearinghouse. We wanted to spend our time building a service people wanted to use because it worked and saved them money and made their lives better in a small way. We knew that we could charge people directly if we could do all those things. We knew we could do what most people aim to do every day: avoid ads.

No one wakes up excited to see more advertising, no one goes to sleep thinking about the ads they'll see tomorrow. We know people go to sleep excited about who they chatted with that day (and disappointed about who they didn't). We want WhatsApp to be the product that keeps you awake... and that you reach for in the morning. No one jumps up from a nap and runs to see an advertisement.

Advertising isn't just the disruption of aesthetics, the insults to your intelligence and the interruption of your train of thought. At every company that sells ads, a significant portion of their engineering team spends their day tuning data mining, writing better code to collect all your personal data, upgrading the servers that hold all the data and making sure it's all being logged and collated and sliced and packaged and shipped out... And at the end of the day the result of it all is a slightly different advertising banner in your browser or on your mobile screen. Remember, when advertising is involved you the user are the product.

At WhatsApp, our engineers spend all their time fixing bugs, adding new features and ironing out all the little intricacies in our task of bringing rich, affordable, reliable messaging to every phone in the world. That's our product and that's our passion. Your data isn't even in the picture. We are simply not interested in any of it.

When people ask us why we charge for WhatsApp, we say "Have you considered the alternative?" 

The above article has been sourced from: http://blog.whatsapp.com/245/Why-we-dont-sell-ads

*I consider WhatsApp successful because its founders were able to sell this business at a whopping US$19 billion to Facebook.

Brand Identity Vs. Brand Image

The Great Indian Car Advertisements

Gone are those days when car was considered to be a luxury, with the changing time and technology, needs and wants of the customers have also changed. Car is no longer considered to be a symbol of success, power, luxury and status, these days it is more of a utility and a necessity. A family is considered to be incomplete if they don’t own a car, and it is hard to find a family these days who does not have a car to themselves. Now, many of you must be thinking that all this does not make any sense, right? That most of the Indian households can not even dream of owning a car, but we are concerned with only our target audience i.e. upper middle class and rich segment of the society which are often the target audience for the car companies.

Over the recent years, the car companies have become actively involved in the advertising and promotion of their cars. When a car is being advertised, there are a few features or specifications that can be shown, like: mileage, interiors, price, exclusivity, design or features.

A same car model can not appeal to multiple markets, people have their choice and taste according to their geographic location, culture and tradition. So, advertising an Audi Q7 would be very different from advertising a Tata Safari. Car advertising takes a lot into account.

Here are some of the car advertisements in print form and TVC, we have tried to analyse and describe the ads in the best manner possible.

Premier Padmini:

Now this is an old ad of the Premier Padmini Deluxe. As you can see that this ad is descriptive in nature, telling about the various features which have been added in the car. In this ad, the legendary car is compared with a beautiful princess named Padmini. The car’s features are called beautiful so that it can be related to the beautiful princess. The ad has a rational appeal and at the same time an emotional appeal to it.

Hindustan Ambassador

This too is an old ad of Hindustan Motor's all time famous car "Ambassador". Back in the days when a car was associated with power, money and status, ambassador was considered to be the favorite car of people belonging to rich families or politics. This ad is a promotional ad, which says on buying an ambassador, you get warranty for a period of one year on servicing. This ad can also be considered as a competitive ad as it claims to be unmatched on aspects like space, comfort, safety and sturdiness.

Maruti Omni

This Maruti Omni black and white print ad is highly descriptive in nature as it describes the features of the car in full detail, the print ad says that this car is most spacious car on the road, it is designed for driving comfort, high performing engine etc which makes this print ad vey factual. This ad surely has a totally rational appeal to it.

Hyundai Santro

This is a print ad of Hyundai Santro, the company released this ad after crossing the mark of 1 million sales for Santro. This ad has a News Appeal to it, as through this ad, the company is telling the customers about their achievement (1million sales).  This ad also has an emotional appeal to it, it says “first car, first choice” Santro was the first car for many Indian families and this car was a huge success, the company cashed on its success by appointing Shahrukh Khan as their brand ambassador.

Tata Indica

This print ad of Tata Indica is highly descriptive in nature and has a transformational appeal. This ad describes the new Tata Indica and how it is different from the previous model. The company has transformed the style, technology, comfort and experience which is described in this print ad in detail. This is a very nice example of a rational ad.

Chevrolet Spark 

This is a teaser ad of the new upcoming Chevrolet Spark, this was one of the first ads from the new campaign, the main motive of this ad was to show the newly transformed Chevrolet Spark. This ad has a “look and feel appeal” to it. This is a nice, sophisticated ad which uses peripheral cue to reach the customer.

Nissan Micra

The New Nissan Micra has an informational/rational appeal in its print ad, which talks about the new added features to the car, thus is a descriptive ad which gives information about the facts and figures associated with the car. This also has a celebrity appeal, the car targets at the youth and young segment of the society and Ranbir Kapoor is considered to be the icon of Youngistan these days, so they have made good use of celebrity advertising by choosing Ranbir Kapoor as the brand ambassador.

Renault Pulse

This print ad of Renault Pulse is a very nice example of promotional advertisements, the print ad has an appeal of descriptiveness which makes it highly informational and rational in nature. As you can see the ad talks about the various features of the car like, price, engine, smart access kit, ABS with EBD, quality control system, engine start stop with illuminated push button etc. At the same time, the print ad has a promotional offer attached to it, which is the “free insurance”.

FIAT Punto

Fiat Punto has used a beautiful pictorial ad to make the customers aware about one of its distinctive features i.e. more room (spacious). This ad is informational in nature but rather than using words to describe this new feature, they have used a picture which shows that there is a lot of room and space in this hatchback car. They could have used simple words to describe this, but the way they have done this is surely impactful and impressive, this has an emotional appeal to it and the company has chosen to use the peripheral cue to reach the customer’s heart rather than mind, if Fiat would have used just words, it would have registered in the customer’s mind, but this image surely will touch the heart.

Ford Figo

This is what a teaser ad looks like, ford Figo released this ad in order to make the potential customers aware about the new changed and improved Ford Figo. This ad encourages the customer to book his car immediately. This ad has an emotional as well as a descriptive appeal to it, as it is unveiling a new and improvised ford figo and has described some of its features and specifications like, imposing stance, vibrant and spacious interiors, petrol and diesel engine etc.

Skoda Fabia

In spite of being a German brand, Skoda has successfully understood the taste and preference of the Indian consumers. This ad has a Indian touch and feel to it in which the car is depicted to be a king, and ‘dasis’ (female care takers) are showering flowers on it, and the same time, the symbol of royalty, ‘elephant’ is also welcoming and saluting the car. The graphics and colours used are magnificent and add a spectacular look to this ad. This is a very nice blend of emotional appeal and informative appeal, the company has emotionally informed the customers that Skoda Fabia is India’s 1^st Super Hatch car and it is meant for people who are really special. They have tried to touch the emotional points of the customers.

Honda Brio

This is a promotional ad by Honda to promote its new Brio on the aspects of price, this ad has an appeal of emotions as well as information. This is suitable for both rational and emotional customers, the ad says that the car loves you back and can win hearts, this is an attempt to reach the emotional touch points of the consumer. The ad also gives information about the promotional price offer and some of the car's specifications and features, which is touching the rational touch points of the consumers.

Maruti Swift

This again is a very nice example of a teaser ad by Maruti for its new improvised and transformed Swift, this ad has an element of suspense and keeps the customer curious about how the new swift is going to look like. This ad is also informational as it indirectly tells the customer that the new Swift is going to be longer in terms of length. This is overall a nice attempt to keep the customers curious.

Honda Amaze

This colorful ad of Honda Amaze is again a perfect example of what you call an informative ad, this ad talks about all the features and specifications that the car offers, this ad is very suitable for rational customers who want to know what they are buying and what are the advantages of their purchase. 

TATA Safari

Here in this print ad the company has used transformational appeal and also adventurous rough and tough appeal. It’s also trying to target the youth who are interested in adventure. The ad also says that it is the real SUV among the other cars.

Volkswagen Vento

Under this print ad the company has used informational appeal were all the features of the car is explained and showcased. The company by using rational appeal its attracting targeted customers by providing all the features of the car in the print ad. It’s a complete print ad with all the description. 

 Audi A4

Here the company uses a transformational appeal were it says the new Audi a4 it can also be a teaser ad for the new Audi a4. The company’s main target is upper middle class people. The ad is also showing a competitive appeal in it.

 Mini Cooper

 

Here in this ad we can only see the logo of the car that is mini cooper but still the ad says it all. It shows that a ride in the cooper is like a roller coaster ride. The company has used various appeals like descriptive competitive and reputational appeal.  It also talks about adventurous appeal  and targets on higher middle class youth who like adventure.

 

Toyota Prado

This ad is trying to portray that the car can be used for multi utility purposes. The car can be drove any were around both on good and bad roads. Being a rough and tough car it can also be used for jungle safari. The company has used various appeals like adventurous appeal and competitive appeal. 

Mitsubishi Lancer

Under this ad the company is putting forward the new lancer. From the ad we can see that it’s the perfect Indian car which can be used at all kinds of roads and at deserts. Not only SUVs even sedans can move on rough roads it’s a transformational appeal ad.

 Volvo

Here in this ad the company is using informational appeal as the print ad has all the details of the car. It has also used competitive appeal as it says that it beats other luxury cars in the market.

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So, this was all about the print ads, now its time for you all to watch some classic Indian commercials which left a huge impact on the audience. 

Here, we have analyzed a few TVCs, it will help you to understand why these commercials were made the way they are.


Chevrolet Optra

  In this advertisement the company is targeting on an occasion that is karva chauth and using an emotional appeal were the wife is waiting for her husband and it shows when the husband arrives he comes with a new car showing a new feature sunroof which can be also used in the moon light as he opens the sunroof and asks the wife to see the moon. So in short the ad is trying to touch upon the emotions of consumers and also displays the new feature.  

Chevolet 

Under this advertisement the company is trying to portray that it has been a part of the consumer’s life from past five years and the company is celebrating its five years in the Indian market.  It is also showing that it has always been a part of consumer’s happiness from freedom, beginning, pride, family, love, color, delight, etc. the ad has used an emotional appeal.

Tata Nano

This advertisement is a launch ad was it is touching upon the emotional and informational appeal of the car. Here in the ad a girl of the family is eagerly waiting for the car to arrive home and when the car does she is scared of other people around.  The ad is trying to show that now everyone can drive home a car.

Volkswagen Polo

Here the company is trying to show the new feature of the car using a small kid and his mom and dad on Bluetooth.  The advertisement is using both emotional and informational appeal.

Skoda Rapid

Here in this advertisement the company is putting forward all its features by using big fat Indian wedding were all the preparation of the wedding is done with the help of the car. Thus the ad is using informational appeal and little of emotional appeal.

CONCLUSION

Everyday we see a lot of new advertisements coming up in the market with the aim to attract and influence customers. These advertisements have conquered each and every aspects of our routine life, but the question is, how many of these ads do we actually remember or retain even after a month we first saw/watch them? Not many, right? We remember only a few ads, which are different from others and which force us to register it in our minds and hearts. These were some of those ads which were unique and had something spectacular about them. It was an attempt to make all of you understand that how these ads were executed and what all different appeals and advertising strategies were used. 

Thank you for reading this far, Have a nice time !