Tuesday in India: No Headache, What You See Is What You Get

Keep it short and simple.

Tata Docomo's new campaign is based on KISS principle and it hits exactly where it's supposed to.

Clarity at its best.

 

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your favourite campaign this year? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

Friday Research: Dilemma of Sharing With Mom But Not With Facebook Buddies

When Will You Use This?  

Planning electronic and traditional word-of-mouth campaigns and promotions.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Word of mouth has always been a powerful marketing method and now, social media platforms enabled people to share their opinions and views in a flash. But are your customers really willing to make those awaited recommendations? Is there any difference between online and face to face word-of-mouth refferals?


Current research* found that consumers are generally less likely to offer electronic word-of-mouth on online social sites (sWOM) than traditional word-of-mouth (WOM). This study also revealed the fact that individual’s need for self-enhancement reduces the difference between consumers’ willingness to provide sWOM versus WOM.

sWOM refferals increase social risk?

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

This research shares a few insights to help you in planning your word-of-mouth promotions. As authors suggest, "first, heightening consumers’ need to self-enhance can encourage word of mouth referral. Some have suggested that pre-announcing the arrival of a new product achieves this; future products are inherently less certain but more interesting than existing products and allow consumers to self-enhance by talking about them. Second, marketers could take steps to ensure that consumers do not feel threatened by social judgments and sanctions as a result of sWOM. Perhaps providing opportunities for consumers to selectively share their opinions with members of their social network might help achieve this. Google appears to have recognized this with their “Google Circles” feature in their social media platform."

  

*Eisingericha A. B., Chunb H.H., Liuc Y., Jiad H., Bell S.J. Why recommend a brand face-to-face but not on Facebook? How word-of-mouth on online social sites differs from traditional word-of-mouth. Journal of Consumer Psychology: July, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with word-of-mouth? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Tuesday in India: Holy Mackerel, Are We All Living For Likes?

Self-love has never been more promoted than nowadays.

We click selfies with every blink, we hunt for 'Likes' with every post...Louis XIV, the Sun King, you would have loved this century!

Following the trends of current culture, Myntra, India's online fashion retailer, has launched a new ad which promotes the idea of "Get the looks, get the likes". Beautifully executed but I have troubles with liking the idea behind it, you?

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your favourite campaign this year? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

Friday Research: Early Adopters Might Lead Your Customers To Smoke And Mirrors

When Will You Use This?  

Planning and developing product and services launches, innovation projects.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Early adopters, who live, eat, and breathe everything fresh and new, can be invaluable for your brand. They can start a great sales rollercoaster with spreading the word and encouraging others to try the product.

However, early adopters with a high need for uniqueness may experience a communication dilemma: should I or should I not tell other about this cool new product? As once others adopt the same product, the level of differentness will radically decrease.

Current research* examines early adopters’ communication dilemma and how it leads to the “share and scare” strategy. The research reveals that sometimes early adopters use “share and scare” strategy and share information about their adoption with others, yet scare them out of adopting it, e.g. by focusing on features that diminish the innovation’s appeal for later adopters, such as its complexity, high price, or radicalness.

Limited Edition beats the Fear of Imitation?

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

This research shares a few tips to help you accomplish successful innovation launches. As authors suggest, "first, by launching a limited edition of an innovation, or premium versus common editions of the product, managers may diminish early adopters’ fear of imitation, because imitating them will be impossible. Second, managers can adjust the content of marketing campaigns to fit the needs of different adopters over time. For example, at launch, managers may appeal to early adopters with a high need for uniqueness by highlighting the product’s uniqueness and scarcity, and in subsequent stages, appeal to later adopters by emphasizing the product’s commonness and popularity. Third, managers can completely prevent the communication dilemma and the consequent “share and scare” strategy by appealing to early adopters with a low (rather than high) need for uniqueness. By focusing on benefits of the innovation separate from its uniqueness—such as functionality, hedonic value, or cognitive challenge—managers will appeal to early adopters who have a strong need to recommend the innovation but not to scare others."

*Moldovan, Sarit, Yael Steinhart, and Shlomit Ofen. "Share and Scare": Solving the Communication Dilemma of Early Adopters with a High Need for Uniqueness, Journal of Consumer Psychology: July, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with early adopters? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Tuesday in India: Now You Really Want To Ask Your Boss For Monday Off

"I haven’t had this bad of a Monday since last Monday."

Mondays are hard so who wouldn't like turning the most godawful day of the week into the most stimulating one?

The adventure lifestyle gear manufacturer High Sierra has launched the #TakebackMondays campaign to help mumbaikars cope with Monday blues.

Looks fun!



P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your favourite campaign this year? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

Friday Research: Could "Out-Of-Stock" Be Another Trick In Your Marketing Book?

When Will You Use This?  

Planning and developing marketing strategy for your products.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today? 

Smart companies might have noticed that sometimes consumers more desire those products that are "currently unavailable".

Imagine a man called Peter who goes into a store to buy an iPhone. He comes directly to a salesperson and asks for the specific model of iPhone. Unfortunately, a salesperson informs that the desired model is out of stock. Now, there are a few possible ways Peter might react to this information: he might desire that iPhone model even more (increased product desirability) or he might feel frustrated with the store (increased source negativity).

Current research* examines how consumers respond when formerly unavailable products become available after being out-of-stock. To qoute the authors, "we examine what happens when consumers’ freedom of choice is restricted and subsequently restored." Before we go deeper into the studies, it's important to note what authors describe as high and low reactance individuals, that is "individuals who are high in reactance (e.g., young adult males) respond very strongly restrictions of their freedom of choice, and experience strong product desirability in response to stockouts. Individuals who are low in reactance do not experience product desirability in response to stockouts. However, both high and low reactance individuals respond to stockouts with source negativity toward the store."

It is interesting to go through all the studies in this research, designed to investigate the restoration of freedom.

"Study 1 used a shopping scenario. Individuals imagined going to purchase their favorite snack food at a local grocery store. In the control scenario, they purchased the item and left the store. In the stockout scenario, the item was unavailable and they left the store. In the restoration scenario, the item was initially out-of-stock, but had been restocked when they walked back through that aisle on the way out of the store. After these scenarios, we measured individuals’ satisfaction with the store and the snack food item, and measured their individual levels of reactance. As anticipated, compared to the control scenario, in the stockout scenario, all individuals were dissatisfied with the store, but high reactance individuals also felt more positive toward the unavailable (desirable) snack food item."

"In studies 2 and 3, individuals went on multiple shopping trips using a computer-based shopping interface, and chose jellybean flavors from different stores. To make the study realistic, they received their chosen jellybeans. On the restoration shopping trip, individuals were told that the store was out of their favorite flavor, and they would not receive that flavor on the current trip. They were told they would have to make a second choice, but at the last minute, the shopkeeper discovered some additional stock of their preferred flavor. We compared individuals’ satisfaction after this restoration shopping trip to a control shopping trip where they received their favorite jelly beans immediately, and to a stockout shopping trip where they did not receive any jellybeans. We again measured individual levels of reactance. As before, high reactance individuals were more satisfied with the store after the restoration shopping trip than they were after the control shopping trip; they were also more likely to return to the store on a subsequent shopping trip for jellybeans. Low reactance individuals showed the opposite results."

"Study 4 examined how individuals high and low in reactance respond to restoration of freedom when they receive different reasons for the initial stockout. Individuals imagined shopping for jellybeans. In the restoration conditions, they told that their chosen jellybeans were out-of-stock either because the store failed to order jellybeans last week, or because the jellybeans were popular. In both cases, as in the prior studies, their chosen jellybeans were later discovered, and they received these. Compared to a control shopping trip, as before, low reactance individuals responded negatively to the restoration shopping trip—regardless of why a stockout happens, low reactance individuals dislike stores and products after having their freedom restricted and then restored. As before, high reactance individuals responded positively to restoration of freedom in the product popularity condition. In contrast, however, they responded negatively in the store failure condition—this condition strengthened their negativity toward the store, overwhelming their positive desire for the jellybeans."

Passing by and thinking, is this really out of stock or they need to push other products too?

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks    

"Only a few left", "Disappearing fast", "Stock for 1 day only" and similar selling slogans have been used as a strategic tool in many companies' marketing. This research confirms that "some individuals (those who are high in reactance) are happier to experience a temporary stockout than to have an uneventful service encounter. In short, high reactance individuals reward firms, but low reactance individuals punish firms, for restricting and restoring their freedom."

Carefully used (not over used) scarcity marketing can be great. Creating campaigns for a limited amount of customers or valid only for a limited amount of time can beautifully boost the sales of your products. Be creative!

*Moore, Sarah G. and Gavan J. Fitzsimons, "Yes, We Have No Bananas: Consumer Responses to Restoration of Freedom.” Journal of Consumer Psychology: April, 2014. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your experience with customers' reactions to "out-of-stock"? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on crafting your marketing message? Let's do this together.

Tuesday in India: Somewhere Coca-Cola Bottle Caps Are As Good As Money

Coca-Cola and me. No love lost.

And while I might hate their drink, I admire their marketing.

This time again: natural brilliance.

Coca-Cola had set up phone booths (as a part of “Hello Happiness” campaign) for South Asian workers all over Dubai so they were able to call back home more often.

What makes those booths special is that they accept Coca-Cola bottle caps as currency instead of coins.

 Pretty cool.

 

P.S. Just wondering how much is Coca-Cola bottle in Dubai? As workers are kind of forced to buy bottles to make calls. Precious money is still spent...

P.P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your favourite campaign this year? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!