Building Lasting Relationships

In today’s dynamic world one thing which has become critical is sustainable relationships–on both personal and professional fronts. When it comes to advertising, making sustainable relationships with the clients becomes more important –more important than winning an account.

Ours is an industry which constantly witnesses winning a client, the highs and lows of the relationship and subjective judgements thus making the scenario emotionally charged. As the industry faces challenges like a decline in the spends, weaker loyalty and shallow understanding, most of the agencies get the blame of failed to meet the expectations.

Most of us have read about the days when the client-agency relationship was seen as a bond, a partnership, a mutual responsibility –a covenant as such to increases the brand awareness, craft a communication to take the brand to the next level thus both parties playing an equally important role in nurturing the brand. Now it is just about the ROI.

Though there is an abundance of agencies offering a nimiety of services under the same umbrella, the changing market dynamics make it difficult to converge these services towards attaining sustainable associations. Agencies complain about:

·         Too many contact points at client’s end thus making the decision making process tedious

·         Ever –increasing pressure of ‘quick turn-around time’

·         Infringement of creative space

·         No time for conceptualization

·         Demand to rope in more resources in the same fees

On the other hand client is discontented about the mediocre creative solutions provided by their communication partners thus holding them responsible for the decrease in ROI.

Though I haven’t seen the broader picture of the industry, the one thing I m quite sure about is that many a times both the parties viz. the agency and the client become myopic thus failing to create effective ways sustain the relationship. Still, I can think of the following points which may help in building long lasting client-agency relationships:

·         Fair remuneration system for the agency

·         Defining accountability for performance & results

·         Transparency in information sharing

·         Clear-cut definition of expectations from client

·         Identifying intimidations to the agency if any

·         Well-written creative briefs for the agency

·         Minimizing the levels in approval process

·         Treating each others as partners

·         Fair assessments and review process

Also, Advertising is essentially about people. Peep into the world and you will see things as intangible or as abstract as brand, ideas, concepts, identities and what not. In this abstractness what instills life?? You guessed it right-The PEOPLE. It is very important to invest in people, to trust them, to guide them, train them- thus making them ready and fully equipped to take the world in their stride.

Well I can see the smirk on your face..Too idealistic haan?? Agreed..These points are too idealistic and bookish. But don’t you think its high time to sit, think and retrospect so that we are able to revitalize the client-agency relationship, making the collaboration effective and rewarding.

The Essence of Creating Presentations

PowerPoint Presentations or PPT’s have become an integral part of most of the professionals. Be it a Sales Manager a Marketing Executive or Communication professionals like us , we swear by this tool which comes as a blessing to all those who want to ‘present’ their views, solutions or recommendations. I completely agree that ‘making presentations’ is an art which is not everyone’s cup of tea. Even if one is a pro in the content creation, the success of any presentation lies with the presenter. I also agree that it is an important tool, but at the same time I strongly feel that:

Ø      It has to be something which is memorable

Ø      The number of slides has nothing to do with the ‘quality’ and ‘effectiveness’ of the presentation

A common belief in today’s world is that the more slides you add, the more impact your presentation will have, which according to me is completely untrue. From my experience of attending some 50 odd presentations, I have observed that most of the people who attend a presentation tend to forget 50% of the content. I really doubt all of them being attentive. But it’s not their fault. A presentation should entertain your audience .They should thoroughly enjoy it. According to me following points throws some light on the essence of an effective PPT:

Ø      Know you subject matter thoroughly. Try to read every piece of information available so that you can do justice to the content.

Ø      Know your audience as in who and all are going to be there in the presentation.

Ø      Develop a theme for the presentation.

Ø      The rule always is ‘Tell then what you are going to tell them, Tell them and then Tell them what you told them’.

Ø      As far as designing is concerned, select the template very judiciously. Most of the organizations have their corporate templates. You can modify them a bit (if the Corporate Guidelines allow you to do so), depending on the subject / objective of the PPT.

Ø      A well written script with a smooth flow of the information is the core of any presentation.

Ø      Always keep the content crisp. Avoid lengthy paragraphs. Use bullet points instead.

Ø      Keep it Visual by incorporating simple but strong graphic elements / visuals which will support your points as they correctly say that ‘ a picture is worth thousand words’

Ø      Never choose the visuals hastily. Remember that people start associating the visuals with your statements. So the visuals should help you in building up a story and should travel smoothly till the end of the presentation.

You can review your presentation in light of these points. The way to master the art is Practice...And more Practice!

Please revert, Incase you have more points to add.  

Chandana Mungre Kashid

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Sirf Gyan Pe Mat Jao ..

Yesterday I was watching this soap on television where the protagonist suffers from something called ‘OCPD’ (Obsessive Compulsive personality Disorder). A quick explanation about the syndrome is that it is characterized by too much orderliness /perfectionism and people with this condition tend to pay attention at the minutest detail. I would like to clarify that I am not doing a research on this syndrome ;) in fact I was thinking about this ‘trend’ of coming up with something which is:

• Offbeat
• Unexplored’ or
• Simply ‘different’

  Be it the movies or the way marketing firms communicate with the consumers, everyone as if is striving hard to present something which is completely different or which is ‘less talked about’. Earlier if a movie had a character with a serious ailment then the disease was essentially ‘Cancer’ or at the most ‘heart attack’. Now it is ‘Progeria’, ‘OCPD’, ‘Dyslexia’ and what not.

Take a look at the ads now. Earlier if it was a milk drink for kids, then the communication revolved around ‘Vitamins’ ‘Minerals’ and the other basic components. Now it’s all about ‘Scientifically proven essential nutrients’, ‘Extra Nutrition’ ‘Hemo CALTM nutrients’ and what not. 

This shift surely indicates the marketing efforts enriched by innovation, value additions and being ‘strategically correct’ while positioning. And all this to keep a pace with the constantly changing consumer behaviour. Though marketers and researchers come up with tall claims to ‘understand’ today’s complex buyer, they often forget the essence of the communication and the fact that the consumer wants everything then be it quick service, trust ,consistency , innovation , price benefits , options , simplicity (in communication and product usage as well) which go in the ‘making’ of the overall experience.

The shift also reestablishes the fact that today’s consumer is not only educated, well-read and technologically advanced but cautious too. So instead of just ‘telling your tale’, it is important to engage them and sustain the relationship. Remember that the satisfied customers will advocate your brand on the basis of ‘real experience’. 
So don’t be just ‘informative and innovative’, go that extra mile and engage them with your brand as this will be your first step towards building that ‘Sustainable bond’ with your customers.

Chandana Mungre Kashid

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How to lure the Multi-tasking Consumer ?

After a long day there is hardly anytime left for recreation. For most of us ,television is the only option when you are drained out. But seems the entertainment industry has nothing offbeat to offer. So most of the times the viewer has left with no choice at all. Same goes with ads. Believe me ,some ads are executed in such a way that though people like us who are from the same industry, are not able to understand the essence of the communication. And all we do is zapping  ...zapping and zapping which makes it tough for the advertisers. How to break the clutter? How to attract the ‘multi-tasking’ consumer and to be ‘non-intrusive’ at the same time? Off course the sales figures, footfalls, inquiries and growth which are equally important ,come later. The first important task is to attract the customer, lure him, engage him and then sell. Huh...sounds too much.

But then there are some ads which not only attract the viewer but also entertain them, amuse them and at the same time make sure that the ‘brand’ is not lost in this entertainment saga. One such example is the new Snapdeal.com campaign
(  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=1SR_jkqPPpY&NR=1 )

 Snapdeal.com provides discount deals and offers and as a matter of fact it is there first mainstream TV commercial. According to me, the idea which revolves around ‘Yamdoot’ –the central character, has such simplicity in the execution that though you are thoroughly entertained, you don’t forget the brand, its essence, functional benefits and thus succeeds in creating a space in the minds of the occupied viewer. Once you achieve this, the main task is to keep the customers glued to your brand by offering good deals which ensure repeat visits / purchase.

So the question is what do successful ads do? What is the essence of any communication? May be we can sum-up it as following:

·        Communication has to be about people, their beliefs, interests and finally about presenting various different ways to persuade them.

Any sort of ‘presentation’ tends to be effective only when it reinforces   the beliefs of its audience and finally engages the consumers with all senses.

·        No matter how brilliant or invaluable your idea is, it will be worthless if there is no reaction.

·        Not only the idea but the execution also matters. So the story should be such that it focuses the core benefits of the brand which has a recall value while the customer making a purchase decision.

 This may sound cliche but many of us are yet to put themselves in the consumer's shoes . High time to focus on these efforts .Ain't it?

Chandana Mungre Kashid

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Random

Trying to recapture the moments when I was pursuing my graduation. A teenager who had her own dreams ,  always trying to go that extra mile and always finding ways to add a pinch of creativity with a proper analysis of what needs to be done. This approach actually nourished my inclination towards the field of  Advertising. As a teenager , I always thought that advertising is all about creativity , saying things differently and thus engaging people in the best possible way. Though this 'first-cut' image was not all wrong but when I actually joined an agency , I came to know that advertising is much more than that.
Just like any other student , I was fascinated by the Big names of the Industry. Piyush Pandey , Alyque Padamsee , Pushpinder Singh , Prasoon Joshi ,Bharat Dabholkar ..tried to gather the smallest piece of information ,the agencies and brands they were associated with, reading their articles and interviews always added a zing to my dreams. It was so very inspiring that I decided that whatever I do , I will try to give my best shot to it . Though the advertising industry in a city like Pune is not all that promising ,still in a span of  7 years , it has taught me a lot and blessed me with that one thing ' a constant hunger to learn' , to improve myself as a professional.

I don't know the degree to which I have succeed in calling myself a 'Professional' but one thing is sure the hunger to learn and the zest to perform better is getting stronger with each passing day.

Image Makeover of Brands

Today, while going through the News Section of www.afaqs.com the news which caught my eye was about the identity makeover of Amrutanjan.Though I have read so many articles about brands getting a face-lift or a complete makeover ,as a customer i am compelled to think that  why brands change their identity after such a long period considering the fact that they have such a strong association with customers for more than a decade ??

I completely agree that changing the identity makes a huge difference . In the past few years , we have witnessed the image makeover of many big and known brands .The companies want to keep a pace with the ever-changing market in which the knowledge base of the customer is also evolving with innovations and technology and so are their expectations towards everything they are associated with or want to get associated with.As such today ,whatever you want to convey to the TG and the image you want to build around has to be woven around the essence of technology so as to prove that your brand is not lagging behind in the rat race.

 Further, what comes to my mind is that the brands which are present in the market for quite a long time ,has a user base which comprises of the old lot of users as well as the newly acquired ones. The older ones are quite used to see the look and feel for a long time and perceive the brand in a certain way.It may happen that they may welcome the change and may not feel happy to see the modern look. Some major names which have undergone a makeover are:

Hindustan Lever Ltd. (Now Unilever)

Dabur

Bajaj Auto

Videocon

Airtel

Star TV

ZEE TV and many more.

Changing the identity may make people think that there is a possible change in the ownership or the values associated with the brand.So the brands with a strong emotional attachment may get a jolt as the customers have a sense of attachment to certain features and characteristics of the brand. Over a period of time , some brands become a part and parcel of your life and people starts associating those with their daily habits. And so the brand becomes an indispensable part of the personality of the customer .

So ,in my opinion , the makeover should follow the route of evolution not revolution.

Chandana Mungre Kashid

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Testimonial Advertising

We all must have seen ,heard or read statements in ads like 'Maine XYZ product use kiya aur ab meri skin nikhar gayi hai' or the same blah blah with some different words. These 'testimonials' from the consumers or an influential person amongst the target group or a celebrity are said to do wonders not only to your sales target but also the way people perceive your offerings and your brand.

As a matter of fact , I handle a client who firmly believes in exploiting Testimonial Advertising to the fullest and so leaves no chance to highlight them in most of the communication collaterals. It actually sounds quite boring to incorporate so many testimonials every now and then and it actually has compelled me to think that is testimonial advertising always effective??

If you try to put yourself into the consumer's shoes, you always want a proof which is convincing enough to make you believe that all the claims in the company's communication is true .Its true that people actually look forward to others who have already tried and tested the product, but today's intelligent and well informed consumer is aware of all the ways advertisers are using celebrities and public figures in endorsing their products . How interviews and statements are cooked up.They know that many a times the claims are nothing but a marketing ploy to get you to buy the product .It has become a common practice to woo consumers by misleading lines and so many a times its an 'automatic turn off' for the customer. So instead of blindly going ahead with the trial of the product , he actually does some research on his own (thanks to Google) and only when they are pretty convinced and comfortable with the product they are enticed to try it.

Also, many a times the potential customers start creating an image about the brand/company on the basis of the consumer base associated with the company. The existing customer base as such becomes the face of the product/ company. For example while promoting a healthcare provider all testimonials come from customers who fall in the middle class or SEC B or say SEC C , many potential customers may turn away perceiving it as a mediocre name to be associated with .

So the testimonials have to be used very carefully and judiciously so that they can actually help you in attracting new clients and build a trust around the brand name.