2010: Wait, Where Are You Going? Stick Around...

Tonight is the last Thursday of the year 2010. It's also the night we usually record our podcast. Frankly, I don't see that happening. If you've noticed, it's been harder and harder for Nora and I to record a show. Plus the holidays have only compounded that feeling of shirking our normal duties. So with that, I feel it would be easier just to write an end of year blog post. It will be much more succinct than me recording a show and I can do it in roughly the same time.

I'm nothing if not efficient.

I feel this year,more than any other year in recent memory, deserves a proper blog post only because 2010 has been more unexpected and amazing for me and my family than I had ever anticipated it being. So much so, that this may be the first time I can remember that I kind of want the remnants of the old year to hang around long enough to permeate into the new year. For the first time, I'm not anxious to rush the old out so quickly. I know this sounds so strange, especially given the fact that there are lots of people I know who want to see this past year taken out back, beaten and burned alive. This year has been full of hardships for many of my friends and family. And we've struggled with some really, really scary moments this past year. But overall, I'm genuinely happy with the past year, with all it's complexities, fear and uncertainty. And I hope that more of the good is to come in 2011.

First off, if you have been following me on Twitter or been watching my extracurricular outside of Jawbone, you would know that my Geek A Week project has been an incredible success, moreso than I ever imagined it being. This may be the first time in my creative life that I feel something I have started has turned into precisely what I wanted it to be. Even with all the unexpected success of my other projects like Monster By Mail and Flipface, Geek A Week seemed to be the culmination of years of work and days and days of artistry, persistence and creativity.

Geek A Week still has another two months left on it, and I don't want to write everything about it right now. I want to save that up for the end of the project. But suffice to say, I couldn't imagine a more wonderful and fulfilling project to work on that Geek A Week. I look forward to seeing what it has to bring in 2011.

Of course, I can't let a year end blog post go by without mentioning the incredible support of the fans of my work who have helped motivate me and fill my inbox with such wonderfully kind words. Certainly, all the support of Trace Beaulieu's book "Silly Rhymes For Belligerent Children" has been overwhelming and tremendous. Trace and I are so profoundly proud of that piece of work. I am honored to have been given the chance to work on something like that. It's the kind of project I dreamed of working on growing up, It's as if all my years of goofing off and cartooning has finally paid off. It was an honor to have my heroes from MST3K read portions of the book at DragonCon in Atlanta, and it was so edifying to see all the positive response to something that Trace and I not only worked so hard on, but also had so much fun creating together.

For all those people who came out to the three w00tstocks I was so lucky to be a part of, saw me create and work and were introduced to my artwork, thank you so much. w00tstock was a such an incredible experience, and as I was working on them, I tried to savor as much as it as I could. I know opportunities like that don't come around that often, especially for a relatively unknown cartoonist like myself. I'm so proud to have been able to participate in them, I'm glad to meet all these new fans and I'm so happy so many people liked my stuff enough to purchase a poster or two from me.

I have met so many wonderful people this past year, made so many new and amazing friendships in 2010, done things I never thought I'd be able to do like have a live concert in my house, attend Comic Con and meet and talk to so many of my personal heroes, it's easy to understand why I'm a little reluctant to let it leave. If you've been listening to the interviews I've been doing for Geek A Week, you'll know that one of the questions I've been asking the people I've been interviewing is "If you could have two superpowers, what would those be and why?" I've never formally answered my own question, but here at the tail end of the year, if I am asking myself that question my answer would be something like this:

"My superpowers would be to stretch time. Not in the literal sense where I am stretching it to give me more time to do the things I want, but a physical sense. I want to be able to pull the momentum of the wonderful experiences from this past year and finger paint them into the new year. I want to apply some of that magic and happiness and brilliance to the new year and watch it continue. I can only imagine what could become of that...

And for my second superpower, I'd like to teleport. Not only because it would be cool, but then I could avoid TSA screeners..."

Happy New Year everyone. Thanks for helping make 2010 one of the best years of my life. For reals.

21 Cool Cutlery, Flatware and Silverware Designs

I'm perfectly happy eating with my fingers, and when company comes over I break out the sporks from Taco Bell. But, some people are a little more picky than me, they need fancy-pants cutlery. Here are 21 cool designs:

Open wide! Here comes the airplane!Finger fork.Bite marks.I like the spoon, but how would you eat shredded wheat with it?Garden tool flatware.These are for camping, you just attach

Aqua Lily Body Lotion

Aqua Lily Body Lotion, liquid lotion to your entire body to become healthy, moist and cool. Dry skin will accelerate the process of the occurrence of wrinkles, so unhealthy and uncomfortable eyes. Conversely, of course, maintained skin elasticity will maintained. It seems trivial, but you will get the results a few years later. Because the skin is basically also require "food", both in body and facial skin. So many people who entered treatment for her like a scrub and a spa.

Brand Update : Nano is the Key to Happiness

Its almost two years since the launch of Tata Nano. A lot has happened over these years. The much hyped & much criticized small car has hit the road and is running through its worst nightmare- sluggish sales.

When Ratan Tata announced the launch of Nano, the media went gaga over the product and the realization of dream of a common man's car. Globally Nano became a big news because of its unbelievable price tag of Rs 1 lakh. More over Tata was able to give a great looking car at a very cheap price.

In my earlier posts, I predicted that Nano will create record interms of sales. I believed that consumers will lap up such a well designed economical car. Nano will create history... but my predictions failed miserably. In November, Tata Motors was able to sell only 500 of Nano cars.

The problem for the brand started when reports of the car getting fire began spreading. Just after the launch, a few Nano cars got fire and the pictures of Nano on flames splashed across the media. Consumers began to seriously worry about the safety of Nano.

To counter this negative publicity , Tata Motors began serious efforts to restore faith in the brand. The company initiated a recall program where the existing Nano cars were fitted with additional safety features. Along with that, Nano was further tested for safety by engineers from Tata Motors as well as from Jaguar.

These measures ,to a certain extent, contained the damage of Nano's brand image. Further to the safety issue, the brand also faced the issue where consumers at the lower-income strata was declined loan by banks and financial institutions for buying Nano. Although the auto loans were always a risky liability for the financial institutions and loan-denial is not anything new in this industry, this issue was again highlighted across the media as a specific issue pertaining to Nano.

So the brand is now facing an issue which is highly perceptual. And a negative perception for a brand in the introductory stage of PLC can be fatal.

To tide over the issue regarding the trust + safety, Tata Motors introduced a four year/60000km warranty for the Nano. The warranty is an assurance from the brand aimed to build trust in the brand.

Along with these measures, Nano also launched its first television commercial this month.

Watch the ad here : Tata Nano TVC

The new ad projects the positives of the car and positions the brand as " Key to Happiness". The brand has adopted the tagline " Khushiyon ke Chaabi ".

What the brand needs is to restore confidence of consumers in the brand. The picture of Nano in flames is still embedded in the consumer's mind. It should be erased if the brand wants to see the sales figures upward. For that it should get as many Tata Nano on the road as possible. The more cars on the road will instill confidence in the consumers to buy this brand. For that the brand should go to any extent.

It is not that I am not aware of the negatives of Nano. But Nano is a genuine marketing effort to satisfy a gap in the market. As a marketer, this is a brand I don't want to see failing in the market.

Related Brand

Tata Nano

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Saturday Night Live Spoofs the Shake Weight

Jawbone #283: Merry Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 with our family. Enjoy!

Download now.

10 People Wearing Fanny Packs

Do you look at someone wearing a fanny pack and wonder why? Why are you wearing that? You have no excuse unless you are European.

In case you don't know what a fanny pack is, Wikipedia defines it as In case you didn't know, a fanny pack is a small fabric pouch secured with a zipper and worn at the waist by a strap around the hips or waist.

The name "fanny pack" is derived from the fact that

Marketing Strategy : The Basics of Internal Marketing

According to Berry and Parasuraman (Marketing Services: Competing through quality), Internal marketing is attracting , developing, motivating, and retaining qualified employees through job-products that satisfy their needs. It is the philosophy of treating employees as customers.

Although the concept of internal marketing seems like another version of human resource management, there is much more than just attracting and retaining good employees. According to Professor Philip Kotler, marketing activities within the company is equally important as marketing activities outside the company.

According to Kotler, there are two perspectives to internal marketing. One perspective is the coordination within the marketing department. The various marketing functions like sales , advertising, product development etc should act as a single unit focusing on delivering the best to the customer. The second perspective is the interaction between the various functions like Production, Finance , HR etc. Internal marketing’s role is to ensure that the entire organization is able to come together for a common business objective.

While many literature focus on the usefulness of internal marketing on the marketing function, internal marketing have a strong strategic importance which is often overlooked.

Advantages

There are many advantages of internal marketing. These advantages vary with the nature of the business that firms are in. Internal marketing has a strong impact on the customer satisfaction in service industries. In most of the service businesses, the consumption of the service product happens at the service factory. Research has proved that the way in which the employees are treated have a direct impact on the way customers are treated.

There are businesses which are human resource oriented like software firms which will find internal marketing a very powerful tool for marketing as well as strategy. Such marketing programs targeting the employees will have strong effect on the overall efficiency of the employees.

The internal marketing initiatives will also have a ripple effect on the ability of the organization to attract and retain the employees. In this highly networked world, internal marketing can generate very high positive word of mouth publicity about the working environment in the company which can attract new talents to the organization.

Firms venturing into Internal Marketing have to look at the concept at different levels. There has to be emphasis on key focal points like branding, communication, training, motivation and transparency.

Internal Branding

With regard to branding, Internal Marketing is closely linked to corporate branding. Corporate brand has more relevance in internally than a product brand. Employees should be thrilled by the corporate brand rather than the product brand. Hence marketing communication targeting employees should be aimed at building corporate brand equity rather than product brand equity. Brands like Infosys, TCS, Unilever etc not only attract prospective clients but also new talents to the company. Working for a reputed corporate brand is a powerful non-monetary reward for the employees.

Internal Communication

Firms venturing into internal marketing should create a robust internal communication infrastructure which is a vital pre-requisite to any such program. Free flow of relevant information within the organization is very vital in this context. The success of the internal marketing program lies in the employees being able to internalize the brand promise, company values and develop customer orientation.

For example, the employee in the finance department should understand the implication of fast payment/bill processing on the overall business of the firm. Materials department should understand the importance of efficient procurement on the overall business strategy of the firm. The understanding of cross linkage of various departments and its impact on the customer will be the biggest takeaway of a successful internal marketing program.

Organizational Culture

Another important prerequisite of a successful internal marketing program is the internalizing of organizational culture among the employees. Firms like Marriott, Apple, Microsoft, Infosys, TCS, GE thrive because the employees are torch bearers of the organizational culture. Such internalization will happen only through a robust internal marketing program. For example, in Infosys, founders like Narayana Murthy , Nandan Nilekeni had the wisdom to understand the importance of developing a highly ethical , performance oriented culture. These organizations have a strong internal structure that is responsible for teaching this culture to the employees.

Top Management Responsibility

In most of the organizations, the task of internal marketing is not clearly defined. Most often this function is handled by the Human Resource Department. The thinking is that HR department is best suited for dealing with employees in matters regarding motivation, training and development etc. Like product marketing, internal marketing is also a very important function to be left to any functional department. In my personal opinion, top management is responsible for internal marketing. Firms like GE, Zappos, Google ,3M has CEOs taking the full responsibility of internal marketing.

In this highly competitive environment, internal marketing is a tool that can differentiate an organization from its peers. It is time for organization to understand its importance and start investing in it.

Originally Published in Adclubbombay.com

Merry Christmas from My Family to Yours!

What Happend to Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from A Christmas Story)?

Remember cute little Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) from the movie A Christmas Story? What ever happened to him? After the movie in 1983 he did some more acting. In 1984 Billingsley starred in an adaptation of The Hoboken Chicken Emergency with Dick Van Patten and Gabe Kaplan, a special Thanksgiving episode of the PBS series WonderWorks. He also appeared on a special edition of Family Feud and on

What Am I Worth? A Rant By Len Peralta

I wasn't going to let this bother me, but it does and I feel I need to address it. I was going to write a silly diatribe on Twitter about what happened to me this morning, but I felt this needed a bit more weight. A proper blog post is in order.

This morning, I rolled out of bed, checked my Twitter mentions and I get a tweet that says this:

@jawboneradio I understand that art is expensive, but do you have to charge a jobless HS student upwards of $115 an hour for monster art?

First off, by this person's own admission, they are jobless. So I wouldn't put monster art on such a high priority. But whatever, to each his own. Secondly, I don't charge anything near $115 an hour. If I did, I could probably take some time off for once in my life. I'm hoping to charge that, one day, and I can assure you, it's not going to be without a greater or equal amount of sweat equity to get to that point.

But even if I did charge $115.hr, what the hell does it matter? I looked at my roster of commissions over the past few weeks and as far as I can remember, I didn't "charge" this person anything per hour. I only charge people who commission me to do my work. And if you're going to query me for what it would cost to do a piece or artwork or several pieces of artwork, I will tell you. If you think I charge too much, then you are free to look elsewhere. If you really want my art, then maybe we could work something out. Trade or barter for services has been an acceptable form of payment on occassion. But I hardly think it's fair for this person to say I have some nerve to charge "upwards of $115/hr for monster art."

Like any artist or musician, I spent a lot of time crafting my style, my workflow, my art. I feel I've done a lot of work to come up with a price that is not only fair to me, but to my family as well. I am the primary breadwinner in a family of eight. Now, I don't expect a jobless High School student to appreciate this fact, but I'm working my ass off to provide for them. I have a mortgage and bills like everyone else. I've spent a great deal of time over the past five years establishing my reputation as an artist. And I'm extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to find people who not only appreciate the work I do and like it, but are willing to pay me cash dollars for it.

I give a lot of content away for free. All of Geek A Week has been free for you to enjoy (or not enjoy) and I'm not charging you a red cent for any of it. Just last night, I posted an image of Quorra from TRON all because I wanted to share my art with you. FREE OF CHARGE. I have been doing Live drawing events on the net and you can watch me draw for free. There is an entire YouTube Channel devoted to just me drawing art. You can order a FlipFace from me for as low as $10. If you want to commission me for an ORIGINAL PIECE OF ART - NOT A DIGITAL FILE, prices start at $35. If you want something more complicated, then I'll have to judge how long it will take me, what is involved in creating the art and I can quote you a custom price. If you want to hire me for a week to create pieces of art for you, my cost is $1200/day*. Certainly there is some price point in there that you can fall into.

The end is this: If you like what I do and you want to have a piece of it for you own, then I'd be happy to talk to you. There are lots of ways to enjoy my art and if you save up, you can afford a piece of your own. Just don't get on Twitter and complain how "expensive" I am when you have no idea how much time and effort goes into what I do. I think I speak for all artists when I say valuing oneself and your services is one of the toughest things for an artist to perfect. Don't make it harder but de-valuing the art.

And yes, I know I should take it easy because, after all, this person is just in High School and perhaps doesn't know any better. But these people grow up and become the de-valuers of the future. You gotta nip it in the bud sometime.

Cheers.

*Not really. But I thought I would throw that out there anyway.

Bacon is Meat Candy

Mmm, my two favorite things in one tasty package. The pig is magic, it eats anything, and it turns into bacon.
You can get this shirt for just $7.
Thanks Amanda!

Crocodile : Will It Realize Its Potential ?

Brand : Crocodile

Company : SP Garments ( Crocodile International Pvt Ltd)

Brand Analysis Count : 468

Crocodile is a brand from Singapore based Crocodile International Pvt Ltd ( CIPL) . The brand came to Indian in 1998 as a JV between Shivram Associates and CIPL. Within a span of three years, the brand gained much attention in the Indian market.

Crocodile as a global brand had its origin in 1949 in Singapore . The brand later became very popular across Asia as an affordable fashionwear for men. The brand is also famous for the controversy and long legal battles for the logo with the iconic French brand Lacoste.

Crocodile's brand logo has much resemblance with the logo of the French casual wear brand Lacoste. Both the brands has crocodile as the logo. Although there is some difference in the logo, for a consumer both the logo looks the same. In Lacoste logo, the crocodile is right facing while in Crocodile brand - it is left facing. Both the crocs are in green color and is strikingly similar for a casual observer.This has caused a very long legal battle in markets like Hongkong and China.

Later in 2003, both the brands went for an out of court settlement where Crocodile agreed to make some changes with regard to the logo.

The new Crocodile logo has the tail more vertical, the color of the croc is grey and the croc has scales and bigger eyes.

Controversies apart, the brand had a good initial run in the Indian market. The brand was priced at a premium but the international image , the resemblance with Lacoste and some heavy media campaigns took the brand to a level of high popularity. It is interesting to note that the brand owners had registered for Crocodile trademark as early as 1950s but the brand actually entered the market only in 1998.

The brand initially launched its range of innerwears and I still remember the TVC where girls at a pool party ogles the hunk wearing Crocodile inners and the TVC ends with girls saying " There is a crocodile in your pants ". The brand later added its entire range of casual wears in its promotions.

Another striking branding strategy of Crocodile was its merchandising . The brand had lot of Single Brand Outlet in upmarket malls which increased brand visibility to a large extent. Although the price was at a premium, it was affordable.

Despite these positives, the brand struggled to make profit. In 2006, the brand changed owners and Coimbatore based SP Garments bought the stake of Shivram Associates . Ever since SP Garmets took over, the brand has been on a restructuring exercise. According to news reports, many unviable stores has been closed and the new owners are looking at Company Owned Outlets to promote the brand.

The brand was initially targeting men of the age 30 +. The current strategy is to target much younger consumers from age 20 +. The brand will be positioned as a young fashionwear which is affordable and has an international legacy.

The brand is yet to launch a media campaign and hence cannot comment much on the positioning strategy.

Crocodile brand has lot of positives on its side. The brand has a good recall in the market. The brand name Crocodile has a charm factor in it.The logo similarity with Lacoste is a definite advantage and there is still a gap for an affordable casual wear brand in the Indian market. But one of the mistakes that the International brands do in the Indian market is to price themselves out of the game. Crocodile has a huge potential if it plays the afford-ability game rather than try to cash in on its faded international image.

Crocodile will be an interesting brand to watch for.

What it Takes to be a Great Teacher

I'm half way to being a great teacher!
Thanks Taylor!

Shimmer Powder Gold

Solid powder is packaged in a round container of gold, looks luxurious views, and easy to carry, made in Estee Lauder. Solid powder is required to perfect makeup and appearance. With its dense it will not fall everywhere. Can be used anywhere, in the car, in toilet, in the office or while sitting waiting time. Its use is simple and easy paced.

Crazy Basketball Dunk

The Bucks Mascot, Bango, climbs a 15ft ladder, does a back flip off of it and dunks it.



Via

Well it's goodbye and Happy Christmas from me!

Oh and Happy New Year too as we wont be back from our Portugal trip until January 13th - one whole month away - BLISS!!

What a build up its been two back to back 7 day weeks with 5 Christmas fairs/markets in the last 7 days - all outside in the freezing cold.

Exmouth Christmas Cracker was a fantastic event, we got there far to early really, 11am and nothing really started until 5pm but then, wow!  we were totally rushed off our feet, thank goodness I had my lovely 'Soap Slave' Dot helping or I would not have coped.  Mince pies and Christmas Spice Cake flew off the stall, I sold all the Christmas Tree Cupcakes and the cake slices all sold out too.

My lovely Soap Slave Dot

Canonteign Falls Christmas Fair - another exhibitor

Yummy

The beautiful frozen lake

and even more beautiful Black Swans

 It was the first time I had done Canonteign Falls Christmas Food and Craft Fair and it was lovely, very cold but very beautiful surroundings and some very nice people.

Quinta do Cobral

And so now we are Portugal bound, we have our new Royal Blue range cooker, our ESSE, in the van along with all the plumbing stuff and everything else, including both dogs and we are about to bid you all goodbye.  Ryan, my son, is staying on at the house to deal with all the internet orders for soap goodies that are still streaming in, he is a good little packer and will get everything to you in good time, I promise.  We will be working hard so don't think it is a real holiday but just to be away from phones etc. sounds like magic right now.

THANK YOU ALL for being such fantastic followers of my blog and for all of you who are customers too.  I am planning all kinds of new things for 2011, its going to be a fun year I hope.  I wish you and your family and friends the best of Christmasses this year, I know its going to be hard for lots of people and my heart goes out to anyone who has lost a job or home or who has suffered in any way this year.  I really do hope that your New Year brings better things.

My family are always in my heart and especially my beautiful little grandchild Lola, may you carry on growing, laughing and loving, I am going to miss you all so much.  I will bring you back lots of lovely Portuguese goodies though, promise!!  XXXXXX

Lola Christmas 2009

With her gorgeous Mum, My Aimee



One last little thing, I really wanted to share this lovely Blog post with you from 'How about Orange' blogspot.  Its so great, making 5 pointed cut out paper Christmas Stars.  We always made 6 or 8 pointed ones at school and I never liked them so much.  these are really beautiul.
I will leave you with this link, if you have any time before Christmas perhaps you could make some, it would be a really fun thing to do with the kids.
How about Orange 5 point paper star

The Hover Hand

What is a hover hand? It is a phenomenon that occurs when some nerds have their pictures taken with a woman. For some reason they feel uncomfortable touching a woman, so their hand hovers about an inch from their bodies. Fascinating. I even found a website dedicated to the hover hand.
Source: 1 2

Marketing Strategy : Unleash Your Innovation Engine

Indian companies are not well known for innovation. In comparison with the global counterparts, Indian firms have so far shied away from investing in innovation. That is the reason why India cannot boast of an iPod or a Google. It is not because India is lacking in brilliant minds. Indians are an inevitable part of the R&D initiatives of most of the global firms. Infact most of the global firms have their R&D centres in India to take advantage of the human potential available.

Despite having brilliant minds, it is highly disheartening to see Indian firms lagging behind product innovations. One of the primary reasons is the reluctance of Indian corporate heads to invest in creating an innovation culture. When Indian firms begin to invest in creating an innovation culture, markets witness the launch of products like Nano, Tata Ace or a Mahindra Scorpio.

One of the primary requisite of creating an innovation culture in an organisation is the top management involvement. Any breakthrough innovation can happen only if there is a strong commitment from the senior leadership of the company. Senior managers should be able to instil a sense of ownership in the mind of the employees if they want to create an innovation culture. The leadership should take care to erase the fear of failure which is most detrimental to the creation of a culture that promotes open innovation.

Managers must also remove the myth that innovation is always expensive. We are living in an era where most of the brilliant dollar ideas are created by people working with very limited financial resources. When organizations embrace an innovation culture, the cost of creating innovations begins to reduce drastically.

There are three critical investments that companies need to make in their quest for creating an innovation engine. The first investment is in the culture, second investment is people and the third investment is in the time.

Creating an innovation culture is the primary requisite for all firms aiming to build their business on innovation. This is perhaps the most difficult investment to make. Once the innovation becomes a part of the culture, it can be further strengthened using processes. For example in 3M, 25% -30% of the revenue should come from new products introduced within five years. To facilitate this process, technical employees are allowed to spend 15% of their time on projects of their choice.

Another vital investment is on the people. Management must understand that it is people who drive innovation. How ever robust be the process, without highly motivated people, process may achieve little. Firms focusing on innovation undoubtedly take care in selecting and retaining highly motivated employees. The new kids on the block like Twitter, Facebook is attracting bright talents because of their unique approach to work. Google has become one of the most preferred places to work because of their penchant for creating a unique work environment.

Another vital investment that firms have to make is with respect to time. Creating an innovation culture cannot happen overnight. This is a long process and each firm should discover their own DNA of innovation. Time is the investment that the leadership has to make if they want to build the innovation culture into their organizations. Innovation cannot be initially managed over quarters. The management should first establish an innovation budget and encourage the employees to invest that budget into product development or improvement. It will be easy if these budgets are initially spent on product improvements rather than breakthrough products or new products. Once the entire team begin to understand the seriousness of the innovation drive, more and more serious innovations will follow.

It is important for the senior management to tolerate failure. It is impossible to innovate without tolerating failure. And the fear of financial loss is the greatest inhibition for firms venturing into creating an innovation based business model. An open communication channel between the innovation leaders and the senior management is a necessity to avoid such financial loses. Managers should be encouraged to speak their mind about the viability of a particular idea or a project.

Originally Published in Adclubbombay.com

Three Years Of Monsters, Aliens and Geeks

Three Years of Monsters, Aliens and Geeks from Len Peralta on Vimeo.

Can you find yourself in my life over the past three years?

Brand Update : Alpenliebe is no longer a candy its also an Eclair

Alpenliebe, the flagship candy brand from Perfetti VanMelle (PVM) recently launched Alpenliebe Eclairs.The brand which pioneered candy ( more specifically deposited candy) segment in India is no longer a candy brand.

PVM has been experimenting with Alpenliebe for a while now. Ever since the launch in 1995, the brand saw may product-line extensions and campaigns.

The brand over these years launched lollipops, different flavors of Alpenliebe and also extensions like Creamfills and Mangofillz Alpenliebe. Consumers willingly accepted these variants making Alpenliebe market leader in the segment.

Along with the extensions, PVM extended the equity of the brand to other confectionery segments through secondary associations. The brand launched Chocoliebe in the eclair category drawing equity from Alpenliebe.

The brand also saw some clutter -breaking campaigns in its life so far. The brand was launched with the positioning - Simply Irresistible. The brand used the messages like " Jee Lal Chahe ,Raha na Jaye " and finally to " Lalach Aha Laplap".

The brand then introduced Kajol as the brand ambassador and along with the animated alligator - Mr Munch began promoting Alpenliebe aggressively. In 2010, the brand launched another clutter-breaking campaign which saw Kajol doing a role reversal of sorts. The ad featured a theme where the role of human and monkey were reversed . Kajol took the role of a monkey and Madaari ( master) was a monkey ( detailed plot here)

Watch the campaign here : Role reversal

The latest move of Alpenliebe to launch eclairs was a complete surprise. First thing is that the launch of Alpenliebe eclairs completely changed the character of the brand. The brand now is no longer a candy. In a branding perspective, this is significant. It is just like Horlicks launching noodles. Horlicks no longer is an energy drink. So Alpenliebe has become a brand that endorses many confectionery products including eclairs, sugar filled candy, cream filled candy and lollipops.

Secondly, the brand now competes with Chocoliebe which is the eclair brand from the same company. So higher chance of cannibalization happening for PVM.

Although the core Alpenliebe brand has been consistent with the positioning of " Irresistible Taste", the product-line extensions were having different positioning. For example -

Lollipop has the tagline " Lagay Raho"

Creamfills has the tagline " Kuch Alagh"

Mangofills has the tagline " Mango ka Tinku".

This shows that Alpenliebe is not maintaining a consistency in the core positioning. For an umbrella brand, consistency of core brand message " Simply Irresistible " is vital and this message should run through all the campaigns of the extensions.

Eclairs however has maintained the irresistible taste as the positioning. But the launch campaign is horrible.

Watch it here : Alpenliebe Eclairs

I feel that the ad agency was told to create a funny commercial and they tried and failed miserably. Alpenliebe Eclairs has the tagline " Chocolatey Laila " which I think is a tagline that may not have much life in it.

Having said that, there is a business logic behind the launch of eclairs. Confectionery marketers are faced with the issue of consumer price- fixation. The market is highly price conscious. Candies are now priced at 50 paise and all efforts of marketers to make consumers pay more has failed. Alpenliebe Eclairs is an attempt by PVM to trade-up the pricing ladder. The Rs 1 eclair will add more profitability to Alpenliebe portfolio and eclair is a high growth category in this industry.

Related Post

Alpenliebe

15 Unique Scarves

Why do people wear scarves? Do their necks really get that cold? I think it's just an adult version of a security blanket. Go back to your mommies, thumb suckers! Any-who, here are unique 15 scarves:

Mmm, bacon.Cupcakes.That is a lot of extra lives.All the things that kill Mario.Now you can let everyone know you feel oppressed by something.Mittens and a scarf in one, or just a really immodest

17 Dogs Dressed as Santa

I don't know why, but people like to dress up their dogs. I guess it makes them feel better about not having a person that loves them. Anyway, this time of year people dress up their puppies like Santa Claus. Here are 17 such doggies:

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Her Parfume Spray from Ungaro

Perfume spray for women from Ungaro, packaged in a pink glass bottle, so it looks clear and beautiful look. The form is sexy as if to mimic the body shape of a beautiful woman who is graceful dancing. Spray the entire surface of your body, then enjoy the fragrance and freshness. Congratulations to party .......

Brand Update : Sunfeast enters noodles segment with Yippee

Sunfeast is on its way to become a megabrand. This challenger biscuit brand launched in 2003, within a span of 7 years, has presence in categories like biscuits,pasta and now in noodles. Sunfeast made its first brand extension in 2005 when it launched Sunfeast Pasta Treat and created the pasta category in the Indian market.

In September 2010 , the brand launched its noodles brand extension- Sunfeast Yippee. Indian noodles segment has now become a huge market worth Rs 1200 crore . Maggi is the market leader with a whopping 70% market share ( Business Standard). A huge market with one major market leader is definitely an attractive one. That is one of the reason why so many players have recently launched their brand in this segment.

Sunfeast ( ITC) is a worthy player to take on the might of Maggi. ITC is a company that is not averse to taking risk and have a huge cash reserve to fight a marketing war with Nestle.

The Sunfeast brand already has built up sufficient equity in the biscuit business with its high profile campaigns featuring Shah Rukh Khan . The brand also occupied good shelf space in most of the large retail formats . Another aspect of the brand was its penchant for launching a series of new products and flavors which helped gain lot of consumer liking in the biscuit business.

Looking at the strategy behind extending the biscuit brand into noodles, there are pros and cons that has to be noted. The major advantage for ITC in extending the Sunfeast brand is that it may have saved lot of money through this extension. Building a brand in a sensitive category like food will take lot of investment and time. Since Sunfeast is already in food business, it makes economic sense to launch noodles under this brand.

The disadvantage is the dilution of the equity of the brand in its core business- biscuits. Sunfeast is not now a biscuit brand but an umbrella brand endorsing many food items. Hence the personality of the brand has changed . This change has happened from 2005 itself when the brand launched the Pasta Treat.

In the branding of noodles, Sunfeast has adopted an endorsing structure where Sunfeast brand will endorse the Noodle brand "Yippee " . The look of the brand says that it is going to be positioned as a happy, vibrant, fun loving brand. I am yet to see any campaigns for this brand in any of the channels. Retail shops are displaying the brand with some POP promotions but not much on the message side.

Picture courtesy and an interesting take on the brand by Karthik - here

Related Post

Sunfeast

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus

Merry Meaty Christmas

How better to celebrate such a sacred occasion than with meat and sauerkraut?
Thanks Heather! Source

Natuvive Pomegranate Hydra Shampoo and Conditioner

1 Set of hair care shampoo and conditioner from Natuvive. Use regular to your hair in order to produce an excellent and satisfactory results, use shampoo and conditioner from a similar product. Because in it already contained ingredients that are formulated for the inter-related, between cleaner, nourish, soften and care.

Jawbone #282: Dating Ourselves

On tonight's show, Nora and I get topical. Banking. Again. TSA. Lebron. Arsenic. And much more. Check it out!

Download now.

Cats Celebrating Hanukkah

Ay-yay-yay! You won't believe these little bubbalas! More here.

Women Shoplift Using Their Body Fat Rolls

I suppose if you are fat, you might as well make lemonade.

 

Marketing Strategy : 10 Questions About Your Brand

Marketers are faced with a highly challenging task of balancing short-term and long-term strategies for the brand. In a highly competitive market, marketers often get deluged in activities which are tactical in nature. In doing so, brands may lose focus on pursuing its vision.

There are many reasons behind the manic run behind short-term gains for the brand. The major culprit is in trying to manage the brand from quarter to quarter. Pressured to show positive growth in every quarter, managers are seldom given time to analyze the long term implications of their marketing activities.

At some point in time marketers need to pause and take stock of the brand’s path to future. Great brands are never built in 3 months. It takes years of focused work and investments. Although marketers are willing to invest now, they expect a positive ROI within a short span of time.

Whether the brand is new or old, marketers need to periodically assess and evaluate the path towards the future. The following questions will help the brand managers to check whether the brand is treading in the right direction.

1. What is your brand vision?

It is critical for brands to have a long term game plan. The plan will help serve as a guideline that will help future managers to devise action plans and continue in the right direction.

2. What needs of customers that your brands satisfy?

Marketers must be able to clearly articulate the customer needs and wants that the brands aim to satisfy. These needs and wants may change over time; hence marketers need to periodically review whether the brand is currently relevant in the customer’s life. The brand should also be able to appeal to the new demands of the consumers. Regular evaluation of this parameter will keep the brand in tune with the changing consumer mindset.

3. What is your brand’s core strength?

Brands needs to have a “ WoW” factor if it is aiming for long run profitability. Marketers needs to constantly search for the “WoW “factor and keep inventing more and more of these “ WoW” factors.

4. What values does the brand represent?

Brand values represent the core foundation upon which brand strategies are made. According to Professor Kevin Lane Keller, Brand Values are those set of abstract associations that characterize the 5 to 10 most important aspects or dimensions of a brand. Brand values serve as the basis for brand positioning. Marketers have to identify and internalize these core values and periodically check whether the brand is aligned to these values.

5. Will the customers relate to those brand values?

Not only that the marketers should identify brand values, they need to check whether those brand values are relevant to consumer’s life. Sometimes consumers may not relate to the brand’s core mantra. It is in this situation where the brand may feel disconnected with its target audiences. Periodical review of the brand’s connection with the target market is critical to long-term survival.

6. Is the brand relevant to a customer’s life?

Successful brands stay relevant in the consumer’s life. Marketers should be able gauge whether the brand is relevant to the customer. Managers should constantly keep in touch with the customers to understand how the brand is helping them in their life.

7. Is the brand’s promise sustainable over time?

Markets are dynamic and consumer taste and preferences change drastically over time. Hence while developing the brand’s core mantra or promise, managers should also devise a process to determine whether the brand’s promise is sustainable over time. The brand also needs to evaluate its promise in comparison with its competitors.

8. Is your brand flexible?

There will be situations where the brand may have to reinvent itself. New opportunities may force the brand to venture into related as well as unrelated categories. Marketers should build some amount of flexibility in the brand architecture so that it is possible for the brand to venture into other categories.

9. Does the brand create excitement in the market?

Iconic brands are exciting. These iconic brands not only excite the customers but also the employees. A crucial question in the brand’s quest for excellence is whether the brand is able to create a sustainable level of excitement in the market. Creating excitement in the market is not easy and it cannot be done overnight. Marketers need to invest a lot if they want to create a high level of excitement in the market.

10. Is your brand engaging the customers?

The final question for the managers is about customer engagement. We are living in the experience economy. Consumers pay for experiences rather than for products. To understand the customer’s expectations and deliver those experiences, brands needs to constantly engage the consumers. Technology has enabled marketers to directly interact with the customers in multiple platforms. Managers should check regularly whether the brand is engaging with the customers through the various available platforms.

Originally Published in Adclubbombay.com

FREE CHRISTMAS GIFT WRAPPING FOR DECEMBER

 

From December 1st all soaps ordered from Naturally Made Soaps Website will be gift wrapped with beautiful lace inspired, silver, grey and black wrapping paper and ribbon absolutely FREE!! 

All you have to do is make your order as normal and click the 'gift wrap' option for each choice, you can even ask us to write your label for you, just tell us what you want it to say.

Naturally Made Soaps can also mail our beautiful, natural, handmade soaps anywhere in the UK, just add a different delivery address to your order.  We really do try to make Christmas gift giving really easy for you.  don't forget we also offer any value Gift Certificates that can either be emailed or printed out and posted.  If you want them posted remember the 21st December is the last day for posting Christmas orders, we will be so busy that it would really be worth your while to get your order in earlier if you can.

Go on, why not grab a beautiful present from the best, natural soap ever......  Once you try it you will never go back to shop bought soap - and that's a promise!

Body Lotion All Variant

Body lotion with a variety of enticing fragrances arranged in 9 variations. Select in accordance with the scent of the fragrance you want, nor may the designated skin appropriate to the circumstances of your skin. Assorted fragrances derived from natural flower essence so as to avoid the harsh smell. The more often you use it then it will soon be found that smooth skin is well maintained.

Brand Update : No Idea then Get Idea !

There are times when a campaign thrills you with its simplicity and creativity. Idea's new campaign on number portability was one such thrilling moment.

Mobile number portability ( MNP) is on the verge of becoming a reality. It means that a consumer can switch their mobile service provider while retaining their number for a fee.The allowing of MNP will take away one of the most important switching cost as far as a consumer is concerned. Many consumers ( like me) had grudgingly stayed with a subscriber just for the sake of retaining the mobile number for the fear of losing contact with old friends and acquaintances. When MNP becomes a reality, that fear will go and consumers will be free to switch service providers.

For the service provider, MNP is both a challenge and an opportunity. Challenge because they cannot take a consumer ( subscriber) for granted. Consumers often are lazy and have inertia in terms of taking pains to switch service brands. One has to be too pissed off to take the trouble of moving to a different service provider and then messaging all contacts about the new contact number. This switching cost over the period of time has been lightened with the popularity of dual SIM phones and most of the subscribers are now open to carrying multiple phones with them.

It is in the light of these developments that Idea decided to take on MNP through their latest campaign - No Idea,Get Idea.

The ad uses the most commonly used slang - No Idea to drive home their point. It is an example of sheer brilliant creative which hits you right on target.

The campaign focuses on instances where non- Idea subscribers gets pissed off with their mobile service providers. They encounter network issues, over charging instances and bad consumer services and when Abhishek Bachchan asks them for the reason why they are being mistreated, they responds in the typical slang - No Idea. Abhishek Bachchan pitches with the punchline " Get Idea ". Simple but brilliant.

Watch the campaigns here :

Network Issues

Customer Service

Billing Issues

It is clear that Idea has done some research on the burning problems that consumer's face with regard to mobile services. Network coverage , customer service and billing issues feature prominent among the key reasons for customer churn and complaints.

One will know which brand will gain more with MNP only after it is implemented but Idea decided to use this for yet another brilliant campaign. This preemptive campaign puts Idea in a advantageous position against competition. Now competitors will find it difficult to crate campaigns on these features and negate this first -mover advantage of Idea.

Another interesting thing I noticed about the campaign was that " Get Idea " term may have came late to the creative directors because if you notice the ads, Abhishek Bachchan says " Thats What " (not Get Idea) when the other character says " No Idea ". I think that " Get Idea" punchline was later incorporated into the ads.

Idea brand is on a roll . Aditya Birla Group should be applauded for the investment it is making on the brand. Telecom services over a period of time will become commoditized interms of tariff plans and other features.Once consumers are free to chose without switching costs, brand will play a big role in customer acquisition and retention.

A nice take on the current campaign from an adman - Bhatnaturally

Facts about Thanksgiving

Click on the picture for a larger image.
Via

Completely Awesome Chair

Yeah but can it do any other tricks?

Van Heusen : Evolve Yourself

Brand : Van Heusen

Company : Madura Garments ( Aditya Birla Nuvo)

Ad Agency : JWT India

Brand Analysis Count : #467

Van Heusen is one of the largest apparel brand in India. The brand which came to India in 1990 is on the verge of a new growth trajectory. The exciting new path for the brand is built on the rich heritage that this brand carries.

Van Heusen is a truly global brand. The brand has a rich heritage with a history dating back to 1881. The brand journey started in USA in 1881 when Moses Philip and his wife began selling hand-sewed shirts to local miners of Pennsylvania in a push cart. Later Philips and his son moved to Newyork and began selling shirts.

In 1910 John M Van Heusen from Holland found a unique process of fusing cloth on a curve thus created a comfortable self-folding collar. John Van Heusen and Philips' son Seymour Philips met in US and Philips-Van Heusen Company was created. The company also got a patent for the collar in 1919. ( source : Super Brands)

From there, the brand went on to become the largest selling shirt brand in USA. Now Philips-Van Heusen (PVH) which owns the brand worldwide is an apparel giant which owns iconic brands like Arrow, Van Heusen, Tommy Hilfinger and Calvin Klein.

This iconic brand was brought to India by Madura Garments. Madura Garments hold the right to market this brand in India. When Aditya Birla group acquired Madura Garments, the right moved to AB Group.

Van Heusen was a pioneer in the development of executive -wear segment in India. The brand positioned itself as one for the upwardly mobile executives. The brand positioned itself on the platform of Powerful + Fashionable executive formal wear. The brand introduced the concept of " Power Dressing " implying that the brand users are those who occupy the powerful places in the corporate world.

Along with the aspirational positioning , the brand appealed to the consumers by focusing on fashion.Fashion and Formal wear are seemingly opposite attributes and it is difficult to convince consumers that a brand can have these opposite attributes co-exist. Van Heusen was successful in doing that. The best way to impress the fashion conscious consumer is to innovate. Globally Van Heusen is known for its innovation in their clothing. The brand came out with concepts of Ice Touch, Dura Press etc which reinforced the positioning of Van Heusen as a fashionable executive wear.

The brand endorses the core values of modern, fashionable updated, minimalism and timelessness. The brand targets 25-45 year olds who are in the middle-upper class executives who have a penchant for understated fashion.

The brand captured the attention of Indian corporate through is heavy brand promotion and rich heritage. Van Heusen is now a Rs 400 crore brand with strong presence across the country. The brand which initially promoted itself using the tagline " Power Dressing " evolved over a period of time. The tagline was changed to " Power . Evolved " which communicated that the brand user has arrived to a position of power. Now the brand is sporting the tagline " Evolve Everyday". The brand also successfully ventured into women-wear.

The highly competitive Indian executive wear industry has prompted the brand to devise new ways of growth. The brand launched its range of casual wear under the brand VDot and has now roped in Actor John Abraham as the brand ambassador. ( VDot will be dealt in detail in a future post).

The strong point of Van Heusen is its ability to lead the market with its fashionable range. The high quality , never compromising premiumness ( exclusivity) and understated image has contributed a lot to the growth of this brand. The campaigns of Van Heusen (except for the early ones on Power Dressing) were never clutter-breaking but was enough for the discerning customers to patronize the brand.

Eyeliner Pencil from Matesse Elite

Eye for beauty products from Elite Matesse consisting of Eye shadow, mascara, Brow & lash fix, Perma eye liner & eyeliner pencil. Everything will make your appearance becomes more charming, beautiful, exciting and emitting a goddess of feminine elegance.

SNL Spoofs the TSA

The TSA: It's our business to touch yours. Perfect for those days when you feel lonely.

Did you know - 10% from ALL sales of Dirty Dog Soap goes to the RSPCA?

Well it does!  Perhaps I have not made enough noise about it but it is true.

I am very proud of my dog soap DIRTY DOG SOAP it really is fantastic and a great seller.  Dirty Dog is made using natural essential oils of Tea Tree and Citronella.  It smells wonderful with a very refreshing zingy citrus undertone.  The soap is designed to be an easy, fuss free way of washing your mud magnet dogs, treating them to the same caring bubbles as yourself.

The invention of this soap came about because I have two dogs of my own!  They are totally lovely and a huge part of our family life.  Perdita (Perdy for short) is a semi coated, English bred German Shepherd Dog.  She is a really stunning example of how, for me, a German Shepherd should look.  I used to show them, way back in my past, and know how many different styles of this breed there are.  Perdy is a very pretty girl with a good straight back and solid bone structure, she is a true Black and Tan and has the most wonderful facial expression ever.  She is a soft as 'muck' and has a lovely, gentle nature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Beautiful Perdita

Well, Perdy is almost 6 years old now, however, aged 4, she was getting a little bit of the old 'single child' syndrome - in other words a bit clingy and a bit Mummy orientated so we decided to take the plunge and get another dog as a companion for her.

We happened to hear about our second dog 'Blue' by accident, through a mutual friend.  We had never considered a Spaniel at all but once we saw him and the way, as a puppy meeting a very big dog for the first time, he behaved towards Perdy, we were sold immediately!  Blue is an English Working Springer and he is an absolute dream!  Honestly if we could have organised the most perfect dog as a companion to Perdy it would have been him and it was a total chance thing................  sometimes I do believe they work out the best.

Anyway Perdy and Blue are now inseparable, they are the best of friends, sleeping in the same bed and playing together all the time.  They both do love swimming and mud though!  So I needed to come up with a soap that worked.

Blue!

 

 

Dirty Dog is designed to be so much easier than fiddly bottles of shampoo, just wet the fir, rub the bar all over, lather it up and rinse away for the best smelling soft fir ever.  Because this is one of my Totally Natural range it is fine to use in the waterways, take it to the river, get the dogs wet, rub the bar all over and throw in the stick to rinse them off, how easy is that?

Tea Tree is a natural antiseptic, its also great for itchy skin, Citronella is renowned for its insect repelling qualities (and fleas don't like it either) while also combatting oily, smelly dog coats.  Boy do our little lovelies need it sometimes.....................

Our 'beautiful' muddy Perdy with Blue in the background - getting 'stuck in!'

Not only is Dirty Dog such a great product, smelling lovely and really working to keep your dogs clean and sweety scented by buying it DIRTY DOG SOAP customers are also supporting the great work of the RSPCA as Naturally Made Soaps are donating 10% from the sale of every bar.  You can help by ordering from my website, just click on the link at the top of this blog, or the links within it.

Dirty Dog bars also make a fantastic Christmas present - PLEASE NOTE Dirty Dog Soap is also suitable for using yourself for a refreshing, uplifting shower and it is great to take away on holiday with you where you know midges and mossies are a problem - they HATE Citronella.

So far Naturally Made Soaps has donated over £150 to the RSPCA  Please help us to help - click on the link http://www.rspca.org.uk/donate/howyourgiftshelp to find out how much each penny you give goes to help abandoned dogs and other animals in the UK.

Thank you to everyone who has already bought a bar of Dirty Dog.

Ultra-Small House in Japan

Marketing Strategy : Harnessing the Power of Brand Elements

American Marketing Association defines brand as a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition. According to Professor Kevin Lane Keller, Brand Elements are trademark-able devices that serve to identify and differentiate the brand. The most common brand elements are brand names, logos, symbols, characters, spokespeople, slogan, jingle, imagery, packages, colour, imagery, signage etc.

It is important for marketers to realize the potential of using all the brand elements while endeavouring to build a brand. Most marketers tend to concentrate their resources only on brand names and logos and thus losing an opportunity to create and develop other brand elements which can act as a powerful differentiator. Successful brands take advantage of all their brand elements there by creating various points of impact in the mind of the consumer.

Take the case of Absolut Vodka. This is a brand which used its simple trademarked Vodka bottle as a powerful brand element. Through consistent campaigns, the Absolut Vodka bottle was developed as a powerful differentiator for the brand. The trademarked bottle has become the most remembered and visible brand element for Absolut creating a distinct identity for the brand. The brand created lot of awareness, loyalty and consumer interest through the clever use of the vodka bottle in all of their campaigns.

Marketers should be able to identify unique brand elements that can break the clutter and create an impression. While most of the brands chose to invest in common obvious brand elements like the name, logo etc, it would be wise to look for something different. A classic example of that can be seen in the branding of Vanish – which is the stain removing detergent brand of Reckitt & Benckiser. The brand used colour Pink as the main brand element. Vanish uses the tagline “Trust Pink, Forget Stains “to promote the brand element. Vanish product is not pink in colour but the brand comes in a pink pack. The use of the “Pink” colour as the brand element acted as a powerful differentiator for Vanish. The association with Pink also increased the brand awareness and brand recognition in a highly cluttered detergent market

Another important criterion for effective use of brand element is that it should be easy to memorize. The brand elements should be easy to remember and recall. The consumer should be able to remember the brand element and the element should aid in the recall of the brand during the time of purchase.

Intel’s famous tagline “Intel Inside” is one such brand element which is easy to memorize and recall. The brand used this tagline and its logo very effectively in their promotions. ‘Intel Inside ‘tagline together the logo became a powerful brand element that created lot of brand recall and identity. Intel is also one brand that used its jingle (melody) as a powerful element. The five note melody has now become an indispensable part of the Intel branding. Intel carefully developed these brand elements through a 3 second animated jingle ( known as a signature Id, audio visual logo) which consisted displaying the logo and the five- note melody after every Intel ads ( Source – Intel Website). Over a period of time, these brand elements became so powerful that consumers will recall the brand once this melody is played.

The brand elements thus created should be protected by the brand owners. Trademarked brand elements become powerful differentiators over time. Since these brand elements are protected, there need not be any fear about competitors copying those elements.

Marketers should try to identify all possible opportunities to create brand elements. And while communicating the brand’s message, all these brand elements should be present in the communication. For example, Idea Cellular uses a wide range of brand elements in its communication. The brand uses its signature Yellow Colour, Taglines and slogans, brand ambassador and its signature melody in all their multimedia campaigns. All these brand elements have become popular over these years that consumers are now recognizing Idea Cellular when they see or hear any of these brand elements.

Having a basket of strong brand elements also helps in tapping in the various promotional mixes more effectively. For example a popular character or a mascot can open up opportunities of promotion through merchandising. A popular jingle or a melody can help to promote the brand through radio, TV or even mobiles. So it is the job of the marketer to constantly look for creating new brand elements and thus giving new promotional opportunities for the brand.

Brand elements have lot of strategic importance in branding. Marketers should take responsibility in identifying, creating and developing unique brand elements. Once created, these elements provide the brand with a powerful identity at a time when features and attributes are increasingly becoming commoditized.

Originally published here at adclubbombay.com