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DIRECT MARKETING COMES OF AGE
The Rs 1,000-plus-crore direct marketing (DM) industry in the country is in the midst of frenetic growth. Though still not at par with the status of DM in the developed markets, DM has made advertisers realise that there are viable options beyond mass media. Growing at around 25-30 percent annually, a surefire indicator of the escalating importance of DM is the trend of almost all advertising agencies having launched a DM arm. With the informal launch of the Direct Marketing Association of India (DMAI) early this year, formed in collaboration with the US Direct Marketing Association, the industry’s need for a representative forum reveals its growing nature. One of the major factors leading to this fast-paced growth is the higher understanding regarding the importance of DM, as now marketers realise that the time when mass media worked for everybody has gone.
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| ‘Consumer-generated media is key’ : Masaharu Aiuchi |
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| In the present context of fractured media, one of the biggest challenges facing brand builders is managing the consistency of the brand message across media vehicles. One of the most popular and effective ways to resolve this issue is to follow an integrated marketing communications (IMC) approach. Dentsu chief researcher IMC development division, Masaharu Aiuchi, speaks about this promising tool in an email interview.
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| ‘Media neutrality is key to our success’ : Howard Draft |
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| Our goal has always been to deliver marketing programmes that are based on deep consumer insights, which in the end, change consumer behaviour, says Howard Draft, the chairman of the agency named after him. The Chicago-based Draft today is one of the largest direct marketing agencies in the world. In this email interview, Draft says that the booming middle class, combined with technological advances of India offer huge opportunities for DM agencies.
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| First World ideas at Third World prices! : Ranjiv Ramchandani |
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| If the success of a brand is gauged by its distinctiveness, then Tantra has arrived. This Mumbai-based T-shirt brand, started in 1997, is going strong with die-hard fans proudly displaying the quirky side of Indian life. Staying true to its medium, the Tantra T-shirt has now extended its line with Barking Dog, a T-shirt with universally appealing witticisms, and Line Maaro, its unisex line making it a total of nine sub-brands. In a telephonic chat its co-founder Ranjiv Ramchandani, a microbiologist-turned-copywriter-turned-entrepreneur, talks about the inspiration, challenges and the method in the madness.
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| Soccer: A good kick for marketers |
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| The recently concluded World Cup Football was more of a media event considering its wide appeal. This 64-matches stretched over 31 days, and played in the odd-hours in the far-flung Germany, could even surpass cricket in the country during the period. However, audiences were not the only to celebrate soccer World Cup as marketers around the world realised the power of the game to capture attention of the masses and thus left no stone unturned to capture the momentum.
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| Conquer with concepts |
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| With this issue we’re pleased to bring on board Marketing Prof at IIM-Bangalore S Ramesh Kumar. The noted marketing brain writes about the ‘experiential approach to branding’ in the first column.
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| Dad, are you listening? |
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| It’s not judicious for a media company with multiple brands to have one sales team to hawk all of them across the market
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| July, 2006 |
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| June, 2006 |
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| May, 2006 |
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