Fastrack 2.0: The Social Media Logic

After Axe and Sunsilk, Fastrack has decided to test itself in the web2.0 space. It was the obvious next step for this youth fashion brand from the house of Titan. Fastrack has gotten the chemistry going, they created quite a buzz with their ‘how many you have man?’ campaign. Operating in an attractive price band, Fastrack had vibrant designs at the other end of the buzz, waiting to flatter the eager customer. And none were disappointed.

Today Web 2.0 is a gregarious place to be in. The blogs, forums and communities are bursting with youth and eclectic conversations and a brand that targets them ought to be in it. The density of players in this field is light and most are still grappling with the social networking phenomena. So it only makes sense to make hay while the sun shines. Although some brands have made a brave foray into this dynamic space where the consumer controls the communication, most Indian brands are still reluctant and skeptical since they have no means of analyzing the ROI that web 2.0 is bringing in.

Fastrack has however, struck the right chord with the internet savvy youth. Axe, which clearly set up the first virtual campus, now has Fastrack on its heels. Both the brands specialize in different subjects one borders on the art of seduction and the other on fashion. The spunky new space on the web has made Fastrack a new cool place to hangout while online. The collection displayed in a diary on a chaotic desk caught my fancy. The brand has lunged headlong into social networking, they even have fan clubs on orkut and facebook.

The brand’s foray into eyewear was another strategic move. Fastrack eyewear signed John Abraham as their brand ambassador, a perfect fit for the brand. A biker who endorses bike brands is now endorsing a bikers’ accessories brand. It couldn’t get any better than this.

The new collection of neon disc watches has been a tad bit disappointing. After watching the catchy 15 seconder on air, I went to the store to check out the new line, somehow it doesn’t come across as innovative or new. However, a brand like Fastrack, that has gotten everything right in the past, is allowed a few tasteless slips.

Art Attack

Sprucing up my blog was always a big challenge for me. At coffee & conversation I can’t let the caffeine levels dip or the interesting conversation dry out.

I am constantly looking for alternatives to keep my blog bursting with energy and voila! I found another one of those small tools that’ll salvage it from monotony – Sketchacast! A fun way to animate a doodle and bring alive an idea or just add that little zing to your blog. So if you thought blogs were all about text, think again.

It’s simple and really cool to use. Just register, doodle and publish! There are very few tools to deal with, which makes in simpler. One could add audio as well while drawing and explaining something hence it conveys the message better than a long prose. A sketchcast can be embedded Youtube style on your blogs or the URL could be shared.

I attempted 2 such sketchcasts. I admit they look retarded and my creativity should not be judged based on these. The first one is ‘faces’, oh it was a struggle to keep the pen on the canvas.





The second one is a scoop of popcorn and a film reel which I intend to use for all the movie reviews.





There’s more to come soon. But in the meanwhile, you can review my doodling. I should try a yoga sketchcast that would depict the yoga asanas Well that’s for another rainy day.

Feed a mouthful

I am skeptical about writing product or service reviews even if I find it particularly interesting. Simply because reviews are viewed as paid-for promotions. I have been accused in the past for doing so (If only people knew how difficult it is to make money out of personal blogs). There is this one service that caught my attention www.freerice.com a program launched by www.poverty.com to battle hunger and starvation.

The rules look pretty simple, it’s a multiple choice of synonyms and the idea is to choose the closest fit. For every word you get right, 10 grains of rice is donated to the United Nations World Food Program.

The points are indicated by a bowl that collects rice. The words are challenging and it gets tougher as you advance. This is perfect for GRE and CAT aspirants and the best part is you don’t need to register.

You can also extend your support for the cause by plugging in one of their assortment of banners into your blogs and websites. I am hoping one of my more technically adept friends will help me do so.

Sip Lick...mmm... Yuck!

Somehow for a Tam like me the concept of instant coffee doesn’t fit too well in the frame of things. However, this line of thought doesn’t seem to perturb our marketers too much. Bru introduced the 3 in 1 coffee mix in both hot and cold variants. The mix contains coffee, sugar and creamer, all one has to do is to add hot or cold water as per the instructions indicated on the pack.

The ‘Sip lick Ummm!’ gives an interesting feel to the ad. I though I could get Barista home but the product turned out to be a big disappointment all the lather and foam of a great cuppa chino was hoax. When you pour the piping hot water into the mug containing the mix it froths and rises up just like in the ad and it looks absolutely yummy. You would even get the froth moustache like they show in the ad but you may not want to lick it! The drink is way too watery and insipid to pass of as coffee.

So if this wasn’t bad enough we have another player joining them in the weeks to come– COFiCOFi. Manufactured by Sarsan Foods Private Limited in collaboration with Manzaro Global Ventures Limited, COFiCOFi with its baseline ‘Concept of Harmony’ will be available in 7 variants each priced at Rs.5 per sachet!

I walked up to the kiosk at Garuda mall wanting to try this coffee. I had choose between Original, French vanilla, Irish Cream, Hazelnut, Mocha, Mintolatte, and Tiger. I settled for Hazelnut, I had to then decide if I wanted my coffee hot or cold. Hot it had to be! So the sales person fixed my coffee and I was shocked at final product. It looked nothing like coffee and tasted even worse than it looked. Since I was the 100th customer to visit the stall (although I like to think it was my incredible smile) I was given a cap! That’s not going to change my opinion about the product. To put it simply the Coffee sucked!

In south India coffee is a religion, no Tam can start his day without his fix of filter coffee anything else would only put him in foul mood and I being Tam can vouch for that. Despite high levels of stress and constant lack of time people still take pleasure in making their own coffee no instant coffee can dream to change that. COFiCOFi’s 3 in 1 blend of coffee, sugar and creamer hardly seems be the harmonious brew for the southies.

PROMOMOTO

It is really interesting to see brands participating in the cultural spirit of their key markets. In Russia, during the Russian Othodox Christmas week Motorola built the St. Basil's Cathedral as a part of their promotion.


St. Basil's Cathedral by Motorola

Here is a closer look. It is for real alright!

Way to go Moto! With their phone Moto Pebble, the company is going all out to woo their target audinence and what better way to do it than talking to them in their own language!

Source: Russia Blogs

Sampling Parlours

How perfect it would be if I was allowed to try on the latest foot cream before purchasing it. Department store make up counters allow you to test beauty care products but not without having the sales girl breathing down your neck with special offers, or scanning you from top to bottom and telling you rather politely ‘Ma’am you can try the same shade for lesser in this brand.’ It absolutely infuriates me when caked up sales girls tell me that. I like to know what the white lily and pink coral do to my hair or how vitamin E enriched lipstick helps my lips. I like to read every fine print before I am thoroughly convinced and one can’t do it without the sales person interrupting you a zillion times in the process.

With new cosmetics flooding the market every day, and with the high price tags they demand, I am always wary about putting my money down. I don’t want to wake up with a face full of zits, or worse, discover I am allergic to a certain cosmetic I bought without trying it. Cosmetic shoppers in Tokyo are in for a special surprise with the launch of sampling salons like Club-C.

Customers at sampling salons are invited to take their time and try as many make-up and skin care products as they like without any pressure to buy. They can test-drive different brands and varieties side by side and make their purchases later at traditional sales counters or over the internet. While some salons employ a staff of knowledgeable consultants, there are no sales people onsite.

This is absolutely a delightful experience for both. On the Marketing front it not only helps understand consumers better, but also gives marketers a wide scope for research and development. While at the consumer end it allows people to leisurely try out products and helps build loyalty for brands.

The concept - a perfect interpretation of ‘Tryvertising’ – experiencing the product before purchase (still pretty unheard of in India). Salons get revenue from manufacturers who pay for their products to be displayed, market research organizations and sometimes from customers themselves, who pay modest membership fees. This concept has caught on quite well in Japan and will soon be mimicked the world over with probably minor variations. This can be extended to other product categories as well.

India is probably not mature enough to accept it but stores like Health and Glow, a hotspot for personal and beauty care products and L’Oreal run parlors could have small sections encouraging such trials (obviously with out nagging sales persons). They could have consultants who are pretty knowledgeable about products instead. Indian marketers should put some dough and thought into this concept because it has a great promise and even greater ROI.

In my opinion this is a brilliant concept, and I wish we could extend it to a whole lot of real life product and service categories – jobs, career, men. Now that’s whimsical fancy

Sources: www.springwise.com

Triple Action Formula

‘Triple action formula’ Chinmoye read out aloud. I turned around to find him holding my Renu lens solution.

‘You marketing types are obsessed with multi-attribute branding – Single Action doesn’t exist anymore.’ He laughed

‘A Mobile phone that serves as a camera and mp3 player too. Mosquito repellent that also serves as a room freshner. Toothpaste that not only gives you good breadth and great smile but also protects your teeth from decay, gums from bleeding and whole lot of other things, at least so the ad claims! I dread the day I would pick up a toothpaste which also claims to be shaving cream!’ He pointed out.

I can’t disagree with what he said, but I don’t blame marketers for this multi-attribute branding either. Consumers are constantly seeking value and novelty in everything they buy, use or get exposed to. Even if it’s something as trivial as toothpaste.

For instance, if jeans had continued to remain shop floor workers’ clothes (practical clothing), none of us would be interested in them. Levis and its competitors would have long shut shop. Their decision to reinvent themselves time and again for fashion conscientious youth has kept them alive and kicking. So now we have not one but many pairs of jeans that are not only practical but also fashionable, makes you look thin and have oodles of attitude to them.

That’s what they did to our good old toothpaste as well – They decided sparkling white teeth was not good enough, so they converted it into an orahealer – an answer to any problem remotely related to your mouth be it teeth, gums or tongue.

So is there no market for specialty products? You can no longer go to the store and pick up a tape recorder, you get 10 Disc changer, a VCD/DVD player and a home theatre thrown in, all for a few thousands more. Oh yeah! It may or may not have a slot for a tape. Products that didn’t innovate ceased to exist – Pagers were out before they were in, transistors although lasted long went out with a whimper. Sadly no one ever missed it. (Except my grandmother if she counts)

There is a flip side to it. Many strong brands went down under when they tried their hands at multi-attribute branding.

Lifebouy soap, an inexpensive and reliable soap that removed the grime and dust suddenly became the family soap that offered the same protection with a gentler wash and cure for acne. (Really now a new colour and packaging can con very few)

Dettol a germ fighter suddenly went to become a germi-check formula for you body – with their soap and body wash. The thought hardly sounds pampering and that’s what a body wash is supposed to do!

This explains that specialities do exist. iPod for instance, revolutionised the portable music industry. Dettol should continue to be a germ fighter and launch a new line of products accordingly and defend its leadership position from a whole lot of other me too products instead of trying to do a whole more and defeat its sole purpose of existence.

The thought of using 2 different toothpastes to protect my teeth and 3 different solutions to protect my eyes sounds so horribly tedious. I would rather stick to a product that offers me more for less.

So what’s all the gung-ho behind multi-attribute branding? Well for one it addresses the needs of many pockets of consumers and it’s sure to work with a few if not with all. Exclusivity has its own charm so large corporates should think before hastily jumping into the bandwagon of multi-attribute branding even though it might seem to have the promise of green.