RSVP, WOMBAT and other popular terms in advertising, media studies

RSVP (Respondez Sil Vous Plait – French). RSVP is usually mentioned at the end of an invitation for a function/invite. If are attending the function you are supposed to say "yes I am coming”. Depending on the number of responses suitable arrangements are made for the guests. So If RSVP is written do say if you are going or not. Keeping silent to RSVP is seen as a major Gaffe (mistake)!

WOMBAT - Word of mouth is the best advertising technique: It is often said that advertising is the most fun that one can have with one’s clothes on. So it is not surprising that advertising is entertaining and at the same time it could be misleading. Advertising is taken with a pinch of salt as it tends to glorify the pluses and gloss over the minuses. Like my good friend KVS Krishna Mohan said “it is very difficult not to be a hero in your own story”.

So claims in advertisements not taken very seriously. So it is important that we cultivate WOMBAT. Word of mouth from our friends, relatives and colleagues is seen as more reliable. After all our friends do not have any ulterior motives in recommending a product that she/he does not like himself/herself. So it is very necessary that the companies cultivate positive word of mouth.

Only three things unavoidable in the world: And they are Death, taxes and advertising. We are bombarded by advertising. So the catch and mice game goes on. The customers try to be as much away from advertising as possible and the advertisers want to catch them at all possible times and at all possible places.  

Man biting dog: Frequently cited in media studies. Dog biting man is not news rather it is the other way round. So when a copy of an advertisement is written it has to bite. It should have that element of surprise and intrigue. Otherwise the reader/viewer would be saying “Yawn! How boring, tell me another thing!”

The head line “No Mamata for CPM in West Bengal” is a very good example. Mamta Banerjee is the maverick TMC leader who ended the very long 34 year CPM rule in West Bengal. Mamata is Hindi/Bengali means Love. So the word Mamta became a very good tool for a clever headline. Similarly Jayalalitha the AIDMK leader who defeated M. Karunanidhi of the DMK prompted one news reporter to pen the headline “Jayalalitha shows no Karuna” Karuna in Sanskrit/Tamil means mercy. The thumping win of AIDMK over DMK was cleverly captured in the headline.

Winking at a girl in darkness: Trying to market a product without advertising is like winking at a girl in darkness. A girl should be winked in broad daylight. Winking in day light could result in plethora of responses ranging from a spectrum of responses including total ignorance to a similar winking by the girl. But this has to be done in broad daylight. Winking in darkness is a futile exercise as it is not even noticed.

There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world

There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Ask any economist and within a matter of minutes he/she would say that there is no free lunch in this world. The "free lunch" referred to relates back to the once common tradition of saloons in the United States a "free lunch to patrons who had purchased at least one drink. 

There is no such thing as a free lunch on the other hand, indicates an acknowledgement that in reality a person or a society cannot get something for nothing. Even if something appears to be free, there is always a cost to the person or to society and as a a whole even though that cost may be hidden or distributed. For example bar offering a free lunch will likely charge more for its drinks.

This means that there is absolutely nothing that is totally free in this world. Let us see some examples:

May people would argue that watching Television is free. We do not pay anything for the programmes that we are watching. The payout is the cost of the television itself, the cable connection and the monthly rental for the cable, the time that we waste watching the programmes, the advertisements that we are forced to watch and so on.

In a class o economics one student said “sir one scientist has come out with a great idea. He is going to install rollers on the main roads of the city. When the vehicles roll on the rollers, energy will be generated this can be stored and used. Don’t you think that such energy is totally free?”

The professor replied “what about cost of installing the rollers, what about the friction that will be caused by the rollers on the wheels of the vehicles. What about the resultant wear and tear on the wheels of the vehicles and the subsequent replacement costs?” The student was speechless hearing the answer. 

There is no such thing as a free lunch demonstrates opportunity cost. To get one thing that one likes, one usually has to give up another thing liked. Making decisions requires trading off one goal against another. The idea that there is no free lunch at the societal level applies only when all resources are being used completely and appropriately if not, a 'free lunch' can be had through a more efficient utilization of resources. 

If one individual or group gets something at no cost somebody else ends up paying for it. If there appears to be no direct cost to any single individual, there is a social cost. Similarly someone can benefit for 'free' from an externality or from a public good, but someone has to pay the cost of producing these benefits. 

For example if one section of a society is getting a subsidy or low prices on a certain item, someone else is footing the bill for the subsidy. That somebody could be the government or a section of the population that pays extra taxes. 

Innovative methods of marketing - Live-in Marketing (LIM), Wait marketing, Ambient marketing

Live-in Marketing (LIM) is a term used to describe a variant of marketing and advertising in which the target consumer is allowed to sample or use a brands product in a relaxed atmosphere over a longer period of time. Much like product placement in film and television LIM was developed as a means to reach select target demographics in a non-evasive and much less garish manner than traditional advertising.

Unlike traditional event marketing, LIM suggests that end-users will sample the product or service in a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. The idea behind this technique is that the end-user will have as positive as possible an interaction with the given brand thereby leading to word-of-mouth communication and potential future purchase.

Wait marketing: On public transport, in the doctors’ waiting room, while downloading a video from the Internet, consumers have proved 2 to 3 times more receptive to advertising than when sitting in front of their television. Wait marketing helps companies turn consumers waiting time into the perfect opportunity to communicate in an innovative and effective way.

When elevator pitch turns transforms itself into a plane pitch. Richard Branson has launched a  Wait Marketing initiative called Pitch TV. Entrepreneurs and marketing managers can promote their business in a 2-minute pitch that will be broadcasted on Virgin Atlantic Airlines flights!

Ambient marketing: may be defined as an activity of the business of creating brand recognition without necessarily pushing its product. The campaign is very often carried out by finding a thing that can be clearly connected with the business and by communicating the thing instead of the business itself.

Examples are messages on the backs of bus tickets, on hanging straps in railway carriages and on the handles of supermarket trolleys. It also includes such techniques as projecting huge images on the sides of buildings, or slogans on the gas bags of hot air balloons.

The marketers have turned a traditional and boring luggage claim belt into a giant roulette wheel at Venice Marco Polo Airport.

Ambient marketing on Internet may be performed in form of placing relevant thing (an image of a stylish shoe in case of shoe retailer) as an avatar published with blog postings, commentaries or on social networks.

Innovative methods of marketing - Experiential marketing, Tissue-pack marketing

Experiential marketing — interaction with product – also called Relationship Marketing was first defined as a form of marketing developed from direct response marketing campaigns which emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction, rather than a dominant focus on sales transactions. As a practice, Relationship Marketing differs from other forms of marketing in that it recognizes the long term value of customer relationships and extends communication beyond intrusive advertising and sales promotional messages. With the growth of the internet and mobile platforms, Relationship Marketing has continued to evolve and move forward as technology opens more collaborative and social communication channels. This includes tools for managing relationships with customers that goes beyond simple demographic and customer service data. Relationship Marketing extends to include Inbound Marketing efforts, (a combination of search optimization and Strategic Content), PR, Social Media and Application Development. Brands are now also being driven by the customer themselves, through experiential elements like Converse's co-creation marketing or Nike's iD system, design your own shoes. Nike came up with an innovative idea to gauge customers by giving them an experience of being themselves. Customers can design their shoes according to their likes and dislikes, material, colour, shape etc… which was definitely creating an identity for themselves. In India many companies have tried out the experiential marketing successfully. One Indian company tried out a concept called Create your Own paint. Many paint buyers find it very difficult to decide on the shades provided by the company. To give the customers more choice the company designed paint mixers. In these specially designed shops the customers can decide on a shade or a color by themselves using a computer. Once the shade or color is decided all that the customer has to decide the quantity and the exact shade desired. The paint would be delivered to the customer within a few minutes.

Tissue-pack marketing: Companies use small, portable tissue packages to move advertising copy directly into consumers' hands. About 4 billion of these packages of tissues are distributed on the streets annually in Japan—largely outside of subway stations.

The concept of tissue-pack marketing was first developed in Japan. Its origins date back to the late 1960s when Hiroshi Mori, the founder of a paper-goods manufacturer in Kōchi Prefecture called Meisei Industrial Co., was looking for ways to expand demand for paper products. At the time, the most common marketing freebies in Japan was boxes of matches. These were often given away at banks and then used by women in the kitchen.

Mori figured tissues would have even wider appeal than the matches, and as a result he developed the machinery to fold and package tissues into easy-to-carry, pocket-size packs. The new product was marketed only as a form of advertising and was not sold to consumers.

Innovative methods of marketing - Wild Posting Campaigns, Alternative marketing, Undercover marketing, Astroturfing

Wild Posting Campaigns: Posters are put up at construction site barricades, building facades, in alleyways. In short any place that is available at construction sites. Although cost is relatively low when compared to other out of home advertising forms, wild posting is largely ineffective because the ad size is small and placement is only available on temporary construction site. Sites are not location specific and message is very hard to view unless the consumer is only feet away from poster. 

  

Alternative marketing: The Street Marketing is one of the oldest ways to advertise. Street marketing is handing out flyers when the prospect walking in the street.

It is a always better to be closer of the customer to launch a new product/service. To make it successful, the companies have to choose the best places, and have support material like stickers, free goodies etc. The low price of this type of advertising is an advantage. 

Undercover marketing also called stealth marketing:  An undercover campaign aims to generate buzz, is economical, and once sufficient buzz has been generated, is almost free, as consumers "market" the product to others, through a network of referrals which grows and grows.

An ideal consumer will not only begin using that product themselves, but will also tell their friends about it. Financial risk here is relatively small because such marketing approach requires fewer expenses and is usually more cost-effective as well. Undercover marketing is used when traditional marketing techniques have been exhausted.

It is the consumer's sense that this recommendation was spontaneous and unsolicited, and the resulting feeling that "one good turn deserves another", that drives the buzz. So, the "bought and paid for" aspect of the transaction must remain hidden.

Overall, the person doing the undercover marketing must look and sound like a peer of their target audience without any ulterior motive for endorsing the product—employees of the company cannot do undercover marketing, nor can celebrities (except possibly to other celebrities).

Sony Ericsson used stealth marketing when they hired 60 actors in 10 major cities, and had them walk up to total strangers and ask them: “Would you mind taking my picture?" The actor then handed the stranger a brand new picture cell phone while talking about how cool the new device was.

Astroturfing — disguising company messaging as an authentic grassroots mass movement. Astroturfing is a form of advocacy for a corporate agenda designed to give the appearance of a "grassroots" movement.. The term is a taken from AstroTurf a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass.

Astroturfers attempt to orchestrate the actions of apparently diverse and geographically distributed individuals. Astroturfing may be undertaken by an individual promoting a personal agenda, or highly organized professional groups with money from large corporations, unions, non-profits, or activist organizations.

Innovative methods of marketing - Reverse Graffiti, Presence marketing and Grassroot marketing

 Reverse Graffiti — clean pavement advertisements. Reverse graffiti, also known as clean tagging, dust tagging, grime writing, green graffiti or clean advertising, is a method of creating temporary images on walls or other surfaces by removing dirt from the surface. It is often done by removing dirt or dust with the fingertips from windows or other dirty surfaces, such as writing 'wash me' on a dirty vehicle. 

Reverse Graffiti also explored commercially as an original way of out-of-home advertising to reach consumers in an unconventional new way. Microsoft, the BBC and Smirnoff have advertised their products using reverse Graffiti.  

Presence marketing — marketing to the consumer who is at the point of Purchase (Marketing - for being there). Presence Marketing hinges on two fundamental in-store concepts: Presence Identification identifies a customer upon entry to retail establishment and session Metrics captures the duration of a customer’s shopping visit, departments visited, time spent in the various departments. It provides key insights such as lost sales -- when a shopper spends time in a department/store and does not purchase.

Consider the following example to illustrate the difference between Shopper Marketing and Presence Marketing. If P&G wants to provide a discount on Tide detergent it could use shelf talkers mounted near the shelves which carry the Tide product. The shelf-talker would present a coupon to every shopper who walks past the aisle. It has been reported that 60% of these types of promos actually cannibalize a brands own sales! So someone who was going to buy Tide and was willing to pay full price now gets it at a discount. This is shopper marketing.

In contrast “Presence Marketing” would take into consideration the shopper’s transaction history. So if the customer was buying a different brand’s detergent then a coupon could be sent to the customer’s mobile phone based on Presence Identification.

Grassroots marketing — tapping into the collective efforts of brand enthusiasts. Grass roots marketing is to market the company, organization, products or services on a local and on a personal level. Grass roots marketing is a best way to reach the customers on the basis where they get to know the company and the company gets to know them. Grass root marketing can b tried out using

Direct Phone Calls: This is the method where the company directly calls the potential customer. Better known as telemarketing, it really has garnered a negative stigma to it over the years. However, when direct phone calls are done properly, they are a great way to get to promote the company and its products or service.

Speaking Engagements: This method takes some inner talents to get in front of small and large groups to get the word across about whatever is being marketed. Public speaking may not be possible for everyone but if there is someone in the company that can do it effectively its is better to use that person.

Canvassing: This is the art form of going around in the neighborhood, speaking to people directly, placing flyers on their doors, putting up posters and so on.

There are so many ways more ways the company can implement a grass roots marketing campaign. Whatever the method the company should make sure that is reaching the potential customers on a personal level.

More Management concepts

Having faith:  It is important to have faith. In one self, in the boss and in the organization. There are two types of people.  The believers in god are called theists and the non believers are atheists.  

Once a non believer was climbing a mountain in the Alps. He was a very virile young man who believed that his own efforts are enough to achieve anything in the world. He kept climbing and climbing. By the evening he had doubt of reaching the summit and started to descend. It was very cold and it had became pitch dark and our man was almost freezing. He kept descending. Finally for the first time in his life he was faced with a difficult choice. To descend further to stay put.

For the first time in his life he prayed god. “Oh god save me”. There was no response. He tried again and again. Finally a voice beckoned him “Son I heard you. I will help you. But you will have to trust me”. The man said “Sure god”. God said “Let go of the rope and I will save you”. The man said “How can I let go of the rope. I would die if do it”. God said again “Let go of the rope I will save you”. The man refused to listen to God and hung on to the rope grimly.

The night was cold, dark and freezing. The next day morning our man was found frozen to death five feet from the ground. It was an abject lesson in keeping faith. Keep faith and you would be rewarded.

Hara-kiri: Seppuku ("stomach-cutting") is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai warriors. Seppuku was used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies and likely suffer torture. It was also given as a capital punishment for samurai who had committed serious offenses, or performed for other reasons that had brought shame to them.

Hara-kiri is used popularly in management as a term that denotes self inflicted defeat or failure. For example the company had committed Hara-kiri by its strategy that was doomed to fail by entering into a foreign market in which it had no knowledge or information.

The Sword of Damocles:  is an object in a Greek legend which is designed to illustrate the perils of being in a position of power. The term is often used in popular culture to talk about an imminent threat or peril, with the idiom “the Sword of Damocles” along with the related concept of “hanging by a thread.”

In management used as a paradigm of a person who is in power but who is only hanging in there, sitting in the hot seat. One mistake and his head would be chopped off.

Doubting Thomas is a term that is used to describe someone who will refuse to believe something without direct, physical, personal evidence; a skeptic who has a questioning attitude, or some degree of doubt regarding claims that are elsewhere taken for granted. In management parlance a person who is a self appointed doubter of any new concept. Generally tolerated Doubting Thomases should not be allowed to overpower all the discussions with their overt negativism. 

More Management concepts

Hiding their head in the sand, like an ostrich:  When someone says “hiding their head in the sand, like an ostrich” what it means is that they are foolishly ignoring their problem, hoping it will magically vanish. The ostrich does many things, but hiding its head in the sand is not one of them. But this saying has become very popular.

The explanation is that when a danger is approaching the ostrich simply buries its head in the sand. It is as if the Ostrich is saying "as I have buried my head I can’t see the problem, the problem too can’t see me”. Take it with a pinch of salt but it should be remembered that problems should be faced head on and one should not run away from them.

Paper pushers: according to the definition a paper pusher is an office worker who works in an office and deals with forms and reports all day. One whose work is dull and without meaning. And some workers simply move all that paper from one place to another, pushing the paper from desktop to drawer and back again. Interestingly it means a person who busily rushes from one place to another in an organization carrying a paper. He appears to be very busy but hardly does any work.

Dry Promotion: Rise in status of a person but not pay.  A promotion that provides greater status or responsibility but does not involve an increase in pay. One way of satisfying a person is to offer a dry promotion. The person who gets is immediately happy but receives no financial incentives.

TV dinner:  A TV dinner (also called a frozen dinner, freezer meal, microwave meal, or ready meal) is a prepackaged frozen or chilled meal which usually comes in an individual package. It requires very little preparation and contains all the elements for a single-serving meal.

The term TV dinner is a trademark originally used for a brand of packaged meal developed in 1953 for C.A. Swanson & Sons. (The name in full was TV Brand Frozen Dinner.) In the United States, the term is now synonymous with any prepackaged dinner purchased frozen in a supermarket and heated at home, although Swanson stopped using the name "TV Dinner" in 1962.

The original TV dinner came in an aluminum tray and was heated in an oven. Most frozen food trays are now made of microwaveable material, usually plastic. TV dinner is a lazy person’s dream come true. He can simply come home and heat up a dinner. By the time he changes his clothes the dinner is ready. The name TV dinner has been coined to effectively remind how fast the meal can be prepared. The meal can be made hot and piping before the commercial breaks are finished.

More Marketing concepts - Part I

Silent sales person: The sales person is the most important link in the sales process. He is the interface between the company and the customers. In many cases the product’s unit value is very less and individual salesman can’t be present at the POP (Point-of-Purchase). The role of the sales person is thus taken over by the product packaging. As the packaging can’t talk (in most of the cases) it is referred to as the silent salesman. In retail shops being picked up and examined by the customer is the final frontier. In that split second packaging has to seduce the customer and shout ‘PICK ME UP”. If the customer takes the product in his hand half the battle is won. That is why packaging is an art. The display has to be bright and shining. It should have interesting copy and enticing visuals. All in all packaging can play a very vital role on making the product reach the shopping basket of the customer.

One innovative promotional display that comes to mind was seen at Kids Kemp in Bangalore. A Shopper preoccupied with thoughts is strolling down the aisle. He notices the Pepsi display. He is not overtly interested. But when he is within five feet of the display a can (not a bottle) jumps out of the display (micro-processor controlled). Taken by surprise the shopper catches the Pepsi can. He looks around - there is no one he can approach. He can’t push the can back into the machine. Not knowing what to do he is left with two options - to keep the can in his shopping basket or consume it. At the payment counter much to his delight he is told that the Pepsi can is a new flavor of Pepsi and that it is complimentary. Talk about enticing and effective promotional displays!

Iceberg principle: Observation that in many (if not most) cases only a very small amount or the tip of information is available or visible about a situation or phenomenon, whereas the 'real' information or bulk of data is either unavailable or hidden. The principle gets its name from the fact that only about 1/10th of an iceberg's mass is seen outside while about 9/10th of it is unseen, deep down in water. Used in the control function of management the take away is - what is visible is important and warrants your attention. But what is not visible is more important and is very dangerous to ignore the invisible part of the situation, or problem.

Looking at the trees and missing the forests: This term is used when a person is overly concerned with details of a particular issue or problem, not understanding the whole situation. When expressing that a person is focusing too much on specific problems and is missing the point that is very important.

Pounding a square peg in a round hole: meaning that one is trying to do something that does not "fit" or is inappropriate to a situation. It is making a person who liked being outdoors to work an office is  like "pounding a square peg in a round hole". In many cases we try to adjust people and situations to the jobs rather than making jobs and situations suitable for people. In this case the use of "pound "rather than "put" suggests a more vigorous attempt to do something that, at best is not a very good solution to a situation, and more likely is doomed to failure or will never work.

Efficiency and effectiveness: One of the things that is always asked. What is the difference between efficiency and effectiveness? Efficiency is the art of doing things right and effectiveness is the art of doing right things. Let me clarify. When a student comes to the class in time, listens attentively, takes the notes, does not make noise and leaves after the teacher leaves we call him as being efficient. That is he has done the things right. But if the student does all these things and asks questions, intellectually challenges himself and the teacher, internalizes the concepts and asks himself the question” how is this going to be helpful in real life?”, we call that particular student as being effective that is he is doing the right things.

Latest web and Internet marketing concepts

Viral marketing: is a marketing technique that uses pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, like the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages.

Permission marketing: Coined by “Seth Godwin” Permission marketing is an approach to selling goods and services in which a prospect explicitly agrees in advance to receive marketing information. Opt-in e-mail, where Internet users sign up in advance for information about certain product categories, is a good example of permission marketing.

Advocates of permission marketing argue that it is effective because the prospect is more receptive to a message that has been requested in advance and more cost-efficient because the prospect is already identified and targeted. In a world of information overload, automated telemarketing, and spam, most people welcome the idea of permission marketing.

Social media marketing: In the traditional marketing communications model, the content, frequency, timing, and medium of communications by the organization is in collaboration with an external agent, i.e. advertising agencies, marketing research firms, and public relations firms. With the emergence of Web 2.0, the internet provides a set of tools that allow people to build social and business connections, share information and collaborate on projects online.

Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts attention, generates online conversations, and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. The message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it is coming from a trusted source, as opposed to the brand or company itself. Social media is opening doors for organizations to increase their brand awareness and facilitate conversations with the customer. Organizations can receive direct feedback from their customers and targeted markets.

Buzz marketing: Marketing buzz or simply buzz is a term used in word-of-mouth marketing. The interaction of consumers and users of a product or service serve to amplify the original marketing message.

Buzz as a form of hype among consumers, a positive association, excitement, or anticipation about a product or service. Positive "buzz" is often a goal of viral marketing, public relations, and of advertising on Web media. The term refers both to the execution of the marketing technique, and the resulting goodwill that is created. Examples of products with strong marketing buzz upon introduction were Harry Potter, the Volkswagen New Beetle, Pokémon, and the Blair Witch Project. In India Tata used Buzz marketing to create positive hype for its Indica cars first and then for the cheapest car in the world - the Nano.

In-game advertising:  refers to the use of computer and video games as a medium to deliver advertising. In-game advertising is seen as a prime way to target the male in the 18-34 demographic, who are increasingly neglecting television in favor of computer and video games. However, some gamers see these moves as greedy and intrusive. In game advertising can be static (stationary like a hoarding or a backdrop) or dynamic (incorporated into the game itself).