DOES BRAND ENDORSEMENTS HELP DURING RECESSION

We know that the major cause for the global economic melt down is the sub prime crisis in U.S. It had its effect on the global economy, including India. In India, many of the banks like ICICI, SBI had its exposure in the U.S FII’s. State Bank of India (SBI) has $5 million exposure to Lehman Brothers against its global balance sheet of $250 billion. ICICI UK subsidiary has 18% exposure to US market i.e. 375cr and people started withdrawing this amount from the bank which resulted in a drastic reduction in ICICI Bank share price on the BSE by around 26%. The drop in share price has its reasons like decline in confidence of the customers because of its
exposure in US FIIS. In this situation it had to regain its brand value by sending a message of trust.



For this it had chosen Shahrukh khan, the biggest bollywood star, for promoting the message of trust to the customers. The strategy actually has helped ICICI control the panic selling. This actually cannot be viewed and cannot be represented in any form, because the stock prices were still going down even after the ad. The decrease in the stock prices is because of macroeconomic reasons, i.e. recession in U.S. The entire bank industry was being affected. The ad only helped build confidence in customers and therefore preventing them from withdrawing their amount from the bank.

DNA in Bangalore!!

Guys, DNA has arrived in Bangalore. Wondering if i'm talking about a new biological phenomenon? No! It’s not Deoxyribonucleic Acid but its Daily News & Analysis. A new newspaper that is making its entry in Bangalore with highly competitive strategies. Do you think it can suceed in the highly competitive Bangalorean News Paper market dominated by TOI?
Lets look at a few business strategies followed by DNA to enter into the market:
i. First bringing awareness among people about the arrival of DNA in the city. For this it is following a poster appearance with a catch line of “IBELIEVE IN BANGALORE BECAUSE BANGALORE IS IN MY DNA”. This creates an emotional interaction and relationship between the customers and DNA. It also shows the belief DNA has in Bangaloreans.
ii. After raising awareness with respect to its brand name, DNA, It is following a penetration policy into the market by offering the paper at low price. This would help in attracting the consumers who aren't particular about their daily dose of news, in other words, the undiscovered market.
iii. A complete package of DNA, DNA MONEY, and DNA AFTER HRS are provided in one paper. Times of India had actually gone for niche marketing by dividing the segments into general and business consumers. For both these segments it is providing Times of India and ET. DNA has identified the need for both services in a single paper. So, DNA has actually gone for a mass marketing by supplying the entire array of information in the same edition targeted to all the segments. This helps in attracting the competitors’ customers and thus enhancing their market share.
iv. It provides Privilege card for the founder members. Special offers like subscription for rs.301/year, chance to be a Millionaire and various prizes are offered apart from the privilege card to the founder members. The privilege card can be used to avail 10-30% discounts from various outlets. This helps in attracting the customers and maintaining a track of customers with the privilege cards issued and building loyalty.
v. It is issuing a Bangalore Guide on subscription and providing weekend nirvana, a special weekend newspaper.
vi. Taking feedbacks from customers in understanding their needs and problems, this helps in making an ideal newspaper to the customers.
These are the marketing strategies used by DNA for its launch in Bangalore. Do you think with these strategies DNA can succeed in Bangalore, Lets see!!

Flaw in SBI advertisement

SBI (State Bank of India) is one of the biggest banks in India. SBI is well recognized Brand and it uses Mass advertising for increasing its brand visibility. Do you think there is a commonality between what it has set out to show and what it has shown? See the Advertisement published in ET and Business Line on Dec 1s 2008. The two employees in conversation are represented as SBI customers and the other workers sitting down are not represented as customers of SBI but the caption used is “Banker to Every Indian”. Caption reflects that the services are provided to all Indians. The ad has completely ignored the presence of two more individuals, may be it considered the two workers as Foreigners! Anyway truly it missed its Main theme in targeting its customers. Hope it corrects it next time.
Another issue here is the theme, “Pure Banking. Nothing else.” Makes sense? Not really. I wonder how they came up with this one. The meaning of the theme is that it provides banking services and nothing else. In the current market situation companies are increasing their services and target area to increase its profits, but SBI has restricted itself to a limited target area. Dmat services, Bihar Flood Donation,
SBI e-tax etc. These services provided are considered as the pure banking by SBI.