A good customer experience turns a casual customer into a loyal one: Anand Narang, Bata India

Narang, VP, Marketing at Bata India on how the footwear brand became a household name across India and its new campaign

e4m by Christina Moniz
Published: Jul 12, 2017 8:25 AM  | 7 min read


Anand Narang, VP, Marketing, Bata India, talks about the brand’s new communication campaign that exhorts women to be more comfortable in their shoes, and about its successful strategy of being local while offering an international range of footwear designs. Excerpts:



 





What is the insight behind the “Me and comfortable with it” campaign? How do you think this works for Bata?



In the world of fashion, we see standardized beauty models every day but normal life is very different from the pictures we see in magazines. We recognise that Bata customers are individuals with a unique lifestyle and specific taste in shoes. We want to support our customers in their uniqueness to make them feel comfortable with who they are. It does not matter if they are curvy, thin, tall, opinionated, tattooed or emotional; we want our customers to be comfortable in their own skin. Therefore, the "Me. And Comfortable With It" advertising campaign communicates this message. 



 





Do you think that your new TVC will resonate well with Indian women? What is the kind of response you have seen?



Our research and insights reveal that the modern Indian woman is comfortable with her choices, her emotions, femininity and with challenging gender roles. Essentially, she is comfortable in her own style and shoes. Our recent TVC stands true to these insights and is also true to our global brand manifesto, “Me. And Comfortable With It.” Through this ad, we are celebrating the modern Indian woman, and we have seen a positive response from consumers so far. 



 





What is the media mix you are using?



For our current TV campaign, we are advertising on all major GECs as well as on other popular television genres like English entertainment viewed primarily by women with youth as the secondary audience. We have also covered popular GECs in regional languages especially in the south region. On Digital, we are now speaking the language of young people and our social media communication goes beyond just shoes. Our blog posts offer suggestions that our consumers can benefit from. To engage our younger customers, it is imperative to use social media interestingly and hence we have diverse content like wardrobe curation posts, do-it-yourself videos on colouring and maintaining shoes, and various engaging contests. As Bata targets younger consumers for its latest collections, it aims to give the brand a makeover to make it look younger and aspirational. We are also tying up with popular youth portals like PopXO to create engaging store activities where fashion influencers create some of the best looks for modern Indian consumers using our new designs. 



 





Over the years, Bata has grown to become an iconic footwear brand in the Indian market. What do you think has worked in the brand’s favour in India?



As a footwear retail leader in India, our lead medium of communication is our store experience. Our online store as well as over 1,200 outlets across the country serves as consumer touch points. This is supported by ATL advertising, digital campaigns, activations and strategic tie-ups. All of Bata’s communication campaigns are run in partnership with our agencies. We expect and encourage our agency partners to invest time and resources in understanding our brand philosophy and our consumer-base. Today, creative, media, digital and PR agencies are not just restricted to their domain of expertise but also look at the multi-dimensional experience desired by the consumers and hence take collective ownership of deliverables like store traffic, consumer engagement and conversion in addition to brand equity measures. We drive clarity within our agency partners about the desired results and encourage them to work with each other.



 





How do you plan to maintain this edge with the growing presence of other competing brands in the market?



Bata’s vision is to make great shoes accessible to everyone. This vision shapes our brand strategy. We base our plans on consumer insights as opposed to reacting to competitor moves. Our presence of over eight decades in India has helped us build a solid foundation of trust and comfort. These are the USPs that make us India’s favourite brand, and now we are marrying that with great style and contemporary fashion. Also, in line with the changing consumer shopping behaviour, Bata has started offering an omnichannel experience, allowing consumers to buy online and then pick up the shoes in stores or even reserve online for subsequent store trial. We are investing in creating breathtaking store windows where we are showcasing our latest flagship collections, introducing trained stylists to recommend collections, enhancing in-store music and taking various other steps that appeal to our customers. We recognise that a good customer experience turns a casual customer into a loyal one. The consumer experience is therefore regularly measured for continuous improvement of our store-service.



 





Q. How have your ad spends changed over the past year?



Bata India has developed communication across touch-points and we have doubled our advertising budget for 2017 as compared to the past year. For image building, we generally use TV as that works best as the lead medium to target the widest reach. We complement this with store windows and Point of Purchase branding for highlighting key products in-store. We use digital media to for CRM (Customer Relationship Messaging). We decide the lead medium for each campaign based on the key TG and then optimize the mix for reaching out to them.



 





Q. What is Bata’s strategy for the smaller Tier II and III markets?



Geographically, the consumption story and the need for a great shopping experience is not limited to only the urban centres. In fact non-urban markets are growing equally fast, with consumers from Tier II and III cities aspiring for great designs. Bata has increased its focus on smaller towns with internationally-designed stores being launched in these areas. The latest one for instance was at Thodupuzha, a town near Kochi in Kerala. The 3,000 sq. foot flagship store is unique with its clutter free aesthetics and visual impact creating a truly international shopping experience for its customers in that town.



 





Q. What are the new consumption trends in the Indian market over the past few years? 



Rising affluence, urbanisation due to employment opportunities, nuclear family structures and an increase in working women are the various factors driving an increase in consumption across India. Consumers are also trading up and trading down their choices more often. They are looking for footwear designs that complement their passions, hobbies and occasions. Another change impacting consumption patterns today is the consumers’ love for devices and online shopping. Not only are consumers shopping online, but they are also using the web extensively to influence their purchase before they step into the physical stores. That is why it is becoming increasingly imperative for brands to adopt an omnichannel presence to reach out to consumers today. 



 





Q. What can consumers expect from Bata next? 



We have made great technological advances in our footwear offerings with the brand new collection of Bata Insolia Heels equipped with Insolia Technology owned by the American company HBN. Bata’s new line of Insolia footwear can be worn three times longer than regular heels. The Insolia inner shoe pad counters this by distributing the weight equally between the heel and toes. Moreover to appeal to our younger consumers, Bata India has lined up major new launches with the more youthful sub-brands like Weinbrenner. Our NorthStar footwear styles offer young consumers the latest canvas collection in psychedelic colours and Footin’ offers them a definitive fast-fashion label in footwear. 



 





Q. Can you share with us an interesting anecdote during your tenure here with Bata?



Bata is a global brand with headquarters in Switzerland and design centres in several other countries, including India. Over the years, Bata has been perceived as a local brand in several markets, as we have built iconic brands locally complemented with some memorable local campaigns. When I joined Bata, I had spent a lot of time in our stores and it was heartening to hear customers share fond memories about their Bata purchases and talk about how Bata is an Indian brand from Kolkata. I am proud that we have become an iconic peoples’ brand in the Indian market. 



 





Marketing Tip



Having many brand custodians can pose a challenge for marketers for a brand that has increasingly diverse media options. It is important therefore to follow clear brand guidelines consistently while ensuring a good mix of local adaptations.





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Social Beat wins SEO mandate of Tata CLiQ tag rss

The account was won after a multi-agency pitch

e4m by sunny saini
Published: Oct 23, 2023 5:51 PM  | 2 min read
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e4m e4m Social Beat has won the SEO mandate for Tata CLiQ, one of the fastest-growing omnichannel marketplace in India. Social Beat has been entrusted with optimizing existing content, as well as launching new, optimized category pages systematically on Tata CLiQ’s platform to scale monthly organic traffic by 2x over the next year. The account was won after a multi-agency pitch and will be serviced by Social Beat’s offices in Mumbai. 

Shishir Kataria, Director - Marketing, Tata CLiQ, “Shoppers, e-commerce or otherwise, continue to heavily rely on search and discovery throughout their shopping journey, be it engaging with the latest fashion trends or hunting for the best buys. No wonder a platform's ability to be a part of this journey organically drives significant consideration for it amongst potential shoppers. We, at Tata Cliq, are confident that Social Beat will help us develop and optimise content that is highly discoverable to grow our engagement and revenue. Our goal continues to be to drive more and more shoppers to our platform with optimised and curated products and relevant content.”  

Vikas Chawla, Co-Founder, Social Beat said, “We are thrilled to partner with Tata CLiQ in their growth journey. We aim to scale traffic to the Tata CLiQ platform manyfold over the next year. Our team of specialised SEO and Content strategists will be working closely to achieve this”

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Will OOH dazzle this festive season?

As the celebrations begin, experts tell us the trends and challenges for the OOH sector this season

e4m by sunny saini
Published: Oct 12, 2023 4:13 PM  | 3 min read
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Be it the flower-clad taxis in Mumbai for Made in Heaven Season 2 promotion or Zomato’s ‘kheer mangoge kheer denge’ billboards, India's OOH advertising sector has undergone substantial transformation and expansion in the recent years. Even though the medium was severely hit during the pandemic years, it has now managed to rebuild its status. Now, with the onset of the festive season, elections and the cricket world cup, OOH is expected to see more and more advertisers come on board.

Amarjeet Hudda, Chief Operating Officer, Laqshya Media Group, believes most of the clients spend a lot of money during the festive season, especially for Durga Puja, Dussehra and Diwali, targeting their customers in a festive mood. The categories that spend heavily during these months are Auto, Consumer Durables, Real Estate, Organised retail, and E-commerce. 

According to Dipankar Sanyal of Platinum Outdoor, there was a huge surge in the festive season last year, and he expects the same this year too. “Last four to five years have turbulent for outdoor. It was picking up in 2019, but then Covid came and everything went flat for two years,” he mentioned.

According to EY-FICCI’s M&E Report 2023, OOH media grew 86 percent in 2022 to Rs 37 billion. The value includes traditional, transit and digital media, but excludes untracked unorganised OOH media such as wall paintings, billboards, ambient media, storefronts, proxy advertising.

Sharing the brand’s perspective, Shivam Ranjan, Head of Marketing, Motorola-APAC, said, “We are going into this festive season with a strong mix of media, including OOH. Within OOH, we are focusing on digital OOH, due to its capability of programmatic serving, measurability, and near real-time insights that allow us to be agile with the communication and optimisation of our campaigns.” 

With urbanisation, improved infrastructure, rising consumerism and an increased spending power, clients' expectations from OOH advertising too have evolved. “The clients expect better ROI on every investment, best in class innovations, tech-led planning and execution. Today, technology plays an important role starting from planning the campaign, to measuring metrics to ROI,” Singh explained.

Another trend that Sanyal has observed is that traditionally advertisers looked at spending on OOH nearly two weeks prior to the festivities, but now, most advertisers have now started advertising a week earlier so that they can get maximum eyeballs. Additionally, the digital OOH advertising (DOOH) has also emerged big. The digital OOH screens increased to around 100,000 and contributed eight percent of total segment revenues.

“Now with digital, there is more space for advertisers to come in one frame. Because of this, you can see it is getting more attractive. The innovations too are coming in at a much lower cost and creating a greater impact,” shared Sanyal.

The only challenge with the medium, according to Ranjan, is OOH being a fragmented industry with lack of measurability and agility. This becomes a serious issue for ROI-centric brands. However, the growth of DOOH, which is dynamic, agile and measurable, is giving marketers the confidence to invest in the medium backed by relevant data and outcomes. 

Adding to this, Hudda highlighted that availability of good media spots is the biggest challenge in this season as media assets are limited and demand is very high. Due to the gap in the festive season, many clients are not able to fully optimise their campaigns. Rather sometimes, clients are even compelled to divert their budget which adversely impacts the industry, he shared.

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Banking on positive consumer sentiment: BFSI optimistic on doubling festive AdEx : Cache

Some categories within the sector, however, may spend more in the quarter that follows the festive season

e4m by sunny saini
Published: Oct 11, 2023 6:10 PM  | 5 min read
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The BFSI sector is expecting a surge in demand for loan during the festive season and is looking at increasing its ad spends to cash in on the celebration spirit. Industry leaders say they are hopeful of witnessing a good growth in the number of applications for auto loan, home loan, credit card and health insurance during October, November and December due to positive consumer sentiment this year. However, though most of the BFSI players are planning to double their advertising budget this time compared to the previous year, there are some who are not investing too heavily on marketing during the festivals as they plan to save the money for the fourth quarter.  

According to Shailendra Singh, MD & CEO, BOB Financial, they witness incremental growth every year during the October-December quarter, and they anticipate an increase in consumer spending as well as new enrolments for cards this year too. “There remains a surge in customer demand for credit during the festive season,” said Singh. 

Singh shared that the company is fully geared up for the launch of #FestiveShoppingRewards on all Bank of Baroda credit card variants under the theme ‘Reimagine Festivities’. They would kickstart festive offerings with the start of Navratri. 

The festive season does not just see the demand for credit go up, but there is an increase in applications for health and motor insurance too during this time of the year.

Aabhinna Suresh Khare, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, BajajCapital Ltd, shared that among insurance products, health insurance and motor insurance reign supreme during festivals. According to Khare, the demand for mutual funds and SIPs too sees a hike.

“Overall, the festive season presents an opportune moment to secure insurance coverage. A plethora of attractive products and services are on offer, with financial institutions extending special discounts and promotions to entice new customers,” said Khare. 

The company launched #BlessMeGanesha campaign during Ganesh Chaturthi. “Our goal for this festive season is not only to provide financial solutions but also to create memorable experiences and deepen the connection with our customers,” said Khare. 

Though all major sectors spend heavily on advertising during the festive season, within the BFSI sector, some categories spend more in the quarter that follows the festive season.  

Explaining the trend, Samir Sethi, Head of Brand Marketing, Policybazaar.com, said that the festive season has varying impacts on the BFSI sector. In the banking sector, for instance, the demand for loans surges as many individuals purchase items and undertake home renovations. Conversely, in the insurance category, the festive season doesn't result in significant changes. Instead, the insurance industry experiences its peak season after the festive period, particularly during the fourth quarter of the financial year. 

“As the festive season approaches, there is a noticeable increase in car sales though, leading to a surge in the demand for motor insurance. Consequently, we see a significant uptick in the requests for motor insurance policies. During the festive period, there is an upswing in demand for various categories, such as electronics. However, in the insurance sector, this period doesn't significantly affect us, so we don't run specific campaigns targeting festivals. Nevertheless, we do roll out multiple campaigns throughout the year, and some of them may coincide with the festive season,” said Sethi. 

According to the TAM AdEx report on BFSI sector across media for H1, the advertising volume of the sector grew on TV, radio and digital, but declined in the print medium. The report indicated that ad impressions on digital saw 91% rise during Jan-Jun '23 over Jan-Jun’22. The increase was 32% for radio and 4% for TV. The ad space of the BFSI sector decreased by 7% in print. 

Speaking on media mix, Singh shared that BOB Financial has a good mix of customer segments belonging to Tier I, II and III.  So, understanding their needs and preferred form of media channels, the company will reach out to them through relevant media promotions. “For the easy discovery of our offers, we shall have a dedicated offers page with regular promotion of top offers on our social media and other digital channels,” said Singh. Without disclosing the figure, Singh shared that the company’s promotion budget has surely increased from last year and it will be visible through their multi-channel promotional activities.

According to the TAM report, in the BFSI sector, life insurance is the leading category on TV and radio whereas mutual funds is the top category on digital. 

Khare highlighted that in recent times, Bajaj Capital has observed a significant growth in audiences on online platforms and the changing preferences of their clientele. “This observation led us to recalibrate our marketing approach, placing a heightened emphasis on digital avenues,” said Khare. 

He further added, “Our promotional efforts are primarily digital-focused, accentuating areas like social media engagement, search engine outreach, content-driven marketing, and targeted online advertising. As we approach the festive season, we've fine-tuned our online approach. By harnessing the insights from data analytics, we aim to grasp our clients' needs and inclinations better, ensuring our content is both tailored and pertinent.”

Khare also mentioned that Baja Capital has doubled its advertising budget compared to the previous year. 

“This increase in our ad spend signifies our confidence in the opportunities this festive season presents. This impressive surge in our budget allocation underscores our dedication to maximizing the potential of this festive season and driving significant expansion within our business. We firmly believe that this increased investment in advertising will not only elevate our brand presence but also lead to an exceptional uptick in customer engagement and sales.” 

For Policybazaar.com, the media strategy primarily involves a blend of television and digital platforms, an approach that has remained consistent in recent years and is expected to continue in the foreseeable future.

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OMD appoints Dileep Raj Singh as Head of Digital for APAC

Singh will report to Charlotte Lee, CEO of OMD APAC

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 26, 2023 9:02 AM  | 3 min read
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OMD has added a Head of Digital (HOD) to its Asia Pacific (APAC) regional leadership team with the hiring of Dileep Raj Singh.

Singh is a digital native and brings with him a wealth of experience across product, media agency and client side in APAC, North America and the United Kingdom. His last 10 years have been spent building diverse digital marketing teams covering areas like performance marketing, digital media planning, ad/martech, product marketing, branding and measurement.

As HOD, he will accelerate OMD’s digital leadership agenda, rooted in helping clients address their business challenges and digital ambitions. He will be supporting OMD’s local teams in APAC on operational excellence, and digital transformation frameworks and roadmaps; and the development and implementation of our digital leadership agenda. He will also be working hand in hand with both our regional and global networks to initiate complementary workstreams for our clients in APAC.

“We will continue to invest and win in digital as part of our wider goal to be our clients’ most trusted business transformation partner,” said Charlotte Lee, CEO of OMD APAC.

“It is our global ambition to continue our leadership position in digital, data and technology. In line with this ambition, we are excited to have Singh come on board the OMD APAC leadership team. His background of agency, in-house and start-up experience position him perfectly to understand and address our clients’ business needs,” added Lee.

“Digital media and access to our audience, as we know it, is changing quite rapidly around us. This puts most of us in a delicate but remarkable position, a position from which we can shape and contribute to conversations about the next evolution of digital media. As we embark on this journey, I want to leverage the strength of the OMD network – people, technology, data, tools and platforms – to help our clients pivot and navigate through all the new and evolved possibilities in digital media. With this, I aim to position OMD as an unrivaled partner for our current and future clients; to dominate and succeed in this incredibly competitive and multifarious digital realm,” said Singh.

Singh will report to Lee, and work closely with the team including Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), David McCallen, and Chief Client Officer (CCO), Sadhan Mishra, to drive and support APAC local markets as well as regional clients on digital, data and technology needs.

Mishra was promoted to CCO of OMD APAC recently in June 2023. He will continue to be CEO of OMD Singapore, a position he was promoted into last August. Mishra has been with OMD for over 13 years and in his concurrent new role as CCO, he will focus on key client relationships, understanding their business needs and ensuring we remain a critical partner on their transformation journeys.

McCallen was elevated to the role of CSO of OMD APAC in April 2022, and was previously the CSO of OMD New Zealand for five years where he helped the agency to attain the top place in the market for new business, overall billings and award wins. Since starting in the APAC role, his focus has been on connecting and elevating strategic best practices across the region, building capabilities across a range of strategic outputs, and supporting new business growth both regionally and locally.

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e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 25, 2023 1:39 PM  | 1 min read

Chandrayaan 3: Brands over the Moon

Some of the best moment marketing posts on India's crucial lunar mission

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 24, 2023 2:22 PM  | 1 min read
Chandrayaan

The nation is in a celebratory mood with its moon mission Chandrayaan 3 making its smooth landing on the lunar surface on the evening of August 23, 2023. The Pragyan rover is in pursuit of discovering water on the moon and is a vital feat for India's ambitious space research. 

To celebrate this momentous episode in Indian space research history, netizens have taken to the internet to express their excitement, hopes and fears for the nation's  lunar mission. Joining them are brands who have crafted creatives to mark the historic occasion and capture the emotions of the nation who have their eyes set on the moon. Here is our pick of some of the best Chandrayaan 3-moment marketing posts.

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BCCI rakes in Rs 4670 cr in Women's Premier League team auction: Jay Shah 26 Jan

WPL has broken the inaugural auction record of Men's IPL in 2008, tweeted Shah

e4m by sunny saini
Published: Jan 26, 2023 4:21 PM  | 2 min read
women ipl

As expected, Wednesday turned out to be another historic day in Indian women's cricket with BCCI having a windfall gain of Rs 4,600 crores by auctioning five team franchises for the first season, a higher sum compared to what men’s IPL franchises offered to the cricket body during the launch in 2008.  

 Adani, IndiaWin Sports, Royal Challengers, GSW- GMR cricket and Capri Global have won the bid,   BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted.

Shah shared in a series of tweets, “Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid.” 

“This marks the beginning of a revolution in women's cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity. The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women's cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder.”

“The @BCCI has named the league - Women's Premier League (WPL). Let the journey begin…”

The country's top corporates had bid aggressively for the league. Over 16 groups including IPL franchise owners, Adani group, Torrent and Haldiram were believed to be in the fray. 

Given the popularity of IPL in India, the event is touted to be a big draw for all stakeholders involved. 

The BCCI was reportedly expecting ₹4,000 crore gain through team auction.

It’s noteworthy that Viacom18 has won the Women's IPL media rights for Rs 951 crore for the next five years creating euphoria around the league whose first season will be held in March.

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