What's a survey without a few surprises? Among the curveballs thrown in the first edition of Most Exciting Brands are a few marketers who have given global (and sometimes even local) market leaders a trouncing.
Adidas is the second most exciting brand, with Reebok (also owned by Adidas) at 8, beating the world's most popular sporting goods brand Nike at 33. In the mobile handset space, Nokia at 6 and BlackBerry at 10 are considered more exciting than Samsung Mobile that hangs shy of the Top 10 at 12 or the iPhone which is at a distant 35.
While Adidas declined to comment on the results, the brand has a long history of engagement with cricket particularly with Sachin Tendulkar, India's Most Admired Sportsperson.
Perhaps the greatest and most successful advertisement for the brand is seeing Tendulkar step out to bat for the last decade and a half wearing Adidas ST shoes, a co-branded range. Realising that backing just one sport — however iconic and mass popular — is unlikely to pay off in the long run, Adidas has increased its focus on football with training programmes from Chelsea FC and FC Bayern Munich. It recently sponsored Basscamp, an electronic music festival held in Mumbai and Delhi, making a serious entry into a more youth lifestyle oriented space.
In the case of Reebok, Steve McPherson, brand director, Reebok India says, "Our youth centric activities predominantly revolve around social media. We have a simple strategy 'Be Exciting. Not Intrusive'." Some of these include 'Tone My Avatar' on Facebook which allows people to follow the lead of a virtual persona to burn a few calories. Reebok created what it claims is the first ever online flash mob by uploading a series of videos sent in by users demonstrating their flexibility via dance.
Besides it has started a series of branded gyms in Delhi and Mumbai and aims to enter all categories of fitness from the usual suspects like running and aerobics to the more exotic, like yoga and dance.
The survey comes as good news for both brands especially considering they found themselves in the midst of a controversy through mid 2012, the full impact of which continues to unfold. The global operations of Adidas alleged fraud that it estimates to be to the tune of Rs 870 crore. A recent audit report by E&Y indicates fake sales deliberately engineered to show exaggerated revenues for the Indian operations of Reebok.
McPherson admits the controversies have had some impact on marketing: "Things did slowdown in the middle half on the retail and media front. Our strategy through this year was to keep the momentum alive through social media initiatives and asset activations like a CrossFit Activation with our global ambassador Lewis Hamilton."
Faced with a massive stock surplus, both Adidas and Reebok had one of the most comprehensive sales ever seen in the Indian retail landscape. Everything in the stores was on offer, not just a stray shelf with designs and colours that no one wanted. A lot of previously pricey models with loads of badge value were suddenly a lot more accessible. The company is not willing to admit it, but this just may have played a role in making the youth view these brands more favourably. While reiterating Reebok's commitment to the Indian market, McPherson clarifies, "2012 is an exception. The implementation of the sale should, hopefully, not be seen as a method to measure the performance.
Rather it should be seen as a means to sort out the disarray, if any, and pave the way for a healthy future in the business." Adman turned marketing consultant Suman Srivastava of Marketing Unplugged suggests, "Both in terms of product and pricing Reebok and Adidas are perhaps more Indianised," as a reason for their impressive ranking.
When Nokia decided to focus on the youth in India, Viral Oza, chief marketing officer claims, the company was up against a challenge: "None of the people managing the brand are young. Some of them were young compared to me but were not part of the core target." He believes the results of Most Exciting Brands vindicate the company's decision to step out of its comfort zone, to the point of coming up with initiatives that made people within the system a little uncomfortable.
The result: aggressive on-ground promotions like 'Blown away by Lumia', and films like a recent one for the Asha 311 which establishes that it's a phone more for the young brat than for his mother's middle-aged friend. Even 'Trendify', Nokia's latest campaign for the newly launched Lumia 510 is squarely aimed at the young. Says Oza, "We know kids like to share and there's social currency involved in sharing. Even if you are not a trend, you spot one and it makes you cool."
BlackBerry claims it started addressing the youth at the time when it began moving past the enterprise segment. Says Krishnadeep Baruah, director - marketing, BlackBerry India, "When we looked at the category in 2009, the data pointed to the fact that the smartphone intenders were between 15 and 25 years of age." The company claims to have addressed this segment via fresh model launches, introducing colour options, working with operators for more economical monthly plans and building BBM as a closed, secure social media platform. Besides, an app allowed young users to prepare for aptitude tests using their BlackBerrys.
When asked about how it feels having beaten Samsung Mobile reputed to be the value leader in the Indian market, Baruah says, "We are really excited at having been able to make an impact on a segment that we clearly identified and worked very hard to meet the needs of. If you don't offer relevant product services, your offering will have no value." For his part, Srivastava considers himself baffled by the success of Nokia and BlackBerry.
He says, "Samsung is a strong brand. Maybe the fact that it is in many categories meant the focus was a little diluted. I think the youth likes brands that are exclusively their own. Maybe Samsung is more mainstream." He however adds, "Relative positions are more important than absolute ones." The true test will be if these brands manage to hold on to their hard won spots next time around.
Adidas is the second most exciting brand, with Reebok (also owned by Adidas) at 8, beating the world's most popular sporting goods brand Nike at 33. In the mobile handset space, Nokia at 6 and BlackBerry at 10 are considered more exciting than Samsung Mobile that hangs shy of the Top 10 at 12 or the iPhone which is at a distant 35.
While Adidas declined to comment on the results, the brand has a long history of engagement with cricket particularly with Sachin Tendulkar, India's Most Admired Sportsperson.
Perhaps the greatest and most successful advertisement for the brand is seeing Tendulkar step out to bat for the last decade and a half wearing Adidas ST shoes, a co-branded range. Realising that backing just one sport — however iconic and mass popular — is unlikely to pay off in the long run, Adidas has increased its focus on football with training programmes from Chelsea FC and FC Bayern Munich. It recently sponsored Basscamp, an electronic music festival held in Mumbai and Delhi, making a serious entry into a more youth lifestyle oriented space.
In the case of Reebok, Steve McPherson, brand director, Reebok India says, "Our youth centric activities predominantly revolve around social media. We have a simple strategy 'Be Exciting. Not Intrusive'." Some of these include 'Tone My Avatar' on Facebook which allows people to follow the lead of a virtual persona to burn a few calories. Reebok created what it claims is the first ever online flash mob by uploading a series of videos sent in by users demonstrating their flexibility via dance.
Besides it has started a series of branded gyms in Delhi and Mumbai and aims to enter all categories of fitness from the usual suspects like running and aerobics to the more exotic, like yoga and dance.
The survey comes as good news for both brands especially considering they found themselves in the midst of a controversy through mid 2012, the full impact of which continues to unfold. The global operations of Adidas alleged fraud that it estimates to be to the tune of Rs 870 crore. A recent audit report by E&Y indicates fake sales deliberately engineered to show exaggerated revenues for the Indian operations of Reebok.
McPherson admits the controversies have had some impact on marketing: "Things did slowdown in the middle half on the retail and media front. Our strategy through this year was to keep the momentum alive through social media initiatives and asset activations like a CrossFit Activation with our global ambassador Lewis Hamilton."
Faced with a massive stock surplus, both Adidas and Reebok had one of the most comprehensive sales ever seen in the Indian retail landscape. Everything in the stores was on offer, not just a stray shelf with designs and colours that no one wanted. A lot of previously pricey models with loads of badge value were suddenly a lot more accessible. The company is not willing to admit it, but this just may have played a role in making the youth view these brands more favourably. While reiterating Reebok's commitment to the Indian market, McPherson clarifies, "2012 is an exception. The implementation of the sale should, hopefully, not be seen as a method to measure the performance.
Rather it should be seen as a means to sort out the disarray, if any, and pave the way for a healthy future in the business." Adman turned marketing consultant Suman Srivastava of Marketing Unplugged suggests, "Both in terms of product and pricing Reebok and Adidas are perhaps more Indianised," as a reason for their impressive ranking.
When Nokia decided to focus on the youth in India, Viral Oza, chief marketing officer claims, the company was up against a challenge: "None of the people managing the brand are young. Some of them were young compared to me but were not part of the core target." He believes the results of Most Exciting Brands vindicate the company's decision to step out of its comfort zone, to the point of coming up with initiatives that made people within the system a little uncomfortable.
The result: aggressive on-ground promotions like 'Blown away by Lumia', and films like a recent one for the Asha 311 which establishes that it's a phone more for the young brat than for his mother's middle-aged friend. Even 'Trendify', Nokia's latest campaign for the newly launched Lumia 510 is squarely aimed at the young. Says Oza, "We know kids like to share and there's social currency involved in sharing. Even if you are not a trend, you spot one and it makes you cool."
BlackBerry claims it started addressing the youth at the time when it began moving past the enterprise segment. Says Krishnadeep Baruah, director - marketing, BlackBerry India, "When we looked at the category in 2009, the data pointed to the fact that the smartphone intenders were between 15 and 25 years of age." The company claims to have addressed this segment via fresh model launches, introducing colour options, working with operators for more economical monthly plans and building BBM as a closed, secure social media platform. Besides, an app allowed young users to prepare for aptitude tests using their BlackBerrys.
When asked about how it feels having beaten Samsung Mobile reputed to be the value leader in the Indian market, Baruah says, "We are really excited at having been able to make an impact on a segment that we clearly identified and worked very hard to meet the needs of. If you don't offer relevant product services, your offering will have no value." For his part, Srivastava considers himself baffled by the success of Nokia and BlackBerry.
He says, "Samsung is a strong brand. Maybe the fact that it is in many categories meant the focus was a little diluted. I think the youth likes brands that are exclusively their own. Maybe Samsung is more mainstream." He however adds, "Relative positions are more important than absolute ones." The true test will be if these brands manage to hold on to their hard won spots next time around.
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