Thought leaders and corporate experts from diverse industries debated on how the strategies of the marketers evolve and how brands are transformed to remain relevant across geographies and over time.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan Verma, Faculty of Marketing at FMS Delhi, in his keynote address set the tone for the evening to follow, talking at length about the crumbling boundaries and the compulsion that corporates essentially face to go global in order to stave off competition. He also spoke about the DNA of brands and how certain brands do not need to 'bend' since the values that they stand for are universal and enduring.
Sandeep Arora, Executive Vice President-Marketing, Cola, Pepsico India started the session, discussing the marketing strategies of Pepsi in India, framing its "Art of cool" concept in '10 Cool Mantras' that mapped each of its famous campaign to corresponding trends. Relating its entry strategy in India to the topic, he explained how Pepsi had to alter its 'Challenger Brand' image in the absence of Coke in the Indian market.
Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India, in his speech charted the journey of Star India from an essentially foreign network to being the "repository of dreams and aspirations of modern day India since its economic turnaround brought about by liberalization..". He spoke about Star's future plans to storm the middle and lower class segment and also foray into the regional channels market.
Adman Josy Paul, National Creative Director of BBDO India, grabbed the audience's attention with a couple of startling, irreverent ads to drive home his point about 'license' granted by customers to certain brands, which in turn do not need to 'bend'. His address was interspersed with fascinating examples, trivia and screening of ads.
Next on stage was Rajeshwar Singh Butalia, Country Head, Apple Retail India who argued that continual innovation, evolution and redefining of ideas to ensure great customer experience, the so called 'wow' effect were the driving force of Apple and in essence enclosed the need to 'bend' the brand. He contended that niche products and basic needs and security related products are not conducive to brand bending, rather, it is limited to low cost, mass produced products.
Finally Aparna Chopra, Marketing Head, Taco Bell India and alumni of FMS, presented her views on the topic using the case of Pizza Hut's entry and bid to resonate with the Indian customer. She spoke at length about the strategies that were used by Pizza Hut to localize and cater to the Indian palette. The creative ideas behind each campaign was dissected and presented to exemplify the concept of brand 'bending'.
The evening came to a fitting end with an interactive session where the experts fielded questions from the enthusiastic audience.
