Pumba Online Connection

It often happens that when industrial biggies come down to campus and interact with young minds, they do not reach out to the shy yet enthusiastic approach of the students. But then that was surely not the case on Friday the 25^th, when Ms. Jessie Paul, Chief Marketing Officer, Wipro technologies came down to PUMBA and munificently interacted with the students.

Ms. Jessie Paul is an IIM-C alumna, previously associated with Infosys and then iGATE technologies. She has 15yrs of experience in services marketing and has worked as the Global Brand manager for Infosys. She believes that since 1998 India has set a fairly large footprint in the global IT industry. She was rightly awarded the Chairman's Award in 1998. She’s also a popular blogger and has recently launched her book ‘No Money Marketing’ which largely focuses on how small enterprises as well as bigger ones in these times of downturn can actually go for marketing and branding with whatever limited resources that they have.

She spoke on frugal marketing which is currently taking on the marketing world with a reassuring speed. While classifying companies as being mature, champions, challengers and laggards, which in turn helps forecasting the success that could be achieved for a product; she threw light on how not just small firms but also large and established ventures can and should go for this versatile marketing trend.

The rationale behind this arena of marketing is that as the champions strive to keep the challengers away, with money becoming scarcer each minute, and every company claiming to have spent more on marketing their product; it was time that a cost effective yet highly efficient marketing technique was sought. When times are tough and finances are less, author Jessie Paul has come up with just the right solution ‘No Money Marketing’. As Mr Narayan Murthy puts it, ‘No Money Marketing’ is a perfect tool for both fresh and experienced entrepreneurs.”

Ms. Jessie Paul highlighted the fact that most Indian companies do not hold such a phenomenal market share that their needs to borrow from the market have ceased. Just as new upstarts take on big established market players, even global stalwarts that enter Indian ground are novices in their own right. Barclays in India is a perfect example.

 When brand value is what consumers opt for and bare functionality having taken a backseat, what we see is a classic case of cheese or mouse-trap?

Therefore the surround approach of marketing which tends to build a story around the product than actually focus on the product details is what most brands like Airtel and Raymond have taken to.

While explaining the different upcoming forms of marketing Ms. Jessie stressed upon the benefits of executive marketing; which, according to her is the smartest way of building trust and branding what the company offers at the same time. An apt example would be that of   Dr. Vijay Mallya who saves the UB group millions of rupees just by being the face of the company himself and not some hired personality.

She briefed the students on the Flat World trends where digitization that is people buying products without having seen them, is not new. Where anyone with basic blogging skills can reach out to millions and commend on every other thing that they see without having the credibility to do so. Where advertising is cheap indeed but the marketing team has to take the pain to convince the popular bloggers and their followers to positively cite their products.

She emphasised on the fact that information however cheap is not sought after; it is the insight which triggers the interest of potential consumers. She pointed out how even we as students do not read all the free newsletters we subscribe to but instead a blog which can very well be the writer’s personal opinion about a particular product or service is bound to catch our eye. The best example for this would be of CSE director Sunita Narain crying foul over soft drinks of the Pepsi brand containing harmful pesticides; her case got wild media coverage and brands like coca cola are actually trying to resurrect their tainted image by going in for water conservation campaigns.

She then summarised the changes in the marketing approach of the flat World. It is extremely important to target the decision maker, influence him who can influence others. Build a brand blueprint and leverage your resources towards realising it. When maximum profits are what a company seeks executive marketing is the way to go. It is absolutely fine to be a contrarian, break rules; use controversies in your favour, add a personal touch when you can broadcast for free. It’s all about hub and spoke models after all. Although it is necessary to define your audience narrowly, own the ecosystem, create your own marketing channels, focus on insights and go online; sustainability is something that stands high in the long run.

With companies going green by and large it is inevitable that a company not doing so will get wiped out from the horizon. The basics of marketing have not changed it’s just the outlook that has seen a sea change.

It’s a mind-game after all...

Branding ‘You' with ‘No Money Marketing’