Kapil's Korner » Branding

Air Conditioned Cabs – how will they differentiate

Kapil — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 17:09:08 +0000

Luxury services spoil you. Last month I made multiple trips to the suburbs and preferred to use the Air Conditioned cab services over the local trains. And anybody who has booked an AC cab in Mumbai will tell you the good times and bad times when you can get a cab easily.Thankfully, there are about 4 operators in Mumbai currently so you’ve got a sufficiently large fleet to choose from. Of which 3 have an uniform pricing, pretty much the same service levels [unless its an exceptionally super smiling super efficient driver].

As a consumer, I think we aren’t yet getting brand loyal when it comes to booking an AC cab. You just dial, and take the first can available to take you from A to B. Open and shut case. But how does the operator start getting customers to dial only their services during non-peak hours.

So I did some thinking and thought of a few things which might make an operator the preferred choice of AC cab.

Loyalty Club.

Book an x number of trips in the month and you could get a gift voucher or an exclusive discount coupon on your next trip. I am sure quite a few brands will want to sponsor it.

Priority Customer.

You get priority over the non-members during peak hour bookings. You get a 30 min free wait. And some more freebies can be bundled.

Make the drive an experience.

I’ve seen in-cab magazines. How about offering a bottle of water [make it paid]. Mouth fresheners etc. Can a new snack brand offer a free sample pack for the try.

Cab quality.

Ensure the AC cab is not going the ‘kaali-peeli’ way. It should be clean, smell nice and please no cockroaches under the seat, please. And yeah that AC better work at the best level.

Drivers, please suit up.

Ensure a quality check on the drivers. Do they smell like straight from a no-bath zone. Are they chewing too much of that masala making the cab smell like a paan factory.

Make a noise.

I don’t see the cab companies advertising. I didn’t know there was Easy Cabs and Star Taxi in Mumbai until I happen to see them on the road and had to make a quick note of their numbers. What’s keeping them away from advertising or building a brand name. At least the multi-city ones will be able to spread the ad costs across a larger fleet.

What’s your experience with AC cabs been like? What are the features you think would make you loyal to a brand?

Khatron Ke Khiladi – Ambient at Churchgate Station

Kapil — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:36:31 +0000

This morning I saw the ambient work done for the new series of Khatron Ke Khiladi on Colors hosted by Priyanka Chopra. Surprisingly it doesn’t have a mention of the channel’s name but instead a logo of Garnier Men.

I really feel the message could have been done much better than this.

It reminded me of the work I had seen for Reliance Life Insurance. By placing the words correctly on the yellow line, the message did more than just the branding.

Have always been a fan for good ambient work. Have you seen anything similar which remains in your memory?

Let SRK be your next holiday guide

Kapil — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:28:21 +0000

Filmstars. The Divas. We like to walk, talk and dress like our favourite star. And now you have the option to even holiday like the stars in their on-screen avatars only, of course.

SOTC in an interesting tie-up with Yashraj Films presents what they call the Enchanted Journey. Travel Packages which explore Europe and promise to give you an experience just like SRK-Kajol had in the mountains of Switerzland or Abhishek-Rani in the streets of Paris. I tried checking the website for an idea as to what’s the “enchanted” element but very little innovation in describing the packages for these holidays. I wonder if it’s like the typical stuff – “this is the place where Raj proposed to Simran” or this is the place where “hum tum” was shot.

Continuing the trend, Makemytrip.com has tied up with SRK’s latest – My Name is Khan to offer the Indian vacationer an opportunity to explore the USA, just like SRK does in the film. [View TVC] Sadly, on makemytrip.com I could not find any package on offer which has been co-branded with “My Name is Khan”. Actually there is NO mention of the film tie-up on the website.

So this summer holiday I hope you enjoy your trips just like in the movies.

Microsoft brands with Bachna ae Haseenso

Kapil — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:00:41 +0000

Yash Raj Film’s latest venture Bachna ae Haseeno may or may not be a box office hit. But if there is something they have hit for sure is a a good in-film brand placement initiative with Microsoft’s Halo 3.

The brand team for Halo 3 at Microsoft, India should be commended for a wonderful branding activity they managed to get themselves with the film. The film’s director and dialogue writer have done a good job in making it not feel like a deliberate branding effort. And of course the producer has surely walked home with some good money to help finance those huge production costs.

A particular scene where Ranbir rattles of names of some Microsoft XBox games is so well stitched into the script I am sure not many would have got hit hard unless you have that little marketing/advertising “keeda” in you.

However if there is something I hope the movie does not drive home is the point that all Microsoft Gaming professionals are “killer Casanova’s” like the super-sexy Raj.

Idea’s Rapchick Mumbaiyya Test

Kapil — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:13:27 +0000

Go to ideamumbai.com and test your knowledge about Mumbai and it’s lingos to earn yourself the Jhakaas certificate. I earned mine with a score of 10/10.

A good viral activity which creates curiosity and is done in a very interesting and interactive manner.

Marketing via lunch boxes

Kapil — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:44:08 +0000

A little innovative piece of marketing. Baggage tag kind of thing attached to executive lunch boxes delivered to office areas.

This is my office colleague’s dabba (lunch box) which gets delivered by the Mumbai Tiffin Service. The tag promotes “Jai Shri Krishna” serial from the new TV channel colors (viacom18) which launches today.

Social media – a challenge for the complete organisation

Kapil — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:40:52 +0000

Just read Dell’s Hearing Test at ADWEEK. It’s a good article which describes Dell’s efforts to manage their online reputation. I thought there were a couple of learning’s to understand how social media will be a challenge for the complete organisation and NOT JUST the branding team.

Running a company blog is more than just yet another marketing and PR activity. Everybody has to be responsible for what’s being put online and to respond to consumer reactions.
Internet is the most easily accessible Customer Complaint box, so be sure you have a “active” team to take care of those disappointments popping up there.
Customer complaints often lead to better product development. So is that team listening to the what’s being talked online?
It’s amazing what can come out of customer suggestions – Dell customers said they preferred more environmental friendly packaging material. Such things rarely come out in customer satisfaction surveys.

And let’s remember just because you have a blog which talks to people it doesn’t mean it’s going to be all good. You gotta “listen” to the negative reactions and quickly solve customer problems before they become top listings on websites like digg and StumbleUpon.

Nike+ inspires me to run

Kapil — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:11:37 +0000

I just viewed the "Nike+" presentation for Cannes 2007. The case study is a Titanium winner, I think. And now I am very inspired to make running an important activity of my life. Need to pull out those sneakers and go out for the run. I want to challenge myself to some kind of physical activity and I think it’s going to be running to start with. Of course I can’t go out and get that iPod nano+Nike kit, so I’ll just run for now.

Image courtesy: JumpTheGap

On another note, I think the brand integration done by Nike+ is superb. Be it events, web virals, online communities – I think they got it all right. Apparently the nikeplus.nike.com website is the first web application 2.0 connected to an offline product. Read more about Nike+ and Apple’s website.

Are you inspired to run?

How the little branding matters

Kapil — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:29:31 +0000

I was at Bangkok airport’s duty free shopping browsing the Mont Blanc showroom. I see this potential customer walking and asking for some supplies. The attendant brings it in and the customer confirms the purchase. When the attendant presents the charge slip to the customer to sign, the customer notices that it’s a cheap ball pen which he has been given to sign the charge slip. At which the customer shoots out – “You can’t keep a Mont Blanc at your own showroom to let customers sign with it.” WOW! What a point he had made there.

Imagine the customer was buying wallets or other other stuff other than the pen, and letting the customer use a Mont Blanc pen would give him the chance to experience it without asking for it. Besides how insulting is it to give your customer a cheap ball pen for signing a charge slip for a pen costing a few thousand dollars.