SPECIAL STUDY IN MARKETING

A PROJECT ON MEDIA PLANNING OF ASIAN PAINTS

T.Y.BMS V.E.S College of Arts, Science and Commerce

Professor in charge Mr. RAJKAMAL PANDEY.

Compiled by: Navin.C Kiran. K Monika.M Rohan.M ( Rinki.W (11) (1) (30) (31) Nisha. ) (59)

Table Of Contents

Sr. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Topic INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA PLANNING. ASIAN PAINTS. MADISON MEDIA. OGILVY & MATHER. BRANDING JOURNEY OF ASIAN PAINTS. AD CAMPAIGNS OF ASIAN PAINTS. EXAMPLE OF MEDIA PLANNING. THE ASIAN PAINTS ADVERTISING STRATEGY. CONLUSION.

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INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA PLANNING

At some point in the marketing process, the work has to change from research and strategizing to actually going out and promoting a product or service to potential customers. One of the most potent tools to reach consumers is a media advertising campaign. When well conceived, a media campaign enables marketers to reach thousands of consumers simultaneously with a uniform, focused message. The key concept, however, is "well-conceived." Media advertising is a sophisticated tool. Especially today with the evergrowing assortment of specialty cable television channels and the variety of new media options available, marketers have to target their advertising dollars carefully to reach the right audience at the right time. Such calculations are the job of the media planner. Media planners are often part of a full-service advertising agency, but they also work in specialty firms. In either case, the media planner works closely with the marketing and advertising team to devise a media strategy. Media planning is a science of tracking and placing advertisements in various media. It is also the process of choosing the vehicle of mass communication in which to place an advertiser's message, purchasing that time or space, and insuring that the advertising message runs as purchased. It is a series of decisions made to answer the question, "What are the best means of delivering advertisements to prospective purchasers of a brand or service?" Media planners make use of sophisticated tools and methods to find out the best media-mix for the products and services. Television, for instance, as a medium, poses a great challenge to the media planners. While it is relatively easy to understand the print medium where visibility is clearly defined, the same cannot be said about television. Like the front pages of newspapers, there is also prime time in television programmes. It is generally believed that programs during the prime time are most watched: hence there is a strong case to place

advertisements during the same. Intelligent media planners will tell a different story altogether. The number of advertisements during the prime time is very high; thus the fresh bath soap can get lost in the maze. The apt solution is to place the advertisements in the afternoon slot when the ladies are relatively less occupied with the domestic chores and without even their noticing it, there would be a subliminal effect on their memory. The three most important terms in media planning are: a) Geographical Reach. b) Product Category. c) Target Audience. These three together or independently give a crystal clear picture to the media planners to plan out their strategies. When planning a media schedule, the media planner takes into consideration the demographic profile of the target customer and identifies media best suited to delivering a relevant message to that audience. Feasible vehicles (those which meet basic qualitative criteria such as appropriateness to the target market, creative fit, budget, etc.) may be compared for value and efficiency using the methods described herein.

ASIAN PAINTS
Asian Paints, established in 1942, is India's largest paint company and the third largest paint company in Asia. It has a

turnover of Rs 30.2 billion (around USD 680 million). The company operates in 21 countries and has 29 paint manufacturing factories servicing 65 countries. The company operates several subsidiaries such as Berger International Limited, Apco Coatings, SCIB Paints and Taubmans. The company manufactures paints for decorative, industrial, and motor applications. Asian Paints produces a wide range of paints for decorative and industrial use. It also manufactures intermediate products like Phthalic Anhydride and Pentaerythritol. Asian Paints produces a wide range of paints for decorative and industrial use. It also manufactures intermediate products like Phthalic Anhydride and Pentaerythritol. Asian Paints has two alliances in the area of industrial coatings. It services the automotive coatings segment through its alliance with PPG Industries USA. The alliance with Protech Chemcials, Canada, helps in catering to the powder coatings market. Brands of Asian Paints are as follows: Asian Paints. Berger International. SCIB Paints and Apco Coatings.

MADISON MEDIA

Madison World is a 19-year-old diversified Communication Group in India, which offers both integrated and specialized services in different areas of communication, through its various units. Madison Media is a part of Madison World which also has specialist units in Creative, Outdoor, PR, Rural, Retail and Entertainment. The media planning and buying functions for the Asian Paints account has moved to Madison Media. The account, estimated to be worth Rs 35-40 crore, was previously with Carat. WPP's Mindshare and Madison Media were invited to pitch for the account and Madison was awarded the account on the strength of its presentation, said Ms Punitha Arumugam, COO, Madison Media. Madison World can be called India's largest homegrown communication group because all other agencies in the country's top 25 are either internationally owned or have an international affiliation. The gross billing of Madison World is Rs.13 billion. With offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Kochi, Madison World employs over 500 communication professionals across units.
Madison World deals with the bluest of blue chip client. Some of the clients across the units include:

Airtel. Britannia. Cadbury. Caf Coffee Day. Procter & Gamble. General Motors. Marico.

 Tata Tea.

OGILVY & MATHER

The Asian Paints creative portfolio is handled largely by Ogilvy & Mather Advertising. Founded in 1928, O & M were the first advertising agency in India. 76 years hence, the company continues to relentlessly pursue their passion for building and nurturing, enduring brands. Over the years the company has helped create some of India's most successful brands like Asian Paints, Cadbury, Fevicol among them and in recent times - Perfetti, Hutch, Close Up and many more. A power brand in itself, Ogilvy & Mather is acknowledged as the leading communications agency in the country today. The defining quality is the firm belief in the value of brands and the important role they play in consumers' lives. The business of building brands is conducted through a proprietary way of thinking and working; what the company calls 360 Degree Brand Stewardship. The business of the company is building strong and enduring brands. The company sees them as the key factor to any company's success in the marketplace. They believe in the power of brands and consider them to be the biggest asset a company can have. They believe that the company is of greatest value to those clients who share this understanding and O&M passion for brands. This is the reason why the company has enjoyed long-term partnerships with India's greatest brands. The most admired agency in India Brand Equity IMRB international survey in 2003 2004.

BRANDING JOURNEY OF ASIAN PAINTS

Asian Paints is the market leader in the highly fragmented and highly competitive Rs 7750 crore Indian paint Industry. The organized sector constitutes around Rs 5400crore. Asian Paints started its journey in 1942 with four young men in a garage in Bombay. The name Asian Paints was picked randomly from the telephone directory. The brand has traveled from that garage to become a Rs 1000 crore brand. From 1968 ,this brand occupies a premium position in the Indian Paint industry. The story of the evolution of Asian Paints as a brand is interesting. The brand now has an iconic status in the industry thanks to some blockbuster big ideas from O&M. The brand once positioned as a mass market brand has evolved itself to a higher plane. Indian paint industry can be broadly divided into two segments a) Decorative segment which constitutes the wall paints : exterior and interior, wood paints etc b) Industrial segment which consists of automotive paints, and paints for industrial sector. Decorative segment constitutes around 75 % of the total paint industry and Asian Paints is the market leader with around 44% share. In the Industrial segment, Nerolac is the market leader. In the decorative segment, it is interesting to see how Asian Paints have changed the buying process of the product like paints. Paints are usually considered to be a low involvement product. In earlier times, the decision of the brand was taken by the builder/contractor and the home owners does not involve much in

the process may be the decision of color rest with the house owners. Asian Paints realized the need for brand building even during sixties. But at that point of time, the company had a wide range of brands/sub brands. The focus of the company was on product innovation and service network and managing quality proposition. The brand focused on mass and rural market. Asian Paints had a mascot called Gattu who was created by the celebrated cartoonist R K Laskhman.

These efforts made the brand a leader during the late sixties. Then the company realised that although volume justified the leadership position, share of mind for the brand was very low. That was the result of the mass segmentation adopted by the brand. Rightly so because the industry was driven by channel driven promotions, building a brand at that time was" uncommon sense". During 1983, the company tried to reposition the brand as a premium brand. Asian Paints initiated the corporate campaign aimed to position the company as the number one player in the industry. The objective was to upgrade to a more margin premium product marketer. The corporate campaign Spectrum of Excellence" was aimed to increase the Salience of the brand in a quiet market. But this campaign failed to inspire any interest in the consumers

and the company felt that the market is moving towards a commodity market where price is the most important differential. Asian Paints undertook a consumer research aimed at understanding the perception of consumers about the product category. The research revealed lot of interesting insights. Consumers felt that paints could change the mood of the space and it was a sign of festival and plenitude. It could make a gloomy place bright and pleasant. From this insight came the campaign of Asian Paints associating itself with festivals. Research also confirmed that customers tend to repaint their houses on the occasion of festivities. Thus, born the campaign "Celebrate with Asian Paints". The campaigns were carefully crafted and there were different campaign for different regions. These campaigns effectively enhanced the brand equity of Asian Paints and established itself as a premium brand. More than that, these campaigns ensured an emotional connects with a brand in a low involvement category. The brand also phased out many sub brands and rest of the sub brands was brought under Asian Paint's umbrella brand. During the late nineties the brand had to be reinvented because no longer festivities formed an important part in ones life. Since many brands went after festival seasons, the positioning platform has become cluttered. More over the consumer buying behavior has changed. The category was becoming less seasonal. People started associating more importance to home decor and interiors. The choice of color became a high involvement decision. From a low involvement category, paint was increasingly becoming a high involvement category. The brand also went in a brand overhaul. The logo was changed to a contemporary upmarket one designed by Entreprise IG based in Singapore.The logo/design was to convey self

expression,

sophistication

and

Technology.

Thus the birth of a wonderful positioning strategy was created by O&M. The insight was that the brand is about people and homes and homes reflect the people living in it. Hence Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai" translated to Every Home has a story to tell". This campaign is a perfect example of a brand laddering up and connecting to a higher level in the mind of the customer. The campaigns reinforced the brand as a premium emotional brand. Along with the campaign Asian Paints also ran parallel ads for its subbrands. Saif Ali Khan endorsed the premium brand Royale. For Apex Ultima, the campaign was highly localized and was different in different market. Taking a cue from the success of Ghar campaign , the brand took ownership of the COLOR. The insight is that each color has a story to tell. The latest campaign reflects on the color and uses the campaign Har Rang Kuch Kehta hai" translated to "Every color has a story to tell". The brand is so serious about the color that it has tied up with IIT to explore new colors and conduct research on colors. Asian Paints is a classic branding story and the brand is still exploring and growing.

AD CAMPAIGNS OF ASIAN PAINTS (1) ASIAN PAINTS APCOLITE.

The brand here is Asian paints Apcolite. The following ads were placed in different regions in India, depending on the popularity of the particular festival. The target audience here is that certain class of people, Hindus mostly who paint their houses every year during festive occasions. The ads relate to three festivals that is Holi, Diwali and Uttarayan. These are the ads with which any Indian can easily relate with as these use those festivals which are the most celebrated and awaited for. For example, though Uttarayan or kite flying festival is observed in most parts of India but is predominant in the West (Gujarat & Maharasthra). Here, during the kite flying festival the 'phirki' is rested on an open can, with 'U' shaped grooves ut in at either end. So that the 'phirki' is free to move. This is done for the ease of flying kites single-handedly. The ad which has a 'phirki' a top the Asian paints container is imagery which people of that region would easily identify with.

(2) Asian Paints Royale

Here the brand is Asian Paints Royale. The following ads show that the paint does not whither off with time that is it means from 1902 to 2006 the paint has not been discolored it is in the same way as it was when it was first applied.

(3) Emotional connection with customers.

Asian Paints, Indias number one player in the paint industry, wanted to stimulate a deeper emotional connection for customers with different paint colors. Using mobile interactivity as an integral part of the creative for the nationwide television campaign helped achieve this. Objective: 1. Building of the Asian Paints brands 2. Position paint and colour as an integral part of the consumers life 3. Give consumers a convenient and instant medium to interact with the brand Solution: A SMS based contest element was added to the television campaign creative. Consumers were asked the question What is the color of love? they were then asked to SMS Red, Blue or yellow to the short code 3636 to participate in the contest. Results Over an 8 week period the campaign generated over 9000 SMS responses.

Example of Media Planning

Client Brief
Client: Asian Paints Product: Asian Paints Colour World is the brand name for the one-stop colour shop of Asian Paints, which are unique paint shops where shades are generated with the help of a computer with software to choose and select 1,511 shade combinations, designed to reach consumers in a direct `dil se' style. Advertising Objective: Position Asian Paints Colour World as the one stop paint shop with all the colours one could want. The advertising should create enough interest in potential consumers to ensure that they come to the Asian Paints Colour World outlet or at least call the Asian Paints helpline. Demographics Region: India, urban population. Occupation: Service/working professional/self-employed. Gender: Male. Religion: Insignificant. Social class: Upper Middle and upwards. SEC: B and upwards. Family life cycle: Middle aged. Behavioural Occasions: When looking to paint the interiors of his house. (Usually there is an upsurge with new construction and during festive seasons like Diwali and Holi). User status: First time user. Loyalty status: Not defined. Readiness Stage: Relatively informed. Attitude toward product: Low-involvement. Attitude toward brand: Trusting, has high-recall value.

Key Consumer Benefits Proposition: The outlet allows the consumer to get just the right shade. Support: Asian Paints has the largest range of colours in the market (e.g. Over 127 shades of green, 206 shades of blue, 118 shades of yellow and many others) and the outlet allows the consumer to choose any among a vast range of colours with the help of a computer. Tone and Manner: The tone of the advertising should be educative yet appealing. It should touch a chord in the readers heart so that he identifies with the communication and sees it as speaking directly to him. Other Considerations: Use the colours, logo and symbol of Asian Paints and Colour World, which are a pneumonic essential to all brand communication. Keep in mind that the advertisement should be in line with the overall communication strategy of the brand and primarily should support the proposition advertised in the current television commercials mera wala cream, mera wala pink and kathakalli dancer (TVCs will be sent for your perusal). During primary research we noticed that persons during the phase of getting their house painted look for just the right shade and are prone to collecting samples to visually show their painter exactly what they had in mind and cannot always express verbally. If this insight is useful, you may incorporate it in your advertising. What I would have done with the brief

Headline: rang badal de Bodycopy: For all the colour nature has to offer contact your nearest colour world at 1600-11-5678. AGENCY: O&M

Comparative Evaluation of the Advertisements

Target Audience: The primary target audience for all of the brands marketing and communication activities has been the adult male who is the primary decision maker on the brand of paint used. However, the female members of the house play a very significant role in the selection of shades, a fact they have leveraged through a series of ads over the last decade aimed at the female shopper. By not showing any particular individual in the image, the advertisement aims to cut across and appeal to the various niches of the target consumer. Bodycopy: The non-use of caps in the headline as in the original ad is in line with the asian paints logo, which is in a similar font. This style has been incorporated in the colour world logo designed in this ad as well. This design is also meant to allow better readability because of the structure of the colours used. The use of the toll-free number is very strategic and part of the overall corporate image. The company, which currently has a turnover of Rs1,300 crore, set up Indias first paint helpline (1600-11-5678) in April 2000 in 20 major cities, which gained a considerable foothold in SEC A/B homes, for whom painting the house was not just slapping whitewash on the walls. The helpline answered questions on shades, subtle colours, prices, combinations, maintenance, home dcor, moods etc. information that a consumer would have to do harrowing research to get. Thus, for the customer the best advice was just a call away. For Asian Paints, a sale was also just a phone call away. In the case of Asian Paints they already had a loyal customer base. For them, the toll-free number was an add-on to formidable brand equity. The toll free number is used instead of the given number in the bodycopy.

Pneumonics: The companys mascot Gattu (designed by R.K. Laxman in 1954), an impish boy with the paint tin and brush, is most popular and easily recognized, one of the epitomes of the ideal mascot. However, in line with the new branding strategy, the brand has gotten a facelift, with new packaging, a contemporary logo and corporate colours. Hence, Gattu has been dropped from the communication except as an inch-high mnemonic on the back and lids of the paint tins. The new look (Asian Paints is the logo, in yellow and red, with the vertical of the p converted into a brushstroke), gives all the companys products a uniform look which is very much more contemporary, urban and upmarket. This has been incorporated in the advertisement. Layout and Copy: The advertisement has more space allocated to the image, also cutting out the sub-headline and reducing body copy. This has been done in a manner to make the image more appealing and give a potential to catch the readers eye without reducing relevant matter from the bodycopy.

THE ASIAN PAINTS ADVERTISING STRATEGY

As can be seen from the Creative Brief, the ad is strategic in nature, being a part of the Asian Paints campaign promoting Asian Paints as the brand with the largest range of colours and one that will satisfy the consumer and is able to give him precisely what he wants. The advertising through the campaign is single-minded and focussed in its proposition, communication and target audience. The campaign included TVCs and other print advertisements as part of the same communication. At the time, Asian Paints had 13 brands with over 1,100 shades, targeting different niches. They were beginning to realise that though some brands like Apex emulsions, Royale interior emulsion, Apcolite and Touch Wood had high recall; none except Tractor distemper were almost generic. Therefore, they decided to promote the corporate image and the various brands under their umbrella brand Asian Paints through their communication, pushing the generic Asian Paints brand instead of pumping in investment on individual brands. This leveraged on the advantage that Asian Paints was the one company in this low-involvement segment where people actually asked for the paint by brand, breaking away from the earlier tradition where consumers were not known to be very brand-conscious in this low-involvement segment and, more often than not, relied on what the painter bought for them within the budget allocated, being more specific about the colour than its source.

CONLUSION

Asian Paints is a great example of how a brand operating in a low involvement category like paints carved a strong place in the hearts of consumers. Advertising reflected different cultures to connect with consumers in their own language. In the South it was Pongal while Diwali in the North. The success of Asian paints is primarily attributed to the marketing acumen. The company has made excellent use of electronic and print media, besides publishing informative brochures for all its products. The companys mascot Gattu created to give an ethnic touch has almost become synonymous with generic product.