Case Study: Media Planning

ADESH .P. SHARMA DPGD/JL10/1086 SPECIALIZATION: MARKETING

WELINGKAR INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMANT DEVELOPMENT and RESEARCH Year of Submission: June 2012

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would appreciate the positive attitude shown by all respondents, without which this project would have not come to the conclusion. I would also like to thank my family who could contribute their knowledge and support in ensuring the completion of this project work.

(Adesh P. Sharma) Place: Mumbai Date: 25th June 201

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A PROJECT ON MEDIA PLANNING OF ASIAN PAINTS

Table of Contents Sr. No. Topic

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Page No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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 ever-growing 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 fullservice 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
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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.

WHAT IS MEDIA PLANNING?

Media Planning is the process of selecting time and space in various media for advertising in order to accomplish marketing objectives.

Or to keep it short: It is the process of establishing the exact media vehicles to be used for advertising. We have a number of media choices to put our messages across newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, outdoor hoardings etc. We therefore must have a systematic method to decide (i) Which media to use; (ii) Which specific media vehicle to use; (iii) How to use the media; (iv) When to use the media; (v) Where to use them; So that our messages are put across efficiently and effectively. Media planning refers to an analytical method for taking media decisions, and describes the process of taking the message across to the target audience at the time and place, and using the right media vehicle.

Media planning answers the questions such as : (i) What is our target audience and how to reach it? (ii) How many times should we reach it?

(iii) When should we reach it? (iv) Where should we reach it? (v) At what cost should we reach it? As we know by now, media planners work in close cooperation with the creative people. The creative execution often decides the direction of media planning. Media plan is derived from advertising plan. It sets the media objectives. The objectives are realized through media strategies. We have to select media vehicles and a media schedule. The following diagram illustrates the concept of media planning: Marketing Plan Situation Marketing Objectives Marketing Strategy Action Plan Advertising Plan Promotional Strategy Advertising Objectives Advertising Strategy Creative Execution Budget Media Plan Media Objectives Media Strategy Media Vehicles Media Schedule

MEDIA OBJECTIVES
Setting media objectives is the first step in media planning. Media objectives are in harmony with the advertising and marketing plans.

TARGET AUDIENCE: HOW TO REACH: Which is the audience for our product? This happens to be the most important consideration in media decision. We first examine our market plan and advertising plans and then will come to know about the audience of our product. Detail study in terms of demographic, economic and psychographic terms of our audience can be made. We can target our product to a segment of the market. Then we have to select the media vehicle which reaches this segment. MESSAGE DISTRIBUTION: The number of messages and the frequency of their appearance matter a lot. We have to decide whether a single message is sufficient or there should be several repetitions of the same. These lead us to the concept of reach and frequency, which need to be balanced. REACH: Reach indicates a percentage of target audience who is exposed at least once in a given period to a particular media vehicle, and though measures exposure, but does not actually measure those who have noticed particular ads. FREQUENCY: It indicates the number of times people in the target audience are exposed to a media vehicle during a given period of time. The more the exposure the better the impact. While introducing a new product we need more frequency.

MESSAGE WEIGHT: The sum of the reach number of specific media vehicle in a given media plan gives the message weight. Message weight is expressed in terms of gross impression or gross rating points (GRP). Gross impressions are a summation of exposures of the target audience to media vehicle in a media plan. There should be an attempt in the media objectives to balance the reach and frequency. To face the heavy competitive campaign, we should have greater frequency to ensure the repetition of the message.
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MEDIA STRATEGY: Media strategy is the way we seek to realize our media objectives. When formulated correctly, it enables an advertiser to rise above the clutter of ads, and stand out in the competition. Media strategy expects the media planners to be creative in using the media. The use of the media should complement and supplement each other. The ad should be consistent with the editorial

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environment of the media. The ad should provoke the readers to look at it more than once. Media strategy has to cover decisions taken in the areas of (i) Geographic selectivity (ii) Scheduling of the ad (iii) Media selection (iv) Cost efficiency of the selected media. GEOGRAPHIC SELECTIVITY: Our media strategy is based upon our market coverage. We have to see how strong a product is in a particular geographical region and advertise more in high potential areas. Marketers may measure the sales strength in particular market by making use of two ratios: (i) The brand development index (ii) The category development index BRAND DEVELOPMENT INDEX The brand development index (BDI) measures the sales strength of a brand in a particular area of India. BDI = Percentage of brands total sales in the market/ Percentage of total Indian population in the market x 100 CATEGORY DEVELOPMENT INDEX It measures the sales potential of product category. Thus it takes into account the potential of all competitors selling the same category. CDI = Percentage of product categorys total all India sales/ Percentage of total Indian population in the market x 100
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MEDIA SCHEDULING: Media scheduling decisions are about the timing, continuity and size of the ads. TIMING Advertising message can be timed in four ways depending upon our objectives. (i) to time the message in such a way that the customers are most interested in buying that type of a product. (ii) to time the message in such a way that it stimulates demand in the lean period.(iii) to time in a way that it by passes competitive campaigns (iv) to time in such a way that the message is carried by the media when the audience is receptive. CONTINUITY When an ad is run in the media for a long period without any gap, were using continuity scheduling. Alternate to continuity is fighting where advertising runs for some period and then there is a gap, and again it runs for some period. The messages can be schedule to correspond to peak purchasing periods or at a time when the audience is most receptive. SIZE AND PLACEMENT The decision about the size of the ad and its placement are also important in scheduling. There are several size options in print media right from a small portion of the page to a full page to several pages. In electronic media, we have options to select commercials for various lengths of time, 10-seconds, 30 -seconds, 60- seconds. Placement of the ads in the medium also affects the impact of the ad. Covers are the preferred medium for their impact in magazines. The placement near important editorial matter is also preferred. Media charge slightly higher if we specify a particular position and so we must do a proper cost-benefit analysis. SELECTING THE MEDIA: An advertiser can choose a single medium or a mix of media to take its message to the target audience. Marketers segment a market, and a suitable media can be chosen to match a specific segment. In a media mix, one medium can be used to promote a product and the other as reminder, thus re-enforcing each other. Each media has a particular readership or viewer ship.
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We have to match the target audience of our product to the demographic characteristics of the reader/ viewers of the media as far as possible.

COST EFFICIENCY: The cost of advertising in various media must be analyzed properly. We have to compare the cost of different media. It helps us to select the best media to optimize our objectives.

WHY MEDIA PLANNING?

Without media planning, advertisers would not know where to sell their products as well as what the most effective media for their product. Media Planning helps identify the best advertising space, target market and media for your clients product!

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WHO ARE MEDIA PLANNERS?

Media Planner is a job title in an advertising agency responsible for selecting media for advertisement placement on behalf of their clients. The main aim of a Media Planner is to assist their client in achieving business objectives through their advertising budgets by recommending the best possible use of various media platforms available to advertisers. Their roles may include analyzing target audiences, keeping abreast of media developments, reading market trends and understanding motivations of consumers. ROLES OF THE MEDIA PLANNER: Traditionally, the role of the media planner was quite close to that of a media buyer, the obvious difference being that the planner would devise a plan for advertising and the buyer would negotiate with the media owner on things such as rates, copy deadlines, placement etc. The role of the modern media planner is more wide reaching however. Today many agencies are actually avoiding the job title of 'media planner' in favour of titles such as communications planner, brand planner or strategist. According to Arens (1999), the society today is over communicated: - Advertising media planners need the analytical competence of top financial officers and the creativity of senior art directors and copywriters.

Due to the technologies advancements and audience fragmentation, media planners in ad agencies have different roles today. As important as marketing and creative planning, Planning is becoming very complex Must know how to plan the formula Not only must they know the media, but also marketing research, advertising, creative, planning, and of course the computer!
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Make decision to buy media, and also to defend, prove, and justify the reasons for buying. Internet contributes to this change as well.

MEDIA PLAN
In order to choose the right media, it is important to put together a media plan for the advertising campaign. A media plan is a custom tailored-designed expressly to meet the needs of an advertiser at a given time for specific marketing purposes. These are the questions the clients (companies, organizations, institutions) will be asking the media planners: 1. Who are the competitors in the market? 2. Who are the audience you are targeting? 3. What media are you going to use and why? 4. How many of the target audience will be exposed? 5. How often? Media planning today is all about: Marketing Research Advertising Consumer Behavior Creativity & Sensitivity

Overview: The media planner usually prepares the media plan, which is approved by the advertiser, then made the purchasing through various media vehicle. Media planning today is very much different from the traditional ones. According to some sources. The traditional media planning produces lesser sales. Why? The markets and culture are changing
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Increasing media options Increasing fragmentation of the audience Increasing costs Increasing competition

Now! Consumers not only want to know about the new brands but also established brands. Segmented market Technology enabled ads to deliver to appeal smaller groups. Personal Video Recorder (PVR) / VCR are a threat to TV advertising. (Internet DOWNLOADS!!)

More on Media:
Traditional Mass Media

Newspaper, Magazine, Radio, TV Large audiences, low costs Certain programs audience DO not use a medium because of the content of the advertising Different media have different abilities in exposing the ad material. Alternate ways of reaching the customers, out of the competition Sales promotion, internet advertising, TV screens in airports, walls in public toilets, floor in supermarkets, banners, video tapes, aerial banners, parking meters, electronic billboards, grocery receipts, etc.

Disadvantages:

Nontraditional Media

Disadvantages Cost per thousand very low Not many can be reached Image problem

Specialized Media Magazines, publications, catalogs are for investment, golf, sports car, and trade. This is the so called niche marketing, which is targeting at business and professionals.

MEDIA PLANNING PROCEDURE:

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Media planning is a component of the Marketing strategy of the organization. Therefore, marketing considerations must go before Media Planning. Media planning on the whole answers a lot of questions like "How many prospects do I need to Reach? "In which medium should I place the Ads? etc. Principles for selecting Media Vehicles: Select a media vehicle that can reach prospects With an optimum amount of frequency (repetition) At the lowest CPM (cost per thousand) With a minimum of waste Within a specified budget

WHAT IS CPM? CPM is an acronym for Cost Per Thousand -- the "M" in CPM derives from the Latin "mille" for "thousand." CPM is commonly used in marketing as a benchmark to calculate the relative cost of an advertising campaign or an ad message. Rather than an absolute cost, CPM estimates the cost per 1000 views of the ad. It is calculated by: Total budget / (Impressions/1000) = CPM Example of CPM on the NET: CPM is used by Internet marketers to price ad banners. Sites that sell advertising will guarantee an advertiser a certain number of impressions (number of times an ad banner is downloaded and presumably seen by visitors.), then set a rate based on that guarantee times the CPM rate. A Web site that has a CPM rate of $25 and guarantees advertisers 600,000 impressions will charge $15,000 ($25 x 600) for those advertisers' ad banner. Problems in Media Planning: Insufficient media data Time pressures External influences pressure to produce creative media plans Institutional influences on media decisions Lack of objectivity

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Measuring advertising effectiveness

MEDIA BUYER: An individual working directly for an advertiser, or for an advertising agency, charged with the responsibility of purchasing advertising space. An interactive media buyer makes online ad space purchases, sometimes through an ad network MEDIA BROKER: Media Broker an individual or organization that represents and is authorized to sell the advertising space of one or more publishers. Advertising networks can act as brokers for online publishers

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
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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 Chemicals, Canada, helps in catering to the powder coatings market. Brands of Asian Paints are as follows:

Asian Paints. Berger International. SCIB Paints & Apco Coatings.

MADISON MEDIA
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Madison World is a 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

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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

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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 5400 crore. 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 an owner 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

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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 realized 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
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"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 up market one designed by Enterprise 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.
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Asian Paints is a classic branding story and the brand is still exploring and growing

AD CAMPAIGNS OF ASIAN PAINTS

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(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 & Maharashtra). 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.

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(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.

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(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.

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EXAMPLE OF MEDIA PLANNING Client Brief

Client: Asian Paints Product: Asian Paints Color 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 Color World as the one stop paint shop with all the colors one could want. The advertising should create enough interest in potential consumers to ensure that they come to the Asian Paints Color 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.

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Behavioral 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 colors 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 colors 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 colors, logo and symbol of Asian Paints and Color 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
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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.

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What I would have done with the brief

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Headline: rang badal de Body copy: For all the color nature has to offer contact your nearest color 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 color world logo designed in this ad as well. This design is also meant to allow better readability because of the structure of the colors 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
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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 colors, 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 body copy. Pneumonic: 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 colors. 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 body copy.

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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 colors 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 focused 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 realize that though some brands like Apex emulsions, Royale interior emulsion, Apcolite and Touch Wood had high recall; none except Tractor distemper was 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 color than its source.

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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.

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