Session 1

Introduction to Advertising

• What is Advertising?
• History of advertising
• Role of advertising in the marketing mix
• Changing advertising world
• Indian advertising scene - Agencies, Media

Case Doodh Doodh - Wonderful! Glassful real taste of milk!

Case Discussion Questions:

• What is the need to advertise milk?
• How will this advertising help milk producers?
• What are other ways of stimulating demand for milk?

Session 2

Advertising Planning

• Understanding consumer behaviour in the marketing situation
• Segmentation of the market
• Analysis of Market, Analysis of competition, consumer and Brand
• Process of advertising development

Case LML Vespa - Build your own mountain

Case Discussion Questions:

• How can the two-wheeler market be segmented? Is this a constant over time?
• What is the current market scenario? How can LML compete?
• What would be the process adopted to arrive at LML's advertising strategy?

Session 3

How Advertising Works

• Models - DAGMAR/ AIDA/ FCB Grid
• Setting advertising objectives - in relation to marketing objectives, PLC, competitive situation.
• Defining target audience/segments

Case Captain Cook Atta - Branding a commodity

Case Discussion Questions

• What would be advertising's role in a commodity market?
• What could be the advertising objectives for Captain Cook?
• Who would be the primary target audience for a new brand in a commodity market?

Session 4

Positioning

• Positioning the brand in the consumer's mind
• Positioning options - Positioning analysis
• Brand Identity and Brand Equity Analysis
• Positioning within the context of overall brand identity
• Relevance - Unique-Believable (RUB) Test

Case Sundrop - Positioning for healthy success

Case discussion questions

• What were the key ingredients/ supports for the positioning of Sundrop?
• How sustainable is Sundrop positioning?
• How would you attempt positioning a food product (brand) like jams or pickles?

Session 5

Creative Strategy

• Advertising objectives to creative objectives
• Client brief to creative brief
• Elements of the creative brief
• Objectives; Target Person; Promise; Support

Case Santoor- Success more than skin deep

Case discussion questions

• What would be the key elements of the Santoor creative brief?
• What is the creative leap taken in the Santoor advertising?
• Looking at a few key soap brands, what are their creative strategies?

Session 6

Creative Approaches

• Creative execution styles; testimonial, storyline, problem solution, demonstration, suspense, satire, fantasy
• Developing a creative appreciation
• Nuturing creative ideas
• Supporting creative leaps

Case Voltas Megalaundrette - Only size matters

Case discussion questions

• What is the core creative strategy for Voltas? How is it different from all other washing machines creative strategy?
• Can the same brief be executed differently ?
• What helps advertising to break through the clutter: strategy or execution?

Session 7

Budget Setting

• Marketing Objectives to Marketing plan to arriving at advertising budgets
• Common methods of budget setting
• Objective & Task; Percentage of sales
• Annual budgeting Vs rolling plans
• Competitive scenario implications

Case Wipro - We've been thinking of you

Case discussion questions

• How would you arrive at a budget for a corporate brand campaign like Wipro?
• Would budget allocations change with time? What would impact budgets?
• How could a corporate brand advertiser measure the delivery /ROI?

Session 8

Media Strategy

• Media vehicles available today
• Qualitative aspects of media
• Quantitative aspects of media
• Reach, frequency
• Developing a media strategy - objectives, processes, bench marking

Case Escotel - Branding a New Service

Case discussion questions

• What would be an ideal media strategy for a new service brand like Escotel?
• How can Escotel measure the success of its media strategy?
• Could Escotel have used unconventional media for delivering its message? Which media?

Session 9

Media Planning & Buying

• Importance of setting plan objectives
• Reach, OTS; GRP;TRP
• Planning options: Flighting/Pulsing/Constant
• Media buying fundamentals
• Consolidation across brands
• Economies of scale
• Advantages and disadvantages

Case Godrej Storwel - Selling an Emotion

Case discussion questions

• What would be media objectives for an old established brand like Godrej Storwel?
• What is more important for Godrej, reach or OTS?
• How would one-factor variables like seasonality, geography into Godrej plans? Are they relevant?

Session 10

Advertising Research

• Stages of research in advertising development
• Pre-test and post-test
• Brand tracking studies
• Limitations of advertising research
• How to use ad research better

Case Usha Sewing machines - Building a Gem Collection

Case discussion questions

• What kind of pre-test research could be done before a campaign like the Usha Gem collection?
• Are image scores a good measure of campaign effectiveness? What could be extraneous influences on the scores?
• Develop an advertising research blueprint for a new campaign for an established brand like Godrej locks.

Session 11

Interactive Communication

• Direct/Digital one to one marketing communication
• Telemarketing and web based customer acquisition and management programmes
• Recency - Frequency - Monetary value of a direct customer
• Customer Relationship Management programmes and the role of marketing communications

Case HDFC - Building an affinity with a key intermediary

Case discussion questions

• What were the key objectives of HDFC's key partners programme?
• How could this programme be extended to deepen the relationships?
• What could be other categories/markets where a programme like this could help?

Session 12

Sales Promotions

• Difference between advertising, PR and sales promotions
• Objectives of sales promotions
• Types of sales promotions
• Measuring effectiveness of sales promotions

Case Amul Malai Paneer - Unforgettable Taste

Case discussion questions

• What could be sales promotion methods Amul could use to increase trial of Malia Paneer?
• How can Amul measure the effectiveness of the sales promotion scheme? Sales? Any other variable?
• Will a contest work for a new product? What will work best?

Session 13

Public Relations & Event Marketing

• Defining public relations and its difference from advertising
• Target publics and objective setting for a PR campaign
• Implementing a PR campaign and measuring the impact
• Events to build experiential marketing thrust to brands
• Types of events - internal public, external consumers; branded Vs sponsored

Case Bangaram Island Resorts - Thank god for nothing

Case discussion questions

• What would be a PR campaign for a travel/tourism service like Bangaram?
• Can Bangaram use events to build word-of-mouth/ PR coverage?
• Can PR alone work for a niche service? When will it stop working?

Session 14

Legal Aspects of Marketing Communication

• Legal restrictions on advertising certain product categories
• Indian legal systems
• Consumer Protection Acts
• Magic Remedies Acts
• Advertising Standards Council of India
• Indian Newspaper Society/ Doordarshan rules
• International guidelines and their implications to the Indian market:

Case Novartis - Protecting farmer's cotton cash

Case discussion questions

• Why is selling and distribution of pesticides controlled by the Government?
• What internal safeguards should a pesticide company have to protect itself from wrongful usage?
• Would pharmaceutical companies have to adopt similar guidelines? Why?

Session 15

Summing Up

• Advertising process and development
• Advertising objective setting and strategy
• Positioning & Analysis of consumer/competition
• Creative Strategy
• Budget setting
• Media Strategy & Planning
• Sales Promotion/ Direct/ Interactive
• PR/ Events
• Ad Agency Structure

“I recommend this book. It is a wonderful blend of advertising concepts and theories with well-developed case studies illustrated in incredible colour”.

-David Aaker, Professor Emeritus of
Marketing at Haas School of Business,
University California Berkeley

“M.G. Parameswaran has produced a sound and attractively-written book that is intellectually accessible to marketing and advertising practitioners, from the most senior to the most junior. They will all have something to learn from it. A particular point of interest to a non-Indian reader is that the cases featured in the book are all Indian: either local brands from international manufacturers or local brands from local manufacturers. These all have great intrinsic interest, but they demonstrate essentially the similarities – not the differences – in best practice between the Indian and Western worlds.”

-John Philip Jones, Professor,
Syracuse University

“I really enjoyed reading Mr. M.G. Parameswaran’s Brand Building Advertising: Concepts and Cases. It is highly readable and I found it difficult to put it down once I started reading it! Each case history in the book is well documented and narrated as a great story. What impressed me most was the commonality of process of creating successful brands across consumer products, consumer services and corporate branding situations.

This book is a must read especially by clients of advertising agencies.”

-Dr. Jagdish N. Sheth,
Charles H. Kellstadt
Professor of Marketing,
Emory University, Atlanta,. USA.

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