“The dirty bastards are back again”, The rise of Adidas & Puma.

 

This sounds like an age-old black and white movie story but the climax resulted in birth of two giants in sports shoe industry Adidas and Puma. Today's world is full of brands that touch our life style at every thought of our needs and especially few brands that we admire has an interesting story attached to their name. One such fascinating story is of how sporting apparel cash cows, Adidas and Puma made their way into our lives.

The Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory.

The movie screen moves back to the year 1924, Herzogenaurach a small town in Germany, where Christoph von Wilhelm Dassler was a daily labour in a shoe factory and his wife ran a laundry in a small room. Their kids, Rudolf Dassler and Adolf Dassler(Adi) were attracted towards shoe making and began preparing variety of sports shoes in their mothers kitchen and named it “Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik” (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory). The shoes gained popularity in 1936 summer Olympics, as Adi Dassler persuaded US sprinter Jesse Owens to use his company shoes. Jesse Owens agreed and went on to win four gold medals in that event. Adi Dassler used to take a suitcase full of spikes and promote it at different sporting events and hence shoes produced at  Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory, rallied to fame by the early 1940s.

Adidas & Puma Brand history  (The dirty bastards are back again).

The Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory was doing fast & fine, then came the turnaround, World War II raised the curtains between the two brothers Adi and Rudi. After a allied bombing attack on the city, Adi Dassler and his wife rescued into a bomb shelter already occupied by Rudi and his wife. “The dirty bastards are back again”, said Adi Dassler, referring to the planes at the war place, but Rudi Dassler firmly believed that his brother was targeting his family with such words. Their sprouted fierce rivalry between the siblings. Adi Dassller renamed the company to Adidas  (using first three letter of his first and last name ), Rudolf imitated the same trick to start RUDA (first two letters of his first and last name), RUDA later rebranded as PUMA. Interestingly Adidas And Puma are on the either side of the river Moselle. The riff out of miscommunication between the Dassler brothers led to the birth of two giants corporations. 

The rivalry continued between Adidas & Puma till the brothers life, In the year 2009 the companies came forward to play a friendly soccer match which formally called off the red blood between the companies. By 2010 Adidas reported € 11.99 billion in revenues & Puma with € 2.706 billion .So, Isn't interesting ?

WWDC 2012 @ Apple Inc.

 

 

Being a Steve Jobs admirer, I take great amount of esteem  to write about Apple Inc.

 

Today I will  take you through the proceedings of 23rd WWDC held on June 11 ,2012. Tim Cook the very able successor of Steve Jobs, walks in greeting the developers in the auditorium,Good Morning. I really liked the way Tim Cooks walks in, it shows the gut feeling that he & his company comes out  with remarkable apps that touches lives across. Tim presents amazing numbers about App Store. 400 Mil accounts, 650k apps out of which 225k especially designed for ipod, 30 bill downloads and a staggering 5 bill dollars paid for the developers.Tim proudly announcing the App Store operations in 30 new countries in addition to previously operating 120 counties, making it 150+ presently.

Nothing makes Apple happier than people using their devises and software with amazing apps from developers to better the world and share their latest and greatest idea, Tim adds to the success story.

Now its all set for the agenda, introduce exciting changes to the note book product line and new releases in OS X & iOS.

When Phillip Schiller, VP world wide Marketing Apple Inc. steps up to announce different changes in MacBook Pro & MacBook Air, He presents the new generation MacBook Pro, they call it A Retina display with 5.1 million pixels(2880 x 1800, 5184000 Pixel's). An all-flash architecture. Quad-core Intel Core i7 processors. In a design that’s just 0.71 inch thin and 4.46 pounds. claiming it  highest resolution notebook display ever. studded with features like 16GB of RAM. 768GB SSD. Two thunderbolt ports, HDMI. FaceTime HD, dual-microphones,802.11n Wi-Fi, 4.0 Bluetooth .USB 3.0. 4.46 pounds.Price starting at $2199. The 0.71 inch beauty from Apple Inc.is a perfect blend of Design engineering, Hardware excellence & a most desirable operating system a Apple user can ever demand for.

Craig Federighi, VP OS X software.Unveils the new OS X Mountain Lion which comes with over 200+ features that make Mac, ipod, iphone work more advanced.Features like cloud, iMessages,Power nap, Dictations are embedded along with Remainders and Notes given a touch high access. The OS X Mountain Lion can shopped in App Store this July at an affordable price $19.99.

Scott Forstall VP iOS ,Introduces the iOS 6 with features like More intelligent Siri, Turn-by-turn navigation, 3G Maps, Facebook integration, Passbook, Facetime etc.

My recent crush Sir,  now knows more languages, wide local search, Sports, you can update Facebook & twitter status  & Apple is working with Car manufacturers across the globe for siri integration. With iOS 6, Factime works over cellular networks as well as Wi-Fi. Turn-by-turn navigation means your iphone can steer you from point A to  B without the need for a pricey third-party app.

The Phone App is the one which drove my attention in iOS 6.They  added 2 new options answering a call, 1.Send a message,2. Remind me later, especially the “When I Leave” option is super cool the phone pops up a message once the user leave a geographic location be it a meeting hall or a building isn't it cool. The Enthrall of all should be the Passbook, This new app keeps all your airline tickets,movie tickets and what ever  in one convenient location. Even better, it's location-aware, meaning your boarding pass will pop up  when you get to the airport &theatres . It can even update the boarding pass in real time with gate-change information etc.

"Only Apple can come up with products and services that empower people to do great things”- Tim Cook

So true, I wish Tim & his team of developers to make wonders out of Apple.

My Social Media Case Study @ Peter England !

I never had my personal stuff on my blogs, but today I would like to share a personnel experience of mine. It goes around social media, branding and customer support and what not!

 

So all these days I've been listening about social media its buzz, the importance, the mileage it can bring to brands. Suddenly I get to understand what social media can do for me, with a personal experience, so let’s start!

Few days back (15th May, 2012), I was shopping at a Peter England store at himayat nagar, Hyderabad. After I made up my mind, for a cool blue shirt and walked straight to the billing counter, the guy at the counter asked me “cash or card Sir “ it’s by card I replied. The store keeper took my card swiped it and said there was a problem with the connectivity and asked me if I can pay cash, well I walked all the way to a ATM nearby, and paid the bill, 849 it is.

Later the day I was surprised to see, a late alert on my mobile showing a shopping transaction. So I called him back and he replied asking me to consider his mistake and want me to compensate the mistake by buying another shirt at the same price (frustration at peeks) & later on conveyed that he would return my money back if someone makes an equivalent bill of 849 (this is mad stuff). Eventually I made up my mind to wait for the deal, but there after it’s the social media magic!

Social media the saviour (Thanks to Twitter)

Well unconsciously I wrote this issue on Peter England’s brand page on Twitter and the brand replied me with a sorry, a promise to look into the issue and conclude this as soon as they can. Later on requested for the store details and my mobile number for which I did the expected. Then just after one hour from my tweet I received a call from the store asking me to collect my money (with a polite voice). Believe me, it just happened in no time. Yuppie there ends the drama, I'm happy with my money back.

I really loved the way Peter England cares for its customers, superb.

Conversation on twitter.

Not just Peter England many brands were talking to the target audience on twitter, I had similar conversations with brands recently. Chocolate Room a local chocolate recipe’s provider had retweeted and replied to my tweets, here the chocolate is the common interest for both of us. It’s awesome experience to see brands talking to you.

Now let me sum up my experience with how social media can help brands manage their online image & customers are at comfort of it.

1. Social media is such huge media where the reach is enormous so brands can’t take a chance on presenting a pale picture of its image online.

2. Social media is the reach, that a busy customer can easily communicate with the brand be it regarding customer support, queries, product information etc. Not just this social media can be moulded the best way to fine tune with the brands requirement of communicating with its target audience.

3. The credibility is social media, brands can’t make false promises nor they can deny pitfalls from their side.

4. The word of mouth, as I'm happy with the brand ill shout it loud and social media makes it Louder.

So this is my social media story, what's yours?

IPL 2012 Carnival Ad film (Ogilvy’s Masterpiece )

 

Brand: IPL (Indian Premier League )

Marketing Campaign: IPL 2012 Carnival (The Magical Mystery Tour!)

Punch line: Ye IPL Hai Boss.

Agency: Ogilvy India Pvt Ltd

Creative Director: Abhijit Avasthi

Filmed by: Bang Bang Films.

Client: BCCI (board of cricket control in India)

Are you all set to an adventurous & nail biting cricketing carnival of different joy rides featuring “Gilly Funda”, “Slinga Malinga”, “Warrior Dada”, “Viru Whammer”, “Vettori Twirler”, “Dravid Wall”, “Dhoni Dhamal”, “Master blaster” etc. Yes the IPL season 5 will kick start from 4^th April 2012.

The IPL Carnival ad designed by Ogilvy is simply a creative masterpiece, It starts when 2 school kids were offered with a joy ride in a big carnival by the exhibition host (Makrand Deshpande). Firstly welcomed with a purple & orange caps (caps offered for highest run getter and wicket taker in IPL), The kids enjoy the carnival with fun filled games and thrilling rides on rollercoaster's named after famous cricketing names like Ganguly, Gilchrist, Sangakara and others in the IPL.

When kids were puzzled on why this hungama, The host replies “Ye IPL Hai Boss”.

Abhijit Avasthi was outstanding in crafting the IPL 2012 advertisement especially in merging cricket with a carnival experience, and also blending names of famous cricketers  to the rides & games in the carnival. The ad film is full of colours, dazzling lights, excitement, huge sets, hoardings of cricketers, rides & celebrations. The demiurgic thought from Ogilvy was given a shape by the film service and production company based in Cape Town (South Africa) Bang Bang films who shot this ad film for Ogilvy.

The ad film was aired on March 06th 2012 bringing in new flavour to cricket after Indian cricket team struggling overseas in the recent times.

 

Undoubtedly one of the finest act from Ogilvy India Pvt Ltd, I enjoyed this ad a lot. Only an agency like Ogilvy’s muscle can bring in such Brilliance.

Kolkata Knight Riders New Logo (The Brand Makeover)

 

Kolkata Knight Riders with a Brand makeover,  ready to play in IPL season 5. 

Marketing Campaign - “New Dawns, New Knights”

Agency - “Lambie-Nairn” (Branding agency from London specialized in Brand identity, Design, and Corporate identity)

Designer - Sophie Lutman (Creative Director at Lambie-Nairn)

The new logo and a refreshing marketing campaign from KKR aims at bringing in a new look for the franchise that appeals to wider audience & create a greater brand resonance . The new logo was designed with Gold & blue colors (previously gold and Black) giving it a distinct makeover. The marketing campaign also has a new punch line “New Dawn, New Knights” from “Go for Gold be a Knight Rider” previously. KKR has good brand equity with corporate’s like Nokia, Reebok, dish tv continue their sponsorship with the franchise.

This move has came after four flop shows by KKR in the IPL. The Franchise wants itself  branded more closer to Kolkata cricket fans after losing its way by the exit of  local lad and former Indian skipper Sovrav Ganguly. Performance on field matters more than any other communication or branding gesture, but the brand equity would soar new heights if KKR manage to ride well in the coming  IPL season.

Coke to re-launch Citra in India

Citra, Thums up, Limca, Gold Spot, Maaza & Fanta the popular Indian cool drink brands owned by Indian company Parle in early 80’s. In 1993 Parle sold all these brands to Coke and Coke continues to sell Thums Up , Limca & Maaza But replaced Citra with Sprite & Gold Spot with Fanta in its brand portfolio some where around 1997 (not sure). If one can recall Citra way back in 1990’s a  lemon flavored soft  drink in a green bottle was very popular in its segment.

The good news is brand Citra will surprise Indian consumer again.  After 19 years Coke all set to relaunch the brand Citra in  Indian markets, Coke will bring back Brand Citra to compete with 7 up, Mountain Due brands owned by Pepsi in the fastest growing lemon flavor drink segment (Growth being 16 % yoy). Coke’s strategy is to bring back Citra at price 20 % less than the existing brands to capture the price sensitive segment using one of the oldest & popular brands from its portfolio.

Citra will not cannibalize its sister brands Sprite & Limca as there was huge space in clear lemon flavored drinks segment in Indian markets. Another example to prove strength of  Indian brand. I also wonder why Ramesh chouhan of Parle sold these brands which are of billions worth now to a mere US$ 60 mill in early 90’s ?

Steve Jobs the Brand Immortal

Its an esteem to express my love towards legendary Steve Jobs and his visionary brainchild, Apple Inc. I would not dig deep into his genius as there will be millions of pages penned about Jobs virtuoso, online. One thing that caught my eye is the Apple's quarterly results which were released recently and amazed everyone.  

Apple came out with its quarterly results for December 2011. The company reported a net income of 13.064 bill US$, more than double when compared to previous years 06 bill US$ with the help of robust sales of Mac 5.2 mill units (up 26% year on year basis), iPad 15.43 mill units (up 111% Year on year), iPod  15.4 mill units (up 133% compared to the last quarter). Apple managed to sell 37.04 million iPhone, up 128% compared with the sales of same quarter last year. to ones surprise revenue generated by iPhone's (single product of Apple inc) is on par with total revenue of Microsoft this quarter. A big reason to cheer for apple investors as the Earnings per share increased to more than double i.e. $ 14.03 from $ 6.53 as on 2010, with shares of Apple Inc trading at 453.01 with a market capitalization of  422.37 bill US$ as on 31 st Jan 2011. The 35 year old Apple reported revenues of 108 bill US$ for the year end 2011. Which is on top of the charts when compared to organisations like Nokia, IBM and many other giants who have 100+ years of existence. 

Ever since his come back to Apple in 1996, Steve Jobs made utter wonders, from products to innovations to culture to profits every thing went Jobs way. Even in times of Europe crisis and a global economic down turn, Steve jobs imagic still churning billions for Apple Inc. Apple inc sits on a cash reserve of US$ 10.31 bill i.e. 5,15,50,00,00,000 Cr of Indian currency, Oh my god a number very hard to spell, equal to what a developing economy's worth. Only a person like Steve's charisma can make this possible. 

So whats next for Samsung Apple.

The cash laden apple now has diverse options to leverage its mighty cash reserves, first would be on new product research & development and when it comes to market share Apple should concentrate on bringing low cost products in markets like India, Brazil being stuffed with mammoth middle class population where the disposable income is low to afford igadget's (where as Samsung, Nokia and other smart phone players capitalizing on low cost devices). 
"I would love to have an iPhone, but can't afford Rs 37000 buck's on a phone" 

Apple outsource its manufacturing to a Chinese firm Foxcon, very recently fingers were raised about the working conditions and exploiting workers freedom in many ways. Apple should take a stand on this to make things better at Foxcon. Even giving back to the society is no bad idea as Apple seems to be very inactive in CSR activities till date.

"You have to trust in something-your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

                                                                                              Steven Paul Jobs. 

                                                                                              (Feb 24, 1955- Oct 5, 2011)

References:
http://allaboutstevejobs.com/index.html
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000119312512023398/d267587d10q.htm

The Rajini power !

Its not just a typical Rajnikanth signature style joke, Its an another kick-ass flick featuring the dummy god of masses Rajnikanth, Recently a website dedicated to Rajnikanth went viral online as it runs  WITH OUT INTERNET CONNECTION. Yes a website which features end to end Rajnikanth from jokes to pics to his music was designed to run with out any internet support.

When you enter www.allaboutrajni.com it says, "He is no ordinary man, this is no ordinary website". It runs on Rajini Power. The only way to enter this website is by switching off your internet.Also when you try to reconnect the internet connection a warning pops-up and screams Aiyyo that was unexpected to keep browsing, switch off your internet.

a screen shot from allaboutrajni.com

Webchutney an Indian firm based out of New Delhi specialized in digital media marketing, Designed this distinctive website for Desimartini.com. They(Desimartini.com) want to do some thing parallel with, not just a super star kind of charisma that Rajni carry's.

Gurubaksh Sing creative director with Webchutney said, We designed an complex algorithm in such a way that the  site will run only when the internet connectivity becomes zero and visitors start enjoying the magic show. This website marvelled millions on digital media and social networking sites in no time. 

"To the grab attention of the online audience, we needed to show them something they've never seen before, and only a Rajini website holds the credibility to do so!".  Amit Garg, business head of  desimartini.com said.

In this online era, organisations are in a prowl for better online visibility and brand building through out the digital media space and same is the intention of Desimartini.com in launching this campaign. Recently matrimonial services firm Shaadi.com launched an online game Angry Brides (a whistle blower against the dowry practice in India) as a part of enhancing their online brand presence.

With more than 200 millions of look-ups on Google every day people search for information online to utilize this organisations provide quality and informative content online about their products & services using blogs, fan pages in social media, Youtube channel etc, thus building brand image and trust among potential and current customers.

Yenna Rascala.....That's the power of Social Media,  MIND IT..!  

Fanta the Cash cow.

Not just my opinion this time, Its all about a flabbergasting fact about the famous soft drink Fanta, This luscious soft drink brand from The Coca-Cola Company , has a fascinating story to its brand origin.

At the time of world war II, The Coca-Cola company of Georgia, USA, was unable export Coke syrup (concentrate which is added with water and sweeteners by bottling plants to make the soft drink Coke) to Due the restrictions on shipping between Nazi Germany and the US. 

To tackle the demand for coke the CEO of the German plant Max Keith, came up with a idea to produce a fruit flavored drink made out of crushed apple, the by products of cheese, in fact with what ever is cheap and available. literally fanta is made out all the waste products from the German factory giving an inconsistent taste but still enthralled huge profits even at a world war hangover. (over 60 million bottles were sold with the brand name fanta, in Germany)

In a brain-storming session keith asked his employees to go wild with their imaginations (fantasies) To name the soft drink they produced. spontaneously one of the salesman Joe Knip spontaneously came out with the name Fanta which means to Fantise (Imagination in German ).

After the world warII, fanta was flooded in America and Coca-Cola took its trade mark in 1960. Also very popular in Europe, South America and Brazil being the mammoth consumer of fanta in terms of volume.

When coke entered Indian markets in 1993 it bought Gold spot from Indian major Parle, and replaced fanta in its brand portfolio.

One will count on fingers when asked about the flavours but to every one's surprise fanta it is available in 90+ flavors in over 180 countries, fanta orange being the most loved.

So that's how the Fanta made its debut in the soft drink market, Not a planned one but emerged as a cash cow from the house of coke. Adding to the twist even the parent brand Coca-Cola claimed itself as a medicine for Headache when it is first marketed by  John Pemberton, way back in 1886.