The Hindu Business Line : Read the competition to decide your next move

STORY so far: A new product is getting out of the company stable. It is a self-help health-kit that can help users to gauge their BP, pulse rate and so on. I get on the launch buzz to see how best the marketing can be planned. During discussion with the agency people, I realise how expensive the ad campaign is going to be. But we narrow on who would endorse our products: the cricketers.

Episode 51

During the last couple of weeks, I was restraining myself from writing anything, with the fond hope that all those student readers of these columns would rather prefer to cram their study notes for the November exams. Call it coincidence or something deliberate, CA exams come just when everybody else seems to be enjoying. May is the time when the air is full of vacation talk; likewise, November is when festive season demands attention.

Many times, Deepavali would fall during the week when exams are held. Even as crackers hiss and burst, a CA student would be found glued to his desk solving a holding company problem, if he didn't want his result to go up in smoke. Well, that's how life is for those who pursue a professional course.

One always thinks, "Okay, once I qualify as a CA, I'll start enjoying life." Not a bad idea, except that a work-life can be busier than a student life. At work is where learning may have to happen at a faster pace, where the lead-times between preparation and execution, between start and finish, and between plan and action, are terribly squeezed.

Also, personal sacrifices may have to be made, such as bunking on that promise to a friend that you would definitely attend his birthday party, or that time-share in a holiday resort going unutilised just because you are too busy at work.

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Last week has been one of the busiest because I was undergoing a crash course in marketing. Our training in CA normally excludes marketing, but I realise day after day that marketing is so essential to people and business. One of the sources of my education has been The Wharton School's marketing Web site and it has listed the advertising principles laid out by J. Scott Armstrong. "Development of an advertisement is a complex task," says the page.

And Armstrong has been developing a checklist for the purpose over the last decade. "Here is the comprehensive listing of guidelines for how to develop persuasive advertisements," he writes. There are 224 principles behind a `persuasive' print ad.

Since we were considering a celebrity endorsement for our new product, I look for what he says on that: "Use a testimonial from a celebrity who is relevant to the product," he begins. Yes, health and sportsmen are related to each other. "Have the celebrity use a two-sided argument." That should be like Shah Rukh arguing that the soft-drink is not safe and safe.

"Focus on the product, not the celebrity." A tough part, actually. "Avoid celebrities whose future actions may harm the product." But that's what happened to some of those cricketers who got involved in betting and fixing. "Do not use celebrities who endorse many products." At least, they should not be advertising your rival's products.

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I have also been spending time studying ads in general and health-related ads in particular. With the ad principles in my head, it becomes easy to rate the ads quickly. For a TV ad, it is necessary that the opening is directing related to the product. Else, we would be confusing the viewer whether he is watching an ad for a clothing or car, paint or fridge. There should be close-ups of the product, I realised when seeing an ad for a new brand of masala that showed a lady model more elaborately.

On `voice', Wharton's page has this to say: "Use a spokesperson who has an authoritative voice." Which is why the Big B has all that charm. "Use a spokesperson who has a pleasant voice." Should I look for the most favourite RJ on the FM? "Match sex of announcer with the product for gender-related products." A commonly-flouted rule because we often see and hear women when the product is a gent's brief. "Voices for testimonials should be similar to target market in accent." So, don't round the `r's if you are down south.

Strangely, there is place for silence too in those ad spots that companies pay dearly for. "Use silence of two seconds before a strong claim. Use silence after a strong claim. Use silence to enhance emotional appeals. Use silence to demonstrate a product characteristic." That can sometimes speak volumes.

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Endorsement by an expert is different from getting a celebrity to vouch for your product. Also, there is endorsement by a typical customer. I have been having long discussions with the product head and my other colleagues if we should not get an authority on health matters to talk about our product and use the input for ad campaign.

As a result, we started placing our product in the offices of eminent surgeons and physicians in major cities. The feedback from these points has been generally positive, except in the case of one doctor who was a bit peeved that we didn't provide a staff along with the free kit that we made available to his clinic. Aarr... .

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During one of my adventures into the city's roads, I saw a big hoarding that advertised a health-kit. Immediately, I stopped the scooter to read more thoroughly, because that was part of my current job. "Swati," my boss had told me. "We want a killer ad. That means everybody in the company is on it." Now, this rival product had the very cricketers we had short-listed. "Are they trying to steal our idea?" I wondered.

There was also a portrayal of the kit, but it looked more like sphygmomanometer, the blood-pressure instrument that consists of a pressure gauge, an inflatable cuff placed around the upper arm, and an inflater bulb or pressure pump.

I made quick notes of what details could be gathered from the ad and proceeded to the office. We were yet to go to the press about our new product. Even as I was intrigued by the rival product, I allowed a faint thought to cross my mind: "Could there be some info leak happening in the company, passing on critical developments to the competition?"

(To be continued)

Swati_CA@hotmail.com

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