Our firm has been conceived with a simple, yet powerful mission - to act on, work with, and help manage brands as a strategic advisory using a holistic approach to communications in its entirety including advertising, market research, media relations, direct contact programs, events, consumer loyalty programs, product related promotions and online marketing. Our prime objective is to help create an extra value proposition (EVP) for a brand that in effect becomes its unique selling proposition (USP) in an otherwise product parity market. In other words, create an intangible value around the brand, which is also the result of its communications delivery mechanism, using a differentiated media approach.
Simply put, our modus-operandi regarding its work approach towards advising on and managing brands for all clients can be summed up in one appropriate phrase: "Different strokes for different folks".
In today's market scenario, for any marketer, the need of the hour has become to get the "maximum value for his money" … to be able to stretch his promotional rupee to the fullest and more. Thus emerges an important home truth - advertising per se is not enough for a brand's success in the market. Conversely, marketers are looking at cost effective, consumer relevant and market oriented communications solutions that help evolve a competitive edge for their brands, both in the mind as well as in the market. Needless to add, these don't necessarily have to always include advertising!
The starting point for us is one single minded objective - to help create an intangible differential in communication terms for the brand in the target consumer mindset, which in turn, directly affects its performance in the market segment that its operating in. Either which way, two propositions need to be evolved - firstly, the mind proposition and concurrently, the market position. Thus, three key variables need to be carefully evaluated - the brand in question, the market, and the target consumer.
Keeping this in mind, the first step for us involves understanding in detail the operating market dynamics - the brand characteristics, their differentiating product aspects if at all; brand communications in the past versus competitive advertising and the overall comparison; brand sales trends versus competitors and the rationale for the same and above all, the evaluation of, and thereafter formulation of the marketing objective in formal terms, which obviously entails our understanding the market segmentation criteria for the brand in question.
Next comes the all-important issue - the formulation of the analytical framework involving the understanding of the consumer - category relationship at large and thereafter, where does our brand fit in versus competitive brands. Finally, the concluding step in this exercise is the final evolution of the EVP (extra value proposition) that subsequently becomes the foundation stone for the creative and underlying media strategy taken as a whole - and the leap thereafter into marketing communications.
Consumer insights have always paved way for the success of a brand in fiercely competitive markets. We appreciate this universal axiom only too well, but with a difference in terms of using market research as part of formulating the overall brand plan. Research is used always as a means to the logical end rather than the standard blinkered approach of having research become the ultimate end by itself. Thus, more than the execution of the research, which is the "how" of it, the primary importance is first and foremost given to the "what" of it - which is the conceptualization of the research design.
Both in marketing as well as communications research terms, we help evolve and thereafter formulate the research design covering a gamut of research paradigms including:
| Concept Testing |
Usage and Attitude Studies |
| Consumer Profiling |
Market Sizing / Demand Estimation |
| Product Testing |
Competitive Imagery Research / Brand Profiling |
| Positioning Research |
Creative Development Research |
| Pre Testing of Campaigns |
Post Testing of Campaigns |
| Ad Effectiveness Research |
|
The advertising positioning exercise is but the first step in the evolution of the brand communications plan taken in its entirety. At our firm the concept of marketing communications is spelt out in a simple yet relevant hypothesis - the consumer interfaces with a brand in many ways as part of his buying preference and thereafter, his decision to buy the same and subsequently remain loyal to it over a period of time.
All marketing points are integrated together as a flexible time-bound activity plan with the detailed budget rationale and presented to the client. Our task thereafter is to help implement this program and more importantly, take corrective measures to help modify the same in light of competitive actions - thus, care is taken to factor in the "what if" scenario too in the immediate future.
The agency in its new identity is having a select client base to start with (which it acquired from its earlier avatar) including Triveni Glass, Danceworkx.
However, what cannot be overemphasized enough is the simple yet powerful fact - the core team between them in the past have handled some of the best and biggest brands, both Indian as well as MNC and Government / PSU resulting in a vast and diversified domain knowledge and expertise. The same put together gives the agency team a well rounded and enriched learning curve, which is a unique lever in managing any brand across cross functional industries.
