Marketing – Dutch Uncles https://dutchuncles.in Market Intelligence & Mentoring Resources for Startups and Small businesses | Dutch Uncles Wed, 23 Feb 2022 12:43:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://dutchuncles.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/favicon.png Marketing – Dutch Uncles https://dutchuncles.in 32 32 Conversational Marketing: Driving Conversions through Personalised Shopping Experience https://dutchuncles.in/build/conversational-marketing-driving-conversions-through-personalised-shopping-experience/ https://dutchuncles.in/build/conversational-marketing-driving-conversions-through-personalised-shopping-experience/#respond Wed, 23 Feb 2022 12:43:08 +0000 https://dutchuncles.in/?p=39645&preview=true&preview_id=39645 In today’s digital era, it is a common sight to receive a pop-up or chat icon eager to talk to the website visitor with joyful greetings. The power of technology has transformed how we communicate and keep connections with our friends, relatives, and acquaintances. The change has also been reflected in the manner we want […]

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In today’s digital era, it is a common sight to receive a pop-up or chat icon eager to talk to the website visitor with joyful greetings. The power of technology has transformed how we communicate and keep connections with our friends, relatives, and acquaintances. The change has also been reflected in the manner we want to be communicated with brands that have a digital presence thereby altering our expectations and paving the way for conversational marketing.

Conversational marketing is a method where the brand engages consumers in dialogue-driven communications offering personalised experience using AI chatbots which use machine learning and computers to create unique interactions with consumers at a one-to-one level. Chatbots are a form of conversational AI which uses natural language processing to converse with consumers.

The quarantine isolation in the pandemic has raised the expectations of consumers that want brands to listen, understand and effectively solve their pain points. Meanwhile, these meaningful conversations aid brands to revaluate their existing strategies and messaging to discover new consumer behaviour and demands.

A study from IBM confirms that early 80 percent of customer queries can be addressed through chatbots. Such one-to-one interactions will help brands establish long-lasting customer relationships.

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A study from IBM confirms that early 80 percent of customer queries can be addressed through chatbots ie. through conversations.

How conversational marketing benefits brands 

  • Personalised conversations improve satisfaction: Leveraging conversational marketing, digital-first brands can improve user satisfaction by delivering a consistent, purposeful experience at each digital touchpoint. By providing a chatbot, one can increase consumer engagement, confidence, and loyalty by empowering users to interact directly.

  • Effective marketing: A conversational marketing strategy makes communication with the customers seamless and straightforward. With AI chatbots brands can generate prompt responses making the businesses dependent on such instant messaging services to encourage sharing to the point information to win customer loyalty.

  • Build trust: According to a study by Salesforce around 41 percent of the consumers do not trust an organisation’s lookout for society well being while making a purchase decision. A report from Drift Insider says that consumers’ frustration over brands and businesses not being responsive towards pain points has grown 5.7 times more since 2019. Forty-two percent of consumers don’t believe that companies are truthful. Implementing AI tools such as natural language processing to showcase authentic voice brands can create empathy and cement trust among users. 

  • Strategise future marketing campaigns: By conversing with the customer, companies can obtain a wide range of information. The insights gained from the conversation will businesses to design specific categories, optimise websites, or create new products. In addition to this one can quantify the impact of the marketing campaign on sales, product development, and in-store management by getting near real-time consumer feedback. 

What happens to businesses not using conversational marketing?

Since online shopping is becoming the new norm, companies not embracing conversational may fall behind. Businesses need to consider the importance of customer experience and how the industry is leveraging AI conversations. Today’s tech-savvy consumers demand answers and issues be resolved quickly and with the onset of COVID-19, they crave the in-person connection online that was offered to them in-store.

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]]> https://dutchuncles.in/build/conversational-marketing-driving-conversions-through-personalised-shopping-experience/feed/ 0 Looks, Olympian And A Soldier; Brand Neeraj Chopra https://dutchuncles.in/featured/looks-olympian-and-a-soldier-brand-neeraj-chopra/ https://dutchuncles.in/featured/looks-olympian-and-a-soldier-brand-neeraj-chopra/#respond Wed, 11 Aug 2021 08:35:08 +0000 https://dutchuncles.in/?p=35567&preview=true&preview_id=35567 The Olympic fever is still very high. Brands and businesses are in a mad rush to feature the brightest faces for their social media campaigns and hashtags. Since the trend of India’s Olympic win is still very raw, this is a golden opportunity for companies to capitalise on the exposure and the coverage by showcasing […]

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The Olympic fever is still very high. Brands and businesses are in a mad rush to feature the brightest faces for their social media campaigns and hashtags. Since the trend of India’s Olympic win is still very raw, this is a golden opportunity for companies to capitalise on the exposure and the coverage by showcasing inspirational faces like Neeraj Chopra and Mirabai Chanu.

Who is Neeraj Chopra?

Neeraj Chopra, is India’s newest Olympic Medallist who created history by bringing Gold for India after 121 long years. His spectacular win in the Men’s Javelin Throw event in Athletics is India’s first win in a Track and Field Event since a very long time. His Olympic debut brought immense glory to India when he scored the winning throw of 87.58 m on a second attempt. A junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army, he also goes by the title ‘Subedar Neeraj Chopra’.

Neeraj Chopra’s past brand connections

Country Delight Natural

A fresh cow and buffalo milk brand, Neeraj Chopra associated with the brand through an ad campaign before his Olympic win. He rendered his face and athletic training journey for the campaign and spoke about how farm-to doorstep delivery of fresh Cow milk helps athletes incorporate a healthy diet in their training regimen.

Gillette India

Neeraj has endorsed Gillette India’s ‘Barber Parivar Suraksha Program’ that covers Indian barbers and their families with Covid-19 insurance of INR 1 lakh. This programme is aimed at raising awareness about the struggles faced by barbers during the pandemic and supports their return to work while ensuring safety.

Mobil India

Mobil Lubricants India launched their ‘Farak Laakar Dekhiye’ campaign which was a Covid safety protocol awareness campaign. It featured the faces of Olympic bound athletes at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and Neeraj Chopra was also a part of it.

Other brand endorsements

Neeraj has endorsed multiple brands like Amstrad, Muscle Blaze, Gatorade, IQOO, JSW Sports, etc. through one-time campaigns or on a full-fledged endorsement basis. Post Tokyo, he is witnessing a surge in his brand value which will no doubt bring more names to the list.

The new golden boy for branding

Neeraj Chopra is the new face of advertisers as a sports superstar. He has a brand worthy face, is equipped with the skills and specialisation, and has two stellar titles to his name; those of being an Olympian and a Soldier. His win at the Olympics propelled him into the elite club of Indian sport brand personalities which include the likes of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Sports Branding scenario in India

Who charges how much?

Virat Kohli, ace cricketer is one of the highest paid sport personalities when it comes to brand endorsements. He charges a whopping INR 1 Cr-5 Cr per brand. KL Rahul is also a very popular face among brands, and he gets INR 50 Lakh-1 Cr per brand for ads and endorsements. Hardik Pandya also charges INR 1 Cr for brand endorsement fees. PV Sindhu’s bronze at the Tokyo Olympics has upped her brand value. Her brand endorsement fees are now in the range of INR 1.2-4.5 Cr.

The biggies in sport branding

The biggies in sport branding have mostly been the top performers like Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom. But now brands are fighting to feature young and fresh faces for their campaigns either via high paid Instagram ads or quick television commercials. Mirabai Chanu was already leveraged by Dominos, and now Neeraj Chopra is slowly becoming a brand favourite.

Neeraj Chopra as the face of business

How much will he charge?

Up until he won the gold medal at Tokyo, Neeraj Chopra’s brand endorsement fees were an estimated INR 20-30 Lakh per year. However, after bringing home the gold, Neeraj may charge a tentative INR 2.5 Cr or higher.

Decoding his brand value

Neeraj Chopra has seen a 1000 per cent increase in his portfolio valuation after his Olympic victory. Brands across a variety of categories are approaching him at top speed and his portfolio is much more open. JSW Sports who manages his portfolio is expecting brand ambassador endorsement deals as well as digital-led deals in the coming future.

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Neeraj Chopra’s brand endorsement fees were an estimated INR 20-30 Lakh per year.

What’s in it for me?

Sports sponsorships have been topping the list of brands and start-ups in India. Whether it’s the IPL, social media collaborations, or traditional TV adverts, sport personalities are a go-to favourite. Brand categories like men’s grooming products, clothing, gadgets, and footwear commonly feature popular faces in sports. Since start-ups have more funds to afford on such expensive marketing campaigns, they understand that the investment will come back manifold owing to the exposure and coverage their business will receive by making famous sportspersons the face of their brand.

Even small collaborations like sponsored Instagram posts fetch millions for sports personalities but significantly up the brand value for any business. It all depends on your fund allocation and marketing budget. As a start-up or small business, if you cannot afford the biggest names in the sporting world, there are many other budding sport personalities whom you can approach for collaboration. Due to the increasing number of sports academies in India like the Inspire Institute of Sports in Bellary, and Soccer Schools by Bengaluru FC (football club), more Olympic bound sports men and women are graduating. Identify popular faces and determine who has a strong social media or media presence, and approach them to advertise your brand.

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]]> https://dutchuncles.in/featured/looks-olympian-and-a-soldier-brand-neeraj-chopra/feed/ 0 Relevance Of Sustainability And Purpose In Helping Build Brand Value For New Age Entrepreneurs https://dutchuncles.in/build/relevance-of-sustainability-purpose-in-helping-build-brand-value-for-new-age-entrepreneurs/ https://dutchuncles.in/build/relevance-of-sustainability-purpose-in-helping-build-brand-value-for-new-age-entrepreneurs/#respond Sat, 07 Aug 2021 04:35:08 +0000 https://dutchuncles.in/?p=35307&preview=true&preview_id=35307 It’s often believed that Purpose-led brands are recession proof, grow three times faster than others and command a far higher share of the wallet then their competitors. But is that really true, even for the cost or value conscious Indian? Purpose-driven brands connect with their audience on causes that both believe in. The brand’s messaging […]

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It’s often believed that Purpose-led brands are recession proof, grow three times faster than others and command a far higher share of the wallet then their competitors. But is that really true, even for the cost or value conscious Indian?

Purpose-driven brands connect with their audience on causes that both believe in. The brand’s messaging aligns to the customers’ beliefs and that in turn builds loyalty. The purpose could be driven through a need to help their customer or to make the world a better place. It can be personal or lofty, but eventually what matters is the authenticity of the same.

A set of start-ups in India have embraced a set of strong beliefs and appear to be seeing strong early success in the market. Let’s study the story of Mamaearth, Bombay Shaving Company and WOW Skin Science to study how they have wowed the Indian consumer.

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The magic of building a credible purpose-led brand is that its core value offers an opportunity for extension into a range of product categories which have a similar need.

Mama Earth

Mamaearth is perhaps one of the finest examples of purpose-led brand building in the Indian market today and it’s intriguing how they went about it.

Their story started in 2014, when Ghazal and Varun Alagh were blessed with a baby boy. Paranoid as most young parents are, they scanned the Indian market for toxin-free baby products and found that there were none! They actually started ordering products from the US and UK, which were expensive with heavy shipping charges and uncovered an interesting gap in the Indian market.

Next, they realized that this need strongly resonated with a new generation of affluent Indian millennial audience that today has a robust and growing consumer cohort. This led them to founding Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd in 2016 to provide toxin-free baby care products. By the year’s end, the company launched its brand as Mamaearth.

Unleashing the Gold Mine of Consumer Value

They also built credibility for their brand by seeking a certification from MadeSafe – a US based non-profit organization that provides a comprehensive health-focused certification for making non-toxic products.

The magic of building a credible purpose-led brand is that its core value offers an opportunity for extension into a range of product categories which have a similar need. Hence, Ghazal and Varun Alagh soon realized that they were sitting on a proverbial gold mine of consumer value that they unleashed through an entry into the broader cosmetics category. In just 4 years, they went from 6 products in the baby care range to 80+ SKUs across skin and hair care for men and women and a turnover of 100 Cr across 500 cities across the country primarily served through D2C platforms.

However, with purpose at its core, the rapid growth of the brand has been fuelled through robust marketing thought & consumer facing investments.

Decoding Mamaearth’s communication journey

Mamaearth started their communication journey through a traditional purpose-led film ‘Goodness is in the little choices we make every day’. Here, they elevate their rather functional attributes of “No Toxins”, “Plastic Positive” and “Cruelty Free” to the emotional payoff of a better world as a reminder that it’s the little choices we make that make a big difference.

They, next, gave teeth to their claim of building a better world through the rather significant initiative of ‘An act of goodness in every order’. Here, Mamaearth promises to plant a tree for every order that has been placed from them. They lend credibility to their claim by helping you view the tree plan on their website and have claimed to have planted 1, 11,853 as on 31st July 21.

My favorite piece of their communication journey is of course Mama-Earth Day: Grading the Goodness Report Card. Here, they made an endearing edit with a child rating Mamaearth on – Goodness towards planet: Here they talked about 1 Lac+ trees planted and oxygen for 2 Lac people.

  • Goodness towards people: Products without 1193 toxins.
  • Goodness towards the environment: 1135 tons of plastic recycled equal to the weight of 200 elephants.
  • Goodness towards animals: Cruelty free as certified by PETA. No animal testing now & forever.
  • Goodness in other activities: 50k hand sanitizers, 20k cloth masks distributed to Covid heroes.

So these initiatives surely build the base for a purpose-led brand and what does it give them? The right to charge a significant premium on their products versus main line players and an expectation of a turnover of 500 Cr in 2021.

But do they have an Achilles heel? If one watches all the brutal reviews of their products on YouTube, it can only be the functionality of their products. They use the right ingredients and sell at a significant premium to other players in the market. But can their products really deliver to the functional delivery of synthetic based cosmetics, I guess only time will tell! For the moment, the going is very good!

Let’s now compare and contrast the Mamaearth journey with other similar brands in this space!

WOW Skin Science

WOW Skin Science is another incredible journey in the same space of premium better-for-you cosmetics. But what I find exciting, is that WOW starts where Mamaearth leaves off, that is the promise of functional delivery.

Ashwin Sokke, one of the founders of WOW Skin Science, had been working in the space of online marketing for some time and as a part of an affiliate programme in the USA, worked on an assignment to market some products in the health and beauty space.

He, then, realized as the e-commerce space started taking off in India in 2013 that there is potent space for a high end D2C brand in India and he kicked off his journey with his partners Arvine Sokkie, Manish Chowdhary and Karan Chowdhary. The founding company was Fit & Glow and the WOW brand was launched in 2014.

Rejecting the conventional brand building

The founders started with their passion for the best formulations rather than conventional brand building and hence honesty and transparency are critical differentiators for the company.

The magic of online listening

Further, given the rigorous digital acumen of the founders, they believe very heavily in data and online listening. Their hero product, the Apple Cider Range started as a drinkable product, but data analytics showed that customers were using it for their hair and on their skin. Thus in 2015 the apple cider range was born. Legend goes that Manish flew to the US nine times to meet formulators and scientists for creating WOW’s popular sulphate and parabens- free apple cider vinegar shampoo. They have since launched several offerings out of it including the drink, shampoo, face wash and moisturizer.

The Right Pricing

The next thing that the founders focused on was the right and transparent pricing for their high end, toxin free brands. At the time of their launch, competition was selling a 200 ml bottle of apple cider vinegar shampoo for Rs 1299, the start-up launched theirs at Rs 399.

Being ‘Customer First’

The third factor in their success is that the founders are extremely passionate about being ‘customer first’. They aggressively deploy social media not just to participate in consumer conversation, glean insights for new products but also to use YouTube and Instagram to promote the brand’s nature-based, science-backed range of products. They spread awareness through product videos and influencers to retarget existing buyers and those that viewed their products.

This strategy paid off and made WOW one of the bestselling brands on Amazon. The next step for the brand was to extend itself to brick and mortar stores and they started their journey only after 4-5 years through Health & Glow in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi.

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The brand's promise is to deliver innovative, luxurious products at affordable pricing.

Discovering the brand core

Now, while the brand achieved business success through a range of enviable products fairly early in their journey, they started talking about and embracing the power of purpose only post attaining some scale.

In a query in 2019, when one of the founders was quizzed on how they have used their success to bring goodness into the world, the response was quite honest but revealing. The founder mentioned that we believe in giving opportunities to employees from diverse educational backgrounds with passion and hunger rather than educational accreditations.

It took some time for the brand to discover its core as a brand that would be known for delivering advanced, research-backed, nature-infused products to wellness-conscious people. Moreover, their strengths as an organization with an emphasis on bringing to market nature-crafted products formulated with a high concentration of natural ingredients that help nourish skin, hair and body and deliver visible results. The brand’s promise is to deliver innovative, luxurious products at affordable pricing.

Once the founders released this brand core, they were then able to move away from simple product videos talking about their variants and product features to more meaningful communication. To take on this task, they tied up with two well-known Bollywood actresses Disha Patani and Bhumi Pednekar.

The communication with Disha Patani was again more functional and science driven in line with the core of the brand. In this communication, while ad recall would go up because of a popular celebrity face, yet the message is surprisingly cliché and forgettable.

Waking up to Millennial Audience

With Bhumi Pednekar, we see the brand starting to talk about its nature-infused credentials. Trust in WOW, trust in nature. Here, we see the subtle evolution of the brand language and tonality towards a firmer message of natural goodness.

Only in recent years, we see the brand waking up to its millennial audience which has catapulted the brand to a business of 340 Cr in 2020 and setting it a target of 800 Cr in 2021 with new messages of sustainability.

Now, while the communication with Bhumi does not talk about nature or sustainability the choice of the ambassador reflects this realization. A PR release in 2020 talks about the fact that Bhumi is a perfect choice as she is a persistent advocate for climate change. The PR release talks about the fact that consumers are demanding ‘Clean & Green’ beauty and WOW! is making it accessible to all.

As we enter 2021, the founders are increasingly becoming vocal about how environmental friendliness is at the core of their business values.

Some of the initiatives the founders have embraced in recent times are:

  • Curating their packages with 30% post-consumer recycled packaging.
  • Moving towards 100% PCR packaging made from ocean waste for reduced carbon footprint.
  • Also, extending their range of refill packs which are already available in Face washes to other products.
  • During Covid, the brand also started manufacturing hand washes and sanitizers, as a part of its CSR activity. They distributed over 15 lakh sanitizers and hand washes in hospitals, police stations, NGOs, municipalities etc.
  • In recent times, one initiative that WOW! promoted was #TrashYourSpam to fight digital pollution which encouraged millennials to empty their spam folders to fight climate change on the premise that every message in your spam folder contributes to 0.3 grams of Carbon dioxide per message.

While the brand is currently taking baby steps towards sustainability, yet it’s interesting to view their evolving strategy.

Brand building lessons for new age entrepreneurs

There are several lessons that new age entrepreneurs can learn from these two brands who found an un-serviced niche in Indian market and then used purpose-led brand building to drive a disruptive scale up of their business.

  • Indian millennial audience is rich, vibrant and rapidly seeking out premium, healthy new age offerings that would have been considered fit only for the western market.
  • The pandemic has made D2C mainstream and if you have an idea that offers great value, you will find consumers all across the population strata well beyond just the Tier 1 & 2 cities.
  • It’s critical to identify your brand core and build your portfolio around it. There are more than one way to catch the fancy of your consumers, be it the emotional ‘MadeSafe’ route that Mamaearth took or the more functional Nature and Science route of WOW!
  • As one starts finding traction, it is useful to garner a deep understanding of your consumers, be it through social listening, customer reviews or just spending time with them to understand their passion point. That’s often where the passion points of sustainability and purpose emerge.
  • As you arrive at the emotional core of the brand that you are building, finding the right brand partners, be it influencers or celebrities can yield a mega scale up of awareness and hence business.
  • Finally, there is no replacement for a well-researched and winning product. The entire temple of your brand starts with a strong need and a fulfilling product. Everything else helps your scale-up the same.

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]]> https://dutchuncles.in/build/relevance-of-sustainability-purpose-in-helping-build-brand-value-for-new-age-entrepreneurs/feed/ 0 What Does It Take To Create An Investor Ready Pitch Deck? https://dutchuncles.in/du-live/what-does-it-take-to-create-an-investor-ready-pitch-deck/ https://dutchuncles.in/du-live/what-does-it-take-to-create-an-investor-ready-pitch-deck/#respond Thu, 05 Aug 2021 12:51:27 +0000 https://dutchuncles.in/?p=35186&preview=true&preview_id=35186 A pitch deck is a presentation that helps potential investors learn more about your business. These slides of several presentations help you to tell a compelling story. What the company’s overview is, its vision and mission, team, problem, solution, market opportunity, product, customers, marketing and sales strategy. Our Innerview with Mr. Dilnawaz Khan highlighted his […]

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A pitch deck is a presentation that helps potential investors learn more about your business. These slides of several presentations help you to tell a compelling story. What the company’s overview is, its vision and mission, team, problem, solution, market opportunity, product, customers, marketing and sales strategy. Our Innerview with Mr. Dilnawaz Khan highlighted his entrepreneurial journey, and during his learning and evolution how he mastered Pitch Decks. Innerview is our weekly live 45-minute motivational and inspirational talk show which features interviews of industry experts who bring forth informative and life experiences and techniques to help shape and gear you up, to succeed.

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You have to think of breaking out the problem into smaller parts and that is an art. The problem is - a lot of first-time entrepreneurs get discouraged when we tell them this - you do not go and solve what will happen on the thousandth day, you start from day zero and slowly build on top of it.

Mr. Dilnawaz Khan is the founder at Codesign Labs and Power Deck. With over 12 years of professional experience across the design, technology, and start-up incubation industry, he is also a Subject Matter Expert on Pitch Decks, Start-up Fundraising and Lean Start-ups. He acts as an Advisor at various academic institutions where he supports them with the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem focussing on student entrepreneurship and innovation.

In brief, the session had the following takeaways:

  • Dos and don’ts for an investor pitch deck
  • How to create and irresistible and compelling pitch deck for investors
  • Structuring of an investment pitch, its importance
  • What to cover and what to ignore
  • Importance of the start-up pitch deck or slide deck

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

According to you, what should weigh more – the problem or the solution when we create that pitch?

Identifying a great problem is an art, creating a greater solution on top of it is a bigger art. Eventually the goal is to create a business. So, everything is of equal importance. May be five things I can say that an entrepreneur needs to look at – looking at a great problem, creating a world class solution, creating a desirable solution for a feasible or viable business, and last but not the least there has to be some sort of a long term vision to enable all of these and on top of it a great team to execute all of these. So, if you have a great idea, a great problem, a great solution but a bad team, you are in a bad state. But you have a mediocre idea and a mediocre solution but it is a rockstar team behind it, you will be definitely going to kill it.

Are there any errors that you have seen that people can be aware of?

I can point out what are the mistakes first time entrepreneurs commit. You have to think of breaking out the problem into smaller parts and that is an art. The problem is – a lot of first-time entrepreneurs get discouraged when we tell them this – you do not go and solve what will happen on the thousandth day, you start from day zero and slowly build on top of it. Again, regarding solving too many problems at a time, I met some interesting startup founders. A lot of them say that I am thinking of making a startup which is Zomato plus Paytm plus Book my Show and I have no competition at all. Of course, when you look at that particular thing, it will have zero competition. But individually if we look at them, there are vertical leaders to compete with. So, do not try and solve everything. Another big problem is that the motivation to do a startup until and unless they jump into the ecosystem is derived from external sources like funding stories, Pitchers, Silicon Valley and so on and so forth. Do not solve a mammoth problem on day one, start from a small problem and build on top of it. Create a better start of your journey when it comes to beginning the startup game.

As we say that the first impression is the lasting impression, would you like to share any thumb rule?

I think one thing that a lot of investors like is authenticity. There are a lot of things you do not have an answer for. Be authentic, just say ‘I don’t know’ and move on. Always make sure that your communication is crisp, clear, to-the-point. Thirdly, which overall again is a very cliche advice but again very very underestimated is to make sure that you leave a great impression. Make sure people see that you are invested, you have put in time, money and energy. And you have prepared well. So, your deck should be very nice, if not designed well, at least aesthetically nice. Your communication should be well. Your pitch should start on time, end on time. You should be very clear as to what you want to talk about. So, practice enough. As per the industry, you have to make at least a hundred pitches to get your first deal. Make sure that you are invested enough. If not, people will again catch hold of you and they will realise that you are faking and nobody likes fakers.

 

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On an average, an analyst at a VC firm evaluates five thousand decks in a year, so it is very very important for you as an entrepreneur to figure out the right method and the right mechanism and make it customisable.

Audience Asks:

What do you suggest about connecting to investors for pitching? Which will be better – a live presentation or just mailing the slides?

When you are reaching out to investors, there are multiple methods. Incubators and accelerators are the lowest hanging fruits. If you get selected, the incubator will definitely host a demo day where you get access to investors. If you apply to an accelerator programme, similar things will happen. Another method is reaching out to investors via cold mail – which is hunting them on LinkedIn, reaching out to them, looking for their email IDs, writing to them. If you mean going in front of them and presenting, then every time you will not get that opportunity. So, if you are sending cold emails to investors then make them customised as if they are for that person. Do not spam investors, do not create one fits all, people like customisation. When you are reaching out in that sense, I think mailing slides is perfect – that is a very good method but make sure your slides are crisp, five to seven, maximum ten. Everybody has their own mechanism and it is very very important for you to identify what they like. On an average, an analyst at a VC firm evaluates five thousand decks in a year, so it is very very important for you as an entrepreneur to figure out the right method and the right mechanism and make it customisable.

I sent mails to a lot of incubation centres and investors but there is no response for the mail from them. What do you suggest for contacting better?

Out of every hundred mails, you will just get a response from two people. That is the conversion of cold emailing and we have to admit it. If you have not heard for first time, you have to send a second email, then third and fourth. Your chances of conversion will definitely increase. Most of the incubation centres have a proper enquiry form or a programme where you can apply. But let me tell you the flipside of it. In a lot of cases when a lot of people write to somebody, they write with a sense of entitlement that I am entitled to receive a reply and they do not do an introspection. We have to even introspect ourselves and review what we are sending out to them. There is a possibility that the idea might not be good enough for the incubation centre, or your business is not at the right fit for the incubation centre or you are really early in the game to accept you. So, you have to again find a fine balance between both the things – right approach, evaluating yourself and making improvements in the keeping update – this is a cyclic process, it keeps on going and eventually you will reach there.

Innerview Session with Mr. Dilnawaz Khan on Pitch Deck

The Key to Compelling Pitch Deck

In this way, Mr. Dilnawaz Khan, from his own experience of sitting on both sides of the table – pitcher as well as investor, has elucidated the importance of this visual document providing essential information about your business plan, product or services, fundraising needs and key metrics like valuation, target market and financial goals. However, the success of a pitch deck depends on its storytelling, so as to streamline the informative overview of your company to potential investors, such as venture capitalists or angel investors. It remains the key for acquiring funding.

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]]> https://dutchuncles.in/du-live/what-does-it-take-to-create-an-investor-ready-pitch-deck/feed/ 0 Domino’s Apt Move Is 2021’s Best Moment Marketing https://dutchuncles.in/build/dominos-apt-move-is-2021s-best-moment-marketing/ https://dutchuncles.in/build/dominos-apt-move-is-2021s-best-moment-marketing/#respond Sat, 31 Jul 2021 05:35:11 +0000 https://dutchuncles.in/?p=34699&preview=true&preview_id=34699 Imagine how much traction your brand could obtain if you received as much media and coverage as a sports personality who recently brought glory to the country at a grand event or stage. Even though your business was not directly sponsoring such an event, your brand is still in the spotlight and receiving positive perception […]

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Imagine how much traction your brand could obtain if you received as much media and coverage as a sports personality who recently brought glory to the country at a grand event or stage. Even though your business was not directly sponsoring such an event, your brand is still in the spotlight and receiving positive perception from consumers. This is what moment marketing is about, taking the opportunity to contribute or partake in a trending event and striking gold in terms of marketing and brand outreach.

What is Moment Marketing?

Moment marketing is a branding and marketing strategy which is a spur-of-the moment creation of a marketing resource, collateral, or an initiative to obtain instant outreach, presence and coverage. It benefits brands immensely in terms of short bursts of sales, quick collaborations with other brands, and publicity which usually lasts as long as the sheen of the event lasts.

Case study: Domino’s Pizza offers free lifetime pizza to Mirabani Chanu, Indian Silver Medallist at the Tokyo Olympics 2021

All it took was a single statement by India’s star performer at this year’s Tokyo Olympics. Mirabani Chanu made a simple comment about wanting to eat some Pizza after her spectacular win at weightlifting live in front of a global audience. Domino’s immediately took the opportunity to come to the forefront and offer an international winner a lifetime’s worth of free Pizza through a Digital Activation Pact with the brand. This move triggered a chain of events where Domino’s is now receiving brand mentions every time the Olympic champion is mentioned in the media. This has boosted Domino’s brand outreach tremendously making it a talking point throughout the Olympic season in India.

Benefits of Moment Marketing 

As gleaned from the case study above, moment marketing benefits brands in three key ways

Celebrity collaboration achieved

Without spending a dime or going through tedious collaboration procedures, brands can capture the celebrity’s face for endorsements.

Branding done

By strategically placing their brand in a crucial event with global relevance, Domino’s branding activities are sorted for the entire year effortlessly.

Trending forever

The brand will trend throughout the event or until its relevance is valid. Sporting events like the Olympics hold significance for a long time to come which means that brands like Dominos will stay forever associated with it in a way.

5 best moment marketing instances in recent times

The Rahul Bose Movement

When popular Bollywood actor Rahul Bose spoke about being overcharged for 2 bananas at the JW Mariott, a lot of brands like Manforce Condoms and Godrej Nature’s Basket took the opportunity to do moment marketing.

moment marketing
Domino’s Apt Move Is 2021’s Best Moment Marketing

Oreos’s Super Bowl Campaign

Oreo released a popular campaign during the 2013 Super Bowl game’s brief power outage through its ‘You can still dunk in the dark’ campaign.

moment marketing
Domino’s Apt Move Is 2021’s Best Moment Marketing

Flipkart’s World Emoji Day campaign

Flipkart released a moment marketing campaign on World Emoji Day in 2018 with a creative ad campaign.

moment marketing
Domino’s Apt Move Is 2021’s Best Moment Marketing

Paytm’s tweet during the demonetisation drive

Paytm expertly used the demonetisation drive in India as an opportunity to promote their platform through a single tweet which was a brilliant marketing strategy.

moment marketing
Domino’s Apt Move Is 2021’s Best Moment Marketing

The Durex campaign during the discovery of the Black Hole

When the image of the first ever captured black hole was released, Durex utilised the opportunity to run a moment marketing campaign.

moment marketing
Domino’s Apt Move Is 2021’s Best Moment Marketing
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Mirabani Chanu made a simple comment about wanting to eat some Pizza after her spectacular win at weightlifting live in front of a global audience. Domino’s Pizza immediately took the opportunity to come to the forefront and offer an international winner a lifetime’s worth of free Pizza through a Digital Activation Pact with the brand.

What’s in it for me?

Moment marketing is a classic example of brand communication when the consumer is all ears and is willing to listen. Since consumers are more receptive during specific moments, these marketing strategies get more traction. It’s a simple but brilliant way for start-ups to be instantly seen and heard with minimal effort or resources. It’s all about timing in moment marketing. By utilising this strategy at the most opportune moment, start-ups and small businesses get the opportunity to instantly become a part of conversations that are relevant and beneficial for your business.

 

To adopt a moment marketing strategy, you need to create a marketing funnel of upcoming micro moments that are significant from a business standpoint. Based on this funnel, you need to run an ad campaign or perform other brand outreach strategies to be seen and heard by your target audience at the right time. Marketing is a very important and powerful tool for start-ups and small businesses. By adopting new age, trending marketing strategies, you can scale up rapidly and be perceived as a modern brand and business.

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]]> https://dutchuncles.in/build/dominos-apt-move-is-2021s-best-moment-marketing/feed/ 0 Jigarthanda, the Drink from Madurai https://dutchuncles.in/inspire/jigarthanda-the-drink-from-madurai/ https://dutchuncles.in/inspire/jigarthanda-the-drink-from-madurai/#respond Mon, 26 Jul 2021 05:35:09 +0000 https://dutchuncles.in/?p=34341&preview=true&preview_id=34341 Food, culture, and legacy – this is the most time-tested and overwhelmingly powerful trio that has historically contributed to the making of regimes, civilisations and more recently, brands. India is one of the most diverse countries in the world. And this diversity has impacted the long-standing traditions and cultures of this land for centuries. Taking […]

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Food, culture, and legacy – this is the most time-tested and overwhelmingly powerful trio that has historically contributed to the making of regimes, civilisations and more recently, brands. India is one of the most diverse countries in the world. And this diversity has impacted the long-standing traditions and cultures of this land for centuries.

Taking from this vast and diversified culture, the ‘Food’ in India is also one of the best to be found anywhere worldwide. From Kashmir’s famous Dumaaloo and Rogan Josh, Bihar’s Litti Chokha, and Sikkim’s Gundruk and Sinki, to Rajasthan’s Gatte ki Sabzi, Karnataka’s Dosa, and Tamil Nadu’s Idli, the ‘great Indian food’ is a jewel of pride on every Indian’s head. This pride is felt unanimously by people across religious, social, economic and political lines.

This story is about one such revolutionary, universally loved ‘famous’ beverage that has come to be known as the de facto beverage of Madurai, enticing tourists from faraway lands of all walks of life and quenching the thirst of locals with excellent taste – the Famous Jigarthanda company.

Madurai’s Jigarthanda – A Meeting of Taste and Cultures

Jigarthanda (ஜிகர்தண்டா in Tamil) is a cold beverage that is famous in the South Indian city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India. It literally translates to “cool heart” in English (Jigar means heart, Thanda means cold in Hindustani). This beverage is generally prepared and served at roadside stalls as a refreshment during the Indian summer. It is effectively a cold drink made of milk, almond Pisin (gum derived from the bark of the sweet almond tree), khoya, sarsaparilla root syrup (nannari sherbet syrup) with alternatives of basundi and milk ice cream as toppings.

A drink seemingly born in the local markets of Madurai is now largely regarded as the city’s own drink, with many restaurants and bakeries now selling ‘Madurai’s’ jigarthanda counters. However, anyone familiar with Tamil can spot that the name ‘jigarthanda’ is not Tamil enough to be born in Madurai.

So, where did jigarthanda come from?

Differing Roots of this Now Truly Madurai drink

Jigarthanda is synonymous with Madurai, even though it may not have been born there. Some experts say that the influence of this cold beverage came from the North. They say that the concept for jigarthanda and the widely famous North Indian falooda are essentially the same. Just that in falooda, chefs use almond pisin, semiya, sabja seeds and rooh afza, while for jigarthanda, they use milk ice cream, milk, nannari sharbat, basundi and almond pisin.

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The drink's nomenclature, which has etymological roots in the North Indian language of Urdu, is further cited as a source for the drink's connection to the North. 'Jigar' means heart, and 'thanda' means cool, and thus jigarthanda translates to 'cool heart'.

But the one thing that is certain regarding jigarthanda is the role of a legacy brand that started from a tiny pushcart in the 1970s and today has expanded to over 200 outlets of this ‘famous’ beverage, the iconic ‘Famous Jigarthanda’ of Madurai.

The iconic ‘Famous Jigarthanda’ of Madurai

Today, Famous Jigarthanda is a household name in the city of Madurai. Started by P.S. Sheik Meeran at the Kaalavasal junction in Madurai in 1977, the business has gone full circle, from Sheik Meeran initially selling ice creams made of milk, sugar and vanilla essence on a pushcart to selling thousands of glasses of jigarthanda during the season’s peak.

When Sheik Meeran began selling the jigarthanda on his pushcart, it immediately became his most sought-after product, and people bought it overwhelmingly. Though this drink is available everywhere, Famous Jigarthanda’s became quite different from the others over the years due to the mixing of ‘basundi’ for adding more taste to the drink.

In simple terms, Jigarthanda is a cold beverage like falooda, but the taste of the two drinks is entirely different. What separates the Jigarthanda from its northern cousin is pisin. While the latter uses vermicelli and is scooped up and eaten, the Jigarthanda is stirred and drunk.

Sheik Meeran’s farming ancestors hailed from Yangon, Myanmar. Tales of the Meeran family say that Sheik Meeran’s grandfather was the one who first made up a drink comprising basundi (condensed milk), milk and edible almond gum. He coincidentally came up with a version of Jigarthanda that was hot as it lacked the ice cream.

Situated on the famous East Marret and South Masi Street intersection, the Famous Jigarthanda shop attracts hundreds of customers every day and peaks further during summer. Their customers gave them the name ‘famous’ to identify their shop – it has stayed so ever since, and Meeran’s sons have made the proper use of it.

P.S. Sheik Meeran- Jigarthanda

With five simple components, P. S. Sheikh Meeran and Sons have made the jigarthanda synonymous with the town’s name. There is no recorded history of this beverage; legends situate its origins in Mughal emperor Jehangir’s reign, all with too much contestation. Yet nobody knows jigarthanda better than perhaps the locals of Madurai.

People of Madurai have adopted this drink and made it their own popular-staple drink. The city is full of jigarthanda vendors, and there are minute differences in the variants available. But the name that stands out as the best is ‘Famous Jigarthanda – Since 1977’.

Famous Jigarthanda – From Tiny Pushcart to 200 Outlets

Today, P.S. Sheikh Meeran’s four sons have expanded the business into a chain of nine shops in Madurai and 35 regions across Tamil Nadu. S. Peer Mohammed, Sheikh Meeran’s eldest son, takes care of the Anna Nagar branch, while his next son, S. Zinda Madhar, is in charge of the shop on East Marret Street. The third in line – S. Shahul Hameed – takes care of the company godown. The youngest son Amanullah takes the shop’s name and fame beyond the city limits. He is in charge of the out-station orders.

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Ten people manage the leading shop that sells not less than 1,000 glasses of jigarthanda in a day between 10.30 am and 10.30 pm, with only one holiday — on Diwali — every year.

They regularly supply for weddings and other functions in Erode, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Chennai and Bangalore. Famous Jigarthanda has its head office in East Marret Street Madurai. It operates branch offices in Madurai, Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Tuticorin, Virudhanagar, Hosur, Dindugal, Vellore, Theni, Sivakasi, Tiruchy, Pudhukottai, Erode, Perambalur, Idukki, Namakkal, Thirumangalam and Bangalore. This legacy brand runs around 200 outlets.

Famous Jigarthanda sells two types of jigarthanda: the Ordinary and Special. The main ingredients that go into jigarthanda are milk, almond pisin, basundi, ice cubes and sherbet. The unique variety has more khoya than the ordinary one. The legacy brand makers prepare their own sherbet.

The drink that Famous Jigarthanda serves to its customers has condensed and chilled cow’s milk, nannari sherbet syrup, almond pisin, sugar syrup, cream, milk ice cream and basundi. This varies as per the customers’ orders. It is generally served in glass tumblers and is a body coolant, true to its name. It is perhaps this cooling nature of the drink that made Madurai embrace it as its own.

In 1988, Meeran diversified his products and began selling Jigarthanda at night. He saw the drink was broadly available in the area, so, at Rs 3, he kept the price per glass lower than other vendors. He also infused more basundi for a better taste in the drink. This simple yet innovative idea worked, and Meeran set up his first shop on the busy street of East Marret in 1993.

Fast forward to 2021, and the brand today has 200 franchises across Tamil Nadu with a daily footfall of around 300-500 customers per shop. At its main store in Madurai, 1,000 glasses of Jigarthanda are served every day. The current prices of the brand’s titular products are incredibly affordable, explaining the brand’s mass appeal and widespread success.

Starting with the Jigarthanda Ice Cream Small from Rs.15/- and Jigarthanda Cone Ice at Rs.20/-, the company prices its Jigarthanda Basundi at Rs.80/- and Jigarthanda Basundi Parsal at Rs.85/-. The Famous Jigarthanda Special is priced at Rs.60/-.

The sales of thousands of these products rope in profits for the brand. More importantly, it keeps the legacy of Sheik Meeran’s indigenously created beverage alive by serving it chilled to customers from all walks of life.

An Iconic Picture of a Jigarthanda shop

What makes Famous Jigarthanda so popular?

Jigarthanda is to food enthusiasts what the city’s famous Meenakshi temple is to devotees. Tourists from across the world, including celebrities and movie stars, have come to taste this chilled drink.

In the Famous Jigarthanda factory, chefs boil 100 litres of cow’s milk in multiple batches till it reduces to 40 litres and refrigerate it to make khoya. While most jigarthanda makers use kadal paasi, also known as china grass (or agar agar), this family run business (brand) use what the father-founder Sheik Meeran started to make the products stand out from the competition- the self-made khoya.

They soak the natural body-coolant badam pisin (almond resin) overnight, grind it and add it to the main drink in a particular measure. Home-made vanilla ice cream is another essential ingredient. The sweet nannari (sarsaparilla) syrup is made by boiling the roots and mixing it with sugar and basundi (sweetened thickened milk). All these are combined to make the thick shake that spells magic in the mouth.

Coming of Age with New Era Technology and Online Shift

As the company has turned itself into a legacy brand with deep roots in the South Indian region, it has not failed to realise the new era of technology driven changes and new models to expand its business. With a well-maintained website serving as its easy to access portfolio and information hub for lakhs of potential customers, it also gives online ordering services to its customers.

From letting people order desserts online to promising fast delivery of these sweets at their doorstep, the company has tapped into the large market of individual customers and the bulk ordering and large-scale event segment. It regularly supplies for weddings and other functions all over Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. The door delivery service offered by Famous Jigarthanda is also available for events and bulk orders, with the threshold order quantity set at 100 plus items for local delivery and 300 plus for out-state delivery.

Famous Jigarthanda has become a renowned franchisor with years in the making, and it now has franchises all over Tamil Nadu, Bangalore and Kerala. The brand’s conduct in the market made its franchise expansion possible. As a franchisor, it provides the undertaking parties with a clear picture of the competition and helps them differentiate as entrepreneurs in the market.

This legacy brand’s entrepreneurial feels, greater confidence and a constant demand for its product have boosted its stature in the market and food ecosystem of South Indian circles. More recently, the company has been involved in exporting its food and beverage items. It now undertakes export orders of Jigarthanda to countries like Malaysia, Dubai and Singapore.

Though the next generation of Sheik Meeran’s family has moved out of the business and has gone into academics, the family hopes they will lend their professional knowledge to expand the business further. Undoubtedly, the famous Jigarthanda is the signature drink of Madurai, and the Famous Jigarthanda shop is a not-to-be-missed destination for visiting tourists. In its making of the legacy brand, this once local beverage company has set new highs for other small businesses and local entrepreneurs to strive for more and succeed even in the age of the tech-based business ecosystem.

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]]> https://dutchuncles.in/inspire/jigarthanda-the-drink-from-madurai/feed/ 0 Pesto and Buckwheat Tea From Ladakh To The World https://dutchuncles.in/discover/organic-pesto-and-buckwheat-tea-ladakh-to-the-world/ https://dutchuncles.in/discover/organic-pesto-and-buckwheat-tea-ladakh-to-the-world/#respond Sun, 27 Jun 2021 10:35:04 +0000 https://dutchuncles.in/?p=31609&preview=true&preview_id=31609 Kangla-Nyishar, a Leh-Based Women led organic farming startup set up in 2019 is the perfect example of ‘Vocal for Local’. It is a drive to advance the variety and uniqueness of authentic Ladakhi cuisine by working with conventional plans. Their endeavor is centered on praising the local produce that has sustained as well as flourished […]

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Kangla-Nyishar, a Leh-Based Women led organic farming startup set up in 2019 is the perfect example of ‘Vocal for Local’. It is a drive to advance the variety and uniqueness of authentic Ladakhi cuisine by working with conventional plans. Their endeavor is centered on praising the local produce that has sustained as well as flourished in the harsh challenging climatic conditions of Ladakh.

Kangla-Nyishar: The Journey of Endangered Food Culture

The startup makes artisanal food with locally sourced natural produce profiting small cultivators, producers and the local economy. The Womenpreneurs who founded this startup, Rigzin Angmo, Padma Angmo, Rigzin Yangdol and Padma Angmo, came up with this idea as a part of their Naropa Fellowship Programme assignment on setting up a business venture.

While exploring Ladakh, the founders came across various endangered food cultures and learned about ancient recipes. With deep and thorough research on some of these plants and food names, they were amused to know that some of these plants were considered as premium products outside India.

Their major product line includes three varieties of Pesto (walnut, apricot and sun-dried tomato) and Buckwheat tea. All the products are a brainchild of thorough research and are inspired by their ancestors. These traditional Ladakhi products are preservatives free. The raw materials are sourced directly from the farmers in Takmachik which is a certified eco-model village where farming is completely organic.

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Kangla-Nyishar, a drive to advance the variety and uniqueness of authentic Ladakhi cuisine by working with conventional plans.

Takeaways from Kangla-Nyishar Startup

The startup does not cater to a very large chunk of the population. They don’t export their products and largely cater to the Leh Market, which makes limited demand for the raw materials. Their products are licensed by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI). The startup inspires the need of protecting one’s heritage and culture.

The major takeaway of this startup is that they are leveraging the region’s natural resources, familial and community networks to create something new that embodies their cultural heritage with a tint of the outside world.

Although the startup is at its nascent stage, they do plan to take it further to various e-commerce websites with new varieties of tea and other products.

The Future of Organic Farming

Organic farming has seen a drastic overall development over the years. According to WHO, the global organic food market is $37 billion. When it comes to safe and environment-friendly practices, organic farming is the best practice.

It also helps in saving the indigenous cuisines and promotes a sustainable way of food consumption. It can be very well seen from this Leh-based startup, how organic farming is building a spirit of entrepreneurship in the remote areas as well.

Millennial are more inclined towards their ancestral history and are applying their foreign studies knowledge in uplifting their society and bringing the world closer to these premium, endangered and enriching products.

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]]> https://dutchuncles.in/discover/organic-pesto-and-buckwheat-tea-ladakh-to-the-world/feed/ 0 Trending Marketing Strategies by Pharma Companies in Pandemic https://dutchuncles.in/featured/trending-marketing-strategies-by-pharma-companies-in-pandemic/ https://dutchuncles.in/featured/trending-marketing-strategies-by-pharma-companies-in-pandemic/#respond Wed, 23 Jun 2021 10:35:02 +0000 https://dutchuncles.in/?p=31080&preview=true&preview_id=31080 In the wake of the largest human health crisis, the hospitals, clinics, and doctors are overwhelmed with their duties and responsibilities, leaving them with a meagre amount of time to hear a pharma sales representative’s sales pitch.The pharma industry invariably relies on its large field force of sales representatives with its target audience predominantly doctors, […]

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In the wake of the largest human health crisis, the hospitals, clinics, and doctors are overwhelmed with their duties and responsibilities, leaving them with a meagre amount of time to hear a pharma sales representative’s sales pitch.The pharma industry invariably relies on its large field force of sales representatives with its target audience predominantly doctors, however, the onset of Covid-19 has disrupted the physical visits with doctors. Even if a few lucky representatives got a chance to enter the hospital or chamber, their productivity was suboptimal since most doctors avoided meeting them or were asked to show their product manuals and brochures from a distance. Several pharma companies have realised that the lack of CRM systems reduced their marketing efficiencies by not being able to classify potential leads resulting in repetitive market visits and calls thus, consuming time and other resources. Given the current state of adversity, the earlier marketing strategies adopted by pharma marketing seem passe’, and turning to digital methods is inevitable.

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The onset of Covid-19 has disrupted the physical visits with doctors therefore hampering the on-field sales and marketing strategies of pharma companies.

Here are some of the marketing trends that will disrupt pharma marketing and will act as tailwinds for the industry’s growth: 

  • Content Marketing: Content marketing is an approach focused on the creation, sharing, and distribution of valuable content. Pharma companies are restricted from direct advertising of drugs, which is a barrier. With such restrictions, content marketing becomes their saviour since it provides long-term results without requiring the need to openly market their products. Through content marketing, we can focus on winning new customers and retain the existing ones. Under the ambit of content marketing, pharma companies can deploy informative videos, conduct webinars, guides for healthcare providers, industry reports and establish themselves as problem solvers. A perfect instance of content marketing can be -Johnson & Johnson’s ‘Care for Care’ campaign – a combination of blog, emotive messaging, thoughtful social media content, and alluring visuals that made it share-worthy and garnered 26 million likes on social media. 
  • AI-Powered Chatbots: Global pharma companies like Johnson & Johnson and MedxNote have implemented chatbots as part of their marketing strategy. Chatbots powered by AI resemble human conversation and provide immediate response to doctor’s queries in real-time. They can be used to market products and clarify the concerns of doctors regarding medicine usage, provide information on medicine formulations, and the research conducted on a specific drug. The movement restrictions in the pandemic have crippled the supply chain resulting in irregularities of medicine supply and no inventory in local medicine shops. Here, a D2C process can be established where patients can order medicines that were earlier prescribed by doctors directly from its app or website via chatbots for doorstep delivery.
  • AR/VR for immersive marketing: Printed product manuals and brochures will no longer be effective. The use of AR and VR systems will take precedence over the conventional marketing methods for creating an immersive experience. The use of AR/VR can effectively explain the working of medicines engagingly. Novartis has recently partnered with Microsoft to create virtual reality systems. GlaxoSmithKline has launched a VR-driven campaign named -The Migraine Experience for its product Excedrin. The VR headset simulated a migraine environment where users could program their specific symptoms such as blind spots, auras, and sensitivity to light so that they could experience the traumas for themselves.
  • Working with Sportsperson as an influencer: Doctors are informed individuals and keep track of drug advancements and new developments in the industry. It is, therefore, recommended that pharma companies should collaborate with renowned sportspersons to entrust belief regarding product performance to maximise reach. For instance, Amcal Pharma to boost awareness on its diabetic product range shacked hands with diabetic supercar driver Jack Perkins. It followed a social media strategy by publishing posts on Instagram about Amcal helps him to keep his diabetes under control. This strategy benefitted Amcal Pharma to receive exposure from Jack Perkin’s 21000 followers. 
  • Use of CRM systems: AI chatbots can be integrated with the CRM systems of the company that can automate redundant processes which a pharma sales representative undergoes. CRM systems can send automatic reminders, set online meetings with physicians, send push notifications, place sample orders, etc thus saving time and helping representatives to focus on core tasks such as building personalised relationships with doctors.

    What is in it for Pharma Companies? 

    With on-ground physical marketing activities on a halt, pharma company marketers have to adapt to digital and online channels of marketing to enhance customer touchpoints. Having a high-quality website with updated search engines, building a community of doctors and medicine retailers and the use of smart chatbots in the websites will help in better connectivity also assisting a medical practitioner with their queries will develop personalised connections and effective marketing.

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]]> https://dutchuncles.in/featured/trending-marketing-strategies-by-pharma-companies-in-pandemic/feed/ 0 3×3 Content Strategy Landscape for B2B Marketers https://dutchuncles.in/du-live/3x3-content-strategy-landscape-b2b-maketers/ https://dutchuncles.in/du-live/3x3-content-strategy-landscape-b2b-maketers/#respond Fri, 04 Jun 2021 12:06:04 +0000 https://dutchuncles.in/?p=29622&preview=true&preview_id=29622 The ongoing pandemic has thrown a curveball across businesses, making entrepreneurs, founders, businessmen contemplate their existing strategies and adjust the same as per the changing scenario. Speaking in terms of content marketing for B2B businesses, there has been a complete overhaul, as the majority of the offline strategies is a thing of the past. This […]

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The ongoing pandemic has thrown a curveball across businesses, making entrepreneurs, founders, businessmen contemplate their existing strategies and adjust the same as per the changing scenario.

Speaking in terms of content marketing for B2B businesses, there has been a complete overhaul, as the majority of the offline strategies is a thing of the past. This is coupled with breaking the digital barriers to reach the target audience. Sellers and marketers will have to think differently and adopt strategies that will help them deliver better.

In a bid to have a comprehensive view and understanding, we spoke with an independent content strategist and founder of Story Scientist, Nischala Agnihotri, who was a part of the live show on ‘3×3 Content Strategy Landscape for B2B Marketers’ hosted by Dutch Uncles. These weekly live shows are a part of the company’s ‘MentorED’ series.

The workshop, moderated by Associate Editor Chetna Gupta, elaborated on the new-age content strategies and relevant tools that businesses need to invest in.

Below are the few highlights of insights shared by Agnihotri:

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In order to understand the content strategy landscape, one needs to be able to find the right balance between quality and quantity, while also making sure that it is something the audience wants.

How would you define content strategy?

It should be the right content mix, content theme, and culture, rather than behavioural culture. Functionality and emotionality make up for quality content. Now the question arises — Why would we choose branding as our goal?

Branding is as essential to start-ups as it is to any other industry player in the market. It is important from a visual perspective but first, you need to figure out the position and statement that you wish to make. It is the expression of the culture within your company and is essentially an identity you want to portray to your customers. It is also very important to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Branding is there to help you stand apart from the crowd, especially in the foetal stages when your business is not as well-known as most other names out there. This is where branding, as a goal, comes into play.

On the other side of things, we also need to look at content production in terms of marketing and strategy. But you must understand first – why we do it. 

      • Do you know who your audience are and where do they live? 
      • In terms of channels, what formats do they prefer?
      • Would they consume your content and when would they consume it? 

Once these questions are answered, that’s when you go and start distributing it. A content marketer gathers enough data and does enough research to be able to understand this flow.

When it comes to content production, that is where the actual execution starts, you start creating as much content as necessary. At the same time, you play with the right amount of quality at the right quantity. The third step in this process is that we need to discover options. You need to figure out your goal in order to do that.

How do you smartly budget and invest in content marketing?

Our speaker states that this aspect is typically side-lined. The answer to that is to be able to use the content strategy landscape that’s designed for B2B marketers and spread out the efforts amongst the team responsible for the content. It’s not just the marketer or the content writer or the content strategist, it is with tech companies.

Content actually also comes from the engineers, the teams who actually work directly for the client. So, this grid-based strategy takes all these factors into consideration.

It helps us figure out how to work with themes and prioritise which content will be produced, published and distributed based on the goals that we are targeting. The ultimate goal is to align the buyer journey with content and communication paths while strengthening organic search. If you are in the marketing space, then you strengthen your organic search and get your business found using SEO.

The floor was then thrown open to questions. Edited excerpts:

Audience Q&A 

How do quality and quantity work? How do we balance the content?

Speaker: For quality, like I said, please stick to those three elements mentioned earlier – Make it essential, make it functional and make it emotional. 

When I say essential, these are things like product features and pricing, which you can not miss. Without that, there is no communication to be had. 

On the other hand, when you look at something like, ‘How do I make it functional?’, just imagine you are publishing a very long article on a platform like, let’s say Instagram, which needs images as well. So, they would love to see arousals that you have repurposed from an existing blog. People on Twitter would prefer just the gist. They don’t have time for anything more. Only if they love what you have written in those limited 200 characters, will they click on the link. So, it’s really about maintaining that quality. If you know your audience, you will be able to get an emotional response. For example, you know your mother well enough that you will be able to get her the gift of her choice and similarly with your spouse. You know what will be the right gift for them. 

In the same way, you should be able to know your audience so that you are able to invoke the desired emotion. 

Quantity does not have a lot to do with your budget and this is specific to start-ups, especially those in the growth stage who are not so bound by budgetary constraints. Yes, they do have a framework of budget, they have a set boundary, but they are not really tied by it. They can play around with quantities. You have to go back to your budget and see if that is going to work for you. So that is where you bring the combination of quantity and quantity.

How do I verify initial pieces of content?

Speaker: Use the 3×3 grid, because it helps you decide where you have to start. It is especially useful when you do not have data. You do not know what your audiences like, but you go by a simple formula that is given in the 3×3 grid. If you do have data, every cell in that grid has exceptions.

It will not, however, work for certain scenarios. In that case, you switch to something else.

How do you build the initial pieces of content? You need to be able to give me more information on who you want to build it for and then figure out where you have to invest. This is because, say, an HR professional or the leader of a company, would not be interested in social media posts all the time, or they may not notice you all the time? Rather, they would want to have elaborate case studies and would want to hear how the company has been able to make a difference. So, it is really about who your audience is. If you have done that right, you will definitely see results.

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Competition and the ability to identifying it plays a big role in content strategy. At the end of the day, you need to be able to differentiate your business from the rest of the players.

How important is content-linking within the website?

Speaker: When you have a page that has a high ranking and you have other pages that you want to rank, especially when you have your root keyword ranking page that gets a lot of traffic versus other blog pages that are made for long tail keywords, it is highly important that you link the two. 

This is important especially if you have a related posts plugin or you have any other way of linking your main landing page to the blog pages, that is going to give you a lot of traction.  

I think before you do your off-page work, some amount of on page internal linking should be done.

Is it important to use different types of content strategy?

Speaker: You are dealing with humans who are emotional and want variety. The thing is, sometimes a single type of format really works well with a certain audience, but only up to a certain point. When you are competent or get more creative, you will get into trouble. Reverting becomes highly difficult when you have to move from one content format to another. 

Besides, your team has been accustomed to a particular content format for a very long time. Switching will lead to internal friction. So, it is best you go with a minimal mix of content formats and figure out the top three. You do not have to do 10 different ones to start with; figure out the top three that work for your audience, which they would love to consume and then just go ahead and publish that. This way, pivoting becomes very easy.

Is it possible to make the content evergreen so that it remains of the same value even after a year? 

Speaker: It is possible to make your content evergreen, depending on the sector. Especially if it is educational content and you are targeting the top of the funnel. There are some all-time favorite companies for marketers, my personal favourite being  HubSpot. 

It is highly possible that those kinds of people retain the content as there is always a fresh audience coming into the space over and over again and they want to look at educational content all the time. 

Nowadays, a lot of product companies, barring e-learning platforms, are choosing to post around six videos or a 10-video tutorial that can help the audience understand the product. A blind formula for creating evergreen content is to make it into a course format. That could be a 10-day email course which would include five to six videos that you publish on your website or it could be 10 different long-form articles elaborating step-by-step procedure on solving a particular problem. These things work well as evergreen content and good quality traffic to your domain.

Live Session: 3x3 Content Strategy Landscape for B2B Marketers

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]]> https://dutchuncles.in/du-live/3x3-content-strategy-landscape-b2b-maketers/feed/ 0 These are the 4 New Marketing Trends in Enterprise Tech https://dutchuncles.in/discover/these-are-the-4-new-marketing-trends-in-enterprise-tech/ https://dutchuncles.in/discover/these-are-the-4-new-marketing-trends-in-enterprise-tech/#respond Sat, 22 May 2021 09:35:04 +0000 https://dutchuncles.in/?p=28344&preview=true&preview_id=28344 The market is promising for enterprise tech companies as more and more businesses increase their appetite for digitalisation and technology adoption to remain relevant in the new virtual and remote culture. Unlike B2C companies where marketing of products and services compels an individual in purchase decision whose sales is driven by impulse, an enterprise tech […]

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The market is promising for enterprise tech companies as more and more businesses increase their appetite for digitalisation and technology adoption to remain relevant in the new virtual and remote culture. 

Unlike B2C companies where marketing of products and services compels an individual in purchase decision whose sales is driven by impulse, an enterprise tech company caters to a niche audience where sales require rational analysis, longer consideration time, and assistance. In enterprise tech, the business offerings have a commercial purpose and entail technical jargon, hence here the conventional mass media marketing will prove to be ineffective to reach the right set of audiences. 

Tech Savvy and Beginner – The Focus Groups 

The marketing trends of enterprise tech companies should aim at two cohorts as target audience:

  • A beginner in technical knowledge and adoption: Several small and medium scale D2C and food businesses that are now pivoting to build their apps, adopt digital payments and SaaS solutions were alien to such technologies. 
  • The Tech Savvy: They are the most informed and well-researched customers before they consider buying a technology solution. In this, the enterprise tech companies need to be present on marketing channels where the informed consumers are mostly found
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An enterprise tech company caters to a niche audience where sales require rational analysis, longer consideration time, and assistance.

New Marketing Trends in Enterprise Tech 

Here are some of the new marketing trends for enterprise tech companies to adopt in this digital landscape: 

  • Video Marketing: Enterprises tech companies can launch their official YouTube tech channel as content in video is easily consumable, gives higher brand recall, fast and more engagement, and is visually appealing. The video content for marketing can include ‘ How-To Videos clearing ambiguities about a technology, talking benefits, video chat sessions with corporate CTOs, and new development in technology, etc. Such videos should be non-promotional to instill belief in potential customers about your brand and products. 
  • Shake hands with an influencer: Select technology influencers based on their expertise. Enterprise tech companies can leverage the loyal fanbase of the influencer to maximise reach. Organise a virtual coffee session with the influencer about the pros and cons of a certain technology, product review, etc. This way the companies can reach a new audience.  
  • Podcast Marketing: Though podcasts and audio marketing are at infancy in India, but will soon be the most sought-after trend for marketing. According to KPMG, India will be the third-largest podcast-listening market globally that will be valued at Rs 17.62 Cr by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 34.5%. Podcasts are an excellent medium where a community of potential customers can be built based on meaningful discussions and conversations. Those podcasts that strike a chord with the niche audience are shared widely in their networks that help to tap specific groups and customers. 
  • LinkedIn Marketing: Enterprise tech companies can utilise this platform to connect with various businesses. It is the platform where the most tech-savvy customers are present. For effective marketing on LinkedIn, companies need to regularly post relevant content that has high SEO value. Companies can produce tech blog posts, create downloadable free e-books, advisory manuals, share tips, and hacks and upload tech videos from YouTube channels to gain maximum traction. Companies should establish themselves as thought leaders on LinkedIn by organising polls, surveys, and forums to understand the pulse of the audience. 

How Should enterprise tech companies go about it? 

Now that the enterprise tech solutions will witness an uptick in demand, a part of their marketing strategy should focus on leveraging the interest of potential customers. These enterprises should brainstorm in developing content that effectively addresses the concerns of potential customers regarding technology usage, pricing, benefits, etc. Such strategies will act as the initial step in influencing them to make the buying decision in near future.

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