The challenge facing the tea industry is how do we make tea a relevant beverage for the rapidly going-out-of-home segment. Tea as a beverage continues to dominate the in-home consumption, with a penetration of nearly 90 per cent. However, due to lifestyle changes more and more people are spending time out of home and tea is not exactly seen as a beverage on the move. This is the main area that we want to address by developing both superior formats and value.
- Sangeeta Talwar, Executive Director-Marketing, Tata Tea Ltd - 11/20/2006

Our global vision is ‘seamless mobility’. Eventually, the mobile handset will be an all emcompassing device – you will be able to pay your bills, unlock your car, your home, buy tickets, and even use your mobile phone as a personal ID. It is going to be an integral part of people’s lives. The more you personalise mobile phones and provide consumers with additional options, the more consumers value it.
- Lloyd Mathias, Marketing Director, Motorola India - 10/18/2006

In addition to clutter breaking creatives, media is the key to driving marketing efficiencies. With escalating media cost, growing fragmentation and increasing noise levels in the media, the communication challenge is to break the media clutter to reach the consumer effectively. We constantly focus on maximising ROI through cost efficient touch points.
- Anisha Motwani, Director, Marketing, General Motors India - 9/14/2006

India is a key market for Yamaha. From a manufacturing and production perspective, the cost efficiencies available in India is extremely competitive when compared with other markets. Keeping this in mind, we will be launching at least one new model every year for young urban customers and provide them with a true Yamaha riding experience. The products will be at least three years ahead of competition in terms of styling, performance and features. We aim to triple our market share by 2010
- Atul Gupta, AVP, Sales & Marketing, Yamaha Motor India - 8/10/2006

We have constantly upgraded our approach. From a production driven organisation, we have become a marketing driven company. Also, our focus is on customers. Customer is the god. We believe in customer services. Secondly, for any brand, we have always identified a target market and categorising a particular brand has always helped. We offer good after-sales service and maintain feedbacks. Also, we stress on rural marketing as 50 per cent of the potential car market is in rural India.
- Mayank Pareek, Head of Marketing, Maruti Udyog Ltd - 6/28/2006

“We began with the ‘tall boy’ image for the Santro. We used SRK very well. He gave good awareness to the company and to Santro. Today, the Santro is increasingly being considered as a first-timer car. Earlier, people were buying the Maruti 800 as their first car. Today, 35-40 per cent people are buying the Santro as their first car. Not just that, more and more people are upgrading to the Santro.”
- Arvind Saxena, VP, Marketing & Sales, Hyundai Motor India - 6/9/2006

“The uneven state laws are one of the major challenges. State laws differ from state to state. Secondly, as I said, every area has its own requirement, unique requirement so you need to understand that and adapt to that. You can’t actually run your own story and expect people to come and watch the film so that is a biggest challenge.”
- Saurabh Varma, Vice President, Cinema Marketing & Promotions, PVR Limited - 5/26/2006

“The need for introducing the new logo is that it is our way of celebrating 10 years of leadership of the company. Our success is due to the true Indianisation of McDonald’s. It clearly signifies the shift that has been made for the Indian consumers. The new logo has the well-known double arch stylised as a marigold garland with the Indian flag at the top. It shows the spirit of Indianisation and celebrating 10 years of leadership.”
- Vikram Bakshi, JV Partner & Managing Director, McDonald’s India - 4/24/2006

The absence of focused brand building, low focus on consumer, and relying on incentivising trade have resulted in this market being ‘under-consumerised’. Now there is an emerging focus on consumer-focused branding and marketing across parameters like pricing, promotions, positioning and other factors. Only recently has consumer centric branding come into play in the Indian beer industry.
- Vinod Giri, Director Marketing, SABMiller India Limited - 12/13/2005

“When we were part of GE, we were known as GE International services or Gecis. When the ownership structure of our company changed last year when GE sold 60 per cent of the equity to two private equity forms – General Atlantic and Oak Hill – it made sense to create a new name that reflects our independent status and better communicates our value proposition.
- David Jensen, Senior VP, Communications & Investor Relations, Genpact - 11/9/2005

“HDFC Bank is possibly the only bank in India, and one of the very few in Asia, to have embarked on a data-led marketing analytics campaigns initiative, using marketing automation technology provided by Unica. Through this tool, we have been able to intelligently use the 4-5 terabytes of customer data available in its warehouse. We have set up a team to conduct marketing campaigns in a scientific manner using customer data, usage patterns, preferences, lifecycle, etc, the bank also conducts event-based marketing.”
- Ajay Kelkar, Vice-President and Head – Marketing, HDFC Bank - 10/17/2005

Eveready has a simple philosophy, of providing the best portable power suitable for consumer needs. With this as the guiding principle, we have focused on innovation, keeping pace with offerings as power needs evolved… Our logo is forward-looking, contemporary and dynamic. The tag-line, the ‘Next Century of Power’, says it all. The Eveready story is not about past glories but continued innovation and domination for at least another 100 years.
- Jayashree Mohanka, Senior General Manager,Marketing,, Eveready Industries India Ltd - 9/20/2005

“Frankly, it’s (the cola wars) not about attacking each other but just about keeping the cola industry alive. And consumers really wait for the battle. It’s not like they swing their choices, but they do enjoy the colas slug it out. And for sure, we haven’t become quiet, in fact, we are speaking more.”
- Punita Lal, Executive Director, Marketing, PepsiCo India - 8/24/2005

“Kotak is one of the few entities in the banking sector that has a complete range of financial products ranging from retail banking products to insurance to online share trading services to offer to all its customers. This makes our proposition superior and different to all other players in the market. We are focused on what the customer needs rather than what we have to sell.”
- Shashi Arora, Senior Vice-President, Marketing, Kotak Mahindra Bank - 7/18/2005

“Our brand stands for the same values across the world. The brand has had different taglines across the years. But the connect has always been to service. In the 70s and 80s, we said ‘We love to fly, and it shows’. Later in the US, we said, ‘Good. Goes Around.’ The brand has always communicated the service aspect. Delta stands for the common courtesy, the unexpected acts of kindness. The concept is universal, but the campaigns are adapted internationally to suit specific markets.”
- Loren Neuenschwander, MD, Atlantic Region (Europe and India), Delta Air Lines - 6/29/2005

“Branded pizza market stands at about Rs 275 to 325 crore. We have close to 60 per cent share of the delivery market. But if you look at the total market, that is delivery plus dining plus takeaway, we would have a 40 per cent market share.”
- Rakshit Hargave, Chief of Marketing, Domino's Pizza India Ltd. - 6/4/2005

“All Pepe advertising campaigns portray the brand identity, represented by the youth who speak of an attitude that says ‘I am what I am.’ The visuals are strong and captivating, creating a deep impact on the target audience.”
- Chetan Shah, Country Head, Pepe Jeans London - 5/11/2005

“Our frontline sales force is our brand ambassador, and mammoth time and energy is spent on training them…As for advertising, it’s a tough task since the category is rather generic. You can’t get into specifications of an insurance policy on television in a matter of a few seconds; you can only convey the broader picture.”
- M Suresh, General Manager — Sales, HDFC Standard Life - 4/16/2005

“Since the launch of Orra, we have consolidated our position as the serious diamond player with an exhaustive price range. The entry-level pricing starts at Rs. 5,000 onwards and goes up to Rs. 700,000-Rs 1000,000. ”
- Vijay Jain, CEO, Orra - 3/21/2005

“Seduction, creativity and femininity are the words that best describe the distinctive Dior style. Dior, the French fashion house established in 1947, sets the trend each season. In 1975, Dior instituted its watch collection as a crucial fashion accessory at the heart of the couture brand.”
- Shantanu Mukerji, Brand Manager, Dior Watches - 3/4/2005

“I believe that marketing is beyond advertising and is beyond a 30-second ad. There are some companies which have a visibility issue, awareness issue, top-of-mind recall issue but when you reach a certain position, then your first priority is not visibility or awareness any more. I don’t think we need to run an advertising campaign saying that this is LG. People know LG the brand.”
- Salil Kapoor, Head of Marketing, LGEIL - 2/16/2005