Is your brand advertised?

"In our own small way, we are going to
make the world a better place,” the tagline given by visionary
Steve Jobs while introducing the iPod in 2001 has changed the way
iPod was seen. If internet figures are to be believed, IT companies
like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, eBay dominate the list
of leading companies spending a huge sum of money on advertising. Be
it a microchip or a huge sized UPS, be it a dealer who runs a small
IT hardware shop in the under-developed buffer-zone villages of
Nilgiris' forest or a dealer who runs on the lines of a corporate
firm in Nehru Place, New Delhi, without proper advertising
strategies, no brand or product can hit the defined target market.

WHY ADVERTISE?

Advertising is the best way to reach
people. “Advertising is the major revenue-generating factor, and a
dealer should be very keen on his advertisement strategies. Apart
from revenue, advertising is the promise that we make and the image
we project about ourself among customers,” says KVR Menon, a
Hyderabad based dealer. He also adds that when leading vendors add
dealers name in their advertisements, the dealer gets more privilege.

GONE ARE THE DAYS......

When many entered into the IT business
a decade ago, their options for advertising were limited. Only wall
paintings, hoardings and newspaper advertisements were there.
However, the scenario is different now, “We had only newspaper
advertisements years before. However, now we are using the technology
for reaching the market. We maintain a website, run SMS campaigns,
but days before we were not able to project ourself on TV channels
because of the rates. But now, with the help of local cable channels,
we are reaching down various segments of the market,” says Sankar
Dhar from West Bengal. But there are various dealers who say that the
rates of advertisements to publish in newspapers has gone
sky-high, they have to buy a space in the middle pages with the
amount for which they were provided even front page. “We have a
galaxy of newspapers here. But, the rates are very high. So we have
to segregate the revenue spent for advertisements into other ways
like bit-notices, handbills and local exhibitions”, says B Kuberan,
a Trichy based dealer. At the same time there are also dealers who
aggressively spend on TV commercials. In fact, the dealers hire some
well-established advertising agencies to look after their
commercials. There are other retailers in Tamil Nadu, who are the
main sponsors of high-rated reality programs.

WHAT DOES SPS DO?

Even Service Partners (SPs) across the
country have their own ways for promoting their brands. “To meetmy
target market, I prefer two vehicles-magazinesand digital medium for
ensuring two aspects. First is,giving a level of confidence that we
are still there for a better service, and second is, to influence
people and turn as the preference of a partner,” says href="http://dqchannels.ciol.com/content/reselleralert/111030104.asp">KV
Jagannath,
CEO, Choice Solutions, Hyderabad. However, he also says that
advertisements of emerging entrepreneurs cannot give instant revenue,
but helps in the long run.

INCREASING BRAND REPRESENTATIVES

There are many cases where the
celluloid stars and cricket players started endorsing brands. Even
the trend of silver-screen idols inaugurating a trade show or
launching a new product of leading brands is gradually increasing
around the country. One can witness huge promotional activities,
where cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's power is compared to that of
Toshiba products. If Sachin Tendulkar is for Toshiba, Souvrav Ganguly
is for Chirag Computers. Chirag computers, in fact, has embedded an
audio of Sauvrav Ganguly in the mobile phones of all employees so
that, whenever they are called, the receiving end will be exposed to
the advertisement. “We are participating in both print as well as
electronic media. Apart from that we regularly conduct roadshows,
partner-specific events etc,” said PV Vaidyanathan, VP, operations,
RP Infosystems.

VENDORS' 'SOCIAL' APPROACH

The huge marketing activities adopted
by international vendors have helped the dealers in a great extent.
The vendors, who allot a huge budget on marketing activities explain
in detail about the specifications about the products, which, in-turn
reduces the job of dealers. Customers, unlike before are now
wellinformed and come with a specific cognizance over the product to
any dealer. The entry of social networking sites and mobile
applications has created a great impact among customers. Almost every
vendor has his official website, Facebook page etc. In addition to
that, there are many tech-savvy netizens, who create forums and
discuss the newly-launched products of various companies. Basil
Bernard, head, marketing, system business, Asus India, says, “Our
first preference in not to sell the product but to create an
awareness among our customers. We segregate the newspapers and
magazines on the basis of their reach, like lifestyle, sports,
channel magazines etc.” “We define the needs of our customers
first and then create strategies according to them,” he further
added. “We adopt a combination of targeted marketing programs and
channel initiatives and enablement to promote the product portfolio.
A mix of promotional activities, advertisements and channel
enablement helps us take our key messages forward and create and
sustain demand generation,” says Jeyanthi Sethuraman, head,
marketing and Alliance.