New Product, Shoestring Budget, National Market, Fragmented Media (RECLAIMED)

[Member of the Old Forums]

I was going though the "Economical Advertising for a Men's Retail Store" topic and I feel, some of the suggestions there can also be used very productive in a situation such as this one.

[Member of the Old Forums]

This is a very challenging topic. Perhaps that is why it has so many reads and so few answers.


My two bits:


On the face of it the equation seems insoluble. Addressing a national market in a media environment where specialized media are almost non existent, a launch would necessarily require a proportionately sufficient outlay.


In such a case professional best practice would be for the Agency to put its reputation before any possible commission earnings and advise the client that such a budget would probably result in wastage of the money with very little benefit.


That said:

It is a hypothetical question and you could have imagined a hypothetical product.



Anyway, here is the equation:



The product is:


A plastic trap placed in the mouth of drainpipes in kitchens and bathroom, which does not allow cockraoches to come up.



The market is the whole of Pakistan. Target households are Lower middle Class, Middle Class, Upper Class. Price of the product is PKR 70 per unit.


Available launch budget is PKR 5,000,000.

If the client insists that the budget cannot be enhanced and the agency must handle the business, this is what I would do.


Aim for the SPECTACULAR


Please note, I am from Pakistan, and what I am proposing is practicable in Pakistan.


I would concentrate on the major Urban centers, Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi Islamabad, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Peshawar, Quetta.


I would use inflatables (hot air balloons) and an FM Network which covers these cities. The balloons would deliver very high visibility as well as trigger curiosity gab. If the funds would allow, I would use multiple inflatables in at least the three trend-setter cities: Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.


I believe this can work.






EDIT: Corrected a formatting error

I like this idea about inflatables.

[Member of the Old Forums]

This makes sense. When resources are scarce they should be used for maximum benefit. Spectaculars can induce early trials in critically significant numbers. If this happens, then the quality of the product and its ability to deliver on its promise should take over.

[Member of the Old Forums]

This is a very interesting and fruitful discussion.


With the media costs soaring like a helium filled balloon in high wind, there will always be budget constraints on the advertisers, and agencies will have to devise more efficient media strategies.

[Member of the Old Forums]

Shouldn't the level of penetration to be achieved be the governing consideration in planning and budgeting a launch

[Member of the Old Forums]

^


That is what the theory says. In practice, very often arbitrary allocations are made, PRIOR to calling in the advertising agency and briefing them about the new product.

[Member of the Old Forums]

Ideally, the best way to launch a new product is to associate the advertising agency right at the product concept stage.

[Member of the Old Forums]

^


Yes, ideally. But there is always an umbra between the ideal and the real.

[Member of the Old Forums]

I have worked in a number of different work environments in the advertising industry. In relation to Pakistan, I think many agencies are not sure of their standing with their clients. They, therefore, tend to adopt the "Yes Boss" attitude, even knowing that in this case the "Boss" may well be talking through his hat.

[Member of the Old Forums]

^


. . . and that is a highly reprehensible, unprofessinal and time-serving attitude!

[Member of the Old Forums]

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What you are saying is perfectly true. But put yourself in the Agency owner's shoes.  There are always half a dozen in the queue behind you, and the clients are usually very fickle. So it is natural for the agency owner to play it safe.  It is unprofessional, but then, apart from maybe a dozen or so agencies in Pakistan, most of them are still cutting their teeth.

[Member of the Old Forums]

^



Sometimes the opposite also results in the same.


The real problem is, investors and financiers begin to perceive themselves as marketing professionals.


Sometimes, hit and trial works, mostly it does not - the result is loss of investment, and also loss of opportunity.

Pricing is a very weighty factor when launching a new product. It should flow from a rigorous profiling of the target consumer, taking into account, NOT the producers cost of production, but also the intensity of the need that the product fills for the potential consumer AND the quantum of the discretionary income that the potential consumers have.


Simply stated, if the potential consumer can be demonstrated to be willing to buy a product costing 1 GBP to the producer for 10 GBP, it SHOULD be sold at 10 GBP, or it will be doomed. The vice versa is also true. If the potential consumer is not willing to spend more than 1 GBP on the offering, it will be doomed even if it is priced at 1.10 GBP

[Member of the Old Forums]

Common sense solution. Play on greed. Its the #1 puller. Allocate Rs 2 million for newspaper advertising, 5 national dailies, 20 x 3 B/W ads placed
twice with a 15 day gap. Show the product with basic USP and inform them
the lucky buyers can win Rs 5000 on spending just Rs. 70. Place  (WINNER Rs 5000) stickers in 1000 packs ( Show this coupon to your retailer and get Rs 5000 cash). So Rs 3 million goes here. Make sure the Winners come from Karachi, Lahore and Isl/Rwp, preferably in the launch month. The 1000 winners will give you Word Of Mouth backup live. Of course the product should deliver. Any opinions ? Rashid Khayyam

[Member of the Old Forums]

Promotion right at the launch of the new product?


May makes short terms sales gains, but this does not make marketing sense.



Print and TV advertising (unless it is cable and you have authentic demographic profiles) is mostly buckshot advertising. A very small percentage of readers/viewrs make up your target market.


In the case of promotions, the greed factor may prompt unnecessary purchases - people buying for the prize and not for the product benefit. This would harm the brand for the long term.


The product, obviously, is for the urban markets where functional municipal infrastructures exist.

 

[Member of the Old Forums]

Launching a new product and making it successful would be an awfully tough assignment?

[Member of the Old Forums]

^



and very satisfying if successful

[Member of the Old Forums]

The equation presented by the Topic Starter is an agonizing one, as it just not has any single, workable right solution. Everything depends on the product, the consumer profile, AND the ability of the agency operatives to get across their point of view to the client in an acceptable way.


FM Radio in tandem with OOH seems to be workable solution. IF the client can be convinced using data and logic, I would focus on the biggest city in the initial phase, get the product moving, change the entire content of the communications if the product is successful in that city, and go for a blitz in the other two cities.


I have somewhat of an unfair advantage, myself being from Pakistan. I have also gone through the entire topic, and the wisdom shared here also reflects in what I have stated in para 2.


Knowing Pakistan, I know roaches are a persistent problem in the cities, particularly where multistorey buildings are concerned.  If there is actually such a product and can deliver on the promise, it is bound to be a huge success.

[Member of the Old Forums]

^


In such a situation, brand activation road-shows, as suggested by Ansari in http://commissionedwriting.com/Forums/index.php?topic=284.msg1243#msg1243     Such activities bring a very sharp focus on to the brand, even though the numbers reached by them are rather small.


One can also manage to get a pix of the activity on to the City page of the local newspapers by pulling a few strings with the media.

[Member of the Old Forums]

Brand activation is a very effective strategy to enhance awareness at the local level.

[Member of the Old Forums]

I have been browsing this topic for the better part of two hours. It is a very intriguing conundrum.


Vinyl panels on the rear ends of the intra city buses could also be a workable proposition.