BURGER KING IPO – YET ANOTHER WHOPPING OFFER
Burger King, the leading quick-service restaurant chain, turned six this year. From debuting in 2014, the brand has been growing since then with 261 outlets under their umbrella exclusively in India. Famous for its whopping offers, Burger King launched its IPO on December 2, 2020, with a public issue of INR 810 crores which were subscribed 156.6 times in the first two days of opening, becoming the fourth most subscribed IPO of 2020. Officially listed on NSE and BSE, the stock witnessed a strong opening premium of 92.25 percent. Looking at the blockbuster response, investors are in for a treat and might have their multi-bagger story.
Following the footsteps of Burger King, its supplier Mrs. Bectors also came up with their first-ever IPO with an offer for sale of INR 500 crores on December 15, 2020. It will be interesting to know how these stocks fare in the financial market.
GAINING CONSUMER TRUST OR SUGAR COATING THE FACTS?
An investigation revealed by The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) claimed that honey products of brands like Dabur, Patanjali, Emami are adulterated with sugar syrup. Although CSE termed investigation to be “sophisticated”, but is it enough to back the lost consumer trust? Honey selling brands roaring profits during the pandemic, now are in deep waters for some serious damage control by elevating their advertising expenditure across social media integrated with new ad campaigns on mainstream platforms. By outright denying the investigation reports, are brands trying to conceal the facts by increasing their presence? Or Is it a genuine effort to gain consumer trust? We’ll have to wait to find out!
ARE HOLIDAY SHOPPING PATTERNS CHANGING?
Findings from new data from advertising and retail technology experts Criteo suggest that COVID-19 has drastically reshaped the Holiday Shopping patterns. Reports suggest that Black Friday sales were down by 5-hitters from last year. While online promotions have helped e-retailers get a hold of their customers that accounted for the majority of thanksgiving and Cyber-Monday sales. Cyber Monday sales were up by 21% from October to December, but compared to last year sales are down by 9%.
Furniture, software, sports merchandise, cameras, toys/games, accessories, apparel, and electronics have been bought the most as it makes sense with lockdown and quarantine which were less likely to be bought in such great numbers. Meanwhile, these products being bought there was a common factor which consumers were focusing on comfort and home-oriented products.
Once this pandemic ends, there is an opportunity for Brick-and-Mortars retail sales of slow-selling products to recover. This pandemic has bought a shift in the trend of longer shopping seasons which may develop some longer consumer buying behavior patterns.
FALL IN INVESTMENT IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
According to Tracxn Technologies, investment in the media and entertainment industry including the ad-tech and mar-tech sector declined by 40% to $260 million in the CY 2020 ($434 million in the previous year).
Reliance Jio and Tencent acquired social media apps- Sharechat and OTT apps (MX Player and Saavn) while this year online news apps- DailyHunt, public.ai, and Inshorts received funds. Online news platform user base increased as newspapers’ distribution was hit over 70%. Social media platform Sharechat received $40 million in September 2020.
However, implementation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy in digital news media may witness a decline in investment in online news platforms in the coming years as foreign investments are restricted to 26%.
Flipkart Acquires Scapic to Boost User Experience
In December, Flipkart Group acquired Bengaluru-based Augmented Reality (AR) firm, Scapic, for an undisclosed sum.
Scapic is a Cloud-based platform that allows the creation and publishing of AR and 3D content material, at the moment serving shoppers throughout e-commerce and advertising.
The Flipkart Group purchased a 100 percent stake in Scapic and welcomed a gifted crew of skilled builders and designers onboard.
The crew will expedite the corporate’s efforts to present more profound digital camera experiences and storefronts and new model-promoting alternatives on its platform.
Most Trusted Advertisement in Newspaper
A study done by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) shows advertisements done on traditional media enjoy high trust among customers. Advertisement in Newspaper has emerged (86%) as most trusted, followed by TV and radio. Text /SMS are least trusted at 52 %. This study was conducted with people across all age groups in 20 centers in India. The most common medium for consuming ads is TV (94 %), followed by Digital (82%), print (77%), and radio (29%) which is the least. In terms of the shift, consumers have more trust in advertisements consumed on TV, print, radio social media, and search engines, but there is a fall in text message advertisement over years.
Educational advertisements have a high level of trust from its audience because Indians have a strong belief in education but ASCI found out that educational sector ad is misleading and ASCI are doing best to remove such misleading ads. People connect to 70% of these ads because they are endorsed by celebrities. So, codes and guidelines have evolved with time, keeping with the changing market and consumer landscape. These studies help advertisers, agencies, and media owners understand what will work well for their audience and what areas need improvement.
ITS TIME TO LET ‘COOKIES’ GO
Third-party cookies have been an essential part of marketing communication by providing consumers with personalized content by tracking people’s browsing behavior patterns or to create targeted ads for keeping individual records across platforms. Cookies have had their share of the limelight. Not anymore!
After Mozilla and Apple, Google is planning to eliminate cookies from its browser. It sure will aggravate the challenges of a marketer as it will become impossible to deliver personalization which can ultimately discourage companies working on the cookie-based model. But apart from being a challenge, it can serve as a source of opportunity for marketers to widen their horizons in terms of consumer reach. The need for sustainable data in the post cookie era can lead to the birth of transparent data generation. Maybe it’s time for marketing enthusiasts to explore new means and methodologies to back their marketing efforts.
Innovation should be central to Marketer's planning in 2021
Data is integral to pivot marketing strategies and create compelling campaigns, content, and offers that will function admirably in a socially-distanced world. For marketers, providing enhanced customer experience and keeping up with the digital habits of customers implies a need to increase attention on data.
During the pandemic, the effective use of customer data sets the stage for empathetic marketing. According to a survey, 78% of marketers describe their customer engagement as data-driven. However, mere data is not enough, and smart ways should be explored to put data to work to better listen and engage with consumers. Artificial Intelligence has become core in obtaining and applying deep insights to engage on a 1-to-1 level. AI has been used by 84% of marketers now— an increase of 186% since 2018.
The marketers focus on building a unique opportunity to create trusted customer relationships and create a longer-term recovery strategy.
As the future may not be easy to predict, but the last few months have ensured a fundamental shift in forcing Marketers to start figuring out how to deliver better what they need when they need it. As businesses enter the 2021 planning period, it’s more important than ever to provide innovative Marketing experiences that are meaningful, engaging, and create 1-to-1 customer connections.
VISUAL MERCHANDISING- RETAILER’S SECRET WEAPON
Why use traditional methods of paid advertisement and social media and spend thousands-millions when retailers can use one of the cost-effective marketing strategy-Visual Merchandising.
It is the Marketing concept that can help retailers to reach the top, attract and retain old and new customers towards the brand, and turn first-time shoppers into raving fans. Here are three main ways where retailers can use visual merchandising to attract customers at any season:
- Stop them in their tracks: Along with using visual presentations, retailers can use compelling stories that evoke customer’s emotions when using the product. Online stores can do the same. This can force the customer to browse the website and find a product that connects well.
- Keeping them engaged: Create an experience and not just another random store or website that sells products. “All that glitters is not gold”, hence use a suitable color theme and keep it simple but attractive. Have a variety of displays but don’t create a mess.
- Make it easy: Give appropriate information about the product, use proper store layout and signs in stores. Design a website that gives information in a balanced way, i.e. minimum information on “Category” or “Collection” pages and detailed information on an actual product page.
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