Product launch is one of the most important
milestones in the lifecycle of a product. Next to product development
expenditure, product launch expenditure is the single largest expenditure
component. While the scale and scope of launch determines the scale of
revenues, the splurge on product launch also has an adverse price impact,
influencing revenues in turn. Several options are available to the new age
marketers in media to achieve saturation marketing. The loudness of some of the
recent product launches including multi-full page advertisements raises the
question if the maximal deployment of the promotional resources is required in
today’s competitive marketing scenario or, on the contrary, promotional
resources are being well spent. In fact, some of the promotional
characteristics of even high technology products like consumer electronic
products are focused more on visual aspects than on technical points. Even in
respect of iPhone there is nothing more than a strong product visual and a
price buyback offer in a full page advertisement!
While this excessiveness is an offshoot of
free market competitiveness, the trend of saturation and intense advertisement
of product launches is also related to the shortening product lifecycles. It
has probably become important for firms to aim at the fastest possible recovery
of investments, sometimes in periods as short as 3 to 6 months. The movie
launches of recent times which aim at not only maximum number of screens in the
home state or home country but also at simultaneous multilingual and
multi-country launches is a striking example of saturation launches. While the
automobile industry in sellers market conditions was accustomed to pre-launch
booking of cars, other businesses especially cell phone and tablet firms are
vying with each other in taking pre-orders although such industries are not
exactly in sellers market conditions. Saturation marketing for the benefits
listed above carries with it the possibility of making the customers
insensitive to the messaging. It is time to consider if silent marketing could
be an alternative to the current trend of vocal marketing; however, prior to
that, an examination of what could constitute saturation launch could be
appropriate.
Saturation launch
Saturation launch involves launching a new
product through a well conceived and well coordinated advertisement campaign on
the new product involving all the media (almost like a blitzkrieg!). Typically, it starts with teaser
advertisements in the pre-launch phase and full blown advertisements in print
(newspaper and journal), radio, television, cinema, and social media
immediately prior to and after product launch. In respect of certain products
(such as automobiles and electronic gadgets) exposure in exhibitions of
products at prototype stage itself is a given phenomenon. The benefit of saturation
launch is that it captures the attention and imagination of the widest possible
potential buyer and influencer base. It caters for diverse attention spans and
mood scenarios, from early morning to late night exposure and flexibility of
weekdays or weekend coverage. Given that each medium has its dedicated
following as well as transient and random following, an exposure strategy can
be designed based on product features and target customers. Saturation
marketing is expressive in multiple ways; in fact, it attempts to capture the
imagination of the customers through multiple human senses.
Pictorial, reading, listening, touching and
simulation are the ways in which saturation marketing works. Saturation
marketing can attract a potential customer to a product through pictures, can
educate through written explanation, convince through sound bites, motivate
through feel, and integrate through experiential simulation. Movie trailers,
product displays, model homes, architectural walkthroughs, self-selection
options and automobile test drives are examples of how pilot experience options
can be deployed by firms to propagate the features of products as launch cum
marketing experience. Next to such holistic experience, pictorial launch and
marketing has been the most effective, and popular, medium of launch
communication in India, even in this digital age. Sky hoardings, wall posters
and wall paintings, rain and sun canopies and painted displays on transport
equipment continue to be the most expressive launch media in India. Packaging
and carry bags as well as flyers and leave behinds or product leaflets enable
communication of the messages in a more ambulatory fashion. It is estimated
that a saturation launch campaign on all of these lines together with
maintenance marketing would cost anywhere between 10 to 20 percent of sales
revenue for a product that achieves a viable scale.
Silent launch
Silent launch, on the other hand, could save the
firm a considerable amount of such expenditure which can be passed on to the
customers in terms of lower prices for the products. However, what exactly
could be a silent launch has no formal definition. That said, it may be defined
as a launch of a product without advertisement or publicity of the contemporary
kind. One of the recent silent launches in India has been the re-launch of Tata
Aria crossover SUV a few weeks ago. Compared to the first launch a few years
ago, the re-launch has been absolutely quiet. In practical terms, silent launch
tends to be the only option for products launched by small and micro
enterprises (SMEs) and self help groups (SHGs) which cannot afford launch
resources. That said, a silent launch need not be, and cannot be, a nondescript
launch. Silent launch could involve quiet but effective product display at
points of sale with efficient sales executives explaining the product features,
and wherever feasible, touch and feel. Display of new automobiles in luxurious
shopping malls is an example of silent launch. Even in the FMCG sector,
consumers are often surprised by new products which quietly take shelf life
alongside established products. Some of the SMES and SHGs tie up innovatively
with leading hotels and retail chains to gain display and marketability as a
component of the corporate social responsibility of such large enterprises.
Silent launch is particularly appropriate
under five conditions. The first is when the product is such a runaway hit that
it needs no special publicity. An iPhone, whose attributes of use and symbolism
of possession are well known, qualifies for such a silent launch position. The
second is when the product is likely to be a low volume niche product whose
sales would not bear a proportionately elastic relationship with the
advertisement and other launch expenditure. Tata Aria, which though a good
product could not capture the imagination of the market, falls in such a
category. The third is when a product is launched under marginal costing
principles leaving no scope for launch extravaganza. The fourth is when, as
discussed earlier, the firm by its very ownership or operational structure has
no resources to support launch activities. The fifth is when the product is of
a neighborhood variety; for example, local produce or local eatery. Word of
mouth, including product reviews by independent reviewers, plays a strong role
in the success of silent launches. Silent launches can occur in any industry
though! The movie industry is prone to successful silent launches made possible
by positive word of mouth. Products which are highly visible in use (like
automobiles) or in display (like televisions) and products which are a common
part of daily use (like fountain pens) gain by word of mouth or ease of use.
Some industries like pharmaceutical industry or insurance industry may find
themselves appropriate for (relatively) silent launches given the regulatory
restrictions.
Quality, innovation
Saturation marketing, by definition, is cost-intensive.
In contemporary marketing in India it has become cost-excessive due to several
high voltage attempts to grab attention. The practice of having a celebrity
brand ambassador (a successful movie actor or an accomplished sports person,
for example) has been the biggest cost driver of saturation marketing, on a
rather universal basis. Sponsorship of major sporting events such as Cricket
IPL and Football World Cup are the significant seasonal cost drivers. Taking
full front page advertisement space in newspapers and multifold front page
advertisement space in journals and magazines has been another extravagant cost
driver. Sponsorship advertisements in popular television serials or sporting
event telecasts are also major cost drivers.
In terms of sunk costs with recurrent expenditure, exclusive company
sales plazas have emerged as the trend to capture consumer imagination. Big
firms tend to utilize all of these elements to ensure, in their view, strong
enterprise and product line recall. However, does this recall automatically
translate into consumer preferences for specific products? The answer is
probably in the negative.
If Samsung, LG or Sony would launch a curved
super high definition television, the consumers would be interested in
evaluating purchase of such a new product based on novelty of features and the
prestige value associated with such purchase rather than on whether any of the
companies was associated with any great event or celebrity. While it may be
argued that when the market is crowded with many competitors such high voltage
and saturation marketing enables some differentiation and recall, it is a moot
point if there exists a direct correlation between such saturation investments
and actual product purchase decisions. Many of the concepts underlying
saturation launch and marketing need to be validated by research on the revenue
effectiveness vis-à-vis cost extravagance. In the earliest stages of mechanical
revolution, in the middle years of electronics revolution and in the
contemporary digital age, only quality, as evidenced by predictable and
reliable performance, remains as the robust consumer draw while only innovation,
as evidenced by premium, futuristic product design, remains as the unique
product differentiation. As competition gets tougher, firms would do well to
seriously reconsider marketing extravagance and reevaluate relative allocation
of expenditures between sustainable quality and innovation on one hand and
saturation launch and marketing on the other; from the author’s view the
balance has to tilt strongly tilt in favor of the former! In such a quality and
innovation driven scenario, silent launch could provide more value for the
consumer than saturation launch would provide.
Posted by Dr CB Rao on June 15, 2014
2 comments:
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