Nano Marketing

In 2008-09, almost everybody who had heard about it was shrieking praises for the new car from India's Tata Motors - the Nano. Broadcast, print and blogger wags from Delhi to Denver were using words like 'phenomenal,' 'innovative,' 'game changer,' 'palpable excitement,' etc, etc, - not just to describe the car - but the marketing behind it.

They called it, Lakhtakiya -  'the people's car.'

It was good but small and cheap - about $2000 USD each - and so, raved the marketing folks, would be the marketing campaign. Innovative, effective and inexpensive they said. Frugal engineering built the car. Frugal marketing would sell it. So they elected to use all the innovative stuff. A Bloomberg article at the time explains: "No TV - rather, innovative use of other stuff, like Nano news in papers, Nano breaks on radio, Nano appearing in the form of messages or ticker news on TV, online Nano games, Nano chatrooms on the Net, Nano pop-ups on major websites and Nano conversation on Facebook, Orkut and blogspaces." They even planned to sell the Nano through chain department stores rather than just dealerships.

Sales volume was projected to average 20,000 vehicles per month and Tata built a factory to produce exactly that.

According to a recent article in The Economist as of now, monthly unit sales are currently 3,000  per month and that up from a low point of 509 per month in November 2010. This in India - an emerging market and maybe THE emerging market - with a billion people, 750 million of which are actually thought to be potential buyers.

Let's review the plan:

Product? Check. Frugal engineering hath wrought a beautiful, innovative little car undoubtedly fitting its marketplace.
Price? Check. $2000 each puts it well within reach of the rising middle class but more importantly, that of many poorer citizens.
Place? Check. Certainly there are dealerships and department stores.
Promotion? Check. No TV but lots of innovative other stuff, particularly Web stuff... and a very flashy launch event or two.
People? huh? Are people part of marketing?

Why, yes they are. They are the real stakeholders in the brand. And apparently Tata forgot that. Or at least one important group of them. They educated and enthused their employees, the media, the government, the financial analysts, the retailers - but the 750 million key stakeholders in their brand success - the candidates for actually buying the brand - the poor - their target customers - were unable to learn about the car or see the car or get enthused about the car because they didn't have access to all the innovative media that Tata relied on. You see they live out of the city lights... in the rural areas where Nano-chats and Nano-games, etc., are Nano-known.

The people do not yet know about their car.

Moral: when marketing to the people, do not forget them.

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WHAT WOULD GOOGLE SAY?

Recently I heard Lisa Gevelber, Director of Marketing for Americas at Google, speak at a conference on how the digital landscape is evolving. The Google brand - in all its derivatives - is, I think, a good example of an idea coming from somewhere unexpected and then being turned into a ragingly successful brand through an opportune combination of stakeholder ingenuity, motivation and good fortune.

In Google's case, it has the good fortune of having many ingenious stakeholders both internal and external to the organization who value it highly and drive hard to make it grow. Google knows that and leverages its stakeholders - recognizing and capitalizing on their 'humanity' - to grow the brand. Here are Google's 'five marketing principles' which it follows, each of them I believe, reflecting the truth that brands are grown through people:

1. Focus on one real user... imagine/know the person you're connecting with
2. Ideas come from everywhere... in Google's case, all of humanity is a source
3. Float all boats... enable/encourage people to find value and share it with others
4. Take risks and say yes... get people close to the brand; encourage/enable participation
5. Make it matter... contribute meaningfully and substantially to humanity and its community

I love the way Lisa summed up the essence of Google's branding efforts: a virtuous circle of 'users > magic > users > magic.'

There's success in the simple (and unfortunately rare) concept of striving to make a brand 'magical' for - and by - the people who hold stakes in it.

Gather 'Roun an' Dunna Make Me Shoot

So, enough about the wonders of the nectar. When can we taste it? Will we wished we hadn't? Will a whiskey left unwittingly (or was it???) for a hundred years under a makeshift Antarctica hut in nature's own cooler even be palatable - or potable? We'll never know unless Whyte & Mackay create or recreate the brand - for it's unlikely that many of will ever get near the actual liquid they found.

Is there an idea here that can become a brand? And what kind of brand could it become? I say there's more than a just a swirl of potential greatness here. Branding is, of course, far less about logic than it is about emotion. And in this case, the liquid will be almost irrelevant to brand success. Whyte & Mackay are in possession of one the most compelling stories - and therefore, potential brand building opportunities - since Shackleton left the whiskey.

All the elements that make both great stores and brands are here: a unique platform from which to build, an intriguing opening, characterful personalities, exotic context, plot, tension, conflict, climax. We just need a resolution! So, I say, in my best Scottish brogue: Gentlemen, dunna wurry 'bout the liquid. Instead, move on to that other great Scottish tradition - storytelling!

Whiskey by the Senses

Much like the creation of whiskey, tasting is an art that requires participation and cooperation from all our senses. The experience varies for each individual and the taste and smell often bring up a plethora of visuals. For myself, the smell of a peaty whiskey (the highest peat rating) conjures up images of dark rich soil, moist tree bark covered in moss, a thick foggy forest after a heavy rainfall. A mildly peaty whiskey sends my mind to an old world library, with a well worn leather armchair, stacks of the great classics, and a large multi-pane window swung open to a cool Autumn day. Realistically of course, whiskey can be enjoyed inside or out, in any season, alone or with friends, yet I bet that each of you, whether your a connoisseur or a rookie drink, has their very own set of visuals that come to mind.

According to the experts, the colour of whiskey can range from almost transparent to syrupy brown. The traces you seen in your glass once this liquor has been consumed are whiskey's oiliness, and the longer they take to flow down to the bottom of the glass, the more body the whiskey has.

The first impression a whiskey leaves is referred to as “nose feel” and it is followed by several more nosings while swirling the glass, and allowing the aroma to build up. Your next step is “the sip”, since the first impression is most important be sure to coat the entire mouth with and allow it to creep into your respiratory tract. Swallowing will lead us to the finish, and it is said that a short finish is usually associated with freshness, while a very long one is synonymous with rich whiskey. The medium finish is most common and most preferred by connoisseurs. For those who choose to add water to their whiskey, this simply allows for further release of aromas and does not hurt the quality of the whiskey.

I leave you with a quote from Mark Twain: “Too much of anything is bad, but too much of good whiskey is barely enough.”

Source: Whiskey by Marc A. Hoffmann

Parragon Publishing Ltd.

Scotch vs. Whiskey

Unlike labels such as Scotch, Irish or Bourbon, whiskey is not a trademark-protected term and can therefore be used all over the world. Irish whiskey, according to law, must be produced in Ireland and matured for a minimum of three years. In order for whiskey to be called Scotch it has to be produced in Scottish distilleries and must be made from malted barley or another type of grain mashed with water. As well, it must be aged in wooden casks and at time of bottling contain at least 40% alcohol. To add a bit of flare to the mix, there's also Bourbon which some consider to be the American Whiskey, however it is by no means the only one of its kind. Oh, and last but not least, there's the Malt Whiskey, which is entirely made from malted barley, and cannot be contaminated with any other grains.

I say, a rose by any other name is still a rose but whiskey by any name is still delicious. 

Water of Life: the Facts

Whisky or Whiskey, depending on its country of origin, is a Gaelic word which translates into simply “water of life”. As with most subjects steeped in such rich history, to learn about whiskey is to do more than just read the bottle label. Therefore, based on various and sundry sources (including, dubiously, my own experience) here's a brief factorial:

• 1400s: A monk, John Cor, received orders from King James IV to acquire malt for the production of 'water of life.'

• 1500s: Henry VIII dissolved many monasteries (and hence, whiskey producers) so farmers began to illegally make whiskey from surplus barley.

• 1600s: The Scottish parliament passed the first alcohol tax in order to raise funds for King Charles I to go to war. He did.

• 1700s: Whiskey was used as currency during the American Revolution - and almost caused another one, the Whiskey Rebellion.

• 1800s: Whiskey taxes were reduced, legal distilleries emerged and “official” whisky established itself.

• 1900s: America's 'Prohibition' banned whiskey sales... then allowed them... then encouraged them.

• 2000s: Enjoy!

There is of course much more to the story, and for this we recommend the trusty Wikipedia.