Saturday, June 14, 2008

Big Bazaar's Gureilla Marketing



I’m sure you have seen at least one of the below ad campaigns by Big Bazaar.


[Image Left: "The Keep West-aSide. Make a smart choice !" Billboard on Hosur Road (Just Before Forum Mall), Bangalore]
Apparently its part of Big Bazaar’s (owned by Biyani’s Future Group) new Guerrilla Marketing Strategy according to agencyfaqs.com Surely one must have heard about the guerilla warfare strategies during one of those boring history sessions in school (generally its boring!!), wherein guerrilla force is divided into small groups that selectively attacks the target at its weak points. Wah lah, enter the future and in the world of cut throat competition, corporates use extension of the same strategy in marketing…hmmmm never imagined this while we were in our shorts !! Corporates like coke, pepsi, etc have been using the same for quite some time now and the latest entrant is our very own ‘Future Group’- Big Bazaar, Pantaloons, Future Bazaar, eZone are all part of this group and they are taking on the biggies like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, and Tata’s Westside.
In order to do the same, Future Group have come up with 3 catchy/cocky and cheeky ad campaign which surely does catch your eyes (whether one changes their loyalty or not, only time will tell) and surely one cant resist appreciating the same..
Keep West-aSide. Make a smart choice !
Shoppers! Stop. Make a smart choice !
Change Your Lifestyle. Make a smart choice ! (See Image at right)
Not surprisingly; according to the latest release in ET the campaign has made the competition very uncomfortable because they somehow feel “the ads make a subtle reference to them”. Heloooooo, subtle is a very weak word used here !!
With retail market in India especially in metros where standard of living and disposable income is at an all time high, competitors will vie for the market share and can stoop to any levels while marketing their products. Guerilla marketing is just one of the strategies and surely one can learn a lot from the ongoing battle, especially people interested in marketing/marketing techniques.
Things have already started to boil coz of this ad campaign and both Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop are analyzing the effect of the strategy used by Mr Biyani and Future Group. Lifestyle are even planning to take Future Group and their ad campaign to Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). I just feel, Future Group have done a very creative job and surely time will tell the effect of this strategy – by this I refer to both Future Group and their competitors.
Keep watching this space for more cuz I am sure this is just is just the beginning !!
For more on Guerilla marketing strategy : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_marketing_warfare_strategies

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