I work in retail and we do bundled promotions. Is this good or bad? Any ideas?

Mumbai

Mohit, bundled offers are good at times, they can get bad or even ugly at others. It depends on how you use them, how frequently and how long you run each cycle of the bundled offer.

Economic recessions, depressions and slowdowns are a great time for bundled offers. What happened in the US in 1929 during the Great Depression was a time of acute price cuts. At such times, consumers don’t want useless and frivolous consumption items passed on to them as bundled offers. They would rather save cash.

An idea? What about bundling a two-day yoga and transcendental meditation session along with a refrigerator in these tough times?

The sin of a bundled offer is that at times useless products reach consumer homes. And as the saying goes, don’t ever buy anything you don’t need as you will then have to sell things you really need.

Product value, performance and utility are key. In tough times, only those products and services sell that are absolutely needed.

I have built a marketing theory where I say that there are two kinds of products and services: One is a ‘needs and wants’ product or service. The other is a ‘desires and aspirations’ product or service.

In a downturn, strategies that revolve around ‘needs and wants’ products work best. Those that work around the ‘desires and aspirations’ products don’t always work. Therefore, keep your bundled offer restricted and tied down to offering the basics.

Amul advertising is today a case study on its own. How does it work so well?Kolkata

Rakshit, Amul is a classic butter, as its advertising.

The brand thrives on topicality. That is the spirit of Amul’s advertising. It must remain the Benetton of Butter: in-the-face and it must remain controversial. It must remain conversational as well. It must continue to tread the thin line of social acceptance. It must continue to ridicule. It must be fun. Irreverence must be in its DNA.

A campaign that has remained so focused in its orientation has resulted in its market share swelling. Amul has largely been a demand-and-supply brand. It simply means that when there is stock, the brand zooms and when there is a run-out, as in summer, it allows other brands to breathe.

Many have tried to ape the model, but none has really succeeded.

In retail, do you think profitable customers can be made loyal as well?

Hyderabad

Karthika, not really and not always. Profitable customers can be one-time customers even. These are high-value buyers. Many high-value buyers are butterfly-buyers. Those who flit from brand to brand and from store to store. These buyers are heavy buyers, but they seldom want to splurge in the same store. Promiscuity in buying is high in this segment. This is tough to hold and harvest.

Profitability itself must be raked in on a slow basis. If you rake in big profits at one shot, loyalty is more difficult to establish and nurture.

It is important to offer a sense of sustainable value to the buyer. This is a process in itself. It needs to be offered with caution, without giving a sense of overt discounting. It needs to translate into a service dimension at the store and at the home of the customer. A service which stands out and a service which will be craved for.

Harish Bajoor is a brand strategy expert & CEO, Harish Bijoor onsultants Inc. Send your questions to >cat.a.lyst@thehindu.co.in

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