For the marketers, by the marketers. The current issue explores the theme of Luxury marketing through various lenses - profiles of CMOs, case studies, interviews, academic research. It's a thoughtful blend of international and Indian content, curated personally by Jessie Paul, author, consultant and CMO specialist.

1. VOL-1 ISSUE 2 APRIL 2013 `250I I I
MARKETING BOOSTER
Luxe Redux
by The Boston Consulting
Group
Luxury across the
Pyramid
by Jessie Paul
Spotlight
Philipp von Sahr, BMW
Group India
MasterCard : “Evolution
of Priceless”
What is Luxury?
by Dr. Isaac Mostovicz
In Conversation
Karan Ahluwalia, YES BANK
View From theTop
Ruchita Sharma, Swarovski
India.
SAP Case Study : Luxottica
The Great Indian Marketing
Summit - Realty Edition
(21 June, 2013)
THE MIDASTOUCH
luxury special

2. 2 Marketing Booster April 2013I
Sujatha V Kumar
Category Director-
Marketing
Coca-Cola India
Meghana Saboo
Sr. Manager - Marketing and
Corporate Communications
L&T Integrated Engineering Services
Purnima Menon
SVP& CMO
CSS Corp
Lulu Raghavan
Managing Director
Landor Associates
Just received the copy of the first
issue of the Marketing
Booster…thanks for the same! It was
a very interesting read.
Received your Marketing Booster –
great magazine, good read.
Good edition of Marketing
Booster. Cheers to more!
Great initiative and
interesting content.

3. Yo!
Say the word luxury, and immediately it
conjures up images of champagne,
expensive hotels, couture fashion, and
handmade bags. But it's a word which
means different things to different people.
For some, running water is a luxury. For
others it could be a roof over their head.
And for others it is a road fit to drive their
snazzy sports cars. Or the perfect cup of
tea.
But whatever it means to you, you are willing
to pay a premium for it. This is what makes
the topic of luxury so exciting to a marketer -
the ability to identify something that is of
great value to the customer, deliver it, and
collect a premium. It cuts across income
groups and product categories providing an
opportunity for every marketer to define and
monetize a niche. This, the second issue of
our monthly magazine, is dedicated to
exploring luxury from different perspectives.
We invited a wide spectrum of marketers
and academics to share their views on what
they think is luxury and how it can be
marketed and are happy to share this with
you.
This issue, on luxury, leads us to the next one
which will be on real estate marketing. That's
aligned with our forthcoming national
conference on real estate marketing to be
held in Bangalore on June 21st at The Leela,
Bangalore. Why real estate? Because it is
something that almost every Indian is
involved with in some fashion - home
ownership is still a major aspiration and one
of the largest investments a person makes in
their lifetime. It is also a relatively new
category in the organized sector and the
challenges of marketing a high value product
which will be delivered years after the initial
payment are many. Apart from self-
consumption, the product is often used as an
investment and is often purchased by non-
residents - further adding to the complexity of
the marketing program.
We've had great feedback for the previous
issue - thank you, dear readers. Do stay in
touch with us - we see this magazine as a
means to share best practices among the
senior marketing community in India, and it
would only be successful when it is truly
interactive.
editor’s note
3
Happy reading!
Jessie Paul
CEO, Paul Writer
jessie@paulwriterconnect.com
Marketing Booster April 2013I

4. 12
perspectives on luxury:
How does marketing a luxury
product vary from that of
regular products?
Everything about marketing a
luxury product would have to be
in line with the definition of a
luxury product, the channels,
events and ambassadors all have
to exceed the purpose of
association with the brand, have
to be seen as high quality - be it
top of the charts, success or
affluence. It would be significantly
expensive and participation is by
invitation and aspirational. It
would also be relevant to state
the obvious that genuine luxury
products marketing would be absent where regular
products thrive.
What do you think defines a “luxury” medical
experience?
Relating luxury to healthcare as per the above definition
would be completely inappropriate. In healthcare, we
should focus on “BEST Experience” and not a luxury
experience. I would thus define the best treatment as
one that is truly “7 Star” across the care continuum.
At Apollo this starts with:
Ÿclinical outcomes - read success rates - that are
globally on top (disproportionately better than global
sector averages)
Ÿpatient experience that ensures utmost quality of care
(TLC all the way)
Ÿthe Infrastructure (clearly exceeds purpose)
Ÿthe use of the latest technologies (enables
enhancement of quality and outcomes)
Ÿclinical expertise (the best minds and experience)
Ÿholistic care from wellness, prevention, intervention and
rehabilitation
All this apart from an overarching focus on processes
and standards of care. All contributing to value delivery.
Clearly not an example of the cost: price ratio
Any recent luxury marketing campaigns that have
impressed you?
None in the recent past, but would rate the Rolls-Royce
campaign of Ogilvy….“ At 60 Miles an hour the loudest
noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the Electric
Clock". Truly this was aligned to my personal definition
of Luxury i.e. exceeds purpose, promises quality, Cost:
Price equation aligned and clearly emotionally
aspirational.
S Prem Kumar-
Group CEO
Apollo Hospitals
Marketing Booster April 2013I

5. 13Marketing Booster March 2013I
perspectives on luxury:
How does loyalty for a
luxury product vary from
that of regular products?
Any brand essentially delivers
functional benefits which are
tangible, and emotional
benefits which are intangible.
In the case of luxury products,
the non-tangible benefits form
a higher part of the value than
the tangible benefits.
There are a few key points
that are extremely crucial for
loyalty marketing for luxury
brands
1. Perception Management is critical among the
target audience. The brand needs to be seen as
being "in" by the image-makers and early adopters
2. The brand needs more constant image
upgradation and word of mouth is a big lever in
building loyalty
3. Since the consumer-set buying these brands are
global in their outlook, global incidents concerning the
brand have a bigger impact than in the case of
normal brands
What do you think defines a “luxury” loyalty
experience?
A few rules:
1. Something that is not available on the shelf for
everyone. It is exclusive, the qualification for the
experience itself is a benefit that one can talk about
2. The experience needs to be customized for the
individual. For example, if someone likes Darjeeling
tea every time one checks into a 5 star hotel then the
hotel better make sure they do not have only lemon
tea packets in his room
3. Price is typically a minor factor in the whole mix -
the user experience is key
4. It is about surpassing expectations not meeting
them so that one can generate a very positive word-
of-mouth
Which is your favorite luxury product?
I am not into luxury products all that much, but a Tag
Heuer watch that my wife had bought me for my
birthday a few years back will always be very special.
Any recent luxury marketing campaigns that have
impressed you?
One campaign I have always liked is the Tag Heuer. It
has used celebrities very smartly to drive awareness
for the brand whether its Shahrukh Khan or more
recently Cameron Diaz. At the same time, the product
is the hero in the ad and it manages to create
"desirability" for the brand which is critical. Price
doesn't feature in the communication. They have
used PR and events very smartly too with Shahrukh
Khan actually wearing a Tag. And unlike some of the
ads he does for a men's vest brand you know he
actually uses the product and is not just endorsing it!
Rathin Lahiri
CMO
Loyalty One
13Marketing Booster April 2013I

6. How do you define social business?
We define it as the art of business collaboration, using
digital tools and techniques that enable individuals across
silos, organizations and industries to work together to
share insights and tackle thorny business challenges. Not
everyone gets this, so our view is that we are building this
platform for younger and up-and-coming business leaders
who can hopefully model more collaborative and
transparent social business behaviors for the rest of the
community.
What are some of the ways, if any, that you as the
Community Leader have integrated offline and online
activities in support of your customers?
Cognizant Connections is a perfect extension of our
physical world meetings, enabling pre-, mid-, and post-
event exchanges of knowledge and informational needs.
We have used special interest groups to gauge interest in
events, call for speakers and get feedback on materials
presented at our events. In fact, these are the groups
where we tend to have the most engaged and active
users. I guess Cognizant Connections, when combined
with real-world meet and greets, is the most effective way
to build esprit de corps!
Are there any other ways you use the data or insights
surfaced through community to impact / inform core
ops?
We do use an assortment of web analytics to highlight
content areas that are most fertile. This helps us to see
where we should focus our thought leadership
development efforts. The community also acts as a
sounding board for trends and PoVs that we want to share
with a broader audience. The results may not totally
influence business decisions, but they provide an
important input for figuring out client/prospect sentiment.
What do you think are the biggest benefits of
community for Cognizant? Why do you do it?
As I tell all of our senior execs — we are building this
community for the next generation of business leaders.
More important, Cognizant Connections enables us to
create more transparent and real-time ways to work with
and share insights with clients. It is an important
investment, particularly if we want to reinforce that we
are a company they can count on to build more digitally
collaborative ways of working across silos and
industries.
Do you have any advice or lessons learned for other
B2B companies seeking to build an online
community to service their customers?
Suggest you let your targeted audience lead you
initially, but do not despair if they do not know what they
want. There's a lot of trial and error involved; no
organization has gotten it totally right. It's a two-parts
experimentation, one part perspiration formula. Keep
trying new things; if user blogs aren't your members'
cup of tea, get rid of them. Seek ways for members to
connect and participate at the level that makes them
most comfortable. Also, remember most networking
usually takes place at a level that is invisible to the
community operator/sponsor, so don't fret if you don't
see members exploiting the connections they make
within your community by commenting on blogs and
discussion areas. It is happening in the physical world,
on the phone, via private email, etc. Therefore, make
sure to connect members through physical world meet
and greets, if possible. It enables members to further
develop virtual relationships established in your e-
community.
Leader Networks, a research and strategy consulting company that
helps large organizations succeed in social business and B2B online
community building
32 Marketing Booster April 2013I