I’m sure you have seen at least one of the below ad campaigns by Big Bazaar.
[Image Above: "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 Below)
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
About the author:
Guru Prasad is a marketing consultant by profession and hopefully will be a regular guest blogger here.
Raman Verma
3 years ago
It’s a really good read…gives a good insight of how Future group has approached to cut the competition…
But personally I feel Future group is not ready to compete with the offerings of shoppers stop, lifestyle and Westside…they provide a different experience to the consumer and until that differentiating factor is not highlighted by future’s group, they cannot win this war easily…yeah of-course it will give them limelight and mid-segment may choose to test their services…and therefore outlets like Big-bazaar, Pantaloon must be ready to take that challenge…according to Guerrilla strategy, the negative publicity should be backed by strong product comparisons and that’s where Future group should now focus on…
my suggestion – if you have time, you may wish to append the article with some kind of offerings’ comparison and how you think Future’s group should prepare themselves before the giants (shoppers stop etc) wake up from the hibernation…
sammy
3 years ago
hi ,
well i call it bad advertising… i dont think the Guerrilla Marketing Strategy will work.. and i dont think there is anything to appreciate them about..
just by saying… Keep West-aSide. Shoppers! Stop. Change Your Lifestyle.
i dont think they can expect ppl to come into their showroom . ppl are much cleaver now
Sandy
3 years ago
yoy man, guru becoming market guru… got to learn a new term, gorilla marketing
Shriyans
3 years ago
I Guess its too early to come to any conclusions yet as it will take a while for them to be recognized. I guess they need to create more Brand awareness through various communication mediums to get themselves in limelite.
And Future group have a very good chance to be a success as the big names have already established themselves and dont offer anything different for a common man who is always looking for change.
U never know when Reliance jumps in to the market like a homestore kind of a thing… it wud be fun i guess…
swathi
3 years ago
First of all do u think that target group is same for all the 3 u have compared?
What i feel is for future group – target group is middle class and upper middle.So they may not be able to get those customers interest by playing with such ads and moreover many people have the feeling that big bazar and all for middle class and the quality is less.
There is no doubt the disposable income of people has increased lot.
But will the future group be able to offer such products?
Ur article is good . please update how his strategy has worked out .
Rgds
Swathi
gautam
3 years ago
i guess alls fair in love , war & business…
well jst some food for thought..
if shoppers ever get into food retailing…thn they can come up wid d campaign…
SAY NO TO BHINDI BAZAAR…MAKE A CHOICE!!
basically whnevea ne of thm wil geta chance they wil mak d most of it…so my advise is …dont take it personally fellas…its all in the competetive spirit…wat say??
Anubhav Makhija
2 years ago
Well , this is the new term that came in my dictionary, but i m quite impressed by the writer who very beauifully has explained the term “Guerilla Marketing ” .
MOHIT
2 years ago
Future group (Big Bazaar ) is completely different form shopper stop or lifestyle. Their target customer are different as big bazar focus on lower middle class people where as lifestyle target audience is upper middle class which are interested in quality then quantity ….
it is central and brand factory of future group who are competiting with lifestyle and shopper stop
santosh
2 years ago
i am thorughly fascinated by the strategy implemented by bigbazzar as cut down the streamed line to target the lot more customer just like converting consumers to customers but of course both future group and shoppers stop entities are different though this is only the begining———
arun
1 year ago
i like big bazaar because of the quality products available for cheap price,and can get any items without leaving the mall.Employers are really friendly.
http://www.trickway.blogspot.com
Arpit Makhija
1 year ago
as per my point of view Guerilla marketing strategy should be restricted by the government because it results to unhealthy and unethical competion in market.instead of focussing on these issues company should implement fair strategies like proper segmentation , targeting and Positioning and this would lead company to touch sky height.