Nobody “gets” their customers like Apple does.

And if you are a proud owner of one of the marvelous Apple products, you are not him.

Apple had only one customer: Steve Jobs.

And Steve Jobs thought you the customer is an idiot, who doesn’t know what he wants and it is Apple’s job to tell them what you want. The entire Apple lineup of products and their ecosystem reflects this ideology. The touch screen UI, an intuitive and fluid design, which even your grandma could understand and fall in love with. Apple made all the complicated jargon and specs irrelevant and turned the dreadful incomprehensible technology into an enriching experience. An experience, which everyone could indulge into and fall in love with.

But it was not so rosy back in the day. Lets go back to the year 1997, Steve jobs was back as the CEO, after Apple acquired NeXT. Some people say the only reason for the acquisition was to get Steve Jobs back. Such was the dire situation that Apple was stuck in, that they had to bring back Steve Jobs after he was infamously and unceremoniously thrown out of the company that he had founded because Apple’s board of directors had lost faith in his leadership.

Steve Jobs dived right in to clean up the mess that Apple was in. He immediately realized that Apple’s plagues were internal as well as external, that the company needed a major cultural shift. Gone were the days of Apple being the true innovators company, now it was another Me-Too brand, their products indistinguishable from the rest of the crowd. Steve Jobs realigned the entire product line, removed all the clutter and made Apple focus its entire synergies on creating few but innovative never seen before products. But Steve also wanted the world to know that Apple was truly back.

And so the Think Different campaign was born.

Steve Jobs ordered the creation of a campaign that reflected the philosophy he thought had to be reinforced within the company. This philosophy had to be adopted at every level, from product to marketing. His philosophy is Apple’s DNA, which will hopefully never diminish, even after the great man’s demise.

Steve Jobs in interview for PBS ‘One Last Thing’ documentary, 1994

When Facebook is gearing up for its IPO and with plans to lock horns with Google, on the online front, Google has progressed into other projects like the Google glass, which we analysed in detail. Google the search engine and online ad giant, has now moved to the most traditional marketing tool of all time. Direct mail. Google has been targeting small business owners to promote their online presence through Google ad words. Here are few pictures of the direct mailer I received. (Sorry for the poor picture quality, my scanner is broken. I have edited the one with promo code on purpose :d)

Google is also well aware of the fact that India has a very low internet penetration rate of around 10% as compared to countries like USA, where the same is much higher. The probability that the business contacted, has no online presence is much likely. Hence the mailer also appeals to such businesses which do not have a website, with India Get Online, Google’s very own host your website project.

One may remember the Tanjore Art campaign by Google, which lures people into getting online and unleashing the potential of the web. The mailer is a similar appeal to the non internet savvy business owner.

This brings to the fore many points

• No matter how big your online presence is, approaching customers directly appeals in a way no other tool can
• Even in the wake of the social media frenzy, traditional marketing works (My belief is it works better)
• Big Brands rely on traditional tools (Google, above, is one example)
• Social media is getting too cluttered, and so is other online ad channels (GM recently decided to stop Facebook advertising)
• Direct Marketing Cynics: Direct Marketing still got its sting!

Maruti has very recently launched a car called Ertiga, that is fondly known as the people’s car. This is a classic example of how brands when backed by a great insight can never go wrong. Of course, this post is written before a test drive, so I am assuming the product is just as awesome.

Move on

The family car is overdone. The concept has been adopted by so many brands that it’s past time we moved on. We are a family oriented country. Now move it. This brand recognizes the growing youth population and it’s ever growing disposable income. So, here’s a car crafted for this audience.

The insight

This advertisement is an embodiment of the impulsive spirit that drives this audience. The stop at cross road and not knowing which direction to take brings out the emotional state that most of us are in. Leaving the map behind and deciding the path on an impulse combines the sense of not knowing where to go in life and the willingness to try it out. Sure in the journey called life, we all pick up friends on the way who go on to play a major part in shaping us. The sense of freedom that is brought out in this 20 seconds quite amazing. And the best part is , they didn’t have to shoot underwater as well. This ad has achieved what all communication should aim, make the customers relate to your brand. This immediately ensures your spot in the top-of-mind-awareness.

The acronym LUV – Life Utility Vehicle is a perfect ending to a perfect commercial.

As Facebook is hours away from its IPO on 18th May, lets have a look at how top global brands are using facebook to take their branding exercise to the next level. This latest infographic below from Social Bakers provides interesting stats on how global brands are reaching out to the global population through facebook.

Project Glass: One small step for Google, one giant leap for Mankind.

OK, that was very cheesy. But hold your breath for a second, pause and watch the video below.

I am going to go on a rant here, so if you want to get more details about the product, click here.

We as consumers have become overwhelmed by technology, the vast array of products, innovating at a rabid pace, a technological marvel in the morning becomes obsolete by evening. The internet revolution, the mobile revolution, the social networking revolution, the smart phone revolution one after another at such a blinding pace, that we have become numbed. This blitzkrieg of technological wonders has left us immune and desensitized to any “new” innovation. We take it for granted, we expect it, and if we don’t get it, we are simply unamused.

But a few seconds ago when we saw that video, that changed. We saw something magical. Something we only read about in sci-fi novels and see only in Hollywood  movies. The line between magic and science, became more blurred, all thanks to Google. The old wily magician has still some new tricks left in its big bag of wonder. Google which started its journey as a friendly neighborhood search engine. Rescuing hapless netizens from getting lost in the wild wild web, is now a fully grown innovation driven, paradigm changing  disruptive force.

From its inception Google had only one focus, creating disruptive technologies and push the boundaries of innovation to never seen before landscape. While the world is busy applauding Apple for its iProducts and Facebook for connecting half the planet, Google was busy trying to change the world.

For this specific purpose, they created the “Google X Labs” initiative, headed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin. If it sounds like some secret underground lab facility where all the weird sci-fi experiments are done. You wouldn’t be far from the truth. Listen to few of the projects they are working on- space elevators, asteroid mining, self driving car (which is out already, check it out here), the web of things.

The Buzz in the tech world was that Google had lost its innovative edge to not only bring a new level of evolution, but a ‘Revolution’ to any industry/product it touches. Everyone thought that Google was losing its cutting edge since it was no more a start-up , but rather another one of those Blue Chip silicon valley dinosaurs. We all thought that Google was like a giant now, sleeping now on its accolades such as Search, Maps, GMail for which they know they have a huge user base.

The Tech World thought that Google had reached its zenith and can’t go any higher. But with Google X Labs and Sergey Brin leading the charge backed up by a brilliant team of scientists, inventors and visionaries, coming up with what at first glance seem like crazy ideas or science fiction like Project Glass,  we now know that the giant was merely dreaming and coming up with ideas as to ‘What’s Next’ and now that the giant is up from its slumber. The sky is the limit.

So for a few minutes, lets just forget about the pesky privacy issues, patent lawsuits, anti-competitive practices and wannabe products, and breathe in the pure joy of witnessing the birth of a revolutionary idea and the rebirth of brand Google.

We are back again with David Ogilvy, the original champion for advertising that sells and not merely entertains. Given below are his tips for effective TV commercials. These suggestions hold good even to this day, because times may have changed – what was fashionable in the seventies and eighties may not be fashionable now – but human nature has not. People still react to advertising more or less the same way and still buy things after watching an ad, when the ad meets certain criteria.

Here are the maestro’s tips.

#1 Brand Identification. Research shows that a great percentage of viewers remember the commercial but forget the product. Two tips for incorporating brand name smartly – repeat name at regular intervals, creatively and play games with the brand name.

#2 Show the package. All things being equal an ad which shows the product package has an edge over that which doesn’t.

#3 Food in motion. For commercial of food products, show the food in action. The more appetizing the imagery is, the more it will sell.

#4 Close-ups. When the hero of the commercial is your product, it is a wise idea to get close up shots.

#5 Open with the fire. Open your ad with a visual surprise. If you can grab their attention in the first few seconds you win, especially in our channel surfing TV culture.

#6 When you have nothing to say, sing it. When you have nothing worthwhile to say about your product it is a good idea to make a song and dance about it or take the emotional route. It works if done well, but is not a replacement for some compelling on air sales pitch. Also, keep the jingles simple and easy to remember.

#7 Sound effects. Smart sound effects (and not music) can make a positive difference to the selling power of your ad. Let them hear your product in action, and not just see it.

#8 Voice over or on camera. Research shows that actors talking on camera is more effective that voice over. People tend to ignore voice over, because they are too busy watching.

#9 Supers. If possible use super in your ads, i.e. set your promise in type and show in video and let the soundtrack speak out the words.

#10 Avoid visual banality. Show your audience something she has never seen before. If she has already seen it in real life she will be much less inclined to waste her time watching it on TV.

#11 Change of scene. Plethora of short scenes in an ad works below average as far as changing brand preference is concerned.

#12 Mnemonics. Use visual mnemonics in your commercials wherever possible. It enhances brand identification.

#13 Show the product in use. If you have a great product, never forget to show it in use and what the end result looks like.

#14 Everything is possible on TV. More true today than ever before. Technology has enabled the production of any kind of video with any concept. With video, you are limited only by your imagination.

#15 Miscomprehension. If you want people to understand your commercial and not misunderstand, you had better make it crystal clear. Being smart and creative is good, but not at the cost of clarity.

#16 The Great Scandal. Here is how Ogilvy describes the scandal,

“The extreme extravagance in producing commercials is largely the fault of the agencies.

“Copywriters specify that a commercial be shot in Bali when it could equally well be shot in studio for half the price, they insert expensive animation into live-action commercials. They insist that original music be composed for background purposes, as if there were nothing suitable in the whole repertoire of existing music, worst of all they use expensive celebrities when an unknown actor could sell more of the product.

“I have no research to prove it, but I suspect that there is a negative correlation between the money spend on producing commercial and their power to sell products. My partner Al Eicoff was asked by a client to remake a $15,000 commercial for $1,00,000. Sales went down.”

The billboard has been the most traditional form of outdoor advertising. Brands have been very creative in coming up with eye catching bill boards, most of which do not really catch the eye of the passengers travelling in automobiles. Even if it does, not many viewers view it long enough to get the full message.

McDonald’s recently came up with a new idea by re-inventing the billboard. They put up a blank billboard, which was all white by day. Passers by during daytime saw nothing but a huge white canvas staring at them. While as night approached, the billboard went completely invisible but for Messages written on reflective tape which read “Open all Night”.

[Source: Foodbeast.com]

There are many terms that we encounter, mostly in ads, and other forms of marketing communication from brands. One such term is “World-Class”

We have seen this coming from many brands, “we offer world class services, we are developing a world-class manufacturing facility, we have world-class customer service teams, world-class logistics” and the list keeps going on and on and on!

What is the true meaning of the term world-class then? To be brutally frank, it once used to denote things which ranked among the foremost in the world, the creme de la creme. But over the years, the term has been over used and abused, and has reached its current meaning, it means nothing.

The word now does not signify anything and connect with the global mindset of the consumer. What consumers now expect, even from the biggest multinational brands, is an adapted product, and service delivery model. When have you seen brands say they have an Indian-class, or a Chinese-class product? Even if they do, they would call it world-class.

Educational institutions, hotels resorts, and spas, all advertise about being world-class, but are they? really? The true definition of the word world-class is “being of the highest caliber in the world” according to Merriam Webster dictionary. But does the term , so widely used in advertising, a claim of almost every other brand that we encounter, hold any value to the consumer?

Wanted

And so the hunt begins.

For the fans of the Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga, the final installment of this trilogy, is the most anticipated movie of the year. Any tidbit about the movie is lapped up, broken down and brutally analyzed by raving fans across the globe. To cater to their core fan base, Warner Bros. released a new viral campaign this Monday.

Arrest Warrant

An arrest warrant was issued for the masked vigilante known as the Batman. In the last movie Batman took the fall for Gotham’s district attorney Harvey Dent’s crimes. Now Gotham’s police department wants your help in apprehending the caped crusader and bring him to justice. How do we do that? By tracking down graffiti related to the Batman across the globe. The list of locations was provided in the website. For every piece of graffiti evidence found, it had to be geo tagged and shared in twitter or emailed. Every piece unlocks a single frame of the new trailer.

So was the campaign a success?

The fans unlocked the new trailer within hours. It was a brilliant strategy to engage the fans in an innovative way. They all went in a frenzy trying to find the clues, tweets were flying across the internet and #darkknightrises was trending in a matter of hours. The timing of the campaign was also perfect as all the media attention was focused on the release of The Avengers, but the campaign ensured that no love is lost for The Dark Knight Rises as well. The new trailer had garnered almost 9 million views in a matter of 4 days. It is safe to say that the campaign was a roaring success.

Check out the new trailer

A guest post by Jessica Francisco of lukeroxas.com

One of the primary uses of social media in Businesses is branding and marketing. Entrepreneurs use this venue because this is where their customers hangout, play and socialize. It is the power of the internet that draws people like customers to it.

This article will tackle how you can measure the success of your social media marketing efforts and its effectiveness.

There are several ways to measure social media marketing success in business:

1. How many are you Reaching?

One way to measure is to know how far you are reaching, and of course the farther you can cover, the better it is. On Facebook, there is a metric called, Facebook Insights, and this measures the effectiveness of one’s Facebook Fan Page. Specific functions of the Facebook Insights is it can show you the age group of your fans, the countries you reach, the cities that gives you the more likes, and the count of fans per gender and a lot more valuable info that can give you a conclusion about your reach in the social media. These data that you can get could help you in your Business Analysis. For example, Facebook Insights says that your primary “likers” are female at the age group of 15-25. This information tells you that your brand is more appealing to the young females. Through this you can focus on creating new products for this target market.

Twitter also has this function called TweetReach, and as the name implies, it indicates how far your tweets can reach. It can even detect how much influence your retweets generated for your business and measures how much exposure each of your posts made. Followers that retweet a business’s tweets are valuable, and those followers can be identified and thus contacted, as they can help to exponentially expose the business.

2. How engaging are you?

Another means of measuring success is your engagement. Are your followers or fans inquiring about your products or services? Are there feedbacks about them? How many comments are there on your blogs? Does your posts generate likes? How about the amount of Hashtags on Twitter? These questions can help you measure the success of your social media engagement

Engagement helps you connect with your market niche. It is important because through it you build relationships with your customers and through these relationships are possible leads and sales.

3. How influential are you?

Another one is influence. What is the level of influence you posses? Influence can be associated with power, and that power dictates the number of mentions you are receiving from your target audience, and how many are talking about your posts, comments, discussions, how many retweets you have, and the like. When people respond to your requests for them to join your Facebook page, or follow you on Twitter or on Google Plus, then yes, you are indeed influential!

Influence is important in business because through it you have the power to dictate your market niche. If you’re that influential, you can broadcast something you want to happen in your business and your followers, fans, or supporters will automatically help you make it happen.

4. Are you converting?

One more means of measuring success is conversion. Marketing’s goal per se is to advise your customers that your brand or product does exists. Marketing is bridging your products to your customers and conversion is converting leads or prospects to sales. How much are your expenditures for doing marketing and how much increase in sales are you getting in return? Measure that conversion for a relevant info on marketing success.

To sum it all up, all efforts that can’t be measured is considered failure. Measure all efforts to know if you need to re-strategize or adjust accordingly to attain business success.

We cover brands. But today, I think we must digress a bit and discuss usage of brands. Strictly from a consumer, to a consumer.

Linkedin had already gained enough popularity by the time facebook launched. We were in awe of finally being able to use technology to connect and network professionally. This was a very powerful tool and with this realization began the golden age for Linkedin.

The fact that Facebook is now an integral part of our lives is undisputed. Grudgingly or willingly we all have accepted it. Recently Google Sergey Brin warned that Web freedom faces the “greatest threat ever” in the form of Government controls and the rise of Facebook like “walled gardens.”

But have you ever wondered how big this walled garden has become? Or how would we all be affected, if there is no Facebook? The info-graphic below will give you some idea.

A guest post by our reader, Kapil Khemani

We have been going back in history and seeing some of the old ads the Indian consumers have seen over the period of the past few decades. One of the most unmissable ads of the past have come from the house of the Tatas, through Titan, their brand of watches, which have also been part of the household of many an Indian.

Titan Quartz hit the market by storm from its very inception in 1987.One of the sole reason was that it had the legacy of Tata’s with it. Titan one of India’s most admired brands changed the perception of Indians towards watches. Now watches were not only mere time keeping devices but they also became an important fashion accessory. Titan makes watches for a variety of target groups. The following are selected classic TVC’s that were aired in 1990’s.During this era Titan launched an successful marketing campaign that showed Titan watches as expression of joy, love and affection. ‘Rediscover the Joy of giving’ was its baseline. The enduring music track in commercials is Mozart’s 25th symphony.

Love makes the whole world go round, and people do crazy things when in love. Nike decided to tell a story of love in their recent commercial. See how strong running unites a couple in love.

Though the ad is a little long and a tad too obvious half way through, it is a funny and unique way to advertise for shoes, taking love as the basic premise. Since all is fair in love, and since all people in love are ready to do crazy things, this ad, though a stretched exaggeration, drives home the point in a simple message: Nike shoes are light, durable, and cause less fatigue to the wearer.

Product: Samsung Galaxy Note
Creative Agency: The Viral Factory

I wonder what must have gone through the creative team’s head, when they first set their eyes on this monstrous freak of a phone. What would have been the discussion like inside the board room, the brainstorming sessions, ideas after ideas thrown at the dustbin, slowly realizing the futility of it all. How do we sell a phone this big? Who would buy a phone this big? I can throw all the technical specs at you to make you realize how big a phone this really is, in performance, in screen size, etc. But a picture is worth a thousand words.

iphone 4S vs Galaxy Note

But Samsung had done its market research well, they knew who were their target customers and their product positioning was spot on- “A hybrid device for people who don’t want a stand alone tablet”. They knew there was a market for such a device and they believed that the product would sell. Now all they needed was a good marketing campaign, that would highlight its most obvious flaw as its biggest strength. They gave this unenviable task to The Viral Factory and the result was a gigantic success. Behold the mighty elephant and the mighty phone !

So now you have been awestruck and awesomed,now let me tell you why:

• First rule for going viral “Give people something to talk about” and an elephant using a phone is something that everyone would talk about. From your grandma to your coworker, you would love to share this video with anyone and everyone. The Peter the elephant ad has almost 2.5 million views in hardly a months time on YouTube and has been shared over 4000 times. That speaks volume about its virality.
• In the simplicity of the ad lies its true genius. The biggest challenge any tech company faces is to portray their products as an easy to use device. The more features you throw at them, more the perception grows in the customers mind that it is a complex product. By showing an elephant using the phone, the message is loud and clear “If an elephant can use it, so can you”
• The obvious question that would pop in our cynical mind after watching this video, is that it could be some digital trickery. But they quell the doubts by showing additional background footage of the elephant playing with the phone. This is what the You-tube page says: “Peter the elephant plays with a Samsung Galaxy Note. This is all real, no film trickery, post-production or hidden cuts — he’s just a very clever elephant”.  You can watch the additional videos here and here. This helps in building trust towards the brand.
• The “Awww” Quotient: The elephant is totally endearing and adorable, and its emotional appeal is across all customer segments. Now we all want a pet elephant don’t we?

So a big phone uses a big elephant to sell itself. How big a success do you think it became?

5 million devices sold in 5 months. Now that is big !

We all know the story of Charlie Sheen, and his extravagant and drug ridden lifestyle when he made headlines last year for being sacked from his role in Two and a Half Men. Charlie Sheen is back, in this recent commercial for Dutch beverage brand, Bavaria for its 0% beer.

A guest post by Sarah Rexman of Bedbugs.org.

Businesses are focusing more of their marketing efforts online. More customers are conducting a majority of their business online, as well as interacting with friends, family, co-workers, and businesses online. Finding ways to establish your brand online and to attract customers to your Web site are critical to your marketing success.

Blogging has become a critical tool in an online marketing plan. Blogging is not just for teenagers and exhibitionists — many companies use blogs to promote their brand and to engage with their customers.
All types of businesses — no matter what types of products or services they offer — can benefit from including blogging in their marketing strategy.

Here is how blogging can be used to successfully enhance your businesses’ marketing efforts:

It Gives You the Opportunity to Define Your Brand

Blogging is like having a conversation with your readers. You can use that conversation to tell them more about your brand: what your values are, what defines your products or services, and what your vision is for your future.
Rather than simply offering post after post about how great your product or service is, blogging should offer valuable content to your readers, while at the same time reflecting your company’s core values, thus defining your brand.

It Allows You to Establish Yourself as an Authority

Blogging is focused on sharing valuable content with your readers. Doing so allows you to establish yourself as an authority on a subject, strengthening the quality of your brand.
Each post should be thorough, well-written and researched, and should offer something of value to your customers, such as offering tips or solutions to a problem. The more consistently you do this, the more credibility you build as an expert on your chosen subject, thereby enhancing your reputation for offering a quality product or service.

It Helps Your Site Rank Better in Search Results

If you have done the appropriate keyword research, blogging can help your site rank higher in search results by giving you more opportunities for effective keyword usage. There is no magic formula for how often to use keywords for maximum effectiveness, but a general rule of thumb is to use your keyword or keyword phrase in the title of your blog post, the first 100 words of your post, and every 100 words thereafter.

Blogging gives you the opportunity to repeatedly use primary keywords on your site, and to target a few others. Then, the next time your customers search for keywords related to your product or service, they are more likely to see your site as one of the first in the list of results from Google.

It Gives You the Opportunity to Create Community

Readers need to feel connected to your brand to build loyalty and repeat business. Blogging gives you the opportunity to build these connections with your readers by allowing them to engage with you in more meaningful ways. Readers can contribute to interesting discussions, offer you real-time feedback about your product or service, or even establish a personal rapport with you.
The goal of your blogging should be to find more opportunities for customers to engage with you. Pose thoughtful discussion questions. Ask for reader feedback. Encourage readers to share their experiences with each other. The more involved readers are on your blog, the more likely they will be to come back again and again and to do business with your company.
Offering your readers valuable content — such as tutorials, practical advice, and other solutions to problems — also encourages them to come back to your blog more frequently, giving them more opportunities to learn about your brand and to build a relationship with your company.
Many companies may overlook the value of a blog because they feel that their product or service does not lend itself to the medium. However, every business — whether a cheese manufacturer or a clothing retailer — can benefit from blogging. It gives businesses many opportunities to define their brand, encourage customer engagement, and increase their visibility.

How many times has the word “digital” cropped up in our conversation in the past one week? Being one of the cheapest medium with a far higher reach than traditional tools, this is the most obvious route we choose.

So in the middle of all this clutter, a New York based retailer decides to go traditional. Enter Bergdorf Goodman. They have chosen the direct mail route in marketing an extremely lavish beauty event. With a line that says “more you spend, the more you save.”

Are we entering into a space where the traditional routes of marketing become unconventional and path-breaking? Do you think that in this rush to conquer the digital space, we have lost our traditional touch and feel communication? Some argue that most of the direct mail efforts end up in the dust bin, I say, are you ignoring the spam and delete buttons?

Digital way of thinking

Personally I feel that there’s no such thing as “a digital way of thinking.” The moment you let the medium dictate terms, your campaign is sure to go haywire. Why not do it the traditional way? Once the campaign design is set, tailor-make your message for all channels instead of force-fitting it.

For instance if you are marketing a product that belongs to the touch and feel industry like beauty / luxury handbags, all your communication must target bringing the desired audience to the physical store which should be the final experience touchpoint. At least 50% of the effort must go into the retail design aiming to craft the perfect indulgence atmosphere. Instead, a lot of brands today are moving around without a definitive aim in the digital world.

While the concept of integrated campaign is talked about a lot, the question is are we really integrating all the communication touchpoints in line to speak the same language? Is our brand tonality in synergy across all medium? Or are we merely attempting all channels? Do tell.

Angry Birds, the popular game’s foray into space, is probably not new to you. And if you are a die hard Angry Birds fan, even these viral videos by Rovio may also not be new to you.

But what you may not be aware of is that Rovio, the makers of the game, had released 12 videos as part of their campaign promoting the space version of the game and these videos in all have garnered 45.6 million views till now and is earning 500,000 views per day.

So what’s so amazing about these videos that they are pulling in so much traffic?

First and foremost, these videos ride on the game itself and it’s huge fan following. Anybody who is even remotely interested in gaming would probably have heard of Angry Birds, the game and in all probability would have played it.

But that’s not all. Two videos in particular are generating the major chunk of views. One of these videos includes an actual demonstration of the game by a NASA scientist in an actual spaceship! The other (the most popular one) video explains how the characters found their way into space. Needless to say, it will have you in splits.

Have a look at the videos and decide for yourself.

This infographic from KISSmetrics talks about the relevance of colour, and aesthetic appeal in influencing purchase decisions. Be it the traditional brick and mortar store or the modern online store, colour and design is a key factor.

It can also be seen that 42% of the shoppers base their decisions on the design of the store alone. It also points at key factors which retailers can look at, to increase their conversions, be it online or in a brick and mortar store. Design, and colour when intelligently used along with buzz words, may work wonders for conversions. Online retailers may want to re-think what they call their call to action, simple and good ringing words, along with a enabling colour, which goes well with the overall design, will ensure more converts, or purchases.