The ultimate goal of any company is to sell, and the ultimate motive of the chief marketing officer of a company is to make people buy his products and services. So, be it a concept or a nail colour or an iconic car?every marketing chief is looking for that one breathtaking marketing strategy that will sweep the customer off her feet. And well, ultimately impress her enough to pick up the product.

The year 2010 was no different. With the recession being a thing of the past the market saw the launch of some iconic products, especially in the automobile sector, and some ?not-so-iconic? in the mobile phone handset sector. With growing consumerism and purchasing power of the middle class and a wide base of young consumers to induce, India has become a haven for marketers nationally and globally.

And the plethora of product launches and marketing innovations proved just that. The question is who got it right? Let?s take a stock of all the product and marketing initiatives that caught the customer?s attention. The sales figures? Hopefully, that too went sky-rocketing!

* The sweet spot

The year began on a sweet note for Kraft Foods, the makers of some of the biggest health and wellness brands like Oreo, Jacobs, Milka, Oscar Mayer, Maxwell House and others. The American multinational acquired the 186-year-old British company Cadbury for an estimated $19 billion. For Kraft, the deal offers a chance to expand its footprint in emerging markets and in higher-growth sectors like gum and candy. Within 5 months from the acquisition the India, the top management of the company was revamped flagging off the integration process of the two companies. But most interestingly Cadbury has retained its original logo and nomenclature. It will be interesting to see if going forward Kraft Foods changes the packaging and make some of the Cadbury brands visually different.

* Co-create

Marketing chiefs in India are considering the concept of user generated content (UGC) rather seriously. It seems they are now thinking ?why let them morph our ads on UGC websites? Rather let them co-create the ads with us.? The idea also ensures a direct interaction of the brand with its consumers and obtain unique insights. Telecom operator Vodafone Essar this year unveiled a Zoozoo story contest. Both Facebook and Vodafone India website hosted the contest for Zoozoo story under the headings ?Do It Here? or ?Do it on Facebook?. Again, Tata DoCoMo initiated a new social marketing campaign. The company launched an animation contest for Indian consumers. The participants had to use the ?D,O,C,O,M,O? characters and retain the theme music in their concept. And it came with a hefty prize money of Rs 1 lakh. However, the concept of co-creation was not restricted to just advertisements. Some companies took it a step forward. PepsiCo?s snack foods division FritoLay India launched a contest to create a new Lays flavour. Following this, the company shortlisted three flavours including Sagar?s Mastana Mango, Mansi?s Cheesy Mexicana and Shouvik?s Hip Hop Honey and Chilli. A total of 41, 64,886 votes were cast by consumers who had tried out the various flavours following which Sagar?s Mastana Mango emerged as the winner. Lay?s rewarded Sagar with a whopping Rs 50 lakh! And one percent of the revenue generated by the sale of this flavour.

* Car-nama

It was the automobile sector of India that saw some high-profile launches and some of the coolest marketing initiatives. Volkswagen drove into India with its iconic car brand Beetle. And Mudra the advertising agency etched out a different innovation with the launch of each Volkswagen car in India. In February, it launched a ?Hole-in-the-paper? campaign for Volkswagen Polo in The Times of India. Next, to mark the entry of Vento, a light-sensitive chip was attached to newspapers to announce the arrival of the car. Then, around 25 lakh readers of The Hindu and The Times of India across five cities were surprised one September morning when their newspaper spoke to them. The agency had attached an small device with a voice recorded and so every time one unfolded the page the voice spoke.

Elsewhere, Harley Davidson formally entered the India market with the launch of five motorcycle brands including the Night Rod Special, Fat Boy, customized Legend Harley and 883cc Roadster.

Japanese automobile company Nissan launched its Mini car Micra in India.In the Rs 4-5 lakh category, the car had Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor as its brand ambassador. On one hand while SUV maker Mahindra & Mahindra entered the bike market with two brands Stallio and Mojo, the company also acquired electric car brand Reva. BMW will soon roll out its cheapest car in India X1 and so far the biggest success story has been Toyota Etios. In the first week itself the company registered bookings for 8000 Etios.

* Bottled Up

With Indian consumers becoming more health conscious, PepsiCo India launched its global sugar-free cola brand, Pepsi Max, in India. The existing low-calorie drink, Diet Pepsi, is targeted more towards to the youth. Pepsi has not yet finalised its strategy on whether it will discontinue Diet Pepsi. However, PepsiCo?s arch rival Coca-Cola India is traveling a different path this year. Considering the Indian consumer?s affinity with tea, the company has entered the ready-to-drink iced tea market with a new brand called ?Nestea?, via a joint venture with Nestle India. The product has been launched in India and will be rolled out to different parts of India in phases.

* A Shoe Story

The salt to steel conglomerate Tata Group entered a rather amusing sector this year. The international trading arm of Tata Group, whose main line of business is engineering, ventured into the footwear sector with the opening of its Tashi retail brand. The first store was opened in Mumbai well supported by an outdoor teaser campaign.

* Shining Star

India?s numero uno Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Star Plus which ruled the GEC roster for 10 years unveiled a new logo and a fresh branding exercise. The blue corporate logo which has been the channel?s symbol for a decade gave way to a more glamorous ruby red star sign with a new mantra ?Rishta Wahi, Soch Nayi? (Old relationship, new thinking).

It is estimated that Star has spent nearly Rs 20 crore for this new logo which has been designed by London-based company Venture 3 and for a new advertising campaign ideated by Ogilvy & Mather. The new logo on the back of a slew of new programmes also saw the channel wrest back the number one position.

Again, this year saw the launch of Big CBS Prime, a premium English general entertainment channel, via a joint venture between Reliance Broadcast Network and CBS Studios.

* New Platforms

The Board of Control for Cricket in India?s (BCCI) multi million dollar Twenty20 cricket property Indian Premier League brought a new spin to its marketing initiative. It achieved what even the Superbowls of the world could not. IPL tied up with Google?s user generated content website YouTube for live streaming of matches. And it opened a new marketing platform for advertisers to reach to consumers around the world. Google secured eight high profile advertisers this year including IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore, HSBC, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Airtel, HP and others. The company also managed to rope in advertisers from international markets including UK, certain South East Asian markets and Australia as the advertisements in YouTube could be tailor-made for different markets.

* Godrej?s ?Second Life?

Home-grown fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major Godrej Group launched an Indian version of popular online game ?Second Life? called ?Go Jiyo?. GoJiyo.com marked the coming together of online gaming, virtual reality and social networking. It will be a platform for the Godrej brand and its portfolio to engage with Indian youth.

* Changes in the Air

Aviation companies including IndiGo and JetLite changed the uniforms of their crew as part of their marketing initiatives with both the airlines going international. However, while JetLite?s new uniform is more of a fusion Indian look, IndiGo?s uniform has gone hot and chic.

* Mobile Buzz

This industry roundup cannot be complete without mention of the telecom sector which saw a lot of action this year. From the entry of new telecom operators to the rise of a slew of small-time handset manufacturers to the makeover of the bigger players, it had all. The Videocon Group became the 13th mobile operator in India. Within the first 100 days, it rolled out services in 100 cities. It is now aiming to reach out across India by February 2011.

The country?s largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel, which has now 200-million subscribers of which over 150 million are Indian subscribers, unveiled a new brand logo aimed at synergising all its global operations. Besides the logo, the company has also changed the signature Airtel tune with a new one by music composer A R Rehman.

Early this year, research firm Gartner predicted that sales of mobile handsets in India would go up by 18.5% in 2010, which came true with the mushrooming of innumerable mobile handset manufacturers in the country. Led by Micromax, many new players including Lava, Karbonn, I Ball, Five, GEE PEE, Alcatel, INQ are creating a splash in the market.