Tag Archives: mlm video

Direct-selling companies go beyond word of mouth

By Kangen Water on November 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

Hemmed in by slowing sales on the one hand and the rapid rise of online sales on the other, direct-selling companies in India, which together account for 35.8 per cent of non-store retail sales and 0.07 per cent of gross domestic product, are again relying on the charisma of star endorsers and the power of mass media advertising.

While Herbalife, a US-based direct-selling company that entered India in the 90s, has roped in Arjuna award winning cricketer Virat Kohli, direct selling brands such as Eureka Forbes, Tupperware and Amway have upped the ante by increasing spends on print, television and digital advertising.

Ajay Khanna, country head, Herbalife India, says: “At Herbalife, we do realise the importance of communicating to the consumers about the brand, which stands for nutrition. Our communication platform is predominantly print-focused. Our campaign stresses on nutrition, which is what the brand signifies. Our print campaign features our brand ambassadors such as Virat Kohli, Saina Nehwal, Dipika Pallikal and Mary Kom, who carry our brand vision forward.”

While Amway has no ‘Indian’ brand ambassador so to speak, the company has announced a partnership with Australian screen actress Teresa Palmer for its skincare and colour cosmetics range. The company, whose ad budget is pegged at Rs 15 crore, is also investing in brand assessment-cum-experience centres for basic health and beauty assessments for customers.

courtesy : MLM Bhaskar

This year, Amway launched new advertising campaigns for Attitude, its affordable skincare and cosmetics range. This is not the first time the company has launched a television-based campaign. In 2000, it had launched its first television campaign to establish the Amway brand name in the Indian market. Now, its ads are largely product-specific.

Some direct-selling companies are giving traditional one-to-one communication a more professional face. Traditionally, 40 per cent of the cost of bringing a product or service to a consumer is marketing-related. Till a few years ago, this expenditure was perceived as a waste by direct-selling companies, which sold their products on three pillars—word of mouth, face-to-face interactions (road shows, sampling and events) and experience centres or small retail outlets.

Direct communication was favoured, as it was cost-effective and, to an extent, measurable. With increasing competition from brick-and-mortar stores and the mushrooming e-commerce portals, leading direct-selling brands have had to rework marketing strategies.

There are other issues. Unlike Singapore, Malaysia, the US, and the UK, there is no regulatory framework for the direct-selling industry in India. Besides, there are issues concerning quality or mis-selling. “The industry suffers from some perception issues,” says a brand consultant based in Bangalore. “So, it is incumbent on more professional players to establish their credentials and remove any niggling doubts in the minds of consumers.”

Eureka Forbes, the manufacturer of Aquaguard RO, as well as a range of household products, claims the company is investing heavily on building online relationships with customers. Shashank Sinha, general manager and head of marketing (direct-selling), Eureka Forbes, says, “We have achieved this by spending 20 per cent of our media budget on digital.”

This trend, however, does not take away from the significance of word of mouth as a communications tool. Daniel R Pranjal, chief strategist at Strategy India, which works with many direct-selling companies, feels above-the-line media can, at best, be a reminder medium because direct-selling primarily relies on word of mouth, which continues to be a powerful medium. He adds a direct-selling company has no need to deal with the challenges traditional retail faces such as confusion over which media to choose for advertising, air time cost/space cost, credits, actors posing as users of the products, etc. Since it comes from product users, word of mouth is usually authentic.

Posted in: Industry, MLM News, Sudesh Malik | Tagged: Direct selling, Herbalife, india, mlm, MLM कारोबार, mlm मार्केटिंग हिंदी में, mlm news, mlm video, mlmindia, Multi-level marketing, Pyramid scheme, Virat Kohli

Why MLM Companies shut down?

By Kangen Water on August 8, 2013 | 2 Comments

Many MLM professionals all over the world are convinced that video storytelling is an increasingly crucial part of the content marketing mix.
Most MLM companies and leaders have realized that having a video in their marketing tools increases their sales by over 280% and help them in duplication as well as improve the brand image of the company.

All research organizations have and continue to compile volumes of data that indicates video consumption IS exploding and that visual content marketing drives purchases, recall, engagement and overall marketing ROI, this phenomenon is specially needed in MLM industry as most networkers (esp. new) have a challenge with explaining Products and Plan to their prospects resulting in they refrain from giving presentations and rely completely on MLM company or their leaders to do the same. This can be easily avoided by creating a plan and product videos.

Road to Shut down

it is said that 95% of Indian MLM companies shut down within 3 to 5 months of their inception and less than 1% survive the first year. this is because MLM companies are most easy to start and equally difficult to run. Most company owners think that once they have made the software they are ready for the business and with this thought process they come in the 99% category as they would definitely loose money and credibility in the market place. What all these promoters forget is that like any other company even the success of MLM company depends on their marketing strategy and for a effective marketing strategy you need good marketing tools. Almost no company come with any marketing tools and funding.

Shot cut to death:

Most company owners marketing strategy is that they have worked for few years in some company and are in touch with few leaders who would make theirs company successful, but this seldom happen. If you see any international company they are launched with minimum 6 to 7 videos, videos of plan, products, vision, testimonials etc. these videos are great marketing tools which help them expand their base all over the world. For example there have been many International companies launched in India with no leaders and office in India, the Indian leader saw their details on net and saw an impressive video and started promoting that company, some of them had really become very big, this was only due to good and impressive videos they had.

The solution

All serious company owners should be clear that by making a software and by completing the documentations you only start an MLM company to run it you got to have a definite marketing strategy with good marketing tools and funds to run the company for at least a year even if there was no income but you have to keep spending.

The Must Have

Company videos – Plan Video, Product Video ( can also have directors vision and testimonial video and a montage video) besides giving information these videos also help you in branding and image building hence should be very attractive videos.

Funding : Even if there are little sales the company should not stop the seminars and should conduct them on regular basis. The company should have a group of core leaders who should travel and promote the company full-time. The company office should be fully operational for at least a year and all networkers should get their commission on time and theirs issues solves immediately. The company should have the funding to indulge in these activities for at least a year.