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Pester Power

2009-03-24T08:22:00.001-07:00

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Pester Power

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Experiential Marketing For Beginners

2009-03-17T03:36:00.001-07:00

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Experiential Marketing For Beginners

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Redefining Marketing during an economic slowdown

2009-03-03T04:19:00.000-08:00

दुरिंग Economic Slowdown, consumers become value oriented, retailers are concerned about cash, and employees worry about their jobs. But a slowdown is no time to stop spending on marketing. In my opinion it's important to understand how the needs of your customers and partners change, and adapt your strategies to the new reality. Key concepts include:

Brands that increase consumer interface through consumer activation and advertising during a downturn can improve market share and return on investment.
Little extra trade margins, reviewing financial terms may be extended financing and generous return policies motivate retailers to stock our full product line.
In tough times, price cuts attract more consumer support than promotions.
Business and Marketing along with Sales Heads must spend more time with customers and employees.

The signs of an imminent economic slowdown in our country are all around us. Companies should bear eight factors in mind when making their marketing plans for 2009 and 2010:

Research the customer. Instead of cutting the market research budget, you need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the slowdown. Price elasticity curves are changing. Consumers take more time searching for durable goods and negotiate harder at the point of sale. They are more willing to postpone purchases, or buy less. Must-have features of yesterday are today's can-live-withouts. Trusted brands are especially valued and they can still launch new products successfully, but interest in new brands and new categories fades. Conspicuous consumption becomes less prevalent.

Focus on business family values. When economic hard times loom, we tend to retreat to our village. Look for cozy hearth-and-home family scenes in advertising to replace images of extreme sports, adventure, and rugged individualism. Zany humor and appeals on the basis of fear are out. Greeting card sales, telephone use, and discretionary spending on home furnishings and home entertainment will hold up well, as uncertainty prompts us to stay at home but also stay connected with family and friends. An opportune time to drop your weaker distributors and upgrade the sales force.

No short cuts in marketing spending. This is not the time to cut advertising. It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during an economic slowdown, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic good times. Uncertain consumers need the reassurance of known brands, and more consumers at home watching television can deliver higher than expected audiences at lower cost-per-thousand impressions. Brands with deep pockets may be able to negotiate favorable advertising rates and lock them in for several years. If you have to cut marketing spending, try to maintain the frequency of advertisements by shifting from 30-second to 15-second advertisements, substituting radio for television advertising, or increasing the use of experiential marketing, which gives more immediate sales impact.

Review/discontinue product portfolios. Marketers must reforecast demand for each item in their product lines as consumer’s choices of models that stress good value, such as cars with fewer options. Tough times favor multi-purpose goods over specialized products, and weaker items in product lines should move completely out of production line. In grocery-products categories, good-quality private labels and regional brands gain at the expense of national brands. Stay away from gimmicks; reliability, durability, safety, and performance are in. New products, especially those that address the new consumer reality and thereby put pressure on competitors, should still be introduced, but advertising should stress superior price performance.

Extend Support to retailers. In uncertain times, no one wants to tie up working capital in excess inventories. Trade discounts, extended financing, and generous return policies motivate retailers to stock our full product line. This is particularly true with unproven new products. Be careful about expanding distribution to lower-priced channels; doing so can jeopardize existing relationships and your brand image. However, now may be the time to drop your weaker distributors and upgrade your sales force by recruiting those sacked by other companies.

Continuously review pricing tactics. Customers will be shopping around for the best deals. You do not necessarily have to cut MRPs, but you may need to explore offering more temporary price promotions, reduce thresholds for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing customers, and price smaller pack sizes more aggressively. In tough times, price cuts attract more consumer support than promotions such as sweepstakes and one on one offer.

Focus on market share. In all but a few technology categories where growth prospects are strong, companies are in a battle for market share and, in some cases, survival. Knowing your cost structure can ensure that any cuts or consolidation initiatives will save the most money with minimum customer impact. Companies with strong positions and the most productive cost structures in their categories can expect to gain market share. Other companies with healthy balance sheets can do so by acquiring weak competitors.

Reinforce core values. Although most companies are making employees redundant, chief executives can cement the loyalty of those who remain by assuring employees that the company has survived difficult times before, maintaining quality rather than cutting corners, and servicing existing customers rather than trying to be all things to all people. CEOs must spend more time with customers and employees. Economic slowdown can elevate the importance of the finance director's balance sheet over the marketing manager's income statement. Managing working capital can easily dominate managing customer relationships. CEOs must counter this. Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a slowdown; they adapt them.

Cartoon Courtesey - www.cartoonstock.com

Interim budget

2009-02-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

थे interim budget presented for FY10 in which the government left the tax rates unchanged and added to this Government also announced cut in both excise duty and service tax by 2% pts in a bid to stimulate domestic demand. Though the immediate impact on some of the key sectors is likely to be minimal but Government may incur estimated revenue loss of Rs. 300 bn for FY10.

Real Estate

The impact of the cut in service tax on rentals paid by tenants in commercial properties is insignificant in our view. The extent of the cut will not materially improve affordability of commercial property. Service tax is a pass-through item for real estate developers; hence the cut will not benefit them.

IT Services

The ambiguity over computation of export profits at SEZ has been clarified. Till date, only the proportionate profits (SEZ revenues/overall revenues) of the SEZ entity were tax free. It has been now clarified that 100% of SEZ profits are tax free. This would not have any major implications for Indian IT services sector. With a flat revenue growth over the next year, contribution from SEZs is very low at Indian IT services vendors. If the STPI tax benefits are not extended further, sector leaders run the risk of sharply rising tax rates from the current 15% to higher level in 2011.

Auto

As per the current duty structure only commercial vehicles (excluding buses) and three-wheelers fall in the 10% excise bracket (Small cars suffer 8% duty and bigger cars 20%; Tractors suffer no excise duty) and would thus benefit from the 2%pt reduction in excise duty. We expect most of the 2% cut to be passed along.

Cement

Excise duty on bulk cement is reduced from 10% or Rs 290 whichever is higher to 8% or Rs 230 whichever is higher. Bulk cement forms 10% of the total dispatches of the industry. The benefit to consumers from duty reduction of 2%, on average cement price of Rs 200 per bag works out to Rs 4 per bag. We believe that companies are unlikely to pass the benefit entirely with strong seasonal demand.

Consumer

Excise duty on certain consumer goods items such as soaps and detergents has been reduced from 10% to 8%.Companies with majority of production outside excise free zones would benefit. The benefit is likely to be passed on to consumers in the form of price cuts to spur demand in categories like soaps and detergents which have witnessed stagnating volumes.

Telecom

Telecom companies will enjoy a double benefit – not only will service tax reduction increase affordability (though in addition to price cuts that are already happening through competitive pressure), but also, their cost of procurement of equipment will fall through a reduction in excise duty / CVD(particularly passive infrastructure as also some elements of active infrastructure) while services will become cheaper, especially important as telecom companies are continually increasing outsourcing. Total reduction in cost may be more than 2.2%m, though we suspect only the consumer pricing end of it (since not all elements of ARPU will fall, etc. termination charges will not fall, only subscriber revenues will fall, hence the cost reduction will be ~1.6%) will be passed on. The remaining 0.6% will likely be kept by the telcos, marginally improving profitability.

The 1.13Kg kidney stone the size of a coconut

2009-01-30T02:02:00.000-08:00

The 1.13Kg kidney stone the size of a coconut The largest kidney stones most doctors ever get to see is the size of a golf ball.

So surgeons in Hungary were taken aback when they removed a stone the size of a coconut from a man earlier today. Sandor Sarkadi underwent an abdominal operation in Debrecen, 150 miles east of Budapest, after doctors discovered he had a kidney stone inside him that was 17 centimetres in diameter.

Mr. Sardaki was rushed into an operation theatre in the Kenez Gyula Hospital when an X-ray revealed he was carrying around the gigantic lump. The delicate procedure to remove the stone, which weighed a staggering 2.48lbs, passed without incident. Kidney stones vary in size. They can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball, which makes Mr Sarkadi's stone all the more remarkable.

Fragile India in the hands of Ramalinga Raju and Danny Boyle

2009-01-24T17:51:00.000-08:00

The year started with Ramalinga Raju tainting the image of the country by siphoning funds close Rs.7000 Crore from his listed Public Company called Satyam Services. This episode left the whole world dumbfound and the week Indian Corporate Governance was under scanner. The investigation is still on and the culprits are yet to be bought to book to present the strong ethos of the Indian system.

Within less than 16 days a British Director Danny Boyle portrays the dark side of India and wins accolades by winning four Golden Globe and getting 10 nominations for Oscar. Our TV News Channels are abuzz with repeat programs showing the celebrations.

The only saving grace is our Music Maestro ARR winning the Golden Globe for Original Background Score, three Oscar nominations and Resul Pokutty - Sound Engineer getting nominated along with Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke.

Why am I so ruffled?

A street Kid of Mumbai being nick named as Slumdog.
Portraying the Hero worship of Indian Matinee Idols by Indain masses that the protagonist during childhood jumps into a shit whole to get a glimpse and autograph of Superstar of the Millennium – Amitabh Bachchan.
Hindu – Muslim riots.
Children being kidnapped by Mafia and blinded for undertaking begging on the streets of Mumbai (The Mafia goon trains these children in singing Bhajans and also recognizing a Dollar Currency Note by the smell including the kid is in the know that Benjamin Franklin adorns a 100 US Dollar Note. This goes on to prove that the Mafia Goon is an educated unemployed youth?
The girls kidnapped are being sold to Brothel houses.
Robbing of shoes from places of worship.
The childhood protagonist tells the most hilarious story of Taj Mahal. (Cautioning the tourist to be more careful while hiring a guide).
Stripping a Mercedes Benz of International Tourist couple; while they go around for sightseeing.
A packaged water bottle is being filled by Tap water by the protagonist’s brother while working at a restaurant.
The narration of the story was fairly creative but there are some gaping holes! How does the protagonist answer the question Inventor of Revolver – Samuel Colt? Because no where was this aspect covered in the movie.
Betting racket in sports by Mafia Dons
Portraying that cheating the participants by the host is a common aspect in Indian Reality shows.
Lastly, the song Jai Ho sounds like a dig at India. (For all the dark side you still survive as one of the powerful economies of the world)

Thank you Ramalinga Raju, Danny Boyle, Golden Globe Jury and finally the Oscars for painting India as a country that still baffle the world audience and continue to survive.

Jai Ho!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Together we stand strong and undivided

2009-01-14T06:28:00.000-08:00

इ was at Barista and came across a very interesting conversation this evening. A group of friends got together and the conversation begun by loudly saying, "So, Satyam is gone"! What are you guys planning to do now? One of the group member (a Satyamite) was not in the habit to reply to lose talks, but in front of entire team.... the satyamite thought he needed to fix this guy's thought process. Therefore, the Satyamite asked him, as my military training has imbibed in me the habit to fight till last breadth.

Who says Satyam is gone when I am very much alive here and committed to create value on behalf of my company? . He shot back, Hello Mr., your chairman has resigned, you guys are facing financial turbulence and you still have a face to say that Satyam is not gone!

At this juncture, the Satyamite thought of replying to this guy in his own language. He asked him, Tell me, what will you do and where will you go if our country India was not there? He was not prepared for this level of thought and asked back, What a stupid question, How can India be gone, it is a country?

Satyamite asked him back., Country! What makes a country? Land? Economy? Our PrimeMinister? Our President? Our Geography? Or the PEOPLE? If our PM resigns, will you say India is gone? If our economy faces a slowdown, will you say India is gone? But yes, if the people of a country are lost for any reason, we will say that country has no meaning.

Who cares of vast land of Antarctica today which has just one permanent resident, Father Georgy? Which country does it belongs to? Why does not it has any government? Why does not it has any economy? Or, how many countries were there when humans used to hunt for food in pre-historic times?

Countries, Wealth, Infrastructures and booming economies are nothing but creations of efforts of PEOPLE, and they do not have any existance on their own. And the final blow was, When one man can create Satyam as an organization of 53,000 people, why not 53,000 committed people canrebuild one SATYAM? By now, everybody saw my point was well placed and he stood up and shook hands with me and murmured, Yaar, when I used to hear from my roommate who work in Satyam that EVERY SATYAMITE IS A LEADER, I used to laugh it off. Now, I know why! "

Satyam - Maytas My perspective

2009-01-07T04:34:00.000-08:00

The media and the investor community went to town when Raju made the announcement of Satyam taking over Maytas.Everybody said that this was being done to benefit Maytas.And that Maytas was being bailed out by Satyam.
We then saw the deal getting canceled.
Today we saw that Satyam was actually trying to transfer Maytas's assets to Satyam for ZERO VALUE in return(since there's no cash with Satyam and hence the payout would have been only on paper)
If the original deal had gone through then everything would have been well and fine.
Satyam would have had physical assets in place of fictitious cash.Some solace at least.Owning Rs 5000 crores or maybe less worth of land/assets would have been lot better than fictitious cash.
Maytas would have become non -existent .Raju would have got back his focus on growing Satyam.
Investors would have been more happy with THAT situation than NOW as the Balance sheet would have been stronger.
Same with 53,000 employees.
All of us would have been better off.
In fact,Maytas was actually bailing out Satyam and not the other way around.
Think.Rethink.
Mine is just a contra point of view.In no way I am holding the brief for Raju. He deserves his desserts for what he did to India/Hyderabad/IT industry/Real estate industry/Raju community/our conscience. SATYAM is now ASATYAM (A bunch of lies).

Origins of Islam

2009-01-05T07:10:00.000-08:00

An inscription and a Greek account fix Muhammad's birth in 552, not 570. Muhammad's career took place not in Mecca but hundreds of kilometers to the north. Yehuda Nevo. The classical Arabic language was developed not in today's Saudi Arabia but in the Levant.

Long before Islam came in to existence, Kaaba, in Mecca in Saudi Arabia was a pilgrimage site. The word Kaaba might have come from the Tamil Language which originated around 1700BC. In Tamil Nadu Kabaalishwaran temple is Lord Shiva's temple and Kabaali refers to Lord Shiva. The black stone at Kaaba is held sacred and holy in Islam and is called "Hajre Aswad" from the Sanskrit word Sanghey Ashweta or Non-white stone. The Shiva Lingam is also called Sanghey Ashweta. So what is in Kaaba could be the same what Hindus worship.

The pedestal Maqam-E-Ibrahim at the centre of the Kaaba is octagonal in shape. In Hinduism, the pedestal of Brahma the creator is also octagonal in shape. Muslim pilgrims visiting the Kaaba temple go around it seven times. In no other mosque does the circumambulation prevail. Hindus invariably circumambulate or Pradakshina, around their deities. This is yet another proof that the Kaaba shrine is a pre-Islamic. In Shiva temples Hindus always practice circumambulation or Pradakshina. Just as in Hinduism, the custom of circumambulation by muslim pilgrims around the entire Kaaba building seven times shows that the claim that in Islam they don't worship stones is not true.

Allah was one of the deities in Kaaba long before Islam was founded. It might come as a stunning revelation to many that the word `ALLAH' itself is Sanskrit. In Sanskrit language Allah, Akka and Amba are synonyms. They signify a goddess or mother. The term `ALLAH' forms part of Sanskrit chants invoking goddess Durga, also known as Bhavani, Chandi and Mahishasurmardini. The Islamic word for God is., therefore, not an innovation but the ancient Sanskrit appellation retained and continued by Islam. Allah means mother or goddess and mother goddess.

The King Vikramaditya inscription was found on a gold dish hung inside the Kaaba shrine in Mecca, proving beyond doubt that the Arabian Peninsula formed a part of his Indian Empire. (Ref: page 315 of a volume known as `Sayar-ul-Okul' treasured in the Makhtab-e-Sultania library in Istanbul, Turkey). King Vikrama's preachers had succeeded in spreading the Vedic Hindu sacred scriptures in Arabia and Arabs were once followers of the Indian Vedic way of life. The annual fair known as OKAJ which used to be held every year around the Kaaba temple in Mecca and the present annual hajj of the Muslims to the Kaaba is of earlier pre-Islamic congregation. . Even to this day ancient Siva emblems can be seen. It is the Shankara (Siva) stone that Muslim pilgrims reverently touch and kiss in the Kaaba.

Muslims shave their head and beard and don special sacred attire that consists of two seamless sheets of white cloth. One is to be worn round the waist and the other over the shoulders. Both these rites are remnants of the old Vedic practice of entering Hindu temples clean and with holy seamless white sheets. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Kaaba has 360 idols. Traditional accounts mention that one of the deities among the 360 destroyed when the place was stormed was that of Saturn; another was of the Moon and yet another was one called Allah. That shows that in the Kaaba the Arabs worshipped the nine planets in pre-Islamic days. In India the practice of `Navagraha' puja, that is worship of the nine planets, is still in vogue. Two of these nine are Saturn and Moon. In India the crescent moon is always painted across the forehead of the Siva symbol. Since that symbol was associated with the Siva emblem in Kaaba it came to be grafted on the flag of Islam.

The Hindu Vedic letter in Sanskrit "OM" if seen in a mirror one can see the Arabic numbers 786 and this is the most sacred number for Muslims and copies of the Arabic Koran have the mysterious figure 786 imprinted on them. In their ignorance simply they do not realize that this special number is nothing more than the holiest of Vedic symbols misread and none of the Arabic scholar has been able to determine how they chose 786 as the sacred for them. In short muslims are also going around Siva Lingam at Kaaba, seven times as Hindus go around it seven times.

A few miles away from Mecca are a big signboard which bars the entry of any non-Muslim into the area. This is a reminder of the days when the Kaaba was stormed and captured solely for the newly established faith of Islam. The object in barring entry of non-Muslims was obviously to prevent its recapture. Kaaba is clothed in a black shroud. This custom also originated from the days when it was thought necessary to discourage its recapture by camouflaging it.

Another Hindu tradition associated with the Kaaba is that of the sacred stream Ganga (sacred waters of the Ganges river). According to the Hindu tradition Ganga is also nseparable from the Shiva emblem as the crescent moon. Wherever there is a Siva emblem, Ganga must co-exist. True to that association a sacred fount exists near the Kaaba. Its water is held sacred because it has been traditionally regarded as Ganga since pre-Islamic times (Zam-Zam water).

The retro and the way forward

2009-01-02T21:48:00.000-08:00

Global Financial Crisis and Economic Recession were in full grip by December 2008, keeping the Governments anxious, tense and busy struggling. Prolonged State interventions in the financial, commodities, trade and foreign exchange markets by various countries including the US and China had ultimately caused the crisis and the deep recession to set in.

Now is period of bailing out the credibility of the political institutions called Legislature and Government through massive Quantitative Easing, fiscal stimulus and near-zero interest rate policy to revive, of all things, the market mechanism that was earlier grossly distorted and manipulated by State prodding of imprudent behavior of the sake of homeownership to all, through producing and selling cheaper goods sold abroad on easy credit (massive trade surpluses and arbitrarily fixed exchange rates) in the name of high growth and employment of the poor in Asia and low inflation for the West and piling up petro-dollar in State coffers through production controls that would jack up the oil prices three-fold in about a year's time.

Reacting to these growing imbalances that State intervention regimes brought about, markets seem to take revenge as credit system came to a grinding halt, demand slowed down, outputs fell, jobs got lost and bankruptcies threatened firms. It would probably take the entire 2009 before the efforts of different governments lure markets to return to normalcy. There is every possibility, however, that the States (Governments) will soon get into another sort of intervention in the form of protectionism. And, this would only delay the return of normal market operations, obstruct the much needed development of properly regulated, transparent markets for contracts against contingencies to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of market mechanism, and weaken the process of economic recovery. Riding on export demand to promote economic growth with a policy of virtually fixed exchange rate, keeping imports by domestic consumers under control, carrying huge trade surpluses (as had been done by China, Germany and Japan) to pile up foreign exchange reserves would not pay any more; rather, such policies would hurt those who pursue them more - they would be better of buying imported goods as well and letting their currencies to float.

Meanwhile, cross-border terrorism, effectively driven out from the West, is spreading fast in some countries in the East (Pakistan, India) that chose to remain backward on terrorism-control technology and management, as part of their soft stance that encouraged the terrorists. Economic growth is adversely affected by incidents of terrorist’s attacks on civilians and commercial business operations but is positively affected by high technology counter-terrorism management.

Hopefully, more determined efforts to eliminate terrorism from the Planet will get momentum in the East. That will augur well for early economic revival and eradication of poverty. Corporate managements may find challenging opportunities to add value to 'terrorism-control' economic activities and help protect and create wealth for the human civilization.

Huge investment in introducing mass scale use of non-conventional energy technologies and energy materials- not merely to protect global ecology and climate, may help speed up economic revival and growth in the West even as the Millennium Project creates sustainable new source of demand for increased economic activity.

Fiscal stimulus and deficits may be better used for such longer-term economic goals rather than trade protectionist measures to bail-out domestic industries. Subsidizing electric cars could create as much employment as the subsidizing extant petrol/diesel car making operations.

If 2008 had been a year of distress, 2009 may ultimately bring the signs of economic revival and peace throughout the World. How much peace, happiness and upswing in prosperity 2009 will lay the foundations for will be known as the year progresses.

Smell the fear

2008-12-29T05:13:00.000-08:00

Exactly after one month of the attacks, I drop by the Taj for a walk down the memory lane. While the staff members put up a brave face, and smile as widely as physically possible, their eyes are blank and haunted. And the stench of death and fear is unmistakable.There aren’t too many visitors (this is prime time eve), the otherwise packed lobby is frighteningly sparse. Students from the National School of Blind sing Christmas carols with great energy (see pic), but there are only a handful of listeners. I have never in my life had the glitzy lobby to myself. The Christmas tree decorated mainly white (the classy Taj touch) looks forlorn and loveless. While the lady at the desk reports 60% occupancy, sadly, I don’t see the figure remotely close. Clearly, she’s been briefed to get the spirits up. And if the lady is right about the number, the guests are safely ordering in, no one wants to hang out at the refurbished restaurants and bars anymore.We devour chai and sandwiches at the old-fav Shamiana. Again, we have the 24-hour joint to ourselves, there are only a few other guests (see the pic of a nearly vacant Shamiana). Grenades were lobbed exactly where we are seated. While the tea is as delicious as always, can’t seem to get the image of destruction out of my mind. It’s going to take the Taj a lot more time than we thought to reach normalcy.Equally, the shops are deserted. The Nalanda bookshop (seldom have I dropped by and not ran into a friend/acquaintance) has turned into my personal library. The Starboard bar, thankfully, has a few patrons. I quietly slip into the smoking lounge (the Taj tower pic has been shot from there), and notice two young girls puffing away and guzzling down wine. They don’t seem too upset, they don’t suss me out for a suspicious back-pack, and seem lost in their own conversation. They are the only brave souls inside the hotel, wonder if it’s bravery or some great wine.Damn, even the loo has been exclusively reserved for me.And I don’t even want to recount the lonely walk to the old wing, by the pool. This is what I felt walking by the Nagapattinum beach days after the tsunami.Outside the hotel, I urge the Sardarji durban to allow us to walk by the heritage structure (totally closed to the public). After a moment’s hesitation, he kindly grants permission. So we solemnly walk by the ravaged, raped, desolate heritage wing, devoid of humanity, even the sea seems unusually quiet, as if in mourning. (And to think this is the stretch which finds common ground with taporis, tourists, peanut sellers, romancing couples, prostitutes, pimps and elderly walkers.) The room lights are kept on (to keep the faith intact), but the fear is palpable. And the exit into the streets of the bustling Colaba brings much relief. A joy to suddenly run into humanity.No, 26/11 won’t go away too soon. The scars are just too deep to heal. Maybe they never will. Bombay will never be the same again. The terrorists are winning this war.

Make a difference

2008-10-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one."
Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.

How to appeal to the young?

2008-09-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

Can you hold the attention of 800 youngsters from 9 am to 4 pm for 6 consecutive days? No one gets up, or uses the cell phone in between. They do not do anything even remotely associated with today’s youth. No chewing gum, no cat call, no small talk. This is not an utopian dream, but an event that took place in Chennai from August 5, 2008 to August 10, 2008.
Svanubhava - the event was organised by Matrka (founded by Bombay Jayashri and T M Krishna) and Youth Association of Classical Musicians. The event was held for students of classical music and dance. The first two days were at the Kalakshtra with its own unique ambience. The next two days were at the Tamil Nadu Music College on the banks of the Adyar river, in an open Shamiana. The last two days were at the Music Academy auditorium.
Every day was unique. In all 85 practicing artistes had participated in the event. How did they decide about the programmes? They had spoken to the students of the three institutions to find out what they wanted. Thus they knew exactly what will gel with the students. Thus they organised a mix of concerts, lecture demonstrations, video shows, panel discussions, interviews and quizzes. This list might read like a standard list but every bit came alive because of the way it was planned.
Let me give you an example. Sivasankari, one of the most well known writers in Tamil interviewed Nithyasri, a well known singer who has made her mark in Carnatic music and film music as well. They brought the roof down because Sivasankari asked questions that were in the minds of the students. Nithyasri answered them with candour, spontaneity and quick wit. Another such session was anchored by Y G Mahendra a well known comedian in Tamil films and an accomplished tabla player himself. He interviewed leading percussionists. T N Seshagopalan, a legend gave a scintillating 2 hour concert in spite of a viral attack. He received a standing ovation. His answers to questions from the audience were empathetic, useful and even respectful. These are just glimpses of a some of the programmes.
Jayashri and Krishna remained in the background and it was the young students who were in charge running the show. On the final day Jayashri and Krishna sang together on demand from the students.
I observed the actions off the stage as much as on the stage. Every little detail seemed to matter. No glitch. No faux paux. No embarassment or red face. Just wonderful. Of course J & K were there as coaches, ever available to guide, but it was the young students who ran the show.
The event has caught the imagination of the young students as well as the senior artistes. The senior artistes were overwhelmed by the interest, the attention and the adulation. They were moved by the genuine affection they enjoyed amongst the young students. There was magic in the air.
I wondered: what made Savanubhava tick? Why was it so successful? The first thing that occurred to me was that it was not by chance that this was achieved. There was hard work and Divine Grace. (Matrka & YACM earned the Divine Grace through their hard work). Here are are few things that must have helped:
1. Co-creation: Jayashri & Krishna did not just assume what students would like. (They could well have done that because they have a good pulse of the audience). They went to the three institutions and listened to the audience. They did not stop at that but invited the students to participate in creating and managing the event, along with Matrka and YACM.
2. Ownership: The event was owned by the students of the institution where the event was hosted! That was a brilliant stroke of genius. You could see the impact of this idea.
3. Entry Free: The whole event was free for students. Including a simple lunch and two cups of tea during the day.
4. Nothing commercial about it: You did not see crass banners of various companies sponsoring every event. If there was any sponsorship it was discreet. Even the caterer who provided food free did not display his banner! That was a welcome change.
5. Simplicity, clarity, elegance, sense of humour: There were no pompous speeches about Matrka or YACM and their vision. Announcements were simple, clear to the point. A little banter that brought smiles and injected laughter, especially during the quizzes. There was elegance and ordarliness as opposed to tough discipline and rules!
6.Focus: Give the young students a good time and an opportunity to learn. There seemed to be no other agenda - hidden or otherwise!
7. Eye for detail, emphasis on quality: The quality of sound equipment was outstanding. No annoying feedback sounds in between. There were enough cord-less mikes for question answer sessions. Enough large screen TV sets placed at the right places for every body to see the event well.
Finally there was a graciousness and warmth that one could feel - something one feels in a family wedding.
Throughout all the events there was one young man running around interacting with audience, artistes, volunteers, Jayashri & Krishna. He is busy but cool and unflappable. You find out out that he is Rithvik Raja the current President of YACM. This event is a feather in the cap of Rithvik and his cohorts.
Svanubhava is an example of a potent mix. A good idea, passion, attention to detail and ambition to excel. The result is that those who attended it will talk about it for years. Those who missed it and just read about it, would not want to miss it in future. And look forward to Svanubhava 2009.
Jayashri and Krishna have demonstrated their commitment to the art once again through Svanubhava. Last year they published Voices Within - India’s first coffee table book on Carnatic Music. Then they were bold enough to experiment with a concept and launched a Voices Within Business Creativity Workshop From what I hear they have several ideas up their sleeves. I do hope that they take their ideas beyond Chennai and reach out to the world. They may not know the difference they can make.

STRATCOMPLAN – HEADS OR TAILS

2008-09-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

STRATCOMPLAN is no variant of the Health beverage COMPLAN; but is certainly a health supplement for us marketers who operate in difficult and declining volume/Market share situations.

Marketing Strategy or evolving one is nothing new for any Brand Management Team. Once the strategy is clear, between the Client and the Agency, evolving a Brand Plan is only a matter of detail. However, very often we find panic b buttons are pressed when the mix does not work of the plans go awry. In the resulting anxiety, core brand values and the organisational strengths are overlooked and new campaigns are created which don’t work.

Result – additional decline in volume and market shares and further panic. This is when STRATCOMPLAN works. Quite simply, STRATCOMPLAN stands for how to combine MARKETING STRATEGIES INTO A COMPREHENSIVE MARKETING ACTION PLAN THAT FITS IN WITHIN THE ORGANISATIONAL CONSTRAINTS.

The five axioms of STRATCOMPLAN are:

1) THE ORGANISATION IS A REALITY.

2) WE START MIDSTREAM.

3) LACK OF IDEAL CONDITIONS.

4) FORGET - NOT THE CORE BRAND VALUES AND

5) LOOK BEYOND CLASSICAL MARKETING/ADVERTISING ROUTE.

Thus STRATCOMPLAN may be defined as a time bound marketing methodology for a reckoning period and is a part of the overall Business Strategy marketing and related activities.

ORGANISATION IS A REALITY

With aggressive competition and the mounting warfare in the market place; we have not only witnessed a sharp decline of brands one considered strong – PROMISE, CIBACA, NIVEA, HORLICKS, WATCHES, CUTICURA, etc. but also corporations like TOMCO. Even giants such as COLGATE and SURF were under severe pressure at some stage. However, COLGATE and SURF bounced back in the nick of time thanks to resources not being a constraint and a CORPORATE PHILOSOPHY OF INVESTMENT SPENDING. But more often than not, all organisations are not in the league of LEVERS or a COLGATE and therefore volumes or there the accruals are important to find the resources to plough back. Here is where the first AXIOM Viz., that the ORGANISATION IS A REALITY come into fore.

When volumes decline, automatically this has an impact on the turnover and the MARGINS. Therefore, it is imperative that for the overall ORGANISATIONAL HEALTH this be corrected first. Unless it is a single product company you have a portfolio and it is important to look at the BRAND or the variant that can respond the fastest.

WE START MIDSTREAM

Seldom do we start with a new brand before launch or with a clean slate. The brands are usually taken over at some stage of their life cycle with their equity or its erosion thereof. Neither the American philosophy of selling off tottering brands is our Corporate Culture at present. Even if it were, tottering brands are unlikely to find suitors in our country. Given this reality, the success lies in careful evaluation of the relative strengths of the brands in the portfolio and converting them into a virtue or a money-spinner. It is worthwhile learning from CIBA-GEIGY effectively using their toothbrushes to expand the market penetration of toothpastes. Through adequate theme and scheme support to CIBACA brushes, the paste has managed to cling onto market shares in the wake of high audibility levels of competing toothpastes.

Another example is that of MILKMAID using the recipe route successfully for usage expansion and arresting its decline. MILKMAID is a premium full cream sweetened milk and was traditionally promoted as a milk substitute. Till the early 80’s when many parts of India was milk short, the going was good for the brand purely as a milk substitute/tea – coffee whitener. In fact in States like Mizoram, the brands turnover used to exceed the combined brand turnover of many reputed companies. However, in the 80’s with the success of OPERATION FLOOD and free availability of both whole and skimmed milk powders, MILKMAID was no more required as a MESSY & EXPENSIVE milk substitute and by 1983 the brand started declining. This was when the strength of the brand was skilfully exploited to reposition the same as a CONVENIENT CULINARY INGREDIENT with the theme “COOKING WITH MILKMAID”. In fact, as expensive milk substitute in culinary terms became a value for money ingredient. It entered new homes through this cooking route and is growing in value terms even today, despite significant price increases.

LACK OF IDEAL CONDITIONS

Ideal conditions are a utopia which exist only in the classrooms of the premiere’ Management Institutes and these days in not so premiere’ Institutions as well. Once out of the Institutes and on the hot seat this reality dawns on even the most hard core and idealist. The case in point is the TOMCO brands where the unreasonable overheads and the militant labor brought down the entire Empire. This was despite the capabilities of the Tata Administrative Services teams with strong equity such as HAMAM, MOTI, SUPER 501, O K, and REVEL. Although TOMCO’s turnover was significant, this low productivity of its militant labor and field force and the resultant high wage bills were slapped on to the brands. The result was overhead charge that the brands could not carry. This was despite growth in value and volume sales. Moral being however good be the marketing team, what lack of IDEAL CONDITIONS, could lead to.

Also, it is not uncommon to find organizations; wherein the support functions like FINANCE do the back seat driving through absorption costing procedures when it becomes literally impossible to revive brands under pressure or launch new ones. For most of the time in these circumstances; the Brand Management team struggle to find resources to break even rather than spending their time and energies in marketing activities. This is perhaps why; organisations following the absorption costing procedures never became active players in the consumer products business, despite their several attempts. One notable exception was WIPRO who shifted to standard and MARGINAL COSTINGS even before their entry into consumer products activity in a high way.

Last but not least is the operational freedom available to the team and its leader. The success and proliferation of the number of headhunters provide a better explanation as to why many of the so-called professional organisations are constantly on the look out for the same positions.

FORGET NOT-THE CORE BRAND VALUES

Forgetting the core values is a typical syndrome when panic buttons are pushed. Sometimes this happens out of sheer boredom with the current creative with the assumption that since it is boring to me so it must be to the consumer as well. And of course, not to mention the recently hired whiz-kid wanting to refurbish the good old brand. Whatever be the reason, the gainer is not the brand or the organisations.

Classic example that comes to the mind is that of PROMISE which moved away from the CLOVE OIL U S P to one of EXTRA FRESH. Fortunately, after two new commercials and almost 40 million rupees down the road the brand is back with the good old CLOVE OIL PROMISE. Similar was the fate of PONDS when it was extended toothpastes, which had to be ultimately withdrawn. On the contrary, WHEEL was well exploited by LEVERS from bars to powders to counter NIRMA. For that matter CLOSE UP was persisted with for a decade and a half due to the inherently strong core value and we witnessed a super success story, which took the COLGATE bull by its horn.

Of course, one must hasten to add that we have a fairly long and envious list of strong brands which have been around for many decades such as ANACIN, DABUR, PEARS, AMUL, PARLE, WOODWARDS AND READER’S DIGEST, to name a few. These are still going strong which reiterates the point that the Marketers have not forgotten the importance of the core values sometimes to defy the product life cycle parameters. In fact, this has been well bought out by Readers Digest in their supplement WHAT’S BEHIND THE NAME in February and March 2003.

LOOK BEYOND THE CLASSICAL MARKETING AND ADVERTISING ROUTE.

While there is no alternative to theme advertising for brand building, this may not always be affordable. Even when it is affordable if the field dynamics are not understood, results in sub optimisation. Fresh in the memory are Lipton’s, TREE TOP, Cadbury’s biscuits, RCI’s BINACA toothpaste. On the contrary, ZANDU and DABUR have skilfully and effectively exploited the distribution route to initially float brands like ZANDU BALM and NATURE CARE ISABGOL and once accruals start ticking in, supporting them with theme as well.

We have also seen through CIBACA example how competition activity can be overcome during a resource crunch through innovation. It should not be forgotten that field dynamics are as important.

THEREFORE THROUGH STRATCOMPLAN IT IS NOT HEADS YOU WIN AND TAILS I LOSE; BUT IT IS WIN - WIN ALL THE WAY.

Planning my retirement

2008-09-10T01:01:00.000-07:00

Having a stressfull but always challenging career for over 25 years; I have another 7 years of stint left in me. During this period, I am pretty keen in handling Consultancy and Advisory roles for categories that I hadn't worked in the past suh as Food Processing, Aviation, Hospitality, Stock Broking, Cosmetics, Publication Entertainment, Media marketing (Future Media), Mobile Content, Mobile Consumerism, In Film Advertising, International Start Up operations etc.

By 2015, I would like to take a year long vacation with my guide, mentor and soulmate acroos the 6 continents.