Howdy Guys,
Finally I have been able to create a new site for the blogs, Henceforth all the posts will be made there instead of here. Hence please note down the new blog address. Its www.brittlenuts.co.cc
Finally I can give you much more flexibility than before. Thanks and take care
Enjoy Guys
World is moving out of Brand Ambassadors?? What is your say…
Today the number of companies, yes I refer to MNC’s, endorsed by BIG BUDGET Brand Ambassadors are going all time low. Atleast that is what i have learned during my short time at LG Electronics.
The possible reason for this could be, people relate more to the endorsee than the endorsed product. Where on one side this can be a potential danger for the company hiring the endorsee. It can be that extra mile for the next company which hires it.
Let’s discuss this in detail -
Suppose LG hires Mr. Branson for endorsing it’s products. Yes, Mr. Richard Branson. and the sales graph starts the takes off. Now when contract ends Mr. Branson thinks it to be a good investment in electronics firms and thus is born Virgin Electronics… SO What!!
The contract is over and Mr. Branson can do what ever he likes but …. Research indicates that with the endorser the customer base or the target Market also shifts it’s paradigm and creates a potential threat to the earlier company.
This is also true when the endorsee instead of starting a new enterprise, joins a competitor of the earlier firm
So is it worth spending millions on something that can be a potential threat in the future
What is your say ??
I would like to have a feed back ….
One of our readers Amit has requested information about my college and feels some confusion regading his sisters admission to an MBA College. So Amit …. here we go,
ALkesh Dinesh Mody Institute for Financial and Management Studies, the formal and legal information regarding this can be obtained from www.mu.ac.in/alkesh
Why should you opt this college in the first place
- The college is situated in the heart of the city, Kalina University campus, and still is far from it , in the sense that the campus is a cool place to chill and relax your body and mind. Far away from the squels and honking of the traffic, plush campus with greenery all around.
- The college is a part of Mumbai University, Administered and maintained by the University Department – hence the tag line – A Department of Mumbai University
-The Infrastructure is really good – It can be seen from the fact that although its a university department it has full fledged computer lab accessible 12 hours a day to students, a library with more than 6 thousand books on management alone, good toilets and a gymnasium where in you can relax playing TT or chase the queen in Carrom
Apart from all this it has a really good collection of visiting faculty to teach the MMS students – Most of them being the directors and CEO’s somewhere or the other
To soothen the mood, beside the college, is the university pond, where you have to show ID Card after 12:00 AM to 6 AM otherwise 
you know it. For the rest of the time you can chill out with your girlfriend there.
The college boasts to be competely wi-fi enabled which works most of the time (The only time its down is when its most needed) and the internet connection (apart from browsing orkut in the lab or downloading movies there) is available with a download speed of 100 KB/S which is going to be increased further this month.
The students, since they dont come from the Management quota, are really brilliant and have enormous potential, most of them have past industry experience.
Boys and girls hostle is available but with limited seats (10 to 15 seats for boys and 1 seat for girl) though it will be increased this year (hopefully)
The crowd (you know what it means – right!!) is really good around the campus if you get time to look at it
24 hour Reading room near the college
Now the flip side
No canteen in the college (Not even a tea or a coffee vending machine) even though the students stay in the college for more than 12 hours
No other basic amenities inside the campus like Photo copying, Printing or such other essential things – You need to walk a lot buddy
Bi-Polar environment in the college
The processess the not completely systematic – the college is still evolving
The Mobile Network is very weak in the college – Although the management is not really reaponsible for it but a new comer should know about it- after all you need to talk to your girlfriend during breaks !!
The college is not still well known and the placements are decent with an average of 4 pa
Thats it ….
If you belong to a different college and want to share something about it – Good or Bad no matter or want to clear confusions in this admission season feel free to post comments in the bottom of the page …. People will definitely respond to you.
Manish…
Today my colleague Jigar gave me a few tips of how to please women and of course girls in any organization as well as personal life. I am sharing it with you all. Please give your feed back and share your experiences related to this kind of thing.
Give them choices Giving choice to a girl means giving them the authority and the power to take decision. This is a psychological factor which plays a great role in making them more productive and efficient
Notice how you interact. When you’re in a small group,
do you tend to exchange more eye contact with the men in it? Do you
speak more often to men than to women? If you do notice a bias toward
men, try shifting your attention slightly. Shake the woman’s hand, and
exchange eye contact with her even if she’s not talking. If she’s being
quiet, ask for her thoughts. (Don’t overdo all this, though, as you
could raise the discomfort level.)
Actively listen. It’s easy to “hear past” someone who
is talking. (Our minds work about five times the speed of our mouths.
In our rush to finish the speaker’s thought and put our own two cents
in, we shut the other person down.) If you have a bias, it’s even
easier to want to interrupt. Slow down and listen.
If your response demonstrates that you’ve heard what she’s said, she’ll
feel more enabled to contribute more fully to your organization.
Some of the content was lifted as it is from – HBR Editor’s Blog with the Title “Is Gender Bias Undermining your company”
Recently I was moving out from Mumbai to Nagpur, wow a visit to home is such a nice experience, especially to those who come here for higher education or work. The best and comfortable way to reach home??
What would you say ??
I think its the railways … especially if you are short on cash (a student always is) or you just want to enjoy the journey. Well some times worst of your luck strikes – You don’t get a reservation ticket and there is no bus which can take you home for two days. (Sorry don’t consider the plane as an option, as I am still a student
Now continuing my story…
I was pretty sick and i wanted to go home as soon as possible, no bus service available and no reserved seat in the train. Even the TTE was reluctant to give me on the spot ticket (you know undertable charges !!)
So I decided to opt the general compartment. Now the real problems started….
First I had to give the KOOLI a full 100 bucks just to make me stand in the compartment. Now you can pretty well guess the crowd. So continuing I somehow placed my baggage and the train started. Just as Kalyan passed there was the first attack.
By this time you would have guessed….. who attacked us???
Yes they were the enuches!!! and i would pretty well call it an attack.
FIrst they will tease you then you know how they behave if you even for once answer them with a negative
Second attack was in Chalisgaon.
Third and fourth some where again ….
So what is the moral of the story….
Guys carry 40 to 50 Bucks extra as the hafta for a single journey, for these enuches.
I just ask how big is this mafia.. who all are the participants in this game…As I was sitting in the last last seat. The Head Enuch was counting the collection for the coach, and could you guess it ….
The total collection was about 22000 Rupees. Now just imagine there are about 4 general coaches in a single train and some 20 to 30 trains pass the station daily (more but no less). So in all the figure goes to approx. 22000(X)20(X)365 => 160 million Rupees. and this from a single route. In Mumbai alone there are 4 to 5 routes. and I think the figures are taken on the conservative side.
SO these are the questions i would like to put forth before you all? and ask about how we as general public curb them?? They are a social evil and there has to be a full stop to all this some where. I ask why not here. I ask all of you readers -
Where does all this money go??
what is the government doing about it??
If this is the source of income for the mafia, why is police allowing it?
and How long are we to bear this?
Is the givernment incapable to handle this?
Is throwing them out of the running train the only solution??(This has taken place in the areas from Gondia to Raipur in the states of Marashtra and Chattisghar)
Then the government should not blame the task bearers?
If this has happened to you also please share your experiences and some how we will try to raise our combined voices against this social vice.
Do you feel as if you are pulling the wool over the eyes of your
workmates, hiding your incompetence? You are not alone. There is even a
name for it:
Imposter Syndrome.
Management consultant
Gill Corkindale takes up the subject of business professionals with a
sense of inadequacy in a blog post on Harvard Business.
I have
come across many instances of Imposter Syndrome among my coaching
clients in recent years. Typically, they are managers on fast-track
careers in their late 30s or early 40s who have been promoted to a new
role in which their experience is being tested to the limits. Despite
support from their bosses and feedback showing they have great
operational, strategic and people skills, they often seem beset with
doubts.
This article has been lifted from Ankitgokani‘s blog post “Are you a Management Imposter“
Howdy Guys,
To improve your experience in this site and provide you with more services, I was busy with few developmental activities for the last few days. This will be true for the coming few days too. So there is this little request, Please make this site as enriched as possible by contributing from your end. Do fell free to add articles and comments. Help section is nearly complete and will be announced very soon in the welcome page. Also you would like to know that there are a hell lot of features coming your way. So keep expecting more. Any where you see some interesting feature or find something interesting that you would like to experience here in this blog feel free to click the SHOUT BOX link on the side panel and leave your comment. In case of any specific query, you always have my mail id. Its blogs4u@live.com I will feel glad to help you.
Happy Blogging…
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MAKING WAVES
Karamchand Appliances Private Limited (KAPL) is perhaps not a familiar name for the average Indian consumer. However, KAPL’s brand ‘All Out’ is very well-known. In fact, the name All Out is almost a generic name for Liquid Vaporizers (vaporizers), a segment of the Rs 4 billion[1] (in 1999) mosquito repellant industry in India. KAPL was almost solely responsible for creating this segment. Within a decade of its launch, All Out had converted a large number of customers into vaporizer users, and had also established itself as the market leader in the segment, with a 69 percent market share in 1999.The success of KAPL is particularly noteworthy, considering the fact that it was a small family-owned company that managed to wrest market share from corporate giants such as Godrej Sara Lee Ltd. (GSLL) and Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL) with strong, established brands such as GoodKnight, Jet, Tortoise, Baygon and Mortein, amidst stiff competition.
BACKGROUND NOTE |
With over 255 species of mosquitoes – believed to be responsible for spreading diseases such as malaria and dengue fever – (see Exhibit I) India has a large and growing market for mosquito repellants. Many methods are used in households for dealing with the mosquito menace. Table I lists some of the more common ones.
| Traditional methods | Burning of incense sticks, fumigation using Neem leaves, use of mosquito nets |
| Mosquito repellants | |
| Creams | Applied directly on the body, the creams contain chemicals, which repel the mosquitoes – not very popular, as the creams are rather sticky and inconvenient to use. |
| Coils | Made by mixing chemicals with substances like coconut shell powder, sawdust, color, perfumes and synthetic or natural gums; the coils burn slowly, releasing the chemicals. |
| Mats | Have a composition similar to coils; the mats are placed in a small heater, which is plugged into an electrical socket. When the mat is heated, the chemicals are released. |
| Sprays | Chemicals in liquid form, sprayed in the area infested with mosquitoes – not very popular because of the strong smell of the chemicals. |
| Vaporizers | Use small containers of a chemical solution, which is heated gently in an electricity-operated apparatus, maintaining a constant temperature. |
Source: ICMR
Other significant players emerged over the years, offering products in many segments: Bayer with the brands Baygon Spray, Baygon Power Mats and Baygon Knockout; Balsara Hygiene with a repellant cream, Odomos; and Tainwala Chemicals with the Casper brand of mats and coils. Besides these large players, a number of local brands were also available across the country.
In the latter half of the 1990s, the market became much more competitive, with the entry of GSLL[2] , Reckitt & Coleman (R&C, now Reckitt Benckiser) and HLL. GSLL launched an array of brands (all coils) one after the other – Jet Fighter (1997), GoodKnight Jumbo (1999) and GoodKnight Instant, GoodKnight Smokeless and Jet Jumbo (2000). The company’s other brands included Banish (mats), Hit (aerosols), Hit Lines (chalks), Mosfree (lotion) and Hexit (spray). The Jet brand was extended to coils and sprays. R&C also launched its range of mats and coils – Mortein, Mortein King and Mortein Red – while HLL launched Raid and Attack.
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While the other companies concentrated on the coils and mats markets, KAPL promoted the use of vaporizers. By the mid 1990s, vaporizers had attained a market share of 5 percent (Refer Table IV). This segment was almost completely dominated by KAPL, whose sales reached Rs 253 million in 1996-97. GSLL could no longer ignore this growing segment and launched its own vaporizer under the GoodKnight brand in 1996-97.GoodKnight soon acquired a 40% market share of the vaporizer market. However, this did not affect the sales of KAPL, as the launch of GoodKnight had led to a growth in the overall size of the vaporizer market. Instead of eating into All Out’s sales, GSLL ended up expanding the market. However, GoodKnight could not sustain its success, and by 1999, the brand’s market share had gone down to 21% – a major portion of the 19% loss being taken up by All Out. (Refer Table V).
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TABLE II
MATS – MARKET SHARES (VOLUMES)
|
Company |
Brand |
1998 |
1999 |
July 2000 |
|
GSLL |
GoodKnight |
45 |
43 |
51 |
|
GSLL |
Jet |
13 |
18 |
14 |
|
GSLL |
Banish |
4 |
3 |
2 |
|
R&C |
Mortein |
9 |
12 |
15 |
|
HLL |
Raid |
4 |
7 |
4 |
|
- |
Others |
25 |
17 |
14 |
|
|
Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Company |
Brand |
1998 |
1999 |
July 2000 |
|
GSLL |
GoodKnight |
0 |
0 |
12 |
|
GSLL |
Jet |
18 |
20 |
17 |
|
R&C |
Mortein |
30 |
33 |
33 |
|
BCL |
Tortoise |
37 |
28 |
20 |
|
- |
Others |
15 |
19 |
18 |
|
|
Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
Category |
Market Share (in %) |
|
|
Year |
1996 |
1999 |
|
Mats |
63 |
38 |
|
Coils |
27 |
46 |
|
Creams |
5 |
3 |
|
Vaporizers |
5 |
13 |
|
Total |
100 |
100 |
Source: A&M, April 15, 2000.
Although the initial success of All Out was largely due to technological innovation and first-mover advantages, it was widely believed that what had kept the brand going was strong marketing. This was corroborated when KAPL’s promoters Anil, Bimal and Naveen Arya were given the ‘Marketing Persons of the Year’ award at the 2000 A&M awards[1] . A&M described KAPL as a ‘sterling example of enterprise’ and a ‘tale for budding entrepreneurs and marketers of the new millennium.’
THE GROWTH OF ALL OUT
The Arya brothers belonged to a Maharashtra-based family that was involved in the business of importing books. Reluctant to join the family business, the brothers shifted to Rajkot, Gujarat and joined a relative in making diesel engines for agricultural purposes. Before long, they became interested in the fast moving consumer goods business. Impressed by the success of a small mosquito repellant company in Rajkot, the brothers decided to venture into the business and set up KAPL.KAPL decided to get the technology they needed to enter the market from Japanese manufacturers. Their decision was prompted by the fact that most of the modern mosquito repellants were developed in Japan. Having decided to launch mats, the brothers short-listed five Japanese companies and eventually zeroed in on Earth Chemical Co. Ltd. (Earth). Established in 1892, Earth was part of the $ 8 billion Otsuka Group of Japan. Earth manufactured and sold industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, agricultural chemicals and health foods. After agreeing to a technical collaboration for mats, the Arya brothers happened to see a vaporizer being sold by Earth.
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To ensure that the packaging was of high quality, KAPL commissioned a well-known packaging unit in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. However, due to delays in the supply of packing material, KAPL was forced to delay the launch of All Out by about six months. The product was finally launched in April 1990 in Mumbai.
Sales were slow to pick up, as April was a lean month for the sales of mosquito repellants – mosquitoes being far more numerous during the rainy season.
KAPL hired Avenues, reportedly one of the best creative agencies in India, to handle the advertising for All Out. However, the company was not satisfied with the advertisements created by the agency, which had the baseline, ‘All Out for modern mosquitoes.’ Bimal said, “Six months down the line, we had holes in our pockets. They kept telling us to have patience as it takes time, but we lost patience.”
The advertisement account was shifted to a bigger advertising firm, HTA, at the time of the product’s launch in Delhi. HTA released a series of six advertisements, using humor to promote the product. However, the Arya brothers were not satisfied with HTA either. They felt that they were paying too much for the advertisements, without adequate results. Anil said, “Humorous and attention-grabbing they were, but the ads lost out on what the brand wanted to say.”
KAPL then decided to handle the advertising for All Out on its own, surprising many industry watchers and drawing criticism from some ad agencies. However, the company surprised everybody with the launch of a campaign featuring an animated, jumping frog (actually an All Out vaporizer) eating mosquitoes, which proved to be immensely successful. The ad was based on similar advertisements made by Earth for the Japanese market. Later on, the advertisement included a man competing with All Out in a mosquito ‘eating’ competition and losing out. The short, funny advertisement cost KAPL just Rs 50,000 to make. Over the next few years, KAPL continued with the same advertisement, with only minor modifications to suit the launch of new promotion schemes.
KAPL advertised on videocassettes of Hindi movies in a big way – a move criticized by many advertising agencies, as these were believed to be ‘downmarket.’ Explaining the rationale behind this decision, Anil said, “We went for video cassettes as they got duplicated 20 times in the grey market. And it cost a fraction of what it takes to advertise on TV.”
KAPL also made use of the evening news program on FM Radio and test cricket commentary on the state-owned All India Radio (AIR) to communicate in a cost-effective manner. On television, KAPL preferred to sponsor news programs rather than costly and more conventional soaps or game shows such as the hugely popular Kaun Banega Crorepati .
The company also pioneered the concept of sponsoring song/dance and fight sequences in movies on many satellite television channels (primarily) SitiCable and Doordarshan. All Out advertisements would appear before each song/dance and fight sequence in the movie. As Hindi movies typically featured 4-5 songs/dances, the viewers watched the All Out advertisement at least 4-5 times. This resulted in the brand attaining a very high mind-share among consumers. While All Out had an overall share of voice (SOV) of 31%, the nearest competitor GoodKnight had just 5% in 2000.
KAPL priced the heating unit of the All Out vaporizer fairly high, to cover the cost of the relatively expensive components purchased from Matsushita Electronics. However, reacting to market sentiment, the company lowered its price over the years, aided in part by increased in-house manufacturing of components. While All Out was priced at Rs 225 when it was launched, the price was reduced to Rs 135 for a cord model in 1994. In 1995, KAPL launched the ‘Pluggy’ (a small apparatus, in which the refill could be fitted and plugged in directly) for Rs 90. In 1996, a twin pack (offering the Pluggy and a cord model) was launched for Rs 135. In 1998, KAPL came out with a Rs 99 pack consisting of the Pluggy and a refill. The deal, called the ‘deadly offer’ was backed by heavy advertising.
By then, it was clear that the company was treating the vaporizer as a loss leader, to promote the sale of its refill containers. The ‘deadly exchange scheme’ launched in 1999, gave customers the chance to exchange a mat machine of any make for a Pluggy for just Rs 27. The response to this scheme was phenomenal with the company reportedly selling over half a million pieces in September 1999 alone.
Meanwhile, GSLL, which had launched its own vaporizer in 1996 under the GoodKnight brand, was struggling to maintain its market share in the segment after its initial success. GSLL launched a 60-night refill pack priced at Rs 63, against All Out’s 45-night pack at Rs 54. However, the move did not prove to be very successful and GSLL had to support the launch by introducing promotion schemes. After KAPL’s ‘deadly exchange scheme,’ GoodKnight’s share decreased by 9.3% in volume terms between September 1999 and February 2000. GSLL then reduced the price of its vaporizer, but this too had little effect on sales.
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According to industry reports, the Indian mosquito repellant market was expected to grow rapidly in the early 21st century. Analysts said that with improvement in literacy and health consciousness in rural areas, the use of mosquito repellants was expected to increase substantially in these areas. As the per capita usage of repellants was very low in the country, there was considerable scope for the market to expand.However, increasing concern over the harmful effects of the chemicals in mosquito repellants on the health of human beings was expected to be hamper growth. Allethrin, the chemical used in most of the repellants, was reported to be very dangerous, being potentially harmful to the eyes, skin, the respiratory tract and the nervous system.
A study done on rats by the Industrial Toxicology Research Center [1] showed that the rats suffered brain, liver and kidney damage after prolonged exposure to liquid mosquito repellants. Research in Sweden and the USA had also shown that long-term and persistent use of products containing Allethrin could cause brain cancer, blood cancer and deformity of fetuses.
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A Marketer’s worst nightmare?? When customers have to wait to get the work done.It is a great turndown for the customers if they have to wait. According to Stephen Novlis “Effect of delay between choices and consumption between choice and consumption” Yummy factor plays a very important role here.
If marketed perfectly, this delay can indeed be used to increase the experience of the consumer.
(OK. Hold off eating that chocolate bar for a minute. Now, bite. See what we mean?) The delay allows the consumer to savor their anticipation of the product, which adds to their experience.
This factor means a great breakthrough for the marketers who operate in an industry where delays are unavoidable. Keep the lounge near the kitchen of your restaurant. The customers end up eating more than they planned. The sight and aromas of food increase the anticipation among customers.
But what does this mean for the marketers??
Building an anticipation factor where delays are unavoidable increases the customer experience drastically and finally you end up getting more than you anticipated.
This is a study by Mr. Novlis from the western parts of the world. Let’s implant this in our daily marketing strategies and see the results in the Indian context. This is a great time when most of us are either joining our first job or are entering our summer internship. If this proves to be successful we may get a greater chance of progressing upwards in the corporate ladder.
Share your experiences in the comments …
Ever heard of this term in any of your semesters? Yes ??? Probably your professors are teaching much beyond the University Curriculum!! Jokes apart!!
Behavioural Targeting is one of the primary tools in internet marketing. Started in the early 2005′s with the internet bubble, this trend grew by leaps and bounds. Today almost every company having a web presence (Which really uses the web to gain business and not for flashing on the Business Card) uses tools like Behavioural Targeting.
What is Behavioural Targeting?
Behavioural Targeting is the science of using online user surfing statistics in a manner, so as to enhance the the business for the advertising organisation + do not give the user what he does not want.
It is a not a technology that knows who you are but where have you been.
Let me elaborate this. When a user clicks on a certain site or a certain link the stats are stored in the database of the advertising company. Stats of thousands if not millions of users from across the segments are studied and then, only those advertisements are targeted to the users which they would be potentially interested in.
Let me give and example. Suppose I search for an MBA college in Google, then visit fifa.com then again search some more sites engaged providing MBA coaching in Mumbai. So what does Google observe from this. (Have you seen permission dialogue boxes popping up, while installing programs like Web Browsers etc, which say “Participate in our anonymous data collection program and help us know you better.” These are the kind of permissions which allow service providers to collect anonymous information about user tastes and preferences which are then used by the service providers for targeting potential customers) Coming back to the example, Google now has an idea that I am a male, love soccer. am in the age group of 20 – 30 years and am searching for a MBA Coaching Institute. Also I am out, looking for MBA colleges in and around Mumbai. Now what Google does is, instead of targeting me with random ad’s it targets me with ad’s of companies selling soccer related stuff or institutes providing MBA coaching and MBA institutions in and around Mumbai. Thus it has increased the chances of attracting my attention. Also it gets more money as I click on more ad’s and last but not the least I face less nuisance by getting less irrelevant ad’s.
Are there different types of Behavioural Targeting?
Yes, One is Behavioural Targeting and other is Contextual Targeting.
Where on one hand Behavioural Targeting involves keeping track of customers on a single site, Contextual Targeting deals with tracking customers within a range of sites.
Are there any tools available for Behavioural Targeting?
Of course there are IT companies developing and distributing software used for surfing habits of internet users
If there are any further queries, feel free to leave a comment and I will make sure they are promptly responded.
Hi Guys, I think sorry was not enough for all the hardcore readers of this blog. So I came up with an idea which will keep all of busy for some time to come. So huh….. What’s the big Idea of which I am bragging about??? Well… I suggest that we all put efforts to develop a website (I even have thought a name for it) that will cater to the needs of not only people interested in Marketing but will involve guys from all the streams of Business world. The details of the project (as a first draft, are mentioned here under). Please come up with suggestions and critics so that we can together make it a great success. Another thing, If you find anything unclear please feel free to ask about it. Waiting for your feedback, Always at your service, Manish K Gupta Project: Code Name: One Infinite Loop A Platform to interact, socialize and grow Project Report – Draft I This project is regarding the development of a fully dedicated website which will cater to the following needs. Highlights of the project Aim of the Project The project is aimed at delivering the following “Means of Growth“ Look and Feel of the website The website will be divided in the following sections and subsections The test period for the project is One Year. In this we have to develop the project, Market it, involve members and make it self-sustainable, so that it can be carried forward in the future also. It will require great patience and devotion. I expect, for those of you who intent to take part in this project to develop the said qualities. I promise; we will have a great time accomplishing this mammoth task. Apart from this we will also be the proud owners of a project which is started by us, marketed by us and sustained by us. So come up guys. Get ready for the challenge. To know what does this project expect of us, Please mail me on m.gupta11@gmail.com with the subject line One Infinite Loop.
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Hey All,
In the past article I have aggressively advocated the pragmatic applicability of Modern Marketing in India. I had been thinking about the same for a quite a while now. Is the internet penetration really so high that investing in internet marketing would really yield the quantum of sales that are expected at the same level of investments in conventional marketing. The reason for this argument is that, one needs to invest heavily in capital infrastructure for yielding the benefits of internet and other modern marketing.
This is specially true for companies that have not previously invested in IT and related infrastructure. Secondly, a major limitation for Indian companies is that modern marketing requires a great amount of innovation. Although you may agree that Indian IT engineers are famous around the world for their skills, but one needs to remember that its not the IT engineers that frame the marketing policies for a company. Apart from this engineers can develop the software when the specific requirements are given to them. Hence marketing professionals should know the ways and means of using internet as a powerful tool in the field of marketing. Unless these requirements are fulfilled, I doubt whether the modern marketing techniques like social media marketing and other innovative practices can be applied by local companies.
What do you think about this?
Do believe that internet marketing will take it’s time and would finally come in a big way to India?
Do you believe that Modern Marketing will have a deep rooted impact in social arrangements in India?
What other techniques and examples, other than those expressed in the previous article can be applied in Indian context?
Recently I read this book by Philip Kotler and Fernando Trias de Bes on Lateral Marketing published by Wiley Publications. After completing the book the one word I said was WOW. The book mentions some basic problems faced by marketers today and deals with how to eliminate or at least reduce them. Every Marketing student knows Mr. Kotler and can guess how great Ideas can he deliver. So let’s see what are the great ideas discussed by him this time.
Present Market
He says, Today Market is crowded with hundreds and thousands of products of different brands. Oligopoly rules across the markets. Product life cycles have shortened. “Replace” has overtaken “Repair”. There are thousands of varieties in a given genre of product. This is a case of extreme segmentation and fragmentation.
What needs to be done?
"Creating niche is out. Mass marketing is in AGAIN".
In this era of internet and fast communication channels, one must exploit them to the extremes to reach the Target Customers.
One must think laterally before entering a market. He should make the competition irrelevant by creating blue oceans. This does not mean the fundamentals of Marketing have lost their glory, but the fact is “One should change with time”. There is something extra that needs to be added with conventional marketing techniques to grab customer attention today.
First things first. Let’s talk about coming out with newer products. One should keep in mind that customers don’t have time. They are suffering with paranoia, that they are very busy and they need everything in one thing. (To some extent it is true too.) Take the example of Malls. They developed because the customers preferred to get every thing under one roof. Take another example. Today cell phone or for that matter any other gadget or appliance comes loaded with ‘n’ number of features. This is because they want everything in one thing.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating that newer products need to contain much more features than they are doing today. That is a technological issue. (in various cases) But when Consumer Goods are concerned how will they add features in their products or when a chocolate is concerned how will they add features in the chocolate. You will say they will add varieties. But that is the problem. Already the market is flooded with varieties and brands and we here are discussing remedial action for it.
So what do we do now?
What Mr. Kotler suggests is to build cross genre functionalities in your products. A bit technical? I will explain. Take for example the case of chocolates. 90% of the chocolate market in India is ruled by Cadbury and Nestle. The rest 10% faces immense competition among players like Perfetti, Candico and the like. So how do I come out with a new product? Now what I would do is, I will think of some latent need that is now not satisfied by the current players. I will try to find out some uncomforting features of the present products. This is the thing I will exploit rather than launching a new variety in the Red Ocean. I will think of some cross genre adjustments and then and only then after doing a strong market research will I come out with a product. Even in case of market research companies are not clear as to what they want to research on and who will benefit from it. But let’s keep it for some other time.
Now what I can think of, is a product which let’s name NUTRIX. How will it be different from already existing products?
1. It will be lowest on calories. (discomfort in people, while eating high calorific chocolates)
2. It will have the same taste as the cocoa and chocolate based chocolates
3. It will be Highly Nutritious. (Now that will be my USP. As it is the latent need in the people to have the fun of eating chocolates and still enjoy the benefit of having something nutritious)
4. I will position it as, suppose a snack for adults and energy supplement for children. (Thus virtually forcing parents to give my chocolates to children whenever they ask for one. As for adults they may have the chocolate as a Brunch or as a desert in dinner)
Now my product is competing with not only chocolate industry, but also with snack industry, sweets industry, health supplements industry and so on. But the share it snatches from them will be so little individually that they won’t object to it. But accumulating small shares from a large number of industries will give me a large chunk of money. Thus I would be successful in carving a new market for myself.
Thus the ingredients of Lateral Thinking and Lateral Marketing have to be inculcated in our marketing strategies if we really want to make the competition irrelevant and enjoy a great earning experience.
The second part is using modern marketing in our marketing strategies. That we will be discussing from time to time, as this blog is meant for basically those kind of issues.
Sooooooo…. It’s time to go again. Will be back soon with something worthwhile to share.
Till then GOOD LUCK …
CET is over. Results are out. College selection is in. Students are in a dilemma which stream to choose, because selection of a college very much depends on what stream a student is going to pursue. One can say that this is the worst set of choices that a student faces in his academic life. I will tell you the reason.
First whatever stream he takes will remain with him for the rest of his life as more often than not people do not change the stream they once taken as they have specialized in it and they have given a lot of time and energy in to it.
The second reason is people don’t know what they are going to learn in a particular stream. It so happens that they hear for the first time that there are say 5 or 6 streams in a MBA program. Still when they are yet to digest this they come to know that some private college has come up with a new stream which is very much heard in the media recently. Let’s for example take Retail or Banking or for that matter Rural Marketing. One has no idea as to what these really mean and what is the significance of these streams. One does not understand the impact that choosing a particular stream now will have on their futures.
It is for these guys and girls that I am writing this article for. So if you have any friends or relatives who are confused as to what to do after CET or for that matter any entrance exam for Masters in Management Sciences, please ask them to read this. I don’t pretend to say that it will solve their problem, but I am sure that it will definitely help them in making decision.
First thing to keep in mind to take decision as to which college you will be taking is to choose the stream that you are going to pursue in the future. Today many colleges specialise in few courses but also run other programs to sustain themselves. So never opt for a college that is not specialized in a particular course, as it will directly affect your final placements.
Thinking logically the second thing that comes to mind is which stream to consider at such a nascent stage, especially when one knows nothing about any of the available courses.
A very simple answer to this question is SELF SWOT. Now what is SELF SWOT?
As everybody doing a MBA knows SWOT stands for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats. Now when one prepares a candid SWOT of himself he clearly sees that this is one particular thing one is good at. This is weakness etc. Let’s take an example to solve this puzzle. Supposing my Strengths are
1. I can write fluently.
2. I have good communication skills.
3. I have good People Management skills.
4. I can very approachable.
My weakness are
1. I tend to be very shy in public.
2. I have great stage fear.
3. I tend to get dominated by highly aggressive people.
Then let’s think what opportunities I will have in the Future. Analysing the above profile according to me,
1. I will be suited in an area where there are lot of people.
2. I will be able to keep a balance between the poles.
3. I can convince people to do things in a very efficient manner.
Let’s find out the threats that such a personality will face.
1. I will be very uncomfortable if I am kept in a regular company of highly aggressive people.
2. I will be smashed if I am asked to give a public presentation. Hence I can’t compete with people with very high confidence
Now analysing all these factors together one comes to a conclusion that HR is the field for him. I won’t explain why it is so (as the article would get very lengthy) but I request the reader to analyse the decision.
If there is anything with which I can be of help please do post a comment or fire a mail to me.
I think this approach would definitely help any aspirant who is planning to join a MBA program in the near future.
Promising to be back soon, I wish all the readers GOOD LUCK with your decision making.
REMEMBER: MBA IS ALL ABOUT MAKING DECISIONS SO WHY NOT GET REALDY FROM NOW ITSELF
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