It happens only in India

Guess what the famed ruthless MNCs fear in India? 500 bhelpuri hawkers, 5,000 dabbawalas, 40,000 illiterate papad makers, and of course, 1 ubiquitous brand called Banta! Rest assured...

There are two stunningly successful businesses in Mumbai. One is run by 5,000 people and makes roughly Rs.25 crore a month. The other provides employment to some 500 people and has net sales of more than Rs.5 lakh everyday. The first one has been ranked by Forbes magazine at par with Motorola and General Electric on the basis of the highly prized Six Sigma rating for quality assurance. It is a business that is probably as complex as FedEx. The only difference being, this one is run with uneducated staff, without telephones, computers or even delivery trucks. Both the above-mentioned businesses are run by simple, almost illiterate people, yet they have made many multinationals gasp at their efficiency. If you haven’t yet grasped it; I’m talking about the ‘dabbawalas’ and the hawkers who sell ‘bhelpuri’ on the streets of Mumbai.

More than one lakh meals in aluminium tiffin boxes are carried from homes and delivered to people at their workplaces – just in time for lunch! These 5,000 odd dabbawalas have no computerised database records. They simply memorize the 30-35 addresses from where they need to pick up and drop the lunch boxes. They have been around for almost a century and the organisation is still going strong, so much so that when Prince Charles visited India, he singled them out and met them – these simple men dressed in white shirts and pants and Gandhi caps, bound and committed so strongly to each other, have shown that if you are motivated and committed, even huge MNCs with very large marketing budgets cannot beat you. They have helped Mumbai retain its passion for home-cooked food, by making sure it’s delivered on their work-desks, right on time!

If men in Gandhi caps have created a stir in Mumbai, then those are Gandhi’s philosophies that have changed the lives of more than forty thousand illiterate women. Started by a bored housewife and her six friends, this organisation took off with no huge initial investment and no super qualified staff to run it. Just sheer common sense and Gandhi homilies have made it today into a $65 million company. Mrs. Popat started Lijjat Papad in a chawl in central Bombay. Today, it has its headquarters in the swish Bombay suburb – Bandra. All that the housewives did was to make papad from the raw material given to them during their free time. Today, the papads are sold in the US, UK and Middle East. A few dedicated women, a sunny rooftop and an idea became the foundation of this organisation, which today fears no competition ‘Yeh Hai India!’McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, KFC and many more, with their smart packaging and snappy advertising, have not been able to take away the charm of a ‘bhelpuri’ made in 5 minutes and delivered in simple plates made out of leaves on a street corner under the blazing sun, sans any air-conditioning or hip-hop music and modern lighting. So much so that now these very MNC food chains have included dishes in their menu which no one ever thought existed. It’s only in India that one could find a ‘Do Pyaza Tandoori Masala Pizza’ or a ‘McAloo Tikki’ burger. If you need to succeed here, you need to take care of not just their taste buds, but also their religious beliefs. No wonder so many big food joints have ‘Navratra’ meals. Some even have a Jain menu. Guess it wouldn’t be long before a McJain burger would find a place in the McDonald’s outlets here! Necessity is the mother of all invention.

If our taste buds are unique, then so are our TV viewing habits. Nowhere else, could a whole nation come to a stand still when a mythological serial was aired on TV. That is exactly what happened when Ramayana and Mahabharata were aired on Doordarshan. People sat glued to the television sets on Sunday mornings. Till date, no other channel has been able to create such hysteria. However, there is someone who is making a lot of money with her serials. No where else, but in India could bickering of saas-bahus have made so much moolah as in India. ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ brought back TV to life. It turned Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Productions into a Rs.200 crore organisation in a couple of years. In fact, Ekta Kapoor’s serials generate TRP ratings, which are much higher than that of the live Indo-Pak cricket matches!

Nevertheless, cricket is one sport, which can drive a whole nation into a frenzy. In fact, it’s the Indian cricket team that can drive any nation into a frenzy. Whenever our team plays and wherever it plays, the TRP ratings shoot up. No one else worships the game as we do! Coke and Pepsi may fight their guts out trying to prove which tastes better, but on the Indian turf stands a drink that does not advertise, is made in not-so-hygienic conditions, yet has a large market share. ‘Banta’, the lemon flavoured drink, still remains a popular thirst-quencher of Indians. It has survived and thrived in a way that Coke and Pepsi’s marketing analysts can never imagine.

Lay’s potato chips is finding tough competition from our home-grown entrepreneurs – Haldiram’s. Lay’s just sell potato chips, Haldiram’s, with its collection of bhujias and mixtures etc sells a whole lifestyle. The whole country’s culture and its snacking habits are what Haldiram’s is all about. Someone rightly said: The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Haldiram’s has found a permanent place in the heart of Indians forever. Come what may – Akhir Dil Hai Hindustani! We are different, our culture, climate, language makes us so. We have some good and some bad. A population of one billion and yet we cannot win a gold medal in the Olympics. Cameroon, Mozambique, Bahamas, all much smaller than us, yet they each have taken home a ‘Gold’, not us!

We pray to female deities, and yet, there are fewer people hunting down tigers and lions, compared to the number hunting down female children. India has killed 10 million girls in last 20 years.Snake charmers still remain a very important part of our tourist promotions. Snake charmers, like royalty, attract foreign tourists still. These snake charmers are the ones who don the role of doctors in rural India providing cures for diseases like asthma, skin infection, gastric problems etc. They also provide themes for Bollywood movies. A snake woman got the cash registers jingling never before. ‘Nagina’ could have been a box-office hit only in this land.

Bollywood too, with its unique way of movie-making, is something Hollywood has never seen before. We take their movies and remake them, almost scene by scene, and they turn out to be bigger and better hits. This Republic Day, let’s take a few minutes to ponder on our uniqueness and find a way to minimize the negatives. We are a very special nation. A nation, which still values families, love and all things wonderful. When anyone – MNCs, tourists, etc – comes to India, they need to understand our uniqueness to really be able to succeed and enjoy here... After all, certain things happen in India only!

Copyright © : Rajita Chaudhuri and Planman Media.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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Why Pepsi went BLUE!

Give me a red, and a blue, and yes a green, maybe a white too, and let’s not leave black behind! Because the rules of competition are very clear; and there’s no space for shades of grey... Presenting, a thoroughly ‘coloured’ perspective on market leadership!

Colour my world
Whenever you think of a colour, do you feel something?
Or whenever you feel something, do you think of a colour?
Confused? Let’s put it this way... When you think of ‘purity’, which colour do you think of? Probably
white.When you think of ‘passion’, which colour do you think of? Probably red.
When you think of ‘peace’, which colour do you think of? Probably white.
When you think of ‘cool’, which colour do you think of? Probably blue.
When you think of ‘freshness’, which colour do you think of? Probably green.
Not just feelings, our association with colours has extended to products too.Try this...
If it has to be a detergent, which colour should it be? Blue!
If it has to be a lemon soap, which colour should it be? Green!
If it has to be a beauty soap, which colour should it be? White or Pink!
If it has to be an environment-friendly product, which colour should it be? Green!
It doesn’t stop here. Think of this...

COKE is RED
LIRIL is GREEN
NIVEA is BLUE
MAGGI is YELLOW

Opposite sides of the spectrum

What colour do you associate Coke with? Red?

Yes! It’s the red colour that makes it distinct and gives it a unique identity, apart from other factors like the brand name, flavour, shape of the bottle etc. After all, if Coke is evaluated as a brand, the colour red would be contributing 40% to its equity.

A question that comes to mind is – if Coke is red, then what colour is Pepsi associated with? Blue??Pepsi tried to go blue.

It wanted to associate itself with the colour blue. It was ready to shell out a neat $500 million (Rs.17.50 billion, approximately) to go blue. For 40 years, it has used the colour mix of red and white and blue so as to give it a distinct colour identity. Pepsi went to the extent of painting blue a concord supersonic jet to carry the colour message to bottlers around the world. This colour differentiation would help in giving Pepsi an identity distinct and different from Coke. To increase the association of the colour with the brand, Pepsi highlighted the colour blue in all its advertisements. What I’m trying to say here is that colours compete as much as brand names do. Close your mind’s eye and try to think of Coke – you will see a splash of red. Then think of Pepsi and you will, probably now, think of blue. If this exercise had been done a few years back, you would have been unable to decide whether Pepsi was blue or red.

What is it that made Pepsi turn electric blue? Is it then true that Pepsi’s erstwhile red and blue combination served just as a reminder of Coke? To cut a long story short, the bottom line is, when it comes to colours, be opposites if you are competitors. Many brands, consciously or otherwise, have followed this.

• Perk is blue while its competitor, Kit-Kat, is red.
• Kodak is yellow while the counterpart, Fuji, is green.
• Polo is green and blue while Minto is now red and yellow.
• Hertz picked up yellow, so Avis picked red.

There’s a powerful logic in selecting a colour that is opposite to that of your major competitor. It is more important to create a separate brand identity with the help of colour than it is to use the right symbolic colour. To put it simply, consider this example. For an eco-friendly product the right symbolic colour is probably green, but if your competitor has chosen it first, it’s best to avoid green and choose a contrasting colour. This way, you shall be saved the pain of being a ‘me-too’ product, and would have a distinct identity. Remember, Pepsi learnt it the hard way... after 40 years!

What is brand recall? It’s finally your ability to stand out in a crowd of similar sounding, similar looking products. To be successful, a brand needs to stick out like a sore thumb in the market place. This immediately makes it more noticeable and memorable. Think of the corporate world where everybody is dressed in blue or black suits. An orange suit would immediately be noticed and remembered. Similarly, in the market place, a colour strikingly different from your competitor’s will make you stick out, get you noticed and remembered. With the help of advertising, you could strengthen this association of the desired colour with your brand and help it build strong colour equity.

If you are the first to enter the market, you have a choice of which colour to associate your brand with. When you are second, it has to be a colour strikingly different from your competitor’s. When you have the freedom to choose, a colour should be chosen with great care. Colours influence us in a variety of ways. They seem to have a direct physical impact on us. Donald Kaufman conducted experiments to show how colour influenced our daily lives. He found that when we are placed in a room with red light and all of a sudden the light is switched to blue, instantaneously, our body temperature falls.

Moody blues and the flashing reds

Colours don’t just have a physical impact; they also have a deep psychological impact. Our association with colours is natural. The reds and yellows will always be associated with warmth and passion. The coolness of the blues and greens will also remain. Moreover, due to our desire for warmth, we would always prefer warm colours, red being the quintessential colour of warmth.

Colours conjour up certain images. The reds and yellows give the image of youth, as they are considered to be young colours. Black is a very interesting colour. It can draw up numerous images almost at the same time! It can be perceived as sinister, sensual, mysterious or even inauspicious. The way you use it in your advertisement makes all the difference. Purple is a colour symbolising luxury.

Things become more interesting when we combine colours. It is said, putting two colours together causes them to vibrate! Thus, it produces a dramatically different effect. Think of a restaurant done up in shades of red and burgundy. It would have a very rich and sophisticated ambience about it. The colours would decide what kind of people, what kind of menu, what pricing this kind of place would have and hence, what kind of advertising would go with it. Now let’s combine red with yellow and see how dramatically different the effect would be. The same place would have a different ambience, a different menu, different pricing and a different clientele. It would be a funky place, average priced for the youth, probably serving fast food! It was the same red both times, but different combinations produced different effects.

An advertisement, which just tells us what the product is all about and what it does, is not a good ad. Believe it or not, but most of the time, when we buy things, it’s on the basis of emotions. As an advertising man, one must always remember ‘people don’t buy things or products or even brands – they buy solutions’. Those are our emotions that help us in finding these solutions. When an advertisement is created, it should evoke the right kind of emotions. Using the right colours or the right colour combinations holds the key to trigger the right emotional response... after all, as I asked in the beginning, when you think of a colour, do you feel something?

Copyright © : Rajita Chaudhuri and Planman Media.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) .

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
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IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!

The Marketing of Love

“I feel it in my fingers I feel it in my toes, The love is all around me, And so the feeling grows”...

I have been humming this song for days, and wondering why! It’s one of my favourites, but not one to be sung for days. I tried to figure out why, and then realized that everywhere I looked, every shop I went to, every website I visited, every dinner I attended, there was one thing that was always present; and that too in large doses – love! Yes, I realized it’s that time of the year when love is on sale, everybody, everything, is drenched in “red,” the colour of love. The red hearts, the red roses are just ‘unmissable’.

If Saint Valentine were here, he would have been a very happy saint, for what he did in secret and under great fear, is today being done so openly and with so much gusto that even those remotely aware of him cannot miss this day.

Of Chocolates and Teddy Bears

If legend were to be believed, then Saint Valentine was a priest during the third century in Rome. At that time, Emperor Claudius II wanted more and more men to join his army; and figured out that single men made better soldiers. So he outlawed marriage. Valentine decided to help these young souls and began performing marriages for young lovers in secret. Valentine was caught and put in jail by the king. It was in the jail that the first ‘Valentine’ message was sent by him to the jailor’s daughter, with whom he fell in love. Before his death, he wrote her a letter and signed as “from your Valentine.”

That one letter has today turned into an avalanche of letters. If statistics are to be believed, then half of the US population celebrates Valentine’s Day by purchasing at least one greeting card. Who knew V’day would become the second largest holiday (after Christmas) for giving greeting cards; after all, giving a card is so much easier than writing letters, since there is now a card for every feeling and emotion... Some cynics say, Valentine’s Day was created by card companies to fill their coffers. I must say the strategy has paid off. Americans are spending to the tune of $13 billion on Valentine’s Day. Now that’s something to cheer about, not just for the card companies, but for the candy makers, the chocolate companies & teddy bear companies too. The Vermont Teddy Bear Company sells 100,000 teddy bears on this day. As much as 30% of its yearly sales come from Valentine’s Day sales itself. According to the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are sold on Valentine’s Day itself!

The amount that is being spent on Valentine’s Day is increasing every year, making it a very special day for retailers the world over. Almost everyone has something unique to offer to their customers on this day.

A couple of years back, Pepsi launched ‘Pepsi, Love Wrap’, where consumers could get their messages printed on customized labels. These labels would then be stuck on 500 ml Pepsi bottles and delivered by hand to their Valentines! McDonald’s too had come out with an offer called ‘All for my love’, which was a special Valentine meal combination, and it came with a special ‘scratch-and-win’ coupon. You could win shoes, chocolates, cosmetics, music and even jewellery.

Look what’s happened to those roses!

There was a time when the demand for roses used to shoot-up because a large event was coming up. Indian roses were in huge demand when UK was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Queen ascending the throne. The Chinese New Year also gave a boost to the export market of roses sometimes. Now, every year, the demand for roses shoots-up, thanks to Valentine’s Day. Around 13 million rose stems were exported from Bangalore and Pune in 2002. For those who believed in “Love lasts forever, roses don’t,” a company called I. K. Silver has come out with roses that stay in bloom forever. Skilled artisans coat each rose with 24 carat gold, thus preserving the bloom’s loveliness. At Rs.1,000 a stem, this rose is for the not-so-thrifty lovers. If this sounds steep, then consider this – in Singapore, cupid has struck so hard that people are paying $30 for roses with the name of their loved ones printed on the petals.

The business of loving

For those who think cola and roses are cheap options, there are bigger brands that have also planned ways to help you profess your love. From Titan watches with their ‘Big Heart’ limited edition watches, to Corum and its Rs.500,000 watch, you could express your love and your bank balance on this day!

Brands are doing a whole lot of things to increase their sales. In fact, Valentine’s Day has become the perfect time to launch new products. From coffee to cola, from scooty to suitcases, from special dinners to diamonds, everything is being customized for the V’day!

La Salle decided to introduce its “Panache” range of soft luggage on this day. Christian Dior made a splash into women’s watch segment on this day. So much so that a no-fuss bank with a serious image – SBI – decided to roll out a host of direct marketing activities on this day. They sent around 30,000 direct mailers. Each mailer had a card that read, “From Your Loving Husband.” The card, however, was dated Feb 14th, 2032. The mailers went on to explain that their lifelong pensions could give you financial independence forever. Even when you are sixty and not earning a regular salary, you can still keep showering your wife with gifts on special occasions like this. How sweet!

Not just this, the company decided to follow it up with an event at multiplexes, where visitors would be asked what they would give their wife when they would be sixty, and the best answer would win a prize of course. Pension policies never sounded more romantic.

So while you thought Valentine’s Day was only for the oh-so-much-in-love couples, a lot of firms are finding it the right day to express their love for – who else – their customers. The CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi came out with a book titled, Love Marks, the Future Beyond Brands. He proved how loving your customers generates a following for your brand, which he termed “loyalty beyond reason.” Al Ries (the famous ‘marketing warfare’ guru) too believed that tender-loving-care always helped in building loyalty for your brand; and what better a day to show it than Valentine’s Day.

Love in movies, malls and MTV

From Google changing its logo to suit the occasion, to TV channels customizing their programmes for the V’day, everyone is using love to promote themselves. Story lines of serials are changed to fit the event, so Jassi of Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin receives a Valentine gift from her boss Armaan on this day. Not to be left behind, Star Plus started a contest where you could mail Valentine messages to the characters of its popular serial Kahiin To Hoga. The best message would have won a dinner date with the stars of the serial. Zee Cinema came out with a whole movie festival around the love theme called Dil Deke Dekho.

This day of love is loved by the retailers, and where else is this more evident than in the malls. They are designing promotions in such a way that one can spend the whole day there. Keep spending, and let love keep flowing. Not surprising then, Fun Republic in Chandigarh created a record of sorts when 40,000 footfalls were clocked on 14th February (in 2005); and the McDonald’s outlet in their mall achieved its highest per day sales in the nation, at this very mall. Not just the mall, a whole lot of other brands have begun earmarking this day. MTV hosts its MTV Asia Awards bash on this day. Cashing in on love, the theme for the bash naturally is ‘Love’. Not just this, the Chicago based Wrigley decided to venture into chocolates just days before the nation, or rather the world, got into a love-frenzy. It bought a premium chocolate company in Russia just in time for Valentine’s Day! Even anti-love sells!

All those who don’t believe “love is a wonderful thing,” there are savvy marketers who have designed things to help you express your feelings. So while brands like GAP, DKNY are designing t-shirts with “I love you’s” and kisses planted on them, you could visit spreadshirt.com and design your own anti-Valentine t-shirt (and you thought only Shiv-Sena was anti-Valentine). You could get one that reads, “Love is for losers,” which, incidentally, also is also their official anti-Valentine’s day motto; or you could go in for stronger messages like “Love makes me puke.” So whether there is love in your life, or lack of it, marketers have found a way to spin money out of it. If there is something for couples, then there are a whole lot of offerings for singles too. The Taj Group has a vacation scheme for singles. The TVS Scooty invites single yuppies to answer questions like, “A Scooty Pep is preferable to a date because...”

The power of love

The business houses are loving this business of love. The V’day has cut across all barriers of caste language, religion and even age. Everybody, everywhere is celebrating it. If in 2001 people were spending on an average $82 on this day, then till last year the average spend had gone up to $100. What’s even more interesting – than the fact that the day is snowballing into a big event – is, the people in the age group of 45-54 are spending more and more each year on this day. While the 18-24 year olds actually are decreasing their spends! No wonder marketers whose target audience falls in the 40+ age group are promoting their goods like never before. In 2006, for the first time, De Beers launched its Valentine’s Day marketing campaign. The campaign was inspired from classic romance novels and ran during the two weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day.

While Star Plus may still be wondering if it was a good idea to run Kaun Banega Crorepati with King Khan, the department store ‘Lifestyle’ is sure its Valentine’s Day contest Kaun Banega Pati will generate a greater audience participation than KBC’s TRP. So be it Papa Murphy’s heart shaped pizzas in Vancouver (Canada) or the British Heart Foundation launching its online campaign of Valentine’s Day to encourage donation, when it comes to matters of the heart, savvy marketers know there is a lot of room for creativity and profits. After all, this is one day when you can shop to your heart’s content! “That’s the magic of the marketing of love.”

Copyright © : Rajita Chaudhuri and Planman Media.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) .

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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Monopoly allegations…

When IIPM comes to education, never compromise

Even apart from the hype, the score is already 1-0 in the tight match between ICL and BCCI, in favour of ICL. On September 6th 2007, BCCI received the first shock of its crumbling monopolistic status, when the country’s anti-monopoly watchdog MRTPC initiated investigations against BCCI for bullying players, ordering the Director General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR) to probe allegations that BCCI has threatened players of life-time ban if they play for ICL. Even in 1994, BCCI had been fined by DGIR for adopting restrictive trade practices and the ghost has come back to haunt the apex cricketing body.

But the going’s not as easy for ICL either. Subhash Chandra, in the hope of breaking BCCI’s monopoly, has brought in more than 50 cricketers (from the domestic as well as international arena) and plans to kick-start his own series. However, unlike Kerry’s story, in case of Chandra, not even a single player from India’s playing eleven has switched their guard toward ICL. Chandra’s camp is full of players who are either on the verge of retirement or those who had long been waiting to get a chance to play in team India. The gargantuan task that stands ahead for Chandra is how he will recreate stars out of retired players, new kids on the block and ones who have been washed-off from spectators’ heart because of their average performance. Even more daunting questions for Chandra are: who will watch the game without the big league stars? Let’s not forget that even at the Ranji level, despite a plethora of senior members and stars, enthusiastic spectators and sponsorships are tough to come by. So without stars and viewers, will hefty sponsors bet on ICL? Chandra, who has already floated initial proposals to various media buying houses, clearly believes that they will. And media planners across the board agree whole heartedly.

“It should be amongst the more marketable local leagues in the country with LIVE television backing it up. ICL could also drive sponsorship throughout for a brand for a particular city; not very common otherwise,” Praveen Sharma, COO, Madison Media told 4Ps B&M. He adds that ICL would provide another window of sports sponsorship opportunity to brands. When quizzed about the revenue generation plan, Kaul of Zee was non-comittal. “It is far too early to discuss revenue plans. The key challenge is to stay focused and deliver what we promise, a talent pool that will be nothing but the best,” he told 4Ps B&M.

Clearly, it will not be an elephantine task for a sharp businessman like Chandra to capitalise on the huge hype that has been created around the League. Irrespective of the absence of star players (at least to begin with), there’s no dearth of companies who will willingly shell out moolah in the name of cricket. Reportedly, for ICL’s upcoming 20-20 tournament, Airtel and Future Group have been signed up as the sponsors. And despite the price of the sponsorship being all hushed up like the ‘dead man’s chest’, the buzz in the market is that the sponsorship comes with a price tag of Rs.3 crore.

Moreover, for brands that were unable to catch the cricket inferno on the BCCI route, it will be a case of re-birth in the cricket sponsorship domain. Explains K V Shridhar, NCD, Leo Burnett, “At present, ICL poses no threat to BCCI as far as snatching sponsorship rights are concerned. But ICL is a great opportunity for cricket and advertisers.”

So yes, for now, ICL is not infringing on BCCI’s moneybags, but hey, as smaller brands (that couldn’t touch cricket or cricket players because of their sky-high prices) start aligning with ICL, rest assured that big moneyand bigger brands will follow suit, as they do in the multi-billion soccer and basketball leagues in Europe and the United States, respectively. As for Sharad Pawar and gang, the time has come for the big brother of cricket to watch his back because big marketer Chandra means big business.

Edit bureau: Siddharth Nahata, Priyanka Rajpal

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Batting for the golden goose

IIPM, ADMISSIONS FOR NEW DELHI & GURGAON BRANCHES

Watch how Pawar and Chandra are slugging it out for the coveted trophy. And there have been no maiden overs yet!

The year 1991 came as a watershed. The Indian economy broke free from the shackles of decades of inward looking policies that curbed its potential. Circa 2007: Indian cricket is all set to be unchained from the monopolistic hegemony of its master of many years, the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI). Upon liberalisation, big business names like the Modis, Dalmias, Shrirams and Nambiars (business monopolies in the pre-liberalisation regime), succumbed to the challenges thrown by the post liberalisation scenario and withered away. Similarly, with a dream of replicating Australian biggie Kerry Packer’s action-packed cricketing thriller in the 1970s (which gave rise to today’s hugely popular one-day cricket), media magnate Subhash Chandra’s Indian Cricket League (ICL) has invaded BCCI’s cricketing turf, complete with a war chest of Rs.1 billion. With ICL knocking on its doors, has the beginning of the end for the very cash-rich BCCI (net profit of Rs.2.32 billion in FY07) begun? Or will BCCI manage to deliver a bouncer to its challenger?

Sharad Pawar is digging out every trick from his cricketing bag to protect the BCCI turf from an ICL onslaught, even resorting to some Machiavellian tactics to curb ICL’s cruise, among them blacklisting players, selectors and whosoever dares to associate with ICL; as also hiking up fees for all its players to avoid attrition. Legendary cricketer Kapil Dev, who showed the audacity (?) of publicly siding with ICL was sacked within hours by the BCCI from the chairmanship of the National Cricket Academy. BCCI is clearly feeling the heat.

But it will be a big mistake to underestimate the cricketing behemoth, which has managed cricket in India for close to 75 years. Says Rahul Mehra – the only lawyer who has fought and won a case against BCCI for fiscal malfeasance, “BCCI has always threatened, bought off or manoeuvred a way out to succeed against its opponents.” So of course, there are little chances of BCCI letting go of its monopoly control over the money-spinning game.

ICL may feign hurt at BCCI’s stiff upper lip reactions, but for tough man Chandra, tough times have never lasted long. Remember how in the 1990s, he successfully broke the monopoly of Doordarshan among Indian television viewers? Or even how over the last one year, he’s managed to trip Sony television and race ahead in the TRPs game? Chandra’s enthusiasm is infectious as he believes, “A professional league is the need of the hour as is the killer instinct in the players...” He also says that his ICL is certainly “not in conflict with the BCCI, but is complimentary to it.” Unperturbed by BCCI-led hinderences, ICL is steadily gearing up for the days ahead. Ashish Kaul, Exec. VP, Essel Group told 4Ps B&M, “No doubt, there are others who claim to have developed the game in the name of destruction and marred it with gradual decline and decay; To all of them I say, let the best team win!”

For an inning’s start, ICL is maintaining a steady average without loss of any wickets. With players from the India’s dream team of 1983 and mighty names from the international circuit – Dean Jones, Tony Greig, Inzamam- ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Klusener, Boje – supporting the structure, ICL’s foundations looks rock solid. The League has even been able to win support of the Railway Minister, Lalu Yadav, who has offered stadia under his department at ICL’s service.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Come, let’s meet the world’s richest man

Now, it’s official – the Fortune magazine way! The magazine has declared that Carlos Slim – the Mexican telecom billionaire, who owns Latin America’s largest cell phone company America Movil – is now the richest man in the world. Slim – with a bounty of personal riches of $59 billion – has overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Fortune also added that Slim’s companies (other than Movil, he has a range of business interests – from a restaurant chain to a bank) accounted for a third of the Mexican stock market and that his family’s holdings was worth more than 5% of Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) last year.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Beijing begins the Olympics countdown

Quick, tell us why Wednesday, August 8, was so important? We’ll tell you why! In exactly a year’s time, the Beijing Summer Olympics – easily the greatest sporting extravaganza in the world – will be declared open! In the midst of strong criticism from all over about the host country’s violation of human rights (the fact that more than 70 local laws and decrees will be made before the Games that will banish local people who don’t have residency permits in Beijing – among other things) and faulty foreign policy (particularly with regard to African nations), there is reason to rejoice, be happy and raise a toast to China’s coming of age in the most global way possible!

This is going to be only the third time – since the modern Olympics began in 1896 – that the Games will be held in an Asian venue. In 1964 the Olympics took place for the first time in the continent – in Tokyo, Japan. After that, Seoul in South Korea played host in 1988. And now Beijing. The games will be celebrated from August 8 to August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony commencing at 8:08 pm and 8 seconds at the Beijing National Stadium (nicknamed the “Bird Nest” because of its nest-like skeletal structure). The Games will consist of 302 events in 28 sports – just one event more than the Athens Olympics in 2004. Now for some news for marketers: throughout China, licensed Olympics merchandise stores have been in business since early 2007.

More than 800 official stores were in operation at the end of last month. Since July 31, 2007, Olympic merchandise has also been available online, with more than 5,000 products available via the official merchandising website, including apparel, mascot dolls, key-chains and even commemorative chopsticks.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Murdoch gets his Journal!

So, finally the deed is done! After weeks and weeks of negotiating and renegotiating, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has finally bought over Dow Jones and its flagship The Wall Street Journal. The world’s best-known – and most respected – financial daily now has a new owner. Of course, all this came for a price – and a whopping one at that: $5 billion, which is estimated to be 65% more than what the current market price of Dow Jones is! With this, the owner of News Corp. (Murdoch, who else?!) now has controlling rights of one more media company – the others being Fox Network, Sky Broadcasting and the Times of London. Earlier, the Bancroft family, (owners of the largest block of shares in Dow Jones & Co, and therefore had controlling rights over the company), had been apprehensive that the buy-out would lead to a compromise in the Journal’s renowned editorial independence. Two things happened after that. Murdoch promised that he is going to set up an independent editorial board that will oversee the content of the paper (so that it is not guided by any kind of vested interest). And, of course, the Bancrofts could not find a better offer – as good as what News Corp. was offering that is. Way to go Mr. Murdoch!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

KINGFISHER AIRLINES...

When IIPM comes to education, never compromise

KINGFISHER AIRLINES... is synonymous with luxurious style and in-flight entertainment. Live TV in the sky is its next big differentiator!

When frequent flyers were cribbing about their ‘oh-so boring’ domestic journeys and the equally insipid cuisine onboard, the flamboyant liqour baron Mallya came up with just the perfect answer. His Kingfisher Airlines came in with ingenious in-flight entertainment, avant-garde cuisine, and inventive designer interiors on aircrafts in 2005–value for money offerings at virtually the same cost as other contemporary airliners. Everything was spanking new– starting right from the loud red uniform of cabin crews and ground staffs to the sleeperette seats and personalized screens, 8 video channels and 12 music channels. Kingfisher Airlines stood out from the crowd.

And what’s more, Mallya did not stop at just that. Earlier this year, Mallya struck again. He tied up with Media tycoon Subhash Chandra’s Dish TV to offer DTH services on his aircrafts, a welcome news to all fliers hungry for entertaining ways to while away their time 6000 feet above sea level.

Says Akarsh Anand, Chief Manager, ICICI (a frequent traveler with Kingfisher), “You need just one journey with Kingfisher to see why they have captured a decent market share in such a short span.” And he’s not the only one rooting for Mallya’s inventive brand of ingenious innovation.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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JET AIRWAYS...

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JET AIRWAYS... is second to none in both aviation & innovation. The SMS check-in facility is another testimony to Naresh Goyal’s cutting edge thinking!

It’s no child’s play to wear the proud tag of ‘India’s only profitable domestic airline’. Jet Airways has earned this coveted status only after relentless efforts, not least among them tireless attempts towards innovations, to offer more bang for his buck to the Indian traveller. From introducing Indian aviation to the ‘Kiosk Check-in’ facility for the first time last year to the M-ticketing facility that has constantly been stealing the thunder for customer convenience, Jet has been constantly in the limelight for its innovative streak. Subhasish Dey, Industry Manager, Huntsman International and a Platinum card holder of Jet Airways, agrees. “Jet’s differentiating strategy can only be realized when someone travels Jet. They offer enormous new ways for time management, especially their recent SMS check-in facility,” he says.

SMS check-in allows Jet Privilege members to check-in via an SMS, which entitles the passenger to a seat number. And when the passengers reach the airport, they are simply handed in their boarding pass.

What’s more, in preparation for its international thrust, Jet is now offering a private ‘suite’ aboard its new Boeing 777-300ER. The suites are mix of opulence and privacy, complete with an 83 inches bed, a 23-inch flat screen monitor, a personal hanging wardrobe, among other luxuries in the sky. Now that’s innovation for differentiation in the skies!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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I’m on top!

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Whither do we go? This is the common theme at the boardrooms of many print publications across the globe, which are stung by the meteoric rise of electronic media, in particular the internet, and the subsequent commoditization of news that has resulted. In fact, Bhaskar Das, Executive President, Times of India Group goes as far as to exclaim thus, “Any discussion of any magazine in general, cannot ignore its possible migration to the internet.”

This trend transcends borders and is proliferating across cultures, reminding one of the popular promotional message that was flashed across TV channels world wide, when the internet was just getting born. Indeed, ‘Geography is history’, and with it, so is print media, at least as we have known it. Analysts feel this is the era for niche magazines, and highly differentiated content, the most critical cog in the wheel for companies wishing to dominate the media space, be it on paper or otherwise.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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BRAND BUSTERS

When IIPM comes to education, never compromise

The following points are the prime criterion for selecting, short-listing and ranking the winning ads in this section:
• Product positioning clarity
• Clinching benefit to the brand
• Presence of a power idea
• Visibility of brand personality
• Expectancy of communication
• Single-minded focus of message
• Reward to the prospect
• Visually arresting
• Painstaking craftsmanship
Here’s the 4Ps B&M verdict for the fortnight ended September 8, 2007. First come the print ads, then the TVCs. Ready for a piece of action?

BRAND: Lead India
HEADLINE: Be the change
BASELINE : NA
AGENCY : JWT
4Ps TAKE : Yes, ‘Actions do speak louder than words’; this is what Times of India’s latest campaign is preaching. The single-minded focus is to seek young, honest and fearless leaders who can become the voice and the future – of the nation. The USP? The winner will be able to contest the Parliamentary Elections in 2008-09, get Rs.50 lakh for a public welfare project of his or her choice, and an entry to the Leadership Development Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Political Leadership, Harvard. The communication is strong addressing a crisis situation faced by the country today. The visual comprising a young woman with statues of the freedom fighters in the backdrop is impressive and succeeds in creating a powerful impact on the readers. The reward to the prospect is The Times of India tag (the association of the newspaper with the nation dates back to the Indian National Movement) – in the 60th year of the country’s independence. Someone rightly said, ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’

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An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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A mind Game…

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Two egalitarian armies inherently destroy each other, there is nothing really new about it. But, consider a situation where both start sharing each-other’s secrets, Calamitous! Err… Big Pharma listening? We think, they aren’t, or else they wouldn’t have been sharing the much safeguarded coins of their realm. Not at least with their sizeable adversaries. After all, nowhere is this tradition of confidentiality more palpable than the present day pharmaceutical industry. Well, not to forget the money, honey, that starts pouring in with each success! So, how come these big pharma players are displaying a new found mutual affinity?

This year alone, at least six of the 13 companies that comprise the Big Pharma universe tied knots with each other. While Abbott and AstraZeneca were the latest to take on the $21.6 billion cholesterol market with a combination drug, Bristol- Myers & Pfizer, Schering-Plough & Merck et al were some of the other unions celebrated by the pharma industry. The wedding vows not only included the sharing of intellectual property but also scientists, and, of course, most importantly a promise to share the sale proceeds (not to result in a prospective agenda for a divorce, we hope!).

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Coca Cola India

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How will the new corporate campaign ‘Little Drops of Joy’ help Coca-Cola to strengthen its brand positioning?

This campaign outlines the 5 pillars of our strategy – people, portfolio, planet, partners & performance. The campaign essentially is an umbrella campaign that should tie all these five Ps together in one communication. We expect to communicate this to all our consumers and stakeholdersin one integrated way.

Why have you chosen this particular time to come out with this new corporate brand campaign?

We wanted to be absolutely sure about what we are doing before we talk about it. So everything that you see in the campaign is something we have already done. For instance, we are expanding our portfolio and its there in the campaign. We have been undertaking CSR exercises and we have won government awards on that front. So it’s the best time to announce the new campaign.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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YAHOO!

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The brand is in the midst of a storm brewed by its competitors & rising consumer demands...

The last time something worked out for you, what must you have shouted? “Yahoo!”? But when it comes to the world wide web, there’s one name that has crafted a celebrity position amongst the surfers – Yahoo! “Our first quarter 2007 financial results reflect solid execution against our plan. We remain focused on building innovative products and services...,” asserted a confident Sue Decker, Executive VP and Head of Advertiser and Publisher Group, Yahoo! To rejuvenate its brand image, Yahoo! Recently launched a campaign with a new message: ‘Be a better – (whatever you want to be) Yahoo!’. During 2006, Yahoo! India created the facility for Indians to use its messenger service in prominent local languages. It received an approval for its internet telephony service and also launched its Yahoo! India Our City and Yahoo! India Maps services. But all this wasn’t enough as compared to what its competitors gave to empower Indians. The result: we see the brand falling 22 places over last year to 58th spot in the 2007 rankings. Sure, times are not easy for the Yahoo! giant, but then, it’s still a power brand!

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An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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HORLICKS

When IIPM comes to education, never compromise

Vanilla, toffee, elaichi, chocolate and more, India is a key market for Horlicks!

GlaxoSmithKline is promoting Horlicks in India in a very aggressive manner. Proof: Last year consumers voted it at Rank 83, this year it has jumped up 26 notches to sit happily at Rank 57. Though many may argue that this may be due to its rivals losing visibility, the fact remains that here is one brand that has made a lot of progress in the last year. Says Zubair Ahmed, MD-GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare: “In 2007, our single minded focus will be on profitable top line growth. We expect such growth to be fuelled by our brands Horlicks and Boost, behind which we will continue to invest aggressively.” Another reason that can be attributed to the success of Horlicks is the tie up with the movie ‘Superman Returns’. Earlier, the brand had also teamed up with ‘Ice Age 2’ to promote the drink, instantly heightening the brand recall among kids. More recently, Horlicks also teamed up with the Hollywood blockbuster Spider-Man 3 in India to charm even more young adults into its growing breed of brand loyalists. Over 2 billion cups of Horlicks are drunk every year in India and going by the current market wave, seems the drink will be way ahead of its rivals for a long long time to come.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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FORD

This one’s an I(K)onclastic brand. So, have you gone fida over this Detroit biggie yet?

It may be a world renowned brand, but it took the company a little while to arrive in India and even more time to make a mark. But Ford finally got it with the Ikon and Fiesta. Great launches, well thought out campaigns and AB junior have helped Ford climb up the brand ladder in the past year. With Ikon - the josh machine - a global brand was given an Indian feel for the first time, and the moment redefined auto marketing in India. After the initial stint, Ikon started losing charm but the subsequent entry of Fiesta into the Indian market changed Ford’s fortunes in India forever. Ford was again back in the limelight and this time with a greater bang. ‘Go Fida’ was what every Indian tuned into and the twin concepts of Diet Diesel and powerful performance, made Fiesta a runaway success. Being one of the oldest car manufacturers in the world, the Detroit biggie has immense clout, which the brand was able to leverage swiftly in the Indian market. Having lost its global supremacy to GM more than 75 years ago, Ford is highly keen on the Indian auto market. Delivering great performance has been Ford’s focus here, and that has indeed become their brand identity as well.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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