“We are reaching out”

As Rameet reveals, McDonald’s is up to some interesting new product and service innovations, even as it looks to better leverage the web as a medium

The much-touted ‘I’m Lovin’ It’ experience and customer satisfaction is at the core of everything that McDonald’s does. As times have evolved, the company has also re-invigorated itself and consolidated its position. Rameet Arora, who has taken charge of driving growth for the brand and the business last year when he moved on from Colors, talks to mona mehta about the new initiatives and the use of the online medium:

How has the “Breakfast Menu” strategy taken off in terms of generating targeted revenues?
The breakfast menu added a new day part to McDonald’s as the outlets serving breakfast had to open at 7 am as opposed to 9 or 10 am. The campaign to promote the new breakfast menu was based on the research done that showed that at least 60% of the working population has breakfast on the move at least once a week. The creatives show breakfast items such as a hot cup of coffee and a muffin or pancakes, with an antonymic play on words like ‘Rise - Shine’, ‘Wake up - Get up’, ‘Grumpy - Chirpy’, ‘Skip work - Skip to work’, and ‘Morning - Good morning’. The copy also read ‘Good morning. Great breakfast’. This helped establish McDonald’s as an all day dining destination catering to all meal times.

What new delivery touchpoints are you planning for the Indian market?
Customer convenience and service are highly critical factors in driving growth in any industry and key impetus is on product and service innovation and customer orientation. McDonald’s today has evolved from just attracting customers to their restaurants. McDonald’s is increasingly reaching out to customers leveraging a range of innovative retail formats ranging from Kiosk, drive through’s and MYF. McDonald’s also has outlets at various petrol pumps for which we have formed an alliance with the leading oil companies of India like HPCL, BPCL and most recently IOC. In addition, McDonald’s India has also given consumers the convenience of formats such as home delivery and web delivery through which they can enjoy their favourite McDonald’s products.

Keeping in mind where the customer is and the fast reach of the web, McDonald’s has successfully explored the medium of technology to reach out to the consumers. McDonald’s was one of the very few food brands to extend reach to customer through QR code technology.

What is your take on promoting/launching new McDonald’s products through the internet? What are the challenges?
The advancement of technology and the widespread reach that the internet provides a brand is unquestionable in today’s tech savvy scenario. However because internet is such a dynamic field, we are just as good as our last idea and innovation in this medium is of key importance. For the launch of the McSpicy range, McDonald’s launched its first ever viral campaign. A video uploaded on Facebook and YouTube showed the other products at McDonald’s anticipating the arrival of new competition in the form of the spicy products. This viral campaign was supported by the microsite, specially created for McSpicy. We used QR codes for this campaign, which allowed customers easy, on the move access on their cell phones. With the McFlurry launch, we have taken a step ahead with QR technology and are working with Image recognition technology, where anyone clicking on a picture of McFlurry will be directed to the McDonald’s website/McFlurry microsite.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
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Planman Technologies

Just update us on your M&A budgets please!

The security industry is desperately looking for ideas to cope with increasing threats to companies in cyber space, & most ideas are coming from start ups. So how do the leaders cope?

At times, the manner in which we relentlessly surf the web and exchange critical and non-critical information over the web so nonchalantly does cause a lot of surprise. We aren’t really thinking of our vulnerability to cyber attacks in those moments, are we? And that’s after the spate of attacks & breaches on companies like Sony, Bank of America, Wipro, et al & even on national networks that have made headlines. The recent one affected top defence contractors to the Japanese government like Mitsubhishi Heavy Industries and shocked the world. If they are vulnerable, where are smaller companies, or even average consumers headed?

For security companies, of course, this is a sign of business opportunity as well as a challenge to match the dynamically changing security needs of the organisations of today. As per Gartner estimates, the global security software market aggreagated a turnover of $16.5 billion in 2010, a rise by 12% yoy. The market is led by Symantec with a revenue of $3.12 billion in 2010 (market share of 18.9%) followed by McAfee with revenues of $1.71 billion (market share of 10.4%) and TrendMicro with a revenue of $1.04 billion and market share of 6.3%. It’s still a highly fragmented market, considering that the top five vendors account for 44.3% of the global market. The battle for market share between these top five in particular is only going to intensify in the coming months, and there is a lot of inorganic activity expected, since a number of the new innovations in this increasingly complex arena lie to a large extent with smaller companies and start ups. “Products within the security market are undergoing rapid evolution, in terms of both new delivery models – with security as a service showing increasing popularity – and new technologies being introduced, often by startup companies,” asserts Ruggero Contu, principal research analyst at Gartner.

At the top is the bitter rivalry between Symantec, McAfee & TrendMicro. Symantec continues to be especially aggressive on acquisitions and has acquired 25 companies since 2005. Its recent deals include Clearwell Systems for their eDiscovery Solution this year, and acquired Verisign’s Security Services (for their online identity protection portfolio), RuleSpace (URL filtering functionality), PGP Corporation & GuardianEdge (e-mail & data encryption) and Gideon Technologies (standards-based information security solutions) in 2010. McAfee has become a unique case. Its CEO had promised at least 3-4 acquisitions every year in early 2010, but the company was itself acquired by microprocessor giant Intel for a whopping $7.7 billion last year. Intel’s sudden diversification to this space has surprised many. The company hopes to bundle hardware security capability with McAfee’s software credentials to be able to undo some of the disadvantages it has of not being there in the mobile space and facing increasing competition from rivals. The number 3 player TrendMicro acquired mobile encryption player Mobile Armor last year to boost its capabilities in the mobile space. The acquisition of TrendMicro expands its portfolio to serve the growing cloud space. As remote management of infrastructure becomes a reality with increasing cloud adoption (globally a $1.6 billion market as per IDC), it is becoming a huge opportunity for security firms.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
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Planman Technologies

JWT The Retro-Brigrade!

Their First Big Campaign Delivered Unexpected Results. Presenting the Cannes Lions Gold Winners this year – Vanguards of the Retro-Brigade: Anupama Ramaswamy & Simran Sahni

They have not stopped beaming since the time they bagged their first Cannes Lions Gold this year for the Fujifilm ‘Inner Smile’ Campaign. The campaign was not only well gulped down by the international jury at Cannes, but it has also brought home a whole baggage of awards including 2 awards at the Goa Fest, 5 metals in Adfest and 2 in Spikes! And the creative minds behind all this haven’t lost their lust for more!

Their repartee on the same goes thus, “After all, who doesn’t want to be Piyush Pandey or Prasoon Joshi and redefine advertising with their work and simultaneously win lots of awards? Greedy? But that’s us!” These girls with the Midas touch are flag bearing representative of the new leadership race at JWT Delhi – and Anupama Ramaswamy, Senior CD (ART) and Simran Sahni, Creative Director apparently take no prisoners.

But the road that took them to the Lions Gold was not adorned with candy floss. As they reveal (and that too almost in unison), “Our first faceoff was a typical meeting at work where the senior pairs you up for a project. It was an LG commercial brief and we were working in Lowe Lintas at a very junior position at that time.” This was in the year 2005. After their maiden assignment, the duo again teamed up for small assignments for clients like Convergys and Lowe.

However, to really catch the big fish, one has to go deep into the ocean; and the duo did that! The one big opportunity that elevated them to notable status (and also made them take advertising seriously!) was of Apollo Hospitals. Call it destiny’s undoing – the two were not even briefed for it! Anupama shares, “That was the campaign that we did just for the heck of it. But eventually, we loved it and showed it around proudly. Surprisingly, it was the last round of the pitch and the agency presented only that campaign, which later made them win the account.”

Their first impressions on each other are dispassionately honest! “It was very comfortable working together in the first project. As we worked on, we listened to each other’s ideas... There was no ego among us, especially from my side, about how art directors think! Also, Anu was very polite with my scribbles and rough layouts,” exclaims Simran. To this, Anu adds her own take, “She is one of the most positive persons I have met in this world of skeptics and cynics. She is a complete believer and the spark between us was instant, as I could tell her any of my thoughts without (the apprehension of) her judging me.”

The duo that has managed to grab 13 awards in their relatively short career span and has enabled many exceptional commercials to see the light of day including the award-winning Woodland outdoor campaign, Lay’s, Boost, et al is currently investing their hearts and souls in Nokia. That’s the biggest account on which they are working in full swing currently.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

‘Penning’ a new brand odyssey

Deepak Jain’s vision has transformed Add gel from a regional brand to a household name in India. He shares with Shephali Bhatt how he owes it to his father and his insights from Gen Y

Deepak Jain
COO, Add Gel

In 1990, his father M. C. Jain started a company with the brand name Advert Pens, and in over a period of two decades, during the journey that saw Advert transform to Add Gel, they have grown in terms of quality, in terms of value, and in terms of scale. With operations in more than 40 countries right now, Add Gel has a strong brand image accompanied by a vibrant consumer recall in the country.

Deepak Jain, now the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Add Gel, has been an active part of the company’s operations for eight years. He shares, “When I joined the company, the corporate and export sector growth in our product category was minimal. I saw that this is the upcoming area that has to be tapped fast. I started with corporate sales, met clients for promotional activities, and then shifted to handling exports. And now more than 1500 companies know me by my name and my face. They rely on my services”. Talking about challenges, he simply comments that challenges are never within the organization but outside. Jain’s mantra is quality and good service and he believes that the customer should feel proud when he is holding an Add Gel pen. “And we have succeeded in achieving that in the past decade,” he says.

Sharing an anecdotal learning from the past, he says, “One thing that I have learnt is that every product has its own market. Be it any segment, automobile, electronics or any FMCG product, there’s a volume market and there’s a niche market. We have already succeeded on the niche market front for we deliver the best quality, but at a higher price of course. Our customers have accepted that if it’s an Add Gel pen, it has to be expensive; it has to be a world class quality pen. Even today, our competitors come up with cheaper low quality products with less than Rs. 10 as the MRP, but we don’t have anything that’s priced at less than Rs. 20. In fact, our largest selling pen is Add Gel Achiever, which is priced at Rs. 40. And we are still growing in volumes.”

Now, Jain aims for Add Gel to be in the top 20 big brands of India, in terms of brand recall value and consumer perception, and obviously sales turnover, but all the more, he wants people to know that Add Gel is the company that they can rely on.

On being asked about the tricks of the trade that he has learnt, he says, “You need to be smart, need to be fast, you need to stick to the fact that the consumer is always right. Moreover it is very important for you to gain respect in whatever field you are working on, in terms of the commitments that you have made”.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

A travelogue that promises to thrill!

Discloses to Rajlakshmi Saikia Bhimwal & Angshuman Paul the strategy behind the travel company successfully selling premium as well as mass products to travellers

Sudip Ghose
Director Marketing, Samsonite South Asia Pvt. Ltd.

The various Ps of marketing – a concept popularised by the marketing guru Philip Kotler – have been widely accepted by all marketers and marketing managers across the world as being essential elements of any marketing mix. But there are very few marketers within India who have actually paid heed to these aspects in the true sense. Many simply move in the marketing space according to their gut feel. In this vast and discrete group of marketers, Sudip Ghose, Director, Marketing, Samsonite South Asia Pvt. Ltd, definitely stands out for his attempts to re-define the same marketing mix, and this time, practically. In his own words, he points out to us, “If marketing were all about 4Ps, then all of your people should be knowing everything about your product and its correlation with the 4Ps. Clearly, such correlations cannot be taught but only can be learned by practical experience.”

Backed up with such a belief, Sudip has transformed a boring baggage business into a glamorous travel business and has taken Samsonite from selling travel suitcases and bags to even shoes. And in doing so, he has never compromised with the brand equity and consumer behavior. “I believe that marketing is all about understanding your customers. What he/she wants and where does he/she want it is the basis of marketing, which somehow is defined in 4Ps but as I said, this has to be related to the product that you are offering,” explains Sudip. His deft marketing strategies might be the outcome of his working in various companies prior to joining Samsonite. He’s an alumnus from Narsee Monjee (NMIMS) and has worked in different sectors like optical products (Bausch & Lomb), durables (Whirlpool), electronics (Onida), telecom (RIL), and now in Samsonite, a company that Sudip ensures stays a premium company.

But wonder of wonders, Sudip doesn’t believe in over staffing and has ensured the maximum effectiveness from each individual. “Our marketing team is divided into four segments. There is an umbrella communications team comprising of three people. Brand Samsonite is handled by another three people. Then, there are three people in our American Tourister brand and two people in our shoes segment. So it is a 3-3-3-2 network. I am the 12th man in my team,” he adds with a smile.

The group recently commemorated 100 years of its existence and as a part of such celebration, the brand tied up with Bollywood blockbusters like ‘My Name is Khan’ and revealed a collection of products under the brand name Cosmolite – the world’s strongest and lightest travel gear. He adds that churning out new products is Samsonite’s USP, explaining, “We have just completed 100 years, and in every decade we have brought out something new and revolutionary. Cosmolite is also a product of patented technology.” Sudip opines that they have been able to combine the desired attributes of light and strong bags, and at the same time maintained an element of design and fashion and they plan to keep introducing such high-end products for their discerning customers termed as ‘globe trotters’. Interestingly, whether you are in Mumbai, Tokyo or Cairo, you can get the best of Samsonite, as they launch all products simultaneously across all their markets.

Coming on to American Tourister, Samsonite’s easy on the pocket brand which is positioned against VIP’s Aristocrat. Sudip says, “Working with American Tourister as a brand was a different experience. We had to stop thinking of only style and class; this product is for the mass with class.” He explains the ‘Place’ in marketing mix and clarifies that Samsonite, being a niche brand, is not for everywhere and everyone, but it does have presence in Tier II cities such as Coimbatore, Madurai, Nagpur, Kanpur, et al, and “the idea is to keep expanding.” Currently, Samsonite enjoys an overwhelming 80 per cent market share and thus is not bothered about competition even from premium names like Da Milano and Giordano. The company has recently ventured into the shoe market as well, which Sudip says is because of the simple fact that shoes are also part of travel.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

Burning Indian roads on Korean wheels!

What is Hyundai India’s marketing chief doing to ward off competitive eyes? Or is he only bothered about giving his best shot and not worrying about the pack? By Pawan Chabra

Arvind Saxena
Director – Sales & Marketing, Hyundai Motor India

Arvind Saxena is one of those individuals, who have seen the Indian automobile industry being built brick by brick. With a rich experience of 25 years in the industry, Saxena, who is currently the Director of Sales & Marketing division at Hyundai Motor India, has been spearheading the company’s branding and sales efforts for the past five years. After he majored in mechanical engineering from the Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College, Allahabad, he got enrolled in the MBA degree course at Lucknow University. Saxena started his career with Escorts as a Management Trainee in the Sales & Marketing department. Realising his capabilities at an early stage, he was handed over control of Escorts’ auto business in Bihar after just a couple of months into his training at the company. Recalling those days, he says, “It was actually the best assignment that has ever been given to me.” After a successful stint of nine years at Escorts, he moved to Bajaj Auto as a Regional Marketing Manager for the company. He was put in charge of the company’s marketing operations in the Eastern and Northern region of the country. Saxena also has a long list of achievements to share, and they have all been result-driven performances. After a short stint at Bajaj, he joined Maruti Suzuki, where he worked for ten long years. He quickly rose up the hierarchy and was spearheading Maruti Suzuki’s all-India sales force (in the capacity of Chief General Manager – Sales) before he joined Hyundai in November 2005, where he was allocated the task to manage sales and marketing operations at the all-India level.

While at Maruti, he ensured that the company maintained its #1 spot in the Indian market. From there, he jumped ship to the #2 Hyundai, which was then and still is, chipping-away at the leader’s market share day in and day out. So how is Saxena taking this change of side? Is there a sudden antagonism towards all in the Maruti camp? Disagrees Saxena, “There is always a sense of competitiveness, but even today, I have close friends at Maruti. But when you are at the marketplace you are definitely competing with each other.” But one fact which he cannot deny is that a lot has changed for Hyundai since he joined the company. And it comes in the name of heightened competition. Though Hyundai continued to play the right cards by banking on the Indian small car segment (which has always attracted maximum volumes in the industry), competition has grown by the day. In recent years, players like GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Nissan et al, have moved into the small car category to make the most of the opportunity at hand. But Saxena disagrees on this front as well. He boldly dismisses any worry, as he says, “The market has expanded well over the past few years, with many product launches happening in the small car segment. But Hyundai has also done very well. Five years back our market share stood at 17%, and despite competition rising, our market share today is close to 20%, which more or less describes how well we have been doing.” Numbers surely prove his point.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

Kasab appeals death sentence

The lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks that left 166 dead has approached th Supreme Court asking for his death sentence to be overturned.

The request by Ajmal Kasab had been filed via jail authorities in Mumbai, where he has been held since the attacks, and lodged with the secretary general of the court. He filed the appeal through the Arthur Road jail authorities.

Pakistani national Kasab, one of 10 gunmen who laid siege to Mumbai for nearly three days, was first convicted and sentenced by a trial court in the Indian commercial and entertainment capital in May 2010. The death sentence was confirmed by the state high court in February in the first failed appeal by the 23-year-old school drop-out from a poor farming area in Pakistan's Punjab state.

India has the death sentence for the "rarest of the rare" criminal offences and executions are uncommon. Kasab was found guilty of a string of offences including waging war against India, murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts after a trial at a maximum security prison court in Mumbai. During the trial, the prosecution produced fingerprint, DNA, eye-witness, CCTV and other evidence showing him opening fire and throwing grenades in the bloodiest episode of the November 26 attacks at Mumbai's main railway station.

A number of senior police officers, including the head of the Maharashtra state anti-terrorism squad, were killed as the gunmen fled the scene of carnage. Three luxury hotels, a popular tourist restaurant and a Jewish centre were also targeted by the other gunmen.

If the Supreme Court upholds the verdict and sentence, Kasab can appeal for clemency to the President as a last resort.

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

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IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

Meet the tech-freak!

The stylish Bollywood diva, Lara Dutta gets candid with 4Ps B&M on her larger-than-life philosophy and love for gadgets

In the era of iPhones and Blackberrys, how has technology impacted your life?
As an individual, I have experienced how technology actually impacts and enhances your experience for the better. In fact, I have become a complete gadget freak these days. I love getting my hands on the latest gadgets and gizmos around. I am carrying two mobile phones with me right now. I’ll die if I don’t have any of those two. They facilitate me to stay in touch with family and friends.

What appeals to you in a gadget?
I would like my gadgets to be stylish and sleek. But at the same time, I prefer a user-friendly gadget compared to the one that only looks appealing. I believe in securing value for money and not buying something that just looks cool and trendy.

At this moment, which gadget are you in love with?
Apart from my two mobiles, I have almost all the new gadgets that one should and should not necessarily have.

What does ‘excellence in lifestyle’ mean to you?
To me, being at par with the rest of the world in terms of the standards of living is the benchmark we should look towards. I take a lot of pride in the remarkable transformation we have made in the way we define excellence in lifestyle in our country. We are poised at the brink of the newest technologies entering our doorsteps. All we have to do is embrace them into our lifestyles.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
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Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
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Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

THE NEW INDIAN MIDDLE CLASS WILL IMPACT THE WORLD OF MARKETING IN A BIG WAY

We often assume that the entire middle class is just ‘One Class’ & Try and paint them in one straight go

It is now official. For the first time in the history of modern India, high income households will outnumber lower income households. According to latest NCAER (National Council for Applied Economic Research) estimates, India will soon have over 46.7 million households in the high income category against the 41 million odd households that are supposed to constitute the lower income category.

For starters, households earning up to `45,000 per annum are dubbed as lower income households, and those earning over `1.8 lakh per annum are classified as high income households. But the real story lies in the number of households whose annual income falls between `45,000 to `1.8 lakh. In fact, this number has now reached a whopping 141 million households (out of the total 228 million households in the country), and this is what we call the great Indian middle class. This middle class now is over 60% of the entire population. This is a stupendous turnaround that we are seeing happen to our country.

We often assume that the entire middle class is just ‘one class’ and we can try and paint them in one go. However, the truth is that the middle class in India is a constantly evolving mix of audience. The current decade has seen a very strong growth in middle class. The economic growth, the rising prosperity, more and more people moving up the ladder, et al, have created a new class of customers. These are new members of middle class of India. In fact, they are the ones fuelling this new middle class. After all they are a very potent group of consumers. But who are they? What are the trends that they will trigger?

The new middle class has been powered by women. Just look at the long term literacy data of India and the impact women are having will be clear. The female literacy rate has risen from 8.6% in 1951 to 54% in 2001 census. By the 2011 census, I am sure that this number would have crossed 60%. Interestingly, the growth of female literacy rate was 15% between 1991 and 2001, as against just 11% of male literacy growth. Clearly the women are catching up with males, and this is triggering a set of new trends. The growth of the new middle class is powered by women. With better education they are joining the work force in a greater number. With this they are taking control of their future, having a greater say in their weddings, deciding on when to have kids and how many. Apart from the demographic impact, they are also driving their partners with a greater zeal to improve their future. They are making the most of the change in their demographic and social status.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
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Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

BIDDING ADIEU TO FLAT WORLD!

From humble beginnings, Infosys has transformed itself into a global player on the basis of ethics, values and performance. Now, it’s time for the company to take the ultimate leap by marrying its global delivery model with consulting

The textbook definition of holistic marketing is that the entire company must think customer. But it’s rare to actually listen to a person with a finance background talking so extensively about marketing strategy.

Infosys CFO V. Balakrishnan is an exception to that norm. In a write up titled, CFO strategies for winning in a Flat World, he mentions how the company measures its success by the success of its customers and how the key is to be a transformation partner for clients. He also indicates the company’s strategic intent when he says, “Leveraging countries like India is critical to our ability to select the best talent so we can address the needs of our global customers.” We don’t mean intent in terms of customer commitment; Infosys has been famous for that, with 97.3% of turnover as repeat business in FY 2009-10. The interesting part is where he says “leveraging countries like India”. Clearly, Infosys now finds the tag of ‘Indian IT company’ relatively irrelevant as compared to the tag of a ‘global IT company headquartered in India’. Going by the ‘chop shop’, and later ‘body shop’ remarks made by US senator Charles Schumer recently, the strategic shift is spot on for a company that has always endeavoured to be ahead of its time.

Infosys measures its brand value on an internal basis using the ‘generic brand earnings multiple model’ by Michael Birkin. For the financial year 2009-10, the value works out to be `36,907 crore; around 24.7% of its market capitalisation for the year. One of the most interesting facets of brand Infosys is that it is a unique case of a B2B brand that prides itself in the tremendous recognition it enjoys in the B2C space. In fact, the company has been monitoring brand recall regularly since 2004. It does surveys on brand recall in the US, with the target audience as ordinary people rather than CIOs. Of course, the larger challenge is to ensure that all the key stakeholders remain positive about their association with the company, which they ensure through both performance parameters as well as regular communication. Ramanujam Sridhar, CEO, Brand-Comm has elucidated Infosys’ branding strategy quite elaborately in his book – One Land, One Billion Minds, and comments to 4Ps B&M, “Infosys is a typical South Indian company in a certain sense, since they are largely conservative, profitable and well run. But South Indian companies are generally “understated” in their relations with the external world, that includes the media.

Infosys talks about its achievements in the media, that too in a planned and strategic way.”


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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

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ICC may scrap rotation policy for choosing presidents

The International Cricket Council's (ICC) system for appointing presidents is set to undergo a significant change with the world body planning to table a proposal to scrap the current rotation policy at its next annual general meeting of board members in Hong Kong on June 28. The move is likely to be opposed by Pakistan and Bangladesh, the two full members who are next in turn to nominate a president and vice-president, according to a cricket website. The proposal formed the main topic of discussion at an ICC governing committee meeting in Chennai last week.

The Pakistan Cricket Board is worried over this development and chief Ijaz Butt has even written a letter to the ICC on this issue, according to reports in the Pakistan media. PCB's fear is that this may be an attempt to sideline it at a time when Pakistan cricket is struggling to come to terms with one controversy after another. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief Ahmed Mustafa Kamal told sections of the Pakistani media: "We want one cycle of the president rotation policy to be completed. Pakistan's Ehsan Mani already had a chance to be president and now we want one nominee from Bangladesh for the vice-president and then the president's post at the ICC."

Mani slams Pawar's policy

Former ICC chief Ehsan Mani has slammed the Sharad Pawar-led ICC's reported move to do away with the rotational policy for appointment of presidents after 2015, suggesting that India might have initiated it. Nine out of 10 Test playing nations have reportedly signed on the ICC's proposal to change the rotational policy and Mani termed it unusual.

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

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