Lesson #2: A great Dealership and Retail Presence means half the products sold already!

Arvind Saxena, Director, Sales & Marketing, Hyundai Motors India explains the importance of dealers to Hyundai’s Indian operations and his company’s expansion plans to B&E’s Pawan Chabra

There is no denying the fact that over the past decade, Hyundai has always been regarded as one of the strongest competitors to the market leader (Maruti Suzuki) in the Indian market. There was a time, when the Indian auto fraternity was only abuzz with tales of Maruti, its affordable offerings and a strong distribution and service network. Hyundai challenged their dominance by rolling out its blockbuster Santro and building a robust distribution system in the country. Arvind Saxena, Director, Sales and Marketing, Hyundai Motors India, explains to B&E how the company’s distribution (retail) network has been the secret spice that helped cook the success dish for Hyundai in India.

B&E: There was a time when car manufacturers in India were disinterested to build world-class retail outlets. The outlets were simply places to close a sale, with inadequate/bad infrastructure and almost no displays of vehicle models. The situation has changed today. What prompted the change?

Arvind Saxena (AS): I think the first reason to that will be that the volume in the industry has grown manifold over the past years. This has given the dealers the confidence that the investments in infrastructure of their auto retail outlets are good bets. Secondly, the dealers in the recent past and today also expect that the market will continue to grow strongly even in the future, which again encourages them to invest more to match the quality and volume that helps them keep pace with the growing market.

B&E: But you mentioned nothing about the evolved demands of the Indian consumer, who has over time displayed an increased appetite for superior ambience at any retail outlet?

AS: The Indian consumer has surely moved on with times and is today, certainly more mature than he was a few years back. Since the very beginning, we also have been quite aware of this fact, and being a strong competitor in the Indian auto market, have constantly worked towards aligning ourselves as per the demands of the consumers.

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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

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Dead by chance

Prisoners, facing Capital Punishment or not, often die in prisons due to inhuman conditions and lengthy delays between trials and executions. Authorities globally need to address this urgently

“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons,” avowed Fyodor Dostoevsky, a Russian novelist, in the nineteenth century. It may be tough to decide who is worse. From food quality to ventilation, sanitation, water, infrastructure & health care facilities; prisons globally are almost invariably found wanting.

To add to this, most prisons are overcrowded, especially in the developing nations. For instance, Uganda’s Muduuma prison is filled up to 3,200% of its capacity. India’s Tihar Jail is built for 4,000 inmates but currently has 12,000 plus inmates. Moreover, the time spent under trial and before execution of capital punishment has increased considerably. According to the Death Penalty Information Center in US, the average time spent on a death row before execution is close to 14 years (calculated in 2010). In China, the time spent on the death row is astonishingly low at around 449 days, which also explains the high number of executions per year in China (almost 60-80% of capital punishments of the world happen in China).

As per Bureau of Justice Statistics, the total number of prisoners dying in jail was 21,936 (2001-2007) in US out of which 82.9% were due to illness (mainly unhealthy conditions & lack of proper medical facilities). There is also an increased propensity for death row inmates to commit suicides, which in one way, can also be attributed to the environment that a particular prison projects and enforces upon a convict. The rise of the Death Row Phenomenon, wherein inmates die in jails, whether or not they were deemed to be executed, is a truism of the modern era.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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

It’s The small-ticket Strategic Acquisitions that will drive the sector in 2011

FMCG Saw Some Heavy action on the M&A front last year. But, as The Industry matures and valuations rise, It’s The small-ticket Strategic Acquisitions that will drive the sector in 2011

If a recent report by KPMG is to be believed then M&As will intensify in Indian FMCG space in the near term. “However, the lack of large acquisition targets and the number of acquirers looking for opportunities means valuations will continue to be at a premium,’ says the report. In fact, the sector has already seen over a dozen deals in M&As in the first half in 2011 so far, and the momentum is expected to continue going forward. Certainly FMCG sector in India has been experiencing a phenomenal pace of growth since the last decade owing to increasing consumer incomes and rapidly changing consumer tastes and preferences. Further, large scale and low cost production facilities, modern retailing strategies, gives Indian FMCG companies an edge over its western counterparts. “All this certainly makes India an exciting place to be for international FMCG giants which are now looking forward to ramp up their Indian operations or are planning to enter the country soon,” says Oliver Mirza, MD, Dr. Oetkar Funfoods. For instance, Reckitt Benckiser has already acquired Ahmedabad-based Paras Pharma, makers of OTC brands like Moov, D’Cold, Dermicool, Krack, Itch Guard, et al, for a whopping $730 million (in December 2010).

However, going forward the sector is unlikely to see any big ticket acquisition as the local brands have still not scaled up beyond the $20-25 million mark. But then, that’s what they call a market for strategic acquisitions!

Read more....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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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Green Strategy as a Competitive Advantage

In The Aftermath of The Global Financial Meltdown, Corporations are facing unique Challenges. The Future is in Incorporating and Capitalising on a Green Strategy writes Andrew Winston, Co-Author of Green to Gold and author of Green Recovery.

For the past few years, the business world has been swept up in a green wave – a rising tide of interest and concern about environmental issues. Pressures from both natural forces and key stakeholders have made going green somewhat unavoidable. But a lot of business leaders hold on to an outdated view with respect to green, the misconception that environmental practices always cost a lot of money. But green doesn’t raise costs; it lowers them (quite often in the short run, and definitely in the long run).

Although your instinct may be to retreat from green initiatives in hard times, that would be shortsighted and a huge mistake. In tight times, most companies need to focus on their bottom lines, cut costs, and conserve cash – and they need to do it fast. Reducing energy usage and wastage – two pillars of going green, can save a great deal of money.

But as they say, nothing comes for free. Yes, some projects will save money immediately at virtually no expense, but greater rewards often require some commitment. So if corporations want to reduce energy costs, asking people to turn off lights won’t cost anything. But changing lightbulbs and installing motion detectors to get larger savings will clearly take some capital. The ROI will be high and the payoff fast, but it still requires some up-front expense.

So the critical distinction here is between costs and investments. Let me be blunt: if your business is unable to allocate any human or financial capital for investment in R&D, customer relationships, people, process changes, or anything – then no strategy, including a green one, will matter right now. Survival will be the only priority, and that means conserving cash above all. But most companies, even in these contemporary times, are still making decisions about where to put their attention, people, and money every day.

For those companies that are navigating these tricky waters but also want to position themselves for dominance in the future, thinking green can make all the difference. The logic for going green is no different from the logic for pursuing other business strategies. Companies look to drive profitability, innovation, customer loyalty, employee engagement, and so on. But unlike with most other strategies, the external forces driving green strategies make this issue unique and unavoidable.

Most of the forces driving companies to go green have not gone away. Environmental crises such as climate change and water shortages continue to evolve. Mega forces such as technology-driven transparency and the rise of the middle class in India and China – which will force the price of oil and other resources up over time – continue to advance. Back here in America, key stakeholders still demand more of companies than ever, especially corporate customers greening their supply chains. Even your employees and consumers, both of whom are under extreme financial pressure, still want some measure of environmental performance and social responsibility in the companies they work for and buy from.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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

 

Bring in The ‘Fair’er Sex!

Greater Entry of Women has to be Encouraged at Various levels of Governance, as it is known to be Very Beneficial to Society

History is testimony to the fact that improving participation of and contribution by women in a country is a definite and valuable stride towards prosperity and development. The Indian Constitution does give women several rights, including the right to vote and be elected. But their participation in reality paints a grim picture. According to a UN survey of women in politics in 2008, India belongs to the lowest quartile with just around 9.1% women MPs in parliament. Even some conservative and relatively underdeveloped countries like Mozambique (34.8%) and Rwanda (56.7%) are way ahead. These countries believe greater women participation can improve governance and transparency.

Is India realising this? There have been policy initiatives favourable to women. Reservation has been increased to 33% for women in Gram Panchayat and municipal elections. The Rajya Sabha passed the historic Women Reservation Bill. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has also promised 50% reservations for women in the upcoming municipal elections in 2012. Currently, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has 96 (out of 272) women councillors (35% of the total).

There is one most positive factor that often escapes attention while discussing reservations for women. Global experience and empirical evidence has shown that women tend to be the least corrupt in the society and tend to rarely use fraudulent means. Case studies like Grameen Bank in Bangladesh only give loans to women as they have a near to 100% loan return rate.

Read more.....

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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

Picking brand names in China is a business itself

Western companies choosing a brand name in China now rely on consultants and linguistic analyses to ensure that consumers are attracted rather than amused or even repelled

After a hard day’s labour, your average upscale Beijinger likes nothing more than to shuck his dress shoes for a pair of Enduring and Persevering, rev up his Precious Horse and head to the pub for a tall, frosty glass of Happiness Power.

Or, if he’s a teetotaler, a bottle of Tasty Fun.

To Westerners, that’s Nike, BMW, Heineken and Coca-Cola, respectively. And those who wish to snicker should feel free: The companies behind these names are laughing too – all the way to the bank.

More than many nations, China is a place where names are imbued with deep significance. Western companies looking to bring their products to China face a problem not unlike that of Chinese parents naming a baby boy: little Gang (“strong”) may be regarded quite differently than little Yun (“cloud”). Given that China’s market for consumer goods is growing by better than 13% annually – and luxury-goods sales by 25% – an off-key name could have serious financial consequences.

And so the art of picking a brand name that resonates with Chinese consumers is no longer an art. It has become a sort of science, with consultants, computer programmes and linguistic analyses to ensure that what tickles a Mandarin ear does not grate on a Cantonese one.

Art “is only a very, very tiny piece of it,” said Vladimir Djurovic, President of Labbrand Consulting Co. in Shanghai, which has made a business of finding names for Western companies entering the Chinese market.

Maybe. But there is a lot of artistry in the best of the West.

The paradigm probably is the Chinese name for Coca-Cola, Kekoukele, which not only sounds like Coke’s English name, but conveys its essence of taste and fun in a way that the original name could not hope to match.

There are many others. Consider Tide detergent, Taizi, whose Chinese characters literally mean “gets rid of dirt.” (Characters are important: the same sound written differently could mean “too purple.”)

There is also Reebok, or Rui bu, which means “quick steps.” And Colgate – Gao lu jie – which translates into “revealing superior cleanliness.” And Lay’s snack foods – Le shi – whose name means “happy things.” Nike (Nai ke) and BMW (Bao Ma, echoing the first two sounds of its English and German names) also have worn well on Chinese ears.



Still, finding a good name involves more than coming up with clever homonyms to the original English.

“Do you want to translate your name, or come up with a Chinese brand?” said Monica Lee, the Managing Director of The Brand Union, a Beijing consultant. “If you go for phonetic sounds, everyone knows where you are from – you’re immediately identified as a foreign brand.” For some products, having a foreign-sounding name lends a cachet that a true Chinese name would lack. Many upscale brands like Cadillac (Ka di la ke), or Hilton (Xi er dun), employ phonetic translations that mean nothing in Chinese Rolls-Royce (Laosi-Laisi) includes two Chinese characters for “labour” and “plants” that more or less have become standard usage in foreign names – all to achieve a distinct foreign look and sound.

But on the other hand, a genuine Chinese name can say things about a product that a mere collection of homonyms never could. Take Citibank, Hua qi yinhang, which literally means “star-spangled banner bank,” or Marriott, Wan hao, or “10,000 wealthy elites.” Or Pentium, Ben teng, which means “galloping.” Asked to introduce Marvel comics to China, the Labbrand consultants came up not long ago with “Man wei” – roughly phonetic, foreign-sounding and eminently suited to superheroes with the meaning “comic power.”

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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NO CARDS, NO CASH... THE WALLET IS A PHONE [not yet!]

The wallet app from Google holds many promises. But google needs to surpass many big hurdles before it can replace plastic money

Plenty of companies would love to get their hands on our wallets. But Google wants to go one step further – it wants to be our wallets.

Its new phone software, called Google Wallet, is intended to replace the credit cards in our actual wallets. It does sound pretty spectacular, doesn’t it? No fishing plastic cards out of wallets, no paper slips, no signatures. Everything is handled securely, instantly, conveniently, with one tap of your phone at the register. Europeans and Asians already routinely pay for things that way. But there are enough footnotes to fill a podiatry journal.

At the moment, the free Google Wallet app runs on only a single cellphone model: Sprint’s Google Nexus S, which runs Google’s Android software. That’s because Google Wallet requires a special NFC chip (near-field communications), and the Nexus S is one of the few phones so equipped.

Someday, Google says, many more phones will have NFC chips. The company says that it is in talks with every major Android phone maker.

The next question: Where can you use Wallet to pay for things? Google had the inspired idea of teaming up with MasterCard, which has already installed NFC readers at 150,000 merchants in the US and 230,000 overseas. You can see the black MasterCard PayPass terminals all over the place.

That’s 150,000 companies; the total number of physical stores is far higher. Someday, Google says, the readers will be installed at cash registers all across this great land. Think of Wallet as a copy of your actual credit card. Wherever you might swipe a credit card, you can tap your phone instead. At the moment, though, the only credit card Wallet can impersonate is a Citibank MasterCard.

Someday, Google says, all kinds of credit cards from all kinds of banks will work with Wallet.

If you don’t have a Citibank MasterCard, you can still use Wallet. On the screen where you select which credit card you want to use, you’ll find an imaginary one called Google Prepaid Card. It comes with $10 of credit – Google’s gift to you, O Early Adopter – but right there on the phone, you can preload it with more money from another credit card.

All right. So you’re in a drugstore, and the cashier announces the total, “$31.24”. At the exact moment when you would ordinarily swipe your credit card, you simply turn on the phone. (You don’t have to fire up the Wallet app first.) You hold it against the PayPass terminal and enter your four-digit password. The screen says “Sent,” and the terminal’s screen says “Authorising ... Approved ... Balance $0. Thank you!”

Security, Google says, is baked into the system from the beginning. The phone’s NFC chip is completely deactivated when the screen is off. That’s to prevent sneaky evildoers from “skimming” (reading) your credit card information.

A shame, really; Google says that the NFC chip could work even when the phone was off, meaning you could keep using it to buy things. But Google chose to emphasise security over convenience; as a result, the phone is useless as a wallet once its battery is dead.

The pass code requirement is intended to prevent people from buying stuff with your phone if it’s lost or stolen, since they won’t know the code. (And if they guess wrong five times in a row, the whole Wallet becomes unusable. You have to contact Google and explain yourself.)

Of course, the four-digit pass code requirement also sucks most of the fun and convenience out of the whole phone-as-wallet concept. Tapping out the pass code on small keys on a not-always-responsive touch screen is a hassle, and not demonstrably faster than signing a regular credit card slip. Why can’t we disable that requirement according to our own paranoia levels?

You can’t even pick an easy-to-type pass code to save yourself effort; Wallet won’t accept codes like 1234 or 1111.

(Besides, the stolen-phone defense doesn’t hold water. Trust me: If you lose your phone, you’ll know it. You’ll be on your bank’s customer service hotline to freeze your account before you can say, “my stomach is in knots.”)

So if Wallet isn’t vastly more convenient than swiping a credit card, what’s the point?

Google has an answer for that: SingleTap.

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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“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.

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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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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.

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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.......
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
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.

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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).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
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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
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IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
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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
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
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Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

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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.......
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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.”


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
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management