Location does matter..........

2008-09 was the age of Social media in terms of the mainstream acceptance, 2011 and beyond represents the same for the location based services like Foursquare which allows the users to transmit their locations by checking in option with their mobile phones.The adoption rate for the same has been phenomenal and holds a tremendous impact on marketing.
Services like Foursquare have enormous potential for brands to drive awareness. I remember a program that I did long back with the collage kids to understand the shopping patterns and places they loved to hangout. The objective was to maximize the return on dollars spent on the consumer experiential activity for a brand. We had given college kids mobile phone with the connection and students were told to text back their location on regular basis to a specified number. This gave us lot of insight about the youth preferences and places they love to hang out which in turn helped us to select the venues and timing for the youth experiential activity. I see a similar possibility with location based services which would help the brand to study people’s shopping habits in ways that previously weren’t possible. Many brands are using both Foursquare and their own proprietary location tools to drive loyalty programs, advertise directly to consumers who are near a retail outlet, and gather data on shopping patterns and other preferences.

"Think Different"? In Schools: Mostly Not.

I was reading “The Real Story Behind Apple's 'Think Different' Campaign”, a fascinating story about Apple‘s “Think Different” ad campaign. It actually brings out the fact that both the people behind the campaign were the masters in creativity. Every revolution in whatever field is a resultant of the “Think Different “approach and this is the mantra for the corporate world too.

But how is creativity really treated, beyond the field of such misty-eyed ad campaigns? When I look back at my school days I was always told to be obedient, sincere, reliable and expected to obey the rules and regulation without even trying to understand the logic behind the laundry list of do’s& don’ts. Things are still the same and I realized it during my trip to my son’s school for the parent-teacher meeting. I was told to make my kid to understand the importance of obeying the R&R and ensure a disciplined approach. In other words, teachers like the idea of creativity as long as its manifestations are not disruptive. It’s high time that we implement democratic education theory of learning and school governance in which students and staff participate freely and equally in a school democracy. In a democratic school, there is typically shared decision-making among students and staff on matters concerning living, working, and learning together. C’mon wake up…….Don’t kill the creativity.

Accounts Redefined

Five Common Strategy Mistakes - Joan Magretta - Harvard Business Review

Interesting read


http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/12/five_common_strategy_mistakes.html

Craft of working on Diwali ads

The most overrated and under worked ad's you get to see,during the Diwali season and the worst part is that every second ad seems the same. The main ingredients of creating a Diwali ad are diya and happy family image with colorful lights in the back ground. From apparel to sweets to consumer durable to Cars, every brand would follow the same tried and tested model year after year. And so, over the years, the one line brief of 'Link brand to Diwali' became the scourge of creative teams across the country.

So here's an out-of-the-box solution - a headline template that could be used forever and ever.

(L suresh conceptualized this frame work in one of his article and is quite interesting too.......)

"This festive season, ............... the/your ................. with ........................"

To fill in the blanks, he created a little table with three rows, each of which applied to one blank.

 

Now, a mix-n-match of a random word from each of the rows could result in an option. For instance, a line for a retail brand could be: "This festive season, celebrate your style with the perfect wardrobe", or, "This festive season, brighten up your life with Brand X".

Hate it, 'Unhate it', but you cannot ignore it

‘Unhate it’ Campaign-The campaign that featured the prominent political and religious leaders kissing each other is one more addition to the series of controversial ad’s from Benetton. Whether it is German Chancellor Angela Merkel kissing French President Nicolas Sarkozy, President Barack Obama pecking his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, or Pope Benedict XVI smooching Egyptian Imam Benetton has clearly created a disruption.

The campaign finds leaders from opposite sides of the political and religious divide kissing each other, with the underlying message of peace. What we find out is hate it, 'Unhate it', but you cannot ignore it and Benetton really scored a home run here…………

Coffee with Sensory Marketing

Starbucks understands sensory branding, and in particular olfactory marketing. The wonderful aroma of a good coffee shop is a great selling and branding tool – this is particularly important since research shows that the majority of the experience of drinking espresso comes from the coffee shop experience itself. Now, Starbucks has announced that they will quit serving breakfast. Why? Because the smell of heating egg and cheese sandwiches interferes with the coffee aroma.

This is a fairly amazing reason to drop what was supposed to have been a major growth product line, and shows that some companies really DO understand sensory marketing and branding. With McDonald’s also competing with Starbuck’s on the beverage front (coffee), this becomes even more interesting.

If you look at the Indian market, CCD gave Indian consumers the Starbuck’s coffee experience and catered to the new generation of coffee drinkers. Some of the CCD’s have also stared serving breakfast and I am sure that’s doing well in terms of topline and bottom line contribution. I am sure CCD would also face a similar problem that Starbuck’s is facing but are they ready to give up the major growth product line just to ensure a right SENSORY MARKETING AND BRANDING.

WAIT AND WATCH……………

Black Swan and Marketing

I was reading this post by Steve Deming in his blog at Forbes.com:  The Dumbest Idea In The World: Maximizing Shareholder Value.  Both Steve Deming and Roger Martin are two of my favorite management thinkers.

A snippet from that article:

“Although Jack Welch was seen during his tenure as CEO of GE as the heroic exemplar of maximizing shareholder value, he came to be one of its strongest critics. On March 12, 2009, he gave an interview with Francesco Guerrera of the Financial Times and said, “On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world. Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy… your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products. Managers and investors should not set share price increases as their overarching goal”

So what we are seeing in recent times is not just a failure of the value creation models of the past that executives live by, but even celebrated theorists and practitioners alike are now admitting they were wrong – some openly like Jack Welch.

This is again beautifully told by Taleb in Black Swan.What we call here a Black Swan is an event with the following three attributes. First, it is an Outlier, as it lies outside the realm of regular expectations, because nothing in the past can convincingly point to its possibility. Second, it carries an extreme impact. Third, in spite of its outlier status, human nature makes us concoct explanations for its occurrence after the fact, making it explainable and predictable.

What does all this mean to a Marketing manager?   Make products customers would use, you would use and let the market decide.  Don’t waste your energy in things like managing analyst expectations – not just financial analysts, but also “industry analysts” and looking at the fancy market prediction reports.  There are far more powerful mediums where you could get social worth for your products and services by going directly to the users – that is where and for whom, value is created. So talk to them directly

Marketing Myopia

Marketing myopia is a term used in marketing as well as the title of an important marketing paper written by Theodore Levitt. Little I felt the importance of it till the Kingfisher airlines/ fiasco.

At some point in its development, every business can be considered a growing business, based on the apparent superiority of its product/service. But in case after case, businesses have fallen under the shadow of mismanagement. Kingfisher airlines just took 6 days to undo the efforts it took to build the brand in last 6 years. The efforts the marketing team had put in creating the brand Kingfisher evaporated overnight with thousands of passengers stranded at various airports.

One thing I fail to understand is that why customer should be the scapegoat for Mr.Mallaya and his so called efficient team’s inefficiencies?

 King of good times making fliers to go through bad time……..Not Justified

Customer Service

India.the backstage of the customer service to the world often ignores its own customers. The customer service is the most challenging and often the most ignored factor in the race to the top by most of the corporate's. This can be felt the moment you enter the brand showroom vis-a-vis the brand service centre. The world changes from the time you move from store to service center and though every brand claims,customer service to occupy numero uno in the priority list they conveniently ignore it during the investment planning.

Long live the Indian Customer

Personalized In store Advertising

The increasing importance of in-store advertising is gaining momentum with every brand trying to win at the last mile. Mainstream news sources have been talking about how companies are running from traditional media such as network television, etc., and moving their spending to in-store activities. This is an understatement. The real problem is that there are not enough viable vehicles to absorb the movement of advertising dollars. I’m very bullish on this and I believe very strongly that in the next 2-3 years, we’re going to see the emergence of a number of new ”consumer-specific” advertising vehicles. I’m not sure exactly how these will appear or where, but I do know that there will be a lot of money spent developing new advertising mediums.

In the words of the vintage broadcast networks, “Stay tuned. We’ll be back shortly.”

The future of Cash register at retail counters

http://www.bnet.com/videos/the-future-of-cash-registers/462054

Multi Channel Conundrum

It's become the norm that customers interact with companies through multiple channels. The more channels they use to connect with a given company, the higher their potential loyalty and spend.But in reality, the customers become more frustrated when their experience are inconsistent across channels when interacting with the brand.


Several factor contribute to this frustation including, rapid growth in customer acquisition, poor back end support, silos of customer information that exists between various verticals of the business, inconsistent compensation model.Unfortunately, few companies have equipped themselves to monitor, manage, or optimize their customers' multichannel experiences, thus increasing the chances of dissatisfaction, churn, and decreased customer value by failing to meet customer expectations. 

Crafting great multichannel experiences for customers requires three primary elements,people who are properly incented and motivated to meet customer needs across channels; processes that are suitably designed and integrated across channels; and technology that supports customer interactions across all touchpoints and helps to gather customer insights from each channel 

What's there in a symbol

A study by Sybil S. Yang, Sheryl E. Kimes Ph.D., and Mauro M. Sessarego of Cornell University, $ or Dollars: Effects of Menu-price Formats on Restaurant Checks, looked at several common restaurant price display techniques:

• Numerical with Dollar Sign: $12.00
• Numerical without Dollar Sign or Decimals: 12.
• Written: twelve dollars

The researchers expected that the written/scripted prices would perform best, but they found that the guests with the simple numeral prices spent significantly more than the other two groups.

So result is simple no more currency signs just a number you need to grow you profits...............

We are like this only

The diverse nature of India is a subject of fascination for most foreigners.This is the land of opportunities amidst the political world filled with scams. We in India are used to it simply because its all around us – depressing slums right next to posh residential areas, stories of opulence grabbing headlines along with those of extreme poverty.


Rightly said the Urban Indians are more pseudo Americans than Indians coz we are more bothered about MC Donald's burger price than the cereal prices sky rocketing, we are more bothered about Obama's reaction to middle east problem than PM's response to 2G scam, we are more interested in getting the Barbie and Disney's of the world for out kids than reading out stories from Chandamama or Ramayana.On the contrary the Rural India, the so called Bharat behaves differently.


As consumers too, the diversity is apparent – glucose biscuits could very well be the only breakfast some can afford while there is a market for luxury brands too. India’s consumer buying power – 101 BMWs booked in one day in Aurangabad or the celebration of opulence through TV programmes like ‘Shaadi 3 crore ki‘ have made the news rounds.

Retail Transformation

I was reading this interesting article by Ashish bhasin about evolution of the Indian retail landscape. Author was trying to relate the transformation to the Maslow’s need hierarchy theory and explaining the evolution of the retail landscape. I too agree that need is the mother of invention and this has affected the changes in the Indian retail landscape. The article tries to explain how we have moved away from the dingy Kirana store to the swanky hyper markets which now started fulfilling the basic need of choosing (shopping). The 1^st level of need hierarchy theory i.e.: Physiological needs.

Modern retail started offering a safe and secure environment not only in terms of ambience but also in terms of the price, quality, choice and overall shopping experience. With this the retail slowly graduated to the 2^nd level of Maslow’s hierarchy i.e.: Safety.

Now comes the third need “Love and belonging” and the customer was ready to move into this stage. In order to keep the customer happy and glued to the brand, almost every retailer launched their version of customer loyalty program. Not only the brand s but also the entrepreneurs saw an opportunity here (like I mint). Though these programs seldom gave any substantial gains except for the high end ones but marketing/advertising in this phase highlighted the sense of belongingness to the special class of customers.

From this level, some of the customers quickly graduated to the next level of” Self Esteem” and the platinum card syndrome was born. Specialized high end luxury malls were created especially for these esteemed customers and this phase saw plethora of international luxury brands invading India. Customers were bucketed into Platinum, Gold and silver class and were lured with plethora of offers and incentives to buy more.

The final phase of self-actualization saw the emergence of environment friendly retailers/customers. This phase saw the evolution of jute bags. The journey has come a complete cycle and we are back into the world of jute bags, Organic foods and go green gadgets.

Entrepreneurship

Its a fancy word nowadays with everyone jumping into the fray.I being one of them.When you are spectator you don't realise the seriousness involved with game but when you step into it you get to know the real pressure and fun.I recall subroto bagchi's quote from the book The high performance entrepreneur when he was asked by a reporter on why he wanted to quit the high flying job at wipro and start on his own.He reverted back asking the reporter as do you know why every women wants to be a mother in spite of all the troubles that she undergoes in that nine months of pregnancy.No body knows the answer still everybody knows truth.The new enterprise is like a new born baby who has just entered this world and the baby will grow the way you want it to grow.It will try to emulate you by looking at you and after sometime it will be your replica.Every enterprise carries the DNA of the founders and the people who nurture it.People who help it to grow and gives the strength to stand tall amidst all the adversities.Every company has a unique identity and values of its own.The value which defines not only its future but also the way it treats its employees, compititon,society and nation as a whole.Though the end objective may be a healthy bottomline but the most important factor is the way to the healthy bottomline.The way is determined by the value the company carries within itself.This is the same value which it has inherited from its founders and the promoters.

Retail Redesigned

Once upon a time the business of world was war. The focus has sincebeen shifted. Man has decided to enjoy the fruits of previousgenerations' labour. Now economies compete for consumers. Old order isgiving way to a new order- 'Serve Consumer for Profit'. Of many thingsthat go into making this a reality, Organized Retail surely occupies avery high rank.Miracle of Organized Retail is attributable to the `Pull' ithas on customers. In its more than a century old history, OrganizedRetail has proved that it is the `Ultimate Clearing House' of 'Demand-n-Supply', Mother of the concept- `Marketing' and muchmore. Take a look at the following snap shots and judge for yourself:

* Ron Jon Surf Shop is known worldwide for its extensive selection ofactive lifestyles apparel, board sports equipment, and dive apparatus.Their 52000 square-feet Coco Beach - Florida store is open 24 hours aday - 365 days a year - just like the beach itself.

* Recreation Equipment Incorporated is one of the largest outdoor specialty retailer operating more than 50 stores. Its flag ship store inSeattle is an exciting shopping experience. It has huge 65-feet high,free standing climbing rock; mountain bike trails; and 'rain rooms' forcustomers to test their equipment at the time of purchase.

* Japanese '7 Eleven' stores scan each customer's basket and data getstransmitted to corporate HQ which in turn makes it available to all the8200 stores and countless vendors. Orders for fast-food and fresh-foodsupplies are placed three times each day. Magazines are ordered once aday. Processed food is ordered once in two days while each store receives deliveries ten times a day.

* Tiffany & Company, which has been around for over 160 years, is amongthe best known of all the great American brands. Tiffany is more than aretailer; it is an American icon that has worked its way into moviesand songs. The company's flagship location on Fifth Avenue in New YorkCity has become a tourist attraction.

* In 1997, Maxine Clark opened doors of 'Build-A-Bear Workshop'. Nowchildren could walk in and make a Teddy of their choice themselves.There are Master Bear Builders present to make it an enjoyable andmemorable experience. With in five years the idea grew into a 100 storechain with annual sales of US$200 million.

Malls,money and Market

INDIA WILL emerge as the sixth largest retail market by 2012 because of income, population growth and saving behaviour.
The sector will grow on the strength of the rising purchasing power of the consumer, which will mainly come from the services sector.
The rising population of working women, the rising services sector, the growing middle class and easier access to credit are some of the factors that will fuel the growth of retail industry in India.
The private labels will constitute a big part of organised retail. But the industry to deal with supply chain constraints, wastage and poor storage and distribution

The retail evolution in India is still in its nascent stage and said, though the Indian retail market is promising, it has a long way to go to make a mark on the global level.Though a number of retailers from emerging markets are doing well, no Indian player figures in the list of top 10 Asia-Pacific retailers.
The retail industry is very dynamic and competitive. Many players, who were doing well in the past, are no more in the picture. Retailers can cash in on the growth in consumption in Asia but with the US financial turmoil, other markets would be affected.
Organised retail is poised to grow at 30-40 per cent and the country will see one of the fastest growths in the retail sector. India will be an attractive market despite its complexities and marketers need to adapt to Indian realities. Ability to differentiate will determine the success of a retailer.
Consumers are more prepared than retailers for organised retail. Retail is undergoing transformation, but we need to keep typical Indian buyer in mind while chalking out strategy.

OOH -the next boom

What does a bus stop have in common with a footwear firm? Ask Reebok. The sportswear giant’s newest outdoor display for its recently-launched Reebok HexRide is a shoe hung by a string inside a standing panel of a bus shelter. Each unit of this street furniture costs around Rs 1,75,000. For Reebok, the leader in the Indian sportswear market, this attempt at out-of-home advertising (OOH) is an effort to break away from the clutter. But why OOH? Traditionally, outdoor advertising has a lower cost per 1,000 views than any other form of advertising. With rising costs associated with mass media advertising, marketers are increasingly depending on emerging media — be it digital or OOH. And that’s not all. OOH media companies, too, have started attracting higher valuations in the market. For instance, Kishore Biyani’s Future Media is offloading around 10% stake for $10 million. “The second round of talks are in progress to bring in fresh capital. The OOH sector is an interesting place to be in right now and we are optimistic about its long-term potential,” reveals Mr Biyani.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If the buzz in investment banking circles is to be believed, PE firm Warburg Pincus is most likely to pick up 15-20% stake for Rs 300 crore in Mumbai-based outdoor advertising firm Laqshya. Then just a few months back Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers picked up equity stakes of 8.28% each in the Rs 1200-crore Times Innovative Media, the OOH subsidiary of Entertainment Network India, for Rs 200 crore. Similarly, ILabs Investment Funds LLC pumped in Rs 17.8 crore into Mumbai-based Integrid Media, which has chalked out aggressive plans to expand in the OOH advertising activation space in a few months. And all this is besides half a dozen venture capital investments in digital signage and in-store TV companies such as LiveMedia (DFJ), DSN (Sequoia Capital India), vJive (Matrix) and Tag Media Network (Intel Capital). So what’s up? It’s very clear. OOH advertising is all set to become big. Sample this: The Rs 1,250-crore Indian OOH industry is estimated to touch Rs 2,400 crore by 2012, at a CAGR of 14%, according to a report by FICCI-PricewaterhouseCoopers. And according to experts, it may even account for 10-12% of the country’s total ad spend by 2010. Last year OOH industry grew 25% over 2006. In comparison, the darling of the entertainment & media industry — online advertising — is estimated to cough up only Rs 1,100 crore by 2012, at a CAGR of 32%. So what is fuelling this exceptional growth? Sunder Hemrajani, MD, Times OOH — one of the country’s top outdoor ad firms — says, “There are several factors. The growing investment in infrastructure has opened doors for new forms of advertising. For instance, if there wasn’t a DND expressway near the capital there wouldn’t have been any scope of advertising through big LCD screens there. Secondly, the Indian consumer’s out of home spending is noticeably increasing. People are shopping, eating out and spending quite a lot of time outside. That is where a huge opportunity lies for advertisers.”