To do the 'mystery shopping' one needs to sit in front of a computer with internet for 30 - 45 minutes to get a hang of the brief. The mystery shopper then spends Rs.200 or more on transportation to & from the location/ outlet, another Rs.100 - 200 to buy basic food or the cheapest merchandise as proof of the visit to the outlet. The shopper also has to click a couple of pics of the shopping venue and rush back home or office to upload the findings online which takes between 45 - 90 mins within 8 - 12 hrs of completion of the mystery shopping. The travelling time, in addition, varies a lot.
The shopper is generally reimbursed by the agencies a sum of Rs.250 - 400 for the entire task after a gap of 2 - 3 months.
The brands/ clients pay the agencies a substantial amount and what the shopper & the brands get in return are stale peanuts.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
How To Tackle Negative Comments While Managing Community In Social Media.
(Excerpt from discussions initiated by Pervara Kapadia, Independent Social Media Marketing Consultant in the ‘Marketing Pundit’ group on Linkedin.com)
Check out http://pervarakapadiaatmoney.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-tackle-negative-comments-while.html
Trishma Singh wrote:
The only idea that comes to my mind when I first read this discussion topic is to follow the "get well soon therapy" approach of the Hindi movie: Lage Raho Munnabhai ... gift a bouquet of roses to the person who cant understand your viewpoint.
One cannot get everyone to accept and conform to one's viewpoint.
The negative comments can also be tackled by supporting and winning the influence of those community-members who are posting/ commenting in the affirmative.
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
Absolutely Trishma, I would agree with you that the rest of the people in the group would also understand and be able to counter the negative comments. On a lighter note yes send them a bouquet.
Deep Banerjee wrote:
@Trishma: I love the way you expressed it all and the suggested solution. You deserve a hug ....:))
However, some people have a very nasty habit of posting derogatory negative comments. These creeps flare up even more when they realize that their back is to the wall and have been reduced to a minority vis-a-vis community-members who are posting/ commenting in the affirmative.
Check out http://pervarakapadiaatmoney.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-to-tackle-negative-comments-while.html
Trishma Singh wrote:
The only idea that comes to my mind when I first read this discussion topic is to follow the "get well soon therapy" approach of the Hindi movie: Lage Raho Munnabhai ... gift a bouquet of roses to the person who cant understand your viewpoint.
One cannot get everyone to accept and conform to one's viewpoint.
The negative comments can also be tackled by supporting and winning the influence of those community-members who are posting/ commenting in the affirmative.
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
Absolutely Trishma, I would agree with you that the rest of the people in the group would also understand and be able to counter the negative comments. On a lighter note yes send them a bouquet.
Deep Banerjee wrote:
@Trishma: I love the way you expressed it all and the suggested solution. You deserve a hug ....:))
However, some people have a very nasty habit of posting derogatory negative comments. These creeps flare up even more when they realize that their back is to the wall and have been reduced to a minority vis-a-vis community-members who are posting/ commenting in the affirmative.
What should be the first priority of a marketing head - brand syntax, business results or customer insights? What is your formula for a nascent brand?
t(Excerpt from discussions initiated by Rahul Sinha, Marketing Head, Birla Sun Life in the ‘Marketing Pundit’ group on Linkedin.com)
Deep Banerjee wrote:
Customer Insights should be the first priority of a marketing head.
For a nascent brand, the market segmentation has to be flawless. Accordingly, the brand's positioning stance has to be worked out.
Rahul Sinha wrote:
Another view - If you do not know your Brand Syntax (what is at the heart of your brand), customer insight will be a map but you would lack the purpose. Hence the first goal should be to determine the brand syntax. Positioning will require both. So a chicken and egg? Which first?
Deep Banerjee wrote:
Before I typed out my comment, I pondered a lot over the superior choice - brand syntax or customer insights. I chose the later. I felt that a product/ brand should be conceptualized with the customer in mind. His demographic, behavioral and psychographic profile assessment is extremely important. That will dictate the brand communication language, methodologies, expenses, etc. All said, I too agree that it’s a chicken and egg story.
Alok Sud wrote:
I agree, knowing your customer is first and foremost priority. Once you know the Target Audience you are chasing, the nest logical step would be creating a value proposition to attract the customers, the brand syntax would then need to be worked out and thereafter the rest of the stuff follows. Without a clear understanding of the customer nothing would work, however great the brand syntax / architecture.
Deep Banerjee wrote:
Customer Insights should be the first priority of a marketing head.
For a nascent brand, the market segmentation has to be flawless. Accordingly, the brand's positioning stance has to be worked out.
Rahul Sinha wrote:
Another view - If you do not know your Brand Syntax (what is at the heart of your brand), customer insight will be a map but you would lack the purpose. Hence the first goal should be to determine the brand syntax. Positioning will require both. So a chicken and egg? Which first?
Deep Banerjee wrote:
Before I typed out my comment, I pondered a lot over the superior choice - brand syntax or customer insights. I chose the later. I felt that a product/ brand should be conceptualized with the customer in mind. His demographic, behavioral and psychographic profile assessment is extremely important. That will dictate the brand communication language, methodologies, expenses, etc. All said, I too agree that it’s a chicken and egg story.
Alok Sud wrote:
I agree, knowing your customer is first and foremost priority. Once you know the Target Audience you are chasing, the nest logical step would be creating a value proposition to attract the customers, the brand syntax would then need to be worked out and thereafter the rest of the stuff follows. Without a clear understanding of the customer nothing would work, however great the brand syntax / architecture.
"You Just Can't Beat a Bajaj". Read why …..
(Excerpt from discussions initiated by Deep Banerjee, Marketing Support Consultant, Marketingpundit.com in the ‘Marketing Pundit’ group on Linkedin.com)
Deep Banerjee wrote:
Once upon a time in India there was Bajaj Scooters which had a gala time because of the licensing raj and the proximity of its head honcho with the top political bosses in New Delhi between the 1960s to mid 1980s. However, the entire category of scooters from the Bajaj stable comprising of Bajaj Chetak, Bajaj Super and Priya scooters have been laid to rest years ago.
The erstwhile head of Bajaj Auto, seen often in his crispy outfit (who has left the reins of the co. to his son) did nothing to stop the black-marketing of scooters by his own dealers. In 1972, a Vespa150 scooter (then a product of Bajaj Auto) priced at Rs.3600 was openly sold by the authorised dealer at Rs.5500 and that too after a waiting period of 7 - 10 years.
I still remember the sons of our family priest near Asansol taking up black-marketing of Bajaj scooters as full time profession. As a child in middle school in the early 1970s, I would hear them with awe, their tale of booking 20 odd scooters @ Rs.500 each, a hell of a lot of money those days.
There was a time when Bajaj Scooters were sold with no tyres or tubes encircling the spare wheel at the back inspite of the customer having paid the full price. It was a case of take it or leave it.
In 1983-84, he scuttled the success of a truly good product LML Vespa100 by openly advertising and lobbying that unlike a Bajaj150 scooter, a Vespa100 can't carry 3 or more persons up a steep road. Were scooters ever meant to carry more than 2 persons?
Vespa PL170 failed because of the same negative publicity. I wonder if the Advertising Standards Council of India existed then.
Innumerable pillion riders of Bajaj150 scooters have had fatal falls and have got run over by other vehicles after the metal bracket supporting the spare wheel which also used to double up as a back rest for pillion riders snapped abruptly. Nobody dared to report or challenge a Bajaj then.
If it were today, the great businessman of yesteryears would have tasted the true wrath of customers.
Wasn't their tagline something like, 'You just can't beat a Bajaj'!!
Rahul Sinha wrote:
Well written, Deep. Another perspective though - Bajaj made the common man aspiration go beyond the ATLAS cycle. And Bajaj served the common customer well. The waiting period of 7-10 years crashed to a few months for those who shelled out the Rs.1200 premium (I remember this for Chetak, the most popular model). Wasn't this the market opportunity then? Either you took it or someone else will. It is despicable as per our current standards but a done thing those days.
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
Hi Deep good food for thought. Its all about monopoly. It’s similar to the times when Doordarshan was in existence. There would not be much entertainment and almost half the matter was censored. Post the satellite TVs coming in, Doordarshan soon changed its entire system to be around 24hrs 7 days a week. I remember the time when Pears Soap commercial was censored by Doordarshan as a kid was taking bath, wonder today what they have to say.
Similarly, Bajaj was also the [shall I say] victim of monopoly.
Deep Banerjee wrote:
Once upon a time in India there was Bajaj Scooters which had a gala time because of the licensing raj and the proximity of its head honcho with the top political bosses in New Delhi between the 1960s to mid 1980s. However, the entire category of scooters from the Bajaj stable comprising of Bajaj Chetak, Bajaj Super and Priya scooters have been laid to rest years ago.
The erstwhile head of Bajaj Auto, seen often in his crispy outfit (who has left the reins of the co. to his son) did nothing to stop the black-marketing of scooters by his own dealers. In 1972, a Vespa150 scooter (then a product of Bajaj Auto) priced at Rs.3600 was openly sold by the authorised dealer at Rs.5500 and that too after a waiting period of 7 - 10 years.
I still remember the sons of our family priest near Asansol taking up black-marketing of Bajaj scooters as full time profession. As a child in middle school in the early 1970s, I would hear them with awe, their tale of booking 20 odd scooters @ Rs.500 each, a hell of a lot of money those days.
There was a time when Bajaj Scooters were sold with no tyres or tubes encircling the spare wheel at the back inspite of the customer having paid the full price. It was a case of take it or leave it.
In 1983-84, he scuttled the success of a truly good product LML Vespa100 by openly advertising and lobbying that unlike a Bajaj150 scooter, a Vespa100 can't carry 3 or more persons up a steep road. Were scooters ever meant to carry more than 2 persons?
Vespa PL170 failed because of the same negative publicity. I wonder if the Advertising Standards Council of India existed then.
Innumerable pillion riders of Bajaj150 scooters have had fatal falls and have got run over by other vehicles after the metal bracket supporting the spare wheel which also used to double up as a back rest for pillion riders snapped abruptly. Nobody dared to report or challenge a Bajaj then.
If it were today, the great businessman of yesteryears would have tasted the true wrath of customers.
Wasn't their tagline something like, 'You just can't beat a Bajaj'!!
Rahul Sinha wrote:
Well written, Deep. Another perspective though - Bajaj made the common man aspiration go beyond the ATLAS cycle. And Bajaj served the common customer well. The waiting period of 7-10 years crashed to a few months for those who shelled out the Rs.1200 premium (I remember this for Chetak, the most popular model). Wasn't this the market opportunity then? Either you took it or someone else will. It is despicable as per our current standards but a done thing those days.
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
Hi Deep good food for thought. Its all about monopoly. It’s similar to the times when Doordarshan was in existence. There would not be much entertainment and almost half the matter was censored. Post the satellite TVs coming in, Doordarshan soon changed its entire system to be around 24hrs 7 days a week. I remember the time when Pears Soap commercial was censored by Doordarshan as a kid was taking bath, wonder today what they have to say.
Similarly, Bajaj was also the [shall I say] victim of monopoly.
Micromax, Karbonn, Maxx, etc have grown. Has Nokia become complacent? Is IPL the next brand building platform (these were key sponsors)?
(Excerpt from discussions initiated by Prasun Banerjee, Marketing Director, Haier India in the ‘Marketing Pundit’ group on Linkedin.com)
Deep Banerjee wrote:
There are 2 distinct questions that you have posed.
I'd say that Nokia indeed had become very complacent and possibly had started believing that they will have a never ending gala time on the Indian turf. They have literally been caught off-guard. It would be interesting to watch how with the kind of deep pockets and technical capability Nokia has, how they plan to fight back.
Cricket is religion for the Indian mass. So IPL is a good vehicle to reach out to the mass to build brand awareness. Brands like Micromax, Karbonn, Maxx, etc have spent hundreds of crores collectively in IPL. They reaped the initial results. Now they must concentrate on customer engagement and post sales service for goodwill and sustainable results. A discerning customer & a brand fanatic like me will never get carried away just because their names were splashed all around during the IPL.
Rahul Sinha wrote:
Micromax, Karbonn and Maxx underline the same point - if you become complacent, competition will nibble your market share - their phones are good, they have the same features and they are priced unbelievably low. Initially the perception would be of low quality (how can they make this at this price?) and later the perception will be I have been cheated by my current players (how can I be caught like this?). Both the cases, the customer will try to avoid these new players (either to stay away from bad products or to stay aligned with his world). If these three however ensure they have good product and they offer good after sale service, WOM will take over in 12-18 months and then it will be all the way down for the competition.
IPL could become the next place for brands to make an entry but then all big stages will be similar. (a new serial, in program at SRGMP, etc.). IPL does give the ideal platform for someone to step in and talk about their new offers.
Deep Banerjee wrote:
There are 2 distinct questions that you have posed.
I'd say that Nokia indeed had become very complacent and possibly had started believing that they will have a never ending gala time on the Indian turf. They have literally been caught off-guard. It would be interesting to watch how with the kind of deep pockets and technical capability Nokia has, how they plan to fight back.
Cricket is religion for the Indian mass. So IPL is a good vehicle to reach out to the mass to build brand awareness. Brands like Micromax, Karbonn, Maxx, etc have spent hundreds of crores collectively in IPL. They reaped the initial results. Now they must concentrate on customer engagement and post sales service for goodwill and sustainable results. A discerning customer & a brand fanatic like me will never get carried away just because their names were splashed all around during the IPL.
Rahul Sinha wrote:
Micromax, Karbonn and Maxx underline the same point - if you become complacent, competition will nibble your market share - their phones are good, they have the same features and they are priced unbelievably low. Initially the perception would be of low quality (how can they make this at this price?) and later the perception will be I have been cheated by my current players (how can I be caught like this?). Both the cases, the customer will try to avoid these new players (either to stay away from bad products or to stay aligned with his world). If these three however ensure they have good product and they offer good after sale service, WOM will take over in 12-18 months and then it will be all the way down for the competition.
IPL could become the next place for brands to make an entry but then all big stages will be similar. (a new serial, in program at SRGMP, etc.). IPL does give the ideal platform for someone to step in and talk about their new offers.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Has any of the Healthcare Service Providers in India embraced Social Media Marketing, whatever may its objective be?
Has any of the Healthcare Service Providers in India embraced Social Media Marketing, whatever may its objective be? (Excerpt from discussions initiated by Deep Banerjee, Marketing Support Consultant, Marketingpundit.com in the ‘Marketing Pundit’ group on Linkedin.com)
Please cite vivid examples and share additional insights which we may not be aware of. If you have chanced upon such examples on the internet, let's have a summary of the SMM efforts along with a hyperlink of the same, if possible.
Deep Banerjee wrote:
The same message was posted by me on my Facebook wall inviting more feedbacks. My young friend Trishma Singh, a fresh b-school passout and presently a trainee with Novartis India Ltd sent me the following link http://www.facebook.com/letsdecongest?v=wall&ref=ts . The link takes you to an wonderful Social Media Marketing initiative 'Lets Decongest' by Otrivin, an OTC brand from Novartis India. Although Otrivin is not a Healthcare Service Provider, nevertheless its a great initiative by a brand from the healthcare category and it deserves an applause.
Please cite vivid examples and share additional insights which we may not be aware of. If you have chanced upon such examples on the internet, let's have a summary of the SMM efforts along with a hyperlink of the same, if possible.
Deep Banerjee wrote:
The same message was posted by me on my Facebook wall inviting more feedbacks. My young friend Trishma Singh, a fresh b-school passout and presently a trainee with Novartis India Ltd sent me the following link http://www.facebook.com/letsdecongest?v=wall&ref=ts . The link takes you to an wonderful Social Media Marketing initiative 'Lets Decongest' by Otrivin, an OTC brand from Novartis India. Although Otrivin is not a Healthcare Service Provider, nevertheless its a great initiative by a brand from the healthcare category and it deserves an applause.
India Leads the Way With New Social Media
India Leads the Way With New Social Media (Excerpt from discussions initiated by Pervara Kapadia, Independent Social Media Marketing Consultant in the ‘Children & Youth Marketing’ group on Linkedin.com)
Deep Banerjee wrote:
Yes. However, social media etiquette is pathetically lacking in most of our Bollywood celebrities. A Priyanka Chopra is there on Twitter more to promote herself than anything else. With a only movie or event round the corner she Tweets like mad promoting herself as the girl next door.
The very next moment she shuts herself off. It would be prudent on my part to comment that she has all the traits of most people from the 'bimarU' states.
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
Hi Deep, Yes I would agree with you on this. When it comes to most of the celebrities it ends up being 'Fans and Followers'. Literally. most of the time there is no response etc. The reason i can say this is whenever you ask people who are out of our field they seem to have a view that Social Media is something that you 'follow' your celebrities. Most of them answer this way.
And naturally in India still Social Media is seen as a 'broadcasting - a one way communication system'. There are brands [FMCG et al] trying to get into a dialogue mode but still the whole scenario is 'broadcasting mode'. Now with little or no knowledge what can we expect others to do.
India is still to reach the basic understanding of 'engagement' - which involves 'listening' and not just doing a monologue and rantings of the mind. While I say this there is no doubt a couple of brands trying - one needs skill sets - just opening a profile page and starting to type does not make sense. A celebrity perhaps gets away because of other reasons due to appeal to other senses. But a soap brand could not get away with this and hence has to concentrate and try harder.
Deep Banerjee wrote:
Yes. However, social media etiquette is pathetically lacking in most of our Bollywood celebrities. A Priyanka Chopra is there on Twitter more to promote herself than anything else. With a only movie or event round the corner she Tweets like mad promoting herself as the girl next door.
The very next moment she shuts herself off. It would be prudent on my part to comment that she has all the traits of most people from the 'bimarU' states.
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
Hi Deep, Yes I would agree with you on this. When it comes to most of the celebrities it ends up being 'Fans and Followers'. Literally. most of the time there is no response etc. The reason i can say this is whenever you ask people who are out of our field they seem to have a view that Social Media is something that you 'follow' your celebrities. Most of them answer this way.
And naturally in India still Social Media is seen as a 'broadcasting - a one way communication system'. There are brands [FMCG et al] trying to get into a dialogue mode but still the whole scenario is 'broadcasting mode'. Now with little or no knowledge what can we expect others to do.
India is still to reach the basic understanding of 'engagement' - which involves 'listening' and not just doing a monologue and rantings of the mind. While I say this there is no doubt a couple of brands trying - one needs skill sets - just opening a profile page and starting to type does not make sense. A celebrity perhaps gets away because of other reasons due to appeal to other senses. But a soap brand could not get away with this and hence has to concentrate and try harder.
Writing correct English is absolutely important for success in Social Media Marketing
Writing correct English is absolutely important for success in Social Media Marketing. What do you'll have to say? (Excerpt from discussions initiated by Deep Banerjee, Marketing Support Consultant, Marketingpundit.com in the ‘Marketing Pundit’ group on Linkedin.com)
Deep Banerjee wrote:
I just read a nice and relevant article http://bit.ly/dw3ixV
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
Hi Deep thanks for the article. It brought me to the fact that our English went hey wire with the commencement of emails. In fact proper letter drafting and addressing people correctly went for a toss. Add to this with SMS we are totally out of proper English. And what’s more we have a new language 'what say d'huh!'. 'tks for d article' and so on...
Avijit Roy wrote:
The genesis of social media marketing lies on correct English otherwise you won't feel like reading it as it looses its sanctity.
Deep Banerjee wrote:
Dear Pervara & Avijit, just after the CBSE/ ISC results were announced in mid 2010, I paid a customary visit to a couple of schools in Kolkata. During the course of my discussion with a lady principal & some teachers in a school, I asked them about the secret of 90%+ average marks being scored by most students.
Somebody said that the instructions for awarding marks are very clearly laid out. For example: Macbeth by William Shakespeare is passe. Even if the child writes 'Sex'+'Pear', full marks need to be awarded. This is not a story that I've fabricated.
We are backdated or outdated. What say?
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
A very good question Deep. Infact the recent talk about changing the percentage system to grade system itself had gone through so much of criticism. Remember? So yes we perhaps are a scared people who do not wish to move ahead too fast.
But if you see we as a country are very re-active not proactive. We are not having the forecast though trust me we do not lack it if we encourage it. See for instance any calamity it will be attended to. But we will never be prepared for it.
Trishma Singh wrote:
Flawless communication is the soul of Marketing. English, no doubt, is extremely important when it comes to social-media marketing. What we fail to understand here is that clear, concise and fluid communication in our local languages is slowly emerging as the next big tool in this arena ... what with google, facebook being offered in hindi, tamil, etc.
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
So true Trishma. In fact we need to follow the brand that we are working on. The Brand Personality is critical. While correct English is a prerogative, talking with the consumer in the brand language is also important. Add to this as you have rightly shared consumer language and attitude / behavior is also crucial to know how you should converse.
Rahul Sinha wrote:
I believe that the most important attribute in any marketing is telling the recipient what you wish to say - simply and emphatically. If this can be done by even a sign/ symbol or mnemonic, it is fine. Many a times, a smiley can do the job. After all you are able to follow road directions across the world thru road signs and you can understand most of the traffic signs innately. Simplicity is needed rather than right grammatical knowledge.
Deep Banerjee wrote:
I just read a nice and relevant article http://bit.ly/dw3ixV
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
Hi Deep thanks for the article. It brought me to the fact that our English went hey wire with the commencement of emails. In fact proper letter drafting and addressing people correctly went for a toss. Add to this with SMS we are totally out of proper English. And what’s more we have a new language 'what say d'huh!'. 'tks for d article' and so on...
Avijit Roy wrote:
The genesis of social media marketing lies on correct English otherwise you won't feel like reading it as it looses its sanctity.
Deep Banerjee wrote:
Dear Pervara & Avijit, just after the CBSE/ ISC results were announced in mid 2010, I paid a customary visit to a couple of schools in Kolkata. During the course of my discussion with a lady principal & some teachers in a school, I asked them about the secret of 90%+ average marks being scored by most students.
Somebody said that the instructions for awarding marks are very clearly laid out. For example: Macbeth by William Shakespeare is passe. Even if the child writes 'Sex'+'Pear', full marks need to be awarded. This is not a story that I've fabricated.
We are backdated or outdated. What say?
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
A very good question Deep. Infact the recent talk about changing the percentage system to grade system itself had gone through so much of criticism. Remember? So yes we perhaps are a scared people who do not wish to move ahead too fast.
But if you see we as a country are very re-active not proactive. We are not having the forecast though trust me we do not lack it if we encourage it. See for instance any calamity it will be attended to. But we will never be prepared for it.
Trishma Singh wrote:
Flawless communication is the soul of Marketing. English, no doubt, is extremely important when it comes to social-media marketing. What we fail to understand here is that clear, concise and fluid communication in our local languages is slowly emerging as the next big tool in this arena ... what with google, facebook being offered in hindi, tamil, etc.
Pervara Kapadia wrote:
So true Trishma. In fact we need to follow the brand that we are working on. The Brand Personality is critical. While correct English is a prerogative, talking with the consumer in the brand language is also important. Add to this as you have rightly shared consumer language and attitude / behavior is also crucial to know how you should converse.
Rahul Sinha wrote:
I believe that the most important attribute in any marketing is telling the recipient what you wish to say - simply and emphatically. If this can be done by even a sign/ symbol or mnemonic, it is fine. Many a times, a smiley can do the job. After all you are able to follow road directions across the world thru road signs and you can understand most of the traffic signs innately. Simplicity is needed rather than right grammatical knowledge.
Recall a few brands which flourished because of the licensing raj and gagging of free economy & innovation in India between 1960s and mid 80s
Can you'll recall a few brands which flourished, thanks to the licensing raj and gagging of free economy & innovation in India. Never mind if such brands still exist or have been laid to rest. (Excerpt from the question posted by Deep Banerjee, Marketing Support Consultant, Marketingpundit.com on his Facebook.com wall)
Deep Banerjee wrote:
“I can think of one such brand as SERVO from Indian Oil whose only USP was lower pricing & dadagiri on the distribution sphere.”
Pradeep Narasimha wrote:
“Another set of Brands are HMT Watches and HMT Tractors both of these brands were leaders in their respective categories. Unfortunately both of them were put to rest by TItan and Mahindra Tractors and TAFE Tractors.”
Deep Banerjee wrote:
“HMT watches is a perfect example. There used to be a long waiting period to buy a HMT watch ..... now gone into the history pages.”
Sandip Samanta wrote:
"Thums Up ?? This brand got so big that Coca Cola had to retain the brand when they returned. Indian Oil's (Servo) initial success was due to its monopolistic stranglehold on the market."
Pradeep Narasimha:
"Allwyn Watches, Allwyn Refregirators, Allwyn Nissan LCV Trucks and Amdhra Pradesh Scooters Limited - Vespa PL 170, etc etc ..."
Rahul Sinha wrote:
"Yup. Two of my favorites in this list are: Doordarshan and Weston TV. Also Premier Padmini, Ambassador, Bush TV, Murphy Radio, Hind Cycles, Avon Cycles, Lambretta, Godrej Refrigerators, Keltron, Bata, Beetel, Department of Telecom, Indian Airlines, Park Avenues, etc. Most of them crashed as duties got cut, new players entered, prices moved as per market (often down) and new technologies entered India. Thank Manmohan Singh for that."
Deep Banerjee wrote:
“I can think of one such brand as SERVO from Indian Oil whose only USP was lower pricing & dadagiri on the distribution sphere.”
Pradeep Narasimha wrote:
“Another set of Brands are HMT Watches and HMT Tractors both of these brands were leaders in their respective categories. Unfortunately both of them were put to rest by TItan and Mahindra Tractors and TAFE Tractors.”
Deep Banerjee wrote:
“HMT watches is a perfect example. There used to be a long waiting period to buy a HMT watch ..... now gone into the history pages.”
Sandip Samanta wrote:
"Thums Up ?? This brand got so big that Coca Cola had to retain the brand when they returned. Indian Oil's (Servo) initial success was due to its monopolistic stranglehold on the market."
Pradeep Narasimha:
"Allwyn Watches, Allwyn Refregirators, Allwyn Nissan LCV Trucks and Amdhra Pradesh Scooters Limited - Vespa PL 170, etc etc ..."
Rahul Sinha wrote:
"Yup. Two of my favorites in this list are: Doordarshan and Weston TV. Also Premier Padmini, Ambassador, Bush TV, Murphy Radio, Hind Cycles, Avon Cycles, Lambretta, Godrej Refrigerators, Keltron, Bata, Beetel, Department of Telecom, Indian Airlines, Park Avenues, etc. Most of them crashed as duties got cut, new players entered, prices moved as per market (often down) and new technologies entered India. Thank Manmohan Singh for that."
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Suggest brands which could ultimately withstand the licensing raj in India between 1960s to mid 80s which had crippled all innovations & creativity
I can think of a few age old (25 yrs+) Indian & MNC brands which are still very strong, viz. Boroline (steadily losing out), Horlicks, Bournvita, Complan, Castrol CRB for diesel engines, Maggi, IITs, IIMs, Castrol GTX (youngest of the lot) ......
Can you'll suggest some more which could withstand the licensing raj which had crippled all innovations, creativity ... (Excerpt from the question posted by Deep Banerjee, Independent Marketing Support Consultant, Marketingpundit on his Facebook.com wall)
Partho Samaddar wrote:
“Eagle brand bear, got crippled.
Old Monk rum, still going strong.
Cherry Blossom shoe polish going strong.”
Trishma Singh wrote:
“Maruti: the Indian family car and all its latest avatars..”
Prasenjit Ghatak wrote:
“Britannia (ting ting ti ting), Thums Up, VIP luggage (even Aristrocrat), Camlin, Vicco Turmeric, Bajaj, Bata Auto, Tata, Nirodh condoms, Shilpa Bindi, and mig8 be even Benimadhab Sil's Full/Half Panjika (they sell over 1.5 million copies), Burimaa's Chocolate Bomb & Cadbury Eclairs & 5 Star & the list continues.”
Deep Banerjee wrote:
“@Trishma: I suppose you meant Maruti800 which in the next 2-3 yrs will be totally phased out.
@Prasenjit: The panjika (almanac) is a very good example. Which is Burima's Chocolate Bomb??
@Partho: Cherry Blossom from Reckitt is still the market leader. During our college days there used to be a very non-veg joke relating Cherry Blossom with a famous lady model of yesteryears.”
Prasenjit Ghatak wrote:
“Burimaa Chocolate Bombs are still found in the market during Pujas, but sold under scanner (due to the ban on Sound Crackers). You must be remembering Dulal Chocolate Bomb which was there but the brand faded out after a massive fire in their factory in Dankuni more than a decade ago.
Dulal’er Taal Mishri is a brand that’s still available in West Bengal.”
Manidip Banerjee wrote:
“I like the indegenous ones like Burima and Dulal. What about Xerox, Godrej, Hero Cyles, Lux (celebrated 50 years), Bata, Kwality!! What about food brands like Aanadi, Golebari, Aminia, Peter Cat.”
Can you'll suggest some more which could withstand the licensing raj which had crippled all innovations, creativity ... (Excerpt from the question posted by Deep Banerjee, Independent Marketing Support Consultant, Marketingpundit on his Facebook.com wall)
Partho Samaddar wrote:
“Eagle brand bear, got crippled.
Old Monk rum, still going strong.
Cherry Blossom shoe polish going strong.”
Trishma Singh wrote:
“Maruti: the Indian family car and all its latest avatars..”
Prasenjit Ghatak wrote:
“Britannia (ting ting ti ting), Thums Up, VIP luggage (even Aristrocrat), Camlin, Vicco Turmeric, Bajaj, Bata Auto, Tata, Nirodh condoms, Shilpa Bindi, and mig8 be even Benimadhab Sil's Full/Half Panjika (they sell over 1.5 million copies), Burimaa's Chocolate Bomb & Cadbury Eclairs & 5 Star & the list continues.”
Deep Banerjee wrote:
“@Trishma: I suppose you meant Maruti800 which in the next 2-3 yrs will be totally phased out.
@Prasenjit: The panjika (almanac) is a very good example. Which is Burima's Chocolate Bomb??
@Partho: Cherry Blossom from Reckitt is still the market leader. During our college days there used to be a very non-veg joke relating Cherry Blossom with a famous lady model of yesteryears.”
Prasenjit Ghatak wrote:
“Burimaa Chocolate Bombs are still found in the market during Pujas, but sold under scanner (due to the ban on Sound Crackers). You must be remembering Dulal Chocolate Bomb which was there but the brand faded out after a massive fire in their factory in Dankuni more than a decade ago.
Dulal’er Taal Mishri is a brand that’s still available in West Bengal.”
Manidip Banerjee wrote:
“I like the indegenous ones like Burima and Dulal. What about Xerox, Godrej, Hero Cyles, Lux (celebrated 50 years), Bata, Kwality!! What about food brands like Aanadi, Golebari, Aminia, Peter Cat.”
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Doctors & Social Networking
A doctor's success can't be measured only by his work duration or by how much he earns. He's not running a factory to churn out prescriptions & medicines.
Good and ethical docs need to be social enough & should be an affable person. Patients & their relatives should be comfortable with him. He should be a good listener and should be able to communicate freely with his target group (TG). His soothing words & gesture should be able to take the misery & panic out of every single patient partially. After all the doc's very existence, opulence, social recognition is all because of his TG.
Isn't this all an element/ characteristic of good Social Networking..what say???
Social Networking activity is in no way an advertising .... be rest assured.
Good and ethical docs need to be social enough & should be an affable person. Patients & their relatives should be comfortable with him. He should be a good listener and should be able to communicate freely with his target group (TG). His soothing words & gesture should be able to take the misery & panic out of every single patient partially. After all the doc's very existence, opulence, social recognition is all because of his TG.
Isn't this all an element/ characteristic of good Social Networking..what say???
Social Networking activity is in no way an advertising .... be rest assured.
Forget ROI .... extent of 'engagement' is most important in Social Media Marketing
The success of SMM is absolutely dependant on the extent of Customer/ Consumer Engagement.
For example, the kind of discussions that take place on this Linkedin Group by Windchimes "Indian Social Media Landscape" is ample proof of its success. The group has generated a lot of interest across the globe. Don't worry about quantitative & qualitative aspects.
Kaya Skin Clinic is still not generating profits. Nevertheless, the brand has successfully managed to connect very well with its target audience through the Social Media. With this kind of buzz all around, profits is just a matter of time. Their spend on Social Media, I'm sure is just a very small fraction of its overall marketing budget.
Another company doing great on the Social Media is Mahindra&Mahindra for their beast named Scorpio and also for Xylo and Bolero. Check them out on Facebook. They have redefined what customer engagement means.
In July - August2009, I promoted a Bengali feature film "Angshumaner Chhobi" thro' the Social Media, a first ever serious effort in Bengali cinema. In a short span of 4 - 5 weeks, there were over 25,000 interactions. The film got nominated for the prestigious Anandalok Puroshkar & went on to win awards at various film festivals.
What do readers have to say?
For example, the kind of discussions that take place on this Linkedin Group by Windchimes "Indian Social Media Landscape" is ample proof of its success. The group has generated a lot of interest across the globe. Don't worry about quantitative & qualitative aspects.
Kaya Skin Clinic is still not generating profits. Nevertheless, the brand has successfully managed to connect very well with its target audience through the Social Media. With this kind of buzz all around, profits is just a matter of time. Their spend on Social Media, I'm sure is just a very small fraction of its overall marketing budget.
Another company doing great on the Social Media is Mahindra&Mahindra for their beast named Scorpio and also for Xylo and Bolero. Check them out on Facebook. They have redefined what customer engagement means.
In July - August2009, I promoted a Bengali feature film "Angshumaner Chhobi" thro' the Social Media, a first ever serious effort in Bengali cinema. In a short span of 4 - 5 weeks, there were over 25,000 interactions. The film got nominated for the prestigious Anandalok Puroshkar & went on to win awards at various film festivals.
What do readers have to say?
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Managing India
The diktat from Indian corporates to their executivesis is very clear: "40 and nowhere to go". If u don't believe me, check out Linkedin.com. However, in India at 40+, the scion of a political family is still a 'baba' or a 'baby' and supposedly the 'most eligible bachelor'.
No wonders, lakhs & lakhs of 'murkho' chamchas feel that Didi at 50+ (... See Moresurrounded by her cohorts of stern faced pehlwans) is their only saviour.
Die hard bangalis still prefer to lobby around 'Dada' who according to them is the best thing that has ever happened to world cricket.
When will all these chamchas perish? They are not worth a drop of tear!!!
No wonders, lakhs & lakhs of 'murkho' chamchas feel that Didi at 50+ (... See Moresurrounded by her cohorts of stern faced pehlwans) is their only saviour.
Die hard bangalis still prefer to lobby around 'Dada' who according to them is the best thing that has ever happened to world cricket.
When will all these chamchas perish? They are not worth a drop of tear!!!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Panic or Marketing Innovation
Municipal elections in Kolkata on 30th May 2010. To attract eyeballs CPI(M) candidates have FIFA World Cup schedules printed on 2/3 space of their election banners. How will you define it - innovation or panic?
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
A Motivation to my own Agri Retailing efforts in the Hinterland
I am an individual, who eat, dream, sleep marketing by selling marketing ideas.
Yesterday, in a LinkedIn friend's blog I read about an agri-retailing venture, JKS Agrimall located 70 kilometers away from Hyderabad , in a small town called Jangaon. The mall is housed in a 3,000-sq ft space, and houses various brands neatly categorised with displays and price charts. It’s a mall — at least the name says so. The ruse of passing off a supermarket space as ‘a mall’ is quite common in big cities. But one can forgive the owners simply because of the genesis of JKS Agrimall. ‘JKS’ stands for ‘Jantha’ , ‘Kishore’ and ‘Santosh’ , three friends who have come together to start this supermarket retailing pesticides, fertilisers, seeds, sprayers and cement.
Articles of such kinds are a big motivator. The three friends had no B-School graduates to help on positioning, segmentation, etc. Yet 70 kms away from Hyderabad in the drylands of western AP, they have clocked Rs.25 crores of sales from one single unit. With a bit of hand-holding and professional marketing support, this venture can put the biggies to shame.
At present in the interiors of Midnapore in West Bengal, in a place called Hoomgarh near Garbeta, I am trying to hand-hold a 'perfect gentleman' to profitably run a 360* logistics hub primarily in fruits and vegetables trading. The project involves sourcing/ procurement of apples, oranges, pumpkins, tomatoes, carrots, flowers, eggs, etc; stocking them in an only one of its kind in India multi-commodity cold storage of 5000 tonnes capacity divided into 16 chambers; branding and packing them and ultimately selling them in Kolkata and other parts of South Bengal and Orissa.
I should be able to keep readers abreast of future developments through the columns of this blog and also through the pages of my own website http://www.marketingpundit.com/.
Any innovative ideas from readers or brands/ companies looking forward to rural penetration are welcome.
Yesterday, in a LinkedIn friend's blog I read about an agri-retailing venture, JKS Agrimall located 70 kilometers away from Hyderabad , in a small town called Jangaon. The mall is housed in a 3,000-sq ft space, and houses various brands neatly categorised with displays and price charts. It’s a mall — at least the name says so. The ruse of passing off a supermarket space as ‘a mall’ is quite common in big cities. But one can forgive the owners simply because of the genesis of JKS Agrimall. ‘JKS’ stands for ‘Jantha’ , ‘Kishore’ and ‘Santosh’ , three friends who have come together to start this supermarket retailing pesticides, fertilisers, seeds, sprayers and cement.
Articles of such kinds are a big motivator. The three friends had no B-School graduates to help on positioning, segmentation, etc. Yet 70 kms away from Hyderabad in the drylands of western AP, they have clocked Rs.25 crores of sales from one single unit. With a bit of hand-holding and professional marketing support, this venture can put the biggies to shame.
At present in the interiors of Midnapore in West Bengal, in a place called Hoomgarh near Garbeta, I am trying to hand-hold a 'perfect gentleman' to profitably run a 360* logistics hub primarily in fruits and vegetables trading. The project involves sourcing/ procurement of apples, oranges, pumpkins, tomatoes, carrots, flowers, eggs, etc; stocking them in an only one of its kind in India multi-commodity cold storage of 5000 tonnes capacity divided into 16 chambers; branding and packing them and ultimately selling them in Kolkata and other parts of South Bengal and Orissa.
I should be able to keep readers abreast of future developments through the columns of this blog and also through the pages of my own website http://www.marketingpundit.com/.
Any innovative ideas from readers or brands/ companies looking forward to rural penetration are welcome.
Shakeout inevitable in the 'mall market'
There's bound to be a shakeout in the 'mall mania' in the very near future.
In 2001 - 2002, I used to stay in Veera Desai Road during my routine monthly visits to Mumbai. I haven't visited the area after that ... however, I find it difficult to believe from friends residing in Andheri (West) that there are more than 5 malls and multiplexes in that short stretch of road. The residents must be having a terrible time with so much of pressure on the already crumbling infrastructure.
Most of the mall owners have no clues about 'marketing'. Their concept of marketing is limited to publishing full page newspaper advertisements a couple of times while the construction is halfway through. Its a case of 'me too' jumping onto the bandwagon. These structures need to be positioned as 'destination points' with sufficient, I repeat sufficient open space to laze around. Once the young and not too young lovers and couples get tired of walking all around the place or whispering sweet nothings, they will go for the pizzas, burgers, chais, mochas, icecreams.... That's what I term as market creation.
However, do most of the mall owners care if the tenants earn their money or not? And when business of the tenants start falling, the mall owners waste no time in making statements of self pity - 'market conditions are bad'. Mall owners and tenants should continuously strive to project themselves as happening ones.
Readers in Mumbai, B'lore, Hyd, NCR who have had the fortune of visiting City Centre in Salt Lake and the misfortune of visiting Emami Landmark on Lord Sinha Road, both in Kolkata will know what I wanted to convey.
Castrol taught me the values of 'influencing the influencer'
I myself was with Castrol from mid 1985 - early 1992, fresh out of B-School. I had the great fortune of interacting closely with the great managers of yesteryears Dr.B.K.Barman, Mr.Dilip Kumar Guha, Mr.Ramesh Chandra Mahajan. They taught me hands-on about Castrol's (then, Indrol Lubricants and Specialities Ltd) strategy of influencing the influencer.
Irrespective of our hierarchy in the organisation, we had to visit a large number of roadside mechanics every week, spend time with them chatting about the virtues of multigrade oils, additives, et al and offcourse in their language. I loved getting under the gigantic trucks to help mechanics open the oil sump and collecting lube samples in special bottles for further testing in the labs at Paharpur, Wadala, Patalganga.
I have carefully preserved a couple of oil stained shirts as mementos along with the large number of certificates and trophies and ties. I personally love automobiles, the work in Castrol was a passion for me. I have heard and seen people joining Castrol from office automation companies and leaving in a few months since the system of 'influencing the influencer' was too much for their system.
There were no computers those days, yet the entire strategy was so systems driven. At one point of time in Orissa, I was commanding a 35%+ market share in the commercial vehicles lubricating oil segments. And that too, when the brands were priced 40% higher than the PSU oil company products. And mind it ... we were not even allowed to sell from the PSU petrol pumps.
During the past 8 years, as an Independent Marketing Consultant working closely with Youth and Children as target audiences and as the person behind the ideation and implementation of the only one of their kinds in Child and Youth Marketing activities India, viz. Inter School and College PowerPoint Presentation Contest (Powerplay and IT Kriya contests respectively), I have managed to convey the message and virtues of influencing the influencer to brands like LG Electronics - IT Divn, Nerolac Paints, Osram, TVS Motor Co., Eveready, Power FM, Rasna, General Mills and many more.
Irrespective of our hierarchy in the organisation, we had to visit a large number of roadside mechanics every week, spend time with them chatting about the virtues of multigrade oils, additives, et al and offcourse in their language. I loved getting under the gigantic trucks to help mechanics open the oil sump and collecting lube samples in special bottles for further testing in the labs at Paharpur, Wadala, Patalganga.
I have carefully preserved a couple of oil stained shirts as mementos along with the large number of certificates and trophies and ties. I personally love automobiles, the work in Castrol was a passion for me. I have heard and seen people joining Castrol from office automation companies and leaving in a few months since the system of 'influencing the influencer' was too much for their system.
There were no computers those days, yet the entire strategy was so systems driven. At one point of time in Orissa, I was commanding a 35%+ market share in the commercial vehicles lubricating oil segments. And that too, when the brands were priced 40% higher than the PSU oil company products. And mind it ... we were not even allowed to sell from the PSU petrol pumps.
During the past 8 years, as an Independent Marketing Consultant working closely with Youth and Children as target audiences and as the person behind the ideation and implementation of the only one of their kinds in Child and Youth Marketing activities India, viz. Inter School and College PowerPoint Presentation Contest (Powerplay and IT Kriya contests respectively), I have managed to convey the message and virtues of influencing the influencer to brands like LG Electronics - IT Divn, Nerolac Paints, Osram, TVS Motor Co., Eveready, Power FM, Rasna, General Mills and many more.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Bring back the Maruti Suzuki Esteem
The 1300 cc, three-box Esteem car from Maruti Suzuki was one fantastic machine. It was very low on maintenance costs and extremely good in fuel economy. Driving comfort was just too good. The pride of ownership was indeed an ego booster .... no wonders the little girl after the joyride in daddy's new Esteem (as shown in the TVC) proudly announces that its "My Daddy's Biiiig Car". In the Indian motor-rallying circuits, Esteem still calls the shots.
Why did the company want to bring in a 'forced obsolescence' with effect from early January 2008? In the product life cycle, the car was still in its growth stage, there was nothing to worry.
It is being heard that a three-box Swift is in the offing. However, I am sure that the new product being planned could have been squeezed in between the Esteem VXI and SX4. The media in no uncertain terms have spelt out that the introductory batches of SX4 is very poor in fuel economy.
Maruti Suzuki had earlier made the mistake of withdrawing the jelly-bean shaped Zen from the market for about a year in 2005 and replaced it with Zen Estilo. Estilo has just not been able to create an impact with customers. With competition hotting up in the small car segment, Maruti Suzuki needs to become far more market savvy in the higher segment and that's where Esteem figured.
Past and present 'Esteem owners', 'Esteem lovers' and marketing gurus, can we have a discussion on the topic please?
(Article by: Deep Banerjee dated 14th February 2008)
Why did the company want to bring in a 'forced obsolescence' with effect from early January 2008? In the product life cycle, the car was still in its growth stage, there was nothing to worry.
It is being heard that a three-box Swift is in the offing. However, I am sure that the new product being planned could have been squeezed in between the Esteem VXI and SX4. The media in no uncertain terms have spelt out that the introductory batches of SX4 is very poor in fuel economy.
Maruti Suzuki had earlier made the mistake of withdrawing the jelly-bean shaped Zen from the market for about a year in 2005 and replaced it with Zen Estilo. Estilo has just not been able to create an impact with customers. With competition hotting up in the small car segment, Maruti Suzuki needs to become far more market savvy in the higher segment and that's where Esteem figured.
Past and present 'Esteem owners', 'Esteem lovers' and marketing gurus, can we have a discussion on the topic please?
(Article by: Deep Banerjee dated 14th February 2008)
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
A Summer Project is NOT Agent Recruitment Project
I'm shocked at the way number of B-Schools in India are forcing their Marketing Management students to appear for campus interviews - for Final Placements as well as for Summer Training.
For Summer Training, private Insurance sector companies are awarding projects which involve appointment of agents for selling insurance products. The students are being paid a commission for the number of agents they manage to recruit. They are being threatened that if they do not appoint a bare minimum number of agents, they may not get their "certificate of satisfactory completion" from the company at all. Once these students pass out the following year, companies marketing branded products may not touch them with a barge pole. What these students do in the name of Summer Project for a period of 6 to 8 weeks is not a project at all.
Final year MBA Marketing students (with a background in Engineering) have been offered final placements (during campus interviews in February) in insurance companies with the job profile remaining the same as that of Summer Training. The insurance companies issue "Letters of Offer" to practically every individual who appear for the interview. What is worse is that, thereafter, the students are not even allowed to appear for other campus interviews by the college authorities between February and June.
These final year students were not even informed about their job content, i.e. on what they were expected to do on joining the company. On completion of their MBA in June - July they have also realized that the remuneration promised to them has a very very very high component of variable pay (in the form of incentives). No wonders there's a large number of demotivated fresh and young MBAs in the marketplace.
Will someone counsel these youngsters properly, please? I'm keen to hear from youngsters incidents which are very similar to these.
For Summer Training, private Insurance sector companies are awarding projects which involve appointment of agents for selling insurance products. The students are being paid a commission for the number of agents they manage to recruit. They are being threatened that if they do not appoint a bare minimum number of agents, they may not get their "certificate of satisfactory completion" from the company at all. Once these students pass out the following year, companies marketing branded products may not touch them with a barge pole. What these students do in the name of Summer Project for a period of 6 to 8 weeks is not a project at all.
Final year MBA Marketing students (with a background in Engineering) have been offered final placements (during campus interviews in February) in insurance companies with the job profile remaining the same as that of Summer Training. The insurance companies issue "Letters of Offer" to practically every individual who appear for the interview. What is worse is that, thereafter, the students are not even allowed to appear for other campus interviews by the college authorities between February and June.
These final year students were not even informed about their job content, i.e. on what they were expected to do on joining the company. On completion of their MBA in June - July they have also realized that the remuneration promised to them has a very very very high component of variable pay (in the form of incentives). No wonders there's a large number of demotivated fresh and young MBAs in the marketplace.
Will someone counsel these youngsters properly, please? I'm keen to hear from youngsters incidents which are very similar to these.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Market your brand to and through children and youth
Hello Friends!
If you are working in an Indian or MNC corporate entity in a decision making position in Brand Management, Product Management, Market Research, Market Segmentation, Product Positioning, Marketing Support functions, Advertising Agency of repute or if you are the Head/ Deputy Head/ Divisional Head of Marketing in your company, let's exchange ideas.
Even if your spouse or somebody really close to you is into the same please ask him or her to revert to me.
If the brand(s) / product category you (or your contact) manage or is responsible for, targets directly or indirectly :
-- "Children from Premium Households/ Schools studying in Class 3 - 12 anywhere in India"
-- "Youths in General/ Professional UG and PG Colleges anywhere in India",
please revert to me as soon as possible.
I am sure that I will be able to help you'll a lot.
Even if you are in a different functional area viz. Finance, HRD, Logistics, etc and if you feel that your company will do better by tagetting the above mentioned target audience, please refer me to someone important in the functional area of Marketing in your organisation.
My offer also applies to individual entrepreneurs also.
Those in the functional area of Marketing will know and those in other functional areas should know that children and youth are increasingly becoming opinion leaders in brand selection / purchase / usage.
Directly or indirectly, they are a Rs.40,000 Crores segment in India ..... Yes, That's True !!!
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