THE DAY MUMBAI STOOD STILL

What happened in Mumbai came to me in four stages: Shock, Denial, Acceptance, Anger!
There is a definite realization. Being a nuclear power doesn’t secure you. The challenges increase manifold if the enemy is invisible. I too want to participate in the total annihilation of the unseen and invisible enemy which is causing havoc across Globe. People are dying even as I write this down!

But unlike what others are doing, which is organizing rallies and lighting candles (which I think are great ideas to get people together for a common cause, but I fail to see how it can bring terrorism down).
I think the issue needs to be addressed in a different manner as well!

I will not spend time debating and justifying violence vs non-violence. All I am going to talk about today will be some measures which our army / NSG / Special Forces / BCC (Black Cat Commandos) need to take, not only to combat the invisible army, but also to set an example for everyone else in the world to see.

One of my passions is to follow the latest in arms and ammunition. So here is a list of weapons which I think ought to be part of the Indian Armed Forces. These are some of the best and most powerful weapon systems / ammunition to tackle any unforeseen contingency.

Disclaimer: If you are a firm believer in non-violence, and guns and ammunition makes you dizzy! Well, I suggest you not to go further down.

a) 50 calibre Barrett Rifle – The most effective sniper rifle available today in the world. It can hit the target from a distance of 2,400 meters. The bullet used in this gun is 50 calibre and has the ability to damage a 6-inch thick steel plate. Imagine attaching X-ray vision to this sniper rifle, with the ability to see through the walls, it can really spell doom for the terrorists!

b) M16 assault rifle – probably the most dangerous assault rifle in the world today. It has served the US army since 1961 and continues to be a fav still…Popularized by Video Games, this deadly demon has the ability to fire bullets and launch grenades at the same time. Extremely destructive…and extremely effective! In India only the special forces have access to M16 A2 (a version of M16)

c) Cornershot: An invention by an Israeli Commander to combat Guerilla warriors, this attachment (yes, it can be attached to any gun, pistol and even a bazooka!) allows the solder to look through the corner without exposing himself in the battlefield. It has an attached camera and Imagine if our commandos had this weapon attachment….

d) ESMAW – Novel Explosive rocket launcher…A fav with the US Marine Corps. It weighs a minimal 5 kgs…has an effective range of 250 mtrs and max range of 500 mtrs. Best part – it has delayed detonation, which means, the rocket will pierce through the walls of concrete to reach the hiding place of terrorists and then detonate! Beat that!

e) XM307 Air Bursting Weapon System – Capable of remote operations. It has a laser range finder, and a day/night sight. It is actually a light autocannon that delivers suppressive fire out to 2,000 meters. The weapon provides devastating firepower against visible and hidden targets such as those in foxholes, behind rocks / walls, and inside building with windows!

f) M110 Sniper Rifle: A semi-automatic sniper rifle which weighs less than 15 pounds. It has a suppresser at the nozzle which reduces the fire flash, making the shooter almost invisible. A rapid reload from the magazine. A long range thermo-optical maginifier, which allows the sniper to see through smoke, smog or fog upto 800 mtrs.

g) TASER X26 – For all the people believing in the Geneva Convention, here is a ‘less than lethal’ weapon. Absolutely fantastic for self defence in a situation wherein the forces would want to neutralize the terrorists yet capture them alive. It has an electro-stun system, which stuns the target with an electric shock and hijacks his central nervous system for some time. The product was tested on a monster of a US marine weighing 250 pounds and pumping iron that would put Arnold to shame…the marine couldn’t get up for 4 minutes flat! Imagine if our cops had the X26 at the CST station…

h) BERETTA LTLX 7000 – Once again a non-lethal weapon, which has the ability to fire targets at far range. This is a humanitarian sniper’s dream come true! The bullet is custom designed and hits the target at a speed of 211 mph (in a test where the object was kept at a distance of 50 mtrs), giving a nasty bruise but well short of killing the target! The best part: the kinetic energy mechanism in this gun allows it to deliver similar velocity at different distance. Thus when the same test was repeated on the target kept at 250 mtrs, the velocity of the bullet was 231 mph (almost similar to the one delivered above). Amazing! Isnt it?

i) XM214 MICROGUN: A SUPER CALIBRE ASSAULT RIFE WITH CUSTOM MADE CARTRIDGES – Lord of the guns made popular by the videogame called Team Fortress 2. This lethal dose of damage can fire upto 10,000 rounds per minute (remember the scene from Predator, wherein Arnie is firing a mult- barrel gun, that’s what I am talking about). The gun weighs 15 kilos and each cartridge costs about USD 200! It takes 400,000 USD to fire this weapon for 20 sec! So if there is a large group of militants and the forces want to wipe their impressions out in less than a minute…this is the answer!

j) M32 Multi Grenade Launcher – A semi automatic weapon that fires 6, 40 mm grenades in less than 3 seconds! A total mayhem causer, this launcher is your saviour when caught in the middle of a firefight. It can totally devastate any militant shelter home within seconds, not allowing any reaction time for the enemy. The best part, the overall design makes the launching of the grenade almost silent, thus providing the much needed invisibility to the armed forces while they are busy engaging the militants into a deadly assault.

k) MEI Mercury 40 MM Grenade – The Mercury grenade is the latest developed ammunition for the M32 Grenade launcher. Its designed to reach out to nearly half a mile! The shell can therefore travel a distance of 800 mtrs and still cause maximum damage. The Mercury comes in variants. The flare, which almost ignites the sky as it travels through its trajectory, making the enemy shit bricks, because it can give the illusion of being a missile! Next up, the Mercury high explosive dual purpose round, no explanation on that. The name says it all. The best part is – the overall design allows the grenade to deliver shrapnel upto 30% further.

l) DRAGON SKIN – In an armed combat, the defense is extremely important as well. One would want to be alive to use the firepower at his / her disposal. Dragon skin is the latest in the field of body armour suits. This beauty uses advanced ceramics and titanium compounds to build a shield which can protect someone from AK 47’s 7.62 mm rounds! Just so that you know, AK 47 is one of the few guns, which have the power to go through a quarter inch of steel plate like a knife goes through butter. Most of the bullet proof jackets fail against the test of 7.62 mm rounds! The funda is simple, the overlaying design of the jacket allows the impact power of the bullet to get dispersed over a larger area, and that is vitally important, because the traditional bullet proof jackets can stop the bullet from piercing through, but if shot from a nearly point blank range, the force itself could be devastating!

m) MP7A1 – We often assume our enemies to be like the villains in the Bollywood movie. Pistol trotting, not-fearing and with strength that could bring down a building! In real life, things could be a little different from our imagination! What we often hear is the militants being in the prime of their youth and seemingly innocuous and having average human strength, which therefore means, just like us if they are scared to die. Most of the time they would want to cover themselves in bullet proof vests. There are often hostage situations and the worst nightmare is to realize after shooting a guy in the chest, that he is aiming the gun at you! In these situations, the forces there need a weapon which is as compact as a sub-machine gun but can spit firepower as devastating as that of an assault rifle. Well, the answer to that situation is the MP7A1! It’s the latest in PDW or Personal Defense Weapons. The weapon is to be used in Close Quarter Combat situations. The ammunition used in this gun delivers firepower equal to an assault rifle, which can go through normal bullet proof vests (but not he Dragon Skin). So it’s a lethal combination of a gun that has little and fast recoil and ammunition that is deadly, is what makes this one of the best combat weapons against the enemy!

n) Gatecrasher – The biggest challenge in fighting against the invisible enemy is to breach their ring of shelter and deliver the blow. The gatecrasher is one of the best ammunition which can be used to end a hostage situation. It enables the security forces to make an entry point anywhere they want by delivering a carefully and precisioned blow to the walls / doors etc, at the same time not causing any other collateral damage. This device can puncture a 19 inches thick brick-wall without bringing down the house! Gatecrasher uses a water jacket to focus the explosion on a specific area transforming the power of explosion to become a precise cutting tool. At the same time this technology withholds the explosion to deliver damage on the other side of the wall, which could potentially kill the hostages.

I know of a fighter pilot who says the best of the aircrafts can’t deliver unless the pilot is equipped with the skills. I am in total agreement with what this gentleman says, and I rest the blog by mentioning the imperativeness of training our Police / Forces to use these weapons. As for the junta that believes in the weapons causing immense collateral damage, I have an advice – really do the homework before you make that comment :) because most of the times, collateral damage is caused because of the untrained weapon user and not because of the weapon itself.

I dedicate this post to all those brave souls who immolated their lives in the line of duty. May their souls rest in peace! Amen!

Extremely Interesting read! (not my creation :) courtesy: strategy-business.com)

This is a letter from a traditional management guru to one of his counterparts...read it :)

Dear Monte:
Forgive me for not getting back to you sooner.
But I’m sitting in a hotel conference room in Austin, Tex., punchy from PowerPoint, waaaay over- caffeinated, surrounded by click-monkeys in power suits (moi?) thumbing through their BlackBerrys checking e-mail.
The title of the conference, ironically enough, is “Always On: Executive Communication Strategies in the Age of Constant Connection."
And for the privilege of sponsoring all this executive insight (which I’m beginning to suspect might be better communicated by one guy wielding an over-cranked bullhorn), I’m paying $250k, which includes lunch, cocktails, and my own scintillating PowerPoint presentation this afternoon (which I may yet scrap for that bullhorn). I also get my logo on the program binder, the security-badge lanyard, the book bag, the luggage tags, the golf tees, the mouse pad, and all sorts of other totems and tchotchkes of executive overlordship.
I just love it when people haul out of these things looking like upscale NASCAR drivers.
In any event, I accidentally opened my spam folder, and for some reason that I can’t quite explain (although I’m sure my new IT kid can), I found your last e-mail nestled among the offers for Canadian drugs, replica Rolexes, satellite TV, Saddam Hussein’s gold, and 27 security warnings that my checking account had been breached from banks that I don’t do business with.
And this was before I checked my inbox again, now updated with 289 new missives, salutations, CCs, newsletters, updates, FYIs, and other minor emergencies during the past hour — not to mention 16 invitations to “join up” on LinkedIn.com.
Forgive the digression, Monte, but for the life of me, I’ve yet to see the personal value in any of these business networking sites — other than, perhaps, to know that I’m two degrees of separation from Good King Wenceslas, via our mutual “friend” Vlad the Impaler. Somehow, it all feels like digital name-dropping to me. Maybe I’m just a face-to-face guy in an “F2F” world. But for all the virtues of virtual networking, I’ve yet to notice a drop-off in the number of warm bodies at any of these conferences.
And the truth is, I’m overwhelmed by e-mail. I’m drowning in it. I wake up at 3 in the morning to check it. So I’m not surprised by the report in this morning’s New York Times about a survey finding that it’s made us all less productive.
What’s the solution, you ask? Disconnected Fridays? (Not if you want to stay in business.) Deleting everything? (Not unless you want to run afoul of the government’s new document retention laws.) No. Like it or not, I’m afraid that we really have become rhesus lab monkeys — forever clicking away on those buttons, hoping to be rewarded with a new piece of fruit.
Anyway, to answer your e-mail, sorry, but I can’t have lunch yesterday. As soon as this conference ends, I’ll call your office to reschedule.
I’ll be in touch —
The Biffster
PS: As I was typing away at this, a woman next to me looked over my shoulder and chuckled. Turns out she’s an old friend from college, currently a reporter for the Journal, interested in doing a story about you and AmSmelt. I say let’s go for it — so long as it’s face-to-face, and not by e-mail. Yr thoughts, pls.

When will the marketers understand???

Its been really bugging me now! I have been mulling over the imbecility I had to witness this morning, and every time I think about it... I feel like pulling my hair apart!

Here's the deal. My wife and myself have been wanting to join the gym and get back in 'shape'. Well to confess, my wife has been more committed to the cause than I have been.

This morning, we decided to check out the new gym which Jyotsana had discovered, searching through heaps of advertisements that come along with the main newspaper.

Let me paint a backdrop for you all before we start detailing:
a) As I had said, my wife has been more 'committed' than I have been with regards to starting this 'gymming thing' (so she was in a true sense an 'active consumer'. My exact choice of words when she mentioned about gym were - 'oh well, okay'!)
b) She is the one who searched through the newspaper and pull-outs to discover this new gym, while I was having fun playing the vicious cycle of office-home-office insulated around a 'couldnt-care-less' attitude
c) She has the buying power (enough and more of it!). She is not 'just the window shopper'
d) She is more 'loyal' in her behaviour towards brands than I have ever been in my entire life(I have got enough and more examples to showcase that)

With this backdrop, here is an account of what happened when we went to the gym this morning:
a) When we get to the gym and meet the instructor, he ignores her completely (as if she didnt exist!) and starts his gibberish aimed at educating (rather impressing) me (and I unfortuntately was anyways tuned off. I was totally disinterested and insulated around (remember... 'couldnt-care-less') attitude.)
b) The first part of the process was aimed at understanding our body types, our medical history and thus chalking out an exercise regime for 'both' of us. Here is ratio of time spent by the instructor on the first process for my wife and me. MY WIFE - 3 minutes!...hold on, the real sinker comes now..................... ME - 20 minutes! ('freakin'stein!....although she was clearly more interesting in knowing the procedure and had more 'questions' than I did)
c) After a while we were through with our first session for the day, throughout the session, while she was making an attempt to learn on her own, I got the attention of the floating coaches who would be more than willing to help me out in my workout. As always, she was relatively 'ignored' Just when we were placing ourselves in the car, I initiated the conversation asking her how she felt about the experience. The question was thrown back at me (as always:)!!) and my response was - 'disgusting'. Do you know what she said for the same question? 'I guess it was okay' (Marketers, do u read something here - "more margin for error". With everything going wrong for her, right from step 1, she was still willing to give those guys another chance!)

Bottomline: the real consumer was ignored, while the 'stereotype' ruled!

And I felt like shouting out loud and saying - 'WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR MARKETERS TO REALISE THAT WOMEN IS A HUGE UNTAPPED MARKET " (and much to my chagrin let me accept, far smarter than the male counterparts, when it comes to decision making on purchase / brands and sticking to the brands). And I will tell you why I have generalised this one experience to the entire 'women consumer community'. Let me present my case with facts:
a) Between 1970 to 1998 Men's median income has increased by 0.6%. The same for women has grown by ............(hold your breath)......63%
b) A research done in a lawnmower company produced some astonishing results. Women accounted for 80% of high-margin riding lawnmower sales (so its not just nappy sales you see!)
c) Girls have been consistently outshining the guys aross examinations (be it our home turf: CBSE, or be it at a global level: GCSE). No wonder the instructor was explaining everything to me!
d) Women either influence or 'decide' 83% of all consumer purchases made by a household! (I would surely love to share this with the gym folks!)
e) I have heard this as a joke - while a man will straight head to what he wants to buy in a store, a women will end up gyrating, spiraling and zig-zagging her way through the store to buy what she came for, and in addition spends couple of extra grands! (well, as a marketer, who do you think has more 'real' spendable income, and therefore who should we target?) .

I dont know when will we, marketers, realise that women dont 'buy' brands. They join them. The experience today has really reinforced what I strongly believe in.
We are really taking an awful long time to understand the simple fact - 'Girls are the new boys'....

How do you spell HELL - Agarwal Packers and Movers

There are always these times when you wonder - "WTF was I thinking?" Let me tell you something, I have been asking this to myself every single day...ever since I have moved to Pune, or rather allow me to rephrase - ever since I hired Agarwal Packers to move our stuff from Delhi to Pune.

As if the prospects of traveling via road, the new job profile, experiencing life in a new city; werent exciting enough, I decided to spice up my life a little bit more... Much against the advice of my wife, I decided to finalise Agarwal Packers and Movers (DRS Group), as the professional services firm to help us relocate from Delhi to Pune.

In research we often ask consumers to 'surmise' in one word how their experience was. Well I can surmise it in one word - 'Horrible'. ...Want more - 'Disgusting / Excruciating / Terrible / Nightmarish...blah blah blah'.

This painful journey started with my interaction with this guy called 'Rajesh Gupta' who is based out of Delhi office of Agarwal Packers. A sales executive by profession, in his 'quintessential and pure' haryanvi he explained to me that I need to send him a list of all the stuff that we will be transporting and he will send a quote via email. True to his words (first and the last time!) the quote came in by the evening, on the day I spoke to him. Things went down the hill from thereon. Let me elucidate you point wise what happened:

a) Rajesh Gupta promised - All covered container. Rajesh Gupta delivered - An open truck!
b) Rajesh Gupta promised - Delivery of goods in 4 working days. Rajesh Gupta delivered - In 6 working days!
c) Rajesh Gupta promised - Foolproof delivery using corrugated material and poster tapes. Rajesh Gupta delivered - Cardboard and plastic boxes!
d) Rajesh Gupta promised - Delivery of all goods in one piece. Rajesh Gupta delivered - a broken TV!
...and this one takes the cake guys...
e) Rajesh Gupta promised - He will be the point of contact till the goods get delivered and he assured me of his best services in case there was any issue with regards to shipment delay or any other unforeseen contingency. Rajesh Gupta delivered - A white lie! As would happen with anyone who is concerned about the shipment delay and breakage, I called him up on his cell phone to explain the loss that I had to bear and to talk about way forward. That bugger had the audacity of asking her wife to lie about him and tell me that he has gone out of station! I asked my wife to call on his number again and pose as a prospective buyer, sure enough that bugger was on the phone again! And imagine the lame excuse he delivered on being caught - "he missed his train and thus came back home"! Ha ha ha.....what a joker!

The irony doesnt end here. Guess what... this organization is supposedly an ISO certified organization!

As I pen this blog down, the TV is still crippled, I have been following up with the Samsung folks and the DRS group folks, but ofcourse there has been no resolution. Even if there is a resolution and the crippled TV is put back in shape, all I know is that the entire experience has left a deep scar...and it will most definitely remain ingrained for a long time.

MORAL OF THE STORY / WORD OF CAUTION (not necessarily in that order) : a) Please DO NOT take services of Aggarwal Packers and Movers!
b) Listen to your wife's advice :)!

From MICA to 'chocolate khakra':)..........(part 1)


Although I have used the word nostalgia often in my conversations, I never knew how one felt, when the ‘true moment of nostalgia’ over powers the emotional turf .

But I got a taste of this overwhelming feeling….over this weekend.

I had the good fortune of visiting my institute over this weekend. (MICA, known as Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad, and few uninitiated call it – Mudra Institute of Communications and ‘Advertising’ ...and the auto drivers in Ahmedabad call is ‘MIKO’)

MICA is arguably India's best institute for marketing professionals. Aspirants with brand and blood running interchangeably, through in and throughout, are the fortunate few to join the elite club of MICAns. Anyways will spare you of the self tom-toming brigade that I belong to:) and cut straight to the chase!

I was invited to MICA over this weekend, to lecture the second year students, pursuing their post-graduate diplomas in communications management.

With less than 5 years of experience under the belt, I was of-course ecstatic to receive this invitation. It’s an honour to go back to the institute that built me to what I am today. And in capacity of a faculty was even more enthralling

The initial excitement and euphoria surrounding the invite was soon replaced by mind boggling and never-ending string of questions that pose before me. How do I make the presentation? What and How should I cover the topics? Should I have more theory, more exercises, more case studies..what?

Finally many coffee cups and agonizing hours later, when caffeine started replacing blood in my veins, and Kurt Gobain and myself started talking … as we both levitated…I was able to get a fix on the presentation. A neat 25 slider powerpoint which I thought was packed with ‘power’ and ‘point’.

So, the professor and his ‘better half’ (actually my wife’s choice of semantics were a little different, call her up and ask how had she designated herself) set out for the journey.

At the risk of making it sound like a ‘plug’, I want to make a mention of ‘SpiceJet’. While the so called ‘full service carrier’ were delivering their full ‘lip service’, Spice Jet was the only carrier which was on time. So the two of us made an ‘auspicious start’, by departing from the Delhi Airport (on time), and arriving at the Ahmedabad airport (before time).

Ahmed Bhai (institute’s driver) had me and my wife in splits when he mentioned that he still remembers me from my 'haircut'. Clarification: I have a normal haircut, as is visible in my profile pic, but for some strange reason, Ahmed Bhai thought my hair were the most noticeable feature of my aesthetic appearance:)

My heartbeat raced as the gates of MICA were opened for us. The sprawling lush green campus opened its arms for us, and the unruffled zephyr brought along sweet memories that I had cherished. I almost stood there for a moment… entranced and entrenched. Finally Thakurjis' (Head of security at Campus) thunderous voice dazed me out of my stupor. As he hugged me and blessed me...my lungs filled with pride I declared to Jyotsana (read: better half) – ‘This is MY campus’.

CITI never sleeps!

For all those who are thinking that this scribble is a plug for Citibank...I have one word for you all - Gotcha!

Banks are an inseparable part of our lives. More so if you are working. I have two continuing relationships - ABN AMRO and Citibank. While the experience with AMRO has been simple ecstatic, the experience with Citibank could be at best described as - HORRENDOUS!

Allow me to paint a backdrop of how and why I got into a relationship with Citibank.

Job change - new company - Citibank being the corporate bank - had to take an account with them (talk about anarchy in the days of democracy!)

They say that the first step in any relationship sets the foundation. Well for me, the experience couldn't start on a more 'bitter note'. At the risk of sounding like a nagging teenager I must confess that its been a 'pandora's box relationship' with Citibank. Here are some issues enlisted for starters:-

a) wrong name on the debit card (never thought my name could be spelt in such an amazing way!)
b) wrong address in the database (actually, the address is non-existent in Delhi)
c) my ATM pin did work (to help my nephew solve a sudoku puzzle!)
d) My online entity was still in gestation period

Its been more than a year now in my new job...despite my repeated pleas (request - implore), much to my chagrin, none of the aforementioned issues have been ironed out. Forget about the 'solutions', the responses over telephone and my in-person conversations make me wonder if they are bestowing my life by allowing me, a lesser mortal, to have an account with them!

All in all, here is the throughput:
My expected duration of this relationship - as long as I am in this job.
Will I recommend this bank to anyone - Hell NO!.
Will I service any of my financial requirements through them - You must be kidding right?

The whole experience taught me something. It taught me the implication of 'butterfly effect' on brands. Millions and millions spent on building the brand image.....spent on building - 'citi never sleeps' positioning.

At the risk of exaggerating, I totally agree - Citi never sleeps....and neither does it let the customer sleep...

Can you sell ice to the eskimo?

Rant 1# Aptitude vs Attitude vs knowledge

Having conviction in what you sell often pays off:) (actually its imperative...you cant convince anyone of anything unless you yourself believe in it..with all your heart, soul and mind). Product knowledge is a must. You need not know the product DNA but if you know 'what' it delivers and 'how', that should suffice.

Rant 2 # Mindset game

The battle is on the 6 inch mindspace. The clients will always look at the 'price', while you need to make them see 'value'. Easier said than done...being precise often helps. Dont be a storyteller...clients can have more to tell...'delivering' what was promised often helps :) sounds basic, but do we really do it?:)

Rant 3# Ownership

Client is not 'yours'. There has to be a 'joint ownership'. The product, the servicing, the operations, the billings everyone needs to 'own' the client. You cant deliver 'magic' at all touchpoints. But you need to deliver 'magic' at 'all touchpoints'...bottomline: everyone needs to take the ownership and ensure that the client is 'ecstatic'

Rant 4# Relationship vs bottomline

'Drive bottomline, dont get driven by it. Get driven by relationships, dont drive it'

Rant 5# Can you?

You cant be 'Bradman' and 'Warne' at the same time. Think through carefully...only you know yourself the best. Jump into sales ONLY if you have the 'passion' for it. Needless to say, there should be a fair flair for selling. The job will bring along immense pressures of managing and growing bottomline and topline. Clients shoving up...and screaming down...
The best way is to imagine all the negatives of the job, just before you tuck yourself in bed; and envision yourself going through it day in and day out. If you wake up next morning feeling fresh than ever...well go for it!

The game is changing...

As usual while taking care of the mundane requirements at my place of work, still recovering from the shock of having spent a 'working weekend':), a chain of thought just flashed past by.

The rules of the game are changing...

I was thinking of some of the big ticket items, that have proverbial - 'revolutionized the internet'. Some egs - twitter, friendfeed, facebook, plazes etc. And am sure the list is endless, but I belong to the category of consumers who are less initiated..:)

Anyways, pulling ourselves back to the track and talking about these big-ticket items. Lets call them - 'experiences' (as a non-techie consumer, my choice of semantics would be different, so beg your pardon in advance). These are 'disruptive innovations' brought about by inventors, innovators, entrepreneurs or pure enthusiasts who want to fight. These are one hell of crazy zealots (reminding me of king Leonidas and his army of 300), the son-of-guns who are always 'thinking'. These are human-catalysts, who are changing the 'rules of the game'

What surprises me is that changing the rules has always been a prerogative of the strongest! Be it life or business. Traditional marketing always witnessed a larger player changing the rules of the game and thereby exploiting / expanding the category - be it the 'chota pepsi' or 'cadbury's re-positioning itself as a sweet for celebrations', or the most recent TATA Nano.

But this doesnt seem to be happening (that often) in the world less explored (the world of internet!) . Most often than not, these 'experiences' are being delivered by the lesser known players! It seems that the larger players are either finding it difficult to keep up the pace with the smaller (but agile) players, or they have re-aligned their mindsets for 'inorganic growth'. Either case there is a transfer of creative power from the giants of the internet to the new saplings.

The jury is still out on whether this strategy is right or wrong. Logically I would want to assume that the large scale players have the strategic advantage of more resources, more experience and more artillery (reminds me of Sun Tzu), but because they might not be 'concentrating' on 'experience', they might be losing out on a big chunk of 'organic' growth. They are of course still large players in the 'game', but the game itself might be changing....

Get on board the 'inflation' train!

Bottomline - people who intellectualize about 'inflation' don't feel the pinch as hard as people who are actually on the receiving end of it...

So we have finally broken the double digit barrier after 13 years! (triskaidekaphobia: ring ring!)

What does it mean for you and me! Not sure, haven't awakened the economist inside of me...dont even want to, all I know is that while there are the colors of rainbow that we are celebrating (India shining, India leading, India poised....whatever!), but at the risk of exposing our puerile minds, we are being delightfully oblivious to the acidic downpour!

As Indians' we have the tendency to 'crib', be it the BRT corridor, be it inflation, be it rise in LPG cylinder....but do we make tough decisions to improve and fight back (fight back not 'Bainsla style')? I wonder how many of us do car-pooling (I am the culprit, my lazy bones dont allow me to commute from point A to B and then pool with friends to office), I wonder how many of us want to change our eating habits and eat less of 'overnight cooked lentils' (Bukharas' claim to fame), how many of us want to follow rules and exercise patience while commuting on BRT? How many of us wants to take the signals of growth in positive stride and move forward...

As a process of evolution, growth always brings along short-term inconveniences, the choice we have to make is to either 'crib about those inconveniences' or work towards enjoying the process of becoming a global superpower - both in terms of numbers, as well as in terms of mindsets....

Think about it....

Something that I swear by, day-in and day-out:


"If you dont know where you are going, any road will get you there"......

SHOOT HIM!...he is my customer:)!

Traditional marketing classrooms taught marketers to look at the demographic profile of customers for segmentation.

Hands of the clock moved and next level of talks were on 'psychographic segmentation' (putting it simplistically – segment a consumer basis how he ‘thinks’)

With the web technology moving faster than the chain of thought, corridor conversations in business organizations now-a-days, are around - 'behavioural segmentation'. Which is segment a consumer basis how he/she ‘behaves’ on your portal/website etc

A recent report by Compete Survey (content courtesy: emarketer.com) elucidates only 39% of US marketers believing in segment-driven marketing although a full 84% indicate that it will be more important three years from now. (I must confess, Americans never fail to surprise me :))!

The survey also stated that 77% of marketers are having problems demonstrating the positive impact of behavioural segmentation on business performance indicators.

The report has rightly identified one of the essentials of effective behavioural segmentation - identification of ‘right’ segments. But they miss out on another important point. Organizations’ ability to decode the message that is going out to the consumers.

Its like saying - opportunityisnowhere (one can either read it as 'opportunity is now here’, or, ‘opportunity is nowhere’). I believe its very important for organizations to be completely aware of what they are saying and how it can be deciphered. These messages are the first step to intended actions, and therefore its critical for companies to get it right the ‘first time’ itself!

A quick bouncing off the message to folks in the circle (friends / family etc) usually does the trick of understanding how the message is being comprehended (in case the companies cant afford spending on traditional market testings).

Behavioural marketing is here to stay. Its about time for organizations to realize that it will just become an effective reality in times to come. The sooner they can identify way to leverage it, the better it will be. Else…those companies / brands can soon become ‘history’, instead of creating it:)

We made McDonald's Change their menu...

A hard-core marketer and brand guy at heart (and a marketing research consultant by profession) my first reaction to any change in 'technology' is to look at it from Indian consumers' perspective. So here I am, after a long time... with a brief article on internet and consumerism on internet.

Disclaimer: I credit my understandings / mis-understandings to my own observations, on life, on consumers and on brands. I am really not driven by 'data'. So, you wont find numbers frequently in my posts:)

A lot has been said about Indian consumer, while comparing it with its western counterpart. Marketing gurus have often referred to them as 'price / value conscious consumers'. The most difficult consumer to appease in the world - perhaps that is the reason why McDonald's was forced to change their menu upon arrival ! Star TV was forced to develop content adapting to local palette (sun sets on Baywatch and rises on 'K' girl). FM was initiated to adapt to local music (remember Delhiites, the good old 102.6 fm? do you remember it anymore?)Newspapers were persuaded to adapt to local content.....The key word here is 'localization'

I might draw a flak from the internet puritans when I say that Internet is by far still a virgin territory in terms of exploiting 'local content creation and delivery'. How many websites offer vernacular link? How many websites allow seamless transition to local searches and local content? 'Food' for thought - how many north indians love idli-dosa and how many south indians love butter chicken? Is it therefore advisable to give them both on the same plate?

Bottomline: While I do see a lot of startups mushrooming from the subcontinent (and it is indeed heartening to witness that), I wonder if they pause to ponder - 'We made McDonald’s change their menu'....

Last mile.......

It is said that the first step / mile is the most difficult one to cover, while I can say the same about the last step / mile as well....

As the business management professional inside of me awakens, am compelled to think...all the marketing lessons (literal or otherwise) have always taught us to ensure that the first 'touch-point' experience is the one that matters the most. One must concentrate energies to deliver an awesome first experience..how about the aftertaste of a brand promise?

Take a walk down the memory lane with me - amazing hotel, great food, awesome presentation of the fod, good music, lovely ambience...super fast billing...and then the wintery chill of Delhi shackles your backbone from beneath as you wait endlessly for your car to arrive from the parking lot....

situation 2 - you call the water purifiers to install the machine in your house, they explain you everything to the tee, they are well mannered, not smelling (believe you me, came across as strong driver of consumer experience in one of the researches are i did in my previous organization), they heard you well.....but when they left your kitchen was a mess!

situation 3 - installing broadband connection at your home - best plan suggested- fast speed - well mannered - and just when you are about to work on the computer, a pin bites into your flesh (carelessly left there by the installation enginner)

bottomline - while you may never get a second chance to make your first impression, what stays with the consumer is always the 'last experience' he had...that can make or break your brand preference scores

Think about it!