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'....