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....