UNLEASHING THE POWER OF THREE

HARPAL KARLCUT, CEO, CANARA HSBC ORIENTAL BANK OF COMMERCE LIFE INSURANCE

To start operations in times of slowdown and quickly break into the top ten in the very first year of operations is indeed incredible. These guys can’t stop thanking their strong focus on bancassurance

You don’t just rise to be the numero uno within a year of operation do you? So why did we chose the Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance over other leading players (see chart) in the industry? Well, this new player’s performance has been exemplary, especially when the big bosses of the industry are facing a tough time. In just a year, this life insurer has climbed to the ninth position amongst India’s twenty one private life insurance players (in terms of market share on weighted premium income). Not only this, in April 2009, the company recorded its best sales performance over the previous month than any other private insurer. Guess that’s just one more reason to be counted as a success.

But, when listening to any success story, what strikes first is, how? For a conceptual product, which is actually sold rather than bought voluntarily by consumers, credit for the unprecedented response received by the company goes to its operations based on a bancassurance model, adequate capital, distribution capacity, strong distribution channel and innovative products. Certainly exclusive access to approximately 50 million potential customers and a pan India network of over 4,100 branches does give the insurer an ‘unfair advantage’ over some of its new peers. Explaining the success story, Harpal Karlcut, CEO, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company, says, “Our success is based on HSBC’s in-depth know-how of bancassurance, coupled with the distribution of Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce. Our performance has been delivered entirely by bancassurance.” What is evident is the fact that bancassurance has played a pivotal role in helping the new entrant break the clout of the biggies. The CEO agrees, “Each aspect of our business model has been tailored to bancassurance and the specific needs of each of the three shareholding banks; including products, promotion, training, operational support et al.” But the real success of a marketing strategy for an intangible product primarily depends on its execution and the insurer has taken due consideration of this fact too.

Success has many parameters and it seems this insurer has focused on each of them albeit more on bancassurance. But then, they should not forget this is just the beginning. To reach the top they have a long and winding road to cover. That’s when they’ll need a lot more than mere bancassurance to fulfil any leadership ambitions.

Gyanendra Kumar Kashyap

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Bringing a paradigm shift

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Oberoi group redefined luxury benchmark with its hotels by offering unique experience that creatively combines unique locations, luxurious environs and the best of modern amenities with personalised warm service.

In 1996, PVR opened the first multiplex in the country thereby bringing about a major change in the cinema viewing experience for the Indian public with the provision of comfortable seating, state-of-the-art screens, projection systems and audio visual systems. It was able to command a price five times that of single screens, which was believed to be too heavy for the pockets of the customers. Today multiplex account for 60-70% of box office collections. Not only have they redefined movie experience, a spurt in the number of multiplexes in the country has changed the entire complexion of Indian films – their budgets, the way they are made and the audience they are made for.

The service sector in India is poised for high growth in the years to come. There are several untapped latent consumer needs, which present a big opportunity to expand the market by creating awareness among the consumers. We foresee that the above mentioned trends will continue into the future and we will witness new customers segments being targeted by new services, more evolved and efficient delivery, redefinition of benchmarks and experience and in some cases complete paradigm shifts too. Also low penetration of organised services, specially in the smaller cities in India, implies that there will be significant focus on them for reaching out to more customers.

The imperative for service sector companies is therefore to continuously look for ways to evolve, improve and raise the bar for others to follow. There are plenty of cross-learnings available across sectors for these companies to make use of. For instance, besides global retail leaders like Wal-mart who are expected to define industry benchmarks, the Indian retail sector has a lot to learn from the Quick Service Restaurant’s process driven operations. Education sector is also entering the stage of more professional management where it needs to enhance it and railways has a lot to learn in upgrading its customer experience from across other sectors.

Overall, different service sector players will learn from players within the industry as well as outside. This will further evolve the industry and help in redefining benchmarks.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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‘Desperate Guys’ not allowed inside, says this gang of girls!

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Brand: Sunsilk
Agency: JWT

This one’s special as it made its mark with minimal support from traditional media. Sunsilk’s Gang of Girls was an online campaign that romped home. Sunsilk created an ‘only gals’ site with freedom to girl talk viz. beauty, hair secrets, makeover tips, blogging, boys, et al. The initiative became an instant success. By November 2006, about 200-250 million gals (Sunsilk’s target) had registered!

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).


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ALOK BHARADWAJ, SR. VP, CANON INDIA

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1. Hutch’s ‘Happy to help’ad campaign
2. Surf Excel’s ‘Daag acche hain’ ad campaign
3. ‘A mobile for everyone’ campaign for Nokia 1100
4. HDFC Life Insurance’s ‘Sir utha ke jiyo’ campaign
5. Cadbury’s ‘Kucch meetha ho jaaye’ campaign

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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High on Kingfisher’s flight...

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The beginning of FY’05 had liquor baron Vijay Mallya salivating at the prospect of ‘flying. So he launched his Kingfisher Airlines with an all-economy configuration and competitive pricing. The aim was to be India’s largest private airline both in capacity and market share by 2010. And despite all the problems it faced or losses it suffered, Mallya has successfully achieved his target. In January 2009, Kingfisher Airlines was standing tall as the numero uno private airlines with 27.6% market share leaving Jet Airways far behind with a mere 17.9% share. Not satisfied easily and bolstered by his domestic success, last year Mallya took Kingfisher Airlines to international skies. Drinking and driving don’t mix, they say. But we guess brewing (liquor) and flying do mix well. What say?

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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WHERE’S YOUR BRAND, DUDE?

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Trade pundits believe that to make their mark in the cat-eat-cat world of the world’s billion dollar fashion business, desi designers need to take some risks and evolve contemporary strategies. With a sharp growth in the world’s millionaire population, the days when luxury was still exclusive are nearly over. In India itself, despite the slowdown, dollar millionaires are growing by the day. Clearly, it’s time for crafted sophistication and exclusivity to give way to creating brands for the fast-growing premium segment of the market, mass-marketing and profit margins. The queen bee of Indian fashionistas, Ritu Kumar, who kicked off her show at the recently concluded Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WLIFW) with her new ready-to-wear, lesser priced collection, takes not a moment to agree. “We have to break the barrier that fashion is only for the rich and make it more affordable to the Indian market,” says the lady behind the 40-year-old House of Ritu Kumar, one of the oldest designer labels in the country.

Like Kumar, most India-born designers began launching prêt lines a few years ago to cash in on this growing market. Rohit Bal (Balance), Raghavendra Rathore (Inde Prêt), Kiran Uttam Ghosh (Kimono) and Rocky S (Rocky S Jeans) are among those that capitalised on the opportunity early and are still reaping the benefits. Many others, despite launching their prêt lines, have faltered in evolving simultaneous distribution reach and logistics paraphernalia. Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, for example, obtain over 85-90% of their sales via a network of departmental stores and shop-in-shop formats. In contrast, unable to stitch up deals with corporate retailers, many designers continue to sell only through their own niche couture outlets – which are limited in number and reach. “Brands like Prada and Hugo Boss became famous, not only because of their designs but also because they are supported by strong logistics & retail. In India, the retail revolution has just started,” says stylist Raghavendra Rathore.

Says designer Anita Dongre, “To appeal to buyers, you need to be unique in your offerings. To create a popular brand, you will have to figure out the budget suitable to the various target segments and create brands accordingly.” In tune with her logic, Anita too has created five brands of her own, of which ‘And’ is for the masses and ‘Timeless’ (priced at Rs.50,000 and above) is for the classes. Agrees the spokesperson for US-based Anthropologie, a buyer at WLIFW, “I feel you need to have a USP or specialisation to create a proper brand, I mean if I am here to buy something from the designers, I am looking at what unique collection he can offer to my store.” Anita’s strategy is reminiscent of the one followed by legendary designer Giorgio Armani (turnover of three billion euros today) almost two decades back and has paid off. Her organisation has been growing at 50% y-o-y. Even maverick designer Manish Arora has loaded his brand portfolio with diverse offerings across price points. Insiders say that Manish (along with Ashish Soni) has bagged maximum orders from global buyers in the WLIFW despite the slowdown. Read more

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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‘H’APPY ‘O’WNERS ‘N’EVER ‘D’RIVE ‘A’NYTHING (ELSE)

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It is true that technology has been considered a dramatic core competence of Honda over the ages. Somewhere early along the line, they brilliantly converted technology into deliverable customer value and became amongst the top auto sellers of the world. The third world for decades meant only two wheeler sales, given the lack of purchasing power. And with the Hero group ensuring that world class standards were beaten time and again in the motorcycle segment with the Hero Honda JV, Honda’s focus during its 14 years of India existence never really got on to how energetic could the passenger car segment be in India. Their JV with the Bharat Ram Charat Ram convert called Sriram Industrial Enterprises Ltd notwithstanding (Honda-SIEL), cars were sold by Honda in India only for presence and only to have “Success against all odds,” the initial philosophy of the legendary Fujisawa Honda when Honda entered the extremely negative looking United States market with their motorcycles.

And that has how it has been for Honda for most of the past few years, that is, until now. The economic slowdown has suddenly brought out the sales orientation of Honda like nobody’s business. An erstwhile lumbering Honda has seen a transformation that, though not incredible, is enough radical to surprise the Wilde out of Oscar. Take their Honda Civic hybrid shock marketing warfare tactic, for example. While the Honda Civic hybrid had just sold around 60 odd units since its launch in June 2008, a smashing limited time Rs.8 lakh discount offer for a week in November 2008 got them up by a smashing 235 units within a week itself. If that seems great, think about the fact that Honda is the only company in the car industry that changes product design not for ergonomics or for design efficiency, but purely to give customers exciting variety – their new Honda City and Accord designs included. Not surprisingly, on the JD Power India Sales Satisfaction Index Study, Honda ranks a close third! That’s a brilliant vindication of the fact that consumers perhaps are going more by the sales effort during these downturn times than by other factors.

Enough said about growth; experts now say that there is a strong belief among the experts that the Honda growth till now was just a small lull before the storm and worst is still to come for the Indian automotive sector. Well, perhaps they’ve not heard of Fujisawa yet. Instead of getting worried, Honda is in fact banking big on emerging markets like India to get out of the deepening global potholes. As the ex-CEO of Honda Motors Corporation, Takeo Fukui once said, “India has less risk than China. India has political transparency and a neutral sentiment towards Japan.” It seems that the company is taking Fukui’s statement very seriously as India is clearly now one of the priority markets on their charts.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Facebook’s new change in ‘terms of service’ is a real threat to sheer privacy of personal information!

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Bill Gates had once said: “The Internet will help achieve ‘friction free capitalism’ by putting buyer and seller in direct contact & providing more information to both about each other.” He was wrong, and Facebook (where the company he founded, Microsoft, bought a 1.5% stake at a whopping $240 million) proved him so! ‘More information’; but that special power has only been granted to the ‘seller’ for now...

Today, Facebook is doubling its base of users every month (as per Fortune), and while this may sound great to all at the company, this very swelling base (which is currently estimated to touch about 175 million) might just revolt in the latest development at the networking giant! And what’s the crime? Privacy! Apparently, Facebook intends to capitalise on the wealth of information it has about its users. On February 4, 2009, Facebook changed its ‘Terms of Services’ announcing its self-proclaimed proprietorship on ‘your total account content’, even if you deactivate/delete your currently existent Facebook account. And this is how the new policy reads: “You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content; ” not really great news for Facebook fans arond the world!

Very clearly activists around the world are interpreting that the changes in ‘terms and conditions’ means that the ‘change’ means that “anything you upload on Facebook can be used by Facebook in anyway it deems fit; forever, no matter what you do later...” There’s more – Facebook also reserves the right of user content usage for ‘promotional reasons’. As per Facebook: “By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant... to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works...”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Doordarshan is too staid and boring... Yeah right, so what’s new?

Ratan Lal Bhagat of 4Ps B&M screams out loud why we’re all Rip Van Winkles and why DD now has the top 10 prime time shows!!!

Does the mere mention of Krishi Darshan make you break out in teary-eyed nostalgia? Pardon our trite gluttonous presumptions, but if you’re one of those who still buy multiple rerun DVDs of extinct Doordarshan (DD, if you please) weeklies like Chitrahaar, or Chandrakanta, then this article is obviously not for you. But for all the others this side of Proxima Centauri, who truly believe – like I did before I started writing this article – that DD is as out of fashion a channel as Elton John’s atrocious dressing sense, may I kindly correct you dear gentlemen! As on date, as per TAM data, the top ten programmes watched “during Prime Time are from DD1 across all platforms.” And if that weren’t enough dope to send Cobain (god rest your soul Kurt) to eighth heaven, then eat this – DD1 now gets “the highest share even in the news time band among both Hindi and English news channels!!!” And that figure also holds in the cable and satellite platforms!

There! I said it! If you found the figures shocking and unbelievable, my advice is, take your time, as these figures don’t seem to be going away anywhere and cannot simply be wished away. DD’s fantastic rebirth seems to be more stunning than Bachchan’s in Don, and better in money terms too!

To its credit, DD – started a whopping 50 years ago in 1959 by the government – of course used to have great products ranging from the mass audience pulling Hum Log, Buniyaad, Nukkad, Fauji to the beyond legendary episodes of Ramayan and Mahabharat. These popular programmes, serials and mythological dramas did have millions glued to the channel in the eighties and even in the early nineties. The Indian audience of that era grew on the entertainment and information imparted by . But all these names faded into oblivion over time and DD seemed to be truly a thing of the past. DD, since the opening up of airwaves in 1992, evidently and slowly lost its presence and significance among the medley of sprawling general entertainment channels (GECs) across the nation; its first mover’s advantage clearly rendered useless by the entry of stalwart private channels like Star, Zee, Sony, NDTV etc.


Then what in heavens changed the equation where DD has again rocked the vogue yacht to rule again? “Reach! Reach! Reach! And of course, better viewership metrics and analysis by rating agencies,” argues Namita Chhetri, CEO, ICMR (Indian Council for Market Research). It’s astounding that currently, more than 90% of the Indian population receives DD terrestrially. Not many are aware that DD operates through as many as 30 channels – seven all India channels (DD National, DD News, DD Sports, DD Gyandarshan, DD Bharti, DD Rajya Sabha and DD Urdu), 11 regional languages satellite channels, 11 state networks and an international channel (DD India) available in 146 countries!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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A billion dollar baby or just a midnight dream?

No doubt the company has started thinking in the direction and is continuously working on it but it really needs to be more aggressive as Victor Hugo had once said, “there is nothing like a dream to create the future.” Certainly Gupta too is more or less dreaming on the same theme, as he wants to create an independent business for Adobe in India and “if it can be a billion dollar business, then there can’t be anything better that I can think of,” he shares with 4Ps B&M. But then it’s an easy said than done task as there are not many billion dollar software businesses running today across the world. Moreover he shouldn’t forget that the best way to beat your competition, particularly in the IT arena is to come out with a technology, which is far superior to your competitor’s.

That’s surely not impossible for the company which is one of the best places to work for in the country. However, given the hiccups like broadband reach and connectivity in India the task looks a little difficult for Gupta. “The hiccups are just a part of the story but at the macro level we have made huge progress and we will continue to do so,” Gupta disagrees with us. But then Adobe India has definitely been hit by the prevailing slowdown and like others it too has lowered its Q1 forecasts for 2009. Considering this, it would really be a tough time ahead for Adobe to manage competitors that have huge cash chests. However, Gupta doesn’t seems bothered much by the fact and is all gung ho about Adobe’s Indian business. And more importantly, at a time when all the other companies are in love with the pink colour, Adobe India is planning to hire more people than the company did in 2008. Though, the company recently fired 600 people globally, none of them were from India, as it only let go people from where the projects were being shelved. Moreover, “we will continue hiring in India very aggressively and will come out with great sales and marketing strategies. And as the slowdown ends, we will be in a very good position,” claims Gupta.

The company is also exploring the possibility of striking gold in the short run by tagging ads on its products. In fact they are running a pilot with Yahoo! to make it a huge success. Keeping in mind Adobe’s massive reach, the opportunity certainly seems to be huge for it. “Our products are available on almost each and every system in place on earth. So, it is a pretty attractive business for us,” agrees Gupta. And if they can do it in a way that adds value to the advertiser, publisher and user, there is surely an opportunity for Adobe to build its business. Though Adobe doesn’t want to decide its next step unless it ends the currently running pilot but surely, the company is focusing on this area in a more aggressive mode than before. However, when we asked Gupta about the possibility of their new ads business taking over their core software project, he had a very straight forward answer, “The ad business will never replace or displace our core business.”

But considering the ambitious plans that Adobe has for India it’s sure that it’s going to face a lot of challenges in times to come. Though, they have a big ecosystem but Microsoft and Google are not those competitors that can be taken lightly. So, as we moved out of the Adobe office we still doubted Gupta’s dream of making Adobe a billion dollar business in India, but one thing that we were sure of was that the Great Indian IT story was still not over!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Will the scandalous Satyam saga blow the death bugle for PW in India, asks sutanu guru

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Both Ramesh Gelli and Ramalinga Raju were touted as the ‘pride’ of Telugu (Andhra) entrepreneurship. Both operated out of Hyderabad. Both turned out to be involved in embarrassing scams. These are not the only things they share. Global Trust Bank and Satyam also had the same auditor: Price Waterhouse. Both the companies have collapsed. Will Price Waterhouse survive this crisis? In 2001, the goose of another ‘Big’ audit firm Arthur Andersen was well and truly cooked when the Enron scam broke out. At the moment, all bets are off on whether Price Waterhouse will travel along a similar path of ignominy and collapse.

Quite predictably, the audit firm is keeping quiet and released a bland media statement when contacted by 4Ps B&M that states: “ Price Waterhouse are the statutory auditors of Satyam. The audits were conducted by Price Waterhouse in accordance with applicable auditing standards and were supported by appropriate audit evidence. Given our obligations for client confidentiality, it is not possible for us to comment upon the alleged irregularities.” Do note the ridiculous and insulting use of the words alleged irregularities when the promoter Ramalinga Raju has himself admitted to cooking the books. For seven years, Raju took employees, clients, investors and other stakeholders for a merry ride and Price Waterhouse could not find any irregularity! That really stretches credibility and imagination!

And the chickens could come home to roost very soon. Says Ved Jain, President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, “The auditor’s role is sacrosanct. It is impossible that a fraud of such magnitude would have escaped the auditor’s eyes. The magnitude of missing cash on the balance sheet, on the face of it, points towards the fact that auditors did have a role to play.”

The Institute of Chartered Accountants and other bodies will complete the investigations in a few months and the firm could be permanently debarred from practicing in India. That could well spell the death knell on a global scale. Experts are beginning to see a pattern in such ‘irregularities’ of PricewaterhouseCoopers on a global scale. Over the last few years, there have been many embarrassing examples of the firm getting caught (See Box). The $50 billion Madoff scandal is the latest one in which Price Waterhouse is facing legal action, along with Satyam of course. Meanwhile, in India, the new board has appointed KPMG and Deloitte as the new auditors. But shadows are already looming large over the audit firm even as new skeletons keep tumbling out every day. The Chief Financial Officer of Satyam Srinivas Vadlamani has been arrested and has confessed to the cops that the Raju brothers and Price Waterhouse were partners in the scam and he was kept entirely in the dark.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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When Shah Rukh met Nokia...

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He’s not called King Khan for nothing. SRK has not just managed to change the face of Bollywood, but the year saw him even change the face of brand ambassador-ship, as marketers knew it! It all began when Nokia completed 10 years of its presence in India and roped in SRK as ambassador. Shah Rukh took his role all too seriously and was seen flaunting his latest Nokia gizmo wherever he went – a party, a function or even a star studded premiere. His efforts were rewarded when the Finnish giant was only too happy to step in as sponsor for his Knight Riders team. Here’s to SRK ‘living’ brand Nokia!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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The monster called Piracy!

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The monster called Piracy remains a problem for the Indian media & entertainment (M&E) industry. As per an Ernst & Young and US-India Business Council (USIBC) report, the total losse of the M&E sector has been approximately $4 billion over the past one year.

Piracy has always been a problem for the M&E industry, but with the current slowdown of the economy the situation has got even worse. At a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conference on counterfeiting and piracy, the industry veterans and experts suggested that there should be an industry body to reinforce the IPR protection as a collective effort will work better in curbing piracy.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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India’s green meter!

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Despite the fact that many big ticket companies like GE, Apple, Nokia, et al are heavily investing to increase consumer awareness about their green products, as many as 48% of the respondents either could not recall any ‘green’ product or else could think of only a handful of them. Touche! Mr. Savvy Marketer

It’s only words, and words are all I have...

But good news is round the corner. Notwithstanding unawareness, 57% of the people surveyed said that the presence of a green product in that category might have a bearing on what finally goes into their shopping basket. Others stuck to traditional buying behaviour influencers like price, quality, brand name, et al. Here’s hoping that those noble words are put to practice!

How green is my shopping bag?

Well, there you go, one did not really have to wait long to assess actual consumer behaviour to green products. A whopping 68% respondents admitted that they had never actually bought a ‘green’ product, despite claims to the contrary. Sorry environmentalists, so much for eco-friendly consumer behaviour!

All for the love of Green? Naah!

In any case, of the 32% respondents who did claim to buy green products, a majority did not really do it for the love of Mother Nature, but for other reasons. A big reason perhaps would be personal gratification viz. CFL bulbs for lower electricity bills, CNG cars for lower fuel expenses, organic food for personal health, et al. In fact, only 20% of those who have ever bought an eco-friendly product gave its energy efficiency as a reason for purchase. An interesting insight for marketers: Consumers will buy your ‘green’ products, but not for philanthropy alone. Give them an additional USP!

Eco-altruism or the green dollar?

Of all the respondents surveyed, 43% felt that companies, which adopt eco-friendly initiatives did so because of consciousness for the environment. Well, that’s assuming businesses were really philanthropic entities, we guess! Almost another 40% however hit the nail on the head and said that businesses were going green for profit motive, either launching ‘green’ products and services seeing consumer demand; or become energy-efficient to reduce their costs. In reality, eco-makeovers for businesses are not always an act of altruism, instead there’s a heady mix of regulation concern, combined with anticipation of future demand from aware consumers!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!

Watch that rogue bullet...

IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS

With India and China pulling up their socks in Africa, is the west already threatened? By Karan Mehrishi

The presence of the American seventh fleet in the Bay of Bengal during the 1971 India-Pakistan war was greatly discomforting to India. The same was with China in the late 1990s, when US Nimitz class carriers continued to patrol the East China Sea, during the escalated dispute between China and Taiwan. More than the military buildup in their backyards, what was more bothersome for these two Asian giants was the fact that they were being strangulated by sheer pressure tactics, ridiculed due to their inability to return the favour. They have been waiting all along for their turn for a quid pro quo, now its pay back time with a war waging somewhere else than Asia…

Here the casualties are not soldiers, they are brands and apparently the Asians are performing these operations with their own indigenous brands. During the last decade, China and India have tactically increased their presence in the world’s most strategic yet unexploited region, Africa. Long considered as a dark continent, some African nations today record double digit growth records in GDP. The world can no longer afford to ignore Africa anymore as the stakes have risen multifold. Africa not only has the capacity to offer scarce minerals and other natural resources to the world but also a potentially large and diverse consumer market. Traditionally, European brands (Europe was an erstwhile colonialist of the region) were the primary sources of consumer goods accounting for almost half of all African trade while America, whose military eminence was far greater than its economic eminence, had brands which influenced African socio- economic structures for more than five decades as American goods have a cultural affinity to the African people. Even though both Europe and America had a firm footing in Africa until recently, they have somehow lost to the strategic expansion of the new ‘colonialists’. Replacing Pfizer, Chevrolet, IBM among many others; Indian and Chinese brands like Tata, Haier, Ranbaxy, Mahindra, NIIT, Lilliput and Cherry have offered the African consumer what no one else could, quality with affordability. Dying and unsustainable western brands are no longer viable for Africa as competition is intense. With their fast expanding economies and voracious demand for oil, natural resources and ready markets for their manufactured goods, India and China have been at the forefront of African businesses. Feeling the heat of the slow down and their reduced ability to expand in less developed markets, the once powerful American and European MNCs are now slowly loosing the contact with Africa. “For the short to medium term, I expect a period of contraction on the part of American corporations, who despite their global dominance have failed to build truly distributed and multi-nodal organisations. As American economic concerns begin to dominate their thinking, their ability to develop and expand global businesses will suffer,” says Aditya Dev Sood of Center for Knowledge Societies.

Trade is booming between Asia and Africa more than it ever did, sidelining the west in the process. As per several agencies bilateral trade between Africa and China has already crossed $100 billion. The trade is majorly dependent on China’s oil trade with West African countries of Angola and Nigeria. Thanks to oil and affordable Chinese brands, according to some reports, the Sino-Africa trade has grown by more than 560% in the last decade alone, far more than with any developed market! India is not behind either, with investment in Africa exceeding the $5 billion mark so far; Indians are firing all cylinders. According to Fantu Cheru, Research Director at Sweden’s Nordic Africa Institute, “Trade between Africa and India is expected to grow from $25 billion today to $50 billion by 2011.”

Apart from the Black Gold, both Asian giants are in a race to consolidate their positions in Africa. With heavy investments in infrastructure, power generation and technical assistance the Asian powers are strategically spreading their tentacles in African daily life. If plain economics is allowed to do the talking, then China is perhaps the only country which pips the trade balance in Africa’s favour. China’s more than $8 billion trade deficit with Africa is reason enough to give chills to America & Europe, whose deficits with Africa are now declining. China already imports almost 50-60% of African timber and minerals along with 15% of its oil and intends to increase the figure substantially. The export of raw materials to Asia gives the imported Asian brands an upper hand in Africa as they attract fewer taxes and compete better vis-à-vis western brands. The brands are also enjoying a higher penetration level in Africa and are even replacing some western brands in certain sectors.

However, there are differences of opinion to these arguments. Washington DC based Sebastian Mallaby of The Council on Foreign Relations is not impressed with this ongoing renaissance. He believes that all the US and European investments and brands in Africa are in line with the rule of law, while the record of China in human rights, for instance, is not that great. When asked whether India and China would dominate African markets sooner than later, he replied, “I feel that rather than China and India dominating Africa, there will be a mixture of investments in Africa and that will be healthy.”

Analysts believe that if Asian brands eventually become more dominant than the established western brands, Asia could meet its aspirations of dominating the African market. It will not only bring the unexplored African consumers to its kitty but also win the love and respect of people in that country. Who ever wins in the domain of Africa, one thing is for sure, there will be a ‘brand’ new war waging in the region. European and American brands had better acknowledge the reality, and soon. May the best brand win!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...

“Indian consumer has surely come of age”

PETER BAKER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, H&B STORES, DABUR

Though retail outlets have mushroomed across the country, the industry is still in its nascent stage in India. However, for consumers it’s a gala time ahead...

Last year Dabur forayed into retail by rolling out ‘new-u’ stores with a focus on health and personal care products. And after one year, in a free-wheeling conversation with 4Ps B&M’s Angshuman Paul, Peter Baker, CEO, H&B, Dabur discusses the current state of affairs of the Indian retail industry and where they are...

Where do you think does Indian retail industry stands when compared to its global peers?
There are lots of differences. Indian retail industry is still in a very nascent stage when compared to its global counterparts. Logistic and supply chain is an issue which many players often ignore. I mean, abroad, much more emphasis is given on setting up a supply chain before opening a retail outlet but that doesn’t happen in India.

But compared to Europe or US, isn’t infrastructure a major challenge for Indian retailers?
Yes, that’s a key challenge as transporting things from one place to the other requires at least seven days and this delays the retail cycle. Moreover, to get your goods ordered much in advance, you also need to create a good storage system, which actually very few retailers do in India. I think when it comes to focusing on back-end operations, Indian retail industry’s standard would be just 50% as compared to 100% of global retailers.

Is skilled manpower a bottleneck for Indian retailers?
Earlier skilled manpower was a major challenge in India. In Europe the retail has been happening for more than five decades and people are willing to take this as a profession. But in India retail was just picking up and no fresher was willing to enter this industry. But now things are changing as Indians are realising the importance of retail industry. So, I don’t think that finding talent is a major challenge now.

Do you think Dabur has been able to address such issues?
Yes we did and that’s the reason we took so long to set up our first ‘new-u’ outlet. We did our homework, we were well equipped with everything. It was then we decided that now we should open our first store.

But didn’t you miss out big time as Fortis HealthWorld has already rolled out about 50 stores?
No, there are examples of players across various segment, which have entered five years late than any other players, but yet they are doing so well. The market is growing and there’s potential for many players. Health and beauty retailing is growing as the well-being market of the country is annually fetching an extensive business in billions.

Tell us about the current penetration level of ‘new-u’ across the country.
Right now we have nine stores. Three in Hyderabad, three in Delhi, and two in Bangalore. We would be opening 12 more stores in this fiscal and 30 more stores in the next fiscal. At the initial phase we believe in going slow. But we will be investing Rs.1.4 billion in retail and in next five years, & we would be having 300-400 stores. Right now we want to concentrate on selected metros.

In the next five years what changes do you expect in the Indian retail industry?
The next 12 to 20 months would be tough due to rising real estate cost. This might even force many small players to shut down their stores. Hence many small players will leave the market. But the next two years following that would be great time as the retail industry would be in its boom. From consumer’s perspective definitely there is much great time ahead.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

Associating with assests...

IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence

...seems to be the work mantra at Satyam’s BPO; Naresh Jhanghiani gives some highlights of the unique work experience at the company

“The Human Resources team at Satyam can actually predict the chances of an Associate leaving the company BPO using an in-house tool...”

Ever since India gained ground as the world’s leading BPO destination, several companies have set up shop to grab a chunk of the BPO-bite. From Indian majors to global giants, third-party providers to captives, the number of companies that comprise the BPO industry today is mind-boggling. If there is one set of stakeholders that has benefited the most from this boom, it is the people who run this industry. The best talents today have a range of prospective employers to choose from. How do companies keep Associates motivated? How do companies retain the best talent? The answer, in simple English, is ‘job satisfaction’. Only, creating ‘job satisfaction’ is easier said than done. A few time-tested thumb rules hold the key - understanding Associates and their needs better, adopting a proactive approach towards creating Associate delight, creating a high-energy workplace best suited to young Associates and creating an eco system of opportunity. Here’s what we, at Satyam BPO, have done to retain the best talents and keep them performing at top gear across their life cycle in the organisation.

At Satyam BPO, all employees are addressed as Associates. This is on the basis of the belief that being in the service industry, Associates are the most important asset for the organisation. As such, treating them as partners, rather than employees, bestows them with the pride that they are partners in a successful relationship, while putting the onus on them and to ensure that a successful partnership is created. This kind of an environment results in mutual admiration and in forging of successful long term relationships.

Satyam BPO considers Associates as the organisation’s locus point where all the policies and guidelines revolve around them. The Human Resources team can actually predict the chances of an Associate leaving Satyam BPO using an in-house tool called Proactive Retention Intervention for Young Associates.

Satyam BPO offers innovative learning opportunities to Associates through its Centre for Leadership Excellence (CLE) which specialises in behavioral training. The CLE team also conducts customised training programmes based on team requirements. We also leverage two learning schools – Satyam School of Learning and Satyam School of Leadership (SSL) for leadership and organisation development programmes. We promote internal job changes, enabling Associates to move laterally or horizontally to other teams and support functions. Satyam BPO’s SPRING program provides for faster growth opportunities to Associates.

A lot of fun along with serious work is an everyday affair at Satyam BPO. In each process there is a Chief Fun Officer (CFO) who is responsible for driving fun at work initiatives within their assigned processes. Connecting with the Generation ‘Y’ is a pre-requisite for successful HR professionals. Handling a young group of go-getters can be interesting and needs to be handled deftly. It requires experience to keep them engaged. A long-term holistic view is taken to undertake and succeed in the same. Satyam BPO provides Associates an opportunity to incubate themselves before taking on larger responsibilities. Satyam BPO considers Associates as partners in organisation, and this relationship drives mutually beneficial success patterns.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...

Ad cauldron bubbles with ‘change’

IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

So why was JWT’s creative intelligence not good enough for the Oswals? After all, clients globally die for long-term and mutually rewarding partnerships with their communication agencies. Advertising veteran Jagdeep Bakshi, who has just been elevated as Global Business Director-Unilever in JWT believes that account reviews happen because “clients think that they are getting good ideas, but not great ideas. And that if they change partners they can get great ideas.” But he adds that is not the way to enhance brand communication. “The right way is to motivate your current partner to churn out better ideas,” he explained to this magazine. But clients think differently: “Monte Carlo is now moving beyond woolen wear and we needed to think of something new and different,” a source in Monte Carlo told 4Ps B&M.

Another client that recently changed its long-standing relation with its advertising agency is Emami. It shifted its brand Navratna Oil account from Publicis Ambience to Mudra. In a guarded e-mail reply to our questionnaire, Emami spokesperson Harsh Agarwal said that an agency change is sometimes necessary to challenge established mindsets. “Thinking styles and structures need to be broken down and re-invented. This disruption often leads to the genesis of breakthrough thinking,” he says.

The writing is on the wall. Once citadels of creating and nurturing brands together, the client-agency relationship is deteriorating faster than you can say Daag Acche Hain. The developing situation – easily attributable to the fast changing complex business environment – is a far cry from the pre-1992 haydays, when long-term communication strategy meant 5-8 years, and short term meant 2-3 years. Now clients (read: companies, both MNCs and domestic biggies) want results and they want them quick. Long-term means a quarterly review and short-term means ‘get me results this week dude, preferably tomorrow!’ And if you can’t deliver results ‘yesterday’, I’ll just as easily walk over to the next guy in line. Agencies have certainly lost the high-pedestal they once enjoyed, when clients perceived them as creative demi-gods; and didn’t dare de-construct their mumbo-jumbo for fear of hurting their fragile egos and arty sensibilities. “That time is over,” sums up Sushil Pandit, hotshot of The Hive, a Delhi-based ad hot-shop.

Being in one of the world’s fastest developing markets, brands in India are stepping on the accelerator to carve their place in the consumer’s mind, before competition walks away with full glory. In a business world full of heavy-duty jargons like brand equity, fragmentation, shakeout, globalisation, convergence, spiral effect, et al, clients are no longer one-dimensional. And as marketing pressures rise, they have brought most of the brand communication blitzkrieg – including research, data mining, consumer insights, even communication strategy – under their own tutelage, with the result that agencies de-graduated from being marketing partners to first communication consultants, then to advertising consultants. The blast of media fragmentation - has further fragmented even advertising into layouts or scripts or digital campaigns, as clients hire specialised digital agencies for their digital needs now.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble…

IIPM, GURGAON

“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble…” so sang the Shakespearean Witches of Macbeth. Were they talking of advertising agencies? asks 4Ps B&M’s aditi prasad

They were once comrade-in-arms for a common cause. Today, they are simply up-in-arms – against each other. The bubbling cauldron of client-agency relations in business has overflown and come full circle, from a time when advertising agencies were partners in growth for the client, to them being relegated with a tag of mere script-shops in the 21st century marketing landscape. Worse, the client-agency imbroglio seems to be deepening at a time that Indian creativity is winning accolades globally. Indian advertising romped home with no less than 23 metals - a first! - from the prestigious Cannes Advertising Festival earlier this year. Back home, if winning awards are a matter of much back slapping among agencies, they are simply adding to discontent among clients, who believe that the focus for most agencies has shifted from ‘how do I add more value to my client’s business’; to ‘how do I make better ads and win more awards’.

Sample this: Two months ago, after a 15 year relationship, Oswal Woolens Mills’ flagship brand Monte Carlo showed the exit door to its agency JWT India (incidentally, JWT’s metal tally at the 2008 Cannes was the highest among Indian agencies) and hired rival McCann Erickson instead to handle the Rs.20 crore Monte Carlo creative business. The account review set tongues wagging in the advertising industry. After all, through the years, JWT’s creatives had helped Monte Carlo become the market leader in the woolen wear segment. Some cried foul play; others hung their head in silent resignation, certain that this was just another indicator of skyrocketing client ambitions and their sometimes unreasonable ‘ivory tower’ expectations.

Monte Carlo is not an exception. According to Spatial Access, an India-based media auditing firm, just between January-December 2007, over 485 accounts totaling a billing of approximately Rs.5,493 crore came up for review in the Indian advertising and marketing fraternity, with FMCG brands leading from the front (54 reviews), closely followed by media (53 reviews), real estate (38 reviews) and apparel (26 reviews) players. Clearly, something’s brewing. Of course, some key movements are coming from global realignments (Wigan & Kennedy won the global creative account for Nokia, so their Indian counterpart benefited), but overall the rising break-ups in the fraternity, smack of the inherent suspicion and simmering resentment that has scratched away the surface calm of client-agency relationships.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS
Now IIPM's World-Class Education... for everybody!!
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
4Ps Power Brand Awards 2007
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
IIPM Ranked No. 1 B-School In Global Exposre - Zee...