Klogdeblog

Doing nothing

2011-09-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

I am in between a major change in my life and trying to just be, AND i am finding it as the hardest thing to do! there has always been a plan , a routine and an objective to my days. Not that my life is so hectic or that i am so important a person that it is needed. Its just that i am wired like that. But this time i have decided to break that circuit and do things differently. why? because i love to experiment and experience, because i want to know whether i can do it, i want to know how it feels. I want to find out what i think about myself without the packaging of designations, roles and a list of things to do against which i what i tick makes me derive my self worth.
I want to be in a vaccum and just observe. Its the hardest thing i have ever done. I oscillate from feeling completely useless and bored to feeling peace and in a state of refuelling. Each day brings with it some new revelation, be it a hectic day or a completely inactive eat-read sleep kind of a day, and mind you the revelations vary from the most mundane like the kadi patta plant's growth spurts to the most amazing soul searching ones. What is constant is a state of awareness to all things big and small, on the inside and outside and most importantly 'in the moment'.
This state of mind , i know is going to change me in some way, what the change is will know as time goes by...

Walk on learning grounds

2011-03-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

The telecom market in India is undergoing rapid change. There are all the operating systems (OS) and the handset makers. There are the newer services like mobile health, mobile commerce and mobile education, social media and web-based solutions. It is a picture that is still coming together. And it’s a chicken and egg situation. Which OS do you develop apps and solutions for? Which solutions are likely to be most used and what impact can that have on which operating system is preferred? Many questions, with no easy answers;
But that doesn’t stop the industry from building scenarios, and using insights from other categories. When one draws a parallel from other industry categories, some interesting lessons emerge for Indian telcos:
#1 Content before channel: Apps before OS and before service provider
The media industry in India went through a phase where people chose one channel over the other. But as viewers have evolved, the choice of what to watch was increasingly made on the basis of content rather than channel. So programme-led viewing is the order of the day. This has pushed channels to create genres, and to understand the market through a lens of genre viewership and engagement, and to develop content accordingly. Even today, most viewers have high recall of the content they prefer in terms of a TV serial, dance show or reality show, but a lot of the time they do not bond with the channel.
Similarly, as the telecom consumer evolves in usage and engagement with the medium, there is a high possibility that he or she will respond to apps more than to the provider or the operating system. A case in point is BlackBerry’s messenger product. I do see users buying into a set of apps that help them live their life fully and will expect the service provider to fall in line with that app. Telecom companies should definitely spend time and effort in this direction.
• Invest in developing apps, identifying new needs and benefits to help design apps will ensure high degree of customer engagement
• Every now and then have a ‘Buzz app’ which creates customers to sit up and take notice
• Make co-creation with users a discipline in the organization
#2 I know you but at times you seem new: Balancing innovation and familiarity to sustain engagement
The second learning to borrow from other industries is the threat of becoming so woven into everyday life that the category itself becomes a ‘staple’, and levels of engagement and excitement drop. There is a danger of becoming generic and too close to be respected or attractive. The danger of becoming ‘bread’ is what the category needs to guard against. Another example is that of Glucose biscuits, Brand Parle G was always the affordable and familiar glucose biscuit. When it came to glucose biscuits, consumers were heard asking for ‘Give me glucose biscuits’ and not give me Parle G biscuits. As the market evolved, all other Brands could innovate and differentiate themselves but Parle G found it harder to. Similarly in Telecom because the tariff based marketing is commoditizing the industry and driving down value. At the same time the pressure to innovate will be tremendous because that is what the marketers have encouraged users to expect - newer versions of everything and constant upgrades at lowest common denominator prices. Of course this is really a long-term consideration, because as of now, anything and everything is innovative for this category, including the way it is defined. The trick is to build staying power for innovations. This is turn will come only when innovation is focused on consumer needs and solely focused to provide solutions that matter to their life.
• For every ‘promotion’ message going out, there has to be a Brand message that delivers a proposition
• Keep tariff plans promotions below the line as far as possible or try and weave Brand promise in the plan

#3 You may be known by the company you keep, but how you behave is who you are: Personal biographies
Everyone who has worked in the FMCG sector knows the importance of shopping basket analysis and cross-brand usage to help profile consumers. The FMCG industry often describes its target audience purely based on user ship of brands and/or behavior towards categories. For example, they might describe a ‘Dove user’, or identify a woman who visits a beauty parlour at least once a month, or a woman who buys branded cosmetics, or a household that has a microwave and washing machine. This kind of analysis is often used to dimensionalise the target audience.
Most FMCG companies use household panel data, shopper insight data and overlay it on their internal sales figures to get an understanding of how insights from consumers can talk to internal data. Telecom companies can look at how this approach can be adapted. The usage and behavior data is an incomplete picture until an ‘outside in’ perspective is brought into the offer plans and propositions.
For the mobility industry, the information available across services and devices can be almost equivalent to being a personal biographer of the user. The information, when analyzed over a period of time and across activities, can give a person insight into their own behavior more than they would ever be able to figure out themselves. The power of this information to uncover need gaps, customize offerings and improve engagement is phenomenal. It would help to build correlations and profiling matrices to bring to life consumer profiling as an exercise.
• Pen portrait the person behind the number
• Factor in User’s interaction with other categories in the profiling exercise
• Look at a life context and not just a mobility context, insight based propositions will come from life and interaction with information, communication and entertainment and not just from usage and behavior

#4 Slice and Dice: Let’s cut it differently!
Different businesses have viewed their markets through different lenses from time to time - the most obvious examples are the use of demographic and psychographic parameters. Increasingly, user ship and behavior are being used to identify newer segments and growth opportunities. An interesting case is Parachute hair oil, which realized that the growing penetration of better-quality shampoos in India had led to a decline in the oiling of hair as a ritual in consumers’ lives. This happened partly because oiling is a time-consuming task, and partly because good shampoos reduce the need for oiling. The brand decided to look at ‘shampoo users’ as a separate segment and launched a special proposition of ‘head massage just one hour’ before shampoo.
Other examples of segmenting markets differently are snack bars for ‘lifestyles on the move’, or gentle-but-effective pain balm for children who are prone to get wounds and injuries.
Finance companies and Insurance companies have also used different parameters to segment their customers, both existing and potential. For ex. Impulse buyers have a small ticket size but high frequency so a credit card company gives them ‘frequency of using the card’ related benefits whereas planned purchasers spend a large amount at a point in time, and the company offers them a ‘point in time high ticket size’ based benefit.
Telcos will have many ways of slicing and dicing their customers. The current practices involve actual behavior and usage because we have the information with us. There is scope to look at this differently once we know what motivates people to behave the way they do. For example, SMS is a large contributor to revenues; innovation in SMS-like services could be pegged specifically to target audiences with a certain need set. Picture messaging could be used to encourage non-SMS-users who are partially literate. People who participate most in opinion polls could be given a different SMS product. Or there could be SMS discount coupons for coffee shop patrons. Similarly, married women who call their maternal homes everyday could be given a special voice product.
• Look beyond existing practices of segmenting customer database to design acquisition offers and usage and retention strategies.
• Complete the ‘Segmentation picture’; use Attitudes, needs and benefits sought’ and lifestyle along with usage and behavior.

The telecom industry has so much information available that there is a sense of knowledge even when you are inward-looking, but looking outside can break predictable patterns and bring in new perspectives.

Saat khoon maaf...don't you dare laugh!!

2011-02-23T02:48:00.000-08:00

‘Saat khoon maaf’ is a physical assault on your mind. Guess a short story should remain just that , a short story, think some temporary lapse of reason must have prompted Ruskin bond to write it. You do understand the anguish of the lead character on being let down every time she seeks true love, but the movie is more about the idiosyncrasies and psycho issues of the men that she happens to get attracted to than her own issues and complexities. Like an open wound that hasn’t healed in a long time, it keeps you in pain and disgust for most part of the movie. It offers you no respite through the 2 hours 30 minutes. It is raw , revolting and elicits a visceral response that leaves you sapped of ‘good’ energy. Bharadwaj seems to be obsessed with jerky camera moments in poor visibility conditions. Priyanka chopra needs more respect as an actor, her make up and look is outstanding , capturing nuances like a double chin and crow's feet as she ages. The background score adds to the fright element. The characterisation is effective, Neil is insecure and impressive, Annu kapoor is irritating and lecherous, the australian is weird, Naseer saab is suave and dangerous and i think i will hate Irfan Khan for a long time to come. Konkona is a misfit, Vivaan shah as Arun is endearing.

And Mr. Bharadwaj, this is not a dark comedy, 'dark' certainly but comedy???? This is a psycho- horror - macabre film, leaving one uncomfortable, unhappy and seriously scared!

It will suffice to say that all Vishal Bhardwaj movies should come with a ‘warning’ like on cigarette pack,

This is a VB movie, it can cause severe mental disturbance, watch it at your own risk’ , My recommendation to all Masochists. The rest of us can keep safe distance!

Dhobi ghat

2011-01-31T01:07:00.001-08:00

Unhurried undressing of a city and the characters, right down to their restless soul. Each frame of the movie is crafted beautifully, making you fall in love with it. At times it transitions gradually, so that you continue to gaze lovingly and at times it deliberately breaks your journey all of a sudden. The background score is fabulous , in fact in some frames, the background score is almost like a dialogue speaking volumes...certainly more than words. Dhobi ghat is more than a story, its a journey. A very sensitive film , you can feel the characters restlessness and their search for something to quieten it.Simply loved Prateik, he is intense and simple. Aamir is restrained and brilliant as usual. But Monica dogra as Shaai holds it all together in a very natural way, admirable. Keerti malhotra as 'yasmin' stays with you long after the movie is over. Mumbai had never been shot so beautifully before, the cinematography is almost like the camera is making love to the city in broad day light.

Ms Rao, take a bow!! What a movie!

Leave the kids alone McD

2011-01-14T05:57:00.000-08:00

I just can't get over the McDonald's commercial Rs 25/- aloo tikki burger commercial. What are less than ten years old doing talking about high maintenance girl friends? That they sell junk food by tempting kids with toys is just about tolerable, but using little kids to have an 'adult like' dialogue? not palatable.
I have been watching communication to kids closely and when i say communication i don't just mean advertsing, i mean design,retail, apparel and many other elements that say so much without words, and most of it is so non childlike.
Every establishment that is trying to 'talk to' and 'talk with' kids is attemptiong to fast forward them to being grown ups.
Why is everyone busy wanting to have an adult dialogue with little one's? Childhood is a rich area to find insights in, isn't it? Too much of 'grown up' thinking being dished out to young uns will make them cynical towards marketers as they negotiate their way through life and experience the contrary.

Well, lets be careful of what we are saying to young impressionable minds. we aren't just raising kids, we are raising future consumers...cynical consumers are hard to talk to..its going to backfire!!

Marketing mantras of Indian marketers in 2000-2010

2011-01-11T03:48:00.000-08:00

The Marketing tool kit: 2000-2010
The decade was exciting and challenging. The changes it saw in terms of good times and recession times, it required different strategies to survive. Internet and mobility seeped across the globe, changing not just how people communicated but also increased exposure and knowledge. It was a significant decade and this makes it important to study how marketers managed their brands and businesses. What tool kit did marketers use to stay ahead?
Some of my observations on the most often tools that every marketer used as a mantra to succeed in an ever changing and competitive environment are:
1. Buying assets versus buying experience
In the past decade some categories have moved from being an asset purchase to being an ‘experience’ purchase. These are high-value categories, starting from a pressure cooker to a watch to a phone and all the way up to jewellery and cars. On a relative level consumers buying these products have started looking at them through the lens of experience and not so much through the asset lens, as they did previously. There is a market who buys for the pleasure of consumption, not so much for what it will fetch when one wants to sell it. This creates a market for ‘used’ products down the population strata. It is an interesting phenomenon and goes hand in hand with consumerism and rise of consumer finance in India. Marketers partly led this movement and partly followed it with innovation and new positioning platforms.
Implications: The approach to product design and innovation will see a change due to this. It will need to appease the variety- and experience-seeking consumer, and not so much the conventional need for durability and resale value. An innovation pipeline is what companies will need to build to ensure that they have a new offering every once in a while.

2. The big ‘small town’ Indian
‘Small-town’ India has come into its own. The pride and sense of achievement is apparent in almost all communication depicting small-town Indians. The days when the small-town guy or girl wanted to copy urban counterpart seem to be over. While there are still some who aspire to migrate to bigger cities and make money, a large number has found opportunity at home, made it good and is now happy to flaunt. Two reasons for this could be media and economic development. Most small-town consumers watch and are influenced by the same media as their urban counterparts, mobility has transformed their lives greatly in terms of giving them business opportunities, and in some cases government subsidies for ancillary industries and service sector development have provided opportunities to small entrepreneurs. Commercials showing urban youth being teased or a country cousin teaching a trick or two on his new mobile say something about India today.
Implications: Demographically, small- town India is a huge opportunity, and understanding this consumer as an individual in his or her own right and not just a wannabe urban consumer is important. Marketers will need to design strategies for this market and not make do with tweaking urban strategies.

3. The changing face of the Indian woman

The portrayal of the Indian woman has changed in the last decade. The emergence of a multi-tasking, educated super-homemaker, who puts her family on the path of progress, is quite a distance from the subservient housewife of earlier years. Women were depicted in one of the roles they play - a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter/daughter-in-law. Now, on some occasions, she is being depicted as an individual. There is an acknowledgement of her own needs being as important as her family and social obligations. Rising age of marriage, education and rise in employment opportunities are helping. Being financially independent is not looked down upon; on the contrary, it’s almost as if there is pressure among women to prove their worth beyond the home and the hearth. Of course, this doesn’t absolve her of the responsibility of home and family, so she has expanded her time and her ability to do more things. Marketers are using this change to offer her products that make it possible for her to do so.
Implications: Talking to the head and the heart of a ‘not so easy to please’ female consumer will be a challenge but well worth the effort considering the rising expenditure of women. More products designed for women and more offerings that try to convince women is what one sees happening.

4. Simplify the complex and mystify the familiar
Everyday products like detergent powders, soaps and shampoos, toothpaste, biscuits, gram flour, even chips have touted a scientific product story. There were complex proteins, vitamin groups, special processes, hero ingredients; these were attempts to project a science-based, high-tech and cutting-edge image. Interestingly, companies that focus on technology-based products or ‘industrial products’ - such as bio fuel, energy or even gadgets and information technology - focused on the human aspects and the quality-of-life difference. The communication tone of voice was humane and simple. Some examples include Finolex cables, which used a mother and son bonding moment, Siemens took on a plank which was about ‘responsibility for our children’s world’ instead of cutting edge technology which it uses, Intel which is a new age technology company uses its people as the core of their communication and not complicated technology solutions as its positioning.
Implications: Marketers focused on exalting the status of over-familiar things and bringing large industrial, finance, technology kind of normally unfamiliar products closer to consumers through simple emotional messages. This will mean a lot of ‘expert’ panels for everyday products and lot of ‘consumer’ insight mining to understand how technology is applied in everyday life.

5. Give me a reason to believe
As marketers across categories embarked on a scientific overdrive in their products, consumers were bound to react with a degree of skepticism. To make their case stronger, most marketers rushed to find endorsements through independent authorities, through experts and through experiments - anything that would give consumers a reason to believe the claims. They sought, for example, the Indian Medical Association’s endorsement for a floor cleaner, or a particular hair expert’s backing for haircare products, or a dietician’s for health supplements. They also sought celebrity endorsements for anything and everything; brand and celebrity fit notwithstanding. Some Brnads used sportsperson endorsement and expert likes dieticians , doctors etc to build credibility. Some brands aired experiments conducted in a lab to prove their point. Yet some others took a less scientific stance. There was also some focus on natural, herbal ingredients, and many marketers either borrowed from ayurveda (traditional medicine) or international-sounding plants or herbs such as Jojoba.
Marketers spent a lot of energy and effort in proving their claims. Terms like ‘now proven’, clinically proven, first time, more than, better than was heard often.
Implications: Marketers will need skill sets that understand how to leverage Tie ups with labs, academecia, how to leverage consumer tests and experiments etc. The R&D function will come to the forefront and not remain a back office function.

6. Health, no matter who and no matter what
It’s barely an exaggeration to say that every alternate advertisement spoke about health in some way or the other. From instant, ready to cook, open and eat finger foods like chips and biscuits to tea and beverages, every food product talked about a functional benefit for health. Many food and beverage brands decided to be ‘good for you’, and all had an ingredient story to back it. The promises started at a base level of ‘keeping out harmful things’ to adding vitamins, minerals and general good-for-you ingredients, to adding specialized ingredients that had a specific benefit such as improving brain function, reducing cholesterol or increasing calcium etc. The concept of good health has seen a shift from good health meaning ‘not falling ill’ to being well maintained, to ‘go out and get what life has to offer’. Most communication depicted health as a means to win and achieve in life versus just wellbeing.
Implications: A lot of investment on R&D and innovation by companies to ensure they could create product stories.

7. Rituals
Per capita consumption of Indian consumers is low for most categories. A lot of marketers created rituals to help consumers decide when and how to bring the product into their lives. There were product offerings that nudged consumers to eat/drink/use products at a certain time and/or occasion. For example, Mars positioned itself around ‘4 o’clock hunger’, Knorr targeted ‘7 o’clock hunger’. Some quick-fix face washes/ face packs were launched to brighten oneself up before a party/date. Hair oil brand Parachute encouraged oiling every time you shampoo (oiling hair is a traditional ritual and was declining as consumers bought better-quality shampoos and had busier lives). Then there were rituals around ‘how to’ - there were rituals to eat chocolate snacks like Munch Pop from Nestle, as well as rituals for tea making and drinking.
Implications: As new products are offered to Indian consumers, it will be important to find a place, occasion, time, or a compelling reason to ‘fit’ the product offering in their everyday lives. After all, every new offering means substitution of an old habit or creation of a new one.

8. Innovative use of media
Proliferation and democratization of Indian media due to technology has brought many changes in the way marketers use it. Emerging strategies include: branded content (shows such as MTV Roadies or Amul Master Chef); movie placements for brands, and in some cases movies made for a brand; on-ground events in malls and coffee shops to reach youth, social networking to engage the young into conversations since they are spending less time with conventional media; innovative outdoor activity; and sampling through the print medium. However, internet advertising is only just beginning to develop beyond websites, banners and promotions. Many brands used an idea to engage consumers and took the idea across touch points and media. Brands took their brand idea from the TV commercial through to packaging, to live events. An example is Kurkure, a snack which used the idea of the ‘Kurkure family’ and took it from a recipe shared on TV, to a competition (the winning family appeared on the pack) to live demos in malls.
Implications: Segmented use of media is happening but will become a lot more sophisticated in the future. Media will be as important as content and in some cases media will dictate content .

9. Brand rejuvenation
Another observation concerns relaunches and rejuvenation of brands. Many large brands which have been market leaders have sought to upgrade their brand. Corporate brands like Godrej, TATA, and ULL all re-energized their corporate logos, and their corporate vision statements. Consumer-facing brands like Shoppers Stop, Horlicks, Slice, Bajaj, Star Plus and most recently Airtel introduced a new look and a new positioning. Some rejuvenation reflected the need to stay relevant, some was due to expansion and extensions which made it imperative for brands to reposition themselves. But many large local players also updated their look, promise and context to remain relevant in a competitive context – for example, Iodex pain rub, Zandu balm, Rajnigandha paan masala, to name a few. And the most interesting relaunch was that of the Indian Post and Telegraph department controlled by the government of India. In an attempt to be relevant in the times of email and mobility, the Indian post rejuvenated itself with a new positioning of ‘giving wings to your dreams’ a new LOGO, refurbishing of the post offices and ensuring presence on the web. The effort was to bringing the 154-year old government run ‘Indian Post’ in the league to compete with companies that carry the ‘modern’ tag.
Implications: Product lifecycles will get shorter and marketers will feel the pressure to innovate often. Marketers will need to work at reinventing and repositioning their Brands to an ever changing consumer who gets bored easily and demands newness all the time.

10. Organized retail
The emergence of organized retail will not just change how consumers buy; it also has an impact on how marketers sell. The grocers, mom-and-pop stores, small paan and cigarette shops still dominate, but there is a growing number of organized retail chains and malls. Interestingly, new retail channels like coffee shops, mobile and technology retail chains, and beauty parlour chains will offer interesting touch points to marketers.
Implications: The retail landscape and how it shapes up will make a significant impact on marketing activity in the next decade. Marketers will need to have different channel strategies for the multiple channels that will co-exist for some time.

11. More for less
The second half of the period mentioned saw recession and slow down. The biggest financial fiasco put pressure on consumer's resources and a lack of trust towards organizations. Marketers used promotions, cash discounts and bundled offers to give consumers more for less in the hope of wooing them. The best of Brands offered promotions, the idea was not so much to discount but more to add 'value' derived from the transaction.
Implications: Caution needs to be exercised to protect Brand equity which could get affected by too many promotions. Marketers will need to manage both short term and long term while ensuring strategic relevance in all brand promotions.

12. 'Satchet'isation
Everything, almost everything was available in small pack sizes. This was for reasons such as increase penetration, induce trails for newer categories, and in some cases reduce one time outlay of money.
Implications: Markets will expand as small packs help brands to penetrate deeper. Channel strategy that helps keep the small packs as trial packs or top up packs will be needed lest they push consumer’s to down trade from current usage.

It was a challenging decade for marketers, one that saw rapid changes in the socio political environment, intense competition and economic pressure and it offered huge challenges and great learning for most. Of course when one talks about India, for all that I have said the opposite is equally true. It is many countries within one country, making it a challenge to generalize anything but these are observations which have the potential to seep into various categories and various businesses, and they should be read in that spirit.

The 2010 buffet

2010-12-26T06:38:00.000-08:00

The year 2010 was in many ways like a buffet laid out by god. A mix of dishes, side dishes and desserts . Some dishes were not so good but important to taste and hard to digest. Some dishes were outstanding but kept in limited quantity,telling me the importance of not taking good things for granted. and thenthere were the experimental dishes which i was nervous to try, but on trying them they were a pleasant surprise.
Some looked delicious but tasted awful teaching me yet again that looks are deceptive. and some left such a bad taste, i know what i will never touch again.
Most of all , Some dishes i am thankful for, the ones that always comfort you,no matter what. They fill you up with the energy to go through life.
It was a year, i experienced god, when i could almost sense that i was being put to it and would be through it no matter what. A year where i learnt its ok to be wrong, answered some difficult questions honestly, Shed some emotional baggage,dreamt a new dream and reset my EQ . I have grown a little wiser, happier, and tougher. Thanks god! Come on 2011!

World Brand Congress 2010

2010-12-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

World visits India Inc.
A report: World Brand Congress 2010, India

Twenty words that were most often repeated through the three days clearly highlight what is keeping marketers and branding specialists in India and the world over awake at night.

CHANGE. ENGAGE. EMOTION. NEURO SCIENCE. CONFLUENCE.REPUTATION. TRUST.SUSTAINABILITY.CONVERSATIONS.REJUVENATE.SOCIAL.MOBILE.BRAND.
BEHAVIOUR.STRATEGY.INFLUENCE.DESIGN. RENEW.RETAIL.CONSUMER.

India, a market that is a curious mix of large global brands and some strong local brands, intensely competitive, a high level of channel complexity and a demanding young consumer, make for an exciting ground to battle on. There is a lot to learn and lot to share so India becomes an ideal place for an event like the World Brand Congress, a large convention which sees enthusiastic participation from some of the best brains in the world of Marketing and Branding. This year the World Brand Congress 2010 was held in Mumbai, it saw participants from over 100 countries, a gathering of 500 Professionals from various sectors. It offered a platform to share and challenge new ideas, branding techniques and strategies in an ever changing environment.
It was held over three days, the theme for this year was “Building Borderless Brands: Rethinking innovation”.
Day one was a workshop with Martin Lindstrom, Day two and Day three had multiple sessions where speakers from various countries and sectors shared their views, experiences and brand challenges. Read on for a review of some of the sessions in brief and some in detail where India is specifically in focus.
On day one the Martin Lindstrom’s workshop was well attended and turned out to be a highly charged and interactive session. The core subject of Lindstrom’s workshop was around his concept of ‘Buyology’ . The focus was on how most people make decision based on emotions. The rational reasons are usually only to justify the behavior and not the root cause of the behavior. Lindstrom shared in detail the anatomy of the human brain and how new research methodologies like Neuroscience and Brain imaging techniques could help understand why people behave the way they do. He discussed his concept of ‘smash your Brand’ , basically asking Brand custodians to take off the logo and see which of the branding elements helped them instantly recognize their Brand. His point was mainly to encourage thinking beyond the logo and look at other own-able and unique branding elements that could become strong brand associations and assets in the long run. He discussed case studies such as McDonald’s, Coca Cola, and Apple among others to illustrate his point of the more the ‘smashable’ components the stronger a Brand. Touching upon the art of subliminal messaging and how it impacts people’s behavior towards Brands he shared some observations with examples of Marlboro and Benetton. The impact of the evolving environment would change the way campaigns are planned, from a linear approach of campaign where a post campaign test was undertaken and was more diagnostic in nature to a more interactive campaign planning where the course is decided basis continuous feedback and is dynamic.
There were no India specific case studies but overall Lindstrom’s presentation was an excellent combination of meaningful content and engaging delivery making it a high involvement high energy session.

On day two, the session started with a paper titled ‘Creating a media brand in a new market’, an interesting presentation from Hindustan Times, one of the top three news papers in India, and the second most widely read English newspaper in the country. Founded in 1924, it has roots in the Indian independence movement and over a period of time has evolved itself to remain relevant to readers and the changing media scenario.
Specifically addressing the challenges of Print media today, the session elaborated on how newspapers need to adapt themselves to the changing media scenario. The key points made by the speaker Shantanu Bhanja, the Vice President Marketing, Hindustan times were about the rapid changes in the way news is consumed. He talked about how important it is to know your readers well, use co-creation and participation in designing content and how newspapers needed to have ears. He gave an example of how ‘Hindustan times ‘has created forums on the net and on ground where the team can listen to its readers, take inputs from them and be sensitive to presenting content.
He talked about how advent of color first bought in a revolution in the print world, followed by internet and a live news room concept and today with the ‘tablet’ , it will completely change the way people consume news. He said today the same content needs to be presented in various avatars, so a particular news item gets sent as an SMS alert / streaming headlines, is on the internet as a ‘Breaking news’ with an online report that is being updated constantly, appears in the traditional newspaper and has a tablet edition. Consumers are engaging with news through different media as per their needs and interest in the news item. He talked about how a newspaper like Hindustan times is now designing and redesigning content to suit various new media and yet ensuring that it does not take for granted the ritual of getting a newspaper every morning. So while the Facebook , Twitter, widget versions are available, a tablet edition which comes on every morning (without logging in) takes forward the ‘morning newspaper’ ritual and will soon be available. His closing remark summed up the need to change and adapt the print media, when he said that newspapers were invented to bring about a change in the world, today more than ever before, if newspapers want to change the world, they must first change themselves.
An interesting paper titled ‘Designomics: The emerging value of Design as a key contributor to businesses’ was presented by a Strategic design company called VGC (Vyas Gianetti Creative) based in India. Preeti Vyas the Chairwoman and chief creative officer discussed how design needed a strategic and not just graphic approach. Preeti shared a case study of her client the Aditya Birla Group (ABG). Today the Aditya Birla Group, is an Indian Multinational with 130,600 employees, belonging to 40 different nationalities, the Group was ranked among the top six great places for leaders in the Asia-Pacific region, in a study conducted by Hewitt Associates. ABG assigned VGC with the task of designing its logo to match its ambition of being seen as a growing, global business with a high degree of professionalism. VGC’s approach was to question this requirement and post discussions and workshops with key client teams, they evolved the brief to say that they needed a corporate strategy and not just a corporate logo.
Post conducting a research, the issues facing ABG clearly supported the hypotheses that it required more than just a new logo. The findings stated that the group was perceived as big and trusted but had some perceptions going against it. That it was a group which had roots in the Marwari* community , which led to a perception of being old fashioned, inaccessible , not very transparent , average quality and would not be very professional in its approach. (The founders are from the Birla family which belongs to the Marwari community; Marwaris are among the major business classes from Rajasthan in India and traditionally have been traders and money lenders.) The findings led to a thorough interrogation of the groups businesses (spanning Non ferrous metals, Cement, textiles, chemicals, telecommunications, retail, wind power and many others). It was observed that there was lack of consistency in the way the ABG corporate Brand endorsed its businesses, the corporate structure seemed scattered and the corporate brand was not holding the group companies together.
The VGC group built the design strategy from the name ‘Aditya’ which means the ‘Sun’. The distinctive identity would become a strong ‘source’ of endorsement for all its businesses just like the sun is a source of energy for all living beings. The new identity was communicated both internally and externally. The imagery of the corporate brand was impacted positively. A few years down the line, when ABG wanted to go global and wanted to ‘take India to the world’ the logo underwent a refresh program. Today it has evolved into a confident graphic language that is recognized. Some group companies who had a strong branding for their business and were a little hesitant to use the corporate Brand are now keen to use the umbrella corporate brand ABG. The structuring and strategic design has helped, but along with the design intervention other CSR initiatives, like ‘Aditya Birla scholarship’, Hospitals and other social causes helped the Brand to come across as a corporate house that cares. High visibility both to internal and external stakeholders and consistency for over a decade turn around the perception. It won the best employer award in 2007, employee engagement surveys showed that there was confidence in a merit based evaluation system, the brand which is only 12 years old appeared in the most trusted brand survey where Brands that are 100 years old with a strong heritage have been listed,
The key points VGC made was to approach and use design strategically for creating economic ‘value’ , to keep refreshing and rejuvenating design elements without moving away from the core and communicating the change effectively.
Followed by these two interesting sessions, was a panel discussion on the theme of the convention ‘Building borderless Brands, rethinking invention. The panel had eminent advertising and media personalities, Chaired by Rahul Kansal, CMO Bennett Coleman & Co, the speakers were M.G.Parmeswaran, Director and CEO, Fcb Ulka, India, Anisha Motwani, Director and CMO, Max NewYork Life insurance, K.V.SHRIDHAR, NCD, Leo Burnett, India and R Balakrishnan Chairman and NCD Lowe Lintas, India.
Each panelist made a presentation of their take on the topic followed by a short discussion.
The first presentation was by Parmeswaran of FCB Ulka, who talked about how we can build brands by amplifying innovation. He gave examples of how certain product features can be amplified to create differentiation. Some examples shared were, Indigo –CS a sedan from TATA motors, which because of its size (slightly smaller than a regular sedan) was launched as the world’s first compact sedan, and post launch , the fact that it was fuel efficient (23 kmpl) was amplified by claiming it to be the most fuel efficient sedan. He also cited the example of Digene, an antacid which launched a format that didn’t need water to be consumed. The amplification came with a ‘fast-melt’ proposition because acidity can attack you anytime anywhere. Another interesting case was of Hero Honda pleasure, a two wheeler Brand that exclusively targeted the progressive Indian girl. A gender based pitch of ‘Why should boys have all the fun?’ helped amplify the benefit. It had high relevance, especially in the Indian society where girls enjoy lesser freedom than boys. The last example was of TATA Docomo a telecom brand that was a late entrant but still managed to break through the clutter with a unique ‘pay per second’ billing plan.
The point being made was that innovation always cannot and need not be path breaking and relatively small innovation when amplified well, help Brands.
The second panelist, Anisha Motwani, talked about how Brands need to be revitalized and like human beings Brands need spas too. Anisha discussed how Brands are like human beings. Today as human life cycle is accelerating, when 9 is 14 and 16 is 25 but 40 is 20 and at 60 life has just begun, Brands are following a similar PLC. Brands are ageing faster and needing to rejuvenate themselves more often. She discussed following strategies to revitalize 1. Reinvent to become a contemporary classic 2. Design deliberately for a shorter lifecycle, one brand many lives approach, 3. Make your own product obsolete 4. Pick up different market segments, one at a time and re craft the proposition 5. Reinvent to make competition obsolete. 6. Engage in conversation & creation and 7. Keep an experimentation budget aside. She closed her talk by saying the changes made to revitalize needed to be revolutionary and not evolutionary if they are to make an impact.
The third panelist was KV Sridhar, who shared a film on various innovations around the world and made the point that most innovation followed approaches like 1) Created in a lab , 2) Created by understanding and observing consumers and lastly 3) Created by People themselves to meet their everyday challenges. Of course the most effective and actionable innovations were the ones that people created themselves. Among other examples he gave, an example of a girl in rural India where power is a problem, invented a washing machine that works when she peddles her cycle was very interesting.
The last talk was by R. Balakrishnan, and it challenged conventional thinking. He was of the opinion that most great innovations create a desire and not necessarily a solution. He disagreed with the view that marketing and communications landscape has become complex, he felt it was self inflicted complexity and that even today we communicate through words, pictures and sound, just like we did before. For him it’s all about expression and engagement to the people whose attention you seek. He saw too much marketing information and planning being talked about and that it is revealing the ‘science of fantasy’ to consumers, which is a bad idea. Brands need to maintain their originality and mysticism. He also said it’s not always necessary for Brands to be borderless, because at times there are cultural and local insights which can build highly relevant propositions for a specific target audience. He gave examples of Indian Brands like Camlin permanent marker, which has a creative execution that only an Indian can associate with. Other interesting examples cited were Idea cellular which uses the fact that India is culturally diverse and how people reach out to each other in spite of different languages was interesting. Tanishq a brand of jewelry uses Indian woman’s fascination for gold jewelry and ties it up with ‘Wedding’ as an occasion has been very successful. All innovation, technology and communication has to be relevant to people, for example, mobility has brought in a lot of change in the country, but brands like TATA Indicom are making mobility solutions work for the local people, example, a fisher man gets location alert of where he will find more fish with the help of a GPS system, or a farmer can switch off the water pump with the help of his mobile. A thought provoking session, Balakrishnan caused disruption and challenged audience by questioning ‘borderless’ brands as a concept , challenging how research is used and that innovation is not always driven by consumers.
There were couple of other sessions post the panel discussion, but there was one particularly interesting session by D Shivakumar, Vice President and MD – Nokia, that I will share in detail.
Keeping with the topic of how innovation helps Brands, Sivakumar started his talk with reasons of why Brands die. He gave reasons and examples to elaborate his point. The first reason he said was, that Brands get locked in a product format. He gave an example of a Brand called DALDA (a brand of hydrogenated vegetable oil that was very popular in India), the Brand was identified too closely to its format, it didn’t recognize that with rising health awareness, a transfats based format would see a decline in acceptance and lost out in the market. He said when Brands don’t have focus they die, when too many things are offered under one Brand, it drains out the meaning of the Brand‘s promise, Pierre Cardin was the example he used. Brands like rubber band need to be taut and slack in right measures. Another reason why brands die is not keeping pace with technology, KODAK film was a case in point. The example of the Indian film industry was also discussed in detail, The industry model underwent a complete change from widely distributed films where tickets sold cheap and the film ran for weeks and months to prints sold to specific theatres for a specific audience with lot of pre launch marketing and tickets at a much higher cost, the movie rakes in the moolah in the first week of the launch itself. Production houses which adapted to this change survived, those that didn’t faded away. Another aspect is loose consumer connect, it can kill Brands, an example of a toothpaste called Forhans which was very good for the gums but low on taste, didn’t realize that the consumer had become demanding and wanted both taste and protection and lost share in the market as other options came in. Brands that are untouched by innovation also die. HMT watches, a leading watch Brand in India just vanished from the market because it didn’t ride on the trend of a watch becoming a ‘lifestyle accessory’ and didn’t innovate accordingly. Then some other reasons why Brands die were acquisitions, being on the wrong side of law, unseen religious issues, mergers and acquisitions and portfolio rationalization by companies.
The second part of Shivakumar’s talk dealt with how next ten years are going to change the scenario in India. He shared some data which clearly pointed out the expected changes like; healthcare and wellness will be the next area of spends, Education, skilling and re-skilling will gain importance to retain and grow in jobs and real income in India will double. The media landscape will be competitive and complex, the icons of India will be beyond Cricket and veteran film stars, the new icons will be from different fields such as non cricket Sports, business achievers and younger film stars. The foreign direct investments is up from 4 million $ to 40 million $, a tenfold increase, this will see rise in new technology, new people, employment opportunities and more competition. In fact a lot of global Brands are looking at India as a potential market and Indian marketers will have to open their competitive frame of reference from Indian Brands to Indian and global brands . India is a hyper competitive market and its retail scenario is still dominated by scattered grocery and mom and pop outlets. It needs a unique approach to marketing brands in India, while one can borrow the principles from another market; the large and unique market landscape of India as a market make it impossible to plug and play any readymade model.
In the next ten years, India will be younger and richer than most nations. In 2020, the average age in India will be 29 years, in China 37 years, in Europe 45 years and in Japan 48 years. Youth is the mainstream in India, it is not a segment in the market, it is the market. Youth being dominant, there will faster product lifecycle changes. The challenge for marketers will be the ability to distinguish between a fad and a trend and plan their strategies accordingly. Word of mouth in the digital world will become important, Sensory advantage in products will be important, even in mundane products like detergents etc. Young consumers will look for total consumption experiences, a case in point here; coffee drinking in urban India has been made popular more by coffee shops rather than coffee brands.
A Unique identification number (UID) system is underway and is said to have a huge impact on the country. It is a number that will be assigned to each individual in the country and will provide information on his /her profile. Apart from being a huge emotional benefit (that I am ‘counted’), it will ensure that government benefit schemes will reach the right people. This will improve their economic status and consumption capability. Shivakumar was of the opinion that UID will have the same impact on India as GPS had on the world.
India allows many experiments with business models as it has many markets with different characteristics. To conclude he said the possibilities in the Indian market will be only limited to the marketers imagination.
Arun Tadanki, managing director on Yahoo! India spoke about ‘Building brands online, creatively’. The talk centered on the fact that internet as a medium needs to be taken a lot more seriously than it is today. There are 60 million internet users in India and in 5 years time, India will be the second largest internet market in the world with 240 million users. He said the mobile will become a primary access point for internet in India. He questioned as to why spends on print medium are still higher in markets where there 3 times more people online. He felt that marketers are not yet recognizing the power of internet. One of the reasons could be that the initial positioning of internet advertising was as a cheap medium and has damaged perception towards internet. Marketers’ treat it like an ‘option’ and not as an important component of their media strategy. He shared some innovative ways of advertising on the net like Smart ads, where depending on the target consumer’s needs marketer could alter the advertisement in about 1 million ways. He talked about augmented reality as an offering where experiential campaigns could be planned. His message was to take internet as a medium seriously and use it creatively. Especially since India is a young country, when the medium reaches a tipping point it will become very powerful and Brands would have missed a trick or two.
The day ended with the global awards for Brand excellence. The organizers also launched the new look of the World Brand Congress.
Day 3 had various experience sharing sessions covering, the Branding journey, a panel discussion on designomics, emotions and Branding, destination branding, best global Brands 2010 report and managing corporate reputation to name some. A few sessions are covered in detail.
Crispin Reed, The managing director of Brand house spoke on the topic ‘Feelings you can’t ignore – the role that emotion plays in branding.’ The talk was centered on the fact that emotion sells, and the role of emotion in creating intangible value for Brands is significant. As a case in point , he shared that in 1982 the S&P 500 list vs. 1998 S&P 500 list reflects the value shift , In the 1982 list, 62% of value of brands came from tangibles whereas in 1998 only 15% came from tangibles, the rest came from intangibles like image, associations , loyalty etc. This shows the power of softer issues like imagery and associations. He then talked about the importance of creating emotional bond with 7 key emotions, contentment, belonging, compassion, pride, enjoyment, excitement and desire. He summed up his talk by quoting that there is a good reason and a real reason and most consumers respond basis real reason.
Hampton Bridwell, President, BrandLogic Corporation, spoke about ‘Managing corporate reputation and brand in the new economy.’ His focus was on how ‘Trust’ is the most important factor in today’s day and age where many a corporate face off has happened. How an organization deals with a negative issue is critical in protecting its reputation. He cited some examples, including Toyota, of how challenging is for a company to manage perceptions.
Viren razdan of Interbrand spoke about Brand strength and its components and took the audience through Interbrand’s approach on Branding and Brand valuation. He shared that companies are conscious of the fact that Brand value needs to be created and nurtured in a scientific manner.
The session titled ‘The connectivity revolution’ by Paul Antoniadis of Scenario creation ltd. talked about how the connected age is changing things. The three demands on any connectivity brand are connection speed, access anywhere and everywhere and capability to handle volumes. The retail behavior of consumers is observed to be of three types, Brick, where the consumer prefers to go to the retail outlet, Click & Brick, where the consumer checks out the deals on web and, makes the purchase decision and then goes to the retail outlet, and then there is click, where the consumer researches and buys on the web. The movement into the connected age as Paul calls it will see a huge change in retail dynamics, in fact our mobile screens would be the next ‘retail window’ and marketers need to be ready for this change.
Anita Nayyar, the CEO of Havas media and MPG south Asia spoke about ‘Consumers punish brands who don’t embrace sustainability- are you listening?’ Anita shared examples of Indian brands like Idea cellular who takes up causes through mainstream advertising and TATA tea which used its tea brand to tell people to ‘awaken’ and not just wake up. They used the positioning platform to increase social awareness and awakening towards voting. She shared a research done among citizens across the globe and consumers in India clearly expressed concerns regarding addressing pollution, environment conservation, depletion of natural resources and wild life preservation. In fact India topped the chart compared to other countries when it came to concern regarding environmental pollution. Consumers in India have high expectations from corporate houses when it comes to taking responsibility for social initiatives. Consumers want corporate world to empower them to make a difference. The research also showed that consumers respect companies who tie up with NGO’s and attempt to give back to the society. However when it comes to ethical consumerism, very limited progress has happened. The biggest obstacle to ethical consumerism among Indian consumers was lack of information and awareness about what Brands and companies are doing towards conservation or supporting causes. This means it is important to communicate the sustainability and social cause efforts made by the company both internally and externally. The example of Unilever which has an initiative in rural India called ‘Shakti’, Project Shakti, launched in 2000 in partnership with non governmental organizations, banks and government. Women in self-help groups across India are invited to become direct-to-consumer sales distributors for Unilever’s soaps and shampoos. Today it has 45 000 Shakti entrepreneurs that reach 100 000 villages. This model has been taken as a best practice globally. Nokia is running a program in India where consumers can return their old phone, chargers etc. and the company can takes the onus of managing the scrap. Companies like TATA motors, Infosys cam through as companies that are committed to sustainability efforts.
It was observed that companies who were known for their efforts and consumers had seen evidence of the same; it did lead to Brand advocacy.
The three day convention was abuzz with networking and sharing. It brought together points of view on a number of topics and it was quite interesting to note that a lot of markets faced similar challenges and sharing their experiences and learning helped open up minds and possibilities.

MRSI highlights

2010-11-19T03:59:00.000-08:00

Mid November saw a gathering of researchers and research users in equal strength for the 20th MRSI annual seminar. The seminar, conducted by Market research society of India in association with ESOMAR (European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research) is an annual event and provides a forum to share success stories an exchange new ideas and techniques in MR. The theme of this year was ‘Unraveling the New age consumer’. It was a two day seminar held in Mumbai at Hotel Westin and broadly covered Technology and New Media in research and New thoughts, Trends and new applications in MR.

The key note address on both days was made by senior client members (Day 1 CMO-Aegon Religare and Day 2 MD- Kimberly Clark Lever) and set the tone for the two days ahead. The key focus in the address was on the need for Market Research to transcend from just information to knowledge, to be a lens that allows Marketers to see the picture clearly and to push for innovation to stay in tune with new age consumers and changing client demands.
10 key observations and highlights of the seminar:
1.The focus was on challenging status quo of research techniques. The entire research fraternity was in a mood to push for adoption of newer techniques and thoughts on how innovation was critical to be in tune with the changing consumer and changing client.

2.The topic of data integrity and delivery timelines, which is usually not discussed too openly was put on the table, acknowledged and action areas suggested. The role of technology was thought to be vital in helping the data collection process.

3.A lot of emphasis on ‘action ability’ of research findings, most papers discussed how their approach made the research more action oriented.

4.The interesting observation was that the seminar saw an enthusiastic response from clients as well. It was encouraging to see papers presented jointly by research team and client team.

5.There was a clear call for research agencies to start improving the perception that clients and general professionals had about research being just ‘information’. A pertinent question raised was ‘why is it that a strategy meeting does not happen without the communication agency partner but the research agency is not really missed?’ The need to improve quality of conversation, initiative and transcend from mere information to knowledge sharing was seen to be important.

6.It was felt that a lot more of innovation and imagination was needed in research design and processes. It had to be self motivated effort, with or without client buy in. The opinion was that once an innovation is proved to make a difference, client follow suit. So probably there is a case for R&D budgets for Research agencies.

7.In the Indian context, it was interesting to note that industries which were known to be highly gut based on their decision making were looking at MR to put a method to the madness. Hindi films and Hindi music were new areas of opportunity for research.

8.A lot of discussion on new media, both in terms of how it is going to impact the business processes and also about how it is opening new opportunities of providing measurement products.

9.Using social networks, conversations on the web to gain real time consumer insight was explored. Since India is a ‘face to face’ market, it was interesting to note how agencies and clients are experimenting with hybrid techniques that bring together real and virtual.

10.The new ‘Socio economic Classification’ parameters were shared by the MRSI. The SEC GRID which has been used for decades to determine demographic profiling of consumers is undergoing a review. The key changes were in durable ownership where one saw ‘Personal Computer’ and ‘internet connection’ being added. Some categories were done away with. This however is not yet formally launched but was shared since the forum had key people in the industry attending.

Its time for MR to become knowledge marketers!

Touch Points

2010-11-16T00:28:00.001-08:00

Rapid development and convergence of technology makes it possible to give ‘more’ with ‘less’, and do so ‘faster’. Multi point marketing, previously understood as a visibility and salience tool, is now more about engagement and involvement because of technology and new media. Transcending its role as an enabler, technology is now the driver of experience.
There are social and economic changes , new opportunities, rapidly changing lifestyles, and increasing the pace of life more than ever before. Our ‘on the go’ lives are powered by technology and fueled by marketers, this culture is an ideal stage for real time multi point marketing. Modern lives have turned into a series of short lived experiences, filled with easy accessibility and constant multiple sensorial stimuli: a perfect opportunity for marketers. Like I said in one of my earlier articles, even before consumers have juiced out emotional richness of one experience, they are on to the next.
In the past, the depth of an experience arose from the amount of time spent immersed in that experience. Now, depth comes from multi point engagement.
There is more width and less depth to the consumer’s life today. As a result, today the memory banks are wired differently; depth of an experience will come from width and frequency.

It’s only now that 360 degree marketing approach will reach its full potential. Thanks to availability of real time multiple mediums that create an experience for the consumer, and the pace of life that compels consumers to interact with this media constantly.
To market successfully, the Brand must not come from outside but needs to weave itself into the consumer’s life; each ‘unit’ of the ‘whole’ message has to flow seamlessly to the next unit of the message: a feat that is most effectively delivered through a multi touch point approach.
Simulating and converging experiences is what consumers are looking for and technology is a willing host!

Why waste a good recession

2010-11-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

Recession is good. It does good. “Why waste a good recession”?

The key is to treat recessionary times as a 'call' to think like you have never thought before, and not like a storm where you duck and wait for the dust to settle down. This piece brings out why you should be 'riding high' on the 'low'. It is aimed at infusing enthusiasm about a bright future and getting them to believe slow down does what boom time can only dream of doing, it fosters innovative thinking and changes the world and it is a good time to be young and doing things in today's environment.

It is a great time to be talking about lessons to managers. Great time? Most of you are thinking “But wasn't it an economic downturn? A slowdown? a nightmare where people lost jobs? Well yes. but for a moment take a differnt angle when looking at the recession.

Give this a thought, when did the “development of the American railroads, invention of the automobile, invention of the electric light, the telephone, the phonograph as well as a great many other products based on electricity” happen? It was during the period 1866-1896…a time in American history that was a long period of declining prices…an economic depression! Was this long a bad period in American economic history? Not exactly. It was a period that shaped the modern world by some serious inventive thinking. It was during this period that the United States moved into the economic leadership for the world.

So, as we are emerging from the slow down, I would like to leave a few thoughts on why recession is good and that we should not fear it, but make the most of it to become successful managers and leaders of tomorrow.

For one, it dispels the myth that only money breeds' money. The truth is real and legitimate difference is made by a great imagination!!! Innovative and inventive thinking is what is teased out in recessionary times. Money is only the means. Limited resources challenge us to put them to better use and that is what leads to path breaking discoveries. Good manager think with their brain and not their wallet. (An example, google had no clue where revenues would come from for the first 3 years of their existence before they went on to become a 86 billion dollar company.)

The second learning that makes great managers is not accepting mediocrity. Economic slowdowns force businesses to only invest in the best projects. So there is no room for mediocre thinking, the environment will put to test the best and only the best will see the light of the day.

The third important thing that good managers do, is take risks and only in challenging times you know who has taken risks…like the famous quote by Warren Buffet, it's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked. To say that keeping your head up for opportunities and taking risks does separate the men from the boys… ( Example- to say 'daag acche hain' when the category is all about damming stains is a brave thing to do)

One of the most exciting things about a slowdown is that it fosters entrepreneurship. Most big guys are afraid to invest in new ideas and it is strategic to seize the opportunity before others show up. Smaller resources are more available and if there is a big idea, it is just the right time, so start ups get a head start

And in the world of communication, they say “When times are good, you should advertise and When times are bad, you must advertise.” Conventional logic says advertise during economic expansion and cut down during a recession. The reality says otherwise…a research study found that aggressive recession advertisers increased market share 2 ½ times the average for all businesses in the post-recession.

Apart from the numbers, there has never been a better time, simply because it is time to challenge. Challenge conventional thinking, conventional practices, a time when only creative thinking can pick up the pieces and create a mosaic.

And if I were to talk about the business of advertising and communication in the times of recession, It is quite honestly a good time to be in the business of communication. Not only will the advertising agencies role expand beyond advertising and branding into innovation, product ideas and creating new media solutions, but today we will be able to genuinely innovate and disrupt conventional thinking. and that is liberating!

Take a case of showcasing New York's street culture. Street performers were brought together to create a new album, they performed around town, the recordings were put on internet and it created a viral frenzy. Completely innovative, never done before, work that is truly game changing.

Agencies can go as far as creating content, creating programming and creating new media. And in the virtual world the ultimate test of creativity is 'if the idea isn't fantastic, people won't click on it' they will just move on…incredibly challenging and what a creative high!)

Smart thinking in recession time to use the power of internet to prove the potency of the idea, to a deterrent and scared client

(dove 'real beauty' first gained momentum on the viral campaign)

It is in trying times that communication partners can persuade clients to be brave and to take risks, because in any case conventional logic won't do in chaotic times. A time when integration is most critical and clients will treat agencies like close aides and partners.

And of course through history we know that communication has a huge impact on human minds. Many a war was lost due to low morale of people led by negative sound bytes. It's not just about selling jeans, soaps and powders, its about contributing to society, influencing mindsets and making a difference. When else would influencing sentiment mean more than in times of recession?

Hardly surprising that in the uk, with the collapse of financial services, all creative industries are still holding ground…be it filmmaking, gaming or advertising.

And on the lighter side, recession makes you bond better with family, makes you a better person and what's more it gets people to marry for love.

Don't just think of 'survive the recession' but think of how to thrive on the recession.

When Gay meant happy

2010-11-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

Hollow.poignant.witty.warm.wiles.weapons...they infect, they infuse...words!!! watch them, feel them roll out of your tongue and even more intense, watch them change their association,meaning and usage over time.

1.Its fascinating,how word associations have changed over time, changing their context, their usage and their intent.
a few examples that come to mind...
cool or hot- describing the weather, hot; hang out - hanging out your clothes
chill- a state of physical discomfort in winter;happening- an event or activity taking place or actually happening;net- a net;surf- surf with a surf board or a detergent powder;hit- physicaly hit or popular as in a hit song;Kick ass- meant kick ass and not 'wow';Suck- meant suck .. a sweet or drink.
2.Sentence construction also has its own meaning...so i don't say , i totally disagree , but say i 'so' disagree with this...
3.The other phenomenon is to have acronyms for everything...i guess the sms and chat generation are responsible for it, but i just feel the impact is lost. I mean when one says 'What the fuck' it means something..it has impact , WTF doesn't come close to it!
and there is actually an Urban dictionary where you will find not just words but expressions which have their own meanings far from what conventionally words mean. So go look it up and yenjoy ! (this was my generation's contribution to evolution of language...hinglish,tamlish,bonglish...whatever!!)

Riding on the wrong side?

2010-11-02T23:00:00.001-07:00

My first reaction to the Stallio Mahindra bike commercial was ‘Wow’ a brand is being really courageous, on a one way street riding on the wrong side? Very bold indeed!
Then as I saw the commercial the second time, some questions popped up in my mind. The first one being – who is this communication for? Is it talking to the usual bike TG? Because if it is, then does a biker to be look for safe driving as a motivation? No, I think. I have never worked on the two wheeler category so don’t know the documented motivations, but as a young girl a ‘boy’ with a bike meant adventure, freedom and a style statement. And nothing was cooler than the Bullet, even an Average Joe riding a bullet was cool.
Driving fast has always been cool, driving rash never!
The dare devilry and stunts in commercials are performed to package the experience, very naïve to assume that bikers aspire to perform those stunts themselves.
Do you know anyone who throws a watch in a bucket of water to check whether it is really water proof?
So Aamir saying, you can repeat all that I have done in this scene, though a tongue in cheek remark against other bike adverts, am not sure whether it does anything for the Brand itself.
I thought, maybe the commercial is talking to a slightly older TG. One who is married, with responsibilities and needs to be told that make your ‘cool’ statement but take your mom along on a date! If I know a little bit about purchases post 40, especially purchases that make a statement, then most consumers who I like to call the ‘older youth’ would buy youthsy/gutsy stuff that helps them hold on to the last few years.
Maybe the commercial is trying to woo potential two wheeler buyers who are yet undecided between a scooter and a bike. (Wonder whether that can be?) The proposition then could be the looks of the bike and the safety of the scooter? But it is so unconvincing even as I write it and even if there were a consumer with that need state, how big would be that segment?
Then who is this communication meant for? And what does it want to achieve by going against the very core of the category? When a Brand decides to break the rules, it still doesn’t get absolved of the responsibility of delivering the core emotional experience. Power, Freedom, Confidence, or whatever it is. Taking an ‘anti’ stance can build ‘Brands’ as long as there is a strong reason for the consumer to vibe to that stance. So if this bike is for people who need a two wheeler transport and promises ‘freedom’ with responsibility , it sounds way too idealistic!
When a Sprite says baki sab bakwaas , the product is ‘clear’ and supports the proposition and when a dove says imperfection is beautiful, it is supported with a product strength of simple moisturizing. If a Brand is breaking category codes, the product support has to be strong; The ‘Uncola’ wasn’t just a cola with less fizz!!

So when you say zindagi ka mazaa jeene mein hai, what jeene ka mazaa are you talking about after taking away the chutzpa of owning a bike!! Maybe you want to talk to parents who want to gift a bike to their kids? Every Brand has had its reasons to break the category code, what’s yours Mahindra Stallio?

100 days in wireless wonderland

2010-09-22T23:57:00.000-07:00

One Sunday afternoon when I was telling my daughter, “no more television” , she shot back, but tell him first (him being , my son, who was playing a game on my husband’s mobile) to stop “screening “. I was a bit confused before it suddenly struck me that she was talking about the experience and not the format. It dawned on me that they now looked at it as ‘screen time’ and not just TV time and in this context the possibilities of what all mobility could mean to this generation. Having now spent a little over 3 months in the telecom sector, I am struck with awe, the scale, the workings and the dynamism of this ‘in transition’ industry feels surreal.
Of course, let me clearly state that what you read ahead is from an industry novice and a ring side view of the happenings. Needless to say it could have a heavy dose of idealism. But I couldn’t stop myself from penning this down. Telecom in India is an industry whose pace of growth is frightening, where ‘because of’ and ‘in spite of’ heavy regulatory pressure the action continues. I have observed consumers across FMCG, Healthcare, Home products and durables but am yet to see such dynamism and complexity in behavior, easily the most challenging consumer behavior ever in my opinion.
As I look back on my last 100 days of being a part of this industry, there are thoughts that I would like to share. A few observations and peculiarities of this wireless wonderland
Consumer participation and involvement: There is intense level of involvement, not only because the players are pushing action in the market but also because the consumer is participating whole heartedly, sometimes following and sometimes leading marketers. So the Indian consumer, who cracked the code of expensive washing powder for office clothes and cheap one for everyday clothes, is using his own homegrown logic even on telecom products. The sheer creativity with which usage is planned, by way of multiple service brand SIMS, using missed calls, SMS’s and separate sims for incoming and outgoing calls, it’s astounding.
The paradox of the being one of the most talkative nations and at the same time most value conscious, consumers in no other market would have used such home grown street smart wisdom to get the best value possible every day in every possible way.
Constantly changing consumer context: In most industries new consumers come in with varied expectations depending on their context of the category. Telecom has the most diverse set of consumers, ones who have been mobile since a decade and hence have a different context and expectation vs. consumers who are born in the lap technology and expect the world at the best price. It is a challenge for marketers to be able to meet such a diverse set of needs. Where the 30plus consumer expects to pay more for smart services and the 20 plus expects it to be ‘ofcourse available’ at an affordable cost.
What is advanced to one consumer is basic to another, and hence the logic of ‘more advanced, more expensive’ that operates in other industries is likely to be challenged, especially since players want to encourage usage of services other than voice. So now you can buy a bag of chips or surf the net for two days in the same money.
Law and loyalty: An industry that has too much of a regulated environment to breathe easy, it is impacted from all sides, revenues, offering design and distribution. The industry is almost pushed in the direction of downgrading the market under the excuse of ‘fast growth’. The scale of the commercials of this industry has put tremendous pressure prompting players to do tactical short term initiatives and get quick wins, but this could become huge challenge in the long term. Prepaid sims helped hugely to expand the market but while all were busy trying to match a bag of chips price point in the acquisition game, they forgot to value add and give any meaningful reason for the post paid consumer to stay. In fact with fixed rentals, post paid service is quite the contrary and not surprising that only a very small percentage of the market comprises committed users. It’s quite possible that soon consumers will actually get paid to make calls.
Bottomless price wars, government policies and regulations that change stance frequently, to add increasing competition, number portability and low loyalty the market has set an ‘extreme conditions’ stage to perform on.
Consumer and market research: It is quite a task to research this market, by the time research findings are available, the dynamics of the market could have changed dramatically. The consumer base could be totally different and the assumptions thereof challenged. One more market intervention in form of new technology, one more new handset, one more new plan etc could change the dynamics completely making the findings rather redundant.
Real time research that is predictive and not descriptive is what would really help.
Last but not the least, an incestuous industry it has people and sometimes teams who have been there and done that with other brands. They belong and almost have such deep tacit understanding that once you get them talking you realize how much knowledge isn’t documented. They have worked on consumer bases that are possibly equal to the sum of the population of a few European countries.And of course the industry insiders use a language that cannot be understood by lay people, an outsider has to crack the lingo of the industry to comprehend any discussion. Most of it is in acronyms (seriously there are times when the entire sentence is made up of acronyms, sample this: “ARPU of REC is from VAS, CRBT ,WPDL” Phew, how on earth is one to understand ? And for my telecom friends who are thinking hard about what is WPDL, there is nothing called WPDL, I was just being wicked (Wall Paper Down Loads, may be)

2009-08-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

Repositioning of Rakhi Sawant

As i hung up after a long conversation with my mom (yes with my mom...), i was in a confused state of mind (usually post a long mom call, my mind is crystal clear..that i am a nice sweet hardworking girl and the world is out to get me) but this time i was seriously confused. And the cause of my confusion was my mum's pov on Rakhi Sawant.While we were swapping notes on the latest TV serials, she was full of compassion for Rakhi...'poor thing, use kya kya nahin karna pada to be what she is today...'(huh? what is she today? i think admirably vulgar). Rakhi's mother is money minded making her do cheap roles and work hard and the family only cares for money, poor rakhi' Well...well, this is i think the most effective repositioning excercise in recent times. From Rakhi the silicon stuffed bimbette to a girl who has emerged victorious through all odds. From Rakhi the cheap crass to Rakhi the bahu material, from rakhi the bold item girl to rakhi the demure bride. That is quite a tough repositioning exercise especially in terms of credibility. Not only have many people believed that this is the real Rakhi, but have also made her out to be heroic underdog...(there isn't a word called 'under bitch' is there?), and she is respect worthy!!!! why? She is respect worthy because she has struggled her way up. because 'use aisa kaam karna pada' not because she did it to get publicity.because she says with conviction what the masses want to hear(i am marrying the family, not the boy...), because her family has been selfish and mean but she has done her bit to improve their lot. because in the world of women who spend months to get their diction right (read a brit accent or an american twang) rakhi is unabashed and not self conscious when she prays to her 'Jejus' and laughs into the camera. because she is not being ashamed of being herself, on the contrary , she is making money out of being herself. Amazing!!! simply amazing.And why are all of us watching, talking, damming rakhi sawant? because there is a rakhi sawant hidden in all of us...at some point in time we all want to garner sympathy and be acclaimed for all that we put up with...we just gift wrap it in good english with correct diction and then it doesn't sound quite the same ( sounds like simi garewal...and then the mass appeal is lost)
What Brands can learn from the repositiong of rakhi sawant? The claim you make is as believeable to others as the belief you exhibit, Dare to be different, dare to be yourself, Underdog theme works (for all people all the times), Make a virtue of your product issues and ofcourse most importantly get a rocking media partner. and if the idea is poweful all it takes is 5 weeks to make an impact.

You dont buy jeans.You meet them.

2009-06-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

I came back from my holiday recharged and feeling good (pushing back all thoughts of the work that was to hit me once back in office and the credit card bills we rent expected for 3 more weeks...so i was pretty much in a feel good mode). Monday morning didn't feel as bad, it actually felt good to get to work (does happen occasionally to many of us, i am sure). One thing though, kept bothering me...I couldn't find my 'that' jeans.I had unpacked all the bags,made calls to mum, did i forget it in Bombay? did i leave it behind in Pune? or forget it in the service apartment at Singapore???
I live so often in this particular jeans,that it was unlikely that i could have forgotten them somewhere.But they were so much of a second skin, it was hard to recollect when i wore them last.Each passing day i felt more miserable...losing all hope of finding my jeans...my 'that' jeans which made me feel me, helped me hold myself up in low times,made me look 2 kgs lighter and looked trendy and sexy depending on what i wore with it. How could i lose them? My most versatile , vivacious well cut jeans.

In a week's time, (time just pushes you to move on. sigh)i started giving up all hope of finding my jeans. Come Saturday and i stepped out in search of another jeans while i fretted and questioned myself, would they make me feel the same way?

As i stood in the aisle looking at rows and rows of black,blue,grey,beige jeans...lots and lots of jeans...my heart sank. how was i to find my jeans? TRY TRY TRY AND TRY. Some too tight, some odd in the cut, some just made me looked stuffed in and some just made me feel 'not so good'. I walked out in a huff...consoling myself that maybe i should buy something else and postpone my jeans shopping. Let me look for a dress, a t shirt, a skirt anything that would brighten me up and make me forget my longing for the right jeans.

As i looked through slinky,shiny (sorry shining...rather avoid using shiny) knitted, printed garments, my eyes fell on a rack of jeans. The store was a very fussy frilly style garments store...so i was surprised to see jeans.

Just 4 styles and 3 sizes per style. Something about how the jeans looked on the rack, the detailing, the pocket cut, the just right shade of blue...My heart was beating fast,could it be the one? The sales woman smiled and handed me just the pair i had locked eyes with.

As if in a dream i walked into the trial room and got into the jeans. I didn't need to look in the mirror, i felt different. I felt like we belonged together. and then just to reassure my rational brain, i did the usual bending, half squat and checking the rear fit to satisfy myself that i wasn't getting carried away. I pulled myself to full height and took a deep breath.

As i looked my reflection in the mirror, the moment of realisation sank in. I had met my jeans. The jeans that were my dream jeans, my reality jeans...They transformed me, they informed me (the difference between a curve and a bulge), they shared my enthusiasm for life.

As i paid at the counter, holding the bag in my arms and smilingly thought...
You don't buy a pair of jeans...you meet your jeans and fall in love at the first fit!

2009-02-19T03:01:00.000-08:00

Ohmeeegosh another birthday…

Hey all, thanks for visiting…Read on anything that interests you and do leave your comments, agree, disagree or agree to disagree…anything, but look forward to your response...

Living and learning in half a life …well very clichéd but what the heck…

1. Fairy tales do happen in real life, only that happy endings happen to the negative starcast
2. You are as happy as you choose to want from life.
3. Mom is always, almost always right
4. Dad is the best guy you will ever meet in your life. Don’t set him as a benchmark, you will never find a man in life
5. Friendship and love go together, love and friendship require divine self discipline
6. life is a set of learnings…applied
7. God is.
8. Things that you feel are life altering are never really that important. Just that you figure out after a lot of heart burn and fear and sleepless nights
9. The small things make a BIG difference. BIG things are a part of the Grand plans and the small things are your contribution.
10. Living life like it has an expiry date is a good idea
11. Anti wrinkle creams do not work.
12. It is better to be naïve and believe, than be cynical and untrusting, in the end it works out for both attitudes, just that the journey is more pleasant for the naïve.
13. There is no option to ‘talking’ TALK TALK TALK
14. You always know what to do, when you say you don’t you are just buying time
15. Time is really the most important thing you can lose
16. Business and pleasure do not mix, so it’s a good idea to be in the business tHat is pleasure
17. There is something called middle class values
18. Kids are the most fantastic beings
19. It is more difficult to receive graciously than give
20. You are not in advertising,advertising is in you

2009-02-19T02:59:00.002-08:00

Shelf of spiritualism

If you are spiritually inclined or even if you are not, I am sure you have noticed the range of guru gyan that is available today. With due respects to all the gurus that I am talking about, I want to say right at the beginning that I am a believer and have nothing against any of them. I am though; very intrigued by how each of these gurus are positioned and am bemused that segmentation works !!!
The gurus that are TOM are Goenka ji , Sadguru, Deepak Chopra, Sri Sri Ravi shankar, Ramdev baba, Asaram bapu and I am sure there are many more. If we plot them on one axis of spirituality through science and spirituality through religion, and the other axis of internal engineering vs outward expression.

Wok in progress…watch this space ..and if you have any pov please pen it in…

2009-02-19T02:59:00.001-08:00

Doodh ka doodh , paani ka paani

I was working on a paper and sharing a piece about ‘experience marination’* to Jo and Vishal (fellow planners in JWT) and Jo got all excited about the word marinate. It did something to her, it made her imagine the process and decode all that I was saying instantly in that context. And we discussed something rather interesting, whenever we use a food related word to describe something non food, it invokes such strong associations that tere is instant understanding. For example just hear this…when I want to say that ‘I never said that, usne apna mirch masala lagake suna diya ‘ or when describing a person’s face ‘like a chusa hua aam’ or to describe a sexy babe using words like ‘teekhi/ karari , or when there is confusion of thoughts, khicdi bana di, or the proverbial icing on the cake, or tadka maarke. These are the immediate examples, I am sure if I think harder many more examples will pop up. The point is using food terms to describe is a great way to open up multiple associations and help visualize. Why is it so? Could be because food provides an intimate sensorial experience and hence has multiple associations that are strong.
So the next time you have trouble getting your point across, use a food related analogy…and catch the ‘aha’ gleam in their eye!

• refers to the pre, during and post time that we spend on an experience, its like marinating…hence the term experience marination

2009-02-19T02:58:00.000-08:00

Fill o sophy

They say people become philosophical when they age, get dumped, lose money, or see death closely. The point is people turn to philosophy only when they are at the deep end. Probably if they didn’t wait that long , they wouldn’t get to the deep end. Cause to have a philosophy, is to have a point of view on ways of life and living. (And all those in advertising couldn’t agree more) . Never mind if it is a wrong point of view, at least you know what you wanted it to be like. Of course as long as you don’t fill yourself with too many theories and spend your life proving or disproving them, a personal philosophy of life is a good idea. And the more you are open to evolving it the better. One could argue that if you are not firm about the philosophy then why have it in the first place. Well, have it so that you can question things. And if nothing else, Have it to surprise yourself every time you feel you have a contradictory world view.

2009-02-19T02:57:00.000-08:00

Luckbychance

I loved the film Luck by chance and even if I hadn’t known it was directed by Zoya, I would have known after the last scene that it was directed by a woman. The conclusion and observation that the man came and said things to do with only his life and issues, was fantastic. And it is not about gender, there are people who are like that and they not necessarily bad…they are just like!!! But it takes a woman to pick up that nuance and do so without being judgmental.

I have been lately thinking about cinema being too real. Not that we don’t enjoy the new sensibility but somehow it seems too ‘English medium’ type of thinking to me. It is admittedly Cineplex audience cinema. Good but is it not important for the so called upper echelons of the society to be familiarized with how masses in India think? Gated communities, Cineplex films, restricted entry clubs…are we insulating a part of our youth to what is? I wonder whether this new generation will then not want to associate with the common Indian and reality of the masses? One always works to alter ones own reality, not someone else’s. and the Indian masses are someone else to the Cineplex going youth?

2009-02-19T02:56:00.000-08:00

Me too ….on SD Millionaire

Enough has been said , written about it so this comes a bit late , but honestly I was struggling to form a pov. I liked the film but it left me disturbed. Aishwarya Rai’s comment ‘It is just a movie’ pushed me into writing out my POV . I so disagree with ‘Its just a movie’ stance, it is a convenient stance to take. I think movies and real life are interdependent. Movies shape lives and lives shape movies. So to say the least , it is a flippant remark

War happens and countries where it happens often make films about War, The US has subway violence and it has money mindedness and an excessive lifestyle and that’s what their movies reflect. Then why are we getting so touchy about poverty and the showcasing of the really abysmal living conditions that a lot of India thrives in. I think I know why I got so disturbed.

Well we have recently undergone an image revamp. We have just about repositioned ourselves as the technology leader, the knowledge and services hub, and a youthful vibrant people. Like any good Branding exercise we want to play up our strengths and divert people’s attention from our weaknesses. Slumdog brings back the world’s attention to what we want to underplay. Brand India is now being proudly worn by the youth not because of its snake charmers and elephants, but because the generation has worked hard to make a place on the global map. We owe it to them to hold on to the new image till it is strong enough.

To conclude, Slumdog is a right movie at a wrong life stage in Brand India’s branding cycle.

2009-02-19T02:54:00.000-08:00

Title: Techxperience the world!

Brands deliver experiences. This paper discusses a thought called experience marinating and the shift of ‘experience’ to ‘Techxperience’ and the impact of this shift on value systems and change required in marketers approach to deliver Brand messages.

Today, we as a ‘people’ seem hungry for newer, better, bigger experiences in life and technology is not just an enabler it is the driver. Rapid technological development and convergence of technologies makes it possible to give more in less: less size- multiple functions in a little package, less time- from punching a button to clicking to just touching and less physical and mental effort.

Technology and the digital age are making our life a series of short lived experiences. The appeal is not just the ‘instant’ ness but in the ‘short lived’ ness created by multiplicity that kicks in a quick rush of adrenalin. The ease of access, ability to simulate reality on demand and constant mini multiple sensorial experiences make it undeniable. This could cause our ‘bank of memories’ to function differently than it has been doing in the past and have an impact on what and how we relate to Brands.

‘Experience’ marinating

As a concept, I define experience marinating as depth of feeling that an experience offers.
Unlike earlier, we do not marinate the experience in our minds. The pre experience excitement, the high during the experience and the savoring of the feeling post experience is what leads to marinating of the experience. Today the pre, during and post of the experience happens in such quick succession that the depth or marinating of an experience is compromised. On the other hand the width of the experience has multiplied several times over. Technology has enabled an experience to be delivered in small doses across different medium.

While one ‘experience interaction’ high is just about abetting, we can quickly move on to the next. Either like little frogs we are jumping on from one experience to another at rapid speed or like a ten headed deity we are consuming multiple experiences simultaneously. Even before we have juiced out the emotional richness of one experience, we are on to the next and sometimes having an orgy of experiences.

There is more width and less depth. In the pre digital age, depth of experience is what led to a bank of memories, which led to long term relationships with people and with Brands.

Today our memory banks are sure to get confused about
1) Which experience to cherish and file away to grow into nostalgia some day, and which experience is to be junked.
2) In the multiple messages thrown at the mind through multiple media, is the mind able to create one mosaic of the total experience? Or does it remain fragmented and superficial?

Psychologists say that we are a sum total of the learned behavior that we are exposed to. It is documented theory that in the long term, behavior alters attitude and attitudes form basis of value system. Will this high technology enabled traffic of experiences alter our behavior over a period? And slowly but surely change the way we perceive our world? Will it reengineer our value systems?

It seems to me that in the new world order ‘experience marinating’ will happen through width and not depth, or to put it succinctly, ‘depth of experience will come with width’ and this is what I term ‘techxperience’ , the new world way.

When the order of things changes it is bound to throw up challenges in the way we are as human beings and this has a direct bearing on us as people and as consumers.

The Challenges

Consumers are born out of real people. People’s value systems reflect in what they buy and how they buy. So it will hardly be a surprise when short lived and superficial experiences lead consumers to treat exchanges with a brand as transactions and not as long term relationships. The possible result could be fundamental change in value systems. Some of these are outlined are:

Superficiality and celebration of mediocrity: For one, superficiality will become acceptable in our society. Most people will be happy skimming the surface and delight themselves with the superficial. Most experiences seem to be like travel package holiday where tourists get a feel of the place but not really an in-depth experience. People get carried away with brief interactions and form impressions basis the little time spent on any one experience. ’Newness’ is being created for the sake of newness and is not really something new.

Impatience and low tolerance- The second thing that will become obvious is reducing tolerance levels. As people try and gather the vast number of experiences, their tolerance levels to even the smallest negative experience will go down drastically. So no experience gets a second chance.

Emotionally hollow: There could be a lowering of people’s emotional quotient. For people to feel strongly about anything or anybody, they need to spend time. While we keep flirting and flitting, it could make people emotionally hollow towards things, people and the world around.

When the above happens, the most challenging task in the coming years will be to create iconic Brands and to enjoy loyalty of consumers. And it is bound to happen, especially since the digital generation is a techxperience generation and knows only ‘width’ of experiences. Unlike the 35 something, cusp generation, who knows both depth and width.
Can marketers deliver effectively to the techxperience species? Yes, if Marketers recognize that creating depth through width requires a new way of designing communication.
Marketers need to be conscious that they are aiming to create depth of experience through width and plan fragmentation of experience in a manner that every bit adds to the whole. This will allow us to Brand ‘stories’ that consumers will grow up with and build Brands that offer a bank of memories to consumers and build long term relationships not just a vacation romance.

To reiterate , The old world communication approach worked on the premise that consumers spent time at ‘a point in time’ at one go on an experience, the new world order requires us to understand that consumers will spend few moments of time over multiple points in time.
‘Instant’ ness, ‘New’ ness and ‘Multiplicity’ together the three form the anatomy of what I call a ‘high traffic of Techxperiences’ in life.

What will help marketers to ensure that they are able to create ‘Techxperience Marinating?’

1. Use a ‘Synapse’* approach to the way a message is rolled out.
Each ‘unit’ of the ‘whole’ message has to pass on an invisible connection to the next unit of the message. This is possible only when the Brand does not speak from the outside but weaves itself into consumer’s life. It will be important to match message unit relevance to consumer’s life space impacting where, when and how it is delivered. This is a whole new area of expertise and marketers will need to build capabilities to be able to do so.
(*A Synapse is a neurotransmitter between nerve cells in the human brain and it connects each nerve end. Synapses pass information directionally from a presynaptic cell to a postsynaptic cell and are therefore asymmetric in structure and function. The bodily functions and reactions are controlled through these synapses.)

2. Coherence not just consistency.
Build in the fact that the message is going to be received and consumed in fragments at the conceptualizing stage. The message is thus designed to be fragmented and come together over multiple units’ link to each other in the consumers mind.

3. Making each experience bigger by Simulating experiences and Converging experiences
The good old conventional way was ‘sampling’, which will continue but Brands will have to go beyond sampling into ‘living and experiencing’ the product through technology

4. Getting recommendation to work for Brands
Since consumers will be time pressed and less tolerant, having recommendations through networking and word of mouth will prime the consumer to expect a certain ‘Techxperience’ and draw him towards it.

Marketers need to be cognizant of the fact that designing, and distributing communication messages will require a new approach
As they reach out to the ‘width’ generation and help them build Brand s through a bank of memories relevant to them in their world.

2009-01-09T01:07:00.000-08:00

Stretching without stretch marks

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, co-operate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” And that …is only true for human beings. A Brand can be, cannot be, can do and can cannot do things against its identity. So while extensions are the most popular method of growth, It is really difficult to get it right. To extend wisely without going on an ego trip is a challenge many a marketer today faces. Especially Today when the single most agenda for any business is growth, not just organic growth but leapfrog growth.

Globally Brand extensions and expansions are the most used strategy for growth. Extensions are When a Brand or business extends its equity within the same category and Expansion means When a Brand or Business ventures outside its core category by extending its core values. 58 per cent of UK consumers would be more likely to try a new product from a brand they knew, versus only 3 per cent for a new brand.
Closer home… Brand proliferation and stretching is evident in the numbers.
•More than 1500 New Brands launched in the FMCG space in the last 3 years
•More than 1400 Line Extensions off existing brands in the last 3 years
Significant growth in the FMCG space has been driven by new line extensions and new brands. Why is it so tempting to stretch??
Enablers of Brand stretch
•Extremely expensive to build Brands coupled with high failing rate of new Brand launches
•Research says consumers are more open to the familiar , so versus launching a new unfamiliar brand and spend huge money on familiarizing…a better option to extend the current Brand
•Self construal theory* states that markets where consumers are more interdependent accept extensions better. This is said to be true of east cultures which are high context cultures. Japan, India more ‘open’ to brand extensions
•Convey broader Brand meaning to consumers
•Research tools available to plan and test acceptance of extensions

Extensions are an attractive option but also a double edged sword, A closer look at the dynamics of stretching. Outlined are the moments of temptation when you as a marketer are likely to give into the temptation and what is the caution that one needs to take before giving in.

Tempt appeal # 1 You have created a high brand equity and its Pay back time
•Brands equity is strong and you want to start using it to make money. You want return on the investment that you have made on building the brand. You are Super confident about elasticity of the Brand equity and want to achieve the stretch rapidly.
•The Brand is between its growth and maturity stage in its Life cycle, the brand product relationship has reversed. The Brand’s equity has become more ‘values’ based and that is when most businesses want to make the emotional stretch through a wide variety of extensions!!!

Caution!!!•Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. A strong Brand doesn’t guarantee success, there has to be a significant value addition along with brand fit … extension offer value cannot substituted by equity value
•Even with a high equity, dormant Brands need to roll out extensions in a planned manner.
•Stretch selectively, ensure you have a well defined Product dna and brand dna, Stay true to what made you famous in the first place- the Brand’s core. CASE in point is Dove, the Brand waited 40 years before it started to stretch. It started to stretch with more soap bar options, moved into adjacent personal wash categories and then got into deo’s and hair wash but kept the moisturizing story through its stretch

Tempt appeal #2 Getting an elephant to dance, Your brand growth is stagnant

•You have a large Brand. The economy is showing growth, competition is growing, newer categories are also taking market share from your Brand…the growth curve is flat.
•Everyone says the fastest turnaround is possible if you launch an extensions
Caution!!!
•Don’t assume an extension will solve the problem which stems from a lack of growth of the core product
•The inherent weak links of the core product need to be strengthened before attempting stretch

Tempt appeal #3 Reloaded- you feel the need to revitalize your long standing Brand
•A large share in the market, in most cases the Brand is a market leader, with consistent communication BUT losing sheen. Brand does not have a updated contemporary look and is in danger of fast losing share to new entrants.

Caution !!!
•Before stretching strengthen your Brand, update it and look only at extensions which fill the equity not borrow from it.
•Create a halo effect that gives your Brand width and strength

Tempt appeal #4 To be relevant to changing consumer needs
•You are a market leader and drive the market. You set the rules of the category. You can see consumer needs are changing with times, and challenger Brands hovering around with newer offerings. You strongly feel stretching is the answer.

Caution!!!
•Don’t be reactive …be proactive. Ideally you should have new product development team who thinks ahead.
•And when you do give new offerings, relevance of the Brand’s core to the new extension critical

Examples- Dettol- liquid hand wash- Dettol skincare
Lifebuoy-liquid wash- gold
Baygon , who lost relevance with consumers due to lack of innovation

Tempt appeal # 5 The new opportunities are compelling
•A growing middle class, a young country, rising income levels, changing lifestyles…giving way to new opportunities in products and services… rapidly growing markets.
•Most organizations set ambitious growth targets on Brands which are large but haven’t experimented with extensions. There is usually pressure from top management / holding companies having been very successful at what they do

Caution!!!
•True especially for Corporate Brands…answer honestly if the stretch is within your grasp?
•Do you have the core competency or even if you decide to acquire it, does your Brand equity lend itself to the new business?
•Will the corporate house be able to break the business model? A lot of times , the proposition and fit is good but the company is culturally not geared for the business
•Will you be trying something so different that it will take away your focus from the core business
•Never expect success in one area to guarantee success in another

One such example is Virgin, who went on a Brand ego trip when it stretched into too many offerings, some which were not lending themselves to its philosophy of being an irreverent fighter for value and in some cases like apparel , the company had Poor understanding of the ‘new’ consumer and ‘new’ market and did not play by the rules of engagement relevant to that category.

Tempt appeal # 6 You want to leverage your competency , both backward and forward

•You manufacture the bulk raw materials and have complete handle on the back end supply chain and know value addition will dramatically increase profitability

•You have channel presence with a widely distributed consumer product, you want to juice your distribution muscle. It is one of the most difficult parts of a business to build and you have made years of effort to do so.

•Expanding your mindset and company culture will determine your success.
•Different categories that sit on the same shelf have different rules of engagement, you have to respect the category codes
•Manufacture led thinking to consumer led thinking
An example would be ITC, which has extended into various new businesses that leverage its strengths and has been successful because of a cultural shift in its mindset.

# Tempt appeal 7 Your business definition allows you to
•How does a Brand define the business it is in? determines how much and how easily It can adapt and stretch
•If you have defined wisely, it is very inviting to launch everything that within the business definition

Cation # 7
•Is the Business definition an ego trip?
•Even when the business technically falls in your definition, does your brand
Satisfy a key driver in that category?
Example-One Brand that has done it well is Saffola who is attempting to move from a heart care oil to heart care foods

Ofcourse Extending and expanding can be hugely profitable if done right. Generally when the Rule of affinity is followed , that is when the consumer reacts “Well I thought that they already made it” Consumer’s mental shelf was already set up even before the shelf at the super market displayed the product” then that stretch is likely to be the most successful.

So the next time the management says lets have a new baby, Do give in to the temptation , as long as the approach is like a marathon not a race, you have Preset the goals and path forward clearly, you keep reminding yourself that the stakes are high, and you use Brand relevance as an important filter

References-
Brand extensions as a Band portfolio strategy- PhD submission by Daniel Filipsson
Journal of Marketing research-Vol XLV June 2008 Pg. 337-350
A new Brand world – Scott Bedbury
Elastic brands- Francis martin paper
Building great Brands and businesses – Prophet consulting
Big Families
Stretching the Domain of Brands
Cecília Russo Jaime Troiano Troiano Consultoria de Marca, Brazil
Smelly business: the dollars and scents of brand building
NigelHollis
Millward Brown, United States
Source: Nielsen Retail Index, 26 top FMCG Categories
contributing 75% to total FMCG turnover in India – May 2008

2009-01-09T01:06:00.001-08:00

Driving Innovation

Innovate or die is a credo that is truer today than it ever was. But what is innovation really about? Is it about competitive advantage? Is it about reinventing business processes? About Building entirely new markets that meet untapped customer needs? Selecting and executing the right ideas and bringing them to market in record time?
Is it about taking corporate organizations built for efficiency and rewiring them for
Creativity and growth? It is all that and a lot more.

If we briefly look at the history
Of innovation, In the 60’s and 70’s making things cheaper was the way to build
competitive advantage, in the 80’s and 90’s, it was about making things better and as we
ushered into the new millennium it is about making better things.

Innovation today is much more than technology or new products and even more
than just new products, technology or processes, like an orchestra, it is a balanced
interplay of all elements.

How do companies innovate? Let’s see what we can learn from innovative companies. What do innovative companies do differently? Lets take a closer look at some of the world’s top twenty* companies and get a few mantras to successful innovation. (*2005 poll of 940 senior executive in 68 countries by Boston Consulting Group)

Apple is the first name that pops up when we talk innovation. Why? Because it delivers great consumer experiences with outstanding design; works towards a steady flow of new ideas that redefine old categories. Ipod is an excellent example; addition of the iPod to Apple’s lineup essential grew the company’s top-line by 52%!
What’s worked for Apple? To begin with, a focus on "end user experience" - Apple's early music success transcends technology features and is as much about basic human characteristics often overlooked by companies developing new products. What is the measure of success? Clearly people and their feelings. Another key thing is to keep an ear to the ground - How technology was going to change the world of music… Converging technology and how it can entertain. And of course, Organizational culture-Fostering a culture of innovation within the organization is a subject by itself but suffice to say that Apple encourages, supports and rewards new ideas. There are systems and processes to streamline the same and there is tolerance to failure. Apart from the ipod and iphone an interesting innovation from Apple has been The Nike+ bipod Sport Kit, A wireless system where some Nike shoes embedded with a sensor can communicate with Apple's bipod Nan music player to track a runner's performance and help choreograph songs to the moment. The Nike+ bipod Sport Kit, has already won an endorsement from Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who plans to run his first New York marathon later this year. Collaboration and convergence is at its best in Apple.

Another company known for its innovative approach is Gillette. It is known for its constant innovative thinking. They maintain focus to innovate at an aggressive pace, ensuring significant Contribution of new products to the bottom line. 50% of Gillette's sales will soon come from products introduced within the past five years, up from 41% in 1996 and twice the level of innovation at the average consumer-products company

What works for Gillette? Firstly, Investment in R&D-To meet product-development challenges, Gillette religiously devotes 2.2% of its annual sales, or over $200 million, to R&D, roughly twice the average for consumer products. Secondly a rigorous and thorough approach- Gillette develops multiple versions of any innovation. For a particular product, they developed seven different versions…Ultimately the winner incorporated many ideas from the six losers and 22 patentable innovations on top of the original idea

Gillette M3Power -- a MACH3 innovation -- was a groundbreaking, powered wet shaving system for men that delivered a totally new shaving experience. Yet another new product ‘Fusion Power’ is Gillette's breakthrough design that features five blades, a flexible comfort guard, and an enhanced Lubrastrip. The combination of adding more blades and narrowing the inter-blade span creates a "shaving surface" that distributes the force across the blades, resulting in significantly less irritation and more comfort.

With every innovation, be it for men’s grooming or getting into women’s personal grooming space, Gillette keeps setting new benchmarks in comfort and performance, again end user experience being key.
Gillette has been acquired by P&G, who also has a reputation in consistently delivered innovative offerings to consumers.

P&G -The Company focuses on continuous product innovation based on understanding of changing consumer lifestyle. They not just breed a culture of innovation internally but also sensitize and seek outside partners for new expertise, ideas, and even products

What works for P&G? Firstly, Technology that makes a difference- Consumer focus, ensuring that products meet active needs or create new needs. Second and most important is rigor in approach -It took eight years, and 180 researchers, to develop a special polymer that helps prevent diaper rash. The result? Ultra Pampers®, and happier babies. And a collaborative approach-The Company that collaborates - inside and out - better than any other company in the world.
Some examples of innovative products available internationally, Crest Whitestrips™, a revolutionary new way to whiten teeth 10 times better than the leading whitening toothpaste, in just 14 days at home, using the same enamel-safe ingredient dentists use. Another example, Dryel®, the novel way to care for dry-clean-only clothes in the home.

As we study innovative companies and what makes them tick, it is clear that they do have some ‘ways of working’ and a culture that is carefully nurtured. All the examples provided interesting learning’s emerged on driving innovations.
The result? Well eight mantras of driving innovation …
› Rigor
Innovation isn’t Botox—inject it in the right corporate places and improvements are bound to follow.
But too many companies want one massive injection, one huge blockbuster, to last them for the foreseeable future.
Unfortunately, successful innovation is rarely like that….it requires rigour

› End user experience-Consumer focus
The new forms of innovation driving organizations are based on an intimate
Understanding of consumer culture-
The ability to determine what people want even before they can
articulate it,
It’s all about end user experience….

› Inclusive vs exclusive (Bottom up/ grass roots level)
Involvement of all ….employees, partners, channel, stakeholders, consumers…Listen to the said and the unsaid…
A great idea can come form anywhere not just an R&D domain, so collaborate to compete
› Demystifying technology
A time when technology is walking more than half way to achieve ease of understanding and hence higher acceptance among user…
Unlike past where a technological breakthrough was first about technology….leaving people in awe and admiration
Demask the Spiderman
› Innovation culture…constantly seeking newness
The organization has to cultivate a culture that breeds new ideas and encourages creative thinking. There has to be no fear of failure, enough stimulus to give wings to imagination and almost mandatory to be in touch with grass root reality of consumers.
Innovative organizations are wired differently

› Creative economy vs. Knowledge economy
The focus of the economic environment has changed….New economic driver is emerging, the "Creative Economy"….
Creative economy vs. knowledge economy- Increasingly, the new core competence for executives is creativity-the right-brain stuff that smart companies are now harnessing to generate top-line revenue growth
The game has changed. It isn't just about maths and science anymore.
It's about creativity and imagination

› Design mojo
Redefining product designs
Innovation in product design combines what is described as “fanatical care beyond the obvious stuff” with relentless experiments into new tools, materials and production processes, to design ground-breaking products as the iMAC, iBook etc.
The iPod is a good example as it is not only a very new product but it clearly turns users’ previous experience and understanding of storing and listening to music upside down.
Devil’s in the design!
› Continuous process
No luxury to rest on laurels…need to be constantly innovative…forcing companies to disrupt their systems and processes from time to time to be in line with the new world order of the business they are in…
Perseverance AND pace… day after day, EVERYDAY!

To sum it up, innovation is not a process, it’s a way of life for the organization, innovation is about fuelling growth, and doing so in a strategic manner, and in a creative manner…Innovation is about trusting the unpredictability of ideas and surrendering to them with passion and purpose alike.

2009-01-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

Its a lovely wintery morning and as i was scanning through the newspaper, i mean the Delhi times (that is if it qualifies as a news paper for you), to me it does...i would rather read fashion and some kohli's and sehgals'and kapoors posing for page 3 for their pet show, rather than read the documentary evidence for the Taj terroist attack. Not that i am indifferent,far from it... just that it just seems like a chase for the holy grail. Anyways that's not what i wanted to write about...i wanted to write about the bollywood buzz that got me thinking. In good old days of younger heroes, the buzz was more about trends, brat behaviour and 'who's sleeping with whom'match the colum and such other xciting things. But the scene is quite different today, as our heroes are ageing the news bytes are ageing too. So you read about Saif's food poisoining, Amir's hurt his foot, and SRK neck is acting up again. Pictures of significant others with hospital backgrounds looking sombre. The heroes themselves saying sensible things like i have quit smoking or that i must take it easy till my neck / knee / shoulder whatever it is , recovers...Hey hrithik, shahid...u guys listening? time to make hay while the sun is not shining on the 40 plus stars...!!!

2009-01-02T00:40:00.000-08:00

Soak and Squeeze- A life philosophy
In life you soak some...squeeze some...when you soak some you get and when you squeeze you give. Life to me is all about the balance between soaking and squeezing, because if one needs to grow as a person you need to do both in the right measure at the right time and right place. When faced with a question of whether to do something or not, answer the question through the soak and squeeze philosophy, it is an unbiased filter to make a decision...Go on, try it

2009-01-01T23:40:00.000-08:00

Children are our consumers today and in the future, let’s raise our future consumers the right way. While we serenade them today, lets keep an eye on how our communication is impacting them, because it will not only impact Brand strategy but has the potential to raise a generation of cynics who are difficult to talk to and difficult to persuade as consumers

Seven steps to raise them right…
India offers the exuberance and buoyancy of a young nation along with population numbers and a rapidly developing economy. Children in India constitute 18.7 per cent of the world kids’ population and one-third of the country’s population is under the age of 15 years.
An opportunity that marketers can keep mining for a long period of time.

Even in 2020, around 50% of countries population of India will still be under 35.
Getting the idiom right to communicate with the kid consumer is going to determine a lot more than just monetary gains. It entails not only developing the market and reaping its benefits over a long period of time, it also means weaving the social fabric of a nation which will is an emerging force to reckon with…and the real challenge lies in doing so with foresight and responsibility.

Are we reaching out to the kids with adult messages and pushing them to grow up sooner than required? Are we destroying the innocent questioning mind and a sense of awe that is the essence of childhood? Are we doing too much too soon? Are we developing a generation of cynics who we will find a challenge to reach out to?

A closer look at the winds of change in a kid’s life in urban India…..

Seven signs and symptoms of the environment pushing kids to grow up before time …and gradually hanging the very definition of childhood

1. Gone are little smock dresses, pretty frocks or little boys blue shorts or anything that looks childlike
Picture this….you go to shop clothes for a 4 year old girl and all you find is a low waist jeans, tank tops, spaghetti strap dress! Mostly grown up designs in small sizes…in fact a look around the store makes you feel that teen and young adult clothing has shrunk to size 4…

2. Most toys that are popular seem to imagine for the kids rather than encourage imagination;
Boys have play laptops and an array of strange cards which can be traded. The yester years top has given way to the fancy Beyblade...while the humble top required the child to wind it well, the Beyblade is mechanical.

3. It is known that children learn by emulating adult behavior, but are we forgetting that we are propagating occasional adult behavior as routine behavior to young minds?

The soaps that the mom and mom in law watch are being watched in the presence of the kids. Delve deeper and we know that though the kids appear disinterested they are taking in the adultery, con games, vindictive dialogues and all the other convoluted plots that most soaps depict.

4. Weren’t birthday parties about having a great time and the joy of eating pastries and chips?
The number of birthday parties that kids attend makes their social calendar busier than most happening adults that I know. The birthday party is more than just having fun, it’s about winning a game at the party, carrying an expensive gift, getting a cool return gift, getting dropped in a fancy car and all other status, competition driven activities

5. Shouldn’t we be gently exposing children to various dimensions of achievement? And let them choose their field of play?
The super all rounder kid is another message that most media propagate. Each of us has our own strengths and life is all about leveraging these strengths. To make it look as though either you can do it all or you are not a happening child is not only dangerous; we also risk creating unnatural expectations.

6. There is little room for unstructured play which psychologists say is the best way to foster the imagination and creativity of a child.
Childhood memories were made of… Lazy afternoons, Sherbet ice cubes, dolls wedding, skipping rope, playing teacher- teacher, playing with friends in the colony or just simply being….I thought motherhood would let me relive my childhood but I find the story is rather different today… a plethora of activity classes, too many choices, too much competition even in play activities, very little baby talk, far more demanding children who have lesser time on hands to do kid things.

7. The young minds exposed to media are not developed enough to process the information and the call for action that some advertisements, programs and reality shows make.
All advertising seems to talk to kids. It seems to be delivering Brand messages either to kids directly or through kids to adults. A lot has already been said on pester power and the fact that one in every four commercials have a kid as the protagonist or are heavily kid centric is proof enough that marketers are wooing kids like never before.

It seems too much too soon for the kids who are attracted to the entrapment of adulthood but are far from being emotionally ready to handle the responsibility that comes with it.

Sangita Dhir, A teacher in a leading school in India opines that parents are equally responsible for this phenomenon as they want their children to learn too many things too soon and grow up soon... Sangita says “Lifestyle has changed and with income levels rising up and so have the demands and aspirations of parents and children.” She also points out that Parents adjust their children’s routines around their own rather than vice versa, resulting in late nights and dozing off at school, going to adult hangouts and shopping sprees…”
She feels that working parents compensate for lack of time by showering kids with expensive gifts. She narrates an incident where a parent told her that his son’s daily expenditure is a staggering amount, Yet another parent shared that the child calls from a shop asks for a shocking amount to be sent to him to pick up something he liked”! She concludes in a concerned tone, “Values systems and value of things is fast diminishing…”

Psychologists say, when communication at the sensory level addresses toddlers as though they are kids and kids as though they are teenagers it pushes them towards adult behavior. Kids are likely to fill up their minds in age inappropriate thoughts like smoking, alcohol, sex etc… This takes them away from sports, academics and other activities that children would otherwise be involved with. Any failure due to this diversion makes them rebellious.

A few truths about childhood and children put things in perspective…

Firstly, most kids consume messages in black and white and gullible to believing a message without deeper processing. So it’s all or nothing…

Secondly children are not futuristic, they live their life in the present and are the best example of making the most of today and not thinking about tomorrow.

Thirdly, though children need independence, most children feel the need for clear cut guidelines. Especially at a young age since they have not yet developed the skill to logically prioritize activities

Fourthly learned behavior is a reality. Almost all children learn by observing behavior and response to behavior. The influence of a role model in shaping a Childs beliefs and attitudes is quite significant. Role models could be parents, peers, favorite hero or anyone the child looks upto.

And last but not the least, Children learn and experience through all the five senses because their cognitive ability is developing. Overexposure and multiplicity of messages can lead to sensory overload which causes confusion and learning disability.

Clearly we are treading on impressionable ground. While there are other social changes which are impacting children, communication on mass media is by far the biggest influencer of all.

The legal guidelines for advertising to kids only deal with the obvious, i.e. no violence, no denigration of a child, no abusive language and so on and so forth. There is no mention of persuasive language used with selective truth and limited facts that can do more harm than what seems obviously wrong. Let us not forget that just showing the effect and not the means could mislead children.
While the legal criminals are written about, discussed and probably brought to the book, the creative criminals are rarely pulled up.

Unless we become aware sooner than later, we will find it impossible to penetrate the cynicism of the new society, a trap that we would have set for ourselves. I call it the “Pre mature adults” (PMA) syndrome.

What is PMA syndrome?

When kids behave like adults or clearly beyond their age and are not mentally ready to handle the consequences of this behavior or rationalize the experience.

In the context of marketing and brand strategy, it is important to remember that kids form their attitudes and beliefs as they step out in the world and begin the socialization process. Purchase behavior and usage experience forms a part of this socialization process. A purchase occasion either alone or jointly with parents imparts an experience to the growing up child and this experience in a part of his upbringing as a consumer. Positive experiences can make him a positive, happy consumer and negative experiences can make him cynical about Brands and promotional offerings.

Some implications of this “pre mature adults” syndrome trap …
Destroying sense of awe
Life is exciting because it unfolds itself to the many surprises it has to offer. The sense of awe is what keeps minds fresh and open. Knowing too much too soon not only kills the joy of discovering it almost destroys sense of awe and hence our sense of finding joy in simple things.

Role ambiguity
Conflicting messages from parents and society at large can confuse kids and they may not have clarity as to what is their role and how they should conduct themselves. At a deeper level this can create loss of confidence and complexes in a child’s psyche.

Limiting creativity and imagination
If all the thinking is going to be done for them and everything is going to be available on a platter, it is bound to slow down their questioning mind. A lion who doesn’t hunt behaves like a tame dog after a while; it is about conditioning of the mind.

Growing cynicism

One of the biggest implications is that of growing cynicism…

A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past; he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future (Sidney J. Harris)

The accessibility and sensory overload will give rise to cynicism as our children grow up. They will always struggle to find something more meaningful in life. Successful Brands build relationships with consumers…what kind of relationships can one build with cynics?

Affecting sense of self-worth
As they are bombarded with perfect all rounder kids and materialism it could destroy their sense of self worth and may give rise to a generation of disillusioned individuals.

What does this mean to us as BRAND communication experts?
Why should we be concerned? Not only because we are socially responsible but also because our task will become tougher. Pre mature adults could mean …

No iconic Brands
Well ICONIC Brands are created by consumers who are positive, love themselves and find an expression of their identity in a Brand.

Lack of trust and credibility
It’s a bit like the 'tiger has come' story…when the tiger doesn’t turn up a couple of times you stop believing he exists. Brands will find it that much more difficult to build credibility about their proposition.

Lack of commitment towards Brands
It is different for a consumer to exercise choice but it is disturbing if the consumers become indifferent.

Brand communication that addresses compensatory behavior rather than being inspiring…and surely we want to create inspiring Brands.

So, what can we do as communication experts?
There are no easy nice sounding answers but would help to make a beginning. We need to walk the tight rope of being a strategist at times and a counselor at other times. While general tendency is to follow legal guidelines it may be a great idea to self regulate before the legal forces catch up.

Seven steps to raise them right…ensure that we don’t raise premature adults who make for a more cynical consumer…

1-Retain innocence in our messages
We need to resist the temptation to layer our messages with implied meaning and depiction of too many grey areas.

2-Be simple in delivering the message
Well simplicity never really goes out of fashion and more so when we are talking to kids. The simplicity of words and message will go a long way in reducing confusion and increasing effectiveness.

3-Be truthful
While we all need to sell products we also work towards a larger objective, that of providing a better life to the consumer with our products. The day we compromise our product truth, we risk being seen through some time.

4-Be contextual
Kids relate to behavior in a context, when we make claims let us clearly set the context so as to allow the kids to decode the message clearly.

5-Parent test all communication

Parents are closest to kids and, play an important part in shaping kids personalities. It would help to take them through communication messages and listen to their suggestions. We must factor the feedback into our professional judgment.

6-Use symbolic language carefully

Communication needs to ensure that symbolic language doesn’t confuse or doesn’t over sensitize…For example Color, Sound, Dress; Body language etc…will impact how a child decodes the communication. And children learn decoding over time as their socialization process happens.
The color Red could be associated to ‘Santa’ in a child’s mind, but to an adult mind it is associated with danger, passion, valentine’s day etc…It is therefore important to keep the symbolic communication child relevant

7-Help them decide…don’t lure them….

This point is brilliantly put in James .V.McNeal ‘s book about marketing to Children-“Children are consumers – in- training….Anyone can deceive them, cheat them, It takes a mighty good marketer to satisfy child’s needs and wants without doing any of these…”
Let’s attempt to raise balanced and happy consumers just like we attempt to raise our children.

To sum up, while all of us make careers out of encouraging consumerism, we need to exercise caution in hurrying up our children. While it will give short term gains, it will in the long run make for a cynical, bored and burned out society. Probably the signs are already evident with teens and young adults taking to spiritualism way too early in life and a ‘been there done that’ attitude.

When we launch a new Brand we are so careful and nurturing towards helping it grow. We carefully guide it to find its own space.

When we raise our children we ensure we inculcate in them a set of values we believe in and shape their personalities to make them balanced happy and successful individuals.

Let’s do the same for our future consumers, let’s raise consumers the right way…provide them positive Brand and communication experiences. This thoughtful upbringing of little consumers will pay us in the long term by giving us healthy adult consumers both in attitude and deed.

High traffic of experiences

2009-01-01T23:37:00.000-08:00

The anatomy of an experience....pre phase of anticipation, during phase of immersion and post phase of savour!!!

Today, we as a ‘people’ seem hungry for newer, better, bigger experiences in life. No matter how transient the experience, nor the time pressure we may feel, we want to ‘not miss out’ on any experience. It’s hardly surprising that our lives seem like a series of short lived experiences. The days of few deep and enriching experiences are numbered. Our hunger for a lot more in a lot little time is changing our value systems faster than we can imagine and more than we would like to believe.
Are we headed towards a shallow superficial people? Are we going to be become ‘More, here and now’ in everything including in our relationships?

Is there enough evidence to say this? Well let me site a few observations…Homes were painted once in 5 years today there is a fresh coat of paint every year. Consumer durables like refrigerator was bought as a ‘will use it for at least 15 years’ to a new fridge every five years or when an exciting model hits the market , things outlive their appeal is much shorter time. Its even more apparent in technology related products a new laptop every year, a new mobile every 8 months, a new car every 15 months, there is no end to our hunger for newer things and we must have them quicker.
Apart from things even our ability to enjoy media at leisure is impacted. We would rather watch T20 cricket and at best one day, 5 day matches seem too tedious. Our movies are getting shorter and there are a few movie launches every month over the 4 weekends. Most of the box office collection of a movie is in one weekend. And news coverage is another area where our hunger for experiences is changing the way news is communicated,lots of news bytes in the first few minutes and then an elaborate coverage, so that you can zone out once you have multiple tidbits of information. Even the books we read and knowledge that we want to gather has to be in quick small doses. There is a term called knowledge snacking that is being used to describe how large amount of knowledge and information can be given in a capsule.

The appeal is not just the ‘instant’ ness but the ‘short lived’ ness that kicks in a quick rush of adrenalin. So while one ‘experience’ high is just about abetting, we feel the need to quickly move on to the next.
Like little frogs we are jumping on from one experience to another at rapid speed. Even before we have juiced out the emotional richness of one experience, we are on to the next. Unlike earlier, we do not toss around the experience in our minds…The pre experience excitement, the high during the experience and the savoring of the feeling post experience happens in such quick succession. So much so, that our memory banks are sure to get confused over which experience to cherish and file away to grow into nostalgia some day.

Are we being pushed into this or is it our choice to behave such?What is this obsession about multiplicity of experiences and getting it all ‘now’? Where and why has this insatiability happened? Every once in a while these questions pop up in my mind…and I am sure in the minds of a lot of 30 somethings. We are the cusp generation, we have lived the shift from color TV to multi media, grocer shops to modern retail and good old alankar talkies to Multiplexes. We had fewer richer experiences in our growing years and we are witness to the tizzy of experiences that are thrown at the generation today. We can see the difference; we can feel it and probably feel both the ‘highs’. The one that comes from richer slower in depth life and the one that comes from a momentary euphoria.

Every breathing moment we have newer better things vying for our attention. Lets look at it like this;
1.) People are constantly looking for newer experiences,
2.) People want to experience everything at one go and early in life
.
Together the two create what I call a ‘high traffic of experiences’ in life. The point is where is this taking us? What is this mad rush to live in the moment and creating many more exciting moments so that life seems meaningful, doing to us?

Psychologists say that we are a sum total of the learned behavior that we are exposed to. Will this high traffic of experiences alter our behavior over a period? And slowly but surely change our value systems? And what all will this change impact?

It is a theory that in the long term behavior leads to attitude an attitudes form basis of value system. Whether by choice or by force, if we keep creating high traffic of experiences as a behavior pattern, it is bound to reengineer our value system.

How?

Superficiality and celebration of mediocrity: For one, superficiality will become acceptable in our society. Most people will be happy skimming the surface and delight themselves with the superficial. Most experiences will be like travel package holiday where tourists get a feel of the place but not really an in-depth experience. People will get carried away with brief interactions and form impressions basis the little time spent on any one experience. ’Newness’ will be created for the sake of newness and not be really something new. When was the last time we saw a new improved promise being really new and improved beyond minor packaging or shape tweaks?
Deceitful social fabric- We are setting out to weave a deceitful social fabric .Disillusionment about false promises made and expectations not met. It won’t be long before lack of trust and cynicism will creep into our lives much earlier and much more that it is scheduled to. Brands will have to work much harder to give reasons to believe and deliver accordingly.
Impatience and low tolerance- The second thing that will become obvious is reducing tolerance levels in two ways-
a) As people try and gather the vast number of experiences, their tolerance levels to even the smallest negative experience will go down drastically. So no experience gets a second chance.
b) Rising expectations - In an attempt to offer multiple experiences marketers and media strive to offer more in less time. This raises overall service levels and we all know that it is easy to get used to attention. What a McDonald’s or a financial services company does is not only giving us quick and good service for their products but also getting us used to high service quality levels. So much so that we start expecting the same service levels everywhere else and when our expectations are not met, we don’t have the patience.

Emotionally hollow: Finally, we as a people are lowering our emotional quotient, by crowding our lives. For us to feel strongly about anything or anybody, we need to spend time. While we keep flirting and flitting, it comes hardly as a surprise that we will be emotionally hollow towards things, people and the world around us.

Is the high traffic of experiences man made? Or are there reasons beyond our control? Reasons such as-

Opening doors to the world- India has opened up its economy to global players and we are bound to feel like a kid in the candy store. And it is not surprising that we are greedy for the plethora of new experiences thrown at us. A look at the last 10 years….so much has happened. Coffee shops, malls & Cineplexes, mobile phones, low cost airlines, international brands at our local grocer, multiple choices to ‘go abroad’, lots of information on little pen drives…just to name what comes top of the mind. It is mind numbing.
Technology- Rapid technological development makes it possible to give more in less, less size, less time and less effort. What breakthrough earlier took years takes a few months. The process of research and development is facilitated by technology. Ofcourse even technology resorts to cosmetic changes and launches versions and new models every other day.
The demography of the country- We are a young nation and the young are restless and impatient. What makes it easy is that the young have high income and no responsibilities.
The mood and sentiment of the nation is high speed and hedonistic.

Overall as a young country that has found its place on the global map, riding on optimism and is being spoiled silly by global players who find the country’s staggering numbers an opportunity when compared to the recession in their markets, high traffic of experiences is a natural fall out in the process.

A combination of what’s genuinely new and a lot that’s been there in rest of the world but is new to us is surely keeping us busy. If it is a wave of development that stabilizes soon,we will learn to find our roots sooner than later and still enjoy the multiplicity of experiences. If it is an era of change, it is likely to impact our value systems .

The high traffic impacts not just negatively but may have some good and some interesting fall out as well. To begin with it has made people efficient at multitasking, it has certainly improved service and quality and it has opened up new business opportunities.

Impact of High traffic of experiences on Branding and strategy in the times ahead…

The Opportunities
The new opportunities as we look around are in the area of

Making each experience bigger
New opportunities will have a plethora of choices for convenience goods but Of course time saving convenience products have been there for a while but now the trick will be to making every experience large and doing so quickly. So a ready to cook gourmet meal instead of a 2 minute quick fix average dish, a movie experience in a gold class, an exotic flavor in every chips etc.

Simulating experiences, specific to target audience films, knowledge snacking, creating your own pizza, jeans or stationery , computer simulation of how a haircut or apparel will look. Almost like getting consumer to feel the product experience before buying into it. The good old conventional way was sampling, which will continue but Brand swill have to go beyond just sampling.

Converging experiences. Converging experience of the game and entertainment, T20 is a great example, Converging shopping and movies, coffee and net surfing, formal and semi formal will be the order of the day. Products and services that perform more than one function, example Bank Café by ABN AMRO, Book Café by book store Crossword will appeal to consumers.

Getting recommendation to work for Brands
Since consumers will be time pressed , having recommendations and word of mouth will help their choice.

The Challenges
The truth is that consumers are born out of real people. People’s value systems reflect in what they buy and how they buy. So it will hardly be a surprise when consumers treat exchanges with a brand as transactions and not as long term relationships. Did I hear iconic brands? Did I hear Brand loyalty? Apart from everyday challenges like breaking through the clutter and making your money work harder and having genuine value in your offering, Clearly, the most challenging tasks in the coming years will be to create iconic Brands and to enjoy loyalty of consumers..

The entire offering of ‘Brand experience’ through multiple touch points approach will be the way to go. Brands will not speak from an external medium but will need to weave themselves in consumer’s lives. A whole new area of expertise is opening up and some examples are Axe Click , where the consumers were interacting with an interesting clicker to keep score of how many women stared at them and the activity became a rage and Axe became even more closely associated to its Brand promise. The Brand advertising came in much later and actually borrowed from the clicker promotion. As against earlier when Brand advertising happened and you pulled a thread from it and took across to other media. Another example is Pril academy which trains maids to do house hold chores and dishes more efficiently to improve their consumer’s life. Many more examples of Brands planning parties and dinners or doing errands for consumers are being seen around. Branding will become a lot more holistic than it has been.

As Brands let’s keep the promises we make, not bombard consumers with false ‘new improved’ launches and re-launches. For every time we over claim we are chipping away ‘loyalty creating’ behavior and destroying trust and excitement that consumer’s place in a new product. We as marketers need to guard ourselves from leading consumers to experience fatigue and quicker burn out. This will allow us to Brand ‘stories’ that consumers will grow up with and build Brands that offer a bank of memories to consumers.