morningboy.space

morning boy's letters on serious matters and commentary on funny things aplenty

Category: A Mix

  • Marketers are liars – Chevrolet India joins in

    Karl Slym Chevrolet India

    Marketers lie blatantly as well. Mr. Karl Slym appears not just on the website, but also in the television commercials promising great service. The fact is that I booked a Chevrolet UVA on 9th June. I was told that the car would be delivered in 10 days; they had it readily available. So we were looking at 19th or 21st June. But hardly had we come any near to that date we were informed that 23rd June is the date; of course, we had already paid all the money by then. And then just as we neared 20th June, we were told that the car would be in our possession by 26th evening. On 26th morning when we called up to enquire about the exact time, we were told that the dealer hadn't got the car from the factory yet; leave aside any talk of delivery. Now, we've been told that the delivery will be made on 2nd July. We have our fingers crossed.

    Besides, all this while, there's hardly been a phonecall to update us about the status on the car. Everytime we've had to call up and even then the salesman would pass the buck and give vague answers. So much for being there for you, being there for India.

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    One response to “Marketers are liars – Chevrolet India joins in”

    1. Crimson Feet Avatar
      Crimson Feet

      hitesha was asking which car did u finally order… now we know :)
      shud have gone for i10!!

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  • Why do you want the world to change?

    So that you can live comfortably. So that you can have a lifestyle that you've always wanted.

    You've thought about the change. Great. Alright, the world will change. Just two questions:

    • But what have you done to make the change happen?
    • How have you promoted the change?
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  • Marketers are liars – Bajaj is also one

    Besides ‘Naye Bharat ki Nayi Raftaar’, Bajaj had also announced the launch of Kawasaki Ninja 250R. But what did Bajaj do in real? Just when the nation waited with bated breath anticipating that finally they’ll taste some exciting big bikes which would be within their reach, Bajaj launched some pauper bikes not even worthy of a mention for the motorcycle enthusiasts of the country. By the way, who spreads the word for any motorcycle brand? Who are likely to believe the promises first? Whom has Bajaj betrayed? Why is Bajaj suffering in spite of so many launches?

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  • Small Shop Dream

    If you have one, just answer these two important questions:

    • Is the shop facing the road or the street which is frequented by people?
    • If the shop isn't facing the road, then how many visitors walk past the front of the shop?

    Small shops most often don't have the budget to use any kind of mass media. In which case, the sign board of the shop itself is the advertisement. And the greater the number of people that see it, the better the chances that the shop gets marketed on its own.

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  • Shops like magician’s hat

    There's a shop nearby. Lucky Stores. It stocks children's school-related stuff, bags, toys and stationery. A small shop in area but when you enter you almost feel like you'll get what you want.

    There's another shop in Andheri. Alfa. Extremely popular for mobile phones. Again, very small in area but filled to the brim with mobile phones and related accessories. Ask for any model of any recognised mobile phone brand and you'll find it. About 10 odd people behind the counters and bet if you find any of them free in the evenings. There's a commotion inside; so many people walking in, walking out. You know you'll have to brush everyone in the path to make your way and yet you love the experience.

    Small shops don't always make for great places to shop. But when focused and filled to the brim, they are nothing less than a magician's hat. The first time you'd visit you mightn't be able to locate everything you want in the display. But the moment you name it, the stuff's presented to you and you feel like 'Wow!'

    Besides, small shops when stocked adequately seem as if offering great variety. And there's nothing better than variety for an avid shopper.

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    2 responses to “Shops like magician’s hat”

    1. Tushar Jambhekar- tujams Avatar
      Tushar Jambhekar- tujams

      A very pertinant fact, a small shop can be more like a magician hat- able to match up to any type of demand.
      Just to illustrate what a guy close to my house has in his spread. The locations is his biggest asset. Right opposite to Sion Hospital, opposite the ST bus stand, adjecent to the Sion hospital doctors and staff colony. His space, about 200 sq ft and the space outside on the footpath. Operation hours; 7 am to 10 pm. Closes on sunday at 1 pm. And what can he stock- all you can possibly ask for.
      For students, he has stationary, Lab aprons, CDs, DVDs, pen drives- even stethoscopes- most of all- a Copier machine
      For ST Travellers, packed foods in all possible sku’s (he actually does the bulk breakdown) water bottles, caps, candies, cold drinks, ice creams, 2 STD booths, 4 coin boxes
      For Local residents, All toiletaries, deoderants, buckets, brooms, ropes, toys. If that was just ok, he even keeps postal stamps and envelopes at a small premium.
      Need less to say; his one small counter space is dedicated to what’s he hot item for the season- so Holi colous and spray guns, Umbrella’s, Rakhi’s, greeting cards, Flags and badges add to the galore.
      The guy is so enterprising that his counters of 3 feet usually rise over by another just by stocks he has. Not surprisingly , even the local election officer had kept registration forms to be distributed and collected outside his shop this year.

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    2. Ninad Avatar
      Ninad

      There are two types of shoppers in us. One is a kid, the other is an adult. The kid wants more, he wants commotion(of the enjoyable kind and not of the ‘queue’ kind in modern retail), he wants surprise. The adult wants to shop thinking he’s building a home, a family, he wants to feel that he’s arrived in life. There are no thoughts of arriving or going anywhere when a kid shops. These small shops have sustained their businesses by keeping the kids in us alive.

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  • Handsets need a set head too

    Read a report in Business Line:

    Eyeing to double its share to 11 per cent in the fast growing GSM mobile telephony market, world's third largest mobile phone maker LG Electronics on Tuesday said it will launch 50 handsets by the end of 2009 in India.

    "The number of products has doubled as compared to 2008. We plan to launch 50 handsets by the end of December and aim to keep our market share over 11 per cent there (India)," Bo H Choi, Head (Asia Pacific Region), Mobile Communication Company of LG Electronics told PTI.

    That's the problem when one doesn't know what the brand stands for. If LG hasn't managed to achieve its objectives with its current range of models (might be anywhere around 50, nothing less) in the market, I wonder whether 50 more would do the job.

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    One response to “Handsets need a set head too”

    1. Ninad Avatar
      Ninad

      It just might work for them. If you look at Nokia, the most successful player in the category, it has managed to create an impression about having the most number of handsets in the market. The whole category works on making technology obsolete with high frequency, so that consumers adopt newer technological features and hence upgrade often.

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  • How do you color your flower?

    I recall this incident from my school time. I was very fond of drawing and painting back then. At school, every week we would get one assignment. Next week our teacher would give us marks out of ten.

    We were just being initiated into water-colors and shading. So this time we were asked to paint a flower in water-color. Got me excited. So I painted not one but two flowers using all sorts of colors. Thought I had done a good job.

    In contrast, this friend of mine got it done by his sister. One thin-sort-of flower. Didn't seem a lot of color.

    When the teacher came around to check our paintings and give ratings, this friend of mine scored very high. Almost 10, I remember. And I scored just 8.

    Curious as always about what went wrong and what made the thin-sort-of flower so great, I questioned my teacher.

    He explained the thin-sort-of flower didn't use any color for white, instead it took the white of the paper to show the white shade. There was minimal use of color to bring out the beauty of the flower. Against this, I had actually used white color to show the white in the flower. I thought the greater the number of colors I use, the greater the nuances of shading I would bring out.

    Besides, where one flower would have done the job, I made two. Only one would have done. And it was the second one, which I painted later, which was not rendered well and, as a result, which reduced the beauty of the painting and the other flower alongside.

    Are you trying to add more features to your product? Are you trying to dabble in more number of products when you are already doing well? Are you bringing out more variants under the same brand thinking you'll make more money?

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  • The Fevikwik Quirk

    In one of lighter moments of the evening, while I was trying to come up with an idea for Mahindra Tractors, I mimicked this character who uses fevikwik to catch fish.

    And just as I was mimicking and fiddling with my glasses, this idea struck me. Don’t wanna build a cause-effect relationship here. But I can surely say that had it not been for that lighter moment, the idea wouldn’t have come so easily. My designation’s Director-Planning; at office this craziness would’ve raised eyebrows. It isn’t a great surprise then that good things often come to you – almost like sparks out of nowhere – outside these formal structured setups.

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  • Important things which are becoming meaningless

    Designations. At best they connote hierarchy. But what happens to hierarchy if in the same organization a junior might be called a Head, above him might be called a Director, above him might be called a Vice-President… Sound great but can't make out the differences. Are you happy with your designation? How about your work?

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  • They say ideas are dime a dozen

    If that's the case, they aren't real ideas. They are fantasies.

    Most often when a new brand is about to be launched, communication/ad agencies are often called after the product, packaging, brand name, etc. are frozen. Then they are asked for marketing/communication strategies and ideas. The point is why was the product developed in the first place if the strategy is not in place? And think about it, marketing communication spends form the largest chunk of the marketing budgets.

    The problem often stems from the understanding (or misunderstanding) of market attractiveness. An oft repeated reason to enter a market is this: "Oh, this is a 1000cr market with just 5 brands. There's ample scope for a new brand." Might be. But might not be. One might find out that it's 1000cr coz the five brands built it up like that. 1000cr as an absolute number is big. It attracts. 5 as an absolute number is very small. And therefore, it encourages. But the real thing is what do these 5 brands stand for. If they stand for 5 different, strong and exhaustive positions in the minds of the people, then for all the attractiveness you have negligible chance to take any share away from them. New brand launches often overlook the qualitative aspects of their markets.

    It's a systemic problem. Process problem. Thought problem. If you are gonna bank on the ideas and strategies of communication agencies and spend hundreds of crores using those ideas for communication, you had better call them right at the stage of conception. And marketers, do not be bothered, if you are given a strategy to stay low, to not launch a particular product or to not enter a market, for even that is a strategy meant to save your money and energy and most importantly attention. If you have to pay money to communication agencies to save so much, isn't it worthwhile?

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  • Hired your boss, have you ever?

    Don't think so. Coz while you believed in equality, you also believed in a hierarchy, a structure, a protocol, a process and an ego system. All that was needed was one question. Why can't I choose my boss? Somebody's just done that. Have a look.

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  • Not-a-celebrity life-guard with six packs (or more)

    Two windows of my flat overlook a small swimming pool. Am a member but never have gone swimming there. Though when I sit at my window, I like observing things happening by the pool.

    On Sunday, I saw this life-guard who takes care of the swimming pool and the swimmers. He was bare-chested and only had his shorts on. Was surprised to see his physique. All chiseled, not an ounce of flat anywhere. He would give good body-builders, gymmers a run for their money.

    I reckon he doesn't earn much. For if he did, he wouldn't be in this kind of job for sure. And that's the clincher. Guess he would be great at swimming. And guess his body digests everything he eats. What else one needs for great fitness?

    If health is wealth, then one doesn't need a lot of wealth to accumulate that wealth. Incidentally, most of us are trying to do just that. Trying to bag big jobs, earn big, spend big and then struggle with our bellies.

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  • For marketers who think Internet audience isn’t big enough in India…

    Quantity vs. Quality is always a tough fight. This goes for the quality.

    If word-of-mouth marketing is the best thing to happen to a brand, there's little doubt that Internet makes it happen fastest. Now the question is, does a brand need all the people to be on the Internet for word-of-mouth marketing to happen? Not really.

    Think about it. Can we safely say that the better educated, tech savvy, on-top-of-the-curve people, opinion-makers and the increasingly vocal and experimentative youth are present online? There you go. If these are the ones who are responsible for adoption of any new brand/product, then you can be pretty sure that the online population of 45-50 million is a good number to include almost all of them. They have a life offline as well. They talk to people in the real world. You have the opportunity to influence this group online.

    Go online. Try more. Experiment more. Converse more. What are you waiting for. For everyone to come online?! You'll die. And so may your brand.

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    One response to “For marketers who think Internet audience isn’t big enough in India…”

    1. A Small Time Genius Avatar
      A Small Time Genius

      good one!!
      totally agree!!

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  • Selling Premium Bicycles

    High fuel costs, lack of space and mind-numbing traffic has meant that the market for cycles is again looking up. Almost looks like the time for bicycles has come in India.

    Quite a few new brands have entered the market as well. And many of these brands have priced their offerings at a premium. Which means that they are targeting a segment which earns good money. So children aren't the obvious segment.

    How do you sell cycles earning men (or women)? For today's earning young men leapfrog to cars directly. Many might not consider bicycles or motorcycles as options at all.

    Indeed everyone's aware of the health benefits of cycling. Just that young blood just can't fathom what are 'health' benefits – their bodies can take all the load.

    So what can make earning men, especially young earning men, see sense in cycling? I sense it might be important to give an economic rationale for bicycling. But if these men stay far away from their workplaces, then they might simply ignore cycling as an option. Which brings in the point of convenience. In other words, cycling could appeal more to earning men staying closer to their workplace. For these men, cars would be a rather unnecessary and expensive proposition, especially when it comes to day-to-day commuting; and yet something's needed for mobility.

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    One response to “Selling Premium Bicycles”

    1. Ninad Avatar
      Ninad

      There is a cyclist inside each one of us. Marketers need to awaken the cyclist. Positioning will automatically follow.

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  • Yamaha Fazer 150. Great move again.

    Yamaha is doing what Bajaj should've done. Flooding the 150cc segment with great offerings.

    R15 – Sports Bike for the true-blue enthusiast
    FZ16 – Naked Street Bike for the enthusiast but on a budget
    Fazer – Bike for the enthusiast who prefers Sports styling but on a budget (likely)

    Fantastic. Yes Yamaha!

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  • Hungry mind

    In a discussion yesterday, we asked ourselves the question (which we've
    often done in the past as well) – why do businessmen think about
    getting into the business of everything. And very often, in the
    process, lose even that which they easily could've had.

    I love the song Hungry Eyes from Dirty Dancing.

    This could turn out to be a rather winding piece of writing. Stay with me :). Want to accomplish much but not in too many words.

    My colleague has been reading a few things off late. He read a piece of research which said, given a choice, people prefer receiving 15Rs now than 20Rs six months hence. This isn't exactly a reflection of the question posed in the first paragraph but there's a common factor. Temptation.

    Forget the research bit now. Remember the temptation bit.

    Temptation arises from very basic human needs or tendencies. Stomach churning, feel hungry and the instant response is 'eat'. Don't eat? Die. Seems to me that this temptation bit or 'hunger' and the overwhelming urgency to respond to it carries over to the mind also.

    But mind is mind because it analyzes, describes, learns, concludes and so on. 'Hunger' is nature at its basic level. When it comes to a need like 'hunger', the mind doesn't have to analyze, learn or conclude that you are hungry. It sort-of comes instantaneously. You know where's your mouth and you know what to put in your mouth to fill the stomach. Indeed, mind has a role in deciding 'what to put'. But 'to put' is a foregone conclusion. Mind doesn't have a role there.

    In the last two paragraphs, I've talked about two paradoxical traits of the mind. That, on one hand, it carries the 'overwhelming urgency' and, on the other, it learns, analyzes, describes (which means it takes its time).

    One can say 'hunger of the stomach' has been there since the first life-form took shape. But business is a learnt process, a mental skill just recently developed. And mind is a different kind of sense organ. Stomach is limited by its physicality but the same can't be said about mind. You eat a bit and fill the stomach. You think a bit and nothing gets filled in the mind.

    Instances of huge businesses gone awry seem like a case of that hunger (of the stomach) like temptation applied to the mind. Business minds gobbling everything at the first sight. But as I said think whatever but the mind just doesn't fill. So business minds gobbling everything and still finding that nothing's left of whatever they gobbled.

    Mind takes time. Mind is about skills. It needs to analyze, learn, conclude and only then it becomes a master. Beware of applying hunger-of-the-stomach like temptation to the mind. Then perhaps you'll handle paradox better, take more time to learn a skill/trade, take better decisions, fill less and yet not be hungry.

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  • Smoking & Meditation

    Smoking & Meditation

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  • Does your website waste the visitor’s time?

    In India, buying a car is a big deal. A milestone. The obvious question is 'What car?' There's a magazine by the same name WHATCAR? And the website is whatcarindia.com. True to its name the first landing page of the website tries to resolve that question for you. Have a look:

    Whatcarindia.com first page
    Once you reach the site, you know what it is meant to do. Either you stay or go away. But for the very reason that you become so clear about the purpose of the site, you might remember it for future perusal, perhaps use it some time in the future or even recommend it to a friend. Indeed, the way the page has been built and designed also strikes a chord.

    Think about it. What is that one critical thing that your site really wants to do? Or one critical question that it wants to answer for the visitors? If you gain that kind of clarity, rest will fall in place.

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  • Heartbreak after heartbreak, he still dreams of a perfect wedding…

    That's what the book KNOTS & NO CROSSES is all about. Is written by a friend and avid writer Hitesha Deshpande.

    Know a little more about the book and read some reviews given by the readers here. Have fun.

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  • A potential new Mobile Phone product/brand and the myth of ‘added’

    I received a question on LinkedIn from a former colleague. I'm sharing the question and answering it as well on this blog since it's related to what I've been thinking about mobile phones for quite some time.

    The question (exactly as asked, bold highlight mine):

    What should be added "into" or "with" a mobile phone, in India, to promote its sale? While creating a new mobile phone brand what should be taken care of/added to have a killer composition……. enforcing a new mobile phone buyer (of tier 2 & 3 cities in INDIA) to go for it? May it be bollywood content or regional language or good speakers or cheap or good looking or …………………..??

    Guess we get the essence of the question. Do we? When conceptualizing products, much too often the word 'added' is used – in thinking and in conversations. It's such a loaded word and one with such positive connotations that it can convincingly obscure all the issues on hand. And so all of us would think about 'what more can be done' or 'what can be added'… No wonder, it adds to the problems. For me, all that this word means is 'how can I make the best of the opportunity?'. In that sense, it could also be that instead of 'additions' we could be talking of 'pruning'. Therefore, I'll rephrase the question:

    What kind of product (mobile phone) should be launched by a new brand in India?

    There could be a few possibilities. Here's one option which I think will work. I call it the TALKER'S PHONE. There are so many lower-end phones and all of them are trying to squeeze in as many facilities as possible into a small little thing and at a low price tag. In the process, what all of them seem to miss out badly is giving the consumer a phone which does precisely what it is meant for. Great talking! And I would suggest brand the phone as such instead of looking for some fancy names. So what would this TALKER'S PHONE be like?

    1. Great Phone Book Memory – Current crop of lower-end (in terms of price) phones put a lot of limitations on phone book memory. Make it 2500 phone book entries.
    2. Great SMS Memory – Like email services these days, there should be almost unlimited capacity for storing SMSes. Which means a person can store an obscene amount of SMSes. 5000, let's say. Deleting SMSes is not such a great idea. This phone might just be the solution. Better if there's no cap on SMS storage. What I mean is that if one can link the mobile to an external storage solution and transfer old SMSes to this storage and access it on the web any time…
    3. Great Keypad – One of the biggest put-offs in lower-end phones is the quality of keypads. If it has be a TALKER'S PHONE, the keypad should be of supreme quality. Should have big keys, should feel sturdy but soft but refined when pressing the keys…
    4. Recording Conversations – A person using TALKER'S PHONE would definitely talk a lot. And out of these, many conversations would be very important. This phone would have a facility to enable recording of an important conversation as and when required. How is it technically possible, the designer has to figure out.

    I can specify more details but this gives you the drift. Right? I would be the first one to buy this kinda phone, even if priced a little higher. What about you?

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    One response to “A potential new Mobile Phone product/brand and the myth of ‘added’”

    1. Tushar Jambhekar- tujams Avatar
      Tushar Jambhekar- tujams

      I feel what remains a question you have not answered that even though you feel the market is Tier 2 and Tier 3, what people in these places are your expected users??? What people so far have offered have been global standards pushed into the Indian Markets- no matter demand existed or not.
      Almost all the manufacturers have got in an FM reciever- does a place like Kolhapur or Karad (Rich sugar belt) have an FM station? Not even Nagpur or Nashik have one. So if entertainment was what your people wanted, AM was still alive- but neglected.
      How many have used WAP on a cell phone? Tier 1 & 2 of India do not have a liking for games; but if a computer had programs to create a horroscope, why can’t a mobile build the same for any person? If power problems exist- a dynamo charger was not too difficult to invent.
      Very few have actually thought for making a Made For India phone. I buy your point that a phone is meant to talk. Rest all are additions to make the phone personal. But every feature of what you have mentioned in terms of large sms and phone book memory, key pads, recording a conversation(currently not even available in high end phones) are predominantly skewed to Urban India. SMS usage is lower beyond the urban boundaries.
      I guess what the design teams need to think the next time is the people who are likely to use it rather than how flashy it looks for the urban Indian who changes his phone every year.

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