Go digital ASAP

Nokia announced plans to promote N97 Mini (they have even slashed the price of N97 Mini) using digital promotions and plans not to spend a single money on traditional media.

The possibilities with digital marketing are endless.

Digital marketing will bring a revolution. The rules of the business will be changed forever.

As the Indian market is growing and getting matured the competition in every sector is getting intense. Companies are emphasising more on creating value and reducing cost. Every rupee spent on marketing is being accounted for.

So what do marketers do? The solution lies with digital marketing.

For every rupee spent on e-mail marketing there is a return on investment of rupees 47. (According to direct marketing association)

Email Marketing, a part of digital marketing is one of the most powerful and effective forms of marketing today. It has emerged as a cost-effective, efficient, real time marketing channel challenging the traditional methods of customer contact. No other medium – offline or online – provides marketers with such a direct, personal, interactive and measurable customer communication.

The advantage of email marketing is that you can have a stronger segmentation of the target group, which can be really narrowed down and every marketing activity can be monitored in no time.

One of the reasons why India has not been able to realise this simple fact, is because of its lack of marketing legacy. We are a country where people could wait for a Bajaj Chetak for months to be delivered. And right now when there is suddenly so much of competition among brands the old marketer is not able to understand the how to go about things.

Moreover companies sold brands to masses rather to individuals

Marketers need to adapt themselves and be a part of this change.

You have two kinds of companies here – those that have stayed away thinking digital marketing and social media are all hype. Well, could be…but do you know, your brand is being discussed, debated and sometimes torn apart on these social media networks.

There’s a lot more happening for many other brands online – not just on twitter, but on message boards, review websites like Mouth shut, blog comments, YouTube comments and so on.

Mistri Diagnosis: India has forth largest users of internet.81 million of the population uses internet which is just 7.1% of entire population. The number is increasing every hour. The growing online population and the increasing demand from consumers for more personalized needs, requires marketers to address these requirements quickly. It is only possible through digital marketing.
If you believe in word of mouth Now consumers have a fantastic cribbing zone called social media.
Forget word of mouth…here comes "word of mouse"

Author: Sanjay Mahar

Personalised dog from Vodafone

With so many mobile operators and n number of tariff plans have you ever wondered that the plan you are using is the best plan for you.

Here is some great news from Vodafone,
The new TVC(click to view) from Vodafone says customers can dial 121 and get free advices or detailed information on recharges and tariff offers that will be best for them. It is based on the analysis of various parameters like customers balance, validity, current status and usage pattern.

Vodafone understands that in a country with so much diversity each and every subscriber is different from other and their usage patterns are also different.

So marketers have come out with a brilliant idea of personalising your plan based on your usage pattern.
If you don’t like pug you can have another dog of your choice that suits you..lol

Mistri Diagnosis

To succeed, brands must be adaptable and constructed around the lives of consumers. They can’t present themselves in a single, constant way. They need to focus on individual targets.

Think of it as brand personalization. More narrowly defined brands meet consumers at their level, allowing them to influence and feel ownership in the brand. They are purposely inconsistent in order to achieve relevancy with specific customer segments. Traditional marketing, of course, doesn’t allow much room for customization

Do you want your brand to be liked, or loved? highlighting the simple fact that brands are owned by people not brand managers

Author: Sanjay Mahar

Paisa bolta hain ?

Even at the time of high inflation, where everything is expensive, Telecom operators are fighting over the value of 1 paisa. Marketers of different companies are trying their best to innovate the power of paisa in various ways.

If there is one sector that is definitely over-crowded in India it is the Telecom space. From Tata to Aircel, from Vodafone to Reliance all are locking horns against each other for a share of the Indian Subscriber. And in doing so they are taking the competition to a whole new level.

A level of competition that can be fatal to them and the entire industry.

It all started with Tata Docomo.
The domino effect made IDEA, RCom, Vodafone, MTNL and Airtel offer per second billing.
Now if that wasn’t enough MTS which is a new player cut the 1 paisa per second to half a paisa per second! Imagine what if i use just 1 second a month? How do i get half a paisa? Is there a half a paisa coin?

Latest generosity is shown by Loop Mobile. It has gone a step ahead and launched 1 paisa per 6 seconds i.e. just 10 paisa a minute charges!

I’m still wondering who would talk about better services, better coverage, free gprs etc rather than just talking about call rates. It seems like telecom services are just a commodity and no matter how much branding they do they would still fight on price.

Well where is this headed? Free calling?

I understand it is difficult to completely resist pricing pressures in a price-sensitive and crowded market such as India. However, marketers should focus on careful market segmentation and value-based differentiation.

Mistri diagnosis

As I have mentioned in one of my post (survival of the fittest) Companies like Vodafone and Airtel which increased their media spending during recession times will reap the benefits during upturn. They have capitalised that time to build brand equity.

In the coming year I recon there will be a paradigm shift with the introduction of mobile number portability ( MNP enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another.)

Calling rates will become cheaper and will be same across all the networks. With the introduction of MNP subscribers will easily be able to switch their loyalty without changing their mobile number.

It will become very difficult for small players to retain their subscribers as they will not be able to give same services as big players and will not be able to cope with low profitability caused due to price war.

The small companies will perish or will be acquired by big telecom companies. What went wrong for these small companies is the fact that everybody knows their strength i.e. using predatory pricing to attract subscribers and unfortunately it will go against them.

If you know your strength it never becomes a weakness. If the market knows your strength then it becomes a weakness.

Author: Sanjay Mahar

Are you innovative???

Recently during an interview I was asked the same question. My answer was "yes" and I somehow tried to substantiate...

As soon as the interview got over I was wondering what I could have said more to convince the interviewer that I am INNOVATIVE

After thinking a lot for two days I realised that there is no such thing as "being innovative."

Innovation is a result - not a process.

An innovation is an idea put into action that creates change. You can try to create ground-breaking ideas intended for this purpose, but until launched and in use, you won't know if it is an innovation.

On the list of objectives of most marketers is a statement about being innovative or driving innovation.
Telling marketers to "innovate" is the problem. It frames the wrong issue. The mission of the team should not be to "innovate," it should be to:

"Create remarkable ideas that have the potential to induce improvement and change."

Author: Sanjay

Confessions of an alcoholic

What does it take for a brand to achieve cult status?
Has any Indian brand reached the levels of customer empathy as, say, Harley-Davidson, Starbucks and Apple?

Can any Indian brand do that? Can India create its own cult brand in the foreseeable future?

Till now… NO

Why has India not been able to produce cult brands the way Europe or the US has? Don’t we have several brands that have a small but loyal following?

The reason why India has not been able to create its own cult brand is because we are a very diverse nation and we tend to disagree more than we agree. Indians are very individualistic and prefer our own approach to everything. Cult following typically happens when a country has a large proportion of people following a common lifestyle or group behavior.

Another major reason what I think is that Indians are encouraged since childhood to "fit in" rather than "stand out", and cult brands draw their consumers with propositions that go against the mainstream.

Any Indian brand, from a match box to a plane, can become iconic and achieve cult status. However, marketers need to build brands that help give people an identity. People like to be different. At the same time, they would like to be part of a group that acts different.

There is one brand which I think has the potential to reach cult status.

This is my homage to a brand called Old Monk.

To tell you something more about OM, especially important to non-drinkers. OM is famous brand in dark rum. It’s an internationally appreciated brand produced in India. OM is available everywhere in India- from roadside dhaba to any five star Hotel. Generally in any bar menu OM is the most inexpensive drink. OM is an inexpensive drink. But beware! Never call it a cheap drink!!

I think OM is one brand which knows no cast, creed and is for all strata of the society. It is probably India’s favorite rum, or rather alcoholic brand. From its uniquely shaped bottle, to its taste, Old Monk’s popularity cuts across all segments and it remains one of the largest-selling brand in the country.

It’s affordable, it goes down well with almost everything, it is there on all party menus, and, of course, it tastes great. It has probably been around for as long as, well, an Old Monk!

“Old monk is the scotch of Rum”

In my view there are two kinds of drinkers- those who drink OM rum and those who don't. OM drinkers are generally hardcore devotees of the drink and they are typically very addicted.
Old monk drinkers are not brand loyalists. They are brand fanatics.
The emotional attachment with the brand is enormous

Mistri diagnosis

Conventional marketers need to watch out—even as companies are spending zillions introducing new brands and defending established ones, the fact is, customers are becoming less loyal. The only brands that are in with a chance are those that customers don’t just buy, but live by.

Normal brands try to build a “relationship” with customers. Great brands try to build a ‘romance’

At last very important note to all the readers..."Consumption of Alcohol is injurious to Health"

Cheers

Author: Sanjay
Common man pic by: Ching

Happy birthday Jacko

Today is Michael Jackson's Birth day

Happy birthday Jacko
A tribute to Michael Jackson

I love him. The whole world fell in love with Michael Jackson, In the early seventies, Michael along with his brothers, the Jackson 5, were the hottest success.

Michael Jackson took celebrity marketing to a new level
I don't usually write about pop culture, or about tragedies in the news. But the Michael Jackson brand has just exploded. The PR, the news, the fans, the talk shows, He is everywhere.

His fans are crazy about him. They still think he is not dead. I don’t know about that, but as a brand …brand Michael is getting bigger and bigger.

But…
Michael Jackson is dead. As far as I am concerned, the Michael Jackson I loved died a long time ago. What went on 25th June was just nothing.

What was Michael's problem, you might wonder. He had talent, he had money, he had fame, he had fans. he had 'everything, most of us can only dream about.

Deep down inside, Michael hated himself.

That's why he underwent a million surgeries.
That's why he was taking painkillers, on which it is believed he died.

What he never realised was …

"Learning to love yourself... is the greatest love of all"

P.S.- he was the greatest entertainer that ever lived and he was incomparable with any other artist. He was a phenomenon in his own right. He was a true humanitarian who contributed world

Author : Sanjay

Perception is not reality

Was on a very long break because I was busy preparing for my term end exams.

It’s been really long So I thought I must write

Even if it is, about what I have been doing all these days and about what I think of a show on star plus “sach ka saamna” Indian version of 'Moment of Truth'

I liked the show not because of the content and not because it’s about telling the truth and wining a crore rupees.
I liked the show because of sheer marketing brilliance, perfect positioning and disguised communication.

As a viewer it sounds so simple answer 21 questions truthfully and win 1 crore rupees.
But the fact is star plus is not running a charity show. There is a big trick behind it.

Few of the questions asked in the show are as follows
1. If the bank never discovers you have stolen a crore of rupees, would you steal the money?
2. "If your husband never came to know about it.. Would you consider sleeping with another man."

Here is the trick if you pay little attention ,both these questions are hypothetical and its about fantasy and every one has fantasy.

The contestant can say Yes, that means she would consider sleeping with another man if her husband never finds out". Husband need not get offended because another man is not necessarily Mr Sharma next door but perhaps Shahrukh Khan Or Brad Pitt.
Cosmopolitan magazine says fantasies are healthy

But Mr husband does not read such magazines. He is a hot blooded Indian male and will definitely feel insulted.
Knowing the consequences of saying "yes" Smita says "no".( refer to video 52nd sec)
When the polygraph beeps 'false' she looks surprised and says,"Yeh nahin ho sakta!"
Husband looks suitably crushed, embarrassed.

Smita leaves the show with zero rupees and will spend rest of her life explaining that polygraph tests are not always true. They are not admissible in court as evidence.

The truth is she was tricked. She thought she had 'nothing to hide' but discovered we are constantly hiding things. Even from ourselves.


The makers of this show have every intention of fooling you she had no choice, but Smita did and I wish she had quit when she could... She was too brave for her own good.

but you know what, friends and relatives will laugh behind Smita's . Because the 'morals' of society are supposed to be guarded by the women.
A simple ques to all the viewers who think smitha was wrong. Wernt you all thinking at that time
"How would I answer that question?"

Aur ek chhota sach yeh bhi hai I can't blame my examination for writing less on this blog. The truth is my exams lasted just 4 days.
I've just been lazy, and I think I'm getting hooked on to the idiot box. Movies ,cricket ( specially ashes) and all types of reality shows .They provide 'Instant gratification.

I need to remind myself that I am first and foremost a blogger.
So I am back … Happy reading.

Author: Sanjay