Now that the excitement about Starbucks entering India is settled, maybe it’s time we took a look at Starbucks’ frame of mind at this point. We are a huge nation and one half of us love coffee, the other lives for tea. We will spend a lot of money on new brands, but most of them remain fads. We do spend quite some time and money in cafes, but these cafes are never a substitute for the morning dosage of filter kaapi for the coffee lovers among us.

So, how nervous should Starbucks be before they take a step into this diversity?

The Starbucks way

Starbucks core value is in giving you that perfectly brewed coffee every morning specially designed for you to take it away and begin the day on an awesome note. The ingenuity in this proposition is that it induces a whole step in your daily routine, making it a habit. But, are we ready for this?

Most of us begin our day with a cuppa freshly brewed at home. If we can pick up a coffee to go, would we want to skip the effort in brewing at home?  No doubt, there is a huge opportunity in being a first mover and redefining behavior pattern. Much like what Dominos did to all of us. Pizza shifted from an occasional outing to anytime at home. But, pizza at home is an option open to us, while Starbucks aims to take it further and shift our habit. Are we open to this?

The Indian audience

We love our coffee. And, we love cool new brands. Starbucks is a gold mine for us and we will all get our coffee in hordes. There will a barrage of pictures uploaded on facebook with a Starbucks cup on the desks at work. But how long will this love affair last?

We don’t know how long this will interest us. Usually, most of us wake up every morning and prefer our coffee with the newspaper. That’s a ritual. The key question is how much of an effort will I make to travel to Starbucks every morning and pick up my coffee before I reach work. Or will it just be a weekend habit for me?

Coffee and conversations

Starbucks is a coffee brand that does not live on conversations. No, they don’t want you to stick around forever with a whole bunch of friends. And free wi fi does not mean live stream movies with others either.

Generally, not many of us like to spend time alone. We like our crowds. So, will this offering benefit us? Should Starbucks also enter the coffee and conversation pattern? My sense is no.  Why shift the value proposition of the brand which has been successful world over?

Probable solution

Would this model of Starbucks work better if set up in the corporate area? With heavy real estate cost in Mumbai, maybe an outlet in Nariman Point would be an option for volume sale.

They may retail better as a kiosk in the many IT parks. But even if they do go ahead in this space, people will then have to pick between a Starbucks and a CCD cappuccino. At some point, this decision will be governed by the cost if it is an everyday pattern.

Of course the one flagship outlet in a Bandra/Koramangala-like environment is necessary. But volumes may not be comparable to the usual Starbucks pick and go model.

What do you think?

A while ago, Sherry Turkle demonstrated her research findings on being closer to your online avatar than your physical self. Relationships are shifting into the digital space and that may not be very healthy.

There is one budding author in India who thinks on similar lines. Dhiraj Kumar, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur has recently published his first book
titled “The Asocial networking.” His inspiration for this concept stemmed from personal experiences of his colleagues and mates preferring to “talk” online rather than meet for networking.

So instead of doing this online, we met to gain a better perspective. Here are few thoughts from the discussion–

In your book you mentioned that to boost our GDP, we should ban Youtube, Facebook and chain mails. That is quite a strong statement. Do you really believe that.

The aim of that statement was to make one think. It was an exaggeration. But, the amount of time wasted on the social networking sites is quite alarming. We do need some time off from work to aid concentration but it becomes a distraction. I think a healthy balance of both is needed. A sense of co-existence is missing and maybe it comes down to an individual level.

Today many campaigns are purely digital. You can reach many more people for less than half the cost. What’s your take on traditional media?

Traditional media is here to stay. Social media as a tool may be a lot more convenient. But, ultimately you rely on the content generated by traditional media to go social.

You also mentioned family relationships are also hampered because of social media.

Even when you meet in a family set up, everybody is more concerned about how the pictures taken will appear on facebook. You cannot have one decent conversation with anybody without them checking their news feed. Definitely this leads to deterioration of family relationships.

A lot of importance has been given to Facebook in your book. What about twitter / Instagram / Pinterest.

I believe Facebook started this. You still don’t spend as much time on twitter or other networks as Facebook. To get my point across, I decided to employ Facebook as an example.

You mentioned in several places that Facebook will die down. Do you really think this is a fad? Isn’t that the primary difference between Orkut and Facebook? While people think the eventual death was because of lack on innovation on Orkut’s part, I think Facebook is blessed with the humongous support from brands. When brands have invested so much in Facebook, I don’t think they will let it die down.

As a business concept, I don’t think Facebook will die down. Tech companies always face the threat of others outgrowing them. My reference to it dying down is in terms of interest. A part of the time spent of Facebook now is already shifted to Pinterest. It’s just the beginning. Very soon, we will move on.

While this book has some very strong perspectives, I don’t agree with all of them. But, in a world that embraces social networking, this is a refreshing read.

Power of the collective

Wonder why Starbucks, a company large enough to employ many food specialists and researchers to design their menu leave it to us? Procter & Gamble does the same by calling on amateurs to solve their scientific and technical challenges. Dell has a whole portal called IdeaStorm where consumers can upload all their ideas for a better product.

These companies have been harnessing the power of crowdsourcing to gather important insights and solve problems. Instead of spending millions on research today, why don’t we just ask the consumers directly when we have the opportunity to.

The environment is extremely competitive now and it keeps getting tougher. If you think you have this brilliant idea for a new concept, chances are that it is already tried and tested. Many times, few days after a launch tons of me-too flood the market. If you have to stay ahead of the competition, you might as well ask for help from the source.

Ideas are a culmination of cues that one picks from their environment. As a marketer, we are exposed to one type of environment. Now, imagine if we have access to over ten thousand other types of environment. Chances of getting it right increases exponentially. The power of crowd is driving the future of business, and we might as well leverage it.

Facebook – The crowdsourcer

Very few brands actually use the power of collective that facebook provides under one platform to gather insights. In India, the brief given to every social media genius by the client is “get me more likes and twitter followers who will listen to my every important update.” They use social media more as a press release platform for a pre-determined audience, which removes the anticipation of how many media people will actually turn up at a press conference.  Why are we limiting ourselves to just this?

Recently, Himalayas launched a lip butter that I truly loved. So much better than the Body Shop balms, and a zillion times cheaper. I chanced upon the facebook page for this specific product and noticed that the entire page was filled with monologue. Out of the kindness of my heart, I decided to write a comment on how awesome this product was and surprise surprise, they took my comment down in 5 min. Now why would you do that? It’s my feedback and if I have to use your product, you might as well listen to me.

Here’s a fun fact – the results of a recent Ehrenberg-Bass Institute study showed that less than 1% of fans of the biggest brands on Facebook engage in meaningful activity, like shares and comments. So you have to step up your game. A brand page on facebook is no longer fun if you aren’t having an interesting conversation with your friends. Having a zillion fans is not a measure of any success.

If you listen closely, you might get some truly kickass ideas for the product. Why not throw the platform open? Especially in our country, consumers are a lot more tolerant. We will give you our instant feedback good and bad, just ask for it. If you could tell us your idea right at the conception stage, we might even be able to co-create it with you, as we are the end users.

The problem is that the marketing team usually maintains the social media initiatives while the R&D team’s insight into the consumer mind is limited to whatever research they commission. Why not hold crowdsourcing sessions within your company where the marketing team can give all others a download on what the consumers actually want.

Crowdsourced projects have a much better chance of getting it right. Of course, there are other opportunities on the side like creating brand advocates, generating positive word of mouth, greater customer satisfaction, increased sales, therefore revenue and all the other marketing milestones you are working toward.

So, crowdsource please!

Sephora was founded in 1969 by Sephora Parsi in France. This company was later acquired by LVMH in 1997. Sephora is a combination of  ”sephos”, which is Greek for “beauty” and the name Zipporah, the exceptionally beautiful wife of Moses in the Book of Exodus.

Their fame spread with the unique sampling program. Even till date you can walk into a Sephora beauty studio and get some complimentary services. They built their brand by moving much beyond a beauty product company to a repertoire of all beauty trends and ideas – hence a perfect fit for their positioning line: The Beauty Authority.

Digital Rendezvous

They have always been the first movers in digital space. Set up their site way back in 1999, which is quite early for a retail brand. Their early adopter strategy didn’t stop there. In spite of being part of the world of beauty, which is a very touch-feel based industry, their digital rendezvous only expanded.

Their idea was to aim toward creating a store like experience through all the digital touchpoints. Apparently, this brand leverages all opportunities in having their flagship store right in the Silicon Valley. They are open to experimenting with new technology and at many times are guinea pigs to concepts developed by start-ups. As long as the concept enhances customer experience and builds their community further.

Integrated Experience

The idea is to be able to integrate and harness every touchpoint (digital and physical) to provide a great Sephora experience. Instead of separating the two, they tried bridging them within the same experience.

To create a store-like experience within an app is a challenge that every retail brand is trying to address. They perfected that and took it a step further by mixing an element of digital experience in their physical store. This approach is usually reversed as other brands look at the pool of available technologies and create touchpoints using them. Sephora looked at the existing touchpoints and decided to provide a better experience using technology. Their premise for this is that “marrying the beauty world and retail shopping with digital is only going to make it easier and more fun to find the perfect product”

To get this right, they studied the customer’s behavior during consideration and purchase phase. The top two reasons for purchase is -

1. They have tried the product in the past
2. Their friends recommend it

They realized the importance of access to information as a key element in the decision process. And hence, was born the idea of making information available to any and every screen.

The Strategy

The Apple retail model for a beauty brand is a bold move. They understand that social shopping is at a nascent stage and it is time to embrace this. Revenue-wise, this brand has grown by almost 300 times owing to their digital strategy.

Comparisons can be drawn between Burberry and Sephora in their digital foray. While both are extremely internet friendly, Sephora adopts a much more younger and eager-to-try-new-stuff approach. Of course, this brand does appeal to a younger and a more exuberant audience.

Internally, this brand also realizes the importance of using facebook as a constant finger on the pulse to understand what the customer is feeling and experiencing.

In future, Sephora will continue to employ all possible technology into their strategy with a singular thought of “making shopping easier.”

One trend that is slowly catching up is employer branding. People are quickly realising the importance of branding to retain top performers. This has a direct relation to the overall growth and profitability of any company.

This is quite different from corporate branding. Personally, I think employer branding is a tad more important that corporate branding. Wouldn’t you rather work for (late) Steve Jobs than Apple, Jeff Bezos than Amazon? However big the corporation is, I believe the man at the top sets the environment for everybody else. Here’s the top 10 highest rated tech CEOs by Glassdoor -

Would love to learn more about the way they function. The passion to create an empire is so strong. It has stood the test of time and traveled to all levels in the organisation. Heck, what wouldn’t I give to spend a day working in this atmosphere.

We live and breathe the coffee culture. Thanks to Café Coffee Day and Barista and the many other boutique cafés set up every block away, coffees are now clubbed with conversation. In India, we have taken it a step further and coffee has become our social lubricant. Culture built around coffee dates back to as early as 14^th century. But, India wasn’t one to be enthused by this culture until recently. Targeted at the youth, one by one the cafés set up shop and have also converted many tea drinkers to socially opt for coffee.

Tracing back our roots, we were predominantly a tea drinking nation. We are one of the largest tea producing nation. Today, we are also one of the largest tea consuming nations. So why are tea joints limited to the chai-walas around every corner as a hole in the wall?

There is one brand that has been striving to bring back the tea culture. This century long Indian born brand is Wagh Bakri. And, here’s their story -

The brand Wagh Bakri

For the non Hindi speaking folk, Wagh Bakri translates to tiger-goat. A weird choice for a name but, backing this is a story that beats the HLLs of this world by far.

Many moons ago, the founder of this company Narandas Desai was a tea estate owner in South Africa. When Mahatma Gandhi visited SA, he gave him a handwritten certificate acknowledging Narandas’s work as an honest and experienced tea estate owner. The recommendation helped begin this company in India. A reproduction of this certificate can be seen in one of the conference rooms at their head office in Ahmedabad. This was the inspiration for their brand philosophy.

This Gandhian inspired thought paved the way to an equally inspiring name. Then, the name signified bringing together the weak and the strong, rich and the poor. Tea acted as a social catalyst in bringing together different classes of people.  This thought hasn’t shifted over a century. Today, the brand strives to “build relationships over a cuppa.”

The lineage

Pepsi breaks its long term love affair with cricket –  for football. From the moment they made their India entrance, Pepsi has been closely associated with cricket. The brand value built over the years with this audience is unbelievable. Now, they have shifted focus to football.

A truly kick ass campaign 

Last season Taproot helped Pepsi seal the cricket deal with their campaign showcasing popular players signature styles with a rock solid theme of  ”Change the Game.” Sure, the brand vision is youthful irreverence, but this campaign hit home among all age groups. Here’s my personal favorite “Billy Bowden’s Tedi Ungal” -

The idea

The idea is to connect with the youth and Pepsi team has observed a recent inclination toward football in India. Maybe, yes. But its just an inclination. We still love cricket. The brand claims that it still stands by cricket and felt the need to widen its audience to the football generation.

Cricket or football

I am not sure how this support for both sport works. My problem is that it just might have worked if there was no reference to cricket in the ad. But, to me it comes across as a conscious shift toward football from cricket as the younger generation would prefer wearing a MAN-U tee than Bleed Blue. By following the younger gen, is this brand shedding some of its loyal fans?

The brand is obviously looking for other platforms to connect with the younger gen. That is necessary, but cricket and football come with very different sensibilities. You cannot stand for both. You can adopt the Red Bull strategy and stand for a platform like extreme sports. But, cricket and football do not go well together.

With IPL season around the corner, is this a good move? Will they back up cricket with a campaign as awesome as the palti hit? I sure hope they do.

As a TVC, I loved the subtle humour and idea. I am just not sure about the shift in strategy.

Well, you are not alone. Wonder why some people verbalize and post their reactions to everything even before actually reacting it?  An online avatar is like a cushion. We get to project the image we desire. We can edit our lives and relive them the way we want. Now, however cool that may be, its having an adverse effect on our conversation skills and relationships.

Are we now expecting more from technology and less from each other? Under the premise of being socially connected, are we disconnecting ourselves from others physically.

Is SIRI your best friend?

Im no Martha Stewart, but if your phone is your companion, then you got serious problems coming your way. Last week, I was out for coffee with a friend, or so I thought. The conversation was pretty much one-sided. After about 10 to 15 attempts at small talk, I gave up. And then, it hit me. People at other tables were pretty much hooked onto their phones too. Unhealthy.

Research conducted by Sherry Turkle came up with shocking results. Most of us can sense when we receive a text or call even if our phone is miles away. If we built such a strong telepathic connection with another human, we should marry them. Connectivity offers an illusion of companionship without the demands of a relationship.

Conversationalist You

Its not just your mind that gets messed up. It’s also your talk. Lack of conversing enough (no, fb chat is not it) is having an adverse impact on our style of conversation. People stall and stumble while talking now. In a face to face conversation, you cannot edit what you say.

Also, a lot of people are developing a severe case of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). You certainly can’t tab out of a real-time conversation, even if you are bored. I blame technology.

Networking is good. A lot of people have built their lives around social media. We don’t have to go back to pen and paper. But, can we shift from a technology led life into a more balanced one. Can we consciously stop using our smart phones while shopping, at restaurants, while driving, at school, at meetings (that’s just downright rude), in the bedroom and all other spaces you don’t need social media.

Windows constantly works on its imagery for almost every launch. With every new release, they feel the need to upgrade their image and move with times much like their product. This is a brilliant philosophy to adopt. Here is a timeline of the modifications to their logo.

And finally, the latest Windows 8

No, this post is not about that really cool movie with time travel. But, is the same principle applicable in the world of brands?

In popular culture, the butterfly effect is a phenomenon where a minor change can cause a large change in the outcome. And once a change occurs, the grand design will never go back to being normal.