Desi Brands Blog

How online tools are shaping the customer experience for off-line brands: My experience from Nail Polish Shopping

2013-05-15T10:21:00.000+05:30

(The following post is a guest post from Archana Venkat)

My daughter is 26 months old and she knows what she wants. She can describe things in detail, if not hit on the right word. So three days ago when she returned home from the play area, she asked me for “coloring on fingers”. One of her friends in the playground had pink color on her fingers. After refusing crayons, color pencils and pens (all of which in her dictionary correspond to “coloring”), I was about to give up when she pointed at a magazine and showed me the “coloring.” Nail polish. That’s what she wanted.

So I went nail polish shopping, my first in the last five years, and picked up two ‘safe’ shades – light pink and plum. It wasn’t easy because there were over 100 shades to choose from. Evidently a lot had changed in the nail polish world. I remember not having to look at more than 30 shades in any brand during my nail polish collecting days. (My mother had chided me once saying I owned more shades than what was available in the shops. I saw it as a feeble attempt to curb my pocket money.) But such is life and if you don’t move on you will be called an Aunty. (Well, even if you are savvy about nail paint, you can still be called an Aunty over a lot of other things. But let us not go there).

As I left the store, I wondered, had I not picked the pinks, which color would I have settled for? There are several colors you can test and then buy, but do you know which can be considered the safest bet for say office wear or an interview?

I know we Indians usually don’t care about wearing flaming reds, and hot pinks (or Zari, neons, lace and silks) to work, but when you are on the other side of 30, trying hard to manage that growing girth, and have a daughter who will gleefully point at greys in your hair and ask “what color is that?,” you need to dress down and focus on looking smart (and sober), not HOT.

After much searching, I hit upon an online tool by OPI (a leading nail paint and cosmetics brand), that helps you figure out what colors work best for your complexion, nail shape and length. Called Try On This Color, it lets you customize the dummy hand till it resembles your actual complexion and nail shape and then you can virtually test what OPI nail colors work well for you and order them online, where they are priced cheaper and discounts galore. An extended version of this tool also shows what colors are ‘safe’ for you and which ones you can experiment with, without looking tacky and inappropriate. I spent about 35 minutes trying out shades I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing and discovered some not-so-Aunty shades that could look good on me.

In developed markets like the UK and the US, a set of 6 or 10 nail colors from a collection are often available at special prices, besides offering them as tester kits. Such virtual nail color testing tools are key to determine how many of those shades will actually look good on you so that money spent on the pack is worth it. With India turning into a growing market for cosmetics, it is a matter of time before such deals become common here. Our cosmetics giants can do well with investing in such tools and mobile Apps.

I recently visited a Health n Glow store in Bangalore in an up market mall and veered towards the nail polish section to see which of the shades I saw on the OPI site were available in local brands. Just then a young girl walked up and wanted to test the shades. To her horror, the saleswoman told her they did not have any tester shades and that since they had also run out of nail polish remover, she would only be able to dab a teeny bit of color on the nail and immediately wipe it off. So much for the “experience” of nail polish shopping. The girl left without buying anything, but I still bought one shade without testing, thanks to the OPI tool.

About the author

Archana Venkat is a Marketing and Business Development Specialist focused on building customer share in the services industry. She writes her own blog on Straight Talk With Arch.

What Indian dress designers dont understand when they create clothes from women.

2013-05-08T05:55:00.000+05:30

(The followingt post is a guest post by Archana Venkat)

I hate shopping for clothes for myself. Myntra and Jabong (and FlipKart and whatever else is there) don’t make a difference. Readymade clothes rarely fit me well. I used to wear trousers and shirts to work a few years ago (before my pregnancy) and even then finding a shirt that dint expose your bottom or a trouser that didn’t look like yoga pants/ tights was tough and I had to resort to getting both items of clothing stitched. I guess my tailor couldn’t overcome the torture and eventually shut shop and left me dealing with Salwar Kameezes. While I try and avoid looking Aunty-ish, people tell me Salwar Kameez IS Aunty wear, no two ways about it. So I went back to trying maternity trousers, but because I didn’t have a bump anymore, they wouldn’t fit.

I decided to confront the problem head on – by seeking out a clothes designer. Recommended by a friend, I called her store only to have the saleswoman ask me “what shape are you?”. Well, large. Ok, maybe extra-large. But beyond that I didn’t know what to tell her, especially after she insisted that I was telling her my size and not my shape. Needless to say I didn’t see the designer because I felt a little embarrassed. But the question left me curious.

In India we recognize only 3 female shapes – thin, medium and fat. In my eyes these three translate roughly into “emaciated”, “thin” and “normal”. Most clothes are made for thin people and look good only on them. As for the rest of us, well, Indian clothing companies don’t care. They would rather we be inspired to get thin and fit into the clothes they make.

But apparently the rest of the world doesn’t abide by this philosophy and there are enough sizes to cater to all shapes. A few companies have gone forward and created online tools to help people understand what their shape is and what clothes would make them look good. One such company, Eloquii, a US based clothing retailer, has developed a tool on its website called Shape My Style that helps figure out the best clothes for one’s body shape. They help one identify five body shapes – Diamond, Teardrop, Heart, Infinity, and Emerald – based on simple questions. For each of these shapes they have a set of guidelines indicating what cuts, colors, fits and accessories would look best and follow that up by recommending a set of clothes from their which can be bought online. What’s more they have models closely resembling your body type wearing their collection so you can see how the clothes will fit you. (Which means, fat women, don’t have to see stick thin women modeling clothes prescribed for them, because a XXXL version of a dress that was originally designed for a XS size will fit poorly).

In my opinion, this site is geared for success because they have information that empowers customers across their purchase lifecycle without forcing them to buy anything.

UK-based fashionistas Trinny Woodhall and Susannah Constantine, in their book The Body Shape Bible, have identified 12 body shapes that can help women find the right clothes. There is also a quiz that can help you figure out which of these shapes you fit into.

Of course, a good tailor / dress designer should be able to give you all this information offline, but not without charging a hefty fee. And because most of us in India cannot afford designers or high end tailors, we are left to wallow in ill fitting clothes and self pity. Which brings me to the question -why aren’t Indian retailers investing in any online tools/ tips like this?

I don’t have any answers but would like to know.

Archana Venkat is a marketing and communication specialist who writes at Straight talk with Arch.

How Innovation in education can foster a new climate of growth for India?

2013-04-30T21:00:00.000+05:30

Do you remember the summer projects we used to do as children?

Often a mandatory effort, it used to be nothing but a tick in the box at the end of summer vacations to get this done. After submitting the project we used to forget about it and chase the marks that would be required to build our rank in school.

I remember building a door bell as a summer project for physics. It was appreciated both in school and at home. My dad said that I had the potential to be a scientist, I was aiming for a Noble Prize. It was put up on our front door and for a while I felt smart. But soon that was forgotten in the flurry of Monday tests and mediocre mid term results.

Can you imagine a scenario if your summer project helps you secure a scholarship to study at the IITs? Or helps you intern as an assistant to CEO ?

Scenarios like this can definitely foster a change in the education system. Where application of knowledge is more important that just memorising facts and figures.

In the recently published GE Innovation Barometer report 2013, the captains of the industry have a simple ask of the education institutions. That is to make education more practical and business oriented. Also according to the report most corporate managers feels that innovation as a culture should be fostered in education institutions.

Things brings us to two questions?

First question- Is our education system practical?

The answer to that is a resounding No. I still remember the first day of 11th standard. It was a big day at the school as usually many many students from other schools would join DPS RKP in 11th. The chemistry teacher whom I never got along with was introducing us to Organic Chemistry (A subject I never understood and still struggle with).

One of the new comers just stood up and recited all the 20 conditions that were essential in identifying and differentiating between the organic and inorganic compounds. The teacher was impressed and the all of us awe struck.

It was years after that incident that I actually started questioning the growing adulation that our country has towards theory. I am sure that student had never been to a senior lab or knew practically how to differentiate between an organic or inorganic compound if she were physically presented with one. I know now that this is one of the areas of concern for the industry and as rightly pointed out in the report.

Coming back to the opening of this piece, I feel that the summer project was something which was practical and can help the students apply themselves in the classrooms. Otherwise there is a limit to where the theory can be useful.

The other question is Can innovation be inculcated in the school curriculum?

In the current format my opinion is no. It can't be. Today we have extensive school syllabus that gives no time for students to apply that knowledge and create a process of finding solutions to the problems we face today.
Innovation is not about one bright idea, It is about creating a culture that ensures that there are many bright ideas. It is no surprise that some institutions are better at fostering this climate. A good example in India is the Indian Institute of Sciences Bangalore, which for years has a culture of innovation. A similar example is with Tokyo University which continues to create Nobel prize winning research scientists.

So in conclusion creating an atmosphere of innovation and making students more business oriented are both facets of the same story. We need to change our system in India and this includes changing the way education services are delivered.

How PVR Cinemas enhanced their brand by offering great customer service on Twitter.

2013-04-19T10:54:00.000+05:30

Often we have complained that most brands don't engage on Social Media. Most of them have presence on the networks but hardly any of them respond to any customer queries or complaints.

But I was pleasantly surprised when PVR Cinemas not only responded to my complaint but also resolved it on Twitter.

The story began on the 24th March when I was trying to book tickets for Django Unchained on the PVR site. The show was for the next day 25th March, which also happened to be my birthday. Those of you who know me well, would realize that I never work on my birthday and mostly spend the day doing things that I enjoy doing.

Django was top of my list because I had seen the earlier series with Franco Nero and being a Tarentino fan I was not going to miss out on this masterpiece.

Now as I tried to book the ticket, the site threw up an exceptional error after I had filled in my card details. I waited for a while but the ticket never came through. I did not pursue the matter then but the next day I went up to the counter and bought a ticket just before the show. I was sure that the charges would be reversed as I have seen this happen a few times when the transaction does not go through.

A few days later I called up my credit card help line and after listening to music and pressing many digits I was put through to a customer service executive. He confirmed my worst fears that the transaction had gone through and money claimed by PVR. He gave me the transaction id and said that the bank could not do anything only PVR could resolve the issue now.

Now I had two options either to go back to Forum Mall in Koramangala Bangalore and talk to the PVR officials there or to try my luck with their website. Being a ardent devotee of the digital world I tried the website.

I tried searching for a contact for the PVR site but all I got was a form page and a delhi number. This is when my good friend and blogger Nikhil Narayanan suggested I try their social presence. So I got on to twitter and reached out to the PVR cinemas Twitter handle .

I tweeted about my problem and left the tweet there for a while. within 24hrs I received a reply to my tweet asking me to elaborate on the problem. Which I did.

Then the PVR Cinema handle asked me to mail the transaction id to the mail id and they would check and see how they can help me. A day later I received a mail that the traction would be reversed and money credited to my account. The amount was finally credited that week.

I was happy to get the money back but delighted that finally Indian brands have started engaging customers on social channel. So what are the lessons for other brands

Please don't set up Twitter handles or Facebook pages if you plan not to interact with customers online.
Please don't hire a bored intern to monitor the handles, rather train your own customer support people to manage the social channels.
Once you do get a complaint on social media the whole world would know about it, so handle issues swiftly and try to resolve them to the best of your ability.

In conclusion I want to leave everyone with the transcript of the Twitter conversation.

As usual comments, incidents and your experiences welcome.

Why Indian Businesses are focusing on Innovation? Some findings from the GE Global Innovation report 2013

2013-03-23T23:24:00.000+05:30

Some time ago in this very blog, I had discussed why Innovation takes a back seat in India? So to my surprise when I read the latest GE Global Innovation report, a jaw dropping 94 % of the Indian respondents had mentioned the focus on innovation as theit top rpiority.

Additionally most wanted to focus on innovation to improve profitability and to improve existing processes and services. But almost 66% wanted to use innovation to customize global offerings to local requirements. That is almost 13 % more than the average responses for Global leaders. Additionally almost 40 % wanted to use innovation to develop new business models.

As I tried to make sense of all this data, I suddenly realized that most brands that have succeeded in India have heavily customized global products to local needs.

One of the earliest examples of this tradition were multinational FMCG players- Hindustan Unilever and Reckitt and Benkiser. That philosophy has paid dividents to them so far. A similar approach was adopted by Domestic players like Reliance, the TATA's, AMUL and Now Bharti.

Interesting understanding customers, Creating a culture of innovation, using technology and mining data are the other key requirements that Indian businesses feel that they would need in order to lead with innovation.

The most interesting finding was that Indian businesses expected Academic institutions to create a culture of innovation that can be leveraged when these students join the work force. This is a point that needs more elaboration and I would be talking to an expert to get some more insight into this aspect. Please watch out for my part 2 of this post on the GE Global Innovation report 2013.

Has HCL got its branding strategy all wrong ?

2013-03-14T05:29:00.000+05:30

(Image source: Top news.in)

Desi companies have been performing admirably in the last 20 years. This charge has been led by services firms that have ruled the waves in India and overseas. But sometime their branding seems to be way off mark often based on very short sighted goals.

A case in point is HCL. The IT services behemoth has been one of India's best run companies. So when a couple of years ago the CEO took to blogging many heralded it as a coming of age for Indian brands. The CEO Vineet Nayyar, went on to state in his blog that for HCL, employees came first. This was a bold statement and very different from traditional management speak that puts customers first.

The later Ad campaigns showed an employee jet setting across the globe solving problems from Banking to Airline Industry. I personally thought that the campaign was very well done, and from an IMC perspective it saw the synchronization between the social media messaging and the advertising. The employee called Mr HCL redefined corporate branding from the Desi brands context.

(Source : You Tube)

But then last year the' employee first ' came back to haunt HCL as a group of more than 6000 engineering graduates started writing in about HCL not honoring the offers made at their engineering campuses. Not only did they start writing in but they also formed a group on Facebook to bring their grievance to the social world. The group call HCL Freshers 2011, brought together all these students across India.

Soon the courts intervened and a judge in Noida asked HCL to come up with an action plan to honor these offers. HCl in an official statement now says that they will on board these campus hires in August.

Now I am not sure what the problem was with the offers, but there seems to be something definitely worng with the branding. here are three things that may not work for hCL going forward.

Saying employees first is a very bold move, but in a typical services firm there are many employees. HCL will have more than 100,000 employees (I don't have the latest figure and I have not added the 6,000 fresh graduates in question :)). Now basing a branding strategy on keeping these 100,000 as top priority will create a challenge. This has got less to do with branding and more to do with human nature as any firm would find it difficult to keep so many employees happy all the time.
The second problem I have is with the supply chain for the services firms. This is true especially for technology services firms that rely on a constant recruitment of technically sound campus recruits. Just like sometimes there is no warm hand off between sales and account management in case of customers, a similar situation erupts in case of a warm hand off between campus recruitment and business. This often leads to challenges like mis-alignment of competency and final placement. I don't have to look far for this, I had a similar challenge when I was hired as a campus lateral hire for one of the services firms.
Finally timelines always play havoc with these bulk recruitment decisions. The decision to recruit would have been made almost 6 months before the offers become valid. In those 6 months given our current business climate, a lot can change. Leading to further heart burn for these students.

In conclusion, thought employees first is a bold move, it is fraught with danger. And I feel in retrospect HCL may have got its branding all wrong?

But I would like to hear your views on it. Do you think we have to just accept these delays in offers as part of business as usual? what about a corporate commitment and what of the families of these students? and finally does the brand suffer?

Please do leave your comments...

Can airlines in India do a better job of increasing revenues from existing customers?

2013-02-16T22:41:00.000+05:30

I recently took a plane ride to Delhi. For this journey I had booked on the low cost carrier Go Air. The flight was pretty uneventful overall. But my attention was drawn to a interesting offer on the flight.

I could as a passenger on the plane, bid for select luxury items displayed by the cabin crew. The items could be purchased if I did become the lowest bidder. The select item would then be handed over to me on payment, which was accepted by cash.

I found this entire exercise very interesting and see a potential for the airline in making more revenue through this route. A snap shot of the items available on the flight for me is below.

Now shopping is a favored past time for most people in India and if leveraged well this could become a very good value add both for the airline and the passengers. Firstly what most airlines have is a retailer's dream. A captive audience of potential customers who have nothing to do for the duration of the flight.

But I feel a value airline would have customers wanting value deals and not necessarily luxury brands. So in that context I have the following suggestions to the airline.

Focus on getting good value deals for the customer. They could be discounts on regular sporting and cloth brands rather than having price offs on unknown luxury brands.
Invite other manufacturers to launch new products or showcase new designs exclusively for the airline.
Look at getting payments through others methods from just accepting cash. Sometimes it becomes difficult for flyer's to pay for all offerings by cash

In conclusion I feel this is a interesting model and I have not seen many airlines in the world achieve sales through an in flight promotion but at the same time, new models have to be experimented with till they are successful and this is one model that is worth a try.

Desi Communication the Kumbh Mela Way

2013-02-11T22:49:00.000+05:30

The last couple of weeks have been very exciting times for Desi Brands. The Kumbh mela at Allahabad has created a forum for many brands to communicate in very innovative ways.

The first good example that caught my attention was the one from Hindustan Uni Lever (HUL). Using Public Health Concept of washing hands before a meal, HUL used their marquee brand Lifebuoy. Using a heat press and partnering with major caterers at the mela, HUL marked Rotis with the message' Have you washed your hands with Lifebuoy?'

I think this idea, medium and message is a brilliant use of the context and manipulating the same to get their marketing message across. As this is issued in pubic interest, I also feel it blends well with the objective of health and wellness. One of the images of the message is below.

The other Desi brand that made a big splash at the Kumbh was Dabur. They partnered with all the eateries at the mela asking them to give away the digestive hard boiled sweet, instead of the traditional saunf. Again this was a good use of the situation and partnering with a traditional channel rather than trying to impose their own way.

In both the situations above, I feel the marketers used local knowledge and insight to blend their campaigns with the larger event.

Hope more brands are able to use local desi events to blend their messages.

As usual I would love to hear your views on the same.

3 Big challenges faced by Desi ( Indian ) brands

2013-01-26T21:29:00.000+05:30

Desi brands are honest and earthy. We do choose them for their relevance and understanding of our needs. But in the coming days, Desi brands face big challenges.

They can be summarised as following.

Desi brands lack the long term vision to sustaina nd grow the brand. There are some excpetions like the TATAs, Mahindras and AMUL. But most brands never look at the big picture. They try to make short term gains and sacrifice the long term vision. For a brand to suceed, we need a long term vision. Brands like Ford, GM, IBM and Apple were not made in one day.
Desi brands lack the financial power to establish themselves as major brands. Most of them run on shoe string budgets. Marketing departments are pereneally under funded. So there is hadly any investment in development of the brand. Marketing departments jsut handle routine communication and public relations
Desi brands lack the expertise. Some of the best marketing brains in the country work for multinationals whether in India or abroad. Most marketing positions are never well reseached and adequatedly empowered to attract top talent.

So I would like to invite all of you to a discussion on how can we overcome these three challenges and create strong desi brands. You might want o check my LinkedIn group, Desi Brands Forum and join the discussion there.

How Desi brands can keep focus in the market place?

2013-01-16T12:03:00.000+05:30

In my previous post I had discussed how two marquee Indian brands had lost focus. In this post I want to discuss two brands that have not done so.

In my quest to understand how some new age brands are competing in the traditional markets like apparel, I came across 'The Stiff Collar'. Interestingly as Swadeshi movement started with the burning of foreign cloth, The Stiff Collar a 100 % Swadeshi brand is into e-tailing of shirts with a English twist. This irony was not lost to me as I looked at this brand.

"We really wanted to focus on apparel rather than be a market place for electronics or books like some of the other online retailers," says Abhishek from The Stiff Collar, "We hope to create a great clothing brand and we realize that it will take us more time to do so" he continues

The Stiff Collar has been in business for the last 18 months and have sold close to 6000 shirts all online. I am their customer and see that their shirts are different from the others available in the market. The brand has heavily invested in technology, d=creating a great online experience for its customers and a seamless integration with the supply chain leading to timely delivery. For an online retailer these are some key contact points with the customer that would lead to a greater customer satisfaction and repeat purchase.

Also the company spends enough time in researching global trends in fashion with respect to shirts and customizing them to Indian specification. For example a 'Slim Fit' globally may be different from what is perceived as a slim fit in India. To add to this there is a growing demand for Indian men who work in the corporate sector to dress professionally as they continue to work in global teams. The Stiff Collar fits right in.

All designing for the shirts is done through an in-house design team, the manufacturing is done in Mumbai and the shirts are shipped out from the warehouse again in Mumbai.

So what is the future of this firm?

"We have recently started working on gifting options and we hope to become gifting consultants to a section of our customers" continues Abhishek “Also we are keen to create a mobile application keeping in line with the growing trend of consumers accessing the internet through smart phones. We probably are the only online retailers of Shirts" says Abhisek "and we will continue to focus on shirts rather diversifying into other apparel like trousers, suits or jackets"

This focus on a product category coming from an Indian brand is in direct contrast to the trend among these brands to lose focus as discussed in my piece from my Chennai experience.

In Chennai I chanced upon another Indian brand that was trying to use the local pop culture to differentiate itself from the other local and multi national brands. What stands out about 'Chennaigaga' are the inclusion of Madras city pop culture like The hot kappi (Coffee), The Autos and The Superstar (Rajnikant) into the products..

"We thought of things / elements that are quintessentially Chennai and what the city's little quirks are. Think Chennai and we do think of a hot cup of kaapi or the autos (meterful or meterless) and of course the superstar, among so many other things like the music, Bharathanatyam, the tiffins, the language and the landmarks" say Sujata who came up with the idea a few months ago.

Most of the designs for the T shirts, bags, Mugs and other knick-nacks come from local designers and free lancers, though they are not part of the same team. Chennaigaga currently does not outsource any design work. Currently their products are available across 18 stores in Chennai.

The interesting point about both The Stiff Collar and Chennaigaga are that they are local brands that use the local culture to their advantage. For example Chennaigaga makes light of the meterless autorickshaws in Chennai.

"Trends always evolve as does everything else around us. Change is of course constant; clichéd though it does sound. Madras or Chennai as it is now known, will always be known for her old world charm and traditions as well as for the currently 'in' things that are being experienced at any given point in time." Concludes Sujata

In Conclusion Indian brands continue to battle Multi nationals for a share of the domestic market. It would be the subtle variations and localizations that would make all the difference.

Why the lack of focus is hurting Indian brands: Some examples from my Chennai visit.

2013-01-08T17:50:00.003+05:30

A very happy new year to all readers, now that the world did not end on the 21st (or was it the 22nd?), I want to continue to focus on the funny happenings in the world of local brands in India.

(Grand Sweets: Gandhi Nagar. Adyar)

I recently visited Grand Sweets in Madras (now Chennai). Grand Sweets is the one stop shop for all south Indian savories in Madras and the main shop was located in Gandhi Nagar in Adyar (south Madras). The venture was founded by Mr G Natarajan in 1982 and is considered the corner stone in Tamil Brahmin savories. To my amusement I learnt that the two proprietors ( who were sisters) had fallen out with each other. They had divided the shop between the two. Not only that they had both gone on a random expansion spree opening more than 20 franchisees all over Madras and even in Bangalore.

Not only that Grand Sweets had now expanded into restaurants and had a full fledged restaurant on T Nagar. But the flip side of this expansion is that the focus had suffered. One of Archana's(my wife) uncles had even recommended dropping grand sweets from my list and going to another stand alone sweet shop that had now become the one stop shop for savories among the locals.

Had Grand Sweets lost its focus?

The late Sumantra Ghoshal management guru and founding dean of the ISB (Indian School of Business) had written in his book 'Managing Radical Change' that Indian businesses were great at cooking 'sweet' that is expanding and diversifying. The problem came when they had to cook 'sour' that is maintaining processes and establishing quality. So he would not be surprised if he saw what was happening at Grand Sweets and the customer feedback.

This phenomenon is not limited to small businesses. Even larger businesses suffer from this. A good example is Reliance. At its height reliance was a Petrochemical company that had reverse integrated from Polyester all the way to refineries. This was due to the vision and entrepreneurship of Dhirubhai Ambani. for more on that story please visit this link. Later reliance defined its business as the business of energy and soon they had access to Natural Gas reserves as they completed the final step in upstream integration and dared to open retail petrol pumps to down stream.

But soon after Dhirubhai's death the vision changed and Reliance became an infrastructure company. They diversified into Retail, Financial Services, Telecom and Entertainment. The net result is that they lost focus on the Energy space. Today Reliance does not play in the renewable energy space where the Chinese, German and american firms are going head to head. China is betting big on solar panels and the Obama administration has given subsidies to firms manufacturing them in the US. The Europeans have already invested a lot in the space, should not have Reliance been in the race as well?

I had another amusing experience when I made my way to Sri Krishna Sweets in Besant Nagar in Madras (Chennai). Sri Krishna Sweets is famous for a south Indian sweet called Mysurpa. they became famous for introducing various varieties of Mysurpa including one that was called 'Horlicks Mysurpa'. When I enquired at the shop, they had only the plain variety of the sweet. None of the other variants were there. I was disappointed. As I turned around I saw a high stack of ready to eat snacks. Also neatly stacked along this were pickles from Sri Krishna. So Sri Krishna the pioneer in the Mysurpa varieties had none of them in this outlet but was retailing pickle which is also retailed by behemoths like CakinKare and Mother's Recipe.

In the end I feel this is a very bad idea, to leave your core competency and diversify into areas that affect your strength in the first one.

I can see three examples of how diversification should be handled.

When 3M realized that its digitial storage division was not in line with its core product, they hived off the division as a separate company. Today Imation runs as an independent entity and 3M continues to focus on its core business.
Diversifying into related areas when the core business is under threat. Danone started as a glass bottle manufacturer, but when the business came under threat from the plastics industry they diversified into water and dairy business.
Reverse Integration- something that Dhirubhai Ambani was famous for. By reverse integrating to upstream energy processes, he became the undisputed energy king of India. Alas his successors did not share that vision and now the company finds itself in all kinds of trouble.

But i want to hear your views. Do let me know your experience with brands and their attempts to doversify to unrelated businesses.

How mobile applications are changing the way we buy cars.

2012-12-12T17:58:00.001+05:30

Technology continues to transform the way consumers make buying decisions. Automobile purchases are no different.

The Google Play site for Android applications has more than 1000 applications - both free and paid - that focus on the automobile segment. Most applications are from the car manufacturers themselves, while others are from rental companies. But there is a growing segment of applications that focus on giving an independent review of automobiles.

While searching for car review applications on android I came across an interesting application called ‘Car Experts India’. The application has a rating of 4.6 and has more than 10,000 downloads.

The application is a brain child of Kanav Garg, who created it to keep himself updated on the happenings in the Auto Industry while he was on the move. “I used to go through the websites I liked keeping myself updated about the automobile world. But when you are on a move, you have nothing to access the information from” he says.

As a result of that need, Car Experts India was created where consumers in India could find any car related information on a mobile device. The site provides Ex-showroom price for every city where a dealer exists, technical specifications, car features, gallery and all the latest car news and reviews.

Many auto applications also exist for Apple’s ios. One of the applications recently launched is a venture between Mitsubishi and Agero. Agero, the roadside assistance provider working with Mitsubishi, gives drivers a network of 30,000 licensed towing service locations nationwide. Instead of needing to pay a fee for service, Mitsubishi owners can just use their iPhone to arrange a tow, have their battery jumped, flat tire changed, or other roadside emergencies.

Others like car rental companies Avis are also utilizing a mobile app to help the consumers find the cheapest rentals. Insurance provider Allstate also has a request roadside service for the iPhone, and one does not need to be an Allstate customer. Nissan has introduced the Leaf mobile application for the iOs which can help the user check the battery life of the car.

So what is the profile of an automobile mobile application user?

Research shows that most of the users use applications that increase their convenience while driving. For example voice based text commands and applications giving directions for a particular destination. The second are the bargain hunters who look for cheaper deals on car rentals and purchases. The third category users are auto enthusiasts. They use the applications to keep themselves updated about the happenings in the industry.

But the Indian consumer is a little different.

“We thoroughly studied consumer behavior specific to using automobile apps. What we have noticed is that most people look for general information on cars so that they can keep themselves updated. They can be also called as car lovers and enthusiasts. Secondly, you will find people those who want to buy cars and want exact, up to date, in-depth detail and correct information on cars. Buying a car in India is different as compared to the foreign culture as once a person buys a car, he at least keeps it for 3 to 4 years so it’s more of like a festival for them. Due to this, the consumer likes to get information in a well detailed manner. Now, as nobody has time to access systems for long hours and wants mobility so they can do all this research through our app while travelling, waiting for someone and anytime they feel at ease,” explains Kanav, when questioned on the behavior of the Indian auto buyers.

So how has the automobile industry reacted to the sudden growth of independent applications with reviews on their cars?

“Mostly positively “ says Kanav “The auto industry is aware of this segment and is putting their best foot forward to collaborate with us so that they can get high visibility and increase their chances of getting higher sales figures.”

While the applications may face challenges from websites, it is only a matter of time as consumers flock to mobile applications on smart phones to make a more informed buying decision.

To see all the automobile applications on Android please visit here

Why innovation takes a back seat in India?

2012-12-09T21:08:00.000+05:30

Innovation and India do not seem to go together. Although we have one of the largest scienctific manpower in the world, India continues to lag even tiny nations like South Korea when it comes to innovation.

According to the Global Innovation Index 2012, India ranks 64th.

(Source: Wipo.int)

Switzerland leads the global innovation index. The other countires in the top five include Sweden, Singapore, Finland and the UK. Compared to 2007 when Japan was on top of the Innovaiton index ranks.

Why does India trail such small nations when it comes to innovation?

Firstly India education system does not encourage the students to think. Most of the examinations are based on the rote system. So students are rewarded for not thinking but just memorising facts.

Secondly some of our best brains are working for commercial extablishments and hardly anyone takes up research. Even PhDs in India have now started joining Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) firms. I was looking on the internet the other day and I found this article on how the KPO Industry is hiring PhDs for serving outsourcing customers. For more on the article please read this.

Thirdly our Innovation is mostly need based. The Indian pharmaceutical industry has filed more patents than any other Industry in India. This is beacuse of the strict Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements in the US. As compared to that the famed software industry has hardly filed any patents. IBM in India has filed more patents than the entire Indian softwaree industry put together.

Finally we have mastered the art of services which has led to many process innovations. But when it comes to product we are miles behind the other nations.

So is there a silver lining to this dark cloud?

I think there is. For one India is a leader in the Global Innovation Efficiency Index. India ranks 2nd on that scale just after China. That means we have been making the best of the limited investments we have made in the innovation space.

The most important nidice for growth of Indian innovation is the Indian education system. Indian schools and academic institutions need to invest more in research led innovation. The spirit of enquiry needs to be encouraged and not stifiled. Already some of our best brains leave the country due to this general apathy towards research.

I think India has failed to achieve its due status in the global scenario on innovation and it is time it gets its act together.

Management Lessons from Kung Fu Panda

2012-11-15T21:35:00.000+05:30

(Image source: http://akminerva.wordpress.com)

I think in the last five one of the most entertaining movies has been Kung Fu Panda. It is a simple story about a Panda who ends up beating a very dangerous evil fighter named Tai Lung. But yesterday when I was watching the re run on HBO, I realized that there was more than what meets the eye from the movie.

Here are the three management lessons one can learn from the movie.

Number one, management needs to understand that each employee is unique. Different people are motivated by different things. For example the Panda was motivated by his need to eat all the time. He could go to any extent to grab an extra helping. That would include, jumping up 10 feet above the ground and doing a perfect split to eat almond cookies or fighting master Shifu over the last dimsum.

Some employees are motivated by money, others by position or authority. but not all. The more ambitious ones are motivated by a perfect work life balance where they work hard but at the same time spend the right amount of time with family.

Some organizations like Google motivate employees by letting them work on their own personal projects in office time. Others like IBM allow employees to work from home if required. Now all of these do motivate employees to put in their best. This is one area where most Indian corporations have miles to go in developing policies and culture that recognize the individual.

So it is important to recognize that not all fingers are the same. and hence corporations need to plan their employee incentives accordingly.

In the end Master Shifu used the Panda's love for food to train him.

Second lesson, do not treat all competition alike.

Tai Lung the evil warrior was a great fighter. There was no fighter in china who fought the traditional way of Kung Fu who could beat him. In fact he took on the 5 masters alone and defeated them. That made him arrogant and he underestimated the Panda as well.

Now this was his downfall. Panda was not trained in the traditional sense and actually did not look much of a fighter. Tai Lung took the beating of a lifetime, because the harder he punched the harder Panda came back at him. And after a while it became obvious to Tai Lung that it was a lost cause but his arrogance and inflexibility cost him his life.

Often in business we underestimate competition. This is based on our inability to downgrade anyone who is not a competition in the traditional sense. Most auto makers in the US, underestimated the Japanese manufacturers. In India the old business houses did not think too much of Dhirubhai Ambani and many publications did not understand the power of the internet.

History reveals that underestimating competition is dangerous. It is similar to the Georgian knights underestimating the Mongol scouting party under General Subotai. Just because the Mongols looked different and fought differently did not make them less effective. In the end 80,000 Georgian knights lost the battle and their lives to 25,000 odd Mongols.

Finally self belief is the key. Panda always thought that the soup his dad made had this secret ingredient and that made the soup special. But when his father confessed that there was no secret ingredient the Panda realized the importance of self belief.

The dragon scroll was actually an empty piece of parchment, where one could see their own reflection. The dragon scroll was a testament to self belief. In the end Panda did win because he belived.

In the late 70's Steve Jobs believed that he could make computers simpler and make them a dependable tool in the hands of individuals. Computers did exist before that but they were mostly in the hands of enterprises. It was Steve and later Bill Gates who created the first wave for the personal computer.

Later in his career Steve believed that Music industry did not understand the digital movement, and he actually told a bunch of experienced music executives the same. The itunes was born as a result of Steve's belief as how music would be consumed by people.

In a corporation if the leader does not believe then the corporation is doomed. and that has happened over and over again all over the corporate world.

In conclusion Panda can teach business leaders a thing or two about management. The question is are their hearts and minds open to listening from a humble Panda?

I rest my case....

Why listen to music when you can Twaang it....

2012-10-17T12:56:00.000+05:30

There are various sources of inspiration that can fuel a quest for the lesser known in people. For Isaac Newton it was an apple tree in his backyard that inspired him to discover gravity. In Archimedes’ case, a hot bubble bath in a bathtub was inspiring enough to establish the principles of buoyancy. My decision to do an MBA was inspired by a discussion over drinks with a close friend at TGIF. In Vishnu’s case, it was Bangalore traffic.

One sunny afternoon Vishnu was driving down to Yellahanka from Jayanagar, a journey that takes close to 2 hours in average traffic. He was left with little choice of entertainment to help him make this long commute enjoyable. Vishnu has a no specific taste in music and on a normal day likes listening to any song. However, on this commute, he had forgotten his iPod at home and the FM channels available were not playing anything he liked. (“I think it was the RJ on radio that day that got to me,” confessed Vishnu). It was in those two hours of commute (perhaps driven by frustration) that Vishnu got the idea of an application that could stream music to one’s mobile phone. “Not any kind of music but music that you choose as per your preferences,” he says. And thus was born Twaang.

(Source: http://www.facebook.com/Twaang?fref=ts)

A couple of weeks later he and his friend (now co-founder) Sirish tried using their laptop as a server and streamed a couple of MP3 files on a certain wavelength, almost as if they were trying to find their own private FM channel bandwidth on air. That was the first test broadcast of Twaang. Once the idea worked and they were able to stream music and hear it online, they realized that their idea had the potential to grow big.

They choose the name Twaang, as it is sound of the pull of a string, synonymous with the situation both metaphorically as well as literally. Vishnu used to play the violin long time ago, but both Vishnu and Sirish are music buffs.So they did research on the music industry , drew up a business plan.

The business model was fairly simple. No Bollywood music would be broadcast. Everything else would be considered. “There are many channels already airing Bollywood music such as Gana.com, Saavan.com etc. We wanted to be different,” says Vishnu. For now, Indian classical music has been identified as one of the key categories, followed by Indian fusion. To gain access to content in this genre, Twaang has tied up with close to 50 record labels as well as many individual artists and currently has a music library of over 70,000 tracks. Artists include the popular Shubha Mudgal to the elusive first recordings of Ustad Bismillah Khan.

Why artists? Vishnu explained that most artists don’t make enough revenues from record sales. They mostly make money from concerts and appearances. So when Twaang approached them, they were eager to sign up. “We have been very transparent with our contracts. This is the biggest reason why many artists have signed up with us,” he says. Twaang also remains self funded to ensure that artists’ are kept in mind, even as business goes on.

(Source:http://www.facebook.com/Twaang?fref=ts)

For the first year, Twaang will be available free of cost to users and aspires to make money through advertisements. Its members (over 6,000 of them who have signed up for streaming music) comprise a unique demographic – those who prefer carnatic and Hindustani classical music. For certain advertisers like Silk Saree retailers, they represent a gold mine. Vishnu is quick to clarify that no personal information will be shared with advertisers.

From the second year onwards, Twaang plans to introduce subscription-based usage in addition to free usage, reducing the dependence on Ads. The subscription model will allow one to access certain music folders offline, while automatic streaming of music takes place whenever the phone has online access. That way one does not need to be connected to the internet to listen to music. He/ she can access the offline folder and listen to the songs, explains Vishnu.

You can access Twaang via Android platform currently, there are plans for iOS later. It is currently in the Beta testing mode and around 100 people have tested it. “We expect the app to go live by end of October”.

I personally have very little knowledge about Carnatic music, having listened only to Suprabhatam by M.S. Subbulakshmi during my growing up years. But for those who do understand and appreciate such music, Twaang can prove to be a boon.

To register to receive the Twaang application please use this link.

You can also visit them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Twaang?fref=ts.

and on Twitter @twaangmusic

Would you like to access an app like Twaang? Do you see value in such an app? Do share your views.

Rising from the Soap suds: Swadeshi Natures Products

2012-10-02T15:06:00.000+05:30

In the 1700s India contributed to almost 25 % of the global GDP. This was before the collapse of the Mughal empire and the advent of the British colonial rule. Indian industries, mostly handmade goods, dominated global trade. Today however, the scenario is very different. Not only is India’s contribution to global GDP significantly lower, one finds it difficult to see hand made products in urban India, except perhaps in trade fairs or boutique outlets.

I recently exhausted my stock of Fab India soaps (perhaps the most visible handmade soap brand in urban India today) and was looking for alternatives. That is how I discovered Swadeshi Natures Products.

Based in Hyderabad, this handmade soap manufacturing company is the brain child of Dr N.L. Murthy. Dr Murthy is an organic chemist and spent most of his career working for the Tata Group. He retired in 1985 as the Chief R & D Scientist at Tata Oils Mills Company (TOMCO). During his stint at the Tata Group, Dr Murthy was responsible for developmental work on some iconic brands like Hamam, Jai and Moti. After retirement he conceptualized the manufacturing of handmade soaps and thus Swadeshi Natures Products was born in 2010.

Starting with the manufacture of herbal soaps made of jasmine, lavender, rose oil and sandalwood, the company today makes handmade soaps (based on 100% herbal, ayurvedic and Unani formulations), glycerine soaps, hydrosols (herbal water) and essential oils from herbs and roots. The company’s differentiator is that its products are not merely cosmetic but have healing properties, if used regularly. The company uses the knowledge of various traditional and homemade medicinal remedies from Ayurveda, Alchemy, Unani, Aromatherapy, Unani and Tibetan medicine, and combines it with modern soap making technologies to create its products.

“This knowledge and expertise is our largest differentiator,” says Shreenivaas.N.Murthy who leads the marketing efforts for Swadeshi Natures Products. To strengthen this differentiator, the company recently launched a line of soaps under the brand “Flower of Life.” These soaps are made on a technique that combines the best of these traditional medicinal remedies and address specific issues. For instance, the Precious Pearl soap contains real pearl powder, honey and essential oils and is targeted to improve the complexion and remove tan. The clay soap with Mitti ki attar is meant to treat oily/ greasy skin and reduce acne. The Panchagavya soap has anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-septic, and anti-fungal properties, while the Panchamrut soap, containing milk,curd, ghee, honey, sugar candy and lemon oils is meant to be used for moisturizing the skins. Apart from the Flower of Life line of soaps one can find the more familiar shea-butter, neem-tulsi, lavender and rose soaps. The complete range of products made by Swadeshi Natures Products can be found here.

Why do we not see Swadeshi Natures Products anywhere in retail outlets? “Because most of our production is geared towards the export market,” says Shreenivaas. The handmade soap market in India is miniscule and constitutes only 0.5 % of the soap sales(Indian soap market is estimated to be valued at $ 17 Billion according to Indian Mirror), Whereas in Europe they command around 3% market share, he explains. However, the Indian handmade soap market has tremendous growth in the last 5-6 years, thanks to the increasing awareness of their benefits. “Firstly the ingredients are organic and one can select the constituents as per the requirements. Secondly as the soaps are custom made the quality is much superior than machine made soaps. And finally the perfume used [in these soaps] is natural which stays longer and remains fresher,” says Shreenivaas. These soaps, while more expensive than commercial soaps, last longer and definitely do not damage the skin. Shreenivaas sent me a few samples of Swadeshi Natures Products and having tried them, I can vouch for their superior quality.

Seeing the growing demand for these soaps, Swadeshi Natures Products is keen to set up a domestic market distribution network. They currently undertake custom gifting orders. If you want to order for any of the soaps, you can reach out to Shreenivaas.N.Murthy via email (info@handmadesoapsindia.com) or through his mobile number 9849036711.

Do you know any small brands that make quality products? Do write to me and I will feature them in my blog.

Does Corporate India understand social media?

2012-09-26T18:35:00.003+05:30

(Image Courtesy: http://www.themarketingpill.com/how-to-spot-a-social-media-fake)

This blog comes from my friend Archana. She blogs on Straight talk with Arch. Please visit her blog to read the first part of this post.

My last blog post talked about this headline by contrasting the fundamental nature of business with that of social media. It attempted to explain why corporate India seemed to have several “misunderstandings” while dealing with people on social media. At the time, it seemed fair to assume that corporates did not completely understand these differences (given the maturity of social media networks in India) and plunged into this medium simply because it was touted at the next big thing or the competition was on it. However, a recent report by Gartner, could suggest otherwise.

Titled “The Consequences of Fake Fans, ‘Likes’, and Reviews on Social Networks”, the report predicts that by 2014, upto 15 percent of all reviews on social media will be fake and paid for by corporates. This could mean one of two things. That corporates fully understand the challenges in harnessing social media to their advantage and want to take shortcuts to meet their goals by seeking paid/ fake reviews. Or, that corporates continue to be ignorant of how this platform works and are trying to foist business models that have worked while dealing with mainstream media. (Paid placement of articles (infomercials) in mainstream media publications is common practice and is used by companies to launch high-involvement products as well to communicate crisis management and brand revitalization activities. Paid news recently created a controversy when it was discovered that journalists/ managements adopted unethical practices to pass of infomercials as news).

Either way, this could be harmful for brands.

At the core of this issue is the need to “get more” - of followers, space, mind share, downloads, conversations and everything else that is possibly quantifiable. But what does 10 million ‘likes’ on a corporate Facebook page indicate? Do people like the way the page looks? Do they like one or all the services/ products the company provides? Do they like other fans of the company page? One can never say because we are impulsive in our like or dislike of many things. To make matters worse social networking platforms are engineered to thrive on breadth and not depth of content. This means, the more ‘likes’ you have the more active you are perceived to be.

I am a vegetarian but like watching Masterchef Australia, (where most dishes are non-vegetarian) because of the show’s presentation. I may therefore ‘like’ the social media pages created by Masterchef Australia. Can Masterchef Australia sell me anything from their show? Except for aprons, maybe not. Can they engage with me by sharing some recipes? Unlikely, because their vegetarian recipes are bland to my taste buds. What kind of a fan does that make me? A pretty useless one.

Companies that genuinely want to engage on social media don’t like to be saddled with fans paying them lip service. They would rather have fewer fans engaging deeply and willing to collaborate with them on various aspects of their product/ service. Indian corporates must understand this. India has the world’s largest population and getting numbers (of people) to like/ dislike something has never been an issue. Whether it is world peace, municipality woes or Rajnikanth, Indians always have an opinion on everything under the sun. The tougher job for corporates is to figure out whose opinion is transient and whose isn’t. If companies stop chasing numbers and embrace engagement, customer advocacy will oust paid / fake reviews.

Beat the Bangalore traffic with this terrific application

2012-09-12T15:36:00.001+05:30

A couple of weeks ago, while returning home from work in Bangalore, I was stuck in a traffic jam that lasted 2 hours on a stretch that was less than 5km long. The next day morning I read news of the Delhi government removing the toll on the much publicized Delhi-Gurgaon toll road. The reason – terrible traffic and toll management that was leading to hour- long queues of vehicles before the toll gates. The drivers had enough and insisted on not paying any toll if they had to wait this long.

What is the solution to this traffic madness? India has seen the highest vehicular growth in the last few years (two and four wheelers), compared to any other country. Clearly banning or limiting purchase of vehicles or their plying on roads is clearly not a viable solution. Neither is permanent work- from –home. While the Thumbs Up Mahesh Babu “toofani ” ads are nice to look at but offer no practical traffic beating solutions. Most people I know, just use their time in traffic to make important calls or browse the Internet using their smart phones. I was doing the same one day when I chanced upon an application called TrafficMate.

The App, owned by Indian Traffic Network and built on Android and iPhone OS, claims to ease traffic snarls by offering motorists real time updates on traffic. One can download the app and share updates and also view them on the website. The product is in its development stage with beta release due shortly. In its future versions, the company plans to add features to the App such as providing users with alternate routes they can take to commute through high traffic areas. There is also another module in the TrafficMate app for Emergency Services Organisations where they can provide geographic advisories or alerts to users. Ambulance routes are also to be included to alert motorists of approaching or nearby ambulances so they get time to try and make a clear way for emergency ambulance traffic.

I contacted Michael (“Mick”) Paul, CEO, Indian Traffic Network, to understand the inspiration behind such an App and most importantly – would it work?
Mick is an engineer with close to 30 years of experience in the traffic management business and has worked with firms like Motorola (as Chief Engineer of an International Division) the Japan Traffic Network (as Techincal Director), OneTel (GSM) and then with web-based clients who wanted to develop apps for traffic management.

Why Traffic? “Traffic has become a social problem, every major city in the world suffers traffic issues every day during peak traffic hours, morning and evening. While the issues may vary slightly between cities the problems remain the same - Motorists spending too much time stuck in traffic jams due to road infrastructure capacity during peak hour rush,” says Mick.

(Source:www.Indian Traffic Network.in)

The trigger therefore was to do more with gathered traffic information every day. Media businesses focused on traffic management typically broadcast traffic on commercial radio and/ or TV. They gather, verify, script and broadcast a lot about traffic every day and then discard that information. Mick’s former employers were no different. “I believed that there was more that we can do with the information by data basing and creating historical data sets, calculating ‘mean averages’ for any road for any time or day of the week, for that matter for any season or weather condition,” he says. Ultimately, creating a predictive travel times for users and merging it with more traditional traffic “incident” information in real time, gave motorists an edge.

This has worked well in the case of Australian Traffic Network (ATN). ATN which started as a small effort in 1997, today supplies traffic information to over 70 radio stations in Australia and many TV channels as well.

But will this work in India? Mick thinks so. Although the App is yet released, people who have heard of it have received the idea well. Plus Mick is seeing interest in the App from other companies and sees this as a positive sign. “I do expect that that release version 1.0 will make a significant impact – simply giving users traffic alerts that are truly relevant to them will help motorists make route decisions. V1.1 will have more features like providing users with alternate routes where ever possible and practical.”

I look forward to the App release in Android stores soon.

Do you think such an App would make a difference to your life in traffic? I would like to hear your views.

Do Bloggers need a representative body?

2012-09-04T20:03:00.000+05:30

(This is post has been written by friend Archana Venkat. She was inspired to write the post after the treatment melted out to the two Indian bloggers by electronics firm Samsung at the IFA event in Berlin. She blogs on straighttalkwitharch)

(Image Courtesy: http://seo.futurebloggersystems.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/07/iStock_000012580925Small2.jpg)

A couple of independent Indian bloggers were recently left stranded at an event in Berlin, after they refused to succumb to threats by Samsung forcing them to promote their products. The two bloggers were picked through a contest and were offered a chance to preview the latest Samsung gadgets at an international event and write an unbiased review. In return, Samsung offered to fly them to the event and pay for their hotel charges – much like a junket for journalists.

However, things went horribly wrong and upon landing the bloggers were asked to promote the product (they had to originally review) by wearing Samsung uniforms and standing in the company’s booth. Upon their refusal Samsung threatened to leave them stranded in Berlin and cancelled their return tickets as well as hotel stay. Luckily for the bloggers, another mobile phone company offered to help. This episode has shocked the blogging fraternity and they have reacted strongly to it. (More details pertaining to the issue can be read at this link.)

While the media has pitted this as a personal issue between the two bloggers and the corporation, the real problem lies deeper. This situation, to a large extent, can be attributed to the lack of formal structure of operations as well as the absence of blogger associations who can set some ground rules for independent bloggers. Blogs are largely seen as one’s personal space and views on a blog are usually biased to reflect that individual’s perspective. This makes the content less than credible to provide a holistic perspective of any issue for public consumption.

This perhaps explains the media’s general reluctance to reach out to bloggers to get perspectives for any story or syndicate any columns. Few media organizations, such as NDTV Profit, routinely feature bloggers for select programmes and seek their views on developing stories. CNN-IBN’s Citizen Journalist initiative, although asks people to share their stories, does not feature them regularly in its news segments. HT Mint too publishes blogger opinions, albeit selectively.

However, with the rise of social media as a channel to influence customers and prospects, many corporations are looking to build their online image - with a little help from influential bloggers. Thanks to the absence of any blogger guidelines (self imposed or otherwise), corporations and PR agencies are willing to pay bloggers in return for positive coverage. This makes bloggers easy baits for plugs and poses a threat to their independence.

A formal blogger community or association can significantly alter the public perception of independent bloggers enhancing their role in society. Bloggers can have three distinct benefits from such an entity.

Professionalism: Independent bloggers believe they write credible content on the issues they are passionate about. Mainstream media does not seem to think so. The gap lies in the fact that there are no guidelines governing how and what bloggers are encouraged to write about. Newspapers on the other hand have a detailed policy pertaining to what constitutes news, how it should be covered and what kind of opportunities a journalist must not seek. Additionally, sponsored stories are clearly mentioned so. A story in the Mint, highlighted this aspect while covering the Samsung incident. It stated the special conditions under which a junket is permissible and what dos and don’ts reporters of the paper must follow.

Similar to those lines, blogger associations can evolve a policy that sets certain benchmarks amongst its members. For example, the US-based Independent Theatre Bloggers Association clearly outlines that bloggers write about theatre productions of their choice without taking money or being prodded by agents with vested interests. Only the association deals with PR agencies and the press. Member bloggers are requested to inform the association in case any PR agent or journalist contacts them directly. That way the association is able to ensure that bloggers comply with the general ethos of the association.

Awareness and Effectiveness: Most bloggers are prolific writers but few seek inputs from other bloggers who do not share their perspectives on a subject. By and large most blog posts focus on “consensus of complementary ideas” and not “disagreement”. Further, bloggers do little research on similar topics in the public domain to quote the relevant material in their posts. The Samsung case exposed the naivete of the two bloggers who travelled to Berlin, without the knowledge that they would be asked to promote the product, especially, when there was sufficient public information on the Samsung programme in countries like the UK. An article in the Guardian details this paid promotional initiative to get bloggers to creatively talk about the latest Samsung products/ services. Had the Indian bloggers read this prior to their participation and reached out to some of the bloggers in other geographies, they could have had realistic expectations from their trip.

A formal association can expose bloggers to varied opinions and encourage them to seek effective dialogue with fellow members. The Indian website Indiblogger does a commendable job of this by asking members to review each others’ blog posts and share recommendations for improvement. It also regularly promotes contests on the site by informing bloggers in detail about what they should and should not do. These contests are judged by both members and the corporate sponsoring the contest to ensure impartiality. Further, any complaints such as non-receipt of gifts upon winning a contest or other promises not kept by corporate are promptly addressed by the administrators.

Legitimacy: For blogging to be seen as a powerful alternative voice of the people, it needs recognition from mainstream media. This recognition would come only if the fraternity is committed to operating procedures. An association can go beyond helping create operating procedures to supporting members against any attacks from third parties. In the Samsung case, one is not clear about the stand taken by Unleash the Phone, the website which one of the bloggers represented. Although the company issued a public apology, one is unsure of the other consequences that the bloggers might face (for dishonoring their commitment) including asking for payment of the one-way trip or withdrawal of any other perks which they may have enjoyed. In this situation, the bloggers would have to fight their own case, with little legal support from the organizations they represented.

An association that can back its members would come in useful in this situation as it would not only provide support but also any resources the members can use such as lawyers and other experts.

With the government banning social media sites, it is only a matter of time before powerful corporations can wield the same kind of power on independent bloggers who do not tow their line. Until such time that blogger associations come up, bloggers will have to do with a poorly crafted apologies claiming “miscommunication”.

Manchester United Case study on the use of Facebook for supporter engagement

2012-08-26T12:07:00.001+05:30

Many brands have been using Facebook to engage customers and prospects very actively.

Manchester United probably one of the most popular football clubs in the world, has leveraged Facebook not only to listen to fans and get their inputs into the team but also to engage them.

I also like the way they have used FB to create awareness in markets like the United States, Argentina and Mexico. These markets have their local clubs which are also very popular, but using the players form these countries as ambassadors for the engagement was also a good idea.

At the end of the day United is always about the supporters. Its us against the world and FB strategy is an extension of the same..

here is the link to the video on the case study...

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=883510820071

(Source: www.Facebook.com)

The disruption of the Indian higher education system: Socializing the anti-socials

2012-08-24T12:50:00.000+05:30

The Indian Higher education sector is valued at roughly $ 11 Billion. This segment includes only those Indians who enroll for degree courses in India. In addition there are almost $ 13 Billion spent annually by Indian students seeking admission to foreign universities.
This makes the total higher education pie of almost $ 24 Billion.

So that is a significant market if one thinks of the sheer numbers that are available for Indian education institutions. In this environment it is important for organizations to harness the power of disruptive creation. One of those sources could be social media.
Using teaching tools based on Social media could not only enhance the quality of education but also convert some of the foreign aspirants to start considering Indian institutions in their quest for higher education.

The other significant number is that the number of Indian students opting for higher studies is only 11% of the school pass outs. This is much lower than the global average of 23%. This creates another opportunity for institutions to invest in tools like Share Point, Yammer, Jive or Connections and integrate them with video facilities like Skype to create virtual class rooms of the future.

I think the ball is in our court and it is time to disrupt the status quo…
Do let me know what do you think? Do Indian education institutions have the guts to aim for glory or is it going to be the same old story…
(Source for figures:IDFC SSKI & CSLA Education research report)

How an Indian start up is joining the global fight against Diabetes:The Diabeto way

2012-08-08T13:59:00.002+05:30

Diabetes today affects more than 350 million people across the globe. And the numbers are growing daily. It is a condition in which the insulin producing capacity of the body is severely reduced and this results in uncontrolled blood sugar. This can, in chronic conditions, lead to delayed healing of wounds, failure of eye sight, kidney disorders and even death. One of the challenges of Diabetes management has been the need for continuous monitoring of blood glucose levels.

Remote monitoring is the most effective system to combat diabetes.
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Traditionally doctors would prescribe tests to be carried out in labs. But of late there are many home glucose monitors that can monitor the levels daily. Unfortunately all these readings would either have to be written down manually or entered into an excel sheet in the computer.

Realizing the problem faced by his diabetic father daily, Shreekanth Pawar, a Mumbai based pharmacist and founder of Farasbee, started working on a device that will connect the home glucose monitor with a smart phone. He was joined on this mission by another young engineer Himanshu Jain and together they have created what is probably India’s first remote blood glucose monitoring device ‘Diabeto”.
‘Diabeto’ is a remote monitoring device that connects the glucometer to a smart phone through blue tooth. Diabeto was designed by an Industrial designer in India and currently 20 pieces are available. Bulk production is planned in India and China. The device can be charged using a USB charger and can last for 2-3 days once charged fully. It also has an auto switch off function if not used for more than 2 minutes. To learn more about Diabeto click here.

(Diabeto:Source www.diabe.teo)

Currently 5 types of glucometers are compatible with Diabeto and soon more meters will be added to the list. According to Shreekanth, who is the currently the founder CMO for Farasbee, the parent company that created Diabeto, the plan is to launch the product in the US and Europe first as most Glucometers available in India don’t have data ports. But an India launch is very much on the horizon.
Physicians agree that using a tracking device to monitor blood glucose levels is cost effective and also raises compliance levels. It also helps physicians to take corrective action if the levels are not within the normal parameters. Also in case of Type 1 or Juvenile onset Diabetes it is very useful as some children may not want to give correct readings driven by the desire to consume sweets.

Patient compliance with Diabetes treatment is higher if mobile technology is used in the treatment.

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Currently Farasbee is in talks with Pharmaceutical firms and Glucometer manufacturers. “The objective is to find a partner with distribution capability,” says Himanshu Jain, co-founder and COO. In addition to launching it in the US and Europe, Diabeto would need Food and Drug Administration (FDA ) approval in addition to the CEE.

For the device to gain traction, the company has developed a “Diabeto” android application which will allow patients to see their data on their smart phones. The application can be freely downloaded from the Google Play stores. It allows you to store the data with comments. Eventually it is proposed that this application would allow you to send the data as an SMS to your physician. Currently there is an option to export the data to an excel sheet or to email the readings to the physician. There are also plans to launch the Diabeto application version on Apple iOS.

(The Diabeto android app)

Diabeto actually sits at the convergence of Hardware (device), product engineering, Applications (Android), mobility and healthcare. To make such a product work there were multiple teams working together towards the common vision and that was the biggest challenge that Diabeto faced says CMO Shreekanth.

To make sure that they leverage technology appropriately, CMO Shreekanth is focusing on e-commerce as a channel to sell the product. The plan is to price Diabeto in the $ 55- 80 price range, which makes it cheaper than the other devices. Eventually he expects physical retailers to stock up Diabeto as well.

What does the future hold for the team ‘Diabeto’? Well the future seems bright. They have just qualified for the “Power of ideas 2012” contest organized by Economic times. They have been covered by Economic Times as part of the contest and are covered by other healthcare thought leaders as well. They have recently opened their US office in New Jersey and next month Shreekanth is planning to travel to Europe to meet potential partners. The company is overall led by Amir Shaik who is the founder of the file sharing site’yousendit’.

There are plans to launch services around Diabeto and currently the team is strategizing on that and is looking at cloud based services. Shreekanth who has founded other companies like ‘toonio.com’,’ toonwork’ and ‘tritontech’ feels that it is a matter of time before they target other therapeutic areas for remote monitoring.

In a world where the battle with Diabetes has entered a definitive stage, this Indian start-up is doing its bit for society and I hope for our sake they succeed.

Farasbee Team

(CEO Amir Shaik)

(COO Himanshu Jain)

(CMO: Shreekanth Pawar)

What ails Indian manufacturing? Lessons from the Maruti Suzuki episode at Manesar

2012-07-23T10:25:00.003+05:30

(Image source: www.ft.com)

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The recent events in the Maruti-Suzuki factory in Manesar shocked the entire nation, but it just an example of the underlying discontent within the manufacturing sector in the country. Indian manufacturing has never been the darling of the masses unlike its services and agricultural counter parts.

Manufacturing sector came off in very bad shape thanks to License raj and by the time Indian liberalization came about, we were way behind counties like Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and China.

The Indian story was never a manufacturing story but rather an agricultural story that was abruptly high jacked by services.
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The Manufacturing sector has been in more trouble since the 1990’s as evident by these two findings.A study by Unni, Lalitha and Rani in 2000 showed that industrial productivity both in the organized and the unorganized sector has actually declined in the 1990’s. A study by McKinsey showed that Indian labor productivity was only 15 % of the global highest standards as displayed by China.

This they felt was a direct impact of low wages, lack of investment in technology to improve productivity, process improvements and better managerial practices.
Though some firms like the TATA’s, Bharat Forge, Moser Baer and Mahindra’s have shown that Indian Manufacturing sector can compete; these are more of the exceptions than the norm.

There have been many reasons for the lack of new Industrial activity in the country. According to Prof Rishikesha T Krishnan of IIM Bangalore,author of the best seller, "From Jugaad to systemic innovation" the lack of infrastructure, followed by the environmental clearances required and capped by inspections are the three main reasons for the inertia among budding entrepreneurs in setting up manufacturing.

As compared to this we have IIM graduates take up Dairy and Organic farming. And we have technologists forming services firms. But rarely would you hear the setting up of manufacturing unit.

Also PE and venture capital in India traditionally chases services opportunities, with its high rate of return and low exit barriers. Manufacturing on the other hand is a Capital intensive industry with a high exit barrier.

But I think the biggest stumbling block for manufacturing is the lack of man power in India. The low wage, poorly skilled manpower, whether in construction or in factories is really the final nail in the coffin for Indian manufacturing. This has led to simmering discontentment among the blue collar workers.

As the industries get more competitive and price is the only differentiator, cost cutting at the expense of the workers has led to the incident at Manesar.

The incident and unrest may have been controlled but the implications ill echo for a while, and the starting point may be Maruti may lose its number one status in India. But Indian manufacturing may never find its status in the global economy.

Android captures more than 50 % market share in the US

2012-07-13T17:22:00.000+05:30

Social Media Poll

2012-07-11T20:53:00.000+05:30