Media and Marketing

Sex Education in India: A case of Marketing Revamp for a proper Re-Introduction

2012-01-25T07:56:00.001-05:00

If you are still blaming those uncanny politicians for banning sex education in India, think again. The issue has moved beyond realms of biology and moved into the core area of Marketing.

For the uninitiated, let me say a few words about Marketing to set things in perspective. Marketing is the holy grail of Management (or even Governance as in State matters) that aims to meet the needs of the society at any point of time with relevant products, services and ideas.

You must be wondering why I am getting into defining Marketing. This was just to eliminate that ubiquitous feeling among people that marketing is about telling lies and selling more.

Now what has "Sex Education" got to do with Marketing? Lots, to say the least. First of all, Sex Education is a bundle of ideas (product) that has its own target audience living in India. Sex Education was conceived with an idea to educate and thereby protect the interest of children who would develop life skills eventually. Thus Sex Education becomes the product and the school, college & children become the TG ( Target Group).

The Children of Today

Now, comes the tricky part. The syllabus or the content of the Sex Education was totally modeled on the U.S. education system. U.S. as we all know has always nurtured a totally different (and drastic) approach and ethos abut sex. The societal values depict the same.

In U.S., sex education is imparted with an objective to "just" protect children from having an unhealthy sex and lead a sexually satisfactory life.

However, in India, the approach to sex ( though is changing) has always been towards abstinence from sex till marriage. Thus the need of the Indian society from sex education is to propagate this widely held belief that is being imparted from one to the next generation. Children today are already being exposed to a huge media pourings of explicit sexuality. Children today pick up things easy and fast from various sources. However they are not geared up to rightly interpret them. The burden falls on the parents and the teachers.

The Indian Value System:

As already mentioned, knowing Indian value system and the cultural context plays an important role in devising suitable ways of imparting sex education in India. So Piya Sarcar, the founder and CEO of TeachAIDS, has developed an interactive software to educate children about HIV in a way that's sensitive to the country's cultural mores. ( Ref: Technology Review). She kept a tab on the cultural responses to each and everything that went into her design and measured it against the local cultural ethos to ensure acceptability. As a result, even States who banned sex education have approved and distributed her software.

This is a perfect case of Marketing gone wrong and right ( by Sorcar) !! There is still a case for re-introducing sex education in India, if the team handling the project does a careful analysis of the needs of Indian society and then carefully positions it in a way that is acceptable to the society. So what can the Govt. do about it? Here is a pointer,

Consult parents, students, child psychiatrists and culture experts before finalizing on the syllabus and its intonation

Test these across India for suitability with each and every language and cultural specific requirements

Show it to select group of parents, teachers and students to get their feedback and fine tune the syllabus and methods of delivery so it fits into the cultural framework of India

Assure all the stakeholders of the care that has been taken this time around and how it will benefit the children.

In fact, as a first step, the schools and colleges should educate parents with sex education and how they can deal with their children on the subject. This will make parents sensitive to the challenges faced by educators.

Hopefully, we will soon see a re-introduction of the subject in schools with a clear objective delivered within the cultural framework.

Re-Draft SOPA: But Protect Freedom of Expression

2012-01-23T07:03:00.001-05:00

At the outset, let me state that I am all in favour of Freedom of Expression whether it is Internet or Offline. However, I do have my reservations on a total opposition to an Act like SOPA ( Stop Online Piracy Act) or similar bills / laws of other countries.

Even a rented house where a prostitution is going on is liable for penalty. The owner cannot close his eyes and say that he is innocent and cannot control what is happening in the house even if it is illegal. As a principal of the house, he is responsible for what goes on inside the house. Digital Space by contrast is very vast but in principle is pretty similar to a rented house. Each post on FB and Google is a rented space. They cannot keep benefiting from the content and then stay immune from the negative consequences of the content. Today, the bill may have been mooted because one section of the society is affected. The same can happen to any other section and they are bound to feel offended. Freedom of Expression should not be confused with Freedom to Malign.

SOPA or other Acts aimed at regulating the net are a daring attempt to regulate an almost infinite digital space, by and large considered as almost impossible to regulate. The way citizens have responsibility to live a law abiding life, even netizens have the similar duty and are responsible in creating a congenial atmosphere for a healthy internet.

Sooner or later, these Internet giants will have to devise smart technological ways of putting an end to illegal or vulgar content on the site. As more and more citizens including children hop on to the net, the policy maker's intention cannot be ignored in its spirit. SOPA should be re-drafted to create a congenial way of dealing with this ever increasing mis-use of the Internet platform. If it happens, I hope the Internet companies will be taken into confidence and the net result will be a consensual and inclusive Bill.

Lokpal Movement: Why Anna Hazare should be a case study in Management Schools

2011-12-30T13:54:00.002-05:00

India is a land of many issues. We have issues of poverty, health, nutrition, sanitation and what not. But one issue that lies at the core of every other issue is corruption. It renders every fight against every issue useless. That is when Anna Hazare stepped in. Though he has been fighting corruption for many years now, he found a national platform thanks to the national media and the kind of followership he amassed.Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter were also abuzz with support to this new Gandhi.

How is that a guy as simple as Anna Hazare could influence the educated, the literate and the barely literate class to come together in such large numbers? It's almost as unique as what Mahatma Gandhi himself did decades ago - uniting the whole nation. There are nay-sayers all the time, but that has not deterred the supporters of this movement.

What makes this movement worthy of study by every Management school is the dynamism of leadership. In an age where corporate bigwigs like Raju of Satyam went on lecturing in places like ISB and IIMs on corporate governance and ethics and fell from grace, Anna Hazare used his intrinsic strength of honesty and modesty to unite a fragmented society. He provided unity of objectives and a clear direction to lakhs of people. Though Anna himself is not a legal expert, he has stalwarts in this area to guide him in the right direction : another trait of a successful leader -to nurture the right talent. So charming is his simplicity that even those who did not participate on the street demonstration wished they could some how contribute to this movement. And all this against a behemoth ( competitor ? ) like Congress Govt.

It's time we bring this quintessential and timeless qualities of leadership to the fore and make them a part of every Management study where the definition of a manager is one who "gets things done" by hook or crook!!

Global is the new Local: Relevance of cultural localization in the new age media

2011-07-05T11:00:00.003-04:00

The often quoted mantra in the new globalised era is "Think Global Act Local". It is also advocated that marketers should incorporate the local cultures into consideration before planning their communication.

However, some of the recent trends and especially the marketing communication practices of large and new entrants have pointed to something else. Brands are not approaching each market with a localized offering. The explosion of television & online media seem to have made uniformity a new market reality. National television channels, international news and happenings, Youtube videos, Facebook comments and constant tweets make people realize that they are a part of a greater cause, a bigger geography and therefore a bigger identity. Thus an "emotional uniformity" seeps into their thinking.

We are now becoming global citizens. The pain and aspiration of an African kid is now as real to us as a guy in Delhi or Bangalore. Real time media has played its part in bringing people from across the continent closer. We can now relate to their emotions, pains, pleasures and even needs. This gives the companies an edge in communication, where they need not localize everything. Because what is global is also in effect local.

Healthy Mobile Services: The new gap in the mobile market

2011-06-24T03:12:00.001-04:00

The recent studies by WHO(World Health Organisation) indicating that mobiles and even other devices emanate cancer causing radiation, has actually thrown open a new market!!

The mobile operators and manufacturers will do well to remember that their continued foray into the segment is now in danger. If more and more studies reveal serious risk to health, the entire industry may take a hit. It's time for these players to start research into bringing mobile phones, accessories and applications that are healthy for use by the public.

It is often argued that the ones "within the wave" are not the ones to "create the next wave". Refrigerators were not created by ice factories and biotechnology is not created by manufacturers of refrigerators. If there is an opportunity for the mobile players, it is now. In fact, in the new scenario, it is the ailing Nokia and its big cousins who have a natural advantage. They have been bitten badly by the likes of Micromax and Karbonn through a series of launches that are rich in features and cool in prices at intervals that simply beat the R&D departments of big companies. But Nokia, Alcatel, Philips and the likes have big R&D centers which they can now re-orient towards building of devices that are healthy. And this itself will become the next big differentiator for the companies.

Marketing to the Minority Communities: Identifying gaps and new opportunities

2011-05-01T05:07:00.001-04:00

As a growing adult, I found it quite difficult to mingle with boys of my age. The simple reason being that they all centered on “bollywood” or “cricket”. There were hardly any other things discussed and even if I initiated such a discussion, it was either considered too big or something to be joked about. I am sure everywhere you will come across such people who do not associate themselves with the mainstream interests of men. The “minority men” or “minority women” as I would like to call them, actually are not too different. Even they have the need for excitement and entertainment. But they seek it outside these two main indulgences and thus become minorities.

And as a market segment, they surely have a different psychographic profile if not a demographic one. Marketers are increasingly beginning to cater to such segments everywhere. Cinemas like “Peepli Live” & “Taare Zameen Par”, Channels like “World Movies” are some popular examples catering to such minority communities. It is not necessary to be a minority yourself to understand this community. The World Movies channel is from the same stable which has launched “UTV Bindaas” aimed at the massive youth of India. The size of this minority community is also growing, emphasizing a need to cater to them with specialized products and services.

Is this niche marketing? This is not necessarily the same as “niche marketing”. Niche markets may still cater to smaller markets comprising of mass audience. Media offers immense opportunities in this area. Recently a popular FM radio station, created a slot for the Indian classical music on their station. The program captures the potential of this minority community, especially in those slots, where a mainstream program may not fetch the desired rating for the programs. Even Sony Pix is now beginning to air some rare movies of the world on late night slots.

Going further there will be more specialized services for the minorities.

Single sports mania is so Un-Indian!

2011-04-16T05:28:00.002-04:00

Let me be honest. I thoroughly enjoyed the India-Pakistan match in the WC. There is no doubt cricket is the most dominating sports in India. But it’s simply un-Indian and very unlike India. Can we imagine idli-sambar being the most loved breakfast across India? Or “Paneer Mutter” being the most popular gravy of India? Nope. The same goes with our clothing, language, culture and all the diverse nuances that India is known for. But when it comes to sports, the heavy tilt towards cricket is unbelievable. Not only the people but even the Government and media are skewed towards this game. The un-briddled attention that it gets makes it sound to the young boys that it’s the only game worth playing.

In my childhood, we used to play a variety of games, many of whom were kind of local inventions. They encouraged us to think creatively, use all our skills and faculties and help us understand our strengths and weaknesses. Today I see almost every boy running around with a bat and a ball. The imagination begins and ends with that game. This is definitely not a healthy trend for the sports diversity of India. The Govt. should take steps to ensure that even other games get their due attention. This will be in the interest of all the youngsters whose power of knowledge, skills and imagination is just taking wings. A well diversified sports-engaged nation is the beginning of a truly healthy India.

Google +1 : An open invitation to Black Hat SEO?

2011-04-02T02:36:00.001-04:00

It is quite ironic that Google +1 comes in the backdrop of the penalty from Federal Trade Communication(FTC) on the Google Buzz issue. The very fact on which Google Buzz got nailed down upon, is the new marketing fact that will drive Google +1. It is a tool that will now "with a consent", open your private browsing patterns to the whole world. Sneakers like Govt., competitors, rivals( personal and professional) will soon see what you have seen.

The question now is how Google is planning to control the flip side of this tool by black hat SEO guys. These guys will create fake Google profiles, search for their favorite results and start +1. And if Google starts taking the +1 markings into their ranking algorithm, it will surely impact the SERPs adversely.

With Google Buzz issue still fresh like an unhealed wound and in its rush to compete with Twitter and Facebook, we should hope Google will not jump guns in the matter of +1.

Who should be incharge of Social Media in your Company?

2011-02-15T13:00:00.000-05:00

First things first: Who interfaces the Social Media in your company most of the times and Why? The answer is clearly the "Marketing" guy from the Marketing dept. But why? This is slightly tricky. But here is a try. Because, the very first expectation of the management is to eke out maximum benefit from this newly discovered channel. But that's where the point gets missed. Social media is truly social in nature. It's a place for everyone. It brings people of all functions from within a company.

Linkedin for example is a victim of such false expectations form a social media channel. The vast no. of communities inside it have been created and moderated to seek out pre-determined marketing results. The comments have vanished and recently Linkedin had to make an amend to its email notifications where instead of saying "zero" comments they have started saying "add a comment", just to sound more positive. Plus they have brought in "open groups" concept to get more participation and conversation flowing into the groups. Similar has been the fate of many other social media channels; the falling levels of engagement. One can today see that he is a member of many groups on Facebook, Linkedin or Orkut, but they are visited very rarely and eventually the interest level falls. The monotonous comments on Twitter & irrelevant followers are also an ample evidence of falling engagement.

Social Media should be just what it is. Truly social. The suggestion that others in your organization should also participate is a little scary to begin with. But with careful mentoring by the marketing department and the management, a company can in fact see a surge in their social media presence. Different functions of the organization bring in their core expertise to the channel, giving authenticity to the conversation that a company is having in the channel. In fact, I have observed that groups who are moderated by functional experts/ subject matter experts are far more engaged and active than those formed by marketing guys with a pre-defined goal of ROI.

It's time, we allow the social media to take its due hold in the organization freeing itself from the water-tight compartment of the marketing dept.

An imagingary interview with Swami Vivekananda on Communication and Relationships!

2010-11-26T21:40:00.000-05:00

He is perhaps the most sought after Swamiji. The media, the Kings, the general public are going crazy with his philosophy and preachings. After hours of waiting, I finally managed to get about 4 minutes to interview him. Excerpts.

Q. Why do you think people are so mad about Religion?
Ans. They are not. They are mad about their own life. The products you buy, the job you do, the girl you marry- are all about your life.

Q. Why do they listen to you?
Ans. I give clarity. Life is complex and religious books are far more complex. I make it simple.

Q. Who is your target audience?
Ans. The youth. They are today dis-illusioned and need a robust support to go ahead and make it big in their life. We need to move as a nation.

Q. Why was "sisters and brothers of America" intro at the Parliament of Word Religions so awe-inspiring for people?
Ans.Because I meant it when I said it. Remember, this slogan was used in the conference 7 times by others before I addressed it.

Q. Why are political authorities attracted to you?
Ans. Earlier each King was associated with a person who was well versed in interpretation of scriptures for governance. In a decentralised environment, it is the authorities who do governance. But there is no person to guide them in the right direction. I just happen to fill that vacuum.

Q. Do you advocate celibacy for others also?
Ans. No, not at all. I am all for pro-creation.

Q. Then why are you practicing it? Wouldn't you be better off with a wife?
Ans. My mission and path are too difficult for a family venture.

Q. What do you say about live-in relationships?
Ans. It's nothing new. Ancient days had similar relations albeit in a different form. However, people need not be so scared of getting married.

Q. People are after profits, who will serve the nation?
Ans. Profits are the results of Karma. They are not bad. The goal is to manifest divinity through work or worship or psychic control or philosophy. As for the nation, the next big profits will be through human service.

What is Google doing now a days?

2009-12-16T09:43:00.000-05:00

What's Google upto? See this long video and find out yourself.

What could be the Next Possible Innovation of Twitter?

2009-11-16T23:45:00.000-05:00

Now that text form of Twitter is so popular, I thought I will put myself into the shoes of a product manager at Twitter and come up with at least 3 possible innovations that Twitter may be working on.

1. Photo Tweet

It's self explanatory. Just like the 160 character limit, the size and dimension of the photos can have a limit.

A possible Photo Tweet may look like this,

2. Video Tweet

Again self explanatory. But just a slight twist. The video file has to play then and there and within 60 seconds. Otherwise the Tweet will not fit into the overall brand of Twitter as a "quick read and move on" type of service

A possible Video tweet may look like this.

Infact this Video Tweet has the potential to change the very face of Advertising.

3. Who is Online

A quite often used feature in messengers and email systems. Can add sufficient value in terms of interaction.

A possible appearance may be like this,

Thinking about some more....will update soon.

An imaginary interview with Mahatma Gandhi on Strategy and Innovation!

2009-11-09T00:02:00.000-05:00

The movement to free India from the clutches of the British raj is growing by the day. At the centre of this movement is Mr.Mohandas K Gandhi, fondly called Baapu and widely known as Mahatma. We have all seen how tight lipped and arrogant are the people who seem to enjoy so much of attention from people, media and the authorities. I met up this man, dressed in Khadi dhoti and sitting behind the rolling Charkha.

Q. You recently closed the "Freedom through Violence" product line? What's the idea?
Answer: You see, there was no strategic fit for the unit in the Congress. It had started cannibalising into our existing market share.

Q. But Mr.Bose says his objectives are the same as yours and you are being lame to admit it
Answer: The point is not in the objectives. It's about the tools you use to achieve them. We use non-violence and so far our market share has only increased through it, thus bringing us closer to getting the deal ( read Independence). Let's admit it, Indians do not have it in their blood to be violent enough to get this deal.

Q. Why do you think the western media is paying so much attention to you?

Answer: They simply can't believe a man dressed so soberly can speak such good English and create a revolution.

Q. Talking about Mr.Nehru, how indisputable is your leadership?

Answer: Mr.Nehru is our PR guy and an urban face. He liasons with the British and also spreads a strong word of mouth among the fast growing segment - the "English speaking Indians". Being a Chairman, I need to support my CEO.

Q. The freedom struggle is revolving around the same messaging viz., the injustice of the authorities and calling for a ban on several of the laws and by-laws. Do you think the communication has turned cliched?
Answer: Yes, I agree. All these days, we had people extending issue-based suport. So we had many divisions protesting against by-laws and other injustices of the British Raj. But we are now working on a new nation-wide campaign. It's called "Quit India". It will be launched soon. We are tapping every segment of the society with this campaign. Since it has a universal theme to it, the message will cut across the entire target audience.

Q. It appears the freedom movement is in its final stage. How soon do you think India will be free?
Answer: India will never be free.

Q.What? But aren't you fighting for it yourself?
Answer: Yes, and we will be free from the British raj. But what about freedom from poverty, anarchy and social imbalance?

Q. One last question. Why such a frugal clothing?
Answer: Sometimes to be for the people, you have to be of the people.

Guy Kawasaki in Bangalore: Bang on in Entrepreneurship

2009-11-06T09:05:00.000-05:00

A Guy who listens to thousands of creative ideas must be really going nuts! Guy Kawasaki was in Bangalore talking on Entrepreneurship and also his personal preferences on Tech platforms.

Don't know why, but listening to him is like pressing F5 all the time! Watch!

Web 2.0 Vs Web 1.0 - The media Vs message conflict

2009-08-10T10:40:00.000-04:00

After being on the job of Web 2.0 for quite some time now, its pretty easy to go gung-ho about it and project it as "the" thing in marketing. Yet when I look at the menial amount of money that is being spent online and much less in the social media platforms, I was reminded of a classic observation by one of the marketers on the effectiveness of messaging. The observer pointed out that the marketing efforts were more successful if consumers spent more time interacting with the brand rather than the medium. Marketing efforts fetched more response if the consumer was not so busy interacting with the medium, which is when, he can actually look at the messaging and allow some kind of internalization.

However, medium is a powerful way of engaging the people and they spend a great deal of time talking about brands and products online. They tweet about it, complain on facebook, write on mouthshut, recommend on linkedin and so on. Putting this behaviour of the customer of ignoring the messaging on one hand and yet talking about brands, into a single cohesive framework, is pretty difficult. Yet I will give an attempt, by revisiting some of the marketing fundamentals. So let me call into action the concept of "buying decision process" to bring in clarity. For a quick recap, I am putting up the diagram that explains the three phases of buying process.

The diagram is self explanatory ( though not comprehensive and definitely not applicable to all market types). But what is unsaid in this diagram is the effect of Web 2 marketing intervention.

The first stage is the most critical in my opinion. As marketers we know that "needs" cannot be created per se. But latent needs can be made active and that's what successful marketing efforts are supposed to do. Here web 2 can play the role of information gathering, awareness building and initial branding. In "Information Search" phase, people are increasingly resorting to web 2.0 measures like mouthsut, compareindia etc to seek info and get second opinions from strangers and friends. So in a way web 2 is the most effective during this stage of buying.

"Evaluation of Alternatives" is a complicated phase. Much of it I assume happens as an internal process to the customer, but the information he has gathered can impact the evaluation. "Purchase", what and when, can be influenced through web 2, in as a direct recommendation from the friends community on Facebook, etc. Post purchase is of course a whole lot dependent on the quality of products or services consumed. But web 2 can definitely help reduce some dissatisfaction if there is any. Like for example, if most users are already comfortable with the performance of the product in the way it is and write about it, then the customer may get reconciled with his frustration.

Thus we can see that web 2 holds varying influence in all the stages. This again will vary depending on the levels of involvement for each product. It is needless to say that there is no definitive conclusion, except that "intelligent discretion" is the only way out.

Is Rahul Gandhi a humble yet over rated Politician?

2009-05-28T12:30:00.000-04:00

Anybody reading the newspapers regularly will tend to agree!!!

Almost every other day, the newspapers, the television and the scores of sites go gung-ho about this 39 year old politician. For a fact, Rahul Gandhi, has not even got half the experience of say Kapil Sibal, Kamal Nath, S.M.Krishna or any other politician. However, he seems to enjoy the most attention because of obvious reasons.

The entire Congress leadership places on him an aura of competence and integrity that is simply unbelievable. There can be no dispute that young leaders need to join politics and start taking the lead. But India being such a complicated country, needs to be led by a politician who has deep knowledge of history, economics, politics and has a proven track record in public service. Rahul Gandhi has none of them.

That brings me to the last point. Why is he so humble? Is he really such a good nature by person as he appears to be from the media reports. Or is it his ignorance of matters that makes him so? Is that also the reason why he keeps refusing the top post. Looked at from a marketing angle, he appears like a new product launch which is undergoing a learning curve. Shall we say 'All the Best'.

Media Departments: Time for Collaboration?

2009-05-07T23:55:00.000-04:00

Media companies have begun to witness an increasingly thin functional borders from within. Lets look at the typical functions of a media company to understand their changing roles.

The Content or the Editorial: Everyone knows content is King. But the queen is content communication. A content writer’s role is now very akin to the marketing person as the story, language & recency should appeal to the audience and even the search engines in case of online companies. Also being closer to the market as they are through their work, the editorial team has a great potential to understand the customer behaviour. Now a days the readers are pretty aware and interactive and within minutes of publishing, the journalist can get feedbacks. The feedback is almost instant in online media companies unlike in their print cousins. The new tools of web 2.0 allow them to instantly distribute the content as well thus making it available for the whole world to see, read and participate.

The Marketing Department: The marketing department in an online media company can be no longer happy doing some flashy hoardings or banner ads. In a market which is getting fragmented with niche content magazines and newspapers, the pressure on marketing to retain the readership is huge. In an online environement, since SEO (and to some extent SEM) usually lays down the marketing infrastructure, marketing has to think beyond all these to make a credible difference. Analytics (and Google's is only a basic one), offers an opportunity to understand the users and to be able to make ongoing changes to the site design, content and the language towards greater traffic and conversions.

The Tech Department: Though referred to as an enabler, the tech guy can do a better justice to his job if he can empathise with the end user and help the marketing and the editorial to create an enriched media. This was always perceived as a traditional job of a marketing person. Competence-wise, tecnology team is always blessed with much better analytical skills than any other functional team. With newer ways of consuming content through mobile, feeds, social media, blogs, WAP sites etc. becoming popular, the technology team is not just supposed to be on top of the technology but also evaluate the potential of the content to reach across different masses.

The Designer: The web designer is not a person who just makes different layouts and toggles between adobe photoshop and Google Images. He has to now understand the navigation attitudes of users and make designs that are relevant for the times and in-tune with the industry. That not only makes him a partial marketer but also a researcher in a way.

The Sales Department: Gone are the days of running wild in the market making calls. To survive and prosper sales team needs to understand the market and eventually create a bridge between marketing and content to roll out products that he can sell without making a fuss. This again is a deviation as earlier the product was a “given”. Just like the editorial team, the sales is very close to the customer, making them the most potential in the organisation to influence new media properties.

The clichéd concept of “team work” will however never go away. Its just that all the stakeholders will have to understand their changing roles and then collaborate to achieve the end objectives.

Is Google Chrome killing display advertising?

2008-09-10T23:45:00.000-04:00

Curious to know how Google chrome works, I downloaded the free version of it yesterday. As soon as I opened my default home page, I was shocked. The ads on the right side were hardly getting displayed. Then some experts told me that the Customization options will have to be tweaked to see these dynamic ads.

However, Google doesn't do anything without a central objective in mind. Since Google's business model primarily rests on search-based text advertising, the world-view of Google is that display advertising is basically annoying to users and hence un-necessary. This has prompted them to restrict the default display of banner advertising on Chrome. Many users might have found this very comforting and easy on eyes and as such may continue to use Chrome.

However, from the agency's and to some extent the advertiser's perspective, this is not a good news. IAMAI has just now predicted that online banner ads will grow by 40% in 08-09 and that SEM will double in size to $225 million by 09-10. If Chrome becomes popular, the advertisers will be forced to recognise the change in online consumer's behaviour towards minimalist approach to ad consumption. This will push their online spending to search based ads that will find its way to Google and other search engines.

It is difficult to say if it is intended. Apparently Microsoft seems to be the first victim. But Google has the history of bringing revolution to Internet usage and its various products support the growth of its primary business that is search based text ads. First they took away the heat out of display advertising. Next, the Gmail advertising took away the heat out of e-Marketing. The Google Local may take away from local display ads. Even though all these segments have grown despite search based ads, the real effect it might have had on their growth is only one's speculation.

It will be interesting to see whether and how Google Chrome can revolutionize the online user behaviour in the long run to eventually alter the dynamics of online advertising industry.

Obama: Beneficiary of an extended media coverage

2008-06-10T23:35:00.000-04:00

After a tiresome day at work, I decided to finally log into Barack Obama's site and listen to one of his recent speeches. It was a long speech of half an hour. How many of those words will really translate into reality is another matter, but I almost got out of my gloomy end-of-the-day fatigue and got all charged up to write this post.

After listening for more than 30 minutes, it suddenly occurred to me that I should also check out John McCain's site to see what he says. Being an online marketer I was disappointed to see John's site dull and boring with no videos to pick up and see instantly. All I could spot was a series of responses of his campaign advisers to what Obama had said in his speeches.

And yet again all of a sudden it occurred to me that probably John McCain was a disadvantaged candidate in the race for presidency. Why? Because he won the elections far too early to keep making any point against Obama publicly. Whereas Obama had to fight it out with Hillary before getting nominated as Democratic candidate. And that gave him a huge natural advantage of being able to go to places, speak and make a point against McCain and Hillary. On one side it helped him to topple Hillary and on the other bring out his weapon at McCain's.

Beginning from now, Obama can focus on reinforcing what he has been telling the nation, when John will be busy either making a point or reacting to what Obama has said.

In simple words, Obama can be called the beneficiary of an extended media coverage. And John, a natural victim of early victory.

Acrobat Buzzword as seen by a busy marketer

2008-06-09T23:35:00.000-04:00

Long back, when my ex-colleague Benoy showed me a new product of Microsoft- Surface, I was really excited. It was a product that I felt like owning. I have felt the same for many other products, but the fad died too soon to be of any recall value. But this was different. It held my attention for too long. And I became its word-of-mouth agent. I was so thrilled by it, I started going to others' computers, cease their keyboard, type the link and ask them to take a look at it. I saw most of them were excited as well. This all the more motivated me to show it to more people.

I am trying the newly launched acrobat buzzword now. In fact I am writing this very draft on the new buzzword document, the online cousin of MS Word. It is not exactly a similar excitement. But surely its more entertaining than Google Word Docs. Haha...what is this? It doesn't recognize its competitor Google, it is underlining it with a red mark. Surely, the makers of the product don't like it.

Well, coming to the buzzword. The first thing I liked is the interface. The sure, confident and fast interface. The color combination is also a cool departure from the Google Docs. The grey-black and white combination on a flash version has always held my attention for long. Well, it doesn't allow the right click short-cut of the keyboard ( is it because it has a Windows symbol...a competitor again!)

But somehow, I have begun to like this. This is my first draft on this. I am not sure if I will keep coming back to this. I started similarly with Google docs, but never came back. The die-hard habit of writing everything on the desktop applications like MS Office is likely to keep me from using this medium extensively. Unless of course, I start traveling around & require to login to retrieve information.

Nevertheless, I must say that all these are building on a infrastructural legacy that Microsoft has already set up. For example, Ctrl+S is for Saving and so on. Microsoft has created an ever lasting entity on which all future operators ( some of them their fiercest competitors!) will build their empires on.

Its been a long time, I haven't posted a thing on my blog ( Oops! It doesn't recognize the word blog! Some lessons on vocabulary will do!). I also just discovered a new product extension for my blog writing...Product Reviews! An accidental glance on the newspaper made me write all this. Not bad yeah!!

Chao.

Localisation : Tapping a Diversity called India

2008-02-28T23:06:00.000-05:00

OK. First a no-brainer. India is a vast market. It is the most unique and uncomparable country in the entire world. But what is not a no-brainer is that it can drive a marketer crazy. Take any aspect: religion, caste, language, clothing, food habits, et al. It opens the marketer to opportunities and challenges right from the beginning. As many MNC marketers have learnt from bitter experiences, India rewards those who speak its language. Oops...LanguageSSS!!! Yes, there is no single language that India can claim to represent ( inspite of Hindi) just like there is no single religion, climate or food et al.

The marketing implication of this occured to me at my previous company Crystal Hues Ltd. The company cliams to be the only Public Ltd. company in the area of multi-lingual communication services. It provides translation services for any Indian and International language through a well-networked and trained professional translators. Reputed companies localise their copies basically made in English language into Indian and even International languages other than English.

These localised campaigns help companies reach a wider mass. Actually localisation as a concept is not new, though it has received a boost after globalisation. The concept of localisation has been used by reputed companies to make a dent into the Indian market after their glossy and polished English products, services and communique either fail to impress or the steam runs out after acquiring a few sophisticated customers. Take the instance of the Chinese noodles or Pizza. The noodles became popular only after the chefs realised that the Indian pallette will not eat this bland one and added Indian spices. Chinese noodles is now just a misnomer. The same is the case with Pizza.

Even the communication became localised. Be it the yester-year heroes who start dancing hearing the McDonald's Happy Price menu or the recent Nokia ad where the granny calls the emergency battery using her mobile. This was not the case a few days back. During my days at the localisation company, during client acquisition, I realised that many were not aware of this and many felt it as unnecessary. However companies that were on an expansion mode and thought of reaching to masses beyond cities started embracing these services.

Govt. regulations have also forced companies to write their names etc in local languages or they may become the target of language fanatics. However companies have seen dramatic results by localising their products and also the marketing communication.

Going ahead, the localisation market will only grow and hopefully compensate partially for the lack of efforts of the Govt. departments that claim to protect local language and culture: the true celebration of India's diversity albeit in corporate style.

Advertising Delivery: The Blue Star Fiasco

2008-01-31T09:48:00.001-05:00

Have you seen the ad of Blue Star airconditioner? The ad seems to have stemmed from a very good research of consumers in the offices where they experience different temperatures at different places in the same office. The ad further illustrates the point by showing an eskimo in one cubicle and a camel guy in another.

The ad is absolutely fantastic. The ad agency and the research agency both have done an excellent job. It is infact so fantastic that it sets great expectations from your existing vendor of airconditioner. And it actually did in our office. Our office A/c which had been giving troubles since ages was slowly becoming a dumping yard of employee abuses. People literally wear jackets, sweaters and shawls in one part and fan themselves with paper on the other.

In a one-off meeting the problem was brought to the attention of the Management. The Management claimed that it was indeed using the best service provider in airconditioning. And then it came as a shock to all of us that it was infact Blue Star that was providing us the service. And inspite of repeated complaints and repairs, the problems remained unresolved.

The Blue Star is a case in point to illustrate that the ad message and the actual delivery may vary often to the amusement and irritation of the consumers.

But there is more to the eye than meets. The research might have indicated that people face different temperatures in the same office. But this itself is not a sufficient ground to justify the kind of marketing communication that came about. It is essential that in such revelations about the consumer, the Marketing consult their Technical counterpart and check on the possibility of eliminating a gap that has been identified. They ideally should have checked whether they can take care of such problems and live up to the message of the communication.

This is not the first time that such a variation is noticed between the communication and the actual delivery. And that is all the more reason to avoid an over-appeasing ad.

Global Warming - Warming up to a New Opportunity

2007-06-05T09:51:00.000-04:00

Global warming is throwing up new opportunities. Governments, institutions and agencies worldwide are increasingly thinking of imposing restrictions on non eco-friendly products and services. And placing incentives on those who produce eco-friendly products.

Have the marketers and entrepreneurs risen to this occassion? One may feel that its too early to jump into this bandwagon and that only the rich companies may afford to take such a social view of their business. However, small things, have started giving a clue that eco-friendly products are the next wave across the world.

Suzlon and others have just shown us that Going Green is Good Business. In the coming days, there will be more products and services that will adopt green practices.

The last time I had been to a busy restaurant in the city, I realised the food products sold on bannana leaves are being charged more than the one served on a plastic or steel plate. The customers even recall this as an experience. This phenomenon is not restricted to the food industry alone. It is already being seen in other sectors.

The idea is simple. Customers have latent needs and marketers make it active with new products and services. Urbanisation, pollution, harmful plastic products and the rising health consciousness among the public made the food industry realise the need for having a natural meal on banana leaves. Nothing great about it, just that this latent NEED needs to be recognised.

What follows is a marketing process that gets in place after any innovation is generated. Going green is indeed a new innovation and the developments world over confirm that marketers have a huge wealth to unlock.

Bollywood Stars - Sliced and Served Hot !!

2007-04-23T10:41:00.000-04:00

Are Shah Rukh, Aishwarya, Bachhan, Rajkumar and Rajnikanth all symbols of a bygone era? An era where the heroes (and heroines) were worshipped. Where it was a religion and it hurt a lot as much as it pleased?

Going by the number of stars thronging the silver screen and the small screen, it appears to be a case of "the end of mass worship". Well, all public figures do face a natural decline in their popularity. But thats not the point here. The popularity of these personalities is or was too magnetic and unquestionable at some point of time. But with so many people on the screen, there has been what I call a "natural customisation" of these brand personalities.

Some may say Sunny Deol is his favourite actor though he does not remain in the top 3 or 4. The point is this: atleast a few people get the option to choose him as his favourite actor. Thus Sunny Deol has been customised for that market. Same is the case with any other actor or actress. And as we have seen with other markets, customisations tend to create nicher space, each successive piece of which is smaller than the whole of it, atleast to begin with.

If it was Bachan commanding say 90% of the market, then its now probably ( lets assume for the sake of illustration) Bachan 20%, Shahrukh 20%, Hrithik 10%, Abhishek 10%, Amir 15% and others grabbing up the rest. There are still people who are at the top but with lesser market share.

This compounded with the fact that new actors and actresses pour in all the time. With the entry barries being taken out every day, the influx of new actors and actresses is rising. FilmFare Awards was once such a revered one. It still is, but is now sharing the TRPs with Zee Cine Awards, Star Screen Awards, National Awards ( by Govt. of India) with each throwing up its own list of Best Hero, Best Film et al.

Films like Iqbaal did extremely well when the goliaths around it collapsed. The film market is being niched into pieces by the high creativity that is flowing from the non-Mumbai cities and getting enough cash for the partners in the value chain at the same time.

Too many brand personalities vying for the same space makes for a case of a Sliced and Served bollywood industry. There will soon come a situation where we may not have Badshahs and Dream girls of industry. But still there will be Heroes and Heroines. Albeit UNCROWNED !

Word of Mouth : Lessons from Sony and Google

2007-04-12T10:18:00.000-04:00

The first time a walkman was made, the guys at Sony decided to make word-of-mouth the way to propogate the product AB INITIO (right from the beginning !!). A few ladies and guys were asked to plug it in the ear and start jogging in the morning. People around them suddenly discovered a way to engage themselves with music and also disengage with the noise and traffic of the surroundings.

The rest as they say is history. This way of launching can be though argued as quite product specific, it brought an altogether new perspective in the marketing circle. The belief till then was that, word-of-mouth is something that is EARNED over a period of time and cannot be CREATED on purpose. This also described the old approach: the product should be of great quality, the service follow-ups should be prompt enough and all this will eventually lead to favourable opinion about the product/company and this will snowball into word-of-mouth(WOM) resulting in a natural advantage to the company. But Sony displayed (unintentionally I suppose) that WOM can be created right from the beginning and can be used as a unique approach to launch products. Thus a company could create and drive the WOM than being just a passive observer of it. That the product should be competitive enough is something that will remain uncontested though.

Today when I see around, I do not find products or services that have been able to create such WOM ab initio. You have huge hoardings or big budget ads or some other promotions that are just used to have a big-bang launch to create a splash. How much of these turn into sensible WOM that will help the product to break into the market is really questionable. I am yet to notice a powerful WOM induced marketing since the launch of Sony Walkman. The one that came closest and in some ways even crossed the Sony's was Google.

Although internet penetration itself was low at that time, especially in developing countries, the "Search" has been one of the most popular human activity ever. Google encashed it and probably summarised the entire value of Internet. All it did was provide a small bar and say "search". WOM spread out saying you can find anything and everything on the Net and how: just GOOGLE for it.

Came across a product that relied on the WOM induced marketing? Just let me know.