Helicopter 'Ben' is back:

The reappointment of Ben Bernanke, six months ahead of his term end has significant importance. Not just for his appointment but for the time of announcement. Doing it ahead of time shows that the Obama Administration is not getting into the politics of it all. He has not appointed a Democrat.

This decision has been welcomed and hailed by a many a economists and central bankers, the world over. He has had his share of critics which isn’t a surprise considering the type of decisions he has had to make. But by and large everyone seems to understand the importance of continuation especially at a time when things are looking up and sooner some hard steps would need to be taken. Who better than the person who initiated the steps in the first place. Following are the reasons why I think this is a good decision:

1. As mentioned earlier, continuation plays a crucial role when large stakes are involved. And in this case, it is the US economy, the largest in the world and it has a direct impact on the rest of the world economy.

2. He is a student of the Great Depression of 1930s. He would never have thought that he would be the person steering the world economy through a similar crisis or rather I should say, a collapse. There cannot be a better person, atleast academically to continue the process further.

3. He was on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve under the then Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan. He has seen from close quarters the things that have gone wrong. Thus he knows the exact way to get out of this rut.

4. This is his plan of action. The plan for massive fiscal stimulus which he convinced the US Congress for, the monetary easing through unconventional means such as quantitative easing and the buy back of US treasuries. He has openly talked about the reasons for him doing what he did and the results he expects from the decisions. These are unprecedented times which call for unprecedented ways of communication for which Ben Bernanke has succeeded.

5. He knows the time when recovery has reached a level from where the actions have to be withdrawn i.e. the fiscal and monetary actions. The slush liquidity has to be absorbed and let the real economy take over.

6. He is a stable person intellectually without getting swayed by short term gains. He thinks long term. His possible replacement could have been Larry Summers, economic advisor to President Obama who is outstanding economist but a bit temperamental and volatile. His elevation could have increased political interference in the working of the fed. This decision to retain Ben Bernanke has clearly avoided this situation.

Lastly, it is better to be a bit conservative in the approach to appoint such an important designation rather than being experimental. A new person brings a new thought process with a new way of doing things. Present conditions require more pragmatism than experimenting. Thus this is the best that could have been done.

Recession may be Hayekian:

Everyone is upbeat about the revival of the economies the world over. India post-general election 2009 is feeling better with its stock markets almost on the verge of a bull rally if not a bull market. Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman whose term has been extended for another 4 years by President Obama last week, sees the “green shoots”. Japan posted a slight growth in its GDP numbers. France and Germany are officially out of recession with modest growth.

This is all the good news. But the underlying question is: is this growth sustainable? Nouriel Roubini, Economics Professor, Stern school of business, New York, who predicted the collapse feels that this could be a W-shaped curve. He says that the growth is due to the massive fiscal stimulus and the loose monetary polices by governments and central banks respectively, the world over. It isn’t based on fundamentals of the economies. Thus he feels that when the stimulus is reduced and the tightening of monetary policies is done, it should result in a recession again. This growth is catalyzed by fertilizer and performance enhancing drugs i.e. low interest rates and the slush liquidity with quantitative easing. In short, all actions are being taken with the recession being thought of as one which has a solution in Keynesian policies.

But is this a Keynesian recession? Political parties and businessmen the world over like it to be Keynesian since it can immediately be stimulated and the political bosses are in the executioners’ position. This recession though seems like a Hayekian one where there is wide misallocation of resources.

Hayekian recession is of the type when there is gross misalignment of resources i.e. structural changes in the economy and they take more time to recover. A fundamental issue is affected and merely pumping in money will not change the situation.

The current recession, as mentioned earlier, seems to be a structural one. Cheap money from Asian and OPEC countries entered US. These countries tried to keep their currency under-valued to gain cost-advantage. China has kept its Renminbi and Yuan low and has most of its foreign reserves in US treasuries. This money sent long –term interest rates in the US tumbling. Thus people bought houses and invested in stocks, commodities resulting in a bubble in assets, stocks and commodities. It was exaggerated by financial innovation but based on unsound economic fundamentals. The Keynesian stimulus being used is re-fuelling those bubbles again due to slush liquidity. This could also result in inflation rearing this ugly head if timely withdrawal of the stimulus is not done. Political will, will stop the withdrawal but the central bankers have to do it, for long term good.

The resulting collapse now is Hayekian which will take more time to recover. The US will need to save more and the rest of the world needs to spend more. The early this happens, the early the imbalance will be restored for sustainable growth.

Battle for water purifier:

The rainy season from June to September in India brings with it a host of water –borne diseases. During these months only, people wake up to the dangers of the deadly water –borne diseases. Thus it is an ideal time for water purifiers to promote their products since they will find maximum takers. This is what has happened with two water purifier companies, Hindustan Unilever and Eureka Forbes, aggressively promoting their products.

First it was Hindustan Unilever’s PureIt coming up with the 1 crore safety challenge. And then Eureka Forbes launching its ‘agar isse advanced purifier mile toh paise wapas”. Let us analyse each challenge individually.

Hindustan Unilever’s PureIt has so many caveats that no one will be able to win the challenge. The challenge consists of proving three things in any other water purifier. First, meet USA’s tough germkill criteria; second, having advanced switch off facility; third, needs no electricity and no running water. These issues are very difficult to prove for any person living in India. Moreover, the challenge is for a period of just one month, till 31^st August only. There isn’t enough time for anyone to prove the claim. Thus it is a very good marketing gimmick where people will believe them for the simple reason that they are comparing themselves to the strict US norms.

Eureka Forbes' challenge about ‘isse advanced’. They have not mentioned about the conditions which make it advanced. At least PureIt has mentioned about the factors.

The claim by PureIt is much more eye catching. ‘Paise wapas’ technique has been used before but ‘one crore’ challenge is a first-timer. This is sure to grab more eye balls than the ‘paise wapas’ challenge.

Ethically speaking, both challenges are not right. It is a con game played by these products. Legally there is nothing wrong but ethically there is. But ethics has never been a necessary criteria for corporate, be it abroad or in India. The ill-informed consumer is always a taken for a ride. The only succour in this battle is that, whatever be the claim, a water purifier is indeed necessary.

Reebok- It’s you vs. everyone"

The footwear industry in India had not been promoting their stuff on the television scene. The premium brands such as Nike, Reebok, and Adidas were spending less on television and more on billboards, print, internet and other forms of media. Nike and Adidas have been concentrating on team sponsorship for cricket teams and tournaments along with kits sponsorship, logos on bats, pads, helmet and other cricketing accessories.

Puma which is coming to India very soon has resulted in atleast one brand, Reebok upping the ante. The latest TV commercial to have hit the idiot box shows girls locking up all the houses of the locality so that they are the only one to get their hands, or rather their legs in the Reebok shoes. One of the girls gets the 40% off poster which she intelligently hides from the prying eyes of her competitors.

Following are a few of the things of note in the ad:

1. With a discount of 40%, a premium brand has gone for massive sales promotion. This is complemented by television ads mentioning about the sales promotion. It seems a first time where a sales promotion has been promoted through Television in a campaign style inspite of television being the costliest medium. How this affects the brand equity of Reebok remains to be seen.

2. The ad tagline “Its you vs. everyone” is an attempt to put the usual way of informing the customer about the sale is an unusual way i.e. through exclusivity or the offer i.e. unlimited stocks. This is a better and much effective way.

3. It tries to show the ‘envy’ factor where the customer is shown to do everything and anything possible to grab that brand.

Reebok also did the Mahendra Singh Dhoni/ Bipasha Basu campaign which although was ‘hot’ on the celebrity quotient, fell cold because of no creativeness in the ad and no clutter breaking copy.

The results for the Reebok campaign are awaited, not just on sales but also on the brand equity for Reebok

NTT DoCoMo- A world leader has arrived in India:

Last week saw the world leader of technology entering Indian telecom space. NTT DoCoMo Inc, a Japanese telecom giant joined hands with Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL). and has been given the license to launch GSM services in 19 of the 22 circles.

This will provide expertise to TTSL in the GSM Segment which will herald a new beginning for India. A true world leader in 3G technology has indeed arrived in India and this is sure to give sleepless nights to some of the executives at other telecom companies in India.

The 3G strength of DoCoMo which is readying itself for 4G in their Home country will help TTSL in its GSM endeavour and give a Philip to its under performing CDMA segment. With the spectrum allocation for 3G more than 3 months away due to the matter being transferred to the empowered group of ministers (eGoM), the time delay is inevitable. The formalities itself will take up this time. Then you have the base auction price to be decided and the allocation of how much spectrum to whom. Spectrum is a national asset and can be used only once. Thus arriving at the right valuation is most necessary and critical for Indian treasury.

When the spectrum is finally allotted, TTSL will surely get a head start over other telecom service providers in terms of technology, content and speed which are most essential for delivery of good Value-Added Services. It can also help in terms of promotional campaign to take on Vodafone which is aggressively pursuing the VAS segment. People would believe the promotion since they appreciate and are in awe of the technology expertise of Japanese companies.

The recession in the last10-22 months has not affected the growth of the telecom sector. The prime reason being the vast potential present. Only the metros and some major towns are congested with majority of players operating and virtually all people having a cell phone. The tier II cities and towns and rural areas are yet to be penetrated intensively. Thus the telecom sector has continued to grow with Bharti Airtel leading the pack with 100 million cutovers touched last month.

The entry of DoCoMo isn’t at all surprising. More players will enter India as the foreign direct investment (FDI) restrictions are relaxed in due course of time. There is talk of Etisalat (UAE giant), and AT&T (the US giant) entering India soon. Even Indian business houses are applying for spectrum to jump on this bandwagon such as DLF, Videocon, Shyam telecom, and some yet to be announced names.

With the increase in players vying for the same pie, naturally the competition would increase resulting in price wars. This augurs well for the Indian customer.

Growth Drivers of the Indian Telecom Market:

• High Disposable Income: The growth in GDP has resulted in increasing disposable income among the individual population. Therefore the young Indian population is increasingly investing more money in various entertainment and communication services thus fuelling growth of the telecom sector.

• Mobility and Connectivity: The growing need of high mobility and staying connected is the prime driver for the entire category. This is true for people from different age groups and occupation. This innate need coupled with availability of handsets and connectivity at affordable price points has triggered the growth of telecom in India.

• Investments in Telecom Industry: All major telecom handsets manufacturers – including Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and LG - have their presence in India, along with the leading global service companies and infrastructure majors, such as Vodafone, Singapore Telecom, AT&T, Ericsson, Alcatel and Siemens.

• Government Initiatives: Government also has supported the growth of this sector by coming out with a number of initiatives for the low end subscribers of rural India, and Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund was one such initiatives. The USO fund was an initiative taken up by the government to increase rural tele-density.

• Gradual Progression in Telecom Sector: There have been major regulations and events driving the extra ordinary growth of Telecom sector from the year 1999 to 2008. High level of competition has lead to price reduction and increased affordability. In order to capitalize this opportunity of meeting the consumer needs in highly competitive market the operators have reduced the tariffs to attract consumers with low purchasing power primarily in semi urban and rural India. In fact lucrative offers like being paid for incoming calls have transformed the scenario completely.

Operators are tailoring service packages for low-end users making mobile service more affordable like:

Ø Micro Prepaid Cards: Recharge options as low as INR 10 (USD 0.25)

Ø Life Time Validity: All operators offer a “lifetime prepaid” plan which maintains the phone number for life for free incoming calls if recharged every 3 or 6 months

Ø Full Value Recharge: Talk time of value equal to the recharge amount

Ø Free In-Network Calls: Some operators have started free unlimited local in-network calls

Ø Group Calls: Unlimited calls among a limited set of people at a particular cost.

Ø Bulk SMS Pack: Plans customized for bulk SMS within a specified area at a much lower cost

Return of the Vodafone pug? What is Vodafone thinking!!!

The pug in the Vodafone advertisement became a celebrity around two years back. You had children demanding their parents for a pug. They shouldn’t be blamed because the pug was indeed so cute and adorable. Right from the first ad with that small boy running on a nature’s trail or helping out the girl with her daily chores in the ‘Happy2Help’ campaign, the pug made a place for himself in our hearts. It had a great recall value, first for Hutch and then for Vodafone and that is precisely the reason Vodafone thought of continuing with the pug after buying Hutch.

Vodafone surprised everyone with the Zoozoo campaign for Value-added Services (VAS) launched in a blitz during IPL 2009 in South Africa. There were 30 different types of ads depicting each of the Value-added services. The Zoozoos became an instant hit. They were so adorable and cute just like the pug although not real characters that everyone went ga ga over them. There were articles written on blogs, in newspapers, discussions on Radio and the Zoozoos were all over the place. Vodafone O&M (who made the concept) would have been surprised at the result, of course pleasantly. They were the talk of the town. The Zoozoo recall value has reached such high proportions that it had almost made people forget about the pug. They became synonymous with the IPL.

I thought it was a strategic move by Vodafone. One, they were moving towards post paid customers who are going to increase with time by offering them Value-added services. This would bring them bigger revenues. This seemed a long term strategy, say 10 years long. Second, they moved away from the pug which essentially was a ‘hutch’ pug.

With the Zoozoo identity, Vodafone now stood for the Zoozoos. They were successful in changing the perception of customers from pug to Zoozoo. Doing it in such a short span of time, kudos should be given to the team at O&M for conceptualising such awesome characters.

Unfortunately, much to a disappointment of many a marketing people, the pug is back again with the small girl to ‘help us’. This is totally inexplicable. After such a successful transition, why would you want to go back to the pug? It would have been understandable to go back to them had Zoozoos failed to create an impact and the transition.

Some of the reasons marketers say is that it was a temporary campaign and it was never a strategy to move away from the pug. Zoozoos were specifically for the VAS purposes. It seems O&M team thinks that whatever they do will turn to gold. This seems to be an exception though, atleast as far as I think. Return of the pug will not affect sales but it will affect Vodafone’s long term prospects and what they had set out to achieve.

This action has given a chance for the other service providers to position themselves as VAS providers. Aircel, especially, should make use of this opportunity since they have the widest range of Value-added services. There last attempt at positioning as VAS providers was overshadowed by the Zoozoos. They should go all out now to take the place which rightfully can be claimed by them, simply for the type of VAS they can provide.

Reliance Communications too can do it. They have launched there high speed internet card. This is the right time to go for VAS since with time, the internet penetration in India will increase and with 3G coming over, speeds will increase, prices will drop and more people will use internet on their phone.

Vodafone have themselves to blame. It is a cardinal sin to move from identities. Only time will tell the implications of the return of the pug.

Why Insurance Sector Is Bullish and Poised For Growth:

Life Insurance Is the Most Preferred Investment Option by Indians

(A study by AC Nielsen Co., Nielsen Life 2008 survey)

The vast array of investment options available in the Indian market today is an indicator of the robust growth the market is experiencing. As the different financial categories jostle to win consumers’ confidence and trust, life insurance still reigns as the preferred investment instrument

Nielsen Life 2008 is a syndicated study to provide insurance players an understanding of the overall Indian insurance market. It gauges awareness, perceptions, concerns, motivators/barriers, satisfaction levels and usage towards insurance among retail consumers.

List of future investment instruments in percentage by respondents:

Life insurance (30%)

Bank Fixed Deposits (11%)

Gold (7%)

Property (7%)

Life Insurance Child Plans (6%).

Remaining 62% is spread over other financials such as equities, debt instruments etc.

In the wake of the global financial meltdown, most investors are looking at options which help them safeguard their capital. Life insurance is seen to be one such avenue.

The three key triggers for buying life insurance are Family Protection in case of untimely death, Retirement Corpus and Securing Child’s Future.

Interestingly Insurance for Child emerged as a key trigger compared to the previous leg of the survey in 2004. Tax exemption as a trigger to purchase insurance has dropped significantly compared to 2004.

Unique “Idea” ID:

Over the last year, it would have not missed Abhishek Bacchan as “Sirjee” solving the identification problems of the villagers by giving them unique identity of their cellular telephone numbers. It was a very creative concept. The data though isn’t available to ascertain whether it resulted in sales for Idea cellular.

Idea cellular is showing new ads taking credit for the unique ID project of the government. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is an agency that will provide unique identity cards to citizens to ensure that the benefits of the government's flagship schemes reach the people. It is under the chairmanship of legendary IT personality Mr. Nandan Nilekani.

With these new ads, Idea cellular is trying to relate itself to the government program which would give them credibility and a natural association with the program in the mind of all Indians. The program is a pioneering effort and if Idea can pull off this coup of association with the unique ID project, it would always remain in the annals of history as associated with this project.

First mover advantage- make sure you wrestle the advantage:

Al Ries and Jack trout in their book “Positioning” said that “it is better to be first than it is to be better”. The book gives the examples of IBM being first in mainframe computes, Kodak first in photos, Ford in cars among a lot of other great examples. This concept talks about the first-mover advantage and how advantageous it is. We will look at this concept from Indian point of view specifically related to the television content since the advent of satellite channels.

Can you name the first General entertainment channels in India? Zee TV. Although star plus, Sony TV and the latest Colors have made inroads in GECs, it was Zee which started the entertainment revolution through shows such as Tara, Banegi apni baat, zee horror show etc. Zee TV is still among the top 3 is not the topper. Star plus was an English channel showing programs such as Bold and Beautiful, Baywatch. The converted star plus to a Hindi channel and started a new channel called star world for such English programs. This is an example of starting a ‘new category’ which will be covered in another literature part.

Can you name the first saas-bahu show which catapulted star plus into the limelight and helped it overtake Zee TV? Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi (KSBKBT). It, along with ‘Kahaani ghar ghar kii’ and ‘Kasauti zindagi kii’, spawned a new genre of shows and there was a rush of “me-too” shows on other channels too. Some of them were successful and some weren’t. These three shows continued to rule the roost for the next 8-10 years with hundreds of episodes. Did some one say first mover advantage..

Can you name the first reality show on Indian television? Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). It not only extended the lead which star plus had over other channels but also took them miles ahead of competition. Is there any other reality show which could create that magic and the Television rating points (TRPs). Hardly any. ‘Sawaal ek crore ka’ and ‘jeto chappar padh ke’ on Zee TV and Sony failed miserably. Even Shah Rukh Khan as host of KBC couldn’t bring the TRPs. ‘Dus ka Dum’ and ‘Kya aap panchvi pass hai’ were successful but not as much. Did anyone say first mover….

Which was the first laughter show? Laughter Club on Star one. The ‘me-too’ products such as ‘comedy circus’, ‘hans baliye’, ‘chote ustad’ and others haven’t been as famous as laughter club.

Which was the first sports channel? Star sports. New sports channels such as Ten sports, SET MAX, DD Sports, Zee sports haven’t been as successful. People remember Harsha Bhogle from star sports only and too a certain extent, the noodle straps by Mandira Bedi on SET MAX.

Which was the first cartoon channel? Cartoon Network. Hungama, Nickelodeon, Jetix, Disney channel also were launched but ask any child and the first name he would say is ‘Cartoon network’. Although ‘Shin Chan’ is famous, for children, cartoon means only Cartoon Network. First mover advantage isn’t it…

Third goes to show that the concept of first mover still holds true and will continue to do so since people often remember the first new thing that they see or feel. First impression shouldn’t be the last impression but unfortunately it becomes the first impression, although unintentionally. Thus it is better to be first than it is to be better.

Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTSi advertisement- a paradigm shift:

A new phase of advertisement execution has been pioneered by Bajaj pulsar 220s new ad. This should not take you by surprise though when I tell you the person behind the bike. Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto has always been a step ahead of his times. He ventures Bajaj scooters into bikes when he saw the future of two wheelers. Scooters were soon going to be passé and bikes were the new mode of transport for the new and young India. He saw the stiff competition from Hero Honda, Yamaha and TVS although TVS wasn’t into bikes when Bajaj started.

Bajaj initially collaborated with Kawasaki but later launched its own Pulsar brand which was a runaway success. Bajaj has bought its indigenously made twin spark technology engine Pulsar 220 into the market. It is one of the highest CC bike from an Indian manufacturer to be launched in India.

The new ad showcases the bike with an international appeal. The ad seems to have been shot in the cowboy belt of Texas. Another point is that the ad shows the bike for approximately just about 10 seconds in an ad time of a minute. The ad isn’t making an emotional or a practical pitch. These types of ads are prevalent in the western developed world where the audiences have matured to advertisements. It’s a first-of-its-kind in India and that’s the reason I said a paradigm shift.

The ad ends with the words, “the fastest Indian”. For the first time, an Indian bike has boasted of the ‘speed’ feature. This has differentiated the bike from other bikes. This is a new thing too for Indian customers. Till now all bikes talked about mileage, looks, safety, comfort and other features since speed has never been a forte of these bikes due to their small cc engines. A case in point is the latest Hero Honda ad talking about great mileage or the glamour ad talking about ‘style’. The new bike ventures into a very high cc category for Indian bikes where it doesn’t find any competition from Indian bikes atleast. There are other bikes with higher cc, but they are not as commercially viable as this in terms of looks, price and comfort.

The ad would definitely appeal to the urban young that did not have a speed machine to ride. They had seen the high CC Hayabusas and Thunderbirds in films but this is a bike which will give them an almost similar feel. So don’t be surprised the next time you see a bike zooming by on marine drive before you bat an eyelid.

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance’s strategic disaster of Repositioning:

The latest victim of Repositioning seems to be Bajaj Allianz life Insurance. They have changed their tagline from “Jaise Jarurat waise insurance” to “Jiyo Befikar”. The original tagline mentioned about ‘customised offering’ by Bajaj Allianz. The new positioning mentions about the trust factor which has an emotional appeal.

Trust factor is the most important criteria in Insurance products. The problem though with this new positioning is that the other companies have already made this appeal in their positioning. ICICI Prudential’s tagline ‘Jeetey Raho’; SBI Life’s tagline ‘With Us, you’re sure’; Birla Sun Life’s tagline ‘muskurate raho’ and HDFC Standard Life’s tagline ‘Sar Utha Ke Jiyo’, all mention about the trust factor with an Emotional appeal.

This is where Bajaj Allianz has made a mistake. It was the only company which focused on the product with a practical appeal. It differentiated itself explicitly from the other companies. By doing this new positioning with an emotional appeal, it has lost out on the differentiation.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs- Self-Actualisation stage seems no more relevant:

The most widely spoken HR theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, has lost some of its relevance to a certain extent. At least that’s the way it seems from the furore that has been caused in the corporate world with regards to executive compensation which the government will decide. This is in context of the financial institutions which have taken help from the federalUS government after the financial crisis hit everyone

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs talks about the needs’ hierarchy starting from the basic needs to safety needs to belonging and love needs i.e. acceptance in society. Majority of the population in the world falls in any of these 3 categories of needs. The next need is of self-esteem and then there is the topmost need of Self-Actualisation. A person who has reached the self-Actualisation stage does not think of money as the motivating criteria. This looks good in academics but not in real life.

Financial institutions in the US are in need of competent people who can get these troubled institutions out of the problems. The HR department of these firms and the government is finding it difficult to hire people since these people want higher salaries and bonuses without government intervention. They also are averse to these jobs since the pay compensation will be scrutinized but the media thread-bare and the government will also not give them a free hand in working the enterprises out of its hole. The media will discuss these issues in the living room of the common man who works for the real economy on the floor of the factory. The financial managers are already under fire for the crisis and if the common man finds out that they are still being paid high salaries, it will result in problems for the government who is bailing out these institutions with the tax payers’ money.

The point now is why are the people who have crossed 45-50 years of age and amassed huge amount of wealth wanting salaries, knowing well that it is the fault of people like them who are responsible for the crisis. To be a bit on the blunt side, the greed of these people. These people are in the self Actualisation stage yet they want money. Why do they not take it as a challenge to turn around the banks a la Lee Iocacca who turned around Chrysler? If they are successful in this, automatically they will get there bonuses and there premium will increase for there next job. Moreover the common man will get his confidence restored in the financial system and the people who run it.

Apart from this; the two most recent examples which defy the self Actualisation stage are of the Satyam Chairman Ramalinga Raju and former NASDAQ Non- Executive Chairman Bernard Madoff. Both these people were billionaires and respected in society.

Ramalinga Raju had a successful company and was almost a deity in his home town ofHyderabad due to the vast amount of opportunities he created for the locals. The Rs. 7000 crores scam was completely uncalled for. He had everything going for him.

Bernard Madoff was a rich a fund manager of an asset management company and respected in society. There was no need for him to run a Ponzi scheme to the tune of almost $50 billion.

Thus the needs theory has lost its relevance due to a certain type of people, for whom; money is the end all, be all. Maslow of course need not be blamed for his theory; it’s just that nowadays people behave totally irrationally.

DISH TV Advertisement - totally unimaginative:

There are ads which are not good, there are ads which are bad and the there are ads which cannot be described, simply because they are so irrelevant. There aren’t any adjectives to describe those types of ads. The latest Dish TV (ZEE Entertainment Enterprises’ DTH arm) ad starring Shah Rukh Khan falls in the last category mentioned above.

Please can anyone tell me, what on the face of this earth means “Wish Karo, Dish Karo”? The ad does mention about 200+ channels and satellite giving signals. There is nothing which will be of direct benefit to the consumer. It does not talk of differentiation, or positioning, or doesn’t compare itself with competition. It does not focus on cost or any other special attribute of Dish TV although 200+ channels is a feature, but it isn’t compelling enough a feature to warrant that the customer buys a Dish TV only. The customer is perfectly susceptible to the sales pitch made by the salesman. Here in lies the problem.

Dish TV was the first DTH TV in India and for a long time, it did not have any competitors. Yet it failed to show the advantages that DTH offered. It did not take the first-mover advantage. It went on its own pace. It did not do aggressive promotion and wanted more players come in to create awareness.

The latest commercial is a totally unimaginative. It uses a child in the ad. Children aren’t the target market and neither are they influencers in the purchase of DTH. They do not know the difference between cable TV and DTH TV.

Overkill of Reality Shows on MTV:

MTV India was known for the Crazy antics of the two Cyrus’, Broacha and Sahukar, the rap of Nikhil Chinappa, bubblyness of Shehnaz treasurywala and a host of other Video Jockeys (VJs) who anchored the different music shows. Currently MTV is synonymous with the bald twins, Raghu Ram and Rajiv Ram, who rule the roost as far as content of programming is considered on MTV.

‘Roadies’ was the first reality show on MTV. It was an instant success. Raghu was the face of Roadies whereas Rajiv was always behind the scenes, far from the prying eyes of the media. They both made 5 successful roadies seasons. During Roadies 6, Rajiv surprised everyone by his appearance i.e. the virtue of being Raghu’s look alike. Roadies’ season 6 was a success. By the time, Raghu had become so famous that audiences watched the selection round of contestants more than the actual Roadies show. His attitude, brashness, and aggressive demeanor are loved by the viewers especially when he rips apart the contestants. It isn’t about the sadistic pleasure for the viewers, it’s that way he slowly makes them confess things and then cross questions.

They made another show, MTV Splitsvilla whose 2 seasons were as successful as Roadies. Currently both the twins are producing a new show, MTV Connected which deals with the chemistry of twins. They seem to have a winner on their hands with this show. It is more since they have Raghu and Rajiv along with Nikhil as judge. The problem though seems to be of viewer fatigue. Raghu is all over the place on MTV. The reality shows have Raghu written all over it. ‘Expect the unexpected’ symbolizes the thinking process of Raghu. Therefore too much of similar stuff cannot be a good thing from future content point if view for MTV.

‘Unique Content’ is necessary on television in India at this point in time to be successful. Monotony should not set in. we can see what happened with the ‘saas-bahu’ series. They had to be pulled off air. Rather late according to me but atleast it’s off air, for good.

After this show, Raghu should take a long hiatus from MTV. This is the only way viewer fatigue can be avoided. Even if Raghu works backstage on a show, his imprint will be felt by viewers. It wouldn’t be a surprise since he is the one responsible for creating a ‘Cult’ of Roadies in India. Wearing that Roadies badge is considered an ultimate achievement in adventure.

Viewers should yearn and crave for Roadies. No one understands this psychology than Aamir Khan who does just one film a year. TRPs will shoot through the roof once new Roadies show will be announced after a long gap.

Care should be taken by MTV producers to rest the hen which lays the golden eggs. An overkill of Raghu would do more harm than good in the long run.

Scooty Streak- “the Riding Experience”

The Priyanka Chopra advertisement for Scooty pep mentioned a bit about the driving experience of bikes for girls when she said in the tagline “why should boys have all the fun”. The new ad for Scooty Streak takes the concept further in a much pronounced way about the pleasures of riding a bike. It tries to make girls ride a bike for themselves rather than riding pillion. The positioning thus seems to be the “riding experience” for the target market of young and unmarried girls. This is proven from the last line of the ad when she says and I quote “chalane mein aaye itna maaza toh peeche kyu baithe” (unquote).

The ad tries to change the behaviour of girls where they like to sit pillion to there friends. It is a way of empowering the girl and makes them feel equal to boys (not to say that girls are not equal but here they are stating it explicitly and challenging them to ride their own bike).

However a small glitch in the concept of the ad is that it seems to have bee inspired by the BMW campaign of “the ultimate driving machine” where BMW positions it as an engineering marvel and a car which should be driven by the owner and not chauffeur driven. Though the difference in the Scooty campaign is that the have not tried to show the engineering side of the bike, rightly so.

The ad serves its purpose and only time will tell how successful the bike becomes. But the execution and content seems just about perfect.

Sustaining Employee Morale During Recession:

When you treat your employees well, they will treat their customers better (this not only improves the employee satisfaction and morale but also the customer satisfaction)

The simplest way to improve morale would be to tell them that they need not worry about their jobs and that it is secure. But for this, you need to make a list of employees who you surely want in your organisation irrespective of recession.

How this can be done??

1. Personalized e-mail form the CEO asking the employees to feel secure about their future in the organisation.

2. Telling them that the company does not believe in cost cutting by slashing employee salaries. And Empowering them by asking them for suggestions to do cost cutting at which other avenues.

3. Communicate as much information about the organization as you can to all of your employees, regardless of their position. Throw any notion of “need to know basis” out the window and give them all the info you can about every aspect of what’s going on. This would include discussing the financial position of the company, present and the future

4. Talk to them one-on-one about their role in the organisation. Tell them that they are an important cog in the wheel of success of the organisation. Make them feel that they are Indispensable to the organization E.g. When an employee completes a project, handles a difficult customer, or comes up with a solution to a problem, tell them, “I just don’t know what we’d do without you! We are so fortunate that you work here!”

5. Chart out a career path for them in the organisation. This will make them company loyal and feel secure as well

6. Appreciation: nothing can give a boost to employee morale more than appreciation from his senior and that too in the presence of his peers. E.g. During staff meetings, lead rounds of applause for individual and group successes that have taken place since the last meeting. Here, a non-cash compliment gives more boosts than mere handing over cash reward. And since non-cash benefits cannot be quantified, so there is no question of employees comparing and feeling there ahs been a bias

7. Give a hard-working employee a new responsibility or ask them to head up a project or task force, or to evaluate a new idea and provide feedback. This would make them feel that they are required in the organisation

8. An informal workplace where the hierarchy is immaterial. A conscious effort can be made by the HR department to make everyone feel equally important by removing hierarchy.

9. There can be no better time to invest in employees. Cross-functional skills can be given by training since the job gets redundant and not the employee. The experience of the employee can be used at other place which gives flexibility in the present and so also in the future.

10. By doing this, the focus can be more on work in a profit centre by shifting them from a cost centre

11. Providing positive leadership: leading from the front and setting an example. E.g. Vikram pandit, Citibank CEO taking just $1 as salary and no bonus so that there need not be cut in employees pay

12. Financial planning: finance employees will have intractions with the employees and do their financial planning regarding savings, expenses and investments

13. Acting as fund managers: Treasury dept. can act as fund managers for the investments of the employees which can be pooled together. This though will be Optional

14. Increasing the notice period from one month to three months. This may seem negative but what we are telling the employees that even if they are laid-of, they have a cushion of salary till they find another job

15. Also having a talk to employees who might be sacked that the HR dept. will search jobs for them with other sister concerns or vendors wherever possible. This will tell the existing employees that they are being cared for and looked after.

Conclusion: the way an organistion treates its employees in tough times , says a lot about who stays with the company in good times

Happy Dent makes you happy!!!!

An advertiser has to walk a tight rope when it comes to showing exaggeration in the advertisement since it can backfire and the customers won’t accept the product.

There is an exception to this though and it is the happy dent whitening gum advertisement. Exaggeration has never been so cheerful, adorable and charming.

The exaggeration started from the buffalo ad with Dr. Bhatavdekar where he compares the teeth of two buffaloes, one with yellow teeth and other with pearly whites due to the happy dent gum.

The next ad was of the photo shop where a person flashes his teeth which are so bright that they do the work of flash for the cameras. The exaggeration is quite creative and funny too.

Then it was the setting of the maharaja palace where everything was illuminated, not by lamps, but by the pearly white teeth of his servants (the human right would have taken objection for such a depiction but even they say the lighter side of it) right from the street lights to the garden to the entrance gate to the dinner table of the maharaja.

The latest ad features elephants with glowing tusks which light up the forests against a back drop of a rural setting where villagers do not have electricity.

These types of ads not only act as clutter breaker but people actually are on the look out for a new and creative ad. The problem though with this scenario is that the creativeness of the ad overshadows the product and people just remember the ad and not the product on display and thus the ad fails to deliver what is expected of it i.e. sales of the product.

But the bottomline is that the ad has caught the fancy of the people and it should result in sales of happy dent. What can we expect in the next ad, a crow with pearly white beak? That would be quite a contrast, isn’t it?

RCom GSM ad featuring Hrithik Roshan:

The latest Reliance Communications (RCom) Ad for its GSM enabled cell phones featuring Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan fails to create any impact. I am not sure if it would result into Sales for RCom. 

We will analyse the ad based on certain parameters: 

Creative content: Not at all

USP: not mentioned

Positioning: not mentioned

Target market: there doesn’t seem any target market at all.

Differentiation: nothing

Recall factor: No 

The ad content of “relive, remember, recall and respect” is an emotional style of execution but it isn’t anything more than that. The ad doesn’t break the clutter at all. There is nothing worth remembering in the ad except for may be Hrithik. 

If you compare it to the Vodafone Zoozoo ads (the comparison is inevitable), then the ad pales in comparison. The Zoozoos charmed the audience and have bought into limelight the Value-added-services of Vodafone and clearly positioned them as VAS providers. 

The RCom ads don’t have any of these things. Moreover all the other telecom players such as Airtel, Aircel, Tata Indicom, and BSNL advertised during the IPL. RCom, knowing its history was conspicuous by its absence. 

The strategy that they seem to have adopted is to be the sole advertiser during the World T20. The problem though is that they cannot stop the advertisement by these telecom players on other TV networks. 

The other problem is that the IPL is an Indian competition. For any match, some part of India would be watching the match as against the World T20 where India has just 7 matches maximum and that too only if India reaches the final. The IPL has 59 matches. The comparison is just not on. 

The ad should focus on the 3G aspect which it just mentions at the end. Why not make an ad specifically showing its 3G compatibility and readiness. More so since it is the first 3G enabled GSM-ready network. It straight away gains a first mover advantage over Vodafone, Airtel and other GSM providers. 

The objective of the ad should be to focus on the 3G aspect. The differentiation has should be clearly presented. The only silver lining could be their Brand Ambassador Hrithik Roshan. His fan base and versatility as an actor adds a personality to the Reliance brand. 

Expectations from Dr. Manmohan Singh’s Government:

Reform: (v) make changes in (something) so as to improve it

All economic and political pundits on NEWS channels are so optimistic about the new government at the centre. According to them, the government is free from the communist burden, and hence they are going to take some hard decisions regarding reforms in some of the key sectors. I hope the government doesn’t flatter to decieve now that it has got a strong mandate for governance. There is this game of prophecy being played with all these experts on television egged on by NEWS Presenters. They seem to be playing “If I was the PM”, “If I was the Finance minister”. The same questions are asked to the same experts on different news channels.

I think I need to join in this game and have some points written regarding the same.

The most pressing matter at hand for the govt. is to revive the economy and get India on the growth path. This is easier said than done primarily because India’s performance is linked to the global conditions as India isn’t decoupled from the developed west.

Priority sectors need to be earmarked by the govt. as the first step. The list would consist of Insurance bill, pension reforms, Infrastructure (roads, railways, aviation, shipping and power), reforms in Banking, education and telecommunication.

As soon as the election results came out, the following Monday, the Equity markets jumped by 20% and the market had to be shut for the day. the euphoria was due to the election results of a stable govt. for next five years. But this upward movement can be stopped if some sudden changes are seen in the western developed world. The rating for UK has been downgraded due to there critical fiscal position. A similar case can be though of for the US. If this happens, we do not know how the financial world will react and how will our markets react. However in all this euphoria, the fundamentals have not changed. So it is better to be banking on the fundamentals rather than the ‘sentimental premium’ and the feel good factor.

Let us start with the requirements in the Infrastructure sector. India seems to be primitive, a sort of an exaggeration, compared to China in infrastructure when we compare our cities with Shanghai, Beijing among others. Although China's villages are in very bad state compared to our but there growth is fueled by industry. India’s growth, on the other hand is fueled by agriculture and industry alike. Imagine if India becomes equivalent to china in industry, the Chinese cannot compete with us in agriculture, and then India would truly be an Asian tiger prepared to take on the world. We also have the added advantage of English which the Chinese don’t have. Skilled labour in the form of engineers who can do innovation which the Chinese cannot boast of. China can only imitate others, it cannot innovate.

Roadways need to be tarred in the interiors for efficient movement of goods and services. Shipping and logistics have been such as weak area for India. In spite of having such a long coastline and boasting of being the largest peninsula, we have Dubai, UAE as the International port in the region. A port development authority needs to be setup to expedite the matter. If we make the western coast of India i.e. Mumbai and Gujarat, as the international port, India can stop the potential attack on this area from Pakistan due to political and economic compulsions from the world.

The job opportunities would be so large for the Indian economy. This isn’t possible immediately but a roadmap for it to happen in the coming 5 years is needed especially since the govt. is free from any political or coalition pressures.

Same issues are for the aviation sector. The previous aviation minister, Praful Patel was chiefly instrumental in starting the process of improving the India airports and the infrastructure with improvements in the Mumbai and Delhi airports. The MIHAN cargo hub at Nagpur should be built on a war footing for its impact to be felt on the India economy soon. Development of regional airports should be high on the agenda too. New airport at Navi Mumbai to supplement the international Mumbai airport is an immediate necessity. If this is fructified India can have its own F1 track near Mumbai. This would give a boost to the Indian economy year on year.

Just 5% of the Indian population travels by aeroplane according to the pioneer of low-cost carriers in India Capt. Gopinath. This is due to the dearth of infrastructure i.e. airports in all cities. If this 5% could increase by another 5% in the next 5 years, more jobs will be created and efficiency and effectiveness of Indian business will increase.

The golden quadrilateral project of connecting the 4 metros and some other important cities by roads started by the NDA govt. hasn’t been completed in the 5 years of the UPA govt. Is anything needed to be said in this case…

The railways have seen a surprise turnaround by the charismatic Lalu Prasad Yadav. It has become a case study in some of the premier B-schools in India and abroad. We have reached here, but sustaining it is necessary. Railways are the veins of the Indian economy and if they are kept in good shape, India will continue with its growth story.

To do all these infrastructural work, it requires massive funding and the burgeoning fiscal deficit due to the stimulus packages announced last fiscal isn’t making things easy for the finance ministry. S&P has already downgraded India’s sovereign rating. Thus a plan has to be chalked out to keep a balance between growth and increasing fiscal deterioration.

Banking sector: The financial markets expect Banking sector reforms which includes foreign banks increasing there stake in Indian banks. The reason for this wish is that this will increase the capital inflows. The govt. won’t have to spend on it will be financed by private capital thus reducing the fiscal burden. The rationale in this case seems a bit incorrect because India can anyways build up capital from the country with the huge savings. Moreover the capital in developed countries has to flow to the developing countries if they want handsome returns.

The present downturn has resulted in mass exodus of money which primarily has been FIIs from the stack market. Some FDI which was to be invested has been postponed just till the downturn nears its end which will happen within the next two quarters especially since some big ticket reforms are on the anvil with the govt. free from the left’s shackles.

The India PSU banks and even the private Indian banks have done well in spite the downturn because of the strict restrictions regarding the conditions for lending by the RBI. There isn’t a hurry to allow foreign banks here. Rather this is an opportunity to strengthen the balance sheets and asset base of the Indian banks. All major banks in the US and Some in Europe have taken govt. help in sustaining themselves. So why should we open up when there isn’t an immediate need to do so.

If the six associate banks of the state bank merge to form a single entity, it will have a customer base to rival foreign banks. It would be a mammoth entity to take on any foreign bank if and when they come. Imagine if the reverse merger of HDFC bank and HDFC takes place into HDFC bank. The only reason it isn’t happening as of now is because the asset base of more than Rs. 50000 crore (conservatively speaking) of HDFC will be subjected to CRR and SLR which would amount to almost Rs. 5000 crore kept with the RBI for no interest and hence no returns on it.

The pension bill if passed will allow the pension money to be invested in the capital markets. This should be done in a conservative manner. Initially through debt instruments such as corporate bonds followed by the equity markets and the currency markets.

Power sector: the govt. wants the economy to grow by 8-10%. How is it possible if you have power cuts in the industrial belts? Some of the companies have to shut shop for a three day weekend owing to shortage in power.

How do you expect that Indian agriculture will lead the growth story if there isn’t electricity to pump water from the irrigation facilities i.e. if they exist in the first place .

Power projects take 3-5 years to generate electricity. It is the most urgent need to look at power generation.

Telecom: India is second only to china when it comes to mobile penetration. In India, about 400 million people are connected through mobile phones. This leaves a growth potential of about 60 plus crores if they have the paying capabilities. This sector too has infrastructural problems. There is lack of telecom towers compared to the total customers. This leads to lot of pressure on the exiting infrastructure and hence connectivity and clarity of voice problems ensue. This problem is more pronounced in the congested metros where there is high population density.

The 3G spectrum allocation auctions have been going on for more than two years and yet they haven’t been finalized. This has resulted in a heavy loss of money for govt. treasury. The auction process needs to be expedited immediately.

Broadband services also lack due to infrastructural problems. Internet connectivity improves the quality of business decisions and the efficiency. This is amply clear from the ITC’s e-choupal initiative for the farmers. The farmers get the best possible deal for there harvest and can even hedge there positions with respect to the market. This shows the wonders IT can do for an emerging economy to sustain itself and grow exponentially.

Education sector: reforms in the education sector means throwing open the doors for foreign universities to set shop in India. This will not only change the education system in India but also make behavioral changes in the perception and outlook towards research which forms the bedrock of a developed economy.

Post-graduation courses need to be liberalized towards the open markets and need not be subsidized. There is enough funding from banks to finance the tuition fees of the needy and deserving candidates.