‘Let go’ in this festive season

IIPM 3-year full-time Integrated (MBA BBA) Programme

Is consumption environmentally unfriendly? Is that why austerity is being proposed? Not really. Organic foodstuffs are more expensive than ordinary fare just as environmentally clean solar power is more expensive than dirty power from coal. The supposed positive relationship between consumption spending and the carbon footprint is tenuous – junk food and environmentally unsound material can often be consumed in large amounts since they are cheap. So consumers should not confuse austerity with sustainability or with responsible behaviour.

There are of course many, as I have already mentioned, for whom austerity is imposed by the slimness of their pay packets compounded by the recent steep rise in the prices of essentials. The communal way of life offers an escape for them – getting together for community festivities, complete with decorations and self cooked food instead of the expensive gaiety of restaurants and private fireworks. Not only do riches not always make you happy, you do not have to be rich to be happy. Our festivals are a time for social interaction which is not only cost-less but allows one to afford trappings – good food, lighting, fireworks – that solitary efforts cannot.

To summarise, I would advocate a “festival as usual” approach. If you have a lot and feel ashamed to spend it all on yourself, then spread the merriment around. You can remain “green” while consuming and also not go green with guilt – one man’s spending is another man’s income. If you do not have enough, think of grand festive alliances instead of austere seclusion. Do not kiss your festive inclinations goodbye. The show must go on.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF TOI...

IIPM 3-year full-time Integrated (MBA BBA) Programme

India Poised, Lead India, Teach India to Let’s make this Vote Count in 2009, TOI has transformed its ‘information’ brand imagery to one of ‘empowerment’ over the last three years, says Pallavi Srivastava...

But ask Rahul Kansal, Brand Director, The Times of India (TOI), about TOI’s marketing initiatives in the last three years and he is quick to explain that content remains king for this 171 year old brand. “Marketing is secondary. For us, content is most important. Nearly 90% of our efforts go into improving content regularly, to make it engaging for readers,” says Kansal. And if that sounds a tad too pat coming from the brand head of an organisation that unabashedly celebrates marketing in its success, simply consider the manner in which the daily has consistently changed form and design to keep pace with its rapidly evolving target audience. Starting from the mid nineties, it transcends initiatives like more colour on TOI pages, leaner look, celeb columns and juicy Page One stories that interest and involve the youth - India’s fastest growing demographic. “We moved away from overdose of policy and politics and included lifestyle based news,” adds Kansal. With the result that today, TOI leads the charge among all English dailys in India with a total readership of 13.3 crore (as per IRS 2008).

TOI launched its first TV campaign in 1998 titled ‘A day in the life of India’. Campaigns, launched in the last few years, like Lead India and Teach India have not just allowed TOI to hog premium positioning as market leader, but the accompanying ground activation has kept the masses engaged with the brand like never before. Yet, Kansal says that their marketing budget over the last year has been just Rs.10 crore. He explains the reason as the heavy focus on print and outdoor ads in their campaigns. “For us, swearing to the idea is more important and that makes it effective,” he adds. Take for example, Teach India campaign that was rolled out in August 2008. TOI invited volunteers to take out some time from their routine to teach poor kids. The campaign got a massive response, with over 95,000 volunteers coming forward to take on the job. In July this year, a second round of applications for Teach India were invited and it netted about 30,000 additional volunteers.

Kansal asserts, “We don’t want ourselves to play the role of a passive provider of news. to our readers. We want to be a facilitator. We want to empower our readers to play a larger role in the making of a new India.” And that’s precisely what the future from Brand TOI is going to look like viz. making TOI readers connect to their “Idea of India” that is...

Shivanandan Pare
COO, Bigadda
“It is difficult for me to imagine India without Times of India for the basic fact that it is one of the oldest and most credible brand when it comes to news for the masses. It has given us brands like R.K. Laxman’s common man. it is impossible to imagine the daily without laxman’s cartoons. i associate TOI to a newspaper for india’s common man. Times of India is more of a habit in an average Indian’s life.”

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
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Brand Performance

What Microsoft has done to jump to No.4 in this category. Read on to find out

The most prominent entry to this coveted list is that of Microsoft.

Absent last year, Microsoft has jumped straight to the fourth position. Brand Performance increased becasue Microsoft focussed more on the ‘right retail outlets’ in India tying up with big organised players like Staples, Chroma, Reliance et al, which offered it greater shelf space and therefore greater visibility.

Microsoft also brought forth a fusion of style and science. Other new entrants are SBI, Infosys and HDFC. Even though the prevailing high interest rates proved to be a damp squid for SBI & HDFC, they came out as the ultimate winners thanks to the special home loan schemes the duo offered. What’s more, the moment RBI cut rates, both SBI & HDFC were quick to follow suit.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Follow Arindam Chaudhuri on Twitter
IIPM B School on Twitter
Management guru Arindam Chaudhuri’s latest blockbuster book, Discover The Diamond In You
IIPM 3-year full-time Integrated (MBA BBA) Programme
IIPM 2-year full time Programme (leading to the award of the MBA degree from IMI)
B-schools expect higher rate of campus placements this year
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
IIPM Best B School – EVENTS
IIPM conceptualized the grand final of Dare ‘10 — the most prestigious of international B-school student quizzes

Faith Healing

Walk into any ‘Art of Living’ centre (an NGO started by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar that claims to uplift humanity by bringing peace at the level of the individual, society and the world as a whole) and what startles you is the number of youngsters gathered there for spiritual healing, shattering preconceived notions that it was a place for ‘senior citizens’ who want to make the best of their retired life by enhancing their spiritual self. “Why don’t you opt for the YES+ course?” was the question that was thrown at us no sooner we walked into one such centre in South Delhi. Straight from a marketing text book, eh?

In fact, not only Art of Living, even institutions like International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON), OSHO World, Patanjali Yogpeeth (Baba Ramdev), et al, are all places where gurus claim to offer peace of mind for battered souls. Girish Bhardwaj, a new entrant to the Art of Living course who has already undergone two stages – the Basic and Advanced Courses – avers that “his perception towards life has changed” after attending these sessions. And if you thought that spirituality comes free, welcome to the world of materialistic spiritualism - the course fee ranges anything from Rs.1,500 to Rs.3,000 (for a week long session).

So, what is it that prompts a Gen-X youngster to be a part of such centres. And more importantly how do centres attract such huge crowd?

Well, if you market your courses with tags like ‘Self Development’, ‘Stress Management’, et al, any person in the present scenario would be sure to lap it up. Don’t mistake us. We don’t disagree with the basic premise of such courses, which have almost become food for many souls in today’s stress filled society. What we are only bringing out is the manner in which modern marketing techniques are now being applied to this otherwise spiritual journey! Despite being low on ads in mainstream media, these centres have a huge presence on the Internet and that is one way they manage to attract tech savvy people like Girish. “Having read some books I got all the more confused. Thanks to the Internet, I chanced upon Art of Living,” points out Girish. Moreover, word-of-mouth certainly seems to be one of their key marketing strategies. “You become happy and you would like your near and dear ones to become happy too and that is how it’s marketed” he adds. There’s even a fair bit of showbiz involved in the business because many gurus spend big bucks to buy TV time that allows them to reach out to masses, organise mass jagrans in well-off neighbourhoods and even hire PR agencies to spread their enlightened word to the stressed out world!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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INDIAN BANKS GETTING SET FOR A WHIRLWIND GLOBAL TOUR?

But therein rises a devil’s advocacy question: Is it really essential for Indian banks to go the M&A route? As Jagannadham Thunuguntala, Equity Head, SMC Capital comments, “It’s better to first scale up in the Indian market, before trying uncertain terrains in the global market. India itself has a huge potential. Considering the banking penetration rate, banks do have a huge opportunity to grow organically within India than without...” There is surely weight in the argument that for banks that have not yet leveraged their competence within India, it’s senseless just to shore up foreign operations simply to play to the gallery. Vaibhav Agarwal, Senior Analyst-Banking reiterates, “I believe that the domestic market in India is amongst the attractive markets globally, offering far higher profitable growth opportunities. On the other hand, the risk-reward trade-off and avenues for profitable growth in competitive global markets do not appear to be the best fit for Indian banks in this phase of their growth. That’s why we prefer banks (at the market place), which are more inward-focused.”

Moreover, the possibilities of inorganic growth within India are also endless. With a lot many small banks still existing in the market, the industry is due for a serious phase of consolidations as shown by the recent merger of HDFC Bank and Centurion Bank of Punjab. The marriage pushed HDFC Bank to the position of India’s third largest bank in terms of market value. But, it’s not only the potential of the domestic market that is keeping Indian banks away from tasting global waters. There are more roadblocks on this global path. The foremost concern is in the lack of advanced risk management systems. Experts believe that Indian banks lack adequate skill to even adopt these systems quickly. Technology too plays a vital role, not only because it has a direct impact on a bank’s business model and process quality, but as it also affects the bank’s distribution channels radically. For Indian banks, which still trail their global counterparts in application of advanced technologies, handling the global consumers would certainly be a tough call. Besides, adoption of new technologies itself will end up increasing costs and besides, they’d also have to invest in changing their accounting principles to adhere to international standards. Adds Bimal Jalan (see interview on page 64-65), Ex-Governor, RBI, “For going global, banks must also follow India’s regulatory system to ensure that the main company remains safe.” But that is business logic put simply. The fact remains that with international valuations languishing at brilliant lows, there is no better time to takeover a foreign bank than now. And then, not every deal is as bad as Jaguar, is it?

In the meantime, some Indian banks are doing all in their means to entice the global customer (not just NRIs), offering attractive interest rates and unique banking options through multi-channel strategies. For instance, ICICI Bank Canada and UK offer unique HiSave accounts to customers. True to name, these accounts offer a higher interest rate on deposits than prevailing rates, ensuring a virtual flood of applications to the bank. When launched in 2005, ICICI UK had to even turn many applicants away as it had not expected such rave response to its HiSave ads. If Indian banking’s baby steps into global stardom are having such an impact, wonder what the full stride will bring in its wake?

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Management guru Arindam Chaudhuri’s latest blockbuster book, Discover The Diamond In You
IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau
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