SELLING YOUR OWN LEGEND

PERSONAL BRANDING IS NOT MERELY PROMOTING ONESELF. IT HAS TO BE MEANINGFUL, DISTINCTIVE, RELEVANT, CONSISTENT AND AUTHENTIC IF YOU WANT TO CREATE AND SELL YOUR OWN PERSONA – SUCCESSFULLY.

Mariah Carey has insured her legs for $1 billion, Tom Jones his chest hair for £35 million, JLo has posteriors secured for £18 million, and Dolly Parton is safe with her frontal assets covered for £400,000. When people can afford to manage their assets with such financial backing you know that they command brand value. But how? Well, you have to create and sell your own persona – successfully.

Most buying decisions are based on trust, confidence, and emotional connect that people have with a product or a person. Ranbir Kapoor is eulogised even if Rock star gets low rating. A brand is the expectation, image, and perception that an offer creates in the minds of the target audience. One song from Silk Smitha and the film was likely to be a hit. Successful branding captures the mindshare and the share of the wallet by outwitting its competitors. It ensures commanding of a premium over a commoditized offer. KBC minus Amitabh Bachchan is just one more TV show.

SO WHAT IS PERSONAL BRANDING?

We trust people more than companies. Accordingly personal branding is becoming more relevant than even products/ corporate brands. It is Anna’s persona – simple, direct, uncomplicated, powered by passion and conviction from the heart that has fired popular imagination. Even if important, the big idea – corruption is at the root of it all – will fail to draw sustenance without his backing. Yet most people don’t seek to manage their individual brand strategically, consistently, and effectively; in fact they don’t even appreciate that they are a brand, good or bad. And those who do manage their equity hold a flawed understanding about the process of branding itself.

Personal branding is not merely promoting oneself. A personal brand has to be meaningful, distinctive, relevant, consistent, exciting, compelling, enduring, persuasive, memorable, holistic, and authentic. Branding is about creating an identity that associates certain perceptions, feelings, and emotions with itself, and then influencing the target audience to buy an idea/offer based on that identity. A successful brand makes a credible, superior offer, and then delivers it. For this the prerequisite is to understand one’s unique attributes, strengths, skills, values, and passion, and then use them to separate oneself from competitors.

Take Sallu Bhai. The nickname for Salman Khan itself has been carefully created by his spin doctors to ensure that he is perceived as a hero of the masses. Wanted, Ready, Dabangg, and Bodyguard have ensured that he has become the most bankable star with a tremendous mass appeal. With memorable names like Chulbul Pandey and Lovely Singh, his star persona – raw, muscular, shaven physique – remains central to the male-working class ideal of the body. His offscreen image is in sync with his on-screen one. Thus he wears the same clothes whether acting or living his life. He reflects the Indian style – bright colours, earrings, inexpensive clothes, bracelet. He shares the residence building with his parents, staying in only one bedroom apartment. He participates in the Ganapati festival. He embodies lower middle class values of forever caring and giving. SRK, on the other hand, is quintessential symbol of ‘hard work leads to success’, reflected in Mannat, Vanity van, and jet setting lifestyle. As for Aamir Khan he follows three dictums: Do what makes you happy, not worrying about being successful; be courageous; and, live life on your own terms. Each one of them has a different recipe for successful branding.

SO HOW DOES ONE BUILD A PERSONAL BRAND?

You may be excused if you think that Rakhi Sawant is only good at seeking cheap publicity. But make no mistakes. All this is carefully orchestrated. She is savvy enough to spin off a show business career on the basis of so-called publicity stunts – Swayambar, breaking up with her boyfriend onscreen, or declaring her intention to marry Baba Ramdev – since they raise her celebrity quotient as also the appearance fees. Why do you think Mallika Sherawat keeps fetching good roles? Because she advances her career by using Jackie Chan, or pronouncing her more than nodding acquaintance with Obama, or simply by saying outrageous things. These girls are not dumb; they can teach a lesson or two to many aspiring brand managers.

So how do you go about building and sustaining a great personal brand? Well, for starters, you can follow this blueprint & the roadmap with five building blocks:

DEFINE AND FORMULATE YOUR PERSONAL AMBITION

Bill Gates’ dream was: a PC on each desk. Now his vision is to prove Malthus (who said that overpopulated earth will see mass diseases so as to turn world population manageable again) wrong through supporting mass vaccination programme. SRK wants to be the entertainer to the world. And Anna’s vision is to see a corruption free India.

WRITE YOUR OWN BRAND STATEMENT

Define your personal brand statement encompassing your ambition, speciality, objective, and domain of operation. Sonia Gandhi does not merely wish to lead the nation; she wants to be instrumental in developing legislations and influencing government thinking for social engineering. Yet she is always respectful to the constitutional supremo, the Prime Minister. She always stands behind him when they are at microphone together, and always stands up when he arrives.

FORMULATE YOUR PERSONAL BALANCE SCORECARD (PBSC)

Assess your personal critical success factors needed to translate your ambition and brand statement into manageable and measurable personal objectives, performance matrix, targets, and improvement actions. Larry Page and Sergey Brin relentlessly work to achieve their mission – organise and make all of the world’s information available through Google search. Sergey is the arbiter of Google’s technological approach while Larry is the primary thinker about the venture’s future direction. They make an unassailable team.

IMPLEMENT YOUR AMBITION, AGENDA, AND BSC

When Henry Ford dreamt about a car for the masses, he introduced the concept of assembly line to mass produce cars. Aamir refused to pose for Madam Tussaud’s wax replica since he wanted no distraction while building his professional career. Salman battled excruciating pain from a nerve disorder to work out for 5 hours everyday for the mandatory shirtless scene in the climax of the movie Bodyguard. You have to commit your resources to build your brand. Bill Gates is successful in both his ventures – Microsoft and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – since he uses his excellent problem solving skills to the hilt.

AUDIT YOUR PERFORMANCE AND UNDERTAKE MIDCOURSE CORRECTION

SRK still suffers, by his own admission, from insecurities (of possible rejection). Malvinder and Shivinder (formerly of Ranbaxy) realised that they could not pursue their vision for Ranbaxy due to lack of funds; they opted out.

All the legends – M. S. Dhoni, Lady Gaga, Ratan Tata, Paris Hilton – thus:

• Know exactly what makes them unique, special, and outstanding.

• Identify and leverage their dreams, and have the faith and courage to pursue them through delivery of peak performance.

• Having identified their talent & genius, seek to transcend beyond it.

• Attain success by living according to their dreams.

Silk Smitha, the precursor of today’s item girl, offered huge dose of sexuality and oodles of oomph, with few inhibitions, to make any film marketable. In 1996, however, she allegedly committed suicide because while she represented the seamy underbelly, she had never herself opted for this ‘status’ voluntarily.

SELLING YOUR OWN LEGEND

AN ANATOMY OF THE MODERN WOMAN CONSUMER

OVER THE YEARS, THERE HAS BEEN A SEA-CHANGE IN HOW THE FAIRER SEX IN INDIA BEHAVED AND REACTED. TODAY, THEY ARE ALSO A VERY DIFFERENT LOT OF CONSUMERS. SO, WHAT’S IN IT FOR THE MARKETERS?

‘Slut Walk’ or ‘Pink Chadhi’ may or may not be the movements she wants to be associated with. But dandy and candy, cutesy and polished are certainly the adjectives the lady would like to reserve for the Omega man, not for herself. O.K. So men donning orange jackets or pink waistcoats may still not be found in India; yet the Über woman certainly thinks that the new age man must loosen up so that he can whip up an Espresso while she enjoys a post coital fag. Mythologically, Sita (Lord Ram’s wife) was an ideal woman – a chaste, uncomplaining, self-sacrificing shadow of her husband. But this year, The Ramayana at Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra and at Akshara Theatre caricatured her as the modern Indian woman. At Kala Kendra, she is an empowered woman with an identity of her own, while at Akshara, Ram and Sita were presented as two independent individuals and equals. Sita was no more presented as a victim or a meek character; rather, she is a strong woman who makes her own decisions and choices. And in the end, it is not Sita alone who descends into the earth – as in the original version; instead, both husband and wife merge to become a single entity. In the Bollywood flick Break Ke Baad, Deepika Padukone is a wild child knocking down drinks, puffing away, and refusing to be tied down in a conventional relationship. In Kartik Calling Kartik she makes the first move on Farhan Akhtar. A drunken Katrina Kaif is a beedi-smoking-hell-raiser, yet she is a ‘wild-but-nice’ girl in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. A decade ago, such women would be portrayed as one with suspect morals. Today, such roles are supposed to reflect the boldness of the fairer sex and the gender equality in society.

Le Meriedian hosts an exclusive women’s whisky (not wine) club with a membership of sixty corporate honchos, entrepreneurs, artists, diplomats et al. The spirits companies are now reaching out to women who are charismatic, stylish, confident, assertive and independent. Welcome to the constellation where Mars and Venus are exchanging places, a world of Über Women, Omega Men. In this, admittedly niche, world gender equations are melting, merging, and are being rewritten. Though a predominantly urban (SEC A1) trend, now there exists an Über woman, assertive, tougher, and worldly wise. She is neither emotionally vulnerable, nor is she submissive. Rather, she is self-driven, selfcentred, domineering, knows her mind – be it in food, fashion, or fantasies of sex. More importantly, she has both money and motive to fill the coffers of the attentive marketers.

So Debenhams, the men centric department store has now transformed itself into a women-focussed one by skewing the merchandise in their favour. At Shopper’s Stop, while the same store sales are growing at 9% overall, the women’s category is growing at 25%. Three years ago, in total, the chain had three counters each of Estee Lauder, Mac, and Clinique. Today, the count has swelled to 30 for each brand.

Even malls are moving along the same path. One of New Delhi’s most-known and upmarket malls – Select City Walk Mall (Saket, New Delhi) consciously decided to target lady shoppers. To that effect, the mall’s promoters courted ethnic stores like Zardozi, Kalpana and Fab India, even as they signed-up global brands like Espirit, Mango and French Connection, among others. Today, almost 75% of the mall’s merchandise is women centric and 60% of Select Citywalk’s footfalls is accounted for by women. And why not? Today, there are about 10 million urban women in the age group 20 to 40 years, holding managerial jobs. And this number is expected to balloon to 50 million by 2020! These women spend 35% more on themselves than traditional home makers. Though not all, a significant proportion of this cluster would be those ‘who wear the pants in their household’ – those who dominate over the Omega Man. These are the women who make their own choices, are anything but sub-servient, are not constricted by their biological clocks, and unashamed of their libido. This lady is not afraid to be useless in the kitchen and retains the freedom to even reject motherhood. She is not a rebel; it is only that she makes her own choices.

The beginning of this trend can possibly be traced back to a redefinition of her priorities and financial independence. Morning-after pill on one hand and platinum credit card on the other have liberated her. She has become indulgent, and doesn’t mind splurging on herself. She pays by a credit card and buys from speciality retailers. She spends heavily on healthcare (supplements, stress, relievers, fertility control products), personal care (skincare products, beauty enhancers), eating-out (Risoto, Sushi and falafal), accessories (Clark shoes, Da Milano bags, and Longines watches), jewellery (diamond studded platinum pieces), financial products (fixed deposits, mutual funds), travel (all women trips), or whatever money can buy. Purchases have to be both branded and premium even if not luxe. She is qualified with a professional degree – in management, fashion, interiors, or even finance – under her belt. The household she belongs to is possibly DINK or DISK, since she decides about motherhood/parenthood. In any case, kids are no more mamma’s responsibility alone; the man of the house must find time for children too.

There was an Airtel ad in which the guy had organised a party while his wife was away. A big dirty stain on the tablecloth results. And who shows him how to remove it? His friend. Society Tea and Double Diamond ads had husbands trying to impress the wife with perfectly brewed tea, when she returns home, knackered from work. No more a depiction of fantasy for the crossover woman; this is how she wants her man to be. This woman mainly sees herself in the role of a manager, mediator, mate, and myself, me, and I. In the last role she can be portrayed in 5 unique ways (as shown in the table titled, ‘Needs of modern women’) in marketing communication, in order that she becomes a buyer.

Yin & yang qualities are being shaken up, yes. Still perhaps, even the society does not want that men stop taking the initiative to hold a woman’s hand in love. So essentially this ‘couldn’t-care-less’ avatar of the Indian woman is actually an auto-protection mode for a limited segment of the society. Notwithstanding, it has a great marketing potential, since this segment controls a disproportionately large percentage of purchasing power and believes in spending it. Only imperative is to understand them and their needs and motives.

AN ANATOMY OF THE MODERN WOMAN CONSUMER

iMARKETING: WHY IS THE MAGIC MISSING?

CERTAINLY STEVE JOBS’ CREATIVE GENIUS HAS PROTECTED THE COMPANY ALL THESE YEARS. BUT WHAT ABOUT APPLE OF THE POST STEVE GENERATION? WILL HIS LEGACY LIVE ON?

On August 10, 2011 Apple became the most valuable company in the world with stock price at $364. If you had invested in Apple IPO in 1980, this would have fetched you a return of 13,300%. In fact, by this date more than 314 million iPods, 129 million iPhones, and 29 million iPads had been sold. The latest version iPhone 4S had 4 million confirmed buyers during the weekend of October 16, 2011; the number is rising every hour. All this because of the efforts (atleast visibly) of one man army – late Steve Jobs. Uber-secretive he built his devices without screws so that what was inside would remain unknown. He had the uncanny ability to ‘blend foresight, fashion, form, and function’ which he used to revolutionise music, mobile, communication, telephony, retailing, and of course computing. But more than that he transformed the way people used technology.

He, of course, had his share of ‘lemons’ in Apple III (1981, unreliable hardware), Lisa (1983, at $9995 too expensive), NeXT (1989, ahead of its time and prohibitively unaffordable), Puck Mouse (1998, would disappear in the palm), The Cube (2000, designer PC which flopped again due to price factor), iTunes Phone (2005, which could hold only 100 songs), and Apple TV (2007, half hearted effort born out of ‘hobby’). But against these duds there were revolutionary products that deified Jobs: Macintosh (1984, GUI and cheaper yet faster than LISA), NeXT (1989, even after failure its software provided the basis for today’s Macintosh and iPhone OS), iMac (1998, strikingly designed, easy to operate home computer), iPod (2001, first successful digital music player with a hard drive), iTunes Stores (2003, made buying digital music easy and cheap to access), iPhone (2007, foolproof mobile), and iPad (2010, most advanced tablet).

But, wait a minute! This piece is not about his regular creation of products that would disrupt many markets and marketers. For, every one knows how the Apple I and II forced IBM to enter the PC market,how iPod has almost killed the MP3 players and the personal stereo system, or how the iPhone has disrupted the smartphone market. It also does not wish to tell you that Jobs had a great propensity to take other people’s concepts, improve upon them, and spin them into wildly successful products. Remember Apple never invented computers, digital music players, or smartphones. It reinvented them for people who did not want to learn computer programming or negotiate the technical hassles of keeping their gadgets working. Reams have been written about Jobs’ incessant effort to delight customers by bringing to them the products that ‘they did not know they needed’. However, we have a different agenda, that of pointing at the Achilles Heel in the armoury of Apple Inc.

Apple, after all is not a particularly good innovator. Instead, it relies on design, functionality, and branding to charge huge markups for its products. It was the passion and patience, until he would get it right, of Steve Jobs that would motivate him to pursue an idea and commercialise it through a wildly successful product. But what about Apple of the post Steve generation? Even if millions have booked iPhone 4S over the weekend, by their own admission these people are buying the Jesus Phone because it is the last thing designed by the late ‘Michelangelo of the digital era’. Earlier Apple was known for maverick engineering. But the latest launch has invited mixed review. According to the detractor tech geeks it was a disappointment; it has blown open the doors for the competitors to come charging in. Besides, the launch presentation itself lacked all the aura, drama, and hype that one used to witness when Steve Jobs would orchestrate the launch. People now have many other options to park their money, to get more bang for the buck. Sea Ray from Nokia, Xperia Arc S from Sony Ericsson, Wave 3 and Nexus Prime from Samsung, Titan from HTC and many others from Motorola, Blackberry, LG etc. are likely to offer formidable rivalry to the incremental upgrade from Apple. At least until the release of iPhone 5.

Apple is what it is today because it marries cutting edge hardware and software to provide the user an experience he has not had before. However, this walled garden approach might prove to be its nemesis. Apple is applying its might to make the company experience of its users less free, more locked down, and more tightly regulated than ever before. All of Apple’s iDevices use operating systems that deny the user access to their workings. In an industry where innovation is commoditised, locking consumers into proprietary platform is not a good idea. Open source yields technological improvements on a scale no individual company can hope to match. Computer and cellphone makers have mostly burnt their fingers with home grown  software. Costs of keeping up with Android for mobiles and tablets can be prohibitive. No matter how brilliant marketing is, the iPhones & iPads will always be under intense pressure from the likes of Micromax (makers of iPhone lookalike) and Akaash (tablet at Rs.3,000).

Then, by Apple’s own admission, it has never proactively chased customers worldwide. It is only committed to employees, partners, and customers who spread the gospel about its products. But that still does not explain the almost malignant apathy of the company towards the Indian market, the world’s second largest for mobiles, having 600 million plus active subscribers. Apple, the world’s largest smartphone maker, has failed to capture a significant share out of this booty. The market for smartphones in India is forecast to grow at 68% per year, reaching 81.5 million units, by 2015. Nokia and RIM far outnumber Apple here. Apple shipped only 21,150 iPads to India during April-June 2011 (0.2% of its global shipments). iPhone accounted for barely 2.6% of India’s smartphone shipments in the same quarter. So, whereas Apple App Store has 5 lakh plus applications available for downloading, and Blackberry barely 36,781 (as on June 30, 2011), still RIM has won hands down because it got the right product, the right app for its target customer, and the right timing. Nokia commands 46% marketshare, Samsung 21% and RIM 15%. RIM’s BBM (instant messaging service) is popular because it was one of the first, and it functions well on networks a generation behind the speeds offered in the US and Europe. Apple has lost out partly because it thrives on 3G network which has very limited footprint in India. But there are other reasons aplenty.

In a highly price sensitive Indian market an iPhone 4 costs $705; the same handset is priced at a mere $199 in the US. Any amount of marketing chutzpah can’t face the onslaught of price warriors, especially in India, a market which incidentally also represents the new frontier of digital world. RIM entered India in 2004 and now wishes to expand its distribution to 80 cities from 15 in 2010. Nokia already has more than 200,000 outlets in India and offers 13 smartphones models. But consumers cannot buy Apple products from company stores (in fact, there are no Apple stores in India, only licensed resellers) or even its website.

Finally, Apple is known more as a retailer than an institutional seller. In the US between October 2009 and September 2010 it sold only $50.8 million worth of products to the US Federal Government out of a total reported sale of $65.2 billion. This partly stems from a fundamental mismatch in orientation. Apple revolutionised the markets it operates in by designing products people ‘did not know they need’. But government purchasing always starts with issuing detailed description of products it wishes to buy. Whatever, the fact remains that in India the government is a major buyer of all the technological products. No company can ignore it if it wants to do big numbers.

While Jobs’ creative genius has protected the company all these years, now when his legacy has began to wane, Apple will have to contend with sobering realities of a new marketplace which is swarming with hungry wolves and sharks out to attack a vulnerable soul.

Apple has learnt no lessons from the failure of iPhone 3 in India. It is high time it reviews its marketing strategy for the world’s second largest market.

iMARKETING: WHY IS THE MAGIC MISSING?

FIELDWORK OR FEELWORK?

STRATEGY FORMULATION AND EXECUTION WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF CONSUMER INSIGHTS IS AS SENSIBLE AS RUNNING ON A MINEFIELD BLINDFOLDED

Despite being known as a highly professional company offering very challenging work environment, an MNC (name being withheld) failed to attract top notch talent from B-schools. Research told the company that it was telling its prospective recruits what they already knew, thereby adding no value through communication. Besides, these freshly minted MBAs wanted moderate challenge, not the ‘fear factor kind’ of environment at the workplace. Tang kept on insisting in India that it was orange juice to be had on breakfast table, as in US. Instead it should have perhaps tested the hypothesis whether the brand would find acceptance on any other occasion, given that Indians don’t drink juice at breakfast table. A third company wanted to find out which flavour should it choose to lace its new introduction of glucose powder with – grape, pineapple, orange, or mango. This despite the common knowledge that in India the most acceptable flavours are mango and orange. Real was also introduced the western way – unsweetened. But research made Dabur realise that market preferred it sweet. Yet when Tropicana arrived in India it came in with sugarless juices.

Strategy formulation and execution without the benefit of consumer insights is as sensible as running on a minefield blindfolded. At times these might be intuitively obvious to the marketer. A tremendously successful cigarette brand – Charms – was introduced without any research input. Or, at other times while research may provide counter indications, a marketer, through sheer perseverance, may still make a success of a brand. Pre-launch survey for Sintex water tanks had warned against such a launch. So a manager should avoid making the business problem a slave of the research. But, equally he should avoid working on the strength of a mere hunch.

RESEARCH PROVIDES A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

When R. Mohan thought of introducing Good Knight repellant mats (in 1984) the market was using coils followed by creams and sprays, with coils commanding 70% market share. Mohan wanted to introduce an electronic mosquito repellant,including the electrical mosquito destroyer (EMD) and the chemically impregnated mats. Focus groups were conducted among both non-users and users of repellents. The aim was to know about principal and peripheral motives behind the use, knowledge about the product, and the level of satisfaction enjoyed.

It was discovered that the basic reason to use the repellant was to enjoy peaceful sleep. Knowledge about electronic repellents was virtually missing, and those who knew disapproved of their high price and fluctuating quality. Families with children were frequent users of coils and creams, and they were reasonably satisfied. While users of mats disliked cream due to its perceived harmful effect on skin, cream users avoided mats since they emitted harmful gases. Pricewise, at Rs.5-10 both were affordable, easily available too. Briefly put no major dissatisfaction. Undeterred, Mohan decided to launch his high priced contraption through premium positioning. The product was targeted at dissatisfied cream and coil using parents with young kids. Communication aimed at selling generic product concept & induce trial by projecting a modern image, and ease of use. The rest, as they say, is history.

Learning: At times research about not whether but how the concept will work. Not decision making about strategy, but decision support system is provided by marketing research.

CONCLUSION BEFORE THE HYPOTHESIS?

One of the top three multinational nonformal shoe marketer came to India, salivating over teeming millions as potential buyers. Logic deployed was simplistic, albeit daft: Everyone who could buy a Maruti was capable of buying the shoe brand. Logic so far was uncontestable. But how can you forget the simple lesson of Economics 101: What ‘could’ be purchased is not necessarily what ‘would’ be purchased. Need plus ability plus motivation plus opportunity combined together generate demand for a product. Another MNC, this time a contact lens maker, had gathered some data from published reports and estimated that the market had a size of 2,00,000. Indian middle class was spending huge amounts on branded clothing, fashion accessories, grooming products and so on. Besides, every unmarried, spectacled woman between age 18-26 was looking for alternative to spectacles (not true) since Indian men did not want girls with glasses (even if true). It refused to accept the researched size of the market, between 75,000-78,000. A third marketer, in face of declining sales for his product, had concluded that flat sales were due to the tactical price cut by the competitor. The brand manager wanted the research to answer: One, should he cut prices; two, should the cut be even lower than that of the competitor? The agency being wiser than the client found out that consumers were not price sensitive anyway, and only one third market had even noticed the Rs.2 price differential between the client and the competitors’ brands. So it tested other hypothesis. It found that penetration of the competitor was now deeper by 500 more outlets and it was paying better margins to the retailers. Hence, bigger sales.

Learning: Preconceived notions yield wrong hypotheses and faulty hypotheses do not deliver correct findings.

RESEARCH HELPS FINE-TUNE POST LAUNCH STRATEGY

When Gillette introduced shaving gel in aerosol cans, where it could be sprayed directly on the face, it failed to find many Indian users. Research revealed that in India users associate shaving very strongly with brush and foam; they were uneasy about using gel directly. The company introduced a gel tube whereby the shaver puts gel drop on a brush and works up the lather. Cadbury found that with a positioning of Cadbury as a gift to a child on special occasions, and with 70% marketshare, the sales were stagnant. The parent would be the buyer but never consumer. The company repositioned the bar: eating chocolate is an everyday affair, and for adults; the sales shot up. Research surveys and retail feedback repeatedly pointed out that Barbie appealed to only those inclined westward. The company decided to launch ‘Barbie in India,’ a dark haired variant drapped in a saree, sporting a bindi. It worked.

Learning: To the extent possible, listen to the consumer & fine-tune your Ps of marketing. Give Real to those with a sweat palate and Activ, Zero sugar range, to diabetics. Both should work.

RESEARCH, HOWEVER, CAN’T SUBSTITUTE FOR INTUITION

All over the world, Lifebuoy was sold on the body odour platform. Unilever (now HUL) wanted to deploy the same positioning here too. Lintas, their agency, did a dipstick and found that in India body odour was not perceived to be a problem. Lever pointed out that it was not perceived to be a problem in West either – until Lifebuoy campaign made people conscious about it. Lintas, unconvinced, pointed out that in West people lived in close spaces, not necessarily bathing everyday. In India people use open spaces and bathing is a daily ritual. So ultimately the platform chosen was Lifebuoy hai jahan, tandaroosti hai wahan (where there is Lifebuoy, health is assured). Today, while in West Lifebuoy sells no more, in India, volumewise, it is the largest selling soap brand. Hindustan Lever had initially rejected the Lalitaji Campaign for Surf. It was the agency again which wagered a bet and sought permission to go ahead with the campaign to counter the declining sales. Sony Corporation is on record saying that it does not make sense to talk to consumers anyway, because they don’t know. No pre-launch research was ever done before the introduction of ipod, iPad, or iPhone. But before you jump to the conclusion as to why then spend money on research, remember that the list of failed products from Steve Jobs is longer than the ones that worked. And Sony is losing its status of being an innovative company to Samsung which retains its faith in research.

Thus, intuition cannot replace research either.

FIELDWORK OR FEELWORK?

AS INDIANS, DO SAVOUR SWADESHI!

A while ago as I ventured to select junior managers for a North India based conglomerate, I decided to put the hopefuls through a different grind: I quizzed them about successful brands in various product categories like bathing soaps, detergents, candies, soft drinks, etc. Sure enough this proved to be an easy one for them. They named the brands pronto, most of them being from the stables of an MNC. I followed it up by asking them about cash cows in the same category, but this time from an Indian company. To my consternation, though admittedly not surprise, many demurred this time. Ghadi detergent, Hajmola candy, Godrej No.1 were entities they were acquainted with but were clueless about how these brands were proving to be formidable foes to their MNC rivals.

Most B-School graduates have to work in Indian markets which have their unique DNA, team up with Indian counterparts who have a typical work culture, raise money from the Indian financial system which is highly unorganised, and practice production and logistics management even when supply chain management is an alien concept. The importance of the kirana store in the retailing business, existence of caste-based groups in factories, highly fragmented financial and capital market, impossibility of adopting JIT practices for inventory keeping, etc. are some facts that an Indian manager has to grapple with. Herein lies the significance of case studies steeped in knowledge about business as conducted in India.

How can pickles be marketed; what is work-life balance in the Indian context; why do incidents like Bhatta-Parsaul, Nandigram and Singur happen; why is Anna a brand in his own right? The answer to these and other similar questions are not available in cases drawn from Harvard, Wharton, or other Ivy League B-Schools across the globe.

While it may be interesting to learn how Hollywood studios are marketing a Spiderman or an Avatar, it will be more instructive and gainful to analyse how a certain Vishesh Films has been able to crack the consumer code and deliver 18 hits out of the 25 movies that it has released. Or, despite having small-sized farms, why peasants in India generally favour to purchase a 50 HP tractor, making mincemeat of the mythical ‘rational buyer’!

It is certainly not our case to claim that by arriving at classroom solutions to a myriad number of cases a management wannabe can hit the ground running, or he/she can replicate the real-life working on, say, Project Shakti. But learning about the success of the Scorpio and the failure of the Nano enables him/her to grasp the context better than if he/she solves a case on the Prius or the Mustang. The purpose of coming out with this publication, therefore, is twofold. Knowledge being a ‘merit good’ (invoking Economics 101, if you allow us!) we, the editorial team, have decided to put case studies developed by IIPM faculty members into the public domain so as to make them accessible to all managers, practicing and aspiring. All these cases will be the narration of stories as they unfolded in real Indian companies and institutions. A subsidiary aim, of course, is that we would like IIPM to be known as a knowledge creator and not merely a knowledge disseminator, especially when it can claim the unique distinction of being hyperactive in teaching, research, consultancy, training, and publishing.

Ciao for now.

AS INDIANS, DO SAVOUR SWADESHI!