A persistent customer connection and consistent quality performance has helped Tata Group to rise as a brand, finds Ratan Lal Bhagat

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In true sense history of India Inc. will always be incomplete without taking into account the legacy of over a century old Tata Group. The multinational conglomerate, since its inception in 1868, has crossed boundaries to establish its brand authority in markets across the globe. From steel to automobile, tea to telecom, the giant’s product portfolio is perhaps the most diversified in this country. Yet, it has been able to maintain an enviable consistency in meeting the needs of its versatile target audience making brand ‘Tata’ nothing less than an icon. The brand has not only withstood the test of time, but also has created a tag like the ‘pride-of-India’ in the minds of the consumers. And all of this has allowed brand Tata to grab the second rank in 4Ps B&M India’s 100 Most Valuable Brands 2009 list.

Going by the global standards, in the last fiscal, Brand Finance (an independent company focused on the management and valuation of brands) summed the brand value of Tata Group of companies at a whopping $11.4 billion. Brand Tata was ranked 57 among the top 100 global brands. So, what’s the secret of this success? Well, the group follows its brand building mantra – Leadership with trust – very religiously. But then, more than the mantra, it’s the strategically developed brand association with consumers that has done the trick. Avers Ronnie Talati, VP & Business Head, Fastrack to 4Ps B&M, “The brand Tata has evolved so much with time that today which ever segment the brand enters; it has its own trust and goodwill.”

Even today, almost all the campaigns coming from the stable of Tata Group are sticking to the same line. Be it Tata Tea’s Jago Re... or Voltas’ India ka dil, India ka AC or Tata Nano – The People’s car; they are all targeted at the aam admi with a sense of patriotism and trust, thus managing a better connection than many others. Supports Yashish Dahiya, CEO, Policybazar, “Tata Group has built on its rich heritage and added to the flavour of the current times. Apart from building on the traditional sectors, it is now championing the sunrise sectors like IT, hospitality and consumer products.” Certainly, owing to its rich legacy and thought provoking campaigns, the brand has been able to create a strong influence on the masses.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

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Time to focus on Brand

The impact of the economic slowdown seems to be finally moving away from the Indian pharmaceutical industry. And riding on the roll back, Lupin, India’s fifth largest drug maker in terms of sales, has just unveiled its ambitious growth plans. After a successful stint in India, Lupin is all set to capture the US market. The company is planning to launch new branded generic drugs every year in the US in specialised theurapatic areas. And why not? The US pharmaceuticals market has always been a priority market for this drug major. In fact, it contributed around 35% to Lupin’s consolidated revenues for the financial year ending March 31, 2009. However, Lupin, which is one of the fastest growing company and is also amongst the top ten players in the generic markets including US, Japan, India and South Africa, has made this strategic move to increase its revenues and at the same time shield itself from the fluctuations of prices in the unbranded generic segment. Considering the fact that a lot of patents are about to expire, the move certainly makes a lot of business sense. Moreover, the advantage of having branded generic version of the drugs is that even though the cost of the drug comes down, the company can still continue to benefit from the sales of the drug even after the patent expires. This strategy has in fact been followed by many branded drug companies across the globe. Last year, Merck & Co. had also adopted the same strategy when the patent for its blockbuster osteoporosis drug was due to expire. It went ahead with the route of having branded generic version for this drug. Similar was the case with drug major Pfizer, which started selling the branded generic version of its antidepressant, after it went off patent in the year 2006. All this shows the enormous potential that this segment has. Even the stock market has responded favourably to this decision of Lupin and its share prices have soared after this announcement. No doubt, the strategy will further strengthen its presence in US and will add on to its revenues, but then, with rising competition from its domestic counterparts, the company will certainly have to fight hard to make its presence felt in the branded generic segment in the US.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

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Brewing up their mood 24X7

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The mere aroma of coffee may give your day a fresh start, but to make it perfect, much more is needed. Ask the brew masters at Barista Lavazza who swear by sustained focus on service, says Savreen Gadhoke

A college crowd, chilling out and gorging smoked chicken sandwiches; a mother-daughter duo enjoying mango smoothies to beat the heat after a wholesome shopping experience; a lovey-dovey couple cuddled on the couch and indulging in tall glasses of sinful Swiss Mocha Frappes; an executive having a meeting with his client over a cup of Cappuccino. Well, that’s the no-pressure environment that Barista Lavazza brew masters try to create everyday. And where the aroma of coffee is so strong, how could the Head–Marketing and Product Development not start his day with a cup of pure platonic coffee. And that’s exactly what Vishal Kapoor does, a cup of Cappuccino – his favourite, before kick-starting his long day to ensure the best possible services at Barista Lavazza.

When 4Ps B&M caught up with Vishal Kapoor at a Barista Crème outlet, he was possibly trying to figure out a possible leakage in the outlet’s products, service and image, the three ingredients, which as per Vishal, have steadily glorified Barista Lavazza in India since it was launched in 2000. Not to mention, the products and services delivered to the customers are something that the honchos at Barista are always proud of. But then, they really know their most important point of service and value it the most. “The definition of service is different for every industry. For us, it is ‘something’ that happens in the store. It makes people come back again and again,” Vishal avers to 4Ps B&M.

A typical day at a Barista Lavazza outlet starts sharp at 7 in the morning with the store manager going through a 25-point check list and the brew masters preparing for the long day ahead. (All the store employees are proudly called ‘brew masters’ and educated and trained about every possible detail about the products, food and beverage preparation, promotional schemes on offer, et al). From greeting the guest as he enters the café, to escorting him to his table, bringing him the menu and taking his order, checking up with him during the meal, bringing the cheque and getting the feedback form filled, all these form an essential part of services offered to the guests. The feedback is then processed into a database. However, the well trained brew masters perhaps are one of the best things for Barista as owing to their training they resolve most of the complaints at the ground level itself. “Common complaints received are like coffee is not hot enough or a cool drink is perhaps not too chilled. Customers don’t want a senior personnel to come and resolve their problems and our store managers are trained well to handle their problems. We want our customers to take back a pleasant and enjoyable experience,” says Vishal.

Product innovation is also something that the coffee retailer lays a strong focus on. Menus are updated regularly and three to four times annualy in Barista Crème and Espresso Bars. Seasonal menus too are quite a hit with customers. “We’d launched a Valentine special menu for couples in the month of February, which was quite successful. And currently we are running the ‘Escape to Italy’ menu to beat the summer heat,” avers Vishal. Interestingly, to cater to the kids coming to Barista with their parents, the outlets have now introduced a kids menu.

They claim that consistency in service is another determinant that has enabled Barista Lavazza to maintain a standard quality of its products and services. To provide good service to guests, employee satisfaction is of utmost importance. And for this, Barista Lavazza has its own traditional yet successful method of internal promotions. A brew master, depending on his performance and product knowledge is promoted from one level to another and from Espresso Bars to Barista Crème.

Suddenly we realised we had held up Vishal for more time than what he normally takes for his breaks. But before he went back to his work we could not stop ourselves from asking him that how does he manage to ensure the smooth running of each and every Barista Lavazza outlet in the metro city. With a smile, he tells us, “by personal visit to stores every eight to ten days along with the Associate Store Manager or the Marketing Manager.” Vishal adds that as per him, there are no Sundays in retailing and Barista encourages all its executives to personally visit all stores. So what are the key things that you do at a store, we asked Vishal and he rattled off a never ending list. “Checking branding and marketing of the store, inquiring about the food and beverages served, resolving issues, going through feedbacks, listening to suggestions...” Just hearing his long list tired us out and we looked longingly at the cup of piping hot cappuccino that a brew master was bringing across to our table... Now that’s service, we decided selfishly :-)

Savreen Gadhoke

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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ADITYA AGARWAL, DIRECTOR, EMAMI

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1. Airtel’s ‘Express yourself’ ad campaign
2. Tata Tea’s ‘Jaago Re!’ campaign
3. ‘Lead India’ campaign launched by The Times of India
4. ‘What an idea, Sirjee’ campaign from Idea Cellular
5. Fevicol’s ‘Aisa jod lagaye, acche se accha na todh paaye’ ad campaign

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

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A diamond is forever

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Brand: De Beers
Agency: HTA
A Diamond is Forever! These four words changed an industry, that hitherto only catered to a niche segment. The campaign, in fact pulled the heart strings of many buyers and the product saw a whopping 19% increase in sales when the campaign was launched in 1997. The campaign not only made HTA win the coveted “Gold Subhas Ghosal Trophy” for effective advertising for its client De Beers Consolidated Mines, but also helped it grab some accolades from the international Ad-Age magazine. In 2000, the magazine named the campaign’s tagline, ‘A diamond is forever,’ as the best advertising slogan of the twentieth century. Few things are really forever, and this campaign is surely one of them! Little wonder, that De Beers has retained this tagline till date.

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


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Divide and rule... happily ever after

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When Subhash Chandra decided to demerge Zee Telefilms into four different companies in April 2006, hardly anyone realised its impact. But with decidedly smaller units and a separate management focus for each of them, the move paid off handsomely. Explains a media analyst, “Before the restructuring, Zee’s entertainment channels were getting all the attention. Now each business has got a focussed management team.” Who says school drop outs (yes, Mr. Chandra was one) don’t know management?

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

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THE RISE OF ACTIVISM...

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Investor activism was always there, Satyam witnessed what shareholder activism can do, and now DLF, to its peril, is feeling the heat of ‘buyer activism’ says Gyanendra Kumar Kashyap

When Ramesh, after a 15-year long and successful career in Europe, finally joined a company in India four years ago, he introduced a number of changes in his company’s modus operandi. He faced no hurdle in getting them cleared from the stakeholders then. But today, he is having difficulties in implementing new changes. Looking at the shareholders opposition, the first question that comes to his mind, “Is this the same India where I always took shareholders for granted?”

Welcome to a new era Mr. Ramesh and all those management personnel who never ever expected Indian shareholders to come forward and actively use what their rights are. Yes, ‘passive investors/shareholders’ are a passé now. The new breed of investors/shareholders/buyers are set to change the corporate dynamics with their measured yet pointed agitations. Many may consider this as an impact of the prevailing market dynamics (read: slowdown), but then don’t we know that in recession lies the seed of revival of both the market as well as corporate governance. And perhaps, the slowdown this time has taught the shareholders to be active rather than being passive and showing their discontent by just selling shares. They have understood, the hard way though, that passive discontent neither serves the purpose nor does it creates an impact on the management. Now when their investments are touching new lows on a daily basis, investors are ready to question a number of corporate decisions.

Peter Paul de Vries surely is an unheard name in the investor/shareholder/buyer activism domain in India. But as the head of the Dutch shareholders association, VEB; his success, in dragging ABN AMRO’s management to the court for bypassing shareholders while selling one of the bank’s most attractive assets, must have inspired many at Satyam, Subhiksha, Hiranandani Group et al. Though not new in the West, there have been rare instances in Indian context when investors/shareholders/customers have posed tough questions, let alone the concept of dissent. But times are finally changing and changing for the better. Thanks to investors like IL&FS, IFCI Sicom, ICICI Venture, Azim Premji’s trust, and Laxey Partners et al, for their activism, fraudulent nature of many promoters has been exposed. Had it not been for the institutional investors’ opposition, Satyam’s proposal to acquire Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties would have been cleared creating yet another classic case of ‘unnoticed’ corporate fraud. Similarly, ICICI Ventures, QVT Financials and Laxey Partners played the role of whistle-blowers for Subhiksha and Hiranandani Group, respectively.

But then, retail investors are still apprehensive in taking on the powerful management/promoters, owing to the complexities in regulations and the huge legal costs that come attached with such acts. However, for a change; what has taken the entire nation by surprise is the uprising of buyer activism, an off beat phenomenon till recent past. In the Indian domain, where buyers are unorganised and are meek to take on the promoters, buyer activism heralds the beginning of a paradigm shift. It certainly marks the beginning of the end of passive activism on the part of the buyers. Definitely, corporates who in their good times, rarely paid heed to buyers are all set to face the music of buyer activism.

OMR; oh, please don’t read it as Optical Mark Reader, we are referring here to Old Mahabalipuram Road (Chennai), the new hot seat of the uprising buyer activism. DLF, which is developing the Garden City Project in Chennai has been literally forced to dance to the tune of the falling market as well as the new enligtened buyers. It is a classic case of the paradigm shift that is slowly yet steadily gripping the market. Once during the good times DLF and the likes dictated the terms and as an antithesis, in times of market meltdown now the buyers are getting the things done their way. The builders who had been milking the buyers for too long with overnight double digit price rise have been literally forced to give in to the demands of the buyer.Market reports state that the DLF is willing to reduce the price of its apartment by as much 10-30% in Chennai and Bangalore and is repricing its Hyderabad project by slashing approximately 50%. But buyers argue that the new prices too are very high. However, analysts expect that this move from buyers and price cut from DLF may force many other developers to cut prices between 25-30%. Ashish Bhalla, MD, Millenium Spire, avers to 4Ps B&M, “It is an unprecedented event and has grabbed wide attention. What is noteworthy is the fact that forcing price cuts and threatening to exit cannot be considered as an aberration.”

Buyer activism may be a common phenomenon in the developed countries, but certainly, as buyers realise their power, with time the voice against their exploitation will only grow stronger and louder in India. DLF is just an eye-opener. So, Mr. Ramesh, the next time you prepare a proposal don’t even dare to underestimate any one be it the investors, shareholders or buyers.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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What were you thinking?!

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That brought us to the people conundrum of Ignitee. It all reached a Collinish tipping point during the time when Atul was roped in to becoming a board member around a year ago. That was the time when the agency went through ‘an internal structural change’ – well, read it as ‘many exits from the organisation’. Fighting fire with a washing machine, the agency on a double spin not only went into a critical recruitment drive and roped in well experienced and respected people directly from the ad fraternity – like S Dharmarajan (Vice President for online media), Ashok Karnik (Executive Creative Director) and Sandy Pinto (Senior Vice President for Business Development & Client Services) – but also promoted key personnel, like Harminder Kaur, who was promoted to the post of Chief Strategy Officer.

My issue was with the fact that till last year, the agency did not have even an HR department. That is not to say that an HR department is supremely necessary – as many excellent performing companies have specific staff who double up as HR personnel – especially in companies like Ignitee, where the gross staff base is just around 100 people (they do plan to hire 50 more in the next six months). The agency, to its brilliant credit, has even launched a new venture cell known as SPARK, which is a cell wherein employees can post their innovative business propositions; and if the jury likes their idea, the employees get a platform to jumpstart this venture from within the organisation’s aegis. There is no taking away the fact that such an orientation is only possible in agencies that are fanatically oriented towards taking care of their employees.

Notably, the agency is instrumental in introducing some of the largest brands to the digital medium; glowing examples being HDFC Bank, Satyam, DLF, Religare, Tata Corproate, Birla Sun Life Insurance, Yamaha, CNN, ICICI Prudential, ICICI Home Loans, ESPN, Jet Airways, Reliance Life Insurance, Tata Motors, Tata Indicom, NIIT and Microsoft. Even in the offline domain, the agency is making its own niche waves (as was seen in the Kids Zee commercial), though they still have their major revenues from the online space only – ‘Media’, ‘web development & creative dialogue’, and ‘search’ contribute 40%, 30% and 25% respectively to the overall revenues of the agency. And with the Incredible !ndia account, the recent Congress Rajasthan & Delhi internet campaigns, and Kerala tourism projects, Ignitee has solidified its stamp in the net space. Add to that Ignitee’s brilliant growth plans and new branches (Hyderabad and Dubai being the recent additions) and one starts questioning the extra ‘e’ in their splendiferous name less and less. Well, if Ekta Kapoor can get away with the extra ‘K’s, then what do I and Oscar Wild care about an extra ‘e’, forr ggod’s sakke!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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FOR THE NAMESAKE?

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Famous American philosopher Eric Hoffer once said, “It is often the failure who is the pioneer in new lands, new undertakings, and new forms of expression.” No matter how germane it may sound but it’s certainly not the pervasive truth. In fact, at times it’s the pioneer who eliminates the fear of failure, all by making way for others in an unfamiliar terrain. If not many, Pioneer India Electronics Pvt. Ltd. (PIEL), a subsidiary of Pioneer Corporation, Japan, is surely one that believes in testing waters when the tide is high.

After establishing a representative office in India in 2005 and collaborating with Autocop India the very next year, Pioneer has finally made a full-fledged entry into the Indian market. Much to an extent that the company is even eyeing a turnover of Rs.5 billion from its Indian operations by the end of 2010! But then the moot question is what makes them do so, particularly at a time when the Indian auto industry is being marred by shrinking sales and bleeding bottomlines? Isn’t it wrong timing? or, as many fear, is it just for the namesake? “I don’t think so! India is going to witness Commonwealth Games in 2010 and by that time the market would be at its peak. But yes, the initial six months or a year are a bit challenging because of the global turmoil,” counters Takashi Yoshida, MD, Pioneer India Electronics. In fact, by entering India, the company is even eying a respite from the global turmoil that has forced it to anticipate an operating loss of $178 million for the year ending March 2009. As Sumit Arora, Associate Director, Synovate India puts it, “Pioneer has made a perfect move and that too at the right time as the Japanese market is quite saturated. Moreover, the company also faces a fierce competition in their home market. Thus, moving to India is the right strategy for them currently.”

The company has already injected about Rs.160 million in the new subsidiary in India. It also plans to spend $3 million on its marketing activities in the country and has even roped in Shahid Kapur as its brand ambassador. “Pioneer has been in India for long but we still don’t have a brand image. As such we wanted to have a brand face that relates to the product,” reasons Yoshida. It seems that the company has certainly rolled its sleeves to capture every bit of the Rs.12 billion in-car entertainment market in India. But that’s not the only domain where the company is upbeat about growth, it is also riding piggyback on the consumer electronics category, which includes products like Plasma’s, DVD Players, Surround Sound Systems and Home Theaters components, et al.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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Six more... to fix more?!

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Hero Honda is not the only ‘nail’ waiting to puncture Bajaj’s tyres... there are more; one being Yamaha, who merrily eroded Bajaj’s premium market pie with successful launches like R15 and FZ16 (a segment where Yamaha’s R15 and FZ16 competes against Bajaj’s Pulsar 220 & DTS-Si). With Hero Honda also planning a 350cc launch, the Karizma-Fi soon, this competition will only get tougher.

To up its financial performance, the company is also planning a comeback in the scooter market, as Sridhar adds, “We will be launching a gearless scooter with a 100-150cc capacity by 2010...” Who knows, Bajaj may find many takers for its scooters when the economy starts accelerating again, in 2009. Well, the future is yet to be seen. For now though, ‘hope’ and ‘confidence’ are not words to be missed in the Bajaj camp, as Sridhar claims, “We will perform way better than the industry in 2009!”

Yes, the launches are just symbolic of Bajaj’s short-term aggression; short term because TVS had also launched 7 new bikes with the same aggression at the end of 2007 under similar (sales) circumstances, but unfortunately for the company it didn’t really help shield off the recessionary effects [and TVS ended up recording a fall of 12.85% in monthly sales (y-o-y) during December 2008]. For Bajaj, the strategy to ensure real long-term sustainability would only be achieved enroute a strategy of distinctive segment branding, and therefore separating first, its executive and luxury segements bikes from the herd of sub-125cc vehicles available in the market, and secondly, branding its luxury bikes uniquely instead of overkilling the Pulsar brand name) are must do’s for Bajaj.

New launches are good, but for Bajaj, a strong branding strategy should be top on priority. New launches, lowered advertising rates and lowered advertising frequency by competitors (thanks to the slowdown)... et al, the time is just perfect to create a new premium brand for Bajaj... So what’s the hitch, Mr. Bajaj? Just advertise!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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HUL’KING UP THE GLORY, YET AGAIN?!

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IN A DIFFICULT MARKET CHARACTERISED BY RISING RAW MATERIAL COSTS AND DECLINING CONSUMER BASE, HUL HAS STORMED BACK

HUL has seen one of the best times in the year 2008, as the major has become the only FMCG company to have recorded a robust growth irrespective of the present economic turmoil. After years of sluggish growth, the MNC has started recording impressive growth figures and appears to be back in action.

For the third quarter ended September 08, HUL recorded a net sales increase of 20% to a very convincing Rs.4,02.78 billion. Additionally, FMCG sales from Indian market saw a hike by 22%. There’s more! The last two quarter results saw an average net sales growth of 20% and such positive results were expected to be carried forward. The top brass of HUL agree that Nitin Paranjpe and Harish Manwani, the present CEO and Chairman respectively, are the best leaders that HUL has had in the past two decades. The duo stumped market watchers, when for the third quarter, HUL recorded a whopping 34% increase in net profit, now at Rs.5.46 billion. Starting from price hike to penetration, the zealous CEO, resorted to all ‘P’s to sustain his company’s market share. The CEO’s strategy to increase prices, on account of increasing raw material costs, has been well received by both the internal team as well as trade pundits. On an average across 20 categories that HUL straddles, there has been a hike in prices for products between a mean of 1-28% yoy. According to Tushar Bhattacharya, a senior FMCG analyst at FICCI, the move “didn’t disturb the sales of HUL as most of the brands owned by HUL have a strong value proposition where consumer won’t mind spending more.” Interestingly, growth in the personal wash segment (with Lux and Lifebuoy leading category growth) was mostly price led.

Apparently, it is not only the price factor that has helped HUL move out of its earlier impasse. Another strategy that has helped the company stand at the heel of competitors has been continuous product line rationalisation in 2008. Initiatives in the shampoo (new Dove), skin (where Ponds gained momentum with new launches), laundry (with innovations like Rin matic) and several other categories benefited HUL immensely. Besides, the clear cut positioning of Axe-‘dark temptations’ in the deodorant category also helped HUL gain ground over relatively new competitors (read: ITC) in the market.

Comparatively speaking, however, this year even Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) did a massive re-positioning exercise for its masculine brand Cinthol with Hirthik Roshan. To beat GCPL, HUL concentrated on its penetration strategy instead. Currently, Axe has presence in more than 15 states while GCPL’s Cinthol has a presence in just ten. Apart from urban centres, HUL’s omnipresence in rural India (displaying a strong 30% growth) across categories has also helped. Now that the suave management honchos at HUL have managed to save their mega-corporation from decline, there’s cause to pause and take stock. While competition is at its lethal best, consumers are increasingly getting tight pocketed. So will the ‘Fair & Lovely’ run last?

Angshuman Paul

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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C’mon India, Teach India

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‘Each one teach one’ became passé as The Times of India group (after the success of its Lead India campaign) launched the ‘Teach India’ campaign in July, even as it pledged to form India’s largest classroom. The initiative required volunteers to take out two hours every week and teach under privileged children & illiterate adults to empower them with the sword of knowledge. The campaign achieved a record 10,000 volunteer sign-ups within the first three days of the launch. The initiative hit the right chord with the Indian youth, who till now were only concerned about social issues, but did not have an appropriate platform to express their concerns into actions.

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Idiocy on the idiot box

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Things change almost on a daily basis in the GEC space and ten days of a blackout may not do much harm for now, but GECs need to watch their backs so that a similar situation does not crop up again in the near or distant future. Sources indicate that the present truce is merely a temporary deal – and the fire may flare out again and soon. Minimum demands of TV workers have been met and more discussions are to take place.

In this recent blackout period, viewers and advertisers mainly migrated to cricket (thanks to the euphoria created by Yuvraj's sixes against the Aussies), movies and music genres. Sports channels had been the biggest gainers, with 50% increase in their GRPs for the period November 10-14, followed by movies and music category, which gained 40% and 30% GRPs respectively (aMap data). Had the strike continued for long, it may have proven to be a golden opportunity for them to expand their audience base. Take 9XM and MTV, which have already been poaching eyeballs from other genres, for instance. MTV Roadies sixth season (to be kick-start on November 29th), would have robbed a lot of youth audience from various channels (maybe many of those who were hooked on to various reality shows on GECs). “During the strike, eyeballs got addicted to other genres like movies and music, which meant more variety for advertisers, who so far had to stick to GECs when it came to numbers,” offers a Delhi based media planner.

Within the GEC category, Colors has got the highest GRPs (117.51 points) during November 10-14, as it remained the only GEC airing some fresh content in the form of Big Boss. Similarly Sony’s repeat telecast of Indian Idol 4 also boosted the channels’ GRPs by 7.7%, making it the only GEC to have actually gained GRPs during this lean and mean period.

Fact is that this temporary setback as a result of the blackout could have resulted in a permanent backlash for GECs. It had all the potential to change the rules of the games, but for some last minute divine intervention that must have seen broadcasters heave a sigh of relief. Reportedly, wages for striking workers from now will be monthly deals, with a 7.5% raise, better work timings and they'll be paid overtime. For now, no one seems hurt by the melodrama... But in an industry plagued by rising input costs, the impact of a further rise in salaries of workers is certain to translate into higher costs for advertisers. Broadcasters had in any case been rooting for an increase in ad rates for some time now and the last shove may well come from this deal with TV workers unions. The good news however is that unlike the saas bahu operas that continue tirelessly for years, with this break of deadlock, the biggest crisis ever faced by the Indian TV industry has come to an end.

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What? At a time when the credit squeeze threatens? But hey, eco-friendly products may help you tide the crisis. By Vareen Ray

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Jeff Immelt – the Chairman and CEO of the world’s largest energy behemoth General Electric (GE) – does something called a growth playbook every year with each of his businesses. In 2005, he called his new strategy of business growth Ecomagination – a strategy, which believed in investing in technologies to help customers win in a world with more regulation, more scarcity and higher energy costs. GE developed a range of environmentally conscious products that would lighten his company’s Goliath-like environmental footprint. At the launch, even as GE’s fleet of senior managers canoodled with the who’s who of Congress members and industry at a glittering cocktail party on Pennsylvania Avenue, Immelt magnanimously spelt out that environment and business were “no longer a zero-sum game.” As the glitterati nibbled organic canapés, Immelt uttered the now-proven words: “Things that are good for the environment are also good for business!”

Almost prophetically, revenues from GE’s 70 Ecomagination-certified products – ranging from CFL’s, dishwashers, water purifiers, refrigerators to even energy efficient home improvement loans from GE Money – are expected to hit $17 billion in 2008, and the company has raised the revenue target from $20 billion in annual sales by 2010 to $25 billion by the same date. Small surprise that now, every business worth its salt is seeing the green (dollar signs!) in going green. Even as governments’ continue to debate the economic risks of more stringent curbs on greenhouse gas emissions and environmentalists continue to cry hoarse about global warming, an unlikely hero is rising out of the dust – Yes! Big businesses including heavy industries are starting to become the new green protagonists of the world. From food to clothing, auto to IT, everyone’s looking for an eco-friendly label. They’ve realised, on one hand that going green helps them in overriding objections from flag-waving green activists, and on the other, helps them cut costs, improve performance and overall efficiency of their businesses.

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Our entrepreneurial fire will brighten Africa!

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“India Inc. can and will be highly competitive in Africa. Its success will end up giving European majors some pause and cause for concern...”

For now, India is in a strong position in front-end or consumer oriented businesses, while China has its strengths in manufacturing and infrastructure development. And if there is any competition between the companies from these two nations it is back-end technologies like telecom infrastructure. I would in fact expect Indian consumer goods, telecom services, and media companies to find vast new markets in Africa. Global corporations can also use India operations as launching points for their investments into Africa. I believe Indians will soon be flying to Sub-Saharan Africa with the same zeal and entrepreneurial fire that European and Americans once had for China as well as India.

While China has till now adopted a largely heavy industries led investment approach in Africa, India’s approach is more entrepreneur and brand led. But then one doesn’t have a choice in these matters. Certain business ecologies already exist in certain regions of the world and it is from that position of strength that entrepreneurs are able to venture into new markets and seek new partnerships or business opportunities. India’s strengths are clear, and so are China’s. Given India’s cultural orientation, naturally, Indians should feel that their positioning is more advantageous to them, and perhaps the Chinese may also feel similarly.

Business is a competitive and cooperative endeavour, in which the Chinese are as much our potential partners as our competitors. Governance can get better in Africa, & private investors and corporations have a role to play in actually defining the rules of the road, in terms of transparency, regulation, and long-term thinking for the benefit of consumers and society as a whole.

China has been present in Africa much before than India Inc., but Chinese brands are not a threat. One has to only visit any part of Africa to recognise this. Indian businesses by and large underestimate their sophistication in being able to understand consumer needs and to develop strong consumer relations through distribution, communications and branding. India can and will be highly competitive in Africa. Its success will end up giving European majors some pause and cause for concern. For the short to medium term, I expect a period of contraction on the part of American corporations, who despite their global dominance have failed to build truly distributed and multi-nodal organisations. As American economic concerns begin to dominate their thinking, their ability to develop and expand global businesses will suffer. Bizarrely, companies with the weakest American leadership are actually doing better around the world than those with a strong centre, and these might prove the exception to the rule. As for European firms that have traditionally dominated several consumer sectors, they will face new competition from Indian firms. There are likely to be major buyouts, mergers or investments into Indian firms by European capital.

India has a tremendous advantage over China in respect of the way it responds to consumers’ needs for strong perceptions of value, trust, reliability, participation and relationship-building. This is what is commonly meant through the short-hand ‘brand’. Indian companies can nurture existing brands, and create new brands almost at will, and they will have legs in the marketplace. This sensibility is strikingly absent from Chinese firms of comparable size and market strength. That’s why India’s organised sector today finds that it is in a tremendously advantageous position in relation to Chinese goods in Africa and the edge will continue to become stronger.

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

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Globalisation is finally trickling down to Africa

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SANJEEV NARULA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, LILLIPUT KIDSWEAR LTD.

How has been your experience with the African market, so far?
Lilliput is proud to be the first Indian kidswear brand to venture into the international market and the response of Egypt has been phenomenal. We started with five stores and seeing the lucrative potential which the market offers, we would be opening another eight stores by Dec ‘08. As the market is still in its nascent stage, it provides immense business opportunities to expand and cater to the audience with fashionable styles and trends at affordable prices.

Where and how much do you plan to invest in this market and in what ways is this market different from the rest of the world?
We are planning to open stores in Botswana, Namibia, Morocco, Zimbabwe and Nairobi. We also plan to enter the South African market shortly. Africa is an emerging economy with a lot of opportunity for retailers like us. And most importantly, the market has been tried and tested by us through Egypt.

Is the time really ripe to enter Africa?
We reiterate that times are changing and the effect of globalisation is finally steadily trickling down to African countries as well. Also we are fully aware of the distressing situation in many African countries; therefore, we plan to enter only stable markets.

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“Digital marketing will be our new focus”

VIVEK SEIGELL, COUNTRY HEAD (RETAIL), HCL INFOSYSTEMS

Aware of the dynamics of the complicated digital space, Seigell feels that an equal-partnership franchisee model is very critical in digital retailing...

How does HCL sustain itself in the dynamic digital retail space?
From our traditional businesses we ventured into retail in 1995. Prices were astronomical then. We used to sell a PC at around Rs.1,10,000 and used to import the software. That’s when we reached out to the market with a reliable mechanism and did direct selling, road shows, et al. And after gaining adequate experience, we launched HCL Digilife in 2007. I think we understand the dynamics to operate in this very complicated environment.

Do you have exclusive tie-ups for Digilife?
We really don’t have anything like an exclusive tie-up. And we just don’t want to end up confusing the customer with myriad of brands. And the one commitment that we expect our team members to display is to sell the customer what they think is best for them.

What is your franchisee model?
Our franchise model is an equal-partnership model and not a minimum guarantee model. It’s a model where everyone is equally involved. Also each of the shops is manned by one of our store managers. This gives us more control. In addition we are training our people on customer interaction and franchisee relationship. So if the involvement is decent from both sides, the model will be successful. But if any of the partners fails, it will be a complete failure.

What are your plans for digital marketing?
We have already initiated digital marketing. It will be our new focus. I prefer calling it digital marketing over e-Commerce because I hope it will embrace m-Commerce also. We have tied with major portals and are also launching our own portal for selling and I will oversee that too.

What about the customer service standards in India?
Customer service standards are deplorable in India. I keep telling my colleagues that India deserves a slowdown. We deserve it because we care so little about our customers. We aspire to change that, at least in our stores. We would ensure that HCL Digilife customer doesn’t suffer.

Where do you see HCL Digilife in the near future?
We plan to reach the mark of 120 stores in the next 8-10 months. In addition we are planning on these smaller stores too called Digi-Express. They would be located in smaller towns. Customers in these towns yearn for good ambience and good service. We would be opening around 80 of them in the next 8-10 months. This takes the total to 200, over and above the 700 traditional stores that we already have.

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

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4ps b&M, for the first time, brings to you a deep insight into who really are raju’s top quasi-ceos running satyam!

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And considering that we are talking about a software company, who can dare deny the relevance of technology; which brings us to CIO Vijay Prasad, who is also Director & Senior VP. He heads the Enterprise Applications & Business Intelligence Solutions Group at Satyam, and is one of the key leaders initiating the programme, “Satyam Project Management Competency,” the PMI way of conducting projects.

In the words of Rama Raju, “The key weakness of Satyam is branding. We have a lot of strengths that need to be communicated effectively.” That makes the role of Hari Thalapalli, Head, Global Marketing & communications, (in Satyam since 1998) of paramount importance. Interestingly, Hari Thalapalli (also known as Hari T to his colleagues) has earlier excelled in the HR function for Satyam globally. He was featured, for instance, in Human Capital, Asia, as one of the top 40 HR professionals in Asia. But later on he took charge as CMO (Global), which, according to Satyam insiders, was a move that was planned in advance. Hari T has been instrumental in one of Satyam’s most significant wins in recent times, when it bagged the contract for FIFA 2010 and 2014. Under the contract, Satyam is the sponsor and official IT services provider of both the events. Surely it will be a massive opportunity for the company to do its branding, which Raju admits, is a problem they need to address.

The credible aspect of these key men is that they have been in Satyam for quite some time, which shows a deep sense of belonging to the organisation. This is undoubtedly an enviable aspect of the DNA of an IT organisation nowadays, since attrition is one of the most dreaded and hotly debated topics in the Indian IT sector. Raju exclaims proudly, “We have low attrition. People who leave the company in fact want to come back. If my asset value goes up, only then would I stay.”

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Political leaders recognise the advantages of an integrated communications approach to their election campaigns

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The ongoing Bharat Nirman campaign (a public information campaign about the government’s flagship programmes) of the Congress Party is in fact a toned down version of the India Shining campaign only. Except this time the preparations, at least for now, are hush-hush. Ask them and parties would deny any association with marketing. But each of them have begun hiring media managers to improve their media penetration and party image. Congress has already called in an advertising pitch and by the time you are reading this piece, their official advertising agency for General elections 2009 would have been decided. In fact, the political products that both the national parties will be selling are also fixed. The sloganeers are already here. Where Congress plans to push forth its accomplishments, opposition BJP is gearing up to use the same against them. Congress spokesperson, Manish Tiwari told this magazine that “from introducing mid-day meals, NREGS and farm loan waiver to pitching for the nuclear deal, everything has been done by this government. We will highlight these issues in our campaign.” BJP Vice President, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is firing different ‘slogans’. He says that the mantra for BJPs counter campaign strategy will be “internal security, inflation and incompetence. These three Is are going to act against the incumbent government and will raze them to ground.”

However, a common meeting ground for both parties is the supposed intensive use of technology in General Elections 2009. But unlike the US, where Internet is the technology of choice, in India mobile phones (which have now begun to penetrate even the rural electorate) will play a crucial role. If elections 2004 had Vajpayee’s electronic message reaching you on your cell phones, rest assured that technological developments ever since will allow parties much more leverage to dominate your personal spaces. Election is war and the role of technology is set to amplify the battleground. “SMS, MMS, music & video on mobiles, e-mails, blogs & advertising will make elections 2009 larger than life,” believes Suthan. BJP has already tied up with ValueFirst, a bulk SMS provider, for its SMS services. Vijay Shukla, Country Head, ValueFirst told 4Ps B&M, “For now, it’s a means for internal communication where all party leaders and involved members can stay connected.” Who knows, closer to elections, BJP may use the service as a means to connect with voters too.

In keeping with the demands of working with professional spin doctors and experts, political parties have also kept pace. Points out Nayyar, “When we worked with the Congress, we expected high handedness, but were pleasantly surprised. They were always on time and dealt with us professionally and transparently.” Cherian attributes it to the realisition among the political rank and file of the need for professional help in political imagery. “Last few years have seen political leaders recognise the advantages of an integrated communications approach to their election campaigns. So, they source out most communication responsibilities to professionals. This frees them to do what they do best: mobilising voters!” he avers.

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