Touted as the next big thing after IT and telecom, retail in India is facing trouble moving ahead. Malls which had sprung up all over urban India in anticipation of consumption boom are combating for survival. During the last Valentine Weekend, Select City Walk Mall in the posh south Delhi area was all bejeweled with white and red heart shaped balloons and adorn, because it is that time of the year where everyone from card shop owner to the jewellery retailer solicits attention for their products with a volley of offers. This year, the retailers were doubly keen to make the most of the season and despite lucrative offers, there were not many takers for their offerings. Couple contests, games and massive discounts were not attracting sufficient footfalls. Worried retailers have been extending “ end of season sales” for a long time so as to meet their sales target for the last financial year. In Mumbai’s western suburb Malad, which houses the popular InOrbit Mall, by and far the largest mall in terms of space occupancy, also says the same story.
Currently the eighth largest retail market in the world in dollar terms, India too does not seem to be insulated against the adverse impact of global meltdown. In fact, the year 2008, has not been a significant growth story for Indian retail. Marginal increase in sales coupled with escalating cost pressures has resulted in shrinking bottom lines and large number of retailers shutting shops and slamming the brakes on further expansions. Discount store chain Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd has shuttered its 1600 stores and laid off most of its workers. A Fitch report on the outlook for the retail industry in 2009 said that due to factors such as economic slowdown, high interest rates and the liquidity crunch and the high real estate rates, most retailers have experienced a drop in footfalls and demand, reflected in slowing same store sales (SSS) growth and greater time to break even for new stores.
Controlling costs will be a focal point to offset margin compression from top line pressures, increasing competition and promotional activity. As a result, retailers are likely to focus on inventory management, supply chain efficiencies and labour productivity. Kishore Biyani, CEO, Future Group & Managing Director of Pantaloon Retail has a different take. In his words, “The current phase does not indicate any slowdown in modern retail even though for the time being, it may look as if they this is the end of the growth story. The industry is suffering from the first pangs of growth. Favourable government policies will help in creating and sustaining demand.” In the words of Richard Cuthbertson, Sr. Researcher, Said Business School, University of Oxford, “There is a great deal of learning in the Indian retail story. There will be lot more regional variation and mom and pop stores will continue to exist. The best format for India will be a mix of everything—right kind of stores, pricing and even consumer loyalty.”
Lets wait n watch…….
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
RECESSION? Going mobile can be the answer
Mobile marketing is no longer a forte or fashion.
The popularity of mobile phones means that the mobile channel will become more than a vehicle for sending texts and receiving calls. Mobile is still considered an up-and-coming channel by some, susceptible to uncertainty and hesitancy among late adopters. But smart marketers are integrating trackable, quantifiable mobile components within campaigns to extend their reach and increase efficacy. Mobile applications, known as apps, are the latest phenomenon. Web-based apps gained notoriety in May 2007 when social networking site Facebook opened its application platform to third-party developers. But it wasn’t until July 2008, when Apple launched iPhone 3G and App Store, that mobile apps became one of the most accessible and popular avenues to brand a business, popularize its services, pull teenagers to retail outlets, convince women to tread in during shopping carnival or even position a political party and woo the mindsets of voters. Even Hollywood these days are reaching audiences where they live- on their mobile phones.
Few things to be held in reserve when pursuing a successful mobile marketing inventiveness:
(a) One needs to think beyond the text: While SMS is the most recognized format of marketing via mobile, it is important to think beyond the traditional "BUY2DAY" such as content downloads, product alerts, surveys, loyalty messages, even wake-up calls, all designed to provide value and compelling content to the customers.
(b) Go forth and integrate: Customers may be provided with content and services that fit their lifestyles and improve their lives. The communications should be integrated across all channels, including mobile. In other words, mobile phones should be used as a complement to other media, and vice versa.
(c) Put the consumer first by balancing respectful communication and ease of use. Mobile users expect instant gratification, and do not want to jump through hoops to get the information they need. And they will bristle fiercely at any perceived invasion of privacy.
(d) The consumers should be given something they want. For example, if a marketer thinks of Mc coupons or other financial prompts; to text for more information or log on to a mobile site, the marketer can combine a mobile coupon with a store locator to add more value.
The popularity of mobile phones means that the mobile channel will become more than a vehicle for sending texts and receiving calls. Mobile is still considered an up-and-coming channel by some, susceptible to uncertainty and hesitancy among late adopters. But smart marketers are integrating trackable, quantifiable mobile components within campaigns to extend their reach and increase efficacy. Mobile applications, known as apps, are the latest phenomenon. Web-based apps gained notoriety in May 2007 when social networking site Facebook opened its application platform to third-party developers. But it wasn’t until July 2008, when Apple launched iPhone 3G and App Store, that mobile apps became one of the most accessible and popular avenues to brand a business, popularize its services, pull teenagers to retail outlets, convince women to tread in during shopping carnival or even position a political party and woo the mindsets of voters. Even Hollywood these days are reaching audiences where they live- on their mobile phones.
Few things to be held in reserve when pursuing a successful mobile marketing inventiveness:
(a) One needs to think beyond the text: While SMS is the most recognized format of marketing via mobile, it is important to think beyond the traditional "BUY2DAY" such as content downloads, product alerts, surveys, loyalty messages, even wake-up calls, all designed to provide value and compelling content to the customers.
(b) Go forth and integrate: Customers may be provided with content and services that fit their lifestyles and improve their lives. The communications should be integrated across all channels, including mobile. In other words, mobile phones should be used as a complement to other media, and vice versa.
(c) Put the consumer first by balancing respectful communication and ease of use. Mobile users expect instant gratification, and do not want to jump through hoops to get the information they need. And they will bristle fiercely at any perceived invasion of privacy.
(d) The consumers should be given something they want. For example, if a marketer thinks of Mc coupons or other financial prompts; to text for more information or log on to a mobile site, the marketer can combine a mobile coupon with a store locator to add more value.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Marketing Machine in Bollywood
With movie audiences spoilt for choice, slick and sleek marketing is vital to capture mindshare
Considering the increasing importance of marketing in deciding the fate of a film, and in movie placements are one such aspect, in the recent times, marketing spends can account for almost half of the cost of production of a small movie. The spends are flexible, but they can be as much as the movie itself if the producer decides itself worth ploughing the money back. Marketing too has become very sophisticated. The earlier approach, the noisy marketing that assailed audiences with TV & Prints ads, is passé. In a fragmented environment, it is difficult to capture audiences’ mindshare for a film. It calls for marketing campaigns in which movies are treated as a consumer products; its marketing communication sets once audience profile and message has been fine tuned.
Today everyone understands the importance of owning their films. It can be illustrated by pointing the very media savvy stars today. These days they are willing to take part in media interactions, cast engagements and even road trips (stripping of Aamir Khan, the clinical documentation of flab to pectorals) his generous billboard appearances in the bizarre Ghajini haircut or the actor himself flying down to Delhi, and giving the haircut in a makeshift salon. And yes, it certainly paid off, of course with due respect to the contents of the movie; the movie was the biggest hit in recent months. The plans are entirely different for the highly awaited Delhi 6, which has a more berate Indian appeal. A caravan will carry the stars across different cities of the country, a mela recreating the gullies (lanes) of Old Delhi is being planned for Kolkata and Bangalore. For its latest release Luck by Chance, Big Pictures arranged programming alliances which is now a norm; stars made appearances on reality shows. Big Pictures is leveraging Reliance ADAG’s other entertainment businesses-Zapak, Big Adda and Big Flicks and also rolling out online promos on Yahoo! Google and even Rediff.
The entire process starts at the script level, where the TAs (target audiences), message and brands’ equations are researched on to find out the product / service fit. The movie Fashion tied up with Sunsilk and Kimaya, which launched a range after the film. Lead actresses Priyanka Chopra and Kangna Ranaut sauntered the ramp for Sunsilk at Lakme fashion week---thus, the buzz reaching to the peak at the time of launch. A Vogue photo shoot was roped into the storyline; svelte and sultry Priyanka Chopra had already featured on the magazine’s cover by the time the film released. Therefore, it is not farfetched to expect two versions of King Khan’s next release—where in one he would play a Tag Heuer sporting NASA scientist, meet a babe, woo her over Diet Pepsis, flex a few muscles and also sing few numbers and in the other, he would play a Dish TV dealer, meet the babe, woo her with Pepsis and Sunfeast biscuits, flex the same muscles and sing the same numbers.
Considering the increasing importance of marketing in deciding the fate of a film, and in movie placements are one such aspect, in the recent times, marketing spends can account for almost half of the cost of production of a small movie. The spends are flexible, but they can be as much as the movie itself if the producer decides itself worth ploughing the money back. Marketing too has become very sophisticated. The earlier approach, the noisy marketing that assailed audiences with TV & Prints ads, is passé. In a fragmented environment, it is difficult to capture audiences’ mindshare for a film. It calls for marketing campaigns in which movies are treated as a consumer products; its marketing communication sets once audience profile and message has been fine tuned.
Today everyone understands the importance of owning their films. It can be illustrated by pointing the very media savvy stars today. These days they are willing to take part in media interactions, cast engagements and even road trips (stripping of Aamir Khan, the clinical documentation of flab to pectorals) his generous billboard appearances in the bizarre Ghajini haircut or the actor himself flying down to Delhi, and giving the haircut in a makeshift salon. And yes, it certainly paid off, of course with due respect to the contents of the movie; the movie was the biggest hit in recent months. The plans are entirely different for the highly awaited Delhi 6, which has a more berate Indian appeal. A caravan will carry the stars across different cities of the country, a mela recreating the gullies (lanes) of Old Delhi is being planned for Kolkata and Bangalore. For its latest release Luck by Chance, Big Pictures arranged programming alliances which is now a norm; stars made appearances on reality shows. Big Pictures is leveraging Reliance ADAG’s other entertainment businesses-Zapak, Big Adda and Big Flicks and also rolling out online promos on Yahoo! Google and even Rediff.
The entire process starts at the script level, where the TAs (target audiences), message and brands’ equations are researched on to find out the product / service fit. The movie Fashion tied up with Sunsilk and Kimaya, which launched a range after the film. Lead actresses Priyanka Chopra and Kangna Ranaut sauntered the ramp for Sunsilk at Lakme fashion week---thus, the buzz reaching to the peak at the time of launch. A Vogue photo shoot was roped into the storyline; svelte and sultry Priyanka Chopra had already featured on the magazine’s cover by the time the film released. Therefore, it is not farfetched to expect two versions of King Khan’s next release—where in one he would play a Tag Heuer sporting NASA scientist, meet a babe, woo her over Diet Pepsis, flex a few muscles and also sing few numbers and in the other, he would play a Dish TV dealer, meet the babe, woo her with Pepsis and Sunfeast biscuits, flex the same muscles and sing the same numbers.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Is Choice a good thing?
The need for modernization and differentiation in today’s competitive world results in the consumer being provided with innumerable choices and options. It is because of the belief that each consumer is unique and each customer encounter is inimitable and they deserve to be treated like king. But presenting a huge assortment does not essentially lead to customer satisfaction; on the contrary companies end up creating more convolutions, increasing costs and even perplexing consumers. A simple product like a bathing soap has a choice of nearly 50 brands and some brands have more than10 variants. Whether it is a soap, toothpaste or deodorant, consumers are provided with a wide variety. A consumer buys a variant of soap today and builds a preference for it. But the next time he looks for the same it is not available because the shop is stocking other variants of the brand. In such a situation, the consumer is required to try other available variants/ other brands.
As a modern day consumer, we also have a choice of outlets- a typical kirana in the neighbourhood with around 4000 SKUs (stock keeping units) or a large hypermarket with more than 50,000 SKUs. Moreover, every month new SKUs are launched. These creates space constraint in the outlet and at the same time appears more critical to look at simpler options to meet the needs of the consumers. In FMCG category approximately 1,500 new brands have been introduced in the last three years and almost in the same period, there have been nearly 1,400 line extensions of existing brands. If a consumer wishes to invest in mutual funds, there are more than 30 choices before him and each institution offers a choice of more than 10 plans.
With a given whole host of preferences, people have difficulty in staying focused. Excessive choice forces consumers to develop high expectations which may be difficult to be realized in reality. With my few years of teaching marketing to the management graduates, I feel it is imperative for marketers to understand that the company should maintain its focal point and continue to maneuver developing products/ services that matter most to the customer and have a distinct competitive advantage. It is important to limit preferences to a manageable number. To achieve success, one should give the consumer not a wide variety but insight-based and manageable choice. Else too many choices will not allow the consumer to choose but will craft the consumer to move.
As a modern day consumer, we also have a choice of outlets- a typical kirana in the neighbourhood with around 4000 SKUs (stock keeping units) or a large hypermarket with more than 50,000 SKUs. Moreover, every month new SKUs are launched. These creates space constraint in the outlet and at the same time appears more critical to look at simpler options to meet the needs of the consumers. In FMCG category approximately 1,500 new brands have been introduced in the last three years and almost in the same period, there have been nearly 1,400 line extensions of existing brands. If a consumer wishes to invest in mutual funds, there are more than 30 choices before him and each institution offers a choice of more than 10 plans.
With a given whole host of preferences, people have difficulty in staying focused. Excessive choice forces consumers to develop high expectations which may be difficult to be realized in reality. With my few years of teaching marketing to the management graduates, I feel it is imperative for marketers to understand that the company should maintain its focal point and continue to maneuver developing products/ services that matter most to the customer and have a distinct competitive advantage. It is important to limit preferences to a manageable number. To achieve success, one should give the consumer not a wide variety but insight-based and manageable choice. Else too many choices will not allow the consumer to choose but will craft the consumer to move.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Happy Quotient
How to remain Happy in the murky times!!!
In the days of tension, economic crisis, rat race of competition, exam pressure—being happy is the default state of mind for most of us, few are still learning though. When asked with a question like “Are you Happy? ” people ogle each other so incredulously as though they are asked “Have you seen God lately?”
Well there are people who manage to remain in high spirits despite the mess we are in. They find means to remain tolerably cheerful—surely to crack the code the rest of us need to cope in trying times. The best example can be none other than Khuswant Singh, who was thrown out of his job couple of times, risked his life in pre & post independence riots, lived through the 1962 China catastrophe, the anti-sikh riots (1984), the serial blasts in Mumbai (1993), Gujarat riots (2002) and now the double whammy-the dreaded terror spectacle in Mumbai and the worst recession in the post globalized India and still maintains his quietude and sense of humour in tact.
* Let me quote the H (Happy) quotient prescribed by Khuswant Singh:
Good Bank Account ; Good Company & Good Digestion;
H quotient given by noted psychiatrist, Dr Avdesh Sharma
Good Family Time, Good Health, Regular Exercise, Taking Up a Job & Meditation
Last but not the least, the recipe to remain happy as suggested by APJ Abdul Kalaam is : Family Life, Being Taught Early in Life to Overcome Problems Rather Than Let Them Overcome You, Good Books, Gardening & Carnatic Music
*Reddy, Sheela; Business Line, 25/12/08
In the days of tension, economic crisis, rat race of competition, exam pressure—being happy is the default state of mind for most of us, few are still learning though. When asked with a question like “Are you Happy? ” people ogle each other so incredulously as though they are asked “Have you seen God lately?”
Well there are people who manage to remain in high spirits despite the mess we are in. They find means to remain tolerably cheerful—surely to crack the code the rest of us need to cope in trying times. The best example can be none other than Khuswant Singh, who was thrown out of his job couple of times, risked his life in pre & post independence riots, lived through the 1962 China catastrophe, the anti-sikh riots (1984), the serial blasts in Mumbai (1993), Gujarat riots (2002) and now the double whammy-the dreaded terror spectacle in Mumbai and the worst recession in the post globalized India and still maintains his quietude and sense of humour in tact.
* Let me quote the H (Happy) quotient prescribed by Khuswant Singh:
Good Bank Account ; Good Company & Good Digestion;
H quotient given by noted psychiatrist, Dr Avdesh Sharma
Good Family Time, Good Health, Regular Exercise, Taking Up a Job & Meditation
Last but not the least, the recipe to remain happy as suggested by APJ Abdul Kalaam is : Family Life, Being Taught Early in Life to Overcome Problems Rather Than Let Them Overcome You, Good Books, Gardening & Carnatic Music
*Reddy, Sheela; Business Line, 25/12/08
Friday, November 28, 2008
Hats Off to Indian Security Force & the Media
The terror strikes…and India is assaulted once again. The commercial capital of the country undergoes the scrupulous and well orchestrated dance of terror. The pride of Mumbai…The Taj attacked along with Oberoi Trident & Nariman House and other locations …… and large number of innocent people taken as hostages and killed. Indeed a dozen or two terrorists changed the entire state of affairs of Mumbai. The greatest attack till date, not only has shaken Mumbai, but the entire country is under shock. Indeed we are so unsafe and only at the mercy of the attackers…At this long hours of ordeal, the efforts exhibited by the Media men and most importantly the Indian security force (NSG & Marcos) is highly commendable and laudable who could save the lives of the hostages.. (We don’t leave any stones unturned to carp the security force and media personalities)… Wonder what Raj Thackeray has to say regarding the whole episode..I take the opportunity through my blog to thank and congratulate them..Hats off to you!!
May God give strength to the family members who lost their dear ones while saving the lives of innocent people.
May God give strength to the family members who lost their dear ones while saving the lives of innocent people.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Will this BIG BOSS ever end?
The nonstop insane acts of the characters of the so called house of Big Boss does not seem to end even after the "winner" been declared on 22nd Nov, 08. I understand when a new channel 'Colour' was launched almost 4 months back, they required a masala program to market their medium, not to forget the TRP tricks..and after the visual treat the channel has given to the viewers for 3 months,the remaining channels on Indian Television (even the prestigious news channels) cannot stop but discuss the so called 'milestones'(wonder what were those) achieved by the winner Ashutosh and the sacrifice done by other inmates so that he wins and blah blah...even till today, i. e. on 24th Nov, 08. Even a mega event HT Leadership Summit (Nov 21-22, 08) held in the Taj failed to arrest the media time and space. I fail to understand whether this is the taste of entertainment of modern Indians? or The media guys are having dearth of stories to keep their audience captive?? And to my utter surprise, even a prestigious daily, the Times of India very benevolently donates space and religiously provides a wide coverage of the " acts " of the inmates. At times I ponder, do our university toppers or those intelligent boys & girls who top the CAT or IAS manage to acquire such extensive coverage for 3-4 days in national network / national dailies..
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