A day with Jet Lite

Hello,
I took a flight to New delhi last Wednesday, 28th May 2010. It was a quick decision going by a flight at 8:00 and coming back the same day at 4:00 PM.
The Marketing brain started working right at the entrance of the Airport of Raipur.
I witnessed a rush, with enormous messages all across the airport, but to say sorry,
I recall none.
I asked a customer in my flight, how many brands he remembered in the airport, he after a deliberate thought said one, "Navbharat".
Now what Navbharat did was, it wrote on the cushions of the Seat in the waiting lounge,
"Maintained by Navbharat".
It was white and most importantly clean.
Thats the only message one remembers thorughout the experience in airport of Raipur.
The amazing experience started at the Aeroplane, of Jet, they changed the complete dynamics, by not even offering a bottled water ( not even small), they used disposable cups and the feeling was, one needs to ask to get a cup of water.

The Cabin crew, was not even intrested to smile, and they were as unfit as a Man/Women sitting in a small retail shop.

Opportunity missed to send a message of Quickness and Care.

Next was the in flight announcement, JET LITE, has taken one of the Worst accoustics where one cant even understand a single word.

The front screen in every seat, displayed one single thing, " PA in process " and no entertainment.

The Whole point is, may be the America is moving towards hand Made items, but India still have to learn the professionalism.

It Happened in India

The story of Pantaloons, big bazaar, Central and the great Indian consumer.
A book published by Rupa Co, @99 bucks, by Kishore Biyani and Dipayan Baishya. It is a treat to go through these wonderfully crafted 268 pages, talking at length about the way things "Flow" and the "love of chaos".
Roshan Sir,a collegue of mine at MICA shared the book with me, and many thanks to him, because the book did brushed with me quite a few times but incidentally I never bought it only to realize today that it was destined to meet me at this part of my life.
CRUX
The book is all about the life of a Man who has framed the whole Indian retail business and taken it to a complete new dimension, Mr. Kishore Biyani. The book gives ample opportunities to probe, perplex and provoke and challenge our accepted notions and beliefs.


On Shopping Behavior:There are couple of emotions that determine the buying behaviour. The most fundamental of them are greed, altruism, fear and envy ( Greed drives a customer to purchase more than what he or she needs. A wide range of options, better products and lower prices generate the increased desire to purchase. Higher purchase is also driven by a fear that the current price on offer may not be available for long so the product has to be purchased right away. And envy sets in when one sees others buying and making the best out of deals.


Division in India: They divide India into three sets, Consuming class- 14% and for these most of the products are made., Serving class- comprise of people like drivers, peons etc, and for every Indian in Consuming class there are 3 from Serving class, the third off course is struggling class. The business Model cater to the necessities, aspirations, attitude, desire etc for the serving class.

A quote by Rama Bijapurkar: In India, most of us are not prepared for the consumerism that's setting in this country. We underestimate how many people are going to fly and that's why our airport are jammed. We underestimate how many people will talk on phones and so most of the times cell phone networks are congested. we are not prepared for the force of consumerism that is unfolding.

What set India apart is the diversity and uniqueness of the Indian market. On a given week our country men are celebrating a festival about which the most of us may not be having a single clue. The Rice we eat , the apparel that our women wear, the dialects we speak, change every hundred kilometers in our country.

The current generation is therefore simultaneously more proud about being Indian, and more modern when it comes to their lifestyles, than their predecessors. In essence, they are far more confident of their place in the world. This is the generation that feels that everything is within their reach and aspires for it. And this is true for everyone metros as well as small towns.
This is a paradigm shift which Kishore Biyani calls as 3C's theory- Confidence, and change bringing about unprecedented era of consumption.

Rama Bijpurkar, an independent market consultant and board of members of Future group, once said to Kishore, " I could not see what value I am delivering to you, so he should stop paying her". He heard her out and then delivered his characteristic punch " Its not your Job to deliver value to me, but it's my job to extract value from you.".

"Strength lies in differences, not in similarities"

" to make me do things someone has to give me a very good reason or some amount of logic.

There are three kinds of entrepreneurs, Creators, preservers and destroyers.

Despite all the difficulties , all the frustrations, there is a joy in having done something as well as you could and better than others thought you could- JRD TATA

In Kolkatta, once you win over a customer , he/she is loyal to you for the rest of their life.

If you look at the Indian Bazaars, mandis, meelas, they are environments created by traders to give shoppers a sense of moment, of event, a place.
The perception of Malls was that modern shopping outlets are expensive places, glitzy floors. Most often owners complaint that most of the people who walk in the mall not even enter their stores leave alone buying anything.
So the idea of the Big bazaar was to make Big bazaar very comfortable for the Indian customer.
I do not believe in consensus decision making... I do not take a vote, I make the decisions.
The most fast moving consumer good in India are "Movies" Its just first Hours on Friday.

I based everything on one philosophy 'rewrite rules, retain values'
Chase your dreams but don't compromise on your belief system.

We find the people first and then create a job for them, we work the other way round.

Most businessmen can make the mistake of creating an environment wherein Only they win. they see life and business only as competitive arena, not cooperative arena. They tend to think in dichotomies: strong or weak, hardball or softball, win or loose. But this kind of thinking doesn't help building long lasting, helpful relationships. Relationships are built on principles, not on the basis of power and positions.

Most Business organizations are dominated by engineers, MBA's and chartered accountants. They are all trained to be logical and methodical in everything they do. Essentially this is the way our left brain works. This part of the brain is verbal and processes information in an analytical and sequential way, looking first at the pieces and then putting them together to get the whole.

The right side is creative or visual. It first looks at the whole and then the details. That's how our organization works. An organization using processes, analysis will only do one task well, but will not be able to innovate or create something new. On the other hand creativity alone cannot drive Business. So its a happy marriage of both which is what is required.


A strategy is only successful if it goes through constant adjustments, innovation and creativity.
Innovation is about creating change not reacting to change.
Future is a fluid entity which an organization creates and imagines.
Concept of Flow: Consider Business as a living, breathing entity which grows organically. And lots can be learned by observing nature. In nature there is no fundamental tension between conservation and change, between order and freedom, between organised and disorganised. Complexity and simplicity coexist in nature.
At face value these aspect may seem to be mutually conflicting, but underlying them is a secular theme that cuts across everything: Growth.
Behind creation evolution adaption and destruction, there is a constant process of growth in nature.
That's the "Flow."
Its all in GENES:
1.We like being simple.
2.Speed is the essence of everything we do.
3. We like to learn while we execute.
4.We like thrift
5. We believe that customers are always right.
6. We like to think in terms of majority of people.
7. We take proud in our core value of Indian-ness.



Above all , Give till it hurts- Moder Teresa.

Suggestions By KB to read.
A.7 habits of highly effective people- Covey.
B. Awaken the Giant within you- Anthony Robbins.
C. The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho
D. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull- Richard Bachs.
E. Future Shock, Power shift,The third wave- Alvin Toffler
F. A passion for Excellence and Re Imagine- Tom Peters.
G. Made in America- Sam Walton
H. Pour your heart into it-Howard Schultz
I. How a Couple of Regualr guys Grew.....- Bernie marcus and arthur Blanks
J.Leading by Design:IKEA Story-- Ingvar Kamprads
K. Like no other store-Marvin Traub's
L. The Bloomigsdale Legend and revolution in American Marketing.
M. I too have a dream: Verghese Kurien's Autobiography.


Leadership is not about Delegation, its about Abdication.
It cannot be a zero sum game, we need to create a win win situation


The most respected countries are now dramatically transforming their business to adapt to new era and are becoming more and more apparent. Apple has become designer, Google may be based on technology but the driver is the simple design, and the user interface.

That's all I found interesting in this Book. Worth a read, and worth the time, if you seriously are in love with consumer and insights.

The Marketer's Mind at Shamm-mein-Ghazal By Jagjit Singh

The Gazal Maestro from India, Jagjit Singh, visited Raipur, organized by Kalpavriksha Resort and Villas, 27 Kms from Main City on 10th April, Saturday Evening from 7:00 PM Sharp.
Now what we will concentrate upon is the Marketing and opportunity point of you.
First the 4P's

P- Product

The Product is a well-established brand, Mr. Jagjit Singh, people from all age Groups have an affinity for him. He breaks across many clutters with sections.
The Organizer, Kalpavriksha resorts had one aim: to occupy the Mind/ Heart Space of every individual.
But, If we closely see, the product was not Jagjit Singh,
the product is the Villas, which Kalpvriksha has built. The Average cost of a Single BHK is 52 Lacs, which means the product is targeted at SEC A of the society, and preferably at an age of 35+ ( The Buyer ).
Since buying a House is a High Involvement decision, so having a family minimizes the deflection towards buying.
Now this product must be visual, hence bringing SEC A to the site was the task in hand.
These people brought a perfect Pull factor "Jagjit Singh".

P-Place

They had ample place but the distance was long. One major point of avoidance was the huge distance, but there was no option as the product is immovable. So very less is left about to discuss on Place.




P-Promotion

The Promotion was a major point of attraction.
They used PR to get Mileage. Press Releases , Press Meet etc were organized to attract the eyeballs, which got people talking about the event. Many more strategies was used, but most involved Money, in my viewpoint, more remarkable your product is, less money you will need to spend on promotion.

P- Price

The Price strategy was designed decently well. They gave free passes, but they made three divisions,
VIP- basically meant General
VVIP- People who belong to Climbers
VVVIP- Which involved the who’s who, the real Target.

The FINAL VALUE Extracted.
1. They ensured enough Eye balls and at least 5000+ Population reached their destination, much more than expected (They planned 3500 seating capacity)
2. They had people visiting inside their Sample Villas.
3. People will remember Kalpavriksha and the Brand Recall will be high ( Only for the Visitors)
4. Giving free water Bottles with Kalpavriksha Logo was a great Idea and executed well.

The OPPORUNITY Missed.

Now this is the most important aspect of the whole Marketing.
The Most important points which they should have executed to extract maximum value from their investment are:

1. They must have used the Road to their site efficiently.

There was enormous scope of Creating the Brand Buzz, Amazing Outdoor Campaigns, great Lighting Strategy, could have created a Buzz for Longer Time.
Everyone wanted to know what it would be like to visit the site.
As very rightly quoted, the wait is tastier than the food.
Most of the clients kept their eyes glued to the road in anticipation.
An enormous opportunity went to waste.
2. They must have used the Entry Gate to the Fullest.

This was where the first Touch point of the Customer is made. If one reads BLINK- the bestseller from Malcom Gladwell, he clearly says, that the first Impact which is formed in first Two seconds lays the expectation for the person.
In this case, entering through the gate one witnessed Line of cars with only two guards checking the Cars passes- a Big Disaster.
More over the Guards were not trained, they must have been trained to go towards the Driver's side to ask for Passes- just to boost the Ego of the customer(that was the basic idea for the Event)- but the guards went everywhere seeking passes, towards ladies side, kids except the right person.
Now Imagine, a client response when he receives a Chilled bottle at the entry after getting passed checked.
Giving a Bottle of Chilled water with a Small envelope along with a Letter- having their Visiting Card and Thank you letter, at the Gate would have been the most amazing thing, which could have sent the multiple message at the same time- foremost, We care that you have come so far for your Passion of Ghazals.
This was the place where they would have resonated with the audience and created a niche market for the entire prospective buyer.
A great Opportunity Missed. Also a Chillded water with Kalpvriksha Logo must have quenched the thirst of "WOW".

3. The Parking was missing the Midas touch.

The Coordination at Parking was good at Start, but they made a Big Poo-poo when someone wanted to take their Car Out.
They must have shown the Length and Breadth of their Site by keeping distance between cars, but they just kept it all near, and all the cars Together. I personally went through a lot of trouble and spent around 30 mintues to take my Car Out because of BAD PARKING.

4. Opportunity of DATABASE

What came as the biggest surprise was that no one was interested in knowing the customer.
"One small step in knowing your customer will go farther than Wooing your customer".

At the parking, they could have put Numbers on the parking positions, and for every PARKED vehicle at that number, they could have given a small form asking for Name, Contact Number, Email address, and Comments to be submitted after the Show and this Must be collected when the customer left the Final Gate, accompanied by yet Another chilled water bottle. The Pen with a Kalpavriksha logo to write comments will remain with the customer for longer duration than the watered bottle...............

5. On the Spot.

The Spot was well decorated, and organized. With small issues like not allowing food packets inside etc, the major opportunity missed was starting the function at 8:15 instead of the committed time of 7:00.
This was the most important moment which they could have utilized to tilt the customer in their favour.

Starting the function sharp at 7:00 and saying one Line,
" We always Fulfill our Promise of Delievering- Dot on Time" could have raised most of the SEC A customer to great heights.
if one closely understand the most important issue which comes in to work while buying a property is that a buyer wants assurance thousand time whether his House will be ready to be occupied on committed Time.
This was the point where Kalpvriksha could have killed its competitors by thousand miles.

Just saying “We always deliver on time, whether it’s Concert or Your House”.
And then, using a Projector in small intervals with slides showing
the Time when they started the Show and resonating the same message.
For all those people who came late, will take an Amazing message which they will share with the Peers.- ( that was the basic objective of the Event- To position Kalpavriksha as the most honest brand in the market)

6. They Never BRANDED their organization but branded only the Location. There was an opportunity to create Resonance with the Umbrella Brand which was missed completely. Big players who can invest couple of crore in a house want to know whether you have other projects planned or you are a first timer. Branding your Umbrella brand would have been effective strategy at this point.

7. A prospective like me who belongs to SEC A and with disposable income was never targeted by Saree Clad women.
They had the girls clad with Saree but no one among them knew what to do except that they stood with some Rough papers and gave the message like, “when will all this gets over”.
That does clearly showcase the Missing training to be given to the Outsourced party involved.
When the customers reached Home they were talking about Jagjit Singh, rather than Kalpavriksha.

CONCLUSION

A great Event organized by the standards of Raipur, but there was enough room of delievering the "WOW" which they missed.

Over all a 4 out of 7 Stars for this Event.

In search of Customer

Everyday Most of the Businesses start off their day with one desire,
To get More customers at their doors, bestowing them with more business opportunity, increasing their share of Pie.

Even everyday they pray the same to god for the fulfillment of same desire.
But the very logic of the process of Demanding is wrong.


If you recall, to hunt a Tiger one needs a Goat, which is teasing enough that the Tiger comes in for the lavish food party.

The Hunter never prayed for the best Tiger, never, but what he tried for is to create the Best trap.
Most of the Businesses houses, never create a Best Trap, they just pray for the Best Tiger.


And this is the reason why most of the Business remains a Small Business.

What's it is that you are trying to Hunt?
There is an Excellent Opportunity……………………………….to beat the competition, Embrace the right Tiger

The Dedicated Professional-Jai Satyanarayan Katha

A strange post, come right next day after I completed the renowned Satyanaryan Katha at Home.
It was almost after 2.5 Years that I sat down to witness and be a part of it.
With each sound of Bell @2 Shots per Second, My marketing brain could not stop and try to figure out the proposition in front of me.

A complete Package of experiencial marketing combined with some very solid 4P's
Product: The God
Place: My Own Home
Promotion: The Faith
Prize: Ek Sau Inkawan Rupeeye

What made my Marketing Head bow down was the dedication of the Pandit ,"the priest".

One of the most neglected and not so talked about subject are the Profession of Pandits.
The ultimate dedication of their towards their work is worth a mention. Every morning they get up at a fixed time, 6:00 am and after taking bath, clean the complete temple and God in it.
To ensure that the Experience is same across all the places, it is made mandatory to do certain things at certain time.
You need to remove your slippers, ring the Bell and bow down to the god.
After this you take Aarti and then move to the Almight Pandit, who will give you Tulsi water to drink from a Brass kettle.
This scene can be imagined everywhere even with closed eyes.
The brand resonance is so strong and guess what the creators understood it long back, that the future brands will be made with Senses.
Cafee coffee Day has standardized the Coffee smell in all their locations, this was done long long back in all the Mandirs by ensuring Gainda Phool, rose Petals and incese sticks.

In fact the Idea of Hawan comes very close to the creation of Bigger Worship.

How can today's brand learn from this? They have started Using Sense , what is Left more?
Is it an Opportunity in the Context of a Particular set of Actions to be performed in a particular Step.............

you are the person who can create the Next Change........