Hotels! How they can Change..............

Each one of us, have once stayed at a Hotel. and the experience range from decent, to Great  to Pathetic, depending upon the services expected.
Consider a Student coming to a city for appearing in an exam say "CAT".
What does he looks for
a. Best Hotel which has silence and calmness
b. Best Hotel which has big bed to sleep after the Exam ( or before it for few)
c. Nice lighting so as to read at night ( considering the prospect dropped in a day early)
d. Washroom with Both Hot and Cold water 24 Hrs.
e. Free breakfast, complimetary along with pick and drop facility to airport.

OR
a.1. Hotel which provides cheapest and cleanest stay for "CAT exams".

Most of the Hotels do not understand a very simple thing
" Guest don't want everything when they stay at a Hotel, they are not looking for a House,
  they Just want one specific thing which could be cleanliness, silence, nice room etc. But Just One as best and rest can be decent.

Your job is to find out that one aspect which is most crucial for your maximum guests.
And How to Find it...................

Ask them.
The Knowledge about the market your operate, the kind of floating population in the town, which season is dedicated for which particular set of audience,

The Thought

Instead of using anonymous testimonials, Why not make a "Understanding my guest" list.

A book which will be take home ( instead of the Bill with Hotel's address printed on the envelope, a bottle of water).

Why not give this booklet for them to show it to their friends.

Whats More,

Could it be wonderful to give a small "BEST GUEST KIT" to few selected Guest, guest who matters.

Trust and the Young

How one define trust? Is it an act, of being honest everytime with the person the other is involved with, or is it a about being honest with oneself.
Way back, the idea of trust developed with the relationships,  one continued with and nurtured.
The old man started to build communities, tribes, and he began having a social circle, which was limited and had shared interests. It was these shared interest which fostered better trust, thus enabling great understanding.
One can still find the same aspects like,
1. Most people tend to feel more trustworthy with people who are from same caste or tribe.
2. Birds of same feather flocks together, most parents love to do good for their community ( emphasis on their)
3. Rich people build more temples of their preferred god etc etc.

This all tend to build more trust.

This concept still stands tall in our economy uptill now, but suddenly something has happened.
Yes, something is changing, and one must understand this change.
Note this

 "We feel doubt and are fileld with suspicion while we talk to the passenger right next to us while travelling.
 On the other hand

Most Youth are comfortable adding more unknown friends in social websites (facebook/orkut) and talking to them and importantly believeing them.
These youths are those who are searching for mix of ingredients, a spoon of identity, some self appreciation, some new adrenaline rush, and a tiny bit of self expression..


THOUGHT
What does this point to a Marketer.

A completely new set of market is developing, and this market will redefine the meaning of set emotions.
Like Trust, honesty, appreciation will no longer be the same as they were used to be.

Are you ready for this.................

The Air india will be grounded Soon

Apology to all my readers for writing this post really late.

Took a flight to New Delhi, using IC 869, couldnt stop being amazed by what these people do.
If you want to see an organization which still is using the methods of 1980's and not only think, but rather
believe that the customer is not at the centre of their service model, You must really travel using
AIR INDIA.

One organization which poinered the flying experience of most of the Rich people in India during 80's and 90's still lives in the same world.
The flight which was supposed to start at 8:05 started at 8:35, and No reason what soever was shared about the loss of time.
It reached New Delhi 1 hour 4 Minutes late from the designated time of 10:45, imagine people having sequenced flights.
The AC stopped working every time the plane was about to land and/or takeoff ( It goes via Nagpur and stays at Nagpur Airport for 40 Minutes).
No reason given.
The Airhostess and Cabin crew felt out of touch, doing routine job.

 My objective is not to crticize them but to remember that these are the places when a Big organization starts to sink in its own prior success.

They offer absolutely no service for which they deserve customers attention.

Just an example,
The Boarding pass of Two flights both leaving at same time from same destination. on 29th May Saturday from Raipur Airport

1. Air India from backside

2. KingFisher from Front and Back

You can see How Kingfisher is working on every single POI( Point of interaction) with their customer.

Now you decide who must be the Star Airlines, and whose employee will go for a strike.

If anyone from Air India Reads this

" Give all your cabin crew a ticket to fly with Kingfisher and see How they make Customer go "WOW" for their service.

The Thought

" Market has become very fragmented and so has become the media channels. Doing things what used to give result will no longer be of any value. Businesses must understand that its the Little act of kindness and gestures which makes the repeat customer."

Management Lesson from a Mom in Kitchen

When was the last time you went to the kitchen with your mother. No, not just to take more gravy or to look at whats cooking, but to actually stand there when something was being cooked.

Most of us spend life waiting for something great, forgetting the cardinal rule of life,
                                  "There are no ordinary moments".  
                      ( From Kung Fu Panda http://www.kungfupanda.com/)

If you recall the time when you stood by Mom and she cooked say for example " Kheer", called rice pudding, did you notice what exactly she did.
There are few important management lesson waiting to be learned
.

1. You must first add milk and then the rice.

In every business, the first thing is not Money, but the people. You need to identify the correct skill set  employee in order to attain maximum return. If you first think about the customer, you will miss the great Kheer. Timing is crucial.

2. Continue to Stir and so be present always when making "Kheer".

Have you noticed that your mother continiously Stirs the Milk. Why? if you ask her, she will reply,
" It ads gravity- the mass to the Kheer".

Your process of marketing is same.
You need to continiously stir, Stir your audience, your customer, your employee, and the Market.
This will enable for Brand Recall, remember the famous quote,

"Out of Sight means out of Mind". Be present.

3. Adding Elaichi ( Cardamom) and Kesar ( Saffron ).

Cardamom ads flavour, the aroma to the recipie while Saffron ads the colour and the taste.
Similarly in Business, working for minute details are more important. Very rarely do people Push for that little extra 2 %, and you know, its this 2% which matters the most.

 
4. Discipline must be followed to get the best result.

Mom is one among the most disciplined person you will find. For years she cook food at right time, in right quantity for any number of people.
A business must know how to make products in right quantity by knowing the precise number of Demand and Supple.

5. Presentation

If Mom gives you kheer in the same small cup which you used to eat always, it strikes a cord and you can't stop smiling.
Or imagine when few friends of your come in and she brings the Kheer, chilled/hot, in the best bowl at your home, with some dry fruits pieces over it.
Yeah right!

Thats what most business needs to learn today, that presentation is as important as the product. Everything may be best about the product but if the presentation is not great, it kills everything. Similarly so,
Only a great presentation cannot sell a Lousy product. At the end, remember that your customer are going to taste it.



In case you want some great Mom reciepe, visit the blog of Charlene Davis, she is a Busy Mom and Business writer. You will find some awesome reciepes. http://www.busymomsrecipes.com/

THOUGHT

Lessons from the best in any field can be a great source of inspiration.


Always be ready to learn from every small details. Best lessons come from the least expected places. 

The Topping:

My Mom said, " If you don't love the person for whom you are cooking, you will never make a great Kheer".

"If you don't love your customer and understand them, you will never serve them great product"

A wacky Question...........

" Sir help...!
i have a wacky ques.....!!! :o

" where do people get their sincerity back????"" :(
(i desperately need it)
i lost it since i came to college...!!! :(

as a result.....,
i've screwed up my studies :x :x :(
smacked my health
(n worst)
almost ruined my parents faith in me!!! :( :(  "

A intelligent cute little girl in her Bachelors sent me this message. Made me wonder, where have we tied our upcoming generation.
Most of us loose our sincereity once we pass a particular level in life. We screw up badly, and ruin faith of lots of people who are close and near us.

Lets look it in the point of analogy.

Consider the girl as a Corporate house. A Corporate/ business which performed well for a long duration ( till 12th) and when the market changed ( to college) the whole system of performance changed.
What went wrong? Let's look at the core.

1. The Market changed in + 5 Direction while the business moved to - 5 Direction.

When the market changes, new set of challenges come in, the customer ( here in loved one's or parents) increase expectation from the brand called "you".
But your ( Business) idea of enjoyment, changes drastically.
The Priorities change
In the last Market last two years ( 11th & 12th ) the priorities were

a. To secure great Marks in each subject
b. To be able to get admission in top colleges.
c. To make the name of parents proud.

While in this new Market ( 1st Year College) the priorities are

a. To be established as most trendiest, or most wanted, Most Hot, Most sincere ( very few) person of the college.
b. To make more number of friends, and hang out with them.( Corporates always try to get new customer, they are in endless pursuit of new customers, only to realise later that it cost 1 to serve existing customer but it cost 100 to acquire a new one)
c. To be different and stand out yet be in crowd ( Self Doubt, most business have it)

SO WHAT TO DO?

5 Step Plan

1. Write down what your top priorities are, make it visionary, like getting back the confidence of my customer ( belief of my parents) or talking with the existing customer ( talk with old friends who know you).
2. Break down your vision into small small Missions.
( Talking to 10 customer everyday or Talking to One old friend and listen to them without judging).
3. Write down 10 Things/people that you wish to have with you 5 Years from now?
( Might be to stand out as the most transformed person, or most transformed Business).
4. Put it in your bag, in your pocket, in your email in your desktop wallpaper, the idea is to make the priority a part of your life.
5. Do it!
 
This will surely ensure you get maximum benefits from the market you are in.
And please Remember,

You were always sincere, you never lost your sincereity. But
the problem was, you shifted your sincerity to things which don't matter.

As the great Peter F Drucker said,

" There is nothing more useless, than doing efficiently that, which, should not be done at all".

Hope to see a better you.

THOUGHT:

" Most business shift their focus once they taste the fruit of success. You are most prone to fall when you are at the top, and it hurts as well when you come down. Businesses/Individual needs to relalize that

Nothing fails like Success, and hence must put constant effort to improve themselves."

Cheers

Cool Web Signature......... have One

Your signature is one such fantastic arrangement of alphabets, which remains with you throughout your professional career. ( upcoming post on theme"Professional till you die").
Most of us remember the first offer letter we signed and how important it was to sign it with nice pen, and with a clean handwriting.

The web has changed and challenged many set standards. No longer is the feeling of pen, and paper is needed.
With the cyber laws, accepting your email as an authentic proof ( to read more on cyber laws especially in india visit http://www.cyberlawsindia.net/), your email must have a signature of yours.
Also since signature is your identity, why not link your facebook, orkut, twitter, linked in,
especially if you want to establish yourself as a brand.
There are plenty of ways to do it, but today,
lets see the most easiest, quickest way for you.
and before we begin, lets see how it can look.

Click to enlarge.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50418248@N03/4641335542/


To do so, you have to follow 3 Simple steps.

1. Open Firefox and go to website http://www.wisestamp.com/ and download the application, which is an add on for firefox.
2. After the add on is installed, restart the firefox, on the below right of your mozilla browser you will find a stamp like sign, click it and select Edit signature.
3. Add your name, and other details, Make it as creative as you can, and save it to one of the id, personal or professional given in the stamp link.
Voila you are done.

Now any email you open, this Cool signature will automatically come in your content space.

In case you have any query, contact me at
khareabhinna@gmail.com

THOUGHT:

With the web acting as a New market all together, a whole new set of rules and methods applies, and thus, one needs completely different approach to build a Brand. and remember

"The Brand Called "YOU".........."

The Artist in you.......

We live in a world with different people, and since there are different people, they have different work ranging from a Mechanic, to Businessmen, to Engineer, doctor, professor, trainer, and what not.
Even studying is a profession.
Like no work is big or small, similarly no profession is big or small, which takes us to a point
"for what one works".

Some work for salary, some for profits, few other for a cause. This constant run towards creating some thing meaningful and to extract meaning is what we all have understood as work.
But who is an artist? or what is an Art?
If one go by dictionary, lots of meaning exist.(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/artist)
The one which suits best for me is
"A person whose work shows exceptional creative ability or skill".

So, this brings me to the thought that
Each one of us are artist. May it be that your work is writing a software, or it might involve answering the phone calls in the company, or being a street sweeper.

But being an artist is tough. Because an artist puts that extra 10% which no one cares for.
So next time when your boss ask you for a data, don't act as a worker, instead raise above and be an artist.


Visit the link below of Philips. Their UK website, is a work of an artist, it is called "Parallel Line".
http://www.cinema.philips.com/gb_en/

The catch:
You might be sending 100 email a day, and every time you write below,
regards
followed with your name.

Why can't this be a piece of art?( If you wish to learn howyou to do it, drop me an email at khareabhinna@gmail.com, I will send a reply email, on how I have used that space as an artist, and ways on how you too can do it.)

Thought

"Everyday, you get an opportunity, to elevate yourself one step ahead, to grow more as a person, in the same job. Forget what you are called as, what your designation is, instead be an Artist, because only an artist can create what no one can".

The Identity Crisis of Kites

Just two Reason why Kite could not Fly...........JUST 2................

Couldn't stop from posting this.. Although have already wrote a review on Kites,This KITE won't fly

Still there are TWO key learnings.

The crisis of Kites
1. The Kites is set in wrong Era:

We live in a world where democracy is at its peak. Here every individual learns one common message, :
If you  can dream for it, you will get it. Thats the primary message around every home of india. Even the person belonging to the Below poverty line today, can dream to reach stardom and there are plenty of insiprational stories available.
So you see, we all tell a story to ourselves that we can achieve everything we want. In such times, a story comes to an individual which gives the message
"If you are beggar and chase money, you can either get money or your love".
Who the hell are you Mr. Writer to tell me that?

So you see, the Kite is set probably for a 20+ years back audience who had lots of responsibilities and could only dream for a job and not everything in life.


2. Kites was Too beautifuly picturized with Lousy story.

Beauty is of two kinds. One which is humanly possible, like photographs paintings etc, second is God made.
Like waterfalls, flowers.
Barbera Morie is godly in the movie and so is Hrithik like a greek God. They both have taken the screen presence so much that the viewers go through complete pain of watching the movie. Thus ensuring that other do not go through the same pain, they ask people to avoid the movie.

Teacher by Chance or Teacher by Choice-II

This is part -II of the series "Teacher by Chance or Teacher by Choice".
for part I click here.Teacher by Chance or Teacher by Choice- Part I

PART II

The condition of Type -I teacher/Professor in college is far grave than that of the school.
Even if all the spoiling done in school, a child is saved, the college is packed with such great Type-I teachers who will do everything possible to kill the student"

Look at the conversation in a BBA ( Bachelor of Business Administration ) class of a reputed college.

The curious student ask the teacher of accounts,

Student, " Madam, why in an account sheet, Credit is written as Cr. while Debit is written as Dr."
Madam," Its the Short form, obviously"
Student, " No mam, if you see, Credit has a "r" hence it makes sense, but Debit has no "r".
Still we are writing Dr.??? Why Madam?
Madam,after a long pause, " What you have to do with this, can you solve this question, take this"
and she gives the student a question he will learn to solve using steps.

instead of agreeing that she had no clue and the question was fantastic, she killed the idea.

These are the teachers by CHANCE, whom most of our student interact every day most of their lives.
and Such teacher who themselves are not so good product, are least capable to create, better product.

If in the same Scenario, it was teacher by Choice, he/she must have atleast praised the student for a tereffic question, and instead of killing, could have taken time to search for the answer.

The Thought

" Teacher by Chance makes every student the same as everyone else, while the objective of a teacher must be to create unique identity of each student, specially in the college"

Teacher by Chance or Teacher by Choice- Part I

A person is a byproduct of his/her learning from the environment. After the first school ( home with mother as the first teacher) a person is introduced for the first time, to two aspects

a. Learning from changing teacher ( teacher based on subjects are different)
b. Learning from peers ( available in the class)

and this process continues till the level of Post graduation, usually MBA/Msc/MCom etc in case of India.

In this post the objective is to bring out the way a student is crafted with two specifically different kinds of teachers.
Let's roll..............


"Teachers are of two kinds, one Teacher by chance- one who has chosen the profession because that was the only available eased out option for him/her.

The other, ( I avoid using the word Second and will use Other) are the person who choose the profession because thats what they are passionate about.

In India, there are enormous amount of Type-I teachers, all who have chosen the profession because of the benefits associated with it. When I asked a Teacher Type -I her reason of joining this domain they were

SCHOOL TEACHER:

1. Very nice job, from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm, then I go home and after taking an hour of rest, start taking tutions. which usually get over by 8:00-8:30.

2. The Pay is so less, I have to rely on tutions, last I heard was govt was thinking to Ban it, they must first increase our pay.

3. The Job is very secure, you know , no problem of men etc. and even nothing to worry about night.

4. Ya at times, I need to cover a distance, I have to catch the school bus early, so that takes lots of my time, but very soon I will shift to school near my home.

5. Yes, it gives financial stability also, I have kid you know and his demands are increasing..............



Well with a smile and a thought I left , a thought which could not let me sleep.

The Thought,

" The Top 5 challenges and benefits associated with the teaching job for Type-I teachers have nothing to do with the work.
Helping students find themselves and become better at what they do.

" Strange.

The Changing World

Lately, this thought has kept me busy and occupied.
The generation "Y", which I belong to is always questioning, and seeking answers.
The problem is we tend to seek answers outside rather than inside.

No, no, I am not talking in terms of Spirituality or something, what makes me think this are certain facts which pops out of my mind.

Today all I am doing is to organize them and present it to you.

Look at the image below and you will figure out where the pointer is.

Click on the image to enlarge.



so as you can see, following insights are worth noting from that pic

1. What was available in plenty as we call infite in 80's has now become finite or pretty less in 2010.

2. What use to be available in limited quantity in 1980's has now in 2010 is available in plenty.

Hence the Businesses needs to understand that the "Paragraph"generation can not be taught anything using long lectures.

This generation wants quick fixes, they eat fast, and drive fast.

The Idea:
You won't find them where you use to find their parents.

The Catch:

Businesses needs to now market themselves twice as harder because
My dear friends,
The world is standing at the point where deflection has just began.
Cheers

Whom are you Searching???

Do you know the name of the person? Or you know, where the person lives,
the city and the Country?

You want to know whether they have a profile anywhere, may it be orkut, or facebook, or my space, or Hi 5, or Big adda...........and thousands other available now.

Well, how about a search engine which search all the details of a person who ever came to web.
If the person ever put a photograph of his/her.

Won't it be great. Yes, you are right

there is a website which can do this for you....and you will be amazed that it ranks 2200 in the world still most don't know about it.

Go take a trip to

www.pipl.com

try finding yourself first. All your photos and profiles it will search.

The web never stop amazing me................

Cheers

The Small conversations

"Let's make one thing crystal clear. All I want to know is, what is the exact rate that you have bought this. I know you have got it cheaper than what I got it, but, how much is what I am interested in".
" No, Don't tell me", Really...o God...........

Oki Oki, I know that you also have contacts but tell na, How Much?
Please na, Tell me..............

Recently in my trip to a place, heard this SEC A class lady having this conversation on mobile.
Can't stop myself smiling. This small conversation provides acute understanding about this lady as well as the way her life is woven around. Certain observations

- Her choice of words, "crystal clear"( Crystal Haan) , all I want- ( I am dying), exact Rate
(comparision), cheaper than what I got it (comparision continued ), O god ( rising Emotions )...
you also have contacts na ( I too have them ).... Please na ...( asking to Please )

If you can read between the lines you will come to know the way most of SEC A behaves and expects the businesses to perform.
The lady is merely proud enough for what she has, and lives in a purely materialistic word.
Her dreams and desire are woven around the clarity of acquiring more materials.

(No, I am not against Materialistic wealth, but against obsession.)
The women in case has no or very little sense of purpose and is missing the bigger picture of life.
She needs religion preferable god to detoxify her sin- mainly unwanted desire and power requirement-:

With this knowledge can you think of strategies on how to sell her, and what to sell?

Yes.

1. Make everything Exclusive, right from a Soap( Dove is not a soap its a Moisturiser), to
Jwellery-(Nakshatra- the enchanting enigma) or Horlicks Women -( designed the Women).

2. Ensure that the price is High but the add ons are multiple.( Have you ever saw a cosmetic brand giving a discount, Never, because women can't agree to buy a discounted cosmetic brand, so an add on is provided.)

3. Know your product well. Certain products can have discount.
Kitchen applaince are one such category.............No one asks her the price of the set, what they ask among themselves is "Kahan sey Liya".

The point is, knowing small conversation can give you amazing understanding about your customer.

Catch:

When was the last time you had small conversation with your customer.
Direct.

This KITE won't fly

Movies are one product which are among the most perishable product in today's time.
Just one show, a few comments, and you can see the power of Word of mouth Marketing working. So today, let's talk about the latest perishable product "Kites".

Just came back after watching the pre-release show of much hyped "Kites".
No, I won't say this movie is Bad, neither my inside will allow me to write "Its good".
Whats amazing is that neither can the word "Oki" suits the movie.


The movie is set on a beautiful screenshots and the way Cinematography is done is really worth an applause. Hrithik looks awesome and Barbera Morrie takes the screen on high on all shots she appears.


With all this, whats the movie is all about. This Kite won't fly...................
Rajesh Roshan writes in the Kites Website " I make movies which appeal to me, and hope that the audience love it", and he says that, " he doesn't make movies for the audience but for himself, thinking himself as an audience".
This time, the worldview of Rajesh Roshan, has suffered a problem.
He has not been able to decide, with which audience he is trying to relate himself with.


Indian or International ( Hollywood)


Well, all you remember is just scenes, like wallpapers in the screen. Mr. Anurag basu does a good job in trying to fill life in a story which lacks one most important thing.
The Soul. The Core of the story. ( to know more about it click the link A Cute-Cute Story)

The movie doesnot connect with the audience, because of the following key points

1.The story is all about car chase or don killing or guns in the name of action. That's what we have seen for long. The story if offers something other than Car chase is the couple ( Hrithik and Barbera Moorie trying to kiss and communicate)

2. The story is too pacy at times or is too dull to move ahead. Songs appear as an extension, there is nothing which the song does in the movie. May be the idea was to create a Hollywood movie rather than a Bollywood, so the decision was taken way back that when we remove songs it must not hamper the movie. 


3. Problem with the positioning: The movie is neither here nor there. The famous problem of most movies today, either they wish to go international or to remain Indian. Being both is not possible, and the makers today aren't ready to live with this fact.


4. In Film branding: May it be Ray Ban, CocaCola, MGM, Calcin Klin, Samsung and many more, only these five have a high recall. They do nothing in the movie, just a mere presence.

POST EFFECTS:


Hrithik has really done some great work. Certain scenes push you to think and dream about Love, but that's it. Considering this as Hrithik's movie after 2.5 years he has worked hard at it, but however good an actor be, he can't pull out a bad story.


Good Luck Hrithik next time, hope you get a better writer who put effort like you do.......

Why Can't they Change- Beauty Parlour Episode -1

A new section, "Why can't they Change", from today.
The Objective: To capture the offerings of a Business around us and to see what are the opportunities available for them.

For the first, lets talk about "Beauty parlours". The way Beauty parlours have flourished in india, clearly points toward one truth.
"We indian's love beauty, may it be leaching, lusting or love, but we want our girl to be beautiful.".

With the worlds most racism promoting product "Fair & lovely" and the likes ( they now show ads that women become super successful after using Fair & lovely which is a clear case of racism), we know how we have forced our women into a vicious circle of becoming fairer......

The point to reach is " Beauty= fairness" has been well grained in our psyche.....

This has led to opening of small Beauty parlours, preferable known as ladies beauty parlour.
Now the point I want to take you is this, "
All the advertisment boards or ads of these beauty parlours has one single positioning statement.

"Kewal mahilaon ke liye".
Ever guessed why?

The men in the home of the Business women( who owns this Beauty parlour ) wanted to be free from the idea that its a Women women thingy.
:) Smile.......................yeah yes it is.

Now here is the Catch?
The Change thing.

Why can't a New Beauty parlour come up with a Tag Line,

"For the Girl in every women"

or Why not have a complete Business associated with the product. for example

" A beauty parlour only for the Women and not Girls"
catering to the Queen of the family. ( Yes don't say queen of the home, because that might stop working women to come in, but when you say Family, a working women is also as interested in the Family-at times much more- than the housewife.)

and

"A Beauty parlour only for the Cutie- The girl in college."

You have to show your id card to get in this Beauty parlour.

Imagine the kind of response you will get from this.

Let's Change........and Change for Good.

Happy Changing............

Cheers........

Part -III- The Pokemon Phenomenon- In India

Part –III

for part I-The Pokemon Phenomenon- 90's Born can't resist and 80's Born can't figure out
for part II-PART -II The Pokemon Phenomenon- 90's Born can't resist and 80's Born can't figure out

So after getting into the American Market and penetrating deep into it, Indian market became lucrative and hot-spot for most brands.
Well, the fact was who doesn’t want to target the country among highest population and also with most youth.
The same thing happened with Pokemon. In India Cartoon Network on 12 May 2003 first showed Pokemon, which coincide with summer holidays. This gave them what we learned before the importance of "TIME FRAME".
Only after launching the TV Show they launched the toys.
Funskool became the authorized dealer for Pokemon toys and launched it in India.
Little did it knew that Pokemon Toys will become such a Huge success. During November Funskool had to launch 22 stock keeping units, sold seven lakh units in the cards category, 4-5 lakh figurines and around 30,000 games.
The price of the cards was Rs 30 and the figurines Rs 50 per piece.

Now Indian market challenges were mainly with the network.
Cartoon Network was available in English, so language was not that a big issue ( until they had to dub it in Hindi ).
Let’s look at reasons why it became huge success in India.

Indian Kids are so much used to Role playing that this game gave them an opportunity to relive it.
Most of the kids (male) have tried to shave with the father’s cream and kids ( female) have put on the lipstick and bangles of mom. The Pokemon belonged to RPG.(more already posted in Part I)

The introduction of the game was very well planned. All the Shanzhai's ( to read more on Shanzhai’s click hereThe Temptation and Shanzhai ) were given opportunity to make as many copies and toys as possible, and were never banned for it after a year launch from Funskool.
This led lots of toys to float in market thus increasing the product recall.

For Indian Market the Communication strategy was slightly different. Everything was built around the concept of Cuteness and they targeted first the English speaking belt of India the South India.

They roped in “Karthik” a singing sensation of south to sing the title track who himself enjoys a lot of credibility among youth.

These were the tactics to make Pokemon became a phenomenon in India too. Hope you all likedthe three part series.

Keep reading for more Insights and Truths.
Cheers

PART -II The Pokemon Phenomenon- 90's Born can't resist and 80's Born can't figure out

This is the second part of the Post “The Pokemon Phenomenon- 90's Born can't resist and 80's Born can't figure out”. If you have not read Post one kindly click here..http://tiny.cc/otj9t

PART –II

So we know what Pokemon is and how it spread in Japan.

Let me share with you a great news. Can you imagine people feeling ill and are forced to be taken to hospitals because they watched a particular TV program. I know you will laugh at me. But this has happened. More than 700+ Japanese were reported to have admitted to hospitals because on December 16, 1997 a particular episode caused viewers Seizure.(Seizures are caused by abnormal electrical discharges in the brain).

If you are interested to know more about it click this link

http://tiny.cc/e33cc

So after that dose lets come back to our discussion.

INVADING US

Before launching the game in America, the Nintendo knew that this should not be a game but it must be projected as a Phenomenon as a Wave.

So they played a great strategy. Before officially launching the game in America, they allowed the kids of Japan, who were studying in America take with them the Cards and comics.

So they ensured that the relatives of Japanese in America will bring back with them goods and products of Pokemon with them.

To maintain a relationship with their country, it became a sort of phenomenon for Japanese kids to collect the Pokemon cards and show them off to American Kids.

Second the makers distributed the game through infiltration to America from Asian/Japanese market and labeled them as Goods , “Not for Sale or Use outside Japan”, thus creating a sort of Black Market for the Pokemon.

ADAPTION ISSUES AND TROUBLES:

The biggest issue to deal with while transferring the Pokemon to American market was , “Different Ideologies.”

If you see the children in America and in Japan, there is a very crucial difference on how they grow up.

Take for example, a Music piece.

American Kids are used to fast music, peppy and quick while the Japanese kids are oki with the “Silence” between music tracks.

So the challenge was to convey and showcase the exact worlview of Pokemon to American audience using English language. Hence the vice editor and head of the Character Planning Department of Koro Koro Comics visited the U.S. several times to arrange the broadcast of Pokemon. The issues of: how to translate the names of the 151 different pokemon types into English, choosing the voice actors, and the promotion of game-related products.

Authors also believed that in America, “Cuteness” doesn’t sell. What sell is “Coolness” hence the character names were made cool and were given the look which matched the “Cool” factor.

There were many more issues, like in America, action games were more preferred than other genre.

Anyway, the biggest challenge was to make Pokemon as brand the 151 characters as Sub Brands.

So what they did was, remember the game came in two versions, Red and Green.

But for American audience they made it RED and BLUE. Blue because it was major colour in America than green.

There were lots of adjustments done, like every character had different voice, so different artist were chosen.

One major point which I believe you must know is

The Track: The American version of the Title track was made like a Rap Song, “ which was made for easy acceptance of American kids. You might also be amazed to know that this Rap song contained names of all the 151 Characters, so that the kids can remember it.

Now comes the

PROMOTION.

The fourth P of Marketing Mix. To make it a Phenomenon, what the marketers of the game did is known as “SYNERGY” tactic in the Marketing arena. Kindly read more on Synergy through Internet or get in touch with me in case you cant find satisfying answers.

Now after this the target was 6-12 year Boys. To include the girls, they allowed Ponny tale, which somehow related with the Boyish girls. Also the Secondary target were Parents. To ensure that parents promote them to use this, they added a great trick.

In Pokemon, one cannot die in battle. You can only faint in it. Thus the message of Non-voilent ( death) was erased and even parents became somewhat positive towards the game. Also they included mathematics in cards and fights, and ensured that BODMAS was promoted aggressively.

Next came the Time frame. Based on the principle of Synergy everything was woven around December 25th Christmas.

With such acute planning, the game was sure to succeed.

So that’s how the whole Pokect Monstors became a Phenomenon in America.

Tomorrow I will try to explain how it was brought to Asian countries and how customized for Indian Children.

Hope you like it.

The Pokemon Phenomenon- 90's Born can't resist and 80's Born can't figure out

For those of us who are Born in 80’s, most of us could not figure out why children born in 90’s are so hell crazy about Pokemon. We love Disney, Ducktales, Aaladin, but these children will say, “Pikachu” more enthusiastically than the dream Girl “Jasmine”.

They buy stuffs of Pokemon, they act like a Pokemon and they even leave their Cricket to watch Pokemon in cartoon Network.
This Post is dedicated to the Hows and Why of the Buzz around Pokemon and How Pokemon has taken the Market away.
Its based on my understanding of the Phenomenon called Pokemon, as I everyday witness my own nephew
acting like a stranger with the start of Pokemon.

This is Post–I of the analysis. Will try to cover the whole topic in 3 posts.
Here we start…………….

WHAT IS POKEMON?
Pokemon is essentially a Boy Game. Targeted to boys of age 6-12 Years.
First released in Japan in Feb 1996, it is reported to have taken 6 years to develop.
It is developed by Satoshi Tajiri with its company Game Freak. ( Nintendo is a part owner and was not very keen for this game initially)
Tsunekazu Ishihara's game design studio, "Creatures," provided the Visuals and Investment Support.

Tajiri is generally regarded as the "author" of the game, while Ishihara is regarded as the business genius.
Hence for our understanding we will concentrate on Ishihara- The Business Genius of the Game.

WHY NAME POKEMON?

Pokemon is the made by Joining two words: Pocket + Monsters. Since it has its roots from a Japanese game
it comes from two words of Japanese Po-ket to Mo-n-su-taa. If you know Japanese language, you might know that it is common in it to refer to things using only first syllable of their name.
So If you want to call Television in Japanese it will become “Te-re-Bi”, and Mono which often becomes “Mon” which means “things”.
Pokemon has a close relation with Poke- Stuff, as in you Poke someone.

THE GENRE
Video game genres are used to categorize video games based on their gameplay interaction rather than visual or narrative differences. The Genre of games in Video games are plenty like action Adventure, Shooter, Construction and Management Simulation ( The Markstat we played at MICA), etc.
The Pokemon relates to RPG which means Role Playing Genre.

The GAME- What one does in it

There are lots of creatures in the game and the character you are, you have to defeat Pocket Monsters. There are multiple goals in the game right from defeating monsters to solving small puzzle, to collect variants of Pokemon etc.
There are in all 151 variants of Pokemon.
Originally Pokemon was sold in two versions,
Version Red
Version Green
each of which was missing a set number of the total pokemon. The only way to collect them all was to trade with a player with the other colored cartridge; this could be done through the means of a "Game Link Cable" (sold separately).

THE INSPIRATION OF THE GAME

You might be amazed to know that the Tajiri, the author of the game said that he got the inspiration for the game from his childhood when they used to collect insects and show it to friends.

THE SHOPPING

We know of Pokemon as a Cartoon, but Pokemon in a game is actually built in the way the children Shop.
You might also be amazed to note that when you enter the Home in Pokemon, there you will find shelves lined with “Books of Pokemon”, and “Pokemon Goods”.

PROMOTIONAL TOOLS USED IN JAPAN

A. COMICS

As part of promotion in Japan, Nintendo arranged for Children Publisher , Shogakukan , which ran a Boy mased comic called Koro Koro comics.
You might be amazed to know that in Japan it is expected that 1 out of every Four boys have read the 800+ page Koro-Koro.
Pokemon was developed as a Humorous adventure tale of the hero , Satoshi , his Loyol electronic Mouse “pokemon” Pikachu.

B. TV SHOW

First the Tajiri was hesitant to start animated show, but then when he agreed, he put one condition.
He said that the writers of the TV show must play the game extensively before they even start thinking on producing the show. This lifted the Pokemon in Japan.


C. TRADING CARDS

Tsunekazu Ishihara developed Trading cards, in which a basic starter pack can be bought in from the market and then later on Booster packs can be bought to improve the competitiveness of the deck in hands. What they did was to keep the special cards so scarce- 1 in every ten card deck, and continuously introduced new decks.
Also they introduced video games based on those Deck cards, which helped the "Pokemon" become a Phenomenon rather than a Game.

In the next Post you will know how Japanese were able to take the game to America, and subsequently to India.
They followed strategies to suit the American Children and you will be amazed to know how they marketed the Game to play with the psyche of American Kids.

How these people influence kids is amazing………………………

Hope you all like it.

The Little Big things..

Little big things is the newly released book by one of the greatest Management thinkers of this time,
Tom Peters. Although I am still waiting to lay hands on the book, but the way the book has been marketed and is being countiniously buzzed is really awesome. So here I try to share few of the great ways it has been done.
Tom peters " Started talking big time about his new Book, between his fellow members, the blogs he follows, and buzzed the title, "Little big things" throughout his proximity.
He also made sure that people ask what this book is all about, gave interviews in top notch magazines and websites, right from big journalists to upcoming ones thus to market the product well by what we know as "Word of mouth Marketing".
The great thing which he does is he publishes post launch , a Video series called "Little big things".
In this he has covered almost every leader alive/dead and tried to give us a pitcure of how leaders to concentrate on "Little things, which later become Big".

You can visit the link to read the transcript of the latest published Vide series on our very own
"Mahatma Gandhi".
http://www.tompeters.com/blogs/toms_videos/docs/BY_Your_Story.pdf

Also one can visit Tom's website if you wish to know more.
Plenty of Presentations for free downloads.
www.tompeters.com


Thanks Tom for inspiring us new Marketers and Brand Mascots.

Little acts of Kindness- Emotions

People move when their worldview is matched and reminded again.
One cannot make them learn new things, but what one can do is to match the worldview of the person and remind him/her about the thoughts which have been left uncared.
Consider a brand say, " Hp". Hp is considered in the market as a brand which gives great products but the life is not long. It starts giving you trouble and the day it does not even the reseller can identify and correct it.
What an opportunity missed.
A brand which looks good, works fine for couple of years and then suddenly..................wooofffffffffffffff..............
its gone. Your whole data, everything.......................................
If HP can just be their at the time of this dissatisfaction curve, and say, oki.
this is the product which we made and its product life is over. We agree............thanks for Using HP.
But here is the proposition.
If you buy another HP from any where in world , we will deduct a amount for your old laptop/PC and give you a brand New one.
Just an Add on..............................only for HP users.
HP itself removes lots of Drivers and other updates from website once the product is off from the Market.
Take the case of 3005 TX series of HP Pavvilion laptop. That laptop starts giving trouble after around 2 years, and they have stopped manufacturing it since one Year.
Now when a person faces a trouble, even the drivers of the same are not available Online......
Should one throw away the laptops. Obviously no one will in the Asian Market.

Its these crucial time when Brand must live upto the Promise.

The Catch: If you are a Brand, and Brand is a Promise, when did you last showed a small act of Kindness.
When was the last time ou helped a colleague to learn a specific art or shared some interesting stuffs? ( Dont tell me you send them funny sms and forwarded emails).

A small bunch of flower can do wonder for you. Try it
So Match their Worldview and don't try to explain them what you beleive.
Believe what they believe first and then move them with "Emotions"

The Brand Called "YOU"..........

When was the last time you really thought about launching a product.
Leave aside the MBA classes where you thought being in the position of a CEO and everything can be imagined and left for the market, just imagine yourself stuck in a situation to launch a product.

A unique project has come up which is all about launching a new product.
The Product has to compete with TATA's Wiron and Kamdhenu's Wirebond.
We are working on creating a complete "Brand Manual" for the same.
Met some really really awesome guys; whoever said that real learning happens in the field said it so true.
It's 46 Degree temprature out here, and me ( Brand Manager) along with my team  is going on a ride at 1:00 PM-6:00 PM, meeting distributors and Dealers researching on what are the words which click most with this Product.
Using couple of tools of Qualitative Research, mainly Projective Techniques, we are trying to figure out the Brand essence and its elements.
 Now this product is used to Tie TMT bars before they are concretized with cement.


Guess what?? A dedicated team of a very Big agency actually two of them from Mumbai and Delhi made a pitch to us ( I won't name them ) for our account.

And what they had to offer. Read On.....one has suggested that we must name it something like a process of Relationship, or they see the product as "Indian Women tieing thread around Bargad"( Bargad is a Type of tree) as a faith.
One agency from delhi talked to a dealer in Delhi and had done a research on the product category.
How Dumb??( a small dealer in Delhi sells 1000 tons in a Month while a big Dealer of SEC B town like ours sells 1000 tons in whole Year, how can they be compared?)
Really these agencies at times do not understand the product at all.
One tag line offered was- "Rishtoon ke Bandhan", while second offered was-" Peedhiyoon ke rishte"


We bid them our good bye for now and the assignment came to My team.
After smiling a lot throughout the day in the presentation

We set out for our research.

Now the opportunities which we got were like this
1. Think what name can be associated with a product which is used to Bind the TMT bars in construction.
2. It usually is sold in loose quantities and is called as "KAALA TAAR", as in Black Wire.
3. No we cannot use the name "Kaala Taar" because when we will launch it in South, it wont Gel.
4. We have to leverage the brand name "GOEL's" the owner of the product.

We used projective techniques and with our "Cheat Sheet"Guess what we Found.

The buyer of this product is not the end customer but the labor who uses this. At times the "THEKEDAAR"
( a person who acts as liasoning between the house/building maker and the laborors.)
For them the only criteria for buying this product as they mentioned it was
It has to be "Patla and Mulayam" means it must be "Thin and soft" because they twist it with their own hands while construction.

So now we have the whole lot of data which we will process...........but Agencies must really gear up for such projects.

Now the Idea and the Catch:

Imagine you are a Brand yourself. And you have been given a chance to launch yourself again.
What will be your elements.
Will you like to be known as honest, true, sexy, charming, classy etc etc

By what words must people associate you?
 "Wow", "Abey Phir aa gaya", Chal na Bey", or something else.

What will be your Brand Identity?

Yes really think about it, and do let me know if you require any help.
Launch yourself....... The Brand You.

Clothes don't grow................

You might be wondering what I wish to write by that Cover title,
"Clothes Don't grow, Neither do parents, but kids do".
Well, came across this company.
The Website is for American Parents who can convinently exchange clothes of Kids Online.
One gets the opportunity to select a Box.
A Box has Clothes with variation on parameters of gender, size, season, item type, brands, and colors.

The pricing is for the Transportation and they offer Membership.

Visit www.thredup.com, you will be filled with awe by the way they work, and yes you will surely note
their website is so very Cute. Watch the Video Below how it Works.

The Idea: Can someone Replicate the same in India?
Yes! Offcourse but the proposition needs to be different. Instead of sharing the clothes, one can get money in return for the clothes. The Big, wealthy families can sell of their clothes like Newspaper and can be given money in exchange. The so called Poor people can buy the same clothes in a specific Rural Market...............

But think, can you make it money wise feasible. Pretty tough. Isn't it.
Its tough because our country works on differentiation rather than equality but talks of equality rather than differentiation.
Next time you are buying a clothe, imagine who can be the User for it once you are out of Size and shape....................

The Temptation and Shanzhai

Life is full of desires and expectations. You know, "that particluar song was so Cool, this Movie is not that nice, this design is mmmmmmmmmm Oki Oki, but can be improved, Am I looking fat, oh not again same thing Mom" and what not. The list is endless. and so are the temptations.

Temptations to sleep a bit more, temptation for the Lava Cake, temptation for the new Gadget, temptation for the new Pinkish Top.........endless. Right.

Its these temptations on which brands are built. Look around, if there was no temptation there would be no brands and only pieces of goods.

So this is about Temptation, but what is Shanzhai. I know many of you clicked to know whats a Shanzhai is.
Well, one of the most tempting thing for our generation are the Handsets. Mobile handsets which have become a part of our life, in fact if you want to punish a 90's child just take his/her mobile for a day.

Its these temptation which has given rise to what is known as Shanzhai. Shanzhai is the term used to refer imitated or me too brand of goods manufactured in China, specially electronics goods. Another term used for Shanzhai is "mountain village" or "mountain stronghold", the term refers to the mountain stockades of warlords or thieves, far away from official control.

Now you will be amazed to know that Shanzhai's have a market share of 20% in China's Mobile industry and a single unit producing Shanzhai's of Nokia, Samsung, Motorola etc can be started with only 10 people. (http://tiny.cc/xuuy4)

you might also be amazed to know that Nokia is the no.1 handset seller in China with more than 40% Market share (http://tiny.cc/yc4we).
Imagine a Company with thousands of employees working hard at a technology and the second it launches its product, the Shanzhai copies it with just 10 Employees, and are market Leaders.

Its the result of Excessive temptation both on the part of consumer as well as Shanzhai's.
Now if Government of China ban's these Shanzhai's there will be a huge number of chinese who will be jobless and the cost of which the govt. will have to bear, hence they are in no mood to Ban Shanzhai's.

The Catch: Does it make sense to first let Americans enjoy and with Outsourcing we continue to work for them as cyber coolie's?

Now American's want us to teach their kids and guess what after 10 Years the situation will be.

You will have knowledge to teach and work as Coolies, but the market won't require your skills because the skills will become Life skills.

The Idea: Don't just run towards huge paychecks and big metros dream, instead run towards the self. Direct your temptation towards right direction as in the words of great Sir Sachin Tendulkar," Don't chase Money Chase Runs, because when you chase Runs and Money follows".

Tempt ourself to your dreams, and don't be a Shanzhai........

A Cute-Cute Story

How often do we see the Box and guess the rest part, only to either find something great or something really bad.
When you make a Great Title, you make a promise, a promsie that the end will justify the time spent.
The story I am sharing with you today is the story of the "STORY".
It's been long, even with my stint with MICA, in those lonely early mornings,
this Story has taken a large portion of my time.
The story of a Story, is based on the belief that a Good Product tells a Great story.
For instance, let's take Movies as the product today...

And yes, Before we Begin, I know the Title made you click my Link.

A story has three layers as I understand.
The Mystic- which forms the Core,
The Reflections- which forms the Middle Layer,&
The Memorable- which is the Outer Layer.


Kindly click the Image to enlarge on How these three layers of a story are entwinned with each other.


As you can see, the outer layer is all about the Memorable what I prefer to call the Entertaining Layer. This outer layer helps the audience to remember the story, like for example, remember the 6 packs abs of Shahrukh, which Movie was it?
Yeah! it was OSM, or remember the Hairstyle of Aamir Khan with Well Built Body,
Yes Ghajani,
or Remember the Kiss Scene of Forthcoming Hrithik's "Kites".

All these are the Thread attached to the story, the Outer layer which helps us remember the Story. This Outer layer is Thin, but runs long, more the Better.
like, It was Double Role of Shahrukh, Double Role of Deepika, Transformation from Poor to Richi Rich, from Complete lehgaa Choli to Those Cheesy Legs of Deepika, or maximum Film stars in a single Song( Remember- and say "Om shanti Om" ) etc etc. They are many like these.

The Second Middle layer is usually Fatter than the first, but smaller. It is the Reflection layer.These are important moments because even after time passes, these Reflections acts as Trigger to re associate ourselves with the Story.
You know thats why, still 48% of the Market is all about Movies in India.
Zee Cinema gets the Highest GRP ( Gross Rating Point) because once people start watching a Movie they associate so well with it that they watch atleast couple of scenes in continuation. This Middle layer helps the Narrator create a Bridge with the Listener. Hence more and More insights are drawn and used in this Layer..

The Third Layer, is the Core, the Mystic layer, which most of the Story teller Lacks.
Its this layer which generate Emotions within the audience, its this layer which makes the Narrator a Friend and partner rather than just a Story teller.
Take the case of Three Idiots. When it says, "Aggarbattiyaan Rakh ho gayee, God toh saala Mila Nahin..." it is trying to corelate with this Inner Core,and listening this you don't say, your self says, "Yes Man, this is what I did".

But whats Happens is Most of the stories lack this important Layer.
It was Missing in OSM OR Saawariyaan, but was there in 3 idiots.
Without this Layer in a story, you just feel Empty from inside when you watch the movie or interact with the audience.
While its presence, helps you connect with the Self, and you feel Silent.
Thats what the difference this layer creates, its the difference between being Empty and being Silent.

Consider the case of a Product Called FaceBook.
What Facebook Promise is "Giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected".
The Story:
Layer 1: Memorable:- It remembers everything, your Older Post.
Layer 2: Reflections:- Quizess and Games, Helps you know yourself.
Layer 3: Mystic:- You never Know whom will you find today, the Cute guy next door, the Hot girl from your Town. You never Know, what that friend will write about you.

So, where is the Catch?

Whenever you try to do Marketing & Branding,
Think of these three aspects of your Story.
If you Miss one, the Whole story becomes a thing not to be talked about and however great your product is, it will never take off............

Now since I promised a Cute Story here it goes,
"There lives a Beautiful Girl, who loved the Guy Next Door, but was always in doubt whether to tell him or not".
So what she did?

She thought let me collect everything He uses.
" She picked those Chocolate Wrappers, those used Pencils.....
She also took his Keyrings without even letting Him Know.
Then after it was long and the enough things were collected ( The MEMORABLE )

She started giving him Cards, of friendship, Roses ( Off course Yellow- they are still friends) and filled his rooms with her Things, The T shirt he wore was given by Her, the Chain around his Neck was gifted by Her, she Gave him money for that Basket Ball bat he wanted for so Long.............( THE REFLECTIONS)

and then when it was a Rainy Evening, and it was getting Cold,
She Kissed him..................Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thats the Close of Sales Pitch My friend ( The Core- The Soul what I call Mystic)

and then They Lived Happily ever after.

So the Catch...........

By not building your thoughts around these aspects of Story, you are doing just one thing,

Killing your Product Potential...............

and at the End what could become a Most lovable story, it will become...............


You know......................

Cheers Learning.

Thanks for your Time.

Tete-a-Tete with Priya Village Roadshows- PVR

Its not the Road but the destination which makes life so very interesting.
Have I said something wrong....... Read the first line again.
Yeah!!!!

PVR- Priya Village roadshow, is a joint venture by Priya Exhibitors limited and Village Roadshows-A non-US based entertainemnt firm.

I had a chance to experience the PVR today for a Movie called ,"Badmaash Company".
Here how my Tete-a-Tete went with PVR cinemas.

We booked 17 tickets prior arrival and when we reached it took a complete 32 Minutes for us standing and waiting for a ticket provider to give us our tickets.( His Printer had some techinical problem- later we came to know it was out of Paper).
Anyway after standing through out, when we went in, the experience was awesome.

We took prime seats and had the opportunity to chill out in a mostly Vacant Audi-1.

There were stewards to help us but the problem was they themselves had no idea what exactly to be talked about. They were everywhere except at the places were they must be.
Take for instance the Food section.
Only one person was at the window and there were people coming in and going.

Guys! Listen we know that you charge a premium even for a Popcorn, but you know, we don't pay for that popcorn, but rather we pay for the experience of Buying and holding a regular/Large popcorn tub.

You know, we are not here to spend time in Line, we are hear to spend time with our dear ones, with people who want our time, and going for a movie together with our family is like fulfilling a responsibility also.( Yes! thats what most people do and yes for sure we enjoy useless movies which bollywood makes.- Now why Bollywood makes such movies I will write on it in coming post).

We want to have a blast and not learn about the newest Movie. So kindly show us the big stars rather than a small movie poster which you have hung at the every pole.

Now here is the catch,

Few friends of mine, seeing that the gold Seats were vacant, went in to enjoy the movie at those seats after interval.
Guess what, a person who is on duty walks in and says, "Show me your tickets".
When the tickets were given and after checking he said, "
You are sitting in Gold, and you have a ticket for Prime, go get a ticket for Gold first".

Now those were the exact words of the person. I dont blame him, I blame the management, that they have not trained them for this, because this is a very normal practice and will happen every other time.
They have trained the staff for the check, but have not trained them how to Treat.

and My friend,
Next time, don't ever talk to any one like that, "Go buy a Gold Ticket".
Tell them, that " Sir/Madam, may be by mistake they are sitting on wrong Seat".
This will solve your problem without hurting you a customer.

I give you an Idea PVR if someone is listening.

Next time if in any show, you have your gold class seats vacant, try choosing a Lucky winner.
Just before the Show starts, "Switch on" all the Lights, and through Random Number generator, go to the Seat numbers and With full Light on, ESCORT the Lucky winners to those Gold Seats.

You know what this will do,

1. The Lucky winner will surely bring in Two more people in close Proximity to those Gold Seats next time for the experience.

2. People will choose you over any other Multiplex, because the feeling of getting selected is far greater than anything else.

3. The Lucky winner is going to give you one most important thing:-
They are going to give you Word of Mouth Publicity.


And I believe the Multiplex Business people still remember,

A customer doesnt choose you for Movies, they choose you for the experience they get.

You know, its also the Road as well the destination which is so very Beautiful.

Cheers

The Unreal Estate

Cities have their own Life, and old memories, which continue to breathe in the midst of some odd turn ( now not easily identifiable) of the road, or hangs at the top of some cluttered Pole.

What stands tall at the death of these memories are not stones, but Posh buldings with gothic structures, airconditioned and white marbled floor.
If you happen to get past one, you will find another, more bigger or better.

None of them are common, but all of them have one thing in common.
The blank spaces, the missing human touch.

The old buildings, had a human touch, but what the new buildings lack is a soul.
You visit a Mall- Magneto in Raipur- or Visit another- Iscon at Ahmedabad- you can find absolutely No difference.

But there are extreme similarities,

1. No one knows the other person passing by, but everyone have a close look and check eachother.

2. Most young girls will look at the Windows of the shop and check out the rates,
while most young boy will be found checking the girls.

3. Every shop you wish to visit is far ahead inside the Mall, and there is a specific smell , which for first ten visits makes you feel fresh but try going to the mall 5 days in a shot and you will get a fatigue from the place. Did that happened ever with your City?

4. Most people wear Clothes that are uncomfortable but still carry them just waiting for one special meeting of eyes.

5. You will surely find Kids, running around with their Moms, taking care of their own heavy dresses while Kids really have a Blast, because such large un hindered spaces in and around their home is missing.

Let's talk about the Small Malls, which have small small shops like apartments-( I still don't know why they are called APART-MENTS when all of them are stuffed together) most of the new ones vacant and waiting for some Life.
All of these are what I call, "Unreal Estate".

Why has this happened?

This has happened because the more we are moving ahead, the more we are loosing the human touch and becoming standardised. We all Look the same, wear the same, all are in facebook, each one of us flaunt the Number of friends in the Facebook/Orkut, most of us move fast, and none are at Peace with ourselves.

So where is the Solution?

There is, Give yourself an Off, a Week is best. Don't think of your Mom, Dad, brother, sister, husband wife kid for this one week.
Just go away, to meet yourself.
You have left yourself long back at some odd turn of the road, where your memories are waiting for you to embrace you and make you Human....Yet Again................


Note: They Say Pacific Ocean don't have memories. Go Google it..............

Cheers meeting yourself.
Thanks for your Time...................

An Evening with Lion's

No, I have not taken an expedition or a Safari to the Jungles, but I got an opportunity to visit one among the most prestigious clubs, the LION's Club of Raipur.
With a strong heritage roots, the club was started by Mr. Melvin Jones (1879-1961).

Around 25 Lions ( Thats how they address each Member ), came to grace the event.
As told to me, this Hall, was a breeding place for many ideas and dreams, most of which are reality today-One example is Aakanksha- School for Differently Abeled.

Now since my mind is always Buzzed with the word "Growth", in my head, the mind started to wander and here is what the mind saw:

1. A club with a hugely popular legacy but is doing nothing to ensure that this legacy is carried forward.
2. A group mainly comprising of Senior Citizens and 35+ Male which essentially means only the old age stuffs is available.
3. A Club which still is meant to be a chit chat corner, and a place where people can talk something other than Business ( although most end up talking about Business)

Let me show you one thing, and rest you will figure out.

CLICK THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Now this image might have spoken itself about how is the condition currently is.
There were three presentation planned for the day,

Leave aside there was a delay, the first was Amazing, On "Change", the second was a Musical performance on "TABLA" and "Harmonium", followed with a Speech on
"Ways to bridge Generation Gap"

A story was shared during the presentation where the crux was, " Two candles were lit, one was protected with a glass cover and the other with none. When the wind blew, one started struggling".
The Idea: our parents are like those protecting Glass covers. We must listen them, and use their experience.

A very profound story but the problem is, Until the Candle faces the Wind, it will never realise the power of Wind.
One of the Most wrong interpreted words are of Charles Darwin ,
"Survival of the Fittest", he never said these words, instead he said
" The only species Most receptive to change will Survive".

You see the problem in the first and second statement is, the First ( Survival of the fittest) binds you. It means that only when you are Fit enough you must face the Challenge, While the second ( Most receptive to change) talks about the necessity and importance of facing the Challenge and only there can one know how Fit you are and hence improve thus, GROW.....

So the Catch is, "Let your Child face the Challenge, be there but don't ever let him/her know, until the need arises".

After the whole process, I went on for dinner and caught a youg guy( Class X)and asked him to answer me three simple Questions.

1. Rank the preference of the Three things you would like to see and the suggested change?

2. Will you ask your friends to come and Join this Group?

3. What should be done to ensure that people will feel that you are special if you are a Lion club member?

The answer is

1. Presentation on Change: was the first preference, its because it involved me, it made me see and think and it told me new things.

2. Music show- But Who wants to listen to Tabla and Harmonium, if it was nice beats like some Band or such it would have been great.

3. The Speech- Thats what he always gets chance to listen even when he never wishes for.


Now his each answer are so very important to analyze.

1. He wanted to see Presentation on Change and he said..............
It involved me- THE LESSON:- INVOLVE YOUR AUDIENCE not by WORDS but by Action.
It made me See- THE LESSON:- LET THEM USE THEIR SENSES TO CONNECT AND NOT USE BRAIN ALONE.
It told me New Things- THE LESSON:- IS IT NEW? ASK YOURSELF FIRST BEFORE ASKING THEM.

2. Music Show- Really is it the Inn Thing for him???? Nah...........

3. The Speech- REALLY ASK MOST OF THE YOUTHS, they Dont even listen to all the Songs of the movie ( 5 minutes usually) the second time. You want there attention for 30 Minutes. You might be joking. Your content may be the greatest one, but it all boils down to delievery.


The whole crux is this:

Please Save LIONS, there are only 1431 Left...........:)

Do you get me?

Increase the Number of Lions, by making it a Pro.
Think! What you must do so that the coming generation will include you in your share of time.

There is where I sense an opportunity.....................