Time Is Running Out

Our days on this planet are numbered. What are you going to do today? How about tomorrow? Are you sure you can do that?

What legacy are you going to leave? Work towards that today.

As humans, we have the greatest opportunity to create a history, a legacy that will stand the test of time. Start working. Build your legacy.

Comment if you agree.

#TalktoTiger
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#MondayBlues

Reflections on the Delhi election 2015

‪#‎DelhiVotes‬

1. Interesting to see Anna Hazare warming up to Arvind Kejriwal!
Power changes status I guess. I would respect Kiran Bedi more than Anna Hazare.

2. While Aam Aadmi Party is rejoicing today, they should remember power and trust are double edged swords and comes with great responsibilities. If you don't keep promises, the Aam Admi is watching.

3. The center - state relations would be interesting to watch.

4. The winner is clearly the one with the better marketing strategy!

Congrats Arvind and team. Sleep well tonight for tomorrow you got to get out and deliver.

Consumer Psyche

Respect women

This video by Havells has made my day and I couldn't help but share here with you all. Vasuda Sharma is natural and shining bright in this video where Havells and Vasudha and the other two gentlemen showcase how talent is important and not the stereotype roles.

Watch the change

Marketing is a fun job. In the process of trying to understand others, I am learning more about myself! Consciousness is a gift or is it? Here is an interesting thing I found. May companies are trying to shed off their old look and feel, culture and are trying to come out with a different brand image. This involves working around on their logo.

About 22 companies have come out with slightly better(you be the judge) identities. Here is the link to that.

Here is one prominent change, LiveStrong loses its subtitle.

New fire to the fox: Understanding the new Firefox logo

First of all, have you noticed it yet? I am talking about the new logo of Firefox.

Even though the overall concept is the same, the new logo is the image evolution was an eight-part process.

Designer Sean Martell went into great detail of the changes in his blog. Mostly, the logo will look better at smaller sizes.

And Martell has been making extremely subtle updates (that you probably didn't notice) for years.

Swagger

Seth's post today is very apt. Show me the money!

One way that marketers (of any stripe) make an impact is by displaying confidence. Consumers figure that if a marketer is confident in their offering, they ought to be confident in the marketer as return. We often assume that confidence means that something big is on offer.

The problem with swagger is that if you're the swaggering marketer, you might run into a competitor with even more swagger than you. When that happens, it's time to show your cards, the justification for your confidence. And if you don't deliver, you've done nothing but disappoint the person who believed in you.

Substance without swagger slows you down. But swagger without substance can be fatal. Right now, we're seeing more swagger than ever—but it's rarely accompanied by an increase in substance...

The rule is simple: it's essential to act the part. And it's even more important for it to be real.

Another Waka Waka?

There is a lot of hullaballo about Rahman's theme song for CWG. I understand it is not as peppy as what he churned out for Slumdog Millionnaire or Taal. Obviously, we would expect more from the man who turned out tunes like Jai Ho. Looking at the theme song it is no where near to what was expected. Can it be pepped up? Yes. A lot of things to be made to make it better. Like all other things that are going wrong with the CWG, theme song seems to follow.

Comparing it to Shakira's Waka Waka is ridiculous. You can't make any song or product have a cult following just like that. You cannot repeat the same again. Rahman might turn out something better but not another Waka Waka. But cult following cannot be orchestrated so easily. Cult following is based on several factors that garner special attention at different levels in different spaces at the same time. In Shakira's song, for example, it had a mass appeal addressing a sport that has worldwide acceptance and most importantly hit the chord right away.

Rahman seems to have a different idea altogether in what a theme song should sound like. Check BSF theme song he composed recently. His music needs to be marinated to get to your nerves. Unfortunately, no one at the CWG have the time or patience to do so. Nor does the audience.

Asking Rahman to reconsider and pep up the song is a right decision as it makes me a consumer, someone who is paying for the song and then if I am not satisfied, I have the right to send your product back if I am not satisfied. Knowing that there cannot be another Waka Waka, I expect the tune to be catchy and hep. AR... do your magic.

Good job Vatal

Staying in news has its own advantages. And with nothing to offer, how do you get there? Well ask Vatal Nagraj from Namma Bengaluru. Kannada Vatal Paksha leader Vatal Nagaraj knows how to stay put in news, whether by peeing or by selling coconuts. No I don't see any links there. What makes me wonder is his appetite in doing that.

Brands may not always have a story to sell but can always have a news to make. Staying up for the wrong reasons? Well if all you want is a recognition, why not? Check out the chefs of controversy. What Vatal makes me think is his ability to stand away and novel in his protests and he manages to grab enough attention all the time. This is interesting as it is very hard to do. People may not vote for him or follow his model but one thing is for sure, he will not be ignored. This is exactly what he intends to do. Good job Vatal.

Save power?

When you are reading this you are consuming power. Power that can be used for several other purposes. Thousands of people out there sit in air conditioned offices, drive in cars fitted with temperature conditioning agents that help you feel better. All this to ensure you are saved from the burnt of the sun and feel cool. Saving power, hitting a high note while talking about reducing the carbon footprints has become a fashion these days. More so when a company that supplies air conditioning in your office and home speaks about it. You know which brand I am talking about.

While the ad campaign speaks about saving power while using the ac as it has to be used and reducing your power bill, the total message is lost as n one cares about it. Now I am aware that the brand is aware of what it is doing and that it doesn't expect its audience to walk out in the sun and ensure there is proper ventilation to save power but in being different from the brands and maintaining a we care for you message helps it stay out of the regular messages that come and hit you and are lost. When I go out to get my house air conditioned, I would definitely remember the brand. There is your marketing greens well spent.

Well, there is a power cut and the ac is turned off. Save power?

More than functional

Whoever concocted this delusional idea of connecting on a physical level is enough in a relationship is not completely right. Eventually the emotional connect is what matters as the physical wears off. Am talking about friendships, relationships, etc. Once the initial glittery sheen is worn off it just matters to see how soon it breaks and the dream crumbles. What is sought is more than physical, in other terms, emotional.

Let me explain.

When you buy a product, you expect the physical need primarily(agreed this isn't the case sometimes, but mostly, yes) and the expectation is limited to the functionality or physical fulfillment. But in order to pick up the product again from the retail shelf the brand needs to ensure this: Delight in terms of the functional need or pitch emotionally to make the consumer connect his psyche to the appeal of the product. Better are the ones that gets passed on both counts. With the competition being rough, the need to connect emotionally and relate to the consumer is very important.

Going back to relationships, what holds is one that is more intellectual than functional. Ain't it?

Impossible is nothing. 80 & counting!

Hibernating is painful. That is a fact. Especially when you travel. Living sparingly on a liquid diet to strain the body and lose some extra fat accumulated over the last decade is tough. I am told this is not the right way to do it. I mean the weight loss. Now that I am doing it for the past 10 days while going to work, traveling to three states being exposed to cuisine you would be gulping otherwise is... Hmmm... Irritating to say the least.

While I strive to reach my target of 76 kgs as my BMI tells me is normal, my advice for you is to stay hungry, feed on fruits, indulge in leafy vegetables and go for a walk/jog everyday. For the last four months, since October 4'th 2009, I have intensified my struggle in to war mode and lost around 20 kgs. What really helped was jogging for four kms everyday and cutting down on intake.

Not that my work stress(Marketing Stress so to say), personal commitments, reading books, writing articles, working on a P.hd thesis, MA Business Economics exams, setting up new businesses, reaching targets, making an angel fall in love everyday didn't help. But the glee on my face when I try a 40'' slim fit shirt or a 32'' jeans at the store is awesome. For a change I can hug someone and not just neck for there is no tummy tussle! The pain and endurance was worth every inch. Those four km jogs on the beach early mornings paid off. Interestingly MJ repeated what my Mom exclaimed when she saw me after these four months... 'Where is the other half of my son?' Now if that is what I get from my mom, I should have made some progress! Oh! yes, the angel still has to see me like this.

I am writing this post from my Blackberry, sitting at seat no 55, coach no S2 in Chennai Mail (name of the train) on the way to Chennai from Calicut and trying to keep my nostrils and taste buds busy while people around me are gluttonly feasting on veg pulav, chapatis, parantas, peas pulav, chicken fry, fried banana chips, halwa, meen (fish) curry, sipping coke and laughing out. I silently sip salty butter milk as a reassurance to my taste buds on a bland tongue and growling tummy that the lavish food mongling days are yet to return. Indulgence, my friend, is easy.

Now that they know the food isn't coming, my senses are super active and I can smell the passing wafts of french fries from the platform, sense a pinch of more salt could make the chicken biryani in the seat no 59's plate more palatable and so on... I guess you get the drift by now.

Isn't it surprising that our body is like a wild animal? Taming it needs a lot of patience, grit and will power. No wonder many fail in this battle. Consumer psyche is amazing and interesting. Setting out something, a brand, beyond your limits and telling you can't have it will make you yearn for it more. Telling you how you can get it will make you think you should try. Making the path difficult to take and long enough to drain your will power makes it coveted. That is what an Audi ad in a newspaper tells you. That is what a curvy semi nude girl hugging a Ducati tells you. That is what an apartment ad in posh locality in Bangalore tells you. That is what a chiseled hunk tells you when he says he is just jockeying. YOU CAN'T. True that the few might actually want it but trust me the few that are behind your brand are going to stay forever. Covetousness is a good tool for marketing.

Do you have it in you to be coveted? Can you be in the top 1% of what you do? Like I said, taming a wild animal is easier than taming the human brain. I am trying to tame mine. They don't call me Tiger for nothing. What about you?

[ Did I mention what I would gift myself when I reach 75 kgs? A Volkswagen Polo ;) ]

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone

Standing out

Even during the Arirang Mass Games in North Korea, the ultimate expression of the state ideology, an individual can still sometimes stand out from the crowd and break free of the collective. If only just for a moment. (Photo and caption by Brendyn Zachary)

Kurkure's health pitch

Kurkure has become one of India’s most loved snack food brands and created a new category of ‘tea time’ ‘snacks. ‘It’s become a lovable family brand, examining Indian traditions with a perspective that is new and different,” he says.

Kurkure, according to Vyas, has been a brand of many firsts – from packaging to flavours keeping Indian tastes and preferences in mind. In 2009, for instance, Kurkure went regional with a vengeance with flavours like ‘Mumbai Chatpata’, ‘ Parar Tok Jhal’ and ‘South Special’, which are targeted at the western, eastern and southern parts of the country. On the anvil are Kurkure Funjabi, Kadai Masala, made with rajma (kidney bean) for the north Indian consumer.

The positioning, analysts say, has been unique. For example, last month, Pepsico came out with a print campaign which told readers how Kurkure is made from what can be found in any Indian kitchen, underlining that the ingredients are as wholesome as what goes into home-made food. Kurkure now on will be less about flavours and more about ingredients.

What it means in terms of branding is that Kurkure will have another differentiation from FritoLay's other brands (Lays, Aliva et al), apart from staving off competition from a growing tribe of roasted snacks, including Aliva, Parle Product's Monaco Smart Chips and Parle Agro's Hippo.

Kurkure has also managed to snack its way even into the highly-lucrative festive season in India, with new tamper-proof packaging along with an online gifting option, where consumers can now send a gift pack of the product via the internet.

Features such as these, say analysts, have helped the brand carve a special place for itself in the Indian snack food market, which would be hard to replicate not just by competitors but also by the company itself. “Kurkure is a classic example of exemplary product innovation and a good marketing strategy. The purely Indian outlook and taste has helped it make a mark on the minds of the consumer”, notes Purnendu Kumar, senior analyst. Technopak India.

Pitching the product on the health platform has also helped Kurkure. While the claims are not direct, the company's statement that Kurkure has zero per cent trans fats and no cholesterol and that it's made from corn, rice and gram flour, have helped the product give consumers a ‘guilt free eating’ experience, according to analysts. Its Snack Smart initiative has cut out trans-fat from its products and changed the oil used for Kurkure to rice bran which cuts saturated fat by 40 per cent. An attempt to control portions consumed by users has seen it launch Rs-3 packs. This has pushed sales in the lower-tier towns.

These and the first-mover advantage are reasons why Kurkure enjoys a virtual monopoly in its category. While ITC tried to compete with 'Tedhe Medhe', the impact has not been encouarging so far. While ITC did not respond to queries, Anand Ramanathan, sector analyst from KPMG, says “ITC has a great distribution network. But 'Tedhe Medhe’ is not doing well because ITC couldn't add anything different than what Frito-Lay's Kurkure alreday had.

Covetousness

Covetousness kills revival. There is no point in blaming that the world is unfair with you, your job, family and life. This is a world that applauds the winner and forgets who came second. No one actually cares if you have put in equal or some times more effort and still haven't succeeded. Not every one can be a P T Usha who came back time and again. To covet is not going to help as it never happens for real. And it is not fun. You need to be focussed on updating your self, training, working hard and ensure that you get it the next time you have a chance. Revival is needed to ensure that you are on your track.

Many times brands try to wrench a leading brands market share but fail miserably. Instead work out a niche and cater to that niche. The chances of success are pretty high and are the satisfaction is too good. To develop a niche you need to go back to your drawing room, check for market opportunities, gaps and build it up.

Much better than complaining that you deserve better. Ain't it?

Branding online

You’ve probably heard it a thousand times. “Don’t judge a book by its cover!” Tell me when you bought a book that had a cover you didn't like? Yes... we all do it. Judging someone else using non-verbal cues to determine another person’s confidence, professionalism, honesty, attitude and success is part of human nature. And like people, similar cues are used by customers visiting your people, office, website to determine the quality of your products and services and professionalism of your business.

Customers use non-verbal, less-tangible, emotional symbols to asses your business, your brand image. So online branding and Web site branding is important to build the image of your business you want customers to have. Whether you want to be viewed as high quality or low cost or ultra luxurious, visually “dress” your business to reach that goal.

A good looking web site builds trust in your business and helps in starting a relationship with potential customers. Considering the average visitor to your Web site will judge you on your professionalism, honesty, and the success of your business in just three to four seconds ensuring that you score on the first look is important.

Personal vs public

When consumers not satisfied with one product, they opt for another. Some products are strong in quality not fervent enough in brand appeal, whereas others are aflame in brand appeal but weak in quality. Mostly this choice is made based on the usage of the product. The products with less brand appeal but good quality are the ones that go for personal usage while the other ones go for public usage. For example you may like eating dosa or having coffee at a particular restaurant but when you opt for a different place when going out with others. This applies to things which are primarily for personal consumption. Therefore several consumers tend to hold dual loyalty, one to a well-structured brand and the other in a more regular one. Is it a problem?

What to chose and what not to is primarily a personal choice. So there is absolutely no problem in a consumer making that choice. But for a brand it is. To break that mould of being a public brand to a personal brand of choice is a huge step. The brand has two choices. One is to provide what the consumer looks at in his personal brand like quality, specific usage, benefit, etc. The other is to maintain exclusivity and stay a permanent public brand of choice. In either case you are competing with two different segments or reaching out to two different needs.

If you don't fit into both, then it is a good time for you to panic.

Brand connect

Advertising built on cultural insights forges strong brand connect with its consumers. Madhukar Sabnavis explains in this article.

An NRI family was coming home to visit siblings in India. My friend couldn’t resist noticing that instead of mixing with their local relatives, the NRI family stuck to each other. It made him remark, “Through the visit, my brother’s family stuck to each other like Fevicol.” A brand and its advertising had suddenly become a part of everyday language usage. My friend was far removed from advertising and marketing.

When India recaptured part of Kargil heights from the enemy in 1999, one of the brave soldiers led the cheers by shouting, “Yeh dil maange more,” repeating a line from the then-running Pepsi campaign. Somewhere a base line, a set of words in a popular advertisement had left such an impact that in the chilling zone of Kargil, the soldier couldn’t resist expressing his desires using brand language.

Brands which manage to seep so effortlessly into consumer psyche are the best sold ones as they represent something about the consumer and his attitude. This is usually backed by making the consumer realize the lack of something otherwise called a need and then going on to explain how to fulfill it. Backed by advertising, branding and effective persuasion it makes the brand name or mantra a usable substitute for language.

Positioning is all that matters

I got a curious comment on my post about Women's Reservation Bill. It goes on like this...

Do you want Women's Reservation everywhere? That is,

1) Women's Reservation for 50% of Judges positions in High Courts and Supreme Court.
2) Women's Reservation for 50% of positions in IAS, IPS, IFS?
3) Women's Reservation for 30% of Govt and Private Sector Company Jobs and Promotions every year without considering performance.
4) Women's Reservation for 50% of Senior Management positions in private sector?
5) Women's Reservation for 50% of seats in IITs, IIMs, Engineering and Medical Colleges?
6) Lay Offs only for men in Private sector and No Lay offs for women.
7) Law for sacking of Men from their jobs, if a woman accuses him of harassment at workplace and considering the accused man guilty till proven innocent.
8) Women's Reservation for 50% of positions in Panchayats.

The blog is titled Men's Rights and themed like this..

If you do not want special privileges for Women in all the above, the time to act is now. If women get reservation in parliament, then they will change laws to implement all of the above and you will just watch helplessly.

Jago India. Jago!!

Act Now. Send this message to as many people as possible. Say No to Special Privileges to Women. Say No to Women's Reservation. Well I think it is self explanatory. Frankly I would like to see 50% chances in all fields.

The blog is aimed at a niche segment which would subscribe to this crazy yet unique idea. I think it is brilliantly positioned. I am not linking it to deny any publicity from www.consumerpsyche.com.

Britney fails to connect

After a much awaited concert by Britney Spears hit London Town this week for the first time in four years. This is being reported as a disconnected performance as she seemed to be maiming, lost connection with the audience.

The hits flowed, including a remix of her cult track "I'm A Slave For You," and, of course, Brit favorites like "Toxic" and "Every Time." But something was missing - it was Britney, herself. She could have phoned in the performance. She looked bored, pudgy and totally disinterested. It only went to confirm that the star who shocked fans and the world with her meltdown a few years back is still a long way from getting her sparkle back. It could have been her bipolar medication, but nothing sizzled.

This tells us how a brand should stay connected with its audience, all the time. If you don't have the consumer's attention then it never leads to a purchase. And purchase is what matters in making you richer. Too much of success, momentum might make a brand and end up losing its focus but the point is to stay connected. Unless I am looking it doesn't matter how great your brand is. Especially don't mess it up when I am all attention. Is Britney listening?
Pic

Concentrate on small segments too

Kmart unveiled a national radio campaign specifically targeting African-Americans and Hispanics as part of its multicultural marketing program who make up to 39% of its total customer base. Radio and television advertising are the initial stages of the campaign, which will feature original music by Chaka Khan, BeBe Winans and Jose Feliciano.

The commercials will be seen on network and cable outlets that directly reach the Hispanic and African-American consumer within the next several weeks.Currently, multicultural consumers make up nearly 12 million people who shop at Kmart each week. African-Americans and Hispanics alone account for 32 percent of the retailer's shoppers.So it is a good move to please them and woo them to walk in. Concentrating on smaller segments wasn't fashionable until now. Brands need to tap into every pocket to get over this bad spell. Kmart has taken a good step in this direction. Lets see if it pays out.