5 tips for Rahul to stop his image degradation

While India celebrates the rise of Narendra Modi, it is time for the losing team to come up and make an appearance. Instead of shielding Rahul, Congress should put him up on pedestal and let him handle the loss. A good leader is one who stands up and own the defeat. Here are some 5 tips for image saving for Rahul Gandhi.

5 tips for Rahul Gandhi to stop his image degradation.

1. Stand up and own the defeat
2. Offer to resign from vice president's role in Congress
3. Accept people's verdict and say you will continue to work
4. Address the nation - Make a good speech.. don't be ambiguous...
5. Move beyond your existing advisors and see what people actually want

Do them today, do them now and do it well. Kanna don't keep calm!

Image is from Indian Express.

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.

Sorry Bips, I ain't walking

Not that my cabin is on the 15th floor or because I don't like walking, but because your message is lost on me. Being in marketing makes me look at all the ads for the hidden, marketing message that I should be subliminally accepting and adhering to. Now is that a boon or bane is for you to decide. I take both ways. I see what is good and bad in the ad. Now when I look at the ad, I ignore the sweets, the fact that I don't exercise and am found looking at the long legs and thinking how this can be achieved by someone who is busy and the message at the end is that she takes the stairs and sugar free???!!!

Hmmm... sounds good to listen but trust me only that is not going to help you. Taking to few friends, I am told that they remember the product and not the brand behind it. Now that is a problem for the brand in question as I do remember Bips and the fact that I need to cut down on sugar apart from a little exercise, but the brand skips my attention. The prominence is on the fact that people plan a lot but act only on a few. This is actually what happens with the ad. All I remember is the message bit and the brand skips me. I wouldn't remember picking up the brand when I am at store and that is a loss for the brand.

So I would follow Bips' advise and would choose the stairs but lemme get that ice cream on the way. Yes, make is sugar free and I don't care which brand.

Genelia overdose

Genelia, Asin, Deepika and Dhoni. All face it. Watching few IPL matches on the small screen has exposed me to an overdose of the celebrities mentioned above. Too many advertisements and brand endorsements confuse the consumer with the association of the celebrity and the brand behind it. Brands should be clear about what they are trying to get the consmer remember after watching the communication. Information being given out should be consistent and not at all confusing. All the money spent on Genelia, Asin and others in the company goes waste on me and other consumers like me as none of the brands appeal to me or do I remember any of them.

Every brand that is advertising in this manner is running a risk of going over the consumer's head. The only ads that stand apart are the zoo zoos and Limca ones which seem to stand out and register. Mere celebrity association isn't taking your brand anywhere. Check which ones would stand out and how you can register your brand in the consumer's mind space. That's marketing greens well spent or else it is going down the drain. What say you?

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

Damn nuggets

We were first customers at Mc Donalds, Forum the other day and were tempted to try out their chicken nuggets. Well the picture looked like this and was very inviting. I ordered one and was shocked that the real ones are no way similar in size to what was displayed in ads. The size was too small and the taste was normal. KFC would taste 10 times better.

May be my expectation was high and hence the disappointment which brings me to the point I am about to make. Don't promise what you can't meet. Coz once you do the customer would compare, guage and then feel cheated for being made to believe in to your story. Telling the actual story, what really matters is better than what makes him feel tricked.

Remember you can trick the consumer once, only once. So will I buy the nuggets again? Damn nuggets. Will I go to Mc Donalds again? Damn recession ;)

Try gifts n retakes

KKR's journey at IPL 2.0 will be forgotten. The sooner, the better. What happened this year? What can they lean from this experience?

• You don't mess with Captaincy at the last moment
  
• Unlike movies there is no retake on the field
• Cricket is a team game
• All games have heavy odds
• Selling a Brand is different from making runs, taking wickets and catches
• Too many cooks spoil the broth. Ditto for captains(at least for now)

Few positives:

• KKR still is the best brand at IPL 2.0 with its brand value at $42.1 million
• KKR Reebok Jersey still sells most
• Great time to show the proven marketer in SRK

How is the future for KKR then? Sometimes your best efforts fail. SRK has to face the wrath from many quarters. Disgruntled fans, team members, sponsors, etc. Good luck SRK.

I'd love running to live... but where is your product?

When you can't please don't harp on it. Reebok, Adidas, Nike failed to meet my requirement today. I was at Forum mall, Bangalore trying to purchase a pedometer from the so called fitness brands and the salesmen had no clue what it meant.

Some even suggested that it is a large machine which would be sold in big shops and not in sports retail outlets. I don't blame them for not knowing what it is but the brand behind it. How come you don't have any accessories mentioned in your website available for sale at your outlets? That too in a Tier I city like Bangalore?

When promises and expectations don't match your customers walk away. Sometimes for good. It is no longer about the product but the total appeal. This time you guys loose it. In case you can't or don't want to, ensure you mention about it in your site that these products are unavailable at so and so outlets. Better give a list of outlets where the consumer can buy. And update your staff. Before you ask me to run to live, keep your product ready.

* Conditions apply

If you've worked, you haven't seen it all but you get an idea of just how low a company can stoop to. Most of the firms hand a contract that "is just a formality" that "needs to be signed right away" or that deals with "basic protocols". Always ask for a copy, take it with you, read it, reread it and make sure you know what's on the paper you have just been handed. If you sign it , it means you agree with what is said on the paper. Let me put it in a better way, you're basically agreeing to everything that's put forth in the contract. Next time you're asked to sign something don't sign it blindly. You'll thank me later.

Companies when hiring or selling try to get away by printing conditions and rules about how they can escape from responsibility. Especially the list is long and font is indecipherable. I think this is a short sighted move. You are only cheating me by tricking and hence losing my loyalty and trust. It should be the other way round. The main focus should be on how you can help me use it and come back for repurchase and not on how you can be put of the warranty or guarantee net. Instead go and make a better product.

An extra tissue plz

Cost cutting is every where. Most of the times the customer  understands as the pich is familiar to him too. But some times it just gets over done. The firm and its employees go over zealous and push it too far that it breaks the bond. Let me give you an example from the restaurant  industry. Serving good food and providing a good experience is what the bond is built on. This is a sacred bond. But most of the places I went to last weekend had the same policy. The waiters were bringing only 1 tissue, 1 sachet of tomato sauce, etc. This was at CCD, Barista, KFC and a few other restaurants.  I have read the case study that calculates the huge sums of money saved by ensuring that 1 tissue is saved per customer and how it could impact in reducing costs.

Lets take KFC. KFC has been highly rated in my books as all the previous experiences were good. But this time they lose. There was no water in KFC! On all my last visits to KFC outlets all around India had provided me chilled water and excellent service. But here there was no salt, no pepper, no tissues and no service. Only soft drink, salt was not being given(though he brought it after 15 minutes), pepper was out of stock and so on. This was at Forum. After paying a premium price for the meal I am expected to shell out some more and buy the drinks and KFC failed to give me the complete meal. The AC was turned off and there were no fans. When we asked the waiter why this so. The answer was, "Talk to the manager." 

Was this rude? For a moment we thought so. The instantaneous idea was to call his manager and teach him a lesson or two about CRM and how to handle customers and their requests, etc. The manager would apologize, scream at the waiter. Give us the salt or pepper or whatever we were asking for or just say sorry. Would that solve my problem? For the day, yes. But on second thought I felt the manager knew that there was no water being given. And this was a conscious decision, either taken by the manager or his boss or KFC itself. Too focussed on reducing costs or selling more Coke. In that case all the effort and the management lessons I intended to teach him or all the rules of customer service I learnt at the B-School which were being broken would be just ignored. 

Any brand should be consistent in its communique that emanates from it. Be it in the product or service or just communication. You mess it up once, the customer would notice. If he makes a noise and gets what he wants he is just straining the bond. The brand would be a sour one next time, not only to the noisy customer but to the entire crowd there. Chances are that this customer still would return for another purchase as he knows he can yell his way out. But the real danger is the customer who silently walks out deciding never to return. I tell you he is more precious than the one that yelled at you and certainly more than the tissue you are saving. It is interesting to see how the firms miss minute things.

So dear KFC, if you continue doing this most of us will be walking to the McDonalds at the other end and you can make planes of the tissues.

Satyam Dies

The word is final. Satyam's CEO has resigned and admits the presence of gaps in the company. I saw a copy of the mail sent by him to the employees. Check this out.

Hate iphone?

Many hate mails of iPhone are generated every day. One of them is here. I think negative publicity also is some kind of publicity. Good for iPhone.

Kill a brand, indirectly

When a company decides to introduce a brand does it check if it is killing any brand from its umbrella. I think sometimes the positioning is not that easy as it looks. It means that the brand may step into its own territory by positioning a brand in the wrong way.

Look at R1 and R15. Look at both of them. Both seem good, same in structure, looks and style. May be only Arun will be able to find the difference. I don't, at least not in the first look. Now there is a huge difference between the prices. R1 cost around 10 lakhs while R15 costs 1.08 lakhs. I agree that the consumer looking for R15 will be different from the one looking at R1. But if I am looking at R1 and have spent 10 lakhs on a bike while a similar looking bike from the same stable is available in the market for 1 lakh. Will I feel bad? I think Yes.

Arun has a different argument. R1 is not a commuter bike and floats a 1000 cc engine and is for the higher segment. Its a bigger bike and looks grand. If you look both of them together, you will find the difference. Only 2% of the entire bike segment and only 10 may be there in Bangalore. His argument is Yamaha brought R15 so that a middle class person will be able to own a bike that has all the features a sports bike should have, almost like R1. So it is ok to introduce R15 in to the market. About 400 bikes have sold out in Bangalore on the day of its launch. So if the market is paying so much to get the bike that 'looks' like R1 why not introduce it into the market and capitalise on the craze?

Seems a good argument. What do you think?