Coke opens Citra: Strategic or a shot in the dark?

I must say that I feel a bit nostalgic writing this post. I still remember, it was one my birthdays almost 2 decades ago (yeah I am getting older) when I sipped “Citra”, a new flavored soft drink for the first time. While I don’t recall tasting the clear drink in green bottle too often after that but I was surprised when I heard that Coca-Cola plans to revive Citra after 19 years. This move once again reaffirms the fact that it’s neither easy to create a brand nor easy to kill one especially in FMCG sector.

FDI in retail: "Modern" solutions to "old" problems?

The government of India is patting its back as by the passing of the much awaited "FDI in multi-brand retail", some experts believe that the reforms are back on track. In this blog, I don’t intend to discuss the criticality of the reform rather my focus will be on the efficacy of this reform. With the issue increasingly being politicized across the nation, let’s try to see whether this reform really aims at solving issues esp. inflation, which a common man faces. Will the benefits percolate to aam aadmi or will, once again, the crème-de-la-crème in the metros only share the spoils?

How Anna moved the nation?

It’s ironical but true. It took a 74 year-old to mobilize one of the youngest nations (in terms of demography) in the world that too using the methodology of satyagraha which till the recent past was touted as being out of sync with modern India. In fact many felt “Gandhigiri” was more the "in thing". A nation that saw cricketers and movie-stars being identified as “youth icons” certainly was suddenly enamored by a Gandhian.  The Sydney Herald calls him “The New Gandhi”, The Times quoted, “Anna Hazare: How One Activist Brought the World's Largest Democracy to Its Knees” and so on. After all it was unthinkable that a metro centric- mobilization would reach such humongous proportions. So, how did Anna manage to strike the chord? 

The Marketing of a Movie

The idea for writing this blog came after I had an almost-live experience of coming across a press conference of the Akshay starrer Housefull (though I sensibly avoided it) when in Ahmedabad. In this blog I would discuss the different stages and ways in which buzz about a movie is created i.e. how a movie is marketed? I would limit myself to only those aspects that pitch the movie to the audience rather than a director pitching it to the producer or to the movie star.

Let’s take the first step of this journey which is also known as the muhurat or the launch. The first few selling points could be the star couple, launch of a new star son or daughter, the acclaimed director or coming together of the pairs rarely seen together. Subhas Ghai’s Saudaagar that saw late Raj Kumar pitted against Dilip Kumar generated a lot of interest as historically as per rumors ego-clashes kept these actors from acting together.  The example of Saawariya that sank without a whimper but was in the news regularly due to launch of Ranvir and Sonam is a case in point. The off-screen chemistry or gossips about the lead couple have been traditionally exploited to create a much needed first impression. The prestige of the occasion is measured by the quality of the audience rather than its quantity i.e. which celebrities made it to the launch.

Rebranding in Real Life

After discussing a few social issues, college experiences and even movies, this time we’ll discuss marketing in real life i.e. not limiting ourselves to consumer products. The topic for this discussion will be 'Rebranding'. First let me define it. Rebranding is the attempt or an exercise, usually by an established brand (which could be a company, a person etc.), to develop a new position in the minds of stakeholders which could include customers, competitors, fans etc. It’s mainly an attempt to keep oneself relevant with changing times.

One day of Entrepreneurship

This blog is an outcome of the fun we had fulfilling a course requirement. Yes, you heard it right. The course was or should I say is “Managing new Ventures” and the assignment was to come up with a venture with an investment of Rs. 1000. The activity could include selling food items, providing printing services, consultancy etc. We were divided into teams of six each and given a week’s time to show and present our learnings. It was an exciting task given the opportunity to become an entrepreneur for a day.

Now I will share my learnings that we had about entrepreneurship after the task and class discussion. I know it would be premature on my part to come to a conclusion after a very short stint in a predictable environment but nevertheless a few generic but exciting things did come to the fore.

Out Of Home but not Out Of Sight

Don’t worry I am not going to share stalking techniques through this post. Rather through this blog, I will try to break the monotony of topics based on finance and social issues. I will try to share my learnings from one of the projects I did with an FMCG major. It came under the ambit of Sales and Distribution.

Some if not all of us must have noticed that right from the time we wake up and till we finally go to bed, consumer products especially FMCG ones touch us on various occasions be it while bathing, eating, shaving etc. But the plethora of options available to you at the nearby retail stores would have given you a fair indication that there is a lot of competition in this sector. So firms are looking at different ways through which they can reach out to their customers at different places and at different times. This is where the concept of OOH or “Out of Home” comes to play. The appeal of this topic lies in its innovativeness as it adds a “service” dimension to what used to be a purely “sales” product.

Marketing strategy for Vodafone

This presentation was developed for the telecom giant Vodafone as a student project.

Is the future bright and orange or dark and gloomy?
Falling revenues, tightening margins, changing regulations, technological changes: the obvious connect is Indian Telecom Industry. So, is the future dark and gloomy for the mobile service providers? Well not exactly. With MNP (mobile number portability) round the corner, the quality service providers do have an edge with the empowered customer now having more choices. Add to that with the spectrum for next generation mobile technology 3G going under the hammer early next, the falling could have a solution. And if you could catch the long tail i.e. the vast untapped rural sector, you might hit the jackpot