Marketing with bang

                                                                                                                                                                                    June 5, 2015

~ Branding in hitherto non-chartered areas ~

This can be done by systematic analysis using conceptual frameworks & then thinking creatively.
Look at two recent interesting branding attempts with relevant communication back up. 1. Apsara Pencils 2. Gala Zaadu (Broom).Their TV ads are running currently. My friend Chintamani Kale says “I have feedback from the retailers that they are stock out for Gala, after the TVC. Proper message with media support can do miracles..really.”

~ Converting Hygiene (Maintenance) Factors into Motivators for Differentiation ~

Store based retailers are worried with the aggression of E-Commerce players. What should they do? One of the strategies in business is to intelligently convert your competitor’s strengths into their weaknesses. But this is easier said than done because more often than not the existing players get overawed by actions of incumbents, especially if the same are praised in media. The affected parties can relook at the factors that they considered as Hygiene factors to see if they can turn some of them into Differentiators. All said & done E-Com has limitations when it comes to multi-sensory appeals. The store based retailers can harp on this fact. Can you touch a mobile phone & feel its finish on internet? The enticing odours in stores can also captivate the visitors & motivate them to spread word of mouth in favour of store based retailers. Of late there have been newspaper reports of incidences where some customers were cheated in internet purchases. Store based retailers may publicize these incidences and what was considered as a given (hygiene) factor, may become a motivator. Let us remember there is nothing sacrosanct about categorisation of factors as hygiene (given) & motivators. In the game of marketing, players should not forget about their endowments, even when the same are overshadowed by others.

~ What is Evidence Based Management, &What it is not? ~

Stanford Professors Jeffery Pfeffer& Robert Sutton have been trying to persuade managers to use evidence in practice of management all over the world. They have written a book on this subject titled “Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management”Today’s Economic Times Corporate Dossier (5th June 2015) articles titled ‘There isn’t a bubble..yet’ & ‘Frothy Business’ on page 1 & 2 are excellent examples of ‘what evidence based management is & what it is not?’. These two articles carry views of five people on valuation of start ups. You can decide for yourself, which views reflect evidence based management & which views do not?