Like any other company, Nucleus Software has its own set of people challenges and has its own style of handling these challenges. For Nucleus the major challenge has always been hiring and retention. “I don’t talk about retention in terms of compensation. The major challenge is how we manage the people.” Further adding, he says, “Normally on a project we’ve 7-8 members from project managers to project leaders. The biggest challenge is that apart from the leaders the rest are fresh pass outs with just 1-2 years of experience, so development of these project managers is of utmost importance.”
For a company that finds retention & hiring as a big challenge, then what is it that Nucleus does to be an employer of choice. Verma gushes, “We have to ensure that our employees are well equipped with the technologies and domain knowledge and only then we can be one of the best employers in the country.” The company undertakes many initiatives including the ‘Toyota Way’ which according to Verma is “nothing but a book, which the employees refer to. We have also understood (after reading) that the matter in the book can be implemented not only in the automobile & manufacturing sector, but it can also be done in the IT sector.” The Toyota Way is enabling Nucleus employees to learn quicker and on their own. And who knows by following the book and its learnings to the tee, Nucleus could well be the next Toyota of the IT sector.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Search Engines
Though search engines like Google boast of being able to calculate the actual ROI per online marketing campaign, a majority of marketers in India are still questioning the validity of reaping ‘payback’ benefits from this much hyped medium. ROI simply depends on the definition of ‘success events.’ A case in point being the banking sector. Banks have defined success event as ‘lead generation’ (because they possibly see Internet only as a ‘sales tool’). But advocates of online advertising believe that such an assessment is stifling to the vast potential that the medium offers. They prefer to define success events as ‘time spent with content, number of pages viewed, number of repeat visits, number of users who visited as a result of exposure, number of conversations generated as a result of advertising, number of voluntary participations as a result of exposure’. Asserts Rahul Nanda, COO of Web Chutney, “The medium allows you to measure and track reach, it also allows you to be in control of your budgets real-time and target your audience with more focus.”
All said and done, for the present and even
in the near future, online advertising in India will just remain an add-on medium or as Titus Upputuru, Creative Director, O&M, puts it, “For marketers it will always be ‘achcha kuch online bhi soch lete hain’.” And even then, for most marketers, Internet advertising simply means banner ads. The more adventurous ones adopt the ‘pay per click’ model. But even here, faultlines creep in as the risk of false clicks is very high and marketers end up paying huge amounts for false clicks. Savvy marketers are therefore increasingly using consumer profiling, demographics and proper media planning to overcome such obstacles. Adds Nanda, “Understanding user behaviour is the first step in the online advertising process. Any online campaign seeks to engage the user with carefully targeted ads based on their browsing behaviour, time spent on different web properties, matching the ad content with the website content and other relevant parameters. The next step is ‘Behavioural Targeting,’ but India is still some time away from it.” Foolproof consumer profiling techniques are also reducing privacy intrusion of surfers tremendously. Intrusive banner formats today, are moving towards a scenario where users are given the choice of making them non-intrusive. Many formats today ask users if they want to play the ad whereas all the formats give the user an immediate option to close the ad. Advertisers also limit the exposure of the ad to the same user these days (example – person sees the ad only once a day) so that there is minimal irritation. The usage of ‘pop-ups’ specifically as a format is largely done by transaction-oriented companies (banks, money transfer etc.) who want an immediate response/action from the user in the form of a lead. This definitely can be an irritant factor, which can disrupt the user experience but this again, is slowly changing to formats which are less intrusive. such as pop-unders
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
All said and done, for the present and even
in the near future, online advertising in India will just remain an add-on medium or as Titus Upputuru, Creative Director, O&M, puts it, “For marketers it will always be ‘achcha kuch online bhi soch lete hain’.” And even then, for most marketers, Internet advertising simply means banner ads. The more adventurous ones adopt the ‘pay per click’ model. But even here, faultlines creep in as the risk of false clicks is very high and marketers end up paying huge amounts for false clicks. Savvy marketers are therefore increasingly using consumer profiling, demographics and proper media planning to overcome such obstacles. Adds Nanda, “Understanding user behaviour is the first step in the online advertising process. Any online campaign seeks to engage the user with carefully targeted ads based on their browsing behaviour, time spent on different web properties, matching the ad content with the website content and other relevant parameters. The next step is ‘Behavioural Targeting,’ but India is still some time away from it.” Foolproof consumer profiling techniques are also reducing privacy intrusion of surfers tremendously. Intrusive banner formats today, are moving towards a scenario where users are given the choice of making them non-intrusive. Many formats today ask users if they want to play the ad whereas all the formats give the user an immediate option to close the ad. Advertisers also limit the exposure of the ad to the same user these days (example – person sees the ad only once a day) so that there is minimal irritation. The usage of ‘pop-ups’ specifically as a format is largely done by transaction-oriented companies (banks, money transfer etc.) who want an immediate response/action from the user in the form of a lead. This definitely can be an irritant factor, which can disrupt the user experience but this again, is slowly changing to formats which are less intrusive. such as pop-undersFor Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus
Monday, July 28, 2008
The real question is: will an eye for an eye work?
Well-seasoned by his 16 years of work-ex in an eye
care company, he thought of taking that next step, of creating something new using his knowledge. With eye-care hospitals still at a nascent stage in India, a chain of super-speciality hospitals fitted the bill perfectly. Affirms Rajat, “I wanted to create an eye-care hospital in areas where specialised eye-care is not possible. So I started testing the option in January 2007.” Roping in five ex-batchmates in June 2007, he created the brand Eye Q. Today he spearheads the organisation in the role of CEO & MD.
The first two hospitals were started in the remote areas of Gurgaon & Rewari. The strategy was simple – make maximum of the first mover advantage in these areas. It clicked and within three months of its start-up, the Rewari hospital broke-even. The success of these two hospitals propelled them to open four more hospitals, while the initial target was just three in the first year! Adds Rajat, “What became important was to have the latest technology in eye care and we started tying up with other players.” Not a hollow boast as the company today has tie-up with players like Bausch & Lomb, Zeiss and is expanding its arms into places like Ganganagar (Rajasthan) and Haldwani (Uttrakhand), where no other player has dared to go. “We have tie-ups with the providers of latest technologies in eye-care and we are going where it’s actually required. We will never focus on the metros and our promotional activities would always rotate around the availability of high-standard eye care in towns,” elaborates Rajat.
Banking on such innovative strategies he’s planning to open 100 more hospitals by 2012 with a total turnover of over Rs.200 crore. Surely, this ‘Eye’ looks all sharp and focused in doing what many could have never imagined. And the time has even come when its promoters can today think of taking the private champion public. In all probability, its will also become the apple of the public eye soon… not forgetting the huge revenues of course!
care company, he thought of taking that next step, of creating something new using his knowledge. With eye-care hospitals still at a nascent stage in India, a chain of super-speciality hospitals fitted the bill perfectly. Affirms Rajat, “I wanted to create an eye-care hospital in areas where specialised eye-care is not possible. So I started testing the option in January 2007.” Roping in five ex-batchmates in June 2007, he created the brand Eye Q. Today he spearheads the organisation in the role of CEO & MD.The first two hospitals were started in the remote areas of Gurgaon & Rewari. The strategy was simple – make maximum of the first mover advantage in these areas. It clicked and within three months of its start-up, the Rewari hospital broke-even. The success of these two hospitals propelled them to open four more hospitals, while the initial target was just three in the first year! Adds Rajat, “What became important was to have the latest technology in eye care and we started tying up with other players.” Not a hollow boast as the company today has tie-up with players like Bausch & Lomb, Zeiss and is expanding its arms into places like Ganganagar (Rajasthan) and Haldwani (Uttrakhand), where no other player has dared to go. “We have tie-ups with the providers of latest technologies in eye-care and we are going where it’s actually required. We will never focus on the metros and our promotional activities would always rotate around the availability of high-standard eye care in towns,” elaborates Rajat.
Banking on such innovative strategies he’s planning to open 100 more hospitals by 2012 with a total turnover of over Rs.200 crore. Surely, this ‘Eye’ looks all sharp and focused in doing what many could have never imagined. And the time has even come when its promoters can today think of taking the private champion public. In all probability, its will also become the apple of the public eye soon… not forgetting the huge revenues of course!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Protectionism
This ‘P’ of marketing had given Indian (Airlines) a competitive edge over others. But with the opening up of Indian skies, the state-owned airline had to change track
Indian has been “protected” by being deployed on
certain routes as an exclusive airline where consumers have no option but to use it. So it’s out of compulsion and not choice that consumers choose it. The government aid has also helped, for cost benefit of such routes for a private player are adverse. The logic to protect Indian is to have a stable stronghold in a strategic sector where the rest of the players are private. This is a remnant of our socialist policy. Not surprising, since this ‘P’ does make companies complacent. However, when the Indian skies were thrown open to private players, the state-owned airline wasn’t able to hold its own in terms of market share, which kept sliding in favour of new private entrants like Jet & Kingfisher. Today, competition is forcing Indian to concentrate on activities like brand building, customer satisfaction, et al. Thus partial protection in a consumerist economy actually works to the detriment of the protected entity.
Indian has been “protected” by being deployed on
certain routes as an exclusive airline where consumers have no option but to use it. So it’s out of compulsion and not choice that consumers choose it. The government aid has also helped, for cost benefit of such routes for a private player are adverse. The logic to protect Indian is to have a stable stronghold in a strategic sector where the rest of the players are private. This is a remnant of our socialist policy. Not surprising, since this ‘P’ does make companies complacent. However, when the Indian skies were thrown open to private players, the state-owned airline wasn’t able to hold its own in terms of market share, which kept sliding in favour of new private entrants like Jet & Kingfisher. Today, competition is forcing Indian to concentrate on activities like brand building, customer satisfaction, et al. Thus partial protection in a consumerist economy actually works to the detriment of the protected entity. Monday, July 21, 2008
Sinewy Mark, accosts ‘Hurd’les!
When IIPM comes to education, never compromise
He salvaged HP from the Fiorina storm, but will he be able to braze out weaker PC market and strong competition from the likes of Dell?
The day NCR put out a release about Mark Hurd’s quitting circa 2005, NCR’s stocks dipped southwards by 17%. It was that kind of respect that this man drew at the Wall Street before accepting to be HP’s knight in shining armour post a debacle known as Carleton S. Fiorina, the brain behind HP’s Compaq takeover.
And Hurd continues to be the board’s favourite man since his era began. A contrast to flamboyant Fiorina, Mark Hurd is a man who’d pass a crowded metro station without anybody noticing him. But in Hurd is also a man who’d like to roll up his sleeves and get on with the job rather than elaborating on a futuristic vision of a typical ‘visionary’ CEO.
Hurd moved to HP at a time when shareholders were screaming in his ears for that rarity called profits. And he got on with the job hands on. Being an operations man certainly has its pros and cons. Hurd chose the pros first. Throwing a slew of cost cutting measures, Hurd cut down costs that rang a bell on Wall Street when an increase of 17% in profits was announced last year to the tune of $7.3 billion. And revenues rose 14% to $104 billion.
“The story really for us has been in the past two years, we have been able to keep our costs flat. However, if you were just to look at a simple piece of paper, it would say, costs are the same at HP in 2007 that they were in 2005. Difference is $18 billion dollars more revenue on the top line….,” had said Hurd at a keynote address last year.
Now to the ‘cons’. While year 2008 has got on to a good start with first quarter net revenue up at 13%, or $3.4 billion, from a year earlier to $28.5 billion, speculations on a grim PC markets is all it takes to put a question mark on HP’s future prospects. Moreover, considering the fact that Dell will soon be reaping the benefits of its retail strategy (as it decided to sell through the indirect route from last year), it will be difficult for Hurd to maintain HP’s dominant position in the global PC market. While one really cannot doubt Hurd’s style of running this giant, his job now is to sell more rather than clean internally.
From a 25% increase last year, PC sales of HP is bound to take a hit in wake of a worldwide crunch in hardware sales and is hence expected to grow by only 5.4%. To cater to the situation, Hurd has already outlined his aggressive intents by announcing promising new products in the printer, PC and the enterprise markets for the year 2008. However, industry watchers are doubting whether this move be enough to maintain HP’s momentum in the long run.
Mark Hurd has done the rescue act before but HP’s shareholders expect nothing less from him this time as well. That’s exactly what happens when you save the Titanic from sinking. They expect you to do that again & again...
Edit bureau: Shashank Shekhar
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
Read these article :-
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM is A World of Career
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Patriotism
The desh ki dhadkan campaigns have actually sold patriotism to an entire generation of Indian bikers
Our successful products like the CD Deluxe,
Splendor and Passion describe the mood of the nation. Their branding is all about India’s high economic growth and the ample opportunities available here. Today you do not have to leave the country for work. We have done brand building on all fronts and that includes not only corporate branding but product branding as well. Additionally we continue to refresh our products and offer the latest technology to Indian customers. India is virtually a Hero Honda country and Hrithik Roshan conveys that empathetically through our recent ‘Hero Honda country’ ad campaign. Hero Honda’s emotional values are conveyed through key words such as bharosa, josh and vishwas. Truly patriotic!
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
Our successful products like the CD Deluxe,
Splendor and Passion describe the mood of the nation. Their branding is all about India’s high economic growth and the ample opportunities available here. Today you do not have to leave the country for work. We have done brand building on all fronts and that includes not only corporate branding but product branding as well. Additionally we continue to refresh our products and offer the latest technology to Indian customers. India is virtually a Hero Honda country and Hrithik Roshan conveys that empathetically through our recent ‘Hero Honda country’ ad campaign. Hero Honda’s emotional values are conveyed through key words such as bharosa, josh and vishwas. Truly patriotic!For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
Read these article :-
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Should ‘Reliance Fresh’ have had another moniker?
Incidentally, for those wondering why stores like Big Bazaar, Foodworld, and Subhiksha, Nilgiris and Trinethra in the south (operational for quite some time) have been spared the rod by these traders and vendors’ agitations (although some of them have begun to come under fire in Reliance Retail’s wake), the answer is simple. For the same reason that Wal-Mart is targeted the most in western markets. Yes, you guessed it right. It’s the size that matters. Since the announcement of his retail aspiration late last year, Mukesh Ambani has ensured that many of his proposed nationwide chain of hypermarkets, supermarkets, discount stores, department stores, convenience and specialty stores are already operating in various cities across the country and expanding aggressively. “Their strategy is to open over 10-15 shops on a single day in a city and dominate the retail market of the city in a single stroke,” points out Kumar.of FDI Watch.
Small wonder that the joke going around in business circles these days is that Ambani should have named his retail venture by any other name except Reliance. “After all, the name does give the impression that the big ‘Dada’ has arrived on the scene , so others may please scoot,” sniggers a source.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
Small wonder that the joke going around in business circles these days is that Ambani should have named his retail venture by any other name except Reliance. “After all, the name does give the impression that the big ‘Dada’ has arrived on the scene , so others may please scoot,” sniggers a source.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Friday, July 11, 2008
I am what I am…
... is now ‘I am more.’ Watch out rivals
With the spectacular triumph of Indian cricket
team at Twenty 20 World Cup, the world of international sports wear has turned turtle. If September 24, 2007 was a memorable day in the nation’s cricketing history, the triumph of Team India also came as no less a bonanza for leading sportswear brand, Reebok.
Time was when archrival Nike had roped in the biggest dad of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar and other heavyweights like Zaheer Khan. Then Reebok was left with the then lesser knowns like Yuvraj Singh and R.P. Singh to endorse its brand. Now with the World Cup success at T20, the lesser knowns have turned into titans. The cricket success has come as a blessing in disguise for this sports accessories maker as nearly all the Twenty 20 heroes are brand ambassadors of Reebok.
In a cricket-crazy nation, the perfect way to establish yourself as a sports brand is by associating with this game and this way of branding was realised by Reebok, much before Nike, which associated itself with cricket as late as in 2006. Now Reebok’s stock has rocketed. It is the market leader with an exorbitant 40% market share, whereas Nike lags at a mere 15% of the total market share.
To strengthen its leadership position, Reebok is now aggressively eying one of the lucrative segments of the Rs.11 billion Indian sports footwear and prêt-a-porter market. Women’s sportswear segment too is brimming with double digit growth and to cash in on this sizzling hot market, Reebok is banking on the oomph of Sagarika Ghatge of ‘Chak De’ fame. In addition, Reebok has also rolled out a new brand campaign to beckon the eves titled ‘I am more’.
With the spectacular triumph of Indian cricket
team at Twenty 20 World Cup, the world of international sports wear has turned turtle. If September 24, 2007 was a memorable day in the nation’s cricketing history, the triumph of Team India also came as no less a bonanza for leading sportswear brand, Reebok.Time was when archrival Nike had roped in the biggest dad of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar and other heavyweights like Zaheer Khan. Then Reebok was left with the then lesser knowns like Yuvraj Singh and R.P. Singh to endorse its brand. Now with the World Cup success at T20, the lesser knowns have turned into titans. The cricket success has come as a blessing in disguise for this sports accessories maker as nearly all the Twenty 20 heroes are brand ambassadors of Reebok.
In a cricket-crazy nation, the perfect way to establish yourself as a sports brand is by associating with this game and this way of branding was realised by Reebok, much before Nike, which associated itself with cricket as late as in 2006. Now Reebok’s stock has rocketed. It is the market leader with an exorbitant 40% market share, whereas Nike lags at a mere 15% of the total market share.
To strengthen its leadership position, Reebok is now aggressively eying one of the lucrative segments of the Rs.11 billion Indian sports footwear and prêt-a-porter market. Women’s sportswear segment too is brimming with double digit growth and to cash in on this sizzling hot market, Reebok is banking on the oomph of Sagarika Ghatge of ‘Chak De’ fame. In addition, Reebok has also rolled out a new brand campaign to beckon the eves titled ‘I am more’.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The New Blue Boy
Many would only know about TCS currently holding the 
record for bagging the largest domestic contract worth $1.2 billion; but few would bear the fact in their intellect that Tech Mahindra was the first ever Indian IT company to bag a contract worth $1 billion. It was one of the biggest moments in the entire history of the company as it propelled Tech Mahindra into the coveted blue book of Indian IT. Currently, the company is standing tall with annual revenues worth Rs. 29.36 billion, which has been a staggering increase of 130% as compared to 2006. If one considers the list, it’s interesting to find that Tech Mahindra has the highest revenue growth amongst the top 20.
The company (renamed from Mahindra-British Telecom Ltd.) went public in August 2006. Since then, backed by some stupendous performances, Tech Mahindra’s share prices have appreciated by more than 100% (data as on November 2, 2007). This Anand Mahindra initiative is all set to go places!
record for bagging the largest domestic contract worth $1.2 billion; but few would bear the fact in their intellect that Tech Mahindra was the first ever Indian IT company to bag a contract worth $1 billion. It was one of the biggest moments in the entire history of the company as it propelled Tech Mahindra into the coveted blue book of Indian IT. Currently, the company is standing tall with annual revenues worth Rs. 29.36 billion, which has been a staggering increase of 130% as compared to 2006. If one considers the list, it’s interesting to find that Tech Mahindra has the highest revenue growth amongst the top 20.The company (renamed from Mahindra-British Telecom Ltd.) went public in August 2006. Since then, backed by some stupendous performances, Tech Mahindra’s share prices have appreciated by more than 100% (data as on November 2, 2007). This Anand Mahindra initiative is all set to go places!
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist)
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
When India is the Hero
No matter what competition does, Hero Honda is always ready with a winning strategy for two wheelers
When Bollywood hunk Hrithik Roshan walks through
the by-lanes of an Indian city, what he sees is a country on the move. He sees people going about their personal businesses with only one thing in common – they all ride a Hero Honda. In a country where every second motorcycle is a Hero Honda product, it never gets more apparent than this. The advertisement has been one of the most successful campaigns of the year and has effectively put forward Hero Honda’s core values. In an exclusive chat with Anil Dua, Senior Vice President (Marketing & Sales), 4Ps B&M reveals the inside story behind this marketing initiative of Hero Honda.
What was the rationale behind the ‘Hero Honda Country’ ad campaign?
The basic idea behind ‘Hero Honda Country’ was our 20 millionth landmark and the fact that we are the fastest to reach that number. Hero Honda is omnipresent in all segments and there’s a very high visibility. Today, we hold about half of the market and we are celebrating our achievements. India is virtually a Hero Honda country and Hrithik conveys this empathtically through that ad campaign. Hero Honda’s emotional values are conveyed through key words such as bharosa, josh & vishwas.
What exactly has been the secret behind Hero Honda’s success?
The secret is our multi-pronged strategy. We do not ignore any segment. Furthermore, we always surprise the market. For instance during 2006-07, we had launched eight models and people were saying that it was too much but we surprised them by launching six more models soon! Hero Honda has always bucked the trend, even growing when the market was not. We will keep on surprising!
What is your current marketing strategy?
Successful products like the CD Deluxe and Passion describe the mood of the nation. Their branding is all about India’s high economic growth and the ample opportunities available here. We have done brand building on all fronts and that includes not only corporate branding but product branding as well. Additionally we continue to refresh our products and offer the latest technology.
What about Hero Honda’s focus on the premium segment since Bajaj is the market leader here?
We have literally started the premium segment with the CBZ in 1999. If you see the figures, the premium segment has grown 10-11% during the last three years. With our new models the segment now expands at 15-16%! We have doubled both our market share and volumes in the segment while expanding the market as well. There is a much evolved customer here and our branding has been in-line to this aspect. Our four products in the segment cater to four distinct sub segments that cater to different buyers.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
When Bollywood hunk Hrithik Roshan walks through
the by-lanes of an Indian city, what he sees is a country on the move. He sees people going about their personal businesses with only one thing in common – they all ride a Hero Honda. In a country where every second motorcycle is a Hero Honda product, it never gets more apparent than this. The advertisement has been one of the most successful campaigns of the year and has effectively put forward Hero Honda’s core values. In an exclusive chat with Anil Dua, Senior Vice President (Marketing & Sales), 4Ps B&M reveals the inside story behind this marketing initiative of Hero Honda.What was the rationale behind the ‘Hero Honda Country’ ad campaign?
The basic idea behind ‘Hero Honda Country’ was our 20 millionth landmark and the fact that we are the fastest to reach that number. Hero Honda is omnipresent in all segments and there’s a very high visibility. Today, we hold about half of the market and we are celebrating our achievements. India is virtually a Hero Honda country and Hrithik conveys this empathtically through that ad campaign. Hero Honda’s emotional values are conveyed through key words such as bharosa, josh & vishwas.
What exactly has been the secret behind Hero Honda’s success?
The secret is our multi-pronged strategy. We do not ignore any segment. Furthermore, we always surprise the market. For instance during 2006-07, we had launched eight models and people were saying that it was too much but we surprised them by launching six more models soon! Hero Honda has always bucked the trend, even growing when the market was not. We will keep on surprising!
What is your current marketing strategy?
Successful products like the CD Deluxe and Passion describe the mood of the nation. Their branding is all about India’s high economic growth and the ample opportunities available here. We have done brand building on all fronts and that includes not only corporate branding but product branding as well. Additionally we continue to refresh our products and offer the latest technology.
What about Hero Honda’s focus on the premium segment since Bajaj is the market leader here?
We have literally started the premium segment with the CBZ in 1999. If you see the figures, the premium segment has grown 10-11% during the last three years. With our new models the segment now expands at 15-16%! We have doubled both our market share and volumes in the segment while expanding the market as well. There is a much evolved customer here and our branding has been in-line to this aspect. Our four products in the segment cater to four distinct sub segments that cater to different buyers.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist)
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Club One Air
In its bid for careful expansion, Club One Air is now looking at the hub and spoke method with hubs being established in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, et al, and spokes in smaller cities like Chandigarh, Kanpur and Mysore. Some would call it a dilution of focus from carriage to MRO business, yet in this era of competitive bloodfights and rising air fuel costs, Manav’s focus is on earning additional revenues from every possible quarter. “We will take another 25 years to reach the levels where airlines in US have reached. They have 130,000 small planes there today. In India, we only have a tiny 250! In another 25 years US will have another 250,000 million, but we will be much closer then,” asserts Manav.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist)
Monday, July 07, 2008
It’s called camel mentality
Some call it being horse-headed; that is, the attitude
of Mutual Funds to not focus on the retail investors... If numbers could speak, then they would provoke more questions than present answers about the state of the Indian Mutual Fund (MF) industry. The MF industry has current Assets Under Management (AUM) standing at a huge Rs.4.86 trillion (a little over $100 billion). Creditably, in the last year and a half, the AUM of MFs have actually doubled (AUM stood at Rs.2.30 billion in March 2006) due to factors including record New Fund Offers (NFOs; more than 60% of which have underperformed as compared to their benchmark indices) and the robust rally at the Dalal Street. Then why is it that M. Damodaran, Chairman of the market regulator SEBI, remarked sometime back that the MF industry “seems to be prematurely patting itself on the back.” Consider this statement in the light of findings of the ‘Invest India Incomes and Savings Survey 2007’ produced by IIMS Data works – a government think-tank – which has revealed some startling figures. Out of 321.38 million paid workers in India, only 5.3 million are mutual fund investors – a trifling 1.65%!
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
of Mutual Funds to not focus on the retail investors... If numbers could speak, then they would provoke more questions than present answers about the state of the Indian Mutual Fund (MF) industry. The MF industry has current Assets Under Management (AUM) standing at a huge Rs.4.86 trillion (a little over $100 billion). Creditably, in the last year and a half, the AUM of MFs have actually doubled (AUM stood at Rs.2.30 billion in March 2006) due to factors including record New Fund Offers (NFOs; more than 60% of which have underperformed as compared to their benchmark indices) and the robust rally at the Dalal Street. Then why is it that M. Damodaran, Chairman of the market regulator SEBI, remarked sometime back that the MF industry “seems to be prematurely patting itself on the back.” Consider this statement in the light of findings of the ‘Invest India Incomes and Savings Survey 2007’ produced by IIMS Data works – a government think-tank – which has revealed some startling figures. Out of 321.38 million paid workers in India, only 5.3 million are mutual fund investors – a trifling 1.65%!
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist)
Friday, July 04, 2008
The man of honour brews a strong cuppa
VINITA BALI... MD, Britannia Industries Limited
If you could imagine a jungle full of biscuits, guess there’d be no tigers around! Wonder why...
The cookie in a man’s world, Vinita Bali, has been a stalwart in this FMCG space ever since the start of her career when she launched the No. 1 softdrink concentrate of India, Rasna. A Jamnalal Bajaj alumna, Vinita joined Britannia Industries in 2005 after having spent some years at biggies like Cadbury & Coca Cola at top management positions. Known to be an approachable & helpful leader, Vinita has proved her mettle in Indian corporate circles where there is a scarcity of ‘ladies on top’! Talking about her achievements, Aniruth Joshi, FMCG analyst, Anand Rathi said, “With the way Britannia has changed in the last 2-3 years, I think the credit goes to her. She has played a major role in the entire restructuring by adding variants.” Half a dozen new launches in the market & appreciation in revenues and profits (by 13% & 7% respectively) over last year – despite the dense organised and unorganised competitive forces – are enough to prove why she’s contemporary & why Britannia owes it all to her!
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
If you could imagine a jungle full of biscuits, guess there’d be no tigers around! Wonder why...
The cookie in a man’s world, Vinita Bali, has been a stalwart in this FMCG space ever since the start of her career when she launched the No. 1 softdrink concentrate of India, Rasna. A Jamnalal Bajaj alumna, Vinita joined Britannia Industries in 2005 after having spent some years at biggies like Cadbury & Coca Cola at top management positions. Known to be an approachable & helpful leader, Vinita has proved her mettle in Indian corporate circles where there is a scarcity of ‘ladies on top’! Talking about her achievements, Aniruth Joshi, FMCG analyst, Anand Rathi said, “With the way Britannia has changed in the last 2-3 years, I think the credit goes to her. She has played a major role in the entire restructuring by adding variants.” Half a dozen new launches in the market & appreciation in revenues and profits (by 13% & 7% respectively) over last year – despite the dense organised and unorganised competitive forces – are enough to prove why she’s contemporary & why Britannia owes it all to her!
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist)
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