I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTING TO HIDE!

Exclusive In chat with Society Magazine - Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri

Right To Information Act

If the NREGS is the Congress weapon to lure poor voters, then the Right to Information (RTI) Act is its strategic weapon to convince the urban middle class consumer of political discourse that the government is committed to open and clean governance. There is not a shadow of doubt that – despite the usual protests about bureaucratic apathy and shenanigans – most educated Indians have deeply appreciated the RTI as a toll that can actually transform lives. Ironically, it is the poor who will benefit the most once the RTI message spreads across India and the aam aadmi starts using this weapon fearlessly. For instance, in the state of Rajasthan, countless number of poor in villages have benefitted because of ‘social’ audit of NREGS schemes where activists have used provisions of the RTI. Petty babus and politicians across India have gradually started realising that they can’t loot public money with impunity and get away. Provisions of the RTI have already unearthed numerous cases of corruption. But the real test will come when the provisions of RTI will be used to expose corruption in higher echelons of government and put the fear of God in the minds of even top politicians and bureaucrats. Sure, it’s still a long way off; but RTI is clearly an input that will add tremendous value to the basic product attribute needed by voters – transparent governance!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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Despite being a late entrant in the cluttered telecom market, MTS today boasts of over 2 million subscribers.

And that too within just a year of its launch. Apart from some really innovative marketing solutions, what else is this JV between Sistema of Russia and India’s Shyam Group doing? Surbhi Chawla finds out...

October 9, 2009, was little different for the daily commuters on Delhi-Noida DND Flyway and Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. A surprise to many, both expressways had gone toll free for almost five hours between 9-11 am and 5-8 pm. And interestingly, it wasn’t the Toll Authorities that favoured this free and unhindered access to all vehicles on both the gates, but a lesser known brand MTS that wanted to communicate the launch of its services in Delhi and NCR along with the roll out of its high speed data services (MBlaze) across the country.

You must be wondering (we too are!) what lead Sistema Shyam TeleServices (that offers services under the brand MTS) to decide on this innovative and big budget (at a time when other players in the sector are adopting cost-cutting measures) tactic to communicate its launch in this circle? “We believe in speed and unhindered access. This is in fact the key to our voice and data services. Through this initiative we wanted people in Delhi and NCR to experience our philosophy that we promise them through out network,” explains Vsevolod Rozanov, President & CEO, Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL).

For starters, MTS is a global telecom brand that kicked off its operations in India in 2008 through a joint venture between Sistema group of Russia and India’s Shyam Group. While Shyam Group holds 23.5% stake in the venture, the majority 74% stake is with the Russian firm. The rest 2.5% however remains with the public.

MTS started with Rajasthan circle under the brand name of Rainbow, which was changed to MTS earlier this year. Though, the company has licenses to offer wireless telecom services in all the 22 circles of the country, but as of now they operate in only eight (including Delhi that was launched in October) of them. However, it plans to kick off operations in another five circles by the end of this year. In fact, after Delhi, company’s next targets happen to be the Mumbai and Karnataka circles. And if one gives a closer look to its overall gameplan, then MTS is eying operations in all the 22 circles of the country by the second half of 2010.

But, given that the Indian telecom market is already cluttered (with more than 10 telecom operators pushing for their connections in every circle) it’s quite clear that a new player like MTS is definitely not going to have a smooth ride to success. While the task on one hand would be to sway subscribers from established operators, on the other it will have to reach out to the consumers in B and C circles that have not yet woken up to the benefits of wireless telephony.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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Veteran Ad-Guru Alyque Padamsee is up next with all cylinders firing! He endorses the last point vehemently. “New agencies inducted, immediately get into the act and one of the first things they do is trash the stuff that the previous agency did”. He cites the case of the classic LIRIL campaign where the girl, waterfall and signature tune defined the brand. “Now we have it replaced by this re-play of an old Levers launch of 2000! And, does anyone really care about how many parts of the body … I mean, how ridiculous!” He reminds us that THE MARLBORO MAN remains intact and continues to rule. So does the MRF mascot and the UTTERLY BUTTERLY girl. “Clients must really be very careful before leaping into a zone of changing for the sake of changing”. Hi-Profile Artist Sanjay Bhattacharya is more direct. “I think it’s become a fashion today to demolish anything that is traditional in the name of being contemporary, relevant and consumer-driven. It’s total bullcrap and only reflects their inability to intelligently and creatively blend the time-tested brand value with new-age focus. There is nothing wrong with moving away but, my feeling is that it’s done mostly to be perceived as a product or corporation that is keeping with the times … how defensive, insecure and negative!” Ogilvy’s NCD Abhijit Avasthi winds up this debate with his very own evolved perspective. “For me, a mascot is a property that any brand would have created and built up. The issue is the level and depth of work invested into this mascot over time, to constantly maintain a meaningful connect and relevance with the targeted constituency. That is THE real key”. He feels that the Onida guys must have their reasons to do away with the devil. As for new teams and agencies demolishing all work of the old teams, he believes “only a silly, insecure and immature people would take that course. Smart teams would see the big picture before deciding on the way ahead”.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

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The Indian automakers are thinking beyond the run-of-the-mill cash discounts to generate more sales this festive season.

Pawan Chabra finds out what the auto giants are really up to

“Hopefully, this season will prove a lot better, as there was hardly anything to celebrate about in the last festive season. At least for us, business was very dull,” says Sumit Desai, an auto-dealer in the capital. This thought signifies the common sentiment that is currently floating around in the country, for festive seasons are times when you anticipate and expect better tidings. In fact, on the back of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the stranglehold on financial schemes by all national banks, almost all the auto companies have experienced a fall in sales figures during the year gone by, a time frame most dealers would want to wipe out from their memories. However, this festive season, the automotive companies are leaving no stone unturned to ensure a healthy growth rate. Interestingly, they have gone a step beyond, offering cash discounts, maintenance packages and even gold to the consumers and have rather become more innovative in their marketing efforts. In fact, some companies are waiving off taxes up to 40% for the consumers, if their booking date falls on or before September 30, 2009. While in one particular print ad, it is clearly mentioned that Toyota Kirloskar Motors has decided to ‘raise’ prices beyond September 30, 2009, in another one by GM (for the Chevrolet brand), it is announced that the end date of the Navratra Gold Utsav is September 30, 2009. Of course, the reality is that the festival season has just started, but automakers are scuttling to garner as much as they can from the market, in an attempt to exploit all forms of above-the-line marketing vehicles to the hilt.

And the efforts are evidently paying rich returns. In Gujarat, the demand for two-wheelers and four-wheelers has surpassed the supply levels. Similar is the story in other parts of the country. Going forward, the dealers are expecting further growth in the sales units. Notwithstanding that, this time, ‘festive discounts’ have actually not been used as the prime attraction to lure the target audience. There have been a slew of launches in both the two-wheeler (Yamaha’s V-Max & Limited Fazer, Hero Honda’s Karizma ZMR, Bajaj Discover 100cc, et al) and passenger car manufacturers (like Ford’s new Endeavour, Mercedes’ E-Class Sports, Maruti’s Estilo, et al). Then there are some marketers who opt for alternate means to attract minds, instead of the humdrum ‘lowered prices’ bait; one such is the use of aggressive marketing campaigns. To bring one such case to notice, BMW has organised a BMW Expo in its exclusive dealer outlets, for its prospective consumers, wherein all current BMW models have been made available for a test drive. A spokesperson from BMW explains the logic behind such an initiative: “It’s better to offer the consumer a test drive than offer a cash discount. More importantly, in the segment that we are operating in, cash discounts hardly help attract more consumers,” explains BMW’s spokesperson.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

“We will change your outlook” - The Sunday Indian on B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED! A must read...
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In fact, it started with the launch of A-star in November 2008, when the company used the digital space in a big way to create buzz in the market and continued its efforts with the launch of the Ritz, which also witnessed a launch of a micro site marutisuzukiritz.com to generate excitement in the market. “Maruti Suzuki targets youth in a big way and we realized that to stay close to them, digital media is the optimal choice,” explains Srivastava. The company also has a dedicated team tracking down the action across the digital space i.e. blogs about Maruti Suzuki and the general feedbacks of the consumers. However, as Srivastava states, it was indeed some task to convince the top management, the need to take the digital route.

Apart from digital initiatives, the company has also made efforts to improve on its retail experience front. For the uninitiated, Maruti Suzuki which today has around 800 dealerships in the country, was selling its vehicles through 55 dealerships till 1995. The Indian consumers had a mindset that Maruti outlets always have a long waiting list and that its showrooms are only made for documentation purposes. “Today, the retail experience of a person visiting a Maruti Suzuki dealership is entirely different to what it was five years ago,” adds Srivastava. The company has also changed its advertising strategy in a big way in the past five years. Then let it be the successful no-brand ambassador strategy or the use of more bright colours and added glamour in the TVCs and the print campaigns, the company has surely connected with the youth of the country in the right way.

There is no denying that the DNA of the company is still the same of a small, fuel-efficient carmaker, but has it done enough to ensure that its ‘easy service quality’ has not been lost in its quest to become the new-gen carmaker? “It was a change that the company anticipated much before and hence we increased the network of workshops and the company today services around a million vehicles per month,” defends Srivastava. The company has surely made the right changes at the right time to stay at the top spot in the industry and with the perfect blend of Suzuki’s technology and the perfect know-how of the Indian market, Maruti is in no mood to leave either of the two #1 spots - the market leadership and the tag of the most valuable brand in the Indian automotive industry.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

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