Airtel

Airtel for the past few days has been in a crises. To deal with the consumers Airtel must first understand the amount of pain and trouble it is causing to their consumers.

For the past four days no Airtel customer in Mumbai has been able to use their phone properly. No business calls, no casual calls, no surfing the internet. 

Understandably such a disaster of a cell tower burning could have occurred to anyone, but it happened to Airtel.
So far Airtel has dealt with the situation the best it can but it needs to work better and faster to fix the problem.
In the meantime all cell services should be checking the safety of their own towers.

The Dark Fantasy

In 2005, Sunfeast launched their response to the high-end cream biscuit, Pure Magic. The biscuit is called Dark Fantasy and after a year, it can be said that Dark Fantasy is better marketed. There are a number of reasons for this, such as:

- Dark Fantasy distribution system is better. It delivers it product every week on Monday and its outreach is better that Pure Magic.

- Dark Fantasy’s packing is much more attractive that Pure Magic. While Pure Magic, only adorns a simple and colourful plastic packing, Dark Fantasy reveals a glossy packaging.

- Dark Fantasy also is relatively bigger that Pure Magic. The biscuit itself is bigger and the packet contains more biscuits that Pure Magic.

- The advertising of Dark Fantasy was based on the seven sins and the ad positioned Dark Fantasy as an indulgent biscuit. Compared to Dark Fantasy, Pure Magic has a very weak advertising base.

As far as can be seen, Pure Magic has failed to react to the challenge of Dark Fantasy and it will not be long before it is overtaken.

Two Decades of Frooti

Twenty-five years have passed since Parle Agro introduced the drink Frooti in 1985 and entered the fruit beverage market. It natural choice of flavor for Fruit was the most loved fruit in India, mango. India has a large craving for the fruit mango and for Parle Agro it was without a doubt their first flavor. Parle Agro partnered with DaCunha Communications to create Frooti. The launching budget of Frooti was twenty lakh and more than half of it was spent on television advertising.

“Mango Frooti… fresh n juicy” was the tag line that immediately put Frooti in the market, but more importantly is the packing of the drink. Parle Agro with their partners decided to make their packing different. While most cold drinks were packaged and sold in glass bottles, Frooti was packed and sold in tetra packs. The biggest advantage tetra packs had over glass bottles was its mobility. Frooti could be carried around much easier than glass bottles. It was fortunate for Parle Agro that their partners had previously worked for Amul who were already using tetra packs for their milk products.

The first advertising of Frooti focused on the packing. The audience was amazed with a drink that one could punch a straw in and walk around with it. People came to cities to take away cartons of the drink.

As Frooti advertising developed a lot of fun and cool ads were created. Advertisements used pretty girls in mini-skirts, hula-hoops, use of CG and people diving into a pool of Frooti. Local Publicity stunts as such as Frooti hanging from trees which people could pluck were done. In 2010, Frooti revamped themselves and created a new advertising campaign called the ‘Mango Surprise’. Giant mango were dropped from trees and rolled down roads on unsuspecting pedestrians. These moments were captured by hidden cameras and edited to create TVCs.

After twenty five years Frooti still holds a leading position in the mango fruit market. Frooti is continuously embarking on new campaigns to adapt to the changing consumer, yet their core brand value of being a cool and fun drink has not been lost.

Two Part Ad

The is a rise of a new advertising trend in the markets. It has so far occurred to two advertising campaigns. One of Nescafe and the other of Amithab Bachchan’s new upcoming movie, Buddhua. What I am referring to is the advertisement being played in parts. On a whole this style has been a success as it generates an interesting and fun element in the advertisement.

This advertisement is based on having two advertisements. The first one may or not end with a too be continued line. The Nescafe ad leaves the audience in suspense of whether the lead male gets the actress Deepika Padkone. And we have a follow up of the ad where Karan Johar appears and the lead male takes him on over a cup of Nescafe. Both interesting ads.

Amithab Bachchan is an appearance of a shadow figure of him with the tag line The Angry Man is back. This creates a thrill at the same time a suspense towards the audience. The term Angry Man brings back memories for the audience of their favourite classical Bollywood movies. This ad follow the release of trailer of Amithab Bachachan's new movie Bbuddah-Hoga Terra Baap.

The future of this style of advertisement is only set to increase as it is popular with the public.

Corruption at Corporate Level

In India we curse at the corruption in our government. However there is a corruption that is unseen and slithers around like a snake and that is of corruption at the cooperate level. It is not uncommon in India to have a company to pay the government or give ‘incentives’ to the government.

The biggest and the best example is the Bhopal gas tragedy, where many people died, injured and genetics was restructured in that area. Union Carbide the company which was largely responsible had managed to get a safety certificate, and the results did not play up to that certificate. The CEO of Enron who should have been detained in India managed to get out with some questionable help from the Rajiv Gandhi government.

Also not spoken, but commonly known is of Reliance industries success in the early years and its dealings with the government.

However last year and this year it is all changing. The 2G scam and the Neera Radia’s case have been revolutionary in this aspect.

The 2G scam case has seen a number of industrial haunches in the cross-sights of the CBI for giving bribes to the former Telecom Minister and one can only hope that the truth will emerge.

The Nira Radia’s case has revealed a media-political and corporate nexus.

If the Company’s cannot see the trend, then let me say it.

The people are demanding more corporate social responsibility. They don’t want the company’s to be hand in glove with a corrupt government and officials.

Tata has become an image in this case and company’s such as Reliance and such others need to change their image.

The fight against corruption is only getting stronger as we recently seen Ana Anzare’s hunger strike against corruption.

Fiat Logo

Fiat has been a successful car in India. For the past few years Fiat has been trying enter the luxury sector by producing a variety of sedans.

However there is one thing that I feel Fiat needs to change if it is to make a major headway. It needs to change is logo. Fiat’s current and previous logo is to straight forward. It is just the letters FIAT.

A logo in today’s world is supposed to be cool and classy. The logo may work with the older generation, but it will not work with the newer generation.

The newer generation needs something that will enable them to recall. If Fiat is going to just write their name and call it their logo, then a lot of opportunities are lost.

A Logo is important in branding of a product. And Fiat just typing the letter FIAT seems like they took an easy way out.

Whatever it is, if they want to become a big competitor in today’s market one of the things they need to do is change their logo.

A logo plays a big role in Top of Mind Recall. A good logo is easy to remember and a few flash of a logo goes well in reminding the consumers of the brand.

A logo can tell the history of the company. BMW’s logo is of a propeller, which signifies its airplane engines background.

However I understand this is not an easy demand. To change ones logo is to change’s one image. But for Fiat to make a major headway in the market it needs a better logo. A logo that is graphic and visual which would generate high recall. Fiat does not have to change its image if it changes its logo. The logo can come from its history. The logo can be based on Fiat’s image.

LANDLINE SHOULD NOT DIE

With the number of mobile numbers increasing, it is safe to say that mobiles have penetrated through India. However with this increase there has been a decrease. The number of landlines has decreased. This spells bad business for MTNL and BSNL. However both these organization have moved from landlines connection to include mobile connection and internet connection.

While the initiative for mobile connections has not turned out very successful, the internet initiative turned out differently. MTNL as quoted by my friend is “internet ka baap”. MTNL probably has the fastest and most reliable internet connection in India. However for consumer to have an MTNL internet connection will require him/her to have a landline connection.

Many consumers in this present over connected age feel that the mobile connection is suffice compared to landline connection; they do not see the need for a landline connection.

However MTNL and BSNL are missing out on a major marketing strategy that is that in a natural disaster or crisis mobile connections are not so reliable either because their towers get knocked out or they get overloaded. Landlines have time and time again proven their strength against natural disasters or a crisis. If they are reminded of or made aware of that security of connectivity that landlines gives during natural disasters or crisis when the mobile connection is down. Proposing a security to a classical unsecure setting that could happen in the future will definitely get people’s attention.

Google Playing the Fight Very Close

A researcher in Google has once again found a security glitch in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Microsoft has requested Google to withhold this information so that it can create a patch to fix this problem. This is the second time such a situation has been created.

Google refused to do so. To some this may be seen as irresponsible of Google, even childish that in the name of competition it is not willing to compromise and is willing to go to the edge and start pointing fingers at Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is the most widely used internet browser and since Google has introduced Chrome it is doing everything in its power to upset Internet Explorer’s number one position.

By announcing the glitch before Microsoft can fix it, is announcing also to lot of hackers of the potential security hole. Users will also realize this. Google is simply forcing them to change their internet browsers.

Is this viable? In the short run, yes. Maybe for a moment if the users are bothered they will switch their browsers and it may not be necessarily be Chrome. Even if users switch, it is highly possible that they will switch back to Internet Explorer once the glitch is fixed. It will take Google more than such a rash tactic to put Chrome in the number one seat. They are forgetting that though they have won brand loyalty of many people, as they move into other areas from Search Engine they will have to play from square one which is dominated by many more mature companies. 

Nano Wasting Money

Nano has started an advertising campaign, focusing on how families can be fitted and focussing on the price angle of less than one lakh. However it is of my opinion that Nano is wasting their time and money. The reason why Nano has unleased this campaign is because during the Diwali holidays the auto-industry sales incereased by 38% compared to last year, however Nano's sale barley rose about 2% compared to last year. There are a few reasons for this:

-- For one the car does not cost a lakh as projected. With the addition of taxes the car cost one and a half lakhs. 

-- Saftey measures. There have been a varitey of cases where the car has caught in flames. Though Nano claims that there is nothing wrong in the saftey measures of the car, it has offered Nano owners an upgrade in the saftey package. 

-- Avalability. Nano has depended on Nano mirco-sales. 

Nano's claim on the saftey measures does not offer any legitamacy simply beacuse one end it is saying that the car does not have any defect and at the side it is offering saftey packages. The public just does not buy this statment of Nano. 

The dependence on micro-sales is all wrong. What is needed is for the car to have a major precence in car show rooms and shops. However to do such a thing it needs to increase it's production output and for this it needs to have more industrial units. Hence it needs to stop wasting money on advertisment.

People know of Tata Nano, many people want to aquire this wonder car. However these various issues need to be dealt with. 

MISSCOMMUNICATION

MISSCOMMUNICATION

The reason news of the Coal India. Recent IPO is a great welcome, but what is disturbing is the opportunity lost out by the employees who were offered shares at 5% less cost. The reason for this being is that the Labour Union was against this the company becoming an IPO and to show this it refused to buy any of the shares.

I have always disapproved the government’s disinvestment in any public company, simply because that was the one defense that prevented a full scale lash of the western economic crisis. With the help of a balanced mixed economy of public and private companies such a crisis being created in India can be averted.  However becoming an IPO this public company has opened itself up to scurrility and at the same time it is still controlled by the government.

However I am deeply disappointed by the reaction by the labour. To some extent the blame must go to the management who has failed to communicate properly to the labour would mean and the opportunity it offered of 5% less the cost of shares which would reap so much more.

Such a result of the IPO will only set to harden the relation between the management and labour. 

DISSAPOINTING NOKIA

DISSAPOINTING NOKIA

Nokia is handling the competition poorly in India. The market it has approached is saturated. It has spread from urban to rural areas. The one of the main reasons that is has been a success and a great appeal with the public because of its user friendliness, but once the public gets the understanding of using a mobile phone handling a Sony Errikson or a Mottorola will not be difficult.

It is dissappointing with the enviromental angle it is taking with the use of Sharuk Khan. India has a country still needs time to develop into a enviromental caring country. This ad may target mainly urban people, but then Nokia is forgetting the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that this ad is played on television which is now in almost every household in India or if not atleast everyone has acess and the majority of the people in are rural and such an advertisment will not appeal to them.

The competition against Nokia is very strong. Their number one stand is being attack from all sides. They desperately need a makeover. Whatever customers they have they need to make them brand loyal. 

Tata & Burning Nano

For the third time in Tata Nano has caught on fire and the car burned. It seems to me that Tata has not given enough assurance towards the customers that its car are safe and not defected However a friend of mine has also pointed out that the reason for this is probably because in India the customers are not very demanding and have a ‘chalta hai’ attitude and this is probably true.

Still it is necessary for Tata to react. The car burning is not an isolated since there have been two others. If Tata does not take the necessary actions this incident will blow in their face eventually. Tata should have started an enquire internally reviewing the car incident.

The Nano’s blazing is definitely not the customers fault, who will definitely not burn their car for publicity. Tata should have seen this as another opportunity and prove itself as a trustful and caring company by publicizing the compensation given to the cars.

The fact that many of the customers ignorant of this issue is not pretty. It is obvious the Nano bursted into flames not because an owner took petrol and burned his/her car, no owner would do that not thrice; the vehicle has been burning because there is a defect. Is Tata really a trustworthy and a caring organization? In this incident it is seen that Tata is taking advantage of the ignorance of it’s customers.

Intel's Plan

Intel’s proposal to take over MacAfee is to be commended. Intel is already one of the top chip makers in the world. And like any company if it does not continue to innovate it will stagnate and if it stagnates there is only one direction it will go that down.

Intel has chosen well. A security software company has a lot of value in the future. With also most every gadget available having access to internet, the risk is of malware and virus infection has greatly increased. So people in the future will be more security conscious.

The possibility of MacAfee being available on all electronic gadgets with an Intel chip will be a welcome to customers. For one it will mean that no matter what your gadget is always protect with an inbuilt permanent security software. To make this possible Intel may or may not increase the price of it’s chips.

IS IT THE CONSUMERS FAULT?

Almost a month has passed since the oil spill occurred at Mumbai. There authorities were caught off guard. Especially with no proper equipment the spill spread across the course. Thankfully the spill was not such a large amount so as to cause a major disaster. The authorities tackled the oil spill while the police took the members of the ships for questioning. Recently the government has asked MSS Chitra for an initial 3 cores for the damages.

However I am very much dissatisfied by the situation. In other incident Government inabilities to tackle the situation was testing due to the lack of equipment. If such an incident happens again in a much larger scale then the coast will be in real trouble. Also we seen the media has only covered the clean up drive-up drive by the authorities and some citizen groups, it has failed to follow up in the action on taken and fulfilling its duty as a watch dog and pulling up the government of the poor and incapable response on such an incident. The government is also going very soft on the culprit MSS Chitra. This oil spill has cost a lot and the government showed recovers the cost. This is another incident where the government is going soft on the corporate sector. The Government must exert more pressure on the company. This it self will send out a message to the cooperate world that any incident involving their unit will make they strongly liable.

However perhaps all of this has not happened because of the simple reason that public is not bothered. The Indian public is not very environment conscious, this can be attributed to the fact that many are still trying to get food and shelter. MSS Chitra can also be assured that its company will not get any damage in the corporate world because this is company that has to appeal to the corporate sector who are in need of its transport services.

Vodafone Customer Care

Recently my mother had an irritating problem with her cell phone service provided, Vodafone. After going twice to the Vodafone store, her line was cut for the second time not even a week passing. And for the second time she called up customer service and gave them a firing that even made my house shake. All the customer care kept on saying is sorry or they transferred the calls keeping my mother waiting for fifteen to twenty minutes. They never seemed to grasp the problem. Staring at the screens in front of them, they used to say that the reason was because that there was an error in one of the documents submitted and they said this even after visiting the store again. My mother furiously jabbed the button on the key board sending a mail to the Vodafone even though she knew they would not reply. I thought to myself what could be done to solve this problem and I could not come up with a solution. Obviously there was problem with the organization.

First of all the customer care personal kept on apologizing. This is not what people want to hear, saying it once is more than enough. What is needed a adapt solution to the customers problem. There is a problem at the training level where the personal are taught to act in structured way. Sure, that is a good thing because they are able to deal with tough customers and sticky situations. However the personal touch is lost, to handle the customer the personal must understand the customer, the personal must put himself/herself in their shoes. Many customers cannot go to a Vodafone store because they do not have the time and it is not like the store is next to their house. The problem must be able to be resolved over the phone and if needed a personal sent over the house to collect the required documents because just as they have door to sale man this should add this facility.

Second the personal needs to understand that whatever is on his/her screen does not tell the tale of their customer’s problems. They need to understand them. Being a representative of the company it is expected a lot of frustration put on them. Like any company there is a lot of red tape and departments that handles a lot of things. This is where companies that have polices of employee first count because now the employee will make an extra effort to overcome the red tape and make sure the grievance is taken care of the appropriate department.

Thirdly with the age of the internet many complaints are made through email. Just like the customer care that is available twenty-four hours telephone service, the emails should be answered immediately. They solution should be the most convenient for the customer and it’s should be explained well.