The years coming to close and I have gone back to my January pages of this year to cross check if I could manage to close at least two of the five new year resolutions for this year. Since I planned to lose weight I enrolled in a fitness club for a crash course to ensure I live up to my promise. It has been two weeks since I started going there but after a quick two week check I realized I am a regular there but not doing the thread mills but borrowing DVD's from their huge collection
This comes to a very important aspect for any retailer - Cross Sell
Considering marketing spends are down and the cost of sourcing a "good customer" is high - marketers are looking at options to explore cross sell opportunities. Cross sell leads to customer retention which did happen in my case - the terminology may vary from Inbound sourcing to Social or need base marketing the mantra remains the same - catch the customer when he is captive
In my fitness club case the information was key for my repeat visits - this is the most critical element for cross sell too. Information is the key and the front end needs to link up their products info to the customers welcome pack and follow up with them for a closure
The welcome kit in their case was a branded back pack and a t shirt with key messaging for motivating me to take the extra mile to fulfill my new year resolution
Since I am just two weeks away have decided to extend this and keep it as my one of two resolutions for 2010. I wish to do some thing for charity next year - may be a trek to Everest Base camp and this will cross sell my earlier commitment of losing excess fat - till such time I wish to enjoy the lovely weather in Dubai and add on few more kilo calories
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Managing Public Relations
When we had to disengage our PR agency during the same time last year, I was fighting tooth and nail with my manager for the need of a PR agency. Received one line of message from the top man – NO – please handle it
I started from ground zero as PR is always considered as being tricky and any error in external messaging may prove to be fatal for the brand. Over the course of time I managed to come to terms with the reality and worked on a plan to build
I am articulating few learning’s
1)Priority – Media loves to meet the big bosses. Always give priority to the reporters and ensure you follow up the story with them.
2)Key Media List – Thanks to my media buying agency I managed to get the contact list of all media across the country and I started making the database of key media people by calling them and establishing contacts with them.
3) Reporters – treat them like gold. Answer them in a respectful, pleasant tone. Do not make negative comments.
4) Messaging – unlike paid medium we do not have control over press messaging. The reporters always tend to look at the angle at which it would entice readers interest and would skew it – never complain to reporters however, if there is a major deviation on facts please flag it to them
5) Time Lines - Be realistic about the coverage and time lines. As they are subject to editorial deadlines, breaking news and also sensitivity of the topic. Pick up your own copies of your print/articles. Never ask the reporter
6) Read - Spend time reading, and ensure you are up to date on your industries news. And never react to gossips or grapevine
7) Acknowledge – always ensure to thank reporters by sending a personal mail or through a telephone call. This is one of the key differentiator in forging an effective association with media.
I wish to thank my senior management for the faith they have kept in me and also with this opportunity of handling my banks public relations which I am positive will go a very long way in my career
I started from ground zero as PR is always considered as being tricky and any error in external messaging may prove to be fatal for the brand. Over the course of time I managed to come to terms with the reality and worked on a plan to build
I am articulating few learning’s
1)Priority – Media loves to meet the big bosses. Always give priority to the reporters and ensure you follow up the story with them.
2)Key Media List – Thanks to my media buying agency I managed to get the contact list of all media across the country and I started making the database of key media people by calling them and establishing contacts with them.
3) Reporters – treat them like gold. Answer them in a respectful, pleasant tone. Do not make negative comments.
4) Messaging – unlike paid medium we do not have control over press messaging. The reporters always tend to look at the angle at which it would entice readers interest and would skew it – never complain to reporters however, if there is a major deviation on facts please flag it to them
5) Time Lines - Be realistic about the coverage and time lines. As they are subject to editorial deadlines, breaking news and also sensitivity of the topic. Pick up your own copies of your print/articles. Never ask the reporter
6) Read - Spend time reading, and ensure you are up to date on your industries news. And never react to gossips or grapevine
7) Acknowledge – always ensure to thank reporters by sending a personal mail or through a telephone call. This is one of the key differentiator in forging an effective association with media.
I wish to thank my senior management for the faith they have kept in me and also with this opportunity of handling my banks public relations which I am positive will go a very long way in my career
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sports Sponsorships
Sports sponsorship which integrates advertising, promotions, public relations and sales to reach and touch consumers started somewhere between 1970’s to 1980’s in the United States. I was fortunate to have worked with few sponsorship associations on the ground as a marketing contact for a financial institution and thought of articulating most of my learning’s through this avenue Considering that marketing is always a thank less job it is critical to have a robust plan and gear the team to excel in expectations both within and outside the institution.
We need to look at sponsorship in three phases. Phase 1 being the pre event phase, Phase 2 is during the event and Phase 3 being the post event engagement and wrap up
Phase 1 – Pre Event
1) Art of negotiation: It is very important to know the entitlement of the sponsorship. If it is main or title sponsor the effort in changing the name of the sports event and ensuring our brands presence is indeed herculean. But then what matters most for all publicity is the titles name which gets registered through communication exercises during the build up and during the event 2) Documentation: The preparation for marketing the event normally should start at least five months prior to the event and should have a dedicated team who also handles this event in addition to their day job. Regular updates to senior management on the progress is critical and the best is to have a activity based tracker with clear time lines and responsibilities. Plan your work and Work your plan it is so critical to stick to the tracker.
3) Focus on benefits: If the sponsorship is cascaded from the top which normally is always a case try not to un-sell it. Look at it from a macro perspective to the institution. There are several messages which the brand wishes to communicate through event or sports sponsorships. It may vary from supporting to a cause to supporting players to demonstrating commitment of presence in a specific country or region.
4) Stake holder meeting: It is very important to get to meet all the key stake holders within the institution to map their expectations to the sponsorship. Most of the times it may not be favorable in such avenues it helps to meet their teams to decipher their business objectives which will aid in tying up all the loose ends to write a communication brief
5) Budgets: This is the most difficult part being at the clients end. It is very important to sell the idea of running a cohesive and consistent messaging parallel to the sports event before and during the event to leverage on sponsorships. Always ensure to plan for extra pair of hands as support staff, for food & beverages, check on any VVIP guests who may land in to your stand/kiosk and seek advice on any preferred menu coupled with the regular marketing communications costs within the environment
6) Communication brief: The most difficult job for any marketer to draft a communication brief which would ensure it sells. It is always ideal to look out for specialized agencies which excel in sports communication. The best hook to convince your management is to focus on the sponsorship money and also the proposed marketing budget coupled with business expectations and negotiate your way to invite for a agency pitch. This is never a happy situation for the existing agency but it helps to communicate it upfront and also getting your senior management assure them that the ongoing or future projects will be business as usual with the incumbent agency.
7) Key Proposition: it is always easy to get carried away on propositions. Think out of the box and use clever messaging to integrate the sport with the DNA of your brand. Advertising must sell and it is so critical to map business expectations in the brief. Almost any sport delivers on winning, camaraderie and integrity which in most of the cases is one of the core values of any brand.
8) Internal Stake holders: The biggest critiques for marketing are within. Always factor in internal customer engagement to the sponsorship and work on a calendar to connect to them on list of activities or just a heads up communiqué.
9) Timing : The timing of the communication campaign is critical as there may be resistance from the organizers themselves who are emotional about their equity. The time for customer recruitment and on board experience needs to be factored in if the promotion is hinged on giving away tickets based on consumption
10) Publicity: it is very important to control the publicity to the sponsorship as future brand trackers are hinged on the coverage the brand gets to derive from this association. The best is to integrate PR to your team and work closely with themPhase
2 – During the event
1) On ground Kiosk: No matter how much planning one gets in this somehow seems to be a last minute hiccup project. Make sure the contractor inspects the site/location weeks before and all elements like sun light, possibility of rain, sand storm etc., are factored in while designing the kiosk/stand and there is enough storage facilities for marketing collaterals
2) Protocol: Always ensure you have staff or help in hand who would look at meeter/greeter of senior management visiting the stand or the event. If you can get a list of senior delegates visiting your stand based on the protocol ensure you get the necessary give aways. It is important to remember the best onboard experience is recalled always
3) Schedule of events: Always get the activity schedule from the organizers and ensure to communicate this to your internal customers and also to all senior management. Make sure you retain a copy with you as the project in charge you are always on the guard
4) Distribution of tickets: Perhaps the most tricky area of any event sponsorship. It is very important to get senior management buy in on ticket distribution and also ensuring a robust ticket disbursement process. As a marketing contact you are not only expected to promote it externally but also ensure that your area of seats are not empty during the sports event
5) Television Cameras: This is of great significance. It is very important to get few archive televised matches to see how the camera is angled and how they cover players and the stands. If it is in open area like Golf where the players are in motion then the emphasis is always on the angle at which they capture the players. “A” Board placement along with any banners of the brand is of utmost importance.
6) Plan for contingency: Always ensure you have a vehicle parked at your disposal at all times during the event. You never know what you require in the last minute
7) Meet the press: though this is always your PR managers remit it is important to meet press and encourage them to visit your stand or your hospitality. It is so critical that press sees the efforts your institution has put in this event and this would aid in getting coverage
8) Media Planning: clever media planning including outdoor locations across the venue and also at the airport does increase your brands profile during the event. Spend optimum but ensure you dominate the space. Play hard with your planning and buying team
9) Key elements on measuring Return on Investment: The numerous times press speak about your brand, press mentions, TV Coverage’s and scheduled interviews coupled with your own marketing efforts ensure
10) Briefings: Always have briefing sessions with the entire team if possible twice a day to ensure things are as planned. Technology helps but it is better to carry a walkie talkie too. This will also cut on telephone bills and you may not be sitting across your finance manager explaining each call post the event
Phase 3 – Post event wrap up
1) External : Make sure you budget for at least one last burst of adverting thanking all your patrons and customers during the event
2) Internal: Budget in any rewards based on HR policies to the team which worked on the project and also few mementos
3) Event Report: Before you get on to that next project always ensure to document all the learning’s and significant reminder points to management and also to your team which will be a handy referral for the coming yearWe managed to win an award as the best marketing campaign in financial category for that event and I am sure following these learning’s would be quite helpful to most of you
Good Luck
We need to look at sponsorship in three phases. Phase 1 being the pre event phase, Phase 2 is during the event and Phase 3 being the post event engagement and wrap up
Phase 1 – Pre Event
1) Art of negotiation: It is very important to know the entitlement of the sponsorship. If it is main or title sponsor the effort in changing the name of the sports event and ensuring our brands presence is indeed herculean. But then what matters most for all publicity is the titles name which gets registered through communication exercises during the build up and during the event 2) Documentation: The preparation for marketing the event normally should start at least five months prior to the event and should have a dedicated team who also handles this event in addition to their day job. Regular updates to senior management on the progress is critical and the best is to have a activity based tracker with clear time lines and responsibilities. Plan your work and Work your plan it is so critical to stick to the tracker.
3) Focus on benefits: If the sponsorship is cascaded from the top which normally is always a case try not to un-sell it. Look at it from a macro perspective to the institution. There are several messages which the brand wishes to communicate through event or sports sponsorships. It may vary from supporting to a cause to supporting players to demonstrating commitment of presence in a specific country or region.
4) Stake holder meeting: It is very important to get to meet all the key stake holders within the institution to map their expectations to the sponsorship. Most of the times it may not be favorable in such avenues it helps to meet their teams to decipher their business objectives which will aid in tying up all the loose ends to write a communication brief
5) Budgets: This is the most difficult part being at the clients end. It is very important to sell the idea of running a cohesive and consistent messaging parallel to the sports event before and during the event to leverage on sponsorships. Always ensure to plan for extra pair of hands as support staff, for food & beverages, check on any VVIP guests who may land in to your stand/kiosk and seek advice on any preferred menu coupled with the regular marketing communications costs within the environment
6) Communication brief: The most difficult job for any marketer to draft a communication brief which would ensure it sells. It is always ideal to look out for specialized agencies which excel in sports communication. The best hook to convince your management is to focus on the sponsorship money and also the proposed marketing budget coupled with business expectations and negotiate your way to invite for a agency pitch. This is never a happy situation for the existing agency but it helps to communicate it upfront and also getting your senior management assure them that the ongoing or future projects will be business as usual with the incumbent agency.
7) Key Proposition: it is always easy to get carried away on propositions. Think out of the box and use clever messaging to integrate the sport with the DNA of your brand. Advertising must sell and it is so critical to map business expectations in the brief. Almost any sport delivers on winning, camaraderie and integrity which in most of the cases is one of the core values of any brand.
8) Internal Stake holders: The biggest critiques for marketing are within. Always factor in internal customer engagement to the sponsorship and work on a calendar to connect to them on list of activities or just a heads up communiqué.
9) Timing : The timing of the communication campaign is critical as there may be resistance from the organizers themselves who are emotional about their equity. The time for customer recruitment and on board experience needs to be factored in if the promotion is hinged on giving away tickets based on consumption
10) Publicity: it is very important to control the publicity to the sponsorship as future brand trackers are hinged on the coverage the brand gets to derive from this association. The best is to integrate PR to your team and work closely with themPhase
2 – During the event
1) On ground Kiosk: No matter how much planning one gets in this somehow seems to be a last minute hiccup project. Make sure the contractor inspects the site/location weeks before and all elements like sun light, possibility of rain, sand storm etc., are factored in while designing the kiosk/stand and there is enough storage facilities for marketing collaterals
2) Protocol: Always ensure you have staff or help in hand who would look at meeter/greeter of senior management visiting the stand or the event. If you can get a list of senior delegates visiting your stand based on the protocol ensure you get the necessary give aways. It is important to remember the best onboard experience is recalled always
3) Schedule of events: Always get the activity schedule from the organizers and ensure to communicate this to your internal customers and also to all senior management. Make sure you retain a copy with you as the project in charge you are always on the guard
4) Distribution of tickets: Perhaps the most tricky area of any event sponsorship. It is very important to get senior management buy in on ticket distribution and also ensuring a robust ticket disbursement process. As a marketing contact you are not only expected to promote it externally but also ensure that your area of seats are not empty during the sports event
5) Television Cameras: This is of great significance. It is very important to get few archive televised matches to see how the camera is angled and how they cover players and the stands. If it is in open area like Golf where the players are in motion then the emphasis is always on the angle at which they capture the players. “A” Board placement along with any banners of the brand is of utmost importance.
6) Plan for contingency: Always ensure you have a vehicle parked at your disposal at all times during the event. You never know what you require in the last minute
7) Meet the press: though this is always your PR managers remit it is important to meet press and encourage them to visit your stand or your hospitality. It is so critical that press sees the efforts your institution has put in this event and this would aid in getting coverage
8) Media Planning: clever media planning including outdoor locations across the venue and also at the airport does increase your brands profile during the event. Spend optimum but ensure you dominate the space. Play hard with your planning and buying team
9) Key elements on measuring Return on Investment: The numerous times press speak about your brand, press mentions, TV Coverage’s and scheduled interviews coupled with your own marketing efforts ensure
10) Briefings: Always have briefing sessions with the entire team if possible twice a day to ensure things are as planned. Technology helps but it is better to carry a walkie talkie too. This will also cut on telephone bills and you may not be sitting across your finance manager explaining each call post the event
Phase 3 – Post event wrap up
1) External : Make sure you budget for at least one last burst of adverting thanking all your patrons and customers during the event
2) Internal: Budget in any rewards based on HR policies to the team which worked on the project and also few mementos
3) Event Report: Before you get on to that next project always ensure to document all the learning’s and significant reminder points to management and also to your team which will be a handy referral for the coming yearWe managed to win an award as the best marketing campaign in financial category for that event and I am sure following these learning’s would be quite helpful to most of you
Good Luck
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Internal Communications
Employees have more to do with the success of a brand as most of today's employees are well educated, have higher expectations on the brand they work for. Considering the work place of today which is longer work hours, greater work stress and the recent addition of redundancies, a robust internal engagement plan is critical for the long term success of any brand.
Based on my experience institutions which have open door policy have managed to create an atmosphere of respect and integrity for all employees. Internal communications should not always be on new sales incentives or new product propositions or organizational wide announcements.
Internal communications is all about evolving a organizational culture which is in sync with the brand. Few of the best internal communication/engagement principles which I have encountered at my work
1) Top Down : Meet the CEO Programme - where the CEO or the business head holds and 'open house' in his office and employees are invited to speak with the CEO/Business Head about any thing - suggestions, complaints, concerns.
2) Employee Publications: Unfortunately most newsletters or internal publications are unexciting. As marketers one key constraint we face is on budgets. Since we are in the last quarter provision it during the annual budgets may reduce the annoyance levels. One observation being printed newsletters have little or no recall value and the OTS ( Opportunity To See) is minimal as employees seldom read them. Few methods of tackling them is a e-newsletter with hyperlinks which would give us more accurate data on the time spent and bundling it with few of our credit card offers which would be exclusive to our staff
3) Market Flash: Often during the all important weekly review meeting, we face awkward moments with sales heads on marketing collaterals and also on competition. A regular market flash update to all front end branch staff - this should be every week - may be on a Monday morning highlighting last weeks competitive activity and their SWOT and analyzing it with our products. This will give greater comfort and confidence to front end as we form a critical means of cascading the knowledge
4) Internal Branding: Launch of a new campaign, or a new product or a new initiative to be shared with staff first prior the release. Though this may not be welcomed by business citing competition - a day prior to the launch may be able get their buy in. This is critical as majority of the concerns being awareness of the product or campaign within the institution. Let them live the customer experience to understand what the customers will be offered
It is critical for senior managers to meet and get to know people who are working for them. Though we live in a technology era , employees want personal contact with the managers. Getting the management buy in will be a cornerstone for effective internal communication programme
Based on my experience institutions which have open door policy have managed to create an atmosphere of respect and integrity for all employees. Internal communications should not always be on new sales incentives or new product propositions or organizational wide announcements.
Internal communications is all about evolving a organizational culture which is in sync with the brand. Few of the best internal communication/engagement principles which I have encountered at my work
1) Top Down : Meet the CEO Programme - where the CEO or the business head holds and 'open house' in his office and employees are invited to speak with the CEO/Business Head about any thing - suggestions, complaints, concerns.
2) Employee Publications: Unfortunately most newsletters or internal publications are unexciting. As marketers one key constraint we face is on budgets. Since we are in the last quarter provision it during the annual budgets may reduce the annoyance levels. One observation being printed newsletters have little or no recall value and the OTS ( Opportunity To See) is minimal as employees seldom read them. Few methods of tackling them is a e-newsletter with hyperlinks which would give us more accurate data on the time spent and bundling it with few of our credit card offers which would be exclusive to our staff
3) Market Flash: Often during the all important weekly review meeting, we face awkward moments with sales heads on marketing collaterals and also on competition. A regular market flash update to all front end branch staff - this should be every week - may be on a Monday morning highlighting last weeks competitive activity and their SWOT and analyzing it with our products. This will give greater comfort and confidence to front end as we form a critical means of cascading the knowledge
4) Internal Branding: Launch of a new campaign, or a new product or a new initiative to be shared with staff first prior the release. Though this may not be welcomed by business citing competition - a day prior to the launch may be able get their buy in. This is critical as majority of the concerns being awareness of the product or campaign within the institution. Let them live the customer experience to understand what the customers will be offered
It is critical for senior managers to meet and get to know people who are working for them. Though we live in a technology era , employees want personal contact with the managers. Getting the management buy in will be a cornerstone for effective internal communication programme
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Managing Return On Investment (ROI)
Meeting head hunters once in a while is critical as they reflect the changing trend in the industry. In one of my conversation the lady asked me more about my job at the bank.
It was more of a dialogue and I feel I need to place it on record - this is similar to the dilemma I faced when I was a Account Manager for a large ad agency in Mumbai, India
Do you design products? - Not really that’s is the Product Development team
Do you set the business goals - nope that’s the business call
Do you control the customer service? - That is the service quality department
Do you manage communications? - yep we do - we manage communications in sync with the set business goals and ensure the designed products are bonded with our customers.
We manage the tone of messaging and also ensure we obtain Return on Marketing Investment
It is a tough job more because business owners, guard the marketing budgets and run their business like SBU’s and is impossible to poach this without being stung hard. The management always toes in line with Business more to the fact that they contribute to the companies bottom line
My belief always is that if you cant measure the budgets then you cant manage it. My sincere thanks to my previous line manager who was looking at the regional marketing portfolio and also to prudence of UAE’s consumer head, Return On Investment (ROI) was a mantra which was followed through out every campaign
Few steps which I faced and how I managed to overcome
1) Buy in - It is critical to have business units buy in as you are seeking to manage their business money and also to control it. We need to be able to demonstrate greater value and exhibit greater confidence that Marketing can deliver on the value proposition. In this testing times where marketing dollars are cut and people are made redundant it is important to demonstrate discipline in expenses and also show case marketing initiatives which will reduce expenses and get greater buy in from business
I recall how Balance Score Card team was struggling with the staff few years ago and how the entire bank came to terms with it. More because of the Head of Business concurred to it. It is important to have senior management buy in to move forward. However, the first step is to speak with business heads and cascade up
2) Agree on a matrix - not all marketing expenses can be measured and especially for credit cards where the life cycle of products vary and justification for US$10 a piece welcome pack is important as the customer needs to go through the experience and spend - ideally two different sets of expense matrix is ideal one for cards and one for other business units. Since the budgets are annual - the campaign effectiveness ROI can be measured over long term. This may counter any arguments from product units.
3) Manage Vintage - Post every campaign - track the call center volumes and also the leads to the sales team and manage the matrix with product teams. We are catalysts for their success and hence it is important for them in the long run to partner with us. We can then arrive at effective media mix, budgets for both internal and external customer engagement which will be proven effective. Bankers love numbers and if we back them with clear cost savings and value for money - this winning matrix will have greater shelf life
It was more of a dialogue and I feel I need to place it on record - this is similar to the dilemma I faced when I was a Account Manager for a large ad agency in Mumbai, India
Do you design products? - Not really that’s is the Product Development team
Do you set the business goals - nope that’s the business call
Do you control the customer service? - That is the service quality department
Do you manage communications? - yep we do - we manage communications in sync with the set business goals and ensure the designed products are bonded with our customers.
We manage the tone of messaging and also ensure we obtain Return on Marketing Investment
It is a tough job more because business owners, guard the marketing budgets and run their business like SBU’s and is impossible to poach this without being stung hard. The management always toes in line with Business more to the fact that they contribute to the companies bottom line
My belief always is that if you cant measure the budgets then you cant manage it. My sincere thanks to my previous line manager who was looking at the regional marketing portfolio and also to prudence of UAE’s consumer head, Return On Investment (ROI) was a mantra which was followed through out every campaign
Few steps which I faced and how I managed to overcome
1) Buy in - It is critical to have business units buy in as you are seeking to manage their business money and also to control it. We need to be able to demonstrate greater value and exhibit greater confidence that Marketing can deliver on the value proposition. In this testing times where marketing dollars are cut and people are made redundant it is important to demonstrate discipline in expenses and also show case marketing initiatives which will reduce expenses and get greater buy in from business
I recall how Balance Score Card team was struggling with the staff few years ago and how the entire bank came to terms with it. More because of the Head of Business concurred to it. It is important to have senior management buy in to move forward. However, the first step is to speak with business heads and cascade up
2) Agree on a matrix - not all marketing expenses can be measured and especially for credit cards where the life cycle of products vary and justification for US$10 a piece welcome pack is important as the customer needs to go through the experience and spend - ideally two different sets of expense matrix is ideal one for cards and one for other business units. Since the budgets are annual - the campaign effectiveness ROI can be measured over long term. This may counter any arguments from product units.
3) Manage Vintage - Post every campaign - track the call center volumes and also the leads to the sales team and manage the matrix with product teams. We are catalysts for their success and hence it is important for them in the long run to partner with us. We can then arrive at effective media mix, budgets for both internal and external customer engagement which will be proven effective. Bankers love numbers and if we back them with clear cost savings and value for money - this winning matrix will have greater shelf life
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
My Encounter with Terror
To experience real India you need to travel by train and so I did with my four year old last month. The journey was a 14 hour trip from my home town to the states capital.( Mind you, this journey should not be construed as an austerity drive by Federal Finance Minister of India)
I reached my seat bidding farewell to my parents and noticed a suspicious looking brown bag unattended in the same coupe. As the train gained momentum I got more anxious and alerted the official. With his experience in Indian railways the grey haired ticket collector advised me to stay calm and assured owners sight
Moments passed and to safe guard my four year old’s life along with mine I moved to the farther end of the compartment recalling horror images I witnessed on TV and also realized some times, lives of people hinge on attentiveness of other. Fatalities can never be undone and hence I was pressing for immediate action over the unclaimed, unattended, suspicions brown bag.
The conductor walked towards the bag and opened only to announce that there four steel boxes inside the bag wrapped in plastic. Panic then gripped my fellow passengers as the train was in motion and nothing can be done to fix it. We sought the help of a stick wielding police men who was brave enough to pick the bag and drop it at the washroom and closed all the doors to our compartment as a precaution. He reasoned that should there be a remote with a passenger it may not detect as the door is closed. Believe we had to do with him because we had to stay optimistic.
I called few friends and alerted them my coach number and the trains name just in case.
Most of us did advise the conductor and the policemen to throw the bag from the train but they did not heed to our pleas as they reasoned that it may contain something valuable and that they would prefer to hand it to the next stations manager
There was no means to alert the next station about the ordeal we are going through .Thank fully as the next station approached, my co-passenger walked in to claim for the bag and also clarified about the steel boxes having dinner for his parents who were travelling in the next compartment
I can say those were the torturous 90 minutes of my life brushing with terror. Am I prepared? Ahem not really
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Art of War
In the middle of the night yesterday, my spouse woke me with an update that she could hear footsteps and that she suspected we had an intruder at home.
Being the only male member (my four years old is in India now enjoying his vacations) at our home I had to pull up all my courage and decided to inspect my home. As I was taking careful tip toe steps towards the dark corridor I was recollecting those action strokes from kung fu panda film – just in case should I encounter someone I can pass a kick or two.
I was convinced by the sheer panicky tone of my spouse on the presence of intruder and hence deep inside I was also calculating my exit plans – should I give up or should I take a strategic position and wait in darkness or should I engage the intruder and call for help or should I go aggressive and switch on lights and announce to the intruder that it’s time to show up and that the game’s over?
The episode made me recall reading a few lines of the art of war way back in my earlier days at work and hence could not recall any moves. However one statement lies very close to my heart and I believe it is so relevant in the corporate world: ‘All warfare is based on deception. If your enemy is superior, evade him. If angry, irritate him. If equally matched, fight and if not: split and re-evaluate’
After 15 minute of thorough search, I realized it was a false alarm and that my spouse was affected by an overdose of reality shows on the television.
Though I would love to express my views on these reality shows as a marketer I support all these channels because they are trying to get more ratings to their programmes, aiming at more viewership and since the advertisers are guaranteed more viewers and hence the returns on investment measures well.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Brand Choice
It has been almost two weeks since we left our four year old at my parent’s home in India- two reasons triggered this – the hot and humid climate in this part of the world and an ideal opportunity to connect my parents with their grandchild emotionally
As humans we are powered by emotions and not by logic and this is the attribute we marketers use to connect with consumers - As we know emotions lead to action.
So what drives emotions - may be the endorsements or the way it is communicated would trigger them. Endorsements can come from close friends, co-workers or anyone who influences your life.
Then why do we buy brands? May be to fulfill our emotional needs – advertising creates the right to chose and the brands tend to promote a product through experience - an emotional connection is therefore formed
I strongly believe it is the emotional connect which would go a long way in a brand choice.
Financial institutions do not connect emotionally to consumers but are always rational, for we in marketing assume our target group is well informed, astute and number savvy hence, emotional route will not work. Of the top 100 brands globally only seven financial brands made it in the list considering that almost half of world population would have experienced a bank in some form or the other.
Our industry is unique – a product can be rolled out from the assembly line within 24 hours – product extensions, product innovations are possible at short notices – and then it is up to the creative agencies to spin an acceptable proposition for our target consumers to decipher, accept and consume the product.
You can promote a carbonated brand quickly and can consume it, at the same pace but banks have the target group captive for life – this means constant customer engagement, cohesive communication across touch points and innovation will earn the emotional respect and affection.
An ideal brand engagement for a bank should consider this and work on the above
As humans we are powered by emotions and not by logic and this is the attribute we marketers use to connect with consumers - As we know emotions lead to action.
So what drives emotions - may be the endorsements or the way it is communicated would trigger them. Endorsements can come from close friends, co-workers or anyone who influences your life.
Then why do we buy brands? May be to fulfill our emotional needs – advertising creates the right to chose and the brands tend to promote a product through experience - an emotional connection is therefore formed
I strongly believe it is the emotional connect which would go a long way in a brand choice.
Financial institutions do not connect emotionally to consumers but are always rational, for we in marketing assume our target group is well informed, astute and number savvy hence, emotional route will not work. Of the top 100 brands globally only seven financial brands made it in the list considering that almost half of world population would have experienced a bank in some form or the other.
Our industry is unique – a product can be rolled out from the assembly line within 24 hours – product extensions, product innovations are possible at short notices – and then it is up to the creative agencies to spin an acceptable proposition for our target consumers to decipher, accept and consume the product.
You can promote a carbonated brand quickly and can consume it, at the same pace but banks have the target group captive for life – this means constant customer engagement, cohesive communication across touch points and innovation will earn the emotional respect and affection.
An ideal brand engagement for a bank should consider this and work on the above
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Ideal Work Place
A close friend and a critique went for an interview and was referring to an interviewers question about her ideal work place. Considering that I have worked in advertising agencies to more serious corporates (banks), thought it is a good idea to carry it on.
There are many metaphors for workplace. My first work place was like a family – very well connected - and still connected through Facebook
Most of the creative agencies are like college days. Optimistic, full of life, and no back pack egos – unlike the corporate world
My previous bank was more like a strategic design unit in an automobile manufacturing company where every individual is well oiled (informed), thorough in their field and people worked together in sync to perform their tasks. It is one of the best in the country even till date and it is synonymous for product innovation in UAE. It has many firsts to its credit
An ideal work place is the one which
• Allows innovation and is believed from top down
• Inspires people to bring the best
• Supports and promotes camaraderie at work
• Snubs nepotism
I am lucky to have worked in one in my earlier stints and positive best brands roll out from the best work places as, it is the people who create a brand from their positivity and the environment.
There are many metaphors for workplace. My first work place was like a family – very well connected - and still connected through Facebook
Most of the creative agencies are like college days. Optimistic, full of life, and no back pack egos – unlike the corporate world
My previous bank was more like a strategic design unit in an automobile manufacturing company where every individual is well oiled (informed), thorough in their field and people worked together in sync to perform their tasks. It is one of the best in the country even till date and it is synonymous for product innovation in UAE. It has many firsts to its credit
An ideal work place is the one which
• Allows innovation and is believed from top down
• Inspires people to bring the best
• Supports and promotes camaraderie at work
• Snubs nepotism
I am lucky to have worked in one in my earlier stints and positive best brands roll out from the best work places as, it is the people who create a brand from their positivity and the environment.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Cost of Independence
During my flight from Chennai to Visakhapatnam (India) last month was going through a business magazine and came through Subhiksha. Subhiksha - an Indian retail chain with 1600 outlets selling groceries, fruits, vegetables, medicines and mobile phones. It was started and is managed by an IIM A alumnus. However, due to ambitious plans and liquidity squeeze Subhiksha shut down several stores across India. The founder wanted greater stake in equity and due to the debt squeeze and the payment cycles he had no option but to let his dream off the shelves
Even the third largest UK Bank had to succumb to a Middle Eastern bail-out last November giving the investors a significant downside protection. The result being that last month the investors sold their stake for a whopping 2 Billion$ profit making the shares dive southwards for no fault of the bank’s performance.
These are testing times for corporates across the globe and with rigid lending by banks it is interesting to see the rest of the year would unfold
Even the third largest UK Bank had to succumb to a Middle Eastern bail-out last November giving the investors a significant downside protection. The result being that last month the investors sold their stake for a whopping 2 Billion$ profit making the shares dive southwards for no fault of the bank’s performance.
These are testing times for corporates across the globe and with rigid lending by banks it is interesting to see the rest of the year would unfold
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Long Live Ambition
The spillover from the subprime mortgage crisis is weakening both consumer confidence and the consumer spending—much of it on credit—that has been buoying the U.S. economy and it did wrap the globe
The worst hit during this time are marketers and advertising agencies because almost all the corporates believe in conserving capital and they consider marketing as an expense
As marketers we are so often faced with the dilemma of having to cut advertising in times of economic softness and I wish to highlight how one bank capitalized to enhance their brand with ‘Long Live Ambition’ campaign. The campaign is well executed right from target profiling to media vehicles to messaging. A powerful and inspiring statement which will go long way in building positive image about their brand
My colleagues and fellow bankers did criticize their timing however, in the current economic scenario where there are advertising budgetary cuts, uncertain consumers do need the reassurance and positivity of known brands. The highway from Dubai to Abu Dhabi is painted with their brand and for someone who is entering Abu Dhabi this campaign gives a strong message of positivity.
As said by Kotler and many eminent marketing gurus – successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession: they adopt them – Long Live Ambition
The worst hit during this time are marketers and advertising agencies because almost all the corporates believe in conserving capital and they consider marketing as an expense
As marketers we are so often faced with the dilemma of having to cut advertising in times of economic softness and I wish to highlight how one bank capitalized to enhance their brand with ‘Long Live Ambition’ campaign. The campaign is well executed right from target profiling to media vehicles to messaging. A powerful and inspiring statement which will go long way in building positive image about their brand
My colleagues and fellow bankers did criticize their timing however, in the current economic scenario where there are advertising budgetary cuts, uncertain consumers do need the reassurance and positivity of known brands. The highway from Dubai to Abu Dhabi is painted with their brand and for someone who is entering Abu Dhabi this campaign gives a strong message of positivity.
As said by Kotler and many eminent marketing gurus – successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession: they adopt them – Long Live Ambition
Friday, May 29, 2009
From Pink Champagne to Pink Slip
This is a story of Shah who worked in a large global bank
Year 2006, Date 10 August: Shah was busy giving instructions to his team when he received a call from his mentor asking him to pack up and leave for Dubai within a week
Reason, the big boss moved to a large global bank as a regional chief and he was hand picked for a regional marketing role
Heart in heart though he is happy he was nervous of the prospect of handling regional role as he knows his inherent weakness. His basics in banking are questionable let alone leading a team his knowledge on banking is quite basic. However, his strength always has been his faithfulness to his mentor and doing every thing blind folded. He survived for so long because of his mentors blessings and all the work associated blunders were ignored because he is the blue eyed boy of Mr. Ali.
He thought of this offer and after a long thought picked the phone to call Ali Saab in Dubai. “You will have a team working under you and all you need is to delegate and control them. The whole world is at your call and you will be handling 20 odd emerging markets. Budgets, head counts, you name it you will have them. I will instruct the HR to chose a good working team for you” Reassured Ali Saab
Year 2006, Date 2 September: Shah moved to Dubai in a new swanky office. As assured he managed to get the best team in the city and within six months they launched the banks operations in the country. Success, fame and appreciations flooded Shah from all over. He moved from one country to another and managed to launch operations.
The bank took great care of Shah. He flew only Business and only in select few for air miles, drove a 7 series luxury car, preferred only Pink Champagne. Hype and pompous treatment to senior heads was his mantra of success
Year 2008, Date 20 October: Ali saab and the big boss were given ten minutes to vacate the offices. Within two weeks Shah was given the pink slip as well
Morale: Road to success is a long drive and short cuts and god fathers may lead you to pink but is short term. Dedication, hard work and knowledge will endure. God Bless!
Year 2006, Date 10 August: Shah was busy giving instructions to his team when he received a call from his mentor asking him to pack up and leave for Dubai within a week
Reason, the big boss moved to a large global bank as a regional chief and he was hand picked for a regional marketing role
Heart in heart though he is happy he was nervous of the prospect of handling regional role as he knows his inherent weakness. His basics in banking are questionable let alone leading a team his knowledge on banking is quite basic. However, his strength always has been his faithfulness to his mentor and doing every thing blind folded. He survived for so long because of his mentors blessings and all the work associated blunders were ignored because he is the blue eyed boy of Mr. Ali.
He thought of this offer and after a long thought picked the phone to call Ali Saab in Dubai. “You will have a team working under you and all you need is to delegate and control them. The whole world is at your call and you will be handling 20 odd emerging markets. Budgets, head counts, you name it you will have them. I will instruct the HR to chose a good working team for you” Reassured Ali Saab
Year 2006, Date 2 September: Shah moved to Dubai in a new swanky office. As assured he managed to get the best team in the city and within six months they launched the banks operations in the country. Success, fame and appreciations flooded Shah from all over. He moved from one country to another and managed to launch operations.
The bank took great care of Shah. He flew only Business and only in select few for air miles, drove a 7 series luxury car, preferred only Pink Champagne. Hype and pompous treatment to senior heads was his mantra of success
Year 2008, Date 20 October: Ali saab and the big boss were given ten minutes to vacate the offices. Within two weeks Shah was given the pink slip as well
Morale: Road to success is a long drive and short cuts and god fathers may lead you to pink but is short term. Dedication, hard work and knowledge will endure. God Bless!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Gonga – A Short Story
Last week was in India for a short three day visit and was travelling from Mumbai to a small dusty village in south east part of Maharashtra. The journey was long but thank fully we had company of relatives along with their kids so everyone was occupied.
We stopped by a small restaurant for lunch. Being vegans most of the Indians prefer home food and we are one of them. We requested the restaurant owner to permit us to use their space and maybe it’s the good Samaritan in him or the winning congress for the federal elections that day he was happy to accommodate.
We requested for water and kids and women had their set of tantrums at the restaurant. We happened to be served by Gonga – a very happy smiling young lad who could not speak or could not understand our requests and hence we relied on sign language for water and spoons etc.,
What is remarkable is at the 2:45 pm on a hot summer day without the so called air conditioners and fans; Gonga was sporting his trade mark smile. He was yet to have his lunch too. Cheerful at every request he ensured there was no room for complaint. He was entertaining our kids and was serving us with passion – he lives across the road with his family and he supports his parents.
What is remarkable is the passion with which he was at his work under difficult work environments and sporting a positive smile and serving patrons who vary from a truck driver to a farmer to uninvited guests like us.
Most of the consumer research points out to service as a key differentiator and attribute for consumer behavior in service industry and Gonga’s dedication and his passion at work would definitely be a good case study for many of us who complain about everything from operations to sales to competition for our very own lack of service
We stopped by a small restaurant for lunch. Being vegans most of the Indians prefer home food and we are one of them. We requested the restaurant owner to permit us to use their space and maybe it’s the good Samaritan in him or the winning congress for the federal elections that day he was happy to accommodate.
We requested for water and kids and women had their set of tantrums at the restaurant. We happened to be served by Gonga – a very happy smiling young lad who could not speak or could not understand our requests and hence we relied on sign language for water and spoons etc.,
What is remarkable is at the 2:45 pm on a hot summer day without the so called air conditioners and fans; Gonga was sporting his trade mark smile. He was yet to have his lunch too. Cheerful at every request he ensured there was no room for complaint. He was entertaining our kids and was serving us with passion – he lives across the road with his family and he supports his parents.
What is remarkable is the passion with which he was at his work under difficult work environments and sporting a positive smile and serving patrons who vary from a truck driver to a farmer to uninvited guests like us.
Most of the consumer research points out to service as a key differentiator and attribute for consumer behavior in service industry and Gonga’s dedication and his passion at work would definitely be a good case study for many of us who complain about everything from operations to sales to competition for our very own lack of service
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Expatriate Life
Like most of my friends around me I am also an expatriate living out of my native country and making a living here. We all come to this place planning over a three year window and making promises to ourselves that we will return once we are done with the contract. But then contracts and jobs change and we get used to the unbearable summer (sometimes touching 50 degrees) and the hostile neighborhood. Our kids grow here and we realize as they grow up that we are missing our roots back home.
There are many reports across global media screaming that Dubai is all but, over but then as a marketer I believe publicity is a price which every nation pays. Dubai and UAE has witnessed tremendous growth over the years in the region and the land scape changes once every year. New flyovers, new roads and new transport systems are planned and executed for greater comfort of people working here. This is one country which I strongly believe should be an ideal role model. The leaders work towards the development of their country, patriotism is high amongst the citizens of this place coupled with hands on rulers who drive this country. What we lack as a country in terms of good governance and human resources development turns out to be their key focus. Because of the strategic location this country is also the Middle East Shangri-La.
As an expat we get the opportunity of working on greater landscape and looking at countries across the region. The working culture differs from our native countries, we tend be putting on more working hours to ensure we deliver on our objectives. Since the economy is tax free the conversion of our local currency to our native currency is what drives all of us to stay here apart from convenience and a better life style.
What we miss would be our families get together, weddings, functions et al., we miss connecting with our relatives and friends and spending weekends with them. Our kids miss their grandparents love and warmth apart from getting connected to our roots. They also miss the hard ships we went through like catching a city bus to go to our school, or cycling to schools and also they miss the freedom we had while we were kids – we were left almost un attended in a large play ground but here due to paucity of space and traffic around the number of parks and play grounds are limited. They also miss our unofficial national sport – Cricket which is played in every nook and corner of our country they also miss the flavor of our country – different climates, different languages, many festivals and many holidays too.
We get entangled in this vicious loop of better life style, greater comforts, money conversions and post some time it’s the kids who resist the idea of going back since they consider this place more of their home.
When is a right time to go back? Interesting though but even after nine years of my stay here I have no answer – (unless I am made redundant now in my current job)
There are many reports across global media screaming that Dubai is all but, over but then as a marketer I believe publicity is a price which every nation pays. Dubai and UAE has witnessed tremendous growth over the years in the region and the land scape changes once every year. New flyovers, new roads and new transport systems are planned and executed for greater comfort of people working here. This is one country which I strongly believe should be an ideal role model. The leaders work towards the development of their country, patriotism is high amongst the citizens of this place coupled with hands on rulers who drive this country. What we lack as a country in terms of good governance and human resources development turns out to be their key focus. Because of the strategic location this country is also the Middle East Shangri-La.
As an expat we get the opportunity of working on greater landscape and looking at countries across the region. The working culture differs from our native countries, we tend be putting on more working hours to ensure we deliver on our objectives. Since the economy is tax free the conversion of our local currency to our native currency is what drives all of us to stay here apart from convenience and a better life style.
What we miss would be our families get together, weddings, functions et al., we miss connecting with our relatives and friends and spending weekends with them. Our kids miss their grandparents love and warmth apart from getting connected to our roots. They also miss the hard ships we went through like catching a city bus to go to our school, or cycling to schools and also they miss the freedom we had while we were kids – we were left almost un attended in a large play ground but here due to paucity of space and traffic around the number of parks and play grounds are limited. They also miss our unofficial national sport – Cricket which is played in every nook and corner of our country they also miss the flavor of our country – different climates, different languages, many festivals and many holidays too.
We get entangled in this vicious loop of better life style, greater comforts, money conversions and post some time it’s the kids who resist the idea of going back since they consider this place more of their home.
When is a right time to go back? Interesting though but even after nine years of my stay here I have no answer – (unless I am made redundant now in my current job)
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Kitty Parties
Continuation of a passion is indeed time consuming and also needs extra bit of resources in terms of generating new stories. I am referring to my passion of blogging and I realized last month my blog counter was just one.
I can attribute it to two reasons was busy at home and hence couldn’t devote the time and the second being I was running out of ideas.
Like an investigative journalist I looked around and stumbled upon this topic.
By definition kitties are meant for women from all walks of life who get together at a common place once a month and often it does involve old system of a monthly draw where the winner takes the kitty (money saved – where each member contributes a fixed amount to the kitty and one winner takes it all once a month, or week subject to the quantum of people)
It is important though to note this group of people have exhibit DNA of trust - something very critical for any bank They trust in each other and save money – they even have a treasurer, they have their own entertainment expenses and also they seek avenues to detox themselves.
I believe the corporate world should pick a lesson or two from this. The women here speak their heart and there is no protocols involved, there is always an open channel of communication and they are transparent in their communication.
Blings exist but this can be perceived as special promotion in a corporate life. They wish to showcase their and their spouse’s success and they also are a useful network for marketers who spend millions to get their buy in. One endorsement from one of the women on a specific product or service and the rest follow suit.
These women are quite articulate and also they are even successful entrepreneurs. Enterprism the
Art of creating opportunities and developing them is high on their radar.
It is a myth that women form opinions and they refuse to accept logical facts. They are shrewd when it comes to professional / personal associations and I had an opportunity of working with a women entrepreneur who had her own successful advertising agency in Dubai.
She was intelligent, very shrewd had strong business acumen, good at delegating and developing some successful advertising campaigns. She still handles some big brands communication needs
Often it was frustrating working as some times in a client meeting the topics suddenly divert but I believe this is a very good management technique of handling difficult clients. To gain faith and trust you need to open up the channels of communication (or say the Johari Window*)
Most of the today’s management issues revolve around interpersonal communication and the best technique is to adopt the kitty style – network, meet once a month in a non work environment and open up. It does help
( * Johari Window - Johari window is a cognitive psychological tool created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 in the United States, used to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships. It is used primarily in self-help groups and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise.)
I can attribute it to two reasons was busy at home and hence couldn’t devote the time and the second being I was running out of ideas.
Like an investigative journalist I looked around and stumbled upon this topic.
By definition kitties are meant for women from all walks of life who get together at a common place once a month and often it does involve old system of a monthly draw where the winner takes the kitty (money saved – where each member contributes a fixed amount to the kitty and one winner takes it all once a month, or week subject to the quantum of people)
It is important though to note this group of people have exhibit DNA of trust - something very critical for any bank They trust in each other and save money – they even have a treasurer, they have their own entertainment expenses and also they seek avenues to detox themselves.
I believe the corporate world should pick a lesson or two from this. The women here speak their heart and there is no protocols involved, there is always an open channel of communication and they are transparent in their communication.
Blings exist but this can be perceived as special promotion in a corporate life. They wish to showcase their and their spouse’s success and they also are a useful network for marketers who spend millions to get their buy in. One endorsement from one of the women on a specific product or service and the rest follow suit.
These women are quite articulate and also they are even successful entrepreneurs. Enterprism the
Art of creating opportunities and developing them is high on their radar.
It is a myth that women form opinions and they refuse to accept logical facts. They are shrewd when it comes to professional / personal associations and I had an opportunity of working with a women entrepreneur who had her own successful advertising agency in Dubai.
She was intelligent, very shrewd had strong business acumen, good at delegating and developing some successful advertising campaigns. She still handles some big brands communication needs
Often it was frustrating working as some times in a client meeting the topics suddenly divert but I believe this is a very good management technique of handling difficult clients. To gain faith and trust you need to open up the channels of communication (or say the Johari Window*)
Most of the today’s management issues revolve around interpersonal communication and the best technique is to adopt the kitty style – network, meet once a month in a non work environment and open up. It does help
( * Johari Window - Johari window is a cognitive psychological tool created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 in the United States, used to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships. It is used primarily in self-help groups and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise.)
Monday, April 20, 2009
New Financial Terms
A friend called me to enquire on what tier 2 capital is when there was a local news on that and I realized this is a very topical subject considering that the press world over is writing reams on these new financial terms
My attempt here is to relate to them in our day to day lives and link them for their meaning. If I missed any please do send me your feedback and I will ensure to add them
Liquidity Crunch: When you approach the gas station and realize you do not have cash and they do not accept the credit card and Murphy works at its best and the ATM is down. You surrender your driver’s license to the gas station manager for reprieve
Tier 1 Capital: A difficult mode of accessing funds. You tend to borrow funds from your spouse. Remember the statement your spouse resounds – my money is mine and your money is ours. It is so tough to break it and borrow money from her
Tier 2 Capital: This is the notional wealth you have and this, in almost all the cases is the in-laws wealth which you tend to accrue in your financial calculations. Never met anyone who managed to credit the Tier 2 Capital in his personal account
Toxic Assets: You offer soft loan to your close friend and he suddenly disappears. His mobile switched off and you end up taking the hit
Leveraged: You use up your share of monthly pocket money and borrow from your spouse with higher interest and settle it the following month leaving with no pocket money for that month
My attempt here is to relate to them in our day to day lives and link them for their meaning. If I missed any please do send me your feedback and I will ensure to add them
Liquidity Crunch: When you approach the gas station and realize you do not have cash and they do not accept the credit card and Murphy works at its best and the ATM is down. You surrender your driver’s license to the gas station manager for reprieve
Tier 1 Capital: A difficult mode of accessing funds. You tend to borrow funds from your spouse. Remember the statement your spouse resounds – my money is mine and your money is ours. It is so tough to break it and borrow money from her
Tier 2 Capital: This is the notional wealth you have and this, in almost all the cases is the in-laws wealth which you tend to accrue in your financial calculations. Never met anyone who managed to credit the Tier 2 Capital in his personal account
Toxic Assets: You offer soft loan to your close friend and he suddenly disappears. His mobile switched off and you end up taking the hit
Leveraged: You use up your share of monthly pocket money and borrow from your spouse with higher interest and settle it the following month leaving with no pocket money for that month
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Quarter 1 2009 – Review
As we set towards another quarter, felt it is important to review quarter. At the beginning like millions even I waited anxiously for Obamania and hoped that he has a magic wand to wipe out the current financial tsunami.
I managed to go through many of the information web sites offering counseling on how to protect your job and I did follow few of the points – I started blogging – for starters I am not proficient and was skeptic , I also started teaching though to a very small group of people, I started writing press releases as well and interestingly at these times I must confess I managed to bounce back with more knowledge and more personal confidence should there be any eventuality – I can chose from a couple of back up professions
Now at the end of the quarter we got used to many facts including reduced traffic, scary front page reports on more layoffs, neighbors evacuating their flats either moving out or moving to another city, reduced communication amongst friends and a tensed cloud at work
There are elements my son triggered post his experiments with the play hammer and his encounter with the Lion king which makes this blog interesting for parents and parents to be
I spend more time with my son than I used to 10 days ago, we sit at the dining table and we have a family dinner and I tell stories to my son and I know this increases visualization skills. Sure he may fetch a job as a story teller or a visualiser in any advertising agency with the information dump at the dinner table every evening
His quest of information seems to be increasing and he seems to ask more probing questions few of them: Tell me why – does it not rain heavily? Tell me why – we cannot stand on the sea when the boats can; tell me why – you need to go to office though you get money from the ATM
We are reading more books and the information is cascaded to our little boy.
Though I am not trying to unsell television I am looking at so many positive elements associated without a TV at home.
I managed to go through many of the information web sites offering counseling on how to protect your job and I did follow few of the points – I started blogging – for starters I am not proficient and was skeptic , I also started teaching though to a very small group of people, I started writing press releases as well and interestingly at these times I must confess I managed to bounce back with more knowledge and more personal confidence should there be any eventuality – I can chose from a couple of back up professions
Now at the end of the quarter we got used to many facts including reduced traffic, scary front page reports on more layoffs, neighbors evacuating their flats either moving out or moving to another city, reduced communication amongst friends and a tensed cloud at work
There are elements my son triggered post his experiments with the play hammer and his encounter with the Lion king which makes this blog interesting for parents and parents to be
I spend more time with my son than I used to 10 days ago, we sit at the dining table and we have a family dinner and I tell stories to my son and I know this increases visualization skills. Sure he may fetch a job as a story teller or a visualiser in any advertising agency with the information dump at the dinner table every evening
His quest of information seems to be increasing and he seems to ask more probing questions few of them: Tell me why – does it not rain heavily? Tell me why – we cannot stand on the sea when the boats can; tell me why – you need to go to office though you get money from the ATM
We are reading more books and the information is cascaded to our little boy.
Though I am not trying to unsell television I am looking at so many positive elements associated without a TV at home.
Sports Sponsorships – Maximizing ROI
Sports sponsorship which integrates advertising, promotions, public relations and sales to reach and touch consumers started somewhere between 1970’s to 1980’s in the United States. I was fortunate to have worked with few sponsorship associations on the ground as a marketing contact for a financial institution and thought of articulating most of my learning’s through this avenue Considering that marketing is always a thank less job it is critical to have a robust plan and gear the team to excel in expectations both within and outside the institution.
We need to look at sponsorship in three phases. Phase 1 being the pre event phase, Phase 2 is during the event and Phase 3 being the post event engagement and wrap up
Phase 1 – Pre Event
1) Art of negotiation: It is very important to know the entitlement of the sponsorship. If it is main or title sponsor the effort in changing the name of the sports event and ensuring our brands presence is indeed herculean. But then what matters most for all publicity is the titles name which gets registered through communication exercises during the build up and during the event 2) Documentation: The preparation for marketing the event normally should start at least five months prior to the event and should have a dedicated team who also handles this event in addition to their day job. Regular updates to senior management on the progress is critical and the best is to have a activity based tracker with clear time lines and responsibilities. Plan your work and Work your plan it is so critical to stick to the tracker.
3) Focus on benefits: If the sponsorship is cascaded from the top which normally is always a case try not to un-sell it. Look at it from a macro perspective to the institution. There are several messages which the brand wishes to communicate through event or sports sponsorships. It may vary from supporting to a cause to supporting players to demonstrating commitment of presence in a specific country or region.
4) Stake holder meeting: It is very important to get to meet all the key stake holders within the institution to map their expectations to the sponsorship. Most of the times it may not be favorable in such avenues it helps to meet their teams to decipher their business objectives which will aid in tying up all the loose ends to write a communication brief
5) Budgets: This is the most difficult part being at the clients end. It is very important to sell the idea of running a cohesive and consistent messaging parallel to the sports event before and during the event to leverage on sponsorships. Always ensure to plan for extra pair of hands as support staff, for food & beverages, check on any VVIP guests who may land in to your stand/kiosk and seek advice on any preferred menu coupled with the regular marketing communications costs within the environment
6) Communication brief: The most difficult job for any marketer to draft a communication brief which would ensure it sells. It is always ideal to look out for specialized agencies which excel in sports communication. The best hook to convince your management is to focus on the sponsorship money and also the proposed marketing budget coupled with business expectations and negotiate your way to invite for a agency pitch. This is never a happy situation for the existing agency but it helps to communicate it upfront and also getting your senior management assure them that the ongoing or future projects will be business as usual with the incumbent agency.
7) Key Proposition: it is always easy to get carried away on propositions. Think out of the box and use clever messaging to integrate the sport with the DNA of your brand. Advertising must sell and it is so critical to map business expectations in the brief. Almost any sport delivers on winning, camaraderie and integrity which in most of the cases is one of the core values of any brand.
8) Internal Stake holders: The biggest critiques for marketing are within. Always factor in internal customer engagement to the sponsorship and work on a calendar to connect to them on list of activities or just a heads up communiqué.
9) Timing : The timing of the communication campaign is critical as there may be resistance from the organizers themselves who are emotional about their equity. The time for customer recruitment and on board experience needs to be factored in if the promotion is hinged on giving away tickets based on consumption
10) Publicity: it is very important to control the publicity to the sponsorship as future brand trackers are hinged on the coverage the brand gets to derive from this association. The best is to integrate PR to your team and work closely with themPhase
2 – During the event
1) On ground Kiosk: No matter how much planning one gets in this somehow seems to be a last minute hiccup project. Make sure the contractor inspects the site/location weeks before and all elements like sun light, possibility of rain, sand storm etc., are factored in while designing the kiosk/stand and there is enough storage facilities for marketing collaterals
2) Protocol: Always ensure you have staff or help in hand who would look at meeter/greeter of senior management visiting the stand or the event. If you can get a list of senior delegates visiting your stand based on the protocol ensure you get the necessary give aways. It is important to remember the best onboard experience is recalled always
3) Schedule of events: Always get the activity schedule from the organizers and ensure to communicate this to your internal customers and also to all senior management. Make sure you retain a copy with you as the project in charge you are always on the guard
4) Distribution of tickets: Perhaps the most tricky area of any event sponsorship. It is very important to get senior management buy in on ticket distribution and also ensuring a robust ticket disbursement process. As a marketing contact you are not only expected to promote it externally but also ensure that your area of seats are not empty during the sports event
5) Television Cameras: This is of great significance. It is very important to get few archive televised matches to see how the camera is angled and how they cover players and the stands. If it is in open area like Golf where the players are in motion then the emphasis is always on the angle at which they capture the players. “A” Board placement along with any banners of the brand is of utmost importance.
6) Plan for contingency: Always ensure you have a vehicle parked at your disposal at all times during the event. You never know what you require in the last minute
7) Meet the press: though this is always your PR managers remit it is important to meet press and encourage them to visit your stand or your hospitality. It is so critical that press sees the efforts your institution has put in this event and this would aid in getting coverage
8) Media Planning: clever media planning including outdoor locations across the venue and also at the airport does increase your brands profile during the event. Spend optimum but ensure you dominate the space. Play hard with your planning and buying team
9) Key elements on measuring Return on Investment: The numerous times press speak about your brand, press mentions, TV Coverage’s and scheduled interviews coupled with your own marketing efforts ensure
10) Briefings: Always have briefing sessions with the entire team if possible twice a day to ensure things are as planned. Technology helps but it is better to carry a walkie talkie too. This will also cut on telephone bills and you may not be sitting across your finance manager explaining each call post the event
Phase 3 – Post event wrap up
1) External : Make sure you budget for at least one last burst of adverting thanking all your patrons and customers during the event
2) Internal: Budget in any rewards based on HR policies to the team which worked on the project and also few mementos
3) Event Report: Before you get on to that next project always ensure to document all the learning’s and significant reminder points to management and also to your team which will be a handy referral for the coming yearWe managed to win an award as the best marketing campaign in financial category for that event and I am sure following these learning’s would be quite helpful to most of you
Good Luck
We need to look at sponsorship in three phases. Phase 1 being the pre event phase, Phase 2 is during the event and Phase 3 being the post event engagement and wrap up
Phase 1 – Pre Event
1) Art of negotiation: It is very important to know the entitlement of the sponsorship. If it is main or title sponsor the effort in changing the name of the sports event and ensuring our brands presence is indeed herculean. But then what matters most for all publicity is the titles name which gets registered through communication exercises during the build up and during the event 2) Documentation: The preparation for marketing the event normally should start at least five months prior to the event and should have a dedicated team who also handles this event in addition to their day job. Regular updates to senior management on the progress is critical and the best is to have a activity based tracker with clear time lines and responsibilities. Plan your work and Work your plan it is so critical to stick to the tracker.
3) Focus on benefits: If the sponsorship is cascaded from the top which normally is always a case try not to un-sell it. Look at it from a macro perspective to the institution. There are several messages which the brand wishes to communicate through event or sports sponsorships. It may vary from supporting to a cause to supporting players to demonstrating commitment of presence in a specific country or region.
4) Stake holder meeting: It is very important to get to meet all the key stake holders within the institution to map their expectations to the sponsorship. Most of the times it may not be favorable in such avenues it helps to meet their teams to decipher their business objectives which will aid in tying up all the loose ends to write a communication brief
5) Budgets: This is the most difficult part being at the clients end. It is very important to sell the idea of running a cohesive and consistent messaging parallel to the sports event before and during the event to leverage on sponsorships. Always ensure to plan for extra pair of hands as support staff, for food & beverages, check on any VVIP guests who may land in to your stand/kiosk and seek advice on any preferred menu coupled with the regular marketing communications costs within the environment
6) Communication brief: The most difficult job for any marketer to draft a communication brief which would ensure it sells. It is always ideal to look out for specialized agencies which excel in sports communication. The best hook to convince your management is to focus on the sponsorship money and also the proposed marketing budget coupled with business expectations and negotiate your way to invite for a agency pitch. This is never a happy situation for the existing agency but it helps to communicate it upfront and also getting your senior management assure them that the ongoing or future projects will be business as usual with the incumbent agency.
7) Key Proposition: it is always easy to get carried away on propositions. Think out of the box and use clever messaging to integrate the sport with the DNA of your brand. Advertising must sell and it is so critical to map business expectations in the brief. Almost any sport delivers on winning, camaraderie and integrity which in most of the cases is one of the core values of any brand.
8) Internal Stake holders: The biggest critiques for marketing are within. Always factor in internal customer engagement to the sponsorship and work on a calendar to connect to them on list of activities or just a heads up communiqué.
9) Timing : The timing of the communication campaign is critical as there may be resistance from the organizers themselves who are emotional about their equity. The time for customer recruitment and on board experience needs to be factored in if the promotion is hinged on giving away tickets based on consumption
10) Publicity: it is very important to control the publicity to the sponsorship as future brand trackers are hinged on the coverage the brand gets to derive from this association. The best is to integrate PR to your team and work closely with themPhase
2 – During the event
1) On ground Kiosk: No matter how much planning one gets in this somehow seems to be a last minute hiccup project. Make sure the contractor inspects the site/location weeks before and all elements like sun light, possibility of rain, sand storm etc., are factored in while designing the kiosk/stand and there is enough storage facilities for marketing collaterals
2) Protocol: Always ensure you have staff or help in hand who would look at meeter/greeter of senior management visiting the stand or the event. If you can get a list of senior delegates visiting your stand based on the protocol ensure you get the necessary give aways. It is important to remember the best onboard experience is recalled always
3) Schedule of events: Always get the activity schedule from the organizers and ensure to communicate this to your internal customers and also to all senior management. Make sure you retain a copy with you as the project in charge you are always on the guard
4) Distribution of tickets: Perhaps the most tricky area of any event sponsorship. It is very important to get senior management buy in on ticket distribution and also ensuring a robust ticket disbursement process. As a marketing contact you are not only expected to promote it externally but also ensure that your area of seats are not empty during the sports event
5) Television Cameras: This is of great significance. It is very important to get few archive televised matches to see how the camera is angled and how they cover players and the stands. If it is in open area like Golf where the players are in motion then the emphasis is always on the angle at which they capture the players. “A” Board placement along with any banners of the brand is of utmost importance.
6) Plan for contingency: Always ensure you have a vehicle parked at your disposal at all times during the event. You never know what you require in the last minute
7) Meet the press: though this is always your PR managers remit it is important to meet press and encourage them to visit your stand or your hospitality. It is so critical that press sees the efforts your institution has put in this event and this would aid in getting coverage
8) Media Planning: clever media planning including outdoor locations across the venue and also at the airport does increase your brands profile during the event. Spend optimum but ensure you dominate the space. Play hard with your planning and buying team
9) Key elements on measuring Return on Investment: The numerous times press speak about your brand, press mentions, TV Coverage’s and scheduled interviews coupled with your own marketing efforts ensure
10) Briefings: Always have briefing sessions with the entire team if possible twice a day to ensure things are as planned. Technology helps but it is better to carry a walkie talkie too. This will also cut on telephone bills and you may not be sitting across your finance manager explaining each call post the event
Phase 3 – Post event wrap up
1) External : Make sure you budget for at least one last burst of adverting thanking all your patrons and customers during the event
2) Internal: Budget in any rewards based on HR policies to the team which worked on the project and also few mementos
3) Event Report: Before you get on to that next project always ensure to document all the learning’s and significant reminder points to management and also to your team which will be a handy referral for the coming yearWe managed to win an award as the best marketing campaign in financial category for that event and I am sure following these learning’s would be quite helpful to most of you
Good Luck
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sequel – Death of Television
Sequels work but only if there is a good follow up story to the main lead. Considering that I had many calls from my friends and colleagues on which brand of television is best suited for my home conditions thought must pen this.
It has been a week since my son managed to punish the wild animals which hurt Simba of Lion King. Our home indeed is quieter now. We rediscovered radio and felt how wonderful it is as a medium of entertainment at home.
You can speak face to face without losing eye contact and still have the radio on, you can help your spouse with domestic chores, you can teach your children and help with their home work, and you can play with them whilst you’re entertained.
Radio ignites the creativity of visualizing. Great frequency of radio spots because of its economic costs does propel many advertisers to catch audience and best commercials do help us visualize the product or the brand.
We spend more time talking to each other and also going on a leisure stroll post dinner and are engaged in reading and yeah weekend was so much fun. Fishing, snorkeling, swimming and cycling a perfect creative moment for a happy family.
I believe home minus the television suits the best.
If you are envious … have a solution. Can send my son to your homes for those blissful moment(s)
It has been a week since my son managed to punish the wild animals which hurt Simba of Lion King. Our home indeed is quieter now. We rediscovered radio and felt how wonderful it is as a medium of entertainment at home.
You can speak face to face without losing eye contact and still have the radio on, you can help your spouse with domestic chores, you can teach your children and help with their home work, and you can play with them whilst you’re entertained.
Radio ignites the creativity of visualizing. Great frequency of radio spots because of its economic costs does propel many advertisers to catch audience and best commercials do help us visualize the product or the brand.
We spend more time talking to each other and also going on a leisure stroll post dinner and are engaged in reading and yeah weekend was so much fun. Fishing, snorkeling, swimming and cycling a perfect creative moment for a happy family.
I believe home minus the television suits the best.
If you are envious … have a solution. Can send my son to your homes for those blissful moment(s)
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sister Callista
When I read about Jade Goody and her untimely death I travelled back in time to the year 2006, when I visited Kolkata for the first time.
My deepest condolences to Ms. Goody’s family and i pray that her soul rests in peace minus the paparazzi.
During my visits and stay at the Missionaries of Charity, i had met Sister Callista, a nun who was working there from a long time. The missionary resembled a school- a place for freedom, a place for learning, a place for discovering inner self and also the divine perhaps through every brick
My meeting with her was more of by chance as I wanted to donate some US Dollars and due to the restrictions in foreign currency in India, i was asked to validate my address. When I did prove that I live in Dubai, sister Callista spoke for the first time about Dubai.
Her sister was working in a leading local newspaper as a photo journalist and had even received an award from His Highness for her features during the Dubai Shopping Festival.
She passed away in 2004 due to cervical cancer. Her last wish for Sister Callista was to make her see Dubai.
I was informed that they get one month leave after every 12 years ( yes shocking but it is true) and Sister Callista’s next holiday was due in 2007.
I promised her that I will ensure I get her a visitor’s visa to Dubai and also make her see Dubai. She also wanted to get copies of her sister’s last feature on an earth quake in India – in Gujarat. I managed to lay my hands on them and forwarded it to her thanks to the publishers and also some considerate friends.
Using my work contacts i also managed to speak with the Shopping Festival officials and was assured that should there be any issues concerning her visit visa she will be treated as a state guest. Their generosity did touch me..
She visited us during August 2007, thanks to my media friend who helped me get a company visa and I took her around Dubai and also made her meet her sister’s work colleagues and her supervisor.
She got me a photo frame of Mother Theresa which I have it as a memoir in my home. It does help me stay grounded and be able to extend my help by every means that I can.
My deepest condolences to Ms. Goody’s family and i pray that her soul rests in peace minus the paparazzi.
During my visits and stay at the Missionaries of Charity, i had met Sister Callista, a nun who was working there from a long time. The missionary resembled a school- a place for freedom, a place for learning, a place for discovering inner self and also the divine perhaps through every brick
My meeting with her was more of by chance as I wanted to donate some US Dollars and due to the restrictions in foreign currency in India, i was asked to validate my address. When I did prove that I live in Dubai, sister Callista spoke for the first time about Dubai.
Her sister was working in a leading local newspaper as a photo journalist and had even received an award from His Highness for her features during the Dubai Shopping Festival.
She passed away in 2004 due to cervical cancer. Her last wish for Sister Callista was to make her see Dubai.
I was informed that they get one month leave after every 12 years ( yes shocking but it is true) and Sister Callista’s next holiday was due in 2007.
I promised her that I will ensure I get her a visitor’s visa to Dubai and also make her see Dubai. She also wanted to get copies of her sister’s last feature on an earth quake in India – in Gujarat. I managed to lay my hands on them and forwarded it to her thanks to the publishers and also some considerate friends.
Using my work contacts i also managed to speak with the Shopping Festival officials and was assured that should there be any issues concerning her visit visa she will be treated as a state guest. Their generosity did touch me..
She visited us during August 2007, thanks to my media friend who helped me get a company visa and I took her around Dubai and also made her meet her sister’s work colleagues and her supervisor.
She got me a photo frame of Mother Theresa which I have it as a memoir in my home. It does help me stay grounded and be able to extend my help by every means that I can.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Death of Television
When I reached home from a long day at work this evening was greeted by my wife with a message that our three and half year old son managed to break our TV one more time. Phew couldn’t hold myself but then within seconds I realized there is no point in giving any sort of punishment to the little star of our lives
Introspection made me feel that deep down we as parents are to be blamed for this. If I need to articulate it - unlike back home we live in a nuclear family, we do interact with neighbors but quite limited, we have never ventured to our friends home uninvited and thus making our son less socially active and also with very little avenues to channel his extremely high energy levels. Visit to parks is limited only over the weekends and his outdoor is restricted under parental supervision for fear of traffic outside our building
There is no play for him once he is back from his kindergarten he is attended by our domestic help who obviously is clinical. Cannot expect anything beyond her role of ensuring he is received from his school bus and he has his quota of food. If he decides to sleep then so be it
What really touched me is the explanation my boy gave me. He was watching Lion king and he was sad on Papa Lion being hurt and killed by a herd of wild buffalos and hence he took his play hammer and punished them.
I felt the home went silent but also loved it because we will have no more avenues but turn to him for our entertainment and also focus on him and educate him and play with him
Though his act will make an impact on my wallet I am glad we will have more time with our little star
Amen
Introspection made me feel that deep down we as parents are to be blamed for this. If I need to articulate it - unlike back home we live in a nuclear family, we do interact with neighbors but quite limited, we have never ventured to our friends home uninvited and thus making our son less socially active and also with very little avenues to channel his extremely high energy levels. Visit to parks is limited only over the weekends and his outdoor is restricted under parental supervision for fear of traffic outside our building
There is no play for him once he is back from his kindergarten he is attended by our domestic help who obviously is clinical. Cannot expect anything beyond her role of ensuring he is received from his school bus and he has his quota of food. If he decides to sleep then so be it
What really touched me is the explanation my boy gave me. He was watching Lion king and he was sad on Papa Lion being hurt and killed by a herd of wild buffalos and hence he took his play hammer and punished them.
I felt the home went silent but also loved it because we will have no more avenues but turn to him for our entertainment and also focus on him and educate him and play with him
Though his act will make an impact on my wallet I am glad we will have more time with our little star
Amen
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Masks
Last evening while driving back from work was listening to a local radio channel and the conversation between the RJ and listeners revolved around recession and what will they do should they be made redundant. Interesting topic and very topical too. I tried several times to reach the channel but realized I am not those lucky few who manage to get across live on air. I so wished to air that during this difficult phase most of our work colleagues, line managers sport a different mask which makes the environment less flexible, less desirable, less motivating to work. Thought of deciphering many such masks which we come across these days
The Brownies: they look at every opportunity to score a brownie point to the line manager – so much so that they even export their ring tones via Bluetooth and save it for the bosses calls. Such is the extent that they even volunteer to park the managers car to ensure they are considered as dependable
I am busy: this is more a recent phenomenon. Most of them do not attend any meetings and the excuse being I am busy. Urgent report to our global office, report to the bosses . Agree perceptions lead to belief – well said by Maslow in his behavioral model
Hyper Mask: PR spin doctors must take a lesson or two from them. They project as if the institution stands on them, very busy always on the phone and always on the move. Never answers to mails or calls. Their net contribution is zero but the overall perception is significantly excellent
Late Nighters: they virtually do nothing during the course of the day but ensure they send all the day’s work through series of mails till late at night ensuring to copy relevant people to manage their roles and performances
Influencers: nepotism does exist in almost all work places. These people wear their god fathers mask and move across the office. You can’t touch them – if the role is made redundant then they move on to another significant role within the organization
Motivators: between all these masks there are still people who believe in working on old school theory. Work hard and leave the rest to the almighty. They speak with conviction and use carefully drafted messages to their team members. They still exist but sure as time progresses they would change their style of masks as they say if you cannot beat them join them
Top of it we have these rating agencies like Moody’s who publish scary reports of the economy which make even Murphy look like an angel.
In testing times hard work and integrity should endure
God Bless
The Brownies: they look at every opportunity to score a brownie point to the line manager – so much so that they even export their ring tones via Bluetooth and save it for the bosses calls. Such is the extent that they even volunteer to park the managers car to ensure they are considered as dependable
I am busy: this is more a recent phenomenon. Most of them do not attend any meetings and the excuse being I am busy. Urgent report to our global office, report to the bosses . Agree perceptions lead to belief – well said by Maslow in his behavioral model
Hyper Mask: PR spin doctors must take a lesson or two from them. They project as if the institution stands on them, very busy always on the phone and always on the move. Never answers to mails or calls. Their net contribution is zero but the overall perception is significantly excellent
Late Nighters: they virtually do nothing during the course of the day but ensure they send all the day’s work through series of mails till late at night ensuring to copy relevant people to manage their roles and performances
Influencers: nepotism does exist in almost all work places. These people wear their god fathers mask and move across the office. You can’t touch them – if the role is made redundant then they move on to another significant role within the organization
Motivators: between all these masks there are still people who believe in working on old school theory. Work hard and leave the rest to the almighty. They speak with conviction and use carefully drafted messages to their team members. They still exist but sure as time progresses they would change their style of masks as they say if you cannot beat them join them
Top of it we have these rating agencies like Moody’s who publish scary reports of the economy which make even Murphy look like an angel.
In testing times hard work and integrity should endure
God Bless
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Dubai Drivers
This morning as I was driving to work thought of this subject more because of the numerous characters one gets to see on Dubai roads during commute. Some scare us with their stunts and some annoy us with their speed and some make us feel as if we are watching a Formula 1 race – anyways I am sure people who drive in Dubai would concur to most of the analysis of these segments
The Terminator: they drive a large SUV or a 4 wheel which resemble trucks. They tail the car ahead and scare the driver – it would appear as if they would just push them away to make way in the busy road
The Zipper: this segment changes lanes as if it’s a Play Station – scary segment to be close to while driving
The Stalker: These drivers behave as if they are up to something constantly chasing cars
The twitter: think this is the most busiest of all – they check their blackberries and send mails while driving on a high way – gawsh no wonder we have so many accidents
The Jaywalkers: a common syndrome may be people do not understand that the approaching vehicles are indeed at 120 Kmph/hour. I did witness a man flying and it was quite traumatic
The Romancers: These drivers behave as if they are in a park on in a café – doing all sorts of annoyance and driving slowly on a 100 km/hour road
Any not to mention those busy women drivers who manage to adjust their hair or apply a lipstick while catching up at a signal
No doubt Dubai is busy and the pace is fast but sense should prevail
Please drive safe
The Terminator: they drive a large SUV or a 4 wheel which resemble trucks. They tail the car ahead and scare the driver – it would appear as if they would just push them away to make way in the busy road
The Zipper: this segment changes lanes as if it’s a Play Station – scary segment to be close to while driving
The Stalker: These drivers behave as if they are up to something constantly chasing cars
The twitter: think this is the most busiest of all – they check their blackberries and send mails while driving on a high way – gawsh no wonder we have so many accidents
The Jaywalkers: a common syndrome may be people do not understand that the approaching vehicles are indeed at 120 Kmph/hour. I did witness a man flying and it was quite traumatic
The Romancers: These drivers behave as if they are in a park on in a café – doing all sorts of annoyance and driving slowly on a 100 km/hour road
Any not to mention those busy women drivers who manage to adjust their hair or apply a lipstick while catching up at a signal
No doubt Dubai is busy and the pace is fast but sense should prevail
Please drive safe
Monday, March 9, 2009
Asian Media Opportunities
In the era of measuring every dirham for return on investment and giving a three page explanation on spend analysis for as little as AED 30,000/- the best media opportunity available for marketers no doubt is Asian Media. Press is dominated by gloomy news across the region. China having 20 Million jobless people, US has some 4.3 Million and more is a depressing read in the morning
The reading habits definitely have taken a beating across UAE and more consumers are switching to radio while travelling and when at home to the idiot box. The TRP’s unfortunately cannot be measured here for lack of proper research but the viewership for all Asian channels including Sony, Zee and Star increased considerably
I believe the best bet to reach Asian consumer is when they are happy and considering the reach and also the ROI – Asian TV seems to be the best bet.
Consider this – A Full Page back page in any of the two leading English titles costs up to AED 50,000 with a frequency of one and it costs up to US $ 225/- for a 15 sec spot in local beams of Asian channels. The same budget can be consumed across one channel for almost one month with a frequency of two spots in prime time
Interesting and clients like us who do not have TV Commercials the best is to have a Flash which is equally appealing and while in this era of econometrics the best bet is to ensure we reach more consumers spending less and convincing them to bank with us
The reading habits definitely have taken a beating across UAE and more consumers are switching to radio while travelling and when at home to the idiot box. The TRP’s unfortunately cannot be measured here for lack of proper research but the viewership for all Asian channels including Sony, Zee and Star increased considerably
I believe the best bet to reach Asian consumer is when they are happy and considering the reach and also the ROI – Asian TV seems to be the best bet.
Consider this – A Full Page back page in any of the two leading English titles costs up to AED 50,000 with a frequency of one and it costs up to US $ 225/- for a 15 sec spot in local beams of Asian channels. The same budget can be consumed across one channel for almost one month with a frequency of two spots in prime time
Interesting and clients like us who do not have TV Commercials the best is to have a Flash which is equally appealing and while in this era of econometrics the best bet is to ensure we reach more consumers spending less and convincing them to bank with us
Peer Pressure
We had a long weekend this week and had the pleasure of spending time with spouse and kids. One of the days we had our sons buddy joining us to the park for cycling. Being in Dubai it is important to take children out to the park and let them have some fresh air
Little did I realize that the two kids would be giving us a glimpse of peer pressure. There was the height and size problem with the two cycles and my sons friend refused to cycle as he felt that it is smaller and that is the reason why he is unable to go fast.
It made me go back to my college days and a glimpse of Kotler, where consumer behavior is influenced by cultural, social, political and psychological attributes.
Post some persuasion we managed to convince the kids the art of sharing.
Sure the weekend did make an impact on the kids fathers wallet as he even refused to take the cycle home
Little did I realize that the two kids would be giving us a glimpse of peer pressure. There was the height and size problem with the two cycles and my sons friend refused to cycle as he felt that it is smaller and that is the reason why he is unable to go fast.
It made me go back to my college days and a glimpse of Kotler, where consumer behavior is influenced by cultural, social, political and psychological attributes.
Post some persuasion we managed to convince the kids the art of sharing.
Sure the weekend did make an impact on the kids fathers wallet as he even refused to take the cycle home
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
THOUGHTS
this morning i received a call from an old media friend.. we shared the same room when we came to this place some 9 years ago ... post exchanging few words he enquired about my job more out of curiosity as suddenly my job is categorized as high risk-- he recently got promoted to head the regional business development and planning unit.
He works for the largest media buying and planning houses and the entire media is virtually at their door steps (literally) so he took the new replacement on a induction trip to his clients offices and strange though the reaction to his new assignment was more negative - almost all of them quipped in a negative fashion as if he is on the radar line of firing.. pity how situations reflect the positive news to a gloom
have been very quiet @ home, we do talk but never like before some times I worry within, i worry when I see the happiness and joy of my family and think to myslf what if we need to go back.. my son may in turn look at me ( as if he is questioning me since he thank fully is in that age where he cannot articulate his thoughts) and say.. hey i dont need a new school i need my group of friends, i dont need this new house i need my home where i was so happy with my neighbourhood ..
but then---- i also dnt seem to have those answers
two senior marketing heads who handle marketing budgets which are parallel to my role and looking for job(s)
my cousin did enlighten me by saying in the US any green card or US citizen gets upto 60% of his previous pay as monthly allowance if he is out of job.. well i think it is more to do with their social security and their taxes which account to almost 35% of their monthly pay checks. since we are in tax free we have no such sops. out of job? two months either leave or get a new job else one is termed as illegal
No matter how much one plans on such though heart in heart we dont want to plan for this but it is just a condition of state but i realise this state of affairs is like sudden death - sounds depressing but a mirror image of fear, apprehension and anxiety of a father and also as a main bread winner for the family i know i m thinking positive and sounding optimistic on future but just a thought ………
He works for the largest media buying and planning houses and the entire media is virtually at their door steps (literally) so he took the new replacement on a induction trip to his clients offices and strange though the reaction to his new assignment was more negative - almost all of them quipped in a negative fashion as if he is on the radar line of firing.. pity how situations reflect the positive news to a gloom
have been very quiet @ home, we do talk but never like before some times I worry within, i worry when I see the happiness and joy of my family and think to myslf what if we need to go back.. my son may in turn look at me ( as if he is questioning me since he thank fully is in that age where he cannot articulate his thoughts) and say.. hey i dont need a new school i need my group of friends, i dont need this new house i need my home where i was so happy with my neighbourhood ..
but then---- i also dnt seem to have those answers
two senior marketing heads who handle marketing budgets which are parallel to my role and looking for job(s)
my cousin did enlighten me by saying in the US any green card or US citizen gets upto 60% of his previous pay as monthly allowance if he is out of job.. well i think it is more to do with their social security and their taxes which account to almost 35% of their monthly pay checks. since we are in tax free we have no such sops. out of job? two months either leave or get a new job else one is termed as illegal
No matter how much one plans on such though heart in heart we dont want to plan for this but it is just a condition of state but i realise this state of affairs is like sudden death - sounds depressing but a mirror image of fear, apprehension and anxiety of a father and also as a main bread winner for the family i know i m thinking positive and sounding optimistic on future but just a thought ………
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Sports Day
Date: 26 Feb 2009
Last evening when i visited my bosses desk and requested if I may come late to work.. he looked @ me as if I m asking for a pardon to a life convicted prisoner... wel i think considering the time i better take a day off i murmered.. knowing for sure he would jump on it.. I took a day off on a thursday.. ne ways...
went early as directed by my spouse.. as i am coming she said take my car.. i was like no its fine i m fine with my car .. she is like noo.. take my car .. had to oblige.. not that i dont love driving a merc but trouble is any small scratch and shell scratch me like a kaala bandar (delhi6) so why invite trouble was my mantra as i was about to start she came again.. take the camera poor thing.. we must take memories.. agreed i felt.. well one thing i couldnt fathom is why does only fathers r the camera men? i was like u never took a single photo when you went to india for wedding last week? pat came the answer.. huloooo.. it is wedding.. on one haand i was busy with my saree (of course with those stupid matching jewellery she packed from here) and your hyper son what all u expect.. well had to stay quiet.. think even the best of the lawyers across the globe stay quiet @ home as i realise u cant argue with logic to ur wife..
reached a little late i suppose .. my son is in a kindergarten school and in upper nursery.. n he is on the heavier side i feel he is the tallest and the fattest of his entire schoool.. parents are busy taking videos and photographs.. excuse me said a sindhi aunty . she came with her mother(in-law?) and so had to sqeeze out finally i realised by being polite i was in the corner where no one can see me and vice versa.. innovation stuck and sense prevalied in me .. so took a chair and stood on it.. anxious parents were cheering their children.. to come first in the so called running(rat) race.. thank fully due to his size my son came last i was glad... ooh she ran but think we must train her (quipped a mother as her daughter came 5th or 6th) and one anxious mother looked @ her hubby (looked as if he abuses her coz she was scared in her speech) .. haan jee.. next time aap ki gudiya.. first aayegi.. the crude hubby noddeed...
huh domestic violence for a sports day.. ne ways i managed to meet few people and post the races we were to wait in the lobby/reception.. now we are back home.. to be prudent i am now going 2 my bank withdrawing money andgoing to another bank to deposit..
i will save 40 dirhams with this.. but then petrol , time? who cares.. as long u think u r saving for a rainy day..
Last evening when i visited my bosses desk and requested if I may come late to work.. he looked @ me as if I m asking for a pardon to a life convicted prisoner... wel i think considering the time i better take a day off i murmered.. knowing for sure he would jump on it.. I took a day off on a thursday.. ne ways...
went early as directed by my spouse.. as i am coming she said take my car.. i was like no its fine i m fine with my car .. she is like noo.. take my car .. had to oblige.. not that i dont love driving a merc but trouble is any small scratch and shell scratch me like a kaala bandar (delhi6) so why invite trouble was my mantra as i was about to start she came again.. take the camera poor thing.. we must take memories.. agreed i felt.. well one thing i couldnt fathom is why does only fathers r the camera men? i was like u never took a single photo when you went to india for wedding last week? pat came the answer.. huloooo.. it is wedding.. on one haand i was busy with my saree (of course with those stupid matching jewellery she packed from here) and your hyper son what all u expect.. well had to stay quiet.. think even the best of the lawyers across the globe stay quiet @ home as i realise u cant argue with logic to ur wife..
reached a little late i suppose .. my son is in a kindergarten school and in upper nursery.. n he is on the heavier side i feel he is the tallest and the fattest of his entire schoool.. parents are busy taking videos and photographs.. excuse me said a sindhi aunty . she came with her mother(in-law?) and so had to sqeeze out finally i realised by being polite i was in the corner where no one can see me and vice versa.. innovation stuck and sense prevalied in me .. so took a chair and stood on it.. anxious parents were cheering their children.. to come first in the so called running(rat) race.. thank fully due to his size my son came last i was glad... ooh she ran but think we must train her (quipped a mother as her daughter came 5th or 6th) and one anxious mother looked @ her hubby (looked as if he abuses her coz she was scared in her speech) .. haan jee.. next time aap ki gudiya.. first aayegi.. the crude hubby noddeed...
huh domestic violence for a sports day.. ne ways i managed to meet few people and post the races we were to wait in the lobby/reception.. now we are back home.. to be prudent i am now going 2 my bank withdrawing money andgoing to another bank to deposit..
i will save 40 dirhams with this.. but then petrol , time? who cares.. as long u think u r saving for a rainy day..
Temple Visit
Date: 23 Feb 2009
Last evening once I reached home by 6:30 (it was early by any standards ) my son was busy playing in his den and my spouse was busy chatting with our sindhi neighbor – post few minutes I requested – shall we go to the temple – today’s shivaratri my dad called and told me .. ooh never ask me to visit temple and make me say no.. announced my wife but reluctant she volunteered to drive us (me and my son) to the temple and for company she dragged our neighbor as well
The journey from home to the temple is 2 kms so it takes 15 minutes to walk reason for taking the car is to ensure we are back by 8pm as its dinner time for the lil one.. wonder why mothers get so protective on times but any ways since she obliged my request I had to comply with hers as well..
The traffic was bad however finally managed to reach the temples vicinity . ( dubai other than Muscat is known for its religious tolerance – we have a temple close to home and it is the only temple in this country) I managed to steer my son along the crowd and finally we landed in the huge serpentine line but then is it recession or scare or just the religious sentiments? No idea but the temple was packed.. did not want to go back purely coz felt I came all the way so lemme wait..
Since I m with my son there was this ‘family’ line which I managed to get access to.. well there are two lines parallel to each other and one is for family and is quicker.. as in the number of lanes are minimal… families, women, senior citizens , teenage kids forced to go with their parents all are in our line.. a lady with a back less top (blouse) ...walked in.. HARI OOOOM.... said a devotee trying to take his eyes off her back.. ( shocking but huh why wear such in a temple).. a businessman is on the phone.. and the volunteers are sterring the crowd saying. Aaage chalo.. jaldi chalo… well my son managed to pick that and he was also pushing his way .. he managed to learn the art of pushing I thought. So if any case we need to go to Mumbai he can survive in the local trains…
Please switch off your phones.. ooh madam jaldi chalo… uncle please phone bandh… aaap pooja ke liye aaye.. well little does the volunteer know.. the man may be a forex trader who is checking in his dealing room in London and may be is seeking ‘Timely’blessing of shiva for increase in his portfolio… blackberry mania is all over .. people are busy checking their mails.. as if they are getting their pink slips through mails.. any ways our turn came.. my son threw a flying kiss to the idol.. ooh that’s cute quipped a volunteer and gave him laddu. Laddu no good .. said my son and returned.. I had to apologize and take it back
Finally after some 90 minutes we came back .. see I told you todays a busy day remarked my wife and you don’t listen to me.. and also said wonder why hubbies don’t listen to wives.. errrr..
Last evening once I reached home by 6:30 (it was early by any standards ) my son was busy playing in his den and my spouse was busy chatting with our sindhi neighbor – post few minutes I requested – shall we go to the temple – today’s shivaratri my dad called and told me .. ooh never ask me to visit temple and make me say no.. announced my wife but reluctant she volunteered to drive us (me and my son) to the temple and for company she dragged our neighbor as well
The journey from home to the temple is 2 kms so it takes 15 minutes to walk reason for taking the car is to ensure we are back by 8pm as its dinner time for the lil one.. wonder why mothers get so protective on times but any ways since she obliged my request I had to comply with hers as well..
The traffic was bad however finally managed to reach the temples vicinity . ( dubai other than Muscat is known for its religious tolerance – we have a temple close to home and it is the only temple in this country) I managed to steer my son along the crowd and finally we landed in the huge serpentine line but then is it recession or scare or just the religious sentiments? No idea but the temple was packed.. did not want to go back purely coz felt I came all the way so lemme wait..
Since I m with my son there was this ‘family’ line which I managed to get access to.. well there are two lines parallel to each other and one is for family and is quicker.. as in the number of lanes are minimal… families, women, senior citizens , teenage kids forced to go with their parents all are in our line.. a lady with a back less top (blouse) ...walked in.. HARI OOOOM.... said a devotee trying to take his eyes off her back.. ( shocking but huh why wear such in a temple).. a businessman is on the phone.. and the volunteers are sterring the crowd saying. Aaage chalo.. jaldi chalo… well my son managed to pick that and he was also pushing his way .. he managed to learn the art of pushing I thought. So if any case we need to go to Mumbai he can survive in the local trains…
Please switch off your phones.. ooh madam jaldi chalo… uncle please phone bandh… aaap pooja ke liye aaye.. well little does the volunteer know.. the man may be a forex trader who is checking in his dealing room in London and may be is seeking ‘Timely’blessing of shiva for increase in his portfolio… blackberry mania is all over .. people are busy checking their mails.. as if they are getting their pink slips through mails.. any ways our turn came.. my son threw a flying kiss to the idol.. ooh that’s cute quipped a volunteer and gave him laddu. Laddu no good .. said my son and returned.. I had to apologize and take it back
Finally after some 90 minutes we came back .. see I told you todays a busy day remarked my wife and you don’t listen to me.. and also said wonder why hubbies don’t listen to wives.. errrr..
Introduction
BLOG! What is this all about?” is what my spouse demanded to know. Gerson Da Cunha, one of the greatest Indian advertising gurus once told me – if you cannot sell your creative ideas to your wife, don’t present it to your client – so here I am trying to explain the rationale on my reason to blog, as I did to my beloved till she was thoroughly and thankfully convinced.
I have been working since ‘95 in advertising and communication, post a few years’ stint in Mumbai and then moved to Dubai. Since 2003, I’ve been in financial marketing handling advertising and marketing communications. I live in Dubai and work as Head of Branding and Marketing for a bank.
Oceans of experience and oodles of brimming ideas, just waiting to surface here and demanding my expression... I have been married to Dr. Kiran and we have a small restless wonder Babloo..
So much of interaction and communication and shifting grounds to a foreign land, did compel me to write and express more about what I feel about everything around me. The husband in me always wanted to write about my trials and errors, the professional in me made me realize the importance of sharing best practices which I managed to learn and the father in me made in realize hey I must write about how my world has changed. May be through me...you get to see a bit of you.
I would appreciate if you can go through few of my blogs and leave your feedback
I have been working since ‘95 in advertising and communication, post a few years’ stint in Mumbai and then moved to Dubai. Since 2003, I’ve been in financial marketing handling advertising and marketing communications. I live in Dubai and work as Head of Branding and Marketing for a bank.
Oceans of experience and oodles of brimming ideas, just waiting to surface here and demanding my expression... I have been married to Dr. Kiran and we have a small restless wonder Babloo..
So much of interaction and communication and shifting grounds to a foreign land, did compel me to write and express more about what I feel about everything around me. The husband in me always wanted to write about my trials and errors, the professional in me made me realize the importance of sharing best practices which I managed to learn and the father in me made in realize hey I must write about how my world has changed. May be through me...you get to see a bit of you.
I would appreciate if you can go through few of my blogs and leave your feedback
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