Social Media is a term widely used today. Everyone around only seems to be speaking of the various social networking sites. It’s not uncommon to see children of age 5 and 7 facebooking and tweeting today. Social media has become part of our daily lives and it is widely used [...]]]>

Social Media is a term widely used today. Everyone around only seems to be speaking of the various social networking sites. It’s not uncommon to see children of age 5 and 7 facebooking and tweeting today. Social media has become part of our daily lives and it is widely used like any other media such as newspapers, radio and television. Social media today is however used much more than just sharing information. Today, social media is used for creating and exchanging ideas much quickly and widely than the conventional media. With the invasion of social media the power has been transferred from corporations and institutions to individuals and communities. Today it’s all about creativity, communication, connection, creation of new ideas, community, collaboration and competition.
Facebook, twitter, flickr and blogs have made the world a smaller place. It is now possible to stay connected to anyone across the globe.
The biggest news today is of the Japan earthquake and the tsunami. While the news channels tried to cover the latest updates the initial news of the earthquake had flashed all over twitter and facebook. Locals from Japan used social media to share images and videos and also constant updates of the tremors felt and the impact of the earthquake along with added individual emotions. These constant updates left a deeper impact on people as they heard of the news and saw images shared first hand through people who are actually undergoing this devastating calamity. Within minutes of the earthquake people had expressed their sympathy and support for Japan through twitter and facebook status updates. Barack Obama president of the United States updated his status constantly to inform citizens of the measures taken by the US Govt. to ensure the safety of Hawaii another island which was under immediate threat after the tsunami hit Japan.
The impact of social media is evident from people’s reaction to such calamities. Probably a decade ago when such calamities occurred in another part of the world people did not feel close enough or could not express their empathy towards the victims or feel their pain. However today with the help of social media the world has truly become a smaller place. We are now able to connect to the victims and share their emotions irrespective of not personally knowing them. We are also able to now express what we feel and communicate with people living in areas that are affected by such disasters. Similarly in such situations, friends and relatives use this medium to connect with their loved ones.
Another striking use of social media today is by communities. People with common interests make groups on facebook and twitter and use this as a medium of communicating and updating group members of events etc. These group members might be sitting in different continents but are still operating as a team and ensuring their certain goals are met. This is the level of connectivity today. You don’t have to be living or working on the same continent as your colleagues but you are still an integral part of a team that helps in achieving group goals.
We see politicians using social media to reach out to the laymen in the country. Barack Obama constantly updates his twitter messages and tries very well to stay connected to his people. Similarly, Narendra Modi uses this medium to give updates of his campaigns and rally’s. We also see journalists like Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai give updates and their views on the current affairs of the nation. This helps us stay connected to the world even without a news paper or a television box.
Similarly a lot of celebrities today use twitter as a platform to connect to their fans. Hence, the classic myth of celebrities living in a far off land and not being ordinary people has been contradicted and it’s now easy to understand their whereabouts and their day to day lifestyle through social media even if they are situated continents away.
But the true question is, is social media like facebook and twitter only used for communication and exchange of ideas and to increase connectivity? The answer to this is obviously No! This is evident from the high stakes and investments in social media today. Goldman Sach a leading bank has invested $450 million in facebook, as a part of a transaction that implies the social network has a valuation of around $50billion. Facebook and twitter is way beyond just a networking website. It is now also a platform for companies and institutions to connect to the common man. We see big companies investing high funds in social media and social advertising. Tata Sky had a big campaign in 2009 on twitter where they had a TV set as a puppet with constant tweets.
A lot of businesses are using social media to get in front of their Target Audience. By doing this companies are now able to understand what people ad consumers view their Brand as. This is commonly known as Brand Monitoring. Marketers are seeing a significant increase in web traffic with only a few hours invested per week. Through facebook and twitter B2C networking is increasing while linkedin is used to strengthen the B2B network.
I would like to speak about the Social Media changing the business world in my next artivle however today I will conclude with a statement that is rightly said that social media is a revolution and is changing our lives and our understanding of connectivity and networking.

Namrata Kumblekar – namrata@managementfunda.com
Media Analyst

The crazy country of cricket fanatics – that is what will define India for the coming month. That is not to say that cricket fever will then subside, just normalize after its crescendo. During a time that everyone’s eyes are riveted to the television screen, and with the onset of [...]]]>

The crazy country of cricket fanatics – that is what will define India for the coming month. That is not to say that cricket fever will then subside, just normalize after its crescendo. During a time that everyone’s eyes are riveted to the television screen, and with the onset of summer, presents a nice opportunity to Cola manufacturers to capitalize on sales. And leading the vanguard is PepsiCo.
Pepsi has always been at the forefront of capturing advertising and image rights for all things Cricket. And it routinely comes out with special marketing campaigns and the like during the oft occurring cricket tournaments; case in point – the Indian Premier League. During IPL Season 2 in February 2009, PepsiCo joined hands with Team Chennai Super Kings, the winners of the inaugural IPL as their official beverage sponsors. Their image was significantly boosted by the appearance of the charismatic captain M S Dhoni in CSK’s and Pepsi’s adverts. Then during the last IPL, season 3, they came out with the ‘PEPSI YOUNGISTAAN WOW’ contest wherein fans could play a mini-game on a website or their cellphones. Star power was in the form of Ranbir Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt. PepsiCo flexed its muscles by emerging as the sole bidder for the IPL title rights. Thus, Pepsi will get exclusive rights from the BCCI for the next edition of the Indian Premier League.
Pepsi also used cricket as the launch platform for its new packaged nimbu-paani drink ‘Nimbooz’, by associating itself with the Kings XI Punjab. Everytime a player from KXIP hit a boundary cheerleaders would perform the bhangra and one lucky Nimbooz customer would win an all-expense paid trip to South Africa and also get to meet all the KXIP players. Cricket, nimbu-paani and cheerleaders – an explosive combination – and a match-winning one!
Being environmentally responsible is also on Pepsi’s list and it uses their achievements to good effect. In 2009 PepsiCo India recycled and gave back more water than they consumed through various initiatives like recharging, replenishing and reusing water. The green campaign won them many admirers and improved their image.
Another coveted campaign is the Pepsi ‘MyCan’. Here the Bollywood bigshots – King Khan SRK, the suave John Abraham, the svelte Deepika Padukone and the young Imran Khan featured for Pepsi to round off the veritable list of stars. The unique form factor of the can and the stylish packaging made it a great hit with the youth brigade. Unique concepts like Pepsi Diet for the health conscious, 2-litre bottles for the party animals and recyclable cola bottles for the environment-caring also positively affected their bottom-line.
‘Change the Game’ is their tagline as the Official Sponsors of the Cricket World Cup 2011. It features different cricketers in different short-films. Designed to address the Youngistaan crowd, you have the big-hitting Dhoni with his ‘Helicopter Shot’ and Kevin Pietersen with his ‘Switch Hit’. The selection of famous cricketers with an Indian setting to the ad films shall surely endear them to Indian fans. ‘Change the Game’ appeals to today’s Indian youth who wants to break free from the shackles of orthodox thinking and define their own rules.
Pepsi also has offers galore for one and all. They have a tie-up with Pizza Hut where consumers get a Pepsi free with each order of a Medium Pizza. Pizza Hut provides the marketing while Pepsi delivers the goods – a win-win for both.
Among all these advertisements during the World Cup, it shall be interesting to see what Coca-Cola’s reply shall be. I’m sorry, Coke-who?

Now-a-days the concept of takeaway has become catchier than the restaurants. Life in cities is fast moving, no one [...]]]> The first part saw the changing facets of restaurant from 1980’s till now. Now let’s notice the other changes that have taken place. For e.g. the new trend of “Takeaway” & “Easy-to-Cook”.

Now-a-days the concept of takeaway has become catchier than the restaurants. Life in cities is fast moving, no one seems to have the time to wait in a packed restaurant for their turns. They did rather choose ordering a takeaway and enjoy the food with their families or friends in their abode.

A lot of takeaway joints have sprung in the last few years. Take the example of Domino’s-you love pizza, so you can enjoy it at your doorstep without taking the pains of travelling and not only that its 30 minutes or free. Well this is a marketing gimmick but it does work for them. Why just Domino’s a lot of restaurants are including this concept. Say you are busy and need a quick fix to refresh before heading to an important meeting, all you have to do is grab a cup of coffee but since you don’t have time for it, takeaway works just fine and a Café Coffee Day or a Barista serves your need.

Takeaways have always been popular in the western countries. This concept is new to India and we are still getting a hang of it. We have always been a country that indulged in slow food contrary to the new trend of fast food. Slow food refers to cooking a proper meal with the help of your family members, despite the time spent in kitchen women enjoyed it, but fast food, has taken it all away. Since the time we completely “accepted” the western culture we wanted quick fixes and well takeaways are quick fixes to hunger. Every coffee shop or a fast food joint seems to offer takeaways and yes it does save time.
That was about takeaway, its no different with “Easy-to-Cook”. Easy-to-cook are generally packets containing mixture of spices, all you have to do is just add certain ingredients and tadda!!! Your favourite recipe is ready to eat. This is popular among bachelors, paying guests, students in hostels etc. they don’t have the time to cook and everyday restaurants are definitely expensive, that’s the time when easy-to-cook packs come handy. Now-a-days its just not the bachelors but even homemakers have taken to these ready packets like soups, vegetables, rice mixtures etc. to savour the same taste like that of a restaurant they resort to these packets. We all know how healthy they are??? But that’s debatable. These easy to cook not just save time but also burn a very small, unnoticeable hole in your pocket and thus are preferred by many.

Well to sum it up, we witnessed various facets of restaurant. From Udipi to Stylish restaurants to Takeaways and also competing with these the Easy-to-Cook packs. Easy-to-cook packets definitely aren’t part of restaurants but it was to show how they can eat up a restaurants business because of convenience offered to the customer and we all know that “The Customer is King”.

Part I – Changing Trends in Restaurants

Contact Author: – vidhi@managementfunda.com

What would the word “Restaurant” 1st bring to your mind? For a woman it’s a day off from the kitchen, for a family it’s an outing, for a bachelor it’s sometimes kind of a need to survive, for a couple it could be a place to spend time over good [...]]]>

What would the word “Restaurant” 1st bring to your mind? For a woman it’s a day off from the kitchen, for a family it’s an outing, for a bachelor it’s sometimes kind of a need to survive, for a couple it could be a place to spend time over good food. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a Restaurant is “a place where meals can be bought and eaten”. But the underlining fact is people visit it for the food. Well that was the olden thought, but now it’s just not food, it’s the service the ambience, the staff, etc.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s restaurants were visited during an occasion. Even today it’s the same but with a slight twist, it’s just not occasions but also a way of relaxation from everyday fast-moving life.
Well just take the example of the Udipi restaurants, they are like becoming extinct. The reason being the increase in the standard of living of people. You would no longer visit an Udipi if given a choice of going to some good restaurant. That is nothing but increase in disposable income of people. People are comfortable only eating at a restaurant that has a clean environment, hospitable ambience & not to forget quality food. But there is a contradiction, people wouldn’t mind eating at a small sandwich or chaat stall even if its situated in unhygienic conditions. Because that is “fast food”. So as to say, restaurants like Udipi are soon becoming “passé”.
Eating joints like Pizza Hut, McDonalds, etc. have become a fad among teenagers. Even coffee shops like Café Coffee Day, Barista, Costa Coffee are becoming choices for satisfying hunger. Coffee shops not only offer coffees but also in variety with something to bite on & also you can complete your meal with a dessert like pastries.
As I mentioned desserts, something struck my mind. Earlier people would complete their meals with an Ice-cream that was a dessert for them, since there was no concept of dessert but yes there always was a concept of completing your meal with something “mitha” (sweet in Hindi) or Paan(a sweet filling in beetle leaves). But now-a-days special dessert parlors are opening up and its enjoyable.
A normal Indian style restaurant also serves food that suits your taste buds but only because we want to enjoy meal with a difference is the reason why we choose the happening eating joints. It’s also a status symbol for a few. To sum up, there has come an upward trend in the food (part of the Hospitality sector) sector, that a lot of people are investing in it. All you need to know is the preference of the target audience and you have to have a joint in a place where there is no strong competition. Also if there is competition how would you differentiate your restaurant with your competitor? To survive in this industry you have to come up with new ideas of serving the audience.

Contact Author: – vidhi@managementfunda.com

What do Market Researcher’s do?

Process followed [...]]]> Who are Interested in Market Research?

• Companies that are already existing.
• Companies interested in Investment and Dis-Investment.

What do Market Researcher’s do?

• Main job of a Market Researcher is Analysis of the Market.
• Identify various Segments of the Industry
• Divide the Global market into different segments (different for different companies)
• Information of the Companies

Process followed for generating reports:

Stage 1:

Generation of table of contents which would give the exact flow of the report, what all segments are to be included. After that a thorough knowledge about the market, trends, major players and secondary information pertaining to the market is to be collected.

Stage 2:

Sending across the mails to the key industry participants and asking to schedule the appointments for interviews. Interviews with the key industry participants would give primary information about the trends in the market, major players as well as information in the respective market.

The report in divided in two sections quantitative and qualitative:

Quantitative: These are the market numbers in terms of revenues, valuewise and volumewise. Revenue tables are given for various segments, geography and the global market.

Qualitative: In this section they provide complete analysis of the report, which company is doing that, what are the trends, factors influencing the growth of the market, factors restraining the growth of the market, strategies adopted by the major players in the market.

Stage 3:

In this stage exploratory research is done, high level analysis of the topic and also culling out information which would add value to your report become an USP of the report. What are latest technologies adopted by the market players, which company is leading the market and the one at the second position should adopt which strategy due to which strategy due to which they would be able to adopt the winning edge and be able to become the market leader.

Stage 4:

Actual writing of the report, to put all the information on paper.

Analysis of the Market

• Analysis of the market consists ofcollecting statistical data on competitors & examining prices, sales & methods of marketing & distributions, researchers predict future sales.
• Market researchers device methods and procedures for obtaining the data they need to understand consumer preferences.
• Once the data is collected, researchers interpret the results & make recommendations based upon their findings.
• Typically researchers provide a company’s management with information needed to make decisions on the promotion, distribution, design & pricing of products and services.
• Researchers collect information on the various segments of the Industry.

Analysis of the Market consists of the following sections:

1) Patents Analysis

• The Patent Analysis consists of Information of the Companies who have the Authorization of using particular products or raw materials.
• These products or raw materials are used only by the companies authorized to do so.
• These products last for over 20-25 years.
• These products used mostly in Medical and Pharmaceutical Industries.

2) Competitive Landscape

This section of Analysis consists of Information of Companies with:

• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Agreements & Collaboration
• Developments of products & New Products

3) High Level Analysis

This is the most important part of the Analysis.

It consists of:

• In-depth Analysis of Market
• Total Market Behavior
• The various Driving Factors in Market
• Opportunities for the Company
• Restraining Factors in the Market
• Latest Trends
• Information about what should be done for the Benefit of the Company for whom Market Research is to be done.

4) Marketing Engineering

This part of the Analysis consist of market numbers.

Mainly consists of Sales Figures in terms of:

• Value
• Volume
• Segment wise
• Geography wise

KBC is aired during the time band of 9pm-10 [...]]]> TRP is an important tool channels use to rate their shows. Giving an example of two very famous Indian shows, Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘ Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC)’ aired on’ Sony Entertainment Television’ and Salman Khan’s big ticket show ‘Big Boss 4’ on Colors.

KBC is aired during the time band of 9pm-10 30pm. The one and half hour first episode of the season kick started with an average TRP of 5%. It is the highest average rating recorded in the time band of 9pm-10 30pm Monday.
On the other hand Salman’s Big Boss recorded an average rating of 3.4%. The opening episode of Big Boss 4 on Oct 3rd clashed with the Common Wealth Games opening and had still managed to grab eyeballs.

Other channels like Star Plus, Zee TV and Imagine TV that telecast fiction shows during the time band too failed to match KBC with an average rating of 3.2, 2.9, and 1.1 percent respectively.
It is observed today that fiction shows have a much lesser TRP rating amongst youngsters. The youth today prefers Reality Shows. Big Boss and KBC are a change to the audience from the daily soap’s and help in bringing the family together to enjoy a show during dinner time. Though KBC and Big Boss are two different genres of shows it’s not possible to compare them as one helps in building general knowledge and the later is a family masala show with a lot of drama and entertainment.
A lot of talent shows today like Boogie Woogie, Indian Idol, Sare Gama and Dance India dance are also helping the common people to show their talent. This is a stage used by many aspirants to get into the limelight and create a place in the industry.
Producers are also now investing in dance shows like Nach Baliye and Jhalak Dikhhlaja by introducing celebrity couples and pairing them with aspiring choreographers which is helping to increase the TRP’s of the show and also giving recognition to those working behind scenes.
These reality shows bring about drama and some real world factor and the combination of the two helps in attracting audience.
Fiction Shows are losing its charm due to the same stereotype and predicted storylines. It is now failing to attract audience and retain them. On the other hand reality shows are attracting a huge mass of the youth as well as the other mass audience. For example shows like KBC and Big Boss attract a mass of the audience on the other hand Roadies and Splitsvilla aired on MTV attracts a lot of the youth today.
Reality shows have also helped give a break to the Bollywood Stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Akshay Kumar to enter the television world and make an impact on television.
We see a lot of film stars today hosting reality shows as this gives the producers a probability of higher TRP rating than introducing a new Television Star.
It sure seems like the Indian television is undergoing a revolution and shifting from the regular Soaps to a marathon of Reality Shows.

BRAND IMAGE:-

MARUTI from as a brand itself is seldom looked at, as a luxury brand. Maruti as a [...]]]> What comes to your mind first when u come across the term ‘MARUTI SUZUKI’, it always absolutely has to be Maruti 800, best known as ‘The Middle class car of India’.

BRAND IMAGE:-

MARUTI from as a brand itself is seldom looked at, as a luxury brand. Maruti as a brand is more linked with the SEC B rather than A. And over past many years Maruti Has maintained and up till certain extent restricted its Target Market to same SEC’s.

VARIOUS MODELS OF MARUTI SUZUKI IN MARKET:-

Hatchback: – Maruti 800, Wragon R, Alto, Swift, Estilo, Ritz, A-star

Sedan: – SX4 & Dzire.

SUV:- Grand Vitara, Maruti Gypsy, EECO

This is quite evident that Maruti Suzuki is leading in its variety of ‘Hatchback’ cars. These for all this while were targeting the group of people who are middle incomed, but Maruti Suzuki has slowly entered and is steadily growing into the category of ‘Sedan’ Vehicles.

REMARKABLE GROWTH:-

If we observe Maruti as a brand over the years we can note a remarkable phenomena or strategy from their growth in past years.

• It first became popular n still is with its launch of Maruti 800 many years back. They targeted middle income groups, who were first time car buyers, looking for low ownership cost with basic need of a family vehicle and the price was approx 2lacs.

• After this they never looked back. Then came the other various hatchback models of Maruti like Zen, Wragon, and Alto etc. These Cars again targeted the middle income groups, but this time the positioning was not as the basic need, it was comfort at comparatively lower price, of 4 – 5 lacs.

• Then putting Yet another Step forward, they came into Sedan’s with a price of 8-9 lacs these Sedans targeted SEC A as well as B(up till a certain extent)

MARUTI KIZASHI

The most recent development from Maruti Suzuki is the Launch of ‘Maruti Kizashi’. It has been positioned as the sports sedan; it is fairly high on cost with a Price of approx 17 to 19 Lacs. This Sedan is targeted towards the SEC A with a luxury touch to it.

By this way, Maruti Suzuki is now able to target and provide a solution to various types of car buyers, who basically are the different targeted groups according to its Database.

Maruti Suzuki seems to have efficiently planned and structured to connect its brand to masses as not only an ‘Economic Brand’ but also a ‘Luxury Brand’ turning it into an all-rounder.

It will be interesting to see the consumers’ reaction to this change in the Brand Image of their one of most trusted brands.