Business and Superstitions

 

 

Superstitions like these are widely prevalent in all spheres of life. Cricketers are especially known to be a very superstitious lot.  Sachin Tendulkar always wears his left pad first. Steve Waugh used to carry a red handkerchief given to him by his grandfather in his left pocket.
 

 Businessmen are also extremely superstitious. And among businessmen, Hindi film producers take the cake. Rakesh Roshan has always had the names of his movies starting with the letter K. Be it Kaho Na Pyar Hai which released in 2000 and made his son Hrithik Roshan a superstar or his latest production Kites, which turned out to be a massive flop.

Like Roshan, Karan Johar of Dharma Productions, also developed a 'K' fixation, after his first film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai became a huge hit. He has since given up on that and his last directorial venture was called My Name is Khan.

 Apart from Hindi films, stock market investors are also an extremely superstitious lot.  Stock market investors in various parts of the world do not like eclipses. Copenhagen Business School's Gabriele Lepori examined 362 eclipses visible anywhere in the world between 1928 and 2008 — seen by the superstitious as bad omens — and matched them against four American stock indices and  discovered a small but persistent set of effects: eclipses correlate with lower-than-average stock returns.

Businessmen also have personal superstitions. Indian businessmen are known to make visits to Tirupati (or other big temples) before they do a big deal. Then there is also the aversion of 'big business' to have anything connected with number 13. 'Some 80 percent of high-rise buildings around the world lack a 13th floor, airports a 13th gate, and planes a 13th aisle...Larry Ellison tweeted to his entourage that there may not be an Oracle version 13'.

Superstition also impacts company revenues. Take the case of the Shradh period in India, during which it is considered inauspicious to make new purchases. So the sales of consumer durables like televisions, refrigerators, washing machines etc, as well as car sales, go down. Companies have to woo buyers by offering discounts. Similarly, in the United States, 'paraskevidekatriaphobia' or the fear of Friday the 13th pulls down sales by a billion dollars because people don't like to buy new stuff on that day.

Experts are of the opinion that marriage insurance in India hasn't taken off due to superstition. The logic being, if I insure the wedding, something bad is going to happen.

While superstition does impact revenues, companies can use superstition to create new business opportunities as well. Take the case of diamond engagement rings. Over the years, a superstition has developed that these rings need to be worth at least 'two months' salary'.

As Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich write in Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct, 'It's a completely ridiculous figure — a ring should cost no more than you can afford...Diamond merchants, you see, understand that by leading people to start with a dollar figure equal to two months' salary, they almost certainly guarantee more money for their industry. Why's that? Because people who might have spent less for a ring will have been programmed to think that two months' pay is the point below which they are cheapskates (and what man wants his fiancee to think that?)'.

The other superstition (some would say tradition) about an engagement ring is that it has to be worn on the left hand. 'De Beers has recently begun advertising diamond rings for single professional women, by trying to introduce a new social convention: whereas traditional engagement rings are for the left hand, these single-woman rings are 'right-hand rings',...today there are many wealthy women who are not engaged, and who might nonetheless like a diamond ring', says Geoffrey Miller, a professor of evolutionary psychology as well as the author of Spent - Sex, Evolution, And Consumer Behaviour.

Jennifer Wang in the article titled Turn Superstition into Marketing Gold, written for www.entrepreneur.com, quotes Lauren Block, a professor of marketing. 'Block referred to a study in which Taiwanese consumers often paid more for a package of three tennis balls than four, because the number four is considered ill-omened. In Mandarin Chinese, the pronunciation of 'four' is similar to that of 'dead'.'

But why are businesses and businessmen so superstitious? Wang quotes Stuart Vyse, a professor of psychology, to explain: 'In the business world, there is a tremendous amount of randomness in the market and people seek ways to gain control over these events, even though they can't...What you wear that day, the coffee that you drink —these things can't affect the outcome of the day's business, but people engage in this (behaviour) to feel like they've done every possible thing to manage the outcome'.

Source: Businessmen and superstition written by Vivek KaulVivek Kaul, ET Bureau, 26 Aug, 2011,

Url:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/corporate-dossier/businessmen-and-superstition/articleshow/9735921.cms

Consumer Behaviour - Way to bag large orders - Solution marketing

Sanjeev Duggal

 

Modi Xerox Machines

My senior batch of marketing students just popped in and asked for an extra class of Consumer behavior. That set off a train of thought process? What is consumer behavior? Is it something that is locked in the mind of the consumer and which can’t be explained, even by the consumer himself? It is something that the marketer can forcefully extract out of the consumer black box and get his or her proverbial pile of fortune! 

Savior this, why is that we are lees hungry when we are at the place of work and become hungry and ravenous at home. We are conditioned by the sounds and cues of cooking and we become hungry. This is the reason that explains the smell and sounds that the eateries make to make us feel very hungry. At the same time eating five star food however tasty and colorful becomes a pain after 1 or 2 days. We don’t tire of homemade food even after eating it for decades! Homemade food has got a word for itself. It is called comfort food. That is what makes consumer behavior so challenging. No one can accurately predict it. Some one’s food is somebody else’s poison.

I had in the past worked in the extremely competitive Office Automation company, NETWORK, and we used to market electronic typewriters costing between 50,000/- rupees to 1,00,000/- rupees way back in the late eighties. Our nearest generic competitor was Modi Xerox. NETWORK and Modi Xerox were famed for their extremely competent and innovative sales people. 

This incident that I recite is that of Sanjeev Duggal an ace sales professional from Modi Xerox. It was said that the company had set a very stiff target of selling over 100 Xerox machines for a quarter. That was the tine even selling even one in a month was extremely difficult. Good sales men used average at a maximum of 9-10 a quarter (3 months).

Sanjeev pulled off the impossible and achieved the target. He got a massive incentive and others were curious as how he could pull of such a big order. Sanjeev went on to explain” I knew that selling 100 Xerox machines is a herculean task. No individual buyer could buy that many. So I concentrated on MAJA (Major Sales) and LAM (Large Accounts). Only organizations that buy in bulk can afford to buy so many. I concentrated on government accounts”.

Sanjeev in his research found out that there were many police stations in his territory. He at that was working in western India. He went and observed the working conditions in the police stations. One of the things that he observed was that police stations have to take an inventory of all the belongings of the suspects who have to be kept in the police lock up. This meant lot of work for the police writer. The writer has to spend long time in inventorying the small and petty things that the criminals had in their pocket.

Sanjeev came out with a very bright idea. Why not simply deposit all and sundry belongings of the suspects that have be kept in the lock up in the Xerox machine and take a copy of it. This way time can be saved and the photo copy of the belonging can be kept as a proof and any accusation of pilferage of belongings can be avoided. Luckily for Sanjeev this idea was accepted by the police and the concerned authorities and Sanjeev got a large order of Xerox machines.

Sanjeev proved the point that when things get tough the tough get going. Way to go Sanjeev. 

World's best Airline advertisements

These fun airplane-window advertisements were created by Leo Burnett in São Paulo for Fiat.

Golden Holidays consist of Malaysia Airlines packages that target the domestic market with attractive prices (flight + accommodation). The task was to cross-sell the packages to current passengers strongly reinforcing  the perception that traveling with Malaysia Airlines is not expensive. Stickers were placed onto the pull-down meal tray on-board selected Malaysia Airlines domestic flights making the captive audience “feel” their next holiday.

NH hotels advertisements were placed on Iberia airlines headrests. On the back of the headrests one could see illustrations of people enjoying the different activities offered by NH hotels: golf, beach, sauna, etc. When people sat they would see the illustration in front of them and just above the illustration’s head they could see the hair of the person seating right in front as well as if it were the illustrations own set of hair.

This advertisement was to promote Gillette Mach 3 razor. This aircraft has since been retired from virgin blue's fleet and was last seen in Christchurch. 

Advertising for Bulgari designer watches in Alitalia Boeing 747-243B

This advertisement was created by Lew’Lara/TBWA and was designed for the Aruba’s tourism office.

Pepsi advertised its products by putting its logo on the fuselage of a Concorde.

An advertisement for a Brazilian laptop brand placed on the dining table in an aero plane.

 

This advertisement titled airplane seatbelt was done by Scholz and friends advertising agency Slim fast company for Allpharm, Germany.

Southwest airlines unveiled its newest addition to their fleet of aircrafts – the Boeing 737 with a gigantic painting of Israeli model Rafaeli

Engaging the customers – an airline travel experience – Part - II

7)      Ava scheme of scratch card:  This is a scratch card cum shopping card that is given to all the travelers. They can scratch and find out what their dame luck holds in store for them. They could be getting many thing including a watch, a Moserbaer DVD player, a 16 disk games encyclopedia, a classique watch and jeweler set, a sandwich maker or many such items. Depending on what they get on their scratch card they can claim the gift by paying handling charges of only 699/- rupees (about 14 dollars). They can also buy items like blackberry mobiles, Digital cameras, Skybags, handbags, gaming consoles, and many other at a very heavy discount. A variation of the same could be that travelers could bid for a product from a fixed base price. The highest bidder gets the product on arrival at the airport.  

8)      Advertising on the window pane: Not seen on Indian airlines but a popular method of promoting the product. When the window pane is down the advertisement is seen very clearly.

9)      Advertising on the food tray: that opens out in front of the passenger: A great place to advertise a company that is in vacation business. Also a great position to promote a company marketing laptops.

10) Advertising the plane itself: The aero plane itself can become a vehicle for advertising. PepsiCo painted one entire plane in its colors and the plane became one big moving advertisement. Albeit it is for people outside the aero plane and not inside it.

Sky is the limit for imagination of the airlines thinking of promoting products. The air hostesses, the stewards and the staff dress can have logos of companies, the quilts and the headphones that are supplied can be a plug for quilts and audio companies.

Why not think of engaging the travelers gainfully during their journey? Why not tarot card reading, astrology, palmistry and Mehendi for the women? Why not hold a small painting competition for all the young kids and announce a small price? Why not a host who can perform small tricks for the travelers?

Like North West Airlines has proved the interaction between the staff and the travelers is hugely appreciated and remembered. I warmly remember the friendly banter of the Ethiopian airlines pilots who gave us tips of when to look out for great sights.

In my first journey from Addis Ababa to Bahirdar I witnessed the great Nile gorge, the Tiss Abay water Fall and the Tana Lake which is the starting point of the longest river in the world, the Nile. And all this from 10 kilometers up in the sky! I thank the Ethiopian airline pilot for making my journey so wonderful and eventful.

Engaging the customers – an airline travel experience – Part - I

 

A travel by an aero plane is one most exciting forms of travelling. Apart from the excitement of flying there is lots of status attached to flying. Unlike other modes of travel where the passenger can get off and stretch his legs, in air travel the passenger is totally captive for the entire duration of the journey. Let us examine how air lines companies peddle their wares to this captive set of customers.

1)      Fashion shows: This was a concept that was tried by Kingfisher Airlines (India). As the guests settled into their seats they were surprised to see models do the cat walk wearing the latest ensembles (a number of different items of clothing and accessories, put together to create an outfit) right in front of them. The passengers got a real eyeful and the fashion designers got a chance to get into the minds of the affluent Indian middle class. For reasons unknown Kingfisher has since done away with the fashion show in the skies.

2)      Gourmet meals: The best food is served in the airlines. At the end of the sumptuous meal one can’t but notice the small tasteful card of the gourmet chef or the hotel from where the food was brought in. A subtle but a very powerful plug for the concerned chef or the 5 star hotel.

For Kingfisher Airlines which belongs to the Vijay Mallaya Group, Food and beverages are a very good way to promote his liquor brands. So do not be surprised if on a overseas trip if you are served Kingfisher beer (the king of good times) or McDowell Whisky. Both alcoholic beverages mentioned are from the Vijay Mallaya’s group.

3)      In-Flight magazine: is a very good way to get the attention of the traveler. The very fashionable and highly colorful magazines not only serve to entertain the traveler but also allow the airlines to talk about itself and help promote its in flight shopping and in-flight food and beverage sale.

4)      In-Flight entertainment: Long flights can get very boring. In the bygone era there was only a very huge TV screen and all the travelers had to watch only the movies or the shows as dished out by the cabin crew. But not any longer. In the era of customization and comfort each traveler has access a small personalized TV. 7 to 8 channel programs are free but if one wants to watch the latest flick he has to pay for it – Pay for view.  

5)      In-Flight shopping: Most of the Airlines have in-flight shopping. In domestic sectors it can be watches, jewels, bags and others. On overseas journeys the in-flight shopping can take the scale of a duty free shop where items can be bought duty free.

6)      Extra payment for leg space, window or any other preferred seat: Noticing that some travelers have need for some extra feature, airlines have started charging extra for those feature. These were extended as courtesies earlier but have become to pay services in the recent times. Extra leg space, window seat or aisle or any other preferred seat can be had but for a payment. In fact it is better to be silent and opt for an extra if the same is offered at the check in counter.

Freebies galore (Sampling) - cherry picking, Eenadu, Cine Blitz, Cookie queen, Super Markets sampling

A free sample or "freebie" is a portion of food or other product (could be a beauty product) given to consumers in shopping malls, supermarkets, retail stores, or other venues. Sometimes samples of non-perishable items are included in direct marketing mailings. The purpose of a free sample is to acquaint the consumer with a new product. The customer is able to try out a product before purchasing it.

Many consumer product companies now offer free samples through their websites to encourage consumers to regularly use the products, Paint chips are samples of paint colors that are sometimes offered as free samples.

It is also possible to purchase products in small "trial size" containers. This is common with toiletries such as shampoo which are useful for vacations or other travel where large bottles or other containers would be impractical .These are also often provided in hotel rooms free of cost for the guests.

One of the best sampling that I witnessed happened in the California bay area. We had driven down to a huge cherry orchid. The orchid was full of trees with ripe cherries. Coming from India where cherries are never eaten fresh it was a very pleasant sight. The cherries were fresh and they were hanging from the trees. The visitors could eat as many cherries as they liked. But cherries that are plucked and placed in basket will have to be bought at 2 US dollars a kg. I had never eaten so many cherries in my life. A very good way of getting the customers to try your product!.

Eenadu the popular Telugu daily and one of the leading newspapers in India had a humble and quiet beginning in  the seventies. Eenadu’s promotion was very unique. The paper was delivered free of cost to the readers for a month. And Eenadu was delivered promptly at 0530 hours in the morning. Ramoji Rao the owner of Eenadu hit two birds with one stone. He made the readers sample his product and also demonstrated his efficient distribution chain.

Cine Blitz the popular Hindi film magazine had a very unique sampling technique. In the eighties Cine Blitz was priced around 30 rupees and it offered a Hindi film song cassette free with every magazine. At that time the cassettes used to cost 50 rupees and the readers lapped up the unique scheme. It was win-win for all concerned - Cine Blitz improved its circulation, the readers got a free cassette and the movie makers whose songs were in the cassettes got free pre release publicity.

Unfortunately Cine Blitz made a critical mistake. They did not understand the value proposition. Were the readers buying Cine Blitz for the cassette or the cassette for the magazine? Finally Cine Blitz dropped the idea of a free film cassette and the sales of the magazine dropped too.

The writing on the wall was very clear. The readers were buying the magazine for the cassette. They perceived value for the cassette and not for the magazine. Good lesson for companies to clearly think  out their strategy and not jump into any promotional activity in a haste.

Cookie Queen. That’s the example that jumps into the mind when we talk about free sampling. Cookie queen was a gusty American Entrepreneur who handed out free cookies for many years before they became popular. Now her range of cookies are world famous. She writes in her book about her experiences in dealing with the Japanese. For the hygiene conscious Japanese accepting even free samples were a taboo. But the plucky lady convinced the skeptical Japanese to sample her cookies and today her brand of cookies continue to do well in Japan.

Super markets in USA are a world in themselves. They are so gigantic that one could get his three days quota of walking by vising just one super market. Understanding the hunger that the visitors must be feeling the marketers have hit upon a brilliant idea. Free sampling of food. One can see nattily dressed men and women who conjure mouth watering varieties of dishes and offer the same as samples to the shoppers. The shoppers taste the products and many buy the product for home usage.

 

Marketing a hill station - the case of Kodaikanal

Recently I had visited Kodaikanal the queen of the hill resorts in Southern India. Kodai as it is popularly called is really a queen of the hills. It has very cool climate, great connectivity with major metros and boasts of wonderful tourist attractions. Best of all it is inhabited by very friendly people.

But like many things n India there is lot to be desired in the marketing of the hill station. There is no consortium of hotel owners and resultantly the hotels jack up their prices in the tourist or the peak season. This leads to the fleecing of the tourists in the peak season.

Kodai does not have good sign boards displaying the major tourist attractions and the distance one has to cover to reach them. Suitable signboards and directions are very much needed for trekkers and tourist who want to reach the  tourist spots on their own.

For a hill station with international repute the facilities are abysmally dismal. The author and his family wanted to trek to Fairy falls. We went to the Tamil Nadu tourism department’s office. We were given a map which said that the fairy fall was only 2 kilometers away. The officer said that tourists should not trek by themselves and that a guide is needed as we would be passing through FOREST Area. 

Suitably impressed we asked for the guide fee. WE were told that the guide would charge us 600 rupees (12 Dollars). A jaw dropping price as the distance was hardly 4 kilometers. Finally we did the trek by ourselves. Yes it was easily done and the locals helped us find the directions. Fairy falls is quite safe and there was no thick jungle around the falls.

The next day we wanted to go to the Silver Cascade. Silver cascade is a waterfall that is very famous. The cab drivers quoted a price of 600 rupees (12 dollars – oops is 12 dollars the standard price in Kodai?). We refused and took the bus. The bus charged us 20 rupees one way for four people (40 US cents). Shocking example of not providing even the most basic amenities.

Kodai has beautiful locales but is marred by the noisy and intrusive vendors. They crowd the tourist attractions and in many cases the attraction is hardly visible due to the number of vendors surrounding the tourist attraction. There is lot of noise and tourists are pestered by demanding photographers wanting to take a snap that will freeze the moment for posterity. 

A tourist attraction called Guna caves is totally covered by iron grills. The tour operator proudly proclaimed that he would be taking us to the famous Guna caves (made famous by a south Indian movie which was filmed in the caves). It was a big disappointment to see the caves covered with a grill.

Kodai has not marketed itself well. There are no Kodai Tee shirts, no Kodai souvenirs, no Kodai tea cups, no Kodai magnets nothing. The tourists have to buy Nilgiri tea and coffee or forest produce. Nothing of value that can be displayed in the showcase. Kodai has missed a trick.

Yes Kodai chocolate is available and is tasty. But the display is shocking. Chocolate is piled as slabs and sold like vegetables. The visitors who buy in bulk are bemused to see that the chocolate is packed in disposable containers that in India are used to pack curry.

Just imagine gifting a box of Kodai chocolates to a friend. He would think that you have mistakenly brought him your afternoon lunch!

The only saving grace are the bicycle lenders around the Kodai Lake. They offer the visitors bicycles for an hourly rent of only 20 rupees (forty cents). They ask for no identity proof or do they take any advance. It is a great pleasure to take the bicycles for rent and peddle around the glorious Kodai Lake. It was a very nice sight to see many visitors riding the bicycles and enjoying the ride. Kudos to the bicycle lenders of Kodai.

I think that the management of Kodaikanal needs to brush up its functioning and learn the tricks of the trade of how to market a hill station. That way they would ensure more pleasant memories to their visitors and also enrich their coffers. 

Make Your day - send a greeting card!

A greeting card is an illustrated, folded card featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas, Diwali, Ramadan, New Year day or other holidays, they are also sent to convey thanks or express other feeling.

The sending of greeting cards had reached a stage where there are occasions for father’s day, mother’s day, Grandparents day, Pet’s day, get well cards,  and what is touted as the ultimate marketing gimmick no occasion day. That is a card is sent Chumma (Simply like that) – without any occasion.

Some occasions have become popular mostly due to the greeting card companies. For example Valentines day was a celebration of love before it was turned into a mega celebration and a spree of card and gift giving, all courtesy - greeting card companies like the Hallmark. 

Greeting cards, usually packaged with an envelope, come in a variety of styles. There are both mass-produced as well as handmade versions that are distributed by hundreds of companies large and small.

Hallmark Cards and American Greetings are the largest producers of greeting cards in the world. An Indian company called Archies does excellent Work in India and is highly profitable.

Many people traditionally mail or post seasonally themed cards to their friends and relatives in December. Many businesses also send cards to their customers in this season, usually with a universally acceptable message such as "happy holidays" or "seasons’ greetings".

Types of greeting cards

Standard Greeting Cards: A standard greeting card is printed on high-quality paper and is rectangular and folded, with a picture on the front. Inside is a preprinted message appropriate for the occasion, along with a blank space for the sender to add a signature or handwritten message. A matching envelope is sold with the card.

Photo Greeting Cards: In recent years, photo greeting cards have gained widespread popularity and come in two main types. The first type is a photo insert card in which a hole has been cut in the center. The sender’s photo slides in just like a frame. The second type is a printed photo card in which the photo is combined with artwork and printed, usually on a high-end digital press, directly onto the face of the card.

Personalized Greeting Cards: Websites using special personalization technology, such as Moonpig, allow consumers to personalize a card which is then printed and sent directly to the recipient.

Musical Greeting Cards: Musical greeting cards have been conceived which play music or sound when they are opened. They commonly have 3D handmade birthday cards which play traditional celebration songs such as Happy Birthday to You.

Electronic Greeting Cards: (also called E-cards) Greeting cards can also be sent electronically. Flash-based cards can be sent by email, and many sites such as Facebook enable one to send greetings. More recently, services have launched which enable the sender to send greetings to a mobile phone by text message.

Two Greeting cards that I remember:(Both were pranks that were played out by my classmates on other classmates) 

The greeting card says “You are a legend”. The recipient excitedly opens the card. Inside it is written “In your own eyes”

The second card says “Eat shit” Shocked by the profanity the recipient opens the card to find a message that says “25 trillion insects eat shit, why don’t you?”

Any which way a greeting card is a very personalized way of greeting someone. So greet some one with a card and make her day and make your own day better!

Mosquito repellent market – Marketing innovations

So lets us see some innovation in the mosquito repellent products

Liquidator with a control: This is a new innovation. There is knob on the liquidator. The knob can be adjusted to be at a minimal level for fewer mosquitoes and at a maximum level for more mosquitoes.

Liquidator with a push button control: Some liquidators come with a push button control. When the push button is not activated it is for less density of mosquitoes and if the push button is pushed it is for more density of mosquitoes.  

Odomos without the stickiness: Odomos the cream ran into problems with its stickiness, the smell and the irritation that it causes to sensitive skins and to children. Odomos worked on its formula and came out with a new cream that is less smelly, lees sticky and causeS less irritation.  

Coils without vapor: Tortoise the brand that wake up the repellent market too had its share of problems with the smoke that it emits and the resultant pollution. Now a day’s coils emit less smoke and cause less environmental pollution. But coils are cleanly out of favor and they now being shifted to more off house platforms. That is coils are being used mostly for outside the home usage.

Tennis bat terminator: A new invention. This is a electrical item shaped like a tennis bat. During my evening walk I frequently hear the snapping sound of a mosquitoes perishing and find a  face of grinning man who has just eradicated one  of the many mosquito that have been irritating his for quite some time.

DDT and defogging: These are used by the government. DDT was supposed to be a wonder and it was said that it would wipe out the mosquitoes menace. But what is wiped out was natural fauna like the sparrows! The mosquitoes have proved to be resilient and have genetically modified themselves and have proved immune to DDT. Same with the defogger. It created lots of noise and smoke but no real reduction of mosquitoes have been observed in areas where defogging operation has been conducted.

Two-in-one (mosquitoes and cockroaches): A new innovation, some companies have come out with two in one eradicator. One spay will kill both mosquitoes and cockroach. Does it really work? It is anybody’s guess but it is a very clever marketing innovation.

Mosquito repellents sprays that can be used as room freshener too: I have not seen this innovation but is worth a try. Now a day’s most people are conscious about their surrounding and they spend lavishly on room fresheners. So why not have a room freshener that can eradicate the mosquitoes. but  the marketers have to mull over the positioning the product.

Would the marketers position the product as a room freshener that can kill the mosquitoes or as a mosquito repellent that smells nice and can be used as a room freshener? My bet is – go for the room freshener which can be a mosquito repellent. That would be a nice positioning!

Mosquito repellent market

It is said that only two things that will survive the third world war. Rats and cockroaches (popularly called roaches in USA). I can very confidently add one more species. The not so humble mosquito. Mosquitoes inflict horrendous damage and kill millions of people every year. They cause infectious diseases like yellow fever, dengue, hemorrhagic fever, many forms of encephalitis and the deadly malaria. As people become more aware of the diseases caused by mosquitoes, the demand for mosquito repellents will keep on increasing, which is a positive sign for the manufacturers, new entrants as well as the existing players.

The Mosquito Repellents market is very huge and valued at more than Rs 1600 crores in India and is growing at a healthy clip. This segment is characterized by low competition and high consumption. Mosquito Repellents segment is estimated to have more than 54 manufacturers with 72 brands in India alone.

The products covered in this category include

Coils: The early method of commercial mosquito repellents. Of course the earliest method has been to apply ash or some herbal creams. People have also used mosquito nets. But these have proved to be cumbersome and the mosquito nets restrict movement and many feel claustrophobic in mosquito nets.  Mosquito coils have to be lit up and emit smoke that will make the mosquitoes to go away. But inevitably most coils cause air pollution and cause irritation to the throat and the eyes. There is a danger of fire and all the windows and doors have to be closed when the coil is lit. But there is an advantage as there is no need for electricity for coils. Coils are mobile.

Mats: Need electricity. Some mats give off a slight smell but most don’t. They are convenient to use, small and very compact but they need electricity to use and are not mobile.  

Liquidator: Moving from the mat to the liquid has been a recent phenomenon. Here the repellent is in the form of a liquid which when switched on drives the mosquitoes away. Once the liquid is exhausted it can be replaced with another refill. The machine that operates the liquidator is reusable.   

Candle: A novelty. The specially made candle that repels mosquitoes is made of natural elements and is supposed to be environmentally friendly. A niche product it might do well in homes that have environment friendly citizens.

Creams: One of the early methods of mosquito repellents, a cream like Odomos (Odor that can stop the mosquitoes?) has been quite effective. Portable and convenient to use they are a superb method of mosquito repulsion when people are on the move and when one is camping. But the put-off has been the smell and the allergies that these creams can cause to sensitive skins and to children.

Spray:  in the form of aerosol cans. The repellent is in the form of a spray and these sprays are now available that can be used just like room fresheners. This product again does not need electricity to operate it.

New Products that did not do well in India Part II

Times of India is a news paper that is a television channel in print, Deccan Chronicle is the king of local flavor and the Hindu stands for the traditional old style. In this very clearly segmented and positioned south Indian english news paper market a newspaper that promoted all things for all  people stood no chance. Eventually Ramoji Rao pulled the plug and gave Newstime a decent burial that its deserved.

Soma: a soft drink venture from Ramoji Rao the media baron. This was a foray that was doomed from the start. Soft drinks need focused distribution strategy and a marketing plan. Even though Soma had a great taste but it was not marketed well and finally it was withdrawn from the market.

Sunfill: A product from the Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola is the market leader in the soft drink market. It very proudly says that there are places in the world where water is not available but there is no place in the world where coke is not available. Sunfill was a very unique product from Coca-Cola Company.

Sunfill was a powder that was marketed at Rs 2/- per packet in India. The consumer simply has to empty the powder into a bowl, add sugar and water, mix and presto a soft drink was ready for consumption. Sunfill, Coca-Cola thought would be a right competitor for Rasna the market leader in the soft drink concentrate market.

The reality bites were very different. Rasna was very aggressive as it was only in the concentrate business. But Cola-cola was caught between two worlds. On one side if it would concentrate on the soft drink market it could not focus on the Sunfill or the powder business. Second the margins on Sunfill were very limited and the salesmen did not give it a correct push as sales people for soft drinks and sunfill were the same. And the sales people pushed the sale of bottled soft drinks as it gave then more incentives.

The sale of Sunfill also meant that the sale of RBC (returnable bottled cola) went down. All the sales people of Coca-Cola were born and brought up on glass bottled cola business and they resented the concept of powdered soft drink. They were not given proper training on product differentiation and selling a bouquet of products.

Subsequently Sunfill was withdrawn from the market. But interestingly powdered soft drink is available in Ethiopia and Coca-Cola also market Tropicana in the powder form. But Sunfill is a prime example of a good product that was not marketed well internally in the company. It also needed a separate distribution network and a different marketing strategy. As it was not given a separate treatment it died a premature death in India.

What can be the take ways from the above examples? Companies should not enter into a business because they promise good market share and profits. They would have to think as how the new products would affect their existing businesses. Would the new products offer any synergies or would it affect their core businesses? Also it is worth to spend time on training and orienting the employees about the new products. The companies should always remember its core competencies and try to maximize the same.

New Products that did not do well in India Part I

Kingston Filter Kings: was introduced by VST (Vazir Sultan Tobacco). VST had earlier introduced a highly successful cigarette named Charms. Charms was a huge hit as it had a denim pack and it was the cigarette of the rebel. In the eighties it was considered very stylish to tap the charms pack and see a cigarette jump out. Riding on the Charms success Kingston was introduced.

Kingston was projected as the premier filter kings and it was positioned as the cigarette for the upwardly mobile. The promotion had Jamaican beaches, sun, sand and beautiful girls. All this made no sense to the Indians. Sun is available plentifully in India and getting tanned is never an Indian priority. Indians are naturally tanned. The beaches of Kingston and Jamaica meant nothing to the Indian whose ideas of the beaches were limited to Goa and Kovalam. As such there was nothing inspirational about Kingston and the brand died a natural death.

Vacuumizer: was one of the products that was marketed by ABC (Amitabh Bachaan Corporation) limited. Vacuumizer has a very unique promotional campaign. It did carpet bombing. In other words the entire commercials for the Sunday night movie on Doordharshan which that time had the monopoly of television viewers were booked by Vacuumizer. All the advertisements that were featured on that Sunday night were of Vacuumizer.

Inspite of the innovative promotion Vacuumizer failed. Vacuumizer was a product which could keep a product fresh for more than a month. The product can be kept in the Vacuumizer and the box can be sealed. The food will be fresh for a long period of time. For a country that is keen on fresh foods for obvious reason the idea appeared to be very alien. Vacuumizer was a product that came to India too early. If it were to be introduced now it would be a success.

Soy milk: This was a product that was introduced by Godrej. Again a product that came before its time. At the time of its introduction India still had not embarked on the mission of eating healthy food. Eating ghee laden food was the in thing (it still is!). So a product that promised a drink that is nutritious made no sense. And the taste too was alien and the product died a natural death.

Jelly drink: Product of Godrej again. Jelly-O met with cultural resistance. Indians are used to smooth soft drinks and a drink that had granules in it was not liked. And jelly-O had smooth and rubbery granules and the consumers gave it the kiss of death.

Newstime: was the English news paper introduced by the Telugu media baron Ramoji Rao. Ramoji Rao is the owner of the 4th most read Indian news papers and the most read Telugu newspaper Eenadu. Readers expected that Newstime would be successful too. The tagline of Newstime was “all things for all people”. Readers did not understand what Newstime stood for. In the modern world you can’t be all things for all people.

Coin in the paint –Out of the box thinking

Coin in the paint: This article shows the power of innovative thinking. This piece of action has taken place in Hyderabad, India. It is about a small paint manufacturer from Hyderabad. This was a small company that had excellent range of paints but had very limited liquidity. They were being squeezed out of the market by aggressive national paint companies. The company had a limited advertising budget.  And it could not spent money on promotion like the big companies. The company if it were to spend even 10 crores rupees (which was 50% of its turnover) it would not be enough as 10 crores is small change for the big paints companies.

The company needed to think out of the box. It approached a marketing research company and asked it to suggest a way to get a decent market share. The marketing research organization did not give any immediate solution. It studied the market.

It found out that paints marketing is quite different from the others products that are marketed. In most product categories it is the husband, wife, the children or the family together who take a purchase decision. But paint is not a glamorous product. The family does not play any role in the purchase decision. Then who takes the decision?

Study proved that the architect or the painter who make paint related purchase decision in the primary market (house being painted for the first time) in the secondary market (re painting) it is the painter.

So what motivates the painter? Of course quality matters but the painter is more bothered about the margin that is given to him by the distributor that is the most appealing aspect in the paint purchase decision. In other words the commission given by the distributor is pocketed by the painter and the MRP (Maximum Retail Price) is shown to the house owners. The motive of the buying decision is the margin of discount given by the distributor.

The market research organization came out with a brilliant campaign. It told the company to place 1 (one) gram gold coins in selective paint boxes. As expected this ploy proved to be a big hit. As it was not promoted publicly the paint majors were not aware what was happening. The news of the gold coins found is paint boxes spread like wild fire and all painters were buying the paints in huge numbers.

Next the marketing research organization suggested that the company should concentrates on the painter and his family. The painter ability to earn depends on the ability to paint as fast as possible. The company trained the painters in fast painting. They were given the latest tools and brushes. Once the painter was able to paint faster his earnings increased and he became loyal to the small company. Thus the company by its very unique customer relationship Management practices enhanced its brand image and ensured continual patronage from its target customers that is the painters.