IIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri on 'FIGHT FOR THE NO.1 SPOT'

Prof Rajita Chaudhuri follow some off-beat trends like organizing make up sessions

Rajita Chaudhuri at Polo Exhibition Match

It’s not easy to reach the No.1 spot; you need to fight hard, and sometimes even snatch that spot, like Rin did. It came out with advertisements which clearly mentioned it was superior. The ads stated, “Tide se kahin behatar safedi de Rin”. Of course, Tide filed a case and Rin got into a controversy; but it helped generate a buzz – which is most important. Audi joined the top league when it came out with the advertisement which mentioned, “Audi is growing faster than BMW, Lexus & Mercedes.” Now, whether it was actually growing faster or not, did not bother the consumer much. However, it changed people’s perceptions about the car. Now, they clubbed it along with BMW and Mercedes. Audi jumped the rungs and established itself as the premium brand. Yes, sales increased too.

Sometimes, the fight for the top spot is taken public, consumers love it, and it never fails to grab eyeballs. Coke and Pepsi have been doing it for years. Apple and its humorous takes on Microsoft defined its brand personality and brand image as uber cool in comparison to the fuddy duddy one that competitor Microsoft had.

FIGHT NOT JUST FOR NO.1 BUT THE NO.2 SPOT TOO
With the marketplace getting so cluttered for the No.2 was neglected. Of course, not always. Some very intelligent marketers knew that when there is no space at the top, it pays to be clearly labelled as No.2, for that makes people notice you. Avis did that years ago. Hertz was the leader and had the maximum awareness when it came to car rentals. So, Avis brought out its iconic ad, “We are number 2, that’s why we try harder.” Everyone knew who was No.1, but now for the first time a new slot was defined. So, if for some reason, a consumer could not get Hertz, he knew whom to call next. Avis carved a niche for itself, and did brisk business for now the consumer knew, maybe not No.1, but Avis was as good, and definitely better than hoards of others.

Hindustan Times (HT) seems to be doing the same in Mumbai. Its ads claim that “Hindustan Times beats DNA to become No.2 in Mumbai.” The beginning of this month saw HT advertising how it was now very close to the market leader, The Times of India, with a readership of 5.92 lakhs, a lead of 17,000 over DNA.

Sometimes, it pays to play the second fiddle. Miller High Life has always positioned itself as the “good” beer, providing “good” value for money. Miller Coors is America’s second largest company and it decided to take the second position seriously. In 2009, when the market leaders were paying $3 million for 30 seconds of airtime during the Super Bowl, Miller said it was No.2 and did not believe in spending so much and thought a “one-second ad” during the Super Bowl Sunday was enough to make its point. So, days before the Super Bowl, it started its 30 second teasers, promoting its 1-second-ad that it would air on Super Bowl Sunday, for its commonsense philosophy could be conveyed in just one second. The No.2, with a tiny ad budget drew more attention than the big spenders.

CALLING YOURSELF NO.2 ALWAYS WORKS – WE ALL LOVE THE UNDERDOGS!
If you are sure about your product and your philosophy, you can tackle not one, not two, but many competitors at one go – much like our Bollywood heroes who cansingle-handedly fight all the bad guys and emerge victorious. That’s exactly what Brita water filter system did. It came out with ads which claimed that tap water in developed countries was excellent and there was no need to spend money on bottled water and increase pollution, for 16 million gallons of oil were consumed to make plastic water bottles – which could be totally avoided by using the reusable Brita water filter bottles. It asked you to drink responsibly and avoid buying bottled water in plastic bottles. Tap water was as good after all!

It takes vision and guts to speak out against the leader. But if you have a better product, it’s best to just bulldoze your way into the minds of the consumer with an aggressive marketing campaign. It works! Don’t knock ! Just barge in!
This article is sourced from PR-CANADA.net, click here to read compelete article.

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There is a lot in a caste!

IIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri: The New Age Woman

Caste based census is politically instigated!
The other day an enumerator came down to my home and comfortably started to ask me and my family details for census 2011. Everything was going smooth till he asked me about my caste, and that was the only moment I felt a little awkward. Not because he asked me about my caste or I wanted to keep it under anonymity, but actually because I do not remember when was the last time someone (educated and hailing from urban area) asked me such a question so bluntly and more so because this was the least expected question in this kind of survey!

The whole hue and cry or the so-called politicisation of including caste in the census does not hold any merit for our generation. At a point in time when we are talking about equality and framing polices to break down nexus of Khap panchayats and caste based politics, such an inclusion for the national level database management is kind of absurd! Even the key-designer of Indian Constitution, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, never supported this kind of practice and was once found saying, “So long as people were divided into several thousand castes, we were cherishing a 'great delusion' in believing that we were a nation.”

It goes without saying that the prime motive of census is to give our policy makers a framework on which they can design social and human developmental schemes. If the policy makers are so keen on devising strategy and recognising the underdeveloped pockets of population, caste census is a ‘no solution’. As such there is no system in place to ensure that one would disclose his actual caste details, and in that case the whole purpose of including a column on caste details becomes completely redundant. Census should rather focus on social attributes like education, economic condition, women participation as workforce, average marriageable age in family and so on and so forth. No doubt, the whole issue just seems politically instigated! This kind of database would empower our politicians to effectively exploit the caste card. As such political parties like Samajwadi Party, RJD and JD-U have been strongly demanding inclusion of caste in the census! Not to forget, these are those parties who rely heavily on caste based politics for their vote banks. The advocates of such moves are also of the opinion that this would enable a better targeting for reservation. But then, it is no secret that such caste based reservations have their own sets of challenges. Not to forget that now, there exists a big probability of responders deliberately misrepresenting the facts in the official records, in order to grab a reserved part of developmental schemes.

When it comes to a democratic regime, caste is an antithesis. Above all, caste census is a retrograde move and should be replaced with concrete plans for development of backward pockets of population irrespective of their caste. There is no logic to defend that only the so-called SC/ST/OBCs needs development and reservation and almost all upper caste people are well-off! In no circumstance, poverty can be confined to the unprivileged caste. In a country, where 60 per cent people earn less than a dollar a day, the actual purpose of such pan-India survey should be to bring out people from unlivable economic conditions.

It another example of petty private political gains made at the expense of national exchequer. If amends are not implemented at this point in time, it will bring back the horror of 1931, when Britishers executed such census to strengthen their divide and rule policy…

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

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The role of branding and advertising in your fund raising strategy…

People’s Watch does not really believe in ‘branding and advertising’ for fund raising. As far as possible we try not to market ourselves because we are a human rights organisation and being a public organisation we ensure that we do not undertake any unethical marketing initiative since in most of the cases we are dealing with the lives and livelihood rights of ‘victims’ whose identities have to be respected and protected by us. In addition, human rights work is more effectively carried out with lesser visibility since it is really a risky engagement on our part. It involves a variety of risks, from state to non state factors, according to the cases we deal with.

Do celebrity endorsements really help when it comes to fund generation? Does it really make your job easier?
Although we are not connected with them at all for the moment, celebrities really help in fund raising. Moreover, celebrities do not always refer to people from the film world, but even then they are important for fund raising in human rights work. It does make our job easier as they are able to represent you completely and correctly. Moreover, they can convince all stakeholders more easily than an NGO. However, the most difficult part of this is to make them understand your work and strategies correctly so that they do not misrepresent.

What changes do you feel are required, both in terms of policy and operations, so that the social sector bear fruits in the long run?
The social sector needs to ensure that it makes its work accountable to the public at large. This principle of accountability could be made possible by a functional Board of Trustees or Executive Committee that sits with the organisation at least four times a year to oversee its activities as well as the financial management of the organisation. It is also important for any non-profit organisation to be effective to ensure that in addition to having a band of good activists at the grass roots it also has a good team of senior advisors to guide and review the work undertaken by it.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

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PASSION OR PRAGMATISM? TAKE ONE!

Is it conviction and heart that inspires great communication or sheer hard nosed professionalism? 4Ps B&M does a checkout with some eminent creative hot-shots...

It was an idle conversation with eminent filmmaker Shyam Benegal that really got this issue into focus. As an evolved, informed and culturally-savvy communicator, Benegal believed that in the area of creative-driven professions (Film, Advertising, Theatre … whatever) there will always be themes, roles, offers, jobs and assignments that may not necessarily viagrise your creative juices – but hey, big deal! It’s a job, remember? So, as a smart, focused and result-oriented Pro, it’s your job to give it your best. The respected Movie Guru insists that “your mandate is to bring your professional skills and expertise to the table and deliver what needs to be delivered in the appropriate fashion. I don’t really see any conflict or soul-destroying problem there – especially in the arena of Advertising, where there is a specific job to do.” Another veteran, Equinox Big Boss Sumantra Ghoshal (Cherry Blossom, Hamara Bajaj) a revered, thinking, Ad Film maker, agrees. He says that it’s impossible to get up close and personal with every brand you work for because the duration is rarely over six weeks. Besides passionate involvement is not the name of the game in most cases. “It is about being sensitive and honest to the brand personality, what it represents and communicates it with the magic and chutzpah at your disposal to the select target group that matters.”

Exec Creative Director (JWT) Anuja Chauhan comes in next. Slamming a huge sixer with her maiden novel The Zoya Factor (picked up by SRK’s Production Red Chillies Entertainment) and responsible for such deathless slogans as Dil Mange More, the petite phataka pushes the Benegal-Ghoshal button, even harder. “I would not fall back on romanticised passion or inspiration as my drivers to approach an assignment. I would go in with an open mind and invest in the job all the truth, sincerity, dedication and creative energy at my disposal. Sure, there are preferences and one is inclined to enjoy working with one particular category more but that’s neither here nor there. For me, professionalism is the key.” Ogilvy’s resident dude Sumanto Chat agrees. “Early on in my career, there may have been roadblocks and some product lines a real pain, but with time I’ve learnt to work it out.” Experience and maturity remains the best teacher, he suggests and a healthy detachment from the brand lends it the required objectivity necessary to give the creative quotient the right spin. “Of course there will always be preferences … for me, the Unilever brands, for example, remain real close to my heart. And luckily, I have a super team to make up for all my deficiencies!”

Pritish Nandy provides the first chord of dissent. “For me, I think its instinctive. If a theme, storyline or an idea doesn’t instantly turn me on, give me a hard-on, excite me – its an immediate no-no! There is no question of cultivating it, making it an acquired taste and soldiering on for this highly, over-rated animal called professionalism! Something, somewhere has to click, pronto. Remember, I am not looking to impress, but move people emotionally to a different plane. That comes from passion not pragmatism; heart not head, mate”. Creative Consultant Sonam Khanna agrees. The San Francisco-based writer believes that “The professionalism bit doesn’t really work where there is a creative calling”. Creativity comes from within and has nothing to do with hard-nosed discipline. I never ever accept any assignment that doesn’t fuse with my basic sensibilities. I know because of my experience and knowledge, I will perhaps be able to deliver – but it clashes with my conscience. It won’t be something I am proud of or honestly given it my all. And I detest the chalta hai, theek hai, client to okay kar diya attitude. For me, I am the judge and jury and unless I am really charged, it’s a polite but firm NO!”

Rediffusion’s Mumbai-based NCD Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar wraps up the debate with his distinctive take. “I think it’s a personal thing. For me, doing stuff for a new category, client or product is hugely exciting because I am playing blind and getting sleepless nights! That’s my big NO! Otherwise, repeating the familiar is comfortable … but God, so boring!”

So, for different folks, different strokes, huh?!

Monojit Lahiri

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

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