Right Here Right Now

All this while in an MBA college.. We had been focusing of customer oriented marketing and aggressive selling but today I faced the truth (which was like hitting the wall in the face) But it was totally worth it..

Mr.B.S.Nagesh, Vice-Chairman of Shopper's Stop India was in College the other day and he spoke to us about his life and experiences. Very few people have the sensitivity to "Join the Dots": To be sensitive to your surroundings and draw inferences thereby adding wisdom.

He had all of it, Also he shared his thoughts with us very frankly and every moment was worth listening to.

He spoke about the retail industry in India and as we know its not an easy business; For E.g: Planning assortment (Breadth and depth) according to Region, Age, SEC, Personality etc is the biggest challenge in India as every 100 kms the culture changes.

This actually made sense to me, We are not one country and its amusing that when MNC's set their foot in India they set up their offices one in Delhi and another in Mumbai believing that this is sufficient to manage the Indian market. What I would like to question them is would they do the same in America: set up one office in Washington and another in New York?

Mr. Nagesh mentioned something very surprising and He explained it rather well.. Something thats gonna stay with me forever..He said "Retail is a simple business"- He called it the Paradigm of ONE- Selling One SKU for One consumer out of One square feet and creating one moment..He said we should focus on:

1) Delivering a moment of delight:Be it a pan vala shop which delivers 200 moments each day or a big retail outlet that delivers 20,000 moments each day. In delivering moments the marketer has to develop the consciousness that each family has 4 sets of consumers so rather than targeting family we should target individuals.

2) Right Here-Right Now: Retail is described by Right Here-Right Now, Response to marketing activity can be viewed in a few days (Rather the next day of implementation) as the intermediaries are less.

This actually made sense to me and enhanced my interest towards retail industry.

These moments actually add worth to your stay at an B-school. Looking forward to more of these moments....

Well, Color me purple…

Yes.. This is what I said to my nutritionist whens she found out that the reason for her diet plan to fail was my indulgence in something which I (and I believe millions like me) can't resist.. Chocolates… (Drool…)

Color me Purple (Literally)… Cadbury Dairy Milk is what must have come to your minds when you see a bar wrapped in purple packaging.. Dairy Milk is a true Mega-brand.. It means celebrating life's everyday pleasures with a bar of Cadbury.. For the last 62 years the brand Cadbury has maintained its image but has matched itself to consumer lifestyles in specific market segments.

You'll remember the below advertisements if you have grown up in 1990's in India..

In 1990's Cadbury Dairy Milk (CDM) re-defined the chocolate category from being "meant for kids" to "meant for the child in every adult" with its "Real Taste of Life" campaign. CDM sensed the spontaneity and Energy in Indian household post-liberalization and voiced it through these TVC's.. The un-inhibited expression of happiness by the dancing girl on the cricket field is still etched in everyone's memory.. The girl danced into our hearts and rest as they say is history… (This campaign went on to be awarded 'The Campaign of the Century', in India at the Abby Awards)

Now that CDM had won everyone's hearts it was time for CDM to take the place of traditional Indian sweets and increase chocolate consumption.. So came 'Khanewalon Ko Khane Ka Bahana Chahiye'.. The campaign was built to increase social acceptance of chocolates among adults thus showed adults sharing moments with CDM chocolates..

CDM had won hearts by now.. It was now time to celebrate.. So came the "kuch meetha ho jaye" campaign..

CDM identified lingo that common Indians used in everyday life.. It became synonymous with "meetha"..To such an extent that people ask the retailer for CDM ("Bhaiya zara dairy milk dena") when they want a chocolate.

Remember "Pappu paas ho gaya"?

The interactive campaign for "Pappu Pass Ho Gaya" bagged a Bronze Lion at the prestigious Cannes Advertising Festival 2006 for 'Best use of internet and new media'. The idea involved a tie-up with Reliance India Mobile service and allowed students to check their exam results using their mobile service and encouraged those who passed their examinations to celebrate with CDM. The 'Pappu Pass Ho Gaya' campaign also went on to win Silver for The Best Integrated Marketing Campaign and Gold in the Consumer Products category at the EFFIES 2006 (global benchmark for effective advertising campaigns) awards. The "Pappu" campaign was used extensively to express joy in a moment of achievement / success and became part of street language.

As a result of the campaign penetration of chocolates increased faster in the last four years than it did in the decade before that! Frequency of consumption among adults grew by 16% in metros and mini metros. 'Celebrating a happy moment' emerged as a need state in four years and preference of CDM for celebratory moments increased on an average by 34% across town classes.

CDM is now into celebrating small moments of happiness that life has to offer... The latest ones being the "Celebrating the Pay Day" campaign on "Kuch meetha hai khana aaj pehli taareekh hai".. And the "Shubh Aarambh" campaign launched a month back.

The campaign is about CDM consumers to also enjoy their much loved chocolate before embarking on an important task, in anticipation of a successful outcome. The "Shubh aarambh" TVC is targeted to the youth who have come of age but still have Indian values in their heart. The TVC has a young boy asking a young girl sitting in a bus stop enjoying her CDM for a cube of her chocolate and stating the reason as having something sweet before starting something auspicious- asking her to drop her home on his bike J

The success of the Cadbury brand can be seen in how its image is continually maintained over time. Identifying brand values, and matching these to consumer lifestyles in specific market segments can help develop a clear advertising message.

The Most recent Global campaign of Cadbury is a run up to the 2010 London Olympics(Cadbury is the official treat provider) and it aims to take consumer engagement to a next level.

As games get people playing, they bring people together and sometimes they even reveal an undiscovered talent. Cadbury has launched Spots v Stripes. They are asking people to choose sides and split into Spots or Stripes in order to play, what's quite possibly, the biggest, longest game ever. The games range from on-ground events (cricket, dirt racing etc.) in 5 cities of Great Britain to online games (where everyone can take part)... To take part people have to register (http://www.spotsvstripes.com) with the side they want to play for - Spots or Stripes. Then whenever you play a game against someone from the opposing side, the winner scores a point for his/her side. All the points get logged and are updated live on Score'o'tron on the website. The teams have to score enough points and participants stand a chance to become one of their side's all-star heroes along with prizes.

So..

Are stripes too straight for you or spots too rounded??

Have you joined your team yet?

Way to Go MS...

After making the blogger Id.. It took me two years to actually get me to write something.. Its not that I am lazy, But I am motivationally challenged.. :)

Writing a blog post requires more than just a good mood to pen your thoughts down.. It requires right ambiance (read disturbance free), a cup of coffee and good internet connection..The coffee is easy to arrange but the other two are not considering that I am in a hostel where we get wi-fi signal in our rooms but no connectivity which sometimes makes you feel like the farmers of vidarbha who keep waiting for rain gods to bless them.. Good connectivity in academic block is of no use as then the ambiance is not there.. Suddenly while writing all this I realize that I am too fussy about things.. But then I dont this is the way I am structured..

I want to write and I refuse to give up.. I know deep in my heart that I want to do it (write a blog).. And recently a friend (Read angel) introduced me to Office 2010 and here was the solution to my problem.. MS Office Word 2010 has a template for blog which you can align to your blogger id.. So write when you want and upload it with just a click when there is wi-fi signal.. May god bless the guys who introduced this into Office 2010.. It made me feel less fussy and made me realize that there are many more like me out there.. :)

Looking forward to use Word 2010 to write my blog..

Well I also learnt a marketing lesson..It is through developing customer-need centric features that Mega-Brands like MS make their presence felt and gain brand value in the minds of the consumer ..

Way to go MS (MicroSoft).. and Way to go MS (ManjuShree)...on the blogger-sphere.. :)

Naam mein kya rakha hai :)

The first dilemma that any new blogger faces is what should be the name of the blog..

Initially I was wondering.. How does it matter what you call your blog.. What matters is what you write in it..

But then, If you see around you .. you'll know the importance of the "name"..

If you have a common name like "Raj", "Rahul", "Neha".. You know what I am talking about.. You call out these names in a crowded place and 5-10 people will respond (Nothing Personal)..

So.. drawing the analogy to my blog.. If the name is common then if anybody searches my blog (probability of this is 0.0000000001 but still I would not like to miss out on that) my blog would be listed on the 20th page of google.. :)

I have always enjoyed the privilege of having an uncommon name.. I was "the" only Manjushree in my school (which had 5000+ students) and in college...

I am proud of the fact that my grandpa who called me "Grandest of the Grands (Grand-children)" actually gave careful thought into giving me a meaningful name (More on my name sometime later)..

Taking the baton ahead.. I gave careful thought into my blog's name.. I googled the key words and finalized on "Head Over Heels".. 'coz I love heels and I love to spread my gyan around :P

On a serious note.. It signifies the attitude that you should have in life.. You need to be carefree but at the same time take calculated risks (so that you don't topple around)...This is my mantra in life.. You live once so why not give it your best...