technology mobiles in marketing

Project Columbus and Project telecalling HUL
Rural Marketing - missed call business

ACTIVE WHEEL’S MOBILE CAMPAIGN A HUGE SUCCESS IN U.P. AND BIHAR

What started as a test pilot for building a low cost mobile activation model for media-dark geographies has turned out to be one of  the biggest mobile activations ever done for HUL.

PILOT PHASE

In December 2011, our detergent brand Active Wheel advertised the number 1800-3000-1599 on All India Radio in U.P. & Bihar asking listeners to give a missed call. After giving a missed call consumers  got an auto generated call from a series of numbers and got to hear snippets of humourous conversations between a husband and wife. This pilot got positive feedback from consumers and was a huge success!

A total of eight Instant Voice Responses lines were used in the pilot phase of the campaign; so every time the customer gave a missed call - he heard a new IVR till he called the 9th time. The result was extremely positive. The brand got a total of 3.2 Lakh Missed Calls from 28,000 unique numbers in just four week

Veerchand Bothra, the chief stratteregy officer of Netcore Solutions, that executed a popular missed-call project for HUL, says that it can also be used as a mobile verification tool and can be a substitute for physical presence or signature.

He should know, for Netcore implemented the 'Missed Call Solution for Anna Hazare's Campaign'. In a first for the country, the India Against Corruption campaign used the 'missed call' route to garner the support of 250 lakh people within 180 days.

For, the Great Indian Missed Call — the weapon of choice for perpetually broke pre-paid users like students and migrant labourers — is turning out to be a Rs500-crore business opportunity for banks, FMCG majors, even political parties.

NOTA None of the above

Against:

First, elections are held to elect the representatives of the people. The process of NOTA goes contrary to the electoral process of the country. In the current climate, where people say all the candidates are tainted, if the suggestion of NOTA is accepted by all the voters all over the country, then the result will be that no one will get elected. This will make the electoral device dysfunctional. Hence, it defeats the purpose of holding elections. Also, it makes democracy impossible and we may face a situation of anarchy. However, fortunately, such a scenario is unlikely because it is inconceivable that a large number of voters will go for NOTA.

In reality, most often, a large majority of voters are actually taken to the polling booths. They are persuaded to vote on the basis of various kinds of temptations or under threat. It is unlikely that a voter will stand in a queue and then vote NOTA. They would rather stay at home. Also, even in the current system, a form can be filled with the returning officer if a voter wants to put on record that he wishes to vote for no one.

Studies have shown that voters are paid money before the election, the sale of liquor increases, etc. Then, in spite of the election laws, voters are ferried to the polling booth by political parties. Most often, voters end up voting for caste or community vote banks. Under such circumstances, it is naive to believe that voting is based on ideology, principles or merit of the candidate.

Modi

On Solid Ground
____________________
.  Modi is today seen as a clean, efficient and no-nonsense administrator, an image that has been cultivated by sending messages to the right kind of audience. Business tycoons see him as a political enforcer who can deliver business opportunity without expensive social unrest. His model is one of ‘decentralisation of planning and empowering people’.

.  Modi has built a reputation as an incorruptible and efficient technocrat who has electrified Gujarat's 18,000 villages - the state is the only one in India with a near 24/7 power supply - and slashed red tape to attract companies like Ford, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors.

.  During Modi's 10 years as Chief Minister, Gujarat has grown an average of 10% a year. The state ranked fifth out of 15 big states in 2010-2011 in terms of per capita income. The CM boasts it is the "engine of India's economic growth."

. Modi has nonetheless one achievement which should persuade the voters to treat him with a measure of respect. He is the only chief minister in the country who has not allowed the mischief-making Naxalites to create a niche for themselves within his state, and this despite Gujarat having a substantially large tribal population.

.  Gujarat’s success, even Modi's detractors acknowledge, is a result of good planning -- exactly what so much of India lacks. The BJP has no real choice but to bite the Modi bullet. The saffron party’s natural supporters are enthused by Modi in the same way as they were by the Ayodhya issue in 1991 and by Atal Bihari Vajpayee's leadership in 1998 and 1999.

On a Sticky Wicket

____________________

. The stigma that clung to him in the aftermath of the riots has not faded. Despite his achievements as an administrator, he is still viewed through the prism of the 2002 riots. Though he came close to losing his job over his role in the riots, he expressed no regrets and admitted to no misjudgements. He remains a deeply divisive figure. However, all investigations have cleared him of any personal responsibility but one of his former ministers, Maya Kodnani, was given 28 years in jail last year for her part in the killing of 97 people in Naroda Patiya.

. Opinion polls predict a close election with regional parties likely to be king-makers. Even if the BJP secures the most votes it could struggle to find partners to form a viable coalition government, especially with Modi at its head.

 . Political observers are of the view that Modi could be rejected by Muslims and moderate Hindus. Modi’s campaigning outside Gujarat in 2009 brought out crowds but gathered few votes.

 . Remember what Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said: if you want to do politics in the country, you cannot stay away from skullcap and tilak. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan knows this. 

In a multi-ethnic/religious country like India, no leader can perhaps command the support of all communities but he must not attract the implacable hostility of India’s largest minority. For instance, former Prime Minister Vajpayee may not have enjoyed widespread support among Muslims but was not treated as an enemy either.

. It will be tough going for him though in large parts of the country, particularly in the east and the south, where members of the main minority community constitute a sizeable part of the electorate. In the southern States, where the BJP has virtually no presence, the Congress’s loss cannot be the BJP’s gain. The Congress’s loss can be the BJP’s gain only in States like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Delhi where the two national parties have a direct contest.


state benefited immensely from the White Revolution started by Verghese Kurien. Earnings from agriculture and dairy flowed to the capital markets and savings. The state was blessed with leaders like Jivraj Mehta who laid the foundations of public sector industry; Madhav Sinh Solanki who wanted industrial parks in each of the 184 tehsils and even Keshubhai Patel who began massive watershed development with check dams in Saurashtra. 

Narendra Modi has inherited a relatively well-functioning state and improved on it with his own brand of governance that works without consultation and debate. Running a relatively homogenous Gujarat like a personal fiefdom is one thing and managing a volatile, diverse country is quite another. That calls for cooperation, compromise, persuasion and deliberation—not exactly qualities associated with Modi.

Moreover, Gujarat Government has implemented ‘Single Window Clearance Act’ with first of its initiative in the country. This reduces ‘Red Tapism’ and help in delayed permission procedures.

Read more: http://forbesindia.com/article/boardroom/narendra-modi-role-model-of-governance/33783/0#ixzz2gGi8bJQ3

Read more: http://forbesindia.com/article/boardroom/narendra-modi-role-model-of-governance/33783/0#ixzz2gGhwCZFC

Sales vs Marketing

Selling starts only when you have a product. Marketing starts before a product exists. Marketing is the homework your company does to figure out what people need and what your company should offer. Marketing determines how to launch, price, distribute, and promote your product/service offerings to the marketplace. Marketing then monitors the results and improves the offering over time. Marketing also decides if and when to end an offering. Peter Drucker held that “the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.”

“If you leave us our money, our buildings and our brands but take away our people, the company will fail. But if you take away our money, our buildings and our brands but leave us our people, we can rebuild the whole thing in less than a decade.” Procter & Gamble CEO Richard R Dupree 1947

raone cost 125 crores .. marketing 50 crores

Stephen
Leacock, humorist and educator, took a cynical view of advertising: “Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it.” Companies should ask this question before using advertising:
Would advertising create more satisfied clients than if our company spent the same money on making a better product, improving company service, or creating stronger brand experiences? I wish that companies would spend more money and time on designing an exceptional product, and less on trying to psychologically manipulate perceptions through expensive advertising campaigns. The better the product, the less that has to be spent advertising it. The best advertising is done by your satisfied customers. The stronger your customer loyalty, the less you have to spend on advertising.

The ad’s mission can be one of four: to inform, persuade, remind, or reinforce a purchase decision.

ecommerce death of retail ?

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21581755-retailers-rich-world-are-suffering-people-buy-more-things-online-they-are-finding

Many brands still think shops are the best way to attract customers. Inditex of Spain, owner of the ubiquitous Zara fashion brand, opened 482 stores in 2012, bringing its total to 6,009 in 86 countries. Primark, a fast-growing vendor of nearly disposable clothing, sells nothing on its website, relying on its 242 shops for almost all its sales. The same can hold at the luxury end, too—few will buy a $10,000 necklace online, or entrust it to the post. Space on the snazziest streets in London, Paris and New York is in such demand that luxury retailers pay millions in “key money” to secure it, says Mark Burlton of Cushman & Wakefield, a property company.

Rural Mktg

HUL shaktiamma changing with the times - equipped with smartphones
Shakti initiatives driving 20% of Unilever sales in rural

Vodafone mini stores in rural india - laal dukaan

Bajaj electricals - mera gaon mera desh economy brand

cavincare - chik sachets

Why rural community is different:
1. CUG
2. Scarcity of media bandwidth
3. slow to adapt brands, slow to give up brands
4. expenses year long, income seasonal
5. entertainment starved, edutainment
6. experience advertising

HUL project Telecalling in Urban India ; Columbus in Rural India

HUL khushiyon ki doli

CSR companies Bill

 See more at: http://indiacp.blogspot.in/2013/01/CSR-Companies-Bill-2012.html#sthash.ePqbmDHv.dpuf
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/columns/aarati-krishnan/why-csr-isnt-enough/article5012683.ece

The Companies Bill, 2012 intends to inculcate the philosophy of CSR among Indian companies.

STIPULATIONS OF THE COMPANIES BILL, 2012

Every company with net worth of Rs 500 crore or more, or turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more or a net profit of Rs 5 crore or more during any financial year to constitute a CSR Committee of the Board consisting of three or more directors, of which at least one director shall be an independent director. 
The Board’s report to disclose the composition of the CSR Committee. 
The main functions of the CSR Committee are to:
Formulate and recommend to the board, a CSR policy indicating the activity or activities to be undertaken by the company as specified in Schedule VII of the Act; 
Recommend the amount to be spent on these activities; and 
Monitor the company's CSR policy periodically. 

If a company fails to provide or spend such amount, Board to specify reasons in its report for that failure.  Companies required to comply with CSR shall give additional Information by way of notes to the Statement of Profit and Loss about the aggregate expenditure on CSR activities. 


Schedule VII of the Companies Bill 2012 prescribes activities that may be included by companies in their CSR policies:
Eradicating extreme hunger and poverty; 
Promotion of education; 
Promoting gender equality and empowering women 
Reducing child mortality and improving maternal health; 
Combating human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, malaria and other diseases; 
Ensuring environmental sustainability; 
Employment enhancing vocational skills; 
Social business projects; 
Contribution to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund or any other fund set up by the Central Government or the State Governments for socioeconomic development and relief and funds for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes, minorities and women;

Significantly, there is no penalty for defaulting on CSR norms. Only an explanation is to be given by the board in its report for such non-compliance. So, it seems there is no real coercive factor. 


HUL 23000 Rs Crore
PAT 2600 RS crore

SIMPLE ECONOMICS

But my objection to the CSR provision is more basic. It is that it takes a blinkered view of the social responsibilities of an enterprise.

Any company is bound to have constant dealings with multiple sections of society as it goes about conducting its everyday business. It interacts with the local area where it operates its facility, the lenders who fund it, the employees who work for it and the exchequer which collects taxes.

If a company is fair in its dealings with all these entities, there is scarcely any need for it to make a song and dance about CSR. But if it short-changes these entities through questionable practices, this can’t be remedied by paying lip-service to CSR.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

This argument is based on simple economics. A typical listed company in India spends 30-40 per cent of its revenues on buying materials from suppliers and 11-12 per cent on employee benefits. It also pays out about 20 per cent of its profits as interest and over 30 per cent as taxes to the government.

In contrast, the amount to be earmarked for CSR is a mere 2 per cent of profits.

So if policymakers are really keen to imbue corporate India with a sense of social responsibility, the effort needs to go beyond the 2 per cent clause.

The following checklist can help gauge if a firm is indeed socially responsible in the holistic sense of the term.

Does the core business carry a social cost?

Scanning the annual reports of listed companies, it is clear that those with a questionable core business devote the most space to extolling their CSR efforts.

Thus, we have tobacco majors spending millions on establishing a rural supply chain, companies manufacturing dated chemical compounds taking pride in their verdant campus and fizzy drink makers announcing that they are ‘water positive’.

Within these businesses, no doubt, firms that take such initiatives are better than their peers which don’t.

But wouldn’t it be far more desirable to discourage, at the very outset, businesses that carry a high social cost?

This would call for a system of CSR credits, akin to the one prevailing for carbon credits, that awards negative marks to businesses that manufacture ‘de-merit’ goods. Does the firm care about employee rights?

It isn’t enough if the business chosen by an entrepreneur is squeaky clean. How it is run is equally important.

The last couple of years have seen quite a few episodes of industrial unrest erupt at manufacturing facilities managed by leading companies. These have brought to light several murky practices employed by some manufacturing companies to keep their production lines chugging, even as they cut corners on costs.

Using temporary arrangements to keep legitimate workers off the payroll, paying them salaries that blatantly violate minimum wage rules and using loopholes that deny them of basic legal rights — quite a few members of India Inc seem to adopt these practices to sidestep the country’s labour laws.

If a company acquits itself badly on the above counts, does it really help the social cause if it then goes on to build schools or sanitary facilities in the rural hinterland?

Does it pay its dues?

Talk to the CEO of any small or medium enterprise in India and she will usually have a litany of woes to relate about how the large firm that she supplies to makes life difficult for her. Inordinate delays in payments of dues for supply of goods or services, wafer-thin margins and one-sided contracts that barely allow survival, are all par for course for SMEs dealing with their more powerful corporate buyers.

This is indeed why listed companies were earlier mandated to make explicit disclosures, in their annual reports, of large outstanding dues to SMEs. These disclosures have now been waived. But why not count delayed payments to SME suppliers as a black mark against social responsibility?

Does it evade lenders or the taxman?

Firms often forget this. But the bank borrowings which keep the wheels of a business turning and the taxes collected by the exchequer involve large amounts of public money.

However, it has become quite commonplace in recent years to see large firms lead their lenders on a merry dance to recover their dues. Taking recourse to innovative ‘structures’ that help escape one’s legitimate share of taxes, is practically a matter of pride for the Indian businessman.

So what’s the point in actively cheating the exchequer out of a 30 per cent share of profits by evading taxes and then shelling out a paltry 2 per cent as CSR? All the above instances suggest that as policymakers sit down to frame the rules for operationalising the CSR clause in the new Companies Bill, they should actively consider a system of ‘CSR credits’ that evaluates a company’s social responsibility, in its entirety. While awarding ‘credits’ to companies that do deploy 2 per cent of their profits on CSR, it should also incorporate negative marks for being in an undesirable business or sharp practices in dealings with suppliers, employees and the exchequer.

Establishing a disclosure framework for all this may not be too difficult, as the top listed companies are already required to address many of these issues in the new Business Responsibility Report.

A report card on these lines may prompt the leading lights of corporate India to take their social responsibilities more seriously. And it may also help silence the cynics who ask if a profit-oriented enterprise can really do well, if it expends its profits on doing good.