By this time everyone who had anything to say must have already said it. In this quick-fire world, people tweet their entire blog posts / thoughts as 140 characters. I didn’t participate much in such discussions, but I still have a few things to say. I think I should’ve been quicker, but hey! Better now than never! This is not someone’s wedding that I shall speak up in the stipulated time or hold my peace!

Yes, I am talking about the ToI Vs Hindu fight which is all over the place now!

First, a bit of history.

The Hindu has been having its own struggles for quite a while. Having handled the some brands from that stable (albeit briefly), I believe that they had way too many issues to fight against and TOI was not even in the radar then. Back then, people used to read Hindu publications to improve their English. Many a south Indian has been able to manage cracking CAT and other related exams by reading Hindu editorials apart from their other reading material. Hindu held the pride of place there. Over time, with the advent of technology, the human laziness crept in somewhere. Hindu was at one point filled with spelling errors, grammatical blunders and what not! But the paper still had some integrity left in it. Although at some point it became a bit of anti-establishment, some point it became a Congress stooge. At least, that was the impression that I was left with. With the brand pretty close to my heart, I did feel a bit odd when my own intellect questioned a lot of stuff from The Hindu press.

Things got worse with the family linen being washed in public. Between N Ram, Malini Parthasarathy & the entire editorial board there was a huge family problem which was very publicly fought. The worst part was the open letters by the members of the board which got published in all rival newspapers. Open letters got a new meaning altogether!

Editorial instability, lack of direction, family feud dogged The Hindu. No amount of fresh ‘layout’ changes could help. After all, the content started taking a beating. The Hindu is a serious newspaper and is supposed to remain so. That was its strength. And that was a strength which was losing its power with all the hullaballoo around the senior management & family.

But The Hindu is a tradition. Coffee & this newspaper is a must combination for all locations where the paper was available and given a choice, I would go back to it even today. Sadly, The Hindu doesn’t publish in Mumbai. And even if it did, would it have the same charm? I don’t have the answer.

Enter TOI.

TOI is not a serious newspaper. At least in my mind! It is a frivolous, bordering on yellow journalism kind of a publication. Front page news yesterday was ‘Bus Driver mowing down people’ replete with pictures. The paper thrives on scams, death & bollywood.

While it is true that Scams are important to be highlighted, deaths to be announced & Bollywood to be covered, the publication lacks the editorial strength. The Op-ed pieces there are good, but somewhere the line of seriousness is always crossed. Breaking News is key!

Can it be blamed? Chicken & egg story. They will claim that they provide what is read by the man on the road. If Bollywood claims it, we can pardon it. But a newspaper cannot do that. My opinion of course!

And when TOI entered the Madras market, they tried to change the culture. Page 3 happened. I never knew till TOI & DC entered the Madras market that such low neckline, short skirt, LBD toting PYTs roam around the streets of Chennai till these papers started publishing pictures of them in big sizes!

I read somewhere that you can win over a country not by wars, but by infiltrating (read polluting) their culture. TOI & DC did exactly that in my opinion. Hindu’s page 3 was about the city. I think it still is. The page 3 used to cover information about the city, changes happening, things of value and things that matter. Boring shit it was. TOI and DC made it glamorous. Partly visible bosoms, neatly waxed legs, funky jewelery! Whoa! Tamilians buy gold jewelery. Seriously! Oxidised Silver was made fashion by these papers! There obviously was a clash of sensibilities.

Hindu still sells largest in TN. South Indians are boring people. They believe in smaller scams which are not of national interest. Worried more about Mullaiperiyar than Chikni Chameli and Hrithik Roshan’s shaved chest (Do South Indian men shave their bodies?). And more worried about their exams (or their ward’s exams) than the name of Beti B.

TOI called it boring. TOI called it yawn worthy. TOI called it sleepy! And how!

HINDU responded

Sleeping Lion woke up. After nearly 2 months. War footing for Hindu is 2 months of time! They didn’t do it quickly. They made TOI spend all their money and then came up with this campaign.

Now folks here are my two cents.

a.       TOI & DC cater to a different market. Not the serious ‘news’ reader. They believe in volumes and started a price war by selling a year’s subscription for 99 bucks. Everyone bought it because one month’s newspaper at the raddhiwala will fetch Rs.8/9 per kilo. Good investment. Their news was also of that kind. With a pinch of salt, the average householder let the paper enter his household. Period.

b.      Hindu didn’t reduce the rates. Held on and still holding on. Of course, they need to really whip up their editorial team and screw the s&*% out of them to get a good newspaper going. But they cater to serious newsreaders. Hindu WAS the opinion maker in the south. They need to get that position back if they need to be in serious business.

c.       The campaign from both is frivolous. TOI poked fun at a serious newspaper calling it boring. Hindu responded with a ‘screw you’ kind of campaign by calling TOI what they are… frivolous. Tit for tat! As an aside TOI’s launch campaign was also frivolous. Day in life of Chennai was replete with films, fist fights, water fights and a folk song based on a film song. JWT (and Senthil) won awards and accolades, but little did they realize that they were setting the tone albeit unconsciously for the future. And this was just one of those occasions when the big brother of Chennai publishing industry tapped on the head and said ‘shut up’.

d.      You can’t change TOI. The Hindu should not change from its ‘old’. The last few years are but a blip in a tradition which The Hindu should remember and hold on to. Else the brand will face a slow but eventual death.

e.      Fond hope that the new CEO Arun Anant would bring in some change. He has a huge challenge in hand. Feuding family, bad ‘recent’ history, outgoing strongman, new editorial board being called ‘inexperienced’ very publicly by family members. Feces has already hit the roof. Clean-up is not going to be easy. I sincerely hope he is given a free hand to take things to a logical direction.

Just a couple of points about the TOI Vs Hindu campaigns

1.       TOI took a bold step. To call seriousness a.k.a boring the way they did. Very cheeky. Appreciable campaign and ran it for quite a while in the TN markets. Good media usage and viral potential which was also exploited well.

2.       However, biased as it may sound, I liked the Hindu campaign very well. To hit where it hurts most. The readers. The Hindu campaign did show some steel by calling the bluff on the reader rather than on the newspaper. To call them ‘dumb’ requires a lot of guts. To say ‘Read the other newspapers and you will also become dumb’ is not an easy task.

I remember seeing home videos of American idiots who didn’t know the difference between Iran or Pakistan, Sikhs or Muslims, couldn’t point Washington in their own map, but wanted to bomb Iran because they have WMD. Because Bush said so!

The Hindu campaign is a great take-off from there and I guess puts the message across not so softly or subtly!

After all, all is fair in love and war. There obviously is no love here

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I have also worked on some brands from ‘The Hindu’ family briefly during my stint at Ammirati Puris Lintas. The brand and the group have been very close to my heart.

Unfortunately, the group is facing a very slow cancerous death. I can see it! The editorial in the mainline daily is not as it used to be. And the change has unfortunately been to the worst. While many used to refer to the Hindu as a boring newspaper, there were also anecdotes doing the rounds back then about how the publication was a stickler for correctness of information before it gets printed. People used to joke that if you are pronounced dead on ‘The Hindu’ then you are actually dead. Else there is at least a fighting chance.

There are two other papers (worth this blog mention) apart from The Indian Express, in what used to be citadel of The Hindu. ToI & Deccan Chronicle. They have cornered a fair bit of space by doing one or more of the following:

• Yearly subscription for Rs.99/- (Beat that! We would buy that paper purely for waste paper purposes) That makes your entry absolutely easy and you are the second paper at least for Raddhiwala / Pazhaya paper purposes. (Pardon my inclusion of vernacular terms, but it gives the authenticity to the point that I was trying to make).
• Making Madras sound like Bombay by introducing a Page 3 culture. Generation X, Y, Z, ZA and whatever thrives on gossip. They are more likely to pick the ‘second paper’ for the juice in the morning than the ‘Oh! So boring national news where some minister has surreptitiously consumed 800 Crores of taxpayer’s money’. I am not saying that they are irresponsible. Without them Anna Hazare would still be a village headman rather than a national icon. However, this generation is not the kind which would prioritize something like national interest over Trisha or Sneha (or are they passé? I think it should be Tamannah / Tapsi?). Maybe I am wrong, but that’s the feeling I am left with.
• Editorial content based on ‘flavour of the day’. Scoop. It doesn’t matter if the printed word is true, partially true, pinch of truth or a complete figment of some journalist’s imagination. There is a requirement for trial by media in our corrupt society, but some of them take it way too far.

And The Hindu has not been any less in helping their competition. The group today is suffering from many types of malignant cancer.

• Their family feud has been one of the worst cases of dirty linen being washed in public. There are people from the family with a clear divide who have spoken to other media houses about their family fights and it has in one way become a national exhibition.
• Blind in terms of polarity. The publication has not been a neutral entity for quite a while. There was a time when the publication was known for its anti establishment stand. Today they are almost seen like a Congress DMK combine newspaper. Much of the 2G scam was soft pedaled in The Hindu, which I believe was a disaster in waiting.
• Not moving with the Times (certainly not a pun). Their editorial IS (let’s face it) boring. Their writing style doesn’t make good reading for today’s audiences. The publication gives a feeling of talking from a pedestal still which leaves much to desire. No wonder TOI is taking a huge dig at The Hindu. Watch the TVC here. A boringly long 65 seconder echoing the boring newspaper.

• And what did The Hindu come up to promote itself? This?

Too bad, they thought that South was their bastion forever. They bloody well have to do better than this! They never had felt the need to advertise for a long time. But today, when they have to, they didn’t know what the brand stands for. Solution: Throw a few adjectives, show a few Tams (and TamBrahms) doing their daily morning chores and voila! We have the Hindu Ad. Shame!

For old times’ sake, I hope these guys come up with something to end their feud and focus on the brand which Mr. Kasturi Iyengar started around the same time as Coke. Not the same genre but similar legacy!

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For instance, one of the biggest competitors of Indian Railways was ‘low cost airlines’. People who can afford to travel second or third A/C would rather spend a thousand Rupees more and fly to their destination. For the simple reason that they would end up saving a lot of travel time; this can be used for business or recreation as the case may be. Simple concept!

I have also heard of another concept propounded by Coke – especially in developing markets like India & China. They called it ‘Share of throat’. They realized pretty early that their biggest competition was not Pepsi in these markets but other natural, home-grown remedies to thirst – like tender coconut, buttermilk etc. Their biggest job was to convert these consumers to coke. I believe that was one of the key reasons for a Rs.5/- SKU, which was not common in most developed markets.

Coming back to the inspiration for this article – radio spots that I heard over the last few days & recent TVCs that I’ve seen.

Diwali Season has begun and every brand is roaring its heart out to reach for the customer’s pocket. And these are times when one brand understands who their real competitor is.

A few examples:

Cadbury’s Celebrations. Click here to listen to the spot.

Simple concept. Khushiyaan Baato. Share the happiness. Don’t think about meeting your old friend / boss / neighbor or whoever. Just go and meet them. Make them happy and you shall find happiness.

Pretty much straight forward. I will mind my own business kind of a spot, which is in line with its campaign in other media including TV.

Here’s the next one: World Gold Council. Click here to listen to the spot.

You can figure out who their competitor is! The electronic goods industry! Whoa! WGC actually thinks that Samsung, LG, Onida, Apple and other electronic goods manufacturers as competition. They’ve taken them head on to let us know how quickly these goods depreciate in value and how Gold can appreciate! Good idea. I will corner that corner of the pocket which was meant for the LED TV that the consumer felt the need for at his home!

And here’s the next. Morphy Richards.

I would have ideally liked to feature Croma’s Radio spot which believes a Gym Membership is competition, but couldn’t find it. But here’s the Morphy Richards TVC:

It looks like marketers have woken up to the concept of ‘Share of Wallet’ and are trying to poach from every other corner to get a bit of action for themselves! Competition is not within your category anymore. It has spread far and wide. What else can explain Gold fighting with Appliances fighting with Chinaware & Gym Memberships?

Marketers of today are fighting varied challenges.

• Competition is not just from within the category.
• Inflation & broader economy is making the size of the wallet smaller.
• Pricing has become a decision point with the consumer being spoilt with choice. More effort required by Marketing & Sales to get the same amount of revenues.
• Brand loyalty is almost a thing of past. Samsung is the new Sony. Korea is the new Japan.

Two eyes are just not enough. Look around. See the patterns and if you can’t see that almost invisible spear travelling at high speeds coming towards you, you may well be dead!

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Pretty recently a campaign broke out in National Media for Union Bank of India. It was pretty visible at least to me. I saw the ad on TV, hoardings on my way & back every day! A fairly large PSU Bank has again embarked on a mission to remind the customers about the brand after I think 3 years.

The campaign features Aruna Vishy, Ajit Tendulkar & Manoj Singh. Celebrities. NOT.

India and Indian family system is much interconnected. We are more social that the average social animal of the west. Family values are based on strong bondage and interdependence is very high within the members of the family.

Unlike the west, it is almost impossible to live alone and manage your life with the kind of facilities that are (or are not) available and one tends to depend on their immediate family a lot more than most other countries. Kids are under the aegis of their parents even till 24-25, while the average ‘walking out’ age in the west is 18 (or less)?

Beautiful insight. Transalated into communication by Union Bank of India.

The campaign features some unlikely heroes in their own way. Vishwanathan Anand’s wife, Sachin Tendulkar’s brother, and Vijender Singh’s brother, who are publicly known to be the pillars of support for the well known gods of their respective sporting discipline.

However, they were not in public eye till date.

Reems of paper and documentation have been made about Ajit Tendulkar. Sachin never forgets to mention his brother every time there is an accolade that is showered on him. But never has he been considered a celebrity. Till one views this campaign, chances are that they wouldn’t have seen Manoj Singh (Vijender’s brother). While Aruna has been in public eye before, I don’t remember her endorsing any brand.

Brilliant idea. It seems to fit with the brand’s communication well too. As a bank they claim to share your dream. Moot point being that one’s dream is never one’s alone! At least in the Indian context. This I believe is a fantastic premise for a brand to take. Especially one in the financial services space and that too – a large PSU Bank. Brings in the consumer closer to the brand in more than one way.

Using celebrity spouses or family members seems to be picking up in India. I remember Viru’s mom, now Aruna, Ajit & Manoj and Indian Cricket’s first lady Sakshi Dhoni. Snooky but viable idea. Make celebrities out of celebrity family members and get them cheap (at least relatively). I also believe that Abhishek (Aishwarya’s husband) is endorsing a few brands right? (Ha! My sarcastic self has to peep up someplace!)

However, I believe that the execution has its own minor glitches. The TVC is way too breezy and doesn’t get to the point. In the pretext of making it very classy, the point about driving home the key message is almost lost because the TVC is not crisp. Clearly the story could’ve been told in a 30 or 20 seconder rather than a 40. It almost sounds like the creative vs client argument. Client wants the story told shorter and the creative wants that extra 10 seconds. Things haven’t changed much in the last 5 years at least on this front

In all, I believe it is a great insight in the Indian context, but a not so great execution.

Must admit however that the advertising from PSU entities lately have been creative & catchy. That however has to be a separate discussion by itself!

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Do I write an Ode?

Do I continue crying?

Millions and millions of blogposts, commentaries & columns would’ve been written about you, who decided to leave the world a better place than when you transformed into a life form from a mere ordinary ‘fastest sperm’.

Just a couple of days ago, I mentioned that I am an Apple fanboy and rued whether you are bigger than the organisation you had created. I am from the school of thought that everyone in an organisation in dispensible. Thanks for changing that thought. You are not. And you are proof enough that I was wrong and inspiring enough to show that everyone who has the will to achieve, CAN.

I may have never used an iPhone or an iPad, but have always aspired to have one. You inspired me to do things which are the size of mountain (rooting a nook color for instance) just so that I can say it is ‘like an iPad’. Your creations have always been of aspiration value for me and the brand you have created is amongst the best in my mind. As a brand professional, I adore Apple and the marketing finesse that you have brought into peddling what seems innocuously simple but extremely complex creation of tech wizards.

I continue to take inspiration from the way the products you’ve designed, the marketing ideas that you’ve powered and the creative genius that you’ve exhibited.

Never before has a ‘business executive’ achieved a cult status as you have. A totally consumeristic economy like the USA has never been brought to knees with queues lining up on the day of launch the of any product. Never before has USA believed in cults. You made it happen. I respect you for your finesse.

Never before (in my life) have I seen a more inspiring speech than your Stanford address. Never before have I seen anyone so honestly presenting such beautiful thoughts so succinctly and authentically. It was a bit of a let down that you read out from a paper. But proof enough that you have bothered to put to paper thoughts that were really profound, applicable and honest. I adore you for your honesty and simplicity.

Never before have I seen such beautiful simple presentations of a new product like your introduction of the Pods & Pads. I still remember the ’small pocket in jeans’ that you used for introducing the Nano. Your presentation skills are a lesson to be taught to everyone before stepping into the real world.

Never before have I felt like Ekalavya – to be learning from continuously (both from you and from the brand you’ve created) but never worked with you. If I am allowed to borrow Bill Gates’ words, I would be ‘insanely fortunate’ to work with you side-by-side. Alas! I wasn’t. But hey! That is something half the world would be dying for and would give both their arms for. I am one of them. Simply put… A fanboy!

You will be sorely missed. I must be honest in saying that I have not stalked you like many else would have. But on the same vein, I must also tell you that I have always looked up to you for inspiration, learning and your most oft spoken skill… determination.

And never before have I mourned for someone I have never met, like I did for your passing. I couldn’t control my tears. I cried alone.

I hope, I will join the dots too. And when I do, I will shed one more tear.

In your honour.

Thank you for walking this earth! Let the heavens shine with your prowess!

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• I AM AN APPLE FANBOY
• I adore Steve Jobs and respect all the work he has done
• I give due credit to all the employees of Apple for their contribution towards iconic creations from that stable!
• I have never used iPhone (any version). I am a Blackberry boy owing to work & workplace considerations. The Apple products I’ve used are the iPod & MacBook Pro. Awesome creations.
• Am a fan of Android after I recently rooted my Nook Color and made it a Tab running on CM7

Searched for ‘Apple iPhone 4S’ (news) just a short while back. This is what I get.

Mixed response to a new product launch. iPhone Fanboys seems to be a disappointed lot this time around. Despite the fact that the liveblog crashed prompting apologies, the latest version of the product hasn’t kicked up the kind of good PR that is so very typical of the iconic product.

Steve Jobs resigned recently.

Is there a connection?

The first product launch after Steve Jobs has resigned has failed to create the positive buzz that the brand is always known for. In fact, Washington Post has called the 4S ‘underwhelming’.

Somewhere in my mind, I am led to believe that Steve Jobs after all WAS greater than Apple itself.

Recent events at Apple have not been very promising. With Steve going on a prolonged medical leave with Tim Cook at the helm of affairs, (with the stock is trading at $400+ levels) and subsequently announcing his retirement / resignation, the organization has suddenly plunged into difficult times. I am sure they had time to put things in place, but it seems like a missed opportunity.

Anything Steve used to do when he was at the top job used to generate a larger buzz. Even his medical condition. So much so, the stock prices used to fluctuate every time he went on a medical leave. Tim Cook certainly had a large shoe to fill and one needs to wait to find if he eventually can.

Apple Stock price movement (courtesy Yahoo Finance). The blue dot was the day of Steve Jobs’ resignation. And the preceding fall was because of the speculation that Steve was hanging up his boots.

It seemed to be picking up well and the market seemed to have digested the fact that Steve is not in great health to manage the company. But the stock is now back to sub 400 levels. And one needs to wait and see how Wall Street reacts to the subtle response to 4S by the critics.

Check the stock price movement in 5 years. Astronomical! From sub 100 levels to $400. Steve Jobs has done what would otherwise be called ‘IMPOSSIBLE’. To produce iconic products is just one thing. To make it a fantastic business proposition and provide such shareholder value is just another.

It may look like I am just viewing this from one side of the mirror. But Apple meant Steve Jobs to many (almost  all). And the fact that 4S has had a lukewarm response from critics just reiterates it.

Steve has had a chequered history in Apple and when he came back to Apple, he became larger than life. He has been in the limelight (for all the right reasons) and his fanclub only increased with the advent of social media. The second line of Apple leadership was almost invisible considering the gigantic stature that Steve had. Mixed results are common given this kind of a scenario. One needs to wait and see if Tim Cook can live up to the reputation of the man he succeeded.

And the result of 4S is not the parameter to judge it. Hopefully this is just a blip.

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Recently, a prominent tweeter from Bombay tweeted about such ads being played during prime time (dinner time) on TV. It seems that the sleaze makers in this case had gone overboard and made it difficult for her to have a quiet dinner with her kids in front of TV.

Think of this. You watch TV with your children and this ad plays on TV.

And the resultant questions from the kids may not be a palatable discussion that follows.

Sex education is very unlike the Americas. We have human anatomy discussed in Standard VIII (unless it has changed recently). And schools are not strictly co-education yet. We don’t teach them what it means to reproduce (which partly explains our population burst). And the responsibility is completely vested with parents and is never approached as education. There is no formal, common system of making a child understand this. And we expose them to this:

Amrutanjan Roll-On balm ad by soumyadipc

One has virtually given up on the ‘Deo’ category where the only way to sell is by showing women running behind men in a very pied-piper-ish fashion. AXE started it and we have other brands doing the same. Many industry colleagues have different views about it. But Amrutanjan? Guys, I loved your last campaign based on ‘Funny videos’ where people fall during unexpected moments and ‘Be Ready’ was a fantastic tagline. A proposition to die for. You lose that for this? Mr. Shambu Prasad – I wish we were in touch after our DAV days. I have a few things to talk to you about the iconic brand that your forefathers created!

And Parachute! Whoa! Another iconic brand, which sold a commodity available at the nearest kirana store, branded it and virtually replaced the coconut oil tin cans with brilliant packaging (including the Re.1/- bubble pack available in pan shops) has gotten sleazy with their new product.

Well, there is a difference. The Amrutanjan TVC looks like it has been made like a B grade Boolywood film, while the Parachute TVC has obviously been given a ‘classy touch’. Almost soft porn-ish. Another great comparison would be Gramathu Virundhu by Paravai Muniyamma as against Nigella Lawson cooking up those delicious pastries and digging her chocolate stained dental combination into the awesomely soft lit cake with oodles of flowing chocolate. But hey! Porn is porn is porn.

And all this talk about sensuality is a vague attempt in evading the obvious. Impulse woman was sensuous. Singapore girl was sensuous. Liril girl was sensuous (and certainly bold), but I believe that we have somewhere crossed the thin line between ‘being sensual’ and ‘outright sleaze’.

I am no authority (yet), but I think AAAI can probably look at this seriously. I might be barely scratching the surface, but some ideas (or at least discussion starters) could be:

• A common ‘story board approval’ body by AAAI like the censor board. This can be debated till cows come home, but at least a starting point.
• A common forum where viewers can register their complaints for such campaigns to be quarantined to some restricted channels and not be allowed to be aired in GECs, news channels, kids channels etc.

Also, creative guys. Please get creative. It was fun when AXE did it. It is not when Wild Stone, Adiction and a whole host of others do the same. We also call it plagiarism. J

And marketers – Dudes! Seriously, you buy this S&*% from the creative agencies and put money behind it on media? I think it is just a lazy idea! A better brief to start with can be a good point to begin with.

I respect a condom company for coming up with this:

They are talking sex. But they are talking sensuality. Ain’t it? And I am bloody sure they sell well!

Q.E.D

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I had visited the Byculla zoo this Sunday last for the sake of my nephew & #SidNanda (my son Siddharth as tagged on Twitter). I was thoroughly disappointed and my obvious human mind compared it with the Singapore Zoo and my fond memories of that place. I remember names of the animals that I have interacted with and their trainers too! The place is a destination and I would certainly visit there as often as I can!

Getting back to Byculla, I read in the papers that there is a plan to revamp the zoo at a cost of Rs.150 crores. Here’s the link.

I am sure this money can be put to good use. And once done, by allocating some budget for marketing the place, it can be a grand success. Here’s my list of suggestions (albeit unwarranted).

• Today the zoo is just a large garden with enclosures where we can’t find the animals half the time and is ill-maintained. The place first needs a clean-up, laid pathways (flooring was very uncomfortable for pushing a pram), lacks sanitation & drinking water facilities, lacks dust bins etc. By keeping the place clean, half the problem can be solved. No need to cut / uproot / move any of the vegetation! Basics handled would be half the problem solved.
• The place needs a route plan: Think Super Markets! The retail industry is a science by itself! Big Bazaar, Shoppers Stop & Hypercity have mastered it. The way the shop floor designer guides you through your essentials, fringes, not-required but good to have, absolutely not required but I will buy it, and finally those smalls nuggets at the billing counter including the gums, chocolates etc which parents cannot refuse their children while waiting to pay up. Whoa! It is an awesome ride into a human mind. The zoo can take some examples from here. Segregate the animals, birds, insect worlds separately and have a floor plan and guide the visitor to go every place.
• Sign boards & indicators: The zoo requires boards. People must know what they are seeing inside the enclosure. And for heaven’s sake, it is not ‘just’ lion. It can be an African or Indian Lion and they have zoological names. A plain simple Lion won’t do. What are you going to teach the children that visit? I am sure teachers of today would cringe to take their wards to this zoo because of some uncomfortable questions on the species. PLUS, they make awesome advertising opportunity. Most companies have CSR initiatives today and this is one fantastic way to tap it.
• Shows: Seeing a monkey jumping inside a cage is fun. But when you are interacting with it, it is another! I still remember the first Orangutan that kissed me. His name is Surya and he was 4 months old when I first held him in my hands. When I went to the Singapore Zoo the second time, I made it a point to meet Surya again. Only this time he was 7 years old and was a grown up. More stronger and more agile and more beautiful than ever before. I cherish my having met him. Now isn’t that an experience? By letting kids interact with these animals, the zoo would help them in understanding the importance of conserving nature and by pricing it right, you end up making some money too! Trust me, children will make their parents pay for it!
• Shops inside: Why haven’t we learnt to sell wares & merchandise? It is pretty much the same across all national parks & animal houses across the country. I remember the shop from Sanjay Gandhi National Park. It is a shame. Not enough merchandise, not priced right, not visually appealing. It is a shop for the sake of having a shop. Here’s my idea. Outsource it to a private apparel brand. It could be Nike, Adidas, Reliance Trends, Wills Lifestyle, Trent… whoever! Outsource it. Don’t charge them rent for the first 3 years, but charge them from the 4^th year onwards. They must sell only Zoo based merchandise in the store. But they must come up with ideas & merchandise that would make people want to yank their wallets out. The business plan for the brand should be to make it profitable in three years time and then share the profit with the zoo authorities. It is okay if you don’t make money in the first three years. You are not making money from it anyway!
• Food & relaxation joints: There are a few dirty ‘some trust’ sponsored cemented benches which are perennially covered with algae. People will leave the zoo earlier if they are tired of walking. Provide place to sit. Create space for food joints. Same rule as above. Maybe with a one year moratorium. Vadapav, Dabeli stalls with ice-creams while enjoying the pleasant coolness of flora & fauna well within the city of Bombay! Think of the potential. That would make people stay longer, visit again and thus more business.
• Transport facilities to the zoo: Two buses painted in zoo colors can go around town picking up people for visits. They can also be given on hire for school children planning to visit the zoo. Make it a package for the schools to visit the zoo on a regular basis. An entire school cannot visit the zoo on the same day. But each school has at least 1000 children. In batches of 100, you have 10 visits from each school by having an annual tie-up. With a tie-up with even 50 schools, your ticket sales at the zoo would bring in a small fortune. Won’t it?
• Transport facilities within the zoo. Battery trains, golf carts etc. Just to ensure that even if the place isn’t large, it gives the feeling of largeness. One can walk through the zoo in no time, but by planning the pathway to be long and winding, you can make it interesting enough to make people pay a small fee for these rides!
• Entry fee: At Rs.5/- the zoo is not keeping the unnecessary crowd out. And is not earning from it either. By having the fee to a slightly higher level, it would keep the wastrels out and also ensure that there’s more revenue coming in. I wouldn’t mind paying Rs.50 to go to the zoo if the facilities are good. So improve the facilities and charge higher. Having shops inside would also help add to the revenue!
• Corporate tie-ups. Each section Primates, birds, cats, other mammals, reptiles etc can be sponsorship opportunities. Let’s say Reliance Trends wants to have the apparel store inside, then they can be asked to ‘adopt’ the Reptile farm for a specified period. By having such tie-ups the revenue for the zoo will go up, the entry fee can be kept low and higher foot falls generated.
• Bring in local heroes (not the Salman Khan types) who have done a lot of work towards environment protection as part of the core team. Snake catchers like Ibrahim, Vijay Raghavan, Anand Mohite etc have done great work in the concrete jungle called Bombay. I am sure involving them in doing shows at the zoo would be great. They would get their due for the work they do, and the zoo would be able to get more footfalls.
• Social Media: Less said about this the better. Creating a FB page or twitter handle (there I said it!) would be a bit more helpful. I still remember the Bronx Zoo Python that escaped and the twitter handle which freaked out on it. If an imaginary twitter python can shake the room, then think what social media can do for a live animal!?!?!
• Bring in the Animal World Celebrities. If Steve Irwin was alive and is visiting Byculla Zoo to play in the crocodile pool, I am sure there is a huge bunch of people who would pay to visit on that day! We have Romulus Whitaker and Alphonse Roy who still do similar or greater work! Why can’t we have a celebrity day at the zoo?
• BMC runs the zoo. Why can’t they have a zoo day?! Or something equivalent! By having a special promo drive for the zoo, the authorities would be able to make the place a much loved destination.

I would be very happy to wear a ‘I <3 Byculla Zoo’ Tee which glows in the dark and has the face of a beautiful tiger. Won’t you?

Note: The article in today’s paper does not attribute any amount of the Rs.150 crore towards any kind of marketing activity. BMC would do itself a world of good by allocating even a small amount towards promoting the zoo and thus increasing its own usefulness and provide an awesome destination in Bombay! Think again!

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Classic conundrum! But fun topic.

The panelists were:

• Mr. Ravi Banka – CMD – Eggfirst Advertising and Design Pvt Ltd
• Mr. Raghu Bhat – Founder Director – Scarecrow Communications Ltd
• Ms. Mansi Trivedi – Associate Planning Director – Saatchi & Saatchi India
• Mr. Rizwan Khatri – Founder Consultant – Arkay’s Media Solutions
• Mr. Shashi Sinha – VP – Sales & Marketing – Laqshya Media
• Mr. Mukesh Anand – Principal Consultant – RK Swamy BBDO
• Mr. P K Anil Kumar – Senior Creative Director – McCann Erickson
• Yours Truly

The moderator was Mr. Prasen Agali – VP – Golbal Business Development – Greaves Cotton

I spent almost a week debating within myself if I have to go with the flow or instigate a debate. I guess being in front of students, it is better to start a discussion than be diplomatic or ‘correct’. So I finally decided to get a bit theoretical and stick to the topic in spirit. I made a PPT not because I believe in it, but because it helps me organize my thoughts rather than anything else.

Must admit that I fell in love with the campus. Awesome. Period.

The event started well with regular pleasantries, bouquets et al. Prof. Ashok K. Pundir (Associate Dean) and Prof. B M Ghodeswar (Prof. God as named by Mansi Trivedi) had kind words for the panel, the students and the institute.

Instead of getting to specifics on who spoke what, I would just like to share a few snippets from the event. It may not be exactly possible to share who said what since I wasn’t exactly taking notes, but was focusing on listening and sharing. Wherever possible, I have shared the names too.

• Raymond’s case study – A very lucid presentation on how strategy and creative worked together to re-create the magic that was the brand in a fairly crowded market and with awesome competition like Vimal, Reid & Taylor etc. Mukesh Anand also entertained the crowd by playing all the TV commercials to loud applause!
• Ravi had varied examples predominantly in the print & outdoor space on how creativity and strategy go hand-in-hand in making winning communication pieces
• Rizwan’s presentation argued that creative is more important especially when it comes to special situations (like in categories where the product is short lived). His examples on movies taking the highly creative platform to generate a fan base albeit for a short time, was very entertaining.
• Anil shared his thoughts extempore. I am pretty sure that his thought on comparing creatives with short skirts went well with the students. There was an uproar of laughter amongst the audience!
• Shashi Sinha was also extempore. An awesome speaker. His speaking style was fast enough to make it interesting, but slow enough for the students to comprehend, enjoy & savour each word. Lots to learn from the way he spoke. To have thoughts so organized in his mind to speak extempore this way is a great talent. He argued that creativity is the most important piece since the intended message would not reach if it is not creatively said.
• I had my presentation (which will be shared through slideshare shortly) arguing that it is the strategy which needs to be put in place first and the main point of argument was ‘Great Advertising is more important than Great Advertisement’.
• Very unfortunate that Mansi & Raghu couldn’t share their presentations owing to lack of time. But they made up well during the discussion!
• Raghu’s first visiting card (with the address being Coffee Day, Dadar / Barista, Shivaji Park) is etched in my mind forever. I hope I get the balls (pardon the language / slang) someday to take a plunge like that!
• Raghu quoting his experiences with clients on creative thoughts backed by strategy would certainly be a great learning experience for the kids
• Mansi’s original thinking is commendable. When the discussion veered towards Digital marketing, she summed up with the thought that every individual working on the brand 9including servicing, media, admin etc) must be aware of the digital platform and the campaign for it to be successful.
• The question hour (?) had impressive challenges. One question was about conflicts between strategy (planning) & creative. While Rizwan argued about the maturity with which agency professionals handle it, Mansi & I felt that a conflict is necessary for improvements and great ideas to flow.
• Another question was on NITIE’s brand building efforts. We all were of the view that NITIE is famous enough that all seats are filled and the students get placed before day 3 of placements. Also, every touch point of the alumni is a brand moment of truth. Mansi argued that they need to focus on how they need to harness thought leadership to create a sustained brand for NITIE.

In all, a very enjoyable session. Would love to interact more with the students. It keeps us close to academia, fresh thoughts from students and helps us be on our toes always. Maybe one of these students might rise like fire in the Marketing and advertising world. Arms wide open. Welcome my friends!!!

Thanks are in order to Prof. Ashok K Pundir, Associate Dean (Placement), Prof B M Ghodeswar, Dean Academics, Vijay Baweja & Shruti Sharma who coordinated with me and the many other students whose names are not mentioned here.

Thanks to Mr. Prasen Agali for moderating the panel. Some great questions which initiated further discussions and arguments and hence the learning!

Thanks to all the fellow panelists. Fun engaging with each one of you!

Update: Have added the presentation in slideshare. You can download it from here.

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I almost always knew the person who was waiting on us. It would be a friendly smile and there would also be some friendly suggestions on what’s new in the kitchen. The consistency in quality used to be awesome to say the least. I am not sure if it was because it was always the same chef .

There will always be a queue to get a seat with the waiting time ranging between 15-45 minutes. But you would end up gobbling the food when you see it and would forgive Eden for the waiting time. They would make it worth it.

I still believe that one of the key positive about Eden was its small size. Because, the clientele will always know what to get, the variety within and the quality was always assured. To achieve these positives in the food business is very difficult and Eden had. The cash registers being noisy would never be a complaint if that happens.

The inevitable then happened. They opened more outlets as franchises. Everything changed… the ambience, quality of the food, the wait time, the homely feeling, the familiar waiter. Poof! It was gone.

It is four years since I moved out of Chennai and I am not sure if people still go gaga about the outlet anymore.

This is true of many services brands. From creative hot shops to boutique consultancies many brands have come up in recent times. The big question will always be, “How big can I grow?”

The purpose of hiring these small services firms is the talent pool. If a brand engages a boutique firm started by a star strategist and is willing to pay a premium for their services, it means that they want the star strategist to work for them. But organizations which have grown beyond their shoes engage second rung employees who would service the brand with limited or no input from the star. Won’t it leave a bad taste?

My two cents:

• Boutique services firms in my opinion must (at least consider) have a ceiling on how big they can grow.
• The firm MUST have a ceiling on billing OR the number of clients. That way the clients are sure of the services that they would get and hence the relationship stays.
• Promote work with non-regular clients only on a project basis. By doing so boutique firms get to keep their manpower meaningfully occupied and also earn a bit more than they otherwise would.
• Beyond a point, if growth becomes an imperative, acquisitions may be considered because this mode of growth comes with clients, people and scale of operations.
• Limit the scope of services to specific industries, which would help open more doors within the set of industries and also in creating a niche.

I have read a great one-liner.

Fall in love with your job, never with the organization.

By falling in love with the organization the start-up kings create, they end up killing it themselves. Perhaps that is one reason why I will ALWAYS salute Mr. Ramesh Chauhan. He was ready to exit the business of soft drinks, but never exited being in business. He loved his job, not the organizations he created.

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