SPECTRANET MD UDIT MEHROTRA TALKS TO VINEET SINGH ABOUT THE COMPANY’S PLANS FOR A PAN-INDIA PRESENCE & A WIDER PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
 
Spectranet, which is well known in the telecom industry as the pioneer of broadband in India, is rapidly expanding its operations to new product and service areas under Shyam Group (was under Punj Lloyd till 2008). Company MD Udit Mehrotra elaborates on the company’s plans for markedly growing its stature as well as reach in the Indian market...

Shyam Group acquired Spectranet two years back. Has the acquisition delivered in your view?
The journey has been very interesting actually and has been very fruitful for us. When we bought Spectranet, it was purely an internet service company. Since then, we have grown it into an integrated communication services provider; with services like broadband, the entire spectrum from data printer, internet connectivity, et al and voicemail services like audio conferencing, video conferencing, VoIP, et al. We believe the growth will continue.

Spectranet currently offers its services to over 20,000 customers in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad & Chandigarh and is extending its footprint to many more cities across India. What challenges are you facing?
Challenges have mainly been in the terms of market competition. Today, the broadband space is growing in a very small range as compared to mobile subscriber growth. So everybody in this segment is fighting for a very small share; this has been one challenge. This is happening but the growth for sure will continue. And then the next challenge for us would be that we are growing and getting into different cities, so to understand the market in different places will be a big challenge for us. But we have been quite good considering the geographic expansion. We’ve grown from 2 cities in 2008 to 6 in 2010. In the coming months, people will see us in more cities.

How has the arena changed for Spectranet in providing Enterprise and Home solutions?
Earlier, the company was focusing primarily on enterprise customers. Since then, the focus has evolved to the home customers as well. In the enterprise segment, we are trying to offer more end to end solution to our customers. We are good in the enterprise segment and will grow in the retail segment as well. If a home customer has taken a broadband plan from us, he can also buy anti-virus solutions by paying `20 or `30 extra.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FROM WOODEN FURNITURES TO SYNTHETIC WICKER SOLUTIONS, WHAT MAGIC HAS RAHUL JINDAL REALLY BEEN WEAVING AT LOOM CRAFT? SWATI SHARMA FINDS OUT
 
he combination of ambition, fame and prosperity has always influenced aspirations – that’s no esoteric truth. Be it an established family business with a teenager on top, or a brand new start-up led by a seasoned professional, the new brains that take the hot seat begin the day at work with one innate desire – the desire to bring in a refreshing change. Five years back, Rahul Jindal (the current MD of Loom Crafts) felt a similar itch. Till then, the company had grown steadily under the leadership of his father Surinder Jindal. But he wanted to up the tempo. He wanted to break the monotony in the line of furnitures that his business was bringing to market. Thus, Loom Crafts was born in 2005. It clubbed the old art form of weaving, with stylish and unique designs, and has achieved so much as to change the face of outdoor synthetic wicker furniture, globally. This brainchild of the young Jindal has become a story in itself. Would you want to spare some space in your home for a legendary brand in the making?

What differentiation strategy did Loom Craft adopt to succeed in a very short duration?
We are the pioneers in providing all outdoor solutions. Three to five years back, there was no competition, but we knew that others would follow us fast and that competition would rise sooner or later. Therefore, we made sure that we did not compromise on quality. From the very start, we have offered a lifetime guarantee on our exclusive products. Our goal is not to produce short-lived, fashionable furniture, but timeless elegant furniture; quality was, is and will remain the word!

So for the sake of maintaining quality, you really must not be a believer in outsourcing. Are you?
Actually, no. We get our raw materials like aluminum & plastic from other manufacturers. But that is it. Raw material is the only element in the production process that has the touch of “outsourcing”. We manufacture everything else in our workshops – from the wicker, which are made by expert designers and craftsmen, to the packaging, it all happens under one roof.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DEEPAK JAIN, COO, ADD GEL, TELLS SHEPHALI BHATT ABOUT HIS AIM TO BE AMONG INDIA’S TOP 20 BRANDS BY 2015...

Quality is an essential aspect of life and should be inculcated in everything you promise to deliver. With this belief, Deepak Jain, COO, ADD Gel – the country’s first gel pen manufacturer to get AN ISO certification – tells 4Ps B&M about his dreams and SUCCESS SECRETS

ADD Gel was the first one to launch gel pens in India. What were the challenges you faced at the beginning?
My father started this concept. Then, it was an entirely new concept for Indian consumers. The initial hurdle was in terms of launching the product, settling on a price and deciding what target audience we will be targeting. Even distributors and retailers weren’t ready to accept the product. But over a period of one year, the success was phenomenally high, and we were able to grow at more than 100% year-on-year.

You’ve been at the helm of the affairs for over 3 years now. How has your leadership worked for the company?
You need to believe in your product and the people you are working with; their judgment, their decisions and intentions to do the best. Risk is everywhere; but trust is one of the most important factors. So far it has worked wonderfully for us.

How would you chart out the different elements of creating a great brand?
Value for money has to be there; it needs to be delivered in terms of marketing the product. For instance, companies claim that their pens write 3000 meters. But trust me, there is no pen so far that can write 3000 meters. Still people claim it.

When it comes to advertising, how do you go about it; opt for direct advertising or something out of the box?
No, we are doing direct advertising. You need to remember that the consumer doesn’t have time; he will flip the channel in less than a minute. In that short span, you need to tell him what you are offering and that too in a pressing manner. Otherwise, by the time you talk sense, he would have changed the channel spoiling the whole purpose of the ad.

What are your future plans for the company?
Over the past two decades, we have grown to a very good scale and managed a pan India distribution. However, my aim is to be among the top 20 brands in India in terms of recall value and consumer perception and obviously sales turnover by 2015.

If you look at Deepak Jain in 2002 and now, is there a big transformation?
I have gained good experience and I have learnt a lot of things like the fact that you need to be fast, and must stick to the fact that the consumer is always right.

What is that ‘must have’ trait to succeed in business?
You need to get around things. Everything in a system might not work, there are loopholes. You just need to find them and work your way out, be kind and manipulative.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.......
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mercedes-Benz is perhaps the oldest name in the minds of the luxury segment in India. Having made its mark in the new cars category, the German luxury carmaker has also taken a plunge in the pre-owned car arm business in the country. Will the risk pay-off. The company feels so and so does the man who is driving Mercedes around on Indian roads...
 
Wilfried Aulbur, MD, Mercedes-Benz India, has been through both the smooth and tough times in the life of Mercedes-Benz in the Indian market. The latest bet to ensure a dominant future in the country is its entry into the pre-owned passenger car market. Aulbur gets candid with 4Ps B&M on the many future plans for the pre-owned car venture and the soon-to-be-launched car financing arm.

What makes the ‘Proven Exclusivity’ program different in the luxury car segment in India?
We have announced our entry into the used car market with the Proven Exclusivity program. Under this venture, we will ensure that there is a comprehensive evaluation and refurbishment criteria for the evaluation of the model, before any purchase is made by the company. We will be using scientific tools for audits and inspections. In fact, when a consumer buys a product from our pre-owned car arm, he will be entitled to a six-month long manufacturer-backed warranty. What we are trying to do here is to make the dream of owning a Mercedes-Benz even more achievable for the Indian consumers. Having said that, customers can even drive-in their existing vehicles and may drive out with their new Mercedes-Benz cars by utilising the trade-in route offered by the company. We will be not be accepting a car which is more than six years old under this program, which will also give a lot of confidence to the consumer who will buy our products. Just to give you quick global background about this program, it has been in existence since 2009 and currently operates across 35 countries.

Will the program be limited to the passenger cars segment or will you also think about extending it to the CV line a few years down the line?
Even globally, this program is limited to just passenger cars. Therefore, for now, we will restrict it to the passenger cars in the Indian market. The demand in the CV segment, especially in the luxury space is already very low. Therefore there is no use in introducing the second hand car schemes in the CV segment.

Can you throw some light on your marketing plans for the second-hand car arm?
We will follow the traditional model to market this business. We will be marketing this segment in a manner which is similar to what we have been doing in India so far. But you also need to understand that in the second hand car arm business, word of mouth works very effectively. Therefore, we will be relying on this mode to a great extent. We will try and ensure that when a customer comes to us, he gets a very good service, so that we don’t only get a loyal consumer in return, but also that he will spread good word about the program in his social circles, which will help bring in more customers to us. Our brand is huge plus and Mercedes, which has been in the Indian market since 1994 and has sold close to 30,000 units in the Indian market, continues to enjoy very high brand equity in the Indian market.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Foster’s has been chilling India for quite some time now, they have come up with new way to have fun. The restrictions on alcoholic beverages while advertising in India and compels the companies to think out of the box to give their consumers a reason to be happy about. The premium Australian beer brand has come up with the ‘F-row’ initiative. As part of this initiative, Foster’s has tied up with all Inox theatres in Bangalore, wherein the ‘F’ row across all the theatres would be branded Foster’s and the ‘F’ row ticket holders would be entitled to special benefits and surprises. The brand also plans to take it further to other metropolitan cities. Foster’s has always positioned itself around relaxation and has been using the creative platform of ‘Art of Chilling’ and movie viewing is all about relaxation and chilling out which seems a perfect fit! With this initiative, the company hopes to further strengthen the brand recall for Foster’s. Also, staying true to the brand positioning of ‘Art of Chilling’, there is a lounge area with foot massager so that you can relax yourself while you wait for the movie to start or during the interval of the movie! Guess its Foster’s idea to ‘take a chill pill’!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MR. VSEVOLOD ROZANOV, PRESIDENT & CEO, SSTL

A highly aggressive stride on pricing and considerably enhanced focus on the data segment have been trademarks of MTS in its entry in India. CEO Vsevolod Rozanov reveals the company’s outlook for the brand in India to Vareen Ray and Surbhi Chawla of 4Ps B&M
 
MTS might be one of the newer players to kick off operations in India but on the global scale it’s the eight largest telecom brand in the world and was ranked at 72nd spot amongst the Top 100 Brands in the world, according to Millward Brown. Recently 4Ps B&M caught up with Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. (SSTL) CEO Vsevolod Rozanov to know more about his plans for the company and attempt to discover his lighter side. Some edited excerpts from the interview.

4Ps B&M: You have always offered a lot of aggressive pricing schemes and promotional packs. So what’s your main objective behind the same?
VR: Through our special schemes, we hope to enrich our consumers’ experience and want more and more customers to experience our offering and get associated with the brand.

4Ps B&M: Do you think the current pricing levels are sustainable for a short to midterm period and in this kind of pricing regime, by when do you see SSTL will be able to breakeven?
VR: We have a lot of trust in our offering and our network. As you may be aware, we are the only ones that are able to offer calls as cheap as half paise per second and we also see that the tariff can fall slightly more in the short term horizon. As far as breaking even is concerned we had even earlier mentioned that our target to do so is by 2013 and we are committed to the same.

4Ps B&M: What do you think of the competition in the telecom sphere and do you think that there could be more players jumping onto the data bandwagon now after the 3G auctions?
VR: The market is already competitive, with about three other players offering products in the same category. We don’t expect more than 1-2 more competitors on the CDMA side, so it is unlikely that competition will increase much further. We have a strong data brand, and the market has a very small number of Internet connections, and we also see the addition of new players as a positive thing since this will only further expand the market.

4Ps B&M: Do you have plans to come out with an IPO?
VR: Yes that’s something that we might eventually do but not right away. Right now as you may know, there’s a deal in progress with the Russian government and we expect this deal to be closed by the end of Q3 or early Q4.
 
4Ps B&M: Which are the major customer segments that you are trying to tap with your MBlaze offering? Are you particularly concentrating on the youth of the country?
VR: Well everyone and not just us, is trying to focus on the youth. Of course, most of the people that one tries to cover through advertising for internet products are active users, which in this case are majorly the youth. So it’s not by default we want to put any caps on a segment but the trends are such. Also our two CDMA counterparts have grabbed in a sizeable share of the customers and we on our part are looking at customers who are newcomers to this market and most of these customers quite often are from the younger generation. To reach out more effectively to these customers, we also run some BTL and promotions with partners that seek to offer discounts to the customers, who are buying a new netbook or a notebook. We have tie ups with a lot of manufacturers, be it HCL or HP; and we are quite open to more in the future.

4Ps B&M: And what is your focus with respect to the voice segment?
VR: Well, for voice, the target market is quite different. What we are really targeting through our voice offering are primarily value seekers and they could be any one. In the dipstick survey that we had carried out, we found the acceptance of the brand in different circles is by different set of circles. In some of the circles, it’s more popular amongst the youth, and in others, it’s SMEs; and for other circles, it could be blue collared employees; and each of these customers have a very different usage pattern, which at times even surprises us.

4Ps B&M: You have decided to foray into the smartphone market; so what more can we expect from MTS?
VR: Well, you can expect something new from us and very different. We would be looking at a wide range of handsets at different price points. And the roll out should start happening by the end of July.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A. S. NARAYAN, AN HEAD – BANCASSURANCE, GROUP & NRI BUSINESS, BAJAJ ALLIANZ LIFE INSURANCE

"Very few companies have broken even in this industry, and many are sitting on huge accumulated losses "
 
Talking about global trends, if we look at the year 2009 then insurance premiums fell by 2% globally and the size of the life insurance industry was about $2,332 billion. The 2% downturn came mainly due to the developed countries: particularly the US and UK were adversely hit because of the market conditions. Emerging markets did very well, which is what brought the figure to a negative 2%, which otherwise would have been as high as -4 or -5%. India and China grew by around 10% and Latin America grew by 7.8% mainly because in Brazil there was a high popularity of ULIPs. If we look at non life premium, it was largely flat and idecreased by around 0.1%, to reach around $1,735 million globally.

The outlook for 2010 looks better mainly due to expected recovery in market conditions as compared to 2009. Recovery in market conditions would automatically lead to higher amount of ULIP sales. Also, it will lead to a better return on investment for investment companies, particularly general insurance companies. If you look at the Indian insurance industry, the new business premium stood at $2.5 billion for the year 2009-10, a growth of 25% over last year. The good part is life insurance industry in India is now about 2.5% of the global life insurance industry. 8-10 years back, we were hardly 0.5% of the global life insurance industry. In a period of 10 years the growth has been rapid, employing over 2.5 lakh people directly. Over 3 million agents are dependent on this industry. Assets managed are over a million crore rupees which is humongous. New equity investments over Rs.600 billion were made in 2009-10 into the equity markets. If we take life and general insurance together, it contributes to around 5% of India’s GDP. That’s almost equivalent to the amount that Mumbai as a city contributes to the Indian GDP. The government should realise that this industry needs to be handled with care because if there are very sudden and drastic changes, it could hit the industry, it could hit a lot of people directly associated with this industry and a whole lot of industries which provide services to this industry. This is the only industry in India today which has mobilised retail savings for capital markets, and not just when markets are up, even when they’re down. Talking about challenges facing this industry today, it would be the regulatory changes. Recently, there were some issues between regulators that are now being sorted out. But the main regulatory issues, including minimum IRR specifications year wise, imposition of greater surrender charges, specification of a minimum amount of life cover which is now being defined by the regulators (which was earlier much lower but is being increased now), imposing a minimum guarantee on pension products, all these and others will have an impact on the insurance industry that it will lead to a change in product design, change of distribution mechanism, change in operational efficiency – all of which are fundamental to any insurance company. Most importantly, profitability of the insurance companies would definitely be impacted by these regulatory changes. Very few insurance companies have broken even as of now and those who might have broken even in one year, are also sitting on very high amount of accumulated losses.
 
Any regulation at this stage, which would make it more difficult for an insurance company to function or be profitable, would obviously make shareholders very nervous and consolidation could happen. The scenario going ahead looks a tougher than it was a few years back. It will become difficult to raise capital as investors would be more careful. And of course, the way the products are being structured now might result in insurance companies needing more capital. As far as product design is concerned minimum ticket size will increase. Given this, 70% of the life insurance business would be impacted and the way the regulations are being put – while they are good in intention and will do a lot of good to the customer – they might create a situation where companies are not able to sell to a large section of the society.


For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In an exclusive interaction with 4ps b&M, mario perez, director – marketing & sales, canara hsbc obc life insurance discusses why segmentation plays a crucial role when it comes to selling insurance and why he STILL doesn’t have to WORRY about it
 
June 16, 2008 was the day when you commenced operations. How have the past two years
(smiles) Amazing journey so far...

Life insurance as a product is pretty confusing to most individuals and as such many Indians remain inadequately insured. What is your company doing to overcome this challenge?
We have different types of customer profiles. The first one is the HSBC customer – they are more savvy. And therefore the amount of coaching that they need is less. The Canara-OBC customers are less savvy so we have to do a lot of coaching. In this case, the branch manager plays a very crucial role. He interviews the client and gives a custom-made solution to the clients.

A marketing plan or product launch cannot be successful without proper segmentation. Market segmentation is perhaps the most difficult and complex decision a company must make when deciding its market strategy. Did you also undertake such segmentation studies prior to launching your services? What were the results?
Definitely, segmentation plays a very important role. We sell through the bank so we know the customers’ needs. I know the customer’s spending pattern. I know his financial profile, so that’s how we segment the market. And since it is a partnership, it becomes even easier because HSBC has a completely different clientèle and Canara-OBC is again different. We have a CRM department that is completely computerised and we analyse trends according to our analytics databases; our segmentation is based purely on these trends.

Any plan of selling through the direct route rather then the bank route?
No, we don’t have any such plans. However we do have plans to expand our business through the other distribution channels that are part of our group.
 
Could you elaborate on your distribution strategy? How many channel partners are you selling through currently?
Apart from selling through the three banks, we have a strategic distribution tie-up with HSBC InvestDirect. We also have strategic tie-ups with two Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) – Shreyas Gramin Bank in UP & Pragathi Gramin Bank in Karnataka. The two RRBs are sponsored by Canara Bank. Along with the three shareholder banks, the RRBs too will function as our corporate agents to sell products. Saral Bima, one of our flagship products will be sold through these RRBs. The low premium product is tailored to meet the investment cum insurance needs of customers in the semi-urban and rural cities.

Is that the reason you are not a heavy advertiser as compared to competition like Max New York Life Insurance?
In part the answer would be yes. But you need to know that being a player who is two years old in the market it will take us some time to grow and probably then we will be a heavy advertiser. If you saw our [initial] TV ads, you’ll notice that we were trying to tell our own customers that we have expanded to selling insurance as well.

HSBC’s global brand proposition is ‘Insuring your emotions’. Is that also the brand proposition of HSBC-Canara-OBC?
Well, yes it is. We needed an identity for this new set up and this proposition is perfect to establish this identity. We have not just segmented the customers based on the databases, but have also segmented the communication. If you see our ads, they are in different languages like Punjabi, Hindi and Tamil.

Have you planned some ATL/BTL activities to increase your presence?
The most crucial part of our strategy is that I have a bank. So to advertise, I don’t have to go to a mall, I don’t have to go to billboards. The customer will walk into the branch and that is where the communication takes place. We have a lot of BTL happening inside the branch. For instance, a financial planning meet is called with 14-15 customers and while the discussion is on, a pitch for insurance is also made. In short, I don’t want to be in the supermarket, but I want to be where my customer is.

Yours was the first company to launch the scheme ‘Immediate Payouts on Death Claim,’ so that the deceased’s family will receive the fund value immediately on registration of death claim under unit-linked policies. Could you elaborate on the scheme?
This is a very viable strategy from a business viewpoint. What we do is that we release one part of the cover without any formalities and for the other part after the whole process has been undertaken. And because of this, the customer feels satisfied.

In a service industry, customer relationship management is of utmost importance. How are you training your staff to fulfill this requirement?
We have a separate team of people who are sent to the bank branches for training. If I were to give a number, we do about 5,000-6,000 individual trainings per year. And this number would probably double in the next year. Further, we don’t train once, we train at least three times a year.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ruined by invaders, looted by foreigners, ruled by the British and built by dynasties, the Indian culture and heritage has that conducive environment for museums to prosper. But there’s the rub – they’re not! Lessons from the West for the Indian museum authorities...
 
Step out of the tube-rail in Russel Square station in London, and you will be greeted by gigantic posters, depicting scenes from the lives of ancient African tribes. For a first-comer, this rather African pictorial welcome in the land of the British seems rather strange. Matters however get cleared out when you get to the markings on the wall that indicate the way to the ‘The British Museum’ (TBM). Every month, TBM organises a show and a seminar with a central theme, which revolves around ancient civilisation or on ancient paintings & sculptures. The effort is fully supported by 360 degree advertisements and merchandising. For the month of June, the theme at TBM is the ancient African tribal life. There are also colourful posters at the station that invite kids to ‘The Natural History’ museum in South Kensington, London.

From London, we move further east – to Paris. Even the Louvre museum in Paris, which houses the much revered Mona Lisa along with an astonishing collection of 35,000 objects exhibited within an area of 60,600 square metre, ensures that the visitors are handed over a detailed guide map with a background literature on each collection. There’s more. Like any other museum in England & US, this French museum too earns huge revenues from sales of its merchandise and souvenirs. Europeans and Americans must be surely teaching lessons in schools on how to maintain their culture & history with pride! Despite most of the artefacts being more than five generations old, the glam attached to them doesn’t seem to be losing a shade. And you don’t realise this till you come back to your very own India, which on paper is known to have a culture and heritage to die for, but which showcases the same elements rather too poorly.

Let’s run a quick awareness test here. How many museums are there in the capital city of New Delhi? One? Two? Three? Little do even residents of New Delhi know that the city has 22 museums in all (divided under five broad heads as per the tourism department). Walk into the National Museum located on Janpath (called National Archives), and a constitutionally bone-lazy atmosphere greets you. The entrance to the structure is adorned by a comatose struck ticket counter, which remains closed for an extra half-an-hour during lunch break. How many excited souls would you meet here? None, except a few unputdownable foreigners who refuse to get dejected by the lack an enthusiastic support system.

Besides the regular (history-based) sections, the museum also houses a theme-based exhibition section. Surprisingly though, neither the museum authority, nor the Tourism department of India have shown any intention or promise to promote this special feature! And this is not an exceptional lack of interest; never an attempt has been made to brand or market any of the 300 museums across the country. It seems least likely that there will be any in the future to change the perception of Indian museums as a moth-eaten, stodgy and spiritless place.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) celebrated its silver jubilee this month. The world of advertising has come of age and so has the Council. Or has it? On its 25th anniversary, the Council invited a panel of eminent luminaries to discuss the most prevalent issues in advertising. From progressive to regressive ads, to advertising to children to stereotypes in ads; the panel discussed a gamut of issues. But if we were to scroll our memories back, these were the very issues that were being dealt with then... and now. Not that they are not issues any more, but are they still burning issues? Allan Collaco, General Secretary, ASCI, shed light on some of the indirect issues that should find place in significant discussions on ads. “You have areas where consumers don’t find honest and truthful ads, areas where surrogate advertising is shaping into brand extension advertising and seriously needs to be discussed but it is lying there as an indirect issue so far”, says Collaco. He even highlighted issues like existence of ‘puffery’ in advertising, its justification and how we do not reach onto a conclusion regarding the same. The matter of setting the adequacy of scientific research for an ad agency before it claims something in an ad is also a pivotal aspect that hardly finds a discussion space – but should. In fact, with the ever increasing trend of technology-based products and increasing levels of education of consumers, the number of products being advertised on the basis of their technological superiority and high research-based inputs put in them are increasing. Surely, with growing economic growth and an internationalisation of advertising creatives and budgets, new issues are expected to find podium place – how soon is the question...

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).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------