A blog which discusses the topics which are interesting, intellectuality stimulating and relevant.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
President O-bow-ma
Low Consumer Demand the Biggest Threat to Growth : McKinsey
1) Lower consumer demand is perceived to be the biggest threat to growth of the country.
2) Majority of the respondent of this survey had responded that the economic scenario is much better than that of the last month.
3) The respondents of the Asian countries were more optimistic than their European counterparts
Read the full report here
Saturday, November 14, 2009
High Involvement product purchased based on Mobile phone advertisements : Since When ??
I recently purchased a car and I do not remember relying on advertisements on my mobile phone or relying on any telle-caller's advice to select a car. The investment was made after multiple website visits, feature comparisons across brands across companies. Which was then followed by the test drive and finally the choice was made. Therefore I am skeptical of the fact that mobile phone advertisement actually contributed to the 30% of sales.
I am not trying to lower down the value of the Mobile phones/ Handheld devices in the field of marketing, In fact I am a firm believer that the next revolution in the science of marketing will come from these handheld devices. The ability to personalize and deliver the product/ services message exactly to the intended audience in a way that he can understand and relate to, really excites me, but will it affect 30% of the sales only time can tell
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Banking on Loyality to sail through Tough Times ?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
LMN Vs Nimbooz : Where one wins over the Other
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tata to Launch Nano On March 23
For all the people who are waiting to book their cars will have to wait a little longer as the bookings for the Nano -- the world's cheapest passenger car -- will begin in the second week of April. The company confirmed that the Booking process and other details will be announced at the time of launch.
Tata Motors had originally planned to launch the Nano in the fourth quarter of 2008. But, it had to relocate its factory in the eastern state of West Bengal in October, but west bengal's loss became Gujrats gain.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
You Tube Vs Hulu : Hulu Who?
In one sense this turned out to be correct. YouTube went on to dominate web video as measured by the number of videos that users watch (5600 m in Dec 2008 ).
Its social and even political importance is hard to overstate. From “Obama Girl” videos and tutorials about tying shoelaces or folding origami to Yoga and aerobics instruction, YouTube has changed lives. But there was a catch. Advertisers, by and large, will not touch user-generated content with a barge pole. Its quality is variable, to say the least; its content occasionally off-putting. No brand wants to be near it. And much of it is illegal—pirated from large media companies and uploaded by fans. Media giants, led by Viacom, were suing. So there was a threat of costs and no promise of revenues. YouTube is undoubtedly a phenomenon, but it is not a business.
So others showed up hoping to fill that gap, but the question was, did a need exists where a website could host user-generated content as well as professional videos. Does this website need to aggregate the content of many media companies or to be an outlet for just one?, question on consumers online behavior was also imminent, Would people prefer to download films or television shows to their computers, then transfer them to their iPods, as Apple was betting? Or would they prefer “streaming” a video just once? or would they insist on watching videos inside their web browsers? Would they pay to watch, or would advertising provide the revenues?
Almost every permutation has been tried. From Amazon to Apple, from Netflix to Joost, from ABC to CBS’s TV.com, companies old and young started serving videos over the internet.
Into this mess a with a new idea of “video sharing obtained from professional partners”, Hulu was born .
Today, even though advertising is destined for a depression, Hulu appears to have clarified much of the confusion. It is not clear how much revenue or profit Hulu is making, but it seems to be successful by any measure. Although Hulu is still far behind YouTube, in the number of hits, users have been flocking to it, watching 216m videos in December. Just as importantly, Hulu’s inventory for advertisers appears to be sold out. So Hulu is in the rare position of being able to increase inventory (through new content and more views) and make money from it. Hulu now has more than 100 advertisers, including big brands such as McDonald’s, Bank of America and Best Buy.
Hulu is not a “me too” brand, it does not copy YouTube in a sense that Hulu has only professional content, and not the contents uploaded by users, this is the fact that it has earned brownie points with the advertisers. Hulu currently offers content from more than 110 partners.
Hulu’s has achieved monetary success by supporting streamed video with advertising, rather than charging for downloads, Hulu’s ads are few and short, with a subtle countdown timer that makes them even more bearable. In some cases viewers can even choose which ad to watch, so it is more likely to be relevant to their interests.
It is too early to declare Hulu the winner, But for the moment it appears that YouTube proved that people would watch videos online—whereas Hulu is proving that advertisers will foot the bill.
Ref: The Economist
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
What is the difference between a recession and a depression?
A search on the internet suggests two principal criteria for distinguishing a depression from a recession: a decline in real GDP that exceeds 10%, or one that lasts more than three years; for example America’s Great Depression qualifies on both counts, with GDP falling by around 30% between 1929 and 1933. Output also fell by 13% during 1937 and 1938. The Great Depression was America’s deepest economic slump (excluding those related to wars), but at 43 months it was not the longest: that dubious honour goes to the one in 1873-79, which lasted 65 months.
Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s was not a depression, according to these criteria, because the largest peak-to-trough decline in real GDP was only 3.4%, over the two years to March 1999. Since the second world war, only one developed economy has suffered a drop in GDP of more than 10%: Finland’s contracted by 11% during the three years to 1993, mainly thanks to the collapse of the Soviet Union, then its biggest trading partner.
Emerging economies, however, have been much more depression-prone there have been no fewer than 13 instances in the past 30 years of a decline in real GDP of more than 10%. Argentina and Poland were afflicted twice. Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand all suffered double-digit drops in output during the Asian crisis of 1997-98, and Russia’s GDP shrank by a shocking 45% between 1990 and 1998.
Before the 1930s all economic downturns were commonly called depressions. The term “recession” was coined later to avoid stirring up nasty memories. Even before the Great Depression, downturns were typically much deeper and longer than they are today .One reason why recessions have become milder is higher government spending. In recessions governments, unlike firms, do not slash spending and jobs, so they help to stabilize the economy; and income taxes automatically fall and unemployment benefits rise, helping to support incomes. Another reason is that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when countries were on the gold standard, the money supply usually shrank during recessions, exacerbating the downturn. Waves of bank failures also often made things worse.
But a recent analysis by Saul Eslake, chief economist at ANZ bank, concludes that the difference between a recession and a depression is more than simply one of size or duration. The cause of the downturn also matters. A standard recession usually follows a period of tight monetary policy, but a depression is the result of a bursting asset and credit bubble, a contraction in credit, and a decline in the general price level. In the Great Depression average prices in America fell by one-quarter, and nominal GDP ended up shrinking by almost half. America’s worst recessions before the second world war were all associated with financial panics and falling prices: in both 1893-94 and 1907-08 real GDP declined by almost 10%; in 1919-21, it fell by 13%.
The economic slumps that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and those during the Asian crisis were not really depressions, argues Mr Eslake, because inflation increased sharply. On the other hand, Japan’s experience in the late 1990s, when nominal GDP shrank for several years, may qualify. A depression, suggests Mr Eslake, does not have to be “Great” in the 1930s sense. On his definition, depressions, like recessions, can be mild or severe.
Another important implication of this distinction between a recession and a depression is that they call for different policy responses. A recession triggered by tight monetary policy can be cured by lower interest rates, but fiscal policy tends to be less effective because of the lags involved. By contrast, in a depression caused by falling asset prices, a credit crunch and deflation, conventional monetary policy is much less potent than fiscal policy.
Monday, January 26, 2009
whoppersacrifice @ Linkedin : Perfect example of Technology in Marketing
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
How Would Walt Disney Market in 2009?
As companies try to get their voice "out" in the overcrowded, fragmented, 24x7, blog-filled, multi-dialog, Mad Money Cramer kind of world of 2009, executives need to think carefully about their core stories to customers, employees, and investors—and to use all relevant media to orchestrate the message across the global information network.
In that spirit, I'd like to outline what I think are the core principles that we can all learn from Disney:
1. Know the story is king. Humans like to read about humans and whether you are selling CAT scanners, or auto insurance, every message must have a story that resonates with the human condition at its core. Almost all great stories have ancient roots.
2. Utilize the newest technology to tell that ancient story in a new way. For example, if your firm serves businesses but does not have a marketing message that can be consumed over a BlackBerry then you're behind; if you serve consumers and don't have applications in the Apple App Store, you're out of touch.
3. Coordinate the message across the media. When you leave Disneyland you stroll down a Main Street populated with dolls, and shirts, and hats, and media that all are linked to the wonderful experiences you just had. In today's fragmented world, executives must reinforce key messages by having multiple, consistent, coordinated touch points for the same idea.
4. Have the courage to innovate. Walt Disney initially funded both Disneyland and Disneyworld out of his own pocket, and then sold them back to the corporation because they did not want to take the first risks. Be braver.
5. Ride your uniqueness. Disney received enormous press coverage and accolades because he was doing new things. For example, if you have a direct sales force, what new stories have you given them so they can market themselves on Facebook or LinkedIn or over the BlackBerry? How have you helped them tell a great story about your firm and its services? If you do it, they will talk about it and the media will report on it.
6. Stay on message. With Disney, you only had to see the Castle to conjure up the entire set of thoughts and dreams.
Provided by Harvard Business—Where Leaders Get Their Edge by John Sviokla
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
How would the Maytas acquisition have helped Satyam
A week before when Satyam's Raju announced that Satyam's intented to buy Maytas , the idea was booed by all and sulty, but looking at the mess now it would had been really benefitial if the deal had gone through.
How would the Maytas acquisition have helped? Satyam would have paid at least Rs 5000 crore to acquire the two companies from the promoters (the Raju family). The money was non-existent. So, it would have pretended to pay the money and ended up with the assets (the two Maytas companies). The promoters may have never got paid but that would have served them right. And everyone would have been alright: Satyam would have had assets, real assets on its books instead of non-existent cash; the Raju family would have continued to manage Satyam, but would have been poorer by quite a bit; and investors would have still had their money invested in a halfway decent company.
But again at the end of the day, it all comes to Ethics and in this case the promoters were trying to do unethical thing so that the mess they had created could be covered
Friday, January 2, 2009
$100bn too early or too less ?
For this amount it could now buy:
Citibank $22.5bn
Morgan Stanley $10.5bn
Goldman Sachs $21bn
Merrill Lynch $12.3bn
Deutsche Bank $13bn
Barclays $12.7bn
And still have
$8bn change......with which they could have picked up GM, Ford, Chrysler and the Honda