Rise of India

The year was 2000, my uncle from USA had just landed in India. The time was well past 3 am and both of us were walking in the deserted streets of Adyar searching for an ISD booth. A gentle breeze was blowing across our streets, I certainly found it refreshing but for my Uncle it was hot air. As we started conversing about the hot climate and the ill effects of global warming our hope of finding an ISD booth started diminishing like an ice cream melting during a hot Indian summer. On the way back, my uncle was commenting how India and China will dominate the next century. My initial thought was he is too patriotic. Little did I realize later on in my life I will become a important cog in the wheel of life, churning away the poverty and bringing in the prosperity to the ‘New India’. And in 2001 Goldman sach’s in its famous report coined the term BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) which also put our country amongst the international investors spotlight.

How can India and China over throw the mighty America? This was the question that had been lingering on in my mind for a very long time. As I graduated from college and pursued my masters slowly economics became started to become an interesting area for me. Any country or empire had ascended the throne of supremacy while the earlier super power started gradually declining. But how can you dethrone America when we have a Uni polar world and the way of life had become American especially after the disintegration of Soviet Union in the early 1990’s.

Fast forward to early 2006-07 the Big three(GM, Ford and Chrysler) from Detroit was falling away and Toyota was equipping itself to usurp General Motors(GM) to become the biggest automobile player in the world. GM had a two pronged fight. One hand had to fend off Toyota and it had to satisfy its labor union, with health care rising out of control. Meanwhile in the east coast the American Investment bankers (IB) with their wizard airy were making lots of paper based wealth by Centralized Debt Obligation (CDO’s) and putting the concept of globalization at work. Distributing this CDO’s to farfetched countries in the hope of distributing the shock. Having given to the lust of making money, the IB people were smart enough and insured their property with the big American insurers. The underlying asset of CDO’s were the housing loans given to subprime people ( who had very bad credit and hence were required to pay a higher interest rate). People bought their homes in the hope that their asset’s value will always move up which can help them in repaying their mortgage, the housing bubble. Post 9/11 the war against terror was the way of life. The Bush Jr coined the word ‘Axis of Evil’ and invaded Iraq first and then started a war against the Taliban’s to stop terrorism . As a result the American Defense expenditure was 22% of GDP. Quality high school and college Education was relegated in the priority list.

When the housing bubble burst, it not only resulted in property prices crashing it also brought the entire Wall street along with it and the big insurers of America. With price of Oil peaking the big three was fighting of stay afloat and were begging literally for Congressional aid. The war in Iraq, Afghanistan had gone awry wrong. People became desperate because of mounting job bless and America fast became a melting country. Being the most influential country, it naturally paved the way for global economic meltdown except for Brazil, India and China who had managed to post decent positive GDP’s during 2008-09.

Now the stage is set for a multi polar world where we don’t have a King (America) but a council of minister (America, China, India, ) who can play the geopolitical games. Where the youngistan is being groomed to take over from the old King.

America being America cant be relegated to the corners of geopolitics since the vision and attitude of founding fathers is still visible in the remote corners of the country where ordinary civilians still have the thirst for innovation which is unfortunately being blocked by the congress and influential lobbies.

Marketing to Indians 101

 

Selling to Indians is definitely not an easy task. For sure, I am not the first person nor will be the last person to (re)discover this fact. Why is that Indians are a difficult community to advertize both for multinational companies, easily attracted to India because of its huge market and for regional companies aspiring to become a national player. Those companies which have found the holy grail of selling to Indians either by accident or by research have managed to keep their cash register ringing all the time.  But what is so unique about Indians that modern thinkers and marketing guru’s are unable to decode and devise a strategy that can guarantee success.

 

For starters you can never a common strategy / approach to appeal to the Indians, in short you just can’t straight jacket them. You have to employ the Divide and Conquer, perfected by Robert Clive of the East India trading Corporation. The country “India” can be divided into 5 major regions.  For sake of familiarity I have named them in the most elementary manner. 

 

Market 1 – Jammu & Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Old Delhi, North eastern states

Market 2 – Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh

Market 3 – Rest of Maharashtra, Rest of Andhra Pradesh , Goa

Market 4 – West Bengal, Punjab, Rest of Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Rest of Tamil Nadu

Market 5 – NCR (New Delhi, Gurgoan, Noida ), Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore

 

Why you can’t never treat India as a single country where people have the same mindset or cultural background is beyond the scope of this essay. Things can change after 2040 if we are to trust the demographic guidance given by the ‘Experts’.

 

The main idea of advertisement is to make people buy your product. We all have five senses to learn and explore this beautiful world. The art of Advertisement is to ensure that you appeal to more than one sense of the viewing public or to their vanity. If your advertisement appeals to only one sense then you’re ad is lost in the zillions of data the common man is exposed to in these days. Depending upon the target market you have to create the Ad’s appealing to multi senses.

 

At the basic you should appeal to the public’s sense of sight, and sound. Since these two are the most commonly used sense for mankind in TV / Newsprint medium. As you move from Market 1 to Market 5 we can start including the other ‘higher’ sense of thinking and rationalizing, like quoting technical facts, results of survey, latest results of research studies etc.

 

Examples of Brands which captured the imagination of the public

 

1.       Catchy tagline / jingle – Pepsi, Nirma, Ujala, Pulsar, ICICI bank , Idhayam Gingerly oil

2.       Excellent audio / video - Leo coffee powder, Shakthi masala, Power Soap, Cadburys chocolate

3.       Appealing to vanity : Axe chocolate , Sunflower oil, Fair & Lovely, HDFC Life insurance

 

 

The other way to capture the imagination of the public is through Brand Ambassador(BA). In the Indian heartland the best place to shop for BA’s is Bollywood / BCCI.  The choice of BA plays a crucial role in catapulting your brand in the Wild Wide West of consumer imagination. When the south Korean chaebol’s arrived on the Indian shores they had to compete against American and Japanese brands who had a better brand value and recall. They smartly employed New age Brand Ambassador, (Samsung – half of the Indian cricket, Hyundai – Shahrukh khan and LG – Bunch of bollywood actress) these people were the epitome or icons of the Indian dream, a dream which the Indian people believed in and worked hard to achieve them.

 

IPL 2009

The second edition of Indian Premier League has been a resounding success both in South Africa and in India. Almost 58% of the round robin matches had been played by the 8 city based teams. There has been certain surprises and misses when compared IPL 2008.  The competition has been more or less evenly matched between the bat and the ball. A score of 160 is turning out to be quite competitive if you have the bowling ammunition to stop the rampaging opposition players. The bar for high priced players was raised in this year’s auction.  There was no letup in the excitement quotient also with the matches being held in South Africa, the arrival of English players and the calypso kings from west indies.  The fake ipl player was the perfect icing on the cake as far as excitement buzz was concerned.

 

The notable absentees of this year was the aussie’s and Pakistan players. The former players putting national duty (defending the Ashes in the summer) above IPL led by punter pointing. The latter players couldn’t participate thanks to the high  sensitive time in India especially after Mumbai blasts. I am sure the organizers and the team owners would have allowed the paki players to take part had they envisioned this year’s IPL in South Africa rather than in India.

 

Form guide for the teams: (Total / Wins / Loss / No Result)

 

Rajasthan Royals: (8/4/3/1)

The defending champions didn’t quite have a flier of a start. Lost the opening match and in the second match the points were shared. Not the kind of start Warnie might have planned. They quite don’t have the moment behind them, since they have been winning and losing alternate matches. The major problem is have not been getting the kind of blazing start from the top order. Graeme Smith is woefully out of form and the local Indian players haven’t quite adapted to the bouncy pitches of South Africa. They win whenever Yusuf pathan plays a big little cameo coming late in the order. Whether they can qualify for the finals depends whether Shane Warne can recreate his man management magic like last year.

 

Chennai Super kings: (8/4/3/1)

Last year runner up didn’t have the best of starts. Lost the opening match, not the auspicious start Dhoni would have liked. All the batsmen were in fine form and were hitting huge sixes at will. The two biggest problem was they had no credible partnerships during the first phase of the round robin and Dhoni was woefully out of form. Andrew Flintoff, the second highest signing of this year was a leaking ship. He couldn’t quite live up to the demands and nuances of T20. Thanks to CSK, he got injured and the team got its composition right and was back to its winning ways. They have won last 3 consecutive matches and have the momentum behind them which can potentially earn them a semifinal berth. Since 7 out of 8 teams are closely tied up in the standing expect the Net Run Rate(NRR) to play a huge role in deciding at least 2 semifinal teams. CSK have the most positive NRR for this year.

 

Delhi Daredevils’: (7/5/2/0)

Last year semi finalist, have been to rousing start to this year IPL . With Sehwag and Gambhir, they have the most dynamic opening pair in modern day cricket. Winning the first 3 matches on the trot with the right mix of aggressive batting and some intelligent bowling led India discard Asish Nehra  and the orthodox left arm spinner Daniel Vettori. With the current form, this the team to watch out for. Having played 1 match less than the other teams they have the maximum number of points. This is the bowling lineup which is unable to get a berth for Glenn McGrath. It is a shocker but we have to believe this, McGrath is warming the bench and their team is not missing his services.

 

Deccan Chargers:(7/4/3/0):

IPL -08 was no show for this highly talented bunch of individuals. They just couldn’t bind together as a team. But IPL -09 was completely different. Under a new captain, Gilchrist they were off to a blazing start in the tournament, the best for any team. The opening dynamo of Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs often provided the perfect platform for the middle order to capitalize. A rejuvenated RP Singh will stifle the opening opposition batsmen by sticking to the basics, line and length bowling. As team the chargers were a excellent fielding unit, which easily saved 30-40 runs per match.  

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) :(8/4/4/0)

A team labeled as ‘Test’ team in T20 matches last year. Its Owner liquor baron Malaya vowed to infuse the fighting spirit in the team and was determined to shed the tag of ‘Test’ team. He had the honor of signing the highest bid player, Kevin Peterson(KP). With couple of signings from New Zealand players, on paper at least the team had a dynamic look. Under a  new captain they just couldn’t cobble together a win. Once when KP left for his national duty, the captaincy was handed over to Kumble, Mr. Gentleman of cricket. Under a new captain, the RCB has managed to stitch together 3 consecutive win. They have the momentum behind them.

 

Kings XI Punjab: (8/4/4/0)

Last year semi finalist, Kings XI has not been able to get the momentum behind them. They are very good team under the captaincy of Yuvraj Singh but just couldn’t get going in this version. Right now they are under the danger of being not qualifying for the semifinal. From here on they have win all the matches and hope the other teams like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings fumble and Mumbai Indians continue to play the way they are playing.

 

Mumbai Indians :(8/3/4/1)

Led by the God of Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar and the pride of Mukesh Ambani, the owner of Mumbai Indians. The costliest city team they boast of a battery of batsmen who can demolish the opposition on their day. The opening thunder works are provided by courtesy of Sachin and Sanath. No other team can claim such a talented and experienced set of opening pair. Their bowling rest in the safe hands of Zaheer, Harbhajan and Malinga. Yet this team has blown hot and cold, like the Pakistan national cricket team. We never quite know what to expect from this team. They have to blame themselves more so specific their lack of ability to channelize their collective talent. Right now they are languishing second from the last.

 

Kolkata Knight Riders:(9/1/7/1)

No team can evoke emotions within their base city like the KKR. This team lost the plot even before they left the Indian shores. First their coach came with a weird concept of 4 captain theory. T20 is like a war, in war you just cant 4 generals to lead your army. The decisions have to be taken in the spur of the moment, not by consensus. Sacking of Ganguly in the south African shores was the last thing this team needed. This has decisively created a gap inside the team, which has been exposed to the media friendly fakeiplplayer, an insider who was smart enough to guess he will warming the bench throughout the tournament. This was indeed a butterfly moment as his blog created a huge sensation among many of IPL fans, including yours truly. He has promised to reveal his real identity when the tournament comes to an end.  

 

My prediction for the semi finalist : Delhi, Deccan, Chennai & Rajasthan.

 

Relationships

Ever wondered if you are a Man (or Woman) why you just cannot fathom the behavior of the other sex, especially during crucial times. Right when you think you have understood your friend /Siblings / colleagues (esp. of opposite sex) they completely act in a unexpected manner, destroying your hopes and you are left wondering where this relationship is going?

 

Ever since Eve took a bite at the apple in the Garden Eden, the relationship between Man and Woman just got weird and more ‘complex’. Even though Man and Woman have lived together for thousands of years together, looks like they are constantly involved in learning about each other. For a Man to better understand another Woman is the most difficult task and Vice versa. Why is the Man – Woman relationship such an enigma. The international space agencies have successfully sent probes to distant planets / moons to map their surface, cant they create two miniature probes to map the surface and internal workings of the heart of man and woman respectively. Why is there so much confusion and commotion in a relationship when the opposite sexes are involved.  Sometimes we wish there was some sought of guide in the open market or holy man who can help us in understanding the opposite sex. When a boy and girl have a casual friendship their world is very happy. The trouble starts when the start navigating from the initial friendship / courtship  period. All the emotional problems suddenly descend upon them creating havoc and causing long term damage in their little hearts. The root cause EXPECTATION. Once we start to expect something from the opposite sex, we have just rolled out the biggest red carpet for the troubles / misunderstandings to walk right royally into our life.

 

Every man’s objective is to impress upon each and every woman he is coming across in his life. Every Woman’s primary objective is to ensure that man who can help further her capabilities / abilities by providing adequate security (emotional / physical)  will be permitted to have friendship with her. Those men who don’t pass this criteria are mercilessly rejected. If this revelation is shocking to you, let’s me explain. Although we(mankind) has invented many things, formulated new thesis about human behavior we are still descendants of nomadic people who had survived the harsh climatic conditions and fended off the natural threats against their very survival. The knowledge / wisdom gained from one generation is successfully transmitted to the next generation via DNA. So at the core we are  still social animals. Our innate animal like emotions / feelings are being suppressed in the modern age in the name civility and decency, just waiting for a chance to come out and remind us of our past. Similar to the genie in the famous Aladdin story.

 

Ok, back to the main story. A man’s dedicated focus in any relationship with the opposite sex stops the moment he realizes that he has been granted access to the girldom. By this time he would have spent enormous amount of time and effort in understanding the girl at the superficial level and also trying to make her understand that he is the guy with the right credentials. But the girl is aware somehow all the actions performed; words spoken during the courtship period is not necessarily 100% genuine. After the courtship period she wants to know more in depth about the guy, but our guy is busy either celebrating this success or doing something else. Can’t we predict that a perfect storm is getting formed somewhere.

 

Don’t get disheartened by thinking that there isn’t a easy way to have a successful relationship with the opposite sex. Yes there is. Phew!!! Thanks for wiping the sweat brows from my forehead, for a moment I thought boy – girl relationship can never be void of any problems. If you have ever driven a vehicle in the Indian road, you already know the solution. While driving on the Indian roads it is the sole responsibility of the driver of the vehicle to ensure that he doesn’t get him/her self involved in any accident. Irrespective of how the fellow drivers are driving their vehicle or how a pedestrian is suddenly crossing the road, or if your god fairy / yamaraj (cow / buffalo) suddenly decides to pay you a surprise blessing visit, as a responsible driver we have to take reflexive action to sway away from their paths. The eternal truth in driving on Indian roads is that don’t take any moving object for granted, we can never extrapolate their movement trajectory.

 

In the similar manner in our relationship with the opposite sex, don’t ever assume or take them for granted. Each and every day is a new day, people change their preferences / perception based on their interaction with this world.

 

Guys, for girls things don’t change that easily unless there is compulsive evidence. There is nothing greater in this world other than demonstrating to our beloved ones that we constantly care about them. No one is expecting costly gifts like diamond necklace, fancy dress, cars etc but want the other heart wants to know is that you are constantly caring about them. Simple act of appreciating their choice of dress, spending exclusively time with them, helping the girls in their daily chores, accompanying and actively involved in deciding which dress or ornaments to buy, giving small pleasant surprises etc will ensure your relationship is based on strong foundation rather than a eroding foundation.

 

Girls, guys mind is very fickle. Even he doesn’t know what he is thinking inside, most of the time he will look lost. That is because he is always focused on the future wondering how to better this relationship forgetting in the same time that there is a ‘present’ now. Very rarely do you see a boy / man cry or worry out aloud in front of the opposite sex blame it on cultural affiliation. The only time he drops his guard is when he is with his friend. So don’t make it an issue when he hangs out with other guys, that is the only time he happens to be himself.

 

Understand that a relation has to grow, overnight we can’t have a banyan tree to be fully grown. Just because he / she has becomes your friend it doesn’t mean he / she has to behave in the manner you like. Respect the individual for what he / she is, this respect will solve many of the problems, since most of the time we want our friends / partners to behave in a manner in accordance to our wishes and we want to them a partial clone of us.