ONIDA

The Devil’s back, a change in tagline and plans to move beyond just TV sets... and look who’s shining!
Here’s one brand that prays for the ‘Devil’ to work its magic! And after praying for long, mercies have started pouring-in... Known as ‘single product’ brand, Onida’s latest efforts and for the first time, has been to move ‘beyond TV sets’. Their communication now reads as “Nothing but the truth”. They also got the Devil back, which has worked wonders. Onida aims at constant innovation and invests a substantial 4-5% of annual revenues in R&D. At the same time, it spent a substantial Rs.8 crores on promotions during Soccer World Cup 2006.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

FORD

This one’s an I(K)onclastic brand. So, have you gone fida over this Detroit biggie yet?
It may be a world renowned brand, but it took the company a little while to arrive in India and even more time to make a mark. But Ford finally got it with the Ikon and Fiesta. Great launches, well thought out campaigns and AB junior have helped Ford climb up the brand ladder in the past year. With Ikon - the josh machine - a global brand was given an Indian feel for the first time, and the moment redefined auto marketing in India. After the initial stint, Ikon started losing charm but the subsequent entry of Fiesta into the Indian market changed Ford’s fortunes in India forever. Ford was again back in the limelight and this time with a greater bang.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

GODREJ

Godrej may not be called a brand savvy organisation, but its word-of-mouth popularity is tremendous
Godrej – this century-old brand is almost a household name in India. No surprises there, right? After all this brand has years of toil, integrity and quality delivery to its credit? What’s more, over the last year the brand has latched on to a new style, while carrying forward the same legacy. Godrej roped in Priety Zinta as brand ambassador to add chutzpah to its consumer appliances and portray itself as a contemporary and trendy brand against competitors like LG (that has junior Bachchan endorsing its products) and Whirlpool (with Devgans as ambassadors). What’s more, Godrej also acquired Keyline Brands (UK) and Rapidol (South Africa) over the last year, putting to rest any remaining speculation about the future brand equity of this swadeshi brand.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

NESCAFÉ

Discarding the popular Nescafé jingle was a bad idea, the taste continues to get you started...
Nothing wakes you up as Nescafé does – rightfully said and (as you’d agree) wholeheartedly accepted! Nescafé, one of Nestlé ’s internationally acclaimed beverage brands, catering to almost all segments of the market, has created an out of ordinary place in the minds of consumers globally and across the Indian sub-continent. Having sung its way to millions, Nescafé has established itself as a brand which is impossible to forget! Yes, its once popular jingle may have become scarce of late, but its India centric strategy remains intact. And to further stem its position in the face of growing competition, during early 2006, the coffee-maker introduced a new variant of its instant coffee mix – the Nescafé 3-in-1,which was lapped up by consumers as ‘the perfect cup of coffee – no matte what’.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

STAR NETWORK

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his Indian ambassadors have taken their job very sincerely!
Since the dawn of the 21st century, Rupert Murdoch’s Star has outshone other entertainment brands (including the once invincible Zee) in Indian media landscape. The network’s flagship brand Star Plus has reigned the General Entertainment Channel (GEC) category for over six years now, giving requisite push to its other channels viz. Star One, Star Movies, et al. Yet last year, has been a bit shaky for Star Network, with drowning audience interests in its K-serials (soaked in kitchen politics!) and the not-so great response to the third season of Kaun Banega Crorepati with SRK. Star also underwent an internal turmoil with exit of Peter Mukherjea and Sameer Nair from the Star Parivar. But, despite all odds, the brand has defended its leadership position with a market share of 41.7% in the GEC category. Yash Khanna of Star India, says: “For STAR Plus, the concentration Has been on category expansion. We will strive to carry this on with other initiatives like Star Voice of India.” Guess there’s no pushing this star off the horizon!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

INDIAN OIL CORPORATION

It’s the 18th largest oil company in the world with 8,952 kms of pipeline. Need we elaborate?
Talk about oil, and adjectives that come to mind are – slippery, yellow, dense, dirty. Famed and respected? Nah! But when the Incas called it ‘liquid gold’, they certainly, understood the power it could generate. And going by the fact that Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) garnered a blazing Rs.1.83 trillion as revenues during FY06 alone, the corporation seems to have understood why the Incas were known for their prosperity! The public sector behemoth, generates immediate trust in minds of Indians! A Fortune Global 500 powerhouse (ranked at an impeccable 153), IOC stands for ‘inspired India’, and all because it dared to get into brand differentiation of petroleum and oil. Today, it has gained tremendous brand equity, with its basket of super brands like Servo, Indane, and Xtral. “There are two aspects to our promotion, to promote brands which need support by way of ads and through brand building strategies...” an IOC official told 4Ps B&M. The approach, besides the run-of-the mill dealer incentives and on-field activities, involves agreements with other trusted brands like Citibank and Coca Cola, which further helps IOC leverage its brand image.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

JET AIRWAYS

Jet is always set to go, but this time it’s betting on flying really ‘lite’...
From the time it took its first flight in Indian skies, this airline was accepted with open arms by Indian public and since then there has been no looking back for Jet Airways. Constantly in the news, thanks to its controversial prolonged acquisition of Sahara Airlines, it is this pick-up that will mark the entry of premium flier Jet Airways into the highly popular low cost airlines segment. In another few months, Jet will re-brand the newly acquired Sahara Airlines into JetLite, the low cost arm of Jet Airways. Post the deal, the company has also decided to go all guns blaring into the international market. However, this strategy of going global on a large scale required a change in the corporate brand identity. “With our international expansion plans slated to begin this year we have been working with Landor and Associates of London on developing a new look and feel for our brand,” says VP, Marketing, Gaurang Shetty. The new look has been sealed now. Shetty adds that “This has been achieved by using a range of brighter, fresher colours, while retaining many of the previous elements of the brand iconography. It has tested very well, both in India and with the consumers in our key international markets.” All this and more, will enable this market leader to re-capture some of its dwindling market share.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES

Mukesh Ambani has his fingers in many pies, but presently they all taste yummy!
You can call him a ‘maverick’, for he strays too far away from conventional wisdom, but chances are that the larger-than-life Mukesh Ambani will simply ignore you, as he charts future successes for Reliance Industries. Be it his foray into the petrochemicals, exploration or organized retail, with every step Mukesh Ambani reiterates his ambition to dominate. “Our integrated and globally competitive portfolio continues to help RIL de-risk its business model and deliver superior operating performance,” avers the senior Ambani. Yet, market watchers have apprehensions regarding his bull run. Analyst Raj Gandhi of UTI warns: “The execution of these many projects might become a headache for Reliance in the long term.” Analysts may cry themselves hoarse, but with a record turnover of $25 billion for year ended March 31, 2007, Reliance Industries will be dictating the trends of the industry.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

THE GLOSSARY AND OVERALL RANKS

Image & Perception: This parameter implies the perceived identity of a brand amidst consumers based on their marketing initiatives and delivery on promised commitments, on which, consumers form a mental image of a brand in their minds, which may or may not be real.

Brand Awareness: This has little to do with advertising strategies deployed, but instead, is more of a consumer response to a well thought-out marketing campaign, including below the line activities, individual brand endorsers, communication contributing to brand information and positive consumer disposition.

Brand Loyalty: When the consumer is tempted enough to stick to just a particular brand, out of a feeling of commitment or need towards that monicker, he is displaying brand loyalty.

Brand Association: Association refers to that aspect of a brand’s marketing cycle wherein the brand reaches such a stage that it becomes synonymous with that product category. So when a brand is inadvertently associated with any value, personality or attribute, it denotes a brand association.

Brand Performance: Unlike last year, this year the brand performance rating is based on the consumer’s perception of the performance of a brand. The respondents were asked to take into account distribution, network, word of mouth publicity, ad campaigns, promotional activities and overall marketing initiatives undertaken by the brands vis-à-vis competitors.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Tête et main de femme – 575,971,232 INR - 740,522,888 INR

DesirÉE
Pablo Picasso. The name is enough to sell any art on Earth. Still, we attempt to explain the genius of the man who was a raving misogynist, social butterfly y and yet an astounding artist whose brush recreated the stark realities exceptionally. This painting depicts the genius's first wife, Olga Khokhlova who gave birth to his son Paulo. What's interesting to note about this painting is the hand that is almost disproportionate and creates a mystery whether it is hers or infant Paulo’s sitting in her lap and reaching out. A piece of mystery for your drawing room, enough to keep your guests intrigued

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Retail Advances

For ICICI Bank, retail advances have grown by 39% to Rs.1.28 billion, which is lesser than the 64% yoy growth in FY06 and 50% growth in Q3 FY07. Retail advances of HDFC Bank grew by 79.7% for FY06, as compared to 33.4% growth for FY07. Even public sector banks, such as Canara Bank reported 24% growth in advances to Rs.985 billion, which is a signify cantly lower compared to 31.5% growth in FY06 and 28.6% growth in Q3 FY07. This is what M. B. N. Rao, CMD, Canara Bank told B&E when asked about the slowdown: “After three successive years of high growth in credit, resource management has posed a formidable challenge for the banking industry. Monetary tightening and competitive pressures did have an influence on banks’ ability to raise resources in a cost effective manner.”

Since the composition of retail loans was more in total advances, a small twist in retail loans also twisted the bottom lines of many banks. ICICI and SBI happen to be classic examples. And as expected, banks with more exposure to retail banking missed analyst expectations the most. Besides, net NPA ratio of ICICI bank increased to 0.98 as on March 31, 2007, as compared to 0.71 a year ago. O. P. Bhatt, Chairman, SBI, too confirmed the defaults, even before announcing results (so that markets would factor this in before making any kind of expectations).

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

The trigger heads!

Formed one year after the Indian nuclear tests of 1974, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a multinational body which aims to check nuclear proliferation in the world. Its task includes monitoring and controlling the ‘export and re-transfer of materials that may be applicable to nuclear weapon development’. The group grants to nation, the right to import/export nuclear material, but only for peaceful purposes. The group is composed of 45 nations including France, Japan, Germany, Canada, Australia, Brazil. The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal (as and when it is signed) will have to be ratified, before the nuclear shipment from the US can commence its journey towards India.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Heavy metal tales...

Heavy metal tales...

Canada’s up for sale! If you don’t believe it, digest this – during just 2007, total value of M&A deals involving foreign buy-off s of Canadian entities touched an incredible $65 billion – all adding up to a mighty 877 deals in just two years! And along came the $33.1 billion aluminumiant Alcoa, whose motives to join the deal-making party has giving’s to its desire of gobbling-up the$ 29.4 billion Canadian Alcan; proving that ‘light metal’ can indeed be ‘heavy’ – ‘heavy’ on company financials, that is! Consider its motive to buy-off Alcan for a gargantuan $26.9 billion – the highest ever bid for a Canadian company! Commenting on the offer, Alain J.P. Belda, Chairman & CEO, Alcoa, stated: “We believe firmly in the compelling strategic rationale behind the combination... and are convinced that this transaction creates substantial value...”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative