Reebok vs. Nike !!!

When Nike outbid Adidas and Reebok, to become the official kit supplier for Team India and used its famous ‘swoosh’ on the arms of the Indian players, every one thought it would be Nike all the way.
It spend 200 cr, to get best possible form of branding available in India, i.e. sponsoring Indian Cricket Team.

Reebok, answered they rivals in style, with the following steps,

1) Seven players of Indian Team, endorse Reebok which include, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan.

2) Reebok persuaded them to sport the Reebok logo on their bats, pads and gloves.

3) Around 50 domestic and international players sport the Reebok logo on their bats, compared to almost none by Nike.

Now compare the impact of "Swoosh" on the arms and "Logo" on the bats !

According to Subhinder Singh Prem, MD of Reebok India,

"A cricket lover perhaps wouldn’t remember the logo on Sachin Tendulkar’s jersey but ask him about his bat and pad would come the reply — is it MRF? It makes sense because according to industry estimates, a promising player who has just burst into the scene earns only a couple of lakh of rupees to sport a logo on his bat for 2-3 years. And with Rs 200 cr you can have a lot more players doing that with greater effect. The trick is to catch them young. "

For Reebok, its now, jingles all the way !!!



***In the Rs 800-crore Indian premium sportswear market, Reebok is the leader with a marketshare of 51%, followed by Adidas at around 25%. After Adidas acquired Reebok globally for $3.8 billion in September 2005, the combined share stands at 76%. The balance is accounted for by Nike and Puma, with Nike in the third spot.

Source : Economic Times

End to Early-Age Rat-Race !!!

Let's get back to memories of the childhood!
Remember, you always wished play with your friends or to watch cartoon, but were always pulled back! Remember, all the scolding that you have got, either from your parents and teachers!
And every time you protested, you were repetitively told, "Study, otherwise you will FAIL !"
From the day we entered the school, we all were victims of tuitions, coaching, peer competition, parent's expectations and what not!
Thank god, the next generation would not be victim of this "Early-age Rat-Race".

Recently, Rajya Sabha, have passed a bill, "Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2008", according to which, a student cannot be failed for the reasons of poor performance, up to a certain age.

As quoted in economic times, "No school in the land can fail or turf out children for reasons of poor performance until a certain stage. The onus of responsibility for academic progress would, in fact, rest on the schools themselves. Now this is reason enough to cause rapturous joy among the youngsters, hitherto victims of the undeniable tyranny of an early-age rat race. "

Hurray !!!

People's Car - Not for people !!!

Tata Nano will be launched soon in months of January to March. But the shocking news is, it would be rolled out in limited quantity. Ravi Kant, the company's managing director announced, "We are looking at something to bring it (out) as fast as possible ... kind of an interim arrangement ... from one of our existing plants. These will be small quantities. Let a few customers at least have a touch and feel of the car."

It’s a risky strategy!
Reason, "First impression, is last impression!"

I believe, Tata Nano should not be launched in a phased approach. Because, if customers found some technical glitch (high probability) in Tata Nano, it will spread the negative word of mouth. Also, all the auto experts would be ready to give reviews on Nano. And if reports would be negative!!! This negative image would lead to sharp fall in the demand of Tata Nano, for the next phase of roll-out.

Tata Motors, have never been famous for product quality. Moreover, questions have already been posed on Tata Nano's safety features. People will rather wait for a better quality product, than a poor product.

Adding to that, it will also give competitors a chance to have "touch and feel of the car". Competitors like Bajaj could also influence in spreading negative word of mouth.

You're Still The One... !!!

One of my favorites by Shania Twain, this song is dedicated to all the love birds, fighting it out, against the biased rules of the family and society. And when everyone cribbed... their love grew stronger.
Listen to this...
"When I first saw you, I saw love.
And the first time you touched me, I felt love.
And after all this time, you're still the one I love.

Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong
(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

I'm so glad we made it
Look how far we've come my baby"

Malnutrition... by Choice !!!

Kingfisher Calendar for the year 2009 is about to release. I just saw, few teasers of that.And one thing came to my mind.
Malnutrition!!!

Find the difference between the above pictures!!!

For me,

One is "Malnutrition by Choice"!

Other, "Malnutrition due to Hunger"!

One get paid to be malnutritioned, the other one, being left to street dogs!!!
Is this we call,Diversity or Adversity !!!

You decide!!!

Recession... A Boon !!!

I am fed up listening to teachers, industry, media etc. talking only about recession and its negative impact of economy. But I always believe that there are always two sides of the coin. Let there be some positivity in the environment.

So what are the advantages of recession?
Are there any?
Shouldn't they be discussed?

Few I could think of, are as follows:

1) Recession led to drop in inflation. That's a really good news!

2) Students getting jobs in this time frame, will have great future ahead. Companies are really selective in hiring students and only the best will be recruited. Earlier when companies were on a hiring spree, It was about, "Survival of the fittest". But now, "Survival of the best". And I found, students preparing themselves extremely hard, to become the best.

3) All the "Whales" of the business have been struck badly by recession. Thus, companies with better operational strategies, better management, and better marketing would only succeed, even they being a "Fish". Now the playing field is leveled.

4) Its good time to do an MBA! Those who were planning to do it, but couldn’t get time out of their jobs, should get an MBA right now. Reason? In their job, their would be no increment in salary,and chances of being kicked out. Pass these 2 recessionary years, in an MBA college, and come back with flourishing salaries again.

5) Home Loan interest rates have reduced. Buy a house !!!

6)…

7)…

8)…

Its an open forum friends! Suggest few other advantages of recession, or criticize those pointed out.
I want this list to be as long as the disadvantages of recession.

Be a step ahead, think positive, think out of the box, and think… think… think…!!!

Dare to speak in Hindi...!!!

Have you ever been scolded of speaking in Hindi ? I am sure, that the answer would be yes. It is a common phenomena in Schools (English medium) and Colleges of India. I am in a business school, and here we find students studying from every part of India. I have recently found my friends scolded of, "Murmuring" in Hindi. They believe, English is language of corporates, businesses and the industry.
Not an issue!

Languages have always helped in socializing. Let us take a day to day example. If you find your faculty, a "Bong", and you being too, you will soon find a rapport with him/her, chattering in Bengali. Similarly a "Kannadiga" would be able to please his/her "Kannadiga" teacher, "Mallu" has a good rapport with "Mallu" faculty, and the same story repeats for Tamil, Gujarati, Telugu etc.. But you cannot follow the same rule for Hindi. Dare to speak Hindi in front of your faculty! It is been considered that, English is the language of the literate, where as Hindi, "a cheap language". Similar phenomena is also seen among the students also.
Not an issue !

The issue?
Even regional languages are more respected in India than Hindi. As Hindi is considered as the language of weaker section of the society.

The reason?
Hindi is the language of the masses. And I have always felt, something which is in abundant never gets respect. Hindi being spoken in all parts of the country, doesn't get its due respect. Where as regional languages like Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil etc. are not considered as low as Hindi, in comparison to English.

The solution?
Even I don't know. Might be people associated with Hindi literature could suggest something on it. Might be, we could ever stop thinking, one language being superior to other.

But why to blog about it?
It was just an observation, that even Hindi being our national language, it never got due respect whereas other regional languages have scored much more in dignity.
And in the end, as every one believes, Hindi is our "मात्र भाषा " !!!

My dream?
Someday, the world would be striving to learn Hindi language, similar to, as we are desperately running after English!

Exciting American Bailout...!!!

My friend Manik Gursahani mailed me, these interesting facts about American Bailout. I couldn't resist it posting it on blog.Read on.

"Adding in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars.
Some what around $7 trillion after auto bail out.....
People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.

Crunching the inflation adjusted numbers, we find the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:

• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est),Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion

TOTAL: $3.92 trillion"

Source : http://boingboing.net/2008/11/25/bailout-costs-more-t.html

Campaign Against Terror... Perspectives !!!

I am a bit confused after the Mumbai attacks, about the rage that is seen among the media and people.But before that let's see, where were recent terrorist attack in the near future.This year, it started in May at Jaipur, then in July at Ahmedabad, in September at Delhi and the last, in November at Mumbai. So I was discussing that why there is so much rage among Indians this time. There were attacks earlier also, but we have never seen people coming to the streets as one voice, against the government (due to their lack of preparedness) and the politicians (because they being politicians). I could see two aspects to it.

One, which is popularized by the media, as "Enough is Enough". The series of attacks in recent times have affected the mindset of Indian people. Each attack has added fuel to the fire within every Indian. But this time, they couldn't resist more. Indian public, for the first time in such quantum, have came out on roads to support martyrs and to criticize the Government. And luckily, all these people on the road does not belong to any party, caste or community. Thankfully, they all acted as Indians!

Second, with which many may differ is, for after a long long time, terrorist attacks have affected the affluent and rich section of the society. This time the victims were the people, who could afford to be at Taj, Oberoi's or Nariman House. Before this, attacks at Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi, were the attacks on the "Common Man". In the Mumbai attack, there were foreigners, high profile industrialists, celebrities. At Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi, people died were poor people who use public transport, were at bus-stops, or shopping at streets of these cities. It could be possible, media is getting support of these affluent people to publicize this attack as this has affected their lives directly (for the first time).

These are just perspectives. Nothing is right or wrong.
The purpose of writing all this, is to ask the people of India, that why aren't they expressing themselves in the same way, every time!
Why aren't they coming forward, taking responsibilities, and helping a change!
And why isn't media highlighting similar issues in the same way, the way it is been this time!
I just know one fact. No matter who died, whether a beggar or businessman, we all lost a "Human Being" irrespective of his/her stature, caste or creed.

Death came in same way for all, every time!

Anand...never dies...!!!

I saw the movie "Anand" today, I guess for the n'th time.
Yes, I had tears in my eyes, I guess for the n'th time.
Yes, the movie influenced the way I live life, again, I guess for the n'th time.

Certainly, the movie is an epic. Not just because, it was a huge hit of 1970s, neither it being a path-breaking movie. Rather, adding to the above two reasons, it leaves you with a thought!

The thought is, "Life should be great, not long !!!"

"Anand" the protagonist, is the patient of cancer, and has only 6 months to live more.
And in the words of "Anand" himself,

"What’s the difference between 70 years and 6 months. Death comes in a second. But in these 6 months, I will live every moment. If you are scared of death, what's the essence of death. As long as I am alive, I am not dead."

Friends, see this movie, if you have not seen it till yet. See this movie again, even if you had.

And the mine favorite dialogue from the movie,
"Does, every smile means joy, sometimes its sorrow also!"

No "Brands"… No "Business"!!!

We all are surrounded by, Brands! Today, a person don't go to a mall or store to buy a commodity like salt or flour. They go to buy a brand. Now salt is associated with Tata salt and Flour with ShaktiBhog Atta.

But imagine a world without brands. Imagine you enter a store to buy toothpaste. And you realize that, in the shelf, all toothpastes are kept in white packaging, without names attached to it. What will you buy? In fact it could be a world without choice, moreover without competition. And the word "Business" has no relevance without the word competition.

Give me few answers.

Why a toothpaste promotes itself as Neem based toothpaste?
To differentiate!

Why to differentiate?
To gain competitive advantage!

Why to gain competitive advantage?
To gain market share and to be market leader!

But in the world without brands, where, customers have no choice, then why to differentiate, why to compete, and then why to lead!
Thus, I believe business is all about brands.
No "Brands"… No "Business"!!!

AL-QAEDA HIRING !!!

In a recession, when companies are freezing there recruitments, jobs are few. Students of 2-tier MBA colleges are waiting for companies to come for placements. B-schools have also tighten up their belts, working hard on their students to make them industry-ready (rather I would say interview-ready).
Imagine Al-Qaeda comes to hiring to these schools !



The letter from the placement office would then look like this.

"Dear Students,

We are pleased to inform you that Al-Qaeda would be visiting our campus on 30th February at 9:30 PM. The mass- recruitment process would be held at Underground Library.


Al-Qaeda, is an International Sunni Islamist Movement founded in 1988. Al-Qaeda have attacked civilian and military targets in various countries, the most notable being the September 11 attacks in 2001.Its management philosophy has been described as "centralization of decision and decentralization of execution."Following 9/11 and the launching of the War on Terrorism, it is thought al-Qaeda's leadership has "become geographically isolated", leading to the "emergence of decentralized leadership" of regional groups using the al-Qaeda "brand name."

Students of Marketing, Human Resource and Finance all can apply.
Freshers would be given preference.

The Position offered would be "Assistant Manager"

Salary Package :

4 Lakhs Basic + 5 Lakhs reward for family (yearly) + 5 Lakh Incentives per terrorist act
p.a.. Company will provide accommodation, transport & food / allowance.

Profiles would be according to various following verticals within the organization :

• The Military Committee, responsibility for training operatives, acquiring weapons, and planning attacks.
(Only Marketing, engineers preferred)

• The Money/Business Committee, to run business operations, to provide air tickets and false passports, to pay Al-Qaeda members, and to oversee profit-driven businesses.
(Only Finance)

• The Law Committee to review Islamic law and to decides if particular courses of action conform to the law.
(HR only)

• The Islamic Study/Fatwah Committee to issues religious edicts
(All can apply)

• Media Committee, to ran the now-defunct newspaper Nashrat al Akhbar (Newscast) and handled public relations.
(Only Marketing, Mass Comm. Or advertising background preferred)

• Al Qaeda's As-Sahab, a media production house, to supply its video and audio materials.
(Only Marketing)

Location would be as per students preference among the following countries :
USA, UK, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Saudi Arab, Indonesia, Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt and Israel

Selection Process :

Physical Test
GD
Psychometric Test
Interview

Those of you who are interested to apply, be a step ahead, and give your names to your Placement Volunteers not later than 6.p.m tomorrow

To know more about the company read "Al-Qaeda's Training Manual".
 
Regards,

XXXXXXXX "