Three subjects I love in my MBA program.

As you all know, I am pursuing my PGDM (part time executive) program at IFMR, Chennai. Love the college and the profs there.

Of the many subjects I learn during this 3 year course, I enjoy 3 in particular. Here is what they are and why:

Organizational Behavior:

One of my favourites. It’s a subject which teaches you how to run the people aspect of any business successfully. It’s about how EQ & iQ can help you work with your team members in complete sync. This course also teaches on traits to be a successful leader, a good team member, or how to recruit the right person for a job, and what kind of HR practises we need to put in place to foster a good culture. OB (as it is usually referred to..) is also about strategies you can put in place to make a company a great place to work .

I learnt the dynamics of group behaviour and , conflicts and negotiations and various other theories on managing teams and on how to become a good manager.

Learning it part-time helps me connect what I learn in class to what is happening in my organization.

Course Materials include case studies and text book : Organizational Behavior by  Robbins, Judge and Sanghi

Economics:

I majored in this subject during my UG . Again, love the subject . There are days when I wish that i had become a pure economist and a researcher than becomea marketing guy. I get to understand the Indian and world economy from Macro and why people but and do what they do from Micro Economics. Through practical examples and theory from Greorgy Mankiew books , I love reading reading up on economics .

Marketing :

The bastard son of Sales.  I am a complete marketing guy. And I love Brand Marketing specialization because I am all about communications and relationships. I have always known that one day I would become  brand marketing and communications guy. I just honed in on digital marketing and e commerce at later stage of my career .

I am not a great fan of advertising but love the idea of building brands through publica relations, BTL, word of mouth and digital .

Review : cottonworld Print Ad, Website and Social Media

Love the new Cottonworld ad which features Ashish Hemrajani, the guy who runs Bookmyshow.com

Why I like th ad?

• No celebrity.  Real success story. I never really like or believe celebrities are good for brand building unless it for a cause.

• Check the ad. Look at the tag “comfort zone”. Check out the cop – “Comfort is about being yourself…” The tag line, the copy is in complete sync with a simple ad about the guy wearing a very stylish and yet simple dress.

• Then you have couple of lines on his success story. You immediately associate the brand with being casual, entrepreneurship, and success and yet are simple and down to earth.

Big Iea : You can be simple and look great and be successful at that .

Simple ad. Great execution.

Big Thought : Makes me want to buy cottonworld dress

My next stop: www.cottonworld.net

Love the website. It is clean white, has great content and again syncs completely with the brand core message (or the latest campaign theme): Casual, celebrating entrepreneurship and success and yet simple and down to earth.

The website features some great success stories of people who follow their heart in did what they wanted to do.

Great ad shots as well!

Kick Ass thought: Someday I would love to be featured in their website

My criticism:

The “club cottonworld” page has very little info on what it is all about. 5% off on any purchase? Conditions apply (as always ) ? Dint really get the idea of it. I wish the website had more info on the loyalty program.

I then moved on to their Facebook fanpage.

As far as I can see, they have a good fanpage running. You have customer testimonials and some good interactivity. But I thought , more can be done to increase the interaction between the brand and the customers.  Maybe they just started the fanpage.

The twitter page is nothing much to write home about.  I see 5 tweets  as I type this post.

Conclusion:

• Great Print Ad

• Clean website but wish it had more info on the kind of clother available, price range etc .. ( suggest dell website which has a similar theme on entrepreneurs )

• Nice fb fanpage

• But I felt that there is no clear Social Media Strategy in place. It is good to have a fanpage but bad to have it just for the sake of having one without a clear strategy. In the long run things will get blurred. So , they need to have a vision for social media .

If you like the post or the brand, may I request the reader to share it with others? You can share it it twitter , facebook or delicious

Co Creating Value with your customer. How a Saloon can use social media to build its brand reputation

I was waiting for my turn for a haircut at the regular saloon shop when I started talking to the guy in charge also who happened to be the brother of the owner. We were discussing latest mobile phones, laptops, fitness etc,When I asked him – “Is that computer connected to net?” He replied with an affirmative.  I asked him if his saloon had a website or a facebook fanpage or an orkut community group.  No, his saloon did not have any online presence.

So I ask him – “How many branches you have in this city”.

Reply: 12 branches in Chennai. 3 in Coimbatore.

“What kind of customers do you get here? Age group? “, I ask.

Reply:  Customers come in all age groups.Male and female.

I understand from the cost of basic haircut that the shop reaches out to middle and upper class.

I tell him – Guess what? I can help you expand your business. Grow your customer base, improve sales and more importantly build brand loyalty which will generate word of mouth.  And you don’t have to spend tons of money. Are you interested?

Reply: Absolutely…

I became a Social Media Consultant for him.

Here are the points I discussed with branch head. Maybe you can use it too…

Website:

Start with a simple website. Simple content should suffice. Don’t worry about SEO and SEM. You don’t need that here. First, cover the basics:

About the company, who owns the company, History of the company, what are the services you are offering, prices for each of your services, meet the barber

Let us focus on 2 features:  Services offered and Meet the Barber page

Services offered will have different hairstyles with pictures for the customer to identify each hairstyle. Also, why not a video testimonial of a satisfied customer? Host the video testimonials to a youtube page which will have other similar customers giving you 3 min testi of your services.

Meet Ur Barber Page: Will have the name and profile of the barbers you employ with ratings section. Your customers can rate the barber in an open transparent system. Every month the barber who gets the maximum ratings gets incentive. Thus, you also build morale and a healthy competition which in turn will improve productivity.

The website can also have a page dedicated to latest hairstyle in vogue. Your customers can chose the hairstyle, get the name and when they visit you next time, then can mention the name and get it done.

Let your website also have a space for your customers to submit ideas. This is your UGC (user generated content). This is important. UGC has power. Give your customers power and give them platform to share. That is why you need…

Facebook  Fanpage :

Your facebook fanpage should be integrated to your website so that your customers can connect and collaborate with each other online. Here are the things you can do:

–      Post pics of latest bollywood, Hollywood heros and heroines with their latest haircut. Ask questions and generate interactivity with fans.

Eg: Post in your fanpage wall – Check out Brad Pitt’s latest hairstyle ( post the pic). Kool huh? Who wants this hairstyle? The first 10 people, who wanna have this haircut, comment here and get 10% off.

Or,

Eg : kareena latest haircut ( post the pic) . You can get it done at any of our branches. Just drop a mail with your details to fix an appointment.

Or,

Eg : Our new facial for summer is out. It’s a blend of (this and that). The first 10 who post a comment here get 30% off on this new natural facial.

–      Post videos of your customers in youtube and pull it to fanpage

–      Offer tips on grooming

–      Offer sneak peak and special discounts exclusive to online customers

–      Ask your customers to directly post pics or videos of their fav good/bad hair moment

–      Invite your customers/fans to post ideas, seek advice on hairstyles, good hair maintainance tips etc…

All this will go in building a good brand name and generate word of mouth buzz.

Twitter:

Twitter should be next in agenda. Use the content which you have and post it to twitter. Today, loads of Indians have twitter handle, why not connect with them?

Twitter is important because Search Engines now give importance to social media feeds.

Use blogs: Start a corporate blog. Comment on other blogs which has content on grooming, facials, hairstyles etc…

Write to online local/citi portals to feature you.

There are huge load of things you can do with social media.

( if the reader of this post wants to discuss more ideas, get in touch)

The branch Head then had a big question for me:

“Vikas, how to bring fans or bring customers to facebook fanpage?”

Answer:

Simple! From now, every time you give a bill to a customer, ask him for his name and number, mail id, and ask if he has a facebook, twitter or a blog presence .

Then tell him, this – Sir, we have a facebook fanpage and we have plans to have a website, may I invite you there? Is it ok if I send you an email invitation? You can also give us your ideas on what and how the website should be

If the customer agrees, then later send him a mail. This is Permission Marketing. You are not blasting spam; you are asking the customer his permission.

This is social media at its best and the customer will appreciate it.

Crowd sourcing:

The saloon has all sorts of customers who use their services. Why not run a contest inviting web designs? The best web design will become the official web design and the guy/gal who wins get 3 haircuts free with the name featured in the website.

Some of you who read this may argue , why is that I am going to such lengths in discussing social media for a saloon.

You are obviously missing the point.

The point is – Social Media is not confined to big brands. Social Media is sometime best suited and most effective for small business owners who wanna build big brands.

I am always open to crtizism or better ideas.

You can tweet me @spartanvikas

If you like my post, may I request you to share it in twitter, facebook or Delicious?

Dedication :

I would like to dedicate this post to C.K Prahalad, the pioneer behind the idea of Co Creating Value with the customer. He inspires me to give the best I can give to my customers.

An open letter to HBR team

To,

India Today Group and the HBR team

Extremely sad and shocked at the increase of the price of HBR from Rs.500 to Rs.750! Not sure why this suddenly increase in price. Is it cos of the new design or because it is a double issue or it is New Year?

What is the point in making the new design more accessible to reading when you are making the magazine less accessible for people to buy?

As long as the price was at Rs.500 I used to eagerly wait for the magazine to come out. Cos Rs.500 for me was an opportunity cost in financial planning. Rs.500 was a sacrifice I made for a movie outing with my finance. I used to think – even if I missed a movie with her, that’s fine! I get to read HBR management stuff. She understood.

Now, I can’t give her that reason. I can’t tell her that I sacrificed my time with her for a book which cost Rs.750.

What about the rest of us? What about new managers climbing the corporate ladder who may not have big salary but have big dreams and want to learn management ideas and thoughts from icons of HBR but cant because of the increase in price. Others may get access to HBR cos their HR would be good enough to buy it for them in office. Student’s studying MBA may get access to it from the coll library.

My HBR copy Jan 2010

jan2010 and Dec 2009

Entrepreneur Dec 2009

So what happens to the rest of us? Are we to be denied the pleasure of reading HBR?

The Entrepreneur (India edition) is Rs.100. that makes sense. That makes big sense to buy. And the content is good. Not as classy as HBR but good nonetheless.

So here is my big question: Why on earth did you guys raise the price back to Rs. 750?

If you are charging HBR print edition so much, why not give free online access to your articles and archives?

You know what is even more sad? Me not buying HBR won’t make any difference to you. It won’t cause a dent in your brand, sales or the policy you follow.

But hopefully there ought to be more ppl like me out there who will read this blog, nod their head and voice out their concerns as well… That may probably be a wake up call for you guys to rethink your pricing strategy in India.

A Dejetced Big Fan!

Sri Vikas

Work Less, Earn more : be happy and content: becme entrepreneur

start business,work less , earn enough, be happy http://ping.fm/O5STX

Linkedin Hires India’s first Employee

Good News. Linkedin hires country manager for India http://ping.fm/Uh5as

Google Acquires Admob : Cements Future of Mobile Advertising

Extremely excited and happy for Admob on this news Google Acquires Admob.

3 years back when I was working at mobile-worx , I used to look up to what Admob was doing in mobile advertising space. In fact , my higher management team wanted me to define product similar to Admob’s mobile advertising platform. I am not exactly sure where mobile-worx is standing today in the mobile advertising arena but in the last couple of years India has seen loads of mobile VAS companies making strong imprints in the field.

This goes to show that mobile advertising is here to stay for a long time to come .

Using mobile  advertising platform to communicate, connect and enable consumers to make proactive behavior in responding to ads makes sense in India for very simple reason that almost every indian has a mobile phone but not internet connection. However, I do wish that our connecting speed was world-class and rates competitive .

It would also do good if we had mobile wap pages and ads in local languages because not everyone can speak english . There are also some people who are well versed in english but would still prefer to have ads and wap pages displayed in their native language. Maybe Indian citizens are ready this type of innovation and services, just that  we dont have the IT infrastructure in place.

We also need 3G  roll out soon.

Well, that will not happen anytime soon because we have one of the most corrupted , incompetent and “unpaad” Telecom Minister ever.

So, ahem .. sorry folks things have to wait .

Congrats to Admob and Google on their new partnership and here is wishing them a great future together.

 

ps : Very impressed with the way Google has given out its press release. Small, crisp and to the point with a set of pictures explaining different types of mobile advertising. A welcome break from those big boring press relases companies give.

Seriously, love Google for what they do ..

The Dream team at 7 Race Course Road

If i could use one word to describe the results of this election : Beautiful !

It is so heart warming to see India giving a big thumbs to stability and reforms .

Now that Congress is all set to form the govt here is my take on what key cabinet positions should be like :

Prime Minister : Dr Manmohan Singh

Principal Economic Adviser to the PM :  Montek Singh Alluwallia

Finance Minister : C. Rangarajan

Commerce Minister : Mr. Kamal Nath

Home Minister : P. Chindambaram

External Affairs Minister : Shashi Taroor

HRD :  Sam Pitroda ( Surprise !.. Surprise !)

Railway Minister : Laloo Prasad Yadav ( Yes, despite the fact that he partially dumped Congress. For the greater common good )

Communications & Telecom Minister : Dayanidhi Maran

Defense Minister : Mani Shankar Aiyar

Panchayath Raj Minister :  Rahul Gandhi

Aviation Minister : Praful Patel

Science and Technology Minister : Kapil Sibal

Rural Development Minister : Sachin Pilot

Micro and Small medium Industry Minister :  Jaipal Reddy

Tourism Minister : Jyothiradithya Scindia

Power Minister : Pranab Mukerjee

Agriculture Minister : Suresh kalmadi

Petroleum Minister : Murali Deora

Law and Justice Minister : Bhradwaj

This is a list of young and experienced group of ministers which i believe can be part of the Cabinet Ministry for the next government .

the accidental Brand Manager

This part of my life was never planned . This part of life of becoming the Brand Manager for BODYFUELZ was as serendipitous as it can come. Becoming a Brand Manager was always part of the plan. Just then I became one a bit too early.

So here I am , Brand Manager of BODYFUELZ. What we do , you ask ? We help some of India’s top sports players, endurance athletes , serious bodybuilders and fitness freaks to reach their fitness goals via performance nutrition.

So we have someone like Sushil Kumar using our highly advanced , bio engineered Aminonutriton products to build lean muscle mass, strength and stamina to reach his peak performance for his game.

We have the Indian Hockey Team use our products like FASTCHARGE and PWRSPORTS to  in their game to build endurance and stamina and prevent fatigue while playing.

We have been helping people develop lean , ripped muscles using our product called MUSCLEMAX .

We enable people in the weight loss program in the most safest , effective manner possible.

And those who connect and buy from us directly either through mail (pmt@bodyfuelz.com), call ( 044-42014141/9884592632) or via facebook community , we give free diet/fitness and nutritional guidance.

Our in-house nutritionist will guide them all round the year.

My Role :

As the Brand Manager I connect with users to help them understand concept of next generation sports nutrition both Online and Offline.

Online –  You can find us here in facebook community –  BODYFUELZ Facebook Community

I believe in the future of social media marrying PR and Viral Marketing .  That is also one of the reasons why i exited from an advertising in industry.

Future  connect :

Starting from now my blog will mirror all that we do in the social media sphere . It would include very precise and practical ideas on building a brand using websites, blogs, rss, social networking, widgets and how to connect that with online PR.

Social Media Chennai Chapter :

I also aim to start a social media group based out of Chennai. A bar-camp – unconference style where i would like to invite brand manager, marketing managers, web designers , chief marketing officers, advertising and public relation executives and the likes.

The agenda would be simple . We will meet to connect and share ideas, best practises, discuss case studies, new trends in the social media sphere and how we can help our clients improve  their reach to their customers.

The only criteria would be that you should be passionate and believer of digital/social media marketing.

Drop in a mail – spartanvikas1983@gmail.com,

call me   – 9884592632

or drop in your comments here and spread the good word.

Look forward to some dynamic response from you guys ..

ICICI has the worst customer service in India : Personal Experience !

How many of you here, who reads my posts have an ICICI account? I don’t! In fact, after a call from a customer service person today, I have resolved never to get an ICICI account no matter what the situation is.

Here is why:

I just completed my 2-wheeler loan amount Emi . ICICI bank was supposed to send me NOC ( No objection papers) . Yet , I kept getting sms messages from ICICI saying  that I still owe then Rs 2280.

Today , I got a call from a guy called Suresh . He is  in the department in charge of sending out NOC papers.

Here is the conversation – verbatim :

Me : Suresh, can you tell me why ICICI is sending me such a sms ?

Suresh : ( in an extremely rude tone) :  you see , that is not my business. I only want to check your address so that I can send in your NOC

Me : but suresh, can you not tell me why.. ( I get cut short)

Suresh : I am telling you that it is  not my department and I am not concerned.

Me : Suresh, I am your customer. You can have the basic courtesy of talking to me in a decent way.

Suresh : I know you are a customer . I am not in charge of the department , and I can’t help.

Me ( I get irritated) : Suresh, basic rule of customer service is to listen to what your customer has to say. I am in a services business industry … ( I get cut short this time)

Suresh  ( he starts reading out my address  without even letting me finish my sentence) : is that where I should mail your noc ?

Me :  yes

did you notice the negatives in the conversation ? “Don’t” , “cant” ?

Now,ICICI claims to be the 2^nd largest bank in India. Second only to SBI !

But t if it was really that great in terms of revenue and all that jazz, how come I was treated so bad? How come the customer service ( front end ) guy dint have the basic courtesy of not having the patience to listen to me ? How humiliated did I feel when I was cut short in trying explaining my problem ?

Why should I conduct my business with a bank like this ? Why would anybody want to have any relationship with a bank like this ? Or is this an isolated case ?

I work for a company which has a very long standing with ICICI bank . I am supposed to get ICICI savings account opened next month. That is not going to happen .

I have no intention of having any sort of relationship with ICICI and instead will continue using Axis account and open a new account with any of PSB’s .

If ever a marketing guy of ICICI reads my post , I request him to make sure that  another customer like me should never be treated and humiliated in a similar manner.

I also came across Arjun’s blog ICICI Bank – bad experience for many also , Vijay Padiyar’s blog reflects a similar experience in ICICI Direct Pathetic Customer Service .

It does stop here . A cursry search on the term : icici bad experience , throws out alarming blogs and forums on how bad banking with ICICI is :

Life is Like this

Hindustan Network forum

Bad experience with ICICI bank Credit card – this is from Indian consumer complaints forum

Anita Bora’s blog : Where is the customer service – Trouble with ICICI bank

Arjun Prabu;s blog ICICI bank- Bad experience for many