PowerPoint presentations, pie charts and bar graphs are okay in presentations but are they convincing ? Peter Gubber, Hollywood producer and California University professor has authored a book Tell to Win to highlight the significance of story-telling to establish the connect with the audience. Story-telling stimulates that region of the brain that processes meaning. And humans are meaning-seeking creatures. Just a pile of information without meaning cannot be remembered. Meaning emerges when we set up connections between bits of information. Stories package these connections. It is a state-of-the-(he)art technology. It is also observed that a presentation merely in print or video does not cut much ice, as it is not considered authentic. However, when the same story is person-to-person, there is listening. The more a speaker is trusted, the more authenticity the story gets. It has thus greater influence.
Month: December 2014
Making of a Usable Design
Anyone who operates a computer, and uses software for power point presentation, knows how many times it is necessary to consult others to get going on certain counts. The simplest of office equipment such as printers and scanners cannot be operated without instructions and some outside assistance. Many products ranging from the faucets in the toilets to the glass doors in the office require multiple attempts — we twist, or press or turn before getting water to flow or push, pull or slide for doors to open up
Donald A. Norman a cognitive psychologist has written a book. The Design of Everyday Things in which he discusses why user-friendly design is not easy. It begins with our interactions with everyday things. The three critical elements to using things successfully are:
- visibility : the buttons to operate a faucet or turn signals in the car must be visible.
- appropriate clues : there should be visible clues or affordances e.g. lift, press, turn
- feedback : feedback must be provided e.g.flowing water from the faucet or blinking direction indicator on being operated.
These three elements contribute to the makings of a usable design.
It may be necessary for a product to be subjected to five or six attempts to get the design right. Many products never do. It is necessary to understand the psychology of everyday things. It makes our life less stressful and more productive.
Robert Crumb — Father of Underground Comix
Robert Crumb, 70 in 2014 attended the Comic Con in New Delhi in 2012.He admitted that he had taken innocence out of comics by introducing X into this genre. His cartooning style is instantly recognisable. His characters have become iconic — Fritz, a fast moving cool cat; Whiteman, a secretly sex-obsessed executive; Mr Natural, a materialistic guru and Devil Girl who spawned a range of candy bars. Despite those who find his work offending, he is considered a legend by his many fans. He has been inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame. He is hailed as the father of underground comix.
A Journey from Brand Image to Brand Identity
We have already discussed what a brand image is and concluded that it consists of the brand associations in the consumer’s mind which forms a perception.Brand image approach was developed by Ogilvy. The effort is to develop favourable associations and psychological overtones.Maybe, some of these are not an intrinsic part of the brand.It is the image chemistry that works. To illustrate, Marlboro cigarettes evoked impressions of maverick cowboys — freedom, macho, mythical west. These are perceptions built around the brand. Though most of these are extrinsic factors, some of these can be related to the intrinsic product characteristics.
David Ogilvy observed in 1955 that advertisers who are dedicated to building the most favourable image — the most sharply defined personality of their brand — are the ones who will get the largest share of the market and the highest profit.
Brand Identity
Brand image is perceptional as we have already observed. But brand identity is aspirational.It means a brand manager would like to travel a brand to travel from certain perceptions currently held to those aspired to be held in future.This aspirational journey is that of getting brand identity. A woman’s magazine is associated with the middle-aged women.It is just its brand image.However, the brand manger wants it to be read by young women. It is a matter of getting brand identity.In other words, brand identity is built on re-organising what a current brand image is. A part of brand identity is chosen for communication, which we call brand position. This communication positions the brand uniquely in the consumer’s mind.
Diagramatically, these three concepts are shown below:
Tabloid Culture in Journalism
The tabloid culture has emerged in a fiercely competitive media world that is after scoops ruthlessly. All these sensational stories are obtained by fair means or foul, and as one can guess not freely with a smile. The audiences love to read the salacious sories without bothering how these were sourced. It is a comment on the attitudes of the audiences, on the society that sustain the media by high circulation figures fed by this very culture. Till it is veiled, all is well. The moment the secret is out, all need a fall guy. We cannot bear the weight of our own trespasses. A newspaper that holds others to account fails when it comes to itself. Murdoch admitted that invading people’s privacy by listening to their voice mail is wrong, paying police officers for information is wrong. Brooks admitted that The News of the World employed private detectives under her editorship. Murdochisation of media is seen everywhere. There is lack of sensational news everyday. Sensation has to be created at any cost. Hearst called journalism the shift between the ads. Murdoch cared about this shift more than he did for the ads. Rupert makes money in TV, and movies but loves the print media romantically. Tabloid journalism is more difficult than broadsheet journalism because tabloids have to try harder. Real journalism needs journals. Rupert Murdoch ran the great ones.
Absinthe — Liqueur of Choice in Mediterranean Countries
Absinthe is an everyday drink made out of Anise. The ingredients are soaked in neutral alcohol. It is not spirit.It is a traditional drink of countries on the fringes of the Mediterranean Sea all the way from Lebanon to Spain.It is not an after-dinner drink.There are two types of Anise — star anise and fennel.It is known differently in different countries.In Greek, it is called Ouzo which is produced in the Greek island of Lesbos.It is best savoured at traditional ouzeries. Absinthe is a muse for artists and poets as it is notorious for its high alcohol levels of 55-70 per cent. It no longer contains wormwood which corrodes liver and brain. Bulgarian absinthe has a little under 90 per cent of alcohol. It is emerald colour drink.. It is the best known and most controversial anise-base drink. n France, it is called Pastis which is a less toxic version of absinthe , introduced after the latter was banned in France. Arabs take arak and in Turkey, they consume raki. Absinthe is a liqueur of choice for cocktails.
Donald Duck Turned 80
On 9th June, 2014, Donald Duck turned 80. It was created on this day in 1934. After his debut in The Little Wise Hen, he soon became the most popular Disney cartoon character and in the 1940s surpassed Mickey Mouse in the number of cartoons reaching the theaters.
The children today have left behind all these cartoon characters such as Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and Goofy. They have accepted characters like Pokeman, Ben 10 and Chhota Bheem.
Charles Ponzi and Ponzi Schemes
Chrales Ponzi was an immigrant to the USA. He launched an investment scheme in 1919 in the city of Boston, promising to double the money in 90 days. At its peak, the scheme had 40,000 investors who had invested around $15 million in the scheme. The scheme collapsed a year later on August 10, 1920. It was revealed that Ponzi was using the money invested by the new investors to pay off his old investors.
All Ponzi schemes are zero sum games, where money gained by the early investors is equal to the money lost by the latter investors. And the most vulnerable investors are those who come at the end.
Business Model of Ponzi Schemes
Ponzi started a business magazine. He made an offer to a person in Spain to subscribe to this magazine. The person sent him an international reply coupon, which could be exchanged for American stamps at the local post office. The stamps could be used on the parcel of magazine sent. Ponzi realised that the coupon in Spain cost the equivalent of one cent in the American currency. It could be exchanged for stamps worth six cents. It was a riskless profit of 500 per cent. Ponzi realised the idea worked for other countries too.
He built an investment scheme around this idea.He could raise money. The money can be converted into foriegn currency, which could be used to buy international reply coupons. These coupons can brought back to America, and could be converted into stamps. These stamps could be sold for huge profits. It is an arbitrage opportunity.
The whole operation is complex. There are problems of dealing with the postal organisations. There are problems of currency conversion and transfer.
The legitimacy of the scheme was questioned by the Boston Times. It was revealed only two stamps were purchased. Ponzi was using the money of the new investors to pay off the old investors.
Any Ponzi scheme can keep running till the money entering the scheme is more than the money leaving the scheme.
Today when gullible investors are given promises of excessively high returns and then at one stage ditched and disappointed, the media uses the word that they are running a Ponzi Scheme.
Below-the-line (BTL) Activities
Advertising and personal selling are above-the-line activities. Sales promotion and use of non-traditional media are below-the-line activities.
Rural markets are traditionally oral cultures. They would like to see, smell and touch a new offering. For them, seeing is believing. The engagement is tactile, interactive and imaginative.
Lavani
The hinterland audience can be reached through the lavani performance. A beer brand Tuborg hitched a ride to the interiors through regional musical events in small towns. The company offered one free ticket to a chowfulla for every beer bottle purchased. The lavani performance was by Suvarna Kale.
Haats
Tata steel’s corrugated tin roofing was presented through the rural haats by setting up stalls. These sheets last a life time. Games were conceptualised using the silver screen’s romantic couples e.g. Raj Kapoor -Nargis or Dharmendra-Hema Malini. This was to drive home the selling point a life-long bond. In South India, they used the local stars instead of the Hindi film icons.
Mobile Vans
Sonata watch by Titan was promoted in Tamil Nadu through promotors riding cycles in the interiors. They had audio adverts, late, flip charts and watch samples. The villagers were invited to a nodal village where a branded van was stationed. A short film was screened to show the importance of the watch. Villagers judge the time linking it with certain events e.g. the arrival of a bus or toll of the temple bell. If the bus arrives late, the child appearing for examination can be late. The film went down well. The villagers could purchase the watch from the mobile van.
Lost-and-Found Stall at Pandharpur
Unique marketing concepts can be built around the brands. Essar Steel sets up a lost-and-found stall on the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi at Pandharpur where there is a congregation of a million people.
Health-care
Eye camps could be arranged for automobile mechanics. It helped GSK to get a foothold in this field. GSK also takes a mobile medical van to the hinterland to promote their products. These free camps require pre-publicity for engaging the village audiences.
Brand Image
Brand image is a matter of perception. All the associations stored in the consumer memory reflect a brand image. A brand name is a device to connect to these associations. For instance, a brand of hair oil reminds you of shining hair, nice smell, good hair growth, dandruff free scalp, combing and grooming of hair and the good impression your crowning glory creates. A brand image may not always be the outcome of the marketing effort. It is an impression of a brand in the mind of the consumer.It is a subjective concept. A consumer keeps on stacking attributes or benefits and comes to a set beliefs about the brand.Such an image may not be uniform amongst all the consumers. As beauty remains in the eyes of the beholder, brand image too remains there. A consumer uses his own perceptual filter and therefore the image formed may not be the one that is desired. It may not be clear, and may be hazy. It may be complex or simple. It may be strong or weak. Sometimes the image is miles away from what the brand really is.But whatever it is, it is an important criterion for the consumer to decide whether this brand is for him or not.