Month: April 2015

Clinical Research

Shabbir Chunawalla

Clinical research is a broad term that includes biomedical research including clinical trials. The research helps in the development of diagnostic methods and modern drugs for the treatment of diseases.

In its scope, there are clinical trials, packaging and labelling for single blind and double blind studies, conduct of trials, quality Control (QC ) and Quality Assurance ( QA ), bio-statistical analysis, data management, report writing and periodic safety update ( PSUR ) and pharmacovigilance — reporting of adverse events for new chemical entity ( NCE ) and generic products.

To develop new drugs, there are clinical trials. For generics there are bio-equivalence studies where generic product is compared with innovator and for new chemical entities, there are bio-availability ( BA ) studies to determine the pharmacokinetic profile during Phase I, and for generics there are studies of availability by assessing the co concentration of drugs in blood and other body fluids such as urine, CSF, vitreous humour, salive etc.

Clinical research started in India since 1980 when Ciba-Geigy evaluated nitroxazepin. GSK, Ciba Geigy, Hoechst, were the pioneers of Phase I clinical trials. Dr. Reddy’s Lab, Biocon were involved in late phase clinical trials. CDSCO published in 2005 good clinical practices ( GCP ) that includes World Medical Association declaration of Helsinki as appendix I and Schedule Y giving requirements for clinical trials for import and manufacture of new drugs appendix II. This paved the way for clinical trials. ICMR issued guidelines on biomedical research but CDSCO guidelines are more popular.They are mandatory for clinical trials of drugs, vaccines, surgical procedures, medical devices, diagnostic agents, herbal remedies and medicinal plants.

A clinical pharmacologist is engaged in clinical trial conduct and is either a doctor with pharmacology qualification or a paramedic with pharmacology qualification. A doctor happens to be a principal investigator and a paramedic plays a supportive role.

Sports Marketing — Managing Best Boxers

Shabbir Chunawalla

Professional boxing throughout the world is on decline. The megastars have retired. And there are reasons why big fights are not happening.

There are two promotions that manage the best boxers in the world — Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions. Each has its own stable of fighters who are contracted. This prevents their fighters to compete against the other promotions. In other words, the possible fights are reduced significantly. It curtails the chances for the fighters and robs the fans of the exciting fights.

Broadcasters’ Contract

Boxing revenues has two streams — gate receipts at the fights which forms a large chunk, and pay-per-view sales of the fight. Broadcasters contract the fighters for a number of fights on an exclusive basis. If the fight has boxers contrected by two rival broadcasters, there is little chance of that happening.

Multiple Sanctioning Bodies

In the world boxing today, there are multiple sanctioning bodies — WBO, WBC, IBF etc who crown different champions, essentially diluting the sanctity of a championship belt.

Competing Sport

There is stiff competition from Mixed Martial Arts, which has weaned away a lot of boxing fans.

Consumption Values and Brand Choice

Shabbir Chunawalla

Every society cherishes certain values, and people learn to conform to these values. Values do influence the buying behaviour. Values are a lasting belief that a particular type of behaviour is worth striving for, e.g. being brave or honest or state of existence such as security and happiness. Brand development becomes easier once the values which drives a consumer to brand selection are identified.

Jagdish Sheth and others have put forward a model of how the values affect brand choice (1991). According to this model, the consumer’s brand chioce is affected by five consumption values.We shall examine these values here in brief.

Functional value It is perceived utility from the functional capability of a brand. We are aware of the racing capability of Ferrari sports car.

Social value Perceived utility through the brand’s association with a social group. Green label liquor is for achievers. In advertising, an engineer is portrayed who lays the railway track through a mountainous terrain by chiselling tunnel.

Emotional value It is perceived utility from brand’s ability to invoke particular feelings. A gift of diamond ring is an expression of love.

Epistemic value It is perceived utility from a new brand mainly to experience novelty and satisfy curiosity. Apple Watch falls into this category.

Conditional value It is perceived utility from a brand in a specific situation. Eating a pop-corn at home is to satisfy hunger (functional utility) but having pop-corn at a multiplex theatre is regarded as a treat. It has high conditional value in this situation.

The consumptional values are to be seen in a context.  A boy on a date visits a restaurant and orders meals mainly to maximise social, emotional and conditional values. However, as a married adult later in life he consumes meals to meet functional values. A brand manger must understand the contextual reference to give the brand an apt set of values.

As there are many competing brands in the market, it becomes difficult for a consumer to assess these brands in terms of the values they reflect. An easier alternative is to personify the brands. Once the personification is attempted, it becomes easier to compare competing brands in terms of the values they portray. A consumer has to imagine what type of a person the brand would be if it were to come to life. Two credit card brands may have similar features, but still the consumer may perceive differences in their personalities. A particular brand could be a typical middle-class brand, and easy to get along with. Another brand could be an elite and sophisticated brand.

Brand personality grows out of so many factors. The product itself affects brand personality. A detergent with a lot of soda ash could be considered mediocre while one with a less of soda ash as superior.  A soft drink with more fizz could be considered mach. Charminar with strong tobacco is a more masculine brand. Brand personality also emerges from advertising and celebrity endorsement. Brand personality is also affected by the type of events sponsored by the brand owners.Brand managers must manage consumer’s interactions with the brand in such a way that the brand develops a holistic personality.

Brand Positioning

Shabbir Chunawalla

As we know positioning means occupying a slot in the mind of the consumer as against the other brands. Liril occupies a ‘ freshness ‘ slot and Surf, the ‘ stain removal ‘ slot. As there is brand proliferation, it has become increasingly more difficult to slot the brands. A brand has to choose a position that distinguishes it from other brands, e.g. Lux is a beauty s0ap, Dettol is  an antiseptic and Pears gives blemish free skin. When product variants are introduced to cater to the different segments of the market, it is to be seen that the original position is not diluted. Thus Lifebuoy Gold directed at young girls still occupies anti-germ slot. The origional Lifebuoy is meant for rural folk but its position as anti-germ soap is kept intact. When a brand is expected to address itself to new segments, it is necessary to issue sub-brands, e.g. Videocon is a mass market TV and its premium versions have been sub-branded as Bazooka.

Women Make Up Artists in India

Shabbir Chunawalla

There is an association called Cine Costume, Make up Artist and Hair Dressers’ Association (CCMAA). It barred the registration of any female make up artist,  making make up an exclusively male domain. In 2014 November, the Supreme Court asked the Association to put an end to this practice which continued for 59 years. The SC felt this is harassment of women in the 21st century which is ‘ inconceivable and impermissible.’ It asked the film industry across the country including regional cinema hubs to ensure equal opportunity for women.

Charu Khurana who worked as a make up artist of top film stars and politicians broke into this exclusive male club on the strength of the supreme court order. She is the first woman to be registered by CCMAA. Even after the SC order, the association was reluctant to register her, but had to comply after the court threatened to initiate contempt proceedings against its office bearers.

Criticism of McDonald’s

Shabbir Chunawalla

McDonald is quintessentially American. According to Dileep Padgaonkar, former editor of the Times of India, it subliminally seeks to profit from the prestige attached to American power and influence and to American values as well. It makes some concessions in a global set up — it uses lamb instead of beef in India and in Muslim countries it uses only halal viands. Being an American symbol, it is targeted in many countries.Eric  Schlosser, an investigative journalist published in 2001 a critique of the fast food industry entitled Fast Food Nation. He reveals that until 1990 McDonald cooked its French fries in beef tallow. Since then the chain has switched to pure vegetable oil. He also pointed out that till 1997, hamburgers were made from the meat of barren cows who were fattened on livestock waste. He also revealed that the flavour, aromas and texture of the fast food had more to do  with chemical engineering than to culinary skills.

Cutting Edge — Crystal Glass

Shabbir Chunawalla

Crystal is like poetry frozen in time. Poetry because it is beautiful. Poetry, because although it is exquisite, you need to acquire an appreciation for it.

According to European standards, crystal is 24 per cent lead-bearing glass. However, Ameriacan standard defines crystal as glass that is perfectly clear irrespective of its lead-content. Hand cut crystal  must have 24 or more per cent of lead oxide, or else the crystal would be brittle. Fine crystal is a a glass mixture which contains  6 to 10 per cent of lead oxide. Lead crystal glass mixture contains 10 to 24 per cent lead oxide. Full lead crystal is glass mixture that contains 24 per cent or more lead oxide.

The popular brands are Orefors, Baccarat, Waterford, Riedel, Tyrone, Lalique and Swarvoski.

Beers — Lagers and Ales

Shabbir Chunawalla

Beers are put into two classes –lagers and ales depending on the type yeast to brew. Lagers are lighter and use bottom fermenting yeast. Ales are thicker and darker and use top fermenting yeast.Ales have a bitter taste. Pilsner is a lager that is brewed in the style used in Czechoslovakian town of Pilsen.Beers have on an average alcohol content of 3.2 to 5 per cent.There are pale lagers as well as ales.There is a dark variety of lager.There are brown ales, Porter and Stout ales. Weis beer is falvoured infusion much like other liquors made out of wheat.There is light diet beer too.Iced beer is more concentrated and contains the same alcohol in less volume. It is brought to freezing temperature and the frozen water is separated and a part of it is removed.Draught is unpasteurised beer. It is fresh, though faintly yeasty.You can keep it for three days without regeneration and a month with regeneration.

Unique Buying Proposition (UBP)

Shabbir Chunawalla

As we know, unique selling proposition was relevant when a product could be differentiated on the basis of some technological advantage. Since then we have an era of product parity on account of shortening of time between the introduction of an innovation and a me -too copycat product. Consequently, USP does not work. In the absence of meaningful differences, all brands tend to get commoditised, and the only differentiator the marketer uses is the price. The lower the prices, the greater are the chances of being preferred by the consumer. This affects profitability and long term prospects of the business.

Instead of USP, we now talk in terms of UBP — Unique Benefit Proposition. USP was the marketer’s say about the the product. UBP is what the consumer wants to hear from the marketers. In this approach, the consumer research is carried out to get insight — what the consumer really want and how our product can be connected to that primal need. A luxury car as an asset may be bought to flaunt wealth. But explicitly, the consumer may not say so. If safety is emphasised, it becomes more acceptable. It gives the consumer a permission to buy the luxury product. Later, the asset becomes an object of envy for the neighbours. Of course, even the competitors may try to find out what the consumers actually need. If our understanding of the consumers is better than that of the competitors, we shall win, and vice versa. This understanding is the basis for Unique Buying Proposition.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Shabbir Chunawalla

This concept is the brain child of Rosser Reeves who popularised it in the 1950s, and codified it if a 1961 Random House book Reality in Advertising.

Reeves defined USP as a proposition to the consumers which is so strong that it can move the mass of millions, i.e. pull  them over to our product. He contends that the consumer tends to remember just one thing from an ad — one strong claim or concept. Each ad must make a proposition to the consumer.

A crucial part of Reeves’ theory is that the proposition or promise made by the ad must be one which the competition has not so far made. It is unique He also expected the marketer to give reasons  for the effectiveness of the unique proposition. At its face value, this concept is alright . Technological capability was so unique in his days that others took years to catch up with it. But these days benefits and capabilities no longer remain unique for a long time. In his days, Reeves strategy of product diffentiation was viable, but is no longer valid today. A technological or functional advantage cannot sustain a product/brand for long. We are in an age of parity.

Revees doctrine suggests that consumer behaves rationally. Research and common sense suggest that this is not so.