Marketing Ganga

Author: Shabbir Chunawalla

  • Caller Tunes

     

    Caller tunes are those tunes which are played when some one calls, instead of the usual ‘tring tring’. It could be a popular Indian film number or western music. The phenomenon started in South Korea for the first time 10 years ago. In India, it happened on July 19, 2004 ten years go. Technically these tunes are called CRBT—caller ring back tunes. The estimated market for this is worth Rs. 2000 crore. Around 66 million people have used the service. The business is operated by the telcos, the owner of the music, and the value added service (VAS ) companies like Hungama, OnMobile and One97. The revenue is shared amongst these three. Typically telcos get 50 percent, and copyright owners 20 percent. India’s music industry is worth Rs.900 crore, and caller tunes account for a substantial proportion of it. Caller tunes are tools of individuals expression—expression of the personality of the user. BPL introduced the service limited to Mumbai in June, 2004. As caller tunes are paid for by people, they are a better indicator of the popularity of a song.

    In this VAS, the caller does not experience the service he is paying for. Getting people to change the song is difficult. People also tend to forget the song they have subscribed to. In addition, there should be a search and delivery mechanism to enable a user to find what he is looking for.

    It includes–

     

    * copying a tune a caller hears when he calls another person.

    * a song-catcher where a user can dial a number and say a song’s name

    * or even place the phone next to a radio or any other device playing the song

    * or an IVR ( interactive voice response ) system.

    In future, there could be caller tunes with a video aspect.

  • Lavani

    Lavani

    In Mumbai, Mee Kaat Taakali  ( I ‘ve shed my skin ) had been organised in June 2012 to juxtapose the old style of lavani and the new style, where each style was represented by five dancers. Though there is an element of sensuality and many songs have double meanings, there is also an overwhelming grace and aesthetic beauty. Lavani should not be narrowed down to an item number. It has much more potential. It is an art form.

    In traditional lavani, there was more emphasis on expressions and conveying a meaning to the audience. In modern lavani, words are not given importance. There is focus on fast moves. The fast style is more appealing.The interest to understand the nuances of the dance is decreasing. In the old style, the dancers would sing as they dance. The costumes are changed in modern performances more often. Lavani dancers followed the custom that  once the dancer ties a ghungharoo to her feet, she will not get married.

    Sangeet Bari

    Many lavani dancers would stay at the Sangeet Baree theatres and perform everyday. They would reside in the theatre premises till their contract would expire. Different groups called Sangeet parties would perform there. The last such Sangeet Bari theatre in Mumbai closed down in 1992.

  • 3D Cinema

    It was in 1895 that for the first time the public saw a film — Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat — a silent film where a steam engine seemingly charged straight at the audience. In 1896, William Friese Greene filed a patent to view images in the Three Dimensional format. This surreal format seems to be arriving after 119 years since its invention.

    The House of Wax was the first 3D colour film 70 years ago. In India, Jijo Punnose directed My Dear Kuttichathan ( the Malyalam original to Chhota Chetan ) in 1982. 3D imaging originated before photography. The pioneers are the optical scientist Chris Condon and academician Lenny Lipton.

    The tricky part is 3D is the depth. The closer the object is, the sight perceives its entire depth. As the distance creeps in, the object becomes flat. 3D is akin to what happens to sound in mono and stereo versions. In mono, the sound comes from a single source, whereas in stereo it comes from many sources. The same logic applies to vision too.

  • Virtual Town Halls

    Google+ hangouts are akin to virtual town halls. It is an application for group video chat. The interaction can be broadcast on YouTube and your own Google+ page. The session can be beamed on TV channels. It is an example of media convergence. Though similar to TV debates, the format is exciting. The Hangouts interview is more structured. Questioners have the time to raise an issue and same can be answered without being interrupted. It is a new medium that is interactive. There is a lot of back-end orchestration. Facebook has a similar video chat service called Live stream. This medium can be used by politicians to take their message across through the social media. Rajneil Kamath, Adwords Associate, Google got a chance to dabble in his special interest when he began hosting Google’s popular Hangout events.

  • Live the Thunder: Thums Up

    ‘Live the Thunder’ unlocks the new code of masculanity by launching a campaign shot in Bangkok. The ad opens with four youngsters sitting on the top of a building discussing their plan of action. Mahesh Babu, the main protagonist takes a sip of Thums Up and says, ‘ Aaj kuch toofani Karte Hai ‘ . He jumps off the building, and others follow him. The group does dare devil acts —jumping across roofs, gliding down wires and slipping down pipes. They cut short a 30-minute trip to just three minutes. At the end Babu says, ‘ Tees minute ka raasta teen minute ka bana diya. …, aur kal kuch toofani karte hai.’ For the first time, they have shown a girl indulging in extreme sports. The brand is widening its space to include women. The Thums Up man is no longer ‘chasing the thunder,’ but ‘living the thunder.’

  • Silver Jubilee of Fashion Stalwarts

    Suneet Varma, Ravi Bajaj, Madhu Jain, Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla have completed 25 years in this industry in 2012. Ashish Soni, J .J .Valaya, Abraham-Thakore, Leena-Ashima and Rina Dhaka have completed 20 years. NIFT commemorated its silver jubilee in 2011. The industry is expanding, with new designer emerging on the scene every year. The fashion  education is expanding too. The retail market is growing. Fashion Weeks have become regular features. More than 200 designers participated in the two fashion weeks in Delhi and Mumbai every season with 100 of them actually presenting shows twice a years. Top designers retail out of their own stores in the high end malls, and multi-designer stores. Still the international market has not been dented. There should be out-of-box thinking. The real estate cost affects the designers adversely. There are many designer schools –almost 1000 across A/B/C towns. NIFT has 15 branches. In India, the business model adopted expects the designer to design and produce and sell. It is a flop model. A designer may not have the marketing expertise and the financial muscle. He should tie up with others to compensate this. He should focus on creating. He may need corporate backing. The heritage design is not supported enough. A whole world is dying out. The indigenous textiles must be used. The industry must build on its strengths. It should borrow from the successful models elsewhere.

  • Group Discussions (GD)

    This was an important step in the selection process. The FMCG major Hindustan Unilever still resort to this selection tool to save time. Some companies have entirely eliminated GDs. It is believed GDs are not the best tool to agrees the character and values in a person. Besides, GDS are a high cost exercise. GDs are certainly useful when choosing candidates where oral communication is important. Instead, candidates can be asked to write a note on either a customer, technical or business situation they have faced. GDs have worked in the past allowing recruiters to observe a larger pool of applicants within a short duration. The better alternatives now available are simulated games, role plays and even the theatre. They offer better opportunity to judge group interaction; initiative, creativity and problem solving skills.

    Group discussions work well when organisations are hiring in volume. GDS are not the best option when the hiring is for niche skills. Some candidates take longer to open up. Some have limited ability to stand out in a crowd. That does not rule out their knowledge or skills. The organisation might lose a potential candidate with great subject matter expertise.

    GDs may turn out to be impersonal if not managed sensitively. They may keep away potential candidates from applying in future.

    GDs are good for junior level selection with a large number of applications. As you go up to more mid-levels and beyond, GDs are not employed.

  •   E-Retail Business Models

     

    Open Market-Place ( OMP )  is a technology-based asset light model. It merely hosts sellers of new, and in small percentage, used goods and connects them to the buyers. E-bay has adopted this model. It does not handle logistics beyond alerting its partners in this space by an automatic process. When goods move from buyers to sellers, they do not pass through an e-bay warehouse. It is based on trust. It is suitable for a mature eco-system. It is It is merely a hosting platform.

    Managed Market-Place (MMP )

    It controls delivery and returns and does not deal in used goods. It helps to control customer experience and is more suitable for India. In this model, the e-retailer does not own the products but controls delivery, quality and returns.

    Inventory-led Model

    The e-retailer here owns the inventory and controls delivery and quality too.

  • Catwoman

    Catwomen have appeared in movies, on TV and in comics for over past 70 years. The Catwoman persona is flexible. In essence, she is beautiful, wears tight costumes and she steals. She is a foil to Batman—the yang to Batman’s yin. Though she is a criminal, she is consequently Batman’s enemy. However, she is not villainous. She does not harass the innocents. She is a hedonist who believes the luxuries the rich enjoy could rightfully be enjoyed by her. The bat is a billionaire, and her crimes are occasions to flirt with him. Catwoman first appeared a year after Batman in a 1940 story drawn by Bob Kane and written by Bill Finger. Her first appearance was in’’ ‘Batman No.1 ‘. Between 1955 and 1965, she disappears as the comic code forbids glamorising criminals. Julie Newman in 1966 is the first TV Catwoman. Selina Kyle appears as jewel thief in 1985. She was a femme fatale to begin with. She becomes a mad babe in 1967. In 1987, she is the icy dominatrix.  In 1992 Tim Burton’s Batman Returns  was released. Michael Pfeifer plays Batman’s foil. In 1993 Selina starts Catwoman’s first series. In 2001, the second series reinvents her black-leather-clad, morally ambiguous champion of underworld. In 2004, Halle-Berry starred as Catwoman. In 2012, Catwoman’s third series explores the master thief’s troubled love life.

  • Sale of Music

    The music on records was not easily replicable, and so its spread remained limited. It could be transported as a tangible disc from one place to another. Then came cassettes. It affected the market. These were soon replicable at low cost.Then came CD , DVD, MP3. All these finished the monopoly of music market. It spread widely through Internet. Music was a sign of creativity and talent. This was diluted. New market for music emerged. Steve Job’s created iTunes to globalise the music market. Piracy has adversely affected the music sales. Music market in 2005 was $ 20.7 billion. In 2011, it was reduced to $ 16.2 billion. It affected the spread of music, and the musicians too. There were no concerts without sponsorship. Music was available free on You Tube. The market prices crashed. Presentation of music in a concert—this was considered secondary. Talent was adversely affected. Music shops closed down. New talents were seeking stage shows. Download of music became possible. It has entered Indian market. The repertoire of Indian music on iTunes is limited. But there is a hope, that the market will expand. The iPods have given a new experience of listening to music.  iTunes buys music and sells it. It has disciplined the market.