The Apple Axperience

Agreeably, my visit to the Apple store was an experience. Cool products on display that a gizmo freak like my husband can check-out the whole day, and cool people around who seemed to enjoy their jobs, unarguably a rare species of mankind. After a sales representative greeted me as I walked in, and commented on how cold my hand was and that he should do something about it (do they have a warming app too?), he took the number for my prepaid order and punched it in his iPhone. Within minutes a blonde appeared from a corner carrying my iPad and after handing it over to the sales guy disappeared in the same corner pronto. The sales guy then used his iPhone to read the barcode on the iPad pack and made me sign in a blank box, with my the tip of my finger, on his iPhone. No sooner was my signature saved, a receipt was printed again through the iPhone and handed over to me, and a copy was emailed at my id. It literally took me 5 minutes to go through this process,without any hassle of traversing through people or counters, neat eh?

Doodle awesomeness!

Jorge Luis Borges, known for his science fiction writing, is celebrated with a Google Doodle today. The illustration resembles Borges' own work, a peek into the future from the perspective of a man alive before digital computers. Read more about him here.

I loved this one Google! :)

Understand your audience

Understanding your audience is indisputably the key to any effective marketing or communications campaign. No wonder, the bigger guys have big departments in place to understand the demographic and pyschographic profiles of their customers (and prospects), that often can be divided into multiple segments! Similarly, the internal communications departments are gaining more insights on their employees to reach out to them in a more effective and efficient manner.

However, off late I have noticed that even the smaller ones are unknowingly becoming more conscious of this and using it to effectively sell, or up-sell, or cross-sell, basically to address the needs of their customers. The best example of using a customer care-about for cross-selling was when after a pedicure, I was asked if I was wearing closed shoes. When I replied in positive, my nail therapist took out a pair of basic flip-flops and said, "Would you like to buy one?.. (continuing in same breath).. only $10?"

I marveled at the ingenuity of these spa guys. They understood their customers, sensed their need, and bingo, there they were! It really didn't require any elaborate business strategy, or market research, or capital investment to sell these flip-flops at this tiny salon! Truly I would have never imagined a manicure and pedicure (only) salon selling flip-flops. Even if I had broken my shoe right infront of their shop, I probably would have never taken a chance by asking them if they had something that I could put on my feet. I mean, I could still inquire if they sold lipsticks for instance; I would take it for granted that they did sell nail paints though.

In retrospect, however, why didn't I buy the pair of flip-flops? So the nail therapist repeatedly asserted that my nail paint would get chipped, and I really didn't care much about it. The damn thing had just costed me $18 (I had a Groupon). If I was paying a hefty price for the nail art, then I may have worried. So can I say that I didn't see value in their work, or atleast as much value? Though honestly I can be quite a tomboy when it comes to stuff related to personal grooming, another reason why I would never pay for nail art sort of stuff, until I get an attractive deal. Not the ideal sort of customer!

So had the nail therapist insisted that I spend more time waiting at the salon to let the nail paint dry adequately, I probably would have bought a pair. I value time, mine and everyone else's. (Bought it more so because I forgot to carry my book along that day). I may have also bought a pair if they were a tad bit cuter, but then selling fancier slippers would definitely lower their profits assuming they continue selling at $10 per pair! Anyway, so this is where she went wrong with me, probably because I comprised a minuscule of her audience, and definitely not the ideal segment.

I was cold and drenched on my way to Dean Jain’s home, but the smile that he greeted me with suddenly made me feel very warm and comfortable. He helped me with my jacket and guided me to his make-shift office at home.

While I settled behind an ebony desk with a pile of freshly arrived letters, mostly invitations, and an impressive collection of books, Dean Jain himself returned with a cup of tea and cookies. I surely couldn’t have asked for more from a person of his stature and was struck by his modesty.

His office was tastefully done in beige tapestry and decorated with souvenirs gifted to him from across the world, including an honorary doctorate degree awarded by the Princess of Thailand, his erstwhile student. Amongst the others pictures, I couldn’t help but notice a very old photograph of a much younger him. “This picture was taken by a peer at UT Dallas after I had just arrived in the US”, explained Dean Jain. “I had seldom worn a tie in India, and I bought this one (pointing at the picture) for 50 cents from a garage sale in Dallas”, he chuckled with genuine humility.

Dean Jain has very vivid memories of his youth and deep down, he still is the same person he was back then. He was brought-up in Tezpur in Assam, a disconnected Indian state with a “chicken neck connection”, as described by him, with the Indian mainland since it is squeezed between Bangladesh and Bhutan. He studied at a government school in Tezpur, his hometown, where the medium of instruction was Hindi. He went to Darrang College for his Undergrad and majored in mathematics primarily because rather than fancy laboratories, it just required a paper and pencil. He secured highest marks in the state for his undergrad and graduation, and was therefore appointed as a professor at Guwahati University in Assam on the condition that he completes his PhD within 5 years. In the meantime, he wrote a letter to a professor at Berkley for procuring the professor’s research paper, but through a series of events his letter landed-up with another professor at UT Dallas. Impressed with his academic credentials, he was offered a full funding to pursue his PhD at UT Dallas and thus he came to the US in 1983.

He acknowledged that those who have known him since his early days in his home town wonder how all these years of “living abroad” and a successful career have had no impact on his simple ways. With an extraordinary gleam in his eyes, a melodious softness in his voice and a remarkable humbleness in all his ways, he still is an epitome of a young, modest sobriety only with grayer hair.

Equally surprising was the discovery that he doesn’t wear a watch, or own a laptop, and has never learnt to drive a car. Yet he has never missed a single class in his 25 years at Kellogg. He doesn’t even carry any notes, or paper to refer to while teaching a class. “For me teaching is worship, and every student is a manifestation of God”, he spoke from his heart. I asked him if he maintained a diary for his meetings, and he laughed, “I try to remember everything! Day, date, appointments, occasions, everything”. He could tell me about his schedule upto nine months from then as if reading from a mental calendar and could also recall ‘who said what in which class’. I was curious to learn the trick from him, so he confided “Interest and Involvement in my work”. He added, “My father was blind, and he taught me that if you do things in life as if you are completely blind, you can never go wrong.”

“I have never asked what’s in it for me while taking-on any job”, Dean Jain said. He has never negotiated for his compensation or perks, and has considered every task as an opportunity to learn something new. He also believes that its better to be trusted than liked. Perhaps that was the reason, as aptly noticed by Henry Bienen, Northwestern’s President, why Dean Jacobs trusted Dean Jain immensely, and ended the typical two-year rolling term for an Associate Dean to appoint Dean Jain as the permanent Associate Dean and his permanent ally throughout his tenure.

“The five years that I spent with Dean Jacobs in an administrative role were my best time at Kellogg”, he said. This also provided him with the training to carry forward the Dean’s baton. As a Dean, he had a very disarming personality, and was always available, approachable and accessible for everyone. He neither believed in a ‘close door’ policy nor an ‘open door’ policy, instead he propagated a ‘NO DOOR’ policy and was very transparent in his dealings. At times, he was criticized for not being assertive or aggressive but he has always been a firm believer of “soft gestures create hard impressions”.

Yet he was able to leave an indelible impression on Kellogg! During his eight years in Dean’s office, he immensely enhanced the school’s global presence and reputation. Kellogg partnered with more than 30 premier institutions worldwide and was proclaimed as the best B-school by all notable publications for consecutive years. Dean Jain also strengthened the school’s alumni network by creating a full fledged database and visiting alumni clubs all over the world. Miami campus is another big feather in his cap.

“My only regret is that I couldn’t complete the new campus”, he paused. “In 2007, I started the capital campaign for $250mn towards the school’s expansion and new building but as luck would have it, we found ourselves in the midst of a financial crisis by 2008”, he sighed with disappointment. To add to this, was his father’s demise and personal surgery!

He reflected on his almost 25 years with Kellogg, and attributed his success to those who he worked with – his colleagues, students, staff, and most importantly, Dean Jacobs. “The school was like my home, and the affection of those around me made me look forward to each day I have spent here. As a Dean, the support that I received from my staff was remarkable”, he said.

He recounted the milestones in his career as the most memorable moments. In Winter1990, he was the first professor ever to receive a TCE of 6.8 (on a scale of 7) in the Marketing Research course and from then on, he was nominated for the Best Professor Award for five consecutive years. However, he could never win it because unlike other professors, he was never teaching the same sections and therefore, didn’t have a critical mass to vote for him. “I was always the bridesmaid, but never the bride”, he joked. He believes that his record-breaking TCE ratings caught Dean Jacobs’ eye, and eventually helped him become Dean Jacobs’s trusted confidant. But that wasn’t all. The other important landmarks in his career were – he became the (youngest) Full Professor at Kellogg in 1992, the Associate Dean in 1996 and finally the Dean in 2001.

I was curious to know how INSEAD happened, and he elaborated, “I visited INSEAD as a speaker in 1989 while I was on my way (to get married) in India”, he smiled. “Recently I felt I wasn’t making the best use of my time here at Kellogg. So when INSEAD contacted me I thought to myself that not everyone gets a chance to do it once, whereas I can now do it all over again. I had also been approached by the Marketing departments at Harvard, MIT and other top B-schools off-late but I found this most interesting”, he added.

Elaborating on the support that he received from his family with regard to the acceptance of this offer, he said, “I never like to start a story that I cannot complete, so I consulted my wife even before exploring it further. My wife was extremely supportive. My children are already taking French lessons”, he told.

Dean Jain has managed to maintain a strictly vegetarian dietary habit, and he doesn’t consume alcohol. Wouldn’t it be tough in France, I enquired? “I believe in my principles, and am always myself. I never pretend, or succumb to the social pressure, as a result the others find it easy to accept me the way I am, and get attuned”, he explained.

He hopes to continue his engagement as a Director with John Deere, Northern Trust and Reliance Industries amongst others. He has also been involved with many prestigious companies, to name a few, Nestle, Honeywell, American Express, Microsoft, Boeing, Sony, US Cellular, Philips Electronics, AT&T, Hyatt etc, and would try to maintain some of these commitments. Each year, he receives invitations to be the keynote speaker at zillions of conferences around the world that he looks forward to attending. Infact not many may know that he has been the only person, other than Jeff Immelt, to receive a standing ovation during a keynote address at GE in Chicago.

Despite the relocation and other professional commitments, he plans to ensure that his community service initiatives, that he is very passionate about, don’t receive a setback. Currently, he heads a team to build ‘School of Entrepreneurship and Management’ at the Asian University for Women in Chittagong, Bangladesh to provide education to women from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Iran, Palestine, among others. “My father was posted in Chittagong in the early 50’s”, he sighed and then continued, “Mothers can influence the child greatly so what better than educating the to-be mothers!” He is also involved with other non-profit organizations in India such as Asha that supports tuberculosis patients, and Pratham that provides education to the underprivileged children.

When I asked him to tell the readers something that they don’t know about him, he replied, “My family and I are Tsunami survivors!” I gave him an astonished look as he continued, “We were a few yards from the beach when Tsunami struck. We saw the fishing boats, beach chairs, and just about everything, get swept away and fall into a lagoon that we were standing by. Fortunately, not even a single drop of water splashed on us.”

I was sure that the readers would like to benefit from Dean Jain’s experience and prudence, so I asked him for his parting advice. He encapsulated his wisdom in a few lines, “There is no substitute to hard-work. You must work selflessly, with passion, and without thinking about the credit.” He pauses to add a quote from a previous chairman of coca cola, “There is no limit to what you can achieve and how high you can go in life if you don’t mind who gets the credit. Just believe in yourself, and remember, someone is watching you at all times. Last but not the least, the challenge ahead of you is never greater than the force behind you… and Dipak Jain is always behind each of you.”

Finally, I asked him to help me trace the origin of the popular saying that ‘the Kellogg experience is incomplete without Dean Jain’s hug.’ He explained, “It’s a way of expressing my affection, my respect, my gratitude!” “A gentleman at INSEAD initially referred to it as ‘crossing the line of intimacy’ but now hugs me every time he meets me”, he chuckled, and joked, “I was told not to hug the students during the Graduation Ceremony at Kellogg because it had increased the length of the ceremony, (pauses and rises-up) but I sure can give you a hug.” He hugged, and completed my Kellogg experience.

If you like 'sale', we like you!

Its amazing how people drool over the discounted merchandise, sort and sift for hours, and then wait in the queue for changing rooms, while holding on to their wares carefully, and firmly. Or shop as if its the end of the world, in my husband's words! And then come home satiated, after having gleaned 'those brands' at an 'unbelievable 70% off'?

Gosh, is it beginning to sound like me. Well, if you can also identify yourself with it, then be assured that you are a marketer's dream and a retailer's best friend!

Ever imagined why would a retailer discount his regular booty for you? The closest analogy that comes to mind is a bakery. The bakery would enjoy a discount on the minimum purchase of its raw materials, and thereupon produce freshly baked tarts, pies, cakes and the regular items at a certain cost on a regular basis. It is impossible for the bakers to project the exact demand for each type of cake so they draw an estimation based upon their previous sales, however, at the end of the day, the unsold cakes are perishable and an utter waste. The bakers do have a choice of keeping them for the next day and thus risking them being slightly stale but then they have a minimum purchase of raw materials to abide by for day after, which implies a minimum production anyway. Then it may just make more sense to just sell it off at a discounted price, while it is still fresh, and reap a reduced profit margin, but something, and instead mitigate risk and optimize shelf space!

A natural question would come to the mind of any layman. Why doesn't a bakery do it? Well, if your bakery did it, wouldn't you be visiting it every evening, and only the evening. So, why does a retailer do it? A retailer's merchandise is not immediately perishable, but his discounts are largely aimed at first increasing footfalls and then extracting more moolah by up-selling or cross-selling you, or by arousing your latent needs and wants, in other words making you buy what you hadn't intended to buy. So when you walk into a store to buy those discounted snow boots, you may also buy the pink bag that you found "so cute"! Ain't all of us guilty of it? And then of-course there are considerations pertaining to styles and colors, basically fashion, and weather, and inventory, so on and so forth!

Valentine Week, or the Spam Week?

Its been quite a week, and while Macy's has been selling me just the dress, Victoria's Secret is selling me its sexiest lingerie collection to seduce my valentine on the Valentine's Day. I wonder if Viagra is also at work, flooding the right inboxes with its promotional offers.

The direct-mail marketer in me couldn't help but analyze and criticize each mail before deleting it, and the only mail that I didn't find as trite was Burlington's mailer with a wee-bit creative subjectline 'Gifts that make scents for Valentine's Day' for the promotion of it's perfumes.

Seriously America, you need a course in creativity from our Bollywood directors! :)

Lufthansa Flavors

Talk about excellent Target Marketing and Customer Engagement, and Lufthansa tops the chart amongst the international airlines!

The airline recently ran an Indian recipe contest, Lufthansa Flavors, for their Indian audience. The contest encouraged and awarded people for submitting an Indian recipe, or voting for their favorite recipe, or even telling a friend about this contest, besides a weekly raffle. They had a dedicated portal, Flavors of India (click to be redirected), for the contest and promoted it heavily on Times of India (TOI) website.

They were clearly targeting the Indians living in the US since the raffle ticket prizes were gift certificates valid for major restaurants chains in the US. Anyway since they don't have domestic operations in India, it doesn't make any sense to target Indians living in India, and causing a huge spillage of marketing resources. Obviously Indians living abroad make for a more qualified audience!

Lufthansa must have availed the geo-targeting option for online advertising with TOI. This implies that Lufthansa's advertisement would show-up each time someone logs onto the TOI website with an IP address from the US. Even from a psychographic perspective, their choice of medium is interesting since a Non Resident Indian (NRI), or a prospective customer for Lufthansa, is quite likely to read the online version of TOI. As a side note, it is also interesting to note their choice of words, for instance, 'raffle' as commonly used in the US and not 'lucky draw' as in India.

But why a recipe contest? I wondered, and came up with a plausible explanation.

Lufthansa does not target the price sensitive audience who could be assumed to be cuisine neutral. A premium airline, it also targets and attracts corporate travelers. So food may be an important consideration for these guys especially when on a 10+ hours flight.

In addition, a recipe contest would also appeal to another category of their target audience: NRI wives or moms, who wouldn't mind paying $200 extra for a more comfortable and pleasant flight back home, usually an annual trip. This contest would definitely foster a top-of-the-mind recall amongst this segment.

It would definitely be interesting to know if the contest could have any immediate significant effect on Lufthansa's revenue from the US-India sector even though that may not have been the very objective of the contest.

Hail Blackberry Boys!

Blackberry (BB) had the first mover advantage in the PDA space in India, which, amongst other factors such as the product itself, was responsible for its wide-spread corporate adoption.. to a point where it became a status symbol. Owning a BB signified that you were are a key person in your organization, who needed to be connected at all times.

However, after BB became a part of the corporate clout, a need was felt to broaden its target segment and consequently cheaper BB variants were launched. These phones still supported mailing, browsing and BB messenger to keep one connected on-the-go while compromising on functionalities such as a super camera though you could still make-do with this camera if you weren’t a professional photographer.

At the same time, to maintain differentiation and the status aura for their senior execs and corporate clients, BB was smart to launch attractive options that were sleeker and sexier, and had better functionalities and steeper price tags. Infact, these attractive handsets by BB were comparable to Apple's i-Phone in stylistic features though with a different interface, and the ultimate purchase decision was a function of preference for either QWERTY keyboard and BB Messenger, or Touchpad & i-Ph Apps. Of-course the corporate contracts with telecom operators undoubtedly had a role to play here!

The launch of cheaper handsets, starting from INR 8 to 10k, was a beginning. They also used BB messenger as a potent tool, which in my view worked as a viral. The feature supported free chatting if you and your friend owned a BB and was attractive for young adults, probably in the age group of 16 to 30. The priorities of this segment were BB messenger, browsing and emailing, in this order - the exact reverse for a corporate guy with emailing, browsing and BB messenger as a requirement in that particular order. Thirdly, the compatibility of BB services with Vodafone, along with Airtel, ensured that BB was using the distribution channels of both major telecom operators. Infact, Vodafone now supports the BB services even for its prepaid, low value customers.

It is also interesting, though obvious, to notice the change in BB's advertising message with the change in its positioning. Just try recalling and contrasting the first few ads for BB completely centered around the theme of keeping 'daddy out of his office' so that he could spend more time with his little one to the current Vodafone BB Boys ad now. Click here to view the ad! The BB Boys ad does a great job of coining a catchy term 'BB Boys', which has already become a part of the lingo and is often mentioned on social networking sites. In my view, a long commercial (1 min) such as this is expensive to air but at the same time it focuses on a single message and conveys it effectively to achieve its objective of targeting a new segment of customers.

- Namrta R

Need an India ShopRunner?

It’s interesting to read Ajay Kelkar's perspective on how rather than going through a land grab, where retailers vied for prime retail sites or for customer footfall & share of wallet, they probably could take to a ShopRunner model to get a chunk of the e-commerce pie in India.

Geoffrey Fowler has an interesting article on ShopRunner in the Wall Street Journal. Click here to read!

Now here are a few problems I anticipate with the implementation of this model in the Indian context (besides the "Indian Crab syndrome”).

In India, we have neighborhood bazars (market place) in every area. These are typically general stores that sell a variety of items from sugar & salt to a Valentine Day’s card, and sometimes even underwears. So technically a consumer is a hop-skip-jump away anytime from making a purchase. In addition, these general store owners operate on a relationship basis, which implies that they may provide an upto 10% discount on the Marked Retail Price (MRP) for most items by compromising his commission purely for the sake of retention and relationship. They may even let the consumer make a purchase without an immediate payment, and not charge an interest for it, based upon his discretion and relationship.

Let’s contrast it with the scenario for an average consumer in the US. You have to plan in advance in order to drive 10 miles to a Walmart or a Target to do your (frozen) grocery or purchase household items. So you especially take out some time and aim to stock-up for atleast two weeks, or even a month unless of-course doing grocery is your favorite hobby. You also need a car (or cab) to get back with your stock, good luck if you don’t have one though for most people car is a given! Now, if you have missed out on one or few items in your list or if you just hadn’t anticipated its (or their) need, then placing an online order is but sensible.

Then the products in the US don’t have a MRP. Implication: The retailer’s quantity is a huge determinant of his procurement price from the distributor. And naturally a good price for the retailer would imply a good deal for the customer. In the US where e-commerce is more mature than India, an online retailer may have general more volumes to cash in on through a better penetration of the market place, which in turn could help him price the products competitively (and yet bear the shipping costs). In India, the same online retailer is competing with the general store (or stores) in neighborhood bazar of the customer that provides upto 10% discount on MRP and is damn well accessible to the customer. So the online retailer would not only be required to provide a lower price than the general store, but also bear the shipping costs. Given both these conditions are true, the customer may still buy from the general store if it offers him more variety, assured quality and an immediate possession of the purchased item.

The ‘Amazon Prime’ model sounds great but as Geoffrey Fowler also highlights, there may be service and delivery issues with regard to individual retailers, and more importantly, unlike Amazon they may not be able to makeup for individual losses. Besides, the willingness of an Indian consumer to pay for a service such as Amazon Prime can’t be established until a proper market survey is done.

Lastly, QUALITY is a big concern, and there is a big gap in what is sold to you in the online store and what you actually land-up receiving. In my opinion, the online retailers in India either don’t care about customer retention and just want to make that one sale, or they probably don’t know the distinction between hard-selling a product and misguiding a customer.

- Namrta R

Out-of-the box!

Does the box (or packaging) count?

Do the consumers have a bias towards a better packaged product, and if yes, under what conditions would they be willing to pay a premium for it? I spoke to a tiny sample in order to gather data points to generalize these answers.

Applicability: B2C market

A good packaging may improve the overall appeal of the product, thus making it preferred over its competing products or even substitutes. This is true particularly with the items that induce an impulse buy, for instance food. Chocolates come to my mind almost instantly! "I am guilty of falling for lesser known herbal tea that command a premium for their fancy packaging. Sometimes, I prefer buying an extra variety of this tea over coffee" confides Jessica, a 43 year old HR professional. Con: Consumers with a strong brand preference, or loyalists (though the implication of the word 'loyal' is very succinct today).

Another category that commands a premium for good packaging would be the 'aspirational' products. Perfumes, watches and dainty jewelry – what I describe as the luxury products for the rising middle class masses, perhaps a little oxymoronic! I have observed how most companies use exclusive packaging and premium imagery (in sync with the product positioning) to market them, creating an aura of exclusivity and desirability. An imaginative, and mostly innovative, element is added to the packaging of these products through R&D. Mohan, a 27 year old student, asserts, “Perfume bottles resembling nude women et-cetra are commonplace now, so I bought Azuro that comes in a cool kind of a vertical bottle with a surprisingly well balanced centre of gravity”. I am sure these guys spend heck of a considerable budget for their 'Package Development'. This implies that good packaging may also cause an increase in the production cost, and hence the price if the producer decides to pass it on to the consumer – another con!

And then, the last category comprises reusable, sturdy (often also microwaveable) containers – bought by price-sensitive guys, who readily pay a premium, and even hoard-up the product in order to collect similar containers. "I bought 12 kilograms of coffee, or rather 12 one-kilogram packs of coffee simply to obtain the jars they came in. I consider these as a worthwhile collection to my kitchen shelf,” says a 55 year old housewife, Jyotsna, who paid a premium (over the ‘jar-less’ coffee packs) for these jars and is still consuming the same coffee after 1.4 years of buying it.

On the hindsight, I'd assert that even before the inclusion of 'Packaging' as one of the several Ps of Marketing, the astute marketers were already harnessing this consumer bias and often even passing on the packaging cost to their consumers. A related concept was giving out freebies. It would be interesting to find out how the supply-chain cost increases with an addition of a freebie to the product volume. Just a thought!

It'd also be interesting to find out that what proportion of the budget is allocated to Package Development by a FMCG (or CPG) company. After all, packaging seems to be a science and not an art anymore!

- Namrta R