Marketing Books read in 2020 - #1 "Hooked" - Key Takeaways

2020 had been another great year where I read more books rather than just buying them. Read some insightful books on business and Marketing. 

Here are quick takeaways from "Hooked" - by Nir Eyal; a superb book on understanding what is needed to be coded in products to make them habit forming for consumers resulting in high LTVs and high loyalty. Must read for folks in #Marketing or #Product Management.

The habit loop has been covered in many books earlier, but the investment leg in the loop is something worth noting as to why with time an app or product becomes more sticky!

Loved Nir's earlier book as well 'Indistractable' which was on how to keep urself focused and not distracted by habit forming products.

Key Takeaways -

Which Marketing/Business book you recommend?

#books #marketing #brands #consumer #psychology #productmanagment 

Why Kelloggs Upma or Maggi's Poha make perfect sense?

#Kelloggs Upma or #Maggi's Poha make perfect sense!

The brand known for being no 1 Breakfast brand with its cold breakfast offerings - corn flakes, muesli; launched Upma recently in India. This drove a huge wave of Indian-proud #memes that the #brand which wanted to change how Indians have hot breakfast had to change itself :)

 But thinking 1 level deep, for a brand like Kellogg's or say Nestle's Maggi who has established good #DISTRIBUTION over decades of existence, known for international standards of #QUALITY & nutrition as well as #EQUITY for its brands; does it not make sense to enter new adjacent category? For Kellogg's, its still its own breakfast category!

 If the choice is between lesser known brands like Mom, Mother's and popular ones like MTR, Kellogg, Maggi in a supermarket; chances would be that one would pick the more familiar one! Power of first 3 factors mentioned above.

Kellogg's also would score high #brandequity on 'Fit & healthy' - the same elements that a consumer is looking for, when he is looking for Upma apart from AUTHENTIC #TASTE which brands have to really pass test on.

Maggi we swear by, or Bata we believe as Desh ka Joota are both foreign brands. Only time will tell.

#Marketing #Consumer #Foods #India

Follow #therunningmarketer for my updates

What you achieve in life depends on how you treat your TEA!

What you achieve in #Life depends on how you treat your #TEA

Time. Energy. Attention

#Time - How do u spend your daily 24 hrs have a direct impact on what results you get. Do u spend large chunks of time getting sucked on your phone watching photos on fb/reading watsapp chat? Spending much time on your couch vs a workout/book; then blaming OTT? 

👍Tip - Keep track of your time that it goes where u want. Guard ur time and time block ur schedule.

#Energy - In the finite time we have everyday, we can get more done if we have higher velocity enabled by loads of energy.

👍Tip - Add an active life element (choose a physical workout - gym, run, yoga etc) + better food habits and stick to timely food. It will work wonders to your energy while u crack ur tasks.

#Attention - Attention is precious for you to focus on whats at hand. The precious zone of flow, that u enter when working on something u enjoy. But sadly, this attention goes for a toss due to calls, notifications on ur phone, mind that opens chat or opens email again and again.

👍Tip - Block all notifications on phone. Practise mindfulness. Are u experiencing what u r doing or just losing time? Enjoy what u r doing. Be present.

Do u have more #tips to boost ur #productivity? Share. #work #wfh 

#therunningmarketer

Rural India is the new oasis for internet businesses!

#Rural  or #Bharat will drive internet businesses faster than Urban. Why & How?

👍There are more rural internet users are there (227 mn vs 205 mn urban - 2019 stat) and growing faster.

👍More young internet enabled audience is in rural than urban which would drive growth. (Between 12-30 yrs of age, rural % is higher).

👍 As bulk of this internet enablement is via #mobile broadband; learning is to keep devices/#smart tech dependent on mobile broadband vs fixed ones as of today. This will enable higher penetration vs just wired broadband homes which is miniscule. 

👍The Rural opportunity brings in avenues of #content being '#local' and in 'local language'. For eg, #OTT players would churn more such content to expand the market. 

👍 Internet enabling devices (mobile/#PC/tablets) need to offer affordable solutions for viewing content (big screens, lower computing may be). Laptops to evolve against smartphones or else not capture this market.

👍 #IoT currently is in a frivolous space, it needs to become 'necessary' rather than 'good to have' in consumer's lives. From a voice enabled music player to an enabler of education(kids) or of necessacity (older folks).

Have u seen more such opportunities? 

#consumer #tech #internet #Marketing #smart #therunningmarketer

Surprising Brand Collectibles - From a car branded tequila to pizza blanket!

Surprising Brand Collectibles!

Brand love can make brands to come up with unthinkable limited edition merchandise not even adjacent to the categories they operate in or want to extend thier brand in.

But still consumers love such surprises from brands - be it Tesla Tequilla in a signature bottle making an april fool joke come alive or now an Orginal Pan Pizza Blanket made by Pizza hut in association with Gravity Blankets!

Tesla Tequila has been sold out ($250) and is in great demand as per online articles. The Pan Pizza blanket has been launched recently selling at $150.

Which brands come to your mind where they have done the unthinkable and taken consumers by sweet surprise?

 #brand #marketing #pizzahut #tesla #tequila #blanket 

 #therunningmarketer

Your Product is a Vitamin or a Painkiller - Is it habit forming one?

Recently finished Hooked - How to build habit forming products by Nir Eyal. Have earlier read multiple books on habits, but first time on habit forming products. Its also a must read book for tech product managers. I loved it and recommend to marketers as well, here is a concept of product being a vitamin or a painkiller.

Products are seen as either pain killers (solves a problem u are facing and hence a must-have for target audience - If u have a headache, you require a painkiller; solving a functional need) or vitamins (enables u to become stronger to not face problems later and hence not important to use/acquire immediately). Companies love to have their products become painkillers because then they have a quantifiable market to capture.

To make your product a habit forming one, it needs to be both pain killer and vitamin. Eg. Facebook is a pain killer or vitamin? One can live without it, but provides a good benefit to stay connected with friends. (Vitamin). But after having connected with most friends and pages, it now provides me real time updates, pics and videos that it now has become my boredom killer (painkiller, pain being boredom or even feeling of missing out). So most social media platforms aspire to be in this space of being both a vitamin and a painkiller.

Lets see some other product category -shopping apps? Painkiller or Vitamin? Its a painkiller when I have an itch to buy something i need; on other days its forgotten. It doesn't have that vitamin promise to use everyday (like Facebook). Then, what should shopping apps do to make users visit more often with a habit? Send more notifications to tell about more styles to shop, or deals which are ending by the night? No, that would work only a few times and then u will loose these levers if used rampantly. Then?

Become more emotional than transactional. How? Here are few of my thoughts -

1. Become an Enabler; a Guru imparting wisdom they need - If yours is a fashion category, put up educational content on fashion - styling tips, mixing and matching, current trends, look-books. Get even influencers on the platform to impart this category wisdom; a Rajeev Makhani reviewing products on the platform will add to stickiness. Great Content on a shopping app - Firstcry.com becomes your go to place on baby related queries.

2. Become a Friend; who understands 'the consumer' - Personalize the solve your consumer is looking for. Telling me when i need something the most - Suggestions of gifts for my anniversary (7 days before so that I don't miss it), telling me about the new CSK T-shirt or memorabilia that has come (watch history on partner app/shopping history) or book recommendations from my favorite author (from my shopping history/Wishlist) and so on. Not lame personalization like the Diwali catalogue on Diwali.

3. Become a Community; standing for a common cause in the category/audience and solving consumer pain points. A brand who patiently listens to consumer's trials/tribulations in the category. You might get to know some problems which haven't been solved and can open a niche not served yet. You can even co-create with your users to solve and even empowering them. Consumers come forward to contribute to a cause that they relate to. Further, adding to the stickiness of your app. Some of the strongest community apps/brands take part in your journey to become better - Nike+, Redbull.

Pitfalls - 

1. Point system building Loyalty - Common knowledge tells that points system is a big driver of stickiness or building habits to the app. But that might be history. Consumer today is more fickle for a brand she can trust than loyal to 25 paisa points. Brands today build benefits in their offerings that alleviates the pain faster - Amazon's faster shipping as part of Prime program is that. Even Prime Video alleviates the pain of boredom; bundled in the program.

2. More things added on the platform to build frequency - Another pitfall in my opinion is adding too many functionalities on the app to make consumer come back for one thing or other; might not be right strategy. This can lead to confusion on the interface vs simplicity that alleviates consumer pain of finding a solve sooner. 

What do you think are more drivers of making your app/product both a vitamin and a painkiller? Share your thoughts.

#product #marketing #habits #vitamin #painkiller #growth #book

From ATMs to Wallets to UPI - Structural changes Vs Cashbacks

#UPI beats wallets/card transaction and even ATM withdrawals for the first time and logs 2 bn transactions in a month!

We need to bring in structural changes vs temporary cashbacks.

#Demonetization moved us from ATMs/Cash to Wallets. Irrespective of difficult interfaces.

#Coronavirus moved us to UPI. Now u don't carry ur cash to ur everyday store. Phone is enough. Small retailers helped us in adapting to this change - they changed for us to pay without ill effects of touching cash/card.

#Cashbacks/incentives don't change our habits permanently. Sometimes, we may use one app over another basis offers but in long run it would be dependent on ease of use once macro environment has enabled the need.

Ease of use will determine long term usage. How frustration free is the journey of paying on the app and in least no of clicks to completion. Not the colour of app, or celeb promoting it; but #consumerexperience. The communication helps in making you reach more users who would try to use it once, but it better meet the test of #easeofuse first else the brand might loose me forever.

I wrote earlier on this blog about how digital transactions are helping consumers as well as retailers to offer better products and better personalized experiences Vs cash. Read about it - here

#product #marketing #fintech

Actionsble Insights into building habits

Some #Insights into habit building from my own experience. 

How do i bring in consistency in running for now more than 5 years? Thinking Small.

Yes, contrary to what leadership principles tell, first #think #small when u r developing a habit. Just a km or 2, a walk around the block. Walk or little bit of run, daily. Thats it. Try to stick to a common time. Brain has memory.

Second, make it easier to NOT skip it. Change ur #enviornment! Build  triggers within ur enviornment. I bought runners clothes, shoes, headphones. Put them in the drawing room next to my mobile (with morning alarm) in the drawing room; so that i would have to walk across rooms to shut it. Helped!

Third, i linked my habit of morning tea to run. Wake up, make my morning tea and then after having refreshed, go for a run. It worked. #habit #linking

Fourth, started putting my meagre updates of 1-2-3 km runs on facebook, daily! It brought in a few comments from my network on how slow or lazy i am :) Make it #Public

Fifth, started participating in running competitions that invite u for a 5km, 10km run on the weekend. Helps to see others do it with fun; then why i cant! #Networkeffect

And then u hit that threshold before u enjoy. #Compounding catches up and takes ur curve up!

#Habits #Running #Passion #Life

Psychology + Marketing = 6 Principles of Influence

#Psychology & its linkage to #Marketing is a must-know topic for every marketer. Have read recently #Influence by Robert Cialdini and is a must read.

Here is how these principles work in short -

U walk up to a store for cookies; you see 2 jars - one is full and other is nearly empty; you pickup the last 2 cookies from the second jar! Principle of #Scarcity. That's what is at work when u shop (last 2 items left) or deal last 12 min 30 sec.

U are thinking of purchasing a laptop; you filter known brands & specs & price and then buy the one recommended by your followed Tech Influencer - Principle of #Authority at play. The reason why you see whitecoat wearing actors acting as docs in ads for health products!

U love #IPL and want to try a fantasy league app. U are a level headed guy and worship Dhoni; you download his endorsed app. If you are aggressive & expressive, chances are that you would take Kohli endorsed one. That's principle of #Likability.

In a restaurant u finish ur meal, the waiter brings a complementary dish before your bill. The unexpected gesture leads you to put in higher tip than before. That's principle of #Reciprocity. Principle of #Reciprocity is why you see lot of companies giving you valuable free resources at first to drive the desired behavior of purchase when u r looking for a product/service in that domain.

When purchasing products online or trying a new brand; you look at testimonials and reviews to understand whether it is been tried by large number of people. This is principle of #SocialProof. Brands must build enough traction with early adopters & get their endorsement (rating/reviews on playstore) to get this principle going before gunning for exponential growth.

We buy a certain brand and are happy with it. Market throws another brand of similar attributes. We tend to remain consistent with our earlier behavior and stick with the old brand as we are compelled by this principle of #Consistency. Consumers try to remain consistent with their own commitments. Thus if a brand is being referred by u to another person, chances are that next time u will still continue with same brand remaining consistent with ur own made endorsement.

One must leverage these principles in marketing/sales and even your interactions with humans. Yes, workplace behavior or what we call politics is also influenced by these principles. Here is again these principles at play at work -

Ur boss is a cricket worshipper with such a passion that he wears his IPL team's colors to office. Applying principle of Likability, u start talking about IPL matches at work and suddenly u find a soft-corner in ur boss's heart. Bad, if u love Messi! and the game of soccer. Develop the interest now or else u will be left behind.

Ever realized that in a meeting u said the right thing, but no body noticed? Thats because people don't just listen to what you say, people first assess it basis who is saying it! Thus, you need to apply 2 principles of Consistency and Authority to develop a niche for yourself at work. You can build authority by doing a project over the topic, writing a paper or a doc and then safeguarding/tom-toming the same in multiple forums/meetings consistently. Then, one day people will even listen to meaningless things you say in meetings in that domain.

U build your allies at work with constant comradarie and offering for help anytime. You have to be proactive about the same and take initiative first so that the other person feels obligated later via principle of Reciprocity.

Do you have more such examples?

What's your North Star Metric?

 

What's your #NorthStar #Metric?

With advanced Tech, there is progress in scope of measurability (Mktg included) as well as pace of #measurement (real-time/not) of actions in a business. However, it is easier to loose focus and get so overwhelmed with infinite metrics; that ultimately we might forget why we are measuring metrics in first place.

It is thus advisable to work with one/few key metrics called as North Star Metrics which can help align all teams together to a common goal as a measure of progress on that goal ideally key driver of a business. The way to determine your essential metrics is to identify the actions that correlate most directly to users experiencing the core value of your product. For example -

Social Media Platform like #Facebook / #Linkedin / #Twitter- DAU/MAU - Daily/Monthly Active Users. Activity breeds engagement which breeds UGC, Network effect which drives UGC to more users becoming active and driving core value of 'connecting together' + ad revenue.

Mobility players #Uber/ #Ola) - No of Drivers/Riders in a location - Core value of app is to get instant ride on demand, which is linked to availability of drivers; which in turn is dependent on demand (riders).

Accommodation booking players like #Oyo / #airbnb ; no of hotels listed/ and no of reviews would drive the revenue lever forward. 

What's your North Star Metric?

#Marketing #Data #performance #marketingissimple

India, Bharat and Fashion Ecommerce

An online brand now needs to evolveto cater to larger growing population from rural areas who will increasingly shop fashion online.

The split between urban and rural internet users is now more in favour of rural india (~52:48) and thats where the growth in online adoption is. From #internet users, they will eventually become shoppers, currently marred by the quality of physical distribution in bharat.

Thus, most brands are vying up for #D2C routes, #partnerships or via existing ecommerce players who already deliver to close to 100% of pincodes in India.

In my opinion, tech fashion space needs:
👉 More of Visual approach Vs text - More #video than reams and reams of text on detail pages.
👉 More of Assisted shopping models - Voice based tech (#alexa) or human interaction on video
👉 More of Real Shopping experience - Personalized selection and TrynBuy services as a customer associate makes you shop
👉 More of personalized fitting - Tieups across physical stores or tailoring network to get you quick alterations. This is one reasons why sales of bottoms/blazers is lower in online world vs offline (top:bottom ratio).
👉 More of fashion advisory vs just putting up loads of apparel selection - Consumers also shop to get eduacted on how to match, layer, coordinate etc while shopping for fashion.

Additionally mixed models or omnichannel efforts will pave the way for offline online integrated experience to capture this opportunity.

Offline brands offering this thru #WhatsApp chat selling thru catalogues, #video calls and mobile shops. Adaptation to changing #consumer preferences and still keeping focus on key competencies of #offline retailing.

All #salespersons who have a knack of human interaction, of how to traverse through steps of #selling - ice breaking, probing, handling objections etc will still be relevant. The skill of fabbing ( Feature, Advantage and Benefit) of a particular product is more animated than a verbose detail page till tech adapts to dynamically alter level of details sought by a consumer. All those skills can come handy in future on e-commerce as well with video assisted shopping taking shape in future.

You might still have your favourite salesman listening to your queries and offering personalised service, but on a video interface while you shop online. Yeah, but that coffee he offers in store with great reverance to make you feel as a king  while you shop to overhaul your wardrobe, will be missed :)

#fashion #retail #salesperson #experience #skill #jobs

OTT in India - A perspective for evolution in India

Quick Facts around OTT in India:

Market - 

• Indian OTT market is slated to grow to 10 times to $5Bn by 2023. 
• Bulk of the market (82%+) is currently driven by AVOD (Ad based Video on Demand revenue model); however SVOD (Subscription based model) would grow to sizable chunk by 2023.

Players -

• There are 35+ OTT apps available in India; ~70% users have 2 or more apps. 
• Top Players include Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney-Hotstar, Voot, SonyLiv amongst others.

Users - 

• Young Indians, under 35 years of age, account for 89% of the total Indian OTT video content platform users. (Male 79%: Female 21%). 
• Out of 89%, equal cohorts between 16-24 and 24-35 years of age. 
• Salaried employees are the largest consumer group, followed by students, business owners, housewives, etc.

From where they come from? Top 5 metro cities account for 55% of the total OTT video platform users, while Tier I cities ~ 36% of the users. 

Behavior - 49% of India’s youth (< 45 yrs) spend 2-3 hrs; 4 hrs by Millennials & Gen Z. 

Screen Size - 90%+ video consumption on Mobiles & rest on connected TVs.

The tailwinds for the OTT market have become stronger with covid19 fueling entertainment in-house entertainment needs and TV entertainment industry grappling with paucity of new content. Cheap data, cheaper smart phones and demographic dividend of India were anyways big drivers of this exploding industry.

Users & Usage is one thing; revenue is another. For any dominant AVOD model, users growth & engagement on platform is going to bring in the ad revenue. Efforts can be seen to push SVOD model from most players; and with habits changing in post-covid world, things look promising. 

Users Acquisition - Most of the players are thus looking at acquisitions thru bundles with telecom/broadband partners (recently Jio is offering Big 3 together (Netflix, Prime and Disney/Hotstar) in a single plan). This will be a key driver of subscribers growth in India as digital ecosystem grows through smart phone subscribers/broadband users. Bundles contribute to ~60% of users in India.

Traditional approach to woo the consumers via content backed advertising has also seen significant push. OTT players are offering content backed advertising with marquee shows/movies especially when cinemas were closed (Special Ops, Arya, Gulabo Sitabo, Masaba Masaba, The Kargil Girl etc).

With Covid19 impact, we as consumers have changed our long-staying habits (6 months is more than enough time to build habits). A lot of Indians have started subscribing to digital apps Vs using them for free. For eg, Newspapers being read on platforms like Magzter, cricket matches seen on a budget subscription - Hotstar VIP or entertainment watched on mobiles with budget subscriptions by both Netflix and Amazon Prime (Student edition). I see even most of newspapers websites now coming up with thier online/e-paper subscriptions which was a joke earlier.

As more apps join the party; the niches will develop as it happened with the cable/DTH industry where in there were channels for targeted users (Kids, GEC, Devotional, Regional, etc). A lot of parents have this barrier of kids exposed to unfiltered content on OTT and that is why recently a lot of players have come up with kids safe logins or targeted apps (YouTube Kids). Even currently a lot of apps are focusing on regional niches and delivering content basis languages or appealing to regional taste (Sun Nxt in South, Alt Balaji has one third viewership from Kolkata alone).

Usage - To boost the usage of OTT platform, players have realized that exclusive and high quality content is a key lever for engagement. That is why the focus on building partnerships with marquee directors and actors to keep users hooked to OTT. I expect a lot more engaging content getting delivered on OTT before probably things come back to normal.

Building the selection is another key driver to keep the catalogue of content refreshed frequently. Race to get movie rights or even launch own originals is a key factor to get users fixated on one app.

The space is exciting enough like any other digital backed youth opportunity. Lot more apps will get launched and then get consolidated as well to offer a broader selection and target a wider audiences. Ultimately, the game is both ad revenue basis high subscription base and engagement as well as subscription/Transaction based revenue where in users will subscribe to best 2-3 apps basis their needs or leader apps and then may choose to watch a content/movie by paying for that on any other app. 

Story of Keyboards and Inefficient Habit of typing with QWERTY

Habits are difficult to build and to break. This is the reason why, in todays world marketers and product managers are working to build habit forming products.

Habits which can help the users engage more often with the products leading to greater usage/purchases, greater attention (in this cluttered world) and thus making chances of larger lifecycle of the products, generating greater referrals and thus increasing the network (thus building more reasons for people to stay). Its an unending flywheel.

But is it too much to expect from a habit? No. Habits once built with much higher lifetime (continued duration of habit); can lead to such a resistance to newer ways of doing things even if rational. This is that Porter's 5 forces model's 'Barrier to entry'.

Recently came across this story around keyboards. Had heard of QWERTY keyboards that we use everywhere (touch phones, tablets, computers, typewriters) and is in vogue since 1870s when first set of typewriters were invented (currently with minimal modification). But have you heard of DVORAK keyboard? Apparently, invented in 1930s, it is ergonomically designed keeping in mind usage of letters and words in current english language. It is more efficient and comfortable if we use it today. But then why dont we use it?

Habits are difficult to break. Mankind has put in enough and more effort in adapting to QWERTY keyboard and migrating from typewriters to touch keypad. In QWERTY, the letters were ordered so that the keys which were mounted on metal arms would not jam pressed in too rapid succession (which was happening with user friendly ordering of alphabets).

Now despite knowing this fact that QWERTY keyboard is inefficient for non-typewriter era, we continue to see in new products because of this habit of current users. 

All marketers today strive to develop such good expectations or habits which work as a moat around our customers - be it a loyalty program, a UI, a colour scheme, a font, a shipping service thats super fast, an intuitive design which is easier to use and so on.

What you have built, that is building a habit?

Localisation is the new Globalization

#Localisation of your brand is key to winning in any market even in the age of #globalization. Why? Because understanding consumer's values, culture and habits helps you to deliver on her expectations and align to her life better so that your product can add value to her aspirations in life.

#Starbucks has launched a new India made coffee blend and calling it 'Diwali blend'. It is grown from Indian estates and is perfected to taste of indians. The packaging also is very ethnic and carries all celebratory motifs of the festival of lights.

And its not for the first time, we have seen big examples of how #mcdonalds  doesnt sell beef products in India which are actually the most selling ones in US.

#Snickers, the hunger choclate also had to develop a vegetarian variant while launching in India with a prominent green dot on its chocolates.

Copy-pasting your #strategy across countries doesnt work. You have to understand the nuances and then gel well to deliver your core offering in global markets.

#brand #marketingissimple #marketing #consumerinsights

Emotional Story Vs Functional Benefit - Renault Electric Cars

Power of an Emotional story Vs Functional Benefit.

👉How will you communicate an electric car that charges as it descends? Quite nice a feature, right! 🔺An electric car that is extra efficient? 

🔺Save more now with extra smart electric car?

👉#Renault did it superbly with converting it into a story of great leaders who came stronger after a downhill event. Superb! Imagine Steve Jobs coming back to #Apple after being fired from his own company. The brand showcased stories of Mandela, Jobs and Adele in this campaign.

This is the power of emotional story telling. A product feature communicated in a humane way that just takes the meaning to a whole new level than a functional benefit.

Do you remember more such campaign on similar lines? I remember campaign of Maruti "Kitna Deti hai" where it just takes the mileage feature to a whole new level weaving it to India's psyche. 

#storytelling #marketing #brand #marketingissimple #therunningmarketer

Gandhi's way of disrupting the world

Unwavering faith in one thing and consistent action behind it, can shake the world.

Focus on #consumer - her journey, her behaviour, her pain points, her aspirations and dreams; and how can you solve for it for making her life better is all what you need.

Great #brands have become great, because of consistent focus on consumers and backing it up with consistent action be it any brand.

Overnight #success is a multi-year struggle of believing in a vision when no body else can see it but you. And then gathering people to see the same and collaborate to make it happen.

Thats what MK Gandhi did. His journey from the satyagraha in South Africa to non-cooperation to Dandi March to final Independence of India. It took decades to bring everyone to see what he saw - Independence against the powerful with one idea of non-violence. 

#gandhiji #faith #action #struggle #marketingissimple

Runner's Update YTD Sep'20 - 750+ kms, on target for 1000 kms in 2020

This is runner's update after end of another month on the track. 

Sep'20

Kms - 103

Speed - 7:13 km/hr

Calories. Burnt - 5866

Time spent - 12.5 hrs

YTD Sep'20 

Kms - 766

Speed - 7:15 km/hr

Calories Burnt - 42890

Time spent - 92 hrs

Since end 2015, when i picked up running, i realised the joy of running and after effects of run in the form of runners' high; just keeps you going on this habit. Its close to 5000 kms now for me (will touch 5kk in Oct).

And i wonder, how a paunchy lazy non-sport geek was able to pick up running as a habit. I remember the diabetic genes i have and the non-workout sedantry lifestyle of my forefathers - people who just run businesses sitting in a clothing store. And by tradition eating lots of ghee, sweets, fried foods and all. Then, how i was able to break free and move in a different diection to call myself a runner?

It started with making a choice. Not a resolution. Not a goal. But a choice of being a person with an identity of a runner - a physically fit person who can run long distances and enjoys every bit of it. (In runners parlance, if you have stress or muddy mind, just go for a run - that kind of attitude.)

And 2 beliefs helped me on the way - picked up from books. 

1. Power of compounding - Read about it a lot in financial space, but thats something on track helped me. As i waded thru my initial runs of 1-2k to 3 to 4 to 5 kms; i realized that effort spent in increasingly lesser. Running as a skill seems to compound over distances.

2. Beliving in the identity - Read in Atomic Habits (by James Clear); book i always recommend as a life bible - When u want to adopt a habit - move over from a goal, and behaviour to identity. 

Most of the time, we set a resolution, a goal to do sth, say run 100 km a month. 

Then we work on our behaviours, the method of attaining the goal. We start running and keep measuring cumulative kms. But then somewhere in the journey we skip a day, 2 days and then it starts becoming daunting and we give up. We come up with excuses to say, had a beer night yesterday, lets skip today. Or had a huge work pressure or that morning review and lets skip it...i am still doinf better than what i thought.

What can keep us going is the belief of having an identity of the person who can achieve the goal, say the runner here. And ask at each point of giving up, as to how the runner will think. Will he give up a day of practise becaus of a presentation? Will he skip a beer party over a morning run? It starts making easier if you work on the identity piece first.

Long post, but i am proud of myself, having maintained this habit to close to 5 years clocking approx 1000 kms annually (except 2019 - 950kms). This year is proving all right as well. 

Cred TVC campaign - Right Hook but no runs?

An ad can tell a #story that can get your #brand attention. It can be damn engaging - funny, shocking, emotional and so on.

But every piece of #communication has an objective. For an online brand it needs to drive awareness that can lead to acquisition. Not just attention but attention that can drive to consideration.

I personally like this TVC series shot with Madhuri, Anil and Bappi Da recently as its damn funny. And i know what cred is. 

But will that ad help a consumer understand the concept of cred? How it helps you earn money on your credit card payment? And get lot many rewards. Otherwise there are so many apps in #fintech space, not to mention wallets of all kinds. Why should i download another. The ad doesnt do that part after having got my attention so well.

IMO, i feel it is super hillarious but whether what will it lead to, is a question. For target audience, it does press the funny bone and engages but doesnt woo me to download.

What do you think?

Here are the links if you havent seen these yet - 

Bappi Lahiri - https://youtu.be/qEqPM7sYFzg

Madhuri Dixit- https://youtu.be/WCZcEad2DzE

Anil Kapoor -https://youtu.be/iW63vNsF8ck

#cred #marketing #advertising

One of India's best Marketer - PM Modi

The 'hook' concept in communication and marketing has been perfected by our PM Modi, especially in dealing with crucial times like today. As a marketer, how to build the core of the message around a hook, enables easy reception, assimilation and execution.

Marketing world uses the same hook for jingles or campaign punchlines; be it 'Thanda matlab Coca Cola' or 'Daag acche hain' and so on.

In recent times, with each address, our PM has coined few hooks for us to show our support and solidarity with covid warriors.

Though, the intent is right, its on to the audience (people of our country) to interpret the message correctly with its depth; and implement these acts with understanding; rather than focusing just on the hook, and incorrectly rejoicing and flouting social distancing.

What do you think on these hooks?

#local pe vocal

#swacch bharat

#aatmnirbhar bharat

#covidtimes #covid #hook #Modi #communication #messaging #marketingissimple

True Marketing is simple.

In this digital world today, a lot is being invented and talked about as the next big thing in marketing. #digitalmarketing, #contentmarketing, #socialmediamarketing #Momentmarketing and so on.

While this could mean a lot of complexity for beginners or non-marketers; ultimately these are all variations of core concepts of marketing in upcoming media types. A piece of communication gets modified basis type of media (TV, FB, YT etc), basis behaviour of users on that platform (time spent, screen size..), and so on.

To bring #simplicity to this madness, this excerpt from #SethGodin's book 'This is Marketing' captures 'What is Marketing' in 5 steps -

1. To invent a thing worth making, with a story worth telling, and a contribution worth talking about.

2. To design & build it in a way that a few people will particularly benefit from and care about.

3. To tell a story that matches the built-in narrative & dreams of that tiny group of people, the smallest viable market.

4. To spread the word.

5. Last step is often overlooked: show up—regularly, consistently, and generously, for years —to organize, lead & build confidence in the change you seek to make.

Above all, best #marketing is supposed to be #simple - for consumers as well as marketers.

#MarketingisSimple

Marketing must evoke emotions else its not Marketing.

Marketing must evoke #feelings!

Not 'better' features. Not  'better' 'reason to believe'(s).

So often while positioning our brand, we write the complex brand key/brand stand or similar #brand #positioning framework to capture key elements leading to how we position the brand.

We also write simple statements to convey the idea in a simpler format, sth like - For [your audience], [your brand] is the [your market] that best delivers on [your brand promise] because [your brand], and only [your brand], is [your evidence].

So, the mechanics of diving deep and defining sharply all these elements to uniquely position your brand is fine. But in one sentence, what your brand should do?

👉 All our marketing must focus on what emotions/feelings it leads to for consumer and does it bring him closer to what his dreams and desires in his life.

👉 What is that feeling or emotion that ur brand will bring? Define it. Freedom. Safety. Arrived. Ecstacy.

👉 Need a Qtr inch drill bit to make a Qtr inch hole or to put up a book shelf to make it look tidy on the wall or to showcase your taste of books and how well read you are?

👉 Need a deodorant to just neutralize body odour or to define how suave you are without speaking thru ur signature fragrance?

Thoughts?
#MarketingisSimple

How Apple learnt from other industries and changed the brand forever.

#Learning from #book - The Four by Scott Galloway.

An interesting insight that Scott brings in his book while talking about Apple is about what made Apple this much successful in terms of a company generating huge profits.

While the entire history about path-breaking innovative simple consumer friendly products  - ipods, iphone etc is well known.

👉 The masterstroke by Jobs was to move away from 'nerdy' domain to luxury! From the likes of IBM, HP to another domain of Luxury and Opulence.

👉 The revealation that one cant charge premium in making better technology products but selling objects of desire and status.

🥇 Thus came the move of dropping 'computers' from 'Apple computers' to just 'Apple' dis-associating from the less pricey computers category.

🥈And creating temples of luxury (Apple Stores) in same neighbourhoods where you buy Prada, LV, etc; selling tech products the way luxury is sold - great lights, abundance of space, pampering service and what not.

And this made it into a brand that you gift others - Ipod, Ipad, Iphone, Smart watch and so on. You rarely gift a computer. You gift perfumes. Social Proof. Not Nerdy IQ thing.

Takeaway - "Learn from disparate categories also!"

Thoughts?

#jobs #Apple #brand #luxury #retail #marketingisSimple #consumer #tech

WFH Collections, really?

#WFH collections, really?

There are news that fashion brands are coming up with Work from Home Collections keeping in mind the consumer needs when they are WFH. After having spent a decade in fashion retailing, i am putting my thoughts below on the topic.

I believe fashion retail is driven by a larger need of social proof. To define the taste we have, labels to tell how much we earn, and where we belong. Now, given social distancing has dented the need for social proof, its not dead.

We still sport social proof clothing for WFH, though more polos, more round necks rather than crisp shirts. For some, the logos on those polos will serve the need to make those hierarchy statements. Others, might sport 'Slogan Tees' to make thier point in resistance and so on.

But yes, comfort will take a higher precedence over trends. More for shorts than trousers. And yes, the thumb rule of 3:1 (top to bottom (trousers) ratio) might stretch to 4 or 5 given the screen limitation on video chat.

But will designs change, i mean a special line of clothing? I dont think so its more like using the popular term. The reason why i am writing about it also means that in times of covid, wfh collection catches attention and thus a chance for a consumer to at least look at a category which will be in extreme pressure. A larger question, is whether our need to keep refreshing our wardrobe from season to season, would that be needed? That will change...at least for a while. Till we come back to normal with the end of #covid.

So, how can fashion industry wade thru these times? I think, there is a need to detach the industry from discretionary to more value. This would require ways and means to attach to fight against covid. Cause based approach wherein society at large can benefit immediately if people purchase now! Shop and then proceeds will enable a, b and c. Some way where consumer feels that shopping will help me with clothes but also do something for others. The freebies can be given away from the piles of inventory which would be unsellable after some time sitting in warehouses given there will be impact on demand in short term.

While quarantine has also stopped most engagememt calendars of fashion brands, still continued dialogue is needed with these brands talking about tips to deal with wfh, bringing stories that can up spirits of consumers, contribute to fight against covid with efforts around may be developing PPE for covid warriors and son.

These are the things that industry has to address rather than wfh collections as of now.

#fashion #apparel #retail #covid19 #wfh #comfort