Sunday, November 27, 2022

5 ways to end meeting madness on a Monday?

5 ways to end meeting madness on a Monday?


1. Email?
Ask first, can it be an email?

2. Type?
Decide what type you want? I classify into -
-Info (Status Update)
-Discussion (Brainstorming)
-Decision

3. Time Duration?
Time them to short & non-standard timings (20 min vs 30 min). Parkinson’s law states work expands to fill time. Attention spans are also dwindling. This helps to NOT discuss the match or movie.

4. Size?
The more, the non-merrier. #Amazon recommends not more than folks sufficing 2 large pizzas.

5. Minutes?
Minutes matter when sent from the meeting itself.
Format: Action-person-end date.
If it’s taking you more than a day or it’s a long 2 pager, you are writing a story not minutes, JkRowling!

Bonus:
Sitting or Standing?
Standing ones are more effective, helps reduce unnecessary chatter. Brave ones can try plank meetings😮‍💨

What else will you add for material meetings?

#meeting #productivity #career

Pic credit - Tom Fishburne

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I write regularly on topics linked to marketing/consumer and habits/productivity. Follow #RunningMarketer

RIP Rasna Man! 5 marketing ways that made kids go 'I love u rasna'

RIP Rasna Man! - 
5 things that he did to make every kid go ‘I love you Rasna’




The founder of the nostalgic popular brand, Rasna - Areez Khambatta passed away yesterday. 

News reminded me of this iconic brand which was our go to drink during summer holidays.

Today, It is used across million households and exported to 60 countries.

Here are 5 #marketing lessons from Rasna-

👉Rebranding - The drink started as ‘Jaffe’ in Gujarat & Maharashtra, prior to 1979 when it was renamed as Rasna, a name out of Hindi word ‘Ras’ meaning juice, a more Indian sounding name vs Jaffe.

👉Value Proposition - In 80s, it presented a clear value proposition of a home made summer drink which is colourful, liked by kids & dirt cheap opposed to bottled soft drinks like thumbs up, Limca.

👉Category Creation - To my mind, it was a classic case of category creation. It was one of the first brands to teach how to use this new category (like Maggi) and shown the procedure of using concentrate to make 32 glasses. 

👉#Advertising - Necessarily, it had kids stories in its ads with orange coloured drink. Stories like - ‘girl talking to teddy bear’, ‘Ab mummy Kay Karegi’…And it ended on a signature and consistent line ‘ I love you Rasna’. 

👉 Rational Purchase - India was so high on value those days, it talked of 5 rupees, 32 glasses in its advertising too!


RIP Rasna Man.

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I write regularly on marketing/consumer trends and habits/productivity tips. Follow #RunningMarketer

India’s largest Media Company = Meta?


India’s largest Media Company = Meta? 
Playbook: 
Social Network -> Attention -> UGC -> Monetisation -> Media Co




👉Social Network
#Facebook started with a bid to join friends with their life updates. 
Gained traction with WOM and soon network effect took off.

👉Attention
It’s easy to lose interest, it kept adding and improving features to keep users hooked. 
-From notifications to apps to news to videos.
-From scrolling right via stories to scrolling up via reels.

With times, bought other apps like Instagram, WhatsApp to remain the largest attention grabbing network globally.

👉UGC/Monetization
To solve content shortage, it educated, promoted and incentivised general users to create content, the biggest differentiator vs media companies like Sony, Zee, Star. 

👉Media
Both Meta and #Google with an unending stream of UGC for user stickiness; are in Top 5 media companies in India today by revenues.

Attention of masses is the biggest asset on this planet!

What will you add in the playbook??

#media #socialmedia 

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I write regularly on marketing/consumer trends and habits/productivity tips. Follow #Runningmarketer

OOH still relevant in 2022?

OOH still relevant in 2022? Just 5-10% media share??

Globally OOH or Out of Home advertising declined during pandemic, but is expected to grow at single digits in coming years.


 Its contribution is under 5% (~36bn/~800bn USD) to total global ad spend.

In india, its share is ~10-12% being a developing economy (with still good chunk of traditional media). 

However, few points make OOH relevant in today's digital times too -

👉With increasing digital fatigue and lower number of billboards on road (esp in india, the number has been pruned by govt), it is more relevant/less cluttered for consumers post pandemic.

👉Imo, OOH can magically bring alive a product's core in a grander way out in open. 


👉If done with an objective to integrate the brand core to marry physical spaces, it can convey the product value proposition like no other medium.


Here are some such magical ones in the deck! Check them out.

Do you recall any outdoors ad that was simply magical?

#ooh #advertising #marketing #media


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I write regularly on topics linked to marketing/consumer and habits/productivity. 
Follow #RunningMarketer 

Hope is a losing strategy in times of layoffs!

Hope is a losing strategy in today's times!

Hope is the oxygen for life. Hope enables us for the state that 'end of the hardships is near. Tomorrow is the dawn.'

But with longer periods of dusk, it starts becoming like a joke and breaks us.

Resilient people on the other hand combat tough times better, says an #HBR research. They essentially do 2 things -

👉They accept the harsh realities facing them.

Instead of denial, take a sober view of reality. You’ll prepare & train yourself to survive, assuming long winters.

☝️Admiral Stockdale was held prisoner in camps and tortured by the Vietcong, but survived 8 years in part by accepting he could be held for a long time. Vs  those died being broken hearts thinking they will be out this christmas, easter..

👉They find meaning in terrible times & develop alternate goals.

Don't view yourself as a victim to cry, “Why me?”

Rather, devise constructs about your suffering to create meaning for yourself & others.

✌️Nazi Camps survivor Victor Frankl did so by imagining himself giving a lecture after the war on the psychology of the surviving camp to help outsiders understand what he had been through.

By creating meaningful alternate goals for himself, he rose above the sufferings of the moment. You can read more in his book, 'Man's search for meaning'.

What advice would you add for such times?

#life #jobs #layoffs

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Podcasts? Branded?


Branded Podcasts? A good channel or a fad?

Facts -
- India is world’s third largest country by podcast listeners ( After Us and China)
- ~60-75 m MAU #podcast listeners in India (~12% of digital India)
-It is under 1% of digital spends in the country.

Is the medium significant?
Not yet, but it’s accelerating. You now find podcasts on every audio streaming app - Spotify, Gaana, Prime Music and so on. Audible too. Google and Apple podcasts are abviously there.

However, it’s creators or influencers that are leveraging thier already huge following on social media on podcasts.

Coming to branded podcasts.

With more story driven #D2C brands in India, there is a genuine following of person driven brands (mostly founders) leading to a strong community.

#Community driven brands will excel at podcasts imo. They have genuine proposition or evolution story to tell and listen to. The medium also help connect users to brands closely with straight QnA or co-opting in the journey without spends on expensive video content.

‘Do what floats your boat’ by Boat, ‘The gentleman’s show’ by The Man Co are some of the branded podcasts available in India.

However, Till the Jio led cheap data is here, podcasts still is on backfoot vs video.

Which podcast is your favourite?
I like firstprinciples on spotify by Ken.

Pic credits - One of the most famous podcasts globally, Joe Rogan.

#marketing #content

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I write regularly on topics linked to marketing/consumer and habits/productivity. Follow #RunningMarketer on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitinchandil


Hooks everywhere even in the titles! Dont judge a book by its cover is passe?

When Sh*t and F*ck make it to the best selling book titles?

From the likes of books like 7 habits of highly effictive people; we have come a long way. 

I guess diminishing attention spans and bombardment of messages with 24*7 always on mobile internet; we are just doing selective attention tasks.

We read the posts with 'hooked' titles. We watch the content that is byte sized. If it doesn't make a cut in the first few seconds, we swipe up. 
We check trending stuff on news, what's on right now.

Hook is everywhere.

And 'hook' claims that we 'save' effort (of wading through uninteresting stuff) by choosing the hook.

Essentially, its all about save time from slow stuff. 

Get instant outcomes.

Fast food, Crash course, YT Shorts, Book Summaries, Quick Commerce.

Are we in such rush to save on time?

Where are we using that saved time?

Think.

Actually that device that claims to save time has only sucked your time!!

More on that later.

#books #marketing #life 

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I write regularly on topics linked to marketing/consumer and habits/productivity. 
Follow #RunningMarketer on LinkedIn 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitinchandil


Starbucks - The Strategy Lesson


#starbucks  - The strategy Lesson.

Starbucks was founded in 1971 by 3 friends (not including Schultz), selling dark roasted coffee.

In 1981, Schultz joined the company and started his italian tour of studying the coffee bar culture there.

Schultz was awed by the grace and flair of Italian coffee bars, where expensive coffee was served in a relaxed social setting.

In contrast, coffee culture in US was comprised of cheap, bland coffee.

Post his trip, he made a hypothesis - The Italian espresso experience could be re-created in America and the public would embrace it.

He then started testing this by setting up the first espresso bar in seattle.

He realized that American preferred table chairs vs standing bars in Italy. He changed the furniture.

He realized that they wanted coffee on the move and not in fancy cups unlike italy. So he introduced paper cups.

And many more such variations while doing hypothesis testing and refining ideas basis results; its what it is today-

 An american original.

#Strategy is not just a static plan; its much closely knitted to the ground actions warranting perennial refinement and tweaks.

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I write regularly on topics linked to marketing/consumer and habits/productivity. 
Follow #RunningMarketer on LinkedIn 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitinchandil

To attain goals, Be an imposter of a new identity first!

40 days to 2023. 
Still want to achieve those goals?
Be an IMPOSTER!

We mostly begin the process of changing our habits by focusing on what we want to achieve. 

Outcomes. Goals.

- Weight loss
- Fab abs
- Startup

It fails because when you don't see results by following a system, we tune out.

Start with identity.

Why?
Our current behaviors are a reflection of our current identity.

To change your behavior for good, we need to start believing new things about ourselves.

Ask yourself, “Who is the type of person that could get the outcome I want?”

- A model
- An athlete
- An entrepreneur

At a deeper level, this is about defining new beliefs -
What do you want to stand for?
What are your principles and values? 

- I started with "I stand for anything 'health and fitness' in my friends & family circle."

Difficult part is, we ourselves are only not convinced. 
-I am NOT this person yet!

That's where, being an IMPOSTER helps.

When you masquerade, you have to start thinking and proving your new identity to yourself.

On how an athlete will think when offered a late night booze party? Ditch.

On how an entrepreneur will think when offered to be limited at job? Ditch & Start.

And one day you will BECOME.

Thats why i say, be an imposter.

#habit #career #job #runningmarketer

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I write regularly on topics linked to marketing/consumer and habits/productivity. 
Follow #RunningMarketer on LinkedIn 

Monkeys on your back are pulling your productivity down?


🐒 Monkey on your back?


You’re racing down the hall. Your reportee stops you and says, “We’ve got a problem.” 

You listen to him but can’t make an on-the-spot decision. You say, “Let me think about it.” 

👉You’ve just allowed a “monkey” to leap from your subordinate’s back to yours. 

👉You’re now working for your subordinate . 

👉Take on enough monkeys, and you won’t have time to handle your real job: fulfilling your own boss’s mandates and helping peers generate business results. 

How to avoid accumulating monkeys? 

👉Develop your subordinates’ initiative.

For example, in such a scenario, clarify that he needs to come back with - recommendation , take action and report outcome at a regular update. 

When you encourage employees to handle their own monkeys, they acquire new skills—and you liberate time to do your own job.

- Tip from an article by William Oncken, Jr., and Donald L. Wass published in Harvard Business Review 

#work #career #tip #productivity #job

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I write regularly on topics linked to marketing/consumer and habits/productivity. 
Follow #RunningMarketer on LinkedIn 

Sunday, November 13, 2022

When the humble kaapi met the affluent Latte!


I wonder, when the co-founder of Starbucks, Zev Siegl recently visited Bangalore's heritage shop - Vidyarthi Bhawan for a quick taste; he must have done this thousands of time;sampling coffees across continents and soaking in how consumers sip coffee everywhere.

With glocalisation, it's important that brands offer consumers to taste the best of both worlds - signature stuff the brand stands for globally as well as modification or new products lines keeping local sensibilities and flavours in mind.

#Starbucks this year has launched filter coffee & masala chai in their menu along with stuff like chole kulche in India.

#McDonald's has been selling Aloo tikki burger for years now in India and it has been adopted in the global menu under vegan options.

#Snickers introduced the veg version in India only (eggless).

#harleydavidson recently launched tough turbans in thier range of accessories considering a lot of sikhs community drive thier vehicle.

But for all that thing to happen, understanding consumers by immersing themselves in the market is what is a must!

#consumerbehavior #marketing

Top 5 ways to build habit forming products?

Top 5 ways to make your product a habit-forming one?

'Hooked' by Nir Eyal is a must read on the subject. My picks from the book -

1. Become a Guru.
Thats what most brand build - a library of great Content on thier transactional apps - like #Zerodha varsity.

2. Become a Friend.
Personalize. Recommend. Valuable reminders. That wife's anniversary tip. #Cred saves the day on bills.

3. Become a Community.
Standing for a common cause in the category & solving consumer pain points. #Nike+, Redbull have embraced this so well.

4. Dont build point programs for loyalty. Build VAS, consumer will pay for. Like #Amazon Prime.

5. Don't make a super app to build frequency. Cut confusion. Retain focus.

What would you add there?

#product #marketing  #growth #book

Peak End Rule - Whats more memorable - Dhoni's six Vs Gambhir's 97?

More memorable of 2011 world cup - Dhoni's hitting 6 in 2011 world cup (91*) or Gambhir's above the order 97?

You went to a movie. The beginning and the middle was boring. But the end was awesome. Your mind will still rate it - awesome. (Bruce Willis's Sixth sense?)

Apart from the end, we also remember some of the extreme scenes in the middle; those peaks that were unusually good or worst. (Kashmir Files' 2 extreme scenes!!)

That's peak-end rule at play. 

When we remember something, our brain ignores most of it. It picks only the 'peaks' and the 'end' more than anything out of a story, movie, #content..any experience; and makes an assessment of it, based on that only.

Despite a poor #experience throughout, if the brand makes it sweetest at the end, your #NPS rating would still be 8-10/10. 

So, its important that as marketers, we build those peaks in our content or experiences along with pleasant endings. 

That unique mouth freshening pouches in a restaurant. Or that peak moment clicked at a Disney ride given at end!

Any relatable examples?

#marketing 

Strategy is God?

Strategy is God.

It pervades everywhere.

From man on the moon strategy to how to tie shoe laces strategy.
Basic strategy. Sophisticated strategy. Winning strategy. Losing strategy. #Marketing strategy. Sales strategy. HR strategy.

‘strategy’ derives from the Greek strategia, = ability to employ available resources to win a military conflict.

Simply put, strategy is a cohesive response (analyses, concepts, arguments, policies and actions) to an important challenge.

Not a standalone decision.
Not a goal.

It’s important to distinguish and use the word. 

Richard Rumelt in his book, Good Strategy Bad Strategy; talks about -

#Strategy = Diagnosis + Guiding Policy + coherent action

Diagnosis = Identification of problems/obstacles
Guiding policy = Specific approach selected to solve problems
Coherent action = detailed how to ( policy, resources,actions) to carry out Guiding policy.

Do the below sound okay as strategy?
-Our strategy is to grow 10X in 3 years. 
-Our game strategy today is to go out there and score!

#execution 

How much is that connected TV costing you?

Smart Idiot box draws 25% of waking life!

Our attention is the biggest resource to be managed, along with the time we fill for it.

Series on Apps like #netflix increasingly use ‘peak end’ rule, to leave you wanting more after each episode & making you binge watch.

How to get out of it?

Fix the time slot and pause after it to resume later next day, vs binge watch.

Connected TV means control is with you vs with the now smart idiot box.

Don’t lose control.

On of my favourite speakers, Jim Rohn mentions a story - When he asked his friend on how much did this grand ultra sized recently purchased TV costing him, his friend mentioned proudly the price tag.

Later jim told him, that the cost is actually several million dollars over the years, of the time that it will suck perenially.

Who much is the smart idiot box costing you?

#smart #entertainment

Psychology behind 'I know'


Psychology behind 'I know' 

Generally when asked about something, our default response (despite having a very hazy idea) is that 'I know'. 

In an experiment, people were asked if they know 'how zippers work?'

And then asked to rate themselves on a scale of 10 on how well they know it.

Then they were given a pen and paper to explain. And again asked to rate. 

Their scores plummeted.

This phenomenon is called the ‘Illusion of Explanatory Depth’.

The illusion that we understand things better than we actually do. 

We think we understand how things work. Even when we don’t.

This often leads to - 
☝️ end of conversation as the other person stops and doesnt explain further 
✌️ you remain poorer under this mirage that you know.

How to counter this?
👉Convert 'I know' to saying 'I want to know'.
👉Be the last one to speak, if you really want to educate yourself.

Have you caught yourself in a conversation saying 'I know' when somebody just started saying something?

 #work #life #tips #growth 

Thursday, October 27, 2022

1000 true fans?


Power of 1000 true fans > Power of mass media?

In times of efficient and ROI driven #marketing, power of #community is a big lever.

Kevin kelly wrote an essay in 2008 stating the power of first 1000 fans -

"A true fan is defined as a fan that will buy anything you produce. These diehard fans will drive 200 miles to see you sing; they will buy the hardback and paperback and audible versions of your book and so on.

If you have roughly a thousand of true fans (also known as super fans), you can make a living — if you are content to make a living but not a fortune."

And here is how it works. You need to meet two criteria -

1. You have to create enough each year that you can earn, on average, $100 profit from each true fan.

2. You must have a direct relationship with your fans. That is, they must pay you directly.

If you keep the full $100 of each true fan, then you need only 1,000 of them to earn $100,000 per year. That’s a living for most folks.

Earlier this phenomenon was difficult to achieve because of lack of direct relationship/transaction with customers, but with #ecommerce, D2C and p2p digital payments, this concept is the backbone behind many brands globally.

Thats why brands of today aspire global demand because they now have this power of a connected world!

These brands focus on direct contact with customers to leverage this principle of true 1000 fans!

And yes, more often than not, you dont see these brands spend on mass media because the community helps them grow. They dish out challenges, rewards, parties first to those fans and then to the world at large!

#D2C enables efficiency in marketing and #sales and business!

Have you experienced the power of thousand true fans yet? Not customers, but fans.

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Book Review - Good to Great by Jim Collins


Books worth enough to share your life with -
"Good to Great" by Jim Collins

This is like a book '7 habits of highly effective people' applied to companies! It traces progress of ~1500 companies to come up with 11 which beat competition consistently for 15 years in his research.

And filtered the 'reason why' into a behaviour model of 'Good to Great' shown in the picture split into disciplined people, desciplined thought, desciplined action. 

Apart from doggedness to keep at doing things, he defines discipline around 'clarity and focus' which is a gem nuance. wavering strategy or doing multiple things, back and forth is example of indiscipline.

The #audible version has voice of author himself and the way he narrates the book, he is so passionate in his work, it seems as if you are part of the discussion! Must listen.

However, apart from the company's behaviour aspects; i felt same can be applied to individuals in thier lives & careers -

1. Level 5 #leadership - A humble but firm leadership behaviour. Not flamboyant, not charming but simple people with no egos dedicated to the objective. None of these companies have those celeb leaders!

2. First who, then what - While embarking on a vision, its important yo figure who is on the bus (like-minded) & then decide to what to do next. Else, you falter easily as people leave the bus if mis-aligned.

3. Confront the brutal facts - Running away from reality doesnt help. And quoting future vision without confronting reality is like ostrich with his neck under sand.

4. Hedgehog concept - This is crux of this book. We should figure the intersection of 
-what we are passionate about, 
-what are our skills/talent that we are good at, and
-what is our economic engine ( how we can make money out of the two by figuring a matket and a metric that uniquely drives us to the vision)

5. Culture of #descipline, not hierarchical. Descipline by auto mode vs forced; enabled by disciplined thinking and disciplined control. No bureaucracy.

6. #Technology as accelerator, not as 'the' thing to change fortunes. First figure hedgehog concept and then apply technology if it helps you accelerate the focus via hedgehog. For eg. Clarity of thought boosted by tech is a dangerous thing.

7. #Flywheel - The good to great transformation is not like a revolution, its like slow and steady evolution. It builds up turn by turn on a steering wheel till you pass through a breakthrough. Its like a decade long overnight sensation!
Loved it to the core. Become a fan of Jim Collins. Its like those re-reads kind of books.

Which #book have you loved recently? Share your recommendations for a business book for my next read.

How to remember things for ever?


How to learn, to apply forever?

‘Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.’ – Benjamin Franklin

We all accept that learning is the no 1 #skill to grow - in #life, #career; everywhere. But have you thought about right model of learning? Learning that sticks with you, vs a hazy memory that I did read something about this but currently it’s failing me. Learning should result in a skill adoption that doesn’t require conscious thinking - like in case of riding a cycle. Once you learn it with deliberate practise, next time you just need a cycle and your brain takes over.

A model by trio authors (McDaniel, Roediger and Brown) of ‘Made to Stick’ suggest 3 steps to such learning -

1. ‘Encoding’ - is the first stage which is about conversion of perceptions into meaningful patterns in the brain. Like drawing rough sketches in the brain, giving you a hazy silhouette of what you are trying to learn.

2. ‘Consolidation’ - is like the process of tidying up the notes you scribbled during class—typing them up neatly in a document, adding examples and charts for clarity. With this stage, brain strengthens the hazy silhouette by rearranging the earlier patterns to make sense of them.

3. ‘Retrieval’ - is accessing the learnt information using cues that help us recall it. Methods such as quizzing on the material, teaching the concept to someone else or applying in a real-life situation help strengthen this stage. Every time we retrieve and apply what we have learnt, the skill and associated memory become stronger until it is almost effortless.

So, now you have a model to learn sth for permanency!

If you realise, my #linkedin posts are part of the stage 3 of this model. And that’s how small efforts like posts, add to my #learning!

Thanks for being my audience and helping me learn, everyday. 🙏

50 years of Eno in India - From antigas to dhokhla


50 years of ENO in India - A tale of Acidity & Dhokla!

#ENO antacid dates back to the 19th Century, when James Crossley Eno first introduced it as a “fruit salt” to help sailors stay healthy on long journeys.
The pharmacy from where it was sold was situated on a seaport with a lot of sea traffic. This was a boon for ENO as sailors used to eat large quantities of food on return and faced acidity issues.

India is the largest market for ENO. We know it as the no 1 remedy for acidity issues thanks to its ‘fastest acidity solve’ claim, hammered over the years into consumer psyche via brilliant #advertising. Lines like -

ENO ON, Acidity Gone.

ENO gets to work in 6 seconds.

ENO ON, gadbad Gone.

show that the consistency on #positioning and great creative executions have ensured that consumers can’t think anything else. 

Do you remember the no 2 brand in quick relief antacid salts?

Its a great legacy brand known worldwide for its 100+ years of history and its focus on consumers acidity issues.

But if you dive deep in India, the kicker is the use of ‘lemon’ ENO in a dish called dhokla. As per popular recipes for the dish, one can use lemon ENO in place of baking soda + citric acid for this popular dish. Not sure how much sales it commands for this end use; but YouTube is replete with recipes of eno Khama dhokla. Statewise per capita sales share might validate whether in states where the dish is popular, is there any correlation or not. 

As a composite result of all, it commands ~45-50% market share, with ~600-700 cr sales and is now celebrating 50 years in India!

#marketing #brand 

Pic credits - tastecooking.com

Heart & Soul of a brand?

Heart & Soul of a brand?

1. Belong anywhere
2. Authentic Athletic Performance
3. Fun Family Entertainment
4. Rewarding Everyday Moments
5. Everyday low prices

Do these phrases ring any brand names in your mind?

These phrases or group of words are never shown in public or to the customers.

Marketers first craft thier brand strategy (a few frameworks to define positioning, persona, etc).

Then apply thier toolkit of ATL, BTL & 360 degree touchpoint experience to evoke this feeling or impression in minds of customers aligned to these phrases.

These phrases are called the heart & soul of the brand. Also called as #BrandEssence. 

We as marketers even look at each image/copy/video and assess whether the outcome thought/feeling after seeing/reading; lands there most of the times - in those group of words.

We ponder questions like -

Do a bunch of boys in the shot generate a feeling of friends having fun or they are just a group?

Do the shoe video talking about the show or the feeling of 'doing sth' when you wear it?

Does the store ambience and lighting evoke seclusion or friendliness? Dark & yellow or Bright & White?

And so on.

If as marketers, we can evoke this feeling in mind & heart of the customers, which is = heart & soul of the brand. We feel on the top of the world!!

#marketing #positioning #brand 

PS - Did you got all 5 brands right?

Why do you check that app frequently?


Why do you check that app frequently? 
Because u know u will see something new?
Or, Because u just might see something new?

Read that again!

Yes, ‘MIGHT’ signify the concept of the variable reward. 

This concept was discovered by psychologist B.F. Skinner in 1950s when he put a bunch of pigeons in a cage. There was a lever in the cage, every time a pigeon tapped a lever, a pellet of food was delivered. 

Skinner then introduced variability: food pellets were not delivered at every tap of the lever, but at random intervals. 

And this made pigeons go 😜 , the number of times they tapped the lever increased dramatically!

This was Unpredictable/Variable rewards at play. 

Our habit to go back to that app is a result of our brain’s craving for novelty and pattern identification. 

When we know what the reward is going to be every time, we grow uninterested, but when there is no obviously apparent pattern, we get hooked.

Every app wants to become a slot machine!

Have you got over that app addiction yet?

 #marketing #product #habits

Book Review - The great mental models by Shane Parrish

Finished this #book recently - The great #mentalmodels by Shane Parrish.

The premise for one to read the book is - In life and business, the person with the fewest blind spots wins. 

Blind spots are areas which which we don’t know that we don’t know. 

Until, we figure multiple mental models which people apply across disciplines, we would be at the mercy of our default mental models. 

Mental models describe the way the world works. They shape how we think, understand, and form beliefs. These are largely at play in subconscious!

Some of the key Mental Models from the book:

#firstprinciples Thinking

Break a complicated concept/problem to building blocks, the first principles. Remove all existing beliefs or assumptions. What remains are the essentials. 

First-principles expose the boundaries that you have to work within. From this, you can challenge the fundamental assumptions of the situation more effectively. It’s a must have Recipie for disruption.

How to arrive at them - 5 Why’s is a good approach. Keep asking why at each level till u have at least five whys. 

#SecondOrderThinking

When making choices, consider not just immediate; but distantsecond and subsequent order consequences that help you avoid future problems. When making a decision, ask this question: And then what?

#Inversion

Inversion means approaching a situation from the opposite end of the natural starting point. Start by assuming that what you’re trying to prove is either true or false, then show what else would have to be true. 

Sherlock homes was assigned a task of finding x is having a valuable picture. Straight approach is to first assess if x has that picture - Search the house to figure etc. 

Inversion is to assume x has the picture. He burns nearby area to create panic for x to leave house. X runs out with valuable picture out herself! Power of inversion!

Any other book on mental models you recommend?

Should brands bow down for advising a story of change?


Should brands bow down for advising a story of change?

Brands tell stories.

Stories that reflect the society at times, and stories that defy the society.

Ultimately storied to land a message - might be aligned to existing norms of the society, or might be suggesting a change.

Change to break away. And start something new.

Change is difficult. But change is the only constant. Change at times, or most of the times is progress. Or at least a strong effort to think different.

However, there are things which nobody would want to change. And things which are open to be thought of at least.

Who decides that? Audience does.

And that’s why -

A section of audience would like the way current things are.

A section will like a new and fresh thinking.

Some will boycott. Some will not.

Some will remember the brand for pushing boundaries and challenge status quo. Some will hate it for doing it.

But brands need to stand by thier narratives and stories. Not bow down under pressure.

I remember Nike’s ad on taking a stand around racism by bringing -Colin Kaepernick, an outcast American football player and civil rights activist .

Despite pressures from media and thier share price going down under furore - Did they take it off? No


Did the brand wither away? No. It’s stands stronger. And I guess that’s fans expected from thier brand that is thier mentor on pushing human limits around athletics.

What do you think from a #brand perspective?

#marketing #advertising

PS - The recent AUFinanceBank Ad featuring Aamir & Kiara talks about groom entering the bride’s house after wedding for Pelham Kadam vs bride. Earlier, Manyavar had a narrative around kanyadan. Tanishq had one talking about adoption of cross-religion customs.

Metaverse - a fad?


Metaverse - a new wave like Social media?

Back in 2006-07, there was a new wave of social media & digital marketing trying to redefine how brands communicated and engaged with people. 

It started as a fad, when brands ignored it first, then adopted like experiments with 1% of budgets to today, where it is one of the top 2 spend channels.

Metaverse, is in the same zone as social/digital was back then.

Brands created pages on social media platforms. Then, they added interactive stuff via various widgets and apps to build engagement. Then came idea of selling via social.

Even customers first created thier profiles. Then they connected with friends, built communities. Then, they started reading news. And today, it is a complete entertainment package, where people open these apps to see some random byte sized content (call it reels or shorts).

Same trend seems building for Metaverse. People are creating thier avatars. Kids are already used to such parallel places via games like roblox or minecraft. Adults have had this virtual reality life (WFH)during COVID via zoom and are now living a hybrid work life already.

Brands are creating Metaverse stores, buying retail space in Metaverse (will you call it ‘un’real estate 🙄) - Samsung, Adidas in Metaverse like Decentraland, The Sandbox. 

CPG Brands like Coca Cola, Nike etc have done various events in Metaverse to promote a new product line or special events. Walmart has a Walmartland in Roblox and has released a video on how they imagine shopping at walmart in Metaverse (it’s interesting if you haven’t seen it yet - link in comment).

And yes people can buy from brands in these Metaverses. So, the proposition is that consumer can shop from say Macy’s physical store in NY from Bangalore by visiting its Metaverse store and get the purchase delivered in real world! 

Sounds exciting?

#metaverse #marketing #ecommerce #social

Brand Signage stunts- from Lucy Pizza to NolhtaceD?


Brand Signage stunts- from Lucy Pizza to NolhtaceD?

Brands are about stories. Stories that connect. And if stories, translate into reality; nothing like it! 

Here is how two brands - Domino’s and Declathon played with thier signage for few stores to tell beautiful stories.

#Domino's rebranded one of its stores in order to honor Lucy Bronze, an English woman footballer ahead of the Euro 2022 final. Lucy Bronze worked as a chef at Domino's in Headingley while studying at Leeds Beckett University in the early 2010s.

French sports apparel brand #Decathlon changed its signage of 3 stores in Belgium to promote "reverse shopping", through which people in the country can sell their sporting products to the company to support environment friendly practice of reuse. So, the brand literally reversed thier logo!

Do you remember any other such story of #logo change?

#marketing

New Modern Sarees from Tata, Birla & Ambani

Indian modern Sarees - now from Tata, Birla and Ambanis!

India sells ~50000 cr worth of Sarees annually. Out of which ~27% was organized market in FY20, which is slated to grow to 40% by FY25.

New cool brands have been growing with modernised play on sarees. Taniera by Tata, Navyasa by Birla and Avantea by Ambanis are some those new brand launched in last 5 years. 

The erstwhile biggies - Nallis, Kalyan Silks, Pothys, Chennai Silks have been there since ages selling buildings full of traditional sarees.

Interesting play in retail with again expansion of exclusive stores by each of the new brands. 

Definitely, there is a gap in the market with the dearth of modern sari specific brands, contrasting to plethora of western wear brands. 

W and Biba capitalised on this gap earlier in non-saree ethnic market earlier.

Interesting to see, how things pan out.

Where do you buy your sarees from?

#fashion #retail #brand #sarees 

Startups & Leap of faith?



Startups & Leap of faith?

From leap of faith, the best example that comes to my mind is that of Hanuman doing a leap over the Indian ocean to lanka in our mythology epic Ramayana.

At first, he just had a problem at hand that he had to find the whereabouts of Sita. He was confounded as to how he will reach lanka which cant be seen from naked eyes and its only water everywhere in sight.

He didn't remember any of his magical power giving him confidence that he could do it. He was made to remember his might, later by his team members. He gained strength, but still wasn't sure.

Later, its the leap of faith. Faith in his idol Ram. He then believed in himself and jumped off over the ocean. He needed to believe that he HAS to find Sita. He defied gravity by believing that he has the rocket fuel(magical powers) within him to sail through!

Similarly, #Startup culture is all about believing in yourself (irrespective of your earlier experiences) and taking the plunge in something you might not have done earlier.

You generally set out to do the impossible or something big that looks impossible under constraints of time. And once you achieve the same, you wonder, how we did it.

One key trait in this playbook is to try things which are different from convention itself. For eg, if the normal industry does this for ages, who can we defy those assumptions or constraints and then think fron there. This #firstprinciples thinking is at the heart of startup thinking and should be in #career and #life as well.

Believe in yourselves!
Defy assumption!
Take that leap of faith.

Happy #diwali ! 

Saturday, August 27, 2022

Obsession with KPIs - Popular Post from Linkedin.


Obsession with #KPIs

In my personal experience across companies, there is this madness to track everything. You will find a dashboard with lots of colours, shapes and trend charts showing slices and dices of data.

Somebody said - " Whatever gets measured, gets done". Very rightly pointed out, given until we measure we wouldn't know how good or bad e are doing. Then only you can apply resources to improve!

But, there is this concept of 'Efficiency' and 'Effectiveness', i think Peter Drucker mentioned this in his milestone book 'The effective Executive'. 

#Efficiency is how well a process or task is getting executed. For eg, Making a product in part in a factory is taking XX minutes at YY rupees cost.

#Effectiveness is about assessing whether that part is needed in great supply or at lowest cost at all, given its a part which is not a bottleneck at all to push production!

Having KPIs to just keep tracking efficiency is a drain on resources and direction for entire org. Keeping minimal but effective metrics is essential for entire org to keep thier focus on those few that are effective and matter the most.


Another concept that Amazon prescribes is the #input metrics tracking apart from output metrics. Until we track what all we are putting in (say spends in media, hrs in training, points of distribution..), outcomes of sales wouldn't happen! 

Infact, Input metrics tracking is the holy grail of KPIs and Dashboards!

Any other concepts you picked around KPIs?

credits for cartoon - Tom Fishburne 

#growth #analytics #data

Apply the art of Storytelling. Everywhere.


Classic Fairytales > #Data & Spreadsheets

I was teaching my son the following expression in algebra -
x(y+3)= xy+3x,
however he was only multiplying x with y and leaving 3 separate. I told him multiple times via logic, bodmas etc but he kept repeating the same mistake.

Then my wife told him a story - A guest is ringing a doorbell of house, he is standing out of the house(x). In the house, y and 3 stay together (y+3). When they open the door(brackets), both y and 3 meet the guest x (multiplication) and they spend good fun time together.

The result was astonishingly strong, he didn’t do any further mistake! I realised the power of storytelling even in algebra.

Similarily at work or in life, it’s important to harness the power of #storytelling vs keep sticking to spreadsheets. Now, more and more organisations are switching to #narrative  writing vs power points or just tables as exemplified by Amazon  with the doc writing that crystallises everything from mind to the 6 pager what, why, how, who etc).

And to learn from classical fairy tales, there is always this broad structure at work as well-

- Beginning - Once upon a time | Market was like this…
- Context - There was a king and queen | We did a,b and c
- Problem - But they were sad because of | however the kpis didn’t move
- Solution - Then the hero did this | Then we took actions x,y,z
- Evaluation - And they lived happily ever after | Resulted in kpi movement
- Moral of Story - Learning | Learning’s and way forward

Do you have more such insights out of plain logic vs #stories experiments?

Get Drunk with Happy Harmones!


Got drunk in the morning ever?
I do. Regularly.



With Happy Hormones!

Yes. I am back on running track in between with cult classes. Ran 50km for July; good start after a hiatus. Loving the happy hormones rush through the day to keep me full of life! Once done in morning, you are drunk through the day with energy!

As you know, Hormones are produced by human body after certain activities. Certain hormones are known to help promote positive feelings, including happiness and pleasure.These “happy hormones” include:

Dopamine. Also known as the “feel-good” hormone.

Serotonin. This hormone helps regulate your mood as well as your sleep, appetite, digestion, learning ability, and memory.

Oxytocin.This hormone can also help promote trust, empathy, and bonding in relationships.

Endorphins. Endorphins are your body’s natural pain reliever, which your body produces in response to stress or discomfort. 

Try a 20-30 min morning physical activity for 21 days; i bet you will feel a lot more alive and addicted more than any alcohol to keep doing the same thing everyday. It’s been 7 years since I embraced running and it has turned my life upside down - from how I weigh to how energised I am thru the day to an entire identity it has given me! 

As world famous Dilbert cartoonist says - We should not get drained by time management or task prioritisation tactics, we need to do energy management as with high levels of energy, we can tore down a big task in less time vs otherwise.

Have you experienced such happy harmones already? 

In running circles, it’s said - When u feel bored or tired, u go for a run! Contrary to popular belief of ‘Running long distances will drain you’, it is actually energising and for me it’s like #Meditation. 

Try it!

#life #health #work #management #tip

Never Ending Money + Kids

Concept of "Never ending #Money"!


In discussions with kids of today, few interesting insights came across about money. The thing most run after in life -

1. Getting Money is very Easy.
2. And its unending!

How? When i asked kids-

1. We just have to go to ATM, insert card and get money. We can get as many times we want, Papa/Mummy does the same!😂

Another kid showing greater wisdom said...no no -

2. Even, going to ATM is also not needed. Its through UPI in mobile. Just scan the code anywhere and you can buy anything! 😅

And when asked about -
why you need so many pens at one go?
why throw the pen away if it runs out?
Why not use a refill?

The answers was -
3. What is a refill?😭
4. Order from Amazon it will come by tomorrow!

With such definitions, I felt we need to bring in offline money and teach them value of money. One of the perils of using online money is weakening of mathematical skills. You dont need to subtract on how much money, the shopkeeper should return!!

My takeaway with small kids immersion as parent -

1. Get kids do the offline transaction at say self serve food counters where they need to order with real notes & bring back receipt and change.
2. Get them to manage a monthly budget for thier own stuff and do reconciliation at end of month.
3. Use refills and ration the pens per usage.
4. When something runs out, send them to offline shop to purchase the single pen/eraser needed to teach them value of 'physical effort' to get things.

Being part of Tech/ecommerce industry, i know its quite contrary to what we do - bringing convenience with doorstep delivery. 

But kids need to understand that the delivery wale bhaiya is replacing your effort to acquire things...and they should do the same to understand life! 

#insights #parenting #life #ecommerce

Language Market Fit

Language Market Fit



To achieve product market fit, there is also an element of language market fit. Apart from how superbly product is solving a consumer need, if the way it is communicated to consumers (which confuses or doesnt resonate) is key to achieving #PMF.

This concept is closer to #positioning in classical #marketing.

In a lot of categories which are very new, how we position our product kills or puts product on an upward spiral.

 Here are 3 examples of how 3 key products communicated themselves in a 
fantastic way...coming from milestone companies! 

#1
Not fit - A simple portable mp3 players with XXX MB memory for loads of songs, XX Mhz processor for speed & minimal switches.
Fit - 1000 songs in your Pocket!

#2
Not fit - A modern portable device with XX GB memory & long lasting charge to store thousands of books to read whenever wherever & with whispernet you can start reading new books in under 60 seconds.
Fit - Take your book library with you!

#3
Not fit - Upload your videos.
Fit - Broadcast Youself.

Guessed them right?

Ipod, Kindle, YouTube.

Runner's Update - 6000kms Up.

#Health post

Celebrating 6000kms on road, thanks to my legs and pairs of Nike.




This creative from Nike sums up everything a runner experiences. 

Shoes giving life like lungs to us!

A runner thinks like this -

When in distress, go for a run (Meditation)

When tired, go for a run 
(Rejuvenation)

When in anger, go for a run
(Calmification)

When looking for answers, go for a run
(Ideation)

When bored, go for a run
(Recreation)

When want to workout, go for a run
(Excercise)

and so on...

But always...
Run, walk or crawl...just keep moving
 forward!

#running #life 

TikTok's Swiping Up - The new cocaine



‘Swiping up’ - the latest habit difficult to undo.

#TikTok, the inventor of the short video format on social, developed this swiping up feature. And that drove its popularity by leaps and bounds.

When Tik Tok was banned in India, it already had 190 million app downloads. Globally, it already beats YouTube in the number of hours that viewers spend on its platform. By the end of 2022, it is expected to have 1.8 billion users bringing it much closer to Instagram.

#Instagram reached two billion active users in Q3 2021. It is on track to reach 2.5 billion by 2023. The popular feature ‘Reels’ was copied from TikTok.

#YouTube and then even #Facebook launched short videos with same swiping up feature.

While Facebook overall is struggling on user growth, the video format is helping to keep pace with other platforms to retain attention of users.

YouTube too, has seen the consumer behaviour changing to shorter version and has ‘Shorts’.

So, why is this short video growing like a drug?

Because it’s entertainment at a swipe. Random videos that platform suggests to cater to this human need to ‘run away when bored’. And swiping up is super easy!

And if I don’t like first video, I will swipe to second and third and fourth…remember TV channel surfing habit of yesteryear’s ?

Now, here is what shocked me.

I saw kids aged under 10, using YouTube shorts. So, when parents want them to eat or give them some gratification time with mobile, this is what they do. They swipe. Mindlessly. From one video to another.

When asked, why do you like these videos?
Because they are funny & small.

Why have you subscribed so many random channels?
People in video told me to subscribe now if you want to get A or dont want A.

For eg, one so called influencer says ‘ subscribe if you like your parents’. This I found disgusting.

In videos these folks, use kids placating tactics with some reference to cartoon character or rhymes to push thier content to more such easy targets & get more followers!

Obviously, kids shouldnt have access to mobiles and even social. But reality is that kids do access youtube on most parents mobiles or even TVs. Its a big menace - swiping up!

Thoughts?

#marketing #socialmedia

Sunday, August 07, 2022

Chess - A Teacher for Life

Chess: A teacher for life?

With so much happening around wrt 'India hosting Chess Olympiads' for the first time; its good to see dailies covering the event with greater coverage.

India (the inventor of the game) is actually has become a country of cricket; but offlate few events have started showing positive signs on increasing adoption (16 yr old Praggnanandha beating Magnus Carlsen, Kids picking chess during covid when outdoors were out, a series on chess (Queen's Gambit) bringing back interest in the game).

As a parent (of an interested chess player), I found a few great gems on how Chess is a great teacher on life lessons. Here are a few -

1. Its not about #power all the time- More powerful pieces on the board Vs opponent dont necessarily ensure victory. You might have lost your queen but you can even do mates with 2 knights. Its how you apply yourself basis the curve balls the enemy is throwing. Same goes for life - Not always the 'Obvious one' becomes successful in life.

2. It teaches you to be #humble - You cant brag your way to victory. Its a game of immense focus and concentration. Despite strong positions, overconfidence can lead to one game-changing mistake against an opponent with weak material. Such losses make you humble! In this game, a pawn stays humble; and it gets the fruit of #patience till it survives and reaches the other end to transform into a Queen.

3. Foundational starts - The game teaches you to begin in such a manner that you open up your structure in such a way that you develop your pieces and gain as much ground in front while keeping your core strong (king safe). This foundational play is essential for higher chances of success. Teaching us how its important to build from #basics and not just sprint; but do a thoughtful marathon.

4. Create Opportunities if you dont have one (You cant just wait for opponent to commit mistakes but make moves which can open the doors for you to win). In life, you are the master of your sail; you just dont wait for wind but steer to where you want to go. #Invent and think on your feet to win.

#Chess #Life

Never Ending Money!


Concept of "Never ending #Money"!

In discussions with kids of today, few interesting insights came across about money. The thing most run after in life -

1. Getting Money is very Easy.
2. And its unending!

How? When i asked kids-

1. We just have to go to ATM, insert card and get money. We can get as many times we want, Papa/Mummy does the same!😂

Another kid showing greater wisdom said...no no -

2. Even, going to ATM is also not needed. Its through UPI in mobile. Just scan the code anywhere and you can buy anything! 😅

And when asked about -
why you need so many pens at one go?
why throw the pen away if it runs out?
Why not use a refill?

The answers was -
3. What is a refill?😭
4. Order from Amazon  it will come by tomorrow!

With such definitions, I felt we need to bring in offline money and teach them value of money. One of the perils of using online money is weakening of mathematical skills. You dont need to subtract on how much money, the shopkeeper should return!!

My takeaway with small kids immersion as parent -

1. Get kids do the offline transaction at say self serve food counters where they need to order with real notes & bring back receipt and change.
2. Get them to manage a monthly budget for thier own stuff and do reconciliation at end of month.
3. Use refills and ration the pens per usage.
4. When something runs out, send them to offline shop to purchase the single pen/eraser needed to teach them value of 'physical effort' to get things.

Being part of Tech/ecommerce industry, i know its quite contrary to what we do - bringing convenience with doorstep delivery.

But kids need to understand that the delivery wale bhaiya is replacing your effort to acquire things...and they should do the same to understand life!

#insights #parenting #life #ecommerce

Friday, July 15, 2022

Fan of thumb twiddling marketing?


Are you a fan of thumbs twiddling marketing?

As a marketer, there are various tactics and strategies from marketer’ playbook to solve various funnel problems. The marketer needs to be crystal clear with what problem is he/she solving? And not get swayed by the means or solve being deployed.

In today’s world, everything can get swayed to creation of content. Content that moves the audience so much that they like, comment, share, trend your brand. Marketers keep thumping thier chests with numerous anecdotes, comments people are saying about the coolness of the brand and get into the spiral of mindless engagement.

The ad that you put out in the newspaper (a lot more cerebral in nature and yes edgy n creative), so much so that it creates conversations across marketing eco chambers and platforms start circulating ‘how this brand gone viral’ across marketing fraternity. And may be win a few awards too.

But the biggest peril of all the above is that if the consumer completely misses seeing it or worst, sees but doesn’t understand your edgy piece of content (that got so many likes and comments from junta that may be not your target audience or still sitting on the other side of fence) and hence doesn’t ring the cash registers, then you are doomed.

Then, you look back and ask where did it go wrong? The answer being in the questions of ‘who is my customer’ and ‘what barriers or fears they have for your brand stories to actually solve’. Then, you realise what you call your brand and awareness and engagement, is all not passing the smell test of classical marketing -

#Marketing is the art and science of making your product first ‘sell’ and, as early as possible or eventually at a ‘profit’!

Its easy to get swayed by shiny bling things that engagement can bring and lose the core objective of any initiative. 'we got something' doesnt work. Once, the core objective, outputs, measures are defined it is much clearer on 'why' to deploy any tool from the marketer toolkit.

Thoughts?

#digitalamarketing #contentmarketing