Invest Today, Reap Tomorrow

Bloodshed!!! Carnage amongst the bulls!!!
This was more than enough to wake my Mom from her deep slumber!
“What! Where! Who did it??!! These terrorists, what will they get by killing innocent people”, she screamed.
My dad and I were stumped with this reaction and after observing our nonchalant facial expressions, she was quite horrified. “How can you people just sit gaping at each other, no heart!!?”
“So many people must have died in this, we should be blessed that our family is together” she exclaimed. Only later did we realize that she was referring to the profusely used adjectives “bloodshed”, “carnage” which to her appeared as if it was a grave human tragedy due to a bomb explosion or a terrorist attack!
It was time for the MBA son (Ahem!!) to step in and explain the intricacies of stock market and how the fall in indices affected people as much as a terrorist attack would. This last part, I confess was slightly challenging to explain, as material wealth is nothing but mythya or illusion according to her. Now I understand that mythya doesn’t actually pay your bills or even provide you enough money for a movie and snacks at Garuda.
She can certainly be exempt from misunderstanding the market terminology, however, not the ones who we fondly call, The Analyst.
Schemes like fixed deposits and postal deposits have been around since ages (I still remember being whisked away to the nearest GPO to withdraw matured postal deposits, Ok I confess!! I was bribed with five-star chocolates) but these could only get you 6% returns and that too after a long lock-in period. The market these days is springing up a deluge of opportunities for youngsters to make money in the long run.
As Robert T Kiyosaki points out in his book (Rich Dad Poor Dad), we ought to start building our assets soon in order to make money. It simply is not enough to park your money in the savings account and forget all about it. Inflation and rising rates will make sure that you see very little of these when you most need them.
The stock market, on the other hand, offers various instruments of investments, which, if used with sound financial planning, can create wealth. Mutual funds, ELSS schemes (a kind of mutual fund which aids in your tax planning), equity linked insurance plans are the major options available to the prospective investors. Even the government is taking steps to protect the investors and make the exercise of investment regulated, read IRDA, SEBI etc. The high and mighty in the annals of Parliament are trying to align the policies to suit the growing needs of investing masses. For instance, there have been reports in the media on infrastructure funds being brought under the ambit of tax savings (even though it comes with a lock-in period and the motion is still under consideration). This just displays a growing acceptance of the stock markets by the political class.
Increasing interest of the FIIs in Indian companies has also led to sky rocketing valuations and an appetizing lure of making money.
All this, however, comes with a word of caution! Short term gains without appropriate planning has led to the downfall of many a sorry investor. Being in a profession, which doesn’t leave you with much room for consistent monitoring of the stock market, most of the times we have to rely on the media, advertisements, peers, and news articles for sound investment decisions.
However, I believe in an approach that is highly customized (pretty much like the department I work in!!). First and foremost, we must gauge our requirements and the time frame in which we would require the money. Besides that, we need to consider the risks associated with different equity based instruments. It’s always better to start slow and small and as you start climbing the learning curve, the amounts invested can be increased. A time frame of six months to one year is considered safe for new investors while investing in the equity markets. There again, a strategy which comprises of parking your funds in mutual funds and fixed deposit schemes can be adopted for a sound beginning.
In spite of innumerable examples, there are people who feel short of funds when it comes to investing. And for those who have restricted funds to theirs disposal, invest small, as small as Rs. 500 per month in order to start. This can ensure both a monthly saving as well as decent returns.
So the moral of the story should be, to start investing. That’s it!! (As simple as it may sound, many will still ignore this as just another entry on the blog and for all those people, I can think of a line form an old English number, Times Runnin Baybeah!!…)

Varun Kumar

Ambushed by Guerilla Marketing

I’m sure you have seen at least one of the below ad campaigns by Big Bazaar.


[Image Above: “The Keep West-aSide. Make a smart choice!” Billboard on Hosur Road (Just Before Forum Mall), Bangalore]

Apparently its part of Big Bazaar’s (owned by Biyani’s Future Group) new Guerrilla Marketing Strategy, according to agencyfaqs.com. Surely one must have heard about the guerilla warfare strategies during one of those boring history sessions in school (generally its boring!!), wherein guerrilla force is divided into small groups that selectively attacks the target at its weak points. Wah lah, enter the future and in the world of cutthroat competition, corporates use extension of the same strategy in marketing… Hmmmm, never imagined this while we were in our shorts! Corporates like Coke, Pepsi, etc have been using the same for quite some time now and the latest entrant is our very own ‘Future Group’- Big Bazaar, Pantaloons, Future Bazaar, eZone are all part of this group and they are taking on the biggies like Shoppers’ Stop, Lifestyle, and Tata’s Westside.
In order to do the same, Future Group have come up with three catchy/cocky and cheeky ad campaign, which surely does catch your eyes (whether one changes their loyalty or not, only time will tell) and surely one can’t resist appreciating the same.
Keep West-aSide. Make a smart choice!
Shoppers! Stop. Make a smart choice!
Change Your Lifestyle. Make a smart choice! (See Image Below)



Not surprisingly, according to the latest release in ET the campaign has made the competition very uncomfortable because they somehow feel “the ads make a subtle reference to them”. Heloooooo, subtle is a very weak word used here!
With retail market in India especially in metros where standard of living and disposable income is at an all-time high, competitors will vie for the market share and will stoop to any levels while marketing their products. Guerilla marketing is just one of the strategies and surely, one can learn a lot from the ongoing battle, especially people interested in marketing/marketing techniques.
Things have already started to boil coz of this ad campaign and both Lifestyle, Shoppers’ Stop are analyzing the effect of the strategy used by Mr. Biyani and Future Group. Lifestyle is even planning to take Future Group and their ad campaign to Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). I just feel, Future Group have done a very creative job and surely, time will tell the effect of this strategy – by this I refer to both Future Group and their competitors.
Keep watching this space for more cuz I am sure this is just is just the beginning!
For more on Guerilla marketing strategy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_marketing_warfare_strategies

By Guru Prasad

Book Review: Doing things the David Allen way

What is Getting Things Done? In the words of author David Allen, “It’s possible for a person to have an overwhelming number of things to do and still function productively with a clear head and a positive sense of relaxed control. That's a great way to live and work, at elevated levels of effectiveness and efficiency”. Another Time Management book I thought. Nevertheless, going through it I found that what it tells is something that all of us are doing every moment of our time. This book, Getting Things Done, turned out to be a tool for productivity about how we organize and utilize our time. It was a new approach that set me thinking about “my work” in a different light. As the name suggests, it is a system for Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.
It rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of their mind and record them elsewhere. This way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate fully on actually performing the tasks at hand.
It is based on two objectives:
1. Capture everything that you need to do in a “trusted system” outside of our head.
2. Create “next actions” for every single input in our life.
Using this system clears our mind of all the tasks that are troubling us about individual tasks and projects in our life.

The author says the methods he presents are based on two key objectives:
1. Capturing all the things that need to be done - now, later, someday, big, little, or in between - into a logical and trusted system outside our head and off our mind; and
2. Disciplining ourselves to make front-end decisions, about all of the "inputs", we let into our life so that we will always have a plan for "next actions", which we can implement or renegotiate at any given moment.
Every thing that we do need to do can be captured in a system. There are numerous ways to do this, but the commitment should not be in our head. If it is in our head, then we will most likely forget it. We need write it down so that we can look at it on a regular basis. Then decide what the end result of the commitment is going to be like, and figure out what the next step should be to achieve that. After we have come up with our ‘next action’, we need to integrate that in our trusted system also.
The author reiterates that every input in our life must be documented and recorded into a trusted system, which covers emails, phone calls, meeting with others, direct reports, and everything else. He makes no distinctions between personal and professional lives. In both, things still need to be done.
He makes it clear that to practice stress-free productivity; we need to master our time, which will enable us to live in the present moment. Lack of time is not the major issue for professionals. The real problem is lack of clarity about what associated action steps are required to execute it. To quote from the book again, the methodology of ‘Getting Things Done’ will have the greatest impact on our life, by showing how to get back to the “mind like water," with all our resources and faculties functioning at a maximum level.

The process he teaches for mastering a relaxed and controlled knowledge work is a five-stage model for managing our workflow. There are five discrete stages that are necessary as we go through our work.
Collect: Everything that is necessary to track, remember, or act on a physical inbox, an email inbox, a tape recorder, a notebook, or any combination of these. The idea here is to get everything out of one's head and into a collection device, ready for processing. All these buckets should be emptied (processed) at least once a week.
Process: Means deciding what to do with each of the items in the "in" box. When this phase is complete, one would have rejected, completed, delegated, put reminders in the actions one must complete, and identified any projects. The author provides detailed guidelines for effective processing of these activities.
Organize: Once the processing is complete, one needs a way to organize the output, which is the next step. The author gives seven primary places to keep the output and tips on making them work effectively.
Review: To keep the system working, one needs to decide what to look at and when. Allen suggests the most frequent review will be of one’s daily calendar and daily appointment folders. After these, the next actions lists should be continuously reviewed.
Do it: Any organizational system is no good if all the time is spent on organizing tasks instead of actually doing them. The author makes it clear that the basic purpose of this process is to facilitate good choices about your actions, which we are doing at any point in time.
The author also gives tools and techniques to implement the above-mentioned steps.
We need to apply the core principles of collecting, processing, organizing, reviewing and doing them diligently until they become a habit. And Getting Things Done will make us more productive immediately. Try it out; I am sure you will thank me for bringing David Allen’s concept to you.

G Ravi

Multinational Retailing – Consistency in Format/ Glocalization – where to draw the line

So Staples launched in Bangalore. Amidst much fanfare (very visible advertising – both in mainline print as well as in OOH). To much expectation by those in Bangalore that have lived abroad and shopped at Staples.
Reactions – very mixed.
The audiences that have experienced Staples earlier come back disappointed – by the breadth of assortment, the depth, even the merchandising. Those who don’t know what Staples does/ should stand for – seem happy – they say its flashy, and cheap (like a Big Bazaar)
So, is this good for Staples or bad?
This is a problem similar to that faced by McDonald’s and KFC when they first launched in India – while the concept was exciting to the Target Audiences, the taste of the food was completely alien – as we know, they companies have made marketing history by changing the menus and the ingredients to suit the Indian palate.
If that was about the product changing, in the case of Marks and Spencer’s, it was a basic mis match (initially) in positioning – in the U.K., M&S was (and to an extent continues to be) a middle class brand. When the brand entered India, however, the pricing, instead of a PPP comparison related one, pretty much equated a straight conversion from pounds into Rupees – that translated to High End in India – the rest of the brand was not in sync – and..bomb!
The point of all of these is actually the classic debate between standardization of an MNC brand vis-à-vis the localization to suit different geographies. HSBC, with its ‘The World’s Local Bank’ campaign actually did an extremely intelligent balancing act of this dilemma. But not everyone else can manage it well.
From all accounts, certainly not Staples!

Now – User Generated Shop Merchandize and Inventories!

I read this article in today’s newspaper on Shop Dropping – apparently the reverse of Shop Lifting. This is basically about people (‘unauthorized’) placing merchandize on shop shelves – the reasons could be many – To propagate some incendiary messages (very often political/ religious); to promote some self created artifact/ book; to create mischief.. ..what have you; but, in essence, this is one form of the whole user controlled phenomenon undertaking society.
This opens up very interesting possibilities – its just like the ‘show of your choice’ that many TV channels now play – imagine a shop filled with merchandize of your choice – so, voters/ shoppers get to choose what inventories there are in the store ---
Similarly, imagine the outcome of a cricket (or baseball, or football) game where the outcome of a good ball/ shot/ throw/ kick – is in the hands of the watchers --- so, the batsman may well be out, but the audience decides that he/ she is Not…or, a clear penalty shootcout, is declared an offside by watchers – brilliant, is this not?
I really think the day is not far away – lets wait and watch!

Experiential Retailing: Now taking over all sectors

On my way back from office today I saw a hoarding by a bank, that said “Loan Lounge” – I thought this was an extremely evocative brand assigned to what, essentially, is pretty much a non differentiated offering in the financial services sector.

This actually led me to think about the evolution of retailing – I am sorely tempted to say in India – but I think this is equally true of all countries at various times in the life cycle of turning from unorganized to organized retailing – from behind the counter mom and pop style; to self service supermarkets; to indulgent departmental stores; to a mix of the two – Sephora style; to “theatre” in retail – to now – completely experiential retailing..

Interestingly, this style is not restricted to the services sector alone – though there (be it financial services; or airlines; or hotel/ hospitality – witness how most upscale bars are now called “lounge” bars, and most upscale restaurants “boutique restaurants”) it is much easier and more natural – this is true of all kinds of products at well – the Malls were the first stab at experiential retailing; the café bookstores followed; shopping while flying is an example of it. “Experience” while retailing could be in the ambience/ the combination of product ideas/ the engagement strategy between store and shopper/ the partnerships seen/ the convergence of categories/ in the way education and interaction with the product categories is built into the store…in a variety of ways!

Bose with their Theatre stores were early pioneers of the idea – but now many electronics manufacturers have taken over – Samsung does this well (their Samsung Experience store in NYC, the m-zone in Seoul); Sony does a good job of interactive education
Gaming/ entertainment as fast growing categories drive experiential retailing as well – Nintendo world and Sony Style stores have some really cool displays and arrangements for customers to interact with the merchandize.

This is really a competitive and evolving space, and the sky is the limit

Top Three Parameters that will influence Indian organizations that are Outsourced entities in the knowledge space in 2008

1. The depreciating dollar (and forecasts of a weak U.S. economy):
Will straightaway impact the bottom line. In addition, has a waterfall effect of leading to lower increases in compensation in the industry – a factor, that, in India, saw considerable inflation in 2006 and 2007 – to the tune of 15 – 20% every half year – in fact, EmPower Research’s benchmarking showed that in some cases, organizations saw salary increases on a quarterly basis! This trend had a further effect of the high attrition rates seen in the industry (stated averages of any where between 25 – 40%. EmPower Research, incidentally, is comparatively in a good position with a rate of 6%)
The flip side of the coin, though, is the fact that U.S. organizations will be under pressure to squeeze costs, and one of the possible ways of doing this is through outsourcing more and more non - core competence work
What this will also result in is a diversification of markets – Europe is already a large playing field for many outsourced organizations, the percentage contribution may go up, and Asia-Pacific may be a new market of interest
2.Consolidation in the Indian market:
2007 was an active year in this space. Many BPOs looking to build scale, and/ or move up the value chain with “knowledge arms” merged with/ acquired other organizations. It is a hot market – many investor eyes are focused on it – all evidence is that this is a short cycle, but 2008 is likely to see more action in this field
3. New Media/ Emerging Technology:
While the year 2007 was actually called the year of the blog (and blogger); 2008 will just expand in this space – from use of all forms of new media in analysis/ product feedback/ knowledge sharing to content writing; it’s all happening here. There are many forms of new media/ and many players in various facets of the space.
Technology will also increasing impact the way knowledge organizations will introduce efficiencies and scale into their businesses – the industry is at the growth phase, and at this phase, it has to really “sweat its assets”.