Monday, September 28, 2009

Ravana burnt elsewhere, worshipped in parts of Madhya Pradesh

Ravana burnt elsewhere, worshipped in parts of Madhya Pradesh

Finance Guru in making ?



Economic Times’s supplement, Brand Equity used to carry a critique section on Ads - Ads which didn’t create the buzz or could not achieve the stated objective or simply were waste of resources and generated confusion among consumers. This Ad of Aegon Religare Star Child Plan appeared last week in ET, and I believe this Ad deserves a critique.


Firstly, when you start reading the Ad, you don’t have any clue of why we are finding out whether your child is Finance guru in making or why those 7 symptoms are being written?


Secondly, even if we assume that Ad tells you to find out financial genius of child, questions remain unanswered - how scientific are these 7 questions and whether these questions are true indicators of a potential to do good in Finance. If these 7 questions are not scientific, then should these questions be used in such an ad in which the advertiser is playing with emotions and setting wrong benchmarks in minds of consumers?

Isn’t it a cheap way of satisfying egos of parents and trapping them in an emotional trap. I am not saying that marketers and advertisers should not leverage on the emotional fear of consumers instead their promotions should make sense and not make fool of consumer’s intelligence.

Doesn’t this Ad show creative bankruptcy of advertiser because mere answers to so called symptoms are not good enough reason for parents to buy a Children education policy and lastly, Why Finance? Why not any other profession or fields of study? It is universally accepted that finance is no longer a coveted profession as it used to be before current slowdown. Then, Will target consumers really be fancied by such an Ad during current scenario?

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Tata,Jamshedpur and XLRI


“Tata” name is ubiquitous in XLRI as if XLRI is run by Tata Sons. Every class gets mention of “Tata word”. Almost very professor has given examples from various Tata Companies. Prof. Jittu Singh has worked in Tata Steel. Prof. A Gangopdhyay is currently doing an assignment for Tata’s in South Africa.

Jamshedpur is full of Tata companies. Local people and institutions have grown with the growth of Tata. It is incredible to know that there has never been a problem in Jamshedpur with regard to pollution or labor unions. While teaching Financial Leverage, Prof. Sengupta gave Tata steel’s example to explain the concept.


We never have to think very far. We get all kinds of example from Tata Group of companies. MIS and Strategy class found mention of TCS’s Global Delivery Model. Prof. Sarosh Gandhy, who is former Tata employee and proud Jamshedpur denizen, shared interesting stories from Tata Steel. My Marketing group gave presentation on Tata Nano case. Not only did we discuss Tata motors in class, but also got chance to visit Tata Motors’s Jamshedpur factory. It was a rare occasion to see “The World Truck” getting assembled.


Adventure trip, the unique aspect of GMP program was organized by TSAF, Tata Steel Adventure Foundation. In a guest lecture arranged by Prof. Smitu Malhotra, Mr. N.K Sharan taught us how commodity like Steel Rebars was branded as Tata Tiscon Rebar.

With Ranjay and Sudesh in class, understanding perspectives on Quality and Operations in Tata Steel is never an issue. In fact, I got chance to see LD shop in Tata Steel where Ranjay worked before. Few days back, Mr. M H Patel from TRF enlightened us on TQM.

I feel this symbiotic relationship of Tatas with XLRI is beautiful with no parallels in India.

Monday, September 07, 2009

COAI- Need to be aloud again

Lately COAI- Cellular Operators Association of India, the lobbying organization has been quiet.It is not as loud as it used to be few years ago. The quietness has even entrenched into there website. Look at the picture on the left with garbage data "ddddd" appearing on left pane. This is not the only example of how organization's don't keep their website up to date. Many Government websites are full of incomplete and incorrect information. Websites are interface to the external world. They promote brand equity of organizations. This example among numerous others just shows how little companies/organizations understand Information Technology and its impact on their brand.
Mr. T.V. Rama Chandran, please visit your organization's website to make sure that you show to the world how committed and serious your organization is about IT and its benefits.