OUR DATA CUSTOMERS ARE OUR ONE BIG DIFFERENTIATOR

How MTS India is addressing the needs of today’s upload generation by creating product differentaition and offering innovative solutions.

You operate in a very competitive environment, with players like Tata Photon+, Reliance Netconnect, and other mobile service operators. In such a situation what is it that differentiates you as a brand and what is your USP?
Unlike the other brands, what really differentiates us is that we are not really a voice brand which is also in data; we’re a brand that primarily exists for data audiences. Therefore, our product, our network, our services, the structure of the company, and how we deal with customer service are tailored much more for data customers. Data customers are rather different from voice customers – that’s one big differentiator for us. Even from the branding point of view, we have some differentiators. Our brand, for example, is unlike other telecom brands in India, which are very collective in nature in terms of connections and strengths of the respective groups. We are doing completely the opposite, and we are focusing on individuals. So, even as 99% of the brands are talking about connectivity, we’re are talking about empowering an individual, making him influential, powerful and more secure. Apart from that, we build differentiation in the way we choose our media, the kind of sponsorships we have, the kind of market and imagery we are using.

Your data offering “MBlaze” is on the CDMA platform. Is it a better medium for data delivery?
Being on CDMA, we have some intrinsic advantages over the other operators, and that’s not just true for MBlaze but also for players like Tata and Reliance, which too offer their data on the CDMA platform. A CDMA network has two pipes, one for voice and the other for data, and therefore your data speed and throughput are faster, much more consistent and reliable. In GSM there is no such distinction in pipes, therefore, as there are more and more calls on bandwidth, they choke the pipes leading to poorer and poorer data connectivity. This is the reason why in India, and all over the world, when it comes to dongles and data, CDMA always has an advantage.

So the trend is that GSM in India will be used for voice and CDMA for data. Do you agree?
For now, definitely, no question about it. But it’s very hard to predict in this category what will happen 10 years from today, as technology changes rapidly. But for now that’s the trend and it shows in the market place. Three CDMA players dominate the dongle market. Collectively, the three players have captured almost 80% of the Internet dongle market. The remaining 20% is dominated by GSM players like Airtel, Idea, Aircel et al, with 3G offerings. While Vodafone is actually now using our dongle, called “NetCruise”, it’s basically a Vodafone branded product, but powered by MTS. Vodafone is only marketing it. The entire service experience is delivered from MTS network.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
Planman Technologies

Rashmi Bansal Publisher Of JAMMAG Magazine Caught Red-Handed, for details click on the following links:-

• Hindustan Times Article - Publisher goes underground
• Rashmi Bansal (Editor of JAMMAG)
• Rashmi Bansal (Publisher of JAMMAG)

Project future leaders

From “Indian National Congress” to “Indian New Congress”

I nodded my head in disapproval. These days, this has become quite often with me, more like a habit. Well, you’d be curious to know that which invites this nod of disapproval. It’s our country’s prevailing state of affairs that bothers me and burgeons deep concerns over its future. The world is anything but like of yore. It has become incredulously faster, is changing at a rapid rate and is progressing by leaps and bounds. We as a country are progressing too and the world is watching us grow closely & keenly. However, this wave of proliferating corruption in recent times is not only pulling us back from our path of progress but perpetrating an air of cynicism within the entire country.
Stories of scams & bribes have become a common phenomenon these days and have led to a building negativity amongst people. Corruption has spread its wings from small bribes to wealth of epic proportions. The people of India have lost all kinds of faith in any authoritative leadership. Consequently, Anna Hazare has become a local, national as well as an international hero on fighting corruption. And India’s oldest political party is in the eye of such a storm.
So, how does the Congress deal with this daunting problem? Applying our logic to what we tell brands would be one way to tackle this. Let’s go back in time and look at the case of Bajaj Auto. Bajaj had not ventured into bikes and had been a powerful scooter brand of the country. Bajaj decided to relaunch itself in a new avatar. This is what Bajaj did – (a) Changed the leadership, from Rahul Bajaj to Ravi Bajaj; (b) Changed its product offering, from scooters to motorcycles and; (c) Ensured that the new product offering is good and lives up to the expectations of the people.
So what can the Congress learn from this? The Congress needs to take the following steps: (i) Create a new offering to reappraise people. Instead of having old leaders and party members, the party should have MPs under the age of 40 years; (ii) Bring changes in the leadership. The party should induce new, fresh faces. If Rahul Gandhi is going to be their next Prime Ministerial candidate then he should be projected as a leader. A young brigade will perhaps allow people to forget the past misgivings of the party and give it another chance. If you don’t have something new to offer, people will not even give you a second look.
What Congress needs to do is to project future leaders and give people a new ray of hope for a promising tomorrow rather than mull over past catastrophes. The Congress needs to transform the party into a young party imploring the young and old of India to offer them an opportunity to clean up the mess and present a new transformed India.
With the country’s frustrations surging to an all time high and hope having turned its back creeping into some tiny corner of their hearts, the party needs to give the people hope. Hope fraught with the above strategy is the only way for its redemption and victory. However, the choice is for the party to make. Either one will be significant in deciding its future.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
Planman Technologies

Rashmi Bansal Publisher Of JAMMAG Magazine Caught Red-Handed, for details click on the following links:-

• Hindustan Times Article - Publisher goes underground
• Rashmi Bansal (Editor of JAMMAG)
• Rashmi Bansal (Publisher of JAMMAG)

“New media is hot buy today”

Media agencies have evolved from only buying print, tv, cinema, radio and outdoors to doing lots of digital buying, says Dnyanada Chaudhari.

As a media planner what is the environment like today and what are the fundamental challenges for professionals in this industry?

The fundamental challenges for us are that we need to keep up with the whole dynamism of the changing landscape. We have to be up and about regarding the changes taking place around us. Just look at the programmes on television today. Every month they are changing. As a media buyer we go where the consumers drive us and the consumers are buying into these changes. In such a dynamic media environment, we have got to keep up with the changing times and also figure out what’s going to last. So keeping your ears to the ground, assessing the changes and the kind of impact they will have on the industry, figuring out the long-term trends and dealing with lots of uncertainty around are the challenges we face today.

How would you describe the evolution of media buying agencies in the face of so much changes taking place in the sector?

I think the whole media consumption pattern is changing and a lot of new products have entered the market, which reflect the changes taking place around us. A lot of new advertisers with novel ideas and skills have come up, which is helping advertising to break new and fresh ground. Till sometime ago, the role of most media buying agencies was limited to only trading and buying media space for their clients. In recent times though, media agencies have taken on a more differentiated role. Media planning has become more focused and there is a much greater emphasis on getting returns for an investment made. So you will find there is a lot of conversation happening on ROI before a buying commitment is made. Similarly, a lot of analysis goes into assessing what the kind of impact would be for taking media space in the IPL or other large media properties. There are hard negotiations on buying terms and conditions besides getting clarity and understanding in terms of what works and what doesn’t.

What are the more visible trends that are impacting media consumption and how are media-buying agencies reacting to them?

Consumerism and technology are having a visible impact on the way we consume media. The impact of consumerism is not just on FMCG consumption but on a whole lot of other things, including media consumption. In the same way that rising consumerism has led to changing consumption patterns, technology is driving consumers to adapt in various ways leading to changes in the pattern of media consumption as well. For example, today mobile phones, which have deep penetration in the population, are used not just for chatting but for hearing songs, playing games, conducting financial transactions and so on. As such media buying agencies are now looking more to the potential of new media and not just at traditional media. The digital space has now become hot for both advertisers and sellers. So a lot of agencies have evolved from only buying print, radio, TV, cinema, outdoors to doing a lot of digital buying.


For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
Planman Technologies

Rashmi Bansal Publisher Of JAMMAG Magazine Caught Red-Handed, for details click on the following links:-

• Hindustan Times Article - Publisher goes underground
• Rashmi Bansal (Editor of JAMMAG)
• Rashmi Bansal (Publisher of JAMMAG)

Journey to the centre of the heart

The upcoming festive season with some favourable developments is expected to provide the much needed boost to the Gems & Jewellery sector in India.

Circa February 2011: It seemed as if the branded jewellery buyers’ sponsored honeymoon was over. After doing away with 2% excise duty on branded jewellery in 2009-10, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in the Budget 2011-12, had proposed to again levy a 1% excise duty on the same. Although 1% seems not too high for an excise duty rate, if one were to consider the same with the burgeoning gold and silver prices (while gold prices appreciated by around 30% in 2010, silver increased by a mind-boggling 80%), the multiplier effect was bound to burn a hole in the buyers’ wallets, and in turn the sellers’ pockets, with an imminent slowdown in sales. Even worse: the timing. While the sector was poised to grow at a CAGR of 40% to touch the Rs.100 billion mark by the end of 2011, the announcement was considered a major roadblock for the sector. Did all this hit the sector growth?

It’s been over six months since then and the sector seems to have weathered it all quite well. In fact, a 15.1% y-o-y growth in total exports of gems and jewellery from India during April-June 2011 shows that there’s not much bothering the sector, which accounts for 16.7% of India’s total merchandise exports (as on March 31, 2011). The January-June 2011 export figure for the segment was $25 billion; last year, during the same period, the figure was only $18 billion – in other words, the first six months of this year have seen a growth of 34.17% in exports. The Hong Kong jewellery fair, held every year from September 19 to September 25, is considered to be Asia’s largest gems and jewellery expositiong. 3,300 and above exhibitors from 46 countries, 50,000 plus buyers from 135 countries – and you know this is the grand slam of all events for this sector. This year, India has the largest contingent in this event compared to all participating countries. –

But still, for the players in this industry, the most critical market is the domestic one. While the global jewellery market is close to $145 billion in size, US, Hong Kong, China, and India, make up the top consumers of this industry. But recently, the domestic prices of diamonds have gone down by more than 10% – this is because during the fortnight before Dussehra, almost no purchases are made of gold and jewellery as this pre-Dussehra period is considered an inauspicious period to buy jewellery. Also, with gold prices at unimaginable highs (Rs. 27000 per 10 gms), and inflation playing truant with the savings of the Indian consumer, it is true that even the most auspicious of Indian consumers are thinking twice about investing in gold and jewellery – players like Gitanjali Gems have already commented that their sales could get hit by almost 10% this year.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
Planman Technologies

Rashmi Bansal Publisher Of JAMMAG Magazine Caught Red-Handed, for details click on the following links:-

• Hindustan Times Article - Publisher goes underground
• Rashmi Bansal (Editor of JAMMAG)
• Rashmi Bansal (Publisher of JAMMAG)

“Our Stars Talk to us in 140 Characters”

What are The Critical Media Vehicles that are making an Impact on The Manner in which Media is being Consumed in The Country today?

Everybody is a part of the media today. Shaping lives, influencing others, sharing one’s thought with the world – in person, over the phone and on the Internet... each one of us are actually a trend that is shaping media consumption in everybody’s life. Who isn’t a content writer or a journalist today? Anyone with a camera phone, with a twitter and an FB account activated can be one. A few million people everyday are reporting, shaping opinions, adding to the roar, scaring the living daylights out of the so-called establishments. Freedom of speech and connectivity together, which is a killer combo, is what makes the media today. And what we see on television, hear from the world over the radio and over our latest gadgets that grant us mobility are all a part of the media that we consume. Can we help it? We live in an ecosystem that is ever-a-changing.

So, if you ask me as to what were the most remarkable trends that have shaped media consumption in India over the last few years, in one word I would say ‘shortening’. Sounds weird, but in other words, it means everything is getting shorter by the hour. Everything is moving towards ‘size zero’. “m gng 2 da prty. r u?” – two decades back, this would sound nothing more than just a couple of randomly picked up alphabets put together in a hurry to make no sense. No more. It’s called the SMS language and is perhaps the new form in which media and information hits us. Our one day cricket has shed some 60 odd overs to become a 20-20. Our stars talk to us in 140 characters on the Twitter. The most watched youtube videos are less than three minute long. The long form editorials and reportage carry embedded in them little boxes with bullet points. We want it short. We make it short. And we deliver and consume it short as well!

There’s a reason for that. Along with China, we are the epicentres of global capitalistic greed, thanks to a billion plus consumers. And, increasing information artillery is making us both hard of hearing and uninterested. So, in the future, its not just simple, but ‘keep it short, stupid’ too. And the Internet, in my opinion, is the biggest bomb to fall on media consumers. It is the most interesting medium to watch out for, as the Internet surely comes across as a trend that is shaping media consumption in India. The mobile phone screen cannot be ignored as the most interesting interface when it comes to thinking about how Internet will influence the way media will operate tomorrow. And that will force people to think of the message in a whole new way. Therefore, mobile penetration would inevitably be the biggest opportunity to watch out for in the context of media consumption.

It’s a time when we are witnessing a ‘democratisation of access’, access to knowledge, entertainment and to a better life. When we talk about mobiles, it will be interesting to point out how I often hear that India missed the era of pagers and straight away got into mobiles. I say, it’s not just pagers we leapfrogged over. With mobile phones, a whole generation has started accessing the Internet on their handsets, without the help of computers too! And that is a massive step ahead. Changes like these leaves everyone guessing, which is a good change in my opinion. Let me move on to the next medium of consuming media – the newspaper. Newspapers, I believe, are not really growing in circulation all over the world. But news is thriving. I don’t expect anything different to happen here in India.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS

Rashmi Bansal Publisher Of JAMMAG Magazine Caught Red-Handed, for details click on the following links:-

• Hindustan Times Article - Publisher goes underground
• Rashmi Bansal (Editor of JAMMAG)
• Rashmi Bansal (Publisher of JAMMAG)