LIFE AFTER CANNES

Management guru Arindam Chaudhuri’s latest blockbuster book, Discover The Diamond In You

Indian ad-land’s tryst with Cannes is relatively new. A few Indian agencies did feature during the 1990s, but couldn’t make it big. The turning point came in 2003, when India bagged six lions. Good news is that for the last couple of years, India has been bringing home more than 20 metals from Cannes annually. The bad news (well, sort of!), say Neha Saraiya & Surbhi Chawla, is that winning a Cannes metal is now no more a career defining moment. Doing great work for big brands is the only career clincher that matters, at least in the cat-eat-cat world of Indian advertising!

Before they started Good Morning Films in 2004, Vikram Kalra (38) & Shashanka Chaturvedi (35) had tried their hand at a host of things, among them working for various agencies and ad film production shops. It was while working on a film for Hutch once (then with Adfilm-Valas) that the duo decided to go in alone. They cobbled together Rs.25,000 and launched their own film production house, bringing in Hutch as their first account. Their client list grew gradually to include Vodafone (Irfan Khan series), Limca and RCOM’s Muft ki Advice commercial. But even then, Kalra reminisces, “Good Morning Films had still not become a name to reckon within the industry.”

The year 2009 however came with its unique bag of goodies for them or what Vikram and Shashanka refer to as their “career defining moment.” The goodie bag brought with it two Gold Lions for them from the prestigious Cannes advertising festival for their ‘A day in the life of Chennai – Nakka Mukka’ commercial for The Times of India. The campaign, which won accolades for media & publication category along with the best use of music category, is the first Indian ad film ever to bring home a Gold at Cannes. Vikram can’t stop grinning, as with the trophy has come, instant fame and recognition. “Lot of friends are still dropping in to congratulate us. Accolades at Cannes have added value to our work and people take us more seriously,” he explains. Work is also pouring in. Post-Cannes, their film production outfit has also bagged some prestigious accounts, including that of Sony and Samsung. In fact, they’ve even got an offer from JWT China and negotiations are in final stages. So if Vikram & Shashank’s expectations, after the win at Cannes, are touching the skies, guess they have ample reason for it. Still gushing, Vikram exuberates, “Our next stop is Bollywood. We want to produce and direct a movie and are already scouting for the right script.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

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HITTING THE RIGHT CHORD...

Even as Indian two-wheeler makers like TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto were registering falling sales month after month during the last financial year, Hero Honda was busy strengthening its base in the Indian market. The slowdown period has been the most lucrative one for the company. It even crossed the landmark of selling 25 million units (cumulative) in the last fiscal taking its market leadership to around 57% (60% currently). Moreover, Hero Honda’s bottom-line grew by 33% to Rs.12.8 billion during the financial year. But how did they manage it, when the whole industry was struggling, is definitely a big question.

Well, a right product at a right time is the trick that has clicked. In addition Hero Honda has also utilised the last fiscal to get closer to consumers. The company has built an extensive network of over 3,500 touch-points across the country, selling and servicing its two-wheelers. The company’s rural initiatives too have played a role in strengthening its presence in Tier-II & Tier-III markets, which contribute almost 40% of total sales. Explains Pawan Munjal, MD, Hero Honda, “An unprecedented share of 57% in the domestic market, when the industry has been witnessing a slowdown, is reflective of the strong fundamentals.”

Though auto experts like Murad Ali Baig say that “Hero Honda as a company is known for its continuity and stable approach,” they also accept that when it comes to the premium segment Bajaj Auto rules the roost. And that’s not baseless either. While Hero Honda sold about 185,000 units in the segment during the last fiscal, Bajaj sold 840,000 units. But then, the pace at which Hero Honda is catching up is noteworthy. What is more inspiring is its strong association with the youth and its effective campaigns in the rural markets. However, as Bajaj Auto plans to stage a big show in the executive segment, the days ahead may soon throw up more challenges for Hero Honda.

Pawan Chabra

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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1 lakh copies sold in less than 10 days of Arindam Chaudhuri’s “Discover The Diamond In you”
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Fighting fat, but at what cost?

Stomach stapling might show results on the surface but it might be more than what you’ve bargained for...

The urge to lose weight, at any cost but hard work, has led surgeons to find out newer ways to cut fat. One of the popular ways is stomach stapling (or gastric bypass), a restrictive technique where the stomach is divided into two parts using a band and staples. The smaller part, the stomach pouch, is an egg-sized pouch that has very little capacity to hold food and therefore, leads to meager eating. A one-centimeter hole runs from the bottom of the pouch through which the contents flow into the other part of the stomach and from there to the intestines.

It takes a lot of guts to play with one’s natural system, and only when one is grossly overweight (Diego Maradona, the football legend, opted for the surgery when he weighed 121 kgs) or if a person is suffering from a compulsive eating disorder, would a person normally get their stomach stapled. But recent research at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden says that women who get their stomachs stapled reduce the risk of cancer by around 40 per cent. Experts are only astounded and confused to find no such benefit for men… But men can be happy since a stomach staple does add at least 10 more years to one’s life span. But, what about the side-effects of getting your stomach stapled? Well, considering cancer is a deadly disease and obesity leads to several other deadly ailments, one would think that the perks of stomach stapling would outweigh the side effects of the procedure used… not all the time though! It has been seen that ‘more than one-third of obese patients who have gastric surgery develop gallstones. Nearly one in three develops nutritional deficiencies. Patients could also be at risk for anemia, osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease.’ Though diet supplements can help, it’s best to avoid these side-effects.

Another method for losing weight that is being resorted to more commonly is cosmetic surgery (tummy tucks, body lifting etc.) since the treatment is only external. “We are dealing with the skin and mostly its structure, and at the most, you will have a scar which is hidden by the cosmetic surgeon in a way that it’s not obvious and heals really well too,” informs Dr. Ashish Davalbhakta, Cosmetologist at Aesthetics India. Though he talks of specific risks to be understood, he offers a different suggestion for the young who aspire to become a Jessica Alba or a Tara Reid the easy way. “I would tell them that their expectations are too high and they are more likely to be disappointed. One should aspire to be fit with exercise and a proper diet.”

The researches and conclusions in favour of gastric or cosmetic surgeries are not to highlight the possibility of losing weight this way but to, once again, draw attention to the power individuals have in altering their own risk factors. Resorting to these quick surgeries to get rid of the fat that can easily be tackled with is quite a bad idea. In fact, a recent Canadian research says that people who are a little above the normal weight actually live longer than those with normal weight. Not to mention that the underweight or the obese have much shorter life spans! Well, then, may be, it’s time to redefine the benchmark of normal weight...

Swati Hora

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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Who made your trip this time?

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MakeMyTrip had a first mover advantage. As competition intensified, so did their focus on service and delivery... Respondents give them maximum marks for ‘corporate packages.’
By Pawan Chabra

She makes it her business to make everyone’s leisure trip hassle-free; but her own life is surprisingly devoid of any leisurely moments. Jaya Talwar, Senior Executive-Escalation, MakeMyTrip, starts her day at 5:30 am and by the time she gets to her office in the sprawling NCR suburb of Gurgaon, she’s already organised her (seemingly endless) list of things-to-do for the day. But then, she has no complaints, having happily sacrificed her love for cooking to the hurly burly of professional life. Talwar is part of the escalation team that takes care of customer queries and complaints and understands the importance of service in the online travel industry. She starts off her day at office by scanning the previous day’s e-mails, followed by daily meetings. The rest of her day goes into fixing customer problems. A Miranda House graduate, she started her career with the company as an executive in the post-sales department. And now after three and a half years in the travel outfit, she takes immense pride in being a part of the popular online travel portal.

The industry may have been on the back foot after the Mumbai terror attacks and more importantly under the slowdown blues, but industry watchers expect it to be just a short blip just before online travel makes a strong comeback. MakeMyTrip, for one, plans to deal with these ‘short-term hurdles’ by sprucing up their service even more and offering them a great hassle-free experience. “You need to value the importance of a commitment in this industry otherwise there is no way you can reach at the top,” asserts Talwar from her experience. Ask the end users and most consider the ease with which the company’s website can be navigated as the backbone of its success. But Talwar believes that the particular art of following up with the customers to ensure a great service is also a vital pillar for MakeMyTrip’s success. No wonder, she believes, that her department is the most vital part of the organisation’s success!


But doesn’t she get bored handling similar kind of customer queries and problems everyday? Well, her answer is (yes, you guessed it right), a resounding “No!” Says Talwar, “As you have to deal with a new kind of consumer on a daily basis, there is no monotony in the job.” Instead, she says, that she enjoys these daily challenges, apart from the little moments of life and laughter they provide her. She narrates one such incident, while guffawing loudly, “A customer once sent a very long e–mail complaining about the bad service, but when we tried to sort it out we figured that it was actually for one of our competitors.” She claims the complaint ratio to be only 0.5% out of the total customers attended by the company. But if you think that this 0.5% is easy to deal with, you better give it a second thought. Talwar recalls an incident where it took four long hours to make a customer understand that he was at fault when he was trying to cancel a booking for a hotel on a very short notice and asking for a refund. The customer was notified earlier of the company’s ‘no refund on cancellation’ clause, she adds.

Talwar spends most of her day dealing with such customers, but her primary concern is to ensure a delightful experience to every customer she handles. After all, in her industry, the cost of getting a new consumer is 10 times higher than retaining an older one. No wonder then the priority is to retain every customer at all cost. “When Kingfisher and Air Deccan merged, the new airline changed its PNR no. No customer was able to get the refund from the airlines in case of cancellation. MakeMyTrip had to give the refund to consumers from its own pockets to ensure that they remain satisfied with our service,” recollects Talwar. But try as you might, there is always room for improvement in the service industry. Queries and complaints are a part of their life. Well, the next time you are dissatisfied with a service in their bouquet, at least you know who to contact :-)

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

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