Extreme action zone ahead

IIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri: The New Age Woman

Chris ‘CP’ Pfeiffer is a gladiator on wheels. The World Champion (2003, 2007, 2008, 2009) Stunt Rider plays out on asphalt every leather-loving guy’s wildest bike fantasy. Recently back home in Germany, after an India tour, the ace biker reminisces about the experience, among other things to Indira Parthasarathy...
INDIRA PARTHASARATHY

You had the Indian audience eating out of your hands – and not just when you did the no-hands wheelies... How do you sum up the experience?
The crowd response was amazing! I’ll never forget these shows!

Was that the BMW F800 R Chris Pfeiffer Special Edition bike you were performing on? Which is/are your favourite machine(s) to stunt-ride on?
Yes, it was. And it is also my favourite.

MotoGP legend Wayne Gardner had mentioned something like what you maintain: the “united with the bike” experience. Can you elaborate on the ‘one with the bike’ feeling?
If a bike really fits your riding style, you’ll do best to be united with the bike while riding it on the edge. Difficult to explain… all controls have to be in perfect position and work exactly like you want it. Then you are not just sitting/standing on a bike – you sit/stand on it and feel good because the bike is perfectly controllable.

On a normal traffic jaunt with the bike, how do you resist the temptation to break into stunts?
It is no problem. Riding is riding and stunting is stunting. All in its proper time…

What specialised modifications are required for freestyle biking?
A handbrake for the rear wheel, maybe some mods on the engine to make sure that it gets oil in long wheelies. The rest are details that every rider individually builds.

Which was your toughest Championship win?
The last (Indoor Streetbike Freestyle) World Championship in 2009. I had diarrhoea and felt weak. But somehow I made it.

You are real survivor material, as was evinced by the way you made your comeback after the horrible accident in the 90s during the Guinness Record shoot. How did you fight off the jitters to get back on asphalt after an incident like that?
I was very motivated to get back on the bike, also a bit scared that I’ll lose my trust in brakes because the cause for this accident was a brake problem. But I had no mental problem. I check the brakes very often now.

Bunny hops (long jumps) involve other people. How do you bring yourself around the idea of risking other lives, and how do you prepare for it?
Well, the jump does sound crazy but it (the record long jump without a ramp over 33 people lying next to each other) was safe after all the preparations for more than six months. But still I’d not do it again.

Which stunts are Chris Pfeiffer inventions?
Touch ground wheelie circles, Side stand off, The CP Jump, 360 Ground (360° turning during the ride). Extreme action zone ahead Very briefly, your thoughts on

The underground (illegal) status of drag/street racing: Racing and Freestyle (stunting) has to be done on special areas (tracks)

Cars : Four-wheels move the body, two-wheels move the soul, ha ha!

Motocross (MX), enduro or trials: I love stunting most, second Hard Enduro, third Trial, fourth MX.

Don’t mind riding pillion with : Definitely prefer to ride myself on bikes.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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Bright students venture out for higher education

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Brain drain

Assam has been witnessing a considerable rate of brain drain in the last five years. Most of the bright students, who secured good marks in the board exam, are going to other states like Delhi, Bangalore and Maharashtra in pursuit of higher education.

According to some students, the primary reason for this exodus is the scarcity of seats available in local universities, engineering and medical colleges. The state has four universities two of which are Centrally owned, six government institutes of business management, two engineering institutes of national repute and six government institutes of science and technology. But all these have failed to enroll the huge number of higher education aspirants from the state.

Rakesh Dutta, who secured 80 per cent marks in the higher secondary level exam in the science stream this year, told TSI: “I will go to Delhi and take admission in any engineering colleges there. In Assam there are only three engineering colleges. Even if I get admission here, I won’t get the opportunity to prepare for competitive exams. In Delhi I have a better chance. After completing B.E, I will sit for the reputed Indian administrative service”.

Another student Saurabh Jyoti Hazarika, who passed higher secondary in 2010, also wants to go to Delhi for higher studies. “Job opportunity is nil in the state. Even government jobs are difficult to get. Moreover, to get it we have to pay money as bribe. The multinational companies also recruit outsiders. So, I have decided to go to Delhi,’’ he said. Hiranmoy Pathak, a lecturer of a junior college of the state, said: “Greater employment opportunities outside Assam have encouraged students to go outside the state.”

A large number of students are moving out from the state because of the lack of adequate infrastructure. The only way out is that the government spends more money in improving the education system.

Monalisa Gogoi

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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LOCK, STOCK, CLICK AND BUY

eBay made its India foray with the takeover of 5 year old bazee.com in 2005 and has since then relied largely on multimedia advertising on the internet. However, this is the first time that this net giant is charting a completely new route through virgin waters. According to Mohamed Rizwan, Senior Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy, a part of the creative team that worked on the campaign, “The brief was to promote eBay as a shopping destination where you get a wide range of top quality products, great deals and the ease of paying safely through a credit card. The ads communicate this in a funny, over-the-top manner in the form of a DD-esque call-in show ‘The eBay Way’ where callers are told the benefits of shopping on eBay, regardless of their problems.” However, cracking the Indian consumer conundrum won’t be easy. There are a plethora of factors that compound the complexity so evident in a rapidly transitioning Indian consumer space. Firstly, Indians are the best bargainers in the market and getting the best deals on the internet without having a chance to bargain face to face especially for used items might seem deterring to prospective buyers. Secondly, with regards to goods, Indians almost always, ‘touch’ and ‘feel’ and then buy. Though attitudes are changing, it will take a lot of time before consumers can buy high involvement products like mobiles, laptops and household appliances on eBay. As K. J. Singh, co-founder and CEO, Evolve Brands says, “For start, it should get offline as well and should have some availability in the malls where the customers go for shopping. Most of its target segment which is online also shops offline and needs to get a mindshare when offline and therefore the branding in the cluttered market is important also in case there are some offers which could be informed offline and executed offline.”

The third factor critical to the fortunes of eBay will be the variety of choices in the deals it provides to the customers. But on this, Muralikrishan B, Director, Marketing & Product, eBay India, asserts, “One of eBay India’s key advantages is the wide variety of products available – ranging from mobiles to necklaces, digital cameras to salwar kameez, diamond rings to laptops etc. The audience that comes onsite appreciates the variety and we are seeing good traction across categories as a result of this campaign.” Finally, online transactions are still perceived as a fodder for fraud by many Indians and it won’t be easy to break the taboo. Despite the fact that the campaign itself highlights the safety feature in its punch line, the starting point for the company would be to attract more and more hits to the website and slowly create the buzz through more outdoor events, follow-up TVCs and offering attractive pricing for different product categories.

However, leading brand analysts in the country do not seem to be resonating to the company’s tunes. While some have labelled the presence of Dr. Puri and Komal Singh as the uncle and aunty just pushing people to eBay, others are more sceptical of the campaign’s ability to eventually lead the visitor to actually buy from just being a casual visitor. Leading brand analyst Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consultants adds on a harsher note, “I do not believe this current spate of e-bay advertising is going to build anything much for it. I am personally not convinced that the set of retro-creatives do anything to the brand at all. At best, it causes for a perk-up in the awareness scores for the brand. I do not believe the campaign is efficient enough on the counts of building interest in the portal, stoking desire to visit and finally creating action of the actual buy.” However, how joyful will eBay’s India journey be would be clear in the coming months. If it is, it would be a marked shift in the attitudes of Indian consumers. If not, Pierre Omidyar might just realize that there are not many takers in India for broken lazer printers (the first ever product sold on eBay).

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

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Of Knights and Goddesses...

It is the name of an American anti-aircraft missile system. It is also the name of Poland’s famous literary award. Above all, it is one of the most depicted image on all Greek coinage and formed the design for the legendary Jules Rimet Trophy, given to the Football World Cup winners till 1970. And, as a footnote, it is also the name of a company run by a knight. A company that lives and breathes just three words - “Just Do it”. The name is Nike, the Greek goddess of victory and the knight is none other than Phil Knight. And the three words have become the most enduring words in modern sports history, thus paying true homage to the mighty goddess.

The genesis of this adrenaline pumping phrase is today part of Nike lore. It was the beginning of the hey days of the health and fitness mania that had gripped US in the late 80s. The age of aerobics was in full swing and Nike was loosing ground fast to arch rival Reebok (derived from the name of an African antelope) which had gone leaps ahead in aerobic footwear. In a meeting of some Nike employees with the company’s ad agency Wieden and Kennedy executives of the agency’s founder, Dan Wieden, impressed by Nike’s can-do culture, suddenly remarked, “You Nike guys, you just do it.” History was about to be created. Wieden got hooked to the words “ Just Do it” and realized that it was not the shoe but the attitude that defined the person wearing it. A person of all ages and both sexes.

Instead of the customary 18-40 age group, the first “Just Do it” spot debuted July 1, 1988 and featured a 80-year-old distance runner Walt Stack. Then came the TV and print ads that used clever lines and catchy music sporting multi-sport athlete Bo Jackson egging on people from every walk of life to ignite their inwardly focused competitor. Nike’s share of the domestic sport-shoe business soared to 43% from a flailing 18% while its sales rose to $ 9.2 billion in ten years by 1998 from the 1988 figure of $ 877 million when Reebock had taken over as the leading sports shoemaker for the first time. Nike spent $300 million on overseas advertising alone. Not just Bo, Nike also featured sporting icons like John McEnroe and Michael Jordon. The eight letters did to the fitness hungry crowd of the 80s and 90s what Beatles had done to the hippies in 1960s. In the end, Nike itself had a renaissance and the slogan became the one of the greatest marketing feats ever achieved in history.

Anchal Gupta

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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