The consumer journey to picking up your brand is not a straight forward process of eye level & buy level anymore, which means that no more does it involve only being present in the retail and blasting the media out with your presence. With the evolving consumer and the information overload because of the digital world, the complexities are increasing by the day. It involves many explorations over the net, checking with friends, experts, word of mouth, the influence of peers, media and other touchpoints that the consumer visit, and it is essential that the brand engages the consumer at all these points to drive him towards the moment of truth where he or she feels the real urge to pick up your brand.
Knowledge
Marketing Your Brand In Times Of A Crisis
The last 90 odd days have been unprecedented for everyone around the globe – ambiguity, uncertainty & fear were the key words. With lock downs and social distancing, businesses slowed down, consumption plummeted & most revenues are on a downward trend. Organizations are cautious of their spends and marketing budgets are typically the first expenses to be rationalized. However, marketing also happens to be one of those critical functions which has the power of propelling the organization into new growth trajectories. So, what do you do in these times?
“I See. Said The Blind Man !”
In the world of Data Science & Data led decision making, a lot of executives across the corporate ladder suffer from “I see, said the blind man”. “We do enough & we know enough” is a resonating statement across corporates and teams. In reality, a very few organizations have a holistic understanding of their data, the science of data analytics, available technologies to analyze & use it to enhance business decision making.
Running a data driven operation was simpler ten years back. There was limited data available and there were limited data analytics options available. It was easy to grasp few simple tables and charts at the end of a quarter and plan a strategy around that. The mathematics and science of data analytics has not changed over the years but the amount of data available as well as the increased computing power has crowded us with choices & options.
The ‘Main Hoon Na’ Approach to Business
The world is moving from product selling to solution selling. Simultaneously, in any work
environment, both bosses & subordinates are looking for trustworthy colleagues & specialists,
who are resourceful enablers and can get the job done with tenacity, by taking full ownership.
A brand can only win confidence of consumers/customers or a team member can win
confidence of his/her boss, subordinate or peer by exhibiting assurance or re-assurance that
he/she is worthy to perform the role assigned to him/her. Thus, this assurance, confidence &
trust you provide to your internal & external customers led me to the unique philosophy, which
I derived from Bollywood’s block buster, “Main Hoon Na!” i.e. don’t worry, I am here to serve
you, to your satisfaction.
Healthcare Marketing- Priorities To Meet The Changed Market Needs
Healthcare marketing has always required a specialized skill-set considering healthcare is a ‘Grudge-Category’. However, never has healthcare marketing been under the kind of pressure that it has been, in the last couple of years. The paradigm is shifting irrevocably with increasing Government regulation putting huge pressures on private healthcare’s business model on one side and increasing patient vigilantism and trial by social media on the other. Amidst these, private healthcare seems to be caught between a rock and a hard place.
To stay relevant in a milieu rendered further difficult by COVID, the rules of engagement between healthcare marketers and their target groups have to undergo some broad level changes.
Ted Talks, But does Ted listen?
Making a Robust VOC Mechanism for Customer Delight
A leading bank in Asia had commissioned us a few years ago for a short consulting assignment, where I got to know their marketing leader. What was extraordinary about her was that she would start each of her days by listening to customer calls from her call center for at least half an hour. She would tap into the system that recorded the calls and listened to a random bunch. This ritual was sacrosanct and part of her schedule every single day, and she was committed to it even during the days of travel. Now for some, this might seem extreme, but hopefully not shocking. Most leaders understand the value of listening to the Voice of Customer, or VOC, as it is called, and there is enough literature about why it is important to listen to the VOC. But truth be told, very few of us make it a point to listen to this VOC and act on it on a regular, proactive basis. Over the years, the nature of VOC and our relationship with the VOC has changed.
PR – The New Conscience Keeper In Town
I have long enjoyed, even loved my job, but one of the things that often bothered me was the definition of PR as spin. It rarely seemed to align with the work I have now done for almost two decades.
Power of Influencer Marketing
Building strong tribe with positive vibe
“It costs much less to build strong community with influencers vs traditional marketing approach”.
In digital first economy, consumers have multi fold increased their search online before stepping into the physical retail world.
Patterns, Purpose, Personalisation & The New Value Promise
Amidst ongoing challenges gripping us with the theory of lock & unlock we all have been continuously chasing new ways of getting back to live our normal life. Numerous stories on revenge watching(IPL), revenge shopping (The big online sales)
Embrace The Unknown
A lot goes as investment to create a product or service. But do you know that between 70% to 90% of these either fail or derail from the pre-decided plan. Either the offering doesn’t meet requirement of consumers or they don’t find requisite value which probably leads to this situation.