abhivyakti vol7 mar'11

8/3/2019 Abhivyakti Vol7 Mar'11

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FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM

The new changing business environment demands

a change in the way businesses work and that is

what we also wanted in the case of Abhivyakti.

Abhivyakti has been a magazine from DoMS-NIT

Trichy, featuring articles, interviews, campus

events, etc. This time we wanted the magazine to

be looked at as a tool which aids in better devel-

opment of budding managers.

As part of this transformation, we have included a

slew of measures to improve the quality of this

magazine. We have decided to focus on current

issues of relevance to the industry and the stu-

dents. We have decided to partner with corporates

in sharing their views. We have launched a video

of the interview, in Facebook and Youtube, which

usually was only in the printed form in Ab-

hivyakti. We intend to develop this magazine to

enable better interaction with the corporate world

and to bring new insights on the issues of rele-

vance. This issue of Abhivyakti focuses on SocialMedia. SM, as the terminology goes, is an indus-

try which has been looked at by the businesses in

different perspectives.

We would like to thank the writers for their support and contribution. Abhivyakti is delighted tohave a chat with Stefan Engeseth. He is a wellknown figure in the space of marketing and adver-tising. We place our gratitude to Shweta KhannaBhandral from CNBC-Awaaz Network18 for

sharing her views. We hope that LaRecontre-

Entreview will both delight your senses and kin-

dle your inner entrepreneurial flame. We wereinspired and enjoyed the sharing of thoughts andviews by PickBrain Giri Balasubramaniam withthe interviewing team. We are grateful for hishumble sharing of thoughts and views. Wewould also request our illustrious alumni to en-able Abhivyakti scale greater heights in qualityand reach. The alumni can share articles andsuggest ideas and areas which can be focused inthe upcoming issues.

The whole Abhivyakti would not have seen thelight of the day without the enthusiastic support

of the different teams - the Creative, PR, and

Editorial teams. The teamwork has been phe-

nomenal. The creative team comprising of

Raghu, Taposh and Piyush have spent sleepless

nights in the process of designing the magazine.

Raghu has been the brain behind the colourful

and relevant cover page. Taposh, the humorous

guy with a humungous brain for just creativity,

has designed each page and deserves a standing

applause for his patience and grit to bring a feel-

ing of professionalism in the magazine. Piyush

is the acclaimed photographer of DoMS. Pri-

yadarshini, with her bubbling spirit and motivat-

ing attitude has been instrumental in keeping

the team motivated and brainstorming with new

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Jinson P AlexCoordinator & MemberEditorial Team

Abhivyakti

ideas. The PR team comprising of Priyadarshini, Sangya and Aman have been responsible for the marketing

and brainstorming activities throughout the different stages. The editorial team comprising of Manjusha and

myself are happy to be part of this wonderful team.

The next issue would have a new focus and new corporate columns. We eagerly await your valuable sugges-

tions, comments and criticisms on any modifications and additions that you, our indispensable part, would like

in the magazine. We would like to invite more articles from the corporate sector to increase our horizon of

learning. We assure everybody that we would strive to make interesting improvements in every issue. Our en-

deavor is to constantly improve Abhivyakti with each new edition along with your support and cooperation.

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Members of the Abhivyakti Team:

Creative TeamTaposh Sarkar

Raguram TPiyush Chawla

Marketing and PR TeamPriyadarshini. B. S

Sangya SharmaAman Chabra

Editorial Team

Jinson P AlexManjusha S

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WHATS IN !!

Technology overwhelming mankind!

Airtel Rebranding Mission Accomplished?

Social Media and its impact on Business

FOCUS:

16

INTERVIEW WITH

STEFAN ENGESETH

LaRecontre

LaRecontre-EntreView:

INTERVIEW WITH PICK BRAIN24

THE PARADIGM SHIFT IN CONSUMERISM

18

07

09

11

14

28

SNS: A Boon for Businesses & Brands22

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33

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Management by Movies


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MANAGEMENT IN LIFE

A man with a daughter in India can claiman MBA degree post his daughters marriage. Infact he can claim a specialization in all the fivebranches of MBA- Finance, Operations, Market-ing, HR and Analytics.

Join me when I take this voyage across the fiveoceans of management on the ship of marriagecaptained by the father of a young bride.

Firstly, the treacherous Analytic Ocean, a fathertrying to arrange his daughters marriage needsto analyze the different prospects before him, onwhat basis is he going to differentiate betweenthe different prospects, what is he going to useas the yardstick. Does the salary have a higherweightage or the nature of the grooms job?

Does the family background hold any light to thenature of the groom, his habits etc.?

Secondly, the captain needs to sail through the

turbulent Marketing Ocean. After cruisingthrough the Analytic Ocean with a single choice

of groom in hand, the father needs to sell the

choice to his daughter and the rest of the family.

This probably is the trickiest wave to cruise out.

The daughter, by now has probably built a castle

of her own in her dreams, awaiting its prince; the

father needs to convince his daughter that this is

the prince she has been waiting for. He needs to

use all the marketing techniques a manager

would employ, he needs to position the groom asthe man of his daughters dreams. The daughter

needs to be convinced that the marriage is not

costing the father more than what he can afford,

but usually it always does the opposite. So it is

mostly the perception that the father must create

in his daughters mind by lobbying, promoting

and steam rolling the entire operation in the likes

of a blitzkrieg.

Thirdly, the vast Operational

Ocean needs to be conquered. A typical

Indian wedding is an operational night-

mare. The nightmarish whirlpools that the

captain needs to steer around are as fol-

lows. The selection of a marriage hall for

the specified date at a price within the

budget and fancy enough for everybodys

likes at a location that is convenient to all

stake holders. The procurement of floraldecorations and the services of a decora-

tor, the decision of menu of the food, the

cooks to be deployed, the suppliers from

whom to purchase the raw materials or to

package this whole decision into one as to

which caterer to hire, deciding the guest

list, deciding on the invitation card, the

type, the size, prize and number. Procure-

ment of bridal ornaments and attires not

only for the bride but also for the entire

family is another whirlpool. Arranging

logistics and boarding for out of the town

guests on both sides. These are just a few

of the critical decisions that the father

needs to make. The list is too exhaustive

to even read and assimilate in single sit-

ting.

Fourthly, the dead sea of finance. Dead

because this is where most captains sell

their souls to the devil to somehow muster

up more money than what they can and

finish their daughters marriage only to

find themselves in the middle of a storm

with no hope of survival. All the opera-

tions discussed during the course of the

cruise through the operational ocean re-

quires huge finances for which the fathers


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either turn to their savings or their saved up

benefits. In the worst case they would cut

deals with sharks, loan sharks that is. Eventu-

ally the father always predicts all the direct

and indirect costs lower than the actual amount

and the overhead invariably takes the waterover his head but he somehow always man-

ages to resurface.

Fifthly, the captain needs to cruise through the

shark infested waters of the great HR Ocean.

This is the ocean that is probably the largest

and stretches across the entire period from the

conception of marriage to post marriage du-

ties. It starts from using his best interpersonal

skills to negotiate the terms and conditions ofthe wedding with the grooms side. Then he

needs to deal with the caterer, the hall owners,

drivers, hotel owners, decorators, the priest,the relatives on both sides, an emotionallyunstable daughter who is torn between leav-ing a happy family and walking into theunknown, a mother who is emotionallywreaked and finally he has to deal with hisown feelings. He needs to accept the factthat his daughter has grown up now andthat daddy will no longer be the man in herlife.

A father after sailing across all these oceans

becomes a seasoned sailor ready to take on

any hurricane, storm or tidal wave that the

ocean can throw at him. Doesnt he deserve

a Management degree?


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Let me accept the fact before some creatures

pounce back on me after reading this article that I

am writing this to let my friends know about my

new gadget. Along with that confession, I think

this is the best season and a possible reason to

contribute an article. Well I am on my new mo-

bile handset with the whole world in it. And what

else can be the best way to let know the world

about the latest technology in my hand other than

Abhivyakthi.

Jokes apart, I recently bought a new cell phone,

HTC Desire! It is the best phone out there in the

market competing with the likes of iphone, Nokia

N8 etc. It has a big screen, latest OS, Super fast

processor, 5MP camera and the list goes on and

on.. which I have curtailed in favour of the purpose

of this article. As soon as I bought my new gadget

I tried inserting the SIM card so that I can start us-

ing it, but it seemed like I had to undergo a crash

course, may be aDiploma in new high technology

cellphone use! I was unable to find the GPRS set-

tings, contacts or configure the phone.

After almost an hour of struggle with the new An-

droid platform, which seemed hostile at first, I was

able to activate the mobile-network option through

a simple check box and this was the end of my suf-

fering.

As soon as I got into the virtual world of WWW,everything went smooth and to my surprise allmy contacts on Facebook and Google jumped onto my phone with their contact information, theiremail ids and with their profile pictures too. Mycalendar got filled with the birthdays of all the200+ friends that are on my network, many ofwhom I havent even seen.

The next surprise popped up when my cell phone

started showing weather of the next 5 days andon receiving a call from my friend it listed thelatest update made by him on Facebook!! Anapplication named Runtastic was able to calcu-late the speed at which my vehicle was movingthrough GPS and that too quiet accurately (+/- 5km/hr). Through Googles Latitude application, I

got to know that one of my friends was within adistance of 1.5km from my place. So, a fantasticapplication and a chance to meet a friend. Well,you can also use it the other way around to re-

frain from meeting someone unwelcomed intoyour territory (please dont use this one againstme!).

TECHNOLOGY

By: Anurag Nath

The wide range of applications providedby ANDROID.

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From smart homes to gesture controlled gaming con-

sole Xbox Kinect to Multi-touch gadgets to 3D cam-eras and TVs, we are witnessing a huge technologi-

cal revolution. With this pace of change, it is not

inappropriate to say that one day we will be living in

a Matrix like world where our minds will do all the

labour and our torso will exist just to support the

brain, leaving our limbs useless. So, this revolution

might pave way for an evolution, probably an E-

volution

An Inception movie like illusion can be another pos-sibility where we will live our fantasies and build for

ourselves a world beyond our wildest dreams! Well

speaking of Inception,

there is a famous joke:

Rajni kanth planted the

idea for the movie

Inception" into Chris

topher Nolan's

(Directors) mind while

he was dreaming; and weare all just projections in the mind of Rajnikanth.

Technology will keep playing an important role inour lives, it has made our lives so convenient that wecan devote our times to things we love doing, but onthe other side it has made us so dependent that wecannot imagine a day without it. Now it is up to us toput a limit on the extent to which we want techno-logical interference. As often said, too much of any-thing is bad, what about this one. Hmm...?

INTERESTING TRIVIAABOUT ANDROID

If you thought Android was thebrainchild of Google, think again. Itwas devised way back in 2003 byAndy Rubin and Rich Miner only

to sell it to Google for $50 millionAndroid is based on Linux, the opensource operating system and Win-dows challenger.

While the iPhone can only run oneapp at a time the Android is a propermulti-tasking mobile OS that can runmultiple apps like the Google Maps,media player, browser at the sametime without any hiccups

Androids runtime includes a SQLite

database.SQLite is a light weight relationaldatabase which is built into Androidfor data storage purpose. Androidapplications can also make use ofthis RDBMS


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VIEW POINT

Tata Docomo came up with avaried range on innovativeideas such as The pay persecond scheme and payonly for features that u love

Indiais rapidly establishing itself

as a superpower in the cur-

rent world order. One of the challenges it faces is its

huge population. Huge population of India is not be-

ing looked as a hindrance, but as an opportunity. It is

a huge Human Resource. India is the youngest na-

tion in the world, with most of its population in the

working age. Also, the population of India is hugely

diversified; this is a big opportunity too.

Necessity is the mother of Invention; Scarcity is

the father of innovation.

Innovation is highly important in turning this chal-lenge into an opportunity. As India grows leaps and bounds in every industrial domain, there are lot ofinnovations that are being done and that needs to bedone to meet the growing needs of the population.

Banking Industry:As the number of working population and salaried

people are always on the increase, the financial ser-

vices required for them also increases. The number

of new bank accounts that are needed to be created

are going to increase exponentially and more and

more employees would be needed in the banking

sector to provide service. Hence the banks and the

financial institutions have the scope to expand far

more than anyone can imagine. This can be achieved

by product based, process based and technology

based innovations.

The emergence of IT has led to process-based inno-vation, namely going paperless. This has made thebook-keeping and records maintenance very simple,effective and has saved a lot of money in the mainte-nance of records.

It was innovation in the form of ATMs that reduced

the long queues in banks and innovation in the form

of credit cards and e-payment, which have made

payments much simpler. In these scenarios, innova-

tion can be coined as a term which makes peopleslives simpler. Hence it becomes highly crucial for

the banks and other financial services industry toinnovate and introduce easier modes of payment

for their customers.

Telecom Industry:The telecom industry is one of the rapidly grow-

ing industries in India. The huge population and

the rural connectivity in India can be perceived

as a weakness, but it presents an opportunity for

the sector to grow. The pay per use pricing plan

By: Siva Ilango N

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and the various value-added-services are innovationsthat have revolutionised the Telecom industry

The access of internet from mobile phones has

thrown lot of innovations in the services offered by

the telecom operators. Most of the younger genera-

tion in India will have their first experience of inter-

net through a mobile phone. Social Networkingthrough mobile phones and mobile banking are go-

ing to be huge businesses in the coming years.

Financial Services Industry:Innovation has positive and negative outcomes. In-novation in the financial services industry has led tomany new instruments in the financial markets.These new instruments have helped the corporatesand individuals to manage their capital in an effec-tive manner.

Some people might even argue that innovation in

financial products is one of the major factors which

led to the sub-prime crisis in United States. The fail-

ure of innovative products in sub-prime crisis was

because the risk analysis of the new products was

not done properly. Hence in any innovation, risk

analysis is very important.

The sub-prime crisis which shook the world did not

affect India much because of the tough regulationsfrom Indian bankers.

Consulting Industry:Consulting is new and growing industry in India.

As businesses in India keep growing, the opportu-

nity for the consulting industry also keeps grow-

ing, which can give consultancy services to dif-

ferent industries in various aspects.

Consulting should be for the transformation ofbusinesses. The core function of consulting indus-

try is assisting in risk management and inorganic

growth. Hence innovative thinking plays a major

role in the consulting industry and this thinking

needs to grow, not only from a corporates per-

spective, but also from an individuals perspec-

tive as well. An example of innovation by the

Apollo hospitals is the Master health check up.

This made people visit hospitals even when they

didnt have diseases.

Need for Innovation in education:Innovation is very important for a countrys pros-

perity, and it can be seen that more innovative

countries are prospering much faster than others.

To infuse the innovative thought into the minds

of the people, the educational system needs lot of

innovative changes.

One of the common complaints from the compa-nies is that, there are so many applicants for a job,

but there are very less employable people among

Educomp Solutions Ltd.,

the largest education com-

pany in India works closely

with schools implementinginnovative models, creat-

ing and delivering content

to enhance student learn-

ing.

Educomp SmartClass12
http://connect.in.com/educomp-solutions/images-educomp-smartclass-tools-and-rich-media-content-for-interactive--1-480069095623.htmlhttp://connect.in.com/educomp-solutions/images-educomp-smartclass-tools-and-rich-media-content-for-interactive--1-480069095623.html


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The challenges faced in the infrastructure devel-opment have to be tackled by innovative meas-ures like conceptualisation and holistic approach.

Insurance Industry:Information Technology has led to so many inno-vations in the Insurance sector. One of the latestinnovative products in the Insurance domain isthe Unit Linked Insurance Plan, popularly calledas ULIPs. Insurance companies are now offeringinsurance to groups, in case a single person can-not afford it. The insurance given to the Self-help

groups is a classic example of this innovation.The innovation has made the company incursome additional costs to avoid the run-away orfraudulent claims.

Creativity is giving birth to ideas. Innova-

tion is giving life to ideas.Innovation is for simplification of human lives.

What is commonly perceived as a waste can be

converted into a resource through innovation.

This innovative thinking should come from each

individual. The only way our country can stay

ahead of the race is in the hands of the younger

generation. They should Involve, Innovate, Im-

prove in each and every process they perform.

This can pave way for our nation to fulfill the

dreams of one of the great presidents, Dr. A.P.J

Abdul Kalam, by 2020.

Courtesy: A few excerpts and opinions have been

taken from the conference in LIBA

the graduates or aspirants. This shows that the

secondary and tertiary education standards arevery low in our country. Setting up career train-

ing schools to train the graduates, specifically for

the industries they want to get into, may be a

starting point in addressing this problem.

Infrastructure Innovation:Housing is a basic human need and is an impor-

tant factor in the elimination of poverty. The

problems faced by India in the housing sector are

under-housing and non availability of housing.One of the major factors contributing to this prob-

lem is rapid urbanisation. With ever increasing

population, more and more houses are needed.

Though India has achieved better living standards

in the recent years, lower-level equilibrium is yet

to be achieved in the society. Innovation in hous-

ing needs to be made to address this problem.

The housing standards can be improved by im-

proved technology, adhering to government stan-dards, acquiring lands in periphery of cities, andby innovation from the financial sectors, makinghousing affordable.

Improvements in Infrastructure are needed in thearea of Power, Ports, Roads, Rail, Airports. Themilestones that have been achieved so far in theinfrastructure industry were through Public-Private Partnership, design capabilities andmechanization.

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BRAND FOCUS

Airtel Rebranding Mission Accomplished?

I

ndias largest cellular company, Airtel has taken a big

leap and revamped its logo, and is on a huge mediacampaign to drive every home the point about its newlogo (to win every heart with its new logo). Why did theyhave to go for a new logo? Was the old one not working? Iguess there is some excuse. With the acquisition of ZainTelecom, hence going international, Airtel wanted to maketheir logo more internationally appealing.

The new logo looks more like a curved A with little bit ofhighlighting to indicate what they call dynamism and thewarm and friendly appeal of Airtel. They also said that it

represents a dynamic force of energy .

But I feel that there is no creativity inthe logo. The new Airtel logo lookslike the new Videocon logo and has borrowed its color from Vodafone.There is also strong opinion from people on how the new logo looks verysimilar to Vodafone. The logo wasdesigned by London-based Brand Un-ion, a WPP agency. Brand Union, ear-lier called Enterprise IG, is also theagency that does work for Vodafone.May be the similarity comes fromthere!

Rebranding an existing brand for anyreason is one of the toughest thingsthat a business can go through. Thereis a lesson of fine execution to belearnt from Airtel. It spent hugeamount for its rebranding (300 croresaccording to The Economic Times).The new logo appeared every where by overnight. Starting from earlymorning news papers to small Kiranastores in the nook and corner of everytown and city, every where Airtel Adhad the new logo. One must appreciatethe way Airtel executed this exercise.

By: Sateesh Gottumukkala

14

Indias largest private telecom playerBharti Airtels CEO Sunil Mittal unveiling

an all new refreshing logo of Airtel.


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Airtels rebranding in process at Tiruchirappalli Railway station.

Rebranding is not just changing the logo or thetune. It is doing at the right time and doing it withsuch finesse that the new logo is imprinted oneveryones mind immediately. If this exercise(changing the billboards, and advertisements inall stores) was not done overnight imagine theconfusion Airtel would have had to deal with dis- playing both the logos simultaneously. It is tooearly to say how much Airtel has succeededin its rebranding.

. Two television commercials Endless Good-

bye and Street Performer are currently onair. The TVCs reflect all that the new Airtel is

about , as well as the brands new proposition.But these new ads have no element of Ah!!

That must be an Airtel ad or what marketerscall WOW factor in it. Lets wait and see

about how much it will be successful in itsrebranding.

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LaRecontre

Abhivyakthi is delighted to have a chat with Stefan Engeseth. Stefan stays in Spain and has his own con-

sultancy firm called Detective marketing. He is one of the best marketing consultants in Europe and also a

good speaker. The serious talks about brands and management was well interspersed with humour. The

interviewing team will always cherish the interview with a living marketing guru. Stefan has written books

on branding, marketing, advertising and management. He also works with major corporations for issues on

marketing and branding.

Stefan opens up a small portion of his intellectual branding box for Abhivyakthi. He shares his views and

doesnt hold back to speak out his mind.

Stefan Engeseth, CEO of Detective

Marketing.com is one of Europes

most creative business thinkers and

a top ranked speaker.

Jinson (J): How do you think brands can mar-

ket products in India because of the diversity as

compared to the foreign nations?Stefan Engeseth (SE): The only way to do is to doit from inside. And if you do it from outside youdont understand the Indian market. Lot of brandshad tough time in the beginning when they had

come to India and they have also experienced. Ifyou see Coca cola, an American company come upwith American values and family values it will bereally hard for them to succeed.

J: Can you explain the case of Cocacola in the

above fix while it entered India?SE: Ifyou dont know how the market functions, it

is like playing a boxing match without any lights ina studio. You do not know where the punches arecoming from or why it is coming. But if the lights

are on you will be saved. Light is the understandingof the culture. I know that many brands had diffi-culty entering India.You hire people directly from Bollywood to do asort of Bollywood advertisement. Bollywood ad-vertisements show that the brand is part of the In-dian culture.But on the opposite side what I dont understand isthat why India is not producing any Superbrandsand is exporting products outside India. I believe,may be Tata is going to build a brand which might

be a Super brand in the future. Many factors are infavour of Tata: Knowledge, Size, shape etc. Nowcould be the right time for Tatas. Tata can becomea window to the Indian culture. For instance Ikeafrom Sweden may export furniture, but they exportSweden more than the Swedish government. And Ibelieve that Tata can do that for India.

There is this car brand in India, I believe, an oldone called the Ambassador. I like the car. It is rightin time. Sometimes I run and peep into the car.

Some people think I am going to steal the car. I likethe car. What Tatas or someone else can do is make

that car modern, may be they can put moderntechnology, eco-friendly engine into it etc. Thereis so much Indian culture and history in that car.

It has got everything in it. That is my advice.Otherwise there are two ways to do it, listen to

the market, listen to the culture, you hire people

from India. So you do everything right. You can

do it the right way, you adapt to the Indian cul-

ture. And wrong can also be right. You do every-

thing wrong and get it right way. You can do

things wrong and have luck, may be people will

like it because it is so wrong. But, there is a big

risk. And most of them will fail. And wrong can

also be right.16


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J: Companies can manipulate SocialMedia. What are your thoughts on that?

SE: First of all, I think this is historical.

Business world had been using market-

ing to lie. And you cannot lie anymore,SM is transparent. So it is harder to lie.

You have to tell the truth. You cannot

lie anymore. What lot of Corporations

do now is that they take of reality. They

pay bloggers. Suppose a marketing di-

rector invests in a website. He chooses

to show off to increase the traffic. They

are taking a shortcut. It is meaningless.

They are going to run out of petrol.

Other question is you need to do things right fromthe beginning. There are these companies whichdoes everything wrong and then in the end they tryto correct it by marketing. What they need to do isinvolve the engineers with the consumers, involvethe whole corporation in changing the DNA of be-ing. You need to be in the show dancing with your product for example in MTV. If you do it right, people will start talking about it. People will startfan clubs. Apple is one of the few that has thedifference. When they started off every computerlooked same, they started something new. But Iwould say that it is not hard to compete with Applebecause they are not used to competition. It is justanother open market.

I think it is more about attitude than marketing. Till

yesterday marketing was most important, but today

attitude is most important. You have the right atti-

tude, people will follow you, write about your com-

pany, write about your product, and develop the

product. I had an interview with a self made de-

signer in Japan. He downloaded design softwares.He had no education, but just talent. He was a fan

of Apple. He designed mobile phone long before

Apple did. He designed wonderful laptops and has

also featured in many magazines.Why doesnt Jonathans Ive, DesignDirector of Apple, call this personand ask why dont you join Apple?

Talent and knowledge is such a goodwedding. It can make things worktogether.

I think that Dell should call Apple

and join together. And Dell has a

strong design as compared to Apple

and Apple can use Dells capabilities

like better technical knowledge, lo-

gistics etc. They can become a much

bigger company.

J: Do you think the combination of Nokia and

Microsoft will pave the way for a stiff competi-

tion with Apple?SE: I hope so. Nokia has some big mistakes interms of software. They are home blind. I believethat Apple and Nokia will be a perfect mix. Ithink that Steve Jobs must be CEO of Nokia. Thatwould be good because Nokia has a structure,good production technology. But, Nokia has lackof leadership. May be they must invite Steve Jobsto lead them. And Steve Jobs is really strong inleadership.I think Microsoft and Nokia is not a good combi-nation. It is also about branding. If Apple tellsthat this chair is a phone, people will buy it. It isdoensnt matter what Apple does, people buy it.But if it is Microsoft, I am not sure if this is achair. You need to be good in engineering(developing products) and also you need to begood in branding and treat your customers welland so on. Those are the things that, I think,makes for a perfect combination.

J: With reference to China, how do you facecheap products? How do you compete with

that?

SE: There are many answers. But the short an-

swer is: Developing things that your competitors

cannot copy. Customer loyalty cannot be copied,

business models are harder to copy. There is a

company which manufactures drilling compo-

nents. They had a big problem with China. What

they did was, instead of developing a new prod-uct, they changed the business model.

..But on the opposite side what I dont understand is that why India is not

producing any Superbrands.

...What they need to do is involve the

engineers with the consumers, involve

the whole corporation in changing

the DNA of being..

Stafan Engeseths book

The Fall of PR shows

how advertising has re-

defined itself and re-

emerged as a force to be

reckoned with.


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FOCUS

Before the Internet revolution began, infor-mation transfer was slower and businesseswere Inaccessible Kings locked far awayfrom the common man. Today we see a completereversal of the story: Customer is the King and in-formation moves faster than the blink of an eye.One of the major contributing factors to this changeis Social Media(SM). Receiving tweets from An-and Mahindra, getting updates about the new pizzafrom Dominos in a jiffy, solving customer queriesin Twitter and many more. All these are manifesta-tions of a new world in the virtual space, the SM.

SM is not a new kid in the block. SM has beenaround making waves, enabling the upsurge of anew world; a virtual business world. SM has be-come a buzz word; mind it I am not talking aboutthe networking site Buzz, but the semantic one.

Sony was one of the recent SM viral infected

companies. Sony has given its portfolio to a com-

pany in this field, based in Mumbai, to use SM as a

marketing tool. This proves that even large compa-

nies who can invest heavily in other bigger forms

of marketing do not want to lose out on the upcom-

ing trend of internet marketing. Large companies

like CocaCola have been in the front race in em-

bracing the new technology. CocaCola has around

22,303,202 fans on FB! (Do you know that Coke

integrated FB in its CocaCola Village in Israel and

the results were overwhelming?)

But what is SM actually? We may define SM as themedium of collective wisdom. This is a platform

for getting collective knowledge of the public. SMhas become a space for connecting with the wholeworld. It refers to the medium of communicationthat doesnt just give you information but lets youinteract while giving you that information. And thisis where the jackpot of knowledge lies still substan-tially unexplored by the business fraternity.

Above: Cokes FB page

Coke integrated FB in its Coca Cola

Village and the results were over-

whelming

Social media has become a time hooking space.

The earlier criticisms of spending more time

online than in the real world, has become a com-

mon phenomenon. The recent surveys prove that

the time spent online has increased tremendously.

Hence the potential for huge business opportuni-

ties is perfectly clear. The recent advertisements

in the different mediums have been losing the

convertibility rate in terms of converting the

viewers (prospective consumers) into customers

or users. The plethora of mediums has become

another problem as the viewers preferences have

spread over varied sites. This is the point where

SM comes into picture.

Social media is the medium of collective wisdom. It is a platformof getting collective knowledge of the public.


18

By: The Editorial Team


19/40

Why is it so important in the business promotion and develop-

ment field?

Business incubation time is getting crunched day by day.

The time for a new technology is just 31 days in the IT in-

dustry says Mr. Thothathri Visvanathan, VP and Delivery

Head, Communications Media and Entertainment- Infosys.

Hence the time taken for the incubation of new ideas is

crunched. With reducing time limits for emergence of new

business models, it has become imperative for the companies

to be on their heels. They must be able to track down and find

new models and technologies before others do.

The traditional ways of finding customer needs is no more the

best way to find out their emerging needs, wants, tastes and

preferences. The space where the companies can find respite

today is the online space, which has become the living

space for the current population. Star Bucks has started a

website dedicated for social communication and media called

mystarbucks.com which is an effort to gather the needs and

suggestions from its users about their requirements thereby

connecting with them on a constant basis which is a necessity

in this era of cut throat competition.

Star Bucks has a dedicated website for social

communication and media called mystar-

bucks.com which is an effort to gather the

needs and suggestions from its users about

their requirements.

Hence, connecting with them on a constant ba-

sis in this era of cut throat competition.

Question and answer sites were the initial online spaces for companies to ascertain the required needs and de-

fects in their products. Yahoo Q&A site was the best answer to this but the new developments like FB and

Twitter have taken this to a totally new level. From a level where the netizens could ask questions and get an-

swers to a level where the companies can use the FB pages to promote their products as well as solve customer

queries. FB has promotion pages for almost all the major companies. Coke promotes itself by uploading the

photos clicked by some of its fans in FB. Dominos uses the same strategy of using a photo contest to engage

the customers. It also notifies the users about the new locations of Dominos franchises.

..The time taken for a new

technology is just 31 daysin the IT industry..

Mr. Thothathri Visvanathan

VP and Delivery Head, Communica-

tions Media and Entertainment-

Infosys.


19


20/40

A Q&A site in Korea called Naver has shown the

signs of becoming an upcoming giant in the Q&Afield. It has retained over 70% of the Koreas

search market and is number six worldwide, while

keeping Google at 2% or less of the Korea market.

Another site which is a Q&A answer site is the

Quora. It has created some quality noise among

the users. Quora is growing in its user base. The

users vote the most appropriate answers so that

the relevant answers are shown first. The site is

regularly frequented by experts.

Companies can focus on these Q&A sites to keep

abreast with the questions, queries, complaints

and discussions regarding their products. The

firms can also find out whether the new function-

alities or features offered by an existing or new

product are easy to use. We can term this phe-

nomenon of getting answers to the questions from

a number of experts as Brainstorming or better

said Netstorming.

Crowdsourcing is the trend that every company has

utilised for the incubation and promotion of new

ideas. For example, in the traditional marketing space

Lays uses it for the generation of new ideas and

tastes from the customer. Starbucks uses it to get cus-

tomer views and ideas. This helps them engage with

the customers and also keeps new customers in-

formed about Startbucks efforts towards innovation.


20
http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/22/google-reigns-supreme-in-2009-worldwide-searches-but-microsoft-sees-faster-growth/http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/22/google-reigns-supreme-in-2009-worldwide-searches-but-microsoft-sees-faster-growth/


21/40

So how can we use the concept of crowdsourcingin the online space? SM has been the answer tothis difficult question playing hide and seek withthe firms for a long time. SM gives the choice tothe firms to connect with customers and targetedprospects.

The new level of marketing has beenEngagement and spaces like FB and Twitterhave taken the customer level to this new platform.Tata Docomo, which has 14,154 followers, usesTwitter to address customer complaints and tweetsthem once the issues are solved. Is this a new wayto find out bugs in your system like the open waresoftware, Android? The companies are in an effort

to co-create their future by engaging with the cus-tomers. Electrolux has been one such companywhich has engaged the world in its co-creation andlaunching of a new product. Vac from the Seaproject was an initiative of engagement from Elec-torlux. It was able to raise awareness about plasticrecycling at the same time launch a product whichalso grabbed many eyeballs.

Another advantage of SM is that it is a medium

which has a niche marketing platform. For exam-

ple, Firms open up a promotion page on FB and

run their updates. The users who like to receive the

updates subscribe for it. Hence the idea of niche

marketing develops. The prospects who are al-

ready on the edge of becoming loyal customers are

in the pool of influence. The company can hence

focus on the needs of these focussed groups with

very less investment rather than the traditional me-

dia. Traditional media can never be ruled out in the

field of marketing.

SM is targeted and the number of views or prints

per ad or promotion can be exactly tracked. Hence

the companies convert their investment in the me-

dium into an imprint in the minds of the viewers.

Visibility in the virtual world requires that the

search results are more optimised. This can be

done perfectly by having multiple spaces of your ads

online. The prospective customers searching for in-

formation about the company would not be led

astray; thereby the risk of losing out to the competi-tor can be mitigated. The company gets noticed faster

in the virtual world, which is going to be the real

world!

We have seen the likely positives of using SM. SM

must be dealt with care; else it can also tarnish a

companys image. Unlike the days of yore, it doesnt

take weeks or days for bad news to spread and if that

happens then the companys reputation that had

taken years to build would crumble in no time.Hence big companies such as the Southwest Airlines

are using Twitter to help customers and address their

concerns. Companies must make firm policies on the

etiquettes of behaviour on SM. Cocacola had made

policies on behaviour for interaction on SM before

the fad of SM began.

As Stefan Engesath, one of Europes most creative

business thinkers and a top ranked speaker, saidCompanies cannot lie anymore with the emergence

of SM. They may employ and pay bloggers and in-duce bloggers to write articles, but this will not lastlong. SM is transforming the ways of interactionwith the customers. SM has transformed the way thecustomers seek and receive information, be it good orbad. Interaction with control is essential in SM. It isimportant for companies to accept this new business paradigm in the era of social media. Those compa-nies which do not embrace this new culture will haveto face the imminent danger of extinction because inthe meantime the competitors will develop direct

connections with customers and take away potentialcustomers too. Every second lost is a minute gainedfor the competitor so businesses must wisely andswiftly adapt the realm of SM and actively engage tostay alive.


21


22/40

CORPORATE COLUMN

Social Networking Sites(SNS):

A Boon for Businesses & Brands

Being in the media industry Shweta Khanna

Bhandral, Senior Producer, CNBC- Awaaz

Network18 shares her practical experience,

gained in close quarters, with Abhivyakti.

Abhivyakti Team thanks Sangya Sharma forcoordinating with the author.

Try keeping todays youth away from Facebook for

24hrs! It is like Netvass (Vanvass) for them. Infact Imyself have never felt so connected to all my friendsas I do now after opening a Facebook account. But itis not just about being connected to friends and rela-tives abroad. Social networking sites are becoming

malls on the web for small businesses and big brands.

The Gourmet shop, a bakery in a posh Mumbai townarea is gaining popularity by being on Facebook. Amother-daughter venture is now not only known allover Mumbai but the number of orders they get hasalso seen a significant increase. Similar stories areshared by lot of other small and medium enterprises.

One of the big players on Facebook and other so-cial networks is gaming company Zapak. Thecompany puts up every fresh gaming application,which they create on Facebook to build a rela-tionship and communicate with its users. Zapakcreates games for other companies also and putsthem on the net. Its a two way business for them.

The Social network population is growing by theday. There are approximately 5 crore Indians and1 crore NRIs online. Facebook alone has 1.2crores of Indians and 40 lakh NRIs. According tomarketing experts Facebook is the best place toreach Sec A+, A and B+ of Indian population.

Bigger retailers are also not behind in buildingtheir brand on the web. Some of them like Panta-loon, Himalaya herbal, Garnier have fans onFacebook and followers on Twitter. Twitter isone medium which is used by personalities morethan the brands. In India if Amitabh Bachantweets on something it is flashed in entertainmentnews on channels across the country.

Try keeping

todays youth

away from

Facebook for

24hrs! It is like

Netvass

(Vanvass) for

them.

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23/40

Social Media Networking is constantly beingused to increase the Business influence.

Tweets from auto major, Anand Mahindra, is flashed on Busi-ness channels frequently. So personalities are making their feel-ing public on the social network.

Other way of using the social media is like what Motilal Oswalhas done. They have uploaded videos of their wealth creationstudy on YouTube, have created a Wikipedia page on the com-pany and are on the events page of LinkedIn. A broking house building its business and name on social network shows thateven the serious market players are hooked to the web.

Unpaid advertising on various social networking sites has takenover paid advertising. This unpaid advertising is giving brands arecall value and connecting them directly to consumers. Other

Medias such as Radio and TV are also using Facebook, Twitterand YouTube aggressively to promote various shows. Be it anentertainment channel or the news channel, everyone is activeon the web. You can follow Anuradha Sengupta, an anchor inCNBC TV18, on Twitter for any news or her view on the adver-tising world. You can tweet Rajdeep Sardesai and also followhim for his views on Twitter.

[Anand Mahindra , Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra andMahindra , constantly keeps updating about himself and his products

through Twitter.]

Entertainment channels like UTV Bin-dass and MTV use Facebook to promote

various shows. Ankit Vengurlekar, an-chor in CNBC Awaaz says TV is a per-ishable medium, visuals lasts only forfew seconds which is an advantage and adisadvantage. Internet immortalizesvideo; we use video sharing sites toreach the 55 million broadband house-holds in India and 700 million mobilephone subscribers. His show Tech Guru

and other feature shows on the CNBCAwaaz like Smart Shopping, Overdrive

etc are uploaded on Youtube regularly.Tech Guru and Smart Shopping alsohave their own pages on Facebook withdecent fan following. TV is unidirec-

tional mode of communication; SNS isdemocratic and interactive. Today ourviewers tell us what they want to seesays Ankit. Also being a techy he be-lieves that SNS is a necessity & if youarent on it, you are considered outdated.

For sure your business and brand willgrow when you will think one step aheadof your pears and reach out to maximumnumber of people. SNS helps you do ex-actly that.

Social networking sites like Myspace, Friendster, and Facebook have literallyexploded in popularity in just a few short years. -

Mike Fitzpatrick,U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
http://www.icelebz.com/quotes/mike_fitzpatrickhttp://www.icelebz.com/quotes/mike_fitzpatrickhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representativeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representativeshttp://www.icelebz.com/quotes/mike_fitzpatrick


24/40

LaRecontre-EntreView

LaRecontre as the meaning suggests signifies the meeting. LaRecontre is a forum for the

readers to gain real time knowledge from entrepreneurs who have come through the

grind and established themselves. LaRecontre- Entreview is glad to have an informal chat

with Mr. Giri Balasubramaniam, popularly known as PickBrain. Giri is the CEO of In-

dias second largest Quizzing company Greycaps Pvt Ltd. He hosts many well known quiz

shows like the Tata Crucible, ET in Campus etc. Giris humility, enthusiasm and humouris impeccable and infectious.

Giri began his career as a media

sales executive in 1992. In the year

2000, he quit a division of Walt

Disney India Pvt. Ltd. to pursuehis passion for quizzing as a pro-

fession. Giri holds seven Limca

records for quizzing achievements

and has hosted more than 1250shows across 65 destinations of In-

dia. He has also hosted quiz shows

in USA, Srilanka, Singapore andthe Middle East Region.

Giri shares that the biggest indus-try in the future in this country is

going to be Education. So read on

to discover answers to some of

your entrepreneurial queries.

Jinson (J): Let me start with a little doubt thathas been lingering in my mind.. How did you get

this name Pickbrain?Pick Brain Giri(PBG): It has nothing to do withmy entrepreneurship. It actually started before thatwhen I was working with the Times of India. I am amedia management guy. Being a media manage-ment guy in those days, I was not typically a stu-dent of journalism so I did not come under Edito-rial staff and I started writing a Quiz column in TOI because quizzing was popular in newspaper. I

could not use my real name because I was not aneditorial member so a new name had to be coinedand I guess beyond South India, Pick brain waseasier than Giri Balasubramanian so the name stuckon after that.

J: So you like yourself being called PickBrain ?

PBG: It fits the business well. It has also helpedme to be fair and honest because it helps me detachmyself from my normal life to the life on stage. Weall say we have one life so if I get to live two lives

in one, then why not. Pick Brian is the brand andGiri is the human being.

J: How is your Entrepreneurial venture goingon and what is the future of this venture?

PBG: Knowledge Business in India is huge as a

sector. Thats really how we got into it. We, if you

look at us, are clearly not into the Quiz show seg-

ment which is fun, dance and film based and so

on. We are on the Knowledge side of the quiz

business which means we very clearly look at

quizzing as an alternative to education. So if you

look at Greycaps as a company, we are like the

Moon is to the Earth. If the earth is the Education

Sphere, we are in the same orbit but we are a sup-

plementary system to the existing education sys-

tem. That is how I really see Greycaps and if that

is the orbit in which I am, there is no doubt in my

mind that the biggest industry in this country in

the future is going to be Education. Weve under-

stood that in immense ways. As a nation our

strength is knowledge and nothing else. We are a

poor country. We need to accept that. We dont 24


25/40

My advice on entrepreneurship is: Never build a company looking

for investments. Thats a long route. The best way to build the busi-

ness is to get the business to fund its growth.

In a nation like ours, unfortu-

nately when one man comes upwith an idea, 9 men will come upwith fantastic objections to thatone idea so you got to have thecourage and conviction to con-

vince 9 others that your idea isworthwhile and for that you needhuge self belief and thats the

key. Second thing is to startearly.

have natural resources. We need to accept that.

What do we have? God has given us Brainpower. If

as a nation we are looking at education seriously,

Greycaps has a great future.

J: How do you plan to expand Greycaps?

PBG: Weve already moved, contrary to public

perception. 60% of Greycaps revenue comes from

non-quiz business, though quiz business makes

more noise than the other sides of the business

maybe because of the media and the channels I am

on. We are big in the General Knowledge business

in schools. We are becoming fairly big in the place-

ment enabling of students in Engineering, Gradua-

tion and Post Graduation colleges. What is happen-

ing with the education system is: It is like a patient

which needs Vitamin supplement sometimes and

the vitamin supplement is the Industry knowledge

that you have to gain. So we are the providers of

that vitamin supplement. The Academic knowledge

is provided by the Institutes. You need someone to

come and provide you the Industry knowledge.

You need someone to come and provide you the

soft skills. That is what today makes a student

ready to go into the market. So in my view a stu-

dent becomes ready for market from 50% of Aca-

demics, 25% of the Industry knowledge and 25%

comes from soft skills so we are a part of the sec-

ond part of 50%.

J: Are you planning for any investment from

other sources?

PBG: My advice on entrepreneurship is: Never

build a company looking for investments. Thats a

long route. The best way to build the business is to

get the business to fund its growth. A lot of people

set their ambitions beyond their capabilities.

Sometimes it works for a few. It does not work for

a lot many. In fact a lot of companies which go in

for huge investments dont click. Whats written

about is the 2 or 3 which do click out of the 25

who do not click. But unless it is an Infrastructure

heavy sector or an Investment heavy sector, you

dont need Investment, per say, to fuel business

ideas. My key sources would be people and to get

people you dont necessarily need investments so

it is not necessarily our growth engine.

J: Do you think that the location Bangalore has

been a good reason for your success. Do you

think location is requisite for the success of an

entrepreneurial venture?

PBG: Nature of business would dictate that an-swer. For someone like me who is in the knowl-edge space, over a period of time, the geographiclocation I am in does not make a difference be-cause I really like to believe that my office loca-tion now, realistically speaking, is not Bangalore.

25


26/40

Pick Brain in his flamboy-ant style of interaction withour editorial team ofAbhivyakti.

My office location would be

202.47.164.33 which is a server

number because Ive got peoplewho do research for me in Singa-

pore, people who do research in Du-

bai, people who do research in Lon-

don and they all meet on a server. A

large amount of my staff is not lo-

cated in any office. So in my case I

dont think geography matters. We

do have an office because that is the

core headquarters, so to say. For the

school business which is more brickand mortar, which is more publish-

ing-oriented, which is more books

we do require a place and so on. We

do have content staff and things like

that. For the quiz business its com-

pletely global so we dont necessar-

ily need one.

J: How did your venture start.. You had a high

initial investment..?

PBG: No. Not really. Like any dream Indian story

we also started with a 1000 Rupee bank balance

and so on. But it clearly started with the identifica-

tion of a segment where we found opportunity. It

started with the identification of a segment which

needed something. It started with the recognition of

a segment which was bound to grow. So there were

very clear business fundamentals to what we got

into. For us, perhaps, it was fortunate that the seg-

ment that we found was also a segment that wewere hugely passionate about so thats how the

marriage happened. But in all honesty, I would like

to believe if anybody else had started this, they

would have perhaps gone as much as or more than

us because our own contribution to this in terms of

our persona is probably 10%. It is the nation that

has contributed in terms of growing. Weve been at

the right place at the right time so I wouldnt take

much credit for that.

J: What do you think are the

different stages through which

an aspiring entrepreneur as to

go through?PBG: Every aspiring entrepre-neur has to be very clear in his/her mind on what is the businessone is getting into, why is hegetting into that business andvery clearly who is going to benefit from that business. Ifyou are not going to bring a veryclear benefit proposition to thetable, its going to be very diffi-

cult to sustain that business;whatever that business is. Youcould be in Retail, you could bein Product Development; if itdoes not add value to the life ofan end consumer or customerthen you are in the wrong busi-ness.

So my strong advice to youngsters is: A lot of

them make this mistake of trying to blindly con-

vert their passion into a business without analys-

ing whether there is a market for that passion or

not so that is important. At the end of the day

there are a lot of passionate areas which dont nec-

essarily bring economics to the table so you got to

be very careful to answer the economic question

first.

J: So are you saying that passion and entrepre-

neurship are to be kept separate?

PBG: I am not saying that. I am saying that pas-

sion is extremely important for business otherwise

you will not succeed. But simply because you like

something, does not mean it is a business plan.

You could be a coin collector but is there a market

for it?

passion is extremely important for business otherwise you will

not succeed. But simply because you like something, does not

mean it is a business plan.

26


27/40

J: What is the maxim or a message that you

would like to give the aspiring entrepreneurs?

PBG: In a nation like ours, unfortunately when oneman comes up with an idea, 9 men will come upwith fantastic objections to that one idea so you gotto have the courage and conviction to convince 9others that your idea is worthwhile and for that youneed huge self belief and thats the key. Secondthing is to start early. When you start early, youdont need to have baggages to carry with you. Es-pecially in the modern world where India lives in,young engineers, young B-school students get 6-8Lakhs as campus salaries and then you say, let me

work for 5 years and then start a business. In 5years time you couldve reached 25-30 Lakhs or 20Lakhs of salary then you look in for a businesswhere you have to recruit 2 more people thats 20

more Lakhs which is 40 Lakhs and you want a 50%margin so thats 80 Lakhs. You are hunting for a 1

crore idea and it doesnt come. So the big barrier tobusiness is you and not the business so if you startearly, your chance of losing is far less. So in myopinion if India has to change on entrepreneurship,we need younger entrepreneurs. Indias averageage of entrepreneurship is something like 31-32, as

J: What is your single most inspiration that

drives you?

PBG: India itself for me is a huge inspiration.Im very passionate about India. Im Ex-WaltDisney. I couldve easily left this country and

gone to the United States. I was offered to be-come the General Manager of the Singapore re-gion when I was planning to quit, but I person-ally believe we need to be convinced about theidea called India for ourselves. There is noother place where it is our own. Its only India

that is our own. I dont respect people who gooutside India and create great ideas whichwouldnt be of help to India. I would rather ap-preciate a small guy who opens a small idly shopat the corner of the street and feeds four people.He is a greater entrepreneur than someone whostarts a Joint Venture in the United States andmakes millions. I dont respect that. So to be the

greatest selling point is India and if 500 peoplecan create 500 great ideas in India, youve cre-

ated employment for about a million people ofthis country and that will change a nation.

India itself for me is a huge inspiration. Im very passionate

about India

27


28/40

TRENDZ

Internet and Wi-Fi are no more dependent on the

personal computers and the laptops. The 3G tech-nology launch in India as well as the value addedservices will be fostering growth of further revo-lution in consumerism. Multiple SIM cards andwell-equipped handsets are now trying to come atpar with the ever-changing consumer aspirations.

We hear about various intelligent business solu-

tions. There is a huge change in the business sce-nario today when we compare it with the businessenvironment a decade back. However, what is theunderlying factor that is forcing the companies toadopt the so-called real time, customer centric, pro-active & intelligent solutions? Are the consumersbecoming more intelligent day by day? May be theold and outdated business tricks are not enough to persuade the new intelligent consumer. Tomor-rows consumer will be different from that of to-

days. It would be hard to sell to the future consum-

ers when compared to the yesterdays as the intel-lectual level rises. Companies are investing hugeresources just to understand the enlightened con-sumer soul. Customer centric approach, CRM soft-wares, Personalisation etc are becoming the newbuzzwords.

Let us explore some factors, which are contributingto the status of the consumers and giving themdominance over the companies. Most conspicuouswould be the knowledge of available options for

making an informed choice. When we consider theIndian consumers who have constantly increasing purchasing power in the world, we find that theconsumers of various strata do enjoy the latestgadgets; be it smuggled, unbranded, cheap or eco-nomic X company goods. Competition could be

lurking anywhere for the smart businesses based onthe price, quality, availability, mode of paymentetc. In addition to that any information related tothe products or services is readily available, the in-formation barrier was matter of the past, and even

secrets are merely a click away. The banking (eventhe state owned) companies have started tappingthe potential of the new consumers by providingthem with the latest shopping tools. The mobiletechnology is penetrating at a faster rate when com-pared to PCs penetration among Indian masses.

...businesses need to understand the deep seated craving & aspirations ofthe consumers intellect and transform them into fascinating offerings

Arrival of innovative products and updated ser-vices show that consumers are becoming quiteintelligent to embrace new technology and way oflife. Apple Inc., the leader of innovative technol-ogy products has shown to the world how much abusiness has be updated to match the intellectuallevel of the consumers. The same can be seen incutthroat competition in the web-market. All thedigital firms are vying to capture the conscious-ness of the netizens.

By: Ravi BhakatResearch Scholar , DoMS-NIT Trichy


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29/40

The improved versions of PDAs are coming inbizarre designs to appeal to the aesthetic intellectof consumers. Consumers are projecting their in-ner psyche and looking for smart offices and

homes enabled with intelligent products and ser-vices.

To capture every consumers mind companies areusing the smart brand positioning and advertise-ment. The high levels of abstractness, avant-gradeadvertisements are the demands of the turbulentage of marketing promotion. The more innovativethe advertisement, more will be the penetration inconsumers psyche. Recently an automobile com-pany has introduced its product in print advertise-

ment with an audio touch. Creating demand essen-tially requires channelizing & shaping the inherentneeds and drives. As told by the great marketersof the century, the emotional value attached with

the product exceeds the actual value of the prod-uct for an established brand. Therefore, the busi-

nesses need to understand the deep-seated crav-ings & aspirations of the consumers intellect and

transform them into fascinating offerings. Thechanging lifestyle of the consumer is pushing thefirms towards a whole new world where imagi-

nation meets reality. Therefore, there is no placefor dumb & dim-witted offerings in todays mar-ketplace of smart and intelligent consumers.

Various reports regarding business state that con-sumers need to be integrated in the business proc-ess more actively rather than passively. There is achanging shift from passive consumption to activeco-creation. Now the main question arises how toincorporate the consumers intelligence into thecompanys offerings & how to collect the wisdom

of consumers.

Collaboration & co-creation have started a newrevolution in the business world. There is alwaysa scope to leverage the consumers intelligence to

buttress the business process of the company. The

new and efficient collaborating tools and co-creation platforms are been improvised to tap thecreativity of the consumers. Consumers in thisknowledge economy era are always ready to aidthe product or service development processes.Collaborative tools, feedback processes, co crea-tion platforms are going to be the mantras in thebusiness world. At last, business is for the con-sumers why not make it by the consumers too.

Who else can better tell the changing desires andaspirations than the consumer himself? Busi-

nesses can leverage the intelligence of their fansand followers to create new and innovative prod-ucts.

Open source software is the perfect example ofthis, various Digital Application tools & the Ad-vanced Web generations products are upgradedwith the help of the consumers. The behaviouralintelligence of the consumer is quite enough formaking a completely new shift in the businessstyle; the collective buying behavior has given

rise to the upcoming group buying sites. In thegaming world, the collaboration has been speededup to develop games and interfaces which aremore appealing to the consumers. Approach ofGoogle in the area of collaboration is quite appre-ciative to increase the content of the websites invernacular languages. Wikipedia itself is a self-explanatory term & created a knowledge revolu-tion on the web. The user-generated content pro-moted YouTube to the top of the online videosharing companies & the YouTube Company in

its own website updates negligible content.

The behavioral intelligence of the

consumer is quite enough for mak-

ing a completely new shift in the

business style


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From Digital World to Automobiles industry, eve-ryone has started taking the whole concept of cocreation and innovation seriously thereby creating aroom for the customers and users to utilise their

creativity. Not only the digital companies but alsotheir brick and mortar counterparts such as Boeing(using collaborative innovation), Dell (mass cus-tomisation), and P&G (Open Innovation) are capi-talising the philosophy of co creation in its ownversion.

The new trend of cooperation will surely increasethe loyalty and the devotion of the consumer. Asthe business changes from individual (B2C) to or-ganisational consumer (B2B), the collaboration be-

comes more and more imperative. For the big andgigantic consumer collaboration becomes the life-line and a boon. NASSCOM has divulged that thetrend of co-creation with the overseas clients is be-coming more and more important as technology isentering the phase of cloud computing and the ex-treme product engineering.

Business organisations are incorporating the con-sumers knowledge in the various processes

through the help of customer relationship manage-

ment and knowledge management tools. In theknowledge economy, the consumers or the end us-ers knowledge plays a crucial role & gives insights

to streamline the whole business for better effi-ciency. The knowledge of customer, knowledge

about customer and knowledge for customerneeds to be properly collaborated for co-creationobjectives. Management Guru CK Prahlad opined,To create value continuously we must create

knowledge continuously & for creating knowledgesuitable environment needs to be created.

Business organisations are incorporating the con-sumers knowledge in the various processesthrough the help of customer relationship man-agement and knowledge management tools. In

the knowledge economy, the consumers or theend users knowledge plays a crucial role & givesinsights to streamline the whole business for bet-ter efficiency. The knowledge of customer,knowledge about customer and knowledge for

customer needs to be properly collaborated forco-creation objectives. Management Guru CKPrahlad opined, To create value continuously wemust create knowledge continuously & for creat-ing knowledge suitable environment needs to becreated.

The changing pattern from autocratic businessmodel to the democratic style of leadershipamong the various fortune companies has madethe business more interesting and consumer cen-tric. A true enterprise needs to inculcate the de-mocratic market strategy. The future of competi-tion and customer centricity will be determined by the integrative and holistic approach showntowards nurturing business. It is not about push-ing any trash to the market rather facilitating the

dynamic market to achieve propensity to inno-vate...!


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The leader needs to take into account the various

needs of the team members to improve their per-

formance. As in the movie the centre forward

(Preeti Sabarwal) has a craving for achievement

and success. Whereas the senior player Bindiya

Naik has esteem needs and recognition needs. Her

need for power results in politics within the team

against the leader (coach). But, ultimately her need

for power and recognition is satisfied when she

leads the team to victory against a difficult match

and she gets credit for it.

Teams are like wristwatches- lots of different parts,but the whole entity has value only when all worktogether. A team has to identify and agree on thedefinition of success. Biggest disconnect in any en-terprise is when people have different definitions of

success. As in the movie, there are intergroup con-flicts such as status conflicts and conflicts relatingto tasks that need to be performed.

Individual goals and agendas are always counter-productive, as proved by the way two forward play-ers try to become the highest goal-scorer at the costof the teams fortune. While dealing with them the

coach knows when to leave their teams alone andwhen to intercede. He asks the players to take a de-cision and resolve the issue.

Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of theteam is essential to fully exploit the strengths ofthe team, to overcome its weaknesses and formu-late appropriate strategies to exploit the weak-nesses of the competitors and to ultimately win.As in the movie the coach is aware of the angermanagement issue of Balbir Kaur, language

problem of Kerketta, ego issue of Bindiya andAaliya and he tackles each of these issues toachieve an efficient team work.

To build a team that is effective the coach looksto it that the frequency of interaction increases byasking the girls not to stay according to theirstates. He builds the team by giving them timeand training. He discusses the strategies and for-mulates methods with the team and ultimatelyresolves the cultural issues, as that was leading toresistance within the team.

When a conflict arose and the team opposed theleader he was open, honest and avoided threats.The coach Kabir Khan communicated his feel-ings, flexibility of the position and offered to re-sign. By doing so he gained the teams trust, con-fidence and respect. As a leader he showed con-fidence in the team while taking a near-impossible challenge of competing against theboys team.

The team Forming stage is filled with uncer-

tainty, confusion, and people not being sure ofstructure, task and leadership. Storming stage

is emotionally charged and conflicts arise. Con-flicts and confrontation leads to different dynam-ics in the team. In the Norming stage the teamgets a we feeling and they perform with co-operation and collaboration. Later the team pro-gresses into the Performing stage where they

evolve as fully functional groups. The teamachieves its goal only after they are united to

move forward.

Teams are like wristwatches-lots of different parts, but thewhole entity has value only whenall work together. A team has toidentify and agree on the defini-tion of success.

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CAMPUS DIARIES

Placement brochure release and Inauguration of the session for 2010-2012

Placement Brochure was an event immediately

after the start of the academic session. Mr. A.V

Krishnan, Executive Director, BHEL Trichy pre-

sided over for the release of the placement bro-

chure for the future managers of 2009-2011 batch.

The occasion was also arranged for the inaugura-

tion of the session for the 2010-2012 batch. Dr. G

Kannabiran, Professor and Dean-Research and

Consultancy, NIT Trichy gave a gist of theachievements and initiatives of the final year stu-

dents. Dr. KB was glad to inform the ED about

the diverse background of the current batch of

2010-2012. Dr. A. K. Bakthavatsalam, Professor

and Head, Training and Placement, NIT Trichy

was happy to inform the development phase that

DoMS-NITT is going through.

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Compiled by: Aman & Jinson


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FIRMgamesandCulturals

CAMPUS DIARIES

FIRM is a tradition for bonding the nascent stu-dents with the blooming buds of the DoMS gar-den. FIRM games were really a forum for fun, en-tertainment and learning. Everlasting bonds wereconcreted between the first and the second years.FIRM games not only test the sportsman spirit butthe real character of the person. The students wereexcited and striving to win titles in Football, Vol-leyball, Cricket, Dodge ball, and Basket ball.

The culturals created ambience for some exciting

moments. The moments of dancing, commenting

and enjoying by the first years were really some-

thing that no one would like to miss and would

also be treasured in the abyss of their hearts.

Freshersday

Hmm... most of the memories are

created on this special occasion for

the students. The on the spot,

funny and innovative dancing

styles let the laughing gases ex- plode in the air. The compeerer

created the right ambience for ex-

citement and fun. The first years

will always remember the grand

welcome hosted by the final years

at Hotel Breeze, Trichy. The envi-

ronment created during the FIRM

games gets strengthened during

the Freshers day.

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CAMPUS DIARIES

Club activities (switch, case study competitions, quizzes)

The SEC (social, entrepreneurial & cultural) club conducted eventslike the switch game. This game wanted the team of two to enact theideas given to them. The next stage included switching between twopersonalities. Other clubs like Marketus club, the Finance club, Op-erands club, Infinit-e club and the HR persona club conducted vari-ous events all round the trimester. They provided the perfect platformfor innovations in their respective fields.

The events included numerous quizzes, case study competitions, pa-

per presentations, paper discussions and treasure hunt competition.

Festember Anbagam

Festember is the signature event of NIT Trichy

which is usually conducted each year in the month

of September. It is one of the most awaited and lav-

ishly celebrated cultural, literary and arts extrava-ganza of our college. This year we had performances

from Naresh Iyer, Anuradha Sriram and P.B. Srini-

vas. Festember being a prominent activity and an

inter college event attracts pupil from other colleges

in large numbers.

We have always believed that the creation of

complete managers embraces inculcating them

with the sense of social responsibility. Our

Anbagam support program tries to lend a sup- porting hand to cater to the physical and emo-

tional needs of the inmates of Anbagam orphan-

age. This is one of the steps taken towards cre-

ating complete managers. During the past tri-

mester the students have been working actively

towards this initiative and are overwhelmed by

the level of participation from our students. The

students visited the inmates and shared a whole

day with the ever smiling kids of the home.

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CAMPUS DIARIES

Guest lectures and workshops

Vriddhi

This a concept to keep the students informedand on their toes. Vriddhi was born out of ne-cessity to share the talent and the knowledge ofeach other. Vriddhi has conducted events in

Marketing plans, AdZap, Launch Pad, Book re-view, Treasure hunt etc. Launch Pad was anevent which enabled the students launch theirproducts with full marketing plan. Book Reviewwas inaugurated by our beloved Dr. Vinod. Sirwas able to inspire the class and also share someof his experiences. He was kind enough to sharethe books that he thought is a must read formanagement guys.

As part of Vriddhi, there has also been knowl-

edge sharing sessions on shares and trading by

some high profile sharekhans of the class. Vrid-

dhi enables the class learn from their peers and

also appreciate their interests.


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Guest lectures and workshops

CAMPUS DIARIES

Speaker Topic

Dr. L.S Ganesh, Professor and formerHoD, DoMS-IIT Madras

Data Analytics

Mr. Ravi Viswanathan, Vice President,Telecom Services, Tata Consultancy Ser-vices

Turbulent Economy and Experiencesabout his professional Life

Mr. Tirumalai Nambi Tandapani, Busi-ness development, Cognizant Technol-ogy Services

Role of MBA in the Service Industry

Prof. Dr. B. Mahadevan from IIM, Ban-galore

Supply Chain Management -Value ChainManagement

Mr. Ajit Joshi, General Manager, ReserveBank of India

Macroeconomic Indicators

Late Dr. A.Raja Fund flow and cash flow

Dr. L.Prakash Sai, Professor, DoMS-IITMadras

Business Process Management

Manikandam Murgesan, Continuos Im-provement Manager, Nokia

Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma

Thottathri Viswanathan, Vice President,Delivery Head- Commuincation Mediaand Entertainment, Infosys

Business models before and after thestorm

Mr. Nitin GodawatCOO, Decidyn, Bangalore

Customer profiling, cross-sell strategy,rule based strategies, clustering, textmining and web mining techniques

Dr. C. Kaliaperumal, Director, Ministryof Environment and Forests,South Zone, Bangalore

Environmental Impact Assessment

Mr. Sanjai K. Regional HeadAsia Pa-cific & Japan of SAP India Pvt. Ltd.,Bangalore

ERP Planning and Manufacturing Sys-tems

The education imparted in our institute is structured in such a line of attack as to provide the studentswith the practical insight about the varied aspects of their future. This is to help them manage the futuresituation in the best possible way. The eminent guest lectures and speakers in our workshops are thespring boards towards acquiring this practical knowledge.

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CAMPUS DIARIES

TEDx Trichy

TEDx Trichy was a milestone for the Entrepre-neurship cell. Twelve talks by eminent personali-ties for an entire day laid the right foundation forthe future entrepreneurs comprising of studentsfrom various colleges. TEDx operates under a li-cense from TED(an acronym for Technology, En-tetainment and Design) founded by the SaplingsFoundation)

For the participants, it was an occasion for intellec-tual and emotional fulfillment what with the rosterof TED presenters including scientists, politicians,activists and the unknown real stars. The eminent personalities who graced the occasion includedAnshu Gupta, the founder director of the voluntaryorganization Goonj and winner of Ashoka Fellow-ship award; Subramanium Vincent, co-founder ofIndia Together and Oorrvani; J Balamurugan, MDof Next Gen Communications; John Lewis, often

known as the memory wizard for holding severalnational records on memory challenge games;R.M.P Jawahar, ED of TREC-STEP and formerpresident of ISBA; Nitin Gupta, founder and CEOof Entertainment India; Vivek Karwa, FinancialPlanner and CEO of Vridhi; Balaji Sampath, a pro-fessional revolutionizing the current education sys-tem; Karthik Kumar and Sunil, Director of EvamEntertainment LTd.; Saravanan, Founder and CEOof Qwkmap; Mani Chinnaswamy, MD of AppachiCotton Company.

The event was divided into three sessions, TEDxTrichy followed the general guidelines of the ac-claimed TED talks. Each session was interestingand filled the audience with intrigue. The enthusi-asm was palpable. From the beginning of the ses-sion with Subramaniam Vincent explaining theimportance of public opinion on day today activi-ties to the laughter filled session by Nitin, each ofthe sessions were different and interesting. Severalinformational TED talk videos were also screened

during the session.

8 - 9 January, 2011

On January 8th and 9th, Department of Manage-ment Studies, National Institute of Technology,Tiruchirappalli was host to a workshop on Ad-vanced Business Analysis & IT Consulting. Thisis in sequence with proceedings and the aca-demic initiatives taken during a workshop heldon August 29, 2009 where the foundation for anew specialization in Business Analysis & ITConsulting was laid.

The present workshop on Advanced BusinessAnalysis & IT Consulting was conducted in col-laboration with Zaasti Corporation, USA. Mr.Thothathri Visvanathan, Vice President & Deliv-ery Head, Infosys, Chennai inaugurated theworkshop with his introductory speech on latestbusiness scenario in IT Consulting. He explainedthe importance of learning in business analysis

that shall help students to prosper as good Con-sulting Professionals.

Students were trained by Mr. Peter JohnsonACertified Business Analysis Professional fromInternational Institute of Business Analysis(IIBA). As an Independent Consultant servingfor Zaasti Corp, Mr. Peter has over 20 years ofexperience in Information Services as Consultantand Trainer. During the workshop, students gotan edge in Business Analysis field through learn-

ing and interacting on how to get a job done bydemonstrating excellent critical thinking andanalytical skills in the Requirements Analysisand Elicitation Knowledge areas. Mr. Peter men-tioned that students passing out shall be able toaddress day to day challenges within their joband write effective use cases. The training was agreat value addition for those entering into Busi-ness Analysis & IT Consulting profiles of vari-ous organizations. It also helped students betterunderstand the class room concepts of the new

specialization and relate to real life situations.

WORKSHOP ON ADVANCED

BUSINESS ANALYSIS & IT CON-

SULTING


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From the top:Left side: Raguram, SangyaMiddle row: Aman, Jinson, Taposh, PiyushRight side: Manjusha, Priyadarshini

The Abhivyakti Team

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The Abhivyakthi Team

Department of Management StudiesNational Institute of Technology (DoMS-NITT)

Trichy-14Visit us @ http://domsnittrichy.wordpress.com

www.domsnitt.in

abhivyakti vol7 mar'11

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