polka thoughts

Marketing is like Physics

Slingshot!

Nothing remarkable here from world's renowned motorcycle maker Suzuki. Why should it sell? Here are the specs. Find one great reason why people might lap this up...

Btw, look at the other bikes from Suzuki stable. And this is all that they have to offer to the great Indian Commuter.

Crime

Talking about the importance of Vaastu in Architecture, a friend quipped, "It's like every building which isn't based on principles of Vaastu is a crime!" Of course, the remark is subject to a fairly conclusive proof of the impact of Vaastu or the lack of it.

Crime!

Legitimate and illegitimate, legal and illegal are more defined when it comes to Police or official-governmental institutions. There are rules which make one determine whether a thing is a crime or not.

And, like in case of many crimes, breaking rules is tough.  People don't let you break rules coz their safety is compromised.

iPod seems to have made rules for MP3 players.

Blackberry seems to have made rules for business phones.

Asics seems to have made rules for running shoes.

I sense rules often apply at the category level. The brand that is able to establish the defining rules for the category, rules.

Mind you, what's legitimate in Saudi Arabia isn't necessarily legitimate in the US. Rules often become rules coz of a mass-agreement. So they have a certain 'universality'. What rules do your or your brand's audience agree on?

People are calling Yamaha's bluff. Why don't they seem to get it?

Yamaha just introduced YBR 110 and SS 125. If I were to summarize the instant reaction of motorcyclists online, it would be:

"YBR 110 is a rehashed ALBA and SS 125 is a rehashed Gladiator!"

And in essence, this reaction sounds so true. Why? Just when you look at the pics or the actual bikes you get it. The upper pic is Alba, the lower one is YBR. Also, why did Yamaha launch YBR? Coz Alba wasn't selling. But people can see they are both the same! So YBR might also have a tough time selling.

Now motorcycles and motorcycling is a hot topic online in India. And thousands and lacs of motorcyclists or prospective motorcycle-buyers are active online seeking guidance, sharing info and in turn guiding others in what to choose and what not to. People can see what's the truth.

Pitch all the interactive noise online against the monologuish claims in mass-media advertising and check what wins. Why do you think Yamaha's motorcycles commuter/executive commuter segment do not work?

One might say, Hero Honda has also been an active rehasher and has been doing it successfully. My guess is, Yamaha rides on a premium image and Hero Honda is just too massy. A huge chunk of Hero Honda owners might not be aware or even interested in the buzz online. Yamaha prospects though would be keen to know what people are saying online simply because of the stakes involved.

Yamaha needs to acknowledge this fact and draw inspiration from their FZ16 and R15 efforts. They need to offer something genuinely new instead of just changed names and whistles and color-schemes.

MakeMyTrip messes it

We all know it. MakeMyTrip is the country's biggest online booking portal for air-travel. Millions of air-travellers have used the service at one time or another. As is obvious of most online marketers, MakeMyTrip also sends newsletters every now and then. I've deleted these most often without giving a second thought but today I opened... So here's what I see (the upper half):

The interesting thing is that I didn't find much of interest. But the brief look at the newsletter told me that there could be some write-ups on some locations. Interesting enough for me click and check. I clicked and here's what I see.

And all the clicks in the newsletter seem to open this page. What a waste! Sending it to thousands of people and resulting in this. Biggest brand of the country!

Some time back, I heard of an interesting opportunity for work (something related to what the newsletter suggests) at MakeMyTrip. My profile was ignored for I have a little less experience than the team-members I would head (if hired). So the recruiters saw a very potent area of conflict. Now, this is the case at a pioneering brand/organization in the online space in India. Now did they become pioneers because of their experience? Is the supposed 'experience' the only thing that contributes to pioneering work?

Let me not even talk about strategy here.

How many people like me must have encountered this newsletter debacle? Besides, how many chances do brands get where prospects click on things out of curiosity? The percentages of newsletters opened are often in low single digits. Narrow valuable chances. Mess them like this.

 

When you open a store, don't do this

This store opened a few months back on the main street of Hiranandani, Powai. Almost everything that the store has done seems so inappropriate to me.

Just look at the name. P3. Explained in the tagline of sorts "Paper Print Pens". And below that a banner which reads "Stationery-Books-Laptops-Gifting-Mobiles-Printers". Well, we can have our views - good or bad - but here a few more details to explain the point.

The store is not more 600 sq.ft. in area and it stands right opposite Crossword which covers about 4 times the former's floor-space. Imagine a 2400 sq.ft. shop dedicated to books and stationery and here you open a way smaller shop selling not just books, but things like mobiles and laptops and gifts.

Not very far is Future Group's E-zone (which has plenty of mobiles and laptops) and about 6-8 times the size of P3. And you also have The Mobile Store nearby. And plenty of gifting-type shops (like custom shops of the yesteryears) which are stuffed to the brim.

When I got in, P3 didn't have an ink-pen in their merchandise.

Narrow. One. Focus.

New is powerful. So be careful.

It catches attention. It distracts. It lures. It becomes the headline. 'New' is powerful. Nothing can replace 'New'. And that's exactly the reason why brands/marketers/news-makers need to use this word 'new' carefully.

Check this headline. Is this really 'new'? If you follow the buzz online about this latest 'new' motorcycle, you would understand the disappointment.

Not sure if marketers at Bajaj attributed 'new' to this upgrade of Avenger. It could be just that magazines and bloggers added it. But the not-so-exciting conversations online have had their impact.

And if marketers know that any upgrade will be received as 'new' in the marketplace, they should think twice, thrice or more about whether to blow money on the upgrade and make it public in the first place.

Hero Honda has launched innumerable 'new's in the market. It's got a lot of flak online but it seems to be doing great. Strong leadership position in the market and limited reach of the internet in the country perhaps has saved it. The same factors save Bajaj and many other brands as well. But not for long I guess. Until then, they can keep launching the 'new'.

Gazelle's started leaping

 

The news is I received my first batch of earrings a couple of days back. Have already sold 6 pairs. It's such a delight to show stuff - that I only imagined - in real. Encouraging so far.

How should a logo be?

 

Even if I didn't know this logo belongs to/represents the brand Puma, I would buy that pair of shoes or t-shirt or shorts which carries this logo. Purely for the beauty of it. Wouldn't you?

Suzuki might sue you

If you post pics of its about-to-be-launched 125cc bike Slingshot. Yes, that's the grapevine. And therefore, all the blogs and forums have removed the pics and articles.

But hasn't that happened with quite a few products? Stealth pics and all. I can remember it happened with Karizma ZMR. Guess it also happened with Twister. But we didn't hear any 'suing' news there.

The thing is when these Slingshot pics were posted, almost all the bloggers and their readers gave a unanimous thumbs down to the bike. Guess this is what got the company worried. And since they got worried, they threaten to take legal action.

Some important points:

1. If opinion makers are really not enthused, it doesn't change a thing. They aren't now. They won't be, later too.
2. You stop them from writing/expressing, for sure they are not gonna turn around and write positive about your product later.
3. After the launch, they might launch a sterner attack on the product. Get ready for the killing.

What Suzuki loses?

An opportunity. Yes, an opportunity to listen to the folks who have the power to influence opinions in a big way. An opportunity to involve the enthusiasts in the making of the bike. An opportunity which can turn Suzuki into an enthusiast's brand in a short span of time.

What we learn?

I am pretty sure that with hundreds of crores of money riding on such automobile products, there must be a lot of marketing research happening before, while and after developing the product. Looking at this product in particular, am pretty sure that Suzuki is getting it all wrong. Or may be their researchers are getting it all wrong. It results in nothing but sheer waste of resources and sheer disappointment among consumers waiting to lap up products in a growing market like India.