Nikita Arora's Blog

I was more than taken aback when I came across this post on Brandchannel (Active Faith: Pro Athletes bring Christian Apparel to the masses).  There has certainly been the tradition of athletes praying before/after games, and although the article points out this for Christian athletes, it is true for all religions.

However, the more interesting fact is that two pro basketball players (Minnesota Timberwolves forward Anthony Tolliver and former NBA D-Leaguer Lanny Smith) were so influenced by this that they decided to form a company solely dedicated to producing apparel and accessories with Christian messages called Active Faith. As stated on their website, their vision is “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). The entire idea is to promote the brand based on the religion (which includes only Christianity so far). And so far, they have been more than successful in attracting attention and customers because of brand advocates like Jeremy Lin, Stephen Curry, and Micah Owings to name a few. For example-when Jeremy Lin went on the seven-game winning streak earlier this season, and images flashed him sporting an Active Faith wristband (which says ‘In Jesus’ name I play’), the number of visitors on the Active Faith website grew so big that the website crashed thrice before the company could bring it under control.

Although the company has drawn huge crowd already without actually indulging in any intensive marketing (apart from the celebrity athletes endorsing those bands or tees, and attracting more customers, making it more like a cult following for Christianity) however, there are some key problems that are just around the corner.

Firstly, the company is based on the premises of Christianity. Even though it is the major religion followed in North America, still it goes against the principals of secularism and ‘all religions are equal’ ideology, and thus is destined to attract fanatics in the near future. It is because that by making bands that just say “In jesus’ name I play, somewhere it’s being assumed that Jesus is above Allah, God or some other deity. And this might be the reason that they are not actively engaging in advertising their products, because think about it… if there’s a TV commercial going like “Get good grades in school by wearing this band and praying to Jesus cos he is the best”, it wouldn’t be surprising to find outrageous mob of people on the streets with only one mission- to kill anybody who supports the commercial/company.

Secondly, there is no scope for growth in other countries where Christianity is not the most widely practiced religion. And since their website and all the products are so centered around Christianity, there seems no justification in modifying it to accommodate other religions.

Lastly, while faith has the power to transform people into staunch loyalists (in a positive way, although it’d be an extreme case positivity), it also has the power to destroy (extreme case negativity).

And although the idea sounds compelling to hear about, yet it’s not compelling enough to make me want to go buy that wristband because I’m a hindu by religion and no matter how secular I may be, the constant praise for Christianity just pisses me off. And anyways, I’d look like an idiot going to the temple wearing a band that says “In Jesus’ name I play”. The priest would probably kick me out!

However, if you’re interested in trying some cool Christianity stuff, check these links out: https://myactivefaith.com/ , http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2012/03/30/Active-Faith-033012.aspx )

I am really intrigued by Jack’s recent blog post on “Braille Burgers”. It highlights how a restaurant chain in South Africa called Wimpy, made itself extremely differentiated (in the hard-to-differentiate food industry) by introducing 15 types of ‘Braille burgers’, using sesame seeds to spell out different messages in braille for its visually impaired customers. (For example- 100% pure beef burger made for you.) The Metropolitan Republic agency, who came up with this brilliant idea claimed to reach 800,000 visually impaired people through this campaign.

As we are all aware that the marketing campaigns led by the companies in the food and beverage industry generally tend to focus on the differentiation aspects like quality, prices, health facts (for example-low fat, high protein, energy etc). But since each one of them is trying to differentiate on more or less the same facts, they aren’t really successful in establishing  a niche, and continue to experience similar growth patterns. However, some elite companies, with a big market share and bigger marketing budget tend to get celebrities to endorse their products, and thus are able to maintain high market share.

But by adopting the ‘braille burgers’ strategy, Wimpy’s has established a very unique differentiation strategy (at an international level), a strategy that just doesn’t help it maintain its current market share, but increase it manifold. Although the marketing campaign specifically aims at the visually impaired customers, and is extremely time-consuming (the video below illustrates how each sesame seed is carefully placed on the bun to represent the braille alphabet), both the apparent shortcomings actually are to Wimpy’s advantage. Firstly, the emotional appeal of the campaign is enough to draw attention from all other customer segments to Wimpy because it simply depicts how much it cares for its customers. It sends out positive vibes of communal harmony and philanthropy to the customers, and studies show that people tend to associate themselves with companies addressing a social cause by being their loyal customers. Secondly, it would have been cost inefficient if Wimpy’s decided to write a message on each and every bun. But since the proportion of visually impaired customers is minuscule compared to the non-visually impaired customers, it all works in the favor of Wimpy.

All in all, this marketing campaign is, and will be remembered as one of the marketing masterpieces in the history because of the innovation and out-of-the-box thinking applied in harnessing customer markets not just domestically, but all around the world!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YAchE0-o-o ; http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-01-13/news/30622551_1_braille-sesame-seeds-burgers )

In reference to Josh’s blog post (Brandwashing in Movies) about the recently popularized type of advertisement called ‘Product Placement’, I absolutely agree with his analysis of it. Instead of spending money on direct forms of advertisemnt during the TV shows and having people drift their attention to other quick tasks, the advertising gurus have switched to this indirect yet overly powerful form of advertisement which involves branded entertainment.

Basically product placement, or embedded marketing is a form of advertising where goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, like movies, music videos or news programs. For example- when you see you favorite star sporting a cool Nike hoodie, or drinking Coca-Cola, or wearing a Rolex watch…..it’s not just by co-incidence that he/she happens to wear/eat/drink them. A lot of work goes behind planning on these minute details. And the best part is that advertisers don’t need to create an actual ad to market the product…all they need to do is place the product in the show/movie/music video, and people will notice it!

I personally believe that there are many advantages of this non-traditional form of advertising. Firstly, the scope of product placement substantively surpasses that of the regular ads, both in terms of qualitative and quantitative measures. And although advertisers regularly create ads with famous personalities and try to depict the association of the product with them (which is by the way one of the most expensive forms of advertisement), Product Placement has enabled an even stronger association, and in a comparably cheaper way.

Lets take a look at this: In the middle of your favorite TV show, you see this new ad of  the Schlitz beer with its ‘go for the Gusto’ tagline. The humor in the ad and the old infamous tagline might influence you to go buy the Milwaukee-brewed beer. But instead, if you went to watch Contraband this weekend, (the thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale), apart from all the action, you’d have surely noticed a lot of Schiltz beer throughout the movie as well. And since the movie debuted at the top of box office this weekend, the marketers at Schlitz shall be celebrating as there revenue will be directly influenced as a result of the movie’s success. 

This is the power of the Product Placement. It is so silent that you don’t see it actually directly targeted at you… you see it already embedded in the environment around you, and wonder why you don’t have it. And then, you quietly get up and buy it. And all of this, silently generates money!

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9i46PJRRUw , http://productplacement.biz/201201193882/branded-entertainment/schlitz-product-placement-in-contraband.html , http://productplacement.biz/ )

In a recent campaign started by Mobilicity, the novice wireless provider has targeted all swords at Canada’s “Big 3” – Rogers, Bell and Telus; country’s dominating wireless providers. It has targeted the three players by questioning their ludicrous pricing strategies and in turn exposing how these revenues generated by charging consumers exorbitant prices are used to fund their business deals. Currently, the campaign is running in 5 major cities across the nation including Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa; and has advertisements with Mobilicity’s mascots holding placards reading ‘Outsmart the Big 3 Wireless Companies’.

One of the interesting features in these campaign posters include the quantitative facts listed in them. One ad features by informing and asking the consumers the following: ‘Together the big 3 can afford the ownership of 2 major teams and 6 pro sports teams. So maybe that’s where all the extra fees go?’ Second one  reveals another startling fact. It reads : ‘the big 3 wireless CEO’s made a lot of money in 2010….and by a lot we mean combined $22,788,361.00. Ever wonder where all your data overage fees went?’

By putting these facts in public light, Mobilicity has not only given a national platform to public’s anger and frustration over those ridiculously high bills, but it has also gained a competitive advantage by winning those customers to it’s side. It has made a single move with dual advantage. First, it exposes the big 3 as consumer rip-off’s, further fueling consumer’s disappointment; Second, the campaign helps Mobilicity increase it’s market share by providing refuge to those disoriented consumers.

In personal opinion, there are quite a few good things about this marketing campaign. First, Mobilicity has been constantly offering cheaper rates and plans for it’s services since it’s commencement in 2010. This adds to its credibility, and strengthens it’s campaign despite its ‘start-up’ status. Second, the services and plans are not conditional in respect of the terms or contracts. This really adds to the genuineness of the company, and promotes a more ‘consumer-friendly’ image. Third and the most important is the fact that by launching a nation-wide campaign which certainly helps consumers voice their grievances (but also uproots them of their association with the big 3), mobilicity also assured them of immediate relief by providing those same wireless services at comparably ultra-cheap prices.  This, I believe, will be the key to attracting long term loyalty from the customers without locking them in fixed term contracts.

All in all, if given the right exposure and public support, this marketing campaign contains the right potential for mobilicity to emerge as a strong wireless company, and also enable the much needed price correction of these wireless services.

(For more information, check out these articles: http://www.marketingmag.ca/news/marketer-news/mobilicity-targets-wireless-big-3-in-new-campaign-44208; http://thecellularguru.com/2011/09/27/mobilicity-calls-out-big-3-canadian-carriers-on-spectrum-auction-tactics/ )

Why do we, as consumers, subject ourselves to waiting in horrendous lineups for a basic cup of Tim Hortons coffee? Or, why are we willing to shell out a whopping $5 for a flavoured Starbucks latte? In part, because we’re like sheep — we follow the herd.

According to professor Laurence Ashworth of the Queen’s School of Business in Kingston, Ontario, “There seems to be this inexplicable kind of herding behavior”. And, it is this ‘herding mentality’ where we go and what we tend to spend our money on. He further explained that we adopt the same behaviors as people around us, especially when there’s more than one person engaging in that behavior.

Its like every creature possesses some basic instincts, like flies swarm and sheep flock together. Similarly, humans have the basic herding instinct. According to professor Ashworth, “It makes a lot of sense when you look at other creatures who engage in these kinds of behaviors — herding or swarming behaviors. There’s some built-in mechanism — a very basic mechanism — which causes them to do similar things.The only difference with humans is that we have this ability to be aware of our actions.”

And, so for market research analysts, it is this consumer behavior which predicts whether a consumer will go to Tim Hortons and wait for 10 long minutes to  get a simple cup of coffee, or go to Starbucks and spend  extravagant $5 for a latte. And, although people think that they deliberately and consciously control their behavior and choices, its not true. Popularity begets popularity.So because Tim Hortons and Starbucks are already popular, they are appealing to people.

Another part of their appeal is that Tim Hortons and Starbucks offer hedonic products. There is something about the Tim Hortons coffee or Starbucks latte that instills an immediate positive emotional response in people. According to prof. Ashworth, “these are the things from everyday experiences that do make us feel good. And, so it might be rational for people to put in time waiting for coffee or put in more money to get a good coffee because of how it makes them feel; the feeling that you’re getting a good value for your dollar”.

So, its basically the convergence of many factors that cause people to behave in a suggestible and a predictable way. The brand, the value, the taste, the price, service.. it is when all these and so many other factors integrate together, that a person goes to buy a cup of coffee!

A little more than a year after being saved from the wreckage heap by a massive bailout from the U.S and Canadian governments, when GM hoped to shine again by issuing an IPO, there were all sort of dilemmas with the Detroit Automaker

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/gm-files-for-landmark-ipo/391744

The company geared up to sell a stake in itself to investors in a public stock offering, part of an effort to lose the “GOVERNMENT MOTORS” nickname earned after rescue put the company in the control of U.S govt, with a 61% stake with smaller stakes by the Canadian and Ontario governments. And although uncertain economic recovery was a serious question to be considered, Wall Street analysts said the shares might zoom, fueled by signs that the company is headed in the right direction after spending the past 2 years struggling to turn itself around.

And, true to their observation, GM Co’s initial public offering became the world’s biggest at $23.1 billion after underwriters swiftly took up additional shares following last week’s IPO. The added shares vaulted GM past Agricultural Bank of China’s $22.1 billion IPO in July and underscored the strong demand for the taxpayer-rescued automaker’s stock.

According to GM, Underwriters led by Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase and Co., Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup Inc, exercised their full option on an additional 71.7 million common shares worth $2.37 billion. The U.S govt bailed out GM for $50 billion after the automaker’s bankruptcy and the IPO caps the first stage of the turnaround that has taken the 102-year-old automaker from near death to an unlikely Wall Street flotation favorite in 2010.

http://www.gmheadlines.com/?brandId=gm&src=gm_com&evar24=gm_com_homepage_rolloverimage_OurC

And although U.S treasury remain GM’s biggest shareholder after the IPO with a third of shares, the strong response of the stock sale reflects growing investor confidence that GM is moving beyond its unpopular, taxpayer-funded bankruptcy with sharply lower costs and higher profit potential !

In 1974, Professor Muhammed Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist from Chittagong University, led his students on a field trip to a poor village. They interviewed a woman who made bamboo stools and learnt that she had to borrow the equivalent of 15p to buy raw bamboo for each stool made. After repaying the middleman, sometimes at rates as high as 10% a week, she was left with a penny profit margin. Had she been able to borrow at more advantageous rates, she had been able to raise herself above subsistence level.

Realizing that there must be something terribly wrong with the economics he was teaching, Yunus took matters into his own hands, and from his own pocket lent the equivalent of  $27  to 42 basket weavers. And against the advice of banks and the government, Yunus carried on giving out micro-loans and in 1983, formed the Grameen Bank. Since it was entirely built on the principles of trust and solidarity, Grameen Bank has a recovery rate higher than any other banking system, i.e, 98% of the loans are paid back.And, on any working day, Grameen Bank collects an average of $ 1.5 million in weekly installments by serving 2.1 million borrowers in 37000 villages through 1084 branches in Bangladesh.

Based on his vision of the total eradication of poverty from the world, Muhammed Yunus claims that Grameen is a message of hope, a program fro putting homelessness and destitution in a museum so that one day our children will visit it and ask how we could have allowed such a terrible thing to go on for so long ! He received the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2006 for his exemplary vision and work in the field of Social Entrepreneurship.

For more information, visit the website www.grameen-info.org

Lululemon is a self-described yoga-inspired athletic apparel company, producing a clothing line and runs international clothing stores by creating components for people to live longer, healthier and happier lives. Founded in Vancouver, BC in 1998, the first lululemon shared its retail space with a yoga studio. They have been growing ever since, and their technical yoga clothes and apparel are now at over 100 stores across Canada, the U.S, Australia and Hong Kong.

However, with the growth comes challenges. And, as Lululemon grew with more and more branches opening across North America, it faced the problem of non-correlation among the rising demand of the consumers and the short supply of its apparel. It was a typical example of a ‘Class A’ problem, where supply couldn’t keep up with demand, and it’s stores kept running out of products. There was a problem in forecasting, and since its stores weren’t equipped with the systems to keep track of how much business they were losing by not adequately stocking them, Lululemon was indeed required for some structural changes.

And, then after a few quarters of thin profits, Lululemon took the quintessential step of reforming its Supply Chain management by partnering with Vitech Business Group Inc. In January 2010, both the companies joined hands to implement the Vocollect Voice in both lululemon’s U.S. and Canadian distribution centers to leverage Vocollect voice technology for picking, put to store, and cross docking. And as Vitech’s V.P. of Sales and Marketing, Andrew Wright put it, “Partnering with Vitech to use our supply chain knowledge and experience to implement Vocollect’s Voice techonology will give Lululemon the edge they need to be a leader in the athletic apparel market.”(http://www.your-story.org/lululemon-athletica-partners-with-vitech-to-implement-vocollect-voice-92769/  )

This alliance with the Vitech certainly proved to be the booster for the Yoga apparel as it turned into its best quarter ever in June 2010. Due to an improved strategy and better forecasting which tracks the shrinking size of its average customer and tailors shelf space accordingly, Lululemon has been able to solve many of its crucial problems, said the CEO, Christine Day.     (http://www.thestar.com/business/article/821775–yoga-retailer-lululemon-turns-in-best-ever-quarter)

Lululemon ended the quarter with $173.6 million in cash and cash equivalents compared with $59.3 million at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2009. This is evident of the fact that  how better supply chain management and forecasting can lead to a 3x increase in profits !

Motivation only rarely stems from self-help books and lectures, however inspiring these are.More often, motivation comes out of seeing somebody quite like you, and thinking, “If she can do it, why not me?” If you agree, then you must read this book. It might be a turning point in your life, leading you to introspect further and act on your entrepreneurial dreams, instead of burying them in exchange for a safe but mundane 9 to 5 job. Some of the stories are so inspiring that they might lead you to (re)venture into the technopreneurial path, even if you have
already buried your college day dreams!

Stay Hungry Stay Foolish by Rashmi Bansal traces the lives of 25 IIM-Ahmedabad students who chose to follow the rainbow till they found their pots of gold! Along the way, they created some of the most successful companies in the country—from Mastek and naukri.com, to
makemytrip.com and Mphasis. The book also includes success stories from other industries, ranging from investment and health care to education.

Some of those featured took to the entrepreneurial path by design, some by chance, some as soon as they finished college, and others long after. Non-IIM readers might roll their eyes and say, “But well, they were from IIM-A!” So what? Not all IIM graduates become entrepreneurs. If
the protagonists of this book did, it is not just as a result of their education but of their entrepreneurial spirit, which does not depend on which college they come from! If they were not from IIM, they might still have achieved this. IIM-A graduates are just a subset taken up by the
author and having passed out from this renowned institution is no pre-requisite (though it might have served as an advantage in some cases) for entrepreneurship. This becomes very clear as you read every story.

When you come to know that India’s best-known job portal, naukri.com, was developed by a programmer who self-admittedly knew nothing about the Internet, in exchange for a 7 per cent stake in the business, and that the founders worked without an Internet connection for over six
months, then you come to believe that anything is truly possible, if only you wish to make it happen! Every story in the book is just as inspiring, and is augmented with further value-adds such as advice to young entrepreneurs from the founders, on topics ranging from publicity to
capital.

The book is written in an engaging and conversational style, which makes it tough to put down, although you would certainly want to pause occasionally to mull over matters. As mentioned earlier, the only grouse some readers might have is the selection of only IIM-A alumni, but well, look at it as just a parameter to choose 25 subjects from amongst the innumerable companies in our country! It is a good thing that the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), IIM Ahmedabad, decided to sell this book in the market instead of limiting the distribution to just their students.

Let us make the most of it!

B.C home prices are expected to fall next year,according to a new report by CIBC.The report says that  B. C. home prices are overvalued by almost 17 per cent and due for a price correction.

“Granted, no part of Canada looks to be immune to further housing market weakness, with significant momentum having been more recently lost,” economist Warren Lovely said in the CIBC report. “But it’s in B. C. and Alberta where housing prices have overshot fair market value by the largest margin, with an ongoing correction expected to dull residential construction activity and blunt consumer enthusiasm.”

The information is contained in a larger report that states the end of government stimulus, the continued reluctance of U. S. consumers to spend and a softening of the Canadian housing market will see real GDP growth fall well below federal and provincial government forecasts for 2011.
Of B. C.’ s overvalued home prices, CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal believes B. C. prices could drop 10 per cent over the next year — possibly more in Metro Vancouver where prices are so much higher — before settling down. “The housing market in Canada is overshooting itself,” said Tal, in an interview. “It’s not a crash. It’s an adjustment. There are no preconditions for a crash.”
After the adjustment, he said, the B. C. market could be subdued for several years, rising with inflation, “probably two to three per cent a year.”

Another report by Central 1 Credit Union,however, expects the median prices to fall 5% in the next year ,as opposed to 10% expected by CIBC.It forecasts the prices to fall to $3,70,000 after increasing 5% in 2010 to $3,88,000 because of sales activity early in the year.It then expects the prices to rebound in 2012 to $3,80,000.According to Central 1 Economist Bryan Yu,”Weak sales and increasing inventory in the latter part of 2010 have put a downward pressure on prices.And,those declines will persist in early 2011.But,lower prices and attractive mortgage rates will be a powerful incentive in attracting an increased number of buyers in the market next year.”

Thus,whether the prices fall by 5% or 10%,there will be a fall for sure ! And,as the Prof. Gateman says,there are always winners and losers.So,yeah,it sounds like a good time coming to buy homes at an affordable prices for those who haven’t been able to buy homes at the recent [very] inflated rates ;but then,sellers beware ! The road is closed for price correction!