Raeanne Lee's Blog

Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal were both employees of Amazon.com, when in 2007, they left the multinational e-commerce company to start their own. Flipkart is now the biggest online bookstore in India and is still expanding, working to go beyond just books and start operating as a major player in the e-commerce market.

According to QuickMBA’s article, a company which exhibits entrepreneurship must place an emphasis on innovation, create substantial wealth quickly and take risks. By this definition, these two men are the epitome of entrepreneurs- what with Flipkart’s quick rise to success in amassing wealth, not to mention the risk these two young men took in quitting a reputable firm.

How did they do it?

Flipkart has managed to hone in on the upward trend of online buying in India, making customer service their key goal.  The real key to their success, however, lies in their innovative supply chain which efficiently operates with the local book dealers and  postal services in the country. This has helped them to cut costs, thereby allowing them to provide an excellent online shopping experience.

Binny Bansal said: “We found that e-commerce hadn’t taken off in India because no one had done it properly. Everything was wrong from the websites’ usability to product delivery.” They identified a major gap in the e-commerce market in India and they worked to fill it.

Sources:

http://www.flipkart.com/about-us

http://www.quickmba.com/entre/definition/

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-09-09/news/30135779_1_flipkart-internet-users-sachin-bansal

www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/06/top-10-entrepreneurs-of-2010/

Companies today must be aware of the increasing potential for technology in every facet of their business- whether it be internal management, accounting or marketing. QR codes have emerged as an important tool in a ‘marketing team’s arsenal’.

Thus the Home Shopping Network (HSN), has attempted to feature first ever on-air QR codes as a part of a three day experiment. This move involved broadcasting hundreds of products each with their own QR code, allowing viewers at home to scan their TV screen, access information about the product and have the ability to purchase the product from the comfort of their own homes. Being the first retailers to incorporate QR codes, HSN has definitely taken a giant step forward in innovative thinking, but has this seemingly brilliant move paid off?

In short, the answer is no.

HSN’s three day TV special has ended, with not very satisfactory results. Although HSN was correct when doing market research, that a majority of people use their phones/notebooks while watching TV, they failed to comprehend their viewers’ comprehension of using QR codes. A majority of HSN’s viewers are women aged from 30-40, a consumer group which, although aware of the concept of QR codes, are not adept in using their smart phones to access the information linked to QR codes.

In addition to this hurdle, I would imagine many viewers being frustrated in scanning a TV. Its all very well and good to scanning stationary items, but scanning something which constantly changes is another matter entirely.

Sources:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hsns-innovation-weekend-features-first-ever-on-air-retail-qr-codes-world-launches-of-top-brands-2011-10-07

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lydiadishman/2011/10/10/why-hsns-qr-code-experiment-wont-sell-more-products/

When first seeing the advertisement for Buckley’s Cough Syrup, I was struck by it’s frank and direct nature. Not being from Canada, I was unfamiliar with the Canadian brand and its advertising technique in using the slogan “It Tastes Awful. And It Works.”, but when first seeing their commercial on TV, I was immediately intrigued by their ingenious marketing strategy.

This unique marketing campaign is able to effectively position itself into the mind of the consumer using a variety of shocking slogans such as:

• People swear by it. And at it.
• How bad does it taste? That depends. How bad is your cough?
• Since 1919, we’ve been leaving Canadians with a bad taste in their mouths.

It is very different from other cough syrup brands like Dimetapp and Robitussin which market themselves by only focusing on the effectiveness of their products, while ignoring the universally known truth- cough syrups taste unpleasant. By embracing the nature of cough syrup, consumers are more liable to believe Buckley’s more positive claims. The psychological thought process of the consumer goes: “Well if they’re that brutally honest about the taste, why would they lie about it working?” Whether it is actually any more effective than other brands cough syrups is inconsequential- this marketing campaign renders the Buckley’s brand name extremely memorable, as I know from firsthand experience.

Sources:

http://buckleys.com/index.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeVQxuTwduI