Category: SANJEEV KOTNALA

By Sanjeev Kotnala

 

‘Yeah, yeah, Uncle I know all this high decibel noise being created about Maggi and its illegal hidden affair with MSG. But, I don’t believe. I want as a protest. I want to start an ‘I Love Maggi Day’ or better ‘Get My Maggi Back Day’. All Maggi lovers will have at least one flavour of Maggi that day. If everybody who ever had Maggi was doing that, it will finish all the stock the government wants withdrawn. Definitely more environmentally friendly way to take care of it?’ This was Shweta, younger daughter of my friend said while really feeling the pinch of being denied her favourite Maggi.

 

She asked if June 21 June would be a good day for the protest. I told here that there was a small problem: where will she find Maggi. She stopped for a moment and then said ‘yeah man you are right, so kids who cannot have Maggi will do a symbolic Maggi breakfast fast. In the evening, she visualises kids in Maggi brand colours with empty plates and fork walking in protest. All they will be carrying are two placards. ‘I LOVE MY MAGGI’ and ‘DECIDE FAST’.

 

All she wishes is to get her Maggi back. It is on the brand to ensure an early return to shelves before kids like her find new love.

 

To me this is  a demonstration of brand loyalty and power. It was like a mother who believes her son can do no wrong. Who believes that all the neighbours are unnecessarily complaining.

 

The brand Maggi is not dead. It is not even in ICU. It cannot be allowed to die. It will make a come back. Sequels better than Hera {heri or Golmaal.

 

I have been having Maggi since I was at IIM Ahmedabad, when it was the only thing you could surely find in all hostel pantries for late night snacks, much after even Soma Bhai tea stall at the gate was closed. Nothing happened. Another pack would do us no harm. With that thought, the Kotnala family for its love for Maggi, had a Maggi breakfast Sunday. It sounds so odd. When I asked for Maggi, the shopkeepers raised their eyebrows and gave me a knowing smile. I was not the only customer asking for Maggi. I could read his mind, given time; he could sell his stock at premium. And Shweta’s words started making sense.

 

The marketer and the writer in me went hunting. The large subset waiting to give the brand a second chance was too bold to be ignored. It was their first and true love, with McDonald’s, KFC, Subway, all they have is a side affair.

 

The Indifferent Dad. They ask their wives to take care of the issue.  They anyway were not the one pushing Maggi. If kids cannot have Maggi, then the mother must find an alternative to pacify them. That’s their way of resolving the issue. The day Maggi finds a solution, they will be Ok with it.

 

I Told You So Dad. These are the super-literate highly logical people. They believe and take statements made in media at its face value. They philosophically add ‘ Brand you trust are the brand that break your trust’. They will willingly re-align to new-improved-equalised MSG MAGGI as and when it comes back. But till then Maggi is a no-no.

 

It Is A Conspiracy Dad. They are the other extreme of rational thinking. They have many unanswered questions and their own theories. Why tests at some of the states are negative? Why all states are not withdrawing it? How come Singapore approved it? Is Maggi is so bad? Why not ban cigarettes and drinks too? Is the street food safe, why not check that? Why is the US suddenly finding fault with Haldiram? To them this is a larger conspiracy with some political vendetta. Most of them do not find Maggi at fault.

 

The Hurt Mom. They are feeling let down. It took them time to adapt to Maggi. See the goodness in it. They welcomed it; they could add vegetables for the kids to have. The ease of making was something they always liked. They believe Maggi is not bad if not being good. But their motherly instinct hold them back from serving it now when its quality is a suspect. They are waiting for their own 2-minute kids pacifying fame to get back.

 

The Anti-Maggi Mom. In the kitty party, while subtly showing off well-manicured nails, she speaks in a condaescending tone ‘We never give Maggi… It is not good, I knew it. How come something packed and fast to cook could be good.”  Their friends ignore her comment and side-step the discussion.

 

When Will Maggi Be Back Kids. How has life changed? In Indore, they are back to Poha Jalebi. In Mumbai, to Goli Vada Pav. The Delhi gang is being fed Chjole Kulche or Aloo Parantha and so on. But they are missing their Maggi. They are waiting. This is the biggest subset. I believe if Shweta was to go ahead, a lot of them will join her.

 

THE OLD ROMANTICS. The 40-plus age group. Gender-neutral. They grew up with Maggi. They are witness to the brand progress, from early rejection to a glorified adaptation and then becoming part of family, a staple diet. They have stories of Maggi dependency in college. For them a lot has happened over a pate of Maggi-Andaa before CCD came into picture. They are Romantics and the love for their old flame is alive. They surely rubbish the claims. They are like Salman fans, Maggi can not do wrong and they trust Nestle.

 

I am of the firm opinion that the subset that believes in MAGGI is huge. They argue that MSG level should be checked at cooked level and not in masala sachet level. A point of view shared and popularised by Nestle.  They understand that ‘No Added MSG’ is wrong but willing to accept it.

 

All they want is a fast resolution, so that they can get back to having Maggi.

 

Hopefully, Nestle does not get over-confident and arrogant on this surge of love for the brand. They need to find the way to innovate and give the same taste in formats that are prescribed and acceptable to the controlling body. Getting into a long-term legal tussle is definitely not in favour of the brand. Nestle. It needs to get back much before the kids and their fans find a new better more contemporary exciting replacement in their life.

 

Sanjeev Kotnala is Founder and Head Catalyst at Intradia. A Brand, Marketing and ManagementAdvisor. He conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). His focus energy in enhancing client’s internal team’s potential and capabilities. In processdecreasing their dependence  on external resources. To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.inwww.sanjeevkotnala.com.

 

It’s the time of the year when most organisations tend to re-evaluate their training programmes and the progress they have made. Senior management sees it as not delivering the right ROI. Employees feel that right training is not being imparted. And the poor trainer suddenly has no idea why after a highly engaging interactive objectively driven session, the company has stopped calling him.

 

The three major components to training management are Management, Participants and Trainers.

 

The moot question is: does the training fails because of management attitude, participant apathy or trainer incompetence or a mix of all these?  Or it is the need gap analysis, timeline, frequency, content/ topic/ subject and the interest and view of the participants is where the organisation makes the mistake. 

Surprisingly training session and or industry interaction and events get polarised reactions. From useless, waste of time to eye-opener and very relevant. Time one questioned  such unwarranted diversity.

 

So we must check out where we are tripping in the process.

1. TRAINING NEED GAP: Instead of trying to find excuses, the organisation will do itself good in analysing the way they determine training need gap identification. If it is end of the year review input, you are bound to get it wrong. Instead, if it asks the team leaders and team a simple input on what training is needed to ensure delivery on agreed objectives. Chances are you will get a far better result… you are bound to get a better result.

 

2. QUALITY COMPROMISE: Next level of error is the cost-fee trap. The fixed/ ceiling on trainer fee per day create inefficiencies in your programme. You take out huge number of man-hours out of your system for training and yet willingly end up compromising on the venue, process and the trainer quality. Don’t we all know how badly it will impact the end-result?

 

3. TREATING INDUSTRY EVENTS AS TRAINING: Replacing training with industry seminar/ conclave is the next culprit. On top of that, organisations tend to use non-strategic filters in nominating people for such events. They serve totally different functions. One must stop confusing between them and re-evaluate your reasons for participation ad process of nomination. Though not writing it off, being stringent on this count will ensure more funds for right training.

 

4. SHORT NOTICE SHORT CHANGING TRAINING: Even if we do all things right, we still end up giving short notice to participants. This ensures failure. Allow delegates to create that work cushion providing them protection from irritant calls and mails during training. May be penalise who does not follow the rule… better penalise their team leader if such an environment is not created. It also allows your trainer to perfectly plan their schedule and enhance effectiveness.

 

5. DIFFERENTIATE TRAINING AND PARTICIPANTS: Ensure that you are providing right training to right candidates and clearly differentiate into. (1) BASIC HYGIENE- EFFICIENCY ENHANCERS – that helps in doing the ritualistic topical day-to-day function. Every one must complete (2) HIGHER LEVEL- QUALITY ENHANCERS- still within the job requirement but somewhat strategic skill oriented. Employee must complete these to lead in that level  (3) GETTING READY FOR THE NEXT LEVEL- this is selective to the identified stars to get them ready for the future role. If this is followed then in long run the need for basic hygiene training will get limited to new recruits. (4) CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TRAINING- these are your real stars who must get trained in multiple function and verticals to create the internal mass you need for your future management.

 

Do allow an employee a decent amount of liberty to opt out of only (1) and (2) types of trainings basis some internal skill evaluation

 

6. WAITING FOR PERFECT FIT: The biggest challenge is to find that trainer, time, cost and delegates match and you keep waiting. Take a start, stop procrastination. May be even ask seniors within the organisation to warm up with few sessions.

 

7. RESCHEDULE TRAP: The training programmes are recreated and drafted and rescheduled umpteen times. Don’t schedule any training on either side of the peak season. Don’t expect employees to completely take time out of weekends or holidays to participate in training. Have a one-day training on a weekday and for more day schedule do not depend on employees off time for more than 40% of the training time.

 

8. REAL MONITORING: Do get feedback from participants immediately after training and once again after a reasonable time gap when you expect the delegates to have utilised some of the inputs. This will really answer if your programme is effective.

 

9. MAKE TRAINING NOT A TASK BUT AN ADVENTURE. Not every training need to be experiential but the whole experience must be packaged in such a way that it is adventure. It must create that pull for attending and learning. Maybe it subject, content, venue, process or faculty. Do not overload and stretch your programmes into long hours unless it was an endurance-building workshop. Start on time-space training with decent breaks and finish n time.

 

10. A TRAINING FOCUSSED AGENDA: Get committed and let everyone know how serious organisation is about it. Make it the seniors’ KRA to ensure that the designated delegate is relieved for training. Ensuring policies that strictly penalise employees missing a training session and awards consistency in training   is bound to help the organisation.

 

11. CREATING TRAINING AMBASSADOR: Let positivity flow. If the above 10 were taken care of mostly you would have created training ambassador who will have good things to speak about the programme. Nothing works better than them. Ensuring that team leaders also share their training inputs with the team is another elementary move that gives positive results.

 

Each one of us needs a recheck in the processes and the purpose of training. It is something that can really work wonders if executed well.

 

Sanjeev Kotnala is Founder and Head Catalyst at Intradia. A Brand, Marketing and Management Advisor. He conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). His focus energy in enhancing client’s internal team’s potential and capabilities. In process decreasing their dependence  on external resources. To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com.

By Sanjeev Kotnala

 

I was sitting in the office of Ashrafbhai, an understated person well known for his ability to create wealth. He had invited me to help him recruit a candidate for his go-to-market strategy. Like many owner-driven organisations, in his office too the master colour control screen of the CCTV cameras was mounted on the wall facing him. The frames kept changing from time to time.

 

I was busy drinking the lovely tea that is served in his office when he suddenly asked ‘So, who do you think will get recruited today’?

 

I had not seen the complete set of resumes. We were yet to start interviewing and here was the sharp-eyed Ashraf Bhai was asking me a predictor question. I raised my eyebrows saying how would I know.

 

‘It will be that guy with the yellow umbrella’ Ashraf Bhai announced to no one in particular.  He clicked on one of the many remotes that were on his table and one of the smaller screens got enlarged. It was now covering the complete TV screen. I could see a frigidity semi nervous well-dressed young person sitting among the candidates. I was not sure of what and why did Ashraf pointed him out. There was nothing much there for me to observe.

 

When we closed in the evening we had two finalists before us.

 

One was the man with the yellow umbrella and another the girl with a transparent umbrella. It was natural for me to now ask Ashraf, what made him bet on them before start of the interview rounds.

 

Even at the risk of handing Ashrafbhai the talking stick for the next half an hour or so, it was me being real polite and selfish. I had learnt a lot of my marketing in his office and respected his observations. Here was he again sharing something that will some day could come handy.

 

“The yellow umbrella was the reason the person stood out from the rest. I am sure that whenever that umbrella was bought, this young man had a lot many options to buy from but he chooses the yellow one!

 

“Tell me Kotnala,” Ashraf continued, “which young man buys and uses a yellow umbrella. More so, even if he has one, which person would want to take that to an interview.  Only one with high self-belief! A person who measures himself with is own action and performance and not with others. Only who is willing to go against the grain.”

 

“Yet his umbrella was not only yellow, it was of the regular size and not the foldable variety. It to me symbolises that he is cautious and takes extra precaution as per the situation. More over he willing to even take few along with him.”

 

“To be truthful, Kotnalaji, I was already biased with that yellow umbrella.”

 

“But Ashraf, what if it was an umbrella presented to him and he did not buy it, or it was the only option he had.”

 

‘Oh that will be better, Kotnala… It will only mean that even people understand him perfectly well, they understand him to buy him a yellow umbrella… Wow, that will be great… do you want to call him back and check’

 

“And what about that girl with transparent umbrella, what’s your logic there?” I asked, the logical rationally-tuned professional in me wanted more.

 

“Well, you do disappoint me there (I could hear, it is elementary dear Watson in the air), it is clear, umbrella to a girl is more than just a protection from rain.  Hence they are mostly dark, short, easy to handle’ I nodded and that gave him the licence to continue. ‘Her’s was transparent, as if she was willing to be evaluated by everyone, there is nothing to hide for her and she is the one who will live in her own terms’

 

I got my answers and was leaving when Ashraf bhai called me.

 

‘Do you know, even if I want or not, he will now always be the yellow umbrella man for me, won’t be surprised if he is known like that in the organisation and outside. We get branded and these things that stick with us becomes our identifier and the calling card’

 

I was slowly starting to understand what Ashrafbhai was hinting at.

 

“Kotnalaji, I remember you used to have a few yellow umbrella yourself. But for the last one year, I have not seen you with one. Baarish ki kya Zaroorat, Yellow Chaata toh jab chayeh tab khol loo, aapki pehchaan hoti hai woh’. (what is the need for waiting for the rains to get your yellow umbrella out that is your identity).

 

I decided to go home and after due deliberation pick one yellow umbrella that I will move around with, One yellow umbrella that I will be known for.

 

Meanwhile, go ahead close your eyes and try remembering if you and your brand have a Yellow Umbrella. As impressions are being created while the audience distort, delete and generalise your messages according to their model of the world.

 

If you don’t have a yellow umbrella, time you acquired one. 

 

By Sanjeev Kotnala

 

We all know Salman Bhai and his hyped flawless heart. Salman Bhai carries many tags planted by media. ‘Being Human’, ‘Bajranagi Bhaijaan’,  ‘Giver’, ‘Helper’, ‘Most-safe-bachelor’, ‘Bhai ka Bhai, ‘Bakery run over’, ‘Black Buck’ are a few of these polarity tags. There are no prizes for guessing that Bhai is yet again in news for obviously the wrong reasons.

 

He is someone who has been desperately trying his acts to be taken seriously. He has remarkable influence on people who do not exercise cerebral parts to infer, refer or empathise. Yet, it is the people claiming to be rational, logical and somewhat intellectual who are the one who easily get instigated by his nonsensical experimentation and ‘tweet-into-you-know-where’.

 

Their reaction is volcanic. They very subtly and silently pass on the flaming baton of unquestionable hatred to the people down in the chain.  Result: a not-so-peaceful protest that needs large police bandobast to contain.

 

May be his father failed to share with him the story of the king and two astrologers.

 

The first astrologer, after having done all his calculation with absolute surety, told the king: ‘King, all your relatives will die before your eyes’. Hearing this the king was furious, he immediately got the astrologer arrested and asked the guards to make arrangements to hang him before the sun sets.

 

Now it was the turn of the second astrologer. He too read the horoscope and did his calculation. He knew that the learned astrologer before him has said truly what the stars foretell. And he could not lie. But this guy was smart and he did not want to die. He said: ‘King, there is a good news for you; you have the longest life among all your relatives’. The king was happy. He presented the second astrologer with precious stones as gifts.

 

Now, we know that both the astrologers were saying the same thing. Yet, one was punished and the other rewarded. That’s how fickle the mind is and how subtle the language.

 

May be there is learning for celebrity like Salman Khan, the ever-favourite punching bag of the media. On the one side, we have people protesting against him and on the other, he is being lauded for being pragmatic and sensible.

 

I do not subscribe to his perceived intent of his tweet. Or the way they have been interpreted.

 

We are a nation that is slow in its justice. We are definitely late. We have followed a procedure and now the verdict been pronounced. The accused had a long time to prove his innocence. Most of us will agree that there is no harm in allowing every other possible opportunity to the accused to prove his innocence.  But the public sentiments are loud and clear.  They want the blood. They want Yakub to be hanged. It is no simple case. It is a case of treason and terrorism.

 

Other than Salman, no one can be sure what he really meant to say. One would believe he never meant that we should let Yakub go free. May be he wanted to say that Yakub should be given life imprisonment. May be like many others he opposes death penalty. May be he believes that Yakub surrendered and hence deserves a different treatment. May be he was trying to make a valid point and asking us not to celebrate this legal victory till we get Tiger in the net.  None of the above if expressed properly with the right context and build-up would have elicited the response he is getting.

 

He has the same right of expression and freedom to voice his views like us. He is in that way no different from the political leaders voicing similar thoughts and not being challenged.

 

Yet, Bhai should have noted that unlike the common man discussing it at a paan-chai stall or at a kitty party, he is a celebrity. And that comes with responsibility to behave and accountability for the words that expression thoughts and emotions. ‘Thinking before tweeting’ is something that will definitely help him.

 

Salman Bhai needs to watch his steps. More so when his emotional, nifty fingers not accustomed to resistance tends to fly under external influence. He is known to think and act from heart.  And I am sure that in spite of repeated lessons and tutorials from his father, this is not the last controversial or  ‘I am sorry for it’ tweet from his side.

 

Here are few things Bhai and people like Bhai can consider doing in future.

1. Keep away from controversial subjects. More so if they challenge his feelings and intellect.
2. Keep thinking and keep those views and reactions to himself.
3. Only share with a close set of people who are known not to get offended.
4. Realise the importance of building context and foundation for a statement.
5. Value time and right representation over speed an action.
6. Get tweets checked by dad every time he wants to tweet
7. Take classes from Amitabh Baccchan , Deepika and Priyanak in how to use tweet to advantage.
8. And if anyone from his team advises him that his movie will do across border with the utterances, he should sack that person.

 

Till that time, let’s not hang Salman till we understand his point of view

 

Sanjeev Kotnala is Founder and Head Catalyst at Intradia. A Brand, Marketing and Management Advisor. He conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). His focus energy in enhancing client’s internal team’s potential and capabilities. In process decreasing their dependence  on external resources. To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.inwww.sanjeevkotnala.com.

 

By Sanjeev Kotnala

 

As usual it is the illiterate and the man of no-means that gets crucified at these illogical irrational ‘Looking Tokyo Talking London’ decisions of the government. In a ridiculous attempt to contain child pornography, the Indian government has banned a set of adult content sites creating a panic kneejerk reaction from lovers of the art.

 

The debate on porn leading to violence and crime is not new.  A far as I know it is even less conclusive than is ‘smoking leading to cancer’. At the same time, it has also not proved if accessing such sites helps in keeping in check the tendencies of violence and crime. It is interesting to note that this seems to be the government’s response to a PIL that said “Watching porn itself puts the country’s security in danger, encourages violent acts, unacceptable behaviour in society, exploitation of children and lowers the dignity of women.”

 

A lot that happened in privacy and anonymity was troubling no one. Yet, the government action has forced many to check if they were missing something. Ban and scarcity has direct relationship with desirability in life. And they never work out.

 

In its global impact, many homes abroad are feeling the impact of denial of second income. Phone lines are silent. Wait and watch instructions have been issued. Camera remains unloaded.  Many women finally find time for their neglected life. The traffic is low from the land of Kamasutra.

 

In some garage, people are recording lines of gibberish. They are hell bent on circumventing the guidelines they know nothing about. They are busy masking, forwarding and diverting the traffic.  They are busy shifting through their big data in creating altered URLs. The loyal users must get access. A load of spam mail is hitting inboxes with new URLs and invitations. Work on this front is at pace that our government cannot even dream of.

 

Delhi is unable to understand. They find the noise level against porn sites ban as orgasmic. They believe they have the power. They can decide what to serve and what to deny. The intent cannot be faulted. Ban child pornography. Everyone agrees with it. What is objected is the execution style. The bans includes adult dating sites and porn blogs too. It includes Adult Friend Finder and Fleshbot. ‘Ghehu kay saath gun bhi pista hai’. When you grind wheat, the bugs are also get grinded. In the digital era, people defining this country, dream of denying access and literally ban access to fulfilment of a critical emotional needs. They dream that industry mafia will willingly help them. How ignorant  can they be?

 

Oh, there is bonus in this action. It works magic. Suddenly masses are jumping the digital literacy chain. In last 24 hours, many have started using free proxy and virtual private network (VPN) services as oart of their native knowledge. Suddeny the Android mobile sale has been impacted allowing user ease of  masking and bypassing geographical blocks. Hidemyass, IPVanish,  VyprVPN and ExpressVPN see large download of their software

 

In the process, audience have branded them as Ban Government. Unfortunately, like many other dictate emerging from these corridors of power, this too has failed to take audiences into confidence. It lacks transparency.  All you have is leaks or inferred understanding by digitally savvy influencers. This is suicidal in digital era that is potently charged with social media intervention.

 

What is happening? Here is what someone said jokingly but I would not take it lightly.

 

What if the government, known for understanding  ‘Maan Ki Baat’ is looking at rationing Porn usage? Linking it to your Adhar Card and PAN Number. This ban is the first step in trying to get it under the service tax and a regulatory body. Maybe it is all about feeling the pinch of lack of ‘Made in India’ in this Industry.

 

If rationed, porn usage will be governed by your geographical location, gender, age, education and life status. These will define your degree of accessibility. The units will be provided at a subsidy to minority and senior citizens.  The units will remain tradable and managed under a liberalised economic agenda by a new body called PORNex.  Hoarding of these units will not be tolerated and can result in blacklisting and denial of service. Net neutrality be dammed, sites showing movies, the one that lets you talk anything under the sun and the sheets in hushed sexy tone and the one allowing interrupted steaming interaction will be charged differential access rate.

 

Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai is Desh mein.

 

As I write this, I believe that sense will prevail and as a Step One, the government will lift the ban on adult sites not indulging in child porn. Or be wiling to be reprimanded by the Supreme Court on the issue of freedom of expression and privacy.

 

**

 

I am firmly against ban in pornography though there may be ways in which the government can help redefining usage patterns

…………………………………………………………………….

 

On a Serious Note:

The ministry of communications and information and technology, in its order of July 31 under section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act 2000 had banned 857 websites terming their content “immoral and indecent”. As a chosen Government, they are within the rights to define and decide what is immoral and indecent and further to decide if the citizen of the country be denied or allowed access to it. It is stated that this ban is temporary and a prelude to creating a regular regulatory. Viewing adult content by adult is not illegal. Its transmission/publishing surely is. No one is breaking any law while accessing these site privately. Most of the sites hosted abroad, thus circumventing the rules. Banning is also against Freedom of Expression.

 

Sanjeev Kotnala is Founder and Head Catalyst at Intradia. A Brand, Marketing and Management Advisor. He conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com. The views expressed here are his own.

 

By Sanjeev Kotnala

 

Last Thursday as I was driving down the Delhi-Gurgaon-Jaipur Highway I could see Kawarias (carrying the pious water from Ganges) walking back from Haridwar. On an average every one of them walks 300-odd km. But they have a promise to keep. A promise they made to their deity. On Saturday, I saw trucks after trucks with banners reading ‘Haridwar to Ganjapura’, ‘Haridwar to Bajranjnath’ blaring music on their way to  Haridwar. They will accompany the Kawarias on their walk back and reach their return destinations by August 12.

 

Throughout the highway, bhajans were being played at high volume, vibrant coloured tents and banners welcoming the Kawarias. There is place for them to rest and organisers get the chance to service them. To many intellectually inspired rational citizens of netro Delhi, it will seem fruitless. It is something that upsets their routine and causes hardship. They have strong objection to kawarisation of the highway. They are also right in their observation. It is that one is working with a strong belief and the other is just questioning it.

 

This is when you realise that when it is a question of belief, attribute and the functional utility along with the rationality and emotional association can take a walk. There is no space for any argument. Moreover, the shortcomings are attributed to non-diligent use or improper understanding on part of the consumer or follower. The brand is allowed more than the benefit of doubt.  It is beyond questioning. Nirvana is achieved.

 

This brings me to my question. Are there such Nirvana brands on Planet Earth? Where consumers are more of a cult than a group or a segment. May be the nearest I could think is Harley Davidson, Mac or  iPhone owners, IIT and IIM students affinity to their alma mater, Sachin or Amitabh! Maybe Maggi was there. I am a bit confused about it.

 

Are there relationships that reach this the Nirvana stage? The mother-son relationship of unspoken promises, unilateral support and submission could be one. In such relationships, no logic is acceptable. There exists an unspoken unwritten and unasked for belief.

 

Won’t brands want to hit this stage? They do and they fail in their attempts. How could the brilliant teams behind such brands fail to deliver what seems logical and simple.

 

To reach Nirvana is an exceptionally simple way of differentiated relevant basic need fulfilment; a promised experience delivered repeatedly consistently through a long stretch of time and a sense of independence and promised interdependence. A belief that there could be nothing wrong and if anything did go wrong then they will be there for each other to help through the phases.

 

Brand Nirvana happens when the consumer is deeply immersed in the brand ethos like Meera with Shyam and has no reason to seek any emotional- rational- logical- functional advantages for continued association.  Once you are there, the propagators, convertors, influencers and others look forward to increase the tribe.

 

Unfortunately, this is easy to say and tough to achieve. At least I cannot remember a brand of this status. But that really should not mean it is unachievable. In religious and NGO or social service front, we have examples of how simple consistent messaging and a promise creates a belief system that leads to cult followers. Can we see consumers of that thinking? Osho, Sai Baba, Aasaram, Murari Bapu, Mother Teresa, Radhe Maa, Ramdev, Mahatma Gandhi, Subash Chandra Bose and many more. If one was to take Devdutt, Pattinaik thoughts than most of the iconography messages hidden in the paintings and sculptors of the god and goddesses is a perfect example of consistent symbolisation and consistent messaging through the period.

 

How come learnings from them have escaped our strong insight mining system?

 

We the brand custodians, owners, facilitators and coaches seek this golden pot of brand loyalties and Nirvana at the end of the market rainbow. We, the intellectualised internalised logic and research insight-driven hard nuts, tend to override intuition. We, with our penchant for change and tendency to leave a mark in the chaotic space of business environment, we invariably spoil a good thing going. The successes and changes in organisation have become more personality-centric than process-centric. The individualistic success charisma is celebrated more than organisational success. It is then natural for every new CXO in the market mating game give existing thoughts a new flip. All in the name of evolving with time.

 

Before anyone brands me as a proponent of static inertia-laden ways of marketing and communication, let me just say: do take your call, as only time has the answer. But while you do so, just re-evaluate if you are doing that out of a real need or is that just your boredom and ego that pushing you.

 

Sanjeev Kotnala is Founder and Head Catalyst at Intradia. A Brand, Marketing and Management Advisor. He conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). His focus energy in enhancing client’s internal team’s potential and capabilities. In process decreasing their dependence  on external resources. To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com. The views expressed here are his own.

 

 

By Sanjeev Kotnala

 

Last Thursday as I was driving down the Delhi-Gurgaon-Jaipur Highway I could see Kawarias (carrying the pious water from Ganges) walking back from Haridwar. On an average every one of them walks 300-odd km. But they have a promise to keep. A promise they made to their deity. On Saturday, I saw trucks after trucks with banners reading ‘Haridwar to Ganjapura’, ‘Haridwar to Bajranjnath’ blaring music on their way to Haridwar. They will accompany the Kawarias on their walk back and reach their return destinations by August 12.

Throughout the highway, bhajans were being played at high volume, vibrant coloured tents and banners welcoming the Kawarias. There is place for them to rest and organisers get the chance to service them. To many intellectually inspired rational citizens of netro Delhi, it will seem fruitless. It is something that upsets their routine and causes hardship. They have strong objection tokawarisation of the highway. They are also right in their observation. It is that one is working with a strong belief and the other is just questioning it.

This is when you realise that when it is a question of belief, attribute and the functional utility along with the rationality and emotional association can take a walk. There is no space for any argument. Moreover, the shortcomings are attributed to non-diligent use or improper understanding on part of the consumer or follower. The brand is allowed more than the benefit of doubt. It is beyond questioning. Nirvana is achieved.

This brings me to my question. Are there such Nirvana brands on Planet Earth? Where consumers are more of a cult than a group or a segment. May be the nearest I could think is Harley Davidson, Mac or  iPhone owners, IIT and IIM students affinity to their alma mater, Sachin or Amitabh! Maybe Maggi was there. I am a bit confused about it.

Are there relationships that reach this the Nirvana stage? The mother-son relationship of unspoken promises, unilateral support and submission could be one. In such relationships, no logic is acceptable. There exists an unspoken unwritten and unasked for belief.

Won’t brands want to hit this stage? They do and they fail in their attempts. How could the brilliant teams behind such brands fail to deliver what seems logical and simple.

To reach Nirvana is an exceptionally simple way of differentiated relevant basic need fulfilment; a promised experience delivered repeatedly consistently through a long stretch of time and a sense of independence and promised interdependence. A belief that there could be nothing wrong and if anything did go wrong then they will be there for each other to help through the phases.

Brand Nirvana happens when the consumer is deeply immersed in the brand ethos like Meera with Shyam and has no reason to seek any emotional- rational- logical- functional advantages for continued association.  Once you are there, the propagators, convertors, influencers and others look forward to increase the tribe.

Unfortunately, this is easy to say and tough to achieve. At least I cannot remember a brand of this status. But that really should not mean it is unachievable. In religious and NGO or social service front, we have examples of how simple consistent messaging and a promise creates a belief system that leads to cult followers. Can we see consumers of that thinking? Osho, Sai Baba, Aasaram, Murari Bapu, Mother Teresa, Radhe Maa, Ramdev, Mahatma Gandhi, Subash Chandra Bose and many more. If one was to take Devdutt, Pattinaik thoughts than most of the iconography messages hidden in the paintings and sculptors of the god and goddesses is a perfect example of consistent symbolisation and consistent messaging through the period. 

How come learnings from them have escaped our strong insight mining system?

We the brand custodians, owners, facilitators and coaches seek this golden pot of brand loyalties and Nirvana at the end of the market rainbow. We, the intellectualised internalised logic and research insight-driven hard nuts, tend to override intuition. We, with our penchant for change and tendency to leave a mark in the chaotic space of business environment, we invariably spoil a good thing going. The successes and changes in organisation have become more personality-centric than process-centric. The individualistic success charisma is celebrated more than organisational success. It is then natural for every new CXO in the market mating game give existing thoughts a new flip. All in the name of evolving with time. .

Before anyone brands me as a proponent of static inertia-laden ways of marketing and communication, let me just say: do take your call, as only time has the answer. But while you do so, just re-evaluate if you are doing that out of a real need or is that just your boredom and ego that pushing you.

 

Sanjeev Kotnala is Founder and Head Catalyst at Intradia. A Brand, Marketing and Management Advisor. He conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). His focus energy in enhancing client’s internal team’s potential and capabilities. In process decreasing their dependence  on external resources. To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visitwww.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com. The views expressed here are his own.

By Sanjeev Kotnala

 

A fairly senior advertising professional in the digital part of a well-respected advertising agency made an observation. Last month, he pitched to a hugely funded e-commerce business.  He had nothing against the fairly half-his-age fresh professional sitting to comment and decide on his strategy and approach. He respects their approach, passion, ambition, ideas and a ‘will-succeed’ approach.

 

He noted, how clueless or shallow they were in marketing and brand creation. This he says is his generous comment after recalibrating for the business approaches and plans most of the e-commerce and digital start-ups have.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong in relentlessly focussing on creating a bubble that can attract funding and higher evaluation. The evaluation and the funding are dependent on numbers.  But the brand attractiveness and preference among consumers may give a further multiple is something that is being overlooked.

 

Both client and agencies believes there exists a PC Sarkar-type magic talent tumbler out there. They expect it to keep pouring out super talent to bridge the talent gap.

 

I am not sure of what was really bugging my friend. The more I linked within the industry and the system more convinced I am of the drought of talent in this digital area.

 

E-commerce in particular has been seeing exponential growth in 2014 on back of technology adaption and increasing use of smartphones-tablets and access to better Internet. This has continued in 2015.   The brands, may be rightly so, have been busy innovating on ways to address and attract new customers and increase their on-line traffic. But can they survive on this only.

 

There is no talent pool to service the exponential demand. And, no one is bothered to create the pool. The current elective courses and short-term sessions in markets still treat it as a subset of main marketing course. Currently, many marketers with half-baked understanding and low-level exposure to digital experience are masquerading as experts.   Nothing can be more illogical.

 

In light of the increased competition and assured deep pockets, e-commerce has been supporting a fallacy that hands on experience creates cutting edge experience.  Many have paid a high price for attempting to learn on the run, fly-by-wire and course correcting their trajectories. Most of them are the second time entrepreneurs who have failed to create pull or scale up as desired.

 

Yet, life revolves around scaling up, numbers and feeding expanding ambitions. It is a Russian roulette out there waiting for the other to blink.

 

The strengthening of the dollar is bad news.  The ROI for venture funds from digital and e-commerce will take a dip. Funds available to fuel the illogical customer acquisition will be under pressure.

 

We know that in a parity situation the experience and the brand value acts as the differentiator. And this is when under-developing at brand end will pinch. Unlike emails the rule of addiction is no guarantee for continued purchase from an e-commerce site.

 

Unfortunately, there  exists a high demand for qualified manpower. There are positions out there. Many have seen a rotating door experience of Aaya Ram Gaya Ram and many still waiting to be filled.  But low resource pond has been running at critical dry levels for a long time. Result half-marketers or marketers with weak understanding of digital business needs are ruling the day. This is one area where outsourcing may not work.

 

It is high time that digital and e-commerce addressed this need. Creating specially integrated courses with relevant universities. Jointly working with professional training institutes for creating short-term directional courses. Increase intake of interns and even create longer duration on the job training programmes. It needs high speed of implementation and scaling up.

 

The talent shortage is a global problem. Even China, well ahead of the curve in digitisation, is yet to fully address this issue. The good talent available in country will always be pulled by the global opportunities. I am personally not sure if the industry is currently addressing or even looking at these needs.

 

Oh, there is partial good news. Meanwhile the talent gap pushes increments of existing talent pool, which is unwarranted.

 

Sanjeev Kotnala is Founder and Head Catalyst at Intradia. A Brand, Marketing and Management Advisor. He conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). His focus energy in enhancing client’s internal team’s potential and capabilities. In process decreasing their dependence  on external resources. To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com.

 

By Sanjeev Kotnala

 

The second edition of the Dainik Bhaskar Ink Awards was held in Mumbai on August 21. It is unique with awards given out in two categories – creative and media. Something that is important to retain and build on. Everyone congratulated each other and went home happy.

 

I was party to conceptualising the Ink Awards and push the first edition before leaving Dainik Bhaskar. What I witnessed was dramatically different. An evolved version that may be was need of the hour. But on display was smudged ink of mediocrity. It definitely did no justice to the initial objective and final rendition.

 

It was good to note that the spread and depth of entries across agencies and client had improved. A lot many brands and agencies joined the race, a good sign. A new well designed-beautiful trophy added to lustre of the award, an Exchang4media group initiative.

 

The introduction of DB Ink Legend is a natural progression. Piyush Pandey Executive Chairman and National Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather was an apt choice. His words echo in my head: “Someone has got to come out and say ‘I can do better’….  There is enough shit happening – let’s get down and do some good advertising”. That sums up my observation.

 

One should not point fingers. Who is responsible is immaterial. What is important is the question; are we going to really take our learnings and push the final frontier? Will we make the third edition of the Ink Awards something that you dream of?

 

My observations are not personal. It is what I heard the audience say. It is what seniors were snubbing about (no names). It is not about giving trophies before they were announced. It is not about a totally out-of-sync AV and MC. It is neither about mistakes by MCs and technical glitches and nor about the ill-fit of guest speakers and their ill-poised speeches. I do understand you have compulsions when the award is low key.  But if one is awarding even suboptimal output, it raises a pertinent question: what are the standards we are setting and what standards we want to breach?

 

They are purely a classic example of under-delivery and non-alignment of processes. The awards left many questions. The answers are right in front of the organisers. If the Ink Awards have to really grow and make an impact, it will need huge support.

 

Here are few observations and thoughts. Listed neither in order of  priority, nor in chronological sequence. They are something that the award owners and the organisers must debate and decide on their plan of action. Ink Awards are just a reference as they were the last one I attended.

 

1. BRIEFING THE MC OR WHETTING THE SCRIPT.

The misguided MC kept of referring to ‘(Print) Agency of the year award ‘ (Madison) as the biggest award of the night and thus downplaying ‘(Print) Client of the year’ (Glaxo Smith Kline). Unfortunately there was no ‘Creative (Print) agency of the year’.

 

2. THE QUALITY OF ENTRIES AND WINNING ENTRIES.

The ads that won Glaxo- client of the year stated the standard of the awards. I acknowledge the client’s acumen and understanding to enter it in the first place. I think organisers are aware of the good work done in print and plan should be made to chase agencies that do such work. I did not see even their Mosaic entrants entering these awards.

 

3. MISSING THE GOOD WORK.

The work from Times of India was the one that pulled the event up. Across its media properties, the work was substantial and of high quality. Even in this category there is good work from HT, Hindustan, Mid-day, Patrika, Malyalam Manorana, Hindu, Eenadu which was not entered.

 

4. CONTACT PROGRAMME.

Ink Awards need a roa show. It needs agency level connects. It needs to start the process much in advance and in a far more targeted way to include the agencies and clients known for great print work.

 

Look at it, missing from the entries were the Abby winners, Mosaic Entrants, did not participate.

 

5. TREATING MEDIA BRANDS SEPARATELY.

At initial stages, it seemed we were in a Media House awards show. May be media brands that releases work in self-owned-media need to be treated differently. Otherwise the winner presentation must be paced in such a way that media winners are not cramped together.

 

6. TOO MANY AWARDS.

Are we not diluting segments by having awards for specific groups – like retail- real estate etc.? There has to be balance and must not completely be dictated by media business interest.

 

7. PRINT CREATIVITY ELEMENTS.

It may be better to look at the craft level and also award Best Typography, Best photography, Best Illustration etc. in addition to best art direction.

 

8. THE AUDIENCE.

Other than the front roundtable populated by sponsors and presenters, rest of the crowd was primarily awardwinners. At the end of the show, every one had a smile on their face. It is a good tactic that adds fun and joy in the event.

 

But, if there are plan to make the Print Creative Media Awards get real big and a force to reckon with, one needs real audience and maybe a venue that does justice to the awards.

 

9. CRAFT IN CATEGORY

Seriously there were categories that could make to stand-up comedy show. Irrelevant and illogical in the second edition. Please educate me on something like Print by a dominant TV advertiser.
Oh, the idea of National- Regional and local seems so tempting when the awards construct was developed. Now it is the weakest spot. It is tough to break Ink awards into Ink–North-East- West-South-centre to promote creativity and inclusion of the regional and local agencies and clients. May be the regional awards winners at Madras / Kolkata / Bangalore ad clubs (add an event in west – Ahmedabad and centre –Indore) be given direct entry to really do justice to regional and local work.

 

10. CONNECTING WITH POTENTIAL ENTRANTS.

It is evident from the entries that no direct efforts were made to connect with agencies and clients qualifying for local and regional tag. Result mediocrity of creative expression was paraded throughout the evening. Maybe this is something that needs to be reconsidered.

 

11. # SHORT.

If one was really wanting social media and in this case the tweets to work and flood then a hastag like #DainikBhaskarInkAwards that ate some 23 characters is not the best thing to do.

 

12. DIGNITY OF PRESENTING AWARDS.

More than two presenters even for business sense does not make sense. More so when neither the award giver nor the receivers have been briefed on the process and markings on the stage. It makes a circus of the awards.

 

I sincerely hope that the organisers and owners of the Dainik Bhaskar Ink Award a property that is relevant and right in the slot do some soul searching and device ways and means (a plan that is monitored) to ensure that third edition is huge and with no glitches. I know I can just hope as an outsider.

 

Sanjeev Kotnala is Founder and Head Catalyst at Intradia. A Brand, Marketing and Management Advisor. He conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). His focus energy in enhancing client’s internal team’s potential and capabilities. In process decreasing their dependence on external resources. To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com. The views expressed here are his own.