The dust has settled down. The celebrations and cribs are over. The oaths have been administered. And the machinery is getting into action once again.
More or less, the country at large is pretty pleased with how things have emerged. Democracy clearly demonstrated who calls the shots. For some, it has been a fresh lease of life while for others it has been a wakeup siren. All in all, the utopian idea chosen by us close to 80 years ago seems to have been the right decision. Conceptually, India could never have been a monarchy of one or an amalgam of principalities like the 16 Mahajanapadas. With all our imperfections and paradoxes, democracy seems best placed as the individual impoverished and ignored voter does have the power to shake up comfort zones.
For a marketer, in any industry and from any part of the country, a gargantuan event like the parliamentary elections, in its implementation and outcome, has important lessons to learn and remember in one’s own professional life.
None of them are new revelations. All are one more round of reinforcing and reiterating deep ground truths that we sometimes tend to forget.
- Never underestimate your target segment. S/he she is far more intelligent and mature than what marketers typically would like them to be. S/he can spring surprises at the most unexpected of situations to drive home a point.
- What was very good for yesterday is not good enough for tomorrow. You need to consciously stop charting strategies for the future based on what you did in the past. You are where you are today based on what you did day before yesterday. The day after tomorrow depends on what you do today.
- Numerical targets are meant for internal communication. They are never to be used to communicate to your external stakeholders. Slip a little and they will hold you to them or even have a good laugh at your expense. And competition will definitely find ways of using them against you.
- Local leaders are needed for local issues. Your regional leaders are to be brought to the forefront to connect better with the local populace or potential customers. They speak the language the locals understand and know what specific buttons to press. The national level CEO or MD has to be selectively used and not overexposed.
- Nobody is an untouchable. In the market, you have no permanent enemies when it comes to channels of trade, regional collaborators and technology partners. While long-term relationships are always helpful, sudden reality checks may require you to reach out to facilitators tomorrow whom you has severed ties with yesterday.
- Never ever abuse competition. That is a sure sign of anxiety before both network partners as well as the potential customers. a minimum level of professional decorum requires you not to concoct lies about competition or be derogatory towards specific competitors.
- Mere edifices do not convert prospects. The target needs personalised experiences and promises. S/he is not enamoured by large showrooms or display zones just by themselves. S/he expects to be catered to one-on-one.
- Appeal to both left and right brains. Always try to maintain a healthy balance in your narratives and ownership experiences. While raising emotional issues, support them with ground level demonstrations of your intent and abilities. Those actually help create unique emotional bonds.
- Focus on yourself. Do not obsess with competition. Make sure your target knows all the right things about you, your offerings, your promise and your capabilities. Wasting time over discussing competition actually shifts the narrative towards them and the target spends more time researching your competition than you.
- Never sell fear. Whether you are selling a water tank or a luxury automobile, do not make the mistake of stoking the target’s inner fears and apprehensions as your route to success. Fear leads to unexpected reactions of the reptilian brain and rapid negative word of mouth which will be much beyond your control.
Market well. Sell wise.
Jai Hind.
Avik Chattopadhyay is a Gurugram-based business strategist and commentator. He is currently also working along with XLRI to set up the Indian School for Design of Automobiles. He writes on MxMIndia every other Thursday. His views here are personal.