Insuring Faith.

It was match between Bermuda and Bangladesh that inspired me to make this thought a part of my blog. Indian Cricket team has let down millions of fans by their dismal performance in the world cup, but for most of us it will just be a passing phase. Gradually from the front page, to the third and eventually to the last before being disappeared in oblivion, but what we forget is that this one off instance must have given sleepless nights to many, obviously to the Indian Cricket team, but many more who perhaps do not own this tragedy. Lets take each one of them one at a time and count their losses which will be tough for them to reconcile in time to come.

Probably biggest losses will be suffered by Sony Entertainment Television (SET) which was banking on India's performance to make huge profits. India's 70% population shares passion with India Cricket team, with 1 billion + population 70% indeed makes a huge share. This craze attracts the brands and pester them to pay as much as 10 lacks for a meagre 10 second spot in India's encounter. With early exit this viewership is set to fall by 40-50%, and with most of the brands already committed with the spots, they are likely to suffer. And if they decide to pull back, its sure to hit SET's revenue margins.

Pepsi with its blue billion campaign comes a close second in terms of facing losses because of our own men in blue. I am sure Indra Nooyi must have kept herself updated with India Srilanka scorelines, although is most likely that she will not be a cricket fanatic. If you would have noticed Pepsi unveiled a new ad featuring SRK in India Srilanka encounter. That ad with host of others were decided to be unveiled later, but it seems all of them now have to take a curtain call without seeing the face of television. It will spell doomsday for Pepsi Co, with summer round the corner cricket or no cricket Pepsi will have to rethink their brand positioning strategy. Coke on the contrary played a safer bet by choosing neutral themes featuring Aamir. and this might prove to be a blessing in disguise.

An Indian media house have recently launched a magazine focusing on Indian Cricket:- which they proudly call First ever magazine focusing totally on Indian Cricket- Cricket Info. well the idea sure was not bad but timing couldn't have proven to be worse than the post world cup debacle. Indian Hockey too faced tough times after the hey days before being forgotten into oblivion. That day may be drawing closer with consistent pathetic performance by our champs whom we admired and on whose shoulder brands like LG and Samsung had built palaces in the hearts of millions. That's why i would advise insurance houses to start insuring faith which was instilled in by our own cricket team only to be brutally shattered later.

The A to B of branding

Vodafone has paved exit for the pug, quite rightly so because it would have meant extra burden in maintaining additional brand amongst its own in several countries. This recent demolition of “Hutch” brand and rise of “Tata” brand intrigued me to put on my thinking cap on the Branding industry and how does it work.

A “Brand” is collection of images, a product showers. The image could be of trust, integrity, responsibility, luxury and host of other emotions. I am going to illustrate the most popular brands and their journey to the top.

The opening slot will invariably be grabbed by “Google”. Goolge run to the top slot in close to no time has made him undisputed leader in branding. The brand Google stands for Innovation. Lately they have managed to dig inroads into the social responsibility by opting for solar electrification of their campus. No doubt these factors make Google the most coveted brand by the tech geeks. None of its competitors had ever thought of the hidden potential in web search but Google has transformed, or rather replace the word “search” in the dictionary. “Search the web” is slowly getting transformed to “Google the web”.

In India close second to the brand Google will be “Airtel”. The Brand spells Trust and leadership. Poor connectivity in technology by some of its rival brands have given it an unintentional edge but it will be wrong to take credit out of Sunil Mittal cap, Telecom Czar the the first one to launch the mobile service when it rested expensively in hallowed countries of the west. Few could afford then a single call. Though the Brand “Airtel” has taken a backseat in the minds of telecom king but it still leads the Branding Brandwagon in India.

Amongst the big commodities Brand how can we forget our own Big B as a magnanimous Brand. Even after sixty years on earth when a warrior is expected to retire from his proressional life, Big B has risen to endorse “Life after sixty”. His second innings had a sour beginning but we all know every Brand needs time to position itself in the market. Lets see if SRK does enough justice to his Brand in his new stint……..

Budgetery Times…….

Ones who would have read ‘A view from outside’ by Mr. P Chidambram would certainly agree that he has not done justice to his stature and respect. The trio of PC, M Ahluvalia, and Mr Manmohan Singh were certainly capable of ‘Big Bang reform’ as our finance minister would call it. None of finance minister in the history of India would have ever got golden chance of presenting a budget when GDP is growing by leaps and bounds, foreign exchange has touched an all time high, FDI inflows have touched double digit in billions and engines of various industries may it be services, telecom or retail are firing all their cylinders in full throttle. Mr PC has certainly lost the opportunity after a stupendous run the previous fiscal.

Healthcare: An expressway to growth.

has been talk of the town that India will be next superpower. “Favorable Demographics” as many of us will quote the strongest factor in achieving double-digit growth but will the crippled population be able to handle the impending huge pressure. The key to India’s success in the global world will not be acquisitions worth billions but how we manage our 1.19 billion people power effectively. Statistics have not been very favorable to India’s health. 55.32 deaths/1000 births as against China’s 33/1000, skewed sex ratio, whopping illiteracy rates of 91% in some states and the recent surge in inflation due to stressed supply have tales to tell about sustainability of the growth. But the most important factor which either is the cause or the effect of the reasons above is poor Healthcare sector which needs overhauling otherwise India will soon lose its demographic edge.
With more than 70% population in rural villages it will be uphill task to improve the ailing health. Recent finding have brought out startling facts about expecting mothers delivering infants in absence of medical supervision in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala’s hospitals reusing the syringes and exposing the patients towards diseases like AIDS and Hepetitis B. Its will be very tough journey ahead for Ministry of Health.