Accessories & Gizmos

Nokia nukes all competition!
Wanna view slide shows while on the move but without the hassles of carrying a lap top? Then Nokia N95 is just for you. It’s equipped with a 5-megapixel camera and the Carl Zeiss optics facilitate real-life imagery. The gizmo also comes with a well-designed package that enables the user to browse the internet, listen to music, watch slide shows, all without compromising on any feature. And there’s more! This incredible phone has a search application whose service is available across 8 cities in India, giving location details of popular spots in each of those cities. Get ready to shell Rs 40,249 for this fully-loaded Nokia phone.

Apple of your eye
Apple has unleashed Apple Macbook, which bids adieu to the era of bulky and space consuming lap-tops. This eye-catching durable is easy to carry and is sure to be a hit with the dainty ladies. Fortified with Intel Core 2 Duo processor, its speed and performance will vow all techies too. Priced at Rs 67,000, this notebook has a glossy 13.3 inch wide-screen and a camera. Here’s to a computer, bound to become the apple of your eye!

The eagle has landed
Eagles are known to be large birds of prey and since donkey’s years have been symbolising everything regal and awe-inspiring. Swarovski’s home décor collection for summers 2007 doubles the eagle’s magnificence in its Wings of Liberty model, what with its impressive size and elegant style. Designed by Mario Dilitz, this eagle is fully faceted with clear crystal and is placed in a blue pearl granite base. Tagged at Rs 42,945, Wings of Liberty spells pure aristocracy.

Watch from the house of wax
Nope this watch isn’t made from wax but it is associated with Madam Tussauds, where Shah Rukh Khan’s model stands donning this watch. Christened as MONACO Sixty Nine, this timepiece unites mechanical and digital displayin a single case. It has an ultramodern digital face with a Microtimer that is accurate to 1/1000th of a second. Tagged at Rs 2.95 lakhs, there’s much more toit than just the SRK appeal.

Marvellous Mercedes
Mercedes, the word spells class and its latest launch – CL-Class – is certainly no exception. Brimming with promises of pampering you with luxuries umpteen, these ravishing large coupes are the product of a mix of 1950 designs with the latest in automotive engineering and technology. Not compromising with safety, it offers outstanding safety devices like the Pre-safe brake. Built to give you a superior driving experience, grab this dreamcar for Rs 1.2 crores.

Money in the Bank!
As financial services in the country flourish, banks ride the new crest of consumerism…

(column by Abhimanyu Ghosh, CEO, Planman Media)

As 4Ps Business & Marketing comes out with its annual banking special, one cannot help but muse on the irony that while the entire nation is going gaga over retail, a similar sounding sector has moulded the contours of a revolution that practically everyone reading this article – you, me and the contemporary Indian – is already experiencing... and reveling in. You got it right: Retail banking is the fresh wave of freedom that’s sweeping through our existence, and to pardon a pun, if anybody deserves ‘credit’ for it, the banking colossuses in our land rise to the claim.

Take a look around, and the phenomenon is as evident as it is ubiquitous: from billboards and hoardings on the road to advertisements on the TV set, to a blizzard of displays on the internet and other media, the new-age consumer never had it better, with a veritable treasure trove of innovation-driven financial products and services – international debit cards, credit cards, home loans, automobile loans, personalized loan solutions, 24/7 banking support, internet transaction facilities and a host of other offerings like mobile banking – pervading the imagination, from your porch till your PC! And interestingly enough, the trend of explosive consumerism that the Indian market has been witness to in the last 3-4 years courtesy the banking environment in the country also constitutes among the very factors that have propelled this rapid surge in utilization of banking-related retail products and services. With the 1991 phase of reforms in the banking sector throwing open the market to that dynamic duo the world only knows too well as liberalisation and globalisation, and the subsequent era of economic advancement delivering an unprecedented impetus to the purchasing propensities of the middle and upper-middle socioeconomic strata, more significantly the former, the transition has not just been towards a spending culture that is better equipped, but a mindset that is relatively greater at ease with the notion of credit-based acquisition, incurring individual debt and spending ‘cash on credit’ akin to their Western counterparts., though only a minuscule proportion when compared to that latter as of present-day.

Technology, in its myriad forms, has proved a critical – and now indispensable – resource Spearheading the retail banking juggernaut and dictating the pace of progress for most. From placing a three lettered acronym (read ATM) at the top of the average bank user’s priority list to ushering in an era of palmtop accounting by converting features like SMS banking into a reality, besides bringing about the advent of desktop access to virtually every amenity a bank may provide, and effecting the inherent reduction in cost, time and labour for both customer and bank alike, the wonders of technology have placed the Indian banking market a notch closer to its advanced equivalents on the other side of the Atlantic.

Clearly, Indian private banking players have not merely lead the pack in defining and executing this customer-technology combine to the extent it has reached today, but have also mobilised the kind of potent advertising outlay and appealing consumer service portfolio that we see prevalent among public sector banks aplenty of late, apart from doling out a dose of tough competition to multinational operators in the country.

Population estimates peg India’s middle-class to lie in the vicinity of 300 million, a staggering figure by any yardstick. Add to that the still much lower level of penetration in the credit, debit and retail loan segments compared to the saturated marketplace of the West, and bank players have only just begun scraping the surface! With a consumer that is as willing to embrace retail products/services as he grows increasingly in discernment, the ambience is only set to present itself better. The challenge then, will entail a battle for cutting-edge service supremacy where only the best in the industry sustain. And hackneyed as it may sound, when it comes to banking & consumerism, all the consumer desires is the double-delight of comfort ‘n’ convenience!

(End of Abhimanyu Ghosh column)

What would be the end result of a terrific Product, fantastic Pricing, and an out-of this- world Promotional strategy? A flop show! That is, if you forgot the most important factor : Place!

(column by Rajita Chaudhuri, Dean, Centre for Undergraduate Studies at The Indian Institute of Planning and Management)

If there is one American invention that has rocked the world and been tried by almost everyone – it’s the ice-cold colas. If there is one war that everyone loves to watch – it’s the cola wars – between Coke and its long standing arch-rival Pepsi. While “blind tests” done time and again have revealed that not many consumers can differentiate between the taste of Coca- Cola and Pepsi once they are blindfolded, then how come it’s been such an uphill task for Pepsi to defeat Coke? In America, it’s someone else who is holding the strings of this old battle – it’s McDonald’s. Strange but true, if McDonald’s (which only sells beverages of the Coca Cola Company) decides to sell Pepsi instead of Coca Cola, then it would not take long for Pepsi to finally defeat Coke. Since 1955, McDonald’s has exclusively sold Coca-Cola products. It has offered Coca-Cola beverages with all its meals and combo offers.

However, with consumers becoming more health-conscious, the consumption of carbonated beverages seems to be decreasing and of water and sports drinks to be increasing. The non-carbonated drinks category has become the strong hold of Pepsi with its extremely popular brands like Gatorade, Tropicana and Mountain Dew. Guess whom are they turning to, to ensure their grasp on the market remains – yes, McDonald’s! With hardly any growth in the carbonated soft drink market, it seemed a win-win situation for McDonald’s too. So, for the first time in history McDonald’s has quietly started offering non-carbonated beverages made by Pepsi at some outlets in US. Has the time come for Pepsi to wear the crown of the market-leader?

With products becoming almost similar and pricing too being more-or-less the same, today the biggest ‘P’ of 4Ps – (Price, Product, Place & Promotion) is “Place”. Yes, with Mc- Donald’s becoming the new battleground for the colas, it shows that distribution holds the key to success in most product offerings.

The fountain of success The most innovative ways of distribution have been developed by the Cola companies. They introduced the vending machines which soon became very popular and gave a boost to their sales. Vending machines suddenly made it so convenient to buy products you would hesitate to pick up otherwise (like condoms). Of course, they also made cigarettes and alcohol easily accessible to the youth. Today vending machines are selling just about anything and everything. Companies are quickly realising the potential of new distribution techniques. In the United States, sales through snack and beverage vending machines grew by 150% over a tenyear period reaching $35 billion annually in 1999.

Apple even started distributing its iPods and other products via vending machines. From digital cameras to batteries to other accessories, all were available in a single vending machine. Who would have thought a whole store could be shrunk into a staff-less 6-foot wide space!

Like the vending machine, the “soda fountain machine” is the very heart of Coke’s US strength and the major reason for Pepsi’s weakness. It’s the fountains business, which accounts for nearly all the difference in the 12 to 13 share-point lead Coke has over Pepsi (in US). About 25% of soft drinks sold in the US are dispensed by fountains (at McDonald’s, Pizza Hut etc). It just goes on to show that good and unique distribution channels can really become a brand’s “fountain” of success.

The modern age vending machine
That’s what the “Internet” is being called today. A select-and-send is all you need to do to buy things today. The whole music industry is changing. The internet has made music available at the click of a mouse. Youngsters are hardly buying CDs and music cassettes – it’s all there on the internet now.

The favourite shopping destination seems to be fast becoming the internet. No wonder Air Deccan decided to tie-up with Reliance Webworld to make air-tickets more accessible. Now, all you need to do is log on to the website, buy a ticket online, take a printout and fly. According to Sachin Bhatia, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Makemytrip.com, approximately 10,000 air tickets for domestic travel are being sold online every day!

Not just plane tickets, movie tickets are also available online. Log on to the PVR website, choose your movie, your show timing and even where you want to sit!

Banks are using the internet to increase both their business and customer satisfaction. Day or night, you can get your queries answered, you can check your account and do a whole lot of other transactions – all thanks to the net. The customer is looking for convenience and instant gratification and if companies can work out innovative and unique strategies to make their product reach out and be visible to the consumer, their sales are bound to increase.

The ‘Retail Revolution’ is all about distribution
Wal-Mart is not just a retail-wonder but also a classic example of a well developed and well managed supply chain. Wal-Mart’s sophisticated distribution system and information technology to track inventory has significantly improved its efficiency and productivity – making it far more profitable than other retailers. With India sitting on the brink of a retail revolution, supply-chain management will soon have a prominent role to play. “Convenience” is the food, your calling card, your courier, and all at a petrol pump!

When ITC entered into the biscuit business, it knew that if it had to make a place for itself among giants like Britannia and Parle, then apart from offering a large variety of products, it had to have a distribution network. It’s common knowledge that the FMCG products distribution channels are very important. So ITC used its old distribution network and soon all paan-beedi shops had stocks of biscuits too! Today, ITC has made a place for itself in the Indian biscuit business. Its brand is now available in nearly 1.8 million outlets – a little more than the 1.5 million outlets of Parle.

Dell’s unique distribution system (direct to home) helped it to gain a strong hold in the PC market. It helped it to reduce costs (no warehousing costs or middle man cuts) and overtake Compaq, which commanded a large market share.

From banks to biscuits to booking tickets, all have found a new way to destroy competition – a unique distribution strategy. If you want to stay ahead and retain your customer, you need to delight him with innovative ways – and in this case, it’s no big mystery... Just dial D for distribution!

(End of Rajita Chaudhuri column)