Friday 12 July 2013

Colgate: Now that is called an Aggressive Strategy!

I was reading the news and views of Corporate Industry to keep myself updated on the strategies and policies. I came across an article about the launch of Oral-B toothpaste by P&G in India. P&G already has Oral-B brand tooth brush in India and with this launch they are entering the toothpaste industry. Now what was surprising and caught my attention was the article talked more about Colgate revamping its marketing expenditures and less about launch by P&G.

Prabha Parameswaran, the MD of rival Colgate was the one watching it most closely. As soon as the launch was announced by P&G, Colgate was quick to respond in the market to ensure entry for Oral-B isn't as smooth as they expected. Colgate is market leader in Indian Oral care market. They could have waited to see the response Oral-B gets in the market. But Colgate doesn't believe in wait and watch philosophy. I also believe a lost ground is more painful to gain back than protecting and going aggressive especisally when we are talking about sensitive consumer industry like this one.

Madhuri Dixit is roped in as brand ambassador for Oral-B toothpaste.

Colgate has hiked its advertising and promotion spends considerably during the first half of this calendar year. Company is roping in more and more Bollywood stars to promote their product because they know that is one of the best way to capture Indian mind space and influence their buying. It has bought more shelf space in retail outlets and giving better margins to shopkeepers. For consumers, buy one-get one free or money saver packs are introduced. The company is truly going aggressive and sending out the message that it is not a sleeping elephant in this market. In short run, this may possibly hurt margins for a quarter or two but that should be alright in the long run till the time company doesn't loose market share and give space to competitors.


The company has done well when it faced competitions from Pepsodent and low cost Anchor brands. It faced similar situation in Brazil market where Colgate held around 80% of market share and Oral-B toothpaste was getting launched. The company adopted same policy and went aggressive to keep the new competitor at bay.

For Oral-B, I think they should not take Colgate head on to start with. Colgate has around 55% market share in India but there is a good 45% with other players. It should slowly edge out the second and the third players and win space in  large number of Indian bathrooms. It should then challenge the market leader having understood the market and people enough.



fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: While P&G has all the resources, startegy and good brand in place - they are challenging the market leader. Colgate has been successful in maintaining its dominance in all the markets wherever it got challeneged by competitors but Indian market is always special and different to watch out for. This could an interseting contest.

Sources: Online News

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Will this Kolaveri guy change the way we look at Bollywood heroes?

 
Raanjhanaa starts with a frame where Kundan (Dhanush) is shown lying on stretcher being carried to hospital with face all wounded. He starts narrating his story and takes us back to Banaras ki galiyan. Child Kundan is too cute and the movie is full of smart dialogs. You may want to remember them to put it on Facebook as your status messages to showoff, that’s the running trend now-a-days.

“Namaaz mein who thi, par laga dua hamari manjoor ho gayi”

Between all this somewhere the thought of should a ‘better looking’ conventional Bollywood actor be casted instead of Dhanush?, creeps in.

You definitely don’t want to accept the school going Dhanush as shown in the movie, as your mainstream hero who would romance with beautiful lady in a movie. He is not well built in-terms of physic and is nowhere close to the likes of Hrithiks or Shaheed Kapoors of Bollywood industry. Neither he looks chocolaty like Aamir nor over personifying Shahrukh or Amitabh. We were also not expecting him to go Emraan Hashmi way to lure the heroine sensuously and create a niche identity. These are the set definitions for actors in Hindi film industry and if we look at the debutantes over last one year, they fall in either of the above categories.

While all this was going on in your head, you get lost in the plot of the movie. Hats-off to the way story is built. In that madness and clamors of Banaras, is a cute romantic love story. By the time Dhanush receives his 16th Thapaddin the movie, you start liking him for his simplicity.

“Humein apne gaal pe thappad se zyada uske gaal pe puppy ka sukh tha.”

As the plot unfolds and story starts building, you want to see more of him. There is a sincerity in every dialog, every action. Abhay Deol gives another dimension to the movie and brings some more freshness. By this time you are in love of the music, characters and characterization. You just pray to God that the movie doesn’t end up as another cliche Hindu guy-Muslim girl set formula.

“Tumhara pyaar na ho gaya..UPSC ka exam ho gaya.10 saal se paas hi nai ho raha!”

Everytime the story takes a turn, Dhanush surprises with his acting skills. There is see-saw of emotions. Heart is broken, love is lost, he is ignored, thrown out of his house, media chases, he is beaten, yet his selfless heart wants to see Zoya (Sonam) happy and get what she wanted. Clearly by now, you can guess why he is a superstar of South Indian movie industry. While Kolaveri di song might have made him a star overnight, Raanjhanaa movie sets him as an actor class apart in Bollywood.



The other angle to film industry is the ability to generate commercial success for a movie. I feel no matter how many good movies he gives, he would still remain a second rung actor for the audience in the Hindi film industry.

The first league of actor is dominated by Amitabh, Shahrukh, Salman and Aamir and who are now passing on the baton to next gen to the likes of Ranbir Kapoors, Ranveer Singhs and Arjun Kapoors. Actors like Irrfan Khan, Abhay Deol, Konkana Sen Sharma are not perceived as huge stars by the audience. They somehow don’t move to the first league. While there is no doubt in my mind about the versatility in acting of Konkana, she still cannot occupy place of the current Katrinas, Kareenas or Priyankas.

I think a lot has to do with how Bollywood has evolved and the way audience perceives their Hero and Heroines. We have audience who has always worshipped Dharmendra, Jitendra, Rajesh Khanna and the gorgeous Madhubala, Hema Malini or Madhuri Dixit, etc. It is always about the look, about the charisma. Larger than life portray of beauty to rule million hearts.

With passage of time and with more maturity in the views and perception, I think this trend may change in a decade or so. Box Office opening is one of the key parameters that movie pundits use to categorise a movie as Flop/ hit/ Super-hit. Good opening means movie will be screened for a longer duration of time and thus generate more revenue. A Salman Khan or a Ranbir Kapoor starer guarantees good opening and then movie may pull more crowd if the reviews are good. But for actors like Dhanush or Irrfan Khan it is the other way round, at-least in Bollywood. Box office opening depends on marketing and if the reviews are good, people may start going to theaters.


fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: Can Dhanush change the way we look at Bollywood heroes? Can his star quotient rise enough to get houseful opening and super-hit box office collections in Hindi film industry too?

Mere seene ki ye aag ya to mujhe zinda kar sakti thi ya maar sakti thi...
Par saala ab uthe kaun... Kaun firse mehnat kare - dil lagane ko, dil tudwane ko...”

Friday 5 July 2013

Helping is Inspiring!

I am very strong believer in ‘whatever you do, comes back to you in a bigger way!’ The earth is round and it constantly revolves around itself. If you do good, sooner than later something good will happen with you too. If you do bad same will come back to you in a bigger way. The return for doing good is limited but for bad, it can be anything.

This also does not mean that you should be doing things in order to get something better in return. You should not be expecting to get a thousand rupees automatically in your pocket from skies if you give 10 INR to a beggar. The intentions of doing good or helping others should be pure selfless. Somewhere it will benefit you or keep the evils away.

The other thought is if somebody is asking for a help, don’t deny. The one who is asking for help knows that you can do it and that is why you have been selected from his list of known people. Always try to help if the request comes to you. It may not be entire cent percentage of fulfillment of request but whatever fits in your principle, you should do that. I am careful to use word ‘fits in your principle’ here because I don’t intend to mean that if somebody asks your help to rob someone, you go ahead. It does not fit morally. A lot of times we get to hear that a friend has taken loan on his name to help somebody else. Well, I would say that there is no harm in doing that but you should always be ready to pay the liability if the need arises.

A numerous times when I board metro, I see people happily seated with their known ones getting up quickly when they see an old man or a pregnant lady entering train with no empty seat to occupy. That is a real act of kindness I must say. People are really generous in helping a pregnant lady. They will pounce on picking up any stuff that a pregger might have dropped on floor by mistake.

I think when somebody asks for a help you should feel lucky and fulfill the request. With my experience I can say you would soon be in a situation where you will need same help. If you are traveling by airplane and find elderly people struggling to find a way or dealing with any process, go ahead and extend a helping hand. Soon your parents or ill grandparents might be in their situation. They would definitely get helped. If you see an aunty with grey hairs standing in a public transport, offer her your seat with a smile, sooner or later you might be in a situation where your mom is with you and you would wish if somebody could get up and offer a seat to her.

In a way helping is contagious too. If a kid falls, two people will quickly response and move towards that kid to help. Few others may also then realise and look to provide help. Mostly people will wait for someone to begin the kind work first and then they would join. You be that first person. 

Try and help your juniors or cousins in making proper career choices. With your experience, guide them what is the trend in market, what options they can explore. Enlighten them as much as you can. Someday, when you are lost in the rat race and not sure where to head, you will get answers without putting much efforts. No help goes waste. And in any case no body has ever become poor by giving!

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: If you receive a request to look for job openings or put resume in company’s portal, do it. Be a facilitator and try to be as much accommodative as you can. Because God help those who help others!

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