Life for a Small Retailer

Devangshu Dutta

January 22, 2008

Management consultants, the media, financial analysts have had one phrase tripping off their tongues the last few years ... "organized retail". ... The growth of "...", the inevitability of "...", the power of "..." Some highly visible people have even made statements that essentially mean - "if you want to play at the table of retailing, bring big money with you, because stakes have now risen, entry barriers have now gone up". In our opinion, nothing could be further from the truth - retail is fundamentally an entrepreneurial business, and even today, you can start with one shop, or even…

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A Critical Question – What is a Brand?

Devangshu Dutta

January 19, 2008

Even in these enlightened marketing times, many people believe that the brand is the name. They believe that once you advertise a name widely and loudly enough, a brand can be created. Nothing could be further from the truth. High-decibel advertising only informs customers of the name, it cannot create a brand. If we put ourselves in the customer’s shoes, a brand is an image, comprising of a bundle of promises on the company’s part and expectations on the customer’s part, which have been met. When promises are delivered, when expectations are met, the brand develops an attribute that it…

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Brand Immortality and Reincarnation

Devangshu Dutta

January 18, 2008

The entertainment business suggests that nostalgia is a very powerful driver of profit. It is quite clear that retro is “in”. The movie business worldwide is full of sequels, prequels, re-releases and remakes. The music business is ringing up the cash registers with remixes and jukebox compilations.  Star Wars and Sholay still have a fan following. ABBA has leaped across three decades, Hindi film songs from 30-60 years ago have been given a skin-uplift by American hip-hop artists, while Pink Floyd is hot with Indian teens along with Akon and Rihanna. As copyright restrictions are removed from the works of…

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RETAIL SPECIAL | BRAND BEHAVIOUR

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December 9, 2007

By Saumya Roy, MINT (Partner to the Wall Street Journal) 9 December 2007 Jay Goradia, a 25-year-old engineer, walked into a hypermarket in suburban Mumbai looking for shampoo and some other personal care products. A little while later, he walked out with an expensive cellphone, along with the shampoo."The disadvantage of malls is that you end up buying more than you intended to. Things are displayed in such a way in a mall that you tend to get tempted," he says with a grin. Goradia says he loves hanging out at the new branded retail outlets which are changing the…

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SMALL TOWNS, BIG GAINS

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November 26, 2007

By Vikas Kumar (The Economic Times - 26 November 2007) Small is the new big. Small towns, that is. With demand nearly peaking in larger cities, companies are realising that there are plenty of untapped opportunities in the next level. And if you are small yourself, it could be the perfect alternative to taking your bigger competitors head-on or waiting until you are big enough. A host of emerging companies in India are adopting this route to grow. They are starting small with tier II and III towns where the competition may not be as fierce, and entry barriers are…

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