At a faux “pubby” restaurant, I asked a friend why she didn’t order fries with the fried fish she had asked for? (I was looking for a carb-fat fix, but couldn’t legitimately order a whole portion just for myself.) A withering look accompanied the dismissal, “You and your excesses!” Undeterred, I went on, “But if I suggested having fish and chips?” “Well, that would be a fine. That’s standard British fare.” That clinched it for me. “So it’s okay to have it when you call it fish and chips, but not if you ask for “fried fish and fries”?!” [After…
The recent stock market mayhem brings to mind another 'boom' - the much-hyped retail boom. Booms and busts are complimentary, and always follow each other (if history is a teacher which we would care to listen to). We are already seeing the signs of what people might call a slow-down in the Indian retail market. (Those people would have built their business plans, made investments and planned expenditure based on 50-500% annual growth, and would see a 15-25% growth as a slowdown.) But for the most part, retail is an organic business, and a 15-25% annual growth is far healthier…
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…
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…
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…
Geopolitical friction has again sparked renewed concerns over inflation and rising input costs for FMCG companies as @itmeansjustice @whysnavi write. @devangshu commented.
