Microsoft's branding will be difficult after Nokia

Microsoft has officially dropped the Nokia brand name and is working on rebranding its mobile phones division. It continued launching the Windows based phones under the brand name Lumia and held on to the Nokia name for the other existing products. Last week, the company also killed the Nokia Asha branded low-end smartphones, and is now on its way to completely doing away with the Nokia brand in one country at a time, including India, where the phone was at one time ubiquitous.

Snake anyone?

The consumer is also getting promiscuous. The consumer wants a good product and even the most loyal ones are moving away from the brand, particularly of late since a lot of negativity has resulted from the news of the shutting of the manufacturing plant in Chennai and the resultant loss of jobs. Although Nokia was considered to be one of the most trusted bands in India, despite it still being on the list, it will require Microsoft being proactive to garner some of this trust.

You can read the full piece on the merger in the Times of India here.

RIP Time Machine: HMT

The announcement of HMT's imminent shutdown seems to have rejuvenated interest in the brand and its memorable timepieces. It definitely gave me a dose of nostalgia, having worked on the brand in the late 80s in my stint at Mudra in Bangalore.

The technology was then shared by Citizen

Somehow, the marketing division in HMT figured that quartz watches would not work in India and concentrated on manufacturing its mechanical range. Indians who were going to the Gulf to get their watches suddenly found alternatives in Titan, with its elegant range, and HMT failed to see that. The communication then positioned owning an HMT as a point of patriotism, but this did not work with the evolved Indian consumer. 

You can read more on my take on what set back HMT, in this piece in Open Magazine, here.

Brand "Amma" in the run up to the elections

I was interviewed on CNN-IBN on Jayalalitha and how she has built her brand in the run up to the upcoming elections and her PM aspirations on the eve of her 66th birthday.

You can see it here: Jayalalithaa makes her PM aspirations clearer

My opinion on Jayalalitha as shown on NewsX

My opinion on Jayalalitha and the "Amma" brand that she has built with her initiatives as shown on the NewsX channel

MTR vs Maiyas: Bangalore and Beyond

As a true blue Bangalorean, this is a market share battle that is close to my heart (possibly in the stomach region!)

An interesting piece in Business Today, on the Maiya's brand and how it will compete with the MTR foods business that it started and sold. Although the market is big enough to accommodate the two and more, I feel distribution and other factors will play a deciding role.

Datsun In India

India is a "have to be present in" market for most brands and Datsun is now being launched here as well.

Given its global story and the negative perception of its products, my two cents in this Business Standard article on what it will need to do to gain Market Share and consumers in India.

Ode to a Client

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How good is your execution?

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A time to change?

When your brand’s identity seems to pall, it’s time for an objective look at whether it needs an overhaul.

Every start-up has a familiar path of progress. An entrepreneur starts a business because he believes in an idea that consumes him. The focus of the start-up is on breaking even. Revenue generation is key and controlling costs as critical. The last thought in his mind is the brand. His priority is business, so he names it after his wife or daughter. (Without the benefit of research, I can tell you that my intuition suggests that men might have affairs but demonstrate their devotion (!) to their spouse by at least naming the company after her.)

The logo is quickly designed with the limited resources available and without much thought about the future as the entrepreneur just wants to get started. Then business grows, even a few export orders come in and then suddenly he realises branding has become an issue. Lakshmi Enterprises, the name he chose so enthusiastically, suddenly sounds like a ‘mom-and-pop’ store which works against the firm’s best interests when it wishes to attract talent.

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Bidding a sentimental farewell to a fashionable brand

As RIL puts Vimal brand on the block, Ramanujam Sridhar speaks about his impressions and memories of the iconic brand.

IT WAS the summer of 1987, the city Ahmedabad, the venue, Mudra’s corporate office where I had been called for an interview for the job of branch manager of the agency’s Bengaluru office which was to be set up by the incumbent.

Mudra was not like any casual and informal advertising agencies of those days. It had an imposing corporate office and there was an aura around AG Krishnamurthy, the chairperson and managing director whom I had to meet. I walked into his huge cabin, the size of a basketball court only to be questioned by the gum-chewing Krishnamurthy “So why do you want to join Mudra?” (I later realised that he was trying to kick the smoking habit).

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Who after Tendulkar and Dhoni?

In Indian cricket's brand landscape, once you get past the big two, there isn't any one name that commands universal attention.

A man walks past a billboard featuring Sachin Tendulkar, Mumbai, March 19, 2007

Brand Sachin: Tendulkar's consistent on-field success has translated into endorsement deals throughout his career.

It is no surprise that MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar are the two Indian sportsmen - and the highest-ranked cricketers - to feature in Forbes magazine's list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes for the period June 2011 to June 2012, having made $26.5 million and $18.6 million respectively. India is cricket's biggest market and Tendulkar was India's first national sporting brand, while Dhoni has arguably been better than any Indian sportsperson at spinning on-field success into endorsements.

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Da Milano & Hidesign: Bagging a luxury niche

International luxury brands, which were earlier the possession of the travelling elite, now have presence across high streets malls and shopping locales in India. However, among the Diors, Chanels, two Indian brands, Hidesign and Da Milano have managed to carve out their niche place in the luxury handbags market.

Contrary to popular belief, both Hidesign and Da Milano are home grown brands.

Redefining luxury
Notwithstanding the deluge of international luxury bags, both these Indian brands have continued with the same brand values that they started out with; to create products using the country’s strong heritage of craftsmanship.

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Will India go nuts over doughnuts?

The humble looking ring-shaped friedcake or the doughnut, which till now was one of the least fancy items in a patisserie, has found its own special place in the Indian confectionery market. The recent launch of popular US based chain Dunkin’ Donuts in India has turned the spotlight on the gooey fritter.

Moreover, its entry has brought intense competition for Singapore based Mad Over Donuts (MOD), India’s first doughnut chain, set up in 2008. MOD until now had a fairly monopolistic status because except bakeries and patisseries, there were very few exclusive doughnut brands in India.

‘Dough’ing differently?
Though both Dunkin’ Donuts and MOD offer classic, savoury and fruit flavoured doughnuts, have approximately the same number of doughnuts in their range, and are also similarly priced; the two are positioned differently. While MOD claims to cater to all age groups across categories, Dunkin Donuts is positioning itself as a ‘hang out’ zone for the urban young.

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The brand of a hundred centuries

Sachin Tendulkar, who hit his hundredth hundred last week, is our country's contribution to the world of legendary brands.

The 16th of March was a day filled with tremendous possibilities. India's Finance Minister was presenting his Budget to a fairly sceptical country which had witnessed the petty drama surrounding a good Railway budget just then, and Sachin Tendulkar was having another go at his elusive hundredth century as he had done on quite a few heartbreaking occasions last year. The Finance Minister delivered a damp squib even as he quoted Shakespeare. Sachin Tendulkar reached his milestone late that afternoon several hours after the Budget presentation and India collectively released its breath.

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The things brands do…

Brand positioning should be directed by strategy, and not left to a lucky streak of publicity.

I have been married for a small matter of 29 years and I guess one of the expressions that I have heard most often is “I told you so!” I know that some of you at least may share some similarity in experiences, right? But the purpose of this piece is not so much to compare the relative states of our marital bliss (?) but to take a look at brands with a similar lofty philosophy. Often I have felt that it is wonderful to be a critic, sitting on judgement on brands and their foibles, but here I am more interested in the learnings for other brands from some of these acts of omission or commission that brand owners and marketers have done at different points in time.

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India: a face for phones

Will Chetan Bhagat be a good brand ambassador?

Please see my comments on the above subject in article below (Appeared in today's Financial Times).

In a country where most adverts feature celebrities such as cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar or Bollywood stars, an overseas phonemaker and an author seem like an unlikely, if interesting, pairing.

India’s best-selling author, Chetan Bhagat (left), has been signed up by Chinese telecoms company Huawei to launch its latest tablets and smartphones on the subcontinent, the Economic Times reports.

India is Huawei’s second largest market after China, contributing between $840m and $1.4bn per year (3 to 5 per cent) – of overall revenues, which totaled $28bn last year. But the company isn’t widely recognised in the country, and also must combat prejudice against Chinese products.

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Googly: Branding on Indian Turf

Below is an extract from my interview coverage with MBARendezvous on "Googly: Branding on Indian Turf"!

“Mind it, Customers are not moron, they will react to your faulty deliveries on commitments so ensure that smart execution is done “

Mr Ramanujam Sridhar is a communication consultant, author, columnist, teacher, trainer, cricket enthusiast and a passionate social activist.

A postgraduate in Management from IIM Bangalore and an MA in Economics from Loyola College, Chennai, Sridhar had spent over six years in the banking industry, and in his own words “counted other people’s money and wrote other people’s Fixed Deposit receipts” before entering the fascinating and often frustrating world of advertising.

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