Tuesday 4 October 2011

Apple versus Blackberry in the world's cheapest market

So Apple manages 2.5% of the Indian smartphone market, BB does 15%, Nokia 45% (data picked up from the ET of 4 Oct, 11).

Should Apple be worried?

Nope. But Apple should not get greedy. Its a very expensive phone and it relies on high speed networks to show its prowess. Both money and high speed networks are hard to come by in India. In fact, Apple should not allow more than a few hundred units to be sold each month as the netowrk in the country builds up. Or, play at the lower price point with a phone that can dazzle on 2g (like the BB).

BB has reinvented itself like no other recent brand in the Indian market. From a corporate device, it has positioned itself as the device to have in the youth market.Its messenger is a cool application and the new touch and type is an innovation which is just right in the market.

At a sub 10k price point, its well positioned on price. While the local manufacturers (Micromax, Lava etc) are more aggressive on price and features where i have found them lacking is durability of device.

But BB in India has gained my respect - in understanding the youth and offering them a great product. Whether BB will continue its domination on the corporate front- i cant say. In the long run will it become the brand of choice for the youth? I cant say.

The youngest markets in the world are in Africa and India and BB has not yet got a design centre in these places. The day it does, i will buy some BB stock. BB has doen in India what it has not in most markets of the world. That should give it some confidence to go much further.

Nokia- the good was'nt as good....the bad certainly not as bad..

I know Nokia got a lot of things wrong in the Indian market recently: they were late on the dual sim phone, qwerty keyboard....cheap 'smart phones'.

But when i saw a recent brand survey done by the economic times and saw Nokia slipping down 15 ranks in the SEC C segment (low income and education bracket), i was indeed surprised. Additionally, Nokia retains top spot among the SEC A (high income, education segment)- the segment which has coveted the smartphones- a segment where Nokia has also struggled in a big way globally.

So what explains this? The low end consumer who needs durable and rugged kicks Nokia for a dual sim (Nokia phones are without doubt better in robustness than any local brand) and the high end consumer embraces the brand that does not serve him well.

I must speak to friends at Nokia to understand their perception of the results.

My own assessment is that on quality the phone is tops. In terms of range, wide.
With its dual sim phones, the brand will capture the loyalty of its customers down the income strata. But unless its top end phones regain their mojo, loyalty at the top end will be lost shortly.

Lets wait and watch.
Venkat

Monday 3 October 2011

Go on Pond’s … try being a parent....

We are on youtube often entertaining our baby boy with nursery rhyme videos. We see a lot of advertising from Pond’s face was for women now precedes any video for the child.

It appears that some media manager and the brand manager (at Pond’s) has hit upon the insight that mothers accompany kids as they browse the internet for nursery rhymes and hence hitting the mothers with an advt upfront is a good idea to catch relevant eyeballs.

Bad idea Pond’s.

We are searching for these videos because our baby has a 30 minute window in which to get fed and these videos keep him engrossed and in one place. He gets on his seat eagerly awaiting Noddy and not a pretty model for Pond’s. When one video ends, he wants it replaced by another…again seeing a pretty face makes him very uncomfortable- he stops eating and that makes us uncomfortable. Remember that our baby has a 30 minute window tops after which he will not sit on his seat/ nor eat.

We spoke to a couple of mothers, and our experience on this matter seems to stand.

It’s a good suggestion that marketers target their advertisements to get maximum eyeballs. But ask the question- is the eyeball there really interesting in seeing my brand at that point of time.

Ritu and Venkat

Thursday 1 September 2011

success and failure

Would you feel fortunate if you had neither of either or too many of both?(just a point to mull over, we dont have a point of view on it)

Ritu and I were speaking of Steve Jobs...the discussion went into a comparison with Bill Gates...Sabeer Bhatia (Hotmail)...and a few other names popped up including Edison.

Bill Gates hit gold on his first try- the result Microsoft and world domination.
The problem? No second wind- no more innovations.

Jobs- failed with the Mac; failed with Newton; failed with Next....and then came back to be daddy of all tech companies.

Sabeer Bhatia- hit with hotmail...and then?

Try a few more...

Small sample size, but what the heck- go ahead and fail a bit. Build a strong gut and then keep trusting it.

Ritu and Venkat

Sunday 29 May 2011

starbucks

i quote thought gadgets
"What else do you think dropping the word "coffee" from its logo means?"

a simple one phrase analysis of a very powerful move.

Saturday 28 May 2011

men, women, advertising

A brilliant campaign from Heineken. Click on title to goto the THoughtGadgets note on same.

Men, women.....advertising....does not need to always mean sex, sexy, naughty.

Axe deodorant pulls it off time and time again, others fall flat on their faces for their attempts at connecting to their audience through vulgarity.

Heineken - this particular campaign must inspire marketers to try and connect with their audience through decent and real human emotions.

Marketers have a role to influence society and the way we think and express ourselves. Sex sells...sure....but understanding consumers offers you more opportunities for connect.

i am a fan!
Venkat

Wednesday 16 March 2011

advertiting television technology

We've been seeing some interesting advertisements on selling new Direct to home technology and new TV technology.

The problem with advertising new resolution levels i sthat the viewer still sees the images on his current TV. Hence any claims about clarity are difficult to experience. 2 companies have come with interesting approaches:

Sony- Sony is using DHoni making some cricket plays as the base story. However, they are closing in to the images, running them in slow motion in order to emphasise the dew, the sweat runing down his face, the seam position on the ball etc. TO demonstrate that the level of detail that is visible on their new TVs are truly amazing. Point made. Hope the TVs are really that good.

Airtel - airtel is emphasising its internet TV as providing very cear images. The way they do this is to have two stories running concurrently on the screen- and its difficult to distinguish whats real and whats being played on TV, till the end of the ad. Again trying to show that so clear is their picture technology that reality and screen can get confused. Point made.

Well done.

Ritu and Venkat