Wednesday, October 24, 2007

52 PROVEN STRESS REDUCERS

52 PROVEN STRESS REDUCERS

1. Get up fifteen minutes earlier in the
morning. The inevitable morning mishaps will be less stressful.



2. Prepare for the morning the evening before. Set the breakfast
table. Make lunches. Put out the clothes you plan to wear, etc.



3. Don't rely on your memory. Write down appointment times, when
to pick up the laundry, when library books are due, etc. ("The palest
ink is better than the most retentive memory."- Old Chinese Proverb)



4. Do nothing you have to lie about later.



5. Make copies of all keys. Bury a house key in a secret spot in
the garden. Carry a duplicate car key in your wallet, apart from your key
ring.



6. Practice preventive maintenance. Your car, appliances, home and
relationships will be less likely to break down "at the worst possible
moment."



7. Be prepared to wait. A paperback book can make a wait in a post
office line almost pleasant.



8. Procrastination is stressful. Whatever you want to do tomorrow,
do today; whatever you want to do today, do it now.



9. Plan ahead. Don't let the gas tank get below onequarter full,
keep a well- stocked "emergency shelf'' of home staples, don't wait
until you're down to your last bus token or postage stamp to buy more, etc.



10. Don't put up with something that doesn't work right. If your
alarm clock wallet, shoe laces, windshield wipers-whatever-are a constant
aggravation, get them fixed or get new ones.



11. Allow 15 minutes of extra time to get to appointments. Plan to
arrive at an airport one hour before domestic departures.



12. Eliminate (or restrict) the amount of caffeine in your diet.



13. Always set up contingency plans, "just in case." ("If
for some reason either of us is delayed, here's what we'll do..." Or,
"If we get split up in the shopping center, here's where we'll meet.")



14. Relax your standards. The world will not end if the grass doesn't
get mowed this weekend.



15. Pollyanna-Power! For every one thing that goes wrong, there are
probably 10 or 50 or 100 blessings. Count 'em!



16. Ask questions. Taking a few moments to repeat back the directions
that someone expects of you, etc., can save hours. (The old "the hurrieder
I go, the behinder I get" idea.)



17. Say "No!" Saying no to extra projects, social activities
and invitations you know you don't have the time or energy for takes practice,
self-respect and a belief that everyone, everyday, needs quiet time to relax
and to be alone.



18. Unplug your phone. Want to take a long bath, meditate, sleep
or read without interruption? Drum up the courage to temporarily disconnect.



(The possibility of there being a terrible emergency in the next hour or
so is almost nil.)



19. Turn "needs" into preferences. Our basic physical needs
translate into food, water, and keeping warm. Everything else is a preference.
Don't get attached to preferences.



20. Simplify, simplify, simplify.



21. Make friends with nonworriers. Chronic worrywarts are contagious.



22. Take many stretch breaks when you sit a lot.

23.
If you can't find quiet at home, wear
earplugs.



24. Get enough sleep. Set your alarm for bedtime.



25. Organize! A place for everything and everything in its place.
Losing things is stressful.



26. Monitor your body for stress signs. If your stomach muscles are
knotted and your breathing is shallow, relax your muscles and take some
deep, slow breaths.



27. Write your thoughts and feelings down on paper. It can help you
clarify and give you a renewed perspective.



28. Do this yoga exercise when you need to relax: Inhale through
your nose to the count of eight. Pucker your lips and exhale slowly to the
count of 16. Concentrate on the long sighing sound and feel the tension
dissolve. Repeat 10 times.



29. Visualize success before any experience you fear. Take time to
go over every part of the event in your mind. Imagine how great you will
look, and how well you will present yourself.



30. If the stress of deadlines gets in the way of doing a job, use
diversion. Take your mind off the task and you will focus better when you're
on task.



31. Talk out your problems with a friend. It helps to relieve confusion.



32. Avoid people and places that don't fit your personal needs and
desires. If you hate politics, don't spend time with politically excited
people.



33. Learn to live one day at a time.



34. Everyday, do something you really enjoy.



35. Add an ounce of love to everything you do.



36. Take a bath or shower to relieve tension.



37. Do a favor for someone every day.



38. Focus on understanding rather than on being under stood, on loving
rather than on being loved.



39. Looking good makes you feel better.



40. Take more time between tasks to relax. Schedule a realistic day.



41. Be flexible. Some things are not worth perfection.



42. Stop negative self-talk: "I'm too fat, too old, etc..."



43. Change pace on weekends. If your week was slow, be active. If
you felt nothing was accomplished during the week, do a weekend project.



44. "Worry about the pennies, and the dollars will take care
of themselves." Pay attention to the details in front of you.



45. Do one thing at a time. When you are working on one thing, don't
think about everything else you have to do.



46. Allow time every day for privacy, quiet and thinking.



47. Do unpleasant tasks early and enjoy the rest of the day.



48. Delegate responsibility to capable people.



49. Take lunch breaks. Get away from your work in body and in mind.



50. Count to 1,000, not 10, before you say something that could make
matters worse.



51. Forgive people and events. Accept that we live in an imperfect
world.



52. Have an optimistic view of the world. Most people do the best
they can.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

How to Prevent your Team member from Leaving Team

Different people have different views on this and the most common one is better salary and company. But it is a fact that people leave Managers and not company.

Friends, I have tried this and it works believe me. If you want to retain your team have all local team members in your tem. Means if your office is in Pune have team members who are from Pune and not members who have migrated from other states or cities. The reason of not having local team members is the real reason why most people leave the company.

Believe me friends people leave not because they are not happy with job, profile or salary but because the Managers make comments about the in time and out time of member, taking holiday or half day for birthday, marriage/death of relative even neighbors etc. Local people have to do because he has a social life. Migrated people are mostly without family and are staying alone or with friends. They do not have any social life; since they are miles away from their hometown they have excuses of distance for every social obligation. Also since they do not have any thing to do at home they sit till later nights and also come to office on weekdays and holidays as being at home they will get bored and at office they get free phone/ internet to chat with their families back in their hometown, free tea coffee , Air condition etc. This helps them save their money. Also when they go on leave it is for months and local employee have to do overtime to do his part of work.

The problem starts when Manager gives examples of the migrated members to others local members like he sits late, doesn’t take holidays/ half days frequently, come even on holidays and weekends etc. Which hurts the local member has even if he wants to he cannot give excuse to escape from his social obligation as he is present in the city. This spoils his relation with friends, wife, parents, family etc. So an employee tries to move to a company were he will considered human and not machine. An excuse is given of better pay, company etc. Everyone knows that how much pathetic and might be the Manager the company will never listen against the manger. So the members leaves the company without ant comments about the manager.

Friend the other side is migrated members should be put in one team. This team should be only of migrated team members only, no local members.

Let them prove to company and management that they are loyal and dedicated which in reality is not true. As 90 % late sitting members are not local and they are doining their personal work more than companies work.Let the locals have a peaceful environment to work for.

This way the point you wish to raised is the reason why people migrate to cities will be solved and also we can have a stable and dedicated team, with less members leaving the team.

At the end of Day having a team to support the company and save our job is more important than having feelings and sympathy towards the people who are migrating to cities.

What If It All Came Crashing Down

The real measure of our wealth is how much we'd be worth if we lost all our money.
- John Henry Jowett, preacher (1864-1923)

Imagine it!

Donald Trump, poor. He’d just be an annoying boor. No, no, he’s that already. I meant a poor, annoying…..No, everyone would just ignore him.

Bill Gates, poor. Once the world’s richest man, Bill has been giving away billions of dollars to charities over the past few years, not the least huge sums for AIDS research and literacy projects (through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). He’s an entrepreneur, someone who scooped great ideas from other people and turned them into a worldwide empire. Bill would make out alright because he knows how to manage people, to make them feel good about being successful working for projects he operates.

In 1929, with the crash of the stock markets and the beginning of the Great Depression, so many paper-wealthy men went broke overnight that many of them jumped out of windows in their top floor offices on Wall Street. That’s a statement not about their not wanting to be poor, but about the value they placed on their own lives without a great deal of money to throw around.

I see hordes of people in North American cities (my home continent, so those are the people I see in person and on television) creating lives for themselves based on the values preached to them by industries. The descriptive word I can’t escape from to attach to their lives is pretension. They are the people they believe they are. They live the lives that industry wants them to live, holding the values and beliefs that industry teaches them by various means. They have none of their own.

They have no idea of their basic human worth, other than as they compare themselves to others according to their financial net worth and their ostentatious possessions.

Poor people, on the other hand, seem to have a clear grasp of who they are in real terms. They know they are at the bottom of the heap socially as well as financially. Many of them use their position to their advantage, accepting social assistance from governments who collect tax money from the rich. Others, especially those on whom poverty has come to stay due to misfortune, health problems or physical/intellectual limitations, see their lives as one continual climb out of the pit that life has thrown them into.

Perhaps the people who have the clearest idea of who they are and the value they have to the world are the homeless, especially those who have been homeless for several years. They form friendships, bonds and working relationships based on what they can offer to others and what they can get from others.

The homeless are valued as people, among themselves, more than any other social group because all they have to offer anyone else is themselves. They value each other and who they are in relation to the others in their lives. To the homeless, a smile has a value beyond anything a rich person could imagine.

True, some can’t survive in that atmosphere. They turn to drugs and alcohol, paid for by robbing others and from begging. That’s a form of self destruction, a long, slow death wish fulfilled by their own choice. They can’t make it, even among the community of the homeless, because they don’t believe they have anything of value to offer to others. The best some can do is to offer drugs or drink to others like them, giving themselves the same sense of self worth as the rich.

Imagining ourselves as suddenly without any source of income and sustenance is an exercise that each of us should indulge ourselves in once in a while. It can help us to be humble about who we are and appreciative of what we have. Most importantly, it can help us to calculate who in our lives loves us for ourselves and not for what we have or can give to them.

It could happen, that kind of life altering tragedy. A power outage that lasts for several weeks could cause us to turn to our baser instincts in our drive to survive. A pandemic disease of the type that medical science keeps warning us about, one that kills millions of people in a short period of time, could change everything we know about our civilization.

Staying in touch with reality, not the kind that industry wants us to believe but the kind we could use in case of some dire emergency, should be on the agenda of each one of us once in a while.

It tells us who we really are, what we stand for and who would stand with us if the world we know shattered.

Life IS Overcoming Problems

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem."
- Theodore Rubin

So, here's the problem (so to speak). Most of us tend to believe that having problems causes us to remain removed from a better life, one without problems. The problem is not our problems, but what we believe is a better life.

A life without problems is either death or the slippery slope on the way to it. Our bodies and our brains are both built to tackle problems, to face down challenges, to overcome difficulties on the road of life. We are built to struggle.

If we do not struggle with problems or some form of challenges, both physical and mental, on a regular basis, our abilities and our faculties atrophy and degrade until there isn't enough left of us to maintain our health.

Those who do not work all parts of their bodies regularly become achy, lame and weak in their old age or before. Those who do not exericse their brain regularly fall into senility. These are proven facts. For most of us, these failures of our physical and mental abilities in middle and old ages are preventable.

Our immune systems need a good workout, especially when we are young, to develop immunities against various diseases. Our immune systems are built t0 withstand many kinds of illness in childhood and early adulthood so that they will be strong as we get older. In other words, we are designed to get sick as children and adolescents. And to recover, building our immune system's defences as we do so.

Our emotional development is likewise designed for hurt as well as for joy. Those who do not experience much in the way of emotional hurt during their lives do not develop an equal scope for joy and happiness when it presents itself. Emotions are like a pendulum, they swing as far one way as the other. If development of emotions is hampered in one direction, it fails to develop much in the other. People who experience great tragedy and hurt also have the ability to experience joy far greater than those who have "sailed through life."

Don't curse your problems. They give you the opportunity to live life to the fullest, to experience happiness and fulfillment. Without them, your life would be relatively dull.

No one says you should enjoy your problems. That would be a psychological problem in itself. But you can face them with some degree of equanimity knowing that they will pass and happiness will be available to you in the future.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Art Of Correspondence

Art Of Correspondence

Letter writing is one of the oldest arts of communication. And even though it is used most often in business or official dealings, many of us fail to get even basic letter writing right. Here re a few tips.

With rare exceptions and regardless of the subject, the goal in all letter writing should be to keep it short, factual, and to the point. Don’t write more than one page in length, unless necessary.

Detailed information can be relegated to attachment that can be referred to by name in the body of the letter. Stick to the absolute essential facts in the main letter.

Prepare a rough draft before the final. Then carefully review and revise it. Put yourself in the place of addressee. Imagine yourself receiving the letter. How would you react to it? Would it answer all of your questions?

Does it deal with all of the key issues? Are the language and tone appropriate? Read it aloud to check whether the words used sound right.

Check for spelling and grammar mistakes. A letter is a direct reflection of the person sending it, and the organization that person works for. Once you have decided on the final content, run it through a spelling and grammar check. A letter with obvious spelling and grammar mistakes looks unprofessional.

In such cases, the recipient can’t really be blamed for seeing this as an indication as to how you and your organization probably do most other things. Follow these rules to make sure that your letter doesn’t end up in the "read later" pile or a waste paper basket.
  • Use simple and appropriate language.
  • Use simple straightforward language for clarity and precision.
  • Use short sentences.
  • Each paragraph should contain not more than three or four sentences.
  • Use language and terminology familiar to the intended recipient.


Do not use technical terms and acronyms without explaining them, unless you are certain that the addressee is familiar with them. Now-a-days most business communication is through internet and the same rules can apply. The draft stage can be checked before the final 'send' click.

Body language at work

Body language at work

A person need not always has to speak to convey your feelings. Most of the time person’s body gestures are doing the talking which is even mentioned by cricket commentators while the game is going. While verbal communication has its own impact, it’s the gestures and involuntary movements of body parts or non-verbal communication that convey the strongest messages. The person or persons receiving the communication remember the body gestures (language) more than words. It is true as concluded by many experts in the field.

This is the reason why it is very important to have the right body language when you plan to make an impression or do not wish to be interpreted wrongly in an office environment.

It gives them an insight into the confidence or discomfort of the person communicating. It tells them about how much the person believes in what he is saying and whether he wants to be offensive, defensive or a partner.

What is conveyed through gestures is important because people who don’t know the communicator very well are likely to misinterpret the silent messages the body sends out. That’s why it helps to be aware of and control one’s hand and eye movements and facial expressions.

Facial expressions reflect emotional side – a smile on the face with some relevant content is an effective weapon.

Here are some tips to train your body to- give the right message:

What you say and how you say is important. Conviction and depth in voice assures one’s determination and interest in the subject.

Be confident and relaxed in an office meeting. However, don’t appear to be too relaxed as it gives the impression that you are not interested in what’s going on.

If you are in an interview and want to talk about your achievements, look your interviewer in the eye while talking otherwise the interviewer may doubt your claims.

In prolonged meetings, make sure that your body language doesn’t convey your is like of boredom with the proceedings.

Greet your interviewer or a prospective client with a firm handshake. Limp and clammy hands convey your nervousness.

If you are in a meeting and the other person gets a call, try and look away or appear busy as it gives her a sense of privacy. But do not ask if you should go out of the room.

Beware of using too many hand gestures as they lead people to believe that you are angry or are getting aggressive.

An assertive behavior, go-getter tactics and pleasant appearance is always preferred over a blunt looking, difficult to figure out behavior.

Body Language

Interestingly, while words or verbal communication have their own impact, it’s the gestures and involuntarily movements of body parts i.e. non-verbal communication that conveys the strongest of messages.

Hence, social scientists have given great impetus on understanding body language of people to know exactly their state of mind. In a corporate set up too, HR managers are being trained in grasping the subtle messages that prospective recruits as well as existing employees convey through their hand and body movements.

Even a simple observation as to how a person sits in a chair can convey a lot about his or her personality. Understanding this can help HR managers identify whether the person is right for a particular job or not.

According to studies done by psychologists, over 90% of the communication is done through body language only.

Almost all interviews give importance to body language in evaluating candidature. Some interpretations of body language are ads follows:
  • An erect walk conveys confidence.
  • Raising eyebrows means probing/interest.
  • Tilted head signifies doubt.
  • Touching nose with a finger conveys doubt.
  • Biting nails is a sign of nervousness.
  • Folded hands are a sign of defensiveness.
  • Hands in the pockets mean dejection.
  • Hands on hips while standing shows aggression.
  • Legs crossed while sitting signifies boredom.
  • Legs apart while sitting shows you are open.


Psychologists state that when it comes to expressing feeling: 55% of the communication-n consists of body language; 38 % is expressed through tone of voice and only; 7% is communicated through words.

That means we express 93% of our feelings in a non-verbal way. A solid reason to mind the way we gesticulate.

Honesty Goes A Long Way

The Seed

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to chose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different.

He called all the young executives in his company together.

"It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO," he said. "I have decided to choose one of you."

The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today - a very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed.

He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by - still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened.

Jim felt sick at his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed. A few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back.

"My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO.

"Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front.

Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed. Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Here is your next Chief Executive! His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new CEO the others said?

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed.

I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers.

"When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!"

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.

Branding Decisions

Branding Decisions

Branding is an important strategy to differentiate the product from its competitors. Its a name ,logo ,trade mark, even patent number or package design, intended to identify the firm’s products or services from others. It represents to the customer the source of the product which leads him to associate with the brand. In taking brand decisions, the firm has to consider the target market, cultural influences on the market and the role the brand will play in its business strategy. Foe example, a brand name which is culturally alien will find difficulty in getting accepted in the market, like in the case of Kiss and Tell brand of cosmetics that failed in the Indian market. Besides, a firm has to ensure that a brand name is not banned because it represents either a national leader or the country.

The brand decisions a firm has to take are:

1.Manufacturer’s name ,i.e whether to have its own name on all products ,or
2.Marketing organization/Distributions brand name ;or
3.Adopt a combination of the two.

Manufacturer’s Brand Policy or National Brand Policy

This policy is based on the assumption that the manufacturer had built a reputation in the market, has strength in distribution and the firm had adequate financial resources to establish a new product in the market. Customer confidence in the firm is the prime factor in the manufacturer deciding to brand the production his own name. When the firm markets this product in its own name ,nationally, this may also be called the national brand policy Common examples are all leading national brands of all well known firms in India.

The options available to a firm here are :

1.Family brand name ;or
2.Independent brand name.

The strategy of family brand name works when its name brings positive associations in the mind of the consumer. To the customer ,it represents quality, reliability and assurance of meeting specific standards.

The strategy of an independent brand name is therefore advisable. This can also help to penetrate different markets segments which may buy the firm’s product for different reasons. This strategy can also ensure that the firm doesn’t lose its original position. For example ,if Hindustan Lever would have introduce different detergent powders under the name of Surf for different market segments and differentiated them only on the basis of price it could have run the risk of losing even the original positioning of an economical detergent powder to an economy conscious middle-class housewife

Even in the same market segment ,a firm may offer different brands of the same product but with different benefits and appeal. Consider for example ,Hindustan Levers’ Liril and Lux brand of toilet soaps in the premium market .Lux has traditionally been positioned as a beauty soap while Liril offers benefits of lemon. Thus, an independent brand offers extensive benefits without endangering the corporate image.

Mixed Brand Policy

The two options is for the firm to enter into a strategic alliance with a well-known marketing firm and let it market the product under its brand name in a defined geographical area .The manufacturer also continues to market the product under his own name nationally. This is done to fight regional competition .Consider Kelvinator’s strategy of marketing refrigerators in its own name and also that of others like Blue Star, Leonard and Spencer ,Whirlpool also lets Mirc Electronics market its washing machines under the name ONIDA.

This strategy allows the firm to take benefits of both the options spelt out earlier.
Brand decisions are central to new product launches and have to be carefully taken. These represent investments in future and also the degree of control the manufacturing firm wants over its marketing operation.

Positioning

Another decision in commercialization of a new product is how to differentiate it in the midst of an already over-communicated society of ours, where an average consumer screens out most of the messages .The strategy to differentiate the brand or product is to place it in an appropriate cell of the human mind so that whenever the customer recalls the product, the firm’s brand id the first to be recalled. This strategy is called Positioning .Positioning is the act of communicating company’s offer so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the customers mind.

The concept of positioning was first advocated by Al Ries and Jack Trout ,two advertising executives in their articles titled The Positioning Era: A View Ten Years Later in Advertising Age in 1972 and later in their book Positioning :The Battle For Your Mind in 1982. According to them :
Positioning is not what you do to a product. But what you do to the mind of the prospect .That is, you position the product in the mind of the prospect.

Ries and Trout believe that marketing is like a war which is fought in the mind of consumers. They advocate that the marketer should perceive each consumer to mentally have a product ladder. The customer often knows brands in the form of this ladder. There is a brand on the top of the ladder (brand leader) and there are others that occupy the second and the third step in this ladder .Sometimes the top slot may be vacant and at other times there may be two or three brands vying for this pr4estigious slot in the customer’s mind .The rush for the top slot is understandable as people remember number one.

Advertising Decisions

Advertising Decisions

Advertising objectives

The starting point in any planning exercise is one of setting the goals or objectives .In evolving an advertising plan, objectives have to be set as they help in measuring the performance of an advertising campaign .It is important for the strategist, to know how the strategy fared and the only way to know is how far did it go to achieve the objectives. Objectives or goals are also necessary to justify financial resources that are required for an advertisement campaign. The only way to counter skeptics s to state what it would cost to achieve a specific objective ,say a 20% increase in awareness in the target audience.

Objectives are also required for coordination purposes .As we have mentioned earlier ,advertising is just one of the communication tools and to achieve desired marketing objective of sale or market share all elements of communication mix must be coordinated .Each element should have both, a short term and a long term goal.

So ,to be meaningful, advertising objectives have to be measurable and communicated .Measurability is important or else performance cannot be evaluated.

Let us consider a few objectives for advertising.

Sales objectives

Marketing’s prime objective is to increase the firm or brand’s sales, market share and profits .Hence marketing activities have to be directed this goal. By the same logic, the advertising goal should also be to increase sales. This goal gives credibility to advertising expenditures and may even subdue the complaints that 50% of advertising expenditure is a waste of money .But this goal for advertising has a problem. As we mentioned, sales is a function of a firm’s marketing mix, competition activity and consumer behavior Hence ,to attribute increase or decrease in sales to advertising alone is like attributing success or failure in a game of football to just one single player, when it is really a team game. Besides, the effect of advertising on sales is lagged one ,in the sense that an advertisement may continue to have a demand pull even after it has been withdrawn. It is never that sales start and end immediately after the campaign has got off the ground or comes to an end. In other words, the impact of an advertising campaign may not be known for certain until considerable time has passed. According to one of the researches for frequently purchased consumer non-durable products like soft dinks, tea ,coffee toiletries, etc, the effect of an advertising exposure can take upto nine months to get dissipated.

Typically, an advertising campaign mat attract new customers to the brand, or it might help develop more positive attitudes in the target market towards the brand or may even generate trial purchases. All these together will lead to an increase in the brands; sales. Isolating these effects and conclusively show that the advertising campaign has led to an increase in sales is a difficult proposition.

In case of financial instruments advertising or the direct marketing campaign or even individual classified advertisements—the kind one often sees in the print media ,the results are more tangible.
Thus ,but for the above situations ,it is perhaps incorrect to define advertising goals in terms of sales.

Sardar and Cancer

Sardar and Cancer

Santa Singh went to his doctor after a long illness. The doctor, after a lengthy examination, sighed and looked Santa Singh in the eye and said, "I've some bad news for you... you have cancer and it can't be cured. I'd give you two weeks to a month."

Santa Singh, shocked and saddened by the news, but of solid character, managed to compose himself and walk from the doctor's office into the waiting room. There he saw his son who had been waiting. Santa Singh said, "Puttar, we Surds celebrate when things are good and celebrate when things don't go so well. In this case, things aren't so well. I have cancer and I've been given a short time to live. Let's head for the pub and have a few pints." After three or four pints, the two were feeling a little less somber.

There were some laughs and more beers. They were eventually approached by some of Santa Singh's old friends who asked what the two were celebrating. Santa Singh told them that the Surds celebrate the good and the bad. He went on to tell them that they were drinking to his impending end. He told his friends "I've only got few weeks to live as I have been diagnosed with AIDS."

The friends gave Santa Singh their condolences and they had a couple more beers. After his friends left, Santa Singh's son leaned over and whispered his confusion, "Dad, I thought you said that you were dying from cancer? You just told your friends that you were dying from AIDS!"

Santa Singh said, " I am dying from cancer, puttar. I just don't want any of them around your mother after I'm gone."

Monday, October 1, 2007

Developed vs Developing Markets

Developed vs Developing Markets

The needs of the emerging or developing world represent huge potential markets for food, clothing, shelter, consumer electronics, appliances and other goods. Many market leaders are rushing into Eastern Europe, China, and India. Colgate now draws more personal and household products business from Latin America than North America

The developed nations and the prosperous parts of developing parts of developing nations account for less than 15% of the world’s population. Is there a way for marketers to serve the other 85%, which has much less purchasing power? Successfully entering developing markets requires a special set of skills and plans. Consider how the following companies are pioneering ways to serve these invisible consumers:

Grameen Phone markets cell phones to 35,000 villages in Bangladesh by hiring village women as agents who lease phone time to other villagers, one call at a time.

Colgate Palmolive rolls into Indian villages with video vans that show the benefits of tooth-brushing; it expects to earn over half of its Indian revenue from rural areas.

An Indian-Australian car manufacturer created an affordable rural transport vehicle to compete with bullock carts rather than cars. The vehicle functions well at low speeds and carries up to two tons.

Fiat developed a "third-world car," the Palio, that far outsells the Ford Fiesta in Brazil and that will be launched in other developing nations.

Corporacion GEO builds low income housing in Mexico. The two-bedroom homes are modular and can be expanded. The company is now moving into Chile and southern U.S. communities.

A Latin American building supply retailer offers bags of cement in smaller sizes to customers building their own homes.

These marketers are able to capitalize on the potential of developing markets by changing their conventional marketing practices to sell their products and services more effectively. It cannot be business as usual when selling in developing markets. Economic and cultural differences abound; a marketing infrastructure may barely exist; and local competition can be surprisingly stiff. In China, PC maker Legend and mobile phone provider TCL have thrived despite strong foreign competition. Besides their close grasp on Chinese tastes, they also have their vast distribution networks especially in rural areas.

Smaller packaging and lower sales prices are often critical in markets where incomes are limited. Hindustan Unilever’s 4-cent sachets of detergent and shampoo have been a big hit in rural India, where 70% of the country’s population still lives. When Coke moved to a smaller 200ml bottle in India, selling for 10 to 12 cents in small shops, bus-stop stalls, and roadside eateries sales jumped. A western image can also be helpful as Coke discovered in China. Part of its success against local cola brand Jianlibao was due to its symbolic values of modernity and affluence.

Recognizing that its cost structure made it difficult to compete effectively in developing markets, Procter & gamble devised cheaper, clever ways to make the right kinds of products to suit consumer demand. It now uses contract manufacturers in certain markets and gained eight points in Russia for Always feminine protection pads by responding to consumer wishes for a thicker pad. Due to a boom in consumer spending, Russia has been the fastest growing market for many major multinationals including Nestle, L’Oreal, and IKEA.

The challenge is to think creatively about how marketing can fulfill the dreams of most of the world’s population for a better standard of living. Many companies are betting that they can do that.

After launching Buick in China in 1999, GM poured more than $2 billion into the region over the next five years, expanding the lineup to 14 models, ranging from the $8,000 Chevrolet Spark mini car to high-end Cadillacs. Although competition in the third largest car market is fierce, GM was able to secure 11% market share in 2004 and reap sizable profits. But initial gains in the Chinese market do not necessarily spell long term success. After investing to establish the markets, foreign pioneers in television sets and motorcycles saw domestic Chinese firms emerge as rivals. In 1995, virtually all mobile phones in China were made by global giants Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson. Within 10 years, their market share had dropped to 60%. To secure and build on its gains, General Motors pledged to invest another $3 billion in the region to boost capacity and build its reputation.