Oh so mighty gogolpoy!

There are a few sites which have created a business model out of feeding the ‘MBA degree hungry‘ aspirants tidbits of info regarding their prospective schools. They have been constantly gathering info from various sources (authentic or otherwise) and posting it on their sites.

Of course, not to undermine their efforts, they even take the steps to bring in a Dean or a Placement Director here & there and interview him to gain ‘insights’ and pass them on. And the nervous aspirants take in every little thing as if it were their pathway to the school (life?) of their choice.

And not leaving out the roles played by the colleges in this melee, the colleges do put up an attractive front to these sites to reach out to the students. Agreed this is one way of branding the school and creating a positive image in the minds of its customers (or victims). But how do we explain when these sites exhibit their highhandedness and ridicule the colleges for really trivial things, when they assume they are the masters and it is the college’s duty to dance to their tunes. Just because they have the power to reach to people, they magnify small shortcomings of the schools and run the extra mile to etch this negative feeling about the college in the minds of the students (prospective and otherwise). In MBA parlance, is this acceptable in value creation for the whole ecosystem?

This is a classic case of when the fence thinks it is more important than the farm itself!

It will not be long before everyone is put back into his/her place!

P.S: If u are an ex/present/future MBA aspirant and are following the right site & not leaving out the important posts, u should know what I am talking about!

The MAKING of Obama

One of the biggest political marketing successes so far has been the establishment of BRAND OBAMA. Experts agree this was an excellent case of integrated marketing that incorporated viral marketing,  digital marketing, social media avenues, event marketing, online advertising, direct marketing, print advertising and numerous other channels. This is one of the most astonishing political transformations ever. Effective, intelligent use of Web 2.0 strategies has ensured victory in the most expensive U.S. presidential campaign ever.

The Obama campaign had two goals to be accomplished: expand the voter base by reaching out to broader segments and at the same time, hyper-target specific audiences. This is a great example of a fully integrated campaign which saw both paid media and free media and offline channels and online channels coming together in the quest for developing the ‘Change’, ‘Hope’, ‘Obama’ and many more such brands.

The strategy simultaneously drove all the messages at the audience, never leaving anything behind, thus resulting in all round marketing. Thus this ensured wider reach, broader electorate, reinforcing but not repeating ideas and increased conversion. Campaigning happened simultaneously on all the various kinds of media available. At the same time as one on one connections with the voters was being established online, traditional media was also put to use to reach out to the not so net savvy voters. This shows a concerted effort on all avenues simultaneously.

Obama’s digital footprint-his website www.barackobama.com led users to find a part in him that was common in them and helped them indentify with him.Other media like sports channels and sports radio stations were also not spared in the pursuit of branding Obama. In addition to numerous advertisements running on television and radio, print ads also increased the reach and hence the voter base. And the much hyped about Social Media also was instrumental in catapulting Obama to success.

Now after close to one year in office, Brand Obama continues to live on, albeit small beatings here and there. The message has been clear and consistent. Though role of social media has come down, other avenues have continued to project Obama as before and the masses still identify with him and look up to him. The current campaign Organizing For America (OFA) provides a fresh impetus to his campaigns and continues to keep the citizens involved.

Do u know customers can get fired?

I was recently reading this article about how some stores run promotion campaigns and accord privileged status to their customers who cross a particular level of spending. Well this we all know..But what was surprising was that when these customers do not maintain this level of spending, they get demoted! Yeah u heard it right, demoted.. Sounds funny alright..but then nudging a little deeper gave me a few thoughts to ponder upon. Finally I thought it made sense to not only demote your customers, but if the situation demands, fire them as well.

No one would like to cater to a less than profitable customer, who always whines about the prices, who cashes in on every discount opportunity, who is hardly loyal to your products and basically who never brings in any money (that u want to make obviously). In such scenarios, it is natural and wise for the stores to serve customers who are not as price sensitive and whose purchases do make a difference to the business. These customers do not go elsewhere when u slightly increase your prices or are not the first in the line when u run a discount campaign.

One of the latest practices in business that focuses mainly on identifying such customers and turning usual business more profitable is the CRM practice. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management and is one of the most popular buzzwords in the world of management. With CRM, firms can have a better idea of the likes and dislikes of its customers, their needs and wants, their shopping preferences, etc. Some softwares capture more than just the likes and dislikes: they have algorithms that calculate the ‘Life Time Value’ of a customer which is essentially an estimate of how profitable the customer might be to the firm. So based on analysis of customer data, promotion campaigns, products/product categories to be offered for sale, timing of the stores, timing of the promotions, tricks that appeal to customers, and many more such things are designed. The customer is keenly watched to note his spending patterns. Everything goes into his file and any wrong move on his part in terms of bargaining for discount or choosing to buy cheaper products might not be well received by the store. He will be categorized a costly customer and who knows might not merit any service in due time!

So next time u go shopping, loosen your tight fist..u might want to spend more to avoid being asked to return your Club West card!

And next…?

This is my first post donning the role of a (yet another) management student..

It is again one of those days with the exams approaching and scores of assignments pending..I am swamped with too much work, confused what to work on..And as always I’m taking the easy way out – pick a new activity totally unrelated to studies – just to ‘unwind‘ ..or whatever..

Its been over six months here – half way through a one year program.. that was fast.. I still remember my reason for coming here..it was mainly cos its a one year short course, and the first day here I actually felt even one year, away from family, was way too long.. But lo! The countdown has already begun! These six months have sped by and now the most critical time of every mba course – placement season, is fast approaching.. And after that, its done! I will (very likely) graduate!

One year is definitely short! There’s so much to learn and so much unexplored! Sometimes I wish I had gone in for a 2 year course! Confessing my desire to enroll for a second MBA sometime in the future..

However now its time to recall my ‘effective time management’ lesson and get back to the routine!

U too Brutus

Well.. the name of the blog has got no accusatory implication like Caesar’s original words..
Its just an exclamation at myself..I have just distinguished myself by being yet another indistinguishable person!..By catching up on the trend..or getting lost in the crowd.
Whatever..finally my blog has arrived
Finally I give in..
I enter the world of blogging..
I throw in my penny’s worth of thoughts..
and wait for someone to take it in and return with a comment for my posts..
I would like to thank two of my friends Yogesh & Prem because of whom I finally overcame procrastination and jumped into the wave of the moment..