THE 3 HOOK THEORY IN MARKETING..

                               What are the 3 strong hooks you have to catch your customers?

Successful companies understand this and have this invariably as a part of their proposition to customers..

Marketing is all about attracting the customers to the company’s products and service.

While target marketing is about reaching out to the right customers in the right place, the brand should have strong hooks to catch the customers, engage them and draw them its net.

IN 1993, BPL launched Car Stereos at BPL in 1993 in Delhi. The sales head at Delhi was the best and the brightest with a track record of being a star sales manager.

Once  the briefing on the product pertaining to the launch was completed, the USPs, the competition, the pricing and the positioning etc., the sales requested for the 3 compelling things that he can tell the trade to convince them about our proposition to ensure a great launch’. Once the team could brainstorm on this, prioritize the communicable benefits regarding the product and zero in on 3 USPs of the product, the  field was in a much better position to launch the product and could indeed do a great job.

In 2001, the National Marketing at RayBan Sunglasses, was into a brainstorming session with the account director at the advertising agency. While working on the campaign creative, the account director mentioned, ‘Can you please tell 3 distinctive and desirable features of RayBan that would attract the consumers?’

The team could figure out that, the requirement for a healthy & safest gadget for sun protection,  the prestige value associated along with a favorable value for money trade off and the strong perception of being the highest quality and durable product are strong hooks for the consumers to patronise the brand.  This insight invariably formed the cornerstone for all communication campaigns of RayBan which continues to the best choice in its category for discerning customers globally.

It is indeed relevant even today, when observe our own actions, it generally takes atleast

3 parameters to stand out from the rest in our mind and perception, for any product or service to be adopted.

Why 3 ? Because human minds finds it difficult to register more than 3 items in any attribute at the same time. Outclassing the competition on 3 items will indeed represent a good barrier to competition and seems no flash in the pan! This also has the ability to attract a wider range of audience for which the relative importance of the parameter may wary from item to item.

For example for those who travel by air, the 3 must have hooks would be Convenience, Safety and Time saved and for those using Google, they would be, Speed, Relevance and Simplicity of search.

While there could be more hooks ( more the better), 3 strong hooks covering the most desirable features of the product or the service as differentiated from the alternatives will go a long way in attracting the target customers.

What are the various aspects of these hooks and how do we communicate them to the prospective customers?

For maximum effectiveness,

A)     The hooks have to be universally appealing and make strong sense for majority of the consumers as a major factor affecting the purchase. Ideally these hooks have to encompass the most sought after needs meant to be addressed by their consumption.

B)     The target consumer should be able to immediately able to understand how the hook is indeed relevant to his needs personally and how the brand, the product or the service stands out on these features w.r.t competition and his/her needs.

C)     The hook should be visually communicated to the target consumers for establishing the relevance.

D)     The communication of the hook to lead to a curiosity buildup in the minds of the consumers for maximum effectiveness. Remember, Onida ad 'Don’t envy it, Buy it!.

E)      The hook can work if the product is in immediate reach of the target consumer and hence take care to make the product accessible in an easy manner. The hook should not be in a place that is out of reach for the targets or in a location that is not frequented by the targets.

F)      There should be a call for action and an associated trigger for the target to come and try out the product.

With the above strategy we can come out with compelling marketing programs to attract the target consumer, engage them and get hooked on for ever..

Please follow us at http://www.linkedin.com/company/master-mentors-advisory-pvt-ltd

Please contact me ms@mastermentors.in

JUST A MISSION ?! LEARNINGS FROM THE SUCCESS OF AN UNDERDOG AT IPL-5

MISSION- A SENSE OF PURPOSE THAT ENERGISES AN ORGANISATION..

                                             

“ One word comes to my mind. It is ‘Mission Accomplished’ . We believe we had the team to win and we achieved it! --   Gautam Gambhir, Captain of Kolkatta Knight Riders, after winning IPL-5 in May 2012, from being mere pushovers in the earlier editions of the tournament.

Effective mission statements commonly clarify the organization's purpose and also ultimately seeks to justify the organization's reason for existing.-  - Wikipedia,,

 KKR team owned by the legendary Shahrukh Khan and captained by the astute  & competent Gautam Gambhir, set out on a mission to outclass formidable competition in the form of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore  & Chennai who were much more star packed and seen as favourites to win the competition.

The strategy formulated involved a number of elements some of the key ones highlighted could be:

a)      Selection of a balanced team to strengthen the various departments through strong performers ( not stars ,,)

b)      Disciplined and no nonsense approach, no talking to media, no revealing of game plans and strategies

c)       Thorough study of the pitches and atching the team for each match with relavant players

d)      Back key players and use them tactically in each match to keep the opposition guessing and unsettled

e)      No undue emotional outbursts and excessive behaviour on and off the pitch,

f)       An undue faith in the team members and in the Captain by the management, IT IS THE COLLECTIVE STRENGTH OF THE TEAM THAT COUNTS AND NOT INDIIVIDUAL BRILLIANCE.

g)      Garner strong home support through diplomatic handling and right words at right time

h)      Fight till the very end in each match and never give up and above all

i)        Believe in themselves and never be intimidated by the more formidable opposition teams..

                It is indeed possible that every team that competed in the IPL have a mission statement exhorting them to go for the gold! But is it just enough to have a mission statement and not follow up with a clear strategy that accompanies a clear mission statement which the entire organisation internalises and swears to follow with their hearts?

 It is a general practice for every professionally runs organisation to have a mission statement at the outset outlining three major aspects of the company’s functioning namely:

The products and services provided, the target markets addressed and the distinctive benefits that they would strive to offer to their customers.

By defining clearly, the purpose of the business, the mission statement should lead the organisation to a strong and calculated strategy, instil the right values, set the guidelines to the business in the form of business rules and behaviour of the members of the organisation.

Eminently Successful Organizations , Spectacularly failed organisations and even moderately successful  organisations have spent lot of top management time, money and effort to come out with inspiring mission statements with a firm eye on the Vision encompassing their organisations.

Let us examine some mission statements:

Apple:  Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.

Dell:  Dell’s mission is to be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve. 

Facebook:  Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.

Google:  Google’s mission is to organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Microsoft:  Microsoft’s mission is to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential.

Skype:  Skype’s mission is to be the fabric of real-time communication on the web

Yahoo!:  Yahoo!’s mission is to be the most essential global Internet service for consumers and businesses

YouTube:  YouTube’s mission is to provide fast and easy video access and the ability to share videos frequently

Walmart :   We save people money so they can live better.”

A well written mission statement most often explains the differentiation of the company’s products and services with respect to the competition and creates a magnetic pull on the target customers.

While a good mission statement is simple to understand and causes the stakeholders to come together and energises them, very often we see mission statements being too long, generic, disconnected with the sense of purpose, core strength and passions of the organization. Such statements confuse people and end up getting disconnected and lead to a lack lustre work environment and lead to eventual failure of organisations.

Let us look at mission statements of some failed companies:

Lehman Brothers:  Our mission is to build unrivalled partnerships with and value for our clients, through the knowledge, creativity and dedication of our people, leading to superior results for our shareholders.

Enron:   Respect, Integrity, Communication and Excellence.

While the mission statement of Enron is too general and non communicative any specific goal or purpose, the one of Lehman Brothers seems reasonably well defined.

It shows that having a good  Mission Statement is alone not enough, but the entire organisation has to believe in it and resonate with the purpose defined as one entity for it show the desired results and this should continue for ever. The moment the organisation and the top leadership gets out of sight of this, trouble is indeed round the corner.

Please follow us at http://www.linkedin.com/company/master-mentors-advisory-pvt-ltd

Please contact me ms@mastermentors.in

WHAT IS IN IT FOR ME? A MUST QUESTION TO ANSWER FOR SUCCESS..

 A MUST RECIPE OF ORGANISATIONS WHO ACHIEVE AND KEEP UP WITH SUCCESS..

Successful organisations unequivocally address ‘The What’s in it for me’ question addressing various level of stake holders like  customers- internal  and external, share holders and promoters, employees,  business associates, the society and the government.

While every day, thousands of businesses are being born aiming to focus on a number of business opportunities, it is indeed surprising to note that,  most of them fall drastically short when posed with the above question with respect to their stake holders.

Any action aiming to motivate others to perform an action has to compellingly address the question,

‘What is in it for me?’ . Otherwise, the desired action may just not take place or even if it takes place comes at an undue cost that makes it unprofitable in the first place.

Customers expect Value for money, Convenience, Psychological Gratification or an approval in the Society for being seen to be a consumer of a product or a service that they consume, Shareholders expect dividend and value appreciation, Employees expect salaries, status and job satisfaction, Government  expects taxes and compliance, Vendors & partners expect fair dealing and timely account settlements in a win –win manner etc. 

Successful Organisations not only aim to achieve that the above are taken care, but also are competently addressed better than the rest of the competitors offering similar services.

‘ Explain What is in it For me and you have my attention’- Anonymous..

Let us take the example of Google Inc:

Stake Holder	What is in it for me..
User	Best in class Search experience, mail and related applications
Advertiser	Hi quality reach and an excellent gang for the buck..
Employee	Amazing work life experience, job satisfaction and above par perks, Status in society..
Shareholder..	Consistently top class returns for their investments
Government.	Access to Information, compliance and taxes from the company and its employees, empowerment of the citizens through information access .

It may happen that the Market shares are determined by how long and how well a company consistently scores well on the above parameters, it is important to note that the relative performance at any given point of time determines the financial performance of the company.

There are a number of cases which we observe, when the organisations which have hit the right formula in all these aspects, loose sight of these very fundamentals and slip out of the minds of their stake holders, but not keeping up with the dynamic and ever changing environment.

For example, My Space and Orkut used to rule the Social Media space before new entrants

Face Book and Twitter swept the ground under their feet, while Linkedin continues to hold its ground by reinventing itself continuously and improving its score on all the above parameters day by day.

This situation can be applied to any field and any situation and you can observe that the real winners are those who consistently offer something better than the rest to those who deal with them.

While Bill Clinton won the Presidential elections with his promise to further the economic strength of United Sates and delivered on the same successfully, Obama came to power by his focussed agenda to restore the pride of Americans through a badly needed economic turnaround.

Successful Organisations in any walk of life are forever asking themselves. ‘Are we addressing the ‘WIIFM’ question and put in place systems and action plans that consistently increase the gaps with respect to their competitors.

Please follow Master Mentors Advisory at( http://www.linkedin.com/company/master-mentors-advisory-pvt-ltd)

Please contact me at ms@mastermentors.in for any comments and observations..

PRIORITIZATION- THE KEY PRODUCTIVITY DIFFERENTIATOR..y Productivity Differentiator…

Successful Organisations invariably know the importance of prioritizing their actions to scale newer and newer heights of success.

                                      Mark Elliot Zuckerberg- Co-founder of Facebook.. 

 At every step of our day to day life, we are faced with a number of choices, but the resources that we have at our disposal are never infinite. The decisions we make and the choices we choose determine the road ahead and lead to one’s success or failure.

Theory of Constraints and Pareto’s Principle are some of the most authoritative works in enabling an organization to prioritize their choices and undertake the best course of action in a given situation.

DrEliyahu Goldratt, the author of  The Goal, the proponent of Theory of Constraints (TOC) ,

and an Einstein of  Management theory & practice, has once said, ‘If you want me to condense all of TOC into one word, it would be FOCUS’.

But how do you decide in a given situation, what to focus on, because, focusing on everything is as good as focussing as nothing, when you are faced with limited resources like time, money, people, place and mindshare!

       

80:20 rule proved and propagated by Pareto is one of the greatest insights that has attracted the attention of the mankind to the importance of prioritization in choosing the right strategy to spend the organisational or personal resources. It means, most of the time, 80% of the performance is dictated by 20% of the variables and focussing our resources in improving the performance associated with 20% of these variables will lead to a dramatic improvement in the productivity levels and leads us closer to our success.

Some examples we encounter in our day to day life being: 80% of the target market for our product or services could be found in  20% of the geographical area of operation or 80% of the sales coming from 20% of customers or 80% of the resources being consumed in 20% of the activities in the list or 80% of the salary bill in an organisation being consumed by 20% of the manpower or 80% of the expenses in an organisation being accounted by 20% of the account heads and so-on.

By doing what should be done for sure and minimizing the efforts on what need not be done, organisations could focus their efforts on 20% of the variables and could dramatically improve their productivity, profitability and hence performance levels..

Dr Eliyahu Godratt in his Theory of Constraints, has gone further and discovered that in organisations, 0.1% of elements dictate 99% of the performance due to the variability of and interdependencies between the numerous elements that constitute the performance of an organisation.

These elements manifest themselves as bottlenecks, synonymous with constraints limiting the performance of the system. Identifying these constraints, prioritising this constraints in the  order of priority to maximise throughput of the system and enhancing the constraint performance step by step, one after another, is a proven method to continuously improve the organizational performance.

We all know that a chain is as strong as its weakest link. Bolstering the rest of the chain while leaving the weakest link untouched, is a sure way not only to waste resources, but also to get mislead into a false sense of security..

Let's take the resources that we have, and prioritize, and manage, and focus our energy on just doing things that count - on real results…  Phil Bredesen

So next time, you are faced with a set of options to choose from, you know what to do!

You could prioritize and choose the appropriate actions in line with your overall goals and objective, visit TOC by Goldraitt or call me at ms@mastermentors.in . My be, we could help you. Please follow us @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/master-mentors-advisory-pvt-ltd .

KEY PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES OF EMPLOYEES OF SUCCESSFUL ORGANISATIONS.

When Passion is in the game, work becomes a play and earnings become the bye product..

A discussion with a country head in a world’s leading organisation, rated as one of the best places to work by job aspirants and also by the employees revealed their key ingredient for  their success.

Successful organisations strive to perfect the art of recruiting the right people for the right job.  The employees carefully handpicked, trained and placed on respective jobs by successful organisations have to necessarily possess the following qualities, while Integrity at work is taken for granted:

A)     Passion to work in the chosen field,

B)     Being a self starter,

C)     Pro-active nature and

D)     Fire in the belly, a hunger to achieve more, which are reflected together as a spark they find in the interviewee when they interact..

Jennifer White in her bestselling book, ‘Work Less, Make More: Stop Working So Hard and Create the Life You Really Want!’ helped thousands of people to lead more fulfilling lives by discovering passions and unlock their their hidden potential to enable them lead more successful and Fulfilling lives!

Imagine what would happen if Sachin Tendulkar were to focus on acting in movies and advertisements instead of concentrating on his game of Cricket! His game would take a back seat and earning would also tumble in due course.

Following one’s passions,not only makes the job easy as a breeze and a pleasurable affair, buy also the expertise one gains in being an absolute specialist in a given area, results in the ability being recognized by the world thus leading to increased earnings as well!

It is indeed surprising to note that, when you observe the world around, most of the people land up in their careers not by choice but by sheer chance. Their lives are shaped by their circumstances and not by the power of their will. Their lives continue that way and they continue till the end living a life of dissatisfaction forever trying to escape from the clutches of boredom inflicted by the drudgery of work which never entertained them.

It is also unfortunate to see individuals who reach their zenith in the area of their passion, loose focus , get distracted by the fruits and paraphernalia that surrounds theie success.

Every individual is born with an inherent talent which is waiting to be discovered, nurtured and focussed upon, which seldom happens. This is famously enunciated in an Indian film by Amir Khan, ‘Taare Zameen Par’  in which he helps a child discover her true passion and reachup to his potential. Though it happens in a story, it still has lot of lessons for the entire humanity and especially the parents who largely shape up the lives of their children, leading upto their careers.

What following one’s passions could do to the life of a person, could be studied by reading the biographies of great achievers like Einstein, Srinivasa Ramanujam, Billgates, Steve Jobs, Magic Johnson, Amitabh Bachan, Shahrukh Khan, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and many more who have managed to overcome insurmountable difficulties and achieve phenomenal success in their lives..

Magic is who I am on the basketball court. Earvin is who I am.”.
Magic Johnson

Figure out what triggers you, Focus on it, Follow it through the life and achieve not only financial success but also a life filled with happiness.

Successful organizations are good at figuring out what are the areas of work that resonate with  their respective employees, ensure a match that leads to high levels of productivity resulting in joyous work places..

Please follow Master Mentors Advisory at( http://www.linkedin.com/company/master-mentors-advisory-pvt-ltd)

Please contact me at ms@mastermentors.in for any comments and observations..

IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN CREATING ENDURING ORGANSIATIONS

 Successful and for-ever enduring organisations have their feet firmly rooted in the fertile ground nurtured by the nourishing elixir of ethical values.

This is the biggest entry barrier to the club of eternal and ever growing organisations.

While USA, UK, China, Germany, France and even much smaller countries like Taiwan and South Korea have produced Fortune 100 countries in abundance, India has not been able to produce even one private company in the global top 100.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_by_revenue

India has a number of organisations which are strongly identified with corporate ethics and impeccable corporate integrity like the Tata, Birla, Godrej, Infosys, Wipro, HDFC and a few more. But it is everyone’s guess as to how difficult it is for any Indian company or any organisation trying to work out of the Indian soil, to withstand the testing pangs of growth through their early stages, faced by corruption at every level for getting their licenses, funds, approvals, resources and sanctions.

A number of global organisations have struggled to make their presence felt in India and some of them have threatened to withdraw or withdrew from their Indian operations, unable to come to terms with the corruption at high places. Most of the global companies deal with their own terms and use the Indian market for cheaper labour and a source of demand for their products due to massive population.

Lack of an organised approach to political funding and a poorly paid government system unlike in the advanced countries forces the politicians and the government servants in India to strictly follow the ‘What’s in it for me?’ or a’Quid pro Quo’ and a ‘Make hay while the sun shines ‘ approach while in power to create innumerable obstacles for honest businessmen. The excessive collective corruption of the entire government related system, puts undue burden on the citizens of the country in the form of inflation and unbearable taxes and duties, which suppresses demand from the common public due to lack of sufficient disposable income that decreases continuously as the burden of corruption of goes up day by dy.

While it is a challenging task to get one’s business model right along with a collection of like minded passionate promoters, employees and supporters to lead the company along the growth path, one has to face the ‘What is in it for me’ regime of bureaucratic and political nexus at every level to ensure that there are no obstacles.

Most of the Indian companies today have their foundations on the loose soil, having followed or forced to follow shortcuts to the success route. Companies like Satyam and many more in  Andhrapradesh, Karnataka & Maharashtra in the recent past have discovered how the loose ground under their feet can cave in and crash-land large organisations, when the political equations change or as and when they are discovered leading to the exposure of ‘Quid Pro Quo’ deals.

It is very important for organisations to realise that the ability to face the testing times during their growth period without succumbing to the temptations of achieving quick successes by following the shortcuts offered by the unnatural & unethical practices and approaches is one of the most important determinants of their long term viability of organisations, though it is easier said than done.

“You have to withstand pressure, if you can’t handle pressure you can’t be a great or successful entrepreneur” — Donald Trump

The choice really is to live like a diamond that grows in value through the times or like an ephemeral cloud, whose life, no one knows, how long..
Please follow http://www.linkedin.com/company/master-mentors-advisory-pvt-ltd
Write to me at ms@mastermentors.in .

POWER OF FOCUS THAT PROPELS ORGANISATIONS

  

                            

Focus we observe is one of the single most attributes that has helped organisations and individuals achieve wonders and change the way we live. Focus is derived from a combination of inborn interest & passion, mixed with honed capabilities in the chosen direction combined with an unflinching concentration in the same direction. When all these synergise and resonate with each other, they produce earthshaking results that could change the performance of an individual or an organisation.
Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success..Swami Vivekananda.

The sunlight which is diffused over the entire surface, can at best cause a warm feeling on our bodies. But the same sunlight when it is focused on a point with the help of a magnifying glass can cause fire to be lit that can be used for hugely material benefits or damages.

                                                                

This is a clear analogy from the nature as to what a focussed mind or an effort could achieve.

On the other hand we find a number of times, the organisations diffuse their energies in different directions, unable to choose one clear area of focus.

                                                             

While the most desirable choice is to choose a right area of focus which is not only in line with the areas of core competency built over time, it is important to ensure that the organisational energies are synergised and aligned in the right direction to achieve the goals in the areas laid out.

Indian National Freedom Movement is a classic example of the best results that a focussed effort led by a magnetic leader would achieve while the World War-2 is the classic example  of the destructive effects of a wrongly focussed efforts of satanic leader.

Some recent examples of companies built through focussed efforts of pioneering promoters..

Google	Search engine technology for high quality experience of information hungry surfers.
FaceBook	Social Networking among friends & Acquaintances
Microsoft	Operating Systems & closely related technologies
Apple	Breakthrough Innovations in Technology
Walmart	Discount Retailing
Infosys	Trade Indian Technology expertise with earn in dollars, spend in Rupees approach leading to highly cost effective & high quality  IT solutions to clients
Dell	DM approach to Technology selling with active involvement of end user to cut costs and end with empowered, delighted customers
Linkedin	Business networking on the web for a better career & business growth
Twitter	Microblogging service for effortless, instant and speedy information sharing

Interesting to note that all these organisations have offered some distinct benefit to their users and customers and always kept the customers at the centre of their universe.

While lack of sense of focus is clear reason for the limitations on growth achieved by a number of companies, loss of concentration on the core business and business models have led to steep losses or downfall of organisations.

Bausch & Lomb, the promoter of globally admired RayBan SunGlasses, was the undisputed global leader for a long time, till it shifted its focus onto the Contact Lens Business. While the contact lenses and related products’ grew, the lack of focus on one of the most admired brands in the world and BLI’s claim to fame led to sever losses and ultimate sale of its Eyewear business to Luxottica, a global leader in Eyewear, which not only turned around the brand’s performance but also took it to never before seen heights making it one of the most admired and profitable global brands.

In India, we find that companies like Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel are growing bigger and bigger through strategic acquisitions in their domains of focus. However, care should be taken that companies do not take bets which are much bigger than their capabilities that may lead to their sudden downfall. For example, when companies undertake acquisitions or green field investments in their areas of focus by leveraging their assets and borrowing heavily, they should take into account the fluctuating exchange rates, the variations in borrowing rates and the likely demand & competitive scenarios in the future that may drastically change the value propositions and business models of Indian companies.

It would be interesting and enlightening to receive feedbacks, qqueries, case studies and opinions on the above subject. Please free to write to me at ms@mastermentors.in.

Please follow our company at http://www.linkedin.com/company/master-mentors-advisory-pvt-ltd for interesting articles and thoughts in Organisational transformation and Development.

MAGNETISM AND THE ART OF MARKETING..

Very often, we would have heard phrases like 'Magnetic Personality', Magnetic Attraction' and Magnetic Pull.
In the world of Marketing, the success stories have been written by those who have understood the power of Magnetism, applied in real life to their marketing subjects and  created the aura and the story around their brand that took their target customers by awe making them yearn more and more of it till they get habituated to consuming their product or service.

In the above case, we see iron filings getting attracted and clinging onto the magnet as if they are an extension. Successful brands attract their target audience and make them their die hard fans.
Iconic Brands in the world like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, invoke a sense of of dire need and/or a desire within their target audience that makes them long to be associated in the same way.
What we could understand here is that, the magnets are imparted with the magnetic characteristic through a process typical to the type of magnet, either a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. They have a field of influence, intensity or strength to attract and a target set of materials they are likely to act. In some cases the magnetic power gets neutralised or lost due to external processes or over time.
The analogy of the same could be found in marketing case studies.
A case in point is that of the success of KBC on Star Plus during the year 2000.
When Star Plus was struggling for a foothold in the Indian market against the onslaught of Zee group, it pulled off a trump card by launching KBC with the Indian Super Star, Amitabh Bachan which acted like a magnet to attract the entertainment hungry star struck audience, who got glued day after day for the entire hour of the program. STAR then used the eyeballs to market its entire bouquet of Prime time programs of the K-Type which became market leaders in their own right in due course. Here is one big magnet, spinning off more magnets (induced magnetism) .
Marketers would do well to understand the key motivator that drives the purchase behaviour of their target audience and strive to establish resonance between their brand and the target audience. The bond that could be established could last longer and grow stronger only if the brand lives up to its promise and continues to excite its audience through innovation and reinvention lest it should lead to brand fatigue and falling out of terms with the ever moving profile of its target audience. Or else the magnetic power will be lost like that of an electromagnet that loses its, when the current across its coil of wire is cut off.

How does one transform one’s brand from being just an “attractive” one to one that is “magnetic” in its qualities – ability to draw consumers to it like iron filings are drawn to a magnet!!

The key ingredient in a magnetic brand is passion – it is the single largest differentiator for a brand to draw customers to itself. A study of some of the finest brands like Apple,  Apollo Hospital Care, Apcolite from Asian Paints, Ray Ban, Swarovski etc. has shown that these brands are magnetic and not just attractive.

Successful brands and by extension, Successful Organisations, have passion as a common thread in the organisation - Passion in manufacturing the products without a flaw (visible or perceived) , passion in the packaging and passion in ensuring that the goods reach the user in the way the creator envisaged it to be.

Apple, with its no compromise approach to create the world's finest products, gave the world, killer products like Mac Book, iPod, iPhone, iPad, each of which created their own markets and die-hard followers, acorss the world.  The passion of the founder, the legendary Steve Jobs, percolated down to each and every employee in the organization, influenced each ad every aspect of the product and service created by the organization.

In the world's leading brand of Crystal, Swarovski, the brand was in the centre of everything. When the goods were packed and shipped from a single warehouse in Europe, they were packaged individually in gift boxes with a protective sponge in them. Then they were packed in a cardboard carton and wrapped in waterproof film. The water proof film was wiped clean before sending to the stores.” It was not necessary”, said many but the credo in the organisation was that when you sell beautiful products you need to present it in his finery even when it is being handed over to a delivery boy. That is passion and hence brand magnetism for you.  Not only was Swarovski attractive but also was magnetic because the way the product was packaged, the consumer got convinced that this brands cares for him or her and is drawn to it. No other brand has been able to do the same.

Sunglasses have made the journey from eye protection goggles to fashion statements over the years. As it is the most visible accessory on a person, it needs to communicate to the world at large as to who the wearer is!!. A successful brand like Ray Ban managed to do that by not only developing styles but also packaging them in apt sunglass cases!!.  Here again the packaging was the magnet which drew the customers to it and made Ray Ban a must have personal accessory. The Signet – a dressy model and the General – named after a World War II Hero- had special sunglass cases which reflected the design. The former was in a ‘faux leather” dressy case and the latter in a black case with the 50 years of Ray Ban mentioned - which communicated authority and seniority– hall marks of a General

These two examples show as to how you can magnetise your brand.

1. Look beyond the obvious – the core product or service is often copied by others. However if you focus on the smaller details, you can find that magnetic quality. This can be in terms of packaging,a warranty card or sometimes the wrapping paper !!. If even the smallest detail is well executed, magnetic attraction sets in
2. Walk the talk – If you are offering heath care services, it is not enough that you offer a top class medical service. The smaller detail like the warmth and understanding in the smile of the receptionist is magnetic. It should be a warm smile to cheer them up but not an expansive one like one would see in a hotel!!. The wrong smile or choice of greeting can turn the magnetic power off.

Magnets also repel – We must ensure that in our quest of creating a magnetic effect, we do not overdo it. Customers get turned off when they see an “over the top” welcome or greeting.

We therefore should be careful that we consciously create magnetic qualities in our brand, that of an attraction force and not a repulsion force!!  

Written by Srinivas M (ms@mastermentors.in) with inputs from Vembu Shivkumar

 (shivkumar@mastermentor.in) .

Please address your comments, views and queries if any to ms@mastermentors.in
Follow us at http://www.linkedin.com/company/master-mentors-advisory-pvt-ltd

THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND THE INFINITELY SCALABLE ORGANIZATION...

Ever Wondered how some organisations scale up infinitely , smoothly and systematically while some organisations implode being unable to manage the growth?

The analogy can be found in the operation of our Solar system.

Our solar system consists of a number of celestial bodies like the stars, the sun, the planets, the satellites and many more.

Have you ever noticed how  day after day, month after month and year after year, the same processes, the day, the night, the twilight occur in such a predictable fashion that you can predict the celestial occurrences thousands of years in advance?

Our solar system is a well oiled machine with planets rotating around themselves to create day and night, deriving source of energy from the boss of the Solar system, the Sun, moving around the Sun with clinical precision to result in the days, the years and the seasons. The planets in turn have their own satellites revolving around them by keeping safe distance among themselves.

Similarly we have infinite Solar systems in this huge universe and unimaginable number of celestial bodies living in harmony without colliding with each other for ages.

What we notice here is an intricate system of hierarchy (satellites, planets, stars, galaxy and soon) following a set of universal laws (attraction, repulsion, circular motion, reflection. Force, Energy and many more) with automated control and defensive  mechanisms to defend themselves against any shocks ( frictional force of the atmosphere to destroy asteroids crashing on to the earth etc) leading to amazing periodicity and predictability of the operations of the entire universe which is one of the main reasons behind the flourishing and ever-growing life on our planet.

Similarly any organisation that wants to grow infinitely without any hiccups has to put in place, such a fool proof system, that is followed with precision and periodicity leading to predictable growth.

What we see here is the requirement of a set of Structures, Systems, Rules, Hierarchy, Processes planned in detail and executed to perfection. This will help when the organisation experiences spurts of growth and also help it fix problems easily by isolating and addressing them when they occur.

The leaders at various levels are like the planets, the Sun and the other stars in the galaxy around whom their subordinates are organized. The rules have to be laid out and followed with the single minded objective, by defining and chasing the vision laid out. The alignment between the objectives of various departments, divisions and branches should be impeccably coordinated by the head-office/top leadership including the CEO, so that the resultant harmony and synergy will ensure that the sum of parts is much more than the addition of the parts.
Being Process driven will help the organization to manage the complexity arising out of growth.  A process driven organization has systems in place to manage every activity across the organization both internally and in relation to the external environment. Systems can be replicated  as required to manage the growth. But as the organizations grow large, the number of departments, types of activities and interactions internally and externally grow large giving rise to many challenges and contradictions. The organizations must have processes to review the systems periodically and also as and when situation arises, to manage such contingencies and redraw the systems to adapt to the evolving situation.

The same have to be followed religiously consistently for ever with control mechanisms to correct aberrations as and when they occur, almost instantaneously before any permanent damage occurs. Only then will the organisation have the ability to manage growth of infinite dimension!

Contact us at ms@mastermentors.in with your opinions, queries and suggestions..
Follow us at http://www.linkedin.com/company/master-mentors-advisory-pvt-ltd
Mr Srinivas is a Co founder and Director at Master Mentors Advisory Pvt Ltd, a Premier Consulting Organisation. He has 20 years post educational experience in leading Indian and MNC organisations.