Swapping to be freely allowed in India: Game anyone?

No this is not an article on wife-swapping or swinging couples.

Nor is it an article trying to promote it or sell our services regarding the same.

And no, this article is also not about the effect of consuming intergalactical gargleblasters, when consumed in excess by the human species... (ya H2G2 can have quite an effect on ppl!)


Brands today have become much more than a label for recognizing or calling a product. Gone are the days of the 'mom and pop stores' who sold goods wrapped in yesterday's newspapers. A brand today not only defines the product, but also to quite an extent symbolises the character, or rather the personna of the user. A customer today opts for ThumsUp not because a pepsi or coke can is not available - rather he goes for it because he thinks it makes him look 'macho'. This very aspect of the brand is the reason for companies looking to create a 'power-brand' that not only defines the user, but also epitomises the ethos behind the company.

Moving over to the topic for discussion for the day, branding has been important even in the Indian Telecom market - with the Hutch 'dog' symbolising more than just another service - an Ornage/Hutch customer would think twice before switching brands because he thinks that the brand symbolises something he/she believes in, or rather is trying to portray.

The reason why I decided to go back to classroom, is because of the news thats abuzz in the telecom domain today. "TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has initiated a consultation process on mobile number portability..." reads a news article from one of the dailies in Mumbai. The news is of great interest to me and to several users of the mobile telephony in the country for one primary reason - the ability to maintain one's identity and yet getting the freedom to choose.

Mobile phone numbers (or other Telephone numbers for that instance) have this very unique characteristic - they are almost like a part of you. Imagine the difficulty that one might face, having to change numbers - informing a million friends, colleagues and relatives about your new number could well be a nightmare for today's mobile-savvy consumer, who believes that his number is a part of his identity.

An Orange or a Hutch customer today believes that he is a premium user, and will surely think a million times before switching to a BSNL line, not only beacuse of the hassles, but also because psychologically, he thinks that owning an Orange number has some status, or charm attached to it - something that a BSNL number wont give him.

A mini-research showed that people associate differently with each brand:
eg:
Orange - premium customer/user, high-society, dependable
Airtel - Youth, an 'Indian' brand
BSNL - Cost conscious user

The new TRAI initiative under discussion means "a service that would allow users to change their telecom operator without having to change their phone number".

What translates out of this is that the mobile user of tommorow may have an Orange-series number, but may be well using a BSNL connection for a few months to experiment (and perhaps stick to it if he finds it actually better), without losing his identity.

In marketing parlance however, this means much more - customers would now not stick to a service, just beacuse of the brand-name or the image that it creates for the user. Instead, marketers will have to concentrate on providing better services to retain customers.

Customer acquisition has never been an issue for most of the top prepaid service operators - however the big game now would involve retaining them. Service marketing talks about this very are of focus - " How to retain customers, and ensure customer satisfaction?"

The Indian markets have predominently focused on "sell the product" concept. However, the telecom industry might see the start of a new era of marketing where the need for the hour will be to sell "an experience" rather than a mere 10-digit number.

While the top-notches in the business have already started focusing on maintaining customer loyalty by providing excellent service, network, and quality, the concept if implemented would mean simply that the so-called average player in the market would need to pull up more than just his socks to get his stufff in place if the customer churn needs to be curbed.

“While India can learn from the experiences of international implementations of number portability, some specific issues in the Indian context such as ensuring tariff transparency and amending the national numbering plan would need careful consideration,” TRAI said.

Will this swapping freedom be successful? Is this the rise of a new sun or is it just another dark cloud in the telecom sky? Only time will tell...

Reference: Mumbai Mirror - Business section (23rd July, 2005)

P.S: Direct link to this reference seems to not work for some eerie reason!

Standardized Shopping - Back to the basics

Well to deviate from the telecom buzz and delve into something that interests me was a hard decision to take. However, I really felt that Havoc's post needed a detailed post, rather than an inconspicuous comment!

Well talking of business models, the west has been know and has been the forerunner in terms of creating business models and management jargons. The retail store-oid of a concept was too, a western offspring adopted in India by leading retail chains such as Shoppers Stop, Pantaloon, Westside… to name a few.

However, when we talk of ‘economies of scale’, we need to understand the basic cornerstone of the economics-related concept that, it is applicable more to areas where manufacturing is a part of the process – manufacturing here covers the gamut of production as well as assembly. Imagine a hair cutting saloon trying to adopt economies of scale! At the most it could stock a year’s supply of talc and shaving lotions, which may not be in best interests.

Talking of food-chains and cafes, we need to first understand the basic difference between selling a product and a service. When a customer goes to a Mars outlet, he /she looks not just for the food (which is of course one of the aspects in his perception bundle which scores quite high) – the customer also looks for other aspects such as ambience, pricing, customer service, seating comfort, offers available, etc.)

Companies need to understand that a “BRAND is nothing but a perception in the minds of the customer about his perceived quality and features and attributes of the product which could define him in some way, in addition to satisfying the basic underlying need associated with the purchase of that particular brand, when the market has several ‘me-toos’ with barely any difference!”

Economies of scale cannot apply to a consumer-consumable based sectors, as logically, no one would like to eat your month old pizza and give out a 100$ bill! Talking of the condition of stores such as Mars and Café Coffee Day in India, we also need to understand that Indian consumers cannot be treated like those in the West.

In today’s world, the call of the day is for a ‘glocal’ focus, rather than mass merchandising and treating your cocks and bulls as one. The Indian consumer generally looks for a better bargain on most products – someone whom you would classify as a “bargain hunter” in marketing terms. The same customer who just purchased a Mercedes will haggle at the local market when he/she knows that the prices can be reduced!

An Indian consumer will look for the maximum value or rather ‘utility’ out of the product/service that he/she goes for. I use the economics-term ‘utility’ here just to point out the difference between utility and usefulness – I may purchase a crystal Spongebob doll for a million dollars! (No I wont actually!!!), because it has utility for me – this is irrespective of whether it is useful for me!
Talking in terms of personnel selling, the Indian customer has his own ZOPA (Zone of Potential Agreement), which generally is less flexible towards the higher price side, but extends more towards a lower price. In simpler terms, for a quoted price of Rs. 10, I as an Indian consumer would have a price band of say Rs. 12 to 5 for that product when I go to the market. In short, customers generally look to get a less price for almost most goods.

My marketing friends here would start arguing about products and the concept of BRAND, wherein a consumer purchases products just because he/she wants to feel like a part of a clan or a niche. However, I personally believe that brand as a perception has more to do with the perceptions in the minds of the customer about what the product offers him, rather than what will be the perception of the same product in the minds of the niche or clan he wants to be a part of. I do agree that there do exist a lot of products wherein the sole motive is to just feel special and exclusive.

However, the argument doesn’t apply to a Café Coffee Day outlet or a Mars outlet in India, primarily because these are not what the marketing frat calls “Cult brands”. The market has changed from looking for the product, to the service on the whole, to the newer concept of ‘experience’ – marketers today are selling you an experience. When I as a customer go to a Barista outlet, I go there not to drink coffee, but to spend 2 to 3 hours – for which I believe charging 50 bucks (my Mocha costs only 40) is pretty cheap!

Who lets you sit in an air-conditioned clean environment with comfortable seating, let you play the guitar, or rather challenge a buddy to a few games of scrabble or Pictionary, and of course, not to miss sitting amidst the exotic aroma of freshly brewed coffee?

The reason why such stores aren’t doing well is not because the niche of such customers is small in India – I myself have seen a lot of middle-class family people frequent such outlets to spend some time. I really don’t think Barista is catering a niche, since they already slashed their prices a lot a year and a half ago, which clearly signals that just serving the so called ‘elite’ is not what they solely target!

The reason for a Café Coffe Day’s success can be attributed quite a lot to their retail presence as well – in terms of the Coffee Day Xpress vending mnachines seen at several places across the nation, their mini snack bars set up at prime locations, and not to forget their focus on providing much more than coffee.

A Café Coffee Day outlet scores high in terms of selling food items along with coffee, which naturally increases their average revenue per customer. Barista on the other hand has been a coffee pioneer, and doesn’t believe in providing that much of variety in terms of food-items to accompany the coffee.

Another interesting aspect of Café Coffee Day’s success is the assortment of the snacks they provide – mainly items which are Indian, in addition to catering to the western tastebuds as well. You naturally cant have your mother in law to munch happily on a chocolate doughnut, and expect her to have as much fun as relishing the all-time favorite Punjabi samosas or puff pattice!


The Bottomline: Economies of scale may not always be possible in the consumables industry. In terms of success of brands, they need to focus more on customization and studying the local market and its needs (including PRICING), so as to compete viably with the competitors.

sOid Speak: Understanding WLL

Understanding WLL services and how they are classified has been a big confusion not only for consumers but even to an extent some services providers have taken a long time in understanding the services completely.

CDMA in India is known as WLL (Wireless in local loop). This WLL is further divided into two categories fixed and mobile. However, the technology standard is similar in both cases i.e. CDMA 2000 1X WLL fixed refers to handsets which can replace the existing fixed line sets.

WLL mobile refers to handsets which have all the features like GSM handsets. WLL fixed works within a city while WLL mobile functions similarly as that of GSM mobile.

There are 2 categories to choose from in WLL Fixed:







1. WLL- FWP: Fixed Wireless Phone (without wires)

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2.If consumers are willing to keep their old phone set then they have an option to opt for WLL (FWT) Fixed Wireless Terminal. FWT is connected to existing telephone set.





Both the phones come with a data port which can be connected to a PC/Laptop serial port through a special data cable. The data cable comes along with an installation CD and it is available in the open market for five to ten Euros.

Presently LG, Samsung and Nokia are the leading equipment suppliers for WLL mobile in India. For WLL fixed, LG and Samsung handsets dominate the market. WLL fixed phones have an option to send SMS.


WALKY - The New Generic Name in Indian Telecom Market

Tata Indicom branded its FWP offerings as "Walky", a name that has been synonymous in the Indian market, with the FWP category. The WLL concept has come a long way, with several features being offered in the market, such as"

• Backlit LCD display
• Phonebooks with capacity upto 500 contacts
• Wallpapers, screensavers, polyphonic ringtones
• Inbuilt games
• SMS capability in English and Hindi, with T9 predictive feature
• High speed internet (upto 153.6 kbps)
• World Clock, Calculator, Stop Watch, To-do List, Sophisticated Alarm, Calendar
• User profiles

The most important aspect of this service is the tarriffs that are offered, which are cheaper than wired-line rates.

The big question however, is something that can be pulled out from a Kotler - one of the basic fundamental of marketing - "What does the consumer want?"