6 important factors in planning

May 28, 2012 by 1 Comment

There have been companies which have failed because of improper planning and poor implementation. Imagine yourself walking blindly in a room which has nails kept on the floor haphazardly. You will be hurt badly. Similarly, launching a product or implementing a new strategy without proper planning is like walking blind in a dark room. You are bound to get hurt.

There are 6 different factors which are involved in planning. Each of these factors is crucial to form an impeccable plan which brings good results. The 6 factors involved in planning are as follows.

1) Management and Executive time / input –  Planning needs a 360  degree approach. The executive and middle level managers of your company are the ones most in touch with the end customers. They know the external environment and competition in and out. Thus taking regular inputs from the ground level staff is important. Once the management has this input, they can take the right decisions and form a plan to implement new strategies. This new plan can bring better results for the company. However, gathering input from middle and lower level managers should be encouraged by the top management itself. [Read more...]

25 years of Santoor – and their campaigns towards the evolution of Indian women

May 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Santoor, was launched by Wipro in 1986 and targeted the Indian woman’s age old beauty regime with the primary ingredients of sandalwood and turmeric. In the next two decades Santoor became the third largest selling popular soap in India and the most commercially successful natural soap brand with a market share of almost 9% of the large toilet soap market. Over the years variants of Santoor soaps were launched to appeal to different consumer segments.

As a brand Santoor managed to stay relevant to consumers by innovations on product form, packaging, fragrance etc. which have helped the brand grow and garner a contemporary and relevant loyal user base. Santoor was re-launched with the promise of everlasting beauty and a superior, longer lasting perfume which left the skin softer. Today Santoor is present in categories like face wash, talc, deodorants, hand washes etc., in the soap category it has variants like Santoor Sandal and Almond Milk, Santoor Glycerine & Santoor Chandan. [Read more...]

Four key elements of Marketing

May 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Marketing encompasses a number of different activities such as product design, pricing, strategies, advertising and others. However these are just activities which have to be done in the process of marketing. There are also some crucial elements of marketing which are very necessary for the success of marketing and they form the backbone of marketing. There four elements are as follows.

1) Research –  If you want to launch your own company or a product what will you do? The first thing that you will do will be market research. You will like to determine what the market actually wants. Similarly, during marketing too, market research is needed to determine what message should the company adopt and which medium will be best, what positioning needs to be achieved to target the right segment. By doing market research, we can gather data which can help us in analysis and action. [Read more...]

Gathering Online Market intelligence

May 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The internet is becoming one of the chosen medium to spread information and for people to interact. Thus it is no surprise that marketers are striving hard to reach their target audience through the internet. But just like any other medium, the internet too can make or break the brand of a company, it can increase the sales of a product, or cause a complete product failure through its ability to spread negative feedback’s. Thus in today’s age, gathering online market intelligence is crucial.

The internet can be divided in several types of websites. However there are 6 different ways in which you can collect market intelligence on the web. These are discussed below.

1) Social networks –  The number of people using social networks is on the rise and there are sites like Facebook and twitter which have a huge user base. Social networks are the modern example of word of mouth publicity. If you see someone praise a fashion brand, you will definitely have a positive vibe once you visit that brand store. But if someone has said something negative about a product, that too would remain in your mind. Thus nowadays companies are having a dedicated social network team which tries to build a positive brand for the company and at the same time tries to convert customers online. Social networks can become a huge online market intelligence source if you want to know what your customers are thinking about you, your product as well as your competitors. [Read more...]

How to increase your customer base

May 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment

One of the major factors which differentiate the market leader from the market follower is the size of the customer base present with the market leader. Having a large customer base shows that the company has proved its mettle over a period of time. Customer base does not expand just because of one or two successful strategies. You have to implement good strategies back to back, fight off your competitors and increase your customer value to have a large customer base. You also need to keep an eye on acquiring new customers time and time again. So how do you increase the size of your customer base? We discuss the same in the next four points.

By reducing the rate of customer defection - Acquiring a new customer is always more costly than retaining your existing customer. A defection rate is the rate at which a customer leaves a particular brand / company. Thus by decreasing your defection rate you are indirectly increasing your customer retention. Companies should pay special attention to the way their employees interact with the customer as well as the whole ‘order to payment cycle’ such that the customer leaves with a positive mindset from the company. Once a customer has a positive interaction he will definitely visit the same company over and over again. Thus you are ensuring that the customer does not shift over to the competition by taking necessary measures which reduce your defection rate over time. [Read more...]

How to gather market intelligence

May 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

There are various functions which fall under the category of Market intelligence. In this world of increasing competition, where each of the competitors have amazing depth in their product lines, market intelligence plays a crucial role in keeping the company on top of its game. Market intelligence in layman terms involves the spread of marketing information such that the decision makers are capable of taking the right decisions or altering their overall strategy based on the intelligence acquired. Thus market intelligence has the involvement of numerous entities.

Many companies have a separate market intelligence and strategy department. In some smaller companies, the product manager will also be involved in gathering market intelligence. This market intelligence is then passed on to the strategy department wherein the decision makers take a right step to counter act such that these strategies are better than the competition and help the company increase market share and acquire customers. This is all possible on the basis of market intelligence gathered. So what are the ways in which you can gather market intelligence? [Read more...]

7 strategies of market leaders

May 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

In todays world, there is a rise in both, the number of products and the number of competitors in the market. Naturally everyone wants to be ahead of the competition. But is everyone successful? Definitely not. Any market will have one single market leader and not several market leaders!!! So what is it that market leaders do correctly to ward off their competitors? We look at some strategies which are common for every market leader

1) Covering the market globally and locally – Look at companies like Coca Cola, microsoft, LG and others which are market leaders in their respective categories. You will find that each one of these companies have products which are widespread and are known across the world. However, the marketing strategy of each one of these products is customized according to the market that they are serving. [Read more...]

Five levels of customer satisfaction

May 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Customer is king. This idiom has been repeated time and time again by each and every company. In the new world this actually stands true. The company which has the maximum customer satisfaction also has the best chances for growth. This is because if you measure your own customer satisfaction it can help you optimally change your marketing as well as operating strategy.

Customer satisfaction is the key to customer retention. By implementing measures which keeps the customer satisfied, you ensure that the customer sticks to your brand. He does not shift easily to the competitor. With higher customer satisfaction, the customer is likely to

a) Rebuy your product

b) Upgrade regularly

c) Spread the word about your product

d) In some cases, he can also give a positive feedback as well as profitable ideas for the company. [Read more...]