Archive for category Marketing
SLAs – for differentiation & positioning
Posted by Sreelesh in Marketing, Technology on July 31, 2010
I’ve been wanting to blog on this for some time and after reading many related posts in the recent times, I decided I had to get this off my chest. We all know of Service Level Agreements – those contractual bindings a service provider and his customer lay out as they seal their buyer-seller relationship. The SLAs when seen from the two angles: for the customer it’s a document that ensures he gets a “minimum” guarantee on services and maybe a compensation if this is not met, while for the service provider he sees this as opportunity to defend himself against any litigation that could happen (he is not sued for millions).
How many times have you come across words you cannot understand in these documents? SLAs today are just communication between the legal departments of organizations and are not really referred to unless something huge really happens that involves failure and costs.
SLAs to differentiate
There’s definitely a lot many better ways of using SLAs in today’s businesses –right from the very business model incorporated to the way market differentiation & positioning is done. What you would you think of a company that sends you its SLA doc that just has on it, in bold:
We promise to work our a** off to give you our 100%, here’s our CEO’s number if you think we’re not delivering
With the above, for those customers really bothered on what’s being done to ensure top services, add a whole section on technicalities involved – failover mechanisms, back up processes, state-of-the-art facilities bla bla. But no complicated “ifs”, “buts”, percentages and small text. Being upfront and convincing of sincerity goes a long way to winning over the customer’s faith than numbers and percentages. Something to the lines of this is what I read at http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2010/03/the-best-sla-ive-seen-in-a-while.html.
I had another idea on a radically new business model centered on SLA and number of customers. I ran this through a few friends and they seemed pretty convinced. I’ll put that in my next post, any service provider willing to listen before I go public 
? My really long shot at some sweet money!
You have to be the First-Announcer in the Internet age
Posted by Sreelesh in Marketing, Technology on March 1, 2010
Whether to purchase or otherwise, most of us reach amazon.com when we try searching for a book on the internet. Barnes & Noble too has an online bookstore but certainly not as popular as Amazon’s. And today as we know it, Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world doing sales (~19 billion!) about three times as much as the closest competition Staples.
Ok, that’s what many of us know. Did you know of a site called books.com? This site (now redirects to Barnes & Nobel site) was there on the internet selling books two years before Amazon was started by Jeff Bezos. Charles Stack, books.com founder, apparently was an ‘inside guy’ more interested in building an infrastructure than promoting a business. The price for being an insider guy? In 1996, Stack sold his business for $4.2 million while a month later Amazon was able to mop up a staggering $32 million in its first IPO!
Stack lost out because he did not let enough people know about his site. He had a two year headstart over Amazon and yet he was not able to own the online retail market at least for books (even with a killer of a domain named books.com!) In today’s internet age, one barely has a headstart. Somehow word gets to the competition and the so-called first-mover advantage is hard to realize. Imagine having spent a lot on R&D, successfully seeing the release and working of a great feature, not having this publicized and the very next year your competition does the same feature but makes more news of it and before you know it they’re touted the pioneer, cutting-edge, industry-leading blah blah.
If you are innovating, make sure you let your market know; else you could actually be signing off your hardwork to competition. Make sure to be the first-announcer and constantly follow up with your marketing and PR departments!
For effective SMS marketing
SMS marketing to the publicity-deprived entrepreneur is like the Gold rush to the small-time miner. You have an easy mine of gold found at very low cost, mined like crazy without a process or a plan, profits reaped, other miners join in for scale, more competing miners rush in and before you know it the gold mine is empty.
Today the cell phone user is inundated with marketing SMS and it is increasingly difficult to catch user attention. Check out my friend’s frustration on the number of mobile spam he receives: “51 unread SMS in just 3 days!”
Just like how gold mining improved in the prospecting, extraction, purification and transportation, mobile SMS marketing has to find ways of getting effective – finding the right, needing audience, at the right time and with the right message. Here is a quick checklist before you send out that SMS:
- Who is in your database of mobile numbers? Have you got their permission? Even if it means reading through every entry and investigating, make sure you know your list.
- Make sure your SMS has a value offering, not just an introductory SMS. e.g. “Reply YES to join the XYZ 25% discount promo“
- SMS is very personal. Never send an SMS without the customer’s name being mentioned.
- Get the message worded perfect. I loved this one from this site.
“Beat the queue! Show this text at Metropolis Nightclub before 10pm tonight and we’ll take you through the members’ only entrance. Free single shot at the bar with this text.”
Any club in Chennai reading? - Always include an ‘unsubscribe’ or opt-out option such as “reply STOP to be removed“
- Never send the same SMS twice!!!
- When you have many messages to be sent(highly discouraged though), never have the SMS sent in a flurry, space them out over time.
- make sure your website has a mobile friendly version
Here is one that I received recently, it did not follow much of the above list but it caught my attention and it stays in my inbox!
Dear Customer,
Stay Indoor to Get Outdoor!
Bicycle service at your doorstep – BSA Hercules Care,
Call Toll Free 18001022324.
Mon to Fri (9 am to 5 pm)
“Stay indoor to get outdoor”… I liked that 
Cartoons for advertising and communication
Cartoons are loved by everyone, of every age group, of every social/economic/cultural background. And that includes marketers and advertisers! Amul’s ad campaigns are one of the most long-running and anticipated ads in India… Whether it’s the very recognized Amul baby face or the good product quality, it’s always Amul butter and cheese in my fridge.
The cartoon medium is probably the easiest, quickest and most powerful way of communicating even a serious message. Check out this signboard I captured at the Madras Crocodile Bank. It not just passed on the message clearly, but put a smile on every visitor’s face too.
‘Dil titli’ Airtel ad – thumbs down!
I felt so strongly on this one I had to blog! Airtel’s marketing made a big mistake with the latest ad on “superior picture clarity” for Airtel DTH . These guys always had feel-good ads – the husband-wife relationship with Madhavan and Vidya Balan, the beautiful father-daughter ad with papa showing sweet daughter the stars over a phone call, the two kids playing football across the border.. The latest one has Saif looking for his childhood sweetheart, finding her thanks to “picture clarity” and then finally dumping her for Kareena just as she walks by. C’mon guys, Airtel is all love and warmth, not this idiocy! And don’t tell me you are trying the “hep/hip youth” angle here!
Doing business & the Internet
Posted by Sreelesh in Marketing, Technology on March 9, 2008
Brick & mortar companies, click & mortar companies, internet-only companies.. I remember feeling so interested just by the coinage of terms!
There are lots to be gained by companies who finally decide to have Internet presence. Apart from the immediate extension of distribution channels, brand equity, economies of scale and what not, the most to be gained from is the whole new feedback mechanism that your products and services are exposed to. You now get immediate, usable feedback from your patrons; in fact, you can probably do away with your Market Research and idea generation teams!
This brings me to more serious thinking: if your company’s not doing good in the Internet age, you are definitely not giving your customers what they want! If you are planning to go online with your business, make sure you have the stomach and the head to make use of customer feedback: listen up or you’ll soon shut shop!
Indian Thanksgiving?
It’s Thanksgiving in the US today.
I asked myself have we no such day here in India? That’s when I realized that we are supposed to be giving our thanks on Onam, Pongal & Makar Sankranthi. Instead we are all so excited about the new clothes, gadgets, food, sweets, gatherings etc. that comes with the festivities.. I don’t recall any Ad campaigns that focus on the ‘thanksgiving’ part during any of these festivals. Instead it’s just “50% off”, “buy one get two free” and other plays on numbers. Someone should do a campaign on the ‘gratitude’ aspect of these festivals, bring alive the goodness and love within society and yes get some good sales done while they’re at it. Marketing is a powerful act, in getting profits, for your company as well as society.
Here’s saying Thank You to all my friends who’ve encouraged me on my writing here. If I ever get more regular at this, here’s an even Bigger Thank you!
The sandwich “uncovered”
I am a big sucker for multi-layered ham-cheese sandwiches. So are many of you I suppose. Here’s news from The New Zealand Herald that is sure to get you all cautious the next time you buy that multi-layered sandwich lying in the display
Helpline @ an eat-out
The ‘Business Definition’ of Helpline as given in dictionary.bnet.com is “a telephone service operated by a company that offers customers product information, advice, or technical support“.
But aren’t we so used to seeing the word “helpline” next to names of hospitals, trauma centers, call-centers, information portals?.. This was the first time I met ‘Helpline’ with fish curry, mutton masala, butter chicken …
Dominos uses – “Hunger Helpline” , full points to them !
Dare to Do
I’ve been doin quite a few ‘daring’ things lately.. This post is not about blowing my own trumpets on them(‘daring’ is very subjective; ‘hero’ in one pair of eyes, ‘zero’ in another), but Seth’s post-”that Moment” was something of an ammo pack to my activities lately. Cheers to ya Seth!
“When you are sitting right on the edge of something daring and scary and creative and powerful and perhaps wonderful… and you blink and take a step back.
All the hard work and preparation and daring and luck is nothing compared with the ability to not blink.”
Dare to dare.. n then dare to do. At the end of it all, atleast you did!
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The Kenyan Keralite- SLAs – for differentiation & positioning July 31, 2010
- You have to be the First-Announcer in the Internet age March 1, 2010
- Congrats Premchand! February 18, 2010
- Implementing IPv6 November 30, 2009
- marooned, n lovin it! November 10, 2009
- Tata Nano suppliers’ performance in the stock markets October 25, 2009
- For effective SMS marketing October 10, 2009
- Cartoons for advertising and communication October 4, 2009
- Happy Onam! September 2, 2009
- ‘Dil titli’ Airtel ad – thumbs down! August 26, 2009