Tata Nano suppliers’ performance in the stock markets
Last year (Jan 16th, 2008) I had predicted a good show in the stock markets for the Tata Nano part suppliers, over a 1-2 year horizon. I checked up on these stocks and I was surprised, mostly negative, with the results. Taken as a basket of stocks, the group fell 28% as compared to the Sensex’s fall of 18% as on 23rd October 2009.
Exide Industries (+30%)
Lumax Industries (-51.59%)
Sona Group (-46.3%)
Rico Auto (-42.43%)
Sekurit Saint-Gobain (-49.52%)
MICO Bosch (-9.58%)
One of the reasons is definitely the delayed release of the Nano. The first Nano was handed to a customer on July 17th, 2009, almost a year later than the once-officially announced availability. So it does warrant another year’s time before one thinks of selling off these stocks. Remember CRISIL did report that the Nano has the potential of increasing the Indian car market by 65%. And how did Tata Motors perform at the stocks? Compared to Jan 16 2008, a fall of 24.41%. Obviously hurt by the Singur plant delay and shut-down, the delayed release, increasing raw material costs and the recession.
By the way, the only stock I invested in back then was Exide Industries 
, never mind how many. An increase of 30% while all the other stocks including the Sensex are in negative! Exide industries will continue to do well(it doubled net profits this quarter!). The others should climb once the Nano catches up and the various versions come out.
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.
Happy Onam!
The Pillais celebrated a wonderful Onam in Chennai and we wish you a very happy and prosperous Onam
‘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!
RIP King of Pop
Funny how one can suddenly feel so heavily at loss and so fortunate too at the sametime. Lohithadas (54) and Michael Jackson (50), great artists, geniuses, passed away this week. Lekshmi and I once spoke about how we are so lucky as a generation to experience the genius of such artists and even wondered whether we ever will have people like them again: Mammooty, Mohanlal, Tom Hanks, Kamal Hasan, Steven Spielberg, Roger Federer, Obama, Yesudas, Chitra – a few that came to mind at awe by the wonders of their work and persona.
Our generation did miss out on the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Lincoln, Martin Luther King. I’m glad that we as a society do understand the need for preserving history and passing on the greatness of such people to younger generations. Oh please, whoever’s in charge, do take care of all that is left of these demised souls (finished and unfinished work, artefacts etc). I pray for the King of Pop to Rest In Peace and thank him for bringing in me the love for music(I think ‘beat it’ is the first song I ever hummed in my life!).
Been long, been very happy.
Wow!.. It’s been such a long time I blogged.. And unlike the usual guilt overflow, I’m happy! It was last year Aug 9th that I met the woman of my life, Lekshmi, we took our time getting to know each other, got engaged on Dec 7th and plunged into marital bliss on Feb the 1st, 2009. What a ride it was, time flies.
I got into Twitter recently, chanced upon a friend’s blog and remembered mine Just an announcement – Sreelesh is back.
Cheers!
Wimbledon 2008 men’s singles final, what a ride!
I just finished watching half of the Wimbledon final. The second half. I have never been so nervous, excited, humbled, impressed, (a true rollercoaster of emotions), watching any other sporting event ever! I am yet to understand fully how the game’s point system functions but I tell you, I went mad for every single point earned. I wanted Federer to win and you can imagine how I felt when he was on the verge of losing more than two times before the final ‘fatal’ fall. The way he came back and the way Rafael kept his cool! Federer truly summed it up when he said “tried everything!”
To be the best in the world and to beat the best in the world, these two gentlemen truly displayed great character speaking after the awards ceremony.
Federer(very cool and calm, with his characteristic charming smile): “I tried everything, it went a little late and everything, but look Rafa is a deserving champion, he just played incredible today…. He’s the worst opponent on the best court, but it’s been a joy again to play here, I know I couldn’t win it under the circumstances, but I’ll be back next year.”
Rafael(very happy but yet calm): “This is my favourite tournament, for me to win on this court is a dream…. I’m playing in the same time as the best player in history, Roger Federer…. He’s still number one, he’s still the best, he still has five titles here, and I just have one.”
If ever I get a DVD for a sporting event, this shall be it! And I want to get to playing tennis!
Gmail listens to their users
Posted by Sreelesh in Technology on June 15, 2008
I was reading on “What’s new in Gmail” and couldn’t help ‘postulating’ on their success. I’ve blogged on ‘customer feedback’ before and these guys at Gmail are probably where they are today because of this one reason – listening to customers. I’m quoting write-up about their new features from their website.
Embarrassment-reducing new message notifications
Ever replied to a message only to find out that someone sent a better, smarter reply right before you? Now, if someone sends a reply while you’re in the middle of reading a conversation (or replying to it), you’ll get a notification that a new message has arrived. Click “update conversation” to see what you’ve missed.
Did not these guys “get in your shoes” with that new feature?!
Also, I’m so happy to see attachments increased to 20MB! What they say:
Increased attachment limit– 20 MB!
Now you can start sharing more of those home videos, large presentations and files you just can’t seem to get smaller. We have doubled the allowable attachment size to 20 MB to make your Gmail space even more useful.
Please note that you may not be able to send larger attachments to contacts who use other email services with smaller attachment limits. If your attachment bounces, you should invite them to Gmail.
To share my granny’s smiling video, yes I will invite all my cousins to Gmail, thank you. Marketing’s the easiest when you’re bang on with what the customer wants.
Aside: I’ve been so long away from my blogs! Last time I saw my blog it had a PageRank of one, today it’s three! I thought one has to be regular at blogging to start being seen as “important” to have your PageRank increased.. Whatever.
Why did Jack select Jeff?
I recently read an interview between Kumar Mangalam Birla(Chairman – Aditya Birla group) and Jeffrey Immelt(Chairman & CEO – GE). Birla was doing the interview for the Economic Times “Straight Talk” section. It was very interesting with KMB getting out good juice: goals set by Jeff when he took over GE seven years ago, numbers in his mind when he qualifies an acquisition decision, when does he choose to divest, his view on India(he’s all gung-ho!), how he apportions his time at work and many other informative points. Here is the whole interview.
There’s this question by KMB “What do you think made Jack select you for the role of the chairman”. Jeff says:
“I always think people get a chance like this not because of what they know but more because of how fast people think they can learn. I’d have to think that maybe Jack and the board thought that I was a good learner and that I could adjust to the world and drive the right changes at GE. “
I was thinking, leaders are definitely those who have in them tonnes of courage. For Jack & Jeff, there was enough money(12 billion plus dollars cash reserve!) for the new CEO to ‘learn’ with
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