The ANDROID ONE buzz

Our country was first introduced to “Android One” by the advertisements flashing on our electronic media, showing how now everyone is equal.

Android One has brought about a revolution in the indian markets.

Earlier this summer google announced its Android One Program. Its goal is to generate high quality but inexpensive Android Phones for developing markets.

The first Android One devices are now rolling out in India. Google intends to bring them to Indonesia, the Philippines and various countries in South Asia later this year and more countries in 2015.

In India, Google has contracted 3 emerging mobile companies namely Micromax, Karbonn and Spice.

Android One has been compared with the nexus with the only edge of being inexpensive and with a lot of added features. It is said to be like the Nexus program but for the low end.

There are a lot of new and exciting things about android one.

While no other software has been able to give such a long support of 2 years, android one gives that with such an inexpensive price. It’s a feature no other vendor, software maker at this price point is offering. It also gives an extra padding of security to the brand-conscious among the budget audience who have favoured old brands like Nokia.

Android One promises the best Android experience at the price point.

Also, it’s bringing carrier billing to help make app purchases easier and more transparent. No more worries about extra or hidden credit card charges. In fact, you don’t even need a credit card with carrier billing.

While it could be argued that most first-time buyers do not care about software versions, they would still want to know that their phone will last beyond the first few months. There’s no telling how hardware defect affect the experience, but absent those, Google is promising these phones are good enough for the long haul. In the light that these phones come with, assurances such as these will help sooth any qualms about the quality of these devices.

Google mandates that certain specifications be met under the program. The BBC succinctly summarizes them:

•4.5in (11.4cm) display

•1GB of RAM (random-access memory)

•5MP rear camera and a 2MP front one

•Quadcore processor sourced from Taiwanese company Mediatek

Users will get the latest versions of Android directly from Google. The company will also subsidize a certain number of app downloads in India, its first Android One market:

And a good news for Airtel sim card users!

In an effort to reduce data costs, if you have an Airtel SIM card, you’ll get these software updates for free for the first six months. As part of this same Airtel offer, you’ll also be able to download up to 200MB per month worth of your favorite apps (that’s about 50 apps overall) from Google Play—all without counting toward your mobile data usage.

Given their cost, specs and quality, these phones will be very attractive for people in India and other developing markets. It will thus cement Android’s near total control of those markets, where Apple doesn’t have a competing low-cost option and where Windows Phones haven’t gained traction.

So, surely there is a good reason for why there is so much demand for Android One.

How a Swedish Departmental Store could reach out to millions of people through Instagram

In an effort to reach a younger audience, a department store finds a clever way to distribute discounts through stop-motion Instagram videos.

A marketer working with Forsman & Bodenfors (of Cannes Lions-winning Jean Claude Van Damme Volvo fame), Swedish department store Åhléns used Instagram ingeniously by uploading three stop-motion videos featuring products such as furniture, clothes, etc. to their Instagram account.

Here's how they did it.

Also here are the links to the 3 videos.

www.instagram.com/p/ohzrpmgk3T

www.instagram.com/p/ofOfWcAk7h/

www.instagram.com/p/oKoN5WAk7F/

In an age where more and more people are becoming immune to and shielded from most advertising, this little stunt is a step in the right direction for a marketer attempting to reach an increasingly hard to reach group of consumers.

Marketing Expert: Gary Hamel

The Wall Street Journal recently ranked Gary Hamel as the world’s most influential business thinker, and Fortune magazine has called him “the world’s leading expert on business strategy.”Dr. Gary P. Hamel is an American management expert. He is a founder of Strategos, an international management consulting firm based in Chicago.

He is a graduate of Andrews University (1975) and the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan (1990)

Gary Hamel is the originator (with C. K. Prahalad) of the concept of core competencies. He is also the director of the Woodside Institute, a nonprofit research foundation based in Woodside, California.

He is a visiting Professor of Strategic Management at London Business School. He was formerly a Visiting Professor of International Business at the University of Michigan (PhD 1990) and at Harvard Business School.

The Wall Street Journal ranked Gary Hamel as one of the world's most influential business thinkers, and Fortune magazine has called him "the world's leading expert on business strategy". In 2013, his name was not present on an updated version of the Wall Street Journal list.

Hamel’s landmark books, which have been translated into more than 20 languages, include Competing for the Future, Leading the Revolution and The Future of Management (selected by Amazon.com as the best business book of the year).

 His latest book, What Matters Now, was published in 2012.er the past twenty years, Hamel has authored 17 articles for the Harvard Business Review and is the most reprinted author in the Review’s history. He has also written for the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The Financial Times and many other leading publications around the world. He writes an occasional blog for the Wall Street Journal.

Since 1983, Hamel has been on the faculty of the London Business School, where he is currently Visiting Professor of Strategic and International Management.

As a consultant and management educator, Hamel has worked for companies as diverse as General Electric, Time Warner, Nestle, Shell, Best Buy, Procter & Gamble, 3M, IBM, and Microsoft. His pioneering concepts such as “strategic intent,” “core competence,” “industry revolution,” and “management innovation” have changed the practice of management in companies around the world.

Hamel speaks frequently at the world’s most prestigious management conferences, and is a regular contributor to CNBC, CNN, and other major media outlets. He has also advised government leaders on matters of innovation policy, entrepreneurship and industrial competitiveness.

Currently, Hamel is leading a pioneering effort to reinvent management by harnessing the power of open innovation. The Management Innovation Exchange (MIX) is an online community where the world’s most progressive business leaders share their ideas on how to build organizations that are fit for the future and fit for human beings. The MIX is supported by a network of strategic partners, which includes McKinsey & Company, the Harvard Business Review and others.

Marketing term: Arrow Information Paradox

The Arrow information paradox named after Kenneth Arrow, American economist and joint winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics with John Hicks, is a problem that companies face when managing intellectual property across their boundaries. This happens when they seek external technologies for their business or external markets for their own technologies. It has implications for the value of technology and innovations as well as their development by more than one firm and for the need for and limitations of patent protection. A fundamental tenet of the paradox is that the customer, i.e. the potential purchaser of the information describing a technology (or other information having some value, such as facts), wants to know the technology and what it does in sufficient detail as to understand its capabilities or have information about the facts or products to decide whether or not to buy it.If the buyer trusts the seller, or is protected via contract, then they only need to know the results that the technology will provide, along with any caveats for its usage in a given context. A problem is that sellers lie, they may be mistaken.

MOBILE MARKETING AWARDS 2014

Mobile marketing Association (MMA), an organization which every year gives awards to the best mobile marketing campaigns. The third annual MMA SMARTIES India Awards 2014 in Mumbai was a big “gala”.

The awards honor unusual , creative and solid mobile strategies that address specific business challenges through the creative use of mobile technologies. Winners were declared from 21 categories with over 60 brands and 40 agencies participating in this year’s awards. MMA is constantly tracking the growth story in  India, their reports shows that marketers are not only recognizing mobile’s potential but are actively integrating the channel into their marketing mix.

“The SMARTIES awards are our way of recognizing the best-in-class mobile campaigns run by leading brands. The winners of the 2014 SMARTIES India Awards have demonstrated how the creative use of mobile can help build better brands and increase engagement while driving business results”. Categories in the award included Brand Awareness, Lead Generation Conversion, Relationship Building, Innovation , Best in show etc.

                            

BJP(Bhartiya Janta Party) with their 2014 Lok sabha campaign and HUL(Hindustan Unilever Limted) with their Kan Khajura Tashion stole the spotlight. Colgate and PHD also marked their presence by getting many awards in different categories. Brands and marketing strategies are increasingly adopting a mobile-first-approach and the competition in innovation and creativity is only getting tougher. In this environment, coming up with such awards is real motivation to brands and agencies and every year corporates look forward for these awards.

Joke of the week.

Apple Marketing
A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money.

The old guy fingered his expensive wool vest and said, “Well, son, it was 1932. The depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel. Marketing was the key to my success.”

“I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents.”

“The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 5:00 pm for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I’d accumulated a fortune of $9.80.”

“Then my wife’s father died and left us two million dollars.”

How does Starbucks strive to get the 'BUCKS'?

The Starbucks marketing strategy is not one commonly seen in many businesses today.

Have you ever realized that it’s rare for you to find a Starbucks ad on a billboard, ad space, newspaper or poster in places where you can expect to see advertisements for most other establishments, even huge ones like McDonalds?

Here are some strategies which they use worldwide.

• “Perfect Cup of Coffee” – Starbucks history has shown that they place a huge emphasis on product quality. Their coffee is known for satisfying customers with its rich, delicious taste and aroma.
• “Third Place” – The Starbucks marketing strategy has focused on creating the “third place” for everyone to go to between home and work. Creating this unique and relaxing “experience” and “atmosphere” for people has been very important for the company as they have realized that this is one of the strongest concepts attached to the company, to which customers have been strongly attracted
• “Customer Satisfaction” – Customer satisfaction is a very important issue with Starbucks. From entrance to the store to the very last drop of their coffees, it is a must that customers feel the uniqueness of enjoying their Starbucks coffee experience.
• “Creating a Starbucks Community” – The Starbucks marketing strategy has even expanded to create a community around their brand. On their website, individuals are encouraged to express their experiences with Starbucks history, and the company strives to “personally” join in the discussions.
• “Smart Partnerships” – Starbucks Coffee Company has been known to create strategic partnerships that demonstrate the fact that another way to grow your business is to partner smart. Over the years, the Starbucks Corporation has greatly increased sales just by using this strategy. 
• “Innovation” – Through the years, the Starbucks Coffee Company has been known to think up creative and innovative ideas to add to their products or services. They’ve added different flavors to their coffee, more food on their menu, and even became one of the firsts to offer internet capability in their stores
• “Brand Marketing” – The Starbucks marketing strategy has always focused on “word-of-mouth” advertising and letting the high quality of their products and services speak for themselves. For years, this has been uniquely Starbucks, and it has played a huge part in making Starbucks Coffee Company a success. India is quickly warming to the coffee house culture, and the entry of the biggest name in the business is stirring up the market. As Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee contemplates its strategy, its biggest rivals, Cafe Coffee Day and Barista Lavazza, are making inroads in small cities and towns .

Starbucks has  made a revenue of more than Rs. 14.6 crores in India. HOW?

In the coffee house business, a larger footprint means more revenues. Starbucks, in a 50:50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages, called Tata Starbucks Ltd, plans 50 outlets by the year-end - a drop in the ocean for the 17,000-store global chain. When the venture was announced, R.K. Krishna Kumar, Vice Chairman, Tata Global Beverages, said the group may target 3,000 outlets in India in a few years. The Tata Group, of course, is no newcomer to the business, having been a Barista partner earlier. In a market pegged at nearly Rs 1,440 crore and expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 30 per cent over five years, rivals are unfazed, as the Indian market is underpenetrated.

so how did they do this?

• Joint venture: starbucks entered india with the most powerful strategy they could. having joint venture with one of the biggest  firms in india helped starbucks to know what indians really needed. they were able to know the taste and preferences of the consumers they were targeting. 
• Pricing: The most important factor. As a former CEO of a coffee chain put it, “The deal with the Tata’s is a masterstroke. It allows them to source coffee from India, roasted to their specifications.” But more importantly it allows Starbucks to avoid the 100 percent duty that Coffee Bean, Gloria Jeans Coffee and Costa have to pay. Coffee costs account for 40-45 percent of costs at these chains and what Starbucks has done with the Tata tie-up is that it has reduced its coffee costs to around the same as what say Café Coffee Day would pay. This should give it the pricing heft required for a market likeIndia. People in the trade whom Forbes India spoke with said they expected a basic Starbucks coffee to cost an average of Rs125 – higher than the Rs60-75 that Café Coffee Day charges but lower than the Rs150 other international chains inIndiacharge.

In addition to coffee they expect food to be another key driver of footfalls. In India food usually makes up for 25 percent of revenue something Schultz knows only too well. “Just like we have done in China, we will create local relevancy, especially on the food side,” he said in an interview last year.

Given that a coffee shop generates returns of Rs200-250 per square foot — about a fourth  what the typical restaurant does– getting a local food offering that drives footfalls will be key. (Per square foot returns are not an indicator of profitability as the footfalls in a coffee shop are higher). Here again the tie up with the Tata’s comes in. TajSATS, which is well versed with Indian food habits will be roped in to supply food to Starbucks outlets

• Menu: Starbucks has through its research and affluences found out what the consumers in india would prefer. for example: the burgers or the sandwiches you can see in india you would never find it in any corner of the world.
• Brand Positioning: Last year howard schultz (chairman and CEO of starbucks) in an interview with Forbes India had made it clear that the last thing they would do is water down the experience. “I think it would be very disappointing for us to come all the way from Seattle to India and water down the experience because we don’t have the courage to create something that is consistent with our heritage.”  So expect the company to go aggressively after real estate in Delhi and Mumbai. Malls, airports, office blocks are prime targets. There should even be a couple of trophy outlets like the one they have at the entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing. A Starbucks at the Gateway of India perhaps
• Facilities: Indians love anything that comes for free. Isn't it? and if it's wifi then that place surely becomes our second home. Starbucks gives free wifi to attract consumers.