For the better part of the populous, a role model plays a vital part in shaping our personality. Right from the initial stages of growing up, we establish our role models, though in those nascent stages, we tend to idolize our family members. The earliest role models of most individuals are seen in their parents, uncles, aunts or grandparents. As our exposure increases, our role models gradually take the form of public icons like Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Usain Bolt, Dhirubhai Ambani, or other such public figures who have proved their mettle in some walk of life.
Usually, a Role Model of a person can speak volumes about his ambition and interests. The personality traits of the role model have in some way inspired the idoliser, and we can see that these inspiring characteristics bring about a pointed change in that individual’s perceptions. It is, however, not enough only to select a proper Role model; to use him or her as a sort of benchmark and then identify the qualities that have made the Role model successful in the chosen field is equally imperative. It is not necessary to put the Role Models on a pedestal or deify the personality, making a SWOT analysis of our individual capabilities and identifying our weaknesses to correct them is essential. Making use of the opportunities, warding off the threats and improving on our strengths to exceed our own expectations and cross the benchmarks set by our Role Models is a further aid to developing our personalities on the lines of our icons.
An interesting hypothetical analogy to figure our tennis ace Roger Federer’s Role Model evolution could be as follows:
While Roger Federer may not have consciously modelled himself on Pete Sampras it appears from his overall approach to the game that at some point of time he may have modelled his game partly on Sampras.
However it is testimony to Federer’s greatness that over the last few years he has improved his all court game to such an extent that today he is arguably the greatest player the tennis world has seen.
Having surpassed the achievements of his one time role model it is imperative for Federer to set new goals and, if necessary, choose a different Role Model - perhaps somebody like Tiger Woods, the greatest Golfer the world has seen, where at his career peak, there is a wide gap between him and the rest!
Milind Vartak
www.valueaddservices.com
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Defining and Addressing Target Markets
A consumer or customer is someone who makes actual purchase. But before the actual purchase is made there is a buying decision involved and much of the marketing selling effort is made to influence the buying decision while trying to accelerate it.
The actual process of buying is preceded by a Latent Need for the product or product category per se. This need has to mature into a want and this usually happens by external factors of changing lifestyles, changing disposable incomes and so on.
The want then, must be backed by
(a) The ability to purchase
(b) The willingness to purchase.
This set of people is really the Target Audiences (TA) or Target Market for that class of products. In all products the TA is addressed or communicated to, directly, as well as through influencers and persuaders. For example, in product categories like chocolates and toys, although the actual buyer is the parent the influencer and consumer is the child. Hence, most of the times the Marketing Message is directed at the child - obvious influencer of the buying decision. The child, who is the major influencer in the buying process, becomes the TA. This is a classic case of identifying accurately, the Target Market.
In Industrial Products usually the consumer and or the customer does not make the buying decision. In these cases, a product specialist or consultant is brought in, to help make the decision. The more the technological complexity of the product, the more important is the role of the consultant. Hence in Industrial products the TA would definitely have to be these Consultants and Specialists who tend to Influence Buying Decisions.
Precisely defining the TA is extremely important for all businesses, but it is crucial to SME’s, their Marketing budgets being quite low. Here, Less has to do More.
This will help in structuring the Message and deciding on its Medium and Communication.
Perhaps the above will be illustrated with the following example:
A few days ago a friend sought my help to market, what he felt, was a very important message - to Society at large or at least to users of motor vehicles. The message enumerated the Benefits of following Traffic Discipline and Traffic Rules. These benefits were listed out in the form of
1) less Down time of vehicles in the form of Repairs as a result of accidents
2) less cost of litigation and Repairs
Better and more pleasant service to the customers of these fleets
3) This was to be a seminar of about half a day reasonably priced and with good quality Message and its Delivery.
The only problem here seemed to be the definition of the TA.
My friend had identified his TA as the middle class and upper middle class population of a popular Metro. This he advertised in a leading daily, but did not get the desired response. We discussed this at length and redefined the TA as owners of fleets of cars or buses who would better peruse the benefits of the Seminar.
Having thus redefined the TA then the Marketing Strategy has also been reworked and the product has a much better chance of success.
Milind Vartak
www.valueaddservices.com
The actual process of buying is preceded by a Latent Need for the product or product category per se. This need has to mature into a want and this usually happens by external factors of changing lifestyles, changing disposable incomes and so on.
The want then, must be backed by
(a) The ability to purchase
(b) The willingness to purchase.
This set of people is really the Target Audiences (TA) or Target Market for that class of products. In all products the TA is addressed or communicated to, directly, as well as through influencers and persuaders. For example, in product categories like chocolates and toys, although the actual buyer is the parent the influencer and consumer is the child. Hence, most of the times the Marketing Message is directed at the child - obvious influencer of the buying decision. The child, who is the major influencer in the buying process, becomes the TA. This is a classic case of identifying accurately, the Target Market.
In Industrial Products usually the consumer and or the customer does not make the buying decision. In these cases, a product specialist or consultant is brought in, to help make the decision. The more the technological complexity of the product, the more important is the role of the consultant. Hence in Industrial products the TA would definitely have to be these Consultants and Specialists who tend to Influence Buying Decisions.
Precisely defining the TA is extremely important for all businesses, but it is crucial to SME’s, their Marketing budgets being quite low. Here, Less has to do More.
This will help in structuring the Message and deciding on its Medium and Communication.
Perhaps the above will be illustrated with the following example:
A few days ago a friend sought my help to market, what he felt, was a very important message - to Society at large or at least to users of motor vehicles. The message enumerated the Benefits of following Traffic Discipline and Traffic Rules. These benefits were listed out in the form of
1) less Down time of vehicles in the form of Repairs as a result of accidents
2) less cost of litigation and Repairs
Better and more pleasant service to the customers of these fleets
3) This was to be a seminar of about half a day reasonably priced and with good quality Message and its Delivery.
The only problem here seemed to be the definition of the TA.
My friend had identified his TA as the middle class and upper middle class population of a popular Metro. This he advertised in a leading daily, but did not get the desired response. We discussed this at length and redefined the TA as owners of fleets of cars or buses who would better peruse the benefits of the Seminar.
Having thus redefined the TA then the Marketing Strategy has also been reworked and the product has a much better chance of success.
Milind Vartak
www.valueaddservices.com
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Core Values of Personality Development
Hi! I am Milind. After observing closely the potential that Gen Next is displaying, I wish to employ my experience to help them enhance their personas and optimise their talents.
After tiding over some difficult times, and having done well in terms of academic achievement and corporate success, I believe that my understanding of the professional environment will go a long way in polishing young talent. What is remarkable about personality is that you can keep sprucing it up eternally. Age is no barrier to give your personality a make over, and the more self esteem you have, the better will be your self confidence to radiate a self-assured personality. Today, appearances are often considered the whole and soul of developing a strong personality. Unfortunately though, in business, the old adage `never judge a book by its cover` still holds good, and apart from an external façade, what goes into building a positive persona is:
1) Confidence.
2) The ‘Never say Die’ spirit
3) High self esteem.
4) The Ability to succeed in face of adversity.
5) No worry about criticism from others, and
6) An ability to back yourself.
People like Richard Branson have succeeded by equipping themselves with an abundance of these. Vijay Mallya too was criticised when he ventured into the F1 business, however a never say die spirit and an ability to back himself, got him a podium finish vindicating his decisions.
Milind Vartak
www.valueaddservices.com
After tiding over some difficult times, and having done well in terms of academic achievement and corporate success, I believe that my understanding of the professional environment will go a long way in polishing young talent. What is remarkable about personality is that you can keep sprucing it up eternally. Age is no barrier to give your personality a make over, and the more self esteem you have, the better will be your self confidence to radiate a self-assured personality. Today, appearances are often considered the whole and soul of developing a strong personality. Unfortunately though, in business, the old adage `never judge a book by its cover` still holds good, and apart from an external façade, what goes into building a positive persona is:
1) Confidence.
2) The ‘Never say Die’ spirit
3) High self esteem.
4) The Ability to succeed in face of adversity.
5) No worry about criticism from others, and
6) An ability to back yourself.
People like Richard Branson have succeeded by equipping themselves with an abundance of these. Vijay Mallya too was criticised when he ventured into the F1 business, however a never say die spirit and an ability to back himself, got him a podium finish vindicating his decisions.
Milind Vartak
www.valueaddservices.com
The Changing Face of Industrial Marketing
I have been a part of the Industrial Marketing sphere for over 22 years. While I have been at the epicentre of the technological revolution that has beset the techniques of Industrial Marketing, but the fact that the underlying principles have remained eternal has not escaped notice. Accurate market segmentation, identification of key customers, approaching them and convincing them about the utility of your products are age old principles which have remained unchanged over the last couple of decades. And I believe these will not change over the next few decades either!
In the year 1997 I planned the launch of an alternator employing Italian technology. By segmenting the market, we identified that alternators were bought by packagers of Gensets, primarily operating from major cities like Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune.
These packagers were loyal to well known brands that were at the zenith of their popularity. Key consultants were specifying these brands for a number of years and they needed solid reasons to change to our brand.
Our alternator had cost effective technology and materials –hence they could be priced below the then market leaders. It was important to quickly establish our quality perception to specifiers and buyers, so I put together an effective documentary, which contained details of the manufacturing processes and key offerings of the brand.
We also held seminars at each of these major cities - and the factory was running to full capacity within just six months of the launch!
Of course, this marketing strategy was also well complemented by excellent after sales service and efficient customer follow up, so that my Industrial Marketing plan was very well executed.
Today the mantra of a new product launch is much the same for Industrial products.
More recently I helped launch an elite Lighting product which is an LED based paving stone. Here too I identified that this product was extremely high end, and could be specified by very high end Lighting designers and Landscape consultants.
We performed the market segmentation and key customer identification operations.
This time, an attractive e-brochure was designed employing latest technology tools and quickly e-mailed to the customer data base we had collated. The response from most of these customers has been extremely encouraging and my client is already in business.
Technology has greatly reduced the time taken to market an Industrial product – yet the fundamentals of marketing are essentially the same, and a comprehensive understanding of these fundamentals can go a long way in creating a good market for your business.
Milind Vartak
www.valueaddservices.com
In the year 1997 I planned the launch of an alternator employing Italian technology. By segmenting the market, we identified that alternators were bought by packagers of Gensets, primarily operating from major cities like Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune.
These packagers were loyal to well known brands that were at the zenith of their popularity. Key consultants were specifying these brands for a number of years and they needed solid reasons to change to our brand.
Our alternator had cost effective technology and materials –hence they could be priced below the then market leaders. It was important to quickly establish our quality perception to specifiers and buyers, so I put together an effective documentary, which contained details of the manufacturing processes and key offerings of the brand.
We also held seminars at each of these major cities - and the factory was running to full capacity within just six months of the launch!
Of course, this marketing strategy was also well complemented by excellent after sales service and efficient customer follow up, so that my Industrial Marketing plan was very well executed.
Today the mantra of a new product launch is much the same for Industrial products.
More recently I helped launch an elite Lighting product which is an LED based paving stone. Here too I identified that this product was extremely high end, and could be specified by very high end Lighting designers and Landscape consultants.
We performed the market segmentation and key customer identification operations.
This time, an attractive e-brochure was designed employing latest technology tools and quickly e-mailed to the customer data base we had collated. The response from most of these customers has been extremely encouraging and my client is already in business.
Technology has greatly reduced the time taken to market an Industrial product – yet the fundamentals of marketing are essentially the same, and a comprehensive understanding of these fundamentals can go a long way in creating a good market for your business.
Milind Vartak
www.valueaddservices.com
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