The Daily Indian

Back in India, two relatively unknown and unrelated companies too used price as a fabulously successful weapon to frighten and dislodge existing brand leaders in the 1980s

Rajita Chaudhuri

Let’s now go to the once Imperial capital of the British Empire, Kolkata in the early 1980s. Investors had already started fleeing West Bengal and the city was in seemingly terminal decline. The unchallenged brand leader in the newspaper market in Kolkata was The Statesman, which was the favourite morning tea companion of Kolkata residents for decades. The Ananda Bazaar Group took a huge gamble and decided to launch The Telegraph to compete with The Statesman. Before the latter could shrug off complacency, The Telegraph had used contemporary style, design and better coverage to emerge as the number one newspaper brand in the city. Today, Kolkata has even The Times of India and The Hindustan Times; but it is The Telegraph which is the brand leader while The Statesman is an old and ageing relic of the past.

Sometimes, changes in societies and lifestyles can cause seismic changes in brand hierarchies. For decades, Adidas and Reebok ruled the global sports footwear market; with virtually every athlete participating in the Rome Olympics in 1952 sporting an Adidas. In the United States, Reebok had emerged as the favourite. Then the ‘cultural revolution’ swept across America in the late 1960s and the baby boomers of America started becoming very ’sporty’ and health conscious. In came an unknown brand called Nike that brilliantly rode this new found American love for fitness, jogging and health. Without any doubt, Nike — with its now famous Swish — is the undisputed brand leader in the world. Both Reebok and Adidas have struggled and even merged back in 2005 to be able to compete more effectively. But Nike has not budged from its position as the number one.

Many such brand conquests can also be ascribed to the relentless leveraging and use of one of the key elements of 4Ps — price. In the early 1960s, Bentonville, in the state of Arkansas (the state that gave Bill Clinton to America!), was unknown to most Americans. That was when Sam Walton was quietly fashioning the ultimate retail revolution. Since the early days of Sam Walton, Wal-Mart has relentlessly focused on low prices as the key strategy to lure customers and keep them loyal. When Walton started his legendary career and Wal-Mart, now one of the largest companies in the world, the brand leaders in retail were giants like Sears Roebuck and JCPenney. By the time Wal-Mart was quietly capturing suburban America in the 1970s, Sears Roebuck was attracting attention by building the then tallest building in the world in Chicago in 1975. Today, Sears Roebuck and JCPenney are fading relics of American capitalism while Wal-Mart continues to ruthlessly – and often controversially – use low prices to remain the brand leader.

Back in India, two relatively unknown and unrelated companies too used price as a fabulously successful weapon to frighten and dislodge existing brand leaders in the 1980s. Surf was the reigning brand in the Indian detergent market and had demolished virtually all rivals in the marketplace (P&G entered the Indian market much later in 1992). In came an unknown brand called Nirma that was single mindedly focused on low price. The massive success of Nirma frightened the living daylights out of honchos at Hindustan Levers who fought a rearguard action by launching low cost Nirma rivals like Wheel. Around the same time, an entrepreneur named Gulshan Kumar and his brand T-Series were giving music lovers in India a reason to hum in contentment. The then market leaders HMV and Polydor were used to charging exorbitantly for LP records and cassettes. T-Series sold cassettes for Rs.10 when HMV was selling them for at least Rs.40. T-Series hasn’t looked back since.

Of course, there is that rare occasion when a once formidable brand slips and tumbles and is written off as history – only to re-invent itself and re-emerge as a global powerhouse. You guessed right! I am talking about Apple that was the darling of computer and software lovers and geeks in the 1980s. Apple virtually died as a brand in the 1990s. And then came the iPod! The message is clear for entrepreneurs. You can beat formidable brands. And you can even revive them!

(Rajita Chaudhuri is Dean, Centre for Undergraduate Studies at The Indian Institute of Planning and Management)
Concluded

Formed in 1966, the Shiv Sena slowly moved away from its initial goals and joined hands with the BJP and advocates of Hindutva. One section of Marathi ‘manoos’ (sons of the soil) claimed this made them feel ignored and isolated. The Sena’s philosophies also were a bone of contention for Balasaheb Thackeray’s nephew Raj Thackeray, who eventually quit the party to form the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). “My fight is to give primacy to the Marathi language and the Marathi manoos,” Raj had proclaimed.

He was seemingly good to his word, for there followed a series of violent protests by groups who clearly had fallen for Raj’s rhetoric about the Maharashtrian identity and culture being threatened. These narrow minded groups across the state reacted fanatically to his rabid speeches. Interestingly, later on, in 12 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats that MNS contested, the MNS had at various points taken the lead in 11 assembly constituencies, giving the Shiv Sena-BJP combine the jitters.

Many political watchers expect this “MNS factor” to figure prominently once again in the assembly elections, this given the clear fact that at the moment only the Congress has the strength to put up candidates in all 288 seats. None of the other major parties – the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena – can match the Congress on this count. This is also the view of Ulhasdada Pawar, senior Congress leader and chairman of the Rest of Maharashtra Statutory Development Board. Says Ulhasdada: “The Congress, which is the largest party in Maharashtra, doesn’t need an alliance with the NCP to do this. And though the MNS successfully poached the Shiv Sena-BJP vote bank, especially young voters, it is highly unlikely that it will be able to repeat the feat.”

Ulhasdada attributes the success of MNS to the government’s neglect of the Bhoomiputras (another term for sons of the soil). He is confident that the vote this time round will be for stability —something he feels only the Congress can fully assure.

This is how the major players are placed. The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance is so far intact; and though there is a tussle going on between the Congress and the NCP over seat sharing, it is only for the short-term. Both are aware that the Indian voter is tired of intra-party bickering, and that sense lies in projecting a united front. Shiv Sena spokesperson and deputy leader Neelam Gorhe, however, has a decidedly different take on the matter. According to her the Shiv Sena has only two rivals in the state – the Congress and the NCP. “Backing the MNS will only ensure the return of the Congress-NCP alliance, and nobody wants such a thing to ever happen again.”

The assembly elections are bound to be dominated by mostly local issues. Farmers’ suicides, power outages, skyrocketing prices and online admissions are just some of the issues that the Shiv Sena has taken up. And it has done so in its customarily aggressive manner. Gorhe feels the MNS should consider itself lucky if it wins even five seats.

As for the Third Front led by Ramdas Athavale, its constituents will in all probability contest only in their individual strongholds. It is also rumoured that Sharad Pawar had a major role in the front’s formation. Having flopped at the Centre, Pawar ensured that the front was filled with his own men —for this is the only way he can keep a tab on the Congress.

Senior Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar feels Rahul Dravid’s inclusion after close to two years has added “value” to the ODI team and his experience would come in handy during the tri-series in Sri Lanka and the subsequent Champions Trophy in South Africa.

“It should help the team. He brings in a lot of experience on the table and also a lot of skill. I think his will be good value addition to the team,” Tendulkar said.

Tendulkar said the team is fitter and hungrier after wrapping up a four-day training camp in Bangalore to prepare for the tri-series in Sri Lanka, where New Zealand is the third team.

“The camp has ended on a positive note and the team looks pretty solid and hungry. Sri Lanka is one place which is not very free scoring,” he said.

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj today met expelled party veteran Jaswant Singh and is understood to have demanded that he step down from the post of chairperson of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Jaswant, being the senior-most of the three BJP MPs nominated to the PAC from the party, was appointed the chairperson of the committee. The other two BJP members are Yaswant Sinha and Gopinath Munde.

Party sources said Swaraj, who was accompanied by SS Ahluwalia, discussed the issue of PAC chairmanship at the meeting, the first between any top-rung BJP leader and Jaswant after his expulsion. Jaswant was expelled from the party on August 19 during the BJP Chintan Baithak in Shimla for his remarks in his book Jinnah — India, Partition, Independence.

As per the convention, the chairpersonship of the PAC was given to BJP as it is the main opposition party.

New Delhi: Indian Shuttlers, Jwala Gutta and V Diju scripted a grand win of the Grand Prix Gold in Chinese Taipei on Sunday thus becoming the first Indian mixed doubles pair to seize the feat in Taipei city.

The world number seven Indian pair prevailed 24-22, 21-18 over the Indonesian duo of Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Vita Marissa to achieve the historic feat in Taipei city.

In the first game, the Indian pair opened up a 15-9 but the Indonesian combo staged a comeback to reduce the gap to 15-14. But Jwala and Diju quickly got their act together and prevailed in long rallies to go one up.

The Indonesians started off well in the second game and were leading at 13-9 but this time it was turn Indians’ turn to claw back at make it 15-15. Jwala and Diju then grabbed the lead and sealed the issue in their favour.

Jwala-Diju, the first India mixed doubles pair had reached the quarterfinal of the World Badminton Championship in Hyderabad mid-august, 09. They had also won the Bitburger Open and Bulgarian Open last year.

Badminton Association of India (BAI) President VK Verma said, “This is very good news for India. This is the first time that any doubles pair of India have won a grand prix gold event. They have been doing well and now with this win they have catapulted themselves to be one of the Commonwealth Games medal hopes for the country,” he added.

Aamir Khan, who is spending time with wife Kiran Rao after her miscarriage last month, says his much-awaited ‘3 Idiots’ will hit the screens in December.

‘Vinod (Vidhu Vinod Chopra) and Raju (Raj Kumar Hirani) tell me that the post production on ‘3 Idiots’ is progressing well – so by the time I get back, the cut (final product) will be ready. Which means I can confirm to all those of you who have been repeatedly asking… yes, ‘3 Idiots’ will be releasing on Christmas this year. I’ll see the cut once I get back,’ he wrote on his blog www.aamirkhan.com/blog/.

He didn’t reveal his whereabouts, but informed: ‘Kiran and I are away from home, in one very quiet spot, just lying in and resting. Reading, going for walks, watching films.’

The actor says he is utilising his time to catch up on a few films and books – something that he hasn’t been able to do thanks to his chock-a-block schedules.

‘There are so many films to see, and books to read. One life time is not enough. Books, I read, but films I never get down to seeing.

‘Strange, since, I love cinema so much. It’s not as if I don’t enjoying watching films. I really do, in fact when I watch a film I forget to blink and my eyes start hurting after a while. But for someone who is so steeped in films I have watched pathetically few films in all these years,’ he said.

Aamir is glad that he has finally managed to watch 1994 American film ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, which was recommended to him by many.

‘Just saw ‘(The) Shawshank Redemption’. Had heard so much about this film. It seems to be on a lot of ‘must see’ lists. Really enjoyed it,’ he added.

The Federal Reserve has made $14 billion in profits on loans made in the last two years, The Financial Times reported on Monday, citing officials close to the matter.

The U.S. central bank also earned about $19 billion from interest and fees charged to institutions that tapped liquidity facilities during the global financial crisis, the report said.

If the Fed had invested the same amounted loaned out in three-month Treasury bills since August 2007, it would have earned $5 billion in interest, the FT said.

This estimate excludes company bailouts and purchases of long-term assets as well as unrealized gains or losses on the Fed’s portfolio of mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries purchased as part of the $1.75 trillion asset purchase program.

The Fed was not immediately available for comment on the report.

The U.S. military is cancelling a contract with a public relations firm after coming under criticism for using the company to rate the output of journalists reporting on the Afghanistan war.

The Rendon Group had provided profiles of journalists that rated their output as “positive,” “neutral” or “negative,” although the military said it did not use the ratings to manipulate coverage or deny reporters access to cover the war.

Fewer Americans are afraid that they will be unable to pay for healthcare services and fewer expect to postpone medical treatments due to costs, according to a Thomson Reuters survey published on Monday.

Researchers found a steady increase in people’s confidence about their ability to pay for healthcare services — it rose 12 percent between March and July this year.

Hurricane Jimena, a dangerous Category 4 storm off Mexico’s Pacific Coast, was on track to buffet resorts on the Baja California peninsula on Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Jimena, a small but powerful hurricane that has intensified quickly since it formed early on Saturday, was packing 145 mph winds with higher gusts, and the Mexican government issued a hurricane watch for southern Baja California. A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions are possible with 36 hours.