disclaimers

I am going to start this one with disclaimers... they usually come at the end,but I am covering myself amply! So read on!
All references are to an abstract entity- I am still finding out what! They have no relationship to anything I know....
Khelo? Jeeyo? Hey ho? I went across to the search engine to find out the meaning. And in the process also to connect with the esoteric lyrics; I am a commoner!
And there were people who said this is a chinese invasion. Others said they wanted the british raj back! Yet others said this is a class apart. And more said that they would rewrite history.... or did they say that this is history rewritten?
Tongue in cheek and finger on my lips, I just read- and tried to figure out what they are talking about, why they are talking about...
When I understand and am able to form my own opinion, I will come back- watch out sometime soon!

the too late factor

All I am trying to say is, make a decision before its too late!

What could have been, 20 years ago, is actually very different when revisited and reviewed after 20 years. What you thought 20 years ago maybe very different from the way you think about 20 years ago, now.See the difference- you thought- you think- separated by 20 years of experience!

Along the way for those 20 years, there have been a number of impacts and influences that may have changed the way you think now - gestalt i think we call it in psychology, when an analysis or decision or impression is influenced by things which have happened around the decision maker or in the immediate environs....

So think forward more often than backward and do what you think is right at the moment with, at best a medium term view or bias- don't think too long term.... unless there is a mathematical exponent to the exercise.

Too much deliberation often leads to stagnation.You get pulled back by the past, and weighed down by the uncertainties of the future.And at times, it maybe too late!

Of course, you must learn to differentiate between the imperative and the non imperative and accordingly procrastinate a decision or review the past. For me, a career decision is imperative while buying clothes is often non imperative. It can be too late to decide on a career move, though it may never be too late to buy clothes....NO, this sounds flippant. I have different rules for the imperative and the non imperative, actually.

I think what I am trying to put forward here is that priortising the action is often the key to optimal action planning. Your career decision comes first, and buying clothes comes way below- they are two ends of the scale, I think. So do not be too late to make a decision about your career; clothes can wait!

Coming back to 'the too late factor', to sum it in one line, do not let any past experiences or future influences impact your decision in such a way and for so long that it becomes too late for the decision to be meaningful.

Go right each time!

This is not academic- nor am I trying to create a thumb rule. I am just talking through experience, which has taught me to think inwardly in order to convince myself before getting into any activity whatsoever.

The document relates to three kinds of marketing and communication tools
1. Events
2. Promos
3. Public Relations

It deals with the following must dos:
• Rationalize participation
• Clarify objective
• Select occasions
• Judge impact on the brand through the exercise
• Analyse what participation entails
• Examine cost benefit analysis
• Necessitate and work out accurate logistics
• Stress on perfect coordination with various participants/stakeholders, both internal and external
• Ensure post analysis right after

The post analysis forms the most important part of any activity - is it worth a repeat? What did we gain by it?

The entire set of guidelines is in the form of questions you ask yourself before taking a plunge- with some advantages and limitations whenever required - it is totally hands on, and covers from concept to execution.

There is one aspect that we constantly need to bear in mind while using these communication tools. They will never be used in isolation, or under ideal situations. Other things will also never remain the same- it is a dynamic situation.
So we must ensure that there is harmony, and cohesion- we must never stray from the broad objective for that period. We can certainly use more than one tool or all tools at a time.

EVENTS

• Rationalize participation

 Is this what we really need at this time?
 Does this address my target audience?
 Is the timing right?
 Does it conflict with any other activity I am doing?
 Are my partners trustworthy- organisers and suppliers?

• Clarify objective

 What am I trying to achieve with this event?
 Am I looking at an event with mass appeal, or am I looking at niched TA?
 Am I trying to build brand with this activity?
 Either ways, am I confident that it is in line with my objective?
 If I put myself in my customers’ shoes, do I think I will like the experience?
 If no, then, what shall we do to make it appealing, and objective driven?
 Can we talk to the organizers to modify it?
 What kind of spend am I looking at?

• Select occasions / events which are identifiable with the brand

 Does this event tie in with my brand personality?
 Are my brand values reflected in this activity?
 Who are the other participants?
 How has competition responded to the proposal that the organizer may have presented to them?
 Do I want to be seen with the other brands which are a part of this exercise?
 If not, can I not wait for another more befitting event to come my way, or else, create one?

• Judge impact on the brand through the exercise

 Will this impact my brand favourably?
 With which other brands would I be rubbing shoulders?
 Are they of good stature and reputation?
 Are there any conflicting brands?
 What status does my brand have in the event?
 Am I being seen in the right forum?
 What is it that is making my participation different from others?

• Analyse what participation entails

 How much money would I be spending?
 What am I getting in return?
 Can I look at this as a PR opportunity?
 Will I be able to mobilize internal resources for this activity- are they not tied up elsewhere?
 Have I checked with other participating departments on their consent and help?

• Examine cost benefit analysis

 Basis the money I am spending, am I getting the mileage?
 What am I gaining- market share, revenues, acquisition, retention, visibility, image, brand salience, or what?

• Necessitate and work out accurate logistics

 Have I detailed out every task in the process note and run it through all departments which will be taking part in this exercise?
 Have I modified it according to their inputs?
 Have I nominated the team leader and the team?
 Am I working with an event agency?
 If I am, have I seen and approved all communication material material for the event?

• Stress on perfect coordination with various participants/stakeholders, both internal and external

 Have I taken approval for budgets and concept before going ahead?
 Have I made my points amply clear to the organizers as well as to my team members?
 Am I clear about the operational details and logistics? Have I closed all gaps?
 Have I documented the details, and stated specific instructions?
 Am I briefed on the progress by the team leader or first person responsible at predecided intervals?

• Post analysis

 Did the event go off well?
 How was the branding onsite?
 How were the media releases?
 Was it executed to perfection as per plan?
 If not, what were the gaps?
 Whom did the gaps impact?
 Did our TA turn up?
 Was it received well by the TA?
 Was the event the talk of the town?
 Coverage in news papers?
 What can I recommend to make it better and more effective?
 Can we do this sort of activity again?




ADVANTAGES

 Events provide high brand visibility
 They are capable of providing value plus to the existing service if handled well
 They are a sought after tool for customer satisfaction, esp here in Gujarat.

LIMITATIONS

 Impact of any event on TOMs is very shortlived
 It is expensive, and requires massive logistics and coordination
 It never translates into direct sales- always has an intangible impact


PROMOTIONS

• Rationalize participation

 Is the market ready to accept a promotion?
 Will it impact my bottomline favourably?
 Is the market stable/unstable?
 Will my promo stand out, or will it be lost in the clutter?
 What is the nature of the promo I want to do?
 What is our business objective?
 Is the promo helping me realize the business objective?

• Clarify objective

 What am I looking for- acquisition, retention, revenue growth through enhanced usage, or all?
 What is the target category I am looking at? Customers ( what segment, i e youth, corporates, general, etc) / channel?
 What is the percentage enhancement in revenues/user base that I hope to achieve through this promo?

• Select occasions

 Is another partner with a similar target audience available for a tie up?
 Or am I looking at a price driven promo?
 How can we create a win win situation?
 What is competition doing?
 Can I create a ripple with a bang on idea, as against following the market trend?
 Do I have the capacity to think out of the box?
 Will the partners, beneficiaries be happy with this promo?
 Will it induce them to buy, or be more loyal to us?

• Judge impact on the brand through the exercise

 How will this promo help me in enhancing brand recall?
 Will it tie in with my brand values- e g the good life?

• Analyse what participation entails

 What kind of monies are available for this promo?
 Can I run this promo on this money without cutting corners?
 Are my partners reliable?
 Have I worked out sound logistics ?
 Is this exercise mutually beneficial- or is my partner twisting my arm?

• Examine cost benefit analysis

 Basis the money I am spending, are my returns assured?
 Is the investment of mandays justified?

• Necessitate and work out accurate logistics

 Have I clearly defined content and activity, broken up into tasks?
 Have I defined a team, and each member’s responsibility?
 Have I got due approval from the heads?
 Have I ensured feedback system so critical for the promo?

• Stress on perfect coordination with various participants/stakeholders, both internal and external

 Have I taken approval for budgets and concept before going ahead?
 Have I made my points amply clear to the organizers as well as to my team members?
 Am I clear about the operational details and logistics? Have I closed all gaps?
 Have I documented the details, and stated specific instructions?
 Am I briefed on the progress by the team leader or first person responsible at predecided intervals?

• Post analysis right after

 By how much did sales increase with the promo? Did we meet with our projections?
 Was the execution glitch free?
 Did we have the support of all participants?
 Can we evaluate the feedback qualitatively?
 Could we capture customer profiles in order to assess the quality of participation?
 Did the market compare simultaneous promos from competitors?
 Can we modify the promo to make it more effective?
 Can we run a similar promo again?


ADVANTAGES

 A well executed promo has the capacity to enhance sales substantially
 It is a controlled exercise, and therefore execution can be optimized

LIMITATIONS

 The prevalent trend of BOGOF (buy one get one free), freebies, etc has spoilt the market, exhorting customers to ask for more each time
 Excessive promotions may cheapen the product
 Also, promos with lesser brands may also position our product in the wrong perspective
 Logistics need to be very clearly defined in order to make the promo successful


PUBLIC RELATIONS ( Essentially media outreach. Here, we deem media as important influencers)

• Rationalize participation

 What is it that we can say to our stakeholders through a public relations exercise?
 Will it impact my organisation’s image favourably?
 Do I have a set of key messages for sharing with media?
 Do they embody the business objectives, the core values, the desired positioning, the brand personality, attributes?
 Will my key message stand out, or will it be lost in the clutter?
 What is the kind of media I am looking for and why?(There are wire services, mainlines, business dailies, vernaculars, lifestyle media, corporate magazines, news magazines, periodicals, entertainment, fashion, technology journals in print media. There are similar segments in broadcast and electronic media too)

• Clarify objective

 Why do I want a PR exercise?
 Is it a major corporate announcement, a product launch, senior appointments, financial news, strategic alliances, an update, a CEO visit, what?
 What is the target category of media I am looking at, corresponding with my needs?
 What do I want to tell them? ( Each of the occasions demands a set of focused messages, with the common key messages’ thread running through in terms of core values, brand personality, desired positioning and customer orientation)

• Select occasions

 Is it fair to have a press conference for this announcement?
 Or will a media briefing of select journalists do?
 Perhaps we can just get away with two or three good detailed interviews and a statewide/national press release to all others?
 Or simply a press release?
 What does my agency say?
 Have they prepared a briefing dossier for the occasion
 Is this news good for the public?
 Will they receive it well?
 What is it that will make them sit up and say wow!?
 How can I build it up to make it more value loaded?
 I have to deliver whatever is announced - is that possible?

• Judge impact on the brand through the exercise

 How will this PR exercise help me in enhancing brand equity?
 Will the readers respond with queries, interest in the announcement?

• Analyse what participation entails

 Who will be the spokesperson?
 How will we prepare him with statements and usable data?
 What are the salient points that the spokesperson needs to know?
 Are we doing a presentation to media?
 Will we encourage a Q & A? On phone or e mail?
 What is the PR Agency’s role?

• Examine cost benefit analysis

 The monies involved are negligible except when we have a press conference
 Is the PR Agency worth their retainer?

• Necessitate and work out accurate logistics

 Have I clearly defined content and activity, broken up into tasks?
 Have I defined a team, and each member’s responsibility?
 Have I got due approval from the heads?
 Have I briefed participating teams? (esp Customer Care who get a lot of calls whenever any announcements are made)
 Have I ensured a coverage tracking system with the agency?

• Stress on perfect coordination with various participants/stakeholders, both internal and external

 Have I taken approval for budgets before going ahead?
 Have I briefed the PR Agency thoroughly?
 Have I made my points amply clear to the agency and to my team members?
 Am I clear about the operational details and logistics? Have I closed all gaps?
 Have I documented the details, and stated specific instructions?
 Am I briefed on the progress by the agency or first person responsible at predecided intervals?

• Post analysis right after

 What was the coverage we received?
 What media covered us?
 Was it in line with the nature of the news we disseminated ?
 How was the (KMD) key message delivery?
 Have I created a spreadsheet to capture coverage details?
 Has the agency proactively faxed me the coverage daily?
 Has the agency followed up for staggered coverage?
 Have I ultimately got a compiled dossier for records of the activity?

ADVANTAGES

 Focussed messaging results in enhancing brand equity, building positive public opinion, and desired image building
 Press release coverage should necessarily coincide with the advt campaign, to make the entire communication very effective
 Editorial coverage serves as an endorsement which an advertisement can never do
 Public Relations esp media relations touch the stakeholders directly, making the interaction more meaningful
 Media are important influencers and can create positive hype when handled expertly

LIMITATIONS

 Often, media tends to distort facts, create sensations- we need to be very careful about our media interaction
 The media spokesperson in every organization needs to be clear and crisp, with all media interactions planned well in advance, and statements vetted internally before giving it to press
 The entire exercise needs to be balanced, an overdose can be lethal( take the case of Microsoft where every small movement was reported because of their flamboyance, and public opinion impacted negatively)



STEPS FOR SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION OF AN IDEA

 Generate idea
 Discuss with carefully selected external partners / agency if any on the possibility- broach cautiously
 Throw it open for internal discussion (mktg) through a preliminary concept note
 Take inputs, refine, create detailed concept note with budgets
 Talk internally with participating divisions, e g Technical, IT, Product, F & A, Customer Care, etc to check on possibility of system support, F & A intervention
 Flesh out the concept, create detailed note for approval, complete with team, responsibilities, process, financial implications, timelines.
 Seek approval of Department Heads
 Assign responsibilities, update schedules, WIP meetings, create formats.
 Proceed as per timelines, coordinate with each team member on progress
 Keep participating partners in the loop
 Complete execution
 Create summary report
Create detailed report with analyses and recommendations

when i get lost!

Hey!

Guess what? we got lost in Bangkok today! and was not nervous.... you know what we did? just went round in a loop turning to the left each time we had to take a call, and returned to where we had started from- finally had to start all over again to reach the destination, but was worth it!

This has always been my mantra- i am quite used to getting lost, but this is how I recover my bearings each time. And the magic solution is not in knowing where to go- but in staying cool and enjoying the ride!

.........and there are dads

……… and then papa, there are dads,
But none like you…
As every wishful father would have his dear daughter say, for him.

But you are not wishful, not vain, not proud of what you have done for us.
But proud, so proud of what we have done for ourselves….just ourselves
Not even for you- for what have we done for you?
Could not even know that you were going? Never to return?

I had seen you walk down those very steps many times
And I was walking down with you then, and you were seeing me off!
You said good bye to me then? But did you stop me?
Did you ask me to see you off?

I had seen you drive out to work…
I had seen you shut the gate and go for a walk,
But never with the finality …..with which you went that day.
You did not even turn to give us a look! You did not move at all!

Papa,
Did you know it would hurt us, so you never told us?
Did you feel sad about leaving us?
Did you feel nothing while going? I wish you felt happy.
I hope you were happy, detaching yourself from this world so full of maya
Worthless maya, useless emotion
All wasted…. Where are you now?
Hope well …. And happy…..
We want you to be happy always. Always, papa.

We are the proudest children you can imagine
You are a celebration of fatherhood, absolute dedication, papa
And just now, when we see our mother- we see you in her.
Her strength- her bravery, are all your gifts to her.
In her, you live.
And we know you continue to be with her.

But papa, did you really have to go,
To make us realize how much we love you?

shocking insight!

For someone so straightforward and not so full-of-frills as Sanjiv, my husband, it was simply a piece of brilliance. He summed up our life together in three basic time frames- the 0-25 years spent with parents, the 25-50 years that we will soon clear with flying colours and the grace of God, and the 50-75 years that we will enter to discover an extended piece of good luck and blessings if we gun for the next term which is 75 and above!
Years 25-50 have simply blinked us by- either we are fiercely in love or we are just not conscious about how time has passed while we have been busy. It is also possible that we do not want to admit that we are growing old! But we cannot have 22 and 20 year old children at 25 can we? Its difficult to find a reason for the fact that we have arrived at the second threshold all too soon…. To my mind it seems that we have been in so many places for short periods of time that we have simply forgotten how to count or keep track of time - had we stayed on in one place perhaps, it would have been different- we would have kept track of time and understood the meaning of living together for 25 years , and bringing up children too. What happened when and how invites the magic answer- we don’t know- it just happened! In bits and pieces, in spurts and jitters, amidst happiness and sorrow, peals and sobs, the years silently slipped by, maybe roared by, time was unobtrusive, always in the background and life seems so short now!And so much to accomplish!
Happiness is what happiness does. It makes me look all fresh and glowing, it makes Sanjiv smile without a reason- seldom have I heard him laughing out loud- when he is really happy he has this full laugh that shows up his perfect teeth so beautifully. Happiness also makes me look at my babies with wonder- are they really mine- these two beautiful specimens of humanity? My eyes cloud over when I am happy- I do so want to cry. For the simple reason that my heart wants to stop and freeze this moment but the moment does not have the time to stop or even heed our call. The moment just goes, and we are lucky to have such precious moments revisit us whenever we start feeling weighed down with the downs!
On why the years have blinked us by, I can attribute another reason- we did not get anything on a plate- we worked towards everything, be it love, wealth, lifestyle, work, whatever….. everything was hard to get, especially the near perfect way we wanted all that everything- it took its time and tried our patience- and the years spent on the effort sped past on wings!
The parting shot to this entire discussion of life in three frames from my really thoughtful husband lingers on in my mind-one of these days I will ask him why he has to dampen my spirits by saying something like the first two frames are near done-the third is about to begin! Well…just for that thought....cheers!