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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Stay Poor, stay Dangerous

Stockpiling Nuclear Weapons is not The Solution to Pakistan’s Problems

The nation founded by Mohammad Ali Jinnah is hardly doing any justice to his vision, for it is busy stockpiling more nuclear weapons than what India has in a rat race of South Asian nations. David Albright, President of the Institute for Science and International Security, has predicted that Pakistan’s nuclear warheads have crossed the 100 mark, compared to India’s stockpile, estimated to be between 60 to 90. Pakistan had 30 to 60 weapons in its arsenal in 2007.

Pakistan is among a few countries rapidly increasing their nuclear warheads despite economic vulnerabilities and social stigmas. Why is Pakistan doing this? There are diverse reasons for that. Firstly, insecurity – it constantly wants to be in the limelight for being among the most important players in world diplomacy; and nukes apparently play up the importance level (aka Russia). Secondly, having more nukes means being perceived as more unstable; the result – US gets involved more and greases the palms of Pakistani military and political personnel more handsomely to control them! Thirdly, to be perceived as the leader of the Muslim world. This is the below the line objective of the Pakistani establishment as currently, Saudi Arabia is miles ahead in this regard.

Read more...

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

How 2 Build a Mega Brand

While new brands keep coming in & disrupting market dynamics, the mega brands continue to stand tall. What is the secret of their legendary immunity?

Marketing

Adlai Ewing Stevenson II was one of the most intellectual and dynamic leaders that the American political sphere ever saw, and his tongue-in-cheek opinions on the US political scenario are legendary. He once commented, “In America, anyone can become president. That’s one of the risks you take!” It’s hard to disagree on both counts, considering some of the historic wins in recent US presidential elections and also the kind of burden the US President has to take on the domestic as well as the global front. Well, Adlai wasn’t one of them who went the distance, despite making three presidential bids as a Democrat. The essence of the statement rings a bell in the world that we see today – a world of opportunity where everyone can realistically look at the possibility of making it big in life. The explosion of channels and content in our own TV industry and the number of options that it provides common, yet talented people have to be famous – singing, dancing, cooking, anything that qualifies as talent (India’s Got Talent), exchanging moms, staying in a house for months incommunicado with the rest of the world, speaking the truth, adventure sports, quiz shows, testing your partner’s loyalty – says much on that.

A similar scenario presents itself in business, especially after the varying degrees of globalisation that countries have got themselves into. While all the talk of change, dynamism, uncertainty and disruptive forces gives sleepless nights to CEOs of top organisations globally, these very forces are incubators for numerous new business opportunities. One can in fact be led into believing that creating mega brands in a span of a few years isn’t an improbable task anymore. Consider the technology industry. Microsoft is 36 years old, and took at least 20-25 years before it was recognised as a brand phenomenon globally. Apple received funding from Microsoft in the late 1990s in order to survive, but is far ahead in terms of mcap ($355.35 billion) as compared to Microsoft ($215.27 billion) as on December 15, 2011. Google, the disruptive force that shook the net and Microsoft too, is just 13 years old. It started dominating the search market within years of its launch and became a trailblazer on the NASDAQ a few months after its IPO in August 2004 (current mCap of $200.18 billion). Google won on search, but lost out on social networking to Facebook, a company that is 8 years old and touted as the next big wave. While it’s not listed yet, its mcap is already being estimated at around $80-100 billion. What’s more, consider Zynga, which makes most of the games for Facebook (remember Farmville?). It will be listed by the time this magazine comes to print and is initially valued at $7.6-8.9 billion (it’s just over 4 years old).

But across all possible market disruptions, destructions and recreation, life for the so-called ‘mega brands’ doesn’t change much. The Interbrand 2011 survey that lists the top 100 global brands after a rigorous market survey and analysis, had only three new entrants as compared to 2010 (the list for 2010 had 11 new entrants while that for 2009 had 7). More interestingly, the top ten ranks remained unchanged for 2011 as compared to 2010 except for Apple, which moved in from 17 to 8 and replaced Nokia, which dropped from 8 to 14. The 4Ps B&M Power Brands survey for 2011 lists the top 100 brands in the Indian market after a comprehensive research and shortlisting from an initial list of 1360. The Indian market is far more dynamic in comparison. Yet, when you see the composition of the list, legacy brands occupy 65% of the positions! Legendary marketing guru Al Ries comments to 4Ps B&M, “The sole differentiating factor for a valuable brand is leadership.”

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM in the league of best management institutes of India.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
Planman Technologies

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Rearrange leadership

Right time for a younger set of congressmen

When trust dies, there’s only anger. When a nation is pissed off, the last thing you need is advertising. What Congress needs is more acts, not ads. Reviving a brand that’s falling from grace calls for serious re-engineering of the product. Rearranging the pieces requires years of renewed commitment and total dedicated action. Deeds, not words, should be the way forward.

Re-engineer the leadership: To start with, Congress needs to rearrange its leadership team. The time is right for a younger set of Congressmen. The uncles and the grand uncles should make way for youngsters who have a clean chit. It’s a question of credibility. Who can people trust? The senior party members believe that Rahul Gandhi is ‘the most trusted leader in India’. This is also a popular opinion. People want to see more youth involved in politics and Gandhi seems to connect with the masses. In a country as young as India, he stands a good chance of mobilizing the youth.

Dialogue or die: The next step is dialogue. Congress needs to listen to the voices of the nation – especially the regions. It calls for a an open mind and a willingness to listen to the real issues and not just party politics and power play. Greater dialogue will create new conversations which will kickstart a greater following. The Congress should use new digital media, online and the Internet as platforms for exchange. Facilitating conversation is of immediate importance. This is not about votes, this is about understanding and approval.

Rise above the recency effect: The third step is perspective. The Congress party is over 100 years old. How do you get people to see the good that the party has done in the last so many years. Public memory is short. Reminding people by drawing patterns of the good will set a foundations for the Congress to build on. You need to do this again and again. It’s a human when you accept fault with humility and ask people to look beyond the recent unfortunate events at Congress’ vital and thriving heritage. Remind them where their roots and values come from.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM in the league of best management institutes of India.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
Planman Technologies

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

"Traditional media still rules”

Unlike in the west, in India, print, TV & radio still remain the most critical areas for media buyers to focus on. Digital media is still in its infancy.

With income and consumption on a rise in the Indian market, the role of a media buying agency has also been evolving. Would you agree?

Surely. Media has evolved from the traditional forms of Print, Outdoor, Television & Radio to include Digital, Mobile and the Internet. This is because the consumer today enjoys content and entertainment across a multitude of channels and devices. Thus, it has become important for media buying agencies to acknowledge this change in mindset of the consumer & further equip themselves to correctly target and effectively reach out to newer platforms.

It has been noticed that in the developed West, consumers have moved to electronic and modern media. While in a developing nation like India, we are still very much into print and radio. What kind of a message does this have for media buying agencies?

Rightly put. In the West, Print has shown a considerable decline in circulation as a majority of the readership has shifted to digital mediums where the monetisation of such content has posed a challenge. Western media buying agencies have therefore transferred their skill sets to encompass digital as one of their strong growth drivers and have begun to rely lesser on traditional media forms of Print & Radio.

However, with a developing nation like India, Print still commands a lion’s share of the readers and advertisers in the country. Such a disparity exists primarily because print and other traditional media are still on the rise. This growth is because of demographic factors of growing literacy, language diversity & vast outreach. Thus in a country like India, media buyers have to concentrate on Print, Radio and TV, besides other emerging mediums.

So you mean that Digital Media still has a long way to go before it can become a strong force in the Indian market?

Yes. Digital media promises much in India, though, it is still at a very nascent stage, when compared to other established traditional media forms. However, every brand advertiser recognises the promise and potential of digital and is slowly testing the digital waters by allocating a small but significant part of their entire budget to digital. In response, media buying agencies have started to further focus on recruiting talent with both quantitative and creative skills – to actually service the digital domain properly.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

We’ve got two flats!

This year’s festive season is crucial for the fuel price & interest rate battered Indian automotive industry. But will the festivities lift the mood?

After Maruti Suzuki pushed the iconic Ambassador and Padmini out of the picture in the mid-80s, the Indian consumer graduated from a two-wheeler to a four-wheeler with just one practically available choice – the 796cc hatchback Maruti 800. However, due to the huge demand and limited production, consumers had to wait for months before they could get themselves behind the wheel. And unlike today’s scenario, if the consumer got the delivery of the vehicle during the auspicious festive season then, it was more out of sheer luck rather than a well organised and efficient marketing set up. The scenario remained the same for almost a decade before the floodgates of economic liberalisation were opened in the early 1990s. Within a few years of the new economic reforms coming into action, Indians were considering various options like Hyundai Santro, Daewoo Matiz, Ford Escort, Opel Astra et al while purchasing a new set of wheels. From just an 800, the Indian consumer was getting spoilt for choice as new names were added to the list during the mid-90s. Names like Hyundai, Ford, General Motors, Toyota et al, were vying for the expanding volumes of the Indian passenger car market.

In fact, during the past two decades of economic liberalisation in India, the automobile industry has come a long way. From a market worth 35,000-40,000 cars every year during the early 80s, the Indian passenger car market is today the 11th largest passenger car market in world selling close to two million passenger cars every year. Going by the estimates of J. D. Power & Associates, India is expected to become one of the three largest automotive markets in the world by 2020. And even as you read this, marketers are gearing up for the busiest phase in the year – the much-awaited festive season.

To lure more consumers in the festive season, carmakers not only launch new products during this season but also offer freebies and hefty discounts. As buyers get the best deals during this period, the festive season becomes a win-win for both marketers and car buyers. However, considering rising fuel prices and interest costs that are a double whammy on car-buying sentiment, how will this festive season fare for marketers in the automobile industry?

RBI has raised interest rates 11 times since March 2010 and petrol prices have gone up by Rs.11 since the beginning of this year, so the overall negative sentiment of consumers is making things worse for marketers. Launches of new products like Maruti Suzuki Swift, Toyota Etios & Liva Diesel, Renault Koleos, Skoda Laura RS, Volkswagen Vento & Polo Breeze have been able to boost demand to an extent but failed to really lift the sentiment of the consumer. “The festive season this year is totally different from what we have seen last year. As the overall mood of the market is negative, this discount season will most probably extend longer than the normal cycle as the inventory level is currently high,” admits Shashank Srivastava, Chief General Manager – Marketing, Maruti Suzuki. As per market reports, discount levels are currently up by 20-25% as compared to last year as the industry is sacrificing margins and eying growth in the festive season. For the April to August period this year, domestic sales of passenger vehicles has registered a figure of 977201 units, a growth of just 1.94% yoy. This is certainly inadequate as compared to growth in production of 8.5% yoy in the same period to reach 1249464 units. Exports, meanwhile, show a different trend, growing by 22.44% yoy to reach 220256 units in the same period (as per SIAM data).

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Even Art and Economics need to Mix & Match!

The Arts Market in India has Grown Manifold over The Past few years. But Unless more Professionalism is brought in, The Benefits will only Reach a Chosen few

“I am deeply ashamed and sorry for my actions,” said Lawrence B. Salander in March 2010 to a judge after confessing that he duped tennis star John McEnroe and many others of $120 million through “bogus art investments.” In October 2010, another American James Mobley was sentenced to five years in federal prison for selling art work purportedly made by Picasso, Dali, and Chagall. On March 24, 2011, the Mexican government confirmed that a Mayan art piece sold for $4 million was nothing but a fake. These in general summarise the pathetic state of the art industry globally, what to talk about India.

It is said that original art, artefacts and paintings that have recognised names behind them are generally independent of currency and economic cycles. Moreover, from the consumer’s point of view, antiques & arts could become an alternative investment proposition as well in terms of status symbol. But the art industry will never be able to reach respectable level in sales unless this industry brings in place extremely stringent processes and rules to ensure that the incidence of fraudulent transactions is done away with. To the benefit of the Indian art market, thankfully, some corporate houses are developing a hitherto hidden penchant for artefacts & paintings. And this penchant actually goes beyond being mere connoisseurs to taking an active business interest. Instances of the same include Godrej Group, RPG Enterprises and Emami Industries. Their interest is not without reason. With a robust economy, a new moneyed class and the energetic participation of young expats, Indians are boosting sales of contemporary Indian art to new highs. Buyers, mostly, comprise the blue eyed boys of India Inc., who buy the work for personal consumption and have no intention for further business with those works. For instance, the collections of Jerry Rao, Chairman of MphasiS BFL Ltd., are visible in the company’s offices worldwide.

The excitement for most of such collectors is palpable in the decor at their homes & offices; and as such, they really don’t focus on proper pricing or on proper insurance. No wonder, apart from public insurance companies, there’s just one insurance company (Tata-AIG), which works on insuring art work. As a result, an adequate pricing mechanism for these masterpieces is yet to be done in India. “I am the best person to decide prices of my paintings, but mostly, my decision is below the market price,” feels Husain.

In addition, trading of art objects in India has been limited to just two metros (New Delhi & Mumbai) and mainly through auction houses. “Most of the time, these auction houses do not have the right basis of valuation and it lacks professionalism,” feels Surajit Hari – a leading photographer, who has done his exhibitions in cities like London and Cairo. Not only that, as per Delhi-based Indian Art Gallery, there are cases where art objects sold in auction houses are sourced from stolen properties.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

The man MLM is counting upon in India

By improving customer awareness, Amway’s India Head expects the MLM concept to pick up soon in India creating enormous opportunities for the company. By Angshuman Paul

William S. Pinckney
MD & CEO, Amway India Enterprises Pvt.Ltd

This company would forever be remembered as a pioneer with respect to two things; firstly for introducing the concept of multi-level marketing in India and secondly for the money back guarantee, the usage of which was relatively unheard of in marketing circles previously. No prize for guessing, we are talking about the $8.4 billion Amway. Present in 88 countries across the globe, the company’s direct selling approach for its products is a legendary case study in the ares of marketing knowledge. And the strategies adopted by William S. Pinckney, MD & CEO, Amway India Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. to overcome all the roadblocks in order to popularise the concept in India is certainly nothing less than a lesson of how to sell to masses. But then, it’s actually his multicultural personality (born in the USA, married to an Australian, his daughter is settled in China, and he is working and living in India) and an experience of almost three decades that has made William understand the versatile Indian buying behaviour and play his cards so successfully.

In 1998, William navigated his way into India to set up Amway’s operations here. One thing that motivated him about India was its people; and on a lighter note, he says, the thing that de-motivated him (to be exact, “scared him”) was Indian food. He recalls, “Me and my wife were actually worried that our waistlines will become thinner due to lack of our own food as we found Indian food very spicy and scary at that point of time.” But that was during his initial years. Over the past ten years, William has developed a hitherto hidden penchant for Indian palate and culture. This was apparent from the idol of Lord Ganesha kept on his table. Later, we also came to know that every year he even gets a pooja done on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. The people and their culture have truly attracted William and he claims to be very much familiar with the consumer-psyche of this country. However, he admits that he is still struggling to find an answer to his biggest challenge in India – lack of awareness and interest in consumers about Amway’s products.

Nevertheless, bucked up with his knowledge of Indian consumer behaviour, equipped with his deft strategies and with an investment of Rs.151 crore, William has achieved a turnover of over Rs.1,407 crore for the year ended 2009. Moreover, with a team of 450 people and seven contract manufacturers, Amway India is now manufacturing all the products within the country. But William has bigger plans for this country as he says, “We have our own manufacturing plants in the US, China and now in India also. We plan to source our products from these countries to the rest of the world, and thus would be investing more in India.”

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM in the league of best management institutes of India.....
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

Monday, March 21, 2011

A BILLION USER DREAM

HE BOASTS INDIGENOUS TECHNOLOGY, AND BELIEVES ON THE SAME TO BRING IN A REVOLUTION OF ITS KIND. ALOK SINGH, CEO, NOVATIUM SOLUTIONS PVT LTD, EXPLAINS HOW HE MIGHT MAKE IT POSSIBLE...

Founded in 2004 with a vision to provide “Computing to the next billion users,” Novatium Solutions Pvt Ltd has so far worked towards creating a solution that makes computing simple and affordable by using indigenous technology. And in the process, developed the first generation of truly thin, embedded devices capable of operating on any server platform, be it Windows or Linux, without any change in device (It has been considered as one of the top 4 technology breakthroughs in India by the External Affairs Ministry, Government of India). This clearly explains why the company has as many as 11 global patents to its credit. In an interaction with 4Ps B&M, Alok Singh speaks about the company’s products and strategies, which can play a big role in building a bright future for Novatium.

How do you intend to provide computing “to the next billion”?
The intent behind this vision is to create a solution that will make computing accessible and affordable for the next billion users. In India (and many other developing nations), the current computing solutions are considered to be complex, expensive, and technology focused rather than consumer focused. As a result the common man is kept away from it. So unlike the growth in the mobile and cable sectors, growth of computing and computers has been very slow. Novatium’s innovations have been in the area of providing holistic computing experience that is affordable and easy to use.

Recently, you entered into a strategic tie-up with Bharti Airtel…
We entered into a strategic partnership with Airtel to help expand the broadband market in India. We had launched services for Airtel Broadband customers in Chennai followed by other southern states. Our partnership reinforces the strategic intent to enhance the computing experience for Airtel Broadband subscribers. Novatium’s managed computing service would add to Airtel’s existing portfolio of services that harness the power of cloud computing. The initiative will not only help individuals, but also the business users in saving on recurring costs.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM in the league of best management institutes of India.....

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

PUTTING THE OOMPH IN OLD-AGE HOMES

Varun Gupta, Director, Ashiana Group very candidly claims that their main TG is the affordable segment of the society and talks about the acceptance of assisted living in retirement resorts.

What’s to do with the concept of ‘Assisted Living’ at Ashiana Utsav Retirement Homes? What’s new?
For India, the concept of assisted living is very new, but it’s very popular in the west. People in India associate the word ‘retirement’ with the end of the world. The concept of assisted living is to enable them to live again. Retirement resorts generally have three aspects to it – active living, assisted living and nursing care. Retirement communities are mostly catered to active living where in addition to home and space, very basic services like ambulance on call, gas leakages, et al are provided. At Ashiana Utsav, we assist seniors in their day-to-day living. The current old generations want to live in a dignified manner and our product allows them to feel independent as we provide the requisite infrastructure in terms of security, companionship, and health. Ashiana Utsav has an advanced security system, a hobby club with an activity centre, ambulance-on-call service with regular health check-ups, et al. For senior citizens, the need to be active is very important and an activity manager at the location manages various activities, ranging from yoga, gardening, tree plantation, movies, month-end parties, et al.

Does pricing matter in this space? How competitively are you priced vis-a-vis your competitors?
Pricing plays a very important role in real estate as India is a price-sensitive market. Our projects are generally designed for the middle class with prices ranging from Rs.15-40 lakhs. Surely our ticket prices are competitive and suit the affordability index of the consumer. As per market dynamics, we look at per square foot price and the ticket size before deciding the prices of our products. We are targeting middle income groups which differ city-wise and location-wise depending upon their affordability. As opposed to other players in the market, we price our products from the end user perspective and not from the perspective of speculators or investors. For us, affordability is the biggest criteria for pricing and we want to remain in the range of Rs.15-40 lakhs.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

Monday, November 15, 2010

WILL YOU HOME SHOP?

The idiot box has given birth to yet another idea in the form of ‘home shopping’; but with the Indian psyche of touch & feel shopping ruling big, the test is getting tougher

But despite cerebral numbing statistics, home shopping industry’s journey hasn’t been easy and will be tougher. The problem here is from the consumer end: Indians are known to embrace experiential buying habits (they touch & feel the product when they purchase one). With home shopping, this touch and feel factor is missing. “Two years back, there was no credibility associated with this medium. Barcode is something that is considered credible. So we decided to pick the colors from our logo and put them in the barcode, so that the product looks more authentic” says Malhotra. He sounds convinced about the business model; most Indians still aren’t.

There is a challenge on the supplier end too: it’s hard to convince manufacturers to sell their products through this platform. Manufacturers want to sell their products through a channel, which gives consumers an experience and therefore has a longer lasting influence on their memories. “Cameras fall into the category of products that consumers want to experience. For example, a consumer may not understand the difference between a 10 megapixel and a 5 megapixel camera, unless he actually tries it in person. This is where home shopping channels can’t help. No doubt they are educative, but they lack where it matters the most. It’s a bad idea,” says Alok Bhardwaj, Sr. VP, Canon India.

However, there are those who are willing to ride the new bus. For instance, a trade like insurance, which needs much convincing on the part of the seller, is now finding its way into the home shopping biz. Last month, Home Shop 18 tied up with Bajaj Allianz for the distribution of Bajaj Allianz’s insurance services. Paritosh Joshi, CEO, Star CJ, tells us, “There are certainly many MNCs that have successfully used home shopping as a critical distribution channel in other geographies and see STAR CJ Alive’s entry as the beginning of a new chapter in the Indian shopping landscape. However, STAR CJ Alive is also building partnerships among strong, home-grown brands for whom home shopping is an altogether new, and little understood distribution model.”