COVER STORY
Improving Salespersons' Face Time with Customers by Redefining Roles and Responsibilities
-- Kiran Rai
This article is based on interactions with many sales executives of various organizations dealing in products, such as industrial motors, switchgears, cables, wires, pumps, etc., and a detailed study with 15 of them. It explains how an organization can increase the face time of its sales force with customers by identifying various non value-added activities that sales teams perform today, and transferring them to a different set of people who may be better equipped to handle them. A complete "responsibility matrix" is drawn up, showing the suggested roles of sales, logistics and other related departments within the organization.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
BRAND MANAGEMENT
How to Change Your Brand Identity and When
-- Kirit Jasani
It has been seen that numerous brands, especially those of banks, have undergone major cosmetic changes of look and feel in the recent past. Some of them are just imitating the leader and nothing more. But there should be a valid basis for changing one's brand identity, and it is also quite important as to how to communicate those changes to the target audience. These issues are discussed in this article with the help of an example.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
ADVERTISING
Navarasas in Indian Advertising: Their Impact on Consumers
-- Minakshi Chauhan Asopa
One of the important approaches adopted by advertising agencies is to use emotions in advertisements. Consumer emotions have a significant impact on purchase and consumption decisions. Indian tradition typically recognizes nine emotions also known as `navarasas', which are revealed in poetry, music, dance and drama. This article links the emotions used in contemporary Indian advertising to the nine emotions identified in Indian tradition. It also presents the results of a survey that throws light on consumer responses to advertisements based on these emotions.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
MARKETING STRATEGY
New Products and Distribution Channels in Life Insurance
-- M R Karthikeyan
India has a very low life insurance penetration by world standards. This is in spite of the fact that India boasts of an overall savings rate of around 25%. Nonetheless, the liberalization of life insurance has led to the entry of many private companies. The increased competition has resulted in the introduction of innovative products and several new distribution channels for reaching out to customers.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
VALUE CHAIN IN MARKETING
An Encounter of Many Kinds: Value Chain in the Indian Book Publishing Industry
-- A Lakshminarasimha and Sonali Prabhakaran
It is (or rather was in the `good old days') exciting to read a book. An author feels very proud when his book is published. However, the journey from the author's manuscript to a best selling publication (the value chain) is a very interesting one, full of rough patches for both the author and the publisher, and to some extent, the reader too. This article outlines the value chain in book publishing, and looks at the risks and the pain points. It provides a basic understanding of the rough-and-tumble of book publishing for budding authors. Marketing of books is not similar to any other business. This industry has its own way of doing things. Read on to learn more.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
PLACE DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING
Development of Tirupati as a BPO/KPO Hub
-- R Harish and Sai Praveen Vungarala
After long years of strong growth, today, the Indian IT/ITES sector is finding it hard to sustain its profit margin. The operating cost, especially in Tier 1 cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and others, has gone up considerably. Therefore, to sustain operating margins, IT/ITES companies are now moving to the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. These cities too have realized their future potential and are gearing up to meet demands. One such city is Tirupati, the famous temple town in Andhra Pradesh. This article evaluates the merits of Tirupati, and describes how the Andhra Pradesh government is facilitating its development as a prospective ITES hub.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CASE STUDY
Tiger Woods: Will The Endorsements Spree Continue?
-- Meenal Dhotre
Advertisers have to be quite selective when choosing celebrities as their endorsers. A clean public image and consistent performance in their profession are the main deciding factors. And Tiger Woods seemed to fit the bill perfectly. He is known internationally and can hence sell a variety of products across the globe. His dominance in golf and hitherto longstanding scandal-free image made him the most preferred celebrity for commercial endorsements. He is slated to become the first sports person to cross $1 bn in endorsement contracts during 2010. However, some shocking revelations of the recent past have raised troubling questions, not just about Tiger Woods, but about celebrity endorsements in general.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
INDUSTRY FOCUS
Retail Business in India Revolution or Evolution? A Perspective on the History and Modernization of Retail Business in India
-- Hitesh Bhatia
This article attempts to trace the transformation of traditional formats of fairs and melas into contemporary and modern retailing in India. The modern retail formats reflect a gradual evolution of trade from melas to malls, contradicting the general theory of retail revolution.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
BUSINESS STRATEGY
Global Warming: Threat Turns into a Business Opportunity
-- Rupsha Roy
Businesses often perform a SWOT analysis and get worried about the threats, and try to concentrate their resources on eliminating them. This article analyzes one major threat commonly faced by both industries and humanity across the worldthe bane of global warming. It provides a different view on how this threat can be converted into a business opportunity in many cases. A number of examples of noted companies are cited, which are already reaping substantial revenues and profits by utilizing this opportunity.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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