What does not kill you makes you stronger. It’s true. After battling cancer, Shripal Morakhia is back to chasing his dreamsby K. Yatish RajawatOn 21 May 2015, inside an office block on the ground floor of Cyberhub in Gurgaon, chaos reigned. The staff was only halfway to installing a bowling alley, a cricket pitch, an SUV on a pedestal, a hang glider and an F1 car replica; tools were everywhere and wires hung from the top as the false ceiling was yet to go up; the furniture was missing as the delivery truck had met with an accident; and the imported LED lights were stuck at the customs. This was the scene at Smaaash Entertainment’s second under-construction reality game facility, after Mumbai, just days before the launch.Things were clearly behind schedule. Outside the venue, a team of officials stood in a huddle discussing the options — they could either postpone the launch date from 28 May or could do a limited, soft launch. And while they racked their brains, a bearded, bespectacled, professorial looking man — Shripal Morakhia, founder of Smaaash — walked in. His hands shook uncontrollably but his voice was steady and demeanour steely. He looked at the chaos and his team’s crestfallen faces, and he knew a miracle or two were needed.The team was running against a deadline; Sachin Tendulkar, a shareholder in the company, was scheduled to inaugurate the venue on 28 May. He would not be available after that as he was going on a two-month holiday.Morakhia did not want to postpone the launch for two months and nor was he willing to dispense with Tendulkar’s brand value. So, the first thing he did was get his shipment released from the customs. He pleaded, cajoled and screamed when necessary to ensure that work picked up pace. Fabrication contractors agreed to open their factory at seven in the morning and keep delivering until two at night. His staff worked non-stop for 48 hours. Morakhia handed out cash bonus every day to keep the work going.Ashok Cherian, chief marketing officer of Smaaash, describes it best:“Most people look at the soft spoken Shripal and do not realise the pent up energy, but he unleashed it fully. Everyone was surprised at the results, when we launched on time.”A Park Of A Different KindHe wanted to start a children’s amusement park, but high real estate prices didn’t allow that. So he created something differentMorakhia, The BrokerThe city had never seen or experienced F1 racing cars or hang gliders using augmented reality headsets. The experience of entertainment will not be the same again; those arcade games just won’t do anymore.This is not the first time, and it may not be the last that Morakhia has played the disruptionist. The serial entrepreneur has been disrupting business sectors for a long time. As a 20-year-old, he first took over his family business of stock broking — SS Kantilal Ishwarlal (SSKI) — and created history by becoming the first broker to be suspended by the Bombay Stock Exchange in the early 90s for keeping inadequate margins with the exchange. It was a tough time — a true blue Gujarati stock broking business running for generations closed down overnight.Morakhia, being who he is, decided to reinvent stock broking. Indian broking firms in those days did not rely on research. By the mid-90s and after the Harshad Mehta scam, foreign broking firms were allowed to set up offices in India, and they came with fancy research and even fancier salaries. SSKI became one of the first Indian stock broking firms to give foreign salaries and a share in the pool of trading profits. SSKI broke the mould and forced almost every Indian stock broking firm to reinvent. SSKI also ventured into merchant banking and facilitated quite a few public issues, some of them questionable. Those were heady days when every public issue would get oversubscribed many times. Merchant banking fees were high; 4-5 per cent more than stock broking.Morakhia wants to take Smaaash to five new cities. He is also in talks with developers in Pune to build a theme park“It was a period in my life when I chased wealth and I’m not particularly proud of it. We shared profits with our employees; gave stock options much before Infosys made them popular.” Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) first acquired 33.33 per cent in SSKI in 2006. It eventually bought out the other investors by 2010, paying out approximately Rs 1,450 crore in all.Morakhia was also instrumental in creating the first e-broking outfit in the early 2000s. Sharekhan.com allowed investors to trade directly on the stock exchange without the assistance of brokers. Several companies entered the e-broking business after him but soon closed down. Sharekhan continues and has outlived them. The Morakhias sold Sharehkhan to Citigroup Venture Capital and are effectively out of the broking business.The Disney DreamAfter the first deal with IDFC in 2006, Morakhia was flush with funds and started exploring new avenues. He got into film production with his company iDreams and produced the raging hit Bend it Like Beckham and Monsoon Wedding, among other titles. He also began investing in entertainment technology and dreamt of creating a Disney World.“More than Disney World, I was inspired by a children’s park in Amsterdam; but real estate being so expensive in India, it was just not possible. However, I continued to be obsessed with some of the new technology emerging from the entertainment world,” he says. The search for content to create augmented reality for children led him to comic maker Amar Chitra Katha.Morakhia bought out Amar Chitra Katha (ACK), an iconic brand that was struggling in the digital world. Inspired by the founder of ACK, Anant Pai, he pumped in Rs 45 crore into it along with another entrepreneur Samir Patil. But the experiment to turn ACK into another Disney failed. Says Patil, “The thing about Shripal is his enormous enthusiasm and a childlike curiosity about things.”The Stuff of DreamsIn 2009, Morakhia started Smaaash Entertainment with Sachin Tendulkar, and launched the first reality game facility in MumbaiBut by 2007, Morakhia’s energy was flagging — he was diagnosed with cancer. He started exiting his businesses one by one, including iDreams and ACK, by selling them to his existing partners.It was a tough period for him. “I was really hit hard by my illness. I think it was part of my karma that came back to me. I was never happy when I would do some of the public issues in SSKI and some old pensioners lost their money,” he says. “In all these years, I developed a keen business sense, but I think I never developed the maturity that comes from a high emotional quotient,” he adds.A Brush With CancerCancer is curable, but it can drain one out completely. But Morakhia didn’t let the disease get to him. After he recovered, he went back to his dreams. He started Smaaash Entertainment in 2009 with Tendulkar. He also wanted to build a go-karting track. But the real estate prices in Mumbai were very high, so he did the next best thing. He built it on the roof of Kamala Mills and called it Sky-Karting!Since 2008, he has been primarily focusing on two businesses, Smaaash Entertainment and Yoboho, a digital media company that makes videos for children aged 4-8 years under the Hooplakidz brand. He sold off Yoboho to German media conglomerate Bertelsmann for $20 million (Rs 120 crore) early this year to focus on Smaaash. CAREER MOVESPOINT OF ENTRY: Joined the family broking firm SSKI in the early 80s. Launched e-broking firm Sharekhan.com in 2000.Started a film production company iDreams Production in 2002BIG MOMENTS: Sold SSKI to IDFC for Rs 1,450 crore. Also sold Sharekhan.com to Citigroup Venture CapitalNEW CHAPTER: Started Smaaash Entertainment in 2009. FY15 revenues: Rs 400 million; FY 16 (projected revenues): Rs 850 millionMorakhia is again flush with funds and is hell bent on realising his dreams; he wants to expand Smaaash and take it to five new cities. He has been working on taking it to Dubai for a long time. He is also in talks with real estate developers in Pune to build a theme park; the Disney World dream has still not died.Like any entrepreneur, Morakhia lives in the future, and though he is not young at 59 years and has Parkinson’s, it is the passion to reinvent that keeps him going. If there were more entrepreneurs like him who worried less about wealth creation and more about legacy, the BSE Sensex might look different.The author is a senior journalist, based in Delhi. @yatishrajawat (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 27-07-2015)
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New airlines Vistara, Air Asia keeps adding new routes, while established players Jet, SpiceJet offer price cuts, services, writes C H UnnikrishnanPassengers are the winners now in the Indian aviation market with offers raining from airlines. Low fare carrier SpiceJet has joined the bandwagon after Jet Airways and Indigo to offer promotional rates and heavy discounts. While, newly started airlines Vistara and Air Asia continued expanding their domestic routes connecting premium destinations providing the passenger more flying options. SpiceJet,has on Monday (6 July) announced the launch of a ‘Red Hot Fares’ sale focused exclusively on its western and southern domestic network. These fares start from Rs 1,899 all-in for routes including Mumbai-Goa, Ahmedabad-Mumbai, Bangalore-Hyderabad, Chennai-Bangalore, Pune-Bangalore. The three day sale will remain open till July 08 and the travel period covered in this sale is 15th July to 30th September 2015, said a SpiceJet release on Monday. The offer is valid for direct as well as connecting flights on the selected routes, it added.India's aviation sector, which has been under financial stress and regulatory glitches, has of late shown improvement in financial performance and the market has also seen a lot of traction. With new players expanding their routes, passengers are getting lot more options on pricing as well as better connectivity. While, established airlines including Indigo, Jet and GoAir offering a bouquet of enhanced services and price discounts.The new full service carrier Vistara, promoted by Tata group and Singapore Airlines, had last month added two daily flights connecting Bengaluru to New Delhi and Mumbai. As India’s most popular business destination, Bengaluru is a natural extension to Vistara’s growing network and it is the second destination for the new airline in South India after Hyderabad, and the tenth destination overall since it commenced operations in January this year. Vistara's network currently offers 237 weekly frequencies connecting Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bagdogra, Guwahati, Goa, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune.While, the country's oldest private airline and second largest full service carrier Jet Airways had a couple of weeks ago tied up with Vietnam Airlines to extend its frequent flyer programme --JetPrevilige. The airline's chief executive officer Cramer Ball had said in a last week interview that it will have many more such partnership with international players for JetPrevilige programme as well as code sharing. Jet already have multiple partnerships with international airlines, including the ones with its equity partner Etihad Airways, in these fronts.India's new low fare airline, AirAsia-- a joint venture between Tata Sons and Malaysia's Air Asia Berhad, had also in June announced a big sale offer throughout the airline’s extensive route network.With this, AirAsia India offered all-inclusive one way fare from as low as Rs 799 for flights from Bengaluru to Kochi, Rs 999 from Bengaluru to Goa, Pune and ishakapatnam, Rs 1599 from Bengaluru to Jaipur, Rs 1799 from Bengaluru to Chandigarh, Rs 1999 from New Delhi to Bengaluru and Goa, Rs 1799 from New Delhi to Guwahati and vice versa. “We are absolutely delighted to announce Big Sale which will allow guests to plan their travel well ahead of time. Big Sale is available across our network and with this promotional offer we hope to see more people planning their holidays for next year," said Air Asia India's chief executive Mittu Chandilya.AirAsia had also added a new flight from Imphal to its network of destinations in June, making its total route network in India to 11. Air Asia, a joint venture with Air Asia Berhad with 49 per cent stake and Tata Sons and Telestra Tradeplace and holding 30 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.SpiceJet, which has got a fresh lease of life after original promoter Ajay Singh back to the board, had also made a similar offer in June for international routes. With this, the airline had Following close on heels with its new brand image SpiceJet is turning really hot this monsoon announcing its international travel sale. The airline is had offered some 50000 seats at red hot fares for select international sectors under which the all inclusive one-way fares ranged from a minimum of Rs. 3099 to Rs. 5599 for some very popular destinations as Colombo, Bangkok, Dubai, Male, Muscat etc. The sale schedule was also strategically sketched to the advantage of its frequent flyers. The four day sale was launched on 16th June to June 20 and the travel period covered in this sale is 1st July to 31st October. “We are getting Red, Hot and Spicy and as we get there we want our customers to really connect with the brand values that SpiceJet stands for. We expect the brand’s sheer vibrancy and energy to be transmitted effectively to the very heart of our customers thereby strengthening our customer bonding further. We are extremely bullish for this sale gesture to be admired by our guests given its unmatched value and benefits.” said Sanjiv Kapoor, chief operating officer, SpiceJet.Vistara, which is keen to scale up in the domestic market, may be in the international routes too at the earliest, is now connecting all the premium destinations in India. “Bengaluru, as the third most populous city in India and the top destination for IT (information technology) exports from the country, is naturally the most visited city in India for business travel and offers ample potential for Vistara." said Vistara chief executive officer Phee Teik Yeoh. "We are very pleased to connect India’s IT capital to its national capital New Delhi and commercial capital Mumbai. We look forward to serving a wider customer base on these routes and offering them a chance to experience Vistara’s seamless, thoughtful and personalised service," he said on the new route expansion. In the first five months of commercial operations, Vistara has already flown more than 300,000 customers and has delivered one of the highest on-time performance - in excess of 96 per cent month on month since February, claimed a recently statement from Vistara. Its offerings including premium economy class, the frequent flyer program --Club Vistara, the in-flight menu and in-flight entertainment system with wireless streaming also adds value to the passenger's experience, it added. "In the coming months, customers can expect a wider choice of destinations, more frequencies and new offerings added to Vistara’s product and services portfolio such as more strategic partnerships and a signature lounge at the New Delhi airport," the airline said .Vistara, owned by TATA SIA Airlines Ltd, a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons Ltd and Singapore Airlines Ltd, commenced its commercial operations on January 9 this year.While, India's largest full service airline Jet Airways' frequent flyer programme --JetPrivilege signed a reciprocal frequent flyer partnership with Vietnam Airlines in June to provide enhanced connectivity for JetPrivilege members with the opportunity to earn and redeem JPMiles across Vietnam Airlines' network on destinations like Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Phnom Penh, Hanoi via Bangkok and Singapore. Similarly members of Vietnam Airlines' Golden Lotus Plus programme can also earn and redeem their miles across Jet Airways’ network. “We are delighted to partner with Vietnam Airlines. We have constantly endeavoured to offer our JetPrivilege members a wholesome flying experience across the globe," said Manish Dureja, managing director, JetPrivilege in a recent statement.
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Leif Zierz, global head, Transactions & Restructuring, KPMG, talks to Shailesh Menon on cross-border merger and acquisition dealsCross-border M&A had declined after the Lehman crisis. How’s the situation now? We’re seeing a rise in transaction activity across the globe. The current uptick in this is pursuant to restricted financing options and recession in many parts of the world. Some economies like those in northern Europe have recovered quickly. There are cross-border deals happening now. I’d like to say the interest in M&A deals is at pre-crisis levels.But what has changed fundamentally? Some uncertainties are still there. The euro zone crisis comes back to haunt us time and again. But the transaction market is holding up well. If you look at it from a corporate angle, they have had time to reduce cost, make their balance sheet healthy, reduce debt and shore up liquidity. What has now come up is a big need to do strategic transactions (for major players), and that is happening now. A big part of the transaction market, apart from strategic players, is private equity (PE). Till last year, PE was finding it difficult to do deals, but then there’s a need for them to exit existing investments and redeploy funds. So both strategic investors and PE have begun to make bold moves.That exuberance of the previous bull market years is missing, I suppose…Now, companies need to justify what they are doing and show long-term value in it. There’s pressure from capital markets, shareholders and boards (of companies) to do deals that are more of a ‘strategic fit’ in nature. Firms are more focused on their businesses and core strengths. That change in mindset and professionalism has been created by the crisis. On the funding side, low-quality deals and players may not get funds for deals that are difficult to explain.Have Indian companies lost faith in overseas acquisitions?In 2007, India witnessed a lot of irrational deals; such exuberance does not exist anymore. Outbound deals are done for strategic reasons, only on a need-basis. In the previous years, some of these large Indian firms did not even understand the markets they forayed in; their culture. But now they’re careful. Some of those deals struck in 2007 did well because they were strategic in nature and were simple. These firms did not change much within the acquiring firms — like changing management. Post-merger integration has now become a pre-deal issue for both PE and strategic investors. (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 27-07-2015)
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ETailers have emerged as the largest spenders on television, print and the Internet. They account for a sizeable chunk of the country’s total ad-spend market of Rs 49,000 crore, including the Rs 3,500-crore digital spend, according to advertising giant GroupM.India’s top three eTailers -- Amazon India, Flipkart and Snapdeal – between them account for 50 per cent of the total digital ad spend, and this expenditure is estimated to grow 37 per cent in 2015.The trio’s combined annual ad budget for print and television is worth more than Rs 550 crore. Together with their online spend, the individual spend of each on advertising and marketing activity touches nearly Rs 1,000 crore every year. Clearly, it shows up in their losses.There is little these eTailers can do to curb such expenditure though. After all, theirs is a fledgling industry and it is necessary for them to play the visibility game to acquire customers. However, this is also where the levee breaks when the cash dries up.Thanks to the high cost on account of heavy discounting and reverse logistics, the eTailing companies are required to continuously raise money in their quest to acquire customers. Retail, in expansion mode, is a cash burning business and on average it takes 10 years to generate cash from operations.While the 10-year rule may not apply to Amazon India (its parent Amazon has a 20-year history), the home-grown retailers like Snapdeal and Flipkart have no option but to go on raising cash from investors. But to what extent can these eTailers go on raising cash and for how long?BW|Businessworld believes that these businesses will be sold to large private equity players or a hedge fund, like Bridgewater or JP Morgan, who can keep them alive. However, financial experts believe that with the SEBI coming up with new preliminary guidelines for listing, the first e-commerce entity to tap the bourses will be Snapdeal because the company is structured in India. The listing itself will depend on final guidelines, which will be out by the end of the year.What about Flipkart? The company will have to list abroad because its financial structure has been created in Singapore. The bet is on Reliance’s broadband play and the burgeoning sales of smartphones – according to Gartner, there will be more than 100 million by 2018 – which will help add a million new customers.Globally, online sales are still 20 per cent of the retail market. In India, online sales account for less than 1 per cent of the Rs 3,00,000 crore market, although they are growing at more than 100 per cent in categories such as books and electronics. The hunt for customers has to go on; e-commerce companies have to triple their customer base from the 36 million at present. If Snapdeal and Flipkart have to survive, they need to go out there and get long-term capital.— Vishal S. Krishna(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 27-07-2015)
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Over half of the participants claimed that there was a lack of adequately qualified candidates, Simar Singh reports Throwing light on the difficulty of hiring, a new survey has revealed that the majority of employers in India have to compromise when it comes to recruiting new staff due of the shortage of qualified candidates. Surveying 100 Indian hiring managers from a range of sectors including IT, manufacturing, health, finance, construction, professional services, real estate, media and logistics, the study found that almost 60 per cent had compromised on standards while hiring. Over half of the participants also claimed that there was a lack of adequately qualified candidates applying for jobs. The survey was conducted by market research agency IMRB International for Pearson VUE, a computer-based testing company. "Our survey is revealing in terms of the underlying and ongoing challenges for India's employers in finding and retaining skilled, qualified talent and the impact of hiring compromises. However there are solutions to these challenges as well", said Divyalok Sharma, director of client development at Pearson VUE. The full report titled "Hiring Challenges for India's 100 Top Employers" will be released on July 23 and will contain statistics on the key challenges that Indian employers face and their possible solutions, their attitudes towards professional qualifications and distrust of the applicants' credentials.
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India's dominant services industry contracted for a second month in June as new business again declined, suggesting Asia's third-largest economy is struggling to maintain growth, a survey showed on Friday (3 July).Any weakness in the economy, alongside subdued inflation, will likely add to expectations the Reserve Bank of India will ease monetary policy sooner rather than later.The Nikkei Services Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by Markit, dropped to a 15-month low of 47.7 in June from May's 49.6, well below the 50-level that separates growth from contraction.Five out of the six industries monitored reported falling activity and the new orders index sank to 47.3, its lowest level since December 2013.Weak demand also curtailed factory growth, a sister survey showed on Wednesday."June's Indian service sector data disappointed," said Pollyanna De Lima, an economist at Markit."All in all, latest data suggest that the Reserve Bank of India's commitment to support economic growth may result in further rate cuts at its August meeting," she added.At the latest meeting in June, Governor Raghuram Rajan left the door open to a further cut from 7.25 percent if inflation remains subdued.The survey showed prices rose at a slower pace last month, and as retail inflation has plunged since January 2014 the RBI has had room to cut its key interest rate three times already this year.Still, according to a Reuters poll conducted after last month's cut, the RBI is expected to wait until at least October, after the vital monsoon rains, to reduce rates again.(Reuters)
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New scheme, designed by Saïd Business School, Oxford could fundamentally change the way corporations give to good causesA new, additional line in financial reporting that demonstrates a company’s corporate social responsibility contribution, could radically change the way businesses operate, according to Tomo Suzuki, Professor of Accounting and Sustainability Management at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. The additional line appears on a company’s Profit and Loss Account under expenses, as an independent item which reads ‘CSR Expenditure’. It discloses the amount of money being given to corporate social responsibility. The disclosure has very little cost and can promote a positive sense of competition between companies to do more around corporate social responsibility. Companies that meet certain financial criteria such as a net worth, turnover or net profit of at least Rs 500 crore, Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 5 crore, respectively, have to comply with One Additional Line. They must spend at least 2% of the average net profits made during the previous three financial years on CSR and if they cannot pay, they must explain the reasons in their financial reporting. ‘I am delighted that the One Additional Line has been adopted in India,’ said Professor Suzuki, ‘This simple and small facility which has little cost to companies’ administration will radically change the lives of countless people in the country. We could see huge improvements in healthcare, education and sanitation in some of the poorest areas. Because the One Additional Line, being the simple disclosure requirement, is administratively easy, politically neutral and effective in raising money for both companies and stakeholders, other emerging countries are also considering developing a similar scheme.’ The concept, which was designed by Professor Suzuki has already been passed in India, with the help of Sachin Pilot, former Minister of Corporate Affairs, Dr. B Chatterjee, CEO and Director General and G. Gaur, Programme Executive for CSR at the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Corporate Affairs in India. 16,000 companies came under this scheme in India and billions of dollars have already been generated in its first year ending 31st March 2015. A great deal more money is expected to be generated in the future for socially disadvantaged people. The companies which spend appropriate CSR expenditure are recognised by the market which raises their reputation, opportunities and capital. Professor Suzuki added: ‘The advantage of the One Additional Line is that once a country implements the scheme, and starts to attract funds, other competing economies may choose to follow the same scheme in order to compete internationally. I am currently in consultation with representatives in Brazil, China, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries about the scheme and how it could radically increase corporate social responsibility while enhancing corporate reputation and international finance opportunities.’ Professor Suzuki ’s recommendations for the line were based on his paper ‘Institutional Mechanism Design of Corporate Socio-Environmental Data for Sustainable Growth in Developing Countries - Theory and Practice (Tomo Suzuki, 2013)’, and was tested through research, experimental accounting and analysis of the political economy between Government and business. Research was done on four companies, two from India which included the additional line in their financial reporting and two from China which didn’t have the line. The results showed that investors favoured the companies in India more, even though their profits were less due to additional CSR expenditure. The line is also key for the Indian government to further develop data systems which can be utilised to allocate appropriate resources to education, sanitation and healthcare and help to achieve India’s sustainable growth. Professor Suzuki and Geetnjali Gaur have already submitted a paper to the Indian Government on this subject titled ‘The Further Development of India’s CSR Policy: Review and Proposal from the Institutional Mechanism Design Point of View.’
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Bangalore accounts for 40 per cent of Indian revenues of Metro Cash and Carry and the company plans to open many new stores in south India, K. Chandra Mohan reports Lakshmipathi, a farmer from Malur in Karnataka, supplies vegetables to a Metro Cash and Carry's collection centre near his town. Like other farmers in the state, he is excited that Metro Cash and Carry chain is expanding in Karnataka. "With Metro opening its 4th wholesale unit in Bengaluru my supplies to them have gone up and my revenues will increase this year," Lakshmipati says. He finds it convenient and systematic to work with a large MNC. "They are very clear about their requirements and I get a market price," he says. Manjuthan, a trader working with Metro, says: "I have been able to purchase products at affordable prices. It has helped me save more for my child's education." Bangalore accounts for 40 per cent of India revenues of the German retail giant. Metro AG, with its India subsidiary, will open 50 stores by 2020 with an average investment of Rs 70 crore per store. It has already opened 18 stores with an investment Rs 2,000 crore over the last decade. Metro aims to address the business needs of small and mid-sized traders, caterers, restaurants and hotels as well as offices and institutions. It has connected more than 10 million kiranas in the country. Bengaluru is the base for the company and it enjoys good support of local customers and suppliers, according to Rajeev Bakshi, managing director of Metro Cash and Carry. "We continue to strive for the highest standards of excellence in all our wholesale solutions. We are also privileged to contribute to Karnataka's economy, through increased employment, business partnerships and community engagement," he said. Metro offers employment to 150 people per store directly and another 150 indirectly. The company, which competes with Walmart's Best Price Cash and Carry, will soon have its presence in Chennai and Kochi.
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Be prepared for the idea to evolve, as long as it leads to fulfilling the brand objective - it could transform the initial vision into something completely different from what you'd expected, says Sidhraj ShahA multitude of products and services are increasingly raising the decibel level around us while competing for the consumer's attention. In this noise, it doesn't take much for brands to lose their voice and slip away from the minds of the audience.The challenge of keeping the audience engaged despite a high clutter media environment is what makes the job of marketers, both, difficult and interesting. Needless to say, it is imperative that we are lucid and crystal clear about what we do and how we do it.In the modern age, brands are constantly experimenting with content creation, marketing integration and new technologies, to engage their audience. The digital revolution has ushered in a whole new paradigm - let's call it the next 4Ps - Portability, Personalization, Proximity and Presence.Portability: Consumers are moving fluidly between desktops, tablets and smartphones, but the nature of interaction with each of these devices varies. Thus, based on the brand objective, content needs to be tailored and optimised for each of these screens. The Prime Minister's speech at Hanover, through it's innovative use of augmented reality, is a fantastic example of how screens define the use of content.Personalization: Keeping the consumer engaged is an arduous task.Messaging has always been crucial, but reducing attention spans demand the creation of customised consumer experiences. The better these experiences address a problem/opportunity, the greater the chances of the content being shared.Proximity: Location of the consumer indicates a higher probability of intent. Tapping into this opportunity, strategically, via localized and personalised content engages more consumers and enhances their experience. This, further, leads to opportunities for timely on spot conversions. Presence: Phygital convergence, digital activation, etc. - these multiple words have similar connotations. The new marketing realm is characterised by its blurred lines between the online and offline - it is a meld of on-ground interaction with online magnification.A rule of thumb formula for marketing and content creation is as follows - The 1:10:90 ratio i.e. 1% interact: 10% experience: 90% share.My pocketbook of key learnings - The desire to use marketing technologies should not compromise the need to fulfil brand objective.The tried and tested just isn't sticky enough.Be prepared for the idea to evolve, as long as it leads to fulfilling the brand objective - it could transform the initial vision into something completely different from what you'd expected. The evolution is natural as more people are involved with the aim to improve the offering/solution.Be always-on and constantly on the lookout for the new and relevant.The author is National Director - Brand Activation, MEC Access. GroupM
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India's largest IT services firm TCS said it will hire 60,000 people this fiscal year and impart training to its existing 100,000 employees in various digital technologies.The software exporter is also ramping up investments in the digital solutions space."Digital is a key stream for us going ahead. We are investing in training all our people. This year, we will be training 100,000 people in terms of various digital technologies," managing director and chief executive N. Chandrasekaran told the shareholders at the 20th AGM.The company had earlier said it was targeting to take revenues from the digital space, comprising social, mobile, analytics and cloud to $5 billion in a few years.Chandrasekaran, however, declined to give details on the progress on this target, citing the silent period ahead of the June quarter earnings.Chairman Cyrus Mistry said TCS will be hiring 60,000 people at the gross level this fiscal. It had hired 67,000 people last fiscal and had earlier said it would be hiring 35,000 freshers from campuses in FY16.Attrition RateOn the high attrition level of 14.9 per cent in the company, Mistry claimed that TCS' attrition level is lower than the industry, but was quick to add that a high attrition is a sign that the IT sector is doing well.TCS, which has over one lakh women employees among its total workforce of over 3.14 lakh, has a higher attrition of 15.4 per cent among women employees, Mistry said.To a question on retrenchments, the chairman said obsolescence is due to change in technology has not resulted in any job losses and added the "involuntary attrition", which had resulted in a controversy a few months back, was due to performance issues of the past.Mistry also said the involuntary attrition numbers are small and same as previous year.TCS, which receives only about 6.5 per cent of its revenues from the home market, hopes to benefit from the government's flagship initiatives like 'Make in India' and 'Digital India', which lay thrust on information technology.The Tata Group company is already the largest technology provider to the Central government, Mistry said, citing the work it does on projects like passport issuance and filing of tax returns. .On recent reports surrounding troubles it is facing in the US on the H1B visas, Chandrasekaran told reporters that such various audits happen on a regular basis and TCS is compliant with all the regulations.With the new Companies Act making it mandatory for companies to spend 2 per cent of their net profit on corporate social responsibility projects, Mistry said TCS will endeavour to achieve the targets and make sure it chooses the right projects, which will impact the society positively, adding that in fiscal year 2015, as many as 8 lakh people benefitted through its CSR spending.Answering the demand from many shareholders for bonus shares, as given by its rival Infosys, Mistry said it can be done only when the company is sure of having the right revenue streams where the capital can be utilised well.On the impending implosion in Greece, Mistry said the company does not have any significant exposure to the troubled Mediterranean island nation and will not be impacted by any eventualities there.However, for the company Europe is its second largest market after the US, which may impact in case Greece exits the Eurozone and the ECB hikes interest rates.Chandrasekaran said the Tata group company is building its own intellectual properties and cited the recent launch of the artificial intelligence solutions dealing with neuroscience as one such effort in the direction.The Mumbai-headquartered company, which had earlier this year said that it will be hiring 1,500 in the digital vertical, is also focusing on partnerships with research institutions and universities in this aspect, he added.Chandrasekaran conceded that TCS is facing headwinds in the Japanese market, where it has done a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation, but stressed that the investment is long-term."It is an investment we've made from a strategic point of view and with long-term growth in the Japanese market in mind. Japanese market has been very slow for the IT industry and we hope to grow there in the years to come," he said.(PTI)
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