Marketing Muse # 12

 

Branding Simplified # 12.

 

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Branding Simplified # 18

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Digital Marketing Simplified

 

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PASSION

Albert Einstein once said, “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” 

Passion is the biggest driving force in anyone’s life. It is said that a life without passion is a life ill-lived! We have seen many people rise to fame as they had the passion that drove them to excellence, on the flip side an ill-directed passion has led people to their own demise.

Well, to understand passion it is very important to understand the exact definition of passion: ‘Passion is any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling’ In our lives, we would have at minimum once witnessed passion for something, someone which would have led us to excel in that discovery. The fulfilment one gets when their passion is rewarded with an equally positive result is exhilarating.

The formula for passion in simple words is: When you ‘Believe’ in something and then you ‘Research’ about that belief it results in creating ‘Passion’ to drive you to ‘Excellence’

BELIEF + RESEARCH = PASSION

What happens when passion goes out of hand?

It becomes an OBSESSION – fights, conflicts, lawsuits, murders, losses in business, all happen because one believes in something or somebody and that thing or person does not fulfil its purpose of taking our passion in the correct direction. Day in day out we see instances of misled or misdirected passion. These instances bring us to one question – How does the person who is in the throes of passion get to understand or know when to stop or take a step back, or in business terms ‘when to pull the plug?’ You have to view the situation from a third-person perspective, look at it neutrally without attaching any emotions or personal feelings in it. It is very difficult to be able to do that, but there is no better solution than this.

What are industry cases of passion?

We have such brilliant examples of individuals with well-guided passion; these legends have surely shown the right way we can channel our passion into positivity without it driving us to the edge of darkness, solitude, negativity or loss.

Lata Mangeshkar – her passion for music has won her loads and loads of accolades, awards and even now at the age of 90 years, she has not yet hung up her sandals!

We have actors like Amitabh Bachchan, (everybody in India knows this legend’s story) who was rejected by All India Radio for his voice quality and also from movies for being very lanky until he persisted with passion and cracked his first movie ‘Saat Hindustani’ in 1969.

Adolf Hitler – he does not need any introduction, he is the perfect example of self-obsessed, misdirected passion which he pursued until the very end of his life.

What are the drivers of passion?

Belief, research, conviction, focus, commitment and curiosity.

Difference between DRIVE & PASSION – Drive is like zeal, and passion is what comes from your inner core belief system. Without your passion to show you the way, you will not know what you will drive towards. It is like, drive is the vehicle that will take you towards your goal and passion is the fuel you need to keep the vehicle running.

DETERMINATION v/s PASSION – Determination is the perseverance to complete a task whether you like it or not, passion is more deep-rooted, it is what motivates one to complete a task.

THE ROLE OF AMBITION – Success of all types begins with passion. Passion originates from the simple love of doing something, whereas ambition drives your passion towards the destinations you aspire to reach. Ambition transforms your passion from a thought to a thing. It moves your passion from your heart and transmutes it into the determination to follow through on the actions which must be performed to produce the results you are aiming for. The stronger your passion for something, the more intense your ambition. You must, with tremendous conviction, love what you do. With deep passion backed by ambition, the impossible becomes possible.

“Passion will move men beyond themselves, beyond their shortcomings, beyond their failures” – Joseph Campbell

Passion is something you don’t get in your genes, you don’t inherit; you have to show your commitment towards this cuckoo bird called passion, or else it will lay its eggs in someone else’s nest.

Our future generation – GenZ’s, have a different understanding of Passion in this Renewed Society. These youngsters have got everything that we could only dream of; be it job options, study options, career options, global exposure and many such privileges (it’s not that they got it easy, but they are spoilt for choices)! I believe we will now see many passion seekers more persistently chasing their passions, and creating an impact like never before.

IS LINKEDIN THE NEW FACEBOOK?

Let’s play a simple guessing game…

Think of a social media channel when I talk about the following:

• I am posting my Wedding Anniversary, my Child’s Birthday pictures, etc.
• I am posting some articles, searching for jobs, talking about things that are relevant to my industry of work
• I am posting Selfies, posting cool pictures of food, clothes, etc.
• I want to get some results on surveys, polls, or simply opinions

I am sure that the majority of you have given the standard answers that we have seen over the years, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter respectively. Having said that, I would like to emphasize that these channels have put in a lot of efforts to break this stereotype and try to provide users with more clarity of usage from their end.

Those who have been using LinkedIn for quite some years have seen the subtle way LinkedIn has built a very professional-looking, content-based, thought-provoking network of professionals, posts and followers who would like to stay up-to-date within their professional network. Just until some years back posting a personal picture of yourself with friends was looked down upon, unprofessional too if it was posted on LinkedIn.

So now why the sudden shift of focus?

Well, the answer to this is pretty simple!

Facebook is losing its charm! – There is so much paid noise there that you can lose all hope of being heard by making organic noise. The basic purpose of keeping a Facebook account was so that we could socialize, meet like-minded people, some long lost friends, extended families etc., and be able to keep this side of our life for only those it is meant for. What we find is that we are signing up for more promotional content, more noise, more unwanted, targeted and re-targeted advertisements.

With LinkedIn it was a totally different ball game, it is used more for professional networking and to share our professional purview and to read some great articles as and when we need them. LinkedIn primarily has been unpolluted with a meaningless pursuit of the perfect family pictures or the perfect holiday etc.

Pinterest and Instagram are some other social media accounts which have seen a sudden spurt of usage due to people finding alternatives for Facebook.

LinkedIn has also seen an upward usage trend and activities as they are being considered as an alternative to Facebook. Having said that, I would like to bring in another set of challenges that LinkedIn will soon start experiencing if this trend is not curtailed in its womb. LinkedIn users are used to some kind of decorum that goes with the territory and its associated professionalism, having said that, with the lockdown already blurring the dividing lines between work and home, there is already a lot of pressure on us to keep these areas away from each other. We will soon start losing all sanity on LinkedIn if we start seeing people posting their personal, family-related activities here. LinkedIn handles will become a one-up games’ ground for individuals and families trying to post something grander in their life events and so on.

The damage probably will not stop there, it might go further as below:

• LinkedIn becoming the hub of personal posts and images
• The content that matters will get overshadowed in the noise
• Targeted advertising that is making sense on LinkedIn now will be rendered useless, again due to noise
• LinkedIn will no longer be a professionally sought-after social media property, rather a personal network like Facebook, Instagram etc.
• Groups will become the new playground for promotional advertisements or promotional posts, not at all related to the theme of the group

In this renewed society where we are seeing a renewed vigour in which people are using social media channels to stay connected, and consuming information, we should spend some time sorting our connects on LinkedIn and see how can we still keep it as a professional network and not let it become the family & friends network; or for that matter an unsolicited advertising channel that has seen Facebook’s downfall!

MARKETING MUSE # 27

@mili kataria

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MARKETING MUSE # 36

@mili kataria

https://about.me/milikataria

#contentwriter #freelancewriter #contentwriters #writer #content #writingservices #copywriter #productivity #writinglife #artofwriting #creativewriting #digitalcontent #renewedsociety #advertisingandmarketing #contentmarketing #digitalmarketing #madovermarketing #storytelling #story #marketing #consulting #marketingmuse 

SAY NO OR BURNOUT

 NO – Post the COVID19 pandemic spread, we have forgotten how to use this word in the office. Let’s find out how we can positively enforce it and bring our chaotic office life back to order!

This work from home the stage is not going to go away so easily, it has already had far decrementing effects on our work-life balance than having positive ones. (Many people might differ here, but it is for the majority of people who are still feeling overwhelmed with the work from home concept)

When the lockdown started, everyone was elated, we thought staying at home and working will be the perfect way to spend more time with our precious family members, finish some long-drawn projects that never saw the light of the day as we were so busy with our office work.

But come May, June and now even after we have stepped into August, we find ourselves riled up into the quick-sand called Work from Home. The long hours, no break time, no demarcation of leaving office and coming back home, sleeping patterns taking a hit, these are just a very small trailer of things yet to come (if not addressed effectively).

Now that it has been established that a lot of organizations have approved that a majority of their staff to work from home, we can easily estimate on the minimum side, that around 40-50% of office going workforce will be tucked in their homely abode until December 2020, and if things move the way they are moving, until further notice. Additionally, most organizations are looking at cutting down on the real estate expenditure to avoid paying rentals on their leased offices. Hence, for those employees who have been enabled to work at home, probably might not return to the office until very necessary.

Let’s look at how WFH has caused a change in our daily routines and led to the majority of us feeling burnt-out:

So are you feeling burnt-out? Well looking at the above list, anyone will be!
The trick lies in saying NO at the right time when you are right at the edge of saying YES!

We have instances where one would have felt like going that step ahead and would have said a ‘Yes’, just because they were unable to say ‘No’. It can be an instance in the office, or even for that matter at home, where your supervisor or family member asks you to complete a task. If you feel that the work can wait to see the next day’s light, please say ‘No’. You must understand this WFH situation will not go away tomorrow or day after, it is here to stay. If you burn-out, you will not be of any use to anyone, even for that matter, to yourself.

We all are worried about these times in the job market, where the employer holds an upper hand in keeping you or firing you. But believe me, when I say employers do not make irrational decisions, they know when an employee is genuinely trying to provide the best to the organization while pushing back at times to balance his\her work life.

In the WFH scenario, it has become imperative that you compartmentalize and prioritize your work to achieve the committed quality and timelines. Below are some basic guidelines you can follow to avoid burning out in the process of balancing office and home commitments:

• Fix an outer limit to start and end your office day
• Sit in an area earmarked as office space in your house, even if you have a small place, please keep an area with a table and a chair for office
• Invest in a table and a good ergonomic chair: While a lot of companies have allotted budgets to get essential furniture for employees who have to work from home, even if your company has not, this will go a long way
• Take your lunch breaks and eat lunch on time, even when you are alone at home. Sit in a different area from your designated office space, and if you are with family, eat lunch with them
• In the evening when it is your time to shut shop, please close your work laptop or equipment and take a complete break by going out of your house for a walk, in and around your community or home. This way you will be taking a clear break from whatever you were doing, and it will help your mind to switch off from the hyperdrive office mode and relax a bit
• Self-preservation is not selfishness, please understand this difference. Start with some ‘Me time’ before you get into the family mode
• Eat dinner, spend time with family, read a book, listen to music, watch a movie and if extremely necessary you can still take that odd office call or go online, but it’s essential to take the breaks and relax your mind right after office hours

As we all step into a #RenewedSociety which will see the emergence of Renewed Purpose, Renewed Focus, Renewed Vision, Renewed Bonds, and Renewed Urgency, we will also need to work harder. The trick is to strike the balance, and not burn out in the process.

The ball is now in your court… hit it or leave it, it is entirely up to you! But don’t quit the game…

Credits: Burnout Image courtesy https://pixabay.com/ by Gerd Altmann

@mili kataria

https://about.me/milikataria

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Passion

THE IDEATION ROBE - POLL

Every working-person in their work span has heard about or come across the term ‘IDEATION CENTRE or IDEATION ROOM’.

What does the word IDEATION mean here? To a simple layman it means to ideate or to create an idea which can be used by one’s company or the company one works for.

And when the companies talk about ideation, they are looking at creativity, thoughtful ideas that can solve a problem or resolve a challenge.

And there is a universally accepted saying – that one gets maximum ideas or bright ideas on the throne.

That brings me to the poll of the day:

With the lockdown and WFH – work from home becoming the new normal, what is your IDEATION ROBE – a piece of clothing when worn makes you think about bright ideas, creative solutions, or simply inspires you to think about something new something different you would like to do today. Please give your answers in the comments below:

• PJs
• Night Wear
• Pants
• Track Pants
• Jeans
• Salwar Suit
• Skirts
• Hoodies

Let’s find an answer to the ‘Most Wanted Ideation Robe’ during the lockdown, coz that looks like the last thing you will wear for a LONG LONG TIME!

MOVIE REVIEW – GULABO SITABO

Movie Name:                Gulabo Sitabo

Date of Release:          12.June.2020

Mode of Release:         OTT – Prime Video

Genre:                          Drama - Comedy

Star Cast:                       Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Vijay Raaz, Brijendra Kala, Farrukh Jaffar, Srishti Shrivastava, Nalneesh Neel, Tina Bhatia, Mohammad Naushad, Archana Shukla, Ananya Dwivedi, Ujali Raj, Sunil Kumar Verma, Azad Mishra, Uday Veer Singh Yadav, Poornima Sharma, Shi Prakash Bajpai, Poonam Mishra, Jogi Mallang, Trilochan Kalra, Behram Rana, Zia Ahmed Khan

Gulabo Sitabo was slated to be a movie ‘etched in history’ for its story, comedy, cast…

Now let’s be fair, it did go down in history, but not as an unforgettable film; but as the first movie to have its release done via OTT channel than in the theatres as we would traditionally love to see it. Though gladly enough we didn’t have to go to theatres to watch it, as that would have been a big letdown…

Now let’s get back to the reason why there was such a big disconnect between the actual movie and what we were expecting. This movie’s Genre is Comedy – Drama wherein the emphasis is more on the Drama element of the story than on the comedy element.

Personally, I am not a big fan of Comedy-Dramas, as both these emotions are poles apart. I fail to understand how one can do justice to comedy when the whole movie is built on drama! You got to have massive expertise to bring in the satire at the right place in the drama.

This movie left too much to desire, for even after: 

• The setting was fantastically used
• The set was brilliant
• The actors did a great job to convince us about the state of affairs in the Haveli
• The little suspense towards the end was engaging
• The cast was brilliant – Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana
• The songs were earthy, desi

Then again as mentioned earlier, comedy is one emotion that should not be diluted with other emotions and especially with drama, they are like the antithesis waiting to blow up! If this same story would have been narrated with comedy as the core, it would have been a different ball game altogether.

If my memory serves me right, in the movie Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro the total chaos scene of Mahabharat was picturized brilliantly; cut to the chaotic scene at the haveli with the builder’s group, the mantriji’s people, the archaeologist and the lawyer were all together, that scene could have become as memorable as the JBDY movie scene. However, the method to the madness was missing. How I would have loved to see history repeat itself in that scene.

SUMMARY:

Every aspect of the movie in its own right was very well depicted, but the movie missed its spot for want of the biggest show stopper - COMEDY!

The scene from Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro can be viewed on this link - https://youtu.be/SDClKXKn0l8

CLOUD KITCHEN AND ITS REVIVAL

The concept of ‘cloud kitchen’ has been gathering momentum for some time now.

India has different types of food consumers:

• Those who love to go out to eat
• Those who want to order take-out and eat from the comfort of their homes. They further fall into 2 categories:
• Those who like to order from well-known restaurants (eg. McDonald's)
• Those who want to try out new types of cuisines from small-time eateries. And the eateries that cater to these food consumers are either:
• Well-established dine-in eateries or food courts
• Or Cloud Kitchens

The hospitality industry has taken a massive hit during these unprecedented times of pandemic. Within the hospitality industry, a well-established restaurant or eatery still have the resources to bounce back with little or no impact. But the same can’t be said for the Cloud Kitchens which work on an operational break-even model. This blog focuses on these very budding Cloud Kitchens. We will try to understand what can be their way forward now and post COVID-19.

Before we deep dive lets understand what a Cloud Kitchen is:

Cloud kitchen is a phenomenon in which a small food outlet or group of food brands share kitchen space under one roof without the options for dine-in. You can only take away your food order or you get it delivered by ordering through aggregator apps like Swiggy, Zomato etc. So in a broader sense, it is a delivery-only eatery.

While there are a lot of benefits to run a cloud kitchen, it also comes with its fair amount of challenges:

Benefits:

• Streamlined order process as a minimum to no customizations of orders
• Staff requirement is pretty less when compared to a full-fledged restaurant
• Real Estate requirements are low
• Low operational costs
• Low to minimum marketing cost as it is done through the aggregator
• Easy expansion possibilities in cuisine and customer outreach

Challenges:

• No personal touch to build on customer relationships
• Limited audience, only tech-savvy customers to reach out to
• Limited brand presence as compared to traditional outlets
• Low margin – High volume model
• Difficult to maintain trust

Did you ever realize – why does Dominos has a see-through cooking area in most of their dine outs? Well, the answer to that is pretty simple; transparency! Why transparency? Why not, if someone is coming to you to eat the food you prepare and offer, then you might as well as build their trust from day-1. Haven’t we always been inquisitive to find out who cooks and prepares our takeaway order?

Cloud kitchens, however, don’t have this privilege of customers coming to their outlets to see their preparation and cooking. Thus they end up losing customer loyalty to branded restaurants and food outlets for the lack of trust & transparency that could never be established.

During this COVID-19 crisis and even after that, the food industry will have to rethink their strategy to get their customer patronage back. This can happen only when TRUST, which is the key element to build a Renewed Society is given due priority.

How can these cloud kitchens build the trust of their apprehensive customer-base? Like the saying goes – ‘devil lies in the details’:

• Social Media presence: As the first step, they need to establish their social media presence via. Website, Facebook page, Instagram, YouTube channel, Pinterest etc. Pick 2 or 3 from these channels and go viral…
• Social media will play a very big role: All the social media accounts should be constantly flooded with preventive measures that are being taken to avoid any spread of the pandemic. Posting pictures or videos of cleanliness routine being followed, social distancing norm being adhered to, applying a hygienic mode of food preparation, etc. will help win over the customers’ trust
• Influencers' reviews: Trying to get food-industry-influencers to talk about their food and their brand will also help in winning the trust of the customers
• Transparency via live video feeds: Nowadays with the way technology has advanced and become cheaper, one can also contemplate getting cameras installed in the kitchen and transmit continuous live feed on the YouTube channel or Video-on-Demand applications
• Follow all the norms prescribed to avoid COVID-19 spread: Maintain social distancing, wearing masks and gloves at any point of time and maintain cleanliness in and around the kitchen and cooking area. Get themselves audited with correct agencies and keep the certificates handy and displayed on their Social Media pages
• Packaging: This is another big concern from customers’ point of view, as, if the food is not well packaged it can get contaminated on its way to the customer’s homes
• Create a winning combination: To become profitable and ensure faster order fulfilment, cloud kitchens should prune their menu and focus on the top 5-6 top dishes from their pre-pandemic times. This will lead to –
• Lesser staff being utilized and social distancing being maintained
• Faster turn-around time
• Increased order fulfilment
• As the situation gets back to normal additional menu items can be added until the kitchen reaches its former capacity

There will always be food lovers and there will always be good eateries and great eateries to cater to them. I hope that some of these suggestions given above will help the cloud kitchen owners attract many more food lovers and become better.

Picture Courtesy: https://www.quora.com/

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IS IT TIME FOR INDIA TO EMBRACE THE GIG ECONOMY?

Did you know that India has been a regular contributor to the gig economy since long?

You must be wondering what, how and when?

Well, for that I will first explain - what is the meaning of the gig (economy) in a layman’s term.

Gig (Economy) is nothing but hiring the expertise of an individual for a certain amount of time, based on a pre-defined scope and payment terms.

Apart from the commonly known white-collar gig workers (like designers, content-writers, translators, software developers, bloggers, guest lecturers etc.), the blue-collar gig workers (like plumbers, carpenters, electricians, appliance repair guy, etc.), are the true pioneers in establishing the gig economy way before the term ‘Gig’ was even coined for freelance, contract work during the early millennium.

In India, due to the very nature of the work requiring contract labourers like construction workers, repair mechanics, part-time drivers etc. gig-economy became synonymous to blue-collared gig workers. Come 2010’s, post the financial meltdown, when white-collared employees were forced to look for alternate career options discovered the advantages of joining the gig economy, thereby making it a cool hangout for the working class.

There have been many pivots to the gig economy, it started from freelancing of one expert labour-intensive job like that of a carpenter, electrician or designing of a website, to becoming a systematic engagement platform of these experts on apps like Urban Company, House Joy, Topcoder, etc.

The Pros of a gig economy

Whatever said and done, the pros of the gig economy far outweigh its cons. There are some very tangible positives that the gig work brings to the table for the worker and the corporate/startup:

• Gig Worker
• You can work at your own time
• You select your work
• You work at your own pace keeping the delivery date in your mind
• Your compensation is generally higher compared to an employee
• You work from your own home’s comfort, be it in the city or a village (avoiding high rents)
• Commuting time gets saved

• Corporates/Startups
• Access to niche skills which can be hired project-wise
• Cheaper for companies to contract & pay for the duration they want the work to be delivered
• They can cut the cost of employee benefits, transportation, real estate space in the office, other perks of being in office

The Cons of a gig economy

• Gig worker
• Regular work is not a guarantee and hence your income is also not
• You don’t get employee benefits
• You need to establish yourself as an authority
• Larger companies don’t trust your work, they need testimonials
• Disruption in the work-life balance due to no boundaries on personal time

• Corporate/Startups
• The gig workers don’t understand the company’s culture
• Companies generally can’t outsource managerial or senior roles as the gig worker don’t understand company dynamics or hierarchies
• Companies don’t get well-qualified freelancers and the higher they go in seniority, the more expensive the gig gets
• Change Management related activities need to remain in-house
• Confidentiality of data becomes a challenge

What kinds of jobs go into a gig?

• The kind of jobs that have non-repeatable roles
• Those which require a certain level of niche skills, which will not be found in the existing set of employees
• To gain a fresh perspective
• To leverage best practices in the market

Difference between consulting & gig

• Consulting can be a longer project, say for a year or so; Gig generally is short term and assignments based
• Consulting is more strategy-based work; Gig is more tactical in nature
• Consulting is a complete project in itself; Gig is mostly a part of a bigger project

Trust is a factor of high importance in remote work and gig work which requires your supervisor or reporting manager to have faith in you to turn in a high-quality deliverable without delays. In India traditionally it has been more of ‘seeing is believing’ work-culture, which translates into the supervisor being able to see his subordinate come to the office, work from their cubicles, attend some face to face meetings and deliver their projects. Due to COVID-19, work-from-home has become a necessity than a privilege, hence forcing the managers to trust their subordinates. This will eventually lead to companies and their managers to utilize gig workers more freely and with trust and thus contribute in their own way to the renewed society that we are transitioning towards.

The gig economy is here to stay, even larger organizations like Infosys, Wipro, TCS, are saying that they will leverage the gig workers in a big way.

(Read more at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/gig-coders-to-become-a-mainstream-phenomenon-in-indian-it/articleshow/76304822.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Picture credit: https://www.forbesindia.com/

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