Micromax, the true Indian branding success

I usually don’t read Annual Reports that are mailed systematically by the Company Secretaries of the organizations whose shares I have bought. More so if it is AGM address.

But for a change when the AGM address of ITC Chairman YC Deveshwar landed into my inbox recently, I felt like reading it. Maybe because the ITC shares have given me good returns and also the fact that ITC is a great case study of how the group has reinvented itself from being a predominantly Tobacco major into a well-diversified conglomerate. It is also probably the best example for a professionally managed business amidst the predominantly family owned businesses in India.

Mr. Deveshwar's address is very interesting and informative. I specifically like the part on THE INDIAN GLOBAL MARKET: DOMINANCE OF FOREIGN BRANDS. He quotes The ET Intelligence Group report - "...royalty payments by Indian arms of top MNCs have trebled over the past 5 years. The report points out that in FY12, 306 listed companies paid royalty and technical fees aggregating almost Rs 35,000 crores.” Further, a similar analysis by Business Standard of 75 BSE500 companies reveals that these firms paid out royalty equivalent to 32% of their net profits in FY12. This sudden surge he notes is after the removal of ceiling on royalty payments in 2009.

He also quotes media reports that this spurt in payments did not reflect any noteworthy value-addition from technology transfer by the foreign entities. These media articles also expressed concern at the adverse impact of this huge outflow on minority shareholders and on the exchequer.

Look around, one can easily find this dominance in our lives. Almost all the products that Indians consume are foreign brands. But then as Mr. Deveshwar says there are not many Indian success stories. He has listed few in that address. 

What probably he missed is Micromax! The great Indian mobile brand. A brand that has managed to make a mark for itself in a space that is dominated by the Korean Chaebol. 

And I must say in its fight Micromax had to face not only the competition but also the Indian mindset! 

Indian mindset: I am not sure what it is because of but Indians probably don't trust Indian brands. Maybe Indian brands actually do not deliver or as it is said we have a colonial mindset. For us, anything foreign is superior. Couple of years back when Apple was yet to revolutionize the smartphone market, it was the world of feature phones. When I bought one of those feature phones, a colleague exclaimed - Micromax! Yes, it was that degrading tone. Things have changed since then and Micromax seems to be fast catching up with Samsung. But has our mindset changed, I can’t be too sure.

Yes, it's a Me Too: Yes, but in many ways Samsung, LG or any brand is also a Me Too. The advantage of Android ecosystem is so, it provides opportunities for many. Everyone assembles!  

Branding, the game changer: In addition to lacking the drive to innovate, the Indian brands are also not very successful in branding. Thankfully, Micromax has been very savvy. In addition, Micromax products are attractively priced. 

Just like Galaxy, Optimus and Lumia, Micromax has managed to draw its own Canvas. 

The good news is that Micromax is not alone. Recently when I was planning to buy a phone and sought advice from some of my friends. They not only suggested Micromax but also spoke very highly of Karbonn and Xolo. Heartening! Couple years back, many Indians would not have considered them a great choice. 

As a person who has used Micromax product, I urge my fellow brethren to take pride in our local Indian brand. Not just because they are Indian but because these products 

1. Look as great as any other
2. Perform as great if not greater than others 
3. Come at price points which are very attractive 

Unless you want to sponsor the royalty payments that Mr. Deveshwar's address talks about. 

But why only mobile phones, I think there are great Indian brands in almost all the categories. Take Dabur Red for example. Why not Bovonto or Kalimark! And why not Poomer! 

Go Indian! 

Death of SMS Messaging

One, two, three, four, five, six...

No, wait! This is not blog for kindergarten kids. I was just counting the number of messaging apps on my phone. 

1. The native messaging app that comes along in the phone 
2. WhatsApp 
3. Google Hangout (earlier Gtalk) 
4. Facebook Messenger 
5. Skpe 
6. WeChat (till sometime back) 

Previously, I also had Viber. Like WeChat I removed it. How many do you have? 

Couple of days back, BSNL, India's telecom behemoth, announced the winding up of probably the original SMS in India.   

The news made me wonder if SMS as a native app will also meet the same fate. The short life of Short Messaging Service? 

Do I need six apps for messaging? What differentiation does SMS anyway bring to the table? 

Cost did you say? Probably, there was a time when the number of free SMS used to be a differentiating factor while choosing a plan. For years now, I haven't kept track of SMS usage. 

Does it work cheaper then say an IP based Messenger such as WhatsApp? I seriously don't know. Actually, I don't care. 

In one of my previous jobs, my colleague and I had a discussion about the low cost PR agencies which spoilt the market for a large, high-fee charging national agencies. I told her that such low cost agencies are good for national agencies because without them the value that a national agency with its reach and good trained manpower is never realized by clients. Similarly, even if SMS is cheaper, I presume, users will prefer messaging tool that provides them greater user experience. 

I always had trouble sending an image though MMS, the superior cousin of SMS. But with WhatsApp, it is a breeze! 

It is also much more cooler to use the messaging apps then a plain vanilla SMS app. Yes, I know SMS Pro type apps spruce up the native app but then why bother? 

I can't think of any reason as to why I would want to use SMS. Internet on mobile is a reality and will certainly become ubiquitous. Other certainty is that every phone will be "smart" in some ways or other supporting such messaging apps.  

What happens to my alerts regarding bank, credit card or any other utilities? Tough one. Isn't there a way that that can be accommodated in CRM for customer contact? See, there's a business opportunity for some! 

Somehow I am not able to convince myself that SMS, in its current form, will last. Would it? 

Can Walmart Kill Nadar Kadai?

We moved into the house where we stay now in 2007. An avenue, the street is like a private colony despite not being one. Though located in a good upmarket location, we did not have any shops around. No Nadar Kadai (or as North Indians might understand - Baniye ki dukaan), no vegetables shops. Closest Nilgiris is about a kilometer away, Vitan store at a similar distance.

The only convenience we had was the short bearded man in his late forties selling vegetables on his push cart in our street and a couple adjacent to ours. Clad in lungi and a dirty shirt for most part of the year except in January when he would adorn black dhoti and shirt as he went on his annual pilgrimage to Sabari Malai, he would start work each day around 7 am setting the vegetables on the cart. By 8, he is on the street yelling on the top of his voice to get attention of buyers. A funny and fun loving man, he would joke around with security guards and maids working in various houses.

He would stock only regular fair. Onions, tomatoes, brinjals, drumstick...nothing exotic. If one wants broccoli or courgettes, he was not the man. But his stock was enough for any household planning a regular south Indian meal - Sambhar, Rasam, Kootu, Poriyal.

After spending about two to three hours in our street, he would move to another street.

Very recently Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam (KPN), a retail chain that sells vegetables, opened its outlet at the end of our street. While we were worried about the traffic, we were also happy that we will have a proper shop which will not only be easily accessible but also convenient to shop in. KPNs are air conditioned shops which stocks not only regular vegetables but "exotic" ones. Further, they also stock all kinds of fruits, breads, pickle and even rice. They also have a juice shop near the entrance. With a self service model, they have computerized billing facility and accept cash and plastic. They also have a Facebook page!

While KPN brought good tidings for us, business was no more good for the push cart vendor. I neither find him nor the push cart in our street, anymore.

Can Walmarts kill Nadar kadai (baniye ki dukaan)? Can large MNC retailers do what KPN did to the vegetable vendor of our street? 

Underwear, the inside story

Not that I haven't experienced it, but with age, I think, we start appreciating smaller things in life more.

And I must say that there are only few things in life that can match the happiness that a new snugly fit underwear can provide. While trying to collect data for blog, I visited this wiki page on undergarments. I realized the depth and breadth, the science and art of that humble piece of clothing.

I shall not try to get into it and will stick to the happiness part that a newly bought trunks gave me and my realization of how I have been buying a product based on brand equity rather than the merits. Now as you have learnt from the wiki page, there are undergarment for every occasion. I have been a boxer person for a very long time now. but after I took up tennis, my undergarment shopping list included trunks as well. Never brief, the reason for which for my own sake I will never even briefly provide.

Jockey has always been the brand of choice for boxers and when my shopping list expanded for the other type, the choice followed. Though I have bought other brands like Hanes, Crocodile and Tantex, I usually would go back to Jockey. My mind was conditioned. Recently, due to convenience of a store located on the drive back home coupled with absence of a Jockey shop, I bought Poomer trunks for tennis. Like a child who likes to wear a new dress with much awaited eagerness, I tried Poomer the very next day for my game of tennis.

The product was remarkable and I found great comfort. That was the trigger, I became inquisitive. I wondered if it was because I was trying a new brand hence Jockey trunk didn't feel as great or actually Poomer was a better product. Then, I immediately bought a Jockey trunk so that the experience is fresh and I could do a real experiential experiment.

Results? I must say Poomer, which is as affordable as Jockey, is definitely a better product than my brand of choice for boxers.

And here is how Poomer scores over Jockey in the following categories:

1. Price: At Rs. 150 and odd, the Jockey is slightly higher priced. But the difference is not too much. Actually, in my mind, I position Jockey to be more premium than Poomer. In fact I didn't expect the latter to be so highly priced.  

2. Elastic: The elastic in Poomer is the traditional old model meaning you can see it with the brand name inscribed on it. Padded with cloth inside, it does provide great comfort and hugs the waist (a rather large one of mine) well. Jockey on the other hand is not so loud, the elastic is clothed on both sides. It is important because many brands do not have the insides padded which leave a very strong impression on the tummy and even hurts. But certainly, the hug of Poomer is far superior than Jockey. In fact, I found the latter to be little slag.  
3. Comfort: The First Day Test can tell you a lot. If it gives you the best feel on day one, you can almost certainly be sure that it will feel good for a long time before diminishing returns sets in. You get this elated feeling, at least I get it with the good new one.
4. Fit: The problem with Jockey was not only the waist but also the legging (for want of another word). Both the elastic top and bottom leg parts roll down and up, respectively. This often causes irritation and discomfort.
5. Durability: I observed that in terms of life both brands last almost equally.

Isn't this a classic example of promotion over product. How a good product with promotion can be better positioned and how a better product without promotion may not achieve the same. Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe both the companies have clear segmentation strategy which is not clear to me.

Before I close, I thought I will register my quote here on this wonderful subject of "andar ka maamla"

Undergarments are like second skin, we shouldn't be aware of its presence. The moment we are reminded, it means there is a problem with it.

Research: Educating Consumers or Confusing 'Em!

There was a time when I have had bath with Rin, yes the one that is used to wash clothes. Reason, that was the only one available at the station during our trip to Chennai from Guwahati. It was an almost four day's journey and in those days Indian Railways had an absolutely fantastic record of running late by 13, 14 hours.

Things are not that bad normally. Over a period of time, just like the amount of products that vie for my mouth-share, the number of products that have become part of my bath-share is incredible. There was a time when a soap was enough for the entire routine. Today, the shower gel goes to body; face wash to, of course, face; shampoo to clean the scalp and conditioner to nourish it. Is this sign of prosperity or what!

The role of research reports to 'educate' consumers and 'modify' consumer's behavior to change or enhance consumption pattern is unbelievable. And you thought lobbying happens only with the Government.

Shampoo brands through systematic 'education' urged us to not use good old soap for the scalp. Reason being that the scalp is different from body skin and thus requires specialist product. Once shampoo established, conditioners came in. Of course, then you have afterwash conditioners! Again, since skin on the face is/was different, to 'complement' soap, face wash rubbed in. I still remember when I was young, we were asked to shampoo once a week sighting that the daily application of shampoo would lead to hair fall. But over a period of time, research reports suggested that daily shampoo was better for scalp care.

Staying on the same set of products, while driving back home, Savitha said that a report suggested use of block-soap should be avoided. I was quite puzzled. On quizzing her, she said that the reports indicated that a block of soap attracts germs, hence not good for the skin. Did I read something in between the lines? Of course, I did. To me it looked like a report from liquid soap manufacturers wanting to shake up the block-soap market.

For so many years, people all over the world have been using block of soap. Today, it has become a bad practice!

I came across another such interesting case. A news article whose headline barked - Eat Eggs & Reduce Weight! Wow!

Eggs were a strict no-no for me, considering I am not only big built but also diabetic, I felt very happy. But as I went through the article, I decided to stay away from egg diet. The report 'proved' that a two egg breakfast helps reduce weight considerably. Because of its properties, eggs reduce hunger pangs. Thus, ensuring that a person eats less through the day! Yikes! I would eat as much after four egg breakfast as I normally do and add to the lipid treasure chest (or should I say waist) that I have built, already.

There was this joke in Reader's Digest that I came across. The writer deletes a line from her article stating that pregnant women should stop eating Chinese food. When Editor asks why, the writer replies that she thought over as to what pregnant Chinese women would eat!

Not to say that research reports are all farce, but the amount that is churned out to induce behavioral change can often confuse the consumers.

On something similar but very different, do watch The Story of Stuff.

Housewife, The Endangered Species

I probably belong to that generation where the parents and the kids, both, were in a great dilemma as to whether moms should go to work and bring in the extra moolah or sit at home and take care of the kids and family.

It was a period (70s and 80s) when the general income levels in the country were rather low. The economy was closed. The middle class leaned towards the bottom. Today, it might be slightly moving to the upper end. Liberalization, not only of economic policies but also the women-kind, has accelerated the rapid urbanization thus catalyzing the formation of 'un-supported' nuclear families.

The family now consists of parents, kids and 'integral and indispensible' maid. 

But if there is one 'breed', if I can say so, that is fast vanishing, at least in the upper middle class urbanized society, is the housewives. This, to my opinion is also true, to a large extent, for many other socio-economic classes on both sides of the 'equator'.

While, to start with, economics was the reason from many women to have ventured out of the borders of their house; today, it is all about women wanting to be independent. Making a career is about self esteem. Women, today, are equally and, in many cases, much more educated and aggressive. Emancipation of women has completely altered the social and family fabric. While it is creating tensions in the family bond, it does present great opportunities for businesses. Fast foods, packaged foods and restaurants are variant of one kind. What interests me is the opportunity to professionalize and organize the maid services. Difficult but great opportunity.

Today, it many not be considered an 'in-thing' for women to say that they are housewives. At least, in the circles or categories, which are reading this blog post or can have access to it. Some women upon pregnancy do chose to become housewives. But I feel that, in future, it may not be so. 

But why can't being a housewife be as cool as career woman.  Reasons are many. Most important being that if something is not monetized, it is not valued. Housewives are at best considered a free maid for lifetime who doubles up as a partner, for sex and other reasons, an ayah who takes care of kids and many times also a finance minister. Identification of housewives as a homogeneous group women who sheds tears watching soap opera has been quite detrimental. Another important reason is that housewives bind themselves and never invest in acquiring new skills or for that matter pursue their passion.

I do ponder if with passage of time, housewife species will become extinct. Should I feel bad about it? Can something be done about it? Or is it a species that has lost its relevance? Is it doomed to become extinct like many species that didn't survive the different ages? Will the new environment necessitate development of the new species - the Househusband?

Social Networking: Problem of Plenty?

My interest in writing blogs with renewed vigor was with a post on Orkut. I was not sure if social networking sites were fad or would become part of our lives. A reflection on my behavior indicated that I was using Orkut to find out my existing contacts online and interact with them. I was not keen on newer friends, unless they were fairer variety. So, I felt social networking was at best an extension of Yahoo Groups. But, of course, social networking sites have grown on to became photo album, video album, birthday calendar, game parlor and many more such things.



When I thought Orkut was all that I needed, someone initiated me into Facebook. I opened an account and didn't use it actively, until recently. Then my mails were peppered with invitations to join WAYN and many others. I have resisted the temptation. When I thought going was fine, LinkedIn came along. It has become a must. It has become an essential for someone in the corporate world to be active on LinkedIn. It can get you partners, sales and jobs. So, I linked up. Now, the count is three.

And again I thought that this was enough. Then Twitter twittered into my life. The 140 word social networking, sms, microblogging tool has become very addictive. It’s four now.



A link shared on Twitter showed that while MySpace, Facebook and Orkut are the leading social networking sites in the world. There were many unheard local networking sites leading in different countries. Sonia’s research revealed that there are around 300. That is quite a bit considering the number of netizens in most countries, except for probably developed nations, is definitely low.

But I guess the need for people to network is far from being satiated. Once the number of internet users increase, the importance of such sites is likely to grow substantially. The survival of such sites itself will be interesting to watch out. While, Twitter doesn't have a revenue model, I guess Facebook, Orkut and the likes have or are developing revenue generation models.

On the differentiation front, I haven't used many sites to give my opinion but I think LinkedIn is the most differentiated for segmenting and going after the professionals. It has a well-differentiated offering. The other most differentiated social networking site is Twitter. Limited by 140 words, Twitter probably has a high adoption graph line compared to other social networking sites. It has real celebrities who Tweet real time. By the way, the part on why Internet, despite being a two-way media, still cannot solve the problem for celebrities in responding to fans is a good read, in Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody. While, one can do so many things in Facebook, Orkut…Twitter primarily acts as a message board.



Now, I have reconciled to the fact that I may for sure sign up for another social networking site if there is a different and attractive value proposition. I am not sure if I would need it, though. I have already started signing off TweetDeck for longer period.

South Indian Restaurants or Multi-cuisine Coffee Shops?

Karaikudi, Anjappar, Aruppukottai, Arasappar. These names if uttered to a Chennaite will stimulate the bile and other gastric juices. These restaurants offer sumptuous spicy and delicious Chettinad food. The crowd never seems to die down in these outlets.

I was having dinner at Karaikudi couple of months back. It was quite late and I think I was down three drinks. Those who drink will agree that stomach prefers hot and spicy food after the walls become intoxicated by fermented and distilled juices.

Not that I hadn't noticed this earlier but guess under the influence of alcohol, my marketing mind started working over time. The menu seemed to irritate me. Why? It was the amount of Chinese and North Indian dishes that were peppered on a Chettinad restaurant’s menu. What's more, even the captain seemed to be suggesting fried rice and some Manchurian dish. Totally unacceptable!

My mind wandered and virtually explored the menu of various North Indian, Chinese and Continental restaurants. I was quite sure that those menu were unadulterated, unlike the liquor at TASMAC outlets and the Chettinad restaurant menu. The exception probably was Kumarakom restaurants that serve food from our neighboring restaurants - Kerala.



Well, I ordered Attu Kaal soup after which I neutralized alcohol with idlies and spicy fish curry. My favorite combo!

While, hunger subsided, the question lingered in my mind along with Chettinad spices.

Would I order Masala Dosa at Cascade? Will I order Naan and Paneer Butter Masala at Tangeriene? Or for that matter Spaghetti Nepolitaine at Dhabha?

Then maybe I thought it was an issue with Chettinad restaurants. But then I proved myself wrong. Saravana Bhavan, Sangeetha, Palimar which are renowned South Indian restaurants serving veg food also where in fact operating like multi cuisine restaurant. Oh by the way, Chettinad restaurants mostly serve non-vegetarian food.

Is it an interesting consumer behavior? Is there something wrong in positioning of these restaurants? Or is it a strategy by restaurants to gather more market share?

In my opinion it is all. First, I think it would be wrong to classify Saravana Bhavan, Sangeetha, Palimar, and the Chetti restaurants as South Indian. They classify better as coffee shops. Open almost round-the-clock. They serve all cuisines. These restaurants have used their brands to tap the market with their South Indian positioning while parallely expanding their servings that address the needs of the varied taste buds. They have successfully managed to get more customers and the eating-out business pie. Important to consider is the price points of these restaurants which necessitates them to focus on volume business.

The niche restaurants on the other hand are rather premium and attract a different set of customers. And as in any business, differentiation is the key for survival. Even in the niche restaurant market, there are differentiated player. Particularly, this is true in the North Indian or Punjabi restaurant segment.

On the consumer side, there was a time when eating out was a big deal. But with a booming economy, money to splurge and changing life style has changed our behavior towards eating out.



With the change in lifestyle and exposure, consumer palette has also become global.

It must be a no-brainer that the reason for eating out and the choice of restaurants has a strong relationship. Here I must mention that the children have a strong opinion nowadays on where to eat. They infact are decision makers in many cases. Now, that is a topic in itself.

Guess, what I would order next time at Karaikudi? May be, a Chicken Manchurian Tikka Masala Kal Dosa! Wow, maybe I should open a fusion food restaurant!