NAT’S PARADIGM

(by R.C.NATARAJAN) “This place is out of this world,” said Anil Mathur to his top executives who had come to his house for an informal dinner and discussions. Seated in the large drawing room, they were enjoying their beer on a summer afternoon, while he was showing them on his iPad the photographs of the place he was referring to. Anil Mathur was a business baron with interest in food products, road transport, shipping, education, structural, construction, real estate and exports. He inherited all these when he was fifteen years old from his father who died of a heart attack. In the next fifteen years, he managed them well to grow his empire noticeably. Recently, Anil acquired a land of about five acres near Lovedale in Ooty district. The location was high on the eastern side of the mountain, covering a cliff on the far side with a breath-taking view of the valley. He had called his executives to brainstorm about how to utilise the land best. Anil       When...

In the IPL 2018, after Y overs, Mumbai Indians were XY-0 and the run rate was X.YX. Find X and Y. Miss Malini wrote the sum on the board and asked her 7 th class students to work it out. She settled in her seat, after looking at the next problem to be given when a sweet voice queried. “Ma’am, are we allowed to use our laptops ma’am?” “Sure. Go ahead. You will have to explain your logic in arriving at the answer.” “OK ma’am. Thank you.” Students started vigorously working. A voice said, “Ma’am, are we allowed to use our cell phones? Please ma’am. Only once.” “OK. Go ahead.” She was about to get up from her seat when another voice asked, “Ma’am, may we know against whom Mumbai Indians were playing? Please ma’am.” “Is it relevant?” “May be ma’am. I think so.” “How?” “I’ll explain it in my logic ma’am. Please ma’am.” Miss Malini referred to her notes and said, “It was against KKR.” She then stepped down the stage and inspected what st...

Who is the Prime Minister of India? ..... Big chorus , Narendra Modi ! Who is the Father of the Nation? …. Big chorus again , Gandhiji ! Now comes the tough one.                Who is the Defence Minister of India? ….. Silence; a few mumbled a few names; finally a young child from class IV reluctantly says Nirmala !!! I was stunned. These children DO know. These are children from a study center called Nukkad Paathshala (which translates into “street corner study center”) in a colony for socially deprived sections of the society. Many such colonies exist, which are named as Ambedkar Nagar, Adi Dravidar Colony, MGR Nagar etc., and are normally isolated from the main part of the village. WHAT IS NUKKAD PAATHSHAALA ? Nukkad Paathshala is a coaching-cum-education center that operates in the gully of the colony where the socially and economically deprived sections live in a village. Mo...

In every organisation, the inefficiencies and the incompetence and indiscretions at the top affect the man at the field the most. The Lords and the Commons Typically, in most organisations, sales-cum-distribution is divested from marketing-cum-branding. In some organisations, those in the former category, tongue-in-cheek, are called the Commons and those in the latter, mostly located at the corporate headquarters, are called the Lords . It is not unusual that the Commons and the Lords do not see eye to eye. The Lords have the blessings of the King , the CEO, and hence enjoy greater power and say in what percolates down the organisational channel. Not atypically, career-growth for a person in the Corporate Office is faster than for his counterpart at the field. This dichotomy is safeguarded, strengthened and reinforced by those who are beneficiaries of this system, and the result is the simmering anger, sometimes sabotage and many times high attrition among those in the field. ...

Almost a century ago, Melvin Copeland classified goods into convenience goods, shopping goods and speciality goods ( HBR , 1923), based on brand map in consumers’ mind and her clarity of brand preference. a. Convenience goods are those where the consumer has a clear brand map in her mind and is neutral among the brands. She chooses the brand readily available. b. Shopping goods are those where the consumer forms the map by comparing various brands and then decides the brand to buy. c. Speciality goods are those where the consumer has a clear brand map and specific brand preferences ahead of purchase. Almost forty years later, Bucklin extended the thinking to classify retail outlets similarly to explain consumers’ buying habits for different goods in different outlets ( JoM , Oct-1962, p.53 ). i. Convenience Stores: Those stores for which the consumer possesses a preference map that indicates a preference to buy from the most accessible store. ii. Shopping Stores: Those...

R.C. Natarajan Over half a century ago, when Jerome McCarthy gave the much famed 4-Ps of Marketing, academicians and practitioners thought alike thought that they had cracked the code and mastered the field. However, it did not substitute the basic concept of marketing, coined as 3-Cs, the Customer, the Competition and the Company. (Diagram 1) Then came Jag Sheth’s 4As of Marketing in early 21 st century. Unfortunately, very few understood that Sheth was propagating a complementary model to McCarthy’s and not a substitute. Whereas the 4Ps framework focuses on what the organisation does to get its positioning in consumers’ mind right, the 4As model focuses on how the consumer perceives about the product. (Diagram 2) It is critical to understand that while Acceptability and Availability are critical factors in positioning mix,  Awareness and Affordability are intermediary factors. (See Diagram 3). STRACOMP Framework While the 4Ps and 4As framewo...