Doing business the Indian way
The Indian industry is slowly realizing that to succeed, a business needs to employ “local” tactics and techniques rather than emulating a Western practice. You have to understand and accept that India is a different market and to do well here you need to think like an Indian and deliver what this market needs.
I had this wonderful experience that set me thinking last weekend when my husband and I set out for Commercial Street, Bangalore. For reasons that all Bangaloreans are intimately familiar with, we decided to take an auto rickshaw from MG Road to Commercial Street. We found one willing to transport us albeit with a caveat.
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Repurposing content
Lots has been written on the importance of repurposing content and so on. Similarly at Prayag, we have been proposing the same for our clients as there is only a limited amount of original content that can be generated periodically owing to bandwidth and time pressures. Moreover with the multiple channels available to marketers today, it sure makes sense to maximize them and one way to do that is to repurpose content. The content that can be repurposed has to be substantive and significant like whitepapers, case studies, PoVs, research reports etc. This blog highlights the work we did with a global IT giant in this area as part of their India marketing campaigns.
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Making market research count
Want to validate your new idea in the market and test its viability? Or you already have a product in the market but are not seeing the expected results? Else your product is present in a few markets and you want to expand its reach further? These are questions for which a business needs to find answers to from time to time. And market research offers a reliable way to understand the market and plan your next steps.
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When not to initiate market research
Many words have been written on why a company should initiate a market study exercise. But what is equally important is knowing when not to initiate such an exercise. Here are 3 key considerations –
a. Timelines: If you do not have too much time for a detailed study, the best idea is not to get into it. Many times, we have seen companies get into a market study with very aggressive timelines. There is pressure on the data collection and analysis phases leaving scope for errors, missed opportunities etc. In cases where there is little time, it is best to go with secondary information, insights from people in the field, and talking to industry experts/analysts.
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3 simple ways to get ideas for content generation
Is generating quality content periodically one of your responsibilities at work? And is that a problem area for you? Let me guess – scarcity of ideas, inadequate writing skills and lack of bandwidth to invest time and effort in developing the content are some of your bugbears. Sounds familiar – don’t worry – there is a way to get around these issues. This blog suggests 3 simple ways to deal with the first issue – I.e. generating ideas for relevant content –
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Technology brands – noun or a verb?
Technology has become a key part of our lives today undoubtedly. Not a day passes without you downloading your emails, or logging on to Facebook or a similar social media networking site or using google to look up some information. In fact, names of some technology brands have crept into our vocabulary too.
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Have you spoken to your sales team recently?
I recently met with a client to discuss ideas for a marketing campaign that she wanted to launch for a particular offering from her company –an offering for a typical B2B enterprise. Initially we discussed coming up with something different and exciting that would catch the fancy of the target audience to remove the monotony from an otherwise boring offering. However, as we got into the details, a few things became clear. Coming up with something out of the ordinary would have certainly been innovative and different. But the client wanted a quick start and did not have the flexibility of a long preparation period which is essential in such cases. More importantly, a jazzy campaign was likely to end up as a marketing-led one with little or no participation from sales. Ultimately, the sales team has to buy-in completely into a marketing campaign or it to be successful. Finally, we converged on an approach that would be acceptable to sales and help them strike a conversation with the prospective client.
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5 questions you need to ask yourself to be successful in business
The business climate today is tough – no two ways about it. What was taken for granted a few years back is no longer valid and companies have to expend a good amount of effort to retain existing business, grow and remain profitable.
What has triggered this change ? The usual reasons are applicable here too – tighter global market leading to increased pressures on margins and hence budgets. Plus business functions are being expected to demonstrate value to the business at every stage which was not such a common ask earlier. And this is not restricted to only the biggies – we are seeing an increasing number of smaller companies adopting rigorous metrics too. All for the good I guess!
5 steps to launching high-impact campaigns
One of the key goals of marketing organizations is to assist and enable sales. This goal gave rise to metrics such as number of leads through marketing and RoI of marketing initiatives. In fact, such measurements are becoming more commonplace as marketing becomes more and more accountable for the budgets they are allocated as well as the actions they take. This is a good thing in my opinion. Why? It forces a marketer to understand the big picture and take considered decisions. The marketer cannot rush headlong into spending money whatever is the current flavour of the season. However, he will be forced to arrive at the best course of action for his business based on market data, previous experience, company culture, available budgets, target audience and business capabilities. A more holistic approach is needed.
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