Markathon May 2009

Basics are good.

It’s the new Mantra of India Inc. on the aftermath of recession. A sheer pressure to innovate cost efficient measures is fledging across the industry and taking the lead are telecom giants. Vodafone has reined its supremacy on the digital media with its new Avatar Zoozoo. It’s a show of Vodafone’s ability to reinforce the same value proposition as of its predecessor Hutch. The new Mascot has clearly enamored the Indian television diaspora and now adoring them are orkut users as their profile pictures. No star power, no any exotic location or overweighed animations, it is pure advertisement sending clear cut messages with an element of fun.
Someone has clearly said that “Adversity and scarcity are the stimulus for innovation”. A clear reflection of this phenomenon is amplified in the 4th qtr result of India Inc. Recessionary conundrum is bottoming out and Dalal Street is smiling again. FMCG, BFSI and Commodities have really fared well with a combined growth of more than 20%, compared to previous year. But I am looking forward to upcoming summer war. The battle field will be open for AC’s, Refrigerators, Colas and Ice-creams. As expected the scene will be uglier between the Cola giants but a resurgent COCA COLA may become havoc for Pepsi. Thums Up has already replaced Pepsi from the top slot and continuing with it’s never say die attitude. Let’s see who works “Thanda Mat Lab Coca Cola” or “Yehi Youngistan Hai Meri Jaan”.The issue covers the biggest of all extravaganzas ever in the Indian sub-continent. In one side it was the Indian General Election 2009 while on the other side IPL 2.0 was pulling the crowd. Both meet their expectations but the results were definitely extraordinary. Congress swept the election and now no more on the clutches of its coalition partners as earlier. SONIA-MANMOHAN-RAHUL trio has become the biggest brand in the country. Rahul, perfected in the arts of Porters 5 forces has dedicated this win to his mentor Michael Porter as GURU DAKSHINA. On the similar note IPL crossed the home boundary and has made it even bigger. Some say it will become NRIPL (Non Resident Indian Premier League) thanks to Indian Politics but I think IPL has taken a bold strategic move that has moved it few ranks closer to other international sports events. The day is not far behind when IPL will become International Premier League.

Asit Kumar Jain