Provenance Paradox & Reverse of it!

Provenance Paradox is a phenomenon that refers to products and services manufactured in emerging markets where the marketers have a very hard time establishing a reasonable margin for their products because of the place of origin of their products.While listening to Prof. Deshpande from HBS on his work on the topic Provenance Paradox, I could not help but spare a thought for products from India. 

Why Southern States are the BEST Test Markets for many products???

Source:  Wikipedia

Guess what made Pepsi India drop plans to introduce Dole, its fruit-based beverage from its international portfolio, in favour of brand Tropicana few years back? And what made Dabur Foods give up plans to introduce papads and other ethnic food?

The answer to both questions is the same - the response of the consumer south of the Vindhyas, who disapproved both the launches.

Diwali Dhamaka

From my childhood days I associate Diwali with lots of sweets, new dress and of course, Crackers. After growing up a little I understood the concept of discount and why Diwali is a good time to shop for the entire year and not just Diwali. When I started earning, it made excellent economic sense as well. There was a lot of discount on dresses and big ticket items. However, smaller gifts, sweets were priced higher to capitalize on the seasonal surge of demand.

This Diwali, our team set out to the nearest market to check out the discounts and to do some shopping for ourselves. The market here in Lucknow - Kapoorthala and Fun Republic.  

INDEX - The Disguised Marketing Fair

INDEX means many things to many people. It might mean alphabetical listing of topics in a book for easy reference. For some it means an  indication of how good or bad the market is moving.. But for the last 16 years to anyone associated with IIM Lucknow - Professors, Corporate houses, Students, INDEX has been just one thing and one thing only.. Disguised Market Research. 

MIB: Marketing in Banking

I always wondered about the importance of Marketing in Banking till I did my Summers @ one of the fastest growing banks of India. My initial perception was that banking would require more of branding and less of other marketing tools needed in a typical FMCG company. Now I believe that Banks have a huge potential for marketing and let me tell you, marketing in bank will be more challenging than marketing in FMCG sector.