Trivial Issues; debates and Media air time occupancy

Past two days in English news media, the air time and news time slots were blocked by “Gay law” amendment on Sec. 377. Celebrations and debate by celebrities shadowed most of the airtime in these channels.
I am little concerned about the media hypocrisy, when an NDTV editor anchor interviewed union law minister immediately after he resumed his office whether you would amend Sec 377. They should realize that what way these amendment affect common man, I agree may this affect 1 out of 10000 citizen of our country. These media should realize 9999 people’s issue being left out by airing all these trivial issues and debates.
I am still searching constrictive media in our country, our democracy still with out functional fourth pillar.
Hope some members of fourth pillar reading…..

Branding a Country!

I was browsing news channels in this week, they are all filled by arguments and debating how to brand Australia as “Racist-Australia”.
This seems to me a media initiative to sensitize Indian public pulling three or four isolated incidents. I feel our media is reading to much on these incidents.
Times Now

NDTV 24x7

I feel our media should play a constructive roll than provoking and sensitizing these issues, they are isolated incidents, we may have to get into root cause analysis and may be trying to correct the cultural misunderstanding than debating these incidents.
We need to put ourselves in an Australian's shoe and feel how these debates of half cooked experts hurt the positive and good Australian minds.
If baranding a country is motive our media, we may have to accept foreign media branding us as “Rapist-India”, Of course no Indian like to be called as Rapist.
The 20 year old German national’s molestation following the World Tourism Day (September 27th) has once again exposed the vulnerability of female tourists who are considered as easy targets by criminals. While the issue may be affecting the tourism industry’s revenues significantly, it has also brought out the fact that Indian policing has virtually collapsed.
Seven cases were reported in the first month of this year. A Swedish teenage was molested at a New Year's Eve party at Kochi in Kerala, while a number of tourists were also heckled. Three foreign women reported sexual harassment in Goa. Also in Goa, two British women claimed to have been sexually assaulted by the owner of a resort.
During the last few years several sexual attacks have also been reported in Rajasthan, a famous tourist destination also known as the jewel of Indian tourism. Just before Christmas, an American national was molested in Pushkar and a British journalist was raped in Udaipur. Earlier, a French woman was raped, also in Pushkar. In 2005 in Rajasthan, a German tourist was raped by an auto-rickshaw driver and his accomplice in Jodhpur. Today Rajasthan is being seen as the tourist-rape capital of India.
Crime statistics for 2006, released by the Home Ministry's National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), show that 18 women are victims of crime every hour. The number of rapes a day has increased nearly 700 per cent since 1971, when such cases were first recorded by the NCRB. The number has grown from 7 to 53 rape cases per day

This expert from Center of Social research should put our media back foot before we point finger(other four fingers are pointing to us) to fellow country men.

Hope some media friends are reading…

Why Obamaconomics will fail!

I happen to read a Wall Street Journal article on Obama’s economic policies and his recent Tax policy on off-shoring jobs to Bangalore, I wonder, how American economic adviser failed to appraise him Competitive advantage of economies.
President Obama revealed Monday that he's half a supply-sider. If only someone could explain to him the other half. We have a tax code, the President said, "that says you should pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, New York." That sounds like a great argument for lowering taxes on the guy creating jobs in Buffalo. Alas, that's not what he has in mind.
Set aside that India is a poor example to make Mr. Obama's point, since its corporate tax rate on foreign-owned companies can be as high as 55%. The President's argument is that U.S. tax-deferral rules make it more expensive for American companies to reinvest overseas profits at home than abroad. This, he claims, creates a perverse incentive for companies to "ship jobs overseas" and reduces investment and job creation in the U.S.
He's right, except that his proposals would only compound the problem. His plan would limit the tax deferral on income earned abroad by tightening the rules, limiting allowable deductions and restricting eligibility for foreign-tax credits. This "solution" is antigrowth, job-destroying, protectionist and unlikely to raise the tax revenue Mr. Obama predicts. Other than that . . .
The current tax-deferral system is a clumsy attempt to deal with the fact that most other countries don't tax their companies' overseas profits. A German firm doing business in Ireland, say, pays no German income tax on its Irish profits, but it does pay Ireland's corporate income tax at its 12.5% rate. The U.S. company competing with that German business in Ireland, by contrast, pays Ireland the same 12.5% on its profits -- and it then pays Uncle Sam up to 35%, minus a credit for what it paid the Irish. And because almost everyone else's corporate tax rates are lower than America's (see nearby table), U.S. companies end up paying higher taxes than their international competitors.
Congress long ago created the corporate tax deferral to compensate for this competitive disadvantage. Under deferral, a company doesn't have to pay the U.S. corporate rate until it repatriates its earnings. It can retain them overseas or reinvest them abroad with no penalty. But if it brings them home or pays them as dividends, the tax bill comes due.
The German company faces no such quandary. It pays the Irish tax, and it's free to invest that money in Ireland or Germany or anywhere else. This territorial tax system, embraced by most of the world, eliminates the perverse incentive to hold money abroad that America's deferral system creates. Adopting a territorial system would be the most obvious and simplest way to eliminate the distortion that tax deferral creates. Alternatively, Mr. Obama could lower the U.S. corporate tax rate to a level that is internationally competitive.
Yes, we know: Few major U.S. companies pay 35% of their profits in taxes because of the foreign tax-deferral and other deductions, credits and loopholes. But that's precisely why Mr. Obama should want to take the better path to corporate tax reform by reducing the rate and removing loopholes. America now has the worst of both worlds -- a high statutory rate and a tax code so riddled with complexity that it is both expensive to administer and inefficient at collecting revenue. And yet Mr. Obama's proposal to limit deferral only layers on the complexity.
In promoting its new global tax raid, the White House fingered the Netherlands, which it lumped with Ireland and Bermuda as "small, low-tax countries" that supposedly account for an outsize share of reported foreign profits of U.S. firms. The Dutch corporate tax rate is 25.5% -- which isn't even all that low by current European standards. And the U.S. is the largest foreign investor in that "small, low-tax country," according to the Dutch Embassy. Perhaps reducing American investment there and slamming the Netherlands as a tax haven is Mr. Obama's way of reaching out to friends and allies.
But the Netherlands won't be the only country hurt. The explicit goal of this plan is to reduce the incentive for U.S. companies to invest abroad, which Mr. Obama derisively calls "shipping jobs overseas." Foreign companies may relish the loss of U.S. corporate competitiveness that his proposal will bring in the short term. But in the long term, reducing U.S. investment globally will hurt everyone. And that investment is a two-way street -- the Netherlands is also the fourth-largest foreign investor in the U.S.
Some of Mr. Obama's advisers understand all this, but then their real goal isn't tax reform or U.S. competitiveness. It's a revenue grab, one made easier by the fact that overseas tax "avoidance" is easily demagogued. To that political end, Mr. Obama conflates tax deferral with the offshoring of jobs -- hence the sly reference to Bangalore, India. With trillions of dollars of new spending, the White House and Treasury are desperate for new tax sources to pay for it all.
But even as a revenue raiser, this is likely to fail. Fewer companies will keep their headquarters in the U.S., especially small or mid-sized firms that can slip away without becoming a political target. Those companies that can't flee will sooner or later demand relief from Congress, which will be happy to create even more loopholes.
If Mr. Obama's proposal has a silver lining, it is that he has embraced the principle that tax rates matter to investment decisions. If his new and short-sighted proposal becomes law, he and all Americans will discover just how much
The above article clearly explains how US will loose its competitiveness if its stops off shoring, I would add from Indian example.
During late 1970s when Janatha party took over power and shut Indian door to MNCs, hoping that being swadesi would boost Indian economy. But our socialist went wrong when they could achieve only Hindu rate of growth and country was pushed to stage of mortgage its gold reserve to meet its current account commitments. It was 1991 when India corrected its mistake by breaking its protectionist shell and country could join the league of fast growing nations...
Hope some progressive Americans agree with my views,
“ It is human to commit mistakes, fools do not learn from mistakes, common men learn from their mistakes and Intelligent men learn from other’s mistakes”
Time will tell us where do we place Mr. Obama...

Public healthcare in India

I was triggered by a news report in CNNIBN today about present state of public healthcare systems in India to explore more on health care system. It was pathetic to see the conditions of nation’s Institutes like AIIMS and Safdharjung etc. and this clip explains everything

It was very sad to see the entire state of public health care system despite repeated reports and alerts given by independent studies, following report from PWC explains everything,
India’s healthcare infrastructure has not kept pace with the economy’s growth. The physical infrastructure is woefully inadequate to meet today’s healthcare demands, much less tomorrow’s. While India has several centers of excellence in healthcare delivery, these facilities are limited in their ability to drive healthcare standards because of the poor condition of the infrastructure in the vast majority of the country. Of the 15,393 hospitals in India in 2002, roughly two-thirds were public. After years of under-funding, most public health facilities provide only basic care. With a few exceptions, such as the All India Institute of Medical Studies (AIIMS), public health facilities are inefficient, inadequately managed and staffed, and have poorly maintained medical equipment. The number of public health facilities also is inadequate. For instance, India needs 74,150 community health centers per million population but has less than half that number. In addition, at least 11 Indian states do not have laboratories for testing drugs, and more than half of existing laboratories are not properly equipped or staffed.
This whole affair was let to the private players over the years and private parties made health care unaffordable to for 80% of Aam Aadhmies. Incidentally for past 5 years we had well qualified man for job (first time in recent history India had MBBS doctor as Union Health Minister) but this man spent entire tenure in settling score with Dr. Venugopal of AIIMS or making juicy statement against film stars smoking in Screen.
Hope few voters listen and give their best to these politicians….

Political hyper-activism of Indian media

If we happen to see major news channels during these days, we could realize they are playing spoil sport or deep frying the issues which are least and trivial to progressive society. May be this fourth pillar wants to show it’s mighty by putting petty issues to inefficient politicians’ mouth and paint the picture they wish to.
Media could have played constructive role during election campaign of politicians, could have reviewed the performance of politicians and the parties. This could have helped their viewers to take informed decisions. I assume this should be role of fourth pillar of our democracy. Incidentally Dr. Manmohan singh rightly pointed this in an interview to a news channel on response to a question why personalities being attacked in this election do we run out of issues, Mr Singh precisely returned this to that editor said this media which selectively picks these speeches added that he had compared performance of UPA and NDA in the same speech and at end he had criticized Mr Advani, PM in waiting. It is the media which 99% of speech and picked the last part of the speech.
Instead 90% time slot occupied by discussing and debating Varun Gandhi, Lalu’s remark, Amar singh spat with Mulayam singh, Sanjay dutt remarks and Karunanidhi on LTTE, Viko remark on LTTE etc…and other 10% on dissecting IPL,
As requested by former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam media should have done performance appraisal and wealth creation of these candidates and parties, This might have contributed a lot in our nation building processes.
Hope some of my Media friends are reading this….

I found Mr. Right for my Constituency

The Man,
Mr Sarath Babu, Founder & CEO of Foodking Catering, from helping his mother sell idlis on Chennai’s streets to the top echelons of academia with an enrolment in chemical engineering at BITS Pilani and IIM-A, and now as the steward of his Food King Catering business, Sarath has come a long way.
His humility perhaps made him reject several high-brow offers from MNCs after his MBA. That, in a way, was the genesis of Food King Catering—with a paltry Rs 2,000 seed money. Today, his food business spans six locations with Rs 9-crore turnover to boot and set to clock Rs 20 crore by year-end. For 28 year old Sarath, his mother, who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai and worked as an ayah, is a pillar of strength. A mother of 5 children, she earned to get her son, Sarath an education at BITS Pillani in Chemical Engineering.
During his graduation there, he managed the college canteen as he had a natural inclination and knack for food. He then worked in a software company for 3 years post which he went to IIM Ahmedabad and studied Industrial Training. It is during this time in year 2000 that he went to Bihar and came across a report that stated 30% of Indians are under the poverty line. This was an eye opener for Sarath who then decided to set up Food King. With Rs. 2000 as initial capital and one employee he set up Food king in the same year. Through Food King he desires to give quality employment to the poor.
In the next 5 years he wants Food King to be a source of employment for 50,000 people by opening 400-500 branches all over the countries. As of now there are 250 people in his company but the plans are big. Despite all his success, he is a simple man at heart and continues to live in a hut. He maintains that his inspiration is and will always be his mother
His mother sold idlis from the family’s modest house on Bajanai Koil Street in Madipakkam to send him to school.
The 30-year-old youth later walked through the portals of two premier educational institutions, set up his own venture with just Rs. 2,000 as capital and now heads the firm that employs more than 200 people across five cities. he took another bold step which, in his own words, was to reach out to jobless youth.
The Mission,
He formally announced his decision to contest as an independent candidate from the South Chennai Lok Sabha constituency. “It was during the Mumbai terror attacks that I took the decision to plunge into electoral politics in order to reach out to more people across society,” he said. Mr. Sarath Babu said it was time for “all of us to not just aspire for developmental politics, but witness it for real.” “We need educated and selfless youth to drive this country to the next developmental phase. “Youth with dynamic personalities should come forward with courage and get into active politics,” he said.
Asked how he planned to reach out to the more than 11 lakh voters during elections, he replied that he had been speaking to several thousand people in the past three to four months and that he would make good use of technology, by remaining in contact with his voters through the internet and mobile phone. A number of his friends from school and college, including those from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, were with him to support him during campaigning.

At last good things started happening, I found a man I looked for in my constituency. Let us support him and make politics a proffessional activity,
Runinig a country need professional skills, I remmeber Jaagore campaign "ye Desh ko chellaneka kaam, ashaan nehi"
Hope some of my fellow constituency are reading...

Commitment to clean Indian Politics!

This election is witnessing many positive activism in India, many campaigns sponsored by non profit organizations and corporate world, They are pointed towards increasing active public participation in nation building processes.
Good, I hope active participation of celebrities and bureaucrats would translate into large participation of constructive forces of democracy. I am impressed by the media spending of these agencies at these difficult times (economic uncertainties), they are putting their best effort and sincerity to achieve their goal.





Let us participate more and more to clean Indian politics, let us pledge to vote and make our neighbours, family member and friends to vote for “right person for right cause!”

Hope I find “right” person in my constituency…

Positive Journalism - Is it exists in our country?

Few news which deserve to be occupy covers story of print media and TVs was not even reported in news, I though I should point out to them about this attitude.
How many of us know or informed by so called “Proactive journalism” that
1. A 16 months toddler donated her organs and gets chance to live through other, India’s youngest organ donor, I solute Ms Abhilasha and her parents for their brave deeds. Surprisingly this was appearing in front page only in Hindustan Times, Delhi edition, This should have occupied cover stories of other National dailies, however this was not even reported in many of high TRB or readership media- pity indeed ( worst thing is Tamil prints gave front page to a trivial news that “Actor Ashin’s assistant traced in Mumbai” )
2. Dual SIM card mobiles are invented in India, Somasundaram Ramkumar from Madurai had filed a patent for dual SIM card mobile phones in 2002 at the Indian patent office and was awarded the patent last year. Patent owners are to receive a mutually agreed upon payment for use of their ideas in a commercial product, which is called a royalty fee. In India, the concept of acknowledging ownership and copyrights is still rising and patent awareness is poor, even amongst corporate. To give a sense of the amount, royalty fees on computers and consumer electronics is 2% of the MRP, but in the telecom sector, In this case, Ramkumar is said to have asked for Rs 35 per phone shipped into the country, which we think is quite reasonable. Samsung India Electronics had filed a petition challenging the impounding of its stocks of dual SIM phones by Indian customs authorities in Mumbai, but the Delhi High Court dismissed it. The vendor is planning to take it up with the Mumbai High Court now, according to Financial Chronicle. The industry body Indian Cellular Association has been roped in to take it up with the customs authority even as other handset vendors watch and wait to see what happens. Spice Mobile offers four dual SIM handsets - D-80, D-88, D-90 and PDA phone D-1100. Samsung’s Duo phone was recently launched as a dual mode phone in the touch screen mobile segment and its. Fly (Meridian Mobile) and Motorola have also launched dual SIM mobiles. Meanwhile, the Madras High Court has directed retailers and even online shopping sites such as Rediff and Ebay to stop selling dual SIM phones, which have been quite popular in the country. Backed by the clout of the courts, Ramkumar has a good chance of winning this war against alleged IP theft. This news item was only covered in business dailies as they need to have close watch in business environment, other wise not given enough exposure to this deserved person.
We can add many many more to this list. Instead of chasing issues have no impact on common man and his life, Our media can play right role of fourth pillar of democracy.
Hope our self proclaimed Tamil Number 1 daily and The Hindu dailies will turn their eyes to positive news.. Are you reading?

Why Kolkata (Calcutta) lives in past?

I was viewing few of Kolkata cricketing fans’ interviews in English news media, one unique character of people of Bengal poped up immediately,
Why these people always live in past glories and history, To substantiate this I wish to I would like to put few of my observations
1. They yet to come out of Ravindranath Tagore’s musical legacy, They still presume Tagore’s contribution to music cannot be overtaken by human. Yes, I agree Tagore is great, who is next Bengali reaching that height, Is there any one in making???
2. Many Bengalis believes, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose yet to die, Incidentally Indian Govt. send huge money by appointing a single judge enquiry commission multiple times and for multiple years to unlock this belief namely Netaji Inquiry Committee-1956, G.D. Khosla Commission of Inquiry-1970-74, Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry- 1999-2005. I still don’t know how many of Bengalis convinced, If he lives as claimed by many Bengalis he would be at 112 years old.
3. They still believe their communist policies saved India from US like economic crisis, This is like some one who claims the credit that he had stopped Air accidents by blocking AIR mode of travel
4. They still believe Sourav Ganguly is the best ever captain and cricketer in all formats of cricket,

The above data (source :www.cricinfo.com) clearly shows why Ganguly does not even deserve a place in T20 cricket team

Hope some Bengali friends reading and trying to live in present!!!

IPL Moved out - Who benefits

I was little surprised by BJP’s cricketing politicians, fixing Congress party for anything and everything, (Of course Congress also tries to take credit of anything and everything from UPA govt. contribution to A R Rahman’s Oscar to Vijay Mallya’s Gandhi antiques Auction victory).
Coming to point, I feel it is better for our country as IPL being outside
1. Our young buds getting exposure to prove their skills in the harsh foreign conditions, ( climate, pitches and breezy winds- This will ultimately create a pool of talents for Indian cricket to dominate the world. Gone are the days when media criticized our cricketer, that Tigers inside India and paper tigers outside the country
2. IPL in foreign land will eliminate Lahore like scenario, as I suspect some skewed mind will throw some country made bombs and claim the credit to increase brand identity over night as this is being rewarding and tested method to make country speaking their name ( Test and working well as in the case of Mr. Promod Muthalik and Mr. Varun Gandhi, Who knows about them before they spitted their venom outside )
I would advice BCCI & IPL to schedule IPL outside the country at least once in two year, may in Australia, England, West Indies or South Africa, It does not matter to Indian viewer as he is connected in websites in office or hooked to TV in home,
I agree with Sachin and Yuvraj that they will be missing cheering live crowd, May be we can create this ambiance with large speakers and sound system recorded earlier matches played in India.
End of the day, we should look at creating a large talent pool which keeps Indian cricket going
Hope, Some of BCCI and IPL bosses are listening….

No Criminals in Politics - Bimal Jalan

A nationwide campaign against criminals in politics, prompted by the nationwide outrage over the Mumbai terror attack, was launched here on Thursday.

Backed by top corporate bodies like NASSCOM and FICCI, along with over 2,000 NGOs and alumni of IITs and IIMs, the campaign, ‘No Criminals in Politics’, will inform voters through an SMS (567678) feedback on the past criminal record of current MPs and candidates for the 15th Lok Sabha elections.

Launching the campaign, former Reserve Bank of India governor and chairperson of Public Interest Foundation, Bimal Jalan, said that of the 543 Lok Sabha MPs, 128 had self-confessed cases pending against them whereas 24 MPs had a series of charges of murder or attempt to murder to their credit.

Jalan said the aim of the campaign would be three-pronged. First, it would ask the political parties not to give tickets to candidates with criminal backgrounds in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Second, it would apprise the voters of criminal antecedents of candidates in each constituency.

Third, it would request voters not to support political parties that field candidates with criminal charges anywhere in the country. The campaign would be carried out SMS and audio-visual tools.

The campaign, which has Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar, noted lawyer Fali Nariman and Rajya Sabha MP Rahul Bajaj voicing their concern against criminals in politics, will also include stars such as Aamir Khan.

“We saw a lot of resentment against the present political system. It was then that we professionals thought that the Lok Sabha polls would be the time to do something to improve governance in our country. It led to the birth of this campaign,” said R. Gurumoorthy, coordinator for the campaign.

“‘No Criminals in Politics’ is a step to make citizens aware of their right to vote. It is a campaign to alert them that they also have the right to demand for the right candidate,” said a launch statement released on behalf of 21 organisations, including the Association for Democratic Reforms and Jaagore.com.

Voters can register for the campaign through an SMS to 567678 or logging into the website

A View from Outside

I was reading a book of all editorial compilation of our former finance minister Mr. P Chidambaram, “A View form Outside”
Very argumentative (this man not forgotten his old profession) views, On our consumer behavior towards our farm produces, I was impressed and 100% agrees with his argument that we are not ready to pay right price to our farm produce. He puts very interesting analysis on our willingness to pay for a Kg of rice or Sugar and minimum support price of paddy and its conversion cost
The minimum support price for 100 Kg of Paddy is Rs. 500, conversion from paddy to rice is about 45%. Adding all manufacturing activities like Procurement, power and supply chain cost the minimum price consumer should pay so that whole supply chain survives is Rs. 20 a Kg.( We had votted a party to power which promissed Rice for Rs. 2/- a Kg )
Similarly if I extend this to sugar MSP for 1000 Kg of Sugar cane is Rs. 1000, conversion from Sugarcane to Sugar is about 9%. Adding all manufacturing activities like Procurement, power and supply chain cost the minimum price consumer should pay so that whole supply chain survives is Rs. 21 a Kg.( We cried to sky when per Kg price of sugar rose to Rs. 19 /- )
We are getting into a negotiation on hearing price for any farm produce but pay and paying without even seeing MRP when we buy a bottle of mineral water.
Hope we change our behavior while buying farm produce, Incidentally we had P Chidambaram become finance minister after writing this book, He could have done something for farmers after observing this imbalance.
Now I don’t see any differences between a cricket commentator who make comments like “Oh! Sachin could have played onside than trying to flick offside to a slip fielder”.
Mr P Chidambaram, are you listening!!!

Women in Advertisement

I happen to browse through television media advt. of Hero Honda Glamour, Little concern about how a women being viewed by the guy who conceived the advt. concept.
• A girl was ready to avoid a boy with whom she was sitting while she saw our avdt hero who ride glamour bike
• Girl was hiding the kids with whom she was walking
• A lady was thinking him to ask for a dinner or movie


I presume our advt. gurus wont like to see his/her mom or sister or wife to behave the same manner how he /she depicts in his advt.

Hope some advt. gurus are listening…

Wisdom

WISDOM by Definition
wisdom : the quality of being wise; knowledge; knowledge of the best ends and best means; an understanding of the proper action to take in a given situation; the judicious application of knowledge. syn: skill , dexterity

CHARACTERISTICS OF A WISE PERSON
1. The Wise Person has a lot of KNOWLEDGE
1. which consists of facts, experience, knowing people, empathy
2. The Wise Person has a lot of INTELLIGENCE
3. The Wise Person has a GOOD PHILOSOPHY
4. he Wise Person looks 4 the CORE ISSUE(S) involved in the case AT HAND
5. The Wise Person helps EVERYONE GAIN UNDERSTANDING
6. The Wise Person does REALITY TESTING
7. The Wise Person does NOT do EGOCENTRIC THINKING
8. The Wise Person has SELF-DISCIPLINE

Note : Wise people DO NOT ALWAYS make wise decisions or act wisely

Pulsar of Passenger Car – Failed Product Positioning

Suzuki SX4

It’s another example of marketing failure from Maruti Udyog Limited in recent days. Though the product is too good and elegant look to be fit as good family car, Maruti somehow misled by the power availability they try to position as “Male Car” as Bajaj did for Pulsar
The segmentation communication went entirely wrong, going by the sales data A3 Product category is growing despite the overall passenger car sales slipping. The product is well ahead of competition from Honda City Zx and Hundai Verna or Tata Indigo.
Source: (http://www.carwale.com/research/comparecars/CarComparison.aspx?car1=1163&car2=527 ).

http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=BO&autono=318699
The thing went wrong is marketing communication which showed the car meant for “Man”. Having manufactured a car for upper middle class or higher class self driver car, on communication it excluded potential female customers and person who’s intention might be using it as family car. This communications narrow down the potential buyers. May be the advertisers were misled by the success of Bajaj Pulsar in Bike segment.
The Pulsar act worked well as bike as product meant for man, and pulsar is exclusively for sporty and adventurous group. Adding to this though M&M SCORPIO positioned as SUV car the media commercials always showed a woman driving the vehicle.

May be Maruti learn from this mistake and correct during their Swift D zire launch

Any P more than 4Ps ?

Adding any P to 4Ps in the Marketing mix model may be like adding a leg to a 4 legged Table. But I always feel Market mix model lacks good fitment in few scenarios.
Timing of a Product sale or launch ( Period – 5th P ) shall the models’ fitment in most of scenarios.

The model shall be explained through following case.

TVS launched its first 4 stroke 150 cc Scooter in 1998 with price tag Rs. 39,000 /- and Honda launched its Honda Activa Model 4 Stroke 100 CC in 2001 with tag of Rs 39,800 /-.

Comparing these two products, Spectra was much better product in all aspects of 4Ps but the product failed miserably.
Pure timing was the issue with Spectra launch, during 1998s Bajaj cub available at Rs 23,000/- Market could not feel the environmental advantages with 4 S engines.
By the time of Honda launch Bajaj cub or Chetak phased out from the market, leaving a vacuum for Honda to fill in. Many more examples shall be given as support “Period” shall be another P candidate in Marketing mix Model.

Just Noticeable Changes - Unnoticed

Recent article about Nestle Maggi just fascinated me, Indian are largest consumers of Maggi (so called Chinese noodles), Nestle revived the brand Maggi and launched may variants, It has even roped actress Preity Zinta for its advt.I did small research how much premium we pay for these variants (only on veg..), Interesting out come Nestle steals consumer by called " Just noticeable change "Regular (Masala & Curry) 100gm pack cost us Rs. 10.00Dal - Atta varients 90 gm pack cost us Rs. 13.00 with premium of 44%Rice noodle varients 83 gm pack cost us Rs. 15.00 with premium of 80.72%These new variants are not 100 gm pack as we think they are 90 gms and 83 gms packed as if it resembles 100gm ( Do we have regulator to watch standard pack sizes ? )

Convienient Pricing

Recently I read a market share analysis in a Business daily that “Parle G” still tops in sale in low priced biscuit segment, “Tiger biscuit” never able to succeed this particular segmnt.Interestingly in this segment Parle G ( 75gm ) is priced at Rs. 5.00 and Tiger biscuit ( 90gm ) priced at Rs. 4.00. If we go by common sense in this segment those who buys Parle G pays 50% extra for the same qty of Tiger. Still Parle G leads….I try to explore why this unnatural thing happening in so called low price segment. One more statistics said 73% of this segment sales happens at corner shops and petty shops ( small tea or four wheeled pan shop or 4” X 4” make shift shops ).I raised one question to myself “Are these buyers are such brand specific buyer who prefers his brand with higher cost of 50%?”I decided to see how this sale happening and stood near a shop ( a tea shop opposite to MDI ) a kid came gave Rs. 5.00 coin and asked for a biscuit pocket. The shop owner took Parle G pack and took the coin. What prevented him to sell Tiger biscuit? Nothing, laziness!! If he sells Tiger he needs to give one rupee back. His convenience decides the Brand.Why cant our fellow brothers in Britannia look at this point, they can maintain the large pack size ( to keep customer happy ) and increase the price by a rupee and pass some extra bucks to shopkeeper ( to keep shop keeper happy )There is one more thing governs more than 4Ps in marketing, that is Common Sense.