My interpretation of learning from book " Art of War - sun tzu"

Dear friends,

As most of us are losing our habit of constantly reading books, journals in times of digital & social media invasion and an era of online streaming of movies, we all are getting too engrossed in technology which is hampering all of us to grow as human beings who were by DNA once programmed to be enterprising, innovative & hard working.

My current blog is dedicated to those who have lost their habit of reading books and it is my effort to summarize some of my learnings /key notes from famous books that I have come across. (let me be honest that I am trying to come out of social media addiction myself…)

(Disclaimer: my learnings /keynotes from particular book is completely my opinion and may differ from individual to individual).

Recently I was gifted a wonderful book called “Art of war-sun tzu”. Below are some of my key take outs which could be correlated to corporate world.

       a)  All wars consume 3 main resources i.e. Time, Money & Energy.

In corporate world we compete with our services/ products on daily basis and try to win mind space/ market share from our competitors; Professionals invest their time, money and energy in order to win consumers & sell their goods/services.

Brands should know when to communicate (timing), what to communicate (message) and how to communicate (media planning) and monitor its end result (call to action through market research).

b) Ignore choleric comments:

Sometimes competition passes comments or runs campaigns in order to irritate you or their targeted brands. (for example: Coke’s campaign in India in 1990’s official sponsor of world cup cricket vs Pepsi’s response – Nothing official about it).

                   

Always remember, ‘Wars are won by people who control their emotions’. Don’t allow your emotional quotient to overtake rational or logical behavior.

 c) Know yourself first and Opponent second.

We need to first completely understand our strengths, weaknesses prior to even enticing or acknowledging competition.

We all have seen a famous Bollywood blockbuster “ Dangal” wherein the key protagonist Aamer khan first studies weakness of his daughter and train her to overcome them prior to even attempting to compete with other wrestlers. Knowing yourself is most important.

Understand your weaknesses and overcome them to make it your strengths.

                       

d) Prepare beforehand to take your competition unprepared.

Winners prepare themselves before hand to face tough situations.

We all have heard story of Ant & grasshopper in our childhood days wherein Ant works throughout year to collect food for winter season vis a vis Grasshopper who is flamboyant and doesn’t sustain itself when weather changes.

We all brand managers, retail professionals should ensure that we work like an Ant i.e. taking care of our brand strategies in terms of its market share, inventory planning, marketing, customer service and implement continuous improvement drive in whatever we do in our professional lives.

I hope sharing of some learning will help in some way or other to my friends, upcoming entrepreneurs, budding brand managers to develop their brands in better & more successful way.

Cheers

Ritesh

#nevergiveup #believeinyourself.

Failure is nothing but SUCCESS delayed.

Dear Friends,

As I write this blog, there is an advertisement that is playing in back of my mind which says “Dirt is good” (on clothes.. used by popular detergent brand).

I feel it’s a master piece of mass communication which can be translated to the topic that I have chosen for my blog i.e. FAILURE IS GOOD.

“I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t light a bulb.” Edison once quipped.

Key take out learning from this is that one should fall forward and not backward i.e. Learn from the mistakes of others as well as your own.

I recall a statement from famous American writer, Comedian & TV star, Groucho Marx who once said    

 “ Learn from the mistakes of others, you can never live long enough to make them all yourself”.

Avoid looking back for too long. Contemplation is good but failing forward is about beginning the next project, starting it very next day.

Focus on what you could have changed in failure phase. Experiment & keep doing it. Never give up. Every discovery or invention came on back of repeated so called failures.

Most importantly you need to look at what’s working and certainly NOT at what’s not working.  

Coming from aviation background as aviation is in my genes, I recall one learning which my father had once told me i.e. Pilots are taught not to focus on what’s not working in emergency situations BUT on systems that are functioning.

I don’t mean that by doing so pilots can avoid air crashes etc but this thinking would certainly help pilots develop “Never Give up" attitude.

I would be writing a complete blog on ATTITUDE shortly but successful entrepreneurs always look away from the problem and catalog all their resources which are in their favor and utilize it to overcome any problem or issues.

I would reinforce one key learning to budding entrepreneurs or management students, “Turn your wounds into wisdom”, Learn from failure and bounce back… NEVER GIVE UP.

Wishing all my readers a very happy entrepreneurial journey!!

#NeverGiveUp

Ciao!

Ritesh Mohan

Is luxury retailing/ Luxury goods Recession Proof?

Dear Friends,

I am often asked this questions in various forums, networking events " Is Luxury retailing/ luxury goods recession proof ?"

Before I comment or share my views on this question, its important to understand what makes these luxury brands so special..

Brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Patek phillips, Rolex, Gucci, Loewe, Hermes evoke a certain kind of imagery in our minds which is aspirational & provides attitudinal & lifestyle experiences.

So what is Luxury?

I would like to define Luxury as "Business of selling dreams". It's a mindset.

"Why would i need to know as to how watch industry is doing, i am in luxury business" CEO of a very famous luxury watch brand once quipped....

This statement according to me says everything about Luxury brands and this statement holds so true in current times of economic challenges.

so what makes Luxury brands so different from other  brands....

When it comes to luxury, being unique is what counts, not any comparison with a competitor.

Luxury is the expression of a taste, of a creative identity; luxury makes the bold statement “this is what I am,” not “that depends”– which is what positioning implies.

Heritage associated with luxury brand plays a very important role i.e. Louis Vuitton.

Aspirations, dreams, attitudinal kind of brand imagery, are some of the elements of playground for Luxury brands.

Believe me or not but yes Luxury brands are not bogged down by any economic downward trends infact, they are least impacted as well.

Connoisseurs of these brands remains brand loyal and help these brands to remain evergreen & everlasting.

When Mass-tige & hi-street brands are hitting the walls, the world's most luxurious brands are reporting blooming sales spikes.

There are few brands that i would like to quote are coming from unconventional countries (which were earlier european dominated and making waves... one of such brand is Shangai Tang from China.(later acquired by Richemont group)

It is indeed every marketeer or retailer's dream to make his/her brand as cult as Hermes, LV, Rolex to name a few which could stand the toughest of times that any economist could ever predict.

Main thing to remember..."Stay true to your brand promise" while embarking on luxury business. 

I would like to conclude with beautiful quote from one of my favorite designer..

chao..

Ritesh Mohan

Most memorable advertisements in Indian market that still holds its key Brand Promise & relevance.

 Dear friends,

As I embark on writing my first blog and let me give you a brief about my professional life so far... I am a Retail professional having over 17 years of work experience in Branding, Advertising and Retail sectors. I would like to share my wisdom with all of my friends in my blog i.e. fascinatingretail.blogspot.com

My first blog is dedicated to Advertising and marketing communications done by some of Indian brands that are still relevant and has helped their brand owners create an empire. These are classic brand cases and would take my readers ( most of Indian countrymen) into nostalgic journey.

a) Amul :  The evergreen  Amul girl character used so efficiently in advertising that it still remains
fresh and relevant fulfilling the brand promise. A classic example of making a brand stay relevant and long lived in consumer's minds.

Brand Promise of the brand is Honesty, credibility built by offering best products to its consumers.

A Brand that is owned by the milk producers of Gujarat is an example as to how an entrepreneurial spirit of farmers grow to become world's largest coop federation serving millions of consumers across the world. Amul girl and its punchier & humor & catchy advertisements based on current affairs makes the brand stay relevant even in today's times.

 

Hats off to wonderful creative team Amul creative campaigns

B) Fevicol : Another classic example of how to keep brand alive for over 35 years, brand owned by Pidilite Industries has created an empire with its brand " Fevicol". Kudos to its advertising agency O&M india. I am great admirer of Piyush Pandey and his work.

Brand Promise: A bond built to last forever.

Who can forget this commercial from Fevicol which is now a master piece in Indian advertising.

Conclusion: First principle of Brand building is " stay true to your DNA" i.e. promise you want your brand to make to its users.

I wish all upcoming brand managers all the very best in making their brand stay relevant for ages.

Love to all budding marketeers,

Ritesh Mohan