Occupy Wall Street movement and India

When the movement against corporate greed marked one month I was thinking about the Indian scenario. On October 15^th 82 countries showed their anger to the corporate tyranny and supported the movement; but none in India. Is it because we don’t have too much of greedy corporate or we are not yet under their octopus hands?

I think the reason why Indians didn’t have to worry about the Occupy Wall Street movement is the following things.

1.    Banking is not a fully privatised sector- one of the main reason of the ongoing protest is the anger towards the banks in America and Europe which loot people. Indian government is still keen on keeping banking to public sector and thus protecting the public interest. It was also one of the main reasons that kept banks safe from recession.

2.    Tata and Birla or the angel corporates- you may wonder why I put a point like this. But just take a moment and think about the two companies. As we all know these are the two Indian corporates that’s been there for years. They always kept their tradition and the Indian heritage of Charity which compelled the other corporate who emerged in the 80’s and 90’s.

3.    Indian government policies- India has always been a country of values. Still in some ways or other we try to keep it with us and hand it over to our coming generations. Our government has recently brought an idea of making CSR compulsory of all corporate companies. Such an initiative will surely persuade the companies to look at the society from which took all it resources. Giving that society something back will certainly make the common man happy and it will cater the poor with his basic amenities.

Crusoe: a great example for positioning

This is a very nice example and even a case study by which you can understand the effects and results of a great positioning strategy. This is about an undergarment brand which was nothing before one year and became a great brand with their EBOs all over India.

I started to notice the hoardings of Crusoe one year back when they came up with cool creatives in which they positioned themselves as a brand made for adventurous men interested in surfing, hiking, or scuba diving or what ever sports that are considered to be adventurous for men. This image suddenly caught many of the youngsters mind and the under garments became a hot topic amidst us. Even some of my friends considered buying it as a symbol of positioning themselves as adventurous.

Anyway what I was trying to tell that a simple positioning strategy with some seriously cool creatives made a just another under garment makers into great brand that could create the necessary buzz.

But the one area they missed is the online platform where they can create more WOM with even simpler activities. Their social media activities are very poor that it won’t be enough to attract the young audience. I’m sure once they start active online branding Crusoe can succeed over the current giants in their segment.

Changing tastes and emerging fast food industry in Kerala

Years back it was the Dosa shops and ice cream parlors that were the favorites of Keralites. But now the scenario has changes and many indigenous fast food brands have emerged.

Malayalees are becoming fast food addicts and as a result we have so many so many indigenous food brands and restaurant chains. First if it was just a Chick King, now in Cochin we have more than five fried chicken shop (I’m deliberately forgetting KFC). Giving tough competition to CCD, every day new coffee shops are sprouting with different USPs and new tastes. Some of the examples are Coffee cube, Kahava and Fort Café and Café Cochin.

If we think of restaurants we have NBC which is establishing as a chain and others like Itty’s, 14 Avenue and Parampara which offers delicious food and very innovative and charming interiors and ambience. Even if the price list looks costly, it seems like people prefer these places as a good destination to spend time with family of friends or their loved ones. That’s why the restaurant people are strict in making the ambience exceptionally good.

But one sad fact is that many of the coffee shops and restaurants opened with hi-fi facilities had to close down due to financial problems (I don’t want to mention the names). So I think the people for new ventures must be a bit careful before getting on the band wagon.

But anyway for the food enthusiasts it seems like they are going to have a tasty time!