Break Glass in Case of Emergency!

By Yashi Srivastava

Excerpts from 'Open Source Leader' By- Sangeeth Varghese

Chapter: Break Glass in Case of Emergency (breaking glass ceiling between management and employees is future)

Step two to voice: Force people to talk and express their opinions by creating channels for two-way communication.

But does this not create insecurity inside the organization because leader is cutting across the ranks? Murli Krishnan of Biocon says it will not, if the organization has nurtured open environment from the start. He says insecurities will spring up only if one tries to implement this abruptly, especially in places where people are used to a hierarchical environment. 'In most organizations managers play the postman's role, where they waste time acting as a medium of transferring information from one place to another ---from the boss to the employees and vice versa. Managers could play much more productive role, if they are willing to give up their roles as postmen. So, in reality, there is no reason why they should feel insecure. If the leader approaches the source directly, it leaves the manager to focus on bigger responsibilities. Plus, it mitigates a lot of communication gaps and could make the system more efficient.

'But this requires a certain amount of maturity from the part of managers,' continues Murli. 'If the manager is insecure about his position in the company, or if he is using the achievements of his employees just as a means to score brownie points for himself, this will not work. The prerequisite is an environment where everyone feels safe. When Kiran Majumdar goes directly to my junior to find out some information, say about our bank details, I know perfectly well that she is doing it not because she does not have confidence in me, or to use it against me, but because that makes our teamwork much more productive. I know it is good for me, good for the employee and good for the company. We are all clear on that.'

That in a way sets the platform of a nice two-way communication where employees are not only aware of the minimal distance between them and the leader, but also are aware that all information they require is available--it is just a matter of asking for it.

The Rise of PR

By Akash Srivastava

Kotler: The original marketing mix was not 4Ps but about 14. Neil Borden many years ago used a large list of marketing tools. We can always add to the list. So the question isn't "what tools constitute the marketing mix" but, rather, "what tools are becoming more important in the marketing mix."

For example, I feel that advertising is overdone and public relations is underdone. This is seconded in Al Ries's book, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR. And direct-marketing tools are also rising in importance in the marketing mix.

Question: TV advertising seems to be losing its effectiveness. What are alternative ways to get attention?

Kotler: The average American is exposed to several hundred ad messages a day and is trying to tune out. TV advertising is losing its effectiveness because of growing advertising clutter, the increasing number of channels, the availability of zapping mechanisms, and reduced watching of television by certain groups. The result is that marketers must consider other methods of getting consumer attentions.

Here are a number of possibilities:

· Sponsorships. Companies have put their names on stadiums, on whole teams and on individual athletes in order to gain exposure.

· Mentions on talk shows. During his evening show, David Letterman sent a camera crew out to buy Snickers candy bars and ended up talking about it on three subsequent shows, including when Mars sent a whole van of Snickers to feed the audience.

· Product placement. In the movie Die Another Day, James Bond drove an Aston Martin, used a Sony cell phone and prominently featured an Omega wristwatch. Products are also mentioned in novels—in fact, Bulgari commissioned a whole mystery novel to be written called The Bulgari Connection.

· Street-level promotions. Companies have hired actors and actresses to walk in busy areas and ask passersby to take a snapshot of them using their new camera phone. Hopefully the picture takers are impressed and tell others about the new camera phone.

· Celebrity endorsements. Michael Jordon's endorsements gave a boost to Nike shows, McDonald's, Hanes underwear, and Rayovac batteries. Ex-Senator Bob Dole's surprising endorsement of Viagra put Viagra on the nation's mind.

· Body advertising. College kids agreed to paste Dunkin' Donuts logos on their foreheads during an NCAA basketball tournament.

Question: What is the main communication challenge?

Kotler: The major challenge today is getting people's attention. Consumers are pressed for time, and many work hard to avoid advertising messages. The main challenge is to find new ways to capture attention and position a brand in the consumer's mind. Public relations and word-of-mouth marketing are playing a growing role within the marketing mix to build and maintain brands.

Question: There is a great deal of hype about integrated marketing communications. What is the status of this subject today?

Kotler: In the past, we taught separate courses on advertising, sales promotion, public relations and other communication tools. Each student became a specialist in one of these areas, remaining ignorant of the other tools and having a tendency to defend the primacy of her tool. Within companies, the advertising person always received the biggest budget for marketing communication (leaving out the sales force), and the others would fight for the crumbs.

Clearly, this is not a good situation, especially considering that the effectiveness of different communication tools changes over time. The decision on how much to allocate to the different promotional tools cannot be left to turf battles. Someone must be put in charge. Let's call that person the chief communication office (CCO). That person should be responsible for everything that communicates anything about the company—not only the standard communication tools but also corporate dress, office decor and even the look of the company's trucks.

Today, an increasing number of business schools are teaching marketing communications using an IMC-oriented textbook. First, this prepares the student to understand the role of different communication vehicles. Second, it makes the point that the company's brand and customer message must be communicated consistently through all media. Thus, if a company wants to be known for its high quality, it has to produce high quality and communicate high quality in all of its messages.

Question: Do you see companies as setting their communication budgets optimally?

Kotler: Marketers develop a certain mindset concerning the most effective communication mix. They will continue the same mix even when evidence shows diminishing effectiveness. Allocations become frozen, and the chief marketing officer is loath to change the allocation.

This would change the power positions of different communication managers in the organization. Also, it will be done at some risk.

Question: Companies continue to spend more money on TV advertising, even as channels proliferate and more channel-switching takes place. Aren't companies being slow to realize TV advertising effectiveness has fallen?

Kotler: Companies are still fairly blind to the cataclysmic changes in the communication marketplace. The days of mass advertising, with its waste and intrusiveness, are passing quickly. I have advised clients to reduce their TV advertising budgets, especially mass advertising. Fewer people are watching TV, many are zapping commercials, and most commercials are too brief to be effective.

If a country had only a few TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers, mass marketing would be effective. When a country, such as the United States, has thousands of TV stations and radio stations, reaching a mass audience is very expensive.

Among the few mass audience vehicles are the Super Bowl and the Olympics. The growing fragmentation of media audiences requires marketers to shift to target marketing and even one-to-one marketing. The good news is that this will reduce wasted media exposures. What good is it to advertise cat food on national television if only 25% of families own a cat?

Question: What should advertising agencies do in response to the declining effectiveness of mass advertising?

Kotler: Advertising agencies can no longer prosper just by creating ads and choosing media. There are so many new ways to communicate today. Smart ad agencies will transform themselves into full-service communication agencies. They will work with their clients to choose the best messages and media vehicles, whether these are in the form of ads, press releases, events, sales promotions, sponsorships, direct mail, email or telesales.

Some advertising agencies have added these communication capabilities—they have created them or networked with public relations firms, sales promotion firms and direct-marketing firms in a move to becoming total communications firms.

Ogilvy called its system "Ogilvy Orchestration" and promised to deliver integrated marketing communications.

In practice, however, the dominant voice in this comprehensive agency is still that of the agency's advertising group. These agencies still make most of their money from their advertising billings. So how can they be fully objective when advising on the best mix of communication tools?

Yet advertisers are demanding more communication effectiveness. They want to shift more of their promotion dollars into direct marketing, public relations, and newer promotion tools. Advertising agencies would be wise to transform themselves from being narrowly defined advertising agencies into broad communication agencies.

Question: What is advertising's main limitation?

Kotler: Traditional advertising works primarily as a monologue. Today's companies would gain considerably by setting up systems that would enable dialogue to take place between the company and its customers and prospects.

Question: Will the Internet become an effective advertising medium?

Kotler: A few years ago, the CEO of Procter & Gamble said that he would happily switch a large portion of P&G's huge advertising budget to the Internet if he could find effective ways to do Internet advertising. So far, the Internet has not become a full-blown advertising medium like television, radio, newspapers, or magazines.

It is true that the Internet carries banner ads, but they are being opened less than 1% of the time. Advertisers are pressuring popular Web sites to carry skyscraper or pop-up ads, but the Web sites see this as risky. Also, consumers can choose to block pop-up ads.

Google has developed a system to align paid-for ads next to topics being searched by consumers. For example, if I type "BMW" on Google, the right side of Google's page will show a BMW ad. BMW will quickly learn whether its ad is leading to sales. All said, it is too early to tell how widespread or effective Internet advertising will become.

Question: How can companies effectively reach mass audiences?

Kotler: Advertisers won't see again the glorious days when they could reach millions of people in the evening with the same TV show or mass magazine.

There are three options today: One is to advertise on a number of media channels in the same time slot. Another is to advertise on Super Bowls, the Olympics, and other major worldwide events that attract large audiences. A third is to build a giant database containing the names of people who have the greatest interest in the company's offerings.

Question: Some media analysts call for more spending on public relations. Do you agree?

Kotler: I agree. Advertising has been overdone in the past, especially mass advertising with its "hit or miss" quality. PR has been underdone. PR consists of many tools, which I call the PENCILS of PR: publications, events, news, community involvement, identity tools, lobbying, and social investments.

When a customer sees an ad, she knows it is an ad, and an increasing number of customers are tuning ads out. PR has a better chance of getting a message through.

Furthermore the message can be fresher and more believable. PR is better equipped to create "buzz" about a new product or service. Interest in PR is increasing—witness the title of the recent book by Al and Laura Ries, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR.

Philip Kotler is the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

Read more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2005/1550/advertising-vs-pr-kotler-on-kotler#ixzz1Mry0huDU

Meaning & Symbolism of the Color Red

Dear Friends:

Today I was reading a piece in Sunday ET which talked about RED color and how it can be used in formal office dressing. As usual it triggered so many thoughts and what's better to pen them down and see how we can make best use from the relevant points. Relevant from the perspective that our house color at ViaMedia also stands to be RED and the article said--'RED matches best when worn with BLACK' and that's exactly what our ViaMedia LOGO is. When you go through the below lines, i believe you would come across and accept a lot of 'striking similarities' between essence of RED color and 'ViaMedia standing and philosophy', an organization which is dear to you and all.

Encyclopedia meaning of RED:
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm.^[2] Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared (below red), and cannot be seen by the naked eye.Here's is a staunching similarity- What is ViaMedia? What is its philosophy? What it actually means to its people as well as its clients? What is its objective? What is its GOAL?---all these things cannot be seen by 'naked eyes'! You actually need to go deep into its philosophical & ethical upbringing to understand these attributes of ViaMedia.

Etymology & Definitions:

The word red comes from the Old English rēad.^[4] Further back, the word can be traced to the Proto-Germanic rauthaz and the Proto-Indo Europeanroot reudh-. In Sanskrit, the word rudhira means red or blood. In the English language, the word red is associated with the color of blood, certain flowers (e.g. roses), and ripe fruits (e.g. apples, cherries). Fire is also strongly connected, as is the sun and the sky at sunset. Healthy light-skinned people are sometimes said to have a "ruddy" complexion (as opposed to appearing pale). After the rise of socialism in the mid-19th century, red was used to describe revolutionary movements.^[5]

Red color in ViaMedia is BLOOD (rudhira) of 'health communication', at least in India as of now.

The most emotionally intense color, red stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing. It is also the color of love. Red clothing gets noticed and makes the wearer appear heavier. Since it is an extreme color, red clothing might not help people in negotiations or confrontations. Probably, that is why at ViaMedia we do not believe in-- 'intense negotiation' and with the effect of color RED, we also have reduced instances of 'confrontation' with defaulting clients or thankless fellows whom we come across seldom.
The 'True ViaMedians' would find striking similarities between RED color and ViaMedia philosophy, culture and epidemiology and the RED petals it showers on ViaMedian spirit.

Meaning & Symbolism of the Color Red

Red has more personal associations than any other color. Recognized as a stimulant red is inherently exciting and the amount of red is directly related to the level of energy perceived.

Red draws attention and a keen use of red as an accent can immediately focus attention on a particular element.

The Effects of the Color Red

How the color red affects us mentally and physically:

• Increases enthusiasm
• Stimulates energy
• Encourages action and confidence
• A sense of protection from fears and anxiety

Red: The Color of the Base or Root Chakra

Red is the color of the base or root chakra. This chakra is located at the base of the spine and allows us to be grounded and connect to the universal energies.

This is what we always aspire to be at ViaMedia-- "remain grounded and connected to the universal energies".

BLACK is the color of power and authority, here BLACK and RED make a perfect combination at ViaMedia:

RED stands for love, passion and striking abilities (as a striking color which stands out instantly), BLACK when comes along, completes ViaMedia philosophy circle with-- 'power of health communication' which ViaMedia brings across the table with 'authority'.

Today was definitely a day of RED colors for me, when I tried to make by cutie daughter Siddhi wear different sandals, she insisted and wore only the one which was pure RED (even though the frock was not matching at all). When my wife Divya removed reddish pink background from our bedroom texture recently, today I was able to convince her to get a bright RED sofa from Home Town for our bedroom. The texture of our Parents room in our home has always been RED and I wish it remains so as you can only WIN if you have Parents' blessings along with you. The most striking is my son Siddhant's favorite pure RED T-shirt which has a strong slogan engrossed on front--"NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, Give UP..." and thus this MESSAGE--also the philosophy of 'my life' and of 'ViaMedia' and of all 'ViaMedians' --is always on top of the mind.

I remember my House colour in school used to be YELLOW but Red House used to be the winner all the time in annual sports. I used to think that why I'm not in the Red House--the winning team.
My favorite formal dress color used to be BLUE but my wife came and changed my whole wardrobe, which has a lot of BLACK, CREAM and WHITE colors in it (of course, some BLUE is still left, but in minoritry)--which are considered to be perfect formal combinations. It does not have RED, may be just one casual shirt?

By God's grace and Parents' blessings and love from my family, colleagues, friends and well-wishers, I'm fortunate to be in the WINNING Team today--the Team of REDS--the ViaMedia Team. Our life, full of colors, has shown me a lot of textures, some good, some bad, some beautiful, some ugly. I've been able to come above and cut across a lot of colors- Yellow, Blue, White....but have only come closer to the color RED-- in professional career, at home as well as in LIFE (which is again @ ViaMedia). When you walk into our HO at Nioda, your eyes will sprinkle with the brightness of color RED spread strategically and complimented smartly with bold BLACK paintings!

Now probably with concurrence of all ViaMedians, I can have the privilege of always wearing RED at office along with all my ViaMedian colleagues---may be in the form of a small beautiful ViaMedia LOGO, a RED scarf, a RED handkerchief, a RED belt, a RED necklace, a RED ring, a RED shirt or a top (with decent cuts--this is what ET pointed out in today's article on 'Red color dressing'--it is NOT my comment -:)), etc. It is just an idea thrown open to all for discussion and analysis. It will definitely help us utilize the 'power of RED' and make us feel as "True ViaMedian" all the time.

I would request Vijay, who is responsible for designing our such a beautiful and meaningful ViaMedia logo to think and come up with some some innovative options of how we can always wear RED, without disturbing the decency and smartness of what our versatile and dynamic ViaMedians wear while at work.

What say ViaMedians? Yeh laal rang kab mujhe chodhega......