Book Review : Know- How

Title : Know -How
The eight skills that separate people who perform and those who don't.

Author : Ram Charan

Publisher : Random House
Book review # 4

Know-How is a must read for all business students and professionals. After reading this book , I must admit that I became a fan of the author Ram Charan. Ram Charan is known for making complex business concepts simple and this book is a classic example of that skill.

Know-How is what separates leaders who perform from those who doesn't, the author says. He defines this quality as follows

" Know- How is about what you must both do and be to lead your business in what is shaping up to be the most challenging business environment in decades." ( page 2)
He also cites certain personal traits that is an absolute must in developing and deploying Know-How. They are
Ambition, Drive and Tenacity, Self Confidence, Psychological Openness, Realism and Appetite for learning. ( P.17)
The author then spends the rest of the book explaining the eight know-hows that will guide the leader to greatness. The eight Know-Hows are listed below:

1. Positioning and Repositioning : This refers to finding a central idea for business that meets customer demands and that makes money. This was one of my favorite chapters where Ram Charan emphasis indirectly that Marketing is a strategic function. He cites innumerable examples to stress the fact that a customer focus is important when trying to position /reposition your business. He uses the simple example to cite the importance of customers " If the dog does not eat the dog food , You will lose money ".
   
2. Pinpointing external change : Detecting patterns in a complex world to put the business on the offensive.The author warns the corporate leaders to look for signs of impeding changes that can either disrupt your business or provide new opportunities.
3. Leading the social system : Getting the right people together with the right behaviors and the right information to make better , faster decisions and achieve business results. In the HR perspective, Ram Charan exhorts the leaders to understand the social system in an organisation .
   
4. Judging people: Calibrating people based on their actions, decisions,and behaviors and matching them to non-negotiables of the job. Do you have a right succession plan in place ? In this segment, the author gives invaluable guidelines to spot the future leaders of the business. He cites the examples of Jack Welch, Nardelli ,Jeff Immelt to substantiate the importance of getting and retaining good people.
   
5. Molding a team : Getting highly competent , high-ego leaders to coordinate seamlessly.
6. Setting goals : Determining the set of goals that balances what the business can become with what it can realistically achieve.
7. Setting laser-sharp priorities : Defining the path and aligning resources , actions and energy to accomplish the goals
8. Dealing with forces beyond the market : Anticipating and responding to societal pressures you don't control but that can affect your business.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book.

• Will the dogs eat the dog food ? p.44
  

• The key element of positioning Know-how- the mentality to dissect which new or already existing market segments would contribute to moneymaking and which would detract, and the psychological inclination to confront reality sooner rather than later. p.50
• Detecting changes in the external environment and linking them with the positioning of your business is what I call business acumen . p56
• The know-how of pinpointing and taking action on changes in the external environment is one of the most important skills you must master in your job. p58
• The greatest challenge today is finding new opportunities for profitable and sustainable growth in the complex and tough environment. To achieve and objective like this, you have to be psychologically comfortable to go beyond traditional thinking about an industry and sense what is happening on the outside, connect the dots and discover what the new opportunities are. p68
• Jeff Immelt has the capacity to take in huge amount of detail and sift , sort and select it to make sense of it. p69
• Seven questions to make a sense of world around you . P71
  
• What is happening in the world today?
• What part of my frame of reference has worked for me? What hasn't worked for me?
• What does it mean for anyone?
• What does it mean for us?
• What would have to happen?
• What do we have to do to play a role?
• What do we do next?
• Every company has a social system.Social system describe the various ways people come together to do their work. Managing social system has two parts : determine what critical decisions and trade-offs must get made and by whom, to accomplish your business goals. Then use that insight to design disciplined ,routine regularly scheduled meetings. p80
  
• The defining qualities /behaviors that companies would need for the future : Collaboration, candor, informality, accountability and realism. P 105
• Selecting leaders is not risk free but paying attention to whether the person is making the transition lets you address problems quickly. P 138
• Principles involved in molding a team of leaders
• Share numbers, reasoning and results to share a common view of the business and its context.
• Have the psychological courage to confront behaviors that harm the team's effectiveness.
• Anticipate, surface, and resolve conflicts.
• Pick the right people.
• Provide prompt feedback and coaching.
• Recognize and avoid derailers.
• Its the people who must bring the priorities to life. Therefore whenever you set new priorities, you have to ask, Do we have the right people to carry them out? P 221

Know-How is a remarkable book which is lucid and easy to understand. What differentiates this book from the rest is the innumerable examples which the author has distilled from his vast experience .

Seven Seas Cod Liver Oil : Where is it ?

Brand : Seven Seas Cod Liver Oil
Company : E Merck


Brand Analysis Count : 260

Seven Seas is a brand that gives me a touch of nostalgia.The small golden colored capsule was a part of my day during my childhood. Seven Seas was marketed in India by Universal Medicare Ltd.

Seven Seas has a rich heritage, this global brand came into existence in 1935. The brand is owned by the UK based Seven Seas . Seven Seas was later acquired by the global pharmaceutical major Merck.

In India , Seven Seas was very popular as a nutritional supplement. Although the promotions were virtually nil for this brand, Seven Seas became popular through word of mouth. The golden capsule gave the visual incentive for kids to have it. So popular was the brand that even vegetarians ( my own experience) took the capsule. One of my colleague remarked that the brand became popular through Non Resident Indians ( NRI's ) who bought this product from abroad.
Cod Liver Oil is rich in Omega3 , DHA , Vitamin A and D. The nutritional value of Cod Liver oil is unmatched . Seven Seas globally is positioned as a nutritional supplement and its USP is that it has the finest Cod Liver Oil. Globally the brand uses the tagline " The Big Fish in Omega 3 " .

In India , the story of this brand is different . Since the brand changed hands from Universal Medicare to Merck , the brand began to vanish from stores. The original marketer Universal Medicare meanwhile launched a competitive brand SeaCod . Now in most of the shops only Seacod is available.
I am not sure what really caused this brand to vanish from the market. What ever be the reason, Seven Seas is missing the Health trend which is now visible in the Indian market. Now most of the customers ( former) of Seven Seas have become old. The new generation is slowly forgetting this brand . Its an opportunity lost for a heritage brand which had a good brand equity.

Market Statisitcs : Indian Retail Opportunity

Size of Indian Retail Market Across Segments




















Source : Business India July 2007 , Merrill Lynch Indian Retail Report 2007

Maruti Versa : Traveling Together Is Fun

Brand : Versa
Company : Maruti Suzuki Ltd
Agency : Lowe


Brand Analysis Count : 259

Maruti Versa is a sad story in Indian brand scene. This brand was launched with much hype in 2001 but now is waiting for death in the Intensive Care Unit. Versa was the first luxury Multi Purpose Vehicle from Maruti 's stable.

Versa was the logical upgrade brand for Maruti Omni. Omni was successful as a family van and Maruti thought that there is a market for a luxuri van that can carry more passengers than an ordinary car. Versa is the Indian version of the popular Japanese van EVERY/ Carry. Versa was called MPV which is the acronym for Multi Purpose Vehicle .


Versa had a dream launch. Maruti roped in the Big B and the small B ( Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan) to endorse the brand. The commercial featuring the father son duo was a big hit at that point of time. According to reports, Versa was Abhishek's first brand endorsement.

Versa was launched as an Affluent Microvan. The brand was positioned as " Two luxury cars for the price of one" . The ads talked about twin A/C, comfort and space. Versa was launched with a 1300 cc engine which was the same used in Maruti Esteem.

Despite the dream launch, Versa failed to generate volume . The basic issue was the price. Versa was launched with a price of Rs 5.15 lakh for the base model and the top end model costs around Rs 6 lakh. Those enthusiastic customers who flocked the showroom after viewing the ads was shocked by the steep price of Versa. Versa was priced at par with Maruti Esteem and other entry level sedans.


Maruti was totally wrong in estimating the customer's perception of price in this case. It sounds little paradoxic because the company had blockbuster products like Maruti 800 and Alto which was in sync with Indian consumer's price value equation. In the case of Versa, Maruti was little too ambitious. Versa was a large car and the initial buyers were essentially those who had large family. For a small family , there was no logic in going for Versa when a sedan was available at the same price. Moreover the ' mini bus ' shape of the car also was a put off for many customers .
The lack of customer enthusiasm translated to inventory pile up and sluggish volumes for Versa. In 2004, Maruti relaunched Versa with a base price of Rs 4 lakh which was a drastic price cut. The positioning was also changed. The brand was relaunched with the new positioning based on the joys of traveling together. The tagline was changed to " Traveling in company in a car has its own kind of fun". New campaigns were launched which highlighted the theme of traveling together . The TG was identified as families which are large. The aim of the campaign was to inform the new price as well as drive the message that Versa is ideal for large families.

Watch the TVC here : Maruti Versa

But these campaigns did not had the desired results. Although sales peaked immediately after the announcement of price cut, Versa was not able to sustain the volume. More over the brand was eclipsed with the success of Maruti Wagon R which was priced higher than Versa but with less space and engine power.

Frankly I am perplexed with the failure of Versa especially after the price cut. Because this brand makes a perfect upgrade for those users who was fed up with Omni. I feel that again the prime reason is the price. Even after the price cut, the Versa still offers little value to the Indian consumer. Now that there are many large comfortable vehicles with in the price band of 4.5- 6 lakh rage, Versa is not even considered an option by the consumer. The brand recall is also very low. The success of Wagon R also have put this brand in a very odd position in terms of the Product line logic.
Versa has only two options left before it : one is to reduce the price drastically so that the price value equations are favorable Or await the slow death.

Source : agencyfaqs,autocarindia , wikipedia

Brand Update : Chlormint

Perfetti Vanmelle has comeout with a new campaign for Chlormint. The new campaign is surprising since it has changed the famous tagline " Dobara Mat Poochna " to " Khao Kabhi Bhi " ( translated to Eat Anytime )

Watch the new campaign here : Chlormint Kabbadi

It was surprising and shocking . Shocking to me because I have an inherent hate against brands changing their famous and successful taglines and positioning . The new campaign is funny for sure but I don't understand the logic behind the change in the tagline which made this brand famous.

A report in Exchange4media gives some explanation to the change. The brand has changed its positioning from the earlier " One does not need a reason for having Chlormint " to " Anytime Consumption". The brand owners want to expand the scope of the brand.

I would just site an example of the power of the earlier Dobara Mat poochna campaign. During the head butt controversy of Zidane , there was thousands of SMS featuring this brand. Matterazzi was head butted because he asked Zidane " Log Chlormint Kyun Khate hain " . That was a viral campaign initiated by consumers . The campaign had huge fan following and everyone was waiting for another series of Chlormint ads. Not many brands can have that luxury.

Is the new campaign going to expand the scope of Chlormint ? I guess no. This new tagline has nothing new in it. " Anytime Consumption" was the idea of Cadbury's Perk which made it famous through a series of campaigns featuring Preity Zinta. Lot of other brands have used this idea.

If the brand wanted to have the idea of " Anytime consumption" , It could have easily done so using the question " Log Chlormint KAB khate hain " translated to " When do people take Chlormint ? " followed by the famous " Dobara Mat Poochna ".

By forgoing a successful campaign , Chlormint may find it tough to recreate the magic of earlier campaigns.

What do you think?

Related Brand
Chlormint

Calcium Sandoz : Winners Have It In Their Bones

Brand : Calcium Sandoz
Company: Novartis
Agency : Euro RSCG

Brand Count : 258

Calcium Sandoz is a heritage brand and an offbeat brand too. The brand which is 45 years old has a rich heritage globally. It was created in 1929 and has revolutionized calcium therapy. The brand was earlier sold in the ethical route where the brand was promoted to Doctors and was sold through drug stores on prescription.

In 2000, Novartis decided to switch the brand to Over The Counter (OTC) route .At that time , the brand was worth 12 crore. OTC means that the brand is available in all shops and can be sold without prescription.

Calcium Sandoz is a calcium supplement. The product available in Tablet format has 250 mg of elemental calcium and was given to growing children. The target market for this product was kids aged 4-8.
When the product was launched as an OTC brand, the company had the freedom to market the brand through advertising and sales promotion. In the case of prescription drugs , company can advertise only in medical journals and has to depend more on its sales force to push the product.

Calcium Sandoz had a rich heritage and a strong brand equity despite the fact that it was promoted in the ethical route. I can even say that most of the urban population the SEC A B category knew of this brand or have used this brand. One of the major factor that aided this tremendous brand recall is one brand element i.e Packaging.
Calcium Sandoz is clearly identified by its unique Puppy pack which was there unchanged all through these years. That brand element has aided the company when they relaunched this brand in the OTC segment.
Calcium Sandoz is positioned as a supplement that will build healthy bones. The brand takes the tagline " Winner have it in their bones ".

As an OTC brand, Calcium Sandoz faced an issue : taste. The tablet have a chalky taste which often repelled kids from taking this product. When it was prescribed by a doctor, the brand was consumed as a medicine and hence taste didnot matter. But the moment it became OTC, these attributes like taste, softness etc become very important. Identifying this, Novartis launched a variant branded Calcium Sandoz Soft Chew which had the taste of a toffee and had the same calcium content. The company is promoting this variant heavily using visual media. Calcium Sandoz had earlier launched the tablet in orange flavor and icecream flavor. In the case of Soft Chew variant, the product form is also different.

Novartis had also extended this brand to another TG i.e Women. Actually there was a product branded Sandocal Chew which was an ethical product, Novartis decided to launch this product in the OTC as Sandoz Women.
Although Calcium Sandoz has brand recall and equity, it also faces some challenges in the market. The challenges are in the form of product usage and repurchase. The campaigns prompt the customers to buy this product but seldom this is consumed and repurchased . Infact , my wife bought Sandoz Women after seeing the advertisement but has not used it. In the case of the original Calcium Sandoz also, getting kids to eat it and asking for a daily dose is the most challenging task for Novartis.

The company expects that the new Soft Chew may prompt kids to take this brand in a different view and relieves mother of the task of getting the kids to eat it. The brand also faces the issue of " lack of proper clarity " interms of the regulations regarding OTC products. The government is yet of formulate a policy for OTC products ( drugs and supplements). The company had run into trouble when it gave free samples of Sandoz to kids in a school. Without guidelines, the brand cannot enhance its promotions for fear of getting into trouble. Although the market is having potential, this brand is really unsure whether it should go on an overdrive.