The Tug-of-War Between Different Pricing Models

Marketers are familiar with cost-plus and value-based pricing models, which are the two most commonly used methods for pricing products and services. "What The Traffic Can Bear Pricing". Everyone understands "cost plus" pricing. Many understand "value based" pricing. But very few people (in my circle) understand that some brands can get away with exorbitant prices just because their … Read more

Strange Yet Familiar Results In Google Images Search!

I recently bought the latest Panasonic KX-TSC62SX corded telephone. I found something interesting about this phone that prompted me to use it in a blog post regarding different pricing methods. While I could have always photographed the handset at home, I thought it might be easier to source a picture online. I went to Google … Read more

Jumping On The Omnichannel Bandwagon – Part 3

In Part-1 of this blog post, we’d described multichannel banking. In Part-2, we’d introduced the concept of omnichannel retailing. In this concluding part, we’ll explain what omnichannel behavior could mean in the context of retail banking and suggest ways by which banks could jump on to the omnichannel bandwagon even if they didn’t / couldn’t fix shortcomings in their … Read more

Fortune GLOBAL 500 And Indian IT Companies

In its 15 Aug 2011 issue, FORTUNE magazine acknowledged that it “erroneously omitted Chrysler Group from the GLOBAL 500 list” published a fortnight earlier. It goes on to regret this error. Sounds more like a blunder to me. Apart from this blemish, this year’s FORTUNE GLOBAL 500 issue is a lot better than the lacklustre one … Read more

Jumping On The Omnichannel Bandwagon – Part 2

In Part-1 of this blog post, we introduced the concept of omnichannel banking and explained how it differed from multichannel banking. We’d claimed that 100% multichannel support was neither necessary nor practical. In this Part-2, we’ll explain why. While banks have traditionally viewed their relationship with customers through the prism of channels, customers don’t necessarily … Read more

Differentiate Your Product By Going The Extra Mile – Part 3

When I wrote Differentiate Your Product By Going The Extra Mile – Part 2, I’d meant it to be the second and concluding post. But, I recently came across a few more updates – some positive and some not so positive – on this subject that I thought I must share, hence this third part. One, as … Read more

Jumping On The Omnichannel Bandwagon – Part 1

Enough and more has been written about how banks lack fully fledged multichannel support. For the uninitiated, a “channel” refers to the medium of communication between customers and businesses such as retail banks. Branch, Phone (call center), ATM, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking and Social Networking are typical channels in the context of a retail bank. “Multichannel … Read more

Usability Can Cut Costs

Usability is generally associated with benefits like reduced friction, superior UX and greater cross-selling for e-commerce providers. Click here to read a couple of my articles and blog posts about usability in this context. During a recent transaction, I realized how better usability could also cut costs for an online business. I normally buy domain names … Read more

GenY Is The Sweet Spot For QR Codes – At Least For Now

The use of QR codes in advertisements continues unabated. We came across three of them on a single day recently. As you can see below, there’s one from the leading Indian retailer SHOPPERS STOP, another from THE BODY SHOP, the UK-headquartered multinational that is the global leader in ethically produced beauty products, and the third … Read more

Differentiate Your Product By Going The Extra Mile – Part 2

In Part 1 of this blog post, we’d compared the realtime SMS alerts for credit card transactions sent out by  two banks, BANK1 and BANK2. Let us reproduct the two banks’s SMS messages. First, BANK1. Next, BANK2. In this Part 2, we’ll look at these SMS alerts as ‘products’ and see how well they work for … Read more