“Why repair something which is working fine?” is an oft
repeated question in the marketing war rooms of brands. As you rightly
decipher, the question is mostly asked in war rooms of market leaders. The word
chanted most by the new entrants and wanna be leaders is ‘Disruption’. The
former are the status quoists for obvious reasons, maintaining their grip over
their leadership position. The latter of course are the ones who muddy the
water and annihilate the existing order. (Status Quo often leads to setting in
of ‘fatigue’ but we will leave that for another day, Welcome!)
The market leader would love the new entrants to play by the
existing rules of business while the new kid on the block would try its best to
break the existing terms of engagement to firstly hit the leader’s market
shares and then aim to dislodge the leader.
Disruption is essentially sought to be brought about by a
combination of a big idea and then the execution/implementation of the big
idea. Disruption could take multiple forms. It could be a price warrior like
what Nirma was to Surf or the lesser known Videocon Budgetline TVs vs the then
well entrenched BPL/Onida. It could be a packaging innovation like Chik Shampoo
which was the first brand to introduce sachet packets to encourage sampling or
facilitate entry of customers to a segment which was till then restricted to
high end users because of larger/costlier SKUs. It could also be a
technologically superior product, electronic photo copers which sent
cyclostyling machine packing to obsolence and oblivion. It could also be in the
form of doing away with traditional forms of distribution –
Company-Stockist-Wholesalers-Retailers-Consumer – and sell directly to
consumers like online retailers or offline like Tupperware/Amway. A caution
note here is mandatory.
Disruption should not be confused for doing things
differently just for either the heck of it or for doing something differently that
does not add value to the consumer. A white detergent when the world is used to
blue for example. It would be a differentiation at best and not a disruptor
unless the white detergent also comes with superior benefits when compared to
the blue ones.
In most of the above instances, the success hinged on the
seamless and fast implementation of a good/great/different idea. As the markets
have often demonstrated a great idea without the distribution or vice versa
have led to destruction and death of many a brand.
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| The Disruptor! |
In the backdrop of the above, let us possibly analyze the
existing scenario of the denotification of the Rs.500.00 and Rs.1000.00 notes.
Assume that the above initiative were a new entrant out to capture market share
or its stated objectives. The touted brand promise of this initiative has been
to:
1. Unearth black money.
2. Curb corruption.
3. Curb fake currency racket.
4. Stop terrorism by way of point no 3.
As an idea, this exercise falls short on many fronts. As has
been pointed out by most, black money unlike in Bollywood movies are not parked
in cash form except by the small fry or just to the extent of immediate
liquidity requirements. Corruption is a function of you being in a position to
encash your authority by extending favours to the chosen one. Transparency can
reduce corruption not smaller or larger or newer currency notes. The jury is
out on the fake currency racket and its offshoot, terrorism. Time will tell us
what results it can deliver.
As regards the implementation, the less said the better.
While the need for secrecy to execute such an initiative is paramount is
accepted, what seems to be falling short of expectation is managing the after
effects of its announcement. Was the govt caught napping on what would ensue?
Did the govt misjudge the magnitude of the aftershocks? Or was the post
announcement turbulence expected by the powers that be and the Govt decided to
brazen out the bitter pill in the hope that like in Hindi films “end main sab theek ho jata hain”?
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| Running all the way to bank? Or Bankrupt? |
Within my family and friends circles and a slightly extended
one of colleagues and associates, the current mood is one of hope. Hope that
the Govt is sincere and some good will come out of this initiative which will
benefit the country in the long run. This despite the difficulties being faced
by most, Yours Truly including. How long this mood of subdued optimism will
continue or will it give way to anger if the chaos in the banks and ATMs
continue for longer will be known sooner rather than later.
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| New note in old wallets? |
In Bollywoodspeak again, one hopes this initiative is a
trailer, the voluntary disclosure scheme before this being the teaser and Picture abhi baaki hain mere dost kind
of more substantial steps are in the offing to achieve the Govt’s objectives
stated earlier in the note. If yes, the disruptor will be in a position to
encash the goodwill in the Votebank come 2019. On the other hand if this is a
case of disruption for disruption’s sake, it could well be the end. Or as
Rajnikanth would say, Ghatam!Ghatam!!
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Glossary:
end main sab theek ho
jata hain : All is well that ends well
Picture abhi baaki hain mere dost : It is not the end yet
Ghatam!Ghatam : It is all over!
