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Ads and impact on consumer

Ads And Public

Companies spent huge amount of resources to showcase products in audio visual ads, and the more creative the ads are, the more audience it will have. All the audiences might not be the consumer but it definitely impacts publicity of the product. However, some time too much ads also irritate public and in return public switch of the device or move to other channels to get rid of such ads. Recently I have observed how ads are perceived by public, here is my experience

During rush hour, most of the FM radio channels in Bangalore put more ads and less songs. But there is a new FM mirchi 95, which has very less ads and I generally don’t change the channel while listening. I am sure the value of such ads would be more compare to the other FM channels. Radio mirchi would selectively put ads with higher value to get more revenue and it makes sense to public too. This is called win-win for both, fm and public. However, in some other channels, its like playing music in ads and some time I switch off my car audio system because its so irritating. In this case, the relative value of the ads would be much lesser irrespective of how much creative these ads are. But with competition and publicity, the two topmost priority, companies tend to pay for ads.

And then some times, ads are so factual that I wish to have a central authority to monitor the ads. E.g. there was a fairness cream ad and your skin color with be fairer within 2 weeks. This also reminded me a movie(Traffic Signal), a dark skinned kid saved all his money and bought a fairness cream based on the ad. After 15 days, no change in skin color and the kid got so much angry, that he tried to throw stones to a nearby hoarding with this cream. Quite funny though.

But some time, ads are quite realistic too and shows the important features of the product. Irrespective of how the ads are perceived by public, the companies will keep on spending more and more on this.

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Innovation or customization

Our future depends upon how we try to progress in our day to day life. The progress means changing every aspect of life with regard to time with some new happenings. When we talk about new happenings, we generally think of improving some existing solutions and then adding glue to make it different. That is what makes it a different  and with proven success in it. In the history, there are enterprises succeeded by copying and updating existing solution and even making the solution much better compare to original idea, this is hybrid and there is nothing wrong in it. But some time, some companies copy an existing solution and then modify it in such a way that the modified product is termed as innovative one.

Apple has changed the way we use mobile phones, though before iPhone there were Palm OS with touch screen but the actual innovation for the User happened after iPhone came to market. This is not innovation but this is customization that refines how User should use phone. There was a paradigm shift on how User should use phone using touch screen features. This came when Apple was on the verge of perform or perish. I still remember those days of attending Steve Jobs’s iPhone presentation. The same way, ebay created a market place of used items and it was instant success. These are the few instances of how consumer’s usage pattern was redefined using technology.

Its not always true that innovation starts from 0. Some time innovation comes from existing products too. Twitter is another example of customization of blog and sms, which made Users to write anything of 140 characters.

The summary is, irrespective of whether you copy an idea or invent something new, it all matters how your product/service impacts Consumer behavior and how its perceived by consumer.

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Hiring for a Startup : A challenge

Hiring resources is always a challenge for recruitment team. But when you are hiring for a startup then the challenge is doubled and risky too. The very first thing for an early stage startup is to have good resources for product development. A good resource also needs too remuneration, package in addition to good facilities. However for a startup, such facilities are not available and its difficult to provide such packages to attract talented resources. But one thing that is guaranteed in start is challenging work. A startup can challenge an established enterprise in terms of innovation. Big enterprises always advocate for innovation but when it comes to actual implementation, they look for a case study or two for the idea to make sure that the idea can work. But when you are executing an idea after verifying case studies then its not innovative idea. As per wiki “Innovation can be defined simply as a “new idea, device or method”” that means its “new”. When we are talking about a “new” entity, then its quite difficult to get case studies. But big enterprises cannot work, AFAIK, on an idea which is not implemented or its not proved that this will work. But startup are completely different, they are headed by people of ex of some big enterprises where they failed to convince their higher authority to implement the idea. Then they start a startup to execute the idea, which is innovative. Coming back to my hiring strategy, its always a risk. In the beginning, I started working with freelancers. One good thing about freelancers is that they will create an impression that they can take you to the moon and its their pastime to do that. However, it reality its quite opposite. I remember, I once recruited a freelancer from Delhi to create REST apis using PHP. Though I had to throw the whole code base into dustbin due to poor quality of code but I still remember her words “If you pay for a maruti car, you cannot ask for a BMW car” that means the buggy code is fine as the payment for the work is less, but it was a good payment too. What a logic. I then started working with interns, in the beginning got some good interns from KIIT University.  These guys are really good and created a framework for my android project within 6 weeks, thats truly an achievement from a student in final semester. After interns I tried to recruit full time employees. It was a good experience. In Bangalore, there are lots of fresh engineering graduates looking for job. But all of them cannot be recruited and cannot start from day one. They need training and mentoring to be productive. I generally dont conduct interview, rather give them some assignments and based on their performance I take decision. When you know how to use google then its almost not an issue to do any assignments, thats exactly happened. Some candidates beautifully completed assignment in technology which they dont know anything. I was happy that I got some good candidates but alas. That is the experience, I have till now. But some engineering graduates are really good and I can say its luck that matters to get a good fresh engineer for your startup. That is the story.

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Why collaboration is rewarding

Collaboration is everything
Collaboration is everything

Almost all of the recent books, blogs, and papers supporting innovation highlight the importance of collaboration. Why? For many years, the sole inventor was told that people working together can lead to groupthink–too much consensus and convergent thinking.

I came across an article Why Collaboration Is Essential to Entrepreneurship. This is not only applicable for entrepreneurs rather for everybody in this competitive world. With increasing hustle bustle in city, managing our work is most important thing with respect to our surroundings.  While going to office, we are not sure if any sudden traffic jam happens, we don’t know what is the quality of new paying guest accommodation service, the quality of momo near to our house is good but we have no idea, we are not sure the specific fish is available in the sunday marker which is 10kms from my home etc etc. How can we engage ourself to manage such difficulties, can we ask govt to provide us information, can we ask service providers to contact us about the stock, can we insist traffic cop to intimate us about sudden traffic jam??? No, this can not be possible. So what is the solution? Collaboration. In collaboration, there is an increase in the understanding of diverse perspectives with the development of higher-level thinking as one of the important results. The coordinated efforts of many can accomplish more than the efforts of one or a few separately, that means its the power of “we” much more that power of an individual.  Recent modernization and evolution of technology had made this a new world digitally.  We are in a better position now technologically to share information with friends, relatives than never before. That means, its technology that makes us collaborate with others for  successful out come. If any traffic jam occurs in our way, we immediately share with friends, any important happenings etc can be shared in realtime that makes us more dependent on each other and the return is rewarding. Time for more collaboration.

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Reliance JIO : An innovation for consumer

I got my JIO sim card last week and got it activated on 5th September.  I am using the sim card in my One plus two mobile phone and through JioJoin mobile app I can use VoLTE calls. VoLTE stands for Voice Over LTE, it simplest term this technology uses voice as data packets delivered through LTE network. That means your voice is carried in the same way as other streaming services. This approach results in the voice service (control and media planes) being delivered as data flows within the LTE data bearer. This means that there is no dependency on (or ultimately, requirement for) the legacy circuit-switched voice network to be maintained. VoLTE has up to three times more voice and data capacity than 3G UMTS and up to six times more than 2G GSM. Furthermore, it frees up bandwidth because VoLTE’s packets headers are smaller than those of unoptimized VoIP/LTE. In india Reliance Jio is the first service provider that started commercial launch of 100% VoLTE service without 2G/3G based services in India on 5th Sep 2016. Jio has announce that all voice calls over LTE is free and only data consumption chargeable. This does not hold good with other telecom operators, those for years were charging customers for data as well as voice. With Reliance Jio’s entry, these service providers are little bit shaken with tough competition ahead for them to survive. In fact, some of the telcos are already in firefight mode and said “Not bound to give interconnect points to Reliance Jio: Telcos to PMO”. There are lots of call drops from Jio network to other networks and Reliance supremo “Mukesh Ambani to telcos: You cannot break the law beyond few weeks“. There are going to be more firefighting, might be more uglier in coming days. The winner in this battle is definitely the *consumer*.

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Why Is Micromanagement So Infectious?

Its truly said that the success/failure of any project depends upon the team with a good leader. However if a team got a boss then whole work environment turns into a virtual war zone, the comfort level of team suffers and ultimately the whole project suffers in quality, delivery and timeline. Here is one article I came across about micromanagement and its worth of reading

When a manager delegates a goal to an employee effectively, she bestows ownership of what we call a “brief,” a set of outcomes subject to deadlines and other constraints. The owner’s job becomes figuring out how to deliver on that brief while operating within the specified constraints, which can range from “stay within this budget” to “follow these policies” to “get my approval on this type of decision.”

The manager, who assumes the role of a sponsor, can change the brief, change the owner, or change the context in which the owner does his work. But if she dictates the tasks to be done or directs how to do the work, she ceases to be a sponsor and becomes a micromanager.

Details : https://hbr.org/2016/08/why-is-micromanagement-so-infectious

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Four qualities of a leader

I came across a post by Marillyn Hewson, about four basic qualities of a leader and that truly reflects a leader.  A leader is somebody who comes first for any failure and last for any success.

In my experience, people thrive when they have leaders who are:

  • Decisive: The moments when leadership matters most are in times of uncertainty and change — times when people crave clarity. Leaders don’t need to have all of the answers and no one expects them to. What is needed, however, is the ability to seek the best counsel, make firm decisions on the path forward, and ensure everyone on the team understands their role in a shared vision.

    Leaders must also keep their eyes on the big picture so that when the environment changes, they can adapt and help their teams change course. They have to be ready to make tough decisions and communicate them clearly to the entire team.

  • Trustworthy: Leaders build a credible reputation and earn the trust of their teams through their everyday actions — by setting high standards, showing energy and enthusiasm, and committing to the development of their people.
    Building trust involves more than just talking about core values — you have to livethose values by demonstrating them in every action you take. As leaders, the example we set for our employees shapes the culture of our teams. When you demonstrate honesty and integrity in your actions, your team members will be compelled to do the right thing, even when you aren’t in the room.
  • Compassionate: Being a compassionate leader involves more than just treating people as you would like to be treated. It’s about treating people as they like to be treated. And compassion isn’t just for tough times — it’s for all times. It can be as simple as having a face-to-face meeting with your team, rather than sending an email. It’s about personally thanking employees for their hard work, recognizing them by name, and explaining why you’re so grateful for their contributions.

    It’s also about being responsive. I make it a priority to read and respond to all correspondence from employees. It ensures I understand what’s on their minds, shows that I genuinely care, and it helps to identify emerging issues in my organization.

  • Innovative: Innovative leaders have the ability to think beyond the status quo and inspire their team members to do the same. Leading a culture of innovation requires courage. You need to be able to step out of your comfort zone and take measured risk. Innovative leaders learn from their mistakes and take every opportunity to get better. They reward creativity and effort as much as success, and build an environment where everyone feels comfortable bringing their best ideas forward.

Source: LinkedIn

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9 Types Of People Who Never Succeed At Work

Work ethics

Experience and knowledge are rapidly losing their relevance to success in the workplace. Harvard economist David Deming studied workplace tasks from 1980 to the present day and found that those that emphasize social skills grew by a whopping 24%, while tasks requiring technical know-how and intelligence experienced little growth. Deming also found that salaries increased the most for jobs that place extra emphasis on social skills.

With the increasing emphasis on social skills, those who lack them stand out like a zebra in a field of horses. We all know the types: the person who won’t stop talking when you’re trying to meet a deadline, the one who blatantly takes credit for your ideas or the one who callously leaves you to pull an all-nighter to fix their mistake.

“Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be” — John Wooden

He is the list of characters that will never make you success in work https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/279913

Source : Enterpreneur

 

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Should you share your ideas?

  1. Ideas get better with feedback, and the only way to get loads of feedback is to tell the idea to others, over and over and over.
  2. You do not have a finite number of ideas, the number is infinite, your subsequent ideas get better and better, so a stolen idea will never be your “best idea ever”.
  3. Don’t be such a narcissist; most ideas were thought of by someone else before, there are very few ideas that are “your” ideas. You may have arrived at them independently, but it infrequently means that you were the first person on the planet to think of them.
  4. People are very emotionally attached to their own ideas, most folks cannot see the brilliance of an idea from someone else, and will prefer to work on their own than steal that of another.
  5. You may be surprised, but most people are decent and do not steal ideas.
  6. Most ideas are crap, but are the crap bricks on a road to a really good idea; so do not assume that “this version” of the idea is so good that it must not be stolen. If someone steals your crappy idea, chances are they will make it better, and you can then build on their version after stealing it back.
  7. Ideas need support, and if you do not share them folks cannot feel “partial ownership” and hence start to support them. Don’t confuse someone who wants partial ownership with someone who is going to steal the entire thing outright. Partial owners are supporters, and you need them.
  8. Execution matters, very few folks execute, stealing an idea and executing on it to make billions is rare, stealing an idea to temporarily feel good about yourself is what happens most of the time.
  9. People who steal ideas, will eventually owe you because the guilt inside will erode at them. And just like that, you will have eventual leverage over and around them.
  10. Have a digital trail of your idea a blog post, a slide share, or something to start with. When you “have something to show” it significantly reduces the likelihood that someone will permanently steal your idea. If you are just “talking” about it and have nothing to show, it more likely to be stolen.

So stop being such an idea hog, the world needs you and your ideas, share them.

Source: inc42