me: hey
Tirthankar: dude
way to AWOL man
me: yeah
how's it going
Tirthankar: Dude
Not bad
Chilling
Working
Dude
How is it going with you?
How come you never call when you are in gurgaon
me: because i'm working till too late
there's no time these days
Tirthankar: Dude
Did I tell you I met Nikhil
What have you been working on thgouh?
Sent at 5:40 PM on Sunday
me: some stuff..
there's a online specification tool
getting that up and running
and developing a tutorial for that
Tirthankar: Dude
me: then taking the qualifiers to KL
Tirthankar: Not bad
me: and some local places
it's dealing with vendors and shit
Tirthankar: But atleast you are travelling. That is a good thing?
me: yeah i have been to a few different markets
hyd, bom, and recently kochi
in the last couple of months
or month
i have lost track
i have a new boss n all
she's ok
Tirthankar: Ya you said
Although you said she was a lower rank than your previous boss
Additional heirarchy level. Engage.
me: yeah should have been
actually my grade hasn't gone up or down
Tirthankar: Ya, you said
me: whatever
Tirthankar: Dude
We have to celebrate Ave Verdad dude
me: i just want to do one really awesome thing and leave
Tirthankar: Everyone was talking about it
me: really?
who?
Tirthankar: Ya dued
We randomly hung out with some juniors from College
Do you remember Swati Puri and Maria Jos?
me: i know swait..
*swait
*swati
Tirthankar: So they suddenly brought it up due to Don and I was like "Woah!!"
haha
yeah cute as button that one
me: 'swait for it..
so then
Tirthankar: hahahaha
Nothing
She was saying that they read the review and shit
me: oh yeah nice huh
Tirthankar: They hadn't heard the album but that is a technicvality
me: yeah
Tirthankar: Dude
C'm'on man
Why are you working so hard
Come chill man
me: i wanna know what marketing really does
not like in this company
i mean in places like nike and apple
Sent at 5:49 PM on Sunday
Tirthankar: Dude
I know you really want to
Isn't there some way you can?
I am sure there is Apple marketing in India somewhere
me: no no
it's just that i was talking to these vendors the other day
they have never worked with us before.. do a lot of stuff for pepsi
i was talking to them abt making the tutorial
there were 2 shockers in that meeting
1. they wanted to charge me 15 lakhs
for a 60-70 minute dvd
1000 copies
Tirthankar: Shitcakes
me: there's no way we have 15 lakhs for a small thing like this
difference is.. pepsi does not think that these things are 'small things'
your communication about your piece is just as important as the functional aspect
hence, you should spend as much as required to ensure that it's a success
that was my reading of the 15 lakh spend
they invested in the best communication to make sure that people got the message.. that there was no leak or inefficiency there..
and it's true.. if you have a crappy tutorial.. the software might look like complete crap
even though it isn't
Tirthankar: Agree
Completely
me: i mean.. i, in my ICI mindset, was thinking more along the lines of maybe 30-40,000
a flash animation
(tho even that wouldn't have cost me 30-40..)
i think the last couple of years i have been taught to drive down my vendor costs and take pride in squeezing all their margin out of the price
yknow
but it's stupid because not only do you kill the vendor but you also compromise on quality
Tirthankar: hmm, in a generic market does it matter? Vendors have to take what they are given?
me: but then why go with generic vendors
if you're not differentiated you can't win sustainable profits
there has to be something different about what you're doing
driving costs down is not sustainable
Tirthankar: But what if everyone is non-differentiated? As in the consumers are not the ones making the paint choices right? Contracters are.
They care about costs only
me: because that's what is being offered
Tirthankar: hmm
me: there's always a latent need
Tirthankar: true dat
Agree
me: you may not know it.. you may be one of those people who's comfortable sticking with the same thing, but you would still move if the new thing fitted your needs better or offered you better value
Tirthankar: I completely agree
me: that's the job of marketing..
Tirthankar: The job of good marketing is to tap latent needs
hehehhee
Yeah,
me: to show you that it offers you more value, in a way that you can understand
Tirthankar: But I am ssuming you do have chains of priority/high-end vendors
You know paint shoppe ?
me: lol
here i'm talking about vendors who offer me service
not vendors who sell my product
Tirthankar: ahhh
dawggie dawg
me: anyway
Tirthankar: Yeah
me: shocker #2
Tirthankar: Ok, recasting rapidly
go on
me: it's the vendors that were shocked this time.. shocked to know that i was in marketing
Tirthankar: lol
!
!
I can imagine
me: they were like what??!! why are you doing this stuff if you're in marketing??
he didn't mean to be rude or anything
didn't pursue that line after that yknnow
but it sort of dawned on me that this is not what the marketing dept spends its time on
so that's why i need to know what the hell marketing really does.
Tirthankar: but you are taking that guy's increduility as a sign of what the boundaries of marketing are. Surely not wise?
Sent at 6:07 PM on Sunday
me: what's not wise is staying in isolation thinking that's all there is to the world..
and defining your aspirations within the small-time mktg dept here
people have to be doing better stuff that putting on an event and setting up stalls
Tirthankar: Dude, that goes without question!
me: or doling out rewards to everyone who buys something
he was obviously amazed because of the gap in what marketing is here and in pepsi
Tirthankar: true
me: not that pepsi is doing anything great either.. with their ridiculous ads these days
but still
i'm sure there's cool stuff going on in that organisation
Tirthankar: So then - next stop - Pepsi? Surely, you know some people in Pepsi?
me: hm
Tirthankar: What is the plan dude?
Apple!
me: google
apple
these guys have to be amazing
ibm must be good in parts
Tirthankar: Google hard. They want everyone to have a coding background.
You do, informally, so maybe just a question of brushing up
FMCG ruthless and liable to be much like ICI
Apple dude
Sent at 6:13 PM on Sunday
me: hm their indian jobs are very sales / logistics n all
Tirthankar: Sigh
Methinks we need to have a proper chat about this
Sent at 6:15 PM on Sunday
