India's the focus for marketeers

The best solution often pops up in a crisis. With the economic downturn, an increasing number of companies seem to be closely reviewing their marketing strategy. From cars to software, emerging markets for now seems to be the only opportunity. Laden with oversold and undersold customers, markets like India could potentially be a marketeers delight. At a time when stakeholders are crying for optimal use of resources and organizations worldover seek cost effective resources - skills and raw materials, countries like India gain prominence. Take for instance IBM, which is leveraging India as a market and also a talent hub. The company recorded a growth of 27% (to be confirmed) in 2008 in India. Cisco is no different. GE Medicals, in its attempt to make India a strategic center for its global healthcare equiptment market is investing $25 mn in a special laboratory in Bangalore that would simulate the complete environment of a hospital to test new products. The company expects to double its revenue from India to $1 bn in three to five years. Further, GE healthcare is also looking t targeting Indian home healthcare market with sleep care and home respiratory system.
Added to this is the focus on tier II and III towns in India. With sanity prevailing across the unreasonably paid workers ecosystem in India, several of them are moving to the outskirts to cut costs - especially the exorbitant rent. This should eventually pave way for development in the periphery, pmlying further growth in the market. Add to this the reverse brain drain, Indian market is all set to be an attractive destination.

Was again caught at the railway gate this morning and when the train passed by – it reminded me of the year 2008. Time’s passing by at warp speed, so is technology getting integrated into our lives. The question is – are we adapting to the change? Here are some take aways:
a. This is a take from Forrester on marketing. However, considering the market situation at this juncture, thought the points are apt for our business as well. We all know there is need for a new approach to ensure client delight. The research firm proposes a metric called engagement that includes four components: involvement, interaction, intimacy, and influence. Well, all of us are doing one or more with our clients but the objective should be to ensure we carry out all.
b. Be human – Be more service-oriented. Give a personal touch to all your interactions with clients. Here’s a mail from someone which was forwarded to me - I talk to reporters and bloggers and my publisher. “I get a lot of email. An awful lot. After 13 years as an analyst, a lot of people know my email address, and I’m on many, many marketing mailing lists. I am a target for PR people. In all these interactions I have observed something. When people treat me like a human and not a “marketing target,” I like that. Not only that, when I make a human connection with somebody, whether it’s the client building a social application strategy or the person checking me in for my flight, it goes better. When things go wrong, I can nearly always trace it back to somebody not behaving like a human, and not treating me like a human. I will no longer put up with this. And you, my readers, are going to help me.” Treat clients and journalists the way you’d want them to treat you.
c. Network – Orkut, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. Guess, it’s time to get offline and meet people…