Twenty Onwards Media

Banking

A new concept of banking in India. just another way to woo the tourists.

Read here

 

Creative Packaging

Via the NYTimes, an article on how companies are re-packaging well known products to catch the fickle attention of a jaded consumer.

"The media is fragmented, and we can’t find people — we can’t get them to sit down and listen to our argument on a television spot,” said Jerry Kathman, chief executive of LPK, a brand agency based in Cincinnati. “The package can convey that argument."

We at Twenty Onwards are trying to do the same, however, we are selling a brand new product. But, packaging and look really does matter.

TATA takes over CORUS, maybe not yet

Along with Mittal Steel, the TATA's jumped the ranks up to the top ten Steel producers in the world. With buyout of the Dutch steel company CORUS, Tata Sons jumped from being ranked 56th in the world to No.5 after the revised deal passed. With this deal, the company also takes up a considerable amount of debt, which might prove to be problem if there's a downturn in the market. However, for now Indians/Indian owned companies produce the most steel.

Update: The deal has not gone through yet, despite the acceptance of the upped offer by TATA, the other bidder in the process, CSN, has also revised the offer beating the Indian company by 15p/share. CORUS will now be accepting the new CSN offer unless the TATA's come out with a higher offer, which would increase the estimated $1Billion debt that the company would have taken up with the previous offer. Its a high stakes game with very less time left.

Weird Imports

Walking on the inner streets of Harvard Square in Cambridge, showing my parents around Boston. I came across this export of India in the heart of Harvard.                                                                  
 

Look Closer,
Yea, the sewer cover is from India, its the most obscure import/export i have ever come across. It is actually cheaper to ship these heavy iron covers all the way from India rather than make them here in U.S. It's a real small world.   

(Click on the pictures for a better view)

The Taj comes to Boston

By the Taj, i mean the Indian hotel chain (TATA owned), of whom everyone and anyone who's been to India would know of, they own 'The Pierre' in New York City and now they are coming to Boston. The Taj Hotels have bought the Ritz Carlton in Boston, the oldest of the two in the city and the oldest Ritz in U.S. Being a Boston resident now, i have been to this one and it is grand and it fits Taj name, soon it will be re-named the Taj Boston. On the business front it might not be huge news, but i take it as a symbolic accomplishment. Quite a big landmark to own in this historic city and that too a Ritz. It might not be the Taj Mahal Hotel  in Bombay, but still nice to be in a city which has a Taj in it. And there is no better brand to continue this hotel's rich history.

Starbucks finally in India

Starbucks (SB) is finally going to enter India, after years of speculation. The partnership with RPG has been finalized, with SB being the majority stakeholder with 51% share, thus ending the years of partner hunting. RPG is a diversified group, with quite a bit of prime real estate in major cities. This would go hand in hand with the SB policy having company owned stores rather than franchises. There are already many coffee chain players in India, such as Barista Coffee (a TATA company), Costa Coffee, Cafe Coffee Day etc. and all of them are expanding quite rapidly. SB has plans to expand at a rate of 100 stores for the next five years, aggressively trying to catch up. Since, it has lost the first player advantage, many see perils for SB in India, as it has faced problems in China and Japan. However, in common sense dictates, coming in now, gives a much better chance to SB as the coffee shop culture has already been established in Indian cities and towns.

SB, i think, likes to be underestimated, letting its competition get the wrong ideas. It has never changed the format of its drinks and stores anywhere in the world, the only difference is the food. As far as getting customers is concerned, it shouldn't be a problem, many middle class Indians already spend $2-3 on a cup of coffee and the buzz created around the brand will draw in many people. SB stores are impeccably run, even though the other local chains have quite a good variety of drinks, no one will ever match up to the atmosphere in a SB store. The reason being, in my opinion, the different franchises of Barista and Cafe Coffee Day vary quite a bit, even though the stores might look alike, you don't get the same atmosphere at each location. Certain locations are cleaner, better run as compared to others. They seem to be very inconsistent, in my opinion. SB, on the other hand, is same everywhere, you cannot tell one store from the other, they are all consistent in their feel and service.

However, this could also prove to be a problem for SB, as most of the customers at the local chains are college kids and people that have nothing better to do in the heat. That segment might not warm to the atmosphere at SB stores, but again, the chain has been known to shaping the market to its needs, so who knows. It'll still surely be an experience drinking a Pumpkin Spice Latte in Delhi next year. I hope i am there next year for Diwali.

Be a Bollywood Extra as part of your Holiday Package

This is apparently a new way of attracting tourists. I came across This on a travel site offering packages for India. So, in addition to seeing the Taj Mahal, elephants and our wonderful cows, you can also get to be in a Bollywood movie.

"When a script calls for a scene to take place in a foreign country, we find Westerners to appear as extras for authenticity," explains Khan Shaban, the extras coordinator for Casting Planet

He also says that he and his colleagues pick up tourists last-minute near the Gateway of India in Mumbai's main tourist area of Colaba if assignments arise on short notice, which is often. However they manage to land a part, extras are paid $11 a day."

This is certainly a creative way to attract tourists especially as Bollywood become more internationally recognized. I often wondered how they got those 'firangs' (foreigners) to be in the movies. One more mystery solved and one more reason for people to go to India.

Standing "Seats" on Flights Now

It wasn't enough that Airlines were squeezing passengers into every nook and cranny they could find in the plane. Now, they are plans to make economy class more "efficient" by charging people to Stand! That's right stand this way they can fit in more people into the plane.

Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness, according to experts who have seen a proposal.

First the price on tickets goes up every few weeks (even Jet Blue isn't cheap anymore) and then the seats aren't comfy or with enough leg room. On top of that they charge for food and at times drinks. Also, their service isn't exactly top-notch. And now they would charge you to stand. So far no airline has agreed to install them but it hasn't been set aside either. Even if standing "seats" would be for short haul flights, unless its like a half hour flight, why would anyone pay to stand? I certainly wouldn't, i don't even like paying the amount i pay right now to sit.

News like this just makes you think, why don't they jut create those transporter beams from Star Trek and save us all a lot of time.

Most Asian Billionaires in India

BBC reports that the recent Forbes Magazine rich list puts India with the most billionaires in Asia, and one of the five richest men in the world being Indian. That ofcourse refers to Laxmi Mittal, with a fortune of $23.5 billion.

Numbers can work both ways though, we might have the highest number of billionaires in Asia, but at the same time we have over 200 million poor. Damn over population!

Quick Fact: World Population - 6 billion, Number of Billionaires worldwide - 793.

Please no new cess

Hindustan Times Reports that the Indian economy grew at 8.1%, with the index crossing 10,000 points. All this comes before the new budget is to be released. I just hope they don't put anymore cesses if possible.

Also, hope they don't take the corporate tax from 35% to 30% as recommended by CII, since Indian tax rates are pretty standard when compared on a worldwide scale. At times they are actually quite low compared to others.