The article discusses how marketing is becoming increasingly data-driven. It provides several reasons for this trend: 1) Technology and digital media have increased the availability of large amounts of customer data; 2) This data provides insights into customer behavior that can be used to personalize marketing; 3) Data-driven segmentation allows targeting specific customer groups more effectively; 4) Data helps optimize marketing spend by directing it towards the most effective channels. The future of marketing relies on effectively leveraging customer data to improve targeting, personalization, and results.

2. “Transforming a brand in to a socially responsible leader does not happen overnight by simply writing
new marketing and advertising strategies. It takes effort to identify a vision that your customers will
find credible and aligned with their values” – Simon Mainwaring
Dear Readers!
Welcome to ‘Markezine’, a thrice – yearly magazine that brings out the various aspects of
marketing in the present world. In this edition, we are presenting you the diverse dimensions of
marketing, i.e. from social entrepreneurship to the world of digital marketing and many more.
We hope you enjoy every stop on this tour of the marketing extravaganza.
Our interview with Abhishek Syal, the Founder & CEO of ARISE contributed to our learning in
the field of Social Entrepreneurship, the way of creating impact, challenges faced with respect
to marketing, promoting a venture and also the outcomes. The article is one of its kind where in
the real life experiences of a Sloan MBA graduate was shared.
The Article on Data driven marketing emphasizes on the future of marketing, how it will be data
driven. The article on perception & thought process gives you a complete picture of how
business analyst observes everything and anything. The article on Green marketing explains
the concept of an environment friendly and sustainable marketing model. Learning leadership
through marketing is a ball of fire combination which is been symbolized through our article on
Make a Difference. How marketing and HR impacts an organisation is also worth noting.
Markezine was a distant dream without the vision of our president Anil Sachdev. It’s his ever
inspiring presence that has finally led to the origin of the Markezine – “Inspiring Marketing”. The
guidance and supervision by Atindra Nath Bhattacharya and Sandeep Julka has made it a very
innovative outcome.
This magazine has been a combined effort of many wilfully acting inspired leaders who have
helped us in shaping this work. We are deeply indebted to Pallavi Tandon, Sachin Serigar,
Mitali Kulkarni and Rahul Dhiman who helped us in scrutinising and reviewing the articles.
Thanks to Marivalan Daniel Dharmaraj for his support and help. Sincere thanks to Abhishek
Syal and his Team at ARISE who provided us their valuable time sharing their experiences.
Thanks to the Manu, Raman, Prasoon, Anurag and Yash, our Alumni who provided us the
opportunity to be a part of this master work.
Creating a dent of your own in the universe is a much desired state where the ultimate goal
should be our actions that can impact somebody’s life. Markezine aims to bring out the best
practices in the field of marketing and management that can help the readers building
knowledge and awareness. It’s been a terrific journey of three months at SOIL where the
knowledge sharing was at its peak and its practical implementation was keenly observed. In
synergy to the Marketing management and strategy building, we at SOIL are finally coming up
with the live version of our learning. Markezine – the much awaited edition of 2016 is here!
We look forward to an exhilarating journey with you all.
Best regards,
Team – Markezine
02

3. 03

4. B
LxD: A MAD Journey in
Leadership
by Sneheel Biswal,
Director of Communications (MAD)
CRM in India & Automobile CRM
written by
Anshul Tiwari
C
Social Entrepreneur
Abhishek Syal
Interviewer
Shashank Mittal
What Physics taught about
Marketing
written by Arjun G
Data Led Marketing
Written by
Vivek Narendran
A
04

5. Father of Advertisement - Ogilvy
David Mackenzie Ogilvy was born in West
Horsley, England, on June 23, 1911. He was
educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh and at
Christ Church, Oxford (although he didn't
graduate). After Oxford, Ogilvy went to Paris,
where he worked in the kitchen of the Hotel
Majestic. He returned to England to sell cooking
stoves, door-to-door.
Ogilvy's career with Aga Cookers was
astonishing. He sold stoves to nuns, drunkards,
and everyone in between. In 1935 he wrote a
guide for Aga salesmen (Fortune magazine
called it "probably the best sales manual ever
written"). Among its suggestions, "The more
prospects you talk to, the more sales you
expose yourself to, the more orders you will get.
But never mistake quantity of calls for quality of
salesmanship.”
BECOMING AN AD MAN
In 1948, he founded the New York-based ad
agency Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather (which
eventually became Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide),
with the financial backing of London agency
Mather & Crowther. He had never written an
advertisement in his life. Thirty-three years later,
he sent the following memo to one of his
partners:
Will Any Agency Hire This Man?
He is 38, and unemployed. He dropped out of
college.
He has been a cook, a salesman, a diplomatist
and a farmer.
He knows nothing about marketing and had
never written any copy.
He professes to be interested in advertising as a
career (at the age of 38!) and is ready to go to
work for $5,000 a year.
I doubt if any American agency will hire him.
However, a London agency did hire him. Three
years later he became the most famous
copywriter in the world, and in due course built
the tenth biggest agency in the world.
The moral: it sometimes pays an agency to be
imaginative and unorthodox in hiring.
BUILDING AN ADVERTISING EMPIRE
In his agency's first twenty years, Ogilvy won
assignments from Lever Brothers, General
Foods and American Express. Shell gave him
their entire account in North America. Sears
hired him for their first national advertising
campaign.
"I doubt whether any copywriter has ever had so
many winners in such a short period of time," he
wrote in his autobiography. "They made Ogilvy &
Mather so hot that getting clients was like
shooting fish in a barrel.”
In 1965, Ogilvy merged the agency with Mather
& Crowther, his London backers, to form a new
international company. One year later the
company went public - one of the first
advertising firms to do so. Soon Ogilvy & Mather
had expanded around the world and was firmly
in place as one of the top agencies in all
regions.
Credits: www.ogilvy.com
05

6. D
A Business Analyst observes
everthing
written by Anurag Awasthi
Alumni Speaks
Interviewee - Manu Malhotra
Interviewer - Ritika Singh
E
Green Marketing
written by Nitin Srinivasan
Smarter food choices in
smart planet
written by Ankita Joshi
F
E - Commerce sector
in India
Written by Ritesh Sethi
HR & Marketing overlay
written by Ajay Ruhela
06

7. What Physics taught
about Marketing
Dan Cobley, a marketing director at Google, gave a
presentation at the TED Global 2010 conference titled “What
Physics Taught Me About Marketing”. They say you shouldn’t
judge a book by its cover, but when I first saw the title of this
presentation I knew this was something I would be interested
in. I had to know how can marketing and branding principles
be explained using physics. Well, Dan Cobley explains just
that using Newton’s second law, Heisenberg’s uncertainty
principle, the scientific method and the second law of
thermodynamics.
Now that may sound confusing, as well as bit of a stretch, but
keep with it because how he ties these scientific laws and
principles together is very creative. The following is a
breakdown of Cobley’s presentation by scientific law, principle,
and method; as well as how it applies to us marketing folks.
NEWTON’S SECOND LAW AND BRAND
POSITIONING
force = mass X acceleration
or
acceleration = force/mass
Scientific Definition: The larger the mass of an object, the more
force that is required to change its direction.
Marketing Definition: The larger the brand the more effort that
is needed to change its positioning.
This law explains why companies with multiple brands often
keep each of the brands separate, instead of keeping them
under one brand name. In his presentation, Cobley uses P&G
as an example of this principle in practice.
Another example is Gap Inc., which includes the brands Old
Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, Athleta, and Gap. By
keeping the brands separate, Gap Inc. can more easily change
the position for one brand identity, say Banana Republic, than
they could if all the lines were under one brand name.
07

8. HEISENBERG’S UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE AND
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Scientific Definition: It is impossible to determine with perfect
accuracy both the position and momentum of a particle at any given
point in time.
Marketing Definition: The act of observing consumers changes
consumer behaviour. For example, participants in focus groups will
not always answer truthfully, rather they respond with the answer they
are most comfortable with. Cobley explains that it is more important to
try to measure what consumers actually do, than what they say they
do.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND CONSUMER
BELIEFS
Scientific Definition: You can’t prove a hypothesis through
observation, you can only disprove it.
Marketing Definition: You can heavily invest in brand positioning, but a
single contrary observation in that positioning will destroy consumer
belief.
In his presentation, Cobley uses BP as an example. BP heavily
invested in positioning their company as “green” for years. But after
the oil spill, consumer belief in the company’s brand position was
destroyed.
THERMODYNAMICS AND BRAND DISPERSION
Scientific Definition: Entropy is a measure of the disorder of a system,
and thermodynamics says it will always be increasing.
Marketing Definition: We can no longer completely control our brand
message because of the online distribution tools available to every
consumer (i.e. online sharing tools like social media). However, the
mass distribution of your brand message can actually get you closer
to your customers. Entropy will always increase and your brand will
always disperse. Don’t try to fight it, rather find a way to work with it.
Marketing has its origin from physics and nature, same as physics, the
concepts of marketing also remains same only the way we look at it
changes day by day.
Credits: www.ted.com Written by Arjun G
Arjun is a multi-talented, quick learner and a creative person. He is a
hard working person who finds enthusiasm in every task he
comes across.
08

9. The future of Marketing is Data Driven
The Marketing landscape has changed significantly over the years. To understand where it is heading and to be
better equipped as marketers, we need to understand some of the reasons behind this transformation and some
of the trends that have acted as catalysts. It is often said that 50% of marketing budgets go waste – the only
problem being that no one knows which 50%.
Marketing teams are increasingly becoming accountable for topline growth for their companies and to
demonstrate Return On Investment on marketing expenditure. The intangible value of creating and sustaining
brand equity has never sat easy on a balance sheet. As a result of this, marketing was started being seen as an
‘expense’ centre – one that spends on multi-crore brand campaigns across media – whether online or offline.
Marketing teams are now in a unique place and time where they can reposition themselves and demonstrate the
value they bring to the table. Let’s look at some disruptive trends that have enabled this.
Technology
Marketing and IT teams increasingly have to collaborate on projects, within their organizations. As a result of this,
marketing professionals are becoming more IT savvy and IT teams are starting to understand how their projects
influence marketing strategy. A good example is the creation of POS and DMS(Dealer Management Systems).
These systems are designed and implemented by IT teams. But these systems are also the first point of
generation of customer data – demographics, psychographics and transactional – and this data is invaluable to
marketing – it helps them know their customers better and understand their spending patterns.
Other similar areas where IT and Marketing intersect are procurement of CRM tools, Campaigning technologies,
and digital marketing initiatives, among many others. Providing a seamless customer experience is also crucial to
this collaboration. Gartner has predicted that by 2017, CMOs will spend more on IT than their counterpart CIOs.
Digital
The biggest advantage of the digital medium is that every bit of it is measurable. As people
are increasingly adopting digital lifestyles the time they spend on digital media is
increasing. And for a lot of marketers this is becoming the primary channel to engage
with customers. In fact, for many categories, marketing spends on digital are
more than 50% of overall marketing budgets. And that’s a lot of data generated
– both performance and customer related.
Forrester has estimated that U.S. advertisers' spending on digital
advertising will overtake TV in 2016 and hit $103 billion in 2019 to
represent 36% of all ad spending.
Data
The emergence of data led marketing is one of the most
significant trends in the last couple of years. The emergence of
data has largely to do with the onset of the earlier two
mentioned trends. Tons of data is generated everyday for
brands to leverage.
09

10. Effec%ve'usage'of'data'and'analy%cs'is'one'of'the'key'priori%es'of'CMOs'in'this'day'and'age.'The'biggest'
asset'of'data'led'marke%ng'is'the'amount'of'intelligence'you'can'put'into'marke%ng'programs.'Why'is'
data'led'marke%ng'the'future'and'why'are'companies'inves%ng'heavily'in'infrastructure'that'enables'
this'trend?'
A) Companies are already sitting on a goldmine of data. A lot of this data resides in silos and is
archived and kept in the attic. A lot of it sits in disparate systems hence making it difficult to
utilize. Companies are investing in database and CRM systems to bring all this together under
one roof. Imagine the amount of business one can generate using the last 10 years’ customer
database, if you target them intelligently with relevant products. 20-30% of monthly sales
targets can be achieved by just leveraging this data. Access to historic data has truly given
flight to the traditional marketing concepts of ‘upsell’ and ‘cross sell’.
B) Data gives insights into consumer behaviour
Imagine a retail store where you have hundreds of brands and thousands of SKUs. Analysing
buying patterns of customers, whether it is choice of brands or frequency of purchase or spend
amounts can help you know how customers shop in a store, what they buy and more
importantly what they should be buying but are not. Targeted offers to specific customer groups
using advanced analytical techniques are becoming very popular with marketers. To use a
familiar term, data helps you increase ‘share of wallet’, like nothing else can.
C) Data helps you effectively segment customers.
No two customers are alike. So why should there be a ‘one size fits all’ marketing plan. Data
helps you identify clusters of similar behaving customers on the basis of their transactional
history and profiles. This helps in creating relevant offers to these clusters which eventually
leads to higher sales. Clusters can be created on the basis of their demographics,
psychographics, brand preferences, spending patterns or even geographies. This also leads to
the need for differentiated communication plans for each segment as each cluster needs to be
spoken to in a different manner.
D) Data helps you to optimize marketing spends
All marketing channels - be it call centres, websites, mobile, email, social media or print can be
evaluated on the basis of the interest and leads they generate. One can allocate more
resources to the channels that are performing better. On one–to- one channels like SMS and
Emails, one can also keep experimenting with messages to see what gives better results.
Campaigning via these media has become a science in itself, with various techniques being
used to measure and monitor results.
E) Data helps you to market real time and provide personalized customer experiences
Campaign automation has helped marketers to respond immediately to customers. Whether it
is real time updates for someone servicing his/her vehicle at a service station to an online
shopper receiving a targeted message on the basis of his/her behaviour on a website,
personalized communication on a real time basis is increasingly becoming the norm.
Data Driven Marketing is poised for a big leap in the coming years, and the
learning curve on it is a very steep one. The question is. Are you ready for it?
Written by Vivek Narendran, Strategic Account Director, Hansa Cequity
10

11. Make A Difference (MAD)
LxD: A MAD Journey in Leadership
2012 - Nagpur city
It was a rainy day when I walked into the community center to help with the second recruitment drive for Make
a Difference (MAD). I was a teaching volunteer for an English Project at the center in Nagpur, a third year
engineering student with ample time and a drive to do more than just regular academics. Even today, when I
look back to that evening, it was one of the most defining moments of my life. I was offered the Public
Relations (PR) fellowship for Nagpur center. An overwhelming experience!I was an introvert with no
background in Public Relations and Marketing. I hadn’t even organized an event in my entire college life. I
was only working in the organization for a month however, against all rationalities, I decided to step out of my
comfort zone and go for it and honestly, I wa anxious and unsure at the same time.
July 2014.
I am writing this blog from my desk in MAD Mansion, the national headquarters of Make A Difference,
Bangalore. I am currently employed as the Director of Public Relations in the same organization where I had
started off as a scared and anxious teaching volunteer. An organization that gave me the opportunity to grow
and learn.
This is the magic of the Fellowship at Make A Difference.
The need:
Back in 2006, MAD was started by a bunch of young driven people who visited a shelter home in Cochin and
realized that they could impact the children there in a positive way. They realized that there was “a definite
desire to learn”, ‘a want to teach’ and that is how MAD was conceived.
Very soon, it expanded to metropolitan cities like Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad because there have
always been young people who wanted to give back to the society and do their best to make the
world a better place. To help the enthusiastic youngsters start in the new cities, a document
named the ‘Expansion kit’ was shared which gave them a process to start and run the MAD
Chapter in their city.
As the time progressed, we noticed that the impact in other cities was not as much
as that created in Cochin, however, the intent was still the same - to empower
children at risk. But we realized that this wasn’t enough. We realized that it took
more than this to deliver our vision on the ground. We realized that processes
weren’t enough on its own. It needed leadership to compliment and actually
make a difference. And that is how the LxD program was devised.
LxD: The Conference
LeadershipxDesign, or LxD as it is abbreviated to, is an extensive
leadership program that gives the sort of learning curve that would
create leaders out of dedicated young people in the country. The
change makers who would be the catalysts and never lose sight
of the organization’s values and principles. The curriculum
aimed at delivering the elements that would make a
leader. Remark-ability, innovation, family, professionalism and
high levels of immersion of the cause they are working for.
11

12. The LxD program had two major components in it. An LC, which is a national level
conference where in the fellows are given clarity about their role and taken through an
executive leadership program to set a context on ground work and give them the
leadership tools to facilitate their work. Also, a proactive support system was introduced
throughout the year to help them through their challenges and give them the learning
curve that would make them remarkable leaders. We wanted to impart experiential
learning rather than classroom learning.
The best part about the LxD program is that it is ever evolving and ever changing.
Starting from a hall full of people discussing about how to change the world, it has
moved into a dynamic high energy yet reflective conference that focuses on the core
values and skills that a young leader must have to deal with the various challenges on
ground and find a way to overcome them and grow by learning and collaborating.
One big MAD year This year is a
landmark year for Leadership Circles.
The focus is on deep diving into core
concepts like Servant Leadership
and Integrity. A deep dive that would
help the fellows get a crystal clear
understanding of the finer nuances of
a true leader. Instead of the LC being
a place where solutions are provided,
we wanted to make it a place where
ideas are swapped faster than they
are thought of. A place where
conversations are started and carried
back into the cities. A place where the fellow understands the bigger picture and the
cause they are working towards to reflect on their stands. To facilitate our learning, two
new additions joined the MAD family. Abhishek Thakore, founder of the Blue Ribbon
Movement, a well known change artist who facilitates fundamental transformation in
individuals, organizations and societies. Rizwan Tayabali, a social enterprise consultant
at Social Effect, with sixteen years of social and commercial experience in strategic
innovation, design and change and currently a full time specialist in the design and
implementation of long term solutions to human challenges.
The vision for LxD is ambitious and exciting to say the least. We believe that the work
people do defines their leadership qualities and not their profile. Going forward, the
leadership program and the Leadership circle will be two different entities. The LxD
curriculum will be accessible to anyone in MAD with the help of our cutting edge tech
team. Eventually, the LC will be an open conference to anyone with the real potential of
being a leader and for those who want to take an initiative to solve a problem.
One big family of problem solvers. One big MAD.
Today, I am anxious and nervous. But, two years ago I was a reserved volunteer. I look
around the office and I see people who have been through the same trajectory of
success as I have. I take strength and confidence from the fact that I am not the only
one. I smile and rejoice.
Written by Sneheel Biswal, Director of Communications, MAD India'
12

13. CRM IN India & Automobile CRM:
CRM in India saw a surge with the opening of retail sector to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). With
the global giants coming into India, they brought with them the philosophy of CRM. The idea of
CRM had spelled success in the growing economies of West & was welcomed with a bang in the
Metros & Tier A cities of India. Soon, getting associated with a Brand’s Club or Circle Program
became a fad. Tommy Hilfiger’s ‘The Club’, Shopper Stop’s ‘First Citizen’ and many others were
sought after programs. The philosophy was latched on to by the Airlines & Banking giants who had
its customer base not just in Tier 1 cities & Metros, but also in the Tier 3 & farthest corners of
India. They came to be better known as Rewards or Air miles program where collection of points
and redemption became a household name. Jet Airways Jet Air-Miles, State Bank’s Freedom
Rewards Program & Citibank Reward program were some of them.
Now let’s understand as to why any Brand would consider committing to a CRM Program. The
objective is simple. Every organization wants to have its existing customers as its brand
ambassadors. Why? Studies have shown that in any Industry the biggest influencer (~ 93%)
for a prospect is his ‘Friend’. This friend is an existing customer who has experienced the
Product or Service and has been more than satisfied with it. He not only re-engages with the
Product or Service but also promotes the same to his Family & Friends. Which brand would
not want a customer like this? As we Indians say ‘Free ka Publicity’.
In Automobile sector, though CRM was a late entrant, it was always practiced in some form
or another without a defined nomenclature. The objective of CRM program in any Industry
is the same but the road map to attaining it is different depending on the format &
behavioral pattern of the consumers. Let’s look at the quadrant below which will give us a
better understanding.
A customer purchasing car fits in the quadrant of being an emotional buyer when the
annual value or the “acquisition and ownership” cost of the vehicle is high. This would
involve creating a full blown relationship program which caters to both the experiential
and functional benefits provided to the customer.
The same customer while buying groceries would only have his functional needs
being met. There would be repeated purchases as various intervals and the
annual purchase value tends towards a higher bracket. This involves a more
rational approach to the CRM program.
13

14. A""
"
CRM program has the following traits:
o The Hierarchy of Needs pyramid looks at the relationship needs of
customers in a CRM program
o Rewards form the most fundamental need
o Followed by recognition and relationship benefits
o Every CRM program has to have the right R3 bouquet
o The mix varies depending on the product and customer segments
o We need to add the right relationship benefits
'
Hence we can now summarize that for an Automobile Category there is no one for all kind
of a program that we need to pursue but the value, benefits & offerings change according to
the kind of consumers that we engage with.
Written by Anshul Tiwari, Sr Manager Marketing, Phoenix Mills Ltd
14

15. Social Entrepreneurship Interview with Markezine
Abhishek Syal is the Founder & CEO of ARISE, a one of its kind non-profit organisation, enabling self-
learning for the differently abled. The special technology based modules
developed by ARISE has given an entirely different direction to the
empowerment of the differently abled.
An MBA in entrepreneurship from MIT, Sloan School of Management, Mr
Syal has previously worked with organisations like BHEL & has several
other accolades added to his cart. He was also awarded the StartingBloc
2012 Boston Fellowship. His passion and vision towards serving the
under privileged in the society has helped him in transforming the
lives of many. He believes in the universal truth that if you can bring
smile to somebody's face, you will surely get that back.
We interviewed Abhishek to learn more about his passion,
ARISE and how he has mastered success in a very early age.
When you started up ARISE Impact in 2010, you were an undergraduate at BITS Pilani. What prompted
you to start a social venture?
During my undergrad at BITS Pilani in electronics, I was researching on assistive technology for
visually challenged to enable them learn from maps and diagrams. I invented a low-cost non-contact
map and diagram reader and conducted extensive trials with visually challenged students at Institute
for the Blind, Chandigarh. During my work from 2006-2009, I realized that the visually challenged
children didn’t even have the basic access to customized self-learning resources. That prompted me to
fulfil this unserved need of the differently-abled community.
What’s your inspiration?
My inspiration has been Monu Ram. He was my first visually challenged user and I learned a lot from
him while he was helping me design the surveys and tests for the other visually challenged children.
He is very sharp, willing to learn and an enthusiastic communicator. Seeing him deeply engaged with
my research work, debating about different ways to deploy it and what content to be created and how -
all these interactions through which he made me realize that the other students were just shy of not
expressing what Monu Ram is - to explore the world and stand on their feet with respect.
What’s your vision for the ARISE Impact platform?
Our vision for the ARISE Impact platform is to enable the self-learning and employability for differently-
abled.
Where you are in your journey today?
We are still in the nascent stages, though we have made a lot of progress over the years. 2010 was a
testing stage when we were researching on how to customize self-learning content for visually
challenged. Today, we are working with over 18 diverse partners internationally and our team is spread
across three time zones. We have pivoted our strategy from purely content customization to content
delivery and accessibility based on technology innovations.
Led by Nihav Jain, Technology Head, we are now working on a self-learning android app with focus on
User accessibility while exploring mobile content. We are also looking to expand in the USA, where we
already have a team led by Sabiha Shirol. So far we have built successful partnerships with institutes
like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Imperial Hub at Imperial College, London, Boston
Network for International Development and Cityawake Founding Partner to name a few.
Overall, I would say this is an exciting as well as challenging time for ARISE in terms of seeing our
initial results and growth; as well as scaling our next products.
15

16. You and ARISE Impact have been recognized by many awards - 2012 NCPEDP Universal
Design Awards, 2013 MIT TR 35 Under 35 India Innovator (by MIT Technology Review),
2014 eNGO Best Non-profit for Mobile Usage across South Asia. What do you consider
your biggest success?
I consider our biggest success is enabling the self- learning concept for differently-abled children.
Firstly, our resources have reached 95-98% engagement levels amongst the 300 differently- abled
students in 3rd to 12th grade. Secondly, our resources have been so popular that students
themselves have suggested content that they would like us to create such as short stories or an
audio dictionary. Lastly, our textbook related content is used by students to study for their exams
and we have seen on an average an increase of 21% in test scores.
What are your recent marketing experiences?
A> Recently we changed our logo to represent our mission effectively: to empower and enable self-
learning for differently-abled. The yellow halo represents empowerment, while two different lengths
inverted V and a circle represent a differently-abled person. It’s interesting because if you look at it
from an angle, it also looks like a person taking a step forward. Our logo change represents our most
recent and biggest change in brand communication.
Secondly, we integrate our offline event activities into online user engagement. Last year, we initiated
twitter chat in sync with our field events during the CityAwake conference. We leveraged our twitter
chat events to network informally with various organizations to successfully get introduced to and form
partnerships with different organizations including Boston Network for International Development,
Building Impact, etc. This year we are launching our newsletter, which we are sending to over 400+
signups we have received in various events and conferences including eNGO at Delhi, CityAwake,
Husky Startup Challenge and MIT Sloan Innovation showcase in Boston, USA.
Do you deploy any software for marketing?
We deploy four major marketing software: Google Adwords for search advertising, Salesforce.com
for lead generation and management for new partnerships (CRM), mailchimp for newsletter delivery
and sidekick for email tracking and contact insight.
Did you face any challenges in your journey?
At ARISE Impact we did face a lot of challenges. From getting buy-in for the idea from my initial team
and generating strong support was really difficult. Initially, it was some of my high school friends,
including Aayush Bhasin, (Trustee), Ankita Goyal (ex-board member) who supported the idea while I
was still in undergrad. That support during our testing stage in the entire year 2010 year helped ARISE
Impact create self-learning resources.
Second, the idea was of running a non - profit organisation on a shoestring budget. I went in deep
discussions with ARISE Impact’s mentors from my university, notably Prof Surekha Bhanot, and even
my parents. They enabled me to define the strategic focus rather than doing too many things initially.
Third was having Dr. J. S. Jayara, Headmaster of Institute for the Blind, he has always been
encouraging to try out new ideas and test out new technologies. Rohit Lall, my first mentor helped me
in crystallizing the operations by focusing on defining the roles and responsibilities to ensure low
operations costs.
16

17. What advice do you give to the students at SOIL, who are willing to be social
entrepreneurs?
My first advice is to follow your heart. Be courageous. Even if your organization ends up changing
life of a one fellow being, I assure you it is worth it. Test an idea’s validity before building, think
about scalability before building, and then, build the best team that you can to execute the idea.
The first one about testing idea before building the product struck chord with me when Steve Blank
visited MIT while I was studying there. In his interview he referred to this idea and it stuck with me
about lean startup methodology - which we used unknowingly in 2010 before it became popular for
innovating our custom content creation. I recommend reading his blog at http://steveblank.com/
The second one on scalability and financial sustainability.What I did was involve mentors in helping
me start out using a ‘Heartfelt Connector’ business model. For our new products, while we think
about business models, I have found the ‘Ten Non-profit Models’ article in the Stanford Social
Innovation Review to be a very comprehensive guide. http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/
ten_nonprofit_funding_models.
Building the right team is the most important one in my experience. For example, one of the best
addition to ARISE I ever made is Pooja Menon, a self-starter and entrepreneurial marketer. In a
span of a year, she has coordinated efforts to define and prioritize our strategy. Our Marketing team
has powered in establishing our presence at various conferences and events including CityAwake
in Boston and eNGO in Delhi. Right now, our marketing team designers, Diana Saldanha and
Mansi Gupta, coordinated over our entire team in two months to finalize a new logo and
establishing a new identity for ARISE Impact.
What is your take on the social impact sector? Where do you see it evolving?
Where I see it evolving is in the Social Impact Bonds (SIB) investment vehicle, such as in the U.K.
and the U.S.A. This is very new and the verdict is still not out. However, it offers an exciting way
where it opens up investment and capital markets while streamlining performance for public
intervention programs.
I believe that the basic attitude towards volunteering to become more professional and that the
social sector is indeed business savvy is the biggest issue. It is also because it’s really hard to
make a dent in the social impact sector as it tests out one’s intrinsic motivation and perseverance.
On the other hand, I have found it to be one of the utmost fulfilling things that I and my long-term
team have found in life.
“Intersections are better than boundaries”
—Abhishek Syal
17
Interviewer : Shashank Mittal
Shashank'is'a'highly'self.motivated'person,'who'is'well'driven'with'values.'He'has'a'very'
congenial'approach'toward'others.'

18. A Business Analyst observes anything
andeverything
' Sitting on the top bank in the sleeper compartment of train, I was looking at a couple quarrelling. Covered with
dust, shabbily dressed, carrying clothes in a pouch made of bed sheet these were among the people who could not
afford to buy a ticket or probably, were just travelling with a general ticket. It was a long route from Pune to Delhi and the
climate was humid. It took me two and half hours to stand in a queue at a reservation centre to get the ticket. The humid
weather added to the hardships I was about to face in the journey. Looking at their apparel, the man seemed to be a
labourer. The lady was dressed in a red saree, decorated with artificial ornaments, shouting out her authority as a home
maker and the head of the family. On many stations, the man brought several things to eat for his woman but she kept
scolding him over and over again. The man took out his phone, searched something and played a song “Bhala hai bura
hai jaisa bhi hai, Mera pati mera devta hai” (Whether he is good or bad, my husband is like God for me). Clearly, the
man conveyed that he wanted some respect through the song he played.
This medium of expression tells us a lot about technology and makes us see it in a totally different way. Mobile
Phones, an innovation to let people remotely connect to each other, was never made considering it would have this use
of conveying expression. However, through innovation, human needs have triggered the mobile phones to emerge from
a communicating device to one which can create and share memories, expressions, thoughts and what not.
This is what business analysis gives you. It’s all about noticing deviations from what is called a standard and
improvising things. Call it a curse or a boon, but even while travelling to my hometown, instead of sleeping, resting or
reading a book I used to relate incidents to technology and social innovation. Everything happening in front of my eyes
gave me an outlook and added to my learning. I was born in a city named Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh. A little
above average in my studies and ordinary in my approach, I was a regular type guy in school who used to sincerely
study and play. One day while flying kite on the terrace, I found the thread completely entangled behind me on the
ground. I was about to break and throw away the entangled part when my grandfather came to me, took it from me and
said “Don’t break it if you can untangle it.” He somehow managed to come back to me with complete thread and
changed the perspective for me forever.
Over the years, I developed an analytical view of seeing things, going one layer below what’s visible. This is
what Business Analysis is all about. You pull yourself out of your comfort zone, step into your client’s shoes and view the
scenario from his perspective. You are only provided a destination which is to be reached and you are supposed to
create an environment around yourself to facilitate yourself to reach it. The business analyst conducts client interviews,
meetings, JAM sessions, workshops and several other activities to understand what a business desires. Just like a car
requires accelerator and handle to run, a business requires different functions to run in consensus. The business analyst
understands the business, zeroes down to the cause of situation and comes up with the solution which best suits the
situation and tells about the way to implement it. According to the specialization, business analysts are identified with
different names across industries.An expert on data who analyses it and manages its flow in the system is called a Data
Analyst, an analyst specializing in financial procedures is called a Financial Analyst while one who reads the system as
a whole and makes sure which system points to be touched by a solution is called a SystemsAnalyst.
So what is a business analyst supposed to do? Well, it’s difficult to create boundaries of work for analyst. If
we see the world, it’s a huge system working in consensus. A ripple in European economy, creates a stampede in
money markets of several countries, one Tsunami in South East Asia reunites enemies of the world to come for
aid and one nuclear attack in a country declares the attacking country as a superpower. Just like that, all the
systems are connected internally directly or indirectly. A business analyst is the person who drafts the
requirement specification for a project staying in limits of his role as a project defines. The requirement
specification could be specific to system parameters (System Requirements Specification or SRS),
business parameters (Business Requirement Specification or BRS) or functional demands (Functional
Requirement Specification) of the system. Other types of documents which are limited to their
domains could be Market Specification document, Product Specification Document and User
Interface requirement documents.
18

19. To prepare the above documents, a business analyst has to be prepared and should come
up with the strategies to gather requirements. A business analyst should always remember the
organization’s mission and intent because of which the system has come up. Business analysts
can be required by projects at different stages. For example, during requirements gathering,
transitions, product development, migration, strategy execution, support, maintenance or even
planning according to the project needs. If involved during the maintenance stage, the scope of
the project is limited but an out of the box solution is always welcomed by all the stakeholders. I
was always involved in a stage when an intent was expressed by my company’s seniors. Our
company was initiating a step towards Internet of Things and I was supposed to come up with a
digital strategy for the company for a particular business region (One of the geographies where
the company operates) which involves the use of such technologies. Before even beginning the
work for digital strategy roadmap, it was more important for me to understand the situation of the
organization at that stage. Unaware of the fact, I came up with several plans which employed the
use of such technologies but were not in line with the company’s strong front and hence, were
rejected. One of my fellow senior, suggested me to list down all the offerings that our company
could make and then come up with a plan to improvise the offerings along with inculcation of new
additions to them. Undoubtedly, I did so and the next plan was accepted with just minor
adjustments.
In my another assignment, I was supposed to lead a team of 4 to implement a test
framework for a retail giant in Europe. The clients were only the custodians of their money with
negligible exposure to IT. They were purchasing a software from an external vendor who was
designing the system to cater the back end of complete online sales channel. Our organization
was contacted to test the implementation of complete ERP like software and see if it works in
consensus with their IT front end system. When I was introduced to the project, I noticed that no
one in the team had an understanding of retail backend functions. No one knew how a sale from
ecommerce website is recorded in the system and how a commodity in inventory is marked to
fulfil the order. The team from the organization had an expertise of testing different systems but
had no understanding of what change a person should notice once an item is sold or reduced
from the inventory. Being a business analyst, I was supposed to transfer the understanding of
complete retail product selling structure to a team which only talks about Object Oriented
Programming and other computer languages. More than just awareness, the team was supposed
to be smart enough to identify gaps that might exist during the implementation of the softwares
like ERP. With a deadline of 30 days, indeed it was tough. I conducted meetings of the clients’
personnel which were supposed to handle the system with team, provided documents to refer,
conducted workshops with the end user team, stakeholders and test team to devise a framework
which would test the system in full proof manner. The scope was identified, requirements altered,
compromises made but a complete framework to enable a successful rollout was implemented.
What did it give me? Applause, credits, rewards. But more than that it offered me satisfaction. A
satisfaction of simplifying the system for so many people and an experience of coming across
new findings about the retail world.
Working as a business analyst has given me a knack of understanding complex situations,
view deepest of systems and an attitude of seeing things completely without any bias. Rightly
said by an expert, it is very important in order to learn. If we don’t come out of our inner
prejudices, we can never get a clear picture of any situation. We should always open ourselves to
all the situations we encounter and see beyond what is on the surface. In my opinion, a business
analyst by job might know a lot but a business analyst by attitude definitely explores a lot. To
conclude, I would just say that even though we all experience and live life. We all have a notion
and thought about things we do and the way we do but a business analyst, observes
anything and everything.
Written by Anurag Awasthi, BLP 2016
Anurag Awasthi, a student of SOIL, shares his experiences as a business analyst and how it
changed his outlook towards the world around him. '
19

20. Manu Malhotra appreciates how different disciplines in HR, Marketing, Operations, Sales &
Finance come together to create business value. He analyses new business opportunities,
crafting new product business plans, Go To Market strategies for products in different life cycle
stages, incubating new product ideas.
How has your journey been after SOIL and your contributions?
Life at SOIL was remarkable in helping me discover my passion for marketing. I learnt that
Marketing is something that gives me immense joy and have been pursuing the passion since
then. After graduating from SOIL, I worked as EA to CEO for an year which was a strategic
marketing and business oriented role. I learnt to appreciate how different disciplines – HR,
Marketing, Operations, Sales & Finance come together to create business value. In this role I
was analysing new business opportunities, crafting new product business plans, Go To Market
strategies for products in different life cycle stages, incubating new product ideas and what not.
I am proud to have played an integral role in Marketing The brand AuthBridge and positioning it
as a thought Leader in its industry. At present, I head Digital Marketing at C1 India.'
What did you learn from SOIL?
I learnt that I have been gifted with a creative bent of mind. I started appreciating myself
and my abilities. I understood that my story is unique and I am going to chart a path that is
going to be different from what others may follow. Character, competence and enthusiasm
make all the difference, which is what I learnt it in the classroom.'
What is the best and most challenging part after SOIL?
Life after SOIL gets interesting. I am more informed about the choices I am making in life.
Suddenly, the yardstick has parameters such as mindfulness and sustainability. I ask myself am
I practicing mindfulness. Am I compassionate enough with others being around me. Do I
appreciate diversity of thoughts that different team members bring to table at my workplace. Am
I being ethical in decision making? Am I making choices that meet the needs of today and
balancing them with needs of tomorrow. So, it is challenging and at the same time joyful to
practice Self-Leadership and actually apply what I was breathing at SOIL.
Manu Malhotra is a Gold Medallist from AMU where he pursued engineering in
Computer Science. He heads Digital Marketing at C1 India, and prior to this he
was heading Digital Marketing at AuthBridge where he was growing multiple
Brands at varied life cycle stages. He is Passionate about Business
and Marketing Strategy.
20
3
2
1
Alumni Speaks

21. Who was your role model in SOIL and why?
I am proud to be a part of SOIL family. Anil Sachdev inspires me. I look upto him.
If you would hire students from SOIL for your company what qualities would
you look in SOIL students?
Immense hunger coupled with Leadership traits. I would love to work with talent that upholds
SOIL values. Character, competence and enthusiasm will be a must.'
What are the new aspects in marketing these days that you would like to
share?
Digital marketing is changing the way Brands reach customers and engage with them. I find it
very intriguing how the online and offline channels of marketing are complementing each other.
So for instance, an app download advertisement is running on ATL channels while a radio
channel is marketing online. E-Commerce players are opening offline stores (which I
anticipated way back) and offline traditional sellers are selling online.
I like consulting businesses on how digital marketing can create business value. The various
aspects of Digital – Search, Display, Social and Mobile have their own role in a customer’s
journey and a whole systems thinking approach helps in creating a marketing strategy that can
help drive business success. I keep writing some interesting blogs on Digital Marketing and
Leadership at www.manumalhotra.in
About Interviewer:
Reetika Singh is self-structured and likes to be creative with her approach towards work. She
believes ‘expectations from situations should not dominate you; you should dominate the
situation by being mindful’. She loves interacting with people and exploring new places.
Reetika Singh (Interviewer)
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
21
6
5
4

22. Marketing of a product or service that takes into
account consumer concerns with respect to
environment conservation and preservation is termed
as Green Marketing or Environmental Marketing
or Ecological Marketing.
Green Marketing campaign is all about promoting the
products / services offered by a company highlighting
the environmental concerns they offer. This includes
pollution reduction, energy conservation,
sustainability etc. The market has been showing
positive response to the environment friendly
products due to increase in awareness created
amongst the consumers and also the fact
that there is a social responsibility that
has been spreading widely amongst
the population.
Many surveys and interviews
concluded that some businesses
engage in green marketing solely
because such an emphasis will
enable them to generate profits.
Other businesses, however, conduct
their operations in an environmentally-
sensitive fashion because their owners and
managers feel a responsibility to preserve the
integrity of the natural environment even as they
satisfy consumer needs and desires.
"Life" of the product and its parts are one of the most
important components in determining whether a
product is "green" or not. Most people think only of
the process of creating a product when gauging
whether a product is green, but in reality, products
impact on the environment at several additional
stages of their useful lives.
Everett Rogers, communication scholar and author of
“Diffusion of Innovations”, claims that the following
five factors can help determine whether a new idea
will be adopted or not, including the idealism of the
shift towards “green”:
1. Relative advantage: is the degree to
which the new behaviour is believed to
accrue more beneficial outcomes than
current practice.
2. Observability: is how easy it is to
witness the outcomes of the new behaviour.
3. Trialability: is the ease with which the
new behaviour can be tested by an
i n d i v i d u a l w i t h o u t m a k i n g a f u l l
commitment.
4. Compatibility: is the degree to which
the new behaviour is consistent with
current practice.
5. Complexity: is how
difficult the new behaviour is to
implement.
An important challenge facing
marketers is to identify which
consumers are willing to pay
more for environment friendly
products. It is apparent that an
enhanced knowledge of the profile of
this segment of consumers would be
extremely useful.
22
GREEN MARKETING

23. Green Promotion:'
Federal Trade Commission has issued guidelines to help reduce the consumer confusion
and also to prevent the malpractices used by several products claiming their product as
recyclable, bio-degradable or compostable product.
• Environmental claims should make clear whether they apply to the product, the
package, or a component of either. Claims need to be qualified with regard to minor,
incidental components of the product or package.
• Environmental claims should not overstate the environmental attribute or benefit.
• A claim comparing the environmental attributes of one product with those of another
product should make the basis for the comparison sufficiently clear and should be
substantiated.
The popularity of green products created a need to regulate and standardize claims about
the environmental characteristics of products. Many regulatory guidelines exist to
accomplish this job. They are designed not only to curb businesses engaged in
misleading advertising practices, but also to clarify the regulatory environment for
companies and making it easier for the consumer to differentiate between products that
are truly "green" and those that are not.
Green Marketing Strategies:
(Adapted from article published by Jacquelyn Ottmanand and David G. Mallen)
• Be transparent: Provide access to the details of products and corporate practices
and actively report on progress.
• Enlist the support of third parties: Popular and credible forms of third-party
support include eco-labels, environmental product declarations and cause
marketing.
• Promote responsible consumption throughout the life cycle: It's one thing to
design greener products, but minimizing their life-cycle impact requires responsible
use and disposal
• Focus on primary benefits: Eco-aware or not, consumers want to know how
products can benefit them personally. Focusing on primary benefits in a story that
incorporates environmental responsibility as a desirable extra is preferred.
• Communicate your values: A company perceived as committed to sustainability
and sound environmental policies gains the good graces of consumers. This can be
achieved by ensuring that the employees are aware of the vision and act as per the
requirement.
Written by Nitin Srinivasan
Nitin is currently pursuing BLP-Marketing in SOIL. A Chemical
Engineer with a work experience of close to 3 years in the Software
Industry, his interests include acting, traveling and driving
23

24. Smarter food choices in a
smart planet…are food companies
equipped for this new beginning!
Consumers are becoming smarter in their food choices. What are food companies
doing to acknowledge this new trend. Let us see for ourselves as to how do our systems, our
senses react when we hear words like artificial colorants, flavorings, high calorie sweeteners,
pesticides, antibiotics, genetically modified organisms, preservatives, high-fructose corn syrup.
I feel cramped, have a chill around the corners, a strange sour taste in my mouth, a loss of
appetite. If you had any of these symptoms then you too are part of food industry’s multibillion-
dollar problem. In fact, we belong to this new class of consumers who are challenging the
world’s biggest and best-known companies to scramble for a change in their business
practices.
Are consumers really health conscious or are food companies again trying new trends
to win back more dollars into the pot. Awareness, education, quick media responses and to top
this up, increasing lifestyle diseases have changed consumer eating patterns. The patterns are
beginning to show a learning curve towards better understanding of what our ancestors taught
us from ages. From Chia to Baobab, the market has seen an explosion of these exciting
product concepts like whole grains, nutrient-dense ingredients, clean labels, natural colorants,
ancient grains and organic foods. Consumers are redefining themselves not by what they wear
or where they live, but by what they eat or not eat. Newer tribes including paganism (a blend of
paleo and veganism), lessitarians and flexitarians are evolving their food choices.
How consumers change their choices is one of the mystery questions. It seems like a
small ripple on the tiny consumer segment but within no time it changes into a tsunami like
motion where everyone seems to have their choices changed as if they don’t have any
alternatives left. If they want to survive the game, food companies have to abide these
changing consumer demands. A small concept like coconut water has pulled everyone eyes
on the hunt for the next healthy billion dollar beverage concept. Emerging trends of
numerous low-calorie plant waters like maple water, birch water, almond water,
artichoke water, cactus water, olive water and watermelon water are trending. Wise job
is take hold of these opportunities that consumers’ wishes are paving ways for.
24

25. The story doesn’t only enclose these go-to natural food trends but there seems another side
of the story, the hunger for something beyond the ordinary, something like exotic new
concoctions. As a result, products like Rishi Tea - turmeric ginger tea, HealthVerve – turmeric rice,
cruciferous crusade, Navitas Naturals – turmeric tamari almonds are popularly showcasing in the
food shows. Consumers are craving food with taste appeal, a sense of adventure, and a decided
healthy glow. These new products play right into that appetite.
Emerging food trends are challenging food industry giants for innovations and research in
ingredients, transparency policies, process controls, labeling. Major packaged-food companies
are losing like $4 billion in market share alone as of last year, as buyers are swerving into fresh
and organic alternatives. Food companies are marching forward in response to this new market
demand, development of a low-calorie natural colorant line to satisfy these twin demands for
"naturalness" and reduced-calorie products is one of a kind. Scientists have developed these
diverse libraries of new sugar based formulations, in form of dispersions, liquids and powders that
have grabbed the eye-balls of food processing giants who are trying to reformulate their sugar
dense products. Innovations of versatile natural colorants using modern technologies are roaring
high in the research field like colorants based on tomato that bring the entire range of food colors
from vivid red to yellow, fulfilling the glasses of food processors demand. These fruit and
vegetable additives not only are nutrient dense in composition, but they contain phytochemicals
and nutraceuticals that just adds their value to not only quality but marketing appeal.
''
It'has'been'found'that'the'top'25'U.S.'food'and'beverage'companies'have'lost'an'
equivalent' of' $18' billion' in' market' share' since' 2009.' As' global' warming' is' to' mel%ng'
glaciers,'consumer'realiza%on'of'healthy'alterna%ves'is'to'innova%ons'in'food'companies.
This' realiza%on' is' challenging' the' very'
existence' of' major' packagedRfood'
companies.' These' counterac%ons' have'
resulted' in' food' company' giants'
beginning'to'buy'off'their'share'of'natural'
space' by' acquiring' smaller' health' food'
companies' in' their' fist.' If' the' companies'
do'it'the'right'way,'the'chase'of'the'whole'
game'is'actually'moving'to'a'safer'future'
for'sustainable'models'of'food'processing.''
''Written by Ankita Joshi'
Ankita Joshi, currently pursuing Business Leadership program, has
a Master’s degree in Food Technology. She takes keen interest in
everything related to Food. She plans to combine her knowledge of
Food processes and the MBA from SOIL.
25

26. Is E-commerce sector in India Overvalued?
The e-commerce sector has seen an unprecedented growth in the past few years. The
growth has been driven by the increasing use of devices such as smartphones , tablets and access
to the internet through broadband, 3G, etc. which led to an increased online consumer base.
Furthermore, favourable demographics and a growing internet user base aided this growth. The
growth shown by companies such as Flipkart and Snapdeal and the huge investor interest around
these companies displayed the immense potential of the market.
These firms are looking to invest in everything that will enable more sellers to come on
their platform. Modern trade in India has threatened Retail markets as most of the shopping is
done via E-Commerce portals. Synonymous to the wipe-out of land line connections by
advent of Mobile phones in India, the retail stores are likely to be replaced by online
shopping very shortly. It is predicted that the retail sector will face a slip in purchases from
17 % to 13 % by 2020 and a subsequent increase from 2% to 11% in E-tail sector during
the same period. This has led our government to prohibit any further foreign investments
in super markets. Amazon delivers to all of India’s 19000 pin-codes, Flipkart covering
up-to 10,000-15,000 pin-codes. But still Retail markets are having an edge over e-tail
markets in ‘Groceries’. Online sales of groceries do not add up to even 1% of
consumer’s interest. If this region is also tapped by e-tailers then e-tail’s revenue is
expected to be between 48-60 dollars. FMCG giants like HUL, Godrej Consumer
products Ltd.,have tied up with the e-tailers . Thus they have ensured that their
goods are available online as well. In addition to this AmazonIndia had launched
‘Kirana Now’, ‘Pickup Now’ in Bangalore in partnership with 5 grocery stores.
These programs covers 45 cities. All this makes it interesting times for the
industry. However, the industry is under barrage of expectations.
According to recent reports, Flipkart's valuation touched $12.5
billion in March 2015 from $1.6 billion in October 2013.Snapdeal's
valuation has risen from about $1 billion to $5 billion in a year. While
experts agree about the potential of the sector, there's no consensus
on the fairness of valuations. Evaluating ecommerce companies
requires a change in the traditional valuation mind set.Digital assets
can create value just like physical assets and therefore attract
valuations that may look high at present. Valuations appear to be
aspirational.
26

27. The E-commerce sector involves unclear profitability model. Currently, sales is being
ramped up rapidly in this sector, largely on the back of discounts funded by abundant venture
capital. However, the roadmap to profitability remains unclear as ever on account of discounting
as well as core operational reasons. Hence, there seems no end to this debate about how
“valuable “the valuations are for the E-commerce sector. Figuring out the correct valuation of such
companies is tricky, with higher valuations leading to a corresponding downslide in the next fund-
raising round. So, we shall indeed know in due course of time!
E-Commerce: PESTLE Analysis
Political: Political situation of India is as stable as it has been in the past few years, which makes
it a favourable condition for the companies to attract funds and grow further.
Economic: The economic state of the country is improving. People are buying more via internet
than before.
Social: The society still has a long way to go to accept purchasing online. Apprehensions still
remain about transactions, quality etc.
Technology: Innovations keep coming up to make the process of buying more user friendly. This
spells good times in the future.
Legal: E-commerce fraud arose with rapid increase in popularity of websites. It is a hot issue for
e-commerce players.
Environment: No environmental factors cause a hindrance as such.
Written by Ritesh Sethi
Ritesh Sethi, a student of Business Leadership Program-Marketing at SOIL, has an
experience of close to 5 years in the field B2B Sales with European and Japanese
company. An adventure freak, he loves to ride to new places on his Royal Enfield. He
believes in the mantra of multi tasking and likes to balance work and play.
E-COMMERCE SWOT
Strength:
- Experienced Leadership
- Brand largely built on word of mouth of
satisfied customers
- Blue Ocean Strategy: Focused on
unstructured, mass market
- Awarded and recognised as on of the best
startups
Weakness:
- Smaller network of retailers across nation
- Services not available in all cities
- Internet depended
Opportunities:
- Increasing internet dependant customer base
- make apps which consume less data
- Investing so as to enable more sellers to come on
the platform
Threats
- Newly emerging competitive online shopping
portals
- Flipkart
- snapdeal
- shopclues
27

28. HR and Marketing overlay
Traditional business functions like Operations, Marketing and Sales are considered the steam engines
that are keys to take any business ahead. Human Resources Management is placed as a support function of
an organization. HR professionals are typically stereotyped as management workforce that does paperwork,
administer payroll and benefits, lend a hand in hiring process and that’s about it. While the HR departments
still do all of these things and more, many companies are beginning to realize that this position has the
potential to be much more dynamic — and beneficial — to business.
“HR used to be a service organization. Today, it’s strategic.”
— John Schwarz, CEO and founder, Visier
HR can use data analytics to ask and answer strategic questions about the future of the organization —
outsourcing, cost management, succession planning, performance management, etc. It is evolving to look at
the marketplace differently to deal with skill shortage and talent gap. HR managers are also using marketing
principles like consumer-marketing, branding and value proposition to build an internal employer brand to
deal with attrition and attract talent. While these two departments — HR and Marketing — have traditionally
operated as separate entities with low correlation, the evolving nature of HR in the industry and the growing
trend towards agile businesses is changing these dynamics. We are looking at HR and Marketing teams
partnering to fuel organization’s growth. Let’s look at 3 strategies:
• Build a strong team
To drive organizational growth, the key input is to procure ‘right’ talent to work for you; to hire people with fire
(pun intended). In today’s industry, Intelligence is a commodity and it’s imperative to find and retain talented
individuals with the right competencies to propel your business forward. Attracting such people requires
the right employer brand. HR and Marketing can partner to differentiate the organization through the
employer brand, helping to attract the unique talent you are looking for. HR department has to create
and sustain this value proposition within the boundaries of the organization and the Marketing
team has to take it beyond.
""
A man goes for a job interview.
Interviewer : What's your worst weakness?
Man : I have trouble knowing the difference between reality and fiction.
Interviewer : What's your greatest strength?
Man : I’m BATMAN!
28

29. • Let your employee do the talking for you"
According to the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer “Employees rank higher in public trust
than a firm’s PR department, CEO, or Founder. 41% of us believe that employees are the
most credible source of information regarding their business.” While creating an Employee
Ambassador program (particularly the ones involving social media policies), HR and
Marketing need to work side by side. Employees could showcase themselves as thought
leaders and the program would motivate employees to perform better.
• Making your business agile
Marketing teams always have ears on the ground and can swiftly identify trends and shifts
in the market. HR and other departments should use these insights to build a plan, chalk
out a calendar, and be prepared to measure, modify and change direction based on
successes and failures. This will create an HR and marketing machine that is agile, flexible
and innovative.
For many years, HR and Marketing have been moving closer and closer, triggered by
behavioral changes that have been accelerated by social media and the core agent around
which these functions work — people. In many ways, HR and marketing are perfect
companions and have skills and talents that complement each other.
The crux of the discussion is: Should they merge? Early adopters of this union could
change the way of doing business. Felix Wetzel, Strategy Development Director of
Evenbase, call this emerging business function— Peopling.
Written by Ajay Ruhela
Ajay is a snooker aficionado, a street photographer, a whimsical
writer and a spiritual seeker with an interest in DMT and brain
chemistry
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30. In today's age of Information Technology, Marketing has undergone a major
paradigm shift. Businesses have moved from 'brute force' marketing to more 'behaviour
based' marketing. Businesses are increasingly using behavioural data to not just acquire
customers but also to gain entry into newer markets. With internet penetration increasing rapidly,
not only have companies gained in terms of ease of access of customers, they have also benefited
in focussed targeting of customers as well as customising the marketing strategy as per the
behaviour of the customers.
Early 2000, choosing a food joint for dining out was a complex decision making process which
involved nuances like choosing the location, guesstimating the price, continental or chinese, and to
top it all knowing whether the quality is good or not. Today these are non-issues. Welcome Zomato.
An app which smoothens the decision process - absolutely hassle free. And there are numerous
apps which have flooded the market after recognizing the customer inconveniences. Be it for hotel
booking - Trivago, to movie ticket booking – BookMyShow, to best doctors in your locality –
LetsDoc.com
Incidentally this convergence of customer needs, technology and business has been driving
the Indian Economy off late. And to top it all, these businesses are all eco-friendly - no pollution, no
depletion of natural resources and no residual waste. Can we call this Pure Green Marketing? I
think we can.
It is imperative that under the changed business environment, organizations have to look for a
totally different breed of Leadership. A leadership which is innovative, technologically savvy and at
the same time has the power to keenly observe the 'behaviour' of customers. Qualitative research
and data analytics are being extensively used to map customers and customize marketing strategy.
Through “Markezine’, the students of School of Inspired Leadership have made a genuine attempt
to raise certain contemporary issues facing the industry and have tried to stimulate thinking amongst
the future leadership of corporate India. The fresh perspectives brought about by the contributors would
make interesting reading.
A N Bhattacharya
Professor of Marketing & Social Innovation
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