Thursday, 3rd September ’20
Good morning, welcome to TMT Thursday. In yet another blow to Chinese tech, the Indian government has banned 118 more Chinese apps including PUBG and WeChat Work. This happened after recently sparked tensions along the border. TMT questions how healthy is this technology disengagement with China. Most of our unicorns like Zomato, Byju’s, and Paytm are backed by Chinese investors. If tensions soar, we might see a lack of cash influx in Indian startups eventually leading to unemployment and loss to the government treasures. As TMT has discussed before, “Vocal for Local” is only as good as a slogan until the students and budding entrepreneurs are actually taught financial intelligence and innovation management.
Let’s begin with some words from Sir Richard Branson,
You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.
MIND MONK
Reiterating Stoic philosophies that you may already know of
Here are lessons in happiness from a few dead people.
- What’s The Worst That Could Happen? “Negative Visualization” is one of the main tools of Stoicism. Thinking about just how awful things can be often has the ironic effect of making you realize they’re not that bad. The stoics get a bit dark, I must warn you, and say things like “imagine losing someone you love!” A few seconds of thinking about loss can dramatically boost gratitude.
- Fake it till you make it? Well, Sort of. Researchers told people to smile. What happened? They actually felt happier. When could you possibly employ that? If you’re caught speeding by the police while drunk. No. Never do that. But you can smile when you’re feeling angry and especially dangerous. You’ll become calm. But hey, channelize that anger too.
- Practice Fasting. Not just the ones that look like hunger strikes. But depriving yourself of something you already have. Denying yourself something makes you appreciate the things you take for granted. It does make you tougher to go without something. It increases willpower. Stoics were suckers for self-deprivation. So indulge them for a moment.
These are only a few relics from the golden period of Western philosophy. There’s a lot we can learn from the Stoics like Marcus Aurelius and Seneca which would help us make more sense of it all.
MARKETS
Markets: Heavyweights such as Reliance and Infosys drove the market higher on Wednesday. Nifty formed a bullish candle signaling consolidation ahead. Vodafone Idea jumped while Future Group fell sharp. A total of 90 stocks scaled 52-week highs on the BSE. These included Adani Green, Escorts, Infibeam Avenues, IndiaMART InterMESH, Rosaari Biotech and Godrej Industries, among others. According to Investment Guru Mark Mobius, “The rally in concept stocks like Tesla is similar to the dotcom crisis. The runup in the scrip has been based on pure speculations, and valuation is off the roof now. The recent stock split in some tech stocks is adding more to the volatility.”
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
- Flipkart Wholesale, the digital B2B marketplace of e-commerce major Flipkart Group, on Wednesday launched a digital platform for kiranas, local MSMEs to connect local manufacturers with retailers and bring the entire wholesale marketplace at their fingertips using technology. By this year-end, Flipkart Wholesale also plans to expand to 20 more cities.
- Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is leading a $150 million funding round in education technology startup Unacademy, boosting the firm’s valuation to $1.5 billion, second only to industry leader Byju’s. With Eruditus, Vedantu, whitehat jr, and these two giants, the Indian ed-tech industry is soaring.
- YTO, a Chinese logistics major, is gearing up for international expansion after it secured $970 million from its long-time ally and client, Alibaba. YTO announced this week that the shares sale will lift Alibaba’s stakes in YTO from to 22.5%. This will deepen collaboration on areas including delivery, air freight, global network, and supply chains.
WHAT ELSE IS COOKING
- India bans PUBG along with 117 other Chinese apps as border tensions escalate: The Indian government on Wednesday banned another 118 mobile apps, including PUBG, Ludo, Baidu, among others, saying the move was in the interest of sovereignty and integrity, and security of the nation. This comes amid fresh tensions between India and China along the LAC in Ladakh. The apps have been banned under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
- ICICI Bank launches ‘Home Utsav’; offers attractive interest rates: ICICI Bank today announced the launch of ‘Home Utsav’, a virtual property exhibition that digitally showcases real estate projects by renowned developers from key cities across the country. The exhibition is available for everyone, including ICICI Bank’s customers and those who are not customers of the Bank. The first ‘Home Utsav’ exhibition has been launched for the Mumbai and Pune region, where over 100 projects by more than 60 developers are being showcased.
- Supreme Court gives telcos 10 years to clear AGR dues: The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave telecom operators 10 years to clear government dues, offering some reprieve to cash-strapped Vodafone Idea Ltd, but given its delicate finances, the telco’s run of troubles appears to be far from over. Operators, including Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel Ltd, and Tata Teleservices Ltd, will now have to make an upfront payment of 10% of the total dues as demanded by the Centre by 31 March, the top court directed. Thereafter, they will have to pay the balance amount in equal annual installments over 10 years at an interest rate of 8.
BUSINESS LOUNGE
Selling Socks
Socksoho launched sales 10 months ago, starting with men’s socks, and recently completed Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 program. Founded by Pritika Mehta, a data scientist who has worked at companies including TripAdvisor, and growth marketer Simarpreet Singh, SockSoho now has more than 30,000 customers and plans to launch into new menswear verticals soon.
SockSoho is leveraging India’s position as one of the largest and fastest-growing e-commerce countries in the world. They launched with a multi-platform distribution strategy, selling on its on site as well as e-commerce platforms. But their main driver is WhatsApp. About 70% of SockSoho’s sales happen through WhatsApp, and it also uses the messenger for marketing and A/B product testing.
A quick look at the FAQ section shows that they are not only handling the acquisition of customers via WhatsApp but servicing, in essence, grievance redressal and order updation, through the chat app as well. They’re A/B testing every aspect of the product and eCommerce path through WhatsApp by sending design ideas to customers and gauging their interest in pre-orders before placing manufacturing orders.
Most online fashion brands in India focus on women, so Mehta and Singh decided to go into menswear. They say there are about 200 million men living in cities in India, representing a potential $8 billion market. Before doing consumer research, the two wrote down a list of 80 items they could launch with. Socks won because they are easy to fit and ship, and have high margins and low rates of return.
TMT VARSITY
Diversity Marketing
Customers in different cultures have different values, experiences, expectations, and ways of interacting. Even within a culture, such differences will be apparent between different subgroups—not just ethnicity, but also age, gender, profession, religion, family size, physical environment, and more.
Diversity marketing involves acknowledging that marketing and advertising must offer alternative ways of communicating to these diverse groups. With that knowledge, diversity marketers aim to develop a mix of different communication methods, in order to reach people in each of the diverse groups present in the market.
The following companies have successfully used diversity marketing to reach into new demographic markets:
McDonald’s has done extensive market research on ethnic perspectives, and how such insights impact mainstream communication. Their “I’m Lovin It” campaign is one well-known product of their investment.
Proctor and Gamble has invested a great deal in the black community, and commercials for products such as Tide, Oil of Olay, and Pantene regularly feature black families (and fathers, particularly) that resonate with African-American consumers.
Target similarly has released commercials that show black families according to their own values and ideals, as opposed to stereotypical or pop-cultural depictions.
Saturn has reached out to the LGBT market, sponsoring LGBT events and developing advertising specific to that community (“Does your ride reflect your pride?”) that resonate with its values.
Harley Davidson started marketing to women by creating classes to teach women to ride.
Effective diversity marketing means adapting the message to the market, instead of trying to adapt the market to the message.
How to craft a Diversity Marketing plan?
Initiate, plan, and supervise campaigns directed at new market groups
Work with communities and individual leaders within target groups to open communication channels and develop relationships between the business and the social group
Ensure that marketing messages are consistent with the values, ideals, and perceptions of the target group, and are perceived as being authentic representations
Work with other teams, such as product development, advising them about the target group
Written by Kumar Sourav Mohanty, Akansh Bhatt, and Shashank Dobhal
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