Sipahh--the Purple Cow

I am inspired.. Rather the entrepreneur/marketer in me is inspired. A while back, I red a book called 'The Purple Cow' by Seth Godin which basically said that marketing is not something you 'do' to a product to make it sell more, rather marketing is about the product design itself. I was thrilled to find one such example of it right in my neighbourhood dry-fruit store!

Its called Sipahh, imported from Australia and consists of 'flavoured' straws. Basically, these are straws coated on the inside with yummy flavourings like cookies-n-cream, mint, strawberry etc. Like a tim-tam slam, you dip the straw into a glass of plain cold milk and sip your milk through it and enjoy the delicious flavour. The packaging claims that each straw has only 1/2 a spoon of sugar, so its relatively less unhealthy than other milk flavourings. I checked out the website www.sipahh.com and was amazed to see that its available in a dozen odd countries around the world

As an aside, Aussies tend to pronounce all words that end in 'er' as 'ah' so "dipper" is pronounced "dippah" and "Mt Buller" as "Mt Bullah".. so sipahh is a clever adaptation of sipper

Given my current entrepreneurial leanings, I was really impressed by this simple product. This is really the stuff that the marketing textbooks talk about as being blue ocean(or sky, depending on what kind of person you are water or air!)If a new entrant wanted to find success in the milk-flavouring market, it would be impossible, as taking on the big brands like Horlicks, Boost, Complan etc would be not only formidable but probably foolish. An independent new brand could never match the marketing and advertising budgets of these giants, forget about getting consumers to switch fierce brand loyalty.

But quietly, a product like this manages to quickly carve out a niche for itself, providing a real alternative to the tried and tested products. Its sheer uniqueness, originality, 'innovativeness' and coolness factor are its biggest marketing weapons.
It stands out in the clutter, creates curiosity and in the process generates its own demand. Pricing? it doesn't have to worry about discounting and taking on the big brands. Its total uniqueness ensures there's no benchmark and any 'reasonable' pricing works effectively. On chatting with the sales staff, I was assured that the product is doing really well, with a strong repeat purchase factor.

You can spend years poring over marketing text-books or you can spend an hour at your neighbourhood store and come back a wiser marketer. Nothing quitelike seeing a strategy in action !

Cheers to Sipaah.. may the force be with you and may you inspire many more purple cows!

Maid-to-order: Its complicated

We're in Munnar, its a beautiful perfect day and we're excited as Neel, Amish and me wait on a machan for our turn to ride an elephant. And then I notice this: the next elephant arrives and a mum, dad and their little son(about Neel's age), clamber on. As they are about to leave, the kid shouts out somebody's name and then the 4th person of their group climbs on-- the maid !As I watched the 4 of them squeeze on to the seat (poor elephant :)), I started thinking about us mothers and the relationship we share with our maids. In this case ( I learnt they were from Mumbai and had already been to 2 other places, before Munnar) it wass obvious that the mom was dependent enough on her maid to shell out serious money on airfare, hotel accomodation and also let her intrude on precious family time.

So what is this relationship with the maid all about: Dependence? Being time-starved? Exasperation with a fussy kid? Trying to build a career whilst also bringing up a child? I've heard Moms say that they can't 'enjoy' themselves on vacation if the maid's not there to babysit, ditto at birthday parties where the host invariably has to cater to 3 per invite-- Mom, kid and maid.

What makes the maid so indispensible? Is it just the hard physical, not-fun part of staying on your toes, trying to match the energy levels of your energetic tot? Or is it the non-value-adding, monotonous jobs like nappy-changing that you want to avoid? Or is it an urban, new-age need to suck the maximum out of life's every moment that tells us that we deserve, should choose only the real fun parts wherever possible? Shopping for the kids, cuddles and hugs, getting photographed etc.. these aren't outsourced to the maid, only the boring, tedious jobs. But then again, is there anything wrong with that?

I know I sould judgemental, but I'm trying hard not to. I too have a full-time maid who's an invaluable asset to my life, allowing me to work on my start-up business, go out for business meetings (while I try and stick to my self-imposed 'max 3 hours away from the kid' rule), visit the salon once a month and yes, it must be said, even catch a quick nap sometimes. Kamal allows my husband and me precious time together at meal times, enabling us to sit at the same table and have an adult conversation. Most importantly, she allows me to be a happy, peaceful, relaxed Mom by taking away the stress of all the boring yet unavoidable household chores...But yet, I cannot stand having her tag along at parties, social dos, vacations and even one-on-one play time..Am I being unfair to her or is it the nature of her job that makes her life such?

I read somewhere that a big emotion of being a mother is guilt, and we each settle on a level of involvement from the maid where the guilt is exactly, finely balanced with the comfort, in fact the luxury that the maid brings.A luxury that our counterparts in the supposedly more blessed western world will never experience, unless of course they're part of the Forbes millionaire list

On seeing the family on the elephant, I said a thank-you prayer to God for blessing me with a gentle, calm and happy child, whose company I genuinely enjoy, who so rarely exasperates me, and who has made my decision of taking a break from full-time work, one of greed and not of sacrifice. I also feel grateful for Kamal who makes my life easier.. and at the same time, I feel thankful that I am not dependent on her to raise my son.

Finally, I smiled and said one last thank you, that I didn't feel compelled to share the already crowded seat on the elephant, my private family time, with a fourth person!

Important Step for Women's rights

I woke up this morning to the wonderful news that single moms in India can now confer their surname on their child (whether biological or adopted) as their only official, legal last name. Finally, a positive step moving away from the 'no questions asked' patriarchal system that recognises only a father as the legal guardian even in cases where the Dad has dissappeared from the scene.

I feel proud that although we keep berating the Indian state as being regressive and stuck in the past, every now and then, quietly a law gets passed thats puts us right on top along with the most civilised, liberal modern societies of the world. Every now and then our supreme court summarily dismisses and squashes stupid cases like those against Khushboo for saying there's nothing wrong with pre-marital sex, reminding us that in a country with lots of crazy, regressive opinions, our apex court has got its act together and we are actually in good hands!

Eventually, as Gandhi said, be the change you want to see. Today, as a citizen, I ask myself, how much do I do to actually create transformation in society? And i remind myself that the privilege of living in a vibrant democracy like India must never never be taken for granted..

Cheers to all the single Moms out there, you all make us proud and your kids will value and acknowledge your amazing contribution to their lives when they are older...for now, go get all their paperwork changed to reflect the name of the person who's actually bringing them up...

Facewash!

Did you know ?
Face wash is a class leveller, mood elevator and affordable indulgence all rolled into one?
India’s sudden spending culture is creating sociological problems too. Most of the girls who sell expensive clothes and make-up at malls earn in a month what their average customer spends on one purchase.
How does her mind and heart resolve this glaring inequality? Answer: Face wash.
The product, packaging and communication design of popular face wash brands evoke imagery of luxury skincare products and makeup. You are someone who has clearly risen a notch higher, if you use face wash and not just plain, harsh soap that middle-class girls are forced to use.
Yet, its surprisingly affordable – a small tube costs under Rs. 30 and lasts more than a month! Not only does it clean your face but also enables you to feel ‘cool’, indulge yourself and importantly, allows you access into the same group as the lady who spent 1000 bucks on a mascara stick!
So next time, you’re in the public washroom of a mall, do check out the girl in the red uniform washing her face vigourously with her face wash. Her expression will be priceless!