Fragrant in the heat

How do you view mall development in India? What seem to be the mistakes?

Rohit Patra, Mumbai

Rohit, the development of malls in India is not a recent phenomenon. It has been going on for the last 22 years. We have, however, not yet learnt the valuable lessons that were meant to be learnt.

Most malls in the country have been constructed with a very B2B focus. The idea is to sell space to retail brands. Once that has been achieved, most mall managements abdicate the responsibility of bringing in customers. This is the reality at the grassroots level. The point is that the core competence of the developer is really not in the space of bringing in customers. Some focus in this area would help.

There is a Pareto you can do on the malls of India — 20 per cent of them bring in 80 per cent of the customers. The others just about languish. Some successful malls are really about professional managements and a lot of scientific planning and thinking, whereas a few are successes despite everything else being ad hoc , except location.

Malls can attract more footfalls by getting more and more community-proactive. It is important for a mall to emerge as a destination location that can take care of the entire family and its entertainment, shopping, eating and drinking needs. Malls will replace the parks and public spaces of yore, if only they are able to achieve this. That is the sad fact, but that is what has become of the modern consumptive society. The mall is the new place to hang out. Not the park.

Another key issue in mall development is the tenant mix. You not only need an anchor tenant who offers visibility to the location, but a good and healthy tenant mix that includes every constituent of the family. A mall must think of the toddler, the child, the man, the woman, and most certainly, the senior citizens in a family. And this must cover the needs, wants, desires and aspirations of each, whether it is entertainment, food, drink, medical and more.

The deodorant category is a high visibility category today. Why?

Shweta Gopal, Tiruchi

Shweta, the deodorant category is a high-value, high-volume potential growth segment in India. India is a sweat-driven country. In a country such as this, the deodorant category grows in tandem with need and most certainly in tandem with the growth in buying power. Smelling good has been a universal need of men and women alike.

This category is today image-led. Imagery and brand propositions in the country will morph from the functional to the emotional to the ridiculous. The dominant imagery today seems to be the woman- and man-magnet theme. Use this deodorant and you will have women sticking to you! This is a basic, first-generation deodorant market brand proposition. We will evolve. Later than sooner. To higher end benefits and needs.

The challenge that lies ahead in this category is one of market clutter. The challenge is equally to stay relevant, original and innovative to a changing consumer profile that gets fatigued with the brand and the scent a bit too fast. Faster than before. The deodorant category is therefore young, aggressive and morphing all the while. A marketer who keeps pace with this, is the marketer who will win.

Are rented brands going to be a reality in India?

Siddharth P. Raju, Hyderabad

Siddharth, why not? The key consumer idea is simple. Why buy, when you can borrow?

When you buy something you get locked into the product for its entire lifetime. There is fatigue and there is, indeed, a feeling of being locked in. The innovative idea around is, therefore, of marketing things out to borrow rather than own. This works for both low-end and premium products alike. Take, for instance, the case of a cosmetic accessory such as a ladies' bag. When a lady spends a fair (and in most cases unfair) amount of money and buys a bag, she gets locked into it for well nigh nearly a decade. Instead, if she joins a ‘lending library' of bags, she gets variety, and she looks different with a different accessory at every party she attends. The idea, therefore, works on the key insight of the consumer being a variety-seeking animal! And animals are not loyal to the same look, the same design, the same colour and anything that has sameness about it.

What's the problem with the franchising industry?

Suhail Ahmed, New Delhi.

Suhail, your question pre-supposes that there is a problem. I will answer from that perspective.

The big problem is that we are yet to pay enough attention to the end-user and end-consumer dynamics in franchising.

There is an important need for the industry to be besotted not with the franchisor or franchisee. Instead, one needs to be devoted to the consumer who brings in the money. One important thing to remember is that franchising as a business with potential is not about the franchisor or franchisee. Instead, it is about the consumer at large.

Focusing on the delight end of the business is important. Delivering seamless service that is consistent is the imperative. This is where the failure lies. And this is going to be the big emerging trend as well.

The franchising industry will progressively start relying on the practice of delivering high quality service. This is an experiential business. Creating the right experience for the right segment, and staying one step ahead of the consumer and his expectation is going to be the cutting edge, if not bleeding edge stuff to focus upon.

The industry faces the key problem of people as well. That is the biggest challenge to handle. This industry is unable to keep its hold on people. People remuneration practices are also antediluvian. There is a great emphasis on outsourcing, which is not necessarily a great practice as well. Add to it attrition numbers in the industry, and we have a potent cocktail that points at business inefficiency at the point of consumption. And that is the biggest challenge of them all.

While everything else in franchising can be bought off the shelf, positive customer service points can only be earned. Earned by hard work, consistent delivery and very high standards and norms that are internationally benchmarked, and more importantly, delivered.

(Harish Bijoor is a business strategy specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. E-mail: askharishbijoor@gmail.com )

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