Sports education, anyone?

Is sports education a good business to be in? Is India ready?

Ashwin Sharan, Mumbai

Ashwin, this is an interesting new terrain. Nations climb the hierarchy of education. I categorise it specifically.

Submerged economies of the world (such as Africa) focus on the category of education that is all about basic learning and learning that gets them jobs. To that extent, vocational training is hot in these economies. After all, what's the use of education if it cannot get you jobs to feed yourself and your family?

Emerging market economies (such as India and China) typically focus on both basic and higher education. They focus equally on vocational training as they do on general education that leads to higher learning formats.

Developed market economies, on the other hand, look at education in the niches. Sports education comes into this realm. It is specialised education that developed market economies offer.

Right at the top end is what I would call the hyper-developed economies, countries such as Japan, where you will find education touching an even higher level with education that soothes the soul being highest in priority. Spiritual education sits here.

In terms of business potential, it does exist. Bound to emerge and flourish, later than sooner.

How would you define a luxury brand?

Sumana Chella, Hyderabad

Sumana, luxury is really a mindset. In many ways, what is out of reach is luxury. To a poor and deprived man, a meal at an Udupi restaurant is a luxury, just as to someone in the high-end space, a Vertu mobile phone is a luxury. Luxury is also defined by the distance luxury brands occupy in terms of price multiples over other competing commodity options on offer in the same category. Compare, therefore, an Asha phone from Nokia to a Vertu, understand the multiple in terms of value, and you have a luxury quotient to define. Simply put.

I am planning to open a chocolate store. Any suggestions for me?

Maya Balaraman, Kochi

Maya, a standalone chocolate store will struggle in the short term (2-4 years), survive in the medium term (5-7 years) and boom in the future beyond that. To that extent, investing in a niche store today is a long-term game. If you are willing to bide your time, invest. If not, you might as well open a chain of branded cobbler outlets, which are the demand-wedge of the market today. The cobblers have vanished from our lives altogether.

India is actually ready today for a chocolaterie. A small little chocolate factory that actually does it all in front of you and puts together exotic concoctions with chocolate. A place where the drama of chocolate can be witnessed as you buy it. This space is open for the taking in the big four cities as of now, and resides within high-traffic malls. We are yet to offer this in India, though. The best we have is the chocolate fondue fountain, which has become a boring accoutrement of such stores as of now.

I have heard you speak at corporate events. What is the most amazing experience you have had as a speaker?

Sophie Reddy, New Delhi

Sophie, that’s telling.

Two experiences, really. One in Tokyo, when I have had an entire corporate group stand up and bow gracefully at the end of my keynote address. This was a speech that resonated well with the post-earthquake and tsunami sentiment in Japan. I have spoken in Japan on many occasions, and most of the time the Japanese audience has been very reserved in its reactions. This was my first big heart-warming experience in Japan!

A second good experience was when this young lady walked up to me in Istanbul after a presentation at a retail conference, and told me that she had come there to hear and see Pele the footballer (who was a co-speaker at the event), but was floored by my presentation instead. What followed was certainly an amazing experience for me, as she gave me a big hug and a kiss right out there off the stage, and I cherish both the hug and the kiss till this day! When people are spontaneous, they receive spontaneity.

Why are we seeing the same old faces of film stars on every brand that we use? This is so particularly so with female stars.

Roopa Bhatnagar, New Delhi.

Roopa, yes, there certainly is too much of Kapoor, Sharma and Chopra altogether on the small screen. When brand endorsers endorse more than two brands at a time on television, there is a lack of credibility and there is a lack of distinction between brands, appeals and values. There is a brand-endorser promiscuity going around in the market, and this is a disease, for sure. We need a bigger menu of star faces that endorse a diverse sets of brands. The menu shrinks instead.

Harish Bijoor is a business strategy specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. askharishbijoor@gmail.com

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