TonyRandall,
American actor and founder of the National Actors Theatre in
the US, once recalled, “I was walking down Madison Avenue
and I saw a very good-looking tie in a shop window. So I went
in and before I could say anything, the manager said, ‘Oh,
Tony Randall! In my store! Please, just a minute, I’ve
gotta call my wife, she’ll never believe me!’ He calls
her up and says to me, ‘Here, say hello, say anything,
talk to my wife! Say anything!’ He flattered me so much
that I bought the tie, bought six shirts... I didn’t have
enough money. I said, ‘Will you take a check [sic]?’
He said, ‘Do you have any identification?’” Randall’s
dealings with the store manager pretty much sums up the attitude
of most marketing organisations, who recognise the importance
of the customer, but still treat them poorly. The focal point
of all business is the customer, without whom it has no reason
to exist, is known fact. “Customer is the king”, marketers
proclaim. But, in spite of this, customer dissatisfaction remains
the biggest cause of customers migrating from one brand to another
and customer loyalty is beginning to sound like an ancient concept.
Three articles in this issue deal with customer loyalty. The
first one, titled “Fostering Loyalty” by V Ramkumar,
outlines four strategic dimensions along which you can build
your loyalty programmes. The second one, called “A Switch
in Time” by Jagdeep Kapoor, is about why consumers are
prone to switching brands. A commentary by Hanif Kanjer, titled
“Mass Customisation”, brings out the urgent importance
of taking customers seriously. Our “Chiefly Speaking”
column features, Renu Karnad, Executive Director of HDFC Ltd.,
who sheds light on the competitive dynamics of the Indian home
loan market, how it has evolved from its early days when HDFC
was the only player, and how technology can be leveraged for
corporate excellence. Moving on, Harish Bijoor provides an interesting
perspective by comparing marketing to amoeba in his piece called
“Amoebic Branding”. There is piece by Brand Guru Shombit
Sengupta on strategies for building consumer trust in FMCG brands.
The case study in this issue reviews the strategy of ICICI Prudential
of identifying and tapping the vast potential of the “retirement
solutions” segment of the Insurance Market in India. Issue
after issue, we strive to source the best possible content in
order to keep our readers loyal to us. We’re sure this
issue is no different and its content will keep you, our esteemed
readers, hooked on.
Wish You Happy New Year!
Bhaskar Das
Director
The Times of India
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