The Necessity of Financial Services

Now we are living in the age of miracles, tons of innovations are coming into public front. But have we ever thought how these things become feasible. Do we ever think how they are investing millions and billions of Dollars on nano-technologies, rocket sciences and for medical innovations, from where the funds are coming? The answer is the efficient management of money; it is called the financial management.  

The financial management is a critical issue that is safe in the hand of experts and experienced professionals. It is not possible for an individual to proper manage financial issues of a large amount. An efficient financial management system can lead a country or nation to a remarkable position. The financial management is also a highly monitored and secured issue for any country or for a big business.

To manage this issue properly the commencement of financial institutions has taken in to place who is also providing financial services for individuals, corporate and even for governments also. A financial institution combines with the intellectuals, skills and capacity to hold and manage large amount of money on different formats of local and international. It also helps to proper management of international trades and treaties.

In simple word we can summarize the necessity of an efficient financial management is intensive on modern economy. This need is fulfilled by many financial institutions working all around the world.

Think Out of the Box

Now a day, you will heard people are saying “think out of the box”. What that really means? According to the recent business trend corporates are gaining more power with their financial strengths. To gain more financial strength there is no better way than increasing the revenue stream. More revenue demands more and repeat consumption. Now people are too busy and spend less time for watching TV, read printed newspapers. They are spending more time on the internet through news sites, blogs, social networks, e-commerce sites where they get access to global standard and unique product campaigns, product reviews. To gain attention of this kind consumers the companies should create more attractive product packaging as well as promotion strategies. It is being observed that most logical clients are going through online product reviews before making final purchase decision; it is not easy task to create positive product review where the product is not competitive from their competitors. It is also necessary to create more unique product categories included with more added benefits. It is also important to produce or introduce more product line that is either backward or forward integrated with the said product or services. Companies are now competing each other to make superior product, investing more on R&D process. To survive in this harsh and competing environment there is no way rather thinking out of the box, taking assistance of social networking and power of blogging, creating more unique product portfolios that would lead your business to success and financially in viable position.

Symbology in Branding

A symbol is something such as an object, picture, written word, sound, or particular mark that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention. Some times a symbol is a brief description of a major issue, so symbology is a major interest for manypeople. Symbology is also important for business professionals especially who are in international busines.

Symbology has a long history and symbols are revolutionized for centuries over centuries and it is proved that symbols have came from religious histories and events as memorandum. Now business professionals can ask how symbols are important for businesses. Then I have a simple question to you haven’t you seen a swoosh of Nike or a Puma logo, these are symbols created by two most successful businesses as brand identity, that most people easily recognize them.

Even knowledge about symbology also give you the opportunity to create a strong brand value of your existing or a new brand to create more appeal and identification of your brand and products. Even knowledge about symbols also would help you to integrate your business with a remarkable history and to avoid to use undesired symbols as brands.

CSR vs CSR

Here in this post we are trying to integrate the relationship between a Customer Services Representative (CSR) & a Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR). For Corporate Social Responsibilities the companies are investing a huge amount of money only to show that the company is responsible for the society where they are doing business. Now a days the business has become so much competitive that some times it is hard to invest money for CSR activities. It is a low cost idea to involve Customer Services Representatives on CSR activities. The activities may include, promoting National Vaccination Day, visiting local schools, colleges & universities and teach students and officials about hand wash, sanitation, power conservation and so many matters, this features may include with local community gathering and so forth. As the businesses are competing for new ideas and low cost promotions this activity would be a fruitful one that indicate a socially responsible corporate as well as a low cost promotion.

Societal Business – Misconceptions

We have misconceptions about Societal Business, even our role models and leaders (even some Nobel Laureates also) are providing misleading information to us. What are those misconceptions. First we have to understand what is called a societal business. Societal business is a business concept of doing business for the well being of the society, as well as the non-profits, profit making businesses are also societal businesses. Bakers, butchers, vegetable sellers all are doing societal business as well as mobile operators.  But some experts are giving misleading information over societal business and making profit over their campaigns. As long as a business is supporting to the surrounding society it is doing societal business. I won’t say a tobacco seller is doing a societal business. By campaigning Societal Business NGO’s are destroying the societies of third world countries. So no misconception and no misleading information please. Our goal would be to make less harm to the society and the nature and doing more Societal Business for the existence of us and the future generations.

Brand Audit

The theme may sounds to new for some of the readers, you may heard about accounting audit. As like accounting audit a brand audit is a scope by which we can measure the actual performance of our brands that we are dealing with. Some times it is hard and even time and money consuming to audit a brand if it is a big one like Lux or Colgate.

A brand audit provides an analysis of an organization’s brand and its brand management and marketing effectiveness. It assesses a brand’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The audit offers recommendations to improve brand positioning, brand management and marketing effectiveness.

Visual Identity Review
• Consolidation of existing visual identity
• Provision of style guide affirming : color scheme, placement, typography

Strategy Review
• Marketing plans
• Brand positioning opportunities
• Creative (or agency) briefs
• Media plans

Communications Review
• Advertising and promotion materials
• Other brand marketing elements: packaging, direct marketing, sponsorships, fit out, etc.
• Press kit
• Press releases
• Internal communications
• Business cards & Stationery
• Website, Intranet & Email campaigns

Welcome to the World of VAS

I think we all are experiencing the changing trends of businesses. As the businesses are competing with one other, sometimes consumers are becoming profitable on their transactions. Because the sellers are offering more than the generic product benefit. You would found a bathing soap with some extra weight or extra fragrance that differentiate it from its competitor. A consumer also get chance to win an expensive gift on procuring a product. All these things we can consider as VAS or Value Added Service. Value Added Service can add value to a product or service that makes the consumer for convince to purchase the product. As a marketer you need to identify how you can add value to your product or service. Some times the value added service may be different from a free offering, rather an income potential. If we look on the cellular operators’ strategy, through value added service they are making more money. Rather than providing voice service they are proving internet, connectivity with social networks, anonymous chatting facility or downloading contents like ring tones, games or wallpapers facilities. As a creative marketer you can identify the potential VAS that you may add on your product portfolio that can be added as a bundle or an additional product benefit that can help to make you more money. It would be your success if you can make a value added service that would make your product competitive. Why are still waiting, why not make a creative marketing plan with an amazing VAS!

Marketing……new challenges

“Marketing is not the art of finding clever ways to dispose of what you make. It is the art of creating genuine customer value.”
-Philip Kotler

Consider the thought of the marketing guru, Mr. Kotler. Many of the marketers are trying to dispose their dumps to the consumers and they thought that it may happen and they would be successful forever. What do you think you can survive forever, you have no ethics, you have no responsibilities, rather you are just a money making mechine and you are making lots of them.

Specially big multinational corporations are doing such activities in poorer nations. Some times they test over the consumers of Asian & African nations, like Ginipigs. It’s like a fun hearing corporations are thinking the consumers of the poorer nations are ginipigs, does they ever think the buying power of the summation of the market. Do they ever think after the recession what will happen, according to the economical theories it is not possible to bind out all the wealths to some specific groups rather it will be distributed over the groups to make it equal. It is being observed that countries like India, China, Bangladesh are provinding out sourcing services for the wealthy nations. Do the nations ever thought what will happen next, people from poorer nations will get the technologies wheter are wealthy nations keeps them the reach of the poors. Unemployment rate will increase over the wealthy nations. On USA a labour have to pay $ 10 (it is my estimate I don’t know the real) for an hour here in Bangladesh a very expert IT Professional is happy to work with the similar payment for a day and the expertise of that IT Professional is no less than any regular professional of a wealthy nation. So time is coming for the poorer nations to grab the wealths of the world by utilizung their human power. Corporations have to be more responsible for their acts other than in long run survival will a complicated scenario for those irresponsible corporations.

What is your brand?

Now a days we are living in the ages of brands. The brands are all around us, from tip to toe we are drowning with brands, living with brands.

As a brand marketer, it is important to build up your brand. Let’s identify what is my brand. I can also build a brand of humanity, you think what is the benefit, the benefit is you could also become a reference for others. Let’s carefully consider who we are, what we want, what is our goal. Then we could found what we can do, how we can change the world. As a brand marketer you have think about your target market, you have to be an ethical person, whether you are selling cigarettes you can even be an ethical person, you can stop selling your products to the minors (I know that is a negative marketing idea! actually by advertising not selling tobacco to the minors we are actually influencing them because human minds are motivated for negative acts). I also know behind every CSR (Corporate Social Responsibilities) Project companies are making profits by influencing the target market with their activities. At least a cigarette company can say I am planting plants so I am paying back what ever I am destrying.

As a brand manager you shouldn’t follow the false ethics of your company, you have to build your own ethics on your daily lives, don’t follow blindly the idols rather choose your brand logically. By maintaining a portfolio of brands logically and maintaining your behavior ethically you can become a brand also. For a brand manager specific brand identification is a must. If you don’t make branding for yourself how you would want to be a Brand Guru?

Capitalism & Branding

In recent years many of us heard about capitalism. In this writing I will try to explore what is called capitalism and how the capitalism term has grown with so much strength that becomes an agenda among many of us.

Currently we are living in the capitalistic society. There are people saying the Americanism is the society building and influencing capitalism. In the theory of capitalism we would found that through the proper utilization of capitalism the rich will get richer and the income distribution equilibrium disturbing.

If we go behind the scene we will found that the over branding activities of major producers is the cause behind this fact. Branding makes a product highly appreciable to the consumers that causes a high demand and as the demand level is constant that makes other smaller suppliers in most competitive situation. Smaller producers have low resources that makes their brand in a weak position. If we calculate this thing logically we would found the truth behind the relationship between capitalism and branding.