How is Decathlon winning over the Indian Market? 

• Decathlon entered India in 2009.

• Despite its late entry, today Decathlon earns more revenue than Adidas, Nike, Reebok, Asics etc

• Price Perfect: Decathlon understands the Indian consumer mindset very well. They offer affordable products without compromising on quality. their products stand toe - to - toe with Nike, Adidas and Reebok, but at a fraction of the price.

• Try before you Buy: Why doesn't like to try before they buy? Decathlon lets customers test products  for fit, comfort and performance before making a purchase.

• Super Staff: Decathlon's staff are athletes, not just salespeople. They guide, educate, and inspire, making you feel part of a sports community, not just another transaction.

• Inclusivity for All: Decathlon offers a vast range of products, it offers a vast range of products, catering to every sport imaginable, from football to hill climbing. there's something for everyone, regardless of budget or skill level

• Friction Shopping: To manage heavy crowds, Decathlon introduced a self - scan & pay - system. Customers can easily scan items and pay using their mobiles, streamlining the shopping experience

 MOST FAMOUS LAWS IN THE WORLD

1. MURPHY LAW:  The more you fear something happening, the more likely it is to occur.

                       

2. KIDLIN LAW: If you write a problem down clearly and specifically, you have solved half of it.

                          

3. GILBERT LAW: When you take on a task, it is your responsibility to find the best ways to achieve the desired result. 

4. WILSON LAW: If you prioritize knowledge and intelligence, money will come to you.

5. FALKLAND LAW: If you don't have to make a decision about something, then don't decide.

 GUCCI - fastest growing luxury brand

• Gucci was established by Guccio Gucci in the year 1921 in Florence, Italy.
  
  
  
• Gucci, being a saddler, had started the venture to sell leather bags to his horse riding customers.
• Over the years, Gucci diversified its product range and launched loafers which soon became a wardrobe essential for both men and women.
• Gradually, it had become famous among wealthy travelers and film stars and also grew famous in New York. Their products now included clothing, perfumes , watches and footwear
• 1970's were the game changer for Gucci. After the death of Guccio, disputes started arising between the family members over the ownership of the company.
• By 1993, the business was on the verge of bankruptcy.
• The company was debt ridden and had no money to repay the debts. This is when Tom Ford entered the scene.
• Wife of one of the grandsons of Guccio hired Tom Ford as the creative director in 1994.
  
  
  
•  He completely transformed Gucci into a luxury brand having glamours collection.
• His designs earned the company profits worth over 1 billion dollars.
• Tom Ford took Gucci to great heights.
• He landed Gucci a world record for selling the most expensive pair of jeans.
• A ripped, distressed jeans covered worth African beads.
• Cost of the Jeans: over 3000 Dollars
• Presently Gucci is the world's fastest growing luxury brand, a brand worth over 18 billion Dollars.
• It has successfully leveraged social media to create a loyal fan-base.

Strategies that made OYO successful

 SUCCESS OF OYO

• Turned all the unbranded (non-recognized) hotels into a Branded ecosystem.
• Most of the middle class family wants goods and services in small amounts,  so Ritesh Agarwal saw it as an opportunity as he has solved their issues to some extent.
• Location mattes the most in any business       & Ritesh always focused on the locations of the hotels.
• Made hotel booking so easy that most of us today avoid searching for offline hotels.
• Takes customers feedback seriously & always focuses on making business better with technology.
• Ritesh has built a seperate strong bteam for expansion  & acquisition department

 THE JOURNEY OF AN EXCELLENT MIND

---- NATARAJAN CHANDRASEKARAN

(Chairman of Tata Sons)

• When Chandra was in the last semester of his post graduate degree in computer science, he was required to do an internship. Hence he applied for an opening at TCS in 1986.
• While Chandra was in second month of his internship at TCS, he was offered  a job as an engineer.
• Since that day, N Chandrasekaran has been at Tata.
• 1990's: Chandrsekaran switched from engineer to management.
• In 1997, headed the sales and marketing departments being at senior level positions.
• In 2008, he became the CEO & MD of TCS.
• In 2017, Chandrasekaran secured the positioned of the chairman of Tata Sons.
• He is the first non-shareholder and non-family chairperson.
• He has never attended a management school.
• He has been a non-official director of RBI since 2016.
•  He belongs to a family of farmers
• Market cap of Tata Group has more than doubled to  $300 billion since Chandrasekaran took over in 2017.
• Tata has deleveraged Rs.29000 crore in debt under Chandra's leadership.
• He increased Tata Son's stakes in some companies.
• His "One Tata" strategy aims to create an Eco system for developing EV's.
• Tata has been focusing alot on digitization and e-commerce lately.

ONE OF THE MOST GENEROUS INDIAN - AZIM PREMJI

• According to the Indian Philanthropy list 2020, Azim Premji donates Rs. 22 Crore every day. His donations sum up to over Rs.7900 crore in the FY 2020.
• Azim Premji is known for his charity and philanthropic deeds. 
• He has made significant contributions to the COVID-19 related funds and his donations have seen a high rise amidst the pandemic.
• Azim Premji Foundation, which was formed in 2001 is one of the largest charitable foundations and is known for its historic donations.
• He has a deep understanding for philanthropic work and he launched Premji Foundation was a well-planned out venture by the tycoon.
• The endowment fund of Azim Premji Foundsation is valued at over 20 billion dollars, making one of the world's biggest fund.
• The foundation trains teachers as their aim is to educate the disadvantaged children. Azim Premji works dedicatedly and visits the schools in remote areas regularly.
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  Azim Premji is the man of his words and his deeds. His son Rashis Premji recently came forward to speak about this achievement of his father and tweeted that Azim Premji believes he is a trustee of his wealth and not the owner.

 REASON BEHIND RE-BRANDING

• In recent months, many brands like Pepsi, Fanta, Yes Bank, Nippo, LG and Twitter have changed their logo to refresh their identity and adapting to stay in modern marketing environment.
  

  
  
• Re-branding is a marketing tactic that involves changing an existing brand's name , concept or design.
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• The goal of a makeover is to make the brand appear so young and vibrant that it transforms its reputation and helps it to win back investor's and the target market's trust and attention.
• Generally companies go for change in their logo for:

1. Company Merger
2. When the old logo looks outdated
3. Change in the company's priorities and values
4. To make it more recognizable

 INDIAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY - 

                                                   The Graveyard of Global Automobile Companies

• The Global ranking of Indian car market was 5th in 2020. As per the reports, China emerged as the biggest car maker while India secured the 5th spot with a production capacity of one car per 8.6 minutes.
• Despite being a big market, India has not been able to retain the top giants from US. In 2017, General Motors exited from the Indian car market. In 2020, Harley Davidson stopped manufacturing vehicles in India.
• Now US  automobile giant Ford, which has a share of less than 2% in the Indian market has announced its plan of stopping the manufacturing of cars in India.
• WHY?
• " We haven't been able to find a sustainable path forward to long term profitability" - Anurag Mehrotra (Ford  India President & MD). Ford has accumulated losses worth over 2 billion dollars in the past decade. Hence it has decided to quit the Indian market
                         

  
  
  
  
• Ford will be shutting down its factories in Gujarat & TamilNadu.This decision won't make a big difference since Ford has a very less market share.
• However the decision will affect around, 4000 employees
• Reasons for India becoming a graveyard for top car makers:

1. Price - Indian consumers prefer low priced cars.
2. Size - Higher inclination towards compact entry level models.
3. Cost Low cost cars happen to be the first choice of many Indian.

These are the likely reasons behind why US car giants have been unable to make  a mark in the Indian Market

• Indian market is ruled by compact, low cost, affordable car models. This is why Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors continue being the first choice of many Indians willing to buy a car.
• Maruti Suzuki dominates the Indian passenger car market with a share of around 48%     -   Hyundai market share: 15.84%   -   Tata Market share: 9.43%
  
  
  
• However with an increase in the income, people are now willing to spend more on owning bigger and more advanced cars.

 Journey of one of India's best Logistics startup - Delhivery

• Delhivery is logistic startup which has a pan - India network and provides services in over 17000 pincodes.
• Nearly a decade ago, when co - founders Sahil Barua and Suraj Saharan ordered food once late at night, they had a conversation with the delivery boy.
• The conversation ended up with the two of them visiting the restaurant and hiring all its staff since the restaurant was shutting down.
• They hired the staff all of a sudden, as the two were aware of the problem of 'One-Hour Delivery' delivery faced by restaurants and knew that there was a need for a good delivery network.
• So they grabbed the opportunity, quit their corporate jobs at Bain & Co. and gradually became successful in doing restaurant deliveries within 30 minutes.
•  The investors contribution - Delhivery was doing great with restaurant deliveries when one of its investors encouraged it to venture into e - commerce sector and start delivering packages as well. Hence they made the shift from hyper-local to e-commerce segment.
• Delhivery works 24x7, all days of the year with the help of its team over 66,000 people.
• It started off as a B2B service provider offering transportation, warehousing and commerce services. It follows a distribution model under which all branches of the company operates as hubs, thus, ensuring smooth distribution.
• Recently, Delhivery launched its C2C express parcel service to provide safe and reliable doorstep pickup facility to people.
• This marks as innovative move by the startup which is driven by the motto of " Changing the world, one shipment at a time"
• Delhivery has been making losses but has seen exceptional growth despite having strong competitors like BlackBuck, BlueDart etc.
• The Gurgram based startup is eyeing an IPO worth 7,460  crore at a valuation of $6-6.5 billion. The IPO proceeds will largely be used for organic and inorganic growth of the startup.  
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6 Indian Mompreneurs who built successful Startups

A mompreneur is a female business owner who actively balances the roles of mother and of entrepreneur. The term was introduced in about 1994. 

1.  Vineeta Singh - Sugar Cosmetics

2. Divya Gokulnath - Byju's

3. Upasana Taku - MobiKwik

4. Falguni Nayar - Nykaa

5. Ghazal Alagh - MamaEarth

6. Meena Bindra - Biba Apparels

 GREAT MARKETING TEAMS SELLS EMOTIONS NOT PRODUCTS

• Rolex sells status, not watches.

• Supreme sells scarcity, not clothing

• Harley- Davidson sells a lifestyle, not bikes.

• Apple sells simplicity and style, not electronics.

 HOW COCA- COLA LOST INDIA AND WON BACK!

• Coca- Cola entered the Indian markets right after its Independence in 1947. This was a great opportunity grabbed by Coca-Cola
• At that time, Indian Government was determined to promote home - grown brands as Indian markets were not really prepared to compete in International markets.
• However, Coca-Cola managed to establish in India before the government took any action.
• Coca -Cola's timing was perfect. While India was recovering from the past conflicts, Coca-Cola was busy setting up its distribution network in India.
•  Few years later, Pepsi was denied entry into the Indian markets whereas Coca-Cola had already captured one of the world's biggest markets: India
• Soon, times changed, Indian government was being protective as Coca-Cola became more accessible in India than water.
• Only 10% of Indian villages had safe drinking water. However, 90% had access to Coca-Cola. This was a bad statistics for a protective government.

• In mid 1970's Coca- Cola faced a crisis in the form of a law that did not allow foreign companies to have more than 40% holding of any business in India. This posed a huge threat to Coca- Cola
• Coca-Cola was not ready to give up its ownership. Also, it would mean sharing their secret recipe of the fizzy drink to Indians and producing the drink in India itself. Thus, Coca-Cola ultimately left India in the year 1977, alike many other foreign companies
• This created a pool of opportunities for local businesses that came up substitute soda drinks. The government too stepped into fund these businesses. However, when Indian government took up Liberalization, Coca-Cola made a comeback.

• In 1993, Coca Cola entered India and acquired the top firms of the Industry that had emerged in its absence. With this, Coca-Cola had a 50% market share in its very first days in India in the second innings.
• This is how Coca-Cola managed to overcome the political obstacles wisely. It dominates Indian markets with Pepsi as a strong competitor.
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 From Vegetable Oil to IT giant of India --- WIPRO

• Azim Premji's father had started a vegetable oil company named "Western India Vegetable Products Limited" in 1947. When he died in 1966, Azim Premji took over the business at the young age of 21.
• The company was renamed as "WIPRO". In 1981, WIPRO emerged as a computer seller and rightly took advantage of the market that had been left unserved due to the void that was created when IBM  left India.
• In 1984, WIPRO entered the software market. Its first product included: a spread sheet and word processing package. Over the years, WIPRO kept developing and growing, hence becoming what it is today.
• Present it is working in 100+ countries with market cap over   ₹360000 crore. It is the India's 3rd largest IT company with 200000+ employees.

                                                         Some Crazy Policies by Brands                  

• Amazon pays its employees $ 5000 to quit. As company thinks, "Staying somewhere you don't want to be isn't healthy for employees or for the company."

• Amazon's 2 pizza  team rule - To make meetings more effective, Jeff Bezos came up with a rule in which no meetings should be so large that 2 pizza can't fed the whole group. In other words, he wants only 8-10 people in meeting.

• "No Vacation Policy" of Netflix. Netflix's employees can take unlimited holidays, it doesn't mean they don't have to work at all. Of course, they have to work but with their freedom.  

• Apple sales person is not allowed to correct pronunciation. If customer is mispronouncing names of the company's products, employees are directed not to correct that pronunciation mistake.

• VerveLogic announced "Netflix & Chill Holiday". Jaipur based IT company announced a holiday on the occasion of Money Heist release.

•  YouTube's headquarters slides - At YouTube's headquarters, employees can either take the elevator, stairs or a big slide.    

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 PEPSI Vs COKE

• In 1975, Pepsi came up with a campaign where it asked people to do a blind taste test between Coke & Pepsi and then to choose one with better taste without opening their eyes.
• After that test, they claimed that the majority of consumers prefer Pepsi. Somehow it was true because market share of Pepsi got increased after this move.
• In order to stay in competition, Coca - Cola launched many products but didn't work much. Finally in 1985, Coca - Cola launched "New Coke" with sweeter recipe similar to Pepsi which people preferred in blind test.
• Coca - Cola thought people will like it but it went wrong as people didn't like this change & demanded the return of the original product as they had emotional bonding with that.
• Just after 3 months, Coca - Cola backed its decision, and announced that they are relaunching its original soda "Coca - Cola Classic".
• People all of a sudden wanted to actually taste that old & classic beverage again. As a result, Coca - Cola again became top selling sugar cola. 

 US Olympics   --  Failed McDonald's

• Back in 1984, Olympics were hosted by Los Angeles.

• Right during this time, McDonald's announced its campaign 'When US wins, You Win'.

• McDonald's had planned to be benefit from the Olympics but things didn't go as planned.

• According to the campaign, every visitor at McDonald's was supposed to get a scratch card with every purchase, the scratch card had the name of an Olympic event written.

• Buyers were supposed to get free meals depending upon the win of US in the event mentioned on the scratch card.

                     Gold Medal     =    Big Mac              

                     Silver Medal    =   French Fries       

                     Bronze Medal  =   Soft Drink        

• In 1984, the tally of medals won by the US went up to 174 medals (an increase of 80 medals since 1980 Olympics), out of which 83 were gold.

• This led an increase in demand for Big Macs across the 6000+ outlets of McDonald's in US.

• The 14 countries led by Soviet Union had boycotted the 1984 Olympics. This led the domination   of US in the Olympics.

• Reportedly, McDonald's had suffered losses worth millions of dollars due to 1984 Olympics.

• On the other side, many people had admitted to surviving on Big Macs during this time since poverty was severe during that time.

AMUL -The Taste of India

Main reason behind the lock down success of AMUL 

• A little back story ..... AMUL is a cooperative brand which started in 1946 and is how jointly owned by over 36 lakh milk producers.
• AMUL is the brand which which led India's transformation from being a milk deficit country to the world's largest producer of milk.
• Daily milk procurement of Amul is 24.6 million litres per day.
• Amul has over 250 kinds of ice cream.
• Amul butters dominates the market with a share of over 86%
• Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) is India's largest exporter of dairy products.
• During the lockdown, people were at home and their consumption of milk and milk products increased.
• Understanding this, Amul increased the supply of their products.
• Also, Amul introduced 30+ new products in 2020.
• Today, Amul's annual turnover is ₹52,000 crore and it is one of the largest dairy companies in the world with an increasing growth rate since 2011.