Strategic planning occurs at the corporate level; it outlines company objectives and designing methods for reaching those objectives. Whereas, an operational plan is the all-inclusive way in which each department or division can use its resources to achieve company’s objectives and goals. In other words when planning process taking place at the functional level is called operational planning and strategic Planning is concentrated towards attaining the long-term objectives of business – the mission and vision.

BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd) has been facing competition from Chinese power generation equipment manufacturers such as Sepco Plc, Shanghai Electric Group Co. Ltd, Dongfang Electric Corp. Ltd and Harbin Power Equipment Co. Ltd, both in the domestic and overseas markets, it also faces challenges from local JVs between Larsen and Toubro Ltd and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd; Toshiba Corp. of Japan and the JSW Group; Ansaldo Caldaie SpA of Italy and Gammon India Ltd; Alstom SA of France and Bharat Forge Ltd; BGR Energy Systems Ltd and Hitachi Power Europe GmbH; and Thermax Ltd and Babcock and Wilcox Co.

The sheer giant size of BHEL offers both strengths and weaknesses; they can quote very low rates and absorb the shock due to their size and the number of businesses that they are in. The disadvantage is that due to the very size lots of operational inefficiencies can creep in and add to the cost.

BHEL is a fairly market-oriented company. To face the competition and to add capacity the company is gearing up tremendous technology, to build a practical strategic plan, BHEL hired Mercados EMI Asia which is energy consulting firm to gear up to capture the ever-growing energy market in Asia. This is an example of Strategic Planning.

Operational planning is done to support strategic planning efforts. They are the action plans, so in a perfect world the strategic plan comes first, quickly followed by a robust and measurable operation plan. Operating plans should help run the day-to-day activities in the company as efficiently as possible. Though operating is becoming difficult in over competitive business environment, BHEL is aiming to maintain leadership in existing businesses and focus on diversification by harnessing opportunities in the areas of solar power, transmission, transportation, defence & aerospace and water businesses, to drive the next wave of growth. As part of our efforts to make BHEL lean and agile, various initiatives have been taken including consolidation of three units CSU (Centralised stamping unit), FP (Fabrication plant)  & IP (Insulator plant) at Jagdishpur, conversion of EMRP into a service centre for Indian Railways at Mumbai, and closure of RMSG at Bhopal. In the face of continued disruptions in the core business, the company is determined to protect and assert its leadership. Though ordering in the thermal segment has been subdued in the recent years, BHEL has secured 100% of the main plant package orders in the thermal segment since past few years.

When the strategic plan has hundreds of items in it, they become unmanageable. Strategic plans are successful when they have clear objectives and they can be focused on. If they consist of hundreds of items, it is nearly impossible to have organization’s focus on hundreds of strategic items. Instead of cluttering the strategic plan with numerous items, some of the items can be moved on to an ideas parking lot or, if the items are tactical and specific, they can be moved into operational plan.

Strategic objectives are long-term organizational goals that help to convert a mission statement from a broad vision into more specific plans and projects. They set the major benchmarks for success and are designed to be measurable, specific and realistic translations of the mission statement that can be used by management to guide decision-making. Strategic objectives are usually developed as a part of a two- to four-year plan that identifies key strengths and weaknesses and sets out the specific expectations that will allow the company or organization to achieve its more broad-based mission or vision statement.

Operational objectives are daily, weekly or monthly project benchmarks that implement larger strategic objectives. Operational objectives, also called tactical objectives, are set out with strategic objectives in mind and provide a means for management and staff to break down a larger strategic goal into workable tasks.

The competitiveness of ITC’s diverse businesses rest on the strong strategic planning; Its  foundations of institutional strengths derived from its deep consumer insights, cutting-edge Research & Development, differentiated product development capacity, brand-building capability, world-class manufacturing infrastructure, extensive rural linkages, efficient trade marketing and distribution network and dedicated human resources. ITC’s ability to leverage internal synergies residing across its diverse businesses lends a unique source of competitive advantage to its products and services.

As for its operational planning in its agri business, ITC Ltd has strengthened its value chains linked to agriculture. The company has derived synergy from ITC’s agri-sourcing capabilities. ITC has empowered plan for the farmer centres around providing Internet kiosks in villages. Farmers use this technology infrastructure to access on-line information from ITC’s farmer-friendly website www.echoupal.com Data accessed by the farmers relate to the weather, crop conditions, best practices in farming, ruling international prices and a host of other relevant information. e-Choupal today is the world’s largest rural digital infrastructure. The unique e-Choupal model has added agri-sourcing efficiencies to ITC’s agri business. ITC’s procurement team supports the e-Choupal network which strengthens ITC’s handling agents and contemporary warehousing facilities across India, enabling its Agri Business to source identity-preserved merchandise even at short notice.

The above example gives an insight that along with strategic objectives, operational objectives also should be measurable and specific and time framed. Do the items in the plan have a definitive end date or are they ongoing? The strategic plans are based on time limits. It can be a three years or five years plan to achieve some long terms goals; whereas operational plans are short term in nature. Both the plans complement each other and cannot be separated. The different time frames of the planning process place the focus on time-sensitive aspects of the company’s structure and environment.

Today many large business houses in the world depend on product innovations, functional innovations, cost innovations, marketing innovation, and supply chain innovations – innovations in all areas to cut costs and easily expand globally. Mergers and acquisitions only turn out well if organizations can maintain innovations with what they have bought. To remain relevant in a rapidly changing world companies need a high volume of cost effective innovation. Just as entrepreneurs grow their organizations by innovating, intrapreneurs play a vital role in organizations for supporting growth of business.

Gifford Pinchot III in 1984 defined intrapreneurs as “dreamers” in organizations who do things differently. They are creative and enthusiastic in nature. In 1992, The American Heritage Dictionary acknowledged the popular use of a new word, intrapreneur, to mean “A person within a large corporation who takes direct responsibility for turning an idea into a profitable finished product through confident risk-taking and innovation” Koch (2014) goes further, claiming that intrapreneurs are the “secret weapon” of the business world. Based on these definitions, being an intrapreneur is considered to be beneficial for both intrapreneurs and large organizations. Companies support intrapreneurs with finance and access to corporate resources, while intrapreneurs create innovation for companies.

An intrapreneur acts as an entrepreneur within the boundaries of a large firm, who uses entrepreneurial skills without incurring the risks associated with those activities. Entrepreneurs take risks at their own cost, whereas intrapreneurs take risks at company’s cost. Intrapreneurs are usually employees within a company who are assigned to work on specific projects, and they are instructed to develop the project like an entrepreneur would do. Intrapreneurs usually have the resources and capabilities of the firm at their disposal. Having innovative and talented leadership is need of the hour in big organizations. Researchers have constantly found that at the root of every successful corporate innovation, there are one or more passionate intrapreneurs. Intrapreneurs have the perseverance, courage and shrewdness to get to turn opportunities into profitable realities.

Mr. S. Sivakumar who is today the Divisional Chief Executive of ITC Agri Business Division is credited for the e-Choupal initiative. The e-Choupal was developed and executed under Sivakumar’s leadership of the Agri Business Division. Sivakumar worked with a farmers’ cooperative for six years before joining ITC in 1989. ITC’s e-Choupal links directly with rural farmers via the Internet for procurement of agricultural and aquaculture products like soybeans, wheat, coffee, and prawns. Thus making life of farmers much easier without middlemen in the supply.

Organizations encourage innovations among their people because they understand that there is no great deal in blocking new ideas and suggestion from people. Intrapreneurship flourishes on the foundation of relationships and not on processes. The relationship quality between an intrapreneurial team and the management of the organization is important. When organizations understand the value the efforts of intrapreneurs to strengthen the value of products and services, the outcomes are constructive. The management is expected to help the intrapreneurs to find resources and guide them around political dangers. They must defend them by fostering talent and friendlier policies.

Sometimes, intrapreneurship happens by accident. Dr. Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M, was attempting to create an extremely strong adhesive to use in aerospace technology. Instead, he accidentally created a light adhesive that stuck to surfaces well but didn’t leave a nasty residue.

Instead of hurling away this idea because it didn’t solve the problem at hand, he stuck with it until he found a use for it. After many years of persistence and spreading the word it finally clicked with someone else, Art Fry, another 3M scientist. He attended one of the seminars of Dr.Silvers, he also sung in a church choir in St. Paul, Minnesota.  One little problem he continually had to deal with was accidentally losing his song page markers in his hymn book while singing, with them falling out of the hymnal.  From this, he eventually had the stroke of genius to use some of Silver’s adhesive to help keep the slips of paper in the hymnal.  Fry then suggested to Silver that they were using the adhesive backwards.  Instead of sticking the adhesive to the bulletin board, they should “put it on a piece of paper and then we can stick it to anything. And, they began to develop a product together. Post-It notes were born and today you find them in all offices in the world.

It requires a great amount of imagination and understanding the value of a really new idea, and more importantly it requires a great process. Ideas look different on papers, and different when executed. Another fact is that many ideas remain on the paper, because to execute them it takes courage. An effective intrapreneureal program is a cultural shift. It involves educating both intrapreneurs and potential sponsors on their roles and effective behavior. Because these roles involve trust, not everyone can find a sponsor. Also, a company generates more good ideas in a month than it can implement in a decade. Only few ideas are shaped.

Can you imagine that a guard at Massachusetts Department of Correction suggested a change in the way the department stored their inmate photos. Instead of taking pictures with film and storing them the old fashioned way, the guard suggested to use digital cameras to create a database for image storing. The department has sixteen correctional facilities and in the first year of implementation alone it saved $56,000 dollars on film and eased a lot of clerical headache.

Potential intrapreneurs exist in every organization; in most they don’t come out in open because of politics brewing in the culture. The terms entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs are used interchangeably because they both contain the same meaning. However, the fact is that there exists a fine line between these two terms. As business leaders strive for increased competitiveness, creating an entrepreneurial culture has become an important facet in business world. In the current business environment, the term entrepreneurial has come to mean more than just the business acumen required to turn an idea into an enterprise.

In Kinetic India, one of their recent models, the Zing, was an idea that came from one of their employees. He suggested that the mobike must have a mobile charger built in it. The idea was innovative and was highly appreciated. The research and development (R&D) team researched and implemented the idea.

When intrapreneurs believe in change and do not fear failure, they discover new ideas and look for such opportunities that can benefit the whole organization. The job of an intrapreneur is extremely challenging; hence they are appreciated and rewarded by the organisation accordingly. From past decade, innovation and creativity has become a trend that large corporations look out for intrapreneurs, to bring operational excellence and gain competitive advantage. A big part of driving an entrepreneurial culture is to foster innovations.

Organizations must empower people. People must feel empowered to take the lead and create positive change. Culture is a shared phenomenon, and although leaders play a key role in shaping it, they set examples by their behavior.

Creative and effective organizations do not emerge by accident. They require leaders to drive and control deliberate changes in structure, culture, and processes in order to transform them into creative, effective, and productive ones. Even though many organizations look for competitive advantage in their structure, strategy, technology, and culture, leadership is the most important source of competitive advantage. Organizational leaders usually decide what happens in the organization and give the direction, vision, and momentum that bring success. Therefore, leaders are the catalyst that create and manage the entrepreneurial culture.

Today India is celebrating its 66^th Republic day. It was on January 26th, 1950 that the constitution of India came into force and India became a truly Sovereign, Democratic and Republic country. On this day, India finally enjoyed the freedom of spirit, rule of law and fundamental principle of Governance. Indians experienced autonomy from this date.

Today I want to mention those few centenarian Indian companies who have seen it all – the good and the bad in this land. We need to salute those companies which have seen a century or more in India. They have contributed to the nation’s economic growth and have witnessed the two World Wars, the Great Depression, India’s independence struggle, many natural disasters, the licence-permit raj, controls on foreign exchange and expansion, and the globalization reforms of the 1990s. Change is simply inevitable. Change is something that will happen no matter how hard we try to stop it. Change is a part of the world we live in. These century old companies have seen it all, and they modified themselves along the way to continue doing business. I would say that they are experts in managing the change. They sometimes fumbled in their journeys but had the grit to turn around. Today they are still standing tall, and hence we need to salute them!

Jessop & CO 1788: This two century old company’s roots go back to 1788 when Breen & Company was founded in Calcutta. In 1820, Henry and George, sons of William Jessop acquired Breen & Company on behalf of Butterfly Company established in Derbyshire, England in 1790. These two companies merged together to become Jessop & Company. Subsequently in 1973, the company was taken over by the Indian Government and Jessop became a Government of India undertaking. In 1986, with the formation of Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Limited (BBUNL) Jessop became a Public Sector Holding Company under administrative control of Department of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Industry, and Government of India. Statutorily Jessop became a subsidiary of the Holding Company.

In 2003, Government of India divested its stake in Jessop & Co. Ltd under privatization programme and sold its 72% stake to Ruia group owned by Pawan Kumar Ruia, who turned it into a profit making entity. This company is in production of construction equipment and road building. During the last two centuries, the company has consistently modernized and streamlined its production facilities by keeping abreast with the latest technology and has introduced many new products for core sector industries in the country. Kudos to this 2 centuries old company!

State Bank of India 1806: The evolution of State Bank of India can be traced back to the first decade of the 19th century. It began with the establishment of the Bank of Calcutta in Calcutta, on 2 June 1806. The bank was redesigned as the Bank of Bengal, three years later, on 2 January 1809. It was the first ever joint-stock bank of the British India, established under the sponsorship of the Government of Bengal. Subsequently, the Bank of Bombay (established on 15 April 1840) and the Bank of Madras (established on 1 July 1843) followed the Bank of Bengal. These three banks dominated the modern banking scenario in India, until when they were amalgamated to form the Imperial Bank of India, on 27 January 1921.

An important turning point in the history of State Bank of India is the launch of the first Five Year Plan of independent India, in 1951. The Plan aimed at serving the Indian economy in general and the rural sector of the country, in particular. Until the Plan, the commercial banks of the country, including the Imperial Bank of India, confined their services to the urban sector. Moreover, they were not equipped to respond to the growing needs of the economic revival taking shape in the rural areas of the country. Therefore, in order to serve the economy as a whole and rural sector in particular, the All India Rural Credit Survey Committee recommended the formation of a state-partnered and state-sponsored bank.

The All India Rural Credit Survey Committee proposed the takeover of the Imperial Bank of India, and integrating with it, the former state-owned or state-associate banks. Subsequently, an Act was passed in the Parliament of India in May 1955. As a result, the State Bank of India (SBI) was established on 1 July 1955. This resulted in making the State Bank of India more powerful, because as much as a quarter of the resources of the Indian banking system were controlled directly by the State. Later on, the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act was passed in 1959. The Act enabled the State Bank of India to make the eight former State-associated banks as its subsidiaries.

The Times of India 1838: The Times of India brought out its first edition on 3rd November 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce. The paper then used to get published on Wednesdays and Saturdays under the direction of Raobahadur Narayan Dinanath Velkar, a Maharashtrian Reformist. It used to contain news from Britain and the world, as well as the Indian subcontinent. In 1850, it began to publish daily editions.

The Times of India has gone through many ownership changes until 1892, when Thomas Bennett and Frank Morris Coleman, who drowned in the 1915 sinking of the SS Persia, acquired the newspaper through their new company, Bennet, Coleman & Co. Ltd. Today Times of India is the largest mass media company in India. The company remains a family-owned business as the descendants of Sahu Jain family controls majority stake in Times Group. The Times Group has over 11,000 employees and revenue exceeding $1.5 billion. It is considered India’s pride. Its detailed news coverage with seriousness and intellectual analysis has made it one of the leading daily newspapers. After Indian independence, this newspaper’s insistence on accuracy, its avoidance of sensationalism, its serious tone, and its coverage of international news enhanced its prestige in India and in the world. Millions of Indians cannot start their day without having a glimpse of this newspaper. In spite of so many substitutes to this brand, it still enjoys the leadership position.

Dabur 1884: The name is derived from Daktar Burman and the company was founded in 1884 which is today India’s largest Ayurvedic medicine & related products manufacturer. Dabur was founded by Dr. SK Burman, a physician in West Bengal, to produce and dispense Ayurvedic medicines. German company Fresenius SE bought a 73.27% equity stake in Dabur Pharma in June 2008 at Rs76.50 a share. The German company had also purchased another 17.62% shares from the market through an open offer at the same price. Dr. Burman designed Ayurvedic medication for diseases such as cholera and malaria. Dabur’s Ayurvedic Specialities Division has over 260 medicines for treating a range of ailments and body conditions, from common cold to chronic paralysis, http://www.papsociety.org/priligy-dapoxetine/. Dabur International, a fully owned subsidiary of Dabur India formerly held shares in the UAE based Weikfield International, which it disposed of on 25 June 2012.

Today, Dabur India Ltd is one of India’s leading FMCG Companies with Revenues of over Rs 7,073 Crore & Market Capitalization of US $5 Billion. Building on a legacy of quality and experience of over 130 years, Dabur is today India’s most trusted name and the world’s largest Ayurvedic and Natural Health Care Company.

Britannia 1892: The company was established in 1892, with an investment of Rs.295. Initially, biscuits were manufactured in a small house in central Kolkata. Later, the endeavor was acquired by the Gupta brothers mainly Nalin Chandra Gupta, a renowned attorney, and operated under the name of “V.S. Brothers.” In 1918, C.H. Holmes, an English businessman in Kolkata, was taken on as a partner and The Britannia Biscuit Company Limited (BBCo) was launched. Kerala businessman Rajan Pilai secured control of the group in the late 1980s, becoming known in India as the ‘Biscuit King’. In 1993, the Wadia Group acquired a stake in Associated Biscuits International (ABIL), and became an equal partner with Group Danon in Britannia Industries Limited.

Britannia is known for its most dramatic corporate sagas; after a most bitter corporate board room squabble Pillai gave away the control to Wadia and Danone. Today, it is one of the biggest food products company.

Century Textile & Industries 1897: In 1897, the company was established as Century Textiles Limited and listed on BSE with its Registered Office at Mumbai. Till 1951, the Company operated only one Cotton Textile Mill in Mumbai. In 1956, Company began its Rayon Division at Kalyan, near Mumbai to manufacture Viscose Filament Rayon Yarn. The Company diversified into production of Cement by establishing its first cement plant at Baikunth, near Raipur in 1974.

The textile mill stopped the production in Mumbai in 2006 due to increase in operating costs and labor problems. The new plant in Jhagadia, Distt. Bharuch became functional in 2009 with the name Birla Century and is producing only fine and finer fabrics in 100% Cotton fabrics. The company has exclusive showrooms across India in Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Kota, Ahmedabad etc.

Today Century Textile and Industries is a textile, cement, paper manufacturing and export company based in Mumbai. The main business activity involves manufacture of cotton textiles, yarn, denim and paper. It also produces viscose filament rayon yarn, tire-cords, caustic soda, sulphuric acid, salt, cement pulp, and paper. The company also has a substantial dominance in the international textile markets and exports its products to more than 45 countries around the globe. Century Textiles & Industries Limited is an IS/ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001 company. The Government of India also awarded it with ‘Three Star Export House’ status.

CESC 1899: The first demonstration of electric light in Calcutta was conducted on July 24, 1879 by P W Fleury & Co. In 1881, 36 electric lights lit up a Cotton Mill of Mackinnon & Mackenzie. The Government of Bengal passed the Calcutta Electric Lighting Act in 1895. The first license covered an area of 5.64 square miles (14.6 km²). On 7 January 1897 Kilburn & Co. secured the Calcutta electric lighting license as agents of The Indian Electric Company Limited. The company soon changed its name to the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) in 1897; but this company was registered in London.

In 1970, the control of the Company was transferred from London to Calcutta. In 1978 it was renamed as ‘The Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (India) Ltd’. The RPG (R.P.Goenka) Group got associated with The Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (India) Limited from 1989, and the name was changed from The Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (India) Limited to CESC Limited. In 2011, CESC became a part of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, which was formed on 13 July 2011 by Sanjiv Goenka, the youngest son of Dr RP Goenka, the late founder of RPG Enterprises.

Shalimar Paints 1902: The history of Shalimar Paints describes the history of the paints industry in India and also in South East Asia. Shalimar Paints was founded in 1902 by two British entrepreneurs AN Turner and AC Wright as Shalimar Paints Colour & Varnish Ltd. In the same year, the company set up a large scale manufacturing plant in Howrah, West Bengal, the first such plant in entire South East Asia. In 1928, Pinchin Johnson & Associates of UK bought control from the British entrepreneurs AN Turner and AC Wright. In 1963, the company’s name was changed to Shalimar Paints Ltd. after Turner Morisson & Co stepped in as new management.

Today, the company is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of decorative paints and industrial coatings. Some of India’s iconic buildings and structures such as the Howrah Bridge, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Salt Lake Stadium, the building of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and many others, have been, and continue to be painted with Shalimar Paints. In 2014, this century-old paint brand rejuvenated its logo and refreshed its positioning to connect with today’s consumers.

Hotel Taj Mahal Palace 1903: The hotel’s original building was commissioned by Tata and the hotel first opened its doors to guests on 16 December 1903. It is said that Jamshedji Tata decided to build the hotel after he was refused entry to one of the city’s grand hotels of the time, Watson Hotel, as it was restricted to “whites only”. However, this story has been refuted by some. The original Indian architects were Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and D. N. Mirza, and the project was completed by an English engineer, W. A. Chambers. The builder was Khansaheb Sorabji Ruttonji Contractor who also designed and built its famous central floating staircase. The cost of construction was £250,000 (£127 million today). It’s worth mentioning here that during World War I the hotel was converted into a hospital with 600 beds. The Taj Mahal Tower, an additional wing of the hotel, was opened in 1973. It was designed by Melton Bekker. On 26 November 2008, in a series of attacks in Mumbai, this hotel as well as the Oberoi hotel was attacked by Lashkar-e-Toiba, an Islamist terrorist group, during which material damage, killing of guests, occurred including the destruction of the hotel’s roof in the shootout. Taj Mahal is the one of the oldest landmark of Mumbai.

Friends it’s worth a mention here that Mr.Ratan Tata went all out to care for each and every employee of the hotel to help them recoup from the shock. All category of employees including those who had completed even 1 day as casuals were treated on duty during the time the hotel was closed. During the time the hotel was closed, the salaries were sent by money order. A psychiatric cell was established in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences to counsel those who needed such help. The thoughts and anxieties going on people’s mind were constantly tracked and where needed psychological help provided. Employee outreach centers were opened where all help, food, water, sanitation, first aid and counseling was provided. 1600 employees were covered by this facility. Every employee was assigned to one mentor and it was that person’s responsibility to act as a “single window” clearance for any help that the person required. Mr. Ratan Tata personally visited the families of all the 80 employees who in some manner – either through injury or getting killed – were affected. That’s the Tata cuture!!!

ITC Ltd 1910: It was established in 1910 as the Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited, the company was renamed as the Indian Tobacco Company Limited in 1970 and further to I.T.C. Limited in 1974. The periods in the name were removed in September 2001 for the company to be renamed as ITC Ltd. The company completed 100 years in 2010 and as of 2012-13, had an annual turnover of US$8.31 billion and a market capitalization of US$45 billion. It employs over 25,000 people at more than 60 locations across India and is included in Forbes 2000 list. Today ITC is one of the renowned business conglomerates globally. Its diversified business includes five segments: Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Hotels, Paperboards & Packaging, Agri Business & Information Technology.

ITC’s e-Choupal initiative is designed to make the power of the Internet available to Indian farmers. The company places computers with Internet access in rural farming villages, serving both as a social gathering place for exchange of information (choupal means gathering place in Hindi) and an e-commerce hub. As of July 2010, 6,500 e-Choupal services are operating across 10 states reach more than 4 million farmers in about 40,000 villages. The potential of e-Choupal is also being tested through pilot projects in healthcare, educational services, water management and cattle health management. In 2008, this initiative was recognized in the list of “Innovations to make markets more inclusive for the poor” in World Development Report Sep-2008 by the World Bank.

Our respect for corporate brands fluctuates due to their management change and product offering. But, let’s not forget that these old corporations have been the strong pillars of our economy. Credit goes to these organizations for developing a steady business culture.

Marketing plays fundamental role in economic growth in the present global world.  It is therefore basic reason for studying marketing. Marketing stimulates research and new ideas resulting in new goods and services. Late Peter F. Drucker considered marketing to be the responsibility of the managing leadership within a business, not a separate function; he believed that sensible marketing strategies ensure planned economic growth in the developing economy where the scarcity of goods, services, ideas and excessive unemployment create hurdles in the growth of society. Good marketing efforts are needed for mobilization of economic resources for additional production of ideas, goods and services resulting in greater employment. The fundamental objectives of most companies are survival, profits and growth. Marketing contributes directly to achieving those objectives and is in fact seen as a key to profitability.

Marketing strategies represent the plan by which the firm delivers its value to the customers. In Michael Porter’s value chain, Marketing & Sales function occupies the core functions of business after inbound logistics and operations. In today’s business environment marketing is considered crucial – all functions such as sales forecasting, advertising, appointing sensible marketing channels, distribution and CRM are prioritized. Developing marketing strategies and implementing them will only help organizations to get sustainable results in our businesses.

The marketing function requires flexibility and imagination; it cannot remain stagnant, it needs subtle changes as per the environment. Here is an example – Technology maverick Michael Dell founded Dell Computers in 1984. The company was based on the direct-to-consumer model, which eliminated the retailer, allowing for price discounts and constant customer feedback. In 1988, spurred by growing investor interest in technology stocks, the company went public. But it wasn’t until 1991, the height of the 1990-1992 recessions, that Dell chose to make its most aggressive marketing move up to that time, and take on the established computer giants. The campaign coincided with the introduction of its first notebook computer. In 1991 when advertising in the entire computer hardware category was down by 17.5% over the previous year. Apple, Digital, IBM and Tandy – some of the category’s leading spenders went on investing and pouring money in their promotional efforts. Contrary to this, Dell instead kept its pace on eliminating the middleman while offering superior customer service. This and other few innovative strategies put Dell for the first time in the Fortune 500 roster of the world’s largest companies.

Marketing is speaking the consumer’s language; reaching out to them the way they want and communication with them in their fashion. These days the tech savvy consumers turn to online sources for information, which requires a company to establish an effective web presence to reach them, with an interactive site. Using Facebook or Twitter for marketing is one of the latest marketing trends. Many marketers have taken it well and therefore invest a lot of money into twitter advertising, knowing that it is particularly easy to gain the attention of a younger generation through advertising. Digital marketing is the in-thing. World recognizes Procter & Gamble (P&G) as the biggest advertising champion; hence any move by Procter & Gamble (P&G) is closely watched. A lot of attention has been paid to its recent announcement that it will cut $10 billion from its marketing budget over the next five years. Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a smart brand builder. At one of its big events in USA, Procter & Gamble (P&G) declared that it does not intend to focus on digital marketing but it recognizes that it exists in a digital world. Procter & Gamble (P&G) believes in adapting to the consumer behavior and it flexibly redesigns its promotional strategies.  Procter & Gamble (P&G) has adopted digital marketing in markets like Brazil, China, and India where digital marketing offers the best way to engage with consumers. In urbanized markets like the US, Tide and Bounty will continue to rely on TV commercials along side with digital integrated promotion as part of a multichannel brand-building plan.  P&G will look for opportunities to drive smaller brands with smaller budgets like Aussie and Old Spice through digital.

A good marketer can sell a comb to a bald man. Here’s how Coca-Cola’s COO, Steven J Heyer very elegantly describes the aerated drink as “Coca-Cola isn’t black water with a little sugar and a lot of fizz anymore that one of your movies is celluloid digital bits and bytes, or one of your songs is a random collection of words and notes. Coca-Cola isn’t a drink. Coca-Cola is an idea. Like great movies, like great music, Coca-Cola is a feeling.” This says it all. Marketing does the job of a dream merchant.

You can be a copy cat if required; everything fair in love and war when it comes to marketing. Since marketing evolves effective delivery of information to a targeted market which stimulates a demand for a product or service, the ability to effectively identify and reach that market is crucial. ITC in last few years filled it soap product line with products like Essenza Di Wills at the top end, followed by Fiama Di Wills in premium segment, Vivel in mid-segment and Superia at the entry level. ITC followed in the footsteps of HUL by offering each segment a product which suits the customer’s wallet. The retail shelves consist of a dozens of soaps from like Lux, Dove, Pears, Hamam, Breez, Rexona and Ayush and dozens of soaps from ITC. You have the Vivel with its variants like Sandal Sparkle, Sheer Crème and other variants priced at Rs 17 onwards seems to be in competition with Lux’s variants. These marketing wars are so fizzy and at times self-indulgent too.

A study by Harvard researchers several years ago found that in many product classes, consumers “lack either the ability or motivation to conduct a price comparison.” Their conclusions are still true today. We either can’t – or won’t – scrutinize a product price.

And how would you view this piece of advice from Robert G. Allen – the famous author of Multiple Streams of Income, and Nothing down “No matter what your product is, you are ultimately in the education business. Your customers need to be constantly educated about the many advantages of doing business with you, trained to use your products more effectively, and taught how to make never-ending improvement in their lives.”

The market consists of aware, alert, vigilant and watchful customers and also of gullible, trusting, naïve customers; God knows whether marketer are teaching the customers or customers are teaching the marketers??

Visual merchandising does the job of a silent salesman. Visual merchandise is the presentation of a store and its merchandise in such a manner that will attract the attention of potential customers. It involves decorating the store keeping the interior presentation the same as what is promised on the outside. It gives scope to both creativity and innovation. Since the beginning, visual merchandising has played a vital role in the business of retail. It is the art of displaying products in a manner that is alluring to the eyes of the customer. It sets the background of the merchandise in an aesthetically pleasing fashion, presenting them in a way that would convert the window shoppers into prospects and eventually buyers of the product. The mannequins, the general arrangements of products in the store, the lighting, the softness of colors on the walls, the fashion in which racks are placed, the shapes, colors of packaging of the products and the way they are displayed on the racks and even the uniforms worn by the customer service personnel form part of the VM exercise of any retail format. As organized retail has been advancing in the country, VM has become the front line to capture consumers’ attention. Even as the industry expands, the need is to fuel the interest in the medium which players feel can become an industry by itself.

But as the time has progressed VM has played a key role even in the office décor, front office management of the corporate office, banks, schools, colleges, universities, government offices, hospitals etc. It displays the motto, culture, vision of the organization. Corporations visually communicate their values and norms through the deliberate and conscious construction of the material environment; the office décor, the color combinations of the walls, flooring, space utilization etc. The staff uniform, their manners and etiquettes speak a lot of the culture and values of the organizations. Well, customers, suppliers, other agencies, rivals, etc gain significant information about aspects of a corporation’s culture which other-wise often remains intangible or inaccessible.

Visual merchandising is an upcoming art

Visual merchandising is an upcoming art which is catching up in the metro cities. Good retail managements are using a lot of investment and energy on developing creative teams for visual merchandising. It respires in new life into the store products. Passion for design and creativity are essential to be a good visual merchandiser. A perfect design process and the ability to create ideas that are different are required. Updated awareness of happenings in fashion, art, social, cultural, political and economical environment world is strongly required so as to keep up-to-date with the dynamics of the market constantly. Benetton has long made a name for itself as much for its line of kicky, colorful clothing. But despite the 36-year-old chain’s success and longevity, it realized the need to create a new business model of larger-format, corporate-owned stores to keep it competitive. Part of that new business model included a bright, airy design scheme with flexible fixtures in place that would create a more unified look from store to store. That’s the lure of visual merchandising

Visual merchandising also includes window displays, signs, interior displays, cosmetic promotions, jewelry promotions, and any other special sales promotions taking place. Visual merchandising today combines the element of art and science, fusing creativity with the arithmetic of space utilization within retail space. In the retail format, utmost care is given to the merchandise displayed on the rack, the mannequins and the color of the facade displaying the brand image in synergy with other mediums. Retail players as they expand are taking care to ensure there is uniformity as far as the visual arrangement is concerned. Customers of today are driven by desire and latest trends. Stores have become a lot more glamorous.

In the current day and age, visual merchandising has become increasingly significant with more and more international design trends entering the Indian mark in keeping with this viewpoint, if you visit a Reebok store the mannequins in the display window reflect Reebok’s aim to capture the appeal and fancy of the young, energetic and sporty segment. The look is dynamic, with a male figure on the run and a female figure in a fitness routine. These along with an imposing graphic of a National Football League player convey the sporty theme etc.

For Tanishq, the jewellery business of Titan Industries Ltd, visual merchandising formed an important area of focus when it had taken a pause from audio visual promotional. After a gap of three years, the company has produced an audio visual for its products. Meanwhile, the concentration has been on in-store promotions and incorporating the various elements of visual merchandising at the stores.

The products displayed on the racks and shelves of the retail store fight for the mindshare of the customers.  It is all up to the retailer the way he presents the products to the customers. The aesthetics used by the retailer, the spacing between two products, and the atmosphere of the store matters in attracting the customer’s mind share. Also, customer’s mindset about the overall appearance, expediency and feasibility matters in attracting them to the store.

In the earlier stage of Titan’s watch shops were narrow, dingy and typically located in the older, traditional markets of the city. People went there only to buy a watch, never to browse, never to simply check out. Visual merchandising was very much at the stage of “decoration” if any, and neither the brands nor the company saw it as important. Until, the management team headed by Xerxes Desai’s realized that the store can attract customers when there is positivity and lot of energy in it. Their vision dramatically changed and Titan adopted the concept of VM and rest it the history how Titan fought the dominant HMT in the market.

According to a CII (Confederation of Indian Industries) analysis the Indian retail business has the capacity to affluent consumers in the metros and upcoming cities who want to spend their earnings on fashion and lifestyle products is increasing very fast. No wonders, we see large stores of furniture, fashions, parlors, spas booming all over the Indian markets. Visual merchandising is one key area for the same.Further, India is placed sixth in the global retail development index and it is predicted that there will be 1000 -1500 stores in each of the metros by 2012. As both fashion brands and lifestyle brands India is striving to convert brand equity concept.

The year 2006, for instance, saw some big spends, with large department stores like Shopper’s Stop, Lifestyle and Westside spending in the range of Rs. 30,00,000 – 40,00,000 per season on visual merchandising. Visual merchandising spend had indeed doubled in 2006, compared to the last couple of years. Where fashion retailers traditionally spent approx. 1.5 to 2% of their turnover on visual merchandising in earlier years, the spend figure now stands at about 4% of the turnover. The Indian retail industry is waking up to the need for visual merchandising and the Indian society, attaining an international outlook is subconsciously creating a demand for it.

At Shopper’s Stop VM is used with other innovative practices. It needn’t be just the festive season that evokes interest and creates a spike in shopping – Shoppers’ Stop has hit upon the scheme of having various `festivals’ throughout the year to keep customers flocking to its shelves. They also use themes such as embroidery for their garment line of products, Parikrama, a festival centered on Indian art and crafts.

ITC believes in bringing in lot of creativity in their visual merchandising practices. Their Lifestyle Retailing business is consolidating its market presence in the branded apparel market. Cost management actions and business process streamlining are being pursued to enhance retail and manufacturing productivity. Investments in store design, visual merchandising and customer service are being made to enhance the shopping experience. It saw that the business grew by 23% in the last year due to emphasis on product design along with store design and visual merchandising.

Today, hotels, banks, hospitals, corporate offices all need VM to display their objectives, Unique Selling Propositions (USP) and even vision and missions. The local haths, melas, festivals, celebrations such as birthdays and weddings all require visual merchandise practices with help of props, mannequins, lots of hues and colours, scents, flower etc. People get attracted to energy exhibited in the place; people come in for a transaction with the organization only if they feel good. It is all about creating a positive outlook, beautification, atmosphere of the space. People want to feel the soul of the space they visit. Visual merchandising isn’t just about creating lively displays. It encompasses everything a customer sees, smells, feels, tastes, and hears when they walk into a store, an office, a business centre etc. All the senses have to work in concert to make the business space attractive.

Various institutes in the country and overseas are offering courses in visual merchandising. The government is also gearing up by organizing various training programs and allocating funds for participation in world trade fairs & exhibitions. There is a mushrooming of companies manufacturing fixtures, props, display systems etc. as well as providing complete visual merchandising solutions for fashion retailers, hospitals, banks, and universities. The new trend of “feel good” factor is creating lots of opportunities for the careers in visual merchandising.

So get innovative, think out of the box, and see lot of customers thronging to you!