ADVERTSING AND SALES PROMOTIONS

PROMOTION TOOLS

There are seven main aspects of a promotional mix. These are:
• Advertising - Any paid presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Examples: Print ads, radio, television, billboard, direct mail, brochures and catalogs, signs, in-store displays, posters, motion pictures, Web pages, banner ads, and emails.
• Personal Selling - A process of helping and persuading one or more prospects to purchase a good or service or to act on any idea through the use of an oral presentation. Examples: Sales presentations, sales meetings, sales training and incentive programs for intermediary salespeople, samples, and telemarketing. Can be face-to-face or via telephone.
• Sales promotion - Media and non-media marketing communication are employed for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Examples: Coupons, sweepstakes, contests, product samples, rebates, tie-ins, self-liquidating premiums, trade shows, trade-ins, and exhibitions.
• Public relations - Paid intimate stimulation of supply for a product, service, or business unit by planting significant news about it or a favorable presentation of it in the media. Examples: Newspaper and magazine articles/reports, TVs and radio presentations, charitable contributions, speeches, issue advertising, and seminars.
• Corporate image - The Image of an organization is a crucial point in marketing. If the reputation of a company is bad, consumers are less willing to buy a product from this company as they would have been, if the company had a good image.
• Direct Marketing is often listed as a the fifth part of the marketing mix
• Exhibitions - are try-outs. You make your product, and let potential buyers try the product, this way, you know directly what people see in your product. The downside, your competitor can see exactly what you are doing.

Advertising - Advertising is any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.
There are three goals of advertising. These goals are to: Inform, Persuade, and Remind.

The major media types for advertising are:
Newspapers, Television, Direct mail, Radio, Magazines, Internet, Outdoor (billboards, blimps, etc.), Yellow pages, Newsletters, Brochures, and Telephone
The traditional conceptual model for creating any advertising or marketing communications message is the AIDA Model: get Attention, hold Interest, arouse Desire, and then obtain Action.

The AIDA Model
John Caples, one of the greatest copywriters of all time, provides us the following principles (although he was talking about direct response marketing--more about that later--the wisdom is directly relevant to all forms advertising) when it comes to communicating an advertising message:
Caples' Principles:
o Get attention
o Hold attention
o Create desire
o Make it believable
o Prove it’s a bargain
o Make it easy to buy
o Give a reason to buy now
An even newer paradigm, according to some, is Interrupt, Engage, Educate and then Offer. In any of these models, the first step is to somehow get a person's attention.
It should be noted, however, that there is a growing trend of consumers being more resistent to advertising messages and less open to marketers communicating with them without their expressed permission. As such, advertising models are continuously evolving due to an explosion in media outlets and shifting public opinion. As new communications channels expand at a fast rate, advertisers are exploring the new media options at a rapid pace and exploring new ways to reach an often fickle target audience.
How do we do that?
In my opinion, there is one overriding rule that should guide all advertising: Tell somebody something helpful to them and make sure they are receptive to your message in the first place. Also, do not underestimate the importance of strong copy or content and do not overestimate the importance of graphic design/creative. Whether writing copy for print ads, a website, a Youtube video or writing a script for television, radio, or multi-media presentations, a strong headline is the most important element of the advertisement. This is the element of the message that needs to quickly connect with people and pre-communicate some benefit that is coming soon in the remainder of the ad.
An effective headline is important for many reasons. The headline:
• Attracts attention
• Communicates a strong benefit
• Appeals to the self-interest of the reader. It answers the question, "What's in it for me?"
• Sets the tone for the offer
• A headline acts like a marquee does for a movie theater and selects the right audience.

Factors that determine the type of promotional tools used

• Promotion budget available
• Stage of product life cycle
• Nature of market situation
• Target of the promotion
• Nature of the product

Each of the above components of the promotional mix has strengths and weaknesses. There are several factors that should be taken into account in deciding which, and how much of each tool to use in a promotional marketing campaign:
(1) Resource availability and the cost of each promotional tool
Advertising (particularly on television and in the national newspapers can be very expensive). The overall resource budget for the promotional campaign will often determine which tools the business can afford to use.
(2) Market size and concentration
If a market size is small and the number of potential buyers is small, then personal selling may be the most cost-effective promotional tool.
A good example of this would be businesses selling software systems designed for supermarket retailers. On the other hand, where markets are geographically disperse or, where there are substantial numbers of potential customers, advertising is usually the most effective.
(3) Customer information needs
Some potential customers need to be provided with detailed, complex information to help them evaluate a purchase (e.g. buyers of equipment for nuclear power stations, or health service managers investing in the latest medical technology). In this situation, personal selling is almost always required - often using selling teams rather than just one individual.
By contrast, few consumers need much information about products such as baked beans or bread. Promotional tools such as brand advertising and sales promotion are much more effective in this case.








Personal selling - Personal presentation by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships. Personal selling is paid personal communication that attempts to inform customers and persuade them to purchase products or services.
Undoubtedly by now you've figured out that marketing enables both individuals and organizations to sell products and services to other people to help them satisfy their needs and wants. At some point in the selling process, personal selling usually becomes involved.
It is the personal selling process that allows marketers the greatest freedom to adjust a message to satisfy customers' information needs. Personal selling allows the marketer or seller to communicate directly with the prospect or customer and listen to his or her concerns, answer specific questions, provide additional information, inform, persuade, and possibly even recommend other products or services.
The personal selling process consists of the following steps:
1) Prospecting
Prospecting refers to identifying and developing a list of potential clients. Sales people can seek the names of prospects from a variety of sources including trade shows, commercially-available databases or mail lists, company sales records and in-house databases, website registrations, public records, referrals, directories and a wide variety of other sources. Prospecting activities should be structured so that they identify only potential clients who fit the profile and are able, willing and authorized to buy the product or service.
This activity is greatly enhanced today using websites with specially-coded pages optimized with key words so that prospects may easily find you when they search the web for certain key words related to your offering. Once prospecting is underway, it then is up to the sales professional to qualify those prospects to further identify likely customers and screen out poor leads. Modern websites can go along way in not only identifying potential prospects but also starting this qualification process.
2) Pre-approach
Before engaging in the actual personal selling process, sales professionals first analyze all the information they have available to them about a prospect to understand as much about the prospect as possible. During the Pre-approach phase of the personal selling process, sales professionals try to understand the prospect's current needs, current use of brands and feelings about all available brands, as well as identify key decision makers, review account histories (if any), assess product needs, plan/create a sales presentation to address the identified and likely concerns of the prospect, and set call objectives. The sales professional also develops a preliminary overall strategy for the sales process during this phase, keeping in mind that the strategy may have to be refined as he or she learns more about the prospect.
3) Approach
The approach is the actual contact the sales professional has with the prospect. This is the point of the selling process where the sales professional meets and greets the prospect, provides an introduction, establishes rapport that sets the foundation of the relationship, and asks open-ended questions to learn more about the prospect and his or her needs.
4) Making the Presentation
During the presentation portion of the selling process, the sales professional tells that product "story" in a way that speaks directly to the identified needs and wants of the prospect. A highly customized presentation is the key component of this step. At this point in the process, prospects are often allowed to hold and/or inspect the product and the sales professional may also actually demonstrate the product. Audio visual presentations and/or slide presentations may be incorporated at this stage and this is usually when sales brochures or booklets are presented to the prospect. Sales professionals should strive to let the prospect do most of the talking during the presentation and address the needs of the prospect as fully as possible by showing that he or she truly understands and cares about the needs of the prospect.
5) Overcoming Objections
Professional sales people seek out prospects' objections in order to try to address and overcome them. When prospects offer objections, it often signals that they need and want to hear more in order to make a fully-informed decision. If objections are not uncovered and identified, then sales professionals cannot effectively manage them. Uncovering objections, asking clarifying questions, and overcoming objections is a critical part of training for professional sellers and is a skill area that must be continually developed because there will always be objections. Trust me when I tell you that as soon as a sales professional finds a way to successfully handle "all" his or her prospects' objections, some prospect will find a new, unanticipated objection-- if for no other reason than to test the mettle of the sales person.
6) Closing the Sale
Although technically "closing" a sale happens when products or services are delivered to the customer's satisfaction and payment is received, for the purposes of our discussion I will define closing as asking for the order and adequately addressing any final objections or obstacles. There are many closing techniques as well as many ways to ask trial closing questions. A trail question might take the form of, "Now that I've addressed your concerns, what other questions do you have that might impact your decision to purchase?" Closing does not always mean that the sales professional literally asks for the order, it could be asking the prospect how many they would like, what color they would prefer, when they would like to take delivery, etc. Too many sales professions are either weak or too aggressive when it comes to closing. If you are closing a sale, be sure to ask for the order. If the prospect gives an answer other than "yes", it may be a good opportunity to identify new objections and continue selling.
7) Follow-up
Follow-up is an often overlooked but important part of the selling process. After an order is received, it is in the best interest of everyone involved for the sales person to follow-up with the prospect to make sure the product was received in the proper condition, at the right time, installed properly, proper training delivered, and that the entire process was acceptable to the customer. This is a critical step in creating customer satisfaction and building long-term relationships with customers. If the customer experienced any problems whatsoever, the sales professional can intervene and become a customer advocate to ensure 100% satisfaction. Diligent follow-up can also lead to uncovering new needs, additional purchases, and also referrals and testimonials which can be used as sales tools.
Sales Management:
Managing the sales process is typically the job of the Sales Manager. Good sales managers usually exhibit the characteristics of: organization, a good personal sales record, enthusiasm, ambition, product knowledge, trustworthiness, mentoring skills, and somebody who is respected by others.
While an in-depth discussion of sales management is beyond the scope of this crash-course, I'll mention one tool often used by sales managers to manage the sales process. This is called the Sales Funnel or Sales Pipeline Report.
The Sales Funnel (or Sales Pipeline)
A sales funnel report presents a "snapshot" of your sales function at any given point in time. For conceptual purposes, the sales process is often compared to a funnel where new leads coming into the system (i.e. prospects) are initially placed into the top of the funnel (the widest part) and then worked through the system by informing, persuading, overcoming objections, providing information, demonstrating, providing free samples, etc., etc. until at the narrow part of the funnel, an order is placed and a sales is closed when payment from the customer is received.
The funnel framework works fairly well because for all new leads that are generated by marketing, there is a closing rate that represents the sales that ultimately result. The number of resulting sales is usually significantly less than the number of total leads generated hence it is useful to think that as leads work their way further down the funnel there will be less and less of them until they come out the narrow end of the funnel as sales.

One important thing to note is that organizations define each phase in the sales process (or, part of the funnel) differently. Each step working through the funnel should have clearly defined criteria that go along with it so at each part of the funnel, there is specific knowledge about all the leads at that stage. In other words, leads become more and more qualified as they work their way through the funnel and at each step, you will know exactly what that specific level of qualification is. Another important thing to keep in mind is that the funnel is a great way to track and forecast sales, as well as, gauge marketing activities.
By running a Sales Funnel Report, the sales manager can visually see how many leads are at each step, if there are any "bottlenecks", or if there are an insufficient number of leads at any stage. Armed with that knowledge, then the sales manager may instruct his or her sales force where they should focus more attention to keep sales at the desired level. He or she can then also work closely with the marketing manager to ensure they are generating enough leads to hit sales goals, whether the leads are of high enough quality, or what further needs to be done to hit sales goals.
In short, the funnel can clearly point out what adjustments need to be made within the sales function to hit sales goals. That might mean that marketing activities need to be adjusted, that addition sales training is needed, or that sales personnel need to focus their efforts and activities on certain parts of the sales pipeline to keep the entire process on balance and running smoothly. The sales funnel also helps sales and marketing work closely together to meet organizational sales objectives. It is a wonderful management tool.
Sales tips:
I think success in sales depends upon some basics. I can humbly share a few pointers that I think have allowed me to enjoy success in sales:
1) Be sincere with people. Too many sales people act in a manner that seems artificial or they only feign interest in their prospects' problems and concerns. People are smart and see right through such insincerity. If you are not sincere and honest with everyone you meet then you should not be in sales.
2) Sell products or services that you believe in and that have customers you gravitate toward naturally or that you inherently like and want to be around and learn more about. If you do not have a passion for the product and the customers then you will not be happy--or very successful.
3) It is vitally important to constantly hone your sales and communications skills. Continuous growth and training in formal professional selling techniques is also very important. Take training classes, listen to professional development audio podcasts and seminars, read all the professional development material you can get your hands on, and start a program of self-study and development in sales today if you haven't already.
4) First listen to your customer, understand his or her wants and needs, and only then try to determine whether or not you can deliver the product or services to meet those wants and needs. If you approach a prospect with a solution before understanding the problem you are likely to be wrong about the solution.
5) The best sales people ask a lot of questions and genuinely listen to the answers before speaking again.
6) Your prospects and customers are all different so you should treat them differently.
7) The best sales people listen much more than they talk.
8) Find out what your prospects want and then give it to them.
9) If you cannot give your prospects what they want tell them so and help them find what they are looking for elsewhere...or at least point them in the right direction. You'll help them and learn more about your own market in the process.
10) If you think that you cannot make it in sales as a profession then you probably should not even try.



Sales promotion - Sales promotions are short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service.
Sales promotion includes several communications activities that attempt to provide added value or incentives to consumers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational customers to stimulate immediate sales. These efforts can attempt to stimulate product interest, trial, or purchase. Examples of devices used in sales promotion include coupons, samples, premiums, point-of-purchase (POP) displays, contests, rebates, and sweepstakes.
Sales Promotion Strategies
There are three types of sales promotion strategies: Push, Pull, or a combination of the two.
A push strategy involves convincing trade intermediary channel members to "push" the product through the distribution channels to the ultimate consumer via promotions and personal selling efforts. The company promotes the product through a reseller who in turn promotes it to yet another reseller or the final consumer. Trade-promotion objectives are to persuade retailers or wholesalers to carry a brand, give a brand shelf space, promote a brand in advertising, and/or push a brand to final consumers. Typical tactics employed in push strategy are: allowances, buy-back guarantees, free trials, contests, specialty advertising items, discounts, displays, and premiums.

A pull strategy attempts to get consumers to "pull" the product from the manufacturer through the marketing channel. The company focuses its marketing communications efforts on consumers in the hope that it stimulates interest and demand for the product at the end-user level. This strategy is often employed if distributors are reluctant to carry a product because it gets as many consumers as possible to go to retail outlets and request the product, thus pulling it through the channel. Consumer-promotion objectives are to entice consumers to try a new product, lure customers away from competitors’ products, get consumers to "load up" on a mature product, hold & reward loyal customers, and build consumer relationships. Typical tactics employed in pull strategy are: samples, coupons, cash refunds and rebates, premiums, advertising specialties, loyalty programs/patronage rewards, contests, sweepstakes, games, and point-of-purchase (POP) displays.
Car dealers often provide a good example of a combination strategy. If you pay attention to car dealers' advertising, you will often hear them speak of cash-back offers and dealer incentives.
Public Relations (PR)


Public relations - Building good relationships with the company’s various publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building up a good "corporate image," and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories, and events.
Let's talk a little bit about the Public Relations (PR) function and how it should be a critical element in your marketing plan. We will also take a look at a few examples.
What is Public Relations?
Public Relations, or PR, is the overall term for marketing activities that raise the public's consciousness about a product, service, individual or issue. In short, PR is the management of a company's public image that helps the public understand the company and its products.
Public relations is most effective when it is viewed as a strategic management function supporting the business goals of the organization. PR can use all the same communications tools as in other areas of marketing.
A healthy public relations strategy must permeate all aspects of the business. The PR mechanism itself exists in all organizations--whether formally managed or not. Every communication to the outside world (and even the world inside your organization!) creates an impression, causes an emotional reaction, or makes a statement about who you are and what values you hold dear. Managing those impressions, reactions, and statements should be taken seriously by operating within a carefully planned, executed, and measured PR strategy.
As the Marketing Plan comes from the Business Plan, so must a Public Relations Plan come from a strong Marketing Plan. Your Public Relations program should be planned, executed carefully, and measured to ensure success.
Publicity: An important part of PR
Publicity also aims to create interest in a person, product, idea, organization, or business establishment generally through the generation and placement of favorable stories in the news media such as newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio.
Unlike advertising which relies on purchasing power to get a message across, publicity relies solely on the quality of content to persuade others to get the message out. Good publicity helps journalists find and report legitimate news that is important to their audience. Anyone can buy advertising space but not just anyone can earn the respect of media in order to establish an effective PR campaign.
he primary tool of publicity is the press release, or news release.
How to write press releases and manage effective PR campaigns
A very important part of any PR plan is gaining press coverage. The first step in getting media attention is to establish and build a database of press contacts and editors of industry journals, magazines, and trade publications. Maintaining relationships with these press contacts is very important. Often these press contacts will let you know about upcoming features within their publications and ask you to submit materials such as press releases and articles. This type of working relationship is important because it can often lead to press coverage that money can't buy. For the cost of a piece of letterhead, photo, envelope, and stamp you may be able to get exposure greater than what you could get from thousands of dollars worth of advertising.
It is equally important to write effective press releases and send them out to media contacts on a regular basis. As with advertising or any other type of marketing communication, creating an attention-grabbing headline that crystallizes the information in one sentence usually makes the difference between a press release that gets read and one that gets tossed into the waste paper basket. Once you've captured attention with an effective headline, you need to get to the main point immediately (describe the "who", "what", "when", "where", "why", and "how") and then provide more detail deeper down in the press release. Once you've established the fact that the information is relevant to the reader (usually an editor or producer), then they will read the details to learn more and determine whether or not your release is worthy of them covering.
Although editors will usually edit the information to fit their needs, writing effective news releases is a very important step in gaining publicity. These days, video news releases are also becoming popular, but there is no substitute yet for tried-and-true written news releases.
Writing feature articles
You should also consider writing your own articles and submitting them to editors so they may publish the article(s) in their publications. This is a highly effective PR tactic that not only helps others identify you as an expert in your field, but such articles also serve to educate your market, increase the visibility of your company, and may be an excellent way to find new customers for your business.
Direct Marketing


Direct marketing - Direct communications with carefully targeted individual consumers to obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting or enduring customer relationships.
Direct marketing usually is carried out through telephone (telemarketing and telesales), direct mail (brochures, catalogs, flyers), direct-response broadcast advertising (television & radio), online computer shopping, and cable television infomercials and home shopping networks.
There are many benefits of direct marketing--both to buyers and sellers.
Customers enjoy the convenience of direct marketing as they do not have to battle traffic, find a parking space, or shop through stores. Often they can simply order from a catalog using the telephone or while shopping online and never even have to leave their home as good are shipped directly to their doors. Buying through direct marketing channels is also private and easy and does not have to involve a face-to-face interaction with a salesperson (being a sales and marketing professional myself, I find it hard to believe...but many people do not place a high value on dealing with sales people). Direct marketing can also offer a wider selection of products while making comparison shopping easier with greater access to alternative or competing products. Finally, direct marketing is immediate and good can be purchased immediately in the exact desired configuration. In short, direct marketing can be fun, save time, offer a broader selection, allow comparison shopping, and allow the individual to direct-order customized products.
Sellers also enjoy many benefits of direct marketing. It is a great tool in customer relationship building as it provides direct communication with customers. Direct marketers can also gather a great deal of information about their customers that not only enables them to provide addition value through new products and services, but it also allows them to more precisely target who likely customers are. Direct marketing also can reduce costs (minimize overhead of retail space, utilities, etc.) while increasing the speed and efficiency of the operation. In short, direct marketing allows sellers to customize offerings, create ongoing relationships directly with customers, preserve privacy, and constantly adjusted to improve response rates.
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Some examples of direct marketing

Television Infomercial
Direct Response Television Advertising:
Those "dreaded" infomercials on television have proven to be effective and consumers have been receptive to them. Infomercials are a 125 billion dollar industry in which nearly two thirds of Americans 16 and older will have seen a direct response television ad (2002 data), translating to 136.2 million viewers. One in four American viewers says they have purchased an infomercial product, most often by calling a 1-800 number to order. Sales have more than doubled in the last five years. A successful infomercial product can generate more than 40 million dollars in sales in just three months. Retail sales generally come soon after, and on the average, are 4 to 8 times greater than television sales.
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Catalog Marketing:
Catalogs save time, appeal to those who are fearful of shopping due to crime rates, offer convenience, allow leisurely decisions, offer privacy, often offer toll-free telephone numbers to place orders, and allow comparison of quality and price.

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rude behaviour among employees turn customers off

Rude behaviour among employees can turn off consumers, even when it is not directed at them. In restaurants, banks, government offices, retail stores and universities, consumers frequently report seeing employees behaving badly towards their colleagues.

zoozoo's updated now its parrot

After taking the nation by storm last year, the cute ?Zoozoos? in Vodafone?s ad are slowly losing out on their novelty factor leading to the introduction of an animated parrot in the telecom giant?s latest commercials.

"When the Zoozoos were introduced, they were something out of the world.
The simple, innocent and funny acts of the alien-like white, egg-headed creatures with balloon bodies created a phenomenon in the Indian advertising industry.

Besides securing a number of awards, the adorable ?Zoozoos? quickly went on to become a darling of both the consumers and the advertising fraternity.

With more than six lakh fans on social networking site Facebook and lakhs of views on YouTube, their popularity, however, has failed to take a dip ever since they invaded television screens during the 2009 IPL matches.

But in the latest series of advertisements promoting its offering of a bonus card of Rs 4, Vodafone chose to create an animated parrot with actor Boman Irani?s voice-over.
 

check whether you know this

1. Idenify the product and the person displaying the product

Ans. Peter Chou, the CEO of HTC and the product that is so obvious is the Google Nexus One
2. Brijmohan along with his elder brothers Dayanand, Satyanand and his younger brother Om Prakash came to India to start a business of supplying components to manufacturers of bycycles. How do we know the company today?

Ans. Hero Motors

3. This entrepreneur started Microcomp to sell teledigital calculators in the Indian market. under the brand name "Televista ". Identify him

Ans. Shiv Nadar

4. Who is the mind behind the celebrated SKS Microfinance?
Ans. Vikram Akula

5. Connect the companies Sahara and Rendezvous?
Ans. The companies that are associated with the win of recent IPL bids.

Nano tech to make PCs, Internet 100 times faster

With the use of nano-based technology which can make computers and the Internet hundred times faster than usual, it seems the communication devices will be more powerful. Dr. Koby Scheuer of Tel Aviv University's School of Electrical Engineering has developed a new plastic-based technology for the nano-photonics market, which manufactures optical devices and components, reports ANI.

Created by Scheuer of Tel Aviv University's School of Electrical Engineering, the communications technology "enabler" could only be used in five or ten years in the future. The plastic-based "filter" is made from nanometer-sized grooves embedded into the plastic. When used in fibre optics cable switches, the new device will make our communication devices smaller, more flexible and more powerful, he said.

"Once Americans have a fibre optics cable coming into every home, all communication will go through it - telephone, cable TV, the Internet. But to avoid bottlenecks of information, we need to separate the information coming through into different channels. Our polymeric devices can do that in the optical domain - at a speed, quality and cost that the semi-conductor industry can't even imagine," said Scheuer.

Also, according to Scheuer, when that technology comes to light, the new plastic-based switches could revolutionize the way we communicate. "Right now, we could transmit all of the written text of the world though a single fiber in a fiber optics cable in just a few seconds. But in order to handle these massive amounts of communication data, we need filters to make sense of the incoming information. Ours uses a plastic-based switch, replacing hard-to-fabricate and expensive semi-conductors," said Scheuer.

"Our plastic polymer switches come in an easy-to-work-with liquid solution. Using a method called 'stamping,' almost any laboratory can make optical devices out of the silicon rubber mold we've developed," he added. The silicon rubber mould is scored with nano-sized grooves, invisible to the eye and each less than a millionth of a meter in width. A plastic solution can be poured over the mould to replicate the optical switch in minutes.

When in place in a fibre-optic network, the grooves on the switch modulate light coming in through the cables, and the data is filtered and encoded into usable information. The device can also be used in the gyros of planes, ships and rockets; inserted into cell phones; and made a part of flexible virtual reality gloves so doctors could "operate" on computer networks over large distances.

Internet banking frauds rise more than double

 With the rise of the online banking frauds, the number of cases is more than double over the past three years. The number of Internet frauds rose from 102 in 2007 to 113 in the following year and 269 in 2009, involving an amount of Rs. 2.51 crore, Rs. 5.53 crore and Rs. 5.90 crore, respectively, according to the Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena, reports PTI.

"It may be observed that there has been an increase in the number of frauds perpetrated during the (previous) year as compared to 2007 and 2008," the Minister said. Also, according to the Minister, the RBI has already taken measures to check such frauds, such as making it mandatory for banks to put in place a system for providing additional authentication and validation, an online alert system for card holders in case of transactions of a value of over Rs. 5,000, redressal of grievances for wrongful billing and reporting of cases to police and ensuring follow-up action.

Should IT companies allow trade unions?

Nearly 2.3 million employees in IT and ITES sector in the country are badly in need of unions, shows the distress of techies. According to techies, though the sector is one of the largest employers, but the freedom to express problems within organizations is mostly curbed and it can also cause danger to their jobs.

According to Express Buzz, techies are citing examples of losing jobs and facing troubles. In October, 2005, when 57-year-old J S R Prasad volunteered to spearhead the trade union activities, his working conditions were 'altered,' forcing him to quit. In another case in 2007, when another techie, Sam Jose applied for one year leave to pursue further education, his employer gave necessary approvals, but axed him citing poor performance without his knowledge

"Employers want power neutralization and strongly oppose unions. Agreed, they offer favorable working environment, but that's not enough. Several issues, be it promotion or differential treatment by co-workers on caste and community basis can occur. Who will employees turn to when in need?" questions, Karthik Shekhar, General Secretary, UNITES, trade union representing IT & ITES sector in Hyderabad. He added that, employees prefer to live with the prevailing conditions or move out in search of other jobs instead of fighting for their own cause.

"Working hours is being stretched and work pressure is going up. It's high time we have a platform that can fight for our rights and give some relief," said a team leader working for one of the big four IT giants in the country.

"Companies don't want to talk anything negative. Periodically, they talk about innovative HR practices, but have they ever publicised 10 or 100 top most concerns faced by employees? The hype and fanfare attached to the so-called big brands, sometimes seems inflated." But employers seem averse to the very idea of unions.

"We interact with employees across all levels. I dont see the need for a union. Anyone can contact the CEO directly," said HR head of a city-based IT services company.

ENTIRE LIBRARY ON A CHIP

An Indian-American scientist has developed a computer chip that can store an unprecedented amount of data - enough to hold an entire library.

The new chip stems from a breakthrough in the use of nanodots, or nanoscale magnets, and represents a significant advance in computer-memory technology.

"We have created magnetic nanodots that store one bit of information on each nanodot, allowing us to store over one billion pages of information in a chip that is one square inch," says Jay Narayan, professor of Materials Science and Engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU).

Narayan, a product of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, conducted the study. The breakthrough is that these nanodots are made of single, defect-free crystals, creating magnetic sensors that are integrated directly into a silicon electronic chip.

These nanodots, which can be made uniformly as small as six nanometres in diameter, are all precisely oriented in the same way - allowing programmers to reliably read and write data to the chips, an NCSU release said. A nanometre is the billionth of a metre.

The chips themselves can be manufactured cost-effectively but the next step is to develop magnetic packaging that will enable users to take advantage of the chips - using something, such as laser technology, that can effectively interact with the nanodots.

How does IPL fiasco remind of Satyam fraud scam?

In the last one month, people sitting in front of the TV might be impressed with the way Sachin Tendulkar was playing the role of anchor for Mumbai Indians, but behind the curtain every ball bowled in IPL 3 had a price of more than a lakh. All the cricket fans across the country might be relating this to the match fixing issue happened in 1990's, but some experts relate this to Satyam fraud case happened last year.

Till two new teams (Kochi and Pune) were not announced, IPL was seen as a money-spinner and a thriller for cricket fans and owners, but now it has been drawing attention for all the wrong reasons. If we think of similarities with India's biggest corporate fraud, the Satyam scandal, we find that in both the case that what were the authorities supposed to monitor the transparency in financial dealings doing.

Rediff has put down some of the points which shows the similarities between these two case. Those are:-

1. The main players

In both the cases, the chieftains are main accused - Lalit Modi heading IPL and B Ramalinga Raju lording over Satyam. Raju scripted a rosy picture of soaring profits, brand value, revenues and much more. Modi too created a tremendous brand seemingly out of nothing, but it now transpires that there is a whole lot more to it than meets the eye.

In both the cases, it was a simple error that led to their fall. Raju's scam would have never come to light had he not tried to push through the Maytas deal. His trouble began when Maytas shareholders opposed his proposal to take over the company. Modi is at the centre of a storm after he attacked former minister for external affairs Shashi Tharoor over the issue of stakeholders in the Kochi franchise, which is one of the two new teams that will make IPL debut next year.

2. The charges

Ramalinga Raju admitted to orchestrating a Rs.7,800 crore scandal by cooking up the account books. Modi is accused of indulging in betting and money laundering, not disclosing shareholding patterns, tarnishing the image of the IPL.

3. Role of auditors

In many financial scandals, just like the Satyam incident, auditors are mere rubber stamps. In the case of IPL, the BCCI or its auditors never checked the shareholding patterns or the flow of unaccounted for money. The ICAI has now asked for financial statements from IPL franchises to study the details.

4. Rest of the team?

Why blame only one person? Could Modi alone have managed the show by himself? Are not the IPL governing council members answerable too, just like Satyam's independent directors?

6. Political friends

The political connection makes all the difference. While Raju had political backing from the state, Modi too has strong political support.

     

2 yr old Indian mobile maker gives handset biggies run for their money

When four friends planned to diversify their IT hardware distribution business and start making mobile phones, which would specifically suit Indian consumers, did not know that after two years, they will be giving mobile handset majors; such as Nokia, Samsung and LG, a run for their money, reports Economic Times.

In the two years of span, Micromax grew to become the third-largest GSM mobile phone vendor in India, after Nokia and Samsung, with a market share of six percent. According to research firm IDC, this Rs.1,600 crore brand, which sells around one million mobiles every month, has a presence in more than 500 districts through 70,000 retail outlets. Speaking on this subject, Vikas Jain, one of the four founders of Micromax Informatics, the company that owns the Micromax Mobile brand, said, "We saw that the MNC brands were not selling phones that suited Indian consumers' requirements. This void had to be filled. So in April 2008, we forayed into the handset market."

Targeting specifically at the rural masses, the company has also started selling handsets that come with features appealing to urban consumers such as music phones, qwerty and internet-enabled handsets. "We wanted to approach the market in a different manner by first going to rural and semi-urban areas, establishing a good distribution base and then targeting the big cities," said Vikas Jain.

Recently, the company came up with a universal remote control phone, one that can be paired to household appliances like the TV, AC, to act as a remote control for them. "We have to be quick in launching new products as competitors can also copy a lot of this soon enough,"

is it better to non techies for a techies job ??? comment

With the new trend being set up by IT firms to hire non-techies to do techies' work, it seems that working hard at engineering colleges for 3-4 years to enter this field is worthless. In the last few months, it is noticed that many of the Indian IT companies such as TCS, Wipro and Infosys are turning towards non engineering graduates for the same work that engineering graduates have been doing for long.

For instance, Nandini Sahay is currently working in one of the Indian IT firms as a Software Engineer after completing her BA degree in History and one year certificate course in computer programming. It might be a dream comes true for this village girl Nandini, whose parents feed their stomachs by earning from agriculture field in the remote area of Andhra Pradesh, but at the same time, these IT firms need to think of those millions of engineering graduates, who have worked hard for 3-4 years to enter this field, are sitting idle to get better opportunities. One of the many students, who are feeling the heat of this new trend, is Gaurav Jain, B.Tech/B.E. student at Malviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur. He said, "If it is possible to train one person in just six months or one year then why engineers are taught for four years?"

So the big question - will these hiring of non-techies affect the quality of work? Mahalakshmi Subramanium, QA/QC Manager, Genpact said, "I think yes. It will affect the quality. Normally an IT graduate undergoes 3-4 years of training to become a professional. If that education is given to a non-IT graduate in just one year or six months, it's obvious that they won't be taught everything due to which their basics won't be strong and they won't be able to perform as nicely as a properly trained IT graduate can do. Even with techies, project success rate is less than 25 percent. With non techies, they are intending to smash it to zero."

But all these firms who are hiring these non-techies believe that quality of the work will not be affected by hiring non-engineering graduates, as these non-techies are being hired for testing software applications and managing computer infrastructure, in order to do more with fewer staff and at lower wages than computer engineers.

It is believed that from nearly 10 percent of their current workforce, non-engineering graduates could account for nearly 20-25 percent of the staff at companies such as TCS, Wipro and HCL, over the next one to two years. The IT company like Cognizant already has almost 20 percent of its global workforce who are non-engineering graduates. Speaking on this issue, Amitava Roy, Chief People Officer, Symphony Services said, "Hiring non-techies might work for some of the IT companies, but as far as Symphony Services is concerned; our work requires the expertise and knowledge of technical engineers. Candidates from non engineering background do not fit into our framework of expertise required and hence the hiring model." Even Srini Rajam, Chairman and CEO, Ittiam Systems agrees with Roy and said, "It's not right way to build any company. One company gains more value by differentiation of knowledge come from competition."

Some of the experts feel that basically this step is being taken by companies to cut the costs and increase the employment across the country. Normally, an Indian IT firm pays Rs. 2-4 lakh per annum to an engineering graduate, but when they hire any non-engineering graduate, they just pay Rs.80,000 - Rs.1,50,000. Nandini has got the package of Rs.90,000 per annum. One of the officials of an IT major said, "It's not everything about cutting cost. In the last few years, skill mix has changed because of a fundamental shift in sourcing behaviour - customers sourcing a broader range of services, including BPO/KPO. So, we hire according to that need."

Now, it is to be seen that these IT firms understand the real value of an engineering graduate or keep hiring non-techies in near future also, as it is possible for only these IT biggies to train non-techies to do techies' work, not the smaller firms.

A MAJOR DEAL

India's outsourcing vendors Wipro and Tech Mahindra are currently in discussions with New Zealand's biggest phone firm, Telecom Corp, for a contract worth up to $1 billion. Telecom Corp had signed a $1.5-billion IT infrastructure management contract in 1999 with EDS, now owned by HP, which is due to expire this year.

"This is among some of the top outsourcing renewals being chased by almost everybody. Incumbents are under pressure to compete with new bidders ready to do more with less," said a person familiar with the discussions to Pankaj Mishra of Economic Times.

The telco plans to cut costs and improve profits by outsourcing non-core IT work, people familiar with the company's decision making.

HACKERS A MAJOR THREAT ??

Security firm BitDefender has warned iPad users of security threat through iTune updates. With more than 600,000 iPads sold since its introduction, it's clear as why malware creators have been interested in crashing this promising party, warns BitDefender.

This particular threat comes in the form of an unsolicited e-mail, promising to keep iPad software updated for best performance, newer features and security". Via a conveniently provided link, the email instructs iPad users to download the latest version of iTunes software to their PCs as a preliminary step to update their iPad software. The download page to which users are directed is a perfect imitation of the one they would use for legitimate iTunes software downloads.

Identified by BitDefender as Backdoor.Bifrose.AADY, this piece of malicious code inadvertently downloaded injects itself in to the explorer.exe process and opens up a backdoor that allows unauthorized access to and control over the affected system.

Moreover, Backdoor.Bifrose.AADY attempts to read the keys and serial numbers of the various software installed on the affected computer, while also logging the passwords to the victim's ICQ, Messenger, POP3 mail accounts, and protected storage.

It is important to say that Mac users remain unaffected by this piece of malware.

To avoid falling victim to this threat and others, BitDefender recommends users to only download updates from the official Apple website.

India looking for FDI in sectors attracting technology

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma Monday said that the government will prefer foreign direct investment (FDI) in and subsidies to those sectors which would attract technology and investment.

"We are looking at those sectors which will attract technology and investment," the minister said on sidelines of the Annual Intellectual Property Awards 2010 ceremony, organised by his ministry in association with industry lobby, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Sharma said the government is also keen on extending concessions to those sectors which continue to be in the red, following the economic downturn in 2008.

"But we are not looking at FDI in multi-brand retail as of now," he said.

The minster hoped that the exports in 4th quarter of the last fiscal will help to overcome losses in the sector - which continued for 13 months till November last year.

He hoped they would touch $167-170 billion in the last fiscal.

India's merchandise exports grew 34.8 percent to $16.09 billion (Rs.72,400 crore) for the fourth consecutive month in February.

The minister expressed concern over fall in rate of patents by Indian applicants. "While the number of patents by Indian firms fell by 29 percent last year, in China, it went up by 30 percent. Why is there less investment for innovation? Why aren't the MNCs coming up with innovations?" he asked.

1.Which is the most expensive domain name to be auctioned on the net till date?

Ans. Business.com for $8 mln [4.3 m pounds]

2. Which brand has the "Whistle and win contest"?

Ans. Prestige

3. Where are the Head Quarters of Asian Development Bank?

Ans. Manila

4. Which company is India’s largest synthetic textile producer?

Ans. Reliance

quiz 3

Question: Which vehicle took its name from the fact that it was made to be used for general purposes?
Answer: Jeep (GP)

Question: What is the name of the mascot on the bonnet of a Rolls Royce?
Answer: The spirit of ecstasy

Question: Who invented jeans?
Answer: Levi Straus

Question: Which company owns 'Hotmail', the Internet based e-mail system?
Answer: Microsoft

Question: South Africa is the world's largest producer of 3 metals. Platinum and Gold are 2 of them, what’s the third?
Answer: Chromite

Question: Which designer is credited with inventing the mini-skirt?
Answer: Mary Quant

Question: Which car is featured in the film Back to the Future?
Answer: De Lorean

Question: The Baht is the monetary unit of which country?
Answer: Thailand

Question: What is the national airline of Spain?
Answer: Iberia

Question: Which was the first company formed to manufacture motor cars?
Answer: Daimler

Question: Which car manufacturer uses a badge consisting of 4 interlocked circles?
Answer: Audi

Question: In which country is Sikorsky Helicopters' head office?
Answer: America

Question: What is the currency of Turkey?
Answer: Lira

Question: Which company manufactured Lancaster bomber?
Answer: Avro

Question: How many old pennies were there in Half a Crown?
Answer: 30

Question: In which country are Saab cars manufactured?
Answer: Sweden

Question: Excluding India name 2 other countries that use the rupee as currency.
Answer: India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles and Sri Lanka.

Question: London's Drury Lane is associated with which industry?
Answer: Theatre

Question: What commodity is traditionally measured in units called a Truss?
Answer: Hay/Straw

Question: What is the national airline of Spain?
Answer: Iberia

quiz 2

1. Which brand is named after Dhirubhai Ambani's Nephew?

Ans. Vimal

2. The first of its kind was designed in 1948 in the United Kingdom by Maurice Wilks. What are we talking about?

Ans. Land Rover

3. Which publishing house was founded by Allen Lane in 1935?

Ans. Penguin

4. Mitsubishi UFJ owns 21% which famous financial services firm? (Hint: It changed its status from investment bank to bank holding company in 2008)

Ans. Morgan Stanley

quiz 1

1. The Hollerith Corporation changed its name to something iconic in the future. What is it?
Ans. IBM

2. Enigma is a line of optical frame solutions from which company?
Ans. Tata Eye Plus

3.It was founded in 1976 as a joint-stock company between International Aeradio Limited, a British Company, and local partners. In 1983 the ownership structure changed - United Arab Emirates government held a 60% share in the company and the remaining 40% were publicly traded. Which company's origins are we referring to?

Ans. Etisalat

4. Which Financial Giant has Rocks of Gibraltar as its logo?
Ans. Prudential