Madhosh Kiye Jaa

Kothagudem

I cannot forget this place, as I was born there. In modern day Telangana, it was my angana (playground) from 1960-70 and again from 1977-80 when we lived there. One area we lived in was Writer Basti (colony), and we cycled a lot. Even went to the Yellandu Club a few kilometres away on the bicycle, for a swim in summer!'

Bhadrachalam nearby had a famous temple of Rama. During Ramnavami, there used to be a huge crowd in that town, nestling around the Godavari river. In Kothagudem, we had two rivers- Edla vagu and Muredu vagu, flowing through the town.

It was an idyllic coal-mining town, with the club as its major social activity. But we also roamed around on long walks, or bicycle trips. School was St. Mary's and the nuns were kind and smiling. There was a water tank which all students drank from, without bothering about water quality.

Meeting Saumya

It is always refreshing to meet Saumya. Now a market researcher with Kantar, she used to be my Academic Associate for a couple of years at IIM Indore. My Lady Friday, for all practical purposes. Tireless, efficient and creative. No wonder my job became easy.

Now, an accomplished pro in the industry I once worked in. So it's a pleasure to catch up, and we did. In Indore again.

An earlier meeting at IIM Indore campus a few years earlier, when she was visiting the campus.

She also worked at Hansa Research in Bangalore with my friend Muthu, an industry veteran.

She also got me this lovely present--

My Take on Deep Fake

Let's not get worked up about deep fakes. They have always been around. Some examples-

Sales guys who don't mean what they say.

Customer service guys who don't know the spelling.

Politicians who promise the moon- sorry, that's been done. Promise Mars?

Corporate jargon which does not mean anything.

Special effects in films, from Bahubali to Mission Impossible.

All these and more, have been around for years.. so what if one head goes on another body? That's also been possible and around with simple photoshopping type apps, for years.

2023 Year End Musings- 5

Met many students -particularly from IMT Nagpur, but also from KIAMS. For example, one evening Nidhi called and said she was in Indore and could we meet? Of course we met.. and she also dropped in at Prestige University next morning on her way to Ujjain.

Cheers after long..last we met was at IIM Indore when I worked there..

Nidhi and her mom, above, and she herself, at Prestige University..

Akansh and Prachi came over for a karaoke session.. below, Divya Karani (left) - a media specialist at Dentsu, was the Chief Guest at our IMP inauguration

2023 Year end Musings- 3

I did an invited program on Case study Teaching at Prestige Institute, Gwalior in July sometime for faculty. Also had a school (Hyderabad Public School) batch get-together in Hyderabad, where around 15 students (all boys- back then it was a Boy's School) turned up, and we had a great time reminiscing about our school days.

Gwalior, faculty at work.. at Prestige University campus.

Below, with Director Nishant Joshi, Tarika Singh and Chanda Gulati of PIMR, Gwalior

Below, glimpses of our batchmates from school.. meet happened at the Royal Reve hotel, Secunderabad, in July 2023. One classmate, Suri, is a partner-owner.

We finished school in 1977.

Perceptions of Price

Just like quality, price is a matter of perception. If anyone asks ÿou a question "Ïs this product/service good value?" It's difficult to answer it right away. Also, my answer may be different from yours.

The reason being that I have a certain value I attach to a product, based on my situation, and my view/attitude towards a product (I am loosely using the term product- could be a service, something you pay for). When hungry, a plate of food has immense value for anyone, but in other situations, each person may determine the value for himself, and be willing to pay (or not pay) a certain price as per his evaluation. Rational as well as intangible features influence this, as does peer influence or other social factors. Apart from affordability, of course.

Determining what is the perception regarding price among a set of consumers is a challenge for marketers. If done right, it leads to a profitable business; if not, may mean you have to tweak the price, or the product/itself to make it desirable or of adequate value.