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Suman Srivastava's Marketing Unplugged

The book by the Vice-Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of FCB Ulka Group is an attempt to introduce marketers to a new toolbox and reduce their resistance to using them by providing real world examples

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Suman Srivastava's Marketing Unplugged

Suman Srivastava's Marketing Unplugged

The book by the Vice-Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of FCB Ulka Group is an attempt to introduce marketers to a new toolbox and reduce their resistance to using them by providing real world examples

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | May 31, 2016

Suman Srivastava Suman Srivastava

Suman Srivastava, Vice-Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of FCB Ulka Group, has just written a book, Marketing Unplugged: Spotting the Elephants in the Room. Marketing today is using Nehru era tools to solve Modi era problems. Academics and thinkers have come up with new tools that would be more relevant, but practitioners stubbornly stick to their tired old flathead screwdrivers. Hence this book which is an attempt to introduce marketers to a new toolbox and reduce their resistance to using them by providing real world examples from India and abroad.

marketing-unplugged-bookThe book is organised around marketing truths that we tend to ignore (the elephants in the room). Truths like 'consumers are not rational', 'consumers hate making choices', 'all consumers are not equal' and so on. Each section has a series of essays that refute the myth. An individual essay may provide a theoretical overview gleaned from a marketing guru, or provide an example from the real world. The attempt is to have more examples and less theory. The examples are a mix of Indian and foreign ones.

Why is it called Marketing Unplugged?

Computers and synthesisers have made it easy to play a tune. Just define a few settings and press 'play'. While the tune can be pleasing, it is unlikely that you will be able to create great music on a synthesiser. For that you have to unplug all the electronics and work with the basic musical instruments - the guitar, the harmonium, the tabla.

It is the same with marketing. Too many people think marketing is a science and believe they can achieve success by following a process. The result is that over 80 per cent of all brand launches and relaunches end in failure. To create a great brand, you need inspiration, creativity and passion. You need unplugged marketing.

There are scores of books on marketing. Some of them are brilliant. The problem is that one gets influenced by the last book that one has read and is constantly trying to apply the newest fad marketing technique to ones problems.

This book attempts to create a picture from the jigsaw pieces. It reviews books on diverse topics and explains their good points. It suggests where and when they are best used and how they stack up vis-a-vis other books that say quite different things. The book attempts to create a coherent narrative out of the many ideas that are out there.

The author

Srivastava enjoys doing new things. A graduate of Delhi University, IIM-Ahmedabad and IMD Lausanne, he is an advertising man, strategist, author, marathon runner, teacher, social worker, sports fan and a creative bartender.

He has been CEO of Euro RSCG India (now Havas Worldwide) and also Chief Strategy Officer for Euro RSCG Asia Pacific.

Later, he started an innovation firm called Marketing Unplugged, which is now part of FCB Ulka Group.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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