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Mr.
Sreenivassan Ramaprasad
Executive Director, CADD Centre
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”Modern Trends and tools in PR - Feel
the World in 3D" |
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25.11.11 |
Mr.
Wilson Matthews
Director - Makerting and Sales,
TVH Group |
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"Brand Positioning and its Impact on
Consumers " |
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11.11.11 |
Mr.
S. Muthiah
Editor, 'Madras Musings',
Senior Journalist, Author and Storyteller |
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"Madras - Its Past and Its Present" |
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23.8.11 |
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Mr.
Sreenivassan Ramaprasad
Executive Director, CADD Centre |
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”Modern Trends and tools in PR - Feel
the World in 3D" |
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25.11.11 |
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'3D can be
effectively used to manage relations better '
Using 3D technology to communicate brings clarity, enables
faster decision-making and builds better relationships, says
Sreenivassan Ramaprasad, executive director, CADD Centre,
which has pioneered the use of such technology in creating
architectural designs and validating them. According to him,
3D technology will become a major communica-tion tool in the
present decade.
Years ago, in 1984, there was a Malayalam film called My
Dear Kuttichathan that attracted audiences to the theatres
in droves. The reason: it was a 3D film, the first of its
kind made in India, and special glasses were given to those
who entered the hall. It was a film that was much talked about,
and still remembered. So much so that when '3D' is mentioned,
My Dear Kuttichathan is often recollected. However, despite
more than a quarter of a century, the use of 3D has not progressed
much in India, at least from the common usage point of view.
Bringing the aspect of 3D to the fore, Sreenivassan Ramaprasad,
executive director, CADD Centre, offered PRSI Chennai Chapter
members a perspective of how to build better relationships
using 3D technology. Communication is the key to building
better relationships. Newspapers and television continue to
be the chief means of communication even today. “When
we talk about 3D communication, we perceive it through the
following
senses: hear, touch, see, taste and smell. The success of
any technology depends on our ability to understand it, store
it and communicate; the cycle continues till the technology
becomes a common man's tool,” Ramaprasad said, adding,
“Fifteen years ago when mobile phones arrived we were
wondering whether the technology would do anything at all
because it was so expensive; today, how many of us use landline
phones? Development of technology has developed the way we
communicate.”
Referring to the presence of the 3D television viewing experience,
Ramaprasad said that there were mechanical and architectural
drawings
in 3D, as well as graphics. He was convinced that the technology
would become a major communication tool in the present decade.
“Towards the end of this decade, people will be carrying
more of 3D communication tools rather than 2D. We will thus
enable society transformation. Lack of a 3D creation tool
led us to use 2D, so instead of thinking in 3D, communicating
in 2D, and producing in 3D, why not communicate in 3D?”
Ramaprasad then played a couple of video films to demonstrate
to the audience the kind of 3D technology available today.
“Just as you can design in 3D, you can create products
in real life, solid models,” he said, pointing to real-life
models produced on paper and other material by a printer.
“The technology (rapid prototyping) was available earlier,
but was confined mainly to big manufacturers such as in the
automotive or machine-manufacturing sector, and confined largely
to the pre-manufacturing stage. 3D prints will enable you
to understand things clearly, avoid ambiguity, create better
impact,” he added.
Indeed, 3D technology is now moving up the design value chain
and is being used to validate designs before they are used
for mass manufacturing. Ramaprasad mentioned CADD Centre producing
a 3D map of Mumbai, which proved useful to civic administrators.
Another application he referred to was in the medical field,
where 3D was used worldwide. |
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Mr.
Wilson Matthews
Director - Makerting and Sales,
TVH Group |
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"Brand Positioning and its Impact on
Consumers " |
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11.11.11 |
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'Brands define
personalities, and consumers define brands'
The challenge in brand-building and positioning is to
show the finished product to the prospective buyer, and to
build trust. Taking the needs of the customer into account
and making no tall promises is important for a brand to succeed,
says Wilson Mathews, director-marketing and sales, TVH Group.
For Wilson Mathews, director-marketing and sales, TVH Group
(associated with real estate), work and its execution have
to come from the heart, the mind comes later. Describing brand
positioning as an act of seeking, placing and optimising something
in relation to competition and the environment, based on customer
needs, company and competitor relationship, Mathews emphasised
that the customer was the king. “The company has to
innovate and evolve, reflect a healthy environment. Customers
must buy your brand in preference to others; customers drive
brands because brands determine personality in a way,”
he said.
Explaining why brand positioning was critical and why there
was the need to keep risks to the minimum, something all business
leaders were concerned about, Mathews said the marketer had
to understand the product being offered, the target group,
the psychology, the attitude, the economic status, consumer
tastes, the market segment, the competition etc. “What
is the segment you wish to create? It is also about increasing
operational efficiency, providing measurable results to management,
building capacity for training, best practices, leveraging
existing investments and platforms, global capability for
geographical capability, building human capital for the company,”
he said.
How does brand building and positioning really impact business
and customers? “You create a personality for the brand.
Put an ideology before a brand. It's finally about getting
people to buy your product and creating a strong impression
about the brand in their minds,” Mathews pointed out.
He named the elements for branding as product benefits, value
proposition, customer service, company name and logo, and
repeat business. “If I combine all, branding is in place,”
he added.
Mathews traced the evolution of brand building from the 1800s,
when it was all about authenticity, local brands, indigenous
products, being more physical (herds of cows tattooed), a
high level of commitment. But there was less exposure in those
days, no packaging as such, less volume, and products were
mostly home-delivered, according to him. The 1900s saw innovation
and creativity, with brands such as Mercedes, Coke, and McDonald
making a mark. It was a period when the movies were popular;
and packaging and branding began. People were travelling and
a sort of shopping experience was triggered. Cut to 2000,
and you had a larger market, education was the key, there
was outsourcing, and there were larger volumes, social networks,
peer influence, fast-changing trends, more innovation, and
a certain level of service.
"I am the brand. What I wear is my personality",
said Mathews, speaking of developments and the mindset of
people in 2010. Today, there is greater expectation from customers,
and if the seller delays, he loses. People cannot wait, they
look for prompt service.
The trust element remains, however. Online shopping business
is booming, customers look for variety, and members of a family
prefer to use the brands they like.
Today, consumers define brands, unlike the way it was earlier.
“Hand-made material has gained prominence. Customers
provide feedback online; it helps the seller as well as other
customers to decide whether to buy the product or not. Quality
is still important. It's brand recall that keeps brands going
and up the charts. Brands also reflect lifestyle,” said
Mathews. He later spoke about the key drivers in the real
estate sector selling a dream, a home, and improving an asset.
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Mr.
S. Muthiah
Editor, 'Madras Musings',
Senior Journalist, Author and Storyteller |
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"Madras - Its Past and Its Present" |
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23.8.11 |
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'Celebrating
the founding of a city'
The inauguration of the Public Relations Society of India's
Chennai Chapter activities for 2011-12 coincided with Madras
Week celebrations. And who better other than senior journalist
S. Muthiah, editor, Madras Musings, also a past chairman of
the Chapter, to talk about Madras, its past and present? Muthiah,
with support from D. Krishnan, picture editor, The Hindu,
and adjunct faculty at the Asian College of Journalism, brings
alive images of the Madras that once was. He urges PR practitioners
to take more active part in the yearly celebrations.
S. Muthiah's presentation was about a book he had authored,
Madras - Its Past and Its Present. At the conference room
at the St. Clare Centre, Stella Maris College, he began by
explaining to PRSI members and others the origins
of the city. “Before the British there was no Madras,
there was no Chennai either,” he said. On August 22,
1639, three square miles of “no man's sand”,
a stretch of beach, between the Cooum in the south, the Bay
of Bengal in the east, and a river that has now become the
Buckingham Canal in the west, was granted to the East India
Company by one of the governors of the waning Vijayanagar
empire, Venkatadri Nayak, whose headquarters was in Wandiwash.
Nayak was the head of the remnants of the empire (Thondamandalam)
that stretched to Kanchi then and he negotiated with the East
India Company. Nothing existed in the area except for a couple
of migrant fishing villages, which were surrounded by towns
and settlements, with Mylapore probably being the biggest
town. Villages such as Thiruvottiyur, Elambore, Thiruvanmiyur,
Nungambakkam etc. were separated by paddy fields and shrub
jungle much like the Guindy Snake Park today.
Muthiah also traced the beginnings of Madras Week celebrations.
It was to create more consciousness than merely the written
word, he said. It all started as Madras Day celebrations in
2004, on August 22, the celebrations culminating in a four-hour
meeting at the Rajaji Hall. It was purely a voluntary celebration
but the response was overwhelming. Urging more voluntary participation,
Muthiah said: “A school can have a whole day of events;
indeed, a school in Chennai has Madras Week marked in its
calendar. Much of the events are driven by coordinators, not
as voluntary as it should be. There is a lack of spontaneity
although Anna University, IIT-Madras and the Madras Ophthalmology
Institute came up voluntarily to participate this year. Institutions
like Stella Maris should begin to think what to do during
the week. If this (the celebration) is to really survive and
go forward, it's not the coordinators but the people, the
companies/corporates who have to come forward. It has to be
driven by the PR men and women.” He spoke about how
the Murugappa Group, committed to preserving heritage in some
way, had sponsored a quiz in 1989 as well as a coffee table
book, Madras, the Gracious City.
Returning to the history of Madras, Muthiah referred to the
Company representatives based in Machilipatnam, Andrew Cogan
and Francis Day, who built a square building in one corner
of the land given to them, north of the Cooum river, with
a dome in the centre. There were several thatched huts inside,
and no foundation as such for any of the constructions; it
was more like trading settlements. In 1640, the establishment
was grandiosely called Fort St George. “And it is from
here that modern India grew. Believe it or not, virtually
every single institution in modern India today had its beginnings
in that stretch of no man's sand. Whether it was municipal
governance, we have the oldest municipal corporation in the
country; we have the oldest engineering college (Guindy College
of Engineering) east of the Suez; the first general hospital
was started in the Fort. All of us today are consequences,
results or victims of the Western form of education. Whether
Malayalam or Telugu or Hindi, our system of education is the
same the British left us; we haven't changed it one bit in
our collegiate, high school and primary school systems. And
the beginnings of that system are in a school that still goes
strong in this city (St George's had its beginnings in the
Fort),” he explained.
The audience was shown some breathtaking pictures, most of
them taken around the late 19th and early 20th centuries:
the Roundtana (on Mount Road) that had a fountain meant for
people to rest, the Venkatapathy Naidu building that was the
Wiele and Klein (photographers) office, Klein, a large man,
being carried up in the Nilgiris with his trunk and photography
equipment, the first Parry building, the Madras Christian
College School building, Dare House, Fort St George, the Parade
Ground with the band playing, fishing at the two moats at
the Fort in an evening, Kamarajar Salai leading into the Fort,
the old iron bridge built by Lord Napier, Triumph of Labour
statue at the Marina, the magnificent Chepauk Palace of the
Arcot Nawabs built in the late 18th century that marked the
beginning of Indo-Saracenic architecture, Rajaji Hall or Banqueting
Hall, Mount Road, the changing of the guard in Madras, the
D'Angelis Hotel later to become Bosotto Hotel (the rooms are
now occupied by businesses), Spencer's, Spencer's Hotel, Triplicane,
Mylapore Temple, Pycrofts Road with jutkas (horse-drawn carriages),
North Beach Road, the old Madras skyline, George Town, the
boundary pillar for the Esplanade (now maintained by the Murugappa
Group), Poonamallee High Road, Central Station, gasoline vehicles,
Buckingham Canal (sailable once from Kakinada to Marakanam)
and the Victoria Public Hall.
For the book, many pictures from the past were matched with
ones from the present by Krishnan and his colleague, Vijayan.
Krishnan has more than 10,000 images of Madras that is Chennai.
Has
a record of the city between 1880 and 1930, all on glass plates.
Krishnan spoke about the special technology involved in the
photography of the times that produced some wonderful pictures.
Muthiah stressed that the property must be protected at any
cost. |
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