Will Telangana sentiment work in Sanatnagar?

By HNN Election Desk

It’s a battle between development plank and Telangana sentiment in the Sanathnagar assembly constituency.

The sitting MLA and current nominee from Sanathnagar Marri Shashidhar Reddy has won this seat twice, and is now harping on the development works he has undertaken, while TRS candidate T Padma Rao is hoping to cash in on the Telangana sentiment in this election.

The BJP has fielded former party floor leader in the municipal corporation Shyam Sunder from here. Interestingly, Begumpet ex-corporator and TDP leader G R Linga Murthy also filed his nomination, but as an independent. Murthy, however, withdrew his nomination later.

While M Shashidhar Reddy began his campaign 10 days ago, others hit the campaign trail on Saturday. Shashidhar Reddy, the son of former chief minister Marri Channa Reddy, has been undertaking a low-profile campaign in colonies without rallies and fanfare, choosing to seek votes on the basis of his past performance as legislator from the constituency.

“I never make any promises to voters whether they are from a posh colony or a slum. I just respond to my constituents whenever they bring any problem or issue to my notice,” Shashidhar Reddy told TOI while campaigning at Model colony near Sanathnagar. His wife Indira, sons Aditya and Pururava and daughter Hem are supporting him in the campaigning.

Shashidhar Reddy who has an MS from the US and is a member of the National Disaster Management Authority, tells a small gathering at Model Colony, “I have taken up several activities when you petitioned me in the past. Now, I have the right and liberty to seek your vote again.”

This Congress nominee claims to have a 20-year old association with this colony. “When my father and former chief minister Marri Channa Reddy contested from this assembly segment in 1989, I looked after his election campaign,” he states. Shashidhar Reddy had contested from Sanathnagar in the 1994, 1999 and 2004 assembly elections and lost only in 1999, to TDP’s S Rajeshwar.

“Recently, our colony was sanctioned a water pipeline of 6 mm in place of 4 mm thanks to the efforts of our MLA. When a file pertaining to modern lights went missing in the corporation, he sent his PA to the corporation and got the lights sanctioned,” S Sudhakar Reddy, a resident of Model Colony, told TOI.

Among Shashidhar Reddy’s opponents for the seat is the former municipal corporator and Greater Hyderabad TRS president T Padma Rao, who was MLA from Secunderabad in 2004. “There is a strong Telangana sentiment in the city. TDP and communist parties are also strong in this constituency,” said Padma Rao, exuding confidence.

“Also, there are several slums in areas like Bansilalpet, Ambedkar Nagar and Balkampet where TRS and TDP have a strong base,” the TRS candidate added.

Then there is the BJP candidate and former corporator from Ameerpet Shyam Sunder, who hopes that the development activities he took up during his tenure as corporator in Ameerpet area and the strong party cadre in the constituency will help him win.

CONSTITUENCY PROFILE SANATNAGAR
Total no. of voters: 1,83,015 |
Male voters: 94,069 |
Female voters: 88,946 |

The main areas: SP Road, Mahankali Street, Patigadda, Park Lane, RP Road, Subash Road, Monda Market, Balkampet, Bansilalpet, Ameerpet, Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar, Patigadda, Begumpet, Old Ghasmandi and other areas. Delimitation had some impact on this constituency. While Bhoiguda, Padmaraonagar and Bansilalpet areas were added in Sanatnagar, some areas like Fatehnagar, parts of Begumpet and parts of Sanatnagar were included in the newly-created Kukatpally assembly constituency.

Will Karwan become Afsar’s bastion again?

By Ayaan Khan

Afsar Khan’s reputation of a hooligan and troublemaker is not not borne out during a ‘padayatra’ as he shakes hands and flashes his best smile when moving around parts of Karwan assembly constituency with a band of supporters.

The 58-year-old sitting MIM MLA walks through Muslim-dominated Moti Darwaza and Toli Chowki areas, misses a step on the potholed roads, but promises better infrastructure if he wins another term.

His opponent from BJP, D Karunakar, who was earlier a corporater, believes that Afsar Khan’s image has taken a beating with his acts of hooliganism. “Educated Muslims have decided to vote against him,” he claims.

Small wonder then that MIM workers knock the doors and ‘summon’ residents to shake hands with ‘their’ MLA, who is contesting for the third term. “Dekho Afsar Khan aayen hain aap se milne (See, Afsar Khan has come to meet you)” they announce. This time, it is the house of a 26-year-old businessman Mohammed Parvez, who rushes out, holding his son. As the sitting MLA requests him to vote for MIM, Parvez assures him “zaroor zaroor,’’ (sure) and a confident Khan moves ahead.

BJP’s D Karunakar, 45, too is undertaking a similar ‘padayatra’, in the Hindu-dominated Jiyaguda area. BJP had had a consecutive three-term run in this constituency before MIM established its supremacy.

Karwan has a mix of posh neighbourhoods and slums. Strangely, the area does not have a single government junior college. The only government school here is in a pathetic state. “I have been living in this area for over five decades, but haven’t not seen any change. Pothole-ridden roads, no sewer lines, inadequate water and power supply,” says 59-year-old M Shankaraiah, a bangle store owner in Karwan, listing problems here. Shankaraiah is a Congress supporter.

Karwan was a communally sensitive constituency till the 1990s. Though the situation has changed now, women still fear venturing out after 8 pm. “With no street lights, the roads wear a deserted look after 9 pm. And there is no transportation,” B Usha, 28, who works in a store in Secunderabad, said. The APSRTC operates just one service to the area, which also does not stick to the schedule forcing many to depend on auto rickshaws.

Ashraf Begum, a 35-year-old homemaker from Tallagadda, seeks better government healthcare services here. “Due to contamination of drinking water, children are falling sick frequently. Civic officials do not sweep the area. Piling garbage dumpsalso cause health problems,” Ashraf, a supporter of MIM said.

A first-time candidate for another party, R Manik Prabhu, 55, who is also the secretary of the Twin Cities Vegetable Market Welfare Association, said, “There is only one government hospital in Golconda, hardly functioning properly. Same is the case with the only school. If voted to power, I will change the face of Karwan,” Prabhu said.

Congress has fielded T Roop Singh, CPM K Srinivas Reddy and BSP M Kalidhar from this constituency.

The sitting MLA spins a development story to justify his claim for the third term. “Works worth Rs 130 crores have been taken up during my term. A Rs 3.5-crore water line was laid and an electric sub-station was set up. An outlet for draining storm water was created for the convenience of Nadeem Colony residents,” Khan added.

Due to delimitation, three divisions were shifted to the newly-created Assembly constituencies. The voters elected MIM in 1999 and 2004.

FACT SHEET: KARWAN
Total electorate | 2,19,663
Male voters | 1,13,556,
Female voters | 1,06,107

Main Areas: Toli Chowki, Badabanda, Imampura, Jiyaguda, Sabzimandi, Karwan, Tappachabutra, Lodhshetriya Nagar, Tallagadda, Joshiwadi, Jaffarguda, Bapughat, Langer Houz, Hasimnagar, Prabhatnagar, Pensionpura, Bapunagar, MD Lines, Mehraj Colony, Hakeempet, Kakatiya Nagar, Ibrahimbagh, Ramdevguda, Salehnagar, Bada Bazar, Chota Bazar, Risala Bazar, Khazigalli, Jinsi Bazar, Rethi Galli, Takhat Bowli and Heer Khana

TDP, TRS maha fight for many in Hyderabad

By M H Ahssan

Grand alliance partners — TDP, TRS and the Left parties — are set to fight one another in at least 15 assembly and two Lok Sabha constituencies as most of the candidates fielded from there by the respective parties remained in the fray as the last date for withdrawal of nominations for the first phase of polling on April 16 ended on Thursday evening.

While Secunderabad and Warangal are the Lok Sabha seats in which both TDP and TRS candidates are in the fray, the assembly seats where they are clashing include Karwan, Kukatpally, Uppal, Patancheru, Maheshwaram, Suryapet, Sangareddy, Dornakal, Warangal (East), Huzurnagar, Mahbubnagar, Sircilla, Parakala, Bhoopalapalli, Mancherial, Yellareddy, Nizamabad (Urban), Peddapalli, Manthani and Chennur.

In Secunderabad LS constituency, which has been allotted to the TRS, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu painted TRS candidate M D Mohammed Mahmood Ali as a weak one and roped in Srinivasa Sudish Rambhotla as his nominee.

Rambhotla told TOI on Thursday evening that there were no instructions from the TDP president to withdraw. The TDP and the TRS are also set to clash in the city assembly constituencies like Karwan, Kukatpally, Uppal and Maheshwaram. In Maheshwaram, which has been allotted to the TRS, the TDP has put up T Krishna Reddy against K Prabhakar Reddy.

However, TDP’s Kukatpally nominee P L Srinivas withdrew from the contest on Thursday.

Rebel candidate P Vijaya, daughter of former Congress MLA P Janardhan Reddy, was initially said to have backed out of the race from Serilingampally assembly segment, but Rangareddy district officials clarified on Thursday night that she is still in the contest.

Mana Party’s Kasani Gyaneshwar, who has an alliance with the Prajarajyam Party, is in the fray from Chevella Lok Sabha constituency as well as for the Qutubullapur assembly seat where he would clash with PRP’s Jeevender Reddy. Similarly, PRP’s Rajpal Reddy and Mana Party’s Md Umar Ali Arshad Shafi are set to take on one another in the Rajendernagar assembly segment.

Among the other withdrawals, TDP nominee M N Srinivasa Rao pulled out from Musheerabad assembly constituency where TRS’ Nayani Narasimha Reddy is the official alliance candidate. The TRS withdrew its candidate, Shobhan Babu Mothe, from Secunderabad in favour of TDP’s T Srinivas Yadav and from Yakutpura, it pulled out Md Abdul Salam Sharafan, again in favour of the TDP. In the Congress, rebel candidate V Narayana Reddy pulled out of the race from Malakpet assembly segment.

Alliance partners TDP and CPM are clashing in Patancheru and Dornakal assembly constituencies allotted to the CPM while the TRS and CPI are set to clash in Husnabad which has been given to the latter. On its part, the CPM has not pulled out its candidates from Station Ghanpur and Sattenpally which have been given to the TDP.

At least 10 rebel TRS candidates remained in the fray including from Manakondur, Alair, Sircilla, Qutubullapur, Wardhannapet, Warangal (West), Parkal, Bhoopalapalli, Manakondur and Ramagundum assembly constituencies. The only TRS rebel candidate who withdrew is M Varalaxmi from Sangareddy.

In all, there were 71 withdrawals for the 22 Lok Sabha seats and 660 withdrawals for 154 assembly seats going for the polls in the first phase, leaving 305 LS candidates and 1833 assembly candidates in the fray.

With the nomination phase having been over, leaders of the various parties have now embarked on their gruelling campaigns.

PEOPLE ARE BEING DENIED DROUGHT RELIEF IN THE NAME OF MODEL CODE CURSE OF THE POLL CODE

Officials Fear That Any Relief Measure May Violate Code; Observers Blame Lack Of Sincerity On Part Of Both Politicians & Administration

The general elections has come as a bane for almost two-thirds of Maharashtra, with the summer setting in early and the poll code making it difficult for the administration to take speedy action.

The mercury has already touched 42 degree Celsius in many parts of the state, the land wears a parched look, and the livestock are underfed. Yet the government machinery is unable (or claim their inability) to act as they need the Election Commission’s permission to undertake any relief measure.

In normal times, the government machinery makes water tankers available and releases fodder for the livestock. This year, however, the model code of conduct has paralysed the government.

Government officials now think twice before taking any decision that can be perceived as wooing or influencing the voters. They even defer routine decisions such as releasing water tankers or fodder, which normally do not need any approval from higher authorities.

“The government machinery cites model code of conduct to defend its inaction. Political parties are busy cashing in on farmers’ plight. But no one is sincere in addressing them,” said Vijay Javandia, a Vidarbha-based farm activist.

With water scarcity becoming an issue that can’t be wished away, local politicians, who are busy campaigning, too are demanding that drought relief measures be exempted from the model code of conduct.

“The situation is grim. We have written to the EC asking it to review the situation and relax the code of conduct,” BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari told ET. “Local level officers avoid taking any decision fearing the EC’s wrath,” he said.

“Though the government is aware of the situation, it’s not in a position to handle it on a war footing. There are certain restrictions,” said an official from the state’s relief and rehabilitation ministry. According to him, they (the officials) need the EC’s permission before undertaking any relief measures. “The process to get the EC nod for these measures has already been initiated. But it takes time to get every decision scrutinised,” the official said.

However, Mr Bhandari is not ready to buy the administration’s argument at face value. “Water and fodder supply to drought-hit areas has been kept out of the EC’s purview,” Mr Bhandari said referring to the precedent set by former chief election commissioner TN Sheshan.

He said Mr Sheshan had kept drought-relief measures out of the purview of the model code of conduct. “The code of conduct will be in force till May 16, the day votes will be counted. By then, the summer would be in its last leg. Does this mean the government will keep ignoring the drought-hit areas till then?” asked Mr Bhandari.

HNN had reported on Monday that many parts of Maharashtra were already witnessing severe water shortage, early into the summer. Many regions of the state, which received only about 30% of the total average rainfall last year, are facing severe water scarcity.

Regions like Darwha tehsil in Vidarbha’s Yavatmal district have demanded that the state government declare the tehsil as drought-hit and initiate measures to deal with it.

The district has a sugarcane cultivation of over 13,000 hectares along the banks of Adan river. It has been severely hit by scarcity of rainfall. Other crops like tur, cotton and vegetables are also under threat, and there is an urgent need for declaring the tehsil as drought-hit, they say.

“Many districts in Vidarbha have lost their entire soya bean crop. Theywere not given any relief earlier and now it’s not possible because of the elections. These farmers are left to fend for themselves,” Mr Javandia said.

Poll code doesn’t bar humanitarian, emergency relief measures: EC
The Election Commission has taken a serious view of the incidents in Maharashtra, wherein government officials tasked with drought relief work have cited election model code of conduct to put relief measures on hold. Reacting to a complaint made by the BJP that drought relief measures are not being carried out in parts of the state by government officials on the pretext that the code of conduct was in force, Election commissioner SY Qureshi made it clear that the poll code did not interfere with “humanitarian and emergency relief measures”. “This has been made clear umpteen times. Humanitarian work has to be carried out irrespective of the election code of conduct. We will pull up officials concerned if such cases are brought to our notice,” he said.

Candidates give urban voters a miss in Hyderabad

By M H Ahssan

Netas Feel They Are Non-Voters, Hence Their Problems Do Not Figure In Poll Campaign

When Bill Clinton and George Bush came calling, they were promptly whisked to the swankiest part of the city which was showcased not only as Hyderabad’s pride but even its identity. Pictures of the campuses of software firms here have been used liberally over the last few years by the government to show how hip Hyderabad is. But civic concerns of people working or living in this IT hub have failed to make it to the manifestos of candidates contesting for the newly created Serilingampally assembly seat.

Comprising areas such as Madhapur, Hi-Tec City, Miyapur, Gachibowli and Kondapur, Serilingampally is possibly the most urban constituency in the state. But peep into the campaign plans of candidates, and you realise the urban voter just doesn’t exist for them. With a population of close to 6.5 lakh with roughly 3.81 lakh registered voters, candidates are sure that despite techies and their families forming a huge chunk of the population, they are not potential voters.

They reason that a good part of the urban population living here comprise migrants working in software companies and thus do not form a large vote bank for any party.

So, issues such as those of traffic, bad roads, lack of public transport and irregular water supply that have been grossly neglected by the present government are being ignored by the prospective MLAs as well. Instead, the focus of candidates across parties are the issues of the 72 slums dotting this area — that stretches from Raidurg to BHEL and Jagadgirigutta to Madhapur. “Travelling from Banjara Hills towards Shilparamam during peak hours is a nightmare. We get stuck in the traffic for hours together.

The roads are narrow and the signals are just not manned efficiently,” said P Naresh, a banker living in that area. This apart, the lack of a proper drainage system, especially in Hi-Tec City, has become a major concern not just for residents but also for environmentalists. “Chandrababu Naidu might have developed the area into an IT hub, but he paid no attention to the drainage system. Thus, during rainy season all the dirty water of this area enters the Durgam Cheruvu lake that not only pollutes the water body but also spoils its charm,” said citizen activist Jeevanand Reddy.

The candidates could well be underestimating the urban voter strength. This year, many IT companies have undertaken campaigns to coax employees to get themselves registered which has indeed led to better awareness and more people from this part getting registered.

However, denying the lack of attention paid to urban pockets, candidates say they have been campaigning in every locality and addressing issues concerning all sections of society. “We are not neglecting anyone. We promise to solve traffic and drainage problems here,” said Bhikshapati Yadav, Congress candidate, who earlier served as Serilingampally municipality chairman. However, his campaigns and padayatras so far have only been restricted to the rural pockets of Serilingampally constituency.

The highlight of Prajarajyam Party candidate Bandi Ramesh’s campaign too is about providing cooking material at Rs 100 to all poor families. “We are working towards providing social justice and hence this package,’’ he said. Predictably, urban issues are missing from his campaign plan.

“There isn’t much problem in the urban part,’’ he said, adding, however that a request to extend metro rail up to Patancheru has been made.

The reaction was much the same from the Telugu Desam Party camp, when asked about addressing the qualms of the middle class. “Some law and order problem needs to be looked into in these areas. That’s about it,” said Muvva Satyanarayana, the party candidate, before beginning to list the many problems, from drinking water to drainage, persisting in the slums of Serilingampally that he would want to address.

Fidayeen on terror mission in India

By M H Ahssan

Security agencies have been placed on high alert following an intelligence report that 7-8 trained pilots and more than a dozen women fidayeen have entered the country on a mission to carry out terror strikes and hijackings.

Security arrangements across the country have been reviewed and beefed up following the input that was received six days ago by Maharashtra police and some other security agencies. This was three days before the threat e-mail landed at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai and a Taj property in Chennai.

All security agencies and police force have now been briefed about a group of 20 people, who could be Pakistani nationals, entering the Indian soil. According to a source, “A group of 20 people, who could be Pakistani nationals, have entered the country to carry out terror strikes or a plane hijack. The group includes seven trained pilots and 13-14 women.’’

The latest intelligence is also one of the most serious threat intimations received by the aviation ministry.

“While we have been receiving terror threats repeatedly after 26\11, the current input is clearly the biggest one airports have received so far,’’ according to an official.

The message was conveyed to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), which forwarded it to all airports across the country.

For the aviation sector, the message revives memories of the IC-814 hijacking by Jaish-e-Mohammed operatives on April 24, 1999. The hijackers demanded release of their leader Maulanad Masood Azhar from an Indian jail. In a hostage swap, the government released Azhar.

“As it is, security is tight due to continuing perception of terror threats post the bombings across the country and the 26\11 Mumbai attacks. This message has yet again put pressure to plug all loopholes, if any,’’ said an official. “Places regarded as valuable targets are under watch,’’ he added.

The input doesn’t specify the age group of the suspected Pakistani terrorists. Nor does it say how the group sneaked in.

A senior intelligence official said, “We cannot take a chance. This group may also be planning to disrupt the Lok Sabha elections in the country this month.’’

Neuromarketing In The Era Of Hyperactive Competition

By M H Ahssan

Market conditions are no longer just competitive, but hyperactive. And at the epicentre of this hyperactivity lies the consumer - caught in a perpetual flux as the constantly shifting dynamics rumble through his/her cognitive faculties. HNN explores the growing trend that is revolutionising the world of branding - Neuromarketing

To say that there is a surfeit of competition is stating the obvious. But how do companies ensure that consumers prefer them over the rest during that vital moment of truth, when the consumer is at the store within picking distance of their brand, or for that matter, their competitor’s. There are enough and more cases to highlight the fact that consumers walk the other way at the very last minute, leaving their preferred brand out in the cold. Shubhra S Kumar is one such consumer. When Kumar entered a large format retail store last week, she had already made up her mind on what she wanted to buy — three casual shirts, all Pepe. But when she walked out, her shopping bag did not have a single shirt from her preferred brand. Instead she had picked up a rather lesser-known brand Rig, without any salesperson pushing it down her throat. Why? Kumar states the obvious, that she found the range of Rig attractive in the key parameters of colours, finish and design.

For a new and growing tribe of experts in the field of marketing, this vague explanation is perfectly clear. For this is a set that probes for a deeper meaning using medical technologies like the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to explore last minute changes in consumer behaviour. Did Kumar’s brain pick up signals from a hyperactive competitor at the point of sale? Did the mind play tricks, or did it take a short cut in the purchase decision process? Called Neuromarketing, it’s the new, advanced, marketing technique that’s catching on like forest fire. To put it simply, Neuromarketing studies the marketing stimuli among consumers using techniques that are perfected not in business schools, but in medical universities — sensory, motor, cognitive, affective response and so on.

Be doubly sure, this is no brain wave, but a technique that’s finding a remarkable acceptance in the marketing departments of large corporations. An Internet search of the term ‘Neuro marketing’ throws up 2.5 million results. And the companies that are currently using Neuromarketing to mine for insights to their increasing roster of marketing challenges include the top-notch marketing corporations ranging from automobile companies to beverage makers. You name them, they have tried it. In fact, as we were going to press with this issue, a source told BE about a large scale, and extremely successful Neuromarketing exercise, being undertaken by a leading consumer goods company in India (more about that later).

When the next big thing, does become The Big Thing, CMOs could come with the prefix of ‘Dr’ to their names. Because understanding Neuromarketing, could mean bringing the expertise of understanding the human brain to the marketing world. For example, when consumers avoid the brand in question, a Neuromarketer could conduct an fMRI analysis to understand which areas of the brain actually influence such aversive behaviour. Or it can identify certain genetic codes that separate the risk takers from the conservatives and help companies design campaigns that trigger the risk takers to take action and prefer their brand over the competition.

If experts in the field are to be believed this data can be tracked in a manner that’s completely non-invasive. “Neural activity results in the generation of electro-magnetic signals that can be captured by sensors. These signals are processed and then analysed statistically to draw behavioural patterns of consumers,” explains P C Kutty, J Eddie chair professor at the FRM school of business. He adds that the accuracy of these measurements, that can be filtered down to the order of milliseconds (one-thousandth of a second) has attracted the interest of researchers who are demystifying the decision-making process.

N Swami, a senior executive from an MNC that’s tried out Neuromarketing points out that another area of interest that’s gaining ground among Neuromarketers, is to track the connection between the codes passed by the optical nerves to the brain. Some questions that are being asked by marketers include, do consumers exhibit a bias to products that they see more often, through exposure to advertisements and product displays, or do they pick brands that they see first at the store shelves. Other questions that are being explored include, does a product being placed on the left stand a better chance of being picked — considering that in countries like ours, consumers are trained from a young age to look from left to right (remember, before crossing the road).

At another level, the science of Neuromarketing is also being used to track which is the best possible marketing channel strategy, how consumers react to different pack sizes and price points at various points, which distribution strategy works better in triggering the positive response, which distribution mechanism sends confusing codes to the brain and so on. R Banerjee at the The Retail Institute points out that even different retail chains can trigger different stimuli among consumers. “The same consumer may buy your product at one retail point, but choose your competitor at another retail destination. This can happen despite the space allocated to your brand remaining the same” he says. That’s because different retail chains can have a different influence on the perception and evaluation of the product.

Other factors that influence the decision making process include the brain retrieving the episodic memory, past experience with the brand, sensory memory (memory that is stimulated through the senses) and so on. Analysis by neuromarketers help in establishing which parts of the brain show the maximum activity while selecting or rejecting a brand. These findings help marketers find out what are the influencing factors behind consumer susceptibility and helps in positioning the product in such a manner that it results in developing a judgement bias in favour of the product and also develop even the right product and price strategy for the entire portfolio of offerings.

Take the case of a large consumer goods manufacturer who’s supposedly running one of the largest Neuromarketing programmes that the country has seen. In this case, the company saw a remarkable decline in several of its key categories particularly in some retail formats, that too in particular states in the last three months. As a part of its critical salvage operations, the company also initiated a Neuromarketing exercise that has in a short span delivered much more than what the company bargained for. What triggered this amazing turnaround?

Neuromarketing In The Era Of Hyperactive Competition

By M H Ahssan

Market conditions are no longer just competitive, but hyperactive. And at the epicentre of this hyperactivity lies the consumer - caught in a perpetual flux as the constantly shifting dynamics rumble through his/her cognitive faculties. HNN explores the growing trend that is revolutionising the world of branding - Neuromarketing

To say that there is a surfeit of competition is stating the obvious. But how do companies ensure that consumers prefer them over the rest during that vital moment of truth, when the consumer is at the store within picking distance of their brand, or for that matter, their competitor’s. There are enough and more cases to highlight the fact that consumers walk the other way at the very last minute, leaving their preferred brand out in the cold. Shubhra S Kumar is one such consumer. When Kumar entered a large format retail store last week, she had already made up her mind on what she wanted to buy — three casual shirts, all Pepe. But when she walked out, her shopping bag did not have a single shirt from her preferred brand. Instead she had picked up a rather lesser-known brand Rig, without any salesperson pushing it down her throat. Why? Kumar states the obvious, that she found the range of Rig attractive in the key parameters of colours, finish and design.

For a new and growing tribe of experts in the field of marketing, this vague explanation is perfectly clear. For this is a set that probes for a deeper meaning using medical technologies like the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to explore last minute changes in consumer behaviour. Did Kumar’s brain pick up signals from a hyperactive competitor at the point of sale? Did the mind play tricks, or did it take a short cut in the purchase decision process? Called Neuromarketing, it’s the new, advanced, marketing technique that’s catching on like forest fire. To put it simply, Neuromarketing studies the marketing stimuli among consumers using techniques that are perfected not in business schools, but in medical universities — sensory, motor, cognitive, affective response and so on.

Be doubly sure, this is no brain wave, but a technique that’s finding a remarkable acceptance in the marketing departments of large corporations. An Internet search of the term ‘Neuro marketing’ throws up 2.5 million results. And the companies that are currently using Neuromarketing to mine for insights to their increasing roster of marketing challenges include the top-notch marketing corporations ranging from automobile companies to beverage makers. You name them, they have tried it. In fact, as we were going to press with this issue, a source told BE about a large scale, and extremely successful Neuromarketing exercise, being undertaken by a leading consumer goods company in India (more about that later).

When the next big thing, does become The Big Thing, CMOs could come with the prefix of ‘Dr’ to their names. Because understanding Neuromarketing, could mean bringing the expertise of understanding the human brain to the marketing world. For example, when consumers avoid the brand in question, a Neuromarketer could conduct an fMRI analysis to understand which areas of the brain actually influence such aversive behaviour. Or it can identify certain genetic codes that separate the risk takers from the conservatives and help companies design campaigns that trigger the risk takers to take action and prefer their brand over the competition.

If experts in the field are to be believed this data can be tracked in a manner that’s completely non-invasive. “Neural activity results in the generation of electro-magnetic signals that can be captured by sensors. These signals are processed and then analysed statistically to draw behavioural patterns of consumers,” explains P C Kutty, J Eddie chair professor at the FRM school of business. He adds that the accuracy of these measurements, that can be filtered down to the order of milliseconds (one-thousandth of a second) has attracted the interest of researchers who are demystifying the decision-making process.

N Swami, a senior executive from an MNC that’s tried out Neuromarketing points out that another area of interest that’s gaining ground among Neuromarketers, is to track the connection between the codes passed by the optical nerves to the brain. Some questions that are being asked by marketers include, do consumers exhibit a bias to products that they see more often, through exposure to advertisements and product displays, or do they pick brands that they see first at the store shelves. Other questions that are being explored include, does a product being placed on the left stand a better chance of being picked — considering that in countries like ours, consumers are trained from a young age to look from left to right (remember, before crossing the road).

At another level, the science of Neuromarketing is also being used to track which is the best possible marketing channel strategy, how consumers react to different pack sizes and price points at various points, which distribution strategy works better in triggering the positive response, which distribution mechanism sends confusing codes to the brain and so on. R Banerjee at the The Retail Institute points out that even different retail chains can trigger different stimuli among consumers. “The same consumer may buy your product at one retail point, but choose your competitor at another retail destination. This can happen despite the space allocated to your brand remaining the same” he says. That’s because different retail chains can have a different influence on the perception and evaluation of the product.

Other factors that influence the decision making process include the brain retrieving the episodic memory, past experience with the brand, sensory memory (memory that is stimulated through the senses) and so on. Analysis by neuromarketers help in establishing which parts of the brain show the maximum activity while selecting or rejecting a brand. These findings help marketers find out what are the influencing factors behind consumer susceptibility and helps in positioning the product in such a manner that it results in developing a judgement bias in favour of the product and also develop even the right product and price strategy for the entire portfolio of offerings.

Take the case of a large consumer goods manufacturer who’s supposedly running one of the largest Neuromarketing programmes that the country has seen. In this case, the company saw a remarkable decline in several of its key categories particularly in some retail formats, that too in particular states in the last three months. As a part of its critical salvage operations, the company also initiated a Neuromarketing exercise that has in a short span delivered much more than what the company bargained for. What triggered this amazing turnaround?