another boring mktng class

I was in Gera’a class today. Don’t know which subject. Something to do with marketing. Was attending classes after quite a bit and have decided that I will bog whatever I remember from the classes I attend from now on. It is really frustrating to not remember some of the stuff that I want to remember from classes and when I want to pen them down, the backbencher in me says, “hello! Are u really taking notes?”. It actually not notes, but just weird thoughts that cross my mind when I am in class and if I am attentive to the shit that happens.
Anyway … so today it all started with Saggi’s group giving a presentation on the Suzuki Samurai. The man started of himself, taking ownership, by asking the class what came to our minds when he said Suzuki Samurai. I vividly remember someone having said, marshal arts. The answer he expected was a bike, which Suzy said, to which he gave a satisfactory expression as if the bait had been taken. “EXACTLY what I had thought you would think, beamed the psychologist in Saggi” and the presentation was on its way. 2 min later Sethi took over and that was it. It was as if he had felt misused when Saggi had started off the presentation and he never stopped and went right upto the thank you slide. The others in the group kept watching. Not that I felt sorry for them, but I did for those who kept listening about the samurai. One the monologue was over, Gera wasked if anybody had any questions. There was a silence for two minutes and just when Gera was about to stand up in appreciation of the class’s aversion to dissemination, a few hands were raised. Ppl asked shit and shit was thrown back at them. Shirish, in between, replied to some stuff that Sahil (off all people) asked. I could just hear him murmur to himself. I am sure Sahil wasn’t answered but not that he expected to. It was all just an effort to make gera feel that B3 had matured as a marketing class over the past one year.
Once the “discussion” was over, gera took over. It was a 1 hour session that followed that included examples of the Ipod, Swatch, the sony robot and some other stuff that I did not hear. Apparently Swatch ka intended positioning was not to be a fashion accessory. They wanted it to be a brand that had a watch for every occasion.. from a late afternoon swim to an evening dinner. They sold it in the departmental stores and since it was priced significantly lower than other watches, it ended up more like a fashion accessory (or something of that sort is what Gera said. Apparently, its a very good case made by Harvard). Then we went on to the Sony robot. I forgot the name of that thing. SImanta raised the topic… right out of the blue, when gera was about to change the topic to something new. I think Sanjna’s proximity adds a new dimension to his questioning abilities. Anyway .. as long as he is impressive to the niche, its ok.
[[Deleted Content!!]] Gera said, apparently the robot was a huge success in japan because dogs are expensive to maintain in Japan, largely because of the lack of space. Ppl felt that having a robot dog made more sense, weirdly enough! But then Sony took this shit ti the US and the product needed some new positioning and revamping. It was not being bought by the old people, as it was in Japan, and on the contrary, the kids started buying it as a toy. It was obviously too expensive a toy and sony had to come up with cheaper versions of it to fulfil the market needs. Anyway .. there was blah blah and more blah on that.
There was a huge debate in the first year on whether mktng is a science or an art. I am beginning to get convinced that marketing is a farce. Neither science nor art! Who ever knows what they market is going to be a success or not? Can anybody take a product today and give it to me in writing that they will market it and it will be a success in the market?! NO. I can give it to u in writing that a particular phenomenon will occur under a particular set of rules. Lets say, for example, lightning. That’s s a guarantee science can give you. I can give it to you in writing that a particular nude painting of MF Hussein will be liked by the painting fraternity, especially if it includes madhuri dixit. That’s a guarantee art can give you. Marketing can give neither! Wots the fukn point then? How do I even remotely care if a god dam robot was bought by the elderly in Japan or if a particular version of the Viagra was appreciated by the population of Slovakia? They should then call it history, not marketing. Know what has happened in the past and try and not to repeat the mistakes man has made over the past years and learn from the wisdom he has accumulated. That’s history .. isn’t it? That’s also marketing.. isn’t it?