Age of photography services

Photographer - when we think of the term an image of a person with disheveled hair and rugged clothes lugging around a huge equipment around the neck, wandering in far corners of the world looking for a perfect shot. Apparently civilization was too mundane for them.

Bam! digital photography came and a mother with a kid wrapped around her neck, supported by her waist  became a photographer. I remember those days when we shot using those costly camera reels on family vacations, every picture needed to have our face in it because who knew which picture would simply refuse to appear on a paper. Now with my cell phone camera I shoot away happily and cramming the pictures in my computer hard drive which metaphorically creaked under the Gigabytes of photos. Yet there is an elite world of DSLR cam artists. I call them artist because of the wonders they do with their sophisticated cameras and high end softwares. People like me still don't understand aperture, ISO, white balance etc. Still I love to keep memories and share with friends and thanks to picassa, facebook and instagram.

When you come to think about it this is a whole segment of home grown photographers. I found the following needs that this segment has:
- Easy to operate camera: You don't need a big zoom lens to capture your dog doing tricks. A simple point and shoot device would do. This is where mobile phone makers have hit the nail right on the head.
- Simple editing service: This service need not require a software installation. It could be online. Now a days any tool from MS Office to picassa has simple picture correction and adjustment tools.
- Sharing services: Remember my creaking hard disk. Well it has just breathed a sigh of relief. All the photo sharing and online sharing services

There is a whole new dimension I found with a camera called Lytro. This is a special kind of camera which allows you to focus on different parts of a picture after capturing it. That is all about technology. The thing that interested me the most was its service that comes with the camera. After capturing the pictures you straight away upload those to your account on their website which has an inbuilt tool to change focus.

Perhaps other camera manufacturers should take a clue from this and realize that world is moving from just a good product to a great experience.

Mistakes I believe Kingfisher committed

A lot has been said about the quagmire that Kingfisher airlines has landed into so let me get straight to the point. What I present here is a perspective of a student of subjects of marketing and is based on fundas learnt from there.

• Product Strategy: The first thing that any student of marketing learns are the 4Ps of marketing. Out of all the first P stands for Product. Now from my own limited experience of flying I can say that the flights of 'Kingfisher Red' could have been better and I say from the point of view of a customer who looks for discount coupons even in economy flights and has the bare minimum expectation of getting to my destination on time and safely (well apart from the air sickness that I get sometimes). Things to be noted are as follows:

• Kingfisher started off initially as a premium service, acquired Deccan and changed its name to Kingfisher Red. I think while acquiring apart from the condition of Deccan airlines they would also have thought that customer would now feel more pride in being associated with a premium brand hence the red. Remember there were days when you could even bag a Deccan flight roundtrip for 700 bucks (INR not USD). But then they did not give a thought that on a Kingfisher check in counter at the airport how a customer would feel if there was discrimination based on whether your Kingfisher ticket had a 'First' or 'Red' attached to it?
• What's with the product? O.K. Let us step into the already delayed flight of Red. After a welcome with a forced smile and hassling the alley to my seat you could very well find that the earphone slot is not working or the screen in front is flickering incessantly. Why do you put these stuff there? I did not ask for them. I want to get home. I am tired of waiting for a flight like waiting for a train on the station which never seems to pay heed to something called clock! There goes the aspiration our of the oil stained window of my seat on Red. Yes the other P out of the 4 is for people and people travel in economy too.
• Then I find the company coming out with a glamorous calendar, a cricket team and oh! a swanky commercial complex. There is a clear disconnect.
• If you are operating an economy flight service there should be no frills attached. Why attach a few and make your service look like a partially decorated Christmas tree. (Hey there's something at the bottom, no wait, whoah! I found another one at the back). These seem like vestigial organs. For example what is the point of serving a free watered tea which I did not ask for. It seems like they wanted to do something but they forgot. This is the next P of the 4 Ps which is for Position which brings me to the next point.

• Brand Extension: It seems there is a great confusion about what do we consider the brand Kingfisher to be associated with. Is it a famous brand of alcoholic beverages? Is is an cricket premier league franchise? Is it a premium/economy airline? Errr... Keep guessing but it is all of it. But consumer brain does not appreciate this. It becomes a memory overload. People cannot pinpoint what to expect out of it. 
• Lot of contrasts in the flashy calendar girls and shoddy planes. Brand does only one thing and does it the best.
• No amount of tiny idlis and luke warm tea can wash over the above fact.
• Allow me to use a jargon but Kingfisher has too many things to say but there is a lack of what is called core brand value.

Well as a disclaimer I would like to say that I am not a disgruntled passenger. When it comes to fliers I am at the bottom of the pyramid (thank you Mr. Prahlad). I learn a lot of concepts day in and day out. But as my respected professors say 'It's all about application'. I have tried to critically analyze the situation and that is it. All the best Kingfisher and the readers. Hope you like it.