Of Money and a Muddled Memory

...and hello to you!

What have you been up to all this while? How are things?

Me, I've had a very eventful two weeks here. Here I am, two papers away from a postgraduation degree...and tentatively about to begin another trip, a new one entirely. And this evening, with the latest Mani Ratnam-Gulzar-Rahman masterpiece in the background, I am going to write about a few things.

Here's a revelation: I can actually understand Finance!

(If you're wondering why that is a revelation, well...Hi, I'm Crossworder. Nice meeting you!)

Getting back to the point, I discovered yesterday, to my utter astonishment, delight and alarm, that I am actually capable of making sense of all those concepts and calculations. Nothing very fancy or complicated, you understand, just basic Finance. But it stunned me to find myself following all of it last evening. Of course, one has to take into account the fact that I had a paper this afternoon, and I am one of those oddballs who perform best under pressure. Maybe it wasn't me, just the exam looming large. But, for a change, it made sense.

Does that mean I had a good Finance paper, then?

Nope.

I went a little mad during the paper. The first five minutes, I thought I could answer all the questions pat. Then, euphoria gave way to reason, and I picked my five questions and began the paper.

Ten minutes later, everything began to slip away.

Formulae rearranged themselves in my head. Capital structure blended itself inexorably into cash management. Theories and their assumptions and propositions melted into an unidentifiable mass.

No problem, I thought confidently, ignoring the ominous cackle somewhere in my head. Can't do these questions, will do the others. I know all of this.

No, I didn't. Not any more.

So I took a deep breath and sprinted out for a glass of water, the whole classroom's eyes following me. If they had all chorused, "What's with you?", I couldn't have heard it any clearer. Nobody voluntarily leaves the room during a paper like this. But I was suddenly thirsty, and it wasn't helping my convoluted thought processes any.

To cut a long story short, I did finish the paper. Was it good? No. Was it bad? I'll have to say, not very. Where the formulae and my memory were being uncooperative, I simply applied some homespun logic and doggedly got to the answer somehow. Not bad. Only, I'm not sure it was the right answer.

What next, do I hear you ask?

Why, Marketing, of course! I can't wait to get started. :)

It pays. Or does it?

Now here's something that made me sit up and take notice. With a total of five years of economics behind me, I am, academically, considerably acquainted with the concept and the mechanics of taxation. There's a faint personal acquaintance, too - the sort engendered by eleven months of paying taxes and a week of running around like a headless chicken when it is time to file returns. And, of course, there's Marketing, the other love of my life. But this is the first time I have seen the two coming together, and to call the phenomenon merely interesting would definitely be an understatement.

The first thing we were taught about taxes was that there is no quid pro quo involved. Taxes are unilateral payments made by households and firms, which are meant for the government's coffers. That they form a substantial portion of the government's revenues goes without saying. And while it is implicit in Public Finance that proceeds from taxation are used for the benefit of the economy, no individual is entitled to ask for anything specific in return for the taxes he pays. That's what theory says, and that's exactly what is borne out - more emphatically than is needed, if you ask the average citizen - by the actions of the government.

So I'm sure we have all either been - or seen - the person who wonders exactly where his hard-earned money is going, every time he drives over a potholed road or glances at literacy or health-related data in journals and papers. There are ways of questioning the government about its measures and policies. But if Household A paid Rs 60,000 in taxes this financial year, they cannot go asking for benefits worth that amount, or even question the use of the funds.

Which is why I did a double-take when I first spotted a half-page ad in a national daily, reading "Have you paid your taxes yet? You pay - the country pays back!" Of course, there's absolutely no implication that there is any quid pro quo. But what is fascinating is the attempt to address the cynicism that has come to characterise the attitude of the average tax-payer, some of it justified, some not. There have been attempts and platitudes before...this one is a novelty simply because it has been put down in black and white. Positioning taxation as an activity with moral and patriotic appeal - that's a first! Undoubtedly, there are several reasons - the moral and patriotic included - why one should pay one's taxes. There is also, by corollary, an equal number of reasons why that money should be put to honest use by the exchequer.

That is what makes this campaign intriguing. One hopes to goodness that those who designed the campaign will also remember that the job isn't complete till the promised value is delivered. If, after a colossal exercise like this one - it must have cost them a pretty penny; guess where the money came from! - tax-payers don't get to see exactly how the country is "paying back", the campaign will backfire on a similar scale. Public memory, usually notoriously short, is not equally forgiving when money from its pockets is involved. One recalls a certain campaign that claimed India was shining. Appalling people with the enormous wastage of taxation money, it succeeded only in eroding goodwill away from the ruling coalition. So, yes, while it is great to be told that the country will pay back, some evidence that the promise is being kept will go a long way. Do I sound cynical? I'm afraid that's how I feel. :)

Serendipity

One doesn't get to watch much TV these days. What with one thing and another, television isn't really high on my list of things to do. But am I glad I was sitting in front of the TV with my mug of coffee this evening! I came across one of the most effective commercials I have seen in a long, long while.

This one is for the Bajaj Discover DTS Si. Now, I don't know the first thing about bikes, but the basic premise of the ad is that one litre of fuel will take you about a 100 km on this one. It has been positioned as the best way to 'discover India': apparently, it isn't just a bike - it is an experience, and a chance to experience.

A young couple sets off on their DTS Si, duly wearing helmets, with the woman carrying her handbag. As they ride deeper into the heart of what we soon realise is Maharashtra, the woman begins to enjoy the ride, albeit with city-bred caution. She is extra careful about her bag and their helmets, insisting on carrying them wherever they stop for a rest. Thirty seconds into the ad, they find themselves in a strange town...every house is sans doors! She enters one of these to ask for directions to the temple...and this is where we are told that at a distance of about a 100 km from Aurangabad - or one litre of fuel on the DTS Si - is Shani Shingnapur, where no house needs doors because the people believe they are protected by Shanidev [the equivalent of Saturn in the Hindu pantheon]. As the couple gets ready to enter the temple, this young lady finally lets go of all the extra caution, leaves the helmets on the bike, and runs into the temple smiling with faith - of more than one sort.

Brilliant concept. Exceptional execution...and truly unique positioning. There are ways of telling the target audience about the USP, and there are other ways...but this stands out because it builds trivia and the discovery of India into the concept. True to its name, the product promises to allow you to discover all that you didn't know about your own country. Take a bow, Lowe Lintas!

It's been a while now...this commercial served as a reminder of how much my first love - Marketing - still means to me. Maybe I should start watching more television. :)

Video courtesy YouTube

Reminder

This is a morning of discoveries and inspiration :)

So I step into the chemist's for a toothbrush, twenty rupees in my pocket. I have been a regular there these last ten months, and she always smiles at me from across the counter, waiting while I pick up the usual: toothpaste, shampoo, soap and the odd strip of paracetamol or Band-Aid.

This morning, though, two things are decidedly different: the layout of merchandise in the personal care section, and her enthusiasm in personal care for me. After we say hello, she wants to know what kind of hair I have. "Curly and dry, am I right? Have you tried this shampoo yet?"

No, thank you, I say, the one I'm currently using suits me just fine (besides, those who know me will vouch for my fanatic adherence to a particular brand...only out of my sheer love of marketing :) I can barely hide my surprise at this sudden chattiness - and at the sudden profusion of products from an FMCG major on all the shelves at eye-level.

And all the time that I'm sifting through the toothbrushes in the basket, she waxes eloquent on the rosemary and thyme and vitamin E that make this shampoo absolutely the best thing to happen to curly hair. I smile politely and tell her I only have twenty rupees on me, and could I buy the toothbrush, please?

She obliges, even as a salesperson from a rival FMCG company walks in with a long list, greets her, makes himself comfortable on a chair, and begins to tell her about all the discounts she can get on bulk purchases and for meeting sales targets. I turn back as I walk out, and I see her examining her newly re-arranged shelves with a critical eye, already contemplating another re-arrangement.

But of course! Rule 1: Increase visibility. Rule 2: Woo the retailer.

How could I forget?