Amitava Chattopadhyay

Resident geek and author. Professor of Marketing at INSEAD. Devoted husband, occasionally effective father. Please reach me at the coordinates below. My website at http://amitavac.com

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The Mountains Are Calling – Prof. Amitava Chattopadhyay

The Mountains Are Calling – Prof. Amitava Chattopadhyay

He stood, looking at the mountain beckoning him – the two horn-shaped peaks separated by a low saddle bathed in golden light. He breathed heavily. He and his brother had been walking 25-35 kms every day, perhaps pushed too hard by the tour guide. Nausea coursed through his body even as the magnificent mountain filled him with wonder, but sensibility prevailed. Slowly, he turned and started…

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Why Brand Experience Failures are Endemic

Why Brand Experience Failures are Endemic

We live in the age of brand experience. Yet, again and again I find that brands the world over fail to create a strongly differentiated and positive brand experience. Three back-to-back brand experience failures makes me write this today.

The first experience was on December 3rd morning.  We were in Bangkok, where I had been on work, and staying at the Pathumwan Princess Hotel.  My wife had…

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When Advertising is Just a Waste of Money

When Advertising is Just a Waste of Money

Watching the recent cricket test match between India and England on TV in India, I was staggered at the level of advertising repetition I experienced. During one hour, I decided to keep track of the commercials aired. The brands and the number of times they advertised during the hour period are below.

As one can see, 17 different brands advertised during the hour. These brands covered a broad…

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Advertising Repetition Levels in India are Off the Charts! How Much Money is Being Wasted?

Advertising Repetition Levels in India are Off the Charts! How Much Money is Being Wasted?

Watching the test match between India and England on TV in India I was staggered at the level of advertising repetition that I experienced. During one hour, I decided to keep track of the commercials aired. The brands and the number of times they advertised during the hour period are below. As one can see, 17 different brands advertised during the hour. These brands covered a broad range of…

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Growing an Industry with Negative Associations: The Case of Cannabis

Growing an Industry with Negative Associations: The Case of Cannabis

A recent article in Lift Cannabis News Magazine entitled Cannabis Brand Warsgot me thinking about the challenges of building a brand in a stigmatized or “underground” product category.  While cannabis may have become legal in several US states, and Canada maybe considering making cannabis legal, the product still carries negative associations and the image of cannabis users is negative.  As such,…

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Study consumers in emerging markets…study firms in emerging markets

Study consumers in emerging markets…study firms in emerging markets

The key to successful entry into emerging markets lies in learning about customers in the field through experience. To compete against brands from emerging economies that will come to the fore in the future, it is necessary to learn “emerging market style” strategies. We met Prof. Amitava Chattopadhyay, who has studied firms from emerging markets for more than ten years, and learned those…

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Maintaining Market Dominance

Peter England, owned by leading menswear firm Aditya Birla Nuvo, has become a household name in India. As we describe in our case study, Peter England became the fastest apparel brand in Indian history to reach 1 billion rupees in sales and one of the most trusted brands in its category by providing aspirational apparel to India’s burgeoning middle class. When it launched in 1997, it focused on…

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Branding in an Emerging Market: Strategies for Sustainging Market Dominance of the Largest Apparel Brand in India

Branding in an Emerging Market: Strategies for Sustainging Market Dominance of the Largest Apparel Brand in India

This case illustrates the key issues and challenges in creating and sustaining a successful brand in emerging markets. Peter England, India’s largest apparel brand by sales volume, was struggling to formulate a strategy to sustain the brand’s market dominance. Indian consumer tastes were changing rapidly, making it difficult for any brand to stay relevant and fashionable over time. Meanwhile,…

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Lying, cheating banks and bankers: The case of Standard Chartered Bank I watched the movie “Short It” last night on my flight back to Singapore and was reminded about the self-centered and corrupt nature of banks and banking executives.

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Why The Shape Of A Company's Logo Matters

Why The Shape Of A Company’s Logo Matters

Think about the iconic brand names you know: Apple, Target, McDonald’s, Gap. What images come to mind? For many of us, probably their logos. That’s because whether it’s an apple or big golden arches, a logo is crucial to a company’s identity. Now, new research says that logos are even more important than businesses and consumers realize. A recent study in the Journal of Consumer Researchfound…

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Does Your Company Have the Right Logo? How and Why Circular- and Angular-Logo Shapes Influence Brand Attribute Judgments

Does Your Company Have the Right Logo? How and Why Circular- and Angular-Logo Shapes Influence Brand Attribute Judgments

Five experiments document that the mere circularity and angularity of a brand logo is powerful enough to affect perceptions of the attributes of a product or company. It is theorized and shown that circular vs. angular logo shapes activate softness and hardness associations, respectively, and these concepts subsequently influence product/company attribute judgments through a resource-demanding…

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To succeed, don’t just pursue profits.  Think about your purpose, what do you mean to your customers.  That gives your employees direction, creating energy and alignment.  That leads to satisfied customers and in turn profits.

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Breaking the curse of national particularism: EMNCs as pioneers of globalization

Breaking the curse of national particularism: EMNCs as pioneers of globalization

According to INSEAD Professor Amitava Chattopadhyay, an expert of the leading-edge trend of game-changing EMNCs, emerging markets are a gold mine of innovations. MNCs need to deep-dive into local customers for truly understanding them, which is a tough challenge for Japanese companies both in and outside emerging markets.

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What is missing in Japanese firms? – Even MNCs lack true understanding of customers

What is missing in Japanese firms? – Even MNCs lack true understanding of customers

The second part of the interview with INSEAD Professor Amitava Chattopadhyay, on the management approach and latest trends of EMNCs defying the common wisdom. This time the discussion explores what is missing in Japanese companies.

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How are EMNCs and Japanese firms different in their management strategies?

How are EMNCs and Japanese firms different in their management strategies?

EMNCs are starting to globalize seriously. Their management strategies differ from the those of firms from developed countries. How should Japanese firms think about EMNCs? This time, we bring the latest info on EMNCs from Professor Amitava Chattopadhyay of INSEAD.

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Inside the psychology of your logo: There’s a reason Gap’s redesign was such a failure

Inside the psychology of your logo: There’s a reason Gap’s redesign was such a failure

While they’re commonly called “intangible assets”, logos matter. Gap learned this lesson in 2010 when it attempted to change its logo, but quickly abandoned the endeavour after it met with a furious backlash from followers on Twitter and Facebook. What the retailer hadn’t realised was how the subtle aspects of its logo were perceived, and how a complete revamp might affect those perceptions.

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Attain at the West, Maintain at the East: Goal Framing Matters

Attain at the West, Maintain at the East: Goal Framing Matters

Let’s say that you run a bank. You decide to give more credit to your good customers. Should you give it those who increase their account balance by any amount (even as small as 1 euro) per year? Or to those who just maintain their account? Which offer would they find more appealing?

Now imagine that you are running a charity and you want to increase repeated donations. Should you ask your…

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