Aseem Chacha as he is fondly called sells bangles in Old City. His shop is nestled between 50 others in a small by lane. His wares are no different from others, he sources them in the same places and unlike some of his competitors he does not even advertise. Yet his is the most famous shop in that area and his name goes far and wide. So what does he do to make such differentiation occur and brand appeal happen? It’s all there in a huge ledger as he will tell you. It is no brand manual, but it contains names and contact details of his 80000+ customers who have visited his place in the last 25 years. He employs his entire family to send personalized greetings to each of them never failing to remember a birthday or an anniversary. He does not spam. He has taken permission from each and every one of them to let his small handmade card arrive at the correct doorstep. He gives a proud toothless grin when he says he has never lost a single customer.He doesn’t know what branding means but he could tell you a thing or too about retention.

Srinu drives an auto. His auto is one among the 2 lakh three wheelers that ply the city of Hyderabad. An average autowallah slogs 10 hrs a day and makes around 100-150 bucks after deducting the money to be paid to the owner. But Srinu ply his auto for only 6 hrs and makes twice as much. How does he do it? Well he’s targeted 4-5 places around the city where he knows he will find long distance commuters. He knows the right time and the right place to position in those spots. It took him a year to figure this out based on his own long spells and based on his observations and discussions with both customers and competitors. The experience in his auto is also far diff from others as well thanks to his value ads. He greets you, gives you the morning newspaper, has tied up with a local kirana store that gives him small Bisleri bottles which he sells on actual to his customers. That’s not all. He has also installed a phone in his auto just in case we need to make an emergency call. His music isn’t loud. He doesn’t have loud posters that hound us. Instead he’s got a display section where he has neatly affixed all the paper cuttings containing articles about his auto. Ask him about strategic marketing and he doesn’t know what that is. But he does know how to keep a family of four happy, how to educate his two children, and finally how to make time for work –life.

These two nuggets are examples of simple street smart marketers who have used the power of visibility to change things. They too live in the clutter of experiences and yet manage to stand out in the midst of them. There are practical examples of marketing put to use. They have learnt how to make the best of an opportunity. For those marketers who say that’s a toughie, these two stories should serve as an eye opener of how good things happen to those who learn and then apply it well.