Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

Event: Risk, Competitiveness and Sustainability

A conference focused on risk, competitiveness and sustainability is taking place February 27th - 28th, 2012 in Bangalore. The conference is intended to challenge companies in India to embrace sustainable business models in order to effectively meet business, social and environmental risks. The conference is being hosted by Infosys, Center for Public Policy (CPP) at IIM-Bangalore, the Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability (STEPS) Centre, University of Sussex UK, UKIERI and Climate3C.

Panel discussions and keynote speeches will make a case for a shift in attitude and to overcome the inertia towards ‘sustainability’ within businesses. Case studies will be presented by companies that have structured their business models around sustainability along with valuable insights and forecasts provided by environmental consultancies, global organizations, leading accountancy firms, universities and government.

On Wednesday, February 29, 2012 11:00 AM PST / 2:00 PM EST there will be a discussion titled "Insider Knowledge 2012: New Energy & Environmental Management Strategies Lessons Learned from Corporate Environmental, Sustainability and Energy Decision-Makers."

Join Constellation Energy, Environmental Leader and LNS Research’s Matthew Littlefield for a one-hour best practices webinar delivering essential education and practical advice on best practices and pitfalls to avoid in managing environmental, energy and sustainability programs.

Matthew Littlefield, President and Principal Analyst of LNS Research, will introduce and address key findings from Environmental Leader’s 2012 Insider Knowledge Report as well as from his own research. He’ll make specific recommendations you can implement around areas including:
Increasing compliance
  • Meeting consumer demand for more sustainable products
  • Best practices around people, process, and culture
  • Energy and carbon issues
  • How technology strategies impact the entire energy lifecycle
Other speakers include: Michael D. Smith, Senior Vice President Green Initiatives with Constellation Energy and Constellation Energy customer, Rick Swiontek, Senior Energy Manager for Johnson Controls, Inc. Michael and Rick will share practical advice on managing energy usage, energy budgets and environmental goals.

All webinar attendees will also receive a complimentary copy of Environmental Leader’s 2012 Insider Knowledge Report. This report is a compilation of real sustainability initiative results, environmental and energy management lessons and other insights gained in 2011 from hundreds of corporate environmental, sustainability and energy decision-makers.

Conference Speakers

Matthew Littlefield is President and Principal Analyst of LNS Research where he covers topics including: Sustainability, Enterprise Quality Management Software, Manufacturing Operations Management, Asset Performance Management, and Industrial Automation 2.0. (see his blog and research here). Prior to becoming President and Principal Analyst at LNS Research, Matthew spent the past 10 years working in and around the manufacturing industry. Most recently Matthew spent the 5 years prior as Senior Analyst at Aberdeen and was responsible for all aspects of Aberdeen’s Manufacturing Research practice. Prior to working at Aberdeen, Matthew spent 5 years working for global manufacturing companies, including Unilever and HP Hood, in a range of shop floor and continuous improvement team roles. Matthew also holds a BA in Economics and MS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of Massachusetts.

Michael D. Smith is Senior Vice President Green Initiatives with Constellation Energy and leads the company’s renewable energy and energy efficiency businesses. These business segments are focused on providing sustainable energy solutions to commercial and industrial businesses and government agencies via sales of renewable energy, installation of on-site solar generation and deployment of energy conservation measures. Constellation’s solar business also develops utility scale solar projects throughout the US.

Previously, Mike was Vice President and Director of International Energy Policy for Constellation in its London office, where he provided regulatory and policy support for Constellation’s international power, gas, coal, freight, uranium and carbon businesses. During his career, Mike has participated in numerous legal and regulatory matters involving the competitive energy markets, including the restructuring of the U.S. and European natural gas, power, renewable and carbon markets, wholesale and retail gas and power competition and the formation and structure of independent system operators. Mike earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Miami and a JD from the Duke University School of Law.

Rick S. Swiontek is Senior Energy Manager for Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI) where he manages supply and demand side energy and utility needs including electricity, natural gas, and water/sewer expense for JCI's internal facilities in the Power Solutions and Building Efficiency Groups in the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. Rick works with leaders from various departments to support energy procurement, rate analysis, energy efficiency initiatives, risk management, energy cost planning, design, forecasting, budgeting and hedging. He has delivered over $10 million in savings to the company in his first 4 years.

Click here for the conference schedule.

Click here to register.

For more information, contact Sridhar Pabbisetty, Chief Operating Officer, Centre for Public Policy, IIM Bangalore Phone number: +91 99162 98421.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

India is the World Leader in Cleantech Investment Growth

With an investment increase of 52 percent India is a world leader in cleantech investment growth in 2011. Total cleantech investment climbed to $10.3bn in 2011 and was based on strong solar performance.

Solar investments led the growth with a seven-fold increase in funding, from $0.6bn in 2010 to $4.2bn in 2011, just below the $4.6bn invested in wind during the year, according to figures released by analysts Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

A record 2,827MW of wind energy capacity was added in 2011, which kept India third behind China and the US in terms of new installations. BNEF said a further 2,500MW to 3,200MW could be added in 2012.

Grid-connected solar also saw a substantial increase, up from 18MW in 2010 to an estimated 277MW by the end of 2011, while another 500MW to 750MW of solar projects could be added in the coming year.

Asset financing for utility-scale projects remains the main type of clean energy investment in India, with $9.5bn in 2011, BNEF said. Venture capital and private equity investment made a strong comeback with $425m invested in 2011, more than four times the 2010 figure, but equity raising via the public markets was only $201m compared with a record $735m in 2010, when the Indian stock market was at its all-time high.

BNEF expects India to exceed the target of adding 12.4GW of grid-connected renewable energy during its 11th five-year plan, running from April 2007 to March 2012, and is likely to bring 14.2GW of capacity online.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Competing National Priorities

The members of the G8, G20 and other nations all have their own interests, the way these competing interests come together will ultimately determine the strategic direction of the global economy. Here is a simplified summary of the national priorities of eight key players:

Canada: Sustainable global growth, avoiding a bank tax, and the stabilization of government debt particularly in Europe.

The United States: Slow the global removal of fiscal stimulus to protect the recovery.

The European Union: Financial reform regulation, (bank tax and IMF reforms), fiscal sustainability and growth.

China: Ward off protectionism.

Japan: Avoid a bank tax, and free trade.

Russia: Medium-term European fiscal sustainability and preserving the recovery.

Brazil: More rights within the IMF.

India: Greater representation in the IMF and opposition to a bank tax.

Competing national interests will make it difficult to find agreement. The need for economic stewardship demands that our leaders look beyond local and regional interests to forge the basis of a consensus.
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Mobile Marketing: A Green Opportunity

Mobile devices represent an important new marketing channel. Increasing mobile penetration worldwide has led many in the marketing industry to believe that 2008 is the year of the mobile. According to a Cisco study mobile devices are quickly joining physical stores, websites and catalogs as an important fourth channel for retail growth.

According to Don Knox, global vice president at ad:tech Expositions, “Mobile continues to pique the interest of marketers and advertisers as it matures and the devices mature in the U.S...marketers are seeing the benefits of relying on mobile to reach consumers...Everyone seems to sense that we’re on the verge of a big breakthrough in mobile, as consumers are stepping away from their PCs and relying on these mobile devices more and more, and in that sense, it’s a logical extension of today’s marketing plans...Marketing is no longer just traditional or interactive, but rather marketing is encompassing both worlds...And as we’re seeing more of the marketing spend become digital, we’re attracting more traditional marketers and traditional media...We’re seeing mobile rapidly advancing around the world...A lot of what can be done will be determined by the carriers, but many marketers see mobile as an opportunity to extend their messaging, branding and more and more advertising opportunities."

The vast number of mobile devices in the world today makes this an extraordinary marketing opportunity. Currently, there are three times as many mobile-phone subscribers (3.3 billion) as Internet users (1.3 billion) worldwide. India is a prime example of this large and growing audience. With 267 million mobile phones, India is growing at the rate of 8.3 million phones per month, Chaitanya Nallan, CEO, Gingersoft Media adds, "As a medium, compared to the Internet, mobile is much more powerful. I can reach you wherever you are because mobile is with you all the time." And a mobile marketing dollar appears to get better results when compared to the Internet. According to Rajiv Hiranandani, CEO of Mobile2Win, "Clicks in this medium are around 5-8% and outperform the clicks in the Internet medium."

Social networking has significantly impacted the use of mobile devices. Sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn have changed consumer expectations and buying behavior. Social networking is increasingly mainstream and no longer the exlusive domain of the young. Facebook reported 286 percent growth in members aged 35 and over from May 2006 to November 2007. Social networking has grown on a global level, with the number of European log-ons (127 million) surpassing that of the United States (124 million).

The ongoing proliferation of e-commerce will also help drive usage of mobile devices. Forrester Research estimates that online sales will reach $204 billion this year and $335 billion by 2012. With e-commerce accounting for only 6 percent of all retail sales in the United States, there is considerable room for growth.

According to the Cisco IBSG survey, at present, mobile marketing is done primarily using SMS (Short Message Service). SMS is being used to communicate promotions, provide a two-way service for customers' questions, and offer item availability and delivery updates. Peer-based reviews and interaction are becoming a baseline expectation. Some mobile marketing includes advanced visualization, video capabilities, and mobile commerce technologies. Companies are also using mobile devices to generate leads, provide loyalty rewards and offer free downloadable content.

The Cisco IBSG survey found that:
42 percent of retailers provide the ability to view product information on a mobile device through reformatted web pages or specific mobile pages
15 percent offer the ability to conduct transactions (make purchases, complete inventory queries, etc.)
10 percent are using SMS to provide information or answers to customers' questions
6 percent have webpages and a URL specifically designed for mobile use
The Cisco IBSG survey of e-commerce sites found:
17 percent provide the capability to connect to communities of interest
52 percent provide customer reviews for products
50 percent have advanced visualization tools
50 percent provide multimedia such as video
50 percent offer customer support through multiple channels, such as click-to-chat

There are several factors that contribute to successful mobile marketing. Steen Anderson, VP of marketing for 5th Finger suggests a simple formula for his clients. R=V+E (Response = Value + Exposure). “By maximizing the value and relevance of the offer to the target audience and maximizing the exposure of the call to action across as much media as possible, the response rate will be maximized.” According to Anderson, “More than any other medium, in the mobile realm, marketers must strike a good balance between a creative idea and the technical execution of that idea in order to ensure ROI.”

Perhaps most importantly, successful mobile marketing involves a targeting strategy that is focused on the mobile devices used by the demographic you are seeking to reach. The call to action must be easy, clear and discernable at a glance. And as Anderson cautions “In the cases when you are offering prizes as part of the call to action, a large volume of lower value prizes can be much more effective in encouraging participation in promotions than having just one high value prize on offer.”

As reported in AdAge a recent New York Media Information Exchange Group breakfast panel was discussing mobile marketing strategy. They questioned whether the mobile category will continue to exist on its own or "simply merged into overall consumer environment of digital connectivity." According to Dick Cantwell, vice president of IBSG's Retail / CPG Practice mobile devices are part of the “new era of multichannel retail” The main threat according to Nallan is from spammers, "Spam messages have a low price band and take away our business."

Although unlikely to replace traditional mass media, mobile marketing offers a unique marketing proposition and a strong value proposition. Mobile marketing has a wide audience base and has the capability to effectively target specific demographics. Mobile marketing is less expensive than traditional marketing mediums and it is also more cost effective because the message reaches the audience directly. There is also added flexibility when marketing through mobile devices. As explained by Brand Analyst Harish Bijoor, “the advertiser can decide how much to market, to whom to market and with what intensity to market. The control lever is with the marketer. More he uses, more he pays."

Mobile marketing is easy to track. Shishir Sharma, Director of Business and operations at Active Media Technology says, "Since all downloads and SMS replies are trackable, evaluating effectiveness is much better in mobile marketing compared to other conventional marketing methods."Hiranandani calls mobile marketing “the most effective marketing channel for the years to come." And Sharma adds, "With the mobile phone being in virtually every hand, mobile marketing is the future of advertising.

Mobile marketing is still a relatively new concept and accounts for a relatively small portion of most companies marketing mix. (Only 15% of leading retailers provide mobile commerce). Marketers and business owners should understand that when is comes to mobile marketing, every sector is in the trial stage. Those that appear to be putting mobile marketing to the greatest use are the financial, auto, travel and retail sectors. By monitoring innovative companies SMEs can adapt successful mobile marketing practices to their own circumstances and strategies.

Mobiles value as a marketing medium comes from the widespread penetration of mobile devices and the fact that mobile device users are a captive audience even when they are roaming. As a relatively inexpensive marketing option, mobile marketing is an effective and accessible way for SMEs to communicate a targeted message.

Mobile marketing communicates with many thousands of users instantly. Companies and organizations leveraging the extraordinary reach of mobile marketing are also connecting with potential customers without paper, ink, transporation or the energy expenditure associated with traditional advertising mediums. Because of its smaller footprint, targeted message, wider reach, and cost effectiveness, mobile marketing is an ideal marketing medium for emerging Green themed businesses.

Success often follows those who anticipate the trends. And an effective mobile marketing strategy considers the desired capabilities long before they are worked into future platforms. In mobile marketing, as with sustainable business practices, those who are proactive in developing and implementing strategies will be in a more competitive position than those who do not.