Empowering the Kings. Review on MouthShut Coverage on CNBC

Let me clear it first. If customer is King then Faisal and his mouthshut team is empowering the kings!

The Beginning:

I got a mail about this show on November 3, 2005 from Jasmine. By the time I opened the mail at about 6 PM, the show aired on CNBC-TV18 at 10.30 pm, was already over. Somehow, I managed to get the recording of that telecast courtesy my friend Mr. Mukesh Alagh of CNBC U.P. Bureau.

A Date with the King Maker

Fortunately, my job regularly gives me a chance to manage media coverage for the head of the States, corporate, bollywood & bureaucratic celebrities, big-wigs and top brasses but watching the King Maker in Action was an extra-ordinary moment for me. I wondered when the first half of ‘Young Turks’ did not show MS CEO Faisal till commercial break. I thought Mr. Alagh recorded some wrong footage but I was wrong.

Magic in 15 minutes

When, Anita Balgopalan, started interviewing HIM I hardly had an idea about the magical outcome of the show.

I wanted to read HIS mind and know about his future plans which he revealed in very discreet manner.

Next 15 minutes spell bound me. He elegantly used the opportunity and the show revealed a significant deal about his persona, modus operandi, history of the site, about his life and charismatic success. He revealed that he loves driving, reading, being with his family, likes to help shape the careers of his people, lectures on his branding concepts, and believes in hard labor.

Quotable Content

The program revealed so many interesting things, which might interest others as well:

1. Mouthshut name: Q: ‘Why the name mouthshut was chosen for the site?’ A: Because consumers in India traditionally keep their mouth shut and never ask question. The MS empowers consumers to express their opinions in the strongest possible manner without opening mouth.

2.About MS Success: The entire MS success is attributed to in-house technology, active participation from trusted consumers (members) constantly reviewing over 67000 products and helping others by providing them real-time experience about the products and services. The interview highlighted the innovative brand development strategy MS adopted and the much appreciated ‘rickshaw campaign’ to promote the site.

3.MS Energy fully charged MS has a CEO who is just 29, assisted by young wizards and is sure to rise to great heights because it offers innovative and reliable ways of fathoming diversified domestic market. I am sure that this site has a sure shot successful future.

4.Future Strategies Revealed: He told us that MS which started with only three people is now ‘more than profitable’, he is not thinking of selling it and that MS has learnt from the failures of other dotcoms. I think that Faisal is in a mood to diversify and expand the site in future, he may also opt for business co-branding strategy and soon we may see mouthshut in regional languages also. When Faisal claimed that MS provide a faster alternative in the consumer feedback chain he indirectly mentioned that Mouthshut shares its feedback with manufacturers and it may be the fuel that runs the engine. This means that MS definitely has some greater game plan and enough funds also for the future.