Gadded Thoughts

Socializing with your Ads

2010-12-19T19:13:00.002+05:30

Google is an advertising platform, not a merely a search engine..

Come tomorrow, what we are going to say is...

“ Facebook is an advertising platform and not a Social Network.. ”

Let’s look at some statistics – Google is already raking revenues of $ 23 Billion a Year

Facebook which publishes 50 billion ads per month is slated to earn about 2 billion approx next year.

More than 2 mil. Websites have integrated with Facebook , including over 80 of ComScore's U.S. Top 100 websites and over half of ComScore's Global Top 100 websites.

I’m not concerned with numbers, what I’m more concerned about is the possibilities..

The possibilities of growth for Facebook to serve ads beyond it’s own platform.

Now suppose these websites (which are commercial) start showing ads via Facebook. So while reading an article about Manchester United on the New York Times, there will be an ad on the side saying that 4 of your friends Like this or could even show its ( Man Untd. Page’s) latest update. You maybe reading an e-book and it’ll show an Ad of the other books that your friends Like.

These ads could also show up on Wordpress blogs (Google might not really want it on Blogger) Personally I would feel these to be much less intruding than the current Flash ads and I myself might publish Facebook Ads on my Personal blog [ as if any one reads it ;) ] which otherwise I would have despised.

So even here we could have the same ads along beside an article on Nokia or a Samsung , with the ad showing their respective Likes or recent updates.

What does this do to Facebook?! Well it simply brings in more dough and for us bloggers/publishers its makes the ads more social, neat, sophisticated or any good adjective one might want to glorify this with.

So think again .. is Facebook a social Networking Site or a Social Advertising Platform, depends on which side of the coin you are looking at.

Uruguay steal a win.. Most Treasured Red Card ever

2010-07-03T03:17:00.007+05:30

While looking at wiki to check Uruguay's population this is what i Found...

Someone was really quick at it i must say ...

Simply put.. had Uruguay's Suarez not fouled .. Ghana would have won..

So there goes Africa's last team..

and Uruguay move on to the semi-final where they might have to play all their 3 Goalkeepers.

Tweepl are not mighty pleased .. here are some reactions..

@BTVision #URU win, a bit of an injustice after #GHA's extra-time performance.

@karen_e_eaton Sometimes cheaters do win. #uruguay #worldcup

@anandmahindra Whoever coined the phrase 'cruel fate' had Team Ghana in mind.Who would join Uruguay's undeserved celebration?I weep alongside Africa

Well that just sums it up..

Update : The Wiki for Uruguay just got corrected ... but you have the proof above..

I have lost (#Brazil ) and it seems so has @twitter

2010-07-02T22:26:00.004+05:30

The above are screen shots of Tweeps wondering why twitter Fail Whale appears soo much..

If you are a co. with 100 + million users sending across more than a billion tweets , you need to scale up people..

This is a common occurrence whenever there is a major international event ..

Today saw the exist of Brazil from the World Cup..

people do take out their joy and frustration on twitter..

but it just ducks under the pressure..and seems to me it has become a habit with @twitter

If i'm a co. going to invest money on promoted tweets i need to make sure that i'm visible at the critical moments when people are most involved..

That's the whole point of Social Media Marketing..that's what will bring some sort of revenue for twitter.

But twitter is being casual about it ... have we made someone too big too soon..

Will the Fail Whale prove to be twitter's Achilles heel..

I hope not.. i love @twitter.. but the whale is better off in the water

...not on my computer screen..

It's not Advertising ... It's the Boring Distribution..

2010-06-22T10:10:00.000+05:30

Why is it that all Marketing Strategy articles in business papers or by self proclaimed analysts talk about only how advertising has helped the blue-chip companies..the advise they give, the examples they cite do not have much relevance to actual sales..Why do we tend to forget that marketing is not a synonym for advertising rather advertising is a part of marketing as a whole..

So few other important aspects , include Packaging, Distribution etc.

Advertising is a tool to create brand awareness in 99% cases it does just that(we have zillion reports stating this obvious fact) whereas a Purchase decision by an individual is a result of a good dose of other factors.

Distribution is one such factor which is mostly overlooked( not given its due importance) and if done smartly can really work out for your Brand's success..

Let's talk practically..

ITC came out with Bingo an new brand of chips in this over crowded/competitive market..and evidently they rolled out a massive Ad- Campaign ,With some really down right stupid ads,their Ads solved only for one purpose, that of buliding Brand awareness and and they did manage to achive that.The ads were so abstract and bland that they could hardly entice the consumer to buy.

Then what did the trick for Bingo?? well the answer lies in the massive Distribution which is infact ITC's shining armour .

You had Bingo everywhere.. n infinite varities..at places and shops which may have never even kept any chips brand...n this Distribution forte which Is ITC's strong point helped them in the end..

We can take a number of examples where the success or faliure of the brand has been due to the Distribution, Irrespective of the Ads or lack of them.

For e.g. Chevrolet - It has slowly build for itself a vast distribution network and its sales can be directly related to This very fact, not that they give 3 years of free servicing n etc..

Let me point another unique example, Have you heard of a beer called Kalyani Black Label, Those who have would agree that it is one of the finest beers ever, It has won various awards in which it had some serious local as well as global brands as competitors.

But sadly,Particularly in North India this brand now owned by UB group is hardly avaiable.. it does a brisk business in North-East ..Calcutta n Guwhati etc.

The reasons is simple UB wants to promote it's Kingfisher Brand more..

Others also do it, very famously Coca Cola did it with Thumps up, It purposely censored the distribution for Thums-up , but after years of cowardness .. Thumps-up was made available again.. and now it out sells both Coke n Pepsi in the Indian market, but even now its hard to find a Thumps-Up Can in Tier-2 cities (don't know why..or maybe the answer is below)

Another example is how these days you hardly find retailers keeping the Glass bottles of Coke ,Pepsi, Thumps- Up etc (specially in Tier 1 cities) wha you get is the Pet Bottle, this is wonderful strategy which helps them sell the larger size of their product and increase their Top-Line,just another way of what you distribute..

Ok so now from above examples you may see some merit in the notion that Distibution plays an important part in the eventual sales..

Now what I really wish to understand and learn is,

How do those companies which can't advertise ensure that they have a good distribution network?

Well there are host of companies who can't advertise, the whole unorganized sector, which is 95% of the retail sector consist of such companies and brands.

Example-- have you ever seen an Ad or even heard of the following :

JK files

Pye Tools

Jhalani Tools

Ramchandra Sahai

SS Fitting

Unique Fittings

All of the above are the market leaders in the various industries which they are in.. they are not white goods(consumer durables) It is these brands I'm more keen to learn about.

How does SKF bearings manage to Distribute it's product so well ?

How does a Pye Tools whose screwdriver is in every hardware shop?

Today its easier to sell an Audi to a customer than selling a new Biscuit Brand to the retailer.

This is precisely what is not taught at B-Schools and what is never mentioned in a Bussinesworld or an ET.

My Point is that the well known Brands can easily expand their sales with an efficient distribution network, which they really don't make the most of.

But how does a small unknown or New Brand embark on this journey to have a presence everywhere?

So what are the options:

a.Start and concentrate one place at a time

b.Expand at the expense of squeezing margin

c.Exploit existing market dynamics

Well combination of a. and c. is what we see when we go outside any city where you find these Local Brands of mineral water. They are priced the same and sell because their is no alternative.

b. Is done by a Halidram which launches it's brand of Chips, or a Tropicana to compete with Real Juice, or any non FMCG or Non- consumer durable brand like a Supreme Tools which come out with their set of screwdrivers.

I'm again back to these Co's who live in shadow markets which we don't know about.

They are more for specialists like an engineer, a mechanic, a plumber, Or a computer technician n etc.

But why I'm after these boring products well:

Min 400 shops in chawri bazaar..

Min turnover 1 Cr each

Total- 400cr..

The above is a hypothetical case, The Real turnover is in Thousands cr's a year.

Now you know why i wanna know about them...

Advantages of Social Media To Small Business

2010-06-14T18:41:00.000+05:30

We all are aware of the impact of social media websites. A huge amount of people have been participating in social media websites and this has resulted in increased investment in the growing field of social media marketing. A large number of small businesses today have started using social media ideas and strategies in their goals. This is because of a number of reasons.

Social media websites include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin etc. Many small businesses have become a part of these sites and have created their profile pages intending to get more traffic and new customers. It is important to remember that you cannot attract traffic just by creating a profile page; you have to actually be involved and participate in a community.

Social Media Marketing is the marketing strategy used to create content for your website and displaying it on Social News and Bookmark sites. The techniques of social media marketing can benefit websites and help them to grow very quickly. To mention, some of the advantages of social media marketing for small businesses are:

1. More awareness about your brand: If you are able to create a successful social media marketing campaign, there will be a lot more talk about your brand online. When users are appealed by your message, they will spread it across which will be more effective than traditional methods.

2. Quick results: If your message is on the front page of a major news, social video and bookmark site, you will be able to drive large amounts of traffic instantly. It is not necessary that the traffic will result in conversations but momentum will be created in the right direction.

3. Cheap prices: Social media marketing can be used as a replacement for conventional advertising and this is possible at a pretty lower price. With social media marketing, you do not need to spend huge amounts of money like you would have had to with the traditional mediums like newspapers, magazines, television, radio and many more.

4. Improves ranking on search engines: Social media marketing campaigns have an effect on search engine rankings. A huge amount of back links can be attained which improve your ranking on search engines.

5. Compatible with other mediums of advertising: If you start a social media marketing campaign, it does not mean that you need to stop you traditional methods of marketing. Social media marketing can be used along with traditional advertising and marketing.

6. Role of influencers: Through social media marketing, initiators and influencers reach audiences and encourage them to choose your brand. A person will always prefer to buy something that people recommend rather than just blindly make purchase from a faceless company.

7. Sidestepping and blindness: The age old methods of advertising online such as banner ads have almost lost their significance. Social media marketing has the capability to attract large amounts of traffic to your website without the help of traditional methods of advertising because of the increase in ad blindness.

[ Some Personal Rants:

To your surprise , the Best part about a Small Business Owner is that i really don't have to Sell the idea of Social Media to them. SMB's have the advantage of quick decision making and an appetite of taking risks thus one doesn't really have to push Social Media. So after knowing the Why? they simply ask How and When to do it? whereas corporate co.'s still loose the plot by being stuck on WHY?

In-fact some SMBs in the engineering space are pushing me to start their twitter a/c's when an eCommerce sites are better bet or at-least the first step towards their Online presence.]

Well Social Media provides you a simple platform to be out there for your customer and better still with your customers. So as they say .. your next customer is just 140 characters away...

Technology -- What , When and How??

2010-06-04T10:06:00.000+05:30

Any SMB (small and medium-size business) works and proceeds towards growth path, obviously by reducing cost and increasing Sales (and hence profitability) . But the question remains: How to reach there? It was mentioned by Jeff Stiles, the senior VP of Small-Medium Enterprise Marketing at SAP, that the only solution for a constant growth of SMB’s is to "embrace new technologies". With the advent of technology, not only the working methodologies become trouble-free but the pace at which things can be done increases manifolds.

One of the major challenge faced while decision making by an organization is about,'what, when, and how much' to invest on a technological solution. It is very crucial for any SMB to comprehend the various facets where technology plays a vital role in their business growth. To begin with, it is essential to focus on 'increasing productivity' which is clearly determined as 'how to do more with less'. One easy way to attain ‘efficiency’ is to invest in products designed especially for SMB's, are scalable and affordable, proposing a 'plug and play' solution. Software like Dropbox, an online virtual storage utility that allows synchronization of files across various systems wherever the client is installed, is a perfect paradigm of saving time at a negligible cost. This revolutionized way to store and share files leads to a non-stop communication process as opposed to tedious methods of e-mailing and flash drives.

The launching of new technologies constantly alleviates some fundamentally essential tasks to be performed smoothly and without a hitch. Today, personal computers with a fixed work station are turning history and slowly but surely are taken over by the 'mobile revolution'. This new generation of smart phone is supported by ubiquitous high-speed web connectivity. A lot of work turns handy with such software like QuickOffice and ScannerPro, which smoothens tasks like transferring PDF, Microsoft Office and iWork files to other devices like printers, mailers, networks etc. without further ado. For SMB's, getting accustomed to these applications would not only emerge to be cost effective but also profitable by saving time on these petty tasks.

Being the biggest category of planned investment expense, technology can lead to a dramatic increase in productivity, resulting in more output, without necessarily adding to the 'staffing expense'. The emergence of online communications, with launching a great website, an awesome navigation and content, an email newsletter to reach people right in their email inboxes, blogs to foster more conversation and boost the web sites rankings in search engines is a mark of "Web 2.0" technology. Through this the organization can ensure that the website enables visitors to communicate & connect with the company as well as each other. This unified communication network is integrating the operations of ticketing portal 'kyazoonga.com', who have hired, trained and developed only two technicians for this 'Search Engine Optimization'.

The 'augmented reality' of trends in applications also implies in depth awareness about ‘outgrowing’ of current tech solution for a SMB. Consequently, while investing in a technology it is more important to implement it in an efficient manner. The investment in right kind of technology can help the business reach the next higher level and retain more customers. Along with a right choice, it is also essential to integrate it with various aspects like CRM, supply chain management, billing/payment, innovation tools and R&D processes. It is equally important to train and develop the workforce to make sure an optimum use of technology and an overall advantage for the company’s expansion. The amalgamation of cheap and abundant knowledge available to the customer along with skilled personnel is another key to a successful technological investment.

During recession a lot of businesses were forced to 'retrench'. Most of the "growth companies" claimed the usage of online payment methods like 'PayPal', during the economic downturn, as compared to the "staying afloat" or the "sinking ship" companies. This method ensured an immediate payment, while keeping the cash afloat in the market. The simple adaptation of online invoicing and payment method helped these businesses to use customer generated funds to fuel their overall growth. The credit card companies are also introducing ‘payment via swipe on mobile phone’, which could mean a big changes for small businesses, part-time vendors, boutique owners and even small individuals like a florist.

I have seen people handling Multi-crore Business without a single computer installed (yes this is India, everything is possible) and witnessed a vegetable vendor sending e-cards on Diwali. Both knew Technology is important the latter was using it without any precedence whereas the former didn't in-spite of a imminent need.

The simple fact is people still don't know how and whom to approach to fully benefit form technology. This gives a huge opportunity to IT Co.'s ( i hope they are listening) to tap the SMB sector which account for 40 % of all exports. The winner amongst the IT co.'s would be the one who reaches out to SMB's , as there are lot of services available but people just do not know about them.

A computer peripherals co.'s CEO used to courier CD's of Posters and Catalogs to its Branches office till recently , before they knew about a yousendit.com . Well i personally feel that, this is one service which has lot of scope for a software co.'s to look into and most of them are going into the "Cloud"

The mantra, in that way, is to learn the basic principles of leveraging technology to make the business stay: prolonged, flourishing and on the rise. Only adequate and appropriate investments can help in reaping big rewards, now and in future. Updating technology, thus, helps in collaborate the our efforts to meet customer needs by 'serving' them better and as for the IT co's they just need to stamp their products straight on to our face for us to notice them.

People First..

2010-05-14T18:48:00.001+05:30

Most people work-hard either for personal fulfillment or love. Others have certain goals and aspirations to contribute to something bigger. Some fill their empty time with an activity, a change or a challenge to cater to. Others fulfill their particular needs through accomplishment of some pre-stated missions.

Companies often overestimate their employee's satisfaction level by limiting it to the monetary rewards. In an article, "The Ten Ironies of Motivation", by Bob Nelson, he states that, "More than anything else, employees want to be valued for a job well done by those they hold in high esteem". A simple sign of appreciation and gratitude like 'thank you', by a supervisor or manager, on completion of a humiliating task performed well, acts as an effective motivational tool. It is important, as quoted by Traci Fenton, founder & CEO, WorldBlu, "The organisation should not treat some people like ‘somebodies’ and other people like ‘nobodies’".

Binding the workforce to the organization is no more limited to a "network selling" or a "direct selling company". Personnel turnover is an essential parameter for any organization to take care of. A lot of surveys consistently illustrate that "more than 40 percent of people who quit do so because they feel they weren't appreciated for their contributions", clearly undermining the importance of recognition and attention from supervisors.

A simple "caught you at your best program", allows employees to thank or acknowledge others for doing exceptional work. A handwritten note with a specific detail about a praiseworthy attitude exhibiting instant recognition fosters esprit de corpse - the spirit of a group that makes all its members succeed.

To celebrate and value the employees well as a crucial asset is also important. By using one-size-fits-all approach in terms of salary, recognition, praise or benefits, the company actually punishes the best performers. As Vince Lombardi is reputed to have said, "There is nothing more unequal that the equal treatment of unequals." An overall involvement of supervisors in the performance review process along with a productive feedback can more likely improve the performance of an employee. The company can also restructure the KRAs (key responsibility areas) of its employees according to their respective passions.

Kamal Karnath, MD of Kelly Services, on undertaking his team to climb Garur Maachi, a fort near Pune, stated the importance of off-sites, which according to him helps "handle the disgruntled employees". Karnath, further says that firms have even started hiring third-party consulting agencies to check on staff satisfaction levels and report to the respective heads.

At Brainpark, in San Francisco, employees can vote the CEO and senior leaders out of their position if they feel they are not doing a good job. Such cases are not be common in India, but companies are trying to make a difference. HCL Technologies, with nearly 60,000 employees’ world-wide, calls their management approach, ‘Employees First, Customers Second’.

Employees’ delivers value to customers, customer brings growth to organization, and growth offers opportunities to employees. Thereby, employees’ forms a part of asset group that provides a future economic benefit to the company. And, therefore, it is very important to build a protected and progressive environment for them to nurture them.

Recently i met an a highly successful entrepreneur who said" i started my co. with two things - People & Service " and as his organization becomes a multi-million enterprise he's come a full circle with " re-energizing the core strength- People "

Another entrepreneur of whose start-up faced problems in retaining the employees was analysed to be because they didn't have proper induction program. "We thought providing them the freedom to work as per their own free will was enough, when they(employees) were looking for a clear direction and process."

So being the next google as the "best place to work with" requires more than just the intent or incentives..

Execution is the Idea...

2010-04-25T10:39:00.000+05:30

It has been rightly said, "Ideas are easy. It's the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats", (by Thomas Jefferson).

Let it be the arena of a sports, entertainment, politics or business, but the question is not -"Will the new strategy work or not?" On the contrary, it is the successful execution of the idea that determines the fortune of any strategy. A great execution can make a shoddy plan successful, but a shoddy execution can fail any great plan, however innovative it may be.

An Accenture and the Economist Intelligence Unit's study indicates that "although executives are confident in their growth strategies, they are less confident in their companies’ ability to execute those strategies". The survey results reported that, only 30-35 percent respondent companies' are effective in executing growth initiatives and innovation strategies.

Another research performed in cooperation with the Centre for Strategy Research (CSR), confirmed this gap between strategy and execution. The study involved detailed conversations with about two dozen executives of Fortune 1000 companies, who associated the importance of innovation very strongly to the successful implementation of growth strategies. However, they resonated to common notions when it came to constraints on execution namely, "budget shortages, absence of experienced resources and so on".

A major reason for failure in execution is the constant shift in focus of strategy. When HP acquired Compaq, to compete with Dell, it shifted its focus every week competing on price, service, technology etc. and forgot completely the highly priced channels. While HP fought for the perfect strategy, Dell succeeded instantly with a powerful execution of customization and "Just In Time (JIT)" strategies. Execution, thereby, is nothing but the art of synchronization, i.e., "getting the right product at the right time to the right customer".

Execution is most important when innovation is at the heart of the strategy. It is most important then to experiment, learn and adapt. In a new business model, even a well thought out strategy lapse in value, while dealing with uncertainty. As quoted by Mr. Ankur Mittal, MD of Ordell Education, the key to success for a creative business model like his is to "analyze every step, adapt to the real environment, than to make a same mistake twice". Adding on, he mentioned the importance of implementation of ideas more than the ideas themselves. According to him, it is more important to "re-evaluate, re-learn and re-execute the strategies as you get your business rolling". Hence, constantly questioned strategies and rewritten solutions forms the backbone of any innovation.

Even the tried and tested strategies do not work in a different environment. It is important to study factors influencing the culture, society, value systems and beliefs of the new environment. The customers' mindset evaluates the perceived benefits in terms of price or/and performance and not technology. So, innovation not merely imply new ideas, but, improved cost positions, better product and enhanced benefits, increasing the overall value for the customer.

For the businesses', innovation implies a better margins position as compared to the competitors. Perfect execution directly equates to the increased financial meter by an improved top line, higher revenues, and a higher return on investments. The focus of companies should, thereby, shift towards the practical implementation than theoretical formulation of creative ideas.

#TWAD

2010-04-13T19:35:00.000+05:30

Finally twitter got down to do some business. It's taking the first step to earn some Ad revenue..

via Promoted tweets..

What does this mean ..will we get unnecessary spam on twitter too..

Well according to starbucks.. it won't be intrusive or spam..

I'm all for twitter monetizing itself.. in the process it can show

promoted tweet #pt

but they must not come in my twitter feed..

could be a small box on the right .. with text ads.. wont mind that..

I'm looking forward to how co.'s like sony , apple or zappos use them..

Tweet Tweet...

2010-03-30T13:03:00.002+05:30

twitter has come up with itz new homepage... It has added new bling to itz homepage.

So one can see who's on twitter,

some top tweets..

trending topics is now scrolling across the page..

and even a Tab to guide how one can use twitter for business..

Sign of new things to come?????

Govt. Goes Social

2010-03-24T17:56:00.002+05:30

Look who's logged on to Facebook.. The Govt. of India.

Well Dept Of Science and Technology's NSTEDB along with Dell India have come up with The Technology and Mentorship Forum to foster entrepreneurship in India.

They are actively advertising on Facebook ..urging users to unleash the enterpenuer within themselves , with Top Industry Leaders as Mentors to guide them.

Anthem Academy is the Knowledge partner for this initiative. Anurag Gambhir of Anthem Academy Says " Social Media is where the founders of new start-ups , next generation entrepreneurs are, so its a logical choice to tap this platform and spread the word"

Well now this is one Socialist move which many would welcome...

Billion $$ Ad Space.

2010-03-15T20:04:00.008+05:30

The above is the screen shot of Google's Indian homepage www.google.in

Google is trying to garner maximum mileage from the Indian Premier League

With Cricket fever at it's peak YouTube is streaming the IPL matches (with a 5 mins Delay) and google aims to drive maximum traffic to it via the most sought after advertising space in the web.

The start of IPL had been a trending topic on twitter ,I'm not surprised at that.

IPL is a multi-billion $ enterprise and has been a huge draw for advertisers.

Well Cricket Fever is at it's peak.

What a way of acknowledging that by Google...

Jugaads: Innovation we Indians do..

2010-02-22T17:52:00.006+05:30

Well we all do Jugaads/Innovations in our daily life.. we find simple solutions to our daily life tasks.

we all fix our broken tail lights by applying some adhesive or cello-tape , a professor may just use the same old pen broken into two by taping it, milk man arrives on his bullet motorcycle with Milk Cans Hanging on the back, we students paying the call center cabs driver a mere 10 bucks rather than taking

an auto for the same route costing 100 Bucks.. we all must have seen rickshaws with a old Bajaj scooter engine attached to it, n number of things we do in our day to day life..

Well some think "Out Of The Box" and use it commercially ,some famous cases are a Transportation Medium Called "Jugaad" , small roadside Dhabbas(Resturants) using a Washing Machine to prepare Lassi( a Drink Made by churning Yogurt and Milk)..

N here's a list of great articles where one can understand the whole world of Jugaads That Indians do...

The motorcycle crop sprayer

http://www.emergingfutureslab.com/perspective_20/2009/05/jugaad-a-collection.html

Jugaad at work: Two engineering students with their invention – charging the cellular phone by using the smoke from the bike, in Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2009/05/14/stories/2009051450080200.htm

A Jugaad vehicle made with water pumpsets

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugaad

A nice blog On Indian Jugaads/Innovation

http://indian-jugaad.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-09-01T00:00:00-07:00&updated-max=2008-10-01T00:00:00-07:00&max-results=5

Indian Export To the rest of the World - JUGAAD

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/dec2009/id2009121_864965.htm

So keep on innovating people...or as we say be Jugaadu

I'm n Indian... n u??

2010-01-27T04:23:00.001+05:30

Ya i do at times call a guy bihari .. if he acts stupid..

Kashmiri friend of mine calls me Bhaiya gone mod.. coz i Hail from UP but apparently listen to coldplay n he is fond of Bhaiya ji type songs..

I say I'm a punjabi..

I call my roommate Assami.. though hez a marwari...

My other roommate can't tell a diff between a Sikh n a Punjabi..

Another great friend of mine is called Luknawi nazakat...

classic case...my ol' roommate n bro.. A British passport holder.. Baniya by cast .. Jaini at heart..i still ask him not to revoke his British passport..

I Pity my bro Karan ..coz he'll just be called a Typical Delhite...(lol)

so r we all racists or does it make any of us less worthy to travel anywhere..

work anywhere..

My buddy Bal would miss the likes of Ambani's who r there Headquartered in Bombay..

(common man's roads are paid by many such co.'s situated practically outside Maharashtra)

for their Main assets like outside his BOMBAY..

We all are Indians... including this dude Balasaheb.. though he's an embarrassment no doubt..

Unity in diversity is what we are proud of...

This is what makes India Unique... our diff traits associate us with diff adjectives..

India Rocks( Jai Hind)

P.S. - I'll write a surprising counterview to this

Great article on Quantam Physics

2010-01-17T04:15:00.004+05:30

I'm the biggest fool around..

Let me prove it to you..

I read this great article about Quantum Physics... it tells how Photons respond to each other from miles away and that any communication between them, if at all ,has to take place at 10,000 times the speed of light....(i wont write more u gotta read it...its truly fascinating)

So i read this on On a newspaper called Mint..at my college Library.. hence din tear it out to keep for myself..i just thought would get it over the net..

so i forget about it for a month.. n then when i tried to search for it over the net on livemint.com i couldn't just find it.. google din seem to have any clue either...

Believe me ..try the keywords yourself.. nothing worked...

Today finally after 6-7 months of searching maybe once a in 15 days i got the link...

n where.. on the site of Wall Street Journal.. ya.. a partner of MINT newspaper.

Here's the link.. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124147752556985009.html

One of my fav stuff in Science...

n it's very well explained..

if a Dumb Ass like me can understand it.. u sure can..

Tata - Why is the most loved comany soo Bad

2010-01-17T01:16:00.003+05:30

Yes .. you read it right.. Below i'll be listing why is Tata such a plain old Bad Company,,

Well this is a blog i had written 2 months back and publishing just today because of the final nail in the coffin has been hammered..

Most would disagree with me..99% would.. but just hear me out..

Tata is every where.. right from Salt to Steel , From Telecom to Technology , From FMCG products to Automobiles( now Jag n Land Rover included) ..from Supermarket to Hotels..

Tata has 114 companies.. and is a $ 77 Billion Co. (Jan 2010)

I have tasted and tried most of its product if we speak in terms of categories.. so we all have had Tata salt n tea.. My Family has owned a Tata Car( one day Jag will also come..i wish)

I have personally experienced dealing with Tata Steel.. had a connection of Tata Indicom n now Using Tata Sky.. I've eaten n partied at many of the Taj's across India

Now lets see why i'm an unsatisfied Customer..

well to put it in one line .. Service of Tata is that of an Indian PSU...

if u want to experience it.. go to Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi.. It has that old rusty feeling to it..

even worse is Taj Ambassador.. but it happens to have one of my fav cafe "Yellow Bricks"

Ok.. here we go..

My first Brush with Tata was when we bought Tata Indigo.. It was a very competitively priced car.. but came with the worst engineering ever.. after almost 8 months of taking it back n forth from the service staition we sold it to a poor fellow..i Really pity that guy..

Then came Tata Steel.. when during my little stint at at my dad's business i got to oversee the procurement of raw material.. Let me put it straight Tata Steel is of the best quality..

then why do i grumble.. Well It's the market leader in India and it practically dictates Prices.. and the Small Manufacturers using steel as raw material get bullied big time.. Tata Steel has it's own Iron Ore reserves.. which is the basic raw material for manufacturing Steel..

so logically Tata Steel's products must be available cheaply.. but the fact is they are always priced higher than SAIL(a govt, owned co.) and Tata Steel does jack up the prices at it's own whims and fancy...which is really bad not only for the manufacturing industry but also to other industries which use steel products...n finally to us consumers..

Then came my experience with Tata Indicom.. a decent product .. which i primarily used for Internet connection ... but soon replaced it once broadband was available from it's competitors at half the price and double the speed..

Most recently I'm using Tata Sky .. again i must say it is the best product available in the market..i have to an extent tried all others..Airtel, Big tv , Dish..

The fact is that Tata Sky is actually most user friendly and the designing is very Tasteful..

But again..i guess mine n Tata's stars don't align..

The Tata Sky that i have back home(i hav one in Delhi too) is used usually when I'm there on Saturdays..

my parents still like that cable thingy..

anyway.. My mom got it recharged for the whole year ..when seeing that it was usually out of subscription whenver I'm back home.. i watch only two things on Saturdays.. Football n Joey..

Both come on channels which have to paid extra for.. the charges for the channels are around 65 Rs extra every month..

now the problem is .. the minimum denomination of recharge is only Rs 200 which lasts for a month.. that means i end up paying Rs.135 extra.. over n above the Rs. @250 that my mom had paid in taking the yearly subscription..

so my total one month expense is Rs. 450 .. surely not cheap by any standards..

n as i found out there's no way out.. i couldn't even find the no. to call the customer care..as the page which says the contact no. is a blank blue screen.. i got the no. over the net.. n tried to reason with the patient sleepy guy across the phone.. but sorry is all that i got...

The thing is I have come to believe that Tata is the least customer friendly co.

They are very slow in making progress.. Tata does have the best quality products ..

but because the name Tata is synonymous to being "Good" or "Best" or even "Humane" as far as India is concerned we tend to overlook what "Bad" stuff or rather "Stupidity" the company is doing..

We never associate "Innovation" with Tata..

we never associate "Being Young" or "Youthfulness" with the Brand "Tata"

I'm a great admirer of what good Tata as a industrial house has done for India both economically and socially..

That is why I'm concerned.. this is the reason i care to worry about what the future holds for Tata..

No doubt it will be a huge co. for generations to come.. but i suspect that the share of it's Consumer Products would we very less..

Tata Steel will continue... but will Tata Motor's or a Tata Indicomm survive.. that's in question..

n these are the verticals where they have invested heavily for the future..

Just because Tata has bought VSNL(a gov't co.) doesn't mean it can't revamp the customer service.. I'm using a Tata Broadband right now to write this blog.. yes it's expensive than what i could get..but I'm using it because there is no other option in my locality..

The Internet speed is amazing.. but service damn poor.. I had to spend three days to enable 3 computers use the connection simultaneoulsy...

I have to go out 4 miles n spend atleast 1.5 hrs(to n fro) to make the journey to pay the bill..

as they apparently don't collect cash from home n my room-mate on whose name the connection is cannot pay via cheque nor do we have a credit card..n Tata won't accept Debit Card..

Ya that's the reality of Indian consumers.. who still buy online tickets thorough travel agent's because we don't have credit cards..

So companies have to move on the same highway that we consumers do n make it better for us rather than building road-blocks..

Tell me will u rather buy a Tata connection for your mobile phone.. well to majority this option doesn't even cross their mind... how many use it's co-promoted Virgin.. n how many will use Docomo ..time will tell..

I have a thing for Hotels... I have stayed in a Taj .. in Delhi and Bombay...

I always dread to enter a Taj in Delhi.. the Bombay one is tooo good..an Icon in itself ...

Please Tata Wake up.. an Icon is what Brand Tata is today..for me ..for n no. of Indian consumers... but when i go to shop... I say "TATA" (pun intended) to you..

n I'm afraid many would start to do the same...

Make Competition Irrelevant

2010-01-11T03:56:00.002+05:30

Try n forget about your competition and following their every move..

Success lies not in being better than your competition but making it irrelevant..

Now here's a company whose sales grew by 90% and it's Profit by 77%

I'm talking about Nintendo .. and its ausome success Wii

Nintendo didn't just beat off it's comepetitor Sony.. it just crushed it

Nintendo makes $ 40 profit for every console sold,,

and PlayStation a loss of $ 200

and Nintendo didn't spend billions of $$ in R&D unlike Sony, it just did things differently and created a product which gave birth to a whole new category in itself..

So what should we learn from this.. and what should our new products be..

We should take note of the following

INSTEAD OF

a.Competing in Traditional Markets

b. Exploiting existing demand

c. Choosing Between differentiation

or Low Cost

d. Trying to Beat our Competition

WE SHOULD

a. Create new Markets

b. Capture and create New Demand

c. Differentiation and Low Cost

d. Make competition Irrelevant

Many Companies have done this before and continue to do this.

e-bay came out with an online market place which anybody could connect to easily.It's growth lies squarely in the hand of it's customers.

Amazon has done this through Kindle which has changed the way people stack up books( ok ok read books) Apple Inc did it with It's i-pod n then the i-phone..

Google keeps on doing it .. with Adsense and Adwords the most successful examples..

Facebook has done it to social media.. 350 million users ..."Facebook Connect" being used by 60 million users to connect to various websites..

n Twitter has done it perfectly with its 140.. i really admire Twitter.. it's not a typical social networking site.. its beyond that..its a DIY tool for anything from garnering Knowledge to twepeeping on paris hilton.. and it will co-exist with Facebook..

So will LinkedIn..

What these companies have in common is that they are actually Different from their competitors..

n they have answered the right questions..

What factors should be eliminated which the Industry takes for granted?
What factors should be reduced well below industry standards?
What factors should be raised well above industry standards?
Which factors should be created that industry has never offered before?

@xploreROYalself once tweeted .. what differentiates smart from brilliant is : smart knows what to do and brilliant knows what not to

So these Brilliant companies Know the answer to those of the above question relevant to them and have worked on that..

Hence for all of us Innovation is the key.. be different not because it's a Fad..

But because you can deliver something worthwhile..

Then you just sleep easy..for who cares for competition... its irrelevant...

Inflation is the gift we get for our Gov.t's Inaction

2010-01-09T21:03:00.002+05:30

Now what to do you make out of this:

India exports Iron-Ore to China at prices cheaper than whats available to Indian co.'s thus our Steel co.'s find an excuse to Price Steel at 40% more than what is available in Chinese markets.

Hike in steel prices lead to a spiral effect and lead to higher prices of inputs to various industries across sector an hence Inflation. Now current inflation rates are around 7% (Dec '09) but we all know the real inflation of essential commodities is somewhere around 15% at the most conservative estimates.

So what has changed in the past few months or days.. Well steel price's have increased.. Tata Steel increased their prices by 2 Rs/kg and Sail by 1.5 Rs but for the actual user it's easily in the range of 4- 5 Rs increase before the various taxes.

To prove my point they same thing happened precisely around the same time last year. In Jan'09 steel price increased by about 10% the real effect in the retail market was more than 45% and if we scratch our brains the inflation rate shot of to over 10%.

But the difference between the Hike in prices by steel co.'s is totally different. There has not been a real increase in Raw Material prices ( at least not to a large extent) and this time the Increase in prices will lead to a long term consequence. More reliance on imports form China.

As if it was not happening .. just that our own industries will find it hard to fight out the downtrend two years in a row..

All this does not bode well for the labor market as well as this is gonna fuel further unemployment..

The prices of essential commodities has been going up for past 3 months..But the Govt thinks by printing the cheap wholesale prices in newspaper will mean that you an me will get to buy them cheap.. i mean there is nothing concrete that they are doing.. i heard Abhishek Sanghvi saying that NDA this wrong that wrong n some BJP guy pointing UPA's subservient polices with USA during a debate about rising food prices.. you can well imagine how serious they are in the Parliament..

So we are back in the vicious circle where practically 70% of India's population can't afford the sweetener in their tea let alone the tea itself..

Where the development is held back for the industries who now fight to survive let alone provide new jobs..

n all this because of our Government In-Action...

I'm not favoring protectionist policy but may i say some cunning policies will do us good....

for starter's can u let the damn Trucks into UP so that Sugar can become sweet again...

If you are really serious about the farmers ..give them a better price .. not the traders..

n Mr. Pawar stop shouting on the roof how many sugar you going to import.. for it just jacks up the international prices...

n a simple thing as a talk with Steel co.'s set them to tone down.. Tata has its own Iron ore reserves but still cries if the prices go up..

Till then I'll have coffee no sugar please..I'm cutting down..not my diet..my expenses..

Search= Google =Ads =Google = Mobile.

2010-01-05T23:51:00.008+05:30

K great... now Google does finally go mobile...

Those looking for a review.. here's one of the best ones

http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/05/google-nexus-one-the-techcrunch-review/

n ya its not available in India.. i'll check out gafar market don worry..

then some say itz not compatible with our network..

again i say "gafar market"(my fingers are crossed)

I'm more interested in what it means to google..

now itz not just a big advertising agency (where do u think they earn those billion $ from)

itz moved into being a mobile company as well..

Well google is my favourite company...

so ya I'm exited.. n wish them all the very best...

n once u have read the review above u'll know that Nexus One is truly amazing..

so whats bugging me except that the fans here in India will be disappointed..

the fact that Google will step on the toes of itz very associates if u may like to call them..

i.e. company's who launched android platform from Motorola , Samsung , LG etc

these people had invested heavily to carry the android ... n now google n these players have come on head on collision.. this is one space which i would look out for..

the other.. is newtons fav fruit.. Apple Inc.

Google has the ammunition to stand own its own against Apple..

but these are two of the most loved companies that we have around..

n this face-off will sure be interesting..

coming back to India.. web store ain't gonna work... but I'm sure they'll learn from Apple's mistakes in India.. n as it is the unlocked version is available..

but again thanks to "gafar market" guyz the locked version is cheap..

(for all those who don't know.. Gafar market is THE grey market in India n this is where all phones get unlocked)

As of today google's stock was down abt 3% .. nothing to worry it has doubled the past year..

so with Nexus with the ONE it's probably gonna rise more..

what's in store for the future... well .. it'll have some amazing applications as codes been given out to developers.. more than 3 billion applications of i-phone had been downloaded by users..

will Nexus One beat that ..

n how well it'll be received after the initial hype..

i'll keep this space warm with that..

now signing off with the Irony of the day..

i read the review above .. n guess what.. right at the bottom of it was an Ad of

i-phone running on google ads..

No one is gonna buy this .. e-bay

2010-01-05T18:57:00.007+05:30

e-bay came out with a media campagin with a set of 4 ads...

Ad Agency : Weinden+Kennedy, India

We must state at the outset that the the idea is quite stale... n the presentation too bland

to tap their target audience..

At first look it looks more like a Bingo Ad... but no, its just worse....

Have a look here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl_SWi_wTBE&feature=related

This ad surely can't assure even Brand Awareness..

Rather it puts such a vibrant brand like e-bay on the back foot...

n portray's a very mundane and dull image of e-bay as a site..

We are not actaully against the black n white... we are more disturbed By the lack of creativity..

n the purposely gibberish sound does sound just gibberish..

with inputs by @vikram142

Property prices moving left right and center

2010-01-05T18:24:00.002+05:30

contrary to popular belief..property prices are going anywhere but down..

u just gotta be at the right place.. and NOW is the right time..

where?? one might ask..

heard of small town called Hapur .. prices in industrial area have doubled in less than 2 months..

try going to Bijnore .. the same story here..

ok .. lets move on to more popular places.. head to New Delhi.. 2 bed room flat at CR park 1.75 Cr

be quick.. by the time u finish reading the guy gonna ask a cool 10 lac more.. if anyone can plz let me know about a 2 bed room flat in malviya nagar.. a friend wants to invest 2 Cr..

but why should we bother now..

the good news is this is the first time since the rally in property prices that actual buyers are moving in..

More so in tier2 and tier3 cities than metros i must agree..

n why??

most of the industries located within these cities are moving out.. to outskirts industrial areas..

to put all doubts to rest.. its happening at some of the most Industrialised cities like Ludhiana and Jalandhar..

i must agree my knowledge about cities down south is zilch.. but i'am researching on them too and would update this article soon..

so all u who after extra dough... invest now.. when the mood in the air is still a bit lul..

coz soon everyone will join the bandwagon again..

no comments please..

2010-01-04T02:47:00.001+05:30

Ya that's the policy of one of the news paper that i really love to read..

Mint...

actually this is the only paper which i read online.. (my monthly newspaper bill is close to 1000bucks) .. lets just say i'm an old fashioned guy who likes to read 'paper' (pun intended)

ok.. so coming back to livemint.com

i find certain articles soo nice n thought provocative that i sometimes do leave a comment..

but sadly.. except once .. my comment is never published..

k.. i except i hav no authority over intellectual matters,but today i saw something rather humorous on livemint.com ,take a look at the comments they have allowed 2 be published..

i guess for me... better luck next time...

or maybe i too have to pop viagra or ambien

tweet tweet

2010-01-03T23:30:00.002+05:30

well of late i've been twittering quite a lot..

a. don get the time to write long blogs

b. feel like sharing info with all..

c. don use facebook for sharing this info.. (u don go on a double-date with your boss.. u take along your buddy)

well then y iam writing in here today??

hmmm...

my bestest friend works with an IT co. in Japan..

Japan happens to have the biggest users of twitter outside USA..

n this guy doesn't use twitter?? well din came as a surprise for me..

u can take a guy out of India..but not India out of a guy..

ok..seriously.. i tried selling him the idea of signing up for twitter.. but not the ol' fashioned way that itz the 'in' thing.. but becoz it actually is Useful..(that's y i like twitter)

as in u can search n find about the stuff you really interested in...

n ya one would be surprised with the kind of useful stuff u can come across..

so ..let's see if he heeds my advice n lets see what he thinks of it..

many of my friends..actually most... who have signed up.. rarely use it.. rather not at all..

the major blame goes to twitter itself.. coz these guys don know what to do.. n how it could help..

not everyone goes on tweetdeck n other such applications to make it simpler.. itz twitter who have to provide useful applications..

for im sure most would agree.. had it not been for some innovative thinkers n early adapters.. twitter by itself wouldn't have been anywhere close to what it is today...

n it can't piggyback itself on someone else's shoulders..

come on you lil bird u gotta fly by urself n learn to hunt alone...

the marketer of the decade award goes to - YOU

2010-01-02T12:29:00.000+05:30

Ya it's you who is the most sought after marketer of the decade..

well Time magazine didn't just name "YOU" the person of the year for nothing..

It's all because it "YOU" who updates his/her staus on FB.. It's YOU who's like and dislikes make others follow suit(ur friends... n hence the co.'s themselves)

It's your voice within those 140 characters sets the tone of the things to come and the things to "follow"

With the new media plastering itself deep into the social fabric of life it is "YOU" who makes or breaks a brand.. It is your voice that make a simple company from a litle town reach out to the world and it is your RT's which make their voice resonate all around.

So with any product , any company, brand today YOU has the power to reach out to millions.

So Nexus One dosen't need to even be launched before YOU make it a tending topic (on twitter) .. a NaNo dosen't need to be advertised for YOU know it all too well..

Now companies don't just have to acknowledge your tastes and preferences companies have to acknowledge YOU as a marketing partner.

P.S. when will Indian co.'s wake up to realize this..

happy new year people..

2010-01-01T22:07:00.000+05:30

new year brings new hopes ... new beginings ... new approaches .. new ideas..

for me personally there is always a transition... to something better..if not new..

here's cheers for hope for peace n prosperity all around..

amen

What social media has done to us…

2009-12-28T11:28:00.003+05:30

2 things i hated... but did the most in 2009

a. Facebook

b. Twitter

But now i just love them.. (twitter takes the 1st position)

so where are they heading for...

Facebook crossed the 350 million mark..every day users spend 8 billion mins. on fb \,post 45 mil status updates..i actually contribute 120 mins.. :) n u??

So what does it hold for marketers??

Well if u want to promote urself ... be out there on facebook.. even a small restaurant can advertise there n reach out to it's target audience.. for as low as 1$ a day..

it gives you a platform whre the customer reach out to you .. n can have a meaningful converstation.. so hey u CEO do create a page out there on fb n start connecting wth ur customers at a personal level..

well facebook is on a roll...worldwide spending on Facebook is expected to reach $435 million in 2009 and $605 million in 2010..

n Twitter has been on a steady rise..it has had more than 7 billion tweets .. check the real-time figures on http://popacular.com/gigatweet/

but there has been some sort of stagnation in twitters growth http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/22/the-world-is-flat-for-twitter-as-in-global-growth-has-stalled/

n it is a tough road ahead for twitter in terms of makin money,,

they must definitely look at creating their own applications.. n can earn revenue thorough ads when one goes on the application page... i definitely not recommend ads on the user pages..

there are zillions of applications out there based on twitter... so it's far better that twitter itself monetize the opportunities that lay in front of it...

but y do we spend soo much time on these sites...

well for me i use fb to play games...first it was poker... nw cafe world n stuff..

i rarely use it to intreact wth people...(thou undoubtedly itz the place if i wanna check someone out or reach out to)

n i use twitter to search n knw more abt the things i like... (i have almost stopped using google, blv me)

nw I don have to even login to techcrunch or google blog .. or nasa’s blog

.. I just get updated through twitter n if something interest’s me i just go on tha link..

actually some of the saddest news I heard was thru fb n twitter..

RIP MJ … n RIP Asheem da

Okay so yes twitter keeps me updated .. what’s more to offer??

Well use the search..

U knw .. try n search for mundane things like office furniture n u'll find :

a. people willing to give away furniture for free...NGO's can use this

b. people wondering from where n what furniture to buy.. co.'s can use this

go try out something really crazy .. n do share that with me..

was surprised myself to see that 90% co.'s promoting there hardware stuff like hand tools , garden tools etc. wre from India.. n they actually got leads...

I actually got to knw the abt a restaurant in Delhi which serves some of the best Indian cuisine .. from a German guy who had tweeted abt it..

when i don use them(fb n twitter) for work... i use them for fun...

n this"fun" tha i get out of them is wha keeps me hooked...

The other thing I really used on the net was stumbleupon …

Itz just wow… try it people.. it let’s u see the sites ..the webpages .. on the topics which interest u .. n u’ll get to see some amzin relevant stuff which otherwise you wouldn’t have come across on the net,, no amount of googling can yield the same results..

So 2009 has been an interesting year.. n ya social media sites have changed a lot… for the better… now let’s see what’s in store for us in 2010…

So Nokia will go bust!!!!!

2009-12-26T11:41:00.000+05:30

Well i ain't sayin this..

MY very good friend says this..let's see why??

Well he owns a Nokia N92( communicator) n one fine day he drops it(keep this in mind)

now some part gets broken from inside.. so he gives it to the Nokia service center to get it repaired..

now it takes them more than a week to reapair n return his phone.. they had promised it'll be done within three days..

now can u stay without your phone?? ..which has all your contacts n other info for a day..

let alone a week.. no doubt my friend was infuriated..

so, while getting the delivery of his phone he writes on the feedback form that he's not satisfied with the service... n forget's all about it( no co. actually goes through the forms)

surprise !! surprise!! (actualy shock in his own words)

he get a call from Nokia..ya.. u heard right..

ok so whatz the big deal.. they ask him some lame questions.. n he states clearly that he was quite discomforted becoz of the delay...

so the Nokia promises that something will defntly done to compensate him..

( well promises are meant to be broken..aren't they)

shock!! shock!!

he gets another call a day after.. n guess what??

Nokia replaces his phone for a brand new one albeit battery..

ya .. this is a true story..

n before telling all this to me .. my friend said" Nokia is gonna go bust "

no prizes for guessing y??

Disclaimer: i've always used a Nokia phone.. n i love them...

Snail Mail form......Google!!!!!

2009-12-05T01:24:00.009+05:30

Yup.. i got a snail mail from google.. actually it was addressed to my dad..

He runs a typical small scale business here in India, n the mail(letter) was from the GoogleAdswords..with a promotional offer..

Wonderful , i said as i opened the letter n showed to my dad..
Something i had been trying to cox him into ... to advertise on google..

Now this is something very imp and unique.. google is a co. which is today
a synonym for "web search" n they using something as far away from Internet as electricity is from my home town meerut..

The thing is ..India is unique market which provides unique opportunities
that we marketers need to tap n not grumble about..

people like my dad who are business owners( he's an exporter) still live a
century away from the net..
but not from good business logic..

Try n have a look at Indiamart.com .. it has co.'s registered on the site which have a turnover of less than 10,000 $ a year.. but Indiamart a typical e-commerce website has used traditional marketing channels to promote themselves ... and yes it has been damn successful ..

I wish alibaba was doing the same in India.. (can u think of more such co.'s??.. there are many)

K now google has my dad's attention ... i just hope he call the no. given in the letter.. as he would need assistance for running the ads...as he can't use the net to check his mails let alone go through the whole process of creating an ad online..

hence .. a 360 degree approach is what works best in India... with Internet just beginning to gain prominence for e-commerce( i say this because the size of e-commerce is minuscule compared to what it would be) all parties involved..be it the websites or the brands..they have to reach out to their customers in a way that leads to better engagement with their targeted audience,
n proper marketing mix is a must for tapping the vast market out here in India...

i remember registering on eBay n getting a letter from them...
Now maybe i'll get a letter from facebook one day??
u never know.. but i'll be really glad..

What Shiv Sena does is none of my business!!!!

2009-11-20T17:04:00.007+05:30

It surely isn't ...that's y these hooligans enjoy a free run under the sun... they'll go about beating anybody... i must myself go underground ... for they'll be infuriated with what i have to say....

What Shiv Sena has just done .. going out thrashing Media persons is the right thing to do ... we people desreve this... for we are the ones that have made SS what it is today...

Do u really think anythin will happen to Bal Thackeray after this ,,, none...

There'll be a few arrests .. n then it'll be investigated... investigation is actually a pun for .. matter being thrown out of the window....

Shiv Sena wants to rid mumbai off it outsiders...

Mumbai actually wants to rid itself off Shiv Sena..

they'll say - he's an outsider(read not born in Maharashtra) .. i'll add tha i hav'nt been to mumbai more than twice...

but does us being outsider stop us from commenting about Kashmir... how many of us have been to Srinagar let alone ..anywhere else in Kashmir...

Sena Bhaiyo - Mumbai is as much mine as it is yours ... im lucky i was born in India...

but u rather make this ur disadvantage...n remain a king of ur castle...

but the irony is .. we know Shiv Sena is bad...

ppl will still vote for Shiv Sena... they'll still run riot ..some like me will write against what these hooligans will do... but none will stand up against them,,,( of'couse not me)

so what can we do..... whn all politicians r crooks....(Shiv Sena , MNS, BSP, SP, BJP, Congress, CPI....look at me trying to be politically correct by includin all i can remember..P.S. - AIADMK)

1st - we must all vote

2nd - we must vote for the one who is less of a crook... n not becoz he/she is of our cast....

3rd - we all cant go agnst the big crooks like bal or raj Thackeray .. but we can turn the tide against a small pawn ... from our locality .. or our community... remember the bal's of the world don't go out and break things... it is ppl like u n me ... ur frnd ur brother ... who due to the Adrenalin of youth take such anti-social steps...

it may not seem much... or may seem unfeasible .. but if we add up ... then we can make a difference...

i might wake up tomorrow n forget all this...

So next time anyone runs riot... blame me ... n also remember to blame yourself

2009-10-10T23:33:00.002+05:30

view from the top

We all see things in front of us and have opinions about them from what we see....

Do we see it all... nope ...we don usually take a 3D review of things..be it opportunities or obstacles...
Thinking out of box is ok.... but analysing from the top involves viewing ourselves from the top too.. we gotta see things like when we play chess.. where we know each position..n not just what lays in front of us..but also where we were n where we can be.....
It may not move us to a higher ground... but surely provide us with a completely different picture... a picture which will move us..

Now what is all this gibberish that i have written...

Well as our college ends ..we all want to get placed at a decent co. with a good package..
Then again many of us want to do something on our own...
i Want to.... but.. there we are weighing the pros's n con's of it all...
i wish everyone all the best.. to find the strength to do what they really want to....

a*******y : That nine letter word

2009-09-22T20:49:00.003+05:30

I’ll keep it really short n simple… coz seriously this does not deserve a second thought …

Politicians : plz stay were ever u want to as long as u r paying for it….
Journalists : plz don’t give this the undue mileage… that’s the only thing politicians want out of this..

Crux of the matter: Mr Rahul… u waste more resources going by a train… plz fly down to next destination n plzz no point travelling eco class with 8-10 guards around simply do that business class n be more discreet.
Please we want our Future PM( well I like the idea of it) to be up n abt… n reach a conference more relaxed..

We the people: we need to stand up against what mayawati is doin in luknw… wastin thousand of crores...
I loose my sleep that we don’t have basic amenities n U.P. …. Imagine what this money could have done for the people in real need…

A*******y is not what we require out of our politicians… common sense and accountability is what should reflect out of their actions...

Advertising is Dead Long Live Advertising

2009-09-18T17:45:00.002+05:30

One fine day we woke up and saw the writing on the wall – ‘Advertising is Dead’
What does this mean to these brands – Fem, Catch, MDH, Dalda, Nirma… etc

The thing is these Co.’s need to advertise to survive, sustain or grow themselves , Through the good old ‘Idiot Box’
So what do people mean when they say ‘Advertising is Dead’ – they mean that the conventional way of advertising through the ‘Idiot Box’ or the radio, the Print media is over and no longer relevant.
Because who sees these Ad’s anyways, Don’t we all just flip channels , running off to see what’s on other channels, so what’s the use many would wonder of such advertising.
Does a 30% increase in sales seem good enough to you?
Well that’s what Fem achieved when it advertised during the reality show “Rakhi ka Swayamwar’ .
Or the classic case of ‘Happy Dent White’ which had to pull of its ad’s off air as its stocks were sold out.
This is what good Ad sense can achieve on conventional mediums.

Now , we all agree the future lies in going online. Where the facebook’s of the world have become a part of daily life for millions of people world over.
This is where we can find ocean of space to advertise on, at the same time a platform wherein we can pin point our target audience to the T (i.e. demography etc)
Going online also enables you to quantify and qualify your ‘Reach’.
Pepsi launched it’s “My Can” online, it witnessed 2.7 million visits to it’s website within 10 days , this personifies the unique benefit with online advertising – here the consumers reach out to us advertisers.
Well another thing we must know is that Pepsi hasn’t come up with new TVC for quite some time now. Even with the extended summer and its competition being aggressive, and they are not on the internet either.
Before we come to any conclusion we must acknowledge the fact that when we talk about advertisement with respect to India we have got quite a unique market altogether.
Co.’s need to be present in both the conventional medium as well the as the cyberspace. We agree that ignoring the web would be rather costly.
For India the growth has just begun…n things are only set to improve …both for the TV and Internet as a medium….
So Coke n Pepsi .. we want to see u out there on our computer screens…
n MDH masla are well placed on the sas bhau serials…..
With rural consumption in expansion mode and the growing acceptance of MNC brands.. these markets will keep the oil burning for TV n radio…
N for as us Farmville mates… let’s check out the new gadget on the net….

Who ate my pie?

2009-09-18T16:55:00.004+05:30

I had all the eye balls, they all seemed to like it.
Infact they enjoy seeing it again,
but they are not buying it .
What’s up….

Idea came up with the new campaign ‘walk when u talk’.
When you see it you say hmm, this is a nice ad.
I as a consumer would want to see it again.
And the ad does resonate in my mind.
But I don’t go out and get an Idea connection, I personally dread it.
Vodafone serves me better. All my friends have it, hence I get to call them for free.
That’s the answer my friend. That’s what we must be looking at..
Even though I paid 150 buck to get 1000mins free ..abt 15 paise Per min.
I still assume I don’t have to pay nothing…
Same goes with what a friend of mine. He wants to get a new Idea connection for his Driver as its just 15 bucks... as for me, you should have guessed it by now,Vodafone..
i got it for my cook because I can call my him for free…

Thus we as marketers as Business leaders, as a manger must realize that its not just eyeballs we need to capture… it is the wallet ( sorry but I am blunt)

Look at Aircel, I till date haven’t come across a single person with an Aircel number.
I have seen their ads in up in the hills where u don’t even dream of getting an signal (totally inhabited mountains 120 kms off Shimla)
Now they had a running campaign but no gain…
Advertises think they can CAMP for A period of time and GAIN….sorry folks.
In the case of Aircel I believe that they must have chosen a different concept.
They were launching their services at a place where they are virtually unknown.
So if their connection can do wonders on the net doesn’t appeal to the mass public…
What they (consumers) wanted to see and what Aircel should have shown is the price points.
· Cost per call
· Cost per sms
· Cost of new connection..
· There service differentiation
Aircel may have the same or even less rates… but nobody got to know that… and no one would spend time trying to know that…

I remember when Idea was launching in Delhi,
they had this tagline – ‘an idea can change your life’, they din use any celeb’s.
As was the norm then… they had a tune and all that but also the buzz, that they’ll provide incoming for free (seems like a century back isn’t it) .
And that was the real rockstar for idea, people used to call it’s helpline no. long before it started operations. Now that’s a case when a customer is climbing the wall to reach out to you, one rarely gets to see that. Even this incumbent of yours tried the helpline but it was always busy but worth a nice tune.
And yes I did switch over to Idea back then from magic (by Airtel) Idea did change my life. I could talk to my girl friend and text her for free all the time.

Now we also had the launch of virgin again no one I know is a virgin(pun intended)
Good ads…. They even had the price points mentioned, very aggressive as well, they paid you for your talkative ways.
But...(yes there’s a but with them as well)
They were not accessible you couldn’t actually find them around.
I may be wrong but here’s one TATA association which din’t work… coz’ many were confused whether TATA INDIACOM had just simple changed their NAME.
In retrospect there is one more problem with both Aircel and Virgin, their target audience…
For a service provider to shift me to itself would require a shift in the world….
College students and working professionals usually don’t get swayed easily.
So one has to make ads that targets the mass. The common man, the person which is a first time user.

For I did have the best ad…but still don’t understand who ate my pie….