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By Shaziya Khan On 18-May-11, 13:41
Geography is history
Some folks pride themselves on their ability to measure affluence.
Legend has it, the length of a social conversation in some cities is determined largely by geography: Where are you put up? Do you have a sea / lake/ garden view? Is it owned or rented?
A less than impressive reply to any of the above? Shutters down on a budding conversation!
I stretch the point
By Chintamani Rao On 03-Mar-11, 13:29
At the recent World Marketing Congress in New Delhi, Nitin Paranjpe, CEO of Hindustan Unilever, spoke eloquently for FMCG marketing professionals and, in the process, revisited what marketing is all about.
He observed that FMCG marketers are often apologetic or defensive about what they do for a living. In 21st-century India, where the challenges lie in technology, telecom, infrastructure a
By Trilokjit Sengupta On 23-May-11, 13:46
It's 7.30 in the evening and I am standing here at an overcrowded aisle of a well-lit supermarket. In my hands, I have two bottles of shampoo. Both well-known brands. I can’t make up my mind. All I can remember is that Aishwarya and Shilpa come on television toendorse these. I think both are hot. And the prospect of buying them together excites me deeply. Do they really use these shampoos? I
By Pseudo Kramer On 20-May-11, 13:03
TO : ACCOUNT DIRECTOR
FM : MARKETING MANAGER
We have a great opportunity to do a school program to get them to distribute our vouchers to all the students enabling them to get a discount when they buy our product in the store. We need a communication piece to all school principals informing them about the program and all they need to do, is to call or email us (I will give you these details
By Madhukar Sabnavis On 13-Jun-11, 13:44
I was sharing the podium with a famous film director at an induction session of a mass media course in a Mumbai college recently. The filmmaker spoke first and he spoke of the famous ‘Friday’ fear that most of his fraternity have when their films release. The director waits with bated breathe for the audience verdict. As most film makers tend to make at best one film a year, they go throug
By Roopak Saluja On 10-Jun-11, 15:42
India is a brand, perhaps one of the world’s most underleveraged ones up until 2004. Then ‘India Shining’ happened, which, in many ways, was quite the case of the image being brighter than the object. Kill me, patriots! But remember that I too am one.
China is a brand. And so are the United States, Britain, Japan, Brazil, Australia, France and even obscure nations like Vanuatu, The Ga
By vedashree khambete On 09-Jun-11, 09:44
I don’t know why it happens, but it seems that the more time people spend in advertising, the more they begin to oppose the idea of clarity. Exceptions exist, of course (what, you think I’m stupid? I still want to work in this industry tomorrow), but they aren’t as common as one would like.
See, when you’re a junior writer (or visualiser or account executive or planner), you usual
By On 02-May-11, 13:28
Legend has it that the 17th century Maharastrian saint Sant Tukaram (also considered the inspiration for modern Marathi poetry; he was known to have used the word zhavaa zhavi or fornication in his abhangs those days!) received a request from a worried father: his nine-year-old son was consuming too much jaggery and some miracle from Sant Tukaram would help.
After hearing out his angst o
By On 04-Mar-11, 12:49
I have always found it curious that advertising and marketing seem to operate at opposite ends of the spectrum as far as numerical rigor tends to go.
While developing an advertising idea, the emphasis is always on the softer side of consumer behaviour: insights, aspirations, fears, need-states, beliefs, values. But a marketing plan has little patience for these. The currency on this side of
By Babita Baruah On 01-Jun-11, 14:08
Once upon a time, we all sat together, lunched together, drank together, poured over excel sheets and were joint at the hip. We went to client meetings in the same car, squeezed out that extra sponsorship money and celebrated our billing figures .
For those who are wondering what this is about, this is before the great divide between media and advertising.
Which, for obvious reason, was
By On 27-Jan-11, 14:14
I say to you today, my friends, even though we face the difficulties of Goafest or Abbys, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the creative dream.
I have a dream that one day India’s biggest award show will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We are here to uphold creative excellence in all fields of marketing communication, and nothing else but excellence
By Michael Follett On 12-Jan-11, 17:18
There’s a fragment from the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Archilochus that was made famous by Isaiah Berlin that goes like this: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”
Berlin interpreted this to mean that that there were two main types of thinker: people who revel in the variety and multiplicity of the world (the ‘foxes’), and people whos
By Karthi Marshan On 17-May-11, 12:28
If I may take the liberty of paraphrasing my esteemed friend Madhukar (read Madhukar Sabnavis' blog here), agencies must be remunerated better. I agree and endorse his position wholeheartedly.
However, I cannot but agree with Sumit (read Sumit Roy's comment here) in that the whole problem really stems from the legacy of the commission model of remuneration, which the industry is reluctant
By Bindu Nair Maitra On 19-Aug-10, 18:57
Thursday morning begins with a case for punctuality and probability. What's the chance that everytime you call for a taxi in Cannes (not too many times, I assure you) it will arrive on time, except for the time when you have a key appointment early in the morning and it won't? One in ten times. And it happens to me on Thursday.
There's a Mediabrands press conference I rush to, afterwards. They'
By Anant Rangaswami On 19-Apr-11, 10:32
Last morning, we announced that Raj Nayak had taken charge as CEO of Colors.
I had known of the impending announcement for a bit, and had quietly celebrated the news – because, as the worthy Rajesh Kamath quit, Viacom18 needed to find a replacement who would energise and reinvigorate the channel.
And, in such a situation, there’s no one better than a salesman.
And there’s no salesman bett
By Ajay Kakar On 28-Jun-10, 18:01
The curtains came down on the 57th international advertising festival at Cannes, with a gala dinner at the Carlton beach. A grand fireworks display caught the eyeballs of all the delegates, with many a camera shutters blinking to capture the moment. As I step out and head towards my hotel, I know that the night has just begun for these delegates from across the world, as they take time to bid adie
