Image Vs. Algorithm

I was there at the Mandrem beach in North Goa sipping Caipirinha a fortnight back. There was a debate with a friend about the origins of the cocktail Caipirinha. She fished out the blackberry, got to Google and that settled the debate.

On a languid summer afternoon near the warm beach, search was still as effective!! Later that week, I dwelled upon a little more on search and its growing impact on the business of brands!

Born Sep 15, 1997, the day google.com was registered; Google is still an 11 year old. But the new kid on the block is changing the brandscape like no other tech development in the new millennium.

Thanks to search, the consumers today can easily peep behind the image and the make-believe façade of brands. Search can pull the cover off a million dollar marketing hype, the hidden brand agendas and uncover the real truth behind carefully orchestrated celebrity brand endorsements.

And so what if the consumers can’t recall the brand name(aided or otherwise), some of them increasingly say – “we can search what we want, why then do brands keep repeating the same old story?”

Is 'Brand Image'(as we have known) finally giving way to the power of the Search algorithm??

A creation of the packaged goods and advertising industries, “brand image” was pre-supposed to be a key ingredient and driver of purchase intent across many categories.

But in reality many people paid/ still pay more for things because they don't know better. A lot of brand behaviour is driven by habit, lack of sufficient information and sheer inertia which may be wrongly attributed or labeled as brand loyalty!

In contrast, the Google page rank algorithm, the by-product of the quest of the "perfect search engine," defined by co-founder Larry Page as something that, "understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want" democratises the brand world. And under a second provides access to information around not just the brand but a whole list of related keywords.

Do a Google on Tata Sky and you get not just the official web-site, but all the new DTH packages, a comparison between Tata Sky, Dish TV and Big TV, the Wikipedia entry on Tata Sky, how to order Tata Sky online at sify.com, discussion forums on indiabroadband.net and mouthshut.com, a Business Standard entry on the DTH industry losses in 2008-09. And we are still on page 1. One can troll 3.23 million entries for Tata Sky in under 0.05 seconds!!

A consumer can start his search at Tata Sky or DTH and end up ordering Big TV. Almost always, a bit wiser, a lot informed and without ever having to remember any ad, the tagline or the TVC.

If you have related thoughts on how search is altering brands and our buying habits, do ping!! Happy New Year...

Aamir - the blogger Khan

There is a sliver of a chance that I may get to meet Aamir(Khan) for my book. One of my close friends has promised. Maybe post the release of Ghajini...

So, while I keep my fingers crossed, I also decided to google all his interviews and other facts and trivia. He is a meticulous man I gather and I better be prepared.

And so I spent about an hour on his blog yesterday. I had stayed away from these celeb blogs earlier because in my own mind I just couldn't reconcile the Bollywood stars(so used to fame and manipulating mass media) with the simple, democratic and conversational act of blogging.

But alas I was wrong as far as Aamir's blog is concerned. This khan gets it. I mean he really gets blogging!! While many of my clients and few of my digital savvy colleagues(from past and present)still don't get it:-)

1. The posts are written exactly in the manner one would imagine Aamir to talk in say an interview.

2. The posts sound real. He talks about his anger and helplessness at the Mumbai blasts. How he felt screening TZP in Seattle for the IDA (International Dyslexia Association). Even the fact that he couldn't sleep one night because of ants in his bed:-)

Now this isn't rocket science. The being real part. But brands and brand managers seldom get it right.

3. It's okay to make mistakes.Blog posts are never meant to be perfectly crafted messages. Often they are random thoughts. They are the first opinions. They are amateurish. They might reveal mistakes and flaws. They can have spelling errors. Aamir's posts have spellos. He even spells the movie Memento as Momento and later acknowledges the error:-) Brands too must learn and adopt this degree of humanness when they want to converse through the medium of social media. It is more important to be human and share honest feelings than to be correct and share dessicated facts...

4. Inviting feedback. Bollywood stars or any stars for that matter have largely communicated from a pedestal. That's part of their mystique. Yet when one blogs one has to be receptive to feedback. From the commoner. The audience of One. Aamir does. Even the micro-feedback of giving indents in his paragraphs for better readability:-)

5. Contextual. Again brands arrogantly assume their primacy all the time. That they are the centre of the universe/ conversation. Whereas when you blog(the general sort of blog), context is everything. The content is a variegated play of life, your work, the important and the trivial thoughts...Again, I have found it difficult for clients and their brands to appreciate the context when it comes to any form of social media.

So, if nothing else, star bloggers like Aamir can teach marketers how to converse with their audience. One on one...

However, on the content front, I was largely disappointed. I don't think he has articulated his thoughts as well as he acts in his movies:-)( on the basis of the 4-5 posts that I read randomly...)

You may want to read a few of his posts - 'Sleepless in Seattle', 'It's a bird, it's a plane' - by Abbas Tyrewala, 'Ghajini'...Ah, you will will have to register and then log on...a bit annoying!

Burrowing in the Book : Talking Films

After a week of mild depression(triggered more by 24X7 TV news, screeching Barkha, over-bearing Arnab and high-strung Rajdeep than the terror attack itself), like the rest of the city I have got back to work in almost full steam. Both at the day job and in my role as the week-end writer:-)

On my book front - All the googled information in the world is of no use, unless one is able to crystallise an argument. And that's a bloody difficult task, especially if you have to do it over 200 pages!!

Moreover, am struggling to find meaningful articles on Bollywood. Either frivolous actor interviews/ film reviews float on the internet or there are these academics who dwell upon such arcane themes around Bollywood with so much academic mumbo-jumbo that's it's of no real help!!

Within such constraints, one voice that has guided me in the past and continues to do so now is that of Javed(Akhtar) saheb...Right from his book Talking Films - Conversations on Indian Cinema compiled by Guru Dutt's niece - Nasreen Munni Kabir to his many interviews, Javed saab shares his nuggets on Bollywood...If only I could get some quality time with him and soon...

Stumbled upon this interview of at Glamsham.com. This one's okay...with a few worth a bookmark comments!

1.Are you convinced about remaking films like SHOLAY and DON? Please don't be politically correct just because Farhan has remade DON.
Let me tell you the backdrop of the original DON. That will help you get your answer. DON suffered despite an interesting script since it was made on a shoestring budget. Producer Nariman Ali could, somehow, complete the film. The remaking was justified as the film deserved it. As for SHOLAY, I don't think there is any scope or need for improvisation in the film. There is nothing new or original that one can add to the film. It's all there.

2.When are you directing a film?
Writing is an addiction and once you get addicted to it; it is very difficult to concentrate in other things. It makes you lazy and no job seems more interesting than writing. Often I think I will do this and that but ultimately land up with my pen and paper. I am too lazy to make films.

3.There is always a critical comparison between your and Gulzar's poetry. Would you like to comment on this?
I respect Gulzarsaab a lot. He is a true icon. So it will be unfair to comment on his poetry. But I can talk of my art form. I have always aimed at making poetry understandable even to a person who does not have the remotest idea of the art. If I can't communicate my lines to people what's the use of making it public? Some poets don't realize that. They go on writing abstract poetry and say they don't care if people understand them or not. Ambiguity forbids simple expression. This is definitely not my genre.

4.After spending over 30 years as a lyrics writer I am sure words reside at your pen-tip. Isn't it?
Now-a-days I don't have to try hard to fit in the words to the music. But that doesn't mean that I don't have to do my homework regularly. I have my own set of vocabulary that needs to be upgraded every day.

You can read some nice excerpts from the book Talking Films here...

So, what do we do Mumbai!!!

Now, that the last of the terrorists have been gunned down and the 50+ hour ordeal is over(well not for the families of those killed and injured), there is a deep sense of anguish and anger that can be sensed in the city...

24X7 televised terror is more scary than one without the TV. To that extent, I don't know whether it's a good thing or bad. As I pull myself together from the shock at the periphery, within the warmth and comfort of my family...I chanced upon this piece written by Suketu Mehta in NYT here. Worth a read!!

Says Suketu - 1. In other cities, if there’s an explosion, people run away from it. In Mumbai, people run toward it — to help. Greater Mumbai takes in a million new residents a year. This is the problem, say the nativists. The city is just too hospitable. You let them in, and they break your heart.

2. The best answer to the terrorists is to dream bigger, make even more money, and visit Mumbai more than ever. Dream not just of Bollywood stars but of clean running water, humane mass transit, better toilets, a responsive government. Make a killing not in God’s name but in the stock market, and then turn up the forbidden music and dance; work hard and party harder.

3. If the rest of the world wants to help, it should run toward the explosion. It should fly to Mumbai, and spend money. Where else are you going to be safe? New York? London? Madrid?

4. So I’m booking flights to Mumbai. I’m going to go get a beer at the Leopold, stroll over to the Taj for samosas at the Sea Lounge, and watch a Bollywood movie at the Metro. Stimulus doesn’t have to be just economic.

I guess he is right. We must not run away from saving people...We must give our blood to Bombay and not just stop after fwding smses and wearing black!! We have to get back to work and slog harder as if nothing happened...And we must actually vote(this time)good men/women into power who can protect the city better and not just be TV citizens and armchair voters!

You just can't derail this city for more than 48 hours. Bombay is wired differently. It just is...

Interviewing Alex Bogusky : From Boulder On Bollywood

On Friday I finally managed to speak to Alex Bogusky - the rock star creative head and chairman of the US ad agency Crispin Porter Bogusky(CP+B) for my 'Bollywood and Branding book...

1. I had found some similarity in how Alex approaches work and the way a part of Bollywood thinks.

2. While over the years I have done my fair share of interviewing consumers in numerous focus groups, but interviewing the head of the edgiest ad agency in America made me a lil conscious...

3. An hour before the interview I changed my questionnaire...After going through many of his interviews on the net.

4. Here's a sample of what I asked Alex - (a)It seems till now advertising and branding has had a formula, a plan, a roadmap but going ahead with the infinite touch points that we have created will branding become pure art?

(b) I have read you saying that your agency's basic philosophy is to take a brand and make it famous. Does this principle apply to all brands?
Can the average soap brand also stand a chance of becoming a mini celebrity? What's the process like?

(c)Is surprise the new consistency?

(d)In this age of 24X7 global connectivity, and the fact that digital creatives like the BMW films have an infinite life will the size of the media budget cease to matter?

(e)How do you plan ( Burger King, VW) to lead the conversation in a category,in the culture?

(f)Tell me something about your strategic planning department? With sociologists, anthropologists and investigative journalists.

and a few other Qs...

5. It was supposed to be a 30 min interview but Alex gave me about 50...spoke like a clairvoyant with humility and brilliance.

6. One of the things I have often wondered about is the extreme elasticity of the Bollywood stars - SRK for example endorses close to 25 brands - from the sasta Nav Ratan Tel to Tag Heuer yet we don't have any problems understanding him. He/ Aamir/ Amitabh still manage to give meaning and stability to brands.

What I never figured out how they manage to do this so effortlessly. And I deal this in one of the chapters in our book.

Alex had an interesting take - he said people take ingredients from brands not consume/ believe the whole of most brands. So, under this ingredient theory, the 30brand SRK is easier to understand.

7. We talked of Paris Hilton, the return of the 30sec commercial and the changed role of mass media...

8. I liked both the sound of the questions and the texture of his answers...It was a thrilling experience.

Next on the list : Balki!!

The Madness Starts at 9

My friend, Vinay(Kanchan) has written this hilarious book - The Madness Starts at 9!!

The book is a satire on the corporate world. It is set in an agency, and is a humorous take on many events that happen in the life of the agency!

1. Vision Impossible - elaborates on the mind numbing nature of vision meetings

2. True Lies- looks at how in a interview process, both parties celebrate the 'creative distortion of the truth'

3. Wait Until Dark - is about how office parties can be used for furthering your career graph:-)

4. A myth called performance appraisals - is well, the name kinda says it all :)

5. Stumped - shows what happens in an organisation on the day when India plays a cricket match

6. I know what you did last summer - demystifies what really happens during summer internship

7. Murder by Numbers -dwells on how we inherently are intimidated by numbers, even though they have a critical role to play

and so on...You can get the Hindu review of the book here...

All the best Vinay! Hope you have a best-seller!!

BBH Zags Again

Just received an invite from the Ad Club Mumbai for the talk by the BBH boys(okay men) - John Hegarty, Nigel Bogle and Simon Sherwood on the 19th at Taj Landsend!!

And coincidentally read this article on adage.com about BBH's innovation division - Zag!

1. As the economic downturn worsens and agencies everywhere cut costs, Bartle Bogle Hegarty is doing something really different: diversifying into products such as vegetarian meals and personal alarms!!

2. Through Zag, the agency's brand-invention company, BBH's London office is creating its own brands and bringing them to market with joint-venture partners. The idea is to identify "brand lag" - areas where consumers are active but there are few brands.

3. Zag was launched in 2006 in the UK!! And recently opened a Zag office in New York.

4. And these are not pet projects. BBH hopes that Ila personal alarms will make $35 million a year in retail sales within three years, and that Pick Me vegetarian meals will be a $15 million retail business within a year!!

Great 'Zag stuff' and good inspiration for all of us...

Reach Out and Other Stray Thots

Day before, I got a mail from a planner in Delhi. Nothing unusual about that. Except that I didn't know that planner and it was a 'reach out' e-mail. The e-mail wasn't for a job or a LinkedIn introduction or plain networking...It was just one planner reaching out to another - across cities, across agency networks...A simple, honest reach-out!!

The planner just wanted to talk to me...It felt good. Today we had a longish chat on the phone. Smuggled some time from the 'effie case preparations' that's keeping me and sonal bogged down!! One stray thot led to another...

1. It's so easy to reach out today. Through social media and a connected world. And yet in our small Indian ad world, we don't do that enough. We had a small planning collective - ThotBlurb - but unfortunately it died out after a few months...

2. There are few regular planner meets or ad forums.(Or maybe I am clueless about them or too old and therefore denied entry)

3. Is there something wrong with the Indian ad fraternity. While trying to get people to interview for my book, I have found it easier to reach Alex Bogusky(haven't made this up) than an Indian CEO(ex-boss, 4 mails, zero replies:-)
Why are we(ok, so many of us) so stuck up? So, hierarchical and designation-obsessed in our dealings and so incapable of reaching out...

4. On the positive side, today is the best time for communication people. It's so easy to stay in Mumbai and think with Boston...There is no lag time in global idea downloads. It's all there to be scrutinised, made sense of, to be re-purposed.

5. But I guess Internet and social media still hasn't really penetrated our bottled up mindsets, our un-sharing nature, our silo-workings...

6. Or maybe some of us are waiting for 'pehle aap'!!

Resolution - (a)To increase LinkedIn connections to 500 in the next 12 months!!, (b) To revive SchoolOfDavid(okay SchoolOfMudra:-), (c) Revive ThotBlurb, (d) Be more regular with the LikeMind Mumbai meets...and (e) Find time to do all of the above...LOLAnd this is the old file photo of a SchoolOfDavid:-) Miss you guys...

Roadshow Romeo : 5 1/2 Thoughts

Didn't really think could get around to doing a post during Diwali break. But here I am...typing hard on the clanky keyboard while Neo sleeps...

1. Saw Roadside Romeo yesterday - Neo, his mama and myself in a theatre in Patna called Ashok - Rajdhani Ka Gaurav. It's a 59 year old theatre that doesn't hide it's age. Musty, somewhat smelly but full of happy memories from my childhood!!

2. You can read a quick review by Subhash K Jha here...

3. I enjoyed the movie and so did Neo. Though not sure, who liked it more...LOL. Technically, (with my limited exposure) I feel it's perhaps the best made Indian animation fillum till date. The Disney magic touch is definitely there. And the arranged marriage between Yash Raj films and Disney has worked!!

4. Though it's a bit difficult to slot the movie for any particular age-group. It's needlessly romantic/ syrupy for a kiddy film. 5 year old Neo was yawning through the second half...Too simplistic and linear for the movie buff. Too Bollywood for the animation purist. But I guess this is the first of a new wave. The Bollywood effect on animated movies has just begun. Maybe this is how Bollywood could enter the global movie market.

5. Javed Jaffrey as Charlie Anna is just too good. His seasoned voice brings great vigour and vivacity to the slum-lord's role!! Maybe there is life beyond the movie for Charlie Anna.

51/2. Neo has declared he will watch it again on VCD, so there you are - the TG has given a thumbs up! But the Rajdhaani Ka Gaurav didn't have pop-corn(Unpardonable)!!!

Big Idea : CauseCast

Yesterday received this RSS feed from TrendCentral.com It's about social media meeting cause. A site named Causecast.org!!

Trendcentral says 85% of youth today think it's important to make the world a better place (The Cassandra Report, May 2008), and Causecast is looking to reach these socially conscious consumers by acting as a powerful online social medium that connects nonprofits, leaders, brands, and individuals to those who want to make a positive impact on the world.

Boasting a roster of well-recognized celebrity activists and leaders, and 30 nonprofit organizations, Causecast is a one-stop-shop for philanthropy, including a social network, news outlet, and entertainment source.

In an effort to increase popular interest in social causes, the site makes it easy for users to give back and do good on their own. Users can highlight their favorite causes by adding a widget to their own personal sites and profiles. Additionally, cause-related news from around the world is available at Causecast, as well as a weekly news show, with shorter segments available on the site's YouTube channel...

Need to create something like this closer home!!

Tribal Goes Social

Tribal DDB London got into social marketing mode last week. It launched Radar DDB for social media. You can read the write-up here...

Till now, such services/ this space has been a place for smaller, independent agencies. Now Tribal DDB, one of the big three agency networks alongside WPP and IPG, is creating its own social media division to add to its UK roster…

Radar DDB, which already operates in Canada, is pegging January 1, 2009, as a start date. Radar DDB will focus on building brand strategy, social media monitoring and conversational branded content for Tribal clients, which include VW and Philips.

We have been working to create our own social media division for some time now in India. Time to get in touch with the London office for some tips and inspiration...

Schmidt Speak

On adage.com, browsed through Eric Schmidt's interview. It's always fascinating to tap into the mind of this internet era sage...Some nuggets from the article.

1. The internet is fast becoming a "cesspool" where false information thrives! Brands, therefore are the solution, not the problem. Brands are how you sort out the internet cesspool.

2. Branding may be an essential element that helps people navigate the world. Brand affinity is clearly hard wired. It is so fundamental to human existence that it's not going away. It must have a genetic component.

Interesting stuff...Chewable!

Sunday, The Book and Javed Saheb's Angst

It has been a very busy and hard working Sunday. I am now in week 4 of writing my book - broadly around the theme - 'New Marketing learns from Bollywood'...

Writing a book does demand a very different level of conviction and attention. I thought my 2 years of blogging would be discipline enough but the book is a totally different monster...

Just managed to browse through the papers. Read this view-point piece on 'Terrorism and the Muslim community' by Javed Akhtar...

The problem of our times is that the best and the most learned and talented are silo-ing themselves from the real India - the angry, festering with violence(mostly engineered) India. So a departure from the normal rants on media and advertising...

Javed Saheb's angst ridden voice on 'Terrorism and the Muslim' in this DNA piece here made me restless...

1.'Muslims only get toothless commissions’ - Whenever they are killed, raped or burnt alive or their property destroyed, all they get is a commission which sits on the case for years, and ultimately gives a report. It may indict some people, but the report eventually finds its way into the dustbin.

2. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that the VHP and Bajrang Dal are behind the church attacks in Orissa and Mangalore, but somehow this is not discussed. After all, this is also terrorism.

3. I recently heard a TV anchor ask someone if it was time for the Muslim community to do some introspection. This is a loaded question, even if it was not intended that way. It suggests that the Muslim community is, in fact, responsible for the various acts of terrorism its members have been accused of. Would you say that since the Bajrang Dal is burning churches, the Hindu community should do some introspection? I won’t ever say that because I don’t believe that the Hindu community as a whole should have to bear the responsibility for the actions of some of its members.

4. In our country, ‘Terrorist’ seems to be a word reserved exclusively for Muslims. Those indulging in unrest from the border of Nepal to Andhra Pradesh are naxalites; in the Northeast they are insurgents. And in the case of the Bajrang Dal and VHP, they are ‘social activists’.

Couldn't agree with you more Javed Saheb. But we need many more angry poets and angry common men/ women in this country...

Wanted Entrepreneurs!

Came across StrawberryFrogs'Scott Goodsons' blog entry - ADVERTISING NEEDS MORE ENTREPRENEURSHIP, MORE THAN EVER.

Says he - 1. The sign of a healthy industry is the state of its entrepreneurial spirit. The advertising industry as a whole needs more entrepreneurs. The large conglomerates that control and dominate the industry need more competition.

2. We need more entrepreneurs. A little backbone and a lot of ambition. Because this drives the industry forward. And the more people in the huge conglomerates see indies succeed the more they should think "hey if they can do it, I can do it too"!!

Scott's post made me think what's wrong with the big networks who have a fair share of talent and entrepreneurial spirit.

(a) It's not that the big networks don't have talent, it's just that there is not much incentive to do things differently. Failure is heavily censured. So, the brightest guys are afraid to deviate from the dotted line.

(b) Entrepreneurship grows when there is a small pool of like-minded people with shared belief and passion. Big networks seldom actively allow their brightest minds to pool their talent and energies together. Most often talent is locked in silos that seldom partner each other.

(c) The existing power-structure is so focused on the things that worked in the past and in servicing the current big clients that any new thought/ project/ venture never gets the attention, money and backing to lift-off...

(d) And many a time the best of the CEO's vision gets lost in translation as it has to pass though the fat layer of middle management and mindsets stuck in the past...

But looks like the winds of change are blowing hard:-)

What's your Digital Quotient(DQ)?

Finally, we have our internal planner group-id/water cooler up and running! Last Thursday, I had asked to compile a list of Questions to check the DQ(digital quotient) of the planner group/ the agency executive...

Here's the compiled version...

1. Have you ever led an alternate digital life, such as Second Life? And for the moment ignore the duration of time spent!

2. Have you ever gamed online?

3. Have you ever used, supported or developed any alternate digital community space (such as Cydia/ Installer/ Applications on the iphone)?

4. When was the last time you actually experienced a completely new technological platform?

5. Do you actively seed/ leech from torrent sites? If so what do you seek?

6. Have you ever used your 'digital' world to guide you when you travelled abroad (locations, language translations, eateries, etc)?

7. To what extent have you shifted your bill payments/ ticketing/ movie bookings, etc online?

8. Has the digital world enabled you to work for profit with people whom you've only ever interacted with online?

9. Have you shifted a large part of your high-value purchases online?

10. Have you actively explored the various internet browsers on offer? If so, do you have a personal opinion on the same?

11. Do you read blogs? Which ones?

12. Do you have a personal blog? What's it about?

13. Do you participate in at least one social network? Which one?

14. Have you ever uploaded a video online? What did you use to do it?

15. What's your favorite search engine. Why?

16. Have you ever used an online classified service like craigslist?

17. Besides making phone calls—how else do you use your mobile phone?

18. Have you ever registered a domain name?

19. Do you use social bookmarks or tagging?

20. Do you use a feed reader of some sort? Which one? Why?

And once again these Qs make me realise am still a struggling Digital Immigrant:-)
( And I feel we missed some Qs for the mobile). We need to make a mind-shift from the PC to the mobile real soon...

P.S. DQ image source - derryquay.com

Talking To Mobisumers - some thoughts

I have to speak at the afaqs Mobile Conversations seminar on Friday in Mumbai.

Actually, it's quite telling how the average analog ad agency in Mumbai/ India thinks so little about/around the mobile. And even when we do, we don't really factor in the mobile consumer( a whopping 280mn of us). Most of the time we trim our TV ideas to fit the small screen and 140 characters.

Just putting some WIP thoughts for my talk. Would look forward to any comments/ thoughts, suggestions, case studies, etc. Anything?
I think as an advertiser/ marketer communicating through/ to the mobile must be sensitive to the following:

1. Snackable - All mobile content must be snackable. We are limited by the constraints of 140 characters, a very small screen, a partially attentive consumer and intrusion into her personal space!

2. Shareable - Unlike TV communication/ marketing content on the mobile is shareable...Therefore, mobile creative content must capitalise on this.

3. Low Fat - We must not overload the information content in our marketing messages. Keep it low fat!! Send me stuff in two sms. Just tell me one fact at a time.

4. Personal - The mobile is a personal, often a private medium/ screen. So, beyond a point our TV intrusion tactics will not work/ backfire for brands. It's a one-to-one conversation that we need to have...Don't call me on a Sunday after-noon to sell some God damn credit card even if it's platinum!!

5.Informal - Brand communication on the mobile can/ ought to have an informal tone/ content. Can we have a Friday Dressing code for mobile marketing:-)

6. Anytime - There is no fixed time for the mobile marketing message. We don't have to wait for prime time or cricket matches or saas bahu soaps to start the conversation. And with the extended and 24X7 reach, it puts an added responsibility on marketing...

7. Talk Value - Because the medium is highly shareable, brands can generate a lot of Talk Value if they craft the content right and seed it properly. Consumers can generate a ripple effect of INFLUENCE for our brands...

8. Generation Less - Especially in the Indian context, where the mobile is often shared within the family, we must be sensitive that marketing communication might have to have an across the generation appeal...

That's all for the moment...Do write to me post Friday and will mail the presentation...

Bluetooth, Bollywood Aur Bihar

There is so much happening around. Yesterday, was trying to get our Bluetooth bus-shelter up and running and then even ended up writing an article on Bluetooth Marketing...You can read it here...

This morning after a late start with some simulated fight sequences with my son, Neo came to the office to plug in few hours on my 'New Marketing and Bollywood' book. The blank page is scary...

As I was searching the web, came across Shekhar Kapur's post on Bihar Floods : Do we treat Bihar as a lost cause?

Actually my wife collected a whole lot of clothes and some money for the flood affected. She got in touch with an organisation called DoctorsForYou!!

Somewhere, Shekhar is right. There was more hype around the Arushi murder case in organised media than when 2 million people get affected in perhaps India's worst natural calamity!!

Bhagwan Aaye Bluetooth Se

We are currently doing this blue-tooth enabled promo on bus shelters for our client Cycle Agarbatti in Bombay. Essentially one can download ring-tones, Ganapati wall-paper, the cute Cycle Agarbatti radio spot(it's got a non-commercial ring to it) on the mobile phone...The bus-shelter also plays the aarti tune twice everyday.

Grateful to Suresh, the CEO of Telibrahma and his team for being the technology partner on this...

In isolation, it's not a big deal/ promo but it's good learning to play with technology ...Next is what:-)

P.S. More about this promo here

25 Years of a Cult Classic

After finishing my usual dose of 4 newspapers this Sunday morning in under 30 minutes I was absorbed into the latest issue of Tehelka!

Read an engaging write-up by Naseer on Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro!! It completes 25 years! It may be a cult film today. Back then, during the making of the movie, Naseer says it was insanity. Read the complete article here as Naseer looks back on the gritty elation of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro...

Jotting down a few lines that stuck...

1. In those days, the titles of films were not identified by abbreviations, we just called it “this f—-ing film we’re shooting now”. It was the pre-monsoon summer, the locations were the streets of Bombay...

2. The script of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro seemed to have been revealed to Kundan Shah in an inspired moment of transcendental, if not downright hallucinogenic, lunacy. I had never read or seen anything like it at the time, and while I was not absolutely sure that it was even coherent, I itched to have a crack at it.

3. THE FILM was not an immediate success, but over time it has come to have a sort of cult reputation. I think it has struck a chord with audiences because of the unassuming way in which it speaks of corruption and the struggle of the underdog. None of these themes were novel, but Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’s off-centre presentation caught people’s fancy.

4. What is not funny, however, is the question of why Kundan can’t follow it up. Talk has been rife for too long about a sequel. Only the man himself can answer why it hasn’t happened. And he’s not telling, but I think what he’s not telling is that to be able to generate that extreme and that intense an energy from that many participants takes some doing: it’s tough to summon that adrenaline on demand.

5. For those touched by it, the memory is goose-pimply, it causes sweat to break out on the brow, the blood to rush to the temples and the knuckles to go white. So actually, instead of vainly hoping for a sequel, let’s just give thanks that this one actually happened.
(From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 34, Dated Aug 30, 2008)

Made me want desperately to watch Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro yet again and soonest...

Phoonk and Ramu's Marketing Stunt

I love Ram Gopal Varma for his crazy and scary movies!! Though I couldn't muster enough courage to see RGVK Aag(came back from the ticket counter:-)

I was not aware of this movie promotion for Phoonk! My planner, Sonal just pointed out! Apparently Ramu is going to give 5 lacs to the person who watches the entire movie all alone in the theatre!!

Some of the rules for the contest are: (1) The film will have to be seen from start to finish, without an interval.(2) No cell phones will be allowed inside the theatre, which will be fitted with cameras to monitor the contestant.

Read the details here...

That's some kick-ass marketing idea!! You can see the Phoonk Trailer here...And Phoonk's officla web-site is here...

That reminds me I worked on the online strategy plan for Farhan's Rock On earlier this month...But it's gathering dust at the moment(the plan that is:-)

Gatorade Ball Girl Viral

Unbelievable!! Isn't it?

Well, it is indeed unbelievable: The clip is a masterwork of "viral" marketing, essentially an ad aimed at touting Gatorade, but without actually mentioning the company.

This video has had 1.5 to 2 million views on YouTube!! The ball girl video was posted on June 3, and Advertising Age published a glowing review of it a few days later.

"Ball Girl" was posted on YouTube by a filmmaker affiliated with Element 79 Partners, the Chicago ad agency that created the spot.

The original Ball Girl post had a clear reference to Gatorade in the text describing the video. But the video was copied and shared several times over without mentioning the Gatorade connection.

The video gives only the slightest nod to the beverage. When the ball girl sits down after the amazing catch, there's a bottle of Gatorade near her feet.

It's subtle!! But the real payoff is the buzz generated by the video. Including this post:-)

The lesson for marketers - Anytime their brand enters into popular culture discussions, it's going to benefit.

Even though many viewers thought the outlandish catch was somehow a fake—which, indeed, was the result of special effects—they were still entertained by it.

IndiAdrant is Two Years Old Today!!

And this guys is the most amazingly consistent thing/work/writing I have ever done in my life! Pat on my back:-)(Small barely noticeable flutter/ blip in the blogosphere LOL) And here's the link to my first post Viruses of the Mind written on Aug 18,2006 in case you don't believe me...LOL

And the second year of blogging has been harder, more lonely! More repetitive(perhaps) but consuming lesser time...With RSS feeds taking away the sense of micro community the blog had once, it's been difficult keeping the momentum...

Also, often I feel sucked out. As if whatever I had to say, I have said earlier. And yet it's still addictive as hell! A week away from the blog and there is this gnawing desire to write something, anything to keep it going...As if it's a plant left unwatered or something:-)

It's the best piece of public narcissism devised by man/ technology. At the end of the day, even if nobody indulges you or humours you, you do it to yourself!

With about 355 posts,IndiAdRant has out-lasted a merger and a job change!! In the afternoon, I felt like cutting a cake for the blog:-) But then felt too lazy to do it.

What an atlas of my mind this has become! Maybe after I finish my Bollywood book next June, will hunt for a publisher indulgent enough to thread this atlas into a book...

I feel good and empty and lonely and happy and tired and energised and nostalgic and confident and lucky and knowledgeable and connected and good...

Goodnight!!
P.S. The small vase in the picture is my first pottery assignment!! Made after a sumptuous meal at the Taj property at Kumarakkam when we visited Kerala last December!!

IndiAdRant is 1 year old today

The Secret of the Web by Seth Godin

Came across this nice post by Seth Godin, which I am reproducing here...

"The secret of the web is Patience.

Google was a very good search engine for two years before you started using it.

The iPod was a dud.

I wrote Unleashing the Ideavirus 8 years ago. A few authors tried similar ideas but it didn't work right away. So they gave up. Boingboing is one of the most popular blogs in the world because they never gave up.

The irony of the web is that the tactics work really quickly. You friend someone on Facebook and two minutes later, they friend you back. Bang.

But the strategy still takes forever. The strategy is the hard part, not the tactics.

I discovered a lucky secret the hard way about thirty years ago: you can outlast the other guys if you try. If you stick at stuff that bores them, it accrues. Drip, drip, drip you win.

It still takes ten years to become a success, web or no web.
The frustrating part is that you see your tactics fail right away. The good news is that over time, you get the satisfaction of watching those tactics succeed right away.

The trap: Show up at a new social network, invest two hours, be really aggressive with people, make some noise and then leave in disgust.

The trap: Use all your money to build a fancy website and leave no money or patience for the hundred revisions you'll need to do.

The trap: read the tech blogs and fall in love with the bleeding-edge hip sites and lose focus on the long-term players that deliver real value.

The trap: sprint all day and run out of energy before the marathon even starts.

The media wants overnight successes (so they have someone to tear down). Ignore them. Ignore the early adopter critics that never have enough to play with. Ignore your investors that want proven tactics and predictable instant results. Listen instead to your real customers, to your vision and make something for the long haul. Because that's how long it's going to take, guys."

Some good advice there...And oh, I spotted the book -'A Masterclass in Brand Planning: the timeless works of Stephen King' at Crossword. At Rs. 2500+, I am still toying about buying it though:-(

Abhinav Bindra, Facebook and Reactive Adulation

Friend of mine just sent this Facebook link...

'Bhavneet invited you to join the Facebook group "Thank you Abhinav Bindra- India's first Individual Gold Medalist".

To see more details and confirm this group invitation, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?group.php&gid=22391217967. Or click here.

I felt good in the morning that our individual Gold jinx has been broken. But this sudden out-pouring of enthusiasm and adulation on the mobile and the Internet is so typical of our reactive stance and arm-chair participation. Or maybe I am plain old cynical:-)

Congratulations Abhinav Bindra!!

K.I.L.B : Mixed Feelings

Am glad they revealed it. These K.I.L.B bus-shelters/hoardings were now irritating the hell out of me(and my guess is I wasn't the only one...)

At first I thought it might be Vodaphone, then I guessed it could be a new TV soap. Fellow blogger Praneeth had a nice post on how the client/ agency frittered the online search opportunity. And you are directed to Big Adda here!!! Cute...

Hold your breath, The BIG Brand Reveal is actually AEGON Religare Insurance!! You can get an update here.Insurance was the last category that would have come to my mind. But then again, if the work managed to get so much attention, guess it worked:-)

But guys upload your TVC onto YouTube(it's free)...Tag it well(that's free as well)When you generate interest, please know how to channelise and engage that interest!

Else it is K.I.L.B - Kill Interest, Lose Buyers...or Kill Interest Lose eye-Balls(sounds better:-)

Centerfresh and the Viral Factory

Geetanjali just mailed me this Center fresh viral. Very cool!! Wish we had done it...You can watch it here...But it got me thinking...

1. Most virals of Indian origin look as if they have been manufactured at a Central Viral Factory.

2. Same art, similar narrative styles, same measured portions of quirkiness...

3. It's as if the clients are saying - mujhe bhi ek viral bana do exactly pehle jaise wala...please please and the agencies(y) comply...

4. But virals are a very good example of the 'new creative' - spicy, mashed up with popular culture. No great burden to be 'entirely original'.

I must lay my hands on the 10 ways to make a viral article that Leroy promised...

Experience Design and the 'Future of Cornflakes!!'

Was reading an article on Experience Design in the last issue of Contagious magazine.
Archiving some learnings...

1. The definition of what actually constitutes branding is increasingly broad. Branded touch-points now include everything from an online presence to a smiling customer representative and the band-aid solution of an advertising campaign is no substitute for a holistic, positive experience. If advertising is the end of the chain, Experience Design is the chain! - 'Jess Greenwood'

2. In today's world, any company that is working within products or services of any kind needs to stop this notion of expertise. the idea that they know best what the customer wants - quite a missionary stance, actually - and start creating with the very people they want to build products and services for. - Anna Kirah, a design anthropologist.

3. I have no idea whether the chemicals in Toilet duck are any good. I just like the fact that it's shaped like a duck. - Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy Group,UK

4. I'm convinced that some sort of Experience Design will become the master discipline for businesses that want to be good at selling stuff. - Russell Davies, freelance planner/ blogger

5. Looking around the work-arounds and self generated solutions that consumers create to navigate certain problems is infinitely more inspiring than sitting in a room with a one way mirror and saying "What's the future of cornflakes? - Paul Bennett, Creative Director, Ideo

Suddenly this reminds me of a packaging research amongst kids( I attended some 6 years back) where a fairly persistent researcher wouldn't leave the poor kid before he replied what story he remembered on seeing the Dabur Honey label...phew!!

These last two months I have tried to dig around a little(with my planner hat) in the conversation, social media space, the next two hopefully would be in Experience Design...

Ram Aur Shyam and the Power of Stories!!

Some time back I had promised myself that will pen this post about Ram aur Shyam!

Well, Ram aur Shyam were these two characters(detectives) created by the iconic India brand - Parle (Poppins) many decades back...They are not around anymore...The current Poppins tagline reads - Goli Rainbow Wali...Okay so why am I telling all this...

One fine day, as a harried father hassled for a different bed-time story every night, I decided to dig into memory and fished out 'Ram aur Shyam' from the attic of my memory!

- These Ram aur Shyam stories came as a serialised print ad on the back page of a children's magazine called 'Parag'(from the TOI group if I remember correctly, but went off the market more than a decade back)

- I loved Poppins(the differently coloured, button shaped candies - 10 to a pack) and loved these two characters who solved a crime using Poppins! Sometimes the Poppins trail led to the 'bad guy'. Other times the Poppins pack doubled up as a gun to hold up the baddie...

- Three decades later, on a whim and no particular reason, I decided to resurrect the two characters to satisfy the daily story needs of Neo...

- Little did I know that Ram aur Shyam would be an instant hit at par with Ben 10 and my rating as father which till then was trailing behind my wife by a mile would receive a shot in the arm LOL

- These stories are fairly interactive:-) Neo chooses the venue of the story every night(that's a whole new ritual)...Ram aur Shyam take a flight to that venue. So he chooses the airline as well...

- The success of these stories with my 5 year old son remind me of a sad truth : many Indian brands have often abandoned their well entrenched brand stories and carelessly moved ahead. Like Poppins did or like Ceat abandoned the Rhino story or like Air India fails to build upon the Maharaja mascot/ story...Onida had to ferret out the devil story from it's past to regain(well partially) it's voice again...

- The problem, I feel is never in the stories. It's almost always in the lack of belief in brand teams and the absence of imagination to recast them for the new times...

- Like I mentioned in the Ceat post, powerful brand narratives shouldn't be junked in a huff...There are ways and means to contemporise the plot and the characters.

- In fact the more the media gets cluttered, and the decibel level of brand hype gets raised, simple brand stories from the past might help communicate better.Stories will allow better conversation with the brand in the new social media eco-system that's getting constructed all around!

- I just hope with animation getting so evolved and games getting central to marketing to kids, maybe characters like Ram aur Shyam(and their contemporary avatars) will again find their way into the brand narrative...

Either ways, I marvel how a candy brand(mere zamane ka) came to my rescue in telling the daily bedtime stories:-)

P.S. Just couldn't find a copy of the old Ram Aur Shyam Poppins print ad...Hai kya kissi ke pass?

My2centsonsocialmedia

It's been a gap of two weeks from the blog...The longest in quite some time...Work, a few articles and general lethargy. No sublime or sacred reason to be away for this long. But actually the resolution not to blog from home might just be the reason:-)

Last Friday at our Media division's weekly meet, did a small talk on social media...These are the points I touched under the label - 10 Points to Mull About Social Media(For elevator pitches to clients, bosses and generally to impress other people:-)

1. It’s a Kick-Ass Learning Tool. Of course the price one pays is attention deficit...But if you can ride over it, you come up wiser! Am still struggling!!

2.Keeps you plugged in...I recently wrote an article on twitter and was rudely reminded by social media of the inaccuracy of some of the facts! Puts you on your toes all the time. One of the better researches I did for Nokia was using a college kid and her facebook account some months back!

3. Gives you a flavour of the new creative eco-system. More about that here...

4. Open Global Lab For Thinking. Don't exactly know how it's helping brands, but at the individual level all of us are growing because of the new connections we make every day!

5. Trend spotting. Often with a planning department of one social media and the web are the best trend spotting tools available...

6. Related to pt. 4 above, social media is a Gr8 Collaboration Tool

7. And of course a good( and equally bad) PR tool available to the individual, the brand and the company.

8. I have also found it very useful to Seed Strategic & Creative Content within the Agency and among Clients

9. It's a Fun Place to Be.

10. And my media team wud agree, it always displays - Signs of the changing/(ed) Media Landscape...

Maybe will try to thread them together into a more cogent piece later...

In case you want the presentation mail me at mannsinha@gmail.com

Be Born Everyday.

60 second commercial, 1 minute thoughts:-) Just saw the new Titan ad on youtube.

I liked the spot. My planner was harsher at 5/10. But Aamir is going the SRK way. Not that credible. Bit Preachy. 'Crafted-in-the-studio-reality'. But still better than what's on offer this month!

I was also grappling with the thought that 'naya idea nahin hai' but does that matter anymore!! And I felt 'Be Born Everyday' is a more powerful tag than 'Be More'. Hate this 'More' tag...

Teach India : Wish I Had Thot Of It

There often comes an idea you wish you had done it/ thought about it. The Teach India campaign from TOI is one suck kick-ass idea!

Brutally simple, yet immensely powerful and so sorely needed for India.

"Teach India" is an initiative by 'The Times of India' to help provide an equal opportunity for education to underprivileged children.

The aim of "Teach India" is to provide a platform to educated Indians to provide assistance in basic education to the unprivileged children.

"Teach India" will connect educated individuals with the specialist education providers.

'The Times of India' has tied up with select NGOs in the field of education in multiple cities across India.

Participants have to devote just 2 hours a day to teach underprivileged children, either in a formal environment or even informal teaching like story telling.

There were mote than 10K responses on day one. Some companies are volunteering batches of 50 employees for this...I just signed up!

Visual Thinking

I was there most of last week in Hongkong for a workshop! All the planners in the region were there...

For a change power-point was subservient to conversations. And there was loads of visual thinking! We drew and thought aloud and the other way around.

1. I was pleasantly surprised how powerful the medium could be in framing a strategic issue and trying to solve it.

2. It was a lot easier to co-solve problems when one thought in pictures.

3. What I liked most was that pictures allowed me to stay longer with the problem. I am going to adopt more of this visual thinking in my day-to-day work...

4. And would love to have a visualiser in the planning team. Or out-source one for planning!

5. It also saved a whole lot of time. Opened up time for thinking. We used this picture to make a point/ story/ thot thumb-nail about how planning can be made more 'influential'...

Motorola CrystalTalk

Good idea. Simple execution. Good use of YouTube! I wish Motos sold as much as Nokia!!

Here's a brand whose advertising and cool quotient leads the product...Whatdowedomoto?

Inkfruit : Design Democracy

It's been a week of meeting interesting people. After Aviator Simon on Monday, I met the IITian Navneet today! A designer and the co-founder of inkfruit.com.

Inkfruit is a web-based, T-shirt design co-operative!! Anyone can upload their T-shirt designs on the site. The winning designs get a prize and the designer gets his name printed on the T-shirt when it gets manufactured. You must check out this interesting site/ concept!

Am glad Navneet got in touch with me about a week back and today we met at the Inorbit Mall,Malad. I have been interested in design for close to a decade now. Well design and of late co-creation and community. So, I was happy that Navneet approached me to brain-storm on his project!

Every time I have stepped out of my little planning world, it's been very rewarding. Am sure, engaging with Inkfruit would be a similar experience...

Thanks Navneet for the free T-shirt(captioned Disco Fever '82)...

In the ride back to Bandra I also thought about my idea of starting a virtual creative content company based out of Mumbai, a book on co-creation, doing a design course(sometime soon)...

Earlier in the day wrote an article for Mint on the 'media snacking culture'. Turned out well...And a while back told Ram and Shyam story to Neo(the 20th sequel in as many days. More about it in some post soon:-)

Aviator Simon Wants to Fly

When we(my colleague Andee and myself) reached Mysore today, this Emirates Airways tag-line kept whirring in my head - "When was the last time, you did a thing for the first time"!

We were on a strange mission. We had come to Mysore to meet a young man who wants to build India's first home-made air-craft all by himself!

About a month or so back, he had sent an e-mail to Andee outlining his dream to him! Andee shared the mail with me and together we believed in the sincerity of his goal.

Many mails and phone calls later, here we were at Aviator Simon's city. He took us through his blue-print, his make-shift garage and the old decrepit air-craft in his college campus!!

His passion was infectious...I hadn't heard a voice quivering with excitement in quite some time...

Let's see how it shapes out. Simon doesn't need much cash for his experiment. All he needed was somebody to believe in his dream!

Later, Aviator wanted us to go to some happening disc. But instead we opted for ABHYANGA the Ayurvedic full body massage, followed by drinks at the Road, the theme bar at our hotel, funnily named - Sandesh the Prince!!

End of a memorable day...forever etched in our memories...

Voyeur : BBDO NY's work for HBO

One of the year's biggest integrated campaigns in the US, BBDO, New York's "Voyeur" project for HBO, picked up its second Grand Prix at Cannes today in the outdoor category. "Voyeur" has now won two Grand Prix in as many days after scooping promotions honors yesterday.

Part of an integrated-branding campaign many are expecting to also do well later in the week in the cyber category and in the titanium and integrated group, "Voyeur" involved projecting a massive video onto the side of a building in New York's Lower East Side.

Multiple points of focus existed within the projection, which imagined the building was cut away, revealing an interior rife with dramatic action that prompted viewers to visit the campaign website.

You can read the full article on adage here.

Jai Jagdish Radio - Cycle Agarbatti

Mudra got 2 Cannes Bronze for this radio spot for Cycle Agarbatti! Really cute and simple stuff!

Cannes Lions 2008 : Envy, Jealousy, Humility

The Lions have roared. And JWT India got the Grand Prix for Direct for the Lead India Campaign(TOI). Congratulations to Aggie and Team JWT. Great show!!

Here's the viral video by Craig Davis built-for-Cannes'08. I like his advice to the jury to trust their instinct while judging -"If you feel envy, give bronze; if you feel jealous, give silver. And if you feel humbled, the work desrves a Gold!"

What do we have today?

Summertime Rocks

Russell - from our old David Gang(now an agency left only in memories! Officially buried by Bates 1By1 last month)LOL, mailed me this link - a new song by Kailash Kher and a band called smoke! Quite kewl. Enjoy!

Youtube Insights : Applying Science to the Art of Viral Marketing

First read this article in HT Cafe Mumbai. Traced it to the original at Michelle Quinn's blog on LA Times. You can read it here.

After Google Analytics comes YouTube Insights - A feature introduced in March, gives YouTube account holders who have uploaded videos to the site a range of statistics, charts and maps about their audiences.

The data bring a little science to what has been the art of viral marketing, and the potential for big changes in how bands, television shows, movies and consumer products are promoted on the Internet.

Welcome to DIY marketing on the web. Insight is part of a trend on the Web. The social networking giant Facebook offers account holders a weekly report that, like Insight, is free -- and has a similar name, Insights. The information it provides is used by individuals and companies that have Facebook pages and want to hone their marketing.

-YouTube is becoming the world's biggest focus group.

-What's distinct about YouTube Insight is the immediacy of the information and the discovery element -how viewers found the content

-Ideally, the data provided by YouTube Insight will help identify better who true tastemakers are. What really sparks a viral campaign? What is the match to the flame?

P.S. The picture above is from Neemrana Fort, built almost 600 years before the youtube:-) About 100 odd km from Delhi where I was last week digging some insights on OOH communication.

Creativity 2.0, In-Game Advertising & TeliBrahma

I have to make a presentation to a bunch of creatives(of the ad agency creative department variety) on creativity 2.0 on Sunday!

Well have a host of ideas. Can share with anyone for a 'beer' and good conversation:-) While on the subject, read this article on in-game advertising in ET today. Chk out here...

Some nuggets from the same:

1. Gamers notice the brands that catch their eyes in online games. Music, chocolate, pasta or noodle lovers are likely to try the brands they see in the games they play.

2. The Zenith-Optimedia study says in-game advertising of various products contributes as much as 35% of the total revenues for gaming sites! Popular gaming portals like Zapak.com, Contests2win and Kreeda are looking at the model more seriously.

3. In-game advertising offers the advantage of understanding the profile of the gamers, which further helps in highly-focused communication with the right message to the target group.
Mental post-it - "I need to sit with a gamer over coffee once again".

4. The study found that all the gamers do take note of the brands being advertised in the games, but in-game advertising is influential for trials only among the chocolate, noodles and music lovers!!

5. Though online gaming is predicted to be $7-billion business by the end of 2008, it still remains a higher SEC phenomenon in the country. Of the total population of gamers, 41% belong to SEC A2, 20% to SEC B1 while just 9% belong to SEC C. Predictable.

6. If you think it is just the college going youth that is hooked to games, think again. The major chunk of gamers belong to 22-25 age group followed by those in the age bracket of 26-30 years. Apparently, women have no interest in the virtual gaming world. The study notes that 99% of the gamers are male while only 1% are female gamers.

7. Cricket is the most popular on-line game followed by chess, road fighter, boxing, FIFA, counter strike, pacman and football.

Does anybody have more bytes from this report??

The other early morning conversation I had was with a VC interested in Telibrahma! Got some understanding about localised blue-tooth marketing...

Must create a space for blue-tooth marketing in the creative brief from now:-)

CEAT : Born Tough. Died Unceremoniously

It's the season of random logo changes(or so I feel). First Shoppers Stop, then Godrej, then agencyfaqs and of course CEAT. And all of them have been big disappointments!!

CEAT has been the most beguiling, bewildering of all the logo changes. Ray & Keshawan have produced another characterless dud. My favourite Rhino has been killed!!

Of course the company cites some insipid research where consumers have said the logo is old and the rhino slothful. Alas the consumers were projecting their impressions of the company on the logo!

Anyways, once again Change is for the worse, Change is bloody expensive(apparently CEAT is burning 10 crores on the Ogilvy made ad campaign and Change is confusing as hell...

The Rhino and Born Tough were iconic emblems of brand CEAT. They could have been easily contemporised...

These days many clients brief design agencies independently on corporate brand changes without keeping the ad agency in the loop. The end result is often a disconnected change bereft of the brand history and context!!

You can read Harish B's related post on the subject here...

Here Comes Clickstreamers

Dentsu Communications, the Indian subsidiary of Japanese advertising giant Denstu has formed a joint venture with Mumbai-based digital advertising firm Connecturf. Read the story on DNA here

- According to Dentsu, about 46 million Indians were using the internet in September 2007, a jump of nearly 43% from a year earlier. It expects revenue from internet advertising in India to rise by over 3.5 times from current levels to more than $200 million in 2012.

- Rather than in-house development of talent for digital advertising, ad majors have ramped up expertise in this domain either through organic growth or alliances. For example, in 2007, advertising major WPP acquired Delhi-based agency Qasar Media and in March this year, Lintas and Pinstorm entered into a pay-for-performance alliance.

- I agree with Sandeep Goyal when he says - "A specialist’s expertise in the domain was essential. “These skills cannot be built in-house and it makes better sense to align with the best,”

Digital winds are blowing inside Indian agencies now:-)

Cricketainment : T20 Ishtyle

Reams have already been written on the T20 and its effects, implications and the aftermath...

Just thot shud do some tukbandi to add to the noise/ fun:-)

Yahaan cricket hai kum, entertainment hai plenty
Welcome to the BRAND new world of twenty twenty.

Alag alag team mein saare favourite star
Kisko cheer karen, kiska karun intezaar?

Ekta Kapoor ko laga hai gehra jhatka
Finally KSBKBT ka TRP hai atka!!

Dada aur SRK har din naya episode dikhayenge
T20 malik ab dressing room mein bhi jaayenge!

Bechara Charu Sharma, ho gaya raato-raat sack
Mallaya Saheb ka kehna - nahin tha business ka usko knack!

Sony ki dabi kismet, bahut din baad jaagi
10 sec ke 10 lakh, Sony ne ab maangi!!

T20 ka mausam itna ho gaya hai cool
Ki inflation ki maar bhi log gaye hain bhool!!

Cricket, entertainment, marketing ka yeh hai naya 'achaar'(pickle)
Pata nahin agle mahine se hum kya karenge yaar:-)

Ferment, Huddle and BarNone

When I took up my current job some two month back, one of the stuff that really excited me was the potential to integrate the 5 odd SBUs - in digital, OOH, data driven marketing, health & lifestyle and events & promotions...

The task needless to say is tough as hell but that's also the exciting part.

One of the things that I have been trying to do with the help of colleagues is to start conversation hubs within the SBUs.

The first modest gathering of three was BarNone - the mid-to-senior team conversations(actually to be honest still tweaking with the brand name). BarNone was held at Red Box in Bandra with Andee and Leroy as founder members:-) Happened in 3rd wk of Apr.

The next was for the young blood in the system. Planners and trainees and passionate crowd sourced talent. The first Huddle happened last Sunday - May 18th at Carter Road CCD.

In the words of my planner Sonal - "In between sipping scary looking blue slushes, some really cool initiatives were discussed. With conversations about music, virals, movies… and an impromptu performance by a guitarist member of The Huddle, the first meet was just like huddles should be – inspiring and fun."

And the last one - Ferment is going to happen with the SBU heads in June...

Our TQ(twtr quotient)/ conversation quotient is getting higher every month:-)

Why People Love Twtr

Just stumbled upon this video on why people love twitter...At 6m19s, its a bit long though...

The day just whizzed pass!!!

Blabnote : The World's 1st Vocal Social Network

Conversations, social media, ferments within my company and social experiments have taken/ are taking quite a lot of my time. But am enjoying this social school.

Pawar - the Mican trainee who is doing a project on digital media sent a link for blab-note - the voice-only social network a while back! Check it out here...

Blabnote, a British start up that is currently in private beta, has created what may be the world’s first “vocal social network.”

The product is far from perfect but it's the first step towards a voice-enabled-interaction future...The keyboard must now have a clear expiry date:-)