Saurabh Garg - Personal Brand

This is an excerpt from the daily newsletter that I send out to some friends. More about the newsletter is here.

Please read this and tell me what you think. 

The next thing that I want to share (and more than share, write and thus get clarity in my head) is my personal brand.

For starters, twitter. 

So, twitter is the largest, strongest, baddest, bestest connection I have to the outside world (I remain an introvert at most other places). And on Twitter, I would often post whatever comes in my head, even if those things are embarrassing and cringe-inducing. You know, I was being authentic (I am like that IRL). Which was great to a point in time. But I feel that authenticity is making me a tad more human that what I hope to be and is thus preventing me from making business connections. And to be honest, right now, I need business connections more than anything else at this point in life.

Ergo, fixing twitter. Step 1 towards fixing personal brand.

Last night, I split my twitter usage in three. Yes, three. I am not for small measures ;)

@saurabh - where I'll mostly talk about work. Try to create connections that can take me far. I will talk about my writing, marketing consulting assignments, events and all the projects that I am a part of. The idea will be to use the platform to showcase work, create more opportunities and meet more people that can help me grow.

@altsaurabh - this is where I would move what I was doing with @saurabh. Put things that I want friends and family to see.

@altsg - this remains the way it was. A backup account that I use when I am super-fucked in the head. 

And yes, I take myself very seriously ;P

I know I should not - I have been warned by enough people in as many words (including that longish comment). But I don't know how else to live. I am a reflection of my work. And my work consumes all of me. I don't have a personal life, heck, I don't want one. I don't enjoy anything else but this grind. There is nothing else that I am passionate about. There is nothing that I think I will ever do in life but think about the next. You know, divinely discontent. Each thing I do -- from writing to fitness to hopes to live long and more -- is an input for things that I can work on.

I know my definition of life and work is kind of warped. I don't know what is work-life balance. I don't even want to know. And the range of things that I work on is pretty wide but it is what it is.

Assuming that is the border you have to work in, if you are willing to help, do see my LinkedIn profile and my website and please do tell me if all these are in sync and make sense to you.

That's about it I guess for the time being.

See you guys tomorrow!

Which brand has a story worth telling?

Today after a meeting a few colleagues and I ended up at Vikhroli Social (which is located inside the Godrej complex at Vikhroli) and the place had a wall full of Godrej Navtals.

And since I am on this spree to capture photos with my phone and all that, I clicked a few photos. Here is one.

That’s Navtal. From @godrej_group and @godrejlocks. Found at Vikhroli @socialoffline. . Part of a new photo series where I click pictures of some of the most legendary consumer facing brands from #India that tell us some of the most fascinating stories. Supported by @c4ein. . Which other brands do I click? In your opinion, which is the most iconic, most legendary brand from India? What brand has the most fascinating story? A story that is worth telling. To others. To the world at large. . Tell me the story. Help me tell the story. . Please. Cc @planneratlarge . #brand #brands #branding #india #marketing #advertising #media #communication #ad #crowdsourcing #help #photoessay #photography #photooftheday #photostories #storyteller #stories #storytelling #brandStories

A post shared by SG (@altsaurabh) on Jul 14, 2018 at 12:53am PDT

When I saw the photo while uploading on Instagram, I thought it has come out really well. It shows me the Navtal in all its glory. It establishes the product. The character. It tells me what it's supposed to do. And the wall at the back has some character to it. Its a fascinating photo, if you ask me! Ok enough of self promotion. 

I got thinking that I want to go click more brands in action. And tell the stories of those brands. And how those brands have added to the lives of people. And how people have relied on those brands to achieve different things.

People click nature, places, things, conflicts and what not. And tell their stories.
I wish to click brands and tell those stories.

So, what if I convert this into a project? A project that marries my love for brands, stories and photography? Sounded like a good idea. And bam! we have a project! 

Here are more details.

What is this project?
Lemme use steps to explain.

1. Run a poll or something and ask people about what brands do they think have stories worth telling. 
2. Once I get a list of 50 odd brands, I click some interesting photos of those brands (and the products / services / experiences) in action. 
3. Interview respective brand managers and understand more about the brands from the perspective of people who manage them.
4. Talk to end users of the brand (products / services / experiences). Capture their inputs, emotions. 
5. Compile them into a study or something and publish for everyone to consume. 

Sounds fun? Indeed! 

To what end? 
I dont know. I need to figure out. But as a stakeholder in the business of communication and building brands, I believe these stories MUST be told. To the users. And to brand custodians.

Plus I really think I will enjoy doing this.

Apart from this I am not sure of other reasons that taking this up. If nothing else, it helps me learn more about the business of brands, planning and communication. 

The next steps? The question!
Tell me 5 brands that you think are fascinating and have stories worth telling! If I were to make a list, in no order, I will include Cadburys (chocolates), Natraj (pencils), Coca Cola, Paytm and Starbucks.

What are yours? 

The end notes
What do you think? Gimme some feedback.

I know I am very far from delivering it and I need to do a lot of work on this before I can move ahead (and I will work on it over the next few days). But I need inputs from you. Help me!! Write to me. Or I am at @saurabh on twitter.

Thank you!

PS: Since this post is about a new project, I have removed the number of days left and the date of the post. This is the 5th day of posting on my blog without a break. Yay to that!

the curious case of missing cases!

Sony Vaio Screenshot

ever since I have started writing, which is i think more than 15 years ago, i have always been very cognizant of the grammar and style and punctuation and other such things. of all the things, i was totally a sucker for punctuation. i learnt about commas full stops, exclamations and even ellipses. i ensured that watever i wrote, whenever i wrote, in whatever medium, i got my grammar correct. in fact i was so obsessed with it that i started judging people on the punctuation marks they used, or dint use, depending on the case.

but then one fine day my laptop stopped working. in lieu, my office got a Sony Vaio and like all products that are designed without a thought, steve jobs would have hated this laptop, this Vaio is a classic #fail. for some reason, the designers of this laptop decided to reduce the size of the shift key and made it as big small as the other keys are. as a result, people like me (who have learnt typing the hard way on desktop keyboards and who type really fast) find it tough to stop the stream of thought, look up for the shift key and then press it along with the required key to change the case, inset an exclamation mark etc. it hit my productivity and ideas harder than non availability of good music to help you think.

at first i coped up by typing things like i normally do - fast and without looking at the keyboard; And then run a spell check and get most of the cases right. but then it was wasting just too much time and since time is most precious commodity that we humans have, i decided to drop cases altogether till i get rid of this wretched Sony. the drop in case came not as an idea but as a reflex, a revolt against this badly designed laptop. Sony, are you listening? also, if you are, please note that conventions and norms such as qwerty order and placement of shift keys etc have been developed over the years and it takes time to insert a new radical change, like the size of the shift key. if you think customers would accept it, no they wont. sorry, you are mistaken. if i were the ceo or something, i would've asked the team that even dared to reduce the size to leave. you must do so imho. and no, am not exaggerating.

and for everyone around me, all i expect from you guys for the time being, is to be a bit tolerant about these stupid misuse of cases. i cant help things to be honest. please excuse me and please do not judge me. in return, i promise to drop cases opinions that i had created against all the people who've ignored cases in the past. who knows, may be they use a Sony as well?

Hudson News and Dunkin Donuts in India

Yesterday, I stepped out of my home after like 5 days. I am in the middle of a root canal and its painful, even when I dont have any drills or injections in my mouth. Anyways, so I was out and I was going to CP. On the way I saw two new international brands being launched in India. Hudson News (retailers of books, magazines and more recently food, cafe etc) and Dunkin Donuts (retailrs of donuts and coffee etc).

While thinking about these two brands I realized that a brand like Hudson News, probably has no long term future in India (true for most "retailers"). Simple reason. They are in the commodity business. If I set up exact same format at Hudson and called it GargSon and offered as good or better experience, ambiance, convenience, price and service as a Hudson, there is no reason why customers would not flock to GargSon. So if Interglobe (The company that runs Indigo Airlines and is launching Hudson in India), created a new format and a new brand all together, they would have done far better (unless they want to launch house labels or private labels, like a Bharti Walmart).

One may argue about expertise and process experience that Hudson may bring to India from their international presence. But then enough has been written about how India is a different market and how the customers behave, perceive and decide differently.

On the other hand, if its a brand like Dunkin Donuts (being launched by Jubilant Foodworks, master franchisee of Dominoes Pizza in India), customers pay for the product. And for the "association with" and "consumption of" the brand (end of the day its a Donut and there are enough and more good and tasty donuts available in India). The association and consumption of a Dunkin Donuts can not be replicated by a Saurabh's Donuts. And thus, it makes a lot of sense to get international "product" brands in India. These two words - association and consumption - are the only two reasons why host of product brands would do well in India. Starbucks, Ikea to name a few!

And yes, I did try a Dunkin and it was ok. Not close to M.O.D. but it was great to see a Dunkin's in Delhi. Exciting times ahead.

First posted on Sandbox.

The Mastery of AR Rahman

AR Rahman needs no introduction. Last thing that I remember him doing (I dont watch a lot of movies btw) is the new Hero Motocorp jingle. At first I hated it. I thought it was too flowery and too flowing and was a bit of a drag. Neo, on the other hand, loved it from the word go. He even downloaded the jingle and put in his car. I distinctly remember laughing on his face when he first played it.

This week, Hero released their new TVC. Its a montage of "real" people from across the country, singing the jingle. And they are asking people to record their own version of the jingle and get a shot at getting featured in the next TVC. Good idea. But then this is not about the idea. This is about AR Rahman and his mastery. The same jingle that I hated when I heard for the first time, I loved it. Its so brilliant that I want to hum when its playing. I would not mind having it as my ring tone or caller tune. I would love to play this, along with all the other fab tracks I play every morning.

Like all AR Rahman songs, this jingle has grown on me. I dint like it initially but with repeated exposure, rather than getting bored of it, I now like it. With all other composers, you get bored when you hear something repeatedly, most AR Rahman songs, you get more attached to them. Salute to him for cooking this up. And salute to brand managers at Hero for letting this out. And salaam to Neo for identifying the genius when I missed.

Some questions from Auto Expo 2012

Yet again, I am staring at a blank screen and have no clue what to write about. I am sitting in a green room behind one of the largest stalls at the largest automobiles exhibition in India. I have an entire circus running downstairs. There are more than 100 people that are managing the crowd, not including the security and cleaning staff. And there must be more than 20, 000 people in the hall. Easily. And I am not exaggerating. 

So there are a few questions that I have and I have no answers. May be you have some?

1. Who are all those people who stand in queue for more than an hour to enter a hall that is merely showcasing cars, that anyways you see on the roads, newspapers, Internet all the time.
2. Who are all those people who use their elbows, knees and other joints at their whims and try and make space for I dont know whom.
3. Who are the brand managers who agree to spend probably crores on these exhibitions where all you display is skin and glamour? And this, when on the backend, automobile industry is as bland and as mundane as a plain white sheet. 
4. Do these exhibitions actually help the brand? May be it does with all the media coverage? Does any brand manager actually track returns on their spends on these exhibitions?
5. Why is that everyone cooks up something that no one could even imagine existed, and that too at the drop of the hat, and all this when they have had ages to plan for it?
6. And finally, why this, why this Kolaveri Di?

Any answers anyone?

Ethos of a teeshirt company

Found this at the uniqlo store at Nanjing Square, Shanghai.