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.
Movie Review - Vicky Donor
So I finally saw Vicky Donor, the movie that everyone cant stop talking about. Here is the review!
The plot.
The movie is about a typical young Punjabi guy from Delhi. Like all young Punjabi guys in Delhi, he is jobless, clueless and spends his time in bed, cricket field, malls, clubs and other such places of pleasure. And like all Punjabi guys, he can talk fast and knows all the slang that we use in Delhi.
One fine day when life was hunky dory and he was whiling away time, he stumbles upon an opportunity to donate his sperm and make some quick buck. Apprehensive in the beginning, he eventually gets around and starts enjoying the riches that her sperm gets him. Riches include Plasma TV, a "blue" bedroom, lava lamps, neon bulbs, cash etc.
Then, like all Bollywood movies, he falls in love and gets married. The twist in the tale is that that the man who's been playing the mythical stork, donating sperm to the entire world and showering them with babies, cant have a baby of his own because the leading lady cant conceive for some reason.
And then something happens, followed by something else and some more something elses. The story starts dragging, dragging, dragging and dragging. And eventually the movie ends.
The good
Few character are brilliantly written. And brilliantly enacted. No, no the leading gentleman or the lady. But Dr. Chaddha, Pepsi Aunty, Mrs. Arora, DaadiJi, the desperate friend. I could totally relate to all of them (no, I dont have any such characters living next door but they are believable and familiar for some reason).
Then, there are few shots that are gorgeous, for want of a better word. They havent made a tourist movie out of Delhi or Kolkatta but some bit is shot outdoor and its been shot well. I particularly love a scene where the heroine is sitting on a bus stop and is crying. Its a visual treat, the way it has been shot. I wish it was slightly longer. I couldn't seem to have enough of it.
And when they get married, the wedding song is hilarious. I have always wanted a court marriage for myself but after I saw that wedding scene, I am very sure I want to have a Punjabi wedding with cars stacked with "whiskey"! Must must see this bit.
The bad
The story in the second half could have been MUCH MUCH better. I cant digest the sudden anger, departure for Kolkatta, reconciliation for a mere party of an acquaintance, even more sudden dispersal of all the pent up anger and the they-lived-happily-ever-after ending. More thought would have made the story more convincing.
The final word.
I would give the movie a 2.5 on 5. Rest upto you. Go see it. The part before the interval is really nice and it does make you laugh. And no, its not thought provoking at all. And no, no comments on the acting skills of the hero or the heroine.
The plot.
The movie is about a typical young Punjabi guy from Delhi. Like all young Punjabi guys in Delhi, he is jobless, clueless and spends his time in bed, cricket field, malls, clubs and other such places of pleasure. And like all Punjabi guys, he can talk fast and knows all the slang that we use in Delhi.
One fine day when life was hunky dory and he was whiling away time, he stumbles upon an opportunity to donate his sperm and make some quick buck. Apprehensive in the beginning, he eventually gets around and starts enjoying the riches that her sperm gets him. Riches include Plasma TV, a "blue" bedroom, lava lamps, neon bulbs, cash etc.
Then, like all Bollywood movies, he falls in love and gets married. The twist in the tale is that that the man who's been playing the mythical stork, donating sperm to the entire world and showering them with babies, cant have a baby of his own because the leading lady cant conceive for some reason.
And then something happens, followed by something else and some more something elses. The story starts dragging, dragging, dragging and dragging. And eventually the movie ends.
The good
Few character are brilliantly written. And brilliantly enacted. No, no the leading gentleman or the lady. But Dr. Chaddha, Pepsi Aunty, Mrs. Arora, DaadiJi, the desperate friend. I could totally relate to all of them (no, I dont have any such characters living next door but they are believable and familiar for some reason).
Then, there are few shots that are gorgeous, for want of a better word. They havent made a tourist movie out of Delhi or Kolkatta but some bit is shot outdoor and its been shot well. I particularly love a scene where the heroine is sitting on a bus stop and is crying. Its a visual treat, the way it has been shot. I wish it was slightly longer. I couldn't seem to have enough of it.
And when they get married, the wedding song is hilarious. I have always wanted a court marriage for myself but after I saw that wedding scene, I am very sure I want to have a Punjabi wedding with cars stacked with "whiskey"! Must must see this bit.
The bad
The story in the second half could have been MUCH MUCH better. I cant digest the sudden anger, departure for Kolkatta, reconciliation for a mere party of an acquaintance, even more sudden dispersal of all the pent up anger and the they-lived-happily-ever-after ending. More thought would have made the story more convincing.
The final word.
I would give the movie a 2.5 on 5. Rest upto you. Go see it. The part before the interval is really nice and it does make you laugh. And no, its not thought provoking at all. And no, no comments on the acting skills of the hero or the heroine.
The Outlier!
So, these guys wanted copies of my income tax returns for last three years. Now I dont really bother about these official documents. I just give all my papers to my accountant and he files the requisite papers. I dont even check with him. I trust him blindly. Today was thus the first time in almost 18 months when I pulled these documents out. And I was shocked to realize that my total income in the last year was exactly half of my total income in my first year post MBA!
I passed out from MDI in 2006. I got placed on day 0 and was picked by GE Money. GE dint pay a lot of money but it was a lot for someone who had no clue how the world works and definitely had no clue what value could he add to a company that took pride in its 100 year old legacy. Obviously I wasnt complaining and I was happy with my
So, in almost 6 years since my MBA, while all my friends and peers have moved on to bigger, larger things post their campus jobs, I have moved sideways and actually went down. And went down how. I am on my third job right now and at both places (post GE), I took substantial paycuts. And as a result, I am struggling at low
But then I dont think I cant blame anyone else for this. While moving on from GE and CLA, I decided that I dint want to work at boring companies and do shitty work. I mean am not too sure if what I do right now is interesting, but well, thats a debate for a different day!
EDIT... And just to prove that I am still a nincompoop, I calculated my measly 6 figure salary as 7 figures. I just cant get maths! Apologies for all the heart breaks :(
Bittersweet Symphony
In my Chennai office, amongst regular folks there are a couple of North East Indian boys. Nothing wrong with them and nothing against them but the sight of them lifting heavy cables, lights and other equipment under the harsh sun was really saddening. It made me want to cry.
I totally agree to the notion of dignity of work and I dont think any work is below human standard but here are two boys, who would have spent most of their childhood and youth in mountains, next to gentle streams of water, amongst beautiful flowers, in the green misty valleys, running after one another on those twisting and turning mountain paths, climbing up and jumping down in probably the best weather that God has showered upon us humans.
Call it twist of fate, most probably they left home for some Rupees and somehow landed in Chennai. Where the life is totally opposite to what they are used to back home! If God had planned life and things little better, he would have made each community self sustainable. May be he did and us humans spoiled it all trying to chase material comforts and such things. Whatever it is, if I could play God, I would either not give anyone any emotions or I would ensure that everyone from the same kith and kin stayed together. To end it, a famous line from The Verve.
I totally agree to the notion of dignity of work and I dont think any work is below human standard but here are two boys, who would have spent most of their childhood and youth in mountains, next to gentle streams of water, amongst beautiful flowers, in the green misty valleys, running after one another on those twisting and turning mountain paths, climbing up and jumping down in probably the best weather that God has showered upon us humans.
Call it twist of fate, most probably they left home for some Rupees and somehow landed in Chennai. Where the life is totally opposite to what they are used to back home! If God had planned life and things little better, he would have made each community self sustainable. May be he did and us humans spoiled it all trying to chase material comforts and such things. Whatever it is, if I could play God, I would either not give anyone any emotions or I would ensure that everyone from the same kith and kin stayed together. To end it, a famous line from The Verve.
Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life.
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
Personal Email Policy
So here is my mail policy. I would divide my emails into two. Things that can be finished in a minute or two. And things that would take longer than five minutes.
For everything that can be done in less than 2 minutes, I would do those, at the moment I get the email (thanks to push mail). This could include delegating things, forwarding messages to people, allocating tasks, replying to quick requests etc. I reckon that these would be about 80% of emails that I get in a day. I also assume that for these emails, since the replies would be short, I wont have to be at the mercy of a laptop as I can use my phone to get these done.
The tasks that would take longer, replying to long emails, emails to friends and family, guest post requests etc, I would take them up in one sitting. For these tasks, I would check my email twice. Once at the morning and other towards the evening or before I sleep. Each time I would allocate as much time it takes to get done with them. Everyday, I would sleep with my mailbox empty with all requests.
And along with, I would need a system to track the followups since I would start delegating a lot more things and experience tells me that people are generally lazy. I have been trying to do the followup using tasks with Google Calendar. So far it looks nice and easy. Lets see how it goes and how I use it over a long term.
The new email policy would also mean that I would have to unsubscribe from all those newsletters that I love reading (Gapingvoid, Seth Godin, Vimrod, Jason Calacanis etc). And subscribe to those from a regular feed reader or something. Finally, the bigger picture (of having an email policy) behind all these changes, is to try and simplify life over the next few weeks. And reach a point where these things dont clutter my head and I am free to think and work on larger issues.
Originally posted on Sandbox.
For everything that can be done in less than 2 minutes, I would do those, at the moment I get the email (thanks to push mail). This could include delegating things, forwarding messages to people, allocating tasks, replying to quick requests etc. I reckon that these would be about 80% of emails that I get in a day. I also assume that for these emails, since the replies would be short, I wont have to be at the mercy of a laptop as I can use my phone to get these done.
The tasks that would take longer, replying to long emails, emails to friends and family, guest post requests etc, I would take them up in one sitting. For these tasks, I would check my email twice. Once at the morning and other towards the evening or before I sleep. Each time I would allocate as much time it takes to get done with them. Everyday, I would sleep with my mailbox empty with all requests.
And along with, I would need a system to track the followups since I would start delegating a lot more things and experience tells me that people are generally lazy. I have been trying to do the followup using tasks with Google Calendar. So far it looks nice and easy. Lets see how it goes and how I use it over a long term.
The new email policy would also mean that I would have to unsubscribe from all those newsletters that I love reading (Gapingvoid, Seth Godin, Vimrod, Jason Calacanis etc). And subscribe to those from a regular feed reader or something. Finally, the bigger picture (of having an email policy) behind all these changes, is to try and simplify life over the next few weeks. And reach a point where these things dont clutter my head and I am free to think and work on larger issues.
Originally posted on Sandbox.
Airplane Mode
Last few days have been hectic and I have been forced to work a lot of on the planes. And I think I like the entire concept, except my motion sickness and a 3 second long attention span. Its surprising that how much work gets done on a plane. I wish I could duplicate the airplane mode while I am on ground.
Thing with working on the flights is that there are no distractions. You don’t have internet, there is no phone and there is no one to bug you with odd requests of booking tickets for them, making a presentation, getting an approval from a client etc. You get all the time you want. You can concentrate on the task at hand. There is nothing that can distract you. Not even music!
Except that the flights are full of kids and the airlines keep paddling things and try and squeeze every penny out of your pocket. These are minor aberrations and tolerable since these are not your kids and you can ofcourse yell obscenities at them.
Anyways, can you create an airplane mode in your daily routine? A time of the day when you switch off the wifi and turn off the urge to check twitter and facebook every second minute? A place where no one can disturb/distract you?
Originally posted at Sandbox.
Thing with working on the flights is that there are no distractions. You don’t have internet, there is no phone and there is no one to bug you with odd requests of booking tickets for them, making a presentation, getting an approval from a client etc. You get all the time you want. You can concentrate on the task at hand. There is nothing that can distract you. Not even music!
Except that the flights are full of kids and the airlines keep paddling things and try and squeeze every penny out of your pocket. These are minor aberrations and tolerable since these are not your kids and you can ofcourse yell obscenities at them.
Anyways, can you create an airplane mode in your daily routine? A time of the day when you switch off the wifi and turn off the urge to check twitter and facebook every second minute? A place where no one can disturb/distract you?
Originally posted at Sandbox.
Project 1000. Day 4.
After a five day hiatus, I am back. Blame it on my travel and general laziness. But I am back nonetheless. And now that I am back, lets get 1000 words rolling. This post is specifically intended for Project 1000. As I am typing this, I have no clue what would I write about but I am sure I would use at least 1000 words. I am sitting at a studio floor and we are in between shifts. Everyone gone for their lunch and I have this entire floor with the set and cameras and everything to me. I am using this time to play my favorite music and typing this text. And no, I am not the director or the producer of the manager or even an extra. I am a silent and meek spectator.
This is the second time I am writing this post (last time I wrote something), I hit the refresh button and the entire thing disappeared. The damned auto save did not work!
So cutting the long story short, last time I wrote this, somehow, the conversation diverted towards difference between a rant and a post. In bullet points, I said that a rant is personal, meant for individual consumption, is short lived as it is a temporary outburst and does not move an iota in the scheme of things in the universe. A post on the other hand needs to go beyond an individual, is meant for consumption for a large audience, can live for long and is aimed at changing things, big or small.
Then I said that most of things that I write about are more in the territory of rants, rather than being posts and thus I am not really improving the craft!
And finally I said that I would write about the upcoming posts on aspirations and dreams of being a travel writer, life of a spot boy, poker and why is India poor. Do watch out for those.
This is the second time I am writing this post (last time I wrote something), I hit the refresh button and the entire thing disappeared. The damned auto save did not work!
So cutting the long story short, last time I wrote this, somehow, the conversation diverted towards difference between a rant and a post. In bullet points, I said that a rant is personal, meant for individual consumption, is short lived as it is a temporary outburst and does not move an iota in the scheme of things in the universe. A post on the other hand needs to go beyond an individual, is meant for consumption for a large audience, can live for long and is aimed at changing things, big or small.
Then I said that most of things that I write about are more in the territory of rants, rather than being posts and thus I am not really improving the craft!
And finally I said that I would write about the upcoming posts on aspirations and dreams of being a travel writer, life of a spot boy, poker and why is India poor. Do watch out for those.
Project 1000. Day 3. Joe Nobody.
So today, I dont have anything specific to talk about. So rather than wasting time trying to find a plot to write about, I would try and create something. A character map! When I say I'd create a character, I mean that I would think of a man and try to create a world around him. Most movies, novels and other such things make these character maps to ensure that character and his behavior is consistent in different situations while he is in the plot. After from helping me reach the 1000 word a day goal, this would help me create characters and use them, as and when that elusive book happens.
I'd start with the most cliched character of them all, a computer hacker.
So we start with the basics. Facts.
Name: Joe Nobody
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 11"
Body type: Athletic, fit
Education: Dropout from college but very good with computers
Family, Friends and Key People in Life
He is the only son of a single mother. His mother stays in a different city with her sister and both of them work in a hospital. The mother is perpetually worried about his health and marriage but Joe pays no heed. Joe meets the mother once every month or when he drives down to meet her. Joe also has a cousin from the aunt. She lives in the same city as Joe and they get along well. The cousin works with a bank and has no clue about Joe's personal life. This last Sunday of the month is a routine that has been around for more than three years now. All four get together and goto a movie and have dinner. Its as definite as the sun rising in the east. In last three years, Joe has never missed this meeting with his mother and aunt.
Till about a year back, Joe was seeing a woman from work. The woman was two years older to Joe and worked with the marketing team. Now, she has moved onto a different man and a different job. They are no longer in touch. He sorely misses having that female company and is on the active lookout for someone.
His best friends are friends from work. He gets along really well with A, B and C. A and B are managers with electronics and gaming sections respectively. C works in B's team. All 4 are very close friends and hang out together after work and all. Their common interests include hiking, biking, gaming and pub hopping. Apart from that all four are huge fans of the local cricket team, especially when the cricket season is on.
While in school he was very quiet and kept mostly to himself. He had only a couple of friends back then and he has lost touch with them. He has fond memories of the school but he often quips that if he was to get back to school with his friends, it would be so boring.
Overall he is content with having a few people in life. He has largely been independent and likes to be alone. And yet he misses that female company
Occupation
Joe has been working at BestBuy for more than 5 years now. He started as a sales rep and has grown through the ranks to become the highest level an employee can reach on the shop floor. The next promotion, due in another 6 months will see him become the lowest "suit". Right now, he is the supervisor of the computer hardware section. Has about 15 retail employees reporting into him. His key responsibilities are to train and supervise the on floor employees. His job requires him to stay up to date with latest happenings in the computer hardware. He knows more than he speaks and most people around him know this and thus treat him with respect. He is known as a true geek that knows everything about hardware. However when it comes to software, he seems to know nothing and relies on his team for help. At times he even calls his team from home and asks them how to fix Internet.
On the other hand, the 8 hours that he is not working at the BestBuy, he is a very active member of the underground hacking community. And he is considered as an authority here as well. He does all these things from a van parked in his garage. If someone comes and looks at his home, there is only one desktop in the living room where he checks his email. In his van, however, there are two row fulls of computers and electrical equipment. There are times when he goes to the BYOC hacker conventions. He prefers to keep things in the van as he loves to work in solitude and space in the van is really limited and thus there cant be anyone else around when hes working.
Personality
Like most geeks he likes to hang out with his kinds. He thus gets along very well with his team. He is good natured and always has a smile on his face. He is always willing to help and actually goes an extra mile to ensure that he is liked by everyone. At times people do take him for granted. And he knows that people take him for granted but he still lets go.
He lives by the maxim of "live and let live". Though he does things that arent really on the right side of the law, he has had no brush with the criminals as yet.
He does not believe in showing off. In fact he wants to keep as low a profile as possible. At times he gets himself called stupid because of how he acts to conceal his secret identity.
What made him what he is?
While growing up, he has heard stories of people living in fancy mansions and access to clubs and lounges that reek of money. He wants all those things. And he wants them bad. He is very happy go lucky and very content with his life, except for a woman. He like living and he ensures that he has a lot of fun. He has no major hangups in life. He has no dark secrets. The darkest is the fact that he got his first girlfriend when he was 31 and despite that he could not keep the relationship going.
What keeps him awake at night?
At the job front, he is worried about his promotion. He realy likes it on the floor and does not want to move away from there. And on the side project, he wants to win the upcoming hackerCon. He knows that he can easily win it but he still needs to practice and beat competition. And since he has been doing it for some time now, he doesnt really get kicks out getting secrets or winning a competition but its like the trophy that everyone wants!
What is his role in the story? Why is he important?
Depends on the story. If my life was fiction, I would use Joe to help me hack into the banks and get all the money from all the places.
That's about it. And here is a humble request to more established writers and authors, what did I miss in this character map? What are best practises in the same? How can I improve this? Thanks a ton!
I'd start with the most cliched character of them all, a computer hacker.
So we start with the basics. Facts.
Name: Joe Nobody
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 11"
Body type: Athletic, fit
Education: Dropout from college but very good with computers
Family, Friends and Key People in Life
He is the only son of a single mother. His mother stays in a different city with her sister and both of them work in a hospital. The mother is perpetually worried about his health and marriage but Joe pays no heed. Joe meets the mother once every month or when he drives down to meet her. Joe also has a cousin from the aunt. She lives in the same city as Joe and they get along well. The cousin works with a bank and has no clue about Joe's personal life. This last Sunday of the month is a routine that has been around for more than three years now. All four get together and goto a movie and have dinner. Its as definite as the sun rising in the east. In last three years, Joe has never missed this meeting with his mother and aunt.
Till about a year back, Joe was seeing a woman from work. The woman was two years older to Joe and worked with the marketing team. Now, she has moved onto a different man and a different job. They are no longer in touch. He sorely misses having that female company and is on the active lookout for someone.
His best friends are friends from work. He gets along really well with A, B and C. A and B are managers with electronics and gaming sections respectively. C works in B's team. All 4 are very close friends and hang out together after work and all. Their common interests include hiking, biking, gaming and pub hopping. Apart from that all four are huge fans of the local cricket team, especially when the cricket season is on.
While in school he was very quiet and kept mostly to himself. He had only a couple of friends back then and he has lost touch with them. He has fond memories of the school but he often quips that if he was to get back to school with his friends, it would be so boring.
Overall he is content with having a few people in life. He has largely been independent and likes to be alone. And yet he misses that female company
Occupation
Joe has been working at BestBuy for more than 5 years now. He started as a sales rep and has grown through the ranks to become the highest level an employee can reach on the shop floor. The next promotion, due in another 6 months will see him become the lowest "suit". Right now, he is the supervisor of the computer hardware section. Has about 15 retail employees reporting into him. His key responsibilities are to train and supervise the on floor employees. His job requires him to stay up to date with latest happenings in the computer hardware. He knows more than he speaks and most people around him know this and thus treat him with respect. He is known as a true geek that knows everything about hardware. However when it comes to software, he seems to know nothing and relies on his team for help. At times he even calls his team from home and asks them how to fix Internet.
On the other hand, the 8 hours that he is not working at the BestBuy, he is a very active member of the underground hacking community. And he is considered as an authority here as well. He does all these things from a van parked in his garage. If someone comes and looks at his home, there is only one desktop in the living room where he checks his email. In his van, however, there are two row fulls of computers and electrical equipment. There are times when he goes to the BYOC hacker conventions. He prefers to keep things in the van as he loves to work in solitude and space in the van is really limited and thus there cant be anyone else around when hes working.
Personality
Like most geeks he likes to hang out with his kinds. He thus gets along very well with his team. He is good natured and always has a smile on his face. He is always willing to help and actually goes an extra mile to ensure that he is liked by everyone. At times people do take him for granted. And he knows that people take him for granted but he still lets go.
He lives by the maxim of "live and let live". Though he does things that arent really on the right side of the law, he has had no brush with the criminals as yet.
He does not believe in showing off. In fact he wants to keep as low a profile as possible. At times he gets himself called stupid because of how he acts to conceal his secret identity.
What made him what he is?
What keeps him awake at night?
At the job front, he is worried about his promotion. He realy likes it on the floor and does not want to move away from there. And on the side project, he wants to win the upcoming hackerCon. He knows that he can easily win it but he still needs to practice and beat competition. And since he has been doing it for some time now, he doesnt really get kicks out getting secrets or winning a competition but its like the trophy that everyone wants!
What is his role in the story? Why is he important?
Depends on the story. If my life was fiction, I would use Joe to help me hack into the banks and get all the money from all the places.
That's about it. And here is a humble request to more established writers and authors, what did I miss in this character map? What are best practises in the same? How can I improve this? Thanks a ton!
The pursuit of 2K followers on twitter
You see, at the time of writing this, I am followed by 1964 people on twitter. And I want to reach the magical number of 2000. The chase of 2k as a number looks very scary. A brief
- I am not a wedding/event/fashion/animal/amateur/etc photographer. Am dont even talk about my flickr stream and I dont have a Facebook page where people can "fan" or "like" me. And since I have a Blackberry, I cant use Path or Instagram or Pinterest or one of those fancy services and talk about them.
- I am not an entrepreneur and thus I cant ask all my employees and friends and relatives and neighbors to follow me and help me get more clients. And then once I get those clients, talk about how I made a difference to the life of the goldfish of client's wife's sister.
- I am not funny. Not even remotely. Period.
- I am not a social media expert. And that means that I have no opinion on anything. And that means that I cant pass fleeting comments encompassing everything from the beginning of time and then relate those to why I should be tweeting this or that. And I cant thus take a jab at folly of brands and businesses.
- I refuse to engage in various gimmicks that brand manager plan and throw out as bait to the unsuspecting twitter users so that they could report that their brand is followed by a million people etc.
- I am not interested in IPL. Its just too much for my peanut sized brain to be honest. There is overload of everything. Information, excitement, jealousy, anger, confusion etc. Name an emotion and IPL has that in abundance. And I cant process that. And that means that since I dont tweet about how IPL is causing a war in my family because everyone supports a different team, I wont be featured by a TV channel and I wont become famous and I wont have new followers.
- I refuse to participate in trolls. Ofcourse I use a million hashtags but I dont think I have participated in #whenIWasYoung, #itHappensInIndia, #IPL, #kfBeerUp etc. And as a result I dont make friends on twitter and otherwise. (note to self, talk about Kingfisher in a separate post)
- I am not a journalist. Yet. And as a result I dont have people trying to make friends with me, hoping to get free passes to IPL and other such dos.
- I dont booze and thus I dont have my timeline full of drunk tweets abusing everyone for everything.
- And finally, I am not a celeb. I am not a film actor (not even an extra), I am not a cricketer (even of yesteryears), I am not a CEO of a large business group (not even a startup), I am not a VC. And as a result I am stuck at 1964!
And then why would you want to chase 2K followers? Well, its a good number and I want to put that on my CV. And more people who follow you, more opportunities to know new things! And who knows, I may even get famous some day?
Guess this is it for a Sunday rant! I just hope that this post helps me reach the magic number. And if not that, at least does not make some of those 1964 unfollow me!
And no, this post is not part of Project 1000. Not yet.
Confessions of a Failed Ad Man
So today is day 2 of the Project 1000. Yesterday I managed 1000 words. I think 500 odd here and the other 500 on the secret blog to sgMS. And I felt awesome about it. Of course it would have been perfect if I could manage some more words for Serai. Thats what I am calling the book, for the time being.
So today's day 2. Let me today talk about something that is really close to my heart. And I have worked on it and failed. And failed how. I'd talk about advertising. Some other day, this post could have been called Confessions of a failed adman. Hang on. Why wait another day. Let me change the title right away. So people who read the blog often (all 3 of you) would know that I worked for an advertising agency at some point in time. I had joined that place hoping that I would churn out things like Jalebi and Cadburys. Only to realize that process is far more complex than merely coming up with scripts and shooting them.
Coming to the post, I shall talk about few recent ads that have caught my attention. And I would talk like a typical Indian customer, rather than an ex-planner.
So, the fabled summer season is on and that means that all the soft drink companies are going to bombard us with commercials celebrating their favorite time of the year. I would talk about Frooti, Appy Fizz (because I have worked on these brands), Coke (because I love the brand and wish to work on it some day) and some more. And I would talk about something that has nothing to do with India or with summers or with drinks. Its just an awesome piece of communication.
And again, these are unbiased perspectives of a common man rather than an ex-adman (or even an ex-planner on two of the above mentioned brands).
Frooti (and Slice)
Love the brand, love the positioning, love the legacy, love the drink. Frooti has everything going right for them. Except the competition. In the market, Frooti competes directly with Pepsi's Slice and Coke's Maaza. Slice has this really cool ad featuring Katrina Kaif. Apart from amazing production quality, great music and striking visuals, the ad is brilliant in the sense that at a subconscious level it places Katrina Kaif and Slice at the same place. So every time a guy desires for Katrina, something in him would crave for Slice as well. And once you have the share of mind, rest is easy.
Frooti on the other hand loses out. This season for some reason (which I havent been able to figure out), they are using Siddharth (who Siddharth? exactly my point!) in their ad. And mind it, in their entire 30 odd years history, they've never had a brand ambassador ever. So the ad is a story of a guy who cant gather enough balls to talk to her object of desire and everyone eggs him to try and talk to that girl. And finally he does speaks. And he does it be saying, "would you have a Frooti with me?". And this is where the entire disconnected is. Let me phrase them as questions. A. Is Siddharth being used as the actor Siddharth (doesnt look like) or as the boy next door? And it if he is the boy next door, why call him Sid? B. Is Frooti trying to make itself synonymous with love? Or with the feeling of togetherness? Or what? My peanut sized brain cant really comprehend. But then I am sure, brains better than I are on it and they have figured the puzzle out!
I dont even recall seeing Mazaa on tv yet. And if I have seen, if I cant recall the ad, it has to be really boring! So in the battle of mango drinks, for the time being, the winner, in my humble opinion is Slice.
Appy Fizz
Next up is Appy Fizz. I absolutely adore this guy. I sincerely wish I had the wit and presence of the mind that this dude has! Wait, hes not a dude, hes actually a drink. A drink with an attitude. And thats the best part. The latest line of commercials with Saif Ali Khan is actually far better than all the previous ones. The jokes are simple to understand (to someone like even I who is as desi as men in India get). Plus when they are using Saif Ali Khan, Saif is not being used as a model to peddle paint or dates or whatever. He is being used as himself. As a super hero. And he is in conversation with Appy Fizz. And Appy Fizz goes one up on him in all the commercials. Not like a battle battle but like in friendly banter than you may have with a friend. It does not pull down Saif's reputation and yet it definitely establishes Appy Fizz as a cool guy to hang out with. Or a cool drink to hang out with in this case. +1 on this one to the team. Here is the commercial. I am sure you can find more on youtube and all of them are as good (atleast the two that I have seen).
CocaCola Coke
Even before I start writing, I know that I would talk highly of coke. They cant seem to get anything wrong with their commercials. The latest ummedon wali ruh, sunshine wali aasha is super brilliant. Instead of using a celebrity to endorse the brand, they have simply used interesting and nice visuals to communicate different ways they open happiness. Open happiness is their global positioning that I think is slowly being brought to India. The latest ad, that they are playing with IPL, has just a couple of young kids, sipping coke out of the same coke bottle with the jingle playing in background. Too bad I cant find it online. I would have showcased it here. A very very simple idea, executed really well. A story that tells you everything and yet leaves so much room for imagination that makes you feel good about seeing a commercial. Coke wins it hands down.
Nike
Finally, I want to talk about Nike. A friend sent this to me. And I was literally blown away by it. Yet again, a simple idea, done very well and more importantly had all the peripheral things around it, to ensure that it does well. The story of a long distance couple, trying to cross the country and come together. Nike as a footwear company enables the two to meet. And to top it all, a catchy song/jingle to narrate the story. Finally, things like free download of the track, ability to share it with people easily, comment on a global website and stuff like that is the peripheral things that make is reach more and more people.
And I guess this is it for this edition of confessions of a failed ad man. The key takeaway for me has to be the realization that best ads are about telling simple stories well and the fact that the product being advertising has to stay in the background and be a mere enabler. (Nike as footwear enables a couple to run to each other, coke as a medium allows you to share happiness, Frooti allows you to say the most difficult words ever etc.) Will add this lesson to my repertoire of marketing and advertising lessons!
End note. So writing does not really take a lot of time. It just requires some patience and some peace of mind. Ofcourse advertising takes a lot more. No wonder :D
So today's day 2. Let me today talk about something that is really close to my heart. And I have worked on it and failed. And failed how. I'd talk about advertising. Some other day, this post could have been called Confessions of a failed adman. Hang on. Why wait another day. Let me change the title right away. So people who read the blog often (all 3 of you) would know that I worked for an advertising agency at some point in time. I had joined that place hoping that I would churn out things like Jalebi and Cadburys. Only to realize that process is far more complex than merely coming up with scripts and shooting them.
Coming to the post, I shall talk about few recent ads that have caught my attention. And I would talk like a typical Indian customer, rather than an ex-planner.
So, the fabled summer season is on and that means that all the soft drink companies are going to bombard us with commercials celebrating their favorite time of the year. I would talk about Frooti, Appy Fizz (because I have worked on these brands), Coke (because I love the brand and wish to work on it some day) and some more. And I would talk about something that has nothing to do with India or with summers or with drinks. Its just an awesome piece of communication.
And again, these are unbiased perspectives of a common man rather than an ex-adman (or even an ex-planner on two of the above mentioned brands).
Frooti (and Slice)
Love the brand, love the positioning, love the legacy, love the drink. Frooti has everything going right for them. Except the competition. In the market, Frooti competes directly with Pepsi's Slice and Coke's Maaza. Slice has this really cool ad featuring Katrina Kaif. Apart from amazing production quality, great music and striking visuals, the ad is brilliant in the sense that at a subconscious level it places Katrina Kaif and Slice at the same place. So every time a guy desires for Katrina, something in him would crave for Slice as well. And once you have the share of mind, rest is easy.
Frooti on the other hand loses out. This season for some reason (which I havent been able to figure out), they are using Siddharth (who Siddharth? exactly my point!) in their ad. And mind it, in their entire 30 odd years history, they've never had a brand ambassador ever. So the ad is a story of a guy who cant gather enough balls to talk to her object of desire and everyone eggs him to try and talk to that girl. And finally he does speaks. And he does it be saying, "would you have a Frooti with me?". And this is where the entire disconnected is. Let me phrase them as questions. A. Is Siddharth being used as the actor Siddharth (doesnt look like) or as the boy next door? And it if he is the boy next door, why call him Sid? B. Is Frooti trying to make itself synonymous with love? Or with the feeling of togetherness? Or what? My peanut sized brain cant really comprehend. But then I am sure, brains better than I are on it and they have figured the puzzle out!
I dont even recall seeing Mazaa on tv yet. And if I have seen, if I cant recall the ad, it has to be really boring! So in the battle of mango drinks, for the time being, the winner, in my humble opinion is Slice.
Appy Fizz
Next up is Appy Fizz. I absolutely adore this guy. I sincerely wish I had the wit and presence of the mind that this dude has! Wait, hes not a dude, hes actually a drink. A drink with an attitude. And thats the best part. The latest line of commercials with Saif Ali Khan is actually far better than all the previous ones. The jokes are simple to understand (to someone like even I who is as desi as men in India get). Plus when they are using Saif Ali Khan, Saif is not being used as a model to peddle paint or dates or whatever. He is being used as himself. As a super hero. And he is in conversation with Appy Fizz. And Appy Fizz goes one up on him in all the commercials. Not like a battle battle but like in friendly banter than you may have with a friend. It does not pull down Saif's reputation and yet it definitely establishes Appy Fizz as a cool guy to hang out with. Or a cool drink to hang out with in this case. +1 on this one to the team. Here is the commercial. I am sure you can find more on youtube and all of them are as good (atleast the two that I have seen).
CocaCola Coke
Even before I start writing, I know that I would talk highly of coke. They cant seem to get anything wrong with their commercials. The latest ummedon wali ruh, sunshine wali aasha is super brilliant. Instead of using a celebrity to endorse the brand, they have simply used interesting and nice visuals to communicate different ways they open happiness. Open happiness is their global positioning that I think is slowly being brought to India. The latest ad, that they are playing with IPL, has just a couple of young kids, sipping coke out of the same coke bottle with the jingle playing in background. Too bad I cant find it online. I would have showcased it here. A very very simple idea, executed really well. A story that tells you everything and yet leaves so much room for imagination that makes you feel good about seeing a commercial. Coke wins it hands down.
Nike
Finally, I want to talk about Nike. A friend sent this to me. And I was literally blown away by it. Yet again, a simple idea, done very well and more importantly had all the peripheral things around it, to ensure that it does well. The story of a long distance couple, trying to cross the country and come together. Nike as a footwear company enables the two to meet. And to top it all, a catchy song/jingle to narrate the story. Finally, things like free download of the track, ability to share it with people easily, comment on a global website and stuff like that is the peripheral things that make is reach more and more people.
And I guess this is it for this edition of confessions of a failed ad man. The key takeaway for me has to be the realization that best ads are about telling simple stories well and the fact that the product being advertising has to stay in the background and be a mere enabler. (Nike as footwear enables a couple to run to each other, coke as a medium allows you to share happiness, Frooti allows you to say the most difficult words ever etc.) Will add this lesson to my repertoire of marketing and advertising lessons!
End note. So writing does not really take a lot of time. It just requires some patience and some peace of mind. Ofcourse advertising takes a lot more. No wonder :D
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)