Typing Thoughts

Owning "Listen" in Telecom

2009-03-25T18:44:00.004+05:30

Why doesn't any Telecom Company try and own the Platform of "Listen" and start building its brand around the idea of "Listen". Every other company encourages us to express ourself , spreading an Idea etc which revolves around the "Talk" proposition. But effective communication is also about the ability to Listen. Like they say "When you listen you have the advantage. But when you talk others have it "

Any Telecom company wants to do it go ahead.... but please give me a royalty for the idea :)

Lead India

2009-03-04T14:09:00.003+05:30

So here is Times of India with its latest Lead India Ad. Is Times of India getting too stereotyped in its advertising ? Is there a tinge of predictability creeping into its advertising. Lead India, Teach India what next ?Sports India ? to discover India's Gold Medal winning talent in the next olympics. lets wait and see

The best brand manager (s ) in the world

2009-02-25T10:59:00.005+05:30

We have surveys and polls on which is the best brand in the country, best brand in the world etc. I often wonder why we don’t have surveys and polls on who is the best brand manager or for that matter Brand Managers. After all there must be somebody managing these brands so effectively that they are voted as the best in their respective categories. Is it an individual responsibility or a collective responsibility? Who is to be credited with the honour? …. Is it the brand manager or the CEO; is it the agency or the client? The debate can rage on
A brand manager is expected to take a brand through its Product Life Cycle (PLC). Right from product development, launch, growth, maturity and decline. At each stage the challenges are enormous and complex. R & D, Budgets, Competition, Brand Extension, the list is endless.
Do we have someone among us to draw inspiration from? Is there a role model for all the young brand managers out there? Well the truth is we need not look beyond our homes. I think the best brand managers available in this world are our parents. And there is a lot we can learn from them than we could in a Brand Management Seminar or a fast track course. But do we have the time? Think about it for a minute. Our parents give birth to us, launch us into this world, take responsibility for our growth, help us mature and probably are with us when we reach a decline. At each stage the brand (we) needs are meticulously taken care of, sometimes the brands are more in the portfolio (brothers and sisters), the needs are different, the benchmarks are different, but they are clearly defined, conflicts handled,a perfect roadmap is laid, segmented effectively and effectively taken through the PLC.
Well I can extend this article and map each function, draw parallels and go on and on. But I would like to keep the article simple and short. In marketing inspiration needs to come from real life and not theory. So the next time if there is a vote for the Best Brand Manager or Managers am sure you know who to cast it for

For the family,by the family.....

2009-02-24T15:53:00.003+05:30

Have anyone of us bothered to sit up and ask the question to the Government of Tamilnadu on what happened to Arasu Cable ? This is a classic example of how we, tax payers are taken for a ride by power hungry politicians. Just because there was a rift in the family the gvoernment launched Kailaigar Tv, and then to make sure its beamed into every household establised Arasu Cable..... But once the family buried the hatchet, SCV became a friend and Arasu Cable became a enemy of the family... what a disgrace, there can be no other example of such self centred decision making at the expense of the tax payer. When will we see through all this... when will we learn to ask, when will we learn to elect a proper government..... Now after spending crores and crores on a Arasu Cable , nobody knows what the status of Arasu cable is.... the last heard was that there are plans to merge it with SCV... what a great idea... I think we should learn Business Models from politicians ....
Sad....... and we will continue to fuel the growth of this kind of people.... and then blame them not realising that they are not the ones to be blamed when actually we are the ones responsible....

Child Labour

2008-12-11T14:02:00.004+05:30

It was quite appalling to see the attached photograph in today's TOI Chennai . On one hand TOI has created a pioneering effort towards the cause of Education, specially school children from the underprivelaged society through its Teach India Movement. And suddenly this photograph was a stark reminder of reality. And what was more shocking was the fact that TNCA, BCCI encourage such child labour ? One side we witness crores of rupees being spent on cricket, cricketers, their security etc but there exists no security of education for that small kid who is wiping away the dust in the chairs .... Did not one cricketer from our national team have the heart to point this out ? Did not one single official point this out ? Its really a shame on us. The kid must be at school writing alphabets or reading but we have become so inhumane that all these have become a part of our life and we all shamelessly learn to live with it.

We need no external terrorists to create havoc and misery as we are already engulfed in a terrorism of inhumaness, sarcasm and hypocrisy.

TNCA, BCCI should be definately taken to task for this and we should see that this is not repeated across any sports in India.

Law College Campus or Rowdyism Campus

2008-11-13T14:02:00.004+05:30

These images make u feel cold,ashamed.... When the whole word has voted for a change.... I guess we as a country are redefining change.No wonder America deserves the awe and admiration than India. Right from Maharashtra...Bihar and across various parts this country we see renewed violence over race,language,states etc and now here is one more which has gone into the campuses of one of the leading law colleges in the country. Two groups of students clashing over some castetists issue and converting the campus into a literal war zone. The police and the college authorities remaining mute specatators. When will authorities swing into action and take immediate steps ? Why couldn't the cops jump in and control the violence. There is a police station right within the vicnity of the campus. How will the general public ever get confidence in the police force ? When will they change ? When will the college authorities change ? When will students change ? When will we as a society change ? ....... like the famous quote " the more things change, the more it remains the same" I guess whoever said this must have had us in mind when he said this. And bang on he is right. I just read that some police officers were transferred.... will this help in the healing of the scars ? Will the police learn from this... ? The answer is a big NO... Why cant action be taken against the erring college principal ? Why should not we arrest the parents of the students who got into this rotten act ? We could do so many things but alas we wont .. because we hate change... we like things to remain the same... because we have got too comfortable. Not even 1000 Obamas can bring about a change in this country...

Image Courtesy: Times of India,Chennai

Gold in Beijing

2008-08-13T12:45:00.002+05:30

First of congragulations to Bindra. The Gold is really special in the annals of Indian Sporting History. For a Gold craze nation like this its really unfortunate that we have drawn a blank in Gold all along. We can think of buying gold at the drop of a hat but when it comes to winning it we say sorry we are not used to it. But not taking away the credit from Bindra, is it not a shame that we a nation of billion people can't produce world class sports persons. We have always talked of India being an economic super power , IT super power,but never ever we have looked at being a sports super power. We simply have no vision.

Its once again time for us to cheer this and forget about it. Are we not a nation of people who go overboard in celebrations and show of patriotism everytime a title is won? Wheter be it cricket, tennis, football, shooting,carrom there is sudden enthusiasm in that sport. If Sania wins we all want to produce tennis champions, if India wins T20 we want all our kids to be cricketers, if football world cup season sets in we want to produce Ronaldo's and Beckhams, if software pays the most we want our kids to be IT professionals, if engineers are in demand we want all our children to be Engineers ? And now the general trend is lot of people want to get into shooting ! And tomorrow if India wins in badminton or tennis shooting will take a second spot. Is it that a huge mammoth task of producing a world class sporting contigent every 4 years in a nation that prides itself in its population.

We all are adopt a reactive attitude and there is simply no pro activeness in channelising energies with a singular focus.

Congragulations Abhinav Bindra.

Airport Delay

2008-05-21T19:22:00.004+05:30

Today I got a sms from a close mate who works for a PR agency. The message read " Airport delayed by 24 hours". Her message was ofcourse in the context of the delay in the launch of the new airport in bangalore.Now that was interesting. This was for the first time I thought airports could be delayed. We have got used to receiving text messages on flight delays,flight cancellation etc but it was interesting to see an airport itself getting delayed. Now how on earth can we blame delayed flights? where will those poor things land? Now the next time we get an sms informing us about flight delays lets not get agitated, but lets spare a thought for the aircrafts. After all where will they land?

After all, the more things change chances are that the more it will remain the same.

If Baalu asks "What is wrong ? Why can't Poongothai too ?

2008-05-15T17:09:00.004+05:30

Trust Politics to give media juicy content. The recent resignation of social welfare minister Mrs Poongothai Aladi Aruna from the Tamilnadu cabinet on moral grounds is highly commendable.True the social welfare minister turning a family welfare minister is not ethical or acceptable. She realised this when the story broke and maintained her dignity by putting down her papers. Compare the same with our T R Baalu who turned around and asked 'What is Wrong" Who said Ministers can't be a family welfare minister ? So will he support the social welfare minister and ask her to ask the same question? And what is surprising is the Chief Minister who maintained a silence over the Baalu episode making a statement that he is ashamed. Was he not ashamed when Baalu asked " What is Wrong" The entire Tamilnadu was ashamed perhaps not the Chief Minister. I think a different yardstick applies to State and Centre Politics. Why cant he ask the Union Cabinet Minister to take a leaf out of party colleague and resign. Is it a classic case of gender bias here? Or perhaps it proves once again that politics is not for well educated professionals like Dr Aladi Aruna and its just for people like T R Baalu who are just hungry for power and intersted only in "family" welfare. or perhaps she failed to take proper lessons from Baalu and the Chief Minister !

Vodafone & Customer Service

2008-05-11T22:02:00.001+05:30

The other day I dropped into one of the Vodafone shops to pay my bill. In walks a customer with a genuine complaint. He was getting text messages reminding him on his dues whereas he had made the payment about three days back. Our customer friendly Vodafone executive gives an irritated look and tells him to switch off and on the handset. The puzzled customer again asks her how that is going to change things. She hardly gives him a look, stares into the pc monitor and says they must have sent him a text thanking him for the payment and the customer must have misread it or worse he must have not checked the messages properly. How is that an answer from a company and too in a period when it is running its reintroduction of the PUG in its latest commercials and talking about its wonderful customer service, if at all it exists in the corridors of Vodafone.

It was one hell of a shocker to me. As an advertising person it hit me strongly. When employees themselves are unable to take ownership and live by of what the company is communicating why the hell a common man or a customer should believe or trust you? The latest commercial is cute, brilliant, establishes the connect etc, but when you are unable to live the core idea of excellent customer service then you are really taking the consumer for granted. Your money is down the drain.

Perhaps Vodafone can say is that only Pugs help and not humans. So I guess its high time for Vodafone to hire PUGS as customer service executives

IPL & Politicians

2008-04-23T10:33:00.001+05:30

Can't get this IPL off my mind. But with all the hype,the media coverage hitting you first when you open the papers its really difficult to get it off. Now that IPL has become a career opportunity for a lot of young cricketers am sure the day is not far off when Raj Thakeray is going to demand that Mumbai Indians should be only from Maharashtra. Its really surprising how he failed to ride on the huge publicity of IPL and get a share of the publicity pie. Already there is a quota system in place for local players but as the days roll we are sure going to see reservation demands based on God knows even in IPL.

Any politicians listening. Its great time to get some media attention and stir up some controversy.

Campus Placements for IPL

2008-04-20T12:39:00.003+05:30

Now that IPL has shown the way that cricket is what pays most and not Software or Management, the day is not far off when we are going to see a whole lot of cricket academy's mushrooming promising to develop children into all rounders.So dont be surprised if children respond "Cricketer 'to the cliched question " What do you want to be when you grow up ". Dont be surprised if some of these even advertise saying "100% placement offered in IPL teams".

Mobile Profiles

2008-04-20T12:10:00.002+05:30

"Dont use Cell phone while Driving" is one common signage that we come across while driving. Apart from these are so many messages brought by service providers, handset makers etc on the harms of using a mobile phone while driving / riding. We have different profiles in the handsets which we can set according to different situations. We have General, Silent, Loud, Pager,Meeting etc why cant we have one more additional profile in the handset "Driving". So when we are driving we can set it to this profile so that whenever somebody calls there is a prerecorded voice which says " the subscriber is currently driving please call later". Is it too difficult for technology to incorporate this or is that nobody has thought about it. Will a Nokia,Ericcson, Samsung, LG,Motorola take note and see if this can be done