Category Archives: Marketing

#BrandXSucks for @Dude_with_lots_of_followers

Is There a Case for Social Responsibility of Social Influencers? Saw a rather unsavoury incident on Twitter last week. Someone with 30,000+ followers – a person popular for his witty tweets – had a problem with his mobile service provider … Continue reading

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Marketing is Product First, Marketing Second

How many times do we see advertising that make us want to watch them again and again, that draws out a chuckle from us, or become discussion points at the water cooler? Quite frequently. And how often do you come … Continue reading

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Democracy Is The Killer of Great Advertising

A fortnight ago I wrote about how the Brand Manager could be the biggest enemy of the brand due to his temptation to do new things and veering away from consistency of proposition and execution. There is yet another enemy … Continue reading

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The Envy Of Every Advertiser

It is said that the biggest enemy of a brand is the Brand Manager. The dream of every advertiser – brand and agency alike – is to create that everlasting legacy of the most memorable campaign that people will remember … Continue reading

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How Ancient Human Habits Have Endured In Online Trends

I am often asked by my team members about how to visualize the future of online media, and therefore strategize better for digital marketing. This has a direct linkage to resource allocation and prioritisation in marketing planning. To be honest, … Continue reading

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Following The Youth Spirit

As news and views about Lance Armstrong’s doping confession came in a few weeks ago, I noted a different revelation unfolding on social media. Unlike many other athletes similarly caught out in the past, there was no all-round, unanimous castigation … Continue reading

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Bring Back Joy In Promoting Sporting Events

I’m a bit flummoxed by promotional spots on TV for sporting events these days. If you watch the TV promotions for IPL or for, say an India-Australia or India-Pakistan cricket series, you’ll know what I mean. Star players are portrayed … Continue reading

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Is Jugaad Killing Innovation and Quality In Your Organisation?

During the superstorm Sandy in October 2012, a young lifeguard Dylan Smith rescued a dozen people in the Queens neighbourhood of New York by paddling from porch to porch with his surfboard, moving the helpless from imperiled spots amid swirling … Continue reading

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It’s Mindset Driving Practices in CRM

The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic – Peter Drucker The buzz these days is about using Big Data in selling and marketing. Fair enough. With growing technology and … Continue reading

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Why Online Spends Won’t Grow Fast Enough & How to make it – Part 2 of 2

(This essay was first written for Impact maagazine (India), then reproduced here) In my previous blog post, I argued that while there is a huge supply of inventory from publishers’ side, it will take a great deal of hard work and … Continue reading

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