While in the midst of a worsening pandemic in India I am seeing the worst side and the best side of social media. In our school alumni group I found there is very strong polarisation for and against political points of views. This is true globally we saw the same recently in the US . We see different flavours of the same across the world. … Continue reading SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS HAVE POLARISED/ UNITED OUR WORLD
We were all hopeful that vaccines would help us end the pandemic. Till we saw what happened in India. The second wave has been devastating, people have died gasping for air. Hospitals are full, the medical infrastructure has collapsed. The subconscious impact of not being able to get a hospital bed and oxygen despite of having money and connections is going to remain. What we … Continue reading THE WORLD HAS CHANGED
Whether you are a founder of a business or you are in a job or a freelancer you are a person brand. You can choose to be a part of the crowd and become a commodity brand. Being a commodity will make you replaceable with something or someone cheaper. Being a Commodity is a survival game. You can choose to be a brand that stands … Continue reading HOW TO BUILD YOUR PERSONAL BRAND IN 8 STEPS
There is mystery about life and death , that is how we become storytellers. That we will just vanish one day without a trace seems inexplicable. From where do we come and where do we go are questions asked since the beginning of time. There are no answers , it all seems meaningless, after all nothing matters, and to make sense of our existence we … Continue reading WHY DO WE TELL STORIES?
The control has moved from the advertisers and sellers to consumers. Continue reading INTERRUPTION MARKETING IS DEAD !
A brand is like a living person. It needs to be authentic to build trust. No person can constantly be winning. There will be days of struggle , days of failure. There are moments of truth. “Always good” is based on untruth. Trust cannot be built on “Untruth”. Can a brand be authentic and own up failure, say sorry ?. Can a Organisational or Person … Continue reading HOW BEING VULNERABLE CAN MAKE A BRAND MORE POWERFUL
How do you take on the leader in the marketplace with one tenth the budgets ? The story goes back to 90s. Computer education was booming. NIIT was the leader. I was heading marketing at Datapro an upcoming IT education company. NIIT was splashing money in national mass media . We had maybe one tenth the budgets. Could not take on the leader on their … Continue reading HOW DO YOU TAKE ON THE LEADER ?
I took Shaktiman to Chennai and created chaos. Parle G sales was having a tough time in Chennai. We decided to take Shaktiman to Chennai. I had built the first pan India integrated marketing services company with presence in 124 markets. Parle products was our client. I knew the power of stories. I knew that Shaktiman (Mukesh Khanna) was a hero for children. As a … Continue reading A STORY MEANS BUSINESS
I have been grappling with the insight , it is difficult, maybe impossible to change world views. I see this in conversations now in school alumni groups and families. There are two polarising views. Each sees theirs as being the truth. Each is trying to change and challenge the other view. Only it does not change , there is conflict. I have seen friends leave … Continue reading YOU CANNOT CHANGE WORLD VIEWS , CHANGE YOUR STORY
I started my career in marketing as a product executive. AD Narula who was my first boss gave me the appointment letter and said “you are in charge , your neck is on the block”. And I was truly on my own. This was my first job. I had to design and market a computer education product for Chartered Accountants. Now I don’t have great … Continue reading WHO IS THE HERO OF YOUR BRAND SYORY ?
50&Fab 