Kingfisher Brand Extensions: LPG Cylinders

Extending the core brand essence profitably to new categories...:)
Emotional payoff for wives : husband is surprisingly at home and does not need reminders to call up the gas agency:)
King of good times to your rescue:))

Must Love Dogs

I used to love dogs when I was a kid. I was also afraid of them. In fact I was chased by dogs twice. Most books I read as a child always featured them as characters... Enid Blyton, and plenty of other authors. Even Mahabharata recounts Yuddhistir insisting on his pet dog following him during his final hours. When recent dog bite issues came up it struck me that possibly it is because strays are too many in number that they become wild and attack humans thinking them to be food or potential threats. The solution is to move them away from the streets and put them in some forest or wild life area. It has to be done fast. PETA and others could adopt and domesticate those that they can look after ... letting them loose on the streets is no answer. However before we begin to hate these creatures, a look at some aphorisms that have formed part of our folklore and talk about another relationship that these canines had with us. In fact one of the music companies has a dog as its logo given its acute and keen sense of hearing!!! I also find it strange that a dog is a derogatory term when the animal itself was a symbol of loyalty and unquestioning love.

P.S, Anyway I hated cats , unlike ALL my girl friends who for some strange reason were cat lovers!!!!

Dog Logic

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue. - Anonymous

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. - Ben Williams

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. - Josh Billings

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person. - Andy Rooney

Dogs love their friends & bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love & always have to mix love & hate. - Anonymous

Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.- Franklin P. Jones

If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise- Unknown

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can.That's almost $21.00 in dog money.- Joe Weinstein

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax andget used to the idea. - Robert A. Heinlein

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you;that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. - Mark Twain

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. - Roger Caras

If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocketand then give him only two of them. - Phil Pastoret

Alexis Leon

Readers Digest in its November issue this year carried this story of Alexis Leon. The article was written by Madhavankutty Pillai. Alexis Leon was a topper in the Trivandrum Engineering College and had a great future ahead of him when he graduated and was beginning to establish himself in his career as an IT Professional. At 27 years he was also getting married to someone he liked and was beginning to love. Till it all came to a near end with a fateful road accident. Alexis was paralysed from the waist down and needed a wheel chair to move.
His marriage was called of and he needed serious medical help. He however fought back and went back to work at TCS. He has also used his phenomenal memory and extraordinary faculties to write bestselling books in IT. Starting with Vikas Gupta's Pustak Mahal which published his bestseller "Information Control Systems""IBM Mainframe and Year 2000 solutions" was the next best seller by this engineer whose interests ranged from artificial intelligence to heart surgery. P.K. Madhavan from Chennai got him to write "Internet for everyone" It sold 100,000 copies and still sells 2500 a year!!Tata McGraw-Hill, India’s biggest
publisher of educational and professionalbooks, has published 15 ofLeon’s books; two of them have beentranslated into Mandarin-Chinese.And Artech House, USA, publishedhis A Guide to Software ConfigurationManagement.Incidentally this is an esoteric subject in which you get hardly 11 books on the subject and naturally the book by Alexis is an all time best seller.

The Internet—and Leon’s sixwebsites including his alexisleon.comand leon-leon.com(companion site forhis books) can be visited to know more about this fighter...
alexis@alexisleon.com

Great Advertising: Contraceptives, Durex

Hilarious and huge in terms of pass along valence!! Simply brilliant!!!!

Stock Exchange : Some 'insights'

Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for Rs10.The villagers seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them.

The man bought thousands at Rs10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He further announced that he would now buy at Rs20.This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to Rs25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at Rs50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him. In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers. Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at Rs35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell it to him for Rs50."

The villagers squeezed up with all their savings and bought all the monkeys.

Then they never saw the man nor his assistant, only monkeys everywhere!! !

Welcome to the "Stock" Market!!!!!

Perspective on India by Scott Bayman

A Perspective on India:
By Scott Bayman who was leading GE's India operations for over 14 years.

Fourteen Years on the Inside: A Perspective on India

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now is India's Time by Scott Bayman

We all know of China's rise and its incredible growth story. India's is still more a bet on the future. However, it ¡s a future that is coming into sharp focus. Few have come forth with arguments to refute the 2003 BRICs study by Goldman Sachs. The report analyzed Brazil, Russia, India and China. In the study, Goldman projects that over the next 50 years, India will be the fastest growing of the world's major economies. The report calculates that in 10 years, India's economy will be larger than Italy's. And, in 15 years, it will over-take Britain's. By 2040, it will be the world's third largest economy. By 2050, India's economy will be five times the size of Japan's, and its per capita income will have risen to 35 times its current level.

The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index ranks India 43rd, well ahead of Brazil at 66, China at 54 and Russia at 62. India is the only one of the four that improved its ranking. The other three actually slipped.

Some argue that India's path has distinct advantages. MIT's Yasheng Huang points out that India's companies use their capital far more efficiently than China's; they benchmark to global standards and are better managed than Chinese firms are. Despite being much poorer than China, India has produced dozens of privately owned excellent companies like Infosys, Ranbaxy, Tata Steel, Bharat Forge and Reliance. Huang attributes this difference to the fact that India has a real and deep private sector (unlike China's many state-owned and state-funded companies.) India has a well-developed, well-regulated financial system and a rule of law. Jeff Immelt explains, "China got the infrastructure right. Its government is superb at developing infrastructure. However, China has not developed a banking system, rule of law or private enterprise to the extent India has. India's government, on the other hand, has failed to deliver the infrastructure that governments typically are required to supply in developing countries. But, its executives are proving to be world class. Their abilities to build and lead businesses far exceed what we see in China."

Another example: every year Japan awards the coveted Deming Prizes for managerial innovation. Over the last four years, 12 Indian companies won the award, more than any other country, including Japan.

Globalization has been a key initiative for GE since 1992, when Jack Welch declared India, China and Mexico priority countries for GE. Since that time we have increased revenues outside the US from 10% to 49% and employment from 10% to over 50%.

But, I think globalization really does not describe what happened in GE and what is happening to company after company and country after country. I think interdependence is a better description. Globalization happened during colonization when a select group of countries and companies dominated other countries and trade tended to benefit only the colonizer. Today companies move beyond their borders for

‡{ Growth and Profitability

‡{ Access to markets,

‡{ Lower costs,

‡{ Higher quality,

‡{ Critical raw materials and components,

‡{ And, to diversify their workforces.

Governments more and more recognize the importance of interdependent markets. Consider all the free trade agreements signed or being discussed. There is not a successful economy today that got there by being an isolationist and practicing protectionism.

The trends are visible in India. Multinationals are coming for all the reasons I just mentioned. And, Indian companies are moving outside their borders. Globalization opened new opportunities for Indian companies, opportunities that they now are in a position to seize-thanks to the changes in India's own business and economic environment over the past 15 years.

Hindalco and Sterlite bought iron ore mines abroad because they wanted secure access to raw materials. Tata Tea's acquisition of Tetley brought a leading brand and with it millions of customers and access to new, readymade markets. Tata's acquisition of Corus and Hindalco's takeover of Novalis immediately takes these companies to a size that would take 10 years or more to build organically.

Software services companies such as Wipro, TCS, Infosys and Patni established operations in the US, Europe and China to access markets and to serve customer requirements for non-English language skills. Bharat Forge bought companies in Sweden, Germany, China and the US, because it wants to be the global leader. Tata Motors' takeover of Daewoo's commercial vehicle business provided Tata with technology for producing heavier trucks for Indian roads. Automotive components supplier, Sundaram Fasteners', expansion outside of India puts it closer to its customers as it expands its position as a leading supplier to the global automotive industry.

India's Transformation

As I mentioned, I have been in India for 14 years; surviving two GE Chairmen; six governments and five prime ministers. But, you know what? In those 13 years no one, not one prime minister, not one government has turned its back on liberalization.

Sure, each has its own priorities or its own spin, but the general direction and the commitment has not changed.

Many were surprised at the last elections. On the heels of solid growth, attempts at accelerating reforms and "India Shinning", all the pundits predicted a BJP route. The Congress led victory sent one clear message, in my mind, to all politicians. The electorate is not anti-reforms. It wants to be included. Reforms must touch and benefit those outside the metro cities, those who live in villages and those less fortunate.

Over the past four years, I have seen what I describe as four big events.

First, the telecom revolution. When I arrived, you never knew if you would have a dial tone when you picked up the receiver. If you had a dial tone, there was a question of whether the connection would be made to the number dialled. If connected, you never knew how long you would stay connected. Today, Indian telecom approaches world-class standards. Cell phones are common, even in villages where landlines still do not exist. Between 2000 and 2005, India added about 18 million fixed phone lines and nearly 73 million mobile connections. Teledensity grew more than three-fold to 11.5 percent; in urban areas to almost 35 percent. Waiting lines for phone connections have ceased to exist. I describe telecom as the "poster child" for privatization and deregulation.

My second big event is the creation of a new class of consumers driven by the emergence and growth of software, backroom processing, technology and financial services industries. Employees in these industries are highly educated and relatively younger than the workers in other industries. Ten years ago, this group likely would have lived in their parents' homes and been under-employed or unemployed. Today, this group earns a good wage and has a propensity to spend. And, with the opening up of the economy, now has a wide choice of products and services to buy. For example, when I arrived in India, automobiles were in scarce supply and required a full down payment nine months in advance of delivery. Today, you can have delivery in two or three days at very competitive prices. Colour televisions had to be purchased on the gray market, unavailable in quantity or variety. Today, virtually every manufacturer sells the latest models of colour televisions. Computers and laptops attracted high duties and needed registered in one's passport to be taken in and out of the country. The average age of a homebuyer in Gurgaon, a suburb of Delhi, has come down from 55 to 32 ¡V further evidence that this new class of consumer has real purchasing power.

The third big event is that Indian industrialists have gained confidence that they can compete on the global stage. At a Confederation of Indian Industry seminar on Manufacturing Competitiveness in April 2002, Chaired by My good friend Jamshyd Godrej, I said, and I quote, "Let me start by saying that Manufacturing is not India's core competency. Can it be? Probably not, at least in the short run. Let's face it, there are just too many barriers that all of us cannot control. Don't get hung up in thinking manufacturing can be a core competence of India. It isn't going to happen." Unquote.

Well, I was wrong. I was dead wrong. Indian industrialists no longer worry about multinational companies; they are or want to be MNCs. They no longer talk of level playing fields. They argue for open markets, free trade and view the globe as their marketplace. Indian companies now think globally. The total value of takeover deals by Indian companies, which was less than $1 Billion in 2000, rose to $8 billion in 2006. January 2007 saw two mega deals - Hindalco / Novelis and Tata Steel / Corus. There have been 72 foreign takeovers by Indian companies, worth $24.4bn in the first four months of this year, according to the advisory firm Grant Thornton. In the same period, there were 38 foreign deals for Indian companies, worth $17bn.

Indian companies possess the self-confidence to believe, to know, they will be successful in global markets. They are confident they will improve the performance of acquired companies. Whether it is Videocon or Suzlon, Tata Tea or Bharat Forge, companies are talking of becoming one of the world's big two or three in their business, if not number 1.

Global trends also favour India as more companies in the US, Japan and Europe outsource manufacturing to lower costs. In addition to auto parts, telecom equipment and pharmaceuticals, India has the potential to be competitive in such skill-intensive industries as fabricated metal products, high-end chemicals, consumer electronics and computer hardware.

Across India, total exports are rising at an annual rate of 26 percent. The manufacturing sector is growing at 10 plus percent annually, compared with 6 percent a year from 1991 to 2004. Special economic zones, the model that drove China's export-led industrialization, are beginning to spread in India.

From fiscal 2001 to fiscal 2005, capital expenditures increased from 8.4 to 24.2 billion dollars. What is striking is that over this same time, government owned enterprises' share dropped from 33 to 25 percent; multinational companies' share decreased from 8 percent to 4 percent while local private sector share of capital expenditures increased from 59 percent to 71 percent.

The rise of manufacturing could have a profound effect for a vast number of India's poor. Forever, antiquated labour laws, creaking infrastructure and paperwork have handicapped manufacturing in India. For many of the three-quarters of Indians with less than a middle-school education, few factories meant few jobs.

The fourth big event is Civil Aviation. On my first domestic flight in India, I was 35 minutes early. Upon arriving at the tele-check-in counter, I was told quite rudely that I was late. To which I responded, "I still have 5 minutes." The agent literally tossed the boarding card across the counter, and said, "You're lucky." Because of his attitude, I thought the flight was overbooked. In fact, it was only half-full. Today India has some of the best domestic airlines in the world. Moreover, that government owned carrier I checked in for on my first flight has significantly upgraded its service. Think, just

think, what would have happened if the government had not allowed private air carriers.

Today, we are experiencing the benefits of open skies agreements with increased non-stop flights from more Indian cities to more cities around the world. Choice has brought competition and the consumer is benefiting.

Those of you who travel in India might say, "Yes, but what about the airports". To which I respond, watch the impact of public-private partnership go to work. This is India. We wait for the demand, for the crisis before we respond. Once we strike out on a course of action, we know how to get it done.

Here is something to think about. India is part of the changing world political and economic order. An Asian trading bloc is developing driven by:

‡{ The decline of Russian influence in India

‡{ China's emergence as an economic power

‡{ India's and China's improving relationship and growing trade

‡{ India's free trade agreements and discussions with Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia

‡{ India's initiatives for open sky agreements within the region

‡{ China, Japan, India and ASEAN providing the four pillars; Korea, Australia / NZ, and the rest of South Asia providing the four walls, creating a very powerful trading block

‡{ India becoming the bridge to the Middle East and former Soviet states.

Obviously, this is a long-term scenario, but one companies and western governments must think about as they develop their global strategies.

Sometime back I was asked for a vision for India for 2020. That vision is very relevant to today's discussion and in fact more real today than two plus years ago when I developed it. Please allow me to share it with you. Remember, this was over two and a half years ago.

My vision includes an enhanced stature in the global community. Relationships with the United States grow even stronger as both sides recognize that they are natural allies. China and India find ways to complement each other economically and learn to live with their political differences. India plays a leadership role in helping combat the war on terrorism and re-building Afghanistan and Iraq.

My vision requires bold actions by Government to stimulate the economy over time and to accelerate additional reforms. Ports, roads, airports and seaports are improved and expanded. The trend in telecom privatization and increased competition continues resulting in lower rates, improved service and universal availability across the country. Tax policy, Companies act, labour law and land use regulation are revised and modernized helping drive economic growth.

Power sector reform takes off and accelerates. The financial troubles of the State Electricity Boards are behind us, most likely through privatization and separation of generation, transmission and distribution. Both local and foreign developers and investors return and become willing to start new projects. Lack of reliable, affordable power ceases to be an issue for most of India's citizens and businesses.

My vision includes an economy that grows beyond the four to six percent experienced in the past few years to double this amount. Four to six precludes any real change in standard of living for many of India's poorer, less fortunate citizens. Eight to twelve brings real opportunity for people to improve their lots in life.

I hope to see real progress in privatization. Privatization doesn't necessarily mean government selling out but can be accomplished by divesting through the stock market to achieve broad ownership. Success in privatization results in government "getting out of the business of being in business" and into the business of being in government, where it can do more good for the country.

When my vision becomes reality, foreign investment in India picks up. As China improves its position as a low cost supplier, including challenging India's supremacy in software and technology, India also becomes a competitive manufacturing location for global companies. Indian software firms prove their metal, expanding into China and other countries to maintain global leadership. Unshackled from regulation and aided by strong local markets, more Indian companies become truly multinational.

Lastly, India assumes its rightful place among the world political, military and economic powers.

Nine years ago at the US India Business Council, I made a talk about my perspectives of India. I was pretty hard on the country; pointing out the lack of progress across many fronts after much hype and promise. Today, as you can tell, I am happier with the progress of reforms and much more optimistic about the future.

Granted, not all is well and there are miles to travel. Pankaj Mishra described a number of challenges in a New York Times Article titled The Myth of the New India.

He points out that only a small minority of Indians will enjoy "Western standards of living and high consumption at least for the foreseeable future. The increasingly common, business-centric view of India suppresses more facts than it reveals. Mishra points out that recent accounts of the alleged rise of India barely mention the fact that the country's $728 per capita gross domestic product is just slightly higher than that of sub-Saharan Africa. Despite a recent reduction in poverty levels, nearly 380 million Indians still live on less than a dollar a day.

Malnutrition affects half of all children in India, and there is little sign that they are being helped by the country's market reforms. Facilities for primary education have collapsed in large parts of the country.

Mr. Mishra further observes that to date, India's economic growth has been largely jobless. Only 1.3 million out of a working population of 400 million are employed in the information technology and business processing industries that make up the so-called new economy. No labour-intensive manufacturing boom of the kind that powered the economic growth of almost every developed and developing country in the world has yet occurred in India.

During a question and answer session at an India Today Forum, I stood up to respond to similar examples of all that is wrong with India, to cries of "ain't it awful", to allegations that the government has failed the country and India has no chance. I made a point that Indians should stop beating themselves up so much. They should be proud or what has been accomplished. Indians should view the glass as half-full rather than half empty. I pointed to a number of examples such as: India is home to the best domestic airline in the world. Jet Airways matches up with the best of the best anywhere. India's telecom industry moved from pitiful to world class in a very short period. Indian software and Business Processing Outsourcing firms are the best in the world. A robust auto industry evolved in just a decade. Component suppliers in India are world class. They are expanding offshore. While still nowhere near enough in numbers, modern medical facilities are opening at a rapid pace.

India's GDP is accelerating: from 1.0 percent average annual growth between 1900 and 1950 to 3.5 between 1950 and 1980 to 6.0 between 1980 and 2002 to 8.0 between 2002 and 2006. Wealth must be created before it can be redistributed.

To date, India's economic growth has been largely jobless. But, as I pointed out earlier, manufacturing is expanding; and this is creating jobs. Consider the following:

‡{ India is the fifth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world

‡{ India is the second largest tractor manufacturer in the world

‡{ Hero Honda manufactures more motorcycles than anyone else in the world

‡{ Bharat Forge has the world's largest single-location forging facility; its clients include Honda, Toyota and Volvo ¡V all very demanding customers

‡{ The GAP sources about $600 million and Hilfiger $100 million worth of apparel from India

‡{ Wal-Mart sources in excess of $1 billion worth of goods from India and it expects this to increase to $10 billion in the next couple of years

‡{ GE has grown from less than $100 million in local revenue to almost $3 billion with a target of $8 billion by 2010.

As manufacturing continues to expand to serve both domestic and global customers, it will create jobs.

India's competency in high tech businesses also will create jobs. There are 170 biotechnology companies in India, involved in the development and manufacture of generic drugs, whose business is growing exponentially. The Indian pharmaceutical industry at $6.5 billion and growing at 8-10% annually, is the fourth largest pharmaceutical industry in the world, and is expected to be worth $12 billion by 2008.

India's telecom infrastructure provides the largest bandwidth capacity in the world, with well over 8.5 terabits per second.

India is among six countries that launch satellites and do so even for Germany, Belgium, South Korea, Singapore and EU countries.

India produces 200,000 engineering graduates and another 300,000 technically trained graduates every year. Soon India will have the largest working population in the World. Seven hundred million people out of 1.1 billion people are young. And, the young population will continue till 2050.

I don't dispute the fact that the country must tackle huge social issues as pointed out in the Mishra article. I also don't dispute that more could have been done and more needs to be done. However, there is progress. The incidence of poverty has declined from 44% in the 1980s to 36% in the 1990s to 26% in 2000. Literacy rates improved from 44% in the 1980s to 52% in the 1990s to 65% in 2000. In addition, over this same period, life expectancy increased from 56 years to 60 to 69.

In India, we have a woman born a Catholic leading the most popular party, stepping aside so a Muslim president could swear in a Sikh as Prime Minister to lead a nation that is 82% Hindu but has the second largest Muslim population in the world. And by the way, some of the wealthier Indians residing in the country are Muslim. I defy anyone to cite another country with such diversity and tolerance.

In my 14 years, I learned one big lesson. India is a confusing and difficult place to quickly enact change and make rapid progress. Consider:

‡{ India is a 5,000 year old ancient civilization

‡{ It has 18 official languages; with 325 spoken languages and 1,652 dialects

‡{ There are 1.3 Billion people living in a land one-third the size of the US.

‡{ There are 5600 daily newspapers, 15,000 weeklies and 20,000 periodicals published in 21 languages with a combined circulation of 142 million. Moreover, as those of you who read some of them know, each has a very strong bias on every issue.

India is the world's largest democracy with a parliamentary form of Government. That's the good news. The bad news is; it makes taking tough decisions very difficult. However, I would never ever trade it for the alternative.

I argue the glass is half-full and filling; not half-empty and running out.

Thanks very much for listening.

Scott Bayman led GE India for 14 years and recently joined Stonebridge, an international advisory firm

http://www.kaumudiglobal.com/singapore/news.php?newsid=3288

This is one lovely article
Vinod Natesan

Women on Men

I am blogging this to keep my female readers and friends, at least I think thats what they are, :) happy....

The 'Why's of Men
1. WHY DO MEN BECOME SMARTER DURING SEX?

(because they are plugged into a genius)

2. WHY DON'T WOMEN BLINK DURING SEX?

(they don't have enough time)

3. WHY DOES IT TAKE 1 MILLION SPERM TO FERTILIZE ONE EGG?

(they don't stop to ask directions)

4. WHY DO MEN SNORE WHEN THEY LIE ON THEIR BACKS?

(because their balls fall over their butt-hole and they vapor lock)

(You're laughing, aren't you?!?!)

5. WHY WERE MEN GIVEN LARGER BRAINS THAN DOGS?

(so they won't hump women's legs at cocktails parties)

6. WHY DID GOD MAKE MEN BEFORE WOMEN?

(you need a rough draft before you make a final copy)

7. HOW MANY MEN DOES IT TAKE TO PUT A TOILET SEAT DOWN?

(don't know.....it never happened)

( C'mon guys, we laugh at your blonde jokes!)

And the personal favourite:

8. WHY DID GOD PUT MEN ON EARTH?

(because a vibrator can't mow the lawn)

Remember, if you haven't got a smile on your face and laughter in your heart...Then you are just an old sour fart!

One for the ladies

One day my housework-challenged husband decided to wash his Sweat-shirt Seconds after he stepped into the laundry room, he shouted to me, "What setting do I use on the washing machine?"

"It depends," I replied. "What does it say on your shirt?"

He yelled back, " University of Oklahoma "

And they say blondes are dumb...

------------------------------------------------

Dear Lord,

I pray for Wisdom to understand my man; Love to forgive him; And Patience for his moods. Because, Lord, if I pray for Strength, I'll beat him to death.
Amen
yeah
yeah men

Kingfisher Airlines

Branding of an airline is largely done by its hostesses and stewards. Kingfisher with its flamboyant head Mr Mallya and it's association with bohemian pursuits, "king of good times", has got it right with its colours, attire and choice of 'manpower'(woman power). Business travelers on the company account would definitely prefer this airline, even at a premium!!
Mallya in India with his Kingfisher brand seems to resemble Richard Branson and the Virgin brand in Europe. Stylish, sexy and very bohemian/hedonist if not epicurean. The good times theme has been carried forward in a new lifestyle channel that he has invested in with NDTV called "NDTV Good Times". There is also a Hugh Hefner inspired Kingfisher Calendar featuring some risque visuals shot by Atul Kasbekar in an exotic location. Mallya has now got into the F1 circuit with an investment in spykar and schumacher is expected to be on his roster...
fast cars..faster women...even faster liquids...the king of good times parties on...

Mahindra Voyager- Advertising by McCann Erickson

Headline: A shack at Calagunte beach , Goa
Body:Introducing the Mahindra Voyager. A vehicle so roomy that it disguises itself in many rooms, a conference room, a living room or a cozy bedroom. There is enough space for headroom and legroom too. It can comfortably seat 8 and has a unique flexi-seating system to accomodate your family and your luggage. Its just the length of a 118NE or an Ambassdor. That makes it very convenient to pack. The short turning radius makes it very maneouvrable while the independent suspension makes for a very comfortable drive.It goes without saying that the powerful 2.5 litre diesel engine and the 5 speed gear box make it cost efficient. With the huge glass panes all around you can call it a room with a view.
Mahindra Voyager: Room with a view

The campaign featured similar shots of office travel "A conference room at Nariman Point, Mumbai"; for the long haul lall family trip-A forest bungalow at Corbett National Park; for the tourist trade -A hill resort at Ooty;.
The visuals were signature top view shots emphasizing the roominess. The photographer was Iqbal and processing done at Comart

MSeal advertising

Headline: left side)Pissing boy at Brussels
right side)Leak Stopped
Body Copy: Can also seal leaks in pipelines, radiators, watertanks.
if you have found new and innovative ways of using MSeal, enter the "eureka" contest...

Note: MSeal was faced with stagnant growth rates when this was done. The idea was to promote new uses and widen use occasions as a means of increasing volumes. Category growth by widen the competitive frame of reference. There were no other alternatives given that geographic width had been achieved and there was nothing new in the product. The product was also a problem solver and there was no way of stimulating existing demand through ethical means!!
Alongwith the pissing boy there were also sculptures which were broken at Elephanta etc leading to a campaign. Clay modelling as a new use and product variant was also launched at this point in time with MSeal

Pictures of Nature, Movie Reviews, Woody Allen, Oscars

The copy is not exactly one of my favourites because I think we should let God do what he wants to do.. as the malayali aphorism goes, "neendatha madine ozhukku kondupokum"( "the current will wash away the buffalo that does not swim"! There is a great virtue in continuing to take efforts... everything continues in its state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force and every action has an equal and opposite reaction!! Unless you bowl you don't get wickets!!
There is another side to the story, which is that our efforts may not yield the results in the direction and quantum that we expect it to. There is always 'destiny' to contend with

I saw this lovely movie by Woody Allen called "Matchpoint". It is about choices one makes in one's life and how things turn out. The key being the role of chance/ luck and how we are loathe to admit it because we then acknowledge that we actually have no control over outcomes and that kills our egos and sense of achievement. Yet serendipity, like the force that decides whether a tennis ball that hits the tennis net at the top should fall on which side of the court, does shape our lives as destiny!in
"Cooler" is another movie and it won Alec Baldwin an Oscar I think. A 'Cooler' is a person in a casino who is sent to a table where things are getting "hot" because the guests are winning heavily. The 'cooler ' brings bad luck allegedly and the person next to him then starts to loose!!! Heard of "boori nazar' in our culture but this one was a surprise and given that it is the hard nosed and razor sharp Las Veags casino owners who use such tactics I believe it must be tried and tested!!!
As the malayali saying goes "vidhikanusaranam buddhi" "as is your fate, so will you think"

Lemon Ad by DDB for Volkswagen

Headline:Lemon

Copy:

The Volkswagen missed the boat.
The chrome strip on the glove compartment is blemished and must be replaced. Chances are you wouldn't have noticed it; Inspector Kurt Kroner did.

There are 3,389 men of our Wolfsburg factory with only one job; to inspect Volkswagens at each stage of production. (3,00 Volkswagens are produced daily; there are more inspectors than cars.)

Every shock absorber is tested (spot checking won't do), every windshield is scanned. VWs have been rejected for surface scratches barely visible to the eye.

Final inspection is really something! VW inspectors run each car off the line onto the Funktionsprüfstand (car test stand), tote up 189 check points, gun ahead to the automatic brake stand and say "no" to one VW out of fifty.

This preoccupation with detail means the VW lasts longer and requires less maintenance, by and large, than other cars. (It also means a used VW depreciates less than any other car.)

We pluck the lemons; you get the plums.

Vinod: One of my all time favourites

Human Potraits

I guess you can find happiness in the simplest of things when you have no baggage to carry. I loved this photograph for the simplicity ... both in the context/ choice of the moment and composition

Pictures of Nature

I guess a great photographer has to have an 'eye' . Knowing where to keep the camera is the key and even more so when everything is digital and autofocus. Very clearly digital work has happened but who the hell cares?

Pictures of Nature

As a child every drawing I made had a house with a mountain in the background and trees next to a river... I guess thats why I like this

Road away from the clouds

great composition as far as the photograph goes. Must have been touched up I guess. But a visual treat nevertheless.

Visual of a leaf

Surreal Sunset

Eiffel Tower: Photography

Perspective. Gives you an idea of the scale and metallic grandeur of this tower. Note the two people at the railing

Media Innovation: Car Accessories

Stickers of burnt out walls in parking lots were used to communicate 300% extra power of Plasma HID Car Lamps

Che- mens magazine

Absolutely brilliant!

Berlin Job Sites

"Life is too short for the wrong job". This ad for a job site was kept at ATM's and Vending Booths. Probably the people manning it felt the same and were temporary workers !!! This was in Berlin

Duracell Malaysia

Stickers on "high voltatge" boxes. Malaysia. Associating high voltage and the brand!!
(public safety makes it mandatory to have warnings onhigh voltage boxes kept in public thoroughfares)

The Fitness Company New York

'Dumbells' were placed in subways of NYC to remind people to lift weights and where to get them!!!

Media Innovation- OOH

Eatalica is a restaurant in Chennai, India. This caution signage for a wet floor was kept next to a " Eatalica Burger" glow sign. The text in the caution also explained that the 'wet floor' was due to drooling passers by!!
"Ogling at the burger may cause involuntary cause drooling which may in turn result in a wet floor. Issued in your safety by the Eatalica Restaurant"

Mini Cooper Zurich

This is an entrance to a train station in Zurich, Switzerland and Mini Cooper has used it brilliantly to communicate roominess!!!

Media Innovation- OOH

Life size posters of people stuck to a sliding glass door in a mall in Mumbai. They separated when someone approached, as if people were moving aside to let one pass and on entering the mall, a signage unavoidably placed, reminded the entrant, "people move away when you have body odour"!!!

Shopping Mall in Tokyo

A giant mirror kept behind the clothes helped people try on clothes while window shopping. Tokyo

Yoga Center

Pedigree

DHL

Sony X Box

Music Makers

The attached video shows this incredible machine that was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa.
Amazingly, 97% of the machines components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft Iowa. YES, farm equipment! It took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment, calibration and tuning before filming this video, but as you can see it was WELL worth the effort. It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian. (Reference given by Aananthan)

Advertising : Branding Truths

Visa Card? Master Card ? Go Get It!
In India this is the likely scenario if you get a credit card these days , with internet frauds, swipes at outlets that wipe away your balance and some not so friendly collection agents who are only interested in recovery.
Source: Sharadh Haksar Photography

Advertising : Branding Truths, Nike

Mean Streets: Yeah man ...just ... :)
No, this one has nothing to do with Dhunji Wadia and JWT Bengaluru.. it is also not likely to be entered for advertising effectiveness and creative excellence awards all over the place from Jhumritaliah Advertijing Phestival to Kandahar Excellence for Marketing bravery...

Some poor souls want to know if this one has as much relevance to Nike as a group of urchins playing cricket on bus 'tops' when traffic 'stops'...

Source: Sharadh Haksar Photography

Advertising : Branding Truths

Brushing up with Colgate for that confident smile :)
Source: Sharad Haskar Photography

Advertising : Branding Truths

Boondom mein, Boondom mein... joy in every single drop...:) Coca Cola in India

Source: Sharad Haskar Photography

Jai Maharasthra and Salaam Mumbai

Ever since I shifted here in 1991 with a suitcase and nearly 20 xeroxes of my CV , I had a sense of destiny about Mumbai. It has given me a home, an identity and self worth. There are some places where you feel immediately at home and things work out for you. For me, Maharashtra and Mumbai were just that. Though I was born and brought up in Trivandrum, I have never felt at ease there and still don't. Mumbai however, brought out the best in me.
I have a healthy regard and respect for Maharashtra, is people its cuisine, music, theatre, language and its militant, no- nonsense attitude. It is this fearlessness and the stoic understanding, that you have to do what you have to do, which makes the Maharashtrian different from the rest. I don't think a Maratha would tolerate injustice or insults, without retaliating. There is an emotional honesty, of being true to the moment, that makes them likable, as far as I am concerned. They are invariably straightforward and there is no guile, cunning or back stabbing, which is in their nature. What you see is what you get. Not surprisingly, the marauding Mughals in historical times, had to face unyielding resistance from the Marathas , even when surprisingly, most of the Northern Indian plains buckled down before them, with very little resistance to speak of.

Mumbai is therefore one place were they use violence were it is required and no apologies !! A season in the suburban trains teach you a lot about this tough life style. A tight slap has a way of putting things in perspective and finalizes disputes, arguments and is almost used like a full stop after a sentence. I have seen people use it without flinching and it hardly raises eyebrows. Civic sense therefore is high here. Eve teasers routinely get slapped or given the treatment by the ladies themselves or passers by.Sadly though, this fearlessness and tough practicality seems to have become a rarity if one were to go by newspaper reports. Organised crime is also a feature of Mumbai and its methods have been a staple of the Hindi film industry. There is however no evidence of it visible to the common man, especially a white collar executive like me. This trend however seems to be changing for the worse. The middle class seems to be bearing the brunt of a crime wave largely to do with economic reasons. This is if one goes by media reports.

Mumbai is the most permissive city in India. Women enjoy more freedom here than anywhere else in India. Women are used to working late and use suburban trains and taxis without fear. The ubiquitous Mumbai taxi was disciplined, helpful and rarely a cheat. In fact working women were plenty in Mumbai and quite bold.

As a young executive in the early 90's, I learned to understand and work out an equation with the army who carried the tag of "personal secretary" in offices. In wrap around skirts/frocks and invariably Goan Catholic, or from Mangalore, they controlled access to the big bosses in most offices. Mario caricatured them in his cartoons. Sometimes I thought that he was bang on!! Some of them became very good friends and people I developed a lot of regard for. Flora was my boss's secy and also the group secretary. She was a great help and a lovely person. Bernie was another secy who everyone thought was cute and I thought was extremely efficient and competent. Dora, Afra are two more names that came to mind. Excellent and committed. Most successful managers learn to retain good secretarial help. Crucial, since they also need to be trustworthy and can enhance your effectiveness dramatically. I realized how important it was, when I went to the Middle East. (Good secretarial help in UAE is a premium/luxury and is often in the form of a Malayali male! )

Thanks to my Goan colleagues, I took to Latin American dancing which I learned at J.J.Rodrigues, who himself was a "personal secretary" initially before he took up dancing full time. I did end up at the Catholic gymkhana on Christmas and saw an awesome display of ballroom dancing there. Never knew that Mumbai had such abundance of ball room and latin american dancing talent.

Ballroom dancing also opened up friendships with many unique people and Sonali was one such. She was metropolitan in every sense with a Muslim father and Hindu mother. A divorcee, she runs her own interior decor consultancy and to me is a great example of the modern day woman. Positive, easy going, well read and sophisticated without being snooty and with a great sense of values. Good looking too, with hiking as her hobby. The hills near Mumbai offer hiking enthuthiasts like her a variety of options to spend their weekends.

Mumbai provides support and security to Sonali and similar single women. Probably unthinkable in other parts of the country. They work and party hard without being labeled as loose and immoral. I personally believe it is because Mumbai had a liberal attitude.

Prithvi , NCPA are weekend haunts were there is a vibrant theatre culture. From Vijay Tendulkar's "Sakharam Binder" a play that I read and loved (though in English) to VS Khandekar's "Yayati" to Bharat Dhabolkars vaudeville 'Bottoms Up' to the sublime 'Tumahri Amritha','Vagina Monolgues', 'Dear Liar', I saw them all in Mumbai.

Siddhi Vinayak temple at Prabhadevi, has replaced the Pazhavangadi temples of Trivandrum.
Ganesha is everyone's favourite God and their are many who collect Ganesha's. Rendering Ganesha in abstract form in various media is an art form in itself!! To understand the intensity and depth of this devotion one has to drive by the Sidhivinayak temple on any Tuesday morning! Queues that wind from the temple to Dadar which is 2.5 kms long is what you see!!! People wait from 3 in the morning for hours in this serpentine queue ,to get a darshan of the lord!!

Another feature of Mumbai used to be the mujra girls. These are dancers who entertain people in bars by performing Bollywood dance steps .Topaz which featured the best dancers was famous even among businessmen from the Middle East!While the mujra girls have been put temprarily out of business, the lavni and the koli song and dance are visible in some function or the other and it certainly is appealing.

Madhuri Dixit is an example of a marathi mulgi and among all the Hindi stars was the only actress after Madhubala I had a crush on. Sonali Bendre and Tabu were also in the race but nothing to beat this Marathi lady!!

Shobha De was one writer whom I loved to read because she had a caustic sense of humour and was very spicy. In her earlier days, she could also make heads turn and one such head was mine!! Vijay Tendulkar's plays like 'Sakharam Binder' and 'Ghasiram Kotwal' intrigued me and V.S. Khandekar's 'Yayati' was another thought provoking piece of literature.

Lots of little ways in which people of this land has made my life richer come to mind. Cricket, which is my favourite game would never the same without Tendulkar. While I did play the game with passion, the motivation to watch a match came from the little Mumbaikar.

During my bachelor days when home food was rare, I was treated by Sanju and Raju Hinge to delicious Marathi cuisine which were mouth watering. Rice and chappatis formed part of the three course meal and I simply relished it. Street food is also great and pav bhaji immediately comes to mind. Sardars in Nana chowk was a great place for pavbhajis. Kebabs were a speciality at BadeMiya's in Colaba . Leopold and Mondegar, about whom Robertson(if my memory is right) has written in "Shantharam", were popular haunts for beer and biriyani. Mahesh Lunch Home prided itself and rightly so on its seafood and at Haji Ali the juice centre gave you the best fruit juice!Delhi Durbar had its delectable rotis and butter chicken and Kobes had its sizzlers!! Ah weekends were more busy for a bachelor like me in the nineties and for a boy from trivandrum, it was overwhelming, the sheer freedom and the variety of things to do!!

Mumbai has its rituals and I too have it now on my calendar. Ganesh Chaturthi and the poojas followed by immersion is something you do with your neighbours. Dandiya Raas is also big in Mumbai with its strong Gujju community. It is a carnival with girls and boys dressed in their best and music makes everyone sway to it. Phalguni Pathak is a rage and the androgynous singer is good. 'Pari hoon mein' is an anthem during garba. I was familiar with this thanks to my stint in Anand and the dancing is delightful!!

Govinda and gokuasthami is another Mumbaiyah feature with butter pots kept at high altitudes and prozes for teams who can reach it. This has taken a shape and style that is uniquely mumbaiyah. Holi too happens here and the Punjabis make it an event to remember with ganja spiced bhang making everyone debauched.

My boss in Leo Burnett Mumbai was a certain Anand Tendolkar. A Maharashtrian from the old world. A thorough gentleman and one person I enjoyed working with. I would rate him as one of my favourite bosses. He is running a reiki and personnel development centre. In advertising he was a rarity. A person with a sense of ethics and heart. Not surprisingly, he had a heart attack while at O&M Mumbai. Well, you have to have a heart to get an attack. Anand introduced me and our team to the best restaurants and the oldest gymkhanas in Mumbai. Mostly South Mumbai, based since he was from Peddar Road. I believe he is doing well with a personal growth and counselling centre and is doing corporate training programs.Anand represented the Mumbai that I loved. No nonsense, supportive of all positive initiatives and non interfering. There was an old world charm mixed with an acceptance of the modern. An interest in getting on with it.

My C.A. too is a Maharashtrian and some of the best art directors I know are Maharashtrians and these include Uday Parker, Nilesh Patil, Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar. Most of them have won numerous awards and are highly regarded in the industry. Interestingly the best writers seem to be Malayali and the art directors, Marathi!!

As they say, Jai Maharasthra and Mumbai Salaam. It is now my home and its my 10th Diwali since I moved into my own flat here in Mahindra Park.

Forts of Maharashtra

1)Alibaug (first from the bottom) 2)Arnala 3)Janjira 4) Lohgad
5) Pratapgad6) Purandar 7) Raigad 8) ShivSamadhi(at the top)

Forts of Maharashtra

Shivaji, the erstwhile ruler of Maharashtra is revered for his relentless refusal to bow down to the Mughal might. He used guerilla warfare at its consummate best. For any student of strategy, tales of Shivaji are a rich treasure trove of battle tactics.

The first question however is that when nearly every ruler in the North smoked the peace pipe with the marauding Mughals by marrying their sisters to them or by paying tax, why did this Maratha warrior choose the path of confrontation and defiance? This is precisely why he is a ruler and a leader I admire. He never chose expediency over what was right and never allowed himself to bow down to insolent might. Shivaji's brand essence was that of self- respect and pride. This was the prime motivator. Unwillingness to bend down and subjugate oneself and the need to hold one's head high. He rallied his people around him with this promise and delivered with his cunning and strategic sense.

Before we get down to his tactics and strategy we need to underline that this essence is exactly what Gandhiji , Bhagat Singh and others stood for,which ignited self belief and self respect in us and the nation finally moved as a whole to the next level of wanting self-rule!! But that is another chapter and we will cover that later.

One facet of Shivaji was his choice of forts in terms of location and the manner in which the topography was leveraged to provide a degree of natural defence and advantage to the defending army. Cliffs, high altitude, rocks submerged in the sea when it was on a cliff or on the sea side are all captivating examples of this warriors guile. These forts now offer us education and entertainment and are sufficient cause to cover Maharashtra.

The forts comprise just one element of the battle plan and anecdotes of Shivaji's escape in a sweet basket, of the lethal confrontation with a Mughal warlord who tried to kill him by surprise during a discussion for peace where no arms were allowed , are all folklore that makes for delightful reading. Fooling the opposing army into believing that an army was approaching by sending a herd of bullocks with burning torches tied to their horns at night was sheer genius!!

Shivaji's exploits offer useful strategic insights to small regional players on how to handle national brands with huge budgets.

Great Advertising: Peugot

Fast cars... faster communication... visuals that communicate the brand benefit at the speed of light :)

Great Advertising: Insecticides