righteous marketing.....

Innovation of something useful = Priceless

Repetition of something inherent = 100$

Repetition of the something ineffectual = 1$

Delivering the same message through different viewpoints = sometimes totally worthless

Well I have come across some many colleagues of mine starting up a blog airing their views about some function related to business like finance, cash flows, sales, innovative rules in marketing, HR and so on. Barring a few exceptions I am seldom to come across a blog which effectively delivers truly a new message of sorts with respect to a particular subject in question. Some relate to effective marketing techniques while others to transformational human resources practices. Sound as they might on paper from a internal point of view rarely have they been used efficiently in practice.

So when a friend of mine suggested that why not come up with some interesting concepts in the art of marketing - I was (albeit sheepishly I must admit) considered some sort of guru in marketing when I was in B-school and though the first experience in a job situation changed my views for the better, still amongst a close circle of friends that concept lingered on. Coming back my only answer was – marketing is a whole lot crap these days, media blowing in out of proportion and the hapless common man (atleast in India) not knowing the difference between sales and marketing. Well not many would believe that marketing is an art which we try to deliver in concrete action after comprehending the theory in demand creation somewhat unsystematically in the mind.

Marketing is a matrix – we all have our own definitions; some delivering a sense and expected outcome while others biting the dust. Well what is marketing then – try defining that. Try defining the matrix. While our very dear guru Kotler gives the definition as “Marketing is the social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others”.

Try making sense out of that – while many of my friends got away with random A’s while quoting the definition the question yet remained in my mind whether they understood the true essence of this. I am sure though Kotler did but the interplay of words was something to my mind avoidable.

Anyway marketing is not always about a demand creation and meeting it successfully – as most of the common mortals might be led to believe; it might be even educating and providing changing benefits to the changing needs and demands of the target audience. SHREEEK………..read the line again.

Well if change is constant (which is debatable but mostly acceptable in the end), this definition holds ground. Another point is sensitivity and sensibility. It makes more sense in today’s “’CONNECTED” environment. Online social media has opened up new avenues of marketing – the new age gurus predict transformational strategies to deliver content and open up avenues thorough web2.0 and so on, while the purists bay for blood, I for once tend to side with them. While I would go to a facebook or a orkut to check out messages from long lost friends, post pictures etc, essentially I would not want to click or check out advertisements posted on the site. The success of marketing lies in delivering the key message sensibly, to the target masses without putting a shroud of glitterati on it – the message must deliver and set a tone in the customers mind, effectively and efficiently, not necessarily immediately. While the story of Mozilla Firefox, an Apple iPOD or a AOL winamp can be brought in to support this viewpoint – net net marketing must meet the changing needs of the environment to meet the changing needs of the customer. If that is understood the effective strategies to mastermind a effective marketing strategy in the next step. More on that later.

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Calcutta in my heart.....

the story goes back more than 2 decades back to a small family settled in the heart of a bustling city we now know as Kolkata. A young boy was born on a fateful day of Sankranti - reminiscent of the fact that it marked also the day of the creator read “Karthik” of Hindu mythology. While he grew up knowing his alma-mater as Calcutta he took pride in the fact that Calcutta was unparalleled in its own sense – neither vast nor lonely as the capital Delhi and never ever on the move 24/7 like Mumbai. Warmth of its people and the cultural heritage it entailed (that was debatable by random acts of foolhardiness by its people) – always made it stand out amongst the contemporaries. While the education he received through the best schools and colleges in the state made him a little impulsive of performing the Herculean task of taking the world by its horns and bringing it down like the dreaded serpent in Greek mythology – its was few years later spending time away for further education and job life made him realize that there was lot more to life. And a lot more to what Calcutta had led him to believe – the naïve mind was in turn for a big jolt.

While in this years away from Calcutta which was later re-christened to Kolkata – the charm was probably lost with the change in name and maybe the change of heart. Maybe the alma–mater did not want a change – perhaps the name itself had come to epitomize its uniqueness. Somewhere yes the city seemed to have a change of heart with a change in name – the spirit of Calcutta was lost.

Coming back to the boys story – most of his friends had left a lot earlier post school or after college – either in other states of India or in the US. And most of them never came back – probably they in hindsight realized that the city was a lost cause. Inefficient politics and a care-not attitude of people – basically meant that the city was taken for granted. Seeing all the boy felt that he was alienated – the lakes, the streets and the skyline though apparently similar had somehow lost their calling – the glitzy malls and the glitter of people seemed to have drowned the voices of lil children playing in the parks, an odd couple sipping on a cup of coffee in coffee house or the cheer of boys fighting it out in the mud and drizzle in maidan.

The boy in between his years away from Calcutta had grown into a man – looking life from a much different angle that most of his age. Experience had taught him to be cautious and at least sometimes politically correct at certain situations. While all these years the family and his love – were the only reason for him to rush back once in a while – the city’s cold arms took the heat of his hearts emotion away, leaving love was so difficult. But what he realized much later – the love was lost long time back, the city’s cold menace has drowned his love in depths where his voice could not reach. The city he could no longer call home – he chose to remain aloof at times – not wanting to return at times conscious of the fact that the pain inside may not have subsided enough. The family back in Calcutta – was the only light at the end of the tunnel for which he made an occasional trip home. He visited many place throughout the years – saw the length and breadth of many and soaked in the cultures of many places – yet none could he call home. None where he could cuddle up in a monsoon afternoon after a round of khichdi and ilish mach – none where could look at the skyline and imagine going back all those years – those wonder years where life could be anything, you could challenge the world and dream to win, where the world was your oyster – where you had not actually grown up. Growing up sometimes takes away the romance in life – the city might have actually grown up – Calcutta might have been a uncanny teenager trying to find its feet in this world and ultimately found its feet – but I wonder how many of us would want the old Calcutta back.

Oh Calcutta – we want you back, to the glorious.

And coming back again to our story the lil boy was me – it’s the collective stories of millions of people that have shaped the story of Calcutta – the city is wired up with the collective emotions, the tribulations of its own citizens.

One of the biggest exponents of the talk show bizz in the States once commented, “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams”………….. – I wonder if we all tried a bit harder maybe our lives could have a lot better and the city could have taken a different shape over the years. But then again its normal human tendency to take the easy way out.

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soul searching

Well after a break - and posting humour toons on my blog i decided it was time that i got back to my writing self. Creating toons was probably not my cup of tea - but probably writing comes more easily to me. Mostly because I can let my mind wander with ease and pen down the thoughts as soon as they occur - easy like 1-2-3. So here it goes........

How do you tell yourself, “no, don’t do it”. Is it even possible to just tell yourself no? How do you explain to another person that there impression of the situation isn’t what your feeling? Can they see something that you don’t?

Last night I goofed up. Actually totally f###@ up. I listened to the negative voices inside. Instead of thinking about things in a positive way, trying to say some affirmations or an affirmative prayer, I let the negative feelings rule my thoughts. How is it that you try so hard to keep on the sunny-side of life, but always end up going back to the dark clouds. This is the way that you give up control in everything. Then life and the people in your life take you on a roller coaster ride. Instead of just using the tools at hand, it’s like you hand yourself over to low self-esteem, depression and negativity. And then you end up here.

I guess I need to look for a change in life as my wife feels that it is time to walk away. I can understand that as life hasn’t been easy for the last several months. After the ups and downs of various anti-depressants and the crazy that some meds bring about - my irrational behaviors and her inability to let a little light shine through - I guess we are in troubled times now. It’s hard, though. This is the first time that I have really felt what a great relationship feels like.

When it all started I was very determined to not do all of the things that I had done in the past. I WAS SIMPLY NOT going to make the same mistakes. I’m sure you can see where all of this is going….you get confident, comfortable and lazy. The layers peel back and I started taking it all for granted. Then suddenly this realization dawns upon you – and you end up there. It sucks, the realization that you have once again done all those things you swore you would never do. Look to that person for all of the things that you can’t give yourself. It’s like this false sense of self.

Now the question is, how do I live with myself? How many times do you mess up and move forward? How much of your own self-destruction can you take? God, when is enough just ENOUGH?

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reality bytes

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wordle.......rocks...

I just saw this post with an amazing tool called wordle that i came across using the stumble tool bar in Firefox...........and i had to use it. Not finding enough text (obviously as a lack of imagination on my part on a rainy tuesday morning), i dumped some content of my resume into it.

The end result was in fact quite stellar........

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price of genius.....

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analyze this.....

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laughter is the best medicine...

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managment perils....

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