(Originally published in Impact magazine issue dated 04th February 2017) In early 2000, a bunch of marketing, media, and technology folks kicked the grave of John Wanamaker and woke him up from his long sleep. John Wanamaker, who had died 78 years earlier, suddenly became the brand ambassador for digital advertising. For it was he…
(First published in 2016) Since the advent of steam engine in 1781, every year, the futurists have tried predicting the Digital Trends for the next year. Though, it was later, in the year 2000, when VC funds started funding agencies and digital companies that are named after founder’s cats and dogs, this trend of predicting…
(First published in 2016) In the 1500s, the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes landed at Aztec empire in Mexico with a team of just 550 people. In just 4 years, the Aztec empire was ravaged. A mere 550 people subjugated an empire of millions, making Mexico a Spanish colony. Within the next 10 years, another Spaniard,…
‘Company loyalty’ is a new term I heard recently from Sriram, co-founder of Crossword book stores and now an independent marketing and retail consultant. Should consumers be loyal to their brand OR companies be loyal to their consumers? The tables are perhaps turning. With innumerable choices, commoditization of many services and products, consumers have no reason…
Attending a recent session on Market research methodologies was a revelation of sorts, given that my understanding of market and consumer research is anything worth mentioning. The hightlight of the session was listening to the case studies of Paras Pharma, and some of the stories directly from Darshan Patel (Darshan bhai as he is known)…
Google recently said that it is investing on creative side of the business and will also work closely with the creative advertising agencies. It is merely validating the belief that in digital it is a thin line between creative and media. Modern gadgets are now bringing together communication, entertainment consumption and utility applications together making…
Shahrukh Khan says ‘Wish Karo. Dish Karo’ in Dish TV commercial.Dish TV really wishes. I recently heard that Sharukh Khan uses Tata Sky DTH at his home. So much for the credibility and impact of celebrity endorsements. A leading snacks brand recently seems to have decided that their employees should stay healthy. So in addition…
Much has been written about how internet has changed our lives and how it is leading us to Life 2.0. What is often spoken and written about is how the Social Media is changing marketing and advertising as we know it and there is enough of hype around it. And that is missing the wood for…
(This was first written and published in 2008) Have you heard of Social Technographics? Social what? Or have you read the research paper ‘Sources and Consequences of Embeddedness of the Economic Performance of the Organizations: The Social Network effect’. Huh! I still haven’t understood the title itself. But then if you are in the online…
Much has been written about ‘The Attention Economy’. I heard about this term only a couple of months back. While I haven’t understood all the philosophical moorings behind this term, the fact that money is spent all the time to get people’s attention and there is a whole economy behind that is simply baffling. When…